Last movie watched...

[Mattofthespurs]

Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
6/10 (just).
Overlong, reliant on too many slow motion gun fights with groovy music (I especially like the country and western version of Word Up). There is a lot wrong with it but it does have some charm. On the other hand I find it's basic premise difficult to agree with actually siding with the President on this one.
And there is a fair proportion is misogynistic script writing in the film that made me a tad uncomfortable and makes me wonder whether Vaughn slipped it in there (yes, yes, I know) when Jane Goldman wasn't looking or that she just let her principles slide for this one (I'm looking at you Glastonbury scene).
Nowhere near as charming and endearing as the first in the series but still a film watch and forget and far too long.

Got to say, I found the first film pretty puerile (and not even in a knowing way) nonsense, so not in a rush to see the reportedly even worse sequel.
Thanks for warning though. 

You are welcome.
To be fair I hated the first one on first viewing and warmed to it more upon another viewing.
This...I'm not so sure but time will tell.

[TordelBack]

The Force Awakens.  Almost two years and many viewings later, the gift of a Blu Ray Collectors' edition prompted another family viewing. I'm not going to change anyone's mind here, so please spare me the usual litany of criticism, but I've really come round to this film: I don't know whether it was the lovely crisp copy, but aside from being drawn into a story which now almost makes sense to me, I was impressed by a host of terrific little details and lighting schemes. Pleased to see a new SW film that has aged well.

[Mattofthespurs]

The Force Awakens.  Almost two years and many viewings later, the gift of a Blu Ray Collectors' edition prompted another family viewing. I'm not going to change anyone's mind here, so please spare me the usual litany of criticism, but I've really come round to this film: I don't know whether it was the lovely crisp copy, but aside from being drawn into a story which now almost makes sense to me, I was impressed by a host of terrific little details and lighting schemes. Pleased to see a new SW film that has aged well.

Preaching to the choir here.
Always enjoyed it.

[TordelBack]

One thing that really struck me this time round was just how good the dogfight at Starkiller base is, something I'd always dismissed as just more of the same, but there's actually a lot of cool little sequences in there.  The parallel sequence with Han and Ren has some amazing lighting design that I'd missed - the shaft of unnatural blue twilight that illuminates Han is coming from the door that Rey and Finn enter through, and are silhouetted by; Ren stands just outside the light in the red glow of the regulator chamber, and when the sun finally goes out Han fades almost to black just before [spoiler]Ren kills him[/spoiler].  It's heavy handed to be sure, but very effective, especially as the symbolism plays out against the real-world implications of the artificial darkness.

I'm sure I've noted this before, in relation to Rogue One if not to TFA, but I find myself tearing up every time Carrie Fisher is on screen.  That's never happened to me with any deceased actor before.  Helps that she gives a fantastic performance here, and that her screen chemistry with Ford remains simply electric. 

[Arkwright99]

Went and saw mother! last night. Can't say I was particularly impressed. Like last year's Nocturnal Animals, mother! is unquestionably well-made and, to be sure, there's the germ of an interesting exploration of the (male) creative urge somewhere at its centre, but I felt the narrative was largely formulaic, the allegory rather obvious, and rather like Nocturnal Animals, not without a trace of misogyny (although unlike NA I think it's unintentional or, perhaps, unavoidable given the allegory Aronofsky depicts). [spoiler]Narratively the film is 2 parts Polanski (Repulsion/Rosemary's Baby), 1 part Kubrick (The Shining) and 1 part Greenaway (The Baby of Mâcon) filtered through director/writer Aronofsky's own fever dream. And 'fever dream' is the only way to make a lick of sense of the film, which scotches any sense of peril for Jennifer Lawrence's central character.[/spoiler] I wouldn't say it's not worth seeing - and I can see Lawrence getting an Oscar nod for it - but it's perhaps a film you wouldn't want to expend anything other than your time on. In which case, wait for Film4 to screen it in a couple of years time.

[Keef Monkey]

The Hills Have Eyes - In a rare case of this (I usually avoid remakes) I'd seen the remake of this and not the original, and listening to a Wes Craven interview convinced me I should finally check it out. It's pretty intense, and while the 'civilized folks encounter savages and have to unleash their inner savage to survive' thing is such a common trope in horror nowadays I guess this must have been one of the earlier examples of it. Pretty unpleasant, I hear the sequel was a bit of a shambles so unsure if I'll try that one (although a lot of people mention the fact it features a dog having a flashback so that might be worth 2hrs of my time after all).

El Mariachi - Similarly, despite Desperado being a favourite, I'd somehow never seen this. They were both showing as a double-bill so went along. Really enjoyable, loads of energy, even if it is very rough and awkward in places now. I'd always thought Desperado was a remake of EM, hadn't realized it works as a direct sequel, so it was great to see them back to back like that.

Desperado - Still as stylish and fun as I remember (it had been a long time)! Loads of great dialogue, brilliant action with a lot of inventive humour in the set-pieces, and seeing it on a big screen made me realize that Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek have possibly never been dethroned from the title of hottest on-screen couple in movie history. Ooooft. Great film, still holds up brilliantly.

[Apestrife]

Baby driver.

A nice looking movie with some really cool music moments. First and last 20 minutes of it was really good. Over the top in a good way. But the stuff between wasn't my cup of tea. I thought the dialogue was much too campy and lacked self awareness. Characters felt like caricatures. Even making Drive's Nino looking and sounding cool in comparison.

Really wanted to like this one more than I did. Especially since how much I enjoy the director Edgar Wright's Shaun of the dead, Hot fuzz and The world's end. With their fun spin on each of their genre, Baby driver's didn't deliver on a  car centric heist film. Quite a shame 

[Smith]

The Hills Have Eyes - In a rare case of this (I usually avoid remakes) I'd seen the remake of this and not the original, and listening to a Wes Craven interview convinced me I should finally check it out. It's pretty intense, and while the 'civilized folks encounter savages and have to unleash their inner savage to survive' thing is such a common trope in horror nowadays I guess this must have been one of the earlier examples of it. Pretty unpleasant, I hear the sequel was a bit of a shambles so unsure if I'll try that one (although a lot of people mention the fact it features a dog having a flashback so that might be worth 2hrs of my time after all).

El Mariachi - Similarly, despite Desperado being a favourite, I'd somehow never seen this. They were both showing as a double-bill so went along. Really enjoyable, loads of energy, even if it is very rough and awkward in places now. I'd always thought Desperado was a remake of EM, hadn't realized it works as a direct sequel, so it was great to see them back to back like that.

Desperado - Still as stylish and fun as I remember (it had been a long time)! Loads of great dialogue, brilliant action with a lot of inventive humour in the set-pieces, and seeing it on a big screen made me realize that Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek have possibly never been dethroned from the title of hottest on-screen couple in movie history. Ooooft. Great film, still holds up brilliantly.

Desperado trilogy is one of my favorite movies ever.

[Steve Green]

Hot Fuzz

Missed out on the cinema release 10 years ago, but had seen it on DVD.

There was a 35mm showing at the Prince Charles Cinema - Jock was signing a limited edition vinyl along with the David Arnold. (Although not having a turntable I missed out on that - looks lovely though)

I'd forgotten how constantly entertaining it is, still spotting things in the background like Skinner's life drawings, and the Die Hard bit in the hotel room with Rory McCann and Simon Pegg always makes me grin.

[Keef Monkey]

The Running Man was showing at the GFT in Glasgow so went along to that. I've always loved it, but really wasn't prepared for just how well it played. People were cheering throughout and clapping along with the music, and every single line and beat landed perfectly. Also, it's obviously got a lot of camp appeal what with Arnie's one-liners and whatnot, but aside from that as a piece of satire it still feels really surprisingly sharp, possibly even more than ever. I definitely got a whole new appreciation for how great the script and the look are and how strong some of the performances are (Richard Dawson is absolutely incredible).

So aye, it was a great night. Always been an iconic film and it was a real experience to see it like that.

[TordelBack]

Spectre.  Hooo momma, what a mess of a thing.  And yet, I really rather enjoyed it.  Much of that may be because Léa Seydoux is hypnotically beautiful and surprisingly charismatic (I'd always found her rather devoid of screen presence prior to this), in keeping with some gorgeously mannered shot composition and colour schemes throughout. Location work was superb, and the whole thing just looked fantastic.

I could see what they were trying to do, re-frame a 70's Bond movie in the 10's/Craig style, and they certainly achieved a lot of that, but it was a fine line between restraint and dullness, which they didn't always walk.  For example, in the OHMSS sequence I really missed some crazy skiing, possibly with parachutes, and in the YOLT supervillain lair/ Goldfinger torture sequence I greatly missed the Spectre octopus from the credits having a menacing role in proceedings; and when James chases a helicopter with a speed boat on the Thames, I really want him to do more than shoot at it; etc etc.

Conversely, the 'realism' angle completely vanished when the criminally underused Bautista reappeared after going headfirst through a windscreen onto his bonnet without acquiring any facial injuries, and when Bond claimed he never gave any thought to his murderous role, despite having spent large chunks of the previous three films doing exactly that.  This duality was far more successfully handled than in Skyfall, mind, as was the 'episode in a continuing story' aspect.

The transformation of MI6 into the Scooby Gang, and Fiennes' careerist M into a gun-toting action-hero in particular (surely Moneypenny's role, as a former field agent in this continuity), was probably the thing I liked least.  And the music was universally awful, title sequence and throughout.

But yeah, a pleasing conclusion of sorts to the four Craig films, and as I said, very, very pretty.

[Steve Green]

Oxide Ghosts

An hour long compilation of unseen footage/out-takes/commentary on Brass Eye culled from his collection of VHS tapes of rushes.

Director Michael Cumming is touring with it and doing Q+As, and says it's not going to be uploaded/released on DVD.

Well worth catching if you liked Brass Eye.

[Steve Green]

Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
6/10 (just).
Overlong, reliant on too many slow motion gun fights with groovy music (I especially like the country and western version of Word Up). There is a lot wrong with it but it does have some charm. On the other hand I find it's basic premise difficult to agree with actually siding with the President on this one.
And there is a fair proportion is misogynistic script writing in the film that made me a tad uncomfortable and makes me wonder whether Vaughn slipped it in there (yes, yes, I know) when Jane Goldman wasn't looking or that she just let her principles slide for this one (I'm looking at you Glastonbury scene).
Nowhere near as charming and endearing as the first in the series but still a film watch and forget and far too long.

Got to say, I found the first film pretty puerile (and not even in a knowing way) nonsense, so not in a rush to see the reportedly even worse sequel.
Thanks for warning though. 

You are welcome.
To be fair I hated the first one on first viewing and warmed to it more upon another viewing.
This...I'm not so sure but time will tell.

Even more cartoonish than the first, a gnat's hair away from a double-taking pigeon.

[spoiler]In a film that has Elton John wearing full glam rock gear flying kick a henchman, it's still not as ludicrous as the concept that no-one on the Fox News team appears to be on drugs[/spoiler]

[Hawkmumbler]

Nightmare City (Umberto lenzi/ 1980) is one of the less interesting Italian guro staples, less funny than the Demoni movies, less gory than any Fulci entries, and not quiet different enough to be Contamination levels daft balls, instead it's all a little formulaic. Oh, and the ending has to be seen to be believed, the definition of derivative.

Still, nice mayhem scenes that make this somewhat reminiscent of The Crazies.

[Greg M.]

Nightmare City (Umberto lenzi/ 1980)

I've got a certain fondness for this one - mostly the airport scene - though the ending is indeed terrible. I'd agree that it lacks that undefinable something that makes, say, the equally preposterous Burial Ground / Nights of Terror so special.