Last movie watched...

[Paul faplad Finch]

Watched The Wrestler. Wasn't as good as the reviews would suggest but better than I expected, given just how 'wrong' most mainstream media get it when they touch on pro-wrestling, even the well intentioned ones who don't set out to take the piss.

[fresno bob]

Up The Academy (1980) The one and only film produced by Mad Magazine. A guilty pleasure to be sure.Stars Ron Leibman,Ralph Macchio,Ian Wolfe, Barbara Bach,and Tom Poston as a gay Sgt major.Directed by Robert Downey Sr.

[Orlok]

Having just endured the Mordor-Manchester trip and back again I took in a few movies on the flight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[SmallBlueThing]

PREDATORS.

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

SBT

[Buddy]

Raiders of the Lost Ark or as it's called now Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark which has to be one of the longest film titles ever... (well maybe not)

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

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

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

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

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

So that's my Easter telly sorted.

Came across this just now on youtube...... very cleaver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUPDuQq9GsM

[klute]

Prince of persia-the sands of time,not a bad film though not quite what i was expecting...what was i expecting? i dont know this just wasnt it.

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

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

Would recommend it just to say you have.

[SmallBlueThing]

THOR. I raved about it in the dedicated thread, over there ->, but it really is the best movie I've seen in ages and ages. Can I go again now, please?

SBT

[Orlok]

Prince of Persia-Sands Of Time.
Bad move.
Negative points- Plot holes you could ride a dinosaur through, miscasting and video game logic.
Plus point- Gemma Arterton

I'm really going to have to be more discerning.

[Tiplodocus]

In between various DIY projects (800 kilos of sand and cement lugged up the garden...) I have slumped down in front of a telly at night and watched...

Source Code - see seperate thread

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


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

Rocketeer - It gets *everything* right.

[radiator]

I got them as part of a bargain Blu Ray box set recently, so on Saturday night I watched Shallow Grave and Trainspotting back to back - having not seen ether of them in many years, maybe even a decade. I think Trainspotting especially has reached that level of being so iconic and heavily referenced in other films and media that I needed a long, long break from it to get some distance to be able to watch it again.

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

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

It also goes without saying that both films contain some pretty horrendous mid-nineties dance music - Trainspotting less so, the Underworld tracks at least still sound pretty good to my ears.

[Hoagy]

Centurion and In Bruges.

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

In Bruges has Ralph in fine monstrous form. Colin does his best not to get on my nerves and Brendan does his hard man with a heart bit with aplomb. All in all a black comedy measured and poured a little stiffly.

[Albion]

Skyline.
A rather poor alien invasion movie where nearly all the budget was spent on effects and not on decent actors or a decent script writer.

[TordelBack]

...not really a movie, but by the end it almost felt like one:  Doctor Who Series 31 (Relaunch series 5).  Only saw the first few last year, and have been watching the whole season over the past week-or-so:  to my pleasant surprise it's absolutely fantastic, by far the best of the new run.

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

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

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

[I, Cosh]

Just back from How I Ended This Summer, a two-hander set around an isolated Russian weather station on the Arctic coast. It all kicks off when the younger of the two doesn't do something he should. Understandable as it is, you spend the next hour in knots waiting for him to man up and get it over with. Of course, by the time he does, it just makes things worse. It loses its way a bit at the very end but overall, especially taking into account all the nice long shots of fog and ice, this is an excellent, gripping watch. Give it a chance.

[Richmond Clements]

Source Code- whcih was utterly fantastic.

Fast and Furious 5- I had only seen a couple of minutes of the first one so had little clue what was who. However- this was bloody awesome brainless entertainment. The Rock is worth the priceof admission alone. Just don't think at all while watching this and you should have a great time.