Last movie watched...

[wedgeski]

Strangely they find the unwilling passenger 12 hours out but decide to keep on with the two year trip to Mars and back. No one did a head count before they sealed the doors?

The facts of how the extra guy finds himself on the ship are sketchy and glossed over at best, but the fact they can't just turn around is dealt with.

It's a downer, but I kind of enjoyed it. Everyone in it is great, it looks good, and the backdrop includes some neat real-world space exploration ideas.

[Professor Bear]

Stowaway effectively answers the oft-answered question, "what if Cold Equations, but tone deaf and stupid?"
On Youtube alone you can view an audiobook reading of the original story, a stage adaptation, an episode of the Twilight Zone adapting the story, an episode of X Minus One adapting the story, and - my personal favorite in this instance - a movie adaptation made just three years ago that was named Stowaway, so it's fair to say that these themes have been well-explored and the makers of the Netflix outing had a broad range of interpretations of the material to draw upon so that they could either produce the best possible version of the story to date, or at least could avoid the misogynistic subtext of chucking a woman under the bus so a man could feel sad for surviving.  It is therefore commendable, in a way, that the makers found a way to do none of that and instead replicate the flaws of the story, troubling subtext included, and yet also compound them, with a male character being deemed worthy of salvation through the sacrifice of a female character because he once saved another unrelated female from a fire.
The original story is notoriously derided by actual space boffins because while the physics are sound, the central conundrum only occurs because of incredibly poor redundancy planning for such a critical mission, and that criticism still applies here, but the film isn't really worthy of that kind of critical appraisal because it's mostly just emo flab and tedious space walks.

Mortal Kombat - well, this wasn't very good.  There seems little point dismantling it, but my main takeaway was that it was quite well-made, and that if someone had a good script to work with, they might have made an entertaining film.  As it is, it just takes itself too seriously, yet is too silly to be taken seriously.  The 1995 movie somehow managed this balancing act and has gone on to become a beer and pizza movie staple, and I don't know about the director of the new MK, but I for one would be terribly embarrassed if the director of the Resident Evil movies displayed a greater understanding of tonal consistency and self-awareness.

[Rara Avis]

Watched Mank on Netflix last night and loved it. The story and cinematography were a delight and Gary Oldman was fantastic. Well worth a watch.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Watched Mank

Tell me I am not the only one to do a double take there.

[pictsy]

Three Days of the Condor

This is a 70's spy film that I've never heard of before.  It's got Robert Redford in it.  For the most part it is a really engaging spy thriller that does a really good job with its story.  Nevertheless there is a very glaring problem with the film.

Part way through the film the protagonist and hero kidnaps a woman and proceeds to have sex with her.  It just comes across as rape.  Rape is lampshaded before it happens and it's sort of commented on afterwards.  It seems to reflect Stockholm's as well.  It is very weird, gross and a tonal whiplash.  I think it was intended as romance, but it's so tone deaf.  It really stood out and is in sharp contrast to the rest of the film.  I don't know whether there was the need to have the kidnapped victim become an ally of the protagonist, but this was not the approach.  Especially as there was a great opportunity for her to accept his story and get on his side in the next scene.

Aside from that problem the film is very good.  The ending was very satisfying.  Ambiguity done well, I think.

[Funt Solo]

I recommend Condorman and El Condor next, to complete the "watching movies with the word 'condor' in the title challenge".

[pictsy]

That's an eclectic mix of films.  Certainly happy to take the recommendations

[NapalmKev]

Jason and The Argonauts.  The original one. The Good one!

It was on the telly this afternoon and even though I've seen it many times over the years, by Grud* I watched it again! It's still a fantastic watch and the stop-motion animation remains some of the best I've seen in film. The Bronze Giant and Skeleton scenes are particular highlights.

Nobody.  About a bloke that's a bit tasty and shit! It's more than that really as the guy in question is now leading the quiet family life and in a moment of what is pretty much absolute boredom decides to go back to his old ways. Not as over the top as John Wick and a half decent watch in its own right due to some great acting and fight choreography. Features Christopher Lloyd as The Dad. Worth a watch.

Cheers

*I don't believe in Grud. Spoons are open for debate...

[pictsy]

I didn't know there was another Jason and The Argonauts. 

I knew Clash of the Titans had a remake.

[NapalmKev]

I think you're right. I might be thinking of the tv miniseries of JATA.

Cheers

[pictsy]

I wasn't even aware of a miniseries.  I'm assuming it wasn't exactly good. 

I know it'd be hard to compare the Dynamation glory of the film.  I revisited it at some point last year and was not disappointed with it.

[Tiplodocus]

In nearly all of the world, Coca-cola is the number one selling drink. In Scotland, however, it's Irn Bru.

I suspect you would get a similar situation if you asked about the greatest movie ever made. Most of the world would go for CITIZEN KANE whereas Scotland would vote GREGORY'S GIRL.

Respectively eighty and forty years old they share a common theme of trying to find love in all the wrong places but otherwise are as far apart in style as you can imagine. Despite the age, both are still brilliant.

Even the few lines in GG that might be considered dodgy now aren't too offensive, more a document of the times.

"Tits, bum, fanny... the lot" still makes me laugh. Can younger boarders guess which of the two it is from?

[milstar]

High Plains Drifter

I haven't seen this Eastwood's directorial Western debut in a long time. I can't say that Western movies are my cup of tea, though I like some traits these movies have. High Plains Drifter is an interesting piece, however, and not your typical Western film (and not because it has Clint Eastwood in it). Both surreal and supernatural, wrapped in revenge film category where Eastwood basically plays his Man with No Name from Dollar's trilogy. As a matter of fact, there are some references to Sergio Leone in this film. Anyway, Eastwood is a stranger who materializes in the middle of a desert, then rides in the frontier town, where he communicates with townsfolks, gun them down when being challenge and...Well, given the controversial Darkie's Mob thread I unwittingly opened, and reading the pictsy's description of controversial part of 3 Days of Condor, I feel inclined to return at the already heard mantra in DM's thread - "it was of its times". Because, Clint Eastwood's character early in the film, when insulted by a female, he drags her in the barn and casually rapes her. This is all the more glaring because it later comes into the play, she's complicit bitch and rest of the townsfolks (well, not exactly all) are wimpy douchebag slimeballs whose sin is bystander effect, so they deserved all they get. In addition, the raped woman has sex with Clint as a ploy to distract him for townspeople to beat him up. Oh, yes, Clint drags another woman with the intent of raping her, but then faints. Still, they have consensual sex later. A movie like this would definitely couldn't get past the pre-production stage today. Although, for its time, Peckinpah went one step further with his Straw Dogs (and women generally don't do well in his films, but whatever. I am straying off now).

Aside all this, I find High Plains Drifter being a solid film, with the aura of mysticism and ambiguity (the latter is yet another mark typical for the 1970s) appealing enough to get past its shortcomings.

[Barrington Boots]

I've a lot of time for High Plains Drifter but that scene is deeply problematic. Clint Eastwood's character is absolutely horrible, which is the point, but it's a disturbing and uncomfortable watch.

I think it's better than Pale Rider in the 'ghost cowboy comes back for revenge' genre though.

[milstar]

I think it's better than Pale Rider in the 'ghost cowboy comes back for revenge' genre though.

Agreed. And the way Eastwood tackled ghost-revenge thing, even though he went explicitly for supernatural, Pale Rider looks like a rather meek variation of HPD.