Last movie watched...

[Tiplodocus]

The Liam Neeson/Harry Melling segment is pure horror.

[Tiplodocus]

There's a great tradition in "few stood against many" stories whatever the medium and especially in movies. Is there a better example than ZULU? (And actually of war movies in general). I doubt it but I keep looking.

PANFILOV'S 28 MEN is a Russian film available in an attrociously dubbed version  on YouTube (some of the gore may have been cut) and is sort of ok. As ever when everyone has military regulation haircuts, is in uniform and often covered in shit, it's hard to tell who is who (yet Zulu manages it). Military buffs will love to see the prominence of the anti-tank rifles and  the obvious dangers of letting your tanks get too far ahead of your infantry. But everybody and I mean everybody takes several hits but still manages a heroic last throw of a grenade. But the kicker is that a quick Google it's all absolute bollocks - a made up myth of the Soviet propoganda machine.

Rooted slightly more in fact is THE OUTPOST about a battle at a ridiculously isolated American outpost in Afghanistan as they try undermine the Taliban. The cast aren't quite as identikit (at least half a dozen can be recognised from scene to scene) and the action is brilliantly staged with low , long tracking shots following the soldiers as everything blows to shit around them... Very immersive but without the one take artifice that people (not me) found off-putting about 1917. I'm not a soldier and have never been anywhere near the military in my life but the pre-battle interactions have a feel of truth about them. In fact even during the fight there's realism as soldiers sit in armoured cars for cover rather than risk going out to fight/ save people. Deaths are simple and quick... No last gasp heroics.

There were a couple of Medal Of Honour dished out and the film does a good job of showing why the were deserved. But reading the unit citations you wonder why some seemed to get medals for the aforementioned sitting in an armoured car until air support arrived.

I'll not pretend it does a good job of representing the politics of Afghanistan but as an entry into the "lions led by donkeys" subgenre of war movies, it does ok. Some of the lions are sheep too and nobody quips as they kill. All underlined with a simple shot of one of the Medal Of Honour recipients waking from rest in a room full of bodybags.

Can you tell that Mrs Tips is away and I have full control of the evening's viewing?

[The Legendary Shark]

I share the love for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Superb film.

On a completely different note... Tango & Cash (1989). Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russel do silly things in a corny way, but it's great fun and I wish they'd made a sequel or two.

[Colin YNWA]

Out of Sight

Well its very of its time isn't it. The depressing thing is that its time is my time and I wonder if I'd dated as badly. Don't get me wrong it oozes the chemistry its needs to work due to the leads being so damned sexy. It has numerous fantastic supporting cameos.

It is however over directed (if that is a thing), the time jumps feel forced and don't really add anything, except arguably allowing the pacing to work better. The freeze... frames are annoying and overall while a decent caper the whole thing is a little unpleasent.

[wedgeski]

Out of Sight

Well its very of its time isn't it. The depressing thing is that its time is my time and I wonder if I'd dated as badly. Don't get me wrong it oozes the chemistry its needs to work due to the leads being so damned sexy. It has numerous fantastic supporting cameos.

It is however over directed (if that is a thing), the time jumps feel forced and don't really add anything, except arguably allowing the pacing to work better. The freeze... frames are annoying and overall while a decent caper the whole thing is a little unpleasent.

That's exactly my lingering opinion as well. There's an undercurrent to it that I can do without these days.

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

No Time To Die. The final Bond with Daniel Craig was pretty good with a fine cast, good action scenes, a few shocking twists and a nod to the possible future. Interesting, the end occurred in a 1950s Missles Silo, Bond being a product of the post-WW2 world. The Villian's motivation seemed slightly skewed, but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.

[pictsy]

I've been watching Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z movies lately.  They are weird.  Where the show had issues of dragging things out for far too long, the films have the opposite problem.  Cramming all the DBZ tropes into 45 minutes at a break neck pace.  It's all going by so fast I barely notice what a bunch nonsense it is.  My favourite is the one where the villain is defeated by whistling.  Classic.

The original Bardoc special was decent enough.

[Tiplodocus]

... but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.

Connery had the pretty sucky DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (if only he'd bowed out on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE). Lazenby gets a good last with OHMSS (which is also a good first) and Dalton has a pretty good last film in LICENSE TO KILL (despite it being a bit US bound like Diamonds).

The villain was deffo the weak bit in NO TIME TO DIE for me.

[Jim_Campbell]

No Time To Die. The final Bond with Daniel Craig was pretty good with a fine cast, good action scenes, a few shocking twists and a nod to the possible future.

It's a great looking film with some excellent set pieces. My initial quibble with it was that it crossed some hard-to-define line in my head and became just a bit too science fictiony with all the nanotech stuff and, for me, stumbled at the end given that Bond had been handed a literal get-out-of-jail free card (in the form of a handy portable EMP generator) which he then bafflingly fails to use when infected with nanobots.

[Colin YNWA]

The Northman

We have these wonderful things at the Uni I work at called SHU Tuesdays, basically the day off after bank holidays. This time I landed on my feet as both kids back at school, Mrs YNWA in work so a DAY, a whole goddamn day to myself and free to roam. So I decided  to do something I just don't do enough these days, infact hardly ever and go and watch a adult movie, completely of my choice (well times determine actually wanted to watch Oncoda 10000 nights in the jungle but won't have got to pick the boy child in time damnit), beginning to end in the cinema. Bliss.

And to be fair The Northman is one of those movies that really reminds you why going to the cinema is great. Its visiually stunning and very well made. It truly is a Wagnian  Epic and really plays the part well. Really pretty good. Its problemis similar problems to Robert Eggers' other film (well that I've seen) The Lighthouse. In that it kinda boxes itself in and by doing to leaves itself simply not as interesting, intriguing and different as it otherwise might be.

The utterly unsubtle (I assume deliberately) illusion to Hamlet, mean you pretty much know where this is going and however much you dress up an action revenge thriller with lush cinematography , nice Viking history bits, I assume pretty accurate, certainly enough to fool my layman Viking knowledge and cooool nordic mythology, its still an action revenge thriller. Throwing some shakespearn references doesn't change that at all.

Its a very good action revenge thriller, a wonderfully grissly action revenge thriller. I got the impression however it felt it was more and going in I was kinda hoping for more and so as such left pretty disappointed that I'd just seen a beautifully shot, thrilling, exciting and slighty more interesting action revenge thriller.

If you go in expect a great action revenge thriller you are in for a real treat.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

No Time To Die. The final Bond with Daniel Craig was pretty good with a fine cast, good action scenes, a few shocking twists and a nod to the possible future.

It's a great looking film with some excellent set pieces. My initial quibble with it was that it crossed some hard-to-define line in my head and became just a bit too science fictiony with all the nanotech stuff and, for me, stumbled at the end given that Bond had been handed a literal get-out-of-jail free card (in the form of a handy portable EMP generator) which he then bafflingly fails to use when infected with nanobots.

That, and the fact that Bond's retired and yet the active agent is sent away with the women and children so that Bond can do Real Man's work.

In fact, I would have rather that the retired bloke bogged off with the women and children and, y'know, let the actual serving secret agent do the hard work.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

... but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.

Connery had the pretty sucky DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (if only he'd bowed out on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE). Lazenby gets a good last with OHMSS (which is also a good first) and Dalton has a pretty good last film in LICENSE TO KILL (despite it being a bit US bound like Diamonds).

The villain was deffo the weak bit in NO TIME TO DIE for me.

Diamonds are Forever is a great Bond movie!!!

[Richmond Clements]

The utterly unsubtle (I assume deliberately) illusion to Hamlet,

To be fair, it's based on the Viking legend of Amleth, which Hamlet is also based on.

[Tiplodocus]

... but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.

Connery had the pretty sucky DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (if only he'd bowed out on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE). Lazenby gets a good last with OHMSS (which is also a good first) and Dalton has a pretty good last film in LICENSE TO KILL (despite it being a bit US bound like Diamonds).

The villain was deffo the weak bit in NO TIME TO DIE for me.

Diamonds are Forever is a great Bond movie!!!

DIAMONDS the first Bond movie I saw at the cinema but despite that nostalgic pull, I find it almost unwatchable and turgid and tired now. The next one I saw was THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. Which just gets better every time I watch it.

[Colin YNWA]

The utterly unsubtle (I assume deliberately) illusion to Hamlet,

To be fair, it's based on the Viking legend of Amleth, which Hamlet is also based on.

Arh this I did not know.