Last movie watched...

[Tiplodocus]

Another vote for Silver Linings Playbook in the watcheable romcom list.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF SPOTLESS MIND?

We always liked FORGET PARIS as well.

[pictsy]

I still think one the stupidest things I've ever done is watch Transformers 2.

It's ruddy Bladerunner when compared with Transformers 3.

I learnt my lesson.  I have not and hopefully never will watch Transformers 3.

[Ghastly McNasty]

Sorry lads. Not having this. Not having this at all. Amongst me and my mates growing up in dreary Central Scotland, Highlander was probably second only to Robocop in terms of rewatchability and endless quotability. I'm aware that doesn't make it objectively good but I'm here to stick up for it anyway.

Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.

[Jim_Campbell]

Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.

Yep. I'm not going to argue that it's a deathless piece of art, but it's great fun and I can watch it pretty much any time I come across it on TV.

Cheers

Jim

[pictsy]

Star Trek III : The Search for Spock  To my great disappointment this was nothing like Where's Wally.  It was a good film.  Same in quality as Wrath of Khan, I'd say.  It had a story that was well plotted and I liked how they continued from and used elements from the previous film as plot points.  The stuff with Spock was nicely done (considering) and the setup for it was there at the end of Wrath of Khan so it didn't jar heavily.

I also noticed that someone threw a Cornish pasty at Doc Brown!

[I, Cosh]

In between sniping about other boarders' viewing opinions, I watch the odd film too.

Saw Filth last week. It was mildly amusing if you're Scottish and cynical. James McAvoy makes a reasonable fist of a part which requires him to be on screen almost constantly but there's the inevitable disjoint with the pretty boy intended to be seedy and dissolute and the irritating over-enunciation of the Edinburgh brogue.

I'm all for films which take a deliberately non-realist approach and this was clearly riffing off Trainspotting itself in that respect but, sadly, at its core there was very little to recommend it. Some second rate reprises of the "It's shite being Scottish" speech from Trainspotting, a sad waste of the talents of Martin Compston and Kate Dickie topped off with some fantastically edgy digs at the Masons. Really? In 2013? Fuck off.

More Pish Lieutenant than Bad Lieutenant.

Here's Ballboy to cheer you up with some proper Scottish miserablism.

[Tiplodocus]

Ballboy - Songs for Kylie. I love it.

[TordelBack]

Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.

Yep. I'm not going to argue that it's a deathless piece of art, but it's great fun and I can watch it pretty much any time I come across it on TV.

Another vote for Highlander here, it's a fun film and I think it's aged pretty well.  Mind you, I do have fond memories of loudly and drunkenly declaring that it's better to burn out rather than fade away.  That's not going too well...

[I, Cosh]

Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.

Yep. I'm not going to argue that it's a deathless piece of art, but it's great fun and I can watch it pretty much any time I come across it on TV.

Another vote for Highlander here, it's a fun film and I think it's aged pretty well.  Mind you, I do have fond memories of loudly and drunkenly declaring that it's better to burn out rather than fade away.  That's not going too well...

Ah. A big man like you shouldn't be scared of a little... Boom! Boom!

[Mabs]

Well Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was not as bad as I expected it would be, but there was nothing to shout about either. The thing that let it down was not only a poor script but the godawful visual effects. The scene with the vampire baddie and Lincoln dancing on top of a group of stampeding horses, was a load of class A tripe. How the creators thought they'd get away with this piss poor action scene I do not know. I quite liked the bloke that played Lincoln, but I found the whole story quite silly to be honest. You can even see it as insult to the real Lincoln esp. the scenes involving his family member's death. The choice of actors were also poor; Rufus Sewell is a fine actor but he was absolutely dire as the main vampire baddie. There was no sense of fear or threat from him whatsoever. So a disappointing film, but slightly more palatable than such fodder as Jonah Hex and Cowboys vs Aliens.

[Professor Bear]

Mind you, I do have fond memories of loudly and drunkenly declaring that it's better to burn out rather than fade away.  That's not going too well...

If it's any consolation, Christopher Lambert is having similar difficulty holding to this credo - his latest acting gig is as a supervillain in NCIS: Los Angeles where - despite being being a show that not only stars but is headlined by LL Cool J and Robin from Batman And Robin - he fails to be convincing in any way, at any time.

I'll vote for Highlander, too.  Not rocket science, but enjoyable to watch.  Unfortunately it's all downhill from there in terms of follow-up projects, with Endgame likely to make you cry for all the wrong reasons.

[Mardroid]

As far as good Romcoms go, but what's the name of that film with Scwazeneger as a CIA agent married to Jamie Lee Curtis with featuring that scene with Harrier Jump Jet? Maybe that was to actiony to qualify but I remember the romantic plot being central and it being very funny in places. An enjoyable watch... even if I can't remember the name.

Last film I watched: Total Recall. The remake.

I really like the original so I remember being rather irritated when I learned it was being remade. I'm of the view of lying bad films should be remade. As good films preferably (although that might quality as a 'reboot' although rather than a 'remake'.) Suffice to say I wasn't in a rush to watch this even when a friend gave it to me as a Christmas present.
Anyway, I wanted some entertainment yesterday while I was having my dinner, and and out cable was caput so, I decided to finally watch it.

I really enjoyed it. Oh it's hardly original, following the plot of the original very closely as it does, but it did it well and a bit more seriously than the original (to be fair I did like the slightly camp tongue in cheek tone of the original tbough). The often criticised visuals looked pretty cracking to me. I particularly liked the scene where the hover car drops through layers of future city traffic... only to squash a bit car in a rather traditional looking London underneath. And Farrell is a better actor to Arnold... (at least in these films) although Arnold's the cheese has charm. And The Fall was a decent idea.

Why oh why is Britain depicted as the totalitarian regime though? At least the governor had an American accent.

So, did it need to be made (Not that any film needs to be made but I'm talking in relation to the original .?
Not really,  although the different tone and the visuals provide a new spin on things.

Is it better the the original? No, I but the difference in tone made it stand up for me.

Arguably they should have let the classic original stand and put their money into something original.

But, I really did like it.

[Proteus4]

On the other hand, I also think Mulcahy's The Shadow is tied for first place in the most incomprehensibly underrated films of all time stakes with Last Action Hero.

Excellent - a shout out for Last Action Hero (see my tagline thing below) - I bloody love LAH.  When i saw it in the cinema i was disgusted with it, thought it was the stupidest, silliest most mindnumbingly infantile thing i had ever seen.  Now? well, now i think it's awesome (this same phenomenon did not reoccur with Jingle all The Way).  Charles Dance with a target eyeball? AWESOME.  Also, it's like they've taken parts of lots of other films with very highbrow heritage (Seventh Seal, Purple Rose of Cairo, Cinema Paradiso etc) and referenced them in cheeky and fun little ways.

As for the Rom Com discussion - my votes go to As Good As It Gets, Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry met Sally, About a Boy, Love Actually (sorry - fucking love that movie for no good reason - i just do), The Wedding Singer, Bridget Jones' Diary, What women want (I know it's all wrong - i find it compulsive viewing when it's on ITV4 at 23.00), 40 Year Old Virgin, Groundhog Day, Pretty In Pink, There's something about Mary, and Roxanne.  I might've been a girl in another life (or this one, for that matter).


I watched The Purge the other night. Boring.  Ma-ma was underused (coz she is a great actress) and the plot was predictable and plodding and most of the acting was truly ripe. Great premise but not handled well at all.

Also, PICTSY, I'm loving you're wee star trek reviews - its great to see someone watching/reviewing these films for the first time and to see whether they still amount to anything - personally i LOVE wrath of Khan and have watched it over and over again and that wasn't even when i was a kid - I'm talking about in the last year.

Dave

[TordelBack]

I love that this is a forum where As Good As It Gets* and True Lies are put forward as RomComs.

Incidentally, I too share the shame about liking Love Actually, possibly a Stockholm-syndrome response to the fact it's on telly for two solid months every year .  If you make the tea when Hugh Grant is on screen, the rest is more than carried by an extraordinary cast.  Rickman and Nighy's parts in particular are excellent.  Also, surprise boobies.


*AGAIG is in my Top 20 movies list, but romantic...?

[shaolin_monkey]

I've never seen Love Actually. Is it any good, as far as those kind of films go?

I will admit to thoroughly enjoying When Harry Met Sally.