Last movie watched...

[Tiplodocus]

There's a nice bit in one of the CE3K extras where Spielberg is proudly showing off his aircraft hangar size sets to a non-plussed Truffaut. Finally, they get to the kid's bedroom with it's mess and clutter. Truffaut lights up; "Now THIS is a set!"

[TordelBack]

Sorry I know its poor form to talk about another boarders avatar like this BUT does anyone else think that Joe Soap's new one is a bit like that episode of The Simpsons when Homer goes to the real world. A little wonky and unsettling.

I woke up this morning and found it like that.

Just the facts, ma'am.

[JOE SOAP]

That reminds me, I need to pick up a steak.

[GrinningChimera]

Drug War

Set in China and involving the Chinese mafia and meth. Lots of shooting and killing. It does exactly what it says on the tin. If you like action films and can put up with subtitles, it's worth watching. Especially for the character of Mr Haha. Hilarious stuff. 8/10

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Excalibur (1981)

Utterly - perhaps profoundly - ridiculous. Visually very interesting and crammed with familiar faces. Nicol Williamson's Merlin is memorable as his performance is so bizarre - you never know which word he'll emphasise NEXT. Nigel Terry's Arthur is distractingly Cornish but refreshingly flawed. By the final act though the film seems to have run on for an age, and a lot of it is so metaphorical it's hard to tell whether any of it has really happened at all. Which, maybe, is the point. Definitely interesting, but not particularly absorbing.

[Goaty]

Home Alone
Free on iTunes till 12am tonight. Part of 12 Days Of Xmas app.

[JamesC]

A Simple Plan

I'd never heard of this before. It stars Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton.
Three guys find a plane wreck in the woods containing a bag full of money. The film then follows the downward spiral their lives take as they try to get away with keeping the loot.
I really enjoyed it although it was very dark. Excellent performances from Paxton and Thornton and a particularly chilling turn from Bridget Fonda as Paxton's ice cold wife.

[Fungus]

Tyrannosaur

Lots to like, I'm a sucker for grim slice-of-life stuff. It's even relatively short by today's standards (I don't know if any TV editing took place). Nothing to do with Flesh either, another bonus 
Odd name reminded me of Submarine, another top film. Not about a naval conflict...

[JamesC]

Just watched the Evil Dead remake.

There are some good things about it and in some ways I prefer it to the original but it's still a bit rubbish.
It's a shame because with a bit of imagination it could have been really good.

[I, Cosh]

Excalibur (1981)
Utterly - perhaps profoundly - ridiculous. Visually very interesting ... Definitely interesting, but not particularly absorbing.

It's a bit of a mess but then it has occasional bits like this in it which, if you can stomach the cheese and the Python doesn't get you, are oddly magnificent magnificently odd. Just watch Percival's continuing obeisance.

[I, Cosh]

Films which I have tried to watch over the festive break (one of which I'd like to finish) include:

The Phantom Menace, which was rudely interrupted after an hour by the arrival of my uncle. Some of you may argue this was fortunate but I'd already sat through an hour of it and it was just about to get to the bit where Darth Maul's double ender is revealed. Something I always enjoy.

I was more annoyed by my auntie pulling the same trick two-thirds of the way through Woman of the Year with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It did seem to be heading towards an "independent career woman learns to keep her man by cooking eggs" route towards the end but up to that point it was great stuff. Significantly funnier than Anchorman.

[GrinningChimera]

it was just about to get to the bit where Darth Maul's double ender is revealed. Something I always enjoy.

I hope the kids had gone to bed!

[Mardroid]

Last film I saw all the way through: The Amazing Spider-man.
I've had this on Blu-ray for a while and only just got round to watching it last night. (Actually I finished it today as I was falling asleep last night. Not due to boredom, I was genuinely tired.)

I was quite irritated when i knew Spider-man was getting a reboot this soon. And it IS a reboot, despite what the director said about this being a 'missing story' that could fit with the other films.

Here's the thing though- it's actually very good. Tonally it's rather different from Raimi's version, yet it works very well. I was concerned the new actor playing the role wouldn't really fit, particularly as Tobey Maguire is spot-on, in my opinion. Andre Garfield is very different, it's true, yet he fits the role very well. There was one particular comedy sequence where he is firing his webbing at a criminal in various ways while quipping which is very funny and captures the comic version well.

Last film I watched part way through, before stopping yet again as I was dropping off... Troll Hunter. So far, so good.

[HdE]

I also like The Amazing Spiderman quite a bit. Garfield feels liek the best screen Spidey yet. He's certainly more convincing in the role than Tobey Macguire.

I do worry, however, that the Sony pictures execs have a firm hold on the franchise. Some of the creative choices being made for the sequel are enough to raise an eyebrow. But, as with everything, we'll see how it all turns out.

[radiator]

Watched a lot of stuff over Christmas, mainly I finally got round to seeing:

The Godfather and The Godfather Part Two

Thanks Christmas, when else does one get to it down and actually watch two 3-hours+ movies?

Surprised that so many people claim the second one is better than the first - while I thoroughly enjoyed the first, I thought the sequel was patience-testingly long-winded and meandering, and at times almost soap opera-like (the 'abortion' scene was cringe-inducingly awful). I liked the Vito flashbacks but felt that the Michael 'present day' scenes were overlong, convoluted and didn't really tell us anything about the character we didn't already know.

I know these films are held up by many as timeless classics - or sacred cows even, but to be honest I didn't love either of them. I found both films a little cold and detached, and there was too much plot and not enough story if that makes any sense. So much of the films are 'who is trying to attack the Corleones/lets get them before they get us' that I feel we didn't really get to actually know any of the characters very well, or understand the structure of the family or the way of life. Michael's descent from war hero to Mafioso feels rushed and unearned. There is also a general lack of focus - and so many minor characters that it's easy to lose track of who's who.

I certainly won't be watching Part 3, which sounds godawful.

In any case, I think Goodfellas and City of God remain my definitive Gangster movies - films that really zip along with a manic energy, are endlessly rewatchable and really sell the attraction and allure of the gangster lifestyle.