Last movie watched...

[JOE SOAP]

The Kill List. Well, just finished watching this film for the first time, and while i dont think it totally lives up to the hype (...how many films do?), its pretty darn good nonetheless. Thought Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley were good as the hitmen, with the banter between the two raising a smile and lightening the mood now and again.
Struan Rogers, suitabley creepy, also impressed as The Client. Yeah, the violence is a bit hard to take ( the Librarian scene), but all goes to maintaining the intense atmosphere.
The ending does feel slightly out of place, even thought there are clues to it throughout the film.
Liking (and equally frustrated by...) the fact that nothing is explained in any great detail, but thats how it should be. I guess most people can at least join up some of the dots themselves, and debate about the film is plentiful on the net. Another viewing beckons i think.
3.5/5

Kill List is an intense experience, I thought the only thing that let it down was the end, which was a little too obvious given the references to that other film from the 70's. The inevitability is part of the point but it needed something a little extra.

The most shocking thing is they pulled something this good off for half-a-million squids.

[I, Cosh]

The other great thing about Haywire is the obvious Archer reference.

If only I knew what Archer was, I wouldn't have missed this. The other other great thing about Haywire was the way they always took care to cover each other and clear one room before moving on to the next. I hope Commando Forces appreciates this if he ever watches it.

Saw Black Dynamite tonight and thought it was great fun. A loving homage to blaxploitation cinema, it's very much the film that one half of Machete wanted to be but wasn't. Mr Michael Jai White is both an engaging performer and an intimidating physical presence.

Then stuck on Black Death which I wasn't expecting much from at all but which I ended up really liking. Sean Bean leads a group of soldiers on a mission to uncover the nefarious secret lurking in a village which has not been affected by the eponymous plague. Despite the historical setting it feels more like a post-apocalyptic setting that the characters are placed in. Despite a fairly ropey performance from the young monk who joins them and an unnecessary epilogue this was a very tight and effective little film. From the outset it works hard to build an atmosphere of tension, unease and paranoia which later shoots off on different directions of faith, conviction, belief and violence. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.

[Beaky Smoochies]

The guy from losers "Jeffrey Dean Morgan" was in watchmen. I think he may have played a better Dredd

Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be a pretty cool Dredd, but apart from the already-cast Mr Urban, I always thought ever since I started reading Judge Dredd in the mid-1980's that the only person who was right in almost every way to don the helmet and Judge armour was Michael Ironside, a bit old now, but was certainly viable in the late 80's-mid 90's...

[Hoagy]

The guy from losers "Jeffrey Dean Morgan" was in watchmen. I think he may have played a better Dredd

Is he not a little too hot-blooded for Dredd?

He played a good emotionless drone in The Losers. Meaning he was so wooden I could carve my name in him.

[Gonk]

Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange" still a shocker after all these years. Though the events that "inspired" ,bad use of the word there, Burgess' novel were awful.

[brendan1]

The Kill List. Well, just finished watching this film for the first time, and while i dont think it totally lives up to the hype (...how many films do?), its pretty darn good nonetheless. Thought Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley were good as the hitmen, with the banter between the two raising a smile and lightening the mood now and again.
Struan Rogers, suitabley creepy, also impressed as The Client. Yeah, the violence is a bit hard to take ( the Librarian scene), but all goes to maintaining the intense atmosphere.
The ending does feel slightly out of place, even thought there are clues to it throughout the film.
Liking (and equally frustrated by...) the fact that nothing is explained in any great detail, but thats how it should be. I guess most people can at least join up some of the dots themselves, and debate about the film is plentiful on the net. Another viewing beckons i think.
3.5/5

Kill List is an intense experience, I thought the only thing that let it down was the end, which was a little too obvious given the references to that other film from the 70's. The inevitability is part of the point but it needed something a little extra.

The most shocking thing is they pulled something this good off for half-a-million squids.

I really enjoyed the Kill List, but I do think that for all the chat about how it is oblique, mysterious and a "cinematic puzzle" is just a load of words to maks the fundamental truth that it makes no sense at a very fundamental narrative level.

[mygrimmbrother]

The Kill List. Well, just finished watching this film for the first time, and while i dont think it totally lives up to the hype (...how many films do?), its pretty darn good nonetheless. Thought Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley were good as the hitmen, with the banter between the two raising a smile and lightening the mood now and again.
Struan Rogers, suitabley creepy, also impressed as The Client. Yeah, the violence is a bit hard to take ( the Librarian scene), but all goes to maintaining the intense atmosphere.
The ending does feel slightly out of place, even thought there are clues to it throughout the film.
Liking (and equally frustrated by...) the fact that nothing is explained in any great detail, but thats how it should be. I guess most people can at least join up some of the dots themselves, and debate about the film is plentiful on the net. Another viewing beckons i think.
3.5/5

Kill List is an intense experience, I thought the only thing that let it down was the end, which was a little too obvious given the references to that other film from the 70's. The inevitability is part of the point but it needed something a little extra.

The most shocking thing is they pulled something this good off for half-a-million squids.

I really enjoyed the Kill List, but I do think that for all the chat about how it is oblique, mysterious and a "cinematic puzzle" is just a load of words to maks the fundamental truth that it makes no sense at a very fundamental narrative level.

But that's what made it great!

Just watched Fincher's remake of Dragon Tattoo. Still don't understand what all the fuss is about with this franchise. I get it that Lisbeth is quite an iconic character and I thought Rooney Mara was as good as Noomi Rapace. Yes, it had the trademark Fincher atmos and grungey feel, but for me it was all still a bit pedestrian. Which is fine, not knocking that in itself - but to repeat my first observation, I don't get how this series has become one of the biggest properties in the world.

Anybody watch Birdsong btw? I know it's TV rather than a movie but thought I could mention it here rather than start a new thread (I know a film version was in the works, which morphed into this production). I thought it was a triuimph. Read the book about 6-7 years ago, and have long been wondering what the first day on the Somme could look like on the screen. Whilst not on a Spielbergian scale of course I thought the BBC worked wonders with the battle scene. Eddie Redmayne was good, Clemence Poesy was superb, but Jospeh Mawle as Firebrace was the heart and soul of it all.

All made Warhorse look even more redundant and borderline offensive.

[Colin YNWA]

Anybody watch Birdsong btw?

Bollocks knew this was coming but didn't realise it'd been on already. Absolutely love the book. Oh well sure it will be repeated soon enough.

[mygrimmbrother]

Both episodes are on iplayer I think Colin, deffo worth a look.

[Third Estate Ned]

Then stuck on Black Death which I wasn't expecting much from at all but which I ended up really liking. Sean Bean leads a group of soldiers on a mission to uncover the nefarious secret lurking in a village which has not been affected by the eponymous plague. Despite the historical setting it feels more like a post-apocalyptic setting that the characters are placed in. Despite a fairly ropey performance from the young monk who joins them and an unnecessary epilogue this was a very tight and effective little film. From the outset it works hard to build an atmosphere of tension, unease and paranoia which later shoots off on different directions of faith, conviction, belief and violence. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.

Agree with thoughts on Black Death. I find Sean Bean thoroughly entertaining in a pantomime villain sort of way, especially when he's trying to act serious/cover up the Sheffield accent (not seen Game of Thrones yet but he's hilarious in Red Riding where he gets to use his accent to maximum effect). In this he was more convinving than usual, though. I thought there was a strong anti-religious theme, in addition to (spoiler) [spoiler]a pretty brutal scene with some horses[/spoiler]. Even my wife, who hates that sort of thing, enjoyed it and she's by now sick of everything swords/zombies/spaceships.

Saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes last night and mostly enjoyed it. Next bit a little spoilery...







Testament to my anal retentiveness, my suspension of disbelief held throughout the whole preposterous thing until the apes started effortlessly crashing through plate glass windows unharmed. It was that that really annoyed me and spoiled the film for me. That and James Franco's boss needing only an off-the-cuff corridor chat with [spoiler]a quasi-discredited scientist on the intelligence enhancing properties of the drug[/spoiler] to completely turn his views around. Other than that, it was fun.

[Van Dom]

Don't often come across anything worth mentioning (or that hasn't already been mentioned) but watched a Canadian independent film called Pontypool last night and it was bloody great. It's a 'kind of' zombie film, though in a 'War of the Worlds' type way. Small cast (only 4 characters that appear on screen), single location (a small radio station) and oodles of suspense and dread. It's a very well done piece that shows what can be done with a very small budget. You don't need to see all the murder and killing and entrails-ripping and blood flying everywhere to be freaked out. By taking the viewer and putting them in a situation with a bunch of people who can't quite make out what the hell is happening 'out there', this movie really draws you in. It's a really fresh take on the whole zombie apocalypse thing, and the cause of the virus is very clever and unique as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The acting - especially by the lead actor - is top notch as well. Highly recommend this one to anyone who likes their sci-fi/horror a little bit different from the norm.

[Spikes]

Well, despite saying i wouldnt, i did watch Kill List again last night.
Still think its a very good film and that from start to finish, still makes kinda sense (minor quibbles aside), though i also think parts could have been written better, and as freaky as it was, the ending is the weak point.
A bit less [spoiler]Hammer Horror/Wicker Man[/spoiler], and a bit more like how they came across at the Hotel would have been far scarier. As always in Horror, the less you see, the more terrible you imagine it to be.

[Professor Bear]

Testament to my anal retentiveness, my suspension of disbelief held throughout the whole preposterous thing until the apes started effortlessly crashing through plate glass windows unharmed. It was that that really annoyed me and spoiled the film for me.

I used to work in a glazier's, and knowing how glass works has ruined a lot of scenes in movies.  Ever see someone - like a cat burglar or whatever - use a diamond cutter to break into something?  Glass don't work like that - you have to apply pressure from the opposite side on which the cut was made (yes, from inside what they're trying to break into) otherwise it's no different than just smashing at the glass.  Also, any glass over four feet off the ground has to be either flame toughened (the kind that smashes into a million little harmless pieces when compromised), or laminated safety glass that breaks but stays in place because of the plastic sheeting in the middle of it that you can't jump through while shooting uzis as it's like jumping at a wall that cracks on one side and then slices the shit out of you before bouncing you back the way you came, bleeding like a motherfucker.  The latter is what gets used most as it's cheaper and easier to replace than the former, meaning jumping through windows in the average building is deeply unlikely.

Having said all of that, you don't need to know one single thing about glass science to know that an animal sanctuary wouldn't have glass in the windows that an animal could just jump through.  I mean, I know the film went to theatrical lengths to show how terrible a place the animal sanctuary was (it was run by Draco Malfoy, ffs), but that's like showing a jail with no bars.  I also got a vibe off the sanctuary like it was just like a dog pound or something, like San Fran is swarming with unwanted ape housepets - although this might be the case for all I know of SF.  If so, awesome town.

[Hoagy]

I felt Kill List was merely ticking off a few taboos, left over, not shown until it, on British film in such a way. At the end of the day it was a film already made and waiting for a time for release.

It was more; "Well there we go, that's that one out of the way. "

It's really good in that sense. Of doing for people, who've been waiting for it, for a long time, to happen. It recreates the fantasy of itself near verbatim right down to the pace of the film. Arriving just after it had been long forgotten, it's timing of arrival is the most misplaced thing about it and weighs heavy on it's dating very quickly.

[von Boom]

Finally got to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Really enjoyed it. The book is better, but they always are.

JvB