Last movie watched...

[Funt Solo]

The Christmas Chronicles

On Netflix, from 2018. There's a sequel this year.

This was fun, in the right frame of mind. Very much in the mould of Santa Clause: The Movie, but with Kurt Russell and not Dudley Moore.

My eldest said: "How does it make you feel, that Snake Plisken is Snata?"

I had no answer.

Mini-Solo, 8, enjoyed it a lot. It was recommended to her by her grandpa, who's 79.

[shaolin_monkey]

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Ugh, okay, this film, well, er, so.
This film is not good.

You're not kidding! I usually watch until the bitter end. I watched the first 30 mins of this, thought 'why am I wasting my life with this' and don't regret switching it off for one moment.

Elf. Remains enormously good.

It is stupidly charming. Whatsisface's best role, not that I'm a fan particularly. Zoey Deschanelle is just gorgeous in a winsome way. Lovely singing voice. Great message throughout the film - don't be a grumpy conniving dickhead, basically.

Krampus - first time of watching it. Creature design great. Some good moments. Quite liked the ending. Otherwise it was all a bit 'meh'.

[pictsy]

You're not kidding! I usually watch until the bitter end. I watched the first 30 mins of this, thought 'why am I wasting my life with this' and don't regret switching it off for one moment.

I really don't blame you.  I'm not upset that I watched it start to end, but I can see why someone wouldn't want to and I can't say it gets better towards the end.  It doesn't.  It gets worse.  Although the bit before the credits was sweet it's not worth sitting through the nonsense that was Chronicon (a.k.a the third act.. I think... this film was bad).

Krampus - first time of watching it. Creature design great. Some good moments. Quite liked the ending. Otherwise it was all a bit 'meh'.

I had this film sold to me on the basis that the guy who made Trick 'r Treat (of which the association with Bryan Singer I just found out about makes that film a bit icky) made Krampus and I was expecting more than what I got.  It was a let down.

[Barrington Boots]

Ignoring anything Christmasy, instead over the last few weeks we've been tearing through some old DVDs here.

We started of with Pirates of the Caribbean which I remember really enjoying in the cinema (sequels not so much). On a rewatch it's really not that good - there's some striking sequences with the undead pirates and it looks really good, but it's really carried by Depp and Geoffrey Rush and if you take them out the rest of the film is pretty weak. Furthermore if you've started to find Depp's pirate schtick tiresome then it's basically Barbosa or nothing.

Production levels drastically dropped after that as we watched Death Machine, a terrible film on many levels but one of the best B-movies of all time imo. I haven't seen this one for well over a decade and I'd forgotten how self-knowing it was with the character names referencing other sci-fi greats and little touches that almost veer it into satire territory. The special effects are bad but still hold up, but it's all about Brad Dourif who at his absolute lunatic-playing best here.

Followed that up with Bitch Slap. Objectively bad on a great many levels but when you realise it's supposed to be a terrible homage to old Russ Meyer stuff it sort of clicks: the problem with a homage to a bad genre is that your homage will of course also be bad, and on a rewatch this was both better and worse than I remembered: I like the all the greenscreen stuff but the script is pretty dire and sometimes it veers into a film for the Nuts / Loaded generation. America Olivo is great and if you like overacting sweary women punching each other.

Most recently Battle Beyond The Stars which I'd expect all here to be familair with. For a Roger Corman rip-off movie I think this film is still really watchable - most of the Starship designs are lovely and the quirky characters make it for me. Sybil Danning of course is the best thing ever but I love Nestor eating his hot dog and Cowboy's drink-dispensing belt. Is the score the same one from Krull?

We also squeezed in Men of War after the passing of poor old Tiny Lister. My favourite Dolph film of all time - it looks lush, surprisingly smart plot (admist a lot of macho nonsense of course) Dolph himself is pretty charismatic and some suprb character work from the likes of Tim Guiness, Don Harvey and especially BD Wong - plus in incomparable Trevor Goddard playing an over the top villain. Love this.

[Jim_Campbell]

Having gazed in horror upon the Christmas TV schedules, it looks like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day evenings will see a stoked-up woodburner, a decent bottle of red, and the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)

[TordelBack]

...the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)

Do, please!  Sorely tempted, even knowing I've nothing worth playing them on!

Elf. Remains enormously good.

It is stupidly charming. Whatsisface's best role, not that I'm a fan particularly. Zoey Deschanelle is just gorgeous in a winsome way. Lovely singing voice. Great message throughout the film - don't be a grumpy conniving dickhead, basically.

The thing that always wins me over is Mary Steenbergen's character's reaction to finding out her already-distsnt husband has an adult son - it just runs so completely against comedy expectations: pure acceptance and support, instantly, with none of the usual strife and/or farce. In the same vein, the quiet time given to Caan wistfully remembering Buddy's mother, without recourse to flashbacks. Those two scenes just anchor the film in a good-hearted reality that somehow allows Buddy's anarchic fantasy world to slot right in.

Favreau's no slouch when it comes to the heartstrings, although a bit of racial diversity might have been nice in a film set in NYC.

[wedgeski]

We started of with Pirates of the Caribbean which I remember really enjoying in the cinema (sequels not so much). On a rewatch it's really not that good - there's some striking sequences with the undead pirates and it looks really good, but it's really carried by Depp and Geoffrey Rush and if you take them out the rest of the film is pretty weak. Furthermore if you've started to find Depp's pirate schtick tiresome then it's basically Barbosa or nothing.

If you take out the good bits, it's...less good?

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Having gazed in horror upon the Christmas TV schedules, it looks like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day evenings will see a stoked-up woodburner, a decent bottle of red, and the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)

Mrs X is giving these to me for Christmas. I know, 'cos I bought them and handed them to her.

I can't wait to watch them, over the next month or so I guess!

[shaolin_monkey]

Having gazed in horror upon the Christmas TV schedules, it looks like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day evenings will see a stoked-up woodburner, a decent bottle of red, and the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)

I could tell you some grim things about those wood burners, but I will save it until after Xmas, so enjoy! I too have a 4K to watch - the remaster of Akira! I expect I'll have to watch that one on my own though, as anime of any kind bores my partner senseless. As does most sci-fi except Star Wars.

Anyway, Xmas films for us will most definitely include The Empire Strikes Back or Jedi. We always watch Die Hard too. It is not Xmas until someone says "I've got a bad feeling about this" or "Now I have a machine gun - Ho Ho Ho."

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Since we dont have a "things I've managed to find that are worth watching this xmas"/ "it's not like it was when I were a lad" thread, I guess here is as good a place as any.

Netflix have Midnight Sky- based on a novel i read fairly recently that i unexpectedly *quite* enjoyed, so i will be watching that sometime over the next couple of days.

And since my wife is a massive Tim Burton fan who has never seen Ed Wood, i imagine we will find time for that too.

On the actual tv, it goes as far as the new Worzel Gummidge tomorrow, and that's it.

And on topic here, I did catch the John Wick trilogy recently... loved the first one unreservedly, but thought 2 and 3 were unnecessary and, by the time the third one came round, shonky and dull, just about holding my interest til the end, but it was a close run thing.

SBT

[TordelBack]

Galaxy Quest. Still unreasonably enjoyable. Cast is just superb, and somehow that includes frequently objectionable human Tim Allen, although Rickman and Rockwell are predictably the standouts. Solid effects effects work too, not least whatever practical magic holds Sigourney's tattered costume together. I think its at-the-time dated view of TV SF (this was after DS9, Bab5, Farscape and even Futurama) has given it a timelessness, but there's definitely some strange alchemy at play when you start genuinely rooting for the good guys.

[Funt Solo]

The Midnight Sky - turgid, maudlin, disjointed, soulless and too reliant on slow piano tinkling in a vain attempt to provide emotional heft.  It does manage to be somewhat thought-provoking, but mostly in the "how did they get this so wrong" bucket.

The end credits scene could be used in film schools to teach people how not to movie.

[Dandontdare]

Since we dont have a "things I've managed to find that are worth watching this xmas"/ "it's not like it was when I were a lad" thread, I guess here is as good a place as any.

Did anyone else ever used to get the double-size Radio Times (for BBC1 & BBC2) and TV Times (for ITV) only at Christmas, and the whole family would circle their must-sees - cue violent arguments and negotiations with my brothers over any overlaps.

Galaxy Quest. Still unreasonably enjoyable.

Me too (because Netflix told me to) and it is still very good, Rickman in particular.

[TordelBack]

The Midnight Sky - turgid, maudlin, disjointed, soulless and too reliant on slow piano tinkling in a vain attempt to provide emotional heft.

Think you've just saved me a wasted movie slot, I was lining it up for tomorrow on the basis of platonic Clooney love.

[Funt Solo]

Did anyone else ever used to get the double-size Radio Times (for BBC1 & BBC2) and TV Times (for ITV) only at Christmas, and the whole family would circle their must-sees - cue violent arguments and negotiations with my brothers over any overlaps.

Oh, yes - made much simpler after my siblings "left home"* and I got to schedule the entire two weeks.

*That's the code I use instead of admitting that I murdered them and buried them in the garden due to an argument over Tiswas vs. Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.

The Midnight Sky - turgid, maudlin, disjointed, soulless and too reliant on slow piano tinkling in a vain attempt to provide emotional heft.

Think you've just saved me a wasted movie slot, I was lining it up for tomorrow on the basis of platonic Clooney love.

Well, Clooney is great - but was clearly too busy acting to do a good job of directing. Shame: nobody sets out to make a turkey (unless they're the special effects department for a Mr. Bean seasonal special).