Last movie watched...

[Colin YNWA]

Brotherhood of the Wolf

Loved this back in the day, saw it at the cinema and have seen it often on DVD, but not for sometime. And I suspect quite sometime as having watched it again today it doesn't hold up as well as I remember.

If you've not seen it its a martial arts, action horror period drama. With drollops of political intrigue and meladramtic romance. A 'werewolf'ish film set before the French revolution.

Yes its a lovely mashup of different genre... but there hangs its biggest problem. It takes itself a little to seriously to be one thing and ravels in its audacious action nonsense to be taken too seriously and doesn't in the end quite work as one thing or the other. It was the directors cut I saw this time for the first time which adds about 7 minutes to the original cut I know. To be honest it could probably do with trimming 20 minutes off that original cut, not adding to it. Could be tighter to give it more punch.

Still looks lush, has some lovely scene chewing performances and does feel different to anything else, which isn't to be underestimated. Still very watchable but not as great as I remember.

[pictsy]

Dungeons and Dragons

The film is fine.  I can see why many found it enjoyable and I can also see why it didn't really have legs.  For the most part I had fun.  It had a very standard and generic story.  It's sense of levity was fine.  I'll admit a guilty pleasure in seeing the characters from the cartoon show up.  I saw that cartoon as a kid and have revisited as an adult and I still thoroughly enjoy it.  The film doesn't benefit from having the reference and it hindered my immersion.  Don't have me distracted by thinking about cartoons I enjoy, film - you're supposed to be keeping me engaged :rolling_eyes:

At times it seemed more like the film was targeted specifically to fans of D&D and not necessarily to a broader audience, which I guess is nice.  Without that connection it's really just another trashy, entertaining, action romp - the bread and butter of my movie nights of late.

I might make time to rewatch the cartoon again sometime in the future.

[karlos]

Space Adventure Cobra (1982)

This animated sci-fi fantasy movie was briefly up on YT as a tribute to it's recently deceased creator, manga legend Buichi Terasawa.

Once again, a film that, as far as I know, has had little to no release here and so not very well known.

I'm about half way thru and what I wasn't expecting was how absolutely gorgeous it was.

The whole aesthetic is just beautiful, with a real Heavy Metal/euro feel to it. Very late 70s, but in the best possible way.

I wish it was still up on yt so you guys could easily check it out, but it's honestly worth the hunt.

[karlos]

https://youtu.be/1XqDzcfgN-4?feature=shared

Here's the titles - lovely stuff!

[Colin YNWA]

A film that does hold up, while being like nothing else you've seen is Danny Devito's Throw Momma from the train.

Its a curious film about writing, love, hate and matricide. Its off beat, funny and while its pretty dated it is in a way that doesn't harm its ugly, ackward charm.

A highly enjoyable oddity.

[Richard]

Just saw The Woman King and thought it was great.

[Funt Solo]

The 2002 remake actually has an absolutely buck wild legal case tied to it thats way more entertaining that the film itself.

Just absolute cartoon shit.

*hronch hronch* on the popcorn for that one. Wow.

[Dandontdare]

The Flash. Distinctly average, but with fun bits - I let out a heartfelt 'oh for fuck's sake' at the Nic Cage cameo, but I was smiling at the same time.

[Funt Solo]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
A very cool sequel to "Into the Spider-Verse" that manages to grow the characters and double-down on the original premise. What it doesn't do *really* well is contain itself, as it's very much the middle movie of a trilogy (or the first half of the sequel) - the "to be continued" really leaves us on a cliffhanger - even more so than Empire Strikes Back, and in a way that Back to the Future managed to avoid altogether by self-containing each of the movies.

What this has is energy, in abundance, and at times is so high-octane that I wondered if even young folk with more malleable brain equipment would be able to follow it all. Right in the middle of complex fight scenes there are little callout boxes that are blink 'n' miss 'em. But it's so self-assured and stylish, and really does make you feel like you're watching a comic.

Spidey's from different comic universes are drawn in different styles, even - so you can have a human chatting with a 3D version chatting with a 2D version chatting with a Lego version - and even there, the versions can have differing art styles. Somehow, it works. There's a sort-of Being John Spidervich vibe about some of it, I suppose.

Oh, and if you don't like it - well, it's not really for you, anyway. The generation coming up are all over it like a rash. For them, this is bleeding edge animation that speaks to them in a way that live action remakes of Lion King or today's traditional animation (read: modern 3D) just can't.


Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
I thought this would be tired, but it's a good movie. Rather maudlin, for all love, but gives all the characters something to do (no mean feat with a gang of eight to manage). The "by the skin of their teeth" factor has been turned up to eleventy-stupid, but the likeability of the group dynamics pulls us through most of the direct challenges to our Willing Suspension of Disbelief bafflers.


Inside
Want to watch Willem Dafoe shit into a bathtub full of his own excrement as he goes slightly mad stuck in a weird existential prison? I mean, it's a bit tough going, but I'm not sure who else I could watch in this one. Saying almost anything else would spoiler this beyond politeness, but I managed to stomach the entire thing. There are plenty of movies that don't get past the 15-minute mark with me, so it was doing something right.


Polite Society
I haven't enjoyed a movie so much in a long time. An asian schoolgirl is worried that her sister is marrying the wrong person so sets out to stop the wedding. Doesn't sound amazing, but it plays out like Bollywood meets Tekken crossed with a Mike Leigh drama mashed into the vibe of St. Trinians. It is seriously kick ass, and exists in its own comedy hyper-reality. The lead is stupendous, but the entire cast is strong as fuck. I'm calling it Best of British, and giving you the pic:

[Daveycandlish]

I saw Polite Society when it did the rounds at the flix and heartily recommend it

[sheridan]

Is Polite Society the one from the writer/producer/and/or/director of We Are Lady Parts?  In which case I'd really have to make time to watch it.

[Barrington Boots]

Space Adventure Cobra (1982)

I haven't seen this for about 20 years, but it IS excellent!

[karlos]

It's great, BB, you're right!

I've been told the TV show is"better" but I can't see it having the incredible aesthetic the movie has.

[Funt Solo]

The Bad News Bears (1976) - this movie is batshit crazy, but in a good way. Recommending.

[paddykafka]

The Exorcist - 50th Anniversary Edition.

My first time to see it on the big screen and boy, does that make a difference. I can understand now the effect it would have had on cinema-goers at the time. Just as scary and disturbing now as I imagine it must have been when first released. An absolute masterpiece.