# What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)



## editor (Jul 25, 2010)

Following on from the monster 4,000+ post part two of this thread, here's part three!


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## Orang Utan (Jul 25, 2010)

i watched solaris again, this time on dvd and is was a much more rewarding viewing this time. the print they showed at the BFI was old and scratched and the subtitles appeared to be printed on dymo tape and were only partial. i actually think i understand what happened now. it's an extraordinary film. will go and see stalker next month. i'd like to see tarkovsky's earlier films on the big screen soon.
i'm in love with natalya bondarchuk now
i


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## jeff_leigh (Jul 26, 2010)

Subscribes to thread


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## Captain Hurrah (Jul 26, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i'm in love with natalya bondarchuk now



I prefer Valentina Malyavina.


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## QueenOfGoths (Jul 26, 2010)

Tha Damned United which I rather enjoyed


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## 100% masahiko (Jul 26, 2010)

Shinjuku Incident - A Jackie Chan movie without jokes or fighting. 1st half was good and gives a good insight to Chinese immgrant culture. Gets lost on the final 2nd. In fact it gets well shite. Terrible.


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## The Octagon (Jul 26, 2010)

Caught up on some telly including the Top Gear episode from last night with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

If it's possible to love Cameron Diaz more, I definitely do after


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## Reno (Jul 26, 2010)

_Lourdes_, a French/Austrian film about a severely disabled woman with MS who goes on a pilrgrimage to Lourdes, more because she wants to get away and because they are set up to look after disabled people there, rather then out of piety. Then a miracle does or maybe does not occur. I rather liked the style of the film, which is carefully composed mostly in wide and mid-shots and it has Elina Loewensohn as a scary nurse. 

I also watched the last episode of season one of Breaking Bad and the first episode of season two of True Blood.


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## Yetman (Jul 26, 2010)

The Pusher Trilogy

Brilliant 

Three stories containing the same group of people but following each different ones' story each time. All are well into drugs from the high to the low end of the scale and all get in a right load of shit. Well worth watching, back to back if you can.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117407/


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## rutabowa (Jul 26, 2010)

i watched "The Human Centipede" (great thriller) then "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" (adequate modernisation of the original with lots more gore and silly bits, but lacking the quirkiness so was a bit dull). also some of "Valley Girl", a 1983 chick flick with nicolas cage as a... punk i think? new waver? i'm not sure. anyway he was the outsider kid from downtown goin out with the posh girl from the valley. but the music the posh kids listened to at their party was much cooler. and actually they were all dressed pretty much the same as far as i could tell. anyway i turned it off after about half an hour.


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## ilovebush&blair (Jul 26, 2010)

Yetman said:


> The Pusher Trilogy
> 
> Brilliant
> 
> ...


 
i have these are they really that good? i thought valhalla rising was a pile of wank.


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## ilovebush&blair (Jul 26, 2010)

i just watched the end of the line, a documentary about over fishing.

http://endoftheline.com/


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## DotCommunist (Jul 27, 2010)

Outlander because it had aliens and john hurt as a viking king.

I wish the protagonist had kept hold of his badass gun but I appreciate that the film would have been a sight shorter if he had. Alien turns up, hero shoots it, john hurt is impressed and names him successor. Roll credits.


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## Badgers (Jul 27, 2010)

Not a DVD or video, went to the Prince Charles Cinema (love that place) and saw Beetlejuice - Edward Scissorhands double bill. 

Excellent Burton films, have not seen Beetlejuice for a long number of years and was good fun. Cost £12 each for both films, happy/helpful staff, comfy seats and NO TRAILERS, just a guy playing piano before the first film and in the interval


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## dlx1 (Jul 27, 2010)

_on telly _

District 13
Flight of Fury - Seagal


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## Yetman (Jul 27, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> i have these are they really that good? i thought valhalla rising was a pile of wank.


 

I also thought that was shit. Didnt even realise they were done by the same guy. Absolutely nothing like these, if you want a gritty, realistic glimpse into the gangster life of copenhagen's streets then you could do far worse than Pusher


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## purves grundy (Jul 28, 2010)

'Brooklyn's Finest'... s'alright.


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## Yetman (Jul 28, 2010)

Started getting into Jan Svankmeyers shorts. Brilliant stuff (if you're into that sort of thing I suppose)


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## rollinder (Jul 28, 2010)

some ultra surreal episodes of Roobarb - including a Jekyl and Hyde/Phantom Of The Opera pastiche & one where he became a pirate,
complete with Robert Newton namecheck, a peg leg and a "plastic parrot called polystyrene" *groan*

Oh and all the gold coins turned out to be dark chocolate on biting them (very that fake pounds thread lol)


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## rollinder (Jul 28, 2010)

Yetman said:


> Started getting into Jan Svankmeyers shorts. Brilliant stuff (if you're into that sort of thing I suppose)


 
he did _that_ version of Alice, didn't he?


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## DotCommunist (Jul 29, 2010)

Enemy Mine. A wonderful slice of 80's scifi and fuck me it managed to better than Avatar in the treatment of the alien.


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## Captain Hurrah (Jul 29, 2010)

Good choice.


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## Orang Utan (Jul 29, 2010)

death wish iv
clash of the titans

not exactly disappointing but dismal viewing all the time.
bronson was very wheezy - he didn't look too healthy, but murdering drug dealers and anyone else who gets in way seems to make him feel better. i think bush must have got his war on drugs policies from this film.

clash of the titans was considerably brightened by the hammy performances from neeson and fiennes, though i don't think the intention was to make us laugh so much. the plot was almost incoherent and judging by the amount of well-known actors who appeared to be extras (esp the gods), it has been cut considerably. the cgi was well ropey and the monster scenes nothing special. no clockwork owl as well  pointless remake really. nothing can hold a candle to the original clash of the titans. this, excalibur, flash gordon and monty python & the holy grail were the most watched film in my childhood.


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## ilovebush&blair (Jul 29, 2010)

just watched beneath the planet of the apes


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## Badgers (Jul 29, 2010)

A revisit to Carnivale tonight


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## Reno (Jul 29, 2010)

The recent Dorian Gray film. Not very good.


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## rollinder (Jul 30, 2010)

just watched the first episode of The Young Ones (Demolition) via seesaw (one of the episodes I've never seen) genius  esp. the ultra serious and disparing  russian(?) two handed drama/play like what BBC2 used to show happening next door, and the hip n' trendy + ernest yoof tv show w/ Ben Elton playing himself, the patronising twat.

eta: seesaw is wonderful, specially now my dvd player seems to be refusing to even load any discs it thinks are looking at it funny. Not sure about the fake ad break showing the same plugs as at the beginning in the middle of BBC shows though.


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## andy2002 (Jul 31, 2010)

*Bronson* - Tom Hardy's bloody brilliant and the film's a million miles away from the 'aren't criminals hilarious and admirable' nonsense I was expecting. You can't help liking Bronson and empathising with his plight (30 years locked up, 26 of it in solitary) whilst recognising how dangerous and unhinged he is. The more I think about it, the more I liked it - there are a couple of genuine laugh outloud moments, too.


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## Grandma Death (Jul 31, 2010)

District 9...I loved it. Slow start but it turned into a great movie.


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## stethoscope (Aug 1, 2010)

Sweeney Todd - 1979 Broadway production with Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou.


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## killer b (Aug 1, 2010)

fela kuti: music is the weapon


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## 100% masahiko (Aug 1, 2010)

*The 4th Kind *- Shit docufilm with touches of Blair Witch. Forgettable like an extended X-Files without the characters.


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## colbhoy (Aug 1, 2010)

Auf Weidersehen Pet, Series 1 episode 5 - when Neville gets the job in the Indian restuarant in Dusseldorf - great stuff!


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## stupid dogbot (Aug 1, 2010)

The A-Team

Exactly what you'd expect.


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## marty21 (Aug 1, 2010)

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

thought it was excellent.


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## mentalchik (Aug 1, 2010)

Clash Of The Titans -


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## discokermit (Aug 1, 2010)

beat the devil.

directed by john huston, written by huston and truman capote, starring humphrey bogart, peter lorre, robert morley and gina lollobrigida.

you would think it would be great but it wasn't. utter shit. i had to turn it off.

i need to watch 'the maltese falcon' to cleanse myself now.


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## Part 2 (Aug 1, 2010)

The secrets in their eyes...never knew where it was going at times but I loved the odd bits of humour between the two cops, a good film on the whole, 7/10


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## rollinder (Aug 2, 2010)

recent viewing : two episodes of Henry's Cat series 2, including the spoon bending one. Complete with a lolsome reference to being a "world champion bender"  plus another quick apperance of the bucktoothed squinty eyed Chinaman 

The Professionals - Old Dog New Tricks  & lol in places.
Bodie had to rip open Pamela Stephenson's blouse to get rid of the hand grenade down her cleavage  
Didn't get it from the handful of episodes I caught when I could still get itv4 but Bodie and Doyle are one of the few things where I definitely get the reason for the existence of slash.

today: The Usual Suspects - with John Ottman's commentary (music composer and film editor) Good stuff about how he cheated in the editing to make it like they'd got more footage than they actually had, and changes to the plot.


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## Clair De Lune (Aug 2, 2010)

Avatar the last airbender.
I want a flying bison


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## stupid dogbot (Aug 2, 2010)

What the fuck is that? 

Star Trek, the new one.

I thought I'd seen this, but I didn't remember any of it.

Better than I expected.


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## Captain Hurrah (Aug 2, 2010)

Don't mess with that red stuff.


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## imposs1904 (Aug 2, 2010)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

overated.


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## Idris2002 (Aug 2, 2010)

Inception - it will have a devoted cult following, and definitely a thrilling spectacle, but it just didn't have heart, you feel me?

Easy Rider - now this is more like it. Saw it on the big screen too, like it's meant to be seen. A lot better than you might think.


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## Part 2 (Aug 2, 2010)

Y Tu Mama Tambien...watched it to see where I'm going on holiday, besides that the film was okay.


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## The Octagon (Aug 3, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Y Tu Mama Tambien...watched it to see where I'm going on holiday, besides that the film was okay.


 
If by okay, you mean - 90 minute hard-on


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## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2010)

I watched half of From Hell which was good despite Johnny Depps accent being comedy-cockney. I really wanted to watch it all but kept nodding off. Will complete rest tonight.


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## Yetman (Aug 3, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Y Tu Mama Tambien...watched it to see where I'm going on holiday, besides that the film was okay.


 
I watched that on a plane back from the states.......the flight attendant came with refreshments just as the lad was neck deep in muff


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## The Octagon (Aug 3, 2010)

More Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Just watched the episode 'Party Favours', what an ending  (Oh Illythia, you evil-yet-ridiculously-alluring manipulator, I'm crushing hard now )

Hope somebody takes out that little twerp who gave the 'thumb down' though


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## avu9lives (Aug 3, 2010)

Wiv no breaking bad left to watch!  Im havin whivdrawl symptoms and i canna find anything thats the slightest bit interesting!  Tried Fringe, (nope) Wire, (nope) True blood, (nope) Dexter, (gone off it) Then Then Then!  I fink ive found one!  *In Treatment* starrin that irish bloke/  Uptoo episode 7 and im lovin it so far......  Hope it lasts or am goin to have to start watchin the feckin soaps!!!!!


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## Idris2002 (Aug 3, 2010)

The King of Marvin Gardens.

Again another sensitive and well-judged performance from Jack Nicholson in his prime. Nothing like the self-parody he later became.

Also a good example of what Chekhov said - if there's a gun on the stage in the first act, it had better be used by the last act.


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## Part 2 (Aug 3, 2010)

Klunkerz...documentary about the beginnings of mountain biking, Gary Fisher and his mates. 

Okay if you have an interest, cool that a bunch of hippies started a worldwide cycling revolution/movement/business.


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## idioteque (Aug 3, 2010)

Night before last I watched Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Love that film.


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## stupid dogbot (Aug 4, 2010)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Don't mess with that red stuff.




"Red matter": Not as badly named as "interferon particles"


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## Captain Hurrah (Aug 4, 2010)

What a way for a planet to go (singularity), though.  Just googling, and it does appear that inteferon at least is part of legit scientific clever cloggist beardo language.


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## The Octagon (Aug 4, 2010)

Moar *Spartacus: Blood and Sand*, bit of a low key episode by comparison to what's gone before, but it looks like shit is about to hit the fan, only 2 episodes to go.

Just seen the episode title for the finale, promising....


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## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2010)

You think you are inured to the intense violence by the time the final episode roles up. You aren't.


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## The Octagon (Aug 4, 2010)




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## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> You think you are inured to the intense violence by the time the final episode roles up. You aren't.


 
it's not exactly disturbing violence - it's like itchy & scratchy


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## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2010)

i saw the curious case of benjamin button.
eric roth should be shot for crimes against screen writing, or at the very least consigned to writing greetings cards.
fincher seems to be attempting to channel jean-pierre jeunet, especially in the intro.
top marks for production design, costumes and camerawork, but nil points for syruppy twee naustalgia. 
fincher should be ashamed of himself.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2010)

well, no, but it is 'fuck me!' violence, violence you can cheer along.

disturbing would be that stabbing scene in Gangster no! or the scenes in irreversible.


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## andy2002 (Aug 4, 2010)

*She's Gotta Have It* - rather misogynistic, I thought, something I didn't notice as much when I first saw it 20+ years ago.


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## Nanker Phelge (Aug 4, 2010)

Watched The A Team with Jnr. It was actually quite good until it got to the big crash bang wallop totally stupid finale.

Loved the dog fights, they kept a good feel of the original series....

As a piece of trash cinema it was alright.


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## Captain Hurrah (Aug 4, 2010)

Police cars giving chase, and then hitting a curb or something and overturning with the sirens changing tone as they crashed was a signature thing in the series, from what I remember.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2010)

does anyone get killed?


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## The Octagon (Aug 4, 2010)

In the A-Team film?

Yep, plenty of folk, I was initially a bit worried it was going to be all fluffy and nice.


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## Nanker Phelge (Aug 4, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> does anyone get killed?


 
Yeah, but BA has a crisis of faith...but Ghandi puts him right and he slaughters again!


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## Party04 (Aug 4, 2010)

Early Doors - Series One.

It's such a great sitcom and the humour throughout makes it a gem. I love Melanie, sexy and adorable.


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## Nanker Phelge (Aug 4, 2010)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Yeah, but BA has a crisis of faith...but Ghandi puts him right and he slaughters again!


 
Edit: This would be a spoiler if it wasn't the A-Team in which it just part of the weekly plot.....(without the slaughter).


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## The Octagon (Aug 4, 2010)

Party04 said:


> Early Doors - Series One.
> 
> It's such a great sitcom and the humour throughout makes it a gem. I love Melanie, sexy and adorable.


 
The coppers who pop in and spend all day in the back room are hilarious.

As is the pub quiz episode - "Pickles" *winks*


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## stupid dogbot (Aug 4, 2010)

Captain Hurrah said:


> What a way for a planet to go (singularity), though.  Just googling, and it does appear that inteferon at least is part of legit scientific clever cloggist beardo language.


 
O rly?

I just always assumed it was a lazy writer on that Voyager episode I saw. No wonder the inline spell checker didn't comment when I posted!


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## EL_Scooter (Aug 4, 2010)

*A Prophet / Un Prophete*

Watched "A Prophet" - Anyone else heard of it? It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. Won a bunch of film festival awards too. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend. Excellent crime drama. Reminiscent of The Godfather in plot. 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe8i9m_a-prophet-un-prophete-on-blu-ray-an_shortfilms


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## Reno (Aug 4, 2010)

EL_Scooter said:


> Watched "A Prophet" - Anyone else heard of it? It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. Won a bunch of film festival awards too. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend. Excellent crime drama. Reminiscent of The Godfather in plot.
> 
> http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe8i9m_a-prophet-un-prophete-on-blu-ray-an_shortfilms



Yes, there is a thread on here if you do a search. It's a great film, as is pretty much any film by Jacques Audiard. Mind, I really don't get the Godfather comparison. I know there was a quote on the poster from some review, but still...


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## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2010)

it's similar insofar as it has an extended and extremely gripping and tense scene in which our 'hero' has to psyche himself up to kill his target with a concealed weapon, i suppose


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## DJ Squelch (Aug 5, 2010)

2009 animated sci-fi film Metropia. Not particularly good plot wise but the photograph manipulation style of animation was quite interesting to watch in a creepy but beautiful kinda way.


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## Part 2 (Aug 5, 2010)

Baader Meinhof complex. Good I thought, probably need to read something about it all. Is there a definitive book?


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## Reno (Aug 5, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Baader Meinhof complex. Good I thought, probably need to read something about it all. Is there a definitive book?



_Remembering the Armed Struggle: Life in Baader-Meinhof_ by Margit Schiller is pretty gripping, even though she was a minor player.

The film is based on a book by Stefan Aust  with the same title and the book is a lot better than the film. Of all the books in the English language its the one that gives you the most comprehensive overview of events. Somehow the film was all action scenes and was somewhat incoherent, with character going through suddent shifts rather then there being any gradual development. The book fills in the gaps and details a lot more.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2010)

the crazies - this had so much promise, but it ended up being as cliched as all the other recent remakes. there were a couple of inspired moments though.


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## Part 2 (Aug 5, 2010)

Cheers Reno, I'll check them out.

Just watched Dig, the Dandy Warhols/Brian Jonestown Massacre documentary. Can't say I've ever paid much attention to either band but will probably have a listen to BJM, the film never really played a full song but Anton seems suitably mental anough to suggest the music has some promise.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2010)

i thought it was a great film about artistic hubris


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## butchersapron (Aug 5, 2010)

I watched the canal plus mini-series 6 hour job on Carlos - made clear what a tool he was. Yes, i'm so clever i meant that in more ways than one. Bit crap on all counts - no politics whatsoever, nothing. Bog standard action film set ups. One really good claustrophobic scene in 2nd part. Another one like the B_MF faction rubbish really.


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## Part 2 (Aug 6, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i thought it was a great film about artistic hubris



Fair point OU. When I'd heard about the film in the past 'd always thought they were hardly bands worthy of a documentary and I can't say it's discouraged the idea that they were/are bands without much to offer. Gonna give BJM a listen but I'll be surprised of they live up to the hype.


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## Nanker Phelge (Aug 6, 2010)

Watched a doc called 'Mine' all about the doemstic pets rescued post Hurricane Katrina.

In short, people were told they couldn't evacuate their pets or bring them to the shelters so many left them at home with food and water.

A number of Animal Rescue Services appeared post hurricane, a mix of charity volunteer groups and official recue unit, and the animals were famred out across the States to various rescue centres.

The film follows people returning to New Orleans and trying to track down their animals - some of which have been allocated new homes with new families.

Very human stories, lots of heartache, questions about ownership, animal cruetly (many dogs used in fighting were rescued), lots of conflicting views (most of which made sense) - some happy endings, some sad.

http://www.minethemovie.com/


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## ilovebush&blair (Aug 6, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Baader Meinhof complex. Good I thought, probably need to read something about it all. Is there a definitive book?


 
i read this book but it is also about the weather underground

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bringing-Wa...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281096638&sr=8-1

and it kinda reads like a text book.


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## Cm7 (Aug 6, 2010)

*A Single Man*

Thought it was ok.  Directed by fashion designer Tom Ford so I expected to see some beautiful stylish shots.  Yea, there are.  Also intensifying the colour saturation to communicate emotions of the main character.  But after a while it gets boring, I mean, I get it already.


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## The Octagon (Aug 6, 2010)

Final 2 episodes of *Spartacus: Blood and Sand *(S1).

Fucking hell! They weren't exaggerating too much with the episode title were they?

Highlights (spoilered just in case) - 



Spoiler: Kill Them All



Spartacus launching off Crixus' shield towards the assembled nobility on the balcony (and then Batiatus using a guest's head to block Spartacus' sword )

Illythia sealing the doors and smirking, my hate-crush only grows 

Lucretia: Please... Crixus... Our child... 
Crixus: I would rather see it dead.... Than suckle your breast. *sword through womb* 

Varro's wife going batshit crazy on the boy Numerius with a knife - "He was not a perfect man, but he was mine. HE WAS MINE!!" (I'd been hoping the little shit would get his just desserts).

And of course the end of Batiatus at Spartacus' hand. A real shame that John Hannah (and presumably Lucy Lawless ) will not be in S2, they were probably the best things about the show throughout. Apparently they will be in the prequel series being shot at the moment though


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## Nanker Phelge (Aug 6, 2010)

The Octagon said:


> Final 2 episodes of *Spartacus: Blood and Sand *(S1).
> 
> Fucking hell! They weren't exaggerating too much with the episode title were they?
> 
> ...


 
Bloody marvellous!


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## Motown_ben (Aug 6, 2010)

EL_Scooter said:


> Watched "A Prophet" - Anyone else heard of it? It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. Won a bunch of film festival awards too. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend. Excellent crime drama. Reminiscent of The Godfather in plot.
> 
> http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe8i9m_a-prophet-un-prophete-on-blu-ray-an_shortfilms



Saw this at the pictures last year last year, was very impressed with it, great film imho.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 6, 2010)

The Octagon said:


> Final 2 episodes of *Spartacus: Blood and Sand *(S1).
> 
> Fucking hell! They weren't exaggerating too much with the episode title were they?
> 
> ...


 

Told ya it was epic 

I immediatly went to youtube to watch videos of rioting afterwards as the justified pwnage made me get my riot-porn on.


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## andy2002 (Aug 7, 2010)

*Teeth* - yes, the 'vagina dentata' film. Surprisingly smart and funny. Jess Weixler's bloody ace in it.


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## jeff_leigh (Aug 8, 2010)

Kick-Ass  - Wicked Movie Excellent Soundtrack


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## souljacker (Aug 8, 2010)

Twilight

Fucking hell, who watches this shit? I quite liked the look of it, but the acting and script were atrocious. I was hoping that, as it had vampires in it, there would at least be some violence and gore interspersed with the teen angst. But no. It had nothing of interest at all. Absolute dogshit.


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## lunatrick (Aug 8, 2010)

Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, it was OK, I went into it thinking I'd probably warm to Ian Dury, not being that familiar with his work (too young really) but knowing his struggle with Polio, but I don't know if it portrayed him badly or he really was like that, but whilst having his moments generally came across as annoying and not very talented, really a slightly cooler version of Chas and Dave. Worth watching on telly if it's on, but I wouldn't add it to your lovefilm list!


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## Part 2 (Aug 8, 2010)

Shutter Island yesterday, really enjoyed it.

First episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, looking forward to getting through the series.

The long good friday, which I've not seen for years, good Sunday afternoon viewing.


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## Captain Hurrah (Aug 9, 2010)

Outlander.  Rather silly plot - spaceman crash lands in Viking-era Norway trying to hunt down and kill another alien thing with revenge on its mind - but an okay action film nevertheless.


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## jeff_leigh (Aug 9, 2010)

The Crazies ( original )


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## Lea (Aug 9, 2010)

Watched Heartbreaker (L'arnacoeur), a french romcom starring Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis. I found it to be a very funny film. Hollywood are already thinking of doing a remake. Well worth watching.


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## marty21 (Aug 9, 2010)

Lea said:


> Watched Heartbreaker (L'arnacoeur), a french romcom starring Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis. I found it to be a very funny film. Hollywood are already thinking of doing a remake. Well worth watching.


 
I liked that - saw it at the pics a month or so ago - I heart Romain   mancrush 


I watched Control last night - Ian Curtis bio pic - how could a bio pic about a bloke who killed himself not turn out to be depressing as fuck   Fine way to see out Sunday night


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## Nanker Phelge (Aug 9, 2010)

I watched The Girl that Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

A pretty messy conclusion to the trilogy really.

The first one was a great whodunnit, the 2nd could have been a brilliant revenge thriller and the 3rd a very good conspiracy story, but it all got a bit confused, the editing and directing was very sloppy by the third film and the plot so fractured that it didn't really make a lot of sense (lots of convenient plot twists that just brigded the gaps). The two leads kept it watchable, and the character of Lisbeth is a really interesting female character, but wasted in this film.


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## avu9lives (Aug 9, 2010)

Episode 9 n 10 of In Treatment!  And feckin lovin every minute of it)  43 episodes in the first series so it looks like im gonna be watchin nowt else fer a bit!  Happy days];'


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## Lea (Aug 9, 2010)

marty21 said:


> I liked that - saw it at the pics a month or so ago - I heart Romain   mancrush


 
I think that Romain Duris has a certain charm. 

I've seen him in a few films before including L'auberge espagnole (Pot Luck), it's sequel Russian Dolls and also in the Adventures of Arsene Lupin. Good actor.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2010)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - average thriller adapted from overrated pot-boiler - all a bit dour and humourless. the lass who plays 'the girl' should go places though.


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## maya (Aug 9, 2010)

Tremors: Kevin Bacon fights gigantic, people-eating worms burrowing up from inside the earth... Great fun


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## krtek a houby (Aug 9, 2010)

The Eye - HK original. 

The Thing - JC superior remake.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2010)

maya said:


> Tremors: Kevin Bacon fights gigantic, people-eating worms burrowing up from inside the earth... Great fun


 
i love that film. the perfect b-movie


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## maya (Aug 9, 2010)

-fantastic!  (unwittingly, we bought the "bargain" edition including the two sequels: the possibility of endless worm-gore marathon makes my brain hurt... (!)


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2010)

Final Destination 2. Her out of heroes is in it. Bad ecting, epic moustrap deaths. Fine for an 'I am two tired to watch a serious film' night.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2010)

i think it's brilliant - it's a great franchise and surprisingly consistent


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2010)

oh, I rate the moustrap deaths. Thats what makes em worth the watch- I also cheered when Candyman turned up as a creepy mortuary worker. the acting bits are mainly just filler though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2010)

the sunbed death is brilliantly done - is that in number 2?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2010)

in 3, which I haven't seen according to google. My favourite in two was the first one where the lottery winning dude (and his totally gratituous aplle product-placement' gets a fire escape to the eye.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Aug 9, 2010)

Not last night, but over the weekend, I saw Year One.

And I thought... "why the _fuck_ do I keep watching Jack Black films?"


----------



## Reno (Aug 9, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i think it's brilliant - it's a great franchise and surprisingly consistent


 
I like the first two, but 3 & 4 are rather shit.


----------



## rollinder (Aug 9, 2010)

Westworld - on the telly Saturday night & 
(How much of an influance on Han Solo was the first/other bloke?)

episode 1 of Fonejacker on seesaw


----------



## Cm7 (Aug 9, 2010)

*Mesrine 1 & 2*

I thought it was fantastic.  Vincent Cassel delivered a brilliant performance.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 9, 2010)

Just watched a film called Chicago Overcoat.

I'm a sucker for america gangster flicks and really thought this would be just another cheap by numbers effort but it was actually very very good.

A bit over lyrical in the dialogue and writing, but Frank Vincent makes for a compelling lead, playing it subtle and moody, a mix of Eastwood and Takeshi with some real humanity thrown in. I'd never believed he had the range, but he truly did.

It reminded me a lot of the lone hitman/gangster films from asia, but with a healthy dose of Sopranos/Goodfellas thrown in.

The plot never went where I expected it to and every performance, even the minor characters, were all very believable.

A nice suprise.


----------



## stethoscope (Aug 10, 2010)

Recording of Peter Ackroyd's 'London' doc series.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 10, 2010)

Wild Strawberries.

Ingmar Bergman's famous meditation on life and death in twentieth century Sweden. I thought I'd seen it - but within five minutes I realised I hadn't seen it all. Bergman's work became synonymous with self-consciously 'arthouse' film, and has been parodied many times over. But if you can get over the layers of cliche that this film has been buried under, you can appreciate what a very great artistic achievement Wild Strawberries is.


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2010)

Lea said:


> I think that Romain Duris has a certain charm.



Drool !


----------



## Cm7 (Aug 10, 2010)

*Kick Ass*

Though I have mixed feelings while watching it, I did laughed and enjoyed it.  
Some surprising and shocking scenes which I didn't expect which is a good thing.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 10, 2010)

I love you Philip Morris....great story, really enjoyed it.

Jim Jones People's Temple Jonestown Massacre documentary...seen it before, it's an excellent film.


----------



## gavman (Aug 11, 2010)

maya said:


> Tremors: Kevin Bacon fights gigantic, people-eating worms burrowing up from inside the earth... Great fun


 
that is an ace fillum

i'm about to watch a remake of 'the crazies'


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 11, 2010)

*Surrogates* - great premise squandered by a film that is too lightweight, functional and vanilla to do it justice. Even Bruce Willis is a bit subdued.


----------



## Motown_ben (Aug 11, 2010)

Im about 6 episodes into Sparticus - blood and sand. I know its not everyones taste but me and the missus manage to fit an episode a night in at the moment. If you like blood, guts, nudity and fucking set to a gladiator background id recommend it!


----------



## stupid dogbot (Aug 11, 2010)

Green Zone

Better than I expected it to be.


----------



## Reno (Aug 11, 2010)

Picnic at Hanging Rock. I watched this one quite a few times in the late 70s and 80s, but hadn't seen it for a while. This was the directors cut, which trims the film by nearly ten minutes, rather than adding stuff. It actually works slightly better this way. The last third, after they found one of the girls, meanders a bit and it's improved by deleting a superfluous sub-plot. Watched it on my projector in Blu-ray and it looked beautiful.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 11, 2010)

*The Children* - another underwhelming 15-certificate British 'horror' film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 11, 2010)

i thought it was pretty good - broke a couple of taboos


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 11, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i thought it was pretty good - broke a couple of taboos


 
Fair enough and I know exactly what you mean regarding taboos. Unfortunately I just found it a bit dull really - especially the kids, none of whom had that spooky, Midwich Cuckoos quality that might have elevated it a bit. It also didn't really help that all the adults in it were irritating, posh twats who deserved to die horribly.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 11, 2010)

stupid dogbot said:


> Green Zone
> 
> Better than I expected it to be.


 
I liked it - it's all action, gun play, explosions, chases, spies, betrayal, conspiracies - what more could you ask for ?



well not much sex tbf


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 11, 2010)

First few episodes of True Blood Season 2 (yes, I'm playing catch-up).

Not hanging about with the various storylines are they? Jason continues to crack me up with his idiocy, Eric finally loses his temper (_that scene_ in the basement was fucking awesome) and Sookie continues to wear very little and generally make the entire world about her regardless )

Bonus points for a rather unusually coy scene between Hoyt and Jessica (who is rapidly making me re-consider my voting on DotCom's redheaded sidekicks thread ).


----------



## stupid dogbot (Aug 11, 2010)

marty21 said:


> I liked it - it's all action, gun play, explosions, chases, spies, betrayal, conspiracies - what more could you ask for ?
> 
> 
> 
> well not much sex tbf



I guess I was just expecting it to be a bit shit... But yeah, it was quite entertaining.


----------



## maya (Aug 12, 2010)

Children Of The Stones: 1970s british village controlled by evil cult using standing stones to broadcast signals to space aliens... the horror!


----------



## jlasserton (Aug 12, 2010)

I watched part of The Proposal last night. It was on HBO so don't judge me for this movie!


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 12, 2010)

the boat that rocked - sexist bilge


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 12, 2010)

Watched The Transporter with Jnr last night - Fights, Car chases, Shu Qi.

Fun trash.

We watched a Film called Times Square the night before and American History X.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 13, 2010)

*Colin* - ultra-low-budget British zombie flick most of which is seen from the zombie's POV. There wasn't a lot of plot or structure to it but that only helped if anything - it had this strange, dream-like quality that worked really well. And the soundtrack was suitably unsettling, too.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Aug 13, 2010)

I watched Bad Boy Bubby last night, I was really impressed best film I have seen in a long time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Boy_Bubby


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 13, 2010)

Rope...which I've not seen for probably 25 years. Brilliant.

Le Couperet..French film about an unemployed fella who finds the perfect job and decides to kill the opposition. Dark but mostly very funny, he's a pretty shit murderer. Ending wasn't so great though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 14, 2010)

There Will Be Blood - Wow. Reminds me of Citizen Kane, a bit. Great soundtrack, too.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 14, 2010)

Micmacs...really enjoyed it, very fast moving so I'll probably re-watch as I missed a few bits.

Requiem for a dream with the teen, long time since I've seen it but stands up to repeat viewing and I love the soundtrack.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 14, 2010)

An eclectic double bill tonight...

*Sunshine Cleaning* - one of those bittersweet comedy/dramas about life, love and death or something. Pretty good but a bit twee for my tastes. She's a decent actress but it's hard to buy Amy Adams as a struggling single mum with confidence issues.

*Return Of The Living Dead* - it may not be the greatest zombie film ever made but it's certainly the most fun. "Send more paramedics..."


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 14, 2010)

more brains!


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2010)

The Fantastic Mr Fox. After Wes Anderson's last few films I expected to hate this, which is why it took me ages to get round to watching it. Turns out I was wrong, it was really great.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 15, 2010)

i love the movement in that film - the acrobatics just tickles me. 
and the fake swearing they do is hilarious.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 15, 2010)

michael gambon is ace as well as boggis


----------



## moonsi til (Aug 15, 2010)

I watched 'Brazil' on Saturday afternoon for the first time...all seemed to make sense in the end!


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 15, 2010)

When Darkness Falls, The Hunted, Two pretty shite movies


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 15, 2010)

Get Him To The Greek. Even better than Superbad.


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 15, 2010)

Legion - laughingly appalling
Shelter - not bad supernatural thriller


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2010)

Motown_ben said:


> Im about 6 episodes into Sparticus - blood and sand. I know its not everyones taste but me and the missus manage to fit an episode a night in at the moment. If you like blood, guts, nudity and fucking set to a gladiator background id recommend it!


The last episode of the series is on Bravo this Tuesday - every one just gets better.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 15, 2010)

looks like season 2's off the cards cos spartacus has got throat cancer- quite selfishly gutted.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 15, 2010)

Casbah, with Yvonne de Carlo and Peter Lorre.

Pepe gets shot in the end.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 15, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> looks like season 2's off the cards cos spartacus has got throat cancer- quite selfishly gutted.


 
it's just been delayed. he's all better now: http://www.dailystab.com/spartacus-blood-and-sand-star-andy-whitfield-cancer-free/
gradually catching up with spartacus - just seen the episode in which illythia beats her mate to death - fucking brutal!


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> looks like season 2's off the cards cos spartacus has got throat cancer- quite selfishly gutted.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Whitfield recovered and getting ready for 2nd series.


----------



## starfish (Aug 15, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - average thriller adapted from overrated pot-boiler - all a bit dour and humourless. the lass who plays 'the girl' should go places though.


 
Watched this last night. Just felt they cut too much out of the book & changed some important parts but i suppose there was a lot to fit in. Was all a bit meh. Nice scenery though.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 15, 2010)

Currently watching "The Dark Knight"...but I am a little drunk and it is _sooooo_ long so I may go to bed


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Aug 15, 2010)

Watched the infidel earlier but fell asleep and i just watched the first episode of afro samurai


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 15, 2010)

Repo Men - was alright


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 16, 2010)

Furry vengeance!   Omg its the funniest film ever#  bit difficult tryin to write this coz theres tears of laughter rolin down me face#  Breathe# hahahahaha. The bit were he turns the tap on and it shoots water over his groin area# hahahaha!  I cant write nowt else im creased up wiv laughter# hahahaha


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## 100% masahiko (Aug 16, 2010)

Shelock Homes - Mindless fun. It was good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 16, 2010)

Grizzly Man; Wener Herzog's look at the odd and tragic Timothy Treadwell who spent 13 summers living with Grizzly bears


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 16, 2010)

The Losers - basically the A Team meets The Unit with a Specials Ops outfit gets dobuled crossed and seeks revenge against dark agent storyline.

Shallow but fun.


----------



## Reno (Aug 16, 2010)

Left Bank - A Belgian supernatural thriller and the best horror film I've seen since Let the Right One In. It's a slow burner, but very atmospheric and it reminded me of both Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom and Rosemary's Baby. It's about a runner who has to stop training for a while because of an illness. She becomes involved with a man she meets in the changing rooms. To escape her controlling mother, she moves into his flat, which is in a run down tower block where something sinister appears to go on in the basement. Then she starts to investigate what happened to the young woman who lived in her her boyfriends flat before he moved in.

This is one of those films that keeps taking turns just when you think you know where it's going. It starts out as a love story, turns into a mystery and then things start getting weird. It also has a genuinely original pay off. Shame this didn't get a cinema release here, it's a great film.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 17, 2010)

Sounds good Reno. Got it on d/l now.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 17, 2010)

Woman of the Year.

I think this was the first big outing withe Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy playing opposite. Basically it's the story of how a bluestocking newspaper columnist is humbled by a tough-guy sports reporter. Historically interesting, in that even while Rosie was riveting, there was already an emphasis on how women's place was really in the home.

The first hour is pretty good, especially when KH flashes her legs. After the scene where she tries to explain the intellectual roots of Fascism to  ST while off her face on whiskey it all goes downhill from there.


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 17, 2010)

Last Man On Earth, a Vincent Price film from 1964. A fantastic and really creepy apocalyptic zombie film, basically where George Romero ripped off his ideas for Night Of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead! some scenes look almost identical, and the whole idea of the film, all the scenes of the deserted city, the last survivor in a world of zombies, it is excellent.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 17, 2010)

that's another adaptation of richard matheson's i am legend - check the omega man out too!


----------



## Cm7 (Aug 17, 2010)

*After Life*

DUMB!

There's no climax, no suspense, nothing, except having Christina Ricci naked.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 17, 2010)

*Batman Returns* - the plot's negligible but it's easily my favourite Batman film for the following reasons: 1. Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer are both superb in it - Michael Keaton's Batman is almost a guest star in his own movie! 2. Tim Burton's Gotham City looks fantastic. 3. I love the way it takes the campery of the 60s TV series and gives it a much darker edge.

If Christopher Nolan's Batman films had one-tenth of this film's wit and imagination they'd be substantially better than they are.


----------



## Reno (Aug 17, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Batman Returns* - the plot's negligible but it's easily my favourite Batman film for the following reasons: 1. Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer are both superb in it - Michael Keaton's Batman is almost a guest star in his own movie! 2. Tim Burton's Gotham City looks fantastic. 3. I love the way it takes the campery of the 60s TV series and gives it a much darker edge.



Depite the silly penguin battle it's my favourite Batman too. Gotham truly looks spectacular in this one and Pfeiffer in particular is just brilliant.


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 17, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> that's another adaptation of richard matheson's i am legend - check the omega man out too!


that's vincent price too isn't it? think i might take out Carnival of Souls next, that sounds like it is in the same creepy mood.

oh also i love that one of the zombies can speak normally, so they are all acting like night of the living dead zombies and then one of the pipes up "Morgan let me in! we are going to kill you!"


----------



## Reno (Aug 17, 2010)

rutabowa said:


> that's vincent price too isn't it? think i might take out Carnival of Souls next, that sounds like it is in the same creepy mood.



They would make a great double feature. Romero has acknowledged that Carnival of Souls was a major influence on Night of the Living Dead.


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## rutabowa (Aug 17, 2010)

Reno said:


> They would make a great double feature. Romero has acknowledged that Carnival of Souls was a major influence on Night of the Living Dead.


 make it  triple feature, showing night of the living dead at the end. actually you have to have dawn of the dead in there too, a quadruple.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 17, 2010)

Reno said:


> Pfeiffer in particular is just brilliant.



It'll never happen but I'd sell a kidney to see her reprise the role - she lights up Batman Returns like a firework display.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 17, 2010)

rutabowa said:


> that's vincent price too isn't it? think i might take out Carnival of Souls next, that sounds like it is in the same creepy mood.
> 
> oh also i love that one of the zombies can speak normally, so they are all acting like night of the living dead zombies and then one of the pipes up "Morgan let me in! we are going to kill you!"


 omega man is charlton heston - but the 'zombies'/'vampires' are sentient beings with a great flamboyant leader


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 17, 2010)

one good thing Romero did was take the vampire bit out of the zombie/vampire equation.


----------



## Reno (Aug 17, 2010)

I really like the first half of The Omega Man, but always thought the albino "family" were rather silly monsters. Mind, the Ron Grainer soundtrack is one of the best film scores of the 70s.

So far nobody filmed I Am Legend with the monsters being vampires, as they are in the novel.


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 17, 2010)

will in Last Man On Earth they get scared away by garlic and their own reflections, so they are kind of.


----------



## Reno (Aug 17, 2010)

rutabowa said:


> one good thing Romero did was take the vampire bit out of the zombie/vampire equation.



Sorry, you lost me there. Romero never filmed I Am Legend.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 17, 2010)

Reno said:


> I really like the first half of The Omega Man, but always thought the albino "family" were rather silly monsters. Mind, the Ron Grainer soundtrack is one of the best film scores of the 70s.
> 
> So far nobody filmed I Am Legend with the monsters being vampires, as they are in the novel.


they're some kind of vampires in the will smith version, aren't they?


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 17, 2010)

Reno said:


> Sorry, you lost me there. Romero never filmed I Am Legend. In the novel the creatures being vampires is very effective and creepy.


i prefer zombies, it is a more realistic situation. (i'm not talking about adaptions of that novel specifically)


----------



## Reno (Aug 17, 2010)

rutabowa said:


> i prefer zombies, it is a more realistic situation.



In the Matheson novel the creepiest thing is that the vampires, his former friends and neighbours,  shout out to him every night. The fact that they are articulate and that they fuck with his mind makes them much more scary than shuffling zombies. That they are "classic" monsters is also important for the pay off at the end and of course for the films they always had to come up with an extra explanation why they don't come out during the day.

That said, I haven't seen the Vincent Price film since I was a kid. I should check it out again.

I don't have a zombie/vampire preference. It depends on the approach you take. I'm not a huge fan of vampires as such, but my favourite horror film of the last decade was Let the Right One In, which showed that you can still have a fresh take on that particular sub-genre.


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 17, 2010)

ah well, in the vincent price film they are definitely vampirish in that they are scared of garlic etc, and they do call out to him, well only one of them does for some reason.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 17, 2010)

Just finished season 1 of In treatment" Feckin loved it" Tonite im gonna have to watch the first series of Farscape coz the girlfriends a big sci fi fan (Yawn) I hate feckin sci fi!!  Already thinkin up sum good excuses not to sit through it.. Spose thats the price you have to pay when she's lookin over yer shoulder while yer on the mega***** forum.


----------



## rollinder (Aug 18, 2010)

Dylan - Masterpieces vol1 : one of those 'it's legal honest' "unauthorised" live compilations from poundland

mostly 90s looking vintage concert/tv concert footage, in various degrees of pixel smudge (plus a 80s looking US tv studio You Gotta Serve Somebody, in fuzzy converted video). Amazing sound quality though.

Dylan's a bit croaky and in guess the song mode on some of the tracks,  (during Just Like A Woman he seems to be playing Singing One Song To The Tune Of Another while everybody else plays the right tune) and there's a cheesy 'surprise' guest appearance dueting on Mr Tambourine Man with David Crosby.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

the final episode of spartacus. fucking hell! how gory was that? was up there with the goriest of japanese gorefests.
i wonder how they're gonna do a season 2?


----------



## Lea (Aug 18, 2010)

Watched Ip Man on DVD last night. A martial arts film set during the Japanese occupation of China starring Donnie Yen. Really enjoyed it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 18, 2010)

*The Road* - Great movie about a father preparing his child for the crudeness of the world and on how to live when he is no longer.

Possibly the best 'father & son' movie since The Champ.
And just as sad.

And using a dystopian world/ cannabilistic world as a setting is always a plus.
Dog eat dog and all that.

Good writing and accurate to the book,


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> they're some kind of vampires in the will smith version, aren't they?


 
bestial type vampires- might as well be zombies for all the relation thy bear to classical vamps.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 18, 2010)

I kathodos ton 9 - fantastic film about a greek group of Partisans/communists on the run at the end of the greek civil war.

 Shadows of a Hot Summer - same vague sort of theme as above, this time it's about a Czechoslovakian peasant family dealing with a group of right wing Ukrainian guerrillas fighting their way across Europe in the post war years. Bandera's lot. Another good one.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 18, 2010)

Ah yes, two of Norman Wisdom's best!


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> they're some kind of vampires in the will smith version, aren't they?



No, they are more like infected type zombies in the likes of 28 Days Later, only more self aware. The are rendered via the most unneccessary and crap CGI ever. As they are humanoid they could have easily been played by actors in make up but these things never look like they inhabit the same space as the real people. Despite keeping the title of the book, the latest version is the one that departs the furthest from the novel.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 18, 2010)

Reno said:


> In the Matheson novel the creepiest thing is that the vampires, his former friends and neighbours,  shout out to him every night.



Yes it is.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

rocky balboa. i rather enjoyed it - stallone was excellent as the battered mumbling punchdrunk old man. it had some great scenes of working class philadelphia, esp the deprived environment his coach paulie still dwells in. some great scenes in rocky's restaurant where he half-heartedly spins his old fighting yarns to a bored local audience. the obligatory training montage is done with humour, showing rocky and his trainers' age - instead of running up the steps, he jogs up a gentle incline. it's shamelessly sentimental, but i love that about it and the other rocky films. the boxing match itself is ludicrously far-fetched and unbelievable but just as exciting as the matches in the other films and of course it uses bill conti's theme tune to great effect.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> *rocky balboa*


 
I cried to that film.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 18, 2010)

More human than when he was setting about defeating Communism then.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2010)

I still rate the one where he gets battered by Mr T at the start


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 18, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> I still rate the one where he gets battered by Mr T at the start



"Pain."


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 18, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> I still rate the one where he gets battered by Mr T at the start


 
I only like Mr T as a good guy.
Clubber Lang was well mean.

Yeah, 3, is perhaps the best of them all.
This scene  makes me, kinda happy.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

2 is the best. i think they're underrated films, as is stallone as an actor. many people seem to dismiss them as _just_ fight films.


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

The much hated 1976 version of King Kong, for sentimental reasons. It is pretty crap and the effects look dire now, but there are some good things about it. Some of the satire on US corporations is genuinely funny, John Barry's score is lovely and Jessica Lange is still the cutest girl in the monkey's paw. The end on top of the World Trade Centre has aquired some unintentional poignancy since.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

oh, i almost forgot, i also saw seven pounds. dreadful schmaltz with will smith grimacing a lot and killing himself with an octopus in the bath at the end. yes, i know it's a spoiler but i don't think anyone should watch this awful film.


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> oh, i almost forgot, i also saw seven pounds. dreadful schmaltz with will smith grimacing a lot and killing himself with an octopus in the bath at the end. yes, i know it's a spoiler but i don't think anyone should watch this awful film.



Is it a suicide pact over a love that can never be ? Never wanted to see this until now.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> oh, i almost forgot, i also saw seven pounds. dreadful schmaltz with will smith grimacing a lot and killing himself with an octopus in the bath at the end. yes, i know it's a spoiler but i don't think anyone should watch this awful film.


 That sounds fantastic - do you men he kills himself by using the octopus or it's just in the bath with him whilst he kills himself?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

butchersapron said:


> That sounds fantastic - do you men he kills himself by using the octopus or it's just in the bath with him whilst he kills himself?


 oops, i meant jellyfish
he uses a jellyfish he's bought in specially for the purpose. he talks about his childhood fascination with the box jellyfish earlier in the film - canny bit of foreshadowing


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

Reno said:


> Is it a suicide pact over a love that can never be ? Never wanted to see this until now.


 
no, it's guilt at being a bad driver


eta: here's a synopsis to save you the bother of watching it: 
will smith is sad. you know it cos he's frowning and the film's first scene is a flashforward to him reporting his own suicide. then he's driving around being horrible to people. it turns out he's some kind of medical insurance claims adjustor. so you think, oh that's why he's horrible to people. he's even horrible to a blind woody harrelson. oh, and at some random point he does a soliloquy about how fascinating he found jellyfish as a kid or summat. but anyway, then he starts being nice to people. downtrodden people who need a break in life, like blinds, abused wives, sick people. then it turns out that he's not a medical bastard, but he's just pretending to be one, using his brother's credentials. people are puzzled about why he is being nice all of a sudden, including a beautiful lady with a weak heart. he fixes her printing press and they fall in love, but he's all hot and cold and she's all hurt and confused. then it transpires that he's feeling sad cos a while ago he wasn't paying attention to the road and he crashes his car, killing his wife and some people in an suv. it turns out that the number of people he's helped (guess how many?) is the exact number he's killed. then he gets in the bath filled with ice water and releases a box jellyfish. he has a hilarious fit and then dies.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> 2 is the best. i think they're underrated films, as is stallone as an actor. many people seem to dismiss them as _just_ fight films.



I remember thinking Stallone was superb in Copland but it was so long ago that I wonder if my memory is playing tricks on me. Anyone care to agree with me/shoot me down in flames?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2010)

He played quite an understated role in a not very good film- I saw it at the cinema and recall thinking that sly showed a side to his acting that I'd not seen before even though I was underwhelmed by the actual film. Many years since I saw it though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

copland is the james mangold film in which he plays a dimwit fatty cop who's deaf in one ear. so not much of a stretch from playing a washed-up punchdrunk boxer.


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

When film stars who mostly do action give a just-about adequate performance in a drama, people often fall over themselves to praise them to high heaven. Same with Bruce Willis in The 6th Sense and Tom Cruise in Magnolia.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 18, 2010)

Reno said:


> The much hated 1976 version of King Kong, for sentimental reasons. It is pretty crap and the effects look dire now, but there are some good things about it. Some of the satire on US corporations is genuinely funny, John Barry's score is lovely and Jessica Lange is still the cutest girl in the monkey's paw. The end on top of the World Trade Centre has aquired some unintentional poignancy since.


 
I havw quite a soft spot for that version, I mean it is pretty shit but there are some good actors in it and it is enjoyable enough


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

Reno said:


> When film stars who mostly do action give a just-about adequate performance in a drama, people often fall over themselves to praise them to high heaven. Same with Bruce Willis in The 6th Sense and Tom Cruise in Magnolia.


 and van damme in jcvd.
has schwarzenegger ever been praised as an ACT-OR?
don't think so.


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> has schwarzenegger ever been praised as an ACT-OR?
> don't think so.


 
He got a little bit of acclaim when he first started doing comedy roles and he has modest skills in doing a double take. He's always been wise in kowing where his limitations are and he's never done a proper dramatic role.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2010)

Kindergarten Cop and Twins both spring to mind for Arnie doing funny but only funny because it is arnie not actually killing everyone.

Also, D Niro in Meet the Parents. He didn't actually step outside of his intense gangsterish role but because of the situation he was in that became funny.

Once Upon A Time In America is a good example of why De Niro isn't THAT great- some of the performances in that were brilliant, notably the kid who plays his younger self. When he was playing the adult it was strangely one-note. You can forgive it for the beautiful visuals and the nuanced performances from other cast members.


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

I completely disagree with you on De Niro there. He's fantastic and rather subtle in Once Upon a Time in America, playing a man who is emotionally stunted. Elizabeth McGovern is the one role which is terribly miscast. She really suffers from the comparison with Jennifer Connelly, who is much better as the younger version.

I think you are pretty much on your own in classing him as an action films star there. De Niro is rightly considered as one of the great American actors and he never became as hammy and shouty as Pacino did in later years.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 18, 2010)

I thought DeNiro was great in Once Upon A Time......

Leone said he was amazing to work with, and they used the same filiming methods as on the westerns, filming without recording sound, but playing the soundtrack as they acted and then dubbing everything else later.

The role calls for him to play a man returning hesitantly to a past that was nothing but threat to him. He plays it like a scared and cautious human being, and that's what comes across.

Lots of films would have had the big bad gangster coming back and toughing it out, whereas the character of noodles has no balls left, just the knowledge that he had been a vicious, rapist, double-crossing cunt who shit on everything and everyone around him.

No wonder he was pensive.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2010)

I dunno, for me the only scene where he really really shone through was when explaining why he wouldn't kill the guy who had stolen his woman and his life. The way he delivered that speech about being old, hands shaking etc really made the film for me- although overall I preferred the childhood scenes. A damn long film but I never even noticed till the credits rolled and I looked at the clock. Makes me want to seek out more sergio


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2010)

Reno said:


> I completely disagree with you on De Niro there. He's fantastic and rather subtle in Once Upon a Time in America, playing a man who is emotionally stunted. Elizabeth McGovern is the one role which is terribly miscast. She really suffers from the comparison with Jennifer Connelly, who is much better as the younger version.
> 
> I think you are pretty much on your own in classing him as an action films star there. De Niro is rightly considered as one of the great American actors and he never became as hammy and shouty as Pacino did in later years.



What did you make of Carlito's Way, Reno? I recall thoroughly enjoying it but in compare/contrast with OUATIA it doesn't even touch the same league really imho.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

i found that rather annoying, but then i find al pacino rather annoying


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> What did you make of Carlito's Way, Reno? I recall thoroughly enjoying it but in compare/contrast with OUATIA it doesn't even touch the same league really imho.



Love the film and it's one of Pacino more restrained later performances. It's not in the same league as OUTIA which is one of my all time favourites, but it's still great.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2010)

sean penn is ridiculous in it. i've never rated him as an actor


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> sean penn is ridiculous in it. i've never rated him as an actor



Great wig though.

I liked him in it. I like the whole take on the 70s disco era in Carlito's Way which in terms of art direction for once isn't represented to look tacky and ridiculous.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 18, 2010)

I remember liking Carlito's Way when I was going through gangster films, not sure how it would play nowadays.

Last night I watched Reno's recommended Left Bank. I rated it too despite the occasional bad dialogue (possibly bad interpretation in the subs) and a bit far fetched in some of the plot. Like Let the right one in it was really nicely shot and a change to the usual horror stuff.

Then watched Au Revoir Les Enfants. Always imagined this wouldn't be much my cup of tea and started out thinking it wasn't really going anywhere. really liked it by the end though.

Tonight I've just watched Zidane: A 21st century portrait. I'm not a football fan but the little un was keen to watch it. I expected a regular documentary and despite being far from a straightforward film he stuck with it and thought it was great. I found it captivating, really amazing and beautifully made. For a film that just floats along the 90 minutes went really quickly, far quicker than a football match would. Mogwai score was a bonus, well recommended.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 19, 2010)

Kickass. A prepubescent girl slices the legs off grown men. Later, the same prepubescent girl gets the living shit kicked out of her by a grown man. But does he prevail? Fuck no!

It all happens to this on the soundtrack:


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 19, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> sean penn is ridiculous in it. i've never rated him as an actor


 
Au contraire: Imo he's one of the best actors of the generation.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 19, 2010)

Crazy Heart -  A truly predictable film in which Jeff Bridges does a fantastic impression of Kris Kristofferson as a drunken country singer going through all the usual movie cliches attached to films about musicians and Maggie Gyllenhaal is yet again cast as a stupid woman making stupid choices about stupid men.

When will she realise that playing weak women living shit lives is not really challenging acting?

Bridges was actually as good as always but why they didn't serve this role straight up to Kristofferson is beyond me. Maybe it was too close to home for him?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 19, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> I dunno, for me the only scene where he really really shone through was when explaining why he wouldn't kill the guy who had stolen his woman and his life. The way he delivered that speech about being old, hands shaking etc really made the film for me- although overall I preferred the childhood scenes. A damn long film but I never even noticed till the credits rolled and I looked at the clock. Makes me want to seek out more sergio


 
Yes, the early scene when they are a young gang are the most fun.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 19, 2010)

*Public Enemies* - the cast's impressive (Depp, Bale, Cotillard), the film looks great, there are some exciting action sequences and the John Dillinger story is a fascinating one. But this never really engages as much as it should - it just never grabs you and makes you care about its characters. One of the problems could be Depp - who I usually like. He turns in a very low-key performance that makes me wonder if he was entirely comfortable in the role. Not bad but a bit disappointing.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 19, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Public Enemies* - the cast's impressive (Depp, Bale, Cotillard), the film looks great, there are some exciting action sequences and the John Dillinger story is a fascinating one. But this never really engages as much as it should - it just never grabs you and makes you care about its characters. One of the problems could be Depp - who I usually like. He turns in a very low-key performance that makes me wonder if he was entirely comfortable in the role. Not bad but a bit disappointing.


 
I thought it was shit. A wasted opportunity. And factually bollocks.


----------



## Motown_ben (Aug 19, 2010)

Episode 8 of True Blood season 3.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 20, 2010)

*Fish Tank* - Suitably harrowing depiction of life on an Essex council estate complete with pitbull terriers, grimy flats and a cliched single mum straight off Jeremy Kyle. Young Katie Jarvis is great in it and the film's pretty engrossing, but I couldn't quite shake the feeling this was just 'chav porn' for the chattering classes to tut at.


----------



## Reno (Aug 20, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Fish Tank* - Suitably harrowing depiction of life on an Essex council estate complete with pitbull terriers, grimy flats and a cliched single mum straight off Jeremy Kyle. Young Katie Jarvis is great in it and the film's pretty engrossing, but I couldn't quite shake the feeling this was just 'chav porn' for the chattering classes to tut at.



I didn't think there was anything hugely harrowing or particularely worthy to tut about in the film. That girls childhood was not much worse than my middleclass childhood and she's a likable character. There are dysfunctional parents in all classes and while the mother was a cow, she wasn't a complete monster.


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 20, 2010)

"Straight to Hell" a surreal spoof spaghetti western by Alex Cox starring Joe Strummer, Courtney Love, Shane McGowan, Elvis Costello and Dennis Hopper. sounds cool, is actually utter shit.


----------



## Reno (Aug 20, 2010)

oh, ffs. the editing controls are all in the wrong place now.


----------



## dlx1 (Aug 20, 2010)

Film4 Wrong Turn at terrible film had to watch end see what happens


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 20, 2010)

Episode 2 Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Very good, depsite some of it going over my head. I think I'll need to watch it again.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 20, 2010)

dlx1 said:


> Film4 Wrong Turn at terrible film had to watch end see what happens


 
Translation - I had a 90 minute Eliza Dushku wank.


----------



## dlx1 (Aug 20, 2010)

> Translation - I had a 90 minute Eliza Dushku wank.


 I think not way to skinny woman.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 20, 2010)

Shaolin Soccer...ridiculous and very funny. My little un had a mate round for tea while we were watching it. I got the idea he'd never seen anything so daft.


----------



## rollinder (Aug 20, 2010)

More episodes of Roobarb inc When It Wasn't Thorsday (The Gods get their revenge on Roobarb for pretending to be Thor and throwing lighting bolts round the garden, & he briefly becomes a dog on wheels ridden by Custard  )
about half of a Redemption TV live metal sampler - some good bands


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 20, 2010)

Felt-tip pen animation.


----------



## Cm7 (Aug 20, 2010)

*Belleville Rendez-Vous*

Fantastic animation!!!  
Twisted story with humours.
Highly recommend.


----------



## Reno (Aug 21, 2010)

*Chloe*, Atom Egoyan's most mainstream film to date. This falls vaguely within the territory of the erotic thriller, but because Egoyan has always made more interesting and complex films about human sexuality than most directors who have gone there, this never becomes quite as trite or tacky  than these films tend to be. A remake of a French film which I haven't seen, this is about a well off woman (Julianne Moore) who suspects her husband (Liam Neeson) to be having affairs. She then hires a high class prostitute (Amanda Seyfried) to seduce him and to report back. Then things get a bit more complicated than she bargained for. Towards the end it becomes a bit generic and melodramatic, but mostly it's a lot more subtle and shaded than most films of its kind.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 21, 2010)

rutabowa said:


> sounds cool, is actually utter shit.



 Most of us know this already.

Certainly must have been more fun to make than watch.

I feel most sorry for Hopper - he was sober throughout!


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 21, 2010)

Reno said:


> I didn't think there was anything hugely harrowing or particularely worthy to tut about in the film. That girls childhood was not much worse than my middleclass childhood and she's a likable character. There are dysfunctional parents in all classes and while the mother was a cow, she wasn't a complete monster.


 
There are certainly dysfunctional parents in every social class but somehow it's the working class/underclass who cop by far the most flak for it. I liked Fish Tank but think parts of it were very cliched - I never said the mother was a 'complete monster' but she was a lazy stereotype of the kind regularly found in tabloid newspapers. She had no depth or characteristics beyond being shit at raising her kids, swearing and getting pissed. And I certainly found aspects of the film harrowing - the grinding poverty, the way Mia and her mum are betrayed by Conor, Mia's 'audition'; I could go on...


----------



## marty21 (Aug 21, 2010)

Lust,Caution - beautifully looking, a bit too long and slow moving though, with some saucy sex to liven it up a bit, not a bad film, but could have lopped 30 minutes off it (whilst keeping the sauce)


----------



## Cm7 (Aug 22, 2010)

*He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not*

Not knowing what the film was about, I enjoyed the storytelling method.
Audrey Tautou for once played someone that is not as lovable as she always is in other films.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 22, 2010)

The Way of the Gun -


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 22, 2010)

*Jennifer's Body* - enjoyable, silly-arsed demonic possession romp with Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. In tone it reminded me of 80s movies like Fright Night which also mixed horror and comedy.


----------



## Maggot (Aug 22, 2010)

*Galaxy Quest* - Enjoyable Sci-Fi Parody, about a bunch of TV stars who get enilsted to help a whole race of aliens who are descended from Kevin Eldon.


----------



## Lakina (Aug 22, 2010)

Maggot said:


> *Galaxy Quest* - Enjoyable Sci-Fi Parody, about a bunch of TV stars who get enilsted to help a whole race of aliens who are descended from Kevin Eldon.


 
tim allen such a bore


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2010)

Lakina said:


> tim allen such a bore



You don't have to be a Tim Allen fan to appreciate the film.


----------



## kropotkin (Aug 22, 2010)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> no, it's guilt at being a bad driver
> 
> 
> eta: here's a synopsis to save you the bother of watching it:
> will smith is sad. you know it cos he's frowning and the film's first scene is a flashforward to him reporting his own suicide. then he's driving around being horrible to people. it turns out he's some kind of medical insurance claims adjustor. so you think, oh that's why he's horrible to people. he's even horrible to a blind woody harrelson. oh, and at some random point he does a soliloquy about how fascinating he found jellyfish as a kid or summat. but anyway, then he starts being nice to people. downtrodden people who need a break in life, like blinds, abused wives, sick people. then it turns out that he's not a medical bastard, but he's just pretending to be one, using his brother's credentials. people are puzzled about why he is being nice all of a sudden, including a beautiful lady with a weak heart. he fixes her printing press and they fall in love, but he's all hot and cold and she's all hurt and confused. then it transpires that he's feeling sad cos a while ago he wasn't paying attention to the road and he crashes his car, killing his wife and some people in an suv. it turns out that the number of people he's helped (guess how many?) is the exact number he's killed. then he gets in the bath filled with ice water and releases a box jellyfish. he has a hilarious fit and then dies.


I'm lying here imagining the writer pitching it to the movie execs.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 22, 2010)

i watched the road finally. it had its moments but it failed to live up to the atmosphere of the book


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i watched the road finally. it had its moments but it failed to live up to the atmosphere of the book


 
What a dull film. I had loved The Propostion, so I'd had great hopes for this.


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2010)

I watched Fritz Lang's M on Blu-ray. I hadn't seen it in a long time. Amazing how contemporary it is in it's attitudes and then two years later the Nazi's plunged Germany back into the middle ages.


----------



## starfish (Aug 22, 2010)

We watched a rather strange French animated film called "Fantastic Planet" (La Planete Sauvage) that id recorded on Sky Arts. 
Then "Frailty", have to say i didnt expect or suspect the ending.


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2010)

starfish said:


> We watched a rather strange French animated film called "Fantastic Planet" (La Planete Sauvage) that id recorded on Sky Arts.



I love that film.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 22, 2010)

starfish said:


> We watched a rather strange French animated film called "Fantastic Planet" (La Planete Sauvage) that id recorded on Sky Arts.


 
Ahh I adore that film. Has one of the best openings of any film I've seen. If you enjoyed it you should also see Les Maitres du Temps, kind of a sequel in that it's set in a similar sort of world/time, but not a continuing story line.

I watched Rec which was a pretty stupid idea as I'm alone in my parents old house that makes strange noises 

Last night I watched Moon, which was ok, not what I was expecting which makes me wonder if I was thinking of another film but I don't know what. 

I also watched Noise which was something I picked up on a whim at the video store because it sounded good, and I did indeed enjoy it . I liked the whole urban soundscape throughout.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 22, 2010)

the human centipede - beyond the initiial horror of the idea, it doesn't sustain a whole movie. the mad scientist is suitably manic and creepy, but it's not particularly horrific or exciting. you don't feel for any of the characters. beyond showing that the mad scientist hates humans (we know this cos he says 'I HATE HUMANS)' and that he's fonder of dogs (he fondles a picture of some rottweillers he centipeded earlier), no attempt at characterisation is made. occasionally the victims hold hands to show solidarity, but we know nothing about them, so we're indifferent to their fate. 
it's one of the things that irks me about modern horror films - we need to care about the victims to some extent to feel fear on their behalf, though there's a certain grim satisfaction to seeing paris hilton-alikes being brutally butchered, but that's a different kind of film altogether...


----------



## marty21 (Aug 23, 2010)

Somerstown 

quite a sweet film, funny, reminded me of Ken Loach films from the 80s/90s, I know the area as well, so it was a case of 'I've been there!' at several points in the film.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 23, 2010)

Monsters Vs Aliens.

It's the second time I have watched it, not sure why I watched it again. It's ok I suppose.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 23, 2010)

"Let The Right One In" - loved the book and really enjoyed the film. Though the film inevitably leaves quite a lot out that is in the book I liked the fact that it focused on the relationship between Oskar and Eli, both of whom gave excellent performances. Beautifully shot too.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 23, 2010)

Lakina said:


> tim allen such a bore


 
Yeah but he is very funny in it! Possibly one of the best things he's done. Apart from the voice of Buzz Lightyear!


----------



## Maggot (Aug 23, 2010)

Lakina said:


> tim allen such a bore


 

Actors are only as boring as the roles they play, and he's great in Galaxy Quest.


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 23, 2010)

i watched "black cat white cat" again, a serbian gypsy comedy, it is very good, don't think that film could ever get boring.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Aug 23, 2010)

The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Odd. And... rubbish, quite frankly.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 23, 2010)

Motorama!   Definately a feckin weird film[ every 10 to 15 mins i kept saying Wtf is going on here? Couldnt figure it owt at all but kept watchin all the same.  IMBd genre says it all really (adventure,Comedy,Crime,Drama,Fantasy,Mystery,scifi,Thriller) Wtf!!  Recommended just to see if yer can figure out what the hells goin on.  Answers on a postcard.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 23, 2010)

*Legion* - Terminator meets Evil Dead but without the charm. A truly terrible film comprising of plastic characters/ ideas borrowed from iconic movies.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 23, 2010)

The Prestige

Really enjoyed it, even Bowie's Tesla


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 23, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Monsters Vs Aliens.
> 
> It's the second time I have watched it, not sure why I watched it again. It's ok I suppose.


 



I thought it was incredibly weak and overlong- I suppose the bar had already been set high with incredible, which probably skewed my judgement a bit


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 23, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> I thought it was incredibly weak and overlongt


 
That's what I thought the first time, but with my low expectations in place for a second viewing I think it faired a bit better. Plus I was drunk so it didn't seem all that long.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 23, 2010)

Seen Cloudy with a chance of meatballs?


----------



## smmudge (Aug 23, 2010)

Leon. Very nice.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 23, 2010)

it's not very nice though, is it?


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2010)

A Serbian Film


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 23, 2010)

i'm going to watch that tomorrow - what did you make of it?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 23, 2010)

Leon is great. Natalie Portman makes you feel like a Beast and gary oldman, well he does gary oldman. Some excellent gunplay scenes as well.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 23, 2010)

Well it's quite nice...in some places....


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i'm going to watch that tomorrow - what did you make of it?



I'll have to have a think about that one a bit more because I only just finished watching it. I wasn't that shocked by it, probably because it has been hyped up as the most shocking thing ever and I have seen a lot of extreme cinema. I really braced myself and then it wasn't quite as bad as imagined it would be. I've seen more mainstream films that I've been more offended by (Fatal Attraction, Looking for Mr Goodbar, Dancer in the Dark) because I found what they had to say more offensive. Politically this film doesn't say anything I find offensive and in the end it's just a movie with special effects. It quite obviously is made as a provocation and I never took it seriously, because. I never felt that engaged by the characters. There is one moment involving an extreme eye injury (and then some) that did actually make me laugh in its gross out outrageousness, but then I've seen a lot extreme cinema.

I would really like to know more about what is behind it. It's clearly meant as a satire and there are moments that are incredibly gross in conception if still fairly conventional in execution. It's never more explicit than a Hostel film, it's just that it keeps breaking a few last taboos that  push buttons. I've read reports about war crimes during the Bosnian war some of this reminded me of and I wonder he is sharing some of the horror of that. Then you have to go, well compared to the real thing, enduring this film is nothing. 

That said, I can see that this would make many people short circuit. There is quite a bit of simulated kiddie sex in it and it's just a taboo that many people won't ever want to confront. As soon as you are exposed to this type of imagery, there is already the lingering accusation that it's something you want to see and are turned on by. I'm quite secure in the knowledge that fucking children doesn't do anything for me, so I took the simulated sex with children as the ultimate provocation and regarded it as what it was supposed to be, the dead baby joke to end them all. It's like a Chapman Brothers sculpture on celluloid

I'm pretty sure that just watching the film and especially saying anything in defence of it will put you on the naughty step for many people, but I don't actually regret having seen it as I feared I would.


----------



## la ressistance (Aug 24, 2010)

Reno said:


> A Serbian Film



i watched it today and didnt like it at all.turned it off halfway through.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

la ressistance said:


> i watched it today and didnt like it at all.turned it off halfway through.



That's fair enough and I think it may be a sensible response for most people.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2010)

Reno said:


> I'll have to have a think about that one a bit more because I only just finished watching it. I wasn't that shocked by it, probably because it has been hyped up as the most shocking thing ever and I have seen a lot of extreme cinema. I really braced myself and then it wasn't quite as bad as imagined it would be. I've seen more mainstream films that I've been more offended by (Fatal Attraction, Looking for Mr Goodbar, Dancer in the Dark) because I found what they had to say more offensive. Politically this film doesn't say anything I find offensive and in the end it's just a movie with special effects. It quite obviously is made as a provocation and I never took it seriously, because. I never felt that engaged by the characters. There is one moment involving an extreme eye injury (and then some) that did actually make me laugh in its gross out outrageousness, but then I've seen a lot extreme cinema.
> 
> I would really like to know more about what is behind it. It's clearly meant as a satire and there are moments that are incredibly gross in conception if still fairly conventional in execution. It's never more explicit than a Hostel film, it's just that it keeps breaking a few last taboos that  push buttons. I've read reports about war crimes during the Bosnian war some of this reminded me of and I wonder he is sharing some of the horror of that. Then you have to go, well compared to the real thing, enduring this film is nothing.
> 
> ...


 
thanks, maybe i should wait til i have returned from my holiday in croatia to view this film.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

Reno said:


> That's fair enough and I think it may be a sensible response for most people.


 
Then why were you able to finish it?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

Googling it, I realize that I've seen this movie, although it was called 'The Professional'. You know, I can't recall there being child sex scenes in it - maybe they were cut out or something. Or maybe it just didn't stick in my memory.


My recollection was that it was a pretty good film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Then why were you able to finish it?


curiosity perhaps?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Googling it, I realize that I've seen this movie, although it was called 'The Professional'. You know, I can't recall there being child sex scenes in it - maybe they were cut out or something. Or maybe it just didn't stick in my memory.
> 
> 
> My recollection was that it was a pretty good film.


are you sure it's the same film?
eta: you're confused. reno is talking about 'a serbian film'. you are talking about 'leon'. read.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> are you sure it's the same film?



The one I saw is directed by Luc Besson, starring Jean Reno.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Léon_(film)


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The one I saw is directed by Luc Besson, starring Jean Reno.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Léon_(film)


 
read


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> are you sure it's the same film?
> eta: you're confused. reno is talking about 'a serbian film'. you are talking about 'leon'. read.


 
Oh, I thought he was describing 'Leon' to be 'a Serbian film', for some reason. Most of the posts beforehand seemed to be about Leon.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

Actually I just realised what A Serbian Film really reminded my of and in what spirit I took it. It's like the film version of the showbusiness joke The Aristocrats, the one the documentary is about.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

> Vukmir shows Milos a clip of a man helping a woman give birth to a baby girl; the man then proceeds to rape the newborn in what the director calls "newborn porn





> The covers are taken off of the body Milos is raping and it is Milos' young son, drugged and in a state of shock.





> He says start with the little one, and an actor unzips himself.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Serbian_Film


Give me a fucking break.

I'll have to go back and reread the posts trying to intellectualize the voyeurism necessary to watch such trash.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

See, just as I said, you just mention that you watched the film and some twat will start with the tabloid style moral outrage.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Serbian_Film
> 
> 
> Give me a fucking break.
> ...


<a big sigh>


----------



## la ressistance (Aug 24, 2010)

Reno said:


> Actually I just realised what A Serbian Film really reminded my of and in what spirit I took it. It's like the film version of the showbusiness joke The Aristocrats, the one the documentary is about.



i agree.i watched it build and build,then it got the baby scene and i thought,fuck this ive had enough.
at no point is it actually hard to watch,like the rape in irreversible,but the whole thing is uncomfortable with no redeeming features.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

Reno said:


> See, just as I said, you just mention that you watched the film and some twat will start with the tabloid style moral outrage.


 
Any morals dissimilar from your own are not automatically 'tabloid-style' morals.

What moral structure is it that allows one to obtain either pleasure or enlightenment from a movie such as the one described in the wikipedia entry? The mere fact that someone was able to think up the plot line and then convince someone to fund the project, doesn't confer automatic credibility on the product.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Any morals dissimilar from your own are not automatically 'tabloid-style' morals.
> 
> What moral structure is it that allows one to obtain either pleasure or enlightenment from a movie such as the one described in the wikipedia entry? The mere fact that someone was able to think up the plot line and then convince someone to fund the project, doesn't confer automatic credibility on the product.



You still are a silly twit Canuck and you always will be. I'm off to bed....


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

Reno said:


> You still are a silly twit Canuck and you always will be. I'm off to bed....


 
It's good. You and your confreres of the heightened and sharply-honed, _advanced_ morality, will be secure in your pastime of looking down your noses at the silly twits who can imagine no good reason for watching a movie thrown together around the core image/idea of an adult man raping a newborn baby.

Have a good night.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 24, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Seen Cloudy with a chance of meatballs?


 
On a plane. I wouldn't have bothered looking otherwise but it was really kind of ok.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 24, 2010)

My last film on a plane was a Ricky Gervais one on the way to Bishkek.  I was happy that the headphones weren't working and went back to sleep.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 24, 2010)

*Antichrist:* confounding and challenging or a load of misogynistic old cobblers? Frankly, I have no idea really but it looked nice and some of the stuff Lars von Trier seemed to be saying about the dehumanising horror of grief and guilt was powerful and interesting. I liked the way it bolted horror tropes (the cabin in the woods, witches, Satan, the cruelty of nature) onto a very raw human story about a couple losing their child.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 24, 2010)

Looking for Eric - Nice feelgood movie


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 24, 2010)

Captain Hurrah said:


> My last film on a plane was a Ricky Gervais one on the way to Bishkek.  I was happy that the headphones weren't working and went back to sleep.


 
Was that the lie film one? 

That could have been great but just fell into a very tired hollywood formula hole half way though instead of subverting it (which it seemed to be stetting out to do).


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 24, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Was that the lie film one?
> 
> That could have been great but just fell into a very tired hollywood formula hole half way though instead of subverting it (which it seemed to be stetting out to do).


 
Yeah, that's the one.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 24, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Antichrist:* confounding and challenging or a load of misogynistic old cobblers? Frankly, I have no idea really but it looked nice and some of the stuff Lars von Trier seemed to be saying about the dehumanising horror of grief and guilt was powerful and interesting. I liked the way it bolted horror tropes (the cabin in the woods, witches, Satan, the cruelty of nature) onto a very raw human story about a couple losing their child.



I've had discussions with feminists who think that that's a very misogynistic film, mainly because the woman yields in the end and admits her 'inherent evil', but I think that misses the point somewhat. I know directors' intentions shouldn't always be an indicator of this sort of thing but Von Trier actually treats his female protagonists with a lot of sympathy, so I don't see how he would suddenly turn against that in this film. I think he's commenting on misogyny, sure (the man doesn't exactly come out smelling of roses here), but that doesn't make it misogynistic.

Other than that I quite liked the film, although he maybe tried a bit too hard to be controversial.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

I think Von Triers films are misogynistic and they strike me as rather childish in their desperation to provoke. Mind, I found Antichchrist so intensely silly that I wasn't offended by the whole "women are the root of all evil" gubbins. There is formal skill there and his films are so luridly entertaining that I will always check them out. The scenes of Gainsbourg walking through the fairy tale forrest were rather beautiful.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 24, 2010)

I really don't see how Dancer in the Dark can be misogynistic, apart from maybe towards all the men who let her down.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2010)

how can one be misogynistic towards men?


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

smmudge said:


> I really don't see how Dancer in the Dark can be misogynistic, apart from maybe towards all the men who let her down.



Von Trier took great glee in completely obletarating his central female character, who is shown to be nothing but a powerless victim within circumstances that aren't based on any recongnisable reality. She has plenty of opportunities to save herself, but like the idiot she is, she never takes them. Von Trier is like a kid pulling the wings off flies. 

While people were suckers for weeping over the ridiculously protracted execution climax, Von Trier was laughing at them. As Von Trier himself said, when confronted about why he keeps victmising his female characters on Radio 4's Film Show: "All women are bitches"


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 24, 2010)

smmudge said:


> I really don't see how Dancer in the Dark can be misogynistic, apart from maybe towards all the men who let her down.


 
you can't be misogynistic to a man- the clue is in the 'gyny' part of the word, referencing gynecological etc. Man hate is Misandry. Universal people hate is misanthrope.

Anyway, this pedantry aside I watched True Blood's latest episode- I think Sookeh should dump that cock Bill and hook up with Eric Northman who is on my 'if I had to' list.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 24, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> how can one be misogynistic towards men?



Oops I guess I meant misandry.



Reno said:


> Von Trier took great glee in completely obletarating his central female character, who is shown to be nothing but a powerless victim within circumstances that aren't based on any recongnisable reality. She has plenty of opportunities to save herself, but like the idiot she is, she never takes them. Von Trier is like a kid pulling the wings off flies.
> 
> While people were suckers for weeping over the ridiculously protracted execution climax, Von Trier was laughing at them. As Von Trier himself said, when confronted about why he keeps victmising his female characters on Radio 4's Film Show: "All women are bitches"



She gives up her life because 



Spoiler



she doesn't want her son to go blind like she has.


 How does that make her an idiot? It's only the women who stay strong and humanistic throughout the entire film.

Also I believe anything Von Trier says or does is just an elaborate piss take, perhaps because a lot of men would like to believe that all women are bitches and he's just playing on that.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

She is an idiot because she could easily have given evidence that would save her in court, but then Von Trier made up this fairy tale justice system which makes little sense. Anyway, the whole film is idiotic, though there were things about it that I liked. Bjork gives htis heartfelt, naturalistic performance which is wasted on what is a rather lurid and shallow film. I also loved her score. Catherine Deneuve on the other hand is so grotequely miscast, it's another reminder that Von Trier can only have been taking the piss.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 24, 2010)

The Man In The Glass Booth. The fact that it's adapted from a play is fairly evident throughout, and the static nature of some scenes reminded me more of a Perry Mason episode than a film. There are times when you think Schell is overplaying the role, but as the film continues, you're drawn into his performance, which is ultimately explained by the film's surprise.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

I started to watch the Thai gorefest Meat Grinder, but gave up within 20 minutes. It is really gruesome, but as a piece of filmmaking it's pretentious and dull. I watched the ghosty classic The Innocents instead, in a brand new transfer on the projector. It's just one of the most beautiful b&w films ever made and I love all those split diopter shots.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2010)

is that based on turn of the screw? i read that at school and it totally spooked me


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> is that based on turn of the screw? i read that at school and it totally spooked me



Yes, that one. Beautiful film and still spooky. Sticks closely to the Henry James as well.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 25, 2010)

Naked Gun 2 1/2. Imagine my suprise when suddenly, there was OJ Simpson on the screen.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 26, 2010)

*The Midnight Meat Train* - risible adaptation of a Clive Barker short story. So shit it actually annoyed me.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Aug 26, 2010)

I'm Here - a short film by Spike Jonze. A love story between two robots. I liked it, simple but charming.


----------



## al (Aug 26, 2010)

California Split A really good Robert Altman film about a couple of gamblers....


----------



## dlx1 (Aug 26, 2010)

afternoon film - How to Train Your Dragon


----------



## Bajie (Aug 27, 2010)

Ikiru, I lreally like all of Akira Kurosawa's films, but this is probably the most personal of all of the ones I have seen and I think many local gouverement workers will see a bit of themselves in Watanabe.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 27, 2010)

A marathon: Godfather, and Godfather II. The Godfather remains a gorgeous movie, a timeless classic. And my opinion of II is confirmed: overlong and somewhat tedious. The first appears a labor of love; the second, almost a filler movie.


----------



## rutabowa (Aug 27, 2010)

i watched Shadows, John Cassavetes first film, i very much enjoyed it. it is a new york beat film really with all improvised script kind of about 3 children in a black family where two of them look white and the tensions that come from that, but it is not really about that mainly, it is more about these cool characters runnign around new york getting drunk and talking to each other. because it is improvised the odd scene falls dead but in general it is pretty gripping and fast and quite real.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2010)

I watched a film called The Killing Jar - Michael Madsen plays 'Mr Blond', holds the customers of a red diner captive while tortuing and killing and attempting to form it all into some kind of plot with some kind of twist which never really twists and isn't very plotted.

I wanted something simple. I got it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> A marathon: Godfather, and Godfather II. The Godfather remains a gorgeous movie, a timeless classic. And my opinion of II is confirmed: overlong and somewhat tedious. The first appears a labor of love; the second, almost a filler movie.


 
The DeNiro stuff in 2 is good, the Pacino story less interested.

2 works better in the chronological version shown over here, with added scene and extra DeNiro!


----------



## Yetman (Aug 27, 2010)

Lovey Bones - visually stunning in every aspect, not just the special effects (which really put your HD telly to work) but every camera movement or choice of angle. The story was great, and handled fairly well considering the subject but as many people have already said, does seem to drag a little bit. Either way, its a fine example of film making and sets a standard as far as visuals go.

Carne (Gaspar Noe) - watched this straight after, and was a similar kind of story I suppose, but in a third of the running time and with Noe's traditional format as per Irreversible. Large blocky letters, dark music, very questionable and troubling subject matter. The guy's got issues no doubt, but then again, aint we all. At least he acknowledges them and strips them down to their raw, uncomfortable essence and portrays them so brutally well.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 27, 2010)

Last night I watched Ponyo, which was a lovely film ruined by the stupid rental DVD skipping at the important parts  Not the best Ghibli I've seen but nice nonetheless.

Today I watched White Ribbon which I also liked, really nicely shot and I do like not being given any easy answers.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 28, 2010)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The DeNiro stuff in 2 is good, the Pacino story less interested.
> 
> 2 works better in the chronological version shown over here, with added scene and extra DeNiro!


 
I'd agree. I think they should have done a prequel alone, telling the back-story of Vito Corleone, and leave the rest for a different film.

It was refreshing to see something where actors like DeNiro and Pacino were at the top of their games, and not picking up anything that will give them a paycheck as they seem to be doing nowadays.


----------



## colbhoy (Aug 28, 2010)

Episodes 1 and 2 of series 4 of The Wire.

Godammit, why have I left it so long to start series 4?

Superb as always!


----------



## Grandma Death (Aug 28, 2010)

Religulous. I really enjoyed it and there were some real laugh out loud moments.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 29, 2010)

Four Lions - Comedy about 4 british muslims embarking on a suicide bomb mission, A few laughs but quite weak really.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 29, 2010)

*The Final Destination* - I rather enjoyed the original film but this was a piss-weak retread.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 29, 2010)

I watched half of Candyman- still as good as it was when I first watched it but I fell asleep during one of the hook-deaths


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 29, 2010)

Talking about horror on poor housing projects in the US, have you seen The People Under the Stairs?  There's a bloke running around his house in a leather gimp suit shooting his shotgun wildly.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 29, 2010)

not for bloody years- I must have been too young to buy fags when I saw that! Will revisit via the miracle of nicking stuff off of the 'net


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2010)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Talking about horror on poor housing projects in the US, have you seen The People Under the Stairs?  There's a bloke running around his house in a leather gimp suit shooting his shotgun wildly.


 
A more recent and very good European variation on that theme is the Belgian horror film, Left Bank which I wrote about on here a few pages back. Well worth checking out. It also uses a rundown social housing estate to creepy effect.


----------



## rollinder (Aug 29, 2010)

Episode 1 of I'm Alan Partridge (series one) off video  (the quotes thread made me)
"Do you want me to lap-dance for you?"

came complete with piss-weak Trainspotting parody trailer for 'videos in this range including spoilers for
the one you're fucking watching right now' that lasted forever


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 30, 2010)

The Village - Finally got round to watching it, Was OK but the end twist that you get with M. Night Shyamalan movies wasn't all that.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 30, 2010)

Rampage!  Ewe Boll makes a not arf bad film shocker, TBH i found it quite lol in parts...


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 30, 2010)

"Night At the Museum 2" - I wanted undemanding, silly but fun entertainment and that is what I got.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 31, 2010)

Pecker. A little-known John Waters film from the late 90s. A good, simple out-and-back plot, but lots of hilarious moments.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 31, 2010)

Reno said:


> A more recent and very good European variation on that theme is the Belgian horror film, Left Bank which I wrote about on here a few pages back. Well worth checking out. It also uses a rundown social housing estate to creepy effect.



Thanks for the recommendation.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 31, 2010)

*Vengeance* - HK production.

Terrible.
Stupid.
Memento meets John Woo meets Mission Impossible II.
Cunts.


----------



## Reno (Aug 31, 2010)

Hierro, a Spanish psychological thriller about a woman whose young son goes missing on a ferry trip and who becomes obsessed with finding him. Very stylish, but ultimately it delivers less than it promised.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 31, 2010)

Charlie Valentine - character actor Raymond J Barry performs the titular role in an above standard 'final job goes wrong' gangster flick.

Fairly low budget, but achieved some awards.

It's simple and easy to watch, some good casting playing some fairly bog standard characters, Barry turns in a watchable performance.

Get's Taxi Driver gory towards the end.

Director might be someone to watch out for.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 31, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> *Vengeance* - HK production.
> 
> Terrible.
> Stupid.
> ...


 
I loved it.


----------



## Grandma Death (Aug 31, 2010)

Exam-a british flick about an interview/exam that eight applicants have to sit in order to get a very well paid sought after job with a mystery company. Its all set in one room and it starts off good....but that doesnt last long. About ten minutes in you noticed the acting of some of the characters is pretty awful. The script gets progressively worse and before you know it you're watching quite possibly the shittiest british flick in modern history. I'm still angry that Ive wasted an 1hr and 20 minutes of my life sitting through it and I'll never get that time back. It was awful


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 31, 2010)

Rewatched Gladiator. Ridley Scott film about a Roman general who falls on hard times. Stars Russell Crowe.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 31, 2010)

Last night watched 5 episodes of Summer Heights High, Aussie comedy, Chris Lilley plays a gay drama teacher, year 8 boy and year 11 girl. Brilliant series.

Just watche dSharp Shooter. 30 minute film by Martin McDonagh, which is really good, same fella who did In Bruges.


----------



## rollinder (Sep 1, 2010)

first episode of Modern Toss on 4od (didn't remember this at all - maybe I only saw series 2?)

and the 2nd episode of I'm Alan Partridge (Alan Attraction) today.
the relivent quotes in the quotes thread are even funnier in context


----------



## Yetman (Sep 1, 2010)

Grandma Death said:


> Exam-a british flick about an interview/exam that eight applicants have to sit in order to get a very well paid sought after job with a mystery company. Its all set in one room and it starts off good....but that doesnt last long. About ten minutes in you noticed the acting of some of the characters is pretty awful. The script gets progressively worse and before you know it you're watching quite possibly the shittiest british flick in modern history. I'm still angry that Ive wasted an 1hr and 20 minutes of my life sitting through it and I'll never get that time back. It was awful



Indeed. Proper shite that is, the acting is hilarious and the script unbelievable. The rest is confusing and anticlimatic.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 1, 2010)

Yetman said:


> Indeed. Proper shite that is, the acting is hilarious and the script unbelievable. The rest is confusing and anticlimatic.



I got it cause Empire gave it four stars...then after watching it I went on IMDB and the reviews are also really gushing! How can people be so wrong on such a scale!


----------



## Reno (Sep 1, 2010)

I also watched Exam because there was some really buzz around it before it came out, till the turd hit the water and it become obvious that it was just a small bunch of overexcitable fanboys thinking they'd seen another Cube.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 2, 2010)

*Pontypool* - tense, clever take on the infected/zombie idea in which people in a small Canadian town are turned into cannibalistic lunatics by a virus contained in certain words in the English language. It has a couple of welcome pokes at US talk radio and the central performance (Stephen McHattie as DJ Grant Mazzy) is excellent, but somehow it's all a bit dull.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Sep 2, 2010)

jeff_leigh said:


> Four Lions - Comedy about 4 british muslims embarking on a suicide bomb mission, A few laughs but quite weak really.


 
i started watching it last night but turned it off didnt really find it funny.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 2, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Pontypool* - tense, clever take on the infected/zombie idea in which people in a small Canadian town are turned into cannibalistic lunatics by a virus contained in certain words in the English language. It has a couple of welcome pokes at US talk radio and the central performance (Stephen McHattie as DJ Grant Mazzy) is excellent, but somehow it's all a bit dull.


 
Good film that. Nothing amazing but good enough to make you feel you've done something at least not totally unuseful with your time 

I watched Los Debutantes. The DVD box indicated Memento and Pulp Fiction of which PF it was quite like, not so much Memento though. Still, great little film if you like your foreign gangster flicks


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 3, 2010)

Centurion - Was expecting a classic like Gladiator was basically  just a popcorn flick


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 3, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Pontypool* - tense, clever take on the infected/zombie idea in which people in a small Canadian town are turned into cannibalistic lunatics by a virus contained in certain words in the English language. It has a couple of welcome pokes at US talk radio and the central performance (Stephen McHattie as DJ Grant Mazzy) is excellent, but somehow it's all a bit dull.


 
It's a good spin on the zombie genre.
People talking shit and then affecting people who don't talk shit.
French language less shit than English.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 3, 2010)

Having enjoyed The Neverending Story as a child, and Where the Wild Things Are/ The Fall during adulthood, I found myself slightly overwhelmed (and surprised) with *The Lovely Bones*.
Yep it's not dark. And the not as gruesome or painful likethe book. Nor does it explore the internal conflicts of Susie's immediate family. It's a a kid's film. Unoffensive and light. Fantasy and not horror.
And if we did see Susie getting dismembered and raped, it would have ruined it tbh.

Pretty good overall.


----------



## rollinder (Sep 3, 2010)

Doctor Who's Greatest moments - The Doctor (dvd version - some of the songs used got replaced by musak instrumental versions)
got a little bit choked up at some of the clips and missed Eccles and Ten a bit. /sadgeek


----------



## gavman (Sep 4, 2010)

i've watched some dreadful films in the last week or so. last night 'carriers'...post apocalyptic rubbish featuring a bunch of awful, self-centered teens that just wind you up. thoroughly bleak and depressing. i fail to understand why filmakers populate a film with entirely unsympathetic characters that just piss you off?

in the same vein 'basement' with danny dyer. one of those films where you're shouting for characters to be killed off, just to stop the pain.
 i know herr dyer isn't highly regarded round here, but i really enjoyed 'severance' and hoped this would be as good. it isn't.
the cast just stumble repeatedly along the same underground corridor like a scooby doo chase scene...clearly a film that began with a location...and never got any further


----------



## nicksonic (Sep 4, 2010)

'run lola run'.

which was fucking BRILLIANT.


----------



## gavman (Sep 4, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Pontypool* - tense, clever take on the infected/zombie idea in which people in a small Canadian town are turned into cannibalistic lunatics by a virus contained in certain words in the English language. It has a couple of welcome pokes at US talk radio and the central performance (Stephen McHattie as DJ Grant Mazzy) is excellent, but somehow it's all a bit dull.


 
sounds like a good idea for a satire. i'll keep my eyes peeled for it


----------



## gavman (Sep 4, 2010)

and just to further damage my credibility, i really enjoyed 'clash of the titans'. 
well-done silliness, did exactly what it said on the tin. and the kraken was ace....


----------



## rollinder (Sep 4, 2010)

just watched the first episode of Whose Line Is Anyway on 4od (looks like they've got every series!)
hilarious - Paul Merton was misrable and John Sessions had to sing in a reggae style about a telephone.

what was the recentish show that had a similar thing of people having to improvise a mini playlet in a room?

and ep 1 of Crapston Villas  (also via 4od) been wanting to see that since 1995.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 4, 2010)

Disgrace. I was expecting to be let down but I wasnt. It was really faithful to the source material-good solid performances but one big gripe...the ending wasnt faithful to the book IIRC. In fact I thought it was almost bordering on a hollywood ending and that annoyed me big time.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 4, 2010)

Kick Ass.

It was ok but not anywhere near as awesome as I was led to believe. Three stars.


----------



## smmudge (Sep 4, 2010)

nicksonic said:


> 'run lola run'.
> 
> which was fucking BRILLIANT.



Love that film!

I watched Pontypool on Thursday. It was a nice concept (especially with it all being set in the radio station) but didn't really pull it off IMO.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 5, 2010)

Dead Poets Society


----------



## Badgers (Sep 5, 2010)

nicksonic said:


> 'run lola run'.
> 
> which was fucking BRILLIANT.


 
Excellent film.
10/10


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 5, 2010)

That Day French black comedy, about a serial killer who ends up in the house of a loopy heiress. Reasonable

Lady From Shanghai


----------



## colbhoy (Sep 5, 2010)

Last two episodes of series 1 of Auf Weidersehen Pet, followed by episode 8 of series 4 of The Wire.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 6, 2010)

House of Voices - French movie about a Catholic Childrens Home, bit like The Others, bit like The Orphanage.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 6, 2010)

Night of The Pencils - fine film about the disappearance (i.e rape, torture and murder) of a  group of low level school-activists campaigning for a bus pass in dictatorship Argentina. Based on very real events. Héctor Olivera had previously made what i think is the best radical drama i've seen - Rebellion in Patagonia.

Oh yeah, also Four Lions which was excellent.


----------



## albionism (Sep 6, 2010)

I watched Harold and Maude last night, after my wife had been
bugging me to watch it for quite some months....Glad i did finally
watch it...It was a delightful film. Ended too soon....I love Maude.
I would have wanted to marry her too.


----------



## gavman (Sep 6, 2010)

shank.
 would have been a strong contender for worst film i've ever seen, but i couldn't sit through more than 20 minutes of it. from the team who made 'kidulthood'....it seems that each film they make has less of a plot than the last. words cannot describe how shit and vacuous this film was, with more musical montages than an entire series of baywatch, and less meaning. really just a totally amatuerish glorification of gang culture and chavspeak. how many more times will this bunch of inept lackwits be given the chance to make a film? none, i hope. they've remade kidulthood three times now, surely people will realise that they only have the one plot idea?
utter, utter shite


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 6, 2010)

*American Grindhouse* - thoroughly entertaining documentary that takes a whistlestop tour through the history of exploitation cinema. I'm now desperate to see The Tormentors which features a scene where Nazis chase Jesus Christ into an alley and proceed to smash his head repeatedly onto the bonnet of a car.


----------



## Lea (Sep 6, 2010)

Watched Knight and Day. It was fairly entertaining. Cameron Diaz always does ditzy really well.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 6, 2010)

On the DVD of the third season of Mad Men, one of the special features is a documentary about the case of Medgar Evans, largely consisting of an interview with his widow. I'm ashamed to say that I'd confused him with James Meredith the lad who was shot trying to get into Ole Miss. As for the old Confederacy, on the strength of this I'd say we should withdraw and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.


----------



## Sadken (Sep 6, 2010)

Crumb - about Robert Crumb. Was excellent, just like him.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 6, 2010)

butchersapron said:


> Night of The Pencils - fine film about the disappearance (i.e rape, torture and murder) of a  group of low level school-activists campaigning for a bus pass in dictatorship Argentina. Based on very real events. Héctor Olivera had previously made what i think is the best radical drama i've seen - Rebellion in Patagonia.



Sounds interesting. Have you seen Aperecidos?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0836683/plotsummary


----------



## rollinder (Sep 6, 2010)

yesterday: the first two episodes or so worth of The Formators : The Last Starvenger 
(budget dvd bootleg rip of a straight to video movie edit of a US version of a Japanese animation)
Large, stupid but incredible strong and always eating bloke becomes latest pilot of one of three craft, that join together to become a giant robot, in order to rescue a little boy (Joey), his remote controlled airplane and a melody angel a like. While also fighting a man controlled giant robot disguised w/ a rhino horn, belonging to some horned demons and a very worried man who quite possibly might be Hitler


----------



## rutabowa (Sep 7, 2010)

double bill of A Serbian Film and Machine Girl... a serbian film was great, a bit liek a film version of that Aristocrats joke (someone must have already said that). also quite thought provoking about corruption. mostly it is just an old-style tragedy though. downsides were the horrible cheesy action film music on occasion. machine girl is like an ultraviolent live action manga, was entertaining enough.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 7, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Sounds interesting. Have you seen Aperecidos?
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0836683/plotsummary


 
Nope - sounds like an original twist on the period! It it any good?


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 7, 2010)

My mate who's far more of film buff than I am loved it and recommended it to me. 

It's definitely worth a watch but I probably missed much of the finer points.

Last night I watched Lorna's Silence, I love Dardenne Bros films. Albanian couple refugees in Belgium, dream of opening a cafe, she marries a junky to get her stay and money. Great film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 7, 2010)

Watched Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee, another gem by Meadows/Considine.

I have Thirst there to watch - should be a refreseshing take on vampirism.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 7, 2010)

Amadeus - Director's Cut. 

Hadn't seen the film in over 20 years. Tom Hulce is really weird in it, seems out of kilter with the movie and the times - 18th century and the 80s when it was made. Interesting. Great music, mind.


----------



## teccuk (Sep 8, 2010)

The History Boys. 

Dross. Expecting some sort of lottery funded british feel good bad-boys-come-good type affair. Which would of been bad enough. But it was all so much worse, in a different way. Just dull. Fucking dull.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 8, 2010)

DexterTCN said:


> I have Thirst there to watch - should be a refreseshing take on vampirism.



It's bloody ace - hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 8, 2010)

There's only one Jimmy Grimble

My little un's into football and supports City so it was a must, probably the worst acting ever, rotten pefromances from Gina McKee, Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone but he was completely taken by it and really enjoyed it. Shaolin Soccer is a bit better.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 8, 2010)

a serbian film - exploitative trash, weird distorted commando-type soundtrack, not much to write home about. there is some kind of subtext about pornography and the balkan war, but it's a bit perfunctory 
micmacs - sentimental over-prod-designed tosh for xanaxed yuppies
whip it - extremely formulaic teen-comes-of-age-by-doing-something-rebellious-that-the-parents-eventually-support comedy, but hey, formulas work and this does very well. it also has the virtue of lots of beautiiful women whacking each other. 100 minutes of feelgood bliss.
kung fu panda - fucksake, grow up, rob! why did you order this? and how the fuck can a goose father a panda?


----------



## rutabowa (Sep 8, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> a serbian film - exploitative trash, weird distorted commando-type soundtrack, not much to write home about. there is some kind of subtext about pornography and the balkan war, but it's a bit perfunctory


well i agree with you about the sound track... and the exploitative bit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 8, 2010)

oh, and i also saw, on actual vhs, *good to go*, a police thriller set in the go-go scene of early 80 washington dc, starring art garfunkel and with a score by trouble funk. i shit you not. it was crap of course, but worth a watch and the soundtrack is excellent with some live performances by the band. definitely benefited from being watched on vhs. at first it didn't play properly with the soundtrack and top bit missing, so i had to remember 20 year old tricks to get it working properly by fiddling with it. it was all part of the fun.
someone should start making low budget movies for vhs release. cassettes are having a revival, time for a vhs one.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 8, 2010)

Bad Lieutenant - the Nicholas Cage version.

What a fantastic movie!


----------



## smmudge (Sep 8, 2010)

Just watched Wages of Fear. Well my nerves are positively frayed now! 

Lol at the ending though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 8, 2010)

Summer with Monika.

At first it made me nostalgic for all the fun I missed out on, but the teen pregnancy, early marriage, cuckoldry and tragic ending were not so enticing. 

Bergman's film of 1954 does make you see where the phrase 'arthouse' came from. Even in black and white, Stockholm and the Swedish countryside are startlingly beautiful. It's historically interesting, I suppose, that while the eponymous Monika gets her kit off, her boyfriend is not required to disrobe.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 9, 2010)

*Terminator Salvation:* Not as good as the first two (can't remember much about 3) and clearly influenced a little too much by BSG but still highly enjoyable (especially the call backs to the earlier films).


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 9, 2010)

Jacquou le Croquant. A bit melodramatic at times; interesting because it's a film about a time period - around 1825 - which doesn't draw a lot of attention in film.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Sep 9, 2010)

I watched Everything's Gone Green a canadian film written by the author Douglas Coupland, kinda fell asleep so need to watch it again.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 11, 2010)

The last three episodes of *Spartacus: Blood & Sand*. Overall, I thought it was a superb series - well acted and meticulously plotted. But I wonder whether the wall-to-wall nudity and over-the-top violence actually worked against it - made it seem far more 'lowest common denominator' than it actually was.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 11, 2010)

Factotum; Bukowski based Matt Dillon flick about drinking, writing, fucking and menial labour. All it needed was Tom Waits soundtrack...


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 11, 2010)

*The Invention Of Lying:* Great cast (Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Louis CK, Jonah Hill, Jeffrey Tambor, Jennifer Garner, Christopher Guest), deeply unfunny film. Ricky Gervais hasn't given me a genuinely decent laugh since that episode of Extras starring Patrick Stewart.


----------



## mentalchik (Sep 12, 2010)

Me, the eldest and the youngest just watched Kick-Ass.....

not like a best film ever but very enjoyable !


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 12, 2010)

Peter Jackson's Bad Taste


----------



## Sesquipedalian (Sep 12, 2010)

Who still watches DVD's ?


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Sep 12, 2010)

Sesquipedalian said:


> Who still watches DVD's ?


 
pretty much everyone, why? blue ray is a con isn't it? I think most people just get films for free of the internet.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 12, 2010)

Land of the Dead. About what you would expect. Some inventive body-destruction scenes.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 12, 2010)

Sesquipedalian said:


> Who still watches DVD's ?


 
I do. I don't like watching downloaded stuff on my little computer monitor and can't afford a Blu-Ray player.


----------



## mentalchik (Sep 12, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> I do. I don't like watching downloaded stuff on my little computer monitor and can't afford a Blu-Ray player.


 
Same as.........3 of us crowding round a smallish monitor that only has sound through headphones would be no fun at all............don't have a dvd player either, x-box for us !


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Sep 12, 2010)

you can watch downloaded films on a divx dvd player and they only cost £30 from tesco.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 12, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> It's bloody ace - hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


Really enjoyed it, funny and innovative.  Certainly not as mental as Old Boy.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2010)

Kick Ass. Hated it. Purile fanboy catnip.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 12, 2010)

Reno said:


> Kick Ass. Hated it. Purile fanboy catnip.



Heh, sounds right up my street. Looking forward to seeing it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 12, 2010)

*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo* - nice pace and great film. I was expecting it to go all _Festen_ but nope.

*Everybody's Fine* - It was good when I watched it...but it is forgettable.


----------



## moomoo (Sep 12, 2010)

I watched The Green Mile.  Fabulous film.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 12, 2010)

Kick Ass is great


----------



## Yetman (Sep 12, 2010)

I watched Dead Babies the other night after remembering seeing a bit of it on C4 a few years ago and being interested.

It starts off like a Withnail and I rip off but descends into excellent madness with a fucking brilliant tripping sequence. A variety of posh twats and masheads go into a house for a weekend of fun with some American dude with a suitcase full of drugs. Hilarity ensues. Takes about an hour to get into it but is pretty good once it does. 7/10

I also tried to get into a film called Grace which was just some middle class film graduates attempt at a scary film about er...dead babies...which was boring and crap. The theme wasnt intended I can assure you


----------



## marty21 (Sep 12, 2010)

Mesrine - 1 and 2 in one long French gangster epic - grand film


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2010)

Yetman said:


> I also tried to get into a film called Grace which was just some middle class film graduates attempt at a scary film about er...dead babies...which was boring and crap. The theme wasnt intended I can assure you



Middle class filmmakers ? Who would have thought ? Whatever is the world coming to!


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 12, 2010)

Yetman said:


> Kick Ass is great



Seconded.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2010)

Yetman said:


> Kick Ass is great



It starts out alright, but then it becomes just as monotonous as the type of films and comics it sets out to parody. Pixar's The Incredibles did the whole superheroes/real world thing so much better.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 13, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> The last three episodes of *Spartacus: Blood & Sand*. Overall, I thought it was a superb series - well acted and meticulously plotted. But I wonder whether the wall-to-wall nudity and over-the-top violence actually worked against it - made it seem far more 'lowest common denominator' than it actually was.



Its bloody awful


----------



## rollinder (Sep 13, 2010)

recent viewing = I'm Alan Partridge - Watership Alan plus the bonus clips on the video

and some of the extras on the Reservoir Dogs 2dvd edition :
Reservoir Dolls (the ear slicing scene reenacted w/ action figures  )
and the (audio) Gerry Rafferty interview - he admits to not reading the script properly when he aggreed to the use of Stuck in the middle with you, and not really liking violent movies  
+the recording session for the Super Sounds Of The 70s radio links


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 13, 2010)

Grandma Death said:


> Its bloody awful


 
Because...?


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2010)

The Clash of the Titans remake which wasn't great, but also not nearly as bad as the reviews suggest. Perfectly watchable Hollywood fluff and probably improved by the lack of wonky 3D.

I also watched Case 39, a horror film that starts out promisingly but looses it in the second half when the cat is out of the bag. An ever more gerbil faced Renee Zellweger on a career dwon spiral, overacts like crazy adding to the overall sense of camp. It's still quite entertaining in a ludicrous sort of way and I always have time for a killer moppet horror movie.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 13, 2010)

i've read about that case 39 - sounds well dodgy considering recent cases of child abuse eg victoria climbie - i hope the film-makers treaded carefully 
i watched shakes the clown, described as 'the citizen kane of alcoholic clown movies'
i thought it was great, one of a kind. 
the clown world it's set in is delightfully absurd, with rival gangs of 'party clowns' and 'rodeo clowns', with mimes at the bottom of the pecking order. bobcat goldthwait is ace as shakes, and tom kenny (the voice of spongebob) is well over-the-top as the villainous clown.


----------



## marty21 (Sep 13, 2010)

Sesquipedalian said:


> Who still watches DVD's ?


 
plenty of people still watch videos - of course loads watch dvds, I believe they still sell very well, and rental sales are still quite high


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 13, 2010)

The Episode or Rome where Vorenus and Pullo take on the Gladiators.....bloody and fantastic.

That poor Caesar. I never saw that coming.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i've read about that case 39 - sounds well dodgy considering recent cases of child abuse eg victoria climbie - i hope the film-makers treaded carefully.



Not sure how much publicity the Climbie case got in the US and yes, it's slightly dodgy but then horror films often are. It doesn't really dwell on the child abuse angle and as a plot twist reveals, it wasn't the kid who got abused. It would be offensive if any of it could be taken seriously, but its on the far end of the silly horror movie spectrum.


----------



## Crispy (Sep 13, 2010)

Reno said:


> Purile fanboy catnip.


 
This is why it's so good


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2010)

Crispy said:


> This is why it's so good



That's what every second Hollywood is like though. Seems like people never get bored of the same old crap.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 13, 2010)

White Diamond - Herzog. Brilliant


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2010)

True Blood season 3 finish- good stuff.


----------



## Bajie (Sep 14, 2010)

The Dancing Outlaw

Dont mess with Jesco Whites eggs!

Quite a tragic story really seeing how it all turned out for him


----------



## TitanSound (Sep 14, 2010)

I watched Iron Man 2 and The Expendables yesterday.

IM2 was rubbish and Expendables was entertaining but not *that* action packed. The scence with the shotgun was pretty memorable though!


----------



## Bajie (Sep 14, 2010)

Matewan, a film about a coal miners strike and battle of Matewan in West Virgina in the 1920's.. The most moving and well produced film I have seen about American trade unionism and the war aginst working people in that period of time in America.

In many way West Virgina did and still does have have similarities with a colony, where outsiders exploit the natural resources and the people there, but the area itself stays dirt poor.

Anyway, a great and very moving film.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 14, 2010)

The 9th Company. A Russian-made film about the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. It's long... like Dr. Zhivago; but without David Lean. Sort of like a Russian Platoon; but without Stanley Kubrick.


----------



## Bajie (Sep 14, 2010)

What did you think of it? Say contrasted to the similar genre films about America in Vietnam.

Edit to add: Kavkazskiy plennik (Prisoner of the Mountains) is Russian war film with a more human approach i.e. that it shows the 'other side' as human instead of Orcs, based in Chechneya and drawn loosley on a Leo Tolstoy novel. The main message of the film as with all good war films, is that war is a fundmentally dehumanising and would be comical if it was not for people loosing body parts.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 15, 2010)

Just watched Wild Target which was okish!  A few laughs here and there i think? or was it complete shite.. Not sure really these tramadol are messin wiv me head


----------



## Bajie (Sep 15, 2010)

Ghost Dog, I love this film, must have seen it loads of times over the years. Though I need to watch Le Samouraï, the film it is based on.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 15, 2010)

Black Sheep- very silly but a good enough horror comedy.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 15, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> Because...?



The acting is diabolical. Its needlessly violent and pornographic. Its like something a 14 year old would watch with his pants down. The 30 mins I did watch to its credit made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 15, 2010)

I watched Bruno. Close to the knuckle but very funny in parts.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2010)

Grandma Death said:


> l. Its needlessly violent and pornographic.


lol! no, seriously!
i genuinely laughed out loud at that for more than five seconds. several times. in fact i'm still laughing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2010)

Grandma Death said:


> The 30 mins I did watch to its credit made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.


 so why did you stop watching it?


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 15, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> so why did you stop watching it?



Because it was so bad it was unintentionally funny. That type of programme making has a limited shelf life-in this case 30 minutes.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 15, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> lol! no, seriously!
> i genuinely laughed out loud at that for more than five seconds. several times. in fact i'm still laughing.



Glad to humour you.

Seriously....a ten minute fight sequence where limbs are being hacked off...then images of the crowd cheering on when it happens to be raining and it resembles a wet t shirt competition.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2010)

exactly, utter brilliance! so over the top.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 16, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> exactly, utter brilliance! so over the top.



Clearly not all over the top is brilliant-unless you happen to like spartacus. I dont-but you carry on orang utan....as you were


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 16, 2010)

you'd love it if you just learned to take that cork out of your welly top arse. all it's doing is making a farty noise anyway.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 16, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> you'd love it if you just learned to take that cork out of your welly top arse. all it's doing is making a farty noise anyway.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 16, 2010)

Grandma Death said:


> The acting is diabolical. Its needlessly violent and pornographic. Its like something a 14 year old would watch with his pants down. The 30 mins I did watch to its credit made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.


 
Fair enough - I wondered more than a few times whether the makers of Spartacus were just taking the piss with the huge amount of nudity and ultra-violence on display. Some of the arena battles are (intentionally) hilarious. I disagree about the acting, though; it's hammy to be sure but a more low-key approach wouldn't work as well. John Hannah's bloody brilliant in it. And, as I said further up, it's superbly plotted which is an increasing rarity in make-it-up-as-they-go-along US serial drama.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2010)

the violence and pornography make it all the better


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 16, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> the violence and pornography make it all the better


 
It would certainly be a less entertaining show without those two elements but would still work fine as a drama.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 16, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> the violence and pornography make it all the better



Do a google search on "deathcore porn" and cut to the chase...thats got to be better than sitting through that utter dross for something you enjoy.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 16, 2010)

Grandma Death said:


>


 
it was a bit rude that, soz. i'd had some wine.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2010)

Grandma Death said:


> Do a google search on "deathcore porn" and cut to the chase...thats got to be better than sitting through that utter dross for something you enjoy.


 
needs a roman, gladatorial theme. Apparently series 2 is going to be prequels which is annoying because I wanted to see the slave rebellion.


----------



## sim667 (Sep 16, 2010)

exit through the gift shop

it was really quite funny in parts.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 16, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> needs a roman, gladatorial theme. Apparently series 2 is going to be prequels which is annoying because I wanted to see the slave rebellion.


 
The prequels thing was forced on them because the guy who played Spartacus, Andy Whitfield, was diagnosed with cancer (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) just before they were due to start filming. He's in remission now though and filming on what will be season three - Spartacus: Vengeance - starts in November.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2010)

oh excellent- I knew about the cancer but I had thought the prequels were the plan all along.


Last night I watched half of Netherbeast Incorporated. Bit of a quirky vampire/comedy thing.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 16, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> it was a bit rude that, soz. i'd had some wine.



Yeah but it was funny...you pulled it off...unlike Spartacus.


----------



## Bajie (Sep 16, 2010)

White Lightnin, I actually feel slightly traumatised, trippy film, a bad trip.


----------



## smmudge (Sep 17, 2010)

I watched the Apu trilogy today.

*sniff*

So charmingly beautiful.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 17, 2010)

See How They Fall  - Jacques Audiard's directorial debut. Very strong thoughtful and suggestive teasing of a typical genre pic. Great performances from Trintignant and Jean Yanne.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 17, 2010)

I watched Whistleblower- one of Caines more understated roles and I enjoyed the whole smiley not bond feel to it.


----------



## Reno (Sep 17, 2010)

butchersapron said:


> See How They Fall  - Jacques Audiard's directorial debut. Very strong thoughtful and suggestive teasing of a typical genre pic. Great performances from Trintignant and Jean Yanne.



It's a fantastic film, I watched this at the Audiard retrospective at the BFI last January.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 18, 2010)

Bladerunner today. 
Odd one for a sunny afternoon.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 18, 2010)

Inglourious Basterds.  The quick flash of Joseph Goebbels shagging made me laugh out loud.


----------



## smmudge (Sep 19, 2010)

Yesterday I watched Come and See, which provided me with one of the most (the second most, in fact) disturbing cinematic experiences of my life. I mean, it was supposed to be like that, so it was very good at what it set out to achieve. But, fucking hell.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2010)

tis a great film
out of interest, what was the most disturbing after come & see?


----------



## blairsh (Sep 19, 2010)

Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee

Was it made in four days? If so it was great, if not it was still enjoyable but far from great.


----------



## smmudge (Sep 19, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> tis a great film
> out of interest, what was the most disturbing after come & see?



Well, and this is just my personal experience you understand, it's that moment in Hidden. Caught me totally off-guard and managed to genuinely shock me, something that no other film has yet managed.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2010)

are you referring to the haneke film or the one with aliens and car chases?


----------



## smmudge (Sep 19, 2010)

The Haneke one, Cache. Sorry didn't realise there was another!


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2010)

well, it's called the hidden - it actually an underrated b-movie gem if you like your sci-fi horror. has a young kyle maclachlan in it
anyway, i'm curious that you found it so disturbing. it was quite unnerving i suppose, but not superlatively so, to me anyway. was it the uncertainty of the resolution or the act of violence in it?


----------



## Bajie (Sep 19, 2010)

Wolfhound, a slighty above average Russian made fantasy film.


----------



## smmudge (Sep 19, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> well, it's called the hidden - it actually an underrated b-movie gem if you like your sci-fi horror. has a young kyle maclachlan in it
> anyway, i'm curious that you found it so disturbing. it was quite unnerving i suppose, but not superlatively so, to me anyway. was it the uncertainty of the resolution or the act of violence in it?



Hmm I do like gems, I'll check it out sometime.

The bit that disturbed me was just that one moment where 



Spoiler



the guy slashed his throat.



It's hard to explain really - I've seen plenty of gore and surprise which hasn't had the same effect. Maybe it was because there was no conventional Hollywood-style build up, or the violence was presented in a completely different way, or because it was self-inflicted, or because there was no dramatic soundtrack to go along with it. Maybe it was just my disposition at the time of watching, or a bit of all of it. I don't remember anything that happened after that point and vowed never to watch it again


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2010)

i know what you mean. it's so unexpected but i was more 'disturbed' by the uncertainty of the ending, but i'm used to seeing transgressive violence on the screen as i suppose it's my 'hobby' to watch things that go beyond the pale. but sometimes things can take you by surprise. the most disturbing thing i've ever seen is...actually disturbing is probably the wrong word. shocking is better. the most shocking thing i've ever seen was in the hbo tv series, oz. there's lots of violent murder and assault in it, but one particular moment was so unexpected cos it comes from someone who you think didn't have it in them and it's so vicious it really takes your breath away.
i'll work out how to use the spoiler tag if anyone really wants to know what it is, though i'm not sure if the spoiler tag is necessary for a decade old tv series.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 19, 2010)

Watched a few yesterday.

The Illusionist for the second time which is good I thought. Have that and The Prestige which I think overshadowed Illusionist a bit.

Up earlier than I should be on a Sunday. Just put on series three of The Wire


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 19, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> oh excellent- I knew about the cancer but I had thought the prequels were the plan all along.



Oh shit. It seems Andy Whitfield's cancer's back and he won't be doing any more Spartacus after all...

www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a277614/andy-whitfield-leaves-spartacus.html

*Andy Whitfield leaves 'Spartacus'

Andy Whitfield will not return to Spartacus: Blood And Sand for the show's second season, it has been announced. 

The actor was forced to leave the series after experiencing a recurrence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma for which he must undergo "aggressive treatment", reports People.

"It's with a deep sense of disappointment that I must step aside from such an exceptional project as Spartacus and all the wonderful people involved," he said in a statement. 

"It seems that it is time for myself and my family to embark on another extraordinary journey." 

Upon hearing news of Whitfield's cancer diagnosis, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said: "Our hearts and prayers are with Andy and his family during this difficult time.

"Andy is not only an incredible actor whose portrayal of Spartacus made an indelible impression on Starz audiences, he is also an amazing human being whose courage, strength and grace in the face of adversity have inspired all of us."*


----------



## marty21 (Sep 19, 2010)

'L'Auberge espagnole'  or 'The Spanish Inn' or 'Pot Luck'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Auberge_espagnole

very funny film, set in Barcelona mostly (with some Paris) following a French Erasmus student (Romain Duris), sharing a chaotic flat with several different nationalities. Really enjoyed it, and apparently there is a sequel so will look that up as well.


----------



## Reno (Sep 19, 2010)

marty21 said:


> 'L'Auberge espagnole'  or 'The Spanish Inn' or 'Pot Luck'
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Auberge_espagnole
> 
> very funny film, set in Barcelona mostly (with some Paris) following a French Erasmus student (Romain Duris), sharing a chaotic flat with several different nationalities. Really enjoyed it, and apparently there is a sequel so will look that up as well.



The sequel is called Russian Dolls I thought it was as good as the first film.


----------



## marty21 (Sep 19, 2010)

Reno said:


> The sequel is called Russian Dolls I thought it was as good as the first film.


 
good, I'm looking forward to watching that.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 19, 2010)

Matewan. Reminded of this earlier in the thread. Mate told me I should watch it years ago. It's very good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 19, 2010)

Good ennit? 


I watched Iron Man 2 which was nonsense but had people in battlesuits fighting so I rated it


----------



## starfish (Sep 19, 2010)

Kick Ass. Really, really enjoyed it.


----------



## smmudge (Sep 19, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i know what you mean. it's so unexpected but i was more 'disturbed' by the uncertainty of the ending, but i'm used to seeing transgressive violence on the screen as i suppose it's my 'hobby' to watch things that go beyond the pale. but sometimes things can take you by surprise. the most disturbing thing i've ever seen is...actually disturbing is probably the wrong word. shocking is better. the most shocking thing i've ever seen was in the hbo tv series, oz. there's lots of violent murder and assault in it, but one particular moment was so unexpected cos it comes from someone who you think didn't have it in them and it's so vicious it really takes your breath away.
> i'll work out how to use the spoiler tag if anyone really wants to know what it is, though i'm not sure if the spoiler tag is necessary for a decade old tv series.



Aye, though I'm afraid I've not heard of that series. Even though I said I wouldn't watch Hidden again I did love that it had that effect on me. It's funny you hear people say certain movies are 'shocking' for their amount or kind of violence, Saw, Hostel etc. but it's not any old violence that shocks, it's the way, as you explain, it's placed in the narrative and how or why it's carried out that causes it to shock. 


Yesterday I watched Turtles Can Fly. Really beautiful, though terribly sad too. Reading around on other people's reviews, it weird how many people didn't get the story behind the toddler, though it's pretty essential to the plot like


----------



## imposs1904 (Sep 20, 2010)

All Or Nothing

I think I would have switched off after twenty minutes if it wasn't for Ruth Sheen's performance. Mike Leigh phoned this one in.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 20, 2010)

*prince of persia *- i only watched it cos a friend is in it. it's a big stinky bag of shite. features a lot of white actors browned up, which is the least of the film's egregious sins.  gemma arterton and jake gyllenhall look unconvinced by the terrible script and alfred molina and ben kingsley ham it up atrociously. there are so many creaky parallels drawn between the time it's set and the present political situation of the middle east and molina keeps joking about being a small tax-paying businessman, to try and give it some modern relevance. it does at least try and be faithful to its origins as a videogame, with plenty of action sequences that employed in the game, but as these are mostly rooftop chases and leaping along evenly spaced beams, it's not very exciting and there are no major action setpieces. 
*be kind rewind* - i need to watch this again as i was cooking while it was on, but i found it charming, despite the presence of two awful actors, jack black and mos def. this got a drubbing by critics and the internet alike IIRC, but i quite liked it and found its emphasis on community solidarity rather heartwarming.
*pandorum *- i really really liked it - wasn't planning on watching it, but it was on the actual telly box when be kind rewind finished and i meant to go to bed, but i got sucked in. i thought it would be crap, just another low budget b-movie sci-fi horror film, but it was intelligent and compelling and the sets and 'monsters' in it looked incredible. the plot is resolved neatly and surprisingly too. strongly recommended.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 20, 2010)

"Alien Vs Predator: Requiem" - it was shit but as I wasn't expecting or wanting anything other than a bit of shit so it suited me fine. Plus Sam from "True Blood" is in it though sadly not showing his arse.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 20, 2010)

*The Special Relationship* - Dennis Quaid makes for a strong Bill Clinton & Sheen does his usual Blair thing. Can't wait until the Blair & Bush years...
*Jumpers* - Heroes kind of vibe. Interesting idea, marred by Haydn Christiansen, redeemed by Jamie Bell despite an accent that seemed to _jump_ all over the place...
*Men in Black 2* - Smith on autopilot, felt stale compared to the brilliant 1st instalment.
*Alien V Predator: Requiem* - Passable. Probably a lot better than the forthcoming latest prequel.


----------



## Reno (Sep 20, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> *pandorum *- i really really liked it - wasn't planning on watching it, but it was on the actual telly box when be kind rewind finished and i meant to go to bed, but i got sucked in. i thought it would be crap, just another low budget b-movie sci-fi horror film, but it was intelligent and compelling and the sets and 'monsters' in it looked incredible. the plot is resolved neatly and surprisingly too. strongly recommended.



That one was a pleasant surprise. I liked the whole amnesia idea where the lead characters have to figure out where they are and what is going on and the end came as a genuinely unexpected surprise


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2010)

Clash of the Titans

What a load of cock. Bad dialogue, did nothing new with the story. The combat scenes were rubbish as well- I did like the giant scorpions but that was it. Waste of time.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 20, 2010)

I saw that on the plane back from my hols on Saturday.  Fucking dire.  I wanted more Kraken action, though, but no ...


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## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2010)

Liam Neeson blatantly just collecting a paycheck- has he even done a good film since Rob Roy? 

I'm going to watch kickass tonight and it had better be good.

The other day however I watched a suprisingly good film called 'The man who captured Eichman' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116975/ which was fucking ace. The run up to the capture wasn't the best bit, the second half of the film where the MOSSAD agent tries to get eichmann to sign the document agreeing to be tried in Israel was excellent.


----------



## Structaural (Sep 20, 2010)

The Prestige - I enjoyed it, though I sussed a few bits which made it less twisty as it could have been. Bit long-winded though, and some of the accents were all over the shop. Johansson's acting was terrible. Good fun though and Bowie didn't suck as much as I thought he would.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 20, 2010)

Boy   Definitely a must see film!  Great fun and great lol moments.   Just goes to show yer dont need a massive budget and famous actors to make a great film.. If new zealand are churnin out little gems like this i need to explore their films a bit more methinks,,,,,,


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## DotCommunist (Sep 21, 2010)

Kick Ass. It was OK for what it was. Nicholas Cage died and we got to see a small girl murderating loads of baddies like it was a manga live action. 5/10.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2010)

au hasard balthazar - a rather cynical film about a put-upon donkey and a put-upon girl who are humiliated and beaten by nasty humans. i felt sorry for the donkey and not for the girl, which made me cross with the director. i don't share his views of humanity i guess.


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## Virtual Blue (Sep 21, 2010)

Dogtooth - Greek film. Interesting. Odd. Pretty good.

Cemetery Junction - Not bad at all. Sad but enjoyable.


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## Augie March (Sep 21, 2010)

Two recent horrors, The Mist and The Crazies remake.

The Crazies was good, having never seen the original, I couldn't comment on it's comparative quality to that. But overall, it was a fine horror film, if not a little too slick and predictable at times.

The Mist was even better. Frank Darabont knows how to tackle Stephen King stories and does so brilliantly here. It's scary, intelligent and demonstrates perfectly how to construct a horror flick that plays on the fear of the unknown. And the ending is just... well, not to give too much away, it's unexpectedly downbeat. Well worth watching.


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## butchersapron (Sep 21, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> au hasard balthazar - a rather cynical film about a put-upon donkey and a put-upon girl who are humiliated and beaten by nasty humans. i felt sorry for the donkey and not for the girl, which made me cross with the director. i don't share his views of humanity i guess.


 
For me a hopelessly optimistic film.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2010)

really? how did you see it that way?


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## butchersapron (Sep 21, 2010)

All these things happen, but they don't matter. People are horrible, dumb beasts endure and they help to understand ourselves - doesn't matter though. If it mattered death wouldn't be a chance shot.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2010)

i'm not sure i'd see that as optimistic! more nihilistic!


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## butchersapron (Sep 21, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i'm not sure i'd see that as optimistic! more nihilistic!


 
To me that's supremely optimistic - let's make stuff matter.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2010)

ah, i see. hmm.


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## butchersapron (Sep 21, 2010)

Support dirty leeds - it'll make sense


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## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2010)

haha, maybe i will.


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## smmudge (Sep 22, 2010)

The Crying Game. Should have switched it off after the first half hour, which was really good. Rest was rubbish.


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## Crispy (Sep 22, 2010)

Valkyrie. Shallow but good looking historical drama. Tom Cruise utterly upstaged by British supporting cast in every single scene 

Oh, and saw the A-Team on the plane, which was actually pretty good


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## Orang Utan (Sep 22, 2010)

revolutionary road
sam mendes' 'best' film so far, though that's not saying much.
was kind of repulsed by the characters at first but couldn't help getting sucked in.
thought the secondary characters were interesting too. michael shannon was great i thought.
i have a feeling it would work better as a novel, so will check out the book.


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## THE WHELK (Sep 22, 2010)

Twilight Saga - crap


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## Reno (Sep 22, 2010)

THE WHELK said:


> Twilight Saga - crap



All of them ???


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## Reno (Sep 23, 2010)

The Special Relationship. The least of the three Blair films, but still watchable. Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton was the best thing in the film.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 23, 2010)

Bank Job with Jason Statham.  Well meaning working class crooks flummoxed by upper crust MI6 spies.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 23, 2010)

*The* Bank Job. these things matter. seriously. why do people always get them wrong?


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## Badgers (Sep 23, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> *The* Bank Job. these things matter. seriously. why do people always get them wrong?


 
Do you file things in alphabetic order? I do and the 'The' films are all under 'T' but I sometimes question if this is correct?


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## TitanSound (Sep 23, 2010)

Harry Brown. What a dark film. Enjoyed it though.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 23, 2010)

Badgers said:


> Do you file things in alphabetic order? I do and the 'The' films are all under 'T' but I sometimes question if this is correct?


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 23, 2010)

Badgers said:


> Do you file things in alphabetic order? I do and the 'The' films are all under 'T' but I sometimes question if this is correct?


 
It isn't.


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## not-bono-ever (Sep 23, 2010)

that girl with the dragon tattoo thing.

not bad - i'm not comfortable with rape scenes tho, even through they are plart of the plotline


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## Reno (Sep 23, 2010)

The Canadian indie film *Last Night*, which is one of those films I can watch again and again. It's about how a loosely connected group of people spend the last six hours on earth, which is about to be obliterated by an unspecified (the only clue is that the sun never sets) disaster. 

Made on a modest budget, this is the complete opposite of the likes of Armageddon and Deep Impact which came out around the same time. Featuring barely any effects, it concentrates instead on characters and atmosphere. The film is a who is who of Canadian acting talent and stars director Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Genevieve Bujold, Sandra Oh (who I fell in love with in this) and David Cronenberg among others. It also has a great soundtrack of obscure 70s pop songs.


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## andy2002 (Sep 24, 2010)

*Pandorum:* Bonkers sci-fi about the crew of an interstellar spaceship waking up from suspended animation to find their craft is overrun by psychotic mutant cannibals. It's no Alien but quite entertaining none the less...


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 24, 2010)

Reno said:


> The Canadian indie film *Last Night*, which is one of those films I can watch again and again. It's about how a loosely connected group of people spend the last six hours on earth, which is about to be obliterated by an unspecified (the only clue is that the sun never sets) disaster.
> 
> Made on a modest budget, this is the complete opposite of the likes of Armageddon and Deep Impact which came out around the same time. Featuring barely any effects, it concentrates instead on characters and atmosphere. The film is a who is who of Canadian acting talent and stars director Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Genevieve Bujold, Sandra Oh (who I fell in love with in this) and David Cronenberg among others. It also has a great soundtrack of obscure 70s pop songs.



Great film - I caught this at the cinema when it was released. Only seen it once since. It's good how it focusses on some small stories which have nothing to do with end of the world heroics. It's an almost life affirming end of the world.


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## belboid (Sep 24, 2010)

been catching up with a few things.  An Education was good, Carey M marvellous, tho also somewhat irritating (that was exactly what is was like was it Lynn?  My arse)

The Prestige. Many good bits, some fucking stupid ones too tho.

Kick-Ass.  Pretty much does what it says on the tin.

Now just settling down to watch Gumshoe.  Great film, as I recall, not seen it in years now tho.  Well, either that or My Son, My Son, What Have You Done?


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## Reno (Sep 24, 2010)

belboid said:


> been catching up with a few things.  An Education was good, Carey M marvellous, tho also somewhat irritating (that was exactly what is was like was it Lynn?  My arse)



Lynn Barber wasn't involved with the making of the film and she herself has said that it took many liberties with her memoir. I agree with you that it's a good film though.


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## belboid (Sep 24, 2010)

I've only read her Guardian article on the film, not the moir, or the original pieces.  But in the one I read she explicitly said they got it spot on and it was like watching herself.  

She might well have contradicted that statement in other places, of course.


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## Reno (Sep 24, 2010)

belboid said:


> I've only read her Guardian article on the film, not the moir, or the original pieces.  But in the one I read she explicitly said they got it spot on and it was like watching herself.
> 
> She might well have contradicted that statement in other places, of course.



An Desert Island discs and a few interviews I've read she said that there were things they did got spot on, like the relationship between her lover and her parents, but that with a lot of other things they took a dramatic licence, not least with the two central characters. She never took cello lessons, the Rosamund Pike character didn't exist, etc, It's only to be expected, because the film has to work as a drama. There is a reason Mulligan's character is called Jenny and not Lynn.


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## belboid (Sep 24, 2010)

The Helen character was terrible, the attitude towards her the worst thing about the film. The parents were rather cliched too, no insights there at all.

But Carey was ace!


----------



## Reno (Sep 24, 2010)

I quite liked Helen, simply because Pike is a fantastic actress who managed to bring some depth and warmth to a character who could just have been an one dimensional airhead. The parents were off their rocker, happily handing their daughter over to a crook and Molina was fantastic. Carey Mulligan did truly give a star making performance, she is wonderful.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Sep 24, 2010)

not-bono-ever said:


> that girl with the dragon tattoo thing.
> 
> not bad - i'm not comfortable with rape scenes tho, even through they are plart of the plotline


 
you cant beat a good rape scene in a movie imo


----------



## Reno (Sep 25, 2010)

*The Edge of the World*. I watched this on my projector, a gorgeous restoration by the BFI on Blu-ray and it was spectacular. Michael Powell's first really personal film, this 30s drama about the de-population of the outer Scottish isles is a beautiful looking film. Like many of Powell's best films it has a very strong sense of place and it makes you feel like you've been there.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 25, 2010)

A boy called dad....Just over 80 minutes, more of a TV drama than a film. The story was half well told and half jumbled up, performances similar, Ian Hart was good but the kid who I'd seen praised in reviews couldn't deliver a line IMO. It sort of came together in the end but relied on a section of dialogue to explain some of the story. My Mrs enjoyed it more than I did.


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## belboid (Sep 25, 2010)

Reno said:


> *The Edge of the World*. I watched this on my projector, a gorgeous restoration by the BFI on Blu-ray and it was spectacular. Michael Powell's first really personal film, this 30s drama about the de-population of the outer Scottish isles is a beautiful looking film. Like many of Powell's best films it has a very strong sense of place and it makes you feel like you've been there.


 have you watched the 'Britains Loneliest Isle' short thats on the disc as well?  Great wee thing


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## killer b (Sep 25, 2010)

watchmen. it was okish. soundtrack was cobblers though.


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## Reno (Sep 26, 2010)

belboid said:


> have you watched the 'Britains Loneliest Isle' short thats on the disc as well?  Great wee thing



Yes I did. It was lovely.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 26, 2010)

Woverine. Tosh that could have been quite cool.
Passed the time without the need for any brain power.


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## butchersapron (Sep 26, 2010)

In The Beginning - one of the new spate of French recession dramas - and like most of the ones i've seen fails by not being convincing enough, not being hard enough. The Belgians seem to do this better. Had a great first 45 minutes though before meandering off to predictability. Francois Cluzet was very good as the lead who lets things spin off beyond his control (and he looks more and more like Dustin Hoffman each time i see him).

edit: oh yeah, i'll have Depardieu in the death pool please.


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## marty21 (Sep 26, 2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cliff_(film)

Red Cliff 

Epic Chinese war movie - very good, massive scale, massive battles, lots of sword play, burning ships, recommend it .


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## butchersapron (Sep 26, 2010)

There's two parts marty...just in case you only got the first part


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## marty21 (Sep 26, 2010)

butchersapron said:


> There's two parts marty...


 
I just found that out, will be watching the second part real soon, you seen both?


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 26, 2010)

I have, not much diff


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## ilovebush&blair (Sep 26, 2010)

i watched exit through the gift shop and everything is illuminated today


----------



## starfish (Sep 26, 2010)

The Expendables. Was quite fun.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 27, 2010)

marty21 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cliff_(film)
> 
> Red Cliff
> 
> Epic Chinese war movie - very good, massive scale, massive battles, lots of sword play, burning ships, recommend it .


 
Mr. QofG's has been on about this for ages, he loved it!

I watched "Never Say Never Again" - on in the background while I was doing asome crochet and feeling a bit sickly. Rubbish. Really rubbish. Especially Rowan Atkinson.

We also watched "No Country For Old Men" which was wonderful, beautifully shot and acted. Went off the look for my copy of the book so Mr. QofG's could read it but remembered I have lent it to my brother!


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 27, 2010)

that stunt with the horse was so bad, wasn't it?
and bond is such a perve.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 27, 2010)

*Up in the Air* - I felt for the Clooney character in this and been through it myself! -  when he eventually realises he finds love. 


*Youth in Revolt* - one of my fav films of this year. Love is so dramatic at first!!!

eta - very lovey today.


----------



## northern_star (Sep 27, 2010)

Whip it - fairly bog standard coming of age thing, but good soundtrack and made me wish i was 17 again. But christ drew barrymore has suddenly really aged.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 27, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> that stunt with the horse was so bad, wasn't it?
> and bond is such a perve.


 
It has been kind of interesting watching the latter Roger Moore ones followed by "A View to A Kill" which I think was Timothy Dalton's first outing as Bond. He is really rather good, very charming, and I think I am right (didn't see it all) that he only has one 'love interest' in the whole film. Which does make a change from seeing an aging Roger Moore bedding some young women.  

I do quite like Sean Connery but he did himself no favours in Never Say Never Again - "What have they done to his head!" was Mr. QofG's comment at his dyed/false haircut!

The formula really was creaking along a bit by the time Timothy Dalton arrived


----------



## belboid (Sep 27, 2010)

I watched NSNA too yesterday. Was suprised to realise that I'd never actually seen it before.  And, then, by how absolutely, astoundingly awful it was.  Just embarassing.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 27, 2010)

*The Hangover* - this film's popularity eludes me. I mean, it's well-paced and the plot and premise are quite clever but someone forgot to put any jokes in. I only laughed twice. It was unpleasantly misogynistic, too. What is Hollywood's obsession with groups of emotionally retarded men-children at the moment? Maybe it was ever thus but at least films like Animal House had likeable characters (for all their faults) and killer scripts.


----------



## marty21 (Sep 27, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *The Hangover* - this film's popularity eludes me. I mean, it's well-paced and the plot and premise are quite clever but someone forgot to put any jokes in. I only laughed twice. It was unpleasantly misogynistic, too. What is Hollywood's obsession with groups of emotionally retarded men-children at the moment? Maybe it was ever thus but at least films like Animal House had likeable characters (for all their faults) and killer scripts.



I found it hilarious tbh


----------



## belboid (Sep 27, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> What is Hollywood's obsession with groups of emotionally retarded men-children at the moment?


 
teenagers go to the cinema most.  And buy the over-priced shite food n drink cinemas sell.


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## 100% masahiko (Sep 27, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *The Hangover* - this film's popularity eludes me. I mean, it's well-paced and the plot and premise are quite clever but someone forgot to put any jokes in. I only laughed twice. It was unpleasantly misogynistic, too. What is Hollywood's obsession with groups of emotionally retarded men-children at the moment? Maybe it was ever thus but at least films like Animal House had likeable characters (for all their faults) and killer scripts.


 
It's an okay film.
Then again, I enjoyed Jackass 1 and especially 2.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 27, 2010)

i watched case 39, which was much better than i expected. despite the presence of paddy ashdown-eyed squinter, rene zellweger. it managed to make me jump a couple of times. one particular scene is very effective. the ending is poor though.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 27, 2010)

Why does she find it's so shameful to wear glasses?


----------



## Lea (Sep 27, 2010)

Watched Dinner for Schmucks at the cinema over the weekend. Was really disappointed. Steve Carell was not convincing as the idiot. The French version was more subtle and Steve Carell's French counterpart character was vulnerable and sympathetic unlike in the American version.


----------



## smmudge (Sep 27, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> *Youth in Revolt* - one of my fav films of this year. Love is so dramatic at first!!!



I loved this. Nice little homage to french new wave.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 27, 2010)

Centurion- low budget brit flick about a group of roman soldiers trying to get out from behind pict enemy lines. Quite goo, simple and fairly brutal but visually pleasing as well. Dominic west is in it.


----------



## rollinder (Sep 28, 2010)

recent viewing: 
Red Dwarf - Demons And Angels 
think I must've only seen this episode once,didn't remember most of the stuff about the ultra scuzzy bandit/biker/punk/fetish versions of the crew. (kept getting the feeling that maybe I hadn't actually seen it, just adsorbed photos and quotes via programmes guides)


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 28, 2010)

smmudge said:


> I loved this. Nice little homage to french new wave.


 
Yes that too!
As for plot, it's such a refreshing and humorous take (no crappy jokes or nubiles flashing their tits) look on the high school virginity thing.
Underrated and I want to see more of these films!!!


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 28, 2010)

belboid said:


> I watched NSNA too yesterday. Was suprised to realise that I'd never actually seen it before.  And, then, by how absolutely, astoundingly awful it was.  Just embarassing.


 
I caught it halfway through and kept trying to place which one it was, my brain going 'hang on wasn't that the rubbish bit from...'

only good bit was where he blew that woman up with a pen


----------



## TitanSound (Sep 28, 2010)

I got an R5 release of Predators. I liked it. Bit predictable in parts but it's a lot better than that woeful Alien v Predator shit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 28, 2010)

children of men - outstanding film


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 28, 2010)

Aardman dvd with my nipper, I'd never seen Rex the Runt before, it's piss funny. Also has A Town Called Panic and Big Jeff, nude Aussie skateboarder, brilliant stuff all round, probably the best £3 dvd ever.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 28, 2010)

Episode 1, Dexter 5........good stuff.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 28, 2010)

Been steaming through Deadwood tonight. Done half of series one now. Watched it before but on an old TFT that was really bad with anything dark on screen.

Have a new screen and suddenly can see what is happening


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 28, 2010)

Four Lions....funny but equally sad too. I think Morris has directed a film for our times that deals with some of the issues and causes of terrorism and at the same time done in a humorous manner. Not easy to do with such a subject like this


----------



## smmudge (Sep 29, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> As for plot, it's such a refreshing and humorous take (no crappy jokes or nubiles flashing their tits) look on the high school virginity thing.
> Underrated and I want to see more of these films!!!



Yes, I like those films where the characters find themselves in bizarre situations for the comedy, but its punctuated (especially later on) with the realisation that there's actually some serious underlying issues, giving a whole new dimension to everything you've just seen. Unlike American Pie type films where the ridiculous situations are just that and nothing else.



Chip Barm said:


> Aardman dvd with my nipper, I'd never seen Rex the Runt before, it's piss funny. Also has A Town Called Panic and Big Jeff, nude Aussie skateboarder, brilliant stuff all round, probably the best £3 dvd ever.


 
That reminds me of an Aardman video my parents had and I watched quite a bit when I was little. Had some of the creature comforts, a couple of music videos on it etc. But also a couple of short films, one of them so weird that to look back on it now is rather surreal. It would probably make a lot more sense if I watched it now. Though it might not.

Oh look here it is: 
It's a bit weirder now! Quite like it actually.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 29, 2010)

About halfway through Robin Hood. Not minding it so far. The secret with this movie, is to temporarily forget everything you ever knew about Robin Hood while you watch it.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 29, 2010)

Strutter 

Paul Kay at his usual greatness, not the most solid base for him to work on though.


----------



## The Rural Juror (Sep 29, 2010)

Reno said:


> The Canadian indie film *Last Night*, which is one of those films I can watch again and again. It's about how a loosely connected group of people spend the last six hours on earth, which is about to be obliterated by an unspecified (the only clue is that the sun never sets) disaster.
> 
> Made on a modest budget, this is the complete opposite of the likes of Armageddon and Deep Impact which came out around the same time. Featuring barely any effects, it concentrates instead on characters and atmosphere. The film is a who is who of Canadian acting talent and stars director Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Genevieve Bujold, Sandra Oh (who I fell in love with in this) and David Cronenberg among others. It also has a great soundtrack of obscure 70s pop songs.


 
I'm so glad somebody else rates this movie, which is one of my very very favourites. I love the way the movie dispenses with any consideration of why the world is ending, so it can get on with peoples' reactions to it rather than any attempt at halting it. All the performances are fantastic.


----------



## Reno (Sep 29, 2010)

The Philip Kaufman version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers which I just got on Blu-ray. Still a great mixture of sci fi, horror and 70s conspiracy thriller.


----------



## Casually Red (Sep 30, 2010)

Army of Crime . Brilliant french film based on a true story , that of L'affliche Rouge in paris in the mid 40s . Most of the Paris resistance were immigrants from accross europe and veterans of the Spanish war . A very left wing film about the Internatioanl Labour Organisation and its fight against fascism . A pretty much lone struggle in the case of Paris at the time .


----------



## rollinder (Sep 30, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Aardman dvd with my nipper, I'd never seen Rex the Runt before, it's piss funny. Also has A Town Called Panic and Big Jeff, nude Aussie skateboarder, brilliant stuff all round, probably the best £3 dvd ever.



Rex The Runt!!!! loved that at the time, but only got to see the first series. Shame it hasn't got a proper r2 release.


----------



## Bajie (Oct 1, 2010)

Le Samouraï, I can not relate to it as much as Ghost Dog but a very cool film.


----------



## Reno (Oct 1, 2010)

*7 Days*, a French Canadian film that is remarkably similar to the recent Gerard Butler vigilante film Law Abiding Citizen and even more so to a new and rather rubbish horror film called The Tortured. It was made before those, aims higher and largely succeeds. The film falls within the genre of recent vigilante/"torture porn" hybrids where someones kid gets murdered by a pedophile and then they kidnap the perpetrator to get their revenge with a bunch of tools and surgical implements. 

This feels rather more credible than most of these films and while there are moments that are wince inducing, it isn't quite as gruesome as other films of it's kind. It ultimately concentrates on the psychological disintegration of its vengeful lead character as he starts to realise that his vengeance is not at all cathartic, is a lot of unpleasantness and not much joy.


----------



## Reno (Oct 2, 2010)

*Inferno*, Dario Argento's first sequel to Suspiria, which may just be my favourite film of his. The whole thing so oddly disjointed with dialogue that sounds like it got translated into a foreign language and then back again, sleep walking performances and eye popping colour schemes, it's one of the most dream like films ever made.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 2, 2010)

Death Note - The live Action one


----------



## killer b (Oct 2, 2010)

*burn after reading*, which was excellent (if a bit rushed at the end).


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 2, 2010)

Started watching six feet under. Looks like I'm going to enjoy it based on the first 3 episodes.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 2, 2010)

First half of Benny & the Bull - It's like a TV show
First half of The Good the Bad and the Weird - Should have just started with the train. 
First half of Pandorium - ?


----------



## Reno (Oct 2, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> First half of Pandorium - ?



OK film, surprisingly good ending.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 2, 2010)

_The Human Centipede_.

Generally unpleasant viewing, tbh


----------



## Reno (Oct 2, 2010)

jer said:


> _The Human Centipede_.
> 
> Generally unpleasant viewing, tbh


 

Does what it says on the tin then.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 2, 2010)

Reno said:


> Does what it says on the tin then.


 
Pretty much so, yup


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 2, 2010)

Reno said:


> OK film, surprisingly good ending.


 
Ok I will try and watch it properly from the beginning and not all drunked up.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 2, 2010)

Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 2, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator


 
Good film that.

The bits where he's trying to skate street are a bit


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Oct 2, 2010)

jeff_leigh said:


> Death Note - The live Action one


 
I really enjoyed that - especially the guy playing "L"

We have just finished the first part of "Red Cliff" - very good, fantastic action sequences


----------



## MooChild (Oct 2, 2010)

Just watched *The Man from Earth*, absolutely ace 
Simple setting, man saying goodbye cos he is leaving reveals that he has been alive for 14,000 years, and the ensuing discussion.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 3, 2010)

QueenOfGoths said:


> I really enjoyed that - especially the guy playing "L"
> 
> We have just finished the first part of "Red Cliff" - very good, fantastic action sequences


 
I'll look for that, Last night I watched Death Note 2


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 3, 2010)

More six feet under here, a couple more episodes.

Might go back to bed and watch a film now, it's pissing down here.


----------



## Reno (Oct 3, 2010)

I watched *Mother* again because I showed it to a friend. I liked it better the second time round. Knowing how great the ending is made me like the film more. Despite not quite being sure about it after I saw it at the cinema it didn't leave me, which is always a good sign. 

I started a thread about it a while ago:

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/threads/330196-Mother-(new-Korean-thriller)?highlight=mother

We also watched a double feature of *[Rec]* and *[Rec]2*. The sequel is entertaining enough, but nowhere near as good as the first film.


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 3, 2010)

Just watched *CJ7* after a fun filled weekend of liberty caps n stuff.  Jesus at times i thought i was still on em!  Wasn't to sure what to expect havin no idea what it was about, but it turned out to be feckin excellent!!  Great story and great acting by the little kid,,  9/10


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 3, 2010)

9.  Animated film about a motley band of "stitchpunks" (numbered rag doll-type creatures, 9 being the main protagonist) trying to make their way across a post-apocalyptic world where mankind has been destroyed by slave-turned-renegade monster machines.  Enjoyable I have to say, and I believe this originated in an earlier short film of the same name from the same director a few years ago.  I haven't seen it, so can't judge between them.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Oct 3, 2010)

The last two episodes of season three of Battlestar Gallactica i.e the "All Along The Watchtower" episodes (a bit cryptic so as to avoid spoilers!). Wow. Loved them!


----------



## Reno (Oct 3, 2010)

*Charade*. Still as lovely and witty as ever.


----------



## mentalchik (Oct 3, 2010)

Robin Hood - 

The Ghost -


----------



## starfish (Oct 3, 2010)

The Island. Ewan McGregor really cant do an American accent.


----------



## The Rural Juror (Oct 3, 2010)

pandorum. looked great, decent plot \ but did anyone else find the audio bad? badly mixed - stage whispers drowned out by background noise etc? made it hard work


----------



## Reno (Oct 4, 2010)

Black Death. What a dreary piece of crap and what a comedown after the wonderful Charade.


----------



## Sadken (Oct 4, 2010)

An Education - Fucking GREAT film!  Really, really had me gripped and I was very impressed.


----------



## Reno (Oct 5, 2010)

*We Own the Night*, an excellent crime drama by James Gray one of the best directors currently working in the US. Joaquin Phoenix is the black sheep in a family of cops, running a night club controlled by the Russian mob in the late 80s in a crime ridden NYC. When the police starts going after the mob, he has to chose sides and the shit hits the fan.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 5, 2010)

the pied piper of hutzovina


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 5, 2010)

Reno said:


> *We Own the Night*, an excellent crime drama by James Gray one of the best directors currently working in the US. Joaquin Phoenix is the black sheep in a family of cops, running a night club controlled by the Russian mob in the late 80s in a crime ridden NYC. When the police starts going after the mob, he has to chose sides and the shit hits the fan.


 co-incidentally, i watched this last week. i liked it less, though it was certainly a superior police thriller. gray has a wire-like sense of place and though his plots and characters are cliched, he knows how to spin a yarn and always has great casts.
also:
 event horizon, which was mostly poor but with some well-executed glimpses of 'hell' and great production design.
 hairspray - embarrassing and totally superfluous musical version of waters' vastly superior version. total waste of time.
 ravenous - oddball historical thriller cum cannibal horror film with annoying soundtrack composed by damon albarn and michael nyman - had a lot going for it, but it seemed unfocussed and incoherent. something went wrong making it, judging by IMDb.


----------



## Reno (Oct 5, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> co-incidentally, i watched this last week. i liked it less, though it was certainly a superior police thriller. gray has a wire-like sense of place and though his plots and characters are cliched, he knows how to spin a yarn and always has great casts.



The last half hour doesn't quite work as well as the rest, but I really like the melancholy atmosphere of his films and he knows how to direct the hell out of a scene. Unlike so many modern directors he knows exactly where to put the camera and where to cut. The wire/undercover scene in this was incredibly tense and it takes something to make a car chase as gripping and downright menacing as he does here, after a gazillion film car chases.

I think his best film was his most recent one. Two Lovers was his firsrst non-crime films and is an adaptation of a Dostoyevsky short story relocated to moden New York. It's a fantastic film and makes my ten best of the decade list, but hardly anybody went to see it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 5, 2010)

Reno said:


> *We Own the Night*, an excellent crime drama by James Gray one of the best directors currently working in the US. Joaquin Phoenix is the black sheep in a family of cops, running a night club controlled by the Russian mob in the late 80s in a crime ridden NYC. When the police starts going after the mob, he has to chose sides and the shit hits the fan.


 
I rated this highly also - good journey of a movie...

Not seen Two Lovers...


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 5, 2010)

Mel Gibson was once mad and cool (ie Lethal Weapon, Mad Max etc).
Now he's just homophobic, bigoted racist twat..
And since seeing him in *Edge of Darkness,* I'm finding that I hate him more.
A very, very boring film.
Predictable. 

*Fish Story *- great concept but executed poorly. 
The acting was shit too... 

I must make better choices in my Love Film selections.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 5, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> Mel Gibson was once mad and cool (ie Lethal Weapon, Mad Max etc).
> Now he's just homophobic, bigoted racist twat..
> And since seeing him in *Edge of Darkness,* I'm finding that I hate him more.
> A very, very boring film.
> ...


 
I thought fish story was amazing.


----------



## Reno (Oct 5, 2010)

I've had Fish Story on my "to watch" pile for a while. I've read good things about it, but I'm also wary of cinematic Japanese whimsy overkill of which I've had enough.


----------



## Crispy (Oct 5, 2010)

"Being There" - Peter Sellers' only non-comic movie role as an apparent simpleton who finds himself propelled into high society. Some nice performances and great use of TV shows in the background for incidental music.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 5, 2010)

Reno said:


> OK film, surprisingly good ending.


 
Humm, ok film. I wasn't so taken by the ending.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 5, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Humm, ok film. I wasn't so taken by the ending.


 maybe you should include the title of the film, so people know what you're on about


----------



## Upchuck (Oct 5, 2010)

Just finished watching Glengarry Glen Ross.  Love that film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 5, 2010)

nice people, ey?


----------



## Upchuck (Oct 5, 2010)

lol.  I'd have robbed the place too.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 6, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> maybe you should include the title of the film, so people know what you're on about


 
Pandorium - OK film but I wasn't as taken by the end as Reno.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 6, 2010)

i watched a crude awakening


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 6, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> i watched a crude awakening


 
yeah, but what about it?


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 6, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> yeah, but what about it?


 
its about how we've passed peak oil production, how we're so dependant on oil, and how fucked we are gonna be when it runs out. it says about how no governments have invested any time or money into the alternative technolgys needed for the future like hydrogen power and if we grow crops for bio fuels then food production will be effected and millions of people will starve. 

quite interesting really i watched a national geographic documentary awhile ago called world without oil, which shows what will actually happen when the oil runs out.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 6, 2010)

lots of quasi-apocalyptic documentaries about at the mo - there's another oil one and there's also a film called collapse which looks interesting.


----------



## Reno (Oct 7, 2010)

*Prodigal Sons*. Curious documentary in the "life is stranger than fiction" category by and about a transgender woman who returns to her Midwestern hometown to reconnect with her college friends at a school re-union and to make up with her troubled adopted brother, who is in for a surprise when he searches out his birth parents.


----------



## marty21 (Oct 7, 2010)

where the wild things are - thought it was excellent - the lead actor looked just like my nephew


----------



## Yetman (Oct 7, 2010)

Dogtooth - boring really, had potential to be good but maybe its just the different acting style or even personality style of the country it came from that I cant get on with. Rigid and unfunny.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 7, 2010)

the changeling - mixed feelings about this - there's much to admire about eastwood as a director but he does have a penchant for melodrama. it's very well crafted and cast: angelina jolie is great and so are the rest of the cast, but ultimately it's a letdown. it starts well and i was intrigued by the depiction of the corrupt LAPD, but as soon as one major part of the plot develops, it lurches into clichéd hollywood drama (such as a scene with a perfectly timed telephone call saving someone from something terrible). there is one scene later on which makes you think that maybe eastwood is going to do something different after all - i was thinking the film was going to be a lesson on the impossibility of closure and the hollowness of retribution, but no, this is dirty harry directing, how did i forget? it eventually limps towards a truly terrible, if not dishonest ending. a very frustrating film but maybe only because of unrealistic expectations.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 7, 2010)

Just started watching Breaking Bad


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 7, 2010)

I watched this film called solomon kane. Its not the sort of thing i would usually watch not into that fantasy shit at all, but i really enjoyed it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 7, 2010)

Watching *Date Night* reminded me of the Pryor/ Wilder partnership.
Very average and predictable plot that's made bearable because of Carrell/ Fey's chemistry.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Oct 7, 2010)

I watched Shutter Island this afternoon. Very watchable, because it's Scorcese, Di Caprio is excellent, but I had the gist of it figured out from about 15 minutes in.


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 8, 2010)

*Triangle* - I quite like Christopher Smith's films (Creep, Severance) and this twisty-turny thriller is his best yet. The set-up is perhaps more satisfying than the pay off but that's a small quibble. Melissa George is great as the main character, Jess - a very underrated actress. I won't say anything about the plot because I wouldn't want to spoil any of it - it's one of those films that's best to see with as little prior knowledge as possible.


----------



## TitanSound (Oct 8, 2010)

Naked Gun. The first one.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 8, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *Triangle* - I quite like Christopher Smith's films (Creep, Severance) and this twisty-turny thriller is his best yet. The set-up is perhaps more satisfying than the pay off but that's a small quibble. Melissa George is great as the main character, Jess - a very underrated actress. I won't say anything about the plot because I wouldn't want to spoil any of it - it's one of those films that's best to see with as little prior knowledge as possible.


 
I like severance and triangle havent seen creep, but im gonna watch black death his latest film in a bit once i have had a bath.


----------



## Bajie (Oct 8, 2010)

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner


----------



## Reno (Oct 9, 2010)

I finally saw The Human Centipede. Watchable enough, but could have been much more funny and outrageous. The guy who played Joseph Heiter was born to play a mad scientist though.


----------



## Badgers (Oct 9, 2010)

Mitch Hedberg stand up
Dara Obriain stand up 
Bill Hicks stand up
Monty Pythons Flying Circus series 1


----------



## Badgers (Oct 9, 2010)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Stunning film  

No need for a review, it has been reviewed to death. Still just a great role by Jack Nicholson. I know it seems that he is just playing himself but still fucking great!


----------



## smmudge (Oct 9, 2010)

Where the Wild Things Are - I'd read a few reviews or just general opinions and most seemed a bit meh. But I like films that blur the boundaries of fantasy and reality, and also ones where not a lot really happens, and also where the audience is denied a proper Hollywood happy ending, so it pretty much had everything. It was also made great by all its little allegories of childhood (I had to work hard at not welling up at the end), the beautiful and contrasting scenery, and the soundtrack. So yeah, I really enjoyed it, quite unexpectedly!


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 10, 2010)

*The Firm* - Nick Love's remake of the Alan Clarke original from 1989 (which is better). As football violence films go, it's pretty good, especially as there's little attempt to make the world the hoolies inhabit seem in any way glamorous (unlike in The Football Factory or Green Street). In fact, you're invited to laugh at them more often than not as they prance about in their stupid Sergio Tacchini trackies and expensive trainers.


----------



## Reno (Oct 10, 2010)

The first hour of *Never Sleep Again*, a four hour documentary on the entire A Nightmare on Elm Street series. Because it's isn't a DVD extra, participants are a bit more candid than usual and Nightmare on Elm St 2: Freddy's Revenge, possibly the strangest entry in any horror series ever, finally officially gets dragged out of the closet. Turns out the gay subtext in this one wasn't so sub after all. The film itself is hilarious in a "what were they thinking?" sort of way so it's fun to finally find out what went wrong (or right depending on you POV).


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 11, 2010)

That terminator salvation. 
Not great at all, but I didn't expect more than a bit of fluff. Despite the big budget and special effects it all felt very small and the plot was pretty thin, more like a TV drama. Some daft editing and structure choices, which I assume were made for the cheap seats, didn't help knock any remaining 'epic' feeling out of the dreary story which felt rather too obviously padded out by the inclusion of the robot man. I think that would have only worked if it was a film about a robot man waking up in the future where robots were taking over and we follow him on his journey down the rabbit hole, not a film where we already know what's happening and what is going to happen next.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 11, 2010)

I stayed up way too late because I got caught up in a docudrama called 'Boycott'. It's the story of the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott that happened after the Rosa Parks incident.  I wanted to go to bed, but I wanted to see how it ended, even though I know how it ended. It's about how Martin Luther King got raised up to a national figure, from being a guy pressganged  into service to speak to the white crackers as the voice of the Montgomery Improvement Association. In other words, it's about the birth of the Civil Rights movement.

It made me realize - I was born before it was. The Civil Rights movement, that is, although not by much. It made me realize that although I'm not one for wishing things different, I think it wouldn't have been a bad thing to have been born later than that  - maybe late enough so that anything I might come to know about that time, would come only from a docudrama and not from the news of the day, and hence memory.

They employ a fairly effective device at the end. The court decision is won, and everybody gets on the bus except King. He walks. But now he's walking through the streets of modern Montgomery. He's in his sixties suit and hat, and he's passing interracial couples, and black cops. He's talking to black people hanging around on the street. They recognize him. They think he's cool.

It was sort of emotional. I think, why should I get emotional about the history of a people who aren't mine, people who are Americans descended from slaves. But I realize that by default, by force of circumstance, by force of prejudice, their history is my history.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 11, 2010)

The Enigman of Kaspar Hauser - 70s Herzog tale of a man found wandering in rural 19th century Germany; he's been kept in a stable all his life up til then. Based on a true story.


----------



## Reno (Oct 11, 2010)

*Exit Through the Gift Shop*. I can't believe anybody ever thought this was an actual documentary. It was watchable enough, but I just can't see the point of this type of thing.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 11, 2010)

Reno said:


> *Exit Through the Gift Shop*. I can't believe anybody ever thought this was an actual documentary. It was watchable enough, but I just can't see the point of this type of thing.



I watched it last week. Agree with you, watchable enough but just daft really.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 12, 2010)

They Chose China. A documentary about US prisoners of war during the Korean War, who defected and ended up living in China. Fascinating look at a subject I knew nothing about.

http://www.progressivetorrents.com/details.php?id=2423


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 12, 2010)

That is a great doc.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 12, 2010)

It was interesting that one of them, a black guy, made broadcasts during the Vietnam War, to the black US soldiers, telling them to lay down their weapons etc. Sort of a Tokyo Rose, or a Lord Ha Ha.

Hanoi Leroy, perhaps?


----------



## Bajie (Oct 12, 2010)

Sword of Doom, for the second time, great film and under it's samurai trappings very politcal also, the main message being that feudalism was rubbish.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 13, 2010)

Iron Man 2. Kind of boring.


----------



## Bajie (Oct 13, 2010)

Babylon, a tragedy that this film has never seen a general release on DVD, it is one of the best British films of that time period and captures a time when racism was overt and what it was like to be black in the wrong place and the wrong time.

Edit: I did not realise it has FINALLY be released on DVD


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 13, 2010)

A Town Called Panic....Highly recommended. 

Poster billed it as Toy Story on absinthe, great stop motion animation, ridiculous, surreal storyline, very very funny.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 14, 2010)

Religulous - a Bill Maher documentary on religion and some of the people who practice it. It's good, but the problem with Bill is that even though he is funny and intelligent, he likes to hear himself talk too much, meaning he doesn't give his religious fanatic interviewees enough rope to really and effectively hang themselves.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 14, 2010)

spent all night seeking a good stream for Stargate Atlantis (i know). When it hit 12 I found one called 'the game' which was a filler episode and didn't have any raith in it. what a swizz.

I'll have to work out the best torrent client for mac and see if I can't raid from the usual sources


----------



## stupid dogbot (Oct 14, 2010)

uTorrent.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 15, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> A Town Called Panic....Highly recommended.
> 
> Poster billed it as Toy Story on absinthe, great stop motion animation, ridiculous, surreal storyline, very very funny.


 
Just downloaded this but can't find any subtitle, Where did you get your copy from Chippie ?


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 15, 2010)

*A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures* - Likeable loser Chris Waitt sets out to document why his relationships with women have always been total disasters. It starts out as a knockabout bit of fun before turning darker when we discover he suffers from erectile dysfunction and may have mental health issues. Some of the scenes and scrapes he gets into are somewhat contrived and he's clearly an odd bloke. But overall it works and you end up caring about him, whilst sympathising with the women who have had to deal with his bullshit over the years.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 15, 2010)

jeff_leigh said:


> Just downloaded this but can't find any subtitle, Where did you get your copy from Chippie ?



I downloaded it here, it comes with subs. You could just d/l the subs file or there's a link to other subs in the comments.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/568...LiMiTED.DVDRip.XviD-NODLABS#filelistContainer


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 16, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> I downloaded it here, it comes with subs. You could just d/l the subs file or there's a link to other subs in the comments.
> 
> http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/568...LiMiTED.DVDRip.XviD-NODLABS#filelistContainer


 
Cheers Mate


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 16, 2010)

More six feet under, seems to have good and less good episodes. Still on the first series, 3 episodes to go.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 17, 2010)

I just watched Basquiat the biopic about the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. It was pretty good, gonna have a bath them watch Dead Snow.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 17, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> I just watched Basquiat the biopic about the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. It was pretty good, gonna have a bath them watch Dead Snow.



Andy Warhol (David Bowie) trying to 'see' like Basquiat, by wearing a 'Basquiat' crash helmet.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 17, 2010)

Last 3 eps of six feet under, not sure I'll bother with anymore. Mrs Barm enjoyed it though so you never now.


----------



## rollinder (Oct 17, 2010)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Andy Warhol (David Bowie) trying to 'see' like Basquiat, by wearing a 'Basquiat' crash helmet.


 
you're making want to watch that now 

my recent viewing - The Second Coming Episode 1 
meant to just check the dvd because amazon's blurb suggests it's a feature edit, ended up watching the whole of episode 1. Still epic, amazing and one of the best bits of recent telly I've seen. Def a newer contender for last of the truly great programmes made by/for ITV.
First time since the original broadcast - the intro / pre-credits bit brought back the whole rush of knowing this was going to be something more than great and important and maybe he's going to turn out to not be Jesus but abducted by aliens or something.
Weird noticing all the moments where Christopher Eccleston suddenly give a manic smile or goes all chatty then despairing and is The Doctor, only better and further - and this was why his performance in Doctor Who was sort of a disappointment. Spent part of my original viewing slightly confused because I'd muddled my Our Friends In The North actors/characters and expected Daniel Craig being like Nicky  

eta: just like the first time I felt the hatred for Richard & Judy and there ilk's exploitation of serious issues, encouraging people's paranoia and despair. 

Forgot this had the fake news and comment show clips too -  another RTD thing that worked better here than in Who.

Made more connections between why  things happened in part 1 and what I remember happening in part 2, just why the woman being unable leave her life/children led her to try and do what she tried to do in the next episode - from her pov she'd just been rejected by God.

and there's a comment/statement about us having to work together to sort things out (I think re the writing of the new testament) that is exactly why what happens in the end has to happen. & it suddenly clicked, the significance of Judy/Judith/Judas & why she has to be the one to do it.

Very (but pleasently) surprised to be suddenly hit by the next episode trailer, just I remembered it.

and earlier in the week
Life Of Brian, off video Much better 2nd time round, doesn't really work watched with adverts, and missing bits due to popping in and out.
I've had the "a man called Brian" Bond theme type song in my head ever since.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 18, 2010)

rollinder said:


> you're making want to watch that now


----------



## Badgers (Oct 18, 2010)

Die Hard 2 

Cheesy classic isn't it?


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 18, 2010)

_Die Harder!_

I thought the fourth one was shite.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 18, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures* - Likeable loser Chris Waitt sets out to document why his relationships with women have always been total disasters. It starts out as a knockabout bit of fun before turning darker when we discover he suffers from erectile dysfunction and may have mental health issues. Some of the scenes and scrapes he gets into are somewhat contrived and he's clearly an odd bloke. But overall it works and you end up caring about him, whilst sympathising with the women who have had to deal with his bullshit over the years.


 
Can't say I sympathized with him much. I thought he was too much of a dick from the start and it just seemed dig up how much more of a dick he had been in the past as it went along. Still, a fairly entertaining film considering that and the subject matter. Sags a bit in places, especially before the first half is over.


----------



## belboid (Oct 18, 2010)

Skeletons.

Very very funny Britpic about exorcists removing the skeletons from peoples' cupboards.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 18, 2010)

*The Killer Inside Me* - is a one fuckin' crazy ass film. I loved the uneasiness, the graphic violence, the complexity of the sheriff and his version of love. Recommend!

*I am Love* - Upstairs/ downstairs, forbidden relationships...is it possible to leave the family/ status for a chance with a lover? Pretty good. Nice shots.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 18, 2010)

One Missed Call - Takashi Miike horror flick


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Oct 18, 2010)

'Razer' - the BSG one-off TV film thingy. Really enjoyed it as I have all the BSG stuff. Plus Mr. QofG's had a bit of a fan-boy ejaculation moment when one of the old style cylons said "By Your Command!"

Oh and various Star Trek filums on Film 4  "I have been and always shall be your friend"!!


----------



## Cm7 (Oct 18, 2010)

Harry Brown - impressive beginning.  falling flat at the end.

Coco and Igor - love the look of the film. the whole art deco thing.  I'm not a designer brand chaser, but what amazing costumes the lead lady wears.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 18, 2010)

Also; Nicholas and Alexandra. Tom Baker was rather fun as Rasputin.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 18, 2010)

A town called panic superb.


----------



## rollinder (Oct 18, 2010)

bit of Johnny English on the telly, it was alright, Rowan Atkinson got to be offensive about Archbishops.

So that's where Robbie Williams' Man For All Seasons came from.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 19, 2010)

Red Detachment of Women.  The 1961 version, so not the 1971 film of the Jiang Qing-endorsed ballet, when she was in charge of Culture.  It was okay, and reminded me of the Soviet films I've seen over the years.


----------



## Reno (Oct 21, 2010)

Get Him to the Greek, which was better than expected, considering it's not my type of film at all. I don't get Jonah Hill though. He's not particularly funny, likeable or charismatic.


----------



## gavman (Oct 21, 2010)

macgruber. i laughed so much i had laughter withdrawal for the next three days...until my favourite episode of alan partridge was repeated this week
(the one where he does the presentation for the south african fireplace company)


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 21, 2010)

*The Brides Of Dracula* - it hasn't aged well although there are a couple of genuinely chilling moments and Peter Cushing's always worth watching.


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 21, 2010)

Reno said:


> I don't get Jonah Hill though. He's not particularly funny, likeable or charismatic.



That's really hit the nail on the head, I think - he's just a charmless oaf who got lucky.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 21, 2010)

*Flashbacks of a Fool* - Not as bad as expected.


----------



## Reno (Oct 21, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *The Brides Of Dracula* - it hasn't aged well although there are a couple of genuinely chilling moments and Peter Cushing's always worth watching.



This is one of my favourite Hammer horrors, because it's so beautifully shot and art directed. There is a real fairy tale feel to the film. They just missed a trick by not having the extremely scary looking Martita Hunt becoming the main villain after she has been bitten. Her camp, platinum blonde son doesn't look like much of a thread.


----------



## The Rural Juror (Oct 21, 2010)

A Single Man. Beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, although I think the ending was a bit disappointing. But a brilliant debut movie


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 21, 2010)

Reno said:


> This is one of my favourite Hammer horrors, because it's so beautifully shot and art directed. There is a real fairy tale feel to the film. They just missed a trick by not having the extremely scary looking Martita Hunt becoming the main villain after she has been bitten. Her camp, platinum blonde son doesn't look like much of a thread.


 
That's one of my main gripes with it - the vampire bad guy is laughably awful. You're spot on about its fairytale feel though - Tim Burton was clearly a fan.


----------



## dlx1 (Oct 21, 2010)

on Channel 4 +1 last night. Love the Beast  
missed end fell a sleep 

its the bloke from Chopper


----------



## zenie (Oct 21, 2010)

Alice Creed, load of shit  

True Blood Season 3 marathon was ace.


----------



## Reno (Oct 22, 2010)

The Collector, a horror film with a good premise but poor execution. It was trying to be the Die Hard of "torture porn". A basically decent man gets forced into burgling the house of a rich family. Once he's broken in he finds that the family are in the hands of a sadistic serial killer, that the entire house is booby trapped and that as the rogue element he is the only one with a chance to save them. Unfortunately the characters are cyphers and it has one of those super genius psychopaths you only get in horror films.


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 22, 2010)

*Matango*  tis the mushroom season after all!   Would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't for the crap copy i got!  It was squashed down to letter box size and just about watchable...  7/10


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 22, 2010)

Meatball machine its some weird japanese gore movie, about strange alien parasites that take over human hosts and then fight each other and then they eat the loser. pretty fucking weird.


----------



## Badgers (Oct 23, 2010)

Jackie Brown


----------



## Badgers (Oct 23, 2010)

Wide Open Spaces 
On the iPlayer
Harmless comedy


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 24, 2010)

Kick-Ass it was actually quite good.


----------



## belboid (Oct 24, 2010)

Good Hair, the Chris Rock doc.  'Twas very good.  The amount some people spend on extensions!


----------



## i_got_poison (Oct 24, 2010)

a single man - the atmospshere and the feel of this film is well executed, but i couldn't help thinking it tried too hard
to conjure a mood the dialogue should've created. the ending should've been edited. went on far too long for my liking.

a prophet - everything felt 'right' about this film. the script and plot move at break neck speed, so much so you don't notice the 2hrs +
that pass you by. the quranic musings about the protagonist's true identity lent an air of credibility to the scenes of poetic license.
a modern day classic.

brooklyn's finest - i felt this was a good film that missed out on being great. all the ingredients were there but somehow it managed to
feel a little contrived. as though the studio had coaxed the director into revisiting (training day) old ground.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 25, 2010)

I read the reviews for *I Love You Philip Morris* and Rotten Tomatoes gave it 79%.
Much of the negativity came from conservative writers describing it as an 'immoral comedy' that 'misfires on all levels.'
But the word 'immoral' kept creeping up...oh man, I heard of 'un-pc' comedies but 'immoral?'
Anyway, this film is a beautiful portrayal of love and unreason on prison/ con-artist Steven Jay Russell.
I recommend.


----------



## Reno (Oct 25, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> I read the reviews for *I Love You Philip Morris* and Rotten Tomatoes gave it 79%.
> Much of the negativity came from conservative writers describing it as an 'immoral comedy' that 'misfires on all levels.'
> But the word 'immoral' kept creeping up...oh man, I heard of 'un-pc' comedies but 'immoral?'
> Anyway, this film is a beautiful portrayal of love and unreason on prison/ con-artist Steven Jay Russell.
> I recommend.



The film was quite funny in places, but Jim Carrey ended up grating on me. I wished they had chosen an actor who underplays the humor rather than going into full farce mode. That said, good to see major films stars full buggering each other in a mainstream Hollywood film.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 25, 2010)

Splice - Meh, kind of typical 'two scientists create weird creature and it all goes wrong' movie. Ok but fairly boring tbh.

In a Glass Cage - umm.....turned it off after an hour, weird child abuse in the war movie, cant say it captured me at all.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 25, 2010)

Reno said:


> The film was quite funny in places, but Jim Carrey ended up grating on me. I wished they had chosen an actor who underplays the humor rather than going into full farce mode. That said, good to see major films stars full buggering each other in a mainstream Hollywood film.


 
I admire Jim Carey since Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Yep they were buggering each other but I wanted to see them kiss/ snog. That would push both Mcgregor/ Carey's screen-cred even further.

I wiki-ed Steven Jay Russell and boy, he was  a genius!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Oct 25, 2010)

The recent BBC4 "First Man on the Moon" with Mark Gattis and Rory Kinnear. Sweet, charming, dragged a little but very enjoyable.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 25, 2010)

I Walked With A Zombie - classic horror from 1943


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 25, 2010)

Mysterious Skin really good but fucked up and quite disturbing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 25, 2010)

that's a great film


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 25, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> Mysterious Skin really good but fucked up and quite disturbing.


 
One of my favourite films...


----------



## Bajie (Oct 25, 2010)

3:10 to Yuma, I liked it. Going to watch the orginal 50's version later, though no doubt it will be very different.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 25, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> One of my favourite films...


 
I'm gonna watch a few more of Gregg Araki's films i really liked the doom generation and i only just found out it was the same director. have you seen any of his others?


----------



## Reno (Oct 25, 2010)

I generally hate Araki's films, but Mysterious Skin was brilliant, probably because it was based on a novel. Otherwise his films consist of not much more than self-conscious hipster posturing and I find them unwatchable.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 25, 2010)

i've only seen the doom generation as well as mysterious skin. don't remember much but young damaged beautiful people driving nowhere.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 25, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> One of my favourite films...


 

double post


----------



## Yetman (Oct 25, 2010)

I remember flinging my mysterious skin dvd out of my bedroom window in disgust


----------



## Reno (Oct 25, 2010)

Yetman said:


> I remember flinging my mysterious skin dvd out of my bedroom window in disgust


 
Outraged of Motown !


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 25, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> I'm gonna watch a few more of Gregg Araki's films i really liked the doom generation and i only just found out it was the same director. have you seen any of his others?


 
Nah, but I want to watch The Doom Generation.
He's one of those directors I should watch more but most of the time, the themes to his films are too heavy going...


----------



## RecoveryTTA (Oct 25, 2010)

I watched Gladiator with russell Crowe last night


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 25, 2010)

I just watched Smiley Face by Gregg Araki and it was really funny and quite refreshing after watching Mysterious Skin. Not sure wether to watch Nowhere or totally fucked up next. So far i really like Gregg Araki

 Smiley Face was about this stoner girl that ate loads of hash cakes and got really stoned and paironoid and fucked everything up


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 26, 2010)

Machete - It was fookin' wicked


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 26, 2010)

t'other half has got me into watchin Nurse Jackie!  Edie Falco is brilliantly cast as Jackie. Good stuff!


----------



## Yetman (Oct 26, 2010)

RecoveryTTA said:


> I watched Gladiator with russell Crowe last night


 
Does that man never tire of watching his own fucking films?! Hang on, did he suggest it as well? He did didnt he, the absolute tosser


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Oct 26, 2010)

Tried to watch a several Gregg Araki films but couldnt, tried to watch Totally Fucked Up and Nowhere but just didnt like them. Instead i watched The Machinist which was pretty good, nice twist.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 27, 2010)

First 2 Episodes Justified Season 1


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 27, 2010)

A Guillermo Del Toro double bill - both gems.

*The Devil's Backbone* - an unsettling, sumptuous-looking ghost story set during the Spanish Civil War. The ghostly elements are part of a much bigger story - involving dysfunctional affairs, hidden gold and the horrors of the war itself. In fact, you could probably take the ghosty bits out altogether and still have a cracking historical thriller. 

*Cronos* - eccentric, beautifully played and darkly funny vampire film with a genuinely sympathetic lead. The young girl in it is excellent too, despite only having a word or two of dialogue.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2010)

The Exorcist. This is the third or fourth time I've watched the film and I've always had very mixed feelings about it. It's an extremely well made film and I admire all the virtues of 70s Hollywood filmmaking, which was so influenced by European arthouse cinema, but the content is a spook-show for Catholics and as such I never found it very scary. What exactly does the devil prove by having some potty mouthed Assyrian pixy pick on a little girl ?


----------



## Badgers (Oct 29, 2010)

Nosferatu (1922) last night but cinema not home. Was fucking brilliant with a live score no less. 

http://www.princecharlescinema.com/...347&date=2010:10:28&year=2010&month=10&day=28


----------



## belboid (Oct 29, 2010)

Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff - great stuff, some realy good talking head bits, and marvellous clips. And one from Rambo II

Double Take - odd, Hitchcockian thing based on a Borges story.  Sort of.  Interesting.  Maybe toss as well.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 29, 2010)

Splice - Better than average unknown baby monster thing growing into an adult quickly movie. Not great though. 

Dr Who the sontaran experiment. - Crap but thankfully short. Passes the time.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2010)

belboid said:


> Double Take - odd, Hitchcockian thing based on a Borges story.  Sort of.  Interesting.  Maybe toss as well.



I saw this at the BFI and wanted to claw my eyes out. Toss!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 29, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> A Guillermo Del Toro double bill - both gems.
> 
> *The Devil's Backbone* - an unsettling, sumptuous-looking ghost story set during the Spanish Civil War. The ghostly elements are part of a much bigger story - involving dysfunctional affairs, hidden gold and the horrors of the war itself. In fact, you could probably take the ghosty bits out altogether and still have a cracking historical thriller.
> 
> *Cronos* - eccentric, beautifully played and darkly funny vampire film with a genuinely sympathetic lead. The young girl in it is excellent too, despite only having a word or two of dialogue.


 
I never got the whole way though Cronos. Boring. I'm told Devils Backbone is ace and one of del toros favorites but have been so put off by cronos. I still bear the mental scars of watching mimic to the end as well.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 29, 2010)

I watched half of Star Runners which isn't as bad as it sounds but is deffo made for TV and is more like an extended episode or pilot. Quite good.

Watched 1-3 of Carnivale season 2. Very strange goings on.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I never got the whole way though Cronos. Boring. I'm told Devils Backbone is ace and one of del toros favorites but have been so put off by cronos. I still bear the mental scars of watching mimic to the end as well.


 

I also don't get Cronos and find it rather boring, but The Devil's Backbone is one of the best horror films of the last decade or two and it's a very different film. I also prefer it to the similar Pan's Labyrinth.

Mind, I quite like Mimic despite Del Toro having virtually disowned it due to studio interference. The last third is rather generic, but the giant roaches are pretty cool, the idea for the monsters is solid and it's full of these gothic, catholic flourishes which give it a unique atmosphere.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 29, 2010)

Reno said:


> Mind, I quite like Mimic despite Del Toro having virtually disowned it due to studio interference. The last third is rather generic, but the giant roaches are pretty cool, the idea for the monsters is solid and it's full of these gothic, catholic flourishes which give it a unique atmosphere.


 
It's a running joke between me and my wife, I don't remember much about it now apart from a lot of face slapping.

I guess I should dust off my devils backbone DVD. Pans was ok.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It's a running joke between me and my wife, I don't remember much about it now apart from a lot of face slapping.



You sure you've got the right film ?


----------



## kittyP (Oct 29, 2010)

Not quite in the theme of the thread but we went to the Prince Charles Cinema to see Nosferatu with live music.
It was amazing!!!!
The music was like a cross between Godspeed, Shellac and something else!!!
Totally blown away


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 29, 2010)

Reno said:


> You sure you've got the right film ?


 
I mean we were slapping our own faces, or foreheads more like, you know, in disbelief.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I mean we were slapping our own faces, or foreheads more like, you know, in disbelief.



Uh, ok. I thought you put in a Benny Hill video by mistake.


Most monster movies need a degreee of suspension of disbelief. This didn't strike me as much more stupid than most and the whole "mimic" idea struck me as rather smart.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 29, 2010)

i saw frost/nixon the other night. wasn't that interested in seeing it, but it gripped me - frank langella was particularly good, though i'm not sure what i think of michael sheen, though it was fun watching him. it was a lot funnier than i expected - i suppose i assumed it would be a sombre piece cos it started off as a play.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 29, 2010)

Reno said:


> Uh, ok. I thought you put in a Benny Hill video by mistake.
> 
> 
> Most monster movies need a degreee of suspension of disbelief. This didn't strike me as much more stupid than most and the whole "mimic" idea struck me as rather smart.



I don't know quite what it was (because I can't remember) but it's one of two films that has stayed with me in a kind of mesmerizingly shit way. The other is 'what a girl wants'.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I don't know quite what it was (because I can't remember) but it's one of two films that has stayed with me in a kind of mesmerizingly shit way. The other is 'what a girl wants'.



You hate most films.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 29, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Splice - Better than average unknown baby monster thing growing into an adult quickly movie. Not great though.



Yes, it is good.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 29, 2010)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Yes, it is good.


 
Was this done by the cypher / cube guy? I did like those very much and i didn't dislike this one.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 29, 2010)

Yeah, he did Cube.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 29, 2010)

Reno said:


> You hate most films.


 
I actually love films in general, even the shamelessly trashy ones and maybe just get a bit pissed off that the majority follow a very boring hollywood 'get the girl, kill the baddies' or some other such tripe storyline.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 30, 2010)

I've just finished re-watching the various biederbeckes. Fantastic stuff. RIP Alan Plater, a writer who knew how to write to TV. (redsquirrel and belboid- get watching again)


----------



## killer b (Oct 30, 2010)

i watched the 2008 film of brideshead revisited. it was a bit shit tbh, so i've ordered the tv series.


----------



## belboid (Oct 31, 2010)

butchersapron said:


> I've just finished re-watching the various biederbeckes. Fantastic stuff. RIP Alan Plater, a writer who knew how to write to TV. (redsquirrel and belboid- get watching again)


 
_affair_ downloaded, i'l get on to it


----------



## Reno (Oct 31, 2010)

I gave Pan's Labyrinth a second look and I'm still not clear why everybody went gaga over it. Characters are strictly divided into good and bad and unlike with the villain in Del Toro's superior companion piece The Devil's Backbone, the bad guy is a total monster from the start. I find some of the creatures a bit twee in a French mime sort of way and I still feel let down by the "it was all just a dream/fantasy" ending.


----------



## Badgers (Oct 31, 2010)

Just watched Whale Rider on the iPlayer which was good. Not the most cheerful and possibly a little twee but enjoyed it


----------



## Reno (Oct 31, 2010)

I also watched _Wreckage and Rage_, the documentary on the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set about the very troubled production of Alien3. It was previously only available in a heavily censored version on the Quadrilogy release. Quite interesting and the participants are quite frank about what went wrong and who they didn't like, which is unusual for a DVD extra.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 31, 2010)

Reno said:


> I also watched _Wreckage and Rage_, the documentary on the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set about the very troubled production of Alien3. It was previously only available in a heavily censored version on the Quadrilogy release. Quite interesting and the participants are quite frank about what went wrong and who they didn't like, which is unusual for a DVD extra.


 
I'd love to see more of that kind of thing rather than the press junket type stuff that is boring as hell. Eveyone is all smiles on the I heart Huckabees doc.


----------



## smmudge (Oct 31, 2010)

Reno said:


> I gave Pan's Labyrinth a second look and I'm still not clear why everybody went gaga over it. Characters are strictly divided into good and bad and unlike with the villain in Del Toro's superior companion piece The Devil's Backbone, the bad guy is a total monster from the start. I find some of the creatures a bit twee in a French mime sort of way and I still feel let down by the "it was all just a dream/fantasy" ending.


 
I agree, it wasn't half as interesting as everyone seemed to make out.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 1, 2010)

Reno said:


> I gave Pan's Labyrinth a second look and I'm still not clear why everybody went gaga over it. Characters are strictly divided into good and bad and unlike with the villain in Del Toro's superior companion piece The Devil's Backbone, the bad guy is a total monster from the start. I find some of the creatures a bit twee in a French mime sort of way and I still feel let down by the "it was all just a dream/fantasy" ending.


 
Yeah, it's ok but a bit too long and leaves little speculation as to what happened at the end. The strict division back and fourth between the two 'worlds' made it feel a little clunky to me too. I liked it as a nice little jaunt though, but can't imagine it going on my watch again list. 
I do tire easily of a film which does just have a 'baddie' for baddies sake, it's not 50s flash gordon.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Nov 1, 2010)

The Other Guys

Silly, but actually strangely entertaining spoof on cop buddy movies. Moments of genuine laughter and even a couple of quite subtle bits. And Mark Wahlberg, who I totally buy in that role as a bit of a loser.

Not bad.


----------



## i_got_poison (Nov 1, 2010)

the bad lieutenant - a good film. i'm a little bit surprised empire gave it 5/5. something they rarely do.
julie and julia - a quaint film with the wonderful meryl streep playing julia child.
the blind side - this is a phenomenal film based on a true story. this is a must see film, especially for those of you who
are emotional aware.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 2, 2010)

Whisky
Black Narcissus
Sweet Smell of Success


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 3, 2010)

A film called 'Harry Brown', starring Michael Caine.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 3, 2010)

Anyone seen Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole yet?


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 3, 2010)

Been tempted to spend 90 mins of an afternoon on it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 3, 2010)

Watched a few of . . 
The increasingly poor decisions of Todd Margaret. 

Great potential and I love the blue man group bluth guy. Sadly instead of some unfortunate misunderstandings his misfortune is almost constantly down to his irritating work college who causes trouble on purpose. 

In the first ep, he his mistaken for a go getter because he is listening to a self help go getters tape and repeating (shouting) the phrases. . . but from then on it's he's just treated badly and misinformed. 

I just gave up after four episodes.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 3, 2010)

dead & buried - a video nasty from 1981, co-written by alien's dan o'bannon.
despite terribly wooden acting from the lead and poor SFX, this is one of the better video nasties. well staged and shot and genuinely macabre, with one particularly gruesome wince-inducing scene that i saw long long ago and have been trying to identify since. great ending too.


----------



## Biddlybee (Nov 3, 2010)

Badgers said:


> Anyone seen Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole yet?


looks a bit shit.

Watched No Country for Old Men again on Monday... still great.


----------



## dlx1 (Nov 3, 2010)

Predators (2010) was ok 

Sword fight


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 3, 2010)

When we're watching Harry Brown, my kid says, 'is it really that bad there?'


----------



## The Rural Juror (Nov 3, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> When we're watching Harry Brown, my kid says, 'is it really that bad there?'


 
Did you enjoy it?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 3, 2010)

The Rural Juror said:


> Did you enjoy it?


 
Not sure that movies such as that are meant to be enjoyed.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 3, 2010)

did you think it was a good film?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 3, 2010)

I thought it was a British remake of Death Wish.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 3, 2010)

I thought the baddies were over the top and two dimensional, as they often are in these types of films. I thought Caines' performance was good. I thought the dystopian presentation was a bit standard.


----------



## The Rural Juror (Nov 3, 2010)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Not sure that movies such as that are meant to be enjoyed.


 
good grief..


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2010)

Harry Brown was maybe better directed and acted than a Michael Winner Death Wish sequel, but it was almost as manipulative and OTT (the junkies!). I can't believe there were people who thought it was any good.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 3, 2010)

The Rural Juror said:


> good grief..


 
Thanks for the valuable input.


----------



## The Rural Juror (Nov 3, 2010)

Reno said:


> Harry Brown was maybe better directed and acted than a Michael Winner Death Wish sequel, but it was almost as manipulative and OTT (the junkies!). I can't believe there were people who thought it was any good.


 
well said


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 3, 2010)

Reno said:


> Harry Brown was maybe better directed and acted than a Michael Winner Death Wish sequel, but it was almost as manipulative and OTT (the junkies!). I can't believe there were people who thought it was any good.


 
I don't think anyone here has thought that it was very good.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 3, 2010)

Versus what?


----------



## starfish (Nov 3, 2010)

Just watched an old episode of the 87th Precinct TV series from 1961-62 on YouTube. It was


----------



## The Rural Juror (Nov 3, 2010)

Just watched Please Give. Lovely movie, excellent performances. Seemed very English in its smallness, like Mike Leigh if he didn't treat his characters so condescendingly


----------



## Crispy (Nov 3, 2010)

Finally got round to watching Four Lions, which was in places fucking awful, mostly a bit dull, but sometimes distilled comedy gold that had me bent double laughing. Odd film.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 4, 2010)

A movie called Nonsense Revolution

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149599/



> After a night spent drinking and partying, a group of six best friends is torn apart when they accidentally kill their bisexual friend Caz when he darts in front of their car. A year later, Caz appears to Tess as an eternally-horny angel who only Tess can see. It's up to her to reunite the remaining five friends so Caz can move on, but things don't always go according to plan.


While I'm watching it, I'm thinking 'this was made in Montreal'. But when it ends, it turns out it was made in Nova Scotia, which makes a much deeper and more meaningful sense.


----------



## dlx1 (Nov 4, 2010)

V - on telly 
Green Zone - Dull


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 4, 2010)

body of lies - dreary spy thriller with a typically scowling de caprio and a tubby russell crowe doing an accent. i don't know why i keep expecting more of ridley scott than what he so consistently delivers. it's flabbily directed, incoherently plotted and filmed in such a dull limited palatte, that there is literally nothing on screen worth looking at. i gave up before the climax of the film cos i was so uninterested.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 5, 2010)

watched bride of frankenstein again to purge myself of that dross. it's a wonderful film.
now state of play has arrived at my door - looks like another russell crowe dirge though.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 5, 2010)

belboid said:


> Skeletons.
> 
> Very very funny Britpic about exorcists removing the skeletons from peoples' cupboards.


 
I thought this was excellent, really happy to see new film makers doing something different. You were probably already primed for it as it won the poweell and pressburger in Edinburgh.


----------



## mentalchik (Nov 7, 2010)

Iron Man 2 - entertaining
Predators - not bad at all, entertaining, you know what you're getting


----------



## Badgers (Nov 7, 2010)

Winged Migration - Jacques Perrin

Marvellous stuff


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 7, 2010)

Stargate Universe  needs to pick up again and stop withthe crap episodews


----------



## DJ Squelch (Nov 7, 2010)

And Soon The Darkness (1970) - pretty decent Brit horror/suspense flick about 2 girls on a cycling holiday in France when one of them disappears (Michele Dotrice). There is currently a remake out about which changes it it 2 yank girls in Argentina, I doubt I will bother with it.


----------



## starfish (Nov 7, 2010)

Badgers said:


> Winged Migration - Jacques Perrin
> 
> Marvellous stuff


 
Saw that at the cinema a few years ago. Marvellous stuff indeed.

Watched A Prophet last night. Fairly grim but well told & acted.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Nov 7, 2010)

Animal Kingdom - Australian gangster film that came out earlier this year by director David Michod. It's about a teenager who has to go live with his vicious bank robber uncles after his mum dies and ends up getting involved in a revenge killing. Well acted, with Jackie Weaver as family Matriarch being particularly good, kind of like an evil Peggy Mitchell. Well worth a watch.


----------



## The Rural Juror (Nov 8, 2010)

Scott Pilgrim, which was like eating a massive bag of Haribo in one go. But in a good way


----------



## belboid (Nov 8, 2010)

butchersapron said:


> I thought this was excellent, really happy to see new film makers doing something different. You were probably already primed for it as it won the poweell and pressburger in Edinburgh.


 
that gave me a bit of a heads up, aye.

Since watched... The Beiderbecke Affair.  Still great, lovely mid-80's Leeds, and Barbara Flynn looking most charming.

Shutter Island - entertaining nonsense.  Worth watching a few scenes again straight after to see how it does work.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 8, 2010)

Toy Story 3.

Not as good as 2, but still very clever, funny and touching.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 8, 2010)

belboid said:


> Since watched... The Beiderbecke Affair.  Still great, lovely mid-80's Leeds, and Barbara Flynn looking most charming.


they filmed loads of it where i grew up - never seen it though. just them filming it.


----------



## ringo (Nov 8, 2010)

The Lost Room - one season sci-fi drama lent to me by a work colleague. Clever and good.

Onto season 2 of Breaking Bad now.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 8, 2010)

starfish said:


> Saw that at the cinema a few years ago. Marvellous stuff indeed.
> 
> Watched A Prophet last night. Fairly grim but well told & acted.



Winged Migration is lovely isn't it? Best 'birds and chicks' film I have ever seen. Want more stuff like this


----------



## ska invita (Nov 8, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> *A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures* - Likeable loser Chris Waitt sets out to document why his relationships with women have always been total disasters. It starts out as a knockabout bit of fun before turning darker when we discover he suffers from erectile dysfunction and may have mental health issues. Some of the scenes and scrapes he gets into are somewhat contrived and he's clearly an odd bloke. But overall it works and you end up caring about him, whilst sympathising with the women who have had to deal with his bullshit over the years.


 
we saw this at the pictures - i think the whole thing is a setup - everyone is acting (its meant to be a life diary/documentary type thing). which doesnt take away from it - if anything makes it more interesting.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 8, 2010)

*The Crazies* – I was never crazy (ho ho) about Romero's original and this remake is no great shakes either. Fairly pedestrian horror/action flick with a couple of vaguely thrilling/chilling moments. Still, it was only a fiver from Asda...


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 9, 2010)

Just finished all five of the Anthony Mann/James Stewart westerns: *Winchester' 73, Bend of the River, The Naked Spur, The Far Country* and *The Man from Laramie*. The third is probably my favourite but all are good.

Then watched Mann's last film *"A Dandy in Aspic"* very strange 60s spy thriller starring Laurence Harvey (who finished off the direction after Mann died). The plot doesn't really hold together, though I don't think it's supposed to, but it's definitely got something about it.

Also watched *"I Wanted Wings"* starring the brilliant and utterly gorgeous Veronica Lake and while she isn't in it enough it's still pretty good.

Finally watched the fantastic and bleak *Night Moves*, which is just absolutely superb. Can't believe I had never heard of it until Penn died.


----------



## blairsh (Nov 9, 2010)

Stewart Lee - Stand Up Comedian

Not watched this for a year or two but still makes me laugh very loudly in certain places


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 9, 2010)

blairsh said:


> Stewart Lee - Stand Up Comedian
> 
> Not watched this for a year or two but still makes me laugh very loudly in certain places


 
Is it one with the Robert the Bruce routine? I fucking love that.


----------



## blairsh (Nov 9, 2010)

Nope. Its the one that ends with the life sized inflatable ET/princess diana fountain rant


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 9, 2010)

blairsh said:


> Nope. Its the one that ends with the life sized inflatable ET/princess diana fountain rant


 
I thought they were one and the same.  Scottish audience, big bloke in the front row.

Robert the Bruce, the Scottish paedophile...... the worst kind of paedophile there is. The Princess Di Alf cuddly toy bit is at the end where he's lieing down on the stage doing the repetitive schtick. I've not seen it on Dvd mind, I recorded it off telly so could be slightly different.


----------



## blairsh (Nov 9, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> I thought they were one and the same.  Scottish audience, big bloke in the front row.
> 
> Robert the Bruce, the Scottish paedophile...... the worst kind of paedophile there is. The Princess Di Alf cuddly toy bit is at the end where he's lieing down on the stage doing the repetitive schtick. I've not seen it on Dvd mind, I recorded it off telly so could be slightly different.


 
Yup. William Wallace/Braveheart though...


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 9, 2010)

he talks about robert the bruce in that pestival routine


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 9, 2010)

getting my Scottish people mixed up


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 9, 2010)

four lions - disappointing: neither very funny nor sharp nor anything else it was supposed to be. the best bits were in the trailer.
sick nurses - terrible thai horror b movie that's a hospital-based riff on japanese grudge movies. 
looks like it was made by in the same hospital as garth marenghi, and with the same crew.
and the avenging ghost looks like a mighty boosh character.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 10, 2010)

Is Four Lions pretty much like his old telly satire?


----------



## belboid (Nov 10, 2010)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Is Four Lions pretty much like his old telly satire?


 
no.


----------



## belboid (Nov 10, 2010)

Oh Rosalinda!  

Powell & Pressburger film of Strauss' Die Fledermaus, updated to post-war occupied Vienna. The updating works, but not too much else.  Nice colour palate tho.

Later tonight I will, hopefully, be experiencing that rarest of treats - a Michael Powell film I've never seen before!  Shame it's a shit un, but still...


----------



## dlx1 (Nov 10, 2010)

_on telly_ Ocean's 13 - will all the big names in that film I would have though it would have been better


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 10, 2010)

I saw "Big River Man" the other day. Did I recommend you it before? Well, I am now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 10, 2010)

jer said:


> I saw "Big River Man" the other day. Did I recommend you it before? Well, I am now.


 
is that about a slovenian chap swimming the amazon on two bottles of wine a day?


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 10, 2010)

I watched The Machinist awhile ago and since then i have checked out a few other Brad Anderson films. Last night i watched Happy Accidents and Transsiberian prob gonna watch Session 9 tonight.


----------



## Le Shark (Nov 10, 2010)

Watched "Clue" for about the 10th time - love it!!


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 13, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> is that about a slovenian chap swimming the amazon on two bottles of wine a day?


 
It sure is; he's fond of the Jameson, too.

Have just watched 1974 slasher classic "Black Christmas" with Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea and Margot Kidder. Sweet.


----------



## Reno (Nov 13, 2010)

Predators. Like anything else associated with this particular franchise, pretty rubbish. Predators are just crap monsters.


----------



## blairsh (Nov 13, 2010)

Series 3 of X-Men, good realible backgroundness


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 13, 2010)

Total Recall - as good as ever. I *heart* Michael Ironside!


----------



## blairsh (Nov 13, 2010)

Quality film! Very good call for a saturday evening!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 13, 2010)

blairsh said:


> Quality film! Very good call for a saturday evening!


 
Absolutely. We dithered over Total Recall and The Thing - another class movie - but exploding heads and Arnie won out!


----------



## blairsh (Nov 13, 2010)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Absolutely. We dithered over Total Recall and The Thing - another class movie - but exploding heads and Arnie won out!


 
"baby you make me wish i had threeeeeee hands!"


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 13, 2010)

blairsh said:


> "baby you make me wish i had threeeeeee hands!"


 
: "Screeeeww you" is a favourite and oft repeated quote in the goth household


----------



## blairsh (Nov 13, 2010)

QueenOfGoths said:


> : "Screeeeww you" is a favourite and oft repeated quote in the goth household



and that!  also Runningman "I live to see you eat that contract, but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram it into your stomach and break your god-damn spine!" brilliant arnie  doing crazyman


----------



## killer b (Nov 13, 2010)

Sweeny todd. It's a very strange film.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 14, 2010)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Total Recall - as good as ever. I *heart* Michael Ironside!



"See you at the party, Richter!"


----------



## buzzworthy (Nov 14, 2010)

Should be posting this one tomorrow, instead. We're gonna watch Alice in Wonderland later. =)


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 14, 2010)

Psychoville Halloween Special - Can't wait for season 2


----------



## Reno (Nov 14, 2010)

What's Up Doc ? This was the first non-animation Disney film I saw at the cinema and it's still funny, especially Madeline Kahn.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 14, 2010)

First two episodes of Walking Dead...not that impressed


----------



## dynamicbaddog (Nov 14, 2010)




----------



## Biddlybee (Nov 14, 2010)

My Fair Lady  not seen it before.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 14, 2010)

Nick & Noras infinite wotsit. 

It was shit the first time, not sure what possessed me to watch it again. Oh I remember, booze.


----------



## marty21 (Nov 14, 2010)

The Proposition - grim and violent but beautiful as well - great soundtrack from Nick Cave too, I think he wrote to film too.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 14, 2010)

Naked - started off not liking it, very Mike Leigh, who aint usually my bag, but as you begin to smile at the central character's wit and philisophical musings you remember what a nasty angry littl fuck he is and try to push him away from your 'I kind of like this bloke' feelings. I enjoy films that leave you with that unsettled feeling, makes them more than just a story or whatever. Nice one


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 14, 2010)

marty21 said:


> The Proposition - grim and violent but beautiful as well - great soundtrack from Nick Cave too, I think he wrote to film too.


 
its directed by the same person that did the road


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 14, 2010)

ive mostly been watching south park all weekend watched season 13 and 12 and now ive started on 11.


----------



## Reno (Nov 14, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> its directed by the same person that did the road



That's why I thought The Road was such a disappointment.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 14, 2010)

*Observe & Report:* Writer/director Jody Hill is one of the talents behind the brilliant Eastbound & Down so I thought I'd really like this. Unfortunately, it's just another mediocre Seth Rogen comedy without any decent jokes.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 14, 2010)

Reno said:


> That's why I thought The Road was such a disappointment.


 
i liked the road but it wasnt as good as the book


----------



## belboid (Nov 14, 2010)

Reno said:


> What's Up Doc ? This was the first non-animation Disney film I saw at the cinema and it's still funny, especially Madeline Kahn.


 
mmm, Madeline Kahn...


I watched The Queen's Guards. Michael Powell movie made immediately after Peeping Tom, but before it was released.  It should have been the film that ended  MP's career as it is utterly awful, without any merit at all. Even the one semi-famous scene is rather spoilt by being completely and utterly stupid and pointless. We had a brief moment  of excitement when, during the supposed storming of a 'Lybian' base, they're clearly at Camber Sands!


----------



## Maj0r Tom (Nov 14, 2010)

A double bill of Lynch's "Eraserhead" and Cronenburgh's "Rabid".


----------



## Yetman (Nov 14, 2010)

Whats Rabid like? Seen most of Croneys films but not that one


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 15, 2010)

Adolf Hitler - My Part in His Downfall


----------



## rutabowa (Nov 15, 2010)

saw a v interesting film last night called "Funeral Parade of Roses", was a kind of art exploitation film about the gay/drag scene in tokyo in the 1960s (i think), didn't have aclue what it was going to be before i watched it and wasn't paying close attention at first but i think it has a v weird film within a film thing going on and ends with lots of greek tragedy style violence. cool just seeing inside that culture though even if it was in an exploitation way. might rewatch.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Nov 15, 2010)

I saw Red this weekend, which is exactly what you'd expect it to be. Obvious action movie, not unentertaining.

I also saw... ummm... Knight and Day.

I blame girls.


----------



## rutabowa (Nov 15, 2010)

see i only post in this thread when i have watched highly obscure art films in oredr to fool people into thinking that those are all i watch.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 15, 2010)

labyrinth - disappointing watching this as an adult. way shitter than i remembered. david bowie's swinging cock is a bit much for a children's film too.
the loved ones - australian ordeal horror film. really quite grisly and creepy. great performance from the 'villain'. beautifully filmed and scored too.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Nov 15, 2010)

rutabowa said:


> see i only post in this thread when i have watched highly obscure art films in oredr to fool people into thinking that those are all i watch.


 
And z-slashers, too!

Me, I'm not cool enough to watch obscure cinema verite any more.


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 16, 2010)

Valley Girl


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 16, 2010)

spent last night and today watching all 25 episodes of darker than black and it was awesome


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 17, 2010)

Ken Loach's Looks and Smiles


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 17, 2010)

spent ages trying to find the che bio prt 2 then gave up and watched predators but that was shit so canned it.


----------



## Biddlybee (Nov 18, 2010)

was sick yesterday so watched harry potter  nightmare before christmas, then sons of anarchy.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 18, 2010)

i watched the latest episode of Sons of Anarch- I'm becoming convinced that they are using some sort of camera technique for the outdoor scenes in ireland. Compared to Charming outdoor scenes the colours are all washed out. And adding pipes to the already massively-cheesy credits music was a BAD idea. Writing holds up though.


----------



## belboid (Nov 18, 2010)

Under the Skin.  An earlyish Samantha Morton about a woman coping with the loss of her mother by having lots and lots of sex.  Cheery stuff.  very good tho.

Another Michael Powell Award winner, seen nearly all of them now and they're all very very good films.


----------



## Biddlybee (Nov 18, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> i watched the latest episode of Sons of Anarch- I'm becoming convinced that they are using some sort of camera technique for the outdoor scenes in ireland. Compared to Charming outdoor scenes the colours are all washed out. And adding pipes to the already massively-cheesy credits music was a BAD idea. Writing holds up though.


They go to Ireland? 

I'm only at the beginning of series 2 

(I'm still finding it really funny that Clay is Vincent from Beauty and the Beast though )


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 18, 2010)

2046, gorgeous follow up to In the Mood for Love


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 18, 2010)

Biddly said:


> (I'm still finding it really funny that Clay is Vincent from Beauty and the Beast though )



And Gemma does the voice for


----------



## Biddlybee (Nov 18, 2010)

so she does...hehehe


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 18, 2010)

jer said:


> 2046, gorgeous follow up to In the Mood for Love


 
I liked it more than in the mood for love but a bit too long and I don't think I will be watching it again, which is a shame because I bought the DVD.


----------



## belboid (Nov 18, 2010)

Out of Control.  

Another Michael Powell Award winner, a cheery account of three south London youths being sent to a YOI, and their time there.  Guess how big a laugh that was.

Very impressive piece of work, despite it be far from easy viewing. Great performances, probably the best of which was from Tamzin Outhwaite!


Can't decide what next, it's between The Maid, My Son My son What Have Ye Done?  and The Killer Inside Me.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 19, 2010)

First half of The Lives of Others.......quite interesting so far 

And BBC4's Atom series - brilliant if you like science


----------



## TruXta (Nov 19, 2010)

TLOO is a fucking beauty of a film if you ask me.


----------



## lopsidedbunny (Nov 19, 2010)

BBC Colditz DVD Box set  funny how the Kommandant speaks with his back to the person he's talking too.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 19, 2010)

TruXta said:


> TLOO is a fucking beauty of a film if you ask me.



Its good isnt it?


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 19, 2010)

The Coca-Cola Kid


----------



## belboid (Nov 19, 2010)

belboid said:


> Can't decide what next, it's between The Maid, My Son My son What Have Ye Done?  and The Killer Inside Me.


 
Went for My Son My Son last night - decent bit of Herzog/Lynch, not that weird actually, kinda film. Not their meisterwork, but wel lworth a watch.

And then The Killer Inside Me today. Well, what a heartwarming, lighthearted romp that was. I feel kinda soiled.


May choose something a bit lighter after those last four things.  Like Seventh Seal.


----------



## Reno (Nov 20, 2010)

I'm two thirds through the first series of Hung. Pretty good, kind of like the lighter side of Breaking Bad.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 20, 2010)

On Bloody Sunday


----------



## Reno (Nov 21, 2010)

Revanche: slow moving Austrian drama/thriller that got Oscar nominated two years ago for best foreign picture. It was alright, but there was nothing new here and there were a couple too many co-incidents and contrivances for a film so naturalistic. A bit overrated really.

How to Train Your Dragon. All the publicity made me think that I'd hate this, but it's one of the better non-Pixar CGI animation features of recent years. I especially liked the bitter-sweet ending. Wasn't so keen on the human character designs, but the dragons are very cute in a cartoonish sort of way.


----------



## marty21 (Nov 21, 2010)

Crazy Heart - Jeff Bridges excellent as a the broken down country singer, working his way back from the bottom back to the top


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 21, 2010)

marty21 said:


> Crazy Heart - Jeff Bridges excellent as a the broken down country singer, working his way back from the bottom back to the top


 
Saw that on a flight recently. It wasn't The Wrestler, but watchable nonetheless.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 21, 2010)

*4.3.2.1:* It's Pulp Fiction meets Sex & The City in this tale of four young women who get caught up in a London diamond heist. You see the same chain of events from each characters' different perspective and writer/co-director Noel Clarke utilises the structure to cleverly toy with the viewer's expectations. Each individual section works pretty well although only a couple of the lead characters are genuinely engaging. Clarke wears his influences on his sleeve a bit too much and the attempts at appealing to US audiences are clumsy but this is still pretty good fun.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 22, 2010)

I went through my brother's Will Ferell box-set in recent days, including Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory.  The first was shite, but the other two did actually have some funny moments.


----------



## rutabowa (Nov 22, 2010)

Valley of the Dolls... i got this a bit mixed up, i thought it was a Russ Meyer trash film but actually it is a really long melodrama about the showbusiness scene in 1950s america. quite good i guess, probably quite inventive at the time, it was a bit like watching Dallas or something though.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 22, 2010)

rutabowa said:


> Valley of the Dolls... i got this a bit mixed up, i thought it was a Russ Meyer trash film but actually it is a really long melodrama about the showbusiness scene in 1950s america. .


 
Ha ha.


----------



## rutabowa (Nov 22, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Ha ha.


 
i kept waiting for something trashy to happen, but they just kept talking and talking.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 22, 2010)

Welcome to Dongmagol; Korean war film from a few years ago. Felt more like a fairytale. Quite unusual.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 22, 2010)

everythings gone green a film written by douglas coupland, it was pretty funny.


----------



## dlx1 (Nov 22, 2010)

Unleashed

Jet Li
Morgan Freeman
Bob Hoskins
Was ok


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 22, 2010)

I watched Goal. It was the story of a mexican american kid who wants to play for newcastle united. Proper, proper cheese from start to finish. Alan Shearer was in it.


----------



## Reno (Nov 22, 2010)

The Night of the Hunter on a glorious Criterion Blu-ray on my projector. One of the greatest films ever made, looking more beautiful than ever. No doubt that this was a huge influence on David Lynch.


----------



## starfish (Nov 22, 2010)

Watched Zatoichi on saturday night then My Neighbour Totoro on sunday afternoon.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 23, 2010)

Black Books on DVD last night which was pleasing  

Tonight off to watch Harry Potter at the cinema


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 23, 2010)

Might be time to watch Park Chan Wooks Joint Security Area again.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 23, 2010)

I've got that on my desk right now AS 

Watched the first half of Inception, pretty good, looking forward to the second half


----------



## zenie (Nov 23, 2010)

Started watching Mad Men again, from the beginning


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 23, 2010)

*Tenebrae* – Dario Argento's twist-laden slasher flick. There are a couple of brilliant horror moments and the '80s synth soundtrack is ace.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 23, 2010)

Yetman said:


> I've got that on my desk right now AS


 
Have you seen it? It's quite good apart from the broken english (that is supposed to be fluent) It kind of breaks the mood.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 23, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Might be time to watch Park Chan Wooks Joint Security Area again.


 
I was going to watch that again on Saturday and ended up watching Everything is Illuminated


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 23, 2010)

jer said:


> Welcome to Dongmagol; Korean war film from a few years ago. Felt more like a fairytale. Quite unusual.


 
I've got that


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 23, 2010)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I was going to watch that again on Saturday and ended up watching Everything is Illuminated


 
Is that any good?


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 24, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Is that any good?


 
Yeah its well good its got Eugene Hütz from Gogol Bordello in it!


----------



## Reno (Nov 24, 2010)

ilovebush&blair said:


> Yeah its well good its got Eugene Hütz from Gogol Bordello in it!



"seeing eye bitch"


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Nov 24, 2010)

sammy davis jr jr


----------



## Badgers (Nov 25, 2010)

Watched some Generation Kill yesterday. Hardly cheerful viewing but well made.


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2010)

_City Girl_, Murnau's last silent film and his penultimate film before he died. Not quite in the same league as _Sunrise_, but still an amazing film. Interesting how he shifted from expressionism to a much more naturalistic style, with much of the film shot on location in rural settings in a way that anticipates Terrence Malick's films, especially Days of Heaven. Murnau's premature death in a car accident is one of the most tragic to film history.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 26, 2010)

Jonah Hex - was ok


----------



## DJ Squelch (Nov 26, 2010)

Hunter Prey A nice little low budget sci-fi movie from earlier this year. A group of stormtroopers are transporting the last known survivor from a planet the Empire recently destroyed when they crash land their spaceship in a remote part of the planet Tatooine. They must recapture their prisoner before the rescue ship arrives. 
Well OK they aren't Stormtroopers and they aren't on Tatooine but this film has a bit of a ep IV feel about it.


----------



## smmudge (Nov 27, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched Goal. It was the story of a mexican american kid who wants to play for newcastle united. Proper, proper cheese from start to finish. *Alan Shearer was in it*.



 Even in real life he talks like a bad actor trying to play himself. Did he act? It's almost like he might just cancel himself out!


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 27, 2010)

Pusher - Danish movie part of a trilogy, will watch part 2 later today.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 28, 2010)

*2012*: Effects-laden disaster movie that was far too long and full of cliches but not entirely terrible.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 28, 2010)

Youth without youth and 3 episodes of Walking dead. Strange disturbed sleep followed.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Nov 28, 2010)

The Double McGuffin


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 28, 2010)

Pusher 2 - So far a cracking trilogy


----------



## stupid dogbot (Nov 28, 2010)

Continuing my current trend of spending my Saturday nights watching fucking atrocious films, last night I saw Solomon Kane.

Jesus fuck. How on earth did that get 83% on Rotten Tomatoes? Someone appears to have typo'd an 8 in there...


----------



## Grandma Death (Nov 28, 2010)

Toy Story 3....brilliant and very moving. I'm in agreement with Kermode on this..the Toy Story trilogy is the best trilogy in film history!


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 28, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Is that any good?


 
I had no idea what it was about but enjoyed it, although I've heard the book's better, although I've also heard that the Ukrainian's amusing use of the English language can get it a bit tedious.

I reckon I'll watch it again at some stage


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 28, 2010)

Reno said:


> "seeing eye bitch"


 

*officious* seeing eye bitch


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 29, 2010)

Pusher 3 -


----------



## miniGMgoit (Nov 29, 2010)

Book of Eli
Susperia


----------



## Badgers (Nov 29, 2010)

Layercake
Very good film
Surprised I have taken so long to watch this. Will need to be watched again I feel.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 29, 2010)

Second Evangelion Rebuild film. 

Ok so now for sure it has departed from the original storyline. One fairly major surprise at only two films in (of five) Yipes. First film was shite and we had seen it all before, this one is much better but I think I am just too old/bored to really care enough to get enough excitement together for it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2010)

skeletons - what an odd but pleasing find - a no-budget briish film about two oddballs who go around finding the skeletons in people's cupboards (their dakrest secrets) using antiquated technology. the two leads are excellent (a comic double act apparently), even though they resemble john digweed and andrew weatherall and jason isaacs is a surprise as their grumpy northern boss. it's well impressive as it's a truly original film and it was clearly put together with very little money. shame no one seems to know about it.


----------



## stethoscope (Nov 29, 2010)

First series of Spaced - still superb.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 29, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Might be time to watch Park Chan Wooks Joint Security Area again.


 
Good call. I remember watching it in Seoul, day after visiting the DMZ.

Watched 70s Japanese "horror" - House yesterday. Almost cartoonish but charming with it's low fi fx.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 29, 2010)

jer said:


> Good call. I remember watching it in Seoul, day after visiting the DMZ.


 
ah, stop making me want to watch my films again.  I don't have time!


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 29, 2010)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> ah, stop making me want to watch my films again.  I don't have time!


 
Some are worth repeat viewings.


----------



## belboid (Nov 29, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> skeletons - what an odd but pleasing find - a no-budget briish film about two oddballs who go around finding the skeletons in people's cupboards (their dakrest secrets) using antiquated technology. the two leads are excellent (a comic double act apparently), even though they resemble john digweed and andrew weatherall and jason isaacs is a surprise as their grumpy northern boss. it's well impressive as it's a truly original film and it was clearly put together with very little money. shame no one seems to know about it.


other than me, and the awarders of the Michael Powell Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival.  Mark Kermode likes it too.

e2a:  some other fella watched it too, can't remember who now....


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 29, 2010)

belboid said:


> other than me, and the awarders of the Michael Powell Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival.  Mark Kermode likes it too.


 
oi


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2010)

belboid said:


> other than me, and the awarders of the Michael Powell Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival.  Mark Kermode likes it too.
> 
> e2a:  some other fella watched it too, can't remember who now....


 
yeah, i saw your review. just you and butchers and a couple of other mentions of it on here. saw a review in S&S too, but it deserves a much bigger audience.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 29, 2010)

"Storyville: Children of the Chinese Circus" about children at the Shanghai Circus School. Really quite depressing, such a culture of bullying, intimidation and, at times, humiliation from the top downwards.

Made me really appreciate what the kids have to go through in order to become acrobats and performers but I am not sure I would want to see the Chinese State Circus and support what came close, imo, to abuse.


----------



## belboid (Nov 29, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> yeah, i saw your review. just you and butchers and a couple of other mentions of it on here. saw a review in S&S too, but it deserves a much bigger audience.


 
That is very true.  Nearly everyone I've made watch it really enjoyed it too.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Nov 29, 2010)

I'm just about to sit down and watch Vanishing Point.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 29, 2010)

jer said:


> Some are worth repeat viewings.


 
I know, especially Welcome to Dongmakgol and JSA.  Actually, I quite fancy watching Bird People in China again and Shower and....


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 29, 2010)

*Scanners:* Cronenberg! Exploding head! Michael Ironside! Patrick McGoohan! "I'm gonna suck your brain dry!" Yay!


----------



## heinous seamus (Nov 29, 2010)

I watched the fireman's ball last night. Funny film.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Nov 30, 2010)

Just watched Zoo.
WTF???
Have you ever heard of Mr Hands?


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 30, 2010)

Tenure

A Luke Wilson vehicle which was a hell of a lot better than I was expecting.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 30, 2010)

miniGMgoit said:


> Just watched Zoo.
> WTF???
> Have you ever heard of Mr Hands?


 
The horse one and not the peter greenaway zed and two naughts?


----------



## Reno (Nov 30, 2010)

Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide. Excellent three disc DVD set on the entire 80s video nasty controversy. Includes a feature length documentary and trailers with introductions by the likes of Kim Newman, Alan Jones and Stephen Thrower to all the 74 films on the list.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Dec 1, 2010)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> The horse one and not the peter greenaway zed and two naughts?


 
Yes, the horse one 

Today I watched Shutter Island. I enjoyed it immensely.


----------



## belboid (Dec 1, 2010)

Crazy Heart.

Not at all bad, great performance from jeff bridges, but I wasn't exactly convinced that Maggie G would really go into a relationship with him.


----------



## blairsh (Dec 1, 2010)

Watched all series one of Eastbound and Down last week which i really quite enjoyed, and on Friday i watched Hard Target for the first time since i was a young lad (still not without its charm  )


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 2, 2010)

The Prophecy 3

Not as good as Prophecy 1, but saved by Christopher Walken being Christopher Walken and some excellent catholic imagery violence


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 2, 2010)

He was the only decent thing in _Balls of Fury_.  Christ that was terrible.  I think it was perhaps made for someone like Jack Black, but he pulled out?


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 2, 2010)

Watched a BBC programme, _Terror! Robespiere and the French Revolution_.  It was a drama-documentary with a thread of alternating commentary running through it, which was sort of like a "for and against" debate (on revolutionary violence) between Simon Schama and Slavoj Zizek.  In the dramatised parts it was interesting to see the appearance of Herbertist ally and urban-poor representative Collot d'Herbois  (played by Spider from Corrie), portrayed as a blood-thirsty rabble rouser after given a place on the dictatorship's Committee for Public Safety.  Although with my sketchy knowledge of the time, he survived the Thermidor only to be fucked off, and was partly involved with putting an end to (Gracchus) Francois-Noel Babeuf's proto-communist line of Jacobinism.  Zizek's voice made me laugh and Schama came across as a pompous tit.

The programme makes me want to dust off the books I have on the 19th century Russian version of the Jacobin tradition, with the likes of Pyotr Nikitich Tkachev and his own _Kommisiya Obschestvennaya Bezopasnosty_.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 2, 2010)

*Hardware:* Killer cyborg on the loose in a well-realised, post-apocalyptic American city. Hardly a great lost sci-fi classic (it all gets a bit silly towards the end) but it's certainly watchable enough.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 3, 2010)

I started watching Enter The Void, the first 10 minutes of were absolutely brilliant, even the very very start before anything happens and its just black for ages then BLAM and epileptics nightmare 

I turned it off though as I had the DVD which wasnt doing it justice. This needs a big screen and blu-ray, which I'll have later on tonight 

Love Gaspar Noe's highly original approach to film making. Fucking ace.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Dec 3, 2010)

UI've just grabbed a tonne of stuff from Cinematik. 
Stuff includes:
Stella Does Tricks (Looks horrible )
Un Prophète 
Antichrist
The Limits of Control 
Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin 
10 Rillington Place SE 
Hurt Locker

There's a few other bits as well. Going to be busy for a while with that lot though


----------



## Yetman (Dec 3, 2010)

Oh by the way as I didnt watch ETV I stuck on 'Dreams' by a Japanese director.......erm......couldnt get into it. Meant to be fantastic apparently. Far too arty/japanese/nice for me


----------



## heinous seamus (Dec 3, 2010)

I watched Antonioni's _The Passenger_ last night.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 3, 2010)

Anyone seen Ex Drummer? Looks interesting?


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2010)

Yetman said:


> Oh by the way as I didnt watch ETV I stuck on 'Dreams' by a Japanese director.......erm......couldnt get into it. Meant to be fantastic apparently. Far too arty/japanese/nice for me



Dreams is generally considered to be Akira Kurosawa's worst film.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2010)

heinous seamus said:


> I watched Antonioni's _The Passenger_ last night.



No opinions on it then ? I'll never understand why people think it's interesting in itself to post that they watched a film and then not say anything about it.


----------



## heinous seamus (Dec 3, 2010)

No, no opinions.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 3, 2010)

Reno said:


> Dreams is generally considered to be Akira Kurosawa's worst film.


 
I can totally believe that. Was waiting for something to happen.

Proof that whilst dreams may be interesting to the dreamer, to other people they're pretty boring.


----------



## heinous seamus (Dec 3, 2010)

Yetman said:


> I can totally believe that. Was waiting for something to happen.
> 
> Proof that whilst dreams may be interesting to the dreamer, to other people they're pretty boring.


 
I watched a film called 'Dreams that money can buy' by Hans Richter the other day and came to the same conclusion!


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2010)

Yetman said:


> I can totally believe that. Was waiting for something to happen.
> 
> Proof that whilst dreams may be interesting to the dreamer, to other people they're pretty boring.



I agree, there is nothing more boring than someone telling you their dream and this is the cinematic equivalent of it. Kurosawa has made a lot of great films, but this isn't one of them.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Dec 3, 2010)

Seance on a Wet Afternoon - I finally found a copy of this 60s brit thriller starring Richard Attenborough and Kim Stanley and it was well worth it. Superb film.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 4, 2010)

*Kick-Ass:* Hugely entertaining (Chloe Moretz owns every scene she's in), but it isn't quite as good as the comic-book it's based on.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 4, 2010)

nick cage though. Nick cage.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 4, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> nick cage though. Nick cage.


 
He's brilliant in it as well - especially when he's channelling Adam West.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 4, 2010)

Agreed. I can't usually watch Cage but I've watched Kick Ass three times now, I forget it's him with the costume and all. It's a mint film.


----------



## Jackobi (Dec 4, 2010)

Oldboy - a South Korean film about consequence and revenge with a twisted ending.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 4, 2010)

We watched Le Ballon Rouge this afternoon. Still a beautiful thing to see.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Dec 4, 2010)

Blueberry (2004), A psychedelic western starring Vincent Cassel, Michael Madsen & Juliette Lewis. One of the most visually stunning films I've seen in quite a while. The last 20 mins is trippy as hell.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Dec 5, 2010)

The Power of Salad a documentary about the band Lightning Bolt. which is really good and i discovered that band from the all tomorrow's parties dvd witch i watched the other day and also enjoyed.


----------



## mentalchik (Dec 5, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Agreed. I can't usually watch Cage but I've watched Kick Ass three times now, I forget it's him with the costume and all. It's a mint film.


 
I enjoyed it i have to say......

we never get tired of saying 
"Nicholas Cage.......why the long face?"


anyhoo just watched Splice................bit odd really but quite enjoyable


----------



## miniGMgoit (Dec 5, 2010)

Ski Patrol


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Dec 5, 2010)

Today i watched I'm Still Here and my son my son what have ye done.


----------



## Will2403 (Dec 6, 2010)

Just watched Battle in Seattle and Youth In Revolt (both cracking films! highly reccommended, I expect most have already seen BiS) and half of Deception before windows update reset my pc automatically, the second half of it is shit anyway so i'll just go to sleep now.

Do you reccommend I'm Still Here?


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 6, 2010)

Shaun the sheep (party animals)  Funniest thing ive seen in ages especially the one were the farmer has his birthday party!  The part were the sheep is dressed as a dalek and tries getting up the stairs had me in stitches!!!!!


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 6, 2010)

Beowulf & Sweeney Todd. Can't decide which was more gruesome.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 6, 2010)

Enter The Void

Noe's taken the piss royally on this one, catapulting himself from relatively obscure but promising film maker class to Lynch like proportions of epic self indulgence, originality and genuine impact. From the very start you know its going to be different, something a lot of films attempt to be, but rarely manage to pull off without reminding you of something you've already seen before. The camera work is incredible, long uncut shots where the camera flies through streets, above houses, through walls and into peoples heads where you can hear them think.....even this aspect is brilliant, the way it takes you into the lead characters head - with headphones on and the right amount of ketamine beforehand this can be quite surreal 

As mentioned before, its long, a bit too long. But think of it as an investment, and compared to Inland Empire its a doddle anyway. In only three films that Noe has produced (that I know of) the jump from simple yet impactive storylines and cheap special effects to this absolute masterpiece, which will set the standard for films of this genre for years to come, is quite remarkable.

9.5/10


----------



## Badgers (Dec 6, 2010)

Breaking Bad. Last episode (recap) of season 1 before embarking on season 2. Been sent the best hard drive ever today, have at least six months of wicked watching


----------



## starfish (Dec 6, 2010)

Watched Dogtooth on saturday night  And there was me thinking the family in Visitor Q was dysfunctional.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 8, 2010)

Seem to be juggling TV and Films at the mo - 

Rewatching *Firefly* and *The Wire* from the start (persuaded my housemate to give both a go, seems to have worked in both cases ). The Wire's obviously been done to death on here, but I'd forgotten how great some of the dialogue in Firefly is, it's fucking hilarious in places, not to mention pretty dark at times.

Also started watching *The Pacific* on Blu-Ray - so very, very pretty  Hardly any of the 'set-up' that Band of Brothers had either, just thrown onto Guadacanal and into a terrifying jungle of firefights and close-quarters combat. Oddly the 3rd episode slows things down massively as the Marines get some R&R in Melbourne, but it's definitely keeping my interest. Bit of an issue telling the characters apart (especially when they're covered in blood / dirt), but I imagine it will get easier.

Movie-wise, I was recovering from a hangover the other day, so went for the easy watching of *Zack & Miri Make A Porno*, followed by *Naked Gun *(in honour of Mr Neilsen). Zack & Miri was fairly amusing fluff (Justin Long steals the film as a gay porn star with Brandon Routh), Elizabeth Banks is pretty good with what she's given to do and Seth Rogen does his usual schtick.

Naked Gun was as good as ever


----------



## miniGMgoit (Dec 9, 2010)

Get him to the Greek (again)
Antichrist


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2010)

Oldboy

erm...


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 9, 2010)

miniGMgoit said:


> Get him to the Greek (again)



The Clap.

Bangers and Mash.

"When the world gives you a Geoffrey, stroke the furry wall."


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2010)

Also: the perfect storm. What a fucking cheese fest from start to finish. Nicely juxtaposed with oldboy 'he grassed on a sister-fucker who then tricks him into boning his daughter'

'it hurts so much but I am enduring it' will haunt my sleep for days now. And people go on about the live squid eating scene


----------



## zenie (Dec 10, 2010)

Tales of The Golden Age (Romanian) - Really funny 

To warm and often hilarious effect, Mungiu combines several urban legends to portray a time during which food was more important than money, freedom more important than love and survival more important than principles. As he does so, he subtly and comically unseats the propagandist myth that Ceausescu's Romania was the "golden age" of communism.


----------



## blairsh (Dec 10, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> Oldboy
> 
> erm...


 
I suggested that me and a mate watched that after we'd done a load of mushrooms. He'd never seen it and looked quite perturbed throughout  fucking great film


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 12, 2010)

*The Wolfman:* I loved watching the original as a kid starring Lon Chaney Jr and this isn't a bad update. The cast is impressive (Hopkins, Del Toro, Blunt) and it looks great for the most part (very gothic, very fairy tale). The problem is that all wolfman films of the last 25+ years live in the shadow of An 'American Werewolf In London', especially in terms of werewolf effects and transformation, and this falls a bit short in that department. It doesn't help that the wolfman himself looks a bit too cuddly (like Chaney Jr in the original) when something a bit nastier and properly wolf-like would have been a better idea.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 12, 2010)

Pusher

Well impressed, quite a realsitic portrayal of drug dealing life I imagine. Main character was excellent.


----------



## feyr (Dec 12, 2010)

up, nightmare before christmas and the corpse bride.  then once the kids had gone to bed i watched spirited away


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 12, 2010)

Latest Misfits and Peep Show. Marvellous.


----------



## Will2403 (Dec 12, 2010)

watched Restrepo, Youth In Revolt, Scott Pilgrim vs The World and Requiem For A Dream last night.  All cracking good entertainment!


----------



## Badgers (Dec 12, 2010)

Renaissance (Paris 2054) 
Christian Volckman


----------



## Reno (Dec 13, 2010)

Crazy Love. Interesting "life is stranger than fiction" documentary about Burt and Linda Pugach. Burt Pugach was a shady laywer who became obsessed with Linda. When she found out that he was married, she dumped him and he started stalking her. She got engaged to someone else. He hired gangsters to throw lye in her face, disfiguring and eventually blinding her. She got him sent him to prison for many years. After he gets out of prisong they get married.

You find out everything that happened at the beginning and then the film explores how and why it happened via interviews with all involved.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 14, 2010)

Started watching *Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide*, which runs to three discs. The documentary on Disc 1 is superb, featuring contributions from directors such as Chris Smith and Neil Marshall as well as academic Martin Barker (an eloquent and truly remarkable man). The 'other side' of the argument is represented too, mostly by former Tory MP Graham Bright whose private members bill sought to outlaw the likes of 'I Spit On Your Grave' and 'Driller Killer' in this country. The doc made me realise just what a truly shoddy episode in UK history the whole video nasties moral panic was - utterly shameful behaviour by the media, police and government egged on by nutcases like Mary Whitehouse.


----------



## belboid (Dec 14, 2010)

Brothers of the Head.

Alright, perfectly enjoyable, tho all a bit 'so what?'  The Aldiss bits on the extras was interesting tho


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2010)

andy2002 said:


> Started watching *Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide*, which runs to three discs. The documentary on Disc 1 is superb, featuring contributions from directors such as Chris Smith and Neil Marshall as well as academic Martin Barker (an eloquent and truly remarkable man). The 'other side' of the argument is represented too, mostly by former Tory MP Graham Bright whose private members bill sought to outlaw the likes of 'I Spit On Your Grave' and 'Driller Killer' in this country. The doc made me realise just what a truly shoddy episode in UK history the whole video nasties moral panic was - utterly shameful behaviour by the media, police and government egged on by nutcases like Mary Whitehouse.



I watched that a couple of weeks ago, including the two discs on every single film on the list. Fantastic set and I particularely liked the contributions by Stephen Thrower who used to bring out Eyeball Magazine and has written several excellent books on exploitation cinema.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 14, 2010)

I watched a brilliant film told in 3 stages - cant remember what its called though? Something mental comes on telly and makes everyone kill each other, some girl has to get to terminal 13 and one geezer ends up wearing a tin foil hat 

It has definitely got the inspiration for Family Guy's Quagmire in as well


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Dec 14, 2010)

been watching loads of south park recently. why have i not been watching south park for years its so good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2010)

Yetman said:


> I watched a brilliant film told in 3 stages - cant remember what its called though? Something mental comes on telly and makes everyone kill each other, some girl has to get to terminal 13 and one geezer ends up wearing a tin foil hat
> 
> It has definitely got the inspiration for Family Guy's Quagmire in as well


are you sure it wasn't just a dream?


----------



## Yetman (Dec 14, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> are you sure it wasn't just a dream?


 
No. HA. Found it 

The Signal http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780607/


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2010)

Yetman said:


> No. HA. Found it
> 
> The Signal http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780607/



The first section was just about watchable, but the rest was crap.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 14, 2010)

The Expendables, which was rubbish from start to finish. Like somebody took all the crap bits out of half a dozen 80's big budget action films and made a film.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 14, 2010)

Pusher 2...Loving these films, absolutely brilliant stuff.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 15, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Pusher 2...Loving these films, absolutely brilliant stuff.



3 is probably the best one. Fucking ace arent they


----------



## chazegee (Dec 15, 2010)

Expendables

Brilliant film, no Patronising morality, just men with guns and sexy girls. I'm a moran.


----------



## chazegee (Dec 15, 2010)

And Anchorman, which was genuinely good.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 15, 2010)

Nooo.  It was _too_ silly to be funny.  

Like when his dog saves him and his girlfriend, when they're trapped in the bear enclosure, by negotiating with one of them.

In subtitles: "You'll always be a friend of the bears."


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 17, 2010)

*Iron Man 2 *- disappointing.

*Whip It* - Real cool!


----------



## dlx1 (Dec 17, 2010)

Into the Wild - Nice story lovely scenery 

Wilderness - poor ending


----------



## rutabowa (Dec 17, 2010)

i watched  Dancer in The Dark, well i watched the first 20 minutes then got bored and read a book whilst watching the rest of it with one eye. is everyone in it meant to be acting really badly in it? i guess so, but it made it a bit hard to watch. and i didn't dig the music at all. still nice that the director tried something different i guess even if it turned out a bit shit.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 17, 2010)

Yetman said:


> 3 is probably the best one. Fucking ace arent they


 
Excellent all round I think.

Very much looking forward to watching the third film tonight.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 19, 2010)

We watched The Sting


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 19, 2010)

*A Bay Of Blood* aka *Twitch Of The Death Nerve*: Mario Bava's hugely influential slasher flick from 1971. There are some genuinely brilliant moments (I particularly love the artful, inventive way Bava cuts between certain scenes), but the plot's horribly convoluted and the twist ending is (deliberately) absurd. Thoroughly enjoyable though.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 19, 2010)

Pusher 3...the final scenes are  Think I liked 2 the most.

Just started watching Mad Men, 3 eps in, liking it so far.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Dec 19, 2010)

jeff_leigh said:


> We watched The Sting


 
 

We watched Inception. Which was ace. I think.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 19, 2010)

Dai Nihonjin (Big Japanese man)

Fake fly on the wall doc about a looser who turns into a giant to fight monsters for the Japanese army. 
A little bit like the office with giant fighting over tokyo bits. Personally I would have liked more big man fighting odd monsters, when he stops to have a chat with one of the monsters you can see far more comedy potential was available. The best bit though was when the CGI stops and they act out the last bit of the film with a model miniature sized tokyo, throwing toy trucks and the like with a US parody of the Ultraman family.


----------



## foamy (Dec 19, 2010)

Coco before Chanel which was ok, had to watch it in two parts as couldn't multitask hrough the subtitles.
Where the Wild thngs are which I found genuinely heart breaking.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Dec 19, 2010)

Intolance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages. Wow, the Fall Of Babylon story is utterly amazing, reminisent of some battles in the recent LOTR films even (but there was no CGI in 1916 of course). 
It's a shame that some of the French & Judean sequences have been lost leaving the film a bit lop sided leaning toward the 2 more complete stories.


----------



## Grandma Death (Dec 19, 2010)

Inception...fair play I loved it...blew me away!


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 19, 2010)

Restrepo

Powerful stuff but a mile away from the book. There's loads more in the book as you'd expect but the film benefits from seeing the faces of the soldiers , seeing how young they are and how hard they're finding it to keep it together when they get back.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 20, 2010)

Gremlins 2


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Dec 20, 2010)

six string samurai


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 21, 2010)

Not a DVD, but an old _Dispatches_ documentary on the Sendero Luminoso.


----------



## G. Fieendish (Dec 22, 2010)

The Blue Ray Version of Metropolis...


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 23, 2010)

This is England


----------



## i_got_poison (Dec 24, 2010)

"Carlos" (the jackal).  the truncated version. this film i later learned was a 5hrs, 3 part french-german miniseries aired by canal+. 
edgar ramirez plays the multi lingual, charismatic ideologue, llich (carlos). nora von waldensttaten plays magdelena kopp (carlos' future wife), a
forger and member of red army faction.

the performances are very accomplished, even by seemingly irrelevant cast members.

this was helped by great direction and a brilliant script.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Dec 26, 2010)

a room for romeo brass with was pretty good and i started watching the black swan but it was late so i turned it off.


----------



## Reno (Dec 26, 2010)

Five Easy Pieces on Blu-ray, which is part of a Criterion collection called America Lost and Found: The BBS Story that collects seven late 60s/early 70s classics of the American New Wave. Never had seen it before. Maybe a little dated in its subject matter of a middle class drop out, but still a great film, beautifully shot and acted and I think it's the first film where Jack Nicholson's persona and style got a platform.


----------



## dlx1 (Dec 26, 2010)

Murder on the Orient Express  Crap remake


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2010)

Yesterday ...American Werewolf in London and Bad Santa

Today...first 7 episodes of series 2 of Mad Men, just off to watch Micmacs. I've seen it thought it was great, recommended it to the little un so hoping he'll love it too.


----------



## blairsh (Dec 26, 2010)

Just watched most of Young Sherlock Holmes (only cos its crimbo) still like it though even if young Sherlock Holmes to trusterfarian, foot loosing gimp in Lock Stock is a bit lame....

Not sure about tonight. Might have some dedicated xbox binge action


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 27, 2010)

The Losers - bit of escapism not bad


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 27, 2010)

*Carriers* - Survivors-style tale about a world in which most people have been wiped out by some terrible epidemic. Surprisingly good as it keeps the story low-key and personal, focusing on a small group of survivors - including Star Trek's Chris Pine - slowly but surely losing their humanity as they battle to stay alive.

*Vampyr* - German horror film from the early 1930s. Creepy, sinister and atmospheric, although story-wise not very involving.


----------



## dlx1 (Dec 27, 2010)

The First Great Train Robbery


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 27, 2010)

Chip Barm said:


> Yesterday ...American Werewolf in London and Bad Santa
> 
> Today...first 7 episodes of series 2 of Mad Men, just off to watch Micmacs. I've seen it thought it was great, recommended it to the little un so hoping he'll love it too.


 
I forgot it's quite complex but he liked the way it looked and the bits he understood.

Finished s2 Mad Men. It's good overall but I feel like it tries t cram too much in.


----------



## i_got_poison (Dec 28, 2010)

let the right one in - sublime (xmas day)

twilight - better than the second (last night)


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 28, 2010)

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World -


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 28, 2010)

*Shrek Forever After* - I like the Shrek films; they're always funny and inventive. This is very short (barely 80 minutes) but still made me laugh a lot more than most recent comedies for adults have managed (The Hangover, Observe & Report etc).


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Dec 28, 2010)

bad taste the pete jackson film


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2010)

'The Last Legion'

Which was absolute shite, but john hannah turned up in a toga AGAIN but as Nestor rather than Batiatus


----------



## dlx1 (Dec 29, 2010)

Scrooge 
Goonies
I AM Legend

with cheese and biscuits


----------



## dynamicbaddog (Dec 29, 2010)

The Raspberry Reich 
- directed by my hero Bruce LaBruce, it's  my favourite political film
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raspberry_Reich


----------



## Yetman (Dec 29, 2010)

Grizzly Man..........ffs  
Hot Tub Time Machine - excellent, got the 80's American film feel perfectly


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 30, 2010)

*Neverwhere* – Just finished reading the Neil Gaiman novel so figured I should probably give the TV series a go, too.


----------



## PETER.PHIL (Dec 31, 2010)

Wow... very interesting. So a spirit lead you to a gravestone with your (full?) name on it. Then it left you a message on your window with the rain. That's freakin scary... I don't think any good is in the message.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 31, 2010)

A movie called Joyeux Noel, about the christmas eve truce during WW1 in the winter of 1914. It's interesting reading the reviews of the movie on rotten tomatoes. They break out into two camps: those who saw it as a reaffirmation of the human spirit, etc; and those who saw it as sentimental tripe.

The movie plays on sentimentality, but it's reassuring to know that its foundation lies in a factual event.


----------



## snackhead (Dec 31, 2010)

Tenebre
A Serious Man
Twilight
Four Christmases


----------



## dynamicbaddog (Jan 1, 2011)

Severance


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 1, 2011)

Mad Men s4, first 10 episodes....only 3 to go then life can resume.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2011)

Two good movies with lots to think about, but in different ways.

Les Miserables with Liam Neeson. I have to confess I didn't and don't know much of Victor Hugo's work; but it's interesting to consider the fact that Hugo is a national hero, and his work is so important to the French. It says much about the French character, about French ideals. One wonders what the similar works would be in other nations? You can see Russia having similar. What novels are informative of the British character. For the Germans what is it: Nietzsche?


The second movie was Inherit the Wind. Everyone especially in the US should consider watching this again, especially now in the days of the Tea Party and the Religious Right. It's a reminder that certain elements will never give up; that the same battles for individual rights and freedoms of thought and conscience have been fought before and will have to be fought again, and that it's foolish to think that it's ever ok to let our guard down.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 2, 2011)

*Avatar* - at times brilliant (mostly in the second half), at times frustrating and mediocre. I never really got my head around why the humans needed to put themselves into the avatars in the first place - it all seemed a bit confused and quickly glossed over.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Jan 2, 2011)

Was going to watch Avatar, but it got deleted from the planner. 

So, watched the Hangover, instead.

Not bad. Vaguely entertaining.


----------



## dlx1 (Jan 2, 2011)

Smokin Aces 2 what a lot of shit 1st one was good had story and Action but this.
I think the qlue was here it was going to be shit _Vinnie Jones_


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 3, 2011)

The Anarchist Cookbook

Shitter than shit.


----------



## yield (Jan 3, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Two good movies with lots to think about, but in different ways.
> 
> Les Miserables with Liam Neeson. I have to confess I didn't and don't know much of Victor Hugo's work; but it's interesting to consider the fact that Hugo is a national hero, and his work is so important to the French. It says much about the French character, about French ideals. One wonders what the similar works would be in other nations? You can see Russia having similar. What novels are informative of the British character. For the Germans what is it: Nietzsche?



More likely to be Goethe than Nietzsche surely. 

It'd be Pushkin for Russia and perhaps William Blake for England?

Edit: Watched Gomorrah last night and it's excellent.

Still on iplayer for a few days yet.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 3, 2011)

Buried - good ending


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2011)

yield said:


> More likely to be Goethe than Nietzsche surely.
> 
> It'd be Pushkin for Russia and perhaps William Blake for England?.


 
Thanks for that. It's nice when a film gives you something to chew on. So wrt Russia: not Dostoyevsky? And England, John Bunyan? or maybe that's too early. I wonder if 'letters' and 'men of letters' play a similarly prominent role in how different countries or cultures define themselves?


----------



## yield (Jan 3, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Thanks for that. It's nice when a film gives you something to chew on. So wrt Russia: not Dostoyevsky? And England, John Bunyan? or maybe that's too early.


Yes Bunyan is too early. 18th/19th century European Romanticism.


Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I wonder if 'letters' and 'men of letters' play a similarly prominent role in how different countries or cultures define themselves?


Also requires a high rate of literacy and the invention of the printing press.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2011)

yield said:


> Yes Bunyan is too early. 18th/19th century European Romanticism.
> 
> Also requires a high rate of literacy and the invention of the printing press.


 
I suppose it depends how much a nation's or culture's identity relates to or has an affinity with Romanticism. It seems to work for France, but with other places, it might be different writers, different philosophies. I should probably start a separate thread about this; we're sort of going away from the topic of films.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 3, 2011)

First four episodes of "they came from somewhere else"
1984 channel 4 sci-fi comedy. I haven't watched it since it was first shown (I don't think it was repeated or put on video anyway). I am surprised how much I remember. I fully understand why I felt let down by it when I was 11, but now as an adult I am full on loving it, even though I know what's going to happen. 
I love the way it is filmed and the idea behind the whole thing, I wish there was more of this kind of thing rather than little Britain.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 3, 2011)

*The Disappearance Of Alice Creed* - twisty, turny British kidnap thriller with Gemma Arterton and Eddie Marsan. It kept me guessing and I enjoyed it a lot.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 3, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> First four episodes of "they came from somewhere else"
> 1984 channel 4 sci-fi comedy. I haven't watched it since it was first shown (I don't think it was repeated or put on video anyway). I am surprised how much I remember. I fully understand why I felt let down by it when I was 11, but now as an adult I am full on loving it, even though I know what's going to happen.
> I love the way it is filmed and the idea behind the whole thing, I wish there was more of this kind of thing rather than little Britain.



Why do you thınk the Goodıes have never been repeated?


----------



## Will2403 (Jan 3, 2011)

wot i have wotched recently...

yesterday...
*how to train a dragon*. awesome. gonna watch it again in a bit.
*youth in revolt*. i think i may end up watching this film approximately 100 times before i die, except if i die tomoro, then it'll be 4 or 5.

a few days ago
*black swan*. didnt know nowt about it cept the synopsis on imdb.  and i love aronofsky  anyhoo cracker. need to watch it a few more times.

also watched* despicable me, **social network, scottie pilgrims* and loads of other films that i can't remember at the moment.

all cracking too. lovin it!


----------



## Will2403 (Jan 3, 2011)

re black swan ... 

i read the other post about it after watching it and during the film i thought the coloured coded black and white motifs were really ridiculously overblown and amateurish.  was there a deeper reason for this that i am missing?


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 4, 2011)

Dead Silence!    The usual evil ventriloquist dummy film.  Probs not to everyones taste but i love a films like dis. Im a sucker fer evil dummies.  Also have twin peaks on the back burner so maybe start on that tonite @L@


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 4, 2011)

Two Hands

Excellent Australian crime caper from 1999. Starring a young Heath Ledger.

Recommended.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 4, 2011)

Last two eps of 1984 C4 comedy *They came from somewhere else.* Memory lane.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 4, 2011)

Watched all of peep show series 7 over the last few days, really funny way better than the last series.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 4, 2011)

Last Exorcism


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 7, 2011)

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Not as great as I'd hoped it would be, but enjoyable nonsense all the same. Michael Cera basically being Michael Cera, good supporting characters, great visuals (especially on Blu-Ray), and Chris Evans and Brandon Routh stealing their scenes and sending up their superhero pedigree.

Also, as lovely as Ramona is, did anyone else think he'd have been better off sticking with Knives Chau?


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 9, 2011)

*Girlfight:* Michelle Rodriguez in her first film role as a tough female boxer mixing it up with the men at a rough 'n' ready Brooklyn gym. Not bad although it includes several over-used boxing film conventions (underdog overcoming the odds and a troubled home life, the climactic big fight etc). Rodriguez is the best thing about it - it's a shame she's never had the kind of success in Hollywood her talent and beauty deserves.


----------



## rekil (Jan 9, 2011)

Song For A Raggy Boy. One man, fresh from fighting Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War, takes a teaching job at an industrial school and has run ins with a psycho christian brother and his paedo minion, with tragic consequences. Fantastic little film even if the flashback scenes don't work well very. The english actors even do reasonably good jobs with the accents.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 9, 2011)

Kick-Ass - loved it, really loved it


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 10, 2011)

*The assasination of jesse james* great film and great cast great soundtrack (or lack of)  My new favourite film to fall asleep too. If yer need a kip this is the one ta watch!


----------



## Badgers (Jan 10, 2011)

Judge John Deed


----------



## wtfftw (Jan 10, 2011)

Gremlins.
Piranhas.
Megamind.


----------



## rutabowa (Jan 10, 2011)

i watched Wall E i am embarassed to say i got totally into it and was tearful all the way through, i was quite hungover though/


----------



## rutabowa (Jan 10, 2011)

oh and i watched a clip of "Traces of Death" on yuotube.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 11, 2011)

Catfish...I'm not sure....it was okay but I didn't believe it happened as it was presented and didn't like Nev (which says Nev but is pronounced Neev). I got the feeling a lot of scenes were filmed afterwards to make sense of the story and I was irritated by his ridiculous grinning chops. It's worth watching, even though the ending is easy enough to guess ten minutes in it still raises a lot of questions throughout which is probably what saved it for me.


----------



## dilute micro (Jan 11, 2011)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Casey Affleck stole the show.


----------



## blairsh (Jan 11, 2011)

rutabowa said:


> i watched Wall E i am embarassed to say i got totally into it and was tearful all the way through, i was quite hungover though/


 
Don't be embarassed, i thought it was a really good film too.


----------



## belboid (Jan 12, 2011)

caught up on a few things last couple of days.

Kick Ass, again - still very very good indeed

Eagle Vs Shark - meh. One surprising moment but otherwise, quirky by numbers.  Nice soundtrack tho

My Winnipeg - goddamn hilarious magnificence.  ten minutes of 'wtf is going on?  is it all going to be like this?'  And then the absurdities roll in thick and fast.  Quite wonderful.

And then, finally made to watch the first few episodes of Mongrels.  Pure fucking genius, rolling about on the floor funny. Whyever had I not watched it before?


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 12, 2011)

*Sherlock Holmes* - I wasn't expecting to like this (it's directed by Guy Ritchie FFS), but I did. Fast, funny, strong cast and soundtrack, plus it looks great. I've never liked Jude Law in anything ever but he's actually rather good as Watson while Robert Downey Jr makes a terrific Holmes.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 12, 2011)

scott pilgrim vs the world.
i was looking at the wikipedia entry to films considered to be the worst of all time ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_worst ) and it divides these films into several categories including cult classics, star vehicles and bad comedies.
if i wasn't aware that this film was a critical and financial success, i'd stick it in the latter category.
it fails on every conceivable level. it's not funny. no one in it acts with any degree of conviction. it's directed so ineptly, with stilted, awkward acting and awful awful special effects that annoy rather than distract and do nothing but underline how woeful the material is.
it's pretty offensive to with crass racial stereotypes and callow sexism reminiscent of the 70s.
michael cera is a weird manchild with a squeaky voice who's somehow meant to represent everyman, when he's a selfish caddish shitweasel.
and the music, eungh, the music - it was hard to tell if any of the bands were supposed to be good or not, cos the music was just mediocre weedy indie shit.
AVOID!


----------



## Yetman (Jan 12, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> scott pilgrim vs the world.
> i was looking at the wikipedia entry to films considered to be the worst of all time ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_worst ) and it divides these films into several categories including cult classics, star vehicles and bad comedies.
> if i wasn't aware that this film was a critical and financial success, i'd stick it in the latter category.
> it fails on every conceivable level. it's not funny. no one in it acts with any degree of conviction. it's directed so ineptly, with stilted, awkward acting and awful awful special effects that annoy rather than distract and do nothing but underline how woeful the material is.
> ...



Really?! Did you like Kick Ass? Comparable?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 12, 2011)

kick ass was fun - it had a bit of style and finesse. it was actually funny too.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 12, 2011)

I was thinking they were kind of from the same mould. I wont stick it at the top of my to-watch list then


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 12, 2011)

Yetman said:


> I was thinking they were kind of from the same mould. I wont stick it at the top of my to-watch list then



I think people just lazily lump them together because they're comic book films. 

My 10 year old rates Scott Pilgrim in his top films and it's had repeat watches.  I don't get it at all.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 12, 2011)

just finished watching death note it was pretty good not the best anime i have seen but still worth watching.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> just finished watching death note it was pretty good not the best anime i have seen but still worth watching.


 
I saw the live action ones and thought it was pretty duff. The wife loves it though. She has just bought the entire manga set from some sort of Japanese gumtree and is currently spending all her evenings on it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

Paranormal Activity? 

???
Was the idea supposed to be that I thought it was real? Great way to make a cheap film but it's a bit of a non event.


----------



## rutabowa (Jan 13, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Paranormal Activity?
> 
> ???
> Was the idea supposed to be that I thought it was real? Great way to make a cheap film but it's a bit of a non event.


no yuo weren't meant to think it was real! it is just meant to be a bit scary.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 13, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I saw the live action ones and thought it was pretty duff. The wife loves it though. She has just bought the entire manga set from some sort of Japanese gumtree and is currently spending all her evenings on it.


 
live action remakes are usually shit i dont see how they can condense 840 minutes in to three 90 minute films. the anime was good but none of the charactors were really that likeable. i have the live action films but i dont think i will actually watch them, dont see the point after watching the anime.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

rutabowa said:


> no yuo weren't meant to think it was real! it is just meant to be a bit scary.


 
Oh, that case it fails. I just got a bit bored. 
Sorry, thanks for lending though, I look forward to the Machine Girl.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 13, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> live action remakes are usually shit i dont see how they can condense 840 minutes in to three 90 minute films. the anime was good but none of the charactors were really that likeable. i have the live action films but i dont think i will actually watch them, dont see the point after watching the anime.


 
They are worth watching as the performances, especially from the chap playing L, are very good and they are quite a faithful, if truncated, adaptation of the anime.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> live action remakes are usually shit i dont see how they can condense 840 minutes in to three 90 minute films. the anime was good but none of the charactors were really that likeable. i have the live action films but i dont think i will actually watch them, dont see the point after watching the anime.


 
I don't think it is about condensing the anime, it will be about condensing the manga. I have had a brief look though this and it seems to follow the main points quite well. Anyway, like I say, I didn't really like it anyway. 
Live action adaptations. . . humm, cutie honey was kind of fun but a little boring. I'd quite like to see yattaman but only because Miike Takashi directed it and he usually does something quite interesting.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> especially from the chap playing L, are very good and they are quite a faithful, .


 
You are not wrong. I saw the film first and looked at the manga of him (and the other chap actually) and they look exactly the same. I wondered why the L guy looked so funny and now I know he was just copying the manga. Those demons look pretty faithful too.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 13, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I don't think it is about condensing the anime, it will be about condensing the manga. I have had a brief look though this and it seems to follow the main points quite well. Anyway, like I say, I didn't really like it anyway.
> Live action adaptations. . . humm, cutie honey was kind of fun but a little boring. I'd quite like to see yattaman but only because Miike Takashi directed it and he usually does something quite interesting.


 
forgot about the manga, ive never actually read a manga i would rather watch an anime


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> forgot about the manga, ive never actually read a manga i would rather watch an anime


 
Brrrrugh, wrong answer. I can't think of an adaptation that has ever been better in anime form. Vice versa mind. The manga adaptations of FLCL were pretty rubbish. I read them in japanese and they didn't seem to make sense so I bought the english ones. They didn't make much more sense.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 13, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Brrrrugh, wrong answer. I can't think of an adaptation that has ever been better in anime form. Vice versa mind. The manga adaptations of FLCL were pretty rubbish. I read them in japanese and they didn't seem to make sense so I bought the english ones. They didn't make much more sense.


 
how can my preferance be a wrong answer?  did you not like flcl? i was gonna watch that after ive finished watching speed grapher.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> how can my preferance be a wrong answer? .


 
It can be wrong in my opinion thats how. You could say the *BU-BU* was because you gave the wrong answer if seeking to gain my approval. 



ilovebush&blair said:


> did you not like flcl? i was gonna watch that after ive finished watching speed grapher.



I loved FLCL. Boy did I love it, maybe too much, I nearly bought a yellow scooter. I was buying the single release DVDs in Japan when it first came out. It was painful waiting two months for the next episode (as I recall they were always late too). 
The manga came later and was a retelling (as are the novels). If you bought the DVDs early enough and from the right place you got them in a (horrible) box with a free gift. 
I have the CDs with radio plays on too. Ahhh, and I just remembered, I even went over to the Gainax offices in Mitaka thinking it was a shop that could sell me goodies.  I did manage to get a FLCL T-shirt and bag out of them though. 

Anyway, I watched it recently and wasn't so blown away, well it is 12 years now since my 'madness'. I think I am cured for the most part now.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jan 13, 2011)

just watched Clerks again, after about 15 years.

It hasnt aged well...


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2011)

not-bono-ever said:


> just watched Clerks again, after about 15 years.
> 
> It hasnt aged well...


 
I know, I bought clerks X a few years back and could barely sit through it. I certainly didn't manage the other cuts.


----------



## belboid (Jan 14, 2011)

Disappearance of Alice Creed.

Decent lil thriller, good performances, if not the most original or cinematic of experiences.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 14, 2011)

Fitzcarraldo, great stuff, love Herzog's approach to making films, proper gets in there


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 14, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Fitzcarraldo, great stuff, love Herzog's approach to making films, proper gets in there


 
yeah thats a good one


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 14, 2011)

just finished watching speed grapher.


----------



## PopCulture (Jan 14, 2011)

I just finished "The Kids are Alright." It was really great!


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 14, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It can be wrong in my opinion thats how. You could say the *BU-BU* was because you gave the wrong answer if seeking to gain my approval.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
FLCL is amazing best anime i have seen in a while


----------



## belboid (Jan 15, 2011)

Seperado

I'm probly too drunk to appreciate it, but I appreciate it  when I'm drunk


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 15, 2011)

I watched Get Low, opens here next week. Cast, performances, story all great, expect to see it high in everyone's best of lists in December.

Afterwards watched episode 1 of Chris Morris' Jam. I'd forgotten how brilliant it is.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 15, 2011)

"Toy Story 3" on blu ray - class film, cried again like I did at the cinema


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 16, 2011)

Death Sentance - Kevin Bacon doing an Arnold, Charles Bronson, Bruce Willis on a street gang. After watching him play a Peadophile in one movie and bastard corrupt copper in another I have no sympathy for him, Was rooting for the gang


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 16, 2011)

*The Men Who Stare At Goats:* Very funny in parts and George Clooney, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges are always watchable. But just taking a load of stuff from Jon Ronson's brilliant book and transplanting it into the Iraq War seems a bit clumsy. All the flashbacks and exposition-stuffed voiceovers don't help.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 16, 2011)

London River...well done, watchable, but Brenda Blethyn reminds me of Lynn from Alan Partridge.

then more Jam.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Jan 16, 2011)

Just started watching the Buffy box set, from the beginning. Marvellous. Even if we watch one a day, Mrs. S☼I has worked out it'll take until June 8th.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 16, 2011)

Steel☼Icarus said:


> Just started watching the Buffy box set, from the beginning. Marvellous. Even if we watch one a day, Mrs. S☼I has worked out it'll take until June 8th.


 
That sounds like a knightmare apart from the one day that you get to watch the musical episode.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 16, 2011)

been watching ergo proxy the last few days just finished it and i love it. its a post apocalyptic cyberpunk anime and its really good.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Jan 16, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> That sounds like a knightmare apart from the one day that you get to watch the musical episode.


 
I dunno. I quite like the dippy charm of it. Plus Eliza Dushku's in quite a few later episodes.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 16, 2011)

Enter the Void...amazing piece of film making, second half is a bit wooly mind. 

I missed it at the pictures but recommended it to two women at work at the time who were pretty shocked. I can see why some people might not get on with it tbh.


----------



## Jackobi (Jan 16, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Enter the Void...amazing piece of film making, second half is a bit wooly mind.


 
I watched it recently and thought it was a good film, but the hallucination scenes went a bit over the top, they were far too long.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 16, 2011)

they were ace! i loved all that flying about


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 16, 2011)

I used to have an enter the void swiss army knife but I accidentally left it in my bag when I went to the airport and so had to leave it at heathrow.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 16, 2011)

Toast
Knocked Up


----------



## belboid (Jan 16, 2011)

Begun on the second season of Damages, which is still jolly entertaining.

And then did *Catfish*, about which I am not sure. I started off sure it was a fake, but was much less convinced by the end. If everyone in it is simply acting, they're all fucking Oscarworthy.  But the story which gave the film its title just came off too pat.  Dunno.  Intriguing tho, and well worth a watch.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 18, 2011)

The Damned United


----------



## marty21 (Jan 18, 2011)

I've started Madmen - got the first 3 seasons from my brother for Christmas - watched the first 4 of season 1 back to back - it is excellent!

makes me want to smoke more though


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 18, 2011)

Haven't posted on this in ages in protest at it being made a sticky. If ever a thread didn't need it, didn't need it cluttering up the top of the forum this is it.

R - danish sort of scum/prophete. All people expect two R actors genuine ex-cons. Very well done. Not very cheery. Used almost a dardennes approach.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 18, 2011)

some thing on the seattle 2000 WTO riots- I was so flat knackered I fell asleep to people being tergassed and can't recall the name.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 19, 2011)

Johnny Guitar - Fantastic, Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden are great and it looks absolutely beautiful


----------



## chazegee (Jan 19, 2011)

A mighty wind, much better second time round and now I'm knee deep into folk music.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Jan 19, 2011)

All 5 episodes of return of the living dead. It's safe to say that quality control goes down throughout the series.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 19, 2011)

marty21 said:


> I've started Madmen - got the first 3 seasons from my brother for Christmas - watched the first 4 of season 1 back to back - it is excellent!
> 
> makes me want to smoke more though


 
Excellent series, Although some of the stuff they get away with in the office makes me cringe.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 19, 2011)

Inside Man - Nice Crime caper


----------



## marty21 (Jan 19, 2011)

jeff_leigh said:


> Excellent series, Although some of the stuff they get away with in the office makes me cringe.


 
I can remember smoking in the office - it was acceptable into the 80s!


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 20, 2011)

*Centurion* - Neil 'Dog Soldiers' Marshall does Romans versus Picts to pretty good effect. I really like how he mixes up his genres so even though this is set in Roman-occupied Britain there are bits straight out of war movies and westerns. He even gets a bit of supernatural stuff in there. Some of the characters are very sketchy and it's almost laughably violent but I rather liked it despite its flaws.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 20, 2011)

Just watched the Book of Eli.... luckily I'm wiped out by a bug of some kind, otherwise I don't think I'd have made it to the end. What a piece of Christian claptrap. Even without the preaching it would've been a fucking boring mess. Got Splice lined up, after a nibble.


----------



## kalidarkone (Jan 20, 2011)

*Good Hair*: Chris Rock's comedic documentary exploring the black womens hair industry. It also analyses the huge investment that alot of black women put into their hair and the impact this may have on relationships.......I thought it was brilliant.


----------



## chazegee (Jan 21, 2011)

True Grit.
Pretty lazy.


----------



## belboid (Jan 21, 2011)

Toy Story 2 - cos mrs b's never seen it and insisted we needed to before watching 3.  Still very funny.

Fantastic Mr Fox.   What an odd movie, not quite sure who it is meant to appeal to really. Quite enjoyable tho


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 21, 2011)

"The Thing" - such a great film, the music, atmosphere, everything.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 21, 2011)

'Tis good.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 21, 2011)

belboid said:


> Toy Story 2 - cos mrs b's never seen it and insisted we needed to before watching 3.  Still very funny.
> 
> Fantastic Mr Fox.   What an odd movie, not quite sure who it is meant to appeal to really. Quite enjoyable tho


 
Both great fun. Dithering between watching Machete or Splice or The Wolfman (the new one) tonight.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 21, 2011)

Splice is kinda meh


----------



## TruXta (Jan 21, 2011)

I reckon it'll be Machete tbh.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 21, 2011)

127 hours last night, load of rubbish

Magdalene Sisters this morning, fucking horrific that the last laundry closed down only 15 years ago. I've met a few women over the years who I imagine went through similar experiences but never had much of a picture of what it must've been like. Great film.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 21, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Splice is kinda meh


 
I was hoping for more and it looked for a while to be something a little unexpected but then it turned straight for the finale. A fairly enjoyable romp that I shant be watching again.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 21, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I was hoping for more and it looked for a while to be something a little unexpected but then it turned straight for the finale. A fairly enjoyable romp that I shant be watching again.


 
Me and you are film liking opposites


----------



## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 21, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Brrrrugh, wrong answer. I can't think of an adaptation that has ever been better in anime form. Vice versa mind. The manga adaptations of FLCL were pretty rubbish. I read them in japanese and they didn't seem to make sense so I bought the english ones. They didn't make much more sense.


 
the manga of gainax anime often arte a bit odd...  i think  they just  like fucking about with stuff and  often will take something a totally diffrent way just because they can


----------



## Montgolfier (Jan 21, 2011)

127 hours - fantastic film loved it - 8/10


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 22, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Me and you are film liking opposites


 
What do you think of . . . .
Rushmore
The Station Agent
The Bird people of China
3 Iron
Just my Luck
What a girl wants
Mimic
The Forgotten


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 22, 2011)

watched this cool anime aeries called kemonozume about, flesh eating monsters called Shokujinki that can assume human form and this martial arts school that was created to hunt them down. i was really impressed with it, it was made by masaaki yuasa who also made a film called mind game that i liked, he has a really unique animation style.


----------



## colbhoy (Jan 22, 2011)

Watched episode 4 of season 5 of The Wire. I've been putting off watching S5 for some time as I wanted to savour the fact that I still had to watch it. Superb as always.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 22, 2011)

Run Fat Boy Run - more Friends than Spaced, sadly
JCVD - Van Damme in best performance of career shocker


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 22, 2011)

"Predators" - it was alright, easy to watch and Adrian Brody made quite a good action hero. Good undemandinf Saturday night fare


----------



## TruXta (Jan 22, 2011)

jer said:


> Run Fat Boy Run - more Friends than Spaced, sadly
> JCVD - Van Damme in best performance of career shocker


 
JCVD is funny as fuck IF you're familiar with his usual fare. Even the Truxtette - not an 80s aficionado, certainly not a martial arts film buff - was very amused. RFBR looked cack judging by trailers so never bothered.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Jan 23, 2011)

I watched Street Trash yesterday and am now a bit confused about what I saw. I can't work out whether it was so bad it was good or just bad.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 23, 2011)

miniGMgoit said:


> I watched Street Trash yesterday and am now a bit confused about what I saw. I can't work out whether it was so bad it was good or just bad.


 
lol is that the melt movie when the shopkeeper finds some old booze and sells it to homeless and they melt?


----------



## blairsh (Jan 23, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> 127 hours last night, load of rubbish


 
Have heard 50/50 results on this so far

Also heard the sequel is already being made. It's going to be called "Another 127 Hours" and it's going to have Eddie Murphy in it, playing all the parts.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 23, 2011)

An episode of Star Trek: The Animated series where Kirk, Spock, McCoy and some other bloke are held captive by a group of women who drain their life force. It did include the phrase "slumber chamber" which I intend to use wherever and whenever possible!


----------



## dogDBC (Jan 23, 2011)

*Oil City Confidential (2009)*

I'm still enjoying it, even though it finished 5 hours ago.

It's Dr. Feelgood.  Documentary.  An _affectionate _documentary.

 God, they all come across as really nice guys that it would be brilliant to have a few drinks and a chat with (save for the tee-total Wilko who would still be great company nevertheless!)

If you haven't seen this - or if you've never even heard of the Feelgoods, that don't matter - if you like music and London...watch it.  Lovely film.


----------



## marty21 (Jan 23, 2011)

another 4 episodes of Madmen season 1, will probably watch the rest of season 1 today.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 23, 2011)

TruXta said:


> JCVD is funny as fuck IF you're familiar with his usual fare. Even the Truxtette - not an 80s aficionado, certainly not a martial arts film buff - was very amused. *RFBR looked cack judging by trailers so never bothered.*


 
It is a bit cack, tbh. Watched Cronos - which cheered me up, apart from intrusive soundtrack; wicked take on vampire mythos.


----------



## marty21 (Jan 23, 2011)

Oh and I watched 'Children of the Damned' last night - the John Carpenter version - Christopher Reeve's last film before the accident - scary possessed by aliens silver haired kids , making folk kill themselves and that - the kids had hair very similar in colour to mine

enjoyed it though


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 23, 2011)

blairsh said:


> Have heard 50/50 results on this so far
> 
> Also heard the sequel is already being made. It's going to be called "Another 127 Hours" and it's going to have Eddie Murphy in it, playing all the parts.


 
It's sounding better than part 1 already


----------



## starfish (Jan 23, 2011)

Toy Story 3. It was great, if a little sad.


----------



## Fedayn (Jan 24, 2011)

NEDS

Brilliant.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 24, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> What do you think of . . . .
> Rushmore
> The Station Agent
> The Bird people of China
> ...


 
Have you recommended those in the past or something? because I havent seen any of them 

This weekend I watched:

Scott Pilgrim vs The World - shite, turned off after an hour
Wheel of Time - ok, but nothing special
Incident at Loch Ness - you can tell its not real from the start, interesting idea but doesnt really pull it off


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 24, 2011)

Monkey Business - Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 24, 2011)

Watched four over the weekend -

Street Fight. Remember the political bits of The Wire? If you liked that, you'll like this. It's a documentary about the mayoral contest in Newark New Jersey in 2006. The Obama-esque Cory Brooker went up against the old-school black broker pol Sharpe James. The fight got really, really, dirty. To the point where outside election observers had to be sent in to keep an eye on the voting itself.

Catch Us if You Can. The Dave Clark Five try to do their own Hard Day's Night. Unfortunately, they have none of the talent or charm of the Beatles. It is interesting as a slice of 'swinging London' era UK life. 

The Last Waltz. I hadn't seen this in a while and I'd forgotten how good it is. And it is really, really good. Best bit is Joni Mitchell doing 'Coyote'.

Strangers on a Train. If I do your murder, can you do my murder? Great melodramatic fun from Hitchcock.


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 24, 2011)

The Colossus of New York Just been gettin into the B movie genre from the 50s and this is a corker!  The whole movie just cracked me up.  Jeremy jeremy you can see you can move! Hahaha %


----------



## bmd (Jan 24, 2011)

I watched The Town, a heist move directed by and starring Ben Affleck and really enjoyed it. I also watched Catfish, documentary about a photographer who gets into a Facebook relationship with a small girl and her family and finds all is not as it seems. Ok, not great. Restrepo, well worth watching if you're interested in the Afghanistan war, a bit like Generation Kill but real. 

And then I watched The Expendables. I wasn't expecting anything great, I was really ok with mindless fun but fuck me. I mean, come on. It started off ok, with the scenes in the film making sense and then it just turned into shots of people being killed. It seemed as though they'd forgotten to edit the last half of the movie. Terrible, absolutely rubbish and I have very low standards.


----------



## ringo (Jan 24, 2011)

Ghost Town. Absolute shite.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 24, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Have you recommended those in the past or something? because I havent seen any of them


 
 I just wanted to see if you reverse rated them. The first four are excellent but the last four are unwatchable toss.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Jan 27, 2011)

Savagely hungover today so I watched The Step Father, Unthinkable and The Beyond.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 27, 2011)

*Mary Reilly* - The story of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde as seen through the eyes of Jekyll's house maid, Mary. There are a couple of really effective scenes (including a Cronenberg-style transformation towards the end), but this really isn't very good. Blame the casting. John Malkovich is nothing special (as either Jekyll or Hyde), Glenn Close seems to think she's playing Widow Twankey at the Birmingham Hippodrome, and Julia Roberts is so horribly miscast as the titular character that I wondered halfway through if the whole thing wasn't some kind of elaborate joke at her expense. It did make me laugh to see Roberts sharing scenes with George Cole (Arthur Daley) and Kathy Staff (Nora Batty) though.


----------



## belboid (Jan 27, 2011)

_The Social Network_.  Well made, and very watchable, but essentially a film about a bunch of wankers.


_Revanche_.  Very good Austrian thriller, even tho the ending was fairly obvious halfway through it still played out well.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 27, 2011)

My Favorite Brunette

Bob Hope at his cowardly best.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 27, 2011)

Small Faces...may have been better if I'd not seen NEDS first. It's worth a watch a suppose.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 28, 2011)

*Harry Brown:* Death Wish remade for Daily Mail readers. A couple of decent moments and Michael Caine's good value, but it's horrible, clumsy, misanthropic bollocks for the most part.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 29, 2011)

Last night...Threads, my Mrs wanted to see it then fell asleep.

This morning...It Felt Like a Kiss. Not sure I get it but it's an amazing collection of clips, music and bits to read


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 29, 2011)

Howard the Duck.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 30, 2011)

*Splice:* I was really looking forward to seeing this, mainly because I loved director Vincenzo Natali's 2002 film Cypher. Unfortunately it's a bit disappointing. The main characters are totally unsympathetic (has Adrien Brody been good in anything ever?) and what could have been a really bizarre and unsettling story (scientists manipulate the DNA of a variety of creatures - including a human - to create a new life form) never lives up to its promise. A missed opportunity.


----------



## marty21 (Jan 30, 2011)

another Madmen Marathon, watched 6 episodes season 2 (Mrs21 is ill so just wanted duvet and telly) it is a great show.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 30, 2011)

watched catfish - is this real or fake?


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 30, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> watched catfish - is this real or fake?


 
Bit of both I reckon.

I watched R, the Danish film a few have mentioned previously, it's really grim.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 30, 2011)

Letters from Iwo Jima.  I haven't seen the companion film from the American point of view, but this was pretty good, with the baker's 'cowardice' rather than stupidity keeping him safe (one of his mates surrenders but then gets shot by cold hearted and indisciplined American troops who simply can't be bothered watching over him).   In relation to that, though, I'm not sure if the portrayal of lemming-like fanaticism on the Japanese side is well done or moving into caricature territory.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 30, 2011)

A Town Called Panic. Expands the universe a bit from the shorts, and most of the action takes place out of the house. I would have never imagined that a town called panic could sustain a whole feature length movie but it does. It's relentless and it's bloody brilliant. There are many more movements in the characters which I wasn't so keen on but the general ramped up production levels didn't really ruin it. Awesome.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 30, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> A Town Called Panic. Expands the universe a bit from the shorts, and most of the action takes place out of the house. I would have never imagined that a town called panic could sustain a whole feature length movie but it does. It's relentless and it's bloody brilliant. There are many more movements in the characters which I wasn't so keen on but the general ramped up production levels didn't really ruin it. Awesome.




yeah its a well good film, i love it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 30, 2011)

_The Seventh Seal_; no Bill and Ted but otherwise alright


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 30, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> yeah its a well good film, i love it.


 
I'm going to watch it again in a minute. I have not felt that way about a film in a long time.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 30, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I'm going to watch it again in a minute. I have not felt that way about a film in a long time.


 
i know what you mean, i watched it several times.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 30, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> i know what you mean, i watched it several times.


 
It's so odd, I mean it's not actually funny as such and there is no logical progression. It's just mad but not so that is incoherent. I was tittering away at it throughout and just didn't want it to end. The bonus for me this second time round is that I missed the end because someone phoned me up 5 minutes before it finished so I still have that to look forward to.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 30, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It's so odd, I mean it's not actually funny as such and there is no logical progression. It's just mad but not so that is incoherent. I was tittering away at it throughout and just didn't want it to end. The bonus for me this second time round is that I missed the end because someone phoned me up 5 minutes before it finished so I still have that to look forward to.


 
what is the farmer called stephen is it?



Spoiler: i love the bit when



everytime they went to sleep they kept stealing the walls


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 30, 2011)

Yeah Steven. Bit bigger than the original steven. 
"Where are our walls?" Just cool how they never refereed to anyone steeling their entire house. I wanted to watch it with the wife but she has just gone for an hour long shower which has made me a bit sad. 
The more I type the more I love this film. 
There are other crazy things like this such as O' Mikey the japanese shorts that started on Vermillion Pleasure Night, but they are not really as entertaining. 



Nowhere near as good.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 30, 2011)

"The Quantum of Solace" made more sense then when I saw it at the cinema, some good bits but let down by convoluted plotting and a couple of not very good performances.


----------



## marty21 (Jan 31, 2011)

massive Madmen marathon again yesterday - well into season 3 now - running out of episodes to watch


----------



## zenie (Jan 31, 2011)

Love and other drugs.
The girl who played with fire


----------



## TruXta (Jan 31, 2011)

marty21 said:


> massive Madmen marathon again yesterday - well into season 3 now - running out of episodes to watch


 
Fucking addictive isn't it?


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jan 31, 2011)

started watching mr nice but loads of people came in and spoke and ruined it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 31, 2011)

later this week I get to watch a VHS copy of Stalin with Robert Duval. Promises to be very funny.


----------



## belboid (Jan 31, 2011)

funnier than  Omar Sharif as Che?  Or Richard Burton as Trotsky?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 31, 2011)

I don't know yet, but the taglines on the cassette box filled me with anticipation of glee. A HBO films production about Stalin circa 1992. It will surely tick all the funny boxes. Or, it might suprise me and be good and accurate. The box doesn't promise that, it sort of suggests a lolfest of seriousness done badly by americans.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 1, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> later this week I get to watch a VHS copy of Stalin with Robert Duval. Promises to be very funny.



lol.

You might like Andrei Konchalovsky's The Inner Circle.  About a young projectionist who ends up working for Stalin at his private screening room in the Kremlin.  Bob Hoskins plays Lavrenty Beria.  That's two Soviet figures he's portrayed, the other being Nikita Khrushchev in that shite Stalingrad film Enemy at the Gates.


----------



## Lorelei (Feb 1, 2011)

Prozac Nation


----------



## Ranbay (Feb 1, 2011)

Mr nice.... was ok, bit to much to cram in the 2 hours of the film.


----------



## belboid (Feb 2, 2011)

The Kids Are All Right.

Absoluitely cracking, much better than I was expecting (and I thought it would be _good_), a sharp n witty script, top notch performances, and not something we've seen a thousand times before.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 2, 2011)

Up which is far more moving than it has any right to be. At the start when he has knocked an employee over the head, a Suit, _the_ Suit just wordlessly lays his hand on the mans fence. And I got unreasonably angry. Carries a lamp in daylight, really does.

The dogs are an inspired touch


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 3, 2011)

I watched a movie called Un Prophete; muslim prisoners in French prison, and the outcomes.

Tapped: a documentary about bottled water that makes you realize what a bad idea it is.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Tommy Lee Jones. I think this movie would be described as 'offbeat'.

Mojave Phone Booth. Good film. None of these are bad, actually.


----------



## kalidarkone (Feb 3, 2011)

I watched a film on film 4 last night called 'Far North' with Michelle Yeoh and Sean Bean-set in Norway, is the story of 2 nomadic women that live a very isolated life and what happens when they take in a hurt soldier and how it changes the dynamic of the two womens relationship.

Cinematically stunning,and hardly any dialougue. I thought it was very good and disturbing.


----------



## Lakina (Feb 3, 2011)

Coup de Torchon.  Its been on the shelf for ages, finally got round to watching it.  I've read Pop 1280 already.  Good movie - pretty funny.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 3, 2011)

kalidarkone said:


> I watched a film on film 4 last night called 'Far North' with Michelle Yeoh and Sean Bean-set in Norway, is the story of 2 nomadic women that live a very isolated life and what happens when they take in a hurt soldier and how it changes the dynamic of the two womens relationship.
> 
> Cinematically stunning,and hardly any dialougue. I thought it was very good and disturbing.



Without spoiling it; it really veered into some surprising places. Yes, quite a memorable film! Possibly not a date movie, mind.


----------



## foamy (Feb 4, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Up which is far more moving than it has any right to be. At the start when he has knocked an employee over the head, a Suit, _the_ Suit just wordlessly lays his hand on the mans fence. And I got unreasonably angry. Carries a lamp in daylight, really does.
> 
> The dogs are an inspired touch


It is an amazing film.
Last night: did you hear about the Morgans- better than expected and about all my brain could handle.
Tonight: the imagination of doctor parnassus- the jury is still out (the film is still on)


----------



## maya (Feb 5, 2011)

*Diva*- a French thriller from 1981, very unrealistic and a bit bizarre. A young postman is obsessed with a reclusive opera singer who has sworn never to make any records or allow her voice to be caught on tape. He secretly tapes one of her performances, and steals a garment from her but feels so guilty about this he turns up at her flat to return it (not mentioning the tape), and then befriends her.

Then things get _really_ weird. Corrupt policemen, a league of Taiwanese record moguls trying to get hold of the tape. Our protagonist seeks refuge at his bohemian friends bachelor pad: a HUGE hangar-style studio flat with black-painted floors and walls where his pretty girlfriend rollerskates around a victorian bathtub on the floorhmm, while the friend slices onions in a diving mask and talks about the zen-like satori of making the perfect baguette spread... It gets weirder.

Very early 80's colour palette: pastel vs. neon, dark rainy streets and villains lurking in the night, etc... 
And then it develops into some sort of standard action plot at the end...

I don't know if I liked this film. But I felt compelled to watch it to the end, which means it must have made some sort of impact.
However, we started watching it at circa 2 AM last night, so my judgement could've been a bit off.

BUT. The ending was beautiful. I really liked that. The singer and our hero stand in an empty theatre, listening to the tape he made. Hearing her voice on tape for the first time scares her. He holds her, comforts her, and they dance a slow dance as the camera zooms out, they become smaller and smaller and all we can see is the theatre. The end


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Feb 5, 2011)

been watching season 6 of futurama finished it last night. really liked it, there were some funny episodes, way better than those movies they made.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 5, 2011)

In the shadow of the moon ...young uns been doing space and stuff at school. It's a great film.


----------



## la ressistance (Feb 5, 2011)

rec 2 .

a bit disjointed, but a great film none the less.


----------



## feyr (Feb 5, 2011)

case 39. normally anything with renee Zellweger in makes me want to shout at the tv but this was actuallly quite good. not as chilling or disturbing as the reviews i read suggested, but pretty acceptable sat night viewing


----------



## andy2002 (Feb 5, 2011)

*Youth In Revolt*: Likeable comedy about teenage rebellion, and the intensity and madness of youthful desire. Michael Cera does that thing Michael Cera always does but at least backs it up this time with a second role as Francois Dillinger, his dweeby character's amusingly badass alter ego.


----------



## chazegee (Feb 6, 2011)

4 hours of Bollywood shocker on the bus, talk about captive audience.


----------



## starfish (Feb 6, 2011)

The Wanderers. Hadnt watched it for years & bizarrely it was the first time ms starfish had seen it. Excellent film with a brilliant soundtrack.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 6, 2011)

Lemmy...A great insight into a living legend. Amazing.

He really is *that* cool

Low points being the Metallica bits, but at least Bono wasn't in it.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 6, 2011)

Dogtooth...not read anything beforehand...difficult to watch although it went quickly, comical in parts, not what I'd usually choose to watch on Sunday afternoon but worth watching nevertheless.


----------



## stethoscope (Feb 6, 2011)

Maya: I've seen that in the DVD racks a few times and almost bought it - if only because I was somewhat intrigued by the storyline! Perhaps I'll give it a whirl.

Last night I watched La Mala Educacion for the umpteenth time


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 7, 2011)

Confessions - fantastic new film from Tetsuya Nakashima. Not going to say much more beyond the blurb on the IMDB link gives a totally wrong impression.


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 7, 2011)

Inception last week, which I quite liked, then this weekend: The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - it sounded so good on the cover/case, but wasn't all that; and Vicky Cristina Barcelona which I liked


----------



## marty21 (Feb 7, 2011)

Father of my Children - French film - a bit depressing tbf - (Mrs21's choice of film) about suicide and depression


----------



## Yetman (Feb 7, 2011)

Buried - Excellent I thought, ingenious premise and carried out well, 8/10
Rocknrolla - Not Ritchies best, but still good. Loved the russian hitmen  7/10


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 7, 2011)

Inception, this time without an irritating friend yammering in my ear the whole fucking time.

Entertaining enough. I don't really care about the "mystery" ending, though, tbh.


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 7, 2011)

Yeh, was a bit rubbish


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 7, 2011)

Hard Target - JCVD and some geezer from Coccoon gets all Cajun on Frank Black's rich hunters club


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 7, 2011)

Biddly said:


> Yeh, was a bit rubbish


 
Bit obvious, really, wasn't it?


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 7, 2011)

fella reckoned maybe for a sneaky sequel.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 7, 2011)

jer said:


> Hard Target - JCVD and some geezer from Coccoon gets all Cajun on Frank Black's rich hunters club


 
I quite like that one , it's nearly up there with Timecop imo


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 7, 2011)

marty21 said:


> I quite like that one , it's nearly up there with Timecop imo


 
Have yet to see that gem. What is it with Woo films and slo-mo doves? Best bit was when JCVD punches the rattle snake


----------



## marty21 (Feb 7, 2011)

jer said:


> Have yet to see that gem. What is it with Woo films and slo-mo doves? Best bit was when JCVD punches the rattle snake




a time travelling cop ? what's not to like ?


----------



## maya (Feb 7, 2011)

stephj said:


> Maya: I've seen that in the DVD racks a few times and almost bought it - if only because I was somewhat intrigued by the storyline! Perhaps I'll give it a whirl.


Ah, I'd hate to make you spend money on something that isn't worth it- 
It must've been my midnight haziness- 
not sure it was all that, just a standard "exciting" psychological thriller which comes across as all quaint and corny because of the slow pace and near expressionless (but pretty)  french actors, plus the time period of course (the French must've entered the slick 80's phase very early- watching it I was sure it was from 1988, but the end credits clearly stated 1981, so cheesy pastels and burgeois fashion had already crystallised) Fun fact: that odd-looking bloke from Jeunet & Caro's City Of Lost Children/Delicatessen makes an appearance here as badass criminal asassin, dark sunglasses and all chasing after our hero in a video game arcade


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 7, 2011)

marty21 said:


> a time travelling cop ? what's not to like ?



Ron Silver is a pretty good baddie, too.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 7, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Ron Silver is a pretty good baddie, too.


 
He is very good - I liked him as an actor, I think he's dead now sadly.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 7, 2011)

The Last Remake of Beau Geste.....A few laughs, like a cross between a carry on film and Mel Brooks. 

Only recently came out on Dvd and put to bed a bit of a childhood issue for me, first chance I've had to see it since my Dad took my brother to see it at the pictures. I didn't go because I hated him for going to work in Saudi and leaving us. I think I may have found it funnier as a 10 year old tbh


----------



## Voley (Feb 7, 2011)

'Shine A Light', Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones film. Alternately embarrassing (Mick), hilarious (Keith) and sometimes genuinely great (Ronnie's slide guitar on 'You Got The Silver', 'Brown Sugar') etc. I hope they tour once more before the inevitable happens. I've always had a great time whenever I've seen them.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 8, 2011)

marty21 said:


> He is very good - I liked him as an actor, I think he's dead now sadly.






His sleazy, corrupt character isn't too cheesy, and he dies in quite an icky way in the film too.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 8, 2011)

Unstoppable - a friend of my mrs stressed at us to watch it because it'll have you on the edges of your seats the whole time!!!

Hmm. Most of it was about a train moving at 10mph. Crap.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 8, 2011)

Hawaii 5 O; new series. Very attractive scenery, ex Battlestar Galactica hotties and improbable cop fights and slaps. Marvellous.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Feb 8, 2011)

started watching futurama from the start, almost on season 2.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 8, 2011)

Il Divo, Italian movie the incredibly corrupt ex (7 times!) Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. Very stylish piece of film making.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 8, 2011)

maya said:


> *Diva*- a French thriller from 1981, very unrealistic and a bit bizarre. A young postman is obsessed with a reclusive opera singer who has sworn never to make any records or allow her voice to be caught on tape. He secretly tapes one of her performances, and steals a garment from her but feels so guilty about this he turns up at her flat to return it (not mentioning the tape), and then befriends her.
> 
> Then things get _really_ weird. Corrupt policemen, a league of Taiwanese record moguls trying to get hold of the tape. Our protagonist seeks refuge at his bohemian friends bachelor pad: a HUGE hangar-style studio flat with black-painted floors and walls where his pretty girlfriend rollerskates around a victorian bathtub on the floorhmm, while the friend slices onions in a diving mask and talks about the zen-like satori of making the perfect baguette spread... It gets weirder.
> 
> ...


 
I think I bizarrely have two copies of this on DVD. Never watched it though and now I don't have to.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 8, 2011)

Belushi said:


> Il Divo, Italian movie the incredibly corrupt ex (& times) Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. Very stylish piece of film making.


 
Do yourself a favour and watch the rest of Sorrentino's stuff - one of the best out there right now. Il Divo is brilliant.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 8, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I think I bizarrely have two copies of this on DVD. Never watched it though and now I don't have to.


 
I missed the ending of it but now I don't have to worry anymore. I prefer the follow up; Betty Blue. Lost count of how many times I've swooned over that film.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 8, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Do yourself a favour and watch the rest of Sorrentino's stuff - one of the best out there right now. Il Divo is brilliant.


 
First film of his I've seen - I'll look up the others. I was blown away by this last night.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 8, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I think I bizarrely have two copies of this on DVD. Never watched it though and now I don't have to.


 
Can I have one of your copies then?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 8, 2011)

jer said:


> I missed the ending of it but now I don't have to worry anymore. I prefer the follow up; Betty Blue. Lost count of how many times I've swooned over that film.


 
Ah I have never seen that.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 8, 2011)

Belushi said:


> Can I have one of your copies then?


 
I'll see if I can dig them out (I have thousands from when I was a reviewer, I think this film was released twice though different labels during this period). If I find two you can have one.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 8, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Ah I have never seen that.


 
Beautiful colours, beautiful Beatrice Dalle, sublime Gabriel Yared soundtrack and a descent into madness; highly recommended.


----------



## Phenol (Feb 8, 2011)

Oooh it's good isn't it!


Edited: Il Divo I meant!


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 8, 2011)

I watched Shank.

Well. What can one say about the soaring ambition of this director? Not content with picking up grime themes as unintentionally parodied in the made-with-a-straight-face Kidulthood he has decided to set it in some post apocalyptic london shithole circa 2015. The search for food and the trade of food takes the place of a drug trade. The flashy jum-cut here slo-mo there style and show of guy ritchies films. A typical 'murdered brother to be avenged' plot. 

Absolutely fucking awful. The best bits were entirely random interludes into cartoon or computer music videos. I didn't think the genre of 'overwrought faux-grit yoot dem ganstar' films was old enough to have spawned an embarrasing attempted sci fi/musical bloater yet. Apparently I was wrong.


----------



## belboid (Feb 8, 2011)

jer said:


> I missed the ending of it but now I don't have to worry anymore. I prefer the follow up; Betty Blue. Lost count of how many times I've swooned over that film.


 
tis indeed so good.

Slightly embarassing whenever I see it tho, as I always recall the fact that after I raved about it to my then girlfriend years ago, she noticed it was on this exicting new thing called 'Sky' - so hse got her grandparents to tape it for her.  being intrigued as to what there beloved grandchild wanted to see, they started watching.  But didn't get beyond the first five minutes, unsuprisingly.

This weekend I indluged myself in:

Toy Story 3 - really quite brilliant, and almost touching.

Paranormal Activity - mrs b has wanted to see this for ages, so we watched it.  Thankfully my expectations had already been massively lowered, so I didn't think it was too bad.  A few decent moments that made us jump, but a fucking right copout of an ending.  The bastards.

Gilda - still _so_ fucking good.  Just magnificent.  And seemingly starring Julian Assange as a bit of a nazi.  Tho at least he didn't rape anyone.

Oh, and (some of) Vive La Diva.  Mostly shite, but with a pretty decent version of the ballet from The Red Shoes.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 9, 2011)

F


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 9, 2011)

"Iron Maiden: Flight 666" - it rocked!


----------



## Belushi (Feb 10, 2011)

'A Prophet' French prison flick, really rather good.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 10, 2011)

Rabbit Hole...Nicole Kidman, Araon Eckhart...couple coping with death of child in car accident. It's watchable and I do like a 90 minute film. I've read Kidman's performance is the one to win her an oscar but it seemed quite ordinary to me. 

If anyone likes a good cry it comes highly recommended, my Mrs never cries at films and was blubbing her yoks out.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 10, 2011)

The Thing- reminds me of why I still rate carpenter.

'I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!'


----------



## marty21 (Feb 10, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> The Thing- reminds me of why I still rate carpenter.
> 
> 'I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!'


 
that is a great film - Russell and Carpenter is a great combo imo


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 10, 2011)

There's a remake of Escape on its way.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 10, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> The Thing- reminds me of why I still rate carpenter.
> 
> 'I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!'


 
Fantastic film - we watched it about 3 weeks ago and I had forgotten just how good it is, especially the ensemble cast and the effects, though nearly 30 years old now, are still pretty cool and effective.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 10, 2011)

Not 'from LA' one hopes.

Carpenter isn't perfect imo- assault on precinct 13 pissed me right off.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 10, 2011)

The first one I think.  I like Assault.  

I've got a soft spot for Escape from New York, and get the piss taken out of me for it, but I don't care.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 10, 2011)

Episodes - haven't made my mind up about it yet but it's better than Mangan's previous 2 vehicles; Dirk Gently and that one with the Irish girl...


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2011)

15 Storeys High (series2)


----------



## marty21 (Feb 10, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> The first one I think.  I like Assault.
> 
> I've got a soft spot for Escape from New York, and get the piss taken out of me for it, but I don't care.


 
I love Escape from New York1 and Assault on Precinct 13.


----------



## belboid (Feb 10, 2011)

Reefer Madness - The Musical, again.  Still very funny, and reaised this time just how damn great a dancer Neve Campbell actually is.

And the first episode of Boardwalk Empire.  Which was also pretty darn good


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 10, 2011)

assault is the one where the enemy is a horde of voiceless hispanic and black people, right?


----------



## belboid (Feb 10, 2011)

it's just an update of Rio Bravo.  Altho it is a very very good update


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 10, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> The Thing- reminds me of why I still rate carpenter.
> 
> 'I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!'


 
 I used to love it but watched it the other day and switched off before the end. 
Maybe it's because I knew it too well. Anyway I have the live and P13 on DVD and I have never seen them so I look forward to those one day. EFNY could probably do with a watch too.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 10, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> assault is the one where the enemy is a horde of voiceless hispanic and black people, right?


  yep - assualting a police station which is about to close - remade with Ethan Hawke


----------



## rollinder (Feb 10, 2011)

Murder Most Horrid - The Case Of The Missing
first episode on seesaw
sexist policemen, a murder that went in reverse (ravelled instead of unravelling), and Dawn completely failing to notice a village full of Masons (w/ Timothy Spall & Ian Patterson and co-written by Ian Hislop)

followed by the first episode of Rastamouse on iplayer


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 10, 2011)

marty21 said:


> yep - assualting a police station which is about to close - remade with Ethan Hawke



Rio Bravo but with street gangs, and one of the defenders is a convicted murderer.  The lead good guy is a black cop.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 10, 2011)

marty21 said:


> I love Escape from New York1 and Assault on Precinct 13.



Is it an uncredited Jamie Lee Curtis, who does the narration at the beginning?


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 11, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Rio Bravo but with street gangs, and one of the defenders is a convicted murderer.  *The lead good guy is a black cop.*


 
excuse me while I don't find that an excuse for representing street gangs as an untameable force for evil.


----------



## mentalchik (Feb 11, 2011)

Black Swan....................still can't decide whether i liked it or not.................


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 11, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> excuse me while I don't find that an excuse for representing street gangs as an untameable force for evil.



Well, look into it what you want.  You're coming across a bit wanky to be honest .  And it wasn't an excuse to what I don't believe has a point.  Also considering that the punk who murders the young girl at the ice cream van at the beginning, is the skinny, gaunt gimp who is part of the Duke's entourage in Escape from New York.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 11, 2011)

do you recall that the street hordes make no noise even when being hosed down with flames? Just like the Orcs get no voice in LOTR


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 11, 2011)

That's the point.  Not some conscious or unconscious racism.  It's a long, hot summer's night.  A disparate bunch of people (including a cop and con) have to learn how to trust each other to survive in the face of a siege from an enemy that they're not always sure are coming from, or how many of them there are.  Suspense, uncertainty, an entertaining 90 minutes.  It's got Carpenter's sparse dialogue, an ambiguous anti-hero theme and one of his most memorable scores.  What's not to like?


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 11, 2011)

like it when the xeno is a genuine xeno threat and not a very crude bunch of _them coloured_


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 11, 2011)

Or Orcs.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 11, 2011)

Human Planet - no violence, apart from the wilful kidnap and co-ercion of a young eagle.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 11, 2011)

Animal Kingdom...Aussie film about a kid who goes to live with his armed robber relatives after his Mum dies. It's a good film overall, kid who plays the lead turned out a good performance I thought.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Feb 12, 2011)

la soufriere by werner herzog well good


----------



## DJ Pat (Feb 12, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Fantastic film - we watched it about 3 weeks ago and I had forgotten just how good it is, especially the ensemble cast and the effects, though nearly 30 years old now, are still pretty cool and effective.



I was flabbergasted when I found out this film was made 30 years ago..the effects etc....A remake would be unwelcome and pointless, much like An American Werewolf in London, which is also rumoured to be being remade with (God forbid) CGI.

Last night I watched Spike Lee's film 'She Hate Me'...pretty good.


----------



## andy2002 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Alice In Wonderland:* The last Tim Burton film I really enjoyed was Corpse Bride so I wasn't expecting much from this. I ended up being pleasantly surprised - great cast (especially Helena Bonham Carter), fantastic visuals and a few decent laughs.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 13, 2011)

DJ Pat said:


> I was flabbergasted when I found out this film was made 30 years ago..the effects etc....A remake would be unwelcome and pointless, much like An American Werewolf in London, which is also rumoured to be being remade with (God forbid) CGI.


 
I re-watched it prompted by the thread. The effects aren't much different to all the other latex laden horror films of the 80's, reanimator being the one that springs to mind, although it is a good film.

I also watched The Fighter. Christian Bale plays a good crackhead and the rest of Micky's family come across as a pretty nasty bunch. A cracking real life story.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 13, 2011)

True Grit

Super.


----------



## DJ Pat (Feb 13, 2011)

Dangerous Parking. 

Very highly recommended British film.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Feb 13, 2011)

stupid dogbot said:


> True Grit
> 
> Super.


 
did you download it?


----------



## Voley (Feb 13, 2011)

Kick-Ass. A good laugh.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 13, 2011)

*Montenegro*  A swedish film from the 80s!  Really funny anawl,,,, i mean were der ya get ta see a toy remote control dildo tank ana forklift truck in the same scene. Eh!  Genius////


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 13, 2011)

Inception...I lost it a few times but it all came together in the end. Rather enjoyed it.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 13, 2011)

Edge of Darkness - the Mel Gibson re-make, quite enjoyed it, well-done conspiracy nonsense - Mel on the rampage (which he does quite well )


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 14, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> did you download it?


 
No, but my mate has a copy which I shall peruse again shortly.


----------



## belboid (Feb 14, 2011)

Iron Man 2.  Which had moments of wit and nice to look at ness.  Not all of which involved Scarlett Johansson.

First half of True Blood, series 3.  Which was all jolly good.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 14, 2011)

Half of "Kamikaze Girls" - really enjoyed what I saw but had to go to bed as was tired and ill. Mr. QofG's assures me that it continued in the same vein and he will be happy to watch it again so I can see the end!


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 15, 2011)

Mary and Max - I cried


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 15, 2011)

Blue valetine...Mrs liked it


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 15, 2011)

Martin Fowler of eastenders fame investigating cannabis. A BBC3 docu. Most offensive is the whole 'I fort cannarbis was armless, just like my mates did. But look at the viet. slaves working in UK hothouse properties to supply you'. Don't you fucking dare put the evils of prohibition on me, Martin Fowler. Don't you or BBC3 dare.


----------



## andy2002 (Feb 15, 2011)

belboid said:


> First half of True Blood, series 3.  Which was all jolly good.



I've been a bit disappointed in the first few episodes, mostly because all of the new characters are so dull, especially that vampire king git, the tedious werewolves and Sam's horrible fucking family.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 15, 2011)

Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) v. good German film about a series of increasingly sinister events in a small Lutheran village on the eve of WW1.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 16, 2011)

Skeletons...A few have written about this one in the thread, I'll add myself to the list of people who've enjoyed this great little film.

It really is something quite different, nice story, funny and heartwarming, no recognisable faces but good performances, loved it.


----------



## DJ Pat (Feb 16, 2011)

Old 70s Jackie Chan classic, 'Spiritual Kung Fu', where the Wu Tang Clan got their name from!


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 16, 2011)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams - really enjoyed it.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 17, 2011)

I Saw the Devil - Korean Cross between Seven and the Vengeance trilogy. Been picking up really good reviews around the festivals and so on. Found it pretty disappointing and falling far short of the above mentioned though.


----------



## belboid (Feb 18, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I've been a bit disappointed in the first few episodes, mostly because all of the new characters are so dull, especially that vampire king git, the tedious werewolves and Sam's horrible fucking family.


 
I quite like the King.  You're quite right about the werewolves tho, and Sams family story seems eminently predicatable.  His homoerotic dream about Bill was very funny tho.


----------



## dilute micro (Feb 18, 2011)

A Bridge Too Far


----------



## Belushi (Feb 19, 2011)

The Spirit of the Beehive.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 19, 2011)

Megamind...Nothing special same as most of the CGI stuff, it's certainly no Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.


----------



## andy2002 (Feb 19, 2011)

*Inception:* I'm no fan of Christopher Nolan but this was better than I expected. It's nice to see a mainstream Hollywood film have a bit of narrative ambition and some actual ideas for once. That said, there was too much exposition (at times you felt the cast were just explaining great big gobs of plot to each other) and Nolan's stuff is still a bit too humourless and cold to really engage me.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 20, 2011)

Clash of the Titans

New one. Load of utter wank.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 20, 2011)

The Ghost Writer - a ripping yarn.


got the Clash of the Titans to watch - the new one


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 20, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> *Inception:* I'm no fan of Christopher Nolan but this was better than I expected. It's nice to see a mainstream Hollywood film have a bit of narrative ambition and some actual ideas for once. That said, there was too much exposition (at times you felt the cast were just explaining great big gobs of plot to each other) and Nolan's stuff is still a bit too humourless and cold to really engage me.


 
Watched that myself lastnight, Will defineately need to watch it again


----------



## starfish (Feb 20, 2011)

Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Thought it was a really good film that was a lot of fun too watch.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 21, 2011)

Elite Squad 2 - blistering follow up to...elite squad. Development of the themes of the first, but this time looking at the intersection between political and police corruption. I somehow doubt those muppets who mistook the first films angry rejection of flabby context-free social liberalism for an endorsement of fascism will be making the same stupid mistake this time. Highly recommended.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 21, 2011)

"30 Days of Night" - alright for a Sunday evening, some good vampirage but Josh Hartnett didn't convince me he was a Sherriff as he looked about 15. Though he also does look a little like a young Tommy Lee Jones as well so swings and roundabouts!


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 21, 2011)

I liked that.  The bird's eye view was pretty good, with the vampires running about.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 21, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> I liked that.  The bird's eye view was pretty good, with the vampires running about.


 
Yes that was good - I liked the vampires too and I liked the fact that it wasn't explained where they were from or anything like that, they just arrived and destroyed!


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 21, 2011)

Yes!


----------



## Phenol (Feb 21, 2011)

Clash of the Titans (newone) - speechless

Taking Woodstock - excellent fillum.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Feb 21, 2011)

Ip Man I and II - there is something insanely nationalistic with these type of films - some of the themes made wifey cry!! Martial arts movies aren't meant to do that! (good films though. old school themes).

The Expendables - terrible. terrible.

Legend of the Fist - again, a pro-china martial arts flick. But fuckin' cool and recommend.

The Last Airbender - unwatchable unless you're suffering from brain rot.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 21, 2011)

First 4 episodes series one of Grange Hill.

It's great, I'd forgotten Roger Sloman as the games teacher and there's a few recognisable faces from Mike Leigh films too.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Feb 22, 2011)

You Don't Know Jack. An HBO film about the life of US assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian. Brilliant performance from Pacino in the lead role


----------



## Belushi (Feb 22, 2011)

Dogtooth. Dark, funny, weird.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 22, 2011)

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters great stuff! Best doco ive seen fer ages!  Recomended~~#~


----------



## mentalchik (Feb 22, 2011)

The Town - really enjoyed, great film


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 24, 2011)

Wayward Cloud - Taiwanese oddity about porn films, watermelons and song and dance.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2011)

I managed five minutes of Pursuit of Hapyness the other day before I had to leave the room.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 24, 2011)

That's my favourite film of the last 5 years Dotty. What's wrong with you? How can you not adore that filum?


----------



## dilute micro (Feb 24, 2011)




----------



## agricola (Feb 24, 2011)

Catwoman.  Didnt think it was as bad as I had been told.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 25, 2011)

Mammuth - new one from Gustave de Kervern, Benoît Delépine, who did my fav film of 2008 Louise-Michel . This one is a more restrained road-movie through post-employment France (as every one of their films pretty much is), though with the same absurdist  black humour. Depardieu looking even bigger than he was in Bellamy and thankfully giving a quiet performance. Very good, but not as biting as previous, more personal rather than political, though the usual anarchist allusions are scattered throughout.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 25, 2011)

First episode of Boardwalk Empire, impressive start, can't wait to see more.

Interesting to see Buscemi playing this type of character, the final scenes of Nucky sat contemplatively whilst loose ends were being tied up at his behest were very Godfather-esque 

Loved the throwaway introduction of Stephen Graham's Al Capone too


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 25, 2011)

dilute micro said:


>


 
Great film. Reminded me a bit of Grizzly Man, for some reason.


----------



## Phenol (Feb 25, 2011)

Oooh stick with it - it get's better and better - Stephen Grahham's part grow's 


ETA In response to Boardwalk Empire post (fat fingers today!)


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 25, 2011)

Never let me go...not read the book, didn't really know anything about it, almost went to see it at the pictures last week then decided against it when I saw Kiera Knightly was in it. Found a good torrent and decided I'd give it a go. 

Performances aren't brilliant, not sure I'm that keen on the Hobbit fella and still has Knightly in it but it kept me involved all the way through, beautifully shot, great story and kept me involved all the way through. The feel of it reminded me at times of the kind of odd sci fi from the seventies I remember as a kid but I can't think exactly what. 

I'd say it's definitely worth a look.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 26, 2011)

dilute micro said:


>


 
good film

the book goes into much more detail as you'd imagine and is well worth a read

it's one of those books that you can't imagine how they'd film it as it deals with his internal life so much. but the film does a good job


----------



## chazegee (Feb 26, 2011)

Into the Wild was a good book. The only thing I don't get is why he didn't walk along the river looking for a safer crossing point. First thing anyone normal would have done. Anyone normal wouldn't have done it in the first place though...

Barry Lyndon.

A lot more pace than I thought it would have. Very good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 26, 2011)

The Chaser - South Korean thriller; ex cop turned pimp is upset that his girls keep running away, when he encounters one of the johns, the horrible truth dawns. Gripping and unsettling; it's in discussions for an American remake. Bah.


----------



## starfish (Feb 26, 2011)

So far this weekend we have watched Cronos, weird vampiry type effort, Equus, well you should all know about that one & Ghosts of the Civil Dead, bleak & violent Aussie prison drama which id not seen for about 20 years.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2011)

i don't know about Equus - tell us!


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 27, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i don't know about Equus - tell us!


 
They kill horses don't they?

I seem to remember that has something to do with it.....stayed in one night to watch it while my mates were going out, then fell asleep and missed it.


----------



## starfish (Feb 27, 2011)

.


----------



## starfish (Feb 27, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i don't know about Equus - tell us!



Harry from Spooks blinds some horses cause he cant get it up Jenny Agutter, but i think you probably knew that already


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2011)

i've never seen it mate, that's why i was asking!


----------



## starfish (Feb 27, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i've never seen it mate, that's why i was asking!



Ok. Hope ive not ruined it for now though. Its actually a lot deeper than my brief explantion & a very good film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2011)

i shall keep an eye out for it! ta!


----------



## Belushi (Feb 28, 2011)

Waltz with Bashir.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 28, 2011)

Outside the Law - very enjoyable epic-style tale of the development of FLN activities inside France post war from the shanty towns exploited by Renault in Nanterre to Independence,  if you can ignore the narrartivce cliches and glaring historical untruths. Essentially a sequal to the same directors Indigenes/Days of Glory  which covered Algerians in the French Army in WW2, this has caused a lot of controversy in France because it quite straightforwardly compares the FLN and their fighters to the French resistance - most clearly through a series of simple but powerful allusions to Melville's Army of Shadows - this film is nowhere even close to that in class though, it's much closer to Army of Crime Robert Guédiguian's (true) story of commies and immigrant resistance fighters.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 28, 2011)

Handcock on 5. 
Why?
What is annoying is that it probably could have been an interesting film and had some interesting ideas. I just don't understand why if they are going to spend so much on actors and special effects why they don't iron out the script problems. New and huge fundamental plot issues would turn up seconds before they would have effect, certain points would not be discussed (or withheld) simply because the plot/script demanded it. 

Anyway I was expecting shite, just a bit annoyed because surprisingly there was actually something decent that could have come out of it.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 28, 2011)

_The Fighter_  Christian bale was superb as dicky! wahlberg though was pretty lame as mickey ward!  which kinda spoiled it fer me somewhat..  Still a good film though&&&&


----------



## Mapped (Feb 28, 2011)

Thuis weekend I saw 'Enter The Void' in a slightly altered state of mind. It's an absolutely bonkers film, visually stunning and I wish I'd seen it at the cinema.

Also '127 Hours'. Very, very well done by Boyle.


----------



## Zabo (Feb 28, 2011)

I watched Emir Kusturica's _Black Cat, White Cat._ I love his films because they are totally and utterly crazy but often with lots of other messages in the background. If you've never seen any of his films you'd be advised to keep the sound low because they are noisy and brash. The soundtracks are by his own _No Smoking Orchestra._

Most of his films are populated with animals. One includes a suicidal donkey and _Black Cat, White Cat._ has a pig eating away at the bodywork of a Trabant!

In the words of one critic: "It is as though Four Weddings And A Funeral had been reimagined by Fellini with a cast of crazy Balkan rogues and a background chorus of farmyard animals."

Wonderful entertainment: Dany Boon meets Jean Pierre Jeunet meets The Marx Brothers.

10/10


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 1, 2011)

Post Mortem - very similar to the Directors previous one Tony Manero - bot set in the early days of Pinochet's takeover (this one during the actual coup) and both dealing with obsession, narcissism and  alienation leaving the characters unaware of what's going on around them in the real word or becoming complicit themselves, or as mirrors of the motivations of the wider events taking place. Both very good.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 1, 2011)

What was the last rom-com you saw, butchers? Be honest now.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 1, 2011)

No one enjoys rom-coms.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 1, 2011)

Where did I mention enjoyment? 

If it can be classified as such, The Kids Are Allright was actually a pretty damned good one.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 3, 2011)

Just watched Bande à part for about the twentieth time. I have got hold of a few of the more recent Godard films, and I am going to try to watch one or two of them in the next few days.


----------



## rekil (Mar 3, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Post Mortem - very similar to the Directors previous one Tony Manero - bot set in the early days of Pinochet's takeover (this one during the actual coup) and both dealing with obsession, narcissism and  alienation leaving the characters unaware of what's going on around them in the real word or becoming complicit themselves, or as mirrors of the motivations of the wider events taking place. Both very good.


 Have you seen Pinochet's Children? I don't know if it's had a dvd release yet or what.


----------



## andy2002 (Mar 4, 2011)

*Repo Men:* A great sci-fi premise (in the future, companies can reclaim transplanted organs and limbs, as well as houses and cars) and an inspired ending aside, this is little more than a dull and gory action film. Starring Jude fucking Law. I can only assume Forest Whitaker needed the money.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 5, 2011)

Friday Night Dinner - new C4 comedy with Tamsin Grieg and Mark Heap. Caught it by accident and laughed like a drain. Watched ep 1 on i-player this morning. Excellent, silly fun.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 5, 2011)

Ex Drummer - er, bit mental, but good. Takes a while to get going but is typical of european nasty flicks, great premise and some horrible yet effective moments. 7/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 5, 2011)

Jut watched charming Japanese comedy - Fine, Totally Fine. 

Love, loneliness and geeks


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 6, 2011)

The Confrontation/Sparkling Winds - classic old style Jansco. Plot, such as there is concerns a group of communist students who try and take over a religious seminary and turn the pupils by a variety of means in immediate post-WW2 Hungary. Of course, it's really an attack on really existing stalinism (68/69) and all forms of egotistical or bureaucratic authoritarianism. Very interesting but never touches the sheer originality of his other films in this style - The Red and the White in particular - films that no one else has ever made anything like.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Mar 6, 2011)

I watched Hut Tub Time Machine, The Hangover and the first season of Boondocks yesterday whilst very hungover.


----------



## Dr Jon (Mar 6, 2011)

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward

The best Zeitgeist movie yet, IMO.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 6, 2011)

I spent this afternoon watching 8 1/2 by Fellini. It felt like the right time to watch some Italian cinema. I had seen it before.

Tonight I am going to watch Le conseguenze dell'amore by Paulo Sorrentino. I have only seen it once before, when it first came out.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 6, 2011)

copliker said:


> Have you seen Pinochet's Children? I don't know if it's had a dvd release yet or what.



Nope, ta for hint.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 6, 2011)

Clash of the Titans (2010)  great special effects - but not much of a film apart from that
The Girl who played with fire - not bad, but not great.


----------



## starfish (Mar 6, 2011)

The Human Centipede. Was on the SyFy channel so thought why not. Silliness in the extreme.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 7, 2011)

The Cove - doc on the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Most upsetting.


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 7, 2011)

*Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay* The biggest pile of steaming turd of a film! Recommend to me anawl / Watch it its well funny he said. Not as good as the first one mind Blah blah Feck me if theres a prequel to this turdidge shite id rather put razor blades in me eyes than watch a feckin 2nd one<<<<<


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 7, 2011)

the secret of my success - some things never change - the murky world of PR agents and tabloid gossip was as reprehensible as it is now in the era of max clifford. tony curtis is a dude though and i was shocked to see burt lancaster play such a rat.
vertigo - just brilliant. pretty disturbing, esp the scenes where james stewart is getting his girl number 2 to dress exactly like the 'deceased' girl number 1. another creepy instance of seeing an actor famous for heroic/good guy roles playing against type.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 7, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> *Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay* The biggest pile of steaming turd of a film! Recommend to me anawl / Watch it its well funny he said. Not as good as the first one mind Blah blah Feck me if theres a prequel to this turdidge shite id rather put razor blades in me eyes than watch a feckin 2nd one<<<<<


 
Awesome film.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 7, 2011)

starfish said:


> The Human Centipede. Was on the SyFy channel so thought why not. Silliness in the extreme.


 
Mrs21 is fascinated with that film, she hasn't seen it, but heard about it and read loads about it - telling me the plot line - and trting to find out if it was medically possible - 

I told her that if we were captured by the mad doctor - I want to be in the front of the centipede!


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 7, 2011)

Just rented the first season of Northen Exposure -  been ages, hope it lives up to recollection


----------



## Yetman (Mar 7, 2011)

Into the Wild - did remind me of Grizzly Man quite a bit as well, but this touched me more for some reason. Was pretty upsetting toward the end and I can see why a lot of people felt pissed off with the lad for putting everyone who cared for him through so much worry. Great film though, but it did go on for a bit longer than I felt able to give it full attention.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 7, 2011)

I am going to watch The Proposition on film4 later. I have been meaning to watch it again for ages.

There are not enough good Australian films quite like this. In my mind it is a kind of Australian gothic, like a Nick Cave song made into a film (which is essentially what it is). 

I would like to see more of this kind of thing. I have always wanted to read Australian Gothic fiction, but I am not even sure if it exists as a genre as I imagine it. It is pretty ripe for it though, it has all the right ingredients.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 7, 2011)

I mean gothic in the American sense.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2011)

Dillinger4 said:


> I am going to watch The Proposition on film4 later. I have been meaning to watch it again for ages.
> 
> There are not enough good Australian films quite like this. In my mind it is a kind of Australian gothic, like a Nick Cave song made into a film (which is essentially what it is).
> 
> I would like to see more of this kind of thing. I have always wanted to read Australian Gothic fiction, but I am not even sure if it exists as a genre as I imagine it. It is pretty ripe for it though, it has all the right ingredients.


 
watch picnic at hanging rock and the long weekend if you haven't already


----------



## starfish (Mar 8, 2011)

marty21 said:


> Mrs21 is fascinated with that film, she hasn't seen it, but heard about it and read loads about it - telling me the plot line - and trting to find out if it was medically possible -
> 
> I told her that if we were captured by the mad doctor - I want to be in the front of the centipede!


 
Ah but could you handle the guilt if she was the middle part


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 10, 2011)

Tommorow When The War Began - Australian remake of the 80's Wolverines movie, Aussie teens wage guerrila war on invading army.


----------



## lodza (Mar 11, 2011)

SAW the final Chapter


----------



## marty21 (Mar 11, 2011)

starfish said:


> Ah but could you handle the guilt if she was the middle part


 
it's a dilemma that I do struggle with EVERYDAY


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 11, 2011)

starfish said:


> The Human Centipede. Was on the SyFy channel so thought why not. Silliness in the extreme.


 
Addictively absurd. 
Biologically impossible. 
I mean, just cos you replace a mouth with an anus doesn't mean you can eat other people's shit.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 11, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Addictively absurd.
> Biologically impossible.
> I mean, just cos you replace a mouth with an anus doesn't mean you can eat other people's shit.


 
I'm still concerned that a mad scientist might kidnap us and perform his freakish operation on us


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 11, 2011)

marty21 said:


> I'm still concerned that a mad scientist might kidnap us and perform his freakish operation on us


 
Well, someone is STILL doing it.
They're making Human Centipede 2! AKA The Human Shit-train 2.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 11, 2011)

Other films I saw recently:

*127 Hours* - Inspiring. Well thought and executed.
*
Saw - Final Chapter *- Terribly poor.

*Teeth* - Entertaining.

*The Tourist* - Crap. Switched off midway.

*Due Date *- Modern day version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Above average.

*Buried *- Fuckin' saddest film I seen for a while. Liars everywhere. Made angry with sadness.

*The Mechanic *- Cunting crap.

*Black Swan* - Loved - Portman enacted paranoia perfectly.
*
The Disappearnace of Alice Creed 
* - Awesome.


----------



## dlx1 (Mar 11, 2011)

Next Friday. Just rubbish


----------



## Bakunin (Mar 11, 2011)

I've just found a Justin.tv channel playing a non-stop Beavis & Butthead marathon.

My day is now complete.

LET'S ROCK!


----------



## starfish (Mar 12, 2011)

Tron:Legacy. Well that was a fucking let down. Really that was. Ive not been more let down since i saw Phantom Menace. In fact that was worse, why bother. They realy shouldnt have. Realy, they shouldnt. Trons's a ............... Fuck. Hate what you did.


----------



## Bakunin (Mar 12, 2011)

Butthead just kicked Beavis in the nads, then he sprayed him with an entire can of insecticide and then got him to insert his head into an electric bug zapper. Although getting Beavis to stick his nads into said electric bug zapper was a particular highlight.

Huhhuhhuhhuhhuh-huh-huh-huh-hurgh!


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Mar 12, 2011)

The only Beavis and Butthead thing which has amused me, is in the film that came out in the mid-1990s, with Robert Stack's FBI character ordering cavity searches be performed on all and sundry.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2011)

scored by the Chili Peppers when they were still listenable. And the launching point for the Hank Hill characxter (who went on to be in the much funnier King of the Hill)


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Mar 12, 2011)

"Cavity search.  Hard and deep.  Don't stop till you feel the back of his teeth."


----------



## andy2002 (Mar 12, 2011)

*Clive Barker's Book Of Blood: *mediocre haunted house movie with him that used to be in Robin Hood showing his arse off every five minutes and some woman with the pokiest nips I've ever seen.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> scored by the Chili Peppers when they were still listenable. And the launching point for the Hank Hill characxter (who went on to be in the much funnier King of the Hill)


 
King of the Hill is the best of any cartoons, by far.


----------



## Boppity (Mar 12, 2011)

American Psycho.

It messed up my head.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 12, 2011)

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2011)

Belushi said:


> The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.


 
Great film!


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 13, 2011)

The Town....it was alright, not something to think too much about.


----------



## mentalchik (Mar 13, 2011)

Due Date - not bad, some laughs
Skyline - can't put into words how shite this was


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 14, 2011)

*Tron Legacy* -  I fell in love with the graphics and soundtrack!!  Good film and better than the original (let's face it, the original had it's moments but was overall rubbish).

*Stepbrothers* - Real good! One of my favs for stupid comedy.

*Black Dynamite* - This trailer says it all -


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 14, 2011)

La Nana (The Maid)...it was okay, funny in places, weird in others with a nice ending.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 14, 2011)

Watching The Straight Story by David Lynch on Film4.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 15, 2011)

The Invasion - Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig - awful film


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 15, 2011)

marty21 said:


> The Invasion - Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig - awful film


 
Why'd you watch it then?


----------



## marty21 (Mar 15, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Why'd you watch it then?



got it from lovefilm, so felt I had to get my money's worth.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 15, 2011)

marty21 said:


> got it from lovefilm, so felt I had to get my money's worth.


 
Bah, i wanted a discussion about time. You're rubbish. There was talk of one of your poems in my front room yesterday (genuine).  Don't ask me which one.


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 15, 2011)

*Calvaire* Proper demented euro horror!  Feckin loved it.,.,.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 15, 2011)

Spoorloos (The Vanishing) saw it getting on for 20 years ago, well worth rewatching. Much better than the Hollywood remake with Kiefer Sutherland.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 15, 2011)

Airheads

Adam Sandler's finest 100 minutes.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Mar 17, 2011)

Moon - thought it would be a bit shit in a derivative way, but was pleasantly surprised.  



Spoiler: Moon



Felt really sad for the rapidly degenerating clone, when he contacts his 15 yr-old 'daughter.'


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 17, 2011)

True Grit. Was quite good. nice archaic language.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 17, 2011)

Picnic at hanging rock - not what I expected, but pretty good though


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 17, 2011)

*The Man from Nowhere -* was going to start a thread on this Korean masterpiece. Stars that sex symbol Bin Won so Mrs Masahiko forced me to watch it. 
Was surprised how insane, violent, emotional this film was. Recommend.

*The Fighter* - Two fights in the plot. Excellent. Bale, despite his arrogance, is a top actor.


----------



## El Sueno (Mar 17, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> True Grit. Was quite good. nice archaic language.


 
Yeah I liked the language in that, my internal monologue was talking all archaic for a couple of days after. All those do-nots instead of don'ts, I thought they sounded quite sweetly sincere.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 18, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> *The Man from Nowhere -* was going to start a thread on this Korean masterpiece. Stars that sex symbol Bin Won so Mrs Masahiko forced me to watch it.
> Was surprised how insane, violent, emotional this film was. Recommend.



I really liked this, thought it was miles better than I Saw the Devil which is the other Korean one  being bigged up right now.


----------



## 8115 (Mar 18, 2011)

I watched Oscar and Lucinda, it was really really lovely.  A long way away from anything I'd choose for myself (it was a present) but I really enjoyed it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 18, 2011)

I watched V is for Vendetta and cheered on while the hero led the people into destroying the evil empire of Jon Hurt.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 18, 2011)

Rec 2 - jolly good follow up to the original


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 18, 2011)

Le Diner de Cons - excellent French farce, involving snobbery, wine and infidelity


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 18, 2011)

Lemmy Really good rockumentary although he did come across as a bit of a dick at times/....... but dont we all eh!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Mar 19, 2011)

"Inception" - second viewing having seen it at the pics - really enjoyed it, good ideas, good performances


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 19, 2011)

I just started watching 'The Happening'. 

I had heard it was really bad. I thought it would be funny kind of bad. It was a bit. But not enough to make me keep watching. Not even Zooey Deschanel could make me keep watching that pile of toilet.


----------



## El Sueno (Mar 19, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> Lemmy Really good rockumentary although he did come across as a bit of a dick at times/....... but dont we all eh!


 
i watched this around a mate's the other night, having respected Lemmy but also seen him as a bit of a boring rock n' roll cliche I wasn't sure if this would hold my attention but I really enjoyed it. Some great stories from the talking heads, Scott Ian and Henry Rollins especially.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 20, 2011)

The Happening. Boy is that one going on the list.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 20, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micmacs_(film)

Micmacs - excellent film, very funny.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 21, 2011)

Watched Conspiracy again, 2002 HBO/BBC co-production about the Wannasee conference that coordinated the holocaust. Great cast, chilling subject.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 21, 2011)

Bang Rajan. A  film about Siamese villagers in 1760 standing up against evil Burmese aggression.


----------



## Bakunin (Mar 21, 2011)

Belushi said:


> Watched Conspiracy again, 2002 HBO/BBC co-production about the Wannasee conference that coordinated the holocaust. Great cast, chilling subject.


 
IIRC, the most chilling thing about that film for me was the way in which they so calmly and coolly plotted the most heinous genocide and then just broke off for lunch as though it was just an ordinary business meeting. At least I think it was in this film that they did that as I haven't seen it in years. I'll go and see if I can find it and watch it again.


----------



## kpkplp (Mar 21, 2011)

The Pusher Trilogy


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 21, 2011)

Ive give up onfilms now thats psychic tvs back on freeview/. Funniest thing on tv ever! are you struggling there in the darkness! Hey give em a ring or even better email em! > channelle by email> What about me job an love life? Well lets seee! Get yerself movin darlin stop livin in the past! you no what you gotta get out there coz your on the verge of sumfin happin! you gotta make a change in yer life! semptember is yer year its all about COsMIC ordering love "LOVE" I reckon summers gonna be good! maybe you might go abroad or summat! Option 2 brenda marie! I give up! Im gonna start watchin films again~~ Hmmm Six FEEET under}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Edit///// Shes fecked off! wank god fer small mercies-0987767777777777777777777755555


----------



## maya (Mar 22, 2011)

*Get Carter*- The original. 'Eyes like pissholes in the snow...'  Love the music.

(The remake with Sly Stallone is utterly shit, avoid at all costs! BTW a little bird whispered in my ear that Stallone was originally a porn actor, his first film in the 70s was called 'The Italian Stallion', or something like that  )


----------



## Yetman (Mar 22, 2011)

maya said:


> *Get Carter*- The original. 'Eyes like pissholes in the snow...'  Love the music.
> 
> (The remake with Sly Stallone is utterly shit, avoid at all costs! BTW a little bird whispered in my ear that Stallone was originally a porn actor, his first film in the 70s was called 'The Italian Stallion', or something like that  )


 
I saw a picture of him with his schlong out when I was a child. Thought I'd dreamt it


----------



## Bakunin (Mar 22, 2011)

maya said:


> *Get Carter*- The original. 'Eyes like pissholes in the snow...'  Love the music.
> 
> (The remake with Sly Stallone is utterly shit, avoid at all costs! BTW a little bird whispered in my ear that Stallone was originally a porn actor, his first film in the 70s was called 'The Italian Stallion', or something like that  )


 
It was called 'Party at Kitty & Stud's' IIRC.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 23, 2011)

*The Town*

- Pretty good.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 23, 2011)

*Toy Story 3*

Great end to the series, still think number 2 is the best film though.

That giant doll baby freaked me out


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Mar 23, 2011)

i watched a few good films yesterday adaptation and 12 and holding, both were awesome.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 23, 2011)

maya said:


> *Get Carter*- The original. 'Eyes like pissholes in the snow...'  Love the music.



a great film!


----------



## 8115 (Mar 24, 2011)

The Kids are allright.  It passed the time, is probably the nicest thing I can say about it.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 25, 2011)

Zebraman 2 - yet another crap new Miike, i think this is the 5th or 6th in a row i've failed to finish.

Golden Slumber - lighthearted Japanese Hitchcock type man on the run thing, very enjoyable.


----------



## Giles (Mar 25, 2011)

Watched a 1980s BBC drama serial called "The Nightmare Man", which I remember watching when I was a schoolkid. It had dated a bit, what was still very watchable.

Giles..


----------



## 8115 (Mar 25, 2011)

I finally watched Inception.  I really liked it.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 25, 2011)

Monsters - Gorgeous photography, if a little cliched. As was the general story and textbook film production effects. But well done, like an indie co trying to do hollywood and actually getting it spot on. The monsters were beautiful as well 

Family Guy - And Then There Were Fewer - Brilliant adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel. Thank god they've moved away from the Star Wars homage with the specials.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 25, 2011)

Waste Land....excellent. Very moving documentary, really wonderful stuff.


----------



## Mapped (Mar 25, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Waste Land....excellent. Very moving documentary, really wonderful stuff.


 
Saw this at the London Film Festival and it was very moving and inspiring.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Mar 26, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> Saw this at the London Film Festival and it was very moving and inspiring.


 
i thought it was dull and lacked depth


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Mar 26, 2011)

I recently watched Outland with my mum.  A lone Marshal deserted by his deputies in a frontier town, awaits the arrival of hired guns in the pay of a corrupt mining manager and organised crime, for a pump-action shotgun showdown.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 26, 2011)

Bunny and the Bull.

And finally finished season 2 of Terminator - Sarah Connor Chronicles. Argh!


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 27, 2011)

*True Grit* -

Beautiful and thoughtful.
The language was that of pre-60s Hollywood.
Nice.


----------



## Bakunin (Mar 27, 2011)

I'm currently watching 'Gettysburg' with an all star cast, loads of heavyweight battle scenes and an excellent epic war film, IMHO.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 29, 2011)

Baader Mienhoff Complex

Fuck yeah. 

Also quite pleased with the cinematography- it was able to convey period. Slightly annoyed that everyone in it smoked like a bastard cos I have done near half an ounce of Amber Leaf while watching. Has thrown a lot of questions at me.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 29, 2011)

Scott Pilgrim. No story and the fact that Scott was a douche to kinves made it hard to be on his side. Not total shit but I wont be watching it again. 

On the subject of watching stuff again, I didnt really watch scott pilgrim last night, I watched it a few days ago. last night I watched panic au village again for the millionth time. I have it on my phone and watched it in a drunken stupor on the train home laughing like a drain.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 29, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Baader Mienhoff Complex
> 
> Fuck yeah.
> 
> Also quite pleased with the cinematography- it was able to convey period. Slightly annoyed that everyone in it smoked like a bastard cos I have done near half an ounce of Amber Leaf while watching. Has thrown a lot of questions at me.


 
It's awful! Terrible.


----------



## Mapped (Mar 29, 2011)

Into Eternity. A documentary about the Onkalo nuclear waste facility in Finland, the only deep level storage facility being constructed in the world. It doesn't go into the usual anti nuclear arguments, but looks at the philosophical issues around creating a hazardous waste facility that you hope will last 100,000 years and that you hope future generations and civilizations will 'remember to forget'. It strays into sci-fi as it is a letter to the future, but this is a useful device to convey the massive time-scales involved in the project. 

It's riveting and scary stuff.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 30, 2011)

I had a 9 hour plane journey from hell sandwiched between two overstuffed people and with no toilet break, so I watched 5 films in a row.
Black Swan - over-the-top enjoyable nonsense. i'm no expert on ballet, but portman's a bit of a hoofer isn't she? is that what she got the Oscar for? that and gurning?
True Grit - high quality western, though, i had to turn up the headphones and rewind a couple of times to follow the dialogue.
An Education - surprisingly good. excellent performances from everyone. reluctant credits to nick hornby for the script. 
Due Date - perfunctory rehash of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, except with no sympathetic characters.
RED - I was pretty delirious by then so didn't pay it much attention. Lots of old people shooting at each other. I think I gave it the attention it deserved.


----------



## Voley (Mar 30, 2011)

Dogville. Quite liked the way it was set up; the idea of the town with no walls appealed at the beginning but got I bored with the slow plot and fell asleep half way through.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 30, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Zebraman 2 - yet another crap new Miike, i think this is the 5th or 6th in a row i've failed to finish..


 
Yeah, saw the trailer a while back and it didnt look great. First film is good though. 
I was just talking about Miike with a friend yesterday and suddently realised he hast done anything good for years now. I guess he really was just a director for hire like he said. In the old days he got low budget fast turn around jobs and made something of them, now he has bags of time a money and makes very run of the mill family crap.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Mar 30, 2011)

NVP said:


> Dogville. Quite liked the way it was set up; the idea of the town with no walls appealed at the beginning but got I bored with the slow plot and fell asleep half way through.


 
i turned that one off, its basically a play not a film.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 30, 2011)

Coffee and Cigarettes yesterday afternoon which my mate recommended and hyped a bit so it's been waiting to be watched for a while. Probably not as great as she said but I enjoyed it all the same, Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, Steve oogan and Alfred Molina and GZA, RZA and Bill Murray were probably my favourites.

Jackass 3 last night. I read the 3D stuff was really good on the big screen and spent the film looking for the obvious 3D bits and thinking, "yeah that would be good". The stunts and larks aren't as good as they once were, still plenty of peurile laughter though. Steve O looks like shit in some parts of the film, and not just the bits where he gets covered in it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Mar 30, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> I really liked this, thought it was miles better than I Saw the Devil which is the other Korean one  being bigged up right now.


 
*I Saw The Devil * - 

Overrated.
I tried to like the Bourne type lead character but he just pissed me off (2D as hell).
Ended up sympathising with that serial killer/ rapist - and that's just plain wrong. WTF.

Not as good as The Chaser or Memories of Murder.

And yep, The Man From Nowhere is way better.


----------



## andy2002 (Mar 30, 2011)

*Wake Wood:* Low-budget horror from the new Hammer company. The 'demonic child' idea has surely been run into the ground but this puts a clever, chilling spin on it. Atmosphere-wise it reminded me of The Wicker Man (creepy villagers carrying out terrible, secret rituals), while its main theme (the horror and madness of grief) was straight out of Antichrist. The ending is gloriously nasty and beautifully set-up.

That said, it has more than its fair share of clunky contrivances and outright plot holes, some of which had me shaking my head in disbelief.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 31, 2011)

The Hole....A kids horror film (from the fella who made Gremlins I think). Uses a lot of familiar plot ideas as 'real' horror films and is actually pretty scary in places for a 12. It's also another film that was 3D in the pictures so the little un spent a lot of the film spotting the bits meant to be in 3D.


----------



## 8115 (Apr 1, 2011)

Mde in Dagenham the other day.   Bit boring but I did cry at the end which is very unusual for me.  Last night I watched an australian film called Bitter and Twisted which was the best thing I have seen in a very long time, amazing script, amazing acting.  Reminded me a little bit of Magnolia, similar look to it.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 1, 2011)

watched The Social Network, quite enjoyed it, the FB guy doesn't come across as very likeable, can't imagine he was too pleased about his portrayal.


----------



## ringo (Apr 1, 2011)

Perfume -  Story Of A Murder. Great visual, visceral film, wish they'd written a more original story to go with the nicely thought out theme rather than a standard serial killer hunt dropped into 18th Century France though.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 1, 2011)

ringo said:


> Perfume -  Story Of A Murder. Great visual, visceral film, wish they'd written a more original story to go with the nicely thought out theme rather than a standard serial killer hunt dropped into 18th Century France though.


 I saw that at the cinema when it came out - hated it tbh - it did look beautiful, but I came out pissed off at wasting money to see it - can't remember what I hated about it now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 1, 2011)

The title of this thread should be called just 'what film did you see?' as i've just seen Source Code at the cinema. I should have gone to see Cave Of Forgotten Dreams instead as this was a load of guff, though never a dull moment.


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 2, 2011)

Neds

Powerful stuff, but I wasn't expecting that ending.


----------



## smmudge (Apr 2, 2011)

Just watched 'When the wind blows'. Kind of wish I hadn't. Very disturbing. But glad I wasn't around in the cold war...


----------



## Spion (Apr 3, 2011)

La Reine Margot - supoerb historical drama, best massacre ever


----------



## blairsh (Apr 3, 2011)

Just watching Brewsters Millions, quality mid sunday afternoon film of 80s greatness.

Gonna follow this up with as much as series four of X-men i can be arsed with as i am tired in the face.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 3, 2011)

*The Next 3 Days *- 

Real Hollywood stupidity.
Entertaining at least...


----------



## invisibleplanet (Apr 3, 2011)

Last night, I watched Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie - possibly a surreal forerunner of the 'reality' show 'Come Dine With Me' (not really!), which I had no choice but to watch (with a mixture of repulsion and shock) whilst visiting a friend recently


----------



## sleaterkinney (Apr 3, 2011)

Machete, really good action flick.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 4, 2011)

*Battle: Los Angeles* Or keep the feckin camera still willya! would be a better title! Or even shakey cam! Jesus if you need an excuse to give up watchin American films this is it.........One big pile of turd,,, Avoid!  Fink i will watch sum estonian film about mobile phones to balance me head out. Wiv subtitles of course/


----------



## TruXta (Apr 4, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> *Battle: Los Angeles* Or keep the feckin camera still willya! would be a better title! Or even shakey cam! Jesus if you need an excuse to give up watchin American films this is it.........One big pile of turd,,, Avoid!  Fink i will watch sum estonian film about mobile phones to balance me head out. Wiv subtitles of course/


 
Fuck, I came here to moan about this! Saw it last night and expected it to be at least a decent action flick. What a piece of shit. Even Aaron Eckhardt was crap. God he must've cringed coming out of with some of those lines he got given.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 4, 2011)

hah hah, you both made it to the end then. Most priapically pro military piece of 'sci fi' for a long fucking time. Makes Independence Day look like a good film.

I finished 'Ultramarines' which was also laughably bad. There was one good headshot and the CGI was fucking dire.


----------



## TruXta (Apr 4, 2011)

Frankly I only just made it. Wish I hadn't wasted nearly two hours on that horseshite. That's what I get for not being bothered with "proper" films on a braindead Sunday evening I suppose. Should've gone with Megamind instead!


----------



## Jackobi (Apr 4, 2011)

The Chaser - South Korean thriller, I found the slow foot chases through the alleys highly entertaining, proving that a chase doesn't need to be a high-octane fueled, gun-toting experience to be exciting.

Neds - An intelligent lad gets fucked up by comprehensive school, family life and peer pressure. It reminded me a lot of some Mike Leigh and Shane Meadows films, gritty, depressing and provoking.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 4, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Frankly I only just made it. Wish I hadn't wasted nearly two hours on that horseshite. That's what I get for not being bothered with "proper" films on a braindead Sunday evening I suppose. Should've gone with Megamind instead!


 
I managed 20 minutes before realising that the imperial stormtroopers were going to win and the heroic oppressed aliens would be defeated. Had no stomach for more.


----------



## TruXta (Apr 4, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> I managed 20 minutes before realising that the imperial stormtroopers were going to win and the heroic oppressed aliens would be defeated. Had no stomach for more.


 
Frankly it made Starship Troopers look like Oscar material. I say this as a fan of ST.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 4, 2011)

Jackobi said:


> Neds - An intelligent lad gets fucked up by comprehensive school, family life and peer pressure. It reminded me a lot of some Mike Leigh and Shane Meadows films, gritty, depressing and provoking.


 
Is NEDS on dvd? or was it a torrent? The only torrent I can find is 20 minutes short.


----------



## andy2002 (Apr 4, 2011)

*Steamboy:* Anime set in Victorian England by Katsuhiro Otomo who did Akira. Packed full of terrific action sequences and some great steampunk ideas. I watched the dubbed version featuring Anna Paquin (Sooky from True Blood) voicing the main character, a 13-year-old boy from Manchester. She's hilariously bad.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 5, 2011)

Just watched Notre Musique by Jean-Luc Godard


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 5, 2011)

*The Social Network* -

Film about a rich bastard kid who fucks over his only true friend.
Thought it was great.


----------



## Jackobi (Apr 5, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Is NEDS on dvd? or was it a torrent? The only torrent I can find is 20 minutes short.



Claims to be a DVD Rip, quality is good and I didn't notice any missing scenes, skips etc.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 5, 2011)

Waltz with Bashir. As animated docs go; it's the most unsettling I've seen


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 5, 2011)

first three episodes of Being Human, latest series. I forgot how funny it was


----------



## Yetman (Apr 5, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> first three episodes of Being Human, latest series. I forgot how funny it was


 
Tried to get into the first one of those a while ago (pilot). Wasnt really into it....worth a revisit? Whats it like? Spaced?


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 5, 2011)

its horror comedy soap. very worth your time


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 5, 2011)

Jackobi said:


> Claims to be a DVD Rip, quality is good and I didn't notice any missing scenes, skips etc.


 
Aye, found that one last night, it's the full thing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 5, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Frankly it made Starship Troopers look like Oscar material. I say this as a fan of ST.


 
starship troopers should have been showered with awards!


----------



## TruXta (Apr 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> starship troopers should have been showered with awards!


 
It was nominated to a SFX Oscar. It didn't win that but it did win some smaller industry awards.


----------



## TruXta (Apr 5, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> its horror comedy soap. very worth your time


 
Better or worse since S1? I saw about half of S1 then couldn't be arsed as I hadn't the time.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 5, 2011)

Finally got round to watching thee 80s hip hop film Krush Groove. The bits with Run DMC were good, especially them performing King Of Rock & It's Like That but the bits with The Fat Boys in were crap, they just come accrossas twats (at least in Dis-Orderlies was a comedy and they were mean't to be prats. Shame that LL & the Beasties only had very short cameos. Oh and Rick Rubin looked cool as fuck all through the film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 5, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Better or worse since S1? I saw about half of S1 then couldn't be arsed as I hadn't the time.


 
I'm on season 3 but season 2 is also a little better than series 1. it started off as a one off but the popularity made them do more and games were well upped for series 2. The vampire copper, herrick is genuinly a good vampire. Not cool, not monsterous. Rather a loathesome creepy thing instead. Some lulz as well.


----------



## starfish (Apr 5, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Waltz with Bashir. As animated docs go; it's the most unsettling I've seen


 
Watched this too. Pretty powerful stuff & very well made.


----------



## andy2002 (Apr 5, 2011)

*Hot Tub Time Machine:* More Hollywood man-child fodder which underneath all the misogyny has a couple of decent laughs. Great 80s soundtrack, too.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 5, 2011)

*The American*

- satre meets self-loathing assassin (typically, on his last job). pretty uninspiring.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 6, 2011)

Robin Hood, the uma thurman one. Epically cheesy death scene at the end. Uma when she first meets robin gets the line 'I've never had anyone make me beg them to stop' lol


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 6, 2011)

*Mindless* Or *Meeletu* 2006 Estonian film. Gotta agree wiv der one review on IMDB Its probably the best film ive seen in yonks and yonks. Cinema doesnt get better dan dis.  Kinda film ya watch and you find yerself thinkin about it fer days afterwards. Feck it im gonna say it again!!!!  Its the best film ive ever seen!!!


----------



## andy2002 (Apr 6, 2011)

*Total Recall:* "Consider that a divorce."


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 6, 2011)

watching series 1 of Dexter. trash, but pretty compelling.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 7, 2011)

*Love and Other Drugs *- 

Boring.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 7, 2011)

*Love and Other Drugs *- 

Boring.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 7, 2011)

Just watched _Film Socialisme_ by Jean-Luc Godard


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2011)

Never Let Me Go - beautiful but bleak film that won't leave my head. fantastic adaptation of the novel with some amazing english seaside locations. had a few itchy contact lens 'moments', esp towards the end. very very good film.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2011)

I just watched Rubicon on Iplayer. My opinion of it veered between really really awful and possibly OK.


----------



## TruXta (Apr 10, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Never Let Me Go - beautiful but bleak film that won't leave my head. fantastic adaptation of the novel with some amazing english seaside locations. had a few itchy contact lens 'moments', esp towards the end. very very good film.


 
That left me largely cold tbh. Beautiful but empty.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 10, 2011)

you have a heart of stone!


----------



## TruXta (Apr 10, 2011)

I dunno, it's a decent story and all that, but somehow I couldn't connect. FWIW I've bawled to many a Disney/Pixar film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 10, 2011)

did you read the book? maybe it helps cos you know how it's gonna pan out


----------



## Badgers (Apr 10, 2011)

Donnie Brasco


----------



## TruXta (Apr 10, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> did you read the book? maybe it helps cos you know how it's gonna pan out


 
Nope


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Apr 10, 2011)

Currently watching "The Expendables"....shit film is shit.


----------



## mentalchik (Apr 10, 2011)

Unstoppable - not bad, not taxing easy iykwim
Monsters - we weren't sure whether it was ok or shite ???


----------



## Bajie (Apr 11, 2011)

The first season of 'Oz', great series but it was one of those programes where I had to keep hold of the remote control to fast forward through the too gruesome bits, was good when that bloke shit on the Nazi's head and made him eat it though, he deserved that.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 11, 2011)

Picnic at Hanging Rock...I know some see this as a great film but it wasn't all that to me. Looked good, setting etc and managed to hold my attention but wasn't the masterpiece I'd expected, think I was in the mood for a bit more story rather than a lot of unanswered questions.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 11, 2011)

Watched that Bollwood one about the robot, (*Robot*) three sodding hours long. Entertaining as I am not familiar with the bollywood format, though I think it would be a bit draining if all films were like this. Love the jumping into crazy songs at a different location for no reason every so often. 
Pretty dodgy moral philosophy at some points that I found shocking and suddenly drained the fun out of everything that gone before.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 11, 2011)

*iT MIGHT GET loud* Thought id give it a whirl seein as i play meself!  Nope! couldnt warm to any of em if im honest.  Maybe a wee bit fer Jack white!  Just bored me feckless an ended up switchin it off.  Ohh!  maybe the part were Jimmy page is tellin us about what  records  influenced him while constantly  doin the finger coke twitch wiv his nose! Silly auld git.//


----------



## Yetman (Apr 11, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Picnic at Hanging Rock...I know some see this as a great film but it wasn't all that to me. Looked good, setting etc and managed to hold my attention but wasn't the masterpiece I'd expected, think I was in the mood for a bit more story rather than a lot of unanswered questions.


 
I felt the same after watching that


----------



## TruXta (Apr 11, 2011)

Saw the French Connection last night - the missus was not impressed.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 11, 2011)

Gullivers Travels. 
Jack Black by numbers. Watchable (once) enough tat, but any fans of the book (that cant detach themselves) should maybe avoid. The only thing this has to do with Gullivers Travels is that Black is called Gulliver and travels somewhere.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 11, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Gullivers Travels.
> Jack Black by numbers. Watchable (once) enough tat, but any fans of the book (that cant detach themselves) should maybe avoid. The only thing this has to do with Gullivers Travels is that Black is called Gulliver and travels somewhere.


 
I have this DVD at home but had not heard good things. 
Harmless?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 11, 2011)

Badgers said:


> I have this DVD at home but had not heard good things.
> Harmless?


 
It didn't make me angry but I was not expecting much. I kind of like JB so don't mind just watching him do his thing. 
That bloke from the IT crowd (Chris o dowd?) was pretty good but beware there are a few small moments of Corden.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 11, 2011)

You, the Living - Swedish observations on life; kinda like Woody Allen meets Robert Altman
Chanbara Beauty - Spectacularly ripe Japanese B movie based on zombie pc game
The Crimson Petal & The White - Dark Victoriana knocking shops etc


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 11, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Chanbara Beauty - Spectacularly ripe Japanese B movie based on zombie pc game


 
Shit game I'm told, people only play it to oogle the scantly clad ladies. 
I nearly bought the DVD the other day on the strength of the same reasoning. Then thought it would be almost certainly shite.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 11, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Shit game I'm told, people only play it to oogle the scantly clad ladies.
> I nearly bought the DVD the other day on the strength of the same reasoning. Then thought it would be almost certainly shite.


 
Astoundingly shite. I couldn't understand why the ladies (who fought the zombies) seemed to develop super powers along the way & then the missus explained it works like a pc game. I don't play pc games...


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 11, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Currently watching "The Expendables"....shit film is shit.


 
isn't it?

i switched off 15mins in.
terrible.

*Splicer* - above average. very silly plot.

*Cyrus* - great first half. real funny. then it got lost and the 'conflict' between bf and son was kinda weak (as it was the cornerstone of the plot).

*Devil *- ummm, dunno what to make of it. reminded me of the old Outer Limits/ Twilight Zone, moralistic horrors of Hammer. OK but nothing special.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 11, 2011)

Oh watched that tron 2 thing too. Pretty forgettable stuff that I have pretty much already forgotten. Did Tron even make an appearance? I can only remember him being mentioned. I did like the computer generated young 'cloo' bridges though.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Apr 11, 2011)

watched hobo with a shotgun and good arrows both were really good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 11, 2011)

ooh, i have that to watch. i take it's pretty much a ronseal film?
i have just seen forbrydelsen episode 1 - pretty compelling but too early to say whether it's a danish wire or merely a danish midsomer murders


----------



## Voley (Apr 11, 2011)

_Land And Freedom_ which is Ken Loach's take on _Homage To Catalonia_ to all intents and purposes. Didn't quite fill me with the revolutionary zeal I was hoping for really. Too melodramatic.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 12, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh watched that tron 2 thing too. Pretty forgettable stuff that I have pretty much already forgotten. Did Tron even make an appearance? I can only remember him being mentioned. I did like the computer generated young 'cloo' bridges though.


 
Tron was that real hard dude (who didn't speak much) with the two frizbees.
He was pretty much in it all the way through. And fell into water at the end.

*Hot Tub Time Machine *- I tried to like it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 12, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Tron was that real hard dude (who didn't speak much) with the two frizbees.
> He was pretty much in it all the way through. And fell into water at the end.
> 
> .


 
I must have fallen asleep or something, I remember no such hard dude or water falling. Was he played by the original Tron guy and made CGI young like clu?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 12, 2011)

I watched Into the Wild. I expected to hate it, but I didn't.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 12, 2011)

Oh and I watched 'Get Low' 
Billed as a Bill Murry film, which is why I watched it. Its not a Bill Murry film at all, he is maybe the fourth most important of the cast but thats pretty much all the cast so being fourth isnt that impressive. He's hardly in it. Not a bad thing though, because it's a pretty good film as it happens. Keeps you intrigued on a very simple premise. The only thing I found a bit grating was the Murry introduction, because we all know he is a big star and the films draw, he hides behind a big newspaper talking with the camera glued to him, until . . . . . . POW, hey look its Bill Murry incase you didn't know. Hey I'm THE Bill Murry. Could only have been worse if he winked at the camera.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 12, 2011)

Bill Murray.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 12, 2011)

I loved Get Low. Robert Duval plays a brilliant hermit.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 12, 2011)

Dillinger4 said:


> Bill Murray.


 
Whatever.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 12, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> I loved Get Low. Robert Duval plays a brilliant hermit.


 
Yeah Duval was great. Murr*a*y wasn't bad but I feel all the advertising didn't give Duval his dues. Mind you, having said that I might not have watched it otherwise.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 12, 2011)

Duvall.
Soz.


----------



## starfish (Apr 12, 2011)

Watched "9" at the weekend. Quite a dark & bizarre little film but very enjoyable.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 12, 2011)

The Seventh Seal is on Film4 at 10.50pm tonight, if anybody wants to see it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 13, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I must have fallen asleep or something, I remember no such hard dude or water falling. Was he played by the original Tron guy and made CGI young like clu?


 
They made him faceless.
But according to IMDB, he was played by Bruce Boxleitner.
Maybe I missed something as well...


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 13, 2011)

*[REC] 2* - Not as suspenseful as the original. Writers decided to go on the demonic possession (as a virus) route. Unsure if it worked cos it reminded me of the PC game DOOM muddling with The Evil Dead.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 14, 2011)

The Lady Vanishes. Hitchcock. Good old rollicking Hitchcockian fun.

Last week: Head-On, about turks in Hamburg.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 14, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> They made him faceless.
> But according to IMDB, he was played by Bruce Boxleitner.
> Maybe I missed something as well...



Surely they must have shown his face at some point. 
On IMDB I also see they are making another Tron movie. Plus they Have made quite a few Tron 2.0 video games over the years. I think I have Tron for my Atari 2600.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 14, 2011)

Rocksteady: Roots of Reggae.

Nostalgic, easy going fare. Dawn Penn has the most amazing voice...


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 14, 2011)

The Brest Fortress - proper old school patriotic soviet WW2 film, every cliche is there amongst some fantastic battle scenes. Very enjoyable.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 14, 2011)

'I am dying but do not surrender! Farewell, Motherland.'


----------



## 8115 (Apr 14, 2011)

Fish Tank, pretty good, loses its way a bit in the second half, some slighty disturbing scenes.
I watched an Argentinian film the other day called XXY, it's amazing, really made me think about gender plus such a good film.


----------



## colbhoy (Apr 15, 2011)

Watched the first episode of Our Friends in the North. Got the DVD about 6 months ago and have been putting off starting it. Have seen it twice before but it is still absolutely superb.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 17, 2011)

Secrets of NIMH. Very old feeling and beatifully drawn. Unnacountably trippy bits include Nicodenuses glowing eyes and this surreal scene that attempts to show the rats brains becoming intelligent. Think like at the end of 2001


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 17, 2011)

Trading Places on the telly. 
Haven't watched it for years but it was all so familiar. Very short and simple film, I'm sure I used to think it was far more clever and complex. I didn't laugh once.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 17, 2011)

You thought that a film that you'd previously watched seemed familiar? And that's a criticism of the film?

There 3 million films you could have watched but you did that. You pointless misery. Why didn't you watch Pendas Fen?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 17, 2011)

13:  Game of Death (aka 13 Beloved).  I enjoyed it

http://www.amazon.com/13-Game-Death-Krissada-Terrence/dp/B00118T61O


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 17, 2011)

Looks good.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 17, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> You thought that a film that you'd previously watched seemed familiar? And that's a criticism of the film?
> 
> There 3 million films you could have watched but you did that. You pointless misery. Why didn't you watch Pendas Fen?


 
I didn't criticize the film for being familiar, how did you read that into what I wrote? I was surprised how familiar, and how much of the films imagery was still with me in a film I hadn't watched in more than 20 years. 
I was drinking wine and watching the telly, trading places came on, I watched it. It was interesting to see a film I adored so much as a child / teen with adult eyes. Trading Places used to be the big christmas film, event TV, every flipping year. I was tipsy and curious as to how it would stand up today. I was surprised how simple the plot was, when I used to think it was quite clever and twisty turny.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 17, 2011)

Alien then Dead Leaves


----------



## Biddlybee (Apr 17, 2011)

Trading Places 




Dillinger4 said:


> Bill Murray.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 17, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Secrets of NIMH. Very old feeling and beatifully drawn. Unnacountably trippy bits include Nicodenuses glowing eyes and this surreal scene that attempts to show the rats brains becoming intelligent. Think like at the end of 2001


 
First viewing DC?


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 17, 2011)

yep- the books didn't have nicodemus's magic amulet but I liked the film. Dragged the projector and screen out to watch it home cinema stylie.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 17, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Looks good.


 
Was.  Have just decided to read those reviews on Amazon.  Are those viewers too lazy to look up what Thai currency is?  Half of them are referring to a game where the guy can win US$100m  

One guy reckons it's a cross between Falling Down and the Running Man which I agree with.  As soon as I started watching it, I immediately thought of Falling Down.  You'll also be reminded of the Saw films, so if you like those type of films, you'll probably like it.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 17, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> yep- the books didn't have nicodemus's magic amulet but I liked the film. Dragged the projector and screen out to watch it home cinema stylie.


 
Good work, a story that deserves occasion I feel. 
Glad you liked it after enjoying the book. Could have been awful but I think they did well


----------



## Badgers (Apr 17, 2011)

Dillinger4 said:


> I watched Into the Wild. I expected to hate it, but I didn't.


 
I had no expectations when I saw it. Had not seen any trailers or reviews beforehand which helped. Very well filmed


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 17, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> One guy reckons it's a cross between Falling Down and the Running Man which I agree with.  As soon as I started watching it, I immediately thought of Falling Down.  You'll also be reminded of the Saw films, so if you like those type of films, you'll probably like it.


 
Oh I didn't really like the saw films. Well I saw the first saw and I didn't like that.


----------



## blairsh (Apr 17, 2011)

Sat in with a couple mates and watched Waynes World 1 & 2. Not seen either for ages but the first one is still a stone cold classic, second one not so much. Followed that with first half of first series of 30 Rock and most of series 2 of Father Ted to polish off the evening


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 17, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh I didn't really like the saw films. Well I saw the first saw and I didn't like that.


 
What about Falling Down or the Running Man?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 17, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> What about Falling Down or the Running Man?


 
Falling down was ok the first time, I was kind of hoping for more though. It had been hyped on the back of reservoir dogs, first film I had seen at the cinema since The Dark Crystal. The Running man was ok at the time I suppose.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 17, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Falling down was ok the first time, I was kind of hoping for more though. It had been hyped on the back of reservoir dogs, first film I had seen at the cinema since The Dark Crystal. The Running man was ok at the time I suppose.



Well it's Falling Down with tasks, which will make you think of Running Man and only *occasionally* of Saw.  Bah, I'm no good at explaining things, you'll just have to get it yourself!


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 17, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Falling down was ok the first time, I was kind of hoping for more though. It had been hyped on the back of reservoir dogs, first film I had seen at the cinema since The Dark Crystal. The Running man was ok at the time I suppose.



what about The Game?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 17, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> what about The Game?


 
What game?


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 17, 2011)

Is that the one with Douglas as some rich banker type, who gets set up by his brother for a birthday present?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 17, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> What game?


 


Captain Hurrah said:


> Is that the one with Douglas as some rich banker type, who gets set up by his brother for a birthday present?


 

Yep.  I take it AS hasn't seen it then?


----------



## starfish (Apr 17, 2011)

Atonement, was a lot better than i thought it would be.


----------



## andy2002 (Apr 17, 2011)

*Monsters:* Disappointing after all the critical plaudits. A decent premise let down by a weak script and uninvolving leads.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 18, 2011)

Fresh. An oldie with Samuel L Jackson. Rated it.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 18, 2011)

Good isn't it.  Mentioned on the forgotten films thread, too.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 18, 2011)

Book of Eli - quite enjoyed it - a bit silly, but watchable.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 18, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Yep.  I take it AS hasn't seen it then?


 
Oh I see, yes I have seen that. Fincher film. Yeah I liked it very much as I recall. Not a double watcher after you have seen the end.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 18, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> *Monsters:* Disappointing after all the critical plaudits. A decent premise let down by a weak script and uninvolving leads.


 
An old chum of mine made that. I haven't seen it yet.


----------



## andy2002 (Apr 18, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> An old chum of mine made that. I haven't seen it yet.


 
Gareth Edwards? He's doing Godzilla next apparently...


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 18, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> Gareth Edwards? He's doing Godzilla next apparently...


 
Yeah, I haven't seen him for about five years though, I guess he has been busy. We started out in telly together as trainees. The G man we called him. Not sure why. The sweetest guy and very funny.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 18, 2011)

Tulpan - Kazakh film, lad tries to woo neighbours' daughter, lots of camels and sheep. And Boney M.
25th Hour - Spike Lee sends Edward Norton out on the town one last night before clink. Sharp.
Razorback - Giant pig terrorises outback in 80s style.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 18, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Tulpan - Kazakh film, lad tries to woo neighbours' daughter, lots of camels and sheep. And Boney M.



Aye, with tales of derring-do on the ocean waves.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 18, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Aye, with tales of derring-do on the ocean waves.


 
Those octopusses (octopi?) sound well dodgy...


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 18, 2011)

It's a nice film.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 18, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Tulpan - Kazakh film, lad tries to woo neighbours' daughter, lots of camels and sheep. And Boney M.
> 25th Hour - Spike Lee sends Edward Norton out on the town one last night before clink. Sharp.
> Razorback - Giant pig terrorises outback in 80s style.


 
That was on the other week.  I taped it, but haven't got round to watching it yet


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 18, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> It's a nice film.


 
It is, isn't it? It almost felt like a doc at times. On again next week, if anyone missed it.


----------



## rekil (Apr 18, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> The Brest Fortress - proper old school patriotic soviet WW2 film, every cliche is there amongst some fantastic battle scenes. Very enjoyable.


 That looks great. I'd like to see them do something on Stalingrad, Pavlov's House and that. The German one was poor and Enemy At The Gates was a nauseating travesty.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 18, 2011)

copliker said:


> That looks great.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 18, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> It is, isn't it? It almost felt like a doc at times. On again next week, if anyone missed it.



Yeah, it had a verite feel to it.


----------



## rekil (Apr 18, 2011)

Taverymuch.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 18, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Fresh. An oldie with Samuel L Jackson. Rated it.


 
i really like that film  

his friend busting all the dope moves. is he an idiot or just doesn't know how else to behave?


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Apr 18, 2011)

copliker said:


> Taverymuch.



If you like reading military history, there's an on-going, very chunky three-volume history of the Battle of Stalingrad by David M. Glantz, with the first two out now (To the Gates, and Armageddon).


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 18, 2011)

The Clock - well 3 hours of it anyway. I could easily have managed 12 hours I reckon. Fascinating, thrilling, moving. Just fucking ace. Yesterday was the last chance to see it in London though.  Go see it in Glasgow or Plymouth later in the year if you are able. They might be putting it online as a stream. I hope they do as I want to see it all.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 18, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Good isn't it.  Mentioned on the forgotten films thread, too.


 
heh, yeah I'm working my way through some of the choicer mentions in that thread. Last Valley on torrent for tomorrow.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Apr 18, 2011)

dead mans shoes really good.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 19, 2011)

*Harry Fucking Potter and the Deathly Hallows*

My first ever Harry Potter film.
Thought it was a bit boring.
Maybe I should watch the one before and see if it makes sense.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Apr 19, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> *Harry Fucking Potter and the Deathly Hallows*
> 
> My first ever Harry Potter film.
> Thought it was a bit boring.
> Maybe I should watch the one before and see if it makes sense.


 
why?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 19, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> dead mans shoes really good.


make an effort


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 20, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> why?


 
Curiosity I guess.
Like what's the fuss?
(I'm also a nerd when it comes to fantasy stuff).

So, I saw the *The Half Blood Prince yesterday*.
And it was pretty good!


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 20, 2011)

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Some funny scenes (the Psychic training sequence particularly), but the main narrative with Ewan McGregor and George Clooney in Iraq was boring at times.

Reasonable lolsome to hear McGregor continually talking about Jedi-Warriors with scepticism


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 21, 2011)

Winter's Bone

It's grim down south.


----------



## invisibleplanet (Apr 21, 2011)

The mendacious ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof''


----------



## 100% masahiko (Apr 21, 2011)

*Harry Potter and the Order of the Cunting Phoenix*

Average. Slow (can't believe it cost 80 million),

- I see a pattern emerging. 
I think these films become progressively worse as you get to the first chapter.


----------



## 8115 (Apr 21, 2011)

Monsters.  Loved it.  10/10, best film I've seen all year.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 23, 2011)

A Turkish-German film called The Edge of Heaven. You know, it's possible to get actual stories about human lives out of Hollywood, but that isn't really the emphasis there. It's so nice to watch films from other countries where they actually try to impart something about the human condition, instead of simply blowing up things good.


----------



## mentalchik (Apr 24, 2011)

Tron Legacy - meh, ok but dull


----------



## 8115 (Apr 25, 2011)

A Compete History of My sexual failures.  A little bit patchy but overall pretty good.  Really made me think.  Really really funny in places.


----------



## ska invita (Apr 25, 2011)

8115 said:


> A Compete History of My sexual failures.  A little bit patchy but overall pretty good.  Really made me think.  Really really funny in places.


 The fact that it was a fakumentary (pretended to be a documentary) makes it a whole different kettle of fish. Still interesting though.

Theres going to be an out and out Hollywood remake next year


----------



## 8115 (Apr 26, 2011)

Oh, I'm really disappointed it's fake, I didn't know that.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 26, 2011)

The Machine Gunners, classic childrens BBC drama version of Robert Westall's WWII based book. Just as good as I remember it being back in the 80s.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 26, 2011)

DJ Squelch said:


> The Machine Gunners, classic childrens BBC drama version of Robert Westall's WWII based book. Just as good as I remember it being back in the 80s.


WHERE YOU GOING NOW?


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 27, 2011)

never knew they did a tv adapt of that. Will torrent.


----------



## mentalchik (Apr 28, 2011)

Stone - not sure really


----------



## rekil (Apr 28, 2011)

Il Divo. Fantastic film, except I missed the first 20 minutes because I was watching Trailer Park Boys, the Conky gets shot & Ricky with a rag glued to his nose one.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 28, 2011)

Spectre - Spanish village horror chiller kind of film, was pretty good actually, but I couldnt help thinking it would touch people who've grown up in a village more than it would those who've never had that kind of lifestyle experience. Still good to watch, and a decent spanish flick though not in the leagues of Rec or Pans Labryinth, more like Y Tu Mama Tambien with a horror edge


----------



## Part 2 (May 1, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> never knew they did a tv adapt of that. Will torrent.



Have you found a torrent DC? Would like to watch it myself.

Watched From Hell tonight having just finished the book. Book is brilliant, a graphic novel masterpiece maybe, film is watchable but nowhere near as good.


----------



## butchersapron (May 1, 2011)

The Last Circus/A Sad Trumpet Ballad - Álex de la Iglesia's fantastic, grotesque satire on the Spanish Civil War/Revolution and the Franco years. Return to great form after his last piece of crap (Oford Murders). Funny, sharp, clever, visually inventive and very original recommended.

In a similar vein March on Rome -  Dino Risi's 1962 pisstake of fascism. Classic piece of post-war prodding - one of his early filsm that aren't really know in anglophone countries.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 1, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Have you found a torrent DC? Would like to watch it myself.
> 
> Watched From Hell tonight having just finished the book. Book is brilliant, a graphic novel masterpiece maybe, film is watchable but nowhere near as good.


 

no  just one link to some thing where you have to sign up. Will keep eye out.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 1, 2011)

ska invita said:


> The fact that it was a fakumentary (pretended to be a documentary)r


 
mocumentary


----------



## starfish (May 1, 2011)

Watched Last Night, the Canadian end of the world film. Very good, if a little morbid.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (May 1, 2011)

starfish said:


> Watched Last Night, the Canadian end of the world film. Very good, if a little morbid.


 
is that the name of the film? "the Canadian end of the world film"?


----------



## starfish (May 1, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> is that the name of the film? "the Canadian end of the world film"?


 
No, Last Night is the name of the film.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (May 1, 2011)

starfish said:


> No, Last Night is the name of the film.


 
 i can see that now


----------



## Part 2 (May 1, 2011)

Just watched A Complete History of my Sexual Failures following recent posts.

The first hour is the funniest stuff I've seen for ages. The bit where he's talking to the scottish fellas on the street is fucking ace. Once he takes the viagra it goes downhill a bit and the end is a bit shit but I've really not laughed so much at a film for a log time, a great tonic.


----------



## pianissimo (May 2, 2011)

The Illusionist -

After watching The Triplets of Belleville, I was looking forward to this one.
Simple plot, rather depressing and bittersweet.  Though I was rather irritated by the girl's demands of flashy things, on hindsight I understand better of what the story is about.
Beautifully drawn.


----------



## dlx1 (May 2, 2011)

Sucker Punch - Rubbish


----------



## ilovebush&blair (May 2, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Just watched A Complete History of my Sexual Failures following recent posts.
> 
> The first hour is the funniest stuff I've seen for ages. The bit where he's talking to the scottish fellas on the street is fucking ace. Once he takes the viagra it goes downhill a bit and the end is a bit shit but I've really not laughed so much at a film for a log time, a great tonic.


 
i started watching it because of recent posts also but found it incredibly cringeworthy and had to turn it off.


----------



## 100% masahiko (May 2, 2011)

*Stone* - What is happening to De Niro? Why is he doing a Travolta with such shit movies? Real bad. Boring - even the sight of Milla's tits couldn't save this trash.

*Season of the Witch* - I can't remember a thing except it starred Nicholas Cage.

*Insidious* - I recommend this one. Real enjoyable. Starts off as a conventional haunted house horror and then transcends into Speilberg's Poltergeist. Nice journey...creepy more than scary.


----------



## invisibleplanet (May 2, 2011)

Mon Oncle (Jaques Tati, 1958)


----------



## invisibleplanet (May 3, 2011)

Tonight I'm watching Gumnaan


----------



## krtek a houby (May 3, 2011)

Love Letter - Japanese film about girl who sends letter to her dead fiancee and gets a reply. More "Double Life of Veronique" than "Ghost"...

Chungking Express - Wong Kar Wei's classic introducing Faye Wong. 2 stories of obsession, heroin, fluffy toys and California Dreaming... QT loves it but don't let that put anyone off it.

The Proposition - Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone in Oz western, written by Nick Cave. Slow, brutal and haunting.


----------



## Badgers (May 3, 2011)

Did a few over the BH weekend: 

Nude Nuns with Big Guns
This is pretty much summed up in the title. 
It is pretty crude as B-Movie comedy's go and there is a fair bit of rape going on.

London Boulevard
Not a bad easy watching gangster film. Pretty good cast and some good local London landmarks. Nothing ground breaking here but worth a watch if you want something light. 

Neds
This was the winner of the weekend for me. Is a _bit like_ Shane Meadows with This Is England.


----------



## Yetman (May 3, 2011)

invisibleplanet said:


> Tonight I'm watching Gumnaan


 
Ha! Not only have they spelt it totally wrong, but thats blatantly a knifeman!!


----------



## chazegee (May 4, 2011)

The Baader Meinhoff complex.
Dumm ass's, calling themselves lefties then singling out Jews...


----------



## chazegee (May 4, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> *Stone* - What is happening to De Niro? Why is he doing a Travolta with such shit movies? Real bad. Boring - even the sight of Milla's tits couldn't save this trash.
> 
> *Season of the Witch* - I can't remember a thing except it starred Nicholas Cage.
> 
> *Insidious* - I recommend this one. Real enjoyable. Starts off as a conventional haunted house horror and then transcends into Speilberg's Poltergeist. Nice journey...creepy more than scary.



I've though about this, but I say fair play. Fuck doing a Brando, making a few classics then disappearing up his own island for the rest of his natural born.
Let him act, even if it Toilet.


----------



## avu9lives (May 4, 2011)

*A Man Escaped* A flamin corker of a film! Had ta uncoil meself from the sofa afterwards it were that tense. Might check out sum more of bressons films!  (If i can find any) When the chips a down it's amazin what ya can do wiv an owd spoon innit!!


----------



## 100% masahiko (May 4, 2011)

chazegee said:


> I've though about this, but I say fair play. Fuck doing a Brando, making a few classics then disappearing up his own island for the rest of his natural born.
> Let him act, even if it Toilet.


 
You know, I was watching *Once Upon a Time in America* last night.
And thought WTF! I mean, is it the same person?
Why not do an Eastwood and direct some amazing films instead?
Why? Why? Why is he doing this? Surely it's not for the money?
He's fuckin' loaded? How much do you need?

*Wake Wood* - Hammer House of new. Pretty okay if you remember them from the 70s.


----------



## chazegee (May 4, 2011)

Sense of porpoise innit. 
He directed that Bronx Tail one but it wasn't up to much.


----------



## invisibleplanet (May 4, 2011)

chazegee said:


> The Baader Meinhoff complex.
> Dumm ass's, calling themselves lefties then singling out Jews...


Did they really do that? I don't know anything about them. Is the film worth a watch/accurate?


----------



## chazegee (May 4, 2011)

invisibleplanet said:


> Did they really do that? I don't know anything about them. Is the film worth a watch/accurate?



Pretty much, FWICG.

And erm, there's a good scene on a nudist beach at the beginning.


----------



## butchersapron (May 4, 2011)

invisibleplanet said:


> Did they really do that? I don't know anything about them. Is the film worth a watch/accurate?


 
Is it fuck.


----------



## chazegee (May 4, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Is it fuck.



Go on then...


----------



## butchersapron (May 4, 2011)

Explain why it's shit? Because it's a mainstream romantic version of serious stuff that elides the elitist nature of their action behind a popular visual front. And boring.


----------



## chazegee (May 4, 2011)

Shit it is, but the actual events were accurate.


----------



## butchersapron (May 4, 2011)

chazegee said:


> Shit it is, but the actual events were accurate.


 
No they weren't


----------



## Idris2002 (May 4, 2011)

The Carlos movie was better.


----------



## butchersapron (May 4, 2011)

It was, and that was shit.


----------



## butchersapron (May 4, 2011)

chazegee said:


> Shit it is, but the actual events were accurate.


 
wtf nonsense have you been reading?


----------



## invisibleplanet (May 4, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Is it fuck.


 
Cheers. I'll give it a wide berth then!


----------



## chazegee (May 4, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> wtf nonsense have you been reading?



The site name, TRUTV slightly undermines my argument to be fair, but I'm sticking. 

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/terrorists/meinhof/11.html


----------



## andy2002 (May 7, 2011)

*Get Him To The Greek:* At least 15 minutes too long but surprisingly funny.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (May 7, 2011)

Yes it is, I'm sort of ashamed to admit.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 7, 2011)

Garage Days.

Mildly diverting Australian comedy about a struggling rock group. Like an episode of home and away, but with more drugs. At one point I went back to taking notes from Paul Richards' _Fighting for the Rainforest_. If you see this one, don't bother.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (May 8, 2011)

A film of the Khrushchev 'Thaw' (_Khrushchevskaya ottepel_) from 1961, directed by Grigori Chukhrai.  

It's a cliched and mawkish love story between a starry-eyed schoolgirl turned long-suffering but stoic wife, and a dashing fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, turned social pariah and drunkard.  It's also not a very deep indictment of the egregious effects of Stalin's personality cult and supposed infallibility; but interestingly because the film with its content follows the aesthetic rules of Socialist Realism.  

It's 'cheesy,' with one scene particularly sticking out, involving the wife's efforts to have her ex-communicated husband accepted back into the CPSU fold, and her haranguing Party bureaucrats while a large marble statue of Stalin looms over them.

Worth watching, although not the best example from an interesting decade or so of Soviet film-making.


----------



## Badgers (May 8, 2011)

Watched Shine yesterday. Really enjoyed it, lovely film and music.


----------



## avu9lives (May 9, 2011)

Been watchin lots of Grindhouse/sexploitation  stuff from the 70’s! The last one be in *Take an Easy Ride * A British film about the perils of Hitch hiking !  3 stories in all explainin yeah you can get away wiv it but sometimes it can go disastrously wrong and get picked up by a  Knife wieldin  rapist pervert!  Want bad coz ya get ta look at all the old 70’s motors people were ridin around in!  Think I spotted an old Foden wagon at one point. Class!


----------



## ilovebush&blair (May 9, 2011)

i watched william s burroughs: a man within, it was awesome been waiting to see it for ages. by far the best documentary about burroughs.


----------



## gavman (May 10, 2011)

catfish, part of the true stories season
truly unusual and uplifting. strongly recommended


----------



## belboid (May 10, 2011)

uplifting?  

actually, make that... true story??


----------



## gavman (May 12, 2011)

belboid said:


> uplifting?
> 
> actually, make that... true story??


 
i found it to be a beautiful story, made me feel warm with pathos.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 12, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Chungking Express - Wong Kar Wei's classic introducing Faye Wong. 2 stories of obsession, heroin, fluffy toys and California Dreaming... QT loves it but don't let that put anyone off it.



I like Chungking Express.  It's easy watching and I kind of feel like I'm a fly on the wall of a cafe.


----------



## belboid (May 12, 2011)

gavman said:


> i found it to be a beautiful story, made me feel warm with pathos.


 
mm, i thought the boys were all obnoxious cunts who should have had their heads kicked in. Still, it was all made up, so who cares


----------



## avu9lives (May 12, 2011)

The documentary *THE ARBOR* In one feckin word SUPERB!!  >jog on<


----------



## pepper78 (May 12, 2011)

The baadher meinhoff complex - interesting foreign language film about the birth and rise of the Red Army Faction terrorist group in 70's Germany.


----------



## invisibleplanet (May 14, 2011)

I'm having a George Clooney season  
One of my ethics philosopher buddies recommended his films to me. 

Last night, I watched Michael Clayton - it's a good film 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Clayton_(film)


----------



## Idris2002 (May 14, 2011)

A New Zealand film called No. 2. A slightly ga-ga matriarch of an extended Fijian family decides to have a family gathering where she shall name her successor - the number two of the title. There's just one small problem: this family is full of people who hate each other's guts. It was actually really rather good, with good acting all round.

I enjoyed seeing Auckland again. I didn't live in multi-ethnic Mt. Roskill where this is set, mind, but in hideously white Mt. Eden.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 14, 2011)

invisibleplanet said:


> I'm having a George Clooney season
> One of my ethics philosopher buddies recommended his films to me.
> 
> Last night, I watched Michael Clayton - it's a good film
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Clayton_(film)


 
Yes. You watched a George Clooney movie because of the way it dealt with interesting ethical questions. Yes.


----------



## invisibleplanet (May 17, 2011)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes. You watched a George Clooney movie because of the way it dealt with interesting ethical questions. Yes.


 
Yes. Interesting ethical questions. Yes. I never watched ER or joined the female-Clooney-goonies, but heard him mentioned over and over and over again, and I'm sure it had nothing to do with ethics. So ... I guess he's supposed to be some kind of hearthrob, but I felt nothing stir during that film  

I watched Men Who Stare At Goats last night. Some very funny scenes. Still didn't get the hearthrob thing though


----------



## ilovebush&blair (May 17, 2011)

invisibleplanet said:


> Yes. Interesting ethical questions. Yes. I never watched ER or joined the female-Clooney-goonies, but heard him mentioned over and over and over again, and I'm sure it had nothing to do with ethics. So ... I guess he's supposed to be some kind of hearthrob, but I felt nothing stir during that film
> 
> I watched Men Who Stare At Goats last night. *Some very funny scenes*. Still didn't get the hearthrob thing though


 
wouldnt go so far as to say verry funny, mildly amusing perhaps.


----------



## Part 2 (May 17, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> The documentary *THE ARBOR* In one feckin word SUPERB!!  >jog on<


 
I watched this yesterday.

It's a brilliant piece of work, not seen anything like it, part film, part documentary, part theatre.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 17, 2011)

Making out way through "The Twilight Zone" boxset. Some good, some less so but all enjoyable so far.


----------



## Jackobi (May 18, 2011)

Channel Four's Nuclear Eternity, whilst it is a documentary, it seemed very surreal, like a documentary from the future. I had to keep reminding myself that it was actually happening now.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/nuclear-eternity/4od#3184793


----------



## belboid (May 18, 2011)

A Serbian Film

Starts off like a porno with proper actors and stuff, and a potentially interesting subtext. Then the shit starts happening, tho, thanks to the BBFC (and I really do mean "thanks", to the BBFC) just enough is left to the imagination to make it still watchable. And then it goes on, and on till we get to the almost laughable ending.

Maybe it is the rich if brutal allegory the director claims, and maybe in a cinema some of the more explicit scenes could be left in, but for home viewing, well, we get the idea after half an hour, and the rest is just torture porn tosh.


----------



## ringo (May 18, 2011)

The Hurt Locker. Suitably taut and damning of the process and horror of war. Very few characters and none of them likeable.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (May 18, 2011)

Seans Show. 

Not as crazy as it seemed at the time. Fun idea, gentle and slightly surreal comedy. A decent watch.


----------



## 100% masahiko (May 21, 2011)

*The Girl Who Played With Fire/ The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest -* 

Anti-climatic finale.
Still awesome though.


----------



## chazegee (May 21, 2011)

That Kenny Powers thing. Really like it.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 21, 2011)

The Devils Chair


----------



## Zabo (May 21, 2011)

The BBC HD version of Dickens's Bleak House. Oh how I would like to grab hold of the producer, the two directors and D.P. and burn the fucking lot of them alive. Woosh-Swoosh-Rapid Cuts-Epilpetic Cam-Zillions Of Close-Ups and Jesus knows what! All in all a savage attempt to fuck up good and proper one of Britain's foremost story tellers and stories.

How come they don't train these bozos in the art of filming? You never see that kind of crap gimmicy on the Coen Brothers films or anything shot by Robby Müller.

I despair. Same goes for 28 Weeks Later which was fucked totally by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Why don't these people take to serving in a chippy given they haven't got cock all idea about having a rapport with a script or a sense of cinema.


----------



## Part 2 (May 22, 2011)

Watched the Burroughs film, A Man Within this afternoon, brilliant.

Just watched Biutiful. No idea why there isn't a mention of this film here yet, it's outstanding, some great performances. Very bleak but a beautiful piece of work, some really harrowing moments, plenty of grit in the eyes etc. Can't be many films as good this year.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 22, 2011)

In My Father's Den.

Dysfunctional family misfortunes, Kiwi style.

Jesus Christ on a crutch, even in Co. Mayo we wouldn't carry on like that.


----------



## 100% masahiko (May 22, 2011)

*Henry Poole Is Here *

Why are you angry and sad? Jesus in a wall.
Wow, what an amazing film (and soundtrack).


----------



## 100% masahiko (May 23, 2011)

*Blue Valentine* - Amazing and possibly the best movie on 'love' I've seen for a while.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (May 23, 2011)

Vertigo. Beautiful cinematography. Great story.


----------



## The Octagon (May 24, 2011)

*Black Swan*

Very impressive, almost as if Lynch, Polanski and Cronenberg had got together on a film 

Great performance by Portman (and Barbara Hershey as the Carrie-esque mum too).

A few duff moments, but overall very good.


----------



## pianissimo (May 24, 2011)

I didn't think Portman's performance was as good as it's praised.

I did like the part where she's drunk and her mom asked where she's been.  She answered, 'the moon... and back'.  That was good.


----------



## belboid (May 25, 2011)

The Sentinel.


A Michael Winner 'horror' with an astounding cast (Ava Gardner, Eli Wallach, Chris Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken, Martin Balsam, John Carradine) and a half decent basic storyline, but fuck all else to recommend it. Misogynist drivel.


----------



## pianissimo (May 27, 2011)

My Dog Tulip - 
Didn't like it.  Turned off half-way through.


----------



## 100% masahiko (May 28, 2011)

*Mr. Nobody* - 

Perhaps one of the best underrated films ever.
If the choosing of a particular love has consequences, for better or for worse, it's fuckin' beautiful nevertheless.
Masterpiece.


----------



## tufty79 (May 29, 2011)

sharktopus http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1619880/
and night of the demon http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050766/
(well, yesterdayish at least)


----------



## Part 2 (May 30, 2011)

Rita, Sue and Bob too.

Not seen it for years, still a great watch.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 30, 2011)

Shoot em up - Fookin' Wicked  here


----------



## Orang Utan (May 30, 2011)

Zabo said:


> The BBC HD version of Dickens's Bleak House. Oh how I would like to grab hold of the producer, the two directors and D.P. and burn the fucking lot of them alive. Woosh-Swoosh-Rapid Cuts-Epilpetic Cam-Zillions Of Close-Ups and Jesus knows what! All in all a savage attempt to fuck up good and proper one of Britain's foremost story tellers and stories.
> 
> How come they don't train these bozos in the art of filming? You never see that kind of crap gimmicy on the Coen Brothers films or anything shot by Robby Müller.


wut? It was the best dickens adaptation I've seen. I absolutely loved it!


----------



## Wookey (May 30, 2011)

I watched Avatar at last, and really enjoyed it - bit too long, but I love the blue fellas and the jellyfish in the air and the glowing Tree of Wise Spaghetti, and I even half fancied the cripple marine (the top half, that is).

Mmmm.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (May 30, 2011)

Wookey said:


> I watched Avatar at last, and really enjoyed it - bit too long, but I love the blue fellas and the jellyfish in the air and the glowing Tree of Wise Spaghetti, and I even half fancied the cripple marine (the top half, that is).
> 
> Mmmm.


 
visually its good but its so predictable


----------



## Part 2 (May 30, 2011)

I watched Justice..A Cross the Universe about their tour of America in 2008. I liked their album although I've never really followed them or even knew what they looked like. My mate recommended it as a good music film, it did get pretty mental as far as their behaviour went.

Bizarrely I was in California at the time and they were sat next to us on the plane home.


----------



## 100% masahiko (May 30, 2011)

*Easy A* - real good! pretty intelligent for a teen movie...


----------



## gavman (May 31, 2011)

Zabo said:


> The BBC HD version of Dickens's Bleak House. Oh how I would like to grab hold of the producer, the two directors and D.P. and burn the fucking lot of them alive. Woosh-Swoosh-Rapid Cuts-Epilpetic Cam-Zillions Of Close-Ups and Jesus knows what! All in all a savage attempt to fuck up good and proper one of Britain's foremost story tellers and stories.
> 
> How come they don't train these bozos in the art of filming? You never see that kind of crap gimmicy on the Coen Brothers films or anything shot by Robby Müller.
> 
> I despair. Same goes for 28 Weeks Later which was fucked totally by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Why don't these people take to serving in a chippy given they haven't got cock all idea about having a rapport with a script or a sense of cinema.


 
it's something about british filmakers. far too arty and pretentious, whilst being completely unable to tell a good story. i tried watching 'heartless' last night, found it unendurable and amateurish. everything about the plot, characters, situations jarred against reality. even the tv news reports were ludicrously unrealistic, and to me that's the sign of incompetent storytelling, relying on fake news reports to advance the plot. much like voice over narrations, another staple of the british film industry


----------



## gavman (May 31, 2011)

how to train your dragon.
there was literally fuck all worth watching, so i put this on instead. 
and was surprised how much i enjoyed it. even made it to the end. a good one for the family


----------



## ringo (May 31, 2011)

Prince Of Persia - One of the worst films ever made. Why I even got half way through it I don't know.


----------



## Belushi (May 31, 2011)

Watched 'Four months, three weeks, two days' very good Romanian film.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (May 31, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> *Henry Poole Is Here *
> 
> Why are you angry and sad? Jesus in a wall.
> Wow, what an amazing film (and soundtrack).


 
What like the suit guy?


----------



## smmudge (May 31, 2011)

I watched 'He's just not that into you' to remind myself what a bunch of cunts the male side of the species can be. Was going pretty well until the end when they all shacked up anyway  rubbish. Scarlett johansson was hot though.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jun 1, 2011)

The Killer Inside Me.  

Hmm ...  

and,

Pol Pot's Executioner: Welcome to Hell

Not a DVD but a BBC Storyville documentary of one hour thirty minutes, broadcast on BBC4 first a couple of days ago, and now on iPlayer.  

It made a few niggling factual errors, but moving overall.  Some interesting old footage too.


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 1, 2011)

Starting season 3 of *Fringe*.
It's getting real interesting with the parallel worlds and the characters crossing over.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 1, 2011)

It gets well mental! Even more than it was.


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 1, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> What like the suit guy?


 
First half of the movie was good.  But got annoying towards the end.


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 1, 2011)

TruXta said:


> It gets well mental! Even more than it was.


 
I like how each character manifests and evolves in a parallel world.  Like Astrid is a lab/tech assistant in this world, but a super maths genius on the other.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 1, 2011)

i watched True Grit the other day, the John Wayne version - great stuff. I thought John Wayne was a joke, but he's great here as Rooster Cogburn. Kim Darby is very different to Haillee Stansfield as Mattie Ross, more innocent and less gritty but equally single minded. It's shot in lovely Technicolor and it's a nice surprise to see Dennis Hopper and Robert Duvall (has he always looked old?) pop up early in their careers


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jun 1, 2011)

Aye, he does look old, as the baddy in that.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 1, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> First half of the movie was good.  But got annoying towards the end.


 
That doesn't answer my question. Is it anything to do with Henry Poole the savile row guy?


----------



## gavman (Jun 2, 2011)

ringo said:


> Prince Of Persia - One of the worst films ever made. Why I even got half way through it I don't know.


 
i didn't even make it through the titles


----------



## chazegee (Jun 2, 2011)

Tried to get through Caligula last night. In theory, it should be pretty enjoyable, Peter O' Toole and Malcolm McDowell madding it up to a backdrop of Bacchanalian porn...


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 2, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> That doesn't answer my question. Is it anything to do with Henry Poole the savile row guy?


 
_Just googled 'Henry Poole the savile row guy'..._
Oh no it doesn't.  It has nothing to do with suits or mayfair or london even.
It's about this depressed guy thinking he was dying from an incurable disease, and some bogus miracles.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 2, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> _Just googled 'Henry Poole the savile row guy'..._
> Oh no it doesn't.  It has nothing to do with suits or mayfair or london even.
> It's about this depressed guy thinking he was dying from an incurable disease, and some bogus miracles.


 
Oh right. Sounds interesting. Odd they chose such a famous name, or is it based on a real person?


----------



## invisibleplanet (Jun 2, 2011)

Continuing my George Clooney season: Intolerable Cruelty. Hahaha. It was awful. Another of those films where I hated every single character, but found their corrupt, materialist-driven antics semi-amusing when observed from a safe distance. I know it's supposed to be comedy, but these sort of shallow, cliche-ridden ''relationship'' movies just make my nostrils flare.

I think that's an end to the short-lived Clooney season! 

Getting back to some proper fillums  I  plan to watch La Historia Oficial this weekend.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 2, 2011)

Step Brothers - funny, cheesy good old classic US comedy style. Better than a lot of the recent fare. On a par with The Hangover I'd say


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jun 2, 2011)

i watched even cowgirls get the blues


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jun 3, 2011)

Children of Men.

Watched it for the first time last night and really enjoyed it.  Some of the story was a bit naff in terms of being cliched (the paranoid terrorist group and immigration control thugs spring to mind),  but visually it was a realistic depiction of near-future Britain (more litter and a few more video screens).  



Spoiler: sorry



I particularly liked the one-take action scenes, from the earlier ambush in the woodland to the last one during the terrorist-instigated uprising in the refugee camp, where without pause main characters are matter of factly shot or blown up.  Much like the earlier glimpse of the possible fate (execution) of Pam Ferris' midwife character, when dragged away by immigration guards as the bus keeps going on its way to the camp.  There's a calm interlude too, allowing mother and child to escape, before a rocket hits a tank, triggering the resumption of carnage.



I'm probably going to get bashed because it's got Clive Owen in it.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 3, 2011)

*Heartless:* London-set, contract-with-the-devil horror. Odd, overlong but quite good in parts.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 3, 2011)

The Darjeeling LTD.

OK. Not too long and nicely enjoyable. 
Not worth a multiple re-watch like Rushmore.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 3, 2011)

The Fighter.

Very, very good.   Basically a real life Rocky but better.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 3, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Children of Men.
> 
> I'm probably going to get bashed because it's got Clive Owen in it.


 
Or because you've omitted to wrap that review in spoiler code....


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jun 3, 2011)

Aye, shit ... Sorry. 

I do like it very much though.  A good thriller.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jun 3, 2011)

"The Man Trap" - the first season episode of Star Trek (discounting the pilot and the episodes which were filmed before but shown after!) on blu-ray.

Plus a few extras including one excellent one about how they remastered the original print, the clarity is amazing, and also re-recorded the music using the original scoring etc..It all sounds and looks great. Jim Kirk's bare chest in HD. Fantastic!


----------



## TruXta (Jun 3, 2011)

invisibleplanet said:


> Continuing my George Clooney season: Intolerable Cruelty. Hahaha. It was awful. Another of those films where I hated every single character, but found their corrupt, materialist-driven antics semi-amusing when observed from a safe distance. I know it's supposed to be comedy, but these sort of shallow, cliche-ridden ''relationship'' movies just make my nostrils flare.
> 
> I think that's an end to the short-lived Clooney season!
> 
> Getting back to some proper fillums  I  plan to watch La Historia Oficial this weekend.


 
Did you see that one where he jets around firing people? Me gusta.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jun 3, 2011)

i watched finding forrester which i thought was pretty awesome, i like gus van sants films.


----------



## Voley (Jun 4, 2011)

The Black Swan. Not bad. Enjoyed the bits where Natalie Portman was going loopy. The fingernail bit is one of the cringiest things I've seen in a movie for years.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 4, 2011)

Love Exposure- Japanese film about religion, sex, family and knickers. Despite a running length of over 4 hours, it's quite watchable.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 4, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Love Exposure- Japanese film about religion, sex, family and knickers. Despite a running length of over 4 hours, it's quite watchable.


 
Quite watchable? It's fucking fantastic. Shows the limits of of other directors imagination right up.

And put a link in you lazy fucker.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 4, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Quite watchable? It's fucking fantastic. Shows the limits of of other directors imagination right up.
> 
> And put a link in you lazy fucker.


 
Goddam it, you trashed The Wayward Cloud and I enjoyed that, too. Ok, it's fucking fantastic, happy now?


----------



## ringo (Jun 6, 2011)

Nine - I take it back about Prince Of Persia, this is the worst film I'll see in 2011. Managed 35 minutes before the pretentious, over-blown storm of shite had to be abandoned. How did this get made?


----------



## Yetman (Jun 6, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Love Exposure- Japanese film about religion, sex, family and knickers. Despite a running length of over 4 hours, it's quite watchable.


 
Watched the first disc of this t'other night, wasnt what I expected!! Will maybe watch the other two soon, didnt grab me that much.

I also watched Tron Legacy last night, excellent visually but couldnt follow the story too well (havent seen the original though so....)


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 6, 2011)

Limitless - 
Pretty good.  Enjoyed it.  And liked the ending.


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 6, 2011)

ringo said:


> Nine - I take it back about Prince Of Persia, this is the worst film I'll see in 2011. Managed 35 minutes before the pretentious, over-blown storm of shite had to be abandoned. How did this get made?


 
Nine the musical or Nine the animation?
The animation is fantastic.  Agree if you meant the musical.


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 6, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh right. Sounds interesting. Odd they chose such a famous name, or is it based on a real person?


 
I don't know.
But I got annoyed by the predictable ending.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 6, 2011)

In a fit if drunken apathy I found myself watching 'what a girl wants' again. Now that really is the shittest film ever made. It's brainpoundingly bad in every way, so much so the torture is almost enjoyable.


----------



## ringo (Jun 6, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> Nine the musical or Nine the animation?
> The animation is fantastic.  Agree if you meant the musical.


 
The musical. Nobody told me it was a musical


----------



## moonsi til (Jun 6, 2011)

I watched Vinyan yesterday and thought it was total rubbish.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 6, 2011)

Just watched Eva remake film 2. 
Good.
Does not make anything mysterious as before though, everything is spelt out (when mentioned). Shame in a way but if you watched the TV series you would know anyway so it doesn't really matter.


----------



## marty21 (Jun 7, 2011)

22 Bullets - Jean Reno - mafia revenge type stuff - he's a retired head of a French gang - his life-long friend takes over - all is well until they decide to wipe out Jean Reno  and he is shot 22 times  but he doesn't die  horrah!! and sets out to wreak revenge 

I thought it was excellent - really enjoyed it - very violent


----------



## The Octagon (Jun 7, 2011)

Taken.

Hilariously shit 

I lost count of the amount of times me and my housemate shouted / laughed at the telly "Nooo, that's fucking stupid", etc.

And Maggie Grace appears to be aging backwards


----------



## 8115 (Jun 7, 2011)

Recently (not strictly last night)

Coraline.  Amazing, blown away, what a beautiful film
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.  I've seen it before, I really like this film anyway.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 8, 2011)

13 Assassins - Takashi Miike's fantastic remake of a rather underrated original from 1963. The best samurai film i've seen in years. Sticks largely to the classic plot but ramps everything up, not in the usual sort of OTT splatter way he does it, but in terms of effectiveness. The final 45 minutes is one of the best samurai battles ever filmed.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 8, 2011)

I want to see. I have been extremely disappointed in all his films of late which has put me off a bit but I have heard good things. 
Sukiyaki Western Dijango should have been AMAZING, on paper it had everything, sadly it was terribly lacking in most departments.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 8, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I want to see. I have been extremely disappointed in all his films of late which has put me off a bit but I have heard good things.
> Sukiyaki Western Dijango should have been AMAZING, on paper it had everything, sadly it was terribly lacking in most departments.


 
Easily his best in a long long time. This could easily, if marketed right, be (have been?) a huge mainstream success.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 8, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Step Brothers - funny, cheesy good old classic US comedy style. Better than a lot of the recent fare. On a par with The Hangover I'd say


 
Boats n' Hoes!
Step Brothers is a 1000 times better than The Hangover.
It's utterly stupid...one of me favs


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 8, 2011)

*Trailer Park Boys * - real good!! Dunno how I missed this one.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 8, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> First half of the movie was good.  But got annoying towards the end.


 
I always thought the 'wall' was some sort of a metaphor on why he doesn't let people in...
but according to critics, it's meant to be Christ - which I find annoying.


----------



## dlx1 (Jun 9, 2011)

Old film not seen for time. Running Man


----------



## dlx1 (Jun 9, 2011)

The Hanover 2
Lightharted rubbish


----------



## avu9lives (Jun 9, 2011)

*Anthony Zimmer* Wiv Sophie Marceau an Yvan Attal!  Wernt that bad a film imho Trundles along in an art house kinda way and there aint much action but it's Worth watchin just fer sophie's legs. Jesus she's a feckin stunner
Also been rewatchin the sopranos an Jennifer Melfi legs are seriously givin me the horn!  Good stuff if yer a leg fetish freak like me.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 9, 2011)

*Bruce Lee, My Brother* - 

Despite the terrible title and dodgy poster, this is a real good *non-martial arts *film.
Real beautiful sets and costumes (Hong Kong 1950s). Recommend.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 9, 2011)

A Serbian Film - actually quite a well shot and decent film even if the subject matter is fucked up.


----------



## smmudge (Jun 9, 2011)

Gandahar - surreal animated sci-fi from Laloux (of Fantastic Planet and Maitre du temps). Time travel, deformed human-like creatures, a big amorphous brain controlling killer robots that are taking over the planet. Class!


----------



## Badgers (Jun 12, 2011)

Not a dvd but been watching Craig Campbell on YouTube


----------



## Greebo (Jun 12, 2011)

Finally got round to watching Casino Royale.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 12, 2011)

I keep trying to watch kiss kiss bang bang but every time I stick it on I have been so drunk I can't remember what happens. I tried three times this week. I have no idea what it is about other than Val wotsit and iron man are in it. 
When I am watching it, it's boring because it all comes back to me as it happens, but then I wake up the next day and it's gone.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 12, 2011)

Greebo said:


> Finally got round to watching Casino Royale.


 
I only got 10 minutes into that before my finger fell on the off switch heavy with boredom.


----------



## blairsh (Jun 12, 2011)

Finally got round to watching *They Live*, very much enjoyed it and will attempt to watch it again slightly less pissed.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 12, 2011)

blairsh said:


> Finally got round to watching *They Live*, very much enjoyed it and will attempt to watch it again slightly less pissed.


 
Ooh, I have that. I have been meaning to watch it for ages.


----------



## blairsh (Jun 12, 2011)

You should, good bit of eighties fun


----------



## Greebo (Jun 12, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I only got 10 minutes into that before my finger fell on the off switch heavy with boredom.


 
It got better after the first 10 minutes or so.


----------



## Badgers (Jun 13, 2011)

Watched some of Spiral which is very good.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 13, 2011)

blairsh said:


> You should, good bit of eighties fun


 
I couldn't find it. Searched the house top to bottom in a mad fever. Then at 11pm when I did finally find it, I watched kiss kiss bang bang instead.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 13, 2011)

*Grandma's Boy* -

Was okay, too easy a concept on taking piss out of nerds.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 13, 2011)

*9*, the animated one. Had some great moments.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 13, 2011)

Oh I forgot, also saw *13 - Game of Death,* which was seriously shite.
Real bad, terrible acting, shit music and lame execution of an average story.

Fuckin' worse Thai film I have seen.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Jun 13, 2011)

watched the human centipede it was well shit.


----------



## chazegee (Jun 13, 2011)

The good the bad and the ugly, massive.
And Eyes Wide shut...."You have the password for entry, but what is the password for the house?"
"Suck my balls?"
Still shit.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 13, 2011)

*Predators:* Better than those dreadful AvP films but not a patch on the Arnie and Danny Glover films. How about a film that concentrates on the Predators themselves and doesn't include dull, cliched human characters at all?


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jun 13, 2011)

Busy with The Winter's Tale on Friday and Saturday evenings so kept watching bits of films which we had seen before, wouldn't demand too much attention  and that Mr. QofG's could to go to sleep to!

Half of "LOTR: The Return of the King"...impressive battle scenes but dear god it does go on.

Most of "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" - Hayden Christiensen is utter, utter shit. In fact so shit I am going to have to say it again. Utter shit!

Most of "Star Trek: The Voyage Home" - I love it, plus get quite tearful at the end when they fly out over the Enterprise and you see NCC-1701 A 

All of "Con Air" - fucking great


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 16, 2011)

*Beerfest *- silly comedy in the same vain as Dodgeball. Decent pace and pretty good (then, I do have a shit sense of humour).


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 16, 2011)

They Live - Enjoyable tosh. I wish more modern movies had this easy, short (and dare I say throwaway?) flair.

A scanner darkly.  Some good performances but I don't think it worked as a whole and the rotoscoping just seemed pointless.


----------



## avu9lives (Jun 16, 2011)

*The Adjustment Bureau *Cunt get into it at all! To feckin cheesey fer my likin. Kept waitin fer him to do a bourne an start sum mad car chase or beat a few people up...
An the women want worth the hassle anyway/ i mean who would wait 3 years to try an bump in to some skinny chick again wiv puppy dog eyes! Not me thats fer sure!!


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 16, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> They Live - Enjoyable tosh. I wish more modern movies had this easy, short (and dare I say throwaway?) flair.


 
That was a real cool film when I was a teen.
Scared to watch it now in case it's really shit.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 19, 2011)

*Paul:* thoroughly enjoyed every daft, geeky minute of it.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 20, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> *Paul:* thoroughly enjoyed every daft, geeky minute of it.


 
Meeeeeeh. Had some good parts, but not a patch on SotD or even Hot Wotsits.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 20, 2011)

Hot Fuzz was shit. 
And wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaayy toooooo looooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggg.


----------



## lolo (Jun 20, 2011)

The Hole - scary up to the last few minutes when I just went Mah! but kudos for proper scary clown puppet jobby


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jun 20, 2011)

"X-2" - for about the third or fourth time! Best of the X-Men films that I have seen (haven't seen the most recent one yet) and perfect undemanding Sunday evening entertainment. Plus Ian McKellan is a star!


----------



## TruXta (Jun 20, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Hot Fuzz was shit.
> And wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaayy toooooo looooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggg.


 
Still better than Paul. A bit long, true.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 20, 2011)

lolo said:


> The Hole - scary up to the last few minutes when I just went Mah! but kudos for proper scary clown puppet jobby



Not bad for a kids film, all the horror cliches in one.

Started re-watching Braking Bad in preparation for the new series.


----------



## starfish (Jun 20, 2011)

Finally got round to watching Grave of the Fireflies. Magnificent film, beautiful animation, wonderful story but incredibly sad.


----------



## Jackobi (Jun 21, 2011)

Hanna

Considering the synopsis on IMDB, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Some good cinematography and an excellent soundtrack, I was looking for a Bourne Supremacy fix, but this film is nothing like it. Worth a watch.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 21, 2011)

SUPER

Makes kickarse look like american pie in the genre of 'comedy' not actually 'super' heros. 
Brilliant stuff, the dark dark turn it takes towards the end is brilliantly offset against the (fantastic) cartoon dance intro.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 21, 2011)

starfish said:


> Finally got round to watching Grave of the Fireflies. Magnificent film, beautiful animation, wonderful story but incredibly sad.


 
I have only seen it once and don't think I will be ever able to watch it again. It's just too much. Oddly it was originally screened as a double feature with Totoro. Can you imagine taking your kids to see Totoro but having to watch that first? Geez.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 21, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> SUPER
> 
> Makes kickarse look like american pie in the genre of 'comedy' not actually 'super' heros.
> Brilliant stuff, the dark dark turn it takes towards the end is brilliantly offset against the (fantastic) cartoon dance intro.


 
Actually, thinking about it, super stamps all over kick arse. I know they are not really the same sort of film, but I can't help thinking kick arse, which is supposed to be 'dark', just seems like hollywood slop now. I will have to give it another watch I guess. 
Maybe I just feel a little bit affected by the 'turning point' at the end of super. Bit of a sideways slap that as it descended became quite difficult to watch. 

"Shut up crime!"


----------



## starfish (Jun 21, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I have only seen it once and don't think I will be ever able to watch it again. It's just too much. Oddly it was originally screened as a double feature with Totoro. Can you imagine taking your kids to see Totoro but having to watch that first? Geez.



Id seen snippets of it before but never watched all it all the way through. As you say it would be difficult to watch again.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 22, 2011)

Try Barefoot Gen next.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 22, 2011)

Finished _The Iron Giant_ last night. Every bit as good as I hoped it would be.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 22, 2011)

Watched Enter the Void properly this time. Fucking brilliant.

Oh and watched some of Sanctum. What an absolute crock of steaming horse pat that is. Nice one Cameron you Hollywood slag.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jun 22, 2011)

*Reno 911!: Miami * - 

fuckin' shit.


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 22, 2011)

*Fringe*, season 3, ep 22 - the last episode!
It's getting real interesting.
Peter disappears just like that.  Can't wait for season 4!


----------



## Motown_ben (Jun 25, 2011)

just watched that newish nightmare on elmstreet remake, what a pile of shit that was. I had low expectations but still .....


----------



## Dr. Furface (Jun 25, 2011)

Zodiac - the David Fincher film. I saw it when it came out but it was worth watching again.


----------



## gavman (Jun 25, 2011)

the Rite

quite enjoyed this. genuinely unsettling


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 25, 2011)

*Skyline:* I love alien invasion films and this is sort of Cloverfield meets War Of The Worlds. It had some terrible reviews but I rather enjoyed every ridiculous, deranged minute of it. The creatures are particularly effective and the ending's utterly fucking bonkers.

Also saw around two thirds of action-stuffed spy-thriller *Salt* (someone came to the door so I had to turn it off). Plot-wise it's so 'out there' it makes Luther look like Cranford. Angelina Jolie's in it and I'm not sure I've ever seen a film in which the lead actor or actress has so few lines (not even Arnie, Vin or JCVD).


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jun 26, 2011)

Utter insanity that is totally enjoyable.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jun 26, 2011)

Kill the Irishman - Based on true story about Danny Green Cleveland mobster in the 70's


----------



## marty21 (Jun 26, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Runaways_(film)

The Runaways - it looked good, but it was a bit grim tbh


----------



## miniGMgoit (Jun 26, 2011)

I watched Bronson last night. Not heard of the film before. Quite good, low budget and all but yeah.






I also watched all 3 "Bourne" films yesterday. What can I say, I was hungover.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 26, 2011)

I loved Bronson and thought Tom Hardy was incredible in it. No wonder he's so in demand these days.


----------



## chazegee (Jun 26, 2011)

The other guys.

Ferrell is back in a big way.


----------



## marty21 (Jun 26, 2011)

'Rome, Open City' 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome,_Open_City

another grim one - very good though -


----------



## madzone (Jun 26, 2011)

Enemy of the State.


----------



## tufty79 (Jun 27, 2011)

The end of bored to death season two, the beginning of life on mars series two, a couple of episodes of the sweeney, with hilarious consequences (and brian blessed exploding and inspector morse jumping out of a van, could life get any better? Many thanks to my annoyance  )


----------



## miniGMgoit (Jun 27, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I loved Bronson and thought Tom Hardy was incredible in it. No wonder he's so in demand these days.


 
It was very good and made me chuckle a fair bit. I liked the way it viewed a bit like a play. Hardy was very good too, thoroughly believable.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 27, 2011)

*Scott Pilgrim vs The World:* Not as profoundly annoying as the graphic novel series that spawned it but definitely in the same ball park.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jun 27, 2011)

A story about the union coming to West Virginia coal mining communities in the Twenties. Even with Sayles' standard moralistic hyperbole, it's a good film telling an interesting story.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Jun 27, 2011)

I watched the Wild And Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia today.
I know people like them here in Darwin


----------



## belboid (Jun 27, 2011)

a pleasant weekend of films.

Kid over, so started with Tangled, which ws much better than i feared it might be, and made me laugh several times.

Beat is the Law - Fanfare for the Common People. Part 2 of a film on the Sheffield music scene after the Cabs, or so they claimed.  Actually it was just the same as part one by and large, just with more Pulp. The Pulp ws jolly nice tho.

The Philadelphia Story.  Ages since I've seen this, I'd forgotten just how good it was, cracking film.

Biutiful. Well, that was cheery. Magnificent performance from Bardem, fuck knows what all that talking to the dead bollocks was aobut tho


----------



## pianissimo (Jun 27, 2011)

*Wait Until Dark*






Fantastic performance by Audrey Hepburn.


----------



## starfish (Jun 27, 2011)

A Town called Panic (Panique au village). Probably one of the most bizarre but most fun films ive ever watched.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 27, 2011)

starfish said:


> A Town called Panic (Panique au village). Probably one of the most bizarre but most fun films ive ever watched.


 
It's awesome isn't it, went straight to the top of my list (or somewhere abouts). First time I watched it, I watched it straight after again, and then the next day. The only other film I have done that with recently (well I watched half again and then watched it the next day) was 'super' I think.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 27, 2011)

starfish said:


> A Town called Panic (Panique au village). Probably one of the most bizarre but most fun films ive ever watched.


 
It's awesome isn't it, went straight to the top of my list (or somewhere abouts). First time I watched it, I watched it straight after again, and then the next day. The only other film I have done that with recently (well I watched half again and then watched it the next day) was 'super' I think.


----------



## starfish (Jun 27, 2011)

It wasnt just the story but the voices that kept cracking me up. Hope ive not deleted it.

Think ill have to give Super a go soon. Love Rainn Wilson, he is fantastic in The American Office.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 28, 2011)

starfish said:


> Think ill have to give Super a go soon. Love Rainn Wilson, he is fantastic in The American Office.


 
I thought he would be like that, but he is very different. Super sort of got panned, but mostly for being a one joke film that wasn't as good or stylish as Kickass. Personally I think it shits all over kickass, it's a very different film and not actually overtly a comedy at all. Certainly as it progresses towards the end it hits levels of darkness that make a 12 year old saying 'cunt' whose father gets burned to death seem like hollywood smaltz.


----------



## gavman (Jun 29, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> *Skyline:* I love alien invasion films and this is sort of Cloverfield meets War Of The Worlds. It had some terrible reviews but I rather enjoyed every ridiculous, deranged minute of it. The creatures are particularly effective and the ending's utterly fucking bonkers.
> 
> Also saw around two thirds of action-stuffed spy-thriller *Salt* (someone came to the door so I had to turn it off). Plot-wise it's so 'out there' it makes Luther look like Cranford. Angelina Jolie's in it and I'm not sure I've ever seen a film in which the lead actor or actress has so few lines (not even Arnie, Vin or JCVD).


 
i really enjoyed skyline for the same reasons you did. spectacle, monsters, all of that. looking forward to trollhunter fot the same


----------



## gavman (Jun 29, 2011)

last night watched 'the experiment'
brilliant, and truly cathartic for anyone who has ever been beaten by cops. or just casually abused


----------



## tufty79 (Jun 29, 2011)

(again )


----------



## chazegee (Jun 29, 2011)

Enter the void. Utterly unique with very believable characters.
Occasionally drags a bit in a way that 2001 Space Odyssey does, but that's all part of the trip right?
Very good indeed.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 29, 2011)

I love Enter the Void, watched it again last week. And yes, Skyline's ending is fucking brilliant


----------



## dlx1 (Jun 30, 2011)

On film4 Flash point (subs) tho


----------



## Ozric (Jun 30, 2011)

Due Date, not bad...quite funny wouldn't rush to watch it again.


----------



## stethoscope (Jul 1, 2011)

Stonehenge - A Midsummer Night Rock Show.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 2, 2011)

Skyline.

Did I watch that right?


----------



## andy2002 (Jul 3, 2011)

*Four Lions:* Not quite as hilarious as I was hoping but some great lines ("Dogs contradict Islam") and the odd moment of brilliance.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 3, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Skyline.
> 
> Did I watch that right?


 
I watched the end again. 
What a strange film. I think in general it's a bit rubbish. I suppose it's quite interesting though seeing a crisis like this from one point of view, it just felt a little lacking and I thought the aliens were crap, more crazy CGI rubbish. 
But the last five minutes?? Quite a strange idea but better than a happy ending that our 'heros' could have no way have had a part in.


----------



## tufty79 (Jul 3, 2011)




----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jul 4, 2011)

"The Transporter 2" - not as bad as "The Expendables" is the only good thing I can say about it!


----------



## heinous seamus (Jul 4, 2011)

Started watching Cinema Paradiso last night, quite a long film so gonna watch the rest tonight


----------



## white-trash (Jul 4, 2011)

I watched scarface last night and got bored after about half hour, but then again i'm not one to sit still and watch a film all the way through. Apparently its a really good film, i wouldn't know as i never finished watching it.


----------



## heinous seamus (Jul 6, 2011)

heinous seamus said:


> Started watching Cinema Paradiso last night, quite a long film so gonna watch the rest tonight


 
Finished it now, brought a few tears to the eye


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jul 7, 2011)

Film version of Coogan/Brydon's The Trip, I watched the series but this still made me laugh. They kept most of the best bits (although they'd chopped the "hello I'm Holbeck Gryll" bit  ) and seemed to have less emphasis on the food. Didn't seem to be any extra footage apart from a few shots but still worth watching if you liked the series.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 7, 2011)

Dr who the web planet. 

Brilliantly laughable aliens (that no amount to Vaseline in the lens can cure) and slow vintage who pacing. Yawn. 
In episode two Hartnell gets the hump because they started 15 minutes late and he is worried he won't catch his train. 
I managed to get four episodes in before discovering that there are actually 6 or (8?). Jesus, it's painful stuff.


----------



## dynamicbaddog (Jul 8, 2011)

fruitella its a badman  sweet, you get me?


----------



## dlx1 (Jul 8, 2011)

The Score 

Robert De Niro & Edward Norton


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 9, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It's awesome isn't it, went straight to the top of my list (or somewhere abouts). First time I watched it, I watched it straight after again, and then the next day. The only other film I have done that with recently (well I watched half again and then watched it the next day) was 'super' I think.




Oh wow, I didn't realize it had not even been on at the cinema here. It's on now people, you should go and see it.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jul 10, 2011)

"Monsters" - not sure what to make of it tbh, it kept my attention, I enjoyed ti while watching it, it was thoughtful but ultimately left me feeling a little empty


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 10, 2011)

three episodes of boardwalk empire. Like.


----------



## Part 2 (Jul 10, 2011)

Rewatching Breaking Bad...just over a week to go to the new series


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 10, 2011)

*Doc Savage* The Man of Bronze!  Feck batman. Feck spiderman!  Infact feck all superheros!  This guys the real deal!  He is after all The man of Brooooooonze.  Great stuff,.k;l


----------



## 8115 (Jul 11, 2011)

Watched most of The Big Sleep the other day, need to finish it.  Even so, what a great film.


----------



## marty21 (Jul 11, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_the_Cities

Alice in the Cities - 70s Road movie directed by Wim Wenders - Excellent.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 11, 2011)

Carey Mulligan in "An Education". Great actress.


----------



## gavman (Jul 11, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "The Transporter 2" - not as bad as "The Expendables" is the only good thing I can say about it!


 
i don't think anything could be as bad as 'the expendables'. that's gone down as the worst fillum i've ever watched the first ten minutes of


----------



## gavman (Jul 11, 2011)

dynamicbaddog said:


> fruitella its a badman  sweet, you get me?




i quite enjoyed this.
you could say i watched it by mistake; i swore to never watch another film featuring any of the cast of adulthood / kidulthood gangster wannabes, chief suspect being the guy playing the lead in this one. perhaps it was all the familiar ladbroke grove landscapes, but i really found this to be in a different league, much better written, performed and directed


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 11, 2011)

Densha Otoko
Not good, still it was never going to be easy adapting threads on a forum into a film.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 11, 2011)

Killing Bono

For the first ten minutes it looked so promising, and then it was absolute rubbish. Surprised to see Clement and La Frenais were involved with this.


----------



## starfish (Jul 11, 2011)

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Was alright, had a few funny bits.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 11, 2011)

starfish said:


> Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Was alright, had a few funny bits.


 
I watched that on a plane with my daughter. Not anywhere near as bad as I had expected.


----------



## Part 2 (Jul 11, 2011)

One of the better kids films of the last few years IMO


----------



## 8115 (Jul 12, 2011)

starfish said:


> Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Was alright, had a few funny bits.


 
I love that film, could watch it over and over again.


----------



## jodal (Jul 13, 2011)

_Curb Your Enthusiasm_, first ep of new season.

Night before last I watched _Ordinary People_ (dir: Robert Redford). Genuinely loved it despite some soppy, over-the-top moments.


----------



## stethoscope (Jul 13, 2011)

Les Valseuses.


----------



## dlx1 (Jul 13, 2011)

The Darjeeling Limited


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 13, 2011)

I was fairly underwhelmed by the Darjeeling Limited. 
It's not a bad film but I think I am just waiting for another Rushmore from him.


----------



## Yetman (Jul 13, 2011)

The Killing Fields, which was alright. Eurotrip, with Vinnie Jones, which I somehow got confused with Hostel


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 14, 2011)

The Killing Fields has shite Coca-Cola product placement, with the baddies attacking a bottling plant. 

About 5:40.



I don't like Oldfield's score either.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 14, 2011)

Recently, I watched Andrei Konchalovksy’s 1965 film adaptation of Chingiz Aitmatov’s novel _The First Teacher_. 

Basically, it's 1923 and an overenthusiastic but superficially Bolshevised Red Army veteran, demobilised after the Communist victory in the Russian Civil War, struggles with ridicule and distrust at the hands of villagers in his native Kyrgyzstan, where's he's been sent to do propaganda work.

The opening scene:



At his makeshift 'school,' he points to a portrait, telling his little pupils, who're a world away from what's been going on elsewhere, 'Here is Lenin, leader of the world proletariat.'


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 14, 2011)

Saigon - not the best of the Ladd/Lake pairings but still good. Lake as great as always.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 14, 2011)

Hawaii 5 O guest starring a rather wooden P Diddy


----------



## Yetman (Jul 14, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> The Killing Fields has shite Coca-Cola product placement, with the baddies attacking a bottling plant.
> 
> About 5:40.
> 
> ...




Oh god yeah there rarely goes by a scene without someone drinking a bottle of coke. Middle of the warzone, everyones starving, dead people everywhere but at least there's cool refreshing coke to drink 

The score is dodgy as well, some bits work well, but the more adventurous and experimental bits either do your head in or just dont fit.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 15, 2011)

The Class, French school film, very good.


----------



## fishfinger (Jul 15, 2011)

Harakiri

Wow! I don't know why I haven't seen this one before. If you're a fan of "Bushido" films, or just enjoy a good story it's well worth a watch.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 15, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Oh god yeah there rarely goes by a scene without someone drinking a bottle of coke. Middle of the warzone, everyones starving, dead people everywhere but at least there's cool refreshing coke to drink
> 
> The score is dodgy as well, some bits work well, but the more adventurous and experimental bits either do your head in or just dont fit.


 

Surely the Coke thing is a metaphor for American Imperialism?


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 15, 2011)

Idris2002 said:


> Surely the Coke thing is a metaphor for American Imperialism?



So Joffe had to 'work' with the product placement (which is what it was) somehow?  Still looks shit.


----------



## smmudge (Jul 15, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Oh god yeah there rarely goes by a scene without someone drinking a bottle of coke. Middle of the warzone, everyones starving, dead people everywhere but at least there's cool refreshing coke to drink


 
This is pretty much how the world will end imo.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 16, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> So Joffe had to 'work' with the product placement (which is what it was) somehow?  Still looks shit.


 
Um, actually I was joking about the metaphor thing. . .


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 16, 2011)

That documentary on the Camorra. Tragic stuff but uplifting to see that girl who's mother was killed, really get involved, trying to make a difference.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 16, 2011)

Idris2002 said:


> Um, actually I was joking about the metaphor thing. . .



John Lennon's Imagine gets played at the end, as well.  The bloke is a genius.

On another note though, the hack Schanberg is made to look like some kind of hero, but his associate Al Rockoff (played by that twat Malkovich), hates his guts in real life, doesn't he?  But they do drink some Pepsi cola together, at a French restaurant if I remember correctly.  I'm not sure if that's a realistic portrayal of their professional/personal relationship, though.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 16, 2011)

Hobo with a Shotgun - Just didn't hold my attention, I'll try and watch it again sometime


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 16, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> That documentary on the Camorra. Tragic stuff but uplifting to see that girl who's mother was killed, really get involved, trying to make a difference.


 
Gommorah?


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 16, 2011)

A terrible Hong Kong drama series entitles A Fistful of Stances...brain rot.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jul 17, 2011)

"Starship Troopers" on Blu-Ray with the god of acting that is Michael Ironside!


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 17, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> John Lennon's Imagine gets played at the end, as well.  The bloke is a genius.
> 
> On another note though, the hack Schanberg is made to look like some kind of hero, but his associate Al Rockoff (played by that twat Malkovich), hates his guts in real life, doesn't he?  But they do drink some Pepsi cola together, at a French restaurant if I remember correctly.  I'm not sure if that's a realistic portrayal of their professional/personal relationship, though.



International press bods tend to be alpha males who resent rivals to their alphadom. If you want to know what's really going on, talk to the snappers.

Also, just found this on a New Zealand blog: the NZ govt's attitude to recognition of Democratic Kampuchea;

http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/1999/NZJH_33_2_05.pdf


----------



## 8115 (Jul 17, 2011)

Biutiful.  It's good but it's a bit long so I haven't finished it yet.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 17, 2011)

Night of the Demon.

Excellent 50s british horror. Highly recommended


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 17, 2011)

jeff_leigh said:


> Gommorah?


 
No. I've that recorded. I think it was "Italy's Bloodiest Mafia"


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 17, 2011)

Idris2002 said:


> International press bods tend to be alpha males who resent rivals to their alphadom. If you want to know what's really going on, talk to the snappers.
> 
> Also, just found this on a New Zealand blog: the NZ govt's attitude to recognition of Democratic Kampuchea;
> 
> http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/1999/NZJH_33_2_05.pdf



Rockoff risked his life documenting battles, and saw Schanberg as a bit of a coward.

Thanks for the article on the NZ gov holding its nose.


----------



## Callie (Jul 18, 2011)

Not a dvd or video but currently watching (reading!) Scenes from a marriage on Film4. I quite like it in a slightly backwards manner.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 18, 2011)

Killing Bono - Nice movie


----------



## andy2002 (Jul 18, 2011)

*Black Swan:* Probably not quite as clever as it thinks it is, but enjoyable and fairly gripping all the same. Natalie Portman - who has made so many terrible movies I've lost count - is surprisingly good.


----------



## 8115 (Jul 18, 2011)

Just finished watching Biutiful.  What a beautiful, amazing film.


----------



## Zabo (Jul 19, 2011)

_Atunci i-am condamnat pe toti la moarte _or _Then I Sentenced Them All to Death_

Not too bad a story but totally ruined by poor technical quality. Wrong music in wrong places. It sounded like they'd borrowed it from various 1960's t.v. series. And then there was the camerwork(?). I measure all films against the work of Roger Deakins or Robbie Mueller. The person who did this should be shot. It was a first in my lifetime to see a man nodding his head and the camera nodding in unison with him.

What a pity it could have been so enjoyable in a Romanian kind of way.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 19, 2011)

Paul - Better than I expected. Gentle comedy, fine for a night  in. 
X- men first class. - I'm liking Bacon as a baddy lately after this and 'super'. Just about the first over long film that didn't wear out my arse. Just enough zaps and fights to  make it an action film but plenty of personal relationships that put it head and shoulders above it's peers. You can't get too deep because it's a film about super powers but it would have been nice to know there was a bit more to to Prof X and Magneto to give them the 'old friend' status they seem to have. This made it feel more like 'summer friends' who were pretty much always at odds. Magneto thought the way he did pretty much from the off for no real reason, in fact the only real reason he was given was right at the end of the film. I enjoyed Raven (who by the way had far more reason to be prof Xs 'old friend' seeing as she is actually his oldest friend). 
Anyway, an enjoyable jaunt.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 19, 2011)

Zabo said:


> _Atunci i-am condamnat pe toti la moarte _or _Then I Sentenced Them All to Death_
> 
> Not too bad a story but totally ruined by poor technical quality. Wrong music in wrong places. It sounded like they'd borrowed it from various 1960's t.v. series. And then there was the camerwork(?). I measure all films against the work of Roger Deakins or Robbie Mueller. The person who did this should be shot. It was a first in my lifetime to see a man nodding his head and the camera nodding in unison with him.
> 
> What a pity it could have been so enjoyable in a Romanian kind of way.



Wtf are you talking about, it's a stone cold classic. One of the best commentaries on complicity and collective responsibility ever made. It's not about a 'story'.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 20, 2011)

Never Let me Go

On one hand one of the most depressing film's that I have ever watched , on the other hand beautiful in its unrelenting hopelessness


----------



## Badgers (Jul 20, 2011)

Tapping The Wire with Charlie Brooker


----------



## mentalchik (Jul 20, 2011)

Limitless - found it a bit dull tbh
The Adjustment Bureau - meh
The Rite - Athony Hopkins makes a good jesuit


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 20, 2011)

Ok, watched Gomorrah. It was compelling but I'm still not sure whether I "like" it. I get it but the characters aren't (for the most) endearing.


----------



## pianissimo (Jul 20, 2011)

The39thStep said:


> Never Let me Go
> 
> On one hand one of the most depressing film's that I have ever watched , on the other hand beautiful in its unrelenting hopelessness


 
I really enjoyed it.  It's delivered in a quite a subtle manner.  Beautiful film.


----------



## belboid (Jul 20, 2011)

It does look good, but couldn't really ever get over the basic problem of - why dont you just fucking run away???


----------



## pianissimo (Jul 20, 2011)

They were conditioned not to I'd have thought.


----------



## belboid (Jul 20, 2011)

yeah, but that was never really convincing, imo. Goes against every basic animal instinct.


----------



## Zabo (Jul 20, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Wtf are you talking about, it's a stone cold classic. One of the best commentaries on complicity and collective responsibility ever made. It's not about a 'story'.



You don't half talk bollocks - hence 81,963 posts. The collective and complicit responsibility was the narrative and it was nonetheless a story unless of course you have a unique way of defining 'story'. I note you have no rejection of the appalling technical quality.

As for classic..? Well indeed. Yet more dubious criteria. 4 totally objective Romanian reviews on IMDB and one external Romanian review. Very little elsewhere on the net.

Keep within your 81,963 post fence and talk about what you know - very little regards 'classic' films.

If you get the time between posting maybe you'd like to dig out a critique from somebody versed in classic cinema.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 20, 2011)

belboid said:


> It does look good, but couldn't really ever get over the basic problem of - why dont you just fucking run away???


 
Running away from 'growing up?'
(stages of life - childhood to death).


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 20, 2011)

I've watched a couple. The one that sticks out is a documentary called 'Inside Job'. It's about the financial crash of 2008. 

I'd call it a must-see. I think it helps people to understand their actual place in the world, which is as fodder, or product. Something of a lesser order to a Jersey milk cow penned up in a barn with vacuum pumps attached to its udders.

I knew about the easy credit, the sub prime mortgages etc.  What I didn't know about was 'collateralized debt obligations', a financial instrument that allowed the big financial houses to make a profit on the failures and defaults. In other words, as things got worse, they made more money.

The big question after watching this sort of thing is, 'why are none of these Wall Street types in jail'? I suppose maybe it's naive to even entertain that as a real possibility.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 20, 2011)

rubbershoes said:


> Night of the Demon.
> 
> Excellent 50s british horror. Highly recommended



Yes, indeed.   Great film.


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 21, 2011)

*Mission Impossible 3*

Utterly forgettable, and the ending was tied up far too quickly, both main villains were dispatched rubbishly.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman did make a surprisingly threatening bad guy though.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jul 21, 2011)

Beneath Hill 60 - about Australians in tunnels in WWI - pretty good.
The Tunnel - about Australians in tunnels in 2011 - pretty meh, kind of similar to The Descent but with less ladies.


----------



## 8115 (Jul 21, 2011)

Sean of the Dead


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jul 21, 2011)

Currently watching Star Trek: TOS "City on the Edge of Forever". Edith Keeler must die


----------



## stethoscope (Jul 22, 2011)

Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads (cheers Ska!)


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 22, 2011)

Episode 20 of Fistful of Stances - TVB going mad, I'm Cantoed-out. Brain is dying...


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 22, 2011)

Let the bullets fly  - this is how action comedy drama is done. 20s  warllord China , yojimbo, brains


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 22, 2011)

The French Connection again for the first time in decades.

Spoiler: the drug dealers win.


----------



## 8115 (Jul 22, 2011)

Cat on a hot tin roof.

Really really good.


----------



## pianissimo (Jul 24, 2011)

A documentary on after the nuclear experiments on Kazakhstan by the Soviet Union.

*After the Apocalypse* on 4OD:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/after-the-apocalypse/4od#3212191

The medical check/consulting scenes with that so-called doctor were just horrid.  Lots of WTF moments on the 'genetic passport' scheme (to stop women with 'bad' genes from getting pregnant and giving births).


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 24, 2011)

Ah, yes - Polygon.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 24, 2011)

I am number four - was OK


----------



## marty21 (Jul 24, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainsbourg_(Vie_héroïque)

Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)

Bio pic about Serge Gainsbourg - enjoyed it, based on a graphic novel, so not a typical bio-pic


----------



## dynamicbaddog (Jul 24, 2011)

A Serbian Film.
Not as gross as  the hype suggested but not exactly easy on the eye either


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 25, 2011)

*Rosy Business* - HK period drama. Surprisingly addictive.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 25, 2011)

Tell No-one - French thriller. Magnificent.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 25, 2011)

12.08 East of Bucharest, another good Romanian film.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 25, 2011)

The Adjustment Bureau- very light weight and a travesty of a Philip K Dick story


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 25, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Tell No-one - French thriller. Magnificent.


 
An excellent film . I got a copy of a new French thriller 'Point Blank' last night which is supposed to be as good.


----------



## ringo (Jul 26, 2011)

Shutter Island. OK, but not one of Scorcese's best.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 26, 2011)

*Divorcing Jack*

Piss-poor British crime film from the late 90s that only got the funds because of  people's addiction to scratch cards.

Loved the book. Hated the film. Thewlis is a one-tic actor.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 26, 2011)

The39thStep said:


> An excellent film . I got a copy of a new French thriller 'Point Blank' last night which is supposed to be as good.


 
Oooh, not a remake of the remake?


----------



## TruXta (Jul 26, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Let the bullets fly  - this is how action comedy drama is done. 20s  warllord China , yojimbo, brains


 
Saw it last night, thought it was a bit overlong, but all around very enjoyable. Strangely fast editing for such a long film. Loved those sequences where they did the same thing over and over and over. And of course, great stunt work.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 26, 2011)

Episode 21 of *Rosy Business* - 
Fuckin' Awesome!! Addictive shit. Can't believe it's so good!


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 27, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Oooh, not a remake of the remake?


 
No. same title but new film


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 27, 2011)

ringo said:


> Shutter Island. OK, but not one of Scorcese's best.


 
I really liked that but the ending was too drawn out


----------



## Kippa (Jul 27, 2011)

Just watched 'Die Hard' in HD 1080p for the first time last night, it was amazing.  It is nice to see good transfers of old films to HD working out alright.  It is one of those sort of films that you can watch over and over again and never get bored of it.  Whilst we are on the subject of Scorcese, his classic film 'The Conversation' is going to be released on BluRay.  Personally I think that 'The Conversation' is Scorcese's best work to date, it isn't well known as his other works but that movie is a masterpiece.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 27, 2011)

imposs1904 said:


> *Divorcing Jack*
> 
> Piss-poor British crime film from the late 90s that only got the funds because of  people's addiction to scratch cards.
> 
> Loved the book. Hated the film. Thewlis is a one-tic actor.



A friend of mine is an extra in one of the crowd scenes, though I've never been able to pick her out. It's not as bad a film as 'Cycle of Violence', but you've got a point about Thewlis. His performance as a comedy Provie in Mr. Nice was Stage Irishry of a type I thought had gone from this world.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 27, 2011)

Inception. 

They get in your dreams, but how? Ok I guess that doesn't really matter, it's already about five hours long, lets not waste any more time. 
I dunno, fairly entertaining jaunt, but I still gave up half way though.


----------



## r0bb0 (Jul 27, 2011)

dylan dog: dead of night! Dum film, good film name


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 28, 2011)

The39thStep said:


> An excellent film . I got a copy of a new French thriller 'Point Blank' last night which is supposed to be as good.


Made by the same bloke that directed "Anything For Her" isn't it?


----------



## Termite Man (Jul 28, 2011)

I watched Splice last night. It's a very good film but the ending seemed like they either didn't know how to finish the film or did know but chickened out of it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 28, 2011)

Finished the last episode of *Rosy Business *and I can't believed I cried to some fuckin' Cantonese cheesy shit.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 28, 2011)

Saw *Super*, about this bloke that goes on a vigilante mission from God. Alright I suppose, albeit a bit uneven.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 29, 2011)

Just watched Red Cliff

Great battle sequences.  Didn't have the slightest idea who was fighting who most of the them, but it was an enjoyable watch


http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002GDM2S2/ref=asc_df_B002GDM2S23782088?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B002GDM2S2


----------



## rekil (Jul 29, 2011)

Kuhle Wampe. 1932 Brecht scripted film about a Berlin family who get evicted and go live in a lakeside camp similar to the Hoovervilles in the US. Contains suicide, pregnancy, heavy drinking and the like.  On google video here (with massive subs.)

The Dawns Here are Quiet. - Beautifully shot 1972 soviet ww2 film about members of a female antiaircraft unit that set out to capture two german paratroopers. 

Miracle At St. Anna. - An expensive Spike Lee shambles. Quite possibly one of the worst war films ever made.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 29, 2011)

copliker said:


> Wuhle Kampe. 1932 Brecht scripted film about a Berlin family who get evicted and go live in a lakeside camp similar to the Hoovervilles in the US. Contains suicide, pregnancy, heavy drinking and the like. On google video here with massive subs.
> 
> The Dawns Here are Quiet. - Beautifully shot 1972 soviet ww2 film about members of a female antiaircraft unit that set out to capture two german paratroopers.
> 
> Miracle At St. Anna. - An expensive Spike Lee shambles. Quite possibly one of the worst war films ever made.


 
KPD funded the first. Second great. Third i agree.


----------



## rekil (Jul 29, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> KPD funded the first.


Gah, you replied before I could fix the glaring spelling error. Expected they did yeah. What was the story behind the censorship. Might as well mention Our Own and Cuckoo. Two quality recentish Russian ww2 ones.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 29, 2011)

The director of The Cuckoo also made a bleak Glasnost-era film called , which is worth checking out.   It's about Russian conscript soldiers brutalising each other while escorting priosners on a train.  Nothing much happens, apart from the soldiers' boredom broken by really petty and nasty bullying.  The cramped conditions of the train add to the horrible atmosphere.


----------



## rekil (Jul 29, 2011)

Ta, I'll make a note of it, but I've got cramped conditions and horrible atmosphere coming out my ears atm.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 29, 2011)

Fair enough.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 29, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Just watched Red Cliff
> 
> Great battle sequences.  Didn't have the slightest idea who was fighting who most of the them, but it was an enjoyable watch
> 
> ...


 
Which version did you see?
The two part one (5 hours) or the 2.5 hour edited feature?


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jul 29, 2011)

Started *No Regrets* (kinda like a *Rosy Business* part 2).
I left the room after episode 3. It was good but with such period dramas, I'd need to invest a good 35 hours of my life just to watch it.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jul 29, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Just watched Red Cliff
> 
> Great battle sequences.  Didn't have the slightest idea who was fighting who most of the them, but it was an enjoyable watch
> 
> ...


 


100% masahiko said:


> Which version did you see?
> The two part one (5 hours) or the 2.5 hour edited feature?


 
Great film - we are half way through the two part version....anhhh..Takashi Kaneshiro *heaves bosum and sighs"


----------



## belboid (Jul 29, 2011)

I've Loved You So Long.

Another cheery little number, but very well done, even if the ending is a bit of a cop out.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Jul 29, 2011)

An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder (watched the first of 2 Discs)


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 29, 2011)

redsquirrel said:


> Made by the same bloke that directed "Anything For Her" isn't it?


 
yes.Might try and watch Point Blank  over the weekend


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 30, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Which version did you see?
> The two part one (5 hours) or the 2.5 hour edited feature?


 
I only realised after watching it and googling it that I'd watched the 2.5 hour one and there was a 5 hour one (which is what I linked to I think).  Would rather have watched the 5 hour one as I had trouble keeping up with who was who, but I'm crap like that anyway  

I take it you've already seen it then?


----------



## sleaterkinney (Jul 30, 2011)

King Arthur on the tv right now. It's basically a load of crusties and a blue Kiera Knightly fighting each other. It's so shit.


----------



## dlx1 (Jul 31, 2011)

Tron  last year or this year the remark what a lot of shit.
Don't remember the original if it was good as see it ad a kid.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2011)

sleaterkinney said:


> King Arthur on the tv right now. It's basically a load of crusties and a blue Kiera Knightly fighting each other. It's so shit.


 
I was going to watch it 'til I saw Keira Knightly was in it


----------



## Voley (Jul 31, 2011)

Mr Nice. It should've been very easy to make an entertaining film out of this story but they managed to make it very, very dull indeed.


----------



## Voley (Jul 31, 2011)

Idris2002 said:


> His performance as a comedy Provie in Mr. Nice was Stage Irishry of a type I thought had gone from this world.


 
That was a particularly shit bit of it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 31, 2011)

NVP said:


> That was a particularly shit bit of it.



That was kind of my point.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 31, 2011)

Paul - Nice Movie


----------



## Voley (Jul 31, 2011)

Idris2002 said:


> That was kind of my point.


 
That's right. I was agreeing with you.


----------



## tufty79 (Jul 31, 2011)

V for vendetta.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 1, 2011)

NVP said:


> That's right. I was agreeing with you.


 
Then we're all agreed.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 1, 2011)

Wallander "The Sniper"
Caprica - which finally hits its stride, just as it hurtles to the end of season. Dammit.


----------



## starfish (Aug 1, 2011)

Akira, cant believe ive not watched it before, it was amazing. 
Also watched most of Confessions but got sidetracked & missed the last half hour or so. Will have to watch again as thought it was excellent.


----------



## tufty79 (Aug 2, 2011)

Bit of a filmfest. Resident evil, resident evil apocalypse, zombieland and true grit.


----------



## bmd (Aug 2, 2011)

Source Code. Fuck you Metacritic! FUCK YOU!!!

I did start watching My Dog Tulip but the incessant jaaaaazz put me right off.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 2, 2011)

A bit of sucker punch.
Interesting idea that is brave in that it's a big film that doesn't follow the hollywood traditions but so far it's just music video junk. 
The three layers of reality is an interesting idea but right at the beginning of the first fight we se our heroin get impossibly smashed to hell but it doesn't even scratch her or break her stride. From then on you know there is no element of jeopardy and it's just a bit boring.


----------



## belboid (Aug 2, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> A bit of sucker punch.


 
couldn't you find any porn?


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 2, 2011)

Bob Marley's Dad said:


> Source Code. Fuck you Metacritic! FUCK YOU!!!


 
Not very good then?

On Sunday I watched Chinatown and Savage Grace....I'm not sure what the odds are on picking two films featuring incest to watch in the same day.

I've never seen Chinatown before, brilliant film. Savage Grace not all that great but interesting enough, and it's short.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 3, 2011)

*The Adjustment Bureau* - Terrible.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 3, 2011)

Bob Marley's Dad said:


> Source Code. Fuck you Metacritic! FUCK YOU!!!


 
Is this shit? Are you insulting Metacritic cos its shit or are you just abusive
I just downloaded it and if it's shit then I'm not watching.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 4, 2011)

*Don't Look Back* (Ne te retourne pas)  Well enjoyed it! I mean who wunt watch any film wiv Sophie Marceau in it! Yeah she can act i'll give yer that but she's got the finest spine structure ever!  Jesus id love ter run me fingers down that back.,.,.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 5, 2011)

Empress and the Warriors.

Was ok, but I preferred Red Cliff


----------



## TruXta (Aug 5, 2011)

It's all a bit same same at the moment IME.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2011)

finally got around to the new torchwood and I have to say it is quite promising so far.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 5, 2011)

Watched Battle of Los Angeles  last night, it wasn't the big budget Battle: Los Angeles, which came out at the same time and is a big budget extravaganza with major stars, but a smaller budget tv version  which came out at the same time  

1/10 really REALLY poor.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 5, 2011)

Watched The Island on ITV2 last night.  The plot reminded me of THX 1183, Logan's Run and that straight to video B-Movie from the early 1990s, Fortress.  Even if so derivative, it could've been better as an action film.  McGregor's accent was dodgy, and with the Transformer's director at the helm, the plot was neglected in favour of too many flashy bits with cars and helicopters, that just looked shit.  Seeing people running down corridors from different angles got tiresome too.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 5, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Watched The Island on ITV2 last night.  The plot reminded me of THX 1183, Logan's Run and that straight to video B-Movie from the early 1990s, Fortress.  Even if so derivative, it could've been better as an action film.  McGregor's accent was dodgy, and with the Transformer's director at the helm, the plot was neglected in favour of too many flashy bits with cars and helicopters, that just looked shit.  Seeing people running down corridors from different angles got tiresome too.


 
A great moral dilema and a pretty cool story all tossed aside and Michel Bayed within an inch of it's life. Could have been a good film, no idea why it needed to have helicopters driving though buildings and impossible stunts.


----------



## pianissimo (Aug 5, 2011)

Last Night

7 out of 10.


----------



## Badgers (Aug 5, 2011)

Was a cracking day of films yesterday. 

Watched Great Expectations, Now Voyager and Rebecca


----------



## Biddlybee (Aug 5, 2011)

Rebecca


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 5, 2011)

Source Code - Interesting film but why did they have to bottle the ending? Cos the final 20 mins was balls.


----------



## Lea (Aug 5, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Source Code - Interesting film but why did they have to bottle the ending? Cos the final 20 mins was balls.


 
Yeah, I thought that too. They should have left out the last 20 mins but otherwise I enjoyed the film too.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 5, 2011)

Lea said:


> Yeah, I thought that too. They should have left out the last 20 mins but otherwise I enjoyed the film too.



SPOILER ALERT

In the new reality, what happened to Sean?
We know Colter is still waiting for his first mission (in that pod).

So...if Colter is the new Sean.
Where is Colter? And what happened to the original Sean who wasn't killed?

It'd had been better if they stuck to original narrative where he dies after 8mins. 
Cos that memory embracing that love interest, real or not, would have been a beautiful ending.
By changing it to a time-travelling/ love exercise made it way too generic and shit.


----------



## Lea (Aug 5, 2011)

SPOILER ALERT

I thought that in the new reality the conscious part of Colter is living in the body of Sean but I don't know where the real Sean is. That was never explained in the beginning. The physical part of Colter is still in the lab. But then again part of Colter's  consciousness is still within his own damaged body. 

I'm not sure it's all too confusing to work out! Too many levels of reality to work out. I had this problem with Inception aswell. Dreams within dreams.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 5, 2011)

Inception was better thought out. I liked that alot.
Whatever you do, avoid The Adjustment Bureau - the ending was way too safe.


----------



## Lea (Aug 5, 2011)

I liked Source Code better than Inception. 

I've seen the Adjustment Bureau and it had potential in the first third of the film and then it went downhill after that with nowhere to go. It wasn't well thought out. Very disappointing.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 5, 2011)

Yeah I was wondering that as well Lea, where

*SPOILER ALERT*

the fuck has Sean gone if Colter is in his body?!


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 5, 2011)

Lea said:


> I've seen the Adjustment Bureau and it had potential in the first third of the film and then it went downhill after that with nowhere to go. It wasn't well thought out. Very disappointing.


 
It's them studios. They want everything neatly tied up.
The film would had been  awesome if both the characters had their memories washed by the Adjustment Bureau.
And out of chance, they meet again as different people (similar to Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind - where he has no history of relationship and makes the same error).

Fuckin' can't stand them. 




			
				Yetman  said:
			
		

> the fuck has Sean gone if Colter is in his body?!



Exactly.


----------



## Lea (Aug 5, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> It's them studios. They want everything neatly tied up.
> The film would had been  awesome if both the characters had their memories washed by the Adjustment Bureau.
> And out of chance, they meet again as different people (similar to Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind - where he has no history of relationship and makes the same error).
> 
> ...


 
Yeah, hollywood likes happy tidy endings. I agree. They should make films where there is no happy ever after from time to time!


----------



## tufty79 (Aug 7, 2011)

James frey: the final testament of the holy bible


----------



## tufty79 (Aug 7, 2011)

Oops, dp


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 7, 2011)

The Chaser (Korean).   Really enjoyed it.  Made me think of Memories of Murder for some reason.  Maybe the police incompetence?


----------



## Belushi (Aug 7, 2011)

Watched 'American Splendor' a couple of night ago. I'm not familiar with the comic but enjoyed the film.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 7, 2011)

*Adam and Paul* Story about 2 Dublin Smack eds trying to score over the course of a day! Feck me whoever classed this as a comedy is not right in the ed! Feckin depressed me 2 fck!  Wish theyed odyd at the start then a wunt have ter watch the next hour n 15 mins,,  Yeah an im Bulgarian anawl.//


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 7, 2011)

*Super* - covers similar ground to Kick Ass but, if anything, does it better. Very funny, ultra-violent and highly surreal at times. Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page are brilliant.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 7, 2011)

Departures - Japanese Oscar winner from a couple of years back.


----------



## Geri (Aug 7, 2011)

Super 8, was quite enjoyable. Like a scary ET.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 7, 2011)

Geri said:


> Super 8, was quite enjoyable. Like a scary ET.


I want to see this!

We watched a Sonny Chiba film "Yakuza Deka"..strange, insane, unitentionally funny, intentionally funny, violent but compelling. Plus some of Sonny's outfits were very cool!


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 7, 2011)

The Number 23 - Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him. As his obsession increases, more and more similarities seem to arise.


----------



## tufty79 (Aug 7, 2011)

tufty79 said:


> James frey: the final testament of the holy bible


ffs- wrong thread.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 7, 2011)

Date Night - in Spanish.


----------



## belboid (Aug 7, 2011)

caught up with some crap whilst having a few days off.

24 Day 7 - absurd tosh, but quite enjoyable absurd tosh.

Potter part 6 - pretty pish poor, with the first half being irrelevant, but hey ho.  Followed by part 7a, which was rather better. Harry dancing, very funny.

Super - as we all know by now, its Kick Ass with punk attitude.  Unfortunately its more S*M*A*S*H* than Clash, a decent idea, but very poorly executed.

Coucous, aka Secret of the Grain, or La Grain et la Mulet. Phew, finally, a really great film. Funny n moving, some superb performances and really unusual scenes, including the potty training & a great family meal.  A must watch.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 7, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Departures - Japanese Oscar winner from a couple of years back.



Oh, that was on the other night.  Really enjoyed it.


----------



## pianissimo (Aug 7, 2011)

Hanna

Like the first part, but it does down hill after that.  Also I wish they'd show more of her training.
It'd be interesting if they'd do a sequel to it, like what happens after she grows up, as an adult, would she be a contract killer?  or working for government? etc.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 8, 2011)

*Unknown*, a very silly yet watchable film.


----------



## tufty79 (Aug 8, 2011)

all about my mother - absolutely brilliant


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2011)

belboid said:


> Super - as we all know by now, its Kick Ass with punk attitude. Unfortunately its more S*M*A*S*H* than Clash, a decent idea, but very poorly executed.



Never use this line again.


----------



## krink (Aug 8, 2011)

Watchmen - really enjoyed it.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 8, 2011)

Rainy DVD/ download day yesterday -

_The Big Sleep_ - Bogie and Bacall sparking, some great lines and a somewhat ridiculous plot. One of my favourite films 
_Falling Skies_ (episode 4) - interesting, but still not grabbing my attention. Pope is the best character by far though 
_Indentity_ - didn't really think that much of it. Original idea I suppose, just badly done.
_South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut_ - One of the rare TV to Film successes, the songs are fantastic too.
_Serenity - _reminded of it by this thread   Still a great ride and endlessly quotable.
_LA Confidential - _Just brilliant. Actors and Director at the top of their game.


----------



## belboid (Aug 8, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Never use this line again.


ok, S*M*A*S*H* were never really a good idea....


----------



## belboid (Aug 8, 2011)

A James Franco evening last night

Howl was very good, nothing to deep but an interesting film, well made.

127 Hours - slightly disappointing, but great when its good, could have done without all the fantasy sequences tho


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2011)

Old blokes in tight trouser on speed. Been to brixton recently?


----------



## krink (Aug 9, 2011)

Babylon - never seen it before and it's great fun. Also watched Rockers and that's still a great movie.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 9, 2011)

Sucker Punch.  Baby Doll sang most of the songs on the soundtrack.   I like Snyder's stuff but this felt a little experimental - maybe a warm-up for Superman.   It's not like 300 at all.   I'd still watch it again.

Gnomeo and Juliet.   Ok it's quite fucking good.  It's not great but it doesn't disappoint.

I Am Number 4.   I have every reason to hate a pathetic film like this but again it's decently watch-able...probably because of the dog.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 9, 2011)

belboid said:


> 127 Hours - slightly disappointing, but great when its good, could have done without all the fantasy sequences tho



I thought it was great all the way through, the fantasy sequences and the production involved in getting them into the film, and once there, to work, was brilliantly executed.

If you want a straight forward trapped movie without the fantasy stuff watch Buried. Which is also great.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 10, 2011)

First two episodes of The Shadow Line. The first ep is a bit clunky (especially that bloody awful press conference) but it soon settles down into something genuinely gripping. If I can stay awake, I might even go and watch episode three now.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 11, 2011)

*Submarine*! Jesus im lost for fecking words! Probably the best film ive watched in years. I mean if yer could make a film just especially for me this would be it!
Great soundtrack, beautiful cinematography, great acting. as someone mentioned on imdb this not entertainment its Disentertainment! This is how you deprogram people who just watched "Inception"


----------



## rekil (Aug 11, 2011)

Machuca. Fantastic film about two Chilean schoolboys, one from the slums, the other from the comfy middle class, who become friends in the days before the coup.


----------



## Zabo (Aug 11, 2011)

If you want to see the epitome of British shite, the reason why we are so far behind the Europeans, then watch _Down Terrace._

It's a dirty kitchen sink drama(?) Fixed focal length lens on a hand held camera - a bit like watching a tennis match between two cats in a small terraced living room. Have I told you enough already? Ugly people - have you ever spent an evening with ignorant chavs? If you have that will give you an idea of what the dialogue is like. The actors are ugly, the plot is pointless, the _mise-en-scène_ should rally be described as missing completely. In case you've not guessed it's about Mockney gangstas - how bleedin' unusual!

It really is fucking rank of the first order. Make a note of the directors name. Until he learns to get a good d.p. avoid him like your mate's got the bubonic plague.

I am so glad I watched a Spike Lee film afterwards. I needed it to adjust my aesthetic compass.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 12, 2011)

Norbit - Eddie Murphy romcom, in which the many layers of latex foam fail to hide just how crap it is.​
But for film trivia fans, the Asian woman who plays his adoptive mother, Ling Ling Wong, was one of the pill-popping women seen on the video advertisement boards in Blade Runner.​


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 12, 2011)

*Limitless* - I can't believe they made a film out of the 10% brain myth.
Very average. Characters were too shallow. Stupid 'happily ever after' ending (though I also saw the alternative ending and thought that was better).


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 13, 2011)

How the fuck did *The Painted Veil* get such mediocre reviews? Understand it's no English Patient but come on...


----------



## Yetman (Aug 13, 2011)

Bridesmaids - The Hangover its not, but does a good job in trying. Probably better if you are a lass. 7/10


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 13, 2011)

*Rise of the Planet of the Apes - *Most excellent.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 14, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> *Rise of the Planet of the Apes - *Most excellent.


 
thats how you do a planet of the apes film. So much better than the re-make. More damn dirty apes pls


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 14, 2011)

The Expendables - Nice bit of escapist nonsense


----------



## Greebo (Aug 14, 2011)

Being Erica series one - no interruptions, no ad breaks, no being too bone weary, or stressed to take it in. For once.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 14, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_Italian-Style

Marriage Italian Style - started a bit slow - mrs21 fell asleep for a while, but improved from the mid point,


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 15, 2011)

Doc on Banksy and Robbo, most entertaining, if a bit shocking


----------



## pianissimo (Aug 15, 2011)

Beautiful Lies

I didn't get why the mother pretends she didn't know and seduces the poor guy when she knows he fancies her daughter.


----------



## pianissimo (Aug 15, 2011)

No Strings Attached

Very average.


----------



## Zabo (Aug 15, 2011)

Fellini's _Prova d' orchestra_. Apart from the dubbing - why he recorded it silently I'll never know - which was a bit distracting it was truly brilliant. It made me think of all the bollox spouted out in the Urban riot political threads. Fellini was able to convey more meaning in a short film than all the half-cocked theories on this site and it was a damn sight more enjoyable!

"When order is unjust, disorder is the beginning of justice."

_Romain Rolland in his Le Quatorze Juillet_


----------



## belboid (Aug 15, 2011)

Yetman said:


> I thought it was great all the way through, the fantasy sequences and the production involved in getting them into the film, and once there, to work, was brilliantly executed.
> 
> If you want a straight forward trapped movie without the fantasy stuff watch Buried. Which is also great.


I didnt mind all the fantasy stuff, just thought there was a bit too much of them, as if we couldn't just watch him.  Probly being a bit over-critical, still a darned good film.

This weekend was finally watching _Intacto_ which was very good, if utterly silly.  And

_The Secret in Their Eyes_ which has various things to commend it (not least that shot in the football stadium) but is only a 'better than average' thriller type thing.  Certainly not as good as A Prophet or White Ribbon.


----------



## pianissimo (Aug 16, 2011)

Battle LA

Standard Hollywood action/alien/war/patriotic/hero movie.
Didn't even get to see an alien in clear view.
Yawn.


----------



## starfish (Aug 16, 2011)

The King of Kong. Thought it was really good. Was whooping like an eejit at the ending.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 17, 2011)




----------



## pianissimo (Aug 17, 2011)

I'm Number Four

So lame.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 17, 2011)

36 Quai Des Orfèvres, French thriller, didn't really grab me.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 18, 2011)

Been watching the rest of *The Shadow Line* this week - not all of it works but it keeps you guessing and some of the performances are top drawer. So bleak, though...


----------



## Yetman (Aug 18, 2011)

Four Lions  Excellent.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 18, 2011)

A Desi Arnez fronted Twilight Zone-esq late-50's US show which was included on the "Twilight Zone" DVD. It was written by Rod Serling and about time travel. Good performances and script though not as chilling as some episodes of TZ we've seen.

This was after "Cowboys & Aliens" at the pictures which was great!


----------



## Belushi (Aug 18, 2011)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Hadn't watched a Woody Allen movie in a long time, slight but enjoyable.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 18, 2011)

True Blood marathon on HBO. I'd never really watched it before. This cute waitress wants to break up with her boyfriend. He gets all weepy, so  she smashes his head against a counter top and gets all covered in blood. Then, she goes out to a half-ton truck where her new boyfriend is waiting. They have sex in the truck while she is biting him. I forgot to mention: she is a vampire.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 19, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> True Blood marathon on HBO. I'd never really watched it before. This cute waitress wants to break up with her boyfriend. He gets all weepy, so she smashes his head against a counter top and gets all covered in blood. Then, she goes out to a half-ton truck where her new boyfriend is waiting. They have sex in the truck while she is biting him. I forgot to mention: she is a vampire.



Did you get the part where that was a dream sequence? Or did you literally just watch 3 minutes of the 'marathon'? 

Watched *Sucker Punch* last night -

Annoyed to discover I watched the theatrical version rather than the Director's Cut, which apparently is a lot better, but still thought it was good balls-out (or not, I guess) nonsense.

Great visuals, hilariously cliched dialogue (which I think may have been the point) and Jena Malone was good (the best of the girls in the cast anyway).

Thought it was reasonably straightforward plot-wise, but having just looked at all the theories on IMDB, I may have to revisit it and watch the DC at some point.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 19, 2011)

*The Hunchback of Notre Dame* Great performance from Laughton as Quasimodo! Brought back memories of me youth when we used ta roam the streets doin impressions of him "Der bells Der bells. Esmerelda" Kids dont no there born nowadays!


----------



## Yetman (Aug 19, 2011)

Rollin with the Nines. Watched it and laughed at it until simon from blue appeared acting all gangster which took it beyond funny so I turned it off


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 19, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> Been watching the rest of *The Shadow Line* this week - not all of it works but it keeps you guessing and some of the performances are top drawer. So bleak, though...


Stephen Rea, in particular. Esp that scene, which I better not mention, if you haven't got to it, yet


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 19, 2011)

The Octagon said:


> Did you get the part where that was a dream sequence? Or did you literally just watch 3 minutes of the 'marathon'? .



I went to play racquetball for about an hour, so I must have missed the revelation that it was a dream sequence.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 19, 2011)

Irreversible, very good but one of the most brutal films I've ever watched.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 19, 2011)

Belushi said:


> Irreversible, very good but one of the most brutal films I've ever watched.



Seen Enter the Void yet? Same director.

I just watched Somersault. Aussie coming of age film. Been sat on my hard drive for ages, I thought it sounded a bit of a chick flick but it was excellent, some good performances quite touching.


----------



## bmd (Aug 20, 2011)

Kidnapped. Incredibly uncomfortable and powerful Spanish version of Funny Games (it doesn't pretend to be but that's what it is imo). Really bleak and overall very good but sometimes a little huh?


----------



## dynamicbaddog (Aug 20, 2011)

just discovered this Blinkbox site
http://www.blinkbox.com/Movies/Collections/72/Best-of-British

They seem to have a lot of good stuff on there for free
gonna watch Straightheads later


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 21, 2011)

Straightheads - Danny Dyer and that girl off the X Files in a steaming pile of wank that tried to be kind of "I spit on your grave" meets "Strawdogs"


----------



## DJ Squelch (Aug 21, 2011)

Were you expecting it to be anything else but dreadful?


----------



## Belushi (Aug 21, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Seen Enter the Void yet? Same director.



No I haven't but I'll add it to my list, cheers.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Aug 22, 2011)

Meeks Cutoff (2010) -


> The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a short cut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in each other's instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as the natural enemy.



I enjoyed this, it was very slow paced with sparse dialog but this goes with the characters slow progress through a desolate location (reminded me of Gus Van Sant's Gerry at times). The tension is built up nicely.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 22, 2011)

Red Sorghum.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Sorghum-DVD-Yimou-Zhang/dp/B001BHTNAY


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 22, 2011)

The Death of Mr Lazerezcu
No Blood No Tears
Wallender


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 22, 2011)

The Machine Girl.
Looks like it can't possibly be bad doesn't it. . .





Well it's shite.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 22, 2011)

Oh god, it seems they have even made an even lower budget sequel, despite everyone dying (many characters are back) in the first film.
Apparently though it was only shot as an extra for the DVD of the original.


----------



## starfish (Aug 22, 2011)

Red Road, gritty Glasgow drama id wanted to see for a while. Good story, good acting & it reminded me just how grim parts of the East End can be.

Currently watching Gasland, a documentary about how hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" for natural gas has fucked up an awful lot of America. Read somewhere recently that they want to do the same procedure over here.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 22, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh god, it seems they have even made an even lower budget sequel, despite everyone dying (many characters are back) in the first film.
> Apparently though it was only shot as an extra for the DVD of the original.


 You seen Chanbara Beauty, yet?


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Aug 22, 2011)

The Social Network, as good as when I saw it at the flicks last year.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 22, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> You seen Chanbara Beauty, yet?


I nearly picked up a copy in Japan but I heard it was really really shit. Worse than the game.
I kinda fancy watching Konyaku Dragon, which for some reason they have called Big Tits Vs Zombie or something in the west. In general I am not a fan of those low budget Japanese crap or daft splatter films. Most are really just terrible. They generally have a really cool idea that they then execute in a really terrible way. It can obviously be done well enough on a low budget with a decent story (as Miike Takashi has proved) but it almost never is.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 23, 2011)

starfish said:


> Red Road, gritty Glasgow drama id wanted to see for a while. Good story, good acting & it reminded me just how grim parts of the East End can be.



Saw this last night after taping it off the telly and thought it was brilliant. Gripping and heartbreaking.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 23, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I nearly picked up a copy in Japan but I heard it was really really shit. Worse than the game.
> I kinda fancy watching Konyaku Dragon, which for some reason they have called Big Tits Vs Zombie or something in the west. In general I am not a fan of those low budget Japanese crap or daft splatter films. Most are really just terrible. They generally have a really cool idea that they then execute in a really terrible way. It can obviously be done well enough on a low budget with a decent story (as Miike Takashi has proved) but it almost never is.



it is unbelievably bad. And not the so bad it's good way, either.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 23, 2011)

*Bad Teacher, *the female version of Brad Pitt makes a better than average comedy


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 23, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> it is unbelievably bad. And not the so bad it's good way, either.


That's what I figured.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 23, 2011)

Laura

I'm going to see all visitors in my bath from now on


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 24, 2011)

Chasing Ghosts...follow up to The King of Kong, nowhere near as good.


----------



## sorearm (Aug 25, 2011)

District 9 on DVD ... god it was awful, going for X-men first class tonight.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 25, 2011)

sorearm said:


> District 9 on DVD ... god it was awful, going for X-men first class tonight.



For scifi pap I thought D9 was better than average. X-Men 1st is better, maybe the best Xmen film but still just a silly super hero film. It stands out because they are usually just so damn terrible. Bacon makes a good baddie in this and Super (which I loved)


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 25, 2011)

*Water for Elephants* - That Christoph Waltz character - August, made me think of the camp building manager at work. Real sadistic, sinister, creepy. The film itself was conventional, unoriginal like a remake of a remake.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 25, 2011)

*Super 8* Cant walk passed a bus stop without bein bombarded wiv "film of the year" * 5 stars* blah blah blah! Jesus are the reviewers fer these so called papers magazines in the pocket of the film company's? Gotta say it a pretty average film! Nowt new and Nowt original and probably the most turgid ending in a film this year! 5 Stars my Arse';;';


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 25, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> *Super 8* Cant walk passed a bus stop without bein bombarded wiv "film of the year" * 5 stars* blah blah blah! Jesus are the reviewers fer these so called papers magazines in the pocket of the film company's? Gotta say it a pretty average film! Nowt new and Nowt original and probably the most turgid ending in a film this year! 5 Stars my Arse';;';



It's a beautiful little film, not an event movie. I guess a lot of these reviewers are harking back to less gimicky times. It's a nostalgic film, no product placement (apart from TAB and Kodak!), little CGI and fleshed out characters.


----------



## pianissimo (Aug 25, 2011)

Natural World documentary - *Empire of the Desert Ants* via iPlayer

I thought it was amazing!  Learnt so much that I didn't know about ants, like how they force feed some ant workers to the point their bellies are bloated filled with nectar which serves as food storage.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 26, 2011)

*Source Code* - really enjoyed the first 75 minutes but felt it unravelled a bit towards the end.


----------



## Ax^ (Aug 26, 2011)

Silly B-movie on sci-fi

Fx team should be applauded for their efforts, screen writer gets  a c-


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 27, 2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Well enjoyed it


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 27, 2011)

Grave Of The Fireflies





I don't think I'll ever get over that. I wish someone had warned me.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 27, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Grave Of The Fireflies
> 
> I don't think I'll ever get over that. I wish someone had warned me.



Yeah that film made me cry at the end. Also you'll never be able to watch again it from the beginning without crying all the way through.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Aug 27, 2011)

This week I've mostly been watching The Planet Of The Apes series. Watched Rise of on tuesday, then the original / beneath / conquest / escape / battle and finally the excreable Tim Burton version last night. and now its "behind the planet of the apes" documentary DVD.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 27, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Grave Of The Fireflies
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It starts on a major downer and just gets worse and worse. I bought the DVD when I was in Japan with nothing to do. I was thinking 'ah a nice ghibi film, that will be a jolly afternoon'. It ruined my day and I have never been able to ever watch it again.
On release it was a double bill with Totoro. WTF??

I have Barefoot gen on DVD but only managed  about 5 minutes, and I know this guy at least survives.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 27, 2011)

It is a fucking good film though.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 27, 2011)

Black Death. Christian soldiers meet godless reanimators in Northern England during the 14th century.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 27, 2011)

I watched Be Kind Rewind.

Far far better on the second watch. Maybe I built it up too much the first time and had incredibly low expectations this time.


----------



## magneze (Aug 27, 2011)

Just watched Source Code. Good film, even liked the ending. Definitely recommended.


----------



## Badgers (Aug 27, 2011)

Cutting Edge
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0104040


----------



## colacubes (Aug 27, 2011)

A documentary called The merits of Ferrets on 4od.  Well worth a watch - about a group of retired friends who set up a sanctuary for traumatised ferrets.


----------



## Badgers (Aug 27, 2011)

nipsla said:


> A documentary called The merits of Ferrets on 4od.  Well worth a watch - about a group of retired friends who set up a sanctuary for traumatised ferrets.



Is that real


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 28, 2011)

Pirates of the Caribbean


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Aug 28, 2011)

Pirates of the Caribbean - on stranger tides.

Good stuff


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 28, 2011)

Started watching Deadwood, first two episodes. May spend the next two days watching it.


----------



## Badgers (Aug 28, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Started watching Deadwood, first two episodes. May spend the next two days watching it.



I did that


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 28, 2011)

I just love that Dawson picture.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 28, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It starts on a major downer and just gets worse and worse. I bought the DVD when I was in Japan with nothing to do. I was thinking 'ah a nice ghibi film, that will be a jolly afternoon'. It ruined my day and I have never been able to ever watch it again.
> On release it was a double bill with Totoro. WTF??
> 
> I have Barefoot gen on DVD but only managed about 5 minutes, and I know this guy at least survives.



I have it on DVD and keep thinking I must watch it again, but never in the mood to be more depressed


----------



## Greebo (Aug 28, 2011)

ARGH! Yet another DVD with unremovable English subtitles! (Wings of Desire) 

FWIW the problem is that I either have to turn the volume right up or just not watch. Otherwise, reading one, hearing the other, and understanding both at the same time is too much like hard work.

edited to add: Sorry, I realise that sounds like bragging.  It wasn't meant to be, and I can't find another way of explaining why fixed subtitles are a problem.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 28, 2011)

Still Walking - Japanese film about a family coming together to mark the anniversary of the death of a family member. Sad and exquisitely acted.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 28, 2011)

Just watched Vincere, recent Italian film about Mussolini's (possible) first wife Ida Dalser. Fascinating story but I found the film a bit too melodramatic and incoherent, beautiful cinematography though.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 28, 2011)

*Thor* - watching a fucking himbo and wondering where is his wingy helmet is. Good simple film.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 29, 2011)

Mr.Bishie said:


> Pirates of the Caribbean - on stranger tides.
> 
> Good stuff


I'll watch that tomorrow, Last night I watched Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End


----------



## MBV (Aug 29, 2011)

Watched King of the Kong - about an attempt to beat a long standing Donkey Kong world record.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 29, 2011)

More Deadwood. I'm up to episode 7.


----------



## Badgers (Aug 29, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> More Deadwood. I'm up to episode 7.



Great isn't it?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 29, 2011)

dfm said:


> Watched King of the Kong - about an attempt to beat a long standing Donkey Kong world record.



I love that.
Love it!


----------



## Greebo (Aug 29, 2011)

Lola rennt.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 29, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Still Walking - Japanese film about a family coming together to mark the anniversary of the death of a family member. Sad and exquisitely acted.



Have you seen Okuribito? I think it was on telly recently.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 29, 2011)

Badgers said:


> Great isn't it?



I'm enjoying it yeah, although I wish I'd not read about it being unfinished



ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I love that.
> Love it!



Chasing Ghosts, the second film is much the same but without the good vs evil storyline. It's worth 90 minutes I suppose.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 29, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> I'm enjoying it yeah, although I wish I'd not read about it being unfinished
> 
> Chasing Ghosts, the second film is much the same but without the good vs evil storyline. It's worth 90 minutes I suppose.


Is it the same people? Is it as good?


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 29, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Have you seen Okuribito? I think it was on telly recently.


That's Departures, isn't it? Gods, that was almost too much. The washing of the body scenes; very emotional stuff.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 29, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> That's Departures, isn't it? Gods, that was almost too much. The washing of the body scenes; very emotional stuff.


Yes departures, that would make sense.
I didn't find it that emotional actually. Sentimental comedy.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 29, 2011)

Half of the second part of "Red Cliff".Excellent but was too tired to watch it all.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 29, 2011)

Ressources Humaines. French film from 1999 about a business student returning to his hometown and interning for the summer at the factory his father works at and learning about the reality of business ethics the hard way. Very good.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 29, 2011)

Blitz. Jason Statham's British cop character teams up with a gay Inspector to combat an evil cop-killer who, in his introductory scene in the film, is lying on the bed wanking when Statham knocks on the door.

At one point in the film, Statham asks the gay inspector whether or not he 'interfered' with him in his sleep.

On a previous assignment, the Inspector had popped a pedophile's bollocks with a baseball bat, and then went on stress leave.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 30, 2011)

*X Men - First Class*

If I can choose my superpowers, I'd like to have two giant fruit-bowls as hands.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 30, 2011)

Winter's Bone. Very good, Jennifer Lawrence is outstanding.


----------



## little_legs (Aug 30, 2011)

*Neds*, dir. Peter Mullan.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 30, 2011)

The Mechanic, with Jason Statham. It's a remake of a film by the same name from the seventies that had Charles Bronson in the role of Bishop, the Mechanic; Jan Michael Vincent in the role of the protege; and Keenan Wynn in the role now played by Donald Sutherland.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 30, 2011)

Pirates of the Caribbean - on stranger tides.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 30, 2011)

Something I haven't seen yet, but am wanting to catch, is Hobo With A Shotgun.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 30, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The Mechanic, with Jason Statham. It's a remake of a film by the same name from the seventies that had Charles Bronson in the role of Bishop, the Mechanic; Jan Michael Vincent in the role of the protege; and Keenan Wynn in the role now played by Donald Sutherland.



The remake is utter puke.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 30, 2011)

Ridley Scott's "The Duellists"; did I mention that? Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine duke it out during the Napoleonic wars. Odd choice of actors but beautiful looking film, like a series of paintings.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 30, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> The remake is utter puke.



The original wasn't that great either.


----------



## belboid (Aug 30, 2011)

little_legs said:


> *Neds*, dir. Peter Mullan.


we watched that last night too.  Cheery stuff   Very well done tho


----------



## miniGMgoit (Aug 30, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Something I haven't seen yet, but am wanting to catch, is Hobo With A Shotgun.


There's a thread dedicated to it somewhere on here.
For me, it's quite simply film of the year.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Aug 30, 2011)

I watched Transformers 2 today. I didn't realize I'd seen it before until about the last 10 minutes. Thoroughly enjoyed it though, even if I felt more than a little exhausted at the end (too much action???)


----------



## agricola (Aug 30, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> A Town Called Panic. Expands the universe a bit from the shorts, and most of the action takes place out of the house. I would have never imagined that a town called panic could sustain a whole feature length movie but it does. It's relentless and it's bloody brilliant. There are many more movements in the characters which I wasn't so keen on but the general ramped up production levels didn't really ruin it. Awesome.




Its on Film Four now, and is absolutely brilliant.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 30, 2011)

agricola said:


> Its on Film Four now, and is absolutely brilliant.


Just missed it. I was gutted.
But I have watched it a million times. The penguin thing isn't so great but that's probably just in comparison with rest of it.

It's one of the only films I watched a second time straight after finishing it the first time. Nuts.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 30, 2011)

Shiri - again

not one I'll be rushing to watch again


----------



## Will2403 (Aug 30, 2011)

hanna with cate blanchett, eric bana and olivia williams
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993842/

its ok for the first hour and just rubbish action scenes for the second half

anyone seen any good indie film torrents recently?


----------



## starfish (Aug 30, 2011)

Animal Kingdom, Australian drama about a boy who goes to live with his estranged gran & uncles who are nut case gangsters. Decent enough film.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 31, 2011)

Cronos. Saw it first time around 15 years ago, well worth rewatching.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 31, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The original wasn't that great either.



Are you kidding? That film was fuckin' awesome. The Airwolf guy's finest hour...


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 31, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> That film was fuckin' awesome. The Airwolf guy's finest hour...



That's not saying much when it comes to Jan Michael Vincent. 

Maybe it was Bronson's finest hour, though; although Bronson's had some good ones: Red Sun, etc.

Actually, when I think back, that film_ did_ get us all enrolled in karate classes etc.


----------



## pianissimo (Aug 31, 2011)

Beastly

A bit of a teen magical romance flick. Lame but watchable with moments of cringes.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Aug 31, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> That's not saying much when it comes to Jan Michael Vincent.
> 
> Maybe it was Bronson's finest hour, though; although Bronson's had some good ones: Red Sun, etc.
> 
> Actually, when I think back, that film_ did_ get us all enrolled in karate classes etc.



That film was heartbreaking cos he was betrayed by Airwolf man, the same man he stuck up for against his boss. Tragic.

Which one is Red Sun?
He made loads of great films - Telefon (hugely underrated), Once Upon a Time in the West...


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 31, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> That film was heartbreaking cos he was betrayed by Airwolf man, the same man he stuck up for against his boss. Tragic.
> 
> Which one is Red Sun?
> He made loads of great films - Telefon (hugely underrated), Once Upon a Time in the West...



Yeah, but Jan Michael Vincent gets his comeuppance in the end. 

Red Sun is the one where Bronson is a gunslinger in the old west who has to team up with samurai Toshiro Mifune, for reasons that I can't recall.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 1, 2011)

The Seventh Seal, still a great piece of film making over 50 years later.


----------



## belboid (Sep 1, 2011)

Belushi said:


> The Seventh Seal, still a great piece of film making over 50 years later.


Had a copy for years, still never got round to watching it


----------



## Belushi (Sep 3, 2011)

belboid said:


> Had a copy for years, still never got round to watching it



It's well worth watching mate.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2011)

the bill and ted remake is better


----------



## Belushi (Sep 3, 2011)

'Russian Ark' Three centuries of Russian history in one continuous ninety minute shot at the Hermitage. Incredible technical achievement.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2011)

hanna
ludicrous but fun
shorty reardon is quite a good actress
shite soundtrack though
the hippy family were the best bit


----------



## Belushi (Sep 3, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> shorty reardon is quite a good actress



Any relation to Ray?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2011)

Belushi said:


> Any relation to Ray?


she has the same piercing blue eyes


----------



## Jackobi (Sep 3, 2011)

Knuckle - a documentary about bare knuckle fighting in the Irish traveler community and the feuds that perpetuate over the years.


----------



## pesh (Sep 3, 2011)

Red State - Kevin Smith has a go at making a horror film... starts out feeling like a standard teen slasher flick then goes fucking bonkers.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 3, 2011)

Part of the Seventh Sign. I fell asleep.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 3, 2011)

Attack the block - was good fun


----------



## imposs1904 (Sep 3, 2011)

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery.

No jokes about the mystery being the lack of atmosphere at the Emirates. A 1939 comedy thriller starring Leslie Banks.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Sep 3, 2011)

pesh said:


> Red State - Kevin Smith has a go at making a horror film... starts out feeling like a standard teen slasher flick then goes fucking bonkers.



Just watched a trailer - looks good. Bonkers in a twisted macabre way, or bonkers as in it's crap?


----------



## pesh (Sep 3, 2011)

Bonkers in a twisted macabre way


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 3, 2011)

Mr.Bishie said:


> Just watched a trailer - looks good. Bonkers in a twisted macabre way, or bonkers as in it's crap?


Looks quite interesting but then goes for some sort of boring all out war gun worship thing from the trailer.
Probably worth a punt I suppose.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Sep 3, 2011)

Watched Mad Max last night. Haven't seen it before. A bit crap I thought. I don't understand why it's been hailed as such a classic. It's got loads of unnecessary music and explosions and stuff. Gibson was pretty dire. The script is awful too.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 3, 2011)

Was that mad max 2 on the telly?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 3, 2011)

I have to do my showreel tonight for a job interview.
For the last hour I have weirdly been watching myself reviewing DVDs of films I don't even remember watching.


----------



## pianissimo (Sep 3, 2011)

Shinjuku Incident 

Survivals, gang rivials among the yakuza, the illegal chinese, friends corrupted by powers...
It was very good.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Sep 3, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Was that mad max 2 on the telly?



no Mad Max 1, streamed it on netflix here.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 4, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> Shinjuku Incident
> 
> Survivals, gang rivials among the yakuza, the illegal chinese, friends corrupted by powers...
> It was *very good*.



Oh please...Shinjuku Incident is like an annoying haemorrhoid lodged between disorientation and boredom.
What is the meaning of the Chinese gangster turned goth? Laughable.


----------



## Greebo (Sep 4, 2011)

Female Agents


----------



## stethoscope (Sep 4, 2011)

15 Storey's High - after reading about it here. Top stuff.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 4, 2011)

3 eps of Torchwood. Markedly better than early eps in this season. Back to sex, gratuitous violence and aliens.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 4, 2011)

Knuckle and Hanna - pretty much echo the above posts


----------



## belboid (Sep 4, 2011)

Source Code.  Surprised at how it didn't completely fuck it up with the ending. Well made and engaging, Jake is ace in it, altho the woman playing Goodwin reminded me a bit too much of ~Maggie G, which was a bit odd.

Then A Single Man. Superb performance from Firth, and wotsisname from Skins was damn fine too.  But, god, the oh so clever and stylish direction was fucking irritating.

And finished with Imitation of Life, again. Wonderfully OTT.


----------



## binka (Sep 4, 2011)

barry lyndon last night with my parents. somewhat spoilt by interruptions every five minutes of 'isnt that xxxx from some shit thing in the 70s'


----------



## 8115 (Sep 4, 2011)

Source Code the other day, good, bit plot by numbers and also a bit dark, but it passed the time.
Just watched Brighton Rock.  I thought it was really good, bit dark (visually), would probably be a lot better on a bigger screen (ie not a computer).  Although I've read the book before I really understood the film a lot better.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Sep 4, 2011)

9 Songs - load of crap, except for the bit with Elbow.

Also watched some Japanese anime thing cal Demon King Daimao which was the lamest thing I've ever see in my life.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 5, 2011)

The Devil's Backbone - Kinda horror set in orphanage towards end of Spanish civil war. Atmospheric, brutal and beautiful.


----------



## krink (Sep 5, 2011)

went to see latest planet of the apes and really enjoyed it apart from one aspect but don't want to spoil it for others.



Spoiler: spoiler



the talking apes was shite


----------



## Jackobi (Sep 5, 2011)

Red State - big pile of wank.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 6, 2011)

Super 8.

It was really enjoyable, the nostalgic small town setting looked great, the kids weren't annoying, you were kind of hoping it turned out okay for both them and the angry creature from another planet, until it got towards the end. By then, things had become just too mawkish. I was a bit disappointed with it to be honest. It let the film down.


----------



## belboid (Sep 6, 2011)

Submarine.

really excellent. Lots of laughs, touching, and all too believable as well. When Considine was doing his nu-age talks tho, he didn't half remiond me of Julian Cope.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 6, 2011)

Dexter season 2 - first two episodes. Not as good as the 1st season, could lose me if it doesnt pick up


----------



## pianissimo (Sep 6, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Oh please...Shinjuku Incident is like an annoying haemorrhoidlodged between disorientation and boredom.
> What is the meaning of the Chinese gangster turned goth? Laughable.


He was the softest one among the group, the one that was less likely to turn 'bad' and become a gangster.  But with all the trauma and abuse he had, he's lost it.  Being a goth covering his scars with heavy makeup is his way to escape.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 6, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> He was the softest one among the group, the one that was less likely to turn 'bad' and become a gangster. But with all the trauma and abuse he had, he's lost it. Being a goth covering his scars with heavy makeup is his way to escape.









Hurt soul.
Man over the edge.
Vengeance.

Does this look symbolise those things?
To me, he looks like a clown in drag.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Sep 6, 2011)

"The Ghost", which was quite good. And Then "The Arrival" in which Charlie Sheen has a fight with a phone box, and loses - and then tells the world there's a conspiracy of shape shifting aliens planning to colonise Earth.

This is not a  documentary, sadly.

Tonight its been "In The Name Of The King", the Uwe boll film - In the extended directors cut version. Much better than the other version, but still not much cop.


----------



## Will2403 (Sep 7, 2011)

Just watched Thor, sooo good! Nice mix of sci-fi, mythicism and comedy, Natalie portman is sexy and her buddy is funny. Idris Elba looks way cooool and brad pitt's twin was good as thor as well. Great graphics and good story! All in all very enjoyable popcorn movie!


----------



## Will2403 (Sep 7, 2011)

Watching the whistleblower now. Good film but not enjoyable.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 7, 2011)

good film but not enjoyable?
so not good then


----------



## Will2403 (Sep 7, 2011)

It's about un peacekeepers raping young girls they are supposed to be protecting. Not enjoyable, but well made.


----------



## Zabo (Sep 7, 2011)

Tom Tykwer's _Heaven_. Different and enjoyable especially the music of Arvo Part.

Cate Blanchett, so versatile.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 8, 2011)

Departures (Japanese film) is on again tonight on Film4 in case anyone's interested


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 8, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Departures (Japanese film) is on again tonight on Film4 in case anyone's interested


 So moving!


----------



## little_legs (Sep 9, 2011)

Animal Kingdom (dir. David Michod).

Disturbing, but good.


----------



## pianissimo (Sep 9, 2011)

Rango - funny


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 9, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> So moving!


 
Great film innit.  Only saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago.


----------



## Zabo (Sep 9, 2011)

Kill Bill 1&2  I think I'm going off Tarantino with his pedestrian monologues as in _Death Proof_ and _Kill Bill 2_.

A very uncanny resemblance in the many suited Japanese men in  Kill Bill and the Matrix multiple Agent Smiths. Given it was the same fight organiser I'm not surprised! Who lifted who?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 9, 2011)

they were both probably lifted from somewhere else!


----------



## Zabo (Sep 9, 2011)

I'd bet you are right Orang Utan.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 10, 2011)

I don't understand why this movie was panned.
Sure it had some flaws but that was the entire point. It's not meant to be a sentimental piece.

Saw this last night. A truly good indie production by Portman's own company. 
Tight script about death and bereavement, I know, not the best topics to write a comedy under.
But what's meant to be vulgar in it's delivery, ends in something beautiful and original.
Me loves!


----------



## Belushi (Sep 10, 2011)

The Motorcycle Diaries, enjoyed it but Che's radicalisation wasn't really convincing.


----------



## Zabo (Sep 10, 2011)

_Source Code._ Some sci-fi I like but this was awful. I got to thirty minutes and became bored - offski. I don't mind if it is total and extreme fantasy or something that contains a few real elements in it such as _2001_ but this was just boring bollocks.

I think they should re-title it to_ Deja Vu_ because I'm sure I've seen the same themes in many other films.

I also think that if the characters don't interest you in a short time one is on a hiding to nothing. As such Gyllenhaal and Monaghan do nothing for me.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 11, 2011)

American Pie. The movie reaches its climax with ten high school kids fucking.


----------



## Zabo (Sep 11, 2011)

_Meek's Cutoff._ Quite good if you have the patience. It appears Michelle Williams is developing a knack for getting roles that demand few words - _Wendy And Lucy._

A snapshot of the early pioneers conquering the North West reaches of Oregon.

http://www.shadowsonthewall.co.uk/10/meekcuto.htm


----------



## dilute micro (Sep 12, 2011)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 12, 2011)

"2012" on blu-ray - Yeah it's cheesy shit but enjoyed it more than I did at the cinema and sometimes a bit of cheesy shit is just what you need 

"Toy Story 2" - on blu-ray - Such a great film


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 12, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "2012" on blu-ray - Yeah it's cheesy shit but enjoyed it more than I did at the cinema and sometimes a bit of cheesy shit is just what you need



What happens in the end?


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 12, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> What happens in the end?


Do you really want to know, I am happy to tell you but... ?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 12, 2011)

dilute micro said:


> The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


and?


----------



## dilute micro (Sep 12, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> and?



Cate Blanchett was excellent.  I was very impressed with her in that one.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 12, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Do you really want to know, I am happy to tell you but... ?



Yeah, I'm interested with the Mayan philosophy on how the world exists through cycles.
But refuse to watch 2012 cos of it's cheesiness.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 12, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Yeah, I'm interested with the Mayan philosophy on how the world exists through cycles.
> But refuse to watch 2012 cos of it's cheesiness.


The Mayan thing isn't really explored in the film - though as one of the extras on the blu0ray there is quite an interesting short documentary talking to people who do genuinely believe in the Mayan 'prophecy' that the world will end next December



Spoiler



In the film various governments have built arks which when the massive Everest high tsunami swamps the earth (the earths core has destabilised due to neutrino levels) ride the wave - well the chosen few i.e our Queen and the German premier (who are both featured)  and our heroes who stowaway do! - until they reach (a few months later) the Cape of Good Hope which is now, due to shifts in the earths crust, the highest point on the planet. Oh and the dog survives. But the US president decides to stay in the White House nd perishes. As does the Italian premier (crushed by the Sistine Chapel) which made me laugh the first time I saw it as I bet Berlusconi would be the first fucker into one of the arks  [/spoiler)


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 12, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> The Mayan thing isn't really explored in the film - though as one of the extras on the blu0ray there is quite an interesting short documentary talking to people who do genuinely believe in the Mayan 'prophecy' that the world will end next December
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



 Outrageous!I wouldn't mind watching it now!


----------



## starfish (Sep 15, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> What happens in the end?



You want to pull your eyes out & wash the memory of the film from your brain. You also want to grab John Cusack & give him a right good shake for being involved in such a complete & utter piece of crap.

Or maybe that was just me.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 17, 2011)

*Attack the Block *

- don't even get me started. worse film ever.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 17, 2011)

lies fam


----------



## Garek (Sep 18, 2011)

Submarine.

Good film. A bit different, even if it played around with some clichés.

On an aside it captured perfectly that great ability as a teen to really hurt through selfishness those you should care about and be looking out for.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 18, 2011)

Watched *On the waterfront * Fer the umpteenth time and its probably one of me all time favorite movies| Brando is feckin superb in it and its definitely worthy of its 8 Oscars! "   You think you're God Almighty, but you know what you are? You're a cheap, lousy, dirty, stinkin' mug! And I'm glad what I done to you, ya hear that? I'm glad what I done!"


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 18, 2011)

*Exit Through The Gift Shop*: Thoroughly enjoyed this even if Thierry Guetta's story is a cleverly-worked hoax.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 18, 2011)

The Loved Ones.  Random record off of Film Four that I'd never heard of before.  Awesome film if you like horrors.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 18, 2011)

Currently watching "Daredevil" - my god it is rubbish, and I like rubbish films Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are are just both so uncharismatic. I may demand tea as a reward for having to watch it!


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 18, 2011)

I watched episodes 3-6 of Alphas.

It is an x-men/heroes type clone but better than Heroes. Far more episodic, one baddie per episode- there is character development and a greater plot but not at the expense of the story. It's a syfy production. Good stuff for fans of this sort of thing. You've got the autistic kid who can see and manipulate the em spectrum, a super strong former FBI man, A woman with super senses and a woman with Compulsion ability. My favorite is the ex sniper who has hyper kinesis, basically he can make and shot, ever.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 19, 2011)

I'm watching Edge of Darkness - four episodes in, and it's very good.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 19, 2011)

X-Men: First Class. Quite enjoyable it was too. Easily the best Marvel movie since Iron Man 1.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 19, 2011)

The Wind That Shakes the Barley.



Spoiler



The Black and Tan thugs were like cardboard cut-out baddies, although you get a little idea of why they earned their beastly reputation (the frustrated British officer ranting at Murphy's character about the Great War). In contrast to that, there is much agonising over killing on the republican side, such as the simple-minded teenage farmhand executed as a 'traitor' along with his aristocratic landowning employer.

Liked it that the young English soldier ran off with the rebels. Are there any of these kind of people recorded well in the history books? English or Scottish men who deserted and joined the republicans and/or socialists while over there?


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 19, 2011)

The Fifth Element. Saw it years ago & thought it was muppetry on drugs. Still is.


----------



## ilovebush&blair (Sep 19, 2011)

i watched a japanese horror film called exte hair extensions, it was weird.


----------



## starfish (Sep 19, 2011)

Get Carter. Had never seen it before & was surprised by how violent & dark it was. Great film though.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 19, 2011)

ilovebush&blair said:


> i watched a japanese horror film called exte hair extensions, it was weird.



Did you like it?
Cos this was weird too.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 19, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Did you like it?
> Cos this was weird too.



Hah! That's the most ridiculous trailer I've seen for ages.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 19, 2011)

starfish said:


> Get Carter. Had never seen it before & was surprised by how violent & dark it was. Great film though.



Alf Roberts out of Corrie, thrown off the multi-storey car park.


----------



## starfish (Sep 19, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Alf Roberts out of Corrie, thrown off the multi-storey car park.



I thought i recognised him. Cant believe id never seen it, even on tv as a kid.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 19, 2011)

His path of revenge is pretty ruthless.  The murder of the prostitute in order to set up crime boss John Osborne, for example.


----------



## pesh (Sep 20, 2011)

The Guard. very very funny Irish black comedy drama type thing.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 20, 2011)

Hey! The black guy's not even Irish!


----------



## pesh (Sep 20, 2011)

hes not a drug dealer either


----------



## Belushi (Sep 20, 2011)

Ordet. Beautifully shot and thought provoking Danish film about faith from 1955.


----------



## Ax^ (Sep 20, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Hey! The black guy's not even Irish!



Not really that odd tbh we did not have black people till the early nighties


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 20, 2011)

Really enjoyed *Attack The Block* - its simplicity and claustrophobia reminded me of some of John Carpenter's films.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 20, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> Really enjoyed *Attack The Block* - its simplicity and claustrophobia reminded me of some of John Carpenter's films.



That film was like a bad dream.
It reminded me of Critters stuck in a 21st Century version of Grange Hill, with shit actors playing out tabloid-ready stereotypes.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 20, 2011)

*The Life and Times of a Sentinel* - a 26 part Hong Kong drama series. Oh my god...


----------



## krink (Sep 20, 2011)

Terri - thought it was a lovely little film and would definitely recommend it.


----------



## belboid (Sep 20, 2011)

Scarfies/Crime 101 - arguable the best comedy ever to come out of Dunedin.

tho, b y the same token, I assume it also the worst comedy ever to come out of Dunedin. Marginally amusing on two or three occasions, decent soundtrack tho (Flying Nun bands)


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 20, 2011)

Rango.  Very good indeed, involving a Chameleon faking his way around the plot of Polanski's Chinatown.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 20, 2011)

the guard. shite.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 20, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> the guard. shite.


Don't talk wet - it even included a scene from The Shout - probably the most neglected and underrated film from the 70s.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 20, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Don't talk wet - it even included a scene from The Shout - probably the most neglected and underrated film from the 70s.


was that the scene with a young john hurt falling down? i wondered what it was.
i didn't like the guard as i was led to believe it would be funny and it wasn't that funny. brendan gleeson is fantastic though. don cheadle isn't.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 20, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> was that the scene with a young john hurt falling down? i wondered what it was.
> i didn't like the guard as i was led to believe it would be funny and it wasn't that funny. brendan gleeson is fantastic though. don cheadle isn't.


Yep that's it, do dig it out, it's fantastic. Never understood why it's not better known.

As for the guard, i though Cheadle had to play the role as he did. It worked for me. Ending bit rushed, but enjoyed it a lot. Lot of great one off lines. (_That's half a billion_)


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 20, 2011)

2 eps of Mark Cousin's 15 part doc on cinema. Awesome stuff, why is it hidden away. Must see for anyone who adores film.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> was that the scene with a young john hurt falling down? i wondered what it was.
> i didn't like the guard as i was led to believe it would be funny and it wasn't that funny. brendan gleeson is fantastic though. don cheadle isn't.


I don't think it's as good as In Bruges but it's still pretty good. Best comedy I've seen this year.


----------



## Zabo (Sep 22, 2011)

_Four Lions._ Not bad for £3 from HMV. I liked the prayer bear and the crow sketch. Some good actors.

Very odd that the sleeve had no details at all only the standard BBFC 15 rating! One can only hope that a little granny didn't buy it thinking it was a follow up to _Born Free_.


----------



## magneze (Sep 23, 2011)

_Attack The Block_. Dark, funny and very likeable. Not the best film ever, but good solid entertainment and it doesn't hang around too long. More films should be around 90 minutes long - it's a good length.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 23, 2011)

Sons of Anarchy season 4 episode 3. Wish the J Teller stuff had been killed off last series. Who gives a fuck.

Underbelly Razor up to episode 6. Violent 1920's aussie gang war. Good in a trashy way

Season finale of Alphas. Good stuff. Lighter than heroes, less powered up than x-men. Morally dubious but worth a second series. Still as it is syfy production thats probably the last we will ever see of it


----------



## DJ Squelch (Sep 23, 2011)

The Veteran - not brilliant but worth watching Brit flic about a soldier returning from duty in Afghanistan and being recruited by British intelligence to track down a terrorist cell while trying to help his friend battle the local London housing estate villian. The acting, shots of London & soundtrack are all pretty good. The gun shoot out at the end is like the bank robbery from Heat moved to London which makes it worth watching alone.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 23, 2011)

Blazing Saddles.

Jesus Fucking Christ.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 23, 2011)

it's ace isn't it? surely you've seen it before though?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 23, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> it's ace isn't it? surely you've seen it before though?



I saw it when it came out. It was a lot funnier back then. I think liberal amounts of pot help the humor quotient.

Watching it now, what sticks out is the incredible amount of racism that needs to be present in a country to base this sort of comedy upon.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 23, 2011)

you're not wrong.
the campfire scene has dated somewhat.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 23, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> you're not wrong.
> the campfire scene has dated somewhat.



The whole thing has dated.

Watching Cleavon Little do the googly-eyed black thing has dated.

Watching Mel Brooks act like an idiot has dated.

Best part was, the one I watched had the word 'nigger' bleeped out.

How can you have 'Blazing Saddles' without the word 'nigger'?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 24, 2011)

The wind that shakes the barley

How have I not seen this before. It was an ordeal.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 24, 2011)

I watched it a few days ago myself.  It resembled Land and Freedom in some ways.  And with the counter-insurgency, the swaggering Black and Tan thugs came across as two-dimensional Baddies.  Looks real pretty, though.


----------



## starfish (Sep 25, 2011)

Finally got round to watching all of The Road. Very grim but very moving. The book was more gut wrenching though.

Also watched Super. Wasnt quite what i was expecting. Thought it was going to be a light hearted film in the vain of Kick Ass. That, it is not. Pretty good film though.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 25, 2011)

I saw saving private ryan for the first time.
Holy crap, what a load of crap. Crap crap crap on every level. Why did I d . . . AMERICAN FLAG< AMERICA IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 25, 2011)

Battleship Potemkin. Quite a revelation.


----------



## Zabo (Sep 25, 2011)

_Little Big Man._ As a comedy it is very dated and fails. As a revisionist western it succeeds. To think they thought of casting Laurence Olivier or Paul Scofield! They must have been pissed.

Isn't it odd how you can go on and off actors? I used to like Hoffman  but I now only like him in _Midnight Cowboy_.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 25, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> I watched it a few days ago myself. It resembled Land and Freedom in some ways. And with the counter-insurgency, the swaggering Black and Tan thugs came across as two-dimensional Baddies. Looks real pretty, though.


 
Yeah, same visual feel in some ways despite the differing landscape. The one bit where the B&T's were not 2-d baddies was where the red brother was arguing with that english captain who was saying 'my boys waded through vomit and mud at the somme etc' and red brother was 'Get out of my country!'

other than that they were simply shouting bastards.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 25, 2011)

Zabo said:


> Isn't it odd how you can go on and off actors? I used to like Hoffman but I now only like him in _Midnight Cowboy_.



I still like him in Tootsie


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 25, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Yeah, same visual feel in some ways despite the differing landscape. The one bit where the B&T's were not 2-d baddies was where the red brother was arguing with that english captain who was saying 'my boys waded through vomit and mud at the somme etc' and red brother was 'Get out of my country!'
> 
> other than that they were simply shouting bastards.



'What do you fucking expect?  These men fought at the Somme, up to their necks in vomit, filthy trenches ...'

With regard to Land and Freedom, I meant the arguments about reform, compromise and socialism.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 25, 2011)

Ah right, similar yes- I suppose the visual feel/filmic style I was recognizing was due to that being loaches style in general. I've only seen those two by him. In some ways that camera as observer thing reminded me a bit of This is England, weirdly enough, though that one was shane meadows.

I agree on pretty though. The scenery when they led the english bastard and the collaborator out for execution was lovely.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 25, 2011)

The poor lad killed as a traitor was that simple-minded farm labourer intimidated by the aforementioned army officer and that English landowner.  There was that young English soldier who deserts the army, too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 25, 2011)

couldn't even write, but asked not to be buried next to the english landowner. Yes it did go a bit beyond baddies and goodies.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 25, 2011)

That was another thing about it, the 'give me your letters' thing. When facing execution you wrote letters and your executioners would see them delivered. Nasty thought, that the practise was so common as to have observed form


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 25, 2011)

The differences between the Free Staters and the other republicans/socialists was a bit simplistic, but elsewhere (the court scene about the businessman exploiting an old women but supplying arms to the rebels), it was more complex on their side.  Then you had 'You fucking Sow! Shut up boy! Fuck off Paddy! Filthy Irish bastard!'


----------



## Belushi (Sep 25, 2011)

The Circle. Iranian film from 2000 following a series of women trying to get by outside the system. Very good, still banned in Iran.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 26, 2011)

Belushi said:


> The Circle. Iranian film from 2000 following a series of women trying to get by outside the system. Very good, still banned in Iran.


It's worse than that, the director has been given 6 years by the theocracy.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 26, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> It's worse than that, the director has been given 6 years by the theocracy.



Fuck, for this film or other work?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 26, 2011)

Daydream Nation. It's about high school kids. They take drugs. One of them fucks the teacher. Drama ensues.

There's also a serial killer.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 26, 2011)

Belushi said:


> Fuck, for this film or other work?


For that and others - they also banned him from making or writing films for 20 years.


----------



## Autochthonous1 (Sep 26, 2011)

Baise Moi. Later found out this translates to 'rape me'. Which was what it was all about in a girl-kick-arse kind of way-ish. I liked it. One thing that bugged me though was the music, totally wrong throughout, immensely bad. I would love to do a re-make of this film, with music that compliments or amplifies the scenes.


----------



## Autochthonous1 (Sep 26, 2011)

And you totally sold Daydream Nation to me.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 26, 2011)

it doesn't translate as 'rape me', it translates as 'kiss me' or 'fuck me'


----------



## Belushi (Sep 26, 2011)

Rope, a Hitchcock I'd never seen loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case.

Enjoyed it despite the miscasting of Jimmy Stewart; cleverly edited by Hitch to make it look as if it was shot in one continuous take.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 27, 2011)

The first 2 epsiodes (or at least I think they were, see below) of *Battlestar Galactica *(the newer one).

This is kind of my problem, where does it begin? My flatmate and I watched '33' first, but we both got the impression we'd missed something, and the "previously on..." for episode 2 showed stuff we hadn't seen in Ep 1 

I know there were some mini-series', what's the correct order for watching everything associated with the new Galactica?


----------



## Mapped (Sep 27, 2011)

The tree of life. It's amazing if you're tripping. I'll reserve comment on whether it's a good film or not for when I've watched it straight


----------



## Mapped (Sep 27, 2011)

The Octagon said:


> I know there were some mini-series', what's the correct order for watching everything associated with the new Galactica?



You need to watch the mini series first. Definitely.

It's also very, very good until the last series


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 27, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> You need to watch the mini series first. Definitely.
> 
> It's also very, very good until the last series



Which mini-series though, it looks like there are 3 or 4!

No spoilers please.


----------



## Garcia Lorca (Sep 27, 2011)

The Octagon said:


> Which mini-series though, it looks like there are 3 or 4!
> 
> No spoilers please.



its the best start ever to a series 

i am sure theres two 1 and half hour starters before the series, that have to be watched.


----------



## Mapped (Sep 27, 2011)

This one is the one you need for now

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314979/

Razor fits in between seasons 3 and 4 IIRC


----------



## Garcia Lorca (Sep 27, 2011)

i finished the pusher trilogy last night,

first one was good, second so so and number 3 i couldnt wait for it to finish.

i am surprised that attack the block has  been getting the worth watching nod from a few, i thought it was the worst film ihave seen this year. the aliens look alright, after that bad stereotype acting.


----------



## Mapped (Sep 27, 2011)

Probably the wrong thread, but what's this all about? 'Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704292/ Are we getting more?


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 27, 2011)

Ah right, cheers. Better stop watching S1 for the moment while I find a decent download!


----------



## belboid (Sep 27, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> Probably the wrong thread, but what's this all about? 'Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704292/ Are we getting more?


its been rumoured for a while, I imagined it got dumped alongside Caprica, but maybe not.  'The adventures of young William Adama in the First Cylon War.' Apparently.

I finished watching Season 3 of Breaking Bad last night.  Which had an ending I hadn't been expecting at all.  Will have to fight the urge to download S4 immediately


----------



## starfish (Sep 27, 2011)

Been watching series 1 of The Big Bang Theory on on demand. It does make me laugh. The episode where they buy the Time Machine is hilarious.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 27, 2011)

The Piano Teacher. Michael Haneke film from 2001 about sex, power and desperation. Isabelle Huppert gives a superb performance in the lead.


----------



## little_legs (Sep 28, 2011)

Drive (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)

I liked Drive a lot, especially how the extreme violence and subtle tenderness are mixed throughout the film.

Ryan Gosling is pretty convincing as a quiet hero and a criminal, although most of the emotional things he does in Drive I've already seen him do in Blue Valentine. Having said that, the combination of ruthlessness and aloofness he maintains during the getaway/car chasing and gory scenes is pretty awesome. I thought Albert Brooks whose character becomes scary as fuck as the film progresses stood out too.

I liked Refn's little touches: self-deprecating 'they thought my films were too European' lamenting by Bernie, the ending of a murder scene shown as a battle of the shades, the 80's inspired soundtrack, Gosling's scorpio jacket, and even the pink Mistral font from Dirty Dancing.


----------



## pianissimo (Sep 28, 2011)

Lovely Bones

- excellent.


----------



## pianissimo (Sep 28, 2011)

Belushi said:


> The Piano Teacher. Michael Haneke film from 2001 about sex, power and desperation. Isabelle Huppert gives a superb performance in the lead.


I found it freakish.  But then again I'm not into sadomasochistic fetishes.


----------



## KeeperofDragons (Sep 29, 2011)

Working my way through Babylon 5 yet again,  just watched By Any Mean Necessary - can't remember what number episode only that it was in series 1

KoD


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 29, 2011)

I watched the last episode of Being Human which was quite sad although New Vampire Baddie is fairly sinister.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 29, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> Lovely Bones
> 
> - excellent.



read the book.
film does it a dis-service.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Sep 29, 2011)

Belushi said:


> Rope, a Hitchcock I'd never seen loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case.
> 
> Enjoyed it despite the miscasting of Jimmy Stewart; cleverly edited by Hitch to make it look as if it was shot in one continuous take.



I saw this recently too. Liked it but prefer Hitchcock's later stuff.


----------



## quimcunx (Sep 29, 2011)

Got round to watching In Bruges after lot's of people saying it's good.  It's good.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 29, 2011)

quimcunx said:


> Got round to watching In Bruges after lot's of people saying it's good. It's good.


watch The Guard that's good as well


----------



## Mapped (Sep 30, 2011)

I watched The Guard last week. Highly recommended!


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 30, 2011)

Tae Guk Gi. Brother turns on brother in the Korean Civil War.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 30, 2011)

Women Without Men. The lives of four Iranian women at the time of the British backed coup in 1953. Enjoyed it though the story was a bit muddled, the cinematography is stunning, some of the most strikingly beautiful shots I've seen in film.


----------



## belboid (Oct 1, 2011)

Animal Kingdom.

A right merry little number. Deeply engrossing and good too, tho


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 1, 2011)

Cemetery Junction. It's 'American Graffitti' done British-style.

American Graffitti is not a bad movie, but it's hard to beat the British filmmakers for this kind of human-drama type film. I can't recall getting a tear in my eye at any part of Graffitti, for instance.


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 2, 2011)

*Tucker and Dale vs Evil:* Very funny comedy/horror satire. The first half especially is wonderful.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 2, 2011)

Hostel.

I fast forwarded through the boring bits and it was over in about 10 minutes.


----------



## Zabo (Oct 2, 2011)

_Sacco e Vanzetti._ An Irish actor and a South African actor dubbed in Italian are not good omens. The French version is even worse!

The documentary was more telling and thankfully didn't require the Italian histrionics.

Things haven't changed much since 1927


----------



## little_legs (Oct 2, 2011)

belboid said:


> Animal Kingdom.
> 
> A right merry little number. Deeply engrossing and good too, tho



I only read after watching this film that it was based on a true story. I thought it was disturbing. And that mother kissing her grown up sons on their lips was cringeworthy.


----------



## starfish (Oct 2, 2011)

NEDS. Pure dead brilliant so it was by the way.


----------



## Mapped (Oct 2, 2011)

starfish said:


> NEDS. Pure dead brilliant so it was by the way.



I've got this one saved for when I feel like a bleak Scottish drama. It's been sat in my download folder for months.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 3, 2011)

little_legs said:


> I only read after watching this film that it was based on a true story. I thought it was disturbing. And that mother kissing her grown up sons on their lips was cringeworthy.


are mothers not supposed to kiss their kids on the lips then?


----------



## Yetman (Oct 3, 2011)

Apolalypto - wasnt expecting something this good from Mel Gibson, but it was brilliant, a proper epic and portrayed the lifestyle of the people of the time excellently. 9/10


----------



## little_legs (Oct 3, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> are mothers not supposed to kiss their kids on the lips then?


Actually, I should have said that it was weird that she was kissing them on the mouth. 

Have you seen this film, OU?


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 3, 2011)

Thor.  Can't complain, quite good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 3, 2011)

little_legs said:


> Actually, I should have said that it was weird that she was kissing them on the mouth.
> 
> Have you seen this film, OU?


yeah, thought it was great.


----------



## little_legs (Oct 3, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> yeah, thought it was great.



I thought it was great too, I am not disputing the quality of the film.

Do I understand correctly that you did not think for a moment that Smurf kissing her sons on the mouth was a bit odd?


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 3, 2011)

i though it was a little bit over the top as they were a bit lingering, but normal mums peck their kids on the lips too.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 3, 2011)

lezzers


----------



## little_legs (Oct 3, 2011)

Normal mums? Ok. Fair enough. 

I don’t have any problems with parents pecking children on their lips. Perhaps I am being judgemental, but IMO this was no pecking, OU. 

I recognise that in this particular film, the impropriety of mother kissing grown up sons on their mouths is probably an allegory to animals the film’s director equates this family to. This mother is clearly in love with her children; eccentric as they are, they are the love of her life which makes her character so compelling. She is someone who would literally do anything for her children but whose love ultimately destroys them. Still, when she did it first time, I did think to myself ‘hang on a second, something’s going on here’.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 3, 2011)

No, she just fucks kids. Nothing else.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 4, 2011)

belboid said:


> Animal Kingdom.
> 
> A right merry little number. Deeply engrossing and good too, tho


Very good, glad to see it's made it over to the UK


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 4, 2011)

Yetman said:


> Apolalypto - wasnt expecting something this good from Mel Gibson, but it was brilliant, a proper epic and portrayed the lifestyle of the people of the time excellently. 9/10



It is a bloke running through a jungle for fucking ages. And then the spanish arrive.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Oct 5, 2011)

Attack The Block. I don't normally like Science fiction or even remotely scary stuff, but I really liked it.


----------



## pianissimo (Oct 5, 2011)

Catching up on V, the tv series.
Currently on beginning of season 2.  Love it so far!


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 5, 2011)

Vanishing Point - nihilistic car chase movie. it's essentially just a bloke driving very stylishly through death valley, beating on homosexuals yet coolly snubbing naked women on motorbikes. great soundtrack.
it's no cannonball run.


----------



## Greebo (Oct 6, 2011)

Finally got around to the recording of 4 Lions, even the umpteen adbreaks didn't ruin it.  Added to wishlist.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 7, 2011)

'Syndromes and a Century' odd, hypnotic Thai film.  Didn't quite understand it, really enjoyed it.


----------



## marty21 (Oct 7, 2011)

watched 1st 2 episodes of Carnivale, hooked already (thanks to a little urban dvd swap club)


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 7, 2011)

*Submarine* - best film I've seen since *Youth in Revolt* (and quite similar in style).


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 7, 2011)

*Tucker and Dale vs Evil! *Feckin loved it! I laughed  that much i ended up with a smokers cough. Comedy of the year fer me!


----------



## Herbsman. (Oct 7, 2011)

Everywhere and Nowhere. Good subject matter but the actual film is a pile of pants.


----------



## Herbsman. (Oct 7, 2011)

Red State and Our Day Will Come. Both too weird for me


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 7, 2011)

*Drive* - low-budget masterpiece, shot beautifully in every way. I love the romance the two shared - non sexual, the yearning - thought it was caught well. Great film.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Oct 8, 2011)

The Octagon said:


> I know there were some mini-series', what's the correct order for watching everything associated with the new Galactica?


 
You have to watch the miniseries, which is essentially the first four episodes bundled together as a single pilot. Without it, you've no set up - without it, it's like watching The Matrix from the moment Neo wakes up. The miniseries identifies a number of the cylon characters, the destruction of the colonies, and much more.

Watch it in broadcast order, plonking "Razor" in the middle of Season 2, and "The Plan" needs to be watched roughly halfway though season 3. the BAttlestar wiki's will tell you.

Blood And Chrome is set during the first cylon war some 20-25 years before the miniseries. There's some webisodes on the razor DVD best watched in flashback too set about the same time.

Caprica started off as a pitch as a show about the development of AI, and syfy bolted that onto the battlestar universe to make it more watched. it failed. completely. Caprica is like describing Crossroads as a prequel to Star Trek.

Drive is incredible. i love the framing of the scenes and pacing. its a film where we've seen the plot a hundred times, but the executions elevates it above and beyond what you imagine possible. Reminded me a lot of Thief / Man Hunter / LA Takedown by Michael Mann. Almost my film of the year.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 8, 2011)

Where's Reno these days?


----------



## Mapped (Oct 8, 2011)

Me and a mate just laughed our wasted arses of to Mr Nobody 

Slick, surreal and massively bonkers. It's great!


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 8, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> Me and a mate just laughed our wasted arses of to Mr Nobody
> 
> Slick, surreal and massively bonkers. It's great!



another great film. seriously underrated.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 8, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Where's Reno these days?


 
Nevada


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 8, 2011)

World War 2: 1941 and the Man of Steel

absolute hatchet job lite but the footage was interesting enough


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Oct 8, 2011)

"Resident Evil: Afterlife" - alright, very reminiscent of the games which is good except the games you don't mind a certain lack of, charicterisation etc.. because you have the gameplay whereas in a film is not so good!


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 8, 2011)

Drive...watchable but not the masterpiece others have proclaimed imo

My Name is Joe, which for some reason I've never seen before and was a lot better.


----------



## belboid (Oct 9, 2011)

Bobby Fischer Against The World - excellent documentary, well worth a viewing even if you couldnt give a flying fuck about chess.

Youth In  Revolt - an entertaining niety minutes, pretty funny, great performances, blah blah

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - does what it says on the tin. Perfect post midnight viewing


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Oct 9, 2011)

Also watched "The Merchant of Venice" with Al Pacino yesterday - some very good bits. Al Pacino was excellent and Jeremy Irons very godd too, they made the Shakespearean language very understandably and, unlike some of the other cast, not like they were 'speaking Shakespeare'. Portia wasn't bad either, especially in the courst scene. Joseph Ffienes whispered too much!​
This afternoon was "Jurassic Park III" - enjoyable solid Sunday afternoon on the sofa watching​


----------



## Bomber (Oct 12, 2011)

'Unknown' ~ Liam Neeson & the delightful Diane Kruger  ~ Star rating out of 5 ~ **** *


----------



## Yetman (Oct 12, 2011)

Last 4 episodes of Dexter Season 4.......a simple smiley could be a spoiler so those who've seen it know which one I want to use. Top show, getting S5 now.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 12, 2011)

Watched the Battlestar Galactica mini-series, yeah, the first four episodes of Season 1 make much more sense now 

Although in a way, watching '33' first was quite cool, thrown right into a breathless, nerve-shredding chase scene and having to figure it out as it raced along 

Good stuff all round, the Sky+ is filled up with episodes until Season 3, so plenty to be getting on with.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 12, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> *Tucker and Dale vs Evil! *Feckin loved it! I laughed that much i ended up with a smokers cough. Comedy of the year fer me!



You're must have a very good sense of humour.
I thought it was okay - I liked how he approached the girls at the garage/ service station.

I saw about 15 mins of *Fast and Furious 5* and it was awful.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 12, 2011)

drive - ryan gosling looks dim while driving about michael mann's la. dreamy synth pop soundtrack. shit all else.


----------



## Mapped (Oct 12, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> You're must have a very good sense of humour.
> I thought it was okay - I liked how he approached the girls at the garage/ service station.



It's amazing! Uintentional, accidental deaths left right and centre


----------



## marty21 (Oct 13, 2011)

Battle:Los Angeles

big budget scifi

enjoyed it, it was stupid, cliched, but I enjoyed it - it had big explosions and aliens


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 13, 2011)

I got bored of it.  The aliens were pretty shit, too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 13, 2011)

First time in a long time that I have sacked a film off 20 minutes in was that. Proper yanqui penis sci fi.

Last night I watched season 2 of deadwood, episodes 5-9

Cocksuckers


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Oct 13, 2011)

Little Red Flowers is on in a minute on Film 4.  It's been in my Amazon basket for about a year


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 13, 2011)

*Meek's Cutoff* Started of slow and got even slower! Not to everyones taste but i feckin loved it fer sum reason! Watched it a 4am in da morning thinkin this will get me of ta sleep! Arse*  Great interaction between (Michelle Williams) an Bruce Greenwood. Me only gripe was not havin subtitles fer when the Native Indian was mumblin his head off.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 14, 2011)

*Two Men and the Wardrobe* early Polanski short from 1958, starts off as a silent comedy and then (it being Polanski) turns darker.

*Deficit *Gael Garcia Bernal's debut as a Director, slight but not bad.


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 15, 2011)

*Insidious:* surprisingly effective horror film. You can see every strand of its DNA in other films (Poltergeist and The Exorcist, mostly) but it puts you on edge in the first 10 minutes and works its socks off to keep you there. The second half isn't as good as the first but makes up for it with a grimly satisfying ending.


----------



## Callie (Oct 16, 2011)

Attack the block - alright, might watch again if someone else wanted to (complimentary!)
Submarine - watching for the second time, love it, makes me laugh, like the styling, awkward in places but in a kind if good way. want to watch dead man's shoes now though to.reinstate paddy


----------



## Callie (Oct 16, 2011)

quite fancy watching rec - anyone seen it?


----------



## starfish (Oct 16, 2011)

Hanna. Was ok, liked the action scenes.


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

Callie said:


> quite fancy watching rec - anyone seen it?



It's nothing special but certainly worth a look if you're a horror fan.


----------



## Callie (Oct 16, 2011)

A film liking friend of mine said in terms of modern horror it was pretty good. Have had a good run on films recently at the cinema and at home  I like it!


----------



## marty21 (Oct 18, 2011)

2 more episodes of Carnivale - loving it


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 18, 2011)

Kill Me Later. Selma Blair tries to off herself, first by jumping off the Marine Building on Burrard Street, then by jumping off the Burrard Street Bridge.

Maybe there's something about 'Burrard' that really gets under her skin.

Spoiler: she doesn't die, but goes off to live with some guy with a British accent.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 18, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> *Insidious:* surprisingly effective horror film. You can see every strand of its DNA in other films (Poltergeist and The Exorcist, mostly) but it puts you on edge in the first 10 minutes and works its socks off to keep you there. The second half isn't as good as the first but makes up for it with a grimly satisfying ending.



This. Genuinely scary at points, though manages to have the odd funny moment to keep it from being too scary.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 18, 2011)

finally got around to Battlestar Galactica: Razor

Have to say the razor crews 'SO SAY WE ALL' moment was not as good as the galactica's


----------



## TruXta (Oct 18, 2011)

marty21 said:


> 2 more episodes of Carnivale - loving it



Shame it ended where it ended...


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 19, 2011)

Charley Varrick Pretty descent heist movie from the 70s starring Walter matthau! Got me interested in findin a few more 70s flix if there this good. Dont understand why he hated it so much though?


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 21, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> Charley Varrick Pretty descent heist movie from the 70s starring Walter matthau! Got me interested in findin a few more 70s flix if there this good. Dont understand why he hated it so much though?


One of the most underrated films from the 70s.Try Night Moves and Prime Cut


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 21, 2011)

Just finished Season 1 of BSG, breathless stuff. Would have been a hell of a cliffhanger, had we not already got S2 cued up 

Genuinely don't have a clue which way they're going with the direction of the show, but loving it.

Some excellent dark moments -



Spoiler: BSG plot points



Baltar convincing Boomer to attempt suicide, the red-shirts dying on Kobol for nothing



Lols at young Adama and Tigh in the S2 opener.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Oct 22, 2011)

Skyline - brilliant effects, dodgy script, zero characterisation and a nonsensical ending. But the effects and sound design are stunningly good.

Pandorum - i do love a good 'ship in space' movie. Good effects. the last act reveal is sub-par. ben Foster is terribly cast. The monsters are rubbish. The production design is Event Horizon II.

The Fourth Kind - surprisingly effective in places but the faux documentary mixed with reconstruction doesnt work at all. needed to be entirely fictional, i thought.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Oct 22, 2011)

The Art Of Flight - documentary about extreme snowboarding down mountains. Beautifully shot but watching footage of people slide down a mountain gets a bit boring after a while plus they come across as dicks some of the time. Could of been good if they'd put more info about the history of it and maybe some story about people who've died doing it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 23, 2011)

*Cedar Rapids* - The John C. Reily character reminded me of an uncle I had (they were born in the same year funnily enoug). Film was okay. Passable. Not bad for an indie, it's just I've seen alot of the same lately.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 23, 2011)

Hellboy 2

in many ways it was more coherent than the last film- and evil elves are always good- the elves in this looked a bit like LOTR elves with attitude.

However the lack of a clockwork Nazi really let the side down.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 23, 2011)

I've just started rewatching BSG from the start, with one of my daughters.


----------



## Jackobi (Oct 23, 2011)

Midnight in Paris

In one sentence:

Oh look, Paris in the 20s. It's Stein, Porter, Dali, Hemingway, The Fitzgeralds, Picasso etc etc etc etc. My fiancee isn't suitable, here's a woman in Paris that is. The End.

A total disappointment.

(okay, a few sentences)


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 24, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> One of the most underrated films from the 70s.Try Night Moves and Prime Cut


Also The Friends of Eddie Coyle


----------



## marty21 (Oct 24, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> One of the most underrated films from the 70s.Try Night Moves and Prime Cut


Prime Cut is excellent !

I watched How the West Was Won - epic western, loads of cameos, found it quite engaging - John Waye as Tecumseh Sherman! Harry Morgan (From Mash) as Ulysses Grant 

Also watched Sea Chase, I think it was called, over the weekend - in which John Wayne played a German Merchant Navy captain, trying to get through an Allied Naval blockage in WW2


----------



## 100% masahiko (Oct 24, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> *Insidious:* surprisingly effective horror film. You can see every strand of its DNA in other films (Poltergeist and The Exorcist, mostly) but it puts you on edge in the first 10 minutes and works its socks off to keep you there. The second half isn't as good as the first but makes up for it with a grimly satisfying ending.



People who watched this in cinema all thought it was hilarious.
I saw it alone and was totally immersed. Genuinely creepy.


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 24, 2011)

*The Devil Is a Woman* wiv Marlene Dietrich! What a film! Feckin brilliant! An dietrich looks stunning (Apart from her badly drawn eybrows that are way to up her forehead)
I reckon she must have been a bit like her character in real life seein as she played it so well. Gotta feel sorry fer the old guy though aintcha/The poor sod. Beautifully shot anawl  definitely one fer yer collection thats fer sure


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Oct 24, 2011)

Shutter Island - Fanbloodytastic


----------



## andy2002 (Oct 25, 2011)

*Stakeland:* Half-decent vampire film with some great moments and ideas (the vamps were terrorising human survivors with the help of an insane religious order, called the Brotherhood). The characters were too sketchy and the plot too simplistic for it to be a total success though.


----------



## pianissimo (Oct 25, 2011)

The Silence Before Bach - interesting in its conceptual approach.  I enjoyed it.


----------



## Garek (Oct 26, 2011)

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Never seen before. One of the best war films I have ever seen.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 27, 2011)

*Angel of Mine* French film about a woman who becomes obsessed with a 7 year old girl, unconvincing ending.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 27, 2011)

Mildred Pierce - the recent HBO version. Didn't like it at first but it eventually got to me. The production and costume design is well lush and the music is amazing. Todd Haynes really knew what he was doing with that and the actors. Winslet, Pierce, Wood, O'Byrne and Leo were great, especially Evan Rachel Wood as the total bitch of the daughter. Was slightly unsurew what we were supposed to make of the character of Mildred Pierce. I was totally sympathetic to her and wasn't sure whether I was supposed to or not. I'm not sure how her daughter turned out to be such a horror. It _is _a melodrama I suppose.
Must see the Joan Crawford flick now.


----------



## etrigan (Oct 27, 2011)

I recently bought _Powder Blue_ starring Jessica Biel on DVD.

It's like the movie _Crash_ in that it shows the lives of different people intersecting with one another.

I thought there were some nice movements although it didn't have much of a plot.

I was surprised that it got such bad reviews.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 28, 2011)

I watched Stakeland which I enjoyed. I think it is now a rule post-Road that all american post apocalypse films must have downbeat and forlorn music playing to accentuate the air of hopelessness.


----------



## Voley (Oct 28, 2011)

The Lives Of Others - Best film I've seen in a good while. Really enjoyed it.


----------



## TruXta (Oct 28, 2011)

It's a fantastic movie, NVP.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 29, 2011)

*Il Conformista *Bertolucci 1970. Brilliant, visually stunning film about Fascism.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 29, 2011)

Soldier- a Kurt Russell sci fi number from the 80's. I hope he wasn't paid by the word cos he hardly utters any at all. It would make an interesting compare/contrast to Enemy Mine. A super-soldier thrown away for a new model fails to find his humanity except that he does save the women and children. Good visuals and a nice turn out of 'oh I know him/her from xxx'

But otherwise a bit by-the-numbers


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 29, 2011)

Belushi said:


> *Il Conformista *Bertolucci 1970. Brilliant, visually stunning film about Fascism.


Quite possibly the best film of the 70s.Check out its companion piece The Spider's Stratagem


----------



## Yetman (Oct 29, 2011)

I AM JOHN LEGEND

I thought this was meant to be a bit funny but maybe I was getting confused with Hancock. It was a fairly decent film about post near extinction of humans, made me think of Quiet Earth until you realise what happened to the other humans. I liked it, though Smiths seemingly smooth transistion from cop to scientist was a bit questionable.


----------



## SW9 (Oct 30, 2011)

Just watched Human Centipede 2. Was pretty good, very different from the first. Like the way it was shot in black and white (With a bit of brown).
SW9


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 30, 2011)

I watched Screamers the film based on the PK Dicks short stories Second Variety. Quite a disappointment really- problem was I knew when the David model turned up that it was a claw/screamer. The visual feel was nice enough I suppose, but the film itself wasn't taut enough to get that creeping paranoiac horror you get from the short stories it was based on. A wasted opportunity.

Now I am looking for some more dystopian sci fi to watch. Might cave in and watch Children of Men since I aw it once ages ago and I can't remember if I liked it or not.


----------



## Zabo (Oct 30, 2011)

_Taking Sides_. Interesting film about the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler  and his role in the Nazi regime. A little hard adjusting to Harvey Keitel sporting a thin moustache. I've seen him in better films. Superb sets. Stellan Skarsgård was superb as Furtwängler.

Art v Politics or Politics v Arts


----------



## silverfish (Oct 31, 2011)

Screwed, which I was a bit dubious about (being labelled a gritty brit flick) I enjoyed it, normal swathe of british "Geezer actors" not over the top, good bit of drama unfortunately watching it in a sober state the twists in the tale were telegraphed really obviously early on.. worth a watch though

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1727816/

Watched the George Harrison documentary as well all three + hours of it.

The beginning was a bit of a dogs dinner jumping from era to era, I wasn't sure how the documentary was going to fill 3 hours at the random pace it was setting. It did eventually settle down.

Lots of talking heads saying he had two sides to him, lots of positive dits about him, shit loads on his search for spirituality (in fact this was the main push)

Obviously a puff piece done by his mate Terry Gilliam, barely touching on his negative stuff, infact only his wife was allowed to touch on the negative in describing his "love of women" implying seria infidelity.

I think the person reading his diary extracts was his son.

The music was obviously worth listening to

3 hous of fuzzy warmth but not really saying much, Only the barnets and facial hair change style

Worth a watch, probably on a sunday afternoon with a smoke and a box of wine

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1113829/


----------



## Badgers (Oct 31, 2011)

Pushing Tin which is okay. I can never work out if I like John Cusack


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 31, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Now I am looking for some more dystopian sci fi to watch. Might cave in and watch Children of Men since I aw it once ages ago and I can't remember if I liked it or not.



The long-take action scenes are good.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 31, 2011)

Last episode of BSG series 1

Overall I found it quite disappointing .  There's' no resolution to anything  so why is it the end of the series?  Also the cod philosophical bollocks with Baltar is less  intriguing than it wants to be.

I'll watch series 2 though


----------



## belboid (Oct 31, 2011)

The Cave of Forgotten Dreams.  Once again, Werner conjures up some magic from  heady mix of astounding nature and wacky cave sniffing doods.  Highly entertaining, tho I've no idea what the 3D could have added.

AugustUnderground. A rather different style of film-making to Mr Herzogs this. Just fucking ansty.


----------



## Voley (Oct 31, 2011)

The Hit. British gangster road movie with John Hurt and Tim Roth sent out to Spain to bring a grass (Terrence Stamp) back to answer for dropping his former crim mates in it. Bit disappointing really - it seemed like a half-decent premise and I like all the actors usually but it didn't seem to gel for whatever reason. John Hurt was satisfyingly malevolent but Tim Roth's usually better than this.


----------



## silverfish (Oct 31, 2011)

Just done the modern True grit, really enjoyed it, no idea what the plot was as never seen the original so everthing was new to me. Deffo worth a go (another indepth review from silverfish)


----------



## silverfish (Oct 31, 2011)

double post!!!


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 31, 2011)

^^^by the number western really but done with panache and an ear for language. I intend a revisit myself at some point


----------



## starfish (Oct 31, 2011)

The Hurt Locker. Pretty good, fairly gripping, didnt think the scene with the Brits worked but on the whole a decent war film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 31, 2011)

Generation Kill is far petter than Hirt Locker- in fact I wish I had seen Hurt Locker first cos fter Generation Kill it was a poor echo.


----------



## starfish (Oct 31, 2011)

That was on FX wasnt it. Keep forgetting about that channel.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 1, 2011)

A Halloween double bill...

*Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman:* Clumsy and unnecessary sequel/threequel that at least told its story economically (in 1hr 10mins). These days it would stretch to two-and-a-half hours and feature all manner of dodgy CGI. Lon Chaney Jr's Wolf Man transformation is still great all these years later.

*The Dead:* Passable retro-style zombie road movie set in an unnamed African country. A bit slow but there's a couple of moments that made me jump out of my skin.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 1, 2011)

Ginger Snaps which I quite enjoyed 

Still on the iPlayer along with the other two Ginger Snaps films.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 1, 2011)

The Crazies - standard thriller horror, didnt stand out really. 6/10


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 1, 2011)

Yetman said:


> The Crazies - standard thriller horror, didnt stand out really. 6/10



Was it the Romero original or the remake? TBH, I don't think either are great.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 1, 2011)

The Sorrow and the the Pity - totally amazing! Just absolutely astounding and incredibly moving. The questioning and filming of the interviewees by Ophuls is just masterful.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 1, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> Was it the Romero original or the remake? TBH, I don't think either are great.



Remake. Wont bother with the original then


----------



## silverfish (Nov 2, 2011)

Never let me go

Fack, what an unremittingly sad film. I'm not ashamed to say I cry at stuff in films but this film wouldn't even let me cry it was so grim/poignant/stark

I'm just a simple film watcher so can't go in to much of a critique with out sounding like a cock

The film is slow, and grey and doesn't really hold any suprises, which I think is what makes it even more effective.

It may take itself too seriously and I have a feeling that there is a patronising message in there for the viewer "Look how lucky you are"


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 2, 2011)

Just finished the The Dreileben trilogy - three inter-narrative films from three young german directors, each one in a different style - a bit like Lucas Belvaux's French Trilogy but of a higher quality across all three films. Wedll worth trying to catch, but do watch in order.

Beats Being Dead - Christian Petzold
Don't Follow Me Around - Dominik Graf
One Minute of Darkness - Christoph Hochhäusler


----------



## TruXta (Nov 2, 2011)

silverfish said:


> Never let me go
> 
> Fack, what an unremittingly sad film. I'm not ashamed to say I cry at stuff in films but this film wouldn't even let me cry it was so grim/poignant/stark
> 
> ...



Found it to be boring pretentious wankery.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 2, 2011)

how was it pretentious?


----------



## TruXta (Nov 2, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> how was it pretentious?



Kiera Knightley for starters. I dunno, I just thought it was. You got a problem with that?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 2, 2011)

yes, maybe you should have used another word instead of pretentious.


----------



## belboid (Nov 2, 2011)

I thought Kiera was suprisingly good in it (the surprise being mainly she wasn't just shit) - her anorexic figure being appropriate for once.  And Andrew Garfield was superb.

It still couldn't get over the essential weakness tho - 'just run the fuck away you fools!'


----------



## TruXta (Nov 2, 2011)

I thought the story was boring, yet had pretensions to depths it didn't even start to reach. I'm lenient when it comes to these things, but it rubbed me the wrong way entirely.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 2, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Kiera Knightley for starters. I dunno, I just thought it was. You got a problem with that?



I thought she was unbearable in this, not sure thats because of technique, whether it was how she was written or whether I just don't like her full stop

I'm lusting  after the teacher/guardian though


----------



## silverfish (Nov 2, 2011)

If a film makes you ponder the deeper shit without spelling it out I think to some extent its succesful.....If thats its objective from the start does that make it pretentious?


----------



## TruXta (Nov 2, 2011)

silverfish said:


> If a film makes you ponder the deeper shit without spelling it out I think to some extent its succesful.....If thats its objective from the start does that make it pretentious?



Nah, I like "intellectual" films as much as the next person. I just didn't think it was either intelligent or thought-provoking. As dystopia it was cack. As a tragedy it was light-weight. As drama it was turgid. YMMV.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 2, 2011)

did you read the book first?


----------



## TruXta (Nov 2, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> did you read the book first?



Nope. Would it have made a difference you think?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 2, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Nope. Would it have made a difference you think?


possibly, as i fail to see the pretentiousness of the film. i thought it had faults, but that was not one of them. it was pretty straight forward IMO.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 2, 2011)

Horses for courses and assorted cliches.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 2, 2011)

did the book have a more sci-fi edge to it?

I found the dour normality of the film quite disturbing, if there was a more sci-fi leaning or even a "baddy" element to it I don't think it would have effected me so much

The "plot hole" of why don't they run way/fight back isn't a plot hole, the hopelessness and bovine like obedience is what makes it more disturbing. The buggers ran in logans run


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 2, 2011)

no, not at all. the dourness is part of the book too. even the language is dour.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 2, 2011)

Just watched blitz, with Jason statham

Not much beating up shit or exlosions. Best bits Aiden Gillen playing the bad guy, Zawe ashton playing a stunning but troubled WPC and Paddy Considine who can do no wrong in my book

Better than expected, brit cop drama. Statham only does statham though, congratulations to him for keeping his shirt on and not chop sueying anyone


----------



## Voley (Nov 2, 2011)

Of Gods and Men - dunno if I liked this or not tbh. Ostensibly a film about religion and the clash between Christianity and Islam but arguably more about humanity and forgiveness. Quite thought-provoking, beautifully shot and great acting from all the guys that played the priests but slow-paced to the point that my mind started wandering at times.

A couple of nights back I watched The Counterfeiters which was quite good. True story about a Jewish forger who the Nazis allowed to live in exchange for him trying to copy the pound and the dollar. Lots of questions posed about how far you would go to save your own skin etc. Not bad.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 3, 2011)

*Deep End *1970 Surreal dark comedy set in a London swimming pool. Some great cinematography, Jane Asher is terrific.


----------



## Casually Red (Nov 3, 2011)

The original Italian job - surprised how much i liked it .

And Waterloo , Rod Steiger fucking ace as Napoleon .


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 3, 2011)

The music documentary, 'Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour'.

Brilliant band. Should have been massive.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 3, 2011)

****Possible spoiler alert*****

Single man. My scattergun approach to down loading stuff on the ipad seems to have borne plenty of sad/romantic/dystopian flicks this trip

I thought it was a great film, for me the "over egging it" on the imagery side was a bit of a torment but there were some beautiful bits in particular the car park gigolo scene with a background of what looked like a painted concrete wall (purple face?).

It was all about the eyes and faces, very intense, tiny facial expressions barely obvious normally on film, great acting/directing

Quite exhausting watching it. I started to panic when Firth started practicing with his shooter, I couldn't see where the film would go from there if he offed himself.

Julianne Moores english accent started well but as she acted pissed her normal accent popped up now and again, not enough to grate though

Nicholas hoult, stormed it.

Great film, ending had me all warm and fuzzy then broke my heart


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 3, 2011)

The Hunter - Raffi Pitts film about an ex-political convict in Iran, doing shit work at the regimes behest, wife is killed in a shoot out between/with the police and he turns to individual political action (if you see what i mean). Not an action film despite it sounding like one, slow-paced deliberate examination of a couple of aspects of life in Iran, only let down by the fact that Pitts was forced to step into the lead role at the last minute and wasn't really up to the job. Well worth a watch. Maybe one for Belushi.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 4, 2011)

is this a new style of spamming?
say something crass and idiotic, then add spam?


----------



## Crispy (Nov 4, 2011)

I could be mean and not note that spam was removed.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 4, 2011)

I watched the first three episodes of Brotherhood. It looks good, corrupt local officials, gangsterism etc.

Union racketeers not so encouraging but we can't pretend it never happened in america.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 4, 2011)

A bit of South Korean wild west..........The good the bad and the weird..

Subtitled modern western/comedy chase flick with plenty of violence

Not hugely impressed, filled a couple of hours (probably 50 minutes too long)

FUnny in parts, wouldn't break a leg to see it

Jackie Chan rip off?


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 4, 2011)

Cabra Cega - bit rubbish film about Marxist guerrillas in dictatorship brasil,the internal pressures blah blah,the egoism,the breakdown. Not worth the bother.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 4, 2011)

22 bullets Jean do dar french bloke. (leon chap)

Subtitled gangster revenge flick, watchable (especially for tidy copper) Nothing out of the ordinary jumps out at you.....Thesaurus out "Formulaic"

Eta Why do all gansters drive hi powered black audis, is it some sort of product placement


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 4, 2011)

It rubbish


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 4, 2011)

silverfish said:


> A bit of South Korean wild west..........The good the bad and the weird..
> 
> Subtitled modern western/comedy chase flick with plenty of violence
> 
> ...


Not at all.The strong narrative and lack of single hero pretty much shows that. Great film.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Nov 4, 2011)

Mr.Bishie said:


> Shutter Island - Fanbloodytastic


I felt really cheated by Shutter Island. I worked it out ten minutes in (on the boat to the island), and thought to myself "no way are they doing that, Its too lazy and we've seen it before in much crappier movies". (Identity with John Cusack. Murder, multiple personality disorders, builds up false identity to cope with psychological stress of murder)

Thus: -

Shutter Island: Leo Di Caprio plays a man who has lost his wife and children in tragic circumstances, and enters a falsified reality where he has to confront this loss, in which she comes back to mess with his head, before it is revealed to be false.

inception:  Leo Di Caprio plays a man who has lost his wife and children in tragic circumstances, and enters a falsified reality where he has to confront this loss, in which she comes back to mess with his head., before it is revealed to be false.
Yep - felt very cheated by Shutter Island. In Inception Leo plays the same one note character with an identical backstory and motivations.  Scorcese felt like he was slumming it - reminded me a lot of a remake of his own Cape Fear. Shutter Island is a film I've no love for.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Nov 5, 2011)

Withnail & I.

Boring.


----------



## dessiato (Nov 5, 2011)

In the realm of the senses, and true blood


----------



## Zabo (Nov 5, 2011)

_Michael Moore's Sicko._ Yes, I know...a little late but never mind.

While he maybe preaching to the converted (self) I think he does an admirable job bringing to the fore what the mainstream media wouldn't touch with a ten foot scalpel.

With a few exceptions it re-affirmed my contempt for the greatest shit hole on earth.

The Tony Benn interview was very good on the extras.


----------



## Mapped (Nov 5, 2011)

Hanna - Was fairly entertaining, I liked the Chemical Bros soundtrack


----------



## silverfish (Nov 5, 2011)

stormed through two tonight

"The road with vampires"  Stake land

And

The private lives of pippa lee, which was a suprising watchable drama/tiny bit of comedy chick flick, but "grown up" great cast, Robin Wright Penn is compelling in the lead role. Worth a watch


----------



## Yetman (Nov 6, 2011)

Midnight in Paris - bit of an indulgence into the golden era of art in Paris rather than a romantic film, which made me enjoy it more and the mrs enjoy it less.

Attack the Block - liked it, some funny lines and makes you warm to the lead characters after initially hating them. Cant wait to see Sket, which is probably gonna be a nastier version of this, but with girls, and no aliens. So totally different....but with the same lingo


----------



## Badgers (Nov 6, 2011)

V for Vendetta (every 5th of November) 
Badlands 

Judge John Deed now


----------



## Badgers (Nov 6, 2011)

Loving the judges work tonight


----------



## starfish (Nov 6, 2011)

Children of Men. Cant believe the people of Bexhill were terribly happy about the future portrayal of their quaint little town. Good film though.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Nov 6, 2011)

starfish said:


> Children of Men. Cant believe the people of Bexhill were terribly happy about the future portrayal of their quaint little town. Good film though.



Mind you, if you've ever been to Bexhill, you know the geography as presented in Children of Men  is totally false. Bexhill is not on an open plain but surrounded by hills. Similarly, see Dungeness in Robin Hood - Dungeness is flat, not hilly. typical Hollywood fail.

Im watchign "The Objective", a 2008  military thriller set in Afghanistan. Quite good so far.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 6, 2011)

It's not typical Hollywood fail. There's nothing wrong with it. They're shooting locations. It doesn't have to make geographic sense at all.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 6, 2011)

Just finished Attack the Block. Enjoyable monster tosh.


----------



## MBV (Nov 6, 2011)

Just given up on Midnight in Paris 30 mins in. Not in the mood.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 7, 2011)

I crimped and watched the human centipede, which TBH was quite entertaining in a camp, badly acted sort of way, I doubt I'll be following the leading ladies careers very far, I've seen lines delivered better in pron films

But for a horror it was disturbing in an ordinary way.

I was, however, deeply tittilated by the topless ladies shuffling round on their hands and knees in a restricted manner. May be I should indulge in a bit of that sort of action while surfing for filth

Worth a watch just to see what all the noise was about


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 7, 2011)

I watched episode1 of series 3 of In The Thick of It.

How this program passed me by I don't know, but Malcom us a genius character


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 7, 2011)

"Fantastic Four" on the telly - yeah it's shit but I was happy watching Chris "Captain America" Evans and shouting "Flame On!" occassionally.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 7, 2011)

*Captain America* - Good cheese with Agent Jones.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 7, 2011)

silverfish said:


> A bit of South Korean wild west..........The good the bad and the weird..
> 
> Subtitled modern western/comedy chase flick with plenty of violence
> 
> ...



Nah, no way.
You should check out *Tears of a Black Tiger* - zillion times superior.
GBANW gave me a fuckin' headache. Annoying camera work.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 7, 2011)

Badgers said:


> Badlands


----------



## Belushi (Nov 7, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> It's not typical Hollywood fail. There's nothing wrong with it. They're shooting locations. It doesn't have to make geographic sense at all.



Yeah, I watched Run Lola Run with Berlin girl; she hated it because the geography is all wrong and there is no possibility that Lola could make it between the different locations in the timescales given


----------



## Mapped (Nov 7, 2011)

Brazil for the umpteenth time. Reminded me about all the DIY I've been putting off


----------



## Belushi (Nov 7, 2011)

*The Thin Red Line *too long and portentous but beautifully shot and memorable imagery.


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 7, 2011)

Cyrus

The trailer lied to me.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 8, 2011)

Love is the drug.

JAke Gillywhatsit and ann hathaway fucking all over the place with a low level message about the drugs industry and uncurable illness.

Driven charmer salesman meets hippy artist with uncurable and terminal (eventually) illness.. push me pull me, fall in love, everthing sort of ends up alright....

Non standard but manipulative heart string puller but has some great characters in it. plus obviously the leads naked and fucking like rats in a bucket (Anne hathaway has an exceptionally fine body)

Look out for Jake gillywhatsits millionaire fat gimp brother, very funny and Oliver Platt as over the hill sales manager.

I think I'm becoming shallower and less choosy in what I watch and like, chuck in a bit of nudity and it gets a thumbs up from me...need to get out more often.....

Anyhow, despite the above I enjoyed watching it, save it for a sunday afternoon take cycnical head off and enjoy, its gotta better than reality tellybox shit


----------



## Badgers (Nov 8, 2011)

Badgers said:


> Judge John Deed now



More Deed last night


----------



## silverfish (Nov 8, 2011)

Ah also tried to watch the retreat.

Cillian Murphy,Jamie bell whiff and Thandie Newton make a dogs fucking dinner of the pandemic virus, end of the world style flick

I couldn't watch the "Plot development" or overwrought acting so fast forwarded half way through to the point where I saw the guns, blood and axes come out

Its basically a character piece, three "serious"? actors vibing off each other. What you get is a clunky back story of misery, painfully acted out over a dull first 1/4 of the film followed by jamie bell parachuted in as duty psycho, which he overacts.

Injected in is a WTF is happening plot, whats true, whats false blah blah blah. Unfortunately Bellwiff fails to "Do" enigmatic and kinda just shouts through the film while staring manically.

***SPOILER ALERT*****

they all die violently, and to be honest I was quite relieved when they did

ROOOBISH and no Thandy newton tits, use the DVD on a pole on a bit of string to scare the pigeons off your allottment runnerbeans


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 8, 2011)

Racing through Battlestar Galactica S2 at the mo, just watched the 'Resurrection' 2-parter, fuck me that was tense (and brilliant).

Not that it really started off light-hearted, but loving how dark and fucked up it's getting.

Cool to see Michelle Forbes again, she pops up in everything doesn't she?


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 8, 2011)

She works a lot.

I swear its her as the politicians wife in Brotherhood (i'm on episode 7 now).


----------



## campanula (Nov 8, 2011)

mmmmm Michelle Forbes (Ensign Ro in Next Generation) Lesbian fantasies ahoy.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Nov 8, 2011)

Snowtown about Oz serial killer John Bunting, seen from the point of view of his step son Jamie Vlassakis who is drawn into the killings. Good film but very grim. Not one to watch if you need cheering up.
BTW, Isn't someone on here related to him?

... and last week a film, which I enjoyed enough to start a thread about but didn't mentioned on here.

Margin Call - A film about 24 hours at an investment bank at the start of the global economic collapse in 2008 (supposedly based on Lehmans Brothers, the CEO here is called John Tuld and the CEO of Lehman Brothers was called Richard Fuld). When one junior worker gets a tip off, from a just fired senior collegue, he realizes that the shit is about to hit the fan with the bank's finances and the emergency esculates up the corprate chain of command as they realize the implications of what's about to happen.
Kevin Spacey & Zachary Quinto give great performances as the leads & Paul Bettany & Jeremy Irons are also brilliant, even Demi Moore isn't bad.
This might not be an accurate film about how the subprime morgage crisis hit the banks (but there's Inside Job for that) but it's a damn good thriller from first time writer / director J.C. Chandor.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 8, 2011)

More of the judge


----------



## silverfish (Nov 9, 2011)

*********SPOILER ALERT*******************  

Assassination games. John Claude van Damme and Scott Adkin play opposing hit men who join forces and kill some bad people.

I liked the look of the film, I think some one obviously had hold of the purse string and did the lot in an eastern european country, including hiring most of the non lead characters going on the names on the credits.

Anyhow it had a strangely lit, washed out sepia feel to it which was quite appealing

JCVD has toned up and bulked down in old age and this was less about doing the spilts and kung fooing people, more about dramatic presence and his dour almost sad character.....He didn't have to act much, just seem distant a bit stern and utter few words (ie act like a stereo typical hitman)

He pulled most of this role off (adkins as well) by wearing only black clothes. If I ever graduate as a hitman I will wear colourful garish clothes and edgy fashion accessories, no one will suspect me.

The plot was based on their motivations, Adkins on wife in coma, JCVD on 1. Being a killer robot interested only in cash/diamond 2. Seeking his humanity through contact with a beautifull (aren't they all) whore from next door, who gets brutally slain before she has the chance to get her kit off, which is a shame.

A fair bit of double dealing goes on, bad guys get filled in, although not as efficiently or spectacularly as action flic gimps would want

Every bad guy gets slain, THE END

As a PS who the fuck is this Adkins guy, he appears to be attempting to develop a Jason Statham like type casting thing for himself... He is certainly wooden enough delivering his lines. Throughout the film he appears to be either swallowing half his vowels, covering up an accent or struggling to work out what he wants to sound like.

I'd describe it as like a south african brought up in Scotland trying to put on an english estuarine accent, can anyone clear this up. Not dissimilar to how I'd imagine spacemonkies girlfriend sounds like, from the "racist apple staff thread"


----------



## pianissimo (Nov 9, 2011)

La Vie en Rose

Marion Cotillard was fantastic playing Edith Piaf.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 9, 2011)

silverfish said:


> Assassination games.


silverfish, i've notice that in quite a few of your reviews you tell us everything that happens in the films. please don't. ta!


----------



## Greebo (Nov 9, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> silverfish, i've notice that in quite a few of your reviews you tell us everything that happens in the films. please don't. ta!


A rough outline would be fine, though.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 9, 2011)

First two episodes of Top Boy. Great stuff


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 9, 2011)

Greebo said:


> A rough outline would be fine, though.


no spoilers, that's all


----------



## Greebo (Nov 9, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> no spoilers, that's all


Word.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 9, 2011)

Greebo said:


> A rough outline would be fine, though.



Will do


----------



## Belushi (Nov 9, 2011)

*I Am Love *Tilda Swinton is superb in a film about the decline of a wealthy Italian family. Beautifully shot and with a wonderful score I found it entrancing to look at. The obvious comparison is with Visconti, but it's not as good as The Leopard.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 9, 2011)

I watched Attack the Block with my brother, 1st time for him. He laughed like a drain, I didn't feel it stood up to a repeat viewing


----------



## Greebo (Nov 9, 2011)

silverfish said:


> Will do


I meant genre and if you enjoyed it, not what happens.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 9, 2011)

Assassination games, drama/action hit man flick, duff but slightly different, worth a punt but don't miss quizz night in your local for it


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 9, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> She works a lot.
> 
> I swear its her as the politicians wife in Brotherhood (i'm on episode 7 now).



Took me half the episode before I realised she was the Maenad in True Blood S2, and in quite a few Prison Break episodes 

Last night, watched *Zodiac.*

Felt a little overlong, but held my interest for most of the time.

The first half of the film is superior, althought the acting is better from Gyllenhall and Ruffalo in the latter stages.

Downey Jr. plays his standard schtick, getting a little boring now.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 10, 2011)

Layer cake, absolute classic brit gangster film, more watchable than Top Gun IYSWIM, once its on you've just gotta keep watching

Craig daniel sporting some mighty well cut clobber as well.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 10, 2011)

I didn't rate Layer cake. If you are in a brit gangster flick frame of mind try 44" chest- cracking cast- Ray Winston, John Hurt, Ian Mcshane. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914837/

I watched this weeks Sons of Anarchy. Clay had absolutely lost his mind.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 10, 2011)

it's got a brutal beating scene in it, filmed in the Regency Cafe in Pimlico, which used to be local cafe at work.


----------



## starfish (Nov 10, 2011)

I prefered the book. Film isnt too bad though.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 11, 2011)

*V for Vendetta* (as girlfriend had never seen it and wanted "something actiony")

Forgot how good it was (dumbed down politics / not as good as the GN / etc arguments aside).

The two standout sequences, Evey's imprisonment with the 'Valerie' letter and Finch's 'guess' at how things will go down (intercut with the dominos) are breathtaking.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 11, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> La Vie en Rose
> 
> Marion Cotillard was fantastic playing Edith Piaf.



One of my all time favs.
It immortalises the emotion of loss real well.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 11, 2011)

Belushi said:


> *I Am Love *Tilda Swinton is superb in a film about the decline of a wealthy Italian family. Beautifully shot and with a wonderful score I found it entrancing to look at. The obvious comparison is with Visconti, but it's not as good as The Leopard.



Beautifully shot. Great score.
But as a film, the finished product was hugely overrated. It kinda died up it's won arse.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 11, 2011)

Rango - kids' animation movie made for adults, crammed full of nerdy film references. It's great, esp for film nerds for spotting which bit is nicked from which film. The plot is a standard western with Chinatown thrown in. The characters are all lizards and creepy crawlies. It's ace!


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 11, 2011)

Good isn't it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 11, 2011)

oh, and I also saw The Modern Antiquarian on YouTube. I'm no fan of Julian Cope, but this is (unintentionally) hilarious. Cope, dressed as an early 90s outdoors raver, visits a bunch of old monoliths and dolmens and barrows, whilst staying at Travel Lodges (he doesn't like B&Bs - 'just give me the keys, bitch'), and encounters various Reeves & Mortimer style oddballs on the way. He rambles on about the stones in a semi-mystical but quite informative way. If Alan Partidge had gone to Glastonbury in the early 70s and dropped acid, he'd have been Julian Cope.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 11, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Good isn't it.


yeah, i totally didn't expect it, which made it even more enjoyable


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 11, 2011)

Me too.


----------



## belboid (Nov 11, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> oh, and I also saw The Modern Antiquarian on YouTube. I'm no fan of Julian Cope, but this is (unintentionally) hilarious. Cope, dressed as an early 90s outdoors raver, visits a bunch of old monoliths and dolmens and barrows, whilst staying at Travel Lodges (he doesn't like B&Bs - 'just give me the keys, bitch'), and encounters various Reeves & Mortimer style oddballs on the way. He rambles on about the stones in a semi-mystical but quite informative way. If Alan Partidge had gone to Glastonbury in the early 70s and dropped acid, he'd have been Julian Cope.


I hate to 'like' that post, but I have to.  How the fuck Saint Julian convinced anyone to let him make that 'documentary' is a mystery.  It is funny, but does have at least three real facts in it as well!  Great stuff


----------



## avu9lives (Nov 11, 2011)

*Bo*  A Belguim film about sum 15 yr old girl who becomes a prostitute!  Not bad an not brilliant but worth a watch.  Laura Ballyn is pretty good as the lead character in it.  No reviews on imdb so yer gonna have ta watch it an make yer own mind up! Eh/


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 12, 2011)

Coup de Torchon - French adaptation of Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280. Really excellent, I've never read any of Thompson's work (despite trying to get it from the rubbish local library) so I don't know how close it is to the novel. The film is as much a black comedy as crime film, with a feeling of fatalism running all the way through it. The only member of the cast I'm familiar with is Isabelle Huppert (playing the central characters mistress) but they're all good. I can definitely recommend it.

ETA: Just seen that it's directed by Bertrand Tavernier who also directed The Princess of Montpensier


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 12, 2011)

*Hangover 2 - *

Average.
I liked the getting bummed joke.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 12, 2011)

San babila 8pm .Group of young fascists in 70s milan.Shows them at work, education and political stuff.and their cumulative radicalisation Odd film, great morricone soundtrack.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Nov 12, 2011)

Watching 'Singing in the Rain' for the first time, it's brilliant!


----------



## Zabo (Nov 12, 2011)

_Mary Poppins_. Probably the best anti-capitalist film ever made by Disney Corp. Love the toons.



_Mary Poppins Is A Junkie_


----------



## Zabo (Nov 12, 2011)

_Alex Cox's - Walker._ The more I see of his films the more I want to see. I can't for the life of me understand why some of the critics didn't understand his message?!

4/5


----------



## Badgers (Nov 13, 2011)

More Judge John Deed. Up to series 3 now


----------



## Picadilly Commando (Nov 13, 2011)

Rise of Planet of the Apes, wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be.

The bit where a gorilla jumps off the San Francisco bridge into a helicopter whilst being shot is one of the most unintentionally funny things I have seen for years. I even rewound it back to watch it again


----------



## Casually Red (Nov 13, 2011)

Life on Mars series 2 box set . Gene Genie never disappoints.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Nov 13, 2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, really good movie, great cgi, manages to steer clear of disney style rubbish.


----------



## Picadilly Commando (Nov 13, 2011)

The CGI was the best use of CGI I have seen. I hate it when you see a film that uses CGI to make impossible camera angles possible for example.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2011)

why? isn't that an advantage?
i wasn't a fan of the film to be honest.
very poor script and what was the point of frida pinto?


----------



## silverfish (Nov 13, 2011)

Freedom to fascism, aka, our shuffle towards slavery under the federal reserve and the world banks

Nowt new but worth an hours contemplation

Lightened upmthe evening with "Chopper" bio of Mark ChopperRead, astralian alround nut nut portrayed fantastically by an emerging Eric Bana


----------



## Voley (Nov 14, 2011)

I watched Hobo With A Shotgun (genuinely heartwarming) and Toy Story 3 (gratuitously violent) over the weekend.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 14, 2011)

silverfish said:


> Freedom to fascism, aka, our shuffle towards slavery under the federal reserve and the world banks
> 
> Nowt new but worth an hours contemplation
> 
> Lightened upmthe evening with "Chopper" bio of Mark ChopperRead, astralian alround nut nut portrayed fantastically by an emerging Eric Bana


Both fairy tales


----------



## Badgers (Nov 14, 2011)

Badgers said:


> More Judge John Deed. Up to series 3 now



More of the same


----------



## Belushi (Nov 15, 2011)

*Home *Isabelle Huppert is the mother of a rather eccentric family who's happiness is shattered when a motorway opens next to their home. An enjoyable, if not completely successful, parable of the stresses of modern living and the claustrophobia of family life.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 15, 2011)

Gentlemen Broncos - one of the worst films I've ever seen. Jared Hess must have got lucky with Napoleon Dynamite. His other two films are totally laugh free


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 15, 2011)

More BSG Season 2, only 2 episodes to go, seems to be building to something big.

The 'Dowloaded' episode was fantastic, opens up the whole nature of the show.


----------



## thriller (Nov 16, 2011)

Picadilly Commando said:


> I even rewound it back to watch it again



this isn't out on dvd/blu ray yet...


----------



## Picadilly Commando (Nov 16, 2011)

Well, I slid the progress bar back a few seconds with my mouse. 


Since I joined lovefilm.com I have had to buy HDD after HDD, must have nearly 2TB of films that I have "borrowed".


----------



## Picadilly Commando (Nov 16, 2011)

silverfish said:


> Freedom to fascism, aka, our shuffle towards slavery under the federal reserve and the world banks


 
They even made a nod towards facism with a monkey breaking a bunch of sticks. God I wanted to shout at the TV then and hit it. I enjoyed it though - won't watch it again. Well maybe just to see a gorilla jump into a helicopter from the San Francisco bridge whilst getting shot at.


----------



## avu9lives (Nov 16, 2011)

*Panic Button!* Jesus! Probably the worst film ive watched this year! It's worth watching though just so yer can moan at the screen fer the whole hour an summat minutes its on.
20 minutes in an yer wanna turn it off/ or do you wanna see if it gets even worse! YEP! It gets worse! Characters you couldn't give a feck about/ A plot that has more holes in it than an 18 hole golf course!
. Yer find yerself sayin Oh fer fecks sake, you gotta be joking me this is complete shite! Shoulda called it the OFF button instead. Sayin all that i enjoyed moanin about it all way through. Even laughed me head off a few times.
Basically its complete shite/ but you gotta watch it just too see how bad it really is/ if yer get me drift......


----------



## magneze (Nov 16, 2011)

Watched "The Elite Squad: The Enemy Within". Excellent film about corruption in Brazil's elite police force. Someone recommended "The Elite Squad" and we mistakenly got the sequel by mistake. Luckily the sequel is brilliant. Definitely one to watch. Got "The Elite Squad" lined up next.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 16, 2011)

Xhala (sic?) - Senegalese satire made in the early 70s, set after independence. Respected businessman loses his mojo and his life crumbles all around him.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 16, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Xhala (sic?) - Senegalese satire made in the early 70s, set after independence. Respected businessman loses his mojo and his life crumbles all around him.


What you doing watching marxist films?


----------



## TruXta (Nov 16, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> What you doing watching marxist films?



Re-education?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 16, 2011)

Let Me In - utterly pointless, but it had to be watched just to sate my curiosity.
Manufactured Landscapes - a documentary about an artist who photographs extraordinary mankind-created environments, such as dumps, ship-breaking yards and dams. the artist claims he isn't trying to make a political/ecological message but he should be ignored as it's difficult to come away from it without thinking about what the fuck humanity is doing to the environment and to itself. great film, though I wish it had been about the landscapes instead of about the artist. It would have been better with no commentary at all.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 16, 2011)

You didn't like Let Me in? What is wrong with you? BTW was this the US remake?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 16, 2011)

TruXta said:


> You didn't like Let Me in? What is wrong with you? BTW was this the US remake?


yes, which is why i said Let Me In, not Let The Right One In


----------



## TruXta (Nov 16, 2011)

Fair enough. The latter is fantastic, not seen and won't see the former.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 16, 2011)

aye, but as i said, i just couldn't resist seeing how they'd do it. it's not a bad film, it's just totally superfluous


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 16, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> What you doing watching marxist films?



I watched Battleship Potemkin the other month. Are only marxists and whatsits allowed a particular genre?  Do fill me in on the etiquette, my dear.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 16, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> I watched Battleship Potemkin the other month. Are only marxists and whatsits allowed a particular genre? Do fill me in on the etiquette, my dear.



Yes. Remember this.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 16, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Yes. Remember this.



I remember... nothing


----------



## Voley (Nov 16, 2011)

Picadilly Commando said:


> Since I joined lovefilm.com I have had to buy HDD after HDD, must have nearly 2TB of films that I have "borrowed".


Yep, that's the way to do Lovefim all right. Copy em and send em back the next day. You really get your money's worth that way.

I watched 'Ladies And Gentlemen The Rolling Stones' last night for the umpteenth time. I've only ever had a bad mono copy of it before. Sounds great remastered from the DVD. Exile on Main St / Mick Taylor era. Fucking brilliant film of them, the best there is, I reckon.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 17, 2011)

Battlestar Galactica S2 - The finale.



Spoiler: BSG S2



_1 Year Later..._

"Judgement Day"


What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened. 

I fucking love this show, so glad I'm watching on DVDs, a half year wait would have killed me


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 17, 2011)

Soylent Green this afternoon. Hadn't seen it in years. Not bad, however the ending was shite, with the film based on building up to that moment, which is obvious anyway if someone didn't know about it beforehand. Don't know how the human rubbish is dealt with in _Make Room! Make Room!  _Guess the unpleasant live-in prostitute concept of 'furniture' is from the film only.


----------



## Voley (Nov 17, 2011)

Gainsbourg : A Heroic Life. I enjoyed this- a sort of surreal fairytale take on Serge Gainsbourg's life. The main man had him down to a T. Made me want to start smoking again.

ETA: Just googling the director to see what else he's done and came up with this:



> Set in Algeria in the 1920s, a rabbi's cat who learns how to speak after swallowing the family parrot expresses his desire to convert to Judaism.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 18, 2011)

The Octagon said:


> Battlestar Galactica S2 - The finale.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
series was far better than series 1 IMO.  I finished series this week and have dived straight in to series 3


----------



## silverfish (Nov 18, 2011)

Just started watching REBUS with John Hannah as alcoholic copper.....Suddenly he appears to change to ken bloody stott. DId John Hannah only do a few or has the bloke got these off just fooked up


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 18, 2011)

*Kill the Irishman -* great film...loved it. Celtic warrior dude was awesome.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 18, 2011)

penultimate episode of this seasons 'sons of anarchy'

It draws ever closer to the moment when jax does what hamlet never could...


----------



## pianissimo (Nov 18, 2011)

First ep of *Pam Am* on iplayer.
A little strange and cheesy for me.  But some interesting bits on recruiting hostess as spy by the CIA.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 19, 2011)

*Le Serpent* formulaic French thriller.


----------



## Kidda (Nov 20, 2011)

Richie Rich, perfect Sunday afternoon silliness.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 20, 2011)

Belushi said:


> *Le Serpent* formulaic French thriller.


The one from the 70s - AKA Night Flight from Moscow - or the one from the 90s? I really enjoyed the 70s one. Sucker for that genre.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 20, 2011)

Rebus episodes, I am utterly infactuated with lynsey baxter, she's knocked Helen Mirren off my top tupping spot

http://www.tvrage.com/person/id-81139/Lynsey+Baxter

NOM NOM


----------



## Belushi (Nov 20, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> The one from the 70s - AKA Night Flight from Moscow - or the one from the 90s? I really enjoyed the 70s one. Sucker for that genre.



The 90s, I'll add the 70s one to my list.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 20, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> *Kill the Irishman -* great film...loved it. Celtic warrior dude was awesome.


 
is it a rule that you can't have non-corrupt unionism displayed in a hollywood film. If the industry is to be believed every union boss is balls deep in crime fs


----------



## Badgers (Nov 20, 2011)

Finished The Shield series 4 which was ace. Still plodding through Judge John Deed which is good Sunday watching. 

The Boondock Saints 2 which was cheesy but watchable. Then the Chronicles of Riddick which is okay but not my cup of tea.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 20, 2011)

Pitch Black was a near-perfect sci fi B movie. Tight, a cast of stereotypes who lived up to the promise (I liked the whiny englishman with his wine stash and the hoodoo-holy man on his way to new mecca).

Chronicles of Riddick was a bloated god awful mess that offended my brain by pissing away the affection I had for the  concept of a universe where a man in a prison planet called slam can get see int the dark eyes by swapping a pack of menthol fags.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 20, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Pitch Black was a near-perfect sci fi B movie. Tight, a cast of stereotypes who lived up to the promise (I liked the whiny englishman with his wine stash and the hoodoo-holy man on his way to new mecca).
> 
> Chronicles of Riddick was a bloated god awful mess that offended my brain by pissing away the affection I had for the concept of a universe where a man in a prison planet called slam can get see int the dark eyes by swapping a pack of menthol fags.



Yes to all of that. The first game was surprisingly well done though.


----------



## Riklet (Nov 20, 2011)

Cell 211

Spanish film about a prison riot and a guard getting stuck in there and stuff.  It's rather good!


----------



## MBV (Nov 20, 2011)

Working my way through the BBC Him and Her series. Funny in a silly way.


----------



## starfish (Nov 20, 2011)

Kung Fu Panda 2, fell asleep but ms starfish thought it was quite funny if a bit long.
Monsters, pretty decent film. Loved the aliens.
Let the Right One In, really good, great performances from the young actors.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 21, 2011)

*Juno* smart and funny, really enjoyable.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 21, 2011)

Belushi said:


> *Juno* smart and funny, really enjoyable.


Seriously? You've just gone down in my estimation Belushi.

They Met In the Dark
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036428/
Dull wartime thriller, not even the presence of the great James Mason can save this.


----------



## avu9lives (Nov 21, 2011)

*The Family Way* Sue feckin perb! Proper little gem of a film! Outside bogs,wages yer got in cash in a brown envelope,beer that had no head on it, 4 kids or a sick note ta get on the housin list, an great shots of Bolton anawl. Great acting all round but Marjorie Rhodes steals the show fer me. She reminded me so much of me owd grandma. "Kids" Dont no there born nowadays! Eh....


----------



## crustychick (Nov 21, 2011)

Kung Fu Panda 2 - loved it. I was a huge fan of the first film  so glad I wasn't disappointed with the sequel.

and Hanna - awesome. really enjoyed this and found it to be tense, edge of the seat action/thriller.

good Sunday night combo


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 21, 2011)

The Death and Life of Bobby Z - Nice Movie


----------



## Yetman (Nov 22, 2011)

Ink. Weird but interesting film about what goes on in the world behind this one, relating to dreams, nightmares and spirits of people passed. Sounds a bit out there, and tbh is, but no more than say Dark City or the Matrix. Reminds me of Dark City quite a lot actually. Though I didnt really enjoy it that much while watching it, I left with a feeling of having seen a great film, or at least having been told a great story. Interesting one. Worth a watch but you need to watch it all and I'm not sure some people will last the duration. 7.5/10


----------



## pianissimo (Nov 23, 2011)

Rio

Fun, cute, enjoyable


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2011)

A Single Man - much better than I'd been led to believe. I was told it was just an extended aftershave ad, and though I see what they meant, it was quite a touching film, with great performances. The music was great too.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 23, 2011)

Lonesome Dove on Urban recommendation.

The first episode watched so far and most enjoyable


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 24, 2011)

Hardy Bucks. RTE mockumentary series on a bunch of ladsh in Mayo (I guess) and their attempts to muddle through life. Cue drunkeness, wannabe gangsters, internet brothels, chasing MILF & all sorts of hilarity


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 24, 2011)

The Sorrow and The Pity.
fascinating, esp the close ups on some people's faces as they try to justify their cowardly actions during the German occupation of France.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 24, 2011)

*Crazy. Stupid. Love. *Light fluffiness rubbish - a never-ending echo of all the worst Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant films combined. Fail.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 25, 2011)

Nude Nuns with Big Guns.

A bit heavy on the rape.

The Thing 2011 remake

Not as tight, not as gory, not as well acted and just not as good as the original, although the bit in the spaceship was a half decent addition it just hasn't improved on or even matched the original. I wouldn't waste your time here people.


----------



## Espresso (Nov 25, 2011)

Frost/Nixon
I have no idea about the facts of the thing in real life, but the story the film told was compelling and I think Michael Sheen is always worth a watch.


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2011)

_Daughters of Darkness_, the _Citizen Kane_ of lesbian vampire films. This has become a real favourite of mine and I've watched it three times this year. It's mega-stylish, camp, funny, perverse and rather smart. Tony Scott's idiotic _The Hunger_ ripped it off a decade later.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067690/


----------



## Pingu (Nov 25, 2011)

book of eli.

when i say watched i lobbe dit on at about 11:30 and fell asleep at some point. what i saw as good though so will wath it again when not so tired


----------



## 100% masahiko (Nov 25, 2011)

Ist episode of* Bored to Death* (S1).
Nice lines.


----------



## Reno (Nov 26, 2011)

I watched Jurassic Park for the first time in over a decade and to me the film just doesn't hold up as well as earlier Spielberg classics like Jaws, Close Encounters or ET. Something that's always annoyed me is how nearly everybody overacts like crazy in this film. There are a couple of iconic sequences which still are magic, but JP strikes me as somewhat lacklustre Spielberg, now that the dino sequences have lost their punch, because we've seen so many CGI dinos since then.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 26, 2011)

Departures is on Channel 4 right now


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2011)

Pingu said:


> book of eli.
> 
> when i say watched i lobbe dit on at about 11:30 and fell asleep at some point. what i saw as good though so will wath it again when not so tired



Don't bother. It is tripe, and that's speaking as somone with no taste.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2011)

Reno said:


> _Daughters of Darkness_, the _Citizen Kane_ of lesbian vampire films. This has become a real favourite of mine and I've watched it three times this year. It's mega-stylish, camp, funny, perverse and rather smart. Tony Scott's idiotic _The Hunger_ ripped it off a decade later.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067690/



If you haven't seen it you might like Ginger Snaps.


----------



## Reno (Nov 26, 2011)

TruXta said:


> If you haven't seen it you might like Ginger Snaps.


 
Cheers. I know it has a cult following, but for some reason that one never really clicked with me.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 26, 2011)

I watched Hell on Wheels episode 3, which is a more thoughtful (ish) version of deadwood set on the railroad building in post civil war america, Then Walking Dead episode whatever- such a bunch of useless cunts who did not deserve to survive an apocalypse let alone manage to continue to live on in a post apocalypse.

Then Started the Sarah Connor Chronicles, which even on the basis of the first two episodes is better than the latest Terminator film where christian bale does that stupid fucking growl a bit.

Although I must take issue with Sarah Connors introductory voiceover on each episode declaring that Skynet was 'Programmed to destroy mankind'. It bloody well wasn't. It was a made machine sentience that decided somewhat cuntishly to destroy mankind. Nobody making it was actively intending the bastard to decide humans were marked to die as a species. It thought that one up itself.


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 26, 2011)

Fire in Babylon

Viv Richards was the man.


----------



## MBV (Nov 26, 2011)

s3e7 of Bored to Death.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 27, 2011)

*The Woman:* Low-budget horror about a hunter who captures a feral woman out in the woods near his home. I liked the first hour in which it tussles with ideas such as 'civilisation' vs nature, and misogyny within the family unit. Unfortunately, the final half hour is clumsy, silly and gratuitous.


----------



## Reno (Nov 27, 2011)

'The Woman' is one of my favourite films of the year. I liked the last half hour. It's a horror film after all and the end didn't strike me as gratuitous within context, just logical.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 27, 2011)

Reno said:


> 'The Woman' is one of my favourite films of the year. I liked the last half hour. It's a horror film after all and the end didn't strike me as gratuitous within context, just logical.



I didn't find it logical at all. For instance... 



Spoiler: spoiler



what was the blind dog thing in the kennel meant to be?


----------



## Winot (Nov 27, 2011)

Finally got round to watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off (25 years late). Enjoyable but thought it was escapism from a weirdly adult perspective: what teenagers skips school to go fine dining and to check out a modern art gallery?


----------



## Reno (Nov 27, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I didn't find it logical at all. For instance...
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler: spoiler



It was their disabled daughter who the father kept in the kennel and raised like a dog. Earlier the father makes a remark to one of the youngest kid about an "idiot sister" and blames his wife for passing on anophthalmia, which is a genetic condition where someone is born without eyes. When the dog woman is revealed, you realise that they have done this before and how systematic the abuse of woman in that family has been all along.



It's a film that doesn't spoon feed you information and you have to pay a attention. A lesser film would have resorted to some dialogue where characters explain to each other what they already know for the benefit of the audience. This film does it via disturbing implications that are rigged all through the film.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 27, 2011)

I've only seen the film once so pardon me for not picking up every 'nuance' first time out. I think you have to meet the audience halfway. Who on earth knows what anophthalmia is? If the foreshadowing of the ending had just been a fraction more transparent that last half hour could have been a triumph. Instead, it just seemed to come out of nowhere. And it's funny you should mention subtlety because the main character and his son turned into pantomime villains towards the end. It was almost a pity they didn't have moustaches to twirl.


----------



## Reno (Nov 27, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I've only seen the film once so pardon me for not picking up every 'nuance' first time out. I think you have to meet the audience halfway. Who on earth knows what anophthalmia is? If the foreshadowing of the ending had just been a fraction more transparent that last half hour could have been a triumph. Instead, it just seemed to come out of nowhere. And it's funny you should mention subtlety because the main character and his son turned into pantomime villains towards the end. It was almost a pity they didn't have moustaches to twirl.



I'm don't remember mentioning anything about subtlety ? Not everything has to be subtle and The Woman has a dirty, lo-fi, grunge quality that doesn't particularly aspire to subtlety.

The film is a social satire, in a line with but (IMO) better than anything the overrated (and none too subtle) Todd Solondz and Neil LaBute have done. It's also a horror film where patriarchy is the monster. Even if you didn't pick up on who "that character" was, what you come to understand is that this hasn't happened for the first time and dramatically the film needed that final release where everything descends into bloody chaos.

When I first saw the film I wasn't sure I liked it as much as I do now, but I couldn't shake it off. Then I absolutely loved it the second time round. I still think it's the very rare modern American horror film that actually has a few ideas in its head and it's a great piece of filmmaking by a director who is developing a very distinctive vision.

You seem to already quite like some of it, so maybe watch it again another time.


----------



## andy2002 (Nov 27, 2011)

Reno said:


> You seem to already quite like some of it, so maybe watch it again another time.



I really liked the first hour or so – will definitely watch it again though. And, apologies, 'subtlety' was my word, not yours.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 28, 2011)

Kill the Irishman- ok Saturday night can't be arsed to see anything that demands too much thinking gangster film set in Cleveland in the 1970s.


----------



## Reno (Nov 28, 2011)

Jean Renoir's _French Cancan_. Watched a gorgeous restauration of it on Blu-ray and it was pure Technicolor bliss.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 28, 2011)

BSG S3, the Exodus 2-parter.

Fuck me that was immense, so many great moments..



Spoiler: Exodus



Saul and Ellen's farewell (how the fuck did Saul Tigh become a character I care about?!)
Starbuck having her heart ripped out of her chest when handing Casey over (some great acting on her part)
Fat Lee charging to the rescue and sacrificing Pegasus (not really forward thinking tho, destroying the better Battlestar)

And of course, Galactica blasting into the atmosphere like the Hand of God, glowing bright orange and on fire, before distributing her fighters and jumping back out again, possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen in a TV show, I nearly fucking cheered on the sofa 



Epic.


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 28, 2011)

Soulboy

The film was all over the place but Martin Compston was a charismatic lead.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 28, 2011)

Moar Sarah Connor Chronicles

Shirley Manson as a t-1000


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 29, 2011)

NIght Train to Munich - Carol Reed wartime thriller, written by Gilliat and Launder. Not bad but not in the same class as their previous train thriller, The Lady Vanishes, which you can't help comparing it with seeing as though both star Margaret Lockwood and have Charters and Caldicott turning up in them.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 29, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Moar Sarah Connor Chronicles
> 
> Shirley Manson as a t-1000



I'm still annoyed that got cancelled, it had acres of plot and characters to explore.

Plus, y'know, Summer Glau.

Moar BSG S3 last night, what's their obsession with blowing people out of airlocks as an execution method?

Aside from the cruelty angle, it just seems like someone would notice the bay doors being opened without authorisation?


----------



## belboid (Nov 29, 2011)

The Octagon said:


> Moar BSG S3 last night, what's their obsession with blowing people out of airlocks as an execution method?
> 
> Aside from the cruelty angle, it just seems like someone would notice the bay doors being opened without authorisation?


safer than using guns on a spaceship, I'd imagine.  And not that cruel in many ways, you'd die pretty darned quickly, and with one hell of a view to go out on. And I dont think there are enough people still on board for them to keeptrack of boring things like bay doors opening (or the killers could just go 'oh, I was just dumping the rubbish')


----------



## mwgdrwg (Nov 29, 2011)

dfm said:


> s3e7 of Bored to Death.



Gonna watch the season finale tonight.

Thought it was a bit of a cliffhanger that episode!


----------



## Badgers (Nov 29, 2011)

Treme series 2


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 29, 2011)

belboid said:


> safer than using guns on a spaceship, I'd imagine. And not that cruel in many ways, you'd die pretty darned quickly, and with one hell of a view to go out on. And I dont think there are enough people still on board for them to keeptrack of boring things like bay doors opening (or the killers could just go 'oh, I was just dumping the rubbish')


 
It's also a fine sci fi tradition


----------



## Zabo (Nov 29, 2011)

_Cowboys and Aliens._

Rotten Tomatoes wasn't keen on it but I thought it was wonderful in a very silly kind of way. The casting of Ford and Harrison couldn't have been better and by the looks of things they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. 70 year old Ford still has lots of energy and Craig is a far better actor outside of his Bond role.

I loved the Border Collie dog which displayed all the typical collie dog traits.

Pity Alex Cox didn't direct for it would then have been truly off the wall rather than just hanging over.

I want one of those bracelets for my birthday!

5/5


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 29, 2011)

fire in babylon

I don't even like cricket but enjoyed this, especially when people where throwing 90mph shots at each other angled to bounce up into the face. Brutal.


----------



## mentalchik (Nov 30, 2011)

The Green Lantern - okish, bit dull
Insidious - bit creepy but very very predictable and obvious lifts from other films
X-Men First Class - very enjoyable, liked it quite a lot


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 30, 2011)

Senna - I have no interest in Formula One, but this was an incredibly well put together documentary on the life and death of Ayrton Senna. Very sad too.


----------



## Reno (Nov 30, 2011)

*Julia*, a crime drama starring Tilda Swinton about a alcoholic fuck up who gets fired from her job and then has the bright idea to kidnap a young boy for ransom. Quite good actually, despite the central character being a complete idiot.


----------



## Zabo (Nov 30, 2011)

_Avatar._ I can see it as enjoyable for ten year old kids but...

Cameron missed a trick in the kissing scene in the Forest Of Song. He should have zoomed out and shown Sully and Neytir's tails going slowly erect while they kissed to the accompaniment of a b-o-i-n-g sound.

It needs the by-line: Never mind the story, enjoy the cgi.



_Wonders what it was like in 3D? _


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 30, 2011)

Saw it on an IMAX screen.  T'was pretty impressive.

Fuck the trees.  Helicopter gunships.


----------



## avu9lives (Nov 30, 2011)

*Turtles Can Fly*  It just seemed so real it didn't feel like a movie at all. Superb!


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 30, 2011)

Downfall

I must have fallen asleep at some point during the film because I missed the X-Box scene.


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 1, 2011)

Note by Note

A documentary on the making of a Steinway grand piano.
It's wonderful to see each part involved in making one.  Such details, hard work and expertise.  Next time I play on a Steinway, I'll pay much more care to it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 1, 2011)

Catfish  some of it felt plausible, but overall wtf were they making the 'documentary' for in the first place?


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 1, 2011)

I watched District 9


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 1, 2011)

Buchanan Rides Alone - One of the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott westerns and up to their usual standard.

If anyone can suggest any westerns similar to this or the Anthony Mann/James Stewart set I'd be grateful.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 1, 2011)

penultimate Sons of Anarchy episode sean 4.

The defecate has well and truly met with the revolving blades


----------



## MBV (Dec 1, 2011)

The Debt - terrible.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 1, 2011)

_The Housemaid - Hanyo_

Some kind of Korean Art House film. Next time I'm bored I'll go into the garden and watch two slugs engaged in a wrestling match.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 1, 2011)

It's a remake of an all time Korean classic - and a pretty well done one if i remember right.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 1, 2011)

Maybe I'll watch the original. In the meantime I'll go along with _The Village Voice_.

"But despite eccentric touches, like a handheld street-shot overture and Grand Guignol Omen references, there’s little difference between this story and soap-opera intrigue."


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 1, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> It's a remake of an all time Korean classic - and a pretty well done one if i remember right.





Zabo said:


> Maybe I'll watch the original. In the meantime I'll go along with _The Village Voice_.
> 
> "But despite eccentric touches, like a handheld street-shot overture and Grand Guignol Omen references, there’s little difference between this story and soap-opera intrigue."



I thought it wasn't bad.  But the ending is a bit anti-climax, for me.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 1, 2011)

I just thought it need some extra editing pianissimo. I had had enough after an hour. Long, long takes of the marble floor and then the nonsense of two clicks of the pepper grinder and the ultra slow walk to take 'The Master' his breakfast while he's doing a Beethoven riff. Oh FFS! Give me a break.

It didn't engage me at all unlike _Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter_ which did.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 1, 2011)

Been watching the first series of *Luther* again and am really enjoying it. Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson are both brilliant as is the plotting and writing. The second series was a bit of a letdown in comparison, I think, although I'll probably give that a another go, too.


----------



## rekil (Dec 1, 2011)

The Black Pimpernel. Dapper diplomat Harald Edelstam rescuing loads of people after the coup in Chile. Some great scenes and performances but let down by sporadically clunky dialogue and shoddy direction. Made in 2007 but feels very dated. Wasted opportunity really.

The Anarchist's Wife. Spanish civil war drama about a Madrid anarchist radio geezer with a fash brother who scarpers to France before the city falls, leaving his lovely missus behind. Conflicts on the republican side are ignored. It's mostly about what a shower of nasty thieving murdering cunts the other lot were/are. Somewhat inconveniently, the subs stopped halfway through.

Assembly. Chinese bloke fucks up an attack in the civil war and as punishment is ordered to hold off the nationalists, hordes of the fuckers, with the remains of his company until the main force withdraws. Brilliant fillum.

A Man Escaped. Bresson's beautifully shot prison escape caper. The nazis are _a bit_ shit.


----------



## Grandma Death (Dec 2, 2011)

Bridesmaids which I thought was very funny....shame its marketed as a chick flick because I reckon some men wouldn't want to see this film on the basis of its packaging. I also watched Inside Job which made my blood boil.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 2, 2011)

Just finished the excellent German mini-series In The Face of the Crime about east-european criminal gangs in Berlin. Directed by Dominik Graf (a proper film director).


----------



## Reno (Dec 2, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Just finished the excellent German mini-series In The Face of the Crime about east-european criminal gangs in Berlin. Directed by Dominik Graf (a proper film director).




I will check that one out. Thanks for the heads up.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 3, 2011)

*Breathless *the 1983 Richard Gere remake of A bout de souffle, *wtf *


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 3, 2011)

Milk - Oscar winning turn by Sean Penn as Harvey Milk.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Dec 3, 2011)

Another Earth, I thought it would have more quantum mechanics / sci-fi in there, but it's about relationships and finding yourself etc. Despite that it's a good movie, the pace is glacial but the tension builds up and is almost unbearable at times.



Spoiler: spoiler



They messed up the ending[/spolier]


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 4, 2011)

Priest. An adaptation froma korean comic book with brad dourif and some other cunt. In the far future makind has one weapon against the vampire race, the Priests. Well shit, but the action sequences are good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 5, 2011)

Steel Dawn. My word. Patrick Swayze stars as a nomad wandering a post apocalypse landscape fighting with his sword. Incredibly bad. Ham fisted oveloud score, leaden direction, plot holes, dialouge that just has to be heard to be believed. Baddies who look like hair metal band members.

it makes Mad Max look like citizen kane

one of the baddies:


----------



## mwgdrwg (Dec 5, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Steel Dawn. My word. Patrick Swayze stars as a nomad wandering a post apocalypse landscape fighting with his sword. Incredibly bad. Ham fisted oveloud score, leaden direction, plot holes, dialouge that just has to be heard to be believed. Baddies who look like hair metal band members.
> 
> it makes Mad Max look like citizen kane
> 
> one of the baddies:



That sounds fucking cool.


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 5, 2011)

*The Rise of the Planet of the Apes* - good one.  Lots of believable emotions, though how every ape is capable of breaking through glass window with no harm is rather hilarious.

*Super 8* - over-hyped.  Kids romance is just a little too... eww for me.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 5, 2011)

Red State - meh


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 5, 2011)

Fright Night (remake) - another childhood memory destroyed.


----------



## Reno (Dec 5, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Fright Night (remake) - another childhood memory destroyed.



The original was hardly a great film. Have you watched it lately ? I actually thought this was the rare successful remake and it  was a lot more fun. It takes everything that had promise in the original and improved on it by being much better directed and acted by a far better cast. It's still no masterpiece, but a nice enough time waster.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 5, 2011)

_Repentance - Tenghiz Abuladze_

A remarkable semi-allegorical tale of the evils of Stalinism by way of a dead body constantly being dug up and placed in various locations. I'm glad I read Brian Moynahan's book on Russia before I watched the film. It filled in a lot of what otherwise would have been missing spaces.

Technically it looked dated - too much sepia - and for some strange reason the opening scenes were confined to extreme close-ups. Nevertheless a brave attempt at dramatising a time in Russian history.

The last scene has an old woman saying: "What good is a road if it doesn't lead to a church?"


----------



## rekil (Dec 5, 2011)

There Be Dragons. Big budget hagiography of Opus Dei founder cunt which tries to whitewash the church's role in the spanish civil war and bangs on about 'forgiveness' and useless sentimental bollocks like that. Laughable.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 5, 2011)

Reno said:


> The original was hardly a great film. Have you watched it lately ? I actually thought this was the rare successful remake and it was a lot more fun. It takes everything that had promise in the original and improved on it by being much better directed and acted by a far better cast. It's still no masterpiece, but a nice enough time waster.



I'd say that Farrell saves the film with his sinister take on Gerry, without him it would could had been the halloween edition of 90210. Oh, and David Tennant was good too.

I saw the original 6 years ago and unlike the Lost Boys I couldn't watch it.
Unfortunately, it's well dated - the hair, fashion, music, edit, score were very typical of B production from that 'era...

I prefer to remember it the first time I saw it (through the eyes of an 11 year old child) and not the way it is now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

didn't the sidekick from fright night end up doing gay porn?


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> didn't the sidekick from fright night end up doing gay porn?



What Evil Ed? Or Brewster?
You're wrecking my childhood memories now 

googles for answer


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 5, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Geoffreys


----------



## DJ Squelch (Dec 5, 2011)

Black Moon - surreal 70s film. VERY odd but beautiful to watch and enough weirdness to keep it interesting.


----------



## Reno (Dec 5, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> What Evil Ed? Or Brewster?
> You're wrecking my childhood memories now
> 
> googles for answer



People keep beeing just a tad too precious about their childhood memories these days





100% masahiko said:


> What Evil Ed? Or Brewster?
> You're wrecking my childhood memories now
> 
> googles for answer



What's wrong with gay porn ? 

That said, his was quite a sad story, total meth burn out.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 6, 2011)

I'm really having a shitty run of film luck atm

Immortals. 300 in style, badly retelling the tale of perseus and the bow. Titans are in it. Zeus is way too young. Only stuck with it cos I liked the battle scenes


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 6, 2011)

Zabo said:


> Repentance - Tenghiz Abuladze
> 
> A remarkable semi-allegorical tale of the evils of Stalinism by way of a dead body constantly being dug up and placed in various locations. I'm glad I read Brian Moynahan's book on Russia before I watched the film. It filled in a lot of what otherwise would have been missing spaces.
> 
> ...



You might like this, for a little detailed background info.



> Conceived in vague outline some twenty years ago, Repentance began to take on life in the early 1980s after a near-fatal automobile accident convinced Abuladze to shoot the film no matter what the consequences. The director was subsequently encouraged by Eduard Shevardnadze, then Georgian party secretary, who offered Abuladze a special slot of television time exclusive to the Georgian republic and uncensored by Moscow. Nevertheless, Abuladze was clearly nervous. As a statement of commitment to the film, he cast his own family members in leading roles.
> 
> Halfway through filming, Georgi (Gegi) Kobakhidze, Abuladze’s young lead, was arrested for involvement in an airplane hijacking following a Georgian wedding. Together with his wife and friends (sons and daughters of prominent Tbilisi families), Kobakhidze was accused of “naziist” tactics and paraded on republic television next to a young Orthodox priest with an uncanny resemblance to Rasputin. Rezo Chkheidze, head of the Georgian Film Studio, Abuladze’s long-time colleague, and the director with whom Abuladze shared his first prize at Cannes in 1956 for Magdana’s Little Donkey, halted production. Several months later, with the fate of the young hijackers still unknown, filming resumed. Mirab Ninidze, a young Georgian theater actor, replaced Kobakhidze. When the film was finished, it was screened once and shelved.



Kobakhidze was the son of another prominent film director, and the escapade the article refers to was an attempt to defect from the USSR. He took part in the failed hijacking of a plane bound for Turkey, and after being later convicted, was shot.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 6, 2011)

*Captain Hurrah**. *Many Thanks.

Watching the above has prompted me to read up on Nestor Makhno. I see there is a Russian t.v. series but nowhere to be found is there one with English subs, more's the pity.


----------



## mentalchik (Dec 6, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Priest. *An adaptation froma korean comic book with brad dourif and some other cunt.* In the far future makind has one weapon against the vampire race, the Priests. Well shit, but the action sequences are good.



Dotty i love your film reviews......

*imagines dotty on Film 2012*


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 6, 2011)

Zabo said:


> Captain Hurrah. Many Thanks.
> 
> Watching the above has prompted me to read up onNestor Makhno. I see there is a Russian t.v. series but nowhere to be found is one with English subs, more's the pity.



Yep, the Nine Lives of Nestor Makhno. I bought the twelve-part series for a few quid on DVD in Russia back in 2006. I thought it was shit, and ended up sending it in the post to an anarchist who posts here sometimes.  You're not missing anything.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 6, 2011)

_Dune - David Lynch_

According to Rovi: "Lynch succeeds in rendering the story incomprehensible to those unfamiliar with the novel."

I concur. It should come complete with a Power Point flow chart.

http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/dune-v14962


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 6, 2011)

Lynch fucked it well and truly. Captured the distinct future gothic feel but as for anything resembling a plot that makes sense...

There is an edit doing the rounds, a bad one, that attempts to rectify this with v/o bits and concept art. Really doesn't help much.

Interestingly the original attempt to film by Jodorowsky that had Dali, Giger and a whose-who of up and comers on board imploded and never made it off the drawing board. There is a documentary about that failure due for release soon, will be keeping my eye out for it.

Gigers concept art for dune is....very giger.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Dec 6, 2011)

Laurel and Hardy Christmas DVD which includes

Below Zero
Big Business
The Fixer Uppers
Laughing Gravy
Perfect lounging on the sofa viewing and very funny


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 6, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Lynch fucked it well and truly. Captured the distinct future gothic feel but as for anything resembling a plot that makes sense...
> 
> There is an edit doing the rounds, a bad one, that attempts to rectify this with v/o bits and concept art. Really doesn't help much.
> 
> ...


I've a soft spot for the Lynch film, I know it's a bit of a mess and very silly in some parts but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as a lot of people make out.

Was it Jodorowsky who wanted Paul to get off with Jessica or was that somebody else? I know there were lots of people linked to it before Lynch finally made it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 7, 2011)

The Jodorowsky version of Dune certainly would have been intriguing, but narrative coherence never was one of his strong points, so I'm not sure if it wold have been that much better than than the Lynch film. For the first half Lynch's Dune is pretty good, but it tries to cram way too much plot into the second half. Ridley Scott was the next director to have a stab at Dune before he went on to make Alien, taking HR Giger with him.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 7, 2011)

redsquirrel said:


> I've a soft spot for the Lynch film.



Me too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2011)

I've seen it tons of times and in several different cuts. It's not rubbish, but it is a total failure in story conveyance. It goes well with a spliff (the visuals, see)


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 7, 2011)

That one they released with the shit prologue.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 8, 2011)

*The Devil's Playground:* A Lidl version of 28 Days Later that was only 99p on FilmFlex. Craig Fairbrass and Danny Dyer are in it and yet, somehow, it isn't nearly as bad as you'd imagine. Not sure what the brilliant Jaime Murray is doing in it - I always assumed her burgeoning TV career in the States meant she didn't have to slum it any more.


----------



## Reno (Dec 8, 2011)

A Korean film called Poetry which was alright but its also been a bit overpraised by critics. Also Hobo with a Shotgun, which I quite liked. It's much better than the last entry in the Grindhouse staple, the hugely self-satisfied Machete. This one genuinely catches some of the mood of it's influences (80s cult weirdness like Street Trash) and manages to add a little sincerity and heart when it's not lopping of body parts and burning small children alive.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 8, 2011)

I've been watching loads of Bored to Death, I've been really enjoying it and only have 2 episodes left


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 9, 2011)

Reno said:


> Hobo with a Shotgun, which I quite liked. It's much better than the last entry in the Grindhouse staple, the hugely self-satisfied Machete. This one genuinely catches some of the mood of it's influences (80s cult weirdness like Street Trash) and manages to add a little sincerity and heart when it's not lopping of body parts and burning small children alive.


All in glorious Technicolor. Very odd film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2011)

I liked it. Better than nude nuns with big guns which has at least 80% more rape than neccesary


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 9, 2011)

it has such a weird, druggy feel to it. there's something up with the sound 'design' as well - it's all a bit feverish and hallucinatory


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 9, 2011)

Headhunters - enjoyably ludicrous Norwegian thriller, i expect a english language remake will be along before very long.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 9, 2011)

Gremlins - has not aged well.

LA Confidential - just as good as I remember, great ensemble cast.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 9, 2011)

_ Hors-la-loi - Outside the Law._ Rachid Bouchareb's follow up to his acclaimed _Indigènes - Days of Glory._

Probably one of the most accomplished films I've seen all year. Technically a masterpiece with superb editing, art and production, photography and acting. From the off it maintains a steady rhythm and engages you in all the characters. Not one dull moment.

Ostensibly it is about the lives of three brothers - one imprisoned for his politics, the other a Vietnam veteran and Jamel Debbouze playing the pimp-entertainer come boxing promoter. The real story is about the formation of the Algerian NLF in the slums of Nanterre and the roles played by the brothers. Bouchareb's sense of period is quite amazing. He ties in the events of the WW11 Liberation of Paris with the killing of Algerian demonstrators in Setif on the same day. He then moves the brothers forward through the 1950's and '60's. In many respects, besides being a compact lesson in history, it is also a damn good thriller which oozes atmosphere.

I liked the line about not drinking and smoking lest it provided the government with taxes. That really is dedication to the cause.

5/5

Synopsis

http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/outside-the-law-v517683


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 9, 2011)

A far better film than Indigènes, good to see the factory slums that Renault 'built'. But just too generic and heroic for me.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 9, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Headhunters - enjoyably ludicrous Norwegian thriller, i expect a english language remake will be along before very long.



That's one of Knut Nesboe's isn't it? Definitely awaiting a remake.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 9, 2011)

Jo Nesbø? Or the footballer  (You tellme,i've no idea)


----------



## TruXta (Dec 9, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Jo Nesbø? Or the footballer  (You tellme,i've no idea)



That's him. I don't follow the crime-writer scene much.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 9, 2011)

I got that onions belt film you recced as well now.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 9, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> I got that onions belt film you recced as well now.



 It might be shit, haven't seen it since it came out. Still highly rated back home, so... let me know what you think. Did you ever see Pathfinder (Veiviseren)? The original, not the remake.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 9, 2011)

TruXta said:


> It might be shit, haven't seen it since it came out. Still highly rated back home, so... let me know what you think. Did you ever see Pathfinder (Veiviseren)? The original, not the remake.


I've got it in my huge pile of scando/northern films to watch (seriously - i have).


----------



## TruXta (Dec 9, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> I've got it in my huge pile of scando/northern films to watch (seriously - i have).



You'll wanna watch Egg! Egg! - Swedish classic from the mid 70s.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 9, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Pathfinder (Veiviseren)? The original, not the remake.



Saw that as a kid back in the 1980s.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2011)

*The 10th Victim*, fabulously "mod" 60s sci-fi film about sponsored man hunts starring Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 9, 2011)

Petri's last film before going serious i think - the style-ishness must have been laughable even then


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Petri's last film before going serious i think - the style-ishness must have been laughable even then



If you have any sort of interest in costume design or fashion, its style is rather witty and well ahead of its time. 20 year later it seems Jean-Paul Gaultier based his whole career on the film's strap bondage look. It's fluff, but fun and it doesn't take itself seriously for a second.


----------



## chazegee (Dec 10, 2011)

Being there. He was better as Clouseau.


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 10, 2011)

*The Keep* Great film ta watch when yer stoned of yer box. When Ian McKellen hams it up after bein cured by the monster is freakin hilarious, Oh and Gabriel Byrne attempt to do a nazi commander wiv a basin haircut cracked me up bigtime.....,.,.,.,.,.,., Caramello innit


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 10, 2011)

*Mimic*: Passable horror in which Mira Sorvino battles giant mutant cockroach thingies under the streets of New York. It starts really well before getting a bit, well, dull really. Director Guillermo Del Toro disowned the version I saw because of interference from the studio and he's recently released a 'director's cut' on Bluray.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 10, 2011)

Off the back of an earlier discussion in this thread I re-watched a decent cut of Dune (directors cut, iirc). Still a visually great mess, although I had forgotten the quiet intensity of some of the portrayals- Duke Leto in particular 'the sleeper must awaken'

The harkonnens were ham and cheese


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 10, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Just finished the excellent German mini-series In The Face of the Crime about east-european criminal gangs in Berlin. Directed by Dominik Graf (a proper film director).



where did you get that from ( pm me)


----------



## Mapped (Dec 10, 2011)

The rise of the planet of the apes when we were a bit wasted. It was fun in parts, very crap in others.

I'm pretty sure that there were meant to be subtitles for some of the ape communication parts that we didn't have on our copy. MrsN1 thought there shouldn't and the ape communicationwas about the 'feeling'. It's fucking hollywood blockbuster shit though. Can someone saw it in the cinema settle our debate on the subtitle issue?


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2011)

I though Rise of the Planet of the Apes was great, the best big Hollywood film of the year IMO and I was so ready to hate it. The first act is standard mad scientist fare, but once Caesar becomes the main protagonist it really hits its stride. Is it the cool stance to just hate everything that comes out of Hollywood on principle ?

The apes didn't have subtitles at the cinema and really didn't need it, your better half got the idea. You find out everything they communicate through their actions shortly after.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 10, 2011)

Reno said:


> The apes didn't have subtitles at the cinema and really didn't need it, your better half got the idea. You find out everything they communicate through their actions shortly after.



That's good to know! They didn't need subtitles, but as it was Hollywood I was expecting them. There was also a debate about it on a download site I got it off



Reno said:


> Is it the cool stance to just hate everything that comes out of Hollywood on principle



No. It's just that a lot of it is shit. I do enjoy Hollywood stuff sometimes, Batman films and Inception spring to mind, I also loved Bridesmaids.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2011)

Star Trek: nemesis

the only useful part of the film was to remind me that janeway had been promoted to admiral


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2011)

I watched Alien, Aliens and The Crazies (he remake) with a friend and her 13 year old boy on my projector. He liked Alien the best. Good boy ! Kids these days don't seem to get scared by anything anymore though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2011)

you need something violent _and_ with a plain nasty vibe to it to ruffle em. Devils Rejects.

which i will watch again tonight


----------



## Badgers (Dec 11, 2011)

The last Harry Potter film.
Was good.


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> you need something violent _and_ with a plain nasty vibe to it to ruffle em. Devils Rejects.
> 
> which i will watch again tonight



Rob Zombies films are cynical trash and I wouldn't show them to a kid (or a friend). His Manson/white trash hero worship is just adolescent posturing. He has absolutely no interest in the victims as characters, they are completely depersonalised, so nothing is at stake and the overall message seems to be that killing, torturing and raping people doesn't matter much. My friend's kid is probably too smart for them anyway. I doubt he would actually get scared by The Devil's Rejects (I certainly wasn't) and he would see right through all the empty grandstanding.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2011)

thats why they are nasty. that 'nude nuns with big guns' has a similar kind of...exploitative nastiness to it.  Still, at least in devils rejects they all get shot at the end and then the credits roll.

having watched a public enemy documentary I'm tempted to d/l some early spike lee, although the clips shown do look like the early stuff hasn't aged well I am still interested.


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> thats why they are nasty. that 'nude nuns with big guns' has a similar kind of...exploitative nastiness to it. Still, at least in devils rejects they all get shot at the end and then the credits roll.
> 
> having watched a public enemy documentary I'm tempted to d/l some early spike lee, although the clips shown do look like the early stuff hasn't aged well I am still interested.



As a trash connoisseur I would never watch a film called Nude Nuns with Big Guns, the title alone is trying way to hard to be edgy and hip and it fails badly by being too on the nose. Like the dire Mega Shark vs. Whatever or Lesbian Vampire Killers it sounds like the type of film that was made as an afterthought to the title.

Just nasty on its own isn't very interesting, scary or of any entertainment value to me. I got all of that out of my system with the original 70s and 80s exploitation films, which at least are of some film historical interest and shocking because you can't quite believe what rules they broke and boundaries they transgressed 40/30 years ago. They are just as nasty but they are lacking the desperate hipster irony you get with this type of retro-style cash in.


----------



## starfish (Dec 11, 2011)

A couple of cheery little numbers this weekend.
Snowtown. Grim, depressing, bleak, uncomfortable & a very unnerving performance from the actor playing John.
Followed that up with The Wrestler which was just sad. Great performances from Mickey Rourke & Marisa Tomei.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 12, 2011)

Guilty of Romance - final part of Sion Sono's Hate trilogy.Not sure what to say about this one,the weakest of the three for sure but i just can't say why - which isn't to say it's a weak film in itself because it's not.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 12, 2011)

Badgers said:


> The last Harry Potter film.
> Was good.



It was!! Thought it was an excellent finale.


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> It was!! Thought it was an excellent finale.


 
..and the dragon was very .


----------



## Badgers (Dec 12, 2011)

Reno said:


> ..and the dragon was very .



That was great


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 12, 2011)

Pineapple Express
Vicky Christina Barcelona


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2011)

Dotty. Spoilers man.

I watched half an hour of Your Highness, not as bad as they made out but I fell asleep anyway.

Then we both watched half an hour of Centurion before turning it off and going to do something more interesting.


----------



## Phenol (Dec 12, 2011)

krtek a houby said:


> Pineapple Express
> Vicky Christina Barcelona


And?


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2011)

On Saturday I watched Alien and Aliens with a good friend and her 13 year old son. Aliens is still fun, but it hasn't dated that well. The boy found some of the dialogue pretty cringle-worthy and it is. Alien is an absolutely timeless. film. The kid far preferred it. Good boy !


----------



## Badgers (Dec 12, 2011)

Reno said:


> On Saturday I watched Alien and Aliens with a good friend and her 13 year old son. Aliens is still fun, but it hasn't dated that well. The boy found some of the dialogue pretty cringle-worthy and it is. Alien is an absolutely timeless. film. The kid far preferred it. Good boy !



Deja vu


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2011)

Getting old


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 12, 2011)

Reno said:


> On Saturday I watched Alien and Aliens with a good friend and her 13 year old son. Aliens is still fun, but it hasn't dated that well. The boy found some of the dialogue pretty cringle-worthy and it is. Alien is an absolutely timeless. film. The kid far preferred it. Good boy !



Has it dated?
As dated as Fright Night 

_ I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage._


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Has it dated?
> As dated as Fright Night
> 
> _ I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage._


No, not as bad as Fright Night, but then I was never much of a fan of that film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 12, 2011)

Phenol said:


> And?


Just those 2


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 12, 2011)

I watched "Dirty Harry", the first one of the series starring Clint Eastwood and his 0.44 Magnum


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 13, 2011)

Melancholia - Beautiful.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

Departures - sweet film, though got a bit fed up of the hero's wife simpering at him


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 13, 2011)

tonite i'm watching "Broken Flowers" with Bill Murray


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

Why are you watching one of his films with him? How conceited of him


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 13, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Why are you watching one of his films with him? How conceited of him


no, i'm not watching it with Bill Murray, he is in the film


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

I know


----------



## Yetman (Dec 13, 2011)

Yeah he got all coy and asked me to turn Ghostbusters off last time I put it on when he was round, I couldnt imagine him sitting through the whole of Broken Flowers.


----------



## imposs1904 (Dec 14, 2011)

Just watched the first season of The Walking Dead. It was good in places but after reading about how it was supposed to be one of the best tv shows in years, I guess I found it rather underwhelming.

And, in truth, I just couldn't get past the idea of Egg from This Life as the alpha male.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2011)

imposs1904 said:


> Just watched the first season of The Walking Dead. It was good in places but after reading about how it was supposed to be one of the best tv shows in years, I guess I found it rather underwhelming.



I agree, it was a bit overhyped. It felt like they spent all the money on the (rather good) pilot episode and then ran out of money. You end up with a bunch of people sitting in a forrest and bickering for several episodes. The characters were all a bit cardboard.


----------



## Picadilly Commando (Dec 14, 2011)

Enter the Void, seen it several times. I like it.


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 14, 2011)

Last nite I watched "Bend it Like Beckham" for the first time.  Excellent


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

and how does David Beckham watch Bend It?


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 14, 2011)

The gilfriend had me watchin *The Good Wife*.(pilot) Which wernt that bad if im honest. Julianna Margulies is pretty good in the lead role. Anyways it makes a change from watchin films coz their gettin on me tits at the moment. /';llkjj


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

I'm not going to watch friends with benefits. i'm not spending my hard earned dole on a shitty US sitcom


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 14, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i'm not spending my hard earned dole on a shitty US sitcom



but you will spend your hard earned money on shitty US movies


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 14, 2011)

avu9lives said:


> The gilfriend had me watchin *The Good Wife*


god help you


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

Detroit City said:


> but you will spend your hard earned money on shitty US movies


No I won't!


----------



## Yetman (Dec 14, 2011)

Bandwidth costs money....


----------



## chazegee (Dec 14, 2011)

Trading places. Love it.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 14, 2011)

*The Inbetweeners* - thought it was a bit shit tbh.


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 15, 2011)

50/50 - excellent.


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> 50/50 - excellent.


 
...when Seth Rogen is off-screen.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 15, 2011)

I not seen it but Levitt chooses great films...


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 15, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> I not seen it but Levitt chooses great films...


have you seen Mysterious Skin?


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 15, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> have you seen Mysterious Skin?



Very depressing.
One of me all time favs.

shampoo bottles haunts me still.


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> have you seen Mysterious Skin?



Brilliant and a total suprise because I usually can't stand Gregg Araki's films.


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 15, 2011)

Reno said:


> ...when Seth Rogen is off-screen.


He could be annoying but not in this movie methinks and I love the part when he kicked out the girlfriend.


----------



## chazegee (Dec 15, 2011)

Going to watch the Warriors now and imagine I'm not a pissed lump sitting on my sofa.


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2011)

pianissimo said:


> He could be annoying but not in this movie methinks and I love the part when he kicked out the girlfriend.



I'm so bored with the "slob best friend" cliche character in comedies, be it him or Nick Frost. Surely men have other types of friends.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 15, 2011)

i don't have any friends like that.
shit, that must mean....


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 15, 2011)

Reno said:


> I'm so bored with the "slob best friend" cliche character in comedies, be it him or Nick Frost. *Surely men have other types of friends.*



Platonic female friends?

I have not seen many comedies lately so his role didn't bother me much.
50/50 great film mind!


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i don't have any friends like that.
> shit, that must mean....



I have one, but he isn't that close a friend anymore since he drunkenly shat NEXT to my toilet.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 15, 2011)

oh, i've NEVER done owt like that


----------



## chazegee (Dec 15, 2011)

Pineapple express was pretty good, no redeeming artistic qualities at all, but pretty good.


----------



## silverfish (Dec 15, 2011)

limitless, great film, loads more potential but enjoyable


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2011)

I watched This is England '86 tonight. Missed out on it the first time and I remembered as the new series is on and I'm recording it. Watchable but nowhere near as good as the film.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 15, 2011)

Picadilly Commando said:


> Enter the Void, seen it several times. I like it.



Great film to watch when you're out of your box and it's got one of the most intense death scenes I've seen in a film.

I've tried to watch it with 2 different friends and they've made me turn it off part way through. It isn't for everyone.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 16, 2011)

Vertigo. Well, I've been trying to watch it in bed the past few nights but the mrs keeps fucking moaning that she cant sleep. So I'm about 2/3 of the way through it 

Got Citizen Kane next. Trying to give the old school films their due, they must be in all the top film lists for a reason


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 16, 2011)

Finally got round to watching The Iron Giant after loads of people banging on about it here.
It's brilliant of course. the animation is superb, particularly the way water is represented.
and the story is pretty subversive for a mainstream kid's animation film.
didn't cry at the end though, so i must have a heart of stone.


----------



## chazegee (Dec 16, 2011)

Heartworn highways. Pretty much porn for fans of old country.


----------



## imposs1904 (Dec 17, 2011)

The Inbetweeners Movie

It made 45 million dollars at the Box Office? Wow.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 18, 2011)

Senna, which wasn't as good as I'd expected. Interesting all the same but there were some clips I couldn't see the point in, Alain Prost and Selena whatsherface on a chatshow for example.

Just watched Tyrannosaur which I wasn't that sure about either. There's a major scene in it that didn't click with me straight away, not sure if I just missed something very subtle.


----------



## Voley (Dec 18, 2011)

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. Been meaning to watch this for a while. Really good, I thought. Some fantastically awkward bits when Brad Pitt was jokily interrogating the rest of his gang. Didn't expect Nick Cave to pop up at the end either. I thought the soundtrack sounded a bit like the one for The Proposition. Him and Warren Ellis have found a good niche making spookily atmospheric music for decent Westerns there.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 18, 2011)

The Ides of March, good story line re American political organisation in which aside from being wheeled out to applaud the candidates their is a conspicuous absence of any activity by the voters.


----------



## Sweet FA (Dec 18, 2011)

Stone with De Niro/Norton. Not bad, slow and atmospheric, odd ending. I think it was trying to subvert stereotyped roles or something but it turned out a bit dull.

TT: Close To The Edge - fucking ace. I think I'm in love with Guy Martin.


----------



## chazegee (Dec 18, 2011)

Eastbound and down S2.


----------



## chazegee (Dec 18, 2011)

The39thStep said:


> The Ides of March, good story line re American political organisation in which aside from being wheeled out to applaud the candidates their is a conspicuous absence of any activity by the voters.



Left me a bit cold, preferred Drive.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 18, 2011)

Super8 - It was OK, the other two people I watched it with thought it was brilliant.

Might watch Drive or The Ides of March tonight


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 18, 2011)

*The Haunting* The owd one not the remake. Dont usually go fer the horror films but this was feckin excellent.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 18, 2011)

imposs1904 said:


> The Inbetweeners Movie
> 
> It made 45 million dollars at the Box Office? Wow.



I managed 30 minutes. I didn't know primitive comedy had made a comeback. I assume it is targeted at a specific age group.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 18, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> Super8 - It was OK, the other two people I watched it with thought it was brilliant.



It would've been much much better without the mawkishness.


----------



## blairsh (Dec 18, 2011)

A Room For Romeo Brass last night, enjoyed it although i was drunk as a monk.

Friday night was Speed (Keanu "iam an F.B.I.......AGENT!" Reeves  followed by Dead Mans Shoes. Was the first time i'd watched it since the first viewing, even better on the second watch.

Also attempted to watch Inception last night but i passed out half an hour in (probably a lucky escape from what i've read/ heard)


----------



## Reno (Dec 19, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> It would've been much much better without the mawkishness.



I liked the "mawkishness". Considering that much of the film is about grief and that this is a homage to 70s/early 80s Spielberg, a degree of sentimentality is central to the plot.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 19, 2011)

I _never_ knew that ... However I thought mawkishness relates to over-sentimentality.

It got too much and annoying for me, but I do like the film despite that.  I  wanted to love it.  I liked the 'monster,' and its plight, I thought it was done very well, as was the small town setting and the awkward boy and girl stuff with a tragic connection.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2011)

I watched a Bill Hicks bio in which not a bad word was said about him and a lot of his 'set' engaged in epic self mythologising like they were the rat pack of early 80s comedy. Bit of a haigiowhatsit


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 19, 2011)

Two Mules for Sister Sara - hadn't seen it in years, forgotten the brilliant Morricone score.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Dec 19, 2011)

"Die Hard" - still love it even though I can quote most of the script!


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2011)

I also watched Bat21 in which a grizzled (he was born that way) Gene Hackman evades the Viet Cong after being shot down over viet nam. A bit shit, but hackman pulled it along.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 19, 2011)

Snowtown - self-consciously gritty and grim crime story set amongst the lowlives of northern Australia. Based on the grisly Snowtown murders, but only tells the story from the weakest perpetrator's point of view, lessening its insight and impact. Frankly dull. Animal Kingdom did the small town grubbiness vibe much more effectively. It tries a bit too hard to emphasise the desperation and squalor of the underclass as a background to the ultaviolence - 'ooh look poor people. look how they smoke all the time and get wasted!'

The Inbetweeners - don't know why I bothered

One Day - this wasn't so great either. Hathaway isn't very convincing, though Jim Sturgess is in the part of his character's arc as an obnoxious tv host. Doesn't save it from being a whole heap of meh though. Hathaway's character would never hold out for such a dick.


----------



## Reno (Dec 19, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Snowtown - self-consciously gritty and grim crime story set amongst the lowlives of northern Australia. Based on the grisly Snowtown murders, but only tells the story from the weakest perpetrator's point of view, lessening its insight and impact. Frankly dull. Animal Kingdom did the small town grubbiness vibe much more effectively. It tries a bit too hard to emphasise the desperation and squalor of the underclass as a background to the ultaviolence - 'ooh look poor people. look how they smoke all the time and get wasted!'.



Totally agree, I don't know why people rate this film. It also did a really bad job in making clear what the relationships between the many characters were. This became a much more interesting story when I read up about it afterwards, but you shouldn't have to do that with a film.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 19, 2011)

Regarding *The Inbetweeners*, i rate the show cos the comedy is based on how they lose/ humiliate themselves.

Just don't understand the film, it was terrible.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2011)

I loved the series, the film was just a waste.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 19, 2011)

Reno said:


> Totally agree, I don't know why people rate this film. It also did a really bad job in making clear what the relationships between the many characters were. This became a much more interesting story when I read up about it afterwards, but you shouldn't have to do that with a film.


yes, i had to do some reading up too. it wasn't clear who'd been killed and when. the main sidekick to the killer barely said a word and it was never shown clearly that he'd apparently had an abusive relationship with the blonde cross-dresser in which he'd been allegedly raped.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 19, 2011)

I watched Inbetweeners as well, it was a bit crap wasnt it. A few funny scenes but felt very Hollywood and stereotypical of the sort of comedy the Inbetweeners had created.

Watched also, Limitless, which was pretty good. Better than I'd expected.

Troy. meh, not really my thing.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 19, 2011)

*Grave of the Fireflies *very moving.


----------



## magneze (Dec 19, 2011)

Stardust. Unexpectedly brilliant. Turned it on by mistake, thought it was excellent.


----------



## Sweet FA (Dec 20, 2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Unmitigated shite. 90 minutes long and the hot ape action doesn't really start til the last 20 minutes. There's an hour of guff about Alzheimer's to get through first.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 20, 2011)

Forgot to mention I saw Bolt recently. Made me want a pet dog. Pretty good for a Disney film I guess.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 20, 2011)

*Stepbrothers* (again) - i really like this film.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 20, 2011)

Submarine. Shit and boring.


----------



## magneze (Dec 20, 2011)

Sweet FA said:


> Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
> 
> Unmitigated shite. 90 minutes long and the hot ape action doesn't really start til the last 20 minutes. There's an hour of guff about Alzheimer's to get through first.


Really? I've been quite looking forward to watching this too...


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 20, 2011)

I enjoyed it UNTIL the apes broke out. It helps if you see it as a prison movie rather than an ape revolution action movie


----------



## magneze (Dec 20, 2011)

I see. Will probably still watch it over Christmas anyway.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 20, 2011)

it's brilliant all the way through and jon lithgow is in it so end of.

i watched black mirror. Enjoyed a lot. sumptuouse gaffs and sci fi


----------



## Reno (Dec 20, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> it's brilliant all the way through and jon lithgow is in it so end of.



The truth !


----------



## Reno (Dec 20, 2011)

Zombie evening: Episode 3 of The Walking Dead and Return of the Living Dead.

Season 2 of The Walking Dead is shaping up to be better than the first season, which I found a bit underwhelming.

I saw Return of the Living Dead at an allnighter at the Scala cinema several decades ago and haven't seen it since. It's dumb, but still fun and it reminded me that I need to listen to The Cramps again.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 20, 2011)

Just saw Ides of March. Pretty good, but hardly a classic.


----------



## Sweet FA (Dec 21, 2011)

Thor.

Pretty good. Though Thor's a deadringer for Terry out of True Blood which was a bit weird.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 21, 2011)

In celebration of the 100th anniversary today of the first use of a get-away-car in bank robbery, by the anarchist Bonnot Gang ("Bande à Bonnot") i watched The Tiger Brigades  - an action adventure type film about the motorised police group set up to catch Bonnot (and the other individualist anarchists practicing expropriation at that time). Don't expect a serious look at the politics of it all, though there is a very strong anti-banker undertone running through it and it didn't demonise Bonnot -instead it emphasied the seriousness of his/their political commitment.  I could have watched Philippe Fourastié 's film on the Bonnot Gang but the copy i have have does not have subs.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 21, 2011)

One day, just one day, I'd like to see you posting that you've just seen Dumb and Dumber or something as asinine as that and how much it made you guffaw.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 21, 2011)

I watch all that stuff but don't see the point of posting about it - it's not like people don't know about them ones.I watched the killer elite one the other day but what good would it have done to mention it? Dumb and Dumber was brilliant btw.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 21, 2011)

Know what you mean. Saw Skyline and Limitless last night and didn't see the point in mentioning them here, even though I just did.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Dec 21, 2011)

Did I mention that I finally got around to watching "Let the right one in" the other night.

What a great film, certainly sticks in the mind for a while afterwards.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Know what you mean. Saw Skyline and Limitless last night and didn't see the point in mentioning them here, even though I just did.


That wasn't me having a pop at people who do mention them btw!


----------



## Reno (Dec 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Know what you mean. Saw Skyline and Limitless last night and didn't see the point in mentioning them here, even though I just did.



Is Skyline really as bad as they say. It's been sitting on there my Sky+ box for a while now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 21, 2011)

I don't know how bad people say it is but it's pretty awful. FX don't even look that impressive. There's nothing original about it except maybe the ending


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 22, 2011)

One Day -

It was ok.

Read only a small sample of the book as I'm not a romance novel reader.
Typical love story of two people going around in circle before taking the courage of being together. Ended with a tragic ending.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 22, 2011)

It wasn't tragic right at the end!


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 22, 2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  "No!" lol.

Really enjoyed it though.


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 22, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> It wasn't tragic right at the end!


Well it was near the end. Memories make the 'ending' 'happy'.


----------



## rekil (Dec 23, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Rise of the Planet of the Apes. "No!" lol.
> 
> Really enjoyed it though.


The lab's health and safety procedures left much to be desired.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 23, 2011)

copliker said:


> The lab's health and safety procedures left much to be desired.



true dat.
definitely not a FDA/ GCP environment - wish script writers think about such things more (unless the company in RPA were in fact a piss take of Roche).


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 23, 2011)

Ken loache's *raining stones*  The first 10 mins is comedy gold!  First they gotta catch the sheep, kill it, and finally sell it ta the butchers. Still makes me laugh just thinkin about it.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 23, 2011)

Lights out/Simon Werner a disparu  - could be glibly described a a French Brick but without the winking. Expected it to be heavier but was kept my interest as it was very very well made.

The Showdown -  extended mexican stand off in Korea following a  massacre/battle, lightweight but enjoyable.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 24, 2011)

Never really been a fan of Almodavar but i really enjoyed  The Skin I Live In. Expertly constructed


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 24, 2011)

Enter the Void.   Very weird, a dead drug dealer watches/remembers his past life and the aftermath of his death.   Watchable, trippy and interesting but a bit long.

The most graphic sex scene you will ever see.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 24, 2011)

DexterTCN said:


> The most graphic sex scene you will ever see.


O RLY? 
I'd venture you can see a lot more graphic sex scenes by just typing some words into google


----------



## Mapped (Dec 24, 2011)

DexterTCN said:


> Enter the Void. Very weird, a dead drug dealer watches/remembers his past life and the aftermath of his death. Watchable, trippy and interesting but a bit long.
> 
> The most graphic sex scene you will ever see.



I thought the death scene (toilet) was one of the most impacting I've seen for ages

2 I watched this week:

Route Irish - great, but very sad
Drive - very stylish with more gorey deaths than I'd imagined there'd be


----------



## DJ Squelch (Dec 24, 2011)

Peter, Portrait Of A Killer - 2011 film about Sutcliffe. It was like a cross between Equus & the League Of Gentlemen (series), rather surreal but I enjoyed it's oddness.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 24, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> O RLY?
> I'd venture you can see a lot more graphic sex scenes by just typing some words into google


nope


----------



## Reno (Dec 24, 2011)

DexterTCN said:


> nope



I have seen quite a few equally graphic sex scenes in other non-porn art-house films.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 24, 2011)

The Keep - early Michael Mann horror film with Nazis doing battle with ancient evil in a haunted Romanian castle. It's say worse than I remember. Incomprehensible plot, hammy acting and lit like a Whitesnake video. Even the score's a bit turgid, despite being by Tangerine Dream


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 24, 2011)

Reno said:


> I have seen quite a few equally graphic sex scenes in other non-porn art-house films.


I wouldn't have thought so*, the camera in the vagina, looking down at the thrusting, ejaculating penis?    Very original, I thought.

*It may have been done before, I don't have a massive knowledge of that kind of thing, only time I've seen it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 24, 2011)

you don't watch enough porn


----------



## Reno (Dec 24, 2011)

I believe that was CGI and to me it felt rather abstract. Once you see the real thing on screen, it doesn't matter to me from which perspective you see it, especially when as in this case the shot appears to be simulated.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 24, 2011)

Dogtooth - deeply silly try-hard nonsense


----------



## Reno (Dec 24, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Dogtooth - deeply silly try-hard nonsense



It's shit, isn't it ? The plot never kicks in, it's just a voyeuristic freak show that masquerades as psychological insight, when it's just about whatever the film makers pulled out of their arse. The other recently over-hyped Greek film export Attenberg is just as bad.


----------



## magneze (Dec 24, 2011)

Linha de Passe. Well worth watching. A film about four brothers growing up in Sao Paulo and the various scrapes they get into whilst finding their way. I particularly love the final scene but won't say any more.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 24, 2011)

Reno said:


> It's shit, isn't it ? The plot never kicks in, it's just a voyeuristic freak show that masquerades as psychological insight, when it's just about whatever the film makers pulled out of their arse. The other recently over-hyped Greek film export Attenberg is just as bad.


it thinks it's a Haneke film but is more like a brain-damaged Harmony Korine film


----------



## thriller (Dec 24, 2011)

just finished Alien on blu ray. forgotten how sexy ripley looked at the end with the small underwear. hmm. just wanted it pull it down


----------



## Reno (Dec 25, 2011)

Blacula. Not as much fun as I hoped and mostly rather dull. The best thing about it is a rather stylish animated title sequence by graphic designer Sandy Dvore.

http://garywarnett.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/sandy-dvore-went-beyond-the-call-of-duty/


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 25, 2011)

Kill Them All - pretty disappointing film about an attempt to expose part of Operation Condor - including the obligatory privileged lawyer and journalist who always appears in these films.


----------



## Zabo (Dec 25, 2011)

_Lars Von Trier - Melancholia_

The film? I don't know. I'm still trying to work out why he allowed one of the drunk wedding guests to operate the camera?!

0/5


----------



## thriller (Dec 25, 2011)

Aliens on blu ray. defo better than th first one. tomorrow: alien 3.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 26, 2011)

Kill List - excellent.That's all i'm saying.


----------



## Reno (Dec 26, 2011)

Project Nim. Interesting story, but for a documentary I found it too manipulative, with slushy music and reconstructions that are mixed up with archive footage. Odd how in terms of what happens this is at times really similar to Rise of Planet of the Apes, which came out at the same time.

Another Earth. Allegorical sci-fi, not as well executed as it could have been, but watchable. Preferred this to the very silly Melancholia with which it shares similarities.

Outcast. Irish/Scottish horror film about magic and witchcraft, but set on an Edinburgh council estate, which is stalked a demon who guts the tenants. Despite the low budget and some pacing issues this is an unusually original British horror flick. Kate Dickie (Red Road, Game of Thrones) is good as always in the lead and the monster, when it's finally revealed, is quite impressive and weird looking considering the resources.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 26, 2011)

Enjoyed Outcast a lot, setting it where it did worked very well, and helped to bring the mythical/modern aspects together excellently.


----------



## Voley (Dec 26, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Kill List - excellent.That's all i'm saying.


I've heard a lot of good things about that. On my Lovefilm list


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2011)

we need to talk about kevin... I've not read the book but the film made him out to be a bit too Damien for me, like 'born evil', although a few times I suspected he was autistic or something. Wasn't that sure about the back and forth in the time lines either.

Good story all the same, never saw the ending coming.

Oh and cheers for the recommendations for tonight, got a few things downloading


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 26, 2011)

Imitation Of Life - it made my eyes hurt and then made them water. Classic Sirk melodrama, surprisingly progressive for 1958!


----------



## TruXta (Dec 26, 2011)

My sister is watching Point Break on my dad´s humungous screen. The film is almost as old as her. Makes me feel ancient.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 26, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Imitation Of Life - it made my eyes hurt and then made them water. Classic Sirk melodrama, surprisingly progressive for 1958!


Excellent Movie


----------



## marty21 (Dec 26, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Heart

Paper Heart - Mrs21 rented it - awful self indulgent shite


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 26, 2011)

Outcast it sounded qiute good from peoples descriptions. Grimy and bleak. James Nesbit having his throat ripped out=win


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 26, 2011)

Bicycle Thieves -  (rubbish subtitling though)


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 26, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Bicycle Thieves -  (rubbish subtitling though)


Fucking great though eh?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 26, 2011)

yeah, it's brilliant. the final scene is so harsh. it's not exactly a xmas film.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 26, 2011)

*Fear Eats the Soul *1974 Fassbinder about a elderly German widow and much younger Moroccan Gastarbeiter.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 26, 2011)

Belushi said:


> *Fear Eats the Soul *1974 Fassbinder about a elderly German widow and much younger Moroccan Gastarbeiter.


And possibly his best film


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2011)

Kill List.....great all the way through, then spoilt within ten minutes of the end by my narky teenager being proper mard about his broken bike.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Dec 27, 2011)

It's probably been mentioned in this thread, but Black Swan was awesome. Best film i've seen for a while, on so many levels. Natalie Portman, stunning performance! 

What's Eating Gilbert Grape - I'm sure i'd seen it years ago. Beautiful yet sad story. Amazing performance from a young DiCaprio.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 27, 2011)

Kill List. Was creepy as fuck


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 27, 2011)

Attack the Block- very enjoyable light wieght romp ( which is what you need after a few too many beers) but I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in that little gang at all.

The Guard- Hats off to the witers and the wonderful Brendan Gleeson one of the best comedies I have seen this year.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 27, 2011)

Mesrine part 2.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 27, 2011)

Outcast....had many things in common with Kill List, although it's a different film. It was okay I thought, well made budget horror, woman from Red Road was good, probably the first thing I've ever seen other than adverts with James Nesbit in.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 27, 2011)

it is the best performance I have seen from him- grey/black bearded like some old irish sea king, merrily throat chopping scallies and gutting birds. The bloke who plays the laird also played the PIRA priest in Sons of Anarchy series 3.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 27, 2011)

kill list - shite and incomprehensible


----------



## Mapped (Dec 27, 2011)

Zabo said:


> _Lars Von Trier - Melancholia_
> 
> The film? I don't know. I'm still trying to work out why he allowed one of the drunk wedding guests to operate the camera?!
> 
> 0/5



Watch it on drugs 

I thought it was a masterpiece, but my critical faculties had probably completely left me


----------



## Belushi (Dec 27, 2011)

More festive Fassbinder fun with *The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant*


----------



## TruXta (Dec 27, 2011)

Just take some sedatives and whip yourself, Belushi. Much the same effect.


----------



## pianissimo (Dec 27, 2011)

Becoming Jane -

it was alright.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 28, 2011)

Midnight Meat Train. Some great scenes and elements, ultimately let down by a weird ending that didn't do the start justice IMO.  Loved Vinnie Jones too.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 28, 2011)

Mr.Bishie said:


> What's Eating Gilbert Grape - I'm sure i'd seen it years ago. Beautiful yet sad story. Amazing performance from a young DiCaprio.



Innit he was only about 12 when he gave that performance.


----------



## mentalchik (Dec 28, 2011)

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - muchly enjoyable


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Dec 28, 2011)

"X-Men: First Class" - an enjoyable lounging on the sofa film


----------



## Belushi (Dec 28, 2011)

*Cat People *Enjoyable supernatural thriller from the 1940's.


----------



## Reno (Dec 28, 2011)

Belushi said:


> *Cat People *Enjoyable supernatural thriller from the 1940's.



Wonderful film and my favourite horror film from that period.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 28, 2011)

Have you seen/read Kiss Of The Spiderwoman, belushi/Reno - it references Cat People a hell of a lot. Ace book/film about a political prisoner who keeps himself going by recounting old favourite movies to his cellmate.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 28, 2011)

Oh, and I watched the first half of The Expendables. I'm not sure I can be arsed watching the rest. I think it might be dreadful. I convinced myself that it was a postmodernist work of genius, but I'd consumed the best part of two bottles of wine, so think I may be wrong about that.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2011)

expendables was utter shit.


----------



## Reno (Dec 28, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Have you seen/read Kiss Of The Spiderwoman, belushi/Reno - it references Cat People a hell of a lot. Ace book/film about a political prisoner who keeps himself going by recounting old favourite movies to his cellmate.



Both read the book and saw the film. The film omits the Cat People references and I found William Hurt's performance too obvious Oscar bait, so I much preferred the book. As a kid I identified with the cat woman in a similar way as the main character did in the book, queer sexuality and some such.

The sequel Curse of the Cat People is also great, if quite different. The first film was a pasychological thriller about female sexuality and repression, the second one is about child psychology


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 28, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> expendables was utter shit.



i so wanted to like but couldn't get passed the first 15 minutes.
very hard work, too taxing to watch with little return.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 28, 2011)

Ides of March, all star cast, lead role was good, bit of a basic storyline maybe. Watchable enough but not brilliant.

Project Nim. Been wanting to see this as I meant to take the kids to see it when it was on briefly at the cinema. It wasn't that good tbh, just a chronology of events and 'talking heads' with people involved with the chimp, interesting enough but glad I didn't pay to see it.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Dec 28, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> i so wanted to like but couldn't get passed the first 15 minutes.
> very hard work, too taxing to watch with little return.


It could, should, have been enjoyable action tripe....but it was just tripe


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2011)

well, expendables 2 is on the cards, only this time someone who isn't sly will be writing the script. Maybe that will be better.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 28, 2011)

The Spirit of the Beehive... Friend at work has been telling me about this for ages. Really charming film, beautifully shot, comparisons to be drawn with Pans Labyrinth and part looks like it was taken straight from Whistle Down the Wind which is one of my favourites. Ana in the lead role is every bit as wonderful as Bruno in Bicycle Thieves too, great performance.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2011)

I saw Thor over the christmas period. It was fucking awful. The first mistake was incapacitating odin early on, thusly removing any potential for allfatherly smiting.

No way near enough blood. Norse legends should be knee deep in spleen anf horror. This sanitised shit was a fucking joke. Idris Elba phones in a performance as the gaurdian between realms. The frost giant were shit as well. Avoid


----------



## TruXta (Dec 28, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> I saw Thor over the christmas period. It was fucking awful. The first mistake was incapacitating odin early on, thusly removing any potential for allfatherly smiting.
> 
> No way near enough blood. Norse legends should be knee deep in spleen anf horror. This sanitised shit was a fucking joke. Idris Elba phones in a performance as the gaurdian between realms. The frost giant were shit as well. Avoid



I thought it was enjoyable enough. The Marvel Asgardians were always a bit too techno and glitzy for my liking, but even so.


----------



## Reno (Dec 28, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> I saw Thor over the christmas period. It was fucking awful. The first mistake was incapacitating odin early on, thusly removing any potential for allfatherly smiting.
> 
> No way near enough blood. Norse legends should be knee deep in spleen anf horror. This sanitised shit was a fucking joke. Idris Elba phones in a performance as the gaurdian between realms. The frost giant were shit as well. Avoid



It not about Norse legend though, it's a family film that was based on a crappy superhero comic that took a kernel of inspiration from Norse mythology. I thought it was watchable. Reminded my of cheesy 80s "fish out of water" comedies like Splash and Star Trek IV.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2011)

I'll give you the fish out of water aspect, that was amusing, although it sort of reminded me of when superman gives up his powers rather than splash. I think I had hopes higher than realistic for this, the last comic book thing I saw was the (best of the franchise imo) x men first class. And this was no way near as good.

For tonight I've lined up that mexican sci fi film you and others have given praise. I'm hoping it will be a bit more subtle than your average sci fi offering


----------



## TruXta (Dec 28, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll give you the fish out of water aspect, that was amusing, although it sort of reminded me of when superman gives up his powers rather than splash. I think I had hopes higher than realistic for this, the last comic book thing I saw was the (best of the franchise imo) x men first class. And this was no way near as good.
> 
> For tonight I've lined up that mexican sci fi film you and others have given praise. I'm hoping it will be a bit more subtle than your average sci fi offering



Monsters?


----------



## Reno (Dec 28, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Monsters?



That's a British film.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 28, 2011)

Reno said:


> That's a British film.



I know, but it's set in Mexico innit? Not seen it mind. Mexican horror? Cronos? If so, yes, that's a good one.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2011)

Monster isthe one- I have it in my head as 'mexican sci fi'.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 28, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Monster isthe one- I have it in my head as 'mexican sci fi'.



Lemme know how it was, been tempted but not got around to dl'ing it yet. Do watch Cronos if you haven't already.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 28, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> The Spirit of the Beehive... Friend at work has been telling me about this for ages. Really charming film, beautifully shot, comparisons to be drawn with Pans Labyrinth and part looks like it was taken straight from Whistle Down the Wind which is one of my favourites. Ana in the lead role is every bit as wonderful as Bruno in Bicycle Thieves too, great performance.



Watched that last Summer, it is a great film and an incredible performance from an actor so young.


----------



## 8115 (Dec 28, 2011)

Monsters is brilliant.  I just watched The Shock Doctrine on 4od, it's really good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 29, 2011)

just watched dark city cos i think someone must have mentioned it here - can't remember who and when. it seems quite fitting that i don't remember.
it's odd cos i'm pretty sure i haven't seen it before, but i've had dreams very much like it.
it seems quite original at first, with the changing scenery, but there's something very familiar about it - there are shades of blade runner, brazil, bioshock, city of lost children, hellraiser, even who framed roger rabbit - some of these 'texts' were made before dark city, a couple after, but none of this seems to matter as the look and idea of the film seem to come out of an unconscience that is part of my own imagination, and presumably other people's too - a collective unconscience/dreamscape. i've been reading a lot of philip k dick recently so i apologise for this bollocks.
is it any good?
nah.
interesting, mind.
makes me want to get on the ketamine again.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 29, 2011)

I Saw the Devil...good revenge film although not as violent and gory as I thought it might be, there were only a few scenes and I didn't think they were as bad as in Kill List, although maybe thats because I expect more graphic stuff because it's Korean.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 29, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> just watched dark city cos i think someone must have mentioned it here - can't remember who and when. it seems quite fitting that i don't remember.
> it's odd cos i'm pretty sure i haven't seen it before, but i've had dreams very much like it.
> it seems quite original at first, with the changing scenery, but there's something very familiar about it - there are shades of blade runner, brazil, bioshock, city of lost children, hellraiser, even who framed roger rabbit - some of these 'texts' were made before dark city, a couple after, but none of this seems to matter as the look and idea of the film seem to come out of an unconscience that is part of my own imagination, and presumably other people's too - a collective unconscience/dreamscape. i've been reading a lot of philip k dick recently so i apologise for this bollocks.
> is it any good?
> ...



sleep


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 29, 2011)

Hobo with a Shotgun... fucking great, no idea why my Mrs didn't like it


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Dec 29, 2011)

Piranha 3D (In 2D). Inventively Gory, entertainingly, occasionally dodgy effects. And in ludicrously bad taste. I just took it in the same, "not to be taken seriously - just enjoy the  ride!" spirit as Snakes On A Plane and had a blast.

Spies Like Us. Terrible full frame 1.33:1 transfer in Mono, from Warners. The New Blu Ray has a 1.78:1 transfer and the 6 track Dolby mix. Terrible transfer. Film isnt much cop either. 

The Trip. made me hungry.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 29, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> I Saw the Devil...good revenge film although not as violent and gory as I thought it might be, there were only a few scenes and I didn't think they were as bad as in Kill List, although maybe thats because I expect more graphic stuff because it's Korean.


Massive let down that one for me.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Dec 29, 2011)

I watched Cowboys & Aliens. I wanted and expected it to be a rollicking bit of cleverly done nonsense and I was only partly disappointed.

Mate and I lolled about all the cowboy cliches at the start but agreed it had to place itself *bang* dead centre into western territory before it started playing about. Thought it only really started to get going when Harrison Ford turned up but it went downhill as soon as the woman was revealed as 



Spoiler



a mysterious all-knowing alien being, come to save the human race and avenge her own through sacrificing herself after wasting 1/2 of the movie talking in riddles



The aliens were a bit crap. And why did the only three women in the whole thing to look the same? Uh. I had had a few drinks but we had to rewind it to check who was who.


----------



## imposs1904 (Dec 29, 2011)

About 6 or 7 episodes of the US sitcom, The League.

Brilliantly daft.


----------



## toggle (Dec 29, 2011)

i'm currently watching a pokemon film. someone please come hit me over the head with a brick, it will be less painful


----------



## starfish (Dec 29, 2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I liked it.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 29, 2011)

*Aleksandra* Elderly Russian widow visits her soldier grandson in Chechnia.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 29, 2011)

starfish said:


> Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I liked it.



Eminently forgettable IMO. Not crap, just very mediocre.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 29, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Eminently forgettable IMO. Not crap, just very mediocre.


Seen this?


----------



## TruXta (Dec 29, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Seen this?



Nope. Not really seen that many Norwegian movies over the last 6-7 years. Only the silly ones like Troll Hunter and maybe a couple more serious ones, like O'Horten. I've heard decent reports on it tho. Was a massive case at the time, was probably the first "proper" armed bank robbery/stand off in Norway for a long, long time.


----------



## phildwyer (Dec 29, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Eminently forgettable IMO. Not crap, just very mediocre.



Not unlike yourself in fact.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 29, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Nope. Not really seen that many Norwegian movies over the last 6-7 years. Only the silly ones like Troll Hunter and maybe a couple more serious ones, like O'Horten. I've heard decent reports on it tho. Was a massive case at the time, was probably the first "proper" armed bank robbery/stand off in Norway for a long, long time.


Shall report back tmw

(O'Horten is great bw)


----------



## phildwyer (Dec 29, 2011)

TruXta said:


> Only the silly ones like Troll Hunter



I bet that one gave you nightmares eh?


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Dec 29, 2011)

phildwyer said:


> I bet that one gave you nightmares eh?


Are you going to tell us what DVD/video you watched recently or just disrupt this thread 'cos if it is the latter stop it, it's boring for the rest of us.


----------



## phildwyer (Dec 29, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Are you going to tell us what DVD/video you watched recently or just disrupt this thread 'cos if it is the latter stop it, it's boring for the rest of us.



Hee, sorry, it was too good a chance to miss.

"Everything Must Go."  Interesting, if only because it's the only Hollywood film I can remember without a happy ending.  Based on a Raymond Chandler story apparently.


----------



## Badgers (Dec 29, 2011)

The39thStep said:
			
		

> Attack the Block- very enjoyable light wieght romp ( which is what you need after a few too many beers) but I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in that little gang at all.



I half watched this and agree


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 29, 2011)

Well slapped QoG.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 29, 2011)

Badgers said:


> I half watched this and agree


 
I thought it was a great romp, amusing with it. And managed to make a group of horrible little shits come across as redeemable. No small feat that, to introduce a group of theiving little shites who attack the english rose and then get the audience to be cheering for them by the end.

Probably needs aliens with glowing teeth to make it work


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 29, 2011)

The Black Power Mixtape...not seen any mention of this here but it's a worthy urban recommendation. Footage from swedish film makers of those involved in the black power movement 1967-75. Some interesting and previously unseen stuff.

Meek's Cutoff...Not sure why I downloaded this, I'm not really a fan of westerns but then it's not a typical western, or a typical film come to think of it. Shot in 4:3, not much happens and the end is one to leave anyone guessing but I couldn't say I disliked it.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has seen it what they thought of the end, although I'd stop short of recommending it as one to watch; it won't be to the taste of everyone I suspect.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 30, 2011)

Do you love the cinema? If so, I happened upon a treat.

It's called 'Soi Cuba', I Am Cuba. It was made in 1963, a Cuban/Soviet collaboration. The Cubans and Soviets didn't like it: they thought it was too bourgeois. One of the writers is Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

It's a propaganda piece; but visually, it is perhaps one of the most stunning films ever made. It totally blew me away. It was resurrected by Scorsese and Coppola a couple of decades ago, and you can see its influence in their work.

If you love the cinema, this film is a must-see.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 30, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Do you love the cinema? If so, I happened upon a treat.
> 
> It's called 'Soi Cuba', I Am Cuba. It was made in 1963, a Cuban/Soviet collaboration. The Cubans and Soviets didn't like it: they thought it was too bourgeois. One of the writers is Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
> 
> ...



I've had this queued up for ages (a 3 disc set). It seemed quite daunting, but I'll give it a whirl


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 30, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> I've had this queued up for ages (a 3 disc set). It seemed quite daunting, but I'll give it a whirl



From what I understand, at least two of those discs are 'the making of' etc.

I watched it on Netflix.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 30, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Do you love the cinema? If so, I happened upon a treat.
> 
> It's called 'Soi Cuba', I Am Cuba. It was made in 1963, a Cuban/Soviet collaboration. The Cubans and Soviets didn't like it: they thought it was too bourgeois. One of the writers is Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
> 
> ...



Mikhail Kalatozov, one of the great directors of the Thaw even though he'd been making films for years before that period and was getting old then, unlike the fresh faces appearing. It's didactic (but then a lot of Soviet cinema was), but I love the scene where the Communist students petrol bomb the drive-in cinema.







If you want more Kalatozov from the same period, then in pointing to the obvious, you need to see his earlier The Cranes are Flying. Putting what he had learned in the 1920s and 30s to use years later, and while dealing with things like rape, grief and attempted suicide in an overly melodramatic way, it looks damn fine.


----------



## phildwyer (Dec 30, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Do you love the cinema? If so, I happened upon a treat.
> 
> It's called 'Soi Cuba', I Am Cuba. It was made in 1963, a Cuban/Soviet collaboration. The Cubans and Soviets didn't like it: they thought it was too bourgeois. One of the writers is Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
> 
> ...



It looks a bit corny these days--the scene where the prostitute's vision starts swirling around etc--but it was a landmark of its day for sure.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 30, 2011)

phildwyer said:


> It looks a bit corny these days--the scene where the prostitute's vision starts swirling around etc--but it was a landmark of its day for sure.



Not every frame can be an award winner, but I think much of it stands the test of time. I'd stack the opening sequence leading up to the interior bar sequence, against the intro to any other film. And modern day audiences seem to like it: it scores 100% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 91% in the non-pro audience vote.


----------



## phildwyer (Dec 30, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Not every frame can be an award winner, but I think much of it stands the test of time.



The propaganda's a bit heavy-handed by today's standards.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 30, 2011)

phildwyer said:


> The propaganda's a bit heavy-handed by today's standards.



Of course. The film is great because it is a visual feast.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 30, 2011)

butchersapron said:


> Shall report back tmw
> 
> (O'Horten is great bw)



So? You see it?


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 30, 2011)

Nope, went out instead.


----------



## Reno (Dec 30, 2011)

I watched *Went the Day Well ?*, a British 40s war/propaganda film about the Nazis invading a small English village. Never seen it before, but I thought it was fantastic. It's a really exciting thriller and I loved the sight of little old ladies in tweed going all badass against the enemy.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 30, 2011)

Reno said:


> I watched *Went the Day Well ?*, a British 40s war/propaganda film about the Nazis invading a small English village. Never seen it before, but I thought it was fantastic. It's a really exciting thriller and I loved the sight of little old ladies in tweed going all badass against the enemy.


Great film, possibly Ealing's most serious. Cavalcanti also did the very memorable Ventriloquists dummy segment of Dead of Night and the fantastic They Made me  a Fugitive. Interesting bloke.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 30, 2011)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Mikhail Kalatozov, one of the great directors of the Thaw even though he'd been making films for years before that period and was getting old then, unlike the fresh faces appearing. It's didactic (but then a lot of Soviet cinema was), but I love the scene where the Communist students petrol bomb the drive-in cinema.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the recommendation.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 30, 2011)

last episode of *Bored to Death*.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 30, 2011)

Reno said:


> I watched *Went the Day Well ?*, a British 40s war/propaganda film about the Nazis invading a small English village. Never seen it before, but I thought it was fantastic. It's a really exciting thriller and I loved the sight of little old ladies in tweed going all badass against the enemy.


Plus it has a very young Thora Hird in it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 30, 2011)

redsquirrel said:


> Plus it has a very young Thora Hird in it.








Thora Hird ready to kick ass.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 30, 2011)

X-men: First Class - pretty good, decent action scenes, felt a bit rushed though. Great performance from Fassbender. 

Fast Five - as ridiculous as you'd expect, The Rock neck-snapping a hapless henchman being a highlight 

Got the True Grit remake lined up for this afternoon.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 30, 2011)

12 Angry Men....why have I never seen this? Brilliant.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 30, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> The Black Power Mixtape...not seen any mention of this here but it's a worthy urban recommendation. Footage from swedish film makers of those involved in the black power movement 1967-75. Some interesting and previously unseen stuff.
> 
> Meek's Cutoff...Not sure why I downloaded this, I'm not really a fan of westerns but then it's not a typical western, or a typical film come to think of it. Shot in 4:3, not much happens and the end is one to leave anyone guessing but I couldn't say I disliked it.
> 
> I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has seen it what they thought of the end, although I'd stop short of recommending it as one to watch; it won't be to the taste of everyone I suspect.


 
have you come across a decent copy of Black Power Mixtape subbed? All the torrents i dig up are not subbed


----------



## Zabo (Dec 30, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> 12 Angry Men....why have I never seen this? Brilliant.



If you enjoyed it you should check out the Russian version. Exceptional!

Trailer-Synopsis

http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/12-v421329


----------



## Zabo (Dec 30, 2011)

_Tropic Thunder_

Brilliantly insane. I have so much time for Downey Jr. £1.50 from Asda. Bargain of the year.

http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/tropic-thunder-v389934


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 30, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> have you come across a decent copy of Black Power Mixtape subbed? All the torrents i dig up are not subbed



I've deleted it so not sure but I'm sure it was  from demonoid

e2a: maybe I'm not allowed to post that in public, will pm


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 30, 2011)

Zabo said:


> If you enjoyed it you should check out the Russian version. Exceptional!
> 
> Trailer-Synopsis
> 
> http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/12-v421329


 
Cheers, looking for a torrent now


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 30, 2011)

Tropic Thunder - vaguely amusing comedy, redeemed by RDJ

A State of Mind - 2004 doc following 2 young NK gymnasts preparing for the mass games in Pyongyang; fascinating look at the effort that goes into such a spectacle and the family lives of the 2 families.


----------



## mentalchik (Dec 30, 2011)

Reno said:


> I watched *Went the Day Well ?*, a British 40s war/propaganda film about the Nazis invading a small English village. Never seen it before, but I thought it was fantastic. It's a really exciting thriller and I loved the sight of little old ladies in tweed going all badass against the enemy.



great film that, i stumbled across it one afternoon on tv some years back.......trully chilling


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 31, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> I've deleted it so not sure but I'm sure it was from demonoid
> 
> e2a: maybe I'm not allowed to post that in public, will pm


 
aye, flawless copy with subs there. An interesting overview- the prison interview with angela davis was particularly scathing. Very much an overview, but a good overview none the less. Sought this out after watching a docu on the murder of Fred Hampton, and related readings about cointelpro and the naked shocking repression the US state put on the militant poor/black.

Land of the fucking free.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 31, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> last episode of *Bored to Death*.



It's a crying shame it's gone for good


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 31, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> It's a crying shame it's gone for good


Aren't they making a 4th series ?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 31, 2011)

The Borgias. Two different series. One with Jeremy Irons as the pope; and a European-made series with the closeted gay police captain from The Wire as the pope.

I enjoyed the European version more. For one thing, they used Italian actors instead of British actors with British accents pretending to be Italians. The European version was earthier; closer to what I imagine the 15th century might have been like.

But the NA version has its merits, including the acting skills of Jeremy Irons.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 31, 2011)

Source Code. Enjoyed it, good 90 minuter. I do like 90 minute films.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 31, 2011)

N1 Buoy said:


> It's a crying shame it's gone for good



No more George


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 31, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> have you come across a decent copy of Black Power Mixtape subbed? All the torrents i dig up are not subbed


I've uploaded some subs here


----------



## magneze (Dec 31, 2011)

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - Cracking good fun as long as you ignore all the massively obvious facepalm moments.

The Skin I Live In - Probably the best thing I've seen in 2011. The story is superb with just the right amount of WTF thrown in. I kept thinking all the way through that Antonio Banderas would make a good Bond. Don't let that put you off though.


----------



## rekil (Dec 31, 2011)

Transit. US pilots ferrying planes from Alaska to a Siberian (or Chukotka Peninsula) airbase, the commander of which is a bit mental, in a bad way. Some good jokes and that. The soviet internal affairs investigator is a fantastic character but the americans can't act which is a bit of a distraction. From the director of Cuckoo.

Winter In Wartime. Dutch teenager tries to help downed pilot. It poses some interesting questions about the nature of collaboration, but has a peculiar whiff about it and contains fairly strong anti-communist sentiment.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 31, 2011)

Banderas as Bond? He's forrin!


----------



## Belushi (Dec 31, 2011)

*Departures* Japanese Cellist takes a job preparing bodies for funerals. Very enjoyable; funny, moving, nicely shot and with a beautiful score.


----------



## alien nation (Dec 31, 2011)

The Girl Who Played With Fire - fab film and only £4 at Sainsbury - so is the Girl Who Kicked a Hornets Nest BTW


----------



## Mapped (Dec 31, 2011)

jeff_leigh said:


> Aren't they making a 4th series ?



No. Apparently HBO have canned it


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 31, 2011)

*Trailer Park of Terror*: Silly but entertaining 'horror' flick that may have been intended as a satire on people's prejudices against trailer-park folk. Probably not though...

*Little Shop of Horrors:* Can't believe I got to the ripe old age of 45 without seeing it before. Good, deranged fun with Steve Martin's sadistic dentist every bit as good as I'd heard.

*E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial:* One of my favourite Spielberg films; I still think it's brilliant.


----------



## rekil (Dec 31, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Banderas as Bond? He's forrin!


So is Pierce Brosnan. If a Navan man can be Bond then anybody can.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 31, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The Borgias. Two different series. One with Jeremy Irons as the pope; and a European-made series with the closeted gay police captain from The Wire as the pope.
> 
> I enjoyed the European version more. For one thing, they used Italian actors instead of British actors with British accents pretending to be Italians. The European version was earthier; closer to what I imagine the 15th century might have been like.
> 
> But the NA version has its merits, including the acting skills of Jeremy Irons.


 
Enjoyed the Jeremy Irons one a lot, have got the european one on torrent now.


----------



## magneze (Dec 31, 2011)

Powder - based on the book by Kevin Sampson. I remember liking the book, it's about an indie band. The film is the worst thing I've seen for quite a long time. Most of the story is incomprehensible. You can't emphasize with any of the characters as they are so shallow and the moody shots of the lead singer just got really annoying.

It was a choice between this or a 2 hour propaganda film about the Chinese revolution. I think we chose wrong.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 31, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> Enjoyed the Jeremy Irons one a lot, have got the european one on torrent now.



In the European one, they don't speak as if Shakespeare did the dialogue.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 1, 2012)

Cool. My chief love of the US version was that snub nosed wiry little assasin with his garrotte and his complete lack of anything resembling a conscience. What I could do with a few men such as that...

Re: earthy, that would be my chief complaint about the US version. Medieval italy never looked that smooth!

Am going to watch ep 1 of the Canal+ one inna minute.

happy new year


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 1, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Cool. My chief love of the US version was that snub nosed wiry little assasin with his garrotte and his complete lack of anything resembling a conscience. What I could do with a few men such as that...
> 
> Re: earthy, that would be my chief complaint about the US version. Medieval italy never looked that smooth!
> 
> ...



It's actually 'the Canadian version'. It's a CTV production, and parts of it were filmed here in Vancouver.

And a Happy New Year to you as well.


----------



## Callie (Jan 1, 2012)

Kill list. Hmm. Left me feeling a bit 'oh.' And not in a good way.


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 1, 2012)

Kill List..... "Bollocks"


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 1, 2012)

I spent most of New Year's Eve watching _Goodbye Uncle Tom, _for the fourth time, with someone who'd never seen it before.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3766149445318503265

I'm now completely convinced that it is a politically subversive work of genius, rather than a horrorific exploitation movie.  My companion is convinced of the opposite, but then so was I the first time I saw it.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 1, 2012)

Alien 3 
The Matrix


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 1, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> I spent most of New Year's Eve watching _Goodbye Uncle Tom, _for the fourth time, with someone who'd never seen it before.
> 
> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3766149445318503265
> 
> I'm now completely convinced that it is a politically subversive work of genius, rather than a horrorific exploitation movie. My companion is convinced of the opposite, but then so was I the first time I saw it.



Hi there   I'm going to have to watch this again - I recall it being a horrifically racist piece of garbage (with some homophobia and anti-Semitism thrown in too, if memory serves), with almost zero redeeming features - that "modern day" ending was a joke....in his "Sleazoid Express" book, the late Bill Landis unearths some very unpleasant details on co-director Gualtiero Jacopetti, and in the Blue Underground "Mondo" DVD boxset, Franco Prosperi (the other co-director) reveals that they were givein a free reign to film in Haiti by the appalling Papa Doc Duvalier, and allowed to use whoever they wanted on the island as "extras"....

I agree with you that "Farewell Uncle Tom" was put forward by the directors as a hard-hitting expose/attack on the slavery trade, but having seen their "Africa Addio" (and been pissed off with how much of the "shock" footage was actually staged (and how they made out some very frightened looking Rwandan fighters to be "savages" too)), I remain so far very dubious on their sincerity in this matter.....but still, I will give it another shot and let you know what I think this time round.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 1, 2012)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Hi there  I'm going to have to watch this again - I recall it being a horrifically racist piece of garbage (with some homophobia and anti-Semitism thrown in too, if memory serves), with almost zero redeeming features - that "modern day" ending was a joke....in his "Sleazoid Express" book, the late Bill Landis unearths some very unpleasant details on co-director Gualtiero Jacopetti, and in the Blue Underground "Mondo" DVD boxset, Franco Prosperi (the other co-director) reveals that they were givein a free reign to film in Haiti by the appalling Papa Doc Duvalier, and allowed to use whoever they wanted on the island as "extras"....
> 
> I agree with you that "Farewell Uncle Tom" was put forward by the directors as a hard-hitting expose/attack on the slavery trade, but having seen their "Africa Addio" (and been pissed off with how much of the "shock" footage was actually staged (and how they made out some very frightened looking Rwandan fighters to be "savages" too)), I remain so far very dubious on their sincerity in this matter.....but still, I will give it another shot and let you know what I think this time round.



Please do, I'd love to hear your opinion.

_Addio Africa _is certainly racist.  But _Goodbye Uncle Tom _was intended as a kind of apology for that film.  I think it succeeds brilliantly--too well if anything.

Reactions to _Goodbye Uncle Tom _vary according to race ime: white people find it racist, black people don't.  Having thought about this quite a lot, I suspect that is because it tells the truth about slavery in a no-holds-barred fashion that makes white people uncomfortable (I should add that the people I've spoken to about it have all been American).

I think that it is precisely what it claims to be: a documentary.  I think it shows exactly what a European documentary film maker would have shown if such a person had existed in 1850.  I think it tells the truth.

The characters really are real--you can Google the crazy doctor for example, and he pretty much did write exactly what he says in the film, horrifying as it is.  He and people like him were considered perfectly respectable scientists in the C19th.

I also think the film explains a lot about present-day racism, and race relations, in America and the Caribbean.

Anyway, see what you reckon.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 1, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> I spent most of New Year's Eve watching _Goodbye Uncle Tom, _*for the fourth time*,



_Why?_


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 1, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> _Why?_



I'm writing an article about it.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 1, 2012)

Another documentary from the Italian director Prosperi:

'Behind the Fancy Clothes Into the Most Primitive, the Most Provocative Affairs of Women!'

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055923/


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 1, 2012)

Yet another:

'The water supply for a large city zoo becomes contaminated with PCP, and the animals go crazy and get loose.'

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090322/


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 1, 2012)

Yes, they are the _Mondo _guys.  But it's their sensationalistic other work which has prevented _Goodbye Uncle Tom _from getting the serious critical attention it deserves.

That and the more obvious reasons.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Jan 1, 2012)

2012. I wanted to get my research in for the impending Mayan Apocalypse / Pole shift. What I have learned however, is that you can outrun a pyroclastic volcanic debris cloud in a camper van, then fly through it on a plane (Despite it being hundreds of degrees c)...and that Neutrinos can mutate...
Seemed somehow timely.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 1, 2012)

Source code. Not bad. The ending was crap though. Happily ever after


----------



## Reno (Jan 1, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> I spent most of New Year's Eve watching _Goodbye Uncle Tom, _for the fourth time, with someone who'd never seen it before.
> 
> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3766149445318503265
> 
> I'm now completely convinced that it is a politically subversive work of genius, rather than a horrorific exploitation movie. My companion is convinced of the opposite, but then so was I the first time I saw it.



I've never seen this, but I believe the song "Oh My Love" by Riz Ortolani comes from the film. It was used this year to rather excellent effect in Drive. It always amazes me how many first rate cinematographers, composers and art directors worked in Italian exploitation. Just watched Lucio Fulci's Zombie on Blu-ray a couple of weeks ago and it's a stunning looking film.


----------



## Reno (Jan 1, 2012)

We watched A Lonely Place to Die (watchable, but not as good as I was led to believe) Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (strange and at times quite wonderful, with a slightly disappointing ending) and Final Destination 5 (better than 3 & 4 with an excellent ending if you've been following the series, but FD2 is still the best)


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 1, 2012)

*Tamara Drewe*: Decent bit of British comedy whimsy with Tamsin Greig, Roger Allam and Gemma Arterton's arse.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 1, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> In the European one, they don't speak as if Shakespeare did the dialogue.



Still pretty archaic stylie imho

I swear the actor playing cheserey is the one who plays chesereys younger brother in the other version...

ooo, also: sam tarly from Game of Thrones in there as the younger Medici cardinal!


----------



## abstract1 (Jan 1, 2012)

La Haine - fantastic.

Ma vie en rose - a very touching and evocative reminder of the expectations and responsibilities adults place on children in a hetero/gender 'normative' world, and the prejudices faced by people who identify themselves as LGTBQ.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jan 1, 2012)

*Horrible Bosses* - Funny in places, it's just I have difficulties in laughing at unlikeable characters.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 1, 2012)

Moneyball... Not a great film, probably works better if you know about baseball or have some interest. The idea that the sport was changed by a number cruncher is quite funny I suppose.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Yes, they are the _Mondo _guys. But it's their sensationalistic other work which has prevented _Goodbye Uncle Tom _from getting the serious critical attention it deserves.
> 
> That and the more obvious reasons.



As they say, if walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. The body of work from these two guys falls into the 'schlockmeister' category. G.U.T. looks like exploitive sensationalistic crap, because that's what it is.

If you want a serious examination of US slavery, I'd suggest that there are better places to find it than in an Italian exploitation film. Looking for exposition of slavery in G.U.T is like looking for truth about the Old West in Jodorowsky's El Topo.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Still pretty archaic stylie imho
> 
> I swear the actor playing cheserey is the one who plays chesereys younger brother in the other version...
> 
> ooo, also: sam tarly from Game of Thrones in there as the younger Medici cardinal!


..except that as Cesare, he has facial hair....


----------



## Belushi (Jan 2, 2012)

*Sixshooter* - Irish short, not bad.

*Broken Flowers* - Bill Murray does his thing in an enjoyable enough Jim Jarmusch comedy.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jan 2, 2012)

*Contagion* - It's better than that monkey one from 10 plus years back.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Yes, they are the _Mondo _guys. But it's their sensationalistic other work which has prevented _Goodbye Uncle Tom _from getting the serious critical attention it deserves.
> 
> That and the more obvious reasons.



Hi phil - just remembered this:  In the US, when "Farewell Uncle Tom" was released (mainly to grindhouses, though it did get some "arthouse" screenings too), it was marketed specifically as a blaxploitation movie...I've got an issue of "Shock Xpress" mag which has a repro of the US release poster, which screams "300 years of hate explode tonight!".

Also - and unbelievably enough - "Farewell Uncle Tom" was submitted to the BBFC in the early 70's for certification (for those who aren't aware, the BBFC then would immediately reject many films seen as exploitaiton out of hand, on the grounds of "disgust").  The then head censor (Stephen Murphy) drew up a list of extensive cuts, which included the removal of the entire last 20 minutes of the film (Murphy saw this as incitement to racist violence...) ...having checked the BBFC site, the final running time lost an almost-incredible 40 minutes to 94m 28s (it was distributed in the UK as simply "Uncle Tom")...


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 2, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> As they say, if walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. The body of work from these two guys falls into the 'schlockmeister' category. G.U.T. looks like exploitive sensationalistic crap, because that's what it is.



If you want to convince anyone, you'll have to discuss the film itself, not the director's other work.

GUT doesn't look exploitative to me at all, and most certainly not sensationalistic.  What do you think real slavery looked like?


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 2, 2012)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Hi phil - just remembered this: In the US, when "Farewell Uncle Tom" was released (mainly to grindhouses, though it did get some "arthouse" screenings too), it was marketed specifically as a blaxploitation movie...I've got an issue of "Shock Xpress" mag which has a repro of the US release poster, which screams "300 years of hate explode tonight!".



Like I said to JC3, you'll need to discuss the film itself if you want to be convincing, not the marketing.

I can imagine it was a bit of a marketer's nightmare actually.



MellySingsDoom said:


> Also - and unbelievably enough - "Farewell Uncle Tom" was submitted to the BBFC in the early 70's for certification (for those who aren't aware, the BBFC then would immediately reject many films seen as exploitaiton out of hand, on the grounds of "disgust"). The then head censor (Stephen Murphy) drew up a list of extensive cuts, which included the removal of the entire last 20 minutes of the film (Murphy saw this as incitement to racist violence...) ...having checked the BBFC site, the final running time lost an almost-incredible 40 minutes to 94m 28s (it was distributed in the UK as simply "Uncle Tom")...



Yep. White people are understandably squeamish about having the truth about slavery thrust in their face.

I find _Roots, _which sanitized and sentimentalized slavery in order to please middle-American TV audiences, about a million times more offensive than GUT.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Like I said to JC3, you'll need to discuss the film itself if you want to be convincing, not the marketing.
> 
> I can imagine it was a bit of a marketer's nightmare actually.



Nah, I wasn't try to make an argument - I thought it was just interesting to remember how it was marketed at the time - and yeah, marketing that would have been a "oh god, do I have to?" job, in a way



phildwyer said:


> Yep. White people are understandably squeamish about having the truth about slavery thrust in their face.
> 
> I find _Roots, _which sanitized and sentimentalized slavery in order to please middle-American TV audiences, about a million times more offensive than GUT.



Your point on "Roots" I would tend to agree with - the idea of santising slavery to make it "acceptable" for TV is, well, sheesh....where do you start?

But yeah - as you say, I'll watch "Farewell Uncle Tom" again over the next couple of days, and get back to you on here


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> If you want to convince anyone, you'll have to discuss the film itself, not the director's other work.
> 
> GUT doesn't look exploitative to me at all, and most certainly not sensationalistic. What do you think real slavery looked like?



I think it looked terrible and degrading. But if you do any reading about the South and slavery, one thing that stands out is the fact that a slave would cost about as much as a Mercedes would nowadays. A very small percentage of the population actually owned slaves, and their capital and their economic well-being was tied up [no pun intended] in their slaves.

That doesn't mean that atrocious abuses didn't occur; but I think there has been a lot of sensationalization as time has gone by. Going out and shooting or beating to death a number of your slaves would be like a car lot owner going and taking a sledgehammer to the cars sitting out in the lot. ie stupid in the extreme.

The true degradation of slavery was in the details: the destruction of the family unit; the denial of education; the systemic undercutting of self-worth; the denial of basic rights.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> If you want to convince anyone, you'll have to discuss the film itself, not the director's other work.



The point on this is that if every other film done by the director is sensationalistic crap, and on watching this, it seems like sensationalistic crap [which is the feeling I got while watching it], then it's a safe bet that it's crap.

One might as well search the body of Russ Meyer's work looking for a Battleship Potemkin amongst the sea of breasts.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Yep. White people are understandably squeamish about having the truth about slavery thrust in their face..



I'm not white: I still think the movie is sensationalistic crap.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Nah, I wasn't try to make an argument - I thought it was just interesting to remember how it was marketed at the time - and yeah, marketing that would have been a "oh god, do I have to?" job, in a way



Not really. Movies like this and Mondo Cane et al did very well at the box office back then. There was no internet - it wasn't easy to come across tits, ass and graphic violence then like it is now. But people were tittilated by it then just like now.

So these 'documentaries' got made. Apparent examinations of life in other cultures etc, what they really were were exploitation films designed to give the audience a good dose of naked  savages, mostly,  doing savage things, sex and violence-wise. The Sixties audiences ate it up.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 2, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I think it looked terrible and degrading. But if you do any reading about the South and slavery, one thing that stands out is the fact that a slave would cost about as much as a Mercedes would nowadays. A very small percentage of the population actually owned slaves, and their capital and their economic well-being was tied up [no pun intended] in their slaves.
> 
> That doesn't mean that atrocious abuses didn't occur; but I think there has been a lot of sensationalization as time has gone by. Going out and shooting or beating to death a number of your slaves would be like a car lot owner going and taking a sledgehammer to the cars sitting out in the lot. ie stupid in the extreme.
> 
> The true degradation of slavery was in the details: the destruction of the family unit; the denial of education; the systemic undercutting of self-worth; the denial of basic rights.



And that's precisely what the movie shows.

Yes, killing a slave would have been stupid.  Systematically raping them, on the other hand, made good business sense--as long as you have no qualms about treating your own offspring as slaves, which antebellum southerners evidently didn't.  Savagely beating them for the slightest infractions made sense too, since it was (reasonably enough) deemed necessary to constantly terrorize them in order to keep them subjugated.

And the entire system was predicated on the assumption that slaves were not fully human--were in fact animals, and to be treated as such--and that's the major point the movie is making.

I've heard many people minimize the evils of slavery: "oh, they'd have been slaves in Africa anyway, oh their descendendents are better off than modern-day Africans, oh they really weren't whipped all that much..." I'm sure you've heard similar.  Well no-one will say such things after watching GUT.  I reall think it's a work of genius.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 2, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I'm not white: I still think the movie is sensationalistic crap.



You keep saying this but you don't explain why.

How is it "sensationalistic?"  Do you think it somehow exaggerates the evils of slavery?

I don't, I think it is pretty much impossible to exaggerate them.  I think the Atlantic slave trade was, by far, the greatest crime against humanity in all history.  I thought that before watching GUT, but it really makes the point sink in, as it should.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 2, 2012)

Finally got round to Nokas - excellent narrow focus on Norway's biggest ever robbery, felt they could have given us a bit about the planning before the job but they may have been a very different film from what they wanted to make (Greengrass manages to do this style with a wider focus though). If the actual robbery looked anything like the film then there's some very lucky people around.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> And that's precisely what the movie shows.
> 
> Yes, killing a slave would have been stupid. Systematically raping them, on the other hand, made good business sense--as long as you have no qualms about treating your own offspring as slaves, which antebellum southerners evidently didn't. Savagely beating them for the slightest infractions made sense too, since it was (reasonably enough) deemed necessary to constantly terrorize them in order to keep them subjugated.
> 
> ...


 
No phil; no one has ever voiced the idea bolded above to my face.

I agree that slaveholders mostly viewed their slaves as animals.

Have you visited a dairy farm? The farmer's livelihood depends on those Holsteins. They are treated like animals, but abusing them a lot is counterproductive to good output. Of course there'd be exceptions.

G.U.T. is an exploitation film, made to give a Sixties audience a nice dose of pornography: slavemasters raping black women. Lots of black tit showing. Lots of violence.

I suspect that the makers were at least as racist as many whites in their day. You've said that GUT is some sort of amends-making for Mondo Cane. If so, why did they later make 'Africa Blood and Guts'?


----------



## rekil (Jan 2, 2012)

Lost Battalion. Based on the WW1 story of a unit sent on a suicide mission near the end of the war by a lying wanker general. Much carnage and loads of cliches, sassy italian, sharphootin' countryboy, rockhard paddy etc. The main protaganist, apparently a socialist party member, killed himself in 1921.

Inception. Someone told me this was good. It looked like a car advert with some shooting. Dullest villains ever as well.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> You keep saying this but you don't explain why.



Here's a clue: on your fifth or umpteenth watching of this film, pay attention to the number of close-up shots of jiggling black tits, or heaving loins. How much time is spent focused on long rape scenes.

The fact that you've been able to sit through this piece of trash four times makes me shake my head.

There is lots of pornography out there involving blacks; or people of any race, for that matter. I suppose what's missing from the modern porn, is the derisive, mocking voiceovers from the narrators and Italian cast, playing the whites.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> No phil; no one has ever voiced the idea bolded above to my face.



Actually that doesn't surprise me.  But I'd bet that most white people have heard such ideas expressed, I certainly have.



Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Have you visited a dairy farm? The farmer's livelihood depends on those Holsteins. They are treated like animals, but abusing them a lot is counterproductive to good output.



One difference is that slaves have to work--as much as possible, often beyond endurance, and that necesarily involves physical abuse.

Are you aware that the life expectancy of an African imported as a slave to Jamaica was three years?



Johnny Canuck3 said:


> G.U.T. is an exploitation film, made to give a Sixties audience a nice dose of pornography: slavemasters raping black women. Lots of black tit showing. Lots of violence.



It's not erotic though is it?  Quite the reverse--it's disgusting.



Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I suspect that the makers were at least as racist as many whites in their day. You've said that GUT is some sort of amends-making for Mondo Cane. If so, why did they later make 'Africa Blood and Guts'?



No, ABG came first.  I said that GUT was an apology for ABG (aka Addio Africa).


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Here's a clue: on your fifth or umpteenth watching of this film, pay attention to the number of close-up shots of jiggling black tits, or heaving loins. How much time is spent focused on long rape scenes.



Very little--there's only one rape scene I remember: the very last one before it shifts into modern time.



Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The fact that you've been able to sit through this piece of trash four times makes me shake my head.



It's one of the best films I've ever seen. Truly a work of genius.



Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I suppose what's missing from the modern porn, is the derisive, mocking voiceovers from the narrators and Italian cast, playing the whites.



There are no "derisive, mocking" voiceovers from the narrators. There are plenty from the actors--because they're _actors, _playing racists.

You are simply mis-remembering this film, perhaps making it fit your preconceptions about what you expected it to be based on its critical reception.


----------



## Kidda (Jan 3, 2012)

Shirley Valentine.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 3, 2012)

Bullhead - really strong debut film from Belgium with an outstanding performance from Matthias Schoenaerts. Crime/thriller/psychological investigation/hormone mafia type thing. Few missteps with a couple of pointless comic characters but not enough to have a really damaging impact. Recommended.


----------



## colbhoy (Jan 3, 2012)

I had great intentions this holiday period of watching some of the various DVD's that I have still to watch but that hasn't happened.

Finally managed to watch Das Boot - The Director's Cut which I got for Christmas. Absolutely superb, there were moments in the film where I was almost holding my breath along with the U-Boat crew as they waited for the inevitable depth charges to drop.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 3, 2012)

Up to episode 5 of The Killing. Loving it so far but bemused how they'll stretch it out for another 15 episodes.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Very little--there's only one rape scene I remember: the very last one before it shifts into modern time..



I didn't watch the whole thing again, but I recall one rape scene involving whites in a slave shack, in front of children; a black slave about to be 'used' by a white, offering him a whip to whip her first; naked black women on a ship being doused with water; a man, naked having something shoved up his ass, etc etc etc.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Are you aware that the life expectancy of an African imported as a slave to Jamaica was three years?).



At what point in history?

Those slaves had British masters: what was the life expectancy of a slave in the US South, which is what your film is about?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> It's not erotic though is it? Quite the reverse--it's disgusting.



It's not erotic. I would have been tittilating to a Sixties or Seventies audience, though.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> There are no "derisive, mocking" voiceovers from the narrators. There are plenty from the actors--because they're _actors, _playing racists.
> 
> You are simply mis-remembering this film, perhaps making it fit your preconceptions about what you expected it to be based on its critical reception.



I scanned though it again, watching maybe an hour in total out of two, a couple of days ago, in order to reply to your comments.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I scanned though it again, watching maybe an hour in total out of two, a couple of days ago, in order to reply to your comments.



Quite frankly, I'm sorry that I gave this piece of trash even that much of my time, again.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 3, 2012)

Cedar Rapids- better than the Hangover films ( with the exception of Tyson punching that bloke) but not up there with 40 year old virgin.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I didn't watch the whole thing again, but I recall one rape scene involving whites in a slave shack, in front of children; a black slave about to be 'used' by a white, offering him a whip to whip her first; naked black women on a ship being doused with water; a man, naked having something shoved up his ass, etc etc etc.



Which brings home the reality of slavery in an extremely powerful manner.  Sexual abuse was inherent in the system: slaves were very frequently bought and sold for specifically sexual purposes.

Do you want those uncomfortable truths to be forgotten, or erased from history?  Then you're better off watching _Roots._


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> At what point in history?
> 
> Those slaves had British masters: what was the life expectancy of a slave in the US South, which is what your film is about?



Throughout history it was cheaper to import healthy slaves than to maintain slaves whose health has been broken by slavery. Conditions were worse in the Caribbean than in mainland America, but not by all that much.

It truly was a hideous system, and it is impossible to exagerrate how hideous it was.

If anything, _GUT _underestimates the horror of slavery by portraying the slaves as fit and healthy.  That's not what they really looked like.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> It's not erotic. I would have been tittilating to a Sixties or Seventies audience, though.



I very much doubt that.  I think it would be horrifying in any decade.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Quite frankly, I'm sorry that I gave this piece of trash even that much of my time, again.



What is really causing your repulsion is slavery itself, not the cinematic representation thereof.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Which brings home the reality of slavery in an extremely powerful manner. Sexual abuse was inherent in the system: slaves were very frequently bought and sold for specifically sexual purposes.
> 
> Do you want those uncomfortable truths to be forgotten, or erased from history? Then you're better off watching _Roots._



The truth and history of slavery is well-told in many better places and forms, that aren't so exploitive, that aren't designed by Italian schlock producers to tittilate a white racist audience.

A good place to start is here:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html

A book that I own and would recommend is this:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/369801.The_Slave_s_Narrative

I prefer to gain an education about slavery from the mouths of those who lived under it; better even learning it from those who heard the stories sitting at their grandparents' knee, than relying on a couple of Italians looking to score some fast dollars.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> What is really causing your repulsion is slavery itself, not the cinematic representation thereof.



No you're wrong. I've spent many many hours reading about slavery and the South. I'm very interested in the topic.

Your movie? I find it repulsive.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> A book that I own and would recommend is this:
> 
> http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/369801.The_Slave_s_Narrative
> 
> I prefer to gain an education about slavery from the mouths of those who lived under it; better even learning it from those who heard the stories sitting at their grandparents' knee, than relying on a couple of Italians looking to score some fast dollars.


Just out of passing interest, the blurb on that link says "These autobiographies of Afro-American ex-slaves comprise the largest body of literature produced by slaves in human history" - George Rawick produced a 40+ volume series of slave writings, histories etc that's rather larger.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Throughout history it was cheaper to import healthy slaves than to maintain slaves whose health has been broken by slavery. Conditions were worse in the Caribbean than in mainland America, but not by all that much.



You didn't answer the question: did american slaves have a life expectancy of three years?

It's estimated that of the12 million slaves transported across the Atlantic during the centuries of the slave trade, about 700,000 ended up in the US. Yet in 1860, the slave population in the US was 4 million. That would indicate that a fair number of that 700,000 didn't die after three years.

Phil, if you are truly interested in learning about slavery, leave trash like 'Goodbye Uncle Tom' for the racists and masturbators. Pick up a good book instead.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 3, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> I very much doubt that. I think it would be horrifying in any decade.



The values of other decades aren't the same as our own. I was fairly young when Mondo Cane came out: but I can remember that it caused quite a sensation, and it was one of those movies that we kids couldn't watch, but wanted to, based on the reactions of adults.


----------



## radgiesteve (Jan 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The values of other decades aren't the same as our own. I was fairly young when Mondo Cane came out: but I can remember that it caused quite a sensation, and it was one of those movies that we kids couldn't watch, but wanted to, based on the reactions of adults.



its hardly '_Faces of Death_' but you're right, this was early shockumentary cinema and was received as such.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 3, 2012)

*Sarah Palin: You Betcha!*: Thought it was a bit weak compared to other Nick Broomfield documentaries I've seen. Didn't really tell me anything I didn't know already.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 3, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *Sarah Palin: You Betcha!*: Thought it was a bit weak compared to other Nick Broomfield documentaries I've seen. Didn't really tell me anything I didn't know already.



Doesn't hold a candle to Nailin' Palin.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 3, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Finally got round to Nokas - excellent narrow focus on Norway's biggest ever robbery, felt they could have given us a bit about the planning before the job but they may have been a very different film from what they wanted to make (Greengrass manages to do this style with a wider focus though). If the actual robbery looked anything like the film then there's some very lucky people around.



Right, I need to watch this then. AFAIK the robbery depiction is very true to life.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 3, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Doesn't hold a candle to Nailin' Palin.



Oh, the humanity!


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 4, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The truth and history of slavery is well-told in many better places and forms, that aren't so exploitive, that aren't designed by Italian schlock producers to tittilate a white racist audience.
> 
> A good place to start is here:
> 
> ...


 
With respect, there's no need to recommend any reading about slavery to me.  It's a topic in which I've been interested for a long time.  One of my closest friends is a world-renowned expert who has been publishing on the subject for 20 years, and I'm currently researching a piece on American representations of slavery myself.

Why do you assume the audience for GUT would have been either racist or white?  I'd have thought it was pretty clearly aimed at a militant black audience.



Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I prefer to gain an education about slavery from the mouths of those who lived under it; better even learning it from those who heard the stories sitting at their grandparents' knee, than relying on a couple of Italians looking to score some fast dollars.



You're learning about it from people who lived it by watching GUT.  All the characters are real, and the directors claim that all the speeches are taken _verbatim _from their writings.  I can't vouch for that in every case, but I have looked into the racist doctor who appears near the end, and it is absolutely true (although I've found no evidence that he was Jewish).

Also, you must agree that GUT accords with the accounts given in (many of) the slave narratives you've read, right?  In which case, I assume that your objection is to _seeing _such events, as opposed to reading about them?


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 4, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Your movie? I find it repulsive.



As you've said.  But you really, truly haven't said why.  Or rather, you haven't given any reason that accords with your learning and intelligence.

You've suggested that it's exaggerated.  I know for a fact that it isn't--and so do you, since you've read widely on the subject yourself.

You've objected to the number of rape scenes.  Rape was a central component of slavery--a fact of which most white Americans are ignorant, and of which they would be fully appraised having watched GUT.

You mention the sadistic element.  The whole system was predicated on sadism.  You mentioned the girl offering the whip.  What kind of sex do you think would have taken place between slaves and their owners?

Do you think such questions shouldn't be raised?  I think they should.  They explain a great deal about present-day America--the prison system for one thing, and public attitudes towards it.  And basically the entire edifice of racism.  I've _never _seen a film that explains it as successfully as GUT.

Now, as I mentioned before, the first time I watched the movie I reacted as you did.  I suspect that most people will, simply out of visceral shock.  But if you think it through a bit, and think about the reasons behind your reactions, I think you'll change your mind.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 4, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> You didn't answer the question: did american slaves have a life expectancy of three years?
> 
> It's estimated that of the12 million slaves transported across the Atlantic during the centuries of the slave trade, about 700,000 ended up in the US. Yet in 1860, the slave population in the US was 4 million. That would indicate that a fair number of that 700,000 didn't die after three years.



Nobody knows the true figures.  Millions of Africans were imported illegally after the trade became illegal (one of the instructive points made by GUT concerns the highly negative impact that the ban had on the lives of slaves).

It's true that slaves in the USA lived longer than those in the Caribbean.  But you would be very naive to think that their lives were in any way pleasant.  Slave plantations would have resembled Nazi concentration camps, not the fields tilled by well-fed, muscular hands that you'll see in _Roots _or _Gone With the Wind.  _

The directors of GUT claim that the details they give of the slaves' diet are historically accurate.  I haven't read up on that yet, but I see no reason to disbelieve them.  If they're right, then its hard to imagine how a sedentary life could have been sustained, let alone a life of back-breaking toil for sixteen hours a day.

And by the way, the phenomenal amount of labor that the field hands were forced to perform pretty much puts paid to you "dairy farm" analogy.  Cows don't have to pick cotton from dawn to dusk.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 4, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The values of other decades aren't the same as our own. I was fairly young when Mondo Cane came out: but I can remember that it caused quite a sensation, and it was one of those movies that we kids couldn't watch, but wanted to, based on the reactions of adults.



Fair enough, I suppose. But I think that, apart from a few weirdos, any white American would come away from GUT feeling (a) ashamed, and (b) disgusted.

Not least important, they would come away from it doubting their own whiteness. GUT forces the audience to understand just how artificial the concept of "race" truly is: and how its purpose is blatantly ideological.

As I'm sure you know, just about any "white" person whose family were in the south before 1860 has some "black" blood. There's a well-known phrase about woodpiles that expresses the anxieties caused by that fact. GUT will have reminded anyone who watches it of the reasons for that, and of the consequent absurdity of "race," racism and all the insanity that such concepts continue to cause.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 4, 2012)

radgiesteve said:


> its hardly '_Faces of Death_' but you're right, this was early shockumentary cinema and was received as such.



It was received as such, but that's not what it is. Americans weren't ready for such a film at the time it was made, nor were they equipped to understand it. So it was dismissed as pornography, when it so clearly is not. There was no other category in which to place it.

Perhaps there still isn't. But GUT is one of the very rare texts whose meaning actually changes with time. It carries very different connotations in 2012 than it did in 1972.

JC3 keeps harping on the fact that it was made by Italians, and on reflection I think he's right to do so. Certainly no white American could or would have made such a movie. But he might like to think how his reaction would have been different if it had been made by African-Americans.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 4, 2012)

The Man Who Will Come - i'm on a good run right now. Another good  film last night, re-telling of the Marzabotto massacre. (SS kill 700 children/women/elderly in revenge for partisan attacks). Could have been done really badly - heroic partisans, stoic peasants etc but avoided this by just concentrating on 9 months in the life of the village.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 4, 2012)

Episode 8 of Hell on Wheels, the post civil war american story of a railroad being built, transcontinental. Getting a bit ridiculous now, as freed slave is best friends with former slave owner and confederate soldier, while an indian who has converted to christianity leads the three plus a contingent of union soldiers to wreak vengeance on the shian indians who keep fucking with the train.

Good fun though.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Why do you assume the audience for GUT would have been either racist or white? I'd have thought* it was pretty clearly aimed at a militant black audience*.



Phil, it's long been my suspicion that you are taking the piss when it comes to your argument that this is a serious documentary made with lofty ideals. I've thought that you intention was to get a bunch of people to watch a piece of trash, then to discuss it as if it were something other than trash. The classic definition of trolling.

Now, based on the bolded statement above, I'm sure of it.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Why do you assume the audience for GUT would have been either racist or white?



It was first released in Italy. I shouldn't assume racism on the part of the white audiences there. And they would be white, given Italy's demographics.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> You're learning about it from people who lived it by watching GUT. All the characters are real, and the directors claim that all the speeches are taken _verbatim _from their writings.



But - that doesn't include the blacks. Pretty hard to get any verbatim speeches from the slaves.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Also, you must agree that GUT accords with the accounts given in (many of) the slave narratives you've read, right? In which case, I assume that your objection is to _seeing _such events, as opposed to reading about them?



The things depicted in the film, or something like them, occurred. The best way to describe my objection would be to say that GUT  was to slavery what a movie trailer is to the full length movie. In other words, it's comprised of all the 'juicy bits', in order to get the audience sitting on the edge of their seats, their hearts racing.

But while a movie trailer does in fact contain footage that can be found in the movie; and in fact, with the right editing, the trailer can present an incomplete, inaccurate or erroneous depiction of the film itself.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> . What kind of sex do you think would have taken place between slaves and their owners?



I suspect it ran the gamut, from sadistic rape, to love.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Nobody knows the true figures. Millions of Africans were imported illegally after the trade became illegal (*one of the instructive points made by GUT concerns the highly negative impact that the ban had on the lives of slaves).*.



Interesting perspective.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> It's true that slaves in the USA lived longer than those in the Caribbean. But you would be very naive to think that their lives were in any way pleasant. .



Nobody said that it was. But you came out with a bald statement: slaves in Jamaica lived three years, on average. You seem to be resiling from that, as you should. Also, the point is irrelevant in any event, since your film deals with American slavery.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> But you would be very naive to think that their lives were in any way pleasant. Slave plantations would have resembled Nazi concentration camps, not the fields tilled by well-fed, muscular hands that you'll see in _Roots _or _Gone With the Wind. _
> 
> .



I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Nazi concentration camps had as a goal, the elimination of the inmates or, at best, total unconcern with the survival of the inmates. To repeat, a slave cost as much as a Mercedes. A slave owner who ran his operation like a Nazi concentration camp, would have gone broke in no time.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 4, 2012)

So, anyone watched any DVDs recently?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> The directors of GUT claim that the details they give of the slaves' diet are historically accurate. I haven't read up on that yet, but I see no reason to disbelieve them. If they're right, then its hard to imagine how a sedentary life could have been sustained, let alone a life of back-breaking toil for sixteen hours a day..


 
...which would tend to indicate that their details vis a vis diet are incorrect.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> And by the way, the phenomenal amount of labor that the field hands were forced to perform pretty much puts paid to you "dairy farm" analogy. Cows don't have to pick cotton from dawn to dusk.



That's true: but if a dairy farmer's cows die due to neglect; or a Southern cotton plantation owner's slaves die due to neglect - the farming is over.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> As I'm sure you know, just about any "white" person whose family were in the south before 1860 has some "black" blood. .



You've got it turned around. Pretty much every black with ancestry in the South has some 'white' blood. That's a different kettle of fish from the converse.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> JC3 keeps harping on the fact that it was made by Italians, and on reflection I think he's right to do so. Certainly no white American could or would have made such a movie. But he might like to think how his reaction would have been different if it had been made by African-Americans.



Find me a film like GUT made by African Americans and we'll see. But I won't hold my breath.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 4, 2012)

You could have done all that in one or two sizable posts for fucks sake instead of drowning this thread. You don't need a whole post for each paragraph that you reply to.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 4, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> Perhaps there still isn't. But GUT is one of the very rare texts whose meaning actually changes with time. It carries very different connotations in 2012 than it did in 1972.s.



You're changing your tune. Just above, you said that the film was made for a radical black audience, who would have attitudes more like people from 2012.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 4, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> So, anyone watched any DVDs recently?



I watched Dead of Night, think you mentioned it a few pages back. Always enjoyed the 'gathering of tales' type horrors since seeing Tales from the Crypt when I was a kid. DoN is a good example of the genre, nice little twist at the end, one of those that makes me realise there's probably loads of good early films I've yet to see.

And this thread is getting fucked over by discussion about one film that already has it's own thread elsewhere. Why not take the bickering there?

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/goodbye-uncle-tom.280154/


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 4, 2012)

Cria Cuervos...Another Spanish film featuring the little girl from Spirit of the Beehive, Ana Torrent. Amazing performance playing a girl seemingly obsessed with death having seen the deaths of her parents. Highly recommended.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 4, 2012)

*Rise of the Planet of the Apes:* I'm a big admirer of the original film and this is a worthy prequel. It has its clunky moments but the good far outweighs the not-so good. The last 20 minutes are outstanding.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2012)

the last bit is the shit bit!


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> the last bit is the shit bit!



What's shit about it ? I thought the end was excellent.


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

I tried to watch Certified Copy and couldn't get on with it at all. Maybe i wasn't in the mood, but the characters just got on my nerves. When I gave up half way through I watched all of This is England 88, which was a bit disappointing too.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 5, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Phil, it's long been my suspicion that you are taking the piss when it comes to your argument that this is a serious documentary made with lofty ideals.



You're wrong.

I won't reply to each of your points for fear of incurring BA's wrath, but I don't know who else you think the final sequence could have appealed to.  Not whites, that's for sure.  In fact, if GUT is racist at all, it's racist against whites.

A film about slavery that didn't include rape scenes would be far more offensive than one that did.  Enough said I think.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 5, 2012)

phildwyer said:


> You're wrong.
> 
> I won't reply to each of your points for fear of incurring BA's wrath, .



I wouldn't worry about BA's wrath. If you think you have cogent answers to my points, make them.

Chip Barm makes an excellent point, though: there's a whole thread about this, started by you, where you could do your replying.


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 5, 2012)

Startin to trawl through Steven Kings output! First one i watched was *Maximum Overdrive*  Pretty average but not complete shite thanx to the Ac/Dc soundtrack.
Dark Half is next up!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> What's shit about it ? I thought the end was excellent.


the stupid CGI action on the bridge kind of spoiled it all for me. thought the middle section was the best - a decent prison movie.


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

The CGI wasn't always perfect, but that had more to do with the sheer ambition of the shots involved than for lack of trying. WETA is the best company in the business for effects now. Earlier on there is some weak CGI, so not sure why you draw the line there. I thought the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge was a great action sequence and that's what the film built towards all along: the start of a revolution. I also liked how savage and morally grey it was. The cops involved were only doing their job and hardly the bad guys.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2012)

I wasn't drawing the line re CGI, just pointing out the action sequences which I thought were risible, even for a film about talking, intelligent, mutinous apes


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

I thought they were unusually well directed and coherent for a modern action film. So there...


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2012)

I suppose it's a matter of taste. I would rather see a film with apes telling us why they hate us than a film with apes destroying helicopters.


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

It's cinema, not a stage play. Movies tell their stories via images, action, montage and movement and there was plenty of information about the characters in the action sequences. I suppose McLane and the 'terrorists' could have also talked it out in Die Hard. If you want people babbling on for an entire film, go watch some Rohmer


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2012)

I like action movies too but as I said, I was disappointed when they broke out cos to me, the 'prison' bit was the more interesting part of the film. Perhaps it was too much of a contrast from seriousness to silliness. Die Hard-type/Bond movies are silly all the way through and can be very entertaining


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

I just didn't find it that silly, I thougth it was genuinely dramatic the way it was done and it was the rare modern action sequence where I felt invested in the characters (go apes go!). You have to suspend you disbelief for a film like this from the start, so a full on battle at the end wasn't that much of a stretch for me from what had come before.

I was just genuinely surprised how much I liked the film. Not being much of a fan of the original Planet of the Apes films and with the trailer looking shit, I thought it would be rubbish.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2012)

I had trouble suspending my disbelief when the gorilla took out the helicopter. 
(I guess they threw in a Die Hard homage there with the death of a major character)


----------



## discokermit (Jan 5, 2012)

i thought freida pinto's acting was awful.


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

discokermit said:


> i thought freida pinto's acting was awful.



She did the best she could with an under-written role. Too often actors get blamed for poor writing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2012)

I felt sorry for her as she had nothing to do - typical useless female action role. Hardly any point to her being there.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 5, 2012)

I thought it was enjoyable enough, but the disinterested acting from fp as dk mentions above really stood out.


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

Whatever. Her character or acting didn't stop me from enjoying the film, in the end it was about the apes. The film wasn't perfect but for me it was the most purely enjoyable Hollywood blockbuster of the year, so I can't see the point in picking it apart bit by bit.


----------



## discokermit (Jan 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> in the end it was about the apes.


you don't even understand the "planet of the apes" films. none of the films are about the apes. it's about the _people._


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

discokermit said:


> you don't even understand the "planet of the apes" films. none of the films are about the apes. it's about the _people._



Fuck off and go play with your metaphors.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 5, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> Startin to trawl through Steven Kings output! First one i watched was *Maximum Overdrive* Pretty average but not complete shite thanx to the Ac/Dc soundtrack.
> Dark Half is next up!



The early ones tend to be the best, but there are some goodies in later years as well. I quite enjoyed Darabont's The Mist. And the Green Mile is a decent offering too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 5, 2012)

i like the poorer quality TV adapts like IT, Tommyknockers and (spot the child actress drew barrymore!) Firestarter- langoliers too.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 5, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> i like the poorer quality TV adapts like IT, Tommyknockers and (spot the child actress drew barrymore!) Firestarter- langoliers too.



IT is great. Wasn't Firestarter a regular cinema release tho?

Edit: Come to think of it I have fond memories of Arnold in Running Man


----------



## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

Firestarter was a film for the cinema, followed by a TV movie sequel.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2012)

The only thing I can remember about Firestarter is that it had a Tangerine Dream score, for which I have a weakness for. They've scored many week films, poorly.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 5, 2012)

Two-part finale of Battlestar S3.

Some excellent character stuff (although the Irish lawyer was a little 'cute' / clever-clever for my liking) and Lee Adama's speech was a humdinger.

The rest of it was just a series of WTF?! moments, once the 'music hearers' started moving around the ship I feared the revelation that shortly followed afterwards, still shocking though.

And as for -



Spoiler: S3 Finale



Starbuck's 'resurrection', I'm not sure I like the direction this is going in, all a bit 'Lost' religious for my liking

Would much prefer her to be the Final Cylon than be some mythical roadsign



Also - Roslin and Adama's flirting is a little disturbing


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 6, 2012)

The Four Days of Naples -  top notch recreation of the successful popular uprising against the Nazis in Naples, early 60s film so got a fair few of limitations of action type films of that time (including bad overacted deaths) but gets around these by telling a very multi-layered sort of story. It's a cliché but its the city fighting, there's no real lead characters and what ones there are just sort of get killed every few minutes with no fanfare or commentary.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 6, 2012)

*Kill List:* Extremely violent and unsettling British hitman film that gets madder and madder as it goes on. Would probably need to see it again to properly work out the last 15-20 minutes though. There's one fairly clunky plot hole early on that they should have worked harder to smooth over, and the ending owes a great deal to another very famous British film that I won't mention for fear of spoiling things.


----------



## 8115 (Jan 6, 2012)

Up, amazing.  I nearly did a cry at the end


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 7, 2012)

"A Serbian Film"

http://www.aserbianfilm.co.uk/trailer.html

Watched this on DVD as it had difficulty in being released here. Its in the "Torture porn" category like the "Saw" series. It is made by Serbians. It uses porn as a way to show what life is really like in post communist Serbia. The violence is that of the nationalistic corrupt state that is post communist Serbia. Does it work. Not quite. Its not for the faint hearted. In the context that it is a reflection of what those who grew up in the nightmare of the last 20 years of Serbia think about there country it is scary. Its also superior to the explotation genre it uses as it actually trying to say something. All credit for them to get it made. They faced obstacles at every turn.

A quote from the directors statement on website:

"The major metaphorical take concerning this film was to treat real life as pornography. In our region for the last few decades we have brought ourselves to the point where we experience our lives as pure exploitation through which we are emotionally, psychologically and creatively raped by the incomprehensible, chaotic, unbelievably stupid and brutal forces of corrupt authority. Through every kind of job you can get in order to feed your family, you end up being viciously exploited and humiliated in the worst and lowest fashion. In this country, beaten and battered beyond belief by both the forces inside and outside of it, spiritual prostitution became the only real currency. We make the allegory of it all come alive by treating pornography as something casual and perfectly normal-our everyday life. The virus of that special kind of pornography has spread to every pore of our existence – political, cultural and essential."


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 7, 2012)

Nokas...Good true story robbery film, usual farcical antics from dibble and robbers alike with a lot of lucky civilians wandering about as it happened. Coming in at 86 minutes which was about right to hold my attention and maintain the suspense. Made me think I should watch Dog Day Afternoon again.


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 7, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *Kill List:* Extremely violent and unsettling British hitman film that gets madder and madder as it goes on. Would probably need to see it again to properly work out the last 15-20 minutes though. There's one fairly clunky plot hole early on that they should have worked harder to smooth over, and the ending owes a great deal to another very famous British film that I won't mention for fear of spoiling things.



Saw this in cinema. It is well shot and effective on big screen. Its also totally bonkers- in a good way. Reminded me a bit of Shane Meadows "Dead Mans Shoes" in its level of the mad violence that simmers underneath the supposedly mild British society.

I particularly liked the way it starts in boring old suburbia. And the way that it ( like Dead Mans Shoes) had 2 characters who were ex soldiers.

I know what u mean. It does use that famous cult film. However that looks mild by comparison.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 7, 2012)

The end also bears resemblance to A Serbian Film


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2012)

I thought it was shit because but not only because if its resemblance to said earlier two films.


----------



## Reno (Jan 7, 2012)

The Secret in their Eyes. Good Argentinian thriller, beautifully shot but also quite sentimental and no masterpiece. Didn't deserve to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar over the also nominated The White Ribbon and A Prophet, masterpieces both, but then that's the Oscars for you.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2012)

I have both White Ribbon and Secret In Their Eyes in my queue. Cannot wait!


----------



## Reno (Jan 7, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *Kill List:* Extremely violent and unsettling British hitman film that gets madder and madder as it goes on. Would probably need to see it again to properly work out the last 15-20 minutes though. There's one fairly clunky plot hole early on that they should have worked harder to smooth over, and the ending owes a great deal to another very famous British film that I won't mention for fear of spoiling things.


 
I don't think there is much to work out, that's really one genre shoehorned into another without the two working together properly. That said, I really quite like the film. I like the Pinteresque feel of the main bulk of the film and it's very well acted. I think the writer/director has a great film in him, even if this isn't quite it yet.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 7, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I have both White Ribbon and Secret In Their Eyes in my queue. Cannot wait!



The White Ribbon is brilliant.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 7, 2012)

Reno said:


> I don't think there is much to work out, that's really one genre shoehorned into another without the two working together properly. That said, I really quite like the film. I like the Pinteresque feel of the main bulk of the film and it's very well acted. I think the writer/director has a great film in him, even if this isn't quite it yet.



It's a bit of a curate's egg really. I liked a lot of it but, like you say, the weirdness towards the end does feel clumsily shoehorned in. I think there is stuff to work out though...



Spoiler



Were the three of them on the Kill List all along then? What did Kiev have to do with it? What actually happened in Kiev? What was the significance of the sigil scratched onto the back of the mirror at their house? Was Jay killed himself after stabbing the Hunchback to death or crowned some kind of 'King of Killers' by the cult? Is that why the bloke he smashed to pieces with the hammer appeared to be in so in awe of him? I had loads of questions and would probably need to see the film again to see if any of them were actually answered.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 7, 2012)

that hammer scene was grim as. No the film made little actual sense to me but got increasingly creepy despite that


----------



## chazegee (Jan 7, 2012)

French connection 2
proper good.


----------



## silverfish (Jan 7, 2012)

TT closer to the edge. Documentary about the Isle of man TT.

Gripping stuff, proper spine tingler and I'm not a bike fanatic


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 7, 2012)

*Super 8:* Enjoyable enough but nothing special.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 8, 2012)

The Insider


----------



## N_igma (Jan 8, 2012)

I watched L.A. Confidential on Channel 4 last night. Man why did I always pass this on over? Absolutely amazing film automatically one of my favourites ever; the casting, the plot, the acting, the setting, all of it just works.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 8, 2012)

Part one of The Price of Coal - Ken Loach drama about miners - need i say anymore?


----------



## Reno (Jan 8, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Part one of The Price of Coal - Ken Loach drama about miners - need i say anymore?



No.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 8, 2012)

50 Dead Men Walking- v. good, IRA tout story. Ben Kingsley does a solid turn as the handler

Dead Man's Shoes- brilliant. Lead actor hardly gets any lines at all, but is brilliant regardless.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Jan 8, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> that hammer scene was grim as. No the film made little actual sense to me but got increasingly creepy despite that



Watched it last night, enjoyed it. Like you, it made little sense to me, but that's the complete madness of it all.


----------



## Zabo (Jan 8, 2012)

Kubrick's _Paths Of Glory_. Not bad as as an anti-war film but there are better. Very wooden acting.

**


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 8, 2012)

Couple of recent Brit films set in the countryside

The Holding - thriller set on a farm in the Peak District, a mysterious man turns up offering to help out the female farmer after her abusive husband disappears. Solid enough thriller but they could of done more with the ex-husband plot.

A Lonely Place To Die - set in the Scottish highlands, starts out well with the scenery & the climbing shots looking great but goes downhill a bit towards the end.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 8, 2012)

Hideous Kinky 
Is pretty good, not remarkable but some good scenery. 

Tombstone 
Not as good as I remembered it first time around. Pretty standard modern Western with fairly wooden acting. Good moustaches though. I think Deadwood has ruined every Western for me forever.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Jan 8, 2012)

Melancholia - a psychodrama from Lars von Trier, very well acted, it's a really good movie. Don't want to give too much away. Trier is great the way he develops characters and the relations between them.


----------



## Reno (Jan 8, 2012)

sleaterkinney said:


> Melancholia - a psychodrama from Lars von Trier, very well acted, it's a really good movie. Don't want to give too much away. Trier is great the way he develops characters and the relations between them.


 
I didn't see anything develop with the characters. I thought they were no better than two dimensional cartoons and once you get the premise, there are no real surprises of how anybody will act.


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 9, 2012)

DJ Squelch said:


> Couple of recent Brit films set in the countryside
> 
> The Holding - thriller set on a farm in the Peak District, a mysterious man turns up offering to help out the female farmer after her abusive husband disappears. Solid enough thriller but they could of done more with the ex-husband plot.
> 
> A Lonely Place To Die - set in the Scottish highlands, starts out well with the scenery & the climbing shots looking great but goes downhill a bit towards the end.



A Lonely Place to Die and The Holding both have got reasonable or good reviews. However they , like a lot of British film, hardly got a showing in cinemas.


----------



## Dr Jon (Jan 9, 2012)

_Earth Days (_2009)
Interesting to see how environmental initiatives started by Jimmy Carter were disregarded / sabotaged by Reagan and subsequent administrations.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 10, 2012)

In A Lonely Place - Excellent film from Nicholas Ray, Bogart in form as a unlikable scriptwriter drinking too much and both Gloria Grahame and the film as a whole look great. Slightly weirded out to find out that Ray divorced Grahame after finding her in bed with his underaged son.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 10, 2012)

I had the misfortune to see Captain America tonight.   It's as bad as I thought.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 10, 2012)

On series 4 of BSG

I'm interested to know what happens but tbh I cant wait for it to finish.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 11, 2012)

I also saw Kill List tonight, which was sadly shit imo because I wanted to like it.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 11, 2012)

Bottle Rocket...thought I'd check out Wes Anderson's first film. Some amusing moments, quite interesting to see the genesis of some of his trademarks, and Luke and Owen Wilson looked so young!


----------



## Badgers (Jan 11, 2012)

mwgdrwg said:
			
		

> Bottle Rocket...thought I'd check out Wes Anderson's first film. Some amusing moments, quite interesting to see the genesis of some of his trademarks, and Luke and Owen Wilson looked so young!



I liked Bottle Rocket. Bumbling sort of film but enjoyable.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 11, 2012)

Clash of the Titans - fucking total crock of shit. Starts off promising but totally fudges it from then on and is a right let down at the end.

The Other Guys - great fun, worthwhile comedy.

Gran Torino - excellent stuff. Proper story, no messing, Clint Eastwood is great in it, you can sort of see the plot forming early on but its executed very well.


----------



## Ranu (Jan 11, 2012)

Watched Kill List yesterday also, I loved it.  One of the darkest I've seen for some time but no less enjoyable for it.

Away We Go.  Lovely, quirky, funny, touching film with a great cast and some touching dialogue.  Highly recommended.


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 12, 2012)

*Party Girl*! (1995) jesus nooooo! not a chik flick eh! Another hour an a half wasted of me life i thought ta meself! feck me! it turned out ta be pretty darn good. One of those little gems from the 90s ya find ya self watchin that turn out ta be pretty good. librarians and the early (NY) rave scene about sums it up.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 12, 2012)

Trollhunter...I enjoyed it, it was daft. I've not done much of the 'found footage' genre but got the idea it wasn't taking itself as seriously as the stuff that's meant to be scary, Blair Witch/Paranormal Activity etc. The bits where the trollhunter was explaining how knocked down trees and power lines happened was like the kind of stories you'd tell kids to wind them up and there were bits with trolls farting.

Also if the idea was to get me to want to go to Norway it worked, some really beautiful locations.


----------



## belboid (Jan 13, 2012)

Recent viewings include:

The Greatest Story Ever Sold - perfectly decent and reasonably entertaining account of product placement.
The Guard - reasonably amusing lightweight bit of old guff.
Bridesmaids - better than expected fluff, despite the unworked out ending.
The Trotsky - a schoolboy believes himself to be the reincarnation of the great Russian revolutionary leader, with hilarious consequences. Pretty rubbish, you'll be shocked to learn.
Senna - absolutely magnificent, would move even someone who couldn't give a fuck about F1 to tears.  Superb.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2012)

Donnie Brasco. Depp is only shit under burtons direction it seems.

pacinos turn as the slightly pathetic old wiseguy= good stuff


----------



## Zabo (Jan 13, 2012)

Tony Gatlif's _Latcho Drom _

No need for subtitles. A musical journey of Romany music from its origins in ancient India to present day Spain.

Vibrant, colourful, energetic and a pleasure to behold.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 13, 2012)

A doc on Sigur Ross on Sky Arts last night, lovely Icelandic backdrops to the music


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 13, 2012)

Zabo said:


> Tony Gatlif's _Latcho Drom _
> 
> No need for subtitles. A musical journey of Romany music from its origins in ancient India to present day Spain.
> 
> Vibrant, colourful, energetic and a pleasure to behold.



There was an album released as well.


----------



## Zabo (Jan 13, 2012)

butchersapron Thank You. I wasn't aware.


----------



## Reno (Jan 13, 2012)

*Saint* (aka "*Sint*"): Dutch horror film about the murderous "real" Santa Claus of legend let loose in modern Amsterdam. Return to the horror genre by Dick Maas, director of cult horror films Amsterdamned and The Lift and this is similarly loopy fun, even if the budget isn't always up to the ambitious special effects requirements. A rotting monster Santa galloping across the roofs of Amsterdam on a zombie horse and killing children after snatching them through the chimney is pretty cool though.

I let myself be talked into upgrading to Sky the movies package for a reduced price by some call centre drone and have watched a lot of mainstream dross I've missed out on. Last night I got sucked into watching the Cher/Christine Aguilera vehicle *Burlesque* at 2am, a film aimed at the gay audience that gave Showgirls a second life as a camp cult hit (me!). I have a vague awareness of Aguilera, but couldn't tell you what any of her hits are and this apparently is her acting debut. She sure can belt out a song and the film is oddly entertaining in a bad movie way. It's somewhat let down by the star's lack of charm and acting ability and her character comes across as a strident bitch when she's supposed to be loveable in a "you go girl!" sort of way. Cher's now completely immobilised face looks like bad CGI and has moved into the uncanny valley. Educational.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 13, 2012)

*Gentlemen Broncos* - woeful.
*Kill the Irishman* - disappointing.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Jan 13, 2012)

*The Dogs Of War -* Christopher Walken. Pretty good but very 1979.
*Unknown -* Liam Neeson gets very angry and punches people. A lot. Plot stolen from Bourne Identity, action from Taken. Unoriginal, uninspired, but entertaining.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 13, 2012)

The King of Kong

A very well made and entertaining documentary about the rivalry for the Donkey Kong world record high score.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 14, 2012)

Horrible Bosses.   After watching Captain America, Kill List and The Guard then HB is the best of them...and I hate to say it.

Plenty of bad language, filth and nastiness with a goofy blanket and tongue in cheek performances from all involved (Spacey and Farrell particularly) delivers a much better film than The Guard, which is the best of the other lot.

Not knowing who was in it...I thought Jennifer Aniston was Demi Moore.   heh


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 14, 2012)

Melancholia...I found it very relaxing, but once I got the premise I kind of lost interest. Very surprised my Mrs sat through it as so little really happens.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 14, 2012)

Submarine - very good, very funny and very warm.I was thinking at one point how English it all was with the references to Open University but then thought it could easily be set in America.

Best bit was when his mother explained that she only gave her lover a handjob to relax him.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 14, 2012)

imposs1904 said:


> *Gentlemen Broncos* - woeful.
> *Kill the Irishman* - disappointing.



Kill the Irishman  actually exceeeded my expectations


----------



## Rainbow Socks (Jan 14, 2012)

Season five of 'Criminal Minds', I've managed to get my mum and best friend addicted.


----------



## magneze (Jan 14, 2012)

Project Nim - great documentary about a chimp who is taught to sign and all the different things that happen not only with the chimp but with the people who are raising him. The sheer richness of the backstory is what sustains the film. It's all true too.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2012)

magneze said:


> It's all true too.



That's why they call it a documentary.


----------



## magneze (Jan 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> That's why they call it a documentary.


Yes, but you have to keep reminding yourself of this. Arguably more incredible than Rise of the Planet of the Apes.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2012)

magneze said:


> Yes, but you have to keep reminding yourself of this. Arguably more incredible than Rise of the Planet of the Apes.



I actually prefer Rise of the Planet of the Apes as a piece of film-making but it's startling how similar the films are in many ways. I wasn't keen on Nim as a documentary. The way it blends archive footage with re-constructions, the way it has been edited and scored struck me as unnecessarily manipulative and even fraudulent. It's such a fascinating story, it didn't need the embellishments. I have no such problems with Rise, because never pretends to be anything else than a superior Hollywood blockbuster.


----------



## magneze (Jan 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> I actually prefer Rise of the Planet of the Apes as a piece of film-making but it's startling how similar the films are in many ways. I wasn't keen on Nim as a documentary. The way it blends archive footage with re-constructions, the way it has been edited and scored struck me as unnecessarily manipulative and even fraudulent. It's such a fascinating story, it didn't need the embellishments. I have no such problems with Rise, because never pretends to be anything else than a superior Hollywood blockbuster.


The parallels are quite striking - I imagine the scriptwriters for Rise must have known about Nim's story.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2012)

magneze said:


> The parallels are quite striking - I imagine the scriptwriters for Rise must have known about Nim's story.



I doubt that it was a major influence. Parallels like that happen in films all the time. Rise is really a loose remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and features a prison film scenario common to many films.


----------



## Greebo (Jan 15, 2012)

Monroe


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2012)

Greebo said:


> Monroe



Huh ?


----------



## Yetman (Jan 15, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> The end also bears resemblance to A Serbian Film



Nice one for the spolier dick I was gonna watch this today


----------



## Greebo (Jan 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> Huh ?


Monroe (the series) - sort of House but with a neurosurgeon and not American.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 15, 2012)

Yetman said:
			
		

> Nice one for the spolier dick I was gonna watch this today



Darth Vader is Luke's father


----------



## Yetman (Jan 15, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Darth Vader is Luke's father



Anything older than 10 years is pretty much fair game but a film made last year?


----------



## Belushi (Jan 15, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> Submarine - very good, very funny and very warm.I was thinking at one point how English it all was with the references to Open University but then thought it could easily be set in America.



And its Welsh


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> Submarine - very good, very funny and very warm.I was thinking at one point how English it all was with the references to Open University but then thought it could easily be set in America.
> 
> Best bit was when his mother explained that she only gave her lover a handjob to relax him.



I loved the bit with the Open University and how his dad hot fired because never knew what to do with his hands. 

Lovely film and it reminded me most of Truffaut and was clearly influenced by the early French New Wave. It made me go and watch "The 400 Blows" again.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 15, 2012)

Belushi said:


> And its Welsh



Fair play to them.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 15, 2012)

The Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.   Excellent, will watch the next two over today and tomorrow.


----------



## blairsh (Jan 15, 2012)

The Inbetweeners Movie - Meh
The Hangover 2 - As with the first one i fell asleep halfway through

Neither of these were my choices i might add, but those doing the selection had cooked me a rather excellent roast so i can't complain


----------



## 100% masahiko (Jan 15, 2012)

*Melancholia - *if it wasn't by Von Trier, I'd have liked it more.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2012)

100% masahiko said:


> *Melancholia - *if it wasn't by Von Trier, I'd have liked it more.



Two films with similarities to Melancholia, not directed by Von Trier:



or this:


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2012)

I watched Race wit the Devil, hokey, but enjoyable 70s mixture of road movie and devil worship thriller starring Peter Fonda. It bears some striking similarities to Kill List.


----------



## starfish (Jan 15, 2012)

Harry Potter & the blah blahs Part 1. Meh.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 15, 2012)

"Troll Hunter" - really enjoyed it.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 16, 2012)

Tron Legacy - really dull.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 16, 2012)

Earth. A 1930 Soviet Russian film. Some great images, but it takes a bit of readjustment to watch a silent film these days.


----------



## Gmart (Jan 16, 2012)

Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen's latest - a relief that he's stopped playing these parts himself, and generally a good film with a slight message about how harking back to a bygone 'golden' age is a fallacy and is indicative of trying to avoid living now.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 16, 2012)

American Horror Story



Really quite good, watched several episodes last night. I am not the biggest fan of horror but liked this. Not really gory but creepy and with plenty of suspense.


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2012)

I also watched the first episode of American Horror Story last night. It was quite entertaining and good to see Jessica Lange back. I wonder how a show where most of the cast appear to be ghosts can keep going without it getting silly.


----------



## ringo (Jan 16, 2012)

The remake of Brighton Rock. Not as good as the original and deviated from the book a bit much. Some of the resetting into the 60's went too far into the standard Brighton cliches and detracted from the story. 5/10.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 16, 2012)

Reno said:


> I also watched the first episode of American Horror Story last night. It was quite entertaining and good to see Jessica Lange back. I wonder how a show where most of the cast appear to be ghosts can keep going without it getting silly.



Was still going pretty strong 5 episodes in


----------



## Yetman (Jan 16, 2012)

Kill List - pretty good, got a bit disappointingly silly in the latter stages as previously mentioned, and yes, the ending was ruined by THE SPOILER (you know who you are ) as I totally guessed it. 6/10

Horrible Bosses - Aniston is hotter than ever and the films alright too. 7/10


----------



## starfish (Jan 17, 2012)

Watched She, A Chinese on saturday night. Interesting little film.


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 17, 2012)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy



thorughly enjoyed it, quality stuff.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Was still going pretty strong 5 episodes in


 
I watched episodes 2 & 3 of American Horror Story last night. This series is batshit crazy !  But good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 18, 2012)

Ironclad.   Pretty terrible but with good acting.   All the violence of Braveheart plus more.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 18, 2012)

Angels & Demons (not my choice!). As I suspected, probably one of the worst films I've ever seen.


----------



## belboid (Jan 18, 2012)

Went The Day Well.  Finally got this on DVD, and its still as great as ever, surprisingly brutal in places. Praise the lord n one ever remade it.

Europa.  aah, Lars you freak. Odd but fascinating movie.

Wings of Desire - I was surprised at how much of this I'd forgotten.  Superb.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 18, 2012)

Mondo Cane. 1st one. Interesting stuff, not really shocking as such, the 60's take on things is ace, as is the drunken section and the cavemen at the end (though that might be #2 which I've watched a bit of....)


----------



## Belushi (Jan 18, 2012)

*The French Connection *for the first time in 20 years. Still a great movie. Marseille, 1970's New York, Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider


----------



## TruXta (Jan 18, 2012)

Belushi said:


> *The French Connection *for the first time in 20 years. Still a great movie. Marseille, 1970's New York, Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider



Great film. Even the sequels a cracking thriller. Gene Crackman.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 18, 2012)

Yeah, I've got French Connection II and The Conversation lined up to watch soon.

Hackman is going to be my role model as I enter middle age


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 18, 2012)

Tinker. Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

As the cover says, acting master-class.   However..should have been two hours longer as the compression was a bit of a waste of a chance to really go for it.


----------



## Reno (Jan 19, 2012)

I watched *Polytechnique*. It's a French Canadian docu-drama based on the 1989 Montreal Massacre, when a former student who blamed feminism for all the failures of his life, returned to his University to shoot a large number of mostly female students. The film states that to protect the victims all the characters have been fictionalised, but having since read up on the massacre, the film follows the events very closely.

The film jumps back and forth in time and has been shot in B&W. The film doesn't linger on the victims getting hit and it never feels exploitative, but the part of the film that deals with the shooting, which takes up the midsection, is unbearably tense. 

The film concentrates almost exclusively on three characters, the shooter and a male and a female student who get caught up in the massacre. The last section is maybe the most moving half an hour of film I've seen in quite a while. It's ultimately a rather melancholy, even poetic film that concentrates more on the victims than on the perpetrator and that is what makes it so affecting. 

In any case, I can't believe this film has never been released in the UK. I read about it in a review for the directors most recent film Incendies which got released last year and which is up for several awards.


----------



## rekil (Jan 20, 2012)

Black Bread. Most recent spanish civil war film, set in 1944. The shit opus dei one doesn't count. Recommended. I'll give nothing away, linking to imdb and the like would spoil it.

Josie And The Pussycats. Overlooked and pretty funny pop industry satire.


----------



## Reno (Jan 21, 2012)

I watched Moonraker, the much reviled Bond film which is a bit of a favourite of mine and the CG animation Rango, which was very good, if maybe a little too long.


----------



## Gmart (Jan 21, 2012)

Watched 'The Help' - it was very good


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 21, 2012)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the most tedious film I've seen in a long while. Can't remember the last time I turned a film off but this did it for me. If it didn't look so stylish I probably would've switched off within half an hour.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 21, 2012)

I Saw The Devil.

Korean serial killer/revenge film, not as good as the OldBoy trilogy but still very good.  Lots of people get chopped up.   Seemed to have a biggish budget.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 21, 2012)

The Kid with a Bike...more brilliance from the Dardennes. I love their films, don't think this one's been mentioned here.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 21, 2012)

Got it lined up for tonight or tmw.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 22, 2012)

*Trollhunter:* Norwegian monster movie that has its tongue in its cheek but is still thoroughly enjoyable.


----------



## Reno (Jan 22, 2012)

_Somewhere_ by Sophia Coppola. A bit on the uneventful side.


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 22, 2012)

Watched Black Cat White Cat again . Never get tired of it .


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 22, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Bullhead - really strong debut film from Belgium with an outstanding performance from Matthias Schoenaerts. Crime/thriller/psychological investigation/hormone mafia type thing. Few missteps with a couple of pointless comic characters but not enough to have a really damaging impact. Recommended.



Just watched this. Lost the plot a bit at times but that may have been the quality of the subtitles on the copy I watched. Reminded me of the Pusher films and also NEDS (not sure why on that one though). I couldn't quite relate the child actors to their respective adult parts but the acting was very believable and as you say the lead gave a great performance.

You seen Matrioshki butchers? Belgian series, just been reading about it, sounds good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 22, 2012)

Casually Red said:


> Watched Black Cat White Cat again . Never get tired of it .


pikeys sure know how to have fun


----------



## blairsh (Jan 22, 2012)

Watched 44inch Chest. The word "cunt" is used a lot but i was a little worse for wear to gauge more than that.


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 23, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> pikeys sure know how to have fun



ha

call me an elitist but i reckon your average serbian gypsy clan are a cut above your usual pikey, musically speaking anyways  . Not often you see a pig eat a car in a film either .


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 23, 2012)

You sure like your Serbian shit.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 23, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Just watched this. Lost the plot a bit at times but that may have been the quality of the subtitles on the copy I watched. Reminded me of the Pusher films and also NEDS (not sure why on that one though). I couldn't quite relate the child actors to their respective adult parts but the acting was very believable and as you say the lead gave a great performance.
> 
> You seen Matrioshki butchers? Belgian series, just been reading about it, sounds good.


No - ta for the nod, will get back on this later.


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 23, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> You sure like your Serbian shit.



indeed i do . fell in love with the place years ago . Films are often quite good but suffer from the handicap of many of the same actors being in all of them .
Black Cat White Cat though was a bit different in that most of the characters were picked because of their striking facial characteristics.


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 23, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the most tedious film I've seen in a long while. Can't remember the last time I turned a film off but this did it for me. If it didn't look so stylish I probably would've switched off within half an hour.



pah..barbarian


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 23, 2012)

The remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123" - hmmm, alright I suppose but nowhere near as good as the original. It lacked the original's humour, style and suspense and any orginal touches i.e. the laptop feed, were just not very well handled.

Plus John Travolta was shit, both in acting and his character. Robert Shaw was so, so much better!


----------



## ringo (Jan 23, 2012)

Weekender. A bit disappointing.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 23, 2012)

ringo said:


> Weekender. A bit disappointing.



 Rubbish innit


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 23, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the most tedious film I've seen in a long while. Can't remember the last time I turned a film off but this did it for me. If it didn't look so stylish I probably would've switched off within half an hour.


You seen the TV series?

I found it very hard not to compare the film to the TV series, and because of that find it a bit lacking, partly because I watched the TV series not that long ago but also because it seemed to me that the film and a number of the actors seemed to be channeling the series. Despite that it was definitely worth going to see, with the cut down time there were always going to lose something but they manage to get a lot in in just two hours.

Also rewatched Casablanca, one of the few films that I don't see how anyone could dislike.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 24, 2012)

100% masahiko said:


> *I Saw The Devil * -
> 
> Not as good as The Chaser or Memories of Murder.



Just watched it

Agree entirely although I did enjoy it, but probably more for the gorefest that it was


----------



## Badgers (Jan 24, 2012)

Reno said:
			
		

> I watched episodes 2 & 3 of American Horror Story last night. This series is batshit crazy !  But good.



I think it is good horror 

If you are easily scared by this sort of thing (and enjoy it) then should watch this series. Ended well too.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 24, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> You seen the TV series?
> 
> I found it very hard not to compare the film to the TV series, and because of that find it a bit lacking, partly because I watched the TV series not that long ago but also because it seemed to me that the film and a number of the actors seemed to be channeling the series. Despite that it was definitely worth going to see, with the cut down time there were always going to lose something but they manage to get a lot in in just two hours.



No never. It was the sort of thing my dad would go on about so I've never bothered. Maybe I should try a few episodes. Would I need to start from the start or does each one stand alone?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 24, 2012)

you need to watch it in sequence starting with Tinker, Tailor.

If the film version was too slow for you though you really won't get on with the series. I'm hunting for subs atm as I couldn't get past ep 2. There is to much chat in russian to do without the subs.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 24, 2012)

theres a scene that must take literally five minutes before any man says a word where five bods all gather round a table one by one and arrange their cigs, pipes and files before beggining discussion. It's not a pacing my modern tastes is used to but I found it very enjoyable. Need them fucking subs though


----------



## Badgers (Jan 24, 2012)

I enjoyed the series. Struggled with the film but going to watch it again.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 24, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> No never. It was the sort of thing my dad would go on about so I've never bothered. Maybe I should try a few episodes. Would I need to start from the start or does each one stand alone?


 
It's not really episodic at all from what I know of it (read the book donkeys years ago and the series is seemingly very true to that). It's the painstaking search for a double in the pay of the ussr who has infiltrated british intelligences top circle. Kim Philby like.

No lazer watches or string of shags a la bond. just grimy dealings and mistrust


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 24, 2012)

The TV series is a genuine masterpiece, the fact that it's so slow is part of what makes it brilliant.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 24, 2012)

I watched Pink Floyd's The Wall, the other night, starring Bob Geldof as Adolf Hitler. The whole thing is on you tube, which is kind of a shame given that it's woefully bad stuff. Basically, it's Roger Waters saying "I am not David Bowie, but I wish I was".


----------



## TruXta (Jan 24, 2012)

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who hates The Wall.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 24, 2012)

Badgers said:


> I think it is good horror
> 
> If you are easily scared by this sort of thing (and enjoy it) then should watch this series. Ended well too.



Great wasnt it? Watched the lot over a few days last week and was captivated, which isnt often with me and US dramas.

I read the first quarter of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and fell asleep. So if the film is worse than the book, which it always is, then I'm definitely passing on this one.


----------



## marty21 (Jan 24, 2012)

watched The Iron Man the other night - Downey is excellent in it - really enjoyed it


----------



## Reno (Jan 24, 2012)

TruXta said:


> I'm so glad I'm not the only one who hates The Wall.



It's a steaming pile of pile of self-pitying crap.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 24, 2012)

My telly box has been upgraded by Virgin after the last one went pop, and now we have all kinds of telly goodness to watch!  Watched four episodes of Boys from the Blackstuff recently.  Me and the fella, sat snivelling, in between going 'ooo Crosville buses...oooolook at that wasteland, you just don't get wasteland like that anymore it's all built on nowadays' etc

Fucking brilliant telly - still just as relevant now   Cried like a motherfucker again over Chrissy's episode


----------



## Riklet (Jan 24, 2012)

Watched _Jamón Jamón_ t'other night, it was actually better than I was expecting, some really imaginative and hilarious scenes at points, done in quite a pisstaking way of all the stereotypes.  Like most 'upbeat' supposed Spanish comedies though, it had a fair bit of tragedy and sadness going on as well.

Yes i did phwoaaa at the young Penelope Cruz too, she's gorgeous in it!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 24, 2012)

Reno said:


> It's a steaming pile of pile of self-pitying crap.


i've never got round to watching it, even though it was on at the 11pm Friday late show of my local cinema all the time. everyone i hated at school liked pink floyd, so i figured it'd be shit.


----------



## Reno (Jan 24, 2012)

I watched Barney's Version, which was OK if nothing special. Obviously an adaptation of a long novel as it felt a bit unwieldy squashed two hours. Paul Giamatti was good in the lead role, but Dustin Hoffman steals the film from him in a supporting role as his dad and Rosamund Pike lights up every film she appears in. I'll happily watch anything she appears in.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2012)

Lucky Star, silent film by Frank Borzage. Probably quite an unusual film then as disability wasn't seriously addressed much in films in the 20s. It's about a romance between a young woman and a man paralysed from the waist down by a war injury. The farm set built in the studio is quite beautiful. Shame about the "love makes him walk again" ending, you wouldn't get away with that now.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 25, 2012)

Overlord - 70s B&W film about a young english man being enlisted and trained for the army during the months before the WWII D-Day landings. It's intercut with some great archive footage from the period (I think the film was made in conjunction with The Imperial War Museum). The best war film I've seen for a while.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 25, 2012)

Ip Man. Well although it may be a little casual with the facts, so was Braveheart wasn't it?

This was excellent for a kung fu movie. Ace.

(eta it's not like Braveheart)


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2012)

_The World's Greatest Dad_. The title and the fact that this stars Robin Williams probably put off a lot of people, but this is no Patch Addams. Middle aged teacher's obnoxious teenage son dies in a masturbation accident. His father frames it as a suicide and exploits the role of a grieving parent to boost his own popularity. Runs out of steam in the last third, but quite funny in places.


----------



## yardbird (Jan 26, 2012)

2081 based on "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut
Half an hour long  by Chandler Tuttle
Interesting take on disability.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 26, 2012)

Sherlock- Riechenback falls

V. Good. annoying cliffhanger again and of course no indication as to if/when we'll get moar sherlock


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Sherlock- Riechenback falls
> 
> V. Good. annoying cliffhanger again and of course no indication as to if/when we'll get moar sherlock



The "if" has been confirmed, but not the "when".


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 27, 2012)

Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard - Documentary on the guitarist made just before/after he died. I really liked it but then I'm a big fan, Teenage Snuff Film is just a great album. The film isn't anything spectacular but it's been put together well done and has some good interviews.


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 27, 2012)

Riklet said:


> Watched _Jamón Jamón_ t'other night, it was actually better than I was expecting, some really imaginative and hilarious scenes at points, done in quite a pisstaking way of all the stereotypes. Like most 'upbeat' supposed Spanish comedies though, it had a fair bit of tragedy and sadness going on as well.
> 
> Yes i did phwoaaa at the young Penelope Cruz too, she's gorgeous in it!



didnt she get her tits out in that one ?


----------



## TruXta (Jan 27, 2012)

To this day she's the only mega-star I've seen up close. Just as gorgeous in real life, only maybe a little shorter than I expected.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2012)

Casually Red said:


> didnt she get her tits out in that one ?


oh yes she does


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 27, 2012)

i watched The Ipcress file and the original Italian job back to back . Thorughly enjoyed both, really forgot how good they were  . Even watched the extra bits of interviews on the dvds which were allso very illuminating . Apparently Nichol Williamson was the original choice for the role of Bridger , but Noel Coward was the directors Godfather .






not a lot of people know that .


----------



## LiamO (Jan 27, 2012)

TruXta said:


> To this day she's the only mega-star I've seen up close. Just as gorgeous in real life,*only maybe a little shorter than I expected.*



really? She looks tiny on screen.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 27, 2012)

LiamO said:


> really? She looks tiny on screen.



You think? She's not tiny IRL. Horses for courses I reckon.


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 27, 2012)

shed look just dandy on the end of my knob


----------



## TruXta (Jan 27, 2012)

Put it away ffs.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 27, 2012)

Casually Red said:


> i watched The Ipcress file and the original Italian job back to back . Thorughly enjoyed both, really forgot how good they were . Even watched the extra bits of interviews on the dvds which were allso very illuminating . Apparently Nichol Williamson was the original choice for the role of Bridger , but Noel Coward was the directors Godfather .
> 
> not a lot of people know that .



Not really a fan of Italian Job, but I love the 60's Harry Palmer movies.


----------



## LiamO (Jan 27, 2012)

Casually Red said:


> shed look just dandy on the end of my knob



and if she was reeeeally tiny... she might make your nob look almost normal-sized.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 27, 2012)

All celebs are tiny in real life.

Except Jon Snow, he's like the Jolly Green Giant.


----------



## Riklet (Jan 27, 2012)

Casually Red said:


> didnt she get her tits out in that one ?



Yeah indeed, but the funnier scene is with Javier Bardem licking them...

"te gusta?"
"encanta su sabor!"
"y a que saben?"
"jamón... tortilla patatas.. mmm... cebolla... ajo!"

----

"like 'em?"
"I love your taste
"what do they taste like?
"ham... potato omlette... onion... garlic!"

Sadly it is not on youtube


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 27, 2012)

Im going to have to track down a cheap copy of funeral in berlin from somewhere now .

I really enjoyed the Italian job though this time round much more than when i watched it years ago , really well conceived and shot . Some great sarcastic character acting too . Especially with the likes of camp Freddie . All put together really tightly too .

I especiallly loved that opening scene with Matt Munro singing " Days like these"


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2012)

Belushi said:


> All celebs are tiny in real life.
> 
> Except Jon Snow, he's like the Jolly Green Giant.


michael caine is massive too!


----------



## Casually Red (Jan 27, 2012)

LiamO said:


> and if she was reeeeally tiny... she might make your nob look almost normal-sized.



a veritable bonus


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 27, 2012)

*Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos *

2006 documentary about the seventies phenomenon that was the New York Cosmos. I'd loved the fact that everyone else in the film hated on Giorgio Chinaglia.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 27, 2012)

*44 Inch Chest:* Rather odd British film that gives wounded male pride and a certain kind of masculinity a good kicking. Ray Winstone, Ian McShane and John Hurt are all great in it (Hurt especially, whose character is a mix of Old Man Steptoe and Don Logan from Sexy Beast).


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 27, 2012)

*Cockfighter* 1974 Not to everyones taste thats fer sure! (Real cock fighting scenes) but i thought it was brilliant an Warren oats gives a stand out performance even though he don't utter a word in it...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 27, 2012)

13th Warrior

Antonio Banderas does an unconvincing job of playing an exiled Arab caught up in a tale that is Beowulf. I disliked it for showing up Banderas as a limited actor when I wanted to like him. I liked it for the swordplay and viking lols.

The bit where Banderas goes and grinds a broadsword into a scimitar ranks as one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen in film. You can't make a scimitar out of a broadsword. Not without melting the fucker and re forging it. IT MADE NO SENSE AT ALL.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 27, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *44 Inch Chest:* Rather odd British film that gives wounded male pride and a certain kind of masculinity a good kicking. Ray Winstone, Ian McShane and John Hurt are all great in it (Hurt especially, whose character is a mix of Old Man Steptoe and Don Logan from Sexy Beast).


 
Jon Hurt gets fucking everywhere but I did enjoy him in this. His cocker knee accent slipped in places but otherwise a good performance. The film didn't feel right though, felt incomplete. Whatever they were trying to do they made a damn good fist of it but it wasn't tight like Sexy Beast.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 27, 2012)

Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Episodes 10 and 11.

Feel like I've been kicked in the nuts.



Spoiler: spoilers



The depression was unrelenting, watching the grown ups like Adama and Roslin fall apart was particularly unnerving.

But wait, Dee and Lee, aww, at least there's a cute ray of hope in thi.....oh.... Oh fuck you BSG 

Also, if Ellen's the final Cylon, what the hell is Kara?

Side note - How the fuck did Saul Tigh become my favourite character? 



Baffling as fuck, but brilliant.


----------



## Voley (Jan 27, 2012)

Troll Hunter. A good laugh.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 28, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Episodes 10 and 11.
> 
> Feel like I've been kicked in the nuts.
> 
> ...


 
all wise men come to love one eye tigh. He's the best character in BSG. An alcoholic hardass who is xo for a fucking starship. How can he fail to win your affection?


----------



## MBV (Jan 28, 2012)

The Big Picture (French Film). It was so so - had high expectations after enjoying the book.


----------



## Reno (Jan 28, 2012)

Marnie, my second favourite Hitchcock after Vertigo and a film that still gets better with every repeat viewing.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 28, 2012)

Matewan. Good stuff.

Spartacus: Vengeance

New boy looks like he will fill the sandals ably. A good bodycount on this episode.


----------



## atticus finch (Jan 29, 2012)

Harold and Maude.

Brilliantly wierd.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 29, 2012)

Leonard Cohen Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.


----------



## Reno (Jan 29, 2012)

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. This 70s Canadian thriller was a favourite of mine when I was a kid and I hadn't watched since then. Jodie Foster plays a 13 year old whose father died recently. Now an orphan, she keeps his death a secret and resorts to ever more extreme measures to stay independent and out of care. It's still an entertaining film and an odd mix of juvenile drama, romance, thriller and horror. Foster is great in another atypical child role and Martin Sheen plays the neighbourhood pedophile who stubs out his cigarette on her pet hamster.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 29, 2012)

i think i saw that a long long time ago. rings a very loud bell.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 29, 2012)

Butterfly's Tongue...Really good, well recommended. Pre-civil war Spanish story of a boy starting school and the relationship he strikes up with his teacher. Great performances from the young lad and teacher and it made me cry.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 30, 2012)

Lucky Number Slevin - Good Twist


----------



## rekil (Jan 30, 2012)

The Small Back Room.  Powell and Pressburger fillum about disabled drink and drug frazzled bomb disposal expert livin' on the edge.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 30, 2012)

The Arbor - wasn't sure about the Creature Comfort style miming at first, but it worked in the end. I felt sorry for everyone in it, though very slightly cheered that at least Lisa seemed to have pulled herself out of the mire.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 30, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Episodes 10 and 11.
> 
> Feel like I've been kicked in the nuts.
> 
> Baffling as fuck, but brilliant.



I finished BSG a couple of weeks. my mate had been telling me for ages how good the ending was.

and he's right.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 30, 2012)

Zombieland

An innocuous way to spend an hour and a half


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 30, 2012)

5 eps of Fringe - like it; sort of X Files/Lost/Flash Forward (but in a good way) vibe.

Lust, Caution - Ang Lee masterpiece. Beautiful, brutal and tragic.


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 30, 2012)

*The Notorious Bettie Page:* I really enjoyed Mary Harron's 'I Shot Andy Warhol' and 'American Psycho' but this biopic of the infamous American pin-up is dull and lightweight.


----------



## Reno (Jan 31, 2012)

The last two episodes of American Horror Story. It was a frequently silly series with occasional flashes of brilliance, held afloat by a good cast, some witty dialogue and its sheer weirdness. A soap opera where most of the characters are dead.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 31, 2012)

Soo... recommended? I like silly horrors.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 31, 2012)

I'd definitely recommend it  Its great


----------



## andy2002 (Jan 31, 2012)

Most of it's great and I'd definitely recommend it, too. Jessica Lange deserved her Golden Globe and I hope she crops up again in series two which is apparently going to feature a completely different storyline and characters.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 31, 2012)

What else was Jessica Lange in then?

I watched The Bad Lieutenant - nowhere near as nasty as the first one, and I didnt like how he had a compassionate side or how you felt like you wanted him to be ok. Fuck that. The original had a right hateful piece of work as the main character, dunno why they flapped it with this one, well....Hollywood I suppose init


----------



## Reno (Jan 31, 2012)

Yetman said:


> What else was Jessica Lange in then?



One of the biggest actresses of the 80s and 90s and won a couple of Oscars: King Kong, All That Jazz, Tootsie, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Sweet Dreams, Cape Fear, Rob Roy, Big Fish, Broken Flowers, Titus, Blue Sky


----------



## Yetman (Jan 31, 2012)

Of them, I've seen Cape Fear, when I was about 14. That'll be why then. Knew I knew her name but couldnt work out why. Cheers


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 2, 2012)

Vares - Huhtikuun tytöt

The weakest Vares film I've seen so far.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 2, 2012)

I've watched absolutely loads of films while at work recently. Watched Mondo Cane (1st 4 films) this and last week which is mental, brutal and quite shocking (the 4th one) that even though it is meant to be a documentary of old times, the way the black actors are treated even under the guise of acting is very concerning. Showing boats with slaves in chains all racked up in 12 inch high compartments puking and being force fed and even having cork wrapped in rope rammed up their arses when they had dysentry is bad enough, but some of the stuff relating to the wealthy US southerners and their penchant for slaves and what they do with them, especially the under age females, was quite embarrassing as not only a white person but as a fucking human. Horrible stuff, I'd like to say effectively presented but well, it left me feeling a bit uneasy for the actors...if indeed they were properly paid actors at all....


----------



## Reno (Feb 2, 2012)

Serpico. Brilliant !


----------



## TruXta (Feb 2, 2012)

Not seen for 20 odd years. Should watch again really.


----------



## Reno (Feb 2, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Not seen for 20 odd years. Should watch again really.



I've filled a classic movie gap there, never seen it before.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 2, 2012)

Reno said:


> I've filled a classic movie gap there, never seen it before.



What? I always assume you've seen every movie ever made.


----------



## Reno (Feb 3, 2012)

There goes my reputation.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 3, 2012)

Who can kill a child - excellent creepy atmospehric Spanish sort of Horror from the mid-70s - don't let the opening put you off...


----------



## Reno (Feb 3, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Who can kill a child - excellent creepy atmospehric Spanish sort of Horror from the mid-70s - don't let the opening put you off...


 
Very atmospheric and creepy. It reminded me a little of Don't Look Now. It has a similarly powerful sense of place, with an English couple abroad, where it slowly dawns on them that things aren't quite right. Agreed, the title sequence is in really poor taste and could put you off the film before it even starts.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 3, 2012)

Ip Man 2, just like the first one it's very good.   The anti-jap stuff is replaced by anti-brit stuff.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 3, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Ip Man 2, just like the first one it's very good. The anti-j** stuff is replaced by anti-b*** stuff.


 
Watching first one this weekend!


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 4, 2012)

Day of the Dead. No wonder Romero is considered the daddy of zombie films.

Flame and Citron. Danish film about a pair of resistance hitmen in occupied Denmark. Quite bleak, although Citrons exit was brilliant.


----------



## rekil (Feb 4, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Quite bleak, although Citrons exit was brilliant.


Based on fact as well. There's pics of the house after the shootout on the dvd extras, it's fucked utterly.


----------



## Voley (Feb 4, 2012)

W.

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It was more coherent than a lot of Oliver Stone's films and it didn't go for the obvious portray-Bush-as-a-gurning-chimp tack which I'd expected. Richard Dreyfuss was really good as Dick Cheney but the bloke that played Blair was shite. Interesting that it portrayed Colin Powell as the only dissenting voice against the war in Iraq initially too. Don't know how accurate it all was but it wasn't bad for Oliver Stone. The only film of his that I've really enjoyed before was Salvador.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 4, 2012)

A Separation...just brilliant. Thought I wasn't going to get on with it as the subtitles were so quick changing early on that I wasn't getting chance to follow the picture but once the story is moving it's a great film. Not exactly full of likeable folk though.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> Serpico. Brilliant !


 
One of my favourites


----------



## sleaterkinney (Feb 4, 2012)

Drive, the one with Ryan Gosling in it, really good movie, don't let the hollywood mush at the beginning put you off.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 4, 2012)

i hated it - smiling buffoon needs to talk to his girlfriend.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Feb 4, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> i hated it - smiling buffoon needs to talk to his girlfriend.


There are a lot of silences, he seems to be trying to be the reincarnation of James Dean. But once the plot gets going it's good.


----------



## andy2002 (Feb 4, 2012)

I saw *Drive* tonight and loved it. Yes, it's probably just a 'heist-goes-wrong' story with delusions of grandeur, but I thought it was beautifully told and well acted. It also has a great soundtrack and Ryan Gosling is cool as fuck (haven't seen him in anything before). Not sure why Albert Brooks thought he should get an Oscar nom though - he's OK in it but hardly a classic villain.


----------



## Reno (Feb 5, 2012)

Starcrash, on Blu-ray no less. A bit of a riot after a few beers.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Feb 5, 2012)

Worth it for Caroline Munro's space bikini alone.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 5, 2012)

Dark Knight, haven't seen it for ages...brilliant.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 6, 2012)

"127 Hours" - excellent, left me feeling quite buffeted at the end. James Franco gave a fantastic performance too.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 6, 2012)

Bee Movie - Seinfeld animation; amusing
Ashes of Time Redux - 10 mins in and we realised we'd seen it before but due to it's non-linear approach and sheer beauty of the cinematography, watched it all again
The Wrestler - Oh Mickey, you're so fine you blow my mind. Why didn't he get an Oscar for this?


----------



## TruXta (Feb 6, 2012)

Chico & Rita - lovely animated feature about two Cuban lovers and musicians.
Then started watching the last Conan film. Even as a genre fan, and a big fan of the comics, this was terrible. Terrible plot, woeful dialogue, wooden acting, uninteresting sets, weak baddies. Makes the old ones look fresh and smart by comparison.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 6, 2012)

Being Human- meh


half of Moon. I am this films demographic. It should appeal to me. It did not. The actor couldn't carry it, and the plot just felt like a bad re-run/pastiche of a dozen superior plots from film and novels.

meh


----------



## Yetman (Feb 6, 2012)

Daybreakers - not too bad vampire flick, set in future where there are only 5% of the human population left and vampires are freaking out about what to do about the lack of blood situation. 7/10


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 6, 2012)

Sum Mary Millington film!  Not sure which one!  Probably doesnt matter either seein as most of em are similiar.  Feck me we must have been starved of porn in late 70's if that what was on offer.  Thank god fer danish mags an playin cards that at least showed people shaggin eh


----------



## TruXta (Feb 6, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Daybreakers - not too bad vampire flick, set in future where there are only 5% of the human population left and vampires are freaking out about what to do about the lack of blood situation. 7/10


 
IMO an utterly unmemorable film. When did we last see a decent vampire movie? 30 Days of Night?


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2012)

TruXta said:


> IMO an utterly unmemorable film. When did we last see a decent vampire movie? 30 Days of Night?


 

Let the Right One In. Not just a great vampire film but one of the best films of the last decade.

...and I'm not sure since when the poorly received 30 Days of Night became a decent vampire film.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 6, 2012)

Reno said:


> Let the Right One In. Not just a great vampire film but one of the best films of the last decade.
> 
> ...and I'm not sure since when the poorly received 30 Days of Night became a decent vampire film.


 
 Forgot LTROI. I quite liked 30 Days, it was silly, but it didn't try and humanise or glamorise the vamps, which I'm unutterably fed up with considering recent fare. It was a good throwback to the Nosferatu-Salem's Lot line of vampires - proper monsters, not immortal and endlessly boring goths.


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2012)

Last year there was an apocalyptic vampire film called Stake Land which had similarly feral vampires, but which I thought was a better film than 30 Days of Night. At least it made an effort to have characters an audience can root for.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 6, 2012)

I was just about to mention that - that really stayed with me. it was well depressing/grim.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 6, 2012)

Good shout, I saw that a few weeks ago. Good characterisation, but leant on the zombie tropes too heavily IMO to be a proper contender.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 6, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Good shout, I saw that a few weeks ago. Good characterisation, but leant on the zombie tropes too heavily IMO to be a proper contender.


yeah, they were sorta zombie/vampire hybrids like in I Am Legend - it still managed to twist the 'trope' a little and present something new and original i thought.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 6, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> yeah, they were sorta zombie/vampire hybrids like in I Am Legend - it still managed to twist the 'trope' a little and present something new and original i thought.


 
It's a bit of a trend that hybridization of Hollywood monsters. Like the Underworld films have done too, mixing werevolves and vamps. Can't say I've been to impressed with their efforts. Speaking of I Am Legend, I could cry over how they manage to spoil such excellent raw material as the original novel.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 6, 2012)

the omega man does a much better job, though they're not really vampires or zombies in that. i do like the idea of the conscious zombie though or vampires with their own culture that isn't just wearing elegant 19th century frock coats


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2012)

The thing that I found really creepy in the Matheson novel of I Am Legend was that the vampires, his former friends and neighbours, called out to the the main character every night, taunting him outside his house.

All three film versions of I Am Legend are rubbish really. The Last Man on Earth stayed the closest to the novel, but had a minuscule budget, was shot in Italy and starred a badly miscast Vincent Price. The Omega Man had a good first half and a very cool Ron Grainer score, but once the stupid looking blaxploitation mutants turn up the film goes down the drain and the Will Smith version gets just about everything wrong.

Though not amazing, Stake Land is better than all of them and almost feels like it takes place in the same universe as the novel.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 6, 2012)

Reno said:


> Though not amazing, Stake Land is better than all of them and almost feels like it takes place in the same universe as the novel.


 
Yeah, I had a bit of the same feeling of quietude, for want of a better word, in Stakeland. A sense of things slowing down, dying out.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 7, 2012)

The Lotus Eaters - 70s BBC drama, of it's time but good, the first season especially. Very different from most TV nowadays, not so much in terms of plot but in how the story was told.

I'm a big fan of the Omega Man, Heston at his best.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 7, 2012)

Managed to watch a few things over the last few days.
_Infernal Affairs _- amazing, totally shocked I hadn't watched it sooner and something I will definitely enjoy rewatching again soon.
_Bullet Boy _- good standard fair, but its heart is in the right place.
_Brief Encounter -_ really warmed to it as it went on, liked the female driven narrative and the ending sequence.
_Videodrome - _enjoyed this immensely, liked the dark matter being pushed into different directions. I should probably try to watch more Cronenberg as a result.
_Pontypool - _creative take on zombie-esque horror, also thought it was pretty allegorical about disinformation, dissemination of falsehoods etc...
_Oranges and Sunshine - _Good drama, nice sentimental touches, occassionally let down by a poor script.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Feb 7, 2012)

NVP said:


> W.
> 
> Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It was more coherent than a lot of Oliver Stone's films and it didn't go for the obvious portray-Bush-as-a-gurning-chimp tack which I'd expected. Richard Dreyfuss was really good as Dick Cheney but the bloke that played Blair was shite. Interesting that it portrayed Colin Powell as the only dissenting voice against the war in Iraq initially too. Don't know how accurate it all was but it wasn't bad for Oliver Stone. The only film of his that I've really enjoyed before was Salvador.


 

Actually, I really highly rate W. Much more so than practically every stone movie since at least Nixon.  Mind you, the key to 'W' is thinking of it not as a biopic, but as something else. The closest companion piece I can think of it is probably 'Being There'. Taken in the same frame of mind, 'W' is damn good. 

Daybreakers? lots of good ideas in what is essentially B movie schlock, very well executed and done totally seriously. A lot of crap movies treat themselves as crap and can't be bothered with doing a good job - Daybreakers doesn't fall victim to this, and as such, really is worth a watch.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 7, 2012)

Untouchables.   I like this movie, detest Costner and the religious undertones.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 7, 2012)

_Hua Mulan_ - given the source material, this is catastrophically offensive. Frivilious, overly sentimental, with no-concept of pacing, character development etc..etc.. with unecessary kung-fu silliness, nonsensical romance sub-plot and bizarrely for a film about a female protagonist and female empowerment, it contains sexism in places. Avoid.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 7, 2012)

Last of the Mohicans.  1992 version.  Still great

20 years old.


----------



## starfish (Feb 7, 2012)

Cowboys & Aliens was on in the background so didnt really get what was going on. I like the idea though.


----------



## Reno (Feb 7, 2012)

I watched several episodes of _Enlightened_, the HBO series starring Laura Dern and written by Mike White (Freaks & Geeks, Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, School of Rock) I really like Mike White's writing, there is a generosity towards his characters with everything he does and I really like this show. The main character is often infuriating, but the series never turns her into a caricature like with something like The Office. As a comedy it is a bit of a hard sell because it's quite delicate and subtle, but that's its strength.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 10, 2012)

_Hero_, nice visually and interesting plot structure, but nothing more than being an alright film. The politics of the piece are also a bit warped.
_Grosse Point Blank_, an action, romance, comedy that seemed to lack all three. Expected better things.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 10, 2012)

october_lost said:


> _Grosse Point Blank_, an action, romance, comedy that seemed to lack all three. Expected better things.


What! You idiot it's a great film, one of the best films of the nineties.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 10, 2012)

I can't see how you could possibly say that. It seems to owe alot to True Romance on some level, but has none of its charm.


----------



## Reno (Feb 10, 2012)

october_lost said:


> I can't see how you could possibly say that. It seems to owe alot to True Romance on some level, but has none of its charm.


 
That's the first time I've read the word "charm" used to describe a Tony Scott film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 11, 2012)

True Romance has charm, no doubt.

Watched HGTTG tonight...awesome and Adamsian...apart from the ending shit which was uncalled for.


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> True Romance has charm, no doubt.


 
Well, I wasn't charmed.


----------



## rekil (Feb 11, 2012)

A documentary on the Molly Maguires and the Pennsylvania miners struggles on TG4. It could have done with another half hour as it felt a bit rushed at the end. It's still up on the player under docs but dunno if it's available to forrins. http://www.tg4.ie/en/tg4-player/tg4-player.html

Guard Post. Korean troops in a DMZ bunker killing each other to bits. Still a bit confused.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2012)

copliker said:


> A documentary on the Molly Maguires and the Pennsylvania miners struggles on TG4. It could have done with another half hour as it felt a bit rushed at the end. It's still up on the player under docs but dunno if it's available to forrins.http://www.tg4.ie/en/tg4-player/tg4-player.html
> 
> Guard Post. Korean troops in a DMZ bunker killing each other to bits. Still a bit confused.


Reminds me, watched The Lost Republic parts 1 and 2 earlier this week - political history of Argentina from 1933 to 1983. Nothing innovative and weakened by concentrating almost solely on the electoral history of the period - the wider classes only appearing as actors in supporting or opposing various elite blocs - which follows from the Yrigoyenist approach of the makers. Worth the 5 hours for the amazing footage though - esp of the 70s madness.

I enjoyed Guard Post, though it was basically an attempt of the director to repeat the success of the far superior R-Point


----------



## october_lost (Feb 11, 2012)

_Countdown to zero, _covers the threat of nuclear attacks from terrorism, rogue states and miscalculations. Quite informative about the proliferation of nuclear arms, how close we have come to nuclear exchanges and some of the science behind it all. Good, but quite a bit of padding.
_The 39 Steps_, Hitchcock's 30's thriller. Clocking in at 86 minutes, a really tight awesome piece 
_The Ipcress File, _thought it was alright, nothing more. Probably made more sense during the hysteria of the Cold War.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 11, 2012)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Some clunky moments, but certainly not as great a travesty as the Watchmen movie was.


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2012)

Absentia. US indie horror film and one of the best in the genre I've seen in a while. It's about a woman who has her husband declared dead 'in absentia' after he disappeared without trace seven years earlier. From that point on it seems like she has disturbing visions of him returning from the dead. All of this is connected to a tunnel nearby the woman's house and something isn't quite right in there, as the woman's sister finds out.

While the low budget shows at times with its modest locations shot on HD video and occasionally shaky acting, this is really well thought through in terms of plot, character development and atmosphere. Starting as a haunted house story, it's one of those horror films that suggests more than it shows, as it moves towards rarely explored Lovecraft style horror. I found this quite creepy and unsettling. Can't wait to see what the writer-director does next.


----------



## albionism (Feb 12, 2012)

Remake of The Thing...........It were shite.


----------



## Voley (Feb 12, 2012)

Neds. Half-decent for most of it in a _Kes_ Ken Loach sort of way but one of the daftest fucking endings to a film I've seen in a long while.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> I enjoyed Guard Post, though it was basically an attempt of the director to repeat the success of the far superior R-Point


 
Shit, I've seen one of those, but I can't remember which.

Trailers suggest it was R-Point. Shan't be bothering with Guard Post then. I've got 13 Assassins going on soon, with Inland Empire to come in a day or two.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 12, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Shit, I've seen one of those, but I can't remember which.
> 
> Trailers suggest it was R-Point. Shan't be bothering with Guard Post then. I've got 13 Assassins going on soon, with Inland Empire to come in a day or two.


13 assassins is genius. The original is a great lost film as well. Inland empire,first lynch i wasn't keen on but i don't know why.


----------



## Reno (Feb 12, 2012)

Ti West's new horror film The Innkeepers about two slacker hotel employees who in their boredom try to find the rumoured ghost of their workplace on their last shift before it closes down. It maybe a little short on scares, but still quite likeable do to it's the interplay between the two main characters. Despite the slow pace it manages to be quite suspenseful and like all of West's films it's a stylish and affectionate throwback to 70s/80s horror.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> 13 assassins is genius. The original is a great lost film as well. Inland empire,first lynch i wasn't keen on but i don't know why.


 
Original? Right.

Have heard very polarised reports on IE. Therefore quite keen to see for myself, 4-5 years after the fact.


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Feb 12, 2012)

Enron: smartest guys in the room. Interesting to go back and re-watch in light of the financial crisis of the last three odd years.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 12, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Original? Right.


 
Not sure what this means.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Not sure what this means.


 
Oh, simply that I wasn't aware this was a remake.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> Absentia. US indie horror film and one of the best in the genre I've seen in a while. It's about a woman who has her husband declared dead 'in absentia' after he disappeared without trace seven years earlier. From that point on it seems like she has disturbing visions of him returning from the dead. All of this is connected to a tunnel nearby the woman's house and something isn't quite right in there, as the woman's sister finds out.
> 
> While the low budget shows at times with its modest locations shot on HD video and occasionally shaky acting, this is really well thought through in terms of plot, character development and atmosphere. Starting as a haunted house story, it's one of those horror films that suggests more than it shows, as it moves towards rarely explored Lovecraft style horror. I found this quite creepy and unsettling. Can't wait to see what the writer-director does next.


 
Now this sounds interesting. DLing.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> Ti West's new horror film The Innkeepers about *two slacker hotel employees who in their boredom try to find the rumoured ghost of their workplace* on their last shift before it closes down. It maybe a little short on scares, but still quite likeable do to it's the interplay between the two main characters. Despite the slow pace it manages to be quite suspenseful and like all off West's films it's a stylish and affectionate throwback to 70s/80s horror.


 
Let me guess . . . one of these two slackers is a large, talking dog?


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 12, 2012)

Chronicle.

Found footage movie about three lads who gain telekinesis and one of them goes all magneto with arrogance and hubris


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Who can kill a child - excellent creepy atmospehric Spanish sort of Horror from the mid-70s - don't let the opening put you off...


 


Reno said:


> Very atmospheric and creepy. It reminded me a little of Don't Look Now. It has a similarly powerful sense of place, with an English couple abroad, where it slowly dawns on them that things aren't quite right. Agreed, the title sequence is in really poor taste and could put you off the film before it even starts.


 
Just watched this. Agreed about the start and the Don't Look Now feel. A proper scary film.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 12, 2012)

*Vampire's Kiss*   Great Black comedy starring Nicolas cage.   He does over ham it a bit at times but i laughed my arse off when he put the joke shop teeth in his gob.. Recommended!


----------



## Reno (Feb 12, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Let me guess . . . one of these two slackers is a large, talking dog?


 
It has a little bit of a Scooby Doo vibe, but one of the two slackers is a girl, the ghosts turn out to be real and there is no happy end.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 12, 2012)

_Max Manus: Man of War, _anti-nazi resistance film about one of Norways most decorrated combatants. Works well as an action and
a thriller. Max and a group of commandos basically go about sabotaging and eluding the gestapo in a cat and mouse routine that lasts the war. Some nice scenery shots, with minimal special effects, but great acting etc..could have done with more character development, and some periphery characters could have been fleshed out, but an otherwise brilliant film.

_The Twilight Samurai, _basic synopsis, its all about a low-level samurai whose eeking out an existence in pre-Meiji Japan. Having lost his wife, having to cope with raising two children and having a senile mother the guy is stretched to maintain himself. Along the way there is a romantic interest hes at pains to contemplate and there are wider politics he's begrudingly brought into. Seems to relish in the contradictions of the times, looking at the hardships when other films seem to discard this. A real gem of a film.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 12, 2012)

Adam and Paul.... My Mrs hadn't seen it. I think it was better second time round, it's a good 'laugh one minute cry the next' film.

Crimson Gold....Doesn't have the laugh bits, fairly depressing really.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 13, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Crimson Gold....Doesn't have the laugh bits, fairly depressing really.


If this is the Iranian film, I have heard good things...


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
> 
> Some clunky moments, but certainly not as great a travesty as the Watchmen movie was.


Watchmen shits on TLOEG movie and it's still horribly shit. 
Watchmen would have only really been good as a TV series, LOEG could have been great but book two would have been even better. 
I have just finished century 1969. Mixed feelings.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 13, 2012)

october_lost said:


> If this is the Iranian film, I have heard good things...


 
I heard good things too but only managed about 20 minutes.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 13, 2012)

Turtles are better swimmers than expected.

Amazing reviews and a cheap price led me to this.
Starts off great but just peters out into nothing until it just ends. Didn't leave me with fond memories of it.

It did lead me to 'Summer time machine blues' though.
Some guys in a sci-fi club (that never do anything remotely sci-fi) spill coke on their air con controller. A time machine appears, so what do they do? Go back to 'yesterday' to get the remote before it was damaged so that they can fix the air con.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 13, 2012)

The Weekend, better than expected but still nothing great.

Harold And Kumars Christmas - pretty funny but not as fun as the previous films. Totally milk the 3D thing as well.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 13, 2012)

IP Man. As warned it does have a strong anti-Japanese sentiment to it but aside from that, great choreography. Would like to see Wong Kar Wei's version  "The Grandmasters" and see if it's any closer to the true story about Yip Man...


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 13, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Watchmen shits on TLOEG movie and it's still horribly shit.
> Watchmen would have only really been good as a TV series, LOEG could have been great but book two would have been even better.
> I have just finished century 1969. Mixed feelings.


 
I'd heard that LOEG was a total wash out, you see, but I don't think it inverted the message of the book (such as it is) in the way Watchmen did.

Anyway, last night I watched Alec Guiness keeping his upper lip stiff in _The Malta Story_:



That's the complete movie there: enjoy. They don't make them like this anymore.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> I'd heard that LOEG was a total wash out, you see, but I don't think it inverted the message of the book (such as it is).ore.


 
I think it did rather a lot. 
It's a completely different story for a start. It really only takes the idea and executes it in probably the shittest way it could possibly have been done.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 13, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Vampire's Kiss* Great Black comedy starring Nicolas cage. He does over ham it a bit at times but i laughed my arse off when he put the joke shop teeth in his gob.. Recommended!


Yeah, I like this one.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 13, 2012)




----------



## no-no (Feb 13, 2012)

october_lost said:


> _Max Manus: Man of War, _anti-nazi resistance film about one of Norways most decorrated combatants. Works well as an action and
> a thriller. Max and a group of commandos basically go about sabotaging and eluding the gestapo in a cat and mouse routine that lasts the war. Some nice scenery shots, with minimal special effects, but great acting etc..could have done with more character development, and some periphery characters could have been fleshed out, but an otherwise brilliant film.
> 
> _The Twilight Samurai, _basic synopsis, its all about a low-level samurai whose eeking out an existence in pre-Meiji Japan. Having lost his wife, having to cope with raising two children and having a senile mother the guy is stretched to maintain himself. Along the way there is a romantic interest hes at pains to contemplate and there are wider politics he's begrudingly brought into. Seems to relish in the contradictions of the times, looking at the hardships when other films seem to discard this. A real gem of a film.


 
Twilight Samurai is one of my favourite films ever, I can relate as I'm always too skint to go for a drink after work too.


----------



## chazegee (Feb 13, 2012)

Old boy. Still a corker.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 13, 2012)

october_lost said:


> If this is the Iranian film, I have heard good things...


 
It is the Iranian film. Not much happens really and it starts with the ending, which would've been more hard hitting if it were left at the end.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 14, 2012)

The Secret In Their Eyes - very compelling Argentinian thriller. Consistently surprising plot, great performances and amazing photography esp one particular scene of a chase in a football stadium that looks like one shot but can't possiby be.


----------



## belboid (Feb 14, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> one particular scene of a chase in a football stadium that looks like one shot but can't possiby be.


it isn't, play it back about twenty times and you can see all the joins.  It is wonderfully done tho

It's a good film, with that one shot probably giving it a higher general rating than it would otherwise have got


----------



## october_lost (Feb 14, 2012)

I heard Connery passed over Lord of the Rings and hot on acknowledging that mistake followed up with TLOEG. IMDB says it like this;



> Sean Connery was offered roles in The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but said he didn't understand the scripts. So when offered another screenplay he didn't quite get, (LXG) he took it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 14, 2012)

Run, Lola, Run.  Haven't seen it for years, still very good.

Couldn't imagine Connery in either of those.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 15, 2012)

*Jack Brooks monster slayer*   Brilliant cheesey horror gore fest starrin Robert Englund.  Great dr whoesque monsters especially the one at the end. Great stuff!!


----------



## belboid (Feb 15, 2012)

As a lovely valentines treat, we watched:

30 Rock - got up to date, including this weeks Valentines episode, which was utterly magnificent, the opening sketch had us pissing ourselves.  And Kristen Schaal as another obsessive character is great and getting better each ep.  Great stuff.

Buffy - Season 6, episode 17.  Recognised by all true connoisseurs as the very finest episode, Normal Again is the one where she's in an 'institution'and comes to realise what her demons actually are.  Brilliant.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Feb 15, 2012)

Re-watched 'eternal sunshine' and was reminded as to why it is such a magnificant film.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Feb 15, 2012)

Watched 2 music documentaries on DVD over the past couple of nights:

1. "Upsetter" - this is about the life and times of Lee "Scratch" Perry.  Some great footage, interesting anecdotes (inc from the man himself), and of course plenty of those tunes which brought Perry to the attention of the world.  It does kinda glimpse over the post-Black Ark period, though there does seem to be an admission that Perry spent much of the 1980's a very unhappy man indeed....still, well worth checking out whether you're a Perry fan or kinda new to all this.

2. "Autoluminescent" - this one's about the late Rowland S Howard, and a very touching documentary it is indeed.  Covering his musical career from the Obsessions, through to his membership of the Boys Next Door-then-Birthday Party, and covering his post Birthday Party work in depth, this is a great overview of a man who was both driven musically yet also deeply emotional and sensitive, and who in the end regretted his substance use/abuse issues.  Containing some very moving moments, and packed with extras, this DVD is very much recommended by me.


----------



## Reno (Feb 15, 2012)

I watched the pilot of *Friday Night Lights* which they've just started on Sky Atlantic. Enjoyed it despite my total lack of interest in sport. It's about a small town Texas football team and their families. Heard a lot about it as it's been one of the most highly acclaimed US drama series for the last few years. Very much feels like a 70s movie, it has authentic yet lyrical feel about it.


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## TruXta (Feb 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> I watched the pilot of *Friday Night Lights* which they've just started on Sky Atlantic. Enjoyed it despite my total lack of interest in sport. It's about a small town Texas football team and their families. Heard a lot about it as it's been one of the most highly acclaimed US drama series for the last few years. Very much feels like a 70s movie, it has authentic yet lyrical feel about it.


 
Luck looks quite interesting. I just finished season 4 of Breaking Bad the other night, what a show that is. Also got around to starting on season 2 of Walking Dead. I'm still ambivalent about this - the comics were great (up til about no 75 at least), and this show somehow fails to capture the tone or feel of the comic.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2012)

The Woman - a horror film that actually does what it's supposed to do and horrifies. The bloke who plays Johnny Burns in Deadwood plays an abusive patriarch in somewhere foresty and rural in the US. He captures a 'feral' woman (played brilliantly by Pollyanna McKintosh) he finds in the woods whilst hunting and tries to get his family to help 'civilise' her. It's highly gruesome and lots of blanks are left unfilled, but it's all the more disturbing for it. I need to check out Lucky McKee's other films.


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## Reno (Feb 16, 2012)

I love The Woman. One of my three favourite films of last year and so underrated.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2012)

What are the other two?


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## Reno (Feb 16, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> What are the other two?


Drive and Margaret. Actually it's four, I also really liked Weekend.


....and A Separation and Tomboy...


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## Yetman (Feb 16, 2012)

Tyrannosaur - Paddy Considines first outing as a director. Pretty good job as well, grim and narrowly scoped in terms of characters involved, but effective and poignant nonetheless. 8.5/10


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## ringo (Feb 16, 2012)

Started watching Derek Jarman's Caravaggio - painfully slow and arty, gave up.

Started watching The Stalker - painfully slow and dark Russian film over two DVDs with subtitles, gave up.

Tape Crackers - a jungle pirate radio obsessive talks about his massive collection of cassettes and plays bits of them. Almost brilliant, but not an easy thing to capture, especially when seemingly unplanned and disorganised. Plus the tapes were in poor condition and they didn't mic stereo very well so hard to make out anything being played.


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## Mr.Bishie (Feb 16, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Tyrannosaur - Paddy Considines first outing as a director. Pretty good job as well, grim and narrowly scoped in terms of characters involved, but effective and poignant nonetheless. 8.5/10


 
Yep, deffo deserved his BAFTA


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## Orang Utan (Feb 17, 2012)

I saw Roman Polanski's latest, Carnage. It's brilliant, so savage and funny. 
Two sets of parents meet to discuss a violent incident involving their kids and very soon the thin veneer of civilization is ripped away and they're tearing chunks out of each other, childishly and hilariously. 
It's an adaptation of a Yasmin Reza play and is set in one room but it zips along and is very short.
Another bit of supporting evidence in Polanski's grand theory that people = arseholes.
Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C Reilly and Christoff Waltz are all brilliant, but especially Waltz.


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## _angel_ (Feb 17, 2012)

was it transgressive?


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## Reno (Feb 17, 2012)

_angel_ said:


> was it transgressive?


 
Transgressive of what ?


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## Orang Utan (Feb 17, 2012)

Reno said:


> Transgressive of what ?


Tedious private 'joke'


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## trabuquera (Feb 17, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> The Secret In Their Eyes - very compelling Argentinian thriller. Consistently surprising plot, great performances and amazing photography esp one particular scene of a chase in a football stadium that looks like one shot but can't possiby be.


 
Agreed - but it shouldn't win any prizes for Best Ageing Makeup Artistry, eh?

I really liked Secret in their Eyes but was surprised (quite pleasantly) about how conventional it is in style ... and tone (it's not relentlessly dreary hang-yourself-in-the-cinema-loos bleak as the subject matter might have prompted in a lot of new European directors for example.)


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## Orang Utan (Feb 17, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> Agreed - but it shouldn't win any prizes for Best Ageing Makeup Artistry, eh?
> 
> I really liked Secret in their Eyes but was surprised (quite pleasantly) about how conventional it is in style ... and tone (it's not relentlessly dreary hang-yourself-in-the-cinema-loos bleak as the subject matter might have prompted in a lot of new European directors for example.)


what do you mean about the make up? i think they did a fine job ie they didn't bother much. i had to look up carla quivedo's real age up as i couldn't tell whether she was young playing old or vice versa (she's somewhere in between).


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## Orang Utan (Feb 17, 2012)

oh, and speaking of films using flashback, I also saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and, though I enjoyed it, I got well confused by the chronology of the plot. I think I got it all eventually and it covers rather a lot of major plot points very economically (eg Bumbercatch's character's sexuality and his having to dump his boyfriend in case the Circus decided to play dirty is dealt with in the space of a minute, but very effectively). However, it jumped from past to present so much, I was stumped a few times. There are usually indications of some sort to show you when in the plot we are supposed to be and I detected none. 
Still, loved the production design.


----------



## pianissimo (Feb 17, 2012)

Sleeping Beauty - rubbish.


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## Reno (Feb 17, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> what do you mean about the make up? i think they did a fine job ie they didn't bother much. i had to look up carla quivedo's real age up as i couldn't tell whether she was young playing old or vice versa (she's somewhere in between).


 
I also thought the make up was well done, exactly because they were quite subtle with it and didn't cover the actor's faces in latex.


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## Part 2 (Feb 17, 2012)

Watched Tomboy yesterday afternoon which I loved, great performances from the kids, very natural.

Last night The Woman, which I think I liked. It really is a scary film, not sure if I was completely convinced by the fella playing the Dad and thought the retribution might've dragged out a  bit longer, or maybe I was just after a bit more gore and gratuitous violence.

This morning saw Christine, an old Alan Clarke short from 1987 about a teenage drug runner. Gets across the banality of such existence well although the acting was a bit Grange Hill. Come to think, Zammo did gouching much better.


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## trabuquera (Feb 17, 2012)

Reno said:


> I also thought the make up was well done, exactly because they were quite subtle with it and didn't cover the actor's faces in latex.


Main characters, more or less OK (though inescapably a bit crepe-papery and powdery at the end). But the (PLOT SPOILER OMITTED) bloke at the end? THAT'S well-done ageing makeup to you? really really? 
(not mocking just asking ... personally I was so unconvinced it almost jolted me out of the mood of this otherwise fine film).


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## Reno (Feb 17, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> Main characters, more or less OK (though inescapably a bit crepe-papery and powdery at the end). But the (PLOT SPOILER OMITTED) bloke at the end? THAT'S well-done ageing makeup to you? really really?
> (not mocking just asking ... personally I was so unconvinced it almost jolted me out of the mood of this otherwise fine film).


 

That's because that actor was a lot younger than the other two, who were middle aged, so it was easier to convincingly age them. There is only so much you can do when you don't have a Benjamin Button size budget. Sometimes you just have to suspend your disbelief a little. Old age makeup is very difficult to do and pretty much impossible to do convincingly on young actors. I still think their less is more approach was good for what they were working with.

I always thought the old age-makeup in Once Upon a Time in America was quite good, especially De Niro's, but they just couldn't get it right for the much younger Elizabeth McGovern. That's why you see her face covered in lotion as she removes her stage make up when she is supposed to be much older.


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## Part 2 (Feb 17, 2012)

Just watched the original Scum TV play. I'd always thought the reason it was never on was because it was more shocking but it's just not as good. Funny seeing Frank Gallagher as Archer though.


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## DJ Squelch (Feb 17, 2012)

John Flynn's Rolling Thunder (1977) about a Vietnam veteran tracking down a bunch of robbers who killed his wife & kid. It has Tommy Lee Jones as his army buddy and the bloke who played Rosco in the Dukes Of Hazard series as a baddie, then there's a very Peckinpah style ending with a big shootout in a brothel. Very enjoyable.


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## Reno (Feb 18, 2012)

Tootsie. Hadn't watched this in a long time and it's easy to take this one for granted, lump it in with inferior high concept comedies of the 80s and forget what a good film this really is. Tootsie is a great film about actors and acting and it's impressive how smartly it navigates potentially dodgy gender and sexual politics, especially for a Hollywood film from that decade. All the characters are so well written and acted, they really seem to have lives of their own. Dustin Hoffman was at the top of his game, Jessica Lange became a star here, Teri Garr is always great and there were early roles for Geena Davis and Bill Murray.


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## belboid (Feb 18, 2012)

Troll Hunter.  I'm rather bored of 'found footage' stuff by now, but it was well done in this, didnt labour the conceit. Many more laughs than we expected.  Top stuff.

And started on season 4 of Breaking Bad.   Oooh, it's flying already!  What  show


----------



## Voley (Feb 18, 2012)

Drive. Quite enjoyed this, liked the soundtrack / atmosphere. The man-with-no-name lead bloke was a good character if not that good an actor. Had a few other bits I didn't like so much. Although I didn't really rate Bronson much I wouldn't mind seeing more from this director. I get the feeling he's got one really good film in him.


----------



## Voley (Feb 18, 2012)

The Fountain. Wtf? A right load of old bollocks if ever there was one.  By the end of it I was sort of hoping the Mayans were right.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 18, 2012)

Warrior.   Excellent.

The cover says it's all the Rocky movies in one, it's slightly better than that (because 1 and 3 were great).   The acting certainly is much, much better.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 18, 2012)

'In the Mood for Love' (Fa Yeung Nin Wa) Unrequited love in early 1960's Hong Kong. Sensual, evocative, beautiful.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 19, 2012)

Life Without Principle - the new Johnny To, and odd as it may seem it's a sot of anti-capitalist film. Based on the intersection of a few stories around the effects of the Greek crisis on various people in Hong Kong - it makes the usual points about how legit capital and criminals mirror each other in motivations and actions and how this effects the rest of us, nothing new, but done in To's style it really comes to life - don't go in expecting one of his HK milkway gangster films - at least not on the surface. It does have the usual intricately plotted style of those films though. Totally unexpected film (for me anyway).


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## sleaterkinney (Feb 19, 2012)

The Guard, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540133/. One of the worst films I've ever seen.


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## DotCommunist (Feb 19, 2012)

started The Wir series 2, years since I watched it. Still the best series of all.


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## TruXta (Feb 19, 2012)

sleaterkinney said:


> The Guard, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540133/. One of the worst films I've ever seen.



I thought that was a good laugh.


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## redsquirrel (Feb 19, 2012)

sleaterkinney said:


> The Guard, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540133/. One of the worst films I've ever seen.


Loon. It's not quite as good as In Bruges but it is still very good.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 19, 2012)

I'm not a huge fan of either film. Much is made of the McDonaghs' wordplay and humour, but I thought both films fell a bit flat.


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## la ressistance (Feb 19, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> The Secret In Their Eyes - very compelling Argentinian thriller. Consistently surprising plot, great performances and amazing photography esp one particular scene of a chase in a football stadium that looks like one shot but can't possiby be.


 

i loved that film. that shot is the same sort used on children of men isn't it? but on a grander scale.


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## krtek a houby (Feb 20, 2012)

NVP said:


> The Fountain. Wtf? A right load of old bollocks if ever there was one.  By the end of it I was sort of hoping the Mayans were right.


 Loved it. Up there with 2001, Solaris, AI.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 20, 2012)

la ressistance said:


> i loved that film. that shot is the same sort used on children of men isn't it? but on a grander scale.


only in the sense that it looks like one long shot


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 20, 2012)

The last 3 episodes of Battlestar Galactica ("Daybreak")

Um....not really sure where to start, will spoiler tag -



Spoiler: BSG ending



Good

A proper battle, feels like ages since the last one
Boomer paying back the old man, then Athena blowing her away
The opera dream tying in pretty well to the scenes of Hera running through the ship
Anders finding perfection (although they did shoe-horn in the set-up in a flashback)
President Prickly Lawyer dude 
Baltar's final line - "I know something about farming", perfectly acted and made me forget how much of a cunt he really is (for a few seconds at least).
Cavill choosing to blow his head off vs live with the humans 
Roslin actually dying (thought they'd go the happy ending route for second)

Bad

Everybody going along with Lee's idea to live like cavemen, I can imagine some going for it, but not the whole fleet (or did Adama just overrule the objections and sent all the ships into the sun regardless?)
Being hit over the head by biblical allegory, then having Baltar and Starbuck spell it out for anyone who's not been paying attention for 4-5 years 
Head Baltar / Head Six in modern day Manhatten, are they just meant to be God/s? 
A general feeling of rushed endings and unexplored plotlines 


 
Overall a great series, but with a bit of a dip at the end.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 20, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> The last 3 episodes of Battlestar Galactica ("Daybreak")
> 
> Um....not really sure where to start, will spoiler tag -
> 
> ...


Don't get me started.

BSG was awesome, then it turns out they were making it up as they went along and didn't have a fucking clue.
". . . and they have a plan" Ooh, that kept me watching, what's the plan, what's the plan.

The plan is to kill all humans.
All those cool episodes where Baltar was trying to figure what his head six was . . well even the writers didn't know. The end devalues everything good that happened in the series, and we have yet another 'magic' programme.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 20, 2012)

*'A Guide to Recognising Your Saints'* Not bad, a fairly cliched coming of age drama saved by some cracking performances from the younger actors.


----------



## Reno (Feb 20, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Don't get me started.
> 
> BSG was awesome, then it turns out they were making it up as they went along and didn't have a fucking clue.
> ". . . and they have a plan" Ooh, that kept me watching, what's the plan, what's the plan.
> ...


 
Just as well I jumped ship half way through season 3 then.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 21, 2012)

Reno said:


> Just as well I jumped ship half way through season 3 then.


 
Nah, was definitely worth sticking with to the end, S4 was a vast improvement and is fucking dark in places 

Also, I've only just realised that the guy who played Hot Dog is Olmos' real life son!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 21, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> Nah, was definitely worth sticking with to the end, S4 was a vast improvement and is fucking dark in places
> 
> Also, I've only just realised that the guy who played Hot Dog is Olmos' real life son!


 
It did indeed pick up in S4 but it's because it had so much promise that I feel so let down. Just another 'make it up as we go along' show. What happened to telling a well crafted story?


----------



## belboid (Feb 21, 2012)

As we've discussed before... that's not really how multi-season television generally works. Beyond having a vague idea how it'll finish (and BSG _did_ finish vaguely in the way it was always going to), it's all up for grabs.  And that makes for interesting stories, better chances for character development, unexpected characters becoming more central, than an overly crafted plot will allow for.

There's probably another interesting thread in 'movies that are still great despite having shit endings,'  or 'why the end never matters'


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> Nah, was definitely worth sticking with to the end, S4 was a vast improvement and is fucking dark in places
> 
> Also, I've only just realised that the guy who played Hot Dog is Olmos' real life son!


 
I though Battlestar Galactica was a good if flawed show for two seasons, hampered by poor filler episodes. The sleeper cylon thing was brilliant when Boomer was revealed to be one, but then they pulled that trick over and over again, with half of  the cast revealed to be cylons and I lost interest.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 21, 2012)

Anyways, I watched Fish Story.
Probably thinks it's something profound (which it's not), but it was a great film. Four stories playing that interlock in a way that you don't get to see until the final minute of the film. Not as earth shattering a revelation as I had hoped but it didn't need to be as it just showed how life interconnects and sometimes big and important things hang on some some seemingly insignificant details.
The four stories themselves were all very entertaining, and it's not often I can sit though a two hour film without noticing the time go by.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 21, 2012)

belboid said:


> As we've discussed before... that's not really how multi-season television generally works. Beyond having a vague idea how it'll finish (and BSG _did_ finish vaguely in the way it was always going to), it's all up for grabs. And that makes for interesting stories, better chances for character development, unexpected characters becoming more central, than an overly crafted plot will allow for.
> 
> There's probably another interesting thread in 'movies that are still great despite having shit endings,' or 'why the end never matters'


 
Just look at the Lost thread for the exact same discussion / argument

Probably involving the exact same people to be fair


----------



## 5t3IIa (Feb 21, 2012)

Watched Basil the Great Mouse Detective on VHS. This song is *crying *to be turned into some kind of anti-condems comedy song but I have neither the wit nor the skillz to do it myself


----------



## belboid (Feb 21, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> Just look at the Lost thread for the exact same discussion / argument
> 
> Probably involving the exact same people to be fair


Thankfully, I ditched Lost after season 1, so never saw any of that.

Just been watching:

The Ghost - a decent bog standard thriller.

Katalin Varga - bloody marvellous Romanian revenge drama. An arthouse thriller that is actually both arthouse and thriller.  Cracking.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 21, 2012)

_The Yes Men Fix the World, _The same format as last time round, stunts are pulled against Dow Chemical and private companies profiteering off Katrina, usual swipes are taken against neo-liberal orthodoxy and they round it all off by producing an upbeat spoof activistoid New York Times to send us off in an optimistic cheer. I actually preferred this to their previous outing, but it still sags in places and I feel uncomfortable with certain scenes because I am not sure how their approach is supposed to complement their politics, or indeed how far they can stretch the gag. File under 'one trick pony'.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2012)

We Need To Talk About Kevin - a bit self-consciously arty and heavy-handed esp with the really obvious visual flourishes - tomatoes = blood, eyeball = target etc. disappointing.


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2012)

Yes, it's crap.


----------



## Badgers (Feb 21, 2012)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> We Need To Talk About Kevin - a bit self-consciously arty and heavy-handed esp with the really obvious visual flourishes - tomatoes = blood, eyeball = target etc. disappointing.



I keep hearing bad reviews.


----------



## colbhoy (Feb 22, 2012)

I'm off work with a sore back at the moment so watched Wall Street (never seen before) - enjoyed it.

Also watched the pilot episode of Friday Night Lights, now being shown on Sky Atlantic and it looks quite promising.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 22, 2012)

Tried watchin Lee Evans roadrunner last night but it was toooo bleedin energetic fer me Id love ta make him smoke a big fat one and then shove the fecker onstage!  Stupid choice anyways seein as i was couchlocked. So i ended up watchin *Miss March*   Definitely one ta put on yer list for when yer stoned.  Silly, stupid nonsense of a film but i loved it. (trainwreck) eh


----------



## october_lost (Feb 22, 2012)

_An Empress and Her Warriors, _nice scenery, but practically everything else was awful in this 'war of the kingdoms' piece.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 23, 2012)

Just Another Saturday  - first part of Peter McDougall & John McKenzie's (Play for Today) Scottish trilogy from the mid-late 70s. This one covers Glasgow sectarianism, the second - The Elephant's Graveyard - covers w/c refusal of work, the final one one - Just a Boys Game - does the razor gangs (of course, that's not the sole subject of them, they're handy hooks). Will say more when i've finished them all.​


----------



## Yetman (Feb 23, 2012)

Immortals. Pile of fucking SHIT


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 23, 2012)

It wasn't that bad, unless you payed for it, then yeah I'd be annoyed too.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 24, 2012)

_Blue Velvet, _good film, going to digest over it awhile.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Feb 24, 2012)

The World, The Flesh And The Devil (1959) - Harry Belafonte seems to be the last person alive on earth (such as in in Omega Man etc), but hang on, there seems to be another lady and hey at least he can sing a decent tune.  Unfortunately the lady seems a bit racist and now another bloke has turned up up who seems racist too, lets hope they realise that when there's only 3 people left alive on planet Earth that acting like a fuckwit might not be a good idea.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 24, 2012)

Just watched the second two films in a Canadian documentary series about Pierre Trudeau and his would-be nemesis and Quebecois separatist Rene Levesque.

No, wait, it`s better than it sounds.

You can watch it all on the National Film Board of Canada site:

http://www.nfb.ca/film/champions_part_1/


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 25, 2012)

A really rather good spy thriller from the 1970s. And not only does it have Paul Newman, it also has Dominque Sanda and James Mason.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 25, 2012)

What is it called? That would be rather helpful!


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 25, 2012)

The Mackintosh Man


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 25, 2012)

"V for Vendetta" - enjoyed it with a few minor reservations about the casting (didn't really like Natalie Portman or Hugo Weaving despite both being very good film actors)


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 25, 2012)

Ta, can't tell owt from this phone right now unless you actually type the words


----------



## Casually Red (Feb 25, 2012)

Belushi said:


> 'In the Mood for Love' (Fa Yeung Nin Wa) Unrequited love in early 1960's Hong Kong. Sensual, evocative, beautiful.


 
is there any fanny in it ?


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 25, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> The Mackintosh Man


 

Look it says so there in the wee box. I was pleasantly surprised by one of the locations, and the exquisitely nostalgic sense of time and place it evoked. But as it is introduced at a major plot twist, I'll hold my counsel.

Nowhere near as good as Il Conformista, but Sanda does here sexy Ice Queen thing again, which is always good.


----------



## Voley (Feb 26, 2012)

I watched a good chunk of the third series of Black Adder last night. Started on the first and second series but I'd seen them so much I could predict all the jokes. Miraculously there was an episode on this one I'd never seen before. I'm hoping I see some new stuff on the one with Stephen Fry in WWI as that's the best series for me.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 27, 2012)

No Rest for the Wicked - odd little spanish thriller, sort of like if Torrente was a real cop. Interesting but the plot-lines were just all over the shop. Director had prevously done the far better Box 507 where he'd managed it all a lot better.


----------



## yardbird (Feb 27, 2012)

During the w/e I watched the whole of Homeland.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 27, 2012)

yardbird said:


> During the w/e I watched the whole of Homeland.


All 54 hours - fucking hell, well done!


----------



## yardbird (Feb 27, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> All 54 hours - fucking hell, well done!


Oh, is there another series?


----------



## belboid (Feb 27, 2012)

not yet.  I think butchers is thinking of Heimat


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 27, 2012)

yardbird said:


> Oh, is there another series?


Sorry mate, didn't mean to get your hopes up, it was just a crap joke about the very long German film/series called Heimat which has usually (and to some peoples anger) been translated as Homeland.


----------



## seeformiles (Feb 27, 2012)

I taped "Deathrace" off the telly the other night. It was a pile of shit so watched "Bedazzled" instead (The original Pete and Dud version - not the dreadful Liz Hurley remake..) and that improved my mood no end.


----------



## Reno (Feb 27, 2012)

seeformiles said:


> I taped "Deathrace" off the telly the other night. It was a pile of shit so watched "Bedazzled" instead (The original Pete and Dud version - not the dreadful Liz Hurley remake..) and that improved my mood no end.


 
...but did you watch the 70s Death Race or the dreadful Jason Statham remake ?


----------



## ringo (Feb 27, 2012)

Bad Lieutenant - Hadn't seen it for years, Harvey Keitel on top form.


----------



## seeformiles (Feb 27, 2012)

Reno said:


> ...but did you watch the 70s Death Race or the dreadful Jason Statham remake ?


 
No it was the Jason Statham version (mind you - a true pedant would know that the original was "Deathrace 2000" ) that had none of the humour of its predecessor. The few clumsy "Shawshank" type scenes that they inserted to try and give it depth fell flat and other scenes made absolutely no sense at all. Mind you - his co-pilot was pretty foxy - but not foxy enough to stop it being dreadful.


----------



## Reno (Feb 27, 2012)

seeformiles said:


> No it was the Jason Statham version (mind you - a true pedant would know that the original was "Deathrace 2000" ) that had none of the humour of its predecessor. The few clumsy "Shawshank" type scenes that they inserted to try and give it depth fell flat and other scenes made absolutely no sense at all. Mind you - his co-pilot was pretty foxy - but not foxy enough to stop it being dreadful.


 
I'll outpedant you by pointing out that in both cases Death Race (2000 or not) is two words. 

I only watched half an hour of the remake and gave up when I realised that they are not going to score points by running down nuns and children.


----------



## seeformiles (Feb 27, 2012)

Reno said:


> I only watched half an hour of the remake and gave up when I realised thatb they are not going to score points by running down nuns and children.


 
That pretty much ruined it for me too


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2012)

i saw the muppets. it's delightful.


----------



## october_lost (Feb 29, 2012)

ringo said:


> Bad Lieutenant - Hadn't seen it for years, Harvey Keitel on top form.


I watched this yesteday in fact. One or two good scenes, good character acting, but it dropped the ball in the final third.

ETA. Watched_ Midnight Cowboy _tonight and was impressed. Quite an experimental piece when all said.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 29, 2012)

Yesterday...

An American Crime. Watched this after seeing comments on IMDB when I'd seen The Woman. It's about a woman in 60's Indiana who took in two kids to live with her own then went on to abuse them, keeping one in the basement. As shocking as it sounds but not a great film.

The Chaser. Korean film about ex-cop turned pimp who goes looking for one of his girls who's disappeared. Another I found through IMDB comments after I'd watched I Saw the Devil. It's a better film that takes it's time building up to lots of violence. I'd recommend it if you like that kind of stuff.

Today I started watching Oz. First 3 episodes so far, love it.


----------



## Reno (Feb 29, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> An American Crime. Watched this after seeing comments on IMDB when I'd seen The Woman. It's about a woman in 60's Indiana who took in two kids to live with her own then went on to abuse them, keeping one in the basement. As shocking as it sounds but not a great film..


 
Awful film with a fatally miscast Catherine Keener. Reading up on the real case this was based on is a lot more interesting than this futile attempt at indie movie outrage.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 29, 2012)

I downloaded that a while back and decided against watching it after reading views that took the same line as Reno's.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 29, 2012)

Starship Troopers 3. 

Law of diminishing returns well and truly confirmed.

At the end, this marauder squad in terminator armour steam in.

Proper shit


----------



## Reno (Feb 29, 2012)

Puzzle of a Downfall Child. As the worlds biggest Faye Dunaway fan I always wanted to see this obscure 70s curio which got much publicised re-release at this years Cannes Film Festival, but it was really rather dull.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 29, 2012)

*'The Unbelievable Truth'* I loved Hal Hartley as a teen so I was a little wary of watching this twenty years later in case I was disappointed, but it stands up well, I really enjoyed it.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Mar 1, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Starship Troopers 3.
> 
> Law of diminishing returns well and truly confirmed.
> 
> ...


 
Better than Starship Troopers 2, I assure you. Starship Troopers 3? Half of it is OK with some promise - the desert scenes are something I've not seen in a lot of sci-fi movies, decent level of satire - but at the same time, that religious claptrap is deeply inconsistent, confusing, and terrible. The terminator armour thing comes from the original Heinlein book, which was absent from the other two Starship Troopers movies. 

FYI, I've a secret love of the straight to DVD Death Race 2. Far Far better than the Stath one.

I'm watching Sharktopus, for god's sake.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 1, 2012)

StraightOuttaQ said:


> I'm watching Sharktopus, for god's sake.


 
TBF that sounds fucking awesome


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Mar 1, 2012)

have you seen the poster? 

http://thatwasabitmental.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/sharktopus2d.jpg 

What could possibly go wrong?  The only thing missing is Nicolas Cage, in a bear suit.....


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 1, 2012)

Two headed shark needed


----------



## Belushi (Mar 1, 2012)

Sharktopus II


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Mar 1, 2012)

Two word capsule review: "Shit Sandwich". 

50% Shark. 50% octopus. 100% shite.


----------



## ringo (Mar 1, 2012)

Bring Me The Head Of Mavis Davis


----------



## DJ Squelch (Mar 2, 2012)

Rewatched a couple of great old Brit gangster/heist films on the ITVNow YouTube channel.
Villain (1971) - Richard Burton as leader (obviously modelled on Ronnie Kray) of a gang of London baddies, also has Ian McShane & Nigel Davenport.


Robbery (1967) based on The Great Train Robbery


----------



## magneze (Mar 2, 2012)

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy. First hour is a bit slow but overall it's pretty good.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 2, 2012)

Much funnier than I remembered.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 2, 2012)

DJ Squelch said:


> Rewatched a couple of great old Brit gangster/heist films on the ITVNow YouTube channel.
> Villain (1971) - Richard Burton as leader (obviously modelled on Ronnie Kray) of a gang of London baddies, also has Ian McShane & Nigel Davenport.




This was actually pretty damn good. Thank you Mr. Squelch.


----------



## Reno (Mar 3, 2012)

I fell asleep trying to watch Real Steel. This got some surprisingly good reviews and I was hoping for another "I thought this would be shit, bit it's not" discovery along the lines of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It was not to be. It's formulaic, noisy, predictable rubbish with an annoying kid who I hoped would get stomped to a pulp by robots and why would anybody cast trout pout Evangeline Lilly with her Beverly Hills high maintenance looks as a tomboy mechanic ?  Was Ellen Page not available ?


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 3, 2012)

The President's Analyst.

James Coburn is recruited to psychoanalyse the POTUS. He gets more than he bargained for.

Good - 8 out of 10? - and I certainly laughed out loud more than once.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 4, 2012)

We need to talk about Kevin.   Very dark.  Extremely well-acted but I don't know, didn't like it I don't think.


----------



## paulE (Mar 4, 2012)

over the weekend have watched Winter's Bone, several episodes of the Finder and Tales of the City. i can recommend them all.


----------



## paulE (Mar 4, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The President's Analyst.
> 
> James Coburn is recruited to psychoanalyse the POTUS. He gets more than he bargained for.
> 
> Good - 8 out of 10? - and I certainly laughed out loud more than once.



excellent choice! may i recommend "The Reivers" and Easy A for a grin.


----------



## thriller (Mar 4, 2012)

Last week, completed A Game of Thrones Season 1. Superb series. Best tv series I've seen in years. Cant wait for season 2.

Over weekend finished The Walking Dead Season 1 and 2.

Downloaded Season 1 of Breaking Bad, but having skimmed through the first episode, looks boring......


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2012)

Cell 211, very good recent Spanish thriller about a young prison guard about to start his new job. He gets knocked out and abandoned by his superiors when a prison riot breaks out and has to pretend to be a prisoner to stay alive. Had a friend round and we also watched Kill List, which I'd already seen and which I like and my favourite by Cronenberg, The Brood. It's a far better film about psychoanalysis than A Dangerous Method.


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2012)

thriller said:


> Downloaded Season 1 of Breaking Bad, but having skimmed through the first episode, looks boring......


 
Give it time, it's among the best and the most gripping drama series of recent years and deserves all the acclaim it's getting. It plays out like one long feature film, so the early episodes set up characters and premise before it kicks into high gear.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 4, 2012)

Let the right one in- original.

OK, well pretty good actually. Shame the silly vamp folklore played a 'real' part in the story, would have been better without.


----------



## thriller (Mar 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> Give it time, it's among the best and the most gripping drama series of recent years and deserves all the acclaim it's getting. It plays out like one long feature film, so the early episodes set up characters and premise before it kicks into high gear.


 
just put the kettle and ready to give it a go.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 4, 2012)

Westworld. A swinging pleasure resort turns into a total downer when the robot mannequins turn on their human . . . exploiters? It's definitely a metaphor for something, I'm not sure what. What is interesting is how scifi seems to have turned away from anxiety about the future and the effects of technology after 1977 (and the release of a certain other scifi film).


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> What is interesting is how scifi seems to have turned away from anxiety about the future and the effects of technology after 1977 (and the release of a certain other scifi film).


 

Loads of scifi films about anxiety about the future and technology have been made since 1977.

Just off the top of my head, some of the most famous:

The Terminator 1,2,3 & 4
The Matrix 1,2 & 3
Blade Runner
Jurassic Park 1,2 & 3 (which was Crichton's dino variation on his Westworld)
Robocop 1,2 & 3
Total Recall
A.I.
Minority Report
Alien 1,2,3 & 4


----------



## paulE (Mar 4, 2012)

thriller said:


> Last week, completed A Game of Thrones Season 1. Superb series. Best tv series I've seen in years. Cant wait for season 2.
> 
> Over weekend finished The Walking Dead Season 1 and 2.
> 
> Downloaded Season 1 of Breaking Bad, but having skimmed through the first episode, looks boring......


i watched  a few episodes"Breaking Bad" while on vacation cause my brother in law loves the show. i am right there with you. it's like "Weeds" in that the premise is people in desperate situations reduced to desperate actions. i don't get the entertainment value in watching such stories? if i wanted that i could watch Donald Trump abuse his apprentices.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> Loads of scifi films about anxiety about the future and technology have been made since 1977.
> 
> Just off the top of my head, some of the most famous:
> 
> ...


indeed, it's the most dominant theme of sci-fi, i'd say, and that certain other sci-fi film isn't that representative of sci-fi in general. some would argue that it isn't science fiction at all (it's a fantasy western if you want to wind up certain fans)


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2012)

paulE said:


> i watched a few episodes"Breaking Bad" while on vacation cause my brother in law loves the show. i am right there with you. it's like "Weeds" in that the premise is people in desperate situations reduced to desperate actions. i don't get the entertainment value in watching such stories? if i wanted that i could watch Donald Trump abuse his apprentices.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 4, 2012)

paulE said:


> i watched a few episodes"Breaking Bad" while on vacation cause my brother in law loves the show. i am right there with you. it's like "Weeds" in that the premise is people in desperate situations reduced to desperate actions. i don't get the entertainment value in watching such stories? if i wanted that i could watch Donald Trump abuse his apprentices.


i would like to dislike this post. 'people in desperate situations reduced to desperate actions' is the staple of every thriller and horror film and pretty much all drama.


----------



## thriller (Mar 4, 2012)

Well, I've just finished episode 2. The acid in bath tub scene....


----------



## paulE (Mar 4, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> i would like to dislike this post. 'people in desperate situations reduced to desperate actions' is the staple of every thriller and horror film and pretty much all drama.


i take your point but you must admit there is a difference in the quality of the desperation in"the Old Man and the Sea" and "Sophie's Choice" or Oedipus and Ulysses and certainly different from that found in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". i think this also has to do with the films POV. are you meant to identify with the protagonist or simply be a voyeur?


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 4, 2012)

Lock Stock is played for laughs and the others aren't. 
and Breaking Bad certainly gets you to identify with the protagonist.


----------



## discokermit (Mar 4, 2012)

i don't give a fuck what anyone says, lock stock is a great film.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> Loads of scifi films about anxiety about the future and technology have been made since 1977.
> 
> Just off the top of my head, some of the most famous:
> 
> ...


 
Oooh, hark at her.

Anyway, here's Slade in Flame, the last film ever made about a rock group:


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 4, 2012)

discokermit said:


> i don't give a fuck what anyone says, lock stock is a great film.


 
It is utter fucking rubbish, and not even enjoyable rubbish, even if the lad who says "they're a bit tasty, they've got a bit of an arsenal" has  a certain comedy value.


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> ..., the last film ever made about a rock group


----------



## discokermit (Mar 4, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> It is utter fucking rubbish, and not even enjoyable rubbish, even if the lad who says "they're a bit tasty, they've got a bit of an arsenal" has a certain comedy value.


i do not agree. sting is shit in it though, as he is in everything.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> Loads of scifi films about anxiety about the future and technology have been made since 1977.
> 
> Just off the top of my head, some of the most famous:
> 
> ...


 
To clarify - in the post Star Wars environment, spectacle took over from ideas, even if some of the films you list did try to engage with ideas. But only some - Matrix 2 and 3 were hardly as cerebral as the first movie, and while I haven't seen  the Robocop sequels, I doubt if they added much to the ideas of the first movie.

As for Alien, it's not scifi, it's a horror movie in space, as Aliens is a war movie in space. Anxiety about technology is not that important when your major source of anxiety is an indestructible xenomorph that wants to use you as a breeding container for its offspring.


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> To clarify - in the post Star Wars environment, spectacle took over from ideas, even if some of the films you list did try to engage with ideas. But only some - Matrix 2 and 3 were hardly as cerebral as the first movie, and while I haven't seen the Robocop sequels, I doubt if they added much to the ideas of the first movie.
> 
> As for Alien, it's not scifi, it's a horror movie in space, as Aliens is a war movie in space. Anxiety about technology is not that important when your major source of anxiety is an indestructible xenomorph that wants to use you as a breeding container for its offspring.


 
Not sure why you are focusing on sequels as if that disproves that dystopian scifi flicks haven't been made since 1977. I'm not making any points about the quality of the films. The ideas in Westworld aren't exactly that amazing and I wouldn't hold it up as the most thoughtful of scifi films. Since the 70s Hollywood films as a whole have been less thoughtful and ambitious.

That said, you are merely backtracking from a post that wasn't that well thought through in the first place and you can't expect people to mind read what you meant when you wrote something quite different.

Alien is a scifi AND a horror film. Aliens is a scifi film AND a war/action film. Plenty of films are genre hybrids and therefore fit more than one genre. They still are scifi, dealing with dystopian ideas about all powerful corporations, artificial intelligence and space missions (futuristic technology!)which are supposed bring back lethal organisms for use in biological warfare (bad!).


Agree with you on Lock, Stock... though


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 4, 2012)

Er, you seem to have forgotten the antics of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation in the Alien films.
And what about Blade Runner and Total Recall?


----------



## discokermit (Mar 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> Agree with you on Lock, Stock... though


c'moooooon.


----------



## paulE (Mar 4, 2012)

paulE said:


> i take your point but you must admit there is a difference in the quality of the desperation in"the Old Man and the Sea" and "Sophie's Choice" or Oedipus and Ulysses and certainly different from that found in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". i think this also has to do with the films POV. are you meant to identify with the protagonist or simply be a voyeur?


i just couldn't identify with the characters in BB or in Weeds and without that no point in watching. one of the best films dealing with desperation i did like and who's central character i could sympathize with is played by Michael Douglas in the film "Falling Down"   the line that still sticks with me is "i am not economically viable".


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 4, 2012)

You don't have to identify with anyone to enjoy a film/tv programme (like in The Sopranos) but Breaking Bad is all about making you identify with people crossing moral lines. It seems a ridiculous thing to complain about as there are so many other crappy tv shows to throw that complaint at.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 4, 2012)

I watched Rampart. Didn't really do it for me.

Halfway through s2 of Oz which is still great.


----------



## october_lost (Mar 4, 2012)

_No Country for Old Men - _liked this immensely. Really tight action/thriller with good performances all round. Going to mull over the ending for sometime to come.


----------



## paulE (Mar 5, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> You don't have to identify with anyone to enjoy a film/tv programme (like in The Sopranos) but Breaking Bad is all about making you identify with people crossing moral lines. It seems a ridiculous thing to complain about as there are so many other crappy tv shows to throw that complaint at.


maybe you don't have to identify with the characters in a film of TV series to watch but i do and so do film critic who will note the lack of chemistry by actors in a film or inability of characters to make a connection with the audience. maybe you listen to music that you don't connect with either. hey it's your time to waste however you want but just cause you are willing to watch dreck don't insist i do. i never had any  interest in the Sopranos either. you are right about the amount of crap on TV but i don't have to watch.


----------



## Col_Buendia (Mar 5, 2012)

We sat down to watch "A Prayer for the Dying", but got a mere 40mins into it before we gave up in derision. God, it's awful (don't tell me it picks up after the first hour!). The ganster/undertaker character is a joke, and Mickey Rourke's Norn Iron accent, although solid enough, tends to wander round the six counties in terms of where it actually comes from. And why did they smear vaseline on the lens of the cameras every time they made films in the 1980s?


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2012)

Hanna, which is basically a Bourne movie with a young girl kicking ass. I like Saoirse Ronan who has a compelling otherworldly quality, but this isn't much of an acting show case for her. The film is atmospheric and often visually inventive but it's a simple chase story that doesn't add much that's new.


----------



## magneze (Mar 5, 2012)

The DaVinci Code. Much better than I expected, a very enjoyable film. The last 10 minutes are a bit laughable though - pretty much once Hanks says "you are the last living relative of Jesus" ... and then another one turns up 2 mins later.


----------



## belboid (Mar 5, 2012)

paulE said:


> one of the best films dealing with desperation i did like and who's central character i could sympathize with is played by Michael Douglas in the film "Falling Down"


nuff said


----------



## belboid (Mar 5, 2012)

Sunshine - daft, but quite enjoyable.  Would probably have looked good on a big screen.;

Ten hours or so of Buffy - fitting with SyFy's top 20 rundown (Amends at 11?  How?  Why??), choosing a bunch of the episodes they omitted/I missed.  Damn it was great when it was good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 5, 2012)

SyFy know nothing about anything. They cancelled Begbie in space ffs


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 5, 2012)

Watched "The Fantastic Mr Fox", "Frozen River" and the last few eps of "Borgen".


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 5, 2012)

Just watched George C. Scott and Diana Rigg in _The Hospital, _1971. It's on youtube, but I won't post the link, because there was a scene of sexual aggression I found . . . problematic.


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2012)

Red State. Shooting fish in a barrel. Not good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> Red State. Shooting fish in a barrel. Not good.


Did your copy have the kevin smith extra where he did the talk at sundance or cannes (can't remember which, wherever it premiered)?  That was interesting.

The acting by the lead religious guy was terrific, I thought.   His long sermon was frighteningly well done.


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Did your copy have the kevin smith extra where he did the talk at sundance or cannes (can't remember which, wherever it premiered)? That was interesting.
> 
> The acting by the lead religious guy was terrific, I thought. His long sermon was frighteningly well done.


 
I've seen his self-aggrandising Sundance rant/publicity stunt already a while ago.

He cast good actors, but they all had one-note roles. I really didn't like anything about Red State. I find his flawed but much more ambitious Dogma a more interesting film about religion than this. This film didn't tell me anything I didn't already know about how nuts these type of people are.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> I've seen his self-aggrandising Sundance rant/publicity stunt already a while ago.
> 
> He cast good actors, but they all had one-note roles. I really didn't like anything about Red State. I find his flawed but much more ambitious Dogma a more interesting film about religion than this. The film didn't tell me anything I didn't already know about how nuts these type of people are.


I certainly agree Dogma was a better film, whether religious or not I don't care, it was miles better than Red State.   He'd probably say the same.

I wouldn't call the sundance speech a self-aggrandising rant, (although it was,) for me it addressed issues re the big companies and the way they destroy movies.


----------



## october_lost (Mar 6, 2012)

A few docu's this evening. Long regarded as the standard bearer, I found _The Thin Blue Line _an entertaining and human story about injustice in 80's Texas. It was difficult not to be endeared to the chap who was resolute despite the stacks put against him, and gauling the way the real perpetrator was able to go on to do more heinous shit. Thankfully the innocent chap was released not long after the film was put out, as a direct result of the expose.
_Waiting for "Superman"_ covers the state of America's public system. I was expecting a radical take on schools, in a similar vein to Jonathan Kozol, but it seems to be arguing that American schools are poor because there are too many bad teachers, whom can't be fired because of contracts put in place by their unions. Engaging in parts, primarily concerning the realities and expectations of poor families, it was nonetheless a messy affair.
ETA _King of Kong,_ awesome short documentary on the surreal world of classic games, with an underdog story of a contender taking on the highscore on Donkey Kong.


----------



## Bajie (Mar 6, 2012)

The Guard, my g/f did not get the humour and fell asleep half way through but I thought it was a great film.


----------



## Ax^ (Mar 6, 2012)

the thing prequel  and then the Thing

*sleeply*


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 6, 2012)

first 10 minutes of 'Another Earth'

Again.

This film is like magic, I start watching it then boom! asleep. Its not like it is boring either, it just cold cocks me for no reason


----------



## Reno (Mar 6, 2012)

I found Another Earth a little soporific as well.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 6, 2012)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

This is the one with Marilyn doing "Diamonds are a girl best friends". Jane Russell is the real star, though, I have to say. Great stuff, and quite close to the knuckle for its time, though it does keep on the right side of the Hays Code. Really good fun.


----------



## Reno (Mar 6, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
> 
> This is the one with Marilyn doing "Diamonds are a girl best friends". Jane Russell is the real star, though, I have to say. Great stuff, and quite close to the knuckle for its time, though it does keep on the right side of the Hays Code. Really good fun.


 
I love this film and still think it's a little underrated. It's one of the best Hollywood musicals ever and quite unusual for it's time in that it focuses on a friendship between two women. Diamonds are a Girls Best friends is one of the most eye-popping Technicolor sequences ever.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 7, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
> 
> This is the one with Marilyn doing "Diamonds are a girl best friends". Jane Russell is the real star, though, I have to say. Great stuff, and quite close to the knuckle for its time, though it does keep on the right side of the Hays Code. Really good fun.


Totally agree with you about Russell Idris, she knocks spots off Monroe IMO. 



Reno said:


> I love this film and still think it's a little underrated.


I think a lot of Hawks' films are.


----------



## Rainingstairs (Mar 7, 2012)

The Hollywood version of "Girl w/ Dragon Tattoo". Having read the book and seen the Swedish version....I don't think it get any more redundant. I switched on the lights and painted my nails, yay multitasking :-P


fyi: it wasn't good but I like Daniel Craig with that smouldery broody eyeball-fuck he does heh


----------



## mentalchik (Mar 7, 2012)

Don't be Afraid of the Dark - not very afraid at all
TrollHunter - really enjoyable and funny
Cowboys and Aliens - pish but very entertaining pish
Immortals - really enjoyed this, much better than the remake of Clash of The Titans


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 7, 2012)

*Magic to win* (2011) A complete load of silly nonsense an obviously the critics agreed <<(arse) but yer no what i really enjoyed it! granted the stories a bit patchy an it flags a bit at times but the special effects were pretty good. Loved the bit when the guy was tryin to finish his race an thee 2 magicians were pullin at his shorts (childish humour alert) Made me laugh anyways.
Best ta leave your brain in a different room when ya watch it though!


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 7, 2012)

Few eps of The Big Bang Theory, the one with Starbuck and Sulu was awesome.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 7, 2012)

Two Mules for Sister Sarah - I actually managed to enjoy a film starring Shirley McLaine. It's worth watching for Morricone's soundtrack alone.


----------



## belboid (Mar 7, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> I actually managed to enjoy a film starring Shirley McLaine.


The Apartment? Children's Hour?? Being There???


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 7, 2012)

belboid said:


> The Apartment? Children's Hour?? Being There???


I've not actually seen any of those, The Apartment is one of those films I know I should watch but I've just never got round to seeing.

Though I do like The Trouble With Harry, which she's also in.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 7, 2012)

She's great fun in Sweet Charity, too


----------



## belboid (Mar 7, 2012)

They're all a bit dated, but still well worth seeing.  The Apartment is a cracker


----------



## mwgdrwg (Mar 7, 2012)

Annie Hall, which I really enjoyed.


----------



## andy2002 (Mar 9, 2012)

*The Machinist:* Twisty thriller that ladles the paranoia on thick. Probably most notable for Christian Bale's extreme weight loss. Not sure the part was worth it, to be honest.


----------



## magneze (Mar 9, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *The Machinist:* Twisty thriller that ladles the paranoia on thick. Probably most notable for Christian Bale's extreme weight loss. Not sure the part was worth it, to be honest.


Great film imo.


----------



## Reno (Mar 9, 2012)

Don't be Afraid of the Dark, the Guillermo Del Toro produced remake of the 70s TV horror movie. Initially there was a lot of excitement over this film, then when it came out the reviews were so-so and for some reason it seems to be hated on Internet forums. So with my expectations lowered I quite enjoyed it. It's probably be a better horror film for kids than for adults, but I liked the evil little basement gremlins, which make a nice change from ghosts and the gothic atmoshpere and art direction had a very Del Toro feel about it, even if he didn't direct it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 9, 2012)

Rollerball.


A grim dystopian tale of a world ruled by giant corporations, where the masses are distracted with the spectacle of an ultra-violent sport, the "rollerball" of the title. These sci-fi people and their crazy ideas, I ask you.

(the film's actually very good indeed).


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 9, 2012)

It is. And i hate that shit


----------



## mentalchik (Mar 9, 2012)

Reno said:


> Don't be Afraid of the Dark, the Guillermo Del Toro produced remake of the 70s TV horror movie. Initially there was a lot of excitement over this film, then when it came out the reviews were so-so and for some reason it seems to be hated on Internet forums. So with my expectations lowered I quite enjoyed it. It's probably be a better horror film for kids than for adults, but I liked the evil little basement gremlins, which make a nice change from ghosts and the gothic atmoshpere and art direction had a very Del Toro feel about it, even if he didn't direct it.


 

As i said earlier......not very fraidy


----------



## mentalchik (Mar 9, 2012)

mwgdrwg said:


> Annie Hall, which I really enjoyed.


 
"don't worry, we can walk to the curb from here "


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 9, 2012)

Love that film


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 9, 2012)

You know how I'd like to die? I'd like to be ripped apart by wild animals.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 9, 2012)

Stop making me laugh, got things to do, Really


----------



## peterkro (Mar 9, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Watched Tomboy yesterday afternoon which I loved, great performances from the kids, very natural.


 
I watched that yesterday, what a great film.Shot on a Canon 7D (or possibly a 5D or both) and a $1million all up.Beautiful story,amazing child actors.It's a film that has cheered me up considerably and an antidote to the crap that comes out of Hollywood.
(on looking at French sites it appears it was filmed entirely with a 5D I don't think they've managed to hack the 7D yet)


----------



## andy2002 (Mar 10, 2012)

*We Need To Talk About Kevin:* I liked some elements of this a lot, particularly Tilda Swinton's performance and its unflinching exploration of what life must be like for the parent of a Columbine-style killer. The main problem for me was that the kid himself was so thoroughly repellent you didn't really believe in him - it was like he was auditioning for a remake of The Omen and was about to sprout horns at any moment. I also didn't buy the relationship between Tilda Swinton (otherworldly ice queen) and John C Reilly (Toby Jug-faced doofus). The film's non-linear structure was both a blessing and a curse - on the one hand it added tension and intrigue, on the other it only contributed to the film's sense of artifice. It's definitely worth a watch though.


----------



## october_lost (Mar 10, 2012)

_The Big Hit_ - I have alot of love for this film, a Hollywood attempt at Kungfu plot-style sillines - which I think works well. A few nice touches and quirks in places.

_Higher Learning - _Awful on so many levels


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 10, 2012)

State of Siege. Costa-Gavras movie about the Tupamaros in Uruguay. Shows up the likes of the Baader-Meinhof Complex, or Carlos, for the mindless shoot-em-ups they are.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 10, 2012)

Le deuxième souffle - Jean-Pierre Melville crime film, so as you'd expect it's class.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 11, 2012)

The Woman in Black - nothing that hasn't been done before, A bit meh IMHO


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 11, 2012)

Children of the Tsunami - BBC doc on one year on, very moving
Inspector Montalbano - silly but enjoyable Sicilian cop series
Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino war movie, moments of brilliance but not his best work


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 11, 2012)

Conflict - Bogart playing a murderer who wants to marry his wife's sister. Humph and Sidney Greenstreet provide enough entertainment.

Requiem pour une tueuse - Dreadful, very stupid and badly done French thriller mixing assassins and opera. Not even Melanie Laurent can make this worthwhile. Definitely one to avoid.

Also Rear Window was on TV so I rewatched that for the Xth time, still absolutely brilliant.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Mar 11, 2012)

The recent-ish film version of "The A Team". As my Dad would say, 'enjoyably rubbish'. Perfect for an undemanding Saturday night when neither of us were feeeling very chipper.


----------



## Reno (Mar 11, 2012)

Captain America and Paranormal Activity 3. Both better than expected.

I'm tired of superhero films, but Captain America was mostly a WWII action romp with a nice period feel.

The Paranormal Activity films have started to grow on me as I find them progressively more scary. The first one left me bored and bewildered because not much happened till the last few minutes. With the second they cranked up the spooky incidents and the third one is basically Poltergeist as a found footage film, complete with mother smoking a joint and little girls getting hurled around the bedroom by evil spirits (even the design of the children's beds is a nod to Poltergeist). There were some scenes I found genuinely spooky, especially the ones with the camera stuck to an old fan going back and forth. I preferred this to the other recent Poltergeist homage/rip-off, the wildly overrated Insidious.


----------



## Greebo (Mar 11, 2012)

Carriers - road trip with pneumonic & bloodtransmitted virus


----------



## starfish (Mar 11, 2012)

In Time. Interesting concept. Justin Timberlake was good in it.


----------



## october_lost (Mar 11, 2012)

_Tokyo Decadence  _An unhappy S&M hooker goes about her job. The film dissects her alienation and the behaviour of her clients. Meanders in the last third, but otherwise an okay film.

_eXistenZ_ - Cronenberg subverts reality a few times over. Even Jude Law's poor acting can't bury an otherwise good film, but this is not a scratch on _Videodrome._


----------



## andy2002 (Mar 11, 2012)

starfish said:


> In Time. Interesting concept. Justin Timberlake was good in it.


 
This might make you laugh then: www.sfx.co.uk/2012/03/09/blog-excuse-me-your-dystopia-is-broken…/


----------



## starfish (Mar 11, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> This might make you laugh then: www.sfx.co.uk/2012/03/09/blog-excuse-me-your-dystopia-is-broken…/


 
It did. Some people have way too much time on their hands. (Pun intended)


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 11, 2012)

We Need to Talk about Kevin - I'll need to read the book


----------



## ringo (Mar 12, 2012)

Punishment Park - Excellent, not surprised it scared the shit out of the US Government enough to more or less ban it for 30 years.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 12, 2012)

Walking dead s2 ep 8and 9

I much prefer it to the first series even though they have a much smaller make-up budget


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 12, 2012)

The Long Good Friday.

Has Bob Hoskins ever done any Shakespearian stuff? Because on the strength of this I'd say he'd be pretty good at the more blood-curdling of the Bard's roles.

Anyway, as for the The LGF, it was excellent. Which doesn't come as news to most of you, but was news to me, as I hadn't seen it before.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 13, 2012)

Few more episodes of American Horror Story.

Really enjoying it, very different to other TV programmes I normally watch, and hard to believe it's the same creative team that made Glee.

Genuinely unsettling in parts.

Jessica Lange is fantastic in it too.


----------



## Reno (Mar 13, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> hard to believe it's the same creative team that made Glee.
> .


 
Bickering gay ghosts, an apparition in a rubber S&M outfit and Jessica Lange has the camp dial cranked up to 12, I can see a connection there. I enjoyed American Horror Story, indeed very different form other shows and I'm looking forward to the next series.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2012)

Effective but silly Canadian murder mystery.


----------



## mentalchik (Mar 13, 2012)

Greebo said:


> Carriers - road trip with pneumonic & bloodtransmitted virus


 
saw that................ok


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Effective but silly Canadian murder mystery.



What's it called?


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Effective but silly Canadian murder mystery.



What's it called?


----------



## Reno (Mar 13, 2012)




----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> What's it called?


 
DEAD AWAKE


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 13, 2012)

Ta. Can't watch YouTube clips on this 3G connection


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> What's it called?


 
DEAD AWAKE


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 13, 2012)

I've started watching the first season of Game of Thrones, 2 episodes in and not really impressed yet - may ditch it.

Watching Life on Mars again  - still great (won't be watching Ashes).

Not really a lot good out just now.


----------



## thriller (Mar 14, 2012)

The Island (Ewen Mcgregor). It was OK. Nothing I'll revisit again, but not a bad popcorn film.


----------



## yardbird (Mar 14, 2012)

La Femme Nikita


----------



## Voley (Mar 15, 2012)

Goya's Ghosts that was on Film Four a bit back. Not bad, nothing amazing but one or two good scenes. Yer psycho bloke from No Country For Old Men was good in it, Natalie Portman not so much. Some interesting stuff about the Spanish Inquisition that I didn't know. Obviously I'm now forcing myself not to say 'no-one expects the Spanish Inquisition' but failing.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 15, 2012)

The Spongers. Not sure how well known this play for today episode is, although I'm certain some here will know it. My mate was recommending I watch it.

Written by Jim Allen, set in Jubilee year it follows a woman and her four children. Life on a Manchester estate with the bailiffs on her back, council cuts meaning her daughter with downes syndrome is moved to inappropriate accommodation and life on benefits facing a system that refuses to help her out of her difficult situation.

It's brilliant, and utterly devastating. What happened to TV like this?


----------



## Termite Man (Mar 15, 2012)

I'm watching War of the Colossal Beast


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 16, 2012)

Walking Dead s2 Ep 12 

it's picked up a lot


----------



## DJ Squelch (Mar 16, 2012)

Too Big To Fail (2011) - another film about the 2008 financial crash centering on Henry Paulson's (William Hurt) role trying to get a buyer for Lehman Bothers when they realized it was in the shit and then trying to pass the subsequent bailout bill through congress. Not as stylish or tense as Margin Call this is more like a dramatization of the "Inside Job" documentary. It's a bit hard to care for Henry Paulson as the main character when you know his history with Goldman Sachs but it did give me the strange feeling of cheering for Alistair Darling (if only on the end of a phone line) telling the yanks to get stuffed if they thought the UK (Barclays) where going to buy their "cancerous" dept crisis.
If you enjoyed Inside Job or Margin Call then this is well worth tracking down.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 17, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> The Spongers. Not sure how well known this play for today episode is, although I'm certain some here will know it. My mate was recommending I watch it.
> 
> Written by Jim Allen, set in Jubilee year it follows a woman and her four children. Life on a Manchester estate with the bailiffs on her back, council cuts meaning her daughter with downes syndrome is moved to inappropriate accommodation and life on benefits facing a system that refuses to help her out of her difficult situation.
> 
> It's brilliant, and utterly devastating. What happened to TV like this?


 

What happened to writers like Jim Allen as well. Perdition badly damaged his chances of getting on BBC again. Met him a few times as his daughter was around the SWP in the 1980s.


----------



## Voley (Mar 17, 2012)

44 Inch Chest yer fackin caaarrrrnt. Was enjoying it until I fell asleep. Have to watch the rest tonight. How many gay gangsters has Lovejoy played now?


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 17, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> What happened to writers like Jim Allen as well. Perdition badly damaged his chances of getting on BBC again. Met him a few times as his daughter was around the SWP in the 1980s.


 
Grace, I still see her occasionally, never realised she was in Spongers when I put it on. Been looking to download Days of Hope but can't seem to find it.


----------



## ringo (Mar 18, 2012)

Attack The Block


----------



## starfish (Mar 18, 2012)

Drive. I liked it. Really beautifully shot & well acted. Think ill get the book.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 19, 2012)

_The 39 Steps_ - Hitchcock version. One of Hitchcock's films that I've never got round to watching before. It's good but I still rate The Lady Vanishes as the best of his English films.

_One Upon A Time In Anatolia_ - Stunningly beautiful, especially the bits filmed at night. I think the part of the film set during the night worked best for me from all angles. The ending lost me a bit and I think the film would have worked better without the last 20-30 minutes. Still definitely worth watching.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Mar 19, 2012)

starfish said:


> Drive. I liked it. Really beautifully shot & well acted. Think ill get the book.


 
I really liked it, including the short moments of graphic violence (the motel and elevator scenes), although Gosling's long silences, wry smiles and lingering stares didn't work that well sometimes.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Mar 19, 2012)

"GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra" - I asked for undemanding, entertaining fodder and that is exactly what I got!


----------



## belboid (Mar 19, 2012)

Monsters.  Entertaining, tho the fact that the disc stuck n skipped in the middle made it a bit confusing (the bit where the passports are nicked).

Eps 6-10 Breaking Bad Season 4.  Fucking hell, this is going to end well.  And by well, I mean spectacularly, rather than in a positive manner for any of the characters.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 19, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Grace, I still see her occasionally, never realised she was in Spongers when I put it on. Been looking to download Days of Hope but can't seem to find it.


 

Sure she was around them, lived in Withington I think at the time?


----------



## belboid (Mar 20, 2012)

Last 3 episodes of Breaking Bad season 4.

Holy muthafucka, sonofabitch, and every other rude superlative you can think of. What a goddamned series!!!


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 20, 2012)

*Frankenhooker*  Wanna date  Loved it!


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 20, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Grace, I still see her occasionally, never realised she was in Spongers when I put it on. Been looking to download Days of Hope but can't seem to find it.


On KG...


----------



## iona (Mar 20, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> ...
> The Chaser. Korean film about ex-cop turned pimp who goes looking for one of his girls who's disappeared. Another I found through IMDB comments after I'd watched I Saw the Devil. It's a better film that takes it's time building up to lots of violence. I'd recommend it if you like that kind of stuff.
> ...


 
Downloaded this after reading that and watched it yesterday. Really enjoyed it so thanks


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 20, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> On KG...


 
cheers butchers, I'm not on there, will look at registering


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 20, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> cheers butchers, I'm not on there, will look at registering


You can't -- can invite, but not till i get my pc up and running again - maybe bellers can help you out...


----------



## belboid (Mar 20, 2012)

yup, just drop me a PM with a non-hotmail email address & I'll send you one out


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 20, 2012)

good lad


----------



## silverfish (Mar 20, 2012)

Knuckle,  documentary on irish travellers fighting each other over 10 years.

Basically loads of blokes giving each other stick via dvd messages then meeting up and punching each other in the face

If you want to see plenty of real bare knuckle fighting this is for you

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606259/


----------



## Greebo (Mar 21, 2012)

Finally got around to watching Perfume.  Not nearly as good as the book.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 21, 2012)

Winter's Bone.  Moving, tense, very, very well-acted, gripping.   Surprised at how good (great?) this was.   A young girl needs to find her father, or his body if he's dead, to stop the courts taking her family's house.

Strongly recommended.


----------



## belboid (Mar 21, 2012)

wonderful film that, the tone of the whole thing is bleak, but never wholly depressing.  Beautifully shot, and Jennifer Lawrence is superb.

On a rather different note....watched Sarah Millican’s Chatterbox last night.  Very funny indeed, we laughed lots.


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Mar 21, 2012)

Greebo said:


> Finally got around to watching Perfume. Not nearly as good as the book.


 
Very stylish film. What ruins it is the website selling a perfume coffret, whatever that is when it's at home:
http://www.perfumemovie.com/


----------



## Greebo (Mar 21, 2012)

Dr Alimantado said:


> Very stylish film. What ruins it is the website selling a perfume coffret, whatever that is when it's at home:
> http://www.perfumemovie.com/


Haven't seen the website, but the book's language is extremely sensual (even in translation), in a way which just wasn't adapted well to film this time.


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2012)

The film of The Perfume had a self-conscious and artificial look to it, all the grubbiness looked carefully art directed and looked like movie squalor rather than the real thing. Like many big budget European co-productions it felt like a film that had little personality and most of it faded from my memory soon after I saw it. I read the book in the 80s and remember enjoying it a lot more.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 22, 2012)

_Bob le Flambeur_ - Continuing to work through Melville's films. Absolutely brilliant, like all the Melville films I've seen it looks fantastic and manages to keep the main plot going while still giving proper character backgrounds. I saw the Neil Jordan remake before this version but that doesn't come close to this.

Plus Isabella Corey is insanely good looking.


----------



## andy2002 (Mar 23, 2012)

*Contagion:* Steven Soderbergh's 'killer epidemic' film. It was OK but felt a bit flat somehow - the characters weren't terribly interesting and, for a disaster movie, it was very low-key, which I'm guessing was the point. But still...


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 23, 2012)

Damn right.





redsquirrel said:


> _Bob le Flambeur_ - Continuing to work through Melville's films. Absolutely brilliant, like all the Melville films I've seen it looks fantastic and manages to keep the main plot going while still giving proper character backgrounds. I saw the Neil Jordan remake before this version but that doesn't come close to this.
> 
> Plus Isabella Corey is insanely good looking.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 23, 2012)

Batman Under the Red Hood.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1569923/

Quite a cool, gothic film, which seems to be available on youtube and is well worth 75 minutes, especially if you're into the novels or have played the recent games.


----------



## moonsi til (Mar 24, 2012)

Watched Inception for the 2nd time (first time at the flicks) and now I finally understand all the dream layers.


----------



## Greebo (Mar 24, 2012)

The Crucible, tonight, that's how little there is worth watching or listening to as far as I'm concerned.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Mar 25, 2012)

One Day

I didnt want to watch this, but the mrs got it

Today I feel slighty soiled by the mawkish emotional triggers employed thoughout the film. Didnt connect with any of the charachters, didnt like the hybrid scouse/ Daphney from Frasier/ American accent used. Truly rotten film


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 25, 2012)

Finished watching Strumpet City this afternoon. Fairly engrossing, if a bit pedestrian by today's standards. Wonder how much Ustinov got paid for his cameo


----------



## madzone (Mar 25, 2012)

We started watching Your Highness but it was such a load of utter toss we went to bed instead.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 25, 2012)

Tinker Tailor  -atmospheric chain smoking bunch of secret service toffs who are all sexually or emotionally disfunctional hang about in dark rooms seeking information or misinformation.. It was ok but not as good as the TV series and the who dunnit part was so vague I lost interest and just admired Smiley.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 25, 2012)

madzone said:


> We started watching Your Highness but it was such a load of utter toss we went to bed instead.


 
Sometimes there's too much tossing in bed and I have to watch telly instead


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 25, 2012)

Little Caesar. The rise and fall of a thirties' gang boss, played by Edward G. Robinson. What struck me as interesting was that some of the shots were set up in the same way that the old silent movies would have been, even though this is from 1931, and is mainly a talkie.

Worth watching, even after eight decades.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 25, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Winter's Bone. Moving, tense, very, very well-acted, gripping. Surprised at how good (great?) this was. A young girl needs to find her father, or his body if he's dead, to stop the courts taking her family's house.
> 
> Strongly recommended.


 
One of the best films of recent years, and Jennifer Lawrence should have got the Oscar.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 25, 2012)

Watched La Haine again the other evening, still great.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 25, 2012)

I also loved Winter's Bone - was almost a film noir really, plotwise. Hillbilly noir.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 25, 2012)

I'll be going to see Hunger Games next week on the strength of Lawrence's performance.

/dex mutates into a twihard


----------



## Reno (Mar 25, 2012)

The Help. Simplistic and manipulative and the type of film engineered to appeal to Oscar voters. I probably should have hated it and yet it was rather watchable thanks to a great cast. Octavia Spencer absolutely deserved her Oscar for best supporting performance.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 25, 2012)

Belushi said:


> Watched La Haine again the other evening, still great.


Never great.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 25, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Never great.


You not a fan then?


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 25, 2012)

Worthless.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 25, 2012)




----------



## Badgers (Mar 25, 2012)

Big Lebowski


----------



## Greebo (Mar 25, 2012)

Hot Tub Time Machine


----------



## discokermit (Mar 25, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Worthless.


c'mon. not even this?


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 25, 2012)

Abs rubbish


----------



## discokermit (Mar 25, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Edward G. Robinson.


he is ace. if you like him, check out "scarlet street", if you haven't already. his performance is fantastic.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 25, 2012)

discokermit said:


> c'mon. not even this?


Watching again that's astonishing.


----------



## discokermit (Mar 25, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Abs rubbish


no. no no no. that scene is great.


----------



## discokermit (Mar 25, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Watching again that's astonishing.


in a good or bad way?


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 25, 2012)

In a very good way


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 25, 2012)

discokermit said:


> no. no no no. that scene is great.


I meant the whole film was rubbish - i might need to see again.


----------



## discokermit (Mar 25, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> In a very good way


i think it's a very good film. i don't know much about life in the banlieue but it certainly resonated with my experiences in heathtown, even down to a more kitchen sink than poetic realist version of that scene i posted and having lived through the experience of life on an estate under police occupation.

you should watch it again and report back. i'd be interested to hear a critique.


----------



## discokermit (Mar 26, 2012)

i mean, what a great opening,


----------



## Riklet (Mar 26, 2012)

La Haine is brilliant, worth watching it again for sure..

Been watching También la Lluvia (Even the Rain) which is about a film crew doing a film on Christopher Columbus, which they're filming on the cheap in Bolivia.  It's enjoyable n pretty powerful, as they witness n get drawn into the conflict over the privatisation of the water supply and the protests against it.  It was written by Paul Laverty apparently, n should be better known as a film!


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 26, 2012)

_La Rupture_ - Very weird, a mix of horror, psychological thriller and melodrama by Claude Chabrol. Found it quite hard to get into, it was just so strange.

_Le Cercle Rouge_ - Another Melville and again absolutely great, whole cast is fantastic and the movie just works brilliantly from the start, with the meeting of Corey and Vogel, through to the heist and then the final showdown.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 26, 2012)

redsquirrel said:
			
		

> La Rupture - Very weird, a mix of horror, psychological thriller and melodrama by Claude Chabrol. Found it quite hard to get into, it was just so strange.
> 
> Le Cercle Rouge - Another Melville and again absolutely great, whole cast is fantastic and the movie just works brilliantly from the start, with the meeting of Corey and Vogel, through to the heist and then the final showdown.



 His second absolute masterpiece.


----------



## kittyP (Mar 26, 2012)

The Big Lebowski
The Boat that Rocked.
Leon.

I was feeling the need for stuff that I knew (apart from The Boat that Rocked) that I loved but did not really need to concentrate on iykwim?


----------



## kittyP (Mar 26, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _La Rupture_ - Very weird, a mix of horror, psychological thriller and melodrama by Claude Chabrol. Found it quite hard to get into, it was just so strange.
> 
> _Le Cercle Rouge_ - Another Melville and again absolutely great, whole cast is fantastic and the movie just works brilliantly from the start, with the meeting of Corey and Vogel, through to the heist and then the final showdown.


 
I feel these are films that I would like to (at least try and) watch. 

MOGGY!!!!!!!! 

He might hear if I cap loud enough


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 26, 2012)

Chirac took his entire cabinet to see La Haine. Which is not a good sign.


----------



## rekil (Mar 26, 2012)

Fires On The Plain. Should be in everyone's top 10 war fillums. Monkey meat.  

Ballad of A Soldier. A soviet soldier is given a few days leave after destroying a couple of tanks so he goes home to fix the roof on this mam's house and meets a girl on the train. Fascinating interview with director and stalingrad veteran Greg Chukhray on the dvd. Half the crew mutinied because they thought the film was lightweight pish. Eejits.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 26, 2012)

Do yourself a favour and watch Kon Ichikawa's other great war film The Burmese Harp (if you haven't already of course).


----------



## rekil (Mar 26, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Do yourself a favour and watch Kon Ichikawa's other great war film The Burmese Harp (if you haven't already of course).


Yep, I have it here and will watch it sometime this week.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 26, 2012)

discokermit said:


> he is ace. if you like him, check out "scarlet street", if you haven't already. his performance is fantastic.


 
You're right about Scarlet Street. Crime does not pay - _and how. _



Riklet said:


> Been watching También la Lluvia (Even the Rain) which is about a film crew doing a film on Christopher Columbus, which they're filming on the cheap in Bolivia. It's enjoyable n pretty powerful, as they witness n get drawn into the conflict over the privatisation of the water supply and the protests against it. It was written by Paul Laverty apparently, n should be better known as a film!


 
I saw the trailer for this the other night. Looks very good, I have to say.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 26, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> His second absolute masterpiece.


Army of Shadows being the other one? Or Le Samourai?


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 26, 2012)

Oops. His third masterpiece - for some reason i thought le samourai was 1970 and Cercle rouge 1967.


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 26, 2012)

*Birth*    Nicole Kidman is on top form in this one! Very classy film with a superb soundtrack. The director spends to much time filming Kidmans face but it held my attention throughout;'.,
Perfect for early sunday mornin in bed. Disappointed in the ending though!


----------



## Reno (Mar 26, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Birth* Nicole Kidman is on top form in this one! Very classy film with a superb soundtrack. The director spends to much time filming Kidmans face but it held my attention throughout;'.,
> Perfect for early sunday mornin in bed. Disappointed in the ending though!


 
I'm glad you liked it. I love that film and think it's the most underrated film of the last decade. It floppede because it was mismarketed as a The Sixth Sense style supernatural mystery and the paedophila accusations by tabloids didn'd help. On re-watching it, the ending works really well and I find Kidman's climactic breakdown at her wedding just devastating. The twist is more subtle than the supernatural one initially suggested and I like the questions it leaves you with at the end. If only she was aware of her dead husband's affair, she would probably be able to break the cycle of grief which has become like an addiction to her that consumes her life. Glazer is a fantastic director and the film reminded me in equal parts of Kubrick, Polanski and Bunuel.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 26, 2012)

*Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within ...* as the title implies, this goes beyond the usual catalogue of cliched shoot-em-up favela tourism and delves much more deeply than the first Elite Squad film into the higher-level networks of corruption and political graft which actually run the armed warfare on some Brazilian streets. Dizzyingly complicated at times (shifting allegiances to different ranks and grades of corruption, etc), not enough non-white characters and some of the dramatic, human background can seem as if they just lobbed it in on a whim rather than developing the characters as human beings rather than puppet straw men. But fascinating - if only because its politics are so hard to read, (or at least hard to pin down as "being provocative in all directions".) I read a review which said it 'flirted with both fascism and socialism' and that's sort of right. Be interesting to know what other urbs think and I would recommend it, with caveats.

*The Illusionist - *cos it was on telly. Mostly pointless movie with Edward Norton (supposedly a grand magician) and Paul Giamatti (supposedly a chief of police) historically very much adrift in late 1890s Vienna, while Rufus Sewell as the murderous Crown Prince chews the odd bit of skirting board in the background. Not really worth watching except for some of the visual effects trying to conjure up the era - interesting flickering-light settings, frame surrounds and nice colour work etc which almost manage to convince you. Total damp squib as a thriller, though.


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Mar 26, 2012)

Watched Naked last night - my fav. film. David Thewlis was inspired in this, apparently a lot of his lines were ad libbed. Very powerful but depressing film that always whacks me in the face with hard hitting reality. This was part of the extreme series on Film Four shown after the nine o'clock films this week. I think there a few decent ones due to be screened.

On the subject of La Haine, I was told by a couple of French dudes a few years back that there was a similar film called Baton Rouge. I've not seen this listed on the IMDB, so was wondering if anyone knows about this?


----------



## belboid (Mar 26, 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bâton_rouge_(film)

Sounds almost entirely unlike La Haine, except for its inital setting


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Mar 26, 2012)

belboid said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bâton_rouge_(film)
> 
> Sounds almost entirely unlike La Haine, except for its inital setting


 
Cheers, I make you right about that.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Mar 26, 2012)

copliker said:


> Ballad of A Soldier. A soviet soldier is given a few days leave after destroying a couple of tanks so he goes home to fix the roof on this mam's house and meets a girl on the train. Fascinating interview with director and stalingrad veteran Greg Chukhray on the dvd. Half the crew mutinied because they thought the film was lightweight pish. Eejits.


 
Good pick. One of three ottepel-period films from the former paratrooper. The others being The Forty-First, a civil war adventure/romance remake of a silent film based on a not so good novel, and Clear Skies, conforming to Socialist Realism in its style while at its core being severely critical of Stalinism.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 26, 2012)

Reno said:


> I'm glad you liked it. I love that film and think it's the most underrated film of the last decade. It floppede because it was mismarketed as a The Sixth Sense style supernatural mystery and the paedophila accusations by tabloids didn'd help. On re-watching it, the ending works really well and I find Kidman's climactic breakdown at her wedding just devastating. The twist is more subtle than the supernatural one initially suggested and I like the questions it leaves you with at the end. If only she was aware of her dead husband's affair, she would probably be able to break the cycle of grief which has become like an addiction to her that consumes her life. Glazer is a fantastic director and the film reminded me in equal parts of Kubrick, Polanski and Bunuel.


Yeah I thought Birth was underrated. Really quite different.
Incidentally, I found this list which it's on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/aug/19/cinema-lost-unknown-classics.
Which includes an Anthony Mann film


> *Men in War (1957)*
> 
> Director Anthony Mann is well known for his Jimmy Stewart westerns (from Winchester '73 to The Man from Laramie), but until a few years ago it was not clear whether any prints of Men in War survived. The film was rescued, but still the public has not caught up with Mann's black-and-white masterpiece about the Korean war. Every moment of the film is in the open air as we see a lost platoon trying to get back to its own lines. The officer in charge (Robert Ryan) is a bleak liberal doing his best, and the story tracks the conflict between him and a sergeant (Aldo Ray) who fights without rules or limits. But the whole thing is observed through Mann's lucid, infinite gaze and while we hardly ever see, much less recognise, the enemy, Men in War remains one of the best combat movies ever made.


Anyone seem this? I'm a massive fan of Mann's Westerns.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 27, 2012)

Project Nim.  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/project_nim/

A documentary about a 1970s experiment to see if a chimp can be taught to communicate with humans.   Fascinating, uplifting, depressing, gripping, sometimes horrifying.   Film of Nim interspersed with interviews with those who came into contact with him.   Nim's life is shaped by those around him....it's a pity most of them were human.

However, it's amazing.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 28, 2012)

A Community marathon.

I'm glad I gave that show a second chance. Wonderful.


----------



## Reno (Mar 28, 2012)

*Miss Bala*, Mexican thriller closely based on the real case of a beauty peagant contestant who found herself at the wrong place at the wrong time and who became a pawn in a gangland drug war. This could have been great because it's a potentially gripping story, but when it should gather momentum in the second half it becomes less involving and more and more repetitive and I lost interest.


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Mar 28, 2012)

Import/Export - about economic migrants from Ukraine to Austria. Very gritty, showed glimpses of exploitation within porn/au pair/cleaning industries.  Most memorable part was the sight of a character relieving himself on a 100 yard gully of debris in a grotesque high rise estate in Ukraine. Pretty depressing stuff.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 28, 2012)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Starring Gary Oldman as Obi Wan Kenobi.

My Mum sent this from home. I enjoyed it, in spite of the fact that the review in that fucking rag the Economist gave away the key twist. Bastards. But yes, as good as it was cracked up to be.


----------



## starfish (Mar 28, 2012)

Dr Alimantado said:


> Import/Export - about economic migrants from Ukraine to Austria. Very gritty, showed glimpses of exploitation within porn/au pair/cleaning industries. Most memorable part was the sight of a character relieving himself on a 100 yard gully of debris in a grotesque high rise estate in Ukraine. Pretty depressing stuff.


 
We V+'d that for future viewing.

Watched Bennys Video on saturday. A rather haunting performance from Arno Frisch as Benny. He was equally disturbing in the original Funny Games.


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Mar 28, 2012)

starfish said:


> We V+'d that for future viewing.
> Watched Bennys Video on saturday. A rather haunting performance from Arno Frisch as Benny. He was equally disturbing in the original Funny Games.


 You'll have to be in the right mood for Import/Export. I did see the start of Bennys Video, but I bottled it, having read the review & knowing the dark way it was heading. Dogtooth (Greek black comedy) seems worth a punt on Film 4, 11.15 tonight.


----------



## starfish (Mar 28, 2012)

Dr Alimantado said:


> You'll have to be in the right mood for Import/Export. I did see the start of Bennys Video, but I bottled it, having read the review & knowing the dark way it was heading. Dogtooth (Greek black comedy) seems worth a punt on Film 4, 11.15 tonight.


 
Dogtooth is weird, with a capital weird. The most dysfunctional family set up since Visitor Q.
Bennys Video was ok, dark but ok. I think the bigger deal is how his parents deal/cope with what he does.


----------



## Reno (Mar 28, 2012)

I can't stand Dogtooth. Dumb "look how weird we can get" freak show masquerading as a sociology lesson.


----------



## maya (Mar 30, 2012)

The Guns Of Navarone: Lots of mountain climbing, David Niven sporting the Great British Moustache, evil nazi baddies, ...exploding mountains! All in glorious Technicolor. What more could you possibly want?

(OK, so it's not that good really... but I'm humming the theme tune.)


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## belboid (Mar 30, 2012)

our latest Lovefilm has arrived, and its a right cracker!

Marsden Rail - 30 - Sheffield & North Derbyshire (inc. the Woodhead route!)

Cant decide whether to watch it tonight or to save it as a special treat for after the Figure Skating on sunday...


----------



## Chemster (Mar 31, 2012)

Stargate Universe Season 1.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 31, 2012)

Made in Dagenham - A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination. Nice soundtrack


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 31, 2012)

Son of Rambow


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 31, 2012)

Any comments you two?


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 31, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Any comments you two?


 
It reminded me a bit of Super 8, plus it was nice to see a British film that isn't about gangsters or the aristocracy.

Being pedantic, I was quite annoyed that Siouxsie & the Banshees "Peekaboo" was in it, as that wasn't released until 89/90, iirc & the film is set circa 83/84. Also, I was bemused that the "cool" French kid, Didier was idolised by everyone. If someone dressed in that get up in my school, they would have got the crap kicked out of them.


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## redsquirrel (Apr 1, 2012)

Un Flic - Melville's last film, the super cool Alain Delon playing a cop this time. Not quite in the same league as Le Cercle Rouge IMO but still absolutely fantastic. The two robberies are both superb, the bank heist taking place in the poring rain is both tense and looks great and then the theft on the train with the time running down is just classic Melville.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 1, 2012)

Puss in boots. Fairly MOR kids stuff, not enough in it for the adults and that egg looked really creepy.

Mission Impossible ghost wotsit. An enjoyable mindless romp, can@t remember what happened in the end though.

Muppets. Not exactly an involving plot, but surprisingly touching and enjoyable (for what it is). Or was it the wine?


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 1, 2012)

Four episodes from series one of Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia- very addictive comedy set in a bar.


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## Mapped (Apr 1, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> Four episodes from series one of Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia- very addictive comedy set in a bar.


 
I love this show, it gets very, very degenerate 

Not a proper film, but I watched Don't Think http://www.dontthinkmovie.com/made from a Chemical Bros gig at the Fuji rock festival. Mightily enjoyable concert film


----------



## thriller (Apr 1, 2012)

downloaded fright night (remake). will watch later. seems to have got good reviews and looks a good popcorn movie, judging by the trailer.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 1, 2012)

Yeah it's enjoyable, Farrell and Tennant ham it up nicely which is fine as the first one was like that with those two characters.


----------



## starfish (Apr 1, 2012)

Finally watched Inglorious Basterds (well most of it, i dozed off for the first hour), typical Tarantino. Also watched Bug, Ashley Judd & Michael Shannon go mental in a shitty hotel room.


ETA, when i said typical Tarantino i didnt mean about me dozing off, i meant the film in general.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 1, 2012)

"Mongol" and "Red Cliff". Woo's film is tremendous fun, over the top, comic book sequences and that talk of unity that is a subtle as a brick. Dying to see the proper 2 part 5 hr version!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Apr 1, 2012)

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" - really enjoyed it, a couple of plot points that I was a bit  about but generally thought it was a good film and a welcome addition to the "Planet of the Apes" series


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 1, 2012)

I Was a Male War Bride:



Nowadays, "rom-com" is a synonym for "awful rubbish", but this little effort starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan is worth an hour and forty minutes of my time, if not yours.


----------



## Termite Man (Apr 1, 2012)

just watched Buth Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, last night I watched Bubba Ho Tep


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 1, 2012)

Watched a few 70s disaster movies I hadn't seen in years, I was reminded how much I love these films when people mentioned some of the classics on the Lifts in films thread.

When Time Ran Out (Paul Newham has to deal with an exploding volcano) - Irwin Allen packs it full of familar faces but it's a pretty poor effort.
Meteor (Sean Connery has to deal with a giant meteor) - starts off a bit slow & lacking in action but picks up at the end when a chunk of meteor hits New York.
Two-Minute Warning (Charlton Heston has to deal with a sniper at an american football stadium) I loved this film when I was a nipper & I'm glad to see it's still excellent, really builds the tension nicely.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 2, 2012)

Watched the last two in series one of Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia and I am hooked. Very very good comedy.


----------



## ringo (Apr 2, 2012)

Stakeland - dreadful vampire film.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 2, 2012)

Hall Pass - mildly enjoyable comedy with some good bits here and there. Ok for a sunday night post hangover lazearound kinda movie


----------



## Mapped (Apr 2, 2012)

Magic Trip - Documentary about Ken Kessey and the Merry Pranksters acid fuelled bus trip to the World's Fair. It's 90 mins long, but apparently they had to wade through over 100 hours of archive footage that these trippers filmed during the journey.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Apr 2, 2012)

Hugo.

Disappointing. An unlikeable main character, and some strange performances.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 2, 2012)

N1 Buoy said:


> Magic Trip - Documentary about Ken Kessey and the Merry Pranksters acid fuelled bus trip to the World's Fair. It's 90 mins long, but apparently they had to wade through over 100 hours of archive footage that these trippers filmed during the journey.


 
Is it any good?


----------



## Mapped (Apr 2, 2012)

Yeah. I think the edit must have sugar coated their trip a bit, there's some internal turmoil and people 'getting off the bus' but with the amount of acid they were taking it had to have got a lot darker than the doc shows.

They also mention the 'ultimate psychedelic' IC220 or something, which I can't find any reference to anywhere outside this film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 2, 2012)

Planet of the Apes (1968).  Surprisingly enjoyable after all those years.


----------



## magneze (Apr 2, 2012)

Miss Baja - A beauty queen contestant gets mixes up in Mexican drug wars. An excellent, if somewhat depressing, film. We had to rewind a couple of bits to be sure about what happened as it was occasionally confusing. There are little details that make you think. As the IMDB comments suggest, it's not a film in the US model where everything is explained for you and made really obvious.


----------



## ringo (Apr 2, 2012)

N1 Buoy said:


> Magic Trip - Documentary about Ken Kessey and the Merry Pranksters acid fuelled bus trip to the World's Fair. It's 90 mins long, but apparently they had to wade through over 100 hours of archive footage that these trippers filmed during the journey.


 
Have you read Tom Wolfe's book (Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) on this? Be interested to hear how the two marry up. I'd like to see it, can't imagine they all come across as particularly likeable, but their place in drug lore can't be doubted.


----------



## Reno (Apr 2, 2012)

magneze said:


> Miss Baja - A beauty queen contestant gets mixes up in Mexican drug wars. An excellent, if somewhat depressing, film. We had to rewind a couple of bits to be sure about what happened as it was occasionally confusing. There are little details that make you think. As the IMDB comments suggest, it's not a film in the US model where everything is explained for you and made really obvious.


 
The film is called "Miss Bala" (a pun, which translates as Miss Bullet). I watched it last week. I thought it started well and then ran out of steam in the second half. What about it made you think ?


----------



## Mapped (Apr 2, 2012)

ringo said:


> Have you read Tom Wolfe's book (Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) on this? Be interested to hear how the two marry up. I'd like to see it, can't imagine they all come across as particularly likeable, but their place in drug lore can't be doubted.


 
I've been meaning to read it, MrsN1 has it in her collection which is unfortunately in boxes at the moment. Ken Kessey comes across like a bit of a cunt in the film IMO and a few travellers were very happy to get off the bus.


----------



## madzone (Apr 2, 2012)

I've just  watched Passion Play.

Worra loada toss.


----------



## ringo (Apr 2, 2012)

N1 Buoy said:


> I've been meaning to read it, MrsN1 has it in her collection which is unfortunately in boxes at the moment. Ken Kessey comes across like a bit of a cunt in the film IMO and a few travellers were very happy to get off the bus.


 
Yep, I imagine Neal Cassidy was hard work too.


----------



## Mapped (Apr 2, 2012)

ringo said:


> Yep, I imagine Neal Cassidy was hard work too.


 
He came across as absolutely hilarious. A proper mentalist


----------



## magneze (Apr 2, 2012)

Reno said:


> The film is called "Miss Bala" (a pun, which translates as Miss Bullet). I watched it last week. I thought it started well and then ran out of steam in the second half. What about it made you think ?


The bit when she's looking out from under the bed and the ending. We replayed that a couple of times. Where was she?


----------



## Zabo (Apr 2, 2012)

_Closer To The Edge_

The Film about Guy Martin and the Isle Of Man TT. Outstanding in every way. On par with _Faster, Faster._ A film that draws one in. Wish I'd seen it in 3D but nonetheless it stands on its own as a very well made documentary. The flaming bike scene was incredible!

5/5


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 4, 2012)

_Thirst_ - Park Chan-Wook's vampire film. Some absolutely lovely moments, like when he's hanging upside down like a bat on the guttering, but the film as a whole seemed less than the sum of its parts. Perhaps because the characters weren't drawn as fully as I think they needed to be.

_The Conformist_ - Finally got around to watching this after downloading it ages ago. Ever bit as good as everyone says. Achingly beautiful, brilliantly acted top notch.


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Apr 4, 2012)

Starter for 10.
I liked this film for the nostalgia - set in 1985 uni. scene, I thought the style was spot on. Passage of rites film, with some reference to the class shitstem, but it was essentially a feel good film. Lot of Cure/Smiths in soundtrack. I thought Rebbeca Hall nailed her part as what she called a student who "appeared more worldly wise, than she was" - I remember that aspect to loads of people where I went. James McAvoy did a great mockney part for a weegie.


----------



## Firky (Apr 5, 2012)

Iron Lady

Quite a confusing film that doesn't know whether it is about Maggie herself, dementia in general or a very shallow epilogue. Wasn't the gushing film I thought it was going to be.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 5, 2012)

Diva. Tres elegant French crime thriller from 1981. A young postman and opera buff gets more than he bargained for after he pirates a famous diva's singing.


----------



## Greebo (Apr 5, 2012)

The entire series of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy


----------



## Badgers (Apr 5, 2012)

Greebo said:
			
		

> The entire series of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy



Win


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 7, 2012)

Hot Enough for June.

Dirk Bogarde is a young aspiring novelist who is tricked into spying in communist Czechoslovakia for MI6. Lighthearted but forgettable comedy thriller.

Also featuring Leo McKern as a Czech intelligence chief.


----------



## starfish (Apr 7, 2012)

The Muppets. Brilliant, hilarious.


----------



## lighterthief (Apr 7, 2012)

silverfish said:


> Knuckle,  documentary on irish travellers fighting each other over 10 years.


Watched this this evening.  Nature red in tooth and claw, veered between grim and utterly fascinating.


----------



## Reno (Apr 8, 2012)

My friend brought her teenage boys round and we watched The Godfather on my big screen. Still flawless and the boys weren't bored.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 8, 2012)

Watched ATM over the weekend 
The user review on IMDB sums it up well


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 8, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Hot Enough for June.
> 
> Dirk Bogarde is a young aspiring novelist who is tricked into spying in communist Czechoslovakia for MI6. Lighthearted but forgettable comedy thriller.
> 
> Also featuring Leo McKern as a Czech intelligence chief.


Hah, just downloaded that, haven't got around to watching it yet.

_Possession_ - the Sam Neill, Isabel Adjani one rather than the dreadful adaptation of AS Byatt's book. Whatever you think of the film you have to give it to Adjani for absolutely giving it her all. What with this and going to see A Dangerous Method at the cinema I've seen quite a lot of hysterical women on the screen this weekend.

_The Last of England_ - first Derek Jarman film I've seen, I really liked the 1st half with the narration but I think it could lose about a third if the running time and work just as well.


----------



## Mapped (Apr 8, 2012)

Rum Diaries - I love a bit of Hunter 
Life in a day - Documentary made up of folks youtube clips, excellent viewing!


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 8, 2012)

Sans Dessein/Lost Cause.

Supernatural comedy from Quebec. Very silly, but great fun.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 8, 2012)

I've been watching the series MI5, I think called 'Spooks' in the UK.

Sometimes the plots are a bit over the top, but the characterization is excellent.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 9, 2012)

Bringing Up Baby on the iPlayer which is a great B&W comedy and wifeys favourite


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 9, 2012)

Both discs (Concert and documentary) of Iron Maiden's_ "!En Vivo!" . _I have metal fatigue.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 9, 2012)

Dr Alimantado said:


> Starter for 10.I liked this film for the nostalgia - set in 1985 uni. scene, I thought the style was spot on


 
What ruined Starter For Ten for me, was the soundtrack. "Pictures Of You" by The Cure. Came out 1989. The film? Set 1985. Such little music niggles totally take me out of the film. Totally. I know my music enough to know when songs come out ; broke the reality of the setting.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 9, 2012)

Un Prophete & season 4 of Being Human


----------



## Garek (Apr 9, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Rollerball.
> 
> 
> A grim dystopian tale of a world ruled by giant corporations, where the masses are distracted with the spectacle of an ultra-violent sport, the "rollerball" of the title. These sci-fi people and their crazy ideas, I ask you.
> ...




After watching this last week, I am following it up this week with The Running Man.

On a more serious note I have also seen Winter's Bone which I thought was a fine film, with fantastic acting from the lead.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 9, 2012)

first 4 episodes of Spiral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_(TV_series)

excellent, a French Wire/Shield/Law and Order hybrid


----------



## Garek (Apr 9, 2012)

Garek said:


> After watching this last week, I am following it up this week with The Running Man.


 
This film is terrible. I used to like it, but then that was when I was 13. 

Arnold Swa.. Is a cunt.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 9, 2012)

12...Russian remake of 12 Angry Men. I really don't see what the point of it was at all. It's an hour longer than the original and other than looking nice and polished adds nothing of note.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 9, 2012)

Started watchin Weeds and i really wanted ta like it but the skinny bird in it started ta get on me tits a bit. Yeah theres thiers theirs sum great lines in it and the owd bird wiv cancer is pretty funny but they tried crammin two much into the 20 odd minutes. They shoulda made longer episodes like breakin bad an the like.


----------



## kittyP (Apr 9, 2012)

The other night we watched ATM.

What the fuck...? 

Has anyone else seen this coz I am very confused if I missed a big 'something' or it was just really stupid..?


----------



## Belushi (Apr 9, 2012)

marty21 said:


> first 4 episodes of Spiral
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_(TV_series)
> 
> excellent, a French Wire/Shield/Law and Order hybrid


 
The later seasons aren't as good but I enjoyed the first.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 9, 2012)

*Mystery Train* (1989) This was the first Jim Jarmusch movie I ever saw and I wondered whether I'd enjoy it as much over twenty years later, but it stands up really well.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 10, 2012)

Excellent german (swiss director) sort of thriller The Silence, review elsewhere called it a _what happened next_ rather than a _whodunnit _which sums it up perfectly. Very tightly controlled (esp for a directorial debut), very tense and very thoughtful with top-notch characterisation. Nice to see these sort of films when they're done well and this one was.


----------



## Zabo (Apr 10, 2012)

_The Help_

A perfect film which says very loudly 'Fuck Off' to all those whose understanding of a good film resides somewhere up the dark crevices of their arse. 

Outstanding performances from the female ensemble. Brisk editing, invisible cinematography, outstanding period sets, wardrobe and hair. Humour, melodrama, culture conflict and importantly a film that  eschewed any pretensions and got on with what a film should be - telling a damn good story.

5/5


----------



## Cm7 (Apr 10, 2012)

*Legend of the 1900*

It made me smile but what a sad ending.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 10, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Conformist_ - Finally got around to watching this after downloading it ages ago. Ever bit as good as everyone says. Achingly beautiful, brilliantly acted top notch.


Best film of the 70s.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2012)

A very creepy little short from 1950s USA I think about how families should behave.

Can be seen here at about 5:47


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Apr 10, 2012)

StraightOuttaQ said:


> What ruined Starter For Ten for me, was the soundtrack. "Pictures Of You" by The Cure. Came out 1989. The film? Set 1985. Such little music niggles totally take me out of the film. Totally. I know my music enough to know when songs come out ; broke the reality of the setting.


 
Shame I wasn't into the Cure enough to spot that. Maybe that's where James McAvoy was coming from when he said the director produced a film that was how he (the director) remembered the times rather than how they were.

Last film was Knocked Up last night, comedy - a bit different from your average U.S. film. The same dude & (in effect) character from Pineapple Express - he was the best thing in it.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 10, 2012)

Tonight, Matthew, its crap movie night - Natasha Henridge & James Cromwell in "Impact!" a two night TV movie event. The moon is going to impact on Earth, innit? The CGI is shite...


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 11, 2012)

*My Week With Marilyn* Couldn't warm ta the women playing Marilyn at all! OK she got the mannerisms right most of the time but she didn't have the screen presence ta carry it off. I just kept thinkin thats not marilyn thats someone tryin ta play her. Didn't think brannagh was that good either as olivier, sayin that though the girlfriend really enjoyed it! horses fer courses innit!


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 11, 2012)

Oh aye, kid with a bike - never a bad move from these. Think chip barm liked it earlier in the thread  - anyone, look at these peoples past films, pick one, can't go wrong.


----------



## Zabo (Apr 11, 2012)

_This Must Be the Place_

Still thinking about this. Two words that spring to mind are peculiar and strange. Nice to see him in a non shouting role for a change. The D.P. seems to have been influenced by _Roy Andersson._

http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/this-must-be-the-place-v538548


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 11, 2012)

Reno did a thread on this. I still don't know.


----------



## Zabo (Apr 11, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Reno did a thread on this. I still don't know.


 
Yep. Not a bad read. Interesting.

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/this-must-be-the-place.290576/


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 11, 2012)

Seven Days in May.

Kirk Douglas and Ava Gardner in a tale of an attempted coup d'etat in Washington. Maybe not brilliant, but not bad at all - Dr. Strangelove without the jokes.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 12, 2012)

After watching the animated 'Batman Under the Red Hood' and 'Batman/Superman' I watched the older (by over a decade) Batman Mask of the Phantasm. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106364/

Just as with the other two I can highly recommend this, Red Hood for me is the best but I couldn't argue with anyone who put a good case for this.  Alfred gets some wonderful, sometimes hysterical, lines, it challenges Wayne's development...the creation of Phantasm and Batman in this universe is on par with Miller's Year One (and in one scene it seems to pay homage to Moore's Killing Joke).   There are glimpses of Joker's depths which, as in Red Hood, like the comics and of course Heath's performance, shows why he is such an important character.

I watched this on dvd but it's all over youtube (mask of the phantasm part 1) and I'm surprised at how much I'm recommending these films.


----------



## revol68 (Apr 12, 2012)

Notes on a scandal with Cate Blanchett and Judie Dench.

Jammy wee irish fuck.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 12, 2012)

Still watching M15. I've never seen a programme with more zest for killing off lead characters.


----------



## belboid (Apr 12, 2012)

having been unwell over the weekend, caught up with a few lightweight offerings that I'd meant to catch.


The Inbetweeners Movie - well, the first half hour of it. I could cope with entirely derivative nonsense if it were well done, or badly made films that are original, but this was neither.

Super 8 - better than expected. Good performances form the kids, kept us entertained, tho no more than that.

Wolverine - well....there's some nice scenery in it, lovely shots of Milford Sound. Otherwise, it's a real Pont l'Eveque

Quantum of Solace - confused, nonsensical, a bit all over the shop, but some good chase scenes.


I then realised that watching all that I'd missed an ultra-rare opportunity to see one of the latter Alex Cox movies! Thankfully this was sorted last night, when I watched Repo Chick. In almost no way a follow up to Repo Man, its an ultra-cheap slice of absurdity, lambasting US capitalism in the wake of Freddy & Fanny. A cracking speech about why we are all communists replaces the 'I blame society' one. Hugely entertaining, its still watchable on iplayer for another day or so


----------



## belboid (Apr 13, 2012)

Followed Repo Chick up with Cox's earlier 'micro-budget' (under $200k) movie, Searchers 2.0

Again, it has almost nothing to do with the movie it sounds like it should be a sequel to, but is the tale of two child actors going to seek their revenge on a cruel taskmaster of a screenwriter.  Filled with much fun debate around the nature of westerns and revenger movies, its another highly enjoyable romp across america, decrying the state of early 21st century cinema/capitalism


----------



## Zabo (Apr 13, 2012)

_Reykjavík-Rotterdam_

Not bad in the genre of crime thrillers. The usual stock in trade cast: ugly, psychopathic heavy, handsome reformed convict, wife and 2.3 kids, guns, police, fast cars but alas no kittens. A few twists and turns including a bit of double crossing but nothing out of the ordinary.

Sad news is that Wahlberg is going to Americanise it with the name _Contraband_.

Synopsis and clip

http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/reykjavik-rotterdam-v473518


3/5


----------



## belboid (Apr 13, 2012)

by 'going to', I presume you mean 'did' - its been out for the last couple of months


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 13, 2012)

Out already. I enjoyed it, good genre piece (not the remake). Got Baltasar Kormákur  directing (the remake) who did the great Jar City but whose other ones that i've seen have been disappointing.


----------



## Zabo (Apr 13, 2012)

belboid said:


> by 'going to', I presume you mean 'did' - its been out for the last couple of months


 
Drat! I'm fed up with time going by so quickly! Ne'er mind, I'll be up to speed for the Angolan remake of _The Sound Of Music._


----------



## mwgdrwg (Apr 13, 2012)

Got a totally guilty pleasure to admit to.

After watching Arrested Development and Twin Peaks (both my choices) as our daily late-night viewing on Netflix, the missus has got me watching Charmed!  It's completely shit but watchable. Heeeelp!


----------



## maya (Apr 13, 2012)

"Biggles: Adventures in Time" (1985).
The title says it all, really... Silly, nonsensical (slightly embarrassing, i.e. super cheesy, 'why-am-i-watching-this') 'fun'. But in case you _still_ want to know, here's a plot resumé:


> Unassuming catering salesman Jim Ferguson falls through a time hole to 1917 where he saves the life of dashing Royal Flying Corps pilot James "Biggles" Bigglesworth after his photo recon mission is shot down. Before he can work out what has happened, Jim is zapped back to the 1980s. With assistance from Biggles' former commanding officer Raymond (Peter Cushing) who lives in the Tower Bridge in London, Ferguson learns that he and Biggles are "time twins", spontaneously travelling through time when one or the other is in mortal danger. Together, Ferguson and Biggles fight across time and against the odds to stop the Germans changing the course of history by destroying a "Sound Weapon" with a Metropolitan police helicopter that was stolen by Biggles while escaping a SWAT Team in 1986 London.


... Phew!


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 13, 2012)

Steve Guttenberg. Peter Weller. Alex Kingston. Bryan Brown. C.Thomas Howell. And Rutger Hauer as the priest in the extended directors cut of TV movie event that is "The Poseidon Adventure", 2005. Utter crap made for TV shite.


----------



## Reno (Apr 13, 2012)

StraightOuttaQ said:


> Steve Guttenberg. Peter Weller. Alex Kingston. Bryan Brown. C.Thomas Howell. And Rutger Hauer as the priest in the extended directors cut of TV movie event that is "The Poseidon Adventure", 2005. Utter crap made for TV shite.


 
You seem to be having a bit of a festival of rubbish disaster TV mini-series going on.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 13, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> "Mongol" and "Red Cliff". Woo's film is tremendous fun, over the top, comic book sequences and that talk of unity that is a subtle as a brick. Dying to see the proper 2 part 5 hr version!


 
Both great films and Red Cliff is currently on Film 4


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 13, 2012)

Reno said:


> You seem to be having a bit of a festival of rubbish disaster TV mini-series going on.


 
Yep. Its the "What can I put on which I don't have to pay too much attention to whilst I potter around sorting out how sloppily disorganised my PC hard drive is" result. Which means I'll probably watch some other shit this evening. How about "Epicenter" starring Tarci Lords? Christ no...


----------



## Reno (Apr 13, 2012)

StraightOuttaQ said:


> Yep. Its the "What can I put on which I don't have to pay too much attention to whilst I potter around sorting out how sloppily disorganised my PC hard drive is" result. Which means I'll probably watch some other shit this evening. How about "Epicenter" starring Tarci Lords? Christ no...


 
Yes, I know that mood.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 13, 2012)

oh


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 13, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> [yt]pYPLTArkcU&feature=relmfu[/yt]
> 
> this


 
That's a good one that is


----------



## rekil (Apr 13, 2012)

Some kind soul has stuck State Of Siege up.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 14, 2012)

Four episodes of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 2. This is really very very good comedy .


----------



## Zabo (Apr 14, 2012)

_Osama_

What can I say but gobsmacked! Transfixed throughout.

If I was asked for a recommendation by somebody who had never watched a foreign film then I would tell them to make sure this is at the top of the list.

Truly incredible.

Synopsis and Clip

http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/osama-v286749 

5/5


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 14, 2012)

.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 14, 2012)

Deadwood series 3


----------



## discokermit (Apr 15, 2012)

kansas city confidential (1952). a few plot holes but with the tagline "exploding like a gun in your face!" and featuring jack elam and lee van cleef, you can't go too wrong.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Apr 15, 2012)

Just watched The Muppet Movie. It totally fails that woman test thing; Isla St Clair and Miss Piggy don't exchange a single word. Wtf is up with this shit? Really?


----------



## Greebo (Apr 15, 2012)

Priceless and Le Bossu


----------



## discokermit (Apr 15, 2012)

5t3IIa said:


> It totally fails that woman test thing;


what's that?


----------



## 5t3IIa (Apr 15, 2012)

discokermit said:


> what's that?



http://bechdeltest.com/


----------



## spawnofsatan (Apr 15, 2012)

A Clockwork Orange


----------



## discokermit (Apr 15, 2012)

5t3IIa said:


> http://bechdeltest.com/


ta.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 15, 2012)

Kill Bll 1

Not as good as first time round.   Hopefully the 2nd one is better later on.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 15, 2012)

Titanic in 3D. At the ex-Imax.  

*SPOILERS* - The Ship still sinks!


----------



## Badgers (Apr 15, 2012)

StraightOuttaQ said:
			
		

> Titanic in 3D.



What happens?


----------



## marty21 (Apr 15, 2012)

another 4 episodes of Spiral - fecking love it - just ordered season 1-3 , we were watching it on lovefilm but it takes too long


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 15, 2012)

Action.

Canadian documentary about the October Crisis of 1970.

http://www.nfb.ca/film/action_the_october_crisis_of_1970


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 15, 2012)

Badgers said:


> What happens?


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 15, 2012)

A Night To Remember (1958) - far better than Cameron's effort.


----------



## MBV (Apr 15, 2012)

Shame - film about a sex addict. Better than it sounds.


----------



## blairsh (Apr 16, 2012)

Crank - Saw it in Mozzers for two pounds and thought it would make the perfect, trashy as fuck, comedy action extravaganza for a lazy drunken Sunday evening.

It was just that


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 17, 2012)

_Simon Werner a disparu... AKA Lights Out -_ pretty good French thriller with the principle players being teenagers. The story is told from the perspective of four different characters. It's not outstanding or breaking the mold but it does what it does well. Soundtrack consists of Sonic Youth music from when they were good. 

 _Les felins AKA Joy House_ - Crap, despite Alain Delon's presence its shit. Jane Fonda is particularly bad but the whole film is stupid and tedious.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 17, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _Simon Werner a disparu... AKA Lights Out -_ pretty good French thriller with the principle players being teenagers. The story is told from the perspective of four different characters. It's not outstanding or breaking the mold but it does what it does well. Soundtrack consists of Sonic Youth music from when they were good.


 
Waited ages for english subs then it was just...good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 17, 2012)

The Awakening.  Old English style ghost story with Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Rebecca Hall.   Quite good, passable.   The acting is top class.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 17, 2012)

copliker said:


> Some kind soul has stuck State Of Siege up.




Thanks for posting the link. Watched it last night, very good.


----------



## Bakunin (Apr 17, 2012)

I found a proper bargain buy when I was in Tesco's last night. So I now own 'Closer To The Edge', a documentary about the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races, and shall no doubt enjoy an hour and forty minutes of motorbike madness as soon as I have the time. I'm thinking that there might well be a possible article in it as well.

Mine for only 7 quid as well.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 17, 2012)

*The Darkest Hour*/Coming toooooooo the pound shop near you! Cant really review it coz me brains shut down! Ive had more entertainment peelin spuds!!
Even in 10 years time when its offered ta you fer 10p on a car boot sale yall still go home and watch it and feel robbed..........Arse


----------



## pianissimo (Apr 17, 2012)

In Time

Interesting concept, but crap execution - poor plot, dialogue, acting etc...


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 17, 2012)

blairsh said:


> Crank - Saw it in Mozzers for two pounds and thought it would make the perfect, trashy as fuck, comedy action extravaganza for a lazy drunken Sunday evening.
> 
> It was just that


 
Try Crank 2. Its even more tasteless. 

last night: pet Shop Boys Live DVD and "Baltic Storm". The latter, is shite.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 17, 2012)

pianissimo said:


> In Time
> 
> Interesting concept, but crap execution - poor plot, dialogue, acting etc...


The first half is ok.   It doesn't do the right stuff in the second half and fails there.


----------



## Zabo (Apr 18, 2012)

_Hiljaisuus - Silence_

All I can say is thank goodness for the films of Aki Kaurismäki!

You could be forgiven for thinking that the entire budget was raised by a scruffy bunch of street urchins redeeming empty vodka bottles at the off-licence. Wooden acting, pitiful story and such languor that it would anaesthetise a cat for a year. I'm sure the train scene was courtesy of Hornby-Dublo.

Hang your head in shame Sakari Kirjavainen. 

0/5

Sanity was resumed by a viewing of Pitt's _Moneyball_. He's starting to look like Redford!

4/5


----------



## flypanam (Apr 19, 2012)

Red state - Kevin Smiths movie about religious nuts. Pretty good though no JaynSilentBob action. Sadly.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 19, 2012)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1047544/ 







"WarBirds" - a Sci Fi original TV movie from 2008.

Its even worse than it sounds. The Atomic Bomb is being transported to Tinian on a B29 (not the Indianapolis) , and it gets attacked by Flying Dinosaurs. They crashland on a Japanese held atoll, and then it gets even sillier as they try to escape before nuking all the dinosaurs, climbing to avoid the mushroom cloud but with two engines out. And the worse CGI I've ever seen.

Throughout which, the team of female civilian pilots (transporting the first nuke in the world, yeah right!) remain with perfect lipgloss and immaculate hair. I'm sure there's some pun about "Birds" and female pilots too.

My god, this makes Uwe Boll movies look good.Atrocious.


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2012)

*Corman's World*. Entertaining if slightly superficial documentary on B-move director/producer and godfather of New Hollywood Roger Corman. As it's a cinema documentary it has a lot of big names in it they wouldn't have gotten for some TV or DVD special. Jack Nicholson bursts into tears while reminiscing at one point, which is rather startling.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 20, 2012)

StraightOuttaQ said:


> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1047544/
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Actually during the war. . .


US air force planes were delivered to their stations by members of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_Airforce_Service_Pilots


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2012)

StraightOuttaQ said:


> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1047544/
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

This must be its ancestor:



In the run for the dumbest looking movie monster ever.


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 20, 2012)

The 1997 documentary 'East Side Story', which tells the story of the handful of musicals made in the Soviet Union and elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc.

The East German musicals look pretty good.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (Apr 20, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Actually during the war. .
> 
> 
> US air force planes were delivered to their stations by members of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots
> ...


 
These B29's were flying over Japanese occupied Islands, loaded down with ammunition, carrying an Atomic Bomb. I suspect somehow, that dramatic license had been used.

It's dreadful.


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 21, 2012)

There's Only One Jimmy Grimble

Brought back warm memories of reading Billy's Boots as a kid.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 21, 2012)

Reggae Brittania. Talking heads. Reggae. More talking heads.

was good


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 21, 2012)

_De La Guerre/On War_ - Pretentious crap.


----------



## Greebo (Apr 21, 2012)

The Infidel


----------



## pepper78 (Apr 21, 2012)

Drive - its got an unexpected 80's vibe and some minging violent bits. I'm undecided as to how much I enjoyed it at the moment


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Apr 21, 2012)

"Super 8" - didn't know what to expect and i really enjoyed it. Thought the kids were very good


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 21, 2012)

Little White Lies...I suspect it was supposed to be funny in parts, and that some may love it. It wasn't my kind of film at all although the performances were good.

Dreams of a Life...I'd heard good things about this but I didn't think it was all that good really. I didn't get anything from it that I hadn't already read.


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2012)

Game Change, the HBO drama about Sarah Palin and the run up to the 2008 presidential election. Pretty good, entertaining and scary as fuck. With Julianne Moore fantastic and spookily believable as Palin.


----------



## Kidda (Apr 22, 2012)

I've been enjoying my first full Saturday off in ages with 

Sleepless in Seattle 
Cast Away 
Dirty Dancing

With a little bit of Top Gun whilst i was picking another film.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 22, 2012)

*The Three Faces of Eve* What a stunning performance from Joanne Woodward playin a women with multiple personality disorder (Based on a true story) 
Perfect film for a sunday afternoon lazin on the sofa


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Apr 23, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Super 8" - didn't know what to expect and i really enjoyed it. Thought the kids were very good


 
I hardly think that's appropriate for children!


Edit: sorry my mistake


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 23, 2012)

_Leave Her To Heaven_ - Technicolour film noir starring Gen Tierney as insanely jealous wife. Looks good but it's so overblown that I just couldn't get into it.
_The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid_ - Another version of the James-Younger gang's story. This is very much focussed on the raid itself and has some nice touches, the comedic tone and the portrayal of the James brothers as idiots and thugs, it makes Cole Younger the main character. Cliff Robertson and Robert Duvall both do a nice job playing Cole Younger and Jesse James, respectively.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 23, 2012)

Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows. Not as good as the first and slightly undermined by BBC's more cerebral interpretation but still an  enjoyable no effort Sunday night romp.


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 24, 2012)

Populärmusik från Vittula

A Swedish coming of age movie from 2004, which is adapted from an incredibly successful book of the same name.


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2012)

The Australian found footage horror film The Tunnel. After the excellent Absentia and the rubbish Urban Explorer this is the third tunnel based horror film I've seen this year. This one was middling, with the usual running around with a shaky cam and then it had a couple of creepy moments towards the end. Most interesting thing about it was that you could download it for free from their website.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Apr 24, 2012)

A few of these -
Nuclear War in Britain: Home Front Civil Defence Films DVD, 1951-1987

The early ones from the 1950's seem so naive now and are full, as the review below says, of keep your dander up, Blitz spirit. Fascinating though. Not just how nuclear war and civil defence were viewed but as a social record of the times. There are accents which you just don't hear now, not even in the confines of Buckingham Palace!

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/film/dvd/Nuclear-War-in-Britain-Home-Front-Civil-Defence-Films/


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2012)

The last episode of season 2 of Rupaul's Drag Race. Devastated that Tyra won.


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Apr 24, 2012)

Watched Serenity again (just finished Firefly so figured the film would be a good watch again).


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 24, 2012)

Only just noticed I'd seen two on more or less the same subject but with utterly different approaches over the weekend...

*A Better Life -* pretty glib, slick, handwringing liberal drama about the lives and struggles of a Mexican gardener working as a gardener in Los Angeles, with no papers, and a son on the brink of joining local gangs. Very very inauthentic and wet/condescending in its politics, but well filmed and with some terrific acting from Damian Bichir (who played Fidel in CHE and I think got oscar-nominated for Better Life). Clearly made with the aim of trying to persuade anti-immigration republican types in the US to try and see 'illegals' as real people, so if you're not part of that target audience it fatally lacks crackle and real life though.

and...
*The Yellow Sea* - a bonkers high-octane bloodsoaked Korean epic (is there any other kind of movie from there?) about the life and struggles of an ethnic-Korean citizen of China working as a contract killer in South Korea. After his wife has taken off for Seoul and dumped him, he ends up being contracted to go to S Korea, settle accounts with her and do a murder for a local gang boss while he's at it. Some interesting stuff in there I'd never heard or seen anything about, this world of ethnic Koreans within China, their crap status as illegals when or if they make it to S Korea; made with terrific energy and suspense in parts. (It's made by the same guy who made the very gruesome but v good THE CHASER so perhaps not surprising.) But like I said, as you can expect, it turns into a massive long protracted brawl with buckets of gore, dozens of guys running around with hammers and cleavers and a hero who survives astonishing numbers of usually-lethal injuries, not one but two baffling crunchy car chases and a dramatically unsatisfying ending. Way derivative of Sympathy for Mr Vengeance in bits, and it doesn't have the same satirical snap of a lot of more recent Korean films. 


It might not sound like it but both of these were perfectly good ways to spend a few hours - you wouldn't hate them.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 25, 2012)

After a long hiatus, I watched another old video nasty - Island Of Death. It's bonkers basically. Totally unpredictable. A couple arrive on a small Greek island and, well, stuff happens. It's a tad homophobic and if you like goats, don't watch it. Unusually for a video nasty, it's British and it has a fanstastic soundtrack, with a theme song covered by many a nobody goth/death metal band


----------



## andy2002 (Apr 27, 2012)

*The Thing (2011):* A very poor prequel with none of the tension, humour or depraved body horror of John Carpenter's film.


----------



## ringo (Apr 27, 2012)

The first DVD (2 hours) of Schindlers List.

Grim, but a lot easier to watch than Auschwitz: The final Solution. It is what is I guess, the grim tale with a Hollywood shine on it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 27, 2012)

It's a feelgood Holocaust movie. Have you seen Life Is Beautiful? That's much worse. It's a lolocaust movie.


----------



## ringo (Apr 27, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> It's a feelgood Holocaust movie. Have you seen Life Is Beautiful? That's much worse. It's a lolocaust movie.


 
Very good, not sure I want to see that then


----------



## Badgers (Apr 27, 2012)

I enjoyed Life is Beautiful a lot. 

Not always a good measure of a film but it did very well at the Oscars.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 27, 2012)

ringo said:


> Very good, not sure I want to see that then


watch shoah instead. you might not be able to last the full 9 hours though. i couldn't


----------



## ringo (Apr 27, 2012)

I'll add those two to my Lovefilm list, assuming shoah is on it. I must say though that having avoided learning about it for so long I'm already starting to wish I hadn't started.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 27, 2012)

Shoah - and Lanzmann - are coming under increasing attack. Justified IMO. Have a read of this:

Nothing he hasn’t done, nowhere he hasn’t been




> When Pauline Kael panned the film – ‘Shoah is a long moan. It’s saying: “We’ve always been oppressed, and we’ll be oppressed again”’ – the New Yorker received a flurry of outraged letters. But in the 27 years since its release, the film’s defects have come into sharper focus. There is no discussion of anti-Bolshevism and Social Darwinism, as integral to Nazi ideology as anti-semitism; no account of the invasion of the Soviet Union, which accelerated the process of extermination; and hardly a mention of non-Jewish victims – Gypsies, or the mentally ill or homosexuals. The lack of context was deliberate. Citing a story told by Primo Levi in If This Is a Man, Lanzmann argued that attempting to understand the Holocaust was a form of ‘madness’, ‘an absolute obscenity’. Levi, desperately thirsty, grabbed an icicle and an SS officer took it from him, shouting, ‘Hier ist kein warum’: ‘Here, there is no why.’ But Levi continued to try to understand the horrors he witnessed; he didn’t elevate the SS officer’s command into a taboo. As Dominick LaCapra argued, Lanzmann appeared to be insisting not only on a Bilderverbot, a prohibition on images, but a Warumverbot, a prohibition on explanation itself. In the absence of explanation and historical context, and with non-Jewish victims removed from the picture, Lanzmann’s Holocaust is the story of Jews facing an eternally hostile Gentile world where another genocide is always a latent possibility. ‘The worst crime’ when making a film about the Holocaust, he said, ‘is to consider [it] as past.’


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 27, 2012)

Sarah's Key was a pretty good attempt at a film of the Holocaust . . . but even there, the heroine is both Jewish and an icy blonde - so that goyish audiences might more readily identify with her?


----------



## Reno (Apr 27, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Sarah's Key was a pretty good attempt at a film of the Holocaust . . . but even there, the heroine is both Jewish and an icy blonde - so that goyish audiences might more readily identify with her?


 
Most Jews in films do have dark hair but there are plenty of Jewish people with blonde or red hair. I didn't see a cast of blondes in Schindler's List, The Pianist, Bent and the many other dramas about the Holocaust, so not sure what you mean with "...but even there". It seems rather odd to imply that the sort of liberal audience this type of middle brow art house film is aimed at couldn't empathise with a dark haired girl because they are raving anti-semites..

On the other hand you are missing the real issue with the film, which intercuts the trivial, comforting present time scenes of the do-gooding reporter with the war time scenes to soften the blow and therefore it trivialises what it sets out to do.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 28, 2012)

Shoshana in Inglorious Basterds is blonde.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 28, 2012)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- Mac is a serial killer


----------



## Reno (Apr 28, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Shoshana in Inglorious Basterds is blonde.


 

One reason the actress was cast is because she is Jewish. The other is that she has to be able to pass as non-Jewish to suvive, so her blonde hair makes sense for the plot. And that's one other actress, not a conspiracy of having loads of blonde Jewish actors in films about Jews.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Apr 28, 2012)

My other half made me watch the fifth element. One of the worst films I've ever seen.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 28, 2012)

Jeff Robinson said:
			
		

> My other half made me watch the fifth element. One of the worst films I've ever seen.



Really?  

I love that film


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Apr 28, 2012)

Tbh Chris Tucker was so annoying I was willing that fireball to destroy the planet.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 28, 2012)

Jeff Robinson said:
			
		

> Tbh Chris Tucker was so annoying I was willing that fireball to destroy the planet.



I can see that. Just an enjoyable good vs bad sci-fi I thought though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 28, 2012)

Jeff Robinson said:


> My other half made me watch the fifth element. One of the worst films I've ever seen.


 
I've got a soft spot for the visual style. It's magpied from loads of sci fi films and then given a shot of helium. Also: tricky lol.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Apr 28, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> I've got a soft spot for the visual style. It's magpied from loads of sci fi films and then given a shot of helium. Also: tricky lol.


 
Films that look like they cost a hundred zazillion dollars and say absolutely nothing very loudly piss me off somewhat.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 28, 2012)

Jeff Robinson said:
			
		

> Films that look like they cost a hundred zazillion dollars and say absolutely nothing very loudly piss me off somewhat.



This one was never claiming to be deep though  the effects, music and costumes were great. Leeloo was not bad either


----------



## Reno (Apr 28, 2012)

The Fifth Element is the only Luc Besson directed film I can just about bear and much of it is awful, especially Chris Tucker whose non-stop screeching is like nails on blackboard. That said, it's often visually spectacular and it's so "off" that it's a genuinely weird film, like films that try hard to be funny and completely fail often are. Another thing I quite like about it is it's Paris fashion industry vibe and its soundtrack is gorgeous. Bruce Willis on the other hand looks like he is stuck in the wrong film (and outfit) from beginning to end. Like Barbarella its a self-indulgent, fashion conscious sci-fi spectacular which goes back and forth from inspired to facepalm and back again.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 28, 2012)

I named my cat after a character in The Fifth Elephant. I can't remember much about it tbh. It was a typical Besson film really - swish and empty


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I named my cat after a character in The Fifth Elephant. I can't remember much about it tbh. It was a typical Besson film really - swish and empty


That the sequel?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 28, 2012)

It's what my sister called it and it kinda stuck!


----------



## Greebo (Apr 28, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> That the sequel?


Another one by Terry Pratchett.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> Most Jews in films do have dark hair but there are plenty of Jewish people with blonde or red hair. I didn't see a cast of blondes in Schindler's List, The Pianist, Bent and the many other dramas about the Holocaust, so not sure what you mean with "...but even there". It seems rather odd to imply that the sort of liberal audience this type of middle brow art house film is aimed at couldn't empathise with a dark haired girl because they are raving anti-semites..
> 
> On the other hand you are missing the real issue with the film, which intercuts the trivial, comforting present time scenes of the do-gooding reporter with the war time scenes to soften the blow and therefore it trivialises what it sets out to do.


 
I think the intention may have been to soften the blow. . . but the scenes in the Drancy stadium are so extreme I'm not sure if they succeed.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> One reason the actress was cast is because she is Jewish. The other is that she has to be able to pass as non-Jewish to suvive, so her blonde hair makes sense for the plot. And that's one other actress, not a conspiracy of having loads of blonde Jewish actors in films about Jews.


 
I never really thought about it as a conspiracy, but there have  been a few of them. Sophie's Choice; Vanessa Redgrave in Playing For Time. Barbara Streisand as Mrs. Focker. etc.


----------



## stethoscope (Apr 28, 2012)

Stuart: A Life Backwards.


----------



## Reno (Apr 28, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I never really thought about it as a conspiracy, but there have been a few of them. Sophie's Choice; Vanessa Redgrave in Playing For Time. Barbara Streisand as Mrs. Focker. etc.


 
Sophie is a Polish Catholic and not Jewish and in any case, the first two the actresses are natural blondes. Why dye their hair when there are blonde Jews ?

Barbra Streisand on the other hand is totally out of order for dying her hair, being the most famous female Jewish actress and entertainer. How dare she !


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> Sophie is a Polish Catholic and not Jewish and in any case, the first two the actresses are natural blondes. Why dye their hair when there are blonde Jews ?
> 
> Barbra Streisand on the other hand is totally out of order for dying her hair, being the most famous female Jewish actress and entertainer. How dare she ! She's h


 
People can do what they want. It's not something I've given a lot of thought to, but if you think about it, there are many blonde american jewish actresses. Goldie Hawn. Tori Spelling. Sarah Jessica Parker. etc


----------



## Reno (Apr 29, 2012)

I'm glad we seem to agree that it's fine for Jewish actresses to have blonde hair then.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> I'm glad we seem to agree that it's fine for Jewish actresses to have blonde hair then.


 
I think we can certainly do that. The question remains: how often are jewish female roles in films portrayed by actresses with blonde hair?


----------



## andy2002 (Apr 29, 2012)

*The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo:* The original Swedish version. Lisbeth Salander's an interesting character but the rest is little more than a slightly above average thriller. The ending's silly, too.


----------



## Reno (Apr 29, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I think we can certainly do that. The question remains: how often are jewish female roles in films portrayed by actresses with blonde hair?


 
Some Jewish actresses who have played Jewish characters who weren't blonde: Rachel Weisz (Sunshine), Embeth Davidtz (Schindler's List), Amy Irving (Crossing Delancy, Yentl), Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl, Yentl, The Way We Were, most of her other films), Jennifer Connelly (Once Upon a Time in America), Natalie Portman (No Strings Attached), Debra Winger (Shadowlands), Carol Kane (Hester Street), Maureen Lipman (The Pianist), Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Tova Feldshuh (Holocaust), Jeannie Berlin (The Heartbreak Kid)


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 29, 2012)

Alyson Hannigan is jewish? truly, every day is a schoolday.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 29, 2012)

Yes, dear, Hannigan is an old Jewish name. Yes.

Hannigan's character in Buffy is meant to be Jewish, but I don't think she's ever shown doing anything actually Jewish. But Reno wins this round, I think.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 29, 2012)

Given that she spends most of her time dicking around with cod-wiccanism (divination proscribed since the time of King Solomon) she is not very orthodox in Buffy.


hannigan an old jewish name. Who knew? If it isn't berg or stein ending I never realise


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 29, 2012)

Actually it turns out that she's only Irish-American on her father's side, but that her mum actually is Jewish:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyson_Hannigan

That was a dirty trick to stoop to, Reno.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Apr 29, 2012)

Four episodes of "The Twilight Zone", season 2,  - which were okay but not classics.


----------



## Reno (Apr 29, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Actually it turns out that she's only Irish-American on her father's side, but that her mum actually is Jewish:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyson_Hannigan
> 
> That was a dirty trick to stoop to, Reno.


 
It's not a dirty trick. Jewishness is passed on by he mother. If the mother is Jewish then her child is considered to be 100% Jewish.

As to Willow Rosenberg not doing any "Jewish things". She is Jewish by birth but she is a Wiccan by religion, so what Jewish things are there for her to do ?


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> It's not a dirty trick. Jewishness is passed on by he mothers side. If the mother is Jewish then her child is considered to be 100% Jewish. Not so if only the father is Jewish.


 
I was, em, joking. I know about the Halachic thing.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 29, 2012)

aye, matrilineal ennit.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Apr 29, 2012)

Oh and some more Civil Defence Films. In the event of a nuclear war I need to speak like the Queen it seems.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 29, 2012)

Contraband this afternoon, bollocks really.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 29, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes, dear, Hannigan is an old Jewish name. Yes.
> 
> Hannigan's character in Buffy is meant to be Jewish, but I don't think she's ever shown doing anything actually Jewish. But Reno wins this round, I think.


 
No saying Kaddish for dead vampires?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 29, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Actually it turns out that she's only Irish-American on her father's side, but that her mum actually is Jewish:ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyson_Hannigan
> 
> That was a dirty trick to stoop to, Reno.


 
I wonder: what is the jewish equivalent of 'touch of the tarbrush'?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 29, 2012)

The Raid: Redemption.  Indonesian film; very reminiscent of Run Run Shaw in the Seventies. Good action. Novel fight sequences.


----------



## ringo (Apr 30, 2012)

2nd DVD of Schindlers List. Bit schmaltzy, but some parts were well done. The scenes showing the Nazis exhuming the bodies of people they'd massacred and burning them on pyres to hide the evidence were quite affecting.


----------



## Reno (Apr 30, 2012)

I borrowed a Blu-ray set of the Star Wars films and made a heroic attempt at watching The Phantom Menace after only having seen it once when it came out. I'll give it another chance, I thought. Maybe its not as bad as I remember.

Somehow the film is even more shit then it was then, it's a film thoroughly inept on almost every level. It's CGI has dated really badly. I remember the film at least looking quite sumptuous at the time. Now it looks cheap as well and doesn't even work as eye candy anymore. Many of the sets are not very detailed and the whole film just looks tacky. It's really an unbelievably bad film, up there with Battlefield Earth, only far less fun. I gave up when Anakin's (worst child actor ever!) mother trys to explain about his virgin birth. That scene just made me feel embarassed for the actress.

Then I watched the haunted hotel film The Innkeepers again, which I really like.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 30, 2012)

Underworld: Awakening - Bit of a let down really compared to the first 3, seemed to be a filler inbetween the last film and the next one. 6/10
chronicle - pretty good super powers film, as good as whats currently out there in this genre I suppose
Man on a Ledge - not as good as I'd hoped, but quite captivating and cleverly writted, I'd recommend for a rainy day but wouldnt go to the cinema to see it or anything


----------



## mwgdrwg (Apr 30, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Given that she spends most of her time dicking around with cod-wiccanism (divination proscribed since the time of King Solomon) she is not very orthodox in Buffy.
> 
> 
> hannigan an old jewish name. Who knew? If it isn't berg or stein ending I never realise


 
Seen the Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry thinks his Berg lawyer is Jewish, but is actually Swedish?


----------



## Reno (May 1, 2012)

Started wachting Homeland, the first two episodes. It's good and I'm intrigued.


----------



## Firky (May 1, 2012)

Chronicle.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706593/

It passed the time.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 1, 2012)

Primer.  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/primer/

Quite cool techy time-travel thing, no action, all talk, leaves many things unanswered.  Fascinating.


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2012)

More Homeland. Really enjoying this show with the exception of the cheap looking wig they plonked on the lovely Morena Baccarin.


----------



## Yetman (May 2, 2012)

Rejyavik - Rotterdam: Pretty good but not in the same league as Pusher which I was hoping it would be.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (May 3, 2012)

Lockout.

Essentially  Die Hard meets Crank. In Space. Tremendously enjoyable, ludicrous, preposterous, and over the top.


----------



## andy2002 (May 4, 2012)

*La Horde:* French film that spends its first 15 minutes as a hard-bitten crime thriller then suddenly turns into a demented 'zombie' horror fest. A lot of fun.


----------



## andy2002 (May 6, 2012)

*Alien:* Still great although the alien effects (man in unconvincing rubber suit) have not aged well.


----------



## The39thStep (May 6, 2012)

last three episodes of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 3.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 6, 2012)

Rewatched_ Kiss Me Deadly_ still fantastic, one of my favourite noirs. Looks great and I love the ending personally, though I know a number of people who think it's a bit silly.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (May 6, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *Alien:* Still great although the alien effects (man in unconvincing rubber suit) have not aged well.


 
I watched that recently, too. It's a pity that in the film you can't get even a small glimpse of the human skull through the translucent part of the xenomorph's head.  Or at least I haven't.


----------



## Greebo (May 6, 2012)

Neverwhere


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *Alien:* Still great although the alien effects (man in unconvincing rubber suit) have not aged well.


 
I also just watched this again. I think the alien suit still looks fantastic. What was unconvincing, considering the creature is supposed to be humanoid ? I didn't see a zip anywhere.


I watched the latest Mission Imposible. After the great reviews I hoped this would be better than the others, but this is a film series I just can't warm to and this one didn't change that for me. I hope director Brad Bird will go back to animation at some point and not churn out soulless blockbusters like this one from now on.


...and then I watched the Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing starring Spanish monster-on-a-train movie Horror Express, which still is great fun.


----------



## andy2002 (May 6, 2012)

Reno said:


> I also just watched this again. I think the alien suit still looks fantastic. What was unconvincing, considering the creature is supposed to be humanoid ? I didn't see a zip anywhere.


 
The design of the alien is great, but take the scene in which Dallas is tracking it through the air ducts. The alien suddenly appears and it looks exactly like a bloke in a rubber suit - same in the scene at the end with Ripley in the shuttle. I think it's the way the creature moves than anything else. Maybe I've just seen too many xenomorph cosplayers at sci-fi conventions!


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 6, 2012)

Terry (2011) sub-Danny Dyer type hard man film of the found footage variety. I only watched it as a few old mates star in it. Not as bad as I thought it would be.


----------



## StraightOuttaQ (May 6, 2012)

"Confronting The Evidence", a 9/11 Truther conference DeeVeeDee. Interesting, informative, but very selective in its presentation. As you'd expect, as it obviously guided by an agenda. Did not convince me, and with people applauding every wild accusation its quite self-congratulatory. As such, it frames its content towards a pre-determined conclusion. Most of these things do, though.


----------



## Mab (May 7, 2012)

"Brighton To London" on Saturday night; extremely hard to watch in many parts but worth it. If not for British drama and documentries on TVO public broadcaster,  tv would not be worth watching.  Our CBC has been destroyed by far-right Tories.


----------



## Mab (May 7, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I've been watching the series MI5, I think called 'Spooks' in the UK.
> 
> Sometimes the plots are a bit over the top, but the characterization is excellent.


Yes JC3 it's fab I have been watching MI5/Spooks primarily on PBS for years. Roz was my favorite.


----------



## The39thStep (May 7, 2012)

Due Date- thought I would hate it when my daughter put it on but thought it as ace.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (May 7, 2012)

Mab said:


> Yes JC3 it's fab I have been watching MI5/Spooks primarily on PBS for years. Roz was my favorite.


 
I had mixed feelings about Roz. I didn't like her at first, but she sort of grew on me. A complicated character. I was partial to Jo Portman. Her character developed well, from an eager college graduate, to.... something more nuanced.

Something interesting: looking up the program, I happened upon a photo of Baroness Manningham-Buller, who apparently ran M15. She bears quite a resemblance to the woman in the show who ran it, and who ended up in a wheelchair.


----------



## starfish (May 7, 2012)

Watched City of Life and Death this afternoon. Great film about a very horrendous event. Very grim & quite uncomfortable to watch at times.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (May 8, 2012)

I'm quite enjoying the british version of 'Life on Mars'.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (May 8, 2012)

Something else about Spooks. Another character is arguably a dead ringer for Dame Stella Rimington.












Maningham Buller:


----------



## magneze (May 8, 2012)

The Inbetweeners Movie - better than I expected. Just about kept the humour going for 90 minutes. Watched it with my mother in law. She wasn't particularly impressed.


----------



## chazegee (May 8, 2012)

Louis CK's failed Blaxplotation flick, Pooty Tang.
What I saw was pretty good but then fell asleep.

It's got Curb's Leon black in it which is a bonus.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 8, 2012)

TT Closer to the Edge.   A fascinating documentary about motorbike racers on the world's deadliest circuit.   The go very fast, I mean, *really* fast.   And they're borderline insane, too.   Excellent.   You will not believe one of the crashes.


----------



## avu9lives (May 9, 2012)

*Romance* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0194314/ Sexually graphic in parts so make sure the kids are safely tucked up in bed if ya watch it! Brilliant performance  by Caroline Ducey as well.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 9, 2012)

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" - really enjoyed it, some good heavyweight thesping!

"Footloose" - the original one. Never seen it before, not really my sort of film but quite good fun nevertheless.


----------



## belboid (May 9, 2012)

Started on Battle for Seattle.

Had to stop cos it was absolutely fucking awful


----------



## 8115 (May 12, 2012)

I watched The Future.  Bit patchy, but I really liked it.

"And I made that noise that said, I am cat and I belong to you".


----------



## Reno (May 12, 2012)

8115 said:


> I watched The Future. Bit patchy, but I really liked it.
> 
> "And I made that noise that said, I am cat and I belong to you".


 
I've got that lined up. I loved Me and You and Everyone We Know.


----------



## 8115 (May 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> I've got that lined up. I loved Me and You and Everyone We Know.


 
Yeah, so did I.

Apart from the slightly sexually explicit stuff.  I think that really spoils it, they'd be 10/10 films apart from that.  But yeah, the Future is great too.  Have you seen this:


----------



## krtek a houby (May 13, 2012)

magneze said:


> The Inbetweeners Movie - better than I expected. Just about kept the humour going for 90 minutes. Watched it with my mother in law. She wasn't particularly impressed.


 
I ended up on Jay's side and disliking Simon's character intensely. And hasn't Will beefed up?


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 13, 2012)

Chillerama - comedy tribute to drive-in B-movies. Very silly & very funny.



cool cover/poster too - http://static3.aintitcool.com/assets2011/chillerama1.jpg


----------



## ringo (May 14, 2012)

The Town - Not that great Ben Affleck bank robber thing.


----------



## Reno (May 14, 2012)

A British Guide to Showing Off, documentary about artist Andrew Logan and his arts event The Alternative World Miss World Contest. God fun, I've been to a few of those. The high point is interviewee Brian Eno's cat.

A Day in the Life - Four Portraits of Post-war Britain by John Krish. I watched two of the documentary shorts and they are absoltely lovely.
One is about the decomissioning of London trams in the 50s and the other one about a group of underpriviledged London children who are being taken on a day trip to the seaside in the early 60s, which is incredibly touching.



I'd rented this but decided to buy it on Blu-ray, so will watch the other films when it arrives.


----------



## trabuquera (May 14, 2012)

Martial arts double bill and both better than expected:
*Shaolin *(2011 version) is not great art, but a zippy re-blend of all the traditional elements (bit of buddhism, bit of Chinese nationalism, sneery villains, lots of men carrying big sticks) but Andy Lau is a pretty convincing lead actor and they even manage to keep Jackie Chan in check, so there's only a bearable amount of mugging slapstick. Some cute kids but (as usual) some stunningly wooden / cliched villainous-sneering acting from characters purporting to be the evil British - of course - plotting to destabilise China while its 1920s warlords fight among themselves. The actual fighting is not bad - not as good as Ip Man though - but there's decent grandeur and scenery too.

*Hara-Kiri (Death of a Samurai) *is pretty near to great art, imho. After the scorching pace and hyperkinetic hack 'n slash  thrills of _13 Assassins, _Takashi Miike has made a more reflective, sombre - and subversive - film about the much-ballyhooed 'samurai code' which brutally exposes just how much of it was really blind obedience and toadyism to class superiors while crapping on the poor. The violence is extreme (literally gut twisting) but treated very very seriously and is not played for 'thrills'. All of the drama is in human feelings, not rucking with swords, and it's visually very beautifully done too. As a whole, it's more of a philosophical reflection on good, evil and human weakness than a thrill-ride. very good indeed.


----------



## Ranbay (May 14, 2012)

In the last week as i was off sick and stuff.....

The Gaurd - Fuck yeah Awesome British movie !!!
Chronical - rather good, better than i thought it would be
Sherlock holmes the new one, - same as old one but enough action to dull my mind for 2 hours
Limitless - was good, quirky and not great visuals for when ill, but over all i enjoyed it.


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2012)

B0B2oo9 said:


> The Gaurd - Fuck yeah Awesome British movie !!!


 
British????


----------



## Ranbay (May 14, 2012)

belboid said:


> British????


 
Sorry Irish, it's close enough.


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2012)

imperialist pig!


----------



## Part 2 (May 14, 2012)

I watched the trois couleurs films over the weekend.

Distinctly unimpressed really, maybe they were something in their day, by Red I'd had enough.


----------



## krink (May 14, 2012)

Me and Mrs Krink watched The Woman In Black. I freely admit to being a proper wimp when it comes to horror movies and this one was a right old shock-fest! I'd knocked me glasses off twice in the first half hour and even Mrs Krink was getting freaked by the children ghosts so we turned it off and are going to watch the rest in the day time! 

So far though, really good old-school scarey ghost story. Well worth a look.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 15, 2012)

krink said:


> ... so we turned it off and are going to watch the rest in the day time!


 
Is there a smiley like a facepalm but you actually slap someone?


----------



## Yetman (May 15, 2012)

Re Amimator -  good old silly horror, havent seen anything like this for ages


----------



## krink (May 15, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Is there a smiley like a facepalm but you actually slap someone?


 
honestly, me watching horror films is like a slap-stick comedy i'm jumping all over the place, watching through my fingers, nearly killing mrs krink when i jump at the 'boo!' parts but then i've always thought if you're not scared then what's the point of watching them?


----------



## Orang Utan (May 15, 2012)

It's weird - I watch loads of horror films and they rarely scare me. They certainly don't make me scared to watch them at night!


----------



## Reno (May 15, 2012)

I watch loads of horror films and I still scare easily. This version of The Woman in Black didn't scare me though. I don't like horror films that entirely rely on jump scares, it's lazy. The much better 80s TV movie of the same story scared my silly though.


----------



## Greebo (May 15, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> It's weird - I watch loads of horror films and they rarely scare me. They certainly don't make me scared to watch them at night!


I don't exactly get scared to watch them at night, but when watched during the day they don't spill over into my dreams.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 15, 2012)

krink said:


> honestly, me watching horror films is like a slap-stick comedy i'm jumping all over the place, watching through my fingers, nearly killing mrs krink when i jump at the 'boo!' parts but then i've always thought if you're not scared then what's the point of watching them?


Oh god that is me. I get scared soooo easily. Rarely watch horror films because of this, which is a shame as Mr. QofG's likes them and I do too but am such a wuss. Not just horror, I am dreading "Prometheus" 'cos I know I am going to get scared


----------



## krtek a houby (May 15, 2012)

B0B2oo9 said:


> Sorry Irish, it's close enough.


 Well, you've got the D4 pronunciation correct, at any rate


----------



## krink (May 15, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Oh god that is me. I get scared soooo easily. Rarely watch horror films because of this, which is a shame as Mr. QofG's likes them and I do too but am such a wuss. Not just horror, I am dreading "Prometheus" 'cos I know I am going to get scared


 
me too but I'm booking my tickets for that one, can't wait!


----------



## krink (May 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> The much better 80s TV movie of the same story scared my silly though.


 
will have to have to have a look for that


----------



## Reno (May 17, 2012)

DJ Squelch said:


> Chillerama - comedy tribute to drive-in B-movies. Very silly & very funny.
> 
> cool cover/poster too - http://static3.aintitcool.com/assets2011/chillerama1.jpg


 

Watched this last night. It's patchy, but The Diary of Anne Frankenstein is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. It's like a mash-up of Mel Brooks' Springtime for Hitler number and Young Frankenstein.


----------



## Belushi (May 17, 2012)

Watched Tsotsi the other night, big disappointment, not nearly as good as I'd been led to believe.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 17, 2012)

Is that the one with Dustin Hoffmann dresses as a black South African slumdweller just to get on the telly?


----------



## ringo (May 18, 2012)

Limitless - surprisingly good tale of a drug which allows access to 100% of the brain's potential.


----------



## mwgdrwg (May 18, 2012)

Shame.

That's one fucked up dude. No pun intended.


----------



## Yetman (May 18, 2012)

Am going to watch the Nines again today. I have the script so will read it as I watch to try and learn how to scriptwrite properly


----------



## DexterTCN (May 18, 2012)

Twilight Samurai.   Wonderful, touching, human.

And BladeRunner, again - where I spotted a continuity error that's not on IMDB.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 18, 2012)

Big Bang Theory.


----------



## sleaterkinney (May 18, 2012)

The Hunger Games - An American teen action movie. Twilight crossed with Rambo, I thought I had lowered my expectations enough but it still disappointed me. You keep watching it thinking it's just about to turn into a good movie - and then it ends.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 19, 2012)

Orson Welles "Macbeth" - really interesting the way he moved speeches and scenes around and had a great energy about it. I really enjoyed it


----------



## krtek a houby (May 19, 2012)

1st 5 eps of The Bridge


----------



## sleaterkinney (May 20, 2012)

A Lonely Place to Die, A 2011 triller set in Scotland, It's a really good movie.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 21, 2012)

Confessions - revenge movie, great soundtrack


----------



## 5t3IIa (May 21, 2012)

Properly watched Spartacus for the first time (rather than being on in the background on a Sunday lunchtime) and got something in my eye  

The precise ending is moving/poignant but the overall 'you lose' thing is even worse *baws*


----------



## Reno (May 21, 2012)

sleaterkinney said:


> A Lonely Place to Die, A 2011 triller set in Scotland, It's a really good movie.


 
I thought it was half a decent movie. Once they get off the mountain into the village it takes a nose dive.


----------



## magneze (May 21, 2012)

Mongol: The Rise Of Ghengis Khan, was on BBC4 last night. Was pretty good, not sure how historically accurate it was. All in all he was a lovely bloke who just happened to kill lots of people too.


----------



## trabuquera (May 21, 2012)

magneze said:


> Mongol: The Rise Of Ghengis Khan, was on BBC4 last night. Was pretty good, not sure how historically accurate it was. All in all he was a lovely bloke who just happened to kill lots of people too.


 
But he did it to _unite his nation! _So that's all right then.


----------



## mentalchik (May 21, 2012)

The Awakening - bit like The Others but more creepy
Underworld Awakening - complete gash


----------



## magneze (May 21, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> But he did it to _unite his nation! _So that's all right then.


If you're shorter than a wheel then you were ok too. I'm probably fucked then.


----------



## starfish (May 21, 2012)

Escape From New York. Still love the soundtrack. And the film too tbh.


----------



## butchersapron (May 21, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> But he did it to _unite his nation! _So that's all right then.


He didn't, but part one doesn't show this stuff anyway, it's all about the prep for this. There literally is none of this stuff.


----------



## starfish (May 21, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> He didn't, but part one doesn't show this stuff anyway, it's all about the prep for this. There literally is none of this stuff.


 
Is it part of a trilogy?


----------



## butchersapron (May 21, 2012)

Planned two parter - second not been funded yet.


----------



## starfish (May 21, 2012)

Ah, that would be The Great Khan then.


----------



## Ranbay (May 21, 2012)

John Carter


----------



## trabuquera (May 21, 2012)

B0B2oo9 said:


> John Carter


_Why ???_


----------



## butchersapron (May 21, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Confessions - revenge movie, great soundtrack


And the film?


----------



## Reno (May 22, 2012)

Chronicle: "Unbreakable", with teens, as a 'found footage' film. Watchable.

Also the first episode of The Bridge, which I've horded on my Sky+ box. Very stylish. Unfortunately I fell asleep because I was really tired.


----------



## Ranbay (May 22, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> _Why ???_


 
As i didn't know anything about it..... what a fucking waste of 2 hours and 10 mins..... after about an hour i was going to turn it off and then i was like well i might as well finish it....


----------



## krtek a houby (May 22, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> And the film?


 
Put me on ignore, ffs. Or watch the film yourself. A reminder that the thread title is:
What DVD / Video did you watch last night?

Nowhere does the title stipulate the necessity to analyse/review/post spoilers on said DVDs or videos.


----------



## butchersapron (May 22, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Put me on ignore, ffs. Or watch the film yourself. A reminder that the thread title is:
> What DVD / Video did you watch last night?
> 
> Nowhere does the title stipulate the necessity to analyse/review/post spoilers on said DVDs or videos.


I've seen the film - i thought it was a great piece of controlled film making with a brilliant bold first half hour. I think i've even posted about it in this very thread. I was intrigued by it and the choices the director made and wanted to see what others made of them and if they felt that they worked - you know, as per the the thread and its content. As you appear to be one of the few to have seen it i asked you what you thought of it. Why the hissy fit? 

edit: in fact here's my post from feb last year on it.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 22, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Put me on ignore, ffs. Or watch the film yourself. A reminder that the thread title is:
> What DVD / Video did you watch last night?
> 
> Nowhere does the title stipulate the necessity to analyse/review/post spoilers on said DVDs or videos.


No one's interested in what you're watching unless you have an opinion on it


----------



## Reno (May 22, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Put me on ignore, ffs. Or watch the film yourself. A reminder that the thread title is:
> What DVD / Video did you watch last night?
> 
> Nowhere does the title stipulate the necessity to analyse/review/post spoilers on said DVDs or videos.


 
Thanks for the reminder. That's even more uninteresting than just listing the film titles you watch. What's the bloody point, really ? It's a public forum. Either make an effort to say something just mildly interesting or don't bother.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 22, 2012)

Well he said it had a great soundtrack, to be fair.

I'm going to try that JCVD.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 22, 2012)

5t3IIa said:


> Properly watched Spartacus for the first time (rather than being on in the background on a Sunday lunchtime) and got something in my eye
> 
> The precise ending is moving/poignant but the overall 'you lose' thing is even worse *baws*


Who knew you had a beating, warm heart?


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 22, 2012)

Saw _Route Irish_ (Ken Loach/Paul Laverty, ex-soldier probes death of Scouse pal contracting in Iraq), didn't quite gel together despite some nice hard man emoting by NotBobby Womack (the thinking man's Stath?).

Loach's improv workshop process landed us with stilted interactions (and not of the realistic type) once again, and we even had a Liverpudlian non-professional actor screeching "calm down mate" when things started to get fruity.

Some nice touches though - the golf line, the not giving us a path of heroic revenge (massively signposted though it was), Womack's performance. A semi-decent part for Geoff Bell as well (he's like Frank Harper, gives excellent screen flavour when appropriately deployed).

Oh, and thanks Ken for letting us know that (I) war is, mmmkay, bad; (ii) Iraq is full of culture and sensitive people; (iii) ex-SAS dudes keep a copy of The SAS Survival Handbook under their beds.


----------



## 5t3IIa (May 22, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Who knew you had a beating, warm heart?



If you tickle me, do I not laugh? If you cut me, do I not drip acid and stuff my proboscis down your gullet? 

Fuck, I can't wait til 1 June


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 22, 2012)

Is that when your restraining order lapses?


----------



## 5t3IIa (May 22, 2012)

Prometheus innit


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 22, 2012)

Thank fuck for that


----------



## starfish (May 22, 2012)

B0B2oo9 said:


> John Carter


 
There was a really crap John Carter film on the ScyFy channel recently. Starred some male model & ex porn stars but was probably better than the recent cinema release.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 22, 2012)

JCVD http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jcvd/ 
is clever, dark, light, knowing, sharp and the best film I'll ever see him in I think. 

It starts with a long (almost continuous) action shot, the highlight is a monologue, most of the rest is (deliberately, I think) disjointed.   In a way I'd put this on par with Aronofsky's The Wrestler.   It's very well done.

(I know, hard to believe)


----------



## krtek a houby (May 23, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> No one's interested in what you're watching unless you have an opinion on it


  butcher's seems incredibly interested. There's many here who just list off the stuff they watched without going into details, I don't see what the big deal is.

Last night I watched a bit of Watchmen again. I was reminded that Dr Manhattan is one of the few deities created by science, which must have annoyed the intelligent design folk. Even better, in the book he walks on water. Can't remember if that made the film. I still think its the best Moore adaptation (out of a bad lot) even if it is flawed.


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> butcher's seems incredibly interested. There's many here who just list off the stuff they watched without going into details, I don't see what the big deal is.
> 
> Last night I watched a bit of Watchmen again. I was reminded that Dr Manhattan is one of the few deities created by science, which must have annoyed the intelligent design folk. Even better, in the book he walks on water. Can't remember if that made the film. I still think its the best Moore adaptation (out of a bad lot) even if it is flawed.


If they list a film i've seen and want to know what they thought of it i'll ask them too. Doesn't matter now anyway.

edit: oh yeah, watched The Broken Promise last night - can't believe this received such positive reviews when it was released. I cannot see how you can ]turn such a story (slovakian jews, camps, escape, partisans etc) into something so dreary and lifeless.


----------



## imposs1904 (May 23, 2012)

A couple of episodes of season 6 of Weeds.

Mary, what's with the plastic surgery? You broke my heart.


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Saw Route Irish (Ken Loach, ex-soldier probes death of Scouse pal contracting in Iraq), didn't quite gel together despite some nice hard man emoting by NotBobby Womack (the thinking man's Stath?).
> 
> Loach's improv workshop process landed us with stilted interactions (and not of the realistic type) once again, and we even had a Liverpudlian non-professional actor screeching "calm down mate" when things started to get fruity.
> 
> ...


He really needs a new screenwriter - it's just by rote now. I watched Days of Hope last week, the series he did with Jim Allen in the mid-70s, far superior in every way to his recent output.


----------



## seeformiles (May 23, 2012)

We watched "The Magic Christian" on DVD last night - good bit of late 60s silliness with Peter Sellars and Ringo Starr. (Mrs SFM hated it though..)


----------



## purenarcotic (May 23, 2012)

We watched two films at the weekend I didn't get round to posting about.  

Greenzone - truly terrible.  
The Road To Perdition - much better.  Really enjoyed it, although not so sure I buy the review on the DVD case saying that it's the best gangster film since the Godfather.  It didn't come close.  But as long as you bore that in mind, it passed the time very pleasantly.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 23, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> ...not so sure I buy the review on the DVD case saying that it's the best gangster film since the Godfather...


 
Was that review


by Paul Ross?
published in the _Star_?


----------



## purenarcotic (May 23, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Was that review
> 
> 
> by Paul Ross?
> published in the _Star_?


 

Worse.  The News of The World.  I sort of feel like we have a bit of history now though.  A review by a paper that will never be again.  The review wasn't what drew us in I hasten to add, the wife saw it going for about 50p on ebay and we've not seen it before so we thought why not.


----------



## Reno (May 23, 2012)

Like Once Upon a Time in America and Goodfellas never happened.


----------



## purenarcotic (May 23, 2012)

Reno said:


> Like Once Upon a Time in America and Goodfellas never happened.


 
I know right!  Awful review.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 23, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> He really needs a new screenwriter - it's just by rote now. I watched Days of Hope last week, the series he did with Jim Allen in the mid-70s, far superior in every way to his recent output.


Newest one showing at Cannes got a good review by Peter Bradshaw. Though I agree that generally the stuff he's done with Laverty isn't his best.

I still want to see his Save the Children film, did anybody see it at the BFI? (Or even better if anybody has got hold of a copy somehow can they let me know).


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Newest one showing at Cannes got a good review by Peter Bradshaw. Though I agree that generally the stuff he's done with Laverty isn't his best.
> 
> I still want to see his Save the Children film, did anybody see it at the BFI? (Or even better if anybody has got hold of a copy somehow can they let me know).


Never seen it, always wanted to. Will let you and others know if i ever find it.


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Newest one showing at Cannes got a good review by Peter Bradshaw. Though I agree that generally the stuff he's done with Laverty isn't his best.
> 
> I still want to see his Save the Children film, did anybody see it at the BFI? (Or even better if anybody has got hold of a copy somehow can they let me know).


Hmmm


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 23, 2012)

But it's "the Scottish _Full Monty_"! The posters on the Tube said so!


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

Caterpillars, reeboks and ikons in one shot...


----------



## krtek a houby (May 23, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> But it's "the Scottish _Full Monty_"! The posters on the Tube said so!


 
How many films in the UK have had the misfortune to have that Full Monty seal of approval included in the publicity blurb over the years?


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> How many films in the UK have had the misfortune to have that Full Monty seal of approval included in the publicity blurb over the years?


FFS the thread title means no film-talk.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 23, 2012)

...And how many times has it been done by the hands of Paul Ross?


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

Anyone seen this: Bill Brand.


----------



## butchersapron (May 23, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> ...And how many times has it been done by the hands of Paul Ross?


Have you never seen brassed off?


----------



## Orang Utan (May 23, 2012)

The Full Monty with trombones


----------



## DexterTCN (May 23, 2012)

Just finished watching the entire BSG.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 24, 2012)

_The Way Back_ - multinational band of gulag escapees flees Siberian and heads for the Himalayas on foot.

Frankly it's a tedious bore. Oooh, it's a bit cold! Oooh, it's a bit hot! Oooh, I'm so thirsty! Oooh, we've not got any food! Etc.

Peter Weir directs, but it's basically a bunch of beautifully photographed National Geographic vistas (well, they did stump up the cash for the film) linked together by Scenes Of Moderate Peril that feature a bunch of not-quite-familiar actors, like Jim Sturgess (Martin McGartland in tout drama _Fifty Dead Men Walking_).

Oh, plus Colin Farrell, who gurns in a mortgage performance as a rotten-toothed, badly tattooed common crim - until his agent phones him up halfway through with a better deal. At least Ed Harris lasts the length of it (and it is long - two and a quarter hours). Ed appears to have had authentic despair sandblasted into his face in readiness for the role. At least that shows commitment.

Definitely the scenic route. Feel free to bring a packed lunch.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (May 24, 2012)

A seperation - a superb film that raises incredibly complex moral and legal dilemmas in a thought provoking and non-heavy handed way.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 25, 2012)

Finding Neverland.   Extremely well-done story about the creation of the Peter Pan story with Johnny Depp.   Sometimes tries to make you cry, at other times you genuinely have a little tear.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (May 26, 2012)

Finished the tv series Life On Mars. What an excellent show. Too bad it was only two seasons, although I guess they could only carry on the 'man in a coma' thing for so long. First exposure to Philip Glenister - he's a good actor.

These British tv programs can be counted on to deliver top-notch scripts and dialogue.


----------



## thriller (May 26, 2012)

watched the grey last night. not bad. but the trailer is very misleading.


----------



## keybored (May 27, 2012)

Hesher
Best bereavement film ever.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 27, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Nokas...Good true story robbery film, *usual farcical antics from dibble and robbers alike with a lot of lucky civilians wandering about as it happened*. Coming in at 86 minutes which was about right to hold my attention and maintain the suspense. Made me think I should watch Dog Day Afternoon again.


 
Heartily concur. Best laid plans and all that.

I like the snatch of conversation on the way to the job where one robber talks about how heist movies like _Heat_ get details wrong, such as how much cash you can carry. The set up has all these little details which make you think, "this is a serious-minded, professional crew," only to have these niggling doubts at the back of your mind when they do certain things a certain way. Ditto the reaction of the Politi.

I liked the almost narcotic moments, capturing one individual in time, no exposition, no dialogue, not always making movie sense but on reflection always making perfectly real human sense. I didn't realise until afterwards that it was directed by the _Insomnia_ chap.


----------



## purenarcotic (May 28, 2012)

The Hurt Locker.

Excellent.


----------



## magneze (May 28, 2012)

The Road

So very very bleak. Good film. Tiny moments of lightness every now and again, but just so very bleak most of the time. Which is the point really.


----------



## Ranbay (May 28, 2012)

Get The Gringo - aka - How I _Spent My Summer Vacation_

Rather enjoyed it really, fast action packed and stupid shoot outs, and reminded me of the book marching power with the prison being like it was.


----------



## belboid (May 28, 2012)

first four episodes of Boardwalk Empire.

Does it get any better? Cos so far the only bits worth watching are Nuckies. The rest is, basically, shit. I dont care about wotsisname, hanging out with Al Capone, Kelly Mcs charcters motivation, and indeed character, seems all over the shop, and the guy playing the main Fed must be the worst actor Scorcese has ever dealt with, truly wooden.


----------



## Reno (May 28, 2012)

belboid said:


> first four episodes of Boardwalk Empire.
> 
> Does it get any better? Cos so far the only bits worth watching are Nuckies. The rest is, basically, shit. I dont care about wotsisname, hanging out with Al Capone, Kelly Mcs charcters motivation, and indeed character, seems all over the shop, and the guy playing the main Fed must be the worst actor Scorcese has ever dealt with, truly wooden.


 
Tedious series that doesn't live up to the hype. I bailed half way through season 1.


----------



## butchersapron (May 28, 2012)

Breathing - German film about a kid trying to keep a job so he can get released from borstal. Didn't really like this whilst watching it, thought about it afterwards and realised what i didn't like whilst watching (the kids stilltedness, his caution etc) were actually part of the films strengths. Well worth the time.

edit: Austrian! apols


----------



## Reno (May 28, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Breathing - German film about a kid trying to keep a job so he can get released from borstal. Didn't really like this whilst watching it, thought about it afterwards and realised what i didn't like whilst watching (the kids stilltedness, his caution etc) were actually part of the films strengths. Well worth the time.
> 
> edit: Austrian! apols


 

Saw that at the cinema a couple of weeks ago. I liked its mood and realistically unattractive cast, but I thought that everything coming down to one defining childhood experience was too neat. That's fine for stylised Freudian melodramas like Hitchcock's Spellbound or Marnie but too pad for a film that strives so hard for naturalism.

I watched Steven Soderbergh's action flick Haywire, which was entertaining enough, but also so lighweight as to be instantly forgettable. At just under 90 minutes at least it didn't outstay its welcome and I preferred it to the similar, more pretentious girl-kicks-butt-flick-by-art-house-director Hanna.


----------



## butchersapron (May 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> Saw that at the cinema a couple of weeks ago. I liked it's mood and it's realistically unattractive cast, but I thought that everything coming down to one defining childhood experience was too neat. That's fine for a stylised Freudian melodrama like Hitchcock's Spellbound or Marnie, but too pad for a film that strives so hard for naturalism.


 
That's an intersting point, i think it was suggesting an ongoing series of events - that it was still happening - rather than a one off. I can def see where you are coming from on that though.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (May 28, 2012)

Not last night, but today.
Shaolin Scoccer. I have not seen it for years, I forgot how mad it was (apart from the actual concept being pretty mad in the first place).
It's a shame the end match drags on too long, but it's a great film.

Like Kung Fu Hustle the romantic side story is a bit poorly executed.


----------



## Dhimmi (May 28, 2012)

Ozombie, the ObL zombie film. Atrocious even for a low budget zombie movie.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 28, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Finished the tv series Life On Mars. What an excellent show. Too bad it was only two seasons, although I guess they could only carry on the 'man in a coma' thing for so long. First exposure to Philip Glenister - he's a good actor.
> 
> These British tv programs can be counted on to deliver top-notch scripts and dialogue.


 

the follow up Ashes to Ashes isn't as good but is still worth a watch


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 28, 2012)

And whatever you do, avoid the 90s-set third strand, _Tin Machine_.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (May 28, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> the follow up Ashes to Ashes isn't as good but is still worth a watch


 
I'll try it if it's available on Netflix.

I tried watching the US version of Life on Mars last night; I just don't think I can do it. It looks like a really insipid copy of the original.

Also, as far as verisimilitude goes: NYC in 1973 was different, but the gulf between then and now in NYC, isn't the same as the gulf between then and now in Manchester, or at least so it seems to me.


----------



## Reno (May 29, 2012)

The Grey. It was alright for a cast-getting-picked-off-one-after-one film. Maybe I couldn't really get into it because my flat was really hot and this is such a wintery film.


----------



## purenarcotic (May 29, 2012)

Cathy Come Home.  Final scene where they take the kids off her is pretty fucking horrendous.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (May 29, 2012)

The BFI DVD I had included this old film about slum clearance from the 1930s, interviewing poor tenants in London and steps taken to build social housing.  One father living with his family in one room talks about finally getting a home that has a bath.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 29, 2012)

Ooh which one? I love old BFI doc compilations


----------



## Reno (May 29, 2012)

It was an extra on the Cathy Come Home BFI DVD.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 29, 2012)

Oh right, d'oh, I see


----------



## ringo (May 30, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> The BFI DVD I had included this old film about slum clearance from the 1930s,


 
Cheers for that


----------



## krtek a houby (May 30, 2012)

Watched the doc on the doors lp "l.a. woman" which was always my least fave of theirs but I "got it" after seeing the doc. Also the Scorsese docs on George Harrison - what a great, lovely bloke. Spiritual but still able to take the piss out of organised religion and blind faith.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 31, 2012)

The Iron Giant - just as good as when I saw it years ago.   Vin Deisel in a good movie?  Surely not.


----------



## sleaterkinney (May 31, 2012)

Haywire - a fast paced, interesting thriller. Really good movie, keeps your attention from start to finish.

Fassbender doesn't keep his english accent though.


----------



## Reno (May 31, 2012)

sleaterkinney said:


> Haywire - a fast paced, interesting thriller. Really good movie, keeps your attention from start to finish.
> 
> Fassbender doesn't keep his english accent though.


 
He's Irish (and German)


----------



## sleaterkinney (May 31, 2012)

Reno said:


> He's Irish (and German)


I know that, but he was playing an Englishman in Ireland which must be confusing.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 31, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Also the Scorsese docs on George Harrison - what a great, lovely bloke. Spiritual but still able to take the piss out of organised religion and blind faith.


And a millionaire many times over who didn't want to pay tax. Twat.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> And a millionaire many times over who didn't want to pay tax. Twat.


 
I can forgive him because of Bangladesh


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 1, 2012)

Piggy - I rather liked it.
Flowers of war - terrific
Bad Ass - no, no, no & no.


----------



## belboid (Jun 2, 2012)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

A perfectly decent remake of the series, some great performances, tho Kathy Burke's accent was awful. Looked very good, strong script, but not the earth shattering work of genius most of the reviews from the time would have you believe


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 2, 2012)

If it had been edited and sound designed by whoever put together the trailers it could have been superb!


----------



## chazegee (Jun 2, 2012)

Dylan Biopic, I'm not there. Erm, embarrassing.  
The Willie Nelson version of Senor is sublime though.


----------



## chazegee (Jun 2, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> And a millionaire many times over who didn't want to pay tax. Twat.


Perhaps, but I think he did his bit.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 2, 2012)

the aggression scale - a particularly poor movie


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 2, 2012)

kill list - violent & somewhat creepy, the predicable ending spoilt it.


----------



## LittleSpy27 (Jun 2, 2012)

Kolya - a story of an old bachelor musician who sells himself into a marriage with a Russian immigrant to clear his debts during the Soviet occupation of the Czechoslovakia. After his 'wife' flees to her lover in West Germany, he ends up with her 5 year old boy Kolya. The story than develops into describing the deepening of the relationship between the two of them despite the language and cultural barriers. Probably one of the most memorable International movies I've seen in a long time. Heartwarming, funny and educational. A background in the Eastern Communist history helps to soak in some of the sharp sarcastic comments..


----------



## MBV (Jun 2, 2012)

Project X - an easy watch with a decent soundtrack. Wouldn't really recommend it.


----------



## Reno (Jun 3, 2012)

Tree of Life, which it's taken me till now to watch. I used to be a huge fan of Terrence Malick's films but his Pocahantas film was a was a bit of a snooze and this was all out self-indulgent rubbish, even if it may have looked lovely. That hushed voice over thing really got on my nerves as did the non-stop choral music and its wishy washy, high minded spirituality made me feel like watching The Human Centipede 2.


----------



## Greebo (Jun 3, 2012)

Sideways


----------



## JimW (Jun 3, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The Raid: Redemption. Indonesian film; very reminiscent of Run Run Shaw in the Seventies. Good action. Novel fight sequences.


Just watched this, very good value straightforward action - apparently directed by some lad from the Valleys who's been living out in Malaya for a while.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 3, 2012)

no saints for sinners - i tried to like it but it was mediocre at best
iron sky - it think it was supposed to funny, cept it wasn't funny at all
axed - piss poor


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jun 3, 2012)

The Counterfeiters - excellent, thought provoking and moving film


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 3, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> The Counterfeiters - excellent, thought provoking and moving film


 
Is that the Austrian-made WWII one?


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jun 3, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Is that the Austrian-made WWII one?


Yes it is

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0813547/


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 3, 2012)

Reckon I might take it for a spin then


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jun 3, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Reckon I might take it for a spin then


 I'd defintely recommend it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 3, 2012)

I watched American Psycho again, purely because I wanted to consider Bale's performance because of what he's done since then whereas first time round I didn't know him much.


----------



## Reno (Jun 4, 2012)

Chinatown, still as great as ever.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 4, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I watched American Psycho again, purely because I wanted to consider Bale's performance because of what he's done since then whereas first time round I didn't know him much.


 
Worth checking out _Metroland_ for a taste of his pre-Hollywood stuff; for pre-Batman/John Connor 'big picture leading man' calling cards try _Equilibrium_ and _Reign Of Fire_; and_ The Machinist_ and _Harsh Times_ for general acting chops.

ETA: I suspect Reno will disagree


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 4, 2012)

Love Equilibrium, have a thing for RoF, Machinist was obviously his de niro.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 4, 2012)

heartless  -  creepy and excessivly violent in parts and overall a pretty good watch but totaly let down by a fuck off bs ending


----------



## Reno (Jun 4, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Worth checking out _Metroland_ for a taste of his pre-Hollywood stuff; for pre-Batman/John Connor 'big picture leading man' calling cards try _Equilibrium_ and _Reign Of Fire_; and_ The Machinist_ and _Harsh Times_ for general acting chops.
> 
> ETA: I suspect Reno will disagree


 
He's great in Metroland, Harsh Times and The Machinist. As to Reign of Fire ? He is doing that comical macho thing which becomes grating as Batman and where were the fucking dragons ?  I'd drop that for American Psycho and I've never seen all of Equilibrium, but the first film where I've ever noticed him being a great actor was Little Women.


----------



## thriller (Jun 4, 2012)

The Score. De Niro/Ed Norton. Last saw it when it came out in 2001. Enjoyable revisit.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> .. were the fucking dragons ?



I'll give you that


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 4, 2012)

Greebo said:


> Sideways


 
Loved that film. My father in law was going through a period of depression and he went to see it at the pictures , said it was the best therapy he had ever had.

The bit when they try and describe their favourite wine but are talking about themselves nearly makes me cry.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 4, 2012)

Big Lebowski- probably my favourite film ever
Kill List- enjoyed it really
When we were Kings- forgot how much Ali was of a nationalist, got to the point where I was thinking if Foreman had won Ali would never have got the soft political ride that he did.Good line on drugs though.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 4, 2012)

*Thor* and *Chronicle* - thoroughly enjoyed both, especially the latter which reminded me of Carrie (once you cut through all the found footage/super powers stuff).


----------



## thriller (Jun 4, 2012)

chronicle is more for teenagers. was ok, but nothing worth revisiting again.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jun 5, 2012)




----------



## Mephitic (Jun 5, 2012)

project X - some funny bits, great music, way better than I had anticipated
pontypool - pretty good, worth watching


----------



## JimW (Jun 5, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


>


 Well, they seem to have caught the gist of what's going on. I usually check them sort of posts for one-pixel invisible spam links tho.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> Chinatown, still as great as ever.


Love that film


----------



## MBV (Jun 5, 2012)

Moon - enjoyed it. Recommended.


----------



## Reno (Jun 5, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Love that film


 

..and every time I watch it I keep hoping it won't end that way.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jun 5, 2012)

Project X
Thoroughly enjoyed it-some cracking bits in it

Snatch (again)
Still like this one - Jason Statham with a normalish accent, something he appears to have lost now.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> ..and every time I watch it I keep hoping it won't end that way.


 
What, followed up by _The Two Jakes_? I feel your pain


----------



## Reno (Jun 5, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> What, followed up by _The Two Jakes_? I feel your pain


 
It's not THAT bad, just nowhere near as good as Chinatown (a bit like Godfather III).

No, the ending of Chinatown is perfect of course, it's just one of the bleakest endings ever. I dread it as it approaches.

Something I'd never noticed before is that the first time Evelyn gets shot at while driving away (from the old folks home, rescuing Jake), she touches her left eye, as if having a premonition. It's subtle, but quite haunting.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 5, 2012)

Terminator.
Bit boring really.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 5, 2012)

TBF I don't think the Two Jakes is actually that bad, it's just that compared to Chinatown it's nothing.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jun 5, 2012)

Hunger. Watched it last night and again tonight. It blew me away (obviously)


----------



## colacubes (Jun 5, 2012)

Deja Vu.  First half quite good but the second half is predictable and dull as fuck.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 6, 2012)

Dr Strangelove.   Still brilliant in a different age.







is that or is that not a cross between blair and bush?


----------



## Ranbay (Jun 6, 2012)

Project X - was ace  way better than i thought it would be.


----------



## Reno (Jun 6, 2012)

thriller said:


> chronicle is more for teenagers. was ok, but nothing worth revisiting again.


 
Almost every Hollywood film is  these days.


----------



## grubby local (Jun 6, 2012)

caught this on TV the other day on channel whatever at stupid o´clock: Miss Cast Away and The Island Girls. I was so flabberghasted at what I´d seen I had to look it up. In doing so, I think I found the greatest film review of all time:

*In short:* Take an *enormous* dog turd, coat in dried vomit and flecks of yellow dandruff, marinate in period blood and lightly drizzle in old man’s piss. Now consume slowly for 1 hour and 27 minutes and you get this film.

http://www.jimbeeer.com/?p=3080

gx


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 6, 2012)

grubby local said:


> I think I found the greatest film review of all time:
> 
> http://www.jimbeeer.com/?p=3080


 
No, the Greatest Film Review Of All Time is, as any fule kno, The Groke on _Battlefield Earth_.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 6, 2012)

*Captain America* – I'm not a big fan of Marvel as a company (owned by Disney, a history of treating creators like shit), but their characters seem to make the transition to the big screen really well. On the surface, this is a very different film to the likes of Iron Man and Thor (it's set during WWII for a start) yet because of strong storytelling and ingenious world building you're never in any doubt that they all happen in the exact same universe. Chris Evans makes a terrific Cap and I'd love it if they got round to doing a Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier movie too.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 6, 2012)

Red Hill - at first i was like naaaaa, then i was like oooohhhhh, and then I was all ah~ah. Some decent watching.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 6, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Red Hill - at first i was like naaaaa, then i was like oooohhhhh, and then I was all ah~ah. Some decent watching.


 
Ooh Steve Bisley, I could do with some o' that


----------



## thriller (Jun 6, 2012)

Just finished Priest with Paul bettany. Meh.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jun 6, 2012)

I'm starting a BBC tv series called Robin Hood.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 6, 2012)

lol


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jun 6, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> lol


 
God love you for the sweet and charming individual that you are.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 6, 2012)

I'll save you time - it's not like the other one, it's a bit of a camp romp. Hope you enjoy it. Wasn't meaning to be sneery but lol


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jun 6, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> I'll save you time - it's not like the other one, it's a bit of a camp romp. Hope you enjoy it. Wasn't meaning to be sneery but lol


 
I've watched 2 episodes so far. The Merry Men haven't even formed up yet.

So far, it isn't up to the standards of some of the other British tv series I've watched recently, like Life on Mars; but I thought I'd give it a chance by watching at least a few episodes.


----------



## magneze (Jun 6, 2012)

Surviving Progress - very hard hitting documentary charting human progress and how the last 200 odd years has been a failure in terms of the environment and social relations. It covers economics, materialism and environmentalism. It's a good watch despite all that, it's not as dry or depressing as the above description may seem. It's on iPlayer.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 6, 2012)

Irvine Welsh 'Wedding Bells' - Terrific.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 7, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Red Hill - at first i was like naaaaa, then i was like oooohhhhh, and then I was all ah~ah. Some decent watching.


I was rather disappointed with _Red Hill_ just so by the numbers that there was no suspense whatsoever IMO.


----------



## Reno (Jun 7, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> I was rather disappointed with _Red Hill_ just so by the numbers that there was no suspense whatsoever IMO.


 
I'd be even less kind. Generic rubbish with a painfully transparent plot twist. The film requires characters to act like idiots and its racial politics are clumsily handled. It wants to be an Australian No Country for Old Men but falls far short. Red Hill takes the elements of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, maybe still the greatest Australian film ever made, and reshapes them into a tacky slasher film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 7, 2012)

But...but...STEVE BISLEY!


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 7, 2012)

Headhunters...Really fast paced and enjoyable; mad Norwegian thriller with ridiculous plot.US remake on its way apparently.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 7, 2012)

Out already.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 7, 2012)

Is it?


----------



## Reno (Jun 7, 2012)

No. Latest news was that Marky Mark wants to star in the US version which has been pointed out would be bad miscasting.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 7, 2012)

You're right - not out - apols. Got it confused with that transporting illegal stuff one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 7, 2012)

Ha, should be someone more like William H Macey


----------



## thriller (Jun 7, 2012)

belboid said:


> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
> 
> A perfectly decent remake of the series, some great performances, tho Kathy Burke's accent was awful. Looked very good, strong script, but not the earth shattering work of genius most of the reviews from the time would have you believe


 
it was boring


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 7, 2012)

Why?


----------



## thriller (Jun 7, 2012)

found it boring. slow. over-rated.


----------



## thriller (Jun 7, 2012)

Contraband: Mark Wahlburg. Bit long. Usual Mark Wahlburg vehicle. Wont be revisiting it again.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 7, 2012)

You didn't think the rhythm was supposed to show the boring nature of the job?


----------



## thriller (Jun 7, 2012)

maybe so, but it was still boring. And not sure why gary oldman got the hump that he didn't get recognition for his performance, when any actor could have taken on that role.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 7, 2012)

thriller said:


> maybe so, but it was still boring. And not sure why* gary oldman got the hump* that he didn't get recognition for his performance, when any actor could have taken on that role.


 
But what did he say?


----------



## starfish (Jun 7, 2012)

Mongol. First half of the life of Genghis Khan, was quite good. Hope they do get round to making the second half.

Chocolate. A Thai (i believe) film about an autistic teenage girl who goes around with her cousin beating the shit out of various baddies & business folk who owe her mum, an ex gangster & wife of a Yakuza, money. Fight scene choreography was pretty good.


----------



## r0bb0 (Jun 7, 2012)

good copy of The Raid: Redemption out, gonna give it a go later. Its an action film set in Jakata


----------



## thriller (Jun 8, 2012)

r0bb0 said:


> good copy of The Raid: Redemption out, gonna give it a go later. Its an action film set in Jakata




any links?


----------



## thriller (Jun 8, 2012)

ignore. found it. downloading now.


----------



## belboid (Jun 8, 2012)

Red State

About as subtle as Oliver Stone, but actually very funny in places, with some surprising turns. Shame about the crap 'we don't know quite how to finish this' ending tho


----------



## Garek (Jun 8, 2012)

I recently watched A Bridge Too Far (stuck on a ferry for 24 hours so good time for a three hour film!). Thought it was a brilliant film. Interesting watching a WW2 about failure. The last scene is a particularly haunting contrast to earlier scenes of jubilation. Overall a really interesting film about a complete fuck up. 

This bit especially cracked me up.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 8, 2012)

I trawled the thread and did some downloading.

Breathing was first to finish so I watched that. I'm not sure what to think, it was okay but I'm not sure if I was convinced by the kid, all guilt and very little anger, I don't know, still thinking about it.

Just watched A Gentle Woman. I'd never seen any Bresson until the other week when I watched Mouchette which I really liked; I love stuff with very limited dialogue. AGW is good and again leaves a lot to the viewer to work out though I did have to do some reading afterwards. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Almost forgot I watched Rosetta the other day. More Dardennes brilliance. I'm never disappointed by their films.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 8, 2012)

Rosseta is pretty much an update of Mouchette - i thought so anyway.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 8, 2012)

That's how I ended up watching Mouchette tbh, something similar in comments on IMDB


----------



## Reno (Jun 8, 2012)

Bresson is a cinematic blind spot of mine, I never got on with his films. I always feel I'm having my face rubbed in the suffering of others, as with Mouchette. I don't mind Diary of a Country Priest and A Man Escaped of the ones I've seen.

I watched the first 7 episodes of Mad Men Season 5 over the last three evenings. I think I've got a crush on Don's new wife Megan.


----------



## avu9lives (Jun 8, 2012)

*So Fine* (1981) been ages since av seen Ryan O'neal in summat! Its a pretty decent farce as it happens and cant believe its only got 4.6 on imdb. Even jaws (thats the bond baddie not the shark) is pretty funny in it!


----------



## Reno (Jun 8, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *So Fine* (1981) been ages since av seen Ryan O'neal in summat! Its a pretty decent farce as it happens and cant believe its only got 4.6 on imdb. Even jaws (thats the bond baddie not the shark) is pretty funny in it!


 
That's an obscure one. 

I just remember the poster with the bottomless jeans.


----------



## Garcia Lorca (Jun 8, 2012)

watched the raid redemption last night, brilliant action movie. once it starts its non stop. knifes, kick, punching and guns. some tremendous fight sequences, shit story line.. but whose watching it for the story? superb action.


----------



## thriller (Jun 9, 2012)

Garcia Lorca said:


> watched the raid redemption last night, brilliant action movie. once it starts its non stop. knifes, kick, punching and guns. some tremendous fight sequences, shit story line.. but whose watching it for the story? superb action.


 
saw this last night myself. Non-stop action only really spoilt by the last fight between the 3 guys. I mean, c'mon a florescent light tube stuck right into the neck and he is still fighting like it isn't there at all.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 9, 2012)

thriller said:


> saw this last night myself. Non-stop action only really spoilt by the last fight between the 3 guys. I mean, c'mon a *****************************


That would be a spoiler.


----------



## Kidda (Jun 10, 2012)

Wasn't to well so got through a few. 

Home Alone 2- Classic feel good
The Da Vinci Code- Tom Hanks, enough said
Stigmata- Not sure it's aged well but still a good film


----------



## Me76 (Jun 10, 2012)

Watched the Russell Brand Arthur today.  Not as bad as I expected.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 10, 2012)

Kidda said:


> The Da Vinci Code- Tom Hanks, enough said


Not really! Does that mean good or bad?


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 10, 2012)

ACAB - Italian film by the director of Romanzo criminale (the series not the original film). Follows a group of riot cops from the attack on the Diaz school at the Genoa G8 ('a massacre' they call it) as they bludgeon their way through striking workers, immigrants, football supporters, roma, people being evicted and so on. Demonstrates their self-image as warriors, as modern day samurai bound together by an unspoken code - fascism. And it does this in a sympathetic light, a confused light but a sympathetic light. For example, it shows these fascists - these open fascists, as being non-racist, the only racists in the film are a group of Roma who they attack and force to leave the country - because they racially abused of the fascists black mates. Their fascism is shown as simply being produced from their individual personal frustrations (losing access to kids, being made homeless by thieving Africans taking social housing and so on) and love of the motherland - the people using them in all the above acts are never mentioned, never shown, never questioned - invisible. This _is_ the fascist film that Tropa Elite was wrongly accused of being. 

Di Canio's fav film this year i expect.


----------



## Kidda (Jun 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Not really! Does that mean good or bad?


Good, he's my man crush.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 10, 2012)

Oh dear, now he ain't bad as an actor but he's well overpraised. And The Da Vinci Code? C'mon! I had the misfortune of reading the book


----------



## starfish (Jun 10, 2012)

The Prestige. Was fairly entertaining.


----------



## Kidda (Jun 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Oh dear, now he ain't bad as an actor but he's well overpraised. And The Da Vinci Code? C'mon! I had the misfortune of reading the book


 
(((OU))) the book is a step to far mate


----------



## MBV (Jun 10, 2012)

Answer This - fairly terrible.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 10, 2012)

Kidda said:


> Good, he's my man crush.


 
Grandad crush, more like!


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 10, 2012)

Krabat (sold over here as "Krabat: Legend of the Satanic Mill").
Not as good as Ottfried Preusser's book, but well done all the same - understated effects and actors you could relate to.


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Oh dear, now he ain't bad as an actor but he's well overpraised. And The Da Vinci Code? C'mon! I had the misfortune of reading the book


 
I attempted to read the book and gave up I found it so awful, so didn't see the film for years until kidda made me because I assumed it would be shit. I actually was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  It's not exactly deep thinking or owt, but if you want to pass a couple of hours pleasantly, I think it does quite adequately.


----------



## Reno (Jun 11, 2012)

ViolentPanda said:


> Krabat (sold over here as "Krabat: Legend of the Satanic Mill").
> Not as good as Ottfried Preusser's book, but well done all the same - understated effects and actors you could relate to.


 
This used to be a favourite book of mine as a kid, but I thought the film just didn't work. Somehow when the Germans try to make a big Hollywood style effects film they never find the right tone and the pacing of the film was so sluggish, I had problems staying awake.

There is a lovely animated version from the 70s by the great Czech animator Karel Zeman.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 11, 2012)

ViolentPanda said:


> Grandad crush, more like!


 
And keep him away from donkeys


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 11, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> I attempted to read the book and gave up I found it so awful, so didn't see the film for years until kidda made me because I assumed it would be shit. I actually was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  It's not exactly deep thinking or owt, but if you want to pass a couple of hours pleasantly, I think it does quite adequately.


Adequate. Easily pleased aren't you?


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 11, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Adequate. Easily pleased aren't you?


 
In some things I suppose so. There something wrong with that?


----------



## Ranbay (Jun 11, 2012)

21 Jump Street, was ok i guess the last part was the best. 7/10 mindless action comedy stuff etc.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 11, 2012)

Reno said:


> This used to be a favourite book of mine as a kid, but I thought the film just didn't work. Somehow when the Germans try to make a big Hollywood style effects film they never find the right tone and the pacing of the film was so sluggish, I had problems staying awake.
> 
> There is a lovely animated version from the 70s by the great Czech animator Karel Zeman.




Beautiful!

I think that the problem with the film is that (almost certainly for time considerations) they massively compressed the timeline and storyline, and elided some of the bits that established the supporting characters. If they'd made the film half an hour longer, removed the ridiculous fight scene and included stuff like Juro's stint as a horse, I think it's would've "played" a lot better.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 11, 2012)

B0B2oo9 said:


> 21 Jump Street, was ok i guess the last part was the best. 7/10 mindless action comedy stuff etc.


I thought it was very clever.

Watched 2001 ASO last night.  Still stunning.   What a creative mind Kubrick had.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 11, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I thought it was very clever.
> 
> Watched 2001 ASO last night. Still stunning. What a creative mind Kubrick had.


 
Indeed. Film that flows like nothing before or since - makes you ask questions (and not in the same way that Prometheus does, either)


----------



## Garek (Jun 12, 2012)

The Spanish Apartment - S'allright. Funny in places. Didn't particularly grab me.

It gets a black mark for a scene where the lead boy continues kissing a woman he is a attracted to and despite several firm "No"s he keeps kissing her and becoming more forceful until she gives in and kisses him back. Because of course we all know that when a woman says 'No' she is just playing hard to get.

EDIT: I'll add another black mark for amount of French male arrogance that is in it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 12, 2012)

I guess you wouldn't be a fan of _Les Valseuses_ then.


----------



## thriller (Jun 12, 2012)

downloading wrath of the titans blu ray. will watch over the weekend.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 12, 2012)

Look forward to your review with bated breath.


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 12, 2012)

Submarine - very funny. Like a much more awkward Adrian Mole.  Well worth checking out.


----------



## bluejeanjunky (Jun 12, 2012)

The Bourne Series 1-3


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 13, 2012)

Over the past week, I watched the complete series of the Hour, which was touted as the BBC's answer to Mad Men, but is actually much better. And it's nothing like Mad Men, in fact if anything it's like the Michael Gambon sequences in the Singing Detective. A very good evocation of UK at the time of the Suez crisis. Badly let down by an anti-climatic final episode, though. I still hope they make another series.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 13, 2012)

They already have


----------



## Reno (Jun 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Over the past week, I watched the complete series of the Hour, which was touted as the BBC's answer to Mad Men, but is actually much better. And it's nothing like Mad Men, in fact if anything it's like the Michael Gambon sequences in the Singing Detective. A very good evocation of UK at the time of the Suez crisis. Badly let down by an anti-climatic final episode, though. I still hope they make another series.


 

Oh, rubbish. It's nowhere near as good as Mad Man.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 13, 2012)

Reno said:


> Oh, rubbish. It's nowhere near as good as Mad Man.


 
It's vastly superior to Mad Men. The women in it are already the kind of women that Peggy Olsen et al are trying to be, and this is in 1956. Despite the let down of the last episode, it sustains tension over most of the six-episode arc. It's definitely a cut above the glorified soap that is MM.


----------



## Reno (Jun 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> It's vastly superior to Mad Men. The women in it are already the kind of women that Peggy Olsen et al are trying to be, and this is in 1956. Despite the let down of the last episode, it sustains tension over most of the six-episode arc. It's definitely a cut above the glorified soap that is MM.


 

You've totally missed the point of Mad Men then and put your finger on exactly what I hated about The Hour. 

Mad Men is not about featuring the type of proto-feminist women which appeal to your contemporary sensibilities. The whole point of Mad Men is to accuratly depict the archaic sexism, racism and homophobia of its time and to be true to its period. That's what I hate about so many period dramas like The Hour and British TV drama does this type of hand holding all the time. They get dumbed down because they have to be "relatable" to modern audiences and appeal to their 21st century PC sensibilities. In Mad Men the relatively recent past is not afraid to be shown to be really quite alien. Unlike with Mad Men, the dialogue of The Hour is also frequently stupidly anachronistic, which ruins even the most superficial sense of authenticity.

The Hour doesn't have the confidence to trust its viewers attention span, so it has to inject some hokey spy plot because that's what apparently hooks modern audiences. Mad Men is all about accumulating detail and beautifully subtle about the shifting cultural and political landscape of the 60s. It's not afraid to be almost entirely character driven. Soaps, which you compare MM to, do the opposite. They are plot driven and mainly put the characters in the service of plot contrivances.


----------



## belboid (Jun 13, 2012)

The Hour got much much better as it went on, and everyone, basically, got into their roles. It was irritating, especially early on, how they loved to hover over things (like cupboards full of period baked beans and washing powders), positively shouting ‘Look at me, I’m in the fifties!’ whereas Mad Men would show them glimpsingly, letting the viewer pat themselves on the back for noticing.

And MM is, indeed, far more stylishly shot, but, dear god, its got heavy handed with the symbolism. Look! Don’s not feeling well, expect a dream sequence in twenty minutes time. Hmm, whatever could that rotten tooth symbolise – don’t worry, someone will be along very soon to tell us precisely. It’s still mighty fine, but it’s lost the brilliance of the early seasons for me. Not that that’ll stop me watching, and smiling when Peggy comes up with "You've come a long way, baby." for the fags.


Anyway… last night was time to watch _The Muppets_. Started a bit slowly, imo, trying too hard to show how clever and knowing it was, but, despite it not being very Muppetish in several places (fuck off with your crap fart jokes Segel!) I was laughing a lot by the end, and was almost moved. Good stuff.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jun 13, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> Submarine - very funny. Like a much more awkward Adrian Mole. Well worth checking out.


 
and better than the novel it's based on.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 13, 2012)

The last 2 eps (ever) of Desperate Housewives. Surprisingly touching - esp in the case of Kathryn Joosten's portrayal of Karen McCluskey. Apart from that, pure fantasy stuff, as always.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 13, 2012)

belboid said:


> ...Anyway… last night was time to watch _The Muppets_. Started a bit slowly, imo, trying too hard to show how clever and knowing it was, but, despite it not being very Muppetish in several places (fuck off with your crap fart jokes Segel!) I was laughing a lot by the end, and was almost moved. Good stuff.


 
Pretty much the same for me, I got quite annoyed early when the 'you are leaving smalltown' sign was pointing the wrong way but calmed down and really enjoyed it.   I liked the cameos even though I detest Jack Black these days.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jun 14, 2012)

As Henry Hill just died I thought it would an appropriate time to rewatch Goodfellas. Love that film.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 14, 2012)

*Bram Stoker's Dracula:* I recently read Stoker's novel so was interested to see this again. It's a terrible load of old shit, though, isn't it? The novel is suffused with sex but never once mentions it directly. Here, it's tits-a-go-go from about 10 minutes in. And whoever came up with the Dracula/Mina romance idea deserves to be poked in the eye - they can also be blamed indirectly for the likes of Twilight. Gary Oldman's the best thing about it, especially in the early scenes set in his castle. The kindest thing you can say about Keanu Reeves is that he isn't in it much.


----------



## 8115 (Jun 14, 2012)

Most of Corilianus.  Heartstoppingly good.  If you have a brain and like international politics or Shakepeare, see it.  May not be so good if you find the Bosnian conflict upsetting, or have difficulty with long films.  Going to watch the rest today but I think it's unlikely to disappoint.  I'm surprised it didn't get a bit more attention.  As a modern treatment of Shakespeare I think it's superior (by a small margin) to Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 14, 2012)

DJ Squelch said:


> As Henry Hill just died I thought it would an appropriate time to rewatch Goodfellas. Love that film.


 
But who's going to groom the badgers for the badgers' parade?!


----------



## yardbird (Jun 14, 2012)

I watched a short twice.
*Rendezvous *by Claude Lelouch. The full title is C'Etait Un Rendezvous.
A mind-blowing drive through Paris at very,very, high speed  early in the morning.
It's on youtube, but I've got a dvd and watch it from time to time.
Not to be missed!


----------



## The Octagon (Jun 14, 2012)

*Trollhunter*

Nice idea, funny in places, great locations, otherwise a bit forgettable.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 14, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> But who's going to groom the badgers for the badgers' parade?!



*Suddenly realises what the hell Al Murray was tweeting about*


----------



## cheesetoastie (Jun 14, 2012)

Homeland episode 7


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 15, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> ACAB - Italian film by the director of Romanzo criminale SNIP.


 
Watched it last night, interesting.


----------



## belboid (Jun 15, 2012)

The Woman In Black

Surprisingly good. Very well scripted - in that it gave _him_ as few actual words to speak as possible.[/i]


----------



## Reno (Jun 15, 2012)

belboid said:


> The Woman In Black
> 
> Surprisingly good. Very well scripted - in that it gave _him_ as few actual words to speak as possible.[/i]


 

Really ???? Have you read the book, seen the play or the 80s ITV adaption ? All far superior. It's one of the worst adaptation of a novel I've ever seen. It barely even hangs together as a story, it's just a film as a ghost train, entirely reliant on cheap jump scares and the many tired cliches of that type of film (children in pancake make-up=scary). And the end, so devastating in the TV movie, is right out of Casper ( the Friendly Ghost ). Worst film I saw at the cinema this year.


----------



## belboid (Jun 15, 2012)

No, no, and, indeed, no. The ending (well not the very very ending, but the bit of the ending that is actually in the book) took me by surprise. Earlier on tho lots of the spookiness _was_ properly spooky tho, just shadows flitting without the BOO! culmination expected. Having mrs b shrieking and bruising my arm with her grip probably helped too


----------



## mrs quoad (Jun 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> Really ???? Have you read the book, seen the play or the 80s ITV adaption ? All far superior. It's one of the worst adaptation of a novel I've ever seen. It barely even hangs together as a story, it's just a film as a ghost train, entirely reliant on cheap jump scares and the many tired cliches of that type of film (children in pancake make-up=scary). And the end, so devastating in the TV movie, is right out of Casper ( the Friendly Ghost ). Worst film I saw at the cinema this year.


One day, someone will post something about the misuse of statistics in a film you don't like, and together we shall crucify them


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 15, 2012)

belboid said:


> The Woman In Black


 
No Gene Wilder = No deal


----------



## belboid (Jun 16, 2012)

Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows - flashingly entertaining, but a right load of old bollocks.

My Week With Marilyn - great performances from Williams & Brannagh, and an entertaingly told tale. Almost made me want to rewatch the Prince & The Showgirl.  But then I remembered that thats crap.


----------



## Ranbay (Jun 16, 2012)

Alien
&
Aliens

after watching Prometheus i thought i best to re-visit them after 15 years or so.


----------



## ShiftyBagLady (Jun 16, 2012)

Just finished watching Tideland and it was, I think, equally whimsical and unsettling. The play drugs/fantasy was interesting, it's looked beautiful and the lead actress was just amazing.
There were some scenes which made me really uncomfortable and yeah they were supposed to but however  naive and  childlike the characters involved, I found it deeply unsettling to see a child actor in a scene with overt sexualised themes.
OTHER THAN THAT. It was good.


----------



## MBV (Jun 16, 2012)

A Complete history of my sexual failures - funny and touching I thought. I recommend it to any single blokes.


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 16, 2012)

The Rum Diary 
Audition - was a strange one this.  Reminded me a little of Baise Moi in terms of female on male aggression. Would need to watch it a few more times to really get all the relevant symbolism I think.


----------



## Me76 (Jun 17, 2012)

Real Steel.  Cheesiest thing I have seen for a very long time.


----------



## Reno (Jun 17, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> Audition - was a strange one this. Reminded me a little of Baise Moi in terms of female on male aggression. Would need to watch it a few more times to really get all the relevant symbolism I think.


 
Only Baise Moi is shit and Audition is great.


----------



## starfish (Jun 17, 2012)

Watched The Stepfather earlier tonight. Hadnt seen it for 20 or so years. Terry O'Neill was still pretty creepy


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 17, 2012)

Friday I watched The Silence, mentioned here earlier in the thread I think. German film about two murders of young girls 23 years apart both in similar circumstances. It was watchable and I was keen to find out what would happen but ultimately it wasn't that great and I was glad to be going to bed.

Yesterday I watched The Conformist. It's my first Bertolucci film and I have to say I don't think I'll watch anymore for now. I found it really hard going and often wasn't sure of what was going on, I suspect I didn't understand the politics behind it all. (See also: Il Divo)

It's one of few Italian films I've watched and the pacing of the subtitles didn't help even though it was a genuine copy. I found I was missing watching things because I was reading which I don't find with other languages. Or maybe I'm just making excuses.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 18, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Yesterday I watched The Conformist. It's my first Bertolucci film and I have to say I don't think I'll watch anymore for now. I found it really hard going and often wasn't sure of what was going on, I suspect I didn't understand the politics behind it all.


What! It's fantastic. I mean even if you didn't understand the plot & politics how can you not fall in love with the look of the film, is just gorgeous.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 18, 2012)

*Primer:* Interesting, ingenious and mercifully short, but if I hadn't read the film's Wiki page I'd have been totally lost.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 18, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> Friday I watched The Silence, mentioned here earlier in the thread I think. German film about two murders of young girls 23 years apart both in similar circumstances. It was watchable and I was keen to find out what would happen but ultimately it wasn't that great and I was glad to be going to bed.
> 
> Yesterday I watched The Conformist. It's my first Bertolucci film and I have to say I don't think I'll watch anymore for now. I found it really hard going and often wasn't sure of what was going on, I suspect I didn't understand the politics behind it all. (See also: Il Divo)
> 
> It's one of few Italian films I've watched and the pacing of the subtitles didn't help even though it was a genuine copy. I found I was missing watching things because I was reading which I don't find with other languages. Or maybe I'm just making excuses.


I thought the Silence was excellent and was slightly mis-sold as a whodunnit.

You're never going to get me to agree with you on the conformist - my fav film from the 70s, and pretty high post-war full stop. Just about everything came together brilliantly.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 18, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> What! It's fantastic. I mean even if you didn't understand the plot & politics how can you not fall in love with the look of the film, is just gorgeous.


 
The cinemtographer, Vittorio Storaro, had already done (or was about do?) Last Tango in Paris, and went on to shoot Apocalypse Now.  The Conformist really is as good as everyone says it is, and is worth persevering with. It's also an excellent case of the film being better than the book.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 18, 2012)

Antichrist - wierd, confusing, and meh.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jun 18, 2012)

The devils Chair - now there's an hour and a bit i wont be getting back


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 18, 2012)

*The Beast Stalker *over the weekend - despite the name, not a version of Trollhunter or a serial-killer thriller, but a crunchy, violent Hong Kong action/gangster flick from 2008.
Very John Woo in places (facially disfigured gangsters, innocent children in jeopardy, sickly subplots about family duty) and outright robbed from _Amores Perros _in others, particularly the fractured time-line ... not a great movie by any means and not fit to polish Johnny To's boots, but energetic and scruffy enough to be interesting. A terrific villain as well.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 18, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> *The Beast Stalker *over the weekend - despite the name, not a version of Trollhunter or a serial-killer thriller, but a crunchy, violent Hong Kong action/gangster flick from 2008.
> Very John Woo in places (facially disfigured gangsters, innocent children in jeopardy, sickly subplots about family duty) and outright robbed from _Amores Perros _in others, particularly the fractured time-line ... not a great movie by any means and not fit to polish Johnny To's boots, but energetic and scruffy enough to be interesting. A terrific villain as well.


There's a sort of follow up which is much better - Stool Pigeon.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 18, 2012)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Noomi Rapace excellent but it feels like the book on fast forward. Still, be intrigued by the US version...


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 18, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> What! It's fantastic. I mean even if you didn't understand the plot & politics how can you not fall in love with the look of the film, is just gorgeous.


 


butchersapron said:


> You're never going to get me to agree with you on the conformist - my fav film from the 70s, and pretty high post-war full stop. Just about everything came together brilliantly.


 
Hehe, it was the 'best film of the 70s' comment that drew me to the film so I wouldn't expect a change of mind.

A few days on and I was at work telling my friend I'd seen it over the weekend. Turns out it's one of her favourites for reasons redsquirrel highlights. While I was watching I was taken with the beauty of the wife in particular but the blond is obviously very striking too. There were a few scenes; the one where they were dancing in Paris and a shot of some leaves blowing that really stood out.

I think I got more out of it than I realised yesterday and I think the story made a bit more sense after I talked with my mate about it. I'll probably give it a rewatch at some point.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 19, 2012)

The Wrestler - not as deep as something I'd have expected from Aronofsky but a good film nevertheless. Fairly forgettable but worth watching. 7/10


----------



## Reno (Jun 19, 2012)

You should never expect anything deeper than stoner philosophy from Arnofsky. That's why I liked his two last films the best, they are just character studies and genre exercises.


----------



## JimW (Jun 19, 2012)

I watched_ The Conformist_ going off the recommendations on here and you didn't steer me wrong, what a great film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 19, 2012)

Am watching _Tony_. Dalston looks suitably real  Probably shouldn't have paused to make a sandwich and then come back at the point where he's doing his chores the morning after the night at the Joiner's Arms


----------



## Reno (Jun 19, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Am watching _Tony_. Dalston looks suitably real  Probably shouldn't have paused to make a sandwich and then come back at the point where he's doing his chores the morning after the night at the Joiner's Arms


 
Is that the serial killer flick ? Does he pick up victims at the Joiners Arms ? If yes, then I have to see that.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 19, 2012)

Interesting idea that one - can't remember why but didn't think it quite came off in the end.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 19, 2012)

It was very supportive of the film industry and generous for Hackney Homes to provide so many empty, derelict, sitexed buildings to act as backdrops and locations


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 19, 2012)

JimW said:


> I watched_ The Conformist_ going off the recommendations on here and you didn't steer me wrong, what a great film.


 
If the state doesn't model itself on the individual, how can the individual model himself on the state?


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 19, 2012)

Reno said:


> You should never expect anything deeper than stoner philosophy from Arnofsky. That's why I liked his two last films the best, they are just character studies and genre exercises.


 
Loved The Fountain


----------



## Reno (Jun 19, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Loved The Fountain


 
That's exactly what I meant with stoner philosophy.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 19, 2012)

Reno said:


> That's exactly what I meant with stoner philosophy.


 
I watched it completely sober. Admittedly I didn't quite get the story but visually, it's something that appeals to me.


----------



## bluejeanjunky (Jun 19, 2012)

watch it on youtube, actually been watching all the episodes for days now..

The Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura

Cool!


----------



## starfish (Jun 19, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> *The Beast Stalker *over the weekend - despite the name, not a version of Trollhunter or a serial-killer thriller, but a crunchy, violent Hong Kong action/gangster flick from 2008.
> Very John Woo in places (facially disfigured gangsters, innocent children in jeopardy, sickly subplots about family duty) and outright robbed from _Amores Perros _in others, particularly the fractured time-line ... not a great movie by any means and not fit to polish Johnny To's boots, but energetic and scruffy enough to be interesting. A terrific villain as well.


 
Recorded it, so hopefully get some time to watch it soon. If we like it will look out for Stool Pigeon too.


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 20, 2012)

A.C.A.B - good stuff.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 20, 2012)

purenarcotic said:
			
		

> A.C.A.B - good stuff.



Its pro-fascist rubbish!


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 20, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Its pro-fascist rubbish!


 
I saw it more as poking holes in the hypocrisy of it; how some racism was 'justified' in the group's eyes while other forms clearly weren't, and how ridiculous that was.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jun 20, 2012)

Ra. One. Indian science fiction action musical. Didn't finish it. Utter garbage.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 20, 2012)

Fear is the Key - old 70s thriller with Barry Newman. Car chases, a Roy Budd score and refreshingly unhip. Pick it up on dvd for a quid in chariy shop. it ws a really crisp widescreen print too. i enjoyed it.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jun 21, 2012)

Bridesmaids for the second time and BLade Runner The Final Cut in HD....stunning as always


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 21, 2012)

Easy Street - Charlie swaps his tramp threads for the cop uniform, takes smack and beats up local n'er do wells.


----------



## magneze (Jun 21, 2012)

Ratatouille - quite entertaining. Made me want to eat ratatouille until I looked up the recipe. Courgettes. Bleugh.


----------



## Badgers (Jun 21, 2012)

magneze said:
			
		

> Ratatouille - quite entertaining. Made me want to eat ratatouille until I looked up the recipe. Courgettes. Bleugh.



Good film


----------



## Jackobi (Jun 21, 2012)

El Páramo (The Squad)

I'm crap at reviews, but I enjoyed this in a non-taxing, slightly chilling way, which is what I was in the mood for.


----------



## Zabo (Jun 21, 2012)

_Dagenham_

Oh dear! Same technical and dramatic expertise that goes into GrimEnders. Terrible!

Now where's my book on English Kitchen Sink Clichés?


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 21, 2012)

magneze said:


> Ratatouille - quite entertaining. Made me want to eat ratatouille until I looked up the recipe. Courgettes. Bleugh.


 
Boil em, serve with butter and pepper - that's how I first encountered them. Make soup with them, or stick them in stews or stir fry... very versatile!


----------



## magneze (Jun 21, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Boil em, serve with butter and pepper - that's how I first encountered them. Make soup with them, or stick them in stews or stir fry... very versatile!


... but taste like shit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 21, 2012)

magneze said:


> ... but taste like shit.


I bet you just haven't had them cooked right.
They're lovely in ratatouille


----------



## magneze (Jun 21, 2012)

I'll try it. Maybe over the weekend.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 22, 2012)

*Kaboom:* A lightweight teen sex drama with some bizarro supernatural plot about cults and psychic powers clumsily bolted onto it. Not sure what it was actually meant to be about - teenage self-absorption possibly.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 22, 2012)

Natural World - Unnatural History of London.

Just brilliant; falcons, parakeets, crayfish, clever foxes, squirrels on chili, killer turtles and scary ass pelicans!


----------



## Garek (Jun 23, 2012)

Just finished _Spirit of a Beehive_. Really enjoyed it. I like quiet films like this, where for everything said a thousand things go unsaid, spoken only in the looks of the actors or the mise en scène.

Very subtly subversive.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jun 23, 2012)

Whispering Corridors - Korean ghost story set in all girls high school


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 23, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Whispering Corridors - Korean ghost story set in all girls high school


There's a fuckload of sequels to that -_ all the exact same film._


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 23, 2012)

*The Innkeepers:* Slow-building ghost story that has its moments but not nearly enough of them. I'm surprised it has been so well reviewed as, to be honest, I've had scarier bowel movements.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jun 24, 2012)

The Yellow Sea - Korean movie The story of a cab driver in Yanji City, a region between North Korea, China and Russia. His wife goes to Korea to earn money, but he doesn't hear from her since in 6 months. He plays mah-jong to make some extra cash, but this only makes hif life worse; but then he meets a hitman who proposes to turn his life around by repaying his debt and reuniting with his wife, just for one hit


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 25, 2012)

XXY - good film, can see why it won all the awards it did.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 25, 2012)

Its always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 4 . Best comedy I have seen for ages and still got 5 and 6 to get through


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 25, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> XXY - good film, can see why it won all the awards it did.


 
That Vin Diesel should've been a shoo-in for Best Actor Oscar


----------



## avu9lives (Jun 25, 2012)

*Disorganised Crime*  (1989) proper lol funny! loved it//


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 25, 2012)

thriller said:


> downloading wrath of the titans blu ray. will watch over the weekend.


 
Nearly two weeks and no review


----------



## thriller (Jun 25, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Nearly two weeks and no review


 
I haven't got round to watching it. Watched MIB 3 instead. 
Will give it a view on saturday or sunday coming.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 25, 2012)

I don't know if my nerves can handle this.


----------



## hassan (Jun 25, 2012)

Toy story 2. Loved the first one as a kid. I didn't see the second until last night.  Didn't want to watch toy story 3 without watching the second.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 25, 2012)

*The House Of The Devil:* Written and directed by the same bloke (Ti West) who did The Innkeepers. It isn't terribly good either, although the first hour builds the story and creepiness nicely. After that it gets silly pretty quick.


----------



## Reno (Jun 26, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *The Innkeepers:* Slow-building ghost story that has its moments but not nearly enough of them. I'm surprised it has been so well reviewed as, to be honest, I've had scarier bowel movements.


 
This has gone from "quite liked it" to my favourite film of the year so far on a second viewing. Ultimately it turns out to be less about ghosts and more about the fear of your life getting stuck in a dead end. It's far better written and acted than 99% of horror films with three thoroughly believeable characters who I enjoyed hanging out with for the duration of the film. Its heroine is very much in the tradition of The Innocents or The Haunting and 



Spoiler: Reno



ultimately it turns out that the ghosts probably only ever existed in a mind starved for a little excitement. She is the only character who sees any ghosts.


I agree with you on House of the Devil. Great first hour, but the climax is kind of tacky. I'm curious to see what Ti West does next though, I think there is a progression throughout his films.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jun 26, 2012)

"TinTin" - I liked it at the cinema and I liked it on Blu-ray!! Some good extras too.


----------



## The Octagon (Jun 26, 2012)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (as my housemate hadn't seen it)

Love the character interplay and dialogue, great little film.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 26, 2012)

Reno said:


> This has gone from "quite liked it" to my favourite film of the year so far on a second viewing. Ultimately it turns out to be less about ghosts and more about the fear of your life getting stuck in a dead end. It's far better written and acted than 99% of horror films with three thoroughly believeable characters who I enjoyed hanging out with for the duration of the film. Its heroine is very much in the tradition of The Innocents or The Haunting


 
The bit you've put between spoiler tags is very interesting and would make a lot of sense (it would also make the film a lot better). After seeing it I thought that there had to be more to it than what was there. I thought perhaps there would be a bit after the end credits that offered some context or even a twist and was disappointed when there wasn't. Unlike you, though, I didn't really warm to the characters - the girl was believable and just about likeable but the guy was a sleaze and the psychic unsympathetic.


----------



## Reno (Jun 26, 2012)

A Swiss horror film called Sennentuntschi which is based on a popular Alpine myth which is in equal parts Pygmalion and I Spit on Your Grave. It's a little heavy handed, with an overbearing orchestral score and an unneccesary framing story, but it sets the tale in the 70s and makes it work both as a supernatural fairy tale and as a giallo style murder mystery. It may not be great, but at least it's different and melding the genre of the wholesome German/Austrian/Swiss Heimat film (a local genre which is a mixture of melodrama, and adventure always set in the Alps. The only Hollywood example is probably The Sound of Music) with horror elements, gives it a distictive feel.


----------



## Reno (Jun 26, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> The bit you've put between spoiler tags is very interesting and would make a lot of sense (it would also make the film a lot better). After seeing it I thought that there had to be more to it than what was there. I thought perhaps there would be a bit after the end credits that offered some context or even a twist and was disappointed when there wasn't. Unlike you, though, I didn't really warm to the characters - the girl was believable and just about likeable but the guy was a sleaze and the psychic unsympathetic.


 
The guy ultimately is unlikeable. He is the second stage of a dead end life, in his thirties but still stuck in adolesence, with a crush on a girl much too young for him and making up fake hauntings for a crappy website.



Spoiler: Reno



The one moment where he should prove his love for her by sticking by her, he deserts her with catastrophic results.

I also have a weakness for films that turn from comedy to tragedy and this is ultimately a rather sad film.


Kelly McGillis is very good too as a character in the last stage of a dead end life, stuck in cynicism, mysantropy, fags and booze.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 26, 2012)

Reno said:


> The only Hollywood example is probably The Sound of Music


 
Or _Hannibal Brooks_ - Heimat-meets-war-movie with added pachyderm!


----------



## Reno (Jun 26, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Or _Hannibal Brooks_ - Heimat-meets-war-movie with added pachyderm!


 
OK, maybe there are a few more. There also is Guy Maddins brilliantly demented Canadian take on the Heimat genre, complete with paper-mache Alps and eye gouging cuckoo clocks, Careful:


----------



## barabrith (Jun 26, 2012)

The Lives of Others. A German film set in East Berlin in the early 80s.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 26, 2012)

Reno said:


> OK, maybe there are a few more. There also is Guy Maddins brilliantly demented Canadian take on the Heimat genre, complete with paper-mache Alps and eye gouging cuckoo clocks, Careful:




"...serenade you with the whistling wind of the death plummet.."


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 26, 2012)

Kevin Smiths Bindlestiffs ~ in the unlikely event I ever meet Kevin Smith i intend slapping the fucker for making this rancid turd of a film.


----------



## Reno (Jun 26, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Kevin Smiths Bindlestiffs ~ in the unlikely event I ever meet Kevin Smith i intend slapping the fucker for making this rancid turd of a film.


 
Kevin Smith deserves slaps for a few films, but not for that one. He never made a film called Bindlestiffs.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 26, 2012)

Reno said:


> Kevin Smith deserves slaps for a few films, but not for that one. He never made a film called Bindlestiffs.


 
huh your right, the picture is somewhat misleading though. so what was Smiths involvement...


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jun 26, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Am watching _Tony_. Dalston looks suitably real  Probably shouldn't have paused to make a sandwich and then come back at the point where he's doing his chores the morning after the night at the Joiner's Arms


 

Just watched that a couple of hours ago. Not bad. The job centre guy shoulda got it though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 26, 2012)

always beware of the 'presents' credit.


----------



## Reno (Jun 26, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> huh your right, the picture is somewhat misleading though. so what was Smiths involvement...
> 
> View attachment 20551


 
It means that he didn't have anything to do with the films making, only with its distribution.


----------



## Mephitic (Jun 26, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> always beware of the 'presents' credit.


 
Gottit. I'm still intent on slapping the fucker for 'presenting' this crap.


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 27, 2012)

*Left Bank:* Belgian arthouse horror worth watching for its genuinely likeable lead character (a professional athlete, named Marie) and totally fucking mental last 15 minutes. It takes an age to get going though.


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 27, 2012)

barabrith said:


> The Lives of Others. A German film set in East Berlin in the early 80s.


 
Did you like it?  One of my favourite films, that.  The guy who plays the Soviet watcher had a similar thing happen to him when he was a young man in East Germany; flat being bugged, being watched etc, crazy stuff.


----------



## Reno (Jun 27, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *Left Bank:* Belgian arthouse horror worth watching for its genuinely likeable lead character (a professional athlete, named Marie) and totally fucking mental last 15 minutes. It takes an age to get going though.


 
Another one of my favourite horror films of the last decade. I like slow burners.


----------



## barabrith (Jun 27, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> Did you like it? One of my favourite films, that. The guy who plays the Soviet watcher had a similar thing happen to him when he was a young man in East Germany; flat being bugged, being watched etc, crazy stuff.


Yes I love it, one of my favourites too. It's a shame the actor playing the stasi officer died shortly after it won the Oscar


----------



## purenarcotic (Jun 27, 2012)

barabrith said:


> Yes I love it, one of my favourites too. It's a shame the actor playing the stasi officer died shortly after it won the Oscar


 
I didn't realise that, that's a right shame.


----------



## barabrith (Jun 27, 2012)

I think it was cancer, he was too ill to attend the ceremony. Shame indeed as I think he would have gone on to do some more mainstream films after that amazing performance.


----------



## chazegee (Jun 28, 2012)

Not a film, but brilliant.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 30, 2012)

Sunshine  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/

The Danny Boyle sci-fi.   Wonderfully visual at times.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 30, 2012)

Imagine a film being visual


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 30, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Sunshine http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/
> 
> The Danny Boyle sci-fi. Wonderfully visual at times.


 
It would have been far far far far far better if they had just left out the monster man bollocks. A simple mental case sabotaging the project would have been enough. It's a nicely atmospheric film that is ruined by ball bag chase camera work and  nonsence story tacked on at the end


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 30, 2012)

I watched Evangelion 2.22 (Why 2.22)

Seen it before, but this was the first time with subs so was a little clearer. Someone I thought died, didn't, kind of ruined the impact of the scene.
Pretty good, but I am either over all the evangelion stuff now (20 years of it is about long enough). Watching the mysteries of the series unfold was fun but here you already know most of those mysteries and they don't even really manage a gasp from the characters in the film, it all seems rather flat. The fighting is cool but the emotion is in fast forward.

Shinji is still annoying but not to the level he was in the series.

I also like the new girl.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 30, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It would have been far far far far far better if they had just left out the monster man bollocks. A simple mental case sabotaging the project would have been enough. It's a nicely atmospheric film that is ruined by ball bag chase camera work and nonsence story tacked on at the end


I didn't see him as a monster, I think maybe the crew of Icarus II did in a way.  That camera-work gave it a claustrophobic (Alien?) feel in the final third.   It's far from a great film but it is very good.   I like Danny Boyle's work.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 30, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I didn't see him as a monster, I think maybe the crew of Icarus II did in a way. That camera-work gave it a claustrophobic (Alien?) feel in the final third. It's far from a great film but it is very good. I like Danny Boyle's work.


 
I didn't find it claustrophobic, just frustrating.
The ship was first shown as spacious and atmospheric, to then suddenly be presented with the inside of the ship in fast wobbly close ups didn't quite sit well for me.
I would have loved it to carry on at the same pace, it was an interesting scenario that didn't need an fourth rate alienesque fight and chase.


----------



## Reno (Jun 30, 2012)

Both Sunshine and 28 Days Later are Danny Boyle films which suffer from a weak, generic last act which almost ruin the films. I even think the concept of the extra crew member could have worked, Boyle just handles it so poorly, it almost feels like he's lost interest in the film at that point.


----------



## Me76 (Jun 30, 2012)

We Need to Talk About Kevin.    Really enjoyed it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 30, 2012)

Me76 said:


> We Need to Talk About Kevin. Really enjoyed it.


I'm sure someone will be along in a second to tell you why you shouldn't have. 

Just watched The Town - Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Pete Postlethwaite (minor role, really) and directed by Affleck. Good story, well acted, nicely paced...a bit too long though.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 30, 2012)

Me76 said:


> We Need to Talk About Kevin. Really enjoyed it.


 
Like the way it was made, hardly any dialogue


----------



## andy2002 (Jun 30, 2012)

*The Last Exorcism:* Any exorcism movie is always going to be compared unfavourably to _the_ exorcism movie and that's very much the case here. Still, it's quite creepy in places and the actress playing Nell is superb. I've really had enough of 'found footage' movies now though.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 1, 2012)

Mesrine public enemy number 1 - Watched part 1& 2  Excellent movie


----------



## starfish (Jul 1, 2012)

Today we watched, Up in the Air & Attack the Block. Both pretty decent films. AtB had some very funny moments.


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 1, 2012)

battle of the pacific ~ nothing new


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 2, 2012)

_Diên Biên Phu_ - I was a bit distracted by doing some DIY, so I probably missed out on a lot of nuance. But on the other hand, Donald Pleasance talking in French, LOL.


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 2, 2012)

Clearskin ~ quite a lot of stabbings.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 2, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> _Diên Biên Phu_ - I was a bit distracted by doing some DIY, so I probably missed out on a lot of nuance. But on the other hand, Donald Pleasance talking in French, LOL.


Sounds awful, but he did make a great film about the french time there post war:

La 317ème section


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 2, 2012)

I might have a crack at that then, ta.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 2, 2012)

We watched The most exotic marigold hotel - was very funny in places but a tried and tested format but still a nice watch for a lazy Sunday evening.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 2, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> I might have a crack at that then, ta.


Also did this unhappy heist-ish i really enjoyed.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 2, 2012)

I still have _The Anderson Platoon_ in the queue...


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 2, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> I still have _The Anderson Platoon_ in the queue...


Not seen him -  i've spotted a certain focus on a few themes.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 3, 2012)

Hobo - 1992 TV Documentary here


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 3, 2012)

*Idle Hands* and *The Big Sleep*

Idle hands was sporadically funny and has some quality physical acting with the whole 'possessed hand' schtick, although I'd forgotten how ridiculous Jessica Alba's character is (stunningly beautiful girl whose first reaction to a twitching blood-splattered stoner at her door is to flirt and invite him in, then when he grabs her arse she chuckles and says she's "impressed" ).

The Big Sleep was great as always, I don't care if it doesn't make sense, the dialogue and sense of time / place are fantastic.


----------



## Part 2 (Jul 3, 2012)

Not a dvd/film but I watched Walking and Talking, the new Kathy Burke written Sky Atlantic thing.

It's quite sweet and obviously a lot is autobiographical. Looks nice and has Jerry Sadowitz in as Jimmy the Jew. I'd give it a 6 as an opener, only 4 episodes I think so I'm sure it's worth sticking with it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 3, 2012)

cutters way - still good. forgot about the Nietzche soundtrack....cool.


----------



## Reno (Jul 3, 2012)

Bellflower, a low-budget US indie film which made waves at film festivals last year. It's was really, really shit with some of the worst acting I've seen in a while. More mumblecore crap about immature hipster dudes.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 4, 2012)

_John Rabe_ - about a card-carrying Nazi businessman who helps save a shitload of people in Nanjing during the massacres. Interesting story, film less so.

Have made a start on _南京! 南京! _AKA_ City Of Life And Death_ about the same subject, and it's several notches more powerful with a lot less dialogue and none of the reliance on caucasian characters to frame it.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 4, 2012)

_Rope_ - One of Hitchcock's that I'd never seen before. Decent enough but not in the top drawer of his work IMO.


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 4, 2012)

*Double Indemnity* Up there wiv the film noir classics of all time. / the conversations between Stanwyck and MacMurray are superb.
Theres not much in the way of action mind but its worth watchin fer the dialouge alone sayin that its stuck on my laptop at home and i mustta watched it at least 10 times in the last month.
I just cant seem ta stick it in the recycle bin.


----------



## marty21 (Jul 4, 2012)

Neds - thought it might be a bit Nil by Mouth - and it is in parts - it's violent but also sweet and moving in parts - thought it was a great film.


----------



## agricola (Jul 4, 2012)

The Doctor Who double episode _Human Nature / Family of Blood_.  I had forgotten how good it was.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 4, 2012)

Carnage.  Probably the best written thing I've ever seen.


----------



## Reno (Jul 5, 2012)

I watched the first three episodes of the British drama series _Hit & Miss_ starring Chloe Sevigny as a transexual contact killer in Manchester, who inherits a bunch of kids after their mother (her ex) dies. Loopy and frequently preposterous but also very entertaining and stylish. Despite a wavering Irish accent and despite a prosthetic penis without a hint of maleness about her, Sevigny is compellingly to watch.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jul 5, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Double Indemnity* Up there wiv the film noir classics of all time. / the conversations between Stanwyck and MacMurray are superb.
> Theres not much in the way of action mind but its worth watchin fer the dialouge alone sayin that its stuck on my laptop at home and i mustta watched it at least 10 times in the last month.
> I just cant seem ta stick it in the recycle bin.


 
I watched Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery, where they go to the cinema to watch Double Indemnity


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2012)

The last three episodes of _Hit & Miss._ Still fun, but not as good as the first half.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 6, 2012)

marty21 said:


> Neds - thought it might be a bit Nil by Mouth - and it is in parts - it's violent but also sweet and moving in parts - thought it was a great film.


 
really liked that although it reminded me of the very underrated Small Faces


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 6, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> really liked that although it reminded me of the very underrated Small Faces


 
I've not seen Neds, but Small Faces is very underrated. I went to see it by pure chance - it was the only thing on at the time - and was very impressed. I remember it was touted as Glasgow's answer to Trainspotting, but it's by far the better film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 6, 2012)

Couple of docs on Ali; David Frost one from 10 years back & ITV one on when Ali came to Britain. Also, doc on gay footballers (or lack of them) made by Justin Fashanu's niece. And episode 1 of Danish crime drama; Those Who Kill... better than I had been led to believe.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2012)

Do yourself a favour and dump that danish one, i watched the first two and it was laughable C5 stuff.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 6, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Do yourself a favour and dump that danish one, i watched the fist two and it was laughable C5 stuff.


 
But C5 shows Justified, Walking Dead and Archer! I realise it's not in the same league, it was more Cracker/Prime Suspect with gloss but it passed a couple of hours. Oddly, the profiler kept reminding of David Walliams...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 6, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> _John Rabe_ - about a card-carrying Nazi businessman who helps save a shitload of people in Nanjing during the massacres. Interesting story, film less so.
> 
> Have made a start on _南京! 南京! _AKA_ City Of Life And Death_ about the same subject, and it's several notches more powerful with a lot less dialogue and none of the reliance on caucasian characters to frame it.



I rounded off my Rape of Nanjing session with _Black Sun: Nanking Massacre_, supposedly a sequel of sorts to _Men Behind The Sun_. Like that film, lots of gratuitous brutality and shoddy effects, with various cackling panto villain Japanese throwing babies into rice steamers and beheading translators and that sort of thing. I don't think there is a single thing about it to recommend. Certainly it has none of the power of _COLAD_, which showed much the same atrocities but without trying to titillate or excite its audience.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2012)

When you say MBTS do you mean the whole 4 part series or just the last film? They are all hilarious if you've not seen them.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 6, 2012)

No, the original one from 1988,_ Hei Tai Yang 731_


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2012)

That's the first in the series if i remember right.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 6, 2012)

Q "Do you mean (i) the whole series, or (ii) the last one?"

A "Neither, I mean the first one."

HTH


----------



## Garek (Jul 6, 2012)

_Between the Lines_ 1992 BBC. 

Interesting drama focussing on police corruption and a team from CIB. A lot less prudish than modern dramas, with more ambiguous endings and a slightly unusual story structure. It doesn't go for the standard wrap-everything-up-neatly at the end of episodes. Currently on the first season. I am curious to know where the show heads in the next two series.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 6, 2012)

Series two works up to a bit of a crescendo, then series three circles the shark-jumping plug hole, but is still interesting. You may also like _The Ghost Squad_.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Q "Do you mean (i) the whole series, or (ii) the last one?"
> 
> A "Neither, I mean the first one."
> 
> HTH


Sorry, meant did you mean the last named _film_ - i.e the one you mentioned - rather than the _series _ when you said MBTS. That film is the first in a series of 4.


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2012)

It's beyond me why after having seen Men Behind the Sun, anybody would like to see more. It's a shoddy film, but knowing that the atrocities enacted were based on real experiments coducted on humans in Camp 731 is still upsetting enough.


----------



## Garek (Jul 6, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Series two works up to a bit of a crescendo, then series three circles the shark-jumping plug hole, but is still interesting. You may also like _The Ghost Squad_.


 
Cheers. I'll check out _The Ghost Squad_. I am slightly unsurprised about what you've said about the third season. All the MI5 mixing up etc. infiltrating far right politics. Sounds like you would need to a have a pretty good writing team to pull that off without it becoming ridiculous.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 6, 2012)

Garek said:


> _Between the Lines_ 1992 BBC.
> 
> Interesting drama focussing on police corruption and a team from CIB. A lot less prudish than modern dramas, with more ambiguous endings and a slightly unusual story structure. It doesn't go for the standard wrap-everything-up-neatly at the end of episodes. Currently on the first season. I am curious to know where the show heads in the next two series.


 
Got the box set still wrapped, must sit down and watch it someday. Series 3 was probably the right time to wrap it up. Great performances all round, including the late, great Pete Postlethwaite as a rather deluded chief cop, iirc.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2012)

Reno said:


> It's beyond me why after having seen Men Behind the Sun, anybody would like to see more. It's a shoddy film, but knowing that the atrocities enacted were based on real experiments coducted on humans in Camp 731 is still upsetting enough.


Russian horror bloke name i forget was so inspired he made his own film around it/them. Will try and remember his name.


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2012)

The film is called Philosophy of a Knife. I think it's about 4 hours of re-enacted atrocities from Camp 731. Extreme movie fans have been slobbering over that one for a while now.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2012)

Reno said:


> Philosophy of a Knife. I think it's about 4 hours of re-enacted atrocities from Camp 731. Extreme movie fans have been slobbering over that one for a while now.


That's the one, ta.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 6, 2012)

Reno said:


> It's beyond me why after having seen Men Behind the Sun, anybody would like to see more. It's a shoddy film, but knowing that the atrocities enacted were based on real experiments coducted on humans in Camp 731 is still upsetting enough.



I guess it simply filled the void left by the Thomas/Rogers team when their similarly sensitive opus _Carry On Don't Make A Lampshade From My Flayed Carcass_ entered production hell.


----------



## magneze (Jul 7, 2012)

Started watching Mesrine Killer. Instinct. Missed first 15 mins though - anything vital in that time?


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 7, 2012)

Salmon fishing in the Yemen ~ load of shit but i may have secretly enjoyed it..


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 7, 2012)

God Bless America - loved it, some really good bits in it...but it is a turn off your brain to watch...ideal in drink


----------



## magneze (Jul 7, 2012)

Finished Mesrine - Killer Instinct. Good, tight plot, keeps you interested throughout. I always thought Canadians were cuddly but their jails seem to be a bit brutal.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 7, 2012)

Drive.   Very good.   Bit of a Patrick Bateman thing going on there, or Dexter maybe.


----------



## andy2002 (Jul 8, 2012)

*The Woman In Black:* I love a good ghost story and this certainly delivered a few decent scares and a suitably oppressive atmosphere. But somehow it all felt a 'bit by the numbers' at times - not sure Harry Potter's presence helped really. I haven't read the book or seen the play/original film so have no idea how it compares to those.


----------



## Reno (Jul 8, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *The Woman In Black:* I love a good ghost story and this certainly delivered a few decent scares and a suitably oppressive atmosphere. But somehow it all felt a 'bit by the numbers' at times - not sure Harry Potter's presence helped really. I haven't read the book or seen the play/original film so have no idea how it compares to those.


 
It's absolute shit as an adaptation. It chucks out most of the plot or character motivation, to a degree where it makes little sense anymore. It doesn't build atmosphere, develop characters or take advantage of the genuinely scary elements of the book and is aimed at an audience that's assumed to have ADHD. Instead of the slow burn of any good ghost story the film rushes to its main set piece, the night spent in the house, now not a believable place anymore but more of a Disney World style haunted house ride. All you get is non-stop jump scares and the most tired visual tropes of the haunted house film (gazillions of "creepy" dolls, children in pancake make-up) instead of a decent story or credible characters.

While it also changed the plot of the book, the 80s ITV adaptation by the great Nigel Kneale stayed true to its spirit and was far superior. I had been hoping they'd do something of that quality with an enhanced budget, but Mrs Jonathan Ross didn't seem to grasp the point of the story at all.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 8, 2012)

The Road - decent adaptation of the book, bit weepy too
The Shinjuku Incident - Jackie Chan plays it straight and serious as Chinese immigrant in Tokyo becomes leader of crime gang and all sorts of infighting and clashes with yakuza power struggles. The usual message of unity and "we must not fight amongst ourselves" ensues. Not a bad film, actually. 1st half is more convincing, mind.


----------



## silverfish (Jul 8, 2012)

I have two choices tonight, Ai (artificial intelligence I presume) or have a wank and hope a kurdish roustabout doesn't kick my clinicndoor in with some random minor ailment.

I fear Ai will make me smash my telly up


----------



## andy2002 (Jul 8, 2012)

Reno said:


> It's absolute shit as an adaptation. It chucks out most of the plot or character motivation, to a degree where it makes little sense anymore. It doesn't build atmosphere, develop characters or take advantage of the genuinely scary elements of the book and is aimed at an audience that's assumed to have ADHD. Instead of the slow burn of any good ghost story the film rushes to its main set piece, the night spent in the house, now not a believable place anymore but more of a Disney World style haunted house ride. All you get is non-stop jump scares and the most tired visual tropes of the haunted house film (gazillions of "creepy" dolls, children in pancake make-up) instead of a decent story or credible characters.
> 
> While it also changed the plot of the book, the 80s ITV adaptation by the great Nigel Kneale stayed true to its spirit and was far superior. I had been hoping they'd do something of that quality with an enhanced budget, but Mrs Jonathan Ross didn't seem to grasp the point of the story at all.


 

As I say, I haven't seen any of the other versions so have nothing to compare it with. I thought it was quite strong visually and there were at least a couple of decent jumps (it had my wife hiding behind a cushion at one stage), but you're certainly right when you say some of its ideas were hackneyed (spooky wind-up toys _again_!?) and that they could have spent more time building towards the big set-piece and on characterisation. I shall try to track down one of the other versions because I'm keen to see how they measure up now.


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 8, 2012)

*dazed and confused* supposedly a funny pothead film (my arse) an its got 7.6 on imdb anawl! Thank god for peter simon over sellin cheap tat on bid tv or else me night would have been ruined!


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 8, 2012)

This Means War.   One of the worst films ever made.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 8, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *dazed and confused* supposedly a funny pothead film (my arse) an its got 7.6 on imdb anawl! Thank god for peter simon over sellin cheap tat on bid tv or else me night would have been ruined!


I loved it. One of the best films I've seen about the late teen years. Spot on. Great music too.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 8, 2012)

silverfish said:


> I have two choices tonight, Ai (artificial intelligence I presume) or have a wank and hope a kurdish roustabout doesn't kick my clinicndoor in with some random minor ailment.
> 
> I fear Ai will make me smash my telly up


 
It's not that bad at all, sort of Pinnochio meets Wizard of Oz with a pretty far out ending. I like it.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 9, 2012)

renegadechicken said:


> We watched The most exotic marigold hotel - was very funny in places but a tried and tested format but still a nice watch for a lazy Sunday evening.


 
I watched that tonight and enjoyed it


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 9, 2012)

Watched Tape 407.........really enjoyed it despite the ' oh ffs why are you doing that' bits.....both me n the wife shouted at the young girl to shut the fuck up at the start 
Good sign of a movie when you shout at them......


and yes indeed Minnie..it is one of those films, like slumdog, we will watch again.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 9, 2012)

the devil's double

Reminds me of my clubbing days


----------



## starfish (Jul 9, 2012)

magneze said:


> Finished Mesrine - Killer Instinct. Good, tight plot, keeps you interested throughout. I always thought Canadians were cuddly but their jails seem to be a bit brutal.


 
Watched it too. First 15 minutes showed a bit of his time in Algeria, might be worth watching again if you can. Didnt really see the point of going back to the jail though, obviously didnt achieve what he wanted too.


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 9, 2012)

Ayran Couple ~ Decent flick, except for when i shouted 'hey that's Max from Eastenders'.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 10, 2012)

Winter's Bone

good film but not a lot of laughs

I don't think I'll be moving to the Ozarks any time soon


----------



## belboid (Jul 10, 2012)

Great film that, should have won the Oscar.


Which is more than cabn be said about my viewing:  Perfume: Story of a Murderer

Expectations had been duly lowered by everyone saying it was kinda crap.  They were right.  Had its moments, but overwhelmingly disappointing.


----------



## revol68 (Jul 10, 2012)

belboid said:


> Great film that, should have won the Oscar.
> 
> 
> Which is more than cabn be said about my viewing: Perfume: Story of a Murderer
> ...


 
Perfume was hilariously bad, had pretensions about itself too.


----------



## belboid (Jul 11, 2012)

revol68 said:


> had pretensions about itself too.


you  dont say!


----------



## revol68 (Jul 11, 2012)

Also the other night I watched The Woman In Black with Harry Potter, jesus that was one bad film, not simply mediocre but awful, I simply couldn't give a fuck about anything that happened in it.

Later I watched The Awakening, which was much better (not amazing but pretty good), a mixture of The Orphanage, Devil's Backbone and Shutter Island, though not nearly as good as the first two.


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 11, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> Winter's Bone
> 
> good film but not a lot of laughs
> 
> I don't think I'll be moving to the Ozarks any time soon


 

Watched it last night, pretty good movie!


----------



## silverfish (Jul 11, 2012)

I watched Southland tales last night.....Its on again this afternoon and I'm watching it again in a vague attempt to UNDERSTAND WHAT THE FUCK ITS ALL ABOUT!!

Still not sure...give it a go

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405336/


----------



## marty21 (Jul 11, 2012)

belboid said:


> Great film that, should have won the Oscar.
> 
> 
> Which is more than cabn be said about my viewing: Perfume: Story of a Murderer
> ...


 I paid money to see that at the pictures - awful pile of shite


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 11, 2012)

Nameless Gangster - best Korean film i've seen in a while, return to the brutal violence mixed up with comedy style that was so popular 10 years ago. That makes it sound like snatch or some parody film - it's not.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 11, 2012)

Duck Soup - Marx Bros at the top of their game, not a dull moment in sight
Slaughterhouse Five - George Roy Hill directs, goes without saying the book is far superior and the film looks very much of its era, that said, it's amusing and Michael Sacks makes a good Pilgrim.


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 11, 2012)

Making my way through the pile of DVD's I've bought in sales and then not actually watched yet, first up - *American Gangster*

Really enjoyed it, went against several expectations (both narratively and performance-wise, I actually thought Crowe was better than Denzel overall)
Liked the fact the protagonists don't meet until the end, that always annoyed me in films like _Heat_ ("don't have a fucking coffee with him, drag him in for questioning!")

Great soundtrack, ending a bit rushed though.


Other still-cellophaned delights ahead - _Adaptation, Gone Baby Gone, No Country For Old Men, Avatar, Super, There Will Be Blood, Drive, Super-8, Ong-Bak, Attack The Block, Irreversible, Jericho Season 1, Hobo With A Shotgun_ and _A Scanner Darkly._


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 11, 2012)

The Chaser (2008) dead good,brilliant,the bees knees,first class,its a belter,ace,awesome,blindin,one hell of a movie.. hmmm?!


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 11, 2012)

Friends with kids ~ it made me laugh a few times, but kinnda few and far between


----------



## paulhackett (Jul 11, 2012)

Nine Queens - Argentinian heist/scam movie.. set in Buenos Aires. Good plot, nice twists, well-paced. Described somewhere as a 1 in a 100 film. Well worth a minor punt


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 13, 2012)

Last night we watched Witness, the 1985 Harrison Ford film about a policeman hiding out amongst the Amish.   Still great.

And Viggo Mortenson is in it!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2012)

magneze said:


> Finished Mesrine - Killer Instinct. Good, tight plot, keeps you interested throughout. I always thought Canadians were cuddly but their jails seem to be a bit brutal.


 
Available on iPlayer until 9pm Saturday 14 July I see - vive le Revolution!


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 13, 2012)

The Bunny Game ~ It wasn’t my cup of tea. The hardcore porn start was a tad surprising (causing my missus to ask ‘what the FUCK are you watching’? as she chased a bedroom absconding 4 year old through the room). Weird camera angles, lots of shouting, confusing and then I kinnda lost interest; I sat through it because I wanted to see what happened in the end. Then I went to bed wishing I had watched something else instead.


----------



## Garek (Jul 13, 2012)

_Bad Boys _(1983)

Like _Scum _but American and therefore completely failing to realise that less is more. It's an all right film, but it feels like just another film rather than asking you to think any more deeply. Also unlike _Scum _authority gets off very lightly here. Contrived plot, melodramtic touches galore. Still, Sean Penn is great and it has Ally Sheedy in it.

Also apparently the American term for "the Daddy" is "Barn Boss". When you remember this it just doesn't quite work.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 13, 2012)

My Summer Of Love
Wow, what great actors Natalie Press and Emily Blunt are.
Beautiful Yorkshire locations too.
I must check out more of Pawel Pawlikowski's films.
He knows what he is doing with the camera AND his cast.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 14, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> My Summer Of Love
> Wow, what great actors Natalie Press and Emily Blunt are.
> Beautiful Yorkshire locations too.
> I must check out more of Pawel Pawlikowski's films.
> He knows what he is doing with the camera AND his cast.


 
Filmed in Todmorden, I think.

Have a look at Last Resort if you haven't already seen it, an earlier one from Pawlikowski - Worth a watch just for the tower block on Margate seafront. I'm pretty sure the guy from Hawkwind was living there when he wrote the song High Rise.

Pawlikowski also did this short film called Twockers, a made for TV effort, still pretty good though.


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 14, 2012)

*Lockout* 2012 great popcorn movie or in my case bombay mix! yeah its cheesey as hell but i loved it!  Oh and the guy who was in emmerdale is great as one of the nut jobs


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 14, 2012)

Batman Begins.   Because the new one is out very soon.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 14, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Duck Soup - Marx Bros at the top of their game, not a dull moment in sight
> Slaughterhouse Five - George Roy Hill directs, goes without saying the book is far superior and the film looks very much of its era, that said, it's amusing and Michael Sacks makes a good Pilgrim.


 
we could do with a Marx Brothers revival


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 14, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> we could do with a Marx Brothers revival


 
Revive the Marx Brothers? I just thought my watch had stopped!


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 14, 2012)

2 days in New York ~ it was ok, some funny moments


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 14, 2012)

Blues Brothers.


----------



## Me76 (Jul 15, 2012)

The Help. Schmaltz for a Sunday afternoon.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 15, 2012)

Klute 
Absolutely brilliant
Fonda is great - what a voice.
Lots of beautiful dark interiors
Amazing score


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 15, 2012)

Wasted my time with The Hike...absolutely awful film...last time i ask the wife for a recommendation.


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 15, 2012)

Paradise lost 1,2 &3.  the hbo documentaries about the west Memphis 3. Shocking stuff.


----------



## Voley (Jul 15, 2012)

Watched both parts of Mesrine that I'd recorded off the telly. Second time I'd watched them - if anything, I enjoyed them even more this time round. I ought to read a decent book about Mesrine - it's a mindboggling story.


----------



## marty21 (Jul 15, 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Glory_(film)

Pride and Glory - American cop drama - it's a bit Irish American Cop drama by the numbers tbh - it's ok, but not great.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 15, 2012)

Staff Benda Bilili! Cracking doc about the Congolese sensation.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 16, 2012)

The first hour of Dark Knight.   I love these Nolan films - properly dark.


----------



## starfish (Jul 17, 2012)

The Black Dahlia. Was ok. Must read the book though.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 18, 2012)

The Flame of My Love.  Wonderful.


----------



## magneze (Jul 18, 2012)

Margin Call - inside an investment bank when the crisis hit. Excellent film - totally gripping with some great performances. If you describe it then it sounds shit, but it's actually pretty absorbing.


----------



## Yetman (Jul 18, 2012)

First two episodes of The River - great stuff


----------



## Prince Bert (Jul 18, 2012)

Watched Fight Club the other night. Complete shit. None of it was believable and the twist wasn't even that interesting. Aren't these film makers meant to lead the viewer into suspending disbelief. Well not with this two hours of shit. Waste of my time. On a more positive note I am watching a film called Blow with Johnny Depp. Good film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 18, 2012)

Prince Bert said:


> Watched Fight Club the other night. Complete shit. None of it was believable and the twist wasn't even that interesting. Aren't these film makers meant to lead the viewer into suspending disbelief. Well not with this two hours of shit. Waste of my time. On a more positive note I am watching a film called Blow with Johnny Depp. Good film.


that Lord Of The Rings is a bit far-fetched too


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 18, 2012)

*Love Honour & Obey* (2000) Cant believe i missed this one first time round Absolutely brilliant film all the actors looked like they were havin a right laugh filmin it anawl "Fix Bayonets" had me in stitches


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 18, 2012)

That's one of the worst films I've ever seen!


----------



## belboid (Jul 18, 2012)

is that the one where there's a clown staggering around tripping its tits off?

Absolutely fucking dire if so.  So bad even Danny Dyer turned it down...


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 18, 2012)

Yup, plus karaoke


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 18, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> That's one of the worst films I've ever seen!


 
Lemon Haze (innit)


----------



## Prince Bert (Jul 18, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> that Lord Of The Rings is a bit far-fetched too


 
Like I said, some films allow you to suspend your disbelief and float out of reality into a fantasy world. Fight Club was just a pile of shit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 18, 2012)

It wasn't a pile of shit. It was an urban fantasy. It didn't expect you to believe that it could happen


----------



## Reno (Jul 18, 2012)

Considering Fight Club takes place inside a mad person's head, how could anybody expect for it to be realistic ?


----------



## Yetman (Jul 18, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Love Honour & Obey* (2000) Cant believe i missed this one first time round Absolutely brilliant film all the actors looked like they were havin a right laugh filmin it anawl "Fix Bayonets" had me in stitches


 
A better one with the Notting Hill set is Final Cut. Ray Winstone is in it and again, they look like they had a laugh filming it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 18, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Love Honour & Obey* (2000) Cant believe i missed this one first time round Absolutely brilliant film all the actors looked like they were havin a right laugh filmin it anawl "Fix Bayonets" had me in stitches





Yetman said:


> A better one with the Notting Hill set is Final Cut. Ray Winstone is in it and again, they look like they had a laugh filming it.


I feel like I've gone through a Paul Ross-shaped wormhole


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 18, 2012)

Gotham Knight, an animated anime style bunch of Batman stories.   Meh, not the best.


----------



## Prince Bert (Jul 18, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> It wasn't a pile of shit. It was an urban fantasy. It didn't expect you to believe that it could happen


 


Reno said:


> Considering Fight Club takes place inside a mad person's head, how could anybody expect for it to be realistic ?


 
I didn't say realistic. Just to allow me to suspend my disbelief. That's what good fiction and films do. Anyhow, I'm a film expert, and I said it's shit. End of.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 18, 2012)

You sound like an idiot, quite frankly


----------



## Reno (Jul 18, 2012)

Prince Bert said:


> Anyhow, I'm a film expert, and I said it's shit. End of.


 
What are your credentials ?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 18, 2012)

Ah never mind


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 19, 2012)

John Carter.  I was expecting little from this flop anyway, but thought it might pleasantly surprise me.  There were a few mildly funny moments, but other than that it was really dull, the action scenes underwhelming.  The only characters fleshed out are the Tharks.  The set-piece battles including them could've been better.  I'm glad I never wasted money on seeing this at the cinema or paying for the DVD.  My friend lent me the one belonging to his kid. 

I haven't read any of the Barsoom series of books (I'm guessing this film is based solely on A Princess of Mars?), or indeed anything by Edgar Rice Burroughs, so can't comment on its fidelity or otherwise to the original material.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 19, 2012)

I saw that recently too. Everyone has orange sunbed tans. That's all I remember


----------



## Reno (Jul 19, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> John Carter. I was expecting little from this flop anyway, but thought it might pleasantly surprise me. There were a few mildly funny moments, but other than that it was really dull, the action scenes underwhelming. The only characters fleshed out are the Tharks. The set-piece battles including them could've been better. I'm glad I never wasted money on seeing this at the cinema or paying for the DVD. My friend lent me the one belonging to his kid.
> 
> I haven't read any of the Barsoom series of books (I'm guessing this film is based solely on A Princess of Mars?), or indeed anything by Edgar Rice Burroughs, so can't comment on its fidelity or otherwise to the original material.


 
I tried to read one of his books, but the writing was abysmal.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 19, 2012)

Ah. I've thinking about giving the Mars ones a go.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 19, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I saw that recently too. Everyone has orange sunbed tans. That's all I remember


 
There's an ugly but 'cute' creature in it, imputed with the characteristics of a loyal dog.  John Carter's best friend.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 19, 2012)

Oh yeah it rushes around a lot


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 19, 2012)

'Woola,' or something.  

Pants, barks, licks Carter's face with a blue tongue, stands by him when in a bit of a pickle, and annoys the fuck out of me.


----------



## Mephitic (Jul 20, 2012)

Wild Bill ~ Predictable but still pretty good.
Agnes Brown ~ Terrific
The Devils Double ~ It was all-right, I'm hoping that it was more fiction than fact


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 20, 2012)

The Messenger: Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster as a military detail assigned to tell next of kin about casualties in Iraq/Afghanistan.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The Messenger: Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster as a military detail assigned to tell next of kin about casualties in Iraq/Afghanistan.


And?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 21, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> And?


 
Oh jesus: Mr. Happy is back.


----------



## belboid (Jul 21, 2012)

it's a damned good movie


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

Hey, I just wanna know what you thought of it. This is kinda the point of the thread.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 21, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Hey, I just wanna know what you thought of it. This is kinda the point of the thread.


 
The thread says, what movie did you watch last night?

I watched The Messenger.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

Yes, but there's little point about telling people what film you've seen unless you elaborate further.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 21, 2012)

Fine, fine.......

It had its moments, but ultimately was a bit unsatisfying. When I told my kid about it she said, 'so, is it an offbeat love story?'. She's sort of like me.

But the moments that it had, some of them are pretty powerful. And it's a refreshing take on the whole war movie scenario.

It also has Steve Buscemi in it. He spits in someone's face.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

You type fast


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 21, 2012)

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I know , but I have a bit of a soft spot for some of these quintessentially English life comedy dramas especially if Bill Nighy is in them. The cast is pretty much vintage veteran and it is semi clichéd sentimentalism about older people in retirement life crisis who move to stay in a hotel in India.All ends well ( which you know it will) and thoroughly watchable. So much so I sipped bloody marys all the way through it.

For most of you on here its a film your a parents would like


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 21, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> You type fast


...for a lawyer. Clearly he is posting on a contingency basis!


----------



## belboid (Jul 21, 2012)

Mulholland Drive.

It remains a work of genius, and very funny.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

I love that film. I tried to watch Lost Highway the other day and just couldn't get into it.

INLAND EMPIRE just scares me out of watching it again.
I need to man up.

I watched The Parallax View. Not quite as amazing as Klute but still an incredible film. What struck me about these films is the stark contrast in storytelling to many of today's films. If they made Klute or The Parallax View today, they'd have to show you everything. They wouldn't trust an audience to fill in the gaps. You feel flattered by many of these 70s thrillers as they actually have faith in you and don't spoon feed you all of the details. It's amazing that these were big mainstream blockbusters. They wouldn't even get greenlit now.


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2012)

Klute is one of my favourite films of the 70s and The Parallax View is great too, though I haven't watched it in a while.

You just have to look towards foreign language and independent films to get that type of storytelling now. My favourite thriller of the last decade was Jacques Audiard's Read My Lips. While the characters and situations are very different, like Klute it works as a brilliant character study of its two central characters first.

And while a conspiracy on a smaller scale, the US indie thriller Winter's Bone reminded me at times of The Parallax View, especially in the second half.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

I like how it's called Klute but it's not about him at all, it's about Bree


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

Winter's Bone is great, though it reminded me more of a film noir from the 40s.


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2012)

I'd say the 70s conspiracy thriller is a close relative and descendant of film noir. Chinatown made those links quite explicit, being both in equal measures.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 21, 2012)

Reno said:


> I'd say the 70s conspiracy thriller is a close relative and descendant of film noir. Chinatown made those links quite explicit, being both in equal measures.


Pakula's three paranoia pictures - _Klute_, _The Parallax View_ and _All The President's Men_ - all benefit from Gordon Willis' cinematography, often shot in dark, gloomy places, or bringing narrative focus to one person or action within a busy/crowded frame (dioptric lens tricks etc), intensifying a character's alienation or loneliness or isolation. Was it _Klute_ that convinced Coppola to hire him for _The Godfather_?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2012)

The Michael Small scores are brilliant too.


----------



## billy_bob (Jul 21, 2012)

Troll Hunter.  My heart sank when I saw it was going to be another 'found footage' type thing, but we ended up laughing most of the way through.


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2012)

Deadly Weapons, starring the incomparable Chesty Morgan, on Blu-ray no less ! Chesty, a ropey looking stripper with the largest breasts in show business, plays a gangster's moll who avenges her fiancees death by suffocating those responsible between her enormous boobs. I saw this once before in my teens and thought it was one of the few "so bad it's good" films that are genuinely funny and entertaining and that's still the case.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 23, 2012)

My father took my mother to see that as a date movie


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 24, 2012)

Last night I finished watching Lexx.   All of Lexx is available on youtube and netflix.

I really enjoyed it, it is very dark.


----------



## belboid (Jul 24, 2012)

Melancholia.

Surprisingly good, quite insightful, and one fuck of a performance from Dunst.


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2012)

Ken Russell's Altered States, his one shot at a mainstream Hollywood film. I used to quite like it back in the day, but found it rather dull and repetitive this time round. The trippy special effects have dated badly and the plot just doesn't make that much sense to me. William Hurt's character is too much of a self-absorbed prick to care much about.


----------



## Reno (Jul 26, 2012)

How to Marry a Millionaire. Still mildly amusing.


----------



## marty21 (Jul 26, 2012)

The Hangover 2 - Not as good as the first one


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 26, 2012)

Highlander - I liked it when he sniffed the brandy


----------



## Alan Douglas (Jul 26, 2012)

Started watching Bones Season 2


----------



## Reno (Jul 27, 2012)

I've started watching The Good Wife, because it keeps getting raves. Four episodes into the first season. It's alright, but its a fairly standard legal drama, though I heard it gets better.


----------



## Garek (Jul 27, 2012)

Watching the 2nd season of _Between the Lines._

Just finished the episode _Manslaughter_ which is as brilliant as it is disturbing. When you are largely fed a diet of the bad guy always getting his comeuppance in the end it is a bit of a shock to see them walk. Especially when they are such calculatingly evil bastards. And when the entire episode is based around the idea that the bad guy has deliberately engineered everything so so that he can get away with it. And when you realise that you in the last few minutes of the episode that the grains of sand are disappearing and the bastard is sitting there with a supercilious grin and the episode really is going to finish with him getting what he wants.

EDIT: As a qualifier I have just started the subsequent two episodes (gave up on the first) which seem to be of a much more melodramatic, convulted tone.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 27, 2012)

The middle of the season is a bit bogged down with torn-from-the-headlines plots (Hillsborough, GEC Marconi deaths, Squidgygate etc), but with the various subplots brewing nicely, it all builds to a fine two-part climax.


----------



## blairsh (Jul 28, 2012)

Watched Bronson last night, was a bit pissed but seemed a good watch and Tom Hardy plays a pretty decent mad bloke. Not as brutal as i thought it might be, fairly grim feel to it mind.

This morning was several episodes of Metalocaplypse which i'd never seen or heard of   :metalthumbs:


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 28, 2012)

Airplane!   Seen it loads but still brings some sniggers.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Spoiler in this....


The Killer Inside Me.

















If you like twisted, you'll like this. I happen to like twisted.

I have to admit, this is the only movie I've seen where Jessica Alba is punched in the face until she dies.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 29, 2012)

Surely you can't be serious.


----------



## Reno (Jul 29, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Spoiler in this....
> 
> 
> The Killer Inside Me.
> ...


 
I like twisted, but I don't like The Killer Inside Me.

While I'm not a fan of Jessica Alba's acting ability, I'm not sure how big the market for films about her getting "punched in the face until she dies" is, so that's probably why it's the only movie like it you've seen.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> I
> 
> I like twisted, but I don't like The Killer Inside Me.
> 
> While I'm not a fan of Jessica Alba's acting ability, I'm not sure how big the market for films about her getting "punched in the face until she dies" is, so that's probably why it's the only movie like it you've seen.


 
I think there's a huge market for upscale violence porn dressed up in art-film attire. There are many examples.


----------



## Reno (Jul 29, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I think there's a huge market for upscale violence porn dressed up in art-film attire. There are many examples.


 
On the whole they aren't great money spinners. This one totally flopped.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> On the whole they aren't great money spinners. This one totally flopped.


 
Violence sells, just like sex.


----------



## Reno (Jul 29, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Violence sells, just like sex.


 
List me all those financially hugely succesful "violence porn" art house films then.

Meanwhile I'll continue watching tonight's horror film. I'll be back later...


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> List me all those financially hugely succesful "violence porn" art house films then.
> 
> Meanwhile I'll continue watching tonight's horror film. I'll be back later...


 
No violence in a horror film.... 

I'm off to a Fiji festival, so I don't have time for a list. But let's start off with To Live and Die in LA, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Crank High Voltage, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction. etc etc etc.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

...basically anything that Tarantino ever did.....


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> I like twisted, but I don't like The Killer Inside Me.


Not one of Winterbottom's best, but not entirely without merit. 

_Anatomy of a Murder_ - seen it before but still loved it, for my money the best trial film ever made.


----------



## Reno (Jul 29, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> ...basically anything that Tarantino ever did.....


 


Johnny Canuck3 said:


> No violence in a horror film....
> 
> I'm off to a Fiji festival, so I don't have time for a list. But let's start off with To Live and Die in LA, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Crank High Voltage, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction. etc etc etc.


 
You really think these films are on the same level as The Killer Inside Me in terms of explicit violence ? Are all of these art house films ? You'd describe all of these as 'violence porn' ?


...and as to the , I don't think it's a huge secret on here that I'm a huge fan of horror films and that I have no problem with violence in films as such. I just don't think that the Winterbottom film is very good. In fact I'm not a huge fan of that director and find him rather overrated.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> You really think these films are on the same level as The Killer Inside Me in terms of explicit violence ? Are all of these art house films ? You'd describe all of these as 'violence porn' ?
> 
> 
> ...and as to the , I don't think it's a huge secret on here that I'm a huge fan of horror films and that I have no problem with violence in films as such. I just don't think that the Winterbottom film is very good. In fact I'm not a huge fan of that director and find him rather overrated.


 
Yes, I'd describe them as violence porn. In some ways, they're a worse form, since many of them blend the violence into comedic moments, so that we find ourselves laughing at outrageous things. At least when Alba is being punched to death, we aren't laughing. Our reaction to the scene is arguably the more appropriate one.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Thinking a bit more on this: I don't think there's anything new in something like Killer Inside - arguably it follows a line that includes In Cold Blood, The Boston Strangler, Dressed to Kill perhaps. Hitchcock's Frenzy is also similar, but without the onscreen violence - although in some ways, the suggestion of violence left to the imagination, can be even worse.


----------



## andy2002 (Jul 29, 2012)

*Maniac Cop* - all-action horror film from the '80s. Loved every mad minute of it and can't believe I haven't seen it before. The Maniac Cop himself is a brilliant monster but the real star is good old '80s New York in all its sleazy glory.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 29, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Yes, I'd describe them as violence porn. In some ways, they're a worse form, since many of them blend the violence into comedic moments, so that we find ourselves laughing at outrageous things. At least when Alba is being punched to death, we aren't laughing. Our reaction to the scene is arguably the more appropriate one.


Then what is pornographic about it?


----------



## Reno (Jul 29, 2012)

Comparing film violence to porn has always been a lazy kneejerk reaction by those whose interest it is to censor art and entertainment and who have little interest in investigating audience identification and spectatorship further than on the most superficial level. It has also long been used to condemn people who enjoy horror films as somehow being depraved or perverted. If you go somewhere like the horror film festival Frighfest in August, you won't find a more friendly, considerate and peaceful crowd of cinema goers.

The Canuck has now shifted his view on what this actually means a couple of times, which just goes to show how flawed the comparison is.


----------



## Reno (Jul 29, 2012)

I watched Halloween: H20 last night, which despite flaws is the best of the Halloween sequels, thanks to a great performance by Jamie Lee Curtis, picking up the character of Laurie Strode where she left her 18 years earlier.

Just what is LL Cool J doing in this ?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> Just what is LL Cool J doing in this ?


 
Probably the same reason Bobby Mason was in _Ben Disraeli: Freedom Fighter_


----------



## Reno (Jul 29, 2012)

Sorry, I haven't seen that one.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 29, 2012)

Nothing groundbreaking, but worth a hundred minutes of your time on a wet Wednesday afternoon. Gently mirthmaking.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 29, 2012)

watched Wild Bill, The Sitter, Wanderlust and carnage last night.....all okay in fact all reasonably enjoyable for various reasons.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> Comparing film violence to porn has always been a lazy kneejerk reaction by those whose interest it is to censor art and entertainment and who have little interest in investigating audience identification and spectatorship further than on the most superficial level. It has also long been used to condemn people who enjoy horror films as somehow being depraved or perverted. If you go somewhere like the horror film festival Frighfest in August, you won't find a more friendly, considerate and peaceful crowd of cinema goers.
> 
> The Canuck has now shifted his view on what this actually means a couple of times, which just goes to show how flawed the comparison is.


 
Describing it as 'violence porn' is an easy shorthand that allows both you and Orang Utan to understand what I'm getting at. And you do: the gratuitous portrayal of violence, or sex, for purposes of titillation. I'm not saying that it's wrong: merely that it has a long history in the media, including film.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> Comparing film violence to porn has always been a lazy kneejerk reaction by those whose interest it is to censor art and entertainment and who have little interest in investigating audience identification and spectatorship further than on the most superficial level. It has also long been used to condemn people who enjoy horror films as somehow being depraved or perverted. If you go somewhere like the horror film festival Frighfest in August, you won't find a more friendly, considerate and peaceful crowd of cinema goers.
> 
> The Canuck has now shifted his view on what this actually means a couple of times, which just goes to show how flawed the comparison is.


 
You didn't get back to me on the requested list I provided of successful films that could be said to contain violence porn.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 29, 2012)

Wtf is violence porn and why do those films you list have it in them?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 29, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Wtf is violence porn and why do those films you list have it in them?


 
I think they have it in them in order to entice people into paying to see them.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 29, 2012)

It seems odd to compare the killer inside me with crank, especially with regard to the way violence is presented and the emotions this violence is intended to produce.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 29, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I think they have it in them in order to entice people into paying to see them.


What's pornographic about it?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Some notable violence porn moments, for OU. 
































People like watching violence, just like they like to watch sex; in fact, they might enjoy watching violence more, since they usually have more opportunity to actually satisfy their craving for sex live, in person, like.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

So being thrilled by violence is the same as wanting to wank yourself to orgasm? You sicko! 
How does Killer Inside Me compared with the others? Surely we feel pure revulsion and horror, rather than excitement, at the violence in this film?


----------



## Reno (Jul 30, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Some notable violence porn moments, for OU.





Johnny Canuck3 said:


> People like watching violence, just like they like to watch sex; in fact, they might enjoy watching violence more, since they usually have more opportunity to actually satisfy their craving for sex live, in person, like.


 

Maybe you like watching violence in the way other people like to watch sex, but please don't conclude everybody else does.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> So being thrilled by violence is the same as wanting to wank yourself to orgasm? You sicko!
> How does Killer Inside Me compared with the others? Surely we feel pure revulsion and horror, rather than excitement, at the violence in this film?


 
If we really truly only felt revulsion and horror, we wouldn't pay to see it. If violence truly disgusted us, it wouldn't be in films.

For instance: apart from a niche market, most people would be disgusted if feature films showed on screen defecation. There's no market for it. There's a huge market for explicit violence.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Reno said:


> Maybe you like watching violence in the way other people like to watch sex, but please don't conclude everybody else does.


 
There is more violence than sex in films. Any idea why that is?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

EEEUUUNNNGGGHHH


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> EEEUUUNNNGGGHHH


 
I didn't provide those photos for you to toss off to!


----------



## Reno (Jul 30, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> There is more violence than sex in films. Any idea why that is?


 

Have you heard of the porn industry ? It's has been more financially successful than any violent genre that Hollywood churns out, so sex sells far more than violence.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Something rarely seen in films, is serious violence against children. It crosses the line - it truly disgusts us, fills us with revulsion. We don't like it; can't stand it. So it isn't in films.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

It's rare but it happens.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Reno said:


> Have you heard of the porn industry ? It's has been more financially successful than any violent genre that Hollywood churns out, so sex sells far more than violence.


 
Most feature films contain violence, be they comedies, action-adventure. Violence is ubiquitous. So no, I don't agree that sex outsells violence. It's not a genre; it's a central ingredient.


----------



## Reno (Jul 30, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Something rarely seen in films, is serious violence against children. It crosses the line - it truly disgusts us, fills us with revulsion. We don't like it; can't stand it. So it isn't in films.


 
...and your point is ?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> It's rare but it happens.


 
Yes: that's what this means....



> Something rarely seen in films


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Reno said:


> ...and your point is ?


 
If I have to explain it yet again, you probably won't get it.


----------



## Reno (Jul 30, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Most feature films contain violence, be they comedies, action-adventure. Violence is ubiquitous. So no, I don't agree that sex outsells violence. It's not a genre; it's a central ingredient.


 
You are full of shit. As always. Good night.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Most feature films contain violence, be they comedies, action-adventure. Violence is ubiquitous. So no, I don't agree that sex outsells violence. It's not a genre; it's a central ingredient.


What makes so-called violence porn different to other violence in films?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Reno said:


> You are full of shit. As always. Good night.


 
I thought you knew something about film. If you aren't aware of the pervasiveness of violence in most popular film, then I'm not sure what it is you've been watching.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> What makes so-called violence porn different to other violence in films?


 
Good question: maybe there is no difference.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

argued yourself into a corner haven't you?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> argued yourself into a corner haven't you?


 
Which side or point were you taking in this argument?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

I was taking exception to your concept of 'violence porn', but since you clearly can't discriminate between different kinds of violence in films, it's clear you don't even know what you mean by 'violence porn'.
Is Home Alone violence porn?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I was taking exception to your concept of 'violence porn',


 
If you define pornography exclusively as media with sexual content, then you're right. But if you define it as content designed to tittilate, arouse emotion or prurient interest that is possibly extraneous or superfluous wrt plot, then there are violent scenes in films that could be described as pornographic.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

I don't think violence is generally ever intended to sexually excite people, unless it's nasty niche shit.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't think violence is generally ever intended to sexually excite people, unless it's nasty niche shit.


 
No one's said that. The excitation produced by violence is, erm, different from that produced by sex. Bloodlust isn't the same thing as sexual lust, you know.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

Not pornographic then.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Not pornographic then.


 
Go back: reread post 4439.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

Violence in films arouses different kinds of emotions to pornography though. The films on your stupid list arouse different emotions: disgust, horror, fear, excitement and even laughter. Pornography only exists to elicit lust. and when you're done you stop watching. People carry on watching violent films because there is a plot as the film serves more than a mere pornographic purpose. Your comparison of movie violence with pornography does not stand up well.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Violence in films arouses different kinds of emotions to pornography though. The films on your stupid list arouse different emotions: disgust, horror, fear, excitement and even laughter. Pornography only exists to elicit lust. and when you're done you stop watching. People carry on watching violent films because there is a plot as the film serves more than a mere pornographic purpose. Your comparison of movie violence with pornography does not stand up well.


 
Here's what your statute law has to say about it:




> *Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008* is a law in the United Kingdom criminalising possession of what it refers to as "extreme pornographic images".[1] The law was enacted from 26 January 2009.[2][3] It refers to pornography (defined as an image "of such a nature that it must reasonably be assumed to have been produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal") which is "grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character" and portrays "in an explicit and realistic way" any of the following:
> 
> *An act threatening a person’s life*
> An act which results (or is likely to result) in serious injury to a person’s anus, breasts or genitals
> ...


 
As you can see, the law contemplates acts of violence as pornography or obscenity, not just sexual acts.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

You've quoted the definition of the crime of possessing extreme pornography, but luckily it has a definition of pornography encapsulated within. And that states pornography as having been produced 'solely or principally for the purpose of sexual gratification'.
All the films in your list are legal and all elicit a range of emotions. 
What makes any of them so-called violence porn?


----------



## andy2002 (Jul 30, 2012)

*Saxondale Series 2:* People only seem to want Steve Coogan to do Partridge which is a shame as this is frequently great. The episode with Kevin Eldon as a suicidal man is especially good.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 30, 2012)

To summarise my views on the posts of the past few pages: I like sex, violence and _Saxondale_. That's probably enough to put me on a register of some description.


----------



## belboid (Jul 30, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> No one's said that. The excitation produced by violence is, erm, different from that produced by sex. Bloodlust isn't the same thing as sexual lust, you know.


Quite - and the films you've shown piccies of arent actually about bloodlust either.  Whilst there undoubtredly _are_ some 'violence porn' films, the ones shown definitely are not.  Porn revels in the sensory imagery of the body, of the lascivious detail and the _direct_ viewing of all the gore and 'action.'  The Tarantino films dont do that.  In fact, you dont actually see most of the violence, you see the reaction to it, and the consequences of it.  There is no money shot! You dont actually see the ear being cut off in Reservoir, the cleaning up scene in Pulp Fiction is messy cleaning up - just cos its blood not spunk doesnt make it porn. What violence there is may be cool, but its also almost incidental.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 30, 2012)

*Crazy Horse *by Frederick Wiseman. Was gravely disappointed. Both the director's style and the subject matter share rather too much ... dated, plodding, goes on forever, pretentious, gives itself undeserved airs for 'artistic' merit, seriously sexist.

I'm guessing that Wiseman wasn't allowed anywhere near the dancers themselves - and if that was a condition of making the film he should have refused to do it. Otherwise, in a film which is so obviously about the illusion and artifice of what can make a visual spectacle 'erotic', the failure to give these mannequin-like women any sort of visible personality or agency (or personhood) of their own is inexcusable, if it was one of his own aesthetic choices.

It had its moments of beauty and humour and 'this is how this institution really works from the inside' about it, but overall ... dull, overlong, and a bit creepy. not to sound overly censorious about it .. but it's PROBLEMATIC with a capital P. also: singing to shred your eardrums...


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 30, 2012)

barabrith said:


> Yes I love it, one of my favourites too. It's a shame the actor playing the stasi officer died shortly after it won the Oscar


And now his wife, Susanne Lothar, a very skilled actress herself, has died at only 51.


----------



## _angel_ (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Violence in films arouses different kinds of emotions to pornography though. The films on your stupid list arouse different emotions: disgust, horror, fear, excitement and even laughter. Pornography only exists to elicit lust. and when you're done you stop watching. People carry on watching violent films because there is a plot as the film serves more than a mere pornographic purpose. Your comparison of movie violence with pornography does not stand up well.


 
 i'm used to seeing transgressive violence on the screen as i suppose it's my 'hobby' to watch things that go beyond the pale.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2012)

_angel_ said:


> i'm used to seeing transgressive violence on the screen as i suppose it's my 'hobby' to watch things that go beyond the pale.


Why do you keep repeating that? 
Are you angel or swarthy?


----------



## starfish (Jul 30, 2012)

Over the weekend we watched, Hot Tub Time Machine which was amusing, was surprised ms starfish liked it. Gentlemen Broncos which was bizarre but quite funny & finally M, which was quite chilling, also i dont think ive seen so much smoke in a movie before.


----------



## andy2002 (Jul 30, 2012)

*Spy (series one):* Very silly but oddly likeable comedy with Darren Boyd, Robert Lindsay and the really skinny bloke from Horrible Histories.


----------



## Reno (Jul 30, 2012)

Food of the Gods, one of the few giant creature features of the 70s I'd missed out on. Not as fun as Empire of the Ants.


----------



## _angel_ (Jul 30, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Why do you keep repeating that?
> Are you angel or swarthy?


I don't know, but just let him have his own account _please_. Everybody else has.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jul 31, 2012)




----------



## revol68 (Jul 31, 2012)

The Goon

Enjoyable in a completely daft juvenile way, it also makes ice hockey look like the greatest game in the world.

Also may have a man crush on Jay Baruchel.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 31, 2012)

belboid said:


> What violence there is may be cool, but its also almost incidental.


 
What is 'cool violence'?


And...........the violence in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill is almost incidental?


----------



## revol68 (Jul 31, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> What is 'cool violence'?
> 
> 
> And...........the violence in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill is almost incidental?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 31, 2012)

revol68 said:


>




Yup: violence porn.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2012)

What's that a clip from?


----------



## Reno (Jul 31, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> What's that a clip from?


 
Kill Bill. With your iPhone you are like some sort of Internet Mr Magoo.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2012)

I don't know why it breaks some links but not others


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 31, 2012)

You've ticked the 'No Violence Porn' box in your settings.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2012)

I thought I ticked the yes please option. I'm no good at these things judging by my spam inbox


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 31, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I thought I ticked the yes please option. I'm no good at these things judging by my spam inbox


 
I tried to give you a list, but you poo-poohed it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I tried to give you a list, but you poo-poohed it.


No, I pooh poohed your shoddy ill-thought-out thesis


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 31, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> No, I pooh poohed your shoddy ill-thought-out thesis


 
Let's hear your thesis as to why violence is so pervasive in film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2012)

I don't have one, as violence elicits all sorts of emotions and is used for different reasons. I just reject your comparison of violence with pornography.


----------



## revol68 (Jul 31, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't have one, as violence elicits all sorts of emotions and is used for different reasons. I just reject your comparison of violence with pornography.


 
are you fucking dim, the term violence porn is in relation to violence that serves as an end towards itself, it isn't saying it's meant to arouse in the same way porn is.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2012)

Plane takes off


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 31, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't have one, as violence elicits all sorts of emotions and is used for different reasons. I just reject your comparison of violence with pornography.


 
I get it. You haven't thought it through to the point where you have a coherent idea on the subject.

It's easy to reject: harder to back your position up with a counterpoint.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2012)

I just reject the equivalence between porn and violence you keep making, especially in the films you cite as they all portray violence in very different ways. 
Is Tom & Jerry 'violence porn'? That shows violence as an end in itself


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 1, 2012)

Via the wonders of youtube, from which I downloaded about 30 movies before I came out here, I have watched the 1980 film _Caboblanca _(local internet connections in Sierra Leone are really coming on, but the bandwidth isn't quite big enough for streaming yet)_. _Dominique Sanda wanders around late 1940s Peru wondering where her career went. This is genuinely one of the worst films I have ever seen: Charles Bronson plays a Rick Blaine type who can’t go back to the USA for heavy legal reasons, and Jason Robards is the ex-nazi who lives in a Bond villain lair overlooking the town of Caboblanca, obscure Peruvian fishing village.

The Macguffin is a ship with a precious cargo, sunk by Sanda’s ex-lover, and which Robards is trying to find before a royal navy ship (captained by a splendid young chap played by MIchael York) gets to it first. Sanda herself plays an ex-French resistance fighter, so you could have fun pretending she’s playing the same character that she did in _Il Conformista. _That, of course, was actually a half-decent film. Those of us who appreciate Ms. Sanda’s talents (in various fields) will appreciate this movie. Others, to quote Alex Cox, will not.

In other news: while I was watching the aforementioned drivel (a 14 year old boy’s idea of what real life is like, and also features a talking parrot as a key plot twist: in fairness, maybe there should be more flicks with talking parrots), the torrential rain that enlivened this evening in Makeni stopped. Of course, this was just a brief lull in the storm that is the rainy season.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 1, 2012)

You'll have to watch BarbWire now


----------



## Yetman (Aug 1, 2012)

Breaking bad. Good as ever.

The mrs and her gran were watching The Help downstairs which I caught the second half of, pretty good


----------



## Reno (Aug 2, 2012)

The Seven Year Itch. Really one of Billy Wilders lesser films despite the iconic Monroe image it's known for (which doesn't really feature in the film). It's a stagy film based on a dated sex farce and largely reliant on Tom Ewell's monologuing his inner thoughts about wanting to knob Monroe. Starts out well and then becomes monotonous.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 2, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I just reject the equivalence between porn and violence you keep making, especially in the films you cite as they all portray violence in very different ways.
> Is Tom & Jerry 'violence porn'? That shows violence as an end in itself


 
You present that, I assume, because it's animated, and so therefore doesn't count as much.

The visual reductio ad absurdum counterpoint to the argument that cartoon violence doesn't matter, would be Itchy and Scratchy

We are so constantly bombarded with violence in our media entertainment, that we can no longer see anything wrong with it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 2, 2012)

So you contend that Itchy and Scratchy is violence porn?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 2, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> So you contend that Itchy and Scratchy is violence porn?


 
Itchy and Scratchy is, like I said, a reductio ad absurdum device.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 2, 2012)

It presents violence as an end in itself. It is pornographic by your definition.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 2, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> It presents violence as an end in itself. It is pornographic by your definition.


 
It's a comedy device meant to make us examine our relationship with media violence.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 2, 2012)

And Tom & Jerry?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 2, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> And Tom & Jerry?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 2, 2012)

> Personally, as a UPA man, I had always cited _Tom & Jerry_ cartoons as the primary bad example of senseless violence -- *humor based on pain* -- attack and revenge -- to say nothing of the tasteless use of a headless black woman stereotype house servant.


 
http://www.awn.com/articles/production/tom-jerry-produced-prague


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 2, 2012)

I'm going to bed now. No point conversing with an ignorant obtuse lawyer. Good night.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 2, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> . Good night.


 
Good night to you too.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 2, 2012)

Haywire, a decently written action/conspiracy/thriller movie from Soderbergh with a fairly good cast too.   Weird music.


----------



## Me76 (Aug 2, 2012)

The Exam. If it wasn't don having the Olympics on in the background I would have switched off long before the end.


----------



## Reno (Aug 4, 2012)

Watching the Olympic opening ceremony got me into a Danny Boyle mood, so I re-watched 28 Days Later. Even just a decade on, it hasn't aged that well. The first half is still pretty good and has some creepy moments, but when they get to the army base the film loses momentum and starts falling apart. It almost feels like its own inferior sequel from there on (a re-run of Romero's Day of the Dead after the first half was a mixture of Night... and Dawn...), introducing a whole bunch of new, thinly sketched characters this late in the film. I also don't think shooting on non-HD video was a great idea. I understand that they went for gritty, but often the image is so blurry, its hard to make out what's going on. The actress who plays the teenage girl is distractingly terrible.

Then I watched 28 Weeks Later. This one has gone the other way round for me. I wasn't that keen on it the first time round, maybe because in many ways its a more conventional film, but it's also far more exciting and entertaining than the first one. It has some surprising twists and turns and its so bleak, it makes the first film look like a stroll in the park. I like the way the outbreak starts again, it's cleverly tied into the main plot. And because the first film never showed the outbreak, this one can stage it without the film seeming repetitive. Now I think this is one of the best horror films of the last decade and the rare sequel that improves on the original in spades.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2012)

I watched The Omen films on Film Four this week.
They are not as scary as i remember but still as effective as many recent horror films. The use of music is effective and the death scenes are inventive, though not so convincing effects wise.
It was hard to be scared by the cuddly Rottweilers too. Dobermans make much more effective devil dogs (cf Tenebrae).
I was particularly interested in the Damian: Omen 2, as it's the first horror film I saw. I saw it with my cousins in NZ when I was 8. The kids had a separate annexe to the house and parental control of television was non-existent. Needless to say, it scared the shit out of me! The deaths in it are pretty grisly still, but I appear to have been conflating one death scene with another in another unidentified film, so perhaps U75 can help me.
In Damian: Omen 2, there is a scene in which a man is bisected in a rogue lift by a cable. I remembered it differently. It was a scene in a lift, I think in a hotel, in which some unknown force (I don't remember if we see it or not) bludgeons a man to death, until his eye pops out of his socket. The scene ends with the lift opening on the hotel lobby (or public space) and the man falling out, causing horror to witnesses. Anyone know the film?
Oh, I forgot about the 3rd Omen film. It started well, but I soon lost interest and went to bed.


----------



## Reno (Aug 4, 2012)

Damien: Omen 2 was the first of the Omen films I saw because by then I was old enough to get into the cinema. The lift cable bisection is really the most memorable scene and it's a decent enough sequel. It's hard not to laugh when Lee Grant revels herself to be the whore of Babylon.

I recently re-watched them all. The 3rd one is poor, though seeing Ruby Wax in a small role was rather odd.

Sorry, I don't know eye popping out of socket in lift film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2012)

I noticed her voice first. She was the first ambassador's secretary wasn't she?


----------



## Reno (Aug 4, 2012)

Yes.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Aug 4, 2012)

I watched 2011 sci-fi film "Love" by director William Eubank, about a man who gets stranded in orbit on the International Space station after some event suddenly wipes out all life on earth. At times it evokes memories of Solaris, Moon and 2001: A Space Odyssey, it can't live up to those greats but for a film made on a half million dollar budget it punches above it's weight.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1541874/


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2012)

Sounds interesting!


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 4, 2012)

I rewatched the first half of _Force 10 from Navarone _last night.

I have very fond memories of watching this WW2 action flick with my da and grandfather and in the old cinema in Bandon.

And I can't say my childhood memories were ruined, but I noticed a lot of laughable plot holes that were probably lost on the eight year old me.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Aug 4, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Sounds interesting!


I really enjoyed it. I see on IMDb it's got a cinema showing somewhere in the UK in Sept, I'll hopefully go see it as I'd like to see it on a big screen.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 4, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I watched The Omen films on Film Four this week.
> They are not as scary as i remember but still as effective as many recent horror films. The use of music is effective and the death scenes are inventive, though not so convincing effects wise.


 


Reno said:


> Damien: Omen 2 was the first of the Omen films I saw because by then I was old enough to get into the cinema. The lift cable bisection is really the most memorable scene and it's a decent enough sequel. It's hard not to laugh when Lee Grant revels herself to be the whore of Babylon.
> 
> I recently re-watched them all. The 3rd one is poor, though seeing Ruby Wax in a small role was rather odd.


 
I have a great fondness for the original three films. I think it was the first bona fide trilogy I ever saw, on successive Tuesday nights or somesuch on ITV I think.

The first one is full of great thrills and genuine scares, even if you have seen it before. The stillness of the priest in his final resting place - well, stillness bar an arm slowly swinging like a pendulum - remains shocking.

The other two really were on the path of diminishing returns, but even so, I find a charm there that too many more modern horror/thriller films do not have. The ice hockey scene, and the chase through the woods, are also well-built up scenes IMO. A couple of years ago I worked in a job where most days I saw a man who looked the spitting image of Jonathan Scott-Taylor (Damien Thorn) - somewhat unnerving.

I enjoy Sam Neill's performance in _The Final Conflict_, and the extended infanticide sequence. Though overall it is not a great movie, it is by far superior to the terrible TVM _The Awakening_ that came a few years later.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 4, 2012)

One for DaveCinzano's war film list, maybe, if it isn't there already.

The Little Girl of Hanoi. A piece of DRV propaganda released in 1974, but partly filmed in the actual rubble created by the USAF Christmas bombing raid of December 1972, and others in 1973. Not overtly anti-Yankee, as you might expect.

The story is simple but sincere: a kid gets caught up in the bombing, looks for her family, particularly the father in the aftermath, with a kindly soldier deciding to help her. Got a DVD with English subs, but it's up on YouTube without.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 4, 2012)

On a lighter note...

Lethal Weapon II  (has worn quite well, actually)
Star Trek II Wrath of Khan (you know I want to laugh at the old star trek stuff but you just get caught up in it, probably quite excellent)


----------



## revol68 (Aug 4, 2012)

Right, about to watch 2001 A Space Odyssey for the first time cos y'know everyone is meant to have seen it, it's a classic etc.

It better not be shite.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 5, 2012)

That depends on you.


----------



## revol68 (Aug 5, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> That depends on you.


 
oh come, I need something more committal than that!


----------



## Reno (Aug 5, 2012)

revol68 said:


> oh come, I need something more committal than that!


 
I love the film, but it took me seeing it at the cinema to get it. Don't watch it on some tiny screen. It won't work that way.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 5, 2012)

revol68 said:


> oh come, I need something more committal than that!


It's not shite but you have to be in a Kubrick frame.   I'd Watch Dr Strangelove first.


----------



## Reno (Aug 5, 2012)

I watched the Danish gangster films Pusher and Pusher II. The first one was alright if a little cliched with it's owing-money-to-the-mob style plot. It's very much part of the mid-90s wave of post Goodfellas gangster films, but it's still reasonably compelling due a great central performance by Kim Bodina, who was the best thing in the recent Danish crime series The Bridge.

I liked Pusher II much more and it is quite a different film, putting Bodina's dim witted side kick from the first film at its centre with an equally good performance by Mads Mikkelsen. I liked the way it deals with an extended dysfunctional low level crime family and its main theme of fathers and sons. Great film and some of the style later seen in Refn's Bronson and Drive is in evidence here.

Pusher III tomorrow.


----------



## revol68 (Aug 5, 2012)

right bam bam kiddy fucks, on your advice I have held off watching it because a) the Blu ray rip I downloaded is pish and the epic opening sequence had big blocky pixels and b) I think i'm more in the mood for something retarded after spending this afternoon re reading Capital.

First person to recommend something fun and funny but not shite gets a virtual handjob.


----------



## renegadechicken (Aug 5, 2012)

The sitter - no brainer but funny or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.


----------



## revol68 (Aug 5, 2012)

The Sitter looks like the winner. 

Cheers, hope you enjoyed your virtual handy.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> ...Pusher III tomorrow.


 
I can't disagree that _II_ is more enjoyable than and stands out from _I_ - though the unfamiliarity of the setting certainly made the original feel fresher to mine English eyes than the sum of its tropes should have.

I am curious to hear your opinion of _III_, especially as you mention _Goodfellas_...


----------



## Kippa (Aug 5, 2012)

I was randomly browsing Netflix and came across the film 'The Statement' with Michael Caine staring.  I had never heard of it before so I decided to give it a go and was pleasently surprised.  Here is the imdb link if you are interested in it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340376/  It is worth watching if you have some spare time.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 5, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Star Trek II Wrath of Khan (you know I want to laugh at the old star trek stuff but you just get caught up in it, probably quite excellent)


 
I really like that film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 5, 2012)

Kippa said:


> I was randomly browsing Netflix and came across the film 'The Statement' with Michael Caine staring. I had never heard of it before so I decided to give it a go and was pleasently surprised. Here is the imdb link if you are interested in it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340376/ It is worth watching if you have some spare time.


 
I watched that a while back, as it sounded like an interesting premise, but I was somewhat disappointed - a bit _Bourne Identity_ (Richard Chamberlain version) with a splash of _The ODESSA File_, only less interesting than that might be. Not Micklewhite's finest hour.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 5, 2012)

Sunshine - got bored halfway through this so lost interest but got better toward the end. Excellent special effects somewhat wasted on a fairly odd and unspectacular plot - 5/10
Ip Man - Excellent stuff. Really got a sense of pleasure that this film was made and is an excellent example of classic kung fu movies being brought into modern filmmaking - 9/10
Watchmen - well this was the icing on the cake, the Ultimate Cut on blu-ray meant my TV had trouble playing it (8gb file) so had to watch on my PC which was a bit of a bitch as it's over 3 hours long but it was more than worth it. A masterpiece with no expense spared and a captivating set of stories interweaving at a perfect pace, thus justifying the film's length and creating one of the most atmospheric and rewarding experiences I've had in a long time  10/10


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 5, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Watchmen...more than worth it...masterpiece...no expense spared...captivating set of stories...perfect pace...atmospheric and rewarding...10/10


 
Astonishing.

Are you now or have you ever been a film reviewer for the _Daily Star_?


----------



## Yetman (Aug 5, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Astonishing.
> 
> Are you now or have you ever been a film reviewer for the _Daily Star_?


 
Ha! Fair point.


----------



## Reno (Aug 5, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> I can't disagree that _II_ is more enjoyable than and stands out from _I_ - though the unfamiliarity of the setting certainly made the original feel fresher to mine English eyes than the sum of its tropes should have.
> 
> I am curious to hear your opinion of _III_, especially as you mention _Goodfellas_...


 

Not a good night for Milo. 

Enjoyed this one as well, though Pusher II is my favourite of the three.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 6, 2012)

While the rain battered against the roof, I rewatched _Doctor in the House, _starring Dirk Bogarde as an impecunious 1950s medical student - worth it just for the 'what's the bleeding time' scene. I don't know why I didn't see it at the time, but one of Bogarde's co-stars, playing a medical student with an eye for the ladies, is the spitting image of my late father.

After, that _Action. _A national film boards of canada documentary about the October crisis of 1970. 'The silent revolution is dead. A lot of stupid things are going to happen'.


----------



## revol68 (Aug 7, 2012)

23 mins into 2001 A Space Odyssey and it better sort it the fuck out or it's going off.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 7, 2012)

revol68 said:


> 23 mins into 2001 A Space Odyssey and it better sort it the fuck out or it's going off.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 7, 2012)

revol68 said:


> 23 mins into 2001 A Space Odyssey and it better sort it the fuck out or it's going off.


 
I fucked it off


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 7, 2012)

Last night I watched The Undead, a Roger Corman movie filmed in 6 days.   It's terrible and reasonably good at the same time.   It would certainly give nightmares to a young one.

Fortunately, I watched the MST3K version, which is very funny.


----------



## Firky (Aug 7, 2012)

The Dictator

Contender for worst film of 2012


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 7, 2012)

_Slap Shot_ - not fantastic or anything but with enough of a melancholy tinge that it works


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 7, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _Slap Shot_ - not fantastic or anything but with enough of a melancholy tinge that it works


I love Slap Shot.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 7, 2012)

Che - Part 1. Engaging, although you hear Che's ideas on revolution and the people, I found you didn't get to see his motivation. Then again, I suppose that was explored in Motorcycle Diaries.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 7, 2012)

Henry's Crime. Keanu Reeves. In the film, stage actors are reading Chekov. Unfortunate that the makers of this film couldn't come close to writing Chekov. But even if they had, it's doubtful that Reeves could give us Chekov.

Having said all that, the film has its moments. James Caan is pretty good in it. I think he's become a better actor now he's on the far side of sixty.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 8, 2012)

_The Birds - _Probably the only "big name" Hitchcock film that I hadn't seen. It's Hitchcock of course so it's pretty great and full of wonderful scenes. I think the first half, where Hedren and Taylor are playing games with each other and Hedren meets the villagers, is the best part of the film. The second half where the birds really start attacking people is good but not quite as strong IMO.


----------



## renegadechicken (Aug 8, 2012)

Saw The Raven - about Edgar Allen Poe assisting the police with catching a murderer who is killing in the style of his poems/stories - bloody garbage - i missed the final 15 minutes as i fell asleep without alcohol being imbibed thats how enthralling i found it.


----------



## wiskey (Aug 8, 2012)

currently watching something called Unstoppable . . . so so dire!  still it fills a quiet night at work.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 8, 2012)

wiskey said:


> currently watching something called Unstoppable . . . so so dire! still it fills a quiet night at work.


 
That train? My mrs mate was like 'you'll be on the edge of your seats the whole time!' - it was about a train that was going like 30mph and the brakes werent working. Real edge of seat stuff yeah


----------



## revol68 (Aug 8, 2012)

aye unstoppable was a right pile of pish.


----------



## magneze (Aug 8, 2012)

Vertigo. My wife was a little surprised that I'd never watched it. I picked it as it's now the BFI's best film ever or something after taking over from Citizen Kane. I must say that I think it's better than Citizen Kane too. I was very tired but it kept me gripped as I tried to work out what the hell was going on.


----------



## purenarcotic (Aug 8, 2012)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy - excellent stuff. The first and third were definitely the better of the three but all were extremely enjoyable and gripping 

Frost / Nixon - enjoyed this too.  Didn't know a great deal about the whole thing before watching it, but thought it was interesting and well put together

The Krays - bit of a weird one, the scenes about dreams were very odd and felt a bit out of place, but the acting was great, the twins were very sinister


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 8, 2012)

WE HAD A DREAM LAST NIGHT... WE HAD THE SAME DREAM


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 9, 2012)

*King Creole* (1958) You wouldn't want to step on his blue suede shoes coz he plays an hard man in dis one and gets ta act anawl.
You know he's gone, gone, gone
Hip shaking king creoleeeeeeeeee.
Eh!


----------



## marty21 (Aug 9, 2012)

starfish said:


> Over the weekend we watched, Hot Tub Time Machine which was amusing, was surprised ms starfish liked it. Gentlemen Broncos which was bizarre but quite funny & finally M, which was quite chilling, also i dont think ive seen so much smoke in a movie before.


 I watched that last night - quite enjoyed it - bizarre idea - lots of McFly referencing -


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 9, 2012)

Odd Man Out.

James Mason is an IRA commandant in postwar Belfast. He kills a man in a robbery, and is fatally wounded himself. As he wanders round the city, slowly dying of his wounds, he is hunted by the police, his comrades and his lover. The story is about the people he meets and the effect he has them.

This was directed by Carol Reed, and is usually seen as just the dry run for Reed's masterpiece _The Third Man. _I'd say it's actually a very different film, and at least as good as TTM, if not better.

Left me feeling nostalgic for Belfast, especially the scene in the Crown bar. . .


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 9, 2012)

Yes, it is good.  I also like Reed's other film (sort of being part of a trilogy) set in east Berlin after WWII, called The Man Between.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 9, 2012)

The remake of _Straw Dogs - _while it doesn't have the visceral power of the original it's competent enough as a revenge movie. Kate Bosworth isn't in the same league as Susan George in terms of acting ability or screen presence but the character of Amy is more fully drawn in the remake. On the other hand James Marsden isn't anything to write home about as the hero and the bloke playing the David Warners (a truely fantastic actor IMO) role is absolutely dreadful.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 9, 2012)

Ted - It was reasonably funny. I kept thinking Ted was Brian though, coz of the voice.


----------



## _angel_ (Aug 10, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Yes, it is good. I also like Reed's other film (sort of being part of a trilogy) set in east Berlin after WWII, called The Man Between.


'Ill put my plonker on the table if you don't get me my mushy peas'


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 10, 2012)

_angel_ said:


> 'Ill put my plonker on the table if you don't get me my mushy peas'


 
Where did it all go wrong, eh Lusty?

Forgot to mention that the other night I watched _Easy Rider._

Very much of its time, but bar the graveyard scene (which is just embarassing) it actually does stand up 45 years on. You know things are bad when Dennis Hopper is the sane and plausible voice of reason, though.

Also, it's always interesting to see what Jack Nicholson could do before he became a caricature of himself.

The real star of the movie, though, is America. It would actually make you want to get on a bike and ride through the deserts and canyons. . .


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 10, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Yes, it is good. I also like Reed's other film (sort of being part of a trilogy) set in east Berlin after WWII, called The Man Between.


Is that Mason as well?


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Forgot to mention that the other night I watched _Easy Rider._
> 
> Very much of its time, but bar the graveyard scene (which is just embarassing) it actually does stand up 45 years on. You know things are bad when Dennis Hopper is the sane and plausible voice of reason, though.
> 
> ...


 
Now watch the follow up:



"My wife and I have dropped out of society"


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2012)

I watched an early 90s horror film called The Resurrected. Never heard of it till I stumbled across it on the MGM movie channel. It's the other film directed by Dan O'Bannon, best known as a screenwriter on Dark Star and Alien and the director of Return of the Living Dead. It's a faithful adaptation and update of HP Lovecraft's The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and despite the B-movie cheesiness it was quite good with effects of the latex and KY gloop variety


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 10, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Is that Mason as well?


 
Yes, he's in it.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 10, 2012)

_angel_ said:


> 'Ill put my plonker on the table if you don't get me my mushy peas'


 
Hello Lusty.

'Let's talk about our sexuality, flash boy.'


----------



## 8115 (Aug 11, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Birds - _Probably the only "big name" Hitchcock film that I hadn't seen. It's Hitchcock of course so it's pretty great and full of wonderful scenes. I think the first half, where Hedren and Taylor are playing games with each other and Hedren meets the villagers, is the best part of the film. The second half where the birds really start attacking people is good but not quite as strong IMO.


 
It's brilliant, isn't it.  I don't really like old films, but I love the Birds.  I love it when they are trying to get into the house, scary stuff.  I love the end too.


----------



## Reno (Aug 11, 2012)

I watched the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers again. Still my favourite of the 50s sci-fi movies, probably because it feels much like a noirish paranoid thriller. I like the 70s version just as much, which sticks closely to the story of the original and yet feels like a completely different film.

Just watching the 70s re-incarnation thriller Audrey Rose. Hoping for lurid, Exorcist style thrills which is how it was advertised as when it came out, it was disappointing then and it still is. Anthony Hopkins is terrible in it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 11, 2012)

He does a nice old style judo strangle in it.

Watched the original The Day The Earth Stood Still.  (Which, along with Forbidden Planet, is my favourite 50's sci-fi.)


----------



## Reno (Aug 11, 2012)

The Day The Earth Stood Still would be my second favourite 50s sci-fi.

Do you like This Island Earth ? I like Forbidden Planet but it always feels like they arrived on the planet after the party has finished. This Island Earth is more fun and while Forbidden Planet may be a classier film, its about a civilisation that died long ago. This Island Earth is about a world which is in the process of dying, which I always found more dramatic and sad. And it has half man/half insect style mutants.


----------



## yield (Aug 11, 2012)

On nights shifts but can't sleep so rented some films. Saw Man on a Ledge first. Terrible but not quite soporific enough. Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez were cringeworthy.

Shame though was amazing. The melancholy version of New York New York was excellent. Carey Mulligan & Michael Fassbender were heartbreaking.

"We're not bad people. We just come from a bad place."


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 11, 2012)

Eden Lake - chilling indictment of evil yuppies trespassing on idyllic rustic paradise. Community spirit triumphs.


----------



## kittyP (Aug 11, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Eden Lake - chilling indictment of evil yuppies trespassing on idyllic rustic paradise. Community spirit triumphs.


 
I quite liked that


----------



## kittyP (Aug 11, 2012)

True Blood season 4


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 11, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Eden Lake - chilling indictment of evil yuppies trespassing on idyllic rustic paradise. Community spirit triumphs.


----------



## Reno (Aug 12, 2012)

Cat O'Nine Tails, an early Dario Argento giallo which I'd never seen before. A bit on the slow side with some alarming 70s hair/wigs, but otherwise alright.


----------



## Karim (Aug 12, 2012)

Last night, I watched "The Day of the Jackal".
I just like the plot and the many locations where it was filmed.
Dare I say, it's easy viewing, so I can watch it from time to time (1 or twice a year).


----------



## Reno (Aug 12, 2012)

I'm just watching The Thing with Two Heads. They really don't make them like that anymore. Trash heaven.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 12, 2012)

Fallen Angels - bit slow, but pretty good I suppose. Sort of dreamy dark Hong Kongonian thriller.

Human Centipede - for the lols


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 12, 2012)

Black Rain, an old Ridley Scott movie that's quite cool.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 14, 2012)

_Bronson -_ not so much a film as a series of scenes, needed a much stronger narrative, And while loads of people seem to rave about Hardy's performance I wasn't blown away by it. It was good but nothing spectacular IMO, very showy, by necessity I guess considering the character but I didn't really get any insight into Bronson beyond the fact that he's a nutcase.

_We Need To Talk About Kevin - _Maybe I'm just in a bad mood atm because this didn't engage me much either. Good casting of the little kid though, as he just seemed to have a really evil face.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 14, 2012)

I liked Bronson just for his gay uncle's flat - That's what a flat in a tower block should look like.


----------



## TruXta (Aug 14, 2012)

revol68 said:


> The Goon
> 
> Enjoyable in a completely daft juvenile way, it also makes ice hockey look like the greatest game in the world.
> 
> Also may have a man crush on Jay Baruchel.


 
We saw that the other day. Thought it was gonna be better. Started OK but descended into the deepest pits of bromance cliche BS. Good scene where the BF beats the shit out of him tho.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2012)

Mission Impossible one.   We'd seen MI GP the other week so thought we'd watch the first three which we'd never bothered with.  Shouldn't have bothered with one, will try two later.


----------



## belboid (Aug 15, 2012)

The Final Countdown - which I think I downloaded is mistake for the film of Morcock's The Final Programme.  

Turned out to be a perfectly workmanlike military sci-fi with a aircraft carrier transported back to the day before Pearl Harbour, with all the traditional dilemma's involved.  Entertaining enough for a wednesday afternoon


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2012)

belboid said:


> The Final Countdown - which I think I downloaded is mistake for the film of Morcock's The Final Programme.
> 
> Turned out to be a perfectly workmanlike military sci-fi with a aircraft carrier transported back to the day before Pearl Harbour, with all the traditional dilemma's involved. Entertaining enough for a wednesday afternoon


I liked that.


----------



## magneze (Aug 15, 2012)

Man on Fire. Passable thriller that was recommended a while back. Considering it's 2.5 hours long it didn't seem to drag too much even if the plot has some rather large holes and is a tad predictable.


----------



## Jackobi (Aug 15, 2012)

The Telephone Box (La Cabina (1972)) An almost dialogue-free short film about a man who gets trapped in a phone box. An enjoyable, chilling tale.

Also, I have caught up on Hell on Wheels from season one. Comparable to Deadwood, although not quite in the same league, set in the Western frontier during the railroad expansion. A hidden gem for me, but I'm a sucker for Westerns.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2012)

Rant time.

Mission Impossible 2

Firstly..here's a drinking game.   Have a drink every time it's only Hunt's face.   Hardcore....add in every time someone implies Hunt is awesome.   Insanity....add in every time Hunt has fixed his hair after an action scene.

Secondly...Woo does great action.

Thirdly...Does everyone realise that every time Dougray Scott says 'Hunt' he means cunt?   That's why I'm saying Hunt.

Fourthly...this film would be greatly improved by having Christian Bale.

Lastly...it's fucking terrible.


----------



## revol68 (Aug 15, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Rant time.
> 
> Mission Impossible 2
> 
> ...


 
but why did you put yourself through it?


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2012)

Said in #4574, watched MI GP, it was ok, decided to watch first 3. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a bad movie...spent half the time mst3k'ing it


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2012)

I watched The Illusionist (the animation film, not the one with Edward Norton) again, mainly because I've just been to Edinburgh and its such an amazing and detailed evocation of the city in the 50s/60s. Based on an unproduced Jacques Tati screenplay there has been some controversy over who the film is about, but it's still a lovely film, even if it doesn't have much of a plot.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> I watched The Illusionist (the animation film, not the one with Edward Norton) again, mainly because I've just been to Edinburgh and its such an amazing and detailed evocation of the city in the 50s/60s. Based on an unproduced Jacques Tati screenplay there has been some controversy over who the film is about, but it's still a lovely film, even if it doesn't have much of a plot.


Were you at the festival?


----------



## Reno (Aug 16, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Were you at the festival?


 
No, went a month ago. It was a last moment decision and you can't get anywhere affordable during the festival on shot notice.


----------



## Badgers (Aug 16, 2012)

Léon: The Professional


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 16, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Léon: The Professional


Fucking awesome...Portman eventually got an Oscar, Reno should really have had one a while ago (maybe for Leon)


----------



## Badgers (Aug 16, 2012)

DexterTCN said:
			
		

> Fucking awesome...Portman eventually got an Oscar, Reno should really have had one a while ago (maybe for Leon)



Yup. The 'professional' is the better film. Very cool film with no weak roles.


----------



## Badgers (Aug 16, 2012)

It's ironic how many people on the internet, when asked 'How did film criticism fall into such disrepute?', have answered; 'The internet!'. -- Mark Kermode (@KermodeMovie)


----------



## 8115 (Aug 16, 2012)

Inside job, very good, I really enjoyed it. Matt Damon  voiced documentary/ expose about the run up to the banking collapse. It trod a line between being simple enough to understand but also highly informative, and didn't shy away from confronting people and getting complicated when it needed to.


----------



## belboid (Aug 16, 2012)

Found my copy of The Final Programme.  Not really worth the wait. It was alwaus going to be unfilmable, but that was a really piss poor attempt.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 17, 2012)

_Burning Man_ - drama about a bloke going to terms with his wife's death. Told in a very fragmented way which works quite well and makes up for the rather unoriginal plot and characters (he did have to be a lovely middle class chef didn't he).


----------



## mwgdrwg (Aug 17, 2012)

Gurran Lagan - quite a funny anime from the first few episodes I've watched


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 17, 2012)

The Descendants


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 17, 2012)

imposs1904 said:


> The Descendants


And?


----------



## 8115 (Aug 18, 2012)

The Birds is on tellie in colour.  I thought it was black and white?


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 18, 2012)

Vanilla Sky.   Tom Cruise stole (ok paid for) this film from Alejandro Almenabar who made the original Abre los Ojos .   In the Almenabar original Penelope Cruz's character is hypnotic, she is reined in more in the Cruise version to the detriment of the film.   The soundtrack is better in the Cruise version (he always gets good music) and a lot of it is visually excellent.

I like both versions a lot.

I don't like Cruise.   I do however like him in Vanilla Sky and Tropic Thunder.   And Legend and Magnolia.  I still don't like him.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 18, 2012)

Oh...John Galeki is in Vanilla Sky.   And Simon Pegg is a paedo in the Brass Eye paedo special.


----------



## purenarcotic (Aug 18, 2012)

8115 said:


> The Birds is on tellie in colour. I thought it was black and white?


 
No, it was always in colour.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 18, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> No, it was always in colour.


That's what Ted Turner said about _Citizen Kane_


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 18, 2012)

_Toomelah - _drama about an aboriginal community told through the eyes of a 10 year old boy. Not bad and some very good performances, especially from the youngsters, but I don't think it's as good a films as the directors previous film _Beneath Clouds._


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 19, 2012)

*Huge:* If you're going to make a film about stand-up comedians it might be an idea to make it in some way funny. A terrible film with Noel Clarke horribly miscast as the zany half of a comedy double act.


----------



## Kidda (Aug 19, 2012)

Last night we watched 

The Talented Mr Ripley followed by 8 Mile then finished off with Die Hard. 

Today we have just watched The Goonies. 

We are very high brow in this house.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 19, 2012)

Watched Cowboys and Aliens - quite enjoyed it - big budget stupidness


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 19, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> And?


 
I read and enjoyed Kaui Hart Hemmings novel a few months back, so I was initially a wee bit wary of some of the casting for the film but I think Clooney nailed the role and I understand why the film got the positive reviews that it did.

What with the adapted screenplay being by Alexander Payne and Jim Rash I was expecting the film to be more laugh out loud funny but the humour is more restrained which, I guess, is in keeping with the subject matter of the film and book.

The real star of the film is the Hawaiian Islands. Beautiful scenery. That's the end of my Claudia Winkelman impersonation.


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 19, 2012)

Ripleys Game ~ Ray Winston & John Malcovich.... terrific stuff, except for the end which was rather pants.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 19, 2012)

imposs1904 said:


> I read and enjoyed Kaui Hart Hemmings novel a few months back, so I was initially a wee bit wary of some of the casting for the film but I think Clooney nailed the role and I understand why the film got the positive reviews that it did.
> 
> What with the adapted screenplay being by Alexander Payne and Jim Rash I was expecting the film to be more laugh out loud funny but the humour is more restrained which, I guess, is in keeping with the subject matter of the film and book.
> 
> The real star of the film is the Hawaiian Islands. Beautiful scenery. That's the end of my Claudia Winkelman impersonation.


Cheers.
Can't believe Jim Rash co-wrote it!
I only know him from playing the Dean in Community!


----------



## DrRingDing (Aug 19, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Where did it all go wrong, eh Lusty?
> 
> Forgot to mention that the other night I watched _Easy Rider._
> 
> ...


 
Didn't they actually trip for the graveyard scene?


----------



## frogwoman (Aug 19, 2012)

watching single white female at the moment lol


----------



## renegadechicken (Aug 20, 2012)

Watched The Cabin in the Woods - different take on the 5 chums go to a desolate place in the woods. Some nice twists, not a bad watch - corny in places but enjoyable. Can't really say more about it without spoiling it.


----------



## Firky (Aug 20, 2012)

Detachment,
Tony Kaye (American History X)

Acting's good, films pretty good - it just could have been better, doesn't quite live up to what it is trying to deliver. Daft stuff spoils what would have been a good film, chalkboard animations etc.

Sounds like the film changed a fair bit from what it was supposed to be

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayl...he-fly-improvising-in-detachment#.T_9L_3BAn-k

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-...lationship-with-detachment-director-tony-kaye





renegadechicken said:


> Watched The Cabin in the Woods - different take on the 5 chums go to a desolate place in the woods. Some nice twists, not a bad watch - corny in places but enjoyable. Can't really say more about it without spoiling it.


 

I enjoyed it.


----------



## la ressistance (Aug 20, 2012)

renegadechicken said:


> Watched The Cabin in the Woods - different take on the 5 chums go to a desolate place in the woods. Some nice twists, not a bad watch - corny in places but enjoyable. Can't really say more about it without spoiling it.


same here.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 20, 2012)

Watched Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood film, he's a very impressive director in many ways.   Hilary Swank nails her part.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 20, 2012)

first 2 episodes of *falling skies*     "Bobbins"


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 20, 2012)

Bonded by blood ~ It was meh at best, been done before, and done better.


----------



## renegadechicken (Aug 20, 2012)

watched The Avengers...meh preferred the separate movies of thor/ironman but not capt america(didnt watch and wont watch). Was drivel apart from the iron man i love the character Robert Downey plays..the hulks part appeared very much an 'add on' and at no point was it explained how he became a good guy after trying to kill everyone. I disliked it so much its now deleted from the hard drive.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 20, 2012)

renegadechicken said:


> watched The Avengers...meh preferred the separate movies of thor/ironman but not capt america(didnt watch and wont watch). Was drivel apart from the iron man i love the character Robert Downey plays..the hulks part appeared very much an 'add on' and at no point was it explained how he became a good guy after trying to kill everyone. I disliked it so much its now deleted from the hard drive.


 
I enjoyed it but thought it very overrated – the first Iron Man film is still my favourite Marvel adaptation with maybe Blade a close second.


----------



## Reno (Aug 21, 2012)

A Clockwork Orange. I'd never seen the entire film, because I don't really like it that much. But I went to see a Stanley Kubrick exhibition in Amsterdam over the weekend which got me in the mood to watch the films of his I'd always had problems with. I liked it better this time thanks to the outrageous 70s costumes and art direction, but it's still not one of my favourites of his.

The other two I'll give another try will be Full Metal Jacket (never seen it at all) and Eyes Wide Shut (only made it through half the film)


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 21, 2012)

Reno said:


> A Clockwork Orange. I'd never seen the entire film, because I don't really like it that much. But I went to see a Stanley Kubrick exhibition in Amsterdam over the weekend which got me in the mood to watch the films of his I'd always had problems with. I liked it better this time thanks to the outrageous 70s costumes and art direction, but it's still not one of my favourites of his.


 
Given its homage (to put it politely) to _ACO_, I'm interested in your opinion of _The Great Ecstasy Of Robert Carmichael_. I found it pretty powerful...



Spoiler: (some would consider this bit spoilerish)



...in the way it slowly built up through all this tedious, mundane stuff to _that _climax, and just leaves you hanging at the end, a guilty voyeur.

I'd already heard about the plot, seen stills, read about the shitstorm it caused, seen a ropey 3rd or 4th generation 'blizzards in Lapland'-style VHS of_ A Clockwork Orange_ before finally viewing it 'properly'; by which time any power it had was lost on me. Whereas _Ecstasy_ came to me without any preconceptions or expectations (I didn't know anything about it, except it was set in a dreary seaside town), and seems to be heading more for 'examine evil acts and you'll find banality' territory, a modestly-aimed destination to which I think it succeeds in delivering its audience.


----------



## Reno (Aug 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Given its homage (to put it politely) to _ACO_, I'm interested in your opinion of _The Great Ecstasy Of Robert Carmichael_. I found it pretty powerful...


 
I read reviews when it came out and what I read didn't grab me, so I haven't seen it. Isn't it just provocation for the sake of it ? Is there any more to it than mere provocation, because A Clockwork Orange at last is a satire which first of all deals with free will. Isn't the whole 'implicating the viewer as a voyer' and 'banality of evil' thing on it's own a bit of an old hat and always in risk of becoming exploitative ? Hitchcock has dealt with that for his entire career.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 21, 2012)

Reno said:


> I read reviews when it came out and what I read didn't grab me, so I haven't seen it. Isn't it just provocation for the sake of it ? Is there any more to it than mere provocation, because A Clockwork Orange at last is a garish satire which first of all deals with free will. Isn't the whole 'implicating the viewer as a voyer' and 'banality of evil' thing on it's own a bit of an old hat and always in risk of becoming exploitative ? Hitchcock has dealt with that for his entire career.


 
True, but it's not like every film is going to be about a topic that's never been dealt with before. It certainly got a visceral reaction from me as a viewer, and stayed in my mind. I felt it was more than competently constructed from meagre materials.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 22, 2012)

Oldboy - Spike Lee's going to be doing a remake  see here


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 22, 2012)

Remaking Oldboy?  

Rather cut my tongue off.


----------



## Garcia Lorca (Aug 22, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Oldboy - Spike Lee's going to be doing a remake see here


 
why remake an almost perfect film?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 22, 2012)

Garcia Lorca said:


> why remake an almost perfect film?


No subtitles, no weird forrin Buddhist subtext


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 22, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> No subtitles, no weird forrin Buddhist subtext


THIS  Americans don't like subtitles


----------



## Yetman (Aug 22, 2012)

Melancholia - Excellent stuff, quite long and a bit drawn out but great performances and a simple but effective storyline with some lovely cinematography.

Sherlock Holmes 2 - MEH. Lost the plot. Looked ok but too many bullet time sequences and a confusing empty storyline.


----------



## 8115 (Aug 22, 2012)

I'm working my way through The Thick of it.  Hoping it's not wrong to have the massive horn for Malcom Tucker


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> THIS Americans don't like subtitles


 
..but then neither do most British people.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 23, 2012)

8115 said:


> I'm working my way through The Thick of it. Hoping it's not wrong to have the massive horn for Malcom Tucker


One of the greatest creations ever, you're not wrong.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 23, 2012)

*Ils (Them):* Young French couple enjoy an idyllic existence in the Romanian countryside... until the bad people turn up. A tense and effective French horror apparently based on a true story.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 23, 2012)

The Class (Entres les murs) second time I've watched this, really is one of the best films I've seen in recent years.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 23, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> *Ils (Them):* Young French couple enjoy an idyllic existence in the Romanian countryside... until the bad people turn up. A tense and effective French horror apparently based on a true story.


It's not. 
I saw that too. Thought it was pretty effective.


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2012)

I watched the first of the Accused episodes. Hadn't seen this series before. It was really melodramatic and not very good. They did get a lot of publicity for sticking Sean Bean in drag as an unlikely tranny stupid enough to cruise rough straight bars. Whatever happened to Jimmy McGovern?


----------



## Yetman (Aug 23, 2012)

Cabin in the Woods  Good old fashioned nonsense horror


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Cabin in the Woods  Good old fashioned nonsense horror


 
Old fashioned ? I don't think I've ever seen a horror film that so totally deconstructs itself.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 23, 2012)

Reno said:


> Old fashioned ? I don't think I've ever seen a horror film that so totally deconstructs itself.


 
I screamed when I read your comment.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 23, 2012)

Peep World

Despite a stellar cast of Rainn Wilson, Michael C Hall, Sarah Silverman and that funny bloke from Parks and Rec, it came across as the worst episode of Arrested Development that you'd never want to see again.


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2012)

imposs1904 said:


> I screamed when I read your comment.


 
Why ? 

It's certainly not a regular horror film, but a parody and cliches of conventions in horror films of the last three decades. It starts out as a by-the-numbers slasher film and by the end it's closer to something like Charlie Kaufman/Spike Jonze's Adaptation for horror geeks while subverting all the conventions of the genre.


----------



## belboid (Aug 23, 2012)

Reno said:


> Old fashioned ? I don't think I've ever seen a horror film that so totally deconstructs itself.


Yes, it goes through every old-fashioned horror motif and takes the piss/econstructs them. ts old-fashioned wih a modern shiny surface (and bloody good with it)


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 23, 2012)

Reno said:


> Why ?
> 
> It's certainly not a regular horror film, but a parody of conventions in horror films of the last three decades. It starts out as a by the numbers slasher film and by the end it's closer to something like Charlie Kaufman/Spike Jonze's Adaptation for horror geeks.


 
It was my piss poor Kevin Williamson pun. Hence the original  .....


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2012)

imposs1904 said:


> It was my piss poor Kevin Williamson pun. Hence the original  .....


 
As I said before on another thread, Germans aren't that good with puns. 

Where Scream only talks about it, The Cabin in the Wood shows. In Scream the characters are aware of horror film conventions, but it still proceeds along the lines of a conventional slasher film. With The Cabin in the Woods the film itself is self aware and it contantly shifts and changes.

As a horror fan I absolutely loved it. Its still the most fun I had at the pictures this year.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 23, 2012)

Reno said:


> As I said before on another thread, Germans aren't that good with puns.
> 
> Where Scream only talks about it, The Cabin in the Wood shows. In Scream the characters are aware of horror film conventions, but it still proceeds along the lines of a conventional slasher film. With The Cabin in the Woods the film itself is self aware and it contantly shifts and changes.
> 
> As a horror fan I absolutely loved it. Its still the most fun I had at the pictures this year.


 

I've yet to see it, but as it's *(eta: co-written)* by Joss Whedon I'll be made to watch it at some point by my other half.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 25, 2012)

_Take Shelter -_ Bit confused about this, I'm not sure that the ending is necessarily bad just that it didn't work for me at all. I was interested in a film that looked at mental illness in middle america and except for the final five minutes thats what this seemed to be. Anyway definitely worth watching, good performances from Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastin and the well put together.

_Brighton Rock -_ the recent version, Despite being a big Greene fan for some reason I've never got around to reading the book so I don't know faithful (or not) this adaptation is. Overall I thought it was OK, decent enough to pass the time but nothing to write home about. I liked Angela Riseborough but Sam Rielly doesn't work for me, I also felt somewhat underwhelmed by _Control_ and he was the lead in that too.


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 25, 2012)

The Billionaire 2011 (Wai Roon Pun Lan) A great true story about /&*^% well obviously i dont wanna spoil it do eye. if ya imdb it dont read the storyline coz it spoils it aswell
Trust me its a good un


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 25, 2012)

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance - Didn't rate it as much as the first two in the Trilogy.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 25, 2012)

Hunger Games

Needed more violence and gore.


----------



## Firky (Aug 25, 2012)

Watched Let Me In without realising I'd already seen the original. 

Wasn't bad for a remake.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 25, 2012)

*The Devil's Rejects:* Entertainingly nasty horror from writer/director Rob Zombie. Nowhere near as edgy as I bet he thinks it is though. Great soundtrack.

*Haute Tension (Switchblade Romance):* Superior French horror with an extraordinary twist.


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 26, 2012)

Headhunters - not bad at all norwegian thriller


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 26, 2012)

_Le Havre_ - Very good and highly enjoyable. It's shot fantastically and the performances are great. If there is one criticism of it that I would make it's that the ending didn't work for me. The miracle shouldn't have happened.


----------



## Reno (Aug 26, 2012)

_Lockout_, cheesy but fun 80s style B-movie about a riot on a space prison. This is obviously ripped off from Escape From New York (and the more obscure Fortress 2) and it's held together by Guy Pearce, who gives great action hero and who gets some great one-liners. Joseph Gilgun (This is England, Misfits) gives what may be the most OTT performance of the year as one of the villains, but it fits this amiable, fun flick, which never for a second takes itself seriously. The film moves at a brisk pace and at just over 90 minutes it never outstays its welcome. 

_Hell_ (not Satan's pit, but the German word for 'Bright'), a tedious and cheap looking German sci-fi flick about a sun scorched earth which is an obvious retreat of The Road, only with two sisters rather than a father and son escaping post-apolcalyptic cannibals. It's the type of film where you want to shout at the characters for doing everything in the most stupid way possible. The only interesting thing about it is that it has Angela Winkler in it who was one of the biggest stars of the German New Wave of the 70s. She is probably best known from The Lost Honour of Katarina Blum and The Tin Drum.


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 26, 2012)

i have Lockout to watch later !


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Aug 26, 2012)

Looks fun.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 26, 2012)

"Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" - saw it at the cinema and it stood up to a second watching. Undemanding, action fodder which was just what I wanted!


----------



## purenarcotic (Aug 26, 2012)

Mr Hulot's Holiday 

An all time favourite, never fails to have me giggling my socks off.


----------



## Me76 (Aug 26, 2012)

The Beaver.  I'm not entirely sure what I thought of it to be honest.


----------



## Reno (Aug 26, 2012)

Me76 said:


> The Beaver. I'm not entirely sure what I thought of it to be honest.


 
You hated it. There !


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 26, 2012)

The cabin in the woods (because it was mentioned earlier in this thread) - Brilliant!


----------



## starfish (Aug 26, 2012)

Switchblade Romance, gory French horror which was rather good.
F, British horror set in a school after hours which wasnt as good but was ok.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 26, 2012)

starfish said:


> Switchblade Romance, gory French horror which was rather good.


 
Did you like the twist ending?


----------



## Me76 (Aug 26, 2012)

Reno said:


> You hated it. There !



After digesting it a bit more I think it was alright. Reminded me of a poorer American Beauty (which I'm sure everyone on here would hate anyway). The son's storyline was better than Mel Gibson's.


----------



## starfish (Aug 26, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> Did you like the twist ending?


 
It did make me go


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 26, 2012)

starfish said:


> It did make me go


 
I've been thinking about it ever since and all the clever little hints and clues that were contained in the story. Still not sure it entirely adds up though.


----------



## starfish (Aug 26, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> I've been thinking about it ever since and all the clever little hints and clues that were contained in the story. Still not sure it entirely adds up though.


 
I think it would take a second viewing to pick up on all that. I was slightly prepared though as there was a commentary about the film prior to it being shown (on the horror channel where i recorded it) & the talking heads mentioned about its big twist, thankfully without going into any detail. But yeah, theres one bit in particular that didnt add up.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 26, 2012)

starfish said:


> I think it would take a second viewing to pick up on all that. I was slightly prepared though as there was a commentary about the film prior to it being shown (on the horror channel where i recorded it) & the talking heads mentioned about its big twist, thankfully without going into any detail. But yeah, theres one bit in particular that didnt add up.


 
I saw the commentary beforehand but had decided the twist was going to be something completely different.


----------



## starfish (Aug 26, 2012)

andy2002 said:


> I saw the commentary beforehand but had decided the twist was going to be something completely different.


 
I hadnt, i just spent most of the film wondering what it was going to be, which was slightly distracting.


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 26, 2012)

Shifty. It was alright, crack dealers tale of a day going badly. Keep me watching & wondering how it was going to end.


----------



## r0bb0 (Aug 26, 2012)

I saw the Orphan, it's a horror with a great twist and Spun which was well good


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 27, 2012)

_Love Like Poison _- excellent French film about the adolescence of a girl and the nature of religion. The lead actress is fantastic as is the old grandfather. Lots of interesting ideas and themes packed into the 90 minutes but all developed properly. Very impressed.


----------



## Reno (Aug 27, 2012)

starfish said:


> I think it would take a second viewing to pick up on all that. I was slightly prepared though as there was a commentary about the film prior to it being shown (on the horror channel where i recorded it) & the talking heads mentioned about its big twist, thankfully without going into any detail. But yeah, theres one bit in particular that didnt add up.


 
Nothing adds up, it's patently clear that the twist ending is a cheat from beginning to end because the character would have to be in two places at once much of the time. It's quite homophobic too.


----------



## andy2002 (Aug 27, 2012)

Reno said:


> Nothing adds up, it's patently clear that the twist ending is a cheat from beginning to end because the character would have to be in two places at once much of the time. It's quite homophobic too.


 


Spoiler: spoilers



I thought the twist was both a bit of a cheat but also quite clever because it is clearly seeded throughout the film from the very beginning. That said, just how much dramatic licence should we extend to the 'being in two places at once' idea? Clearly, half of what the viewer is seeing is a delusion on her part but I'm not sure that entirely excuses or explains it. The twist still delivers a pretty big gut punch though, mainly because the actress carries it off so well.


----------



## Reno (Aug 27, 2012)

I was with the film till the twist, which didn't deliver a gut punch for me, but a monumental rolling of the eyes. I completely bailed at that point. Not only is it an old hat of a twist that had been done many times before, but it's also just done so shoddily here and used as a get out clause for the film having to make any sense.

And don't even get me started about the sexual politics....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2012)

Two nights ago I watched Submarine with my 15yr old.

It is quite possibly the most self-knowingly hip indie flick ever made in the uk.......and actually quite boring.

I was a little disturbed because it was about a 15 year old boy in 1986 who's into films and books and pyromania, who's a bit odd, likes girls (in that romantic odd way that boys who are 15 and into films and books and  pyromania do).

But it was so fucking uber-cool and so fucking focussed on the detail of hip it lost all the story and all the heart of being that kid.

I was 15 in 1986, was into books and films and Pyromania (but also deeply into music) and life was never that cool and hip and I never ever got away with burning stuff in such a simple way.

Anyway, this kid had posters of L'Samourai and Le Cercle Rouge on his wall.......where the fuck did you buy those in 1986? He lived in wales ffs?

I watched L'Samourai in 86 and knew no one else in my universe (being 15 and all that) who even knew what the film was.......let alone where get a copy of it or a poster of it....I didn't even know who Alain Delon was even after I'd watched it......I just remember thinking....shit, bbc2 showed an ace film last nice.....didn't understand it, but it was fandabbydozee....

I was lonely and stupid and a weirdo! It's what geeky kids are.

Can films not show this without it coming across like Belle and Sebastian the Musical?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2012)

Oh , and I watched Paris, Texas again yesterday.......lovely.....and lonely. I didn't start a fire.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 27, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Oh , and I watched Paris, Texas again yesterday.......lovely.....and lonely. I didn't start a fire.


It was always burning - since the world's been turning.


----------



## Reno (Aug 27, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Anyway, this kid had posters of L'Samourai and Le Cercle Rouge on his wall.......where the fuck did you buy those in 1986? He lived in wales ffs?


 
I had posters for A bout de souffle and Andy Warhol's Flesh on my wall when I was 15 in the 70s. I got them via an advert in a film magazine. There was life before eBay.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2012)

Reno said:


> I had posters for A bout de souffle and Andy Warhol's Flesh on my wall when I was 15 in the 70s. I got them via an advert in a film magazine. There was life before eBay.


 
Ebay comment unnecessary! Grow up.

I know this stuff was out there....I know this stuff was available.....this kid in this story with this life didn't seem to have the means as I didn't have the means when I was that age in a simlar world in a similar situation.

I remember going to London and finding a shop full of film posters and thinking....one day, I want those. I was still getting £1.50 pocket money in 1986. (I was from a big family and worked for the family so had no option for working for more for someone else.)

My point is the film showed none of the aspiration and yearning that discovering art and pop culture and literature and music inspires when you're young and alone and finding things outside of you peer's world.

This boy was simply 15, uncool, but had all the cool books and pictures and quotes ready and to hand and there.

I'm sure a part of me believes that at 15 I was super duper and jazzy fuckin' hip shit, but I know I was still stumblin' along. I read what film mags I could get my hands on, and spent ages in the library looking at books they wouldn't let me hire, and I thought Patti Smith was 'A genius' and Iggy Pop 'sexy' and yes, I got my Nan to buy me the Andy Warhol Diaries, and I got Miles Davies 'Sketches of Spain' and thought Quentin Crisp was someone I should design my attitude to life upon and that this fella that Barfly was based on seemed like a  good role model and that Broadway Danny Rose and Bananas were both very funny, but Hannah and Her Sister was probably smarter and the one I should like it more........and if it wasn't for Alex Coc i'd be just like everybody else.......

.....thing is, at the time, in the moment.....not a  lot of it made sense.

I was 15 on a housing estate next to an industrial estate and I'd just been told I wasn't allowed to do any O levels cos I was a trouble maker.....so in my mind I was thick and I didn't deserve anything. My old man kicking me up an ddown the stairs didn't help Setting fire to things didn't really help either, but it felt good, although it was stupid and dangerous and I did cause some terrible messes.

Cinema continues to depict these kids as 'super cool' despite their loser status and they always get the girl in the 'sexy' anorak, who's a bit sharp tongued, but soft on the inside.

Anyway, fuck you and your short sharp ebay throwaway.......lucky you and your 70s poster, hip shit!


----------



## Reno (Aug 27, 2012)

The boy in Submarine wasn't depicted as "super cool". The point was that he thought he was super cool, but he was emotionally immature and really a bit of a twat. Where it counted, like being there for his girlfriend when she needed him, he was a total loser. He was at the age where kids think that the things they like is what makes them the person they are. He constantly tried to show off to the girl about all the cool stuff he knew and was into, which of course is not cool at all. Sure, the film wasn't naturalistic, it was very stylised and an exagerrated and comedic depiction of that state of mind, but otherwise I thought it was quite accurate about how fairly intelligent kids are at that age. They think they are much smarter than they are, because they like "cool stuff".


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2012)

I know that's what it wanted to do. It didn't do it.

These films are made by the losers kids. They want themselves to appear cooler than they actually are.

It was life as Belle and Sebastian write about it.....

...I think it was too exagerrated....and just about comic enough.....

...it was actually a bit obvious and dull...but with lots attention to detail...

....Actually, while watching it, and having Noah Taylor to hand, I thought a lot about The Year My Voice Broke and what a much better film that was....

I'm glad you liked it.


----------



## Reno (Aug 27, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I'm glad you liked it.


 
I'm glad you are glad.

Hugz.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2012)

Reno said:


> I'm glad you are glad.
> 
> Hugz.


 

Hugs with a Z, hip shit.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 27, 2012)

BFF


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 27, 2012)

You two should double date with Stan and Chaz.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 27, 2012)

I once went out with Chas and Dave. They couldn`t make up their mind who gave and took.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 27, 2012)

I thought Submarine was great.
It's spot on in its depiction of how self-regarding teens are.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 27, 2012)

Just watched the Aardman film of The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists. Very disappointing.


----------



## 89 Til Infinity (Aug 27, 2012)

God Bless America.

If you hate reality TV then this is the film for you. Hilarious movie!



> "On a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, terminally ill Frank makes an unlikely accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy


 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1912398/


----------



## thriller (Aug 27, 2012)

Lock out with guy pearce. tis was ok. nothing i'll ever revisit ever again.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> ... The point was that he thought he was super cool, but he was emotionally immature and really a bit of a twat. Where it counted, like being there for his girlfriend when she needed him, he was a total loser. He was at the age where kids think that the things they like is what makes them the person they are. He constantly tried to show off to the girl about all the cool stuff he knew and was into, which of course is not cool at all. ...


aka normal teenager


----------



## Yetman (Aug 28, 2012)

The Hunger Games - very good! Few plot holes and a bit of an out-there concept but worked quite well I thought. Sort of like a modern running man but with kids and more sadness.

The New World (only the first half, my TV fucked up and wouldnt play it after that  Damn smart TV's and their shit media players) - again, very good. The story of Captain Smith and Pocahontas but told in the way that Terence Malik often prefers, in that he lets the visuals do most of the talking, and the visuals are excellent. I like this director and look forward to more of his works (especially one due out next year about the birth and death of the universe)


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 28, 2012)

Dead of Night

great series of horror vignettes from 1945. Michael Redgrave is excellent

and the one set at the children's party is based on truth


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> Dead of Night
> 
> great series of horror vignettes from 1945. Michael Redgrave is excellent
> 
> and the one set at the children's party is based on truth


 
The nightmarish end when all the stories merge and the ventriloquist's dummy comes to life, still gives me the heebie-jeebies.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 28, 2012)

i dont think he does come to life. he just takes Michael Redgrave over


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 28, 2012)

Births, Marriages, & Deaths. ~ 100%


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 28, 2012)

the TV show?


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> i dont think he does come to life. he just takes Michael Redgrave over


 
The dummy does come to life, in the hallucinatory scene at the end, when all the stories merge into one. It's the scariest part of the film IMO.


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2012)

I finally watched _Eyes Wide Shut_ in my mission to work my way through the Stanley Kubrick films that never appealed to me that much. I actually quite enjoyed it now that I've finally watched it all the way through. It's not among his best films and its ideas about kink are dated in a 60s sort of way and possibly rather sexist but it has an interesting atmosphere and the scene of the masked orgy is quite eerie and suspenseful. The first time i tried to watch it I saw it in the US where much of it was censored by inserting digital characters to mask any naughty goings on and its all so tame anyway.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 29, 2012)

Lockout. Good fun, although I think kurt russels replacement overdid the nonchalance a bit.



Spent ages trying to work out if lead baddies rapey brother was eli dingle from emmerdale


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Spent ages trying to work out if lead baddies rapey brother was eli dingle from emmerdale


 
It was Woody from This is England (and Rudy from Misfits).


----------



## belboid (Aug 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> the scene of the masked orgy is quite eerie and suspenseful.


Thats the only scene that stuck in my mind - not for beng particularly eerie, but more because the actual orgy scenes were utterly unerotic, and everyone watching looked bored - which is probably how it would be.


Reno said:


> It was Woody from This is England (and Rudy from Misfits).


same person


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2012)

belboid said:


> Thats the only scene that stuck in my mind - not for beng particularly eerie, but more because the actual orgy scenes were utterly unerotic, and everyone watching looked bored - which is probably how it would be.
> 
> same person


 
They are wearing masks, so they look inscrutable rather than bored and what makes you think a good orgy would be boring. The eerie part was that it looked more like a black mass than an orgy and that a character keeps warning him that he is in grave danger.

...and yes, i know they are both played by the same actor, that's why I mentioned both roles.


----------



## belboid (Aug 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> They are wearing masks, so they look inscrutable rather than bored and what makes you think a good orgy would be boring. The eerie part was that it looked more like a black mass than an orgy and that a character keeps warning him that he is in grave danger.


Cruise n wotsername might have been, I thought quite a few of those sitting around werent doing.  they all sat in a manner which indicated a lack of enthusiasm to me, anyway.



> ...and yes, i know they are both played by the same actor, that's why I mentioned both roles.


same as Eli from Emmerdale, I meant


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2012)

belboid said:


> same as Eli from Emmerdale, I meant


 

Uh, OK, never seen Emmerdale.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 29, 2012)

I might watch Spartacus tonight.
Not sure
If
I 
Have the
Att. span tho


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> Uh, OK, never seen Emmerdale.


YOU
ARE MISSING OUT!


----------



## ringo (Aug 29, 2012)

Terrible Bosses. I can't work out how this got on my Lovefilm list. The worst kind of dull rom-com crap I can imagine. Lasted 15 minutes before taking it off.

Rum Diaries - Maybe if this had been made 20 years ago when I read Hunter S Thompson and found it exciting I'd have enjoyed this more. Maybe the book is much better. Perhaps also the style just seems hackneyed now but was fresh and raw when he wrote it. Maybe.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 29, 2012)

Watching Weekend now - I thought it was going to be a film about old school raves. Its so far just a gay love story


----------



## thriller (Aug 29, 2012)

Just finished Treasure Island. Pretty failthful to the book and a very good cast: Oliver Reed, Charlton Heston and a very young Christian Bale. It's all available on Youtube if anyone wants to watch it


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 29, 2012)

Gob Bless America ~ A tad rambling at times, but an enjoyable yarn nevertheless.


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Watching Weekend now - I thought it was going to be a film about old school raves. Its so far just a gay love story


 
You've got the better film though.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 29, 2012)

After becoming aware of it on this thread, I thought I'd give The Cabin In The Woods a go. Buzzing film.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 30, 2012)

ringo said:


> Rum Diaries - Maybe if this had been made 20 years ago when I read Hunter S Thompson and found it exciting I'd have enjoyed this more. Maybe the book is much better. Perhaps also the style just seems hackneyed now but was fresh and raw when he wrote it. Maybe.


 
I've got this on my ready to watch list, I've also got the book on my ready to read list. Book first you think ?


----------



## ringo (Aug 30, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> I've got this on my ready to watch list, I've also got the book on my ready to read list. Book first you think ?


 
I think I'd always prefer to read the book first. I would guess so here, but I haven't read it


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 30, 2012)

On the second season of Breaking Bad.

Please tell me that, with the birth of his daughter, Walt see the error of his ways and applies himself more as a schoolteacher and volunteers with the New Mexico chapter of 'Just Say No, Kidz'.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 30, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> I've got this on my ready to watch list, I've also got the book on my ready to read list. Book first you think ?


 
Not seen the film, read the book though - I wouldn't bother, HST's appeal has always been a bit of a mystery to me.


----------



## magneze (Aug 30, 2012)

imposs1904 said:


> On the second season of Breaking Bad.
> 
> Please tell me that, with the birth of his daughter, Walt see the error of his ways and applies himself more as a schoolteacher and volunteers with the New Mexico chapter of 'Just Say No, Kidz'.


Yep, the next few series are a bit like that. If you like happy clapping singing then you're in for a treat.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 30, 2012)

magneze said:


> Yep, the next few series are a bit like that. If you like happy clapping singing then you're in for a treat.


 
brilliant. I'll keep watching. I love a happy ending.


----------



## ringo (Aug 31, 2012)

The Great Gatsby - 1974 version. Can't see the new version bettering this; captures the spirit of the book perfectly and the dancing scenes are fantastic.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 31, 2012)

ringo said:


> The Great Gatsby - 1974 version. Can't see the new version bettering this; captures the spirit of the book perfectly and the dancing scenes are fantastic.


The new version looks like it could be the worst film ever made.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 31, 2012)

_Tyrannosaur -_ Pretty gruelling but good. Peter Mullen and Olivia Coleman are both excellent but I thought Eddie Marsan's character was a bit underdeveloped. It's also a very good looking film.

_Route Irish - _Like a the last few films of Loach I felt that the set up was really good but the conclusion didn't work. The interaction of Fergus & Rachel, his perspectives on Iraq etc was all excellent but the ending just seemed completely over the top to me.


----------



## LuckyLittleMe (Aug 31, 2012)

Blade Runner - It may be a quarter of a century old, but Blade Runner still seems like the future....


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 31, 2012)

Started watching Star Trek NextGen from the start.


----------



## Me76 (Aug 31, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _Tyrannosaur -_ Pretty gruelling but good. Peter Mullen and Olivia Coleman are both excellent but I thought Eddie Marsan's character was a bit underdeveloped. It's also a very good looking film.


This is on my Lovefilm list and I am looking forward to it coming. 

I have Carnage at home at the moment and am hoping I have time to watch it this weekend.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 31, 2012)

I loved Carnage. So funny. Think it got slammed on release, mysteriously.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Aug 31, 2012)

Frances Lengel said:


> Not seen the film, read the book though - I wouldn't bother, HST's appeal has always been a bit of a mystery to me.


I'll have to watch and read what's on my list, I'm a little OCD like that


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 31, 2012)

Jay and Silent Bob got old............ No Sir, I didn't like it. Disappointing & Pants.


----------



## Mephitic (Aug 31, 2012)

the 6th extinction.  Dear oh dear what a lot of bollocks, totally fucking dire.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 31, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I loved Carnage. So funny. Think it got slammed on release, mysteriously.


While I think its a pale shadow of Polanski's best work, I agree that it was a lot better than many critics said it was.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 1, 2012)

Shakes the Clown.

I have a lot of time for Bobcat Goldthwait, but this is tough sledding. I'm not sorry I watched it, but it's just so damn _strange_.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 1, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Shakes the Clown.
> 
> I have a lot of time for Bobcat Goldthwait, but this is tough sledding. I'm not sorry I watched it, but it's just so damn _strange_.


It's a lot less funny than it thinks it should be.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 1, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> It's a lot less funny than it thinks it should be.


 

Well, exactly. It has its moments, though. 'Binky' is pretty well done by the actor. And you get an unknown Adam Sandler in a supporting role... for better or worse.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 1, 2012)

Wild Bill , I really liked this .Predictable ending but everyone likes it when the bad guys get a beating. I would have personally climbed into the TV and nutted that white kid Pill if he hadn't sorted it out. The lad who plays Bills eldest son is superb.


----------



## Reno (Sep 1, 2012)

I watched the little seen _Julia_ again, a crime drama with Tilda Swinton, which is one of my favourite films of the last decade. This one got even better watching it a second time. Swinton gives one of her best performances, playing a hopeless drunk who just got fired. In her desperation she gets roped into a harebrained scheme to kidnap the young son of a mentally unstable woman who lost custody of the boy, with the promise of a lot of money. Swinton's inept criminal then plans a double cross which backfires and she has to go on the run with the boy. It's one of those films which starts with a bad situations that just gets worse and worse, but it's believable because the character is at the end of her rope. It's very atmospheric, gripping and often darkly funny with Swinton often hilarious as a fucked up anti-Mary Poppins, the last woman you would want anywhere near a kid.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2012)

Watched Manhunter- had forgotten how superior it was to the newer version.

some fine actors in it. him who went on to play billy batts as the police chief, spotted Burrell from the wire and of course the superior Lector who I recall from loads of stuff but only rob roy springs to mind


Also saw Zodiac this weekend, thought it was a good period piece and was suprised to see jake gyllenhall who I had considered something of a lightweight pull a good role


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 1, 2012)

Manhunter is good.  

It wasn't Billy Batts, though, was it?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2012)

Dennis Farina- no imdb says not, been in loads of stuff tho


----------



## TruXta (Sep 1, 2012)

Saw Circumstance, an Iranian film, last night. Pretty good. Good acting, interesting theme, only let down a wee bit by some lightly bizarre twists and turns towards the end. Paints a pretty bleak picture of the situation of Iranian young folks these days.


----------



## Prince Bert (Sep 1, 2012)

I'm watching Munich, the Steven Spielberg propaganda movie for mossad. Overall it is just OK, but there are some brutal killings in it - including the killing of a woman in the Netherlands in revenge for killing an Israeli. It really messed with my mind. Big lovely boobs, and then she gets shot. I am waiting until I have watched the last 30 minutes of it before I found out how much more of it is fiction, and how much more fact about the killings Spielberg left out.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 1, 2012)

Felt sorry for the (ruthless) honey trap in her final moments.  Not because of her boobs, though.

It also got a bit annoying whenever the assassins turned up somewhere different, with the viewer treated as if they're thick.  Oh, we're in Paris now, so people selling onions and cheese with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  Oh, we're in London now, so black cabs and red telephone boxes.  Oh, we're in Amsterdam now, so people riding bicycles next to a canal.


----------



## Reno (Sep 1, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Oh, we're in Amsterdam now, so people riding bicycles next to a canal.


 
I've just been to Amsterdam and that's a sight impossible to avoid if you're in the centre.


----------



## Reno (Sep 1, 2012)

I watched an hour of John Carter which was really dull, so I gave up.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 1, 2012)

It wasn't in the centre, if I recall. That's an irrelevant detail though. It just got a bit annoying for me. You don't have to make overly simplistic 'cultural' references to show that the Mossad agents have arrived in another country. But at least French people weren't wearing striped tops and berets.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 1, 2012)

I watched Another Year tonight. I give up on Mike Leigh, I just find his films unwatchable thesedays.

The other day I watched Machuca. Chilean film about two boys who form a friendship when the priest opens up the posh school to the poor kids.....until the Junta takes control. It's a brilliant film that I've seen before. Having see Au Revoir Les Enfants in the meantime there's a few similarities. The performances from the kids are great, the girl especially.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 2, 2012)

Tonight we watched the 2nd disc of Star Trek Next Gen.   Episodes 5-9, heh.   The insights into characters develops wonderfully as insubstantial (but sometimes relatively morally complex) stories unfold.   Enjoying this.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 2, 2012)

Reno said:


> I watched an hour of John Carter which was really dull, so I gave up.


Nice dog though


----------



## Voley (Sep 2, 2012)

The Who Live At The Isle Of Wight. Ace with the surround sound up really fucking loud.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 2, 2012)

Reno said:


> I watched the little seen _Julia_ again, a crime drama with Tilda Swinton, which is one of my favourite films of the last decade. This one got even better watching it a second time. Swinton gives one of her best performances, playing a hopeless drunk who just got fired. In her desperation she gets roped into a harebrained scheme to kidnap the young son of a mentally unstable woman who lost custody of the boy, with the promise of a lot of money. Swinton's inept criminal then plans a double cross which backfires and she has to go on the run with the boy. It's one of those films which starts with a bad situations that just gets worse and worse, but it's believable because the character is at the end of her rope. It's very atmospheric, gripping and often darkly funny with Swinton often hilarious as a fucked up anti-Mary Poppins, the last woman you would want anywhere near a kid.


That sounds really good, I'll have to add it to my list.

_An Education_ - very good, the performances are good, Peter Skarsgaard had just the right mix if charm and creepiness, and the characters well drawn. I'm not totally sure about the direction, the director seemed to get carried away sometimes and add the odd effect that only detracted from the scene (the fast-forwarding at the greyhound track for instance) but that's a pretty minor criticism.


----------



## lisayvonne (Sep 2, 2012)

​The Dark Knight Rises. I like Selina Kyle the most. She's so beautiful!!​


----------



## Reno (Sep 2, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Nice dog though


 
It looked like a penis with teeth.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 2, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> I watched Another Year tonight. I give up on Mike Leigh, I just find his films unwatchable thesedays.
> 
> The other day I watched Machuca. Chilean film about two boys who form a friendship when the priest opens up the posh school to the poor kids.....until the Junta takes control. It's a brilliant film that I've seen before. Having see Au Revoir Les Enfants in the meantime there's a few similarities. The performances from the kids are great, the girl especially.


 
I really liked Another Year, perhaps its an age thing.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 2, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Also saw Zodiac this weekend, thought it was a good period piece and was suprised to see jake gyllenhall who I had considered something of a lightweight pull a good role


 
The question about Gyllenhall in Zodiac is, why is he always running? Every time he goes anywhere, he's running in an awkward shuffle. Is he in a hurry to catch the killer?


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 2, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> I really liked Another Year, perhaps its an age thing.


 
My mate gave me it to watch. She's not always good at judging my taste. I just find the characters in his films unbearable; there wasn't one who I was particularly arsed about.

What age group do you think would like it?


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 2, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Manhunter is good.
> 
> It wasn't Billy Batts, though, was it?


Billy Batts was Frank Vincent jr    He  kinda resembles Dennis Farina


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 2, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> My mate gave me it to watch. She's not always good at judging my taste. I just find the characters in his films unbearable; there wasn't one who I was particularly arsed about.
> 
> What age group do you think would like it?


I liked the bloke who was all stressed up and made a grab for the women who gave him a lift.
I suppose I am at the same sort of age as them!


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 2, 2012)

Ah, I'm not quite there yet


----------



## Firky (Sep 2, 2012)

Was both dull, crap and didn't really make sense.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 2, 2012)

I take is SMJ is back smoking crack then?


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 2, 2012)

At least he didn't have a black leather cape.


----------



## Firky (Sep 2, 2012)

He does a painful cover of Stagger Lee.


----------



## Firky (Sep 2, 2012)

I didn't realise it had Justin Timberlake in it until I posted that picture. Ha!


----------



## starfish (Sep 2, 2012)

Mesrine - Public Enemy No# 1 part 2. Was really good, Vincent Cassell was excellent. Some very lighthearted & funny moments to offset his ruthlessness.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 3, 2012)

_Then I Sentenced Them All To Death -_ Post-war Romanian film about what fear and desperation can do to people. Chock full of beautiful scenes, I particularly like the scene in with the horseman in the fields. The actor playing the child is great he's just got a wonderful face for film and the actor playing the central role, that of the village idiot, is also very good. If you want to be critical I think the notary and doctor characters good have done with a little more fleshing out, in a manner similar to the priest but that's probably being over picky.


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 3, 2012)

Dark Shaodows.. Depp is his usual weird self as is Bonham-Carter, its kind of a cross between Edward Scissor Hands, Beetlejuice and Twilight. I think I enjoyed it, but I’m not 100% sure.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 3, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Dark Shaodows.. Depp is his usual weird self as is Bonham-Carter, its kind of a cross between Edward Scissor Hands, Beetlejuice and Twilight. I think I enjoyed it, but I’m not 100% sure.


 
It was OK, a bit by the numbers IMO.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 3, 2012)

I watched the Korean film Hansel and Gretel. It was on Film4's Frightfest season, I think...taped it a while back.

Firstly, it's not really Hansel and Gretel (or at all) although there is relevance. Secondly, it's not really a horror film although it is sometimes scary, often creepy and a fairy tale (which were usually horror stories anyway).

It looks wonderful, some of the scenes have almost BladeRunner depths of detail. The use of natural scenery, bedrooms, the attic and so on really are impressive. The youngest child is the cutest thing, honestly. Even watching it subtitled her voice touches you on a primeval level of wanting to protect her, if that makes sense.

I thought the film lost its way a bit (won't say when) but that was because I was expecting a Korean horror film, coz they can be fucked up. The mistake was mine.

It's not massive or an award winner but I really enjoyed it.   It brings to mind some of del Toro's work, specifically The Orphanage and Pan's Labyrinth.


----------



## Reno (Sep 4, 2012)

I watched The Kid with a Bike, which was a bit of a heart breaker. I wished someone had bought the kid a bike lock though. A whole lot of grief could have been avoided.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 4, 2012)

first two episodes of 'Copper' a new BBC America show set in 1860's new york where an irish immigrant detective polices the violent gang infested five points area of new york. Not bad so far, marked lack of swearing, but thats probably cos I'm used to deadwood and underbelly razor. some off key irish accents every now and then lol.


----------



## 89 Til Infinity (Sep 4, 2012)

Wild Bill...

Charlie Creed-Miles (the copper from Harry Brown) plays Bill a guy out on parole who finds his kids have been left by their mother to fend for themselves. After one of the kids gets in trouble he has to make the decision between being a good father (and risk going back into prison) or running away from his past. 

Really enjoyed it, showed quite well what routes people can take when faced with poverty


----------



## belboid (Sep 4, 2012)

Ted.   Lightly entertaining.


----------



## Prince Bert (Sep 5, 2012)

Casino Royale. I must admit I haven't watched many Bond films, but Daniel Craig seems to be crap. He just doesn't have the range of expressions needed for the role. Too many times the camera was on him for a few seconds, but he just has something of a void about him. The bloke doesn't have the presence or something.

The dialogue was also suited to different actors. Craig and the leading lady seemed to be reading what was meant to be witty banter between each other, but they didn't bring it to life, or should I say they made it sound lifeless. The baddies were good actors, and some of the stunt scenes were good, but that's about it.


----------



## Reno (Sep 5, 2012)

Prince Bert said:


> Casino Royale. I must admit I haven't watched many Bond films, but Daniel Craig seems to be crap. He just doesn't have the range of expressions needed for the role. Too many times the camera was on him for a few seconds, but he just has something of a void about him. The bloke doesn't have the presence or something.
> 
> The dialogue was also suited to different actors. Craig and the leading lady seemed to be reading what was meant to be witty banter between each other, but they didn't bring it to life, or should I say they made it sound lifeless. The baddies were good actors, and some of the stunt scenes were good, but that's about it.


 
I though Eva Green was great in this.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 5, 2012)

Brave - excellent animation but weak storyline.
Another Earth - Nothing to do with another earth really, more to do with a personal struggle and emotional stuff which I wasn't really looking for at the time. Still quite good though.


----------



## purenarcotic (Sep 5, 2012)

Ladybird, Ladybird. 

Fantastic performance from Chrissy Rock, fucking miserable film though.


----------



## Reno (Sep 5, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Another Earth -* Nothing* to do with another earth really, more to do with a personal struggle and emotional stuff which I wasn't really looking for at the time. Still quite good though.


 
It does feature another earth though, which is crucial to the plot.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> It does feature another earth though, which is crucial to the plot.


 
Well, yeah, spose, sort of....it's not a interplanetary communication/travel film at its core though. I was hoping for more sci-fi, less emotion.


----------



## Reno (Sep 5, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Well, yeah, spose, sort of....it's not a interplanetary communication/travel film at its core though. I was hoping for more sci-fi, less emotion.


 

I thought the central idea was lovely and the shots of the other earth hanging in the sky were beautiful, but the film wasn't that well executed and it was a little dull in places. I got thatv the lead actresss was trying for "traumatised" but she seemed to sleepwalk through the film.

This 60s film has a similar concept and is more sci-fi, with rockets and stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelgänger_(1969_film)


----------



## Prince Bert (Sep 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> I though Eva Green was great in this.


 
Nope. She was alright in any scene that wasn't based around them trying to outwit each other. The scene on the train in particular expose them both for not having the acting ability. It would have been great dialogue for different actors, but they didn't seem to do it justice. Watch it yourself again and tell me if it's convincing. I don't think so. She should really have got her baps out.


----------



## Reno (Sep 5, 2012)

Prince Bert said:


> She should really have got her baps out.


 
Obviously you are a true connoisseur of the art of acting.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 6, 2012)

71 Into the fire - Korean movie about a bunch of South Korean rookie recruits defending a college in an Alamo type scenario against a much bigger force of invading North Koreans.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 6, 2012)

89 Til Infinity said:


> Wild Bill...
> 
> Charlie Creed-Miles (the copper from Harry Brown) plays Bill a guy out on parole who finds his kids have been left by their mother to fend for themselves. After one of the kids gets in trouble he has to make the decision between being a good father (and risk going back into prison) or running away from his past.
> 
> Really enjoyed it, showed quite well what routes people can take when faced with poverty


 
yes enjoyed it, had some real insight amongst the feel good stuff.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 6, 2012)

Burn After Reading.   Very enjoyable.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 6, 2012)

Reno said:


> This 60s film has a similar concept and is more sci-fi, with rockets and stuff:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelgänger_(1969_film)


 
Ah cool, didnt realise it was a remake, ta 

Just watched Hereafter with the lass. Meh.


----------



## Reno (Sep 6, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Ah cool, didnt realise it was a remake, ta
> 
> Just watched Hereafter with the lass. Meh.


 
It's not a remake, it's just that the premise happens to be similar.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 6, 2012)

Battleship )2012) well what can i say hooper the trooper and his cheesy balls comes through in the end kinda film. Loved the rotatin oreo biscuits!! Rhianna certainly looks the bees knees when shes got water runnin down her face!

Best pothead movie of the year fer me. .,/.spent the last 15 mins laughin me head offfffff


----------



## Prince Bert (Sep 7, 2012)

Con Air. Quite a good plot and some decent characters although a lot of it seemed cliché, especially the FBI agents freaking out and being aggressive. It was surprising how they made the all-American hero thing work at the end despite the fact it was corny at some points. Definitely some comedy value when Cage saves the bunny from falling down the drain at the end.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 7, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> Battleship )2012) well what can i say hooper the trooper and his cheesy balls comes through in the end kinda film. Loved the rotatin oreo biscuits!! Rhianna certainly looks the bees knees when shes got water runnin down her face!
> 
> Best pothead movie of the year fer me. .,/.spent the last 15 mins laughin me head offfffff


I saw that last night.
So silly. 
After seeing his brother's boat get blown to smithereens, killing hundreds, he exclaims 'I've got a bad feeling about this!'


----------



## Firky (Sep 7, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Burn After Reading. Very enjoyable.


 
It is. Even if it is essentially Fargo repackaged.


Going to watch this in a bit:  Indonesia's most successful film. Ever!


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 7, 2012)

It's meant to be fucking awesome.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 7, 2012)

Xiao Xiao the movie


----------



## Reno (Sep 8, 2012)

The Straw Dogs remake. Not as bad as it could have been, but still thoroughly unnecessary. Mind, I never really cared for the original.

[REC]3. Really disappointing after the excellent first film and the not bad follow up. It abandons the "found footage" conceit 20 minutes in and goes for an early Peter Jackson style zombie comedy vibe, which unfortunately isn't scary or funny in this case. The third and the fourth film have been solo-directed by the co-directors of the first two films and hopefully the last one will have been made by the more talented of the two.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 8, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> 71 Into the fire - Korean movie about a bunch of South Korean rookie recruits defending a college in an Alamo type scenario against a much bigger force of invading North Koreans.


Sounds like it's worth taking for a spin, ta.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 8, 2012)

Walking Dead season 1 - Wasn't sure I would like this but my son keeps telling me to watch it. Saw first two episodes during the week and decided that I would finish off watching the rest before going away. Really enjoyed it , its got quite a poignant pace to it , good characters ( apart from the sheriffs wife who is quite frankly annoying) , a decent plot and the filming is excellent.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 8, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Burn After Reading. Very enjoyable.


 
It's ok but I actually think its one of the more average Coen Bros films


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 8, 2012)

The ending was a little rushed, I felt.

'the security of your ... shit.'


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 8, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> Walking Dead season 1 - Wasn't sure I would like this but my son keeps telling me to watch it. Saw first two episodes during the week and decided that I would finish off watching the rest before going away. Really enjoyed it , its got quite a poignant pace to it , good characters ( apart from the sheriffs wife who is quite frankly annoying) , a decent plot and the filming is excellent.


 

I"ve found Walking Dead to be both frustrating and strangely compelling. I dislike almost all of the characters and can only wonder at some of the idiocies. And yet, keep returning. Season two does see an improvement in the collective IQ, but still. When raiding a nest of cars for suplies 'I don't like this, feels like robbing a graveyard'

yeah. The whole world is a graveyard, your utterly fucked and have seen the worst of horrors but you get antsy going through dead peoples dashboards? come on.



Also the sherrifs son is a dick. Props to the man with the crossbow tho


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 8, 2012)

Lockout. Escape from New York in space. It was ... okay. The hero, Guy Pearce's Snow, takes the place of Snake Plissken, but he's not as good with the deadpan one-liners, although his acting is better than most of the others.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 8, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Lockout. Escape from New York in space. It was ... okay. The hero, Guy Pearce's Snow, takes the place of Snake Plissken, but he's not as good with the deadpan one-liners, although his acting was better than most of the others.


 

Watched that a week back. It should, by its on paper ingredients, be a total winner. But it was not. I found the main problem to be Pearce also, his offhand stuff didn't really work and rapey eli from emmerdale/misfits didn't work either. It passed muster in that I kept watching till the end but was strangely disappointing. Really could have done with some more extreme violence to spice it up. Or a better script. I don't know I'm not a critic, but there was something missing.

A decent explosive decompression scene would have done it. Like in that connery vehicle where he is a detective on some space industry.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 8, 2012)

I didn't find Pearce to be a major problem, his acting was better than the other characters, just his jokes weren't up to much. The opening scene where he gets punched in the face after every wisecrack. He didn't do it as well as Russell. 'President of what?' Got to work with what you've got I suppose. The younger brother of the main bad guy was annoying. The sets and special effects were quite impressive, though.

You mean Connery in Outland? Where the High Noon showdown takes place at a mining colony on Jupiter's moon, Io.


----------



## Reno (Sep 8, 2012)

I thought Guy Pearce was hilarious, he made the film for me. I agree that it could have been more violent, but otherwise it was a nice throwback to 80s low budget sci-fi. I thought it was a hell of a lot more fun than most of the overhyped blockbuster of this year.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 8, 2012)

Just finished Kaurismaki's latest, _Le Havre_. It's been years and years since I last saw one of his. This one was beautiful. Such a pleasure watching a director care about the images he makes and the people that make up his universe.


----------



## starfish (Sep 8, 2012)

Isolation. Experiments on cows on an Irish farm go very wrong. A bit of a mix of Alien & The Thing.

Nude Nuns with Big Guns. Drug dealing priests & bikers. An abused nun goes on a revenge rampage. Although it was mostly just 1 nun with the guns, there was, however, a lot of nudity. I dont think ive ever seen someone have their dick shot off then pick it up & wave it at the people who just shot it off.


----------



## belboid (Sep 9, 2012)

Wake Wood.

The first film from the reborn Hammer Studios. A good story, some strong moments of script, but let down appalingly by production values that would have embarasssed the team on the Hammer House of Horror. Worth a watch on a saturday night if there's nothing better on.


----------



## Firky (Sep 9, 2012)

firky said:


>


 


Utterly daft and didn't make any sense, extremely violent and graphic. 

Cool it is certainly is but it's not a good film, I kept wondering if it had turned into a zombie slasher / shooter in places.

I enjoyed it but watched it in two halves which kind of tells you what it's like


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 9, 2012)

Watched Woochi.  A reasonably cool and funny film about a korean wizard who comes to the 21st century.   That doesn't really describe it though.

It's also on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....1.1.0.78.321.5.5.0...0.0...1ac.1.YXwTVd-_WKQ


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 10, 2012)

_Le Boucher_ - One of Chabrol's most highly regarded films, and easy to see why. Some fantastic scenes and excellent performances from the two leads.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 10, 2012)

Hell on Wheels. TV series about the building of the railway in the Old West. Good acting and story line, and great scenery filmed in my beloved Alberta.


----------



## dooley (Sep 10, 2012)

the peacock - cillian murphy as a guy with MPD. it was a good film w/ great acting etc, but it promised more than the plot delivered.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 10, 2012)

From Hell - fairly plodding Jack the Ripper yarn which I half expected to turn into a vampire fest or something toward the end but didnt. Meh. Ok I suppose. Better if you're a lass I expect.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 10, 2012)

First two eps of Arrested Development. S'good.


----------



## Ranbay (Sep 10, 2012)

Now not last night but watching Prometheus - saw it in the pictures but want to go over it again.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 10, 2012)

B0B2oo9 said:


> Now not last night but watching Prometheus - saw it in the pictures but want to go over it again.


 
Is it out on DVD/BR yet?


----------



## Ranbay (Sep 10, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Is it out on DVD/BR yet?


 
DVD is *cough* out *cough*


----------



## Yetman (Sep 10, 2012)

B0B2oo9 said:


> DVD is *cough* out *cough*


 
In the states I expect. Might wait for the Blu Ray before *cough....coughity COUGH COUGH AHEMMMMMMM* buying it


----------



## Ranbay (Sep 10, 2012)

few more days for BR


----------



## Private Storm (Sep 10, 2012)

Saw Un Prophete last night. Really liked it, a well executed, typically French, crime/prison story.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 10, 2012)

Private Storm said:


> Saw Un Prophete last night. Really liked it, a well executed, typically French, crime/prison story.


Loved it.  However the significant plot point that they were speaking different languages went right over my head.


----------



## belboid (Sep 10, 2012)

X-Men First Class. Overlong and exceptionally dull training montage, but fairly enjoyable, if only cos I could watch Michael Fassbender all day every day.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 10, 2012)

Oh yeah, Avengers Assemble. Bit typical really. I really really liked Watchmen so was hoping this'd be a bit more daring than to go with the standard Hollywood storyline and action, though it was a bit mad regarding the Thor/Hulk/Iron Man plot and the difference between their individual films before this, it was still no match. Got Darkman to watch later, not expecting too much from it tbh.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 10, 2012)

belboid said:


> X-Men First Class. Overlong and exceptionally dull training montage, but fairly enjoyable, if only cos I could watch Michael Fassbender all day every day.


Wasted youth


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 10, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Oh yeah, Avengers Assemble. Bit typical really. I really really liked Watchmen so was hoping this'd be a bit more daring than to go with the standard Hollywood storyline and action, though it was a bit mad regarding the Thor/Hulk/Iron Man plot and the difference between their individual films before this, it was still no match. Got Darkman to watch later, not expecting too much from it tbh.


 
The Avengers movie was fine for what it was, but the Watchmen flick was a travesty, which managed to not only miss the point of Moore's work, but to actually put forward the opposite message to that of the original novel. Even the V for Vendetta adaptation was better.


----------



## ringo (Sep 10, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Hell on Wheels. TV series about the building of the railway in the Old West. Good acting and story line, and great scenery filmed in my beloved Alberta.


 
I saw that on Sky. OK, but never quite lived up to expectaions. Definitely no Deadwood.


----------



## ringo (Sep 10, 2012)

The Third Man (1949). Brilliant. I was worried it wouldn't live up to the book but the screenplay was by Graham Greene and it showed.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 10, 2012)

ringo said:


> The Third Man (1949). Brilliant. I was worried it wouldn't live up to the book but the screenplay was by Graham Greene and it showed.


You waited too long ringo.


----------



## Private Storm (Sep 10, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Loved it. However the significant plot point that they were speaking different languages went right over my head.


 
Ha, it did take me a little bit of time to work it out as well. My grasp of foreign languages was only just good enough to work out the difference between French and Italian


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 10, 2012)

ringo said:


> The Third Man (1949). Brilliant. I was worried it wouldn't live up to the book but the screenplay was by Graham Greene and it showed.


Greene wrote the screenplay before he wrote the book!


----------



## Yetman (Sep 10, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The Avengers movie was fine for what it was, but the Watchmen flick was a travesty, which managed to not only miss the point of Moore's work, but to actually put forward the opposite message to that of the original novel. Even the V for Vendetta adaptation was better.


 
I've never read the comic, have you got any links or anything which point out the differences or go into more detail as to why it wasn't true to the original intention? I loved V for Vendetta as well. Any more Moore stuff made into films? He sounds excellent


----------



## ringo (Sep 10, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Greene wrote the screenplay before he wrote the book!


 
Never knew that, makes sense.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 10, 2012)

Yetman said:


> I've never read the comic, have you got any links or anything which point out the differences or go into more detail as to why it wasn't true to the original intention? I loved V for Vendetta as well. Any more Moore stuff made into films? He sounds excellent


 
Moore is well known for hating -genuinely hating - all the screen adaptations of his work. As an example of how the _Watchmen _movie made a travesty of his work, look at the character of the Comedian. In the book he's a symbol of America at it's worst. In the film he becomes a sympathetic square-jawed All-American hero.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 10, 2012)

I don't think that's true. He just doesn't watch them or want anything to with them. He just isn't interested.


----------



## Firky (Sep 10, 2012)

ringo said:


> I saw that on Sky. OK, but never quite lived up to expectaions. Definitely no Deadwood.



It gets much better as the series progresses. The Swede


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 10, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The Avengers movie was fine for what it was, but the Watchmen flick was a travesty, which managed to not only miss the point of Moore's work, but to actually put forward the opposite message to that of the original novel. Even the V for Vendetta adaptation was better.


Yeah, bonkers. Tried to be really faithful, maybe too much so (it is a film after all and not a massive massive long comic story), then fails spectacularly by missing the point. How they managed to make an really long and interesting comic book a really boring film I just don't know. There are some cool bits though.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 10, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> look at the character of the Comedian. In the book he's a symbol of America at it's worst. In the film he becomes a sympathetic square-jawed All-American hero.


 
He does come across as a bit more cool badass in the film, despite the rape and murder.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't think that's true. He just doesn't watch them or want anything to with them. He just isn't interested.


 
Pretty sure he's on record saying they're all bullshit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 10, 2012)

Don't think so. He always says he hasn't seen any. He vociferously claims that film adaptations of his work are totally pointless and he wants nothing to do with them. Not quite the same as saying he hates them.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 10, 2012)

> “100 million dollars – that’s what they spent on the Watchmen film which nearly didn’t come out because of the lawsuit, that’s what they spent on The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen which shouldn’t have come out but did anyway.
> 
> Do we need any more shitty films in this world? We have quite enough already. Whereas the 100 million dollars could sort out the civil unrest in Haiti. And the books are always superior, anyway.”


http://www.totalfilm.com/features/exclusive-why-alan-moore-hates-comic-book-movies/page:3


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 10, 2012)

That doesn't support the notion that he's seen them


----------



## TruXta (Sep 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> That doesn't support the notion that he's seen them


 
It has no bearing on the matter whether he's seen them or not. I said he hates them. He doesn't have to have seen them to hate them. You're a bit dense today, ape.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 10, 2012)

He hates the idea of them.
I inferred from the original claim that he hates them to imply that he'd actually seen them


----------



## TruXta (Sep 10, 2012)

No, I'm pretty sure he hates the movies. I'm sure he's read a lot of the scripts too. Dear oh dear, you ARE quarrelsome today.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 10, 2012)

He hasn't seen them though. That's the point I'm trying to make. He want nothing to do with them. If you say he hates them, you'd be forgiven for thinking he'd seen them.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> He hasn't seen them though. That's the point I'm trying to make. He want nothing to do with them. If you say he hates them, you'd be forgiven for thinking he'd seen them.


 
That's one point you were trying to make. The other point you tried to make is demonstrably wrong. And of course I forgive you.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 10, 2012)

You're the argumentative one!
All I was saying is that Alan Moore is famous for not wanting anything to do with any movie adaptations, and not for seeing them.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> You're the argumentative one!
> All I was saying is that Alan Moore is famous for not wanting anything to do with any movie adaptations, and not for seeing them.


 
That's not what you said to Idris.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 10, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Moore is well known for hating -genuinely hating - all the screen adaptations of his work. As an example of how the _Watchmen _movie made a travesty of his work, look at the character of the Comedian. In the book he's a symbol of America at it's worst. In the film he becomes a sympathetic square-jawed All-American hero.


 
I got the impression that he was a egotistical desperate fuckup, far from an American hero.....there's plenty of points which make you realise he's a cock, the other characters responses to him totally confirm that...not sure where he comes across as anything other tbh 

I loved it anyway, bit long but never boring.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 10, 2012)

TruXta said:


> That's not what you said to Idris.


Yes it is.

The man himself on adaptations of his work:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9709576.stm


----------



## Firky (Sep 10, 2012)

Downloading Prometheus as I was in hospital (somewhat ironic) when it was at the pictures. It is a DVDR so it should be good quality but everyone is leeching


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 10, 2012)

A Bittersweet Life - Why do these gangsters always have a crisis of conscience when there's woman involved ?


----------



## ringo (Sep 10, 2012)

firky said:


> It gets much better as the series progresses. The Swede


 
Yep, best character in it, and the freed slave politics were quite well done. Good enough to watch all of the series but not good enough to have raved about it. Spect I'll watch the next series.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't think that's true. He just doesn't watch them or want anything to with them. He just isn't interested.


Bit more than that, he left ABC (the company that was publishing League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, ultimately owned by Warner) because the Producer of _V for Vendetta_ lied about the fact that Moore was supportive of the adaptation.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 10, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Bit more than that, he left ABC (the company that was publishing League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, ultimately owned by Warner) because the Producer of _V for Vendetta_ lied about the fact that Moore was supportive of the adaptation.


He went to another company which was later bought by them as well, I think.

He definitely does not agree with film conversions though.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 11, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> He went to another company which was later bought by them as well, I think.
> 
> He definitely does not agree with film conversions though.


AFAIK since he left ABC he's been self-publishing. He left Image for ABC when Image was bought by DC Comics (itself a subsidiary of Warner). When ABC was bought by DC comics he initially stayed on the proviso that DC wouldn't have any direction over him but after the _V for Vendatta _incident he split with them.


----------



## Firky (Sep 11, 2012)

firky said:


> Downloading Prometheus as I was in hospital (somewhat ironic) when it was at the pictures. It is a DVDR so it should be good quality but everyone is leeching


 
There's one or two plot holes in this film isn't there?


----------



## ringo (Sep 11, 2012)

First 4 episodes of season 3 of Sons Of Anarchy. Enjoyed it more than when I started to watch it last year, but then I've seen Spartacus since then so my threshold may have been lowered.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2012)

firky said:


> It gets much better as the series progresses. The Swede


 

The swede was also seen recently on HBOs trueblood for a few episodes.Only he was a vampire on not the swede obvs


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2012)

firky said:


> There's one or two plot holes in this film isn't there?


Go read my thread when you're done!


----------



## ringo (Sep 11, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> The swede was also seen recently on HBOs trueblood for a few episodes.Only he was a vampire on not the swede obvs


 
He's actually from Norwich.


----------



## Firky (Sep 11, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Go read my thread when you're done!


 
I like the bit where Cpt Stringer Bell abandons his crew inside inside a hazardous alien ship to shag a robot.

I don't want to do a JC2 and quote six year old posts


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2012)

She's not a robot


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2012)

ringo said:


> He's actually from Norwich.


In British Columbia?


----------



## ringo (Sep 11, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> In British Columbia?


 
They grow a lot of Swedes there, apparently.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The Avengers movie was fine for what it was, but the Watchmen flick was a travesty, which managed to not only miss the point of Moore's work, but to actually put forward the opposite message to that of the original novel. Even the V for Vendetta adaptation was better.


 

he tears the arse out of the V adaptation in 'mythmakers and lawbreakers: anarchist writers on fiction'

Also spotted him last month wearing a blue wifebeater and frowned at him


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 11, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> he tears the arse out of the V adaptation in 'mythmakers and lawbreakers: anarchist writers on fiction'


 
That's my point, the Watchmen movie was even worse than the V flick.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2012)

true say. Surely they'll get around to doing his Swamp Thing sooner or later. And it'll be crap.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 11, 2012)

*Lockout:* Escape From New York in space, with Guy Pearce not entirely convincing as a Snake Plissken-style hard bastard trying to rescue the US President's daughter from an orbiting prison full of wrong 'uns. Joe Gilgun from Misfits and This Is England pretends to be Scottish in it. All in all, quite enjoyable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2012)

Eli Dingle


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 11, 2012)

Disappointed with it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 11, 2012)

Eternal sunshine of the Spotless Mind (again).  Still great.


----------



## Me76 (Sep 12, 2012)

Finally watch Carnage - enjoyed it immensely


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2012)

Full Metal Jacket in my mission to work my way through the Kubrick films I never really got on with. There are some great moments and how they turned Beckton Gas Works into a Vietnamese war zone is very impressive, but I have the same problem with it that I have with many war films, it doesn't tell me anything I don't believe anyway: that war and Vietnam in particular is/was insanity. It's a message which I don't find that interesting because I've always believed it anyway and therefore it doesn't add to my view of the world and the film doesn't say much more. But maybe that's more a problem I have with the genre than the film itself. Though there are war films I love, but they tend to go beyond that message.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 12, 2012)

Why Vietnam in particular?


----------



## belboid (Sep 12, 2012)

A Man for All Seasons.

Interesting to watch having read the Mantel, and its rather different version of Tommy More. Still a bloody good film, striking and intelligent, not as wholly one-sided as I half-recalled.  Leo McKern does a good job of not making Cromwell a one-dimensional baddy. TM still comes over as a horrendously supercilious tosser tho.  Off with his head.

Just seen there was another film version too, with and by, Charlton Heston.  That must have been fucking awful.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Why Vietnam in particular?


 

On principle all wars are insane, but in the case of Vietnam it was staggering how ineptly the US handeled itself.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 12, 2012)

Doesn't make it 'insane.' Seems a bit meaningless.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Doesn't make it 'insane.' Seems a bit meaningless.


 
Just like the message of the film for me.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 12, 2012)

I think you should stick to posting about films.  You can be good at that.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> I think you should stick to posting about films. You can be good at that.


 
I did.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 12, 2012)

Ventured out a bit, with 'bad stuff happens.'


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 12, 2012)

Me76 said:


> Finally watch Carnage - enjoyed it immensely


I don't know why people haven't been talking about this much. I loved it.
Is it just cos Polanski's a nonce?


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Ventured out a bit, with 'bad stuff happens.'


 

Instead of being pedantic about my choice of words, why don't you give me your educated opnion what you took away from Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now other than a "war is insane" message ?


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't know why people haven't been talking about this much. I loved it.
> Is it just cos Polanski's a nonce?


 
I don't think so. Here a lot of critics who saw the play were snooty about the film because they thought it was inferior. It was much better received in the US and appreciated more as a piece of film-making. I didn't see the play and I rather liked the film. Thought it was very funny.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> I don't think so. Here a lot of critics who saw the play were snooty about the film because they thought it was inferior. It was much better received in the US and appreciated more as a piece of film-making. I didn't see the play and I rather liked the film. Thought it was very funny.


It is indeed hilarious. Perhaps cos it is obviously a play adaptation, being set entirely in one room. It was a lovely room though and there was plenty to look at and it was filmed really well. As cinematic as you can get for such a restricted location.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> Instead of being pedantic about my choice of words, why don't you give me your educated opnion what you took away from Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now other than a "war is insane" message ?


 
Hey, I apologise if I pissed you off, I was genuinely curious. But, we were talking about why you thought the Vietnam war, that is, the actual war outside of the films and the 'messages' they give, was 'insane.' And not just that, particularly insane. I wondered what you meant by that, and to elaborate. Or do you want my educated opinion on the conflict itself, from both sides? Maybe I misinterpreted what you said. The message that war is insane, with the awful outcomes it has, some planned, some unintended, suggests something ahistorical and aberrational about the people who fight them and why. It can't be properly explained. It was just insane and shit.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Hey, I apologise if I pissed you off, I was genuinely curious. But, we were talking about why you thought the Vietnam war, that is, the actual war outside of the films and the 'messages' they give, was 'insane.' And not just that, particularly insane. I wondered what you meant by that, and to elaborate. Or do you want my educated opinion on the conflict itself, from both sides? Maybe I misinterpreted what you said. The message that war is insane, with the awful outcomes it has, some planned, some unintended, suggests something ahistorical and aberrational about the people who fight them and why. It can't be properly explained. It was just insane and shit.


 
No, I'm not pissed off. Not sure where I was going there myself. I was trying to figure out why, despite amazing individual scenes, the film didn't click with me and why many war films don't. I still haven't quite figured it out, so I'll shut up about Full Metal Jacket till I have.


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 12, 2012)

Cleanskin. I think that I've seen it before, but likely when I was drunk. Avoid it when drunk or sober.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 13, 2012)

*Children of the Damned* (1964) Oh yes i remember watchin this on bbc 2 as a nipper (shiver) and its still as good. Brilliant film now the dark nights are drawin in
Only laughed once at the beginning when he makes his owd slapper of a mother walk into the dark tunnel and she ends up in hospital 
The rest of it was pure suspense. One of the best scifi movies from the sixty's Imho


----------



## JimW (Sep 13, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Anyone seen this: Bill Brand.


Found it on a torrent site and am on episode three, just got to the factory occupation. Fantastic so far, presume he gets sucked in.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Children of the Damned* (1964) Oh yes i remember watchin this on bbc 2 as a nipper (shiver) and its still as good. Brilliant film now the dark nights are drawin in
> Only laughed once at the beginning when he makes his owd slapper of a mother walk into the dark tunnel and she ends up in hospital
> The rest of it was pure suspense. One of the best scifi movies from the sixty's Imho


 
Have you seen _Village of the Damned_ to which this is a sequel ?


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 13, 2012)

Reno said:


> Have you seen _Village of the Damned_ to which this is a sequel ?


 
A few people mention that its not actually a sequel because no mention is made of the events in the first film, also the kids don't mature really quickly in this one.
I have seen the first one and it seemed pretty similair ta me though.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> A few people mention that its not actually a sequel because no mention is made of the events in the first film, also the kids don't mature really quickly in this one.
> I have seen the first one and it seemed pretty similair ta me though.


 
It was the "sequel as  remake" approach. In any case it was made by the same studio as a follow up and was cashing in on the success of the first film with a similar theme and title, but with a smaller budget, less famous actors and it was not based on a classic sci-fi novel. Compared to Village I found Children rather lame, but I haven't seen that one in a long times. I prefer my alien children properly evil with glowing eyes and white hair.


----------



## Firky (Sep 13, 2012)

I re-watched Thin Red Line last. Despite having watched it at least half a dozen times over the years it is still one of my favourite war films. Hans Zimmer does the score and as ever it is sublime.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 14, 2012)

Slowly working my way through the first season of *The Killing* (original Danish version). I'd seen a few episodes of the US remake but this is much better.


----------



## Reno (Sep 14, 2012)

Last night I watched *The Caller*, which was a good idea left underdeveloped. Young woman moves into flat and gets phonecalls from a woman from 30 years in the past. She turns out to be rather unhinged and affects the heroines life by changing events in the past and not in a good way. There was too much filler and it felt like a 30 minute Twilight Zone episode stretched out to 90 minutes. Shame, because there was potential there.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 14, 2012)

'A Single Man'. it's on iPlayer for the next couple of days.

Looked a lot like an advert for some exotic perfume at times, but still quite enjoyed it. Great soundtrack, Firth watchable as ever, Julianne Moore had a dodgy accent at times.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2012)

Reno said:


> It was the "sequel as remake" approach. In any case it was made by the same studio as a follow up and was cashing in on the success of the first film with a similar theme and title, but with a smaller budget, less famous actors and it was not based on a classic sci-fi novel. Compared to Village I found Children rather lame, but I haven't seen that one in a long times. I prefer my alien children properly evil with glowing eyes and white hair.


 

the first one had superman in it as well.

if you like comics try Freak Angels- its what happens if the Midwich Cuckoos had grown up. Not directly based on but very heavily influenced by wydhams book


----------



## Reno (Sep 14, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> the first one had superman in it as well.


 

That's the extrememly shit 90s remake. 

The atmospheric 1960 b&w original stars the suave George Sanders.


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 14, 2012)

Leningrad Cowboys go to America. ~ Most enjoyable, despite the considerable weirdness.


----------



## frogwoman (Sep 15, 2012)

dot:

Wickerman, directors cut on recc from reno.

couldn't spot may of the 'extra' scenes save lord summerisle talking about animals while two snails twined together- plus an extended 'Gently now johhny' scene

still good though, christpopher lee ftw

had forgotten how dirty them ditties are lol


----------



## Firky (Sep 15, 2012)

Enemy at the Gates

Utter shite, especially that little speach on his death bed about equality and envy. I thought I'd watch it again to see if it was better than I remember but it wasn't.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 15, 2012)

Sunshine. Hadn't seen it for a few years. Still good.


----------



## la ressistance (Sep 15, 2012)

intermission . enjoyable dark comedy with every famous irish actor in the world (except gleeson) and a great opening scene.


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 15, 2012)

Bad Boy Bubby ~ I disliked it, a lot. It was supposed to be funny cept it wasn't.
Far North ~ Excellent.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2012)

Wut? Bad Boy Bubby is hilarious genius


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 16, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Wut? Bad Boy Bubby is hilarious genius


 
The first 15 minutes kind of reminded me of Eraserhead, I didn't like that either.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 16, 2012)

Well I will just have to dismiss your opinion as worthless then. Soz


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 16, 2012)

A Dirty Carnival - Korean Crime Movie


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Sep 16, 2012)

Finally watched Banksy's film 'exit through the giftshop'. It had a nice playful wit you'd expect from the Bristol joker. I hope the hipster fuckwits and bourgeois art collectors that were raving about Mr Brainwash's risible exhibition watched the movie and realised what an utter waste of oxygen they are.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 16, 2012)

Showed my eldest a few episodes of Ren & Stimpy. Some of it looks pretty tame compared to the mad cartoon shit kids watch nowadays (Billy & Mandy, Adventure Time etc) but it still has the power to disturb. The banned episode 'Man's Best Friend' in which a character with definite sado-masochistic tendencies buys Ren & Stimpy from a pet shop is seriously fucked up.


----------



## Reno (Sep 16, 2012)

Jeff Robinson said:


> Finally watched Banksy's film 'exit through the giftshop'. It had a nice playful wit you'd expect from the Bristol joker. I hope the hipster fuckwits and bourgeois art collectors that were raving about Mr Brainwash's risible exhibition watched the movie and realised what an utter waste of oxygen they are.


 
It's a fake documentary.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2012)

Natural Born Killers, not watched it in ages. RDJ as wayne gale remains the funniest thing about the whole film. 'Waaaaayne? have some dignity'


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 16, 2012)

Seven Pounds ~ i really liked the storyline, the way it comes together in bits and pieces as the film progresses.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Sep 16, 2012)

Reno said:


> It's a fake documentary.


 
I have no doubt that it's manipulated and for all I know 'Mr Brainwash' is a Banksy sockpuppet, but the art exhibition actually happened and its attendees were bona fide.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 16, 2012)

The Raid Redemption.  

How cool is that film.   Slightly on the violent side, fair to say.  A cross between Big Trouble in Little China and Scum.   I think I missed some plot stuff coz it was the dubbed version.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 17, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Sunshine. Hadn't seen it for a few years. Still good.


Which one? The one about the sun or the one set in Hungary with Ralph Fiennes?

_Touchez pas au grisbi - _French crime thriller from 1954, does pretty much everything you expect from that description. Not quite in the very 1st tier IMO but it's still very, very good.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 17, 2012)

"Night of the Demon" - excellent!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 17, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> *The Raid Redemption.*
> 
> How cool is that film. Slightly on the violent side, fair to say. A cross between Big Trouble in Little China and Scum. I think I missed some plot stuff coz it was the dubbed version.


Saw this on the plane to China and thought it was great! The fighting sequences are amazing, it's quite poignant at moments and yes it is violent. Very violent!


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Sep 17, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Which one?


 
The sun.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 17, 2012)

K Pax - excellent mental person/alien movie with Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. Reminded me a bit of One Flew over the Cuckoos nest


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 17, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "Night of the Demon" - excellent!


 
great film. now you can have fun passing runes to anyone else who's seen it


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 17, 2012)

crap monster at the start


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 17, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> crap monster at the start


I didn't mind the monster but felt it would have been better not to see it at the beginning  so all the way through you are uncertain whether or not it is all true or all in the minds of Dana Andrews and Niall MacGinnis, giving you more sympathy with Dana Andrews character.

'Cos tbh Niall MacGinnis/'Dr. Carswell' and his devil worshipping ways seem much more fun


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 17, 2012)

Finally got round to watching The Bothers Cervi about a family of partisans who forced the resistance to act militarily in Emilia-Romagna (i,e in the occupied north). It's fucking rubbish despite being talked of in awed tones - mostly because of its limited distribution through an institute set up to memorliase the families actions. Good stuff from Volonte though. (There's a Kate Sharpley Pamphlet that covers these, it's on-line but i'm not linking to it in the hope that people might order the pamphlet)

Juan Moreira about a social bandit in late 19th century Argentina. Also rubbish but very influential and made a time when JM stood in for wider revolt, so must be viewed with that in mind.


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 17, 2012)

Mr Nobody ~ Best thing I've seen for a while,


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 18, 2012)

Prometheus which I liked and disliked at the same time.  Could've been much, much better.


----------



## Firky (Sep 18, 2012)

Red Lights (2012)


Paranormal thriller. A clever twist in the plot, Cillian Murpy and Ripley didn't really rescue this from being run of the mill.


----------



## JimW (Sep 19, 2012)

Finished Bill Brand, excellent and great insight into the times (I was wrong with my guess about the plot trajectory too). They have another Trevor Griffiths thing on same site called Adam Smith (!) about a kirk minister in a little border town which is pretty good so far too.


----------



## Firky (Sep 19, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Sunshine. Hadn't seen it for a few years. Still good.


 
One of my favourite films.


----------



## rekil (Sep 20, 2012)

The Sleeping Voice - Based on Dulce Chacon's novel, about republican women in a Madrid prison just after the spanish civil war, one of whom has her death sentence postponed until she gives birth, while her non-political sister gets roped into running messages to her on the run communist rascal husband. Relentlessly grim to the point of being a bit monochromatic but mainly carried by the performances of the leads. Features torture, executions, deranged nuns, and no holds barred atheism.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 20, 2012)

is it a musical?


----------



## rekil (Sep 20, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> is it a musical?


The internationale gets a run out in the first 5 mins if that counts.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 20, 2012)

I have this somewhere, must try and find it.


----------



## Firky (Sep 21, 2012)

Watched Chopper last night for the first time in years, even though I knew exactly what was coming I still enjoyed it and it still made me squirm in placces.

Moonrise Kingdom to watch tonight, it looks awfully twee to me but I have been told I'll "love it". 



butchersapron said:


> I have this somewhere, must try and find it.


 
Can you remember what you call that Australian film, may be 60s or early 70s, colour, about a teacher who gets stranded in a town in the Outback? Pretty sure it was you who recommended it. I'm trying to remember waht it was called as I want to watch it again.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 21, 2012)

Wake in fright - you need to make sure you watch the newest release though.


----------



## Firky (Sep 21, 2012)

Cheers, boss. Much appreciated, been trying to rack my brains for that one all week.


----------



## starfish (Sep 22, 2012)

Prometheus.

ms starfish says shit. Sadly I tend to agree.


----------



## imposs1904 (Sep 22, 2012)

Animal Kingdom

Great soundtrack and a killer ending.


----------



## Private Storm (Sep 22, 2012)

imposs1904 said:


> Animal Kingdom
> 
> Great soundtrack and a killer ending.


 
How bizarre - watched it last night as well. Great film and some amazing performances. And yes, the soundtrack is superb.


----------



## Reno (Sep 22, 2012)

I watched _Livid_, the new film by the directors of the French atrocity horror film _Inside_ which made waves a couple of years ago. I found _Inside_ overrated and pointlessly sadistic but it kind of works thanks to a straightforward cat and mouse plot and an effective performance by Beatrice Dalle. This one is simply tedious. It has an incomprehensible plot which tries for a Pan's Labyrinth/Suspiria fairy tale feel as a get out clause, but there just isn't the talent to pull it off. Over the last decade I've seen too many haunted house films overstuffed with creepy dolls, wonky taxidermy and pickled embryos. Any sort of plot seems to have been substituted by endless references to other horror films, which become distracting and are pointless apart from telling us that the directors are horror geeks. Nicely art directed and shot with some good make up effects, but that's all.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 22, 2012)

starfish said:


> Prometheus.
> 
> ms starfish says shit. Sadly I tend to agree.


So shit that i burned down a few mosques last night.


----------



## snadge (Sep 22, 2012)

City of lost Children, again.

Awesome film.


----------



## Firky (Sep 22, 2012)

Prometheus was shite, biggest disappointment since Alien 3 



firky said:


> Moonrise Kingdom to watch tonight, it looks awfully twee to me but I have been told I'll "love it".


 
It was sweet, very sweet - but not really my kind of film. Ed Norton is good.


----------



## Me76 (Sep 22, 2012)

Shame. I felt like I missed something.


----------



## Reno (Sep 23, 2012)

Me76 said:


> Shame. I felt like I missed something.


 
You didn't. It's just wildly overrated film with not much to it.


----------



## DrRingDing (Sep 23, 2012)

Yesterday in bed with a cold:

Managed to get through Prometheus on the 3rd attempt. It was shameful.

Then watched Weekend http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1714210/ very good indeed.

Finished the night off with Dancer in the Dark and by the end of it I was looking forward to Bjork swinging......and I love Bjork.


----------



## DrRingDing (Sep 23, 2012)

DrRingDing said:


> Yesterday in bed with a cold:
> 
> Managed to get through Prometheus on the 3rd attempt. It was shameful.
> 
> ...


 
It didn't help that Bjork's accent was sounding like it came from south east England with estuary glottal stops.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 23, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Wake in fright - you need to make sure you watch the newest release though.


 
Watched this. I assume it was a newish release, it was a blu ray rip, stunning HD. A brilliant film. Not like I'm an expert on the Australian outback but it all looked convincingly real, plenty of non-actors I'd imagine? Tense stuff with a great performance from Donald Pleasence.


----------



## marty21 (Sep 23, 2012)

The Professionals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Professionals_(1966_film)

I don't remember ever seeing this before, Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan - excellent Western.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 23, 2012)

You should watch The Riches


----------



## marty21 (Sep 23, 2012)

Badgers said:


> You should watch The Riches


I will!


----------



## Me76 (Sep 23, 2012)

The afternoon I watched Drive which I really enjoyed. I wasn't expecting it to be as violent as it was though. 

And also 50/50 which was a very lightweight depiction of dealing with cancer.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Sep 24, 2012)

Apt pupil - A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal was OK


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 24, 2012)

Re-watched _I'm Not There_ and enjoyed it just as much the second time around, the Blanchett and Ledger segments are my favourites but whole film works.

_The Kid with a Bike_ - Latest from the Dardenne brothers, I didn't think it had the same power that _L'Enfant_  did (the only other film of theirs that I've seen) but it still has a lot to recommend it. The performance of the kid was excellent, and the scenes of violence in it felt incredibly real and scary.


----------



## Reno (Sep 24, 2012)

I watched the first episode of the BBC drama Parade's End and I can't say that it grabbed me. If anybody else has watched it, does it get much better ? If not. then it gets nuked off the Sky box tonight.

Then I watched the first episode of the three part series about the Clintons currently on BBC2, which was entertaining enough.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 24, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Kid with a Bike_ - Latest from the Dardenne brothers, I didn't think it had the same power that _L'Enfant_ did (the only other film of theirs that I've seen) but it still has a lot to recommend it. The performance of the kid was excellent, and the scenes of violence in it felt incredibly real and scary.


 
Try The Son (Le Fils). I think that's my favourite, very little dialogue and only a few characters. Don't read anything beforehand.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 24, 2012)

OH is watching Runaway Bride. I could cry.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 24, 2012)

TruXta said:


> OH is watching Runaway Bride. I could cry.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 24, 2012)

Flash Point, a Chinese action/martial art film with donny Yen (Ip Man) which was enjoyable enough if you like that stuff, and I do.

He's added some throws and groundwork in, nice one.


----------



## andy2002 (Sep 24, 2012)

*The Cabin In The Woods:* Thoroughly enjoyed every batshit barmy moment of it.


----------



## DrRingDing (Sep 25, 2012)

Watched Submarine http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440292/ I was amused.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 25, 2012)

*American Reunion*

Funny enough in places (especially after a couple of joints), not much plot, the usual T&A (+ Jason Biggs cock) and every single character from the franchise shoehorned in whether logically or otherwise.

One viewing is probably enough


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 25, 2012)

The Island


Crap. Saw what was coming 10 minutes in to the film, then it went on for fucking ever. Sean Bean as well. Once good action scene.

Action sci fi for people who don't usually watch sci fi. Any one else will see whats coming well quick.


----------



## DrRingDing (Sep 25, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Wake in fright - you need to make sure you watch the newest release though.


 
Just watched this. It's like growing up in the Fens just without decent weather and kangaroo abuse.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 26, 2012)

_The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - _The US/Fincher version, better than I expected. Fincher's direction is a massive improvement over the Swedish version, which was utterly unimaginative, and Daniel Craig turns in a far better performance than his counterpart. Plot generally flows better too, although the last 20 minutes feel rather anticlimatic.


----------



## Reno (Sep 26, 2012)

I watched episode 2 of Parade's End. Better then episode 1, but all the "thinking man's Downton Abbey" hype set my expectations up too high. It's watchable, but still not really rocking my boat and Downton Abbey is far more fun. I followed it with an episode of the gloriously trashy Revenge and maybe if I keep doing that, I'll finish Parade's End.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 26, 2012)

Franklyn - what an awful awful mess of a film


----------



## Yetman (Sep 26, 2012)

Pandorum - very good, cross between the Descent and Sunshine. Recommended if you like trapped in spaceship films.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 26, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Franklyn - what an awful awful mess of a film


God yes, there's a couple of half decent ideas in there but the thing is out together so badly that the end results is dire.


----------



## Reno (Sep 26, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Franklyn - what an awful awful mess of a film


 
One of the few films that I foudnd genuinely agonising to sit through at the cinema, there was just nothing good about it. I went with a friend and at the end both of us were resentful that the other hadn't suggested leaving at some point.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 26, 2012)

My friend warned me it was shit, but the look of it sucked me in


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 26, 2012)

Reno said:


> I went with a friend and at the end both of us were resentful that the other hadn't suggested leaving at some point.


 
The Prisoner's Dilemma claims yet more victims.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 27, 2012)

The Red Balloon, a stunning French Short from the 50s.

The Grey - it was ok, not your typically hollywood crap anyway, mostly.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 27, 2012)

Good owd reggie still funny as feck 
Wasnt a great fan of rigsby if im honest but reggie used to even make me owd dad laugh and that was no mean feat

most or all episodes here


----------



## kittyP (Sep 27, 2012)

Crazy Eyes - It was awful but 3.1 on IMDb I should have known. 

Moonrise Kingdom - I really liked it but was not quite as good as I thought it was going to be.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 27, 2012)

kittyP said:


> Crazy Eyes - It was awful but 3.1 on IMDb I should have known.


 
What did you score it then? It's just shot up to 3.5


----------



## kittyP (Sep 27, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> What did you score it then? It's just shot up to 3.5


 
I didn't score it on IMDb


----------



## Yetman (Sep 28, 2012)

Just watching Bullet Boy now. Usual gangster has a mate who keeps fucking up kinda flick. Seems to always be the same actors in these films 

King of Kong - Excellent stuff  Billy Mitchell the big smug twat.

Dale And Tucker vs Evil - funniest thing I've seen this year. Need some more good comedies outside of the Seth Rogen/other fat beardy fuckup fare. Project X was great though.


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Sep 28, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> The Red Balloon, a stunning French Short from the 50s.


 
I remember watching it as a kid & loving it. Seemed even better when I saw it a few months back. Beautifully made & great scenes of Paris.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 28, 2012)

Dr Alimantado said:


> I remember watching it as a kid & loving it. Seemed even better when I saw it a few months back. Beautifully made & great scenes of Paris.


I know this sounds daft...the movement of the balloon was amazingly balloon-like.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 29, 2012)

*Sleep Tight*  (Mientras duermes)    Dont usually watch too much of the horror genre but this one grabbed me by the ballsss, it's more of horror/thriller though.
I wont give too much away but just make sure you check under yer bed when you go to sleep at night


----------



## High Voltage (Sep 29, 2012)

Last night it was "The Raid" it promised much and mainly delivered -7th floor action was immense.

That leaves Iron Sky and Cowboys vs Aliens for Sat and Suns entertainment


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 29, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Sleep Tight* (Mientras duermes) Dont usually watch too much of the horror genre but this one grabbed me by the ballsss, it's more of horror/thriller though.
> I wont give too much away but just make sure you check under yer bed when you go to sleep at night


Saw this recently at the Spanish Film Festival we had, very very good. And the ending didn't wimp out.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 29, 2012)

Chocolate.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 29, 2012)

Chocolate has better action and stunts than The Raid, imo.  It's deliberately emotionally manipulative (many MA films try to be though, The Raid had him worrying about his pregnant wife eg) but this doesn't distract too much from what is some really fine work - fuck working over there though, some of these stunts are obviously real and quite dangerous.


----------



## Mephitic (Sep 29, 2012)

Blackadder Goes Forth Season 4

& Downloading Chocolate (stupid internet needs to be faster.........)


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 30, 2012)

_The Killer Elite - _The best movie that De Niro has been in for some time. It's much better than most of the stuff in the genre.

_Punishment Park_ - Excellent, while it is somewhat dated it still packs a punch. What other Watkins films do people recommend?


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 30, 2012)

started the second series of The Walking Dead . I like this apart from that terribly irritating busy body Sheriffs wife


----------



## blossie33 (Sep 30, 2012)

The  Sting
Seen it loads of times but it still comes up fresh. Great story.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 30, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Killer Elite - _The best movie that De Niro has been in for some time. It's much better than most of the stuff in the genre.
> 
> _Punishment Park_ - Excellent, while it is somewhat dated it still packs a punch. What other Watkins films do people recommend?


I find much of his work hectoring and arrogant but the two early ones The War Game and Culloden are well worth the time - the latter making esp great use of limited resources.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 30, 2012)

Ta BA I'll check them out


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 1, 2012)

*Fingers* (1978) A brilliant film and Keitel gives a masterclass in acting and its beautifully shot in an around New York
Gotta be one of my favourite films of the 70s>><<<


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 1, 2012)

Remade by Jacques Audiard as The Beat That My Heart Skipped which i didn't get on with at all but i know a number here did. Really liked the original.


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 1, 2012)

Chocolate - incredible stunts, with the outtakes at the end confirming how painful several of them were. The rooftop / ledge fighting scene was stunning.
Smiley Faces - A day in the life of the most stoned girl in the world, some good bits some not so good, got a bit boring after a while


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 1, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Chocolate - incredible stunts, with the outtakes at the end confirming how painful several of them were. The rooftop / ledge fighting scene was stunning...


You mean this? 

I liked the dojo fight scene


Just jump to 1.10 for a stunning knee.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 1, 2012)

What is 'the power of autism'?


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 1, 2012)

its a special need where you specially need to kick some ass. apparently


----------



## Yetman (Oct 1, 2012)

The whole of Netflix. 3.4 stars.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 1, 2012)

Season 1 of Breaking Bad on Netflix while I was in the States, Game of Thrones (just starting S1) on return & last night Los Acacias - lovely gem of a road trip movie, sparse dialogue, an adorable baby and a feel good factor without being insipidly mushy.


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 1, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> You mean this?


 
Yep, no wires, no stuntmen, says the blurb, with the film film crew saying 'Hi' to the guy in a hospital bed wearing a neck brace during the end credits. Looks sore....



The plot is dreadful, and best ignored.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 1, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Yep, no wires, no stuntmen, says the blurb, with the film film crew saying 'Hi' to the guy in a hospital bed wearing a neck brace during the end credits. Looks sore....
> 
> 
> 
> The plot is dreadful, and best ignored.




Indeed but the actress is a splendid successor to Tony Jaa, IMHO...


----------



## JimW (Oct 1, 2012)

Just watched a documentary on the Domesday Book, which was OK but really only mentioning it here because I learned there's a bloke in it splendidly named Humphrey Goldenbollocks: http://domesdaymap.co.uk/name/299750/humphrey-goldenbollocks/


----------



## AverageJoe (Oct 1, 2012)

Kill List.

Fuck me. What a grim film. Like Mike Leigh doing Wicker Man.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 1, 2012)

Inception.  Not as good the second time round.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Oct 1, 2012)

AverageJoe said:


> Kill List.
> 
> Fuck me. What a grim film. Like Mike Leigh doing Wicker Man.


 
I thought it was top.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Oct 1, 2012)

"Assault on Precinct 13" - the remake. Not bad, enjoyable undemanding fare which was exactly what I wanted.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 1, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Indeed but the actress is a splendid successor to Tony Jaa, IMHO...


 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183252/trivia



> The film originally included Zen watching scenes from Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies (in addition to Tony Jaa), but these scenes were eventually cut due to licensing problems. These licensing problems also caused other scenes to be removed from the original movie. The ice factory scene was originally shot as a split screen of Zen imitating the exact same moves she had seen Bruce Lee do in a fight scene from the movie Fists of Fury. It showed a clip of Bruce Lee doing his fight moves at the same time as Zen was mimicking Bruce Lee's moves. The warehouse scene was shot in a similar fashion, but this time it showed a split screen of Zen imitating Jackie Chan, wherein she would do her interpretation of a Jackie Chan fight routine. Eventually not only were the split screen scenes removed, but any scenes that involved Zen performing moves that too closely resembled fight sequences from Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan movies were all cut as well.


----------



## starfish (Oct 1, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Yep, no wires, no stuntmen, says the blurb, with the film film crew saying 'Hi' to the guy in a hospital bed wearing a neck brace during the end credits. Looks sore....
> 
> 
> 
> The plot is dreadful, and best ignored.




Missed that when i watched it recently. I did think some of the fight scenes looked very real.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Oct 1, 2012)

Figures In A Landscape 1970 film with Robert Shaw & Malcolm McDowell as two escaped prisoners running about the barren countryside of some un-named South American country while being pursued by a helicopter. Very enjoyable.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Oct 2, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> I find much of his work hectoring and arrogant but the two early ones The War Game and Culloden are well worth the time - the latter making esp great use of limited resources.


 
I had to sack The War Game off after about 18 minutes 



Spoiler: spoiler



Couldn't watch any more after that little kid got his eyes burnt


 - Can't watch things like that.


----------



## belboid (Oct 2, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Remade by Jacques Audiard as The Beat That My Heart Skipped which i didn't get on with at all but i know a number here did. Really liked the original.


what is? Fingers?  I enjoyed The Beat... will deffo have to check the original ,didnt realise there was one.

Rewatched _Whisky Galore!_ yet again, still bloody good. Just read the book, so interesting to compare.  Both have their merits, book (unsuprisingly) much richer, interesting extra characters, but at least the film has a proper ending.


----------



## ringo (Oct 3, 2012)

Got a big bag of DVD's from my Mum that someone gave her, full of stuff I might watch once/again but wouldn't have bought/rented.

This week we have watched the first DVd of the 1980 series Shogun, which I last saw when I was 10 in 1980. It still looks exactly as I rememember it, not bad at all. Mrs R is off to Fujiyama tonight for food, and I have instructed her to shout Hai and Konichiwa Torinaga san at everyone.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 3, 2012)

belboid said:


> what is? Fingers? I enjoyed The Beat... will deffo have to check the original ,didnt realise there was one.
> 
> Rewatched _Whisky Galore!_ yet again, still bloody good. Just read the book, so interesting to compare. Both have their merits, book (unsuprisingly) much richer, interesting extra characters, but at least the film has a proper ending.


Yep, fingers.


----------



## Garek (Oct 3, 2012)

_Went The Day Well?_

Good little film that, with neat little touches like bookending it with a talk to camera. Pretty damn dark in places to, shockingly so in one particular scene.


----------



## inva (Oct 3, 2012)

35 Shots of Rum (directed by Claire Denis). I found it took a little bit to get into it, but it's a beautiful and moving film.


----------



## belboid (Oct 3, 2012)

Garek said:


> _Went The Day Well?_
> 
> Good little film that, with neat little touches like bookending it with a talk to camera. Pretty damn dark in places to, shockingly so in one particular scene.


Thora Hird toting a machine gun 

_That_ scene is realy shocking.  Watched it again last Christmas and had forgotten how strong it was.


----------



## Reno (Oct 6, 2012)

I watched _Beyond the Black Rainbow_ and _The Pact_.

_Beyond the Black Rainbow_ is an almost two hour semi-experimental film, taking as its point of reference sci-fi flicks from the 70s and 80s, especially Kubrick, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Silent Running, The Andromeda Strain, Cronenberg and Carpenter. Whatever story there is concerns a young woman who is held captive in in a retro-futuristic underground laboratory/commune by a very creepy man, who may or may not be human. Though made on a tiny budget, it looks and sounds exquisite in a trippy, retro modernist way and it has a gorgeous 80s style electronic soundtrack. On the other hand the pace is exasperatingly slow. In the last half hour, when the girl escapes, some sort of plot finally kicks in and the film comes up with some genuinely creepy imagery and in the last ten minutes it rather bewilderingly turns into a slasher film. I'm not sure what to make of this one. I was caught between admiring its vision and the temptation to hit the fast forward button. It reminded mea little of Amer, the surrealist, giallo inspired, similarly almost non-narrative film from two years ago which I loved, though that had more going on under the hood. Maybe if I let it settle for a while, I may come to like it after all, because certain images really stuck with me



_The Pact_ is a haunted house film which from the trailer I thought would be rubbish.While it doesn't do anything particularly new in terms of plot (in many ways its similar to Stir of Echoes), it is beautifully directed. It isn't one of these OTT ghost train style haunted houses like The Woman in Black with cobwebs and the customary creepy dolls, this one is a realistic modern house in a run down US blue collar neighbourhood, where things are just slightly off. Here the obligatory psychic gets recruited from the local crack den. I thought it was quite creepy and tense and I appreciated that this is a director who knows the importance of small details and where to put a camera. No lazy jumps scares here, instead the film slowly builds up an escalating sense of dread. Great sound design too and a good performance from the lead actress, who I'd never heard of before.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Oct 6, 2012)

I watched Beynd The Black Rainbow the other day and agree with you, it looked and sounded great even though it took me four attempts to watch it all without falling asleep (due to the slow pace and constant throbbing droney soundtrack). The end spoilt it slighty as it snapped you out of the hypnotic state the film had induced you into.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 6, 2012)

Assembly - A soldier fights to gain recognition for comrades who died during the Chinese Civil War.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 6, 2012)

Get the Gringo- Surprisingly good if total tosh story in which Mel Gibson ( looking somewhat old imo) gets himself in and out of a Mexican prison and on to a beach with a reasonably fit looking mother.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 6, 2012)

AverageJoe said:


> Kill List.
> 
> Fuck me. What a grim film. Like Mike Leigh doing Wicker Man.


 
Really enjoyed that


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 6, 2012)

8115 said:


> Inception. Not as good the second time round.


 
had to have the plot and stuff explained to me by my 19 year old daughter whilst watching. Perhaps too much vino El thuggo


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 6, 2012)

Virgin Suicides - it made me hate Sofia Coppola a little bit. She turned a great book into a nothingness with a pretty soundtrack and nice furnishings


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 6, 2012)

The Prophecy


----------



## Reno (Oct 6, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> The Prophecy


 
Thanks for letting us know.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 6, 2012)

ok, Walken delivers as Gabriel, viggo mortensen turns up as satan.


Its a ctholic heavy angelic horror about a second war in heaven

nd I'm watching The Prophecy 2 tonight


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 6, 2012)

Ctholic? Is that Lovecraftian?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 6, 2012)

Wuthering Heights (Andrea Arnold).  Rather liked it, certainly very atmospheric, but maybe not as much as her previous films.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 7, 2012)

lots iof Southpark series 16 including a passover special with cartman LOL


Prophecy 2. Walken IS Chirsitopher Walken. Not as good as 1 but still worth it

Bits of Wind that Shakes the Barely. Wasn't in the mood

fell asleep with The Craft on


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 7, 2012)

Children of the Stones yesterday. I've never seen it, just wouldn't have been my thing as a kid. As with so much drama of the time though, it's just way ahead of anything made for kids nowadays.

Last night, Avengers Assemble. I found it a bit boring.


----------



## Me76 (Oct 7, 2012)

Tyrannosaur. Really moving and very well done.


----------



## starfish (Oct 7, 2012)

Island of Death, a young British couple go on a sex & murder rampage on Mykonos in the mid 70s. ms starfish recorded it from the horror channel. I really do worry about her sometimes. It literally had everything in it.


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 7, 2012)

Smiley.  .....face is totally blank save for the smiley face he carved there himself, ans he can be summoned through the Internet by typing "I did it for the lolz" 3 times. Terrible, terrible movie i would have switched it off if i could have been bothered.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 7, 2012)

starfish said:


> Island of Death, a young British couple go on a sex & murder rampage on Mykonos in the mid 70s. ms starfish recorded it from the horror channel. I really do worry about her sometimes. It literally had everything in it.


And a goat!


----------



## starfish (Oct 7, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> And a goat!


 
And an "I fart in your face" moment too


----------



## Callie (Oct 7, 2012)

I have recently watched Avengers Assemble - which was easily watchable and mildly amusing. Mewling quim is my new favourite insult.

Prometheus. Meh, predictable (  ORLY?) and generallly a bit dull.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 7, 2012)

Watched 'Death Becomes Her' the other night as well, in which the central message seems to be an alcoholic bruce willis is excused for being a total cock-led idiot andthose horrible women get punished for their desire to stay young. Lols ll round.

maybe I am cynical

It was quite funny tho


----------



## Zac Stardust (Oct 8, 2012)

Escape from New York.


----------



## stethoscope (Oct 8, 2012)

La Mala Educacion - love this!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 8, 2012)

Triangle. Enjoyable but mental with multiple plot holes


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 8, 2012)

Attack the Gas Station - Four disaffected youths rob a gas station but find their plans complicated and sidetracked before the night is through.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 8, 2012)

Snow buddies

5 Labrador puppies get stuck in an ice cream lorry and parachuted into Alaska. They meet a Husky puppy and become a kick ass dog team .

Did I mention all the dogs can talk?


----------



## geminisnake (Oct 8, 2012)

Harry Potty and the Deathly Hallows part1. Tonight we might watch part 2!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 9, 2012)

AverageJoe said:


> Kill List.
> 
> Fuck me. What a grim film. Like Mike Leigh doing ********.


I hate that type of description, and I hate that description. It's a lazy description and essentially a spoiler.

I really liked the film (apart from the aforementioned spoiler), because it's a film that's made as a film, and not a filmed book or a filmed play.


----------



## AverageJoe (Oct 9, 2012)

Well get you, Mark Kermode.


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 9, 2012)

Ill Manors - I rather liked it, Plan B rapping / singing as part of the movie summary narration was kinnda cool.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 9, 2012)

Dead Man Running - British action flick with everyones favourite cockney geezer 'ahz abaat a quick snaat' Danny Dyer, which I actually quite enjoyed  Dyer's acting is as pesh as ever but the story is pretty good and better than some of the Brit flick gangster standards that are flooding the shelves recently. 50 cent is also in it which is a strange casting - probably just to get a bit more attention across the water.

EVERY SINGLE BRITISH GANGSTER FILM in the past 3 years seems to have Ashley Walters in it. What is that all about?


----------



## Garek (Oct 9, 2012)

Costa-Gavras's 'Z'. Really enjoyed it. Some lovely, humorous little touches in it without detracting from the graveness of the subject matter. 

If anyone can remoend any books about that point in Greece's history please let me know.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 9, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Virgin Suicides - it made me hate Sofia Coppola a little bit. She turned a great book into a nothingness with a pretty soundtrack and nice furnishings


I can't stand her stuff. It smacks of inflated ego. Lost in translation was good because of murray and a great camera crew just getting on with it. They still managed to screw up the editing and ruin what could have been a great film in the end.

Her and that there Spike Jonez.

Just look at the way he spells his name.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 9, 2012)

When I read about her other film set in a hotel about cocooned rich people, i let out an audible sigh.


----------



## Reno (Oct 9, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> When I read about her other film set in a hotel about cocooned rich people, i let out an audible sigh.


 
You mean Somewhere ? It's really only about one rich person, a film-star and his relationship with his daughter and it is rather slight. But there is no "woe me" quality to the character's ennui. The film just observes without without any particular agenda.

I don't think she's a bad film-maker, there is an airy quality and lightness to her style which I like. She comes in for a lot of flack for making films about privileged characters, but that's who she is and she makes films about what she knows. It's better than other privileged film-makers who try to earn browny points by riding their careers on the back of worthy causes and then not doing their subject matter justice.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 10, 2012)

Avengers Assemble

Not the best comic book film ever but good fun. Captain America wasn't the tawt I was expecting.Plenty of fights and manhattan got trashed.


I've been hoodwinked into Love Film so I have an also ran called 'the cold light of day' for tonight. looks shit tbf, i'll give it a go tho


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 10, 2012)

'That's my boy' - Adam Sandler is barely coherent throughout most of the film, the storyline is unfathomable, and the jokes aren’t funny. I watched this as a form of self-punishment for not paying attention to what I’m downloading from the internet.


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 10, 2012)

*Sniper reloaded* (2011) Not as good as the original but still worth a watch, probly find it in yer local poundshop any day soon....


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 10, 2012)

*Rampart *was clearly meant to be some sort of mouldbreaking neo-realist down-and-dirty way of dramatising a bit of one of the USA's most infamous policing scandals and Woody Harrelson, in main role, is impressively horrible (racist, grandstanding, lying liar with livid red face and sweats of a serial drunk and bully). But it's just not a very good film ... no real suspense, no real social investigation, just lots of moody arthouse mooning around and cracking up in seedy motel rooms. Was v disappointed in this one, i was expecting it to be lots better.

*Carancho (*means 'vulture') - another "life is really bloody depressing" crime movie, but from Argentina ... delving into the subculture of fraudulent car-accident claims and the risks people run to set up / claim from fake or orchestrated crashes. Ricardo DArin (of Nine Queens etc) is really good in it; lead actress isn't bad either but I think her and the director (Trapero) are sort of making the same Argy crime caper over and over again. Although it's a good one. would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind reading subtitles ....despite yet another blatant rip from AMORES PERROS at the end.

*The Housemaid *(from South Korea) - absolutely bonkers and the best of the three by miles - a lurid, overdone, melodramatic, vicious, biting, blazing class-war satire about a young woman pulled into the machinations and agendas of a hyper-rich (and possibly criminal) S Korean family. The sexual politics might be dubious (did she set out to seduce the 'young master' or did he more-or-less rape her? Not at all clear from the mise en scene...) but the class politics are blatant and inescapable. It looks amazing and there are some terrific character-actor performances as well. Apparently this is an inferior remake of a 60s cult classic ... but given that I don't know where to get hold of the original I'll never know. Anyone who knows it - can you tell me more about the original film? Anyone who doesn't - rent the 2011 version - it's top.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 10, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> When I read about her other film set in a hotel about cocooned rich people, i let out an audible sigh.


 
One of the cable TV channels recently showed "Marie Antoinette" and the longer I watched, the more my mouth hung open in amazement, and not in a good way. Unless Sofia Coppola's technique is loads better or more witty than my feeble mind can grasp, this film is immune to parody. Not so much for the style (18th century France visuals  + punk rock on the soundtrack! deliberate anachronisms! rad!) but for its utterly mindless approach to the subject. So M-A got nastily gossipped about, felt inferior to the grand courtesans of her day and was too gauche to rule the court. So there are obvious parallels between M-A's career and those of 'stars' or 'celebs' of our own day.  Does this really mean that whole films can/should still be devoted to entirely her and her feely feelings? From this film you'd barely suspect the existence of the smallest hungry - or even peckish - peasant alive in France at the time. Unless the whole thing is meant to be a gigantic pisstake of its lead character, it's lost me.


----------



## Reno (Oct 10, 2012)

I thought Marie Antoinette was actually pretty funny and yes, it was supposed to be so. It's a comedy. It is full of satirical barbs and absurdist comedy arising from the idiocy of the French court. Why was it mindless ? Just because it didn't illustrate the scenarios we are all too familiar to in the most obvious way ? Antoinette as the exploiter of the poor or as the victim of the revolution ? The film takes it for granted that we are familiar with all that and then takes different route.

She was shown to be more a victim of the French court than of the revolution. She was so thoroughly cosseted from the life outside, that she has no concept of proletarian existence. Would you really have preferred something so trite as shots of the poor holding out their begging bowls in contrast to the decadence of the French court ? It was all there without having to be that obvious. She is a director who is far more interested in details rather than obvious dramatic situations (hence no court scenes or execution, the part of her life most suited to sensationalism). And as always Coppola is more interested in observing her characters rather than judging them, which is refreshing when it comes to one of the most judged characters of history. And we don't get another fucking redemption story either, as with so many biopics.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 10, 2012)

ah well, there you go - it really was just too meta for me. clearly i need an irony-patch upgrade.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 10, 2012)

starfish said:


> Island of Death, a young British couple go on a sex & murder rampage on Mykonos in the mid 70s. ms starfish recorded it from the horror channel. I really do worry about her sometimes. It literally had everything in it.


 
I need to get round to seeing this film, one of the original video nasties.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 10, 2012)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I need to get round to seeing this film, one of the original video nasties.


It's on 'love - film' to view



> An orgy of sex and violence


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 10, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> It's on 'love - film' to view


 
I'm not on it.  I'd just watch the dvd when it's cheap.

Watched SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS tonight - very friggin good!


----------



## Firky (Oct 11, 2012)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 

Quite good actually


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 11, 2012)

firky said:


> Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
> 
> Quite good actually


Where you download that from ?


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 11, 2012)

Attack on Leningrad - not much war action, Which is what I was expecting.


----------



## belboid (Oct 11, 2012)

Twentieth Century.  One of the first screwball comedies, the first of Carole Lombards great films, and the last of John Barrymores. Except neither of them are particularly great, and it's at least half an hour before they think to include anything funny. Becomes okay after that, but no better.


----------



## Firky (Oct 11, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Where you download that from ?


 
Private torrent site.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter 2012 DVDRip XviD-ALLiANCE


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 11, 2012)

firky said:


> Private torrent site.
> 
> Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter 2012 DVDRip XviD-ALLiANCE


Cheers for that


----------



## DrRingDing (Oct 12, 2012)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Top film. Love the sets and the doom.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 12, 2012)

A Story of the Strategy/of the massacre/ Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy - new film from Marco Tullio Giordana covering early emerging aspects of the strategy of tension, generally the train bombs in 1969 and specifically the bombing of the Agricultural Bank in Milan the same year. Extremely well made and very very thorough - students of this period will see just about every relevant name group or person examined in some detail (this is a drama btw not a docu) - Pinelli, Merlino, Valpreda, Stefano Della Chaie, Prince Borghese, aginter press, new order, national front, the 10th Flotilla, march 22nd movement, feltrinelli, calabresi, moro. The film hinges on the relationship between Pinelli and Calabresi (the latter portrayed as an honourable man in cricumstances not of his making, as is the monster moro, which confirms to me an impression i had from earlier films by Giordana, that he sympathises with the left but isn't from within it).

General thrust was that the police _and_ fascists had infiltrated the march 22nd movement (through Ippolito and sansetto) - the latter group to provoke violence and bombings in order to place the blame for the real big bombs they were planning onto the anarchists and the former because they has their strings pulled by the real string pullers of the state to believe that the anarchists were responsible. However, the fascists themselves had been infiltrated by the same state and security services and bigger fascists in order to use them in a similar way as they had planned with the anarchists. Only thing was missing was an end-word on the trial of those later convicted of the Murder of Calabresi. Highly recommended if you're at all interested in italian history, might be a bit baffling if you're not.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 12, 2012)

How was Moro a monster? Genuine question, btw - I always assumed he was just a bogstandard DC politico.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 12, 2012)

That in itself is enough! But i was thinking more of his introduction of the Legge Reale that allowed police to simply shoot protesters (in a time of mass protest) if they _felt threatened - _a move which left many more dead than the Piazza Fontana bombing (we're talking in the hundreds here - i will get the proper figures when i get home later today, off out now).


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> That in itself is enough! But i was thinking more of his introduction of the Legge Reale that allowed police to simply shoot protesters (in a time of mass protest) if they _felt threatened - _a move which left many more dead than the Piazza Fontana bombing (we're talking in the hundreds here - i will get the proper figures when i get home later today, off out now).


 
Ah, right, I hadn't heard that bit of the story. You should really be publishing this stuff to a wider audience - it's wasted tucked away on a wee thread in Urban.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 12, 2012)

Au revoir les enfants - Got a bit of grit in my eye, Fucking Nazi Bastards


----------



## Firky (Oct 12, 2012)

Army of Darkness

Bruce Campbell is the bestest

I watched Platoon for the first time in years too, not as good as I remember it to be but still quite good. I wish they still made Vietnam movies.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 12, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Fucking Nazi Bastards


 
*sigh*

What did they do this time?


----------



## Reno (Oct 12, 2012)

Currently doing research of what to show at my annual Halloween screening.

I tried to watch _Osombie_ but (surprisingly ! ) it's not very good. It does replay the first scene from Jaws with an underwater zombie bin Laden though.

Halfway in I gave up and switched to the Aussie "sharks in a supermarket" schlockfest _Bait 3D_ (in 2D), which despite some ropey CGI and a vapid cast was watchable enough and did what it says on the tin.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 13, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> *sigh*
> 
> What did they do this time?


They took the little jew boy away


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 13, 2012)

Bad Guy - This movie got quite a few good reviews on asia torrents forum, Personally I couldn't agree less, Absolutely nothing happened after about the first 45 minutes, After that I was practically screaming at the TV " Fuck sake hurry up and finish"


----------



## Me76 (Oct 14, 2012)

Contagion. Seems to end rather abruptly and didn't seem properly finished for me.


----------



## purenarcotic (Oct 14, 2012)

Docu on Josephine Baker - fascinating, I had no idea she had worked with the French Resistance 

Bellville Rendez-vous - love this film to bits, every time I watch it I see something new

The Producers - another favourite, hadn't watched it for ages so many lols were had.  Nathan Lane is a genius

Mr Bean's Holiday - not as good as the first one but perfectly enjoyable.  Some great laugh out loud moments


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 14, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> Bellville Rendez-vous - love this film to bits, every time I watch it I see something new


 It's got a kick ass sound track as well


----------



## Reno (Oct 15, 2012)

The Tall Man, the US debut by the director of the wildly overrated French gore film Martyrs. Probably the stupidest film I've seen all year.


----------



## renegadechicken (Oct 15, 2012)

Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter - pants, and since when did silver bullets kill vampires huh? All that kept going through my head was the Tom Petty song Rebels and me thinking Tom Petty had to be a vampire.
Smiley - again absolute tosh - no LULZ anywhere in sight
Lovely Molly - Not bad, a bit convoluted at times but an ok watch.
Safety not guaranteed - a pretty enjoyable sunday afternoon film - no brains needed to watch it, which made it perfect for this afternoon.


----------



## imposs1904 (Oct 15, 2012)

The Avengers (the marvel film)

Overrated.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 15, 2012)

Snow White and The Huntsman - Pretty good if you like this sort of thing. Birds film obviously but good effects (how did they get all the full sized actors to play the dwarves?!) and sticks to the story of the fairytale (iirc) quite closely.

Prometheus - yes, lots of questions, but I hope they'll be answered in future sequels. Still very good. Is that the dude out of Pete vs Life as well?


----------



## belboid (Oct 15, 2012)

El sueño del mono loco (Twisted Obsession) - an intriguing but not very well made psycho drama about a scriptwriter, drugs, n incest. Okay for a sunday afternoon

The Hunger Games - rather better. Clearly derivative of half a dozen other films and stories, but very well done, Jennifer Lawrence iin particular is great. Was the Capitol city meant to look incredibly cheesy, or was that just a shortage of funds?  I think it might have been the old Caprica set.


----------



## Jackobi (Oct 15, 2012)

Ill Manors - I wanted to watch something not too taxing, but this had me close to tears at times. I was surprised at how well directed and produced it was, and some great, young actors playing very convincing characters.


----------



## Reno (Oct 15, 2012)

belboid said:


> The Hunger Games - rather better. Clearly derivative of half a dozen other films and stories, but very well done, Jennifer Lawrence iin particular is great. Was the Capitol city meant to look incredibly cheesy, or was that just a shortage of funds? I think it might have been the old Caprica set.


 
The film had some of the worst art direction I've seen in a major Hollywood film in a while. It looked really cheap. As Looper showed, a talented director can make a smallish budget stretch far and that films had less than half of the budget of The Hunger Games.


----------



## belboid (Oct 15, 2012)

The colony and the 'game zone' were fine, but the Capitol and the upper-crusts costumes were so bizarre they just have to be that bad for some kind of purpose. Senecas beard was just _bizarre_


----------



## Boris Sprinkler (Oct 15, 2012)

The expendables.

Really? Someone thought that was worthwhile of everyones time. What a load of gash.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Oct 15, 2012)

Finally got round to watching 'The Motorcycle Diaries', and thought it was very good.


----------



## blossie33 (Oct 15, 2012)

Boris Sprinkler said:


> The expendables.
> 
> Really? Someone thought that was worthwhile of everyones time. What a load of gash.


 
Expendables 2 has a better storyline than the first one.
Not normally my sort of films but I find them quite entertaining, you just have to accept them for what they are, I think they are meant to be a bit tongue in cheek.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2012)

Expendables had all the ingredients to be a great sort of pastiche/comedy of 80s action films, but sly wrote the script. 


I caught episode 1 of series two 'Hell on Wheels'

so-so. hoping it picks up soon and I must have missed something cos Bohannons gone bandit


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 15, 2012)

Martha Marcy May Marlene - insidiously, deeply, truly creepy (but also brilliant) film about a recent cult escapee ... if that's really what she is. Really, really good. A a little bit mannered in its arthousy style at times (it very deliberately holds back on doling out information or explanation for any of the questions you'll be itching to ask, the structure's complex and none of the characters are particularly engaging.) But brilliant, all the same. seriously unsettling and haunting. Elizebeth Olson (for it is she!) gives a really remarkable performance and has an amazing face for this sort of thing ... like Maggie Gyllenhall she can look like a moonfaced teenager one moment, and then a luminous Renaissance beauty the next.

Bel Ami ... a steaming pile of overboiled europudding which despite having plenty of money to throw around and a respectable cast (uma thurman, christina ricci, kristen scott thomas alone should make a good movie, with or without the presence of Robert Pattinson as a central male), just never ever catches fire and gets going. Thurman looks really odd (surgery?) and acts very badly in this, although the script's so flimsy and the other direction so hamhanded it might not even be her fault. Also, this movie is sexist as all get-out ... I can accept it might be difficult to tell the tale of a remorseless gigolo who climbs his way up 19th-century Paris via a series of rich women's beds, but it's hard to distinguish the film's misogyny from its hero's. The actresses deserved better, never mind the audience. Don't bother with this one.


----------



## Boris Sprinkler (Oct 15, 2012)

blossie33 said:


> Expendables 2 has a better storyline than the first one.
> Not normally my sort of films but I find them quite entertaining, you just have to accept them for what they are, I think they are meant to be a bit tongue in cheek.


It really wasn't my choice whatsoever. My phd educated girlfriend loves that kind of stuff. I on the other hand, left school with no qualifications, my favourite film is wim wender's wings of desire. 
It was bad, so bad, tongue in cheek regardless.


----------



## Dr Nookie (Oct 15, 2012)

Irreversible with Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci. No doubt it's been discussed here before, but yeah, found the rape scene hard to watch. That aside, I thought the concept of telling the film backwards (starts at the climax, then shows each scene leading up to it in reverse order) an interesting one that could have worked so brilliantly but thought it was a bit of wasted opportunity actually and not all that well executed. Still, it was kind of 'entertaining' if that's the right word in its own way.

And of course, the gorgeous Mr Cassel was very easy on the eye as always!


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 16, 2012)

Just finished the Romanzo Criminale series. Great first series, totally lost the 2nd. 

Compared to the wire or that it's antediluvian.


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 16, 2012)

Branded ~ Really rather weird, enjoyable though & its got Leelee Sobieski in it, so it's all good.


----------



## Zac Stardust (Oct 17, 2012)

The Incident a.k.a Asylum Blackout. Actually a very good film. A horror film that subverts common cliches, the characters are not thick and react 'fairly' realistically to the situation. Some brutal moments, verrrrrry tense at points. Weird ending too, not sure if I need to watch it again to understand the last 5 or so minutes.


----------



## belboid (Oct 17, 2012)

Moonrise Kingdom. What can you say? It's a Wes Anderson film and it does what Wes Anderson films do. Beautifully shot, great performances from the kids, quite charming....and so fucking what? Probly should have just turned it off, wasn't in the mood for such twee nonsense.

The Descendants - beautifully shot, marvellously acted, load of middle class wank. Dodges the interesting questions and goes straight for the mawk. Yawn.


----------



## Reno (Oct 17, 2012)

The Danish thriller Headhunters. It's watchable enough, but it also thinks it's a lot more clever than it is. It's one of those twisty thrillers where characters seem to able to exactly calculate how their opponents will react for them to outsmart each other or set traps. There is not much more to it than plot mechanics and by the end I found it rather annoying. Overrated.

Also the Norwegian slasher sequel Cold Prey 2. One of the few horror sequels far superior to the (not bad) original.


----------



## Jackobi (Oct 18, 2012)

*Cannibal Vegetarian (Ljudozder vegetarijanac) - "Danko Babic is an ambitious and amoral gynaecologist at Croatia's leading fertility clinic."*

The title insinuates a horrific, gore shocker. But instead it is a fairly matter of fact insight in to a corrupt Croatian hospital and the steady downfall of a gynaecological consultant. It is horrific at times but not gory, and portrays some sensitive subjects intelligently.

The subtitles I had were quite amateur, so (I presume) some of the dialogue lost its nuance.


----------



## Zac Stardust (Oct 18, 2012)

Shutter Island. Good stuff.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 19, 2012)

Avengers.   Very good for what it was*.   Funny, too.

*your basic popcorn movie


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 19, 2012)

_The Seventh Bullet_. A very good example of a Soviet 'Eastern,' this one from Uzbekistan and a big hit in its day, back in 1972. Their version of a Western, indeed inspired by and borrowed from them - transposed styles, themes, tropes etc put in a 1920s Central Asian, revolution and civil war-era setting. But not to be confused with those Soviet/Eastern European films that actually were set in nineteenth-century America.

The same director also did another well-regarded film of the genre seven years later in 1979, for the Tajikfilm studio, called _The Bodyguard_.


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 19, 2012)

In prison my whole life ~ documentary about Mumia Abu-Jamal. Particularly worth watching.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 19, 2012)

Dark Shadows, which was quite rubbish, sadly.


----------



## renegadechicken (Oct 19, 2012)

Killer Joe - a bit odd but some fine performances especially Matthew McConaughley as Killer Joe.


----------



## belboid (Oct 20, 2012)

Carnage. 

Made the most of the plays undoubted strengths but couldn't cover up its significant weaknesses. Whisky is wasted on yanks.


----------



## Reno (Oct 20, 2012)

Chernobyl Diaries. Decent setting and premise, but this falls flat after a reasonably intriguing first half. The obnoxious lead characters don't help much either.


----------



## Zac Stardust (Oct 20, 2012)

The Runaways. Very well done.


----------



## Arlarse (Oct 20, 2012)

I'm watching Breaking Bad, just finishing series 1 and onward to series 2. It's one of the better recent US outings on DVD. I'm liking it anyway


----------



## Jackobi (Oct 20, 2012)

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - A pre-apocalyptic comedy which started off quite well with a few laughs. But was ruined by the stereotypical, American movie romance formula of a relationship between a very average, stayed, middle-aged man and a beautiful, vibrant, young woman who generally behaves like a teenage girl.


----------



## Reno (Oct 21, 2012)

Jackobi said:


> Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - A pre-apocalyptic comedy which started off quite well with a few laughs. But was ruined by the stereotypical, American movie romance formula of a relationship between a very average, stayed, middle-aged man and a beautiful, vibrant, young woman who generally behaves like a teenage girl.


 
There is a great Canadian indie movie from the 90s with a similar premise, called Last Night. Less annoying characters in that.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 21, 2012)

Reno said:


> There is a great Canadian indie movie from the 90s with a similar premise, called Last Night. Less annoying characters in that.


 
Although some of them are really annoying......

...it's a great film though....


----------



## Yetman (Oct 21, 2012)

Life - Eddie Murphy & Martin Lawrence. Very good but your typical Murphy & Lawrence comedy so you know what you're getting, one of the better ones though as they did get a bit shit later on 7/10

Leaves of Grass - so so comedy about a dude who swaps himself for his twin brother, and grows weed. Lots of snippets of philosophy and bud porn but not a bad though not a great story 6/10

Rounders - Gamblers fuck up and try and get themselves out of shit. Pretty good. 7/10

Dead Set - Big Brother zombie fest  Good stuff, reminded me a bit of misfits 8/10

George Carlin - You are all diseased - Excellent! Didn't know about this guy, he's brill 9/10


----------



## Jackobi (Oct 21, 2012)

Reno said:


> There is a great Canadian indie movie from the 90s with a similar premise, called Last Night. Less annoying characters in that.


 
And coincidentally, also starring Keira Knightley.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 21, 2012)

Jackobi said:


> And coincidentally, also starring Keira Knightley.


 
There's a 2010 film called last night with Knightly.....you want the 1998 one....


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 21, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> There's a 2010 film called last night with Knightly.....you want the 1998 one....


I made the mistake of downloading the Knightley one


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 21, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I made the mistake of downloading the Knightley one


 
Bummer....


----------



## Jackobi (Oct 21, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I made the mistake of downloading the Knightley one


 
I'm not sure if I should be glad that I held off downloading that Last Night last night and watched Inbred instead.

I suspect the Knightley film Last Night was better than Inbred, but most films are.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 21, 2012)

I doubt it. It has Sam Worthington in a serious dramatic non-fighting role


----------



## Reno (Oct 21, 2012)

Jackobi said:


> And coincidentally, also starring Keira Knightley.


 
Nope.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 22, 2012)

_The White Sun of the Desert_. Another film about the wild east, again with a mix of influences, both from westerns and an old, imperial Orientalist legacy informing how history is interpreted. Oh, as well as just being a good, gun-slinging action film. More well-known in this part of the world than the two Ali Khamraev films mentioned in a previous post.

From an old DDR film program.


----------



## renegadechicken (Oct 22, 2012)

Ted - what can i say, apart from thats an hour and a half i'll never get back. There are one or two funny lines in the whole film other than that its a bit err crap.


----------



## TruXta (Oct 22, 2012)

The Cabin in the Woods. Excellent film. Loved the Lovecraftian stuff. Great plotting too.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 22, 2012)

Blinkende Lygter(Flickering Lights) - Four small gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they take over 4,000,000 kroner which they were supposed to bring him.


----------



## TruXta (Oct 22, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Blinkende Lygter(Flickering Lights) - Four small gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they take over 4,000,000 kroner which they were supposed to bring him.


 
And? I remember loving it when I first saw it.


----------



## marty21 (Oct 22, 2012)

Frost-Nixon - thought it was excellent - and watched some of the original interview in the extras bit afterwards - pretty spot on.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 22, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Blinkende Lygter(Flickering Lights) - Four small gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they take over 4,000,000 kroner which they were supposed to bring him.


 
Any good? Sounds a bit like Pusher, which if it is, is a good thing


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 22, 2012)

Not at all - it's more like Brassed Off or the Full Monty.


----------



## friedaweed (Oct 22, 2012)

iLL Manors. Shite London centric bollix


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 22, 2012)

friedaweed said:


> Shite London centric bollix


 
TBF it is set in London


----------



## friedaweed (Oct 22, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> TBF it is set in London


I know I forgot to take my reading glasses to blockbusters. I though it was going to be 'Rude kid-The Movie' from the Viz


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 22, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Any good? Sounds a bit like Pusher, which if it is, is a good thing


It was a real pleasure to watch, It's kinda like pusher as far as the dark humor goes, There's some brilliant Scandinavian movies out there.


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 22, 2012)

Not a bad un if im honest but Oliver Reeds eyes kept makin me laugh though


----------



## Mapped (Oct 22, 2012)

Juan of the Dead. We'd had a few beers, but it made us laugh a lot. In socialist Cuba the zombie apocalypse is a business opportunity.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 22, 2012)

Kill The Irishman - pretty good story about some Irish mobster in the 60's-70's in Cleveland, US. Kicked off with the mafia big time and generally didn't give a fuck. Proper dude  True story like, 7/10

Forgot to mention, Vinny Jones' Irish/Lithuanian accent in this is hilarious. I'm sure they only added the Lithuanian bit in because his Irish accent was so terrible


----------



## starfish (Oct 23, 2012)

Red, White & Blue. A slow boiling American horror/gore film where a small series of unfortunate events lead to a very bloody & very brutal ending.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Oct 24, 2012)

Just Melvin, Just Evil - James Ronald Whitney directs this documentary about his families history of molestation from his step-grandfather "Melvin". Pretty grim but compelling to watch.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 24, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> _The Seventh Bullet_. A very good example of a Soviet 'Eastern,' this one from Uzbekistan and a big hit in its day, back in 1972. Their version of a Western, indeed inspired by and borrowed from them - transposed styles, themes, tropes etc put in a 1920s Central Asian, revolution and civil war-era setting. But not to be confused with those Soviet/Eastern European films that actually were set in nineteenth-century America.
> 
> The same director also did another well-regarded film of the genre seven years later in 1979, for the Tajikfilm studio, called _The Bodyguard_.


Have to check these out. Thanks for the recommendations CH.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 24, 2012)

My pleasure. 

Keeping in that part of the world, the screenplay for The Seventh Bullet was co-written by Andrei Konchalovsky, who's Soviet feature debut was an adaptation of Chingiz Aitmatov's novel _The First Teacher_. That's worth checking out too.


----------



## starfish (Oct 24, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> _The Seventh Bullet_. A very good example of a Soviet 'Eastern,' this one from Uzbekistan and a big hit in its day, back in 1972. Their version of a Western, indeed inspired by and borrowed from them - transposed styles, themes, tropes etc put in a 1920s Central Asian, revolution and civil war-era setting. But not to be confused with those Soviet/Eastern European films that actually were set in nineteenth-century America.
> 
> The same director also did another well-regarded film of the genre seven years later in 1979, for the Tajikfilm studio, called _The Bodyguard_.


 
Ooh, must tell ms starfish about this, her grandad was from there.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 24, 2012)

Bloody Tie - The underworld of pushers, addicts, cops, and mobsters in Buson


----------



## Vortex147 (Oct 24, 2012)

Paris, Texas.

Seems great but I sleept after 35 minutes so tonight I will try again.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 24, 2012)

20th Century Boys, a manga adaptation. I think you need to have read the comics to follow the plot. I found it confusing and lost interest after an hour. It had a great look apart from the shoddy CGI, but don't ask me about the plot.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 24, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> 20th Century Boys, a manga adaptation. I think you need to have read the comics to follow the plot. I found it confusing and lost interest after an hour. It had a great look apart from the shoddy CGI, but don't ask me about the plot.


Part 1 2 or 3?


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 24, 2012)

1 of course!


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 24, 2012)

It was very confusing i agree, but it all does sort of come together in a confusing way at the end. Never read the comics but i liked the energy of the films, and there were a few scenes i thought were well creepy as well.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 24, 2012)

Yeah, the apocalyptic scenes of bodies in the streets were quite disturbing but so many plot strands...


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 24, 2012)

Cockneys vs. Zombies ~ it was shite.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Oct 24, 2012)

Sounds it.


----------



## Me76 (Oct 24, 2012)

War Horse. It was alright.


----------



## Perroquet (Oct 25, 2012)

The Campaign. Fairly fucking crap.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 25, 2012)

The Awakening

Ok, but should have been a lot better with the decent cast they had.  McNulty was in it


----------



## jrck (Oct 25, 2012)

I heartedly recommend *Marwencol*. In short, it is a documentary about an American man beaten half to death who forget who he is, how to walk, talk etc...He recovers by creating his own action man / barbie village to act out his fantasies. It sounds crazy and it is, in all the right ways. Best human interest documentary I have ever seen.


----------



## belboid (Oct 26, 2012)

Nostalgia for the Light

Simply stunning - visually, politically, 'humanly.' 

How the hell do those women decide where to dig?


----------



## Mephitic (Oct 26, 2012)

*Sex, Lies and Julian Assange ~ Interesting.*


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 26, 2012)

belboid said:


> Nostalgia for the Light
> 
> Simply stunning - visually, politically, 'humanly.'
> 
> How the hell do those women decide where to dig?


You heard anything about Guzman following up on hints he dropped a few years back that he was pondering doing something on Leonardo Henrichsen (the cameraman who filmed his own murder by mutinying troops that Guzman used in the first part of the Battle of Chile) - i think he was a bit fearful about it because Henrichsen's wife wasn't keen on digging stuff up, but since then the family brought a wrongful killing case. Can't find anything up to date that mentions any plans though.


----------



## Zac Stardust (Oct 26, 2012)

Re-watched Malick's Tree Of Life.

Amazing cgi, lighting, script, everything.


----------



## belboid (Oct 26, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> You heard anything about Guzman following up on hints he dropped a few years back that he was pondering doing something on Leonardo Henrichsen (the cameraman who filmed his own murder by mutinying troops that Guzman used in the first part of the Battle of Chile) - i think he was a bit fearful about it because Henrichsen's wife wasn't keen on digging stuff up, but since then the family brought a wrongful killing case. Can't find anything up to date that mentions any plans though.


Same as - other than knowing he's talked abou it, not heard anything else.  hopefully the success of Nostalgia will make it easier for him to raise funds etc


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 26, 2012)

Breaking News - The Hong Kong Police finds itself in a public relations crisis after a disastrous shootout


----------



## jrck (Oct 26, 2012)

Tiny Furniture is well worth a watch, and if you like that the series Girls (which is loosely based on the film) is even better.


----------



## Reno (Oct 28, 2012)

I had friends round for my annual Halloween horror screening. I showed them _The Pact_, which is the best horror film I've seen this year. I only watched this for the first time a few weeks ago and it's one of those films that are great to re-watch after you know what's going on, because I picked up on a lot of things that I didn't first time round.

The film doesn't re-invent the wheel, it is a fairly traditional ghost story (with touches of MR James' Mezzotint and J-horror in its use of "haunted technology"), but it is the best directed horror film I've seen this year. It's very well shot, establishing a real sense of place and it has fantastic sound design. _The Pact_ avoids cheap jump scares to build a slow burning atmosphere of genuine dread. While neither weird nor surreal, the way it generates scares reminded me more of David Lynch, than what you usually get in this type of film. Especially in the way a character gets swallowed up by the darkness behind a door and a scene in a crack den, set to a deafening rock drone, which is reminiscent of a scene from _Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me_.

After the rubbish period haunted house films I've seen recently (_The Woman in Black, The Awakening_), which rely on all the cliches of the genre (dolls upon creepy dolls, ghostly children in white make up failing to look scary) I loved how this is set in an impoverished, modern blue collar town in the US. The house itself looks just slightly 'off', with a 'wrong' layout and subtly oppressive wallpaper, instead of being decorated like a Blackpool ghost train.

The way the mystery slowly unfolds is cleverly handled. The lead actress, playing a character who is tough on the outside but also quite traumatised and vulnerable, was excellent. In some ways the film is reminiscent of the Kevin Bacon starring _Stir of Echoes_ from the 90s, but this does a better job with similar material.

The film is only let down by the 'blah' title and an awful poster/DVD cover, which looks like the dated looking (and much copied) CGI spook from _The Frighteners_, a visual that doesn't appear anywhere in the film.




We also watched _Cockneys vs Zombies_ which is better than its title suggests and reasonably fun for the first half (loved the pensioner with a Zimmer frame outpacing the old school zombies) but it outstays its welcome a little by the end.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 28, 2012)

Final destination 3 - probably the best one. The tanning salon scene is genius.


----------



## Reno (Oct 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Final destination 3 - probably the best one. The tanning salon scene is genius.


 

O rly ? I think 3 is the second worst, with 4 being the nadir. They are all enjoyable to some degree but I far prefer 1,2 and 5.

2 and 5 are proper sequels which build on and often subvert your knowledge and expectations from the previous films, while 3 and 4 just lamely recycle the premise.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 28, 2012)

Is 2 the one with the motorway pile up and the fifth the one with the stadium disaster?


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 28, 2012)

<checks imdb> no, 5 is the one with the bridge - that's ace too!


----------



## Reno (Oct 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Is 2 the one with the motorway pile up and the fifth the one with the stadium disaster?


 
Yes to 2, but 5 is the one with the collapsing bridge. It has a fantastic plot twist at the end (if you've seen the 1st film).

2 really perfected the cartoonish Heath Robinson style chain reactions, constantly playing with your expectations, while I though the deaths in 3 were more sadistic than surprising. I also thought both the roller coaster and stadium disaster were the weakest disasters to kick off the films.

I'm taking this far too seriously.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 28, 2012)

Yeah, it is just a series of imaginative deaths filmed very well. That's all I ask of them anyway.


----------



## nuffsaid (Oct 28, 2012)

Zombieland - I quite enjoyed this, didn't take itself too seriously and there were some good tips for when the inevitable zombie holocaust dawns on us:
1. Always use seatbelts
2. Double tap your zombie, just to be sure
3. Stay in shape to be able to outrun fast zombies
4. Enjoy the little things in a world gone to pot
5. Beware public toilets.
Also over the last few nights, '13 Assassins', lots of great samurai action. And 'The Dead', more zombie action, in Africa this time, no real resolution though.


----------



## Reno (Oct 28, 2012)

I liked The Dead better than Zombieland.


----------



## nuffsaid (Oct 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> I liked The Dead better than Zombieland.


well I didn't think it knew where it was going, as it was a more serious zombie film I thought it should have given more of an explanation about what was going on elsewhere and had more of a resolution. But each to their own, I enjoyed it well enough. None of these though compare to the TV show 'Walking Dead' which I really like. Crossbows, that's the way to go, for sure.


----------



## thriller (Oct 28, 2012)

Watched 45 minutes of Ab Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Had to turn it off due to boredom. Will resume to complete this savo.


----------



## marty21 (Oct 28, 2012)

Just got neflix so have been watching loads  - about 10 episides of Jericho over the weekend - hooked on it


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 28, 2012)

nuffsaid said:


> well I didn't think it knew where it was going, as it was a more serious zombie film I thought it should have given more of an explanation about what was going on elsewhere and had more of a resolution. But each to their own, I enjoyed it well enough. None of these though compare to the TV show 'Walking Dead' which I really like. Crossbows, that's the way to go, for sure.


 

was good but Bill Murray as Bill Murray was a step too far.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 29, 2012)

Caspar's Scare school 

The best thing I can see about it is that we didn't have to pay anything to watch it


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 29, 2012)

Arbitrage - A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Arbitrage - A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.


 
You do realise that anybody can look up films on Imdb by themselves. What's the point in merely listing the titles of films you've watched without giving us your opinion ?


----------



## TruXta (Oct 29, 2012)

Last one was City of Men. I saw City of God when it came out..... gods, what? 10 years ago? and remember really liking that one. This one didn't quite do it for me. By no means a bad movie, but it felt a little by the numbers. A little blase plot-wise, a little too loud on the favela trope-o-rama. As usual I have no clear idea of why I liked or didn't like a movie.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Oct 29, 2012)

Juan of the Dead. Pretty funny, would watch again


----------



## DrRingDing (Oct 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> I had friends round for my annual Halloween horror screening. I showed them _The Pact_, which is the best horror film I've seen this year. I only watched this for the first time a few weeks ago and it's one of those films that are great to re-watch after you know what's going on, because I picked up on a lot of things that I didn't first time round.
> 
> The film doesn't re-invent the wheel, it is a fairly traditional ghost story (with touches of MR James' Mezzotint and J-horror in its use of "haunted technology"), but it is the best directed horror film I've seen this year. It's very well shot, establishing a real sense of place and it has fantastic sound design. _The Pact_ avoids cheap jump scares to build a slow burning atmosphere of genuine dread. While neither weird nor surreal, the way it generates scares reminded me more of David Lynch, than what you usually get in this type of film. Especially in the way a character gets swallowed up by the darkness behind a door and a scene in a crack den, set to a deafening rock drone, which is reminiscent of a scene from _Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me_.
> 
> ...


 
Watched this and really appreciated it. 

Just watched The Exorcist with a first timer. It's just great and she loved it.


----------



## DrRingDing (Oct 29, 2012)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> Juan of the Dead. Pretty funny, would watch again


 
Watched this and was pleasantly surprised and amused.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 30, 2012)

Reno said:


> You do realise that anybody can look up films on Imdb by themselves. What's the point in merely listing the titles of films you've watched without giving us your opinion ?


Well I just thought giving a brief synopsis rather than my opinion would be preferable


----------



## Reno (Oct 30, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Well I just thought giving a brief synopsis rather than my opinion would be preferable


 
You didn't give a brief synopsis, you just linked to another site everybody knows how to access themselves. If you don't tell anybody if you even enjoyed the film, why would they be bothered to even click on the link. It's totally worthless in terms of what a forum is supposed to be about and no better than advertising.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 30, 2012)

jeff_leigh said:


> Well I just thought giving a brief synopsis rather than my opinion would be preferable


Na, opinion is all!


----------



## marty21 (Oct 30, 2012)

Moar episodes of Jericho - only about 3 to go, have seen about 25 since Saturday


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 30, 2012)

I saw Batman and The Dark Knight and they're worse the second time round. They're just awful awful films. Nolan can't write for shit. I have no idea what people see in him and his films. If you like his films you're a fucking idiot.
The plots of all his films are so boring and incoherent. Fuck Off Nolan. Fuck Off. 
And fuck off Bale.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 30, 2012)

I also saw Down Terrace, which really pissed me off too as it has such a ludicrous plot which totally clashes with the gritty realist look and feel of it. Still, it was thought provoking as I am still musing on it a few days later. A very odd film.


----------



## TruXta (Oct 30, 2012)

Calm down dear, it's just a film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 30, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Calm down dear, it's just a film.


Sometimes he's like a foul-mouthed Victor Meldrew.   Nothing ever pleases him.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 30, 2012)

That's bullshit though. Those films pissed me off as they wasted my time. I like plenty of films.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 30, 2012)

How about this one?


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 30, 2012)

I have only just been reading about that last week. I have not seen it.


----------



## starfish (Oct 30, 2012)

A Scanner Darkly. Thought it was pretty good but sort of lost the plot a bit towards the end as kept on dropping off. Will have to watch it again when not so sleepy.


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 31, 2012)

*High* *School* 2010 Brilliant stoner movie loved the demented Dr summat or other played by the bald guy outta the shield. Adrien Brody also's good innit as Phycho Ed specially when he starts talkin to his pet frog, that had me in bloody stitches. Infact i laughed most of me way threw it! Cant beat films that put a smile on yer face eh.,.,,.,/


----------



## magneze (Oct 31, 2012)

Ill Manors
Grim but great. Really well put together, with good acting, story and characters.
9/10


----------



## TruXta (Oct 31, 2012)

Just finished Chronicle, about a bunch of teenagers who develop superpowers. Interesting take on the genre, but ultimately a deeply conventional moral allegory about powers and responsibilities.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Oct 31, 2012)

*A Horrible Way To Die (2010)*
A recovering alcoholic starts dating a new man she has met at her Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Meanwhile her ex-boyfriend, a serial killer she helped convict, escapes from prison & comes looking for her.
Ignore the slasher film type title and if you get past the overly shakey camera work this is a well acted, smart, horror/thriller which relies more on character development than action or scares.


----------



## Reno (Nov 1, 2012)

The Spanish 80s horror film _Anguish_, by Bigas Luna (who became more of an art house director in the 90s). Very odd film which is really two films in one. A gory film about a homicidal eye surgeon turns out to be a horror film watched by an audience in an LA cinema after 20 minutes, who are also stalked by a killer. Has a cult following, but doesn't quite work because it doesn't really develop either story enough and the punch line is not that difficult to guess. Stars Zelda Rubinstein, the medium from Poltergeist.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 1, 2012)

Cockneys vs Zombies
I laughed a lot. Brick Top carried the film really.   Zoe from eastenders plays a locksmith and gets some good lines/tight jeans


----------



## TruXta (Nov 1, 2012)

Saw most of Hannibal on the telly last night. Had forgotten how poor it is in relation to SotL.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 1, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Just finished Chronicle, about a bunch of teenagers who develop superpowers. Interesting take on the genre, but ultimately a deeply conventional moral allegory about powers and responsibilities.


 

The found footage angle was interesting but you culd tell from the start who was going to do a Magneto and of course who would die first.

Still, I gave it 6/10 for entertainment. Worth it alone for the scenes where they are just fucking about with new found powers


----------



## TruXta (Nov 1, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> The found footage angle was interesting but you culd tell from the start who was going to do a Magneto and of course who would die first.
> 
> Still, I gave it 6/10 for entertainment. Worth it alone for the scenes where they are just fucking about with new found powers


It reminded me of Heroes in the end. Never a good thing.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 1, 2012)

Moon 

Really good . it's nice to see a decent low budget sci fi film


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 1, 2012)

Red Road. Laugh a minute.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 1, 2012)

I didn't watch anything last night but on Tuesday night i watched. American Werewolf in London. It was pretty funny, the effects were proper shit but i like that kind of thing. I thought the nurse was a right filthy minx! 
Later tonight we're gonna try Iron Sky again. Crispy vetoed it on Friday night! *mad*


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 1, 2012)

Total Recall 2012 ~ Monumentally shit, painful to watch and overall boring. Not a patch on the original.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 2, 2012)

The Pact - I thought it was shit. Pretty scary in places but quite thin in the way the plot, which wasn't too bad, was carried out.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 2, 2012)

Madagascar 3 ~ I rather enjoyed it the 1st time I watched it, my four year old daughter loves it, so I've seen it five six times now.

RA DA DADADA DADA DA DADA _CIRCUS _ DA DADADA DADA DA _AFRO CIRCUS AFRO_ CIRCUS AFRO POLKA DOT _POLKA DOT AFRO etc. (best enjoyed in the company of a sugar rushing hyperactive 4 year old)._

__


----------



## magneze (Nov 3, 2012)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> Juan of the Dead. Pretty funny, would watch again


We watched this last night. It's good, really enjoyable.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 3, 2012)

Watched two films last night. Black Sheep - Kiwi film about zombie sheep. Pretty funny if you like that sort of thing. But they get saved at the end. I prefer the zombie films where pretty much everyone fucking dies.

Then put Where The Wild Things Are on at bedtime. I fell asleep pretty soon into the film due to massive overconsumption of wine but I've seen it before... Great film quite sad though.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 3, 2012)

Finished off the complete box set of "Dark Skies".


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 3, 2012)

^^^ old school. More resolution than x-files iirc


LAst ting I watched was Iron Skies, which was nazis on the moon. About as good as you'd think, 8/10


----------



## TruXta (Nov 3, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> ^^^ old school. More resolution than x-files iirc
> 
> 
> LAst ting I watched was Iron Skies, which was nazis on the moon. About as good as you'd think, 8/10


I might watch that hungover tomorrow.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 3, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> ^^^ old school. More resolution than x-files iirc


 
I think they addressed the "conspiracy theory" aspects a lot more sensibly than the X-Files did, with even some of the believers being semi-sceptical, and with Bach's cover-ups being much more straightforward and instrumental (to the good of the US) than cancer man's cover-ups were.
That said, I still like the X-Files, I just wish "Dark Skies" had been given a chance.

Plus, Jeri Ryan looked well good in a business suit!


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2012)

ViolentPanda said:


> I think they addressed the "conspiracy theory" aspects a lot more sensibly than the X-Files did, with even some of the believers being semi-sceptical, and with Bach's cover-ups being much more straightforward and instrumental (to the good of the US) than cancer man's cover-ups were.
> That said, I still like the X-Files, I just wish "Dark Skies" had been given a chance.
> 
> Plus, Jeri Ryan looked well good in a business suit!


 
I tried to get into Dark Skies but never could. It just wasn't anywhere near the same quality of The X-Files when that show was good.

The X-Files is always talked about now like it was a show about one conspiracy with one overarching plot. Most people seem to have forgotten that it was primarily an anthology show with a different monster/mystery every week and that's where it's strength was. Nearly all the best episodes were stand alones. The episodes that made up the overall story arch were only small handful every season.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 3, 2012)

My favourite episodes of the x files are the two with eugene tooms, the stretchy serial killer


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> My favourite episodes of the x files are the two with eugene tooms, the stretchy serial killer


 
The first Tooms episode was where I started to realise that the show is something special. But I think there were better episodes to come, especially the ones written by Darin Morgan. His _Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'_ and _Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose_ are two of my favourite hours of TV drama ever. Vince Gilligan, who later created Breaking Bad, also wrote several fantastic X-Files episodes.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> I tried to get into Dark Skies but never could. It just wasn't anywhere near the same quality of The X-Files when that show was good.
> 
> The X-Files is always talked about now like it was a show about one conspiracy with one overarching plot. Most people seem to have forgotten that it was primarily an anthology show with a different monster/mystery every week and that's where it's strength was. Nearly all the best episodes were stand alones. The episodes that made up the overall story arch were only small handful every season.


 
X-Files had ten seasons from which to pick your favourite episodes. Dark Skies had 19 episodes, including the pilot. Not really a fair comparison.


----------



## renegadechicken (Nov 3, 2012)

Watched Fire with Fire last night. It was okay just a typical man out for revenge against bad guy thing, left me feeling meh.


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2012)

ViolentPanda said:


> X-Files had ten seasons from which to pick your favourite episodes. Dark Skies had 19 episodes, including the pilot. Not really a fair comparison.


 
I stuck with The X-Files and threw in the towel with Dark Skies after a few episodes. For Dark Skies you really have to be a fan of sci-fi shows to stick with it. There is a reason why X-Files became a crossover hit and became a success with people who don't generally search out those type of shows. It was just a lot more sophisticated in terms of characterisation, production values and quality of writing.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> I stuck with The X-Files and threw in the towel with Dark Skies after a few episodes. For Dark Skies you really have to be a fan of sci-fi shows to stick with it. There is a reason why X-Files became a crossover hit and became a success with people who don't generally search out those type of shows. It was just a lot more sophisticated in terms of characterisation, production values and quality of writing.


 
You don't like sci-fi shows? 

What sort of vile pervert are you???  

Where's my burning brand?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 3, 2012)

there was a really good one about luminous maneating beetles. shit, there were loads of ace ones. the big plot with the aliens and coverups and black goo and mulder's missing sister got a bit tedious after a while


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2012)

ViolentPanda said:


> You don't like sci-fi shows?
> 
> What sort of vile pervert are you???
> 
> Where's my burning brand?


 
I'm more of a horror fan, so when it comes to genre shows I will watch something like The Walking Dead, True Blood or American Horror Story, but I tend to give up on most sci-fi shows. I liked The X-Files because it was as much horror as it was sci-fi. The last sci-fi show I stuck with for a while was the Battlestar Galactica remake, which was a cut above the rest, before it jumped the shark in season 3. Most sci-fi shows I find pretty poor when it comes to characterisation and I need interesting characters to keep me watching a show

The shows I like the best are character driven shows so I tend to like dramas like Mad Men or Breaking Bad the best.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> I'm more of a horror fan, so when it comes to genre shows I will watch something like The Walking Dead, True Blood or American Horror Story, but I tend to give up on most sci-fi shows. I liked The X-Files because it was as much horror as it was sci-fi. The last sci-fi show I stuck with (for 3 seasons at least) was the Battlestar Galactica remake. which was a cut above the rest before it jumped the shark in season 3. Most sci-fi shows I do find pretty poor when it comes to writing.
> 
> On the whole I prefer character driven shows over plot driven shows and I tend to like dramas like Mad Men or Breaking Bad the best.


No Fringe for Reno?


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2012)

TruXta said:


> No Fringe for Reno?


 
I watched that for 1.5 seasons because a friend insisted I should stick with it. I thought it was the opposite from The X-Files. I found the overall story arch episodes intriguing, but thought the "monster of the week" episodes were mostly threading water. With season 2 I lost patience. I was hoping it would properly explore the alternate universe, but it went back to reset, with more filler "wacky thing of the week" episodes. I can see why people like it, it's good for what it is, but it's not my thing.

Still better than Lost where I lasted four episodes.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 3, 2012)

i found fringe a bit over the top. and boring.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> I watched that for 1.5 seasons because a friend insisted I should stick with it. I thought it was the opposite from The X-Files. I found the overall story arch episodes intriguing, but thought the "monster of the week" episodes were mostly threading water. With season 2 I lost patience. I was hoping it would properly explore the alternate universe, but it went back to reset, with more filler "wacky thing of the week" episodes. I can see why people like it, it's good for what it is, but it's not my thing.
> 
> Still better than Lost where I lasted four episodes.


 
It got a lot more into the alternative universe in later seasons.


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2012)

TruXta said:


> It got a lot more into the alternative universe in later seasons.


 
I only have so much time and I'm not watching 70 hours of telly till a show till it gets good.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> I only have so much time and I'm not watching 70 hours of telly till a show till it gets good.


 
I didn't say it got better (altho it does). Season 2 was by far the poorest IMO. I've seen up to the first 5 of S4.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 3, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> *there was a really good one about luminous maneating beetles*. shit, there were loads of ace ones. the big plot with the aliens and coverups and black goo and mulder's missing sister got a bit tedious after a while


 

they were flies and they came from the inside of an ancient redwood that got cut open.

I also liked the one one where a silicon lifeform infects people and grows aspike out of their throat.

and the cockroaches one


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 3, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> they were flies and they came from the inside of an ancient redwood that got cut open.
> 
> I also liked the one one where a silicon lifeform infects people and grows aspike out of their throat.
> 
> and the cockroaches one


there were some really lame ones too like the alien baseball player one.
the most creepy episode i remember is the one with the limbless woman who lives under a bed and has mutant kids from incest with her own sons


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> there were some really lame ones too like the alien baseball player one.
> the most creepy episode i remember is the one with the limbless woman who lives under a bed and has mutant kids from incest with her own sons


 
That one was great and was called _Home_. It was The X-Files doing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Hills Have Eyes.

I liked the alien baseball player one. I thought it was quite funny and its generally well regarded.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 3, 2012)

Syzgy is not only a very funny episode its also a great scrabble word!

Just re-watched Iron Sky for the lols, theres a great downfall parody in it. A parody of a much parodied thing. I mainly make this face during that scene







onwards to Juan of the Dead


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 3, 2012)

syzygy


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 3, 2012)

TruXta said:


> I didn't say it got better (altho it does). Season 2 was by far the poorest IMO. I've seen up to the first 5 of S4.


 
Season 4 is very good, kind of goes in a somewhat unexpected direction in the last handful of episodes.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 3, 2012)

ViolentPanda said:


> Season 4 is very good, kind of goes in a somewhat unexpected direction in the last handful of episodes.


Excellent, need to get back on that horse.


----------



## Garek (Nov 4, 2012)

_The Pawnbroker_

One of the best acted, written and directed films I have seen in a long time.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 4, 2012)

Last night I re-watched Good Will Hunting. Don't really like Matt Damon but he's pretty good in this. And fell asleep to Doomsday which I've also seen before. Its like three films in one,  so bad its good!

Rewatched The Edukators this morning. Good film, great soundtrack. Although Sunday mornings aren't the best for subtitles :/


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 4, 2012)

Looper ~ Pretty good, providing you ignore the huge holes in the plot it's well worth watching.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 4, 2012)

Robocop

Good as ever.

Onwards to Surf Nazis Must Die

Its a feast of highbrow entertainment at chez commie


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 4, 2012)

Pretty dull Troma.


----------



## killer b (Nov 4, 2012)

Bande a part

Although, its actually on now.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 4, 2012)

The Watch ~Kinnda funny, but not hilarious. Decent cast, some good one liners but it should have been better.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 4, 2012)

Inbred. Pretty good. Nice to hear an Oldham accent as well.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 4, 2012)

Watched the original Producers this afternoon for the first time in a couple of decades. Some great laugh out loud moments and a couple of great performances by Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 4, 2012)

Just finished Head Hunters by Morten Tyldum. Great fun, well acted, very nicely shot and all round good times. Exactly what I needed of a Sunday evening.


----------



## Reno (Nov 4, 2012)

Frances Lengel said:


> Inbred. Pretty good. Nice to hear an Oldham accent as well.


 
This one gets my vote for worst film of the year.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 4, 2012)

At least it's not in space though.


----------



## Reno (Nov 4, 2012)

Frances Lengel said:


> At least it's not in space though.


 
Oh right, that was you ! It's all starting to make sense.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 4, 2012)

Watched The Lost Boys with my mum yesterday. She said it was shit, 'like that Goonies film we watched a while back.' Me? I'd forgotten about Tim Capello. Kind of wish it had stayed that way.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 4, 2012)

sacked surf nazis off for being shit and watched Jumper, the Rats of Nimh. Both made loads of sense


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 4, 2012)

Told you it was shit.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 5, 2012)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. OMFG Gary Oldman looks proper well erm old now! Can't say much about the film because I lost concentration. The boy enjoyed it and we.normally like fairly similar stuff so might give it another go at some point...


----------



## Reno (Nov 5, 2012)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. OMFG Gary Oldman looks proper well erm old now! .



He plays a character older than himself, so he also got aged with make up.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 5, 2012)

Reno said:


> He plays a character older than himself, so he also got aged with make up.



That makes a lot of sense! I just presumed he looked old from being ravaged by drug abuse :/


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 5, 2012)

The Squad - low (very low) budget Colombian sort-of-thriller. Bunch of Colombian army chappies must explore and hold a spooky deserted old base, wreathed in impenetrable fog high up in the Andes. Deserted except for a creepy woman captive in chains, that is. can you guess what happens next? Yes, they all go quickly round the bend and meet a variety of sticky ends.

Basically it's every single "lost patrol" movie you've ever seen (K Point, Dog Soldiers, etc etc) but without the gore or much of the suspense. However, might be of marginal interest to some because of the Colombian subtext (racial tensions between the men, dilemmas of fighting a guerrilla force embedded in the population, army pyschos vs army conformists, the only 'caring' characters saying 'look I'm sick of the whole thing, I'm going home' etc.). And quite well-controlled visually.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 5, 2012)

Dont be Afraid of the Dark
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1270761/

Like a modern age Gremlins but not as funny or as lasting. Could have been better but still good - evil fairies want childrens teeth and try and drag them into the underworld.

South Park - 6 Days to Air
http://collider.com/south-park-6-days-to-air-trailer/117453/

Brilliant insight into how SP is made and the incredibly tight deadlines they work to. The creators have a laugh but they work really fucking hard as well. Excellent stuff.

http://www.watchdocumentary.tv/ancient-world-hypatia-of-alexandria-documentary/
Also excellent. Fucking Christians


----------



## Firky (Nov 5, 2012)

*Total Recall (2012)*

Even the thooper dooper CGI dystopian Blade Runner style city was too highly polished. 

*Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.*


----------



## Firky (Nov 5, 2012)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> That makes a lot of sense! I just presumed he looked old from being ravaged by drug abuse :/


 
In the book he's a knackered old man who really can't be arsed with anything.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 5, 2012)

That's his cover.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 5, 2012)

I watched A Time For Drunken Horses. What an amazing film.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 5, 2012)

Yes, it is.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 5, 2012)

Just downloading Turtles Can Fly


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 5, 2012)

Frances Lengel said:


> Inbred. Pretty good. Nice to hear an Oldham accent as well.


 
I just watched it, good but disturbingly odd. That boozer the 'dirty hole' reminded me of drinking in Dreghorn in Ayrshire on a Sunday afternoon. Catchy tune tho.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 5, 2012)

Campaign ~ i tried really hard not to like it, it's not that great... BUT the line "i went to the petting zoo and let the goat lick my penis" was the start of a few minutes of dialogue which just cracked me up.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 6, 2012)

Let The Right One In - Bit boring.


----------



## Reno (Nov 6, 2012)

Frances Lengel said:


> Let The Right One In - Bit boring.


 

You really preferred _Inbred_ ?


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 6, 2012)

I must be some sort of philistine.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 6, 2012)

Watched Igby Goes Down last night. I liked the story but some of the acting wasn't great. I felt quite sorry for Igby his family  seemed like dicks. Easy Sunday night viewing would watch again.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 7, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> I watched A Time For Drunken Horses. What an amazing film.


 
Watched it last night, I wholeheartedly concur, brilliant.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 7, 2012)

Straight Time - Pretty good. 70's as fuck.


----------



## Jackobi (Nov 7, 2012)

Reno said:


> You really preferred _Inbred_ ?


 
I was very disappointed with Inbred, it had so much potential.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 7, 2012)

Following on from a recommendation on this thread I watched Harolds going stiff last night. Brilliant film, reallyfunny. The documentary style really worked. The relationship between Harold and the nurse was really sweet and added a lot of comedy value. Def recommend.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 8, 2012)

Urban Explorer - a terrible slasher in which young people go urban exploring in the Berlin underground.
A derivative and charmless waste of time but it did have a couple of funny stereotypical jokes about the supposed German character.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 8, 2012)

Goon. Not as bad as I expected but still not great. 6/10.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 8, 2012)

Red. Story about some guy getting revenge after some punks kill his dog. Pretty good, even though its a very simple tale. It's a lesson not to piss old people off, they've not got a lot to lose


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 8, 2012)

Texas Killing Fields. Rather odd attempt to be well arty (in lighting and generally noirish grungy mood) while still casting superHollywood faces (Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain). Uncomfortably sexist and a bit boring tbh. I'm not sure if it's a real Texas coast accent but Worthington swallows all his words down so fast I had to watch it with subtitles on. Some quite moody art direction and landscape shots but overall a bit of a waste of time.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 8, 2012)

The Lady from Shanghai.

While I was initially unconvinced by Orson Welles' Behanesque Irish broth-of-a-boy sailor, this was one film that just got better and better and never stopped. Absolutely excellent, and I got it off Youtube as well.

"They say you killed a man".

"It was in Spain. . . he was a Franco spy".

"Well, I was on a pro-Franco committee during that war. . . what do you think of that?"

I had also previously been unaware of the charms of Rita Hayworth, and have been fully converted to same. . .


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 8, 2012)

A Midsummer Night's Dream.  The one with Kline as Bottom - love the Mechanicals in this, Rockwell is good.  Flockhart seems outclassed acting-wise early but seems to grow into it.   Bale doesn't do much but that's Demetrius anyway.


----------



## Reno (Nov 8, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The Lady from Shanghai.
> 
> While I was initially unconvinced by Orson Welles' Behanesque Irish broth-of-a-boy sailor, this was one film that just got better and better and never stopped. Absolutely excellent, and I got it off Youtube as well.
> 
> ...



It's my favourite Welles film and like most of his films, it just gets better the more you watch it.


----------



## Reno (Nov 8, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> A Midsummer Night's Dream.  The one with Kline as Bottom - love the Mechanicals in this, Rockwell is good.  Flockhart seems outclassed acting-wise early but seems to grow into it.   Bale doesn't do much but that's Demetrius anyway.



Have you seen the 30's version with James Cagney ? It's lovely and still the one to beat.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 8, 2012)

No, I was looking for it last night on youtube but it only seemed to have small clips.   Cagney had no Shakespearean knowledge but was apparently great - as Bottom, I think.


----------



## Reno (Nov 8, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> No, I was looking for it last night on youtube but it only seemed to have small clips.   Cagney had no Shakespearean knowledge but was apparently great - as Bottom, I think.



Yes, he was great as Bottom via Brooklyn. Purists may have been appalled, but I thought he was charming and funny. The film itself is simply gorgeous, still one of the most beautiful fantasy films ever made.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 8, 2012)

Killer Joe ~ disturbing in parts, but worth watching.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 8, 2012)

Reno said:


> Yes, he was great as Bottom via Brooklyn. Purists may have been appalled, but I thought he was charming and funny. The film itself is simply gorgeous, still one of the most beautiful fantasy films ever made.


Just googling Cagney's Bottom...should be fine.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 9, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I also saw Down Terrace, which really pissed me off too as it has such a ludicrous plot which totally clashes with the gritty realist look and feel of it. Still, it was thought provoking as I am still musing on it a few days later. A very odd film.


 
"Have you got a web presence?"

*beat*

"Not yet."


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 9, 2012)

Tracker.

A 2010 New Zealand and UK co-production, starring Ray Winstone as an Afrikaner man hunter, and Temeura Morison trying to get back to the land of his fathers in Aotearoa's south island. He finds this difficult, as there is a price on his head, and Winstone intends to collect it.

As the casting suggests, this is very much an Odd Couple film. There's also a strong streak of hokum, and a big dose of "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do".

Apart from the ending, which is a bit of a cop-out, it's all pretty well done, and I'd give it 8 out of 10. The NZ scenery is predictably amazing. If mountain ranges like The Remarkables were the only thing that made you tolerate the Lord of the Rings, you could probably get some enjoyment out of this one.

Like most of the movies I see these days, it's available on youtube, or at least it was when I downloaded it.

Question: how many more non-western westerns are there? I mean, flicks that use all the tropes of the western genre, but aren't actually set in America's Old West.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 9, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Question: how many more non-western westerns are there? I mean, flicks that use all the tropes of the western genre, but aren't actually set in America's Old West.


Lots of Asian westerns I'd guess. Australian? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Australian_Western_films


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 9, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Question: how many more non-western westerns are there? I mean, flicks that use all the tropes of the western genre, but aren't actually set in America's Old West.


 
Been watching a few Soviet ones recently (or Western-like, in that such films influenced the directors), set in early twentieth-century Central Asia. Here and here.


----------



## Reno (Nov 9, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Question: how many more non-western westerns are there? I mean, flicks that use all the tropes of the western genre, but aren't actually set in America's Old West.


 
The German Heimat film was a popular genre, mostly from the 40s and 50s, which used a lot of Western tropes. They were about rural farming communities and conflicts and they were tied to their Alpine landscape just like the Western was to its terrain.

Australia has made quite a few Outback Westerns, like The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (my favourite Aussie film ever), The Proposition and Red Hill.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 9, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Question: how many more non-western westerns are there? I mean, flicks that use all the tropes of the western genre, but aren't actually set in America's Old West.


 
How about _Utu_? Another NZ one.


----------



## Firky (Nov 9, 2012)

Ted

Pretty bad, got a couple of smirks here and there but meh.. Not my humour.


----------



## Me76 (Nov 10, 2012)

Ill Manors. 

Found it operatic and sick making at different times. But found the last 30 minutes disconnected from the rest of the film.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 10, 2012)

Attack the Block  Alien invasion comes up against south london mandems.

Bits of it were amusing


----------



## Garek (Nov 11, 2012)

I watched half an hours worth of _The Crying Game_. What god awful load of Yankee schmaltz.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 11, 2012)

Rec 3 - Was alright, didn't fit in with the first two though.


----------



## Mapped (Nov 11, 2012)

firky said:


> Ted
> 
> Pretty bad, got a couple of smirks here and there but meh.. Not my humour.


 
i read some quite good reviews when it came out. I've got it to watch tomorrow night


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 11, 2012)

Chernobyl Diaries was proper shit. 

Cockneys vs Zombies weren't much cop either but had amusing moments.


----------



## Reno (Nov 11, 2012)

Garek said:


> I watched half an hours worth of _The Crying Game_. What god awful load of Yankee schmaltz.


 
What about this film is "Yankee" apart from one US actor who croaks 20 minutes into the film.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 11, 2012)

Attack the Block - great fun
Conspirators of Pleasure - er, interesting


----------



## Me76 (Nov 11, 2012)

Training Day. I had forgotten a lot but it's not as good as I remember.


----------



## Garek (Nov 11, 2012)

Reno said:


> What about this film is "Yankee" apart from one US actor who croaks 20 minutes into the film.


 
It seemed aimed at an American audience   am I wrong? All the "highly charged", "emotional" scenes with more strings playing than you could shake a stick at just said to me American.


----------



## Reno (Nov 11, 2012)

Garek said:


> It seemed aimed at an American audience  am I wrong? All the "highly charged", "emotional" scenes with more strings playing than you could shake a stick at just said to me American.


 
There is a point to why the film overdoes the romantic yearning at the start. Half way through one of the most famous plot twists in cinema history subverts everything you have seen before and then it becomes a rather transgressive film for its time.


----------



## Garek (Nov 11, 2012)

Reno said:


> There is a point to why the film overdoes the romantic yearning at the start. Half way through one of the most famous plot twists in cinema history subverts everything you have seen before and then it becomes a rather transgressive film for its time.


 
Well maybe I will give it another chance. I think I have a suspicion what the twist might be. The first bit just didn't grab me.


----------



## Reno (Nov 11, 2012)

The Spanish psycho-thriller _Sleep Tight_ by Jaume Balaguero, clearly the more talented of the two co-directors of [Rec] and [REC]2.

For once it's a film about a psycho whose main thing isn't to kill or physically torture people. Cesar can only be happy when he makes other people deeply unhappy. As he is the caretaker of a posh apartment building, who has access to his tenant's flats, he has plenty of opportunity to ruin lives and goes about it in various inventive ways.

Excellent, a proper suspense film, very stylish and with a nasty sense of humour. If they remake it for Hollywood I can already see how different the ending will be. Loved the nasty little girl who may be the only one who is his match.

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1437358/


----------



## Reno (Nov 11, 2012)

_We Are the Night_. German vampire film set in contemporary Berlin and trading on the city's history and perceived cool, which attempts a bit of a feminist spin on the genre. Not great, but also not as terrible as most contemporary German horror films.

Its main asset is star Nina Hoss as the leader of an all female vampire 'family' who just made a new recruit. She is may be the most high profile German actress at the moment, thanks to the films she does with Christian Petzold (Barbara, Jericho, Yella), which are among the few current German films to get wider international acclaim, so I was surprised she'd be in something like this.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 12, 2012)

The other night I watched Perfect Sense, with ewan mcgregor and eva green.

Whole world loses sense of taste, then smell, then hearing, then sight.  Fucking depressing.

Followed by a BBC4 doc about the moon, which is apparently going to kill us.  Wonderful.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 12, 2012)

N1 Buoy said:


> i read some quite good reviews when it came out. I've got it to watch tomorrow night


 
Not sure why, I expected much more from McFarlane but it does have a very hollywood feel to it, which is good, but the humour could have been a bit more subtle. Still worth watching though


----------



## Mapped (Nov 12, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Not sure why, I expected much more from McFarlane but it does have a very hollywood feel to it, which is good, but the humour could have been a bit more subtle. Still worth watching though


 
Might stick it on tonight. Mrs is very keen on watching it.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> _We Are the Night_. German vampire film set in contemporary Berlin and trading on the city's history and perceived cool, which attempts a bit of a feminist spin on the genre. Not great, but also not as terrible as most contemporary German horror films.
> 
> Its main asset is star Nina Hoss as the leader of an all female vampire 'family' who just made a new recruit. She is may be the most high profile German actress at the moment, thanks to the films she does with Christian Petzold (Barbara, Jericho, Yella), which are among the few current German films to get wider international acclaim, so I was surprised she'd be in something like this.


Any reccs for decent German horror from the last 20-25 years? I think the last one I saw was the Nosferatu with Klaus Kinski IIRC.


----------



## Reno (Nov 12, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Any reccs for decent German horror from the last 20-25 years? I think the last one I saw was the Nosferatu with Klaus Kinski IIRC.


 
Not really. It's all rather poor which is a shame, considering the Germans were so groundbreaking in shaping the horror genre in the 20s. German mainstream commercial film-making tends to be rubbish on the whole. The zombie film _Rammbock (_also known as_ Siege of the Dead_ and_ Berlin Undead_) is the best of a poor bunch. _Anatomy_ from a few years back was very successful, but I didn't rate it. I checked out the Dario Argento homage _Masks_ a couple of weeks ago, which was also rather poor.

Over the last decade France, Spain, Scandinavia and surprisingly enough Belgium have been the European countries to make some decent horror films.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 12, 2012)

Cheers, Reno. I've got a bunch of stuff from the last 10 years or so on my HD just waiting for that perfect night...


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Any reccs for decent German horror from the last 20-25 years? I think the last one I saw was the Nosferatu with Klaus Kinski IIRC.


don't bother with Urban Explorer. that's not German though I suppose, just set in Berlin


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 12, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Any reccs for decent German horror from the last 20-25 years? I think the last one I saw was the Nosferatu with Klaus Kinski IIRC.


Hororry'
The Child i Never Was. Have a look at Michael as well.

edit: bugger, second is austrian,


----------



## TruXta (Nov 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Hororry'
> The Child i Never Was. Have a look at Michael as well.
> 
> edit: bugger, second is austrian,


 Fuck, those look grim. Cheers anyway, guv.


----------



## Reno (Nov 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Hororry'
> The Child i Never Was. Have a look at Michael as well.
> 
> edit: bugger, second is austrian,


 
I hated _Michael_. Poor Michael Haneke wannabe which does everything as expected from that sort of film.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> I hated _Michael_. Poor Michael Haneke wannabe which does everything as expected from that sort of film.


The Haneke stuff is true (he was his casting director or something like that) - that was always in my mind whilst watching it. That said, it was a far better film that dogtooth which is the other one that people often mention when they discuss Haneke.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2012)

dogtooth was awful. all self-conscious kookiness.


----------



## Reno (Nov 12, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> The Haneke stuff is true (he was his casting director or something like that) - that was always in my mind whilst watching it. That said, it was a far better film that dogtooth which is the other one that people often mention when they discuss Haneke.


 
Yes, I hate Dogtooth even more. Bloody irritating artsploitaion quirkfest.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 12, 2012)

A couple of flicks I'd seen before, but which worth a second look.

Goodbye Pork Pie. Three Kiwis enjoy a holiday of crime from one end of New Zealand to another. First NZ movie to make a profit at the local box office. Indirect evidence of the conformity of NZ society at the time, I'd wager.

A Foreign Affair. Jean Arthur is a Palin type US Congresswoman whose frosty exterior hides a seething mass of repressed sexual hysteria and loneliness. She thinks she's fallen for a Berlin-based US officer (this is 1948), played by John Lund, but unknown to her he's already with an ex-Nazi nightclub singer played by Marlene Dietrich. Not only that, but she doesn't know is that Marlene is being used as bait to draw out an ex-Nazi war criminal in hiding in the American sector. Not quite as noirish as I've made it sound, but interestingly grim. Billy Wilder directs.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 12, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> A couple of flicks I'd seen before, but which worth a second look.
> 
> Goodbye Pork Pie. Three Kiwis enjoy a holiday of crime from one end of New Zealand to another. First NZ movie to make a profit at the local box office. Indirect evidence of the conformity of NZ society at the time, I'd wager.


 
Really enjoyed that one - reminded me of restless natives.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 12, 2012)

Wild Bill - surprisingly not-cringeworthy-in-places british pic veering towards straight-to-dvd lad cliches in places, but with some interesting dialogue (tho a bit stagey in places) and decent performances (as well as some dire ones). takes an unexpectedly complicated ambivalent tone at the end, so unusually subtle take on the ol' excon-heads-home plot. more than decent soundtrack as well.

Take Shelter - Michael Shannon goes bonkers at great length in a an arty doomy psych sort-of-thriller which is more unnerving than exciting. If you liked Jacob's Ladder it might grab you. No shocks, and it drags like a draggy thing for (IMO) over half an hour more than it should. But interestingly downbeat style and I guess after SuperMegaFrankenStorm Sandy it might be read as a prescient bit of anxiety-plumbing.


Killer Joe - absolutely barkingly OTT Wiliam Friedkin who is (I guess) doing the whole film as a giant pisstake of red-state america. Bit like the grungy mood of Texas Killing Fields but put on acid and driven over  a cliff. Has great energy in parts, gleefully black-hearted in a way I usually like, but honestly couldn't decide if i thought the gore and woman-abusing was necessarily sick or just wannabe Tarantino by-the-numbers 'violence is just another colour' bullshit. but I guess better to finish a film thinking 'well wtf was that?" rather than 'Christ I'm bored'. Matthew McConaughey makes a great villain but rest of the cast can't really ramp it up enough to match.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Nov 12, 2012)

Yesterday we watched Payback Season. Pretty awful brit film about an boy who gets away from life on an estate but then gets caught up in trouble again. Script was utter shite and acting was rubbish. Don't bother even if it is 'free' on lovefilm.

We also watched Tyrannosaur. Pretty grim and intense for a Sunday night... It was quite shocking. I havent quite made my.mind up about it yet...


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 12, 2012)

Last night we watched The Crow (again).  This film has lost none of its charm and the soundtrack has improved with age.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> The Spanish psycho-thriller _Sleep Tight_ by Jaume Balaguero, clearly the more talented of the two co-directors of [Rec] and [REC]2.
> 
> For once it's a film about a psycho whose main thing isn't to kill or physically torture people. Cesar can only be happy when he makes other people deeply unhappy. As he is the caretaker of a posh apartment building, who has access to his tenant's flats, he has plenty of opportunity to ruin lives and goes about it in various inventive ways.
> 
> ...


 
Top film.


----------



## RaverDrew (Nov 13, 2012)

firky said:


> Ted
> 
> Pretty bad, got a couple of smirks here and there but meh.. Not my humour.


 
I saw TED last week, but before I watched it I thought I'd have a look at the trailer and see what it was all about. The film was basically a few gags that were already included in the 2 min trailer, the other hour and a half was just padding between the jokes I'd already seen


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 13, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Really enjoyed that one - reminded me of restless natives.


 
Roger that. I still haven't seen Restless Natives, but I intend to.

Anyway, last night I had a look at Hitchcock's Rope, from a Patrick Hamilton play inspired by the Leopold and Loeb murder case. His canny use of extended shots allows it to transcend being a mere filmed play, and turns it into a proper piece of cinema.


----------



## Reno (Nov 13, 2012)

I got my Hitchcock Blu-ray set yesterday and re-watched _The Birds_. Still as great as ever. I always liked how Jessica Tandy looks like and older version of Tippi Hedren, even though they are at odds. And this is where Veronica Cartwright started her career as being the mercy of various evil critters in horror films (see also Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers)


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 13, 2012)

Watched that 'Submarine' in the telly.

Pretty much coming of age indie by numbers. All the montages, downtrodden hero, stand off 'tough' girlfriend, parents breakdown.
Just about watchable enough, but I could have turned off at any time and not felt like I missed something.
Maybe I just expected more.

The one good bit was where the lad says that he imagines one moment in the film of his life to be a a jib shot pulling back and up into the air, but expects that if they did do a film of his life all they could afford was a zoom out. Which is what the accompanying shot is.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2012)

I thought it conveyed the self-centeredness of teenage boys very well indeed. He's no hero, just a shit like all the other kids he is so snooty about.


----------



## electroplated (Nov 13, 2012)

End of Watch - not half bad actually.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 13, 2012)

I got to _Wild Bill_ expecting the worst, but it was really rather splendid. Good to see that Charlie Creed-Miles has sorted his act out. Even Leo Gregory was bearable.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 13, 2012)

Reno said:


> I got my Hitchcock Blu-ray set yesterday and re-watched _The Birds_. Still as great as ever. I always liked how Jessica Tandy looks like and older version of Tippi Hedren, even though they are at odds. And this is where Veronica Cartwright started her career as being the mercy of various evil critters in horror films (see also Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers)


 
I forgot to mention that I rewatched _To Catch a Thief _the other day. Hitchcock takes Cary Grant to post-war Nice and Cannes. Grant plays a cat burglar who went straight after fighting for the French resistance in the war. But has he _really _gone straight? A sudden spate of jewel thievery suggests not.

Here Reno, what did you think of that one? Could it be considered a dry run for _North by Northwest?_


----------



## Reno (Nov 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> I forgot to mention that I rewatched _To Catch a Thief _the other day. Hitchcock takes Cary Grant to post-war Nice and Cannes. Grant plays a cat burglar who went straight after fighting for the French resistance in the war. But has he _really _gone straight? A sudden spate of jewel thievery suggests not.
> 
> Here Reno, what did you think of that one? Could it be considered a dry run for _North by Northwest?_


 
I like it even if it isn't quite top tier Hitchcock for me. I prefer his darker, more twisted films. Grant and Grace Kelly are always great to watch though.


----------



## belboid (Nov 13, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Could it be considered a dry run for _North by Northwest?_


 
In what way?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2012)

belboid said:


> In what way?


it has cary grant running in it


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 13, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> it has cary grant running in it


 
And there's a scene with him on a roof, instead on top of Mt. Rushmore.


----------



## Reno (Nov 13, 2012)

...and Grant accused of something he may not have done.

Previous Hitchcock spy thrillers like The 39 Steps, Saboteur and Foreign Corresponded are more of a dry run for North by Northwest though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2012)

he also rocks a snappy suit in both films. Especially so in NBNW


----------



## Reno (Nov 13, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> he also rocks a snappy suit in both films. Especially so in NBNW


 
There are few films where he didn't rock a snappy suit. He was a top style icon.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2012)

i would love his blue suit from NBNW.
eta: he wears this in TCAT:





i have a sweater just like that, but do i look cool in it? do i fuck. paul smith you are a liar.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 13, 2012)

I watched 'We are the Night' which was quite good looking but I din't really know what to makeof the story. Also she should batantly have turned the copper and rebirthed male vampires as a blow against misandry. hashtag FFJ/UKIP


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 13, 2012)

lined the total recall remake up for later on. Trepidation. I'm trying to be non judgemental and remember that these are two different films but I like the original so much I worry that this might not be as good.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 13, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> lined the total recall remake up for later on. Trepidation. I'm trying to be non judgemental and remember that these are two different films but I like the original so much I worry that this might not be as good.


By all accounts it's a steaming pile.


----------



## Firky (Nov 13, 2012)

electroplated said:


> End of Watch - not half bad actually.


 
It reminds me of something but I can't think what.


----------



## starfish (Nov 13, 2012)

trabuquera said:


> Killer Joe - absolutely barkingly OTT Wiliam Friedkin who is (I guess) doing the whole film as a giant pisstake of red-state america. Bit like the grungy mood of Texas Killing Fields but put on acid and driven over a cliff. Has great energy in parts, gleefully black-hearted in a way I usually like, but honestly couldn't decide if i thought the gore and woman-abusing was necessarily sick or just wannabe Tarantino by-the-numbers 'violence is just another colour' bullshit. but I guess better to finish a film thinking 'well wtf was that?" rather than 'Christ I'm bored'. Matthew McConaughey makes a great villain but rest of the cast can't really ramp it up enough to match.


 
Saw this too, my feelings exactly at the end.


----------



## Reno (Nov 14, 2012)

The





Orang Utan said:


> i would love his blue suit from NBNW.
> eta: he wears this in TCAT:
> 
> 
> ...


 
It's the cravat which makes all the difference.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 14, 2012)

Ginger Snaps.

Canadian werewolf movie from 2000. Made me nostalgic for the days of Canuckistan's National Film Board.

Two sisters are students at a bogstandard suburban North American high school. One night on a full moon, the elder sister is bitten by a mysterious creature. Strange transformations then affect her.

Not a bad wee film all in all, but I've always found the horror genre a bit "meh".

(Btw, if you've ever lost a family member or friend to suicide, you might want to give the opening sequences of this one a miss).


----------



## belboid (Nov 14, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Ginger Snaps.


I really liked that.  So much so I even saw the sequel.  Which was dreadful


----------



## TruXta (Nov 14, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Ginger Snaps.
> 
> Canadian werewolf movie from 2000. Made me nostalgic for the days of Canuckistan's National Film Board.
> 
> ...


Definitely in the category "worthwhile genre breakout attempt", but not a great film, no.


belboid said:


> I really liked that. So much so I even saw the sequel. Which was dreadful


Thanks for the heads up.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 14, 2012)

Oh, I liked it too, I just thought that when they had the line "only one creature kills for pure pleasure", it should have followed it with ". . .  the domestic cat".


----------



## Yetman (Nov 14, 2012)

Watching repo man right now, pretty good 

Jude Law and that geezer out of Last King Of Scotland who I always fear since that film. I can already tell whats going to happen in this, the plots a bit obvious (well, we'll see eh!)


----------



## belboid (Nov 14, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Watching repo man right now, pretty good
> 
> Jude Law and that geezer out of Last King Of Scotland who I always fear since that film. I can already tell whats going to happen in this, the plots a bit obvious (well, we'll see eh!)


Repo M*e*n, not  Man. 

I was most confused there for a moment, seemed like an odd thing to remake - and even odder for me not to have heard of it!


----------



## Yetman (Nov 14, 2012)

belboid said:


> Repo M*e*n, not Man.
> 
> I was most confused there for a moment, seemed like an odd thing to remake - and even odder for me not to have heard of it!


 
Ah, sorry old boy! Men, not man


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 14, 2012)

Tyrannosaur.
Very good wifebeating and dog murdering film.
No dinosaurs but stirling performances from both leads and the best bit of fly acting since once upon a time in the west.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 14, 2012)

The Grey.  I was expecting it to be an entertaining disaster/survival film, and it was in a few places, but it took itself too seriously, all the way to introspective action man Neeson taking on Daddy Wolf.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 14, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Watching repo man right now, pretty good
> 
> Jude Law and that geezer out of Last King Of Scotland who I always fear since that film. I can already tell whats going to happen in this, the plots a bit obvious (well, we'll see eh!)


 
Well that was alright I suppose give it a 6.5/10. Bit of a comedy sexy surgery scene in it though


----------



## Reno (Nov 15, 2012)

The Bay, found footage eco-horror film by Barry Levinson which is an odd choice for a prestige director like him. Fairly gory and not bad as this type of thing goes but a little unsatisfying by the end. Probably depends how scary you find the idea of parasites for it to work and I find them rather disgusting, so it worked for me

Grace, indie horror about a pregnant woman whose husband and foetus die in a car crash and who decides to still give birth later to the baby, which attracts flies and prefers blood to milk. Rather slow moving and the baby still looks too cute to be scary.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 15, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I thought it conveyed the self-centeredness of teenage boys very well indeed. He's no hero, just a shit like all the other kids he is so snooty about.


 
Well it didn't reflect my formative years in any way whatsoever. Not that that is important in a film. I have no problem with the characters other than instead of feeling like real people, they felt like how people think_ 'real'_ people should be portrayed in coming of age indie films. 
Some cliched plot points and situations stuck together with lazy by the book montages and voice over.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 15, 2012)

belboid said:


> Repo M*e*n, not Man.
> 
> I was most confused there for a moment, seemed like an odd thing to remake - and even odder for me not to have heard of it!


I remember being mad about repo man when I was a teen, but I don't think I have watched it since I was 16.
How does Repo Men compare? Did Alex Cox do it?


----------



## Reno (Nov 15, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I remember being mad about repo man when I was a teen, but I don't think I have watched it since I was 16.
> How does Repo Men compare? Did Alex Cox do it?


 
Repo M*e*n is a rubbishy Hollywood sci-fi action flick that has nothing to do with Repo M*a*n. Alex Cox himself made a semi-sequel called Repo Chick. Haven't seen it, but like all of Cox's more recent films it disappeared fairly quickly.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> Repo Men is a rubbishy Hollywood sci-fi action flick that has nothing to do with Repo Man. Alex Cox himself made a semi-sequel called Repo Chick. Haven't seen it, but like all of Cox's more recent films it disappeared fairly quickly.


 
Bah,
Didn't know about repo chick. I used to love that series of late night films he did where he would do an intro about the film before hand.
I must try and get a copy of repo man again, I bet I won't like it anymore.
I have not even seen straight to hell or walker.


----------



## Reno (Nov 15, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Bah,
> Didn't know about repo chick. I used to love that series of late night films he did where he would do an intro about the film before hand.
> I must try and get a copy of repo man again, I bet I won't like it anymore.
> I have not even seen straight to hell or walker.


 
Moviedrome was great !

I tried to watch Repo Man again and it hadn't held up that well for me, very much of its time. I admire his indie spirit but tbh I'm not actually a huge fan of Cox as a film-maker.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 15, 2012)

Reno said:


> Moviedrome was great !
> 
> I tried to watch Repo Man again and it hadn't held up that well for me, very much of its time. I admire his indie spirit but tbh I'm not actually a huge fan of Cox as a film-maker.


 
Ah yes Moviedrome.

Yes, I remember Cox talking about films and it being interesting, but I sort of remember being dissapointed with his actual films.
I only remember enjoying repo man. I should on paper have loved sid and nancy, but I didn't really like it at all apart from a couple of scenes.


----------



## belboid (Nov 15, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I remember being mad about repo man when I was a teen, but I don't think I have watched it since I was 16.
> How does Repo Men compare? Did Alex Cox do it?


I can still watch it regularly, in either version, just for the marvellous dubbing of the swearing.

Repo Chicks is good fun, in a very very cheap and cheerful way (it cost $200,000) with precious little connection to the original, a few actors, but they're not playing the same characters iirr.

Searchers 2.0 is a better (but still astoundingly cheap and cheerful) microbudget movie by him.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 15, 2012)

Summer with Monika.

Ingmar Bergman flick. Could easily be "a summer with Monica, a lifetime with regret".

Two working class teenagers escape from Stockholm and have an idyllic summer. It ends with her pregnant, and them marrying - at an age when neither is suited to that step.

It's as grim as it sounds, but some of the black and white cinematography is genuinely beautiful. A good example of how arthouse film really can produce works of art.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 15, 2012)

ultramarines, cartoon, kill yourself first. managed 15 minutes and that was because I was sat in a massage chair


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 15, 2012)

silverfish said:


> ultramarines, cartoon, kill yourself first. managed 15 minutes and that was because I was sat in a massage chair


Was this some kind of refined form of waterboarding?

"If you don't talk we're going to screen both _Dungeons & Dragons_ and _Wrath Of The Dragon God_..."


----------



## silverfish (Nov 15, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> *Was this some kind of refined form of waterboarding*?
> 
> "If you don't talk we're going to screen both _Dungeons & Dragons_ and _Wrath Of The Dragon God_..."


 
thats how it felt with sean pertwee and terence stamp voice overing it


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 15, 2012)

silverfish said:


> thats how it felt with sean pertwee and terence stamp voice overing it


Makes a change from documentaries about sharks and Nazis, I guess.


----------



## Reno (Nov 15, 2012)

Skyfall made me want to watch the Daniel Craig Bond films again. Casino Royale is still great, Quantum of Solace is still shit. I kind of hoped the runt of the little would improve if watched straight after as it's the only real sequel in the series, but it truly has the most incompetently shot and edited action scenes ever and the plot is a snooze.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 15, 2012)

I agree, I have not gone to see Skyfall because of QoS.


----------



## Reno (Nov 15, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I agree, I have not gone to see Skyfall because of QoS.


 
Skyfall is great and as or at least nearly as good as Casino Royale. QoS doesn't even feel like a Bond film and Mark Foster is simply a shit director (who is currently running World War Z into the ground, it seems)


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 16, 2012)

Will have to wait until bluray release then, xmas budget.   A film will have to be really good for me to go and see it just now.

Watched The Hunger Games yesterday, it was....well it was battle royale (and the running man) but my daughter's read the trilogy and she says it expands nicely into overthrowing the govt, which is always good.

The most interesting bits are the portrayal of the higher classes and media, I could have watched more of that.  The girl from Winter's Bone is a natural acting talent.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 16, 2012)

Wrecked. Adrian Brody awakens with amnesia after his car crashes down a ravine in an isolated unnamed forest, and left wondering how the hell he got there. The film follows him trying to find help and fragmented memories slowly coming back and daydreams which only serve to confuse him. It was okay, could've been more interesting but I got bored of seeing him crawling around in the muck and dead leaves, going _Fuck! _or_ Ouch!_


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 16, 2012)

Episodes 2 and 3 of American Horror Story S2.

Bonkers, brilliant and actually quite effectively scary at times. Seems a stronger cast than S1 too, with James Cromwell and Lily Rabe in particular knocking it out of the park.

Ending of episode 3 was just plain nasty


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 16, 2012)

I watched Nighthawks last night on the telly.
Surprisingly good, as I was expecting it to be tosh.
Sylvester Stallone and Billie Dee Williams are renegade cops hunting down terrorist Rutger Hauer.
Score by Keith Emerson and some cool NY nightclub scenes. 
You see Debenhams in Clapham Junction getting blown up.
The opening scene is great - Sly dressed as an old lady baiting muggers.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 16, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I
> You see Debenhams in Clapham Junction getting blown up.
> s.


 
Meh, I saw that on riot night. What else does it have?


----------



## Mapped (Nov 16, 2012)

Ted: turned it off 1/2 way through


----------



## Reno (Nov 16, 2012)

N1 Buoy said:


> Ted: turned it off 1/2 way through


 
I didn't even make it all the way through the trailer.


----------



## Reno (Nov 17, 2012)

I watched Ill Manors. I like Plan B, but this is just another urban gang yoof film which doesn't add anything new to that particular genre. It's just about watchable but at times it's ridiculously melodramatic. The scene with the fire and the baby reminded me more of Mighty Joe Young than anything. As a piece of film-making it's all over the place. Occasionally it looks like pop promos have been inserted into the film when the style of the film breaks for a bit of music. Nice to see John Cooper Clarke in a small role.


----------



## Firky (Nov 17, 2012)

Lawless, pretty good. Kept expecting to see Nookie Thompson though.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 18, 2012)

Outside Bet- surprisingly enjoyable story about a group of print workers who buy a horse.Not many films where you here a eulogy at a funeral about a bloke not crossing a picket line.


----------



## Mapped (Nov 18, 2012)

Shut up and play the hits - LCD Sound-system Documentary. It was pretty good. Got their last ever gig to watch at some point in the near future.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 18, 2012)

half of inglorious basterds. Brad Pitts accent is unconvincing but lol regardless. will finish tonioght


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 18, 2012)

Goebbels shagging.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 18, 2012)

Ted. Ooooof. Then watched most of Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter, which was silly and ok enjoyable. Rank effects tho, I mean wtf.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 18, 2012)

Rubber - About a tyre that comes to life and kills people. Shit. And not even shit in an enjoyable way.


----------



## Mapped (Nov 18, 2012)

Frances Lengel said:


> Rubber - About a tyre that comes to life and kills people. Shit. And not even shit in an enjoyable way.


 
I quite enjoyed this. I was very, very stoned when I watched it though


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 18, 2012)

No need to be stoned, it's a good film anyway, I loved it.


----------



## starfish (Nov 18, 2012)

Watched Angel Heart for the first time in many years today. The pieces fell into place a bit earlier this time. Still a great performance from Mickey Rourke.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 19, 2012)

The Holding – Mediocre, I found the storyline somewhat meh, rather tedious. I kept wondering how much longer to go before it ended.


Lawless – Good cast, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and the guy from the transformers movie all running around bootlegging moonshine and being rather violent, allegedly based on true events. It was an alright film but I had higher expectations of it. I disengaged with the storyline a few times and struggled a bit to get back into it, I wanted to see more of Oldman and much less of some of the others.


End Of Watch – Initially I was thinking “meh, not another copy story” but it turned out to be the best thing that I’ve watched for ages, the banter between the two main characters is tremendous, the bad guys are brilliant, and the plot kept me tuned in regardless of how unbelievable it was.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 19, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> half of inglorious basterds. Brad Pitts accent is unconvincing but lol regardless. will finish tonioght


 
The 'original' has a better title and is better.
I say 'original' but it is of course a different film altogether, plus Quentin was too pussy to even write the word 'Bastard', which is a totally legitimate actual word, like bitch.


----------



## Reno (Nov 19, 2012)

Indie movie romance night for me. I watched the charming, low key _Your Sister's Sister_. It takes the premise for a sex farce and turns it into an exploration of how with changing times the idea of the traditional family changes.

Then I watched _Like Crazy_ which suffered in comparison. I liked how it charted how young love unravels thanks to the mundane realities of life, I just didn't care much for the characters who seem like cyphers compared to the other film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 19, 2012)

I just finished watching all the Morse episodes.....(I say watching....I fell asleep through most of them as I put them on at bedtime as a murderous whodunnit lullaby...)

It was an underwhelming end. Think I'll start falling asleep to Lewis now.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 19, 2012)

Wanted.  A reasonably cool action flick based on a Mark Millar (Kick Ass) series of comics partly spoiled by the presence of angelina jolie - but brad pitt is why Kick Ass was made so I let it slide.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 19, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Wanted. A reasonably cool action flick based on a Mark Millar (Kick Ass) series of comics partly spoiled by the presence of angelina jolie - but brad pitt is why Kick Ass was made so I let it slide.


Watched it once drunk and thought it was interesting enough, and maybe shouldn't have been panned so badly.
Watched it the other day again on telly (drunk again) and it was utter shite. Don't watch it twice.
Extensive voice over is never a good sign.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 19, 2012)

The recent prequel to "The Thing" which is basically a remake of the original with different characters and less tension.

Enjoyed some of the gruesome effects and it was better than I expected, mainly because I'd heard/read some iffy reviews so wasn't expecting much.

Oh and "Captain America" - which I love


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 19, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Oh and "Captain America" - which I love


 
Weirdly not that bad (though I got bored and didn't make it to the end).
Try the original for the antidote.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 19, 2012)

Watched Killer Joe this morning......if double crossing trailer trash and gratuitous violence and nudity is your thing.....go for it.

I enjoyed it.

It made me wanna eat junk food, so just gone out for Chilli burgers!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 19, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> (though I got bored and didn't make it to the end).


 
You seem to have such a poor attention span that I'm surprised you can ever make it to the end of your morning shit.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 19, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> T*he recent prequel to "The Thing" which is basically a remake of the original with different characters and less tension.*
> 
> Enjoyed some of the gruesome effects and it was better than I expected, mainly because I'd heard/read some iffy reviews so wasn't expecting much.
> 
> Oh and "Captain America" - which I love


 

entirely pointless imo. It wasn't as good, there wasn't anyone as good as kurt russel on his game.The effects were no vast improvement. The cast were bland, the bit in the spaceship at the end seemed tacked on just to justify the prequel tag.

I expect to be equally disappointed  by the Total Recall remake when I can find a decent rip


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 19, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> The recent prequel to "The Thing" which is basically a remake of the original with different characters and less tension.


 
_*Preboot*_, if you please.


----------



## Reno (Nov 19, 2012)

The Thing prequel actually grew on me slightly on second viewing. It is pointless, but at least it honours the atmosphere, look and pace of the Carpenter film and it's watchable enough, unlike the Total Recall remake which is strictly aimed at the ADHD crowd.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 19, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> entirely pointless imo. It wasn't as good, there wasn't anyone as good as kurt russel on his game.The effects were no vast improvement. The cast were bland, the bit in the spaceship at the end seemed tacked on just to justify the prequel tag.
> 
> I expect to be equally disappointed by the Total Recall remake when I can find a decent rip


I think that is very fair. It was totally pointless.

It might have been better to have dome something about the origins of the creature but then it would get all a bit Alien/Prometheus and tbh sometimes you don't want to know any 'backstory' just that the Alien or The Thing kills people in gruesome ways.

The one element I did find interesting was that it could only replicate organic material.

I can't say I didn't enjoy it, it was a solid Sunday evening 'don't have to think too much' film however the only time I got really excited was at then end when you hear the music from the John Carpenter film


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 19, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> You seem to have such a poor attention span that I'm surprised you can ever make it to the end of your morning shit.


 
I was on a plane.
I had just watched three other films in a row and just couldn't finish it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 19, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I was on a plane.
> I had just watched three other films in a row and just couldn't finish it.


I managed to watch five films in a row on a flight from India. They started off good but ended up shit. I think I ended up watching Red.  what else is there to do though?


----------



## Yetman (Nov 19, 2012)

Red about the dog or Red about Bruce Willis?

I watched DIE last night. Should be called DIRE. Pants. Nearly thought it was getting good for a sec a couple of times so ended up getting sucked into watching the whole sorry lot of it. Stupid waste of time.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 19, 2012)

red - the bruce one with the elderly hitpersons


----------



## Reno (Nov 19, 2012)

I tend to wildly overreact to films on planes. It must be the combination of free booze and being that high up in the air. The Rob Schneider comedy The Hot Chick struck me as the funniest film ever and House of Sand and Fog made me weep buckets. When I saw them again back on solid ground they both were shit.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 19, 2012)

I never watch good films on planes. I saw Avatar onboard a long-haul flight, just about made it bearable and quickly made me realise how dire it is as a piece of film-making.


----------



## Reno (Nov 19, 2012)

TruXta said:


> I never watch good films on planes. I saw Avatar onboard a long-haul flight, just about made it bearable and quickly made me realise how dire it is as a piece of film-making.


 
Not the ideal screen to watch a film whose main innovation is world building based on a spectacular amount of visual detail.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 19, 2012)

they're cut to ribbons for family viewing too.


----------



## Reno (Nov 19, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> they're cut to ribbons for family viewing too.


 
Not on Virgin Atlantic. I remember watching (the also shit) Scary Movie on a plane and noticed that the little kid next me was mesmerised the rather graphic glory hole and ejaculation gags on my screen.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 20, 2012)

Bunny and the Bull - Enjoyed......reminded me of Gondry's The Science of Sleep.

Iron Sky - Good fun, runs out of Steam...fell alseep for the last 15 minutes.....will go back and watch.

Lewis - Started with the pilot - fell asleep....will finish tonight.

Also watched latest two episodes of Boardwalk Emprie and a Dexter.....still enjoying them both.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 20, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> they're cut to ribbons for family viewing too.


 
Not always. I watched Y Tu Mama Tambien on a flight from the states to the UK and wow, the muff diving scene was in full leg spreading head shaking force when the air hostess came to ask me if I wanted anything else to drink wasn't it


----------



## frogwoman (Nov 20, 2012)

watched the other half of inglorious basterds last night, great ending  I can tell why my dad loves this film so much

the creepy camp SS man was actually quite chilling at times


----------



## Yetman (Nov 20, 2012)

The first episode of Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom. 

 Holy shit its like a Danish version of Twin Peaks, but a bit less subtle. Off the head. When it first came on I thought, this is far too dated I feel like I'm watching a 1981 episode of Crossroads but it's actually very good and the feel of it adds to the weirdness of the plot. Looking forward to the rest.

The end where Von Trier comes on and does a 'Jerry's final thought' for the audience is hilarious as well


----------



## TruXta (Nov 20, 2012)

Yetman said:


> The first episode of Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom.
> 
> Holy shit its like a Danish version of Twin Peaks, but a bit less subtle. Off the head. When it first came on I thought, this is far too dated I feel like I'm watching a 1981 episode of Crossroads but it's actually very good and the feel of it adds to the weirdness of the plot. Looking forward to the rest.
> 
> The end where Von Trier comes on and does a 'Jerry's final thought' for the audience is hilarious as well


It's bonkers and great. I should watch it again really.


----------



## Reno (Nov 20, 2012)

Yetman said:


> The first episode of Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom.
> 
> Holy shit its like a Danish version of Twin Peaks, but a bit less subtle. Off the head. When it first came on I thought, this is far too dated I feel like I'm watching a 1981 episode of Crossroads but it's actually very good and the feel of it adds to the weirdness of the plot. Looking forward to the rest.
> 
> The end where Von Trier comes on and does a 'Jerry's final thought' for the audience is hilarious as well



It's my favourite ever TV series ever and I think it's actually better and more consistent than Twin Peaks. I've watched the whole thing four times now and still find it both scary and hilarious.

Just a shame they never made a third season, because unfortunately two of the older cast members died.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 20, 2012)

Lawless. Didn`t live up to expectation. I enjoyed it, but really wanted it to be much better. Great soundtrack. The epilogue was too sugary.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 20, 2012)

Watched the last 25 minutes of Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter. The visuals picked up at the end but still not nearly as interesting as Night Watch for instance.


----------



## JimW (Nov 21, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> <snip>
> 
> 
> End Of Watch – Initially I was thinking “meh, not another copy story” but it turned out to be the best thing that I’ve watched for ages, the banter between the two main characters is tremendous, the bad guys are brilliant, and the plot kept me tuned in regardless of how unbelievable it was.


 
Watched this the other day and enjoyed it too, bloke who did Training Day IIRC.


Spoiler: As per request



I knew who was going to die in the end, have to say. Plot was a bit gash but some great characters and incidents (moaning cop and rookie meeting that nutter for one!)


----------



## Reno (Nov 21, 2012)

Jim W.:

Any chance of putting this in a spoiler ? No need to give the end away. 

And yes, good film, very well written and quite gripping.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 22, 2012)

Finally got round to *Cabin In The Woods* last night.



Spoiler: plot stuff



Really enjoyed it, definitely a bit different and both funny / tense in equal measure. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was scary, but there were some effective set pieces. Liked the way it immediately felt like part of a wider story, like you could be dropped into the other countries' scenarios and see how their horror archetypes would play out (the Japanese scene was dead on). Also, the possibilities of each 'monster' being chosen for the task, rather than the Zombie Redneck Pain-worshipping family that got the gig.

Dialogue was great (nice little touches at the beginning like the piss-take of the PSA - "Where do you get these books, where did you learn to read?" "From you! I learned it from watching you!", felt like how people actually banter rather than speeches). Enjoyed Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins' back and forth too (the party and speakerphone scenes )

Went batshit in the final 3rd (the unicorn was a highlight ) and began to borrow heavily from Whedon's previous stuff ('Ancient ones' deep in the ground feels oddly familiar ) but still great fun.

Also good for playing 'spot the Whedonverse actor', nice to see Amy Acker again


----------



## Garek (Nov 22, 2012)

Yetman said:


> The first episode of Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom.


 
Right, that's definitely going on my "things to buy after payday" list.


----------



## JimW (Nov 22, 2012)

Reno said:


> Jim W.:
> 
> Any chance of putting this in a spoiler ? No need to give the end away.
> 
> And yes, good film, very well written and quite gripping.


Can do but only said I guessed who was going to die, not who did. And _someone_ always dies.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 22, 2012)

The Wild Geese.

Genuinely one of the worst films I have ever seen. Shit on every conceivable level. I actually felt sorry for Richard Harris. As for Richard Burton and Roger Moore, the less said the better on that one.

Outland.

Sean Connery displays his wide dramatic range as a sherrif on a mining colony on the third moon of Jupiter. Not bad, but let down by a final act where the scriptwriter obviously didn't bother his hole. Best thing in it was the feisty lady doctor with a 'lived in' face.


----------



## Reno (Nov 22, 2012)

I watched the sci-fi flick _In Time_ by the writer/director of the overrated _Gattaca. _It has a good premise, but is poorly executed. In the future time has become a currency and the poor have life spans of no more than a week or a day which they constantly scramble to extend, while the rich are virtually immortal. It has one of those "ding dong, the witch is dead" plots, where the little people rise up.

This has one of the most visually boring dystopian futures I've seen in a recent sci-fi film. In terms of production values it reminded me of 80s/90s straight to VHS flicks. A mid-range budget film, it cost a little more than _Looper_, which made a smaller budget go much further and unlike _In Time_ came up with a fully imagined future.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 22, 2012)

Animal Kingdom - Very good.

There's seems to be a fair few Australian films about dysfunctional aussie crime families and they're all as bleak and miserable as the next.

A very good score too by Antony Partos....never heard of him before....will check out.


----------



## Reno (Nov 22, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Animal Kingdom - Very good.
> 
> There's seems to be a fair few Australian films about dysfunctional aussie crime families and they're all as bleak and miserable as the next.
> 
> A very good score too by Antony Partos....never heard of him before....will check out.


 
Loved this. On of my favourite films of the last few years.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 22, 2012)

"A Night to Remember" - one of Mr.QofG's birthday presents. Classic film, understated yet quite shocking at times and, I gather, a fair portrayl of what really happened, as far as anyone can really know, aboard the Titanic.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 22, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The Wild Geese.
> 
> Genuinely one of the worst films I have ever seen. Shit on every conceivable level. I actually felt sorry for Richard Harris. As for Richard Burton and Roger Moore, the less said the better on that one.
> 
> ...


 

good explosive decompression headpopping in that


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 22, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> good explosive decompression headpopping in that


i saw it when i was 8 and was thrilled


----------



## Reno (Nov 22, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Outland.
> 
> Sean Connery displays his wide dramatic range as a sherrif on a mining colony on the third moon of Jupiter. Not bad, but let down by a final act where the scriptwriter obviously didn't bother his hole. Best thing in it was the feisty lady doctor with a 'lived in' face.


 
I agree, Frances Sternhagen was the best thing about the film. Otherwise this sci-fi remake of High Noon was a bit like Alien without an alien. There seemed to be no real point for it to be set in space or in the future, most of it it could have just as well been taking place on a contemporary oil rig or a mine.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 22, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> i saw it when i was 8 and was thrilled


 

Crispy ruined explosive decompression for me by pointing out that heads would not literally explode

I've still got scanners though, theres no science get out to explain  revok poppin ya head


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 23, 2012)

Wake In Fright - A bit slow to start & I thought it might end up being boring, but it turned out really good. The Yabba looked alright to me, I'd live there.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 23, 2012)

The Inner Light, an episode from S4 of Star Trek TNG which is one of the best ever.


----------



## MBV (Nov 24, 2012)

The Secret In Their Eyes - enjoyable but had to be in the right mood for it.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 24, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> good explosive decompression headpopping in that


 
Watched Outland back in September.  The head popping bits were as shit as I remember them when I watched it years ago.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2012)

well its a scriptwriters fantasy at how explosive decompression goes down anyway, so people cleverer than me have said. Exploding heads do spice up things tho.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 24, 2012)

I tried watching Dark Star - _Hippies in Spaaaace - _last night, but turned it off when nothing happened after forty minutes.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Nov 24, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> well its a scriptwriters fantasy at how explosive decompression goes down anyway, so people cleverer than me have said. Exploding heads do spice up things tho.


 
The film is okay, but for me the unoriginal story could've been made more tense, especially the lone sheriff waiting for his High Noon showdown with the assassins.


----------



## Mapped (Nov 25, 2012)

Total Recall - Just found out that CGI alone can't keep me awake, I was seriously nodding off towards the end.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 25, 2012)

I did not watch a dvd....but I found out that Debra Winger was the voice for ET.    Probably everyone else knew this.


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I did not watch a dvd....but I found out that Debra Winger was the voice for ET.    Probably everyone else knew this.


She provided the temp track of which they kept little bits here and there. Most of it was recorded by a woman called Pat Walsh and there are others who were involved as well.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 25, 2012)

Fifty dead men walking - Fucking loved it


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 25, 2012)

I watched Dog Pound. Was it officially a remake of scum? It was pretty much scene for scene the same film. Once again, had a quite a good soundtrack that featured a band called Balmorhea who make some good Warren Ellis/Dirty Three type stuff......

Anyway.....there were some very good performances in it, and it managed to deal with the same old same old prison themes without resorting to too much cliche......


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 25, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I did not watch a dvd....but I found out that Debra Winger was the voice for ET. Probably everyone else knew this.


 
She is also a zombie nurse.


----------



## starfish (Nov 25, 2012)

Adam Chaplin, the blurb said it was a manga themed revenge movie. Possibly the bloodiest & most bizarre film i have ever seen. It was Italian made but had 2 thugs called Ben & Derek. It was a pretty full on what the fucking fuck film 

Today we watched Chinatown. Somehow id never seen it before. Very, very good.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 25, 2012)

beasts of the southern wild ~ it was alright, but most of the time i had no idea what the fuck was going on.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 26, 2012)

Chronicle- good little romp about some teenagers who develop super powers

Safety Not Guaranteed- absolute belter of a film around a journalist and two interns investigating an advert for time travel.Very well scripted and some great understated turns in the story. Recommended.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Nov 26, 2012)

First two episodes of the 1970's BBC TV series "Colditz". Good solid BBC drama


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2012)

Iron Sky - well, it has its moments, and you can't not love the premise, but, yeah.

Ip Man - great kung-fu film, don't know how I've missed seeing it for so long.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 26, 2012)

_The secret of Moonacre_  chosen by my 7 yo daughter  .

 It's very good,  if you're a 7 year old girl


----------



## Yetman (Nov 26, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Ip Man - great kung-fu film, don't know how I've missed seeing it for so long.


 
Just found out there's an Ip Man 2 - got good reviews as well


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 26, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Just found out there's an Ip Man 2 - got good reviews as well


 
It's not as good as Ip man 1.
It is a much more run of the mill kung fu film by numbers, even if it is 'based' on true story.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Just found out there's an Ip Man 2 - got good reviews as well


Cool.


ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> It's not as good as Ip man 1.
> It is a much more run of the mill kung fu film by numbers, even if it is 'based' on true story.


Fuck.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 26, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Cool.
> 
> Fuck.


He's wrong, Ip Man 2 is just as good - it's Ip Man 3 (might be called zero) which isn't as good.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> He's wrong, Ip Man 2 is just as good - it's Ip Man 3 (might be called zero) which isn't as good.


Cheers.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 26, 2012)

The Legend is Born - Ip Man, that's the rubbish one...well Donny Yuen isn't in it and I was expecting him to be in it and he wasn't!   So it can fuckety off.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2012)

I've got loads of horrors dl'ed. Should do one of those.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 26, 2012)

TruXta said:


> I've got loads of horrors dl'ed. Should do one of those.


What's the choices?  Please allow us to criticise, change your opinion and basically destroy any possible enjoyment.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> What's the choices? Please allow us to criticise, change your opinion and basically destroy any possible enjoyment.


Cold Prey
Calvaire
Haute Tension
Animal Kingdom
Onibaba
The Devils
The Brood
The Signal


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 26, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Cold Prey
> Calvaire
> Haute Tension
> Animal Kingdom
> ...


Fuck Knows 

Onibaba looks cool.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 26, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> He's wrong, Ip Man 2 is just as good - it's Ip Man 3 (might be called zero) which isn't as good.


 
Nope, I am definitely thinking of Ip man 2.
It's not a bad film but it's a very standard Chinese marshal arts film following a fairly well trodden plot.
Worth watching but not as good as Ip man 1. I don't think I would have sat through the lot if it wasn't for the fact that there was the history if Ip man 1 behind it. That would be a bit of a shame though because it's not a 'bad' film. Like I said before, it's not as good and far more generic.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 26, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Fuck Knows
> 
> Onibaba looks cool.


Useless you are.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 26, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Fuck Knows
> 
> Onibaba looks cool.


 
Full movie on you tube


At first I thought you meant this


Suexy ando biolence!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 26, 2012)

Machine Gun Preacher.

JESUS WEPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Red Storm (Nov 26, 2012)

French Connection


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 26, 2012)

Fever Pitch

The American version. Cracking wee film that never got the plaudits it deserved.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 26, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Nope, I am definitely thinking of Ip man 2.
> It's not a bad film but it's a very standard Chinese marshal arts film following a fairly well trodden plot.
> Worth watching but not as good as Ip man 1. I don't think I would have sat through the lot if it wasn't for the fact that there was the history if Ip man 1 behind it. That would be a bit of a shame though because it's not a 'bad' film. Like I said before, it's not as good and far more generic.


Can't disagree...but def worth watching if you've seen the first one.

Watching MA movies is a bit like when there's a tory on the telly for me...I shout a lot.

'What are you doing!!!'  'Why is your foot there?' 'Jesus christ man can't you BREATTTTH!'


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 26, 2012)

Rotten Tomatoes says Onibaba is quite erotic.

Maybe watch that later myself.


----------



## Reno (Nov 27, 2012)

True Blood season 5 episodes 1-4. I thought season 4 was weak, but I'm enjoying this season so far.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 27, 2012)

Down Terrace. For some reason I had the idea that it was going to be some kind of Ealing comedy type effort. I was wrong. Decent film though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 28, 2012)

Slacker.

Richard Linklater's first film. Better than I remembered. Of course all the conspiracy loons he depicts are on the interwebs now. The only other film I can think of that goes from one short scene to another with different characters is The Phantom of Liberty.

I tried watching The Sea Shall Not Have Them, but the file was damaged, and missing the last 15 minutes. Anyway, it was part of the British film industry's effort to make the Second World War boring.

Oh, and I watched Chopper, or 'Australian Psycho' as you might call it. I don't know why I watched it - it's not like you'd get any enjoyment out of it, anyway.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 28, 2012)

Drive. Bit surprised at this - had heard the hype but wasn't really sure what to expect. Calmer and cooler start than I expected, but I wasn't really ready for the ultraviolence. Still a good filum.

Tried to watch the rest of Looper, am about 2/3rds in, it's alright but somehow doesn't quite click for me.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 28, 2012)

The Raven. Edgar Allan Poe in Endless Action Poo.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 28, 2012)

Fish Tank
Just watch it


----------



## magneze (Nov 28, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> Fish Tank
> Just watch it


Good film.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 28, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> Fish Tank
> Just watch it


 
alrighy, stealing it now. 52 minutes and 13 seconds to go.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 28, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> alrighy, stealing it now. 52 minutes and 13 seconds to go.


Break out the cod liver oil, grandad - I've just started it and I've only got 10m24s left.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 28, 2012)

It's good enough to pay to see


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 28, 2012)

Try-before-you-buy, dude!


----------



## Reno (Nov 29, 2012)

Killer Joe, which didn't really do much for me and I generally love films about criminal plots unravelling because they have been set up by complete idiots. Good performances, but somehow I saw the twists and turns coming.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 29, 2012)

Reno said:


> Killer Joe, which didn't really do much for me and I generally love films about criminal plots unravelling because they have been set up by complete idiots. Good performances, but somehow I saw the twists and turns coming.


 
Agreed, it was a film of performances more than story. All good fun in a sick way....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 29, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> It's good enough to pay to see


 
That what they said about the bearded lady.....


----------



## Garek (Nov 29, 2012)

_A Bullet For The General _

Good film which ever so slightly petered out towards the end.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 29, 2012)

Garek said:


> _A Bullet For The General _
> 
> Good film which ever so slightly petered out towards the end.


 
Great film.....was it also called Quien Sabe????????


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 29, 2012)

Billy Liar.

Tom Courtenay is the eponymous fantasist, Julie Christie and her radiant smile is the love interest. Some of the fantasy sequences foreshadow what the Monty Python team would be doing a few years later. John Schlesinger directs.


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 29, 2012)

rubbershoes said:


> Fish Tank
> Just watch it


 


Mephitic said:


> alrighy, stealing it now. 52 minutes and 13 seconds to go.


 
Watched it, not bad at all, good recommendation that, thx


----------



## Mephitic (Nov 29, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Break out the cod liver oil, grandad - I've just started it and I've only got 10m24s left.


 
heh, brilliant.......


----------



## Firky (Nov 30, 2012)

*The Bourne Legacy*

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/

I struggled with it. It's not an especially complex story with lots of twists and subplots, it's just... not that good. It is the same as the other Bourne films, impossible chases, incredible shooting skills, brutal unarmed combat and stern looking men and women in offices underground who watch everything from a spy satellite. So nothing new really... but Renner.

Might watch it again when it comes on TV but I am in no hurry.


*Cat Shit One*

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt2368669/

Seen it once before on Youtube or Vimeo but thought I'd watch it on a large tv in HD instead of on a tablet. Still a good little animated short.

*Touching the Void*

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0379557/

Fell asleep watching it. Supposed to be good though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 1, 2012)

Dead Man.

Jim Jarmusch flick from 1995 (has JJ done anything at all in the recent past?)

A lot better than I remembered it being. Johnny Depp is the greenhorn who gets more than he bargained for (like several bullets) when he goes west to take up a post as Robert Mitchum's accountant (this was RM's last role, if memory serves).

While there's a touch of 'noble savage-ism' in the depiction of the Indian guy who saves him (for a while), it's a good enough film to overcome that.

One of those ones that linger in your mind, while never spelling out exactly what it means.

Beautiful B&W cinematography as well.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 1, 2012)

Tv series called Engrenages, or Spirals in english. Really good.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 1, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Dead Man.
> 
> Jim Jarmusch flick from 1995 (has JJ done anything at all in the recent past?)
> 
> ...


Great soundtrack too, isn't it Neil Young?


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 1, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Great soundtrack too, isn't it Neil Young?


 
Neil Young, yes, even though I didn't spot that until the credits rolled.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 1, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Dead Man.
> 
> Jim Jarmusch flick from 1995 (has JJ done anything at all in the recent past?)
> 
> ...


 
If I remember correctly there's a missionary in it selling blankets infected with Smallpox and Tuberculosis to the Indians. Wasn't that something mainly done by the British earlier though?


----------



## magneze (Dec 1, 2012)

Cosmopolis.
Pretty poor really. Wasn't drawn in by the story. The characters were so detached - maybe that was the point, but it didn't make for an interesting film. The dialogue was intense and complex but often mumbled. Too many events in the film appeared to be random and unconnected.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 2, 2012)

The Angel's Share. Well worth a watch - Bit of a feelgood film really.


----------



## starfish (Dec 2, 2012)

Madagascar 3, it was ok if a bit predictable.

Have just watched Pieces, fairly atrocious 80s slasher movie. Was mildly amusing in bits though.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 2, 2012)

Frances Lengel said:


> The Angel's Share. Well worth a watch - Bit of a feelgood film really.


 
will watch that


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 3, 2012)

Its A Wonderful Life

forgot how charming it was, Grit/eye happened.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 3, 2012)

I've been watching a tv series called The Riches. It's about a family of American Travellers who take over the lives of some people they find dead in a car crash. Truly a black comedy. At times it's profound, and at times it's just depressing, but worth watching. I think Minnie Driver got an Emmy nomination for it; it also stars Eddy Izzard.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 3, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Watched it, not bad at all, good recommendation that, thx


Like with _Red Road_ (and to some extent _Wuthering Heights_)_,_ I found the build up good but it lost me in the last half hour.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 3, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> If I remember correctly there's a missionary in it selling blankets infected with Smallpox and Tuberculosis to the Indians. Wasn't that something mainly done by the British earlier though?


 
The short answer is that you may be right, but I don't know for sure. The Indian character's backstory is that he was captured by British troops and brought back to England in a cage, to be exhibited as a curiousity.

Now I'm pretty sure that's an anachronism, so I wouldn't be surprised if the blankets thing is too.

Alfred Molina is good as the blanket selling missionary, though.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 3, 2012)

Scrooged.

Still great


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 3, 2012)

Stella Does Tricks - James Bolam playing a wanker was a revelation.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 3, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The short answer is that you may be right, but I don't know for sure. The Indian character's backstory is that he was captured by British troops and brought back to England in a cage, to be exhibited as a curiousity.
> 
> Now I'm pretty sure that's an anachronism, so I wouldn't be surprised if the blankets thing is too.
> 
> Alfred Molina is good as the blanket selling missionary, though.


 
Yes, he is.  

Come to think of it, his missionary character is English.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2012)

Thanks to Lovefilm sending me low priority titles, I'm just watching Safe with Jason Statham. It's the most easy to follow film ever. I've nodded off twice and made a phone call and I haven't missed any of the plot. When I go senile I will catch up with the rest of his films.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> Thanks to Lovefilm sending me low priority titles, I'm just watching Safe with Jason Statham. It's the most easy to follow film ever. I've nodded off twice and made a phone call and I haven't missed any of the plot. When I go senile I will catch up with the rest of his films.


You can get Snatch there now.

/runs


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> You can get Snatch there now.
> 
> /runs


 
I don't do Guy Ritchie or snatch in any other form.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 3, 2012)

its the sign of modernity decay that the stath was ever allowed to become an action hero. I've eaten microwave roast dinners on my own at 3 am while crying and those times were stil better than watching stath perform


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> its the sign of modernity decay that the stath was ever allowed to become an action hero. I've eaten microwave roast dinners on my own at 3 am while crying and those times were stil better than watching stath perform


 
I think he's fine. Certainly no worse than the 80s action stars. It's not exactly like these roles give anybody and opportunity for a lot of thesping. In The Bank Job, where he actually got to act, he was perfectly acceptable.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 3, 2012)

I love the Transporter films.   I know they're terrible but I switch on MST3K mode.

And I like Snatch.    At this point I could do a joke.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> I love the Transporter films. I know they're terrible but I switch on MST3K mode.
> 
> And I like Snatch. At this point I could do a joke.


 
Don't hold back now.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> I think he's fine. Certainly no worse than the 80s action stars. It's not exactly like these roles give anybody and opportunity for a lot of thesping. In The Bank Job, where he actually got to act, he was perfectly acceptable.


 

he just does aggrieved bewilderment all the time. Nothing else


----------



## Firky (Dec 3, 2012)

Jason S is just a mediocre brit actor done moderately well for himself. Don't really think much of him one way or another.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> he just does aggrieved bewilderment all the time. Nothing else


 
That's my default take on life.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 3, 2012)

Just finished last half of Prometheus. Bit of a mess but gorgeous to watch.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> Don't hold back now.


Can't think of one, don't want to google-cheat 

I may come back at some future point.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Can't think of one, don't want to google-cheat
> 
> I may come back at some future point.


 
The title is a adolescent pun already. Not sure how it could get any more hilarious.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 3, 2012)

Reno said:


> The title is a adolescent pun already. Not sure how it could get any more hilarious.


Statham is surely the brit version of bruce willis.  I've only seen about 5 of his...3 Transporters, Snatch and...well I've seen 4 then.    And he's one of the younger action guys around just now...hah.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Statham is surely the brit version of bruce willis. I've only seen about 5 of his...3 Transporters, Snatch and...well I've seen 4 then. And he's one of the younger action guys around just now...hah.


 
It's not really my type of film and I got a bit bored watching Safe. I can't even remember why I put it on my Lovefilm list, I think I read a review that made it out to be above average for that type of thing. I tried to watch Transporter and Crank it and didn't make it to the end.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 3, 2012)

The Stath made _London_ halfway absorbing


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> I think he's fine. Certainly no worse than the 80s action stars. It's not exactly like these roles give anybody and opportunity for a lot of thesping. In The Bank Job, where he actually got to act, he was perfectly acceptable.


 
The Bank Job was  a dreadful film, and a terrible waste of a great piece of true-life material. Imagine what a French or Italian director could have done with that story (compare it to _Romanzo Criminale _for example).


----------



## Reno (Dec 4, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The Bank Job was a dreadful film, and a terrible waste of a great piece of true-life material. Imagine what a French or Italian director could have done with that story (compare it to _Romanzo Criminale _for example).


 
I didn't think it was very good either, but Statham wasn't the problem.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 4, 2012)

Reno said:


> I didn't think it was very good either, but Statham wasn't the problem.


 
A reasonable enough proposition, I suppose.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 4, 2012)

Ip man 2. Yes  Excellent stuff


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 4, 2012)

Tried some 4od.
Started with a stupid aliens programme. I knew it was going to be shit but it was proper shit alien TV non expose by numbers.
It made me cry a little inside because I used to make shit mystery's of the world and universe programmes and felt terribly ashamed of myself.

Mine were short though, this had the usual C4 doc added pointless crap. "Let's spend 5 minutes showing you how we make a 3d computer picture" . . . why? You have the real thing in 3d right there? Just tell us, it's like a documentary bothering to explain how they made their animated charts and graphs or who they edited their cuttaways.

Anyway, I only managed 10 minutes.

Then on to some cartoon called Full English.
Utter utter utter shit. It's not comedy to point out something so obvious you wouldn't even bring it up if you were pissed down the pub and had run out of every other mundane thing there is to say. "Trees grow leaves".
So that's their only gag, and then they just throw in some horribly out of place crudity, or swear words.



I officially give up on TV


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 4, 2012)

District 9

Can't remember the last time I watched a film on TV


----------



## marty21 (Dec 4, 2012)

watched about 6 episodes of Andromeda yesterday (off sick) season 1, in which every episode seems to either have a galaxy being destroyed and billions dead, or they stop a galaxy being destroyed and billions dying


----------



## TruXta (Dec 4, 2012)

Watched an ep of Arrested Development S1 again after a long hiatus. It is really quite good that show.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 4, 2012)

I watched some episodes from season one of Game of Thrones.


One does not simply defend the north


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 4, 2012)

marty21 said:


> watched about 6 episodes of Andromeda yesterday (off sick) season 1, in which every episode seems to either have a galaxy being destroyed and billions dead, or they stop a galaxy being destroyed and billions dying


 

Nietzchians lol


----------



## TruXta (Dec 4, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched some episodes from season one of Game of Thrones.
> 
> 
> One does not simply defend the north


Sphincter is coming.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 4, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Then on to some cartoon called Full English.
> Utter utter utter shit. It's not comedy to point out something so obvious you wouldn't even bring it up if you were pissed down the pub and had run out of every other mundane thing there is to say. "Trees grow leaves".
> So that's their only gag, and then they just throw in some horribly out of place crudity, or swear words.


 
I switched onto this halfway through and it had me and my housemate laughing, just seemed like a british Family Guy-esque sketch show. Harry Potter's "Rophynolliarmus!" and Jamie Oliver's breakdown over his wife running off with Ainsley Harriot were definite lols.

Can see it getting old quickly mind.


----------



## marty21 (Dec 4, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Nietzchians lol


 They pwned them -


----------



## Reno (Dec 4, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> I switched onto this halfway through and it had me and my housemate laughing, just seemed like a british Family Guy-esque sketch show. Harry Potter's "Rophynolliarmus!" and Jamie Oliver's breakdown over his wife running off with Ainsley Harriot were definite lols.
> 
> Can see it getting old quickly mind.


 
I saw a couple of minutes it got old after half a second.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 4, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> I switched onto this halfway through and it had me and my housemate laughing, just seemed like a british Family Guy-esque sketch show. Harry Potter's "Rophynolliarmus!" and Jamie Oliver's breakdown over his wife running off with Ainsley Harriot were definite lols.
> 
> Can see it getting old quickly mind.


 
Not the episode I watched, but I can't imagine it suddenly changed by ep3.
Nothing like family guy. I am no family guy fan but I can see it works, flows and fits together nicely. FE was so lazy, labored and unoriginal it actually made me mad.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 4, 2012)

Actually it didn't make me mad. I was just really dissapointed.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2012)

Finished watching The Riches. This is the fucking blackest of the black comedies. Joe Orton has nothing on this shit. You laugh while thinking about slitting your wrists.

Also, a documentary about the Russian Mafia, called Thieves by Law. Highly recommended.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 5, 2012)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1836944/

Baytown Outlaws - much better than imdb would have you believe


----------



## belboid (Dec 5, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Finished watching The Riches. This is the fucking blackest of the black comedies. Joe Orton has nothing on this shit. You laugh while thinking about slitting your wrists.


It was shit, and about as 'black' as Michael Jackson.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2012)

belboid said:


> It was shit, and about as 'black' as Michael Jackson.


 
Michael Jackson was a black person; and the Riches is a black comedy. Because it's American, it has more levity and stupidity in it than it might if it was British or European; but it was a black comedy nonetheless.

If you hated it, why did you watch it all the way through?


----------



## belboid (Dec 5, 2012)

I didn't, because it was shit. But the half a series I did watch was more than enough to know it was about as black as a black person who took skin whitening drugs for decades, and as funny is being shat upon.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2012)

If you didn't watch 3/4 of it, then you don't really know what it's like.


----------



## belboid (Dec 5, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> If you didn't watch 3/4 of it, then you don't really know what it's like.


Oh okay, it changed completely and utterly after the first half season did it?  Bullshit


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2012)

belboid said:


> Oh okay, it changed completely and utterly after the first half season did it? Bullshit


 
No need to get angry: we're discussing a tv show.


----------



## belboid (Dec 5, 2012)

I'm not in the least bit angry.  I'm just pointing out that you are talking complete and utter bullshit.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2012)

belboid said:


> I'm not in the least bit angry. I'm just pointing out that you are talking complete and utter bullshit.


 

No, I'm giving my opinion about a piece of creative work. I think the series has some valuable things to say about the state of modern life.


----------



## belboid (Dec 5, 2012)

Well, thats nice.  I'm afraid I still think its bullshit tho


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 5, 2012)

I watched a film called Reindeer Games which was as daft as it was stupid.....but I enjoyed it while lolling on the sofa half a kip.....


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2012)

belboid said:


> Well, thats nice. I'm afraid I still think its bullshit tho


 
Not to worry. The chance of me coming over there and forcing you to watch the rest of the series at gunpoint, is exactly nil.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2012)

I also watched the British Office. Much superior to the US version imo. The american version is so - americanized. There's no real tension in it. The British version is like how life is, but with some humor added. The US version is about how life is portrayed by Hollywood.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 5, 2012)

Une Femme Douce.

Robert Bresson, 1969. How more French could this film be? NONE MORE FRENCH.

Dominique Sanda's first big role. Her character makes the mistake of marrying an embittered pawnshop owner. Most of the film is told in flashback after her suicide at the beginning. It's also based on a Dostoevsky story.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Dec 7, 2012)

Last night I watched _The Princess Bride_ with the kids. They were  for the majority of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it 




Spoiler



"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

I made the mistake of trying to watch Threads.

I have now deleted the fucking thing from my hard drive.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 7, 2012)

Real Steel - did all it needed to. Rocky meets the Champ via Smash 'em Bash 'em Robots......and they kinda thought about the ending too. I enjoyed it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 7, 2012)

mwgdrwg said:


> Last night I watched _The Princess Bride_ with the kids. They were  for the majority of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Why were they confused?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> I made the mistake of trying to watch Threads.
> 
> I have now deleted the fucking thing from my hard drive.


 

Threads is amazing. I can't imagine what it must have been like for people to be watching that during the cold war


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

Threads is the only film that's stopped me sleeping at night.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 7, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Threads is the only film that's stopped me sleeping at night.


It'll do that for a while yet. This was on prime time bbc1.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Dec 7, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Why were they confused?


 
I think the eldest (11) was a bit confused when I was laughing at quite inappropriate moments


----------



## Reno (Dec 7, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Threads is amazing. I can't imagine what it must have been like for people to be watching that during the cold war


 
I only ever saw it once when it was first transmitted and I nearly shat myself. I can't think of a single other programme or film that has terrified this badly before or since, because a nuclear holocaust was something that seemed like a real possibility throughout my childhood and youth.

I'm not sure how it plays now, but I can't imagine it having the same impact.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> It'll do that for a while yet. This was on prime time bbc1.


 
You see the BBC is a nest of Red subversion. I'm on heavy-duty anti-malarial drugs at the moment, so I can't really afford to play Russian Roulette with my mental state.

I really don't see the Russians then or now launching a surprise attack on the UK, though. It's not really spelled out (at least in the bits I could bear to watch) how exactly you get from a spot of bother in the ME to This is The End, My Only Friend The End.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 7, 2012)

That's irrelevant idris - that's what the big people do/don't.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

mwgdrwg said:


> I think the eldest (11) was a bit confused when I was laughing at quite inappropriate moments


 
I thought this comment was in relation to Threads at first, and not the Princess Bride.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> That's irrelevant idris - that's what the big people do/don't.


 
I'll just blame it on the Lariam.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 7, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> I'll just blame it on the Lariam.


Couldn't get Malarone? I got given a bunch of Lariam recently for a trip, but after reading up on it decided I'd rather risk malaria. Also, I've never seen Threads.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

Malarone's too expensive. Also while Lariam can give you a psychotic episode (which I have not experienced. . . yet), Malaria can fucking kill you.

I don't think you need to have Threads in your life, btw.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 7, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Malarone's too expensive. Also while Lariam can give you a psychotic episode (which I have not experienced. . . yet), Malaria can fucking kill you.
> 
> I don't think you need to have Threads in your life, btw.


It is expensive for sure. Malaria can still kill you if you're on Lariam, can't it? TBH it wasn't the best decision I ever made, but hey, AFAIK no malaria, never even got bitten.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

If you do catch Malaria, the key is early response. I know some people who are out here for several years, which makes prophylaxis useless. So they just monitor their health obsessively, and are on constant alert for symptoms.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 7, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> If you do catch Malaria, the key is early response. I know some people who are out here for several years, which makes prophylaxis useless. So they just monitor their health obsessively, and are on constant alert for symptoms.


I did bring the Lariam with me for that very reason.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 7, 2012)

malaria thread-->


----------



## TruXta (Dec 7, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> malaria thread-->


Thread policing already?


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Thread policing already?


 
He's just imitating Bakunin's roving terrorist band, who were to keep society on the right track in the post-revolutionary anarchist utopia.


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 7, 2012)

Reno said:


> I only ever saw it once when it was first transmitted and I nearly shat myself. I can't think of a single other programme or film that has terrified this badly before or since,


 
I thought this was in relation to the Princess Bride


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 7, 2012)

mwgdrwg said:


> I think the eldest (11) was a bit confused when I was laughing at quite inappropriate moments


 
ah...it's a good script....


----------



## Reno (Dec 7, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> ah...it's a good script....


 
...though the novel is even better.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 7, 2012)

Reno said:


> ...though the novel is even better.


 
Aye...t'is true....often the case too.....that WG has a way with words


----------



## Me76 (Dec 7, 2012)

I have the most recent muppets movie at home from lovefilm. If I am to keep to my new years resolution of actually getting my money's worth out of my subscription I need to watch it in the next four days.


----------



## Voley (Dec 7, 2012)

Just watched the new Batman film. Really enjoyed it. Had a good twist that I didn't see coming. Also saw Ted the other night, which was really really funny. Bit schmaltzy towards the end but loads of proper laugh out loud moments before that. 'I fucked her with a parsnip' isn't a line that gets used often enough in film imo.


----------



## Voley (Dec 7, 2012)

Me76 said:


> I have the most recent muppets movie at home from lovefilm. If I am to keep to my new years resolution of actually getting my money's worth out of my subscription I need to watch it in the next four days.


I had LoveFilm for a bit. To really get your money's worth, the day the DVD arrives, use DVDShrink to stick it on yer hard drive, send the DVD straight back and get another. Repeat and watch them at your leisure. I haven't used LoveFilm for about a year but I've still got stuff to watch.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 7, 2012)

NVP said:


> ... 'I fucked her with a parsnip' isn't a line that gets used often enough in film imo.


Pretty sure it was an answer on University Challenge a few weeks ago.


----------



## Voley (Dec 8, 2012)




----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 8, 2012)

NVP said:


> I had LoveFilm for a bit. To really get your money's worth, the day the DVD arrives, use DVDShrink to stick it on yer hard drive, send the DVD straight back and get another. Repeat and watch them at your leisure. I haven't used LoveFilm for about a year but I've still got stuff to watch.


I only use LF for blu-rays.   Netflix for Breaking Bad and other tv shows.   I used to fill up my hard drive with films but I prefer the whole HD/DTS thing now.


----------



## Reno (Dec 8, 2012)

The Danish costume drama _A Royal Affair_, based closely on a real 18th century royal scandal which brought about some revolutionary reforms. It's an interesting story and Mads Mikkelsen is excellent as a commoner who becomes the real power behind a ineffectual and mentally ill king while knobbing the queen but like a lot of costume dramas it's a little staid and lifeless. From a film produced by Lars Von Trier's Zentropa studio I would have expected something a little less conventional and polite.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 8, 2012)

The Fear. Not a dvd but the 4 part series from ch4 this week with Peter Mullen and Richard E Grant.

Not a bad idea, gangster gets dimentia. It was carried entirely by Mullen though imo, the actors playing his sons were particularly poor and the timeframe between different events wasn't always clear.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 8, 2012)

Les Boys.

Quebec hockey film from 1997. A motley crew of simps , feebs and three-time losers particpiate in the hockey team of their local pub. What they don't know is that their manager, the pub landlord is in hock ot the local gangster, and the result of the match will determine who owns the pub afterwards.

Not bad for what it is.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 8, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> The Fear. Not a dvd but the 4 part series from ch4 this week with Peter Mullen and Richard E Grant.
> 
> Not a bad idea, gangster gets dimentia. It was carried entirely by Mullen though imo, the actors playing his sons were particularly poor and the timeframe between different events wasn't always clear.


Did you recognise Viserys Targeren off of Game Of Thrones playing the more sensible son?


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 8, 2012)

Never seen Game of Thrones


----------



## Reno (Dec 8, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Did you recognise Viserys Targeren off of Game Of Thrones playing the more sensible son?


 
Not wearing a Barbie joke shop wig here, I presume.


----------



## Firky (Dec 8, 2012)

Chip Barm said:


> The Fear. Not a dvd but the 4 part series from ch4 this week with Peter Mullen and Richard E Grant.
> 
> Not a bad idea, gangster gets dimentia. It was carried entirely by Mullen though imo, the actors playing his sons were particularly poor and the timeframe between different events wasn't always clear.


 
Wasn't bad was it? You could guess where it was going though. I think that was the point, everyone could see it apart from him. Same goes with the continuity and timing you mention, that was also deliberate. It helps add confusion and discord to the character's perspective.

I agree Mullen carried it off very well.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 8, 2012)

Haywire.....Soderberg does hitman flick....was good 5. Gina Carano looks like one to keep an eye on. Fights and acts!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 8, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Haywire.....Soderberg does hitman flick....was good 5. Gina Carano looks like one to keep an eye on. Fights and acts!


I rather liked that too.


----------



## stethoscope (Dec 9, 2012)

London: A Modern Babylon.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 9, 2012)

Skyfall- very routine but I guess you have to be be  a fan of Bond films to really appreciate it


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 9, 2012)

Drive - Great Mann meets Melville via To Live and Die in L.A thriller...fuller of 80s nods from credit fonts, tangerine dream-like score. Ryan Gosling gives good Alain Delon, supporting cast are all top notch.....the plot was quite flimsy, but it was a well crafted film. Mu only real gripe is the driver's 5 minute rule. Surely the aim of a getaway driver is to get you away and not leave you after 5  minutes regardless of where you are.....

Texas Killing Fields - Standard policer/true story - coulda been a channel 5 afternooner, although it was pretty good. Stephen Graham was wasted, he steals every scene he's in and he's not in enough.....they guy that played the Comedian in The Watchmen was good as a religious cop with a need to get his man.....They didn't really go deep enough with the themes around texas attitudes and outsider communities etc, traditions, and secrets and family life....there was hints of Mississipi Burning about it (although the film was about the same subject) - Hit Girl was in it too.....she dawdled around being all waif like, poor, and lost....but in a good way....


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 9, 2012)

That there 'Predators' on TV.
Never has there been a more predictable movie. You could see everything coming a mile off, more like a parody movie than a real film. People popped up and did weird things simply to hit 'plot' points in the script. Characters motivations changed (rather heavy handedly) solely to facilitate the plot bingo, it was really quite amusing. 
Nothing was quite as funny though as Adrian Brody, with his terrible lines and comedy action hero voice. There must have been a point where the director said "hey, try putting on a tough guy voice" and he did, and they shrugged their shoulders and said "yeah that'll do". Or Adrian said "Hey how about I do this voice", and everyone looked at their shoes and were too embarrassed to day anything.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2012)

I always thought the predators were crap looking aliens.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 9, 2012)

Reno said:


> I always thought the predators were crap looking aliens.


 
I think I actually enjoyed it because is was so amusingly crap. I don't think I could watch it again though.


----------



## Firky (Dec 9, 2012)

Not the biggest fan of QT's latest stuff but I am currently in the process of acquiring this...







Quite looking forward to watching it as I have had a painful weekend of putting up with whatever ITV broadcasts


----------



## TruXta (Dec 9, 2012)

Reno said:


> I always thought the predators were crap looking aliens.


The original two were great 80s action flicks. Not up there with Alien(s) but still.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2012)

TruXta said:


> The original two were great 80s action flicks. Not up there with Alien(s) but still.


 
I still remember seeing the first one when it came out and I just found it really disappointing. The intergalactic Rasta look always struck me as more silly than scary. But then I'm not a huge Schwarzenegger fan either. I actually slightly preferred Predator 2, thanks to his absence.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2012)

firky said:


> Not the biggest fan of QT's latest stuff but I am currently in the process of acquiring this...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
RZA?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 9, 2012)

Yeah, I didn't really care for the first one apart from the lines "If it bleeds, we can kill it" (which is what I first wanted to call my band) and the "Jeez you got a big pussy" joke.


----------



## Firky (Dec 9, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> RZA?


 
Russel Crowe 

RZA 

Lucy Liu


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2012)

the 'tang had fairly good beat em up as I recall, not as good as def jam one but good


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2012)

with the def jam one snoop was the final boss, and I bet the cunt made that a stipulation to his inclusion 'I get be the baddest fighter in the game, right?'


----------



## Firky (Dec 9, 2012)

steph said:


> London: A Modern Babylon.


 
Is that the Julien Temple thing? I found it very interesting but it really irritated me how it was edited to look like some media student's final year project. The 100 year old woman in Hackney was awesome


----------



## stethoscope (Dec 9, 2012)

firky said:


> Is that the Julien Temple thing? I found it very interesting but it really irritated me how it was edited to look like some media student's final year project. The 100 year old woman in Hackney was awesome


 
Yeah. It's pretty good and its certainly full of great footage, but I dunno I found the lack of flow a little off-putting at times - although its intended to be a 'collage' and so thats why the editing is like it is.

I appreciate it was probably a near-impossible task for Temple to include so much material without it exceeding the already 2 hours running time.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 9, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> the 'tang had fairly good beat em up as I recall, not as good as def jam one but good


I went to the UK launch of that. 
It was pretty shitty event, and as I recall the game was rubbish too.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 9, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> with the def jam one snoop was the final boss, and I bet the cunt made that a stipulation to his inclusion 'I get be the baddest fighter in the game, right?'


Are run dmc in it?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Are run dmc in it?


 

nope, no jurrasic 5, tribe called quest or de la soul either. Just the fighty rappers


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 9, 2012)

firky said:


> Not the biggest fan of QT's latest stuff but I am currently in the process of acquiring this...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
The soundtrack is cracking. The deluxe version has the score, the original RZA songs and some great old soul and funk tracks.....it's well worth aquiring....


----------



## Firky (Dec 9, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The soundtrack is cracking. The deluxe version has the score, the original RZA songs and some great old soul and funk tracks.....it's well worth aquiring....


 
Yup, soundtrack is great and there's some very cool, slick scenes. Whole thing feels like one, long, big fight in a brothel though.  

Was OK.


----------



## Me76 (Dec 9, 2012)

Watched the Muppets Movie.  Was as expected although it did take the piss out of itself quite nicely


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 9, 2012)

firky said:


> Yup, soundtrack is great and there's some very cool, slick scenes. Whole thing feels like one, long, big fight in a brothel though.
> 
> Was OK.


 
Gonna watch it now.....


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 9, 2012)

I watched Biutiful last night.  Liked it a lot.

And Predators, a total turd, as bad as any of the AvP films.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2012)

Johnny Vodka said:


> And Predators, a total turd, as bad as any of the AvP films.


 
I prefer the first AvP film to any of the Predator films. I even think it's more fun than two of the official Alien films in that franchise. There, I said it !


----------



## wiskey (Dec 9, 2012)

51st State, ridiculous stupidity


----------



## Badgers (Dec 9, 2012)

The Lost Room series which was pretty good 
Deathwatch film horror thing set in the WW1 trenches - not bad


----------



## Yetman (Dec 9, 2012)

I've got Biutiful to watch, but I'm going to watch either the 2nd half of Stalker (bonkers 1979 ruissian (?) movie) or another one of Von Triers The Kingdom in a minute.

I've got Sinister to watch later. Will report back 

Oh, watched The Big Year last night. Not bad film about birdwatching (or birding, should I say) with Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. Good to see SM back and Wilson plays his character well, despite the fact he wouldn't be most casting director's first choice for the role imo. Still, a decent enough film about an incredibly boring subject


----------



## Grandma Death (Dec 9, 2012)

Im currently ploughing my way through Breaking Bad. I'm a late comer to this series-and I have to say I'm really enjoying it. Series 2 next.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 9, 2012)

Reno said:


> I prefer the first AvP film to any of the Predator films. I even think it's more fun than two of the official Alien films in that franchise. There, I said it !


 
The first AvP film actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 9, 2012)

Yetman said:


> I've got Biutiful to watch, but I'm going to watch either the 2nd half of Stalker (bonkers 1979 ruissian (?) movie) or another one of Von Triers The Kingdom in a minute.
> 
> I've got Sinister to watch later. Will report back
> 
> Oh, watched The Big Year last night. Not bad film about birdwatching (or birding, should I say) with Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. Good to see SM back and Wilson plays his character well, despite the fact he wouldn't be most casting director's first choice for the role imo. Still, a decent enough film about an incredibly boring subject


Stalker is awesome.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2012)

Midnight in Paris. Another Woody Allen film that has been hailed as a return to form and which is not very good. It works way to hard to be charming, the present day characters are one dimensional and the historical characters are not much more sophisticated than those in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and that film actually was funny (and charming)


----------



## marty21 (Dec 9, 2012)

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0126220/

A Bright Shining Lie - based on the Neil Sheehan book about John Paul Vann, a US Soldier who served in Vietnam as a soldier and as a private advisor (who ended commanding troops there) it is an excellent book, and the tv movie is actually ok.


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2012)

The first two episodes of season 3 of The Walking Dead.

Gory ! 

I'm liking the chick with the mutilated pet zombies.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 10, 2012)

American Horror Story pilot episode

if they maintain that, I have a new favourite thing


----------



## Yetman (Dec 10, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> American Horror Story pilot episode
> 
> if they maintain that, I have a new favourite thing


 
Its really good


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> American Horror Story pilot episode
> 
> if they maintain that, I have a new favourite thing


 
I didn't think it always retained momentum, but it is the most batshit crazy series on the telly. I'm waiting till series 2 has finished to binge-watch it, but word on it is good and I like that this series tells a completely different story in every season.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 10, 2012)

The Rebel, Louise Michel - french Tv drama about LM's decade in exile after the 1871 commune's defeat and the states _legal revenge_ (30 000+ killed one single week). Film doesn't cover any of this, just the years exiled to New Caledonia and her attempt to spark the Kanaks to revolt. Hard to make a film about someone so inspiring so lifeless and...wet, but they managed it. Sylvie Testud was good as she could be in the lead role but didn't have much to fire off really.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 10, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> The Rebel, Louise Michel - french Tv drama about LM's decade in exile after the 1871 commune's defeat and the states _legal revenge_ (30 000+ killed one single week). Film doesn't cover any of this, just the years exiled to New Caledonia and her attempt to spark the Kanaks to revolt. Hard to make a film about someone so inspiring so lifeless and...wet, but they managed it. Sylvie Testud was good as she could be in the lead role but didn't have
> much to fire off really.


 
AFAIK, in France Louise Michel is a name everyone knows, but no one's really aware of what she actually did.


I watched _The Long and the Short and the Tall,_ a nasty little episode from the Far Eastern campaign, in which a motley crew of Taffs, Jocks and Cockneys come to a sticky end (no Micks feature, for obvious reasons). Originally a play, it’s really good, with strong acting, tough language and a rising tension. Richard Harris good as an obnoxious corporal with a too-strong taste for the bayonet, and its application to Japanese POWs.

Laurence Harvey was very good as the anti-hero barracks room lawyer, while David McCallum played a wet, snivelling radio operator. He didn't have a very good war in Mosquito Squadron either: no wonder he defected to the Russians and changed his name to Ilya Kuryakin.

Mosquito Squadron is about, well, a Mosquito Squadron, but still has a slightly 'Swinging London' feel to it. I've also been watching _A Bridge Too Far. _A film with Gene Hackman in it - that's not something you see very often.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 10, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> American Horror Story pilot episode
> 
> if they maintain that, I have a new favourite thing


 
They do. It gets very twisted   I'm on the 2nd series now


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 10, 2012)

I was gonna watch Man with The Iron Fist, but Nanker jnr wants to watch it with me so I gave in and watched something else.

So I watched Premium Rush in which young version Bruce Willis from Looper is a cycle courier around New York being chased by creepy nasty Agent Van Alden from Boardwalk Empire in what amounts to a rip off of the BMX Bandits. It wasn't all that. I'd have preferred Boycey: The Movie cos at least that might have had some drink and drugs in it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> So I watched Premium Rush in which young version Bruce Willis from Looper is a cycle courier around New York being chased by creepy nasty Agent Van Alden from Boardwalk Empire in what amounts to a rip off of the BMX Bandits. It wasn't all that. I'd have preferred Boycey: The Movie cos at least that might have had some drink and drugs in it.


 
That film was beyond awful. I'd completely forgotten that I've seen this only a couple of months ago till you mentioned it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 10, 2012)

Reno said:


> That film was beyond awful. I'd completely forgotten that I've seen this only a couple of months ago till you mentioned it.


 
Yes....I wanted them all to die....preferably under a bus or something larger.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 10, 2012)

Just watched Moonrise Kingdom - not as good as I'd hoped but still a pretty good feelgood growing up kinda flick. Nice 60's feel to it as well, reminded me of Stand By Me a bit


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2012)

The Walking Dead S3 episodes 3-5. Looks like this series has stepped up its game and has finally fulfilled its promise. Really enjoying this.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 10, 2012)

Reno said:


> The Walking Dead S3 episodes 3-5. Looks like this series has stepped up it's game and has finally fulfilled its promise. Really enjoying this.


 

its improved vastly since last season.


----------



## stethoscope (Dec 11, 2012)

Do The Right Thing (@firky )


----------



## Voley (Dec 11, 2012)

steph said:


> Do The Right Thing


Years since I've seen that. Has it aged well? Wouldn't mind giving it another go - I fucking loved it when it first came out.


----------



## stethoscope (Dec 11, 2012)

NVP said:


> Years since I've seen that. Has it aged well? Wouldn't mind giving it another go - I fucking loved it when it first came out.


 
Yeah, has pretty well I reckon - and considering there's a lot of imagery in there thats very of the time


----------



## Voley (Dec 11, 2012)

aadhirasharma said:


> I watch movie last night.


Post of the thread.


----------



## danny la rouge (Dec 11, 2012)

aadhirasharma said:


> I watch movie last night.


Was it about people who like crapping in limousines?


----------



## purenarcotic (Dec 11, 2012)

The Skin I Live In - been meaning to watch this for ages. Not half bad, the ending was all a bit rushed though. 

The Pianist - christ what a boring film.


----------



## Badgers (Dec 11, 2012)

The Fear on 4OD last night, really good


----------



## Yetman (Dec 11, 2012)

Anyone seen Cosmopolis yet? Mixed reviews....


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Anyone seen Cosmopolis yet? Mixed reviews....


 
I didn't like it much, wrote about it on the cinema thread. Found it rather dull and it probably works better as a book than a film.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 11, 2012)

Fuck Up - uncomfortable norwegian mix of Guy Ritchie and one false Move, fargo (in terms of plot, not characterisation) type tales. Enjoyable for first hour, then just waiting for it to end. Bit of a mess that tried to fit in too many genre-leaps in too cramped a space.

Black's Game - laughable Icelandic attempt at a tough crime thriller, grotesque over the top characters (almost into camp) that undermined any gravitas they were trying to achieve. (Exec produced by (Nicolas Winding Refn).


----------



## magneze (Dec 11, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Anyone seen Cosmopolis yet? Mixed reviews....


Yeah, I reviewed it a few pages ago. Not very good in short.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 11, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Black's Game - laughable Icelandic attempt at a tough crime thriller...


 
So does Albarn make his heroic comeback to the big screen to relive the glory days of _Face_?


----------



## Firky (Dec 11, 2012)

magneze said:


> Yeah, I reviewed it a few pages ago. Not very good in short.


 
I haven't heard anyone say anything positive about it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2012)

I wished David Cronenberg would make a proper horror film again.


----------



## Firky (Dec 11, 2012)

Reno said:


> I wished David Cronenberg would make a proper horror film again.


 
Someone must have been made to watch it at Uni as it looks like it is part of their dissertation, I haven't read it (don't want to) just had a quick scan and oh god...

http://gullsofbrighton.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/cosmopolis-in-search-of-the-real/




> I argue that Cosmopolis is a distorted yet penetrating reflection of the globalised world of the contemporary as a dystopia, and Eric not just a banker, but the (anti) hero and archetype of a world that’s entrenched in globalised cyber capitalism. So, in order to defend this perspective, and hopefully with the intention that anyone who should read this and then see the film might get a slightly deeper experience than just another Wall Street-esque film about a banker, I’ve decided to publish this extract from my dissertation.


 
Is as far as I got.


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2012)

firky said:


> Someone must have been made to watch it at Uni as it looks like it is part of their dissertation, I haven't read it (don't want to) just had a quick scan and oh god...
> 
> http://gullsofbrighton.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/cosmopolis-in-search-of-the-real/
> 
> ...


 
That commits about every possible sin of academic writing you can come up with.


----------



## Firky (Dec 11, 2012)

I think she is one of those people who could unnecessarily intellectualise a film like Cockneys vs Zombies


----------



## magneze (Dec 11, 2012)

She might be right. The film might be very clever indeed. However, it's just not very interesting or engaging.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 11, 2012)

Ah bastard. I was hoping of great things from Cronenburg. He's getting too mainstream while still trying to be different and it's not working. Get back to weird Dave, it suits you better


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 11, 2012)

What was the last decent film Cronenberg did? eXistenz?
Was Spider any good? I can't remember anything about it, apart from that giant gas canister in Kennington it's filmed near.


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2012)

I liked Eastern Promises, but something with exploding heads, mutating insects or sex crazed parasites would be nice again.


----------



## magneze (Dec 11, 2012)

Reno said:


> ... something with exploding heads, mutating insects or sex crazed parasites would be nice again.


Perhaps all in the same film ...


----------



## D'wards (Dec 11, 2012)

Just watching Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy - halfway in and it is so cheesy and cliche and rubbish its making me cringe.

Trainspotting it ain't...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 11, 2012)

D'wards said:


> Trainspotting it ain't...


 
Try telling that to the marketing department


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2012)

It's no Trainspotting but I found it pretty watchable. Better than Cosmopolis anyway.


----------



## Badgers (Dec 12, 2012)

Badgers said:
			
		

> The Fear on 4OD last night, really good



Finished last night and really liked it. 

Also watched Natural Born Killers yesterday. Reconfirmed as one of my favourite (top 3) films of all time and the undisputed best soundtrack ever.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 12, 2012)

3-6 of American Horror Story

it really is quite demented


----------



## Badgers (Dec 12, 2012)

DotCommunist said:
			
		

> 3-6 of American Horror Story
> 
> it really is quite demented



First series? I am not a big horror fan but really enjoyed this. Only seen the first series (Murder House) so need to get the second (Asylum) soon.


----------



## JimW (Dec 12, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Finished last night and really liked it.
> ...


Watched that in the week and really enjoyed it too, I do like that Peter Mullan. Wasn't one of the sons in Game of Thrones?

Last night watched a great little documentary about how Welsh working class people took in Basque orphans during the Civil War, despite official opposition/disapproval.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 12, 2012)

Badgers said:


> First series? I am not a big horror fan but really enjoyed this. Only seen the first series (Murder House) so need to get the second (Asylum) soon.


 

yeah. 1st, and its a while since I covered one series this quickly.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> What was the last decent film Cronenberg did? eXistenz?
> Was Spider any good? I can't remember anything about it, apart from that giant gas canister in Kennington it's filmed near.


 
Spider's brilliant. Gets into the dudes head really well - love the itchy spidery feel of his perception


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2012)

Spider was awful.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2012)




----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2012)

Yetman said:


>


Probably the worst Cronenberg movie I've seen, and I'm a fan of his work. Eastern Promises was good. That said I've not seen A History of Violence or A Dangerous Method.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Probably the worst Cronenberg movie I've seen, and I'm a fan of his work. Eastern Promises was good. That said I've not seen A History of Violence or A Dangerous Method.


 
Eastern Promises, History of Violence, they're stories, good stories but nothing 'out there' which is what I like Cronenberg for. I preferred his more abstract stuff, Spider, Existenz, Crash, The Fly, The Brood. Watching Spider was helped by being on drugs at the time - some films are much better on drugs


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Eastern Promises, History of Violence, they're stories, good stories but nothing 'out there' which is what I like Cronenberg for. I preferred his more abstract stuff, Spider, Existenz, Crash, The Fly, The Brood. Watching Spider was helped by being on drugs at the time - some films are much better on drugs


I don't think I wasn't on drugs, still it just put me to sleep.


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Eastern Promises, History of Violence, they're stories, good stories but nothing 'out there' which is what I like Cronenberg for. I preferred his more abstract stuff, Spider, Existenz, Crash, The Fly, The Brood. Watching Spider was helped by being on drugs at the time - some films are much better on drugs


 
If a film is better on drugs, then it's probably rubbish.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> If a film is better on drugs, then it's probably rubbish.


Depends on the drugs.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> If a film is better on drugs, then it's probably rubbish.


Not at all. It just needs a different angle of perception to be appreciated. I've watched lots of movies on drugs that I thought were amazing. Then watching them straight they've been a bit shit. People see things differently - especially people like Cronenburg and Lynch. Sometimes a little help is needed to see things from their POV


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Not at all. It just needs a different angle of perception to be appreciated. I've watched lots of movies on drugs that I thought were amazing. Then watching them straight they've been a bit shit. People see things differently - especially people like Cronenburg and Lynch. Sometimes a little help is needed to see things from their POV


 
Stop spelling him Cronenb*u*rg, he's not related to the beer. 

I like films far more than I like drugs, so I'd rather not ruin the experience. I've seen films on a variety drugs and it has never enhanced a film for me. I hate hallucigenics, so that doesn't help.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> Stop spelling him Cromenb*u*rg, he's not related to the beer.
> 
> I like films far more than I like drugs, so I'd rather not ruin the experience. I've seen films on a variety drugs and it has never enhanced a film for me. I hate hallucigenics, so that doesn't help.


Cronenberg, not Cromenburg!


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2012)

Typo ! 

He's done it twice though.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2012)

Saw the first ep of The Hour the other day, dl'ed the rest of S1. Is it worth my time to persevere?


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2012)

Oh yes, KronenbErg, sorry David 

The drugs I'm on about are the hallucinogenic variety.....at small doses though they can enhance perception so not to ruin a film, but just get you that bit deeper into it. Get totally twisted though and some films are mental


----------



## Reno (Dec 12, 2012)

I used to be more into amphetamines in my youth and they are useless with films.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 12, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Saw the first ep of The Hour the other day, dl'ed the rest of S1. Is it worth my time to persevere?


Perfectly passable.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2012)

Reno said:


> I used to be more into amphetamines in my youth and they are useless with films.


 
Heh, yeah, attention span isn't exactly adjusted for 90+ minutes of film on speed


----------



## belboid (Dec 12, 2012)

Yetman said:


> Eastern Promises, History of Violence, they're stories, good stories but nothing 'out there'


HoV was not a particularly good story. Fairly dull and superficial to me.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Dec 12, 2012)

End of The Matrix and half of Alien. Re-watching loads of favourites atm before we get our new batch of DVDs for crimbo


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 12, 2012)

I saw two terriblebrilliant films recently: On Deadly Ground and Bride Of Chucky.
Both awful shite but their absolute bonkersness keeps you watching.
On Deadly Ground, starring stationary fighter Steven Seagal (as well as being directed by him) is the most insane. There is an astonishingly hamfisted and offensive soft-focussed spiritual journey/dream sequence in it with bare breasted drumming Native American ladies and bear wrestling in it. Oh, and it finishes with a really long tedious town-hall-steps speech about environmentalism, complete with a montage of natural beauty, while twinkly-eyed wrinkly Native Americans look on, nodding sagely and holding up their grandchildren to witness. Apparently it was cut down to 4 minutes from 11 minutes! I am now determined to check out his other films. Only seen a couple.

Bride Of Chucky is pure trash but I missed the first hour and it made no sense whatsoever. I suspect it would have made no difference if I had seen the whole film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 12, 2012)

compare/contrast the puppet sex in bride of chucky with that in Team America


----------



## Yetman (Dec 12, 2012)

belboid said:


> HoV was not a particularly good story. Fairly dull and superficial to me.


 
Yeah not his best was it, quite forgettable.


----------



## marty21 (Dec 12, 2012)

I was off sick today so gorged myself on netflix

Open Range - Robert Duvall/Kevin Costner western - excellent - seen it before - beautiful film in parts
Beautiful Girls - Matt Dillon/Timothy Hutton - homecoming story - 30something angst - seen it before - still enjoyed it
Coffee and Cigarettes - difficult to describe - a series of stories about coffee and cigarettes I guess


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 12, 2012)

Half Measures and then Full Measure.

These are the final episodes in season 3 of Breaking Bad.  Made by people who don't care about how to make TV and just go and make it better.   Almost no music, no normal pacing, certainly no similarity to a normal TV show.   You look at True Blood or Dexter (my fave, obv) and then look at this and this provides 10 times the shock, 10 times the laughs, 10 times the tension _without actually doing anything most of the time_.

Quite stunning, I'm happy.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 12, 2012)

What do you mean? Loads happens in Breaking Bad!


----------



## Mapped (Dec 12, 2012)

There are a few episodes where absolutely nothing happens  The one with the fly in the lab springs to mind. They are some of the best though


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 12, 2012)

What are you talking about? Loads happens!


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 12, 2012)

The one with the two junkies, the kid and the ATM, season 2 I think, is a prime example.  Empathy for the child, a total lack of action but some series action at the same time, violence with no violence and the ATM joke.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 12, 2012)

Gus is from Usual Suspects, you know.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 12, 2012)

'Action' isn't the only stuff to happen in film/tv! they're still pretty eventful episodes! They're not exactly Bela Tarr material


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 12, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Gus is from Usual Suspects, you know.


I think of him as being 'from' Do The Right Thing and Bob Roberts


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 12, 2012)

Giardello's son


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 13, 2012)

*Last Night* (1998) Want sure if i enjoyed it tbh...,,, bit miserable fer my likin youd think everyone would be runnin around in chaos but everyone seemed pretty relaxed even though the world was gonna end at midnight.
loved the guy who kept leavin messages about the gas though, that were funny... Only thing was it dint go dark at midnight though which were strange? Mind you i did watch peerin over me laptop/.//,


----------



## Reno (Dec 13, 2012)

avu9lives said:


> *Last Night* (1998) Want sure if i enjoyed it tbh...,,, bit miserable fer my likin youd think everyone would be runnin around in chaos but everyone seemed pretty relaxed even though the world was gonna end at midnight.
> loved the guy who kept leavin messages about the gas though, that were funny... Only thing was it dint go dark at midnight though which were strange? Mind you i did watch peerin over me laptop/.//,


 
I love that film. The reason why it doesn't get dark at night is a clue as to why the earth is ending.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2012)

Some Like it Hot.

Not as good as the more famous _Nuns on the Run, _but good stuff all the same (big joke).

While Tony Curtis makes a passable broad (it's his pre-raphaelite lips, I think) Jack Lemmon, who leads with his chin, is the least convincing man dressed as a woman ever. But if you can suspend your disbelief, it's very good indeed.

Marilyn Monroe, also, has never really got the credit she deserves for her comic timing in this one, I think.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Jack Lemmon, who leads with his chin, is the least convincing man dressed as a woman ever.


 
That's why it's funny.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2012)

Reno said:


> That's why it's funny.


 
Yes, Reno, I noticed.

What say you concerning Miss Monroe and her comic timing?


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes, Reno, I noticed.


 
Just making sure you were laughing !


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2012)

Reno said:


> Just making sure you were laughing !


 
Ah, yes, the famous German sense of humour. How I've missed it these past two months.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> What say you concerning Miss Monroe and her comic timing?


I think she's great in it. Why ?



Idris2002 said:


> Ah, yes, the famous German sense of humour. How I've missed it these past two months.


My teutonic hilarity is not going anywhere.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2012)

Reno said:


> I think she's great in it. Why ?


 
Just asking, because as I said, she's not credited as much as she should be. She's remembered mainly as a glamour pinup, but she had the acting chops as well. And that should be more widely acknowledged.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Just asking, because as I said, she's not credited as much as she should be. She's remembered mainly as a glamour pinup, but she had the acting chops as well. And that should be more widely acknowledged.


 
I think by now it's widely accepted that she was a very talented comedic actress. It's more questionable whether she was a great dramatic actress, which was what she aspired too, hence her studying with Lee Strasberg etc. There are people who make claims she was, but I'm not so sure. It's indisputable though that she had the charisma that makes an true film star and that there are few actors the camera loved so much.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2012)

Reno said:


> I think by now it's widely accepted that she was a very talented comedic actress. *It's more questionable whether she was a great dramatic actress, which was what she aspired too, hence her studying with Lee Strasberg etc. There are people who make claims she was, but I'm not so sure.* It's indisputable though that she had the charisma that makes an true film star and that there are few actors the camera loved so much.


 
Huh, I didn't know that - the bit in bold I mean. Thanks.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 14, 2012)

The first season of _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._ much less daft than it later became. The thing I found most interesting about it was it's positive nature, a belief that the world was better and was going to contiue to improve (partly through international co-operation). You don't get anything like made these days, the whole tone of the programme would be different.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> The first season of _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._ much less daft than it later became. The thing I found most interesting about it was it's positive nature, a belief that the world was better and was going to contiue to improve (partly through international co-operation). You don't get anything like made these days, the whole tone of the programme would be different.


 
Yeah, the odd couple premise rested upon the idea that Soviet-US cooperation was at least in principle possible. Which was a pretty out there concept for the 1960s.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 14, 2012)

At yet at the same time it seems to me that people had a greater belief in the possibility of co-operation and improvement than they do now.

It's not just _Man From U.N.C.L.E._, _Star Trek_ has that same idea/tone - that there will be a bright new world. I read _Shine _a near-future optimistic sci-fi anthology a bit ago and that underlined just how rare such work (in book, TV or film) has become.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 14, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> At yet at the same time it seems to me that people had a greater belief in the possibility of co-operation and improvement than they do now.
> 
> It's not just _Man From U.N.C.L.E._, _Star Trek_ has that same idea/tone - that there will be a bright new world. I read _Shine _a near-future optimistic sci-fi anthology a bit ago and that underlined just how rare such work (in book, TV or film) has become.


They did? I don't know that it was all that rosy. For counter-examples, consider that Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange and Stand on Zanzibar were all written (and filmed) in the 50s and 60s.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 14, 2012)

there were competing strands in 50s/60s sci fi. (written and film) Some paranoiac and doomy- some utopian and optimistic.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 14, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> there were competing strands in 50s/60s sci fi. (written and film) Some paranoiac and doomy- some utopian and optimistic.


Still is.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 14, 2012)

TruXta said:


> They did? I don't know that it was all that rosy. For counter-examples, consider that Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange and Stand on Zanzibar were all written (and filmed) in the 50s and 60s.


Sure such themes were about but as DC says there was competing strands. Compare that with today - I can't think of a modern sci-fi film/TV series which has the same optimism of _Star Trek _or _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._


----------



## TruXta (Dec 14, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Sure such themes were about but as DC says there was competing strands. Compare that with today - I can't think of a modern sci-fi film/TV series which has the same optimism of _Star Trek _or _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._


Idiocracy?  Lemme think.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2012)

There is very little utopian scifi, mainly because Utopias are not very dramatically interesting. Star Trek got around it by frequently visiting dystopian planets and meeting all sorts of villains on their adventures, but if you are stuck on earth in a happy clappy world, it's going to be yawnsville. As proof watch Bicentennial Man with Robin Williams.


----------



## Me76 (Dec 14, 2012)

TruXta said:


> Probably the worst Cronenberg movie I've seen, and I'm a fan of his work. Eastern Promises was good. That said I've not seen A History of Violence or A Dangerous Method.


Is A Dangerous Method based on the Stephen King short story?


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2012)

Me76 said:


> Is A Dangerous Method based on the Stephen King short story?


Nope.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 14, 2012)

Criminal - About two con men a remake of the Argentinian movie Nueve reinas ( Nine Queens )


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 14, 2012)

Me76 said:


> Is A Dangerous Method based on the Stephen King short story?


Isn't that Breathing Method?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breathing_Method


----------



## thriller (Dec 14, 2012)

Drive

Just seen it for the first time on small screen since watching it in the cinema when it came out. Great film.


----------



## Me76 (Dec 15, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Isn't that Breathing Method?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breathing_Method


oh yeah.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 15, 2012)

Double Indemnity.

Crime does not pay - and then some.


This is a great movie made even better by Edward G. Robinson, in one of his rare roles as a good guy.


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 15, 2012)

*Bread and Tulips* (Pane e tulipani) 2000

An everyday story of love and life one of the one of the reasons i love European films so much. Rosalba is beautifully portrayed by Licia Maglietta . Cant recommend it enough beautiful beautiful film


----------



## Mapped (Dec 15, 2012)

Looper, really enjoyed it


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 15, 2012)

First season of the tv Sherlock Holmes remake.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 16, 2012)

Apparently the BBC received over 100 complaints about Lara Pulver's nude scene in Season 2, episode 1.


----------



## stethoscope (Dec 16, 2012)

Wild Side - quite slow getting going, at times all a bit bleak, but overall really moving and sensitively done. The Antony Hegarty cameo at the beginning was unexpected too.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 16, 2012)

Conspiracy - the secret story - documentary about the CIA's involvement in drug smuggling

a documentary about the aryan brotherhood and then another one about the book of kells (the 6th century Irish manuscript)


----------



## DJ Squelch (Dec 17, 2012)

Marooned, 1969 film about three astronauts having to be rescued from space after their return rocket booster fails. Slow paced but the decent script and good acting (including Gene Hackman & Gregory Peck) keeps you gripped. The space scenes look pretty good for the 60s too.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 17, 2012)

DJ Squelch said:


> Marooned, 1969 film about three astronauts having to be rescued from space after their return rocket booster fails. Slow paced but the decent script and good acting (including Gene Hackman & Gregory Peck) keeps you gripped. The space scenes look pretty good for the 60s too.


 
Never heard of that one - sounds pretty good. And of course, you rarely get to see a film with Gene Hackman in it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 17, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> Never heard of that one - sounds pretty good. And of course, you rarely get to see a film with Gene Hackman in it.


Or you could watch the superior edit   (film starts at 7:00)


----------



## Mephitic (Dec 18, 2012)

Unlawful Killing ~   I wanted to like this documentary but I couldn’t. It just poses the same unanswered questions, listing the multiple discrepancies that occurred post crash (which have been around forever) using supporting twaddle from utter twats like Piers Morgan (sigh…). It then moves on to throw a bunch of libelous crap at the royals, especially Phil. I’ve enjoyed Allens previous work, I thought that his documentaries on Keith Floyd and Nick Griffin were pretty decent, but this isn’t anywhere near as good.


----------



## Mephitic (Dec 20, 2012)

Dredd (2012) overall mediocre (the sound quality was rather impressive) not as good as the original.


----------



## starfish (Dec 20, 2012)

The Dark Knight Rises. God it went on a bit, i watched it all but ms starfish gave up after just over 2 hours. I suppose it was ok but they could have got away with just a 2 hour film. Felt the same about the previous one with the Joker too.


----------



## Reno (Dec 20, 2012)

A rubbishy horror film called Excision, which for some reason has been getting really good reviews.

Also three episodes of Girls, the HBO comedy series by Lena Dunham and I think I quite like it. Reminds me a little of Whit Stillman's films.


----------



## purenarcotic (Dec 21, 2012)

Sightseers - took me a while to get into. Very, very black humour. Can't quite decide if it was absolutely brilliant or awful. Think I'll have to watch it a couple more times to decide.


----------



## Mephitic (Dec 21, 2012)

the 1st 3 episodes of 'full metal jousting' ~ brilliant


----------



## Thimble Queen (Dec 22, 2012)

We've started 24 from the begining. Surprised how dated parts of it look.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 22, 2012)

Mephitic said:


> Dredd (2012) overall mediocre (the sound quality was rather impressive) *not as good as the original.*


 

for real? I liked the stallone one as a film but it certainly wasn't proper Dredd


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 22, 2012)

Lay on the sofa and watched the Nic Cage remake of Bangkok Dangerous. Dunno why the Pangs remade it, money I suppose, and it wasn't quite as bad as the critics made out on it's release....it passed a couple of hours....


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 22, 2012)

The Cassandra Crossing.

One of the great bad movies, featuring Richard Harris as a dashing Irish doctor (I suppose with a name like 'Jonathan Chamberlain' his character is meant to be from the other island, but he played it pretty Irish IMO), and Sophia Loren as his wife, a sort of Italian Edna O'Brien.

They find themselves trapped on a trans-Europe express train, where a terrorist has stowed away, bringing a weaponised bacteria with him. The authorities quarantine the train, and send it to Poland (this is 1976, so they have to cross the Iron curtain) where the Cassandra Crossing stands - an abandoned and decrepit railway bridge. _Will they survive the crossing?_

One of the passengers is a Holocaust survivor who realises that he's seen this movie before. This bit of it could have been very crassly handled, but maybe as this was made when the war was still within living memory, it's not too bad. Sir Lew Grade was the producer, which may explain that bit.

A very old Ava Gardner features as the wife of a German arms dealer, and a very young Martin Sheen features as her perfumed gigolo toyboy. O.J. Simpson (yes, that O.J.), dressed as a Catholic priest, lurks about the carriages in a sinister fashion.

Yes, it's as good as it sounds. Well, you could do worse, anyway. What was interesting was the number of 'mature' women in key roles in the plot (like Liv Ullman Ingrid Thulin, as an "International Health Organisation" doctor), which is something you don't see very often, or at all, these days.


----------



## Reno (Dec 22, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> The Cassandra Crossing.
> 
> One of the great bad movies, featuring Richard Harris as a dashing Irish doctor (I suppose with a name like 'Jonathan Chamberlain' his character is meant to be from the other island, but he played it pretty Irish IMO), and Sophia Loren as his wife, a sort of Italian Edna O'Brien.
> 
> ...


 
It's a top bad movie favourite of mine as well. I can never tear myself away when I come across it on the telly.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 22, 2012)

Reno said:


> It's a top bad movie favourite of mine as well. I can never tear myself away when I come across it on the telly.


 
Richard Harris was always good value, even when he was in something awful. I'd say he was the only good thing about The Wild Geese, for example.

Is his character in the CC meant to be English, btw?


----------



## Reno (Dec 22, 2012)

I can't remember, it's a few year ago that I've last seen it and It's Gardener, Sheen and Loren who seared themselves into my memory.

One minor niggle, you got the wrong Ingmar Bergman leading lady. That was Ingrid Thulin who did a lot of trashy films in the 70s, not Liv Ullman (who did not).


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 22, 2012)

Reno said:


> I can't remember, it's a few year ago that I've last seen it and It's Gardener, Sheen and Loren who seared themselves into my memory.
> 
> One minor niggle, you got the wrong Ingmar Bergman leading lady. That was Ingrid Thulin who did a lot of trashy films in the 70s, not Liv Ullman (who did not).


 
Ingrid Thulin, right. Was she in La Guerre Est Finis?


----------



## Reno (Dec 22, 2012)

She was. And she was in the far less classy Salon Kitty.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 22, 2012)

I don't think I even want to know what Salon Kitty was.


----------



## Reno (Dec 22, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> I don't think I even want to know what Salon Kitty was.


 
I'll tell you anyway. It's a fairly hair-raising example of Italian Nazisploitation, made at a time in the 70s when it was thought that hardcore porn could go legitimate. It was made on a big budget, had some amazing art direction and costumes, starred major art house names, had porn actors doing their thing in the background and it was based on a real case of a Nazi brothel where the whores were trained spies. Actually quite interesting and more worthwhile than the same director's more famous Caligula, if you have any interest in exploitation film and can stomach it (there is stuff in the directors cut which is still quite shocking today).


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 22, 2012)

in anticipation of being able to steal the Hobbit at some point I have revisited Lordof The Rings extended editions for the first time in about 8 years or so.  Long. Agent Smith as Elrond is pretty good still 'Men? Men are weak. I was there on the day the strength of men failed'

and so on


----------



## Reno (Dec 22, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Agent Smith as Elrond is pretty good still 'Men? Men are weak. I was there on the day the strength of men failed'
> 
> and so on


 
He is the one who looks like a clapped out drag queen though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 22, 2012)

irritatingly you having said that before undermined the meeting where they form the fellowship because I was thinking 'he DOES look a bit like that'


it was saved by ponderous dialouge though and a dwarf


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 22, 2012)

Reno said:


> I'll tell you anyway. It's a fairly hair-raising example of Italian Nazisploitation, made at a time in the 70s when it was thought that hardcore porn could go legitimate. It was made on a big budget, had some amazing art direction and costumes, starred major art house names, had porn actors doing their thing in the background and it was based on a real case of a Nazi brothel where the whores were trained spies. Actually quite interesting and more worthwhile than the same director's more famous Caligula, if you have any interest in exploitation film and can stomach it (there is stuff in the directors cut which is still quite shocking today).


I love the swastika sweatbands!


----------



## Belushi (Dec 23, 2012)

Aliens (the original cut which I appear to be alone in preferring to the directors cut) still one of the most exciting films of the Eighties.


----------



## Firky (Dec 23, 2012)

No Country for Old Men.

Again.


----------



## purenarcotic (Dec 23, 2012)

The Imposter. Good film, but fucking weird story.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 23, 2012)

Belushi said:


> Aliens (the original cut which I appear to be alone in preferring to the directors cut) still one of the most exciting films of the Eighties.


 

No way man, let Bishop go


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 23, 2012)

Belushi said:


> Aliens (the original cut which I appear to be alone in preferring to the directors cut) still one of the most exciting films of the Eighties.


Had a little argument with my daughter earlier, I said it's a horror, she says it's a sci-fi.


----------



## Reno (Dec 23, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Had a little argument with my daughter earlier, I said it's a horror, she says it's a sci-fi.


 
It's also an action and a war film. Many films are hybrids of several genres, so nobody is wrong here.
 


Belushi said:


> Aliens (the original cut which I appear to be alone in preferring to the directors cut) still one of the most exciting films of the Eighties.


I think the theatrical cut is slightly superior in that it makes for a better paced film. However the extra stuff in the directors cut is genuinely interesting.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 23, 2012)

It's a western


----------



## kittyP (Dec 23, 2012)

Finished all of Jonathan Creek on Netflix. Had not seen most of them before. 

I then watched a Miss Marple and it was one of the most boring things I have ever seen!
3, hour long episodes for a story that should have been done in 30 mins and also, Marple herself hardly does or says anything  
But once it had started I needed to know what happened. 

I then tried to watch Harry Potter and LOTRs but neither were working. 

Please don't judge me on my viewing habits when I am ultra stressed


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 23, 2012)

Solomon Kane a surprisingly good romp through early 17th century West Country with a bloke whose soul is damned by the devil. Surprised this didn't do better at the cinema but it might have been the accent


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 23, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> Solomon Kane a surprisingly good romp through early 17th century West Country with a bloke whose soul is damned by the devil. Surprised this didn't do better at the cinema but it might have been the accent


Yes, the accent was definitely the worst thing about the _Solomon Kane_ film :-|


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 23, 2012)

firky said:


> No Country for Old Men.
> 
> Again.



 as shit as ever?

I know it's just me that thinks it's massively overrated


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 23, 2012)

firky said:


> No Country for Old Men.
> 
> Again.


 
I really like that film apart from the Woody Harrelson bit.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 23, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Yes, the accent was definitely the worst thing about the _Solomon Kane_ film :-|


 
Otherwise quite good I thought. Personally i would have set it a bit later on in some sort of pre Victorian steam punk setting.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 23, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Had a little argument with my daughter earlier, I said it's a horror, she says it's a sci-fi.


 
You were both right.


----------



## Firky (Dec 23, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> I really like that film apart from the Woody Harrelson bit.


 


rubbershoes said:


> as shit as ever?
> 
> I know it's just me that thinks it's massively overrated


 
It's great as is the book, I think Blood Meridian (perhaps one of the best books I have ever read) is being turned into a film too and I hope it's as good as the film adaptation of NCFOM. Which is a brilliant film, I could watch it in a loop. You are right however, Woody is the bump in an otherwise near immaculate film.

I think it's one of those marmite films, my ex hated it


----------



## Mephitic (Dec 23, 2012)

Irvine Welsh, Ecstasy ~ Slow, somewhat predictable and a tad boring.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 23, 2012)

I lolled at drunk scottish god though.


----------



## imposs1904 (Dec 23, 2012)

Sean Bean in Black Death. 

A different film from what I expected but all the better for it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 23, 2012)

Thee Two Towers. Battle at Helmets Deep (lol) was epic as ever.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 23, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> I lolled at drunk scottish god though.


Isn't that in The Acid House, not Ecstasy?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 23, 2012)

oh yeah, ectasys the one with the thalidomide foot wank- in the book at least.

I don't believe I've seen that filmed as it happens. Will search for torrents.


----------



## secret squirrel (Dec 23, 2012)

in my opinion not to miss


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 23, 2012)

Didn't the film move the location to America, which is kind of missing the point?


----------



## secret squirrel (Dec 23, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Didn't the film move the location to America, which is kind of missing the point?


 
I honestly do not know I guess I just liked the idea and admire the woman, you may be right but still like it,maybe I am wrong but if that is the case it might have been for security reasons , I have been in the area once for work and got to have (me and my colleagues) body guards for security reasons so I dare to say some areas are not really the safest ones to be, but I do get your point.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 23, 2012)

How can you not know if you've seen the film? Scotland is a little bit different to America, in cas you hadn't noticed


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 23, 2012)

Oh right, you thought I was commenting on your clip. Never mind, carry  on!


----------



## secret squirrel (Dec 23, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> How can you not know if you've seen the film? Scotland is a little bit different to America, in cas you hadn't noticed


 
maybe we are talking about different films??? I am missing something here but never been in Scotland even if I would like to....in the meantime I've researched on web and Wadjda was filmed in  Saudi Arabia thanks to German investors....


----------



## secret squirrel (Dec 23, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Oh right, you thought I was commenting on your clip. Never mind, carry on!


 
I've posted that video cause was the only one I could find in English...but actually was thinking about the movie?


----------



## secret squirrel (Dec 23, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Oh right, you thought I was commenting on your clip. Never mind, carry on!


 
Sorry


----------



## magneze (Dec 23, 2012)

Pi. Brilliant as ever.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Dec 23, 2012)

The Dark Knight - Watching the Trilogy over the next few days


----------



## Mapped (Dec 23, 2012)

I watched 'Ecstasy' on the train today, nothing great, but passed the time. I wished I looked as good the morning after than those characters, and where was all the gurning eh?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 24, 2012)

Not last night but the other day I had a crack at a few.

Dark night - I only managed five boring minutes so I can't really comment other than the fact that I gave up after five minutes.

Ted - Could have been something interesting but wasn't. Annoyingly it though it was being edgy when in fact it was just another formulaic hollywood film. I Just didn't buy the fact that the couple were soul mates and the teddy was stopping him from committing to life or whatever. It was like she was just a pain in the arse. If she was his wonderful 'soul mate' then first of all he would have told her about sam whatsit from flash gordon and she would have wanted to come too.
Which reminds me. That was the good bit. I think I would have rather just watched a film about two people who loved Flash Gordon, lived their life to the soundtrack and one day met Sam Whatsit.

The Hangover - Just about watchable but I don't see what all the fuss was about. I don't think I will bother with the sequel.

Total Recall - What the hell were they thinking? The original is far from a master piece, but it's a nice jaunt, and played with some emotion and intrigue.  This remake was one of the most 'nothing' films ever made. Yes it looks super slick, but it doesn't look cool and there seems to have been no story telling thought put into how it was filmed and cut. No emotion, no tension. I didn't make it to the end.


----------



## Epona (Dec 24, 2012)

I watched Cabin In The Woods - it was not at all what I was expecting - I was expecting some dire horror/slasher flick, but it was more than that, and kind of reminiscent of The Cube in some ways, quite clever, there was a bit more to it than your average horror/shasher flick and I was really quite impressed. As horror films go (and it definitely fell on the slasher side, there was a lot of blood towards the end), I'd easily give it 8.5 out of 10, which from me is an outstanding score! Good horror movie, if you like the genre and haven't seen it, give it a whirl.

Also in my recently watched list is a lo-sci-fi one part drama (TV movie, I think), called Moon. It didn't do anything that hadn't been done before or explore anything that hadn't been explored before, but what it did, it did it _really well_. It had been sitting on my HDD waiting to be watched for ages, so it could be that it's a bit old-hat to a lot of you! I loved it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 24, 2012)

_Iron Sky_. Reasonably impressive effects considering it was made by a bunch of amateurs on a shoestring, but it's not nearly as funny or outrageous as it thinks it is. The plot works ok, but it's with the dialogue, the performances and the general tone where the inexperience of the film-makers shows. Comedy isn't as easy as it looks and everybody playing it as broadly as possible isn't really that side splitting. Having a Sarah-Palin-a-like as a lead character is shooting fish in a barrel and made the political satire look dated by the day the film came out. And while this is supposed to be a non-PC bad taste comedy, the idea that anybody would find the throwback jive-talking black lead character funny, is just cringe making. Because he is probably the only black lead character to ever in a Finish film, he has to be the most obvious stereotype possible.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 24, 2012)

Watched Safety Not Guaranteed again but this time with my daughters who are back for Xmas. Still think it is one of the underrated films of the year and a lovely Xmas type film.(  in fact an anytime film really)


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 24, 2012)

City State - enjoyably confused film about a Serb gang trying to muscle in on the Icelandic gangs. Particularly enjoyable was its inability to decide if it was a serious investigation into the harm in which war, revenge, corruption or *insert bad thing here* can wreak on innocents or a cross between confessions of a window cleaner/locak stock - and to top it all off,who suddenly appears in the middle out of nowhere? Only Philip bloody Jackson.

In the City - modern attempt to make a Poliziotteschi (or at least a Poliziotteschi influenced film) - which means that the story etc is pretty generic. Nowhere as cynical or political as the originals, but still pretty bloody cynical - really enjoyed this, despite the films limits. Maybe one for dave cinzano.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 24, 2012)

Re-watched the excellent _The Killers_ with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner, then a massive argument with my brother about _Out of the Past_ which the idiot didn't rate!


----------



## blairsh (Dec 24, 2012)

Just finished season4 of The Shield, really looking forward to starting the next series.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 24, 2012)

The African Queen & latest Batman. A good close to the trilogy, until the next reboot...


----------



## thriller (Dec 24, 2012)

Death trap with michael cain and christopher reeves. good to revist it after neary 20 years. good film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 24, 2012)

Silent Running.   Which used to be really cool, but now all I get is Joan fucking Baez howling songs that have not worn well.   And of course Lowell is a psycho, which never really came across before.

Times change.


----------



## Reno (Dec 24, 2012)

...but Huey, Dewey and Louie are still cool.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 24, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Silent Running. Which used to be really cool, but now all I get is Joan fucking Baez howling songs that have not worn well. And of course Lowell is a psycho, which never really came across before.
> 
> Times change.


 
Yeah, when I was a kid he was a hero and it was a film about three cute robots. I don't think I have seen it since and I have never thought of Lowell as a crazy, even though I know from memory of the plot that he must have been. I think I watched it on a saturday or sunday morning, my kid brain must have just skipped over the mad bit. 
I'd love to see it again


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 25, 2012)

Silent Running is my fave sci-fi. Lowell's not crazy. He just cared more for his plants than he did his thick, ignorant crew mates. 

Agreed - the Joan Baez tune is a tad grating.

The robots and the little buggies are cool. I wanna play with them!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 25, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Silent Running is my fave sci-fi. Lowell's not crazy. He just cared more for his plants than he did his thick, ignorant crew mates.!


 
I must watch it again. I know that as a child I was 100% on his side and all his actions made sense. A bitter sweet film that really touched me as a child (and not in a jimmy savile way).


----------



## dessiato (Dec 25, 2012)

We watched the season five of Dr Who, today we will just wait patiently for the Xmas special


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 25, 2012)

Just watched Night of the Sunflower which was very good. My only reservation was that some of the spiralling storyline got near to ridiculous.....and while in the heat of the moment all sorts might occur, it almost got silly......and I might be able to cope with that in an episode of Murder She Wrote, but in an otherwise intelligent euro-thriller I would have liked to see the chain of events evolve in a more realistic way. The film took it's time with most of the story other than that pivotal moment.

...but very good all the same....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 25, 2012)

Lone Wolf an Cub: Sword of Vengeance - bloody and marvellous,,,,


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 25, 2012)

....and finally beat takeshi's Outrage. yet more abstract yakuza violence and loosely plotted power play....but I do love it....


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 26, 2012)

Inception.

Well I enjoyed it first time, about a year ago, but it's better second time round.   It's like a bigger budget version of The Prestige but with that one you can just _watch_ it.  I don't think you can just watch Inception, even second time round, you have to keep your brain in gear.

The payoff is worth the effort.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 26, 2012)

DexterTCN said:


> Inception.
> 
> Well I enjoyed it first time, about a year ago, but it's better second time round. It's like a bigger budget version of The Prestige but with that one you can just _watch_ it. I don't think you can just watch Inception, even second time round, you have to keep your brain in gear.
> 
> The payoff is worth the effort.


 
I disagree. I thought it was just ok the first time, but second time around it felt so forced. The ridiculous and the labored plot is literally being read out to you by the cast in overlong sections of dialogue. You might have to keep your brain in gear a little more than when you are watching the Transporter or something but its no way near as clever and interesting as it likes to think it is. 
The end shot of the top being cut off before we see the outcome is indeed the best bit, a little obvious, but in keeping with rest of the film that is constantly screaming "Do you get it? Do you see??? See what I did there?? SEE". 

And it's too long.


----------



## junglevip (Dec 26, 2012)

Bourne identity


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 26, 2012)

Django Unchained. Warning: I might include spoilers.

I'm always of two minds about reading reviews before seeing a film. I did with this one, and learned that Tarantino's longtime editor had passed away and didn't work on this latest film. The reviewer said that the change was noticeable in that Django was not as tight as we're used to seeing in Tarantino films.

I'd agree with that: the film is maybe fifteen minutes or so too long. It remains enjoyable, but it just feels that the story could be told with a touch more economy.

Lots of 'holy shit, look at that!' blood and gore sequences. Lots of n words used, a couple of whipping sequences - but after the buildup hype about all the angst in filming black actors in chains etc, I was expecting something a little bit more raw. But this is slavery Tarantino-style.

Imo it's worth watching, but isn't one of his best. Isn't even in the top 5.


----------



## Dr. Furface (Dec 26, 2012)

I finally got round to watching Blue Valentine, the Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams disintegrating love story. Absolutely brilliant performances, utterly believable, very moving.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 26, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Django Unchained. Warning: I might include spoilers.
> 
> I'm always of two minds about reading reviews before seeing a film. I did with this one, and learned that Tarantino's longtime editor had passed away and didn't work on this latest film. The reviewer said that the change was noticeable in that Django was not as tight as we're used to seeing in Tarantino films.
> 
> ...


 
I do so hope you have shit taste in films and Django Unchained is actually his best film........


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 26, 2012)

Dr. Furface said:


> I finally got round to watching Blue Valentine, the Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams disintegrating love story. Absolutely brilliant performances, utterly believable, very moving.


 
Where did it move you to?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 26, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I do so hope you have shit taste in films and Django Unchained is actually his best film........


 
Btw: watch for Samuel Jackson channelling Uncle Ruckus. Even looks like him.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 26, 2012)

I watched that well known christmas classic, Highlander


Christopher Lamberts scottish accent was as hilarious as ever.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 26, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Django Unchained. Warning: I might include spoilers.
> 
> I'm always of two minds about reading reviews before seeing a film. I did with this one, and learned that Tarantino's longtime editor had passed away and didn't work on this latest film. The reviewer said that the change was noticeable in that Django was not as tight as we're used to seeing in Tarantino films.
> 
> I'd agree with that: the film is maybe fifteen minutes or so too long. It remains enjoyable, but it just feels that the story could be told with a touch more economy..


 
Shit really? This really puts me off as I think a lot of his films could already do with a damn good chop.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 26, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Shit really? This really puts me off as I think a lot of his films could already do with a damn good chop.


 
There are superfluous characters, unnecessary scenes, etc. Still worth seeing, though.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 26, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> There are superfluous characters, unnecessary scenes, etc. Still worth seeing, though.


Tarentino even manages to make a pointless long and drawn out screen appearance on Miikes Sukiyaki western django. I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow is the reason the rest of the film is also long and baggy.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 26, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Tarentino even manages to make a pointless long and drawn out screen appearance on Miikes Sukiyaki western django. I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow is the reason the rest of the film is also long and baggy.


 
Once everyone's seen the film, Tarantino will be able to be in the running for the 'worst accents' threads.


----------



## electroplated (Dec 26, 2012)

excuse the derail but can anyone tell me the name of the 80's sci-fi movie where 'evil' microchips planted in household electronic devices makes them turn bad and dangerous? I want to watch it again! there were guns that fired smart bullets that could go round corners....!

edit - think i found it by googling the above - "_Runaway_"


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 26, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Once everyone's seen the film, Tarantino will be able to be in the running for the 'worst accents' threads.


The chained one or the miike django


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 26, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> The chained one or the miike django


 
The one I went to yesterday: Unchained.


----------



## Reno (Dec 26, 2012)

electroplated said:


> excuse the derail but can anyone tell me the name of the 80's sci-fi movie where 'evil' microchips planted in household electronic devices makes them turn bad and dangerous? I want to watch it again! there were guns that fired smart bullets that could go round corners....!


 
Sounds a bit like _Runaway._

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_(1984_film)_


----------



## Reno (Dec 26, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Shit really? This really puts me off as I think a lot of his films could already do with a damn good chop.


 
It is a bit too long and there are a few things wrong with it, but it's worth seeing, mainly for Christoph Waltz, who gives the most entertaining performance of the year.


----------



## electroplated (Dec 27, 2012)

Reno said:


> Sounds a bit like _Runaway._
> 
> _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_(1984_film)_


 
That's the one cheers - just I watched it.... not quite as cool as I remembered unfortunately!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 27, 2012)

electroplated said:


> That's the one cheers - just I watched it.... not quite as cool as I remembered unfortunately!


 
Is that the one with Gene Simmons from Kiss in it?????? I bet that aint aged well!


----------



## electroplated (Dec 27, 2012)

yes indeed - terrible acting and he looked ridiculous!


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 27, 2012)

Total Recall (2012).  

Shit.


----------



## marty21 (Dec 27, 2012)

Bad Teacher - it was stupid but I admit to giggling a few times


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 27, 2012)

marty21 said:


> Bad Teacher - it was stupid but I admit to giggling a few times


Cur.


----------



## purenarcotic (Dec 27, 2012)

Dead Man's Shoes - got this as a present from my mum, she said it was great so I was really looking forward to it. Very disappointed, some of the scripting was terrible.


----------



## marty21 (Dec 27, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Cur.


 you didn't like the basketball scene?
or the bra scene?


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 27, 2012)

marty21 said:


> you didn't like the basketball scene?
> or the bra scene?


Cussed dog.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 27, 2012)

purenarcotic said:


> Dead Man's Shoes - got this as a present from my mum, she said it was great so I was really looking forward to it. Very disappointed, some of the scripting was terrible.


And you're wrong an all


----------



## purenarcotic (Dec 27, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> And you're wrong an all



I wanted to like it, I love paddy.


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 27, 2012)

*Cyborg* (1989) Another bloody attempt ta watch it and i dont no why i bother if im honest. Always kinda thought i was missin owt coz most of me mates at work used ta rave about it when it came out, van drab, swartzanegger, lundgren, seagull, they all loved em. Revenge, wooo look im an an hard nut. av it yeah av some. Never work in a bed manufacturers coz they got ship taste in films. Oh yeah the film>>>> managed to get ta the part were he punches his fist after bein blown up or summat and switched it off and watched summat about blackpool on tv.. who da thought frank sinatra loved a bit a blackpool eh?:"?


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 27, 2012)

The President's Analyst.

A rare example of something that is totally 'of it's time' and yet still holds up pretty well. James Coburn is the eponymous headshrinker who takes on the task of analyst to the POTUS. . . and finds himself running for his life.

People say 'groovy' a lot, or at least that's how I recall it. . . like I said, it's of it's time. Did people really hate the phone company that much back then?

Marmoulak.

This is the real thing - and I strongly recommend it. An Iranian burglar escapes from prison disguised as a mullah. While trying to cross the border (I assume into Turkey) he hides out in a small village. The local people there adopt him as their mullah. . . I'd rather not give more of the plot away than that. I think it ended up being banned in Iran, even though it's not _that _anti-regime. The message is 'if only we had good mullahs' rather than 'smash the theocratic state'. But even that was too much for the IRI.


----------



## snadge (Dec 27, 2012)

Just watched Cloud Atlas, awesome.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 27, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> I don't think I even want to know what Salon Kitty was.





Reno said:


> I'll tell you anyway. It's a fairly hair-raising example of Italian Nazisploitation, made at a time in the 70s when it was thought that hardcore porn could go legitimate. It was made on a big budget, had some amazing art direction and costumes, starred major art house names, had porn actors doing their thing in the background and it was based on a real case of a Nazi brothel where the whores were trained spies. Actually quite interesting and more worthwhile than the same director's more famous Caligula, if you have any interest in exploitation film and can stomach it (there is stuff in the directors cut which is still quite shocking today).


 
Darn you Reno! Darn you to heck!


----------



## Garek (Dec 27, 2012)

Just finished watching Ken Burns' American Civil War documentary. Absolutely brilliant introduction to it. Wonderfully narrated with great interviews. 

Can anyone recommend something similar to do with either the first or second world war? Particularly the first.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 28, 2012)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Total Recall (2012).
> 
> Shit.


I don't think there has ever been a film made with less passion from everyone involved.


----------



## Mapped (Dec 28, 2012)

snadge said:


> Just watched Cloud Atlas, awesome.


 
Just watched this tonight and really enjoyed it, it's an epic film, but didn't feel like nearly 3 hours.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 28, 2012)

I watched Slade in Flames. 
As a rise to fame film it could have been better. The band got popular immidiatly and the band imploding didn't really seem to happen in any way other than people saying, "The band is imploding". The contract stuff was cool but just ended. The band is over, the contract problem is over and the film is over. 
As a slice of the 70s it was a jolly jaunt.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 28, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I watched Slade in Flames.
> As a rise to fame film it could have been better. The band got popular immidiatly and the band imploding didn't really seem to happen in any way other than people saying, "The band is imploding". The contract stuff was cool but just ended. The band is over, the contract problem is over and the film is over.
> As a slice of the 70s it was a jolly jaunt.


 
You've got a point about the plot deficiencies, but the 'slice of the 70s' stuff more than made up for it, IMO. . .


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 28, 2012)

Idris2002 said:


> You've got a point about the plot deficiencies, but the 'slice of the 70s' stuff more than made up for it, IMO. . .


Maybe not 'more than made up' for it, but it was a watchable enough film and I sure as hell am no slade fan.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 28, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I watched Slade in Flames.
> As a rise to fame film it could have been better. The band got popular immidiatly and the band imploding didn't really seem to happen in any way other than people saying, "The band is imploding". The contract stuff was cool but just ended. The band is over, the contract problem is over and the film is over.
> As a slice of the 70s it was a jolly jaunt.


Steady on, you almost liked something there.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 28, 2012)

Garek said:


> Just finished watching Ken Burns' American Civil War documentary. Absolutely brilliant introduction to it. Wonderfully narrated with great interviews.
> 
> Can anyone recommend something similar to do with either the first or second world war? Particularly the first.


 
For the second round, The World At War. For the first one - Blackadder Goes Forth? I jest of course.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 28, 2012)

I watched Island of Death yesterday, probably the shittest film I've ever seen. 

Also started on the first series of Mad Men...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 28, 2012)

After the final two eps of Dexter....which I had forgotten to watch and so a nice surprise to find....(cooked a bloody steak and revelled in murder for a couple of hours!) I accidently watched The Night Listener.....

In the Night Listerner Mork is in an estranged relationship with Gyp Rossetti which has left him feeling a bit adrift and unloved and so he starts up a telephone correspondence with the 14 year old writer of a book about the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents and their paying pals when he was younger. The boy is now looked after by a carer and social worker whom Mork also talks with on the phone...(Nanu Nanu, Mork to Orsen)......mostly about the young man's illness (aids) for which is killing him rather rapidly....He coughs and splutters a lot.....and passess the phone back to Mrs Carer (Muriel from the film about the wedding!)

...but then....Gyp Rossetti, being a wiser beast than Mork (who is really Armistead Maupin in disguise as Mork....or is the other way around??) questions the legitamacy of the voices on the end of the phone throwing us into a spiralling world of mystery and creepy suspense as Mork Maupin becomes all unhinged and out of control as he deals with all his daddy and relationship issues through the search for truth, justice and American redneck communities.....

In the end Mork becomes spock and kirk because Gyp Rossetti tells him too....and I wouldn't wanna fuck with Gyp....even if Mork does/did!

Anyway....It kept me up until 1am.....and now I am at work all tired......Mork Signing off from London, England...nanu nanu


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 28, 2012)

Strictly Ballroom.   Haven't seen it for years.   You can see the first sparks of what Baz Luhrmann's style evolves into with moulin rouge..

Full of life, colour and humour and a little bit of Cinderella too.


----------



## Me76 (Dec 28, 2012)

The Hunger Games. almost as good as the book.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 29, 2012)

Prometheus. 
OK I guess, seemed a little unfocused and I am not sure I liked the end with the xenomorph thing. 
Is there like a sequel or something being made?
Anyway, it's got me watching Alien again. 

Harold and Kumar 3D christmas.
As with the other H&K I oddly liked it without really having anything that solid to like about it. Again the film really kicks in when Neil Patrick Harris turns up.


----------



## blossie33 (Dec 29, 2012)

Vinylmania.
I just happened to see it when I was in Rough Trade yesterday and thought it looked interesting. It's a documentary that was made for World Record Store day  earlier this year about all aspects of vinyl records made by an Italian guy so partly subtitled.There are two dvds totalling 2 and a half hours. Really enjoyed it, very interesting and well made.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 29, 2012)

Cabin in the woods. 

Even though I was expecting to see what I was not expecting it was not what I was expecting. 
Loved the opening and the interest it created. 
It felt cool at the time when it went underground, but ultimately the ending was a poor cop out to what could have maybe been a master piece.


----------



## albionism (Dec 29, 2012)

Not so much a DVD, but i have just found the complete 8 parts of Holding On,
the stunning BBC drama by Tony Marchant, which first aired in 1997. I cannot
believe it's some 15 years since i first watched this. It's still fantastic viewing
second time around. In fact, i'm enjoying it even more this time.
**


----------



## Greebo (Dec 29, 2012)

House season 1, with more of the same tonight.


----------



## thriller (Dec 29, 2012)

Taken 2. Not as good as the first movie. Terrible fight choreography. Too fast cut scenes so you couldn't make sense of it.


----------



## Dr Nookie (Dec 29, 2012)

I just watched 'Paris' which was rather lovely in a slightly melancholy French way.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 30, 2012)

First episode of Days of Hope. I'd planned to watch two but I think it's worth spreading out over four nights.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Dec 30, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Prometheus.
> OK I guess, seemed a little unfocused and I am not sure I liked the end with the xenomorph thing.
> Is there like a sequel or something being made?
> Anyway, it's got me watching Alien again.


 
I watched it tonight; I really liked it, despite the (agreed) unfocus. I liked the xenomorph at the end.

I have in the last couple of months watched the 4 Alien films again. It was better than 2 of them.


----------



## PricelessTrifle (Dec 30, 2012)

"Brutal Teen Destruction."


----------



## Me76 (Dec 30, 2012)

I watched Les Miserables with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush yesterday.  I didn't know the story at all and really enjoyed it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 30, 2012)

The end of series 4, Breaking Bad.  "I won". 

Also watched the episode 'I, Borg' from ST:NG.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 30, 2012)

I'm watching the Avengers. 
Too much fighting and not enough content. Yawn. 
There needs to be more chat and plot in modern films, X men evolution was better for it. 
Anything with stark is ok but there seems to be way too much screen time for that lost in translation girl.


----------



## thriller (Dec 30, 2012)

PricelessTrifle said:


> "Brutal Teen Destruction."


 
Porn?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 30, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I'm watching the Avengers.
> Too much fighting and not enough content. Yawn.
> There needs to be more chat and plot in modern films, X men evolution was better for it.
> Anything with stark is ok but there seems to be way too much screen time for that lost in translation girl.


 
And jesus this villan is boring. I get bored every time he is on screen. Just kill him already, he does not  seem that special.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 30, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> And jesus this villan is boring. I get bored every time he is on screen. Just kill him already, he does not seem that special.


 
There's a general lack of good villains in cinema lately. Those that are suitably scary, evil and a witha genuine axe to grind. 'My daddy never loved me' doesn't seem enough to warrant smashing up a whole planet!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 30, 2012)

Nanker Phelge said:


> There's a general lack of good villains in cinema lately. Those that are suitably scary, evil and a witha genuine axe to grind. 'My daddy never loved me' doesn't seem enough to warrant smashing up a whole planet!


 
I think I am just going to finish it tomorrow. 
It's just a bit boring for such a massive team up. It just does not seem that epic. 
The baddies are nothing and the only thing that is interesting is the dysfunctional group dynamic, and they are not really playing enough on that. 
Why the pew pew gun girl is getting so much to do is bewildering.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 30, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I think I am just going to finish it tomorrow.
> It's just a bit boring for such a massive team up. It just does not seem that epic.
> The baddies are nothing and the only thing that is interesting is the dysfunctional group dynamic, and they are not really playing enough on that.
> Why the pew pew gun girl is getting so much to do is bewildering.


 
They could have got away with Just an Iron Man/Hulk film......they still wouldn't have come up with a decent bad guy though. Mickey Rouke with long electric string is a bit boring. Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet Vs The Marvel Universe would be a good film!


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 30, 2012)

albionism said:


> Not so much a DVD, but i have just found the complete 8 parts of Holding On,
> the stunning BBC drama by Tony Marchant, which first aired in 1997. I cannot
> believe it's some 15 years since i first watched this. It's still fantastic viewing
> second time around. In fact, i'm enjoying it even more this time.
> **




Ended up watching part 2 of Days of Hope. Think I'll give this a go after I've finished it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 30, 2012)

Killing them Softly


a good littlengangster flick, brad pitt played it cool, Gandolfini was funny as a washed up hitman

but the sheer volume of MESSAGE was threatening to drown it. Fucks sake, we know theres a fiscal crisis going on and everyones fucked stop hammering it


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 30, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> Killing them Softly
> 
> 
> a good littlengangster flick, brad pitt played it cool, Gandolfini was funny as a washed up hitman
> ...


Enjoyed that loads of great little conversations and well filmed scenes but as you say you couldn't move for Obama on the radio or tv. Great conversation at the end though which summed it up.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 30, 2012)

The39thStep said:


> Enjoyed that loads of great little conversations and well filmed scenes but as you say you couldn't move for Obama on the radio or tv. Great conversation at the end though which summed it up.


 

yeah the last lines did sum it up in a hammerish way 'this is america, pay me' just in case you'd missed the not-subtle-subtext. I quite liked how it was left there as well, no 'proper' ending -just that speech and roll credits


it got away with it cos as you say the conversations were winning and though I'm no fan of Brad Pitt he did deliver in this role


I also think this is the only film I've seen where Val Kilmer gets killed


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 31, 2012)

SPOILER


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 31, 2012)

Finally got round to Berberian Sound Studio, i know a few people on here were disappointed by this and a few loved it. I'm in the latter camp. Whilst watching it i thought to myself i_ bet Trish Keenan would have loved this_, then watching the credits i see _soundtrack: Trish Keenan/Broadcast_.Appears she was working on it when she died. It can be listened to here - official release is tmw.


----------



## Firky (Dec 31, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Finally got round to Berberian Sound Studio, i know a few people on here were disappointed by this and a few loved it. I'm in the latter camp. Whilst watching it i thought to myself i_ bet Trish Keenan would have loved this_, then watching the credits i see _soundtrack: Trish Keenan/Broadcast_.Appears she was working on it when she died. It can be listened to here - official release is tmw.


 
Did you download that? I've been waiting for it to come out on a reliable torrent.

Found a decent and well seeded link.

I watched Lincoln and enjoyed what I saw - but 45min into it and refuses to play any further. I'll have to download it again or try a different rip.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 31, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Finally got round to Berberian Sound Studio, i know a few people on here were disappointed by this and a few loved it. I'm in the latter camp. Whilst watching it i thought to myself i_ bet Trish Keenan would have loved this_, then watching the credits i see _soundtrack: Trish Keenan/Broadcast_.Appears she was working on it when she died. It can be listened to here - official release is tmw.


Really looking forward to this, comes out in Oz in Jan.

_It Always Rains on Sunday_ - Re-released this year by the BFI for a Ealing commemoration it's very different from most stuff you think you when you hear Ealing but just as good. A sort of very early (1947) kitchen sink drama (though a lot better than that sounds) it has it's flaws with some of the filming (one scene which is meant to be taking place at night has obviously been shot in broad daylight) but overall it's very good and surprisingly modern in some ways - a cheated on wife leaves her husband with the film leaving you in no doubt about where it's sympathies lie.


----------



## Firky (Dec 31, 2012)

redsquirrel said:


> Really looking forward to this, comes out in Oz in Jan.


 
There's a good copy on Kick Ass Torrents.

It's my evening sorted


----------



## magneze (Dec 31, 2012)

Attempted to watch The Dictator. Fucking hell, it's a shit film. Do not bother. There's about 4 good jokes in the first few minutes and that is it for comedy for the rest of the film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 31, 2012)

Your avatar suggests otherwise.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 31, 2012)

just watched "hebrew hammer"


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 31, 2012)

My Stepmother was an Alien 1998) hehe probly the funniest film ive watchrd in ages an kim basinger still looks hot in that nightie of hers //......


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 31, 2012)

it was amazingly offensive

/dot


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Dec 31, 2012)

My Stepmother is an Alien?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 1, 2013)

I'm guessing hebrew hammer.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 1, 2013)

It was a piss-take.


----------



## 8115 (Jan 1, 2013)

Las acacias.  

Argentinian Road trip, really good, visually beautiful.


----------



## Firky (Jan 1, 2013)

Berberian Sound Studio, fantastic! Probably nudges past Skyfall in being my film of the year. Really enjoyed it.

Starting to really like Toby Young.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 1, 2013)

Killing them softly ~ A decent flick but not as good as I had hoped it would be.
This is 40 ~ not particularly funny, so i spend most of the movie quietly fancying Leslie Mann
Operation Daybreak ~Terrific


----------



## magneze (Jan 1, 2013)

Watched half of The Artist - rest to watch today. Maybe it was because we'd just tried to watch The Dictator, but it is excellent so far and much funnier.


----------



## kittyP (Jan 1, 2013)

All three LOTRs films, extended editions,  back to back. 
Juuuuuust about finishing up now.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 1, 2013)

_I Confess_ - early 1950s Hitchcock starring Montgomery Cliff, not in the first division of Hitchcock films but still better than most thrillers.


----------



## Dr. Furface (Jan 1, 2013)

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. The critics loved it but I fail to see what all the fuss was about.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 1, 2013)

28 days later, 28 weeks later, Zombieland and Moonrise Kingdom yesterday.....

Nanker Jnr is having mid season Walking Dead withdrawels!

By dinner time I needed Moonrise Kingdom.......although not Anderson's best and it turned into a bit of a mess by the end with too many cameo's with nothing to do and a plot that wasn't sure how to end.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 1, 2013)

Moonrise Kingdom proved that Anderson has now got a formula he intends to keep knocking out, rather than an actual talent that demands he develop it. What I did like about it is that the bit of New England it's set in looks remarkably like areas of north Ontario and Newfoundland that I have some personal acquaintance with.

I've just watched One of our Aircraft is Missing: RAF bomber crew parachute in France after their 'kite' is hit by flak, and are smuggled out of the country by Dutch peasants. Nothing you've not seen in many similar flicks before, but quite well done.

Also watched some of Jane Fonda in Barbarella, but the file cut out about half way through.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 1, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Moonrise Kingdom proved that Anderson has now got a formula he intends to keep knocking out, rather than an actual talent that demands he develop it. What I did like about it is that the bit of New England it's set in looks remarkably like areas of north Ontario and Newfoundland that I have some personal acquaintance with.
> 
> I've just watched One of our Aircraft is Missing: RAF bomber crew parachute in France after their 'kite' is hit by flak, and are smuggled out of the country by Dutch peasants. Nothing you've not seen in many similar flicks before, but quite well done.
> 
> Also watched some of Jane Fonda in Barbarella, but the file cut out about half way through.


 

before or after the rude bit?


----------



## Garek (Jan 1, 2013)

I've started watching Threads. Four things spring to mind.

1. This is brilliant. Really good drama. This is what British drama does best.
2. I am glad I was born when this came out, I would have been proper freaked if I had to watch this in context.
3. Really well done mixing the mundane of life and the geo-political.
4. I am glad nothing like this will ever happen in my life time. I mean I have possibly sixty years left. But Europe's pretty stable. No one has ever thought, um, that, um before...


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 1, 2013)

Life of Pi ~ Tremendous, I enjoyed it immensely.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 1, 2013)

Episode 3 of Days of Hope. It's brilliant, really well written, concurs pretty much with Garek's point 1 about Threads.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 2, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> before or after the rude bit?


 
With my luck, what do you think?


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 2, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Episode 3 of Days of Hope. It's brilliant, really well written, concurs pretty much with Garek's point 1 about Threads.


Note - they _never_ show this. Loach was at his best when working with Jim Allen i think. None of this waffly bulllshit you get with Laverty.,


----------



## Yelkcub (Jan 2, 2013)

Ill Manors - couldn't get too excited about it. I didn't really like any of the characters despite the attempts to make even the worst have redeeming features.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 2, 2013)

Captain Hurrah said:


> It was a piss-take.


Oh. 

I never get those on the internet.


----------



## Firky (Jan 2, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> Killing them softly ~ A decent flick but not as good as I had hoped it would be.


 
The frustrating thing about it was that there's at least two or three points in the first 30/40 minutes of the film where I thought, "this could turn really good". But it just doesn't happen, it plods along at the same level all through the film. It's decent but not great.

I did like James Gandolfini being James Gandolfini - what else do you expect?


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh.
> 
> I never get those on the internet.


 
Still sulky?


----------



## dylans (Jan 2, 2013)

Unforgiveable Blackness

Amazing doc about Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 2, 2013)

Well, I finished Barbarella, via the magic of youtube.

And what an awful load of rubbish it was.

I seem to recall that it was directed by JF's then husband, Roger Vadim, who ripped her off bigtime to feed his gambling addiction.

No wonder she took a career break to fire ack-ack guns at B52s.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 2, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Note - they _never_ show this. Loach was at his best when working with Jim Allen i think. None of this waffly bulllshit you get with Laverty.,


 
I looked for it for a while, got it off kg.

It really is good. Need to find a couple of hours now to watch the last one. Seems odd that they're different lengths, (90, 90, 77, 120) Was that how it was originally screened?

Wish I could get a better copy of The Spongers but the copy on kg has no seeders.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 2, 2013)

Not got time to say much more fora bit, a could seed sponger but my lap got nicked - a fucking ridiculous archive of political films gone down some junkies pipe.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 2, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Not got time to say much more fora bit, a could seed sponger but my lap got nicked - a fucking ridiculous archive of political films gone down some junkies pipe.


always back up your shit dude


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 2, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> always back up your shit dude


Ain't that the brutal truth.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 2, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Not got time to say much more fora bit, a could seed sponger but my lap got nicked - a fucking ridiculous archive of political films gone down some junkies pipe.


 
No problem, I've got a copy from thebox but it's pretty poor. I can watch it okay on a laptop but try to get anyone else interested in watching it is a non starter which is a shame because it' felt so relevant, last year especially with all the royal nonsense going on.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 2, 2013)

Watched a DVD I got for Xmas, a rather wonderful 1925 German documentary film about astronomy called Wunder der Schopfung [English title = Our Heavenly Bodies] directed by Hanns Walter Kornblum.
There's some beautiful models and animations in it showing stuff such as the the orbit paths of planets and a trip though the solar system as seen imagined from a fictional space rocket, which means it also counts as a sci-fi film.
german/spanish subs version on youtube


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 2, 2013)

Yelkcub said:


> Ill Manors - couldn't get too excited about it. I didn't really like any of the characters despite the attempts to make even the worst have redeeming features.


 
Not even Michelle?


----------



## 8115 (Jan 2, 2013)

I've just watched Monsters vs Aliens.  It was ok.  Solid 5/10 I suppose.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 3, 2013)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Still sulky?


I always look sulky on the internet even when I am not. 
Same reason I don't get half harted sarcastic jokes in text.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 3, 2013)

Bottom lip is still out then.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 3, 2013)

Another episode of American Horror Story. Sylar plays  gay bloke in it. Quite good. The Gimp suit features again


then 'It happened Here'

a b&w film from the olden days about if the nazis had invaded england. Enjoyed. The action scenes were like World at War gone horribly wrong.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 3, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> 'It happened Here'
> 
> a b&w film from the olden days about if the nazis had invaded england. Enjoyed. The action scenes were like World at War gone horribly wrong.


 
A really interesting film.  Real-life Nazis are in it, including Colin Jordan.  He gives a talk on how great National Socialism is.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 3, 2013)

"Cars"- Good fun and lovely to hear Paul Newman's voice


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 3, 2013)

Captain Hurrah said:


> A really interesting film. Real-life Nazis are in it, including Colin Jordan. He gives a talk on how great National Socialism is.


 

the guy doing the political education to the parambulance girls?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 3, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Sylar plays gay bloke in it.


 
No great stretch then.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 3, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> the guy doing the political education to the parambulance girls?


 
No, got mixed up. That's Frank Bennett.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 3, 2013)

Captain Hurrah said:


> No, got mixed up. That's Frank Bennett.


 
i thought the acting in that film was a little bit too realistic


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 3, 2013)

Mixed bag of festive tellyfilms and others...

box set of series 2 of THE BORGIAS (latest Irish-made tellyversion) - deliriously silly but worth it for Jeremy Irons camping it up like MAD as one of the Borgia popes and more lovely frocks / curtains than you can shake a Renaissance canvas at. Steven Berkoff as Savonarola is a nifty bit of casting as well.

UNDERTOW - really really liked this - indieish film with a genuinely touching and fresh story exploring the frustrations and loves of a bisexual Peruvian fisherman (yes, really). Sounds like a super-earnest Channel 4 film from hell on paper/posting, but give it a go - it's beautifully shot and acted, funny and sad and sexy and with surprising magic-realist twist(s).  sort of like Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands in a way. Really good one.

THE GUARD - didn't really rate it much tbh - liked some of the comedy but the rest was a bit too much outrage-by-numbers (drugs! whores! gangsters! swearing!) but a brilliant cast and Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle both as classy and lifelike as ever.

THE BIG PICTURE (French version) - Absolute and utter toss - an inept, incomprehensible and incoherent europudding thriller apparently based on a US writer and showing no signs of drawing on or even coming near any real event which has ever happened anywhere on the planet. Scowling brat Romain Duris is a super-successful French photographer who kills his wife's lover accidentally with a cocktail tray (as you do), goes on the run to Serbia, rebuilds his life (sort of) then runs into trouble again. It's poorly plotted, even more poorly paced, bafflingly full of characters bollocking on about how they "love living in this wonderful country" (Serbia ... so much so I suspected it was a quid pro quo for the location permits) and then the whole thing comes to a fumbled climax which seems to have stumbled in from another film altogether. Avoid.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 3, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> i thought the acting in that film was a little bit too realistic


 
A pathetic Jordan getting pwned in 1965.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 3, 2013)

Blokes on both sides fighting with their fags still in their mouths. Class.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 3, 2013)

The Woman in Black
It was going OK until the last 20 mins. The horror should be left glimpsed rather than shoved in your face

Also Daniel Radcliffe's sideburns don't cut it


----------



## rekil (Jan 3, 2013)

VIPs Biopic of Marcelo Nascimento da Rocha, Brazilian conman par excellence. Rather than just cramming in as many japes and costume changes as possible, the film focuses on a couple of the big ones and speculates about his motivations and psychological state. It's got one of the best endings I've seen. Sheer chutzpah.


----------



## seeformiles (Jan 3, 2013)

"The Muppets" (recent remake) - great film!


----------



## belboid (Jan 3, 2013)

We've Got To Talk About Kevin.

Not quite sure what I think. Another superb performance by Tilda Swinton, and it was admirably put together by Ramsay, but...... as a study of either how a psycho grows up, or how society treats a woman like TS's charachter, it just didn't have the _verisimilitude_ it needed.


----------



## Firky (Jan 3, 2013)

Hobbit.

Was shit.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 3, 2013)

Robin Hood (the recent Ridley Scott one) Utter tripe.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jan 3, 2013)

Chronicle - Thought it was excellent. Tightly written and well acted, but the camera is the real star. Went a bit unnecessary towards the end but that was to be expected really.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 3, 2013)

Caught the Hobbit this afternoon- great stuff. Moar gandalf, comedy dwarves etc.


----------



## Firky (Jan 3, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> Chronicle - Thought it was excellent. Tightly written and well acted, but the camera is the real star. Went a bit unnecessary towards the end but that was to be expected really.


 
I liked that despite it being the sort of film I don't like.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 3, 2013)

firky said:


> Hobbit.
> 
> Was shit.


 
thought it was better than the one it was a prequel to, partly coz it seemed to take itself a bit less seriously, first one had some horrendous fuckin lines in it "oh no! a cave troll!" etc


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 3, 2013)

*Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom* (1975) found it on me hard drive last night! Watched it even though it had no subtitles! Err imdb! drama, thriller, war. How about ya stick a big fat horror in there anawl eh! 
Its no wonder hav been in a bad mood all day.. Feckers=='/.......


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 3, 2013)

Watched the second part of Restless on iPlayer. Ever so slightly underwhelmed at the ending, but my god I am completely in love with Hayley Atwell!


----------



## ringo (Jan 4, 2013)

The Whistleblower (1987) Looked good from the cover - Spy thriller based around leaks from GCHQ, cast including Michaeil Caine, James Fox, Sir John Gielgud, Nigel Havers D). Almost good, couls and should have been good, but was actually a bit crap.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 4, 2013)

We're working our way through 24. On series 3 atm. I've kind of lost interest but the boy is still fully up for it. But it's ok because he very kindly sat through Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist with me.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 4, 2013)

ringo said:


> The Whistleblower (1987) Looked good from the cover - Spy thriller based around leaks from GCHQ, cast including Michaeil Caine, James Fox, Sir John Gielgud, Nigel Havers D). Almost good, couls and should have been good, but was actually a bit crap.


I'd agree - there's a great story in there, but it lacks momentum and rather unravels in the third act. A shame; nice hints of _Edge Of Darkness_ and _Defence Of The Realm_ and even _The IPCRESS File_. The director also did _Smiley's People_, which again delivered less than it promised.


----------



## ringo (Jan 4, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> I'd agree - there's a great story in there, but it lacks momentum and rather unravels in the third act. A shame; nice hints of _Edge Of Darkness_ and _Defence Of The Realm_ and even _The IPCRESS File_. The director also did _Smiley's People_, which again delivered less than it promised.


 
Yep, I found myself thinking it was great one minute, but then losing concentration 10 minutes later waiting for something to happen.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 4, 2013)

I started to watch a film called The Thaw. I fell asleep 15 minutes in and woke up at the end.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 4, 2013)

Berberian Sound Studio ~ Well worth watching, despite the shocking levels of vegetable abuse
The Thompsons ~ Dreadful, an utter waste of time
Ice Cold in Alex ~ Classic


----------



## yardbird (Jan 4, 2013)

Skyfall - Good (although it did say "For Your Consideration" several times  )


----------



## Firky (Jan 4, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> Berberian Sound Studio ~ Well worth watching, despite the shocking levels of vegetable abuse


 
I can't make my mind up if this or Skyfall is my favourite film of the year. Maybe BSS as it is quite unique and Toby Jones is in it.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 4, 2013)

Angel Heart with Mickey Rourke, and Robert De Niro as Lucifer. A bit of a mess, but visually gorgeous and with some nice parts to the story. Let down by the ending though.

Valhalla Rising by Winding Refn - also a bit of a mess, and the mix between video-type and cinematic visuals didn't do much for me. Nice to see a movie with so little dialogue.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 4, 2013)

more episodes of American horror story up to the epside where the owner of the gimp mask is revealed. this is a truely fucked up show but i've got weirdly addicted to it


----------



## belboid (Jan 4, 2013)

The Raid. 

Mrs b generously allowed me to watch it as a birthday treat. Astoundingly gut wrenching and brutal and really rather ace. 

Mrs b was not convinced by my argument that I thought she might like it cos she quite liked Kill Bill.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 4, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> more episodes of American horror story up to the epside where the owner of the gimp mask is revealed. this is a truely fucked up show but i've got weirdly addicted to it


 
Capt Hurrah?


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 4, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Angel Heart with Mickey Rourke, and Robert De Niro as Lucifer. A bit of a mess, but visually gorgeous and with some nice parts to the story. Let down by the ending though.
> 
> Valhalla Rising by Winding Refn - also a bit of a mess, and the mix between video-type and cinematic visuals didn't do much for me. Nice to see a movie with so little dialogue.


 
Loved Angel Heart , when it first came out I spent a good three weeks trying to look for clothes that might make me look a bit like Johnny Favorite.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 4, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> Berberian Sound Studio ~ Well worth watching, despite the shocking levels of vegetable abuse


 
Got this to watch later, well looking forward to it


----------



## Yetman (Jan 4, 2013)

Watched a pretty mad Irish filum called Grabbers last night. Wasn't as good as Slither, which is very similar, but still a good old piss up orientated yarn with aliens and a love story intertwined


----------



## 8115 (Jan 4, 2013)

Wasteland, pretty good, I really enjoyed it.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 4, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Loved Angel Heart , when it first came out I spent a good three weeks trying to look for clothes that might make me look a bit like Johnny Favorite.


Surely couldn't have been that hard?


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 4, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Surely couldn't have been that hard?


 
We have obviously never met, I used to be a former child model


----------



## TruXta (Jan 4, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> We have obviously never met, I used to be a former child model


I'm not on about your ugly mug, just saying how hard can it be to find a dingy khaki linen suit?


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 4, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I'm not on about your ugly mug, just saying how hard can it be to find a dingy khaki linen suit?


 
Oh I got one off Stanley Edwards


----------



## TruXta (Jan 4, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Oh I got one off Stanley Edwards


I hope you fumigated it before you put it on.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 4, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Capt Hurrah?


 
Fuck off!


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2013)

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. Possibly the best Kaiju film ever made.


----------



## Mapped (Jan 4, 2013)

We watched 'Detachment' whilst feeling tired and emotional on NYD - Mrs Mapped was in tears, it's good, but not the cheeriest of films. 
Also watched 'John Dies at the End' for some multi-dimensional wierdness
and we're 4 episodes into Boardwalk Empire S3, which is going along OK at the moment.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 4, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> Berberian Sound Studio


 
Is this in Italian or English? I'm assuming I'll need subtitles on....


----------



## Mapped (Jan 4, 2013)

8115 said:


> Wasteland, pretty good, I really enjoyed it.


 
The docu or the film? I accidentally downloaded a film called Wasteland when I was looking for the documentary called Wasteland set in a landfill outside Rio.


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Is this in Italian or English? I'm assuming I'll need subtitles on....


 
It's in English and Italian and the Italian bits have subtitles.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 4, 2013)

Reno said:


> It's in English and Italian and the Italian bits have subtitles.


 
So if I get a sub file for the er DVD I ripped into an AVI file and then lost, I'm going to have to watch all of the subs all the way through in English? Has anyone else had this problem?


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2013)

Yetman said:


> So if I get a sub file for the er DVD I ripped into an AVI file and then lost, I'm going to have to watch all of the subs all the way through in English? Has anyone else had this problem?


 
I've only seen it at the cinema. I think on the DVD/Bluray there are subs which only cover the Italian sections. They could be burnt in, in which case no extra subs are neccessary.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 4, 2013)

There are subs out there which only cover the Italian dialogue.


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2013)

Reno said:


> Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. Possibly the best Kaiju film ever made.


 
That was my 10.000th post.


----------



## yardbird (Jan 4, 2013)

Had a non mobile day, so watched
Drive.
Great film, very European feeling.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 4, 2013)

Reno said:


> I've only seen it at the cinema. I think on the DVD/Bluray there are subs which only cover the Italian sections. They could be burnt in, in which case no extra subs are neccessary.





butchersapron said:


> There are subs out there which only cover the Italian dialogue.


 
Cheers peeps


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 4, 2013)

Reno said:


> That was my 10.000th post.


You're very slow.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 4, 2013)

Dead Man.   The Jim Jarmusch film with Depp, an ensemble cast and a kicking soundtrack by Neil Young.

It's an amazing film, much of it seems improvised.   The perfect western


----------



## 8115 (Jan 5, 2013)

Mapped said:


> The docu or the film? I accidentally downloaded a film called Wasteland when I was looking for the documentary called Wasteland set in a landfill outside Rio.


 
Documentary   I didn't know there was a film.  I do want to see Wonderland though


----------



## Mapped (Jan 5, 2013)

8115 said:


> Documentary  I didn't know there was a film. I do want to see Wonderland though


 
The Doc's great. I saw it at the cinema a couple of years ago and wanted to watch it again with someone else. I went to put it on and got a film by the same name instead  Wonderland looks interesting


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 5, 2013)

Finally got around to getting a blu-ray player, so got a couple of films to test it with.....

Tin Tin - good little adventure film, funny at times......surprisingly violent too.....Indiana Jones and CGI Inkwell!

Hugo - Scorcese finally makes a film about films and the human condition without having to murder everyone. I really enjoyed it, mainly because I love that pioneer period of cinema when it was all about invention and creativity and magic and dreams. It looked lovely. Sacha Baron Cohen was very funny. All the cameo's were entertaining. It got slighty messy towards the end when everything was being quickly pulled together, but by then I was sold on it and just went with it.

The kid who played Hugo showed some promise.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 5, 2013)

Went back and rewatched Katalin Varga, Peter Strickland's (Berberian Sound Studio, not Berberian Sound System as i have heard many people insist on calling it) first film. Appreciated it a lot more this time around,what i thought was clumsiness turned out to be deliberate choices and so on, and, unsurprisingly i suppose, the sound design was very striking.


----------



## sim667 (Jan 5, 2013)

Tank girl - "Mmmm tasty. All those in favour of crumpets says aye."

I also watched the diving bell and the butterfly for a bit of Friday night teariness


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 5, 2013)

Last night i watched we need to talk about Kevin, hobo with a shotgun and let me in. Preferred Let the right one in tbh much darker.


----------



## Firky (Jan 5, 2013)

*Zero Dark Thirty *

Was good, you could tell it as by the same person who did Hurt Locker. It wasn't as 'America, FUCK YEAH!' as I expected it to be.

*Djano Unchained *

Going to watch that shortly... will report back!


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 5, 2013)

Nanny McPhee ~ The kids loved it but i can only liken it to spending several hours of lying in a pool of someone else's rancid yet slightly warm urine
The Hobbit ~ Brilliant, the Goblin King was just ace, good stuff.


----------



## 8115 (Jan 5, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> Nanny McPhee ~ The kids loved it but i can only liken it to spending several hours of lying in a in a pool of someone else's rancid yet slightly warm urine.


 
Don't ever watch Jumanji.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 5, 2013)

firky said:


> *Zero Dark Thirty *
> 
> Was good, you could tell it as by the same person who did Hurt Locker. It wasn't as 'America, FUCK YEAH!' as I expected it to be.


 
I was like.. naaaaa it'll be shite, but now solely based on your review......... I'm off to steal this.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 5, 2013)

My Neighbour Totoro 

How awesome is this film, for any age.   I'll answer.  It's awesome.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> My Neighbour Totoro
> 
> How awesome is this film, for any age. I'll answer. It's awesome.


It's great. I prefer Mononoke, but that's not for kids really.


----------



## Supine (Jan 5, 2013)

Dark Night Rises - 7/10

Based on me watching 70% of it before turning off bored


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 5, 2013)

TruXta said:


> It's great. I prefer Mononoke, but that's not for kids really.


Yeah.  I would put Kiki, Ponyo and Totoro together as a mini-group within Ghibli movies.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Yeah. I would put Kiki, Ponyo and Totoro together as a mini-group within Ghibli movies.


Ponyo was great too. Weird but great.


----------



## electroplated (Jan 5, 2013)

Just finished watching Django Unchained - thought it was pretty damn good!


----------



## Voley (Jan 6, 2013)

Skyfall. Really enjoyed it. Javier Bardem was particularly good as the baddie.


----------



## Firky (Jan 6, 2013)

*Django Unchained*

I reckon it's the best QT film since Pulp Fiction. It's great. That is all I am going to say


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 6, 2013)

First two episodes Season 3 Walking Dead. Pacier than the second season but I quite liked the space in that series to let the characters develop and play out. Still can't stand the sheriffs wife and her son though.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Jan 6, 2013)

I so wanna see it that firks!!


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 6, 2013)

NVP said:


> Skyfall. Really enjoyed it. Javier Bardem was particularly good as the baddie.


 

Keep up NVP. It's 2013 now

Everyone else saw it last year and thought Bardem was excellent

e2a  I forgot you're in Cornwall.


----------



## Reno (Jan 6, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Still can't stand the sheriffs wife and her son though.


 
Keep watching


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> Keep watching


 
ssshhhh


----------



## thriller (Jan 6, 2013)

0 crap 30. over-rated bore.


----------



## Firky (Jan 6, 2013)

thriller said:


> 0 crap 30. over-rated bore.


 
I enjoyed it and I think the yanks will probably nominate it for Oscars (which it doesn't deserve). If you're expecting a Black Hawk Down or something then yeah... it is going to be boring


----------



## thriller (Jan 6, 2013)

firky said:


> I enjoyed it and I think the yanks will probably nominate it for Oscars (which it doesn't deserve). If you're expecting a Black Hawk Down or something then yeah... it is going to be boring


 
Nah- I knew what I was expecting. Being a slow burning film doesnt necessarily make it an awesome film. Still found it boring.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 6, 2013)

First series of the walking dead. It's really good. Egg is a proper badass in this... Want to watch series 2 NOW! But its £25 on amazon. Anywhere know where I can watch online? ta


----------



## TruXta (Jan 6, 2013)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> First series of the walking dead. It's really good. Egg is a proper badass in this... Want to watch series 2 NOW! But its £25 on amazon. Anywhere know where I can watch online? ta


Pirate Bay.


----------



## Mapped (Jan 6, 2013)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> First series of the walking dead. It's really good. Egg is a proper badass in this... Want to watch series 2 NOW! But its £25 on amazon. Anywhere know where I can watch online? ta


 
I don't know about streaming, but it's all over torrent sites. 

BTW prepare to be disappointed by S2, but stick with it as it gets good again in S3.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 6, 2013)

Thanks both


----------



## TruXta (Jan 6, 2013)

Mapped said:


> I don't know about streaming, but it's all over torrent sites.
> 
> BTW prepare to be disappointed by S2, but stick with it as it gets good again in S3.


Disappointed? In hindsight it was pretty good. S3 is better, yes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 6, 2013)

it dragged like a fucker and the only high point was the youngun getting his end away


----------



## TruXta (Jan 6, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> it dragged like a fucker and the only high point was the youngun getting his end away


I quite liked the claustrophobia, even if it was artificially imposed on the writers.


----------



## Zac Stardust (Jan 6, 2013)

Re-watching boxsets of Deadwood and Mad Men. They're amazing.


----------



## Mapped (Jan 6, 2013)

Just watched 'Searching for Sugar Man'. Great documentary, really enjoyed it.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 6, 2013)

"Cabin in the Woods" - I enjoyed it but



Spoiler:  if I were building



a secure facility for evil murdering entities I would not have a big red button that released _all_ the entities at the same time.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 6, 2013)

I would, _deffo_.


----------



## thriller (Jan 6, 2013)

Skyfall-totally over-rated. Our villian goes to all that trouble just for a personal vendetta?


----------



## Reno (Jan 6, 2013)

thriller said:


> Our villian goes to all that trouble just for a personal vendetta?


 
...and the problem is ?


----------



## thriller (Jan 6, 2013)

Spoiler



well was it all really necessary? he knew her itinerary. just take her out with a bullet. all this ridiculous over the top planning - blowing up MI6, crashing tube, getting himself caught; getting hold of a military chopper (where the hell he managed to get that god only knows). total bullshit.


----------



## Reno (Jan 6, 2013)

thriller said:


> well was it all really necessary? he knew her itinerary. just take her out with a bullet. all this ridiculous over the top planning - blowing up MI6, crashing tube, getting himself caught; getting hold of a military chopper (where the hell he managed to get that god only knows). total bullshit.


 
You just don't understand the importance of flamboyance.


----------



## thriller (Jan 6, 2013)

rubbish.


----------



## Reno (Jan 6, 2013)

thriller said:


> rubbish.


 
That wasn't very witty. Try again !


----------



## belboid (Jan 6, 2013)

thriller said:


> rubbish.


Have you ever seen a James Bond film before?  Actual plausibilty is not exactly a key element.


----------



## thriller (Jan 6, 2013)

belboid said:


> Have you ever seen a James Bond film before? Actual plausibilty is not exactly a key element.


 
i appreciate it all looks cool our baddy's evil plannig-but still crap.


----------



## thriller (Jan 6, 2013)

ok. i'm over doing the crap bit as the start was pretty good and some bits like the lift action and him catching bardem were good...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 6, 2013)

Django Unchained. Marvellous. Much more rooted in Spaghetti Western territory than I'd been lead to believe.

Really enjoyed it.

Had a great time cameo spotting.....the music was fantastic, especially the new Morricone track. Good to see Franco Nero on board too. Christopher Waltz stole the show. 

The character of Django was a little too chatty for my liking, I prefer my Djangos to be the quiet type.

Like all the best Spaghetti Westerns it's best enjoyed if you can suspend belief, sit back and enjoy the operatics. There were flaws in the plot, flaws in the acting, and flaws in the continuity, but ignore all that, saddle up and ride!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 7, 2013)

A totally shit choice of films on a 12 hour flight had me watching the expendables 2. 
I'm really not sure I have the words.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 7, 2013)

Saw Django Unchained, not much to say other that i loved the bloke playing Werner Herzog.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Saw Django Unchained, not much to say other that i loved the bloke playing Werner Herzog.


 
When Werner Herzog speaks I want to go to sleep. He has a very lullaby like way of speaking.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 7, 2013)

Know _exactly_ what you mean


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Django Unchained. Marvellous. Much more rooted in Spaghetti Western territory than I'd been lead to believe.





butchersapron said:


> Saw Django Unchained, not much to say other that i loved the bloke playing Werner Herzog.


on DVD?  I think not!  Get on the right bleeding thread


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> on DVD? I think not! Get on the right bleeding thread


 
I did watch it from a DVD disc, yes.


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

oh, i forgot you do that, due to your bizarre and irrational hatred of the cinema


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

It's high time this thread title was changed and merged with the cinema one .


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 7, 2013)

Because I watched Dead Man last week, twice, I was lucky enough to catch Ghost Dog again.

Another Jarmusch film, showing an older, poorer, weakened mafia clan who can't pay their bills or rent but still settle everything with violence.  Forest Whittaker as Dog, a modern afro-samurai who owes a debt to one of the lower members of the clan.

Often funny, very original and a great soundtrack.

I'm not describing it very well, though.


----------



## Mapped (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> It's high time this thread title was changed and merged with the cinema one .


 
I disagree. This thread can be a handy guide to see which films can be easily pirated  See above.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

I just want one place where I can see what films people watched recently.
Going to the cinema is a rich man's luxury these days. I would prefer a more inclusive thread.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> oh, i forgot you do that, due to your bizarre and irrational hatred of the cinema


 
?


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I just want one place where I can see what films people watched recently.
> Going to the cinema is a rich man's luxury these days. I would prefer a more inclusive thread.


Well, dont be a lazy cunt, and no it isnt.


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> ?


I recal you saying before you dont like the cinema, and giving a poor (imo) reason for that.  I really cant be arsed to have that argument again tho.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> Well, dont be a lazy cunt, and no it isnt.


I _will_ be going to the pics to see this pretty damn soon, does that count?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I just want one place where I can see what films people watched recently.
> Going to the cinema is a rich man's luxury these days. I would prefer a more inclusive thread.


 
Exactly.....there's lots of ways to see a film now....beyond dvd/video.

Streaming through smart TV and PC and file sharing etc.....it doesn't even include blu-ray in the thread title.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> I recal you saying before you dont like the cinema, and giving a poor (imo) reason for that. I really cant be arsed to have that argument again tho.


 
I think you have me mixed up with someone else. I love the cinema.


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I _will_ be going to the pics to see this pretty damn soon, does that count?


much better


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> Well, dont be a lazy cunt, and no it isnt.


What? And eh? It's about a tenner to go to the cinema these days.


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Exactly.....there's lots of ways to see a film now....beyond dvd/video.
> 
> Streaming through smart TV and PC and file sharing etc.....it doesn't even include blu-ray in the thread title.


fine, add them.  Its wholly different to making the effort of a trip to the cinema tho


Nanker Phelge said:


> I think you have me mixed up with someone else. I love the cinema.


fair do's, maybe I was. But, as above, cinema and home viewing options are very very different things


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> What? And eh? It's about a tenner to go to the cinema these days.


Dont be a lazy cunt, and no it isnt (not here, anyway)


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> Dont be a lazy cunt, and no it isnt (not here, anyway)


How am I being a lazy cunt? 
And yes, it is expensive to go to the cinema these days.


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> How am I being a lazy cunt?
> And yes, it is expensive to go to the cinema these days.


Because you cant be arsed to look at two whole threads. Diddums

And 'quite expensive' is different to 'a tenner'


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

If you live in Brixton and go the nearest cinemas the average price is around £9.50....standard adult rate.

Which is not a terrible price.....less than 3 pints of beer.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> Because you cant be arsed to look at two whole threads. Diddums
> 
> And 'quite expensive' is different to 'a tenner'


This seems an odd time to be an abusive. It's just a minor difference of opinion on the way threads are used. I'm subscribed to both and enjoy reading them. I was just suggesting that it would make more sense to merge them cos they are both threads in which we discuss films we have watched recently.
A tenner IS expensive, waged or not.


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> This seems an odd time to be an abusive.


cough, splutter.  Bit bleeding rich coming from you!



> It's just a minor difference of opinion on the way threads are used. I'm subscribed to both and enjoy reading them. I was just suggesting that it would make more sense to merge them cos they are both threads in which we discuss films we have watched recently.


And, as already said, there is a big difference between watching a film at home and at the cinema.  Wholly different experiences, so it is worth having both threads.


> A tenner IS expensive, waged or not.


who's argued anything else?  Do you have a point?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

You claimed that 'a tenner' was not the same as 'quite expensive'.
No one's arguing that watching a film at the cinema is the same as watching at home. But it is handy reading about other people's opinions on them, whether they saw it at the cinema or not.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

BTW there ARE alternatives if you can't afford the cinema, but want to watch a film on a bigger screen than a tv or laptop monitor. 
Places like this need our support:
http://www.deptfordfilmclub.org/


----------



## TruXta (Jan 7, 2013)

Surely if you wanna go see lots of films in the cinema you get a membership?


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> You claimed that 'a tenner' was not the same as 'quite expensive'.


   I'm very sorry that you dont undserstand what the word 'different' means


> No one's arguing that watching a film at the cinema is the same as watching at home. But it is handy reading about other people's opinions on them, whether they saw it at the cinema or not.


So no films should have ther own thread then, by that logic.

I like to know what is worth seeing at the cinema, what is _cinematic_ rather than just being a good film.  Bet way to do that is to have a thread for cinema, imo.  You're welcome to keep all your posts here.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Surely if you wanna go see lots of films in the cinema you get a membership?


If you can afford it in the first place 
Mind you, I got a year's BFI membership a couple of years ago and went just a couple of times


----------



## TruXta (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> If you can afford it in the first place
> Mind you, I got a year's BFI membership a couple of years ago and went just a couple of times


Of course, but that's not my point. I can afford it, I just don't bother.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2013)

Fair point about what's cinematic I suppose.
I would still rather read about what films people have seen on one unwieldy superthread though!


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 7, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Surely if you wanna go see lots of films in the cinema you get a membership?


Depends what you want to see. I am a member of a film club but they will never show the stuff i really want to see on the big screen.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> stuff i really want to see on the big screen.


 
We should start another thread for this........


----------



## TruXta (Jan 7, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Depends what you want to see. I am a member of a film club but they will never show the stuff i really want to see on the big screen.


Of course. Spoilt for choice here in London. Keep meaning to go to Secret Cinema (speaking of expensive cinema tickets), but never seem to get around to it.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> We should start another thread for this........


All of Twin Peaks for me please.


----------



## Mapped (Jan 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> If you can afford it in the first place
> Mind you, I got a year's BFI membership a couple of years ago and went just a couple of times


 
BFI membership is worth it for the London Film Fest alone. I have it and I only really go to that and BUG. It's rare I go and see other stuff there, I should make more use of it really.


----------



## Reno (Jan 7, 2013)

I don't mind merging this and the cinema thread and instead would have a film and a TV show thread. The cinema thread often feels a little neglected.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> I don't mind merging this and the cinema thread and instead would have a film and a TV show thread.


Nothing stops you from making one. Build it and they will come.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

Our world is unravelling......where will it end......threads!


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 7, 2013)

Watching Upside Down, nice looking, quite cute sci-fi love story.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Watching Upside Down on Youtube, nice looking, quite cute sci-fi love story.




ON YOU TUBE.....GADZOOKS......THIS THREAD IS FOR DVD AND VIDEO YOU....YOU.....YOU.....CHOOSER OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA OUTLETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 7, 2013)

I know, it's quite outrageous.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2013)

You just can't be bothered can you!?!


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 8, 2013)

Django Unchained on YouTube.

Christoph Waltz stole the movie for me.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 8, 2013)

The Impossible ~ A true story aparently, I very nearly blubbed.
Django Unchained ~ Fan-fucking-tastic


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 8, 2013)

London River

Not a bundle of laughs butI liked the song near the end


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 8, 2013)

Skyfall- a huge improvement on quantum of absolute gash. Busting out the old DB7 ftw


Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter- rather tastelessly conflates emancipation with killing vampires but gets away with it because the president has an axe


----------



## belboid (Jan 8, 2013)

The Imposter.  Enthralling documentary about an american kid who goes missing, and is supposedly found in Spain three years later. Except he looks nothing like the kid, with different eye colour hair and build. But the family still take him in, why would they do that?

It was interesting seeing it after Life of Pi, with its central question of 'which story do you prefer?' I'm not sure if the answer to that in this film would make anyone believe in god.


----------



## mentalchik (Jan 8, 2013)

Just watched Hanna - fucking ace imo


----------



## Greebo (Jan 8, 2013)

Hell - a post-apocalyptic (hot Earth) road film.  In German plus a little French, with white on black English subtitles which can be switched off.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 8, 2013)

Currently working my way through Breaking Bad.  Just finished S2 ep 8.  Fuck, this is a good show.


----------



## snadge (Jan 8, 2013)

Seven Psychopaths.

Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harreleson and Christopher Walken act their socks off in an extreme film.

Tom Waits with white bunnies, what isn't there to love.

Thoroughly entertained.


----------



## snadge (Jan 8, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Currently working my way through Breaking Bad. Just finished S2 ep 8. Fuck, this is a good show.


 

Totally agree.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 9, 2013)

Django Unchained


best thing tarantinos done for a while imo


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 9, 2013)

Das Boot, the near-4hr director's cut. Not bad at all, tho I wonder if it really needs to be quite THAT long.

Really interesting to compare & contrast with other Allied-powers WWII submarine films. And interesting for its portrayal of Nazi sleaze / partying / letting the side down and the relationship between the working stiffs and the 'political leadership', and how cynical everyone is about what the Party wants. Anybody know why it's only the political commissar who doesn't grow a beard on board? (is he too callow, or was it a Party thing to be barefaced? how do you shave on a submarine anyway?)

Surely a mine of potential stills/moments for comedy .gif-ing, too - there are some very studied (almost like Japanese Noh theatre-like) moments of "this is my face of horror / nostalgia / claustrophobia / freakout, watch me emote quiverlingly and at length without saying anything")


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 9, 2013)

Nazis with beards.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 9, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Nazis with beards.


Now that's what I call a specialist interest.


----------



## Reno (Jan 9, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Nazis with beards.


 
Nazi hipsters ! Put them in skinny jeans and many of them wouldn't look out of place in Shoreditch.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 9, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Now that's what I call a specialist interest.


 
Like Dogs Wearing Helmets: http://dogswearinghelmets.wordpress.com/


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 9, 2013)

Ted - Pretty much a Family Guy sketch writ large (there are even cutaway gags), funny in bits, Mila Kunis adorable, Boston accents FTW, otherwise overall meh.

Rewatched the first 3 episodes of Deadwood too, just as good as I remember, the dialogue is without par in television.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 9, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Like Dogs Wearing Helmets: http://dogswearinghelmets.wordpress.com/


Logical progression dictates http://pickelhaubepooches.tumblr.com and http://stahlhelmhounds.tumblr.com - build it and they will come!


----------



## Mapped (Jan 9, 2013)

Watched Seven Psychopaths the other night and agree with snage, it's a great film with some good humour.

Getting near the end of Boardwalk Empire S3 at the moment, I felt it had a bit of a lull in the middle, but I'm on board again.


----------



## Reno (Jan 9, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Logical progression dictates http://pickelhaubepooches.tumblr.com and http://stahlhelmhounds.tumblr.com - build it and they will come!


 
..and I enthusiastically clicked the link.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 9, 2013)

I watched a doc called Mr Untouchable about Nicky Barnes and his superfly 70s Harlem heroin trade in the 70s....

It was entertaining and informative (and a bit cool!)


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 9, 2013)

sherlock holmes 2 (game of shadows)

oh this isn't very good at all, in fact it's very not good


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 9, 2013)

Dexter.  Up to S1, ep 4 now and I'm really, really not getting the hype around this.  I will watch to the end of S1, though.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 9, 2013)

Being Elmo. Heartwarming.

Shame about the real life epilogue.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 9, 2013)

more 24 last night... got a bunch of womens films in the post today so will prob watch them tomorrow.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 10, 2013)

The Void - pretentious, think Lars Von Trier but with more colours and more slo-mos.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 10, 2013)

Do you mean ENTER The Void?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 10, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Do you mean ENTER The Void?


No, that's the one with Chuck Norris getting spanked down.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 10, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Do you mean ENTER The Void?


 
yes, sorry.
i so wanted to like it and the best scene was when it does *enter* the void and spurts out that shit (a tad like watching a video on reproduction in school).


----------



## Yetman (Jan 10, 2013)

Berberian Sound Studio

well that melted my head pretty fucking well right off. Watching again straight now to try and make some sense of it  Excellent film though


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 10, 2013)

Le convouer( 800082) not as good as good as a thought it would be. Always expect more from a french film coz im brought up on the libary addict alal.alan alan cunt care less if im honest ive had enough of this thread and its timelinea,b,c feck it im gonna watch some porn... more whyiskey beef monster munch an a joint arse feck arse.... pontificating arnt a......... are feck it ive edited it twice im of ta bed


----------



## Mapped (Jan 10, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> yes, sorry.
> i so wanted to like it and the best scene was when it does *enter* the void and spurts out that shit (a tad like watching a video on reproduction in school).


 
It's a fucking depressing film and all. It'd be good to watch high with all the effects/production, but the content kills your buzz maaaan


----------



## ringo (Jan 11, 2013)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Blimey, it's so long since I saw a really good film, I'd forgotten what they looked like. Great acting.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 11, 2013)

Not fade away ~ It was an OK movie handcuffed to a rather excellent soundtrack, best watched while  lightly drunk / stoned / medicated. Wear headphones and turn the volume up.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 11, 2013)

Mapped said:


> It's a fucking depressing film and all. It'd be good to watch high with all the effects/production, but the content kills your buzz maaaan


 
The acting was awful - seriously unbelievable, script was dull but at least it had amazing cinematography.
Content wise, not as depressing as Requiem for a Dream.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 11, 2013)

True Grit

Really enjoyed it, and I struggle to think of a performance in the film that isn't top-notch (especially the young girl). Though I was suprised by how short it was (or maybe I'm just used to 2+ hour films being the norm) and the ending seemed rather abrupt / inconsequential.

Cogburn booting the kids off the porch after they were tormenting the donkey was piss-funny.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 11, 2013)

*Super 8* - Rubik's cubes did not even sign a distribution license for the US until February 1980, nobody in america would have known what one was in the summer of 79. 
Also, it's a shit film. Well made shit. The characters are fun but the mystery element is way too one dimensional.

*Green Lantern* - Yawnsome CGI fest. Unless it became super amazing in the second half it's a shit film, I wouldn't know because I fell asleep somewhere in the second quarter, woke up about half way though or so, so nothing that I have not seen in a million other films so switched it off.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 11, 2013)

*Snow White and the Huntsman* - confusing and boring. fell asleep when Snow White escapes into the woods. Woke up and she she kills the queen. Didn't know what happened in between. Don't care.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 11, 2013)

This







Always hilarious and tragic...... Mike is a god!


----------



## zenie (Jan 11, 2013)

Tried to watch The Woman in Black but it was too scary to watch at night  

Just loading up Shame, any good?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2013)

The Octagon said:


> True Grit
> 
> Really enjoyed it, and I struggle to think of a performance in the film that isn't top-notch (especially the young girl). Though I was suprised by how short it was (or maybe I'm just used to 2+ hour films being the norm) and *the ending seemed rather abrupt / inconsequential.*
> 
> Cogburn booting the kids off the porch after they were tormenting the donkey was piss-funny.


 
thought it was about the nature of revenge and its cost tbh- cost her an arm likes


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 11, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> thought it was about the nature of revenge and its cost tbh- cost her an arm likes


 
Yeah, that made sense, it was more



Spoiler: ending



the journey to see Rooster and then him being dead and the whole thing being kinda pointless.


----------



## Reno (Jan 11, 2013)

I loved the ending of True Grit. It had an end and then an epiloge, which has a bitter double sting.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2013)

yer that pointlessness thing- I took it to be like I say revenges gift. Nothing but lonliness and a missing arm, and no reunion with old comrades either


----------



## Me76 (Jan 11, 2013)

zenie said:


> Just loading up Shame, any good?



I thought it was a load of faff about nothing really. 

But Michael Fassbender is very pretty.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2013)

I didn't see the ending of True Grit as bitter at all.
She survived. She's a survivor. I finished watching both films with a feeling of admiration for the character, rather than sadness at the fate of the characters.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I didn't see the ending of True Grit as bitter at all.
> She survived. She's a survivor. I finished watching both films with a feeling of admiration for the character, rather than sadness at the fate of the characters.


 

no sense of melancholy at all? what did her revenge buy her save a life of one armed loneliness and the person who she shared the defining point of her vengeance quest with dead after a few years as an attraction at a carny.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2013)

Melancholy for sure, but not bitter.
She didn't seem bitter about it herself.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2013)

why don't you read the book? perhaps then you'll be properly able to answer the question.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2013)

Fuck off


----------



## Me76 (Jan 11, 2013)

Stop spoiling!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2013)

Sorry. Thought True Grit was unspoilable, being a classic.
Better not tell you what happens at the end of Hamlet then


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Fuck off


you do like your off-topick abuse.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Sorry. Though True Grit was unspoilable, being a classic.
> Better not tell you what happens at the end of Hamlet then


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2013)

zenie said:


> Tried to watch The Woman in Black but it was too scary to watch at night
> 
> Just loading up Shame, any good?


 
Supposed to be.  I really want to see it, but will wait until the blu is cheap enough.   I think Carey Mulligan gets nekkid in it.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Supposed to be. I really want to see it, but will wait until the blu is cheap enough.  I think Carey Mulligan gets nekkid in it.


blue indeed then


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2013)

Pickman's model said:


> you do like your off-topick abuse.


And you only pop up to needle me. So fuck off as your work is done.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> And you only pop up to needle me. So fuck off as your work is done.


do you really think that a any real proportion of my posts have anything to do with you? you aren't that important you know.


----------



## Me76 (Jan 11, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Supposed to be.  I really want to see it, but will wait until the blu is cheap enough.   I think Carey Mulligan gets nekkid in it.


Carey is indeed naked a lot of the time, but not necessarily in sexy ways.


----------



## Me76 (Jan 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Sorry. Thought True Grit was unspoilable, being a classic.
> Better not tell you what happens at the end of Hamlet then


I know I'm rubbish. Never watched the original and not read the book.

I do know hamlet though, that's what an eng lit degree does for ya!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2013)

Pickman's model said:


> do you really think that a any real proportion of my posts have anything to do with you? you aren't that important you know.



No, just your responses to my posts. 
Ever since I told you I wasn't interested, you've been pettifogging at random posts of mine, even making digs at my personal situation. I was flattered but as I told you at the time, I just don't love you back.
If you can think beyond your infatuation for just one moment, it might give you pause that an ex-alcoholic ex-long term doley leftist like yourself would show a smidgen of solidarity with someone who is in a similar situation to the one you were once in (bar the alcoholism), personal feelings aside.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> No, just your responses to my posts.
> Ever since I told you I wasn't interested, you've been pettifogging at random posts of mine, even making digs at my personal situation. I was flattered but as I told you at the time, I just don't love you back.
> If you can think beyond your infatuation for just one moment, it might give you pause that an ex-alcoholic ex-long term doley leftist like yourself would show a smidgen of solidarity with someone who is in a similar situation to the one you were once in (bar the alcoholism), personal feelings aside.


 what has this got to do with the ending to 'true grit'? what the bloody fuck has that got to do with you being on the rock?


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2013)

Me76 said:


> Carey is indeed naked a lot of the time, but not necessarily in sexy ways.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2013)

Pickman's model said:


> what has this got to do with the ending to 'true grit'? what the bloody fuck has that got to do with you being on the rock?


Nowt. I apologise for that comment, but please check yourself, fella. You can be very unpleasant.


----------



## zenie (Jan 12, 2013)

Me76 said:


> I thought it was a load of faff about nothing really.
> 
> But Michael Fassbender is very pretty.



Yeh there were shades of American Psycho in there I thought....just finished it after watching half earlier. It were alright.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 12, 2013)

we watched you me and everyone we know... it was weird but I liked it... bits of it were quite heartwarming and it was quite  funny but mostly it was a bit odd.


----------



## yardbird (Jan 12, 2013)

I have found loads of the DVDs given away with papers in the past, should keep me going for a bit.
Just four 
Shawshank Redemption, 
Sympathy For The Devil
Paris Texas
Kind Hearts and Coronets 
and many more that I'd forgotten about


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 12, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> This seems an odd time to be an abusive. It's just a minor difference of opinion on the way threads are used. I'm subscribed to both and enjoy reading them. I was just suggesting that it would make more sense to merge them cos they are both threads in which we discuss films we have watched recently.
> A tenner IS expensive, waged or not.


I'd rather have it split between films (either at the cinema or on DVD) and TV series. They're different beasts and I've never liked the fact that TV series are discussed on this thread.



trabuquera said:


> Das Boot, the near-4hr director's cut. Not bad at all, tho I wonder if it really needs to be quite THAT long.


I've always been pretty underwhelmed by Das Boot. It all seemed very by the numbers and rather unsubtle to me. The insertion of the Nazi into film to show that the rest of the crew are "good guys really" being a case in point.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 12, 2013)

As part of Nanker Jnr's indoor Zombie film fest we watched Doghouse

Oh dear.


----------



## Mapped (Jan 12, 2013)

Argo - Good stuff from Affleck, pretty tense in parts.


----------



## thriller (Jan 13, 2013)

Django Unchained. It was OK. Not something I will revisit or purchase. OK as a one off thing.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 13, 2013)

Disturbia.   Someone recommended this to me a while ago....when I remember who the bastard was, I'll get them back.

It goes like this....30 minutes of the main character perving on some semi naked 16 year old, 1 minute of saying 'wait a minute...this is rear window!' then an hour of utter, utter crap.

Rear Window, it's not.


----------



## Reno (Jan 13, 2013)

A South African film called _Beauty_ about a middle aged, married, white Afrikaner stuck in the closet who develops an obsessive infatuation for one of his daughters male friends. Looks and sounds great, but its all a little precious and predictable.

Also my Blu-ray of _Funny Face_. After the punishing Les Miserables I needed to watch a musical with wit, charm and great tunes. Sure, the message is rather conservative, but it doesn't take itself very seriously, it's one of the most beautiful looking Technicolor films ever, Audrey Hepburn is at her cutest, the Gershwin score rocks and the fabulous Kay Thompson runs away with the film. Fred Astaire is good too, but he always looked a little old for the young things he got paired up with in the 50s.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jan 13, 2013)

Drive. A third-rate genre movie whose forty minutes' worth of plot are padded out by endless static, silent shots of nothing very much in an attempt to make it look like the there's something more going on here than a third rate genre movie.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 13, 2013)

Lincoln ~ twas not my cup of tea
Roller Town ~ erm... nooooo.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 13, 2013)

Upside Down - Hmmm. Interesting plot, bit too much of a love story without much else in it though and a bit OTT on the CGI. Alright for a family film but not one I'd bother with again. 6/10


----------



## Me76 (Jan 13, 2013)

The Kid with a Bike. 

Not quite sure why it was on my Lovefilm list.  It must have got lots of stars from Empire.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 13, 2013)

The Kid with a Bike was a great film. That and Le Havre were two of my faves from last year.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 13, 2013)

Just watched the first episode of Breaking Bad....so I guess I'm in for the long haul now.....


----------



## Reno (Jan 13, 2013)

Me76 said:


> The Kid with a Bike.
> 
> Not quite sure why it was on my Lovefilm list. It must have got lots of stars from Empire.


 
I also thought it was a great film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 13, 2013)

Me76 - did you like it?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 14, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I watched a doc called Mr Untouchable about Nicky Barnes and his superfly 70s Harlem heroin trade in the 70s....
> 
> It was entertaining and informative (and a bit cool!)


"...And he shitted on them..."


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 14, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Just watched the first episode of Breaking Bad....so I guess I'm in for the long haul now.....


I'm a bit _jealous_, tbh.

Revel in Marie's love of purple.   It's the only constant


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 14, 2013)

Django Unchained - Loved the stressed look/ enriched look to this film. Plot-wise it's okay, thing with Tarratino is that he tells simple stories so damn well.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> "...And he shitted on them..."


 
This tends to happen....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I'm a bit _jealous_, tbh.
> 
> Revel in Marie's love of purple. It's the only constant


 
I really enjoyed the first two episodes......Walter has already altered radically over the course of those, so god knows what depths he sinks to by the end of all the seasons....


----------



## Me76 (Jan 14, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Me76 - did you like it?


I did.  Although I thought it ended a bit abruptly.  I felt like there was a lot more that could have been said.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 14, 2013)

"The Raid: Redemption" (for the second time) - really enjoyed it and there are some great extras on the Bluray including a fantastic claycat version


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2013)

I started watching a Mexican film called Leap Year......which was about a lonely single woman shagging her way through February with various blokes she picks up.

It's all set in her insect infested flat and I eventually  had to turn it off cos all the grim sex was a bit much for me that late at night (when I was 14 this would have a been a proper red triangle film on four!), however it was quite a powerful film and the lead performance was exceptionally brave and quite brilliant. It was very sad and tense and claustrophobic....I may finish watching it to tonight in the hope that there might be some end to her plight. There's nothing pretty about it at all, so if you like this sort of masochistic sexual story telling then you'll probably have a great time watching it.....

It was this film from 2010 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1537401/

and not this one, from the same year, which looks a bit shit -  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216492/


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 14, 2013)

The Killers.

Film noir with Burt Lancaster (his first role) and Ava Gardner (and her sexy basilisk stare). Based on an Ernest Hemingway story, and well worth seeking out.

The 39 Steps. Surprisingly good, even after 70 odd years.

The Rank and File. Directed by Directed by Ken Loach. Excellent stuff, and features the actor who would go on to play Eddie Yates on Coronation Street.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 14, 2013)

Based on the Pilkington Glass strike- to be watched with The Big Flame (if you haven't already that is).


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 14, 2013)

I was going tre watch baader meinhof complex but.i decided that subtitles were a bit much for a Sunday night. Day after tomorrow was on the tellybox so we rewatched that instead... not too taxing, just what was needed and that Donnie Darko guy is pretty hot


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 14, 2013)

I finished watching The Killing over the weekend, which I really liked. It had it's faults but overall it was really good telly I thought.

Friday I watched Django Unchained. It was okay; I like how Tarantino does violence, it's comic book like.

Saturday afternoon watched A Short Film About Killing. Not sure of what to make of it, it looks a bit dated maybe but the killings are still shocking.

Started watching Seven Psychopaths last night, fell asleep. From what I saw it looked a bit American.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 14, 2013)

It was great you knob, a violent takedown of that lazy american shit. And what sort insult is 'a bit american'?


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 14, 2013)

Blimey charlie

Who said it was an insult? I was comparing the few minutes I'd seen to to The Guard, In Bruges, Six Shooter. Then again it's ages since I've seen those.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jan 15, 2013)

We watched Heathers last night. The characters were much more annoying than I remember them being when I first watched it.


----------



## Yelkcub (Jan 15, 2013)

Das Boot - loved it. Properly felt for the characters and was gutted when the captain died.*

*Surely no spoilers req?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "The Raid: Redemption" (for the second time) - really enjoyed it and there are some great extras on the Bluray including a fantastic claycat version


 

How nice that they asked for that for the blu ray. 

I will have to try and watch this tonight. I'm not sure the wife will approve though.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

*Limitless.*
A fun jaunt of sorts and not what I was expecting (which is always good). It walked the line (back and forth) between an indie and a big budget hollywood production. 
However I am always (apart from very rare exceptions) turned off by any film that feels it has to rely on the protagonists (or anyone else for that matter) narration. I think this film could have done without, we don't need to be spoonfed everything, and not everything and every outcome has to be fully explained. One example is the explaining away how he got away with the affray in his apartment as he was moving? I could come up with several explanations very quickly, so bothering to say "it turns out that the apartment once belonged to arms dealers and the police assumed the attack was a case of mistaken identity, so I was in the clear" just devalues everything. 

*John Connor* _I think it was called._
Disney Sci Fi. Fun enough for what it was, but felt a bit empty in terms of the landscape it all played out in. I didn't get the feeling that there was much of a civilization, when only one or two characters tops represented each of the groups involved. 
I'm not sure why but the end, where John has to live on earth sleeping (or whatever) to live on Mars seemed pretty unsatisfactory. Also John had no way of knowing that if he died on earth that he would die on Mars. There seemed to be no connection between the bodies, so the logical conclusion would be that he would not die, and would live on as a copy. 

Hold on, wasn't John Connor that guy from Terminator? Humm, I wonder what the film was called then.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Hold on, wasn't John Connor that guy from Terminator? Humm, I wonder what the film was called then.


 
John Carter. Steaming pile of shit.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> John Carter. Shit !


 
Maybe I was just expecting super double shit and thought it was just below the tolerable line (I had to stop three times, but I did return out of boredom and curiosity, plus I was sewing and doing a rubiks cube throughout).
I kind of wish I had left it as something I could have watched with my daughter, I can't sit through it again and I am experiencing a shortage of movies I can tolerate watching with the little one. 

Ghibli is ok
Fantastic Mr Fox went down well 
The Madagascar films
The meatball thing
Monsters and Aliens 
Er . . 
Recommendations?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 15, 2013)

Can't believe Michael Chabon was involved in writing the script of John Carter! They must have rewritten the shit out of it - or into it rather. 


I have been 'watching' Steven Seagal movies one of the Freeview ITV channels and am beginning to find him a fascinating 'actor' - his diction is unique. They are awful awful films but I am enjoying them very much for the lulz.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Maybe I was just expecting super double shit and thought it was just below the tolerable line (I had to stop three times, but I did return out of boredom and curiosity, plus I was sewing and doing a rubiks cube throughout).
> I kind of wish I had left it as something I could have watched with my daughter, I can't sit through it again and I am experiencing a shortage of movies I can tolerate watching with the little one.
> 
> Ghibli is ok
> ...


 
Worked your way through the Pixar films yet ?

Since I've showed it to him, my five year old godson's favourtie film has become the 70s Superman.

The Iron Giant (maybe too sad?)

This Czech film is incredibly cute in a non-cloying way and there is an English dub around:


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 15, 2013)

My three year old ungodlyson adores Belleville Rendezvous, but that might be just cos his dad is a keen cyclist.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> Worked your way through the Pixar films yet ?
> 
> Since I've showed it to him, my five year old godson's favourtie film has become the 70s Superman.
> 
> ...




Pixar yes, done all that. Good stuff in general. 
Iron Giant, I'm not a fan. 
I don't mind showing my daughter sad stuff if it has a good story and gives her something to think about. 
I am particularly a fan of the Ghibli films, they give kids a bit of credit, have good stories and don't just have baddies because they are 'bad'. They can be almost educational. The other bonus is that she is half japanese so it's a language lesson too.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

There is this thread by OU for kids films with some good and some inapproriate choices:
http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...-old-boy-to-watch.289435/page-4#post-10952229


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

That Kooky looks fun. 
I wouldn't mind watching Panique au Village again, I'm sure that would work for kids.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> My three year old ungodlyson adores Belleville Rendezvous, but that might be just cos his dad is a keen cyclist.


Ugh, I can't stand Belleville Rendezvous. I actually loathe it.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I wouldn't mind watching Panique au Village again, I'm sure that would work for kids.


 
Yes, that's great ! They also did lots of shorts which the feature is based on which are worth checking out.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 15, 2013)

Then your daughter will probably love it!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Then your daughter will probably love it!


 
She loves all that disney shit as well, she is happy to watch that endlessly. I am looking for films that we can both tolerate and talk about together.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 15, 2013)

AS how old is she?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> AS how old is she?


She's 5.5


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 15, 2013)

Ah...my oldest grand-daughter is that age.   I always recommend Totoro, Ponyo and Kiki (Ghibli films) for girls that age.  Very positive, subtle underlying messages.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> Yes, that's great ! They also did lots of shorts which the feature is based on which are worth checking out.


Yes I love um, I had already watched them all before the film came out. I was really worried that they would not be able to sustain the madcap pace for the length of a movie and that higher production values would ruin the charm. 

Not at all, it's one of my favorite films. One of the only films I watched again immediately after finishing it the first time.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Ah...my oldest grand-daughter is that age. I always recommend Totoro, Ponyo and Kiki (Ghibli films) for girls that age. Very positive, subtle underlying messages.


 
Me too. She is well versed in every Ghibli film, being half Japanese and living in the UK also helps bring an educational element to them. We have done every single one to death though, and I was watching many of them long before she was even born.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

I am currently half watching 'Fanboys'.
25 minutes in and it is very close to being switched off. 
I don't buy that these guys are even properly written as fans. It's like a really really low rent version of those american pie low rent copies. 
If they say "you have been like that since X grade" again I am going to puke.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 15, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I am currently half watching 'Fanboys'.
> 25 minutes in and it is very close to being switched off.
> I don't buy that these guys are even properly written as fans. It's like a really really low rent version of those american pie low rent copies.
> If they say "you have been like that since X grade" again I am going to puke.


 
Jesus, they managed to cram all the cameos in. I guess they didn't know it was going to be so hopelessly shit. This could have been an interesting film, but they just made a half arsed by the book teen road movie.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 15, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Based on the Pilkington Glass strike- to be watched with The Big Flame (if you haven't already that is).


 
My "It's complicated on Facebook" controls both the telly and the DVD player, so I must defer to She Who Must Be Obeyed.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 15, 2013)

Also -

The Third Man. Nothing much to say on this one, except that if you haven't seen this one, go and see it at once. But be sure to leave death to the professionals.

The Shop Around the Corner. Various Hollywood luvvies, led by Jimmy Stewart, impersonate a motley crew of Budapest shop assistants.

Bill Cunningham's New York. I think that was the title. Surprisingly interesting documentary about this 80 year old bloke who does street photography for the New York Times fashion pages.

Performance. Sharp-suited London gangsterJames Fox is on the run from his Kray-brothers type 'friends'. A chance encounter gives him the chance to hide out in Mick Jagger's stoner pad. The Jagged one proceeds to mess with his head in true late 60s style. The gangland stuff holds up pretty well, while the late 60s drug culture scenes have perhaps not aged so well (I don't think I needed to see Anita Pallenberg stick a syringe in her right buttock, for example). It's worth it just for the scene where Fox tells Jagger 'you'll look funny when you're fifty'.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

Breakinng Bad eps 3 & 4 season 1.

I'm already wishing everyone apart from Walter would just die.

Will this feeling pass?


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Breakinng Bad eps 3 & 4 season 1.
> 
> I'm already wishing everyone apart from Walter would just die.
> 
> Will this feeling pass?


 
Maybe it's time to start watching Glee instead ?


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Breakinng Bad eps 3 & 4 season 1.
> 
> I'm already wishing everyone apart from Walter would just die.
> 
> Will this feeling pass?


Yes. You'll come to love Jesse Pinkman. And hate him even more.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Breakinng Bad eps 3 & 4 season 1.
> 
> I'm already wishing everyone apart from Walter would just die.
> 
> Will this feeling pass?


 
Walt changes big time.
keep watching, you may not like him.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

By the end, if you have any sort of working moral compass, it is Walter you should want to see die the most.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> Maybe it's time to start watching Glee instead ?


 
Yeah....after I poke out my eyes and puncture my ear drums,


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

Keep watching, Nanker, it only gets better.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> By the end, if you have any sort of working moral compass, it is Walter you should want to see die the most.


 
A moral compass is a waste of time. I tried to use it to get home the other night and I ended up in a bordello.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Keep watching, Nanker, it only gets better.


 
I like it. I just hate all the characters.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I like it. I just hate all the characters.


Apart from one or two they're all written so you want to hate them. Walt's son being one of the exceptions.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Apart from one or two they're all written so you want to hate them. Walt's son being one of the exceptions.


 
I want Vic Mackey from The Sheild to turn up and smash that DEA brother in law fucker in the face!


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I want Vic Mackey from The Sheild to turn up and smash that DEA brother in law fucker in the face!


He's actually one of the characters I got more sympathy for as the show went on.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 15, 2013)

I'm only on Season 2 no more Breaking Bad spoilers please, fuck!


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

I honestly don't undertand what's there to hate. They aren't likeable or dislikeable, at the start at least they are fairly average if flawed human beings who try their best in a stressful situation. That's not really something thats sets my teeth on edge.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

mwgdrwg said:


> I'm only on Season 2 no more Breaking Bad spoilers please, fuck!


I'm sorry, but I can't see much spoiling?


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 15, 2013)

I watched the first episode of Season 6 of Californication. Should've ended at the perfect finale of Season 4 and it's jumped the shark...but was ok. Tim Minchin was pretty good in it.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

mwgdrwg said:


> I'm only on Season 2 no more Breaking Bad spoilers please, fuck!


 
There are no spoilers here, unless you expect this to be a show where everybody happily skips off into the sunset by the end. By season 2 it should be fairly clear where the trajectory of Walter's character arch is heading.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 15, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I'm sorry, but I can't see much spoiling?


 That you'd want to see Walt die? Now I'm wondering why. OK i overreacted but keep it in the Breaking Bad spoilers thread, I avoid that like the plague


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> There are no spoilers here, unless you expect this to be a show where everybody happily skips off into the sunset by the end. By season 2 it should be fairly clear where the trajectory of Walter's character arch is heading.


 
Yeah, maybe. Just got to the end of the episode "Breakage", and that was interesting.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

mwgdrwg said:


> That you'd want to see Walt die? Now I'm wondering why. OK i overreacted but keep it in the Breaking Bad spoilers thread, I avoid that like the plague


Horses for courses, wouldn't see it as a spoiler myself. What is a spoiler and fucking does my head in is when people say there's a twist at the end.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> I honestly don't undertand what's there to hate. They aren't likeable or dislikeable, at the start at least they are fairly average if flawed human beings who try their best in a stressful situation. That's not really something thats sets my teeth on edge.


 
Good for you. I like that we are all available in life with our different points of view.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I want Vic Mackey from The Sheild to turn up and smash that DEA brother in law fucker in the face!


or Omar from the Wire turn up and nick the stash


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 15, 2013)

I thought Breaking Bad jumped the shark in S3 when Marie turned into a materialistic zombie


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Good for you. I like that we are all available in life with our different points of view.


 
*hugz*


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 15, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Horses for courses, wouldn't see it as a spoiler myself. What is a spoiler and fucking does my head in is when people say there's a twist at the end.


 
Like I say I overreacted and am very sensitive to Breaking Bad spoilers


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> *hugz*


 
I never hug on a first date.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I never hug on a first date.


Reacharounds only?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Reacharounds only?


 
No.....just suggestive flirting and a custard cream


----------



## TruXta (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> No.....just suggestive flirting and a custard cream


How bourgeois.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

TruXta said:


> How bourgeois.


 
Yes.....I'm trying shed my working class roots,


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 15, 2013)

_Berberian Sound Studio_ - I'm firmly in the "it was excellent" half of the board.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

just watched some lousy Frank Darabont/Stephen King film called The Mist.

It was pretty shit, but the ending was fucking relentlessly bleak!


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> just watched some lousy Frank Darabont/Stephen King film called The Mist.
> 
> It was pretty shit, but the ending was fucking relentlessly bleak!


Yeah.   Weirdly it's one of the best films of a King story but the ending just fucks you right off.   Brave film-making, though, I suppose.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2013)

There was some seriously hammy acting and crap effects.....but yes, the ending was brave, and miserable.....


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2013)

I thought the ending of The Mist was shit. Not because of what happened, but the ponderous way it was handled with Lisa Gerrard (already a dreary movie soundtrack cliche by then) wailing all over it, like it was some sort of great tragedy to be taken seriously, when it should have played out as a nasty joke. I love monster movies, but The Mist was ruined by Darabont's relentless preachiness. Loved the Stephen King story at the time and was quite excited when it finally got filmed, but I thought it ended up as a monster movie for people who don't normally like monster movies with A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE, to make it alright, even if you are normally a bit too snooty about this type of thing.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 16, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...Loved the Stephen King story at the time and was quite excited when it finally got filmed....


Was that because of Shawshank?   The only other ones that worked for me were Stand By Me and the original Salem's Lot.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 16, 2013)

And Carrie/Shining obviously...I was talking about the normal ones.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 16, 2013)

Surely Shawshank should have been a warning that it might be a little telegraphed and hokey?
I quite liked the ending. I 'like' it when they kill the kid cos it's such a rarety. They daren't usually do it, so it's a novelty when they do. I can only think of a handful of films where a kid gets offed.
The best horror films are when everyone dies. When someone gets away from a psychotic killer, it seems like a copout


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Was that because of Shawshank? The only other ones that worked for me were Stand By Me and the original Salem's Lot.


 
Can't stand Shawnshank, but was hoping Darabont wouldn't lay on his usual fraudulent sentimentality with The Mist as it was only a monster movie, but he managed to ruin it after all. De Palma's Carrie, Kubrick's The Shining (despite the alterations) and Cronenberg's The Dead Zone still are the best Stephen King adaptations.

Despite that one memorable moment with the kid vampire outside the window, overall the Salem's Lot mini series is pretty poor when compared to the novel.


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> And Carrie/Shining obviously...I was talking about the normal ones.


 
Which ones are "the normal ones" ?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 16, 2013)

Yeah SL's poor by today's standards but that was 1979 and it had, or seemed to have had, enough of the book to really immerse you (not much from the 70s has kept that aura).   I thought I was the only person in the world who liked The Dead Zone.   Only book I've ever jumped while reading, too.

Sadly I never gave up on King...I saw them all...so many bad movies.  I think his stuff could be done so much better now, with the quality of tv writers, as series.


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Sadly I never gave up on King...I saw them all...so many bad movies. I think his stuff could be done so much better now, with the quality of tv writers, as series.


 
The Shining, Salem's Lot, Dead Zone and Carrie all have already been remade for TV as mini-series, all of them poorly apart from The Dead Zone which was spun out into a fairly decent weekly TV series. Carrie is just being remade for the second time, this time as a feature film again.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 16, 2013)

His stuff doesn't work as a film, there's far to much character development in the books.   Salem's Lot isn't about a vampire, it's about some people very slowly realising against all universal logic that there's an actual vampire in the town killing people and the horror, unreality and powerlessness that comes with that.   They can only really work (and stay true-ish to the books) as a long series, imo.   

I agree with your exceptions, they're more to do with the director though.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 16, 2013)

Buddy Bradley said:


> We watched Heathers last night. The characters were much more annoying than I remember them being when I first watched it.


 
Heathers is one of my favourite films.

Anyway I watched Seven Psychopaths tonight/last night and Six Shooter. Neither of which I'd have been aware of if it wasn't for this thread. Both fuckin mint. That Martin McDonagh, he _can_ do a film. My mam put me on to In Bruges over Crimbo, but I didn't know he'd done other films - I'm going to watch his space with interest.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2013)

Raid redemption. Incredibly bad set of subs for it. Stuck with itcos its mainly gun play etc. Liked the unrelenting violence.Still no idea what was going on thanks to the google translate nature of the subs


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 16, 2013)

The man from earth. 

Utter shite. I can't believe that anyone rated this. Shittest acting ever, and unforgivable given that it's all the film hangs on. Also, everyone in it is supposed to be highly intelligent but they can't among them sort out the simplest of solutions.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 16, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Surely Shawshank should have been a warning that it might be a little telegraphed and hokey?


 
To be honest I watched it on Netflix and knew nothing about it other than it looked sort of like The Fog and might do for settling infront of the box before sleeping...

If I'd paid attention to the director I would have stayed well clear.

It felt like a TV film at times, even more so given that half the cast were from Walking Dead.


----------



## TitanSound (Jan 16, 2013)

Argo.

I enjoyed it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 16, 2013)

Cowboys and Aliens. 

Not half as daft and brainless as the title suggests. Sadly the sci-fi element treads a boring modern Hollywood action line all over and probably more than half decent western story with some pretty good turns from big name actors. Mind you, I wouldn't have tuned in for a modern western, I was looking for fluff to pass a little time. Gave up with an hour to go but will almost certainly catch up with it later.


----------



## Bruce23 (Jan 16, 2013)

I saw Zero Dark Thirty the other day. My main interest was seeing a depiction of the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. I absolutely believe bin Laden got what he deserved but the imagery of soldiers breaking in to someone's house scaring children and killing people is still disturbing.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 16, 2013)

I'm watching a s sci-fi actioner called Pandorum and while it's quite predictable and derivative of alien and Event Horizon space ship haunted house tales....it's 10x more entertaining than Promethueus.


----------



## zenie (Jan 17, 2013)

Ondine. Nice, sweet little film.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jan 17, 2013)

Watched Cashback last night. Quite Trainspotting-like in its style and direction, but the story was pretty pedestrian.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

Watched the expendables the other night.  What a load of crap.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 17, 2013)

*Jack and Miri make a porno. *
There was probably a good film in there somewhere, a good idea at least. The plot was terribly badly exicuted though and it just became a very standard hollywood shlock affair. I kind of expected better from Kevin Smith. The problems with it were obvious and so was the well trodden (though maybe not with a a porno theme) plot.

I would have much rather seen a film where they tried to make a by the book porno and the fact that jim and miri found 'real' love on screen made for a different kind of porn that became a surprise hit (amongst the regular mad fucking and cum shot fare). They threw this away on a after the credit piece of shit. Yeah it was a comedy but they could have made it believable. The whole 'cluelessly' getting the porn business thing together would have been more interesting too. 

Some nice parts, and it passed the time, but it was mainly disappointing because it only hinted at being a film that could have been something so much much better.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jan 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> *Zack and Miri make a porno.*


Heh, that's what I'm about to watch.  For some reason I've never seen it, despite being a huge Kevin Smith fan. (I even liked Jersey Girl.)


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 17, 2013)

I await your disappointment


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I await your disappointment


He likes Jersey Girl.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 17, 2013)

Aye, there is that 
Perhaps we should take him out the back and beat him


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Aye, there is that
> Perhaps we should take him out the back and beat him


It would ease his pain.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 17, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> He likes Jersey Girl.


 
When I was a reviewer, I thought I was being taken to a screening of Jersey Girl in London with a Q and A with Kevin Smith. 
It turned out I was just at one of those 'an evening with kevin smith' things. 
I had a special seat laid on for me and my wife in the front row right in front of smith. The whole thing was sold out to fanboys.
When I realised I was just going to be listening to smith talking for a couple of hours I was in shock, and where could I run? I was in the front row. 
I was pleasantly surprised, it was actually very entertaining. Trouble was, he just didn't stop. After the third hour I feared having to get a night bus or something home, which was not something I really wanted to do, plus I could tell it was waring thin on my wife. 
We crept out one at a time but each of us got a comedy narration / monologue from Smith. Amazingly nobody else had left before us despite smith already running over by an hour and a half by the time we exited. 

Outside were his wife and child. Wife smoking a cigarette. She made a comment that I remember was pretty witty but can't actually remember. Something about us being brave and that she had beat an exit early on and preferred to stand in the cold for a few hours rather than see her husband jerking off in front of hundreds of people.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 17, 2013)

_You_ reviewed things? But you're a total clod.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> When I was a reviewer, I thought I was being taken to a screening of Jersey Girl in London with a Q and A with Kevin Smith.
> It turned out I was just at one of those 'an evening with kevin smith' things.
> I had a special seat laid on for me and my wife in the front row right in front of smith. The whole thing was sold out to fanboys.
> When I realised I was just going to be listening to smith talking for a couple of hours I was in shock, and where could I run? I was in the front row.
> ...


My daughter's a big Smith fan and she really appreciated your story, thanks


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> _You_ reviewed things? But you're a total clod.


Well, at least he's not a nasty bag of sarcasm and superiority who doesn't apologise for calling someone a sex pest.  Wanker.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> _You_ reviewed things? But you're a total clod.


 
Oh I'm sorry. Of course in professionally in real life I am exactly like I am on an internet message board and I should have said . . ."No, I don't want your money, I know people that show potential to be better at this than me on the internet, I'll give you their user names, please call them."

When I am in the pub and someone asks  me about the new Judge Dredd movie, I have a beautifully prepared review that takes a minute to say but covers everything brilliantly.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 17, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Well, at least he's not a nasty bag of sarcasm and superiority who doesn't apologise for calling someone a sex pest. Wanker.


Your posts on the sheridan thread are not forgotten. Nor should they be.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Your posts on the sheridan thread are not forgotten. Nor should they be.


I think I said you called me a sex pest, cunt.   So fuck off, nothing else to say...just reminding you why.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh I'm sorry. Of course in professionally in real life I am exactly like I am on an internet message board and I should have said . . ."No, I don't want your money, I know people that show potential to be better at this than me on the internet, I'll give you their user names, please call them."
> 
> When I am in the pub and someone asks me about the new Judge Dredd movie, I have a beautifully prepared review that takes a minute to say but covers everything brilliantly.


I mean more that you don't have any sort of idea about film history or how the commonly accepted things that film is build around work - and that you seem unable to write or talk about why you disliked films.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 17, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I think I said you called me a sex pest, cunt. So fuck off, nothing else to say...just reminding you why.


You think?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I mean more that you don't have any sort of idea about film history or how the commonly accepted things that film is build around work - and that you seem unable to write or talk about why you disliked films.


 
What I write here is usually a first thought and very very casual. Just because I have wrote and reviewed professionally does not mean I have to here. 
I am not a mad film buff and to be honest, as much as I know that could be a bonus, it doesn't change my opinion of a modern popular film and why I think it is good or bad. 
I'm sorry that me being paid to review films makes you bitter, but they asked me and I couldn't afford to turn down the money.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> What I write here is usually a first thought and very very casual. Just because I have wrote and reviewed professionally does not mean I have to here.
> I am not a mad film buff and to be honest, as much as I know that could be a bonus, it doesn't change my opinion of a modern popular film and why I think it is good or bad.
> I'm sorry that me being paid to review films makes you bitter, but they asked me and I couldn't afford to turn down the money.


It doesn't make me bitter. You've tried that twice now. It makes me surprised.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> ...I am not a mad film buff and to be honest, as much as I know that could be a bonus...


Claudia Winkleman?


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jan 17, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I await your disappointment




Well... I liked it.  I think anybody going into a Kevin Smith film not expecting it to be about 'finding true love in the last place you thought to look' is always going to be disappointed - he doesn't stray very far from what he knows works (for his fans). There were some great one-liners too - just a shame he cast slightly too many friends (and Tracii Lords) rather than people who can really act.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> It doesn't make me bitter. You've tried that twice now. It makes me surprised.


I apologize. It just sounded like that. Im I not allowed an opinion?
Don't worry I have not made money doing it for years now anyway.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I apologize. It just sounded like that. Im I not allowed an opinion?
> Don't worry I have not made money doing it for years now anyway.


Of course you're allowed an opinion. The opinion that i think your views are ill-informed has nothing to do with whether you get paid for it or not. Telling that you now - three times - emphasise that you did, in fact, get paid.


----------



## jelavicroad (Jan 17, 2013)

Black swan I wanted to hate it so much coz my missus chose it but really enjoyed it


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

jelavicroad said:


> Black swan I wanted to hate it so much coz my missus chose it but really enjoyed it


I went to see it on orange wednesday with one of my daughters - 12 people in the room, perfect aronofsky.   3 people walked out in the first hour.

He said it's a joint work with The Wrestler.

I liked it.


----------



## jelavicroad (Jan 17, 2013)

like the dexter piic iim halfway through season 4 on netflix


----------



## framed (Jan 17, 2013)

I watched 'Searching For Sugarman' on DVD a couple of nights ago, great little documentary film, it was excellent.

In fact, I thought it was so good I blogged a wee review of it - Searching For Sugarman


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 17, 2013)

framed said:


> I watched 'Searching For Sugarman' on DVD a couple of nights ago, great little documentary film, it was excellent.
> 
> In fact, I thought it was so good I blogged a wee review of it - Searching For Sugarman


Nice one, had swerved that one for some reason. I totally had the wrong idea what it was about.


----------



## Reno (Jan 17, 2013)

jelavicroad said:


> Black swan I wanted to hate it so much coz my missus chose it but really enjoyed it


 
This makes me so glad I'm not heterosexual.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2013)

Reno said:


> This makes me so glad I'm not heterosexual.


Oh don't worry, your partner will drag you to see some film you hate many times...every now and then you'll be pleasantly surprised but most of the time it'll be biting your lip, shutting the fuck up hell.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Oh don't worry, your partner will drag you to see some film you hate many times...every now and then you'll be pleasantly surprised but most of the time it'll be biting your lip, shutting the fuck up hell.


 
It's more the attitude that someone would be determined to hate something because it intrigues their partner, rather than me being worried that I may be made to watch a film I may not like, that I find sad. Because apparently what interests women can't interest men and the other way round. Or how does this work, because I see it a lot ?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 18, 2013)

Deep relationships allow people to hate each other a little?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 18, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Of course you're allowed an opinion. The opinion that i think your views are ill-informed has nothing to do with whether you get paid for it or not. Telling that you now - three times - emphasise that you did, in fact, get paid.


 
It's an issue that you raised. You didn't even pick me up on anything 'ill informed' you just made a snide comment about a short anecdote that wasn't even about a film. I am also surprised that you were 'surprised' that I was once a film reviewer give that I seem to talk about it so much.



butchersapron said:


> _You_ reviewed things? But you're a total clod.


Yes yes, most dignified and insightful. Thanks. 


You know, you were perfectly pleasant to me on these boards and elsewhere right up until a completely unrelated matter in which you were spectacularly disrespectful to an old friend of mine in the public eye, who passed away (making generalizations about him and me by proxy because I was his friend). It revealed that the judgments you make, even the very trivial, are not based wholly on the present subject matter, and I think this devalues your opinion on just about everything hugely.
Your comments would feel as harmless as any other internet crusader had your opinion of me not completely flipped overnight.
It makes my skin crawl just remembering it, and I would just like to ask you again as I did back then, to please never interact with me again.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> It's more the attitude that someone would be determined to hate something because it intrigues their partner, rather than me being worried that I may be made to watch a film I may not like, that I find sad. Because apparently what interests women can't interest men and the other way round. Or how does this work, because I see it a lot ?


 
That is nothing to do with sexuality, that's just relationship trouble. 

It's true that I don't like a lot of what my wife likes but that's not because she is a woman. She likes all that lord of the rings shit, and loads of blokes like that.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> That is nothing to do with sexuality, that's just relationship trouble.
> 
> It's true that I don't like a lot of what my wife likes but that's not because she is a woman. She likes all that lord of the rings shit, and loads of blokes like that.


 
Was was being flippant about the sexuality thing.

You hate almost everything, so by default I'll side with your wife.

My best friend is a woman and we have a similar same taste in films, so we watch a lot of them together.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> Was was being flippant about the sexuality thing.
> 
> You hate almost everything, so by default I'll side with your wife.
> 
> My best friend is a woman and we have a similar same taste in films, so we watch a lot of them together.


 
Fair enough I suppose, hard to tell how flippant people are being in text. 
The wife and I do generally like the same movies, but the LOTR is a sticking point. I hate it and she loves it. I am ashamed to say that we had one of our first ever arguments about it on the way home from seeing the first one.
She won't do trashy (or classy) horror though, which is a shame. 

Hate is a strong word. 
With films I am generally disappointed. That doesn't stop me enjoying them, or I would just sit in an corner and read a book.


----------



## belboid (Jan 18, 2013)

The Damned - an odd little Hammer sci-fi, only recently restored to its full length and glory. Very groovy indeed.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2013)

Public Speaking, Martin Scorsese's documentary about Fran Lebowitz. Very entertaining, agreed with almost anything she had to say and made me want to pick up a book of her's now.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 18, 2013)

I watched an Aussie supernatural horror called Uninhabited - It was a fairly decent low budget film set on a beautful island with a good looking cast.....


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2013)

The It's Complicated made me watch a David Suchet Poirot effort last night - it was surprisingly good.

Also On the Town (watched this one with my mum) slightly dated but enjoyable musical featuring Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and some other poor schmo as sailors given 24 hours shore leave in Noo Yawk. The big song and dance number in the 'Museum of Anthropological History' was a bit embarassing, but otherwise all good knockabout fun.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 18, 2013)

the 'shore leave' song was once tastelessly parodied in Fast Show (i think) as 'whore leave'


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> the 'shore leave' song was once tastelessly parodied in Fast Show (i think) as 'whore leave'


 
Well, the gals in the movie certainly put it about a bit. It was pretty close to the knuckle in some places, for a flick made under the Hays code.


----------



## jelavicroad (Jan 18, 2013)

me and my gf always argue over wot movie to watch so when i lose im determined to not like it but sumtimes im pleasently surprised


----------



## belboid (Jan 18, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Also On the Town (watched this one with my mum) slightly dated but enjoyable musical featuring Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and some other poor schmo as sailors given 24 hours shore leave in Noo Yawk. The big song and dance number in the 'Museum of Anthropological History' was a bit embarassing, but otherwise all good knockabout fun.


the finest musical ever made.  Well, my favourite anyway.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2013)

belboid said:


> the finest musical ever made. Well, my favourite anyway.


 
Entertainment in its purest form, essentially.


----------



## belboid (Jan 18, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Entertainment in its purest form, essentially.


What stop for, did you, hey?



Who else could make such a dreadful line so brilliant?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 18, 2013)

belboid said:


> What stop for, did you, hey?
> 
> Who else could make such a dreadful line so brilliant?


 
Yoda?


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2013)

belboid said:


> What stop for, did you, hey?
> 
> 
> 
> Who else could make such a dreadful line so brilliant?


 
I'm going to have to watch it again now, I can't remember where that line comes in.


----------



## belboid (Jan 18, 2013)

Come Up To My Place.  When Frank says he wants to see the Woolworth Tower (I think)


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 19, 2013)

Above Us The Earth (1977) - hard to hear what was being said through the thick welsh accents, coughing & film hum in places. Loved the making melted cheese sarnies with a red-hot shovel footage and Kinnock driving Foot about.



> Above Us the Earth, is directed by independent filmmaker Karl Francis from Bedwas, Gwent, Wales. He used amateur and professional actors to explore the community impact of a Rhymney Valley pit closure. Critical of the National Coal Board and the trade unions, the film lingered rewardingly on fractious interactions between politicians and union leaders, and Francis teased out the forces creating a schism in the community.
> 
> The pit closures of the 1970s and 1980s, which so blighted convivial community life in the south Wales valleys, elicited little response from mainstream filmmakers. The film focuses on the 1975 closure of the Ogilvie Colliery in the Rhymney Valley, a few miles from Francis' family home and explores the impact on the local people and the industries that are involved.
> 
> The film examines with brutal honesty the dilemma of the mining communities during the closures and highlights the issues of employment. The film doesn't let any negotiating parties off the hook as Francis looks at the issues, almost forensically, from diverse perspectives.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 20, 2013)

Here comes the boom - ridiculous plot, crappy acting, same tired old Americano format, despite this it made be laugh a few times & the kids liked it
The worlds fastest Indian - bio of Burt Munro, not especially historically accurate and some liberties taken, but still a terrific tale
Argo - I wasn't expecting this to be so good, but it was.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 20, 2013)

The Invention of Lying
There's a decent film in there somewhere.  The idea has some potential and there a few good lines. But it'll never work with Ricky Gervais as the lead.  He just doesn't have the charisma or the acting range to pull it off.  He can only play one role


----------



## Firky (Jan 20, 2013)

The other night I made the mistake with hash brownies of, "I can't feel anything, I'll have another."

Spent the next 36 hours in a dazed state and I am still curious as to what film I as I watched. My WDTV box says The Adventures of Baron Munchehouson but I have no fucking memory of it. Oh well.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 20, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Above Us The Earth (1977) - hard to hear what was being said through the thick welsh accents, coughing & film hum in places. Loved the making melted cheese sarnies with a red-hot shovel footage and Kinnock driving Foot about.


 
Terrific, I'd never seen or heard of this doc before, thank you. My old man was a coal miner, I grew up in a colliery row house. This doc brings back some poignant memories.  

Kinnock "what we hope to have in our life time and for every miner in this room, is workers control of the coal industry"


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 20, 2013)

Carlos. The TV 3 parter. Reminded me of Mesrine, some good action parts, not really worth 5 1/2hours.

He came across as a bit of a knob really.


----------



## Firky (Jan 20, 2013)

May watch Life of Pi tonight.

I hope it doesn't have that spaceship scene. That would be silly.


----------



## Reno (Jan 20, 2013)

I watched a Blu-ray of _Jaws_. A beautiful restoration and it really made the film come to life again after last having seen a censored pan&scan job which fucked up the composition and editing on ITV. Overfamiliarity made me underestimate what a great film it really is. Apart from Spielberg's innate sense for film-making, which is on a par with the best of Hitchcock or Hawks, this is also a fantastic character piece as the film moves from horror in the first half to examining three very different men in the second. And as Hooper keeps undermining Quint macho bullshit, this is a fantastic film about the changing ideas about masculinity in films in the 70s.

Jaws scared the bejeezus out of me when I first saw it at the cinema and it's difficult to understand now how scary the film was at the time. I remember there was a woman in the audience who started shrieking just at the sight of the ocean at one point and I wouldn't even put my head underwater in the bathtub after I saw it. Well that's not the case anymore, but the shot of the kid, Alex Kittner getting dragged under when just for a moment we see the sharks fins revolve as for the first time we grasp it's size, still gave me goosepimples.

I also watched Miguel Gomez' _Tabu_ after it got some rave reviews and made a few critics ten best films, but I can't say it rocked my world. In it's pastiche of early sound and silent cinema in the second half, it didn't compare to the lyricism of a Murnau, which the title alludes to or that of Guy Maddin who similarly deconstructs 20s and 30s cinema.


----------



## belboid (Jan 20, 2013)

Night in on me tod, so watched the first two Ben Wheatley films.

Down Terrace. Very good indeed, some really dark and really funny moments. Would have been the mordern Brit classic it said it was on the cover if the dad had been able to act.

Kill List. Well, why had I never watched that before? Bloody marvellous. From the start when it looked like it was going to be deeply miserable and bleak right through the almost hilarious gangster middle section to the Dennis Wheatley ending. Not what I was expecting and so much the better for that.

Now I can't decide if I should watch The Wicker Tree, which is probably rubbish, but I haven't seen it, or Witchfinder General, which is obviously great, but I have seen already


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 20, 2013)

"M" - can't believe I've never seen it before. Brilliant and Peter Lorre's performance is wonderful, especially as so much of it, until towards the end, is visual and not verbal.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 20, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> Terrific, I'd never seen or heard of this doc before, thank you. My old man was a coal miner, I grew up in a colliery row house. This doc brings back some poignant memories.
> 
> Kinnock "what we hope to have in our life time and for every miner in this room, is workers control of the coal industry"


I'd never heard of it either before yesterday, it seems quite rare (it only has 6 ratings on IMDB), but yeah, it's a great film. The Youtube channel it's on has quite a few obscure but decent British films, this afternoon I've been watching Horace Ové's 1976 film "Pressure", apparently the first black British film.


----------



## zenie (Jan 20, 2013)

Just watched This Girls Life. Slightly uncomfortable viewing at times 

Juliette Marquis is a stunner though!

I might start to watch Liz Taylor's Cleopatra, it's 4 hours long though


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 20, 2013)

Absentia.  A nice little indie horror film, little in the way of special effects, lots in the way of people, no hollywood in sight.


----------



## Reno (Jan 20, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Absentia. A nice little indie horror film, little in the way of special effects, lots in the way of people, no hollywood in sight.


 
I liked that film a lot, really gave me the creeps and a horror film with some genuinely surprising twists. What starts as a ghost story becomes one of the best Lovecraftian films not based on an actual Lovecaft story. It was entirely funded via Kickstarter.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 21, 2013)

Dredd. It was okay, I enjoyed it, and it was very violent_,_ but beyond that I'm not sure how it measures up wrt 2000 AD as it really isn't my territory.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 21, 2013)

first two eps of American Horror Story season 2

haunted hospital. Nuns.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 21, 2013)

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. After some unpleasant (unpleasantly bum-freezingly dull) experiences with other films by Nuri Bilge Ceylan I was approaching this more in the spirit of duty but it did weave a spell. It's still glacially slow-paced and overall bleak and curmudgeonly, but there's a lot more intrigue and suspense (sort of) and humour (of the blackest, most absurdist kind) as a bunch of disillusioned, demotivated and not-that-bright Turkish policemen and hangers-on try to do the paperwork for a routine - and not at all mysterious - crime. Some absolutely brilliant acting and the cinematography is amazing ... it really works if you can ride out the longueurs. ideal watching for a snowed-in sunday because you can ffwd all the megalong landscape takes (and there are plenty) and break off for a cup of tea when it all gets too lugubrious.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 21, 2013)

I watched a 2011 film called The Hunters which is seriously misrepresented by the synopsis attached to it. What is sold as a "teens enter woods and wind up dead" slasher flick is actually something a little more off the wall and interesting.

There's a couple of plot threads, one following an injured war veteran who is in his frist weeks with the police, one following a small group of everyday folk with a grim hobby, and lastly a brief glimpse at some graduating lawyers about to leave town to enter the big wide world.

I'm not sure where it was filmed, but the accents vary from american, bad american, french, and english. The locations look like eastern europe, but the town is simply called the town and the capital city simply called the capital city. Only the fort where most of the story unfolds is given a name.

Anyway....the film is basically about the cop heading up to the fort to meet an informer to take him into protective custody only to find himself locked in with the draw bridge lifted, no escape and a group of townsfolk with some iffy weekend past times. All this actually makes for quite an unorthadox thriller, pretty well shot and acted and entertaining in a slow burning way.

It doesn't entirely work, there are plot holes and the three story strands only really needed to be two, but even then the third strand with the young lawyers (which the synopsis is IMBD and Wiki are built from) doesn't really take away from the overall story and adds some nice tense moments later on.

That we know who the Hunters are and what they are doing from very early on should kill the film dead, but it enables their story to be told, and they are not drawn as bad men, they  are shown in their day jobs, with their families, going about life, suffering the daily routines and rituals and monotony which provides the motivation for their 'hunting' at the weekend.

So there's no real surprises, clever plot twists or anything especially outstanding about The Hunters, but it is a well made and slow moving, character driven horror/thriller made within certain budgetry limitations that looks good,  kept me interested, and actually suprised me because I put it on as background noise and ended up being quite taken with it. I fully expect to see director Chris Briant making a bit of a name for himself.

I found it on Netflix


----------



## belboid (Jan 21, 2013)

I went for Witchfinder General in the end, which was still very good.  Tho it would probably have been even better had the DVD player not packed up after an hour.

Fortunately the USB plug on it was still working, aso I then watched The Oblong Box - which Michael Reeves was meant to direct after WG, had he not died. A good story (not the Poe one) reasonably made, tho let down by a poor and rather confused ending.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 21, 2013)

Bringing Up Baby

Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn. Hep's role is a bit one dimesional, but then so is Grant's. This film rips the piss out of academics. Also includes a tame leopard.

The Philadelphia Story

Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart - Stewart being cast against type as an embittered leftwing writer sent by his celebrity paparazzi magazine, which sends him to cover Hepburn's marriage to a former coal miner turned manager. Grant plays her first husband, who is lurking about the place. Hijinks ensue. Hepburn came from this world (New England bluebloods) herself, which may make her performance all the better.

It Happened One Night.

More fun in the Great Depression. Spoiled heiress Claudette Colbert runs away from her controlling millionaire father. Down at heel journalist Clark Gable takes her under his wing. Hijinks ensue.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 21, 2013)

Moonrise Kingdom.   Don't know what to say, really.   The romance of two kids surrounded by those adults who've lost or never had it.   Everyone against them then everyone for them - to the background of noah's flood and a helping of the wicked witch of the west.

I checked the music and apparently it wasn't written for the film.   Amazing.

All of the actors commit to this light tale and it's well worth catching.  Just over 90 minutes, too.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 21, 2013)

Sexy  Beast. Good job by Kingsley; but once he's gone, it turns into a Grade B heist movie.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 21, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Bringing Up Baby
> 
> Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn. Hep's role is a bit one dimesional, but then so is Grant's. This film rips the piss out of academics. Also includes a tame leopard.


My favourite screwball comedy.


----------



## Reno (Jan 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> first two eps of American Horror Story season 2
> 
> haunted hospital. Nuns.


 
That's what I watched tonight. This season is even more bonkers than the last one, but that's fine with me. In the first two episodes we had a UFO, demonic possession, randy nuns, a sadistic doctor, a monster who rips off someones arm and Jessica Lange camping it up for all she's worth. Good times !


----------



## jelavicroad (Jan 22, 2013)

killer joe not quite sure what the chicken drumstick scene was all about mind


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> That's what I watched tonight. This season is even more bonkers than the last one, but that's fine with me. In the first two episodes we had a UFO, demonic possession, randy nuns, a sadistic doctor, a monster who rips off someones arm and Jessica Lange camping it up for all she's worth. Good times !


 

and we've still yet to find out what those creatures are!


Her who plays the lover of the journo who gets interred- I know her from the invasion of the bodysnatchers style thing 'The Faculty'

Wonderful '50 fags and two bottles of jack per day' croak to her vocals


----------



## Reno (Jan 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Her who plays the lover of the journo who gets interred- I know her from the invasion of the bodysnatchers style thing 'The Faculty'


 
Clea Du Vall. She was also in Argo this year and she was one of the leads in Carnivale.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 22, 2013)

Wild Strawberries.

Swedish doctor reflects on the futility of life, and its essential meaningless. Better than it sounds.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2013)

Farewell Johnny - South African film from the early 70s. Don't really know what to say about it - this review might explain why.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 22, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Farewell Johnny - South African film from the early 70s. Don't really know what to say about it - this review might explain why.


 
It sounds at first glance like an attempt to pretend that South Africa doesn't have any black people in it. Is the asylum a metaphor for the apartheid state, or for the white community? I think I'll give this one a miss, anyway.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> It sounds at first glance like an attempt to pretend that South Africa doesn't have any black people in it. Is the asylum a metaphor for the apartheid state, or for the white community? I think I'll give this one a miss, anyway.


Both - and of the effects of apartheid on them. And Jans Rautenbach really can't be accused of doing what so many other white artisits did - he always put apartheid right up front. This film came out of his own experience running a private mental hospital where the only black people were staff - as is the case in the film. I think you may be mistaking it for a a more 'normal' type film than it actually is, it's more like a political-absurdist work in the vein of Fernando Arrabal's work, The Tree of Guernica especially, but without the visual flair.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 22, 2013)

Dredd. Awful and boring. Karl Urban did an OK Dredd, but the budget was 90% spunked on 3D candy shots and only 10% on plot, characterisation and so on. You just get so sick of seeing the same grey concrete walls over and over again. Another wasted opportunity for the franchise.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 22, 2013)

The Kidnappers. 1953 film about two orphans who go to live with their grandparents in Nova Scotia and find a baby. Great film with a cute kid actor turning out a great performance. Some great dialogue and loads of smiles all the way through. I love films like this.

It's on Youtube in bits.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> We watched A Lonely Place to Die (watchable, but not as good as I was led to believe) Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (strange and at times quite wonderful, with a slightly disappointing ending) and Final Destination 5 (better than 3 & 4 with an excellent ending if you've been following the series, but FD2 is still the best)


 
I'm just about to start watching A Christmas Tale.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 22, 2013)

Well if I was young, watching A Christmas Tale would put me off giong to Finland


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 23, 2013)

Just watched Mother (same director of Memories of Murder) and Hansel and Gretel (another Korean one)

That's 3 foreign films in a row.  Need to give my eyes a rest from subtitles


----------



## TitanSound (Jan 23, 2013)

God Bless America. I enjoyed it, pretty dark subject but found it a bit preachy.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 23, 2013)

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - Slavery was not a vampire movie. Terrible, terrible movie....


----------



## mango5 (Jan 23, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> *The World, The Flesh And The Devil* (1959) - Harry Belafonte seems to be the last person alive on earth (such as in in Omega Man etc), but hang on, there seems to be another lady and hey at least he can sing a decent tune. Unfortunately the lady seems a bit racist and now another bloke has turned up up who seems racist too, lets hope they realise that when there's only 3 people left alive on planet Earth that acting like a fuckwit might not be a good idea.


Add to that Island in the Sun, Buck and the Preacher, Carmen Jones and Sing Your Song for a magnificent DIY Belafonte Film Festival.


----------



## r0bb0 (Jan 23, 2013)

Silent Hill Revlation's - not finding it as scary as the first one yet, maybe cause I got this thread and facebook open.


----------



## Reno (Jan 23, 2013)

r0bb0 said:


> Silent Hill Revlation's - not finding it as scary as the first one yet, maybe cause I got this thread and facebook open.


 

No, it's shit.


----------



## r0bb0 (Jan 23, 2013)




----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 23, 2013)

Sin City.   I'd seen this a few years ago and not been too impressed but tonight I was much more taken by it.  I think the violence first time around stopped me appreciating the coolness of it.


----------



## Reno (Jan 24, 2013)

More of American Horror Story. So far season 2 is even better than season 1. I can see why this would be a love it or hate it TV series, but the reason why it works is because it has a seriously nasty sense of humor. Mental note: when someone is too nice to be true and their lampshade has nipples, then it's time to run.


----------



## ymu (Jan 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> I watched Ill Manors. I like Plan B, but this is just another urban gang yoof film which doesn't add anything new to that particular genre. It's just about watchable but at times it's ridiculously melodramatic. The scene with the fire and the baby reminded me more of Mighty Joe Young than anything. As a piece of film-making it's all over the place. Occasionally it looks like pop promos have been inserted into the film when the style of the film breaks for a bit of music. Nice to see John Cooper Clarke in a small role.


Just seen this and couldn't disagree more. I thought this was a really impressive bit of film-making, completely unlike the usual urban yoof/gang film, with some really interesting ideas. It did get melodramatic at the end, but it had to. The film is all about how people end up where they do; the ending is essentially a fantasy escape. And those are not 'breaks' for music. At times it does feel like an album-length rap video but the soundtrack is integral to the film in a way I've never seen before.

Rap as voiceover.


----------



## Reno (Jan 24, 2013)

I watched the latest demonic possession film, with the blindingly original title The Possession. The only twist is that this one draws on Jewish mythology, though there already have been at least a couple of those, like the recent The Unborn. It is very stylishly directed by the Danish Ole Bornedal who made the excellent retro-noir This Is Not a Love Story a few years ago. At least it is well acted, has a few effective scares and is reasonably atmospheric, despite following The Exorcist template to a T.


----------



## Firky (Jan 24, 2013)

El espíritu de la colmena / Spirit of the Beehive (again).

Didn't really watch it, so much as have it on in the background. I love it.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 24, 2013)

Spirit of the beehive is ace. Have you seen Cria Cuervos? Has the same kid in it.


----------



## Voley (Jan 24, 2013)

Waltz With Bashir. Nothing special.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2013)

Dredd, which was pretty good apart from the central character having no personality, but I suppose that's just part and parcel with this particular universe. It was one of a number of 2012 mid-budget sci-fi/action films like Looper and Lockout which were 80s throwbacks to the likes of early Carpenter, Cameron and Verhoeven, which were in many ways more fun than most the big blockbusters of the year. That these films all came in at under two hours helped as well.


----------



## discokermit (Jan 25, 2013)

firky said:


> Spirit of the Beehive . I love it.


i bought this dvd, what a load of shit! didn't play any of their hits. where was "don't call me baby"? total rip off.


----------



## Firky (Jan 25, 2013)

discokermit said:


> i bought this dvd, what a load of shit! didn't play any of their hits. where was "don't call me baby"? total rip off.


 
FFS 




NVP said:


> Waltz With Bashir. Nothing special.


 

Apart from the scene that gives the film it's name. I liked that bit and some of the dialogue but yeh..



Chip Barm said:


> Spirit of the beehive is ace. Have you seen Cria Cuervos? Has the same kid in it.


No, will add it to my list


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 25, 2013)

Halfway through a film called Gomorra: Italian, about the Neapolitan mob. Liking it so far.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2013)

Another thumbs up for Cria Cuervos/Raising Ravens (I have the Cuban film poster up on my wall), it's a fantastic film.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 25, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Halfway through a film called Gomorra: Italian, about the Neapolitan mob. Liking it so far.


IIRC there's a sequel planned


----------



## TruXta (Jan 25, 2013)

Reno said:


> Dredd, which was pretty good apart from the central character having no personality, but I suppose that's just part and parcel with this particular universe. It was one of a number of 2012 mid-budget sci-fi/action films like Looper and Lockout which were 80s throwbacks to the likes of early Carpenter, Cameron and Verhoeven, which were in many ways more fun than most the big blockbusters of the year. That these films all came in at under two hours helped as well.


I found the setting to be bloody boring. Looked like a cost-cutting exercise more than a creative choice tbh.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I found the setting to be bloody boring. Looked like a cost-cutting exercise more than a creative choice tbh.


 
It was a relatively low budget film, but so what ? What's wrong with scrappy low budget genre films ? They often more entertaining than the bloated Hollywood blockbusters, where every suit in the meeting has a say. It's not like they had a huge budget and spent most of it on booze and hookers. In the current Hollywood you are not going to get a film this violent off the ground on a $ 200 million budget. If you have a limited budget then you do something that's appropriate in scale rather than overrreaching yourself. I thought the setting off a tower block that's as large as a city was great and well used. It's in a honorable tradition of one location siege films like Assault on Precinct 13.

Feel free to stick the the crappy Stallone Judge Dredd, which was exactly the costly bag of compromises this film avoided by having a smaller budget and giving the film-makers artisitic control.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 25, 2013)

Reno said:


> It was a relatively low budget film, but so what ? What's wrong with scrappy low budget genre films ? They often more entertaining than the bloated Hollywood blockbusters, where every suit in the meeting has a say. It's not like they had a huge budget and spent most of it on booze and hookers. In the current Hollywood you are not going to get a film this violent off the ground on a $ 200 million budget. If you have a limited budget then you do something that's appropriate in scale rather than overrreaching yourself. I thought the setting off a tower block that's as large as a city was great and well used. It's in the tradition of siege films like Assault on Precinct 13.
> 
> Feel free to stick the the crappy Stallone Judge Dredd, which was exactly the costly bag of compromises this film avoided by having a smaller budget and giving the film-makers artisitic contral.


Woah woah woah! I love low-budget stuff. That's got nothing to do with it, and it doesn't excuse poor film-making. And I did get the whole siege-idea, I just don't think it was particularly well executed. And the gore was just silly and tacky. For the record I've not seen the Stallone Dredd as I heard it was incredibly shit and I didn't want to tarnish my memories of the franchise.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 25, 2013)

I think the Cursed Earth bit of stallones dredd was actually ok its just that the rest was so shitit cancelled it out


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Woah woah woah! I love low-budget stuff. That's got nothing to do with it, and it doesn't excuse poor film-making. And I did get the whole siege-idea, I just don't think it was particularly well executed. And the gore was just silly and tacky. For the record I've not seen the Stallone Dredd as I heard it was incredibly shit and I didn't want to tarnish my memories of the franchise.


 
Considering this mostly got very good reviews, unusual for a film like this, many seem to disagree that this was crappy film-making. It worked for me.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 25, 2013)

that reminds me there was a goodlittle short about a Cursed Earth sheriff-type judge 'Sturm und Dang' where he fought neo-nazi punks

ahem


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Jan 25, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I think the Cursed Earth bit of stallones dredd was actually ok its just that the rest was so shitit cancelled it out


 
With Hershel out of The Walking Dead.  Rob Schneider's character was annoying.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 25, 2013)

A movie called Machine Gun Preacher.

No, it's not anime - it's a true story about a biker/drug dealer from Pennsylvania who finds God, and goes to the Sudan to build an orphanage and rescue child soldiers.

http://www.machinegunpreacher.org/

Sometimes, you can't help but marvel at people.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

Does it have any tits in it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

Oops, I meant to quote. I asked that about Dread, not the serious sad film that Johnny posted about.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

Reno said:


> Considering this mostly got very good reviews, unusual for a film like this, many seem to disagree that this was crappy film-making. It worked for me.


Does it have any tits in it?

There.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> A movie called Machine Gun Preacher.
> 
> No, it's not anime - it's a true story about a biker/drug dealer from Pennsylvania who finds God, and goes to the Sudan to build an orphanage and rescue child soldiers.
> 
> ...


Does it have any tits in it?


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Does it have any tits in it?


 
No tits, just ultra violence


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 25, 2013)

John Dies at the End - never read the book, but really really enjoyed this - great fun, energy and imagination. (Loved his Bubba ho-tep as well).

The Thieves - another fun one. Heist film with everyone double-crossing etc - so not in the slightest bit original but very well done. Could have done with a longer more complicated actual heist though.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 25, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Does it have any tits in it?


 
There's a scene where the recruiters force a kid to club his mother to death. I think you get a flash of sideboob.

Not really enough for you to wank over, though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

Just looked at the rest of Coscarelli's films. Wow! Phantasm and The Beastmaster too! Quite a varied career. He sure knows how to entertain, evidently.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 25, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Just looked at the rest of Coscarelli's films. Wow! Phantasm and The Beastmaster too! Quite a varied career. He sure knows how to entertain, evidently.


 
Much tit action in his films?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> There's a scene where the recruiters force a kid to club his mother to death. I think you get a flash of sideboob.
> 
> Not really enough for you to wank over, though.


You weren't supposed to answer that.
I am way too deep for your simpleton mindset.
That's as deep as a puddle.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 25, 2013)

Oh yeah, another Korean heist one, set in the 18th century part of the Joseon period, and the material being nicked is ice. Not as good as the thieves, but still worth a look if you're into this style. The Grand Heist


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Much tit action in his films?


More muscle mary moobs than tits.
And flying silver orbs drilling people's foreheads.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 25, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> You weren't supposed to answer that.
> I am way too deep for your simpleton mindset.
> That's as deep as a puddle.


 
You're the one asking about tit action like some sort of compulsive mouthbreathing fap artist - is that what qualifies you for deepness? Or was that just an awkward failed attempt at humour?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

It was just inevitable after that initial mix up.
It was impossible for it to be any other way.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 25, 2013)

By Jupiter's cock, you are dense.


----------



## ymu (Jan 25, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> By Jupiter's cock, you are dense.


I think 'hypocritical' and 'creepy' are the adjectives you're looking for.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 25, 2013)

Zero Dark Thirty. Boring.


----------



## starfish (Jan 25, 2013)

Just watched Ice Age 4 with our 3 nieces. It was pretty good, had some good jokes & set pieces & they seemed to enjoy it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 25, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> By Jupiter's cock, you are dense.


He spreads cheeks and FUCKS me up the arse again!

(assuming we're doing john hannah)


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jan 25, 2013)

Just watched Stephen Frears 1984 film "The Hit" - John Hurt & Tim Roth as a couple of hitmen driving Terence Stamp from Spain to Paris to pay for grassing on his bank robber colleagues. Excellent script, great acting, beautifully shot & a nice Eric Clapton soundtrack too, not sure why I'd never heard of it before, it should be a British classic. Brilliant film


----------



## 8115 (Jan 25, 2013)

starfish said:


> Just watched Ice Age 4 with our 3 nieces. It was pretty good, had some good jokes & set pieces & they seemed to enjoy it.



It's good isn't it. I saw it (with a kid) in the cinema and I was pleasantly surprised.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 26, 2013)

I love all the Ice Age films. For the Squirrel and his nut


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 26, 2013)

Django 2

Franco Nero stars in this one, which I suppose makes it the "official" sequel to the first Django movie.

They're called exploitation films for a reason.

Videodrome.

The best thing about this one isn't actually in the movie. When James Woods said that he felt like he'd been "reduced to being the bearer of the slit", Debbie Harry replied, "ha, now you know how it feels".

I'd like to have seen what Buneul could have done with Videodrome, or indeed with Django 2.


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Videodrome.
> 
> The best thing about this one isn't actually in the movie. When James Woods said that he felt like he'd been "reduced to being the bearer of the slit", Debbie Harry replied, "ha, now you know how it feels".
> 
> I'd like to have seen what Buneul could have done with Videodrome, or indeed with Django 2.


 
I doubt that the subject matter of Videodrome or Django 2 would have interested Bunuel.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 26, 2013)

OK, not Django 2 probably, but doesn't Videodrome deal with issues of reality and fantasy in ways that could have been dealt with in a Buneuelesque fashion? I defer as always to your superior knowledge of film history.


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> OK, not Django 2 probably, but doesn't Videodrome deal with issues of reality and fantasy in ways that could have been dealt with in a Buneuelesque fashion? I defer as always to your superior knowledge of film history.


 
Bunuel was more interested in satirising the hypocrisy of bourgeois morality and organised religion especially the Catholic church. Surrealism was always just a tool rather than an end in itself and applied rather more subtly. The moments of visceral horror of his first film Un Chien Andalou is more down to co-director Dali. In Videodrome there is a solid sci-fi explanation for these shifts in reality, which makes it not a surrealist film at all.

If you fancy a surrealist Western, check out El Topo by Jodorowsky.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 26, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Django 2
> 
> Franco Nero stars in this one, which I suppose makes it the "official" sequel to the first Django movie.
> 
> ...


 
Yes, Django strikes back is the only official sequel. Stars Nero, scripted by Corbucci. I've never bothered to watch it......I will one day.


----------



## Silverghost (Jan 26, 2013)

Resident Evil 5 and Cloud Atlas, as well as the last bit of Michel Gondry's 'The Green Hornet' which was playing out in the hall at this backpackers..


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 26, 2013)

Beasts of the Southern Wild. Not sure I quite got it but I enjoyed watching it. I'd watch it again anyway.


----------



## r0bb0 (Jan 26, 2013)

REC , a low budget Spanish zombie film - really enjoyed it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038988/


----------



## TruXta (Jan 26, 2013)

Argo, better than I expected. Nice to see a Hollywood production that's not all sparkle and glitter.


----------



## avu9lives (Jan 27, 2013)

*Klute* (1971) god it made a big immpression on me when a were a kid. Jane Fonda fer a start especially her bare back, nipples the size of bullets, the fact she was an hooker, and smoked pot. jeeze she were proper wankin tackle fer a sensitive shy pubescent teen like meself.... Trouble is it just makes me nod off now its that bloody quiet at times. Still a great 70s film though.,/;.;


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2013)

I think we all know now who Will Self is on Urban75


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 27, 2013)

Defendor. It's a long time since I've turned a film of before the end but this broke me. Dull.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 27, 2013)

P2, Vatican corruption, suicide under Blackfriars bridge, mafia, fascists etc - all that and more in Giuseppe Ferrara's The Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair - problem is that he just dumps so much info and plot on you that unless you have a good handle on post-war italian history, political history especially, you may feel that you're drowning. The film is well worth watching despite that.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 27, 2013)

Oh, you remind me butch, I watched Seven Psychopaths the other night. Thought it was ace. Christopher Walken especially, as good as his Pulp Fiction part I thought.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 27, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Oh, you remind me butch, I watched Seven Psychopaths the other night. Thought it was ace. Christopher Walken especially, as good as his Pulp Fiction part I thought.


I'm surprised at how little buzz there is/has been around it tbh considering whose in it and who made it.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 27, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I'm surprised at how little buzz there is/has been around it tbh considering whose in it and who made it.


 
Media too pre-occupied with Django maybe?


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 27, 2013)

Quite possible yes.


----------



## Reno (Jan 27, 2013)

I had a friend round for a movie all nighter and we watched Martha Marcy May Marlene, In Bruges and Les Aventuriers, all films I like with the last one a top ten fave.


----------



## belboid (Jan 27, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I'm surprised at how little buzz there is/has been around it tbh considering whose in it and who made it.


Is it not something to do with every other review saying the film's a steaming pile of horseshit?

I'm planning (depending on when the tennis finishes) on doing a double bill of that & Django this afternoon


----------



## Reno (Jan 27, 2013)

belboid said:


> Is it not something to do with every other review saying the film's a steaming pile of horseshit?


No, because Seven Psychopaths mostly got very good reviews.


----------



## belboid (Jan 27, 2013)

Reno said:


> No, because Seven Psychopaths mostly got very good reviews.


and a lot of bad ones


----------



## Reno (Jan 27, 2013)

belboid said:


> and a lot of bad ones


 
Hardly any film gets 100% acclaim. 82% positive reviews on rottentomatoes officially makes it a well reviewed film. Always good to look up if you want to check what the critical consensus is for a film.

Not sure what papers and magazines you read, but the reviews I read here were mostly positive.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seven_psychopaths/


----------



## belboid (Jan 27, 2013)

Reno said:


> Hardly any film gets 100% acclaim. 82% positive reviews on rottentomatoes officially makes it a well reviewed film. Always good to look up if you want to check what the critical consensus is for a film.
> 
> Not sure what papers and magazines you read, but the reviews I read here were mostly positive.
> 
> http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seven_psychopaths/


first three reviews listed:
there's not much point to a meta-film once the actual film has ceased to grip.

Self-aware stupidity does not equal wit.

After a while the narrative falters, the ideas flag and it simply gets dull ...



And plenty then several that say its sharp and scabrous.


----------



## Reno (Jan 27, 2013)

belboid said:


> first three reviews listed:
> there's not much point to a meta-film once the actual film has ceased to grip.
> 
> Self-aware stupidity does not equal wit.
> ...


 
I was less of a fan of the film than many people here are and I agree that it doesn't do the meta thing nearly as well as Charlie Kaufman's films do, but there is plenty about it which is great. I just thought it was disappointing in comparison to In Bruges. Anybody who calls it a "steaming pile of horseshit" would be a bit of a twat in my book and Peter Bradshaw certainly is. Awful film critic and one of the reasons why I can't be arsed with The Guardian anymore.


----------



## belboid (Jan 27, 2013)

Reno said:


> Anybody who calls it a "steaming pile of horseshit" would be a bit of a twat in my book and Peter Bradshaw certainly is. Awful film critic.


aah, I was thinking more of the Telegraph bloke


----------



## Reno (Jan 27, 2013)

belboid said:


> aah, I was thinking more of the Telegraph bloke


 
Funnily enough I never read the Telegraph. Strange that.

Quite like Kim Newman though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 27, 2013)

A Fistful of Dollars.

There are loads of classic westerns I've never seen, but I'm slowly plugging those gaps in my education. AFOD is worth the 90 minutes, and it must have been pretty trailblazing when it came out.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2013)

I watched that recently too. Fantastic film. Didn't realise how much Leone pinched from Yojimbo! I love the scene where he tells the carpenter to get three coffins ready.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 27, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I watched that recently too. Fantastic film. Didn't realise how much Leone pinched from Yojimbo! I love the scene where he tells the carpenter to get three coffins ready.


 
I'd heard the lines about Clint's mule being offended quoted in something else, and I'd thought it was a pisstake. . . how wrong I was!


----------



## Voley (Jan 27, 2013)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Really enjoyed it and was pretty surprised at how good Gary Oldman was in it. I've always thought he was all right but he was genuinely great in this. I might buy this one. It'd stand up to a few viewings, I think.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I'd heard the lines about Clint's mule being offended quoted in something else, and I'd thought it was a pisstake. . . how wrong I was!


" I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it."


----------



## Voley (Jan 27, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> A Fistful of Dollars.
> 
> There are loads of classic westerns I've never seen, but I'm slowly plugging those gaps in my education. AFOD is worth the 90 minutes, and it must have been pretty trailblazing when it came out.


I love that one, too. I bought a Blu-Ray player for the first time recently and have been buying up all my favourite old films again. This is near the top of the want list:


----------



## Voley (Jan 27, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> " I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it."


I like the way that you can only read that in Clint's voice.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2013)

That mule dialogue reminded me of Dhango Unchained - the way Waltz's character would introduce his horse as if it were a person!


----------



## Belushi (Jan 27, 2013)

NVP said:


> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Really enjoyed it and was pretty surprised at how good Gary Oldman was in it. I've always thought he was all right but he was genuinely great in this. I might buy this one. It'd stand up to a few viewings, I think.


 
I really hated it, but I'm a huge fan of the book and the BBC adaption and perhaps I'd feel differently if I wasn't comparing it to them.

I though Oldman bore an uncanny resemblance to Sir Robin Day in it


----------



## Voley (Jan 27, 2013)

Belushi said:


> I really hated it, but I'm a huge fan of the book and the BBC adaption and perhaps I'd feel differently if I wasn't comparing it to them.
> 
> I though Oldman bore an uncanny resemblance to Sir Robin Day in it


I've not seen/read either. I've only ever read one John Le Carre but I might try some more now. Is Smiley's People a separate thing to this?


----------



## Belushi (Jan 27, 2013)

NVP said:


> I've not seen/read either. I've only ever read one John Le Carre but I might try some more now. Is Smiley's People a separate thing to this?


 
Yes, he's the central character in a number of Le Carre novels and in two of the greatest TV dramas ever made.  You can get the box sets of Tinker.. and Smileys People really cheaply of amazon and I highly recommend them.


----------



## Voley (Jan 27, 2013)

Cheers. I may well do that.

ETA: £10.28 for both.  Nope, just found a box set of both for a fiver.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 27, 2013)

Just watched The Woman on blu-ray (bargain for ~£3 from Play!).  Pretty powerful film which will disturb anyone coming to it as a straight horror flick.


----------



## Me76 (Jan 27, 2013)

Watched Young Adult today.  Didn't really enjoy it. Bitch of a character who doesn't seem to learn anything from the beginning to the end. Luckily it was only 1hr 25 so at least I didn't waste a lot of my life on it. 

I haven't seen Django Unchained yet but was listening to an interview with Jaime Foxx and apparently the horse he rides is his own.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 27, 2013)

Me76 said:


> I haven't seen Django Unchained yet but was listening to an interview with Jaime Foxx and apparently the horse he rides is his own.


 
Yeah, I heard this too....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 27, 2013)

NVP said:


> I love that one, too. I bought a Blu-Ray player for the first time recently and have been buying up all my favourite old films again. This is near the top of the want list:


 
Not with that shit cover I hope! Those films had perfectly good artwork they don't ned some photoshop shiteon the cover.....


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 27, 2013)

This Must Be The Place.   Weird Penn film with a David Byrne soundtrack (v cool).   Not sure if I liked it but I did laugh a few times and have moist eyes during the couch guitar scene.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 27, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Oh, you remind me butch, I watched Seven Psychopaths the other night. Thought it was ace. Christopher Walken especially, as good as his Pulp Fiction part I thought.


His performance made the film for me, I've not seen that in anything for a very long time.

I saw Django Unchained, I think Reno was pretty much spot on when he said that the first two thirds really worked and then the last third fell away. Jamie Foxx was better than I thought he might be and the rest of the cast was good.


----------



## Reno (Jan 28, 2013)

I watched Magic Mike, which isn't bad despite a slightly predictable plot. Soderbergh's more mainstream films generally are better than his personal projects and this has some good acting and dialogue. It's awfully coy about the stripping scenes though and I'll never understand why in the sex industry men are required to look like plucked chickens.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 28, 2013)

Utopia 1&2

not sure what accent Jessica Hyde is doing


----------



## Reno (Jan 28, 2013)

I'm up to episode 8 of season 2 of American Horror Story. Still enjoying the general loopiness, but the plot is treading water at this point. Despite being top billed, Joseph Finnes is barely in the series.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 28, 2013)

The Bridge series 1.  

Great acting (by some), good script , nicely shot

Yes, I liked it


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 28, 2013)

Reno said:


> I'm up to episode 8 of season 2 of American Horror Story. Still enjoying the general loopiness, but the plot is treading water at this point. Despite being top billed, Joseph Finnes is barely in the series.


 



Spoiler: sylar



I knew all along he was secretely evil but I wasn't expecting him to be bloodyface.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 28, 2013)

2/3rds of Absentia. Proper freaked me out it did - best horror I've seen since Let The Right One In. Had to get to bed, will do the last half hour tonight.


----------



## Reno (Jan 28, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Spoiler: sylar
> 
> 
> 
> I knew all along he was secretely evil but I wasn't expecting him to be bloodyface.


 
In the last season anybody could be a ghost, in this season 



Spoiler



anybody could be a psycho.


I loved the angel of death from episode 7, played be the actress who was the older version of the man-trap maid in the last season and the mother in Six Feet Under.

Article about that episode here:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...l=en&safe=off&sa=N&gbv=2&tbm=isch&um=1&itbs=1


----------



## belboid (Jan 28, 2013)

Seven Psychopaths - which i enjoyed. The meta narrative bit didnt work very well, and the excuse for having no good lines for women really should have been cut (or replaced by....some good lines for women!) but there were some great scenes and wicked dialogie, so that'll do. Sam Rockwell was brilliant, and I thgought Walken was just gonne do his standard kooky character, but as the film progressed he actually played the role with a lot more subtelty than I'd have thought. Not quite as fresh and original as In Bruges, but darn good stuff.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 28, 2013)

I watched Turtles Can Fly. Same director as A Time For Drunken Horses. Whereas ATFDH is bleak from the outset this has a hint of that at the start but has a bit more of a lighthearted feel to it at points. The main character, Satellite is an upbeat lively lad who effectively rallies the other kids collecting landmines to sell. What a great cast of kids. Some really amazing performances especially the kid with no arms, the kid who cries a lot and the kid who must be no more than 3 years old. I wouldn't want to go into the story too much as I don't want to spoil anything.

Fuck knows how you even get started making a film like these in such conditions. Can't recommend these enough and both are in full on youtube so there's no excuse for not seeing them.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 28, 2013)

i've just watched threads, a fucking horrible film. very realistic as well. gripping though.


----------



## Mephitic (Jan 28, 2013)

Robot & Frank ~ what a totally shite robot, no machine guns, missiles, or even a flame-thrower, rather disappointing.
Promised Land ~ a load of ol'bollocks staring the rather nice Matt Damon as Matt Damon, there's too much fracking in this movie, originally the script was about wind farms but you get way more bang for you buck with fracking, so they changed it.
The Liability ~ Tim Roth is fairly good in this, but the plot goes to fuck after the half way mark (which kinnda spoils it), it recovers for the ending, however compared to the two above 'pile of shite' flicks it was tremendous.


----------



## belboid (Jan 28, 2013)

When the Lights Go Out - another brit exorcist lite, this time based on the 'Pontefract Poltergeist.'  A reasonable set up soon drifts through the usual tropes - which is worse, the poltergeist or the seventies decor?  Finished off with a really crap ending (storywise and cinematically), the only thing of note about it was it seemed to have Andrew Flintoff as the dad.

Contraband (aka Blackout) - Powell & Pressburgers second film together, and another fast paced, light-hearted spy thriller with Veidt and Hobson. Somewhat odd 'fell' to it, being released just as the 'phoney war' had finished, but still damned fine.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 28, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> i've just watched threads, a fucking horrible film. very realistic as well. gripping though.


 

annoyingly enough the lefty rabble rousers were calling for 'general strike now' just before the bombs hit. This weeks Morning Star had a bit on a TUC meeting to agree a general strike and an editorial piece about the need for  end to sectarianism. Has _nothing_ changed?


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 28, 2013)

My  own private idaho... pile of wank no pun intended.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 29, 2013)

Finished _Absentia_. What a fantastic little number. Made on a shoestring, yet packing so much more emotional and cinematographic punch than many big productions. As a Lovecraft fan it plucked those extradimensional strings as well.


----------



## Firky (Jan 29, 2013)

Not a DVD or anything but I watched that 'One Born Every Minute' on Channel 4 for the first time. I really enjoyed and I am only posting this because I was surprised at myself. Quite funny watching big, burly, hairy arsed men turn white and start crying at the sight of a new born baby. I'd watch it again


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 29, 2013)

I watched You Me & Dupree, starring Owen Cocknose, about an aimless lazy manchild cyclist who loses his job and goes to live on his mate's sofa. 
It was shit


----------



## TruXta (Jan 29, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I watched You Me & Dupree, starring Owen Cocknose, about an aimless lazy manchild cyclist who loses his job and goes to live on his mate's sofa.
> It was shit


OH had it on for a bit earlier, was there even a plot?


----------



## Ax^ (Jan 29, 2013)

Vhs...

First story then general meh


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 29, 2013)

TruXta said:


> OH had it on for a bit earlier, was there even a plot?


He becomes a motivational speaker at the end, though I was sure he was going to become a primary school teacher while he was dating that librarian...


----------



## starfish (Jan 29, 2013)

Have just remembered that the version of The Shining we watched at the weekend had an extra scene or 2 that i'd never seen before. Towards the end when Shelley Duvall is running around, wafting the knife about, just after she encounters the man in the bear!! suit blowing the man in the dinner suit she carries on down a corridor & enters a ballroom that is covered in cobwebs & there are skeletons sitting around. That was new to me. Has anyone else seen that scene before.


----------



## Reno (Jan 29, 2013)

starfish said:


> Have just remembered that the version of The Shining we watched at the weekend had an extra scene or 2 that i'd never seen before. Towards the end when Shelley Duvall is running around, wafting the knife about, just after she encounters the man in the bear!! suit blowing the man in the dinner suit she carries on down a corridor & enters a ballroom that is covered in cobwebs & there are skeletons sitting around. That was new to me. Has anyone else seen that scene before.


 
It's the longer US cut which used to crop up on ITV. Before he released the film in Europe Kubrick cut quite a few scenes and I think the shorter European version is superior. I always found that shot of the skeletons in the US version a bit tacky, more becoming of a Blackpool ghost train. There are also a lot of scenes of Wendy and Danny watching TV in this version and the extra stuff makes an already long film a little sluggish.


----------



## belboid (Jan 29, 2013)

Q Planes.

1939 spy/WWII thriller, with more than a touch of screwball comedy. Quite entertaining turns from Ralp Richardson & Larry Olivier. Apparently Patrick Macnee based his portrayal of John Steed on Richardson's character.


----------



## Reno (Jan 29, 2013)

I watched The Descendants and really enjoyed it. For some reason I thought I wouldn't.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 29, 2013)

Exte - Silly Japanese horror film about killer hair


----------



## Reno (Jan 30, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Exte - Silly Japanese horror film about killer hair


 
At some point a Japanese horror film just had to address the hair directly.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 30, 2013)

Reno said:


> At some point a Japanese horror film just had to address the hair directly.


 


It had the girl who was in Battle Royale in it.

I'm not really into horror films as they don't scare me.  I watch more for the giggles


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 30, 2013)

Queen of Versailles. Jaw-dropping documentary about a (once) billionaire timeshare developer, his trophy wife, and their grotesquely over-leveraged, oversized, monstrous mansion ("the largest home in the entire US!") ... and the voyage of all these, plus their menagerie of 8+children, thousands of employees, team of domestic staff and horde of neglected pet animals through the US financial crash and beyond. It is AMAZING ... not just for the decadence portrayed but for the personalities involved (truly, the rich also cry ... and some of them are even, simultaneously, annoying sociopaths and yet nice at times ...) and for the riddle of why and how on earth they ever thought it would be a good idea to be filmed for this. It's absolutely brilliant and worth anyone's time.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 30, 2013)

The Imposter - Good, but not as good as I'd hoped. Interesting story and some decent filming but nothing groundbreaking for me.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 30, 2013)

Inglorious Bastards.   It was ok, trouble is I've already watched Pulp Fiction and Django this week and they're better.

Music wasn't up to scratch and without warning, near the end, it turned into a fantasy.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 30, 2013)

_Lifeboat_ - Not quite in the top draw of Hitchcock movies but still good, worth watching for Tallulah Bankhead's performance alone.


----------



## Reno (Jan 31, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Inglorious Bastards. It was ok, trouble is I've already watched Pulp Fiction and Django this week and they're better.
> 
> Music wasn't up to scratch and without warning, near the end, it turned into a fantasy.


 
I like Inglorious Basterds far better than the other two. The music was great and the end was the whole point.


----------



## stuffarondyou (Jan 31, 2013)

when is the the series (the walking dead gonna) resume? I miss watching it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 31, 2013)

It's in the middle of season 3. So it's still going on! Finale sometime in March!


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 31, 2013)

stuffarondyou said:


> when is the the series (the walking dead gonna) resume? I miss watching it.


 
next episode out in early feb. can't wait


----------



## Greebo (Jan 31, 2013)

The first 3 episodes of Weissensee


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 31, 2013)

Ep 3 of Utopia. Some unsettling bits

Thought it was supposed to be a three parter but no...


----------



## Yetman (Jan 31, 2013)

TruXta said:


> 2/3rds of Absentia. Proper freaked me out it did - best horror I've seen since Let The Right One In. Had to get to bed, will do the last half hour tonight.


 
Nah its not that scary. It is a bit, but after the initial scary bits (which are a bit stereotypical of horror movies now) it's more subtle and doesn't have you on the edge of your seat or hiding behind a cushion.

I want either properly dark scary, or bonkers funny scary. This tries to be the former, doesn't quite make it but is still a decent enough flick compared to most other horror movies out recently.

Oh I also watched the first two episodes of Game Of Thrones. Not usually my bag but it's choc-full of hot chicks with big tits so I'm going to keep watching it with the wife and pretend I'm actually following the story


----------



## sojourner (Jan 31, 2013)

Episode 7 of Season 1 of The Wire

The fella's never seen it!! Yay!  I get to watch it allll again, with a virgin   He fucking LOVES it hehe - annoyingly though, we do have to keep pausing while he discusses a plot point or feels the irrepressible urge to rave over some dialogue.

It's ace - his reaction to the chess scene hehe


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 31, 2013)

Sitting Target - 1972 film with Oliver Reed and Ian Macshane, used to be talked about as the third part of a british gangster trilogy with Get Carter and Villain as the other two pieces, but seems to have disappeared from popular consciousness over the last few decades. It's a pretty horrible and odd film in all honesty and Reed's attempt at working class cockney is terrible whilst macshane gives off that child-killer vibe that makes wonder how he was ever considered for the part of lovejoy (not to mention him being a fascist bank robber as well). Reed played almost exactly the same role the next year in Revolver but even more thuggishly caveman like (that time on a rampage to save his wife rather than murder her).


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 31, 2013)

5 episodes of Homeland (Season 1) - Nothing really happens...what's the fuss about?


----------



## starfish (Jan 31, 2013)

Reno said:


> It's the longer US cut which used to crop up on ITV. Before he released the film in Europe Kubrick cut quite a few scenes and I think the shorter European version is superior. I always found that shot of the skeletons in the US version a bit tacky, more becoming of a Blackpool ghost train. There are also a lot of scenes of Wendy and Danny watching TV in this version and the extra stuff makes an already long film a little sluggish.


 
Ah, that would explain it. I downloaded this one.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 31, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Inglorious Bastards. It was ok, trouble is I've already watched Pulp Fiction and Django this week and they're better.
> 
> Music wasn't up to scratch and without warning, near the end, it turned into a fantasy.





Reno said:


> I like Inglorious Basterds far better than the other two. The music was great and the end was the whole point.


You're spelling it wrongly.

No matter how fantastic or weird the work of QT, the end of IB is just too weird, what's he doing?  We've no idea of who these Jewish guys are, we don't know anything about them, no story-time has been given to them apart from an Italian humour sketch.   Kill bill pees on this, as does Pulp fiction.   And Django, of course.

imo


----------



## zenie (Jan 31, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Ep 3 of Utopia. Some unsettling bits
> 
> Thought it was supposed to be a three parter but no...



Is utopia worth watching?

I finished season 5 of weeds today....am gonna go to bed and watch this week's ripper street I think.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 31, 2013)

zenie said:


> Is utopia worth watching?
> 
> I finished season 5 of weeds today....am gonna go to bed and watch this week's ripper street I think.


 

yes I recon so, and I don't have a high tolerance for shit.

It's shot in a way that emphasis colours but thats OK. Theres some sharp observations in it as well


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2013)

Frankenweenie.

Which was highly entertaining, the ten minutes when Sparky is first left alone are just fucking hilarious.


----------



## Reno (Feb 1, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> You're spelling it wrongly.
> 
> No matter how fantastic or weird the work of QT, the end of IB is just too weird, what's he doing? We've no idea of who these Jewish guys are, we don't know anything about them, no story-time has been given to them apart from an Italian humour sketch. Kill bill pees on this, as does Pulp fiction. And Django, of course.
> 
> imo


 
Tarantino spelt it wrongly, so don't blame me.

I don't understand why "we" have no idea who these Jewish guys are. The film explains it perfectly well. In any case, the "Basterds" aren't the central characters, Shoshanna Dreyfuss is. The whole film is her revenge story, it just happens to tell that story in different segments from different perspectives,. Structurally I found it far more interesting than the more conventional Django. And as to the end being "weird" that also made perfect sense to me. It's a "fuck you" to all the sanctimonious, reverential Oscar grabbing melodramas about the Holocaust and it is the ultimate Jewish revenge fantasy. Just like with Django it's history seen through the filter of 70s exploitation, but it goes much further and is formally more interesting. And I also found Dreyfuss a far more compelling heroine than Django is a hero.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 1, 2013)

Tarantino spelt it Inglourious Basterds, Reno


----------



## Reno (Feb 1, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Tarantino spelt it Inglourious Basterds, Reno


 
This is where I play the "I'm foreign, I don't know the language" card.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 1, 2013)

Holle Hamburg - i am only going to give a plot synopsis for this, should be enough to tell you if its up your street:



> The film project "HELL HAMBURG" is about a ship that is abandoned in Hamburg’s harbour by it’s owners, the crew who then find themselves in a desperate situation and a female journalist whose talents are barely recognised by the film company she works for but all the more so by  an agent of the secret services.
> 
> Within the crew, there is a small group who are members of a mysterious and secretive seafarer’s cult that represents the residuum of the marine section of the Comintern. Several cells of this organisation survived the Comintern’s disintegration in 1942 and have transformed it’s secret codes as well as the communist agitprop using an obsessive trance technique : through a medium, they communicate with the dead souls of the Comintern functionaries and guided by them, they take control of the ship.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 1, 2013)

Reno said:


> This is where I play the "I'm foreign, I don't know the language" card.


----------



## mattie (Feb 1, 2013)

Lovefilm recommended Oldboy, so I gave it a punt.

Very, very peculiar film, but reasonably engaging.  Although the missus fell asleep.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/


----------



## ringo (Feb 1, 2013)

mattie said:


> Lovefilm recommended Oldboy, so I gave it a punt.
> 
> Very, very peculiar film, but reasonably engaging. Although the missus fell asleep.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/


 
I liked it, quite mental


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Holle Hamburg - i am only going to give a plot synopsis for this, should be enough to tell you if its up your street:


I cant quite decide whether that sounds brilliant or appalling. Think I'll grab it when I get home tho


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 2, 2013)

Newsfront - Good piece of work by Phillip Noyce back when he was decent films. Not quite sure the switching between colour and black & white totally works but the performances are good (possible exception of Gerard Kennedy who overplays it a touch IMO), especially Bill Hunter in the lead.


----------



## Reno (Feb 2, 2013)

Holy Motors, which after not having liked the director's last two films I thought would be self indulgent crap, but it was actually great fun in a completely off the wall way. A man played by Denis Lavant gets driven around Paris in a limousine and whenever he leaves the car, he is required to perform different 'roles' in elaborate disguises for a mysterious agency. It has Kylie in it, giving a surprisingly touching performance and singing a song co-written by Neil Hannon and the limousine driver is played by Edith Scob, best known for playing the masked girl in the 50s French horror classic Eyes Without a Face. It also gets my "weirdest end of the year" award.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 2, 2013)

Breaking Bad series 2- first three episodes. V. Good indeed


----------



## Voley (Feb 2, 2013)

Reno said:


> Holy Motors,


I like the look of that. Mark Kermode gave it a good review on telly last night. He reckoned it shouldn't have worked, but did, too.


----------



## belboid (Feb 2, 2013)

ParaNorman. 

Some very funny moments, but, overall, slightly disappointing so soon after watching Frankenweenie.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 2, 2013)

Beyond the Hills - superb film from Christian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days). Haven't got time to say much else beyond that right now (superb 5 minute scene towards the end). Recommended though.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 2, 2013)

Reservoir dogs.

A cult classic.   The early blossom, colourful and narrative, of the Tarantino flower.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Feb 3, 2013)

Snow On Tha Bluff (2011) - docu-drama by Atlanta crack dealer & robber Curtis Snow, supposedly made after he stole some tourists camcorder. Good "hood" film.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Feb 3, 2013)

Skyfall. Really enjoyable nonsense.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Feb 3, 2013)

snowtown really grim... rape, murder and abuse...  should have watched fluffy kittens instead :/


----------



## 8115 (Feb 3, 2013)

The Weatherman. I turned it off before the end, was tired and it wasn't really going anywhere.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 3, 2013)

8115 said:


> The Weatherman. I turned it off before the end, was tired and it wasn't really going anywhere.


Could you forecast what was coming?


----------



## 8115 (Feb 3, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Could you forecast what was coming?


 
I felt a cloud of ennui.


----------



## starfish (Feb 3, 2013)

Django Unchained. Was pretty good but not my favourite Tarantino. Although the bag head scene is probably the funniest thing ive seen in a long time.


----------



## Me76 (Feb 3, 2013)

An Education.  

Another one that I'm not quite sure why it was on my list (I read Empire and add films as I read it and then forget why I added them) 

If it wasn't for the fact that I find Carey Mulligan so mesmerising I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it so much.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 3, 2013)

_Damsels in Distress_ - the first Whit Stillman film I've watched. Not bad but I felt the movie didn't seem to flow all that well, some scenes seemed to me to be either cut short or missing from the movie entirely . Despite that Greta Gerwig is great and there are some funny scenes.


----------



## sim667 (Feb 4, 2013)

Spun, thought it was a great film. I need to send it back to lovefilm so will probably buy a copy.

Anyone got any recomendations for similar?


----------



## belboid (Feb 4, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Holle Hamburg - i am only going to give a plot synopsis for this, should be enough to tell you if its up your street:


you cant convert the subs for that into srt's can you?  My converters claim the file isnt a real sub file, so they wont touch it!


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 4, 2013)

Never done it but i can give it a go later, may be a while as my laptop has got something nasty on it i need to find a way to sort out and so i have have to use an old old piece of junk for now.


----------



## Reno (Feb 4, 2013)

The last three episodes of American Horror Story: Asylum. Like the firsrst season this one was ragged and messy, but it's also unlike anything else on the telly, off the wall, creepy, stylish, funny, unpredictable and even touching, it's the most succesfully bonkers US horror TV series since Twin Peaks. I liked how the last episodes took the series into the present. Art direction and cinematography were fantastic. I also liked what they did with Lana thoughout the series, who emerges as the heroine (is this the fist gay lead character in a drama series that isn't really about gay issues ?) even though she has clearly been damaged by events. The series is not afraid of making her come across as harsh and unsympathetic at times, though she's earned being a bit of a diva after all she's been through. Shame that some intriguing plot strands were brought to a conclusion to swiftly, I would liked more of a showdown for the possessed Sister Mary and Dr Arden.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 4, 2013)

Game of Thrones S1. Tried not to get too into it but am finding myself slowly getting hooked. Some excellent bits of writing and the effort that has gone into the production is highly applaudable. Downloading S2 now


----------



## belboid (Feb 4, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Never done it but i can give it a go later, may be a while as my laptop has got something nasty on it i need to find a way to sort out and so i have have to use an old old piece of junk for now.


Ta.  I'll give it another whirl tonight, it shouldnt really be that difficult.


----------



## ringo (Feb 4, 2013)

Tyrannosaur - As good as I hoped it would be. Eddie Marsan is scary.


----------



## mentalchik (Feb 4, 2013)

Dredd - really enjoyed it (though some shielding of eyes at very violent bit).....better than expected !


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 5, 2013)

Kill Baby, Kill (aka Curse of the Dead) - Some nice moments, ideas and cinematography, but very dated and the dialogue is terrible. Worth a watch.


----------



## sim667 (Feb 5, 2013)

ringo said:


> Tyrannosaur - As good as I hoped it would be. Eddie Marsan is scary.


 
I found it a bit boring and cliche. Watchable but nothing to write home about.

*Edit: scrap that, Im thinking about a tv series where the same actor played a brighton crime boss who becomes ill with alzheimers or something....*

*Tyrannosaur was good *


----------



## AverageJoe (Feb 5, 2013)

Reno said:


> I watched The Descendants and really enjoyed it. For some reason I thought I wouldn't.


 
I thought it was a brilliant film.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 5, 2013)

Cloud Atlas. Well. That went on a bit. Still didn't quite get how it all linked in but I'll be damned if I'm going through it all again. Pretty though. Tom Hanks is annoying.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 5, 2013)

White Tiger - interesting odd Russian film about a tank with special powers and the tank-god (really). Looks like one of those patriotic WW2 ones but really isn't.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 5, 2013)

_Men In War_ - Korean war film by the underrated Anthony Mann and starring the always excellent Robert Ryan. Plot is the pretty usual one, Ryan is a Lieutenant who has to get his squad, of rookies, to safety through enemy held territory, but Mann is a good enough director to pull it of. The ending is suitably downbeat while avoiding Saving Private Ryans sentimentality. Not as good as Mann's westerns it's still worth a watch.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 5, 2013)

*Scream and Scream Again* (1970)  Brilliant film but the were a lot goin on plot wise so i lost it a few times. Its a bit funny in parts anawl "you vill tell me" as he cracks a chicken drumstick in half wiv a pair a pliers. Hahaha.
The detective is pretty good in it wiv his no nonsense way a talkin. Would love ta have the film poster on me front room wall coz its a right nice un.. Oh an i watched it on youtube if yer fancy a watch?>:|'.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 5, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Cloud Atlas. Well. That went on a bit. Still didn't quite get how it all linked in but I'll be damned if I'm going through it all again. Pretty though. Tom Hanks is annoying.


 
Damn. Had a feeling the film wouldn't be all that. Loved the book, though.

This weekend, we saw Greta Garbo in "The Temptress", with live piano accompaniment. Our first "live" silent film


----------



## Firky (Feb 5, 2013)

Flight

Was alright. He wasn't even that drunk.


----------



## Reno (Feb 5, 2013)

firky said:


> Flight
> 
> Was alright. He wasn't even that drunk.


 
That's because he was being sensible and had a few lines of coke before flying a plane. A lesson to us all.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 5, 2013)

krtek a houby said:


> Damn. Had a feeling the film wouldn't be all that. Loved the book, though.
> 
> This weekend, we saw Greta Garbo in "The Temptress", with live piano accompaniment. Our first "live" silent film


 
I've got the book, but never read it, so the film may be good for you to watch to help you tie any bits of the book up that you might not have gotten on the first read. It's one of them where its an investment of your time, depending on what you get out of it. 

Have you seen The Artist? Its on my list of films to see but I've not been in the mood yet...


----------



## Reno (Feb 5, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Have you seen The Artist? Its on my list of films to see but I've not been in the mood yet...


 
It's a stale pastiche. Watch a proper silent film instead. The best way of seeing them is with live music.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 5, 2013)

Reno said:


> It's a stale pastiche. Watch a proper silent film instead. The best way of seeing them is with live music.


 
Reno and Friend go to see the latest Harold LLoyd production at the local picture emporium....


----------



## Voley (Feb 5, 2013)

French Connection I and II on successive nights. Lost count of the times I've seen these. Ace.


----------



## Yelkcub (Feb 5, 2013)

Taken 2 - pile of shit. An embarassment!


----------



## inva (Feb 5, 2013)

I've been slowly watching through The Beiderbecke Trilogy. Last night I watched the first part of the second series. It's not as good as the first which was brilliant but I'm still enjoying it I suppose. I think the main thing is that it doesn't have such good characters so far... The first series though is one of the best TV things I've ever seen - really nice gentle humour and incredibly well written.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 5, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Reno and Friend go to see the latest Harold LLoyd production at the local picture emporium....


Who's the guy behind Reno?


----------



## Reno (Feb 5, 2013)




----------



## Reno (Feb 5, 2013)

I watched The Abandoned, a haunted house movie about an American woman who returns to Russia from where she was adopted as a baby to find out about her past. She stays at the now derelict farm house where she was born and things go bump, night and day. Not strong on plot or sense, but very atmospheric and I found it quite scary in places, with the house being some genuinely hideous shit hole.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Who's the guy behind Reno?


 
One of the Alabama 3. They aint going to goa.....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 5, 2013)

Reno said:


> I watched The Abandoned, a haunted house movie about an American woman who returns to Russia from where she was adopted as a baby to find out about her past. She stays at the now derelict farm house where she was born and things go bump, night and day. Not strong on plot or sense, but very atmospheric and I found it quite scary in places, with the house being some genuinely hideous shit hole.


 
Sounds a bit like a film with Anna Paquin and Iain Glenn.....where they move to Spain to the house the dad grew up and 'bad things' start to happen.....only ever seen half of it though.


----------



## starfish (Feb 5, 2013)

Necromentia & The Killing Room. I really need to tell ms starfish she doesnt have to record everything thats on the horror channel.


----------



## Casually Red (Feb 5, 2013)

The other night i got out Lawless, starring Gary Oldman and Sweeney starring Ray Winstone . Found Lawless a bit disappointing . Good cast and some really good moments and all that tried to be well authentic but I felt it just ran out of steam halfway through . Oldman inexplicably just disappeared from the film after a couple of breif scenes despite being billed as a main character . Could have been good but seemed to just lose its way .
Sweeney was pretty good , a decent attempt . Not brilliant but good enough .


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Sounds a bit like a film with Anna Paquin and Iain Glenn.....where they move to Spain to the house the dad grew up and 'bad things' start to happen.....only ever seen half of it though.


 
That one was called Darkness and is rather boring. If you've only seen half of it you must have fallen asleep.


----------



## zenie (Feb 6, 2013)

Caught p to date with series 2 of revenge on 4od. Just waiting for series 5 onwards of weeds to arrive now  might make a start on Game of Thrones after that.... /life


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2013)

I watched the the quadro boobed Hammer classic that is Twins of Evil. It's the type of film where Peter Cushing dramatically intones the title at some point. Class !


----------



## frogwoman (Feb 6, 2013)

watched the latest utopia. i didn't think it was as good as the others at first but got better towards the end. Also was it me or was grant's accent a bit different this time?


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 6, 2013)

Watched Cashback and thought it was shite, and quite pervy.

The humour was seriously lame and the plot as derivative as it gets. Add some bloke stripping women without their permission and drawing them and you've got a very bad film indeed.


----------



## kittyP (Feb 6, 2013)

Been watching all the old Jeremy Brett  Sherlock Holmes since we discovered they are all in full episodes on YouTube


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> That one was called Darkness and is rather boring. If you've only seen half of it you must have fallen asleep.


 
I did......


----------



## blairsh (Feb 6, 2013)

Finally watched the last three episodes of The Shield t'other night, fuckin ace 

Need something else to watch now on lazy days...


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 6, 2013)

blairsh said:


> Finally watched the last three episodes of The Shield t'other night, fuckin ace
> 
> Need something else to watch now on lazy days...


Didn't you feel sorry for Vic ?


----------



## blairsh (Feb 6, 2013)

jeff_leigh said:


> Didn't you feel sorry for Vic ?


I felt sorry for Ronnie  Vic should have gone out in a blaze of glory, instead he lamed out


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 6, 2013)

Fear of Water - classic old school style whodunit, nothing special in terms of story or style, but sometimes that's a good thing.


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2013)

blairsh said:


> I felt sorry for Ronnie  Vic should have gone out in a blaze of glory, instead he lamed out


 
I loved The Shield, but I'll never get the hero worship of characters who are greedy, murdering cunts. I thought Vic got exactly what he deserved, a working life that would be his worst nightmare, his own private hell. The end was very clever. If he had gone out on a "blaze of glory" that would have been trite fanboy badassery and that would have been the type of series I would not go near.


----------



## purenarcotic (Feb 6, 2013)

Finally saw Headhunters the other night.  Excellent interpretation I thought.


----------



## blairsh (Feb 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> I loved The Shield, but I'll never get the hero worship of characters who are greedy, murdering cunts. I thought Vic got exactly what he deserved, a working life that would be his worst nightmare, his own private hell. The end was very clever. If he had gone out on a "blaze of glory" that would have been trite fanboy badassery and that would have been the type of series I would not go near.


I get that fair point, but it didn't seem to fit how he'd been for seven series and i'm a sucker for blazing things and glory . I was gutted when they killed Lem though


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 6, 2013)

_The Thin Red Line_ - the Malick version, looks fantastic and there are some good bits but I didn't think it worked overall. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind but I certainly enjoyed _Men In War_ more.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 6, 2013)

K-PAX.   They say it's a sci-fi but it isn't really, it's just an early Kevin Spacey showing off his acting talents again (not saying that's a bad thing).   It's a bit like an aussie film called Powder and not much like StarMan.


----------



## belboid (Feb 7, 2013)

blairsh said:


> I felt sorry for Ronnie  Vic should have gone out in a blaze of glory, instead he lamed out


Aah but it was so right, Vic trying for once to do the right thing, and it lands him in his version of hell. Perfect.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 7, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> K-PAX. They say it's a sci-fi but it isn't really, it's just an early Kevin Spacey showing off his acting talents again (not saying that's a bad thing). It's a bit like an aussie film called Powder and not much like StarMan.


 
Jesse out of breaking bad is in it at the end 

Great film though


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 7, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Jesse out of breaking bad is in it at the end
> 
> Great film though


Yeah we noticed that, looked exactly the same!


----------



## 8115 (Feb 7, 2013)

Happiness.

Jesus


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 7, 2013)

Finished Homeland Season 1 - slow burner and things don't get interesting until the final third. great climax. sleepy otherwise.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2013)

Saw two entertaining martial arts movies on the flight last night.

First was Tai Chi Zero, which reminded me a bit of Shaolin Soccer and the like, except with added cyberpunk and manga. Pretty conventional story and no great acting chops on display, but still a pleasing watch.

Then The Grand Heist - Korean film set in the 1700s IIRC, also with plenty of martial arts on display, but not really a martial arts movie IYSWIM. Also very entertaining, and with a more subtle script than the above, not that that takes much.


----------



## scalyboy (Feb 7, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Then The Grand Heist - Korean film set in the 1700s IIRC, also with plenty of martial arts on display, but not really a martial arts movie IYSWIM


Do you know if the martial art was Taekwondo? Lots of kicking? Me and the mrs are on the lookout for martial arts films featuring Taekwondo (whether made in Korea or no), seem a bit hard to find.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2013)

scalyboy said:


> Do you know if the martial art was Taekwondo? Lots of kicking? Me and the mrs are on the lookout for martial arts films featuring Taekwondo (whether made in Korea or no), seem a bit hard to find.


No idea mate, tbh it featured a fair whack of line-work and similar trickery. If only you asked about Tai Chi Zero - each main character was introduced with character name, actor name AND why they were in the movie in the first place, stuff like, _was a 70s martial arts film star, is a Wing Chun champion, is a famous female actor_ and so on


----------



## scalyboy (Feb 7, 2013)

TruXta said:


> No idea mate, tbh it featured a fair whack of line-work and similar trickery. If only you asked about Tai Chi Zero - each main character was introduced with character name, actor name AND why they were in the movie in the first place, stuff like, _was a 70s martial arts film star, is a Wing Chun champion, is a famous female actor_ and so on


OK, cheers, will have a watch on YouTube and check, someone's uploaded the complete film...although with no subtitles, hmm.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 7, 2013)

scalyboy said:


> Do you know if the martial art was Taekwondo? Lots of kicking? Me and the mrs are on the lookout for martial arts films featuring Taekwondo (whether made in Korea or no), seem a bit hard to find.


 
Chocolate (Thai film).


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2013)

scalyboy said:


> OK, cheers, will have a watch on YouTube and check, someone's uploaded the complete film...although with no subtitles, hmm.


There are good torrents out there if you do that sorta thing. English subs too.


----------



## belboid (Feb 7, 2013)

scalyboy said:


> Do you know if the martial art was Taekwondo? Lots of kicking? Me and the mrs are on the lookout for martial arts films featuring Taekwondo (whether made in Korea or no), seem a bit hard to find.


the literal translation of TruXta film is, apparently, Gone With The Wind.  I wonder why they didnt go with that?

I presume you've seen the wiki taekwondo film page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Tae_kwon_do_films  There's a Roger Corman movie!


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2013)

belboid said:


> the literal translation of TruXta film is, apparently, Gone With The Wind. I wonder why they didnt go with that?
> 
> I presume you've seen the wiki taekwondo film page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Tae_kwon_do_films There's a Roger Corman movie!


Actually that would've been a better title in some respects.

E2A oh fuck yeah Best of the Best - classic!


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 7, 2013)

scalyboy said:


> Do you know if the martial art was Taekwondo? Lots of kicking? Me and the mrs are on the lookout for martial arts films featuring Taekwondo (whether made in Korea or no), seem a bit hard to find.


Chuck Norris.

And Chocolate is Muay Thai, not TKD.  (still excellent though)


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 7, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Chuck Norris.
> 
> And Chocolate is Muay Thai, not TKD. (still excellent though)


I'll have to watch Chocolate again, Those fight scenes didn't look like muay thai to me


----------



## Mephitic (Feb 7, 2013)

Citadel ~ Surprisingly decent horror.


----------



## Reno (Feb 8, 2013)

The Last Wave, Peter Weir's 1977 follow up to Picnic at Hanging Rock and another (possibly) supernatural mystery. Australia experiences increasingly violent and unusual weather patterns, possibly tied to an Aboriginal prohecy while layer Richard Chamberlain takes on the case of five Aboriginal men in a murder trial. I had not seen this since my teens when I was very impressed by the film. It still is very atmospheric and creepy and it's an interesting film, but maybe it's a little too slowly paced. It's a horror film where water takes on an increasingly threatening quality and that was done rather well.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 8, 2013)

Great film that, atmosphere similar to _The Shout _from the next year and that touches on common themes.

Head - Hands - Heart - disappointing second film from David Jarab, his first - Fatherland - a hunting logbook - was a great mix of style and black humour, this one was just a bit of a mess and tried to shoehorn in geo-political points that the film couldn't carry - same sort of soft-surrealist style though, he has total control of that.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 8, 2013)

jeff_leigh said:


> I'll have to watch Chocolate again, Those fight scenes didn't look like muay thai to me


 
it's not exactly muay thai but Jeeja (the lead) is a 3rd dan TKD black belt.

if you watch the fight scenes, it's TKD with elbows and knees...
great film though and you can watch it from beginning to end on youtube.

the meat market scene is still one of the best scenes ever...


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 8, 2013)

8115 said:


> Happiness.
> 
> Jesus


 

a great film but it leaves you feeling soiled


----------



## 8115 (Feb 8, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> a great film but it leaves you feeling soiled


 
I watched it after watching Dark Horse, which I loved.  Happiness was a bit too dark for me though.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 8, 2013)

8115 said:


> I watched it after watching Dark Horse, which I loved. Happiness was a bit too dark for me though.


 

Try Happiness as a triple bill with Breaking the waves and Naked


----------



## Reno (Feb 8, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Great film that, atmosphere similar to _The Shout _from the next year and that touches on common themes.


 
I last saw that around the first time I also saw The Last Wave, probably in the early 80s. Should give it another look. True they have a similar feel to them.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 8, 2013)

Happiness is ace. Dark as hell, yes.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 8, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Happiness is ace. Dark as hell, yes.


 
It's a piece of shit.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 8, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> It's a piece of shit.


Why do you say that?


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 8, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Why do you say that?


 
Because it's shit.

I'm here all week - try the veal.

Seriously, the nihilism and misanthropy and self-loathing are utterly unrelieved by anything. Bleakness can be attractive in films - look at Bergman - but Happiness is not a film, it is a libel on the human race.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 8, 2013)

Happiness? I saw this at the Curzon when it first came out. It blew me away. Funny and at times cynical.
Not seen it for years now, so unsure how it's aged.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 8, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Because it's shit.
> 
> I'm here all week - try the veal.
> 
> Seriously, the nihilism and misanthropy and self-loathing are utterly unrelieved by anything. Bleakness can be attractive in films - look at Bergman - but Happiness is not a film, it is a libel on the human race.


 I can see where you're coming from, but I thought it was worthwhile despite being unrelenting. Horses for courses etc.


----------



## Reno (Feb 8, 2013)

I didn't like Happiness. It's just misantropy for effect. It didn't tell me anything I didn't know already and I thought it was rather shallow. There has been a lot of it about in middlebrow art house cinema over the last decade or so and I'm rather tired of this particular brand of cinematic cynicism. People are bad, yadda yadda...


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 8, 2013)

To me it just said, i can technically write this. I have the ability. In that sense, it was just CGI.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 8, 2013)

Reno said:


> I didn't like Happiness either. It's just misantropy for effect. It didn't tell me anything I didn't know already and I thought it was rather shallow. There has been a lot of it about in middlebrow art house cinema over the last decade or so and I'm rather tired of this particular brand of cynicism. People are bad, yadda yadda, get over it...





butchersapron said:


> To me it just said, i can technically write this. I have the ability. In that sense, it was just CGI.


Again, I can see that point, and in a sense it's like gore-films where the violence is the only message. On the other hand, why not have a film that has nothing but nihilism and despair? Why isn't that a valid statement?


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 8, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Again, I can see that point, and in a sense it's like gore-films where the violence is the only message. On the other hand, why not have a film that has nothing but nihilism and despair? Why isn't that a valid statement?


It is. Valid i mean. Transformers is too.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 8, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> It is. Valid i mean.


So you reaction was more _meh_? As in, OK, but it's not for me?


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 8, 2013)

TruXta said:


> So you reaction was more _meh_? As in, OK, but it's not for me?


Bit more like, ok, well done, slow handclap.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 8, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Bit more like, ok, well done, slow handclap.


Gotcha.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 8, 2013)

Reno said:


> I didn't like Happiness. It's just misantropy for effect. It didn't tell me anything I didn't know already and I thought it was rather shallow. There has been a lot of it about in middlebrow art house cinema over the last decade or so and I'm rather tired of this particular brand of cinematic cynicism. People are bad, yadda yadda...


 
Yeah, exactly. The great films were made by people who had some kind of hinterland outside films, some kind of interest in other people and some kind of interest in the world around them. Dreck like Happiness is what you get when you have people who have technical skills, but no interest in anything outside their own self-pity.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 8, 2013)

Was Happiness that dull?
Gosh, I remember when I watched it in the cinema, there were loads of laughter.
That was it more comedy than nihilism/ bleakness...


----------



## 8115 (Feb 8, 2013)

I did like Happiness.  Dark Horse is better though.  But the bit when he's trying to get the kid to eat the tuna sandwich...I was torn between laughing at the slapstick and cringing because it's so wrong and you know exactly what's coming.  A lot of it was very close to the bone.  But I thought there was a big take home message in it about the American dream and all the shit that lies beneath it.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 8, 2013)

*Five Came Back* (1939) Errrrr no they didnt! Lying gits.,.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 8, 2013)

Lexx: Supernova and Lexx: Eating Pattern (feeding?)

Lexx is still mental.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 9, 2013)

Reno said:


> I didn't like Happiness. It's just misantropy for effect. It didn't tell me anything I didn't know already and I thought it was rather shallow. There has been a lot of it about in middlebrow art house cinema over the last decade or so and I'm rather tired of this particular brand of cinematic cynicism. People are bad, yadda yadda...


I wouldn't mind it as much if in the years since then Solondz had moved on, but he's still just doing the same thing over and over again (often less successfully). 

(Though I've not seen his latest so maybe that is different)


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 9, 2013)

It's the same thing over and over again (often less successfully).


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 9, 2013)

I watched paulo di canio hide under a womans bed. It was enjoyable.


----------



## Reno (Feb 9, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> I wouldn't mind it as much if in the years since then Solondz had moved on, but he's still just doing the same thing over and over again (often less successfully).
> 
> (Though I've not seen his latest so maybe that is different)


 

I liked Welcome to the Dollhouse and then that was it.


----------



## Reno (Feb 9, 2013)

I watched the Total Recall remake and while it isn't amazing, it's not as terrible as the reviews and Interwebs consensus would have you believe. Never been a huge fan of the original, so it's not like there was much to ruin as far as I'm concerned.


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 9, 2013)

The first two episodes of the Game of Thrones. I could get into this.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 9, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> The first two episodes of the Game of Thrones. I could get into this.


Just finished 1st series loved it, I've got the book on my to read list


----------



## Voley (Feb 9, 2013)

Headhunters. Really enjoyed this. Plot went all over the place, acting was great and a couple of genuine wtf moments. Not giving too much away if I say there's a toilet scene that will resonate deeply with anyone that's ever been to Glastonbury. It all got a bit incredulous towards the end but it's a minor criticism. Good film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 9, 2013)

Season Finale of Braking Bad seaon 2

Walt has grown dark.


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 9, 2013)

Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

Borrowed it from the local library purely because I loved Christoph Waltz's performance in Django Unchained, and he's great in this as well, but over all I thought it was a bit disappointing.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Feb 9, 2013)

Just watched The Hit - Fucking mint, the music on it & everything. And the flats - From those sexy London mansion flats to those high as fuck Spanish efforts. Someone on this thread mentioned it - I'd never have heard of it otherwise.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 9, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Season Finale of Braking Bad seaon 2
> 
> Walt has grown dark.


Is this some kind of spin-off car show?


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 9, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Is this some kind of spin-off car show?


 

Carmaggedeon time


----------



## TruXta (Feb 9, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Carmaggedeon time


Crystal wheels.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 9, 2013)

Watched Amour the other night. I clicked pretty early on what was going to happen, but then put it to one side and sort of thought maybe it wouldn't. It's a bit slow, like old age is I suppose. Performances from the leads are excellent, much like watching real lives.

Today I watched the Werckmeister Harmonies. Did a search and really surprised I haven't seen anyone mention this. Probably one of the best opening scenes I've ever seen. It's black and white and reminiscent of The White Ribbon. Not sure I understood it, need to do some reading before I watch it again, the copy i have is in two parts and I put one on in bed this morning but didn't watch the second half until this afternoon which probably didn't help.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249241/


----------



## blairsh (Feb 9, 2013)

The Man From Nowhere. Not bad, not great. Average.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 10, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underbelly_(TV_series)

watching Underbelly atm


----------



## Kidda (Feb 10, 2013)

Shirley Valentine, again, last night. It's like a comfy pair of trackys. 

Tonight we've just finished Capote. hmmm, not sure i really liked it. I prefer things to happen in films, rather than lots of waiting around for people to die.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 10, 2013)

marty21 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underbelly_(TV_series)
> 
> watching Underbelly atm


Keep meaning to watch the _Badness_ and _Squizzy_ series.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 10, 2013)

marty21 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underbelly_(TV_series)
> 
> watching Underbelly atm


 

ooh tribal_princess got me into Underbelly Razor. Is proper savage. I knew when a working girl was getting punched relly really hard in the stomach by consent that this was going to be a little bit uncomfortble


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 10, 2013)

*The Muppets* (2011) men or women wiv there hand up puppets/ made outta felt or summat dint get it at all.. feck you muppets! get sum leather.... yeah muppits in leather done in a european/sleaze..,., woulda done fine for me..  but hey onta next un


----------



## Frances Lengel (Feb 10, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Keep meaning to watch the _Badness_ and _Squizzy_ series.


 
They're all worth a watch - I was gutted when there was no more Underbelly - The series where it's back in the day with the two women brothel keepers is banging. But they're all good though.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Feb 10, 2013)

Kidda said:


> Shirley Valentine, again, last night. It's like a comfy pair of trackys.
> 
> Tonight we've just finished Capote. hmmm, not sure i really liked it. I prefer things to happen in films, rather than lots of waiting around for people to die.


 
Liked for Shirley, not Capote.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 10, 2013)

Been watching season 5 of Breaking Bad, up to episode 5.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Feb 11, 2013)

Watched John Dies At The End and Bubba Ho Tep somewhere over the course of this week - I'll tell you what, say what you like about that butchersapron, but he does seem to know a good film - The only thing I couldn't watch recommended by him was this nuclear war warning effort where a kids eyes got melted - I had to sack it after that.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 11, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> ooh tribal_princess got me into Underbelly Razor. Is proper savage. I knew when a working girl was getting punched relly really hard in the stomach by consent that this was going to be a little bit uncomfortble





Frances Lengel said:


> They're all worth a watch - I was gutted when there was no more Underbelly - The series where it's back in the day with the two women brothel keepers is banging. But they're all good though.


Mrs21 is Australian - so she is loving it - she lived  in Melbourne for a while as well


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2013)

Kidda said:


> Tonight we've just finished Capote. hmmm, not sure i really liked it. I prefer things to happen in films, rather than lots of waiting around for people to die.


 
The film _Infamous_ deals with exactly the same story in a far better and more entertaining way and Toby Jones' performance as Capote wipes the floor with the miscast Philip Seymor Hoffman's overrated turn.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 11, 2013)

Just watched Rubber - utterly ridiculous. Somehow watchable, though, and a good soundtrack.

edit: I was sure the tune at the very end was Trans-Europe Express by Kraftwerk, but it sounded possibly remixed. Turns out it was a tune by Mr Oizo called Tricycle Express which is pretty funny if you know the scene.

edit2: turns out the entire soundtrack was by Mr Oizo, and he also wrote and directed the film!


----------



## magneze (Feb 11, 2013)

It's a Wonderful Life
Never got around to see this before but it was on on Saturday afternoon so settled down with the missus and watched it. Brilliant film, thoroughly enjoyable.


Spoiler



Mr Potter getting to keep the money was a bit of a surprise but I guess that revenge isn't in the films DNA.


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2013)

I watched my Blu-ray of The Trouble With Harry, one of the few Hitchcock films I don't really get on with. The restoration looks stunning, the Technicolor autumn trees pop off the screen, but I still don't like the film itself that much. It's a very talky one joke film that isn't really that funny and being one of Hitchcock's rare non-thrillers, it lacks a decent suspense scene. Great Bernard Herrmann score though, which is the one Danny Elfman has been ripping off his entire career and Shirley MacLaine looks cute in her first film role.

I also watched The Water Horse with my godson. Despite a few corny bits it's a surprisingly good family film, a sort of Scottish ET with Nessie as the lonely boy's otherworldly chum.


----------



## purenarcotic (Feb 11, 2013)

Reno said:


> The film _Infamous_ deals with exactly the same story in a far better and more entertaining way and Toby Jones' performance as Capote wipes the floor with the miscast Philip Seymor Hoffman's overrated turn.


 
We'll watch that next in that case.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 11, 2013)

Reno said:


> I watched my Blu-ray of The Trouble With Harry, one of the few Hitchcock films I don't really get on with.


 
Curmudgeon


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Curmudgeon


 
I can just see you laughing uproariously every time someone disccovers the corpse and claims to be the guilty party. 

I like Hitchcock's misantropic sense of humor much better when embedded in a thriller, than when it has to stand on its own in a pure comedy. Same goes to Mr. & Mrs. Smith, his screwball comedy, which will never get mistaken for one of the classics of the genre.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 11, 2013)

Killing Them Softly. I enjoyed it, liked the performances, but it was nothing special. I guess they were going for the 70s pulp crime feel, stuff like the Outfit and The Split etc.

I liked the idea of criminals compromised due to the economic climate, but the constant wedging into ever conversation couple with Obama's speeches was forced and clumsy.

would of like to have seen more Gandolfini.

I suppose it was a good gig for ex-soprano actors!


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 11, 2013)

American Horror Story - season 1 - episodes 1 to 6.
Okay-ish. not overly cheesy, great at some places.
funny to see Sylar/ Spock as a psychotic impotent gay dude.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 11, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Watched Amour the other night. I clicked pretty early on what was going to happen, but then put it to one side and sort of thought maybe it wouldn't. It's a bit slow, like old age is I suppose. Performances from the leads are excellent, much like watching real lives.


 
Is it any good though? Got it to watch but haven't made time for it yet


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 11, 2013)

Carnage

Very funny but needed an ending

I like the lawyer best.  The only one who never pretended to be anything other than who he was


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 11, 2013)

Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco

Great soundtrack as a back drop to a mildy amusing film.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 11, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Is it any good though? Got it to watch but haven't made time for it yet


 
Having given it a few days thought, yeah I think it's very good. I'd watch it again.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 11, 2013)

Reno said:


> I can just see you laughing uproariously every time someone disccovers the corpse and claims to be the guilty party.


 
I had to check for hidden cameras after reading that


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 11, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> ...the constant wedging into ever conversation couple with Obama's speeches was forced and clumsy.


 
Bit optimistic to stick it in, I thought, as it just invited comparison with _All The President's Men_. That said, I didn't dislike it, and parts were very imaginatively played out.


----------



## Mephitic (Feb 11, 2013)

Mimesis ~ an odd take on night of the living dead, kinda meh
Conspiracy ~ 100% must see
Battle For Haditha ~ Americans on the rampage in Iraq, it somewhat misses the mark tho
Body Of Lies ~ leonardo di caprio is rather good in this, kept me watching to the end
Harsh Times ~ Christian Bale struggles to keep it together when back on civi street, not too bad but i found it difficult to understand what he was saying at times, which was annoying


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 11, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> Conspiracy ~ 100% must see



I hope you mean the HBO one about the Wannsee Conference and not the Val Kilmer revenge flick!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 11, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Bit optimistic to stick it in, I thought, as it just invited comparison with _All The President's Men_. That said, I didn't dislike it, and parts were very imaginatively played out.


 
I did like it, It was fun and some great acting too.... 

.....that said, palying 'Heroin' by VU when someone's shooting up is proper lazy filmmaking....


----------



## Mephitic (Feb 11, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> I hope you mean the HBO one about the Wannsee Conference and not the Val Kilmer revenge flick!


 
Yep, said Wannsee Conference, soz for the confusion.


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> would of like to have seen more Gandolfini.
> 
> I suppose it was a good gig for ex-soprano actors!


 
Gandolfini pops up in lots of stuff. He's in Zero Dark Thirty, sharing a scene with John Barrowman of all people, which....was......weird.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 11, 2013)

Reno said:


> Gandolfini pops up in lots of stuff. He's in Zero Dark Thirty, sharing a scene with John Barrowman of all people, which....was......weird.


 
hoping to watch this week....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 11, 2013)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Reminded me (in look at least) of McCabe and Mrs Miller and Jeremiah Johnson.


----------



## sojourner (Feb 12, 2013)

Dead Man

Seen it before but the fella is William Blake's Number One Fan and wanted the dvd for crimbo.  Excellent film - love the soundtrack too


----------



## belboid (Feb 12, 2013)

One of Our Aircraft is Missing. Very low key with barely a word spoken for much of the film. Rather different to their earlier (and indeed later) war pieces, far more ‘traditional.’ Still good and fairly tense stuff, with a great role for Googie Withers.

The Town – finally got round to seeing this. A distinctly better than average version of a bog standard bank job story. Worth a view, tho hardly world shattering.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Feb 12, 2013)

Extracted (2012) sci-fi/mystery about a man who creates a device they lets you enter the memories of other people, the police get him to enter the mind of a heroin addict accused of killing his girlfriend to see if he's guilty but he gets trapped there and has to try to escape.
The low budget shows in places and the concept has been done better in other films before but this is OK once it gets going.


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 13, 2013)

Safety Not Guaranteed

A 2012 US indie comedy. I can't recommend this film enough. I know it looked it good from the trailer but it was so much more.

The link for the trailer.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 13, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Safety Not Guaranteed
> 
> A 2012 US indie comedy. I can't recommend this film enough. I know it looked it good from the trailer but it was so much more.
> 
> The link for the trailer.


That looks fucking awesome.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 13, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Safety Not Guaranteed
> 
> A 2012 US indie comedy. I can't recommend this film enough. I know it looked it good from the trailer but it was so much more.
> 
> The link for the trailer.


It's on netflix, US version


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 14, 2013)

*The Money Trap* (1965) Rita Hayworth, Glen Ford an the lovely Elke Sommer. Even though shes crap in it. Yeah it has its flaws coz the actors seem ta be going through motions and there a bit one dimensional, but i really enjoyed it coz the story held me attention most at way through.


----------



## smorodina (Feb 14, 2013)

_Blonde Venus_ with Marlene Dietrich.
Lost interest half way through...
Will have to finish it at some point though, because I feel I *must*


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 14, 2013)

episodes 3 and 4 of Game of Thrones.

Love it. It's been ages since I've been addicted to a soap opera.


----------



## zenie (Feb 14, 2013)

Weeds series 7 and just started series 8 tonight.

I might get a life or do some work once this is finished  or, I might just move onto game of thrones


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 14, 2013)

Rango, weird and reasonably funny, sometimes more of both.   I doubt they'd sell _many_ kids toys from the characters.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 14, 2013)

It's got the plot of Polanski's Chinatown.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 14, 2013)

Captain Hurrah said:


> It's got the plot of Polanski's Chinatown.


Yeah.   And a shitload of movie references, even on first viewing.


----------



## Captain Hurrah (Feb 15, 2013)

It's a fun film.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 15, 2013)

The first two instalments of something called the Red Riding Trilogy, about the Yorkshire Ripper.

Jesus fucking christ, it's bleak.


----------



## ringo (Feb 15, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The first two instalments of something called the Red Riding Trilogy, about the Yorkshire Ripper.
> 
> Jesus fucking christ, it's bleak.


 
The books it was based on were even more bleak (by David Peace). Couldn't stop reading them but wished I hadn't iyswim.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 15, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The first two instalments of something called the Red Riding Trilogy, about the Yorkshire Ripper.
> 
> Jesus fucking christ, it's bleak.


That was prime time UK free broadcast stuff. That's what it's like over here.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 15, 2013)

Compliance which was interesting.

I spent half the film facepalming and the other half trying to understand the lives and positions of the characters and why they would act and comply as they did without really questioning the motives of 'the caller' or their own morality.

I guess there's a whole heap of stuff around power and authority, ageism, social status and workplace relationships up for discussion, even more so that this was based upon a number of real events, one of which took place in a McDonald's and resulted in a full strip search of a female member of staff.

The performances were very good too...


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 15, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> episodes 3 and 4 of Game of Thrones.
> 
> Love it. It's been ages since I've been addicted to a soap opera.


Don't you just love the little Dwarf guy ?


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 15, 2013)

jeff_leigh said:


> Don't you just love the little Dwarf guy ?


 
he does seem to get all the best lines.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 15, 2013)

First two episodes of Spiral. I like, plus I'm watching a french thing with subtitles which alays makes me feel dead clever


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 15, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> First two episodes of Spiral. I like, plus I'm watching a french thing with subtitles which alays makes me feel dead clever


You're watching an extended episode of the bill.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 15, 2013)

Barbie and the Three Musketeeers

there's probably a pr0n version


----------



## marty21 (Feb 15, 2013)

watched a load last night - Groundhog day - still a great film, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey - hasn't aged well - and some episodes of Underbelly which is fantastic


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 15, 2013)

Oh....and saw the last of the current batch of Breaking Bad....hmmm


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 15, 2013)

ringo said:


> The books it was based on were even more bleak (by David Peace). Couldn't stop reading them but wished I hadn't iyswim.


 
Unfortunately the third instalment isn't on Netflix; so I don't get to see how it all turns out. I want to research it on google, but that would spoil the suspense of seeing the last bit.

Onto a new show now: House of Cards. I watched the US Netflix version, which is very well done and well acted, and obviously with a big budget. Started the UK version: very different from its american counterpart. I'll reserve judgement until I've seen a full season.


----------



## Voley (Feb 16, 2013)

The Guard. Really fucking funny in places. Didn't like the ending much.


----------



## de_dog (Feb 16, 2013)

_Rogue : _About a group of tourists in Aus, stranded in the territory of a monster crocodile. Some jumpy bits, quite well put together. Enjoyable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 16, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> You're watching an extended episode of the bill.


 

am now halfway through Spirals series one, and Judge Roban does look and act like a gallic version of Bob Cryer


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 16, 2013)

Was gonna watch Christiane f but the synopsis put me off, seemed way to bleak fer early hours of sat mornin so watched* National Lampoons Vacation* (1983) Oh aye right up my street! The bit were the copper pulls him over still cracks me up


----------



## Me76 (Feb 16, 2013)

John Q. Worse than I remember it being.


----------



## zenie (Feb 16, 2013)

Finished Weeds. It was sad


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 16, 2013)

Barquero - entertaining seige western with Lee Van Cleef as the stoic bargeman who becomes reluctant hero to the local townsfolk as Warren Oates' stoned paranoid psycho rides into town with his band of outlaws to steal, cross the river and then burn the barge to stop the lawmen on his trail. They all sit either side of the river trying to outwit and out shoot one another.

Oates out twitches Van Cleef, playing a dope smoking loon descending further and further into manic paranoia as time runs out for him and his gang. Van Cleef is mostly sweaty, topless and sunburnt fighting off both women and outlaws in equal measures as he fights to protect his onw true love, his barge.

It's a US film made in a euro-western style, with a fairly good soundtrack from Dominic Frontiere of which only a couple of songs got a release as extra tracks on the High Plains Drifter soundtrack......I'd love to have the rest of it.

Got a couple of trippy stoner flashbacks, and some good cameos, especially from Forrest Tucker who play and amiable, but murderous, mountain man.

Worth 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon.


----------



## Reno (Feb 16, 2013)

*Beasts of the Southern Wild*. Being dirt poor is fun and spiritually enriching, who knew ? Phoney crap, enraptured with its own sense of sub-Terrence Malick poetry, where people only converse in homespun wisdom (them black people sure do talks funny !) and where cartoonish stereotypes run amok without any sense of irony. Magic realism seldom works on film, here it comes across as precious and self-conscious. How do people fall for this rubbish ?

Next, my Criterion Blu-ray of *Rosemary's Baby* which arrived today, to gargle the bad taste away.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 16, 2013)

I'm considering downloading Jonny Mnemonic next week as in my head its a great piece of overblown dystopian sci fi and keanu reeves puts in a solid performance. Worried it might actully be crap and ruin my cherished memory of it being awesome though.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 16, 2013)

I think tonight may be The Front Line or I may start Love/Hate series


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 16, 2013)

"Source Code" - which I rather enjoyed


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 16, 2013)

Beast of the southern Wild, didn't really understand it.

Safety Not Guaranteed.   Low-budget indie film, probably classed as a comedy, kept me watching all the way.

Tropic Thunder.  Still very funny, even Cruise, who I don't have time for.


----------



## starfish (Feb 16, 2013)

Finally got round to watching Tenebre. Suppose it was quite gory for its day.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 16, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I may start Love/Hate series


From the beginning, or S3?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 16, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> From the beginning, or S3?


 
From the beginning

Is there already a Series 3?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 17, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> From the beginning
> 
> Is there already a Series 3?


 
Yup, watched it just before Christmas.

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/love-hate-dublin-gangster-nonsense.303604/


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 17, 2013)

Started watching Weeds. First 3 episodes. Good fun. Kinda Desperate Housewives meets Breaking Bad.

I must say, I do feel awful for these upper middle class people and their terrible lives.....


----------



## Voley (Feb 17, 2013)

Started watching The Shield. It's enjoyable but pretty cheesy. I watched four of them though so it must have something going for it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 17, 2013)

I rewatched Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941) last night, and it was as good as I remembered it being. If you haven't yet seen it, I urge you to seek it out. It's a strange relic of when Hollywood made genuinely popular movies that you could enjoy as a bit of fun, but which also had a serious point at work as well.

The plot idea is that a Hollywood director wants to experience poverty, so that he can make more socially-conscious films. He gets more than he bargained for when he disguises himself as a hobo and sets out on the road. I won't say anymore as that will only spoil it for those of you who've yet to experience it.

I was also surprised that it's only 90 minutes - there's so much in it.


----------



## Me76 (Feb 17, 2013)

Wild Bill. 

I almost switched it off after about 30 minutes.  It did get slightly better but I didn't think it was great.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 17, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I rewatched Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941) last night, and it was as good as I remembered it being.


 
Makes a good double bill with _Barton Fink_


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 17, 2013)

"Thirst" - Korean vampire love story. Bizarre and brought to you by the director behind the Vengeance trilogy.

"The Kite Runner" - not as good as the book.


----------



## Reno (Feb 17, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Makes a good double bill with _Barton Fink_


I think you mean Oh Brother, Where Art Though ?


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 17, 2013)

krtek a houby said:


> "Thirst" - Korean vampire love story. Bizarre and brought to you by the director behind the Vengeance trilogy....


Yeah I have that.  It was nowhere near as gory as I thought it might be.  Nothing like the Vengeance stuff.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 17, 2013)

Safety not Guaranteed. Good job it was only 85 minutes.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 17, 2013)

Mannaja - a very violent western which reminded me a lot of Keoma.

Really depressing soundtrack by the same brothers that did keoma too.

Loved it.


----------



## Dr Nookie (Feb 17, 2013)

Just finished Sons of Anarchy Season 4 box set. It has gotten completely ridiculous now, but that said,I enjoyed this more than Season 3 (the Belfast one) which was utter shite.

And Tig alone makes it worth watching! (He's a guilty pleasure!) 

Now got to wait until September for Season 5!


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 18, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I rewatched Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941) last night, and it was as good as I remembered it being. If you haven't yet seen it, I urge you to seek it out. It's a strange relic of when Hollywood made genuinely popular movies that you could enjoy as a bit of fun, but which also had a serious point at work as well.
> 
> The plot idea is that a Hollywood director wants to experience poverty, so that he can make more socially-conscious films. He gets more than he bargained for when he disguises himself as a hobo and sets out on the road. I won't say anymore as that will only spoil it for those of you who've yet to experience it.
> 
> I was also surprised that it's only 90 minutes - there's so much in it.


Also stars the gorgeous Veronica Lake.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 18, 2013)

Dr Nookie said:


> Just finished Sons of Anarchy Season 4 box set. It has gotten completely ridiculous now, but that said,I enjoyed this more than Season 3 (the Belfast one) which was utter shite.
> 
> And Tig alone makes it worth watching! (He's a guilty pleasure!)
> 
> Now got to wait until September for Season 5!


 

'my fathers diaries caused no end of shit for everyone'


'I think I'll start keeping a journal for my sons'


----------



## marty21 (Feb 18, 2013)

House of Cards - the Netflix one - really enjoyed it
and Iron Sky - awful nonsense


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 18, 2013)

Iron Sky makes an excellent companion piece to Hebrew Hammer


----------



## Thimble Queen (Feb 18, 2013)

super 8, a bit like a modern day goodies... Pretty good for a kids film. And it has zombies!

Also FAQ of time travel. I was a bit sleepy by the time we put it on so wasnt properly concentrating but it seemed pretty funny...


----------



## marty21 (Feb 18, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Iron Sky makes an excellent companion piece to Hebrew Hammer


 I'm hoping they do produce a prequel - when the Nazis flee to the moon


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 18, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Yeah I have that. It was nowhere near as gory as I thought it might be. Nothing like the Vengeance stuff.


 
He's quite the diverse director. _JSA_ and _I'm a Cyborg but that's OK_ are quite different, also...

Watched ep 2 of _Nashville_. It's like _Dallas_ but with music and cracking dialogue between the 2 main leads. I should hate it but I'm hooked


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 18, 2013)

I've had JSA sitting on the shelf for 2 years, still not got around to it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 18, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I've had JSA sitting on the shelf for 2 years, still not got around to it.


 
It's been sneered at by some of the buffs but it's not that bad. We watched it at a DVD Bang in Seoul after our DMZ tour guide recommended it.


----------



## belboid (Feb 18, 2013)

Hush - the first Mark Tonderai film, with elements of Duel and The Vanishing about it. I've meant to watch it for ages as I actually worked on it!  I may stop telling that to people now, tho, because its just fucking stupid rubbish.

Lunch Hour - a 1961 oddity about a couple starting (??) an affair.  He has to rent a hotel room for an hour so they can be alone - but he has to tell the proprietess a story as to why he and his 'wife' need the room.  One he starts telling his 'wife' the story things take a turn for the...well, I'm not quite sure what. But its a great film, very well worth seeing.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 18, 2013)

NVP said:


> Started watching The Shield. It's enjoyable but pretty cheesy. I watched four of them though so it must have something going for it.


 for the rest of your life, pause before making a decision and say to yourself

What would Vic do?


----------



## Reno (Feb 18, 2013)

marty21 said:


> for the rest of your life, pause before making a decision and say to yourself
> 
> What would Vic do?


 
Kill close friends and betray or let down everybody who believes in, loves and/or depends on you. Not sure that's a great master plan for anybody's life.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> Kill close friends and betray or let down everybody who believes in, loves and/ordepends on you. Not sure that's a great master plan for anybody's life.


 
Shit.....that's where I went wrong was it?


----------



## Reno (Feb 19, 2013)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Decent and likeable teen movie until the last 15 minutes when it turns massively melodramatic. I didn't need a major trauma as an explanation for the apparently unusual fact that a boy is very shy, which otherwise is well handled. I was also a bit puzzled that a bunch of kids who are quite aware of 70s and 80s indie music, would not recognise Bowie's Heroes.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 19, 2013)

Finished the British House of Cards, after watching the Netflix remake. The US version obviously had a much larger budget; but the British version has a nice gritty feel to it.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 19, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I've had JSA sitting on the shelf for 2 years, still not got around to it.


 
I loved JSA (apart from the English spoken bit)


----------



## Frances Lengel (Feb 19, 2013)

Tower Block -

www.imdb.com/news/ni36683345/

For the first twenty minutes I feared it was going to be crap coz some of the characters seemed to be a bit corny cardboard cutouty types but it turned out to be alright.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 19, 2013)

My mate has been watching series 2 of the Walking Dead over the last few nights and I've gotten sucked in. Didn't see series 1 but I don't think it's necessary. It reminds me of Lost but way less annoying.

Quite enjoyable, but a bit predictable/bland.


----------



## Bruce23 (Feb 19, 2013)

This movie is hilarious. Basically an American military officer of average intelligence is put in a hibernation chamber and wakes up 500 years in the future where stupid people have outbred smart people and the world is now populated by idiots.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 19, 2013)

Reno said:


> Kill close friends and betray or let down everybody who believes in, loves and/or depends on you. Not sure that's a great master plan for anybody's life.


every plan has a flaw


----------



## Greebo (Feb 19, 2013)

Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh version)


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 19, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> Also stars the gorgeous Veronica Lake.


 
It does indeed.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 19, 2013)

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days. Fucking hell that was grim.


----------



## Voley (Feb 19, 2013)

Reno said:


> Kill close friends and betray or let down everybody who believes in, loves and/or depends on you. Not sure that's a great master plan for anybody's life.


 Sounds pretty much how mine's panned out so far. I'm enjoying the end of this first series now. It's good fun if pretty naff. I'll get the others. Second series was only three quid fifty on Amazon.


----------



## r0bb0 (Feb 20, 2013)

Battle Star Galactica's Blood & Chrome tonight!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 21, 2013)

Navajo Joe - Burt Reynolds in Sergio Corbucci's United Artists funded spag-western.

Great Morricone score.....but overall the films lacks the bleak misery and vicious, violent action that help other Corbucci western's to stand out among the crowd.

Reynolds is very good in it.

Corbucci's next film was The Great Silence, so he found his feet again after taking the yankee dollar to make Navajo Joe.


----------



## Voley (Feb 21, 2013)

Finished Series 1 of The Shield last night. Good fun, nothing amazing, occasionally really shit, some good plot twists. Ideal for when you get home after a draining day and your brain's stopped working.


----------



## r0bb0 (Feb 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Corbucci's next film was The Great Silence, so he found his feet again after taking the yankee dollar to make Navajo Joe.


 
"Great Silence" is well worth a watch!


----------



## ringo (Feb 21, 2013)

Halfway though Roots, great bit of telly. Thought I'd seen it before but am now convinced I haven't. Was a bit young to have seen it at the time I reckon.


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2013)

Prescription: Murder, the TV movie which was the basis for the Columbo series. It makes me want to watch them all again.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 21, 2013)

Reno said:


> Prescription: Murder, the TV movie which was the basis and for the Columbo series. It makes me want to watch them all again.


 
It's great. He's not quite so scruffy, and comes across quite aggresive in it too. I have the box sets of Columbo.....always brilliant.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 21, 2013)

Keoma - a mid 70s spag-western with Franco Nero.

It's a great film and although it wasn't an official 'Django' it would have made a very credible sequal and stands up much better than other 'Django' films.

Also stars the mighty Woody Strode!


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It's great. He's not quite so scruffy, and comes across quite aggresive in it too. I have the box sets of Columbo.....always brilliant.


 
I'm just watching another Columbo episode, the one with Faye Dunaway because I've never seen it. I have a friend who has the complete series on DVD and I'm going to borrow one after another now. I'd forgotten how much I love this series. Most TV dates pretty fast and I don't often revisit TV series, but that one is timeless.


----------



## joe dick (Feb 21, 2013)

Wow. This is a great thread and I really have enjoyed some fantastic viewing thanks to many of the recommendations here. I come from Canada... I frequent 4chan's /tv/. What a relief to find no one posting pictures of their "waifus" or endless rehashes and reposts about how great "Blade Runner" is or how shit "Prometheus" is. To all who have posted here a big Thank You! Here are some of the recommendations I have checked out:

Dead Set: Just finished watching it. THIS IS ZOMBIE TV! I'll never be able to watch another episode of "The Walking Dead".

Utopia: Again... this is television of a quality that we just don't get here in NA. 

Cockney's vs. Zombies and Inbred: Hilarious, over the top fun.

Kill List: WTF? I mean simply... WTF? Do you guys over the pond have hallucinogens in your drinking water or something? 

That's a few I have pulled off of this great thread. I would also like to suggest a movie: Cloud Atlas. It is the movie that I enjoyed the most in 2012. Not because it is great art or a cinematic masterpiece. It isn't. It has many faults. However, it was a very entertaining film. Thanks again for this great thread!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 21, 2013)

Reno said:


> I'm just watching another Columbo episode, the one with Faye Dunaway because I've never seen it. I have a friend who has the complete series on DVD and I'm going to borrow one after another now. I'd forgotten how much I love this series. Most TV dates pretty fast and I don't often revisit TV series, but that one is timeless.


 
That's a good episode. The Johnny Cash one is great. The John Cassavettes one is fucking brilliant.

Patrick Mcgoohan always makes for a good murderer. he played the murdere 4 times in columbos.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 21, 2013)

joe dick said:


> .....I would also like to suggest a movie: Cloud Atlas. It is the movie that I enjoyed the most in 2012. Not because it is great art or a cinematic masterpiece. It isn't. It has many faults. However, it was a very entertaining film. Thanks again for this great thread!


Natalie Portman gave Lana Wachowski a copy of the book while they were filming V for Vendetta, they've been working on it on and off since then.  Portman was meant to be in it but was pregnant.   (imdb)


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> That's a good episode. The Johnny Cash one is great. The John Cassavettes one is fucking brilliant.
> 
> Patrick Mcgoohan always makes for a good murderer. he played the murdere 4 times in columbos.


So many 'stars' for want of a better word, surely Columbo has only been equalled in that regard by The Simpsons.

Played chess, apparently was an artist, pretty sure he had a dan in judo I saw someplace.

Steven Spielberg said, "I learned more about acting from him at that early stage of my career than I had from anyone else  (wiki)


----------



## Kidda (Feb 21, 2013)

Worked my way through the BBC drama 'State of play' today. Brilliant, weak in parts but overall pretty decent.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 21, 2013)

Yesterday/

Mr. Nobody.
Great first 30 minutes, then it settled down into watchable. Some great ideas but ultimately it went down the romance route more than the more philosophical one. 

Just watched 9
Another let down. Nice jaunt, but focused too much on the soul. 
. . . and they were supposed to save humanity right or something? Well either they all had to die and fall into the robot thing or they shouldn't have activated the robot thing and the whole jaunt was pointless (but not in a joke twist end like cube).


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 21, 2013)

joe dick said:


> Utopia: Again... this is television of a quality that we just don't get here in NA.!


 
Jesus, you think that's good quality?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Patrick Mcgoohan always makes for a good murderer. he played the murdere 4 times in columbos.


 
Yeah love that episode. Somehow I thought it almost felt like a columbo ep doing a columbo parody (if that's even possible).


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 21, 2013)

r0bb0 said:


> Battle Star Galactica's Blood & Chrome tonight!



A Jolly jaunt if you ignore the fact that it makes even more of a mockery of the BSG plot than the BSG plot did on its own (and the even stupider screw up the Caprica plot gave BSG)


----------



## r0bb0 (Feb 22, 2013)

I've gotta catch up on my BSG


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 22, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> That's a good episode. The Johnny Cash one is great. The John Cassavettes one is fucking brilliant.
> 
> Patrick Mcgoohan always makes for a good murderer. he played the murdere 4 times in columbos.


 

theres 2 cash ones iirc. One with the dogs and the tape, and another I can't recall.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> theres 2 cash ones iirc. One with the dogs and the tape, and another I can't recall.


 
Pretty sure there's only one. With the plane and the maps and thermos flask!


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 22, 2013)

my mistake, its Shatner who was in two columbos


----------



## Yetman (Feb 22, 2013)

Bruce23 said:


> This movie is hilarious. Basically an American military officer of average intelligence is put in a hibernation chamber and wakes up 500 years in the future where stupid people have outbred smart people and the world is now populated by idiots.


 
Got this on the download


----------



## joe dick (Feb 22, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Jesus, you think that's good quality?



you mean compared to the absolute shit offered here? yes i do. but i am curious, what do you have against utopia? Raison Boy alone made it T.V. worth watching.
but i have to admit... i am not very critical when it comes to any representation of present day or future dystopias.


----------



## joe dick (Feb 22, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Natalie Portman gave Lana Wachowski a copy of the book while they were filming V for Vendetta, they've been working on it on and off since then.  Portman was meant to be in it but was pregnant.   (imdb)




I wonder, what role Portman would have taken?


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 22, 2013)

joe dick said:


> I wonder, what role Portman would have taken?


Portman was promised the role as Sonmi-451 (imdb)


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 22, 2013)

NVP said:


> Finished Series 1 of The Shield last night. Good fun, nothing amazing, occasionally really shit, some good plot twists. Ideal for when you get home after a draining day and your brain's stopped working.


If you haven't seen it I'd also recommend HBO's The Wire to watch along side


----------



## joe dick (Feb 22, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Portman was promised the role as Sonmi-451 (imdb)



I probably should have just read the imdb article. thanks for the reply.

It's pretty hard for me to picture Portman as a Korean fabricant.


----------



## joe dick (Feb 22, 2013)

jeff_leigh said:


> If you haven't seen it I'd also recommend HBO's The Wire to watch along side



adding my recommendation of The Wire. I only recently became aware of this truly great series, watched it all over the course of one weekend and sadly came to the realization that I would probably never find another film or TV series to equal it. 
Favorite The Wire quote" There you go again. Giving a fuck when it's not your turn to give a fuck".


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 22, 2013)

joe dick said:


> adding my recommendation of The Wire. I only recently became aware of this truly great series, watched it all over the course of one weekend and sadly came to the realization that I would probably never find another film or TV series to equal it.
> Favorite The Wire quote" There you go again. Giving a fuck when it's not your turn to give a fuck".


 
It is addictive but even so 60 episodes is a lot to get through over a weekend


----------



## joe dick (Feb 22, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> It is addictive but even so 60 episodes is a lot to get through over a weekend



i have no life. i did literally nothing else from friday afternoon to early monday morning.  except speed. i did a lot of speed. and pot. smoked tons of pot. as i said - i have no life.

that... or maybe it was all a dream and took longer. i don't know anymore. anyways, i watched it all in one great big long go. however long it took it was worth it and totally immersive.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 22, 2013)

Super 8.

Thoughts.  Seth mcFarlane is father to one of the goonies, rhys ifans is father to another.  The goonies have a stoner pal, Jesus.   They have an adventure.

Second thoughts.  A wonderful film reminiscent of Goonies, Stand By Me and ET, wonderfully shot with some very decent performances from the young ones.

At the end credits you get the film the kids were actually making which enhances the whole thing.

Commercial but evocative.


----------



## joe dick (Feb 22, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Super 8.
> 
> Thoughts.  Seth mcFarlane is father to one of the goonies, rhys ifans is father to another.  The goonies have a stoner pal, Jesus.   They have an adventure.
> 
> ...



I wanted to like "Super 8" and was disappointed in myself when I didn't. The train wreck was pretty sharp. but i didn't really "like" any of the characters. I could tell it was actually a pretty good film and could understand why others would enjoy it... but it did nothing for me.
i remember childhood as somewhat disappointingly less than magical and i guess when it comes to films involving children and childhood "Welcome to the Dollhouse" is more my thing.


----------



## Grandma Death (Feb 23, 2013)

Shame. I thought it was excellent. I love the Fassbender and McQueen collaborations.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 23, 2013)

I watched a bbc4 documentary about the 100 years war. living the dream


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 23, 2013)

The Hills Run Red - Italian western with a cracking score by Morricone which I never heard much of before.

It looks and feels like a traditional US western especially the 'happy' ending, but there's enough 'euro' in this to keep it interesting, from the barbed wire, standing room, only solitary confinement of the prison to the revenge fuelling flashbacks and loony henchman (Henry Silva).

None of your usual euro-western actors in this one (Silva aside), whichs add to the look of a low budget american film, but some good solid performances and lead Thomas Hunter gre on me as the film went on.

Not a classic, but well worth 88mins if you like simple revenge fuelled spaghetti westerns and don't expect them all to have the operatic misery of a Leone or a Corbucci.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 23, 2013)

joe dick said:


> Dead Set: Just finished watching it. THIS IS ZOMBIE TV! I'll never be able to watch another episode of "The Walking Dead".


 

Look out for Dead Set Serious.  It's a fan re-edit of Dead Set and cuts out a lot of the tedious Big Brother stuff,.

It was never released commercially of course so it's only on torrents


And you'd definitely like Pontypool.


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 23, 2013)

All Night Long

A 1981 comedy starring Gene Hackman and Barbra Streisand. Hackman dependable as  ever in a not so funny comedy but Streisand's performance is awful. Really off-key.


----------



## belboid (Feb 23, 2013)

Mean Girls. As part of the ongoing denial that 30 Rock is over...

A strong addition to the Evil High School Cliques genre, top three even.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 23, 2013)

joe dick said:


> you mean compared to the absolute shit offered here? yes i do. but i am curious, what do you have against utopia? Raison Boy alone made it T.V. worth watching.
> but i have to admit... i am not very critical when it comes to any representation of present day or future dystopias.


 
First episode was good but then it was just terrible. Annoying characters, shock moments just for shocks sake, a conspiracy plot that doesn't stand up. Waaay too try hard. Nicely shot in places but it was like they decided that every five minutes they would have a considered stylized shot simply for that reason alone. Hey lets commission some odd music. 
It's like walking down a shitty shorditch street dressed as an ironic hipster.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 23, 2013)

I watched Madagascar 3 with the daughter.
I loved the first one, and thought the second, though a little contrived into a sequel, was also good fun. 

This one though is simply shit. Shit on toast.


----------



## joe dick (Feb 23, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> First episode was good but then it was just terrible. Annoying characters, shock moments just for shocks sake, a conspiracy plot that doesn't stand up. Waaay too try hard. Nicely shot in places but it was like they decided that every five minutes they would have a considered stylized shot simply for that reason alone. Hey lets commission some odd music.
> It's like walking down a shitty shorditch street dressed as an ironic hipster.



agreed. utopia may have been a little too stylized for it's own good. i still really enjoyed it and would much rather support something that i enjoyed (despite it's flaws) than something which, though "objectively" perfect, i didn't.
but here's where our paths diverge... i thought the soundtrack of utopia was fantastic and i found that its odd silliness was a perfect representation of the silly human tricks that were unfolding on-screen.

could we all agree to STOP using "too try hard" as a blanket condemnation? it's pretty "hipster".


----------



## joe dick (Feb 23, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Look out for Dead Set Serious.  It's a fan re-edit of Dead Set and cuts out a lot of the tedious Big Brother stuff,.
> 
> It was never released commercially of course so it's only on torrents
> 
> ...



I found that the central idea of "Pontypool" was pretty original and well worth a film. However, the film itself really failed to live up to the greatness of it's premise. just my opinion. I thought the idea so good that i was hoping for a better film. also i took an instant dislike to the actor portraying the central character and spent much of the film wishing that he would die. will watch it again though. 
Bruce Macdonald has other films which you may wish to watch even though they are nothing like "Pontypool". Might I suggest "Hard Core Logo"?

Dead Set Serious, will look for it. thanks.


----------



## joe dick (Feb 23, 2013)

watched "The Thick of It" over the past few days. Malcolm Tucker is my new role model. all that juicy, sociopathic anger and aggression. "twAT!"


----------



## Greebo (Feb 23, 2013)

Couldn't read or do much (unless it was going to be redone later), so finished watching season one of Glee with the volume right down.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 23, 2013)

joe dick said:


> but here's where our paths diverge... i thought the soundtrack of utopia was fantastic and i found that its odd silliness was a perfect representation of the silly human tricks that were unfolding on-screen.


 
I thought the soundtrack was good and different, refreshing even. 
I think, cynically perhaps,  though that they commissioned something wacky and odd just for the sake of wacky different oddness. 
Maybe I am just being a bit mean.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 23, 2013)

Greebo said:


> Couldn't read or do much (unless it was going to be redone later), so finished watching season one of Glee with the volume right down.


That's the best way to watch it


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 23, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> That's the best way to watch it


 
From previous experience, the best way to watch Glee is with the sound down, and the TV turned off. Then sit in another room, stick your fingers in your ears and shout at the top of your voice for two hours (just in case).


----------



## renegadechicken (Feb 23, 2013)

The Baytown Outlaws - was pretty good for a turn your brain off and just enjoy type thing - some gaping plot holes, that even my half asleep drunk wife asked about, but overall quite enjoyable.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 23, 2013)

The Terminator.   It's old, it's a b movie but definitely still watchable and enjoyable, the almost john  carpenter-like soundtrack helps keep a nice tension.  The pacing, like the baddy, is relentless.


----------



## joe dick (Feb 24, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Terminator.   It's old, it's a b movie but definitely still watchable and enjoyable, the almost john  carpenter-like soundtrack helps keep a nice tension.  The pacing, like the baddy, is relentless.




Linda Hamilton's very 80's hairstyle. You forgot to mention. Jesus, did we really go out in public looking like that? No wonder the future was sending robots back in time to terminate us...


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 24, 2013)

The Mill and the Cross, by Lech Majewski. It's a film interpretation of Breughel's painting The Procession To Calvary. The  dialogue is light, and the plot, which draws parallels between the treatment of the Low Countries by the Spanish, and the events surrounding the Crucifixion, isn't really well developed. But you watch this movie for the visuals. Amost every screenshot could pass for a 16th century painting [although some of it is more reminiscent of Corot than it is of Breughel or other Flemish painters].

A visual feast. Rutger Hauer, Charlotte Rampling.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 24, 2013)

The Takeshi Kitano and Asano version of Zadoichi.
Far better than I remember. Apparently it was billed as a 'musical' in Japan, which it quite clearly is not.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 24, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> The Takeshi Kitano and Asano version of Zadoichi.
> Far better than I remember. Apparently it was billed as a 'musical' in Japan, which it quite clearly is not.


 
There's alot of elements of the film that choreograped to music.....but I agree, it's hardly a musical.

More a musikill!


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 24, 2013)

The Cabin In The Woods. Need to watch again as I'd had a bottle of wine and was tired. Very entertaining and intriguing but I got confused towards the end.


----------



## Voley (Feb 24, 2013)

Faust. I've started watching this twice now and both times I've fallen asleep. I'm taking this as a sign that it's probably not the film for me.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> The Cabin In The Woods. Need to watch again as I'd had a bottle of wine and was tired. Very entertaining and intriguing but I got confused towards the end.


Who installed the "release all the beasts" button in a hallway control panel? 

I really enjoyed CITWs, I loved the opening scene that quickly slaps your expectations of a standard teen slasher in the face. 
I'm not sure I liked the very end though, a bit too final. 

Still, probably the only modern film that I can think of that I watched recently and really liked.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 24, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> There's alot of elements of the film that choreograped to music.....but I agree, it's hardly a musical.
> 
> More a musikill!


 
I love the final dance. More films should have a big dance show at the end.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 24, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I love the final dance. More films should have a big dance show at the end.


 
It's a nice surprise when it arrives, and demonstrates Kitano's sense of humour. Even his most violent and visceral films have a good sense of mischief. I like that about him.

Most filmakers wouldn't make it work.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 24, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It's a nice surprise when it arrives, and demonstrates Kitano's sense of humour. Even his most violent and visceral films have a good sense of mischief. I like that about him.
> 
> Most filmakers wouldn't make it work.


 
My wife came across Asano Tadanobu a restaurant in London not so long ago.
I have just looked him up on wiki and it appears he is married to CHARA, a very famous Japanese pop star (though not so much any more).
She did loads of utterly shit music, then suddenly did one utterly amazing album, then became shit again.


----------



## avu9lives (Feb 24, 2013)

First episode of *Stephen Fry in America* on youtube. Well interestin,,,,,,,,,,


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 24, 2013)

"Contagion" - rather enjoyed it. Apart from Jude Law who i find it hard to warm to as an actor and his, presumeably, Australian accent was risible


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 24, 2013)

Just watched The Tree of Life. Surprisingly my Mrs sat through the whole thing too. It's the first film I've seen that made me want a blue ray player though I couldn't admit to getting it without having done some reading. Some of it felt very personal to things in my own childhood. I'll watch it again.


----------



## Mephitic (Feb 24, 2013)

the towerblock ~ terrible
catfish ~ a tad cringe worthy


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 24, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> The Takeshi Kitano and Asano version of Zadoichi.
> Far better than I remember. Apparently it was billed as a 'musical' in Japan, which it quite clearly is not.


I didn't watch that coz some idiot told me it was a musical.

I love Beat Takeshi's stuff.   Hana-Bi, Violent Cop etc.....brilliant stuff.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 24, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I didn't watch that coz some idiot told me it was a musical.
> 
> I love Beat Takeshi's stuff. Hana-Bi, Violent Cop etc.....brilliant stuff.


Never seen those two.
I am interested in watching Takeshis, it sounds suitably weird.


----------



## starfish (Feb 24, 2013)

Started to watch Fish Story but annoyingly it didnt have subtitles  & since my Japanese is a bit rusty we gave up.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 24, 2013)

Mephitic said:


> the towerblock ~ terrible
> catfish ~ a tad cringe worthy


 
I tried to watch Catfish tonight but it didn't load. I'll give it a miss. 
I recently watched . . . 
Seeking a friend for the end of the world, good jaunt, I secretly wanted a cop out ending while watching but I am glad there wasn't one/ 
Stranger than Fiction - Could have been far far better but Will Ferral was surprisingly good in a straight role. Quite dashing even.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 24, 2013)

starfish said:


> Started to watch Fish Story but annoyingly it didnt have subtitles  & since my Japanese is a bit rusty we gave up.


 
That is a terrible shame. It is a fantastic film. 
I have done a few Japanese films without subs, but usually just meat head stuff or kids films. I think I might have got most of fish story without the subs but now that I know that it is excellent I don't think I would have taken that risk.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 24, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Never seen those two.
> I am interested in watching Takeshis, it sounds suitably weird.


Hana-Bi is the definition of elegance.
Sonatine is great, it stays with you.  
Kikujiro is subtle and not entirely what you'd expect (if you'd watched the others first).

He's done a couple that weren't so good but overall I have a lot of time for him.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 25, 2013)

Cloud Atlas. If I was a cynic and unkind critic, I'd say it's a Hollywood liberal wet dream of a movie . It does contain the usual elements in a Wachowski siblings film; rebellion/individuality/love/oppression/a promised land and subtle hints at something bigger than all of us...

It's not a complete mess, Jim Broadbent and Halle Berry and Doon Bae are great. Tom Hanks is on good form, apart from his "Irish" turn. It's a film to be seen on the big screen, though. And yes, of course it's not as good as the book. But it's an enjoyable mix of hocum, sentiment and dystopian future.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 25, 2013)

Thanks to a brief stay in a country that doesn't believe in copyright...

*Bourne Legacy: *Jeremy Renner IS Grumpycat (TM), scowling his way through an entirely forgettable plot except that he's also running out of the right CIA/NSA/WTF drugs to keep his ruthless superhuman killingmaching abilities in top nick. There's some good fighting (are you surprised?). Um, it's fun, is diverting enough - and briskly directed - but somehow lacks satirical/subversive edge of some of the earlier ones.

*Dredd*: speaking of Grumpycat: Karl Urban has the lipline to do the business in the lead role here and I sort of admire him for never ever taking the helmet off and sporting fuck-you shaving stubble throughout. I'm not a hardcore enough 2000AD fan for my opinion to have any weight here, but I thought it wasn't too bad really; nice art direction and some goodish fx and didn't take itself too seriously. Anything that keeps Wood Harris ("Avon Barksdale") and Lena Headey in work is also to be recommended. Trashy and fun.

*End of Watch: *Interestingly 'indie' and low-rent in style, with some agreeably cynical and sparky moments about love, marraige, the cult of copdom etc, and with some really good spontaneous buddy-buddy acting and dialogue/imrpov from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, but totally runs out of steam in the final section (which makes no sense at all). It's an OK addition to the corpus of 'corrupt LA cops' films and TV (Rampart, Training Day, The Shield Etc etc) without really bringing much new to the party.

*Lawless *: Absolutely beautifully artdirected and the sort of thing (1930s period detail, blood, feuding, rednecks) I would go for, even the presence of new Head Prefect and All Around Wondergirl Jessica Chastain didn't grate on me as much as usual, but overall the standard of the acting just isn't high enough to sustain the interest in a ropy script. Guy Pearce does OK at being evil (so much so he even looks like he's had a skull transplant) and Mia Wasikowska is great at being a preacher's daughter in trouble... however, Tom Hardy can't do a backwoods Appalachian accent to save his musclebound life and Shia LeBoeuf is as limp as ever. Any film set in the heart of the Prohibition-era bootlegging, and featuring much graphic violence as this one, really ought to be a bit more gripping.

*La Pelicula de Ana: *Amusing and gently biting farce from Cuba about an actress masquerading as a prostitute (not the usual turn of events) in order to prop up her financially failing family and swindle some bucks out of a dubious visiting Austrian feature film crew. Some lovely performances and some surprisingly barbed and postmodern thoughts about what foreign visitors to Cuba actually fall in love with ... but it's a bit of dog's breakfast overall and the denouement falls completely flat.

*Flight: *I admit to nodding off several times during this and perhaps percisely because it couldn't stop me nodding off several times) I really couldn't see what the fuss is about here, except for just maybe a newly nuanced approach to addicts & users in Hollywood films... Denzel Washington is believably spiky and all tormented as genius-but-cokeheaded-drunk superpilot yet the mood of the whole film is a downer and all of the religiose tinging around the edges of the script put me right off (cf The Grey, where the same thing happened)

*The Four *Mindless, classless and pointless 'historical' martial-arts nonsense with almost nothing to recommend it, although the conceit of setting a zombie army to work via acupuncturizing criminals' corpses has some novelty appeal. Plus points also for a very beautiful lead actress with a great big bump on her nose playing a character called "Emotionless". And I wonder whether the plot (negligible, but focusing largely on turf wars between various corrupt Imperial law&order forces) might have some veiled relevance to China today. (The martial arts sequences themselves are v poor , btw - it's not a case of 'bad movie, great action' here.)

*Lincoln: *Eerily brilliant acting from Daniel Day Lewis; um, not so much for direction (it's an entirely conventional and middlebrow effort); and intriguing rather than riveting script (interesting to me because it does manage to sidestep most of the 'let's make him a plaster saint' pitfalls and concentrate on the dirty process and compromises of politics rather than the sweeping rhetoric about Amurrica's Freeedoms bla bla bla). It's unjust but I can't stand Sally Field in anything, which works a treat in this as her character is meant to be unbearably annoying anyway. As for everyone else it's so crammed with great American character actors that it's actually a bit distracting: rather than thinking "hey, that's JUST how I always imagined William Seward" you're constantly thinking "ooh look! it's her off ER! it's Paul Giamatti! it's John Hawkes!" etc etc etc. However, +1000 points for another magnificently sleazy role for James Spader.

*The Possession: *bog standard semi-supernatural pap, basically yet another low-rent reboot of The Exorcist only this time supposedly rooted in Jewish rather than Catholic hokum, as the evil being motivating a child to misbehave is a dybbuk rather than a demon. Which means lots of moody shots of all those Orthodox Jewish blokes in their creepy oldfashioned clothes and big sinister fur hats and the main characters having to call in Matisyahu to do the exorcising. Bit of a subterranean "men's rights movement" agenda going on there as well (oh, the horrors of divorce, or ungovernable women and children who just make stuff up about their dad hitting them... ) . Not worth your time.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 25, 2013)

The Green Hornet.
Not a bad as I was led to believe, but not good by a long chalk.
The most interesting bits were the cool camera effects that reminded me of Michelle Gondrey.

Then the credits came up and it was Michelle Gondrey.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 25, 2013)

Watching Three Seasons at the moment

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138874/


----------



## starfish (Feb 25, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> That is a terrible shame. It is a fantastic film.
> I have done a few Japanese films without subs, but usually just meat head stuff or kids films. I think I might have got most of fish story without the subs but now that I know that it is excellent I don't think I would have taken that risk.


 
Ive heard good things about it, on here funnily enough , so ill look for another copy somewhere.


----------



## gmac (Feb 25, 2013)

Just watched _The Two Escobars_ ...feature length documentary about Colombian football in the 90s and the drug cartels within that country. Fascinating but ultimately tragic. Don't know if "enjoyed it" would be the appropriate phrase.


----------



## Mephitic (Feb 25, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I tried to watch Catfish tonight but it didn't load. I'll give it a miss.


 
Re-load catfish, it's worth the effort.

& yarrr to stranger than fiction


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 25, 2013)

All that 70s stuff hickey and boggs, the laughing policeman, framed, bad news bears, 7 ups,


----------



## zenie (Feb 25, 2013)

Tyrannosaur  bleak!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 25, 2013)

starfish said:


> Ive heard good things about it, on here funnily enough , so ill look for another copy somewhere.


I'm pretty sure I got mine for only a couple of quids off of amazon.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 26, 2013)

The original Inglorious Bastards. Good, fun, exploitation war flick, Some brilliant old school stunts and action, punch ups and gunfights. There's 5 minutes of death and destruction for every 2 minutes of plot development and talky stuff. 

I read that it was re-cut for a US release to make Fred Williamson the lead and re-titled GI-Bro to tap into the blaxploitation market....

There is a classic scene in which the Inglorious Bastards stumble across a group of nazi babes skinny dipping and end up in a machine gunfight with them! Brilliant!

Franco Di Masi soundtrack was very good at times when it wasn't trying to replicate US war film scores.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 26, 2013)

Dredd

First up, I'll admit to rating it a lot. It was a balls to the wall sci fi action film with slo-mo gore, hostage taking, savage gang warfare etc. and on those grounds it deserves a 9/10 from me. Reminds me of 80s smash sci fi actioners.

but. but. It did not feel like a Judge Dredd film. Don't get me wrong, Karl Urban pulls off a good Dredd. Grim, ruthless, gravel voiced and mean of chin. However if I had read that fim in comic form it would have been an unremarkable and quite boring comic- it gets away with that in film because beneath the 2000AD veneer theres a solid action film, but the could have dispensed with the Dredd angle all the way and just done, say 'Die Hard 3030AD' . 

Would like to see Urban reprise the role but in a story that takes in more of MC1 than just a single block


----------



## TruXta (Feb 26, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Look out for Dead Set Serious. It's a fan re-edit of Dead Set and cuts out a lot of the tedious Big Brother stuff,.
> 
> It was never released commercially of course so it's only on torrents
> 
> ...


I thought the BB stuff lent another dimension to it, a bit like American Psycho with all the "crap" chapters about 80s pop and men's hygiene products.


----------



## Reno (Feb 26, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Look out for Dead Set Serious. It's a fan re-edit of Dead Set and cuts out a lot of the tedious Big Brother stuff,.
> 
> It was never released commercially of course so it's only on torrents


 
Talk about missing the point. That sounds a little like cutting all the 'tedious' shopping mall stuff out of Dawn of the Dead. The whole joke was the clash between two entertainments as incongruous as Big Brother and zombie films and it only works with the BB piss take left in.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 26, 2013)

Watch the re-edit and then judge it. It works very well


----------



## TruXta (Feb 26, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Watch the re-edit and then judge it. It works very well


I'm sure it does, but equally you're missing the point as to what function those BB elements had. Fair enough that you didn't care for them, but it'd be a bit weird not to acknowledge that they were there for a good reason, IMO.


----------



## Reno (Feb 26, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Watch the re-edit and then judge it. It works very well


It may well work as a run-of-the-mill zombie film instead of a media satire AND a zombie film, but life's too short and the "fans" don't always know best. I thought the original version worked perfectly, so why would I waste my time on this ?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 26, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I didn't watch that coz some idiot told me it was a musical.
> 
> I love Beat Takeshi's stuff. Hana-Bi, Violent Cop etc.....brilliant stuff.


 
and the dance at the end of Zatoichi


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 26, 2013)

starfish said:


> Started to watch Fish Story but annoyingly it didnt have subtitles  & since my Japanese is a bit rusty we gave up.


 
Funnily enough, I came across that last night and nearly bought it, but resisted.  It's in my Amazon basket though


----------



## starfish (Feb 26, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I'm pretty sure I got mine for only a couple of quids off of amazon.


 


Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Funnily enough, I came across that last night and nearly bought it, but resisted. It's in my Amazon basket though


 
Youre making me feel bad because i was just going to download another copy of it


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 26, 2013)

starfish said:


> Youre making me feel bad because i was just going to download another copy of it


 
I'll get it one day.  There's half a dozen in my basket and I've got a choice of these to watch tonight

Not sure what to watch tonight

The Front Line
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Front-L...KW7G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1361911009&sr=8-3

The Tube
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tube-DVD-Se...ef=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1361911072&sr=1-3

Untouchable
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Untouchable...ef=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1361911107&sr=1-1

or Series 3 of Love/Hate

Decisions, decisions


----------



## Reno (Feb 27, 2013)

John Cassevetes' Opening Night, one of my favourite films of the 70s and one of about a hundred films from 1977 which were better than Star Wars. I've probably seen the film three times before, but not for a while and this is the first time it occurred to me that it is basically a ghost story. It is also one of the best films about the theatre and I can't think of another film that conveys the feel of standing on a stage and having to perform this well.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 27, 2013)

What's Eating Gilbert Grape - meh. Had seen it before but completely forgotten it. Not my bag.

Two episodes of Wilfred (USA version) - thought it was really good, and did a search on here to see what you lot think. Mostly hated it. Surprised? Not sure. Probably not. I'll be watching some more of it.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 27, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> What's Eating Gilbert Grape - meh. Had seen it before but completely forgotten it. Not my bag.


 
I thought Di Caprio gave a brilliant performance


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 27, 2013)

jeff_leigh said:


> I thought Di Caprio gave a brilliant performance


 
He did. Can't fault any of the performances to be honest.  Just thought it was boring.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 27, 2013)

Inglorious Basterds - Tarantino's one. When I watched this upon it's release I didn't really think much of it, but on a 2nd viewing there was a lot of fun to be had with it.

It's daft as arseholes, but I enjoyed it this time around, although I still think the end is all a bit silly....it plays too hard for laughs by the time they arrive at the cinema pretending to be Itallians.

Couple of things I noticed, which may have just been me reading too much into, was..... When Shossana asks Marcel if his camera is working he replies 'yes, I got some footage of a new guitar player in town' - which is a reference to Django Rienhardt....and then during the game in the cellar bar the when the nazi has King Kong written upon the card on his forehead, he mistakes King Kongs tale of reluctantly leaving the jungle transpoted to the US in chains as the 'journey of the negro slave'......I did wonder if this was Tarantino making sly nods to his next project, referencing both Django and Slavery....

...but then, as I say, I'm probably reading far too much into it....


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 27, 2013)

Have you seen the one that is spelt correctly? 
He only took the title and didn't even have the balls to spell it right.


----------



## Voley (Feb 27, 2013)

On to the second series of The Shield now which I'm really enjoying. The cheese is layed on pretty thick, but the plotlines are good and Vic's continued disintegration is a thing to behold. Can't believe what sort of fucking state he'll be in by Series 7 tbh. I like Dutch as a character, too. I've met wankers like him.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 28, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Have you seen the one that is spelt correctly?
> He only took the title and didn't even have the balls to spell it right.


 
Yeah, watched it earlier in the week. I thought it was good fun, liked the music, the naked machine gun fight and the useful application of a pencil in the final act!

To be fair, there were not many countries where Castellari's version was released with the title 'Inglourious Bastards' and its original Italian title translated as '_That damned armored train'_

_Bastardi senza gloria_ (literally: "Bastards Without Glory") was just a working title.....only the US got it as Inglourious Bastards, as well as 'Hell's Heroes' and 'Deadly Mission'.


----------



## Reno (Feb 28, 2013)

Working my way through RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2013)

Walking dead, new eps. Riks really hardened up since series one!


----------



## Yetman (Feb 28, 2013)

Stalker - funny old film that init? Grim setting, grim characters, misery all the way through, but not a sad film. 7/10


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 28, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Walking dead, new eps. Riks really hardened up since series one!


 
His current state of madness is dull....


----------



## Me76 (Feb 28, 2013)

The other night; The Hangover two.  Good brainless shit with a couple of good laughs.

Last night and tonight; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Lovely feel good ensemble piece that made we want to be sexy and seventy in India.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 28, 2013)

The Thing (1982), which still builds up a nice suspense.   Great, minimalist, systolic soundtrack.


----------



## Fez909 (Mar 1, 2013)

The final few episodes of the remake of House of Cards - enjoyed that a lot. Looking forward to the next, but tempted to just watch the British version to get my fix. How similar are they, anyone? Johnny Canuck3?

Also just watched Limitless. Clever idea, but it was a shite film in the end. Loads of male wank fantasies at the beginning: get rich, get women, be good at fighting and cards/gambling. Then filler for the next hour, followed by a rubbish ending. Could have been so much more.

Watching this made me wonder if there has ever been a Flowers For Algernon adaptation?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 1, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> The final few episodes of the remake of House of Cards - enjoyed that a lot. Looking forward to the next, but tempted to just watch the British version to get my fix. How similar are they, anyone? Johnny Canuck3?
> 
> Also just watched Limitless. Clever idea, but it was a shite film in the end. Loads of male wank fantasies at the beginning: get rich, get women, be good at fighting and cards/gambling. Then filler for the next hour, followed by a rubbish ending. Could have been so much more.
> 
> Watching this made me wonder if there has ever been a Flowers For Algernon adaptation?


 
The British version is similar, yet completely different at the same time. I enjoyed both a lot, but for different reasons. I think both are full of cultural hooks from their respective societies. For example, in the US version, the politicians come across as corrupt, venal, but powerful people. The British version portrays politicians as corrupt venal and powerful, but ultimately, as buffoons.


----------



## Fez909 (Mar 1, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The British version is similar, yet completely different at the same time. I enjoyed both a lot, but for different reasons. I think both are full of cultural hooks from their respective societies. For example, in the US version, the politicians come across as corrupt, venal, but powerful people. The British version portrays politicians as corrupt venal and powerful, but ultimately, as buffoons.


 
Interesting.

Are the plots the same, essentially? I see plot as key to whatever I'm watching so if I'm going to spoil the plot of one by watching the other, it will influence which one I want to watch first.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 1, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Interesting.
> 
> Are the plots the same, essentially? I see plot as key to whatever I'm watching so if I'm going to spoil the plot of one by watching the other, it will influence which one I want to watch first.


 
Broadly speaking, yes - they're developed from the same book. But having seen the US version won't give away the plot of the UK version.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 1, 2013)

p.s. Watching Francis have sex with Zoe doesn't make your skin crawl the way watching Francis have sex with Maddie does....


----------



## Fez909 (Mar 1, 2013)

Thanks gonna watch the British one I think


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 1, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Thanks gonna watch the British one I think


 
You won't regret it. It's quite entertaining.

p.s. if you've watched the British Life On Mars, don't even think of watching the US version. It can't compare.


----------



## Greebo (Mar 1, 2013)

Scrubs - so much better watched back to back with no adverts.


----------



## ringo (Mar 1, 2013)

Finished Roots, great stuff. Hope the ending is what really happened, otherwise it would be a bit unlikely.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 1, 2013)

First couple of episodes of season 2 of Game of Thrones.

Getting a bit obsessed about it at the moment, to the point where I'm developing a man-crush on a couple of characters. But that's ok. One is serving on Night's Watch in the North and the other is in exile at Essos . . . so they never need to know about each other.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 2, 2013)

Jon Snow is amazeballs


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 2, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Jon Snow is amazeballs


 
I had to trek over to urban dictionary to secure a translation.


----------



## Fez909 (Mar 2, 2013)

Submarine - Nice little film. Still feel wide awake so contemplating another, but that would mean being awake until...6-ish.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 2, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Yeah, watched it earlier in the week. I thought it was good fun, liked the music, the naked machine gun fight and the useful application of a pencil in the final act!
> 
> To be fair, there were not many countries where Castellari's version was released with the title 'Inglourious Bastards' and its original Italian title translated as '_That damned armored train'_
> 
> _Bastardi senza gloria_ (literally: "Bastards Without Glory") was just a working title.....only the US got it as Inglourious Bastards, as well as 'Hell's Heroes' and 'Deadly Mission'.


 
Interesting. I didn't know that.
I just thought it was a bit of a cop out as Tarrentino obviously liked the title, but then couldn't go full steam ahead and use it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 2, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Thing (1982), which still builds up a nice suspense. Great, minimalist, systolic soundtrack.


 
I watched that recently and it just didn't do it for me anymore.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 2, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Submarine - Nice little film.


Wrong.

Lego / painting by numbers UK indie.


----------



## Firky (Mar 2, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Jon Snow is amazeballs


 
You know nothing, Jon Snow.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 2, 2013)

No - the last part of Pablo Larraín's Pinochet trilogy (the others being Tony Manero and Post Mortem - both great). This is the most 'normal' of the three and one (despite some choices that may seem odd at first look being made - 4:3 aspect ratio, grainy analog video) and one that looks out to wider society rather than concentrating on how pinochet's society warped individuals. Film hinges on the referendum on removing Pinochet in 1988. Almost totally successful film and a def recommend. (Tony Manero is the best of the three for me though).


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## Voley (Mar 2, 2013)

The Rum Diary. Opening titles seemed familiar as did some of the supporting cast. Got about a third of the way through before remembering I'd already seen it and didn't think much of it. Once my expectations had been lowered like this, I think I enjoyed it more this time round. I might forget about it entirely and watch it again in a few years and declare it a work of genius.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I watched that recently and it just didn't do it for me anymore.


I'm getting to see a lot of these with my daughter who hasn't seen them before.


----------



## belboid (Mar 2, 2013)

The Wicker Tree. 

Well, that was disappointing. It has exactly the same plot as the original, except with cuter virgins. The ending is a bit different, but not really, actually, good. A waste.


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## Voley (Mar 2, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> No - the last part of Pablo Larraín's Pinochet trilogy (the others being Tony Manero and Post Mortem - both great). This is the most 'normal' of the three and one (despite some choices that may seem odd at first look being made - 4:3 aspect ratio, grainy analog video) and one that looks out to wider society rather than concentrating on how pinochet's society warped individuals. Film hinges on the referendum on removing Pinochet in 1988. Almost totally successful film and a def recommend. (Tony Manero is the best of the three for me though).


Just stuck all of them on me Lovefilm list, ta.


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## Fez909 (Mar 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Wrong.
> 
> Lego / painting by numbers UK indie.


 
You don't like The Thing, though, so I can safely ignore your opinion on fillums


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 2, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> You don't like The Thing, though, so I can safely ignore your opinion on fillums


I did like the thing, but when you have seen it loads of times and you have memories of it that have elevated far beyond it's actual status, it's not as great to watch again.
When the shock moments do not surprise, and there is no suspense there is not much left.


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## belboid (Mar 2, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> You don't like The Thing, though, so I can safely ignore your opinion on fillums


I know it's unusual, but he is right about Submarine. Considine is as enjoyable as ever (I'm sure he is channeling Julian Cope during his sermons) but otherwise, it's box ticking generics.


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## Fez909 (Mar 2, 2013)

Well, I'm not gonna defend it to the death or anything. I just thought it was a nice little film. I'm not going to be putting it in my top 10 films lists or anything.

Ending up watching Super 8 earlier as well, and felt the same about that. Fun, watchable film, but won't be gracing my lists either.


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## Reno (Mar 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I did like the thing, but when you have seen it loads of times and you have memories of it that have elevated far beyond it's actual status, it's not as great to watch again.
> When the shock moments do not surprise, and there is no suspense there is not much left.


 
...cinematography, atmosphere, music score, acting ? I can re-watch good films endlessly, even when I know what happens. I enjoy re-entering the world a favourite film takes place in.


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## Firky (Mar 2, 2013)

The Thing is a good film, I begrudgingly enjoyed the remake too. It wasn't as good but it didn't stop me from enjoying it any. A film I can watch time and time again and still be in awe of it's OST, and visuals is Sunshine. One of my all time favourite films.

In fact the OST for Sunshine is probably my favourite score of all time and I love it when I hear it used in other films, TV programmes and such. I should buy it really buy it really.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 2, 2013)

I found the remake to be a pointless uninspiring re-tread with none of the 80s ness which made the original. And the spaceship bit on the end was just poor.


----------



## MBV (Mar 2, 2013)

NVP said:


> The Rum Diary. Opening titles seemed familiar as did some of the supporting cast. Got about a third of the way through before remembering I'd already seen it and didn't think much of it. Once my expectations had been lowered like this, I think I enjoyed it more this time round. I might forget about it entirely and watch it again in a few years and declare it a work of genius.


 
I'm avoiding this as I really enjoyed the book. Am I missing out NVP?


----------



## MBV (Mar 2, 2013)

Its very drossy/trashy but I'm enjoying The Good Wife. I don't really have to thin when I watch it which I like from time to time.


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## Voley (Mar 2, 2013)

dfm said:


> I'm avoiding this as I really enjoyed the book. Am I missing out NVP?


I doubt you're going to think it's great tbh. I quite like Johnny Depp's version of Hunter S in the film of 'Fear And Loathing'. He hams it up a bit and plays for laughs but they're worth it. In this one, despite him supposedly being pretty pissed for half the movie, it's nowhere near as riotous and it doesn't really make much of a point other than 'this was the birth of a great writer'. I dunno, it's OK, there are a few giggles and that but that's it. I just thought that the director of 'Withnail & I' could've done a lot more with it. It's not shit but it's not brilliant either.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 2, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...cinematography, atmosphere, music score, acting ? I can re-watch good films endlessly, even when I know what happens. I enjoy re-entering the world a favourite film takes place in.


 
I know what you mean, and I re-watch many films endlessly, but for some reason the thing just didn't work for me anymore.


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## Maltin (Mar 2, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I found the remake to be a pointless uninspiring re-tread with none of the 80s ness which made the original. And the spaceship bit on the end was just poor.


The 80s film is not the original. And although I haven't seen it, the 2011 version is apparently a prequel to the 80s remake not a remake of the remake.


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## Nanker Phelge (Mar 2, 2013)

Lucio Fulci's Four of the Apocalypse. Brutal, brilliant and nuts.


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## butchersapron (Mar 2, 2013)

NVP said:


> Just stuck all of them on me Lovefilm list, ta.


Excellent - three great films.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 2, 2013)

Maltin said:


> The 80s film is not the original. And although I haven't seen it, the 2011 version is apparently a prequel to the 80s remake not a remake of the remake.


 

the original isn't all that. I've a lot of time for the Caprenter version tho- and the 2011 prequel felt like a remake. The one variation that worked was the way the xenomorph was unable to replicate metal things- fillings, leg pins and plates etc. And thats how they rumble it


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## Belushi (Mar 2, 2013)

Together - I've had a copy of this sitting around for a couple of years now and hadn't got round to watching it. I've missed out, it's a lovely film.


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## Voley (Mar 3, 2013)

Rust And Bone. Pretty good, very powerful in places but nowhere near as good as A Prophet which was his last film. Following that one up is a pretty tall order tbf and expecting it to be as good isn't a good way to approach this one. The two main performances are very good, though. I liked Marion Cotillard in this a lot.


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## Reno (Mar 3, 2013)

NVP said:


> Rust And Bone. Pretty good, very powerful in places but nowhere near as good as A Prophet which was his last film. Following that one up is a pretty tall order tbf and expecting it to be as good isn't a good way to approach this one. The two main performances are very good, though. I liked Marion Cotillard in this a lot.


 
I actually preferred this to A Prophet (which I liked), but then I also preferred Audiard's Read My Lips, to which this feels like a companion piece.


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## Voley (Mar 3, 2013)

Reno said:


> I actually preferred this to A Prophet (which I liked), but then I also preferred Audiard's Read My Lips, to which this feels like a companion piece.


I've not seen anything else by him. Was 'A Prophet' a bit of a departure from his usual style then?


----------



## Reno (Mar 3, 2013)

NVP said:


> I've not seen anything else by him. Was 'A Prophet' a bit of a departure from his usual style then?


 
Not really, he mostly makes films about tough guys, but I like him even better when he uses that sensibility to make films about women. Read My Lips is probably my favourite film of the last decade. It's also about a woman with a disability who falls in with a hoodlum. His only real departure is the period comedy Self-Made Hero, which also is the only one of his films I don't like. His first film See How They Fall is another favourite of mine. He is pretty much one of my favourite directors working now.


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## Voley (Mar 3, 2013)

Just stuck Read My Lips on my rental list, ta, Reno. I like the sound of that. I really like Vincent Cassel. He was fucking ace in Mesrine.


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## Frances Lengel (Mar 3, 2013)

Killing Them Softly - Was alright, I liked how scruffy all the scenery was. Also had a go at watching Threads but only got as far as the bit where everything's on fire & had too turn it off. Too much for me, that.


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## Nanker Phelge (Mar 3, 2013)

End of Watch. Competent and watchable. The daily horrors were suitably horrific and the tension suitably tense. Nothing new, or groundbreaking about it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 3, 2013)

Big Gun (also known as 'No Way Out' & 'Tony Arzenta') - Alain Delon doing what he does best, playing a lone hitman, saying little and killing lots. Also starring Richard Conte (in what appears to be the exact same costume he wore during the step shooting scene from the Godfather).

Not quite up there with Le Samourai and other more existential french crime dramas (this one being italian, therefore more gung ho), but good entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, with some fine car chase sequences in which europes finiest cars get mashed and smashed on proper streets, dustbins fly high, market stalls get trashed, construction sites become destruction sites and mothers with prams escape by the skin of their teeth!


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## DaveCinzano (Mar 3, 2013)

NVP said:


> I really like Vincent Cassel. He was fucking ace in Mesrine.


 
He's awesome in _Guest House Paradiso_


----------



## Reno (Mar 3, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> He's awesome in _Guest House Paradiso_


 
I've never seen him not being awesome. 

Even in shit films...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 3, 2013)

Reno said:


> Even in shit films...


 
...and boy, has he made some shit films...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 3, 2013)

Reno said:


> I've never seen him not being awesome.
> 
> Even in shit films...


 
Come on! That's not fair!

It's more a puke than a shit film.


----------



## Reno (Mar 3, 2013)

Which one is that ?


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## DaveCinzano (Mar 3, 2013)

That's from the barf fest that is _GHP_...


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## Reno (Mar 3, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> That's from the barf fest that is _GHP_...


Can't find it in his filmography.


----------



## mentalchik (Mar 3, 2013)

John Carter (of mars).................not excellent but entertaining enough on a sunday afternoon !


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 3, 2013)

Reno said:


> Can't find it in his filmography.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381/

He's Euro filmstar 'Gino Bolognese', who goes out with 'Gina Carbonara'


----------



## MillwallShoes (Mar 3, 2013)

watched the 1992 Mice and Men. brilliant. on netflix now


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## Nanker Phelge (Mar 3, 2013)

Django...Prepare a Coffin. Almost an official Django sequal. Nero had been on board to star in this.

Great plot idea.... hangman fakes executions to form phantom gang to help him seek revenge against wealthy badman and his gang of rogues.... which makes for a good prequal story really, great soundtrack by Gianfranco Reverberi, and plenty of story twists and turns and good performances to rank it at the upper end of the euro western genre.

Terence Hill is a spit for Franco Nero, but he's a more wooden and less enigmatic actor without the presence of the original Django actor.


----------



## Me76 (Mar 3, 2013)

I watched Bridesmaids last night. I really wish I hadn't.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 3, 2013)

The Sweeney - dunno why it was called The Sweeney really. It's just a half decent cops and robbers film full of geezer cliches, gaping plot holes and semi-erect actors poncing about. 

It has none of the charm, wit or humanity that the original Sweeney relied on to keep Regan and Carter real, and while Winstone and Drew had ok chemistry I just didn't care if they lived, died or went to heaven in a silver jag!


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 3, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The Sweeney - dunno why it was called The Sweeney really. It's just a half decent cops and robbers film full of geezer cliches, gaping plot holes and semi-erect actors poncing about.
> 
> It has none of the charm, wit or humanity that the original Sweeney relied on to keep Regan and Carter real, and while Winstone and Drew had ok chemistry I just didn't care if they lived, died or went to heaven in a silver jag!


Does it have the music?  It would be cool with the music.   Da nana, da nana...da dadadaDA dadadada


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 4, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Does it have the music? It would be cool with the music. Da nana, da nana...da dadadaDA dadadada


 
Nope.

It does have a car chase through a camp site! Proper fackin' Esssex 'oliday chaos!


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 4, 2013)

Skyfall - Did Chris Nolan direct this? Really? It was that guy instead? Interesting...


----------



## Yetman (Mar 4, 2013)

Seven Psychopaths, pretty good, nothing spectacular which I'd hoped for with the cast.

Kill Them Softly, this was better 

Argo - can't really understand what all the fuss was about. It's alright, but it's not THAT big a deal and the movie does a fair job of telling the story but it's not that exciting a story anyway so :S


----------



## belboid (Mar 4, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Argo - can't really understand what all the fuss was about. It's alright, but it's not THAT big a deal and the movie does a fair job of telling the story but it's not that exciting a story anyway so :S


I watched this last night as well.  It is very well done, maintains tension alongside the sense of absurdity, good performances all round, and mostly well drawn characters.  Not a work of outstanding genius and beauty or owt, but a solid bit of film-making that moves along constantly and consistently without any need for flash bang gimmicks.

Although the last ten minutes or so are getting to 'oh come on, _that_ never happened' levels of daftness.


----------



## Firky (Mar 4, 2013)

I thought it was well on the side of shite. I enjoyed ZD30 more


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2013)

belboid said:


> Although the last ten minutes or so are getting to 'oh come on, _that_ never happened' levels of daftness.


 
The police tried to shoot the plane dead !


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 4, 2013)

*The Source: *an annoyingly preachy, PC, kumbaya-singing drama which sounds as if it was proposed as a worthy UN multiagency 'capacitation' project. Which is a shame because its heart's in the right place, director Radu Mihaileanu has made good stuff in the past, the location (North Africa) and some of the cast are amazing. Basically it's  a reatread of _Lysistrata _with a bunch of oppressed Arab women deciding they're mad as hell and not going to haul water downhill to their village in buckets any more, so launch a sex strike and end patriarchy. (Sort of.) There are blatant overtones and undertones all the way (it's really all about the Arab Spring, is one possible reading), and it's been deliberately set in a sort of no-place and avoids any reference to factual characters, places or events ... which made it lose authenticity and bite imo. Actresses as talented and as different in style as the stroppy, sparky French sparkler Hafsia Herzi (Couscous) and Hiam Abbass (regal Palestinian icon of grief you might know from Lemon Tree) are shoehorned into the same scenes and it just does't work.


*Breathless* - not Belmondo looking cool, but a real dirty nasty downery tale of generations of violence, machismo and all-around hatefulness in 2009 South Korea. Main character's a sneering debt-collector handing out slaps, kicks and punches to anyone who crosses his path and / but strikes up a relationship with a memorably bad-attitude-having schoolgirl who doesn't buy the tough-gy act for a moment. It won truckloads of awards but as far as I can tell it's no more or less than _Tyrannosaur - _a good filthy dunking in everything that's bad about society and family life.

*Bathory: *here at last I can save the urbz some time: don't watch this. You might think as I did that with a title like that there'd be some decent genre horror action and maybe some lesbian nuns or something. And Anna Friel of sainted Brookside is the lead, so the omens for entertaining trash seemed good. In fact, because it was made by in Eastern Europe (Slovak director and sets)  it goes with the considerably less sexy revisionist approach that far from bathing in virgins' blood to preserve her eerie beauty, the real Erszebet Bathory was a much-persecuted lady unjustly victimised by the Hapsburgs (and history) because she was rich and Protestant. So it was all about the Great Powers and the class struggle in the end after all! um, perhaps not quite enough to sustain two and half hours, even if they do throw in a couple of investigative friars from The Name of the Rose just to liven thing up a bit. Quite extraordinarily bad, but what's most mystifying is that there are glimmers of really good supporting work (some of the music, for instance, is proper period and beautifully performed, and surprisingly large chunks of dialogue are in Hungarian, everybody says "Erszebet" with the right accent etc) which would be more at home in proper 'art' films.


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 5, 2013)

*I Want To Live* (1958) Brilliant performance by Susan Hayward and well worthy of her Oscar win. Only downside fer me was the jazz soundtrack which got on me tits at times. I enjoyed it anyways....


----------



## Thimble Queen (Mar 5, 2013)

The old project x film with the chimps... Sadface


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 5, 2013)

True Confessions - The DeNiro/Duvall 1940s set drama.

Haven't seen this in over 20 years as it had little impact on me the first time around. Great performances from the 2 leads, the film looks great, but it's let down by three great stories which never really get told with the time, depth and detail they really require.

There's a whole mish mash of things going on from the Cain and Abel story of DeNiro/Duvall, The funding of church backed construction projects from 'dirty money' and the Black Dahlia murder. All good, meaty stuff which could have made for an absolute masterpiece of cinema, but it never really comes together. Some lazy directing and it all feels cut short in many ways. Some very good dialogue and Duvall stands out ahead of DeNiro in terms of acting and screen presence. Good supports from Charles Durning and Burgess Meredith too.

It's a good film, just not good enough.


----------



## Silverghost (Mar 5, 2013)

Skyfall ..the pirated DVD version, cheers very much.

I never thought I'd feel almost apathetic for M's end.. 

Irregardless, I don't know how I'm ever going to watch another Bond movie without Dame Judy Dench.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 5, 2013)

Silverghost said:


> Skyfall ..the pirated DVD version, cheers very much.
> 
> I never thought I'd feel almost apathetic for M's end..
> 
> Irregardless, I don't know how I'm ever going to watch another Bond movie without Dame Judy Dench.


 
CHEERS FOR SPOILING THE FILM YOU FUCKING DICK


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 5, 2013)

Finished watching the second season of Game of Thrones. I'm glad I came to this late. The idea of watching this when it was first on, and then waiting for a year for series 3? Torture. Now I just have to wait a few weeks.

Also checked out the first few episodes of the HBO's Brooklyn based comedy, Girls. Really funny despite the show depicting a Brooklyn I don't really know.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 5, 2013)

Watched Untouchable last night.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Untouchable-DVD-François-Cluzet/dp/B008OGI2RK

Definitely going to watch it again


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 6, 2013)

Yetman said:


> CHEERS FOR SPOILING THE FILM YOU FUCKING DICK


 
Look away now to avoid these other spoilers

Butch and Sundance get shot

The Death Star gets blown up

Michael takes over as the Godfather

More than a million people live in Dallas, and so Debbie can't be said to have _done_ it


----------



## Yetman (Mar 6, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Look away now to avoid these other spoilers
> 
> Butch and Sundance get shot
> 
> ...


 
Anything older than ten years is fair game. Brand new films are different. That's what spoiler tags are there for no?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 6, 2013)

Yetman said:


> That's what spoiler tags are there for no?


 
Indeed.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 6, 2013)

Started watching The Front Line last night, but just couldn't seem to get into it the same way I got into Brotherhood, My Way etc.


----------



## Lea (Mar 6, 2013)

Watched Dangerous Liaisons last night. John Malkovich's character, Valmont, is so disgusting. I fail to see how any woman can be attracted to him!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 7, 2013)

Seven Psychopaths - Enjoyable light hearted violence!


----------



## Deronda (Mar 7, 2013)

I'm re-watching Breaking Bad in preparation for the final half of season 5 to come out this summer


----------



## Yetman (Mar 7, 2013)

The Sum of All Fears - alright, only half way through it now. 7/10 (so far)

Smashed - Jesse out of BB is an alcoholic (well, nearly) and his mrs gives up drinking. They drift. Very sad.

Some other one, fairly big one. Can't remember what it is. Recent as well. Damn.


----------



## ringo (Mar 7, 2013)

Rewatching series 1 of Breaking Bad with the Mrs as she didn't like it the first time but has now been convinced of its greatness.

Lovefilm DVDs to watch :- Seven Pyschopaths, should be good; Sweeney, should be shit.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 7, 2013)

ringo said:


> vefilm DVDs to watch :- Seven Pyschopaths, should be good; Sweeney, should be shit.


 
Watched Seven Psychopaths last night an enjoyed it as a self knowing romp with some witty dialogue and a few good performances from actors not taking themselves too seriously.

Watched The Sweeney a few days back and didn't enjoy it as a pointless romp with some clunky dialogues and a few GEEZER-SIZED performances from actors taking themselves too seriously.


----------



## magneze (Mar 7, 2013)

Argo
Excellent - can see why it won four Oscars. It's a great story and really well acted and put together all the way through.

Looper
It's an alright thriller, but the ending can be seen a mile off. Still an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Dredd
Pretty gory and violent but a great action film. It doesn't try and be anything other than that and it works really well.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 8, 2013)

Bubba Ho Tep - Watched it with Jnr......Silly, but fun.


----------



## ringo (Mar 8, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Watched Seven Psychopaths last night an enjoyed it as a self knowing romp with some witty dialogue and a few good performances from actors not taking themselves too seriously.
> 
> Watched The Sweeney a few days back and didn't enjoy it as a pointless romp with some clunky dialogues and a few GEEZER-SIZED performances from actors taking themselves too seriously.


 
Just realised I have 13 Assassins, not 7 Psychos


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 8, 2013)

ringo said:


> Just realised I have 13 Assassins, not 7 Psychos


 
Hey man, 6 more killers can never be a bad thing.....


----------



## belboid (Mar 8, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Hey man, 6 more killers can never be a bad thing.....


the Magnificent Thirteen, doesnt have quite the same ring to it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 8, 2013)

belboid said:


> the Magnificent Thirteen, doesnt have quite the same ring to it.


 
Fair point....and it would have gone on for about another 3 hours.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 8, 2013)

ringo said:


> Just realised I have 13 Assassins, not 7 Psychos


 
Be thankful. Miles better film an' all.


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 8, 2013)

Had ta sit through series 2 of the walkin dead wiv t'other half last night, What a bleedin borefest Wooo look a zombie....an another woooo.. and that pillock wiv his shiny hat it must get buffed up fer everytime he goes on set. Oh and that bird wiv her stupid exppressions all the time. Dont no what people see in it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 8, 2013)

watched all of Galacticas internet mini series 'Blood and Chrome'


A bit 'hoo-rah' but thats the nature of the series I suppose. Enjoyed overall, some great space battle stuff. Story was v trad sci fi, even up to the 'dying alone on an icy planet' a la Consider Phlebas, but it didn't suffer for that. CGI was more than deft.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Mar 8, 2013)

The Marcus-Nelson Murders, feature length pilot from 1973 for the Kojak series, based on the career girl murders in NYC in 1963 which lead to the establishment of the Miranda rights.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 8, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Look away now to avoid these other spoilers
> 
> Butch and Sundance get shot
> 
> ...


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 9, 2013)

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


----------



## Belushi (Mar 10, 2013)

*The Red Desert* (1964) Antonioni's first colour film, brilliant visually and in its use of sound, a fascinating study of alienation.


----------



## renegadechicken (Mar 10, 2013)

John dies at the end - very strange romp involving a drug called 'soy sauce' which turns into little bugs, phone calls from dead people, a baseball bat covered in pages of the bible and a paintball gun turned into a flamethrower oh and a dog called Bark Lee.......i enjoyed it


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 10, 2013)

Silent Witness: a documentary about how Hollywood handled the topics of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, from the Thirties to the present.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 10, 2013)

Profondo Rosso - A masterclass in Giallo. Looks and sounds brilliant. Love it.

Skin Game - James Garner and Lousi Gossett Jnr (with hair) in a film about a white man and his free black man posing as a slave and slave trader to con cash from town to town. All of which goes tits up requiring them to plan and scheme their way outta shit creek! A film clearly seen by Tarantino a few times. The last time I saw this was on a Saturday night on tv when I was about 10....and I remember enjoying then. When I enjoyed it this time too, but shame on WB for the rotten transfer to DVD which was graint as hell.....


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 10, 2013)

_The Bride Wore Black - _Jeanna Moreau as the bride hunting down her husbands killers. Good but just not quite tight enough IMO. Moreau is good though and there a some top scenes.

_Killer Joe - _poor, I'm a Matthew McConaughy fan, he doesn't get enough decent non-shitty rom-com roles but this was just a bit of a mess. It was originally a play and I often think that films adapted from plays can be problematic, far too many of the plot developments are just utterly unbelievable, and I wasn't sure whether the film was trying to go for a realistic scenario or do more of a Greek tragedy thing, in the end it doesn't work on either level.


----------



## Reno (Mar 10, 2013)

McConaughy has had a career turnaround and nothing but critical acclaim since _The Lincoln Lawyer_. He left romantic comedies behind at the end of the last decade and has carved himself a niche as the new Michael Douglas, being good as shady sleazeballs. Agree with you that _Killer Joe_ was poor. He was very good in the underrated _Bernie _and the surprisingly decent _Magic Mike._

I watched _Wild River_, a lesser known Elia Kazan film starring Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick, a low key, yet powerful drama which I prefer to his more famous films. It's about a government agent who has to evacuate a small town in 1930s Tennessee for a new dam and who is up against an old woman who refuses to leave. It's an "issue film" (the is a vital subplot about racism) which is much less heavy handed than other Hollywood films of its type of the late 50s/early 60s. Long difficult to see, now out on Blu-ray in the US, this looks glorious in Technicolor and Cinemascope.

Also _The Corridor_, a "cabin in the woods" style horror film which has an intriguing premise, but which falls apart towards the end and is undone by one of the most distractingly poor hairstyle choices ever.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 10, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> _Killer Joe - _poor, I'm a Matthew McConaughy fan, he doesn't get enough decent non-shitty rom-com roles but this was just a bit of a mess. It was originally a play and I often think that films adapted from plays can be problematic, far too many of the plot developments are just utterly unbelievable, and I wasn't sure whether the film was trying to go for a realistic scenario or do more of a Greek tragedy thing, in the end it doesn't work on either level.


 
Which was a real shame! it looked good, great cast, soundtrack etc....but yeah, it kida fell flat and is all quite forgettable aside from the chicken scene....


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> McConaughy has had a career turnaround and nothing but critical acclaim since _The Lincoln Lawyer_. He left romantic comedies behind at the end of the last decade and has carved himself a niche as the new Michael Douglas, being good as shady sleazeballs. Agree with you that _Killer Joe_ was poor. He was very good in the underrated _Bernie _and the surprisingly decent _Magic Mike._
> 
> I watched _Wild River_, a lesser known Elia Kazan film starring Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick, a low key, yet powerful drama which I prefer to his more famous films. It's about a government agent who has to evacuate a small town in 1930s Tennessee for a new dam and who is up against an old woman who refuses to leave. It's an "issue film" (the is a vital subplot about racism) which is much less heavy handed than other Hollywood films of its type of the late 50s/early 60s. Long difficult to see, now out on Blu-ray in the US, this looks glorious in Technicolor and Cinemascope.
> 
> Also _The Corridor_, a "cabin in the woods" style horror film which has an intriguing premise, but which falls apart towards the end and is undone by one of the most distractingly poor hairstyle choices ever.


 
I think of Mathew McC. as being, like Vince Vaughan, one of those stars who missed their era. His role in Lone Star suggested that his ideal era would have been that of Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do westerns. . . an era which has largely closed.

Speaking of which, last night I watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. And again, it's one of those classic westerns I should have seen years ago. I'm not going to give any of the important twists away, just to note that at times the political didacticism verged on Soviet socialist realism.

The depiction of Popeye, John Wayne's - assistant? worker? man? boy? - might well have been considered brave for its time, but is less groundbreaking than that of Sam in Casablanca which was twenty years earlier. But the reality of ethnic and racial exclusion on the frontier would probably have been a bit too much for a western of that era, especially one with Jimmy Stewart in it.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 10, 2013)

watching end of the first series of Underbelly  'Fuck you, suck on my toe jam'  mrs21 is loving it, being an Aussie and that.


----------



## Reno (Mar 10, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I think of Mathew McC. as being, like Vince Vaughan, one of those stars who missed their era. His role in Lone Star suggested that his ideal era would have been that of Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do westerns. . . an era which has largely closed.


 
My point was though that unlike the once promising Vaughn, who has only starred in sub-par comedies over the last decade, McConaughey has managed to re-invent himself as an acclaimed character actor in recent years. He's stopped doing romcoms and mostly appeared in smaller and independent films by respected directors, playing sleazy and/or unsympathetic characters and has finally been taken seriously as an actor.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 10, 2013)

He still does the shitty romcoms for spliff and bongo money though, doesn't he?


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 10, 2013)

Vaughn either didn't get the breaks, or annoyed some powerful people, or just plain squandered his talent. McC has got the better end of the deal, I agree.


----------



## Reno (Mar 10, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> He still does the shitty romcoms for spliff and bongo money though, doesn't he?


 
Not for the last few years. Starting with The Lincoln Laywer he's been romcom free, playing sleazy anti-heroes or villains in edgier films, turning his fading pretty-boy-looks to good advantage. Even Soderbergh's Magic Mike isn't a romcom. Beneath the surface glitz it's a fairly bleak film about the current economic situation in the US.


----------



## Me76 (Mar 10, 2013)

Boys Don't Cry.  I haven't seen it for ages and had completely forgotten the ending and got all shocked.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> Not for the last few years. Starting with The Lincoln Laywer he's been romcom free, playing sleazy anti-heroes or villains in edgier films, turning his fading pretty-boy-looks to good advantage. Even Soderbergh's Magic Mike isn't a romcom. Beneath the surface glitz it's a fairly bleak film about the current economic situation in the US.


I'm sure I saw a tube poster of him recently with a pic of him simpering, shirtless, in front of Sarah Jessica Parker


----------



## Reno (Mar 10, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I'm sure I saw a tube poster of him recently with a pic of him simpering, shirtless, in front of Sarah Jessica Parker


 
Why not check imdb yourself instead of banging on about recent films he hasn't been in. 

He currently is in The Paper Boy, but that's not a romcom and it doesn't star SJP.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 10, 2013)

That would take away the fun of it


----------



## DJ Squelch (Mar 10, 2013)

Marjoe (1972) - documentary following evangelist preacher Marjoe Gortner who as a 4-year-old was the "world's youngest ordained minister". Now grown up he lets a camera crew follow him around the gospel preaching circuit to exposes the tricks of the trade behind evangelism. It's fascinating to watch if utterly bonkers in places, some great gospel music too.
This documentary launched Marjoe's career as an actor and he went on to become a cult favorite in films such as Starcrash.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 10, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Vaughn either didn't get the breaks, or annoyed some powerful people, or just plain squandered his talent. McC has got the better end of the deal, I agree.


 
McC has a large and loyal female fan base.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 10, 2013)

I suspect he has a large male fan base as well


----------



## evildacat (Mar 10, 2013)

watched  'it's all gone pet tong' seen it before but really enjoy it, and the new Dredd - was pretty good much better then the previous.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 10, 2013)

*Kontroll *(2003) dark atmospheric Hungarian comedy about ticket inspectors and murder on the Budapest Metro, really enjoyed it.


----------



## Reno (Mar 11, 2013)

_Citizen Kane_, which I had not watched in a while. There is not a single shot in the film that is conventional and I'm always amazed at the sheer amount of special effects in the film.

_Paranormal Activity 4_. More of the same, but still fun and not nearly as bad as the reviews made it out to be. You either enjoy them or you don't and I do.


----------



## Maltin (Mar 11, 2013)

Reno said:


> _Citizen Kane_, which I had not watched in a while. There is not a single shot in the film that is conventional and I'm always amazed at the sheer amount of special effects in the film.
> 
> _Paranormal Activity 4_. More of the same, but still fun and not nearly as bad as the reviews made it out to be. You either enjoy them or you don't and I do.


A very unusual double bill.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 11, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Kontroll *(2003) dark atmospheric Hungarian comedy about ticket inspectors and murder on the Budapest Metro, really enjoyed it.


 
That's a great film.


----------



## wiskey (Mar 11, 2013)

Just watched Made In Dagenham which I managed to miss until now. I found it quite enjoyable.


----------



## Badgers (Mar 11, 2013)

wiskey said:
			
		

> Just watched Made In Dagenham which I managed to miss until now. I found it quite enjoyable.



Yup. We watched on Saturday night and was much better than I expected.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 11, 2013)

War Witch - very good little film about a young girl taken for a child soldier - actually fleshes out a few characters their motivations and their developments here rather than just the expected exploitation _(look how murderous he is, look at that!) _style that is so often seen in these type of films. Still pretty slight to be honest though, but what it did, it did well - interesting stylistic choices and elements of surrealism etc


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 11, 2013)

marty21 said:


> watching end of the first series of Underbelly  'Fuck you, suck on my toe jam'  mrs21 is loving it, being an Aussie and that.





> Anal sex? Must hurt like buggery


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 11, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Marjoe (1972) - documentary following evangelist preacher Marjoe Gortner who as a 4-year-old was the "world's youngest ordained minister". Now grown up he lets a camera crew follow him around the gospel preaching circuit to exposes the tricks of the trade behind evangelism. It's fascinating to watch if utterly bonkers in places, some great gospel music too.
> This documentary launched Marjoe's career as an actor and he went on to become a cult favorite in films such as Starcrash.




Starcrash guy? Wow, now that's a film. Every part of the plot goes nowhere. Gotners character can see into the future but can't act on it or tell anyone so the only part it plays in the plot is that it is mentioned.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 11, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Kontroll *(2003) dark atmospheric Hungarian comedy about ticket inspectors and murder on the Budapest Metro, really enjoyed it.


 
Yes good film, I really enjoyed it and should give it another watch sometime.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Mar 11, 2013)

marty21 said:


> watching end of the first series of Underbelly 'Fuck you, suck on my toe jam'  mrs21 is loving it, being an Aussie and that.


 
And you can have endless fun leaving your house - Open the front door, then hurriedly close it again in mock horror and exclaim "It's a jungle out there". Never gets old.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 11, 2013)

She has the best lines! She is also one of the few of the crims still alive!


----------



## Reno (Mar 11, 2013)

Maltin said:


> A very unusual double bill.


 
I don't really "theme" my own viewing. I recently bought a bunch of favourite classics on Blu-ray which I'm working my way through and I have my Lovefilm rentals.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 11, 2013)

marty21 said:


> She has the best lines! She is also one of the few of the crims still alive!


There was a site where you could buy Roberta-themed memorabilia but THE MAN shut it down


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 11, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Starcrash guy? Wow, now that's a film. Every part of the plot goes nowhere. Gotners character can see into the future but can't act on it or tell anyone so the only part it plays in the plot is that it is mentioned.


 
Marjoe's big part was in Earthquake.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 11, 2013)

Five Minutes of Heaven.  The Troubles come to Liam Neeson. The actor who plays the adult brother is very good in the role.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 11, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Five Minutes of Heaven. The Troubles come to Liam Neeson. The actor who plays the adult brother is very good in the role.


 
I really liked that - especially because it didn't have a cop out ending where everyone is reconciled. Nice bit of  casting, given that in real life Neeson and Nesbitt come from sides opposite to those of the characters they play.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 11, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Marjoe's big part was in Earthquake.


Not seen that.


----------



## Voley (Mar 11, 2013)

Submarine, as recommended by this very thread. Really enjoyed this, thanks. I cringed a lot, though. The pretentious kid reminded me a bit too much of myself at that age.  Good film, really fucking funny in places. Paddy Considine good as ever.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2013)

'i've even had a brief hat phase'


----------



## Voley (Mar 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> 'i've even had a brief hat phase'


I think it was the bit with him lying on the floor listening to French crooners that made me die a bit. I did a similar thing with classical music for, ooh, at least a week.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2013)

the whole pretentiousness and selfishness was down pat and new to me in british film.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 11, 2013)

It's uk indie flick by numbers. No effort put in whatsoever to make something even vaguely new or different. 
Sadly, this is even right down to the detail of Paddy Constantine doing a 'mad' little turn in it. 
It wasn't even based on an original book. 
People lap it up and the small amount of funding that goes to the british film industry keeps on being spent on the same old unoriginal, undaring, stagnant films, over and over again. 
Big Brother was an interesting idea for a TV programme, the people loved it. They loved it because it was fresh and new. Instead of realizing something fresh and new was exciting and interesting, the TV companies thought more reality TV  was in order. Nothing new was ever made they just made the saem old shit and copies of it. Now we have a bloody telly programme on Channel 4 of people watching telly.


----------



## Voley (Mar 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> the whole pretentiousness and selfishness was down pat and new to me in british film.


Yeah it was ace. Not a massive spoiler here but still don't want to ruin it for anyone:


Spoiler



I really liked all the conflict between the intellectual image he was trying to portray (so he could get a girlfriend) and all his mates being laddish and calling him a gaylord.  Then when he finally gets a girlfriend all she wants to do is set things on fire and spit at stuff. 


 I recall similar dilemmas from my embarrassing youth. I might watch this again before I send it back.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 12, 2013)

Jesus.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 12, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Jesus.


 
He won't help.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 12, 2013)

Started series 3 of weeds. It's fucking stupid.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2013)

one docu on the french revolution and robespierre who was more complex than I thought. And one on Long Kesh internment camp, wound me right up to see thatch giving it the biggun


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 12, 2013)

Jackpot - Lock stock derived Norwegian drivel. Loads of this stuff coming from up there recently - not necessarily a problem if done well but i've yet to see one that has been.


----------



## Reno (Mar 12, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Started series 3 of weeds. It's fucking stupid.


 
I bailed half way through season 2. Started out fun, but very quickly run its course.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 12, 2013)

The other night I watched the first episode of the original UK, House of Cards.

It was. . . OK. But I don't see why people rave about it. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the Wild Geese. While it wasn't as bad as that bloody pig's abortion of a movie, it did once again prove that no one wants Tories to try and get creative.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 12, 2013)

*Micmacs* (2009) Looks nice, but Jeunets brand of French whimsy leaves me cold.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 13, 2013)

Fear Dot Com. Shit Dot Com.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 13, 2013)

*Looper. *Genuinely brilliant, original, wellshot, cleverly art-directed for a grungy, credible near future .... and almost deflated entirely by a lazy lapse into 'evil child' cliches and excessive (and not very good) CGI in the final reel. Some good, unshowy acting (with a bit too much mumbling) and downbeat mood made it worthwhile all the same.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 13, 2013)

Hitlers Britain


A docu about hitlers plan for how he would have run britain after a successful invasion. Loads of wild speculation by talking heads, but the gem of it was when they got to the end and started having talk from the Auxiliary Units and you had kindly old grandad sorts saying 'well of course we weren't given a life expectancy of more than 25 days once the Germans had landed'

And this absolute gem from a bearded old man wrt a .22 sniper rifle 'It was the most beautiful and best made weapon I've ever handled'


Another bald headed raptor of a pensioner proudly boasted 'we had the only active, government funded resistance network in place before the nazis landed. Even the French Resistance were after the fact, we were waiting before that even happened'


CRUSH THE BOSCHE etc


----------



## Me76 (Mar 13, 2013)

Hanna.  I haven't watched an action film for ages and really enjoyed it.


----------



## starfish (Mar 13, 2013)

See No Evil. A WWE produced slasher horror starring the wrestler Kane in which your typical hot US delinquent teens get fucked up in various gruesome ways.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 13, 2013)

Me76 said:


> Hanna. I haven't watched an action film for ages and really enjoyed it.


It was ok, Hit Girl probably spoiled it a bit for me.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 14, 2013)

_A Shock to the System -_ One of those corporate America is literally murder flicks, starring Michael Caine. Not very good really, I think it was supposed to be a black comedy but it wasn't very funny to start with and gave up any attempt at humour about half-way through and just became a, not very good, crime film.

_Little Murders_ - this is a genuine black comedy and the fist half in particular is great, the wedding with Donald Sutherland as the reverend is very funny. The second half with the unsolved murders etc I didn't think worked as well.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 15, 2013)

Another Earth.

Very impressive sub-scifi film.  It's so well done it almost seems like a book sometimes.   I don't know if it has a twist at the end, it might have, it might not.   Not sure.  

It was written and directed by the same guy, sometimes that's rubbish, sometimes it's great but they only have one movie in them, sometimes blah blah.   This, by the law of averages, is the best thing Mike Cahill will ever do.


----------



## Reno (Mar 16, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Another Earth.
> 
> Very impressive sub-scifi film. It's so well done it almost seems like a book sometimes. I don't know if it has a twist at the end, it might have, it might not. Not sure.
> 
> It was written and directed by the same guy, sometimes that's rubbish, sometimes it's great but they only have one movie in them, sometimes blah blah. This, by the law of averages, is the best thing Mike Cahill will ever do.


 
This is where it might be worth pointing out that Mark Carhill co-wrote the film with Brit Marling, the lead actress. I thought Another Earth was a bit of a missed opportunity and while it was interesting, it's very much a beginners film with it's central dilemma being a bunch of Sundance approved indie movie cliches.

blah blah....


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 16, 2013)

I think the beginners aspect appealed to me a lot.  Indie also appealed, as it obviously was.   Certainly wasn't hollywood or genre or zeitgeist or anything else, it was like Monsters or (that film where it's an insecty thing taking people into the tunnel by the houses).

I want films like this.


----------



## Reno (Mar 16, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I think the beginners aspect appealed to me a lot. Indie also appealed, as it obviously was. Certainly wasn't hollywood or genre or zeitgeist or anything else, it was like Monsters or (that film where it's an insecty thing taking people into the tunnel by the houses).
> 
> I want films like this.


 
I preferred both Monsters and Absentia to Another Earth, which was just a little too self-consciously "indie" while also being rather banal in it's melodramatic redemption story line. I liked to shots of the looming "earth" in the sky and the ending was quite good.

But yes, one of the up-sides of digital film-making is that it doesn't cost a lot of money and people with ideas can get their films made without a lot of funding. Monsters was more or less funded by a credit card and Absentia was a Kickstarter project.

Two more ultra-low budget guerilla genre/art films I recently liked were the giallo homage Amer and the retro-futuristic Beyond the Black Rainbow. Both are a little more abstract and experimental.

:edit: Brit Marling's second writer/actor genre collaboration has just arrived via Lovefilm and I will watch that later on.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 16, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Micmacs* (2009) Looks nice, but Jeunets brand of French whimsy leaves me cold.


 
I am a sucker for his stuff


----------



## Voley (Mar 16, 2013)

DotCommunist said:
			
		

> Hitlers Britain
> 
> A docu about hitlers plan for how he would have run britain after a successful invasion. Loads of wild speculation by talking heads, but the gem of it was when they got to the end and started having talk from the Auxiliary Units and you had kindly old grandad sorts saying 'well of course we weren't given a life expectancy of more than 25 days once the Germans had landed'
> 
> ...



I like the sound of that. Is it the History Channel one that's on YouTube? (I'd link but my phone's awkward for stuff like that.)


----------



## 8115 (Mar 16, 2013)

I watched a film the other day called Dreams of a Life on 4od, about the lady who was found dead in North London in 2006.  It was a really good and very affecting film, dealt with a difficult subject matter (mostly) without overinvading her privacy, I've been thinking about it on and off since then.  Used an unusual mix of talking heads and reconstruction in a very effective way.


----------



## thriller (Mar 16, 2013)

Watched Mad Max 3 last night. Worst of the lot. Terrible film. Tina Turner rubbish acting. The end turned into a children's film with some of the antics. 

Part 2 has always been the best for me.


----------



## Reno (Mar 16, 2013)

Sometimes people simply don't like a sequel because it does something different. Internet consensus demands to trash it, but I find Mad Max 3 underrated. Turner is rather good and just because a film features children doesn't make it a "children's film"


----------



## thriller (Mar 16, 2013)

what's different about part 3? Underlying theme is still same. It's just shite. And the bloke who produced the first two died so that may explain why it is crap compared to the two before it. Some parts I thought I had mistakenly stumbled into a Goonies film.


----------



## Reno (Mar 16, 2013)

thriller said:


> what's different about part 3? Underlying theme is still same. It's just shite. And the bloke who produced the first two died so that may explain why it is crap compared to the two before it. Some parts I thought I had mistakenly stumbled into a Goonies film.


 

On the whole producers don't have much creative control, writer-directors do and George Miller was the creative force between all three (soon four) films. It was his brainchild. The three Mad Max films are quite different in tone, surprised you didn't notice. The first one is about society falling apart leading up to the apocalypse, the second one is soon after the apocalypse and the third film is about society putting itself back together some time later and therefore it is a more hopeful film thematically than the other two. And what I like about the trilogy is that they are three very different films while telling one consistent story.

The film was hugely popular and very well received at the time, but since then the Internet has ruled it uncool. I read identical complaints on forums again and again (OMG, it has children in it, its like a children's film ! Tina Turner is terrible !), which makes me wonder if this isn't another case where people simply follow the most popular opinion instead of looking at the film with an open mind.


----------



## thriller (Mar 16, 2013)

Reno said:


> which makes me wonder if this isn't another case where people simply follow the most popular opinion instead of looking at the film with an open mind.


 
Don't be such a patronising arse.

For me it felt rushed. Peter Panish and not as gritty as the previous 2.


----------



## Reno (Mar 16, 2013)

thriller said:


> Don't be such a patronising arse.


 
Don't be a sheep.


----------



## renegadechicken (Mar 16, 2013)

Love Bite - load of tosh - seriously do not waste your time. Timothy Spall is completely wasted in it - teens in a made up seaside town ( Clacton pier is featured heavily)  get eaten by werewolves, but only if they are virgins. Unfortunately the missus liked it.


----------



## wtfftw (Mar 16, 2013)

Can't Hardly Wait. 


Good for spotting millions of people who've been in other stuff. And generally enjoyable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 16, 2013)

NVP said:


> I like the sound of that. Is it the History Channel one that's on YouTube? (I'd link but my phone's awkward for stuff like that.)


 
aye thats the one


----------



## Voley (Mar 17, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> aye thats the one


Will have a look, ta.


----------



## Reno (Mar 17, 2013)

_The Sound of my Voice_, Brit Marling's second lo-fi science fiction (or not) indie film after _Another Earth_, both of which she co-wrote and starred in. It's about two aspiring journalists who infiltrate a cult similar to the Heaven's Gate cult, to expose the leader (well played by Marling) who is a young woman who claims to come from the future and says she has information that is vital to the survival of mankind. While evidence mounts that she is a fraud, there is one thing that may say otherwise. It meanders a little in the first half but then I thought it became genuinely gripping. Overall found it more involving and entertaining than _Another Earth_, even if it lacked that film's visual hook and has a conclusion that some may find frustrating.

I also tried to watch the 90s film of _The Puppet Masters_, but it was rubbish and I kept nodding off. With next to no effort put into characterisation, it felt like a later episode of an X-Files style TV show where I'd missed the set up. Donald Sutherland had already done this type of film with the much better 70s _Invasion of the Body Snatchers._


----------



## wtfftw (Mar 17, 2013)

Then I watched I Love You, Man (2009).  Which made me laugh (out loud) quite a lot and from the start. So that's a win for stressed out,  premenstrual, stoned viewing.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 17, 2013)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - more stylised stalk and slash from Dario Argento. A funky, cool young buck tracks down a serial killer after witnessing an attempted murder.

Lots of blood and madness, sexy victims, stylish cinematography and bizarre euro-characters that Italy seem to be masters at putting on the screen.

Oh....and a good Morricone score.

What's not to like?


----------



## starfish (Mar 17, 2013)

American Mary. A trainee surgeon enters the world of body modification & strip clubs. Needless to say theres a fair amount of blood & guts & gore.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 17, 2013)

Jackie Brown.  It was ok, not QT's best though.


----------



## renegadechicken (Mar 17, 2013)

Stitches - err well, what can be said other than i have no idea why Ross Noble agreed to do such a load of tat. A clown comes back from the dead to finish the party he died at 6 years later. Dunno which was worse really this or love bite -they weren't even so bad that they were good they were just shit.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 17, 2013)

How I Spent My Summer Vacation (or Get the Gringo as called in the US) basically a Mel Gibson actoner with Mel back to doing what he does best....playing a good bad guy in a jam and smart mouthing and shooting his way outta trouble....

....it was actually a lot of fun, but, like lots of actioners, the last 15 minutes of boring gunfights and explosions and, erm, action, got silly and offered a poor and obvious resolve to an otherwise enjoyable romp.


----------



## Reno (Mar 17, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Jackie Brown. It was ok, not QT's best though.


 
I think it is.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 17, 2013)

I agree.

_The Bridesmaid_ - late Chabrol adaptation of a Ruth Rendell story, it has lots of the Chabrol's (and Rendell's) interests in it but that's certainly no bad thing. It's rather good, with some very nice minor touches - like a policeman stepping in dog shit as he follows the lead. Chabrol really was the film making equivalent of the Fall - mining that same stream of ideas but not simply repeating it, and still producing great work after 30/40 years.

_A View of Love_ - Another French thriller, this one set with the experiences of children in Algeria as the background. Not bad, it has Toni Servillo in it which is a plus and it's done competently enough but the plot is nothing new and the Algeria stuff is handled in a pretty facile manner - both from the political and story point of view.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 17, 2013)

Reno said:


> I think it is.


It has some great performances.  Grier and Forster in particular, Fonda too.  De Niro?  I'm not sure.  He plays an idiotic loser really well but what's the point?  He's De Niro,  give him something to do.  Jason Mewes would have been better.

Keaton?   I never saw the point of Keaton, why do people think he can play a cop or superhero?   I know Tarantino likes to show off his ability to get the best out of people but there's nothing to get out of Keaton...he's inane filler and is not convincing as a man in charge of an ATF team.   Kevin Pollack could have done it much better and that's off the top of my head.

The music is not as good as Kill Bill or Pulp Fiction, either.

I enjoyed JB but I've watched all of QT's stuff recently, it's better than IB but basically lacks excitement.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Mar 17, 2013)

The Sidney Pollack film Bobby Deerfield, Al Pacino stars as an American racing driver living in Europe. I watched this to get me in the mood for the start of the F1 season but there's hardly any racing in it, instead it's a rather flat romantic drama.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 18, 2013)

The Jackie Brown soundtrack is the best one ffs


----------



## magneze (Mar 18, 2013)

Skyfall
First Bond film I've seen for years. It was good, very good in fact. Recommended.

End Of Watch
The gimmick was that this was filmed as though the protagonists were filming themselves for a project. The outcome was grimly predictable after a while. It was recommended to me, but I didn't particularly like it that much.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 18, 2013)

The last 3 episodes of Underbelly - a great series - sort of an Aussie Wire - based on the Melbourne Gang Killings of the 1990s - 2000s


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

The Sopranos pilot. Pretty good.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 18, 2013)

marty21 said:


> The last 3 episodes of Underbelly - a great series - sort of an Aussie Wire - based on the Melbourne Gang Killings of the 1990s - 2000s


Get stuffed, comparing Underbelly with the Wire is like comparing Lock, Stock with Le Cerle Rouge.

It's a badly acted, poorly scripted, mediocre piece of trash that passes the time well enough but it is not by any stretch of the imagination great.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Mar 18, 2013)

"Splice" - not bad, quite scary and disturbing on parts


----------



## marty21 (Mar 18, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> Get stuffed, comparing Underbelly with the Wire is like comparing Lock, Stock with Le Cerle Rouge.
> 
> It's a badly acted, poorly scripted, mediocre piece of trash that passes the time well enough but it is not by any stretch of the imagination great.


 Well, I liked it


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 18, 2013)

Sure, but that's a completely different matter from it being great, or like the Wire (have you actually seen the Wire, Underbelly is nothing like it)

I have a soft spot for the Mentalist, but I'm not claiming that it's anything other than a slightly better than average competently made police procedural. 

The Wire is great, Edge of Darkness is great, Underbelly is not great.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

Horrible bosses. 
Bit crap and a bit of a cop out.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 18, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> Sure, but that's a completely different matter from it being great, or like the Wire (have you actually seen the Wire, Underbelly is nothing like it)
> 
> I have a soft spot for the Mentalist, but I'm not claiming that it's anything other than a slightly better than average competently made police procedural.
> 
> The Wire is great, Edge of Darkness is great, Underbelly is not great.


I have seen the Wire - it is great - I said that Underbelly was 'sort of' like the Wire -
Mrs21 thought Underbelly was great - she is Australian


----------



## belboid (Mar 18, 2013)

A Separation - utterly stunning film.  Superb for every second, gripping and heart-wrenching.  Unmissable.

Beasts of the Southern Wild - utter, utter wank. Just horrid.

The Thick of It - Series 1.  Great stuff, even with Langham getting one line per episode that, in view of later events, does make you kinda cringe.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2013)

I attempted to watch Skyfall, but it was a load of wank, so I switched it off.
I also ended up watching We Bought A Zoo, mainly cos I have the hots for Scarlett Johannsen. Typical syruppy toss from Cameron Crowe


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 18, 2013)

I liked Skyfall - mainly cos it didn't feel like a Bond movie.

Dredd - a mess. I mean, haven't they seen The Raid that shot on a even lower budget but superior in every way?


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> I liked Skyfall - mainly cos it didn't feel like a Bond movie.


I think that's why I _didn't_ like it!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

I watched episode one of Fringe. 
Turns out it is nothing to do with hair.

I was not majority impressed, and it has that idiot form Dawson in it. Is  it worth sticking with?


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I watched episode one of Fringe.
> Turns out it is nothing to do with hair.
> 
> I was not majority impressed, and it has that idiot form Dawson in it. Is it worth sticking with?


i don't think so, but i didn't give it much of a chance
i do like john noble though.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I watched episode one of Fringe.
> Turns out it is nothing to do with hair.
> 
> I was not majority impressed, and it has that idiot form Dawson in it. Is it worth sticking with?


It gets better IMO. Much better than X-files, which it was clearly inspired by.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 18, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> ...I have a soft spot for the Mentalist, but I'm not claiming that it's anything other than a slightly better than average competently made police procedural.....


Just a sherlock rip-off imo.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 18, 2013)

an unintended Spanish / Latin American theme emerged over the weekend...

*Julia's Eyes *I'd been meaning to rent this, then copped out because I was too scared and thought it would be all misogynist stalk 'n slash torture porn, which is not my personal cup of congealed blood. But this film is not in that style  ... it's more like a rather chilly, beautifully-shot, classy old-fashioned psychological thriller (but yes there is gore.) Brilliant central performance and generally conjures that sense of more melancholy than mania - it's of a piece with other Guillermo del Toro-produced stuff like _The Orphanage_  or _Hierro._

*Even the Rain *is a rather humourless, PC, film-within-a-film, which nests the tale of  a dodgy low-budget Spanish film crew's recreation of Columbus' landing in the Americas, and the Catholic debates over whether 'indios' had souls which followed, into a recreation of Bolivia's "water war" (strikes and oprising over water privatization in Cochabamba) in the early 2000s. All very didactic in parts and the stagey "look, history's still repeating itself!! Spaniards still exploiting indigenous Americans, do you see?" moments are a bit obvious. But it's got a terrific cast (including Gael Garcia Bernal) acting up a storm and there are some really subtle, personal moments which emerge from the tensions among the crew-within-the-film. And it's not stupid, and it's got its heart in the right place ... unlike the makers (and many of the characters) in:

*Apocalypto *... which I got sucked into re-watching... again ... even though I'm pretty convinced by now that it's a Nietzchean (almost neonazi) allegory which spits on the cultural legacy of the real Mayans, as well as being a lazy remake _of Tintin and the Empire of the _Sun and a couple of poor B-movie "man is the real prey" chase movies as well. Say what you like about that monster Mel Gibson but he knows how to build the tension ... if you watch it on a non-ad-having TV channel it is pretty hard to rip yourself away. (at least not before the jaguar rips the face off that guy.)


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> It gets better IMO. Much better than X-files, which it was clearly inspired by.


 
I am told (by wiki) that it has a proper arc and end, this is why I gave it a go. If this is not true I am not sure I can give it any more of my time. Not a lot happened in 45 minutes.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I am told (by wiki) that it has a proper arc and end, this is why I gave it a go. If this is not true I am not sure I can give it any more of my time. Not a lot happened in 45 minutes.


It does have a proper arc which seems at least half thought out from the start. It gets a lot better, and Noble's character is ace.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> It does have a proper arc which seems at least half thought out from the start. It gets a lot better, and Noble's character is ace.


WHo is noble?


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> WHo is noble?


The mad professor.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

Oh right. 

I am thinking about it and I am not sure I can watch any more of that Dawsons guy. Does he die at some point?


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh right.
> 
> I am thinking about it and I am not sure I can watch any more of that Dawsons guy. Does he die at some point?


Peter, the main character? Nah, he sticks around. I never saw Dawsons so don't have any bad associations.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> It gets better IMO. Much better than X-files, which it was clearly inspired by.


 
I didn't think it was better. While the overall mythology of Fringe is more interesting, both shows were mainly "monster of the week" shows and those episodes never worked as well for me with Fringe. Fringe is OK if you are a real sci-fi buff, but unlike The X-Files, which for a while was the most talked about US drama on the telly, Fringe didn't have the ability to draw in those who aren't.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> I didn't think it was better. While the overall mythology of Fringe is more interesting, both shows were mainly "monster of the week" shows and those episodes never worked as well for me with Fringe. Fringe is OK if you are a real sci-fi buff, but unlike The X-Files, which for a while was the most talked about US drama on the telly, Fringe didn't have the ability to draw in those who aren't.


Maybe because the X-files were more of a novelty in terms of contents? It had JFK conspiraloonery, alien abductions, Men in Black, NWO angst etc etc all rolled up in one - at a time when these things were massively on the public radar. X-files had some outstanding single episodes, but the bigger arcs were usually pretty shit.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> I liked Skyfall - mainly cos it didn't feel like a Bond movie.


 
Skyfall was the first Craig Bond that actually felt like a traditional Bond film to me. And I love the Bond films.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Peter, the main character? Nah, he sticks around. I never saw Dawsons so don't have any bad associations.


I don't think I watched it either, I think I must have caught trailers or something. He just annoys me. All of the Dawsons annoy me. That was some incredible casting.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Maybe because the X-files were more of a novelty in terms of contents? It had JFK conspiraloonery, alien abductions, Men in Black, NWO angst etc etc all rolled up in one - at a time when these things were massively on the public radar. X-files had some outstanding single episodes, but the bigger arcs were usually pretty shit.


 
I liked that The X-Files had a format where it could encompass anything from horror to sci-fi and from dead serious drama to comedy. People now always go on about how the arch of X-Files was shit, but at least they started out well and in any case, those arch episodes where rarely more then 6 out of 24 episodes a year. They made up a relatively small part of a show which was always meant to be a "monster of the week" show.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> I liked that The X-Files had a format where it could encompass anything from horror to sci-fi and from dead serious drama to comedy. People now always go on about how the arch of X-Files was shit, but at least they started out well and in any case, those arch episodes where rarely more then 6 out of 24 episodes a year.


I think Fringe is pretty similar in that whilst the comedy isn't quite as prevalent as an episode framer, it still varies quite a lot between crime procedural, horror, scifi and occasionally fantasy. Personally I thought that as the X-files went on the arches went from promising to crap and then simply annoying.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

I never dug the X files. I never managed to get into it at all, and I like sci-fi and wot not.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I think Fringe is pretty similar in that whilst the comedy isn't quite as prevalent as an episode framer, it still varies quite a lot between crime procedural, horror, scifi and occasionally fantasy. Personally I thought that as the X-files went on the arches went from promising to crap and then simply annoying.


 

...but as I said, I didn't care, as most of The X-Files never was about the overall mythology.
Not sure why Fringe didn't click with me, I really wanted to like it but it had the oposite problem of the X-Files. I found it boring when it didn't focus on the mythology and a lot of the time it didn't. It's individual cases which got wrapped up in an episodes were rarely that great.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...but as I said, I didn't care, as most of The X-Files never was about the overall mythology.
> 
> Not sure why Fringe didn't click with me, I really wanted to like it but it had the oposite problem of the X-Files. I found it boring when it didn't focus on the mythology and a lot of the time it didn't. It's individual cases which got wrapped up in an episodes were rarely that great.


Horses for courses innit. I adored the first 3-4 seasons of X-Files, but by the time Duchovny left I couldn't be arsed anymore. Which reminds me, I've gotta catch up on Fringe again, started S4 and then my viewing petered out for various reasons.


----------



## Badgers (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:
			
		

> The Sopranos pilot. Pretty good.



Seen any before?


----------



## ringo (Mar 18, 2013)

13 Assassins - not bad, haven't watched anything similar for ages so quite enjoyed it, although by the end I was almost too drunk to read the subtitles.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Horses for courses innit. I adored the first 3-4 seasons of X-Files, but by the time Duchovny left I couldn't be arsed anymore. Which reminds me, I've gotta catch up on Fringe again, started S4 and then my viewing petered out for various reasons.


 
When Duchovny left so did I, but that wasn't till season 8.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2013)

did it carry on with just scully then?
i must have jumped ship waaay before that


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> When Duchovny left so did I, but that wasn't till season 8.


Was it that late? I must've jumped earlier then. It's fair to say it's been a while, so my memories are a tad hazy.


Orang Utan said:


> did it carry on with just scully then?
> i must have jumped ship waaay before that


Nah, they got Robert Patrick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Patrick in as his replacement John Doggett.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

Badgers said:


> Seen any before?


Only the odd episode here and there, we're aiming to do the whole show.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

I watched the first three episodes of the French supernatural series Les Revenants. It's about some of the dead (among them a serial killer) returning to a French small town and how their nearest and dearest cope with it. Not really a zombie show as the returnees are pretty much like humans, though it looks like there might be some surprises in store. Very good so far.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2013)

sounds like that crap zombie book that the fella wot rote Let The Right One In dun


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> sounds like that crap zombie book that the fella wot rote Let The Right One In dun


 
Yes, it's a similar premise, just not shit. I have a suspicion that the book was ripped off from the film Les Revenants from 2003, which the TV series is based on. It's a good premise, it's just that the book never got any sort of plot going.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 18, 2013)

TruXta said:


> The Sopranos pilot. Pretty good.


 
Having watched the Sopranos (start to finish) around 4 times now, it's quite amazing how much of season one (and the pilot) informed the basis for everything that happened throughout the entire run of the show. Key events, characters and even locations became the core of everything that followed. There were characters that had few, or no lines, in season 1 that went to have their own storylines. What was also great about the Sopranos was the allowing some storylines to just go unresolved from season to season, and sometimes they would just be allowed to fade away, while other, seemingly, unimportant stories or characters would rise to the top.

I still think it's the best thing HBO ever did,it was unconventional story telling delivered in the conventional drama setting of a gangster story.

I recall an interview with David Chase when he said that after he'd aired the first 'Tony Soprano dream sequence/vision' and people stayed tuned in and viewing figures increased a week later that he knew he could take the characters anywhere because his audience was now with them and cared about them.

Season 2 was a benchmark of TV drama for me, but season 1 re-wrote all the rules.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 18, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Having watched the Sopranos (start to finish) around 4 times now, it's quite amazing how much of season one (and the pilot) informed the basis for everything that happened throughout the entire run of the show. Key events, characters and even locations became the core of everything that followed. There were characters that had few, or no lines, in season 1 that went to have their own storylines. What was also great about the Sopranos was the allowing some storylines to just go unresolved from season to season, and sometimes they would just be allowed to fade away, while other, seemingly, unimportant stories or characters would rise to the top.
> 
> I still think it's the best thing HBO ever did,it was unconventional story telling delivered in the conventional drama setting of a gangster story.
> 
> ...


Guess that's a good reason to continue watching.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 18, 2013)

Just gone through 3 eps of American Ghost Story.

Already feels a little strung out, but it's very enjoyable. Jessica Lange is marvellous.

The cross blending of episodic and continued drama works for now....but not sure how long that can keep up.


----------



## silverfish (Mar 18, 2013)

7 psychopaths, I enjoyed it but then its full of "interesting" actors not sure about the plot though, I think I may have missed a plot twist at the end but I'm not sure, was there one


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2013)

ringo said:


> 13 Assassins - not bad, haven't watched anything similar for ages so quite enjoyed it, although by the end I was almost too drunk to read the subtitles.


 
I keep meaning to watch this, I used to be a mad keen Miike fan, but he hasn't made anything interesting for years.
Unless 13 Assassins is good that is.
Even his early shit films like Sliver have something about them.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Just gone through 3 eps of American Ghost Story.
> 
> Already feels a little strung out, but it's very enjoyable. Jessica Lange is marvellous.
> 
> The cross blending of episodic and continued drama works for now....but not sure how long that can keep up.


 
"American Horror Story"

The first season is pretty good, but the second one is better. This series is forever on the brink of collapse with all the craziness that goes on, but manages to pull it off. There is nothing on the telly quite like it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> "American Horror Story"


 
Terrible and forgettable title.....


----------



## 8115 (Mar 18, 2013)

Looper, it's so good   Kind of in the Inception/ Adjustment Bureau model.



Spoiler



I love the screamy kid


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Terrible and forgettable title.....


 
Yes, rubbish title. But there aren't any ghosts in the second season, each season tells a completely self contained story.


----------



## TitanSound (Mar 19, 2013)

Zero Dark Thirty. 

I found it pretty predictable and flag waving in parts. Main character was so one dimensional and most of the other characters were forgettable. 

All was forgiven when the actual raid started though. I was very, very impressed with that part of the film. Having read a lot about Delta Force/SEAL's/SAS and special ops in general, it was very realistic. Sucked me in completely.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 19, 2013)

Chinese Zodiac - Jackie Chan's last film apparently (believe it when i don't see it), utter rubbish, badly made, terribly acted and with a ludicrous plot. Rather enjoyed it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 19, 2013)

Reno said:


> Yes, it's a similar premise, just not shit. I have a suspicion that the book was ripped off from the film Les Revenants from 2003, which the TV series is based on. It's a good premise, it's just that the book never got any sort of plot going.


C4 have just snapped it up, so i shall wait and watch


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 19, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Just gone through 3 eps of American Ghost Story.
> 
> Already feels a little strung out, but it's very enjoyable. Jessica Lange is marvellous.
> 
> The cross blending of episodic and continued drama works for now....but not sure how long that can keep up.


 
Season 2 is way superior (and unrelated).


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 19, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> C4 have just snapped it up, so i shall wait and watch


The Mogwai soundtrack is good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 19, 2013)

They just scored something else didn't they?

On a tangentially related note, Sigur Ros and their frontman must be stopped from making music for films.
A mediocre film, We Bought A Zoo, was made even more mediocre by the score of twee piano licks and cooing nonsense from Jonsi


----------



## belboid (Mar 19, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> They just scored something else didn't they?


they're about to perform the Zidane soundtrack from 2006, but they havent recorded anything else.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 19, 2013)

I must have read about Les Revenents recently in a different context


----------



## Private Storm (Mar 19, 2013)

Watched Chronicle last night. Was quite an enjoyable movie, but spent most of it thinking that they completely missed the point of having superpowers.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 19, 2013)

Private Storm said:


> Watched Chronicle last night. Was quite an enjoyable movie, but spent most of it thinking that they completely missed the point of having superpowers.


Which is?


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 19, 2013)

*Robinson Crusoe on Mars* (1964) probly just put me faith back into film makin and the best fun ive had in ages a woolly monkey a guy in johnny rotten trousers lost on mars wiv the greatest crash landin in cinema history. Oh and when he does find summat too eat eventually it happens to be a plant but whats inside you ask? A sausage yeah i said a SAUSAGE... hahahaha. an it doesnt end there it gets better. Straight inter me top ten films of all time. Ahem


----------



## Reno (Mar 19, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> *Robinson Crusoe on Mars* (1964) probly just put me faith back into film makin and the best fun ive had in ages a woolly monkey a guy in johnny rotten trousers lost on mars wiv the greatest crash landin in cinema history. Oh and when he does find summat too eat eventually it happens to be a plant but whats inside you ask? A sausage yeah i said a SAUSAGE... hahahaha. an it doesnt end there it gets better. Straight inter me top ten films of all time. Ahem


This used to be on the telly a lot when I was a kid and I used to love it. Recently bought the Blu-ray, but haven't got round to watching it yet.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 19, 2013)

The adjustment bureau.

Meh.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 19, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> *Robinson Crusoe on Mars* (1964) probly just put me faith back into film makin and the best fun ive had in ages a woolly monkey a guy in johnny rotten trousers lost on mars wiv the greatest crash landin in cinema history. Oh and when he does find summat too eat eventually it happens to be a plant but whats inside you ask? A sausage yeah i said a SAUSAGE... hahahaha. an it doesnt end there it gets better. Straight inter me top ten films of all time. Ahem


Isn't that the film where he finds that burning something releases oxygen?  

I loved it when I was a kid, haven't seen it for decades.


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 19, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Isn't that the film where he finds that burning something releases oxygen?
> 
> I loved it when I was a kid, haven't seen it for decades.


 
Aye its the coal innit. he keeps havin too wake up every hour coz his oxygen runs out around then, so he designs himself an homemade alarm clock which makes the most horrendous noise when it goes off.. Even the little monkey has its own oxygen tanks.. Funny funny film.


----------



## Reno (Mar 19, 2013)

Watched the last two episodes of Les Revenants and it is one of the best horror TV series I've seen. Things gradually get more weird and spooky as the series goes on. Though there is no comedy, what it reminded me most of is Lars von Trier's Riget/The Kingdom, it has a similar sense of foreboding. While it answers some questions by the end, it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Just as well season 2 is already in the works. Also one of the most beautiful looking TV series I've seen, it often reminded my of the work of photographer Gregory Crewdson.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 20, 2013)

Oil City Confidential

(((((Lee Brilleaux's mum)))))


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 20, 2013)

_Frenzy - _Not bad, but a lesser Hitchcock. I was quite surprised by how overtly sleazy both London and the characters are, rather different from most Hitchcock. Also weird seeing a young Anna Massey.

_Flower of Evil_ - Another late Chabrol and very good again.


----------



## Private Storm (Mar 20, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Which is?


Well, they got the flying sorted out, good start. And they twatted about looking cool in front of girls, so another step in the right direction. But when he's trying to get money, he goes very nickel and dime, should be thinking banks, gold reserves, high class jewellers, that kind of thing. And you'd be looking at fighting crime within hours, surely?


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 20, 2013)

Hara-Kiri - Miike redo of an old classic. Surprisingly well done. No showing off. I wish he did more like this.


----------



## Reno (Mar 20, 2013)

Dreams of a Life, the documentary about the London woman who had been dead in her flat for three years. Potentially interesting story, but a poor documentary, with the director clumsily imposing her artistic vision on the subject matter. I don't mind reconstructions, the recent The Imposter used them rather well, but here they were used too much, dragging out a film for which they didn't quite manage to collect enough material. The lengthy musical scenes which were some sort of substitution for the woman's imagined interior life were terrible. I believe her family refused to take part and that's a major hole in the story as was the absence of any wider context. I was left with lots of questions and not in a good way.


----------



## Mapped (Mar 21, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Oil City Confidential
> 
> (((((Lee Brilleaux's mum)))))


 
I loved this, almost made me want to take a trip to Canvey Island


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 22, 2013)

Freeze/Freeze Me

http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0266555/

Strange film


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 22, 2013)

Mapped said:


> I loved this, almost made me want to take a trip to Canvey Island


----------



## Mapped (Mar 22, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


>


 
I've been before. I did a uini geography field trip there on technological and man made hazards


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 22, 2013)

Mapped said:


> I've been before. I did a uini geography field trip there on technological and man made hazards


 
oh right


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 22, 2013)

Seven  Psychopaths- Very enjoyable and very funny with a plot that that is full of gaps, detours and a dead end but still manages to hold itself together magnificently.Brilliant long standing and repeated quip about Farrells drink problem and nice cameo by Tom Waits.


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

I re-watched the first three episodes of Todd Haines' *Mildred Pierce* HBO mini-series starring Kate Winslet. It's an adaptation of the James M. Cain novel which sticks closer to the story than the Joan Crawford noir-melodrama from the 40s. Had it been a film, it would have been among my two or three favourites of 2012 and it feels more like a six hour film than a TV series.

Together with _Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story_ (a biopic enacted by Barbie dolls) and _Safe_ with Julianne Moore (my favourite film of the 90s), it's the best thing Haines has done. It's also a far better homage to the Hollywood melodrama than his Douglas Sirk pastiche _Far From Heaven_ and it's one of the rare successful remakes of a classic film, by taking a completely different approach. In terms of art direction alone it does for the 1930s what Mad Man does for the 60s, it's fantastic too look at.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 22, 2013)

Thor.

I got about 10 minutes into it's CGI bollocks and gave up. They were just about to go on some mission. Does it pick up?


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Thor.
> 
> I got about 10 minutes into it's CGI bollocks and gave up. They were just about to go on some mission. Does it pick up?


Yeah, it gets better, but it's still quite silly. I like silly so that's ok.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 22, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Yeah, it gets better, but it's still quite silly. I like silly so that's ok.


There was nothing silly about the bit I saw. Just boring. Nothing silly happened. I don't mind silly films.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> There was nothing silly about the bit I saw. Just boring. Nothing silly happened. I don't mind silly films.


Well, it gets a lot sillier is all I can say. And less boring too.


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

Thor is silly. It's not that memorable but it has charm and it makes a nice change from all those superhero films that take themselves way too seriously. Eventually plays out more like an 80s fish out of water comedy along the lines of Splash!


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> Thor is silly. It's not that memorable but it has charm and it makes a nice change from all those superhero films that take themselves way too seriously. Eventually plays out more like an 80s fish out of water comedy along the lines of Splash!


Good spot - there is something quite 80s about it. Maybe it's having a beefcake lead actor.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 22, 2013)

Ok I will give the rest of it a punt.

I just about managed Avengers (in two or three goes).


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 22, 2013)

I watched species to pass some time. You'd think Ghandi getting together with Mr Blond, Ghost Dog, Dr Octopus and CSI Willows to track down a sexy stripping Alien would be be a cracking film wouldn't you?

Then I put on Species 2......and fell asleep.....


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

I like_ Species_, it's one of those bad films that get just enough right to be entertaining and whatever is terrible (the dialogue and the Airplane!-style deadpan performances by a good cast who know they are in a bad film) only enhances the fun. _Species 2_ is a seriously bad film .........but somehow still lurid fun.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2013)

tried to watch prometheus but it wasn't very good so I sacked it off and watched a documentary about insects which was good


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> tried to watch prometheus but it wasn't very good so I sacked it off and watched a documentary about insects which was good


It gets better.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2013)

I was well made up to see brit representin, my man riccoletto, assassin to the borgia cardinal cesare. But he didn't kill anyone so my attention waned


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

TruXta said:


> It gets better.


...it's silly though.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...it's silly though.


Of course. You can't really compare it to the Aliens movies (first three anyway), as that makes it seem that much worse. Luckily I didn't have my hopes up before seeing it.

In a way I think of Pitch Black as the best Aliens movie since Alien 3.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2013)

Shame about the sequel


----------



## starfish (Mar 22, 2013)

Crushed - Man has one night stand with neighbour who is a bit mental. Mental neighbour then goes even more mental as man rejects her, he is already engaged of course. Theres lots of blood, guts, gore & a fair bit of torture. Im not usually one for wincing at these types of films but one scene in particular did make me go wteffingf ouch that mustve hurt


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Shame about the sequel


I've a soft spot for it, truth be told. Isn't the third one in production now?


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2013)

has been for ages, I'm hoping they pare it down. I think there was a good film in chronicles of, drowned in bloat


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> has been for ages, I'm hoping they pare it down. I think there was a good film in chronicles of, drowned in bloat


I saw some rumours saying it would be more in line with PB rather than CoR.


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

I like Pitch Black but always thought Vin Diesel was the least interesting thing about it, hence sequel fail.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2013)

I always identified with the cowardly vino swilling englishman in pitch black.


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I always identified with the cowardly vino swilling englishman in pitch black.


And he has a rather ace death scene directly inspired by Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> I like Pitch Black but always thought Vin Diesel was the least interesting thing about it, hence sequel fail.


I like Vin, he seems quite humble about the whole stardom thing. Not a great actor or nuffink of course.


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I like Vin, he seems quite humble about the whole stardom thing. Not a great actor or nuffink of course.


The whole macho asthma voiced anti-hero thing gives me the hives. I really liked Radha Mitchell though who really was the main character. I think it's the first film I ever saw here in and she's been a likeable lead in genre films since.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> The whole macho asthma voiced anti-hero thing gives me the hives. I really liked Radha Mitchell though who really was the main character. I think it's the first film I ever saw here in and she's been a likeable lead in genre films since.


I didn't remember it was her in Silent Hill until I saw it on IMDB just now  And PB was made 13 years ago  #toofuckingold


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I like Vin, he seems quite humble about the whole stardom thing. Not a great actor or nuffink of course.


 

the monolouge that opens pitch black is his finest hour for me. 


They say most of your brain shuts down in cryo-sleep. All but the primitive side. The animal side. No wonder I'm still awake. Transporting me with civilians, sounded like 40, 40 plus. Heard an Arab voice; some hoodoo holy man. Probably on his way to New Mecca. But what route? What route? Smell of a woman – sweat, boots, toolbelt leather. Prospector type, free settlers. And they only take the back roads. And here's my real problem. Mr. Johns. Blue eyed devil. Plannin' on taking me back to Slam. Only this time he picked a ghost lane. A long time between the stops. A long time for something to go wrong.


----------



## Reno (Mar 22, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I didn't remember it was her in Silent Hill until I saw it on IMDB just now  And PB was made 13 years ago  #toofuckingold


She barely was given a role to play in Silent Hill, but she was great as the plucky tour guide in Rogue, the Citizen Kane of giant crocodile pics.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> the Citizen Kane of giant crocodile pics.


 
A never-seen-before sentence to say the very least


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 22, 2013)

Compliance. Fast food restaurant receives call from hoaxer pretending to be a cop. Manager then holds employee while she's strip searched and more. Based on true events. It's all a bit WTF! and like The Imposter it's easy to sit and think "Did they really believe that?"  There were apparently 70 similar crimes though. It would've been better if it had some background to the characters maybe and I didn't see why they needed to 'out' the hoaxer midway through the film.


----------



## Motown_ben (Mar 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> Watched the last two episodes of Les Revenants and it is one of the best horror TV series I've seen. Things gradually get more weird and spooky as the series goes on. Though there is no comedy, what it reminded me most of is Lars von Trier's Riget/The Kingdom, it has a similar sense of foreboding. While it answers some questions by the end, it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Just as well season 2 is already in the works. Also one of the most beautiful looking TV series I've seen, it often reminded my of the work of photographer Gregory Crewdson.[/quot
> 
> Heard a few good things about this and your post has inspired me to go look for a torrent of it now. cheers.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 23, 2013)

Les Revenants coming to channel 4, although I think I'll download it too

http://www.channel4.com/info/press/programme-information/rebound


----------



## Reno (Mar 23, 2013)

I wouldn't have downloaded Les Revenants if I'd known it will be on Channel 4, simply because it's a beautifully shot series and the downloads I found aren't that great quality wise. If you have a large telly, wait for the Channel 4 screening and ideally watch it in HD.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 23, 2013)

Hmm, already got 4 episodes and the rest nearly done


----------



## Reno (Mar 23, 2013)

On the other hand I want people to watch, so I can talk to someone about it as I've been borderline obsessed with it since I saw it. 

I think the cinematography of the series was strongly inspired by the artist Gregory Crewdson.

Crewdson:





Les Revenants:




Crewdson:




Les Revenants:




Crewdson:




Les Revenants


----------



## belboid (Mar 23, 2013)

A Royal Affair.

Danish historical drama, based on the attempt to move Denmark into the age of enlightenment. Entertaining and well made, its a slighlty superior costume drama, made more interesting by the fact that the vast majority have absolutely no knowledge of Danish history, so we didnt know how it'd pan out.

Well worth a watch, despite the incredibly annoying subtitles - white type on a white background really isnt a very helpful way of conveying information.


----------



## Motown_ben (Mar 23, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Les Revenants coming to channel 4, although I think I'll download it too
> 
> http://www.channel4.com/info/press/programme-information/rebound


 
Good heads up but any idea when its bening shown tho?

If i can find a torrent of decent quality with subs il probably go down that route anyway. I like to be able to watch a few back to back rather than wait a week at a time and have to ffw through the ads and stuff.


----------



## Reno (Mar 23, 2013)

Motown_ben said:


> Good heads up but any idea when its bening shown tho?
> 
> If i can find a torrent of decent quality with subs il probably go down that route anyway. I like to be able to watch a few back to back rather than wait a week at a time and have to ffw through the ads and stuff.


 
It will be shown this summer, but no date has been set yet.


----------



## JimW (Mar 23, 2013)

Coconut Revolution, documentary on the anti-mining corporation/independence uprising in Bougainville, an island part of Papua New Guinea (though really part of Solomon islands, colonial fuck up with borders) - only briefly mentioned but later leads to Sandline Affair when PNG govt tries to hire the mercs but their own army rebel, sadly onlyexpelling the mercs rather than summarily executing. Great stuff and full of amazing technical innovation etc the people made while under total blockade for years. Searched and saw it's got a few mentions on here before. Highly recommended, anyway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coconut_Revolution


----------



## Me76 (Mar 23, 2013)

The Guard. It has its moments but needed to be more consistent IMO.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> Thor is silly. It's not that memorable but it has charm and it makes a nice change from all those superhero films that take themselves way too seriously. Eventually plays out more like an 80s fish out of water comedy along the lines of Splash!


Aye, it's not a masterpiece or anything but I thought it was pretty enjoyable.




			
				Reno said:
			
		

> I really liked *Radha Mitchell* though who really was the main character. I think it's the first film I ever saw here in and she's been a likeable lead in genre films since.


Doesn't get enough (decent) roles IMO.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Mar 23, 2013)

Ill Manors. Wow. Sweaty palms. 

Big up Ben Drew!


----------



## mentalchik (Mar 23, 2013)

Just watched a cracking german thriller The Silence...........proper creepy and dark


----------



## Reno (Mar 23, 2013)

It Always Rains on Sunday, Ealing film from 1947 but not a comedy. Mixture of crime film and early kitchen sink drama. Bethnal Green housewife shelters her ex, who has just escaped from prison, under the noses of her family. Very good. Odd coincidence: the entire film takes place on the 23rd of March.


----------



## Fez909 (Mar 24, 2013)

The Conversation - Really liked it and just felt typical of the good films from that period. Saw it without knowing a thing about it, which is a rarity for me these days, and enjoyed it all the more for it!


----------



## Fez909 (Mar 24, 2013)

Err, I've just watched Alice (1988)

What. The. Fuck.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> It Always Rains on Sunday, Ealing film from 1947 but not a comedy. Mixture of crime film and early kitchen sink drama. Bethnal Green housewife shelters her ex, who has just escaped from prison, under the noses of her family. Very good. Odd coincidence: the entire film takes place on the 23rd of March.


Saw that over Xmas, really liked it. Also I thought is was surprisingly progressive in many ways for 1947


----------



## avu9lives (Mar 24, 2013)

*The Thing with Two Heads (1972)* (or a man stood behind another guys back as close as possible) hahaha. Its one hell of a fecked up movie and dont think its possible ta put into words. When they chase the escaped gorilla though and find sat in supermarket eatin bananas had me laughin like a lunatic.


----------



## Reno (Mar 24, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> Saw that over Xmas, really liked it. Also I thought is was surprisingly progressive in many ways for 1947


True, especially when compared something like Brief Encounter. Here the wife hops into bed with a convict and doesn't think twice about it. And the film doesn't  condemn her for it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 24, 2013)

Sucker Punch - a load of old toss. Wank fantasy toss.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Mar 24, 2013)

"Oil City Confidential" - excellent


----------



## Reno (Mar 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Sucker Punch - a load of old toss. Wank fantasy toss.


...your flatmate again ?


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 24, 2013)

All 3 of Nolan's Batman trilogy.   They work really well like that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...your flatmate again ?


No, me  it was £3 in Sainsbury's


----------



## mango5 (Mar 24, 2013)

Good Hair documentary by Chris Rock, examining the afro(american) hair industry.  Delivered what I was hoping for and better than I expected


----------



## Reno (Mar 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> No, me  it was £3 in Sainsbury's


You've been robbed.


----------



## Maltin (Mar 24, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Project Nim.  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/project_nim/
> 
> A documentary about a 1970s experiment to see if a chimp can be taught to communicate with humans.   Fascinating, uplifting, depressing, gripping, sometimes horrifying.   Film of Nim interspersed with interviews with those who came into contact with him.   Nim's life is shaped by those around him....it's a pity most of them were human.
> 
> However, it's amazing.


This was on BBC2 last night. Didn't get to see it last night but will watch it on iplayer.


----------



## blairsh (Mar 24, 2013)

Ill Manors - Good film but pretty grim and although it felt at one bit like it had been going on forever (it's just over 2hours) it is well worth a watch (if you want to watch something that isn't that cheery overall)

Hunger Games - Was smashed by this point so easily pleased, thought it was pretty decent if not a little cheesy.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 24, 2013)

Mad Hot Ballroom. A bit like Spellbound but with ballroom dancing. All New York schools undertake a dance programme then compete at the end.  It's ace, lots of grit in my eyes, some of the kids become amazing dancers.


----------



## golightly (Mar 24, 2013)

Maltin said:


> This was on BBC2 last night. Didn't get to see it last night but will watch it on iplayer.


 

Do watch it. It was mental.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 25, 2013)

*The Silence *- grim, earnest, depressing German crime shocker about a paeophile (double) murderer and a sidekick whose life and sanity he compromises ... and also (more widely) about death, grief, love, compromise and all of that. Beautifully photographed. Rather seedy in approach and perhaps uncomfortably close to misery porn at times. Not fun.

*The Omega Man *I'd never seen this! Stonking 70s blaxploitation soundtrack, and some really imaginative and memorable shots of deserted American cityscapes. But still painfully / laughably dated and creaky in places in its contrasting of Good Guy Survivor Charlton Heston and the Bad Guy survivors / vampires he must battle . I already knew about the un-originality of the "last man on earth" plot and that this is based on same book as I Am Legend, etc, so wasn't expecting miracles. But I honestly couldn't see why this is such a cult film (except maybe because of its being part of a streak of 70s post-apocalypse movies in general.) For me its main interest was in the freaky wig-out-ness of seeing Charlton Heston, today's uberconservative, archRepublican, face of Moses, hand of the NRA, engage with the counterculture (including shagging a black lass - a vampire to boot - and moving in with a bunch of hippies in a cult). Couldn't quite 'read' what his reaction to the surviving film of Woodstock was meant to be (rueful? ridiculing it? missing it like mad?) ... or how much irony was at play.

*Killing them Softly*  - bit of a weird one, this ... close to being a heist-goes-wrong-by-numbers effort (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Killer Joe etc), and doesn't really redefine any of the cliched gangsters-and-hitmen archetypes all that well, but it has a strange woozy pace and a welcomely eerie/unfamiliar feel to the plotting and dialogue. Absolutely corking cast, most of whom are obviously having some fun and getting involved rather than just phoning it in (James Gandolfini particularly good on this, as a character who's sort of Soprano's even-less-lovable alter ego); and tho the expressionistic camerawork goes over the top at times (OK, yes, you are slowing down the frames and pulling the focus to illustrate a heroin high, or to punch home a killing, I GET IT already ) it has moments of genuine beauty and weirdness as well. I have to love any American crime movie where Driving Ceaseless Rain and Urban Decay are (or ought to be) the lead players too. However, a note to the filmmaker: 50% or more of humanity is female ... surely there was / could have been / should have been SOME sort of female character over and above a charming-and-stroppy hooker in this screenplay?


----------



## Reno (Mar 25, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> *The Omega Man *I'd never seen this! Stonking 70s blaxploitation soundtrack, and some really imaginative and memorable shots of deserted American cityscapes. But still painfully / laughably dated and creaky in places in its contrasting of Good Guy Survivor Charlton Heston and the Bad Guy survivors / vampires he must battle . I already knew about the un-originality of the "last man on earth" plot and that this is based on same book as I Am Legend, etc, so wasn't expecting miracles. But I honestly couldn't see why this is such a cult film (except maybe because of its being part of a streak of 70s post-apocalypse movies in general.) For me its main interest was in the freaky wig-out-ness of seeing Charlton Heston, today's uberconservative, archRepublican, face of Moses, hand of the NRA, engage with the counterculture (including shagging a black lass - a vampire to boot - and moving in with a bunch of hippies in a cult). Couldn't quite 'read' what his reaction to the surviving film of Woodstock was meant to be (rueful? ridiculing it? missing it like mad?) ... or how much irony was at play.


 
I'm not sure it's that big a cult film, more an example of a decently budgeted sci-fi flick in pre-Star Wars times, when that kind of thing wasn't so common yet.The first half is not bad and the Rob Grainer score is classic, but once the albino mutants dominate the plot it gets silly and becomes another failed adaptation of I Am Legend.

When Heston made the film he was still very much a liberal. He was active in the civil rights movement, was pro-gun control and he was opposed to Vietnam. He didn't turn into a rightwing nut till the 80s. So maybe he really did enjoy Woodstock.


----------



## Me76 (Mar 25, 2013)

Don't Look Now. 

I think maybe if I was stoned it would have made more sense.


----------



## starfish (Mar 25, 2013)

Bad Biology. Possibly the silliest, most ridiculous film i have ever seen. Absolutely hilarious though.

I just read a bit about it & it was directed by the same bloke who did Brain Damage & Basket Case. That explains a lot.


----------



## Reno (Mar 25, 2013)

Me76 said:


> Don't Look Now.
> 
> I think maybe if I was stoned it would have made more sense.


It makes perfect sense when sober.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 25, 2013)

Thor. 

Bit of a nothing film.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 25, 2013)

Me76 said:


> Don't Look Now.
> 
> I think maybe if I was stoned it would have made more sense.


 
That reminds me, I have that on DVD but have never watched it. I am told it is great, but I have never been in the right mood, and then I forgot.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 25, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Thor.
> 
> Bit of a nothing film.


Totally..one of the worst of the multitude being thrown at us these days, (_I think he's there for the girls)_.   He's good in Avengers though....well he has at least one brilliant line.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 25, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Sucker Punch - a load of old toss. Wank fantasy toss.


 
I think it could have been a fairly interesting film but it did just about everything wrong. 
I think the first and maybe biggest mistake is when the leading lady fights her first CGI foes. She is a bit crap and they come at her full on and smack her right across a court yard and through a wall or something. 
Are we supposed to be worrying about her or rooting for her? She just gets up. Basically she is indestructible or something, there is no jeopardy any more, from there on in we are just watching a CGI battle play out and we know she can only win.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 25, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Totally..one of the worst of the multitude being thrown at us these days, (_I think he's there for the girls)_. He's good in Avengers though....well he has at least one brilliant line.


 
I didn't like the Avengers. Some good turns in Stark, Banner and thor though. 

I can't remember how Thor got there. He was in Asguard at the end of the movie I just watched.


----------



## kittyP (Mar 25, 2013)

Most of series 3 of Dexter. 
On Series 4 now. 
Imho series 2 was the best so far although the whole thing has a lot of sexist over/under tones. 
But maybe that is just american black comedy drama over all.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 25, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I didn't like the Avengers. Some good turns in Stark, Banner and thor though.
> 
> I can't remember how Thor got there. He was in Asguard at the end of the movie I just watched.


I didn't want to like it, tbh.  I did though.....mostly.   Stupid fucking Renner shouldn't have been in it, or some others....but it was very funny.   The action was mostly predictable and boring apart from the hulk stuff but there were touches here and there...banner and stark, like you said, things like that.

Hulk v Loki.   Could become a movie classic, that clip.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 25, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I didn't want to like it, tbh. I did though.....mostly. Stupid fucking Renner shouldn't have been in it, or some others....but it was very funny. The action was mostly predictable and boring apart from the hulk stuff but there were touches here and there...banner and stark, like you said, things like that.
> 
> Hulk v Loki. Could become a movie classic, that clip.


 
I find the fight scenes in these kind of things as dull as anything. It reminds you that a good film is not about crazy effects. It's like when the commodore 64 forgot that graphics do not make the game, the game makes the game.


----------



## Reno (Mar 25, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I find the fight scenes in these kind of things as dull as anything. It reminds you that a good film is not about crazy effects. It's like when the commodore 64 forgot that graphics do not make the game, the game makes the game.


 
I liked the dialogue scenes in The Avengers, because Whedon writes great dialogue, but I found the action scenes tedious. I wished the sequel would be a superhero ensemble drama where they just sit around and chat. The Big Chill or Diner in spandex.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 25, 2013)

I was genuinely surprised when you-know-who died....thought they'd be around forever.


----------



## Me76 (Mar 26, 2013)

Reno said:


> It makes perfect sense when sober.



After having a day to digest it a bit more, I think I enjoyed it more than I thought I did at the time. I was too busy going "what's going on there?" Rather than just watching it iykwim.


----------



## Reno (Mar 26, 2013)

Me76 said:


> After having a day to digest it a bit more, I think I enjoyed it more than I thought I did at the time. I was too busy going "what's going on there?" Rather than just watching it iykwim.


Don't Look Now is one of my favourite films and rewards re-watching. Initially it is a little tricky to figure out because the story isn't told in an entirely linear way, but it's perfectly logical if you keep in mind that Sutherland's character has been 



Spoiler



psychic all along, but doesn't realise it and therefore misinterprets his visions, which were a warning about his impending death.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 26, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I was genuinely surprised when you-know-who died....thought they'd be around forever.


Did someone die?
My god, maybe I didn't pay enough attention.


----------



## Me76 (Mar 26, 2013)

Reno said:


> .[/spoiler]


 
That spoiler makes it all make total sense!!!!!!!


----------



## Reno (Mar 26, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Did someone die?
> My god, maybe I didn't pay enough attention.


In the films a minor character who I'd previously barely noticed, though apparently it's a big deal if you read the comics.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 26, 2013)

Reno said:


> In the films a minor character who I'd previously barely noticed, though apparently it's a big deal if you read the comics.


 
Oh right, I just looked it up. Yeah, I remember him dieing. Didn't seem like that much of a big deal though.

Though apparently he is coming back to life again anyway for a new film (he pointlessly faked his death or something).


----------



## Yetman (Mar 26, 2013)

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Great film, not what I expected.
Amour -    *bursts into tears*


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 26, 2013)

Reno said:


> I liked the dialogue scenes in The Avengers, because Whedon writes great dialogue, but I found the *action scenes tedious*. I wished the sequel would be a superhero ensemble drama where they just sit around and chat. The Big Chill or Diner in spandex.


 
Lots of action sequences in films bore me. I'd like action to be tense and dangerous, where it feels like there's real risk to people and place. All the CGI crash, bang, wallop of modern films takes away all of the humanity of 70s action. I can live with a car just crashing. It doesn't have to fly into the air and explode and take a whole office block with it.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 26, 2013)

Sightseers.

How brilliant was that! Been waiting to see it for ages although I've managed to avoid reading anything other than it was going to be 'like Nuts in May', wasn't expecting Nuts in May crossed with Natural Born Killers. I loved it.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 26, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Sightseers.
> 
> How brilliant was that! Been waiting to see it for ages although I've managed to avoid reading anything other than it was going to be 'like Nuts in May', wasn't expecting Nuts in May crossed with Natural Born Killers. I loved it.


Watched that last night too - really enjoyed it, really enjoyed the two leads, very funny.


----------



## purenarcotic (Mar 26, 2013)

It's great innit? 

One of those films that the more you think about it the blacker, and funnier it is.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 26, 2013)

docu on carlos the jackal. Yallop was one of the main talking heads and was absolutely savage about carlos 'fat little fool' and other cusses. Good docu.


----------



## Me76 (Mar 27, 2013)

The Remains of the Day. I've never seen it before an wasn't expecting the political element.  Great.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 27, 2013)

Adventure Time. Various episodes.

Holy hell, this is great. I was just looking on tube plus under 'family' and this came up. I was looking for something that me and the daughter could happily sit though together.



It is genius, I am hooked.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 27, 2013)

In my quest to find something to fall asleep to on Netflix I put on Lone Wolf McQuade (safe in the knowledge that Chuck Norris is always guaranteed to put me out!) only to discover it had an absolutely cracking score by Francesco De Masi (lifting heavily from Morricone's Once Upon a Time in The West) which played almost continuous through out what turned out to be a very good euro-western styled actioner with Norris in full on Clint mode!

I had to turn it off and put a Dolph Lundgren film on instead because I was too awake listening to the music and recognizing the references to classic spag-westerns.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 27, 2013)

This is 40 - some hilarious bits, a bit long for a comedy but well worth the watch and contains a lot of stuff that mid-30's-40's people would relate to 

7.5/10


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 27, 2013)

_The Colour of Lies_ - Still working my way through Chabrol's back catalogue. This is excellent, focusing on the experience of an art teacher and his wife after he becomes a suspect in the child murder. But there are loads of other strands/characters in it all of which are dealt with brilliantly. Definitely worth checking out.


----------



## Voley (Mar 27, 2013)

Children Of Men. Good idea, crap film.


----------



## zenie (Mar 27, 2013)

Fragments

http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0948547/


----------



## Firky (Mar 27, 2013)

NVP said:


> Children Of Men. Good idea, crap film.


 
Ditto the book - think she's a rampant right wing Christian too, Baroness PD James.


----------



## kittyP (Mar 27, 2013)

Reno said:
			
		

> Don't Look Now is one of my favourite films and rewards re-watching. Initially it is a little tricky to figure out because the story isn't told in an entirely linear way, but it's perfectly logical if you keep in mind that Sutherland's character has been * SPOILER *



Don't look now is totally one of my favourite films of all time too.


----------



## kittyP (Mar 27, 2013)

zenie said:


> Fragments
> 
> http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0948547/


 
Was it good? I think it's available to stream on the love film subscription badgers got for his birthday


----------



## kittyP (Mar 27, 2013)

Just watched all of the 1st series of Perception.
Kinda cheesy but got better and better as the series went on.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 27, 2013)

Half of midnight in Paris. 
Actually quite fun so far, and has some interesting shooting. Long time since I have enjoyed a Woody Allen film. Have not watched one for years though.


----------



## frogwoman (Mar 27, 2013)

a documentary about neanderthals:





really good imo.

DotCommunist will enjoy this, other people will too x


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 28, 2013)

The first two episodes of Game of Thrones   . . . with audio commentary

I don't usually do stuff like that. Lena Headley swears like a Liverpool docker.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 28, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> The first two episodes of Game of Thrones . . . with audio commentary
> 
> I don't usually do stuff like that. Lena Headley swears like a Liverpool docker.


 
Is it worth a punt?
I hate shit like LOTR, but I'm told this is quite good.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 28, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Is it worth a punt?
> I hate shit like LOTR, but I'm told this is quite good.


 
Game of Thrones is brilliant. Believe the hype. And that's from somebody who usually steers a wide berth away from LOTR type stuff.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 28, 2013)

Mid August Lunch. Same fella who did Gomorrah, Gianni Di Gregorio. Watched it as it's filmed in Trastevere where I'm going next week. 75 minutes bout a likeable bloke living with his mum. Other elderly women are left with him to care for and they all eat some gorgeous looking food. It's a nice little feel good film.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 28, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Mid August Lunch. Same fella who did Gomorrah, Gianni Di Gregorio. Watched it as it's filmed in Trastevere where I'm going next week. 75 minutes bout a likeable bloke living with his mum. Other elderly women are left with him to care for and they all eat some gorgeous looking food. It's a nice little feel good film.


You just reminded me i have the new film from the bloke who directed Gommorah  to watch Reality.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 28, 2013)

Cheers butch, I'll check that out too. I've got another, Salt of Life to watch today.

In fact I think my mate went to see Reality at the weekend.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 28, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Cheers butch, I'll check that out too. I've got another, Salt of Life to watch today.
> 
> In fact I think my mate went to see Reality at the weekend.


Let us know what you think, may grab them two.


----------



## Mapped (Mar 28, 2013)

Yetman said:


> This is 40 - some hilarious bits, a bit long for a comedy but well worth the watch and contains a lot of stuff that mid-30's-40's people would relate to
> 
> 7.5/10


 
Mrs Mapped watched this on Sunday and told me I'd hate it, so I've deleted it off my HDD


----------



## Yetman (Mar 28, 2013)

Mapped said:


> Mrs Mapped watched this on Sunday and told me I'd hate it, so I've deleted it off my HDD


 
Ha! Yeah you probably would, it's alright like, better than a lot of comedies currently out but a bit too long and BLATANTLY sponsored by Apple!


----------



## Yetman (Mar 28, 2013)

The new Total Recall is ace btw. Flying cars and a lift to Australia (instead of Mars)


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 28, 2013)

*Searching for Sugar Man - *I was shocked. sad. sadder. happy. sad and happy again. Great documentary.


----------



## Mapped (Mar 28, 2013)

Yetman said:


> The new Total Recall is ace btw. Flying cars and a lift to Australia (instead of Mars)


 
I hated that one as well  How can an action film manage to be so boring!

Anything you recommend from now I'll give a wide berth


----------



## Yetman (Mar 28, 2013)

Mapped said:


> I hated that one as well  How can an action film manage to be so boring!
> 
> Anything you recommend from now I'll give a wide berth


 
Haha! It was only for the nostalgia that I actually watched it, and ended up enjoying it quite a lot. One bit with a flying car falling from the sky was great. Mind you I was a bit oozed up when I watched it


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 28, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Let us know what you think, may grab them two.


 
Salt of Life is a bit of a romcom, his mum in a home, he feels like he's growing old and goes looking for a lover. It's obviously supposed to follow on from Mid August Lunch but I'm sure there was a line in that about him never having had any romance in his life and then in this one he's living with a wife and daughter. It could be a Hugh Grant film. I wouldn't be in a big rush to see it tbh.


----------



## DrRingDing (Mar 28, 2013)

Blood for Dracula
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071233/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Fuck watching Stoker this is far more entertaining. You'll end up siding with the moany  and sulky Count. There's a mysoginist, rapist Leninist in it who ends up have a political arguement with Dracula.

This gets the RingDing seal of approval.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 28, 2013)

Mapped said:


> I hated that one as well  How can an action film manage to be so boring!
> 
> Anything you recommend from now I'll give a wide berth


 
Yeah me too. How a film, with a decent story behind it, millions of dollars and some brilliant effects can have me falling asleep the first time and then simply walking out due to boredom the second is beyond me.

It's probably due to the ramping up of the action and forgetting that 'the story' is what made the actual story good. There are no fancy CGI kungfu moments in books.

The Island is the prime example of this. What a fantastic film it could have been, with all sorts of interesting and difficult moral dilemmas for the audience to empathize with. 
But no. 
There is a baddie, who is consumed by badness and greed, some goodies, a double cross and impossible stunts with helicopters and BIG BIG explosions to the max. Fuck the story.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 28, 2013)

Same. Total Recall remake was shit.
I switched off less than halfway in. Just didn't give a fuck.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 28, 2013)

The Little Fugitive. 1950s film, 7 year old kid is tricked into thinking he's killed his brother and runs away to Coney Island. The acting is a bit shit but the film is great as a historical document, great footage of Coney Island. Like a weegee film.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 28, 2013)

Sightseers

It's a charming indie film on the delights of caravanning in the UK. Very funny too and the two leads give great performances


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 29, 2013)

Woke up and watched Meantime. It's still Mike Leigh's best for me. Phil Daniels and Tim Roth never gave better performances imo. (Quadrophenia and Made In Britain are on par mind).


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 29, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Salt of Life is a bit of a romcom, his mum in a home, he feels like he's growing old and goes looking for a lover. It's obviously supposed to follow on from Mid August Lunch but I'm sure there was a line in that about him never having had any romance in his life and then in this one he's living with a wife and daughter. It could be a Hugh Grant film. I wouldn't be in a big rush to see it tbh.


Ta.


----------



## 8115 (Mar 29, 2013)

I didn't think much of Salt of Life really.  It doesn't really go anywhere.

I watched Poppy Shakespeare on 4od.  It was great.


----------



## Reno (Mar 29, 2013)

I watched *My Brother the Devil*, by far the best of the recent gang/council estate dramas and certainly better than the melodramatic Ill Manors. It had a dreamy/lyrical quality that reminded me a little of Fish Tank and was a first time feature film by writer/director Sally Al Hosaini. Looking forward to what she does next, she is a talent to watch out for.

I also watched the cocaine episode of season 2 of Girls, which was hilarious.


----------



## Dandred (Mar 29, 2013)

Just watching Goodbye Lennin, can't believe it took me so long to get round to watching it. I've been meaning to watch it since I missed seeing it at a German film festival years ago.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 29, 2013)

Micmacs.  Hated it.  Quirky, annoying shite for no reason.  The only film I've liked by those guys is Delicatessen... and, um, maybe Alien Resurrection just slightly.


----------



## spawnofsatan (Mar 29, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Micmacs. Hated it. Quirky, annoying shite for no reason. The only film I've liked by those guys is Delicatessen... and, um, maybe Alien Resurrection just slightly.


 
Watch it stoned, you may change your opinion


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 29, 2013)

spawnofsatan said:


> Watch it stoned, you may change your opinion


 
I doubt it!    I remember disliking City of Lost Children (which looked like it was going to be awesome) and hated Amelie.  They have a habit of creating very irritating characters.


----------



## spawnofsatan (Mar 29, 2013)

I couldn't get on with City either, visually stunning, but it just didn't work for me.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 29, 2013)

Yeah, they got the visuals right in their films...I like weird stuff like David Lynch, etc, but he uses weirdness for a purpose (I think).


----------



## spawnofsatan (Mar 29, 2013)

Have you seen Dead man?


----------



## Reno (Mar 29, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Micmacs.  Hated it.  Quirky, annoying shite for no reason.  The only film I've liked by those guys is Delicatessen... and, um, maybe Alien Resurrection just slightly.


Same here. I liked Delicatessen, but otherwise I loathe Jeunet and Caro and their digitally over-processed, saccharine "tears of a clown" whimsy.


----------



## Reno (Mar 29, 2013)

spawnofsatan said:


> Watch it stoned, you may change your opinion


I have never seen a crap film that gets better when stoned.


----------



## belboid (Mar 29, 2013)

Tales of Hoffman.

Such a gorgeous film, and amazingly involving, considering its an opera


----------



## frogwoman (Mar 29, 2013)

Watching LOTR, I swear I haven't seen this film though. I thought I had watched all of them but I think I might have only have watched one. Now watching the part where the evil elephant things are killing everyone on the battlefield.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Mar 29, 2013)

The Master

Really good film. Loved the characters but you can tell there was crossover between it and There will be Blood. The pacing is great, really slow at times but no wastage.


----------



## Reno (Mar 29, 2013)

Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, which I hadn't watched in a few years. Still fantastic.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 30, 2013)

_Comrades - _Bill Douglas' story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Magnificent, beautiful both visually and emotionally it's three hours long but never drags. The performances are great, especially Robin Soans who I've seen in loads of things in bit part roles but never as the lead before. A Guardian review sums well


> As well as Allen, well-known names like Vanessa Redgrave, Imelda Staunton and Michael Hordern play their part, but the real star, playing the Martyrs' leader, is an actor called Robin Soans. If there was any justice, Soans's powerful, engaging performance would have made him one of the country's major actors, but it never really worked out like that, and he came to concentrate on playwrighting instead. Let's hope he gets his acting dues now.


Great.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 30, 2013)

Reno said:


> _The Sound of my Voice_ ....... has a conclusion that some may find frustrating.


 
Watched it last night. I preferred Another Earth. And the end, yes that's how I felt. I was a bit drunk mind.


----------



## frogwoman (Mar 30, 2013)

Watching "Last day of the dinosaurs" about the asteroid which killed all the dinosaurs. Enjoying it so far but I'm not sure of its scientific accuracy, I'd love it if someone recommended some more documentaries on this theme.


----------



## Reno (Mar 30, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> Watching "Last day of the dinosaurs" about the asteroid which killed all the dinosaurs. Enjoying it so far but I'm not sure of its scientific accuracy, I'd love it if someone recommended some more documentaries on this theme.


 
I worked on this:


When it comes to dinosaurs and scientific accuracy, most of it is theory and it will stay that way till someone invents a time machine.


----------



## frogwoman (Mar 30, 2013)

Reno said:


> I worked on this:
> 
> 
> When it comes to dinosaurs and scientific accuracy, most of it is theory and it will stay that way till someone invents a time machine.




wow, that looks amazing nice one!

yeah i'm just finding it a bit hard to believe that all (or the majority of) the dinosaurs went extinct in such a short time after the asteroid hit. Maybe they did though?


----------



## marty21 (Mar 30, 2013)

Parade's End - the TV series - I thought it was wonderful, really well done.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 30, 2013)

Hobbit - fell asleep
Zero dark thirty - fell asleep


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 30, 2013)

I watched The Red Ballon earlier. 1956 short film about a boy in Paris who finds a red ballon which then follows him around. Just like The Little Fugitive I watched the other day it's a real historical document as most of the areas of Paris shown are no longer. It's a wonderful little film and I can imagine people watching it at the time would be wondering how the makers got the balloon to follow the lad around. Worth half an hour of anyone's time.

Here you go...


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 30, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> I watched The Red Ballon earlier. 1956 short film about a boy in Paris who finds a red ballon which then follows him around. Just like The Little Fugitive I watched the other day it's a real historical document as most of the areas of Paris shown are no longer. It's a wonderful little film and I can imagine people watching it at the time would be wondering how the makers got the balloon to follow the lad around. Worth half an hour of anyone's time.
> 
> Here you go...



Absolutely, it's excellent, timeless.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Mar 30, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Sightseers.
> 
> How brilliant was that! Been waiting to see it for ages although I've managed to avoid reading anything other than it was going to be 'like Nuts in May', wasn't expecting Nuts in May crossed with Natural Born Killers. I loved it.


 
Thanks for that - One thing that film proves to me though - Only heroin addicts can look cool in berghaus gear.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Mar 30, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> I watched The Red Ballon earlier. 1956 short film about a boy in Paris who finds a red ballon which then follows him around. Just like The Little Fugitive I watched the other day it's a real historical document as most of the areas of Paris shown are no longer. It's a wonderful little film and I can imagine people watching it at the time would be wondering how the makers got the balloon to follow the lad around. Worth half an hour of anyone's time.


 

You ever seen the white bus? You probably have but just in case..


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 30, 2013)

I've not, but I'll check it out


----------



## Frances Lengel (Mar 30, 2013)

Mint film - Even down to the city father being a perv - Should that be covered by spoilers, I don't reckon - We had to find out the hard way about that sorta thing.


----------



## thriller (Mar 30, 2013)

Mikey and Nicky (1976). Columbo and john cassavetes re-unite. Not a bad film.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 31, 2013)

Horrid Henry The Movie

It was better than it could have been . Having Rebecca Front,  David Schneider and Richard E Grant gave it some professionalism even if they were  serving up thick slices of ham


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 31, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Thanks for that - One thing that film proves to me though - Only heroin addicts can look cool in berghaus gear.


 
Yes I have often admired their fashion sense as they stand outside the magistrates courts bumming fags


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 31, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> You ever seen the white bus? You probably have but just in case..




Great stuff. I'll tell the teenager to have a look at that, he was watching Hell is a City the other day to check out 'old' Manchester but TWB has loads more recognisable in it.


----------



## Reno (Mar 31, 2013)

The 1989 Kathryn Bigelow thriller Blue Steel. I had not seen this since the early 90s when I really liked the film. Apart from a good performance by Jamie Lee Curtis this hasn't really dated that well and the multiple implausibilites are a bit of a head scratcher. Quite stylish though.

I also re-watched the remake of Fright Night with a friend. I think it's great fun and the rare horror remake that is a genuine improvement on the original. The film runs a little out of steam towards the end but it's very well cast, Buffy screenwriter Marti Noxon writes characters and relationships of some depth and wit and there are at least a couple of genuinely great set pieces, including a car chase mostly shot in one take and a long suspenseful sequence where the hero attempts to rescue his neighbour from the vampire's house.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 31, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Hobbit - fell asleep
> *Zero dark thirty - fell asleep*


 
in the end they kill the bearded man


----------



## Reno (Mar 31, 2013)

(((((Gandalf))))))


----------



## starfish (Mar 31, 2013)

This weekend we have watched:

Fish Story - Great, fantastic. A delightfully cheeky little film.
Penumbra - Argentine/Spanish horror/thriller with a twist.
Sightseers - Fell asleep but ms starfish thought it was really good.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 31, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Hobbit - fell asleep
> Zero dark thirty - fell asleep


You don't score extra points by cribbing your reviews off Atomic Suplex.


----------



## Reno (Mar 31, 2013)

Spine Tingler, slightly superficial but entertaining documentary about B-movie schlockmeister William Castle.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 31, 2013)

Just saw Ozon's In The House. A bit uneven, not sure what I make of it really.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 31, 2013)

Second season of Girls. Not enough Adam in this season for my liking. I loved the episode where Adam and Ray travel to Staten Island.


----------



## thriller (Mar 31, 2013)

jack reacher. liked it. all this ho ha about cruise being wrongly cast - rubbish. cruise was perfect for me.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Mar 31, 2013)

Side Effects - it was alright. Rooney Mara is very good as a person with MH issues but Zeta-Jones is unconvincing, I'm not really sure she can act. Jude Law is ok.


----------



## marty21 (Mar 31, 2013)

In honour of the great Richard Griffiths - watched Withnal and I

What fucker said that !


----------



## Voley (Apr 1, 2013)

On to the last disc of series 2 of The Shield now. Things are beginning to really spiral out of control for Vic. Watching him lose it is quite a thing to behold. Also the gay bloke that got married is having a pretty shit time of it, as is the Chief. The auditor's about to nail all of them with her report and the weirdo obsessive detective is increasingly fucked up, too. Business as usual, then. Very entertaining.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 2, 2013)

Tabu from last year by Miguel Gomes. A love story in 2 parts, first half in modern day Lisbon and the second in Portuguese Colonial Africa in the 60s.
Really beautiful film in every way, thoroughly enjoyed it.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 2, 2013)

dp


----------



## renegadechicken (Apr 2, 2013)

Seen a couple over the weekend

Sightseers - really enjoyed this, some cracking lines in it.
Welcome to the Punch - okay, some plot holes and a bit too 'actiony' for me, and i thought the ending was very disappointing, but the wife liked it.
The Wicked - good ole fashioned evil witch gets a few wholesome american kids horror. For what it was i enjoyed it.
Two little boys - both of us enjoyed this very silly NZ friendship romp.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 2, 2013)

*Come and See* (Elem Klimov 1985) Fuck, that was brutal.


----------



## Reno (Apr 2, 2013)

Citadel, a surprisingly good Irish/Scottish "hoodie horror" film which I found quite intense and nightmarish. It looks like The Brood from the Cronenberg classic have been let loose in a crumbling tower block.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 2, 2013)

_Poulet au vinaigre - _Another Chabrol, this one from 1985, not quite in the first draw of Chabrol films but still with some very nice touches. Stephane Audran plays a mad mother rather well.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 2, 2013)

Lawless- rambling but ironically well paced  and beautifully filmed yarn which doesn't have much to say but says just about enough. Mia Wasikowska is beautiful.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 2, 2013)

_Farewell, My Queen_ - Last days of Versailles as viewed through the eyes of Marie Antoinette's reader. Not bad but nothing special. The supposed lesbian relationship between Marie Antoinette and the Duchess of Polignac is portrayed as real and acts as a driving force for the plot. There's some good threads in it but they don't really seem to be used as well as they could be.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 2, 2013)

Source Code - rather enjoyed it after recording and watching a bunch of stinkers


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2013)

belboid said:


> Same as - other than knowing he's talked abou it, not heard anything else. hopefully the success of Nostalgia will make it easier for him to raise funds etc


Mr belboid: check out Imagen final on you-know-where:



> June of 1973 in Santiago de Chile. Leonardo Henrichsen, an Argentine cameraman films his own death. 33 years later, Ernesto Carmona, a Chilean journalist, discovers the identity of the man who shot him.
> 
> Final Image is a film about one of the most famous images in history. It is a film about a group of journalists filming a continent sinking in violence, and offers an opportunity to see very rare and revealing archival material from the last 40 years.
> 
> ...


----------



## belboid (Apr 2, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Mr belboid: check out Imagen final on you-know-where:


ta - uploaded by someone with a right daft name, i notice


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2013)

Oh aye! Don't think it's ours though.


----------



## starfish (Apr 2, 2013)

Zero Dark Thirty. Was ok i suppose, not great just ok.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 2, 2013)

The Quiller Memorandum (1966) George Segal, with the help of Alec Guinness (in a very George Smiley type role), as British secret agents trying to track down neo-nazis in Berlin. Decent spy thriller.

Also watched Vampyros Lesbos tonight as tribute to prolific Spanish director Jesus 'Jess' Franco who died yesterday. R.I.P.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 2, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Also watched Vampyros Lesbos tonight as tribute to prolific Spanish director Jesus 'Jess' Franco who died yesterday. R.I.P.


 
Didn't know that.  I got that film on VHS.    RIP Mr Franco.


----------



## r0bb0 (Apr 3, 2013)

renegadechicken said:


> Seen a couple over the weekend
> 
> Sightseers - really enjoyed this, some cracking lines in it.
> Welcome to the Punch - okay, some plot holes and a bit too 'actiony' for me, and i thought the ending was very disappointing, but the wife liked it.
> ...


 
I'm watching Sighseers tonight - really enjoying it so far


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 3, 2013)

Caterpillar - Kôji Wakamatsu's bombastic sort of companion piece to Johnny Got His Gun. Don't know. Very very angry film.

Also, good chunk of the 6 hours of Here's a Health to the Barley Mow.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 3, 2013)

On to Mad Men S3...


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 4, 2013)

Went The Day Well

1942 British war film.


----------



## Casually Red (Apr 4, 2013)

watched Red State last night . Thought it was feckin brilliant . Low budget job,simple enough storyline with  a few well known faces . Thought it was really well done . Enough twists to keep me hooked on it . Last line of the film will remain a classic in my mind .


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 5, 2013)

Watched the first episode of the channel 4 mini series of *Utopia*. Bloody hell its good innit. probly best thing ch 4 av done in a long time Neil Maskell and his mate are brilliant as the killers >>>>where is Jessica Hyde Eh!
cant wait ta watch the next un tonite.,.,.,.,


----------



## belboid (Apr 5, 2013)

last night - The Front Page.  The original 1931 version.  Probably the worst of the four, but still entertaining enough.

This afternoon - Death and the Compass. I do love Alex Cox, even when he's a bit crap. Throw in some Borges too, and weird brilliance is ensured.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 5, 2013)

*Seven Days To Noon*, great 50s Boulting Brothers' thriller about a nuclear research professor who steals an atomic bomb and threatens to detonate it in central London if his demands for nuclear disarmament aren't met.


----------



## belboid (Apr 5, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Seven Days To Noon


haven't seent that in years, must look it out.


----------



## Me76 (Apr 5, 2013)

I watched Battle Royale the other day. It was ok. Didn't think it was necessarily the amazing film that everyone goes on about though.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 6, 2013)

Willard... quite enjoyed it.


----------



## Voley (Apr 6, 2013)

Take Shelter. Enjoyed this. Slow building air of brooding menace, two good performances from the leads (one unhinged, one deeply concerned), ambiguous plot that kept you guessing. Not bad at all.


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Willard... quite enjoyed it.


The original or the remake ?


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2013)

I watched all of the second half of The Walking Dead Season 3 this week. Not as good as the first half of the season, but on the whole the show has improved drastically in comparison to the first two seasons. 

I also watched 127 Hours and despite being a hardened fan of horror films it took me this long to pluck up the courage. It did make me wince, just like the story did when I first read it in the news. The film itself is OK, though not as good as the similar Into the Wild.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> The original or the remake ?


 
The remake.


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> The remake.


One of the rare horror remakes that drastically improves on the original and a really underrated film. It was originally R-rated and then the studio cut it to get a PG and it shows a little. I wished they'd restore the gore.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> One of the rare horror remakes that drastically improves on the original and a really underrated film. It was originally R-rated and then the studio cut it to get a PG and it shows a little. I wished they'd restore the gore.


 
I've never seen the original.  There's some quality, very entertaining acting in there.  At least one f-bomb in the version they showed on film four, but I guess that could still be a PG...


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I've never seen the original.  There's some quality, very entertaining acting in there.  At least one f-bomb in the version they showed on film four, but I guess that could still be a PG...


I love Crispin Glover, he should be in more films.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 7, 2013)

*Prometheus* looked great, bit of an enjoyable mess.


----------



## Private Storm (Apr 7, 2013)

End of Watch. Loved it, just terrific interplay between the two leads.


----------



## thriller (Apr 7, 2013)

jack reacher. liked it a lot. good choice casting tom cruise. recommended.


----------



## 8115 (Apr 7, 2013)

The Aristocats, someone at work recomended it for me. It's good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 7, 2013)

The Aristocats or The Aristocrats? Two very different films - wouldn't want to get them confused


----------



## 8115 (Apr 7, 2013)

Cats! I have taste


----------



## Yetman (Apr 8, 2013)

Searching for Sugarman - so glad this doc was made, amazing story


----------



## Reno (Apr 8, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Searching for Sugarman - so glad this doc was made, amazing story


 
Much of the documentary is fraudulent to make its point. The guy had a successful career and was touring while he was apparently forgotten. Shame this manipulative, fraudulent crowd pleaser won the Oscar over more worthy documentaries this year.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 8, 2013)

Cockneys v Zombies - which was stupid but funny in parts


----------



## belboid (Apr 8, 2013)

Reno said:


> Much of the documentary is fraudulent to make its point. The guy had a successful career and was touring while he was apparently forgotten. Shame this manipulative, fraudulent crowd pleaser won the Oscar over more worthy documentaries this year.


he had minor success and did a couple of tours of Australia thirty years earlier. So they werent really being 'fraudulent'


I'd just started watching _A Generation_, but have paused it to take in the pleasure of another far right-winger copping it


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 8, 2013)

belboid said:


> he had minor success and did a couple of tours of Australia thirty years earlier. So they werent really being 'fraudulent'
> 
> 
> I'd just started watching _A Generation_, but have paused it to take in the pleasure of another far right-winger copping it


Are you having a Warsaw week in commemoration?


----------



## belboid (Apr 8, 2013)

I am, actually.  Funny old world


----------



## Belushi (Apr 8, 2013)

*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) *okay for a sunday night but too long and too predictable.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 9, 2013)

Sightseers -I liked it alot. I think Ben Wheatley has a lot to offer British cinema. Demonstrating that you can achieve a lot with a small budget and refrain from having to 'hollywood' your films to get results.


----------



## Reno (Apr 9, 2013)

After having recently revisited Assault on Precinct 13 on Blu-ray, I did the same with Carpenter's *Escape From New York* last night. Still fun, but it feels a little slack when compared to Assault, which is better paced and where I found the dynamic between the three main characters far more interesting than the characters in Escape. Some nice supporting performances, especially from Borgnine and Isaac Hayes pimp-mobile still rocks. That thing, with its candelabras as head lights and a disco ball hanging from mirror, is one of the greatest rides in the movies.


----------



## Utopia (Apr 9, 2013)

THX 1138 - I wanted to like it and was impressed with the visuals considering its 1970 but sadly I didn't enjoy it and found it a bit creepy.


----------



## belboid (Apr 9, 2013)

Finished watching A Generation yesterday.  Quite superb, even with Sekula looking far too like Berlusconi, and several instances of frankly amateurish directing.

Now settling down to Canal.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 9, 2013)

*Prison (1988)* Bloody good fun and one of the underated horrors from 80s. am sure ive seen Lane smith play the warden role before in sum other films of which i cant remember but hes good in this one,. so is viggo moreteson. Great special effects fer an 80s film anawl loved the bit were the guy gets a scaffoldin pole drilled into his head and then falls through floor while their havin the dinner/slop. Horror films are really not my thing but i enjoyed it.


----------



## Mapped (Apr 9, 2013)

Gangster Squad - Not very good. The characters and plot are a bit empty.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 9, 2013)

Mapped said:


> Gangster Squad - Not very good. The characters and plot are a bit empty.


 
Ah I've got that to watch later 

Might watch Moon instead


----------



## thriller (Apr 9, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> *Prison (1988)* Bloody good fun and one of the underated horrors from 80s. am sure ive seen Lane smith play the warden role before in sum other films of which i cant remember but hes good in this one,. so is viggo moreteson. Great special effects fer an 80s film anawl loved the bit were the guy gets a scaffoldin pole drilled into his head and then falls through floor while their havin the dinner/slop. Horror films are really not my thing but i enjoyed it.


 
that's got a blu ray release:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prison-Coll...ie=UTF8&qid=1365537872&sr=8-4&keywords=prison


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 9, 2013)

Skyfall.   Not as good as Casino Royale, better than QoS (what isn't?).   A good Bond film with the requisite nudy shots, action scenes (non-cgi?) and so on but takes the risk of telling us more about 007, his family and child-hood, which was interesting.   And it introduced MP well.

Visually the best Bond film I can recall.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 10, 2013)

Welcome to the Punch.

Meh.

McAvoy didn't convince at all (perhaps Ben Drew should have been in this and McAvoy as George Carter in the Sweeney!).

Whilst Mark Strong is always watchable, he's always watchable playing the same stoic tough nut with brains and a thin line of zen or a husband with a secret. If he doesn't broaden his range soon he'll become the almost-thinking man's Danny Dyer. He's got another crime film on the way with Paul Bettany and I predict he'll play the same character again!

Johnny Harris dials in another dead eyed performance (look, my eyes are dead, I'm grinning a bit through my big weird beard, I'm gonna commit sin against you....quietly).

David Morrisey is on auto-pilot, as was Peter Mullan.

Andrea Riseborough demonstrated some depth, but even then she came across like a 15 year old pretending to be all grown up.

London looked shiny.

It's a flimsy, low rent Heat really?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 10, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It's a flimsy, low rent Heat really?


 
It's when it's a flimsy, low-rent _LA Takedown_ you really have to worry.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 10, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> It's when it's a flimsy, low-rent _LA Takedown_ you really have to worry.


 
What annoys me is with that cast and a half decent yarn, a sensible budget, locations, etc, they still managed to make a London crime film look like a flashy but plodding episode of The Bill. The Sweeney was the same.

Wasted opportunities.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 10, 2013)

Mapped said:


> Gangster Squad - Not very good. The characters and plot are a bit empty.


 
Lasted 10 minutes 

Then we watched the Bay instead. Lasted half an hour (I was actually into giving it a chance but the mrs started complaining and threatening to 'get her book' so we turned it off). Might stick the rest of it on now actually. Still, it's a bit slow so far....


----------



## JimW (Apr 10, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Welcome to the Punch.
> 
> Meh.
> 
> ...


Agree, seemed to manage to bring togther a decent cast (had that Scots actor whose name escapes me but I like ETA: Peter Mullan in it too, didn't it) to produce utter mediocrity; plot seemed completely half-baked - like they'd have to go to those lengths to push through arming the police etc. and a really schmaltzy last man standing/redemption of our hero ending.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 10, 2013)

*The Girl who Played with Fire (2009) *this series is okay but still not really grabbing me.


----------



## Reno (Apr 10, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *The Girl who Played with Fire (2009) *this series is okay but still not really grabbing me.


 
...and it doesn't get any better after the first one. The drop off in quality is comparable to the Matrix sequels and I struggled to stay awake through the second and third film.


----------



## Mapped (Apr 10, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Lasted 10 minutes


 
On recent form I thought you might have rated it a classic


----------



## Belushi (Apr 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...and it doesn't get any better after the first one. The drop off in quality is comparable to the Matrix sequels and I struggled to stay awake through the second and third film.


 
Yeah, I've got the third one recorded but I suspect I'm not going to get round to watching it.


----------



## frogwoman (Apr 10, 2013)

the dark secret of hendrik schoen, fell asleep (3 times now!) before finding out what the dark secret was


----------



## Yetman (Apr 10, 2013)

Mapped said:


> On recent form I thought you might have rated it a classic


 
Haha! Yeah I think I've been watching far too many films recently........my standards have certainly dropped


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)

Cypher.  A nice little paranoid industrial espionage thing that hints at scifi but doesn't really go there.

Lucy Liu looking sultry, Nigel Bennet making a rare appearance - and about 5 seconds of Onomeus from Spartacus.


----------



## Reno (Apr 10, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Cypher. A nice little paranoid industrial espionage thing that hints at scifi but doesn't really go there.
> 
> Lucy Liu looking sultry, Nigel Bennet making a rare appearance - and about 5 seconds of Onomeus from Spartacus.


 
How the hell is that film not science fiction ?


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> How the hell is that film not science fiction ?


There's no scifi in it, Reno. Only sci.


----------



## Marshal37 (Apr 10, 2013)

Primer (its a film from a couple of years ago?)
I like to think of myself as reasonably knowledgeable on science stuff but this was way over my head.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)

Marshal37 said:


> Primer (its a film from a couple of years ago?)
> I like to think of myself as reasonably knowledgeable on science stuff but this was way over my head.


Yes, totally...you can google a quite cool pic that's a timeline (helps a lot).   I enjoyed it.


----------



## Marshal37 (Apr 10, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Yes, totally...you can google a quite cool pic that's a timeline (helps a lot). I enjoyed it.


Thanks, I will check it out, I will wait till I have a spare couple of hours and put this together with the plot synopsis on 'things of interest' blog and watch it again.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)




----------



## Reno (Apr 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> How the hell is that film not science fiction ?


 
Where are these corporations who change peoples identities via drugs and since when can we burn our identities to discs ?


----------



## Casually Red (Apr 10, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Lawless- rambling but ironically well paced and beautifully filmed yarn which doesn't have much to say but says just about enough. Mia Wasikowska is beautiful.


 
i was disappointed with that one, despite looking forward to seeing it . Barely seemed to go anywhere and Gary Oldman just seemed to disappear . Had some good moments but was all over the place and then just fizzled out .


----------



## Casually Red (Apr 10, 2013)

Just to explain about Red State . Its about a Fred Phelps style religious cult in the USA who run about killing homosexuals and anyone else they sexually disapprove of and then picketting the funerals . They then adopt the internet to try and lure wide eyed high school boys into group sex sessions with lonely housewives, which they classify as gay, in order to kill them. And theyve got a secure compound packed with a hoarded arsenal of weaponry waiting for the rapture  and end of days. And it all kicks off big style.
Well worth seeing , Quentin Tarantino was ecstatic about it . Clever bit in it were they discuss the Phelps family and the feds describe them as serial litigators, not serial killers, and you realise the film makers are drawing a big distinction in order to ensure the Phelps family dont sue them .
The performances were brilliant, especially from the preacher, and you really havent a fucking clue whats about to happen next . Its clever .


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> Where are these corporations who change peoples identities via drugs and since when can we burn our identities to discs ?


The concept is (imo) that the companies use advanced lie detectors and surveillance to make sure no spies get into important positions and steal (stuff). In a normal escalation of war they start using drugs and other techniques to bypass this.

The only things on the discs are normal data files afaik.


----------



## Reno (Apr 10, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The concept is (imo) that the companies use advanced lie detectors and surveillance to make sure no spies get into important positions and steal (stuff). In a normal escalation of war they start using drugs and other techniques to bypass this.
> 
> The only things on the discs are normal data files afaik.


 
That's what's called science fiction. It imagines where corporations will go onto from where they are and it ends up as pure Philip K. Dick. The brainwashing technique the whole film revolves around and the way the corporations operate by placing sleeper agents who have been purged of their identity with rival companies does not exist.

It's a while ago that I saw the film, but as far as I remember the disc at the end is the last copy of Lucy Liu's identity.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...The brainwashing technique the whole film revolves around and the way the corporations operate by placing sleeper agents who have been purged of their identity with rival companies does not exist.


Prove it


----------



## Reno (Apr 10, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Prove it


 
You first prove to me that there isn't an island off Costa Rica full of genetically engineered dinosaurs.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> You first prove to me that there isn't an island off Costa Rica full of genetically engineered dinosaurs.


google maps


----------



## Reno (Apr 10, 2013)

Hammond paid google millions to keep them off the internet !


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> Hammond paid google millions to keep them off the internet !


I thought he actually brainwashed himself and infiltrated google


----------



## Yetman (Apr 11, 2013)

Moon. Bit slow and confusing at first, but gets better and ends up pretty sad. Not for those who like fast paced films but decent enough.

Cirque de Soliel - Worlds Away. Well worth getting in 1080p blu ray!! If I had 3D it'd be even better but this is a right visual feast  Excellent stuff.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 11, 2013)

Les Revenants NOT the tv series but what it was adapted from (not seen, but now looking forward to it). Very interesting, very well done, managed to build and sustain a really unusual atmosphere whilst asking some pretty heavy questions. Noticed whilst reading reviews that even before the french series there was a 2007 US pilot called Babylon Fields which wasn't picked up for a series but is online here, and that Paul Abbot is working on an english language version at the minute (think will be US based).


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Apr 11, 2013)

Casually Red said:


> They then adopt the internet to try and lure wide eyed high school boys into group sex sessions with lonely housewives, which they classify as gay, in order to kill them.


 
Sinful fornication. They acknowledged that they weren't gay.

Good film.


----------



## Reno (Apr 11, 2013)

I found Red State awful. It's like shooting fish in a barrel and about as on the nose and simple minded as satire gets.


----------



## Casually Red (Apr 11, 2013)

Reno said:


> I found Red State awful. It's like shooting fish in a barrel and about as on the nose and simple minded as satire gets.


 
i thought it was well done . Apart from their murderous beliefs the cult members seemed really happy and nice to each other . And i thought the acting was first rate .


----------



## Reno (Apr 11, 2013)

Casually Red said:


> i thought it was well done . Apart from their murderous beliefs the cult members seemed really happy and nice to each other .


 
What's unusual about that ? So were the pagan cult members in The Wicker Man and the devil worshippers in Rosemary's Baby.


----------



## Casually Red (Apr 11, 2013)

Reno said:


> What's unusual about that ? So were the pagan cult members in The Wicker Man and the devil worshippers in Rosemary's Baby.


 
which were good films


----------



## belboid (Apr 11, 2013)

Ashes & Diamonds.

Cinematically, by far the best of the trilogy (tho the death scenes still all lack a certain something), although it could never be quite as gripping and tense as Canal.

Probably the only trilogy where every part is genuinely brilliant. Well, that and Toy Story.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 11, 2013)

What trilogy, belboid?


----------



## belboid (Apr 11, 2013)

Andrzey Wajda's war trilogy - check the last three films I watched!

Or I could just tell you: A Generation, Canal & Ashs and Diamonds.


I suppose the Doctor Mabuse, Apu and Mick Travis trilogies could be up there too.


----------



## hammerntongues (Apr 11, 2013)

currently watching one episode of The Wire each night , on series 5 and seriously worried about what i am going to do when it has finished , this is my second time so may be just go back to the beginning for a third  , ssshhhhhhhheeeeeeeeet..............................


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 11, 2013)

belboid said:


> Andrzey Wajda's war trilogy - check the last three films I watched!
> 
> Or I could just tell you: A Generation, Canal & Ashs and Diamonds.
> 
> ...


Cheers! Hadn't heard of them.
Haven't seen the other trilogies either! Or the Three Colours trilogy.

I think I may have seen a Wajda film though. Did he make a film about the French Revolution/Bloody Terror, with Gerard Dippitydo?


----------



## belboid (Apr 11, 2013)

aye, Danton.  Not seen that one.


----------



## kittyP (Apr 11, 2013)

hammerntongues said:


> currently watching one episode of The Wire each night , on series 5 and seriously worried about what i am going to do when it has finished , this is my second time so may be just go back to the beginning for a third , ssshhhhhhhheeeeeeeeet..............................


 
Sheeeeeeeeeeeet indeed. 
You can just do what my husband does and just watch them all again, permanently, ad infinatum 

Last night I watched Never Let Me Go. 
Really odd. 
Might have to watch it again to see how I really feel about it.


----------



## mystic pyjamas (Apr 11, 2013)

The Hobbit.
Great visual effects, but stretched time wise and a bit daft and incredulous even for a Tolkien film.
Didn't seem to have as much gravitas as LOTRs.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 12, 2013)

_Bedrooms & Hallways _ - Mediocre british romantic comedy, a couple of good scenes but nothing special overall.

_Evil Sexy Genius - _decentish US indie film, nothing that hasn't been done before but it's done well enough to be quite enjoyable.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 12, 2013)

*Grey Gardens (1975)* Brilliant documentary probly best have seen fer a while mind you ive always had a penchant for women in dirty white shoes plus shabby chic's in innit.


----------



## Reno (Apr 12, 2013)

_Snow White and the Huntsman_. Actually not bad as these fairy-tale-goes-LOTR films go. There are some nice individual sequences and the film does a decent job putting a goth spin on the fairy tale while sticking closely enough to it. Kristen Steward isn't hugely compelling in the lead, but Charlize Theron has fun as the evil step mother and it took me ages to figure out that that's Ian McShane as a dwarf. It's another film that rips off the scene with the spirit of the forest from Princess Mononoke.


----------



## JimW (Apr 12, 2013)

belboid said:


> aye, Danton. Not seen that one.


Saw it ages ago and can remember barely anything but the big-conked tax dodger sounding magnificent reeling off some of Danton's speeches. Might give it another go.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 12, 2013)

It's _alreet_ - reduces the revolution down to a two-person battle.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 12, 2013)

All I remember is big G sweating an awful lot


----------



## Private Storm (Apr 12, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> [Skyfall].........And it introduced MP well.


 
Really? She was a kick ass, license to kill agent....and then becomes a flirty secretary, hardly moving upwards is it? Wasn't a great film for the female characters.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 12, 2013)

Private Storm said:


> Really? She was a kick ass, license to kill agent....and then becomes a flirty secretary, hardly moving upwards is it? Wasn't a great film for the female characters.


The greatest female Bond character was, of course, Pussy.


----------



## thriller (Apr 13, 2013)

...


----------



## Voley (Apr 13, 2013)

Kill List. Enjoyed this but don't think it's as good as is generally made out. Starts off good as a hitman story but goes a bit daft as everything rapidly goes all Whicker Man. I liked the director's style, though. I'm looking forward to Sightseers.


----------



## seventh bullet (Apr 13, 2013)

NVP said:


> Kill List. Enjoyed this but don't think it's as good as is generally made out. Starts off good as a hitman story but goes a bit daft as everything rapidly goes all Whicker Man. I liked the director's style, though. I'm looking forward to Sightseers.


 


Spoiler: Spoiler



The hammer to the paedo librarian's head scene.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 13, 2013)

mystic pyjamas said:


> The Hobbit.
> Great visual effects, but stretched time wise and a bit daft and incredulous even for a Tolkien film.
> Didn't seem to have as much gravitas as LOTRs.


 

it won't have, the book itself is far more of a childrens story

agreed on the length though. Spending near on an hour in bag end is just taking the fucking liberty


----------



## Voley (Apr 13, 2013)

seventh bullet said:


> Spoiler: Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> The hammer to the paedo librarian's head scene.


That was fucking unreal. Everyone round mine winced / groaned.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 13, 2013)

Top Secret, reasonably funny old Val Kilmer movie.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 13, 2013)

Red Lights.

FFS - What a load of old shite! A complete waste of time, money and talent.

DeNiro continues to plummet......will he ever be good again?

I blame Thatcher!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 13, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Top Secret, reasonably funny old Val Kilmer movie.


 
I saw this at the cinema when I was a kid. I didn't laugh.


----------



## Reno (Apr 13, 2013)

I had friends round and we tried to watch Stitches (not my suggestion), the clown horror film with Ross Noble but it was so shit, we gave up 20 minutes in.

Then I showed them Grabbers and the second time round I liked it even better. I now think it is worthy of comparison with Tremors, with likeable characters, great gags, well executed monster sequences, a great premise and surprisingly beautiful cinematography. Shame the distributers just threw this film away, it is so much better than most horror/monster movies that get a theatrical release. The lead actress Ruth Bradley deserves to be a star.


----------



## Voley (Apr 13, 2013)

Reno said:


> the clown horror film with Ross Noble


----------



## Reno (Apr 13, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Red Lights.
> 
> FFS - What a load of old shite! A complete waste of time, money and talent.
> 
> DeNiro continues to plummet......*will he ever be good again?*


 
He was great in Silver Linings Playbook.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 13, 2013)

Reno said:


> He was great in Silver Linings Playbook.


 
He better be or the kid gets it!


----------



## mentalchik (Apr 13, 2013)

The Hobbit - liked it more than i expected, just don't see 3 films worth..........


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 13, 2013)

mentalchik said:


> The Hobbit - liked it more than i expected, just don't see 3 films worth..........


 

that orc thing as the main baddie ennit. You could have told the Hobbit in one film but there are merchandising opportunities to think of.


----------



## renegadechicken (Apr 13, 2013)

Reno said:


> .
> Then I showed them Grabbers and the second time round I liked it even better. I now think it is worthy of comparison with Tremors, with likeable characters, great gags, well executed monster sequences, a great premise and surprisingly beautiful cinematography. Shame the distributers just threw this film away, it is so much better than most horror/monster movies that get a theatrical release. The lead actress Ruth Bradley deserves to be a star.


 
Me n mrs chicken watched this based on this review.....film was excellent


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 13, 2013)

I have finally watched No by Pablo Lorrain. Beautiful. Perfect for right now. Pinochet was fucking evil. We can win.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 14, 2013)

Outrage Beyond - Takeshi Kitano's follow up to the excellent Outrage, no big changes, just the continuation of the story (oddly enough, with some characters who died in #1 still alive in #2). Gets the balance between violence and the political/business intrigues spot on. Johnny To's Election and Election 2 are still the high point of this genre but this is also recommended.


----------



## Reno (Apr 14, 2013)

Hitchcock's *Shadow of a Doubt*, which I'd been meaning to watch again since I saw Stoker, which clumsily rips the film off only to add a fashionably misanthropic twist. The "reveal" in Stoker, which comes as no great surprise, is so much less effective than the creeping horror of discovering someone you think you knew well was someone else entirely. With the possible exception of Notorious this is my favourite Hitchcock from the 40s. I don't think Joseph Cotten was ever better than as serial killer Uncle Charlie, switching back and forth between being charming and brutally ruthless. Theresa Wright is also great as his niece Charlie and a very different type of heroine from Hitchcock's cool blondes.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 14, 2013)

Reno said:


> Then I showed them Grabbers and the second time round I liked it even better. I now think it is worthy of comparison with Tremors, with likeable characters, great gags, well executed monster sequences, a great premise and surprisingly beautiful cinematography. Shame the distributers just threw this film away, it is so much better than most horror/monster movies that get a theatrical release. The lead actress Ruth Bradley deserves to be a star.


 
Watched this last night, the 12 year old really enjoyed it. To make a Kermode judgement it has quite a few big laughs, maybe just short of his comedy qualification. The 'monster' scenes were well done and it was pretty threatening, although the 12 y.o wasn't scared obviously. Unfortunately the audio on the copy I have was a bit poor so couldn't turn it up loud without it distorting.

Also watched The Hunt. I was a bit knackered by then, never a good thing for me with subtitles. It was good. I'm still trying to decide whether the whole scenario in terms of the girl making the allegation in the first place was believable though. I' may try and talk the Mrs into watching it next time.


----------



## Reno (Apr 14, 2013)

What's a "Kermode judgement" I don't rate him, so I don't listen or read him much. He has "comedy qualifications" now ?


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 14, 2013)

He used to say something like 'if it has six laugh out loud moments it qualifies as comedy'. (I think)


----------



## Mapped (Apr 14, 2013)

Just watched The Hunt, very powerful, but probably not the best Sunday night choice. I'm feeling a bit on edge after that.


----------



## Voley (Apr 15, 2013)

I'm halfway through all the extended versions of Lord Of The Rings atm. I bought the box set on Blu-Ray and it looks fantastic. Mordor looks even grimmer somehow. I expect I'll be doing the same with The Hobbit when all three of them are out.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 15, 2013)

Big Daddy
I like Adam Sandler movies.
Got a problem?


----------



## yardbird (Apr 15, 2013)

Senna
Fantastic documentary about Ayrton Senna


----------



## Remus Harbank (Apr 15, 2013)

Marnie. Quite painful.


----------



## wiskey (Apr 15, 2013)

Cloud Atlas - it needs another viewing but it was very pretty


----------



## Voley (Apr 15, 2013)

More Lord Of The Rings. Being perfectly honest I was beginning to think that this Blu-Ray thingy wasn't all that amazing really. Everything looked good on it, don't get me wrong, and decent enough value at fifty quid but there was only really 'Inception' that had looked amazing. Changed me mind after just watching the Ent battle and the Helm's Deep bit in 'The Two Towers', though. Totally ace. Even the opening scene just flying over the mountains looks great. You've just enough time to go 'ooh' at that and next thing you're plunging through the depths with Gandalf battling The Balrog. I thought I'd really watched all of these films quite enough but this has given them a new lease of life for me. I've got The Hobbit to watch this weekend too. Looking forward to all the battles in that.


----------



## purenarcotic (Apr 15, 2013)

yardbird said:


> Senna
> Fantastic documentary about Ayrton Senna


 
Absolutely grand isn't it.  So well made.

Have you seen the one about Bob Marley?  Follows a very similar format and also excellently made.


----------



## threeminus (Apr 16, 2013)

I finished watching _Limitless_. It was an okay movie.


----------



## Reno (Apr 16, 2013)

Remus Harbank said:


> Marnie. Quite painful.


----------



## Reno (Apr 16, 2013)

NVP said:


> More Lord Of The Rings. Being perfectly honest I was beginning to think that this Blu-Ray thingy wasn't all that amazing really. Everything looked good on it, don't get me wrong, and decent enough value at fifty quid but there was only really 'Inception' that had looked amazing. Changed me mind after just watching the Ent battle and the Helm's Deep bit in 'The Two Towers', though. Totally ace. Even the opening scene just flying over the mountains looks great. You've just enough time to go 'ooh' at that and next thing you're plunging through the depths with Gandalf battling The Balrog. I thought I'd really watched all of these films quite enough but this has given them a new lease of life for me. I've got The Hobbit to watch this weekend too. Looking forward to all the battles in that.


 
The larger your display, the more you'll see of a difference. On tellys 32" and under you often won't see a massive difference in quality, but on something like a projector it's like day and night even for quite old films.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 16, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Big Daddy
> I like Adam Sandler movies.
> Got a problem?


 
No, but you do.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 16, 2013)

watched Mel Gibson on How I spent my Summer Vacation - quite enjoyed it tbh - criminal capery


----------



## Pingu (Apr 16, 2013)

yardbird said:


> Senna
> Fantastic documentary about Ayrton Senna


 
just watched this tonight... fuck me they had big balls racing back then...

eta and prost is a cunt


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 17, 2013)

_Alphaville_ - only the second Godard film I've ever seen (_A bout de __soufflé _being the other), last night probably wasn't the right time for it as I was knackered, kept drifting off and having to wake myself up, to do it justice I probably need to watch it again when I'm less tired.
Style wise I liked it as it made references to plenty of the things/themes I'm interested in, and Anna Karina is always good to look at. Plot wise I just found the whole 'society controlled by a computer' plot so hackneyed that I found it hard going, and I wasn't sure if it was a pastiche (like the _noir_ elements clearly are) or whether that in 1965 the idea of a "logical society" was still a relatively new idea.


----------



## Private Storm (Apr 17, 2013)

The Sweeny. Avoid. Plan B doing plan A, when it should be plan z for him.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 17, 2013)

*Anna M *(Michel Spinosa 2007) poor French spin on Fatal Attraction.


----------



## Reno (Apr 17, 2013)

Pingu said:


> eta and prost is a cunt


 
The film omits a lot and turns Prost into a villain because it makes for more of a dramatic narrative. He and Senna reconciled and became friends, but the film leaves that out. Tempers run high and things are said in the heat of the moment, but I really don't think Prost was a cunt.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 17, 2013)

The Hunt. Pretty good, though a few bits were questionable as in 'would somebody really do that?' Enjoyed it though. 7/10


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 17, 2013)

I watched Season 5 of Mad Men over the past couple of weeks.

It's turned very by-the-numbers, and the fact that it's basically an incoherent mess held together by great art direction is by now impossible to disguise.


----------



## TruXta (Apr 17, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I watched Season 5 of Mad Men over the past couple of weeks.
> 
> It's turned very by-the-numbers, and the fact that it's basically an incoherent mess held together by great art direction is by now impossible to disguise.


Shush you cretin.


----------



## spawnofsatan (Apr 17, 2013)

Boardwalk empire, bought the season 1&2 boxset, really enjoying it, up to episode 6 now.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 17, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Shush you cretin.


 
No you shush. Viking ponce.


----------



## Reno (Apr 17, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I watched Season 5 of Mad Men over the past couple of weeks.
> 
> It's turned very by-the-numbers, and the fact that it's basically an incoherent mess held together by great art direction is by now impossible to disguise.


 
I thought 5 was the second best season, after 3.


----------



## TruXta (Apr 17, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> No you shush. Viking ponce.


West Brit.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 17, 2013)

TruXta said:


> West Brit.


 
Right.

You.

_Outside. Now._


----------



## TruXta (Apr 17, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Right.
> 
> You.
> 
> _Outside. Now._


 I knew that would get you out of bed.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 17, 2013)

You're dead after school, Truxta.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 17, 2013)

Dredd.  I watched to 2D blu-ray but it was obviously meant for 3D.  Enjoyably violent run-of-the-mill action romp.  Dr McCoy and Lady Gaga are the law.


----------



## Voley (Apr 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> The larger your display, the more you'll see of a difference. On tellys 32" and under you often won't see a massive difference in quality, but on something like a projector it's like day and night even for quite old films.


Yeah that makes sense. My telly's 37 inches I think so the difference is quite noticeable but you only really go 'Wow!' when it's a film that sets out to be very obviously visually stunning. Really enjoyed watching Lord Of The Rings in this format. I didn't even mind the end this time round. When you've just watched hours and hours of the extended editions, it doesn't seem too excessive. The Hobbit arrived today too so more of the same this weekend.


----------



## rekil (Apr 18, 2013)

Dillinger4 said:


> I have finally watched No by Pablo Lorrain. Beautiful. Perfect for right now. Pinochet was fucking evil. We can win.


I enjoyed it, great humourous touches and a tidy final scene but Larrain got some stick for overlooking grassroots opposition and the work that went into getting people to vote.


----------



## Yelkcub (Apr 18, 2013)

I watched Pandorum yesterday. Alien meets Sunshine. I liked.

I started watching 'Legion'. Looks good.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 18, 2013)

I finished season one of American Horror Story - It was good enough. I got frustrated with the characters and the plot went a bit beyond far fetched to carry all the 'twists'. There's was nothing I didn't see coming and the final episode was a chore. I'll pick up on season 2 and see how it goes because I've heard it's better.I liked al the L.A Murder mythology (black Dahlia etc). I've watched it in my lunch breaks so It's been a good distraction from work.

Also saw Gangster Squad - not as vacuous as some have claimed. It looked lovely. Some good performances from Goslin and Penn. My only real argument against it was that it was a blatant rip off of The Untouchables from the early humiliating raids, to crawling along the floor bleeding scene and the gun fight on the stairs and even the characters had the same profiles and story arcs.....it was all so familiar and traceable (along with some links across to Miller's Crossing!), but maybe this is my issue for watching too many gangster films and wanting them all to be as good as The Godfather.

But.....If yer gonna do an Ellroy style LA crime flick then do one.....don't stray between that and a do-gooder does bad to do good mafia western.

Lastly, some of that dialogue was so obvious I was finishing the lines for them.....


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 18, 2013)

had ta sit through jack reacher were cruise does his usual beans on toast kinda film as per usual. He spends most off the film walking round wiv 2 rolls of invisible carpets under his bloody arms. Just once in id like ta see him killed in one of his films in the first 20 minutes so the film can make a massive plot twist that way id not have ta put up with him fer the rest of it.. bobbins indeed..


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 18, 2013)

copliker said:


> I enjoyed it, great humourous touches and a tidy final scene but Larrain got some stick for overlooking grassroots opposition and the work that went into getting people to vote.


As he should, but it wasn't really a narrative about them, but about how commercialisation and commodification established the post-pinochet years, that all that was changed were _images..._i'm really surprised at some of the reviews that think it was a heart-warming story about victory - they must have missed the first two films to be able to come to that reading.


----------



## Firky (Apr 18, 2013)

Seen it a couple of times and still enjoyed it.


----------



## Firky (Apr 18, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> had ta sit through jack reacher were cruise does his usual beans on toast kinda film as per usual. He spends most off the film walking round wiv 2 rolls of invisible carpets under his bloody arms. Just once in id like ta see him killed in one of his films in the first 20 minutes so the film can make a massive plot twist that way id not have ta put up with him fer the rest of it.. bobbins indeed..


 
I haven't seen the film but I was a bit miffed they cast Tom Cruise to play Reacher. Reacher is 6'6" and built like a brick shit house. Tom Cruise is a half pint.


----------



## Voley (Apr 19, 2013)

I started watching Argo but took some drugs and didn't wake up until 14 hours later with the taste of sump oil in my mouth.

There. You don't get that from Mark Fucking Kermode do you?


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2013)

Working my way through season 2 of _Borgen_ and I really have to come to love this series. I'm liking this much more that The Killing (OK, but overrated) and The Bridge (fun, but very silly). I will suffer withdrawal symptoms when I'm done.


----------



## malatesta32 (Apr 20, 2013)

the campaign with will ferrell - though i wasnt in the mood it was well funny. then 2 episode of generation kill. which i still aint made me mind up about.


----------



## malatesta32 (Apr 20, 2013)

'The Killing (OK, but overrated)' - whaaat? it was grand man!


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 20, 2013)

Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 7 episodes 1-4


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2013)

malatesta32 said:


> 'The Killing (OK, but overrated)' - whaaat? it was grand man!


 
Apart from that I'm not the biggest fan of whodunits, I think The Killing was overextended, especially in season 1. After a while the plot was just held afloat by the latest red herring, which changed every three episodes and it often felt like the series was threading water. Borgen being a political drama, has much more scope in the types of stories it can tell and I find it a lot more entertaining.


----------



## malatesta32 (Apr 20, 2013)

borgen's next on the list when cousin has finished it. kind of agree on the killing but im crap at plots and say 'it was him/her' about everyone hoping i will be right at least once.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 20, 2013)

I watched robocop 2 which was funny as fuck


----------



## Dr Nookie (Apr 20, 2013)

The Beat That My Heart Skipped with the strangely attractive Romain Duris. Very French, very noir, very enjoyable!


----------



## Voley (Apr 21, 2013)

Got round to watching Argo. Pretty good, although I'm not sure it's quite the umpteen-oscar-winning thing it's cracked up to be. It's a pretty amazing story so it's a pity they had to exaggerate it. But that's what wins Oscars I guess. Still enjoyed it though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 21, 2013)

Most of season 1 of Borgias

Jeremy Irons for the win


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 21, 2013)

I watched the first two episodes of _Game of Thrones _last night. . . and it was a lot better than I expected.

I didn't bother finishing the first book because I didn't find the world building convicing. I didn't find it convincing because it was trying to use medieval European tropes (knights errant, etc) in a context ripped out of the Christian world view, the only context in which those tropes made sense. In the TV series they don't have to be as specific with regard to what they mean by '"the gods", so it works a lot better in that medium.

The depiction of the Dothraki "primitives" I found nonsensical, however. Their depiction was a mixum-gatherum of simple or "primitive" societies teh world over. I counted bits of Eurasian nomads, North American plains indians, and bits of Middle eastern bedouin-style stuff. It really doesn't make any sense.

That said, though, I think I will drop in on this invented world again sometime in the near future.


----------



## Me76 (Apr 21, 2013)

Watched The Descendants.  Amazingly well acted and a really good film.


----------



## belboid (Apr 21, 2013)

About Elly.

Another one by Asghar Farhadi, and another absolute belter. Wonderfully shot, acted, and just intriguing, keeping yopu guessing right till the end as to just what happened. Quite brilliant, can't wait for The Past to come out.

Then, I decided I thought Silver Linings Playbook might irritate me, so we ended up watching The Perks of being A Wallflower. Which wasn't annoying so much as just plain shit. Every possible coming of age cliche is thrown in, it has no idea which decade its meant to be set in, and it makes a big thing of one event being key to the protagonists mental health, but then completely ignores said incident after bringing it up. Dire.


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2013)

belboid said:


> Then, I decided I thought Silver Linings Playbook might irritate me, so we ended up watching The Perks of being A Wallflower. Which wasn't annoying so much as just plain shit. Every possible coming of age cliche is thrown in, it has no idea which decade its meant to be set in, and it makes a big thing of one event being key to the protagonists mental health, but then completely ignores said incident after bringing it up. Dire.


 
In the end there is the reveal of what happened to him, so not sure why you think the film ignores the incident. While I usually hate films using



Spoiler



child abuse


as a dramatic device, here it was unusually well handled in that he couldn't stop loving the person who had done this to him. I actually thought this was better than many of these type of films, with Ezra Miller particularly good as the gay best mate. The only thing I found odd was that a group of kids who are obsessed with 70s and 80s music would not know Bowie's Heroes.


----------



## starfish (Apr 21, 2013)

We had 3 of our nieces staying with us again this weekend & despite me wanting to watch Evil Dead 2, we actually watched The Shawshank Redemption which they liked & Planes, Trains & Automobiles which they thought was hilarious.


----------



## belboid (Apr 21, 2013)

Reno said:


> In the end there is the reveal of what happened to him, so not sure why you think the film ignores the incident. While I usually hate films using
> 
> 
> 
> ...


that wasn't the bit I was referring to.  I meant 



Spoiler



his best mate shooting himself


.  That was the supposed reason that he was messed up.  What you mention is the late reveal, that _really_ underlay everything.

Ezra Miller was straight out of Glee, and all of them were actually the absurdly intelligent but introspective, or brilliantly flamboyant or whatever - it's the screenwriters myth of why they were a quiet introspective child at school - they were brilliant actually, were it not for that trauma/parenting/whatever.  Naah, you were just a bog standard, geeky awkward teen, the same as everyone else. And teenage parties were never that good.

Not knowing Heroes (or knowing _anyone_ who wouldn't know it instantly) was absurd - only very very vaguely made up for by the fact that it was meant to be some shitty, depressing, Fleetwood Mac song.


----------



## purenarcotic (Apr 21, 2013)

Memoirs of a Geisha - not great, but some beautiful scenes. 

Fish Tank - I didn't really think it was all that really.

Tin tin - really, really engrossing.  Some great laugh out loud bits.


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2013)

belboid said:


> that wasn't the bit I was referring to. I meant
> 
> 
> 
> ...





belboid said:


> Ezra Miller was straight out of Glee, and all of them were actually the absurdly intelligent but introspective, or brilliantly flamboyant or whatever - it's the screenwriters myth of why they were a quiet introspective child at school - they were brilliant actually, were it not for that trauma/parenting/whatever. Naah, you were just a bog standard, geeky awkward teen, the same as everyone else. And teenage parties were never that good.
> 
> Not knowing Heroes (or knowing _anyone_ who wouldn't know it instantly) was absurd - only very very vaguely made up for by the fact that it was meant to be some shitty, depressing, Fleetwood Mac song.


 
I thought the film made it pretty clear that the abuse was the real underlying problem and the reason for his lack of self-confidence, otherwise it wouldn't have been afforded the greater importance in the story than the suicide of his friend.

They were intelligent characters, but not absurdly so. Like with most films the characters are a little more eloquent than those in real life, but that doesn't mean it's telling some big lie in suggesting that teenagers can be smart and sensitive. Not every teenager is a thick fuck, I don't think I or my friends were.

Ezra Miller was one of the more rounded gay teenage characters I've seen in a mainstream film. If you think that him participating in The Rocky Horror Picture Show makes him stereotype, then so was I. Many young gay men experiment with their feminine side, so in that way it's not unrealistic and he was far from some mincing caricature. And gay teenagers in films like this were usually neutered and never allowed to have a sex life or be attractive, think of the sad sack in Fame. And he was no musical theatre queen so the Glee comparison is way off.

And I went to some fucking great parties as a student, so I pity you.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Apr 21, 2013)

Casually Red said:


> Just to explain about Red State . Its about a Fred Phelps style religious cult in the USA who run about killing homosexuals and anyone else they sexually disapprove of and then picketting the funerals . They then adopt the internet to try and lure wide eyed high school boys into group sex sessions with lonely housewives, which they classify as gay, in order to kill them. And theyve got a secure compound packed with a hoarded arsenal of weaponry waiting for the rapture and end of days. And it all kicks off big style.
> Well worth seeing , Quentin Tarantino was ecstatic about it . Clever bit in it were they discuss the Phelps family and the feds describe them as serial litigators, not serial killers, and you realise the film makers are drawing a big distinction in order to ensure the Phelps family dont sue them .
> The performances were brilliant, especially from the preacher, and you really havent a fucking clue whats about to happen next . Its clever .


 
The ending of that film is superb.


----------



## Reno (Apr 22, 2013)

*Ruby Sparks*, a pretty good indie film which starts out as a quirky sub-Charlie Kaufman meta-fiction but then takes a darker turn in the second half and becomes more interesting. It's about a young novelist suffering writing block following his successful first novel, who starts writing about his dream girl, who then materialises in the real world. He wrote her as his ideal of a woman and accordingly she turns into a smart, self-sufficient human being. The problem is that he isn't quite on her level as a human being and when she starts seeing though him and cracks appear in the relationship, he starts re-writing and manipulating her with increasingly sinister results. It's an interesting spin on the Pygmalion myth and it's dealt with in a reasonably thoughtful way, even if it is a little flat as a piece of film-making. Worth a watch though.


----------



## belboid (Apr 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> I thought the film made it pretty clear that the abuse was the real underlying problem and the reason for his lack of self-confidence, otherwise it wouldn't have been afforded the greater importance in the story than the suicide of his friend.
> 
> They were intelligent characters, but not absurdly so. Like with most films the characters are a little more eloquent than those in real life, but that doesn't mean it's telling some big lie in suggesting that teenagers can be smart and sensitive. Not every teenager is a thick fuck, I don't think I or my friends were.
> 
> ...


what a fucking weird post. yes, it was blatantly obvious that the latter was more important, I have no idea why you feel the need to point that out. The point was the suicide was completely and utterly skimped over. As an explanation - which we were clearly meant to believe to be THE reason until ten minutes from the end - it was very poor.

I have equally no idea why you think the only alternative to being fucking absurdly insightful teenagers they would have to be a 'thick fuck'. That's your own projection that is. Likewise your description of Millers character, the Rocky Horror bits are irrelevant (and hackeneyed) - altho it is absurd that a studenty production of it could apparently be going on months. He was an archetype, there was nothing in his character that made him different to a thousand gay teens in such movies (or at least the ones made in the thirty years since Fame). Millers _performance_ was probably the best thing in the film, but that wasnt difficult!

And I'm jolly glad you went to good student parties, but this wasnt a student party, it was a schoolkids party. He was meant to be 14 ffs!

A trite film full of 80's cliches, with 90's music, and kids from the 00's. Pisspoor. In my ever so humble...


----------



## Reno (Apr 22, 2013)

"Absurdly intelligent" is no less of a projection than "thick fuck" so I was countering your exaggeration with mine.

That wasn't a student production, it was a midnight screening of the film. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is famous for the audience participating with the characters on the screen. That has been going on since the 70s and still does now and it has been a rite of passage for many kids who saw themselves more as the outsiders at school. There is a similar scene in Fame.


----------



## belboid (Apr 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> "Absurdly intelligent" is no less of a projection than "thick fuck" so I was countering your exaggeration with mine.
> 
> That wasn't a student production, it was a midnight screening of the film. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is famous for the audience participating with the characters on the screen. That has been going on since the 70s and still does now and it has been a rite of passage for many kids who saw themselves more as the outsiders at school. There is a similar scene in Fame.


it WAS a production, you see them doing it, and cajoling kiddo into taking part.  It was not just them 'participating' at a screening. The fact that they do something similar in a thirty year old movie just shows how unoriginal this trite drivel was tho.


----------



## Reno (Apr 22, 2013)

belboid said:


> it WAS a production, you see them doing it, and cajoling kiddo into taking part. It was not just them 'participating' at a screening. The fact that they do something similar in a thirty year old movie just shows how unoriginal this trite drivel was tho.


 
It was not a production, you could see the film running behind them. That's how it works. The film shows at a theatre, there is a group of people who play the same characters that are on the screen and newbies are often encouraged to get up and participate as well.

And yes, of course the film was absolutely awful for repeating what is a pretty universal experience for a certain type of kid more than 30 years after another film did it.


----------



## belboid (Apr 22, 2013)

Really? For that long a time? Well, fair do's. Once would have seemed plausible, twice - some time apart - seemed not. And if that was the only unoriginal thing, I could let it off. But everything about the film was unoriginal. A dull addition to the genre.


----------



## Reno (Apr 22, 2013)

So did you like the film ?


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 22, 2013)

Baaria - same director as Cinema Paradiso, which I really must watch one of these days. Looks beautiful but even at 2hrs 30 mins felt it had been truncated. Would like to see a director's cut, if there is one.

To Kill a Mocking Bird - Saw it years ago and it still is a mighty film. Trivia wise, I was fascinated to find out that Scout's real life brother is Saturday Night Fever director John Badham...


----------



## belboid (Apr 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> So did you like the film ?


One of the most bold, daring and thoughtful films I've ever seen. Six thumbs up.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 22, 2013)

Frankenweenie by Tim Burton...starring Tim Burton.   Predictable but funny enough to be passable....dozens of movie references in there.   The younger ones will enjoy it a lot more but it's good enough to pass a shortish hour and a half.


----------



## kittyP (Apr 22, 2013)

"The kids are alright" (was ok. not as good as I thought it was gonna be) 
"Seeking a friend for the end of the world" (quite good, better than I thought it was gonna be) 
"Dispicable me" (I might have cried a bit  ) 
"harry potter and the goblet of fire " (just for the comfort)


----------



## renegadechicken (Apr 22, 2013)

Mama - different take on two kids left in the woods with a wicked witch. I liked the twist at the end Mrs Chicken thought the end spoilt it. Was reasonable enough to while a way an hour as long as you don't attempt to follow the back story too much as it doesn't hold up - nonetheless i did enjoy it including the little twist.


----------



## Reno (Apr 23, 2013)

renegadechicken said:


> Mama - different take on two kids left in the woods with a wicked witch. I liked the twist at the end Mrs Chicken thought the end spoilt it. Was reasonable enough to while a way an hour as long as you don't attempt to follow the back story too much as it doesn't hold up - nonetheless i did enjoy it including the little twist.


 
I really liked the film, but what did you consider to be a twist ?


----------



## renegadechicken (Apr 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> I really liked the film, but what did you consider to be a twist ?



That it didn't have the usual happy ending


----------



## Reno (Apr 23, 2013)

renegadechicken said:


> That it didn't have the usual happy ending


 
Horror films tend to go in either way, but unreservedly happy endings are not that common in the genre. It's not what I'd consider a twist though which means that something is revealed that's completely out of the blue. It was a bitter sweet ending and it kind of made sense considering that 



Spoiler



the younger girl was probably still more emotionally attached to Mama than to her adoptive parents.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 23, 2013)

V for Vendetta tother night, and last night it was Melancholia - enjoyed both films.  Always enjoy a good apocalype anyway  thought Charlotte G was fantastic in it 

Haven't watched films for ages but recently started watching a few with the fella - surprising how many he hasn't seen.

Tonight we're gonna watch Leon


----------



## Badgers (Apr 23, 2013)

sojourner said:
			
		

> V for Vendetta tother night, and last night it was Melancholia - enjoyed both films.  Always enjoy a good apocalype anyway  thought Charlotte G was fantastic in it
> 
> Haven't watched films for ages but recently started watching a few with the fella - surprising how many he hasn't seen.
> 
> Tonight we're gonna watch Leon




Melancholia? I have not seen. Is that the 1989 or the 2011 one? They are both on LoveFilm so can watch online


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 23, 2013)

The Front Line, another Korean one.  Started watching it ages ago, but it was a bit slow-going, so had another go last night and stuck with it.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 23, 2013)

Badgers said:


> Melancholia? I have not seen. Is that the 1989 or the 2011 one? They are both on LoveFilm so can watch online


Twas the 2011 one bajjy - we really enjoyed it


----------



## marty21 (Apr 23, 2013)

my internet was slowing down by film watching - it's superfast now so have been watching loads of stuff on Netflix and Lovefilm

Cold Light of Day - Bruce Willis as a CIA agent, gets his family dragged into Spanish Shenanigans - not too bad as action movie/thrillers go
Tombstone - I prefer this one to the Costner one - 'Tell them Hell is coming with me' etc
Tuff Turf - James Spader and Robert Downey Jr in 80s High School shenanigans - very dated - but I have a weakness for 80s High School movies


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 23, 2013)

The Irish gangster film Perrier's Bounty.

The same team that made the much superior Intermission.

As much as I love Jim Broadbent he was seriously miscast in this movie. The film was all over the place, not knowing if it was a straight up thriller or a black comedy but it was fun spotting The Game of Thrones actors in the cast.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 23, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> The Irish gangster film Perrier's Bounty.
> 
> The same team that made the much superior Intermission.
> 
> As much as I love Jim Broadbent he was seriously miscast in this movie. The film was all over the place, not knowing if it was a straight up thriller or a black comedy but it was fun spotting The Game of Thrones actors in the cast.


 
Oh, was my cousin's husband in it?


----------



## DrRingDing (Apr 23, 2013)




----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 23, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Oh, was my cousin's husband in it?


 
give us a clue name


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 23, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> give us a clue name


 
As I don't share my own name on the interwebs, I'm not going to do so with my relatives. Anyway, I've looked at the wiki link you provide, and his name does not appear. . .


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 23, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Swift


 
I'll need a bigger clue than that.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 24, 2013)

Leon

I love that film. I think that's 4 times I've watched it now.  I wasn't sure the fella would like it, what with all the 'action' type stuff, but I'm not into that usually and I love it so I took the chance. And he liked it a lot!


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 24, 2013)

Middle of Season 3 for The Wire.
pretty good so far!


----------



## marty21 (Apr 24, 2013)

watched Office Space last night - brilliant film


----------



## Yetman (Apr 24, 2013)

Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy - Not as Irvine imagined it I'd dare say. Bit camp and underacted, not enough effort put into making it something different like Boyle did with trainspotting. 5/10


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 24, 2013)

sojourner said:


> Leon
> 
> I love that film. I think that's 4 times I've watched it now. I wasn't sure the fella would like it, what with all the 'action' type stuff, but I'm not into that usually and I love it so I took the chance. And he liked it a lot!


 
I love Leon.  I think it's the only DVD I've actually bought a Blu Ray copy of.  I have no idea why I bought the Blu Ray rather than normal DVD though.  Maybe it was cheaper


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I love Leon.  I think it's the only DVD I've actually bought a Blu Ray copy of.  I have no idea why I bought the Blu Ray rather than normal DVD though.  Maybe it was cheaper


Have you got a Bluray player?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Have you got a Bluray player?


 
Yes.  Why?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Cos of what you said about buying a blu ray disc


----------



## renegadechicken (Apr 24, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy - Not as Irvine imagined it I'd dare say. Bit camp and underacted, not enough effort put into making it something different like Boyle did with trainspotting. 5/10


Me and Mrs Chicken watched this and both of us thought it sucked as it was nothing remotely similar to the book.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Cos of what you said about buying a blu ray disc


 
Oh right.  Normally I just buy normal discs, because I'm one of these people that often doesn't really see the difference in quality between normal and blu ray


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Oh right.  Normally I just buy normal discs, because I'm one of these people that often doesn't really see the difference in quality between normal and blu ray


I have never seen a blu ray but I only read on this thread yesterday that it makes a massive difference if you have a huge telly


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I have never seen a blu ray but I only read on this thread yesterday that it makes a massive difference if you have a huge telly


 
Oh I dunno.  I think I'd need to get something like Life on Earth or South Pacific or some other Attenborough one on both bluray and normal, but I know I watched one nature documentary on bluray that looked absolutely stunning on my sister's TV, so not sure whether it was her TV or the bluray


----------



## thriller (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I have never seen a blu ray but I only read on this thread yesterday that it makes a massive difference if you have a huge telly


 
not really. I've downloaded blu ray movies to watch on my laptop using vlc player and the quality is considerably higher than DVDs.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

thriller said:


> not really. I've downloaded blu ray movies to watch on my laptop using vlc player and the quality is considerably higher than DVDs.


Eh?


----------



## tony.c (Apr 24, 2013)

I like nature documentaries and have recorded the HD series of Frozen Planet, Life in the Freezer, Yellowstone. etc from Sky, and I think they are visually better than normal tv. Haven't seen them on bluray but would think they are better.
Most of my dvds are regular dvds, but now I get the blurays if they are not too much dearer. You can usually get them second hand or imports quite cheap on ebay. I watched 'the Road' last night. Father and son journey through post apocalyptic America. Got it on ebay for £2 + £2pp. I thought it was good. I've bought Battleship and Prometheus on ebay too, so I might watch one of those tonight.

I do have a 46" LED HD tv which I does help.

Edit: There's a documentary about grizzly bears on BBC1 (&HD) tonight at 9pm which I will be recording.


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Eh?


 
HD can look better on a laptop or a smaller telly, though it doesn't always, especially when it comes to something like older films. When you have a large telly or a projector what appear like subtle difference on a small display become major differences. I watch films on a projector. DVDs look shit on it because they have relatively low resolution, but Blu-rays have about the same definition I would get at a cinema. If you have a small telly then I don't think there is enough of a difference to make it worth switching to Blu-ray.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

I wasn't talking about watching on a laptop!


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I wasn't talking about watching on a laptop!


 
What were you talking about then ?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> What were you talking about then ?


I was telling Minnie what you and NVP said about watching blu rays on a big screen. Then thriller said 'not really' and mentioned watching them on a laptop. So I said 'eh?'


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I was telling Minnie what you and NVP said about watching blu rays on a big screen. Then thriller said 'not really' and mentioned watching them on a laptop. So I said 'eh?'


 
thriller had a point (for once  ). You sometimes can see a difference between HD and SD on a laptop, but it comparatively slight. Blu-ray/HD is a format designed to take advantage of ever increasing tellies and projectors, that's why people who watch Blu-rays on a small telly often complain that its a rip-off.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 24, 2013)

A German film called Berlin 36. It's the true story of a young female high jumper, the best in Germany..... and also jewish. Jews were banned from the German Olympic team, but the Americans made a big noise about boycotting the Games in Berlin. As a result, the Nazis had to make it look like the woman would be on the team.

They therefore allowed her to go to training camp; but also recruited another young high jumper who, as it turns out, was male, but who had been raised as a girl by his seriously messed-up mother. The idea was that this young man would  be better than the jewish woman, and therefore would take the spot on the team, 'legitimately'. The Nazis buried the medical report showing that the newcomer was in fact male.

I don't think it's much of a spoiler to tell that the jewish woman does not end up on the team, nor does she compete at the Games.

The only upside to the story is that the woman and her family manage to escape Germany, and therefore aren't killed in the Holocaust.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> thriller had a point (for once  ). You sometimes can see a difference between HD and SD on a laptop, but it comparatively slight.


I'm confused. Why are we talking about laptops?


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I'm confused. Why are we talking about laptops?


 
Because you appeared to be questioning that thriller can see a difference between Blu-ray and DVD on his laptop.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> Because you appeared to be questioning that thriller can see a difference between Blu-ray and DVD on his laptop.


My eh? was at him bringing up laptops which have nothing to do with what was being discussed


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> My eh? was at him bringing up laptops which have nothing to do with what was being discussed


 
Why doesn't it ? It's the same as a small telly if you watch DVDs and Blu-rays/rips on it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> Why doesn't it ? It's the same as a small telly if you watch DVDs and Blu-rays/rips on it.


I WAS TALKING ABOUT WATCHING BLU RAY ON A BIG TELLY! 
Never mind. It's not important.


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I WAS TALKING ABOUT WATCHING BLU RAY ON A BIG TELLY!
> Never mind. It's not important.


 
Does Minnie have a big telly ? I assumed she can't see a difference because it isn't that big as she can see the difference on another telly.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> Does Minnie have a big telly ? I assumed she can't see a difference because it isn't that big as she can see the difference on another telly.


That's what I assumed too


----------



## thriller (Apr 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Eh?


 
you said:



Orang Utan said:


> I have never seen a blu ray but I only read on this thread yesterday that it makes a massive difference if you have a huge telly


 
by mentioning a laptop, I am saying you don't just need a BIG TV to enjoy HD quality movies. The difference can be considerable watching it even on a 15" laptop. Let me give you an example. I downloaded Star Wars A New Hope blu ray for my friend to watch on my laptop. Her reaction was how comes the quality is so clean and crisp for such an old film? I had to explain to her it was a High Definition version.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2013)

So: Blu Ray = HD and DVD = SD? Is that the difference?


----------



## thriller (Apr 24, 2013)

And by the way, many people cannot tell a difference between standard and HD on a tell because they watch it sitting far away. Sit closer to the TV and you will notice the difference.


----------



## belboid (Apr 24, 2013)

thriller said:


> And by the way, many people cannot tell a difference between standard and HD on a tell because they watch it sitting far away. Sit closer to the TV and you will notice the difference.


I dont want to sit any closer thank you. I like my eyes the way they are.


----------



## thriller (Apr 24, 2013)

belboid said:


> I dont want to sit any closer thank you. I like my eyes the way they are.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 24, 2013)

*Stand Up Guys* - Al Pacino & Christopher Walken as ageing gangsters on one last night out before one has to kill the other. Not great but amusing in places, worth a watch to see Pacino & Walken bouncing lines off each other.


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

thriller said:


> And by the way, many people cannot tell a difference between standard and HD on a tell because they watch it sitting far away. Sit closer to the TV and you will notice the difference.


 
A modern laptop screen tends to have higher resolution than a telly. I have a 19" LCD telly and on that I can't see the difference between HD and regular channels or DVD and Blu-ray, unless the DVD transfer was shit to begin with. I can see a difference on my iPad, because it was one of these newfangled screens with very high resolution.


----------



## thriller (Apr 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> A modern laptop screen tends to have higher resolution than a telly. I have a 19" LCD telly and on that I can't see the difference between HD and regular channels or DVD and Blu-ray, unless the DVD transfer was shit to begin with.


 
i can.


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2013)

thriller said:


> i can.


 
But then we all know you are absolutely amazing and therefore so are your eyes.


----------



## thriller (Apr 24, 2013)




----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> Does Minnie have a big telly ? I assumed she can't see a difference because it isn't that big as she can see the difference on another telly.


 
A 32-incher


----------



## Frances Lengel (Apr 25, 2013)

Citadel - Was it propaganda-ish with all that feral children stuff? I think it was a bit.

Quite scary in parts though, 



Spoiler: not really a spoiler but still



especially the first half where he's in the house alone with the baby


 
And King Of The Travellers, which was ok but not as good as Between The Canals though.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2181989/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787054/


----------



## Reno (Apr 25, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Citadel - Was it propaganda-ish with all that feral children stuff? I think it was a bit.
> 
> Quite scary in parts though,
> 
> ...


 
Only they weren't children...


----------



## Frances Lengel (Apr 25, 2013)

Reno said:


> Only they weren't children...


 
Yeah but when the priest was on about them being like a cancer and the kindest thing was to cut them out - I could see that as an allegory for the feral underclass or something. Probably.


----------



## Voley (Apr 25, 2013)

Black Power Mixtape - good doc about the Black Panthers made by a Swedish TV crew in the late 60's.The filmmakers had a naivety that actually helped - there was a real sense of disbelief from them regarding the treatment of black people in the 'land of opportunity'. There's a great interview with Angela Davis in it that puts the violent vs non-violent protest argument to bed, too. Well worth a watch.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 25, 2013)

NVP said:


> Black Power Mixtape - good doc about the Black Panthers made by a Swedish TV crew in the late 60's.The filmmakers had a naivety that actually helped - there was a real sense of disbelief from them regarding the treatment of black people in the 'land of opportunity'. There's a great interview with Angela Davis in it that puts the violent vs non-violent protest argument to bed, too. Well worth a watch.


Ooo that looks interesting, love Angela Davies.  Will dl that if I can.

We watched Nick of Time, on the fella's request.  A very hammy Christopher Walken   Not a bad film, interesting in parts, tension was okay. Wasn't as good as Leon though


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 25, 2013)

I've been watching some Scrubs, including the final season when tried to mix it up by adding medical students. Not as good as the rest of the show, but still pretty good (and one of the few US sitcoms I can think of that has a racially-integrated cast (Big Bang Theory and 30 Rock don't count)).

That whole show was basically a plagiarism of Samuel Shem's novel _The House of God, _down to the two male leads being black and Jewish, though without all the semi-pornographic bits.

Also on a medical theme, I watched some of that Hugh Laurie vehicle _House, _and while I'm late to the party on this one I did enjoy it a lot.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 25, 2013)

NVP said:


> Black Power Mixtape - good doc about the Black Panthers made by a Swedish TV crew in the late 60's.The filmmakers had a naivety that actually helped - there was a real sense of disbelief from them regarding the treatment of black people in the 'land of opportunity'. There's a great interview with Angela Davis in it that puts the violent vs non-violent protest argument to bed, too. Well worth a watch.


 


Saw this last year was v good. Watched off the back of ''The Murder of Fred Hampton'


----------



## rekil (Apr 25, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> As he should, but it wasn't really a narrative about them, but about how commercialisation and commodification established the post-pinochet years, that all that was changed were _images..._i'm really surprised at some of the reviews that think it was a heart-warming story about victory - they must have missed the first two films to be able to come to that reading.


I didn't see any reviews, just the interview with the adman and GGB on C4news where Jon Snow seemed to take the marketing hype at face value. Maybe the film could have done with a smidgin more political context, I dunno, but the final scene especially underpinned your point.

Alfredo Costa plays yet another quality scumbag in Andres Wood's La Buena Vida. I just noticed he's in Secrets which might be worth a look if it can be found.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 25, 2013)

Got copy of secrets but...no subs...


----------



## rekil (Apr 25, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Got copy of secrets but...no subs...


Ah, I see it's on kg. I finally got round to seeing Figli/Hijos btw. It's a shame Marco Bechis hasn't done more fillums.


----------



## Firky (Apr 25, 2013)

Those who have seen The Hunt,

Did you have any problems with the subs? I have downloaded several now and none of them will work properly, they're not out of synch but missing letters and the font size changes all the time. Been trying to sort it for the last hour :/

Edit: Hmmm, just checked it on my computer and they work fine. I wonder if it's my WDTV.


----------



## Firky (Apr 25, 2013)

NVP said:


> Black Power Mixtape - good doc about the Black Panthers made by a Swedish TV crew in the late 60's.The filmmakers had a naivety that actually helped - there was a real sense of disbelief from them regarding the treatment of black people in the 'land of opportunity'. There's a great interview with Angela Davis in it that puts the violent vs non-violent protest argument to bed, too. Well worth a watch.


 
Great documentary


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 25, 2013)

I am just watching endless Adventure Time episodes. 
I started watching season 5 (the latest) but then thought I had better switch to series one and work up. Kind of a mistake as it gets far better from 5. 
I have maxed out 5 and nearly done 4 (which is almost as good) but then I guess I will have to work my way back. 
It's quite addictive.


----------



## Casually Red (Apr 25, 2013)

ive a bit of a rarity here, watched it this afternoon . Its the Che film starring Omar Sharif as Guevara and Jack Palance of all people as Fidel Castro . The whole way through i was still saying to myself.._Jack Palance as Fidel Castro_..wtf

it was made in 69 at the height of the US obsession with Cuba, and probably could have been a lot worse . But for oddball rarity value its worth seeing . I saw a rumour somewhere that Palance wanted to play the Castro character a lot more sympathetically and honestly than the script but was turned down . So apparently he acted the bollocks deliberately on screen and then disassociated himself from the film afterwards . But despite that I thought it could have been much worse .


----------



## Firky (Apr 25, 2013)

Firky said:


> Those who have seen The Hunt,
> 
> Did you have any problems with the subs? I have downloaded several now and none of them will work properly, they're not out of synch but missing letters and the font size changes all the time. Been trying to sort it for the last hour :/
> 
> Edit: Hmmm, just checked it on my computer and they work fine. I wonder if it's my WDTV.


 
Fuck it. I'll watch it on my laptop another night.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 26, 2013)

I'm attempting to watch Inception.  I put it on the other night and only lasted 10 minutes.  I've had it on for much longer this time, but it's not holding my attention.   I have absolutely no idea what's going on.  I'm only watching it because my sister lent it to me, so I feel obliged


----------



## zenie (Apr 26, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I'm attempting to watch Inception. I put it on the other night and only lasted 10 minutes. I've had it on for much longer this time, but it's not holding my attention. I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I'm only watching it because my sister lent it to me, so I feel obliged


 
It's awesome!  

I tried to watch The Company Men last night but I fell asleep


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2013)

Nah, Inception is tedious. Don't bother, Minnie.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 26, 2013)

I watched the Changeling - top notch haunted housery. Also The Late Show lovely late 70s mystery fluff. Really enjoyed both.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 26, 2013)

Reno said:


> Nah, Inception is tedious. Don't bother, Minnie.


 


zenie said:


> It's awesome!
> 
> I tried to watch The Company Men last night but I fell asleep


 
Sorry zenie, I just can't get into it.  It's still on, but I'm on the internet.  Have no idea what's going on in the film


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I watched the Changeling - top notch haunted housery. Also The Late Show lovely late 70s mystery fluff. Really enjoyed both.


 
I love _The Late Show_. Art Carney was one of these actors who only became a star in old age, but now he seems to be forgotten about again. _Harry and Tonto_ is great too.


----------



## Voley (Apr 26, 2013)

I liked Inception. I got a bit lost with what 'level' they were at a couple of times iykwim but it all made sense at the end. The effects were ace, too.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 26, 2013)

NVP said:


> I liked Inception. I got a bit lost with what 'level' they were at a couple of times iykwim but it all made sense at the end. The effects were ace, too.


 
It all made 'sense' with a lot of suspension of belief (or just excepting the films own crazy rules about dreams). It just wasn't that good.
It really did just feel like a film built around an 'idea' that then became a film built around three or four special effects set pieces. Never a good basis for a film. Ideas are great but then you need a good story withing the world of the idea.
It just ended up being rather dull.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2013)

I just didn't find the dream world/s of Inception very interesting, it was routine action movie stuff. The thing I found most tedious was that most of the dialogue was exposition where they keep endlessly telling you how this works and when the plot finally kicks in, they break all the rules anyway. Many of Nolan's non-Batman films seems to appeal to an audience who think films have depth if they are like puzzles to be pieced together, a gimmicky superficial tricksiness that is rather shallow but perfect for geeks to pick apart on the Interwebs. I don't find it very smart or resonant on any other level than that. Even though there seems some pretense to make some sort of existantial/philosphical statement, there is nothing there if you dig a little bit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 26, 2013)

Also, the fact that the inceptions were all about boring industrial espionage rather than something more interesting like finding a murderer or a long lost love or summat. Nope, it was about some bulllshit to do with business. Yaaaawwwn


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 26, 2013)

I think it's one of those films that you have to watch and listen to to understand it.  I don't like films where you have to engage your brain to try to figure out what's happening.  

Anyway, at least I'll be able to return it to owner saying I "watched" it


----------



## Voley (Apr 26, 2013)

Frankenweenie. Enjoyed this. I always like Tim Burton doing his 50's B-Movie thing and this had the lot: Lurch/Vincent Price type characters, Frankenstein,  creepy kids, a bit of Pet Cemetery, people going 'Nooooooooooooooooooo!' and 'Muahahahahahahaaaaa!', a Japanese monster movie bit. All really lovingly done - the bit where the kid reanimates his dead dog was ace. I've not seen a good film by him for a while (Ed Wood was the last, I think). General consensus of everyone in the room was that Tim Burton must've been one really fucked up kid.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 26, 2013)

Yes...loved Colossus!


----------



## Firky (Apr 27, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I'm attempting to watch Inception. I put it on the other night and only lasted 10 minutes. I've had it on for much longer this time, but it's not holding my attention. I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I'm only watching it because my sister lent it to me, so I feel obliged


 
It's crap, style over substance. You're not missing a lot.

It's a bit like Paprika in a way but that is a far better film (well cartoon but YKWIM)


----------



## spawnofsatan (Apr 27, 2013)

Lords of Salem, Rob Zombie directing in the style of John Carpenter. Some beautiful shots and ideas, but too much of a mish mash to be a good movie.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Apr 27, 2013)

Firky said:


> It's crap, style over substance. You're not missing a lot.
> 
> It's a bit like Paprika in a way but that is a far better film (well cartoon but YKWIM)


 
Glad to hear I've not missed anything.

Not seen Paprika either


----------



## starfish (Apr 27, 2013)

Finally watched Withnail & I this afternoon. Dont really see what all the fuss is about it, thought it was a bit shit tbh.


----------



## renegadechicken (Apr 27, 2013)

Today we watched;

Bad Kids Go To Hell - a horror take (ish) on the breakfast club. It was okay for a rainy Saturday afternoon.
A Common Man - Ben kingsley was good as 'a common man' - however some (alot) of the sri Lanka acting was ropey - still an enjoyable watch for a Saturday afternoon
Movie 43 - well, i enjoyed this a lot - hunting for a movie that is more dangerous than the ring, and watching all the little movies they stumble across, some are hilarious..can't say more without spoiling it.


----------



## Me76 (Apr 27, 2013)

starfish said:


> Finally watched Withnail & I this afternoon. Dont really see what all the fuss is about it, thought it was a bit shit tbh.


I made a point of watching it when I was younger cos everyone went on about it and thought exactly the same thing. I haven't watched it since then and won't make a special effort to.


----------



## alkab15 (Apr 28, 2013)

I know this is an old film but I watched DoA.. LoL


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 28, 2013)

I got a Steven Seagal DVD collection for my 40th! so am about to watch one from his magnum opus. Nico is the first one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 28, 2013)

Me76 said:


> I made a point of watching it when I was younger cos everyone went on about it and thought exactly the same thing. I haven't watched it since then and won't make a special effort to.


i think it is one of the most perfectly written and acted films ever made. i will never get bored of watching it and i'm not a keen repeat watcher. there is a nasty homophobic side to the film, but this still doesn't stop me loving it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 28, 2013)

The Only Son - Japanese film from 1936. Mum makes huge sacrifices for son to attend further education but son's life doesn't turn out as he hoped, he brings Mum for a visit to Tokyo but has to borrow money to impress. Incredibly moving and the acting is very subtle and natural. Apart from a few whining (boo hoo) kids.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 29, 2013)

starfish said:


> Finally watched Withnail & I this afternoon. Dont really see what all the fuss is about it, thought it was a bit shit tbh.


 
You have to see it between 17 and 19 to really enjoy it, I think.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 29, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> You have to see it between 17 and 19 to really enjoy it, I think.


 
Yeah, I saw it when it came out and loved it, then watched on vhs A LOT, but haven't seen for over 15 years and have no desire to re-visit. It's the film equivalent of listening to The Doors. I shall offer it to my son as he reaches 16 this Wednesday.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 29, 2013)

Reno said:


> I just didn't find the dream world/s of Inception very interesting, it was routine action movie stuff. The thing I found most tedious was that most of the dialogue was exposition where they keep endlessly telling you how this works and when the plot finally kicks in, they break all the rules anyway. Many of Nolan's non-Batman films seems to appeal to an audience who think films have depth if they are like puzzles to be pieced together, a gimmicky superficial tricksiness that is rather shallow but perfect for geeks to pick apart on the Interwebs. I don't find it very smart or resonant on any other level than that. Even though there seems some pretense to make some sort of existantial/philosphical statement, there is nothing there if you dig a little bit.


 
It's layers and layers and layers and layers and layers and layers and layers and layers and layers of rhetoric upon layers and layers and layers and layers and layers of specials effects with a very simple plot filling and half baked on a high heat until it smells like something edible.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 29, 2013)

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Fucking brilliant, loved it!  So many levels to it, and at some points we were just in bits laughing


----------



## Voley (Apr 29, 2013)

Tony Manero. Fell asleep about halfway through.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 29, 2013)

I'm watching a new Netflix series called Hemlock Grove. It's sort of True Blood meets Teen Wolf. It has its good moments and ideas, but in between, it moves..... like.... molasses.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 29, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I'm watching a new Netflix series called Hemlock Grove. It's sort of True Blood meets Teen Wolf. It has its good moments and ideas, but in between, it moves..... like.... molasses.


Watched the first one tonight out of curiosity.  Slow, slow, slow.   Dunno if it's worth sticking with, I got bored with True Blood after a couple of seasons.


----------



## starfish (Apr 29, 2013)

Blue Valentine - tough going but a great film. Really impressed with Ryan Gosling & Michelle Williams.

Also started to watch Breaking Bad, saw the pilot last night. Bryan Cranston is great but still cant help thinking of him as Hal from Malcolm in the Middle.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 29, 2013)

starfish said:


> ...Also started to watch Breaking Bad, saw the pilot last night. Bryan Cranston is great but still cant help thinking of him as Hal from Malcolm in the Middle.


Don't worry, that'll wear off.


----------



## starfish (Apr 29, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Don't worry, that'll wear off.


 
Aye, i dont recall him taking Lois from behind.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Apr 29, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Watched the first one tonight out of curiosity. Slow, slow, slow. Dunno if it's worth sticking with, I got bored with True Blood after a couple of seasons.


 
If you didn't like True Blood, I'm not sure I'd bother with this. I've watched eight episodes - I like its quirkiness, but as far as Netflix productions go, it can't hold a candle to Lillyhammer or House of Cards.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 29, 2013)

Wait until Dark. I've been wanting to see this again for years. It's still as good. It has one of the best 'jump scares' in any film ever and Audrey Hepburn is just gorgeous.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 30, 2013)

Night and the City.

Jules Dassin, 1950. A rare example of a film noir set in London - and going by this evidence there should have been more like it. Richard Widmark is a small-time nightclub tout who dreams of the big time - and gets more than he bargained for when he tries to live the dream.

Gene Tierney is the love interest, and Googie Withers plays the bad girl role. And a young Herbert Lom was brilliant as London wrestling's Mr. Big.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 30, 2013)

Griff The Invisible, cute little romantic comedy from ozzie-land with Ryan Kwanten.   Watchable, funny and confusing.


----------



## Reno (May 1, 2013)

I watched The Impossible last night, the film based on the experiences of a family during the 2004 Tsunami in Thailand, starring Naomi Watts and Ewen McGregor. While a film of a recent catastrophe will always be a little exploitative and especially one that is about an uplifiting story can seem minimising the horror of the situation, for what it is, it's well done and gripping especially in the early part of the waves hitting the resort. It does pull the heart strings a little hard in the second half, though i have to admit it worked on me. Reading up on it, what looks like several coincidendces, did really happen that way. The film appears to stick to their story very closely apart from that the real family was Spanish while here they are British and this is an English language Spanish film. There were some complaints that the film focuses on a white family and that there are no Thai victims featured as characters, though there are a few Thai characters who help in the rescue effort who are quite heroic despite having just lost everything themselves (also documented). In the end that's the story it tells and according to those involved it is accurate.


----------



## trabuquera (May 1, 2013)

Reno said:


> I While a film of a recent catastrophe will always be a little exploitative and especially one that is about an uplifiting story can seem minimising the horror of the situation, for what it is, it's well done and gripping especially in the early part of the waves hitting the resort. It does pull the heart strings a little hard in the second half, though i have to admit it worked on me.


 
Something about the whole idea of this movie made me really deeply queasy and for that reason I've steered clear.

Maybe I should have done the same with HARRY BROWN which I watched on 5 over the weekend and couldn't quite believe just how daily-maily its ideas are (did its makers really mean to propose that the only solution for muggers and chaotic junkies is to just stab 'em to death? and that it's OK as long as it's ex-marines who do the stabbing?). Nice filters though.

Much more worthwhile although I was expecting it to be dead boring and have to confess I've had it hanging about waiting to be watched for over a month: THIS IS NOT A FILM. Iranian director Jafar Panahi (the White Balloon, Circle, Offside, the excellent and much underseen Crimson Gold etc etc etc) is under house arrest and banned from making films for being a bit subversive and anti-governmental. So this short and scrappy exercise is his way of pushing the boundaries, getting someone else to film him as he hangs out at home, wasting or killing time, dreaming of filmmaking again, and a bunch of weird domestic detail including a pet iguana, a neighbour's nighmare dog, fireworks night and an unexpectedly dishy young rubbish-collector guy. It is really more of a weird hybrid of documentary, art exercise and straight-up provocation, it's not straightforward entertainment at all, but in the end it really is shocking and moving despite all the constraints. If you've been considering watching it but thought it woudl be over-earnest, pretentious or boring, give it a go. In its way it's one huge absurdist finger up to the Iranian regime.

and wikipedia tells me he's just had another film released which he scripted


----------



## Reno (May 1, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> Something about the whole idea of this movie made me really deeply queasy and for that reason I've steered clear.
> 
> Maybe I should have done the same with HARRY BROWN which I watched on 5 over the weekend and couldn't quite believe just how daily-maily its ideas are (did its makers really mean to propose that the only solution for muggers and chaotic junkies is to just stab 'em to death? and that it's OK as long as it's ex-marines who do the stabbing?). Nice filters though.


 
Same here, I had a chance to go to a free screening at the time, which I didn't take up. I still have mixed feelings about making a film like that at all, but now that I've seen it, it works fairly well. The biggest obstacle is the "Schindler's List"-problem of telling an uplifiting story about something that was so utterly devastating. The again, if it were a total downer, nobody would go and see it. Even if it gets a little manipulative, its saving grace is that it sticks closely to the real events and doesn't exploit them for a hokey cod-spiritual piece of crap like the Clint Eastwood film Hereafter did. In the end that Spanish family had every right to have their story told and maybe its up to someone else to make another film from a different perspective

Harry Brown is a fucking awful piece of shit though with laughable panto drug dealer villains.


----------



## Me76 (May 1, 2013)

I watched Looper the other day.  Quite enjoyed it apart from the fact that I wanted the kid to get bumped off.


----------



## Voley (May 2, 2013)

sojourner said:


> Exit Through the Gift Shop
> 
> Fucking brilliant, loved it! So many levels to it, and at some points we were just in bits laughing


I've just got this through the the post. Heard good things about it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 2, 2013)

Reno said:


> Harry Brown is a fucking awful piece of shit though with laughable panto drug dealer villains.


 
OH NO IT ISN'T!

Erm, well, hmmm, I guess it is, really.


----------



## butchersapron (May 2, 2013)

Maniac - remake of Maniac, Bill Lustig's notorious early 80s genre piece that i only know by reputation but will now be seeking out. Can't really make my mind up on this one, so won't say more until i see the original. Fantastic soundtrack though.


----------



## belboid (May 2, 2013)

Sightseers.  Damned fine, and I think I've visited all those murder sites 

My only criticism - they were on the bleeding Honister Pass while pretending to look at the Ribblehead Viaduct, they're like 80 miles apart with all he Lake District inbetween! Shocking.  Oh, and they'd never been in Yorkshire when she sent the postcard.

Perfect ending tho


----------



## redsquirrel (May 2, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Gene Tierney is the love interest, and Googie Withers plays the bad girl role. And a young Herbert Lom was brilliant as London wrestling's Mr. Big.


 
By coincidence I watched _Laura_ also starring Gene Tierney. I was supposed to go see it at the cinema, but couldn't make it so decided to re-watch it on DVD - definitely stands up to repeat viewing. Not my absolute favourite Preminger, that has to be _Anatomy of a Murder_, but still a great film.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 2, 2013)

This is 40 - funny in parts, watchable.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 2, 2013)

Kill List

Not as mind-blowing as I'd been led to believe

It's good but it doesn't do what it sets out to do.


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Kill List
> 
> Not as mind-blowing as I'd been led to believe
> 
> It's good but it doesn't do what it sets out to do.


 
What do you think it set out to do ?


----------



## rubbershoes (May 2, 2013)

be another wicker man


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> be another wicker man


 
I don't think so, especially as the end was more Race with the Devil than The Wicker Man. There are also parallels to the end of A Serbian Film, though that's probably co-incidental.


----------



## Yetman (May 2, 2013)

Reno said:


> I don't think so, especially as the end was more Race with the Devil than Wicker Man.


 
It's A Serbian Film, but a fanny ass version of it.


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2013)

Yetman said:


> It's A Serbian Film, but a fanny ass version of it.


 
I just included that in an edit as an afterthought, though the films were made at the same time, so Kill List can't have copied it.

I'd say A Serbian Film is the "fanny ass" version though, if you think about it.


----------



## sojourner (May 2, 2013)

Behind The Rent Strike, about the 1972 Kirkby rent strike. Fucking brilliant


----------



## rubbershoes (May 2, 2013)

Reno said:


> I don't think so, especially as the end was more Race with the Devil than The Wicker Man. There are also parallels to the end of A Serbian Film, though that's probably co-incidental.


 

 haven't seen either of those others


----------



## Reno (May 3, 2013)

_Chained_ by Jennifer Lynch, perpetrator of the notoriously awful Boxing Helena. I thought I'd never watch another film of hers and the terrible font of the title sequence almost made throw in the towel but as low budget horror films about serial killers go, it was actually pretty good. It's about a homicidal taxi driver who abducts a mother and her young son. He kills the mother, but keeps the boy as a slave and it becomes about their increasingly complicated relationship as the boy grows up. Despite the horrible things the film depicts, there is a refreshing lack of cynicism here which generally is part and parcel of this type of film. It's a well made film, more conventional than what her dad does and nowhere near in the same league but it looks she's turned into a decent director after all.


----------



## butchersapron (May 3, 2013)

Reno said:


> _Chained_ by Jennifer Lynch, perpetrator of the notoriously awful Boxing Helena. I thought I'd never watch another film of hers and the terrible font of the title sequence almost made throw in the towel there but as low budget horror films about serial killers go, it was actually pretty good. It's about a homicidal taxi driver who abducts a mother and her young son. He kills the mother, but keeps the boy as a slave and it becomes about their increasingly complicated relationship as the boy grows up. Despite the horrible things the film depicts, there is a refreshing lack of cynicism here which generally is part and parcel of this type of film. It's a well made film, more a conventional straightforward horror films than what her dad does but it looks she's turned into a decent director after all.


Decent little film i thought. Not great, but at least was interesting and asked a few questions.


----------



## Voley (May 3, 2013)

The Book of Eli. Fucking terrible.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 3, 2013)

I started *The Wire season 4.*
From the start, I'm sensing something terrible is about to happen.
Only on episode 1, and already, the tension starts - definitely an improvement from series 3 (which was good though a let down from season 2).


----------



## Reno (May 3, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> I started *The Wire season 4.*
> From the start, I'm sensing something terrible is about to happen.
> Only on episode 1, and already, the tension starts - definitely an improvement from series 3 (which was good though a let down from season 2).


 
The best season by far IMO.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 3, 2013)

Reno said:


> The best season by far IMO.


 
i'm expecting that!
i just i hope don't cry - i hate crying.


----------



## Reno (May 3, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> i'm expecting that!
> i just i hope don't cry - i hate crying.


 
I had my heart broken...


----------



## trabuquera (May 3, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> i'm expecting that!
> i just i hope don't cry - i hate crying.


 
* bitter rueful laughs *

You might not like it then. it's possibly the best thing ever made for US TV,  but/and it will rip your heart right out of your chest.
it did me and i'm a notorious cynic.


----------



## Reno (May 4, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Maniac - remake of Maniac, Bill Lustig's notorious early 80s genre piece that i only know by reputation but will now be seeking out. Can't really make my mind up on this one, so won't say more until i see the original. Fantastic soundtrack though.


 

Watched this last night. It didn't really work for me and I'm a bit surprised by the good reviews this good. The original is a film I never cared for and I had similar problems with this, in that I simply didn't care about the psycho and his trauma. That problem is made worse by the first person camera approach used here, which got tiresome when used for an entire film. The only film which made this work is Enter the Void, by having the character die and therefore freeing up the camera. The soundtrack is the only really good thing about it.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 4, 2013)

"I Wanna Hold Your Hand". 1979 comedy from the "Back to the Future" team. Bunch of Jersey kids try to get on the Ed Sullivan Show to see The Beatles.


----------



## Part 2 (May 4, 2013)

Just watched McCullin, the documentary about the photographer.

It's excellent, but very bleak as would be expected really. Hearing him speak about the various hellish situations he's been in is just breathtaking. I was left wondering if anyone could claim to have seen as much in terms of human devastation, he must have so many horrible images stored in his memory. What an amazing man.


----------



## The39thStep (May 5, 2013)

The Grey.

Did I miss something?


----------



## Firky (May 5, 2013)

Jack Reacher.

The worst film I have seen this year and one of the worst action films I have ever seen.

"I don't mind the site of blood."
"Because you're relieved you're not pregnant"


----------



## Voley (May 5, 2013)

Firky said:


> "I don't mind the site of blood."
> "Because you're relieved you're not pregnant"


 Really?


----------



## Firky (May 5, 2013)

NVP said:


> Really?


 
The dialogue is awful, it is so unnatural you'd be forgiven for thinking the scriptwriter has never had a conversation with a human being in their life. It isn't even so bad it is funny, it is just shit.

It even has a shootout scene in the rain, set in a quarry with big diggers and dumper-trucks


----------



## Voley (May 5, 2013)

Tom Cruise is only ever any good when he's playing a total twat. Magnolia - total twat, good performance. Tropic Thunder, the same. I think it's because he doesn't have to act much.


----------



## Part 2 (May 5, 2013)

Following, Christopher Nolan. $6k budget? Great stuff.

This morning I watched Antichrist. Bit of an odd choice to watch on a Sunday morning. It's very good though. I've had it sat there waiting on the hard drive for ages and forgot anything I'd ever read about it. Charlotte Gainsbourg's performance is outstanding. It's definitely one that left me thinking, plenty I didn't quite get but I'm not sure a rewatch will be on the cards anytime soon.


----------



## Firky (May 5, 2013)

NVP said:


> Tom Cruise is only ever any good when he's playing a total twat. Magnolia - total twat, good performance. Tropic Thunder, the same. I think it's because he doesn't have to act much.


 
I quite liked him in Vanilla Sky.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 5, 2013)

I watched a film called Tiny Furniture. I didn't know anything at all about it.....and it was full of really annoying New York arty rich people being dicks to each other, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. The central character's story managed to be grounded and real, and funny. Writer, director, actor  Lena Dunham was pretty fearless in exposing herself on screen and clearly doesn't mind being the butt of her own jokes to get her point across.


----------



## Reno (May 5, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I watched a film called Tiny Furniture. I didn't know anything at all about it.....and it was full of really annoying New York arty rich people being dicks to each other, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. The central character's story managed to be grounded and real, and funny. Writer, director, actor Lena Dunham was pretty fearless in exposing herself on screen and clearly doesn't mind being the butt of her own jokes to get her point across.


 
I still haven't seen the film but it sounds pretty much like her TV series Girls, which I rather like.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 5, 2013)

Reno said:


> I still haven't seen the film but it sounds pretty much like her TV series Girls, which I rather like.


 
I hadn't made the connection between the two actually. I've heard good things about Girls. Gonna give it a shot.

A lot of US indie films can try too hard to be both cool, neurotic and satirical......Tiny Furniture was very balanced and having just read up on Lena Dunham's background there's no reason why she wouldn't nail the subject matter. I liked the way it was understated and not show offy when depicting a world that is overstated and full of ego. Also, she did show some sympathy, even for the total pricks in the story.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 5, 2013)

Firky said:


> I quite liked him in Vanilla Sky.


He was a dick in that one.


----------



## Reno (May 5, 2013)

Tom Cruise was alright early in his career when he still had was connected to something resembling real life, but since then he appears to have completely lost touch with how a regular human being behaves. I never find him believable in anything, he is like a personality void which I have to fill with an actor in my mind. He goes through the motions, but it's all surface. Even in roles where he plays a dick, like in Magnolia, he wasn't really that good. He got props for taking on such an unsympathetic role and for not being awful, but he still looked too controlled and self-conscious.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 5, 2013)

He was great in Risky Business


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 5, 2013)

Just watched Untouchable again.


----------



## starfish (May 5, 2013)

Resurrecting The Street Walker. A young film maker finds a copy of an unfinished 80s horror & attempts to make the ending. It was filmed in a documentary style & i must have been still a lot hungover as i didnt realise it wasnt an actual documentary until the final few minutes.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 5, 2013)

Reno said:


> Tom Cruise was alright early in his career when he still had was connected to something resembling real life, but since then he appears to have completely lost touch with how a regular human being behaves. I never find him believable in anything, he is like a personality void which I have to fill with an actor in my mind. He goes through the motions, but it's all surface. Even in roles where he plays a dick, like in Magnolia, he wasn't really that good. He got props for taking on such an unsympathetic role and for not being awful, but he still looked too controlled and self-conscious.


He only seems to have one smile.   Fucking alien.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?saf....667.12.12.0...0.0...1ac.1.12.img.wyeiPSTj6ig


----------



## Reno (May 5, 2013)

I'm not sure how many smiles I've got ?


----------



## Part 2 (May 5, 2013)

My 12 year old is desperate to watch horror films, so we watched Jeepers Creepers. I knew it was rubbish and he's seen scarier stuff but he just took the piss all the way through, making it far more enjoyable than it would've been otherwise.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 5, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> My 12 year old is desperate to watch horror films, so we watched Jeepers Creepers. I knew it was rubbish and he's seen scarier stuff but he just took the piss all the way through, making it far more enjoyable than it would've been otherwise.


The Ring (Japanese version) should shut him up.


----------



## thriller (May 5, 2013)

NVP said:


> Tom Cruise is only ever any good when he's playing a total twat. Magnolia - total twat, good performance. Tropic Thunder, the same. I think it's because he doesn't have to act much.


 
tom cruise was excellent in Mission Impossible. And to think they were initially thinking of making it a team franchise like the original show. But Tommo took it as a one man show (vanity or not) and it was perfect. He was perfect in Minority Report. I liked Reacher. It certainly has been a hit at the box office. War of the worlds. Another Cruise good 'un. Collateral: great cruise movie. Haven't yet seen his new sci-fi, but its also got good reviews and with me: if it has tom cruise and it's sci-fi: I'm in.

If my user name was not thriller, it would have been tom cruise.

Now, I'm not saying all his films are awesome. I found tropic thunder a fucking bore.


----------



## Part 2 (May 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Ring (Japanese version) should shut him up.


 
It's on the list


----------



## Reno (May 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Ring (Japanese version) should shut him up.


I showed Ring (*The* Ring is the US remake) to a 13 year old and he found it boring. I think it's a good horror film, but it has now been imitated by so many other films, Asian and American, that its power is somewhat diminished.


----------



## thriller (May 5, 2013)

the japanese ring did scare me when I first saw it. that ending


----------



## DexterTCN (May 5, 2013)

Reno said:


> I showed Ring (*The* Ring is the US remake) to a 13 year old and he was very blase about it. I think it's a good horror film, but it has now been imitated by so many other films, Asian and American, that its power is somewhat diminished.


Totally...only works if you don't know.

That can be the joy of showing films to the young ones.

btw It's Ringu


----------



## DexterTCN (May 5, 2013)

thriller said:


> the japanese ring did scare me when I first saw it. that ending


----------



## Reno (May 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Totally...only works if you don't know.
> 
> That can be the joy of showing films to the young ones.
> 
> btw It's Ringu


 
I know that the Japanese title is Ringu. For English speaking countries its title was Ring when it came out, not *The* Ring, which is a different film. Don't try to out-pedant me. 

He didn't know anything about it and the film bored him. Horror films affect different people differently. When they have been ripped off many times they stop working because they don't look that original anymore in retrospect.

Posting the ending is not very scary out of context and is guaranteed to ruin the film for anybody who hasn't seen it, btw.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Ring (Japanese version) should shut him up.


i watched that half-cut with three friends and because one of them was in a cynical mood and taking the piss, it was impossible to take seriously and it just seemed like stupid nonsense.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 5, 2013)

Reno said:


> I know that the Japanese title is Ringu


No the Japanese title is リング


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 6, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Ring (Japanese version) should shut him up.


 
I didn't really find that scary


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 6, 2013)

I've just watched _Serenity_.  I'm not sure why it's got loads of rave reviews.  I found it rather boring.  Was desperate for it to finish so I could put something else on


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 6, 2013)

Lionel Rogosin's 1956 docu-fiction *On The Bowery* about homeless street drinkers in Lower Manhatten. Richard Bagley's cinamatography beautifully captures the underbelly of New York and the weathered faces of the drunks who frequent it. I thought the main character was an actor, as I thought he looked too clean cut compared to the others, so I was surprised to read he was actually one of the drinkers. He was offered a Hollywood contact after the film but decided to stay on the Bowery.


I bet there's a story with an unhappy ending for every wrinkle on that face.


----------



## thriller (May 6, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I've just watched _Serenity_. I'm not sure why it's got loads of rave reviews. I found it rather boring. Was desperate for it to finish so I could put something else on


 
my friend is the opposite. she loved it when i put it on for her and wanted to re-watch it again a week later.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

thriller said:


> my friend is the opposite. she loved it when i put it on for her and wanted to re-watch it again a week later.


 
Women in diverse tastes shocker !


----------



## thriller (May 6, 2013)

do you post anywhere else besides dvd/video/book threads?


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

Yes, why ?


----------



## thriller (May 6, 2013)

just asking. don't notice you much elsewhere.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 6, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I didn't really find that scary


 
That's because it's not.  Japanese horror films are overrated - unintelligible, boring and an over reliance on crappy ghosts.


----------



## The39thStep (May 6, 2013)

This Must be the Place. It may have been delayed euphoria after Chelsea beating Man Utd, it may have been the six pints of Deauchars. It may have  been that last glass of French cider but somewhere/sometime  this film just developed into almost a dream like sequence. The photography became beautiful and  Sean Penn's almost child like character journeyed into finding the German Nazi who made his Jewish fathers life hell ,unfoldeding into something quite poignant.

You would either love  or hate this film.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> That's because it's not. Japanese horror films are overrated - unintelligible, boring and an over reliance on crappy ghosts.


 
The first few were pretty good at the time and initially I found the ghosties quite spooky. Now they have become a cliche. While no decent horror film has come out of Japan in a while, the early J-horror films still exert an influence on US films like The Pact or Mama, both of which have J-horror style spooks and both of which I quite liked.


----------



## Voley (May 6, 2013)

Ring was ace. The Grudge was good too. You've gotta be in the right frame of mind for horror movies mind. If someone took the piss all the way through The Exorcist it'd ruin it.


----------



## TruXta (May 6, 2013)

Saw Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce last night. It's an odd one, got some pretty good moments but overall it looks and feels much older than it actually is, and not in a good way IMO.


----------



## thriller (May 6, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> That's because it's not. Japanese horror films are overrated - unintelligible, boring and an over reliance on crappy ghosts.


 
haven't seen one in ages. but as been said, the first batch were very good. Ringu, Dark Water, The Eye, Another one about a guy who finds a ghost on his shoulder after a Polaroid pic - were all pretty creepy-though some of the above might have been korean/thai.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Saw Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce last night. It's an odd one, got some pretty good moments but overall it looks and feels much older than it actually is, and not in a good way IMO.


 
I saw it when it came out and thought it was hilariously awful. Should give it another try to revisit that incredulous vibe.


----------



## TruXta (May 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> I saw it when it came out and thought it was hilariously awful. Should give it another try to revisit that incredulous vibe.


I was thinking _this is made in 1985 so how come it looks so crap_ all along. I suppose it's more than a nod towards the Hammer horror days, but alongside its contemporaries it comes across as awfully dated and camp.


----------



## ike_obi (May 6, 2013)

I kinda catched up on my TV shows
The vampire Diaries (TVD)
Beauty and the beast
Nikita (still in season 1)

finished off the day with
hansel & gretel witch hunters http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1428538/

I liked it


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 6, 2013)

I normally like horror films.  I actually preferred the remake of the The Ring to the original (which, let's face it, is only good in the last 10 minutes), but then it does have the lovely Naomi Watts in it.  Mind you, Ring 2 (with Ms Watts) was piss awful too.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I was thinking _this is made in 1985 so how come it looks so crap_ all along. I suppose it's more than a nod towards the Hammer horror days, but alongside its contemporaries it comes across as awfully dated and camp.


 
Tobe Hooper is a crap film-maker and Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a fluke. Even his big budget films look incredibly crude and inept. Apparently he also had substance abuse problems that interfered with his work. Spielberg realised that when he hired him to direct Poltergeist. He demoted Hooper to assistant director early into the shoot and ended up directing the film himself. He still gave the credit to Hooper so he would save face.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I normally like horror films. I actually preferred the remake of the The Ring to the original (which, let's face it, is only good in the last 10 minutes), but then it does have the lovely Naomi Watts in it. Mind you, Ring 2 (with Ms Watts) was piss awful too.


 
The remake has a few of virtues of it's own (pretty cinematography and it beefed up the slack mid-section of the original a bit) but it completely dropped the ball when it came to re-staging the most iconic moments and by screwing with the original backstory and ghost. It re-invented Sadako as yet another child actress working hard to pull a grumpy face with too much pancake make up. The videotape was simple, enigmatic and ominous in the original, but looked like an artsy fartsy mid-90s pop promo in the remake and the final, brilliantly done sequence was ruined by an overuse of CGI, fancy camera work and that stupidly scowling kid. Like with so many US remakes they also laboriously explained everything till all sense of ambiguity and mystery was purged from the story.

I actually really liked the Japanese sequel Ring 2 and slightly preferred it to the original. It went down the Nigel Kneale route of something like The Stone Tape and put some interesting spins on moments from the original.

My favourites of the first wave of 90s/00s J-horror films are Dark Water, which feels like an early Polanski, Audition and incredibly weird Kairo/Pulse


----------



## TruXta (May 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> Tobe Hooper is a crap film-maker and Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a fluke. Even his big budget films look incredibly crude and inept. Apparently he also had substance abuse problems that interfered with his work. Spielberg realised that when he hired him to direct Poltergeist. He demoted Hooper to assistant director early into the shoot and ended up directing the film himself. He still gave the credit to Hooper so he would save face.


Even TCM is overrated IMO. Poltergeist is good though, as you say that must then be down to Spielberg.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Even TCM is overrated IMO.


 
Yes, I always thought that too.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 6, 2013)

thriller said:


> my friend is the opposite. she loved it when i put it on for her and wanted to re-watch it again a week later.


 

Different strokes eh.  There's absolutely no way I'd waste my time watching it again, unlike Untouchable which I watched for the 2nd time yesterday


----------



## Orang Utan (May 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> Tobe Hooper is a crap film-maker and Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a fluke. Even his big budget films look incredibly crude and inept. Apparently he also had substance abuse problems that interfered with his work. Spielberg realised that when he hired him to direct Poltergeist. He demoted Hooper to assistant director early into the shoot and ended up directing the film himself. He still gave the credit to Hooper so he would save face.


I thought The Toolbox Murders was great


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I thought The Toolbox Murders was great



True, that was not too bad.


----------



## TruXta (May 6, 2013)

I quite enjoyed Salem's Lot back in the day. Should revisit that some day.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 6, 2013)

Funhouse is supposed to be good


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

Funhouse should have been good, but somehow isn't. I've never been a huge fan of Salem's Lot, the book was so much better. Not as bad as the remake though.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 6, 2013)

"Dredd" - very violent but enjoyed it and it got longterm JD fan Mr.QofG's seal of approval


----------



## Voley (May 6, 2013)

sojourner said:


> Exit Through the Gift Shop
> 
> Fucking brilliant, loved it! So many levels to it, and at some points we were just in bits laughing


Yeah I really liked this too. Just shows what you can get away with in the art world with a bit of hype and being enigmatic.  The French bloke is really fucking funny at times - I always like stories of people who become successful almost accidentally. I warmed to Banksy in it as well, despite not thinking much of his art. He had a few good deadpan lines that made me chuckle. Good film, not at all what I expected.


----------



## Part 2 (May 6, 2013)

NVP said:


> Yeah I really liked this too. Just shows what you can get away with in the art world with a bit of hype and being enigmatic.


 
Have you seen The Intouchables?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/


----------



## avu9lives (May 6, 2013)

*Puppy (2005)*  Stunning performance from Nadia Townsend and its a shame some of these aussie films never get a wider audience.  This one held me attention for the whole hour an half and i was reliably informed i never started fidgeting once. Hmmm!?


----------



## Voley (May 6, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Have you seen The Intouchables?
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/


No, any good? And has it got anything to do with the fim I was talking about?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 6, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Have you seen The Intouchables?
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/


 
UNtouchable!

I've mentioned it only today


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 6, 2013)

NVP said:


> No, any good? And has it got anything to do with the fim I was talking about?


 
It's a great film.  Definitely worth a watch if you need cheering up


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 6, 2013)

NVP said:


> No, any good? And has it got anything to do with the fim I was talking about?


 
Trailer


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> UNtouchable!
> 
> I've mentioned it only today


 
I think all the evidence points to the film being called The Intouchables in English.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2013)

I'm taking a break from watching a Korean remake of The Towering Inferno called The Tower, because the characters are so fucking annoying. Good effects, but I hope most of the people will die horribly.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 6, 2013)

I am watching Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. It's so bad that Johnny Vaughn is in it. 
It is sexist, homophobic, racist, misogynist, xenophobic drivel, but it is very funny.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> I think all the evidence points to the film being called The Intouchables in English.


 
Really?


----------



## Part 2 (May 7, 2013)

NVP said:


> No, any good? And has it got anything to do with the fim I was talking about?


 
It has a bit which applies to your assessment of the art world. And yes, it's very good.

I thought it was called 'Untouchable' too but it appears not.


----------



## Reno (May 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> I'm taking a break from watching a Korean remake of The Towering Inferno called *The Tower*, because the characters are so fucking annoying. Good effects, but I hope most of the people will die horribly.


 
I made it to the end it was bloody awful. I suppose we generally only get the best of Korean cinema here, because this showed that they can make really bad films as well. The sentimentality was laid on with a trowel and there were incongruous slapstick scenes throughout the film for comic relief. One comedy relief character, a cook, obviously looked to Jar Jar Binks for his inspiration and was the most grating human character since Chris Tucker in The Fifth Element. The one poor family who just moved into the luxury building because they won the lottery are constantly being made fun of for their lack of sophistication and are the cause of much hilarity in the middle of a 9/11 scenario (it's actually twin towers). The special effects were fantastic and the film looked a lot more expensive than it was, but the action scenes were muddled and unclear and I needed rewinding a few times to figure out who had just snuffed it.


----------



## The39thStep (May 7, 2013)

Sightseers- amusing rather than anything else , although there were a couple of bits of dialogue that made me laugh.  It reminded me in bits of Nighty Night , which the prompted me to think that Nighty Night was in fact a lot better. Nevertheless very watchable.


----------



## sojourner (May 7, 2013)

NVP said:


> Yeah I really liked this too. Just shows what you can get away with in the art world with a bit of hype and being enigmatic.  The French bloke is really fucking funny at times - I always like stories of people who become successful almost accidentally. I warmed to Banksy in it as well, despite not thinking much of his art. He had a few good deadpan lines that made me chuckle. Good film, not at all what I expected.


Ha - I came on here to see if you'd watched it. Yeh, loved it when Banksy was on about the film he'd made  The fella wasn't convinced that actually WAS Banksy either...one of the great things about that film is that you can totally dissect it, in so many ways.

Anyway, my mate cancelled on me Sunday night - she was gonna bring round a DVD of Whistle Down the Wind. So I watched Notes on a Scandal again, and then Felicia's Journey, which was really quite good considering Bob Hoskins played a main role in it. The young Irish lass in it was impossibly beautiful.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 7, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> *Puppy (2005)* Stunning performance from Nadia Townsend and its a shame some of these aussie films never get a wider audience. This one held me attention for the whole hour an half and i was reliably informed i never started fidgeting once. Hmmm!?


Yeah it's underrated little film, it's quite a strange film part black comedy, part psychological thriller.


----------



## trabuquera (May 7, 2013)

*My Brother The Devil *- great ensemble acting, good performances, beautifully shot, much more interesting than the usual London endz film ... there's a lot going on in it, maybe too much (not sure all the dramatic strands are that well integrated) but really really worth a watch. I want to see more from director Sally al Hoseini and hope that it's got her foot into all the right doors.

*Berberian Sound Studio - *bit meh, for me, but perhaps I wasn't really in the right mood. Never a good sign when you watch something that's within the neat hour-and-a-half runtime and still think it could/should have been half an hour shorter. A bit chilly and over-thought-out, perhaps, too much a film for people who know about film made by people who also know almost too much about film, except for what actually hooks in a real live audience. Even though I should have a professional interest in any film about the mechanics of sound production it just ... didn't ... grab me. It's intelligent and fun _enough_ but it didn't really hit the spot. Toby Jones brilliant as always, though. And top marks for creative (ab)use of vegetables.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 7, 2013)

The Wire Season 4, Episode 4. Has more action than previous but so far, I prefer Season 2.

Walking Dead Season 3 - up to episode 10. Entertaining and best season by far. 

And tonight Game of Thrones.

I should start watching films again - need more time (though I have heard Mad Men is really good )


----------



## Belushi (May 7, 2013)

*Michael Clayton* enjoyable Clooney vehicle.


----------



## frogwoman (May 7, 2013)

Watched this last night, fell asleep about ten minutes in 

Am trying to watch the rest of it now.


----------



## imposs1904 (May 8, 2013)

Looper


----------



## Reno (May 8, 2013)

...pooper.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 8, 2013)

Lord of the Rings:  Fellowship of the Ring - extended blu-ray edition.   I still love these films, this version is broken into two parts.


----------



## Reno (May 9, 2013)

*Upstream Color*, Shane Carruth's follow up to Primer, a film I didn't really get on with as I'm rubbish at maths. Despite it's semi-experimental nature I found this one far more accessible. Beautifully shot and intriguing, though towards the end more wilfully obscure than mysterious. Its ideas, which blend Cronenberg style biology gone bad with Carruth's puzzle-box approach, aren't actually that difficult to figure out. The arty, fractured narrative allows for omissions which seem to cover over gaps in the plot rather than being extra layers of meaning. That said, it's certainly very stylish and unusual and there is a distinct vision at work. Well worth checking out if you are into sci-fi that is more about ideas than spectacle. Great sound design too and a lovely final shot.


----------



## Yetman (May 9, 2013)

Silver Linings Playbook. Really good. A nice one to watch with the mrs. De Niro is brilliant in it too. 8.5/10


----------



## Idris2002 (May 9, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> give us a clue name




At the 30 second mark.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 9, 2013)

Lately, a lot of House (surprisingly good), and early Game of Thrones.

Last flick I watched was Broadway Danny Rose, a lost Woody Allen classic.

A great movie, but it's like he took an evening class in how to do Woody Allen impressions.


----------



## Firky (May 9, 2013)

*Sightseers,*

Very good, made me laugh a few times and I also liked the way it was made to look like an advert for the British tourist board. 

 Want to watch The Hunt tonight but still haven't found any subs that will work on my WDTV or synch properly.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 10, 2013)

Dr Parnassus.  It's been sitting there for months and every time I pick it up, I put it back again.  Decided I had to do it as I want to return it to owner.  Wanted to switch it off within half hour, but gave it an hour and a half before switching off. 

Waste of time.  I shall attempt to watch the remaining half hour at some stage before returning it on Sunday


----------



## Belushi (May 10, 2013)

*Brick (2007)* enjoyable teen neo-noir


----------



## The39thStep (May 10, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Brick (2007)* enjoyable teen neo-noir


 
I really liked that


----------



## Idris2002 (May 10, 2013)

Two Days in New York.

Julie Delpy has issues when the flat she shares with neurotic middle-class African-American Chris Rock is invaded by her father, sister, and her sister's obnoxious dope-smoking boyfriend.

At first I thought this was going to be hit-and-miss at best, but it was not bad at all. An example of the kind of movies Wes Anderson _thinks _he's making (no whimsy, mind).


----------



## Yetman (May 10, 2013)

Jack Reacheround.

MEH


----------



## krtek a houby (May 10, 2013)

Hannibal. Episode 1. Wasn't sure if I'd like it but it was suitably chilling and I reckon I'll be tuning in for the rest of the season.


----------



## renegadechicken (May 11, 2013)

Side effect - i enjoyed this film. Psychiatrist attempts to get woman off with murder due to mental health issues,some nice twists and turns - overall an enjoyable film, and i don't particularly like Jude Law as an actor.

El Dorado - watched this again as it was the first film i ever watched on our family's brand new fangled Colour TV. Still enjoyed it but John Wayne really looks too big for the horse he rides.


----------



## Dillinger4 (May 11, 2013)

I think I am going to watch that recentist Ralph Fiennes film version of Coriolanus tonight. I have a load of films I could watch.


----------



## Me76 (May 11, 2013)

Watched the first 40 minutes of Killer Joe and then had to switch it off.  Found it totally unbelievable and a bit creepy.


----------



## cdg (May 11, 2013)

watched maniac cop 2 and 3 on youtube.


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 11, 2013)

*The Life & Times Of Grizzly Adams* which I haven't seen this since I was a nipper. Lovely


----------



## magneze (May 11, 2013)

Marjoe
After reading about it on this thread, watched it a week or so ago. Great documentary about a child evangelist all grown up and basically exposing what happens.

The Dark Knight Rises
A pretty fantastic film all in all. I can't sit through near 3-hour movies in general but this really had me fixated. It all works so well - the best of Nolan's trilogy for me.


----------



## Reno (May 12, 2013)

*Starlet*, which I loved. It's a character study very much in the spirit of films from the 70s. I think the director was influenced by the likes of Hal Ashby and Paul Mazursky, especially Harold and Maude, even if this is about a friendship between two women on different ends of the age spectrum.

A young, slightly aimless woman who has just moved to the San Fernando Valley and is about to get sucked into the porn industry, buys a vintage thermos flask at a yard sale from a cranky old lady and discovers $10.000 inside. After making a half-hearted attempt to give it back, she keeps the money. Feeling guilty she insinuates herself into the old woman's life and tries to help out but the old woman appears hostile to the prospect of having someone reach out to her.

The characters thankfully defy crowd pleasing indie movie stereotypes. It doesn't resort to cosy cliches about the old passing on nuggets of wisdom to the young and easy life lessons being learned. The old woman never completely drops her guard and remains cantankerous. The film doesn't exploits the young woman's line of business for cheap melodrama either. The people at the studio the girl is signed on to aren't ogres and seem no worse than other employers and co-workers. She seems to enjoy her work. Yet an accumulation of small details hint at that "porn star" may not be a great career choice for her. The film doesn't delve into the girl's past to pathologise her or give us a trite reason for her going into pornography but there is a noticeable disconnect at the centre of her character. It makes her need to be close to someone so far outside her social circle understandable.

The film looks and sounds gorgeous and it's another good case for digital film-making. Talented independent film makers can now make great looking films for peanuts, which is just as well considering Hollywood has completely given up on making films for adults. This and Upstream Color, a similar mini-budget production, are the best US films I've seen this year and neither has a UK release date yet.

I was going to post a trailer but editing together every moment that could be considered "cute" or "heart warming," it makes the film exactly look like the bag of cliches it isn't. It's a more ambivalent and melancholy film than the trailer lets on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlet_(film)


----------



## redsquirrel (May 12, 2013)

renegadechicken said:


> El Dorado - watched this again as it was the first film i ever watched on our family's brand new fangled Colour TV. Still enjoyed it but John Wayne really looks too big for the horse he rides.


Not as good as _Rio Bravo_, better than the _Rio Lobo_. Diminishing returns really, though even _Rio Lobo_ is worth watching.

_Breaking the Girls _- rubbish thriller with a plot done a millions times before.

_Star Trek_ - Thought I'd better go see this before going to see the sequel this week. Relatively well done I suppose but it's just an action movie in space.


----------



## blossie33 (May 12, 2013)

Logan's Run.

I was reminded of it when Michael York died recently, hadn't seen it for years so I got it from Amazon.
Considering it's from 1976 the special effects were very good for the time. Enjoyed seeing it again.

Eta. It has made me wonder whether people would rather just live to be 30 with a carefree life of only pleasures and no worries or grow old with all the problems life  brings?!! Hmmm.


----------



## Reno (May 12, 2013)

blossie33 said:


> Logan's Run.
> 
> I was reminded of it when Michael York died recently, hadn't seen it for years so I got it from Amazon.
> Considering it's from 1976 the special effects were very good for the time. Enjoyed seeing it again.
> ...


 
I saw it when it came out and the effects looked really rubbish even then, especially the small scale sets of the domed city and Box, the robot. Star Wars came out soon after and revolutionised special effects, but I still think Logan's Run's camp toga disco future is more fun.

I'm glad I so far made it to 50, btw. In the novel the film is based on they get killed off at 20. I don't think you are ever meant to speculate that this future is a good thing.


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 12, 2013)

blossie33 said:


> Logan's Run.
> 
> 1976 the special effects were very good for the time.


 





not sure about that - still a great film though, the crap effects are part of it's charm.


----------



## The39thStep (May 12, 2013)

Jumper- what could have been a really good Philip K Dick type story was terribly let down by a frantic pace and no content


----------



## blossie33 (May 12, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> not sure about that - still a great film though, the crap effects are part of it's charm.



I thought he was cute 
Probably as I only have a small screen the effects looked ok, plus I was a Blake's 7 fan so my views on special effects is not to be relied on ;-)


----------



## Orang Utan (May 12, 2013)

blossie33 said:


> Logan's Run.
> 
> I was reminded of it when Michael York died recently, hadn't seen it for years so I got it from Amazon.
> Considering it's from 1976 the special effects were very good for the time. Enjoyed seeing it again.
> ...


Michael York isn't dead, is he? Just very poorly


----------



## butchersapron (May 12, 2013)

Gravy Train AKA The Dion Bros - one of those lost crime films from the early 70s 'rediscovered' by Quentin Tarantino. Absolutely wonderful film. Two leads were great, and i had forgot just what a brilliant actor Stacey Keach is If you get the chance, do see it.

Redemption Street - pretty decent serb thriller about investigator on the track of war criminals, nothing special, and left things very unresolved - which i guess was the point. Might expect a big-money remake in the future.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 12, 2013)

I was forced to endure three episodes of 'Sapphire and Steel' on the grounds that I like shonky 70s brit sci fi so I must like this. My god, it was so bad. So so bad. Joanna Lumley wafting around in a dress best forgotten while some tight lipped blond twat (used to be in Man from UNCLE apparently) gives it the biggun. Then they drafted in this other space wizard whose heavy element name was 'jet' and yes, it was a huge black man. Fuck the 70s

The opening titles were proper zx spectrum shit as well. Fuck my life.


----------



## The39thStep (May 12, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I was forced to endure three episodes of 'Sapphire and Steel' on the grounds that I like shonky 70s brit sci fi so I must like this. My god, it was so bad. So so bad. Joanna Lumley wafting around in a dress best forgotten while some tight lipped blond twat (used to be in Man from UNCLE apparently) gives it the biggun. Then they drafted in this other space wizard whose heavy element name was 'jet' and yes, it was a huge black man. Fuck the 70s
> 
> The opening titles were proper zx spectrum shit as well. Fuck my life.


 
You can't speak about Illya Kuryakin like that.


----------



## Part 2 (May 12, 2013)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Never seen it before, it's a brilliant film.

Some great accents in there, the ending is obvious but made me smile all the same.


----------



## Frances Lengel (May 12, 2013)

I watched Brick on the strength of it being mentioned favourably earlier on in this thread. Bit boring TBH, and I couldn't take to the hero - His shoulders were as round as his glasses. Which were round.


----------



## butchersapron (May 13, 2013)

A Man for Burning - an early (62) Taviani bros film (with Valentino Orsini) starring Volonte (not doing much in this one to be honest) as the real life Sicilian unionist and socialist Salvatore Carnevale who attempted to help agriculutural and other labourers  and was murdered by the heroic mafia for his troubles - murders acquitted by the mafia ran judiciary. It's not a great film and doesn't really manage to avoid heroisation despite the intention being to say that if we stick together we can all be Salvatore's - and the political background (internal socilist party squabbling in the south) is barely explained, and where it is it's done confusingly. Still an interesting piece. A far better film in this vein in Monicelli's The Organizer from the following year.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 13, 2013)

Life of Pi.  Glad I didn't pay to go and see it


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 13, 2013)

The Man with the Iron Fists in which RZA just about manages to direct a martial arts flick, and keep the action and plot on course.

It's a total rip off of so many other films, but it was plenty of fun. Russell Crowe was rather large and had fun playing a Clint Eastwood type and Lucy Liu just re-played her character from Kill Bill.

One nice touch was a plot lift from the Fistful of Dollars prologue that was added when it aired on ABC to align it with the broadcasting standards of the day.

Not a film I'll ever need to see again, but the soundtrack has been played here a few times now.


----------



## Part 2 (May 13, 2013)

Searching for Sugarman. Seemsed a nice bloke but a load of hippy shit if you ask me. Recommended by my pretentious mate, should've known better really.


----------



## sojourner (May 13, 2013)

Got the fella started on S2 of The Wire yesterday - just the 3 episodes to start us off


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 13, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Jumper- what could have been a really good Philip K Dick type story was terribly let down by a frantic pace and no content


 
Poorly knitted plot?


----------



## trabuquera (May 13, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Poorly knitted plot?


 
yeah, it all unravels in the final reel

*ba-dum-tish!*
*leaves quietly*


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 13, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> yeah, it all unravels in the final reel
> 
> *ba-dum-tish!*
> *leaves quietly*


 
The love story sub-plot was a bit woolly....


----------



## Candi (May 13, 2013)

American Werewolf in London (again!)


----------



## Part 2 (May 13, 2013)

Kapringen - A Hijacking. A Danish cargo ship hijacked by Somali Pirates. Really good with excellent performances by the two leads, especially the fella who plays the  chef.


----------



## Voley (May 13, 2013)

The Master. Dunno how I felt about this tbh. Bit disappointed by it overall. Hard to put my finger on why - Philip Seymour Hoffman was up to his usual high standards in it and Joauquin (or however you fucking spell it) Phoenix was good at being pissed and awkward but there just wasn't much plot. Beautifully shot, genuinely interesting subject matter, atmospheric 1950's sets / clothes etc but not much of a story. A pity really as this could've been a great film.


----------



## Frances Lengel (May 14, 2013)

Grabbers. Not bad. Ears out of Being Human seems to be everywhere ATM though.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 14, 2013)

Been watching more of Louis. It's funny. A politer Curb Your Enthusiasm.


----------



## trabuquera (May 14, 2013)

*Reign of Assassins - *was hoping for decent chops and kicks and thrills and spills from this martial arts/history/magic effort, and expecting good things as John Woo coproduced and it stars Michelle Yeoh ... but it's just not much cop really. Not bonkers enough to be campy enjoyment, not beautifully designed or mad enough to be culty, and not polished enough to be a top-level blockbuster like Red Cliff or House of Flying Daggers etc. Not BAD, passed the time pleasantly enough ... just not very exciting.


----------



## Reno (May 14, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Grabbers. Not bad. Ears out of Being Human seems to be everywhere ATM though.


 
I don't like the term "feel good movie" but that's the one film in recent times which comes to closest to be just that for me. The combination of tentacly monsters and binge drinking makes me happy every time I watch this.


----------



## Frances Lengel (May 14, 2013)

And the cast members all make a decent fist of acting drunk - Which is supposed to be quite difficult to pull off.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 14, 2013)

Argo...really well made, really well acted (Goodman annoyed me a bit, he was just filler) had some humour and some tense moments.   I wouldn't watch it again though.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 15, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Certainly it has none of the power of _COLAD_, which showed much the same atrocities but without trying to titillate or excite its audience.


 
Just watched that.


----------



## Voley (May 15, 2013)

Me76 said:


> Watched the first 40 minutes of Killer Joe and then had to switch it off. Found it totally unbelievable and a bit creepy.


Gruesome isn't it? I just watched it this evening. I made it all the way through but I don't know why it got such good reviews. Shit film.


----------



## Me76 (May 15, 2013)

NVP said:


> Gruesome isn't it? I just watched it this evening. I made it all the way through but I don't know why it got such good reviews. Shit film.


I switched off when joe and the girl were having dinner. I just found it completely disgusting and predatory. I'm sure that was the point. But as the rest of the premise was ridiculous, I had no more patience.


----------



## Voley (May 15, 2013)

Me76 said:


> I switched off when joe and the girl were having dinner. I just found it completely disgusting and predatory. I'm sure that was the point. But as the rest of the premise was ridiculous, I had no more patience.


You did well to turn off then tbh. It gets worse.


----------



## Reno (May 16, 2013)

Deadly Blessing, a lesser Wes Craven horror film about which the most interesting thing is what a shockingly bad actress Sharon Stone was when she started out and The Hudsucker Proxy, my favourite Coen Brothers film and the most underrated film of the 90s.


----------



## starfish (May 16, 2013)

Just started Breaking Bad season 2. I can see what all the fuss is about.


----------



## JimW (May 16, 2013)

Watched The Sorrow and the Pity just after reading the praise it got on that thread about documentaries. Everything people said and more. So many of the characters interviewed will stick with me - the two old farmer boy ex-maquis, some archetype of common decency; the former transvestite club singer turned SOE special agent; and the aristo ex-SS foreign legion volunteer to name a few.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 17, 2013)

JimW said:


> Watched The Sorrow and the Pity just after reading the praise it got on that thread about documentaries. Everything people said and more. So many of the characters interviewed will stick with me - the two old farmer boy ex-maquis, some archetype of common decency; the former transvestite club singer turned SOE special agent; and the aristo ex-SS foreign legion volunteer to name a few.


 
Its a jaw-dropping, engrossing watch for sure. Never thought I'd sit and watch 3 hours of b&w subtitled documentary before.

I watched 'Fresh' last night, seen it before but quite some time ago. Its good how the chess metaphor isn't hammered into you eyeballs so relentlessly you are forced to understand the whole film in those terms. It's quite subtle in some ways.


----------



## trabuquera (May 17, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched 'Fresh' last night, seen it before but quite some time ago. Its good how the chess metaphor isn't hammered into you eyeballs so relentlessly you are forced to understand the whole film in those terms. It's quite subtle in some ways.


 
I LOOOOOOVE this film - and thought it was and still is hugely underrated. One of my favourites for its very calm, still, well-thought-out take on gangs-n-crime and 'young boy grows up in touch neighbourhood' tropes. Interestingly it also compeltely sidestepped all the usual 'urban movie=banging street soundtrack' decisions.

Also - another shocking senior moment : this film is now nearly 20 years old.  Most people involved in it have since had interesting-if-mixed careers (apart from N'Bushe Wright who seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.) But I can't understand why Sean Nelson, the young lead, isn't hugely famous by now.


----------



## JimW (May 17, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Its a jaw-dropping, engrossing watch for sure. Never thought I'd sit and watch 3 hours of b&w subtitled documentary before...


Exactly. often sit through "worthy" stuff I think I ought to see where it's a grind but absolutely nothing of that here, time whizzed past better than most narrative films.


----------



## Reno (May 17, 2013)

I've tried to watch Cyrus by the Duplass brothers but I couldn't get into it. I didn't really believe in the characters, there is something oddly self-conscios about their quirks which smacks more of contrivance than of observation or authenticity.


----------



## Candi (May 18, 2013)

Assault 0n Precinct 13


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 18, 2013)

Daybreakers.  Quite enjoyed it.  Probably a better vampire/action hybrid film than Blade, if only because there's some decent blood and gore in it.


----------



## Reno (May 18, 2013)

Shopgirl, underrated romantic drama starring Claire Danes Jason Schwartzman and Steve Martin, based on a novel by Martin. Beautifully directed and Danes is fantastic.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 18, 2013)

Reno said:


> Shopgirl, underrated romantic drama starring Claire Danes Jason Schwartzman and Steve Martin, based on a novel by Martin. Beautifully directed and Danes is fantastic.


 
I'm sure someone told me you see Claire Danes' butt in this.  And I missed it.  Dammit!


----------



## Reno (May 18, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I'm sure someone told me you see Claire Danes' butt in this. And I missed it. Dammit!


You do and a nice bum it is.


----------



## Voley (May 19, 2013)

End Of Watch. Some Jake Gyllenhall cop bollocks. Seen better police dramas on HBO.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (May 19, 2013)

I watched cloud atlas in a mildy drunken and sleepy state on the plane.
I think I liked it, however the makeup was really distracting. I would have prefered if they haddn't tried to do anything other than different ages. The westernising of the korean and the koreaning up of the westerners looked well odd. I think it would have been better just to leave it.
I quite like this style of film with several interacting stories, maybe I have a short attention span, but the way it was cut and mixed together at relivant points in each of the different stories felt quite masterful. Maybe I am a soft touch. I enjoyed it, and I did not expect to.

I also saw this is 40, which was very average but watchable. Just a long series of observations that didn't really lead anywhere storywise.

I flipped though a couple of other films but gave up on them, Wreck it Ralph and Skyfall didn:t really take.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 19, 2013)

My Brother Tom... kind of okay (a bit pretentious in places) and not an easy watch.


----------



## butchersapron (May 19, 2013)

Le Capital/Capital - the new Costa-Gavras one. Awful confused shallow attempted viciousing of finance capital that appeared to defend french capital against a moral-free anglo-centric capital, that included the clumsiest rape-as-economics metaphor i've ever seen, some of the most lifeless acting i've seen outside Ali Macgraw and the worst artificial denunciation i think i've ever seen. Is this really the same person who made Z, State of Siege etc?


----------



## tony.c (May 19, 2013)

I watched 'The Grey'. Sounded promising, with Liam Neeson. Alaskan wilderness and wolves, what could be not to like? But turned out rather dull with the wolves as shadowy, demonic almost cartoon like, and although I had a (second hand) bluray the picture seemed grainy so even the Alaskan scenery wasn't that good. I was looking forward to watching it but was rather disappointed.


----------



## Dillinger4 (May 19, 2013)

Don't know where else to put this, but I just watch the trailer for the new Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis which has just been screened at Cannes. Looks quite good. I don't go and watch that many films at the cinema these days but I might just go and watch that, when it comes out.


----------



## Voley (May 19, 2013)

Dillinger4 said:


> Don't know where else to put this, but I just watch the trailer for the new Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis which has just been screened at Cannes. Looks quite good. I don't go and watch that many films at the cinema these days but I might just go and watch that, when it comes out.


I like the look of that, too. Loosely based on the life of Dave Van Ronk, I've heard.







I'd not heard the Dylan song on the trailer before either. Looks interesting.


----------



## Reno (May 19, 2013)

*Call Me Kuchu*, documentary about a group of gay activists in Uganda, shittest place to be gay, which depressed the fuck out of me. Activist David Kato was murdered during the making of it.

I see that Wikipedia is getting re-edited daily with the official Ugandan government line that Kato got killed by a rent boy in a squabble over money, rather than because the national newspaper there put his photo on the front page, encouraging vigilantes to kill him.


----------



## Reno (May 20, 2013)

*Harold's Going Stiff*, British low budget zombie film which is oddly moving. It's about the growing friendship between pensioner Harold, who is getting zombiefied at an unusually slow pace (and therefore of interest to science) and his young nurse, who appears to be rather lonely. The characters are drawn with unusual depth for this type of film and it's rather tender. I had a lump in my throat by the end, which you don't expect from a zombie film.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 20, 2013)

*Robert and Frank*- I thought this was to another coming of age film but was blown away in it's simplicity and straight story telling. Recommend.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 20, 2013)

Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil

A really good bit of fun, this - one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

The eponymous Tucker and Dale are a pair of amiable, good-hearted redneck chumps, who encounter a group of obnoxious "college kids" who mistake them for a pair of Deliverance-style psycho killers.

Hilarity ensues - as does extreme body horror. I'll say no more, as I don't want to give away too much of the plot.

Seriously though, I'd recommend you give this one a look.


----------



## Yetman (May 20, 2013)

Piggy

Surprisingly good. Had the lad out of Sweet Sixteen (gimme mah fuckin gear) with a not-quite there English accent but it's a good revenge flick that goes from sad to a bit disturbing.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 20, 2013)

JimW said:


> Watched The Sorrow and the Pity just after reading the praise it got on that thread about documentaries. Everything people said and more. So many of the characters interviewed will stick with me - the two old farmer boy ex-maquis, some archetype of common decency; the former transvestite club singer turned SOE special agent; and the aristo ex-SS foreign legion volunteer to name a few.


Amazing film, it really can't be praised too much.


----------



## trabuquera (May 20, 2013)

*Silver Linings Playbook *and I honestly cannot see what all the fuss is about. some nice camerawork and Jennifer Lawrence is amazingly charismatic but overall this just felt to me as if it was getting far too much kudos for being "brave" enough to "tackle" mental health in a mainstream film... and "daring" enough to have a lead female role with a sexual past (shocking!) and the ending's disappointingly conventional. A film constantly patting itself on the back, it seemed to me.

then watched* Children of* *Men* again on telly last night and realised again just how beautifully it's done and what a fantastic director Alfonso Cuaron is, to make a largely ludicrous and clunkily God-ridden conceit work on such a large and unsettling scale.


----------



## editor (May 20, 2013)

Children of Men  is a brilliant film, criminally underrated.


----------



## Firky (May 20, 2013)

Warm Bodies,

I was enjoying it until he met the girl about twenty minutes into the film. 

5/10


----------



## Jon-of-arc (May 20, 2013)

Got 500 days of Summer, Minority Report and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the £3 aisle at tesco today. Can't decide which one first... Not seen Tinker... yet. Is it all that? The other two were both good, and deserved a rewatch that I've not yet got round to...


----------



## Firky (May 20, 2013)

TTSS is great, good book too.


----------



## Voley (May 20, 2013)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the £3 aisle at tesco today. Can't decide which one first... Not seen Tinker... yet. Is it all that?


 
The remake? I really enjoyed that. Gary Oldman was ace in it.


----------



## JimW (May 20, 2013)

NVP said:


> The remake? I really enjoyed that. Gary Oldman was ace in it.


I enjoyed it too having been braced for it measuring up poorly against the telly version. If you did make a comparison sure I would prefer the latter but the remake was a good film in itself.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (May 20, 2013)

Ttss it is then. Cheers folks.


----------



## starfish (May 20, 2013)

Reno said:


> *Harold's Going Stiff*, British low budget zombie film which is oddly moving. It's about the growing friendship between pensioner Harold, who is getting zombiefied at an unusually slow pace (and therefore of interest to science) and his young nurse, who appears to be rather lonely. The characters are drawn with unusual depth for this type of film and it's rather tender. I had a lump in my throat by the end, which you don't expect from a zombie film.


 
We watched this recently, know exactly what you mean  Had some funny moments too.


----------



## Sprocket. (May 22, 2013)

Watched Assembly a film by Feng Xiaogang.
Awesome, terrific combat scenes and I felt overwhelmed in parts at the comradeship portrayed.
The human spirit to do the right thing whatever the cost.
Set during the Chinese Civil War it follows the story of a captain in the People's Liberation Army fighting against the Chinese Republic Army.
Better war story than Saving Private Ryan by far.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 23, 2013)

*The Loved Ones* - okay. not bad at all.


----------



## Firky (May 23, 2013)

Fell asleep watching '_The Place Beyond the Pines'_ this afternoon. From what I saw it was like two or three films badly put together.


----------



## Belushi (May 23, 2013)

*Attenberg* - unconvincing Greek character study. Some nice cinematography.


----------



## r0bb0 (May 24, 2013)

Rust and Bone, first film I've seen in ages.


----------



## belboid (May 24, 2013)

The Hobbit last night. Kinda better than expected. It was rarely dull, tho there was plenty of 'wtf is this crap, that's not in the book?' I imagine it would have looked great on the big screen.

Room 237 this morning. Quite brilliant, mad and marvellous. I am convinced by all of their arguments, especially the one about the moon landings.


----------



## Part 2 (May 24, 2013)

r0bb0 said:


> Rust and Bone, first film I've seen in ages.




And?


----------



## Firky (May 24, 2013)

*The Hunger Games*,

I watched it last year and didn't enjoy it. Found it a bit pointless and far from original... I still maintain that it isn't original and despite its faults I did enjoy it much more this time around. There's a few films (and books) I read last year and thought were shit because my head wasn't in hte right place for books and films, but I am going to see what else I dismissed as shit on first viewing.


----------



## belboid (May 25, 2013)

after Room 237 this morning, what else could I watch?

Barry Lyndon.

Haven't watched it in years now.  God, it's wonderful, the most sumptuous movie ever, so many brilliant cameos.  And, most astoundingly, it makes Ryan O'Neill bearable. Bloody brilliant.


----------



## butchersapron (May 25, 2013)

belboid said:


> after Room 237 this morning, what else could I watch?
> 
> Barry Lyndon.
> 
> Haven't watched it in years now. God, it's wonderful, the most sumptuous movie ever, so many brilliant cameos. And, most astoundingly, it makes Ryan O'Neill bearable. Bloody brilliant.


It'a allright. Drags.


----------



## belboid (May 25, 2013)

you do need to take advantage of the intermission, but as long as you do, it's stupdenous


----------



## butchersapron (May 25, 2013)

belboid said:


> you do need to take advantage of the intermission, but as long as you do, it's stupdenous


You decided to watch that rather than lightning bolt at ATP. Long time ago i know but...


----------



## belboid (May 25, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> You decided to watch that rather than lightning bolt at ATP. Long time ago i know but...


did I?  Fucking hell, sounds all too plausible.  Not quite sure if I was right or not, have seen both the same number of times now...


----------



## butchersapron (May 25, 2013)

Sunday aft sitting there getting 2nd wind, _but its my fav film, _you was ok by mad jap afternoon.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 25, 2013)

Flawless. A lowkey 60s heist flick with Michael Caine and Demi Moore. It wasn't bad at all. Demi Moore actually acted while Michael Caine did Michael Caine toned down a bit (and I am fond of Mr Caine), and all in all in was a good afternoon film with some very lovely 60s architecture and furniture.


----------



## Voley (May 25, 2013)

r0bb0 said:


> Rust and Bone, first film I've seen in ages.



I've got one of his to watch tonight: Read My Lips as recommended by Reno on this very thread a bit back. Looking forward to it. I've really enjoyed both of the films I've seen by him so far.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 26, 2013)

John Q - Got a bit of grit in my eye


----------



## Idris2002 (May 26, 2013)

C.R.A.Z.Y.

French Canadian film about a gay teenager growing up in the 1970s.

Despite the Trainspotter-esque visual gimmicks, I thought this was pretty good.

I was also able to follow most of it despite it being in Quebecois French with German subtitles.


----------



## Voley (May 26, 2013)

Read My Lips as mentioned above.

Really good. Great twisty plot, ace acting from the two leads. Vincent Cassell cool as fuck throughout. Yet to see a film by Audiard that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks for recommending it, Reno. I'm now on a mission to see all his other films. The Beat That My Heart Skipped next on the list, I think.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 26, 2013)

The Dead Zone.  Old Steven King story with Christopher Walken.   One of the few decent King adaptations.


----------



## Voley (May 26, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Dead Zone. Old Steven King story with Christopher Walken. One of the few decent King adaptations.


Has it stood the test of time, that one? I loved it when I was a kid.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 26, 2013)

Jaws. Still great, noticed this time that a lot of the time when it's very tense the music seems very happy, which is a bit confusing.  I think it's part of the reason Speilberg manages to disguise this film, people don't realise is a gory horror.  

Really, really great though.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 26, 2013)

NVP said:


> Has it stood the test of time, that one? I loved it when I was a kid.


 
Actually it has, it's drab and lonely, like Walken's character and there are no real special effects to date it, apart from decor and clothes.   The scene where he and the police go up the tunnel looks fantastic.


----------



## JimW (May 26, 2013)

Found a reasonable torrent of Ironman, mostly forgettable shite that barely held the attention but did have one or two cracking comedy moments. He's bringing hell in the lair of the baddie and confronts a machine-gun armed henchman, who promptly drops the weapon, raises his hands and says, "I've always hated working here, they're all weird." then legs it.


----------



## Firky (May 26, 2013)

*Pather Panchali *

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048473/

*




*

Really, really good. I didn't expect to like it... just took the chance of watching it and was impressed.

Reading up about it now... and may check out some Italian Neorealism


----------



## avu9lives (May 27, 2013)

*Dutch (1991)* get yer gums round this one.personality traits liberalism conservatvm acoustics and comedy evil an impecuniousness.! Aye its all here. bloody brilliant


----------



## Belushi (May 27, 2013)

Firky said:


> Reading up about it now... and may check out some Italian Neorealism


 
Please tell me youve never seen Bicycle Thieves so I can recommend it!


----------



## The39thStep (May 27, 2013)

Watched This Must Be The Place Again. Definitely confirmed  for me that this is a really underrated film for which I have developed a soft spot for.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 27, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Watched This Must Be The Place Again. Definitely confirmed for me that this is a really underrated film for which I have developed a soft spot for.


 
The scene with the music on the couch is great.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 27, 2013)

I just finished Mad Men season 3...


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 27, 2013)

*Melody (1971)*, fantastic early 70s British film about young love in a south London school, written by Alan Parker & directed by Waris Hussein. Some great footage of London and a soundtrack incl. early Bee Gees.


----------



## Belushi (May 27, 2013)

Has that got Roy Kinnear in DJ Squelch ? I remember seeing it as a kid.


----------



## Firky (May 28, 2013)

Belushi said:


> Please tell me youve never seen Bicycle Thieves so I can recommend it!


 

No, I have seen that 

Very good film as well.


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 28, 2013)

Belushi said:


> Has that got Roy Kinnear in DJ Squelch ? I remember seeing it as a kid.


 
Yes that's the one, Kinnear plays the dad of one of the kids.


----------



## Voley (May 28, 2013)

Finished Season 2 of The Shield last night. It's getting a bit dumb tbh. There was a montage bit with a cheesy song right at the end that was proper shit. Watched the first episode of Series 3 and that was all right mind. I like watching this but I wish the plot would surprise me a bit more. Not sure if I'll end up watching all seven series or whatever it is.


----------



## mwgdrwg (May 28, 2013)

Midnight in Paris

I thought it was funny and quite charming


----------



## zenie (May 28, 2013)

Nearly finished all of Suits, I've enjoyed it loads!  Unsure what series to start on next.


----------



## electroplated (May 28, 2013)

"The Americans" is good


----------



## Kanda (May 28, 2013)

zenie said:


> Nearly finished all of Suits, I've enjoyed it loads!  Unsure what series to start on next.


 

Newsroom...


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (May 28, 2013)

Still Life

Film set against the backdrop of the Three Gorges Dam and the demolition of the villages etc.


----------



## zenie (May 28, 2013)

electroplated said:


> "The Americans" is good



Looks intriguing 



Kanda said:


> Newsroom...



Have you seen it all?


----------



## renegadechicken (May 28, 2013)

Pawn - enjoyable heist film, some brits rob a diner but there's police corruption,gangsters and general double dealing - I enjoyed it .


----------



## Yetman (May 29, 2013)

JimW said:


> Found a reasonable torrent of Ironman, mostly forgettable shite that barely held the attention but did have one or two cracking comedy moments. He's bringing hell in the lair of the baddie and confronts a machine-gun armed henchman, who promptly drops the weapon, raises his hands and says, "I've always hated working here, they're all weird." then legs it.


 

Went to the cinema to see it last night and everyone laughed at that bit


----------



## DexterTCN (May 29, 2013)

When We Were Kings.

Still the greatest


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 29, 2013)

Yield To The Night (1956) - about a women in prison awaiting execution after being sentenced to hang for killing a love rival, excellent performance from Diana Dors as the murderess.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 29, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Yield To The Night (1956) - about a women in prison awaiting execution after being sentenced to hang for killing a love rival, excellent performance from Diana Dors as the murderess.


 






Wow...Jessica Rabbit.

Cabin in the Woods.

Clever, fresh, sometimes gory sometimes funny never scary.  So many homages to Evil Dead it's off the scale.  A must for horror fans (but probably not as good as Scream).


----------



## Belushi (May 29, 2013)

*Sightseers (2013)* A more twisted Nuts in May, started well before losing its way - I liked the ending.


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 29, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Wow...Jessica Rabbit.


 
Yet by the end she looks almost unrecognizable.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 30, 2013)

I think I saw it years ago, was it anti-death penalty?   I think so.


----------



## Kidda (May 30, 2013)

Spiderman
The Perfect Storm 
Oceans 13
Spiderman 2


----------



## DJ Squelch (May 30, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I think I saw it years ago, was it anti-death penalty? I think so.


 
I wouldn't say it was overly anti-death penalty although obviously you feel some sympathy for her character, it's never in doubt that she did it. The film came out the year after Ruth Ellis had been hanged and while the film isn't based on her case there are certainly some similarities, so the public's opinion about the death penalty must of been changing at the time.
The other thing I liked about this film is that it's a film noir with the usual gender roles reversed. This made me wonder, are there any other film noirs from the 40s/50s told from a female point of view?


----------



## Me76 (May 30, 2013)

Inbetweeners the Movie.  Much as expected.


----------



## TitanSound (May 30, 2013)

Brave.

Not what I expected, in a bad way.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 30, 2013)

Safe. A Statham film but I found it quite enjoyable. I did not see that thing near the end coming but my 18 year old daughter did....it was a nice, surprising touch in a film where a man takes an 11 year old girl up to his hotel room.

One of his better ones.


----------



## butchersapron (May 30, 2013)

Rebellion - a very well made film by Mathieu Kassovitz about the Kanak (New Caledonia - French overseas territory in the Pacific) pro-independence actions and their suppression in the Ouvea Massacre in 1988. Played absolutely straight and intelligently in all areas. Louise Michele had tried to rouse and inspire the Kanaks to rebellion a century before when she was exiled their for her role in the Paris Commune - story of her exile told - not very well it must be said - in The Rebel, Louise Michel


----------



## Fez909 (May 30, 2013)

In the past few nights I've seen:

Lake Placid 3 - Couldn't even keep my attention. Very poor. Of course I wasn't expecting anything good.

Chronicle - Had a lot of potential, but _just_ failed to deliver. The hand-held cam was slightly annoying, and it was pretty thin on plot, but it was good fun watching them discovering and playing with their powers. Nicely epic final scene.

The Lives of Others - Loved this! I'd had it in my head to watch this for years and finally got around to it, half-expecting to be disappointed. Not so. Reminded me of The Conversation which I've recently seen as well. Is there anything else around like this? I mean political stuff about life in preferably, the GDR, or West Germany otherwise. I've seen Baader Meinhof Complex which was enjoyable enough, I suppose. Is Goodbye Lenin worth a go? I know it's based post-unification, but obviously recreates the lives they lead.

Anything else?


----------



## zenie (May 30, 2013)

Fez909 The Lives of Others is awesome!! Chilling isn't it?  

I started Boriga Season 2 the other night but it's lost it's charmed.

Enjoyed episode 1 of Sons of Anarchy last night


----------



## Yetman (May 31, 2013)

My mrs is struggling with Breaking Bad at the start of season 3. I'm trying to tell her that this is where it starts hotting up. She says she's bored.

So she watched Conspiracy Theory with Mel (whats Mel short for?) Gibson and said it was great


----------



## DexterTCN (May 31, 2013)

Yetman said:


> My mrs is struggling with Breaking Bad at the start of season 3. I'm trying to tell her that this is where it starts hotting up. She says she's bored.
> 
> So she watched Conspiracy Theory with Mel (whats Mel short for?) Gibson and said it was great


 
jesus.....divorce?


----------



## belboid (May 31, 2013)

Yetman said:


> (whats Mel short for?)


mel of Ardagh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Mel


----------



## Yetman (May 31, 2013)

belboid said:


> mel of Ardagh
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Mel


 

Ah, wondered why he had such an ego.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 31, 2013)

zenie said:


> Fez909 The Lives of Others is awesome!! Chilling isn't it?
> 
> *I started Boriga Season 2 the other night but it's lost it's charmed.*
> 
> Enjoyed episode 1 of Sons of Anarchy last night


 
like how it opens with Jeremy Irons having a threesome. Good to be Pope.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 31, 2013)

this stath driven remake of Death Race is fucking awful. Lovejoy's phoning it in as well 0.1/10​


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 1, 2013)

End of Watch. A cop movie mainly filmed in a hand-held style.

Firstly, I don't really like cop movies where the cops are 'the good guys' so I was wary about it.

It's a bloody good movie, the performances seem real, some of the gang characters really come across as dangerous and fucked up.  Pena and Gyllenhall act everyone off the screen with natural performances....although the characters Wicked and Big Evil (who was in Breaking Bad) steal most of the scenes they are in.

There is good tension and very few predictable points.


----------



## Supine (Jun 1, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> The Lives of Others - Loved this! I'd had it in my head to watch this for years and finally got around to it, half-expecting to be disappointed. Not so.


 
Brilliant film. Thanks for the recommendation


----------



## Fez909 (Jun 1, 2013)

Supine said:


> Brilliant film. Thanks for the recommendation


 
You're welcome 

Check out The Conversation (1974) if you haven't seen that. It's got a similar feel to it, and is also about surveillance. I never hear it mentioned by anyone these days, but it seems to have been really well received when it came out with Oscar nominations etc. I saw it recently for the first time and it was great.


----------



## starfish (Jun 1, 2013)

Got our nieces visiting again this weekend so last nights choice was The Evil  Dead, original version. Hadnt seen it for many years & it was fun to watch them constantly jumping with fright.


----------



## Firky (Jun 1, 2013)

Transformers

Load of shite but brilliantly slick with schoolboy humour, I'd have loved this if I was 12. TBH I am sort of enjoying it anyway, reading the boards with half an eye on the film


----------



## Firky (Jun 1, 2013)

Supine said:


> Brilliant film. Thanks for the recommendation


 

It's a great film, I haven't seen it since I saw it at the pictures and keep meaning to download it or give it the rare accolade of a film I'll buy... actually I may do that now if there's a ltd edition or something

*ebays*


----------



## Belushi (Jun 2, 2013)

*The Warriors* for about the twentieth time, one of the greatest films of the seventies and definitely in my top ten.


----------



## Me76 (Jun 2, 2013)

Watch Kill List.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 2, 2013)

Me76 said:


> Watch Kill List.


 
I loved it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 2, 2013)

Watched Bad Santa. Sutiably sweary and crude enough to offer some childish laugh out loud moments. I was watching it with a 16 year old, so I felt I had to join in.


----------



## Me76 (Jun 2, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I loved it.


I almost switched off after 20 mins but it picked up, then last 10 minutes very bizarre. 

I can't say I disliked it but I'm not sure I would recommend it either.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 2, 2013)

Me76 said:


> I almost switched off after 20 mins but it picked up, then last 10 minutes very bizarre.
> 
> I can't say I disliked it but I'm not sure I would recommend it either.


 
Yeah, I can see it aint for everyone. The low budget look and feel can be off putting at times, but I really enjoyed the film. Hitman meets Wickerman, Hammer house of Geezer flick....and it was funny.


----------



## maya (Jun 2, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Yield To The Night (1956) - about a women in prison awaiting execution after being sentenced to hang for killing a love rival, excellent performance from Diana Dors as the murderess.


One day I'll visit the pride of Swindon, the statue of Diana Dors.  (*which sadly looks a bit more like that gal from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but nevermind...)

By the way, is this true, or did someone have fun at Wikipedia?


> Before she died, Dors apparently hid away what she claimed to be over £2 million in banks across Europe. In 1982, she gave her son Mark Dawson a sheet of paper, on which she told him was a code that would reveal the whereabouts of the money.[1] Her widower Alan Lake supposedly had the key that would crack the code, but as he had committed suicide five months after Dors' death, Dawson was left with an apparently unsolvable code.[1][14]
> Dawson sought out computer forensic specialists Inforenz, who recognised the encryption as the Vigenère cipher. Inforenz then used their own cryptanalysis software to suggest a ten-letter decryption key, DMARYFLUCK (short for Diana Mary Fluck, Dors' real name).[1] Although Inforenz was then able to decode the entire message and link it to a bank statement found in some of Lake's papers, the location of the money is still unknown.[1][14]


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 2, 2013)

_*Bernie.*_ A nice slice and something different, but I hate vox pops and without the vox pops the film would have fallen down. Simple film and enjoyable enough.

_*Warm Bodies.*_ I think that was what it was called, the zombie romance thing. I decided to watch when I read that the main zombie ate the girls boyfriends brains before they got together. I thought this could be interesting. Sadly the issue is dodged too easily. The whole zombies becoming normal again was pretty emotional after a few drinks and I enjoyed it. I am always a bit wary of films with VO, might as well read a book if you can't tell the story in the visual medium. I hated the way they gained memories from eating brains. It devalued the science and the emotional connection. 
Still, an enjoyable enough jaunt but I shall not be watching it again. 

_*Django.*_ I was really entertained for the first half, just a great fun film. Then it fell into what feels like a well trodden Tarrentino path of tense dialogue leading to something bad. I think I have just seen it too much now and it wasn't all that good in Django, especially when, for a change, the action was entertaining (very rare in modern film). Tarrentinos acting in this was utterly appalling. He has been ok in other films but here he stood out like a sore thumb, in an almost pointless 20 minute scene. 
This could have been a fantastic 1 hour 20 film that I would have run to the shops to buy after unexpectedly loving it. Sadly it outstayed it's welcome and moved into areas that sapped the joy of it's B movie celebration and indulgence. 
. . .also, leonardo de caprio is not scary.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> _*Bernie.*_ A nice slice and something different, but I hate vox pops and without the vox pops the film would have fallen down. Simple film and enjoyable enough.
> 
> _*Warm Bodies.*_ I think that was what it was called, the zombie romance thing. I decided to watch when I read that the main zombie ate the girls boyfriends brains before they got together. I thought this could be interesting. Sadly the issue is dodged too easily. The whole zombies becoming normal again was pretty emotional after a few drinks and I enjoyed it. I am always a bit wary of films with VO, might as well read a book if you can't tell the story in the visual medium. I hated the way they gained memories from eating brains. It devalued the science and the emotional connection.
> Still, an enjoyable enough jaunt but I shall not be watching it again.
> ...


 

I liked Bernie.

I liked Django Unchained, although your views of it are pretty fair. I think in trying to squeeze together the Spag Western with the Blaxploitation and liberally garnish with Mandingo and Skin Games Tarantino did push an idea too many, or at least got lost in the editing. I still really enjoyed it, because Tarantion films are like sightseeing expeditions for film geeks, and I like the journey. Soundtrack was also faultless and I'm a bit of a soundtrack geek too. Totally agree that it could have been shaven down somewhat. The Original Django is still the best.

Not seen Warm Bodies. It's on my list.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 3, 2013)

Firky said:


> It's a great film, I haven't seen it since I saw it at the pictures and keep meaning to download it or give it the rare accolade of a film I'll buy... actually I may do that now if there's a ltd edition or something
> 
> *ebays*


It's a massively overrated piece of shlock - the lovely bohemian artists fighting against the evil system. _Barbara_, tackles similar themes with a thousand times more subtlety.


----------



## Firky (Jun 3, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> It's a massively overrated piece of shlock - the lovely bohemian artists fighting against the evil system. _Barbara_, tackles similar themes with a thousand times more subtlety.


 

I obviously really enjoyed it and didn't let the fact that they were MC bohos spoil it. They could have been bin men and it would still have worked. Plus it's better than 99% of the shit that gets churned out the Hollywood shit machine.


----------



## pissflaps (Jun 3, 2013)

This cliche ridden but nonetheless, highly enjoyable amityville horror meets ET yarn.

6.5/10. One to torrent.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 3, 2013)

I've not seen Barbara, but just downloaded it. The Live of Others is a very good film imo


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 3, 2013)

The Liability - A hit man road movie that resembles Stephen Frears' 'The Hit' as if directed by Shane Meadows with a hint of In Bruge. I thoroughly enjoyed it despite it getting a bit silly towards the end. Not sure it ended in a satisfactory way at all really, but It was all very entertaining and good to see Tim Roth in something with his own accent again.

The Awakening - A film I knew nothing about and just put on for something to look at. It's a supernatural thriller/ghost story about a woman who exposes supernatural hoaxes just after the WW1. She gets called to a school to investigate the unexplained death of a child after claiming to have seen a ghost. I thought it very good. An old fashioned ghost story that wasn't trying to be too clever, and had enough twists, turns and bumps in the night to keep me watching until the end.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 3, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I liked Bernie.
> 
> I liked Django Unchained, although your views of it are pretty fair. I think in trying to squeeze together the Spag Western with the Blaxploitation and liberally garnish with Mandingo and Skin Games Tarantino did push an idea too many, or at least got lost in the editing. I still really enjoyed it, because Tarantion films are like sightseeing expeditions for film geeks, and I like the journey. Soundtrack was also faultless and I'm a bit of a soundtrack geek too. Totally agree that it could have been shaven down somewhat. The Original Django is still the best.
> 
> Not seen Warm Bodies. It's on my list.


 
The more I think about Warm Bodies they less I like it. Yes Django was an experience. A very entertaining journey and a great soundtrack.

Just remembered that I also watched the life of Pi.
Not what I had expected from all the adverts I had seen. I was expecting some visual weirdness and some boy bonding with a tiger in a tricky situation. It was a far more straight film than expected and I quite liked it. I also liked how they did not attempt to big up any imaginary film bond / emotion between Pi and the tiger. The tiger not even looking back was particularly good, as you just come to expect shit like that when making a movie, so it was all the more powerful in its realism (of a very unreal situation).


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 3, 2013)

Looper - simple sci fi actioner. Bruce always watchable, but he dont stretch himself much.


----------



## Reno (Jun 3, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Looper - simple sci fi actioner. Bruce always watchable, but he dont stretch himself much.


That's why it's Gordon-Levitt's film, who does stretch himself a lot.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 3, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> In the past few nights I've seen:
> 
> Lake Placid 3 - Couldn't even keep my attention. Very poor. Of course I wasn't expecting anything good.
> 
> ...


 
Goodbye Lenin is excellent but  if you can get hold of it on a torrent Sonnenallee is a really good Ost film


----------



## Reno (Jun 4, 2013)

_Behind the Candelabra_, the Soderbergh HBO Liberace biopic. As biopics go this was middling and fairly conventional and not as much kitschy fun as I thought it would be. Michael Douglas is very good and his total lack of vanity is admirable, while Damon is OK as Liberace's lover/assistant Scott Thorson (it's really mainly his story), if about 25 years too old for the role.


----------



## Reno (Jun 4, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> The Lives of Others - Loved this! I'd had it in my head to watch this for years and finally got around to it, half-expecting to be disappointed. Not so. Reminded me of The Conversation which I've recently seen as well. Is there anything else around like this? I mean political stuff about life in preferably, the GDR, or West Germany otherwise. I've seen Baader Meinhof Complex which was enjoyable enough, I suppose. Is Goodbye Lenin worth a go? I know it's based post-unification, but obviously recreates the lives they lead.
> 
> Anything else?


 
_If Not Us, Who?_ about the early life of Baader-Meinhof member Gudrun Ensslin was pretty good and more thoughtful and less superficial than the action movie approach of The Baader-Meinhof Complex.

Christian Petzhold's films are worth checking out, he deals with the former GDR and the post GDR climate in Germany in _Barbara_ and _Yella_ in a more subtle way that _The Lives of Others_, which is an entertaining enough political thriller.

_Goodbye Lenin _is great. People have been a little snooty about it since because it was hugely popular it's so unaplogetically entertaining, but don't let that put you off.

One film based closely on a real case and which I think is really great is the black comedy _The Nasty Girl_ (a mistranslated Das Schreckliche Maedchen/The Terrible Girl) about a young girl who in the 70s innocently researched a school essay about her town Passau during the Third Reich, hoping to find tales of resistance and who opens a can of worms that leads to much of the town out for her head.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 4, 2013)

There's the Legend of Rita - but that's on a sort of spectacular level, following the life of a terrorist who fled to the DDR rather than non-celebs (although it does try to show the latter in parts).

One called Shores of Hope that i've not yet seen about east german dockworkers in the 80s, their union and the state.


----------



## yardbird (Jun 4, 2013)

Hanna.
Enjoyable hocum


----------



## marty21 (Jun 4, 2013)

just started watching 24 - series 7 - the usual nonsense but i do enjoy it


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 4, 2013)

marty21 said:


> just started watching 24 - series 7 - the usual nonsense but i do enjoy it


 
I enjoyed 7 & 8 but for life of me can not remember anything about them at all any longer. They're not even a blur. I sat through them but the plots are just missing from my head.


----------



## belboid (Jun 4, 2013)

I've been meaning to watch eight for the last couple of years.  Now I'm unemployed again it wouldnt feel such an utter waste of time.  I cant remember much about 7 apart from it started bloody silly and was truly absurd by the end of it.  Eight must be even madder


----------



## avu9lives (Jun 4, 2013)

*Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)* Jesus that made me want to burn me dvd collection reformat me external hard drives and never watch a film again.


----------



## Ranbay (Jun 4, 2013)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381355/

fucked up film, only started watching it because of the name. really well done in some parts.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935902/

Another one i watched based on the name, thought it was good indie film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 4, 2013)

B0B2oo9 said:


> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381355/
> 
> fucked up film, only started watching it because of the name. really well done in some parts.
> 
> ...


 
Seriously?


----------



## Ranbay (Jun 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Seriously?


 
yeah


----------



## Piers Gibbon (Jun 5, 2013)

It's been mentioned on here very positively quite a few times but anyway last night I watched The Sorrow and the Pity...It is an extraordinary documentary and I can't believe it wasn't shown to me when I was studying the second world war. In the first few seconds a provincial German Vicar gives the Nazi salute...in 1969 ffs, and the stand out moments just keep coming.  This is a brilliantly made and gripping piece of modern history and pretty much everyone should watch it imho. Thank you u75 for bringing it to my attention...why oh why had I not already seen it at school and on the telly??


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jun 6, 2013)

Shrooms. Bit scareh.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shrooms/


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 6, 2013)

Piers Gibbon said:


> It's been mentioned on here very positively quite a few times but anyway last night I watched The Sorrow and the Pity...It is an extraordinary documentary and I can't believe it wasn't shown to me when I was studying the second world war. In the first few seconds a provincial German Vicar gives the Nazi salute...in 1969 ffs, and the stand out moments just keep coming. This is a brilliantly made and gripping piece of modern history and pretty much everyone should watch it imho. Thank you u75 for bringing it to my attention...why oh why had I not already seen it at school and on the telly??


 
Cos Nazis are THEM and not US right? doesn't suit the narrative of gcse history to present nuance. Don't get me started on how the gcse version of the cold war goes..


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 6, 2013)

Piers Gibbon said:


> It's been mentioned on here very positively quite a few times but anyway last night I watched The Sorrow and the Pity...It is an extraordinary documentary and I can't believe it wasn't shown to me when I was studying the second world war. In the first few seconds a provincial German Vicar gives the Nazi salute...in 1969 ffs, and the stand out moments just keep coming. This is a brilliantly made and gripping piece of modern history and pretty much everyone should watch it imho. Thank you u75 for bringing it to my attention...why oh why had I not already seen it at school and on the telly??


 
It was banned from French TV until 1981.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jun 7, 2013)

Shame. Quite liked it, but the ambiguity between the two main characters seemed a bit of a cop out, as if the writer/director couldn't pin down the relationship.


----------



## 8115 (Jun 7, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> I've not seen Barbara, but just downloaded it. The Live of Others is a very good film imo


 
I loved Barbara.



Spoiler



Very very well made, effective and packed a political punch.


I spoilered for opinion not plot detail just in case you really wanted to watch it fresh.


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jun 7, 2013)

Episode Two of last years "Titanic" miniseries. The simultaneous stories thing really doesn't work well at all - though according to IMDB, some other territories have recut it into one chronological story which apparently much better.

Main thing I noticed about it, was that Epsidoe two appeared to have been dubbed entirely by the Reverend Iain Paisley, such was the endlessly shouted references to "PAPISTS!" in the beginning. FFS. :-(


----------



## Firky (Jun 8, 2013)

*Dark Skies, *

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387433/







Utterly insipid, the film is like this: birds impact on house, aliens arrive to snatch kids. No one believes them.

Why the family never just stayed in a heavily fortified room together armed to the teeth like most Americans would is never explained, instead you just have to watch nearly two hours of things going bump in the night.

4/10


----------



## Reno (Jun 8, 2013)

Firky said:


> *Dark Skies, *
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387433/
> 
> ...


They probably enjoyed the anal probes after all.


----------



## Firky (Jun 8, 2013)

Reno said:


> They probably enjoyed the anal probes after all.


 

I was after sci-fi or fantasy that was a bit different and Dark Skies let me down utterly. 

I have Lore to watch at some point but I am not really in the mood for it tonight.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jun 9, 2013)

Finally got around to watching Drive. I thought it was fucking brilliant. The cinematography. The acting. The soundtrack. The entire feel of the movie and its influences had me gripped from start to finish.


----------



## 8115 (Jun 9, 2013)

Up in the Air.  It was ok.  Patchy.  Some parts were quite good, funny, well scripted, well constructed, and some were completely cloying and insipid.  It felt like it had been written by a committee.  But it passed the time.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 9, 2013)

Watched the latest Arnie film the other day 'The Last Stand' and Statham in 'Parker' with my Son.

Last Stand was a good old fashioned actioner with some laughs, a plot with massive holes, Arnie being Arnie and a cast of familiar faces having fun and wrecking stuff. It was nice to see an action movie that was trying to be too smart and ironic....but it was pure nonsense.

Parker was ok. It's a role that should really suit Statham, who's acting chops are improving a little. Obviously it's not a patch on Point Blank, and it softens the character too much for it to really work on that level. The Stath is good in it and pretty much holds it together while the plot slowly dissolves as the film jumps from revenge flick to heist movie and back again. J-lo was quite good in it.  Actually, truth be told, this could be any Stath movie.....I hope one day he finds an actioner that goes ballistic and makes him a superstar because he is the best action star in Hollywood right now, he works hard and I think he deserves a Die Hard or a Lethal Weapon.


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jun 9, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Actually, truth be told, this could be any Stath movie......


 
Pretty much all the Stath movies are interchangable, "Crank" aside. He just plays the Stath. I hope F+F7 makes hima  superstar, but he is already such a bankable name, its doubtful it'll turn him into a megastar. Still, unlike Snipes/JCVD/etc., he can still open a film at cinemas rather than at Netflix.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 9, 2013)

Meh O'Naise said:


> Pretty much all the Stath movies are interchangable, "Crank" aside. He just plays the Stath. I hope F+F7 makes hima superstar, but he is already such a bankable name, its doubtful it'll turn him into a megastar. Still, unlike Snipes/JCVD/etc., he can still open a film at cinemas rather than at Netflix.


 
They should do a Netflix version on The Expendables with Val Kilmer, Snipes, Cuba Gooding, Segal...and some of those WWF guys......they could call it The Affordables.

Christian Slater would be in too....


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jun 9, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> They should do a Netflix version on The Expendables with Val Kilmer, Snipes, Cuba Gooding, Segal...and some of those WWF guys......they could call it The Affordables.
> 
> Christian Slater would be in too....


 
Kilmer, Gooding and Slater I can see doing it. Get in Luke Goss, Vinnie Jones, Ving Rhames, Steve Austin and its easily doable. Segal has an ego the size of his own waistline and was in Machete and Snipes is being lined up for Expendables III.  Personally I see the Machete series being the closest thing we'll have to another concurrent ensemble sort of thing.

That said, the oft suggested female version of a ensemble franchise certainly would be interesting.


----------



## Reno (Jun 9, 2013)

Meh O'Naise said:


> That said, the oft suggested female version of a ensemble franchise certainly would be interesting.


 
Sigourney Weaver, Cynthia Rothrock, Linda Hamilton, Pam Grier, Michelle Yeoh, Kate Beckinsale and Milla Jovovich ?


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jun 9, 2013)

Reno said:


> Sigourney Weaver, Cynthia Rothrock, Linda Hamilton, Pam Grier, Michelle Yeoh, Kate Beckinsale and Milla Jovovich ?


 
I'd add in Gina Carano, Katie Sackoff, and Michelle Rodriguez myself.


----------



## Reno (Jun 9, 2013)

I'd probably dump Sackhoff because she's mainly a TV actress, but if we do have TV actresses then Diana Rigg should have a cameo.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 9, 2013)

Wait, theres a film of Dark Skies now? That was great series- have they done it a disservice?


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 9, 2013)

8115 said:


> Up in the Air. It was ok. Patchy. Some parts were quite good, funny, well scripted, well constructed, and some were completely cloying and insipid. It felt like it had been written by a committee. But it passed the time.


 
I must say that I am in to George Clooney fashion these days


----------



## Reno (Jun 9, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Wait, theres a film of Dark Skies now? That was great series- have they done it a disservice?


 
Nothing to do with the TV series, but then it's fairly generic title.

Dark Skies feels like a rip-off of Spielberg's proposed 70s sci-fi horror film Night Skies about aliens terrorising a family: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Skies. The film never happened, but then ended up as the source for E.T., Poltergeist and Gremlins, all of which took aspects from the premise, with Poltergeist being the closest, replacing the aliens with ghosts. Dark Skies feels like Poltergeist with aliens.


----------



## Firky (Jun 9, 2013)

It felt very much like a poor homage to Spielberg (being generous in saying it was a homage too). 

Watched The Lives of Others last night after being reminded of it on this thread. Still a good film but I don't think it lived up to it's first viewing -  probably because I knew what was going to happen.

Could do with a film recommendation tonight...


----------



## Reno (Jun 9, 2013)

Firky said:


> It felt very much like a poor homage to Spielberg (being generous in saying it was a homage too).
> 
> Watched The Lives of Others last night after being reminded of it on this thread. Still a good film but I don't think it lived up to it's first viewing - probably because I knew what was going to happen.
> 
> Could do with a film recommendation tonight...


 
I recently liked these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upstream_Color
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlet_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_of_My_Voice

I'm going to watch V/H/S 2 tonight, which I've read good things about (apparently far better than the first one)


Also The Returned starts tonight on Ch4, which is my new favourite TV series:
http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/post-apoco-zombie-fans-les-revenants.302839/
Neither post-apocalyptic nor about zombies though.


----------



## Firky (Jun 9, 2013)

Reno said:


> I recently liked these:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upstream_Color
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlet_(film)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_of_My_Voice


 

I like the looks of Upstream colour and SOMV, cheers!


----------



## thriller (Jun 9, 2013)

Bullet to da head. Bit of a meh from me but I give stallion a pass with solo action movies. And Stallon still looks like he can handle himself, unlike arnie who likes in need of a zimmer


----------



## marty21 (Jun 9, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_&_Citron

Flame and Citron

Danish WW2 film about the resistance - bleak, grim, beautiful in a strange way.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 9, 2013)

Meh O'Naise said:


> ...Get in Luke Goss...


 
Good call


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jun 10, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Good call
> View attachment 33501


 
A straight to DVD sequel that really surprised me was Death Race 2 - it looked ten times as expensive as it really was, fantastic looking, good action sequences, utterly entertaining ; thats my main reason for recommending Luke Goss.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 10, 2013)

*The Social Network (2010)* Really enjoyed it, but then I'm a sucker for Sorin's writing. Terrific performance from Eisenberg.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 10, 2013)

*Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno* - a tricky, tricksy documentary trying to explain just why renowned French sort-of-Hitchcock director Clouzot wen apparently clean round the bend, spent a fortune, induced near mental breakdowns in all his cameramen and ended up making a great / awful "lost" movie called Inferno, about a jealous husband losing his mind. It goes on wayyyyy too long and is shot through with weapons-grade Gallic pretentiousness but some of the visual effects and sound effects developed for the (original) film are amazing. Also a perhaps a contribution to the "good films about films" list - it probably didn't help that the film was given "unlimited budget" by American backers who wanted to get in on this crazy French New Wave thing, and thought this was the project to go with. (Or that the director booked into a soon-to-be-flooded location and knackered out his lead actor by making him run kilometres every day for endless tracking shots.) It resulted in the production shooting reels and reels and reels of mad "tests" of colour reversals, op-art kinetic sculptures and every other arty thing without actually MAKING A FILM. Worth it if wig-out sixties craziness is your thing (and Romy Schneider, the star of the original film, is fantastic eye candy if you like early-60s French pin-ups .... sex on legs.)

*Invincible - *Werner Herzog-directed tale of a Jewish strongman in the 1930s whose career is made by Nazi-loving nightclub promoter and occultist Tim Roth (yes really!). So wooden I couldn't watch any more than the first 40  minutes. Maybe I have missed a Great Work but just couldn't get into it.

that's enough euroartiness. must see a nice crunchy no-mind actioner next.


----------



## ringo (Jun 10, 2013)

Treble bill on Saturday:

*Cosmopolis* - David Cronenberg film about about an implausibly rich financier trying to get across New York in a limo to get a haircut whilst his entire world falls apart around his ears. Much of the premise is entirely nonsensical but still felt like a return to form for Cronenberg, with clever, weird and entertaining parts throughout. Very enjoyable.

*The Ghost* (Channel 4) - Pretty good Polanski political thriller, Ewan McGregor was especially good as the ghost writer uncovering the dodgy past of Pierce Brosnan's Blair-alike ex-PM. Worth a watch.

*On The Road* - I imagine 50 years ago this was pretty exciting stuff, but tbh even as a teenager I found Kerouacs book irritating; Moriarty/Cassady coming across as the one of the world's all time selfish, annoying bores and Sal/Kerouac as an unlikable, louche freeloader. Despite the titillation of rebellion, drugs and partying its an unbelievably boring film. Not helped by having jazz in it, but that's a personal beef. Switched it off 20 minutes from the end because it was close enough to the book that once again I just didn't give a toss what happened to the characters.


----------



## Reno (Jun 10, 2013)

*V/H/S/2*, the sequel to the found footage compilation horror film *V/H/S* and a vast improvement on the first one. That one had one great and one good episode and a lot of filler. This time there were only four episodes and a wrap around story, but two of those were fantastic. One by the directors of The Blair Witch project about a zombie POV camera and another seriously intense one by the director of The Raid about a group of journalists, documenting a scary Indonesian doomsday cult. The other two were still entertaining enough. Even the wrap around, which was terrible in the first one, was reasonably creepy.

*Extraterrestrial*, which is the Spanish answer to *Monsters* in that it is also primarily an indie romance set against the backdrop of an alien invasion, from the director of the overrated *Timecrimes*. It's nowhere near as good as Monsters and mostly takes place in one Madrid apartment. The characters act in ways that are stupid, deceitful and selfish under the circumstances while the film still wants us to stay invested in them but I soon lost interest.


----------



## belboid (Jun 10, 2013)

Looper

The entire premise makes no sense whatsoever, it is way beyond stupid and just doesn't work with a moments thought.  Fortunately there are few moments for such thoughts (pretty much only when Joe meets Sara - how the fuck _does_ she know about loopers?), so it doesnt really matter and it is a highly entertaining bit of modern sci-fi. JGL is a pleasure to watch.


----------



## Firky (Jun 10, 2013)

*Bernie*

Black comedy with Jack Black, wasn't bad. Done in a documentary format with interviews of the towns folk. Worked quite well.

6.5/10


----------



## Yetman (Jun 10, 2013)

Reno said:


> ...overrated *Timecrimes*.


 

You thought it's overrated? I thought it was excellent.


----------



## Reno (Jun 10, 2013)

Yetman said:


> You thought it's overrated? I thought it was excellent.


 
I liked the first 20 or 30 minutes which were quite tense and then I thought it got repetitive, contrived and rather dull. The idea was good, but the execution was poor. I didn't believe in the characters and the same is the case with Extraterrestrial.


----------



## flypanam (Jun 12, 2013)

Love/Hate. (first series) So far pretty fucking dull even by RTE standards. Still better than Luther, in the battle of the post The Wire cop/gang shows.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 12, 2013)

Lesson of the Evil - last Miike but one. Oddly structured film. First hour and a bit was spent building up a pretty effective creepy mystery thriller vibe that had lots of potential paths to go down. Very well done. Second hour and a bit was spent closing all those paths down to produce a very effective murder-fest. Also very well done. But when put together just didn't feel right. Well worth a watch though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 13, 2013)

lining up a few to watch this weekend, any reccs urban?

nothing from the last three pages caught my eye


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 13, 2013)

Stoker - the first english language Chan-wook Park film. Disappointing and obvious, _looked_ very good in parts, but again, in an obvious way.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 13, 2013)

flypanam said:


> Love/Hate. (first series) So far pretty fucking dull even by RTE standards. Still better than Luther, in the battle of the post The Wire cop/gang shows.


 
It does get more interesting - see thread: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/love-hate-dublin-gangster-nonsense.303604/


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jun 15, 2013)

As it's on Youtube at the moment I watched the hard to find *The Cool World (1964),* drama/documentary about a New York, Harlem street gang, directed by Shirley Clarke & produced by Patrick Wiseman with a Dizzy Gillespie soundtrack. A great film, it really deserves a decent DVD release.


----------



## Firky (Jun 15, 2013)

Skeletons is on tonight, worth a watch.


----------



## 8115 (Jun 15, 2013)

What channel is it on?

eta BBC2 11.40.


----------



## Firky (Jun 15, 2013)

8115 said:


> What channel is it on?


 

BBC 2, 11.40pm

It's not a brilliant film but what I liked most about it was that it is quite different.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02yxz9s

*DURATION: 1 HOUR, 30 MINUTES*
Bennett and Davis are psychic exorcists, travelling the country and using supernatural means to get inside people, help unburden them of the skeletons in their closet and find their darkest secrets. It's a dirty job, with strict protocols and not much time for friendships. When they are sent on a difficult mission to try and find a woman's missing husband, presumed dead, they can find no trace of his memory in the house. They realise this job is more complilcated than they'd imagined, in all sorts of ways. * SHOW LESS*


----------



## 8115 (Jun 15, 2013)

Thanks.  It looks quite good.  Fresh.


----------



## 8115 (Jun 15, 2013)

I'm eatching Sleepy Hollow. It's ok. I seriously have the attention span of a gnat though.


----------



## MBV (Jun 15, 2013)

Tried to watch Dead Man Down but gave up after 20 mins. Watched State of Play (film) version) instead


----------



## rekil (Jun 16, 2013)

Firky said:


> BBC 2, 11.40pm
> 
> It's not a brilliant film but what I liked most about it was that it is quite different.
> 
> ...


It was made by a friend of someone on here.


----------



## Me76 (Jun 16, 2013)

I watched Flight last night. Ok but not as good as I expected given all the hype.


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jun 16, 2013)

Me76 said:


> I watched Flight last night. Ok but not as good as I expected given all the hype.


*SPOILERS* I hated the ending. Denzel was on top form and great - lots of subtle moments in his performance -  but the script was lazy shorthand for "look! He's got a drink problem!". The ending was very much "last minute revelation / death bed confession that undoes everythign that came before " tacky bullshit.


----------



## Firky (Jun 16, 2013)

copliker said:


> It was made by a friend of someone on here.


 

Wasn't dubversion was it? He loves it!


----------



## rekil (Jun 16, 2013)

Firky said:


> Wasn't dubversion was it? He loves it!


strummerville I think. I thought it did a terrific job of creating its own world without dissolving into wacky for wacky's sake self-indulgent mush. Tiny budget and all.


----------



## Reno (Jun 16, 2013)

Meh O'Naise said:


> *SPOILERS* I hated the ending. Denzel was on top form and great - lots of subtle moments in his performance - but the script was lazy shorthand for "look! He's got a drink problem!". The ending was very much "last minute revelation / death bed confession that undoes everythign that came before " tacky bullshit.


 
I agree that the end was predictable redemption slush but until then it was a bit more shaded and far less hysterical about addiction than many films, especially for a big budget Hollywood film. Not sure how the script used lazy shorthand in regard to his addiction. It was a long film about a complex case following a freakishly positive side effect of his addiction (he saves a planeload of passengers while and possibly because he was drunk and drugfucked) and it went quite some way to subvert cliches about addiction, functionality and accountability. He is an unrepentant addict for most of the film, but the screenplay never diminishes his heroism and his competence and that's rather unusual.


----------



## Firky (Jun 16, 2013)

copliker said:


> strummerville I think. I thought it did a terrific job of creating its own world without dissolving into wacky for wacky's sake self-indulgent mush. Tiny budget and all.


 

It gets 10/10 for originality!


----------



## Firky (Jun 17, 2013)

Just noticed Valhalla Rising is on. Great film.


----------



## strummerville (Jun 17, 2013)

copliker said:


> strummerville I think. I thought it did a terrific job of creating its own world without dissolving into wacky for wacky's sake self-indulgent mush. Tiny budget and all.


 
Director is old mate of mine, Nick Whitfield. Used to be an actor, he's a top man and conceived, wrote and directed Skeletons.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 17, 2013)

Me76 said:


> I watched Flight last night. Ok but not as good as I expected given all the hype.


 
Odd film in that everyone talks about the emergency landing bit in it but the story is actually about a more modest crash landing which was his return to being sober.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 17, 2013)

Just got a copy of Magnolia  ( which is one of my favourite films) . Just need to find a way of getting this woman that I like to watch it with me. She likes Coyote Ugly so I explained this was a bit like it.


----------



## Voley (Jun 17, 2013)

The Beat That My Heart Skipped - another Audiard one. Good film, not quite up there with some of his others but some typically great acting in it. He seems to be really good at getting terrific performances out of his actors. Haven't seen a bad film by him yet.


----------



## Voley (Jun 17, 2013)

Firky said:


> Skeletons is on tonight, worth a watch.



Bollocks. I've wanted to see that for ages.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 17, 2013)

Youth in Revolt.

Michael Cera is typecast again as a wimpy adolescent neurotic. This time he's playing the sub-type who is into French literature, Sinatra records and aspires to becoming a writer.

There's one in every town - but usually only one. And they tend not to mate in captivity, or at all. The plot of YiR centres around the lead character's pursuit of the girl of his dreams (thankfully not a manic pixie dream girl). This pursuit ultimately involves the wilful, massive destruction of property, and leads to our hero running from the law.

It's very silly, but also a great bit of fun.

Steve Buscemi and Ray Liotta also star.


----------



## pissflaps (Jun 17, 2013)

'I Wish'

Japanese coming of age whimsy. Allright - if you like that sort of thing.


----------



## Reno (Jun 17, 2013)

I watched Richard Linklater's true-crime black comedy Bernie which was very good. I was reminded to do so after I just saw his excellent Before Midnight. Bernie just came and went here and in the US despite great reviews.

I then tried to watch Skeletons recommended by a few people here. Maybe I was just tired, but I couldn't get into it. 'Different' may be good, but this struck me a bit too pleased with its own quirkiness and it felt very repetitive, more like an overextended one joke short film than a proper feature. I may give this another go when I feel more alert.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 17, 2013)

Reno said:


> I watched Richard Linklater's true-crime black comedy Bernie which was very good. I was reminded to do so after I just saw his excellent Before Midnight. Bernie just came and went here and in the US despite great reviews..


 
Quite a good performance from Black I thought, and nice to see him doing something a bit different. I watched it relatively 'cold' so did not know much about the 'true life' element. I realize the vox pops were an important part of the film, but they still grated on me a little.
It was a nice, simple short and to the point story . . a breath of fresh air from all the CGI blockbusters that are all over the place.
I watched it on a plane. I had no idea the film even existed, so when I looked it up on wiki later I was quite surprised to find out that it was actually a couple of years old.


----------



## Reno (Jun 17, 2013)

Yes, not sure why this has been delayed so long. I liked the vox pops, especially as many were by the real residents of the town, talking about the real case and they were mixed in with the actors.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 17, 2013)

*Vikings *series (all 9 eps of it via Lovefilm) - the first series I've ever watched online via package and it worked a treat. Lots of silly running around fighting, not to mention high-on-the-hog overacting, but beautifully photographed  filmed and art directed (don't think I've ever seen such a convincingly dark and muddy and cold-looking Dark Ages Europe on screen before) and with more than enough dynamics to keep it interesting. Really nice handling of light throughout. As has become usual in this sort of thing, chock-full of anachronism (orange carrots? in Viking Scandinavia? in that century?) and wish-fulfilment sexxxiness, but also offering unusual nuance in the female roles. And the deeper aspects (pagans vs Christians, cruelty vs kindness etc) are dealt with with surprising restraint.


----------



## Fez909 (Jun 17, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> She likes Coyote Ugly so I explained this was a bit like it.


 
Sorry but this made me laugh


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 17, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Sorry but this made me laugh


 
It is isn't it?  

I might ask if she would like to watch take This Waltz First and then save Magnolia for some point in the future


----------



## Fez909 (Jun 17, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> It is isn't it?
> I might ask if she would like to watch take This Waltz First and then save Magnolia for some point in the future


 
Just take turns, that's what I used to do with the ex. Your film one night, hers another. It'll mean you'll have to sit through some stuff you would never normally watch, but then you get the odd gem. And vice versa. Save the stuff you know she'll hate for on your own. Sorted.

Another good methods is to pick three films that you want to watch as a shortlist, then let her pick from those. It does mean some films get eternally vetoed, though - I never did get to watch Aguirre, Wrath of God


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 17, 2013)

Reno said:


> Yes, not sure why this has been delayed so long. I liked the vox pops, especially as many were by the real residents of the town, talking about the real case and they were mixed in with the actors.


 
I think they highlighted for me that without them there was not much solid story. It felt like a lazy solution, though I hear it was his plan to have that as a style from the get go (in the script) and he had to fight to studio to keep them (so what to I know, I'm all for film makers keeping their vision undisrrupted)


----------



## Reno (Jun 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I think they highlighted for me that without them there was not much solid story. It felt like a lazy solution, though I hear it was his plan to have that as a style from the get go (in the script) and he had to fight to studio to keep them (so what to I know, I'm all for film makers keeping their vision undisrrupted)


 
For me it was the best thing about the film, because it was about this Texan town and its inhabitants as much as it was about the crime. It even is particular in how this town defines itself in opposition to other places in Texas. You only understand why the case developed the way did because of what the place and the people were like and having the real people of that town in the film was more effective than just having actors play them.

Linklater is a humanist film-maker and he genuinely likes people and that's what all his films are about. He isn't really cut out to make a dark, misanthropic crime pic, this was like the sunny counterpart to Fargo.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 17, 2013)

Watched Hara-kiri: death of a samurai this weekend. Nice piece of film-making, and good to see the samurai trope expanded by focusing more on the less glamorous bits. Probably the least mental Miike film I've seen.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 17, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Watched Hara-kiri: death of a samurai this weekend. Nice piece of film-making, and good to see the samurai trope expanded by focusing more on the less glamorous bits. Probably the least mental Miike film I've seen.


Have you seen the original? I enjoyed the Miike version but much prefer the first - much more angry.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jun 17, 2013)

Reno said:


> For me it was the best thing about the film, because it was about this Texan town and its inhabitants as much as it was about the crime. You only understand why the case developed the way did because of what the place and the people were like and having the real people of that town in the film was more effective than just having actors play them.
> 
> Linklater is a humanist film-maker and he genuinely likes people and that's what all his films are about. He isn't really cut out to make a dark, misanthropic crime pic, this was like the sunny counterpart to Fargo.


 
Yes, what I was trying (but not making a good job of) was that I could see why they were there and that they were important, but despite it being a good film (and I did enjoy it) I could not help being a little grated by them. It is probably just me, I used to make a lot of TV magazine shows and documentaries and vox pops (not interviews) were always the lazy option of joining something together.

Having just written that I have realized that technically these were not 'vox pops', they might seem like that as they are, by nature, just people being interviewed around town. But they are also interviews of people who knew Bernie.
Maybe it's ok.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 17, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Just take turns, that's what I used to do with the ex. Your film one night, hers another. It'll mean you'll have to sit through some stuff you would never normally watch, but then you get the odd gem. And vice versa. Save the stuff you know she'll hate for on your own. Sorted.
> 
> Another good methods is to pick three films that you want to watch as a shortlist, then let her pick from those. It does mean some films get eternally vetoed, though - I never did get to watch Aguirre, Wrath of God


 
If I followed


> pick three films that you want to watch as a shortlist, then let her pick from those


 I could well be picking up my P45. Its at an early and tentative phase so I haven't even got the step of sitting down next to her in front of a tele yet never mind inflicting my musical or film taste on her. She text me to say she was having a bottle of rose and watching Coyote ugly and asked what films I liked .Thought it best not get into that area so I said ones with a happy ending ( I assume Coyote Ugly does have a happy ending like The Grey ). I have swerved any discussion about music as well and just nodded in agreement to something about Mary J Bilge.


----------



## Firky (Jun 17, 2013)

Reno said:


> I watched Richard Linklater's true-crime black comedy Bernie which was very good. I was reminded to do so after I just saw his excellent Before Midnight. Bernie just came and went here and in the US despite great reviews.


 
I watched that last week. I thought Jack Black was particularly good, he came across perfectly - not creepy or overtly camp that I reckon other actors would have probably fallen victim to. When I was watching it I was wondering it was based on actual events (I had never heard of the film, a friend recommended it to me). Loved it how no one missed her but they all said they'd miss Bernie 



> I then tried to watch Skeletons recommended by a few people here. Maybe I was just tired, but I couldn't get into it. 'Different' may be good, but this struck me a bit too pleased with its own quirkiness and it felt very repetitive, more like an overextended one joke short film than a proper feature. I may give this another go when I feel more alert.


 

It would have worked better as a short film of an hour or so but I still enjoyed it. As I said it's not a brilliant film but what I liked most about it was that it was highly original and there was something quite quaint and endearing about it. It was typically British.


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jun 17, 2013)

Reno said:


> I agree that the end was predictable redemption slush but until then it was a bit more shaded and far less hysterical about addiction than many films, especially for a big budget Hollywood film.


 
I felt that the film would have been much more realistic had he not caved in to the redemptive ending but continued to lie and save his own ass. Like the majority of addicts would. And - it would have more realistically - have to show him dealing with the guilt of slandering an innocent woman for the rest of his life.That would have been more realistic, and less of a cheap cop out. As for the big budget - $38m. Couldn't get any higher funding than that. 



Reno said:


> Not sure how the script used lazy shorthand in regard to his addiction.


 
*smashes framed pictures off sideboard before slumping into chair etc. *

I also strongly dislike the whole _'It was jesus'_ angle from the co-pilot. Felt creepy wierd, like that in religion, he had an addiction to Jesus also. Endlessly banging on about that was very much a misstep.



Reno said:


> He is an unrepentant addict for most of the film, but the screenplay never diminishes his heroism and his competence and that's rather unusual.


 
That I do agree with. His heroism doesn't come from the drinking, but from a totally bizarre happenstance (flying the plane upside down)


----------



## renegadechicken (Jun 17, 2013)

Watched these over the weekend
Shrooms - never seen it before, didn't like it apart from the talking Irish cow that spoke with an American accent.
Broken City - not bad but a tale of corruption and redemption has been done better before
My Cousin Vinnie - Marisa Tomei makes this movie. Loved it......
Croc--yep it was a load of Croc
Skeletons-Really enjoyed this.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 17, 2013)

Warm Bodies - which I wasn't really wanting to watch but ended up enjoying it.  Romeo + Juliet with zombies.  Funny enough and the lead, the boy from About A Boy, was good enough...even though he's developed an American accent.   The vampires from I Am Legend are now Zombies in this.


----------



## pissflaps (Jun 17, 2013)

it was twilight with zombies.

'twimbies' if you will.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Have you seen the original? I enjoyed the Miike version but much prefer the first - much more angry.


Not to my knowledge, cheers for the heads up.

Huh, wonder why I didn't get an alert for that - were you on mobile?


----------



## Reno (Jun 17, 2013)

Meh O'Naise said:


> I felt that the film would have been much more realistic had he not caved in to the redemptive ending but continued to lie and save his own ass. Like the majority of addicts would. And - it would have more realistically - have to show him dealing with the guilt of slandering an innocent woman for the rest of his life.That would have been more realistic, and less of a cheap cop out. As for the big budget - $38m. Couldn't get any higher funding than that.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I don't have a problem with his recovery, it just happened much too suddenly, but then we've both already agreed that the very end didn't work. That still left over two hours of flawed if reasonably intriguing film.

When I've lived in the States, I've worked with people like that co-pilot. They take their Christianity very seriously there. The co-pilot wasn't in the film that much though and had his big Jesus scene at the hospital. I would have had a problem if he's supposed to be a sympathetic character, but he isn't.

As to the budget, that's high for a drama that doesn't involve superheroes or Hobbits in Hollywood. It's rare that we get a serious drama on that scale at all now.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 17, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> it was twilight with zombies.
> 
> 'twimbies' if you will.


 
Dunno...didn't like Twilight, Warm Bodies didn't take itself seriously unlike the vampus opus.  It's the same general target audience though, I guess.


----------



## pissflaps (Jun 17, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Dunno...didn't like Twilight, Warm Bodies didn't take itself seriously unlike the vampus opus. It's the same general target audience though, I guess.


 
trupost


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 18, 2013)

The Paperboy - A pulp swamp drama with a great cast working their arses off on a sleazy and grim story which just about holds together despite untold plot holes.

....and that jellyfish sting scene is to die for!


----------



## JimW (Jun 18, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Stoker - the first english language Chan-wook Park film. Disappointing and obvious, _looked_ very good in parts, but again, in an obvious way.


 
Wasn't impressed with this at all. As you say, looked good in bits and I could see it was being deliberately mannered or whatever here and there but overall just silly and I din't care about the characters.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 18, 2013)

1st episode of Vikings

so far, so violently nordic. Have episode two queued for later


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 18, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> 1st episode of Vikings
> 
> so far, so violently nordic. Have episode two queued for later


 Keep at it. Soon it will be Norsely violent.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 19, 2013)

Darkman (wacthed with my Son) - Silly Sam Raimi comic book fun....but pretty lousy at the same time.

Deadfall - Fargo without the dark humour, wit or charm.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 19, 2013)

Requiem for a Dream. Drugs horror story, visually excellent (if a bit too busy) but it's an exhausting, hard watch. Great acting all round and a great original score too.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 19, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I really liked this, thought it was miles better than I Saw the Devil which is the other Korean one being bigged up right now.


 
Watched _Man from Nowhere _last night.  I enjoyed it.

Have to agree with @100 masahiko's wife.  Bin Won is quite fit


----------



## Reno (Jun 19, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Darkman (wacthed with my Son) - Silly Sam Raimi comic book fun....but pretty lousy at the same time.
> 
> Deadfall - Fargo without the dark humour, wit or charm.


 
I love Darkman. I think it's still better than most superhero pics that are based on comic books and I far prefer it to Raimi's Spiderman films.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 19, 2013)

Aye, Darkman is one of the better comic book films imo.


----------



## maya (Jun 19, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Requiem for a Dream. Drugs horror story, visually excellent (if a bit too busy) but it's an exhausting, hard watch. Great acting all round and a great original score too.


I am no fan of Jared Leto, but he was excellent in that.

The book (by Hubert Selby jr.) is welll worth a read too.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 19, 2013)

Reno said:


> I love Darkman. I think it's still better than most superhero pics that are based on comic books and I far prefer it to Raimi's Spiderman films.


 
It has a very comic book feel to it. It also looks very dated now. It's enjoyable nonsense with doesn't take itself too seriously at all and it is entertaining.

It parts in reminded me of the TV movies of Spiderman that had theatrical releases in the UK.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 20, 2013)

The Body - enjoyable daft cat-and-mouse thing revolving around a body missing from a morgue - only spoilt be me guessing the way it would play out far far too early. Nothing special but good fun.


----------



## Firky (Jun 20, 2013)

A King In New York,

About 60 year old but still has a gentle humour and charm.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050598/



> Due to a revolution in his country, King Shahdov comes to New York - almost broke. To get some money he goes to TV, making commercials and meets the child from communist parents. Due to this he is suddenly a suspected as a communist himself and has to face one of McCarthy's hearings.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Jun 21, 2013)

Hawkwind - Solstice at Stonehenge 1984


----------



## geminisnake (Jun 21, 2013)

We watched Brave. It was ok. I actually watched it rather than gamed and looked at the TV occasionally(how I usually 'watch' tv)


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 21, 2013)

Drug War - the new Johnnie To. You surely know what to expect by now? Much bleaker than his goes in this genre (even in music choices). Didn't really fire as he can, but still superior to 99% of films in this style that will be released or produced this year. (Oh yeah, the big shoot out was fantastic).


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 21, 2013)

_The Owl and the Sparrow - _Sentimental Vietnamese film

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/owl_and_the_sparrow/


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 21, 2013)

Watched Darkman with the young un after the comments earlier in the thread. It's a good story that could stand up to a remake and for all it's twisting and chopping of fingers it's not actually as violent as I remember.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 21, 2013)

The Purge.

A right load of shit. Rubbish premise, poor story badly told, shit acting, completely pointless. One of the worst films I've sat through for a long time.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 21, 2013)

I wrote that


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I wrote that


 
You wrote The Purge?


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 21, 2013)

*Yep. $159*


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 21, 2013)

You were overpaid


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 21, 2013)

I gave $136 of it back.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 21, 2013)

Even after Thomas Cooks commission you kept about a tenner too much.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 21, 2013)

Sweet Smell of Success, starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Very enjoyable albeit bleak.

_Come back here, I want to chastise you!_


----------



## Reno (Jun 21, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Watched Darkman with the young un after the comments earlier in the thread. It's a good story that could stand up to a remake and for all it's twisting and chopping of fingers it's not actually as violent as I remember.


 
The two things that make it great though are Sam Raimi's flair as a director and Liam Neeson's performance and considering how thoroughly bland and soulless most remakes are, why would it need to get remade ?


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 22, 2013)

You have a point but the effects could do with updating and surely there's actors as good as Liam Neeson who could turn out a performance.


----------



## Reno (Jun 22, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> You have a point but the effects could do with updating and surely there's actors as good as Liam Neeson who could turn out a performance.


 
I don't see why films need to get updated to fit in with every other CGI fest. I enjoy older genre films in part for their analogue effects. It's the same logic that demands that black and white films need to get colorised. Just bring a bit of your own imagination to a film and it won't bother you that the effects aren't as seamless as they would be now. I like how old films are a window to their time and that includes that they are documents of past film technologies.


----------



## Voley (Jun 22, 2013)

I watched Inglourious Basterds again last night which I enjoyed more the second time around. Skeletons tonight.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 22, 2013)

Reno said:


> I don't see why films need to get updated to fit in with every other CGI fest. I enjoy older genre films in part for their analogue effects. It's the same logic that demands that black and white films need to get colorised. Just bring a bit of your own imagination to a film and it won't bother you that the effects aren't as seamless as they would be now. I like how old films are a window to their time and that includes that they are documents of past film technologies.


 
It's not something that I'd usually think tbh. In fact I can't think of another film I like that I think could stand to be re-made. Maybe it's more that 80's look to it that I don't really get on with in this particular film.

Also I'd say comic book films are probably *the* genre where remakes can be done without previous versions being written off.


----------



## Reno (Jun 22, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> It's not something that I'd usually think tbh. In fact I can't think of another film I like that I think could stand to be re-made. Maybe it's more that 80's look to it that I don't really get on with in this particular film.
> 
> Also I'd say comic book films are probably *the* genre where remakes can be done without previous versions being written off.


 
Darkman wasn't based on a comic book, it was an original screenplay.

I'm not saying it's a perfect film, it has flaws but whatever is great about it is down to Raimi's direction. If you have some hack remake it, then whatever was distinctive about it is lost. Personally I love the way the film looks with its noirish cinematography, 30's Universal horror style art direction and all the crazy camera moves.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 22, 2013)

_St George's Day_

Bog standard Eastender gangster types


----------



## Yelkcub (Jun 22, 2013)

The 51st State.

Samuel L Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Sinbad and other Brookie chaps. Woeful.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 22, 2013)

Yelkcub said:


> The 51st State.
> 
> Samuel L Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Sinbad and other Brookie chaps. Woeful.


 
More bollocks than the dog's bollocks eh


----------



## petee (Jun 22, 2013)

watched the extras disc of The Wages of Fear, have the movie itself on deck.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jun 22, 2013)

I am going to watch Terminator 2 on ITV later. I have seen it about 5 million times already.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jun 22, 2013)

Its a modern fairytale


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jun 22, 2013)

although Escape from New York is on ITV4 at the same time


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 22, 2013)

Flowers of War (another one based on rape of Nanking)


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 23, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Flowers of War (another one based on rape of Nanking)


You're a glutton for punishment.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 23, 2013)

Perfume

Strange but funny


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 23, 2013)

Argo - A well made piece of drama that looked good and entertained while being a bit silly too. (watched with friends which I hardly do so may have a different view of it when I watch it on my own).

Fargo - Excellent again. I'd forgotten how violent and grim the whole thing is. Brilliant and bleak and funny and with just enough of a soft centre to stop it descending into complete darkness.

Switchbacks - 90s serial killer thriller with Dennis Quaid. Starts of with some promise but descends into a cat and mouse catch me if you can actioner. lovely turn from R Lee Emery as a small town Sheriff playing against his usual loud pain in the arse authoritarian type and settling into something a bit softer, world weary and human.

Hannibal - eps 4,5,6 - Picking up nicely. Still not blown away with it, but intrigued enough to keep going.

Girls - Eps 1,2,3 - had me pissing myself laughing. It's funny and just sweet enough. Actually presents young trendy New Yorkers with enough humility to appear occasionally sympathetic.

Top of the Lake - Ep 1 - Jane Campion TV show (has it aired in uk yet?) - First ep impressive. Slow going, but certainly kept me wanting.


----------



## billy_bob (Jun 23, 2013)

.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 24, 2013)

Everything's Gone Green.

By-the-numbers Canadian flick about an aimless, drifting, twentysomething male who's life is changed by underhanded lottery scams and the love of a good woman.

I wouldn't bother if I was you.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 24, 2013)

I watched 6 episodes of Game of Thrones last night.  Good stuff.  Watched another episode just now and almost resenting going out as I want to watch more


----------



## Yetman (Jun 24, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Argo - A well made piece of drama that looked good and entertained while being a bit silly too. (watched with friends which I hardly do so may have a different view of it when I watch it on my own).
> 
> Fargo - Excellent again. I'd forgotten how violent and grim the whole thing is. Brilliant and bleak and funny and with just enough of a soft centre to stop it descending into complete darkness.


 
Should have followed up with this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1507261/


----------



## petee (Jun 24, 2013)

petee said:


> watched the extras disc of The Wages of Fear, have the movie itself on deck.


watched it now, the criterion version, it contains scenes that weren't included the last time i saw it (in a theater). my obsessive self spotted some continuity issues and some creaky acting, but never mind, it's great.


----------



## belboid (Jun 24, 2013)

Rosemary's Baby.

In preparation for the last episode of Mad Men tonight


----------



## TitanSound (Jun 25, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Dunno...didn't like Twilight, Warm Bodies didn't take itself seriously unlike the vampus opus. It's the same general target audience though, I guess.


 

I really enjoyed Warm Bodies. Bit of a twist of the whole zombie thing.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 25, 2013)

*The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford*  - saw it in the cinema and found it 'meh', watched again via telly and I can appreciate more of its incredible visual beauty ... and the modesty and restraint of the script and Brad Pitt's performance. Still think it might have been a bit overcalculated in parts, should have been shorter, and still hate some of the mumbliness and incoherence of the dialogue. (and still just can't deal with Casey Affleck, even though I can recognise it's a great performane as an awkward and somewhat repellent character.)  But really genuinely amazing to look at.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 26, 2013)

Fat City - John Huston's sort of early 70s comeback, great film with another great Stacey Keach performance - really solid character piece with little or no plot to speak of set among 'low lifes' in dead end town stockon in california. Has one of the best opening credit sequences (as in fitting the film perfectly) i've seen in a long time as well. Boxing fans will scoff at the fight scenes though, not really about them though, they are almost irrelevant. If you like stuff like KIller of Sheep etc then have a look.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 26, 2013)

That sounds pretty good, think I'll have to grab it.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 27, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> That sounds pretty good, think I'll have to grab it.


 
Well worth the time. Watched an attempt at a similar one one from the same year last night Cisco Pike - and like Fat City it has opening credits set to a Kriss Krisstofersen song, and Harry Dean Stanton also proclaimed _Fat City!_ on scoring some skag. This was the same sort of loosely plotted character study but about counter-culture types rather than day labourers and amateur boxers. All a bit too messy rally - Gene Hackman gives a very odd performance but because he didn't have enough screen time (i think this was due to the French Connection messing up CP schedule) he couldn't push it through into something memorable. Interesting little film anyway and sheds light on the way hollywood was trying to deal with films of this type and about these people post easy-rider.


----------



## Reno (Jun 27, 2013)

S6 of Mad Men over the last few days and only two more episodes to go. Don Draper !  Don Draper ! 

Still my favorite TV series.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 27, 2013)

*Drive (2011)* Eightiestastic! Absolutely gorgeous looking film, great soundtrack, not much substance. Much like the decade itself.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 29, 2013)

Small Town Murder Songs.

The discovery of a murdered woman's body in a small north Ontario town triggers a train of events which end in an outbreak of cathartic violence.

A respectable effort from Canuckistan - also very heavily, and explicitly, Christian.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 29, 2013)

Running Man


They just don't make em like that anymore


----------



## Reno (Jun 29, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Running Man
> 
> 
> They just don't make em like that anymore


 
Yes, apparently they don't as there seems to be a thread about it now. Has it gotten any better since the 80s then ?


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jun 29, 2013)

Pawn - It held my attention, I thought it was alright.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1551630/



Spoiler: I didn't understand the ending though



When he was in the hospital bed, and the ginger guy came in, who got shot there?


 
Didn't have a problem with Chiklis's English accent though, it's all about suspension of disbelief. Anyway, that guy's so manly he even _looks_ like a bollock.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 29, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Pawn - It held my attention, I thought it was alright.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1551630/
> 
> ...


 


Spoiler: If my memory serves me correctly...



...the chap who gets shot was a waiter from the diner, and the one who precipitated its being robbed by grassing on the owner.


 
Was better than I thought it was going to be, but felt it could have been even stronger. Lopping off the cosy epilogue for a start.


----------



## Voley (Jun 30, 2013)

Django Unchained. If this had been by anyone else I'd be saying it was really good but Tarantino can be shitloads better. Just didn't have the great dialogue I've come to expect from him. And the KKK scene where they were arguing about the holes in their masks was laughable for all the wrong reasons. Good film but really not up to much by his standards.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 30, 2013)

Resolution - interesting, sort of odd, but inventive mix of genres (horror, thiller etc). I enjoyed but can see it putting a lot of people off.

Straight Time - Dustom Hoffman plays Eddy Bunker basically (film based on his novel about his life). Played very well and escalates rather quickly, con pretending to himself he wants to go straight, arsehole probation officer etc - Harry dean Stanton perfectly cast and Theresa Russel made what could have been a nothing role into something memorable. Great David Shire soundtrack as well. Bunker is one scene for about 5 minutes and you can tell straight away that he was the real deal. Surprised this is so rarely mentioned nowadays.

Hit! - very enjoyable early 70s actiony seriousy type thing with the illegally handsome Billy Dee Williams. Some really funny scenes and a great finale. Sort of like if the french connection and the a-team.


----------



## starfish (Jun 30, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Straight Time - Dustom Hoffman plays Eddy Bunker basically (film based on his novel about his life). Played very well and escalates rather quickly, con pretending to himself he wants to go straight, arsehole probation officer etc - Harry dean Stanton perfectly cast and Theresa Russel made what could have been a nothing role into something memorable. Great David Shire soundtrack as well. Bunker is one scene for about 5 minutes and you can tell straight away that he was the real deal. Surprised this is so rarely mentioned nowadays.


 
I read the book a couple of years ago & thought it was very good & have been meaning to watch this for a while, although i cant quite picture Hoffman in the role.

Watched Tombstone last night, excellent film.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 30, 2013)

starfish said:


> I read the book a couple of years ago & thought it was very good & have been meaning to watch this for a while, although i cant quite picture Hoffman in the role.
> 
> Watched Tombstone last night, excellent film.


 
I think he did a good job of appearing to not be a hard man but being prepared to do what he thought needed doing. He did look very un-conny though.


----------



## Me76 (Jun 30, 2013)

Anna Karenina. I liked it.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 30, 2013)

*My Week with Marilyn. *Mostly pretty dull. Stellar cast not quite sure whether do overdo it wildly or try and be restrained and respectful, so it all ends up a bit muted and veddy veddy English. Judi Dench better than everyone else in the film (as is so often the case) ... but Eddie Redmayne at least didn't make me want to kill him. Nothing special in the design or looks department but the odd good one-liner from Kenneth Branagh hamming it up to the max as Laurence Olivier.


----------



## DrRingDing (Jun 30, 2013)

Attack the Block
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1478964/

I liked it, you may not.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jun 30, 2013)

The Dyatlov pass incident - Okayish lost footage type film of a group of students who look for answers to the Dyatlov pass incident, where 9 hikers were all killed amidst some mystery but much speculation regarding how they died - true story . Been done many times but was worth an early evening watch.

Redemption -Jason Statham as ex forces, homeless on the run from court martial blokey who becomes involved with a Nun, and tries to right one wrong whilst committing millions of other wrongs and being Jason.

Freebird - not sure parts of this i enjoyed others i thought were a bit meh. 3 guys go to buy some weed in wales, trip out, get involved in a pretty shit biker war - Phil Daniels as grouch had to be the best of it.

Olympus has fallen - White house taken by terrorists, president hostage, 40 odd superbaddies taken out by one lone disgraced ex secret service bod. Says it all.

Silver Linings Playbook - okay rom com dealing with ocd, bi polar and dance. Turn off brain to watch.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 1, 2013)

Star Wars..which I haven't seen for decades.   It holds the test of time...a kid's fantasy but still cool.   However...those storm-troopers in white...they are shit...fucking useless, thick, terrible shots.   It would have been nice if Tarkin had survived into further episodes.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 1, 2013)

Separation City.

Yawnsville adult drama from New Zealand. Bored with their sex lives, middle class couples try musical beds. Nothing works out as they had hoped. Even the wild party in Berlin can't save this one. Boring, avoid.

Midnight in Paris.

Owen Wilson stars in the Woody Allen time-slip adventure. Would have been better as one of Woody's early, funny, movies.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 1, 2013)

*Festen (1998)* First and best of the dogme films, which is scant praise tbh.


----------



## Reno (Jul 1, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Owen Wilson stars in the Woody Allen time-slip adventure. Would have been better as one of Woody's early, funny, movies.


 
True ! It was another Woody Allen film which was praised as his return to form and which was shit


----------



## Julyee (Jul 2, 2013)

The Pursuit of Happyness


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 2, 2013)

Reno said:


> True ! It was another Woody Allen film which was praised as his return to form and which was shit


 
It wasn't as bad as some of his other recent efforts, and the recreation of 20s Paris was well done, but what bugged me was that the weird, surreal, time-slip experience didn't have much of a life-changing experience for Wilson's character.

The attempts at "intellectual" dialogue were also best described as a "stupid person's idea of what a smart person sounds like".

The last Woody film I really liked was _Everyone Says I Love You, _and that was what? 15 years ago?


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 2, 2013)

Woody is the rod stewart of the film world.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 2, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Woody is the rod stewart of the film world.


 
What, he only dates blondes because it's the nearest he can get to having sex with himself?


----------



## Reno (Jul 2, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> The attempts at "intellectual" dialogue were also best described as a "stupid person's idea of what a smart person sounds like".


 
That and I just found it unbearably twee. I hate his snobbishness, like the caricatured tourists who took no interest in anything cultural, including Wilson's girlfriend. They were drawn like hissable villains. It's all so clumsy and so transparently rigged. And I say that as someone who loved most of his films of the 70s and 80s.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 2, 2013)

Finished season 4 of The Wire.
Overrated. I mean, was that it?

Season 2 is the best so far.

Started season 5...


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 2, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> What, he only dates blondes because it's the nearest he can get to having sex with himself?


 
*potentially libelous thought removed*

More that he had a an astonishing run for a few years, then just...nothing. Maybe CCR would have been a better comparison.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 2, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> *potentially libelous thought removed*
> 
> More that he had a an astonishing run for a few years, then just...nothing. Maybe CCR would have been a better comparison.


 
Yeah, 'cause I would think of Rod Stewart as first and foremost a bottle-blonde media celeb, and only then would I remember "oh yeah, he did do some credible stuff in his day (forty years ago)".


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 3, 2013)

Finished watching Top of the Lake - Jane Campion written/directed thriller for TV. It's twisted, and convoluted and messy and unbelievable, but I did enjoy watching a great cast in a fantastic landscape playing out a story that didn't feel terribly original, but maintained enough drama and character to keep wanting to know what happened next. Some characters are very flimsy, and some of the stories go nowhere. There's a few too many plot coincidences and some bloody terrible 'red herrings' and 'twists' that you can spot a mile off.

It reminded me of the Red Riding series. Ambitious, flawed, well acted TV drama.

coming soon to BBC2 apparently....


----------



## Yetman (Jul 3, 2013)

Anyone seen The Prisoner? The old 1960's series?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 3, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Anyone seen The Prisoner? The old 1960's series?


 

yes. watch it. makes no sense.


----------



## Yetman (Jul 3, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> yes. watch it. makes no sense.


 

Excellent. Exactly what I'm after


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 4, 2013)

Started watching a Canadian show called Durham County on Netflix US. It's a serial killer thriller and police procedural which is fairly grim in tone so far it's very good.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 4, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Finished watching Top of the Lake - Jane Campion written/directed thriller for TV. It's twisted, and convoluted and messy and unbelievable, but I did enjoy watching a great cast in a fantastic landscape playing out a story that didn't feel terribly original, but maintained enough drama and character to keep wanting to know what happened next. Some characters are very flimsy, and some of the stories go nowhere. There's a few too many plot coincidences and some bloody terrible 'red herrings' and 'twists' that you can spot a mile off.
> 
> It reminded me of the Red Riding series. Ambitious, flawed, well acted TV drama.
> 
> coming soon to BBC2 apparently....


I was really disappointed in this. I can't agree that it was ambitious at all, it promised a lot but just ended up as a standard crime drama, complete with all the usual clichés. I agree you could spot the 'twists' a mile off though.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 4, 2013)

*The Eagle  *- much better than I was expecting. Based on (childhood favourite) Rosemary Sutcliffe's novel _The Eagle of the Ninth _about the notoriously lost Roman legion which went north of the Wall and disappeared altogether along with said eagle, so lots of themes of honour / manliness/ loss and of course all those old urban favourites of militarism, colonialism, racism and anarchy too. Overall it's earnest and serious and really not tacky, which is rare among toga sagas. Even having hunk o'lunk Channing Tatum and other Americans play the Romans works well - very modern resonances of Iraq/Afghanistan etc in their lazy assumptions of superiority and difference between frontline soldiers and fey elite politicians. Really seriously well art-designed by people who obviously care passionately (maybe too much so) about Roman materiel, Pictish wattle and daub and so on. Jamie Bell as an ex-Brigante Briton acts beautifully and more than counterweights Tatum's fratboy heft in the lead. Very nice casting all round, although it all goes completely bonkers with the end-of-the-known-world Seal People who're covered in woad and look a lot more like Mohicans ... and I can't figure out at all why their main man is none other than Tahar Rahim (_A Prophet) _in a green-mud suit and feathers, muttering away in a mixture of cod-Arabic and cod-Gaelic. Bonkers.

Overall it's surprisingly worthwhile and surprisingly downbeat, which is nice. (Spoiler: watch the alternate ending, it's a lot better than the main-release one). If you like a bit of toga (and I do, I do) this will probably pleasantly surprise you.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 4, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> I was really disappointed in this. I can't agree that it was ambitious at all, it promised a lot but just ended up as a standard crime drama, complete with all the usual clichés. I agree you could spot the 'twists' a mile off though.


 
It was ambitious, for me, in that it had plenty of promise, a great cast, a beautiful setting, and a story with potential.

It was disappointing that none of these came together to be something greater than, as you point out, a standard crime drama, which is all it did end up being.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 6, 2013)

Right I watched best friends forever

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224073/

Decent film.

But honest to god Reno

You couldn't see a sinister agenda in citadel?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1641975/


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Right I watched best friends forever
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224073/
> 
> ...


 
Horror films have always exploited base fears and have never been bastions of political correctness. Citadel is no more than a British variation of the backwoods horror film. Nobody seems to get particularly outraged when the US equivalent is represented as monsters, as with the likes of Wrong Turn. But we get all sensitive when trailer parks turn to council estates. What political effect do you think a low budget horror film will have on the UK population ? Do you think anybody really won't be able to distinguish the reality from what is a supernatural horror film where hoodies actually turn out to be supernatural creatures ?


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2013)

The priest in that could be a character in  a series. I think i'd watch.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 6, 2013)

tried to watch 'The Eagle' but was defeated by codiene, fatigue and cider. Will try again in the week, I'm normally a fiend for roman stuff


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> The priest in that could be a character in  a series. I think i'd watch.


He could rant and shout any supernatural thread into submission.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> He could rant and shout any supernatural thread into submission.


 
...but only because of the past battles he's had with evil - proper comic book series stuff.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> Horror films have always exploited base fears and have never been bastions of political correctness. Citadel is no more than a British variation of the backwoods horror film. Nobody seems to get particularly outraged when the US equivalent is represented as monsters, as with the likes of Wrong Turn. But we get all sensitive when trailer parks turn to council estates. What political effect do you think a low budget horror film will have on the UK population ? Do you think anybody really won't be able to distinguish the reality from what is a supernatural horror films where hoodies actually turn out to be supernatural creatures ?


 
I didn't like wrong turn for much the same reason


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> I didn't like wrong turn for much the same reason


 
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance, The Hills Have Eyes ?

Assault on Precinct 13 is one of my favourite 70s films and an urban US equivalent to Citadel and no more politically sensitive.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 6, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Anyone seen The Prisoner? The old 1960's series?


 
Yeah, when it was shown on TV in the early 80s

Never understood it


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance, The Hills Have Eyes ?


 
All good films, don't get me wrong & Citadel actually did scare me a bit in places - The bits where Tommy was in his house at night, I know what it's like to not feel safe in your own house so it struck a bit of a chord. But yeah, in all them films my sympathies mainly were with the hillbillies/hoodies - "Who are these trumpets coming round our way, thinking they can just walk about and nothing's going to happen to them?".

The thing with Citadel though, is days after seeing it, there was some report saying that X percentage of the population believe that benefit claimants aren't capable of having the full range of emotions/feelings & I somehow got the two things conflated. Mainly though, I was just being a contrarian/dick for the sake of it. Soz.


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> All good films, don't get me wrong & Citadel actually did scare me a bit in places - The bits where Tommy was in his house at night, I know what it's like to not feel safe in your own house so it struck a bit of a chord. But yeah, in all them films my sympathies mainly were with the hillbillies/hoodies - "Who are these trumpets coming round our way, thinking they can just walk about and nothing's going to happen to them?".
> 
> The thing with Citadel though, is days after seeing it, there was some report saying that X percentage of the population believe that benefit claimants aren't capable of having the full range of emotions/feelings & I somehow got the two things conflated. Mainly though, I was just being a contrarian/dick for the sake of it. Soz.


 
I'm not sure mutant monsters claim benefits ? 

I don't think you are a dick btw. I showed Citadel to a friend of mine and he had the same objections and we had the same discussion. There have been similar films which I did find offensive, like the OAP vigilante flick Harry Brown and that was because it tried to be far more realistic but its drug dealers and hoodies were laughable caricatures.

Citadel is more of a urban fairy tale that taps into some primal fear which the film-maker said came from getting mugged. I have been there as well and it was a traumatic experience. As a horror film I found it more effective than most and no doubt this had to do with once getting my head kicked in by a large gang of laughing 12 to 16 year olds, but I saw it more as an irrational if understandable emotional response than any sort of political comment. I can see how it could be interpreted as such, but then we have to dismiss an awful lot of other horror films which are no different just because they take place in the US.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 6, 2013)

Or we could try and understand them under the same rubric of all other art or interpretation -   that of films being social documents and so often saying things without intending to do so.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 6, 2013)

Watched The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi over the last few days.  Unfortunately they were the new, fucked up versions but there's still enough good stuff in there to be enjoyable.

How did Luke get through the forests on Endor?  Ewoked.


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2013)

Ewoks are a demeaning representation of indigenous peoples.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> Ewoks are a demeaning representation of indigenous peoples.


 
Now you're getting it


----------



## Reno (Jul 6, 2013)




----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 6, 2013)

Reno said:


> Horror films have always exploited base fears and have never been bastions of political correctness. Citadel is no more than a British variation of the backwoods horror film. Nobody seems to get particularly outraged when the US equivalent is represented as monsters, as with the likes of Wrong Turn. But we get all sensitive when trailer parks turn to council estates. What political effect do you think a low budget horror film will have on the UK population ? Do you think anybody really won't be able to distinguish the reality from what is a supernatural horror film where hoodies actually turn out to be supernatural creatures ?


 
You should try "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil", which turns that one on its head.


----------



## avu9lives (Jul 6, 2013)

*Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951)* I was like him when i was a nipper but i didnt buy her a watch i bought me first girlfriend a purple sweatshirt that had a lovely embroidery on front of it. She ended lobbin it on coop roof though ta spite me. Bloody brilliant film though. Recommended..,/


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 6, 2013)

I have just started watching Scott Pilgrim on Channel4 but I don't think I can watch any more of it. I think I hate Scott Pilgrim.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 6, 2013)

I mean I definitely hate him and everything about him and all his friends. Violently.


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> You should try "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil", which turns that one on its head.


 
I've seen it. It's a one joke film which is fun for a while but it doesn't do much else than turn the narrow conventions of the slasher film on it's head rather than subverting stereotypes. The rednecks are nice simply because that's not what you are supposed to expect.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Doghouse

Danny Dyer and the cream of British Z-actors in a Zombie bloodbath fest.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Doghouse
> 
> Danny Dyer and the cream of British Z-actors in a Zombie bloodbath fest.


 
Watching that is a bit like sitting in your own mouth.....and swallowing....


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Watching that is a bit like sitting in your own mouth.....and swallowing....


 

sitting?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> sitting?


 
Ha ha....yes....

erm....no

Shitting!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 7, 2013)

Watched the latest Statham film Hummingbird. His most recent attempt to show some acting chops along with his karate chops. To be fair, he does bring some emotional weight to the role, but he just looks like such a double hard hard cunt all the time even when he's doing lost and sorrowful and grief stricken and heartbroken.

The film is a watchable mess. Great for spotting London locations! The story is shockingly bad and over-sensational and tugs all the obvious strings in the most unsubtle ways......Nun with a past, homeless man with a past, the terrible streets of London, prostitution, destitution, remdemption, triads, eastern european gangs, unarmed combat, absent fathers, class divide, alcoholism, serial killers......and of course, the power of ballet to save us all from our demons!!!!

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it despie it being a clearly bad film. The STATH has this power over me. I blame my teenager for making me watch his shit!


----------



## blairsh (Jul 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Watched the latest Statham film Hummingbird. His most recent attempt to show some acting chops along with his karate chops. To be fair, he does bring some emotional weight to the role, but he just looks like such a double hard hard cunt all the time even when he's doing lost and sorrowful and grief stricken and heartbroken.
> 
> The film is a watchable mess. Great for spotting London locations! The story is shockingly bad and over-sensational and tugs all the obvious strings in the most unsubtle ways......Nun with a past, homeless man with a past, the terrible streets of London, prostitution, destitution, remdemption, triads, eastern european gangs, unarmed combat, absent fathers, class divide, alcoholism, serial killers......and of course, the power of ballet to save us all from our demons!!!!
> 
> I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it despie it being a clearly bad film. The STATH has this power over me. I blame my teenager for making me watch his shit!


Sold.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 7, 2013)

Stath is still on probation with me for the Deathrace remake, that was proper shit


I watched several episodes of Hannibal. Lecter matching business cards with recipe cards made me laugh out loud


Will Grahams trick is becoming a bit gimmicky

'I spread the ribs and grip the heart! this is my design'


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Watched the latest Statham film Hummingbird. His most recent attempt to show some acting chops along with his karate chops. To be fair, he does bring some emotional weight to the role, but he just looks like such a double hard hard cunt all the time even when he's doing lost and sorrowful and grief stricken and heartbroken.
> 
> The film is a watchable mess. Great for spotting London locations! The story is shockingly bad and over-sensational and tugs all the obvious strings in the most unsubtle ways......Nun with a past, homeless man with a past, the terrible streets of London, prostitution, destitution, remdemption, triads, eastern european gangs, unarmed combat, absent fathers, class divide, alcoholism, serial killers......and of course, the power of ballet to save us all from our demons!!!!
> 
> I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it despie it being a clearly bad film. The STATH has this power over me. I blame my teenager for making me watch his shit!


 
This is the film i watched but it was called 'redemption'.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Dead Man Running

Following on from watching Doghouse the other night, another 2009 film starring Danny Dyer. You've got to admire his industry. He's keeping the British film business going.


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Dead Man Running
> 
> Following on from watching Doghouse the other night, another 2009 film starring Danny Dyer. You've got to admire his industry. He's keeping the British film business going.


 
Looks like you're on a roll. Next you should treat yourself to the deliriously awful Straightheads. Dyer and The X-Files' Scully go Death Wish in Shropshire.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 7, 2013)

renegadechicken said:


> This is the film i watched but it was called 'redemption'.


 
That's cos you torrented a yankie release....


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> That's cos you torrented a yankie release....


That 'll be it


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> Looks like you're on a roll. Next you should treat yourself to the deliriously awful Straightheads. Dyer and The X-Files' Scully go Death Wish in Shropshire.


 
Shoulda called Stropshire.

Stropshire: Yuppie couple go a bit vengeful after something nasty happens to them and they just can't FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE!


----------



## Me76 (Jul 7, 2013)

Watched Django Unchained.  Disappointed tbh. Far too long, I completely lost interest once they got to Di Caprio's place, I agree with whoever said in a previous post about the dialogue not being up to Tarantino's usual standard and I found the set pieces quite lacklustre.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> Looks like you're on a roll. Next you should treat yourself to the deliriously awful Straightheads. Dyer and The X-Files' Scully go Death Wish in Shropshire.


 

I would if it was Netflix Instant. Sadly, it's not.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> Looks like you're on a roll. Next you should treat yourself to the deliriously awful Straightheads. Dyer and The X-Files' Scully go Death Wish in Shropshire.


Well I LIKE _Straightheads_. There should be more feature films in the 70-80 minute band.


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> I would if it was Netflix Instant. Sadly, it's not.


 
There is nothing left to live for then.


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Well I LIKE _Straightheads_. There should be more feature films in the 70-80 minute band.


 
I suppose going by minute count is one way to rate the quality of films.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> I suppose going by minute count is one way to rate the quality of films.


 

TBH, with young kids I'm always looking out for a 90 minute film over six hour classics. That's why I'm watching Danny Dyer's back catalogue as opposed to Bertolucci's 1900 at the moment.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> There is nothing left to live for then.


 

Don't fret. I've got The Other Half lined up. Danny Dyer *AND *Vinnie Jones*.  *


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> TBH, with young kids I'm always looking out for a 90 minute film over six hour classics. That's why I'm watching Danny Dyer's back catalogue as opposed to Bertolucci's 1900 at the moment.


 
Your kids would have loved the male-anal-revenge-rape-with-shotgun scene in Straightheads !


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> Your kids would have loved the male anal revenge rape with shotgun scene in Straightheads !


 

fuck sake. spoiler alert!


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

Sorry ! 

Though maybe you should put your children's mental and emotional wellbeing above worrying about spoilers for a truly terrible film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Don't fret. I've got The Other Half lined up. Danny Dyer *AND *Vinnie Jones*.  *


 
There's always the complete works of Tamer Hassan to work through.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Don't fret. I've got The Other Half lined up. Danny Dyer *AND *Vinnie Jones*.  *


How about _Devil's Playground_? Dyer, plus Craig Fairbrass AND Sean Pertwee!
OR


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

Danny Dyer also was in...



...and that's where I live. The film is actually not too bad.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 7, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> How about _Devil's Playground_? Dyer, plus Craig Fairbrass AND Sean Pertwee!
> OR


 
Or Dead Man Running...Dyer, Hassan, Brenda Blethyn and 50 CENT!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> Danny Dyer also was in...
> 
> 
> 
> ...and that's where I live. The film is actually not too bad.


 
Along with _Borstal Boy_ it's the film that makes me think that Dyer can actually act when he stretches himself. Similarly, Love does a good job too. I just suspect that they have a destructive, co-dependent relationship that indulges each's worst attributes  Certainly that's how it comes across in the video diaries from (IIRC) _Outlaw_ anyway.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 7, 2013)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to _Vendetta_:



> Special ops interrogation officer Jimmy Vickers (Danny Dyer) tracks down a gang who slaughtered his parents.


----------



## Reno (Jul 7, 2013)

Dyer is an alright actor, he just makes a mostly terrible films.


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## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Or Dead Man Running...Dyer, Hassan, Brenda Blethyn and 50 CENT!


 

keep up. just watched it. i couldn't get past 50 cent's teeth. any time he was on the screen, that's all I could look at.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> There's always the complete works of Tamer Hassan to work through.


 

I'm working on it, but it may take a while. He's in 6 or 7 movies a year.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 7, 2013)

Reno said:


> Danny Dyer also was in...
> 
> 
> 
> ...and that's where I live. The film is actually not too bad.


 

I want to see this but it's not on Netflix.

eta: somebody's put it on youtube.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 7, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> There's always the complete works of Tamer Hassan to work through.


His son appears to be called 'Taser'


----------



## Sue (Jul 7, 2013)

So one minute I'm watching Les Revenants, the next I'm watching Hot Tub Time Machine.  How did this happen (and what was John Cusack doing)??.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 8, 2013)

Thanks to YouTube, Goodbye Charlie Bright.

Nice enough film but not enough Danny Dyer in it.


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## Idris2002 (Jul 8, 2013)

Ruby Sparks.

Lonely nerd gets more than he bargained for when the girl of his dreams (literally) enters his life. She doesn't actually exist, you see, but is conjured into being by an act of imagination and will. Unfortunately for him, the fact that she is a product of his mind doesn't stop her having a mind of her own.

Not bad for what it was, I thought.

Written by its female lead Zoe Kazan - granddaughter of _that _Kazan, Elia K. of Waterfront and blacklist fame.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 8, 2013)

Reno said:


> I've seen it. It's a one joke film which is fun for a while but it doesn't do much else than turn the narrow conventions of the slasher film on it's head rather than subverting stereotypes. The rednecks are nice simply because that's not what you are supposed to expect.


 
One joke films can work if the joke's a good one, and the people making the film put a bit of effort into it. T&D wasn't the worst flick I've seen by any means (it was certainly better than "Young Einstein", which is the first thing I would think of when I think of "one joke films").


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 8, 2013)

More Hannibal

Jack Crawford had a nice homburg on, Will Graham played it prole with a humble beanie. There was a totem pole made out of dead people and Hannibal oozed around being sinister


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 8, 2013)

Parks and Recreation -Epidode 3  very well written and the characters are just developing . Good to see that the 'leadership at all levels' in public sector is the same across the Atlantic.


----------



## magneze (Jul 8, 2013)

Cloud Atlas. Really enjoyed it - escapist fun. Hugh Grant shows that he is able to play other characters than Hugh Grant too, which was something of a revelation.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 8, 2013)

*Skyline (2011).* Shiteline.


----------



## starfish (Jul 8, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> Parks and Recreation -Epidode 3 very well written and the characters are just developing . Good to see that the 'leadership at all levels' in public sector is the same across the Atlantic.


 
Been watching a lot of this on BBC 3 or 4 whichever its on. Its just keeps getting better & better.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 9, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Skyline (2011).* Shiteline.


Agreed, it's utter toss. Should be in the AVOID: public service thread.

if you can still Iplayer it there was a film on BBC4 t'other nite which has about the most unpromising setup and hardest sell i can think of: *Oslo, August 31 ... *the tale of 24 hours in the life of a recovering/not recovering Norwegian drug addict. 


(clears throat)
...and it's really worthwhile, not cliched, goes in all sorts of unexpected directions, nothing gangstery/exploitationy about it in any way, and is shot through with all sorts of humour (weird as that sounds), touching moments, fantastic acting and proper thoughts and thinking about the meaning of life. it's all very low key yet somehow NOT BORING. or grim or horrible.  looking back on it I can't think exactly how it weaves its spell, but it really does.

Obvs  this is not one for the 9 year olds or for if you want something fun to go with a curry. But it is seriously seriously good.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 9, 2013)

The Butterfly Effect. It's too bad that Ashton Kutcher can't act. Although, I'd pay good money to see him, Jake Gyllenhall, and Keanu Reeves in a movie together. It would be the perfect storm of terribleness.

The kid who played the younger Kutcher character was a way better actor.


----------



## Sprocket. (Jul 9, 2013)

The Sweeney! You melt.


----------



## Maltin (Jul 9, 2013)

Saw a couple of very good ones recently that don't appear to have been mentioned. 

Nothing But the Truth

Film by Rod Lurie, who also directed the excellent The Contender, about a journalist who writes a story exposing a CIA agent and sticks by her principles in not naming her source. Inspired by the case of Judith Miller. 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nothing-but-the-truth-2009

A Map of the World

Sigourney Weaver excellent in a story of woman who faces a couple of life changing events and tries to cope with them. 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-map-of-the-world-2000


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 9, 2013)

Beasts of the southern wild - Fucking loved it


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 9, 2013)

The Eagle. An erstwhile Roman [Channing Tatum] goes north of Hadrian's on a quest.

I never knew that Roman-era Highlanders looked and acted like Iroquois warriors.


----------



## Reno (Jul 10, 2013)

Mario Bava's Black Sabbath, an Italian anthology horror film from 1963 in an eye popping Blu-ray restoration. Typically stylish, this was Bava's first colour horror film, all in saturated candy colours. The last episode The Drop of Water is fantastic and the other two are pretty good. Boris Karloff who starred in the second episode also introduces the film. The Blu-ray also features the American version to which many changes were made. The central lesbian relationship between the two female characters in The Telefone was omitted, entirely changing the plot from giallo to nonsensical ghost story in the process. Music and sound effects have also been changed in the US version, making The Drop of Water much less effective.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 11, 2013)

The Best Offer - Giuseppe Tornatore's first english language film, and a bit of a mess really, despite an interesting mystery plot. Main problems were the dialogue which sounds like it was auto-translated from italian, terrible in places, the clear setting of the film italy and then populating it with english types apart for a few italians who were really badly dubbed into english, and some really really bad acting - all of the above giving the impression of amateurism. Still, the mystery element worked enough that i sat through nearly 2 and 1/2 hours of it (not that the reveal was a surprise in any sense).


----------



## Firky (Jul 11, 2013)

A Field in England.

I quite enjoyed it despite it getting a bit of a kicking on here the last time I checked. It reminded me of another film of cult status. One that I frustratingly can't think of. Maybe it was a TV Series...


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 11, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Skyline (2011).* Shiteline.


 
It's not great is it, but there is something so stupid about the end bit that makes me almost like it.
Enough for me to start giving it a second watch (well, for a few minutes) a while back, before remembering it was all toss.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 12, 2013)

Binged on the first four episodes of Netflix's new original drama, 'Orange is the New Black'.

Weeds' Jenji Kohan is the main person behind the series, so if you're a fan of Weeds, you'll probably enjoy this one as well.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 13, 2013)

Europa Report - discovery of footage of mission to europa (moon of Jupiter) and what went wrong - you know the type of thing. Very well done, but just not enough story to sustain it.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 13, 2013)

Got hold of a few Maya Deren films so I am going to watch those tonight, maybe.


----------



## marty21 (Jul 13, 2013)

The 25th Reich...
quite enjoyed this tbf - although they could have got to the Nazis a bit quicker - apparently a sequel is in the works


----------



## Firky (Jul 14, 2013)

Watched A Field in England again last night and it is actually very good, I enjoyed it the first time around but wasn't exactly sober so didn't take it all in.

Some of the shots would work well as stills, looks as if they have used a green filter for the wide angle shots because the contrast and tones are exceptional.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 14, 2013)

The 40 Year Old Virgin

DON'T JUDGE ME


----------



## frogwoman (Jul 14, 2013)

watched Repo Men

really pleasantly surprised, a nasty dystopian film with o horrible ending. I was expecting tawdry redemption etc but no, it was just credits roll on the horror
/dotty


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 14, 2013)

A Good Day to Die Hard. Shite Hard.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 14, 2013)

The Resurrection of a Bastard - odd but inventive thing apparently from a graphic novel. Black humour, violence etc as gangster is resurrected into a non-violent nutter after an attempt on his life. Worth a watch. Bizarre (in a good way)  turn from Jeroen Willems who died during the filming i think.


----------



## marty21 (Jul 14, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gods_and_Generals_(film)

Gods and Generals -
Great battle scenes, but way too long - and too many boring corny speeches


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 14, 2013)

marty21 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gods_and_Generals_(film)
> 
> Gods and Generals -
> Great battle scenes, but way too long - and too many boring corny speeches


Agreed!


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jul 14, 2013)

Warm bodies. Quite sweet, would've liked it a lot more if I was a teenager I think. Although I did like the love conquers all message *blush*


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 14, 2013)

City of Death, an old Dr Who story, still funny and clever.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 14, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> The 40 Year Old Virgin
> 
> DON'T JUDGE ME


 

what's to judge? it's a funny film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 14, 2013)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> Warm bodies. Quite sweet, would've liked it a lot more if I was a teenager I think. Although I did like the love conquers all message *blush*


 
A zombie by any other name would smell as sweet.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 14, 2013)

Bullet to the Head. While watching it I kept thinking about the film Johnny Handsome with Mickey Rourke.....so I was pleasantly surprised to discover this was also directed by Walter Hill.

So it's neither star nor director at the peak of their powers, but it was a watchable slab of meat, much like Stallone himself.

It has lots of nods to old Hill films. The Southern Settings, lots of fighting in bathrooms (smashing ceramics and mirrors et al), cocksure dialogue, unbelievable macho shit, plenty of violence, and a story that would slot right into an old western.


----------



## Jeremy Vile (Jul 15, 2013)

Saw the Wee Man last night about scot gangster Paul Ferris, that was ok. I read the book ages ago which invariably was better though!


----------



## Reno (Jul 15, 2013)

_Hunt vs. Lauda_ on BBC2 last night. I'd recently seen a preview of Ron Howard's _Rush_ which told the F1 rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda as a drama, so it was interesting seeing a documentary telling the same story. Good to see that _Rush_ stuck so close to the facts. I'm no huge F1 fan, but used to watch it as a kid with my dad in the 70s, so still remember this and what a hero Lauda was in German speaking countries.


----------



## Yelkcub (Jul 15, 2013)

'The Other Guys'. It's not very good.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 15, 2013)

Yelkcub said:


> 'The Other Guys'. It's not very good.


...and yet still better than _Cop Out_


----------



## Yelkcub (Jul 15, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> ...and yet still better than _Cop Out_


I'll see if Netflix has that....


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 15, 2013)

Reno said:


> *Beasts of the Southern Wild*. Being dirt poor is fun and spiritually enriching, who knew ? Phoney crap, enraptured with its own sense of sub-Terrence Malick poetry, where people only converse in homespun wisdom (them black people sure do talks funny !) and where cartoonish stereotypes run amok without any sense of irony. Magic realism seldom works on film, here it comes across as precious and self-conscious. How do people fall for this rubbish ?


 
Yep, just caught up with it and this pretty much nails it. Just two things in its favour - it has a nice look to it (a nice look of carefully-constructed faux-junkyard southern gothic that is) - yes it's sub-Malick but it is occasionally visually beautiful. (Not beautiful enough to numb me to the "script" though.) And Quvenzhane Wallis is amazing even (?especially? it was a bit of a queasy watch) when being provoked into acting out pure rage and defiance.


----------



## starfish (Jul 15, 2013)

Firky said:


> Watched A Field in England again last night and it is actually very good, I enjoyed it the first time around but wasn't exactly sober so didn't take it all in.
> 
> Some of the shots would work well as stills, looks as if they have used a green filter for the wide angle shots because the contrast and tones are exceptional.


 
Watched this on saturday evening, still hungover & on a bit of a come down so kept nearly nodding off & probably didnt take it all in either. Will watch it again i think.


----------



## Reno (Jul 15, 2013)

A Bigger Splash, the David Hockney film which was always playing art house cinemas when I was a kid, but which I'd never seen. It features Hockney and his friends and lovers in a dramatised version of his life. Everybody, Hockney in particular, does a terrible job at playing themselves. The whole thing has a Warholian self-consciously disaffected quality which was what cool people were supposed to be like then but it's an interesting time capsule of early 70s bohemian London (and a bit of NYC and LA). It's beautifully shot, approximating the look of Hockney's paintings and has some great clothes and interiors. What is going on around the fringes is often far more interesting than what's at the centre. It also has a very odd soundtrack, which sounds like a lesser Bernhard Herrmann score for a Hitchcock triller. It makes the mostly mundane scenarios seem like someone is about to get stabbed to death any moment.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 15, 2013)

Between The Canals - I've seen it before but it's mint.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/between_the_canals/


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 16, 2013)

Reno said:


> It makes the mostly mundane scenarios seem like someone is about to get stabbed to death any moment.


 
I'd buy that for a dollar


----------



## Voley (Jul 16, 2013)

Sightseers. A few good laughs but Nuts In May did it better.


----------



## starfish (Jul 16, 2013)

The last 2 episodes of series 3 of Breaking Bad. Its starting to get exciting.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 16, 2013)

Undercurrent - Icelandic variant on the awkward people thrown together and learn something about themselves theme - a north sea fishing boat. Well made but slight, with some great sea shots though.


----------



## Firky (Jul 16, 2013)

starfish said:


> The last 2 episodes of series 3 of Breaking Bad. Its starting to get exciting.


 

Did you not watch A Field in England? I was hoping someone else was going to say they enjoyed it.


----------



## starfish (Jul 16, 2013)

Firky said:


> Did you not watch A Field in England? I was hoping someone else was going to say they enjoyed it.


 
I intend to rewatch it in the next week or so. I did enjoy it, just maybe didnt follow it as well as i could have due the previous nights exertions.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 16, 2013)

Just watched No One Lives

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1763264/

It's a proper minter - I don't even remember downloading it or owt, I just found it on me hard drive and thought let's see what this is then. Fuckin great is what it is.



Spoiler: top ending as well



The baddy wins


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 16, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> I don't even remember downloading it or owt, I just found it on me hard drive and thought let's see what this is then. Fuckin great is what it is.


 
I like it when that happens - it's like getting a really good surprise present from Santa - when _you are Santa!!!_


----------



## Reno (Jul 17, 2013)

_Kiss of the Damned_, one of several recent, affectionate indie retro genre films (it's in the style of Amer and Beyond the Black Rainbow, though less experimental and more straightforward). This is a homage to Jean Rollin style 70s Euro vampire films and despite being a contemporary take on it, it gets the score, acting style and cheesy dialogue just right, while still working as a well above average vampire film on its own terms. Good fun and it was directed by Xan Cassavetes the daughter of two of my all time movie legends, John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. It's good to see that she's got talent without her film even remotely resembling the work of her parents.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 17, 2013)

A couple recently: A Good Day To Die Hard. This series is done - stick a fork in it.

Road Of No Return - produced by David Carradine and Michael Madsen.

Four hitmen hired to kill drug kingpins take the time to adopt a little orphan girl.

The hitmen: Whitey, Blackie, Foreigner, and Indian.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 17, 2013)

Pavee Lackeen

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469691/

That girl's a star.

E2a Up the Maughans.


----------



## Reno (Jul 19, 2013)

The Car, the silly but fun 70s horror film about a possessed car which basically is Jaws on wheels. From a time when shit films still were kind of good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 19, 2013)

Superman, the kebab cut

Great- I'd forgotten how traumatic it is to see a depowered superman take a kicking in the diner, and then cheered when he went back and delivered a beating to the bully boy at the end.

Some excellent zod as well, making the president of the usa kneel before him. No post 90's ironiscism there. General Zod was a bona fide 100% supervillain

Louis Lane smoking in the office! The cheif puffing a cigar! Jimmy nearly calling Zod a son of a bitch!

happy days

I don't think it can ever replace Quest for Peace in my heart as the best superman film but it was pretty good.

Shamefully its been so long since I saw the original release that I din't notice what donner cut had added or taken away.

Kneel before Zod


----------



## Yetman (Jul 19, 2013)

Firky said:


> Did you not watch A Field in England? I was hoping someone else was going to say they enjoyed it.


 

I'm going to watch it and enjoy it I'm sure


----------



## Reno (Jul 19, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Superman, the kebab cut
> 
> Great- I'd forgotten how traumatic it is to see a depowered superman take a kicking in the diner, and then cheered when he went back and delivered a beating to the bully boy at the end.
> 
> ...


 
I watched the two versions back-to-back when I got the Blu-ray set and they are really quite different films and much of the character motivation makes a lot more sense in the Donner cut. And all the silly slapstick has gone, which is especially obvious in the big battle scene in Metropolis which now feels like there is something at stake, rather than like Lester just having a laugh. I'd find it difficult to watch the Lester version again now.


----------



## maya (Jul 19, 2013)

Just for a laugh- "Inspector Rex", austrian detective series about a clever police dog and his human assistant... or is it the other way around?  Proper string of unintentionally funny moments- kind of like Lassie, but with cops... I can't believe this was intended for grown-ups? Really, really odd...


----------



## magneze (Jul 19, 2013)

Watched the final Sopranos episode on Tuesday having watched it all from the beginning starting a couple of months ago.

Nothing else on TV quite touches it, including Breaking Bad & The Wire. It's so good. "Epic" doesn't really do it justice.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 19, 2013)

magneze said:


> Nothing else on TV quite touches it, including Breaking Bad & The Wire. It's so good. "Epic" doesn't really do it justice.


 
I completely agree.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 19, 2013)

Reno said:


> I watched the two versions back-to-back when I got the Blu-ray set and they are really quite different films and much of the character motivation makes a lot more sense in the Donner cut. And all the silly slapstick has gone, which is especially obvious in the big battle scene in Metropolis which now feels like there is something at stake, rather than like Lester just having a laugh. I'd find it difficult to watch the Lester version again now.


all three baddies appear to be wearing red lippy. Maybe there is a thing about the phantom zone that makes peoples mouths red


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 19, 2013)

magneze said:


> Watched the final Sopranos episode on Tuesday having watched it all from the beginning starting a couple of months ago.
> 
> Nothing else on TV quite touches it, including Breaking Bad & The Wire. It's so good. "Epic" doesn't really do it justice.


 
From what I've heard of Sopranos...it sounds like Spartacus: Blood and Sand with clothes on and less killing.


----------



## Reno (Jul 20, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> all three baddies appear to be wearing red lippy. Maybe there is a thing about the phantom zone that makes peoples mouths red


I so prefer the 70s Disco General Zod to the no fun, modern one, in yet another fucking a armour costume.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2013)

The lady baddie is also quite fun, plays it as close to domme as you can in family fayre

Nicking everybodies badges, stripes and that.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> The lady baddie is also quite fun, plays it as close to domme as you can in family fayre
> 
> Nicking everybodies badges, stripes and that.


 
She got a rise outta my pre-pubescent self....


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 20, 2013)

New World - rather good South Korean Gangsters vs cops genre piece, elements of both the Infernal Affairs and Election series.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2013)

Man of Steel, first half

Krypton has science so advanced its indistinguishable from magic but they still haven't conquered the pain of childbirth?


----------



## Voley (Jul 20, 2013)

magneze said:


> Watched the final Sopranos episode on Tuesday having watched it all from the beginning starting a couple of months ago.
> 
> Nothing else on TV quite touches it, including Breaking Bad & The Wire. It's so good. "Epic" doesn't really do it justice.


Yep. Best thing on telly ever for me.


----------



## Voley (Jul 20, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> From what I've heard of Sopranos...it sounds like Spartacus: Blood and Sand with clothes on and less killing.


It's more like 'Priscilla Queen Of The Desert' but with more show tunes, really.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> She got a rise outta my pre-pubescent self....


 

not suprised

In the end it's Louis Lane who dispatchers her to the bottom of a pit in the Ice Palace. Because obvs it wouldn't be right to have Supe punching a woman...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> not suprised
> 
> In the end it's Louis Lane who dispatchers her to the bottom of a pit in the Ice Palace. Because obvs it wouldn't be right to have Supe punching a woman...


 
He shoulda kicked her in the cunt and had done with it....


----------



## Reno (Jul 20, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> He shoulda kicked her in the cunt and had done with it....


I come to Urban for the sparkling wit and repartee. Dorothy Parker could not have said it better.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 20, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> He shoulda kicked her in the cunt and had done with it....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2013)

Reno said:


> I come to Urban for the sparkling wit and repartee. Dorothy Parker could not have said it better.


 
She wasn't witty. Just bitter. I bet the Algonquin Round Table was square too!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


>




I had this more in mind....


----------



## Reno (Jul 20, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> She wasn't witty. Just bitter. I bet the Algonquin Round Table was square too!


 
Talk about bitter, at least she never bitched about you !


----------



## DrRingDing (Jul 20, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Just watched No One Lives
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1763264/
> 
> ...


 
Worst film. Ever.

Glorification of psychotic killing.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2013)

Reno said:


> Talk about bitter, at least she never bitched about you !


 
Not in public.


----------



## Fez909 (Jul 20, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Binged on the first four episodes of Netflix's new original drama, 'Orange is the New Black'.
> 
> Weeds' Jenji Kohan is the main person behind the series, so if you're a fan of Weeds, you'll probably enjoy this one as well.


Watched the first four of this after reading your comment .  So far it's decent!

I have a good feeling about Netflix originals. House of Cards was really good and this looks to be well worth watching. I can imagine they will only get better  too. 

Making every episode available in one go is great. 



Edit: I didn't realise you had watched four as well.  I just read 'binged' and assumed you'd watched them all. Just thought I'd mention that in case it seemed weird


----------



## Sue (Jul 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> She wasn't witty. Just bitter. I bet the Algonquin Round Table was square too!


You seriously think Dorothy Parker wasn't witty..?


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 21, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> they still haven't conquered the pain MIRACLE of childbirth?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 21, 2013)

Sue said:


> You seriously think Dorothy Parker wasn't witty..?


 
Who?


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 21, 2013)

Only God Forgives - had high hopes of this,  Nicolas Winding Refn's follow up to Drive. What a mess. Did twin peaks not get aired in Denmark or something? Obvious obvious weirdness - _look at me, i'm being weird now. _But not weird enough Nicolas, and not enough narrative or interesting characters to carry the weirdness along. Glad he's trying to do different stuff at least.


----------



## Voley (Jul 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Only God Forgives - had high hopes of this, Nicolas Winding Refn's follow up to Drive. What a mess. Did twin peaks not get aired in Denmark or something? Obvious obvious weirdness - _look at me, i'm being weird now. _But not weird enough Nicolas, and not enough narrative or interesting characters to carry the weirdness along. Glad he's trying to do different stuff at least.


That's disappointing to hear. I liked Drive a lot. I started watching Killing Them Softly last night and was quite enjoying it but a hard day's sitting on my arse doing fuck all in the sun took it's toll and I probably saw about half an hour.


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2013)

Yup, _Only God Forgives_ was shit. Wrote quite a bit about it on the cinema thread a couple of weeks ago, which nobody seems to read, because hardly anybody here watches films at the cinema it seems.

It's been suggested before and I still think it would be great if we had a sticky film thread for home _and_ cinema viewing rather than one for home viewing only. Just drop the "DVD/Video" bit and replace it with "Film". As many more people watch TV programmes than films, popular TV shows tend to get their own thread anyway. Some of us make an effort to write a bit more extensively on the cinema thread, which seems to go mostly ignored.

Last night I watched the BFI restoration of the British silent film _Underground_. The story may be a bit on the melodramatic side leading from romantic comedy to murder, but it's a great film. Much of it takes place on the Northern Line and it's a fascinating document of what the underground system was like in 1928. The male lead character works as an escalator attendant, a job that long ago has ceased to exist. Beautiful German expressionist style cinematography and unusually for the period, it's about the romantic entanglements of working class characters.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2013)

finished man of steel. Don't know why I bothered. There was literally more explosions than dialouge. Coming off the back of watching supe the Donner cut it was all the more painful to see what a puffed out, leaden bunch of wank this film was. So much plainly lacked even a sense of its own internal logic, introducing the bloodlines stuff was utterly pointless and the whole thing felt like a very expensive waste of my time


----------



## Firky (Jul 21, 2013)

*Thale*

Not brilliant but half decent. Black humour, and for a film steeped in mythology it's not that far out really. Expect lots of snow covered pine forests and staring into trees.


----------



## blairsh (Jul 21, 2013)

Breathless

Korean film about a cunty debt collector, thought it was really good & pretty brutal


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 21, 2013)

Only God Forgives - A thoroughly shameless display of style over content. Viciously violent, a threadbare plot, but very nice to look at in a David Lynch meets Terence Malick via Johnny To kinda way....?!?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 21, 2013)

Reno said:


> because hardly anybody here watches films at the cinema it seems.


 
Because it's expensive?


----------



## magneze (Jul 21, 2013)

*Primer*
A great time-travel film. It's only about 80 minutes, but packs more interest into those minutes than many films manage in over 2 hours. Whilst it's hard to follow the detail, the overall story is reasonably well defined so it works well as a thriller and yet it would survive many a re-watching too. Been reading loads about it since the finish and still not satisfied which is a good sign IMO.


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Because it's expensive?


 
I don't care whether people go to the cinema or not, that's not what I was on about.


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2013)

magneze said:


> *Primer*
> A great time-travel film. It's only about 80 minutes, but packs more interest into those minutes than many films manage in over 2 hours. Whilst it's hard to follow the detail, the overall story is reasonably well defined so it works well as a thriller and yet it would survive many a re-watching too. Been reading loads about it since the finish and still not satisfied which is a good sign IMO.


 
Have you seen Shane Carruths new film, Upstream Color ?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 21, 2013)

Reno said:


> I don't care whether people go to the cinema or not, that's not what I was on about.


 
Oh

Don't care then,

See If I care that you don't care.


----------



## Yelkcub (Jul 21, 2013)

The Mist. 

Ending was a bit stupid....


----------



## magneze (Jul 21, 2013)

Reno said:


> Have you seen Shane Carruths new film, Upstream Color ?


 
Not yet, but I'd like to.


----------



## Firky (Jul 21, 2013)

magneze said:


> *Primer*
> A great time-travel film. It's only about 80 minutes, but packs more interest into those minutes than many films manage in over 2 hours. Whilst it's hard to follow the detail, the overall story is reasonably well defined so it works well as a thriller and yet it would survive many a re-watching too. Been reading loads about it since the finish and still not satisfied which is a good sign IMO.


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Oh
> 
> Don't care then,
> 
> See If I care that you don't care.


 
I was on about this thread and the cinema thread and that they cover much of the same ground and that I think it would make more sense to have one "film" thread.

I know why people don't go to the cinema. If I wasn't a BAFTA member and would see new films in their lovely cinema I wouldn't go much to the cinema myself. Less because of the price, but because lots of people in the audience these days are chatty, mobile phone obsessed, nacho chips munching, seat kicking cunts.


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2013)

magneze said:


> Not yet, but I'd like to.


 
Though I found it interesting I couldn't quite get on with Primer, maybe because I'm not very mathematically minded but I loved Upstream Color. It's my favourite film of the year so far and I've watched it about three times and I got something new out of it every time.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 21, 2013)

Reno said:


> I was on about this thread and the cinema thread and that they cover much of the same ground and that I think it would make more sense to have one "film" thread.
> 
> I know why people don't go to the cinema. If I wasn't a BAFTA member and would see new films in their lovely cinema I wouldn't go much to the cinema myself. Less because of the price, but because lots of people in the audience these days are chatty, mobile phone obsessed, nacho chips munching, seat kicking cunts.


 
I'm a SHAFTA member. Their cinema is a bit squalid and sticky.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 21, 2013)

magneze said:


> *Primer*
> A great time-travel film. It's only about 80 minutes, but packs more interest into those minutes than many films manage in over 2 hours. Whilst it's hard to follow the detail, the overall story is reasonably well defined so it works well as a thriller and yet it would survive many a re-watching too. Been reading loads about it since the finish and still not satisfied which is a good sign IMO.


 
Like Reno says...Upstream Color is also very good.  It's on netflix if you have it.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 21, 2013)

The Green Butchers. Pretty good. Worth a look, I'd say.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342492/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl


----------



## 8Sam0 (Jul 22, 2013)

I reall wanted Only God Forgives to be good. But I literally haven't heard a positive thing about it yet. Drive was one of the best films I've seen in ages, so this sucks.

I've got a friend who has been going on about Primer and Upstream Colour for a while now, so I need to dip into those.

Last night I watched Series 2 of 30 Rock as I'm introducing a housemate to it.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Jul 22, 2013)

Finally watched *In Bruges*. Little bit up and down but 90% 'Ffs I'm enjoying this'


----------



## 8Sam0 (Jul 22, 2013)

In Bruges is spectacular.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 22, 2013)

5t3IIa said:


> Finally watched *In Bruges*. Little bit up and down but 90% 'Ffs I'm enjoying this'


 
Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf.

Just doesn't get any better.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 22, 2013)

*Another Earth* - Enjoyable and an interesting take on redemption. I recommend!

*Perks of Being a Wallflower* - WTF is this? A smug tossing coming of age MTV wank. Awful but then, it could be that I'm getting too old for this shit.

*Jeff, who lives at home -* Average. Nice to see Rae Dong Chong, all we need now is a Steve Guttenburg movie.

*Evil Dead* - as a fan of the original, I loved the remake. Not as manic or extreme, this one is all horror - I hope they come back with Evil Dead 2, pref with a director who has a sense of humour.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Jul 22, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf.
> 
> Just doesn't get any better.


 

I roared at the bit when he's creeping up behind him in the park and... "No, don't do it!"


----------



## 8Sam0 (Jul 22, 2013)

Also watched Snake Eyes at the weekend. Nic Cage/Brian De Palma movie from the 90's. Really enjoyed it. But I love Cage's acting. It's over the top and completely mesmerising (funny as hell too). Plus the cinematography was excellent.


----------



## Me76 (Jul 22, 2013)

Watched Serpico today. I do love Al Pacino.


----------



## maya (Jul 22, 2013)

Tonight I'll watch:

*Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story* (1993-ish)


----------



## Yetman (Jul 22, 2013)

Trance - started off great, really exciting, then got a bit boring, then a bit confusing, then a bit deflated and just wanted it to end. 4/10

A Field in England - like Firky, I enjoyed this. Maybe because I really wanted to enjoy it but maybe because I sort of knew not to expect too much. It's a low budget, slightly nonsensical movie about some soldiers in the past who go to the pub but end up getting fucked on mushrooms on the way. Great stuff, though within it's limits - just don't expect too much  7/10

The Watch - yeah. I knew this was going to be a disappointment but it wasn't that bad, just a bit meh. Ok to watch with the family (as long as your kids are over 14) 6.5/10


----------



## Grandma Death (Jul 22, 2013)

I watched Dredd. A huge improvement on the first mess but still falls short in places. Im also watching the Sopranos for the 6th time too. Ive also watched Veronica Geurin too...average borderline boring.


----------



## 8Sam0 (Jul 23, 2013)

I need to give the new Dredd a watch, heard mostly positive things about it. Plus there's a campaign to get a sequel made, which 2000AD have endorsed.


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

Daimajin, 60s Japanese kaiju film about a giant stone statue/god in feudal Japan coming to life via prayers to avenge the opressed. Not really that great and it takes ages for the action to kick off. When it does, it's rather underwhelming.

The Bourne Legacy. Had not got round to watching it till now because it wasn't that well received, but I thought it was good fun and no worse than the previous ones. Takes it more into a science fiction sphere and would be happy to see this storyline continue. In terms of direction it was more like the first film in thes series, which is still my favourite.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

The Outsiders
After reading the utterly brilliant SE Hinton novel, I decided to check it out again after seeing it a long long time ago.
Amazing film - lots of young talent and future stars in it (I think the notion of the Brat Pack sprung from this film) - Ralph Macchio is the standout as the tragic Johnny Cade. Macchio, Dillon, Estevez and Howell never quite achieved the heights of fame that the likes of Cruise di, but they are much better actors.
 The book is brilliant at depicting the raw emotion of youth and Coppola shows it equally well. The photography is beautiful too, especially those unnaturalistic sunset scenes when Johnny and Ponyboy are on the run.
Kinda ruined by a dreadfully slushy Stevie Wonder theme tune though.
'Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold'


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

Such a lovely poem they quote from too:


> Nature's first green is gold,
> Her hardest hue to hold.
> Her early leaf's a flower;
> But only so an hour.
> ...


----------



## belboid (Jul 23, 2013)

first three episodes of the marvellous _Lou Grant_.

very enjoyable to watch again, despite its total seventiesness. But well written, well acted, and several cuts above the usual yank liberal (at best) 'social dramas'.  I was a bit surprised that each episiode was centred around Lou's paper fucking the story up, no genius investigative journalism,  just fuck ups and trying to put it right (which, of course, they did).  the only more surprising thing was the realisation that the marvellous Mrs Pynchon was Livia Soprano!


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

belboid said:


> first three episodes of the marvellous _Lou Grant_.
> 
> very enjoyable to watch again, despite its total seventiesness. But well written, well acted, and several cuts above the usual yank liberal (at best) 'social dramas'. I was a bit surprised that each episiode was centred around Lou's paper fucking the story up, no genius investigative journalism, just fuck ups and trying to put it right (which, of course, they did). the only more surprising thing was the realisation that the marvellous Mrs Pynchon was Livia Soprano!


 
Lou Grant used to be my favourite show while it was on.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 23, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> The Outsiders
> After reading the utterly brilliant SE Hinton novel, I decided to check it out again after seeing it a long long time ago.
> Amazing film - lots of young talent and future stars in it (I think the notion of the Brat Pack sprung from this film) - Ralph Macchio is the standout as the tragic Johnny Cade. Macchio, Dillon, Estevez and Howell never quite achieved the heights of fame that the likes of Cruise di, but they are much better actors.
> The book is brilliant at depicting the raw emotion of youth and Coppola shows it equally well. The photography is beautiful too, especially those unnaturalistic sunset scenes when Johnny and Ponyboy are on the run.
> ...


 
It's a great film.

I think the Stevie Wonder tunes was a late addition as they couldn't get clearance on some Elvis tracks.

It was made back to back with Rumblefish post Apocalypse Now. The use of young unknowns was down to budgetary constraints, basically Coppola was skint after Apocalypse Now.

Little did he know they would become the stars of the 80s much as his cast in the Godfather became the stars of the 70s.

Special mention for Diane Lane who held her own against the boys in both films and looked lovely!

Both books are brilliant and they also made films of Tex and That Was Then This is Now.

S.E Hinton had cameos in all but the last.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 23, 2013)

8Sam0 said:


> I reall wanted Only God Forgives to be good. But I literally haven't heard a positive thing about it yet. Drive was one of the best films I've seen in ages, so this sucks.


 
Despite everything going against it I thoroughly enjoyed looking at it for 90 minutes....


----------



## Sue (Jul 23, 2013)

The Maggie. Ealing comedy, kind of a cross between  Whisky Galore and Para Handy. ;-)


----------



## 8Sam0 (Jul 23, 2013)

Yeah from the trailers, it looked beautiful. Drive wasn't exactly heavy on story so I'd be fine with that, but this time it just doesn't seemed to have worked. Still going to see it, just with lowered expectations.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

don't see what people saw in Drive.
Ryan Gosling's simpering acting is one of those marmite things, I guess


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> don't see what people saw in Drive.
> Ryan Gosling's simpering acting is one of those marmite things, I guess


 
You may like him in Only God Forgives then. He doesn't act at all, he kind of just stands there.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 23, 2013)

And not in a good Bresson actors as automatons/model way.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> You may like him in Only God Forgives then. He doesn't act at all, he kind of just stands there.


but that's what he does in Drive too! oh, he sits a lot too and occasionally delivers an enigmatic smirk


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> but that's what he does in Drive too! oh, he sits a lot too and occasionally delivers an enigmatic smirk


 
He was hyperactive in Drive compared to OGF. I think Gosling is a decent actor though and he does have range. He was very good as the crackhead teacher in Half Nelson, completely different as the blue collar husband with a short fuse in Blue Valentine and different again as a slick lothario in Crazy, Stupid, Love.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> He doesn't act at all, he kind of just stands there.


 
Yeah, but I bet he stands there _beautifully. _

And is a more appetising prospect to many filmgoers than any number of mere mortals acting their fugly socks off (sadly.)

He can (is capable of) act perfectly well with direction (and imho was genuinely excellent in Blue Valentine). That's just not the style Refn uses.

One thought I've had: is it finally possible that some directors/promoters are getting with the programme and realising that if they want to make crunchy, hyper-masculine, violent, mostly plot-and-characterisation-free movies - and actually get people to see them - it will be necessary to cast male as well as female totty, or the audience will be halved to male violence fans only? Just an idle thought, as I notice how many stereotypically "boy" movies recently (Superman, Pacific Rim, Only God Forgives etc) are casting male leads mostly known for being appealing to heterosexual women.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> He was hyperactive in Drive compared to OGF. I think Gosling is a decent actor though and he does have range. He was very good as the crackhead teacher in Half Nelson, completely different as the blue collar husband with a short fuse in Blue Valentine and different again as a slick lothario in Crazy, Stupid, Love.


yes, I've seen Half Nelson and he was great in that


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> Yeah, but I bet he stands there _beautifully. _
> 
> And is a more appetising prospect to many filmgoers than any number of mere mortals acting their fugly socks off (sadly.)
> 
> ...


 
I don't think Refn is that commercially minded in his casting. His films are arty, relatively low budget and his funding comes from Europe. There always have been gorgeous movie stars, but now I think we are coming to a point where we are not allowed leads anymore who aren't gorgeous, often in ways that are unrealistic for the roles they play, unlike the 70s where we often got characters in the lead who looked like average schmoes. Chloe Moretz in the Carrie remake keeps pouting like a supermodel from the posters and looks absurdly miscast as the plain Jane school bully victim.


----------



## Firky (Jul 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> You may like him in Only God Forgives then. He doesn't act at all, he kind of just stands there.


 

I started to watch that last night and could not really get into it. Felt very hokey, I'll try watching it again another night.


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 23, 2013)

where are you getting all these films that haven't even been released in the fillums yet?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> where are you getting all these films that haven't even been released in the fillums yet?


 where do you reckon?


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 23, 2013)

that asian fella who sells dvd's by the tunnel at nine elms market of a sunday?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> that asian fella who sells dvd's by the tunnel at nine elms market of a sunday?


 off of the intertubes innit


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

Firky said:


> I started to watch that last night and could not really get into it. Felt very hokey, I'll try watching it again another night.


 
Don't bother, it doesn't get any better.


----------



## little_legs (Jul 23, 2013)

Reno said:


> Yup, _Only God Forgives_ was shit. Wrote quite a bit about it on the cinema thread a couple of weeks ago, *which nobody seems to read*, because hardly anybody here watches films at the cinema it seems.
> 
> It's been suggested before and I still think it would be great if we had a sticky film thread for home _and_ cinema viewing rather than one for home viewing only. Just drop the "DVD/Video" bit and replace it with "Film". As many more people watch TV programmes than films, popular TV shows tend to get their own thread anyway. Some of us make an effort to write a bit more extensively on the cinema thread, which seems to go mostly ignored.


 
Lots of people read it! 

I think it's kinda cool that it's separate from a 270 pages thread, and no, I don't go to the movies.


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

little_legs said:


> Lots of people read it!
> 
> I think it's kinda cool that it's separate from a 270 pages thread, and no, I don't go to the movies.


 
I'm not so sure as hardly anybody seems to reply to posts apart from those who also saw the film at the cinema. I write something about a new film and then the thread sinks again. You'd think a few people would be excited about a film like Rush, but nope.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 23, 2013)

I think  i've mentally filtered it out from threads i check for some reason. Had forgot about it until Reno mentioned it the other day. I've got it ordered in my brain that aside from specific film threads that this is the films (any/all) that you've seen thread. I shall in future try to post/read the other one.


----------



## little_legs (Jul 23, 2013)

I see your point, Reno, I personally would have no problem if you posted same reviews on both threads, but I appreciate it could complicate things.

The other thread for me is about the films that have been just released or re-released in the UK movie theatres, that's why I like it separate.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2013)

why make that distinction? if you're into film, why does it matter when it was released? Especially if you don't actually go to the cinema!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 23, 2013)

Won't be long before the films are beamed directly into our heads.

Can't wait for the 'What Film Did You Mindview Last night?' thread


----------



## belboid (Jul 23, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Won't be long before the films are beamed directly into our heads.
> 
> Can't wait for the 'What Film Did You Mindview Last night?' thread


that's be a thousand times better than watching them via a crappy download or on a bleeding phone


----------



## little_legs (Jul 23, 2013)

Because I don't want to read that someone has seen Godfather last night on the thread about the new/currently in movie theatres films.

Why especially? I refuse to pay for an experience that involves sitting next to people opening their coke cans, pigging out on crisps, texting, etc. but I do want to know what the urban cinephiles think about the new films regardless of how they watched them.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2013)

belboid said:


> that's be a thousand times better than watching them via a crappy download or on a bleeding phone


 

nothing wrong with a quality download on a large screen in your own home with decent surrond sound though.

what masochist watches films on a phone


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 23, 2013)

Depends what phone/film.


----------



## killer b (Jul 23, 2013)

i've watched films on my phone before. it's fine, as long as you aren't watching for the sweeping cinematography.


----------



## killer b (Jul 23, 2013)

oh, and i watched the 5000 fingers of dr T. it was pretty awesome.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 23, 2013)

What film did you try and stay awake and watch on your phone (bit on the bus) thread -->


----------



## killer b (Jul 23, 2013)

no, i didn't watch dr t on my phone. i was just adding a relevant post to the thread.


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jul 23, 2013)

Yelkcub said:


> The Mist.
> 
> Ending was a bit stupid....


 


Wrong.The ending improves on the book, Stephen King admits, and is one of the best endings in history. 

Explain exactly how it was stupid, and then maybe you might have a point.


----------



## Yelkcub (Jul 23, 2013)

Meh O'Naise said:


> Wrong.The ending improves on the book, Stephen King admits, and is one of the best endings in history.
> 
> Explain exactly how it was stupid, and then maybe you might have a point.



Ok, what was the point of the eventuality that he could have waited a few minutes and not needed to do as he did? I can't see a link to a theme of earlier impulsiveness, for example. Seems like a cheap shock.


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2013)

Meh O'Naise said:


> Wrong.The ending improves on the book, Stephen King admits, and is one of the best endings in history.
> 
> Explain exactly how it was stupid, and then maybe you might have a point.


The end was handled so ponderously, with Dead Can Dance warbling all over it like it was some sort of grand tragedy. Romero's Night of the Living Dead is an example of how this type of ending should be done, like a short sharp shock with a sense of irony, not like it suddenly wants to be Schindler's List. The tone of the end is totally off for what wants to be a homage to 50s style monster movies.

I don't like the film of The Mist much, it's way too preachy and didactic. Darabont is a such a heavy handed director and even what should be a fun monster movie is weighed down by his pretentions. The novella was a lot more fun and that's what a film about homicidal critters from another dimension should be.

Stephen King isn't the greatest judge of his work on screen, otherwise he wouldn't let the that no-talent TV hack Mick Garris adapt so many of his books.


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2013)

_Burton and Taylor_, the BBC 4 film about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's poorly received stage production of Noel Coward's Private Lives which was like an epilogue to their famous relationship. Pretty good and well judget by restricting itself to one episode in their lives. While they may not exactly physically resemble them, Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West are both fantastic. It gives a bit of insight of how people like Taylor, who have been famous for their entire lives, end up like spoilt children for life and yet it doesn't caricature her. The end was genuinely touching. That was the last original drama on BBC4's after their budget got slashed.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 24, 2013)

I thought West was pretty poor in that. Man's got no range ffs.


----------



## 89 Til Infinity (Jul 24, 2013)

Broken.

Sort of a modern take on To Kill a Mockingbird. Great film!



Spoiler



Ending was sort of a let down though with the odd fantasy church scenes


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I thought West was pretty poor in that. Man's got no range ffs.


 
I disagree, I thought he was very good (as was his Fred West). In the end it was Bonham Carter's show though and Burton in real life was the straight man to the flamboyant, immature, irresponsible Taylor. Neither of them did a full on Spitting Image impersonation which is a good thing, but they caught something about the relationship which rang true to me from what I've read about it. For that you need two actors to make it work.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> I disagree, I thought he was very good (as was his Fred West). In the end it was Bonham Carter's show though and Burton in real life was the straight man to the flamboyant, immature, irresponsible Taylor. Neither of them did a full on Spitting Image impersonation which is a good thing, but they caught something about the relationship which rang true to me from what I've read about it. For that you need two actors to make it work.


Horses for courses. Me and the OH both agreed it was pretty run of the mill. For some reason I really don't get on with HBC anymore - that said I thought she carried the piece.


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Horses for courses. Me and the OH both agreed it was pretty run of the mill. For some reason I really don't get on with HBC anymore - that said I thought she carried the piece.


 
Well me _and my cat_ disagree...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 24, 2013)

Silence of The Lambs

still quality


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 24, 2013)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - never heard of this but was was reccomended to me years ago. Very witty and cheeesy  attempt at pulp film noir  in which Val Kilmer is quite superb as a gay private detective, Robert Downey very witty ( and younger) and Michelle Monaghan plays hard to get.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> _Burton and Taylor_, the BBC 4 film about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's poorly received stage production of Noel Coward's Private Lives which was like an epilogue to their famous relationship. Pretty good and well judget by restricting itself to one episode in their lives. While they may not exactly physically resemble them, Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West are both fantastic. It gives a bit of insight of how people like Taylor, who have been famous for their entire lives, end up like spoilt children for life and yet it doesn't caricature her. The end was genuinely touching. That was the last original drama on BBC4's after their budget got slashed.


 
Actually, my "It's complicated on Facebook" met Taylor once and didn't come away thinking "this is a spoilt child in a woman's body". That was just the one time, of course.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 24, 2013)

Dead Snow - Silly, but funny, Norwegian Zombie Nazi flick. I laughed.

Eyeborgs - A low budget sci-fi film which is basically about surveillance-bots breaking bad...I liked the story.


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Actually, my "It's complicated on Facebook" met Taylor once and didn't come away thinking "this is a spoilt child in a woman's body". That was just the one time, of course.


 
The film showed that she could be charming and gracious in the right frame of mind but she was volatile and she could turn in a second, which seems true from what I've read about her.

Of the major female film stars Taylor was one whose appeal I never quite got. In the 50s I found her an OK actress, but no more. By the mid-60s, she had turned into a very good actress even if she didn't have many good films in her after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? When I was a kid the media referred to her as the most beautiful woman in the world, which seemed a lot to live up to and just made me wonder, what about Grace Kelly/ Ava Gardener/Gene Tierney. etc ?


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> The film showed that she could be charming and gracious in the right frame of mind but she was volatile and she could turn in a second, which seems true from what I've read about her.
> 
> Of the major female film stars Taylor was one whose appeal I never quite got. In the 50s I found her an OK actress, but no more. By the mid-60s, she had turned into a very good actress even if she didn't have many good films in her after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? When I was a kid the media referred to her as the most beautiful woman in the world, which seemed a lot to live up to and just made me wonder and what about Grace Kelly/ Ava Gardener/Gene Tierney. etc ?


 
Even in her still photos Ava G. radiated a one-two sucker-punch sex appeal. Don't think Elizabeth T. could have been accused of that. My ICOF also met ET while the latter was promoting her own brand of perfume, so presumably she would have been on her best behaviour.


----------



## Firky (Jul 24, 2013)

I have Oblivion to watch this evening probably cack but we'll see.


----------



## Kidda (Jul 24, 2013)

Finally got round to 'The Dark Knight Rises'. 

Not bad, it wasn't 'dark' in the slightest which had been putting me off watching it as I didn't want a miserable film like The Dark Knight was. 
Thought the ending was really good. 

Have Malcolm X and Catch me if you can to crack on with at some point.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 24, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Actually, my "It's complicated on Facebook" met Taylor once and didn't come away thinking "this is a spoilt child in a woman's body". That was just the one time, of course.


My mother is Elizabeth Taylor and she is lovely


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> My mother is Elizabeth Taylor and she is lovely


 
She _was_ your mother.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 24, 2013)

Kidda said:


> Malcolm X


 
Only film I ever saw at the cinema that had an interval....


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Jul 24, 2013)

Yelkcub said:


> Ok, what was the point of the eventuality that he could have waited a few minutes and not needed to do as he did? I can't see a link to a theme of earlier impulsiveness, for example. Seems like a cheap shock.


 

I think you entirely missed the point of the ending. Its got nothing to do with the theme of earlier impulsiveness, by the way.

The book ends them with them just driving into the distance, unresolved. The film?


Spoiler



He's seen how everyone else has died - horribly, painfully, being eaten alive by the monsters (which incidentally, came from a dimensional portal opened in the Army base, Stargate Style. Which happens offscreen).

The car runs out of petrol. They can't run any further. They hear the noises in the background, but with the eponymous mist, he can't see what is coming. By the time whatever caused that noise gets there, it will be too late, the distance of vision is too small.

He wants to spare his child a painful, horrible death. he wants to spare the other survivors the same. They decide to take their own lives, to meet death at a time of their choosing. To also save his child the pain, and fear, and inevitability. To make it quick, and painless. And to prepare in the way everyone else hasn't .

he counts the number of bullets. He realises they are one short. one of them will have to face that agonising, monster death. So they take their own lives. One bullet at a time.

The rumbling out of the darkness increases, and then comes into view. it is the army, rescuing survivors, having killed the monsters

Thats the tragedy. he tried to do the right thing to spare pain and an agonizing death, based on whatever information they had available to them at the time. if he had waited a few minutes, they would not have been able to meet death in their own way, rather than being ripped apart alive.

Thats not a cheat. They gave up hope, and died.


 
Thats why it works. As an ending its a magnificent subversion of every cliche you'd expect, and bold. You expect everyone to be torn apart in an ocean of gore. And thats not what you get. It defied people expectations in a realistic and believable way.

As for the use of DCD - that piece of music is altered for the film with an additional mid part where it significantly deviates from the original. I loathe that. But the use of it is to heighten the effect that these creatures are both graceful and bizarre, as well as to heighten the sense of foreboding.

Compared to the likes of the usual King Schlock-fest - Mick Garris, Rick Rosenthal etc. etc. - The Mist is probably the best king film since...Dead Zone (1983). (Im not counting Shawshank, its not a horror film).

I don't consider it a homage to 50's style hammy horror movies - its a take upon the same premise but taken seriously and played in a completely different style to the usual "Monster of The Week" bollocks.


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 24, 2013)

i watched that 'only god forgives', and now i have cancer.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 24, 2013)

I knew  some good would come of it. btw using simpsons lines without attribution. Not good.


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 24, 2013)

hi! fuck off thank you good bye!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 24, 2013)

Reno said:


> She _was_ your mother.


She will always be my mother


----------



## Part 2 (Jul 24, 2013)

I've not been watching many films, hot weather and all that but night before last watched Between the Canals. Frances Lengel recommended it.

Sorry Frances, it was rubbish.


----------



## Yata (Jul 25, 2013)

Just watched Oblivion, The Internship, Pacific Rim and saw Killing Season the other day. One of these films was actually decently watchable... starting to run out of movies to watch :S


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 25, 2013)

Searching for Sugarman.

This is the documentary about the Detroit singer/songwriter who, unknown to himself, became a cult hero to politically-conscious South African youth in the last decades of the apartheid regime.

And it's as good as you've heard it is.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 25, 2013)

89 Til Infinity said:


> Broken.
> 
> Sort of a modern take on To Kill a Mockingbird. Great film!
> 
> ...


Stupid, horrible film, particularly so considering the book.


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2013)

Yata said:


> Just watched Oblivion, The Internship, Pacific Rim and saw Killing Season the other day. One of these films was actually decently watchable... starting to run out of movies to watch :S


Are we supposed to guess which one ?


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 25, 2013)

and i watched 'The Mist' based on this forum's recommendation. Grim.

/like an extended episode of the walking dead - for obvious reasons.


----------



## Yata (Jul 25, 2013)

Reno said:


> Are we supposed to guess which one ?


well its obvious isnt it?


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2013)

Yata said:


> well its obvious isnt it?


 
There is no accounting for people's tastes here, so no it's not.


----------



## Yata (Jul 25, 2013)

Reno said:


> There is no accounting for people's tastes here, so no it's not.


yet another tom cruise is the messiah movie, transformers spinoff, travolta doing his best borat impression or bloody owen wilson. would be shameful of me to admit which one i liked


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2013)

Yata said:


> yet another tom cruise is the messiah movie, transformers spinoff, travolta doing his best borat impression or bloody owen wilson. would be shameful of me to admit which one i liked


 
It's getting less obvious by the second then.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 25, 2013)

Iron Man 3. A little too much wisecracking overall but otherwise quite good.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 25, 2013)

Jack Reacher - It felt really dated and a bit like a dull episode of CSI. I don't know much about the Reacher character, but Cruise interpreted him as fairly bland.

I liked that it wasn't full of big action sequences, but as a thriller it wasn't all that thrilling.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 25, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Jack Reacher - It felt really dated and a bit like a dull episode of CSI. I don't know much about the Reacher character, but Cruise interpreted him as fairly bland.
> 
> I liked that it wasn't full of big action sequences, but as a thriller it wasn't all that thrilling.


 
I forgot I saw that.
Jack Reacher is essentially a modern day Sherlock Holmes - problem with that is that Cruise's interpretation lacked charisma or a sense of humour.


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Jack Reacher - It felt really dated and a bit like a dull episode of CSI. I don't know much about the Reacher character, but Cruise interpreted him as fairly bland.
> 
> I liked that it wasn't full of big action sequences, but as a thriller it wasn't all that thrilling.


 
It was watchable enough if thoroughly unmemorable. While she didn't have much of a role here, I really like Rosamund Pike. She is an actor who will nudge me towards watching a film I probably wouldn't otherwise.


----------



## Firky (Jul 25, 2013)

Casting Cruise as Reacher was a joke from the start. Reacher is supposed to be a 6'7" brick shit house bad ass with a craggy face. So they cast a half pint pretty boy.

Talking of Cruise I watched Oblivion last night... may contain spoilers:

A film made for good sound systems, large HD screens and dramatic scenery. It looks and sounds fantastic, some of the landscape shots and sets are brilliant and highly realistic. There's a scene which looks like it could have been shot in the Aral sea; huge skeletons of ships and submarines in a dead landscape. Scenes of him flying through a storm in a spherical aircraft type thing are 

Then there is the film it's self... the first 30 / 40 minutes is all about building the world, the scene, the monotony of daily life waiting for release from service which immediately makes you think, "this is a bit like Moon" - then a short while later you can see exactly where the film is going to go and it does, but it goes even further with the most cack handed ending I've seen for sometime. All the major twists and turns you can see coming a mile off. Especially the ending. I couldn't believe they actually went for that ending it is so obvious, you now it's coming half way through the film. It really does insult your intelligence!


----------



## maya (Jul 25, 2013)

:
*Sitting Target (1972)- Oliver Reed, Ian McShane, Jill St.John.*

I'd never heard of this film, so had no specific expectations- except that Oliver Reed is usually a good sign, according to moi... He was more than decent here.

Hardboiled gangster plot: Two convicts plan their escape from prison and flee the country, but one of them (Reed) hears rumours that his wife (played by Jill St.John) has been having an affair and is now pregnant by another man- Furious, he plans his revenge (thereby delaying their flight after the successful prison escape). But- a rather stern, a bit mousey police inspector (played by *Edward Woodward*! ) is on the case, following their trail in a cat-and-mouse(sic) game as Reed's character becomes more and more reckless in his thirst for revenge.

What I liked most about this film is the steadily build-up of psychological tension- Some of the lengthier dialogue scenes can be a bit too meh for my attention span used to modern day fast-paced action, but there's some incredible "experimental" scenes whenever the character is in psychological turmoil, and the way they've filmed it is just . Those bits looks very visually modern- Grainy, often slow motion handheld(?) moving camera, zooming back and forth until you're almost seasick- as anodyne an comparision it is, what first came to mind were those Super 8 segments in early Lonely Planet documentaries (which felt very fresh and new when people started using that filming style, since it introduces a sort of intimacy and almost emotional response from the viewer- the footage looks much more personal). That sort of experimental style was very common in the late 60s/70s, and ahead of it's time.

Anyway... Won't unleash more spoilers, but it's definitely worth checking out- I enjoyed it from start to finish. Grading: A Very Good Film.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jul 25, 2013)

8Sam0 said:


> I need to give the new Dredd a watch, heard mostly positive things about it. Plus there's a campaign to get a sequel made, which 2000AD have endorsed.


 

Its close the strip. He never takes his helmet off and hes ruthless as hell in it. I thought the movie was slightly style over substance-and the style itself is well done. It is really violent in places.


----------



## inva (Jul 25, 2013)

Underground
Very entertaining silent film with some quite good bits of humour to it. I thought the score worked well too.


----------



## JimW (Jul 25, 2013)

Watched Only God Forgives, and butchers, Reno and others have said what needs saying but do you reckon the weird scream Gosling does at his love interest to take off her dress was deliberate, given the prevailing oddity of the film? I hope so as otherwise his imperturbable hardman schtick will need a re-think.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 26, 2013)

maya said:


> :
> *Sitting Target (1972)- Oliver Reed, Ian McShane, Jill St.John.*...I enjoyed it from start to finish. Grading: A Very Good Film.


 
I liked that one too - lots to commend, like the prologue sequence with Reed losing it in gaol, and then all that location stuff around Clapham Junction, and even the car chase - and I am not a fan of car chases - which for the most part seem to take part on real roads with real actors driving.


----------



## 89 Til Infinity (Jul 26, 2013)

Cloud Atlas. Its a film about reincarnation and how everything is connected

Probably one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

Brilliant story, amazing cast, quality special effects.

10/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371111/


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 26, 2013)

89 Til Infinity said:


> Cloud Atlas. Its a film about reincarnation and how everything is connected
> 
> Probably one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.
> 
> ...


it was utter shite. i can only presume this is a trollpost.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 26, 2013)

maya said:


> :
> *Sitting Target (1972)- Oliver Reed, Ian McShane, Jill St.John.*
> 
> I'd never heard of this film, so had no specific expectations- except that Oliver Reed is usually a good sign, according to moi... He was more than decent here.


 
Should read the thread more closely! What i don't get is why they decided on allowing Reed to do his_ I'm a horrible cockney gangster_ accent -it simply wasn't required and totally undermined him. Ended up just reminding me of more Paul Kaye doing Maurice in the victor chandler adverts than a menacing hard-man.


----------



## 89 Til Infinity (Jul 26, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> it was utter shite. i can only presume this is a trollpost.


 
I can only presume we wont be watching any movies together any time soon. 

I really enjoyed it.


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 26, 2013)

89 Til Infinity said:


> I can only presume we wont be watching any movies together any time soon.
> 
> I really enjoyed it.


 
ha! fair do's, each to their own.

The use of 'yellowface' was particularly galling. It wasn't even convincing.


----------



## maya (Jul 26, 2013)

(oops- wrong thread)


----------



## maya (Jul 26, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Should read the thread more closely! What i don't get is why they decided on allowing Reed to do his_ I'm a horrible cockney gangster_ accent -it simply wasn't required and totally undermined him. Ended up just reminding me of more Paul Kaye doing Maurice in the victor chandler adverts than a menacing hard-man.


Heh... I agree it's not THE best forgotten classic of all time or anything like that- but i usually enjoy watching that type of old, obscure and slightly naff films... especially late at night when I'm in the "mood"... It holds a certain exoticism for me, I reckon- too young to have experied the seventies, I'm a bit obsessed by the period and probably see everything through a retrofetishist lens... I thought it was decent enough, actually- kind of borderline boring and slugged on in places, but like I said it was those "experimental" scenes which did it for me. (It doesn't really matter to me whether such actors/films are good or not, TBH- as long as they deliver that slightly alien period fix, I'm in seventies bliss and that grainy footage and aestetic just draws me in and I pretend to live back in time...)


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 26, 2013)

*The Kids are All Right (*2010) yes OK I'm only a FEW years out of date. If you don't know already, a family comedy for the modern age revolving around the chaos that ensues when the two children of a lesbian couple seek out their sperm donor dad. Was expecting it to be blindingly brilliant because of the number of 5-star or 100% approval ratings it got from US and UK critics and because it looked like the sort of thing (indie-ish, grown-up non-CGI human dramas with believable situations and good acting) that I normally get on with. Left feeling a bit meh about it, and definitely not going along with the frenzied adoration.

Good things: Absolutely fantastic cast and acting (Mia Wasikowska is my new screen idol, Mark Ruffalo's as brilliant as ever at being rumpled and sexy, Annette Bening's brilliant at being not that likeable as a tightly-wound control freak who likes wine too much, Julianne Moore's great at being flaky and selfish and yet sympathetic.) Yes, it IS important that lowkey family comedies start reflecting 21st-century realities like lasting gay & lesbian partnerships, adoption, sperm-donor kids etc, and this film is a move in that direction. The soundtrack is pretty good and there's a brilliant bit where the sound mix gives you a deep dramatic hit as well. Some of the dialogue's great. And it does manage to be unpredictable and not-what-you-were-expecting in lots of ways.

Bad things: it's a rich white Californian's view of the world. It's smug as fuck (even when /as it satirises people who're smug as fuck) and personally I just found many of the characters unforgivably self-indulgent and shrill and unlikeable. It treats its characters of colour like disposable extras (just as its characters do). It sometimes pulls its punches a bit and doesn't go far enough, imho in the direction of either broad comedy or savage satire. Overall I was disappointed because it's a good enough way to spend an hour and a half but it's definitely not the New Age of Filmmaking it was touted as at the time of release.


----------



## 89 Til Infinity (Jul 26, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> ha! fair do's, each to their own.
> 
> The use of 'yellowface' was particularly galling. It wasn't even convincing.


 
Yeah I guess that was kind of necessary to keep in line with the theme of the book though.



Spoiler



I'd imagine it would be quite difficult to portray the same soul in different bodies if they had used different actors?


----------



## Firky (Jul 26, 2013)

89 Til Infinity said:


> I can only presume we wont be watching any movies together any time soon.
> 
> I really enjoyed it.


 

I liked it far more than I thought I would. The character which was supposed to be the devil was a carbon copy of Tom Waits' persona


----------



## Firky (Jul 26, 2013)

I have Mud to watch. Some coming of age drama that looks twee but I'll give it a go.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Jul 27, 2013)

6m15s into The Hangover and three gay 'jokes' and Jeffrey Tambor is the only one who can act. Wtf is this crap?


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 27, 2013)

Group 7 - awful hackneyed rubbish about a gang of_ tough cops_ cleaning out the drug dealers from Seville for the 92 expo and the personal problems the stress of doing so brings them. Utter Rubbish.


----------



## 89 Til Infinity (Jul 27, 2013)

Firky said:


> I liked it far more than I thought I would. The character which was supposed to be the devil was a carbon copy of Tom Waits' persona


 
Do you think he was meant to be a real character or just a figment of Zachary's imagination?


----------



## Firky (Jul 27, 2013)

89 Til Infinity said:


> Do you think he was meant to be a real character or just a figment of Zachary's imagination?


 

Bit of both I reckon, Sonmi was divine and real because people believed in her. Where as Old Georgie only existed in Zachary's head and few believed of him. 

Still makes me think of...


----------



## wiskey (Jul 27, 2013)

Battling my way through TED .... jeez, I think I'm 15 years too old for it's target audience!


----------



## Firky (Jul 27, 2013)

wiskey said:


> Battling my way through TED .... jeez, I think I'm 15 years too old for it's target audience!


 

It is shit. Awful. Terrible. One of the worst films I saw last year.


----------



## wiskey (Jul 27, 2013)

Firky said:


> It is shit. Awful. Terrible. One of the worst films I saw last year.


 
 absolutely! I dunno why we thought it was good, we tend to DL stuff and then it sits there, and as we knew it wasn't child friendly and he's not here we thought we'd watch it.

I'm deleting it ... possibly without getting to the end!

ETA: aarrggh it's got Norah Jones in it ... how could she *weeps*


----------



## 8115 (Jul 27, 2013)

I'm watching Rear Window, it's good but a bit hard work, so I'm watching it in stages.


----------



## Reno (Jul 27, 2013)

8115 said:


> I'm watching Rear Window, it's good but a bit hard work, so I'm watching it in stages.


 
How the fuck as that film hard work ?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 27, 2013)

Reno said:


> How the fuck as that film hard work ?


I just wrote then deleted a snarky comment because I figured 8115 must have been being sarcastic or something - it's hard to think of a Hitchcock film that goes down as easy. The sort of film that if you catch starting just before you planned to go to bed, you end up staying up to watch all the way through to the end.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 27, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> I just wrote then deleted a snarky comment because I figured 8115 must have been being sarcastic or something - *it's hard to think of a Hitchcock film that goes down as easy.* The sort of film that if you catch starting just before you planned to go to bed, you end up staying up to watch all the way through to the end.


 

I don't recall The Killing being vastly difficult.


----------



## Reno (Jul 27, 2013)

_The ABCs of Death_, an anthology film where 26 horror film directors made a short film for one of the letters of the alphabet. As one would expect a very mixed bag, but at least when something was shit, it didn't last long. There are a few little gems in there.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 27, 2013)

Some bizarre ones in that - Noboru Iguchi's segment springs to mind.

edit: Having just checked his other work, it may even have been a bit tame for him...


----------



## Reno (Jul 27, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Some bizarre ones in that - Noboru Iguchi's segment springs to mind.
> 
> edit: Having just checked his other work, it may even have been a bit tame for him...


 
I quite liked that one. Some of the better segments ones were the funny ones.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 27, 2013)

Just watched The Hobbit, which I was surprisingly impressed with even though it's (cough) very Lord-of-the-Ringsy. Quite funny in places and didn't seem nearly 3 hours, although the first half hour felt like 3 hours.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 28, 2013)

Reno said:


> How the fuck as that film hard work ?


 
Your asking someone who has to count to spell their user name?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 28, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Just watched The Hobbit, which I was surprisingly impressed with even though it's (cough)* very Lord-of-the-Ringsy*. Quite funny in places and didn't seem nearly 3 hours, although the first half hour felt like 3 hours.


 
no! really?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 28, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> no! really?


 
Reminded me of that Tolkien bloke.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 28, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Reminded me of that Tolkien bloke.


It's tolkienism of the worst kind.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 28, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I don't recall The Killing being vastly difficult.


I don't recall _The Killing_ being vastly anything to do with Hitchcock.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 28, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> I don't recall _The Killing_ being vastly anything to do with Hitchcock.


 

oh yeah, well I'll let you off this time


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 28, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> It's tolkienism of the worst kind.


 
Of the third kind. Those trilogies come in threes y'know? Like 109 buses.


----------



## _pH_ (Jul 28, 2013)

Not last night, a few nights ago, but we watched Untouchable. Fantastic film.


----------



## Reno (Jul 28, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I don't recall The Killing being vastly difficult.


How does this comment work ?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 28, 2013)

Reno said:


> How does this comment work ?


 

I've already humiliated myself thankyou reno, but feel free to have another boot


----------



## Reno (Jul 28, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I've already humiliated myself thankyou reno, but feel free to have another boot


 
OK, I thought it was me who didn't understand something.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 28, 2013)

Reno said:


> OK, I thought it was me who didn't understand something.


no no, just me thinking I'm a smartass when I'm pissed and coming unstuck


anyway I watched Tremors, downloaded a really good quality version and laughed quite a lot. I'd forgotten how funny the film is, I do love a comedy monster film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 28, 2013)

Orphans of the Storm - DW Griffiths warns us of the dangers of Bolshevism but I'm too busy swooning over Lilian.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Far better than I though & gives a new spin on the mythology. Sets things nicely up for future instalments. For once, a CGI film that showcases the technology, rather than let it overwhelm things. I'm looking at you; Man of Steel


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 28, 2013)

89 Til Infinity said:


> Cloud Atlas. Its a film about reincarnation and how everything is connected
> 
> Probably one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.
> 
> ...


 
It's really growing on me. I'm with Kermode on this one. Sure, it's Hollywood liberalism at it's best/worst but dammit, I was won over. Yes, the book is better but visually - best thing the Wachowski siblings have done since The Matrix (first one, natch).


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 28, 2013)

krtek a houby said:


> It's really growing on me. I'm with Kermode on this one. Sure, it's Hollywood liberalism at it's best/worst but dammit, I was won over. Yes, the book is better but visually - best thing the Wachowski siblings have done since The Matrix (first one, natch).


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 28, 2013)

pissflaps said:


>


 
Yeah, well, Jerry hasn't done much to entertain me in a decade or so...


----------



## starfish (Jul 28, 2013)

This weekend with our nieces we have watched:

Citadel. They found it a bit frightening in places. I was impressed at how Glasgow had been made to look so fucking bleak.
Dredd. They loved it. First time id seen it all they way through & i loved it too, so much that we bought the OST. Please make sequels & Anderson films too.


----------



## 8115 (Jul 28, 2013)

Reno said:


> How the fuck as that film hard work ?


 

Well there's a certain absence of suspense for a start.  I always find Hitchcock hard going personally.


----------



## Reno (Jul 28, 2013)

8115 said:


> Well there's a certain absence of suspense for a start. I always find Hitchcock hard going personally.


So the man who is known around the world under the title the "Master of Suspense" (google that and see what comes up) makes suspenseless films. That certainly is a new one to me.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 28, 2013)

I find that the small scale of James Cameron's film doesn't really work for me. Just my opinion.


----------



## 8115 (Jul 28, 2013)

Reno said:


> So the man who is known around the world under the title the "Master of Suspense" (google that and see what comes up) makes suspenseless films. That certainly is a new one to me.


 

I thought it was a bit weak.  I thought Vertigo had a lumpy plot and went off the boil in the second half.  They're just my opinions.


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 28, 2013)




----------



## Reno (Jul 28, 2013)

8115 said:


> I thought it was a bit weak. I thought Vertigo had a lumpy plot and went off the boil in the second half. They're just my opinions.


 
If you don't like Hitchcock, what classic pre-60s films do you like then ?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 28, 2013)

8115 said:


> I thought it was a bit weak. I thought Vertigo had a lumpy plot and went off the boil in the second half. They're just my opinions.


I'm curious - if you think Hitchcock couldn't do suspense, then which directors do you think can?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 28, 2013)

starfish said:


> This weekend with our nieces we have watched:
> 
> Citadel. They found it a bit frightening in places. I was impressed at how Glasgow had been made to look so fucking bleak.
> Dredd. They loved it. First time id seen it all they way through & i loved it too, so much that we bought the OST. Please make sequels & Anderson films too.


 

make them suffer Stallones version as well


----------



## 8115 (Jul 28, 2013)

Reno said:


> If you don't like Hitchcock, what classic pre-60s films do you like then ?


 

I mostly like modern films.  Book adaptations are ok like Rebecca, Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, they're the only one's I've really watched, we watched them at school to round up any stragglers who hadn't read the books.

Any recommendations?


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 28, 2013)

pissflaps said:


>


 
my hero


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 28, 2013)

you're too kind.


----------



## Reno (Jul 28, 2013)

8115 said:


> I mostly like modern films. Book adaptations are ok like Rebecca, Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, they're the only one's I've really watched, we watched them at school to round up any stragglers who hadn't read the books.
> 
> Any recommendations?


 
As you seem to hate my favourite director and two of my favourite films of all time, I think it would be pointless. To me Vertigo is probably one of the most deeply profound films ever made and Rear Window is one of the most conceptually interesting.

:bewildered:


----------



## 8115 (Jul 28, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> I'm curious - if you think Hitchcock couldn't do suspense, then which directors do you think can?


 

Ok, I'm not that great at remembering directors, but in terms of carrying you with them, really making you want to know what happens, I liked Happiness and Dark Horse (Todd Solondz).

I think suspense is more something you get in mainstream cinema, which I guess Hitchcock was of his day, like The Bourne Identity.  That's pretty well done and there's loads of suspense.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 28, 2013)

8115 said:


> Any recommendations?


 
This thread might be of interest: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/film-recommendations-pre-1950.278858/


----------



## 8115 (Jul 28, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> This thread might be of interest: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/film-recommendations-pre-1950.278858/


 

Thanks.  Oh yeah, I though Brief Encounter was ok too


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 28, 2013)

C4, y u cutting all the super gory bits out of a film who's only redeeming feature is it's super goryness?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 28, 2013)

8115 said:


> Ok, I'm not that great at remembering directors, but in terms of carrying you with them, really making you want to know what happens, I liked Happiness and Dark Horse (Todd Solondz).
> 
> I think suspense is more something you get in mainstream cinema, which I guess Hitchcock was of his day, like The Bourne Identity. That's pretty well done and there's loads of suspense.


 
TBH I don't think you have a very firm grasp of suspense!

There's some useful pointers here (including the famous Hitchcock comment about suspense vs surprise using the example of the ticking timebomb): http://mysterymanonfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/elements-of-suspense.html


----------



## Sue (Jul 28, 2013)

8115 said:


> Ok, I'm not that great at remembering directors, but in terms of carrying you with them, really making you want to know what happens, I liked Happiness and Dark Horse (Todd Solondz).
> 
> I think suspense is more something you get in mainstream cinema, which I guess Hitchcock was of his day, like The Bourne Identity.  That's pretty well done and there's loads of suspense.



Hmm, Hitchcock vs the Bourne identity..... ;-)


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 29, 2013)

Sue said:


> Hmm, Hitchcock vs the Bourne identity..... ;-)


Exactly what I was thinking.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 29, 2013)

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Woody Allen just before he totally lost his mojo. It's a pastiche of screwball comedy and film noir, set in a New York insurance agency in 1940. The way blonde bombshells played by Helen Hunt (meant to be the HIldi Johson character) and Charlize Theron throw themselves at him (Allen looks like somebody's grandfather in this one) is frankly implausible.

Dan Aykroyd is woefully miscast, but there is a nice cameo from "the baldy guy out of the Princess Bride", i.e. Wallace Shawn.

It's not as bad as I'm making it sound, but the best thing you can say about it is that it's not as bad as his flicks from the past few years.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 29, 2013)

*Cloud Atlas* - balls. complete utter balls. mish-mash of balls, rolled into a giant meat of all sorts. I couldn't help but compare it to the superior *Mr Nobody.*


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 29, 2013)

Down the Shore - indie-budget human interest story with James Gandolfini and Famke Janssen. It was so so, but good to see the big man on screen doing his most hangdog expression and moping about after his lost love while working a dead fairground on the New Jersey shoreline. Good performances from all involved, just not a lot else to work with.


----------



## pissflaps (Jul 29, 2013)

Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Featuring a five year old kid and a bloke who happened to own a bakery across the road from where the casting director was having auditions, neither of whom had acted before.

acting is not a fucking 'craft'.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 29, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
> 
> Woody Allen just before he totally lost his mojo. It's a pastiche of screwball comedy and film noir, set in a New York insurance agency in 1940. The way blonde bombshells played by Helen Hunt (meant to be the HIldi Johson character) and Charlize Theron throw themselves at him (Allen looks like somebody's grandfather in this one) is frankly implausible.
> 
> ...


 
And now I've watched Mr. Allen's Stardust Memories, with Charlotte Rampling. Now this is more like it.  It's a sort of companion piece to Annie Hall, an extended discussion of the bit at the start of AH where he says that life is terrible and it's over far too early. Very good indeed, and I wish I'd seen it in the cinema.


----------



## maya (Jul 29, 2013)

_Les Rivières Pourpres (The Crimson Rivers)- _french thriller/horror film with sinister (and very bloody) goings-on in and around a fictional alpine university village... and Jean Reno.


----------



## inva (Jul 29, 2013)

_One of Our Aircraft is Missing_
Very enjoyable and quite funny in places.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 29, 2013)

I've been trawling through the Sopranos yet again. 
It really is the best tv show ever. It's so rich in detail that it bears many a repeat viewing.
It's worth watching and concentrating on certain characters, like you would do when studying a text at school or college.


----------



## starfish (Jul 29, 2013)

Had forgotten that we also watched Monsters University which we all thought was quite poor, it had a couple of funny moments but was generally disappointed. We then watched Mary & Max which they all thought was wonderful & very funny but a bit sad. Im sure at least one niece was crying.


----------



## JimW (Jul 30, 2013)

_Bob le flambeur, _there's not a great deal I can say other people won't have put better. Great film, of course, but if I had to pick a nit did find his use of incidental music a bit wonky.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 30, 2013)

Great film


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 30, 2013)

Scarecrow - Hackman and Pacino try to out act each other in as modern hobo-types from the early 70s. Enjoyable but slight, lucky it had these two on top form really.

Silenced - film based on a real life sex-abuse network at a deaf school in Korea. Some really hard bits to watch, and some odd choices made by the director. Got very good reviews when it came out but, but i can't quite get why - maybe i'm being too cynical in thinking it was because of the subject matter. I don't know.


----------



## JimW (Jul 30, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> Great film


Saw this list of Kubrick's favourite films posted somewhere else so thought I'd try and see the ones I hadn't that looked interesting.


----------



## JimW (Jul 30, 2013)

Finally got round to watching Deadwood too (halfway thru season 1 so far) -- some great moments of unlikely human decency in the most unpromising of circumstances, which I do like in my telly.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 30, 2013)

Sword of Honour

Daniel Craig bimbles around with some othe cultured officah types in ww2. Think its a three parter. Normally not my sort of thing but Craig carried it and there was some good gentle humour.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 30, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Sword of Honour
> 
> Daniel Craig bimbles around with some othe cultured officah types in ww2. Think its a three parter. Normally not my sort of thing but Craig carried it and there was some good gentle humour.


 
I wouldn't bother - read the original Evelyn Waugh books instead.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 30, 2013)

_The Yellow Sea _(same director as _The Chaser_).  Lots of action (blood and car chases). Not as good as _The Chaser _and I got a bit lost with all the characters 

Have a choice tonight of:

_Cold Fish_
_The Woodsman and the Rain_
_Adrift in Tokyo_
_Return to Burma_
_The Foreign Duck, The Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker_

Decisions, decisions


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 31, 2013)

The Place Beyond the Pines - Enjoyed the first hour, 2nd hour was ok, 3rd act was dull.

I think the writer/director tried too hard to come up with a narrative that fit a concept or an idea. It doesn't, so feels forced and clumsy.

Some good performance though ad on the whole I enjoyed it, but I felt like I was sitting through a failed project. All that said, it had a nice seventies feel to it and wasn't a hyper jazzed hollywood action fest, so I'm always happy that films like this are still getting made.

Is there a better portrayer of ratty scumbags than Ben Mendelsohn out there right now? He's nailed it down to an artform.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2013)

_Cold Fish - _typical Japanese bloodfest


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 31, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> _Cold Fish - _typical Japanese bloodfest


 
It's not typical at all. None of his films are typical.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> It's not typical at all. None of his films are typical.


 
Well I meant the amount of blood with Japanese films


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2013)

and I've not really seen any of that director's films other than Exte so no idea what the rest are like


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 31, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> and I've not really seen any of that director's films other than Exte so no idea what the rest are like


 
You are in for a treat then Minnie, seriously - i think you've managed to watch his two most throwaway films. I can't recommend Love Exposure enough.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> You are in for a treat then Minnie, seriously - i think you've managed to watch his two most throwaway films. I can't recommend Love Exposure enough.


 


I've still got _Adrift in Tokyo, The Foreign Duck etc., Return to Burma _and_ The Woodsman and the Rain _to watch before I start ordering more! 

Will check on TWF and Terracotta though to see if they have any.  Do you know about Third Window Films and Terracotta Distribution?  Really pleased I found them


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2013)

Dark Knight Rises. They aren't even pretending with this one

Particularly enjoyed banes risible non-accent. 

'theres a storm coming and you people will wonder how you had so much and left us so little'

thanks catwoma, you've just managed to make it all politics of envy.


----------



## maya (Aug 1, 2013)

Eartha Kitt is the one and only catwoman, IMHO.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2013)

I do like the way the batbike flips its tyres when a character makes an impossible turn at high speed. It probably would never work according to SCIENCE but its a nice touch anyway


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2013)

Anyone else expect Bane to suddenly say 'Nobody beats the Riz!' and start drinking the tears of abused children?


----------



## maya (Aug 1, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I do like the way the batbike flips its tyres when a character makes an impossible turn at high speed. It probably would never work according to SCIENCE but its a nice touch anyway


... VROOOM VROOOM! 

(*or, should that be: da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da... VROOM-VROOM! vroom-vroom)


----------



## maya (Aug 1, 2013)

maya said:


> Eartha Kitt is the one and only catwoman, IMHO.


Purr... 



... I rest my case.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 1, 2013)

Beasts of the Southern WIlds - Very good. Thoroughly 'enjoyed' that.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 2, 2013)

Two films starring Tahar Rahim - one staggeringly awful, one an interesting failure...

*Black Gold, m*ade by Jean-Jaques Annaud - (in)famous for _Enemy at the Gate _and other history-for-dummies stuff. Quite possibly one of the worst films ever made, but definitely so bad it's worth a watch for the lulz. An astonishingly cackhanded Euro/internationalpudding of a film purporting to dramatise the early years of the Gulf oil boom (1920s ish? who knows? who cares? the period detail's beside the point), filmed in Qatar and Tunisia (the latter when it was still under Ben Ali). It's absolutely  bizarre.

It should tell you something when a cast of supposed Saudi characters is represented by: Tahar Rahim (French/Algerian), Frieda Pinto (South Indian - because OF COURSE she has to get her kit off and no Arab actress would do it), Antonio Banderas (channelling his inner Andalusian Arab apparently, although he still lisps his way through the thing like a Spaniard) and that well known friend of the Middle East MARK STRONG (can't break out of the London hardman persona even when done up in robes and a headdress...) The script is a mishmash of appalling Orientalist cliches and meaningless platitudes about Gaaaaahd. The plot is just pants. Some of it looks lovely but in the fakiest stagiest way you can imagine. It's about the most ludicrous film you could imagine about a genuinely interesting historical epoch and real questions (how did it come about that the Saudis and US ended up ruling the world blah blah blah). Altogether is SO BAD that it's kind of fun. There should be a drinking game invented to make viewing it even more entertaining.

*Free Men *is a different proposition entirely - rather earnest, slightly stagey, very French drama about the weird underworld/spy games going on in occupied Paris in the 1940s with Tahar Rahim as a dozy amateur black-marketer who gets pulled into the orbit of Nazis, the Moroccan state and Vichy regime. Directed by a French/Algerian and was controversial in France, I think, though I can't remember exactly why or who objected. It's a bit odd, standard French lefty message at heart (remember the WWII resistants) although has to be one of the few films in history to reinterpret this era through the prism of North African Muslims saving various N African Jews from the Nazis' clutches ... yes really. It's obviously low budget and the script creaks in places ... it's just not very dramatically told. But interesting (as much for the hints it drops about the doomy future awaiting many characters, not to mention the future of France and Algeria and other colonies) and has its moments. Worth a watch if you are interested in this era or WW2 films in general - it's certainly an oblique look at the "Big Story" from characters usually sidelined form media counds.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2013)

Made in Britain

Can't believe I haven't seen that before. I recognize a lot of the sampled quotes from Skinnymans 'concil estate of mind' now. 

Not perfect, but good. 

Think I spotted a youthfulish Bob Cryer as the social worker at the start


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 2, 2013)

Youthfull! He was 42!


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2013)

ish, younger than I remember him from the bill anyway


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 2, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> ish, younger than I remember him from the bill anyway


 
Started on the bill 2 years later.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Started on the bill 2 years later.


 

when I was a whole 1 years old. he was older when_* I*_ saw him on the bill. Grey hair.









bob^^^


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 2, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> when I was a whole 1 years old. he was older when_* I*_ saw him on the bill. Grey hair.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Kids these days....


----------



## Voley (Aug 2, 2013)

Happiness. God that was fucking warped.


----------



## moonsi til (Aug 3, 2013)

Started watching Pacifc (mini series) tonight and watched 6 episodes.


----------



## belboid (Aug 3, 2013)

Off to Jura shortly, so I watched _I Know Where I'm Going_ (about Colonsay, but close enough) yet again.  And it was still marvellous.

Then had a mate over, who is fascinated by St Kilda, but had never seen _Edge of the World._ What else could be done?  He loved it  almost as much as I did.


----------



## Sue (Aug 3, 2013)

belboid said:


> Off to Jura shortly, so I watched _I Know Where I'm Going_ (about Colonsay, but close enough) yet again.  And it was still marvellous.
> 
> Then had a mate over, who is fascinated by St Kilda, but had never seen _Edge of the World._ What else could be done?  He loved it  almost as much as I did.



Both great films. I'm off to the Outer Hebrides next week so may need to rewatch Whisky Galore before I go ;-).


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 3, 2013)

It's Always Sunny in  Philadelphia  Season 8 first three episodes .This has got to be the best American comedy series I have seen.

Nighty Night first two episodes . Very clever dark surreal humour.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 3, 2013)

Sleepless Night - excellently constructed and efficient french action thriller.

Killing Words - so/so cat-and-mouse killer type thing which -  half way through - i remembered i'd already seen.


----------



## belboid (Aug 3, 2013)

Sue said:


> Both great films. I'm off to the Outer Hebrides next week so may need to rewatch Whisky Galore before I go ;-).


excellent plan!  I last saw it whilst in a blackhouse on Lewis.  Must get hold of Rockets Galore too, it's not meant to be particularly great, but would be fitting, and probably amusing enough.


----------



## Me76 (Aug 3, 2013)

Watched Seven Psychopaths. Quite enjoyable.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 4, 2013)

El Bosc - one of the stupidest films i've ever seen. Spanish Civil war: Anarchist village, fascist-sympathiser who refuses to take part in the collectivisations etc Communist IB group, tensions. All done very straightforwardly (including the expected political cliches and heavy-handedness) - until the fascist sympathiser escapes through a eerie light in a grove on his land that takes him to a land of fish-men who live in artichoke houses. For real.


----------



## Voley (Aug 4, 2013)

I finished watching the BBC dramatisation of The Crow Road last night. They've been showing it again as a tribute to Iain Banks. I enjoyed it but it just made me want to read the book again, really. The lad that played Prentice McHoan was a bit drippy in it, possibly deliberately I dunno. I ought to read the book again really. It's a good mystery story that manages to bring in themes of the existence of God / the nature of faith / drink and drugs / socialism vs capitalism etc. It felt like the BBC series just scratched the surface really. Yer man from The Thick Of It was good as the Uncle who disappears mind. Bill Paterson's good in it, too.


----------



## maya (Aug 4, 2013)

I've been visiting my dad for a couple of days now, but my initial enthusiasm for this dwindled somewhat by his dedication to watch every single episode of "Heartbeat" ever recorded, plus dvd extras and documentary shorts... Only interrupted by coffee/meal breaks, and anecdotes of his most recent medical history... Please save me.


----------



## Voley (Aug 4, 2013)

maya said:


> I've been visiting my dad for a couple of days now, but my initial enthusiasm for this dwindled somewhat by his dedication to watch every single episode of "Heartbeat" ever recorded, plus dvd extras and documentary shorts... Only interrupted by coffee/meal breaks, and anecdotes of his most recent medical history... Please save me.


Christ.


----------



## maya (Aug 4, 2013)

NVP said:


> Christ.


I love him though, so I have to put up with it. I blame Greengrass.


----------



## JimW (Aug 4, 2013)

maya said:


> I love him though, so I have to put up with it. I blame Greengrass.


 
Sympathy like there.


----------



## renegadechicken (Aug 4, 2013)

I declare War - : "Bang, bang, you're dead. No, really dead. A group of twelve year old kids play war in a forest but the audience views the action through their eyes. They fire real machine guns, hear mortars exploding around them, and dodge bloody shrapnel from grenades. I Declare War is a movie for young and adult audiences alike, featuring twelve to thirteen year old actors in the tradition of Stand By Me.


It was alright, and i did enjoy it, but definitely overtones of lord of the flies.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2013)

renegadechicken said:


> I declare War - : "Bang, bang, you're dead. No, really dead. A group of twelve year old kids play war in a forest but the audience views the action through their eyes. They fire real machine guns, hear mortars exploding around them, and dodge bloody shrapnel from grenades. I Declare War is a movie for young and adult audiences alike, featuring twelve to thirteen year old actors in the tradition of Stand By Me.
> 
> 
> It was alright, and i did enjoy it, but definitely overtones of lord of the flies.


 
got that on d/l. nothing wrong with LOTF overtones


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 4, 2013)

The Conjuring.

Really enjoyed it. One of the best horror films I've seen for a long while. It's well shot, there's plenty of jumpscares and an amazing screaming kid. Maybe the 70s were just scarier but I liked the look of it even though at one point it did remind me of Scooby Doo. I hadn't read anything beforehand but the similarities with Amityville are obvious.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Aug 4, 2013)

I watched Hairspray on DVD again last night.  Always a film that makes me happy.


----------



## rekil (Aug 4, 2013)

The39thStep said:


> It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 8 first three episodes .This has got to be the best American comedy series I have seen.


Episode 4 from that series is one of the very best they've done. I watched Horrible Bosses cos Charlie Day was in it. Terrible apart from him, so thin he used his law and order joke from sunny.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2013)

Just did 'I Declare War'

best film I've seen in ages, the braces wearing mini general patton was ace and there were some excellent vietnam cliches.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 4, 2013)

Scott Pilgrim Versus the World - geared towards younger folk than I but quite enjoyable all the same.

Paranormal Activity - jumped out of my seat on a few occasions. Enjoyable. Are any of the sequels worth a look?


----------



## pissflaps (Aug 4, 2013)

Trance.

Shite.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 5, 2013)

copliker said:


> Episode 4 from that series is one of the very best they've done. I watched Horrible Bosses cos Charlie Day was in it. Terrible apart from him, so thin he used his law and order joke from sunny.


 
Can't work out why this series is not on terrestrial or satellite over here .Its immense.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 5, 2013)

The excellent documentary Greek American Radicals: The Untold Story - not much more i can say really - it's a doco with contemporary footage, participant accounts and interviews and so on ...


----------



## 5t3IIa (Aug 5, 2013)

Started on _Marie Antoinette_ last night. Don't usually like spending a few days watching a film  but as just spent 10 days struggling through _Avatar _again I'm in the habit.

Wondering about _Avatar 2 _seeing as they 'killed off' Sam Worthington in human form


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2013)

Still enjoying my second run of The Sopranos. Midway through S4 now, and i have one minor gripe, but it's a persistent one: dream sequences. Wish they hadn't bothered. They don't really add anything and I have never seen a 'realistic' dream sequence in any tv show or film. I think they are shit shorthand for things you can convey in other ways. Your dreams are such a minor part of who you are. Way too much emphasis is placed on them. It's best to concentrate on people's actions to convey their inner life IMO


----------



## avu9lives (Aug 5, 2013)

*Charly (1968)*     well feck you charly an your soda pop, your autism, learning difficulties feral gypsy non entity or what ever the man in the all seein eye wants ta call him......Us ....me ...You I mss kenyon!! Yeah miss Kenyon yer burnin me up love./,,,! SOrry i meant marry here an have lots of autistic children and live on my own in disneyland wiv the angry birds... Miss kenYon i wuv yu.  Labels.Labels .Labels we all got LABELS. Toxic


----------



## Virtual Blue (Aug 6, 2013)

*The Place Beyond the Pines* - best movie I seen this year. unexpected. love the direction and the stories and mythology associated the past...man, i wish they make more of these.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 6, 2013)

started to watch Oblivion but had to sack it off cos of tom cruise and the story being shit.

cool effects though


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 6, 2013)

Despicable Me.

I lolled, fairly hard at times. Minions FTW!



Want to go to the cinema and watch the 2nd one but it would be me, a 31 year old man, on my own


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 6, 2013)

I've been to see Up! and Toy Story 3 on my own!


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 6, 2013)

Actually, looks like there's a late showing at my local cinema, less kids at least.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 6, 2013)

*Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)*

Shite never sleeps.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 7, 2013)

Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat

Quite funny. So 80's you could almost taste reagans penis but not too bad despite that. Carradine features

The two child actresses were appalling as was the father of them, and ma not much better

There was a western sensibility about the fights but it sort of worked. Never going to watch again but was worth the time. 6 out of 10


----------



## Sue (Aug 8, 2013)

Land of the Pharaohs. Howard Hawks does Ancient Egypt with Jack Hawkins, Joan Collins, James Robertson Justice and a William Faulkner script... Random probably sums it up.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 8, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> I've not been watching many films, hot weather and all that but night before last watched Between the Canals. Frances Lengel recommended it.
> 
> Sorry Frances, it was rubbish.


 
Nah you're wrong. Minter, this film.


----------



## JimW (Aug 8, 2013)

The Octagon said:


> Despicable Me.
> 
> I lolled, fairly hard at times. Minions FTW!
> 
> ...




Saw this over last Christmas, fortunately had the niece and nephew as cover. It was excellent.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 8, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> *The Place Beyond the Pines* - best movie I seen this year. unexpected. love the direction and the stories and mythology associated the past...man, i wish they make more of these.


 

Watched this last night. Bit long, bit slow, bit boring. Decent story though, the name made me expect a horror of some sort. Should have really checked what it was about before watching it


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 8, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Nah you're wrong. Minter, this film.




Oh no I'm not. 

Maybe we need another opinion. Not that I'd wish it on anyone else, but at least it's only 74 minutes of someones time.

Anyone fancy taking up the challenge?


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2013)

I have a copy of it, but no time at all i'm afraid. Maybe over the weekend.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 8, 2013)

I'm sure you'd be an acceptable judge.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 8, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I have a copy of it, but no time at all i'm afraid. Maybe over the weekend.


 
Don't trust him, it's ace. And when you've watched that, give King of the Travellers a spin as well.


----------



## JimW (Aug 9, 2013)

Watched Byzantium, Neil Jordan vampire thing. Not usually my sort of thing but it was there to download. Enjoyable enough, decent turns all round if a bit silly as vampire things tend to be.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 9, 2013)

JimW said:


> Watched Byzantium, Neil Jordan vampire thing. Not usually my sort of thing but it was there to download. Enjoyable enough, decent turns all round if a bit silly as vampire things tend to be.


 
Terrible terrible acting by the older female vampire ruined that for me.


----------



## pissflaps (Aug 9, 2013)

she can ruin me any day of the week.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 9, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Terrible terrible acting by the older female vampire ruined that for me.


 
Reminds me that last night I was watching _The Woodsman and the Rain.  _The Woodsman wasn't a very good zombie


----------



## JimW (Aug 9, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Terrible terrible acting by the older female vampire ruined that for me.


 
She does kill the bloke who played the vicar in rev though, which tickled me for some reason.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Aug 9, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Watched this last night. Bit long, bit slow, bit boring. Decent story though, the name made me expect a horror of some sort. Should have really checked what it was about before watching it


 

the film dips slightly, mid story wasn't as strong but picks up with 'the sons.'
nah, if you were expecting a horror, that was a no-no!!

have you seen Evil Dead remake?
That's worth it...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 10, 2013)

Lumet's The Verdict. Starring Paul Newman, written by Mamet, so plenty of pedigree.

I'd never seen it before. Newman was terrific in it. The story is nothing special really. A simple underdog story with redemption at the centre, but featuring some great performances and excellent dialogue which lift it right up and keep it tense and interesting. It's an 80s film, but was certainly a hangover from the 70s in terms of style. Well worth the time!


----------



## pissflaps (Aug 10, 2013)

The Great Gatsby.

We lasted 25 minutes.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 10, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> The Great Gatsby.
> 
> We lasted 25 minutes.


 
Well done....


----------



## Voley (Aug 10, 2013)

Berberian Sound Studio. Now this was good. Plot all over the fucking place (still not entirely sure what happened at the end), Toby Young very good as someone visibly going under, some very disconcerting treatment of melons and a claustrophobic soundtrack/atmosphere that was proper fucking weird. Will watch it again sometime when I'm not so stoned - it may or may not make more sense.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 11, 2013)

Toby Young


----------



## moonsi til (Aug 11, 2013)

Finished watching The Pacific. I enjoyed it and plan to check out some of the books the men wrote.


----------



## Voley (Aug 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Toby Young


 Whoops. Bit out of it last night.


----------



## la ressistance (Aug 11, 2013)

The last gladiators. Docu on Netflix about ice hockey enforcers. Stunning.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 12, 2013)

Pacific Rim.

Just a little bit too much visual clutter on  the screen to make this one truly great, and the backstory was sketchy, but it did exactly what it said on the tin. We who read literary sci-fi will continue to look down on those who consume it in visual form, but occasionally something half decent will get through the net.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 14, 2013)

Kill list - delightful dark comedy concerning two bumbling but loveable hitmen who come a cropper whilst on a jaunt in the countryside.


----------



## magneze (Aug 14, 2013)

Watched loads recently.

*Searching for Sugarman*
Excellent documentary about an unknown, dead American singer who was big in South Africa but nowhere else and a group of fans from there who tried to find out more about him. Well worth watching.

*Neighboring Sounds*
Brazilian film about a set of people all living together on the same street/apartment block and the new group of security guards that look after them. Intriguing all the way through with some quite mysterious back-stories to some of the residents.

*Trance*
A stolen painting goes missing and a hypnotherapist is employed to help find it. I'd not heard of it before but it's directed by Danny Boyle. I really liked this, especially the way you become less sure about what's really happening.

*Midnight's Children*
Film version of the Salman Rushdie book (which is very good). It's stays pretty close to the text and is a very watchable film due to the fantastic story. The first hour drags a bit but then it's fine - it could have been better cut for sure. The lead actor is kinda rubbish though - everyone else acts him off the screen.

*Side Effects*
It's about the side effects that a woman experiences after taking an anti-depressant and the drastic changes that happen in her life. The plot is all tied up with medical and research ethics. Excellent.

*Splice*
Passable Sci-Fi Horror which doesn't take itself too seriously. The scientists are the most inept since Prometheus (yes, I know Splice came first but I watched Prometheus before this). Some of the bits of plot you can see from a mile away. Having said all that, it does have some interesting ideas around genetic engineering and the surrounding ethics albeit in a somewhat ham fisted way.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm just going to talk about things I want to have happened on screen

Wolverine- Wolverine acts like a total don and shreds lots of people while discovering his true nature

Alpha Pappa- its alan on the big screen. that will do

run out of steam now


----------



## Virtual Blue (Aug 14, 2013)

*Trance* - poor effort. cheap and tacky like a C5 movie.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Aug 14, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)*
> 
> Shite never sleeps.


 
This was on telly on Sunday and I was looking forward to it but the fucking thing has a 



Spoiler



absolutely _ridiculous_ happy ending


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 14, 2013)

First episode of S4 of Arrested Development.
Bit disappointing. Not many laughs. They always take a few to kick in though


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 14, 2013)

magneze said:


> Watched loads recently.
> 
> *Searching for Sugarman*
> Excellent documentary about an unknown, dead American singer who was big in South Africa but nowhere else and a group of fans from there who tried to find out more about him. Well worth watching.


 
It's actually better than you make it sound - to the point where I would not only recommend it to everyone else, but have sought out the man's music.

Also, the man's fate makes for some surprises. . . which I won't spoil for you. Just watch it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 14, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> First episode of S4 of Arrested Development.
> Bit disappointing. Not many laughs. They always take a few to kick in though


 
Don't think of it as an episode.   The whole series is actually one episode that fits together bit by bit.  It's good.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 14, 2013)

I think that I've just seen the best film ever. Pain and Gain. I am not kidding.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 14, 2013)

The latest Michael Bay?  
Do tell us more!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 14, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I think that I've just seen the best film ever. Pain and Gain. I am not kidding.


When it was over did you go camping?


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 15, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> The latest Michael Bay?
> Do tell us more!


 
That was the funniest film i have seen in some time. Not sure i've seen any of his before. This was excellent Miami Blues style black comedy - top notch.


----------



## yardbird (Aug 15, 2013)

Elephant
Campus killings - strangely almost ethereal


----------



## JimW (Aug 15, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> That was the funniest film i have seen in some time. Not sure i've seen any of his before. This was excellent Miami Blues style black comedy - top notch.


 
Got that on download to watch tonight, wasn't expecting much but now I'll be after you if it's not laugh-a-minute!

ETA Watched one called Iceman last night, "true story" about a mafia hitman late 60s, 70s. Bit pointless really, I like the lead actor (played the agent who goes off the rails in Boardwalk Empire) and his thing here is he's a family man outside the unusual job, which he performs with no mercy, but while he's a convincing enough turn don't feel like you get much insight into what remains a pretty sordid story.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 15, 2013)

JimW said:


> Got that on download to watch tonight, wasn't expecting much but now I'll be after you if it's not laugh-a-minute!
> 
> ETA Watched one called Iceman last night, "true story" about a mafia hitman late 60s, 70s. Bit pointless really, I like the lead actor (played the agent who goes off the rails in Boardwalk Empire) and his thing here is he's a family man outside the unusual job, which he performs with no mercy, but while he's a convincing enough turn don't feel like you get much insight into what remains a pretty sordid story.


 
I saw a documentary about him a few years back (and he's referenced in Pain and Gain). Odd chap who just sort of moved into killing as part of career progression.


----------



## Sue (Aug 15, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> That was the funniest film i have seen in some time. Not sure i've seen any of his before. This was excellent Miami Blues style black comedy - top notch.



Interesting. Sounds like a bit of a change from his usual blockbuster stuff. Will keep an eye out for this.


----------



## JimW (Aug 15, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I saw a documentary about him a few years back (and he's referenced in Pain and Gain). Odd chap who just sort of moved into killing as part of career progression.


 
Yep, that was it - he kills around 100 people before he gets caught. Presented in this film as made an offer he can't refuse when he runs into the mob boss one day when he's working packing porn movies. They spot he's fairly unflappable and reckon he'll make good killer material. Just don't think the fact that a lot of crims aren't psychos, just doing what they see as a job is enough of a revelation to hang a biopic on.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 15, 2013)

JimW said:


> Yep, that was it - he kills around 100 people before he gets caught. Presented in this film as made an offer he can't refuse when he runs into the mob boss one day when he's working packing porn movies. They spot he's fairly unflappable and reckon he'll make good killer material. Just don't think the fact that a lot of crims aren't psychos, just doing what they see as a job is enough of a revelation to hang a biopic on.


 
I found the Iceman a bit flat, although I did really enjoy it. TVs had cornered the market in these types of stories and has more time to tell them. I would have liked to have seen more of the story as there is a lot more of it to tell than we get in 90 minutes of film time.


----------



## JimW (Aug 15, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I found the Iceman a bit flat, although I did really enjoy it. TVs had cornered the market in these types of stories and has more time to tell them. I would have liked to have seen more of the story as there is a lot more of it to tell than we get in 90 minutes of film time.


 
Good point about the TV - a longer series could have made more of the whole social milieu (get me!) which was the more interesting side rather than the killings, which TBF they did downplay anyway by and large.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 16, 2013)

blairsh said:


> Breathless
> 
> Korean film about a cunty debt collector, thought it was really good & pretty brutal


 
I've got a choice of

_Breathless_
_Antique Bakery - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antique_(film))_
_Desire to Kill (Joogigo Sipeun aka Enemy at the Dead End) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Desire-Kill...qid=1376662350&sr=8-1&keywords=desire+to+kill_


Think it'll be _Breathless _or _Desire to Kill _


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 16, 2013)

Pain and Gain.

I did not find it as hilarious as Butchers but it was still good. The Rock has some of the best lines


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 16, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Pain and Gain.
> 
> I did not find it as hilarious as Butchers but it was still good. The Rock has some of the best lines


 
You nee to watch it_ ten times _before the true beauty within makes itself known. How can you not love a film with the line _Don’t be a Don’ter! – Do be a Doer!!_


----------



## blairsh (Aug 16, 2013)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I've got a choice of
> 
> _Breathless_
> _Antique Bakery - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antique_(film))_
> ...


Well, i thought breathless was great, plus lots of swearing in Korean


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 16, 2013)

Petrol Bombs and Peace: Belfast today


Can't believe theres still peace walls in the disputed turf of the ardoyne.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Aug 17, 2013)

The Wolverine - wasn't expecting much, and wasn't disappointed. Jackman's a great Wolverine all right, but the character can't really carry a film single-clawedly without a decent ensemble to play off. I'm already struggling to remember much of the plot, but it concluded with a big and obvious battle with a giant robot for some reason. I'm pretty sure this film was comissioned before anyone actually wrote a script for it.

Still better than the Wolverine Origin movie though, that was fucking terrible.


----------



## tufty79 (Aug 17, 2013)

three miles north of molkom. one of my top happymaking films.


----------



## Grandma Death (Aug 17, 2013)

The House I live In. Fucking brilliant but depressing nevertheless


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 17, 2013)

5 Souls

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1737795/

Couldn't make head nor tail of it TBH.

And Evidence

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/evidence_2013/

Which was alright. And I sussed who the baddie was going to be.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2013)

Taken 2

Liam Neeson goes ape. Again. And kills loads of vaugely eastern european sorts. Istanbul setting, lovely skyline on that place


----------



## magneze (Aug 19, 2013)

*Stalker*
Tarkovsky (of Solaris fame) Sci-Fi. At almost 3 hours long, we watched it in two sections. Very philosophical and intense and definitely film as art IYSWIM. The plot is: there's a rumour that there is a room inside a place known as the Zone where wishes come true. Only some people, known as Stalkers, can guide normal people there. The film is about three men (1 Stalker and 2 normal people) who make the journey. I liked it. Apparently there is a Geoff Dyer book about the film which I've now added to my list of books to read.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Aug 19, 2013)

Bit of Tron. Is it even meant to be a film? What's it supposed to be?


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 19, 2013)

Le Petit Soldat.

A deserter from the French army in Algeria is employed by a right-wing intelligence outfit in Geneva. They do not trust him, and order him to assasinate somebody. Things proceed to develop badly for him, and his target.

Godard's second film, after Breathless, but before he decided that boredom was revolutionary. Interesting that this was the first French film to explicitly deal with the Algerian war though - filmed in 1960, it was banned for three years by the French state.

Also, I've been catching up with the last season of the Sopranos. Nice to watch a bunch of trash wallow in squalor of their own making.


----------



## JimW (Aug 19, 2013)

I did watch that Pain & Gain thing the other night and while maybe not rating it quite as highly as Butchers did it was pretty good entertainment and very funny.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2013)

I think the stand out line for me is when pesci threatens to tell jesus what the Rock has been up to and he says 'you aint telling jesus nothing' while force feeding pesci booze


----------



## maya (Aug 19, 2013)

magneze said:


> Stalker- Tarkovsky


IIRC the film is based on a well-known (Soviet era) russian science fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, called 'Roadside Picnic'. The novel is rated highly in SF circles apparently, personally I thought it was a bit dull though (but who wouldn't find a book a bit dry after watching Tarkovsky's cinematic masterpiece!), you might want to check it out regardless- If so, the library will be your friend.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2013)

and also

'What happened to you was unamerican'

from that bloke who has made a career out of playing 'retired marine corps'


----------



## sojourner (Aug 20, 2013)

We watched the film of Fahrenheit 451 last night. I have one word which sums it up perfectly: appalling. 

Any scenes of unbearable tension that were in the book were drained to within an inch of their lives in the film. Points were missed so badly that they ended up being almost comedic genius. I did wonder whether, in the initial meeting, the following conversation was had:

"You know how, like, the book is, like, the most brilliant book ever written? Well, and you'll love this, how about we make the shittest film of it ever produced and directed?" *rounds of applause from a drink-sodden group of idiots*

Bob's favourite bit was the colours they used. Mine were the moments of unintentional hilarity. 

Woeful.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 20, 2013)

I like Cyril Cusack in it, though.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 20, 2013)

Sunday I watched Machete.
Most enjoyable.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 20, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I think the stand out line for me is when pesci threatens to tell jesus what the Rock has been up to and he says 'you aint telling jesus nothing' while force feeding pesci booze


 
Not Pesci, Tony Shalhoub - channeling Pesci but with a lot more intelligence and cunning rather than just violence. The bloke he was playing was later jailed for multi-million pound fraud. So maybe not that intelligent and cunning.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 20, 2013)

Epic - highly enjoyable jungle borrower romp for kids but hey, we liked it


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 20, 2013)

sojourner said:


> We watched the film of Fahrenheit 451 last night. I have one word which sums it up perfectly: appalling.
> 
> Any scenes of unbearable tension that were in the book were drained to within an inch of their lives in the film. Points were missed so badly that they ended up being almost comedic genius. I did wonder whether, in the initial meeting, the following conversation was had:
> 
> ...


 
Nice shots of some flats near the beginning I seem to remember though. Probably not enough to redeem the film but.


----------



## JimW (Aug 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Not Pesci, Tony Shalhoub - channeling Pesci but with a lot more intelligence and cunning rather than just violence. The bloke he was playing was later jailed for multi-million pound fraud. So maybe not that intelligent and cunning.


 
"You're a very hard victim to like" was another top line.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2013)

JimW said:


> "You're a very hard victim to like" was another top line.


 
Watch it again, there are so many nuggets. Trust me


----------



## JimW (Aug 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Watch it again, there are so many nuggets. Trust me


 
I have kept the file as I thought it will definitely stand a re-watch, which is already a big thumbs up given the crappy disc space on this laptop.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2013)

Good lad


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2013)

in a wierd meta thing I just realised the bloke who plays the PI is in fact the leader of the marines turned merc in the film 'The Rock'

snake eats own tail


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2013)

It's not him either.

Edit: it flippin is


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> in a wierd meta thing I just realised the bloke who plays the PI is in fact the leader of the marines turned merc in the film 'The Rock'
> 
> snake eats own tail


 
How does a bloke being in different films mean anything beyond that?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> How does a bloke being in different films mean anything beyond that?


 

the film is called the Rock. The Rock plays one of the three baddies in Pain and Gain. Retired badass marine plays another retired badass. It all fits a greater puzzle. In my head.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> the film is called the Rock. The Rock plays one of the three baddies in Pain and Gain. Retired badass marine plays another retired badass. It all fits a greater puzzle. In my head.


 
Don't you forget it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> It's not him either.
> 
> Edit: it flippin is


 

excellent, I was right and you were wrong. I shall savour this victory. Like a dog with a bone


----------



## 5t3IIa (Aug 21, 2013)

Rock Star. Do like that Wahlberg doing his wide-eyed Dirk Diggler act, and some nice turns from Aniston (as usual), Spall and him out of The Wire but but some real dud bits with no story, gayness, no swearing for R-rating, I guess? but loads of tits.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 21, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> the film is called the Rock. The Rock plays one of the three baddies in Pain and Gain. Retired badass marine plays another retired badass. It all fits a greater puzzle. In my head.


More to the point they are both Michael Bay pictures.


----------



## Me76 (Aug 21, 2013)

Watched Sightseers yesterday. Quite enjoyed it.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Aug 21, 2013)

_Jiro dreams of sushi_

It made me very hungry.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 21, 2013)

*District 9*

Good film for a first time director, interesting story and I liked that the main character remained a dick almost right up til the end.

Suitably gory / actiony too. Only weirdness was the 'Nigerians' aspect, it felt a little jarring considering the undertone of the rest of the film.


----------



## belboid (Aug 21, 2013)

Me76 said:


> Watched Sightseers yesterday. Quite enjoyed it.


I met Steve Oram, the lead guy, from Sightseers at Beacons festival at the weekend. He likes his whisky and his Wire, sound as a pound.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2013)

belboid said:


> I met Steve Oram, the lead guy, from Sightseers at Beacons festival at the weekend. He likes his whisky and his Wire, sound as a pound.


 
Watch Pain and Gain rather than enjoying yourself.


----------



## JimW (Aug 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Watch Pain and Gain rather than enjoying yourself.


 
Michael Bay's giving you back-handers to astroturf, admit it


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2013)

JimW said:


> Michael Bay's giving you back-handers to astroturf, admit it


 
Bought a bumper pack of that stuff they have in those huge plastic bottles - the dream is about to happen


----------



## JimW (Aug 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Bought a bumper pack of that stuff they have in those huge plastic bottles - the dream is about to happen


 
Doing what a doer does, not moaning like a negative don'ter like me.


----------



## belboid (Aug 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Watch Pain and Gain rather than enjoying yourself.


but it's Michael Fucking Bay!!

I'll take a chance tho, seeing as it's you.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2013)

Tried to watch the new Wolverine film but had to sack it off cos it was a shit download and the 'japanese onarable' cliches did my head in.

still I've got the new star trek to watch later so all is not lost


----------



## Sue (Aug 21, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Tried to watch the new Wolverine film but had to sack it off cos it was a shit download and the 'japanese onarable' cliches did my head in.
> 
> *still I've got the new star trek to watch later so all is not lost*


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2013)

I like skiffy. Do not judge me. Else I'll come round your house and shit on yer vinyl


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2013)

I'll bring Tank with me as well. You don't want to see a house after Tank has had his way


----------



## ringo (Aug 22, 2013)

belboid said:


> I met Steve Oram, the lead guy, from Sightseers at Beacons festival at the weekend. He likes his whisky and his Wire, sound as a pound.


 
Does he still live in Herne Hill? I knew him through some mates who shared a house with him years ago, I used to do parties for them. He was singing in a punk band then too, we went to see them once but I was a bit battered and can't really remember it.


----------



## maya (Aug 22, 2013)

*Baba Yaga (1973)*, psychological Giallo horror thriller without the usual violence but featuring much unmotivated and gratituous nudity...

Young Valentina (played by the lovely and wispily doe-eyed but rather anaemic Isabelle de Funès) is a professional fashion photographer, who one day gets drawn into the web of a domineering and eccentric older woman, the mysterious Baba Yaga (great performance by the fine Carol Baker).

Against her will she falls into this woman's spell, and things get increasingly tense and much eerie signs of psychic power manifests itself in her surroundings, which naturally frightens the poor creature a little bit, since it's all so scary and...'unnatural.'

After much rumination with her male colleague and love interest over a coffee establishes that there _is no such thing_ as a witch, and that this sinister voodoo-hoodoo with portents, miniature dolls dropped off at her studio suddenly coming to life in human form and dream-visions of sapphic pleasures MUST indeed be _just_ a coincidence, she seemingly can't bear it all any longer and does meet up with the older lady at her (suitably witchy) house.

There is a rather marvellous sequence where she can't hold back the repressed desires any longer and masturbates alone on an old wrought iron bed, cross-cut with an abstract modernist black-and-white dream sequence which the director in the mini docu to be found later on the dvd quotes as "the only good thing about the film", which he considered a failure due to the fact that "he wanted a sexier, saucier actress to play Valentina but got fobbed off with de Funès", whose body he describes in rather unflattering language (can't see anything wrong with it myself, but- _gasp!_- shockingly misogynist sentiments revealed from the producer's side all round, what a suprise... anyway-)

He does redeem himself slightly however, by admitting that Caroll Baker is indeed "a fine actress", only to regain his "please punch me in the face" snotty look by adding that she was "at least a decade too old for the role", and about how they didn't _look quite right_ together something-something, which could be discussed endlessly I guess- this is NOT a sex film anyway, or indeed a very sexy film (although some scenes are quite sensual, although briefly, and there is some sort of vague chemistry going on between the two of them, mostly due to Baker's undeniable charisma and strong screen prescence perhaps... But, still.)

It is however quite psychologically apt at least during the first half, where true insights are shown about the complications of repressed same-sex desire and its psychological consequences... This alone however, does not a good film make. But- it has its moments, in among the bad taste (and there's lots of it- including a ghastly decorated Scooby Doo-style witch mansion with ugly wood panelling and tasteless leather upholstering, plus _very_ ugly chandeliers... If you want to feature chandeliers in a film, please select nice-looking ones, ferchrissakes.)

Also- the fantastically misogynist ending/demise of at least one of the characters which I shan't mention here to spoil it for anyone who despite the obvious cheesefest this is still want to see it (and- compared to much worse atrocities, this is still a 'good' bad film, not a total abomination against the celluloid medium), I guess the whole thing is a product of its time and of a deeply conservative society, although of course if _I_ was to choose the ending, I'd opted for a more Barbarella-like "winner takes it all" solution, but... that's just me. I'd like to see Carol in more films now though, so I guess something good came out of it.

Anyway, here it is: [trailer- NSFW]



(For comic book aficionados, it's worth mentioning that the film is based on Guido Crepax' well-known and long-running 'Valentina' comic book series, in this case the stand-alone album of the same name [Baba Yaga]... Apparently very popular with italian women, this mastodont feuilleton spans several decades both of Crepax' artistic life and that of the eponymous character, a young woman called Valentina. During the series' run we follow her literally from birth to old age, chronicling especially her inner thoughtworld of dreams and desires, sexual awakening and maturing as a woman, relationships and so on. Phew- Apparently his straightforward portrayal of these subjects struck a chord with readers during the 60s/70s where many of these matters still were a bit taboo in well-furnished homes, and there's a loyal cult following of the series still today. Kudos to him, although after briefly flicking though a few of the books I sort of feel he objectifies the character a bit too. But I don't deny the impressive effort he underwent to publish this lifework of stories...)

If this wasn't enough, someone high up in entertainment offices (-"produced by Silvio Berlusconi'- !, lol  ) saw fit to revive the whole thing a decade later as the glossier, eighties bubblegum with a 'telenovela'* feel 'Valentina' TV series, this time based on a wider range of Crepax' books. Bafflingly, the main character is in fact not italian at all, but the american actress Demetra Hampton, whose impressively coiffeured bob and sullen look does counteract her at times more puzzling 'acting' (see example no. 2 below). Since I haven't personally seen the series in its entirety, I'd just like to mention for the few of you who bothered to follow through my steaming pile of incoherent waffle all the way to this sentence, that- hooray!- for those of you who are secret nerd completists and who for reasons only known to our fellow kind, actually _enjoy_ such things as compare different versions of a work, that thankfully this 1980s version does feature an episode especially based on- yes, you guessed it- Baba Yaga. So... If you want, you can track down both these outstanding works of incredulous camp and actually _compare them_. (- Yay!  )

OK, I shall leave you with the images now, hopefully that will speak for itself  :


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 23, 2013)

Now You See Me.

Mega-bucks one trick pony. Loses way during the 1st 3rd and doesn't recover. Descends into average cat and mouse chase film. Ends on a 'twist' that is pointless and unbelievable.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 23, 2013)

*The Keep*  - very early, rather embarassing outing from Michael Mann. A sort of reworking of the Golem myth with a surprisingly upscale cast (Ian McKellen, Jurgen Prochnow out of Das Boot, Gabriel Byrne), truckloads of dry ice, slathered in early synthesisers. Unfortunately the points raised by setting this during WWII are hammered home unmercifully, the SFX are appalling, and the Golem is a terribly unconvincing man in a rubber suit. Worth it for late night giggles but little more.


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## maya (Aug 23, 2013)

.


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## Nanker Phelge (Aug 24, 2013)

Pain and Gain. Jesus....I thought it would never fucking end. It started out great, plenty of potential, a crime comedy of errors with plenty of humor and some great performances (the rock is very funny!)....but after an hour it was dragging it's feet and by the 2 hour point I just wanted the fucker to end. It just became a loud, vacuous, slapstick mess that spiraled beyond itself.

All credit to Michael Bay for having a crack at something smaller, but edit, man, edit!!!!!!!


----------



## Ponyutd (Aug 24, 2013)

*The Conjuring*
I'll have to watch it again to critic it. I certainly felt refreshed when I woke up after it finished though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 24, 2013)

Alphaville.

Godard meditates on the alienating consequences of modern, technological society, a society with inherently fascist potential.

It's a sci-fi film without special effects. Instead, ugly modernist buildings of 1960s Paris stand in for the planet Alphaville. Eddie Constantine stars as tough-guy secret agent Lemmy Caution.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Aug 24, 2013)

*The Battery (2012)* Road movie, about two blokes wandering around trying to avoid the lumbering zombies lurking about in post apocalyptic rural New England. Directed, written by and starring Jeremy Gardner who has done a decent job here, especially for the ultra low $6000 budget, nice soundtrack too.


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## maya (Aug 24, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> slathered in early synthesisers


Say what you will about Michael Mann, at least he had the foresight to ditch the usual lazy soundtrack path of just cherrypicking popular songs from the charts or drag along some maestro to mickey-mouse the action with a boring string score- He actively commissioned original music for the early films and successfully so, [teutonic synth band] Tangerine Dream's work in particular works very well with the visuals- I do rate 'Thief', for example. I know some people who consider him a genious and while I don't agree with that I think he at least briefly was on to something. Perhaps I'm clouded by retrofetishist nostalgia (and yes, although very young I _did_ live though the 80s and remember how crap it was), but I think many of even the bad films from that decade still stand out above much of the awful dross that's churned out now- At least most actors back then still looked like real people and not all like slick airbrushed botoxed-up plastic surgery patients posing for every scene like some hideous parody of post-milennial narcissism (okay, sorry this must be the second most pretentious post I've ever written on urban- kind of takes the sting away from my own criticism when this post itself is even more narcissitic than the phenomenon I tried to scrutinise... Balls.)

And yes I know Tangerine Dream aren't exactly considered very 'edgy' electronics, but a lot of their 80s soundtracks are very listenable and although cheesy I meet more and more new musicians who actually rate some of their stuff- Listen to the opening track of their OST for 'Shy People' for instance, and marvel at their unexpectedly wise decision to persuade an ageing anonymous disco diva type vocalist into the studio crooning over the track and give the best performance of her career:


----------



## maya (Aug 25, 2013)

More Giallo, this time arthouse style- Atmospheric but tense (as the mystery of the heroine's memory loss slowly unravels into the final scene where you suddenly realise what's been going on, only then it's too late-) Oh, and a very brief cameo by Klaus Kinski. And... astronauts. Win.


----------



## blossie33 (Aug 25, 2013)

I watched a documentary about Steve McQueen that came as a second disc with Bullet in a box set I have which is interesting. There was another special on the disc which I hadn't watched before all about film editing (nothing to do with McQueen films) which I found extremely interesting. It explained how editing began during the silent film era and went on to explain different techniques and interviewed well known directors and film editors and fine editor demonstrated how he edits. I never appreciated what an involved and time consuming job it was and how important it is to producing a good film. Fascinating.


----------



## magneze (Aug 25, 2013)

*Kontroll*

Saw that a few others on this thread had liked it so thought I'd give it a go. It's definitely multi-genre - comedy, thriller, drama about ticket inspectors in the Budapest underground system. Loved it, brilliant film.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 25, 2013)

1) Gods and Monsters. Tony Ronisnsaon enjoys himself detailing the history of staking and corpse mutilation in britain. best bit where he is roleplaying an injured man on the floor and shouts 'Away from me you alduterouse whore!' and evereyone looks a little a little shocked at how into it Tony was getting

2) Precision: the mass of all things.

A fascinating look at the ultimate Kilo which is still held in france and clones of used as the basis to loads of countries weights and measures. Apparently its decaying- alas! so there are alternatives in developement including a kilo of pure silicon that they are counting atom by atom to discover precisely how many atoms in a pure kilo of silicon- mental.

3) Americas Stoned Teens

A look at medical marijuana's affects on the teen smoking population of the states.

Quite good. Hugely biased as its a beeb newsnight thing, so their idea of balance is shoehorning the establishment viewpoint in heavily and in the final third of the program


----------



## discokermit (Aug 26, 2013)

queen to play (joueuse). sandrine bonnaire as a chess playing cleaner. some mention of class, including a short discussion on jack london's 'martin eden'. corsica is beautiful. so is sandrine bonnaire.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 26, 2013)

Blood and Flowers: The Aztecs

good long documentary, filled with loads of fascinating asides and beautiful photography. Like how the main city wa actually built by a far older people but they squatted in it and rebuilt it. And how the idea of the Aztecs of a particularly bloodthirsty civilisation should be put in the context of that when Cortez found the place, the inquisition was in full swing and people were massacring each other in england in the name of god. Seems a bit relativist, but made me think.

On Jupiter


Did what it said on the tin, some great 'Jupiter is so massive' stuff. Great to see the shoemaker levy explosions again. Suspect Jon Hurt of narration but could have been any RP really.



The Pig Farm: Robert Pikton


The heartwarming tale of how a serial killer managed to murder 20 odd women through the serial incompetence of the police and the help of addicts he surrounded himself with. And, lets face it, because the police don't generally expend much time looking for missing streetwalkers 


a mixed bag imo, the best of them was the aztec one


----------



## magneze (Aug 26, 2013)

*Avatar*

Only the second time after seeing it at the cinema in 3D. It's great in 2D too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 26, 2013)

Also watched 'The Earths Evil Twin'

which was all about venus and was basically an object lesson in what happens to planets who are outside of the Goldilocks band. First the solar wind strips yer goodness, your poor magnetic field can't stop that and next thing you know you have an atmosphere of cloud made of battery acid and a volcanic surface racked by skyscraper sized  lightening bolts and corriolis winds that no windsock could measure


----------



## marty21 (Aug 26, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sightseers

Sightseers - a British Black Comedy about a pair of serial killers - was pretty funny - and violent - quite enjoyed it.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 26, 2013)

belboid said:


> I met Steve Oram, the lead guy, from Sightseers at Beacons festival at the weekend. He likes his whisky and his Wire, sound as a pound.


I enjoyed the film, he is great in it

'you can have anything in the shop, as long as it is under a tenner '


----------



## la ressistance (Aug 26, 2013)

mwgdrwg said:


> _Jiro dreams of sushi_
> 
> It made me very hungry.



I wish netflix would put that on uk. I'm desperate to see it


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 26, 2013)

I've just signed up to Netflix to get Breaking Bad mainly, but it's got fuck all else on it. None of the films I want to watch and where is Community and Mad Men? 
Glad I can cancel any time.


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## discokermit (Aug 26, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I've just signed up to Netflix to get Breaking Bad mainly, but it's got fuck all else on it. None of the films I want to watch and where is Community and Mad Men?
> Glad I can cancel any time.


did you sign up for the yank version?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 26, 2013)

Don't think so as it keeps trying to get me to watch British tv programmes


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## discokermit (Aug 26, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Don't think so as it keeps trying to get me to watch British tv programmes


i downloaded something so netflix couldn't tell where i was, then i used a us zip code. mad men is on there.
though i choose to watch old episodes of the rockford files instead.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 26, 2013)

Well it ain't on the UK version


----------



## purenarcotic (Aug 26, 2013)

There's also an extension for Chrome which makes it think you're in the US too.


----------



## discokermit (Aug 26, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Well it ain't on the UK version


you shoulda researched a bit first. dunno how you can change it. maybe register again and cancel the old account?


----------



## discokermit (Aug 26, 2013)

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/get-us-netflix-hulu-etc-in-the-uk.305916/


----------



## maya (Aug 27, 2013)

Great selection(s) as always, DotCommunist - You should have your own film blog or something, I'd definitely read it. 

(*where do you find all this stuff? is it just d/l or actually dvd's? our local record/media store just stocks ultra crappy blockbuster bollocks... urgh.  )

Last night I watched "Fatherland", a very straight film version of the book of the same name by Robert Harris- Set in an alternate history 1960s where the Reich won the war and Hitler is still very much on top, a loyal german detective from the _Kriminalpolizei_ happens to stumble over a strange case involving a drowned party member, something which unravels a whole nest of political intrigues, scandals and hints at something more sinister and mysterious- Something which happened during the war... I remember really I enjoyed the first 2/3rds of the book when I read it (it sort of loses it a bit at the end and becomes all about the flight), but this film had the misfortune of brutally breaking the spell of my long-lasting Rutger Hauer crush (I fancied him to bits in Blade Runner when I first saw it @14, anyway here plays the main character the policeman), since I was a bit disappointed about how off-sync his performance was in relation to almost all the other actors he came across... I do love a bit of pouting and posing from him as always, but he just disappointed a bit and showed next to no range. Not that surprising TBH, but I just wanted him to be good and sort of cheered him on, but he just kept on and on with the odd stuff and I feel ROBBED and betrayed 
((( Rutger )))


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 27, 2013)

maya youtube docus or else tv catch up or else via torrent. Youtube is infested with loondocus but theres gold in that thar river of shite

have you read Archangel by Harris?

breathtakingly arrogant book


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 27, 2013)

*King of Devil's Island* - it was on BBC4 on Saturday and might still be on iPlayer.

Gloomy, slightly overdone, but beautifully shot and acted movie about a brutal penal colony for 'maladjusted' adolescent lads on Bastoy Island in Norway in 1915 - and the boys' uprising which led to the Army being called in. Basically it's _Scum (_or perhaps _Papillon) _set in Edwardian Scandinavia, which doesn't sound too promising, but Stellan Skarsgard's in it (always a good sign) and the production designers manage to wring a surprising amount of beauty out of a bleak and freezing reform school setting. Some of the frames look like Vilhelm Hammershoi paintings.

If prison-break movies or Spartacus-like accounts of uprisings against unjust systems are your bag you might like it. Mostly I just watched it feeling a sympathetic shudder of cold (at all the snow) and the odd gagging noise (at their diet of buckets and buckets of rotting fish.)


----------



## maya (Aug 27, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> maya youtube docus or else tv catch up or else via torrent. Youtube is infested with loondocus but theres gold in that thar river of shite
> 
> have you read Archangel by Harris?
> 
> breathtakingly arrogant book


Ah, cheers- My aggravatingly slow laptop thing can't handle streaming/ d/l'ing of any kind, though, it's too bloody slow! Like a flashback of mid-90's creaky dial-up modems, sometimes a normal page/pic takes AGES to load... I need proper anger management 
Haven't read Archangel as I remember, hope the library can track it down, they're usually good at such stuff (even popular lit). Used to have 'Enigma' by him, but forgot it at an airport somewhere...Not a huge loss, but annoying (not knowing the ending of a book)

Anyway- films!  For tomorrow I have scheduled: 'Transamerica' on dvd (which seems allright, kind of a down-key understated roadmovie about a pre-op male-to-female transperson (decently played by Felicity Huffman) having to meet and come out to his estranged adult son (who's looking for his father, but finds a mother) for the first time, then they hit the road... Not much really happens, but quite a lot goes on at the same time too, important I vaguely remember having watched it once, but on TV late at night when not quite sober and quite liking it... so now I'll watch it a second time. Which is allright with me. I liked it.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Aug 28, 2013)

My Piece Of The Pie - Cédric Klapisch movie on Netflix.

Part set in Dunkirk, part in London and part in Paris. Excellently written drama about a single mother who works as a cleaner for this twatty city boy who relocates from London to Paris, and she then discovers her old longstanding factory job in Dunkirk was lost because of his flippant financial dealings resulted in it getting shut down.


----------



## yardbird (Aug 28, 2013)

Wire in the Blood
Three parts of S5
I've been working my way through it from S1. Not bad at all.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2013)

Documentary about the student movement in Quebec:


----------



## Ted Striker (Aug 28, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I think that I've just seen the best film ever. Pain and Gain. I am not kidding.


 

Just watched this, though following (during) a post carnival K session. My immediate thoughts were pretty similar to yours 

It was only the Mr Chow characters inclusion that made me sure it was a comedy.  Mark Wahlberg body shape looked all kinds of weird, and I paused it as I assumed it would be preparing the finale, and saw only 20 minutes had passed. It is bizarrely odd and wonderful! Just (seemingly) random scene/plot thread after random scene/plot thread 

Need to see it with a straight head again!


----------



## discokermit (Aug 28, 2013)

JimW said:


> Got that on download to watch tonight, wasn't expecting much but now I'll be after you if it's not laugh-a-minute!
> 
> ETA Watched one called Iceman last night, "true story" about a mafia hitman late 60s, 70s. Bit pointless really, I like the lead actor (played the agent who goes off the rails in Boardwalk Empire) and his thing here is he's a family man outside the unusual job, which he performs with no mercy, but while he's a convincing enough turn don't feel like you get much insight into what remains a pretty sordid story.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 28, 2013)

Ted Striker said:


> Just watched this, though following (during) a post carnival K session. My immediate thoughts were pretty similar to yours
> 
> It was only the Mr Chow characters inclusion that made me sure it was a comedy. Mark Wahlberg body shape looked all kinds of weird, and I paused it as I assumed it would be preparing the finale, and saw only 20 minutes had passed. It is bizarrely odd and wonderful! Just (seemingly) random scene/plot thread after random scene/plot thread
> 
> Need to see it with a straight head again!


 
I'm watching it again tonight.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 28, 2013)

Ted Striker said:


> Just watched this, though following (during) a post carnival K session. My immediate thoughts were pretty similar to yours
> 
> It was only the Mr Chow characters inclusion that made me sure it was a comedy. Mark Wahlberg body shape looked all kinds of weird, and I paused it as I assumed it would be preparing the finale, and saw only 20 minutes had passed. It is bizarrely odd and wonderful! Just (seemingly) random scene/plot thread after random scene/plot thread
> 
> Need to see it with a straight head again!


 
I re-watched it the other night with Froggy and it turns out Wahlberg does get some cracking lines

He's doing a nieghbourhood watch meeting and handing out pepper spray and tasers. As a role-play thing he offers his model girlfriend to play the part of the victim then asks the audience who wishes to play the part of rapist. two dozen male hands shoot up in the air

'woah woah I only need one. This is not a gang rape'


I mean, thats just so fucked up.


----------



## discokermit (Aug 30, 2013)

they cut the victims faces off with pliers and a blade. lol.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 31, 2013)

Catch Me If You Can.

Not last night, watching it later.  Doesn't make sense...not really a Spielberg fan and I've little time for Tom Hanks.  DiCaprio is ok (but Walken I can watch all day long).

This shouldn't be my kind of film but this will be the third time I've watched it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 31, 2013)

The Woody Allen documentary - very good, as it happens.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 1, 2013)

_A Kiss Before Dying - _Probably not quite in the top division of noir but still very much worth watching. It looks absolutely fabulous.

_Crime on a Summer Morning_ - French crime flick, sadly not all that good. It's not terrible but it's all a bit predictably and while it's not terrible it's not handled well enough to make it worthwhile.

_The Strange Love of Martha Ivers_ - Pretty good, all the main cast are good and the first two thirds of the film are very strong, the ending is somewhat weaker but it's still enjoyable enough.


----------



## white rabbit (Sep 1, 2013)

House Of Cards (Netlix version) _again_. These episode just don't get old for me. The Ian Richardson version was good and had to exist so this one can stand on its shoulders, but this one is so well made.


----------



## Voley (Sep 1, 2013)

Totally ace documentary about people's interpretations of _The Shining_. Probably not of much interest if you don't like the film / Stanley Kubrick but I thought it was brilliant. Some of the theories range from vaguely convincing (there's a subtext about the genocide of Native American Indians) to utterly barking (the film is Stanley Kubrick's confession to hoaxing the moon landings). Fittingly, this film is about a lot more than Jack Nicholson chasing Danny round with an axe but I can't really go into that atm as the spoiler code's not working.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2013)

Surely you can spoiler a classic?


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 1, 2013)

True Grit.

Not bad - I don't think the Coen brothers could do anything really terrible - but really it's just a glorified Mary-Sue story. I was surprised at Matt Damon though, surprised by how good he was as the Texas Ranger.

The landscape of the American west also played a key role.


----------



## Voley (Sep 1, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Surely you can spoiler a classic?


Nah. I wanted to discuss what this film is about, not The Shining. Can't do it without giving too much away really.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2013)

O i c


----------



## magneze (Sep 1, 2013)

*Oblivion*
Really good Sci-Fi film. One or two bits don't quite hang together, but it's overall a really nice dark dystopian story. As is so often with Hollywood, needs to end 5 minutes earlier.


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 1, 2013)

Mud.

Huckleberry Finn with a dirtbike.

7.5/10


----------



## Yetman (Sep 1, 2013)

Inglorious Basterds - Great stuff. Too long, and nicely horrible in places but a great film otherwise.


----------



## white rabbit (Sep 1, 2013)

Margin Call. Made for peanuts in a few weeks but with a great cast. Paul Bethany, Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto. Blood on the floor (not literally) as trading firm finds out they're in deep shit and trading at a loss.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2013)

Hello white rabbit! Loooooong time no see!


----------



## belboid (Sep 3, 2013)

Pain & Gain.

What satire there is is totally lost beneath the crass and cheesy stylisation and the obnoxious misogyny and (comparatively mild for Bay) homophobia. A film for 15 year old boys.


----------



## magneze (Sep 3, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> Margin Call. Made for peanuts in a few weeks but with a great cast. Paul Bethany, Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto. Blood on the floor (not literally) as trading firm finds out they're in deep shit and trading at a loss.


Good film.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 3, 2013)

* Hors de Prix (2006) *French rom-com starring Audrey Tautou as a Holly Golightly character.


----------



## electroplated (Sep 3, 2013)

Scenic Route

Surprisingly enjoyable - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2012011/


----------



## Yetman (Sep 3, 2013)

Shit! Just found the TED talks on Netflix! That's me locked to the couch for about 100x20minute intervals...

Also, I watched this:



Excellent stuff. Great how the guy totally doesnt want to know but still does everything necessary to try and understand why he's suddenly started seeing spirits and angels and weird shit coming out of the sky.


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 3, 2013)

^ utter horseshit lol

"you're not going to figure this out by intellectually thinking about it"

yeeaah.


----------



## maya (Sep 3, 2013)

Noticing Crispy 's thread about the resurrection of The Mysterious Cities of Gold, I started to think of this other french animation series which i love even more-

This is the series that defined my childhood- summer holiday mornings, alien french with subtitles, awsome storylines about a many-layered multiverse inside the earth... different stratas resembling ancient cultures, an intelligent talking spaceship, children of a dying sun creating an AI messenger, discordian pirates swooping between the stratas trying to mess things up and capture our heroes (and always bursting into extremely catchy songs), every episode presented a different alien world-culture which featured some sort of oppression or social problem which the main characters tried to solve...

Imagery and scenarios are often reminiscent of Moebius, but instead of outsourcing the production to japan etc. the producers decided to keep it french, and therefore some of the animation is a bit sub par compared to japanese anime of the same period- This however doesn't distract from the sheer brilliance of the world-building, episode scenarios, memorable cultures and characters you come across in this series... I have never seen anything like it before or since. After watching this, we felt everything was possible.


----------



## starfish (Sep 3, 2013)

About half of El Topo (The Mole) before ms starfish just couldnt take its totally what the fucking fuck bizarreness any more, thought it was just mad shite & turned it off. We may go back to it though as we have not deleted it.


----------



## belboid (Sep 4, 2013)

Winter's Bone.

Seen it before, but its still a superb film, Jennifer Lawrence and the grossly underused (elsewhere) John Hawkes are just brilliant.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 4, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> ^ utter horseshit lol
> 
> "you're not going to figure this out by intellectually thinking about it"
> 
> yeeaah.



What you think he's lying?


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 4, 2013)

Yetman said:


> What you think he's lying?


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 4, 2013)

belboid said:


> Winter's Bone.
> 
> Seen it before, but its still a superb film, Jennifer Lawrence and the grossly underused (elsewhere) John Hawkes are just brilliant.



Hawkes grossly underused? you must be joking. he's been telly and film's go-to creepy psycho backwoodsman for years now. Agree with you about his talent and Winter's Bone as a film tho. (btw if you like Hawkes he's never been better than in Martha Macy May Marlene IMHO. truly spine chilling.


----------



## belboid (Sep 4, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> Hawkes grossly underused? you must be joking. he's been telly and film's go-to creepy psycho backwoodsman for years now. Agree with you about his talent and Winter's Bone as a film tho. (btw if you like Hawkes he's never been better than in Martha Macy May Marlene IMHO. truly spine chilling.


He's mainly used in shit tho - MMMM, Winters Bone, and the wonderful Me & You & Everyone We know excepted for film, and Deadwood & Eastbound & Down on TV.  That isnt that much, is it?


----------



## Yetman (Sep 4, 2013)

pissflaps said:


>








You haven't even watched it have you...


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 4, 2013)

world war z ...zzzzzz.  Bloody rubbish that were!  crap zombies, crap cast, crap film, crap crap crap


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 4, 2013)

why should i? that's what trailers are for.

i have absolutely no compulsion to believe that anyone's claim to being a receptacle for the fantastical is nothing more than self regarding horseshit, and for that reason,i'm out.

/i imagine this is what poor old Joseph Smith went through.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 4, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> world war z ...zzzzzz.  Bloody rubbish that were!  crap zombies, crap cast, crap film, crap crap crap




but they swarm well

that's not much of a recommendation is it really?


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 4, 2013)

First few episodes of Children of the Stones

I don't know whether I saw it when it was first on but it's excellent for what it is


----------



## purenarcotic (Sep 4, 2013)

Breakfast At Tiffany's. 

Hepburn could wear a brown paper bag and still ooze style.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 4, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> but they swarm well
> 
> that's not much of a recommendation is it really?



Aye like zombies on wizz


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 4, 2013)

I am glad zombies have sped up a little bit in recent years. They were getting boring.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Sep 4, 2013)

Suns Of Easter Island (1972) - obscure French sci-fi about a group of people who feel drawn to visit Easter Island at the same time for some mysterious purpose. Some great locations used.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 4, 2013)

DJ Squelch said:


> Suns Of Easter Island (1972) - obscure French sci-fi about a group of people who feel drawn to visit Easter Island at the same time for some mysterious purpose.



Sounds suspiciously familiar...


----------



## DJ Squelch (Sep 4, 2013)

Yeah, did make me think of Close Encounters.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Sep 4, 2013)

Haul from Blackpool HMV four for £10 sale...

Bond (BluRay) : Dr No, From Russia With Love, Thunderball, Live & Let Die, For Your Eyes Only
Boxsets: Lost S2, Sinbad S1, Curb Your Enthusiasm S4 and S5, Prophets of Science Fiction, Rock and Chips

Also found Rocko's Modern Life in a pound shop

So far ignored all that and started on my S2 of Stargate SG1 that I got in the market just before catching the train home


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 6, 2013)

Been watching lots of Magic City (series set in a Miami casino in 1959 at around the same time as Michael Corleone's storyline in G2), old eps of Quantum Leap and micro budget horror films on Netflix (they help me sleep!).


----------



## Dillinger4 (Sep 6, 2013)

I watched Marat / Sade last night. The final scene is one of the most powerful I have seen in anything.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 6, 2013)

Jack Reacher.

Well..I suffered about 40 minutes of it, does that count?


----------



## white rabbit (Sep 6, 2013)

Dillinger4 said:


> I watched Marat / Sade last night. The final scene is one of the most powerful I have seen in anything.


Is there a version of this apart from the Peter Brook production with Patrick Magee and Clive Revill (and a young Glenda Jackson)? I agree it's a tremendous play, but I thought that recording of the stage production was rather flat.

The dialogue between Marat and de Sade about freedom and control is fascinating. I love the longer title as well, _The Persecution and Assassination of Marat As Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade_. Brilliant.


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 7, 2013)

The Keep

WTF


----------



## Dillinger4 (Sep 7, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> Is there a version of this apart from the Peter Brook production with Patrick Magee and Clive Revill (and a young Glenda Jackson)? I agree it's a tremendous play, but I thought that recording of the stage production was rather flat.
> 
> The dialogue between Marat and de Sade about freedom and control is fascinating. I love the longer title as well, _The Persecution and Assassination of Marat As Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade_. Brilliant.



I have no idea. That is the one I watched. I have been watching a lot of theater on film recently. I might do a thread about best film adaptations of theater.


----------



## maya (Sep 7, 2013)

Dillinger4 said:


> [some of the] best film adaptations of theater.


* Herman Melville’s ’Bartleby The Scrivener; A Story Of Wall Street’, filmed as ’Bartleby’ by Anthony Friedman in 1974 starring Paul Scofield.

* Jean Anouilh’s modern version of ’Antigone’, filmed in 1974 starring the lovely Geneviève Bujold (all hail canadians!)

* Terry Gilliam’s version of Baron Münchhausen’s Adventures (loosely based on the story), filmed in 1988.

* The earlier, more fantastic version of Münchhausen, filmed as ’Baron Prasil’ by the Czech animation genious Karel Zeman in 1961.

* A  Swedish animation film based on Shakespeare’s the Tempest, called ’the Journey to Melonia’, voiced by- among others- a young (soon-to-be popstar) Robyn as Miranda (credited as ’Robin Carlsson’), also featuring a giant Golem made of vegetables(!) :


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 7, 2013)

maya said:


> * Jean Anouilh’s modern version of ’Antigone’, filmed in 1974 starring the lovely Geneviève Bujold (all hail canadians!)



I'm rather partial to Pasolini's version of _Medea_.


----------



## Me76 (Sep 7, 2013)

Watched 'My Week With Marilyn' today. Nice and sweet.


----------



## 8115 (Sep 7, 2013)

Beasts of the Southern Wild.  Started off brilliant, thought it was going to be a proper survivalist film, went off the boil in the second half, lost the atmosphere and the story and I couldn't really be arsed with it too much. 6/10.


----------



## maya (Sep 7, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> I'm rather partial to Pasolini's version of _Medea_.


It looks fantastic, haven't seen that one... Thanks  I always think of Pasolini when I listen to early Coil albums for some reason- their song 'Ostia (the Death of Pasolini)' is about his murder... 

I seem to be watching loads of italian films at the moment, for some reason... No conscious choice, just end up finding these films I've been meaning to watch for years and years but never got round to before now...

Last night I saw Fellini's 'Juliet of the Spirits', which I to my surprise actually enjoyed (although started out pretty predjudiced against the film, because I don't like Fellini that much), and ended up being actually moved by the end. I think it was the familiar themes of fear of abandonment, escape into fantasies and dream-worlds, being haunted by the past, and so on- that resonated a lot with me on a personal level. Part of it almost felt like it was about me... And although the imagery is a bit too baroque and borderline tastelessly camp (unavoidable in italian films of any era, they were the original Romans, after all-  ), there's some absolutely stunning visual moments- Like the artificial 'flames' made of coloured paper engulfing her in her flashbacks to a catholic childhood, etc... Many memorable moments in there, and the score (music/soundtrack) works really well alongside the images too. One of the best films I've seen by him, actually. I'd rate this above his more obvious 'classics'- it's got a certain dreamy, surrealistic quality to it but also a subtlety and a playfulness which feels almost whimsical- the little treehouse style lift which she has to enter to get up in the air and towards her dreams, and so on and so on- Probably all very symbolical, there must be lots of little signs and symbols in there which I didn't spot the first time around, must watch it again now to see if I can perhaps find more meaning in it... Anyway, it was a good film.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 7, 2013)

Caveman - Didn't expect much and got about what I expected. OK jaunt, nice and short. Shelly Long looked . . . swit swoo.


----------



## Voley (Sep 7, 2013)

Looper. Enjoyed that, by and large. Nothing amazing but worth a watch.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 8, 2013)

Contagion.

Soderbergh directs, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law and Elliot Gould star in this disturbing tale of a global pandemic. It's really, really good, one of the best films I've seen in a long time. I strongly recommend it - even if it will leave you resolved to make sure you wash your hands properly in future.


----------



## magneze (Sep 8, 2013)

Ip Man

Brilliant kung-fu film about Bruce Lee's grandmaster. Apparently some of it is true, but I'm not sure how much. Good film nevertheless.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 8, 2013)

magneze said:


> Ip Man
> 
> Brilliant kung-fu film about Bruce Lee's grandmaster. Apparently some of it is true, but I'm not sure how much. Good film nevertheless.


Got a sequel to look forward too.


----------



## magneze (Sep 8, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> Got a sequel to look forward too.


Have you seen Ip Man 2? Any good?


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 8, 2013)

I have, but in all honesty i can't recall anything at all about it! Which means it was neither crap nor fantastic i suppose...


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 8, 2013)

magneze said:


> Have you seen Ip Man 2? Any good?


Yes, it is just as good.  Ip Man zero is a bit rubbish though.


----------



## belboid (Sep 8, 2013)

A Dangerous Method.

Knightley being 'hysterical' was rather annoying, but otherwise pretty decent film, the two handers with Freud & Jung especially.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 8, 2013)

belboid said:


> A Dangerous Method.
> 
> Knightley being 'hysterical' was rather annoying,



Only annoying? It sounds unbearable.


----------



## magneze (Sep 8, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Yes, it is just as good.  Ip Man zero is a bit rubbish though.


This one? "The Final Fight"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2495118/?ref_=sr_2


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 8, 2013)

No there was another one about when he was young, can't see it on imdb.  Might not have been done by the same people.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 8, 2013)

Tower Block - difficult to love or hate this film really. Some great performances in a pretty pointless film which tests credibility to the absolute limits.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 9, 2013)

Sequel is good too.
But please, skip the 3rd.
Tedious...


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 9, 2013)

World War Z - not as bad as I thought it'd be. It didn't go as political as I expected. They spoke of Korea, US, North Korea, Israel and Wales! Would had been better if it was more detective and less action.

Star Trek. Into Darkness - too much action and it got boring at times. Nice tit shots and that's about it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 10, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> Nice tit shots and that's about it.



To give the chippy posho his due, Cumberbatch does photograph well.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 10, 2013)

They Live By Night - a surprisingly fresh-feeling yet gloomy film noir made by Nicholas Ray in 1948. It's pretty slight (young crim and his girlfriend go on the lam with tragic results) and not stunningly art-directed .... not a cliched venetian-blinds and femme-fatale -ridden detective thriller, more like a very early version of Bonnie & Clyde before the fact. Both the lead actors are amazingly good-looking, the script's surprisingly tough (including *SHOCK* hints at abortion, police corruption and an insider code in the criminal world) and overall the thing just feels more modern and less wooden than lots of this sort of stuff. It's sort of a Damon Runyon (?sp?) sort of milieu but less amusing.

Also interesting for a beautiful sexy cameo by Marie Bryant, whose brief turn as a nightclub singer burns through the screen, and some teriffic period gangsta names, including a character called Chickamaw and another named "T-Dub" - in 1948!


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 10, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> To give the chippy posho his due, Cumberbatch does photograph well.



He saved the film imo.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 10, 2013)

Oblivion - reminded me of an episode of The Regular Show where they are in space.


----------



## white rabbit (Sep 10, 2013)

I've started on season 3 of Boardwalk Empire. I've been quite gripped by it so far, but I'm finding this one difficult to get into. Tedious, even.


----------



## Phenol (Sep 10, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> I've started on season 3 of Boardwalk Empire. I've been quite gripped by it so far, but I'm finding this one difficult to get into. Tedious, even.


 
You must stick with it - the season finale is fantastic.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 10, 2013)

I watched Shifty for a second time. Loved it...again


----------



## Yetman (Sep 11, 2013)

Now you see me - though this was great  Clever and interesting, though a few obvious bits. 

World War Z - kicks off right from the outset. Great stuff. Seeing people contorting themselves and slamming their heads into stuff was highly entertaining, I like the new style of zombies


----------



## maya (Sep 11, 2013)

This intriguing litte danish short film about the history and (european) discovery of the potato, starting right off with Andean myths of the mother-potato giving birth to all life, the universe and the earth... I finally found this film after having watched it only once on TV during summer holidays in denmark in 1989 or something- I remember my brother and I laughed and laughed at the scene where humanity finally discovered how to make potato liquor and several sailors sit on a pier and drink until they all fall over into the water all neatly in a row... I guess we were easily pleased back in those days. But it is a unique little film, I like the animation style (reminiscent of the style of their great cartoonist Deleurean who used to draw a lot of 'historical' comics around the 70s/80s, IIRC- i'm pretty sure he did the artwork here too). And the music is by one of the great danish rock/composer legends, Anders Koppel- this time in a more mellow synth-blip mood... Splendid.  I'm so glad I found it again!  (even though I don't understand much danish-  it's very cute when they speak, it sometimes sound like they've stuffed a potato down their throat-)


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 11, 2013)

maya said:


> This intriguing litte danish short film about the history and (european) discovery of the potato



That's very sweet, but completely wrong in terms of science.

Here's the _real_ story of the potato:


----------



## maya (Sep 11, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> That's very sweet, but completely wrong in terms of science.Here's the _real_ story of the potato:


Heh...  It's pretty bang on re: the political and social history though, whcih is what the film is really about... Of course they didn't intend people to take the (fictional, for the film) 'origin myth' _literall_y, it was meant more as a poetic/folkloric flavour I suppose, and as a red thread throughout the film... I reckon even young kids watching are pretty capable of understanding that (we did, and we weren't that bright either but it was pretty obvious, I guess  ) Science is fascinating though- somebody should dedicate a whole 'serious' episode of some programme to delve deep into the fascinating peculiarities of this little bulbous lump, that'd be interesting!


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 11, 2013)

Song of Ceylon - a 1934 British documentary directed by Basil Wright, made for what was then the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board. Not exactly gripping stuff, it's more like paleo-documentary making in its pace (and it's nearly 50 mins long), but really rather arty in the cross-cutting and montage techniques and particularly some really innovative use of sound. It's a bit surreal, almost like musique concrete or Dada in places. 

These days you tend to think of Sri Lanka in terms of tropical cliche, or gory war footage, both of which are usually in hyper colour. But this is B&W and rather beautifully shot.  It's exclusively about Sinhala life and culture - the Tamils, Muslims and other minorities don't really get a look-in - and the odour of the British Empire hangs thick about it. But interesting for seeing what Sri Lanka looked like in the 1930s (bloody lovely really, palm trees and rickety wooden trains all over the place) and for some observational sequences of 'real life' (like how to climb a coconut palm or kit yourself out for ritual dance) .


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 11, 2013)

Twins of Evil, on the horror channel last night. Can't imagine how they came up with the title.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 11, 2013)

FYI:

MUBI has a new iPad app out, and they're offering 7 days free trial on all platforms - no card details required.

Afterwards it's £2.99/month or £23.99/year to stream.

If you refer friends you can earn them 30 day free trials, and yourself a month's free streaming.

https://uk.mubi.com/films/ <--- Not my referrer code, just a link to the main page


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 12, 2013)

May Kasahara said:


> Twins of Evil, on the horror channel last night. Can't imagine how they came up with the title.


----------



## belboid (Sep 12, 2013)

May Kasahara said:


> Twins of Evil, on the horror channel last night. Can't imagine how they came up with the title.


a classic, tho not quite as good as Lust for a Vampire.

I've been watching the Hammer House of Horror series over the last few nights.  There has been some dreadful shite, but a couple of real classics (House that Bled to Death, Silent Scream).


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 13, 2013)

Manhattan.

I was worried this would be 90 minutes of Mr. Konigsberg perving over 17 year old Mariel Hemingway, but the scenes where they're in bed together resemble the bedroom life of an old married couple more than anything else - the sort of couple whose relationship has long since been drained of anything erotic. Which is perverse in its own way I suppose.  New York is the real star of the movie, of course, and in many ways this is a better movie than Annie Hall. Keaton's character, here, just seems more real than in AH.

Gangster Squad.

Pacific war veteran Josh Brolin recruits a team of gunslingers to clean up late 1940s Los Angeles.

Good fun - at first I thought it was going to be just a bog-standard Maverick Cop movie, but it gets better than that. Still vastly inferior to the likes of the  _Big Sleep _or _Key Largo, _mind. Sean Penn's act as LA gangster Mickey Cohen is more of a turn than a performance, but the gangster squad themselves are pretty bad-ass. Like True Grit, this is a movie the average US conservative can admire, but it's worth 113 minutes of your time all the same.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 13, 2013)

synchronicity strikes ... saw GANGSTER SQUAD night before last, but did. not. like. Penn is a caricature, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are just there for eye candy and rolling about in bed a bit, there's no real story, and it's obviously priding itself on being 'tough' but just ends up being noisily, bluntly violent rather than actually shocking. was expecting to really like it but it just did nothing for me.

last night was a double bill of misery with AMOUR - which I've been avoiding watching for over 2 months because I was sure it was going to be a massive downer (which is was, Haneke, ageing, death, dementia, duh) and a rewatch of CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (Zhang Yimou.).

 The former I didn't rate nearly as highly as all this 'masterpiece of cinema' hype had it, I can see why people responded to it ... the subject's not often done, the acting is amazing, the deliberately deadpan, off-rhythm style works well to make this a grown-up, moving drama rather than a soap shocker. But to me it wasn't anything like the devastating milestone in cinema some people claimed it was. (maybe if you've already witnessed a few relatives go gaga, be cared for at length and deteriorate remorselessly it's all a bit too familiar, though.)

The latter I'd seen before, and thought it was a rather creepy fascist spectacle, with Zhang Yimou just going all out for the wildly elaborate production design and cast-of-thousands battle type stuff. (In parallel to all the other stuff I'd read or heard about how he's sold out all his original artistic integrity to choreograph elaborate fascist spectacles for the Communist Party these days, like, um, the Beijing Olympics, which he was clearly using this film as a dress rehearsal for.) But on a second watch it's got a lot more going for it: the themes of oppression, dictatorship, and rebellion are expressed forcefully through the claustrophobic Imperial menage, and Gong Li does another great turn as a character who's a vicious queen b*tch at some moments and a heartbreakingly courageous victim at others. I think it would even be possible to read this movie as a critique of totalitarianism, if you were that way inclined.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 13, 2013)

I get what you mean by 'no real story'. It was very obviously made for the computer game generation, and is an empty spectacle all in all. I just thought it was a bit of fun that's all - you'll note I judged it harshly by comparison with the crime films made in its putative era. 

This new Zhang Yimou sounds good. You remind me that I haven't seen any of his more recent flicks, nor anything with Gong Li in it either.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 13, 2013)

Generally it's true that his career is an example of the law of diminishing returns. um, but perhaps his creativity was being channelled into other outlets...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/09/zhang-yimou-seven-children-claims-china


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 14, 2013)

The Arrival Of Wang. Italian sci fi. Quite tense, good lighting and sound design, good performances. I hesitate to say I liked it though because it was quite depressing and I am already feeling quite depressed.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2013)

'Arrival of Wang' 

I watched the first quarter of riddick but sacked it cos I thought the film seemed to good to put up with a shitty cam job. Watched Peaky Blinder instead which I enjoyed, not rave-review but good.


----------



## Voley (Sep 14, 2013)

May Kasahara said:


> The Arrival Of Wang. Italian sci fi. Quite tense, good lighting and sound design, good performances. I hesitate to say I liked it though because it was quite depressing and I am already feeling quite depressed.


Epic title if nothing else.


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 14, 2013)

I think the only reason I recorded it was the epic title  Film would have been improved by more nob jokes, in fact.


----------



## belboid (Sep 14, 2013)

_Wall-E_.  I find it hard to believe it came out five years ago, and that I still failed to watch it until now.  A gem.

Followed swiftly by _Drag Me To Hell_. Which was really rather rubbish, sadly.

Finished off with _The House That Dripped Blood_. Early 70's horror portmanteau movie, with a couple of strong segments and a couple of silly ones.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Sep 15, 2013)

Why is the X Files film so shit. It could have been good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 15, 2013)

The Dark Knight Returns Part One (animated).

Good enough.  55 year old Wayne returns to fight a gang who'e taken over Gotham.  Nolan took some of this for his trilogy.  Part two features the Joker, looking forward to it.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 15, 2013)

Mud -sort of Stand By Me type coming of age film which you know afetr watching that if it was on again you would watch it and probably recommend it to others.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 15, 2013)

_Starlet -_ Been meaning to watch this since Reno recommended it on here and I wasn't disappointed. Really really good, I won't bother repeating everything he said because he's already said it far better than I could but I totally concur with his recommendation.

(Also for trivia the young lead is a great-granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway)


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 15, 2013)

I tried watching that _Shutter Island _last night, and turned it off after 35 minutes. Dreadful, dreadful stuff.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 15, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I tried watching that _Shutter Island _last night, and turned it off after 35 minutes. Dreadful, dreadful stuff.


Agreed, saw the twist coming in the first five minutes.   Expected better.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2013)

I've downloaded the three good series of Spartacus: blood and tits

working my way through 'Gods of the Arena' at the moment. forgot how pumped slo mo fight scenes scored by heavy metal makes me feel


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 16, 2013)

This is the End....Seth Rogen apocalypse film, which was okay. It held my attention for longer that Simon Pegg's The World's End.


----------



## magneze (Sep 16, 2013)

On The Waterfront
Marlon Brando attempts to stand up to corrupt union bosses at the docks. The music was a bit annoying, but I guess that was the style at the time (1950s). Otherwise it was very good.


----------



## The Boy (Sep 17, 2013)

Sharknado and Orphans. The latter was better than the former, though possibly not as funny.

edit:  Actually, no.  It was also funnier.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 17, 2013)

COME SEE THE PARADISE - 1990 effort by Alan Parker of all people, starring Dennis Quaid, a soapy, sentimental, schematic, but still interesting historical epic looking at the turbulent life of a Japanese-American family during the 1930s. Includes a surprising amount of 'subversive' history of the US, including labor agitation, internment and racism. Some really good performances from the Japanese-American actors (the woman playing the old grandma figure should have been a major star), fabulous art direction, and some very impressive hat-wearing. Worth a go if you are mildly interested in this period but can't face anything too taxing.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 17, 2013)

The Arrow



Fictionalised account of the rise and fall of the Avro Arrow, the Canadian fighter jet that was years ahead of its time, but SPOILER was cancelled by a short-sighted Ottawa government.

Your feminist friends will appreciate the feisty lady engineer heroine. Particularly the bits where she looks ready to jump the test pilot's bones and have him there in the cockpit (hey, is that why it's called. . .)



> The Kate O’Hara character “was a fictitious person,” who actually represented the work done by close to 35 staff. And as Neal wrote his speech: “These people were almost exclusively male. Women with engineering degrees are scarce today, and they were even rarer in the ’50s.”



http://www.uofaengineer.engineering.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?article=71123&issue=70866

GOD DAMNIT ENGINEERING

Dan Aykroyd also stars.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 17, 2013)

The new Star Trek film (Into Darkness).

Not great, almost felt too linear, there was no building up of the supporting characters (Sulu and Chekov get relegated whilst Simon Pegg irritates).

And it's such a hugely unoriginal rip off of an earlier Trek film that it was laughable at times.

Decent action sequences, couple of good bits with Quinto, Pine and Cumberbatch.


----------



## inva (Sep 18, 2013)

Morocco
1930 film directed by Josef Von Sternberg starring Marlene Dietrich as a cabaret singer (with a great set piece act early in the film) who has to choose between Gary Cooper as a Foreign Legion soldier and a rich man acted by Adolphe Menjou. Deitrich's persona isn't fully developed in this early film in the cycle she and Sternberg made together, and the fairly mundane plot might be a mark against it, but the plot isn't really very important and it's all done in Sternberg's incredible visual style. A very good film.


----------



## starfish (Sep 18, 2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness.  Better than the first but that was true first time around.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 18, 2013)

starfish said:


> Star Trek Into Darkness.  Better than the first but that was true first time around.


I'm actually in tears.


----------



## starfish (Sep 18, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> I'm actually in tears.


How so?


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 18, 2013)

Sorry, wasn't meant to be insulting.   Just the way you worded it.

Still a bit in tears, though.


----------



## starfish (Sep 18, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Sorry, wasn't meant to be insulting.   Just the way you worded it.
> 
> Still a bit in tears, though.



Ah, i thought you meant tears of sadness not laughter


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 18, 2013)

starfish said:


> Ah, i thought you meant tears of sadness not laughter


heh!

I think Quinto makes a decent Spock, he's only had 2 shots at it so far, Nimoy has had...what...80?  Pine I don't like but same thing probably goes.  Don't mind Pegg either.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Sep 19, 2013)

The Bed Sitting Room

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064074/

Best post apocalypse film I've ever seen.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 19, 2013)

Guns of Navarone.

Richard Harris' cameo as an angry Aussie bomber pilot was probably the best thing in it.

Overall, better than I expected, and I had to go and check to see if it was based on a true story (it isn't, but it was inspired by the actual Dodecanese campaign:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecanese_Campaign )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecanese_Campaign


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 19, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Overall, better than I expected


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 19, 2013)

This is the End - I loved it. Really silly, crass, crude.

The World's End - okay until the final third. went all cheap and Doctor Who-ey.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 19, 2013)

The Dark Knight Returns Part 2.

This (part one and two) really is quality Batman....if you're looking for some, jump straight into this...top class.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 20, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> The Dark Knight Returns Part 2.
> 
> This (part one and two) really is quality Batman....if you're looking for some, jump straight into this...top class.



I didn't like part two as much as part one, the politics of it turned very dodgy indeed I thought.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 20, 2013)

Top class fascism.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 20, 2013)

After Earth - Watched it to see if it was as awful as everyone seems to think, it wasn't actually that bad. The script is formulaic, the acting is indifferent and while the direction has its moments the film appears to have been edited by a chimpanzee. It's still far from the worst film ever made though, not even the worst film I've seen this year. Jennifer Anniston has been in half a dozen worse films. And it doesn't even come close to stealing the title of Worst Script Ever from Prometheus.

I do think Jaden Smith's character should probably have taken a gun with him though, rather than just a pointy stick.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 20, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> I didn't like part two as much as part one, the politics of it turned very dodgy indeed I thought.


Nah.   If you look at Reagan and Superman in the second part, they're much worse than Batman.   The police are' a bit' heavy-handed too. 

See where you're coming from though.


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 20, 2013)

frank miller.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2013)

Original zod was so much better than concerned coupist bloodlines zod. Thats why I hat new superman. Original zod was just a cunt. This new zod displeases me.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2013)

also the 'army of cops' bit in DKR was the most reactionary shit I've seen on a mainstream film in ages


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 20, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Thats why I hat new superman.



Too much moral relativism for you? Or titfer tat, as you might say.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 20, 2013)

Ganja & Hess, a 70s black art film about a vampire, an interesting alternative to the usual blaxploitation films of the era.


----------



## Supine (Sep 20, 2013)

Brooklyn Nine Nine - New US comedy cop show.

Obviously pogofish would say "why does TV need another cop show, it's been done already". This is a comedy though, and not bad too


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2013)

Really don't get this Batman love, shit incoherent storytelling, boring action sequences and murky visuals. zzzzzzzzzzz


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Really don't get this Batman love, shit incoherent storytelling, boring action sequences and murky visuals. zzzzzzzzzzz


You've probably not even read/seen  The Dark Knight Returns.


----------



## starfish (Sep 21, 2013)

Currently watching Dear God No. ms starfish recorded it from the horror channel & watched it the other day. She kept as she thought i might enjoy it  Mad bikers go pillaging, take loads of drugs. Oh & theres lots of dancing girls.

eta I forgot to mention Bigfoot & Nazis too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> You've probably not even read/seen  The Dark Knight Returns.


The first two were enough. To paraphrase Will Self, does it turn into Tolstoy in the third film?


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> The first two were enough. To paraphrase Will Self, does it turn into Tolstoy in the third film?


Right.   Dark Knight Returns is an animated film in two parts based on the Frank Miller/Lynn Varley graphic novel.  Which you have obviously neither read nor seen, like I thought.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2013)

Your hardon for batman remains baffling


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Your hardon for batman remains baffling


Mask of the Phantasm, Under the Red Hood, Year One. Dark Knight Returns...all really good Batman movies (animated).   But if you don't like the core concept, I'd stick with Tolstoy.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 21, 2013)

I prefer Dostoievsky


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I prefer Dostoievsky


Very good.  Made me lol.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 21, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Right.   Dark Knight Returns is an animated film in two parts based on the Frank Miller/Lynn Varley graphic novel.  Which you have obviously neither read nor seen, like I thought.


So in order to get the Nolan films you need to read Miller's Comic? 

That rather backs up OU point that the storytelling is incoherent.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Sep 21, 2013)

I watched Oranges are not the only fruit last night.  I didn't see it when it was on telly years ago, and picked up a copy recently.


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 21, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Right.   Dark Knight Returns is an animated film in two parts based on the Frank Miller/Lynn Varley graphic novel.  Which you have obviously neither read nor seen, like I thought.



1) frank miller is a fascist tool

2)it's a comic book, not a 'graphic novel'

see, being a condescending arse is fun!


----------



## white rabbit (Sep 21, 2013)

Trance. Inexplicable. The story is basically that in the course of an art heist, the painting goes astray, the member of the gang who hid it got a bump on the head and can't remember where it is. He undergoes hypnotherapy to recover his lost memory. Then it becomes a game between the boss of the gang, the inside man and the hypnotherapist. Very twisty-turny, stretching credulity to breaking point. Danny Boyle handles the tension and interplay with confidence, but the story needed to be executed better, particularly the relationship between the three central characters.


----------



## blairsh (Sep 21, 2013)

Just watched Manborg

Struggling to find the right collection of words...homage to ridiculous 80s b movies (which i used to rather enjoy) about a man who comes back as 'Manborg' after Nazi demons from hell take over the world.

Comedy nonsense, insanely overboard, loved it


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> 1) frank miller is a fascist tool
> 
> 2)it's a comic book, not a 'graphic novel'
> 
> see, being a condescending arse is fun!


That's not condescension, dear.   That's just a trolly post looking for an argument.  

If you have anything to say about the movie Batman The Dark Knight Returns...or any other dvd/video you may have recently watched...this is the thread for you.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 21, 2013)

"Lifeforce" - 1985 zombie/vampire/sci-fi movie, with Jean Luc Picard and Harry Pearce


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 21, 2013)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "Lifeforce" - 1985 zombie/vampire/sci-fi movie, with Jean Luc Picard and Harry Pearce



bloody awful


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 21, 2013)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "Lifeforce" - 1985 zombie/vampire/sci-fi movie, with Jean Luc Picard and Harry Pearce


That reminds me - I got a copy of that about 6 or 7 years back from one of the better  DivX streaming sites before they all got closed down - never got round to watching it, will have to dig it out now


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> bloody awful


Yeah it was rather but I still enjoyed it!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 21, 2013)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Yeah it was rather but I still enjoyed it!



I watched a good 80s horror/sci-fi called Night of the Creeps the other day. It was very good. Comedy/50s homage/zombie/slasher/alien invasion flick.....spawned a sequal apparently.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I watched a good 80s horror/sci-fi called Night of the Creeps the other day. It was very good. Comedy/50s homage/zombie/slasher/alien invasion flick.....spawned a sequal apparently.


Oooh I shall look out for that one


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 21, 2013)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Oooh I shall look out for that one



on netflix


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 21, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> That reminds me - I got a copy of that about 6 or 7 years back from one of the better  DivX streaming sites before they all got closed down - never got round to watching it, will have to dig it out now



nowhere near as much nudity as the video cover suggested


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Sep 21, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> on netflix


Fantastic, that is where we found "Lifeforce"


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 21, 2013)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Fantastic, that is where we found "Lifeforce"



Home for lost and lonely films...


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2013)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "Lifeforce" - 1985 zombie/vampire/sci-fi movie, with Jean Luc Picard and Harry Pearce


Went to the cinema to see that...absolutely terrible, vampire aliens.

Needs to be mst3k'ed.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2013)

Blackout- one off docu-drama following what would happen if a cyber attack took out our whole national grid. Blended footage from phone cams with video footage etc. One point there was an APC on the streets and I swear that was tarted up NI footage from the day


Reefer Madness- cult classic disinformation program about cannabis. bit rubbish.

Peaky Blinders ep 2- getting better.

'Kings and Queens of England'-a run through the various inbreds, thugs, murderers and thieves who've occupied the throne of england

'The Day We Learned to Think- origins of cognition and the earlist known evidence of art etc


----------



## Me76 (Sep 22, 2013)

I switched Burlesque off after 50 minutes today. Can't believe I lasted that long tbh.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 22, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> bloody awful


Great tits though


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 22, 2013)

Tron Legacy. 
So much wrong with it and no where near enough right.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 23, 2013)

The Panic in Needle Park.

Kitty Winn (who looks about 12 in some scenes) plays a naive innocent who enters the world of Needle Park, a nest of New York junkies who include in their number one Al Pacino. 

Hang around the barber shop long enough and sooner or later you'll get your hair cut.So it is in our heroine's case: it's not long before she goes from "heroine" to "heroin" and prostitution as well. Yes, dear, pick a junkie as your boyfriend. That would be a good life decision for you. Yes.

The drug squad cop who pops up from time to time seems to know very well that his role in the then-new war on drugs is a Canute-like exercise in futility.

Al Pacino gives a very good performance, in fact the acting is really good all round. There's a very small role for Paul Sorvino, who would go on to be the father of the more famous Mira Sorvino.

I like these old movies from the very early 70s, it's something to do with the kind of film they were using at the time. The colours and textures are very like the French Connection for example. I'm also reminded of a family story: in the early 70s my aunt came to visit us in Canada, and she had to pass through New York to do it. My da sat down and wrote a long, stern letter warning her about how dangerous New York was, and she took umbrage at this.

Here's the trailer, which makes it look like "Love Story" meets "The Godfather", which it isn't really:


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 23, 2013)

*land of the lost (2 fousand and 9)* Der bluray version round someones house coz i aint got a one of me own. And yeah it looks good but its like when me hd freeview box asks me if i want ta watch bbc1 in hd and yer press ok and fer a second ya think wow thats clearer innit, but after a while ya dont give a ship wether its sd hd 720p 180p. Well i dont anyway! I hanker after days when ya used ta spend ages trackin yer video on an old vcr just ta get a good picture. Me owd vhs porn collection ones used ta have the lines and the bumpy picture, an it took real skill ta marry em up an get em right...... Anyway onta film, av seen it before and the bluray dint make a slight bit a differance coz i laugh me head of when he pours piss on himself but spend resta film moanin that Anna Friel shunt be in it ....


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 23, 2013)

The what now?


----------



## belboid (Sep 23, 2013)

Revolutionary Road.

Solid, if a bit dull in the end. Especially as it was all done rather better in Mad Men.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 23, 2013)

Dark City. 
Bit rubbish really.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 23, 2013)

This is the End

Started off coming across as a load of rich Jewish comics showing off how much money they've got, with their shit parties and celebrity mates. BUT after about 45 minutes it goes bonkers, and all the better for it 

Really funny as it went on, though there were a few scenes that were obviously improvised but didn't quite end up as funny as they could have been. 7.5/10


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 23, 2013)

Life of Pi - sugary excrement - unicorn shit, if you will


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 23, 2013)

History Boys


the bloke from Pie in The Sky is portrayed as a nonce.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 23, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Life of Pi - sugary excrement - unicorn shit, if you will



Mmmmmm. . . sugary excrement. . . mmmmm


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 25, 2013)

Countess Dracula. Enjoyed it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 26, 2013)

2010. 
An interesting sequel that feels so different and stand alone that it does not feel like a sequel, more of a very straight companion piece. In an odd way it feels like the book 2001 compared to the film 2001. 
I would also just like to point out that I think that 2001 is a bit overrated in anything other than a collection of 'visions of the future'.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 26, 2013)

SIDE BY SIDE - really not bad documentary presented by Keanu Reeves (He actually speaks! His own words! In more-or-less coherent sentences!) and all about what the digital revolution really means for film-making and for Hollywood.

It probably sounds very dull, lots of  behind-the-scenes moviemaking lizards contemplating their own navels, talking bollocks about the Art Of Film and droning on about their kit and machines. But it's really not like that at all. The star pull obviously helped to get them to talk to loads of properly good directors and directors of photography, (James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, Scorsese, Soderbergh, Greta Gerwig etc etc etc) who have genuinely interesting and provocative things to say about how films and the film industry will change as cameras shrink and editing gets ever more recuttable. Some lovely jokes/anecdotes/revelations about what it's actually like to work on big-budget SFX-heavy productions as well as dramatic arthouse stuff. It's funny and it's thought-provoking and worth a watch even if you are not a bespectacled intellectual film nerd.


----------



## white rabbit (Sep 26, 2013)

On The Road with Sam Riley and Garret Hedlund. I can see why people reacted with a shrug to this. It doesn't bring very much that the book doesn't already deliver, except that its cast add a patina of glamour to the telling. Blink and you miss them roles like Viggo Mortensen as William Burroughs, Steve Buscemi and Elizabeth Moss lifted the story. The road had to be part of the telling and the exhilaration of being free to move from place to place as well as to live by their own rules conveyed the sense of youthful optimism. Though I did ponder on how the young wondering and wandering Sal became the later hidebound drunk Jack Kerouac.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Sep 26, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> History Boys
> 
> 
> the bloke from Pie in The Sky is portrayed as a nonce.


Dirty fat twat.


----------



## belboid (Sep 27, 2013)

The Impossible.

True story of one families experience of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Perfectly well done, on the whole. and the twenty mins around when the wave actually hit were very powerful - so much so they used them twice.  But after that, there just wasn't much tension cos you knew (or were 99% sure at least) what was going to happen.


----------



## yardbird (Sep 28, 2013)

Run Lola Run
once more


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 28, 2013)

Goin' Down the Road.

Two Nova Scotian lads decide they'll try their luck in Toronto, and get more than they bargained for. Whoever made this must have watched a lot of Italian neo-realist flicks, and at times it's almost like a Ken Loach film.

One thing I liked is that even though it was made in the very late 60s (released 1970), virtually no one in it has long hair, in fact there are still loads of 50s style quiffs knocking about. We've been fed a nostalgic line about the 60s for decades, but films like this show something of the reality of that era, when the post-war boom started to stutter and die, and the crisis of the 70s approached.

And it turns out they made a sequel forty years later, but don't watch this trailer, because it contains a major spoiler for the first movie:


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 29, 2013)

Watched Cockneys vs Zombies cos ma wanted cheering up and I thought 'whats funnier than brick top vs a load of zombies?' also its nice to see Zoe out of eastenders getting some work.


----------



## Voley (Sep 29, 2013)

Beasts Of The Southern Wild. Jesus it was boring.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 29, 2013)

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Not truly dreadful, but still a bit shit.


----------



## magneze (Sep 29, 2013)

Point Break
It's a great film isn't it. Just ignore/laugh at Keanu Reeves acting though.


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 29, 2013)

'back off, warchild' is something i enjoy saying often.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 29, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> 'back off, warchild' is something i enjoy saying often.


Because your whole repertoire is just saying things from things.


----------



## pissflaps (Sep 29, 2013)

are you that starved for attention you're following me around threads to have a little poke now? bless.

do you want to wrestle? naked?

i'll bring the marge.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 29, 2013)

pissflaps said:


> are you that starved for attention you're following me around threads to have a little poke now? bless.
> 
> do you want to wrestle? naked?
> 
> i'll bring the marge.


Yep. I am. Let's see who wins.


----------



## magneze (Sep 29, 2013)

Pics or STFU


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 30, 2013)

Evil Dead 2

I think the film never truly tops the point where he puts his girlfriends possessed head into a bench vice and takes a chainsaw to it.

Is it supposed to be funny? cos I was laughing 90% of the time


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 30, 2013)

Ending was just straight up radio rental as well. Why did the vortex suck him back to medieval times? why did....well why did anything happen. The film is just incredible. They even used stop motion at one point for the final baddie. WTF man.


----------



## Voley (Sep 30, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Evil Dead 2
> 
> I think the film never truly tops the point where he puts his girlfriends possessed head into a bench vice and takes a chainsaw to it.
> 
> Is it supposed to be funny? cos I was laughing 90% of the time


Is that the one with the awesome Ernest Hemingway joke?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 30, 2013)

yes- farewell to arms or something

The film just makes NO SENSE AT ALL. There are tons of continuity errors.

wtf was going on there, it was just insane


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 30, 2013)

Things to Do In Denver When You are Dead- one of my favourites. Andy Garcia splendid in Italian suits as Jimmy The Saint, a barking mad Christopher Walkden and Steve Buscemi as a hit man.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 30, 2013)

I only made it half way through this one. It was unacceptably, direly mediocre, and even the presence of Brigitte Bardot could not save it.


----------



## avu9lives (Sep 30, 2013)

*After Earth (2013)* Will mate sort yerself out lad!  If your going to cast yer son as the main lead in a film make sure he takes a few acting lessons eh.  Otherwise he's gonna look a right dick... ta think sum poor sods gonna pay a tenner for  this when it comes out on dvd.  Youd probably have more fun sticking the tenner on yer tv and stare at that fer 100 mins. Pish poor excuse for a film.


----------



## white rabbit (Sep 30, 2013)

*Stories We Tell*. Sarah Polley interviews members of her family and various others about her mother, who died when she was 11. The various recollections and revelations reveal how memories become quite personal narratives that depend as much on the ones who recall events as the events themselves.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 2, 2013)

Tried to watch Upstream Colour but sacked it after 45 mins cos it was just weird, and not in a good way


----------



## inva (Oct 2, 2013)

In a Lonely Place
Brilliant, tense film directed by Nicholas Ray with Humphrey Bogart as a volatile script writer who is suspected of murder and Gloria Grahame who provides his alibi only to have doubts about his innocence. I thought both were very good in this.

It said on the wikipedia page for the film that the ending was improvised after the original ending was scrapped. They did a good job of it though because the ending is just right.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 3, 2013)

*The Dock Brief*, excellent little 60s Brit comedy drama about a barrister conversing with a prisoner in his cell before a trial. Two great performances from Peter Sellers & Richard Attenborough make this a delight.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 4, 2013)

thanks to Stigmata I have watched the evil mirror universe episodes of Star Trek enterprise. I'm now going to look for all the other evil trek episodes. It's like the future if the nazis had won.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 4, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Tried to watch Upstream Colour but sacked it after 45 mins cos it was just weird, and not in a good way



I was unsure on this one as well. Watched it all, it got a bit better but I was still unsure at the end.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Oct 4, 2013)

Wake In Fright 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067541/

I've seen it before  and it was butchersapron  who recommended it. It's a mint film mate, thanks for that _but_ I've read such bullshit about it on the net how it's disturbing and such like Nick Cave saying it's the scariest film about Australia and such  - What was scary about it? The guy was getting the piss taken out of him as a teacher, 48 hours in the yabba and he's in with the top lads who look after him and take him out on the piss, he's got sex on draught with Janette if his cock is equal to her - Seems to me the film's about a straight choice - The bullshit you're used to or the chance of a decent butty.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 5, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Tried to watch Upstream Colour but sacked it after 45 mins cos it was just weird, and not in a good way


Rubbish it's great.



inva said:


> In a Lonely Place
> Brilliant, tense film directed by Nicholas Ray with Humphrey Bogart as a volatile script writer who is suspected of murder and Gloria Grahame who provides his alibi only to have doubts about his innocence. I thought both were very good in this.


Fantastic film. Bogarts best performance IMO.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 5, 2013)

_United Red Army_

Three+ hours of laugh-a-minute wacky ultra-leftist Japanese students torturing and killing each other.

Charmed, I'm sure!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Red_Army
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Red_Army_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuneo_Mori
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroko_Nagata
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asama-Sanso_incident


----------



## Thimble Queen (Oct 5, 2013)

The most recent star trek. It was alright.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 5, 2013)

last three eps of Spartacus: Blood and Sand'

I have seen when it first aired but felt to revist. 'There is only one solution. We kill them all.'


GO ON LAD!


----------



## bi0boy (Oct 5, 2013)

The Lone Ranger, gave up after 15 minutes, although I knew it'd be shit from about 100 seconds.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 6, 2013)

The Arrival of Wang.  Shown as part of Film Four's Frightfest but not really a horror film.  I knew absolutely nothing about it beforehand and, trust me, that's probably the best way to watch it.  Not a perfect film by any means (with at least some of its faults down to the low budget), but pretty interesting and enjoyable all the same.

Also 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark' (the recent one).  Was expecting it to be very average, but instead really liked it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 6, 2013)

Getting Straight.

Early Elliot Gould movie where he plays a liberal academic at a neo-brutalist concrete jungle campus. It must have been made before Kent State, but when the National Guard show up there's a genuine "shit just got real" feeling. Also a good riot scene.

A lot of it doesn't stand up today, especially the way he treats his "chick, man" (played by Candice Bergen) - pull those stunts now, and you'd have a visit from your friendly neighbourhood feminist urban guerilla, who would fill you full of leaden death. But as a "slice of life" from an interesting time and place, it has  fair number of good moments. The sole hippy (as distinct from student politicoes) in it is presented as a contemptible asshole, which is probably realistic.

Also stars a very young Harrison Ford in a small supporting role (NB, not as the hippy asshole).


----------



## Belushi (Oct 6, 2013)

*Tales from the Golden Age* (2009) A collection of short Romanian black comedies based on urban legends from the Ceausescu era, enjoyed it.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Oct 6, 2013)

A Hijacking - Danish film about the hijacking of a ship by Somali pirates. Great film, good actors, very tense.


----------



## MBV (Oct 6, 2013)

Side Effects. This took two attempts to watch as I wasn't in the mood for it the first time. 5/10.

Can't think of anything I enjoyed about it. The cast were attractive but I was still confused at the end.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 7, 2013)

Something From Nothing - The Art of Rap. Ice-T gets his foot in the door to talk to a surprising number of 'classic' rappers about what makes them tick and how they compose / freestyle / conquered the world. It's weird really; surprising number of comic, self-mocking moments from a lot of the real talents, discombobulated mumblings from several others who seem a bit, um, chemically enhanced (beyond the industry standard). And sometimes the most apparently poetic/ articulate rappers on recordings being not so fast when just plain talking. Mostly what's weird (for me what grew up with these guys and their music) is how OLD they all are now ... and how the most obnoxious aspects of young men's posturing never really go away and don't improve with age...

It's quite nicely shot in bits (there's a recurring signature of landing in city X and having some instagrammed-and-filtered-to-blazes wonky helicopterscapes and a burst of classic hip hop for each one) but it mostly looks like a chaotic handheld reality documentary. Interesting bits: some truly revealing stuff about work methods, how rhymes get written and the particular challenges of the genre; Dr Dre coming over as a maniacally focused professional with no time for bullshit, let alone criminality (2 weeks out of the studio in close on a decade), various early-80s legends in various states of mental decay, Nas being quite funny, Eminem freestyling (ferociously) and Kanye West coming over as a whiny entitled little brat. (so no change there then.)

Overall - could be a decent TV documentary really, worth a watch if you like hip hop, probably 20 minutes too long, just like everything else.


----------



## Supine (Oct 7, 2013)

Just finished Deadwood after seeing recommendations on here. Really good series with Ian mcshane on form.

The Wu character is brilliant "cock sucker!"


----------



## Badgers (Oct 7, 2013)

Supine said:
			
		

> Just finished Deadwood after seeing recommendations on here. Really good series with Ian mcshane on form.
> 
> The Wu character is brilliant "cock sucker!"



Excellent telly. 

"fuck you Wu"


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 8, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> Something From Nothing - The Art of Rap. Ice-T gets his foot in the door to talk to a surprising number of 'classic' rappers about what makes them tick and how they compose / freestyle / conquered the world. It's weird really; surprising number of comic, self-mocking moments from a lot of the real talents, discombobulated mumblings from several others who seem a bit, um, chemically enhanced (beyond the industry standard). And sometimes the most apparently poetic/ articulate rappers on recordings being not so fast when just plain talking. Mostly what's weird (for me what grew up with these guys and their music) is how OLD they all are now ... and how the most obnoxious aspects of young men's posturing never really go away and don't improve with age...
> 
> It's quite nicely shot in bits (there's a recurring signature of landing in city X and having some instagrammed-and-filtered-to-blazes wonky helicopterscapes and a burst of classic hip hop for each one) but it mostly looks like a chaotic handheld reality documentary. Interesting bits: some truly revealing stuff about work methods, how rhymes get written and the particular challenges of the genre; Dr Dre coming over as a maniacally focused professional with no time for bullshit, let alone criminality (2 weeks out of the studio in close on a decade), various early-80s legends in various states of mental decay, Nas being quite funny, Eminem freestyling (ferociously) and Kanye West coming over as a whiny entitled little brat. (so no change there then.)
> 
> Overall - could be a decent TV documentary really, worth a watch if you like hip hop, probably 20 minutes too long, just like everything else.




I thought it was great, cheers for the heads up. My only gripe is that the interviews themselves were a little too short, but I did like the focus on the art itself. How many many times have we heard the 'coming up through the hood' stories from rappers? This avoided that and went straight to the process


----------



## inva (Oct 8, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> Fantastic film. Bogarts best performance IMO.


I've not seen that many of his yet but I could well believe it.

Sullivan's Travels
Really entertaining film from 1941 written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake. McCrea is John Sullivan, a director who decides he needs to go out and experience poverty in order to make a more important film with a social message, while Lake, who hasn't been able to find work as an actor, happens to meet Sullivan (in a great scene) just as she is about to leave Hollywood herself.

The film mixes light comedy with some quite bleak scenes of poverty and imprisonment so you end up with some quite surprising changes of tone at times. I thought it was excellent all round.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 8, 2013)

inva said:


> I've not seen that many of his yet but I could well believe it.
> 
> Sullivan's Travels
> Really entertaining film from 1941 written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake. McCrea is John Sullivan, a director who decides he needs to go out and experience poverty in order to make a more important film with a social message, while Lake, who hasn't been able to find work as an actor, happens to meet Sullivan (in a great scene) just as she is about to leave Hollywood herself.
> ...



I just checked to see if it's on youtube, and it appears to be, but only in chunks. It's worth making the effort to see this one, definitely.

As good, and as important, as _His Girl Friday. _


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 9, 2013)

Nearly finished Season 4 of Spiral. The usual grim and gutsy stuff with a frighteningly realistic depiction of far left extremism.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 9, 2013)

You just can't leave it alone can you


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2013)

krtek a houby said:


> Nearly finished Season 4 of Spiral. The usual grim and gutsy stuff with a frighteningly realistic depiction of far left extremism.



Who would want to watch four seasons of people posting on message boards all day?


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 9, 2013)

I sacked Spiral off cos butchers ruined it for me by saying its 'the bill in french' and then I noticed how much Roban looked like Bob Cryer and it was all just ruined after that


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 9, 2013)

Caught the latest Sons of Anarchy last night. There was a really just wtf were they thinking bit in it where they showed a conjugal visit that was enforced by the staff, who both sat down and opened their belts to have a bash. How jaded do you need to be to get off to Clay Morrow and Gemma shagging?


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I sacked Spiral off cos butchers ruined it for me by saying its 'the bill in french' and then I noticed how much Roban looked like Bob Cryer and it was all just ruined after that



"If existence precedes essence - you slaaag".


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I sacked Spiral off cos butchers ruined it for me by saying its 'the bill in french' and then I noticed how much Roban looked like Bob Cryer and it was all just ruined after that



I wouldn't listen to everything butchers says, you know.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 9, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I wouldn't listen to everything butchers says, you know.




that one comment ruined it for me


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 9, 2013)

i've now said ruined so many times in my head it has lost all meaning


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> i've now said ruined so many times in my head it has lost all meaning



That sounds like the sort of thing Shippou-Chan would say.


----------



## marty21 (Oct 9, 2013)

watched 3 episodes of Copper on Lovefilm - Civil War vet turned detective in 1864 New York - similar feel to Deadwood - violent, sweary, sexy - thumbs up so far


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 9, 2013)

Homeland season 2 (it's only just come out for rental on DVD).


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 9, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Who would want to watch four seasons of people posting on message boards all day?


 
It's in French, so it's sexier


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 9, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I sacked Spiral off cos butchers ruined it for me by saying its 'the bill in french' and then I noticed how much Roban looked like Bob Cryer and it was all just ruined after that


 
You know, The Bill was unfairly relegated to snicker status over the years but it tackled issues without signposting it like the soaps and it didn't really get bad until the ill fated move to glossy film production values.

Aside from that Spiral isn't The Bill in French. It's Law & Order in French.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Oct 9, 2013)

We are catching up with the walking dead... up to episode 9, I think, on season 3... some brilliant gore


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 9, 2013)

MrsDarlingsKiss said:


> We are catching up with the walking dead... up to episode 9, I think, on season 3... some brilliant gore


 
Season 3 is quite stunning. Quite a change of pace after the lacklustre second season.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 9, 2013)

Side By Side.  The Keanu doc about the history of film (actual film you film on not movies) and the history of digital film-making.   Really good if you're into that stuff, and I am.   Has a shit-load of great directors and directors-of-photography.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Oct 10, 2013)

MOAR walking dead!


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 10, 2013)

This documentary i found on youtube about St marys estate in Oldham. Its a bit fecked up but still watchable though. Eeeeee them were the days!


----------



## Frances Lengel (Oct 10, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> This documentary i found on youtube about St marys estate in Oldham. Its a bit fecked up but still watchable though. Eeeeee them were the days!




Nice one for posting that  Great find.

I used to live in St Marys flats which were themselves demolished in the 90's. It was mainly the old timers who were fighting to keep them up, they must've remembered what it was actually like in the slums. Everyone else (including me to my eternal shame) wanted them knocked down just to get the £1500 relocation money (which got spent in about a week) from the council.  The flats were really nice inside, big, airy & warm but the communal areas of the blocks were neglected and looked a mess. There was nothing wrong with the flats themselves though.  There are still some houses left that were part of the original St Mary's estate but all the flats are gone.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 10, 2013)

Cargo.
Deep space mission, small crew, somethings up.

Sounds a bit boring, started out looking like it was going to be a low rent and fairly obvious whodunit / they all get knocked off one by one, type thing (Obvious terrorist news report TV clip before the ship takes off suggests said terrorist will play a part later in the film - yawn).
Actually became something more interesting. Then it became something even more interesting. . . then . . . it spunked it, ruined the new idea with some shithouse matrix twaddle, had some poorly executed, and pointless, hero sacrifice before having a the least tense or scary 'last minute scare' ever.
It was almost like they were trying to make a space isolation suspense movie by the book, but accidentally came up with something quite interesting while trying to avoid copyright issues (quickly dumped when we got over that hump).

The 'matrix' simulation should have just been almost brain dead people feeding a computer responses to fool the people back home. Not an actual simulation - maybe a fucked up half dream at best. The simulation (as it stood) was a solution to the populations problems, making the ruse pointless.
Also, at the beginning of the film they mention that they last people leave the dying earth for a cramped hell in space. . . but Earth is OK again? Was nobody monitoring what was going on?
Bah.
A fun enough jaunt I suppose.


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 11, 2013)

*Room 237*. Various complicated theories about The Shining. There's the one that it's really about the destruction of the American Indians. The one that it's about the Holocaust. The one that it's about how Stanley Kubrick helped to fake the Moon Landing. And others more beside. These people have watched the film too often and they've become lost in their weird concoctions. A poster of a skier is actually a Minotaur (it's a skier). An in-tray on a desk becomes an erect phallus (it's an in-tray). A stack of suitcases refers to death camp transports (they're suitcases). And so on. These people are all certifiable. I want that two hours back.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 11, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> *Room 237*. Various complicated theories about The Shining. There's the one that it's really about the destruction of the American Indians. The one that it's about the Holocaust. The one that it's about how Stanley Kubrick helped to fake the Moon Landing. And others more beside. These people have watched the film too often and they've become lost in their weird concoctions. A poster of a skier is actually a Minotaur (it's a skier). An in-tray on a desk becomes an erect phallus (it's an in-tray). A stack of suitcases refers to death camp transports (they're suitcases). And so on. These people are all certifiable. I want that two hours back.



I clocked that it was going in that direction after about 20 minutes and turned it off so I could go and spend my time more usefully. Reading conspiracy websites and watching David Icke's live shows, stuff like that.


----------



## belboid (Oct 11, 2013)

It's a fucking great film - and several of the theories probably _are_ right*.  It's Kubrick, everything shot is very deliberately chosen and is full of subtextual meanings.



Tho not the moon landings ones, obviously.


----------



## Voley (Oct 11, 2013)

belboid said:


> It's a fucking great film - and several of the theories probably _are_ right*.  It's Kubrick, everything shot is very deliberately chosen and is full of subtextual meanings.
> 
> 
> 
> Tho not the moon landings ones, obviously.


I don't think I agreed with any of them but it didn't stop me thinking it was a great film. 

And it's not about The Shining, obvs. It's actually about how Steven Spielberg faked The Jews.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 12, 2013)

Trance - Kinda had it figured out about halfway through but still well enjoyed it.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Oct 12, 2013)

Love/Hate - The first episode of series 4.


----------



## Me76 (Oct 12, 2013)

Watched the first thirty minutes of The Grey before switching it off. Then watched The Girl who kicked the hornets nest. Much better.


----------



## belboid (Oct 12, 2013)

finished series 2 of _Girls_. 

Very funny indeed, despite them all being so fucking annoying.


----------



## Voley (Oct 13, 2013)

Taken 2 which is exactly like Taken 1 minus the best bit. Zero Dark Thirty which wasn't quite as 'WOO! GO USA!' as I thought it might be but which seems to think it's VERY SERIOUS INDEED when it really isn't. Both fairly shit but both fairly enjoyable too iykwim.


----------



## magneze (Oct 13, 2013)

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Finally got around to watching this. It was the extended version - so four hours. For such a long film it doesn't really drag, although I'm sure it would if I was in the cinema or if I was forced to watch it without any breaks. Probably the best of the three. I also can't quite work out why people complained about the ending, it seemed fine to me.


----------



## Voley (Oct 13, 2013)

magneze said:


> I also can't quite work out why people complained about the ending, it seemed fine to me.


I thought it dragged on a bit when I saw it first (the shorter version) but when I saw the extended one it didn't seem to. I think in the shorter movie it takes up a bigger chunk of time but with three hours or so of battling to Mordor preceding it,it works alright.


----------



## magneze (Oct 13, 2013)

NVP said:


> I thought it dragged on a bit when I saw it first (the shorter version) but when I saw the extended one it didn't seem to. I think in the shorter movie it takes up a bigger chunk of time but with three hours or so of battling to Mordor preceding it,it works alright.


It's certainly quite a commitment. That's why it's taken so long to get around to see it. It's not often that I think, "right, I've got four hours to myself, lets watch one film".


----------



## Voley (Oct 13, 2013)

magneze said:


> It's certainly quite a commitment. That's why it's taken so long to get around to see it. It's not often that I think, "right, I've got four hours to myself, lets watch one film".


I had a week off work and no money so watched the whole lot - extended editions - over the course of about 4 nights. I think someone on here watched them all in a day once. Pingu maybe? Next step will be to add all three extended Hobbits to it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 13, 2013)

NVP said:


> Taken 2 which is exactly like Taken 1 minus the best bit. Zero Dark Thirty which wasn't quite as 'WOO! GO USA!' as I thought it might be but which seems to think it's VERY SERIOUS INDEED when it really isn't. Both fairly shit but both fairly enjoyable too iykwim.




its the exact same film only neeson has had a shave


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Oct 13, 2013)

I watched the conjuring last night. A pretty well done creepy fest I thought.


----------



## Voley (Oct 13, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> its the exact same film only neeson has had a shave


Disappointing lack of 'I WILL KILL YOU'. They might as well have had that in it again.


----------



## Pingu (Oct 13, 2013)

NVP said:


> I had a week off work and no money so watched the whole lot - extended editions - over the course of about 4 nights. I think someone on here watched them all in a day once. Pingu maybe? Next step will be to add all three extended Hobbits to it.


 

yeah we did a lotrathon... even for us staunch LOTR fans it was hard going


----------



## 8115 (Oct 13, 2013)

I watched Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel.  It's epic.  It was on i-player. 10/10.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 13, 2013)

The Dambusters.

Apart from the obvious problem with the dog's name, it was yet another example of the British film industry trying to make the Second World War boring. In this case, they didn't succeed, but it wasn't for want of trying.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 13, 2013)

Frost/Nixon


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 13, 2013)

Berberian Sound Studio.  It's very clever and weirdly creepy, the performances are really, really good.  It seems to be saying something about what happens to your mind if you willingly watch video nasties.

It' not for everyone...or even for most people, most likely.


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Oct 14, 2013)

NVP said:


> I had a week off work and no money so watched the whole lot - extended editions - over the course of about 4 nights. I think someone on here watched them all in a day once. Pingu maybe? Next step will be to add all three extended Hobbits to it.



I don't know about Pingu, but first time I watched extended ROTK was in a single sitting of the entire extended trilogy.  Saturday night, 2004, it had just arrived, friends over, was supposed to be going out. 

Going out got cancelled. Its 9PM.

"Lets put the LOTR trilogy", someone says. "Extended editions", someone says. "It'll finish at 10 in the fucking morning", I say. I get outvoted. 

Those fuckers collapsed into bed about 5. Splitters. I watched ROTK extended, on my own , for a debut sitting of all 3 in one go. 

I felt like a survivor of the somme afterwards. Mainly as in the sense that I just wanted to wander around aimlessly at people, shell shocked and incoherent, shouting "Never Again......."


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 14, 2013)

*In Darkness* - how a Polish petty criminal kept a small group of Jews alive in the drain system of Lvov through the Nazi occupation. Schindler's List in the sewers, basically, very very well done and much less sentimental and hard-edged than the Spielberg, though. All human life is here (betrayal, religion, sex, birth, murder, hatred, love, class analysis, etc etc etc) and there's a genuine sense of unease and brutality even when there isn't anything shockingly violent going on on screen. Excellent performances and - for a movie shot mostly in deep shadow and with "not much happening" (* apart from WWII and the Holocaust obvs) the drama never flags. Great, really. But not an evening's light viewing.

*Rebellion *- this was EXCELLENT and I think criminally underpublicised when it came out. Matthieu Kassovitz (of _La Haine, Self Made Hero _etc) made this about one of those classically violent, heavy handed, French colonial responses to a biti of bother popping off in one of its domains abroad - in this case based on a hostage crisis in French New Caledonia (Papua New Guinea sort of) in 1988, just as Chirac and Miterrand where competing for the Presidency of France. Film focuses on how the response to the hostage taking was turned inot one huge territorial pissing match between different arms of the French State and how little any of it had to do with the separatists' demands or tactics. Its own take is v obviously sympathetic to the separatists but it's also very incisive and sharp about (some of) the French gendarmes / soldiers / negotiators who weren't actually trying to put the colonialist boot down quite so hard. I love any film where a lot of it is powerful guys running around going "what the fuck's going on?" and there was plenty of that. Looks beautiful and has some wonderful shots to look at. Highly highly recommended.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 14, 2013)

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs  Great
Monsters University....not that great

Animation Sunday


----------



## belboid (Oct 14, 2013)

Trollhunter again.  Still very very funny


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 14, 2013)

NVP said:


> I thought it dragged on a bit when I saw it first (the shorter version) but when I saw the extended one it didn't seem to. I think in the shorter movie it takes up a bigger chunk of time but with three hours or so of battling to Mordor preceding it,it works alright.


I saw it at the cinema and there were audible groans and sighs (including mine) after the third time it 'ended' and yet another coda began.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 14, 2013)

Watched Mesrine pt 1 & 2 again with Jnr to aid his french studies.

1 was good, very well paced. 2 was much slower and patchy. Overall a good tale well told.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 14, 2013)

Immortals

Jon Hurt makes a convincing Zeus. Orlando Bloom does not.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 15, 2013)

The Great Beauty - New one from Paolo Sorrentino (best known for Il divo and the disappointing This Must Be the Place). This one is a gorgeous look at at a vacuous bourgeois rome full of lying to oneself and allusions to the obvious past masters. Very melancholy - and i understand why it had to be so empty for much of the film (to mirror the lifes) but pushing that for nearly 2 and half hours was a bit wearying. Can't wait to see it on a big screen though, looked fantastic. Oh yeah, the opening 15-20 minute scene is excellent and really reminds me that british/irish and europeans really are very different people.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 15, 2013)

Doctor Carrot said:


> I watched the conjuring last night. A pretty well done creepy fest I thought.



Me too. Mrs shat her brick several times


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I saw it at the cinema and there were audible groans and sighs (including mine) after the third time it 'ended' and yet another coda began.


Like the multiple 'endings' of the _Cluedo_ film?


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 15, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Like the multiple 'endings' of the _Cluedo_ film?


I have not had the pleasure


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I have not had the pleasure


----------



## Meh O'Naise (Oct 15, 2013)

DaveCinzano said:


> Like the multiple 'endings' of the _Cluedo_ film?



The original cinema versions were shipped out with all the different, alternate versions. You never knew what you were going to get when you walked into the cinema. The DVD is an entirely different version of the film, as in all the alternate version are presented one after the other, unlike any of the cinema releases.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 17, 2013)

Makes me think of -


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> The Great Beauty - New one from Paolo Sorrentino (best known for Il divo and the disappointing This Must Be the Place). This one is a gorgeous look at at a vacuous bourgeois rome full of lying to oneself and allusions to the obvious past masters. Very melancholy - and i understand why it had to be so empty for much of the film (to mirror the lifes) but pushing that for nearly 2 and half hours was a bit wearying. Can't wait to see it on a big screen though, looked fantastic. Oh yeah, the opening 15-20 minute scene is excellent and really reminds me that british/irish and europeans really are very different people.



I saw this at the cinema - Loved it. Consequences of Love is my favourite of his, but I really enjoyed this on the big screen.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 18, 2013)

American Horror Story: Coven. First two eps. Looks like a good un


----------



## Yelkcub (Oct 18, 2013)

The Hunt. Grim.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Oct 19, 2013)

Pacific Rim. Disappointing Michael Bay-esque fluff from the usually brilliant Guillermo del Toro. A comic relief subplot featuring Charlie Day, Ron Perlman and Burn Gorman on fine form was a welcome distraction, but the movie as a whole was deadly dull IMO.


----------



## stuff_it (Oct 19, 2013)

RIPD 

It was actually much better than I thought it would be.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 19, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> Pacific Rim. Disappointing Michael Bay-esque fluff from the usually brilliant Guillermo del Toro. A comic relief subplot featuring Charlie Day, Ron Perlman and Burn Gorman on fine form was a welcome distraction, but the movie as a whole was deadly dull IMO.



I dunno, I thought it was pretty good.

For what it was.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 19, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I dunno, I thought it was pretty good.
> 
> For what it was.



It was what it was and it did what it intended to do very well. The accents were a bit weird, and the cheesy plot simply had to be there to get as many people to watch the film and therefore justify it's stupendous budget. Amazing effects all the way through, I liked it as well


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 19, 2013)

Pain, Pus and Poison

a nice docu on the history of how poisons became used as medicines.


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 19, 2013)

*A Late Quartet* - beautifully played. Actors at the top of their game, and yet, so what? It came over as a set of whining well off New Yorkers with their first world problems. Catherine Keener is great, but does she always have to be such a cold bitch? A quartet requires the suppression of ego, so here are a bunch of egotists fighting like cats in a bag. I admit I turned it off before the end and so there could be a synthesising resolution but it didn't look like it was going anywhere.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 20, 2013)

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. It was _amazing_


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 20, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I saw it at the cinema and there were audible groans and sighs (including mine) after the third time it 'ended' and yet another coda began.



Mr K and I had both half-risen from our seats during the third ending. I heard several other bums hit seats and mutterings of 'FFS!' around the cinema


----------



## yardbird (Oct 20, 2013)

Tonight I shall watch Point Blank, I saw it was on telly last night and recorded it.
I saw it when it came out. 
Great movie!


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 20, 2013)

*Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern medecine*

an interesting docu, does what it says on the tin really. Lots of interesting stuff in there. Who knew that some of our most commonly used surgical anaesthetics were derived from curare? 


*Horizon: 40 years on the moon 

*
also quite good. Ubiquitous science program hogger Brian cox did a bit of commentary but not loads. Soviet contributions duly noted (RIP cmrd laika). Lots of amazing footage. worth it. If you hate cox you can just mute his bits cos he only does the odd link here and there, somebody with more gravitas narrates mainly


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 20, 2013)

The Vanishing...Dutch Horror. Couple go on holiday to France. Woman goes missing. Partner continues to search and three years on is contacted by the 'kidnapper'. Good film, premise is a scary one and believable enough real life scenario, kidnapper is proper creepy with a backstory  to support his weirdness. Good ending too. 

The Punk Syndrome...documentary about Finnish punk band Pertti Kurikka's Name Day, a band whose members all have learning disabilites. I've seen it before but the Mrs was watching it. It's ace, punk as fuck. All the band are good enough and I like the way the manager let them get on with it. Singer Kari steals it for me though, he's a fucking great frontman. 

A Room for Romeo Brass...Everyone must've seen this Shane Meadows film by now. My 13 year old hadn't so we put it on last night. Paddy Considine is brilliant and the thing Meadows does with turning a comedy into something very dark still gets me everytime.

Ils...French horror about a couple in a house in the middle of the woods in Romania. In the middle of the night they get tormented by people trying to get in. One of those 'based on true life events' stories that isn't quite. A good amount of tension, not quite enough jumps scares, ending so so.


----------



## Voley (Oct 20, 2013)

Into The Abyss - Werner Herzog's doc about death row, focusing on a triple homicide and the bloke that gets executed for it. I like his documentaries a lot - the one about the mad bloke with the bears was probably the best but this one is good, too. He's got a good, disarming interview technique that seems to get people to open up. It can be quite uncomfortable at times - there's one interview with the sister of the murdered guy that was really grim - but he just allows people to talk and gets some good stuff. I liked the way he didn't hammer home his obviously anti-death penalty stance, too. I'll have to get his one about the caves in France, too. I think I like him more as a documentary maker than a film director.


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 20, 2013)

Oh God, I watched *Love Actually*. I ought to have known better but Netflix streaming options are getting a bit thin and I thought how bad can it be. I do like Four Weddings.

Fuck.

It's beyond bad. It's trying so hard to be feelgood that its cardboard cutout characters failed to be recognisably human. They were lazy devices designed solely to provoke an aw shucks aura of niceness. Which they utterly failed to do, incidentally. Did a dopey guy who went to America because it is populated by hotties who are mad for English guys really walk into a bar and get mugged by a bunch of English mad American hotties? I'm not even sure any more. My brain had stopped processing the syrupy awfulness that was unfolding before me. I turned it off shortly after that, so perhaps it turned into David Lynch, but I suspect not. There should be international treaties consigning this vile piece of festering shit to a place so far from human contact that no one can be contaminated by it. It is a weapon of mass revulsion.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 20, 2013)

NVP said:


> Into The Abyss - Werner Herzog's doc about death row, focusing on a triple homicide and the bloke that gets executed for it. I like his documentaries a lot - the one about the mad bloke with the bears was probably the best but this one is good, too. He's got a good, disarming interview technique that seems to get people to open up. It can be quite uncomfortable at times - there's one interview with the sister of the murdered guy that was really grim - but he just allows people to talk and gets some good stuff. I liked the way he didn't hammer home his obviously anti-death penalty stance, too. I'll have to get his one about the caves in France, too. I think I like him more as a documentary maker than a film director.



Have you seen Little Dieter Needs To Fly yet?


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 20, 2013)

*Badlands (1973)* Im bloody losing the will ta live regarding films at moment. It feels like am swimmin in a tide of cocacola cans n popcorn. conjurin, man ov steel,, pain in the arse gain, pacific rim me, its like bein sucked inta a black hole of nothingness,,.,.. Anyway watch Badlands even if yuv seen it ,,,its cleanzez the mind n soul,. A sick, courteous, funny, horrid pathettic, cancerous injection of the human condition! Plus scenery you can fall in i love wiv.... Its a 10 outta 10 film and. its brill...


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 20, 2013)

avu9lives said:


> *Badlands (1973)* Im bloody losing the will ta live regarding films at moment. It feels like am swimmin in a tide of cocacola cans n popcorn. conjurin, man ov steel,, pain in the arse gain, pacific rim me, its like bein sucked inta a black hole of nothingness,,.,.. Anyway watch Badlands even if yuv seen it ,,,its cleanzez the mind n soul,. A sick, courteous, funny, horrid pathettic, cancerous injection of the human condition! Plus scenery you can fall in i love wiv.... Its a 10 outta 10 film and. its brill...


Are you Paul Ross?


----------



## avu9lives (Oct 20, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Are you Paul Ross?



Are you henry winkler?


----------



## Voley (Oct 20, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Have you seen Little Dieter Needs To Fly yet?


No. Never heard of it until now. Just googled it - sounds good and have stuck it on my list, cheers.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 20, 2013)

Just watched Night of the Demon. Classic 1950s horror.

When was the last good horror film with a cult/devil worship in it?


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 20, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Just watched Night of the Demon. Classic 1950s horror.
> 
> When was the last good horror film with a cult/devil worship in it?


The Wicker Man.

Night of the Demon is still awesome.


----------



## Voley (Oct 20, 2013)

Night Of The Demon scared the fuck out of me when I was a kid, I daren't go up the stairs to my bedroom on my own.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 20, 2013)

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Best kids' film I've seen for ages.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 20, 2013)

May Kasahara said:


> Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Best kids' film I've seen for ages.



One of my favourite kids films. Sequel just came out I think.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 20, 2013)

May Kasahara said:


> Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Best kids' film I've seen for ages.


Have you seen How To Train Your Dragon?  S'really good too.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 20, 2013)

Not yet, but it's on the recorder


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 21, 2013)

Argo.

A good yarn, well told, and the "America fuck yeah" stuff was mercifully kept to a minimum.

Strangely, they didn't mention that the attempt to rescue the other hostages was a total, humiliating fiasco.


----------



## magneze (Oct 21, 2013)

Das Boot
Epic submarine movie. Watched the directors cut at over 3 hours long. Brilliantly tense and engaging all the way through. Fun fact: the war correspondent in the film wanted to concentrate on music after doing this film and is now the most successful artist in Germany.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 21, 2013)

*Curse of Chucky* (new straight to DVD one by the original director).

Pretty naff (I wasn't expecting much in fairness!), but better than 'Bride' or 'Seed'. Quality ending scene too.

And I believe Jennifer Tilly has a deal with the Devil, she looks amazing at 55.


----------



## inva (Oct 21, 2013)

Nada
Decent 1974 French thriller directed by Claude Chabrol. A bunch of leftys form a group to kidnap the American ambassador but once they've got him and a ruthless police force are after them their plans soon go awry. I like Chabrol's films that I've seen, and while this isn't his best it's well put together and definitely worth a watch.

La Silence de la Mer
Early Jean-Pierre Melville film from 1949 set in occupied France, where a German officer is billeted at the home of a french man and his niece who refuse to speak to him. It's not a typical Melville film, but I suppose it has a fair bit in common with another of his occupation films, 'Leon Morin, Pretre' if you've seen that. Melville manages to produce an incredible amount of tension from scenes consisting of a man delivering speeches praising shared French and German culture being met with a stony silence. The acting by the three main characters is very good, but I was especially impressed by Nicole Stephane as the niece who delivers a really powerful performance I thought. An excellent film.

A Time to Love and a Time to Die
Another film about the Second World War, this one from 1958 and directed by Douglas Sirk. The film follows John Gavin as Ernst Graeber, a German soldier fighting on the Eastern front who falls in love with Elizabeth Kruse, acted by Liselotte Pulver, as he tries to find his parents amidst the air raids and brutality of 1944 Berlin while on a few weeks' leave from the front. The photography is really beautiful and with some nice camera movements, while Gavin and Pulver are very convincing as the two leads. Another good one.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 21, 2013)

inva said:


> Nada
> Decent 1974 French thriller directed by Claude Chabrol. A bunch of leftys form a group to kidnap the American ambassador but once they've got him and a ruthless police force are after them their plans soon go awry. I like Chabrol's films that I've seen, and while this isn't his best it's well put together and definitely worth a watch.



I really liked that one. Maybe not as good as "State of Siege" as terrorism movies go, but still a damn sight better than what you would get on the subject today.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 21, 2013)

Magnolia

I really don't know what to make of this film. I think I enjoyed it. I don't usually watch films that have this sort of non linear narratives style. I mean, I struggled to get magic realism in books, when it comes to stories I'm a meat and potatoes man. 

but this was in places moving- and in places hilarious (RESPECT THE COCK! TAME THE CUNT!).

its the first time in a long time I can genuinely say 'Tom Cruise was good in this'

Dunno though. Despite what worked there was something brittle about it all, something overall false and hollow. Need to think more on it. Cos maybe that was the whole point.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 21, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I really liked that one. Maybe not as good as "State of Siege" as terrorism movies go, but still a damn sight better than what you would get on the subject today.


My review from MATB:

Nada/The Nada Gang - Chabrol from the early 70s about anarchists kidnapping the US ambassador to France. This one seems very unpopular with Chabrol afficianados - i thought it was great. Skewered both the dead end of terrorism and the state brilliantly with some great unexpected black humour and informed cynicism. He part wrote this and the political discussions in the first half were very good and sounded genuine, like he'd heard them in real life.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> My review from MATB:
> 
> Nada/The Nada Gang - Chabrol from the early 70s about anarchists kidnapping the US ambassador to France. This one seems very unpopular with Chabrol afficianados - i thought it was great. Skewered both the dead end of terrorism and the state brilliantly with some great unexpected black humour and informed cynicism. He part wrote this and the political discussions in the first half were very good and sounded genuine, like he'd heard them in real life.



Roger that. I also liked "La Guerre Est Finie", which deals with similar themes, though set  a bit earlier.

DotCommunist - I thought Cruise was the worst thing in Magnolia. For example -



Spoiler



When he has the scene where he meets his estranged father on the father's deathbed, and they're supposed to have a deathbed reconciliation. Cruise just wasn't up to the job.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 21, 2013)

yeah but I thought that his inability to do it reflected not his shortcomings as an actor but more like true to the character who despite all the showman pussy-conqueror stuff is really emotionally stunted.

like I say I still can't work out if the overall 'falseness' was intentional or not. Will have to re watch.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 21, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Roger that. I also liked "La Guerre Est Finie", which deals with similar themes, though set  a bit earlier.
> 
> ]


Yes, a very good film -Jorge Semprun wrote some top class films. You mention state of siege earlier, he wrote Z for CG (who is now making utter trash)


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 21, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> yeah but I thought that his inability to do it reflected not his shortcomings as an actor but more like true to the character who despite all the showman pussy-conqueror stuff is really emotionally stunted.
> 
> like I say I still can't work out if the overall 'falseness' was intentional or not. Will have to re watch.


Yes, well, I didn't think "this is a bravura portrayal of an emotionally stunted person", I thought it was a talentless drone playing himself.


butchersapron said:


> Yes, a very good film -Jorge Semprun wrote some top class films. You mention state of siege earlier, he wrote Z for CG (who is now making utter trash)


I still haven't seen Z. My Da had the soundtrack album - he'd ended up in Greece a couple of days before the coup, after thumbing his way down Italy.


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 21, 2013)

Seen a few decent films lately.

Last night was Miller's Crossing. Really enjoyed that, but think it needs another viewing as there were parts I was confused due to the pacey dialogue and forgetting who was who.

Night before I saw Dredd and again, really enjoyed it. The special effects for the drug scenes were really well done, and I liked the lack of an origin story. I learned that it didn't do so well at the cinema so there won't be any sequels, which is a shame. One of the best comic book films I've seen.

I can't remember what I saw before that but it was also good. Netflix won't let me look at my history.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 21, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes, well, I didn't think "this is a bravura portrayal of an emotionally stunted person", I thought it was a talentless drone playing himself.
> 
> I still haven't seen Z. My Da had the soundtrack album - he'd ended up in Greece a couple of days before the coup, after thumbing his way down Italy.


I command you to watch it ASAP. As important as Battle of Algiers.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 21, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> I command you to watch it ASAP.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 21, 2013)

After watching Night of the Demon last night the young un and I watched the remake, or Sam Raimi's Drag me to Hell if you like. 

I've seen it before but thought it had the right balance of horror, jumps and daftness to ensure the lad doesn't have nightmares, which his mum said I'll have to get up to if he does. He was either pissing himself laughing or doing running commentary predictions for much of the film so I reckon I should be in for a peaceful night. Not so his mum who went to bed because it was scaring her just listening to it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 21, 2013)

The Passion Of Ayn Rand - dreadful tv biopic about a vile person and the vile people who hang around her.
Helen Mirren hams it up with a Russian accent like Sesame Street's The Count: "I haff feeneeshed the book".
Eric Stoltz plays a shit.
Peter Fonda plays a fuckwit.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 22, 2013)

I watched an Uwe Boll movie* .... and I liked it 

* Without meaning to, obviously - it was only when the credits rolled that I realised what I'd been consuming.

*In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds *... a very weird hybrid bargain-basement chimera which apparently emerges from the melding of gory medieval-based wargaming and Dolph Lundgren playing a US Special Forces veteran, sent back in time to, um, kill a dragon and fulfill a prophecy and save some medieval villagers from their weak yet villainous king, or something. It sounds dire (and it mostly is dire) but there is a surprising amount of self-awareness in the script and acting, with plenty of sarky one-liners about 'all this medieval shit' and how the past's never as nice as people imagine it. Dolph and many of the other actors smirk knowingly through much of the action - it's like post-modernism pulp most of the time. Far from getting off on the armour and swordplay Dolph's hardman character just grumps about looking grumpy, and when asked what is most amazing about the future world he comes from, answers instantly: "antibiotics" 

Very definitely trash to pass the time with, rather than anything better, but honestly I was pleasantly surprised by it being not-torture-to-watch and having the odd random spark between its ears.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> The Passion Of Ayn Rand - dreadful tv biopic about a vile person and the vile people who hang around her.
> Helen Mirren hams it up with a Russian accent like Sesame Street's The Count: "I haff feeneeshed the book".
> Eric Stoltz plays a shit.
> Peter Fonda plays a fuckwit.



"Special Guest Appearance - Peter Fonda as Himself".

I've no idea if this Fonda fellow (any relation?) is a fuckwit in real life, it just seemed to be the way the thread was going.

What did you honestly expect when you watched a film about Ayn Rand, btw?


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 22, 2013)

I would rather gouge out my own eyes


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 22, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> "Special Guest Appearance - Peter Fonda as Himself".
> 
> I've no idea if this Fonda fellow (any relation?) is a fuckwit in real life, it just seemed to be the way the thread was going.
> 
> What did you honestly expect when you watched a film about Ayn Rand, btw?


He doesn't play himself. He plays Mr Rand.
Any relation to who? Apart from the other Fondas?
I bought it in a job lot with some better DVDs from a sale at a squatted art gallery


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> I would rather gouge out my own eyes



I would rather gouge out Ayn Rand's eyes.


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 22, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I would rather gouge out Ayn Rand's eyes.


The worms have done that for you.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> The worms have done that for you.



Thus was I cheated of my vengeance.


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 22, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Seen a few decent films lately.
> 
> Last night was Miller's Crossing. Really enjoyed that, but think it needs another viewing as there were parts I was confused due to the pacey dialogue and forgetting who was who.
> 
> ...


I like Miller's Crossing. The Coens can do really intricate plotting rather well. There are probably half a dozen characters in the story and none of them know fully what's going on, so they act on their partial information (Blood Simple is similar in that respect). Leo thinks Tom's gone over to Caspar's crew, and doesn't know that Mink shot Rug Daniels. Caspar thinks Bernie is dead in the woods. The Dane thinks Tom is still with Leo and he's protecting Bernie for the sake of Verna. I'm not sure it amounts to much in the end, but it's enjoyable watching them riff The Thin Man done in such a quotable way.



> Leo: They took his hair, Tommy. Jesus, that's strange. Why would they do that?
> Tom: Maybe it was Injuns.





> Tom: Altogether not a bad guy - if looks, brains and personality don't count.
> Verna: You better hope they don't.





> The Dane: How'd you get the fat lip?
> Tom: Old war wound. Flares up around morons.


----------



## Voley (Oct 22, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> its the first time in a long time I can genuinely say 'Tom Cruise was good in this'


He's good if he's playing a raging fucking bellend. He played a similar sort of nutter in Tropic Thunder and he was good in that an all. I don't think he has to act much, he just emphasises his innate twattishness and Bobs yer Uncle.


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 22, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> I like Miller's Crossing. The Coens can do really intricate plotting rather well. There are probably half a dozen characters in the story and none of them know fully what's going on, so they act on their partial information (Blood Simple is similar in that respect). Leo thinks Tom's gone over to Caspar's crew, and doesn't know that Mink shot Rug Daniels. Caspar thinks Bernie is dead in the woods. The Dane thinks Tom is still with Leo and he's protecting Bernie for the sake of Verna. I'm not sure it amounts to much in the end, but it's enjoyable watching them riff The Thin Man done in such a quotable way.



Damn, just searched for Blood Simple and Netflix doesn't have it. I haven't seen it (or even heard of it until just now). If it's anything like M's C, I'll keep an eye out for it. Cheers.


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 22, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Damn, just searched for Blood Simple and Netflix doesn't have it. I haven't seen it (or even heard of it until just now). If it's anything like M's C, I'll keep an eye out for it. Cheers.


How odd. It's a classic. Their first movie, I think. It's actually not much like Miller's Crossing, except that it has this tight plotting. It's set in modern day ("Dead in the heart of Texas") and involves a whole bunch of wrong assumptions. Great voice over at the beginning by M Emmet Walsh. "The world is full of complainers. The fact is, nothing comes with a guarantee ..."


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 22, 2013)

There are a lot of classic films I haven't seen! Working my way through them, bit by bit


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 22, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> There are a lot of classic films I haven't seen!


i meant its odd that it isn't available, not that you hadn't seen it.


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 22, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> i meant its odd that it isn't available, not that you hadn't seen it.



Aha! It looks like they've had it in the past, but they rotate them I think. Maybe there's a charge for having a film available, and not enough people were watching...


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 22, 2013)

Anyone been looking at the top ten films lists on The Guardian? 

They've done horror, arthouse, crime, romantic, action, sci fi etc. Not necessarily great lists but the comments usually have some consistent suggestions for good films if you're looking for something to watch.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 23, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> How odd. It's a classic. Their first movie, I think. It's actually not much like Miller's Crossing, except that it has this tight plotting. It's set in modern day ("Dead in the heart of Texas") and involves a whole bunch of wrong assumptions. Great voice over at the beginning by M Emmet Walsh. "The world is full of complainers. The fact is, nothing comes with a guarantee ..."



In Russia they've got it fixed so everyone pulls together. That's the theory, anyway. What I know is Texas. . . and down here, you're on your own. . .


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 23, 2013)

Sons of Anarchy latest ep

I'm not entirely certain that a show this lightweight has any right involving a child porn story, but at least they killed the pornographers


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 24, 2013)

Wipers Times- good enough drama about the satirical trench newspaper, bit officah-centric but I still enjoyed


Jarhead- its pretty much a retread of Full Metal Jacket. There are differences of course but for me it trod the same ground and said very little new. Generation Kill pisses over it from a great height. Quite pretty though. Does that desert shot of men/tanks emerging from the heat haze which I like.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 24, 2013)

Episode 10 (I think) of Breaking Bad, season three. I do want to know what happens, but I don't think that makes it any good. In fact, the two episodes before this were unacceptably shit.

The whole concept would have been better as a movie, I think.


----------



## belboid (Oct 24, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Episode 10 (I think) of Breaking Bad, season three.


episode 10 is 'Fly' - a great divider of opinion that one. I loved it


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 24, 2013)

belboid said:


> episode 10 is 'Fly' - a great divider of opinion that one. I loved it



I thought it was good - reminded me a lot of the old TV plays you used to get. But the bottom line for me is that it's like the Sopranos in that it's asking you to sympathise with people who are evil. I'll keep watching though. Probably.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 25, 2013)

*Submarine (2011)* Read the book a couple of years ago and enjoyed this more. Really captured the twatishness of being a teenage boy I thought but  I was a teenager in south wales at the time this it's set so might just be it resonated strongly with me.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 25, 2013)

*Insidious*

I want that hour and a half back, what a pile of plodding, unscary shite.


----------



## Garek (Oct 26, 2013)

*Underbelly   *Bit gratuitous in places and the voice over is occasionally jarring but it's good.


----------



## white rabbit (Oct 27, 2013)

*Before Midnight* - I was looking forward to this. I got the DVD on Wednesday and left it until last night to watch it. It seemed rather laboured, like everyone had a hard time summoning up enthusiasm. Everything else was in place. The thoughtful discussions, the self-aware and interesting reflections on life and relationships as they change over time, all played out in a comfortable, almost idyllic setting. But the youthful fire seemed to have been replaced by a sort of world-weariness. And I couldn't rid myself of the thought that they were exploiting the franchise more than returning to the story because it needed to be told. This is based on seeing the first hour. I'll return to it and see if I change my mind when I've watched it all.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Oct 27, 2013)

The Brave one - Jodie Foster doing Charles Bronson's Death Wish role


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 27, 2013)

The Two Escobars. Documentary about Pablo the Columbian drug trafficker and Andres the Columbian footballer. Follows the rise of Columbian football as it was financed by the drugs trade up to the 1994 World cup. 

Good film, though I could've done with putting on something more uplifting tbh.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 28, 2013)

Man of Steel. It was really awful. I kept with it for 2.5hrs and it was torture. What a wasted effort.


----------



## magneze (Oct 28, 2013)

Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas is quite amazing in this story of Liberace's secret love. Just watch it. Great film.

Mud
Billed as one of Matthew McConaughey's best films. I can confirm that it is. Unfortunately it's a bit shit. However, I would like his shirt which despite everything stays completely clean throughout. Just one of the many completely unrealistically silly things that happen.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 28, 2013)

*The Shanghai Gesture *absolutely demented 1930s Orientalist campy druggy nonsense from Erich von Stroheim. Fantastic costume and set design, weirdly static acting and pacing, one racial stereotype after another.


----------



## Yetman (Oct 28, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Man of Steel. It was really awful. I kept with it for 2.5hrs and it was torture. What a wasted effort.



This. I quite liked the first third of it, and the end bit was ok for a while, got tedious though and too long. Still, well shot and cool FX.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 28, 2013)

Yetman said:


> This. I quite liked the first third of it, and the end bit was ok for a while, got tedious though and too long. Still, well shot and cool FX.



I hated the FX. All the action stuff has been done so many times in all the other super hero films. During the action sequences all the character were rendered like rubber toys. The plot was flimsier than a wet bog roll. It was really very poor.


----------



## Jackobi (Oct 28, 2013)

The first series of Utopia which was on Channel 4 recently. Neil Maskell piques my interest, he's always such a convincing, cold-blooded murderer, scary man. Overall it's worthy as a gritty, Brit thriller.







Also keeping up with American Horror Story,Walking Dead and Inside Broadmoor on Channel 5.


----------



## Garek (Oct 28, 2013)

_*La Noche de los Lapices
*_
I am not sure about this film. In some ways good, in others it felt like it didn't quite work. The long beginning felt at times too slow, and the youthful innocence angle overplayed. But then it also captured quite well the horror and sheer shock of what it must have been like for the kids abducted who the film seem to make out could never of imagined such an all out violent response to their actions. 

I want to say it is a bit like _The Breakfast Club _set in neo-fascist Argentina but that sounds harsher than I mean it.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 28, 2013)

Garek said:


> _*La Noche de los Lapices
> *_
> I am not sure about this film. In some ways good, in others it felt like it didn't quite work. The long beginning felt at times too slow, and the youthful innocence angle overplayed. But then it also captured quite well the horror and sheer shock of what it must have been like for the kids abducted who the film seem to make out could never of imagined such an all out violent response to their actions.
> 
> I want to say it is a bit like _The Breakfast Club _set in neo-fascist Argentina but that sounds harsher than I mean it.


It's a great film, the slow start is to differentiate what should be normal civil society demands (a school bus pass ffs) from the speed of the regime (and other regimes). It had to show they were different.


----------



## Garek (Oct 28, 2013)

What did you make of it towards the end? And do you know of any reason why he was released and not the others?


----------



## Yetman (Oct 28, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I hated the FX. All the action stuff has been done so many times in all the other super hero films. During the action sequences all the character were rendered like rubber toys. The plot was flimsier than a wet bog roll. It was really very poor.



Yeah I suppose. I'm just impressed by buildings falling over and people smashing into mountains 

It was seriously cheesy as well


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 28, 2013)

Garek said:


> What did you make of it towards the end? And do you know of any reason why he was released and not the others?


No idea, that's what happened though - it wasn't a dramatical invention.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 28, 2013)

Yetman said:


> Yeah I suppose. I'm just impressed by buildings falling over and people smashing into mountains
> 
> It was seriously cheesy as well



It just lacked any human heart for me. I just didn't care.


----------



## smmudge (Oct 28, 2013)

I've signed up to Mubi, much better value than lovefilm. Ok you don't get to pick your own films but I have trouble deciding anyway, and their selection seems pretty good.

For starters they had Il Conformista which I've wanted to see for ages but couldn't get anywhere.

Yesterday I watched Lebanon (about 4 Israeli soldiers in a tank in the Lebanon (obvs) war). It was really well done, very moving. If anyone's seen it can they tell me what that stuff dripping down the walls/in the dials was?


----------



## marty21 (Oct 28, 2013)

Copper - on LoveFilm -enjoying it-Civil War shenanigans in New  York City.


----------



## starfish (Oct 28, 2013)

World War Z. I liked the bits filmed in Glasgow, that was about it.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 28, 2013)

smmudge said:


> Yesterday I watched Lebanon (about 4 Israeli soldiers in a tank in the Lebanon (obvs) war). It was really well done, very moving. If anyone's seen it can they tell me what that stuff dripping down the walls/in the dials was?



Condensation iirc - mostly the manly sweat of all those blokes stuck in the tank! - and leaking engine oil / hydraulic fluid perhaps?


----------



## inva (Oct 28, 2013)

smmudge said:


> For starters they had Il Conformista which I've wanted to see for ages but couldn't get anywhere.


Brilliant film that.

I've been watching some of Les Vampires, Louis Fueillade's 1915 series of short films about a criminal gang calling themselves the Vampires who are jumping down wells, climbing through secret doors behind paintings, putting on implausible disguises, decapitating people and stealing jewels etc. Edouard Mathe is Philippe Guerande, a reporter investigating the gang, and Musidora is Irma Vep, one of the vampires. Really enjoying it so far, lots of twists and turns and inventiveness.

By coincidence I've also watched over the last few days Celine and Julie Go Boating, a 3 hour or so film from 1974 directed by Jacques Rivette, which I noticed had a reference to Les Vampires in it, where Celine and Julie are making a getaway from a library in the same black outfits as the vampires wear, except that they are on rollerskates. It stars Juliet Berto as a magician called Celine and Dominique Labourier as a librarian called Julie, who were just fantastic in this. Both had quite a big role in writing the script for the film, and I read that they worked out the script for each scene as they went along which maybe helps to give the film its spontaneous feeling. It ends up as a sort of dreamlike mystery in which Celine and Julie share an imagined film within a film experience of a strange house and its inhabitants where there seems to be a murderous plot going on if they can just imagine what it is. It was the first Rivette film I've seen and it really was excellent, although very difficult to describe it.


----------



## smmudge (Oct 28, 2013)

trabuquera said:


> Condensation iirc - mostly the manly sweat of all those blokes stuck in the tank! - and leaking engine oil / hydraulic fluid perhaps?



ah yeah that would make sense


----------



## Me76 (Oct 29, 2013)

Watched Men Who Stared at Goats yesterday. 

Enjoyed it although Ewan McGregor's accent grated slightly at points.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 29, 2013)

Couple of haunted house films, both of which were quite enjoyable.
*Expulsion of the Devil [At The Meeting With Joyous Death], 1973* from Juan Luis Bunuel, son of Luis Bunuel, about a french family who have just moved into a new countryside home who are harrassed by a poltergeist which seems to be triggered by the presence of their pubescent daughter. Features a young Gerard Depardieu.

*Even The Wind Is Afraid, 1968* - Mexican ghost-story based in a girls' boarding school. A group of girls has to stay at the their school over a holiday as a punishment, they start seeing visions of a girl who committed suicide at the school in past.


----------



## belboid (Oct 29, 2013)

Indeliblelink said:


> Couple of haunted house films, both of which were quite enjoyable.
> *Expulsion of the Devil [At The Meeting With Joyous Death], 1973* from Juan Luis Bunuel, son of Luis Bunuel, about a french family who have just moved into a new countryside home who are harrassed by a poltergeist which seems to be triggered by the presence of their pubescent daughter. Features a young Gerard Depardieu.


Sounds potentially entertaining, I'll try n look it out.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 29, 2013)

It's also on Youtube


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 30, 2013)

I recently watched all of Archer, the adult animated comedy series.  Enjoyed it so much I bought the book.

Stellar navigation.  Fuck off.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 31, 2013)

the Wolverine origin story. It was popcorn fayre

first episode of Alphas series 2- syfy's answer to heroes. good start


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 1, 2013)

Garek said:


> _*La Noche de los Lapices*_
> 
> I want to say it is a bit like _The Breakfast Club _set in neo-fascist Argentina...



SOLD


----------



## Voley (Nov 1, 2013)

Senna. I've only a passing interest in F1 but this was great.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 1, 2013)

Bored at my folks, so watched Seven Psychopaths on my phone.
Not recommended (the film or watching it on a phone).
Some funny jokes and I love Sam Rockwell in anything.
Walken is as classy as always.
But, nah! Two stars


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 1, 2013)

Four Lions

Some very funny moments and Riz Ahmed was excellent.  But it could have been better.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 1, 2013)

NVP said:


> Senna. I've only a passing interest in F1 but this was great.


It blew me away and I hate F1.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 1, 2013)

Just watched The Hobbit. 

load of shit.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 2, 2013)

^^far too long spent in bag end imo. I put up wityh it cos I'm a huge fan, but I can see that one winding up casual watchers no end

I saw American Horror Story: Coven latest ep

and Sons of Anat=rchy latest ep


both had that early to mid season filler episode feel


----------



## slightlytouched (Nov 2, 2013)

I promised not to watch Dexter 8 until my friend could watch it with me, and finally, we managed to meet and watch it last night! Only been waiting a couple of months! Last 2 episodes to watch in a mo! Phew!


----------



## Garek (Nov 2, 2013)

_Pretty Village, Pretty Flame
_
Excellent film. Truly excellent.


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 2, 2013)

Wild Bill

I enjoyed it. Great performance by Creed-Miles. Why isn't that bloke better know?


----------



## Voley (Nov 2, 2013)

The remake of Clash Of The Titans. The CGI Kraken was a better actor than Ralph Fiennes. I seem to be on a roll of watching enjoyably crap films featuring Liam Neeson atm.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 2, 2013)

Race With the Devil.  1970s horror that in the....fuck, what's this decade called?...anyway, it's a fucking comedy now.


Well worth watching.   Terrible.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 2, 2013)

Martha Marcy May Marlene. Girl escapes from cult. It's very good. Not seen it mentioned here except by Reno, who seems to have disappeared.


----------



## slightlytouched (Nov 2, 2013)

The Heat....not really that funny but both Bullock and the other bird are guilty pleasures of mine!


----------



## marty21 (Nov 3, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populaire_(film)

Populaire - French romantic comedy, starring Romain Duris - about typing competitions! set in the late 50s. quite a sweet romantic comedy, funny as well - Duris is my man crush


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 3, 2013)

First two episodes of Breaking Bad season 4. The sound of barrels being scraped was looming large in this one. I am really going to have stop watching this rubbish. I have a CD of Verdi's Nabucco waiting to be listened to at home - I think I'll listen to that instead tonight.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 3, 2013)

First 5 minutes of the The Bed Sitting Room. Absolute horseshit. 

We're The Millers. Good actually. Aniston is still hot, and there were plenty of laughs and heartwarming moments along the way. A good family movie (if your kids are over 14)


----------



## marty21 (Nov 3, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunter_(2011_Australian_film)

The Hunter - thiller about hunting the last Tasmanian Tiger - thought it was excellent


----------



## yardbird (Nov 3, 2013)

Silent Witness
As a relax whilst dinner is cooking, I've started watching Silent Witness from the beginning.
Years old and Amanda Burton is the lead.
The support actors are well interesting though.
A much younger Idris Elba  - one for the ladies. Plays a boxer, so loads with his top off
A young Philip Glenister 
And Ken Stott.
Loads of other faces I recognize.
Spot the star to be - good fun.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 3, 2013)

Yetman said:


> *First 5 minutes of the The Bed Sitting Room. Absolute horseshit. *
> 
> We're The Millers. Good actually. Aniston is still hot, and there were plenty of laughs and heartwarming moments along the way. A good family movie (if your kids are over 14)



It's mint. Best post-apocalypse film ever.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 4, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> It's mint. Best post-apocalypse film ever.



I hate 1960's comedy. Especially 'Carry On' films. OOer hows yer father! Nyeeerr! Ooo [insert loose double entendre for the 50,000th time here]!

Crap.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 4, 2013)

Philistine.


----------



## flypanam (Nov 5, 2013)

The Bridge - that Scandi show on which the Tunnel is based. Losing interest fast with the references to the number five.


----------



## avu9lives (Nov 6, 2013)

Just watched this on youtube but am stoned and a dont no what ta think off it at moment. It kinda washed me away a bit. Needs some thinkin i reckon... excellent photies of some of the Hollywood legends though and some crackin lighting techniques. Might go scowering for some Carole Lombard movies now. Av nowt else ta do.., Oh and the german subtitles might get on yer nerves a bit, dint bother me though.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 7, 2013)

Freaky Faron. It's an indie out of the Austin film community.

Faron is a caretaker, helping to protect humans from the aliens who've been imprisoned here in human form, because Earth is such a shithole. Everything's ok until she shoots a weatherman.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475277/


Another one: 80 minutes. It's German.

The movie sort of sucks, but the surprise ending truly is a major surprise. You just don't see it coming. At least, I didn't see it coming. Maybe others aren't as dense.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 7, 2013)

Sleeping Dogs. A lost classic from late 70s New Zealand. Set in a dystopian NZ trapped in a state of emergency declared by sinister right-wing politicians, it features a young Sam Neill as an ordinary bloke who just wants to be left alone, but finds himself caught up in the action whether he likes it or not.

Strip away the politics, and it's really a study in "masculinity at bay", set against the backdrop of the north island's forests, islands and small towns. What I'd be interested in knowing more about is, given that it was made in the era of Rob Muldoon (bizarre right-wing populist PM) and the anti-apartheid struggle (really divisive in NZ with a lot of violent street confrontations between police and protestors), did people really fear that they might end up in some sort of Kiwi 1984 at the time?

So, over to you, peterkro and gabi.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 7, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> Wild Bill
> 
> I enjoyed it. Great performance by Creed-Miles. Why isn't that bloke better know?


I thought you meant this. . . 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114938/?ref_=nv_sr_2
No wonder I was confused.


----------



## gabi (Nov 7, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Sleeping Dogs. A lost classic from late 70s New Zealand. Set in a dystopian NZ trapped in a state of emergency declared by sinister right-wing politicians, it features a young Sam Neill as an ordinary bloke who just wants to be left alone, but finds himself caught up in the action whether he likes it or not.
> 
> Strip away the politics, and it's really a study in "masculinity at bay", set against the backdrop of the north island's forests, islands and small towns. What I'd be interested in knowing more about is, given that it was made in the era of Rob Muldoon (bizarre right-wing populist PM) and the anti-apartheid struggle (really divisive in NZ with a lot of violent street confrontations between police and protestors), did people really fear that they might end up in some sort of Kiwi 1984 at the time?
> 
> So, over to you, peterkro and gabi.




I was a tiny kid in Muldoon's heydey. And never heard of this film, but will check it out... ta. I dont remember much, just Muldoon's fat piggy little face on the news every night.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 7, 2013)

gabi said:


> I was a tiny kid in Muldoon's heydey. And never heard of this film, but will check it out... ta. I dont remember much, just Muldoon's fat piggy little face on the news every night.



It was the first 35mm feature film to be produced entirely in your little patch of heaven down there in the southern hemisphere.


----------



## peterkro (Nov 7, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> So, over to you, peterkro and gabi.


Opposite problem to gabi,I'm from the generation the included Tim Shadbolt and Helen Clark people like that.Although I lived in Wellington and knew one of Muldoons daughters he was a minister in Holyoake's government and I'd left for Oz (for the second time) by the time he became PM.I was more involved with the stuff against Vietnam although the same people were also later involved in the anti-arpartheid stuff.I can't remember if I've seen film but will check it out.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 7, 2013)

peterkro said:


> Opposite problem to gabi,I'm from the generation the included Tim Shadbolt and Helen Clark people like that.Although I lived in Wellington and knew one of Muldoons daughters he was a minister in Holyoake's government and I'd left for Oz (for the second time) by the time he became PM.I was more involved with the stuff against Vietnam although the same people were also later involved in the anti-arpartheid stuff.I can't remember if I've seen film but will check it out.



Thanks to both you and gabi.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 7, 2013)

Grey Gardens. Well then


----------



## inva (Nov 7, 2013)

Secret Defense
1998 film directed by Jacques Rivette. It stars Sandrine Bonnaire whose performance is excellent as a scientist who comes to suspect that her father's death was not the accident she thought it was, but though it starts out as a fairly simple revenge plot it becomes more complicated (especially morally) over the course of the 170 minute film. Stylish, nicely shot and well worth a watch. I'm really enjoying Rivette's films at the moment, with this one being I think the most thrillerish of his thriller type films, reminding me of Chabrol and Hitchcock.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 7, 2013)

flypanam said:


> The Bridge - that Scandi show on which the Tunnel is based. Losing interest fast with the references to the number five.



  Stick with it


----------



## yardbird (Nov 7, 2013)

yardbird said:


> Silent Witness
> As a relax whilst dinner is cooking, I've started watching Silent Witness from the beginning.
> Years old and Amanda Burton is the lead.
> The support actors are well interesting though.
> ...



Bump (little)
Just now a younger Jack Dee as a wrongly convicted murderer.


----------



## white rabbit (Nov 7, 2013)

The US version of The Killing. Season 3. Bloody hell, it's bleak. Well made though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 8, 2013)

This PBS documentary on Lou Reed, from 1998:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/lou-reed/about-lou-reed/687/


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 8, 2013)

Last 2 episodes of Breaking Bad s3.

  

Brilliant television.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 8, 2013)

*Cave of Forgotten Dreams* (Werner Herzog 2010) Wonderful.


----------



## Voley (Nov 8, 2013)

The Impossible. Bit close to home for me, this, tbh. I had a fairly good idea of how harrowing the tsunami must have been but I didn't need it hammering home tbh. Not that it's a bad film or anything but fucking hell, I know people that went through that.  Got Hammer Of The Gods to watch tonight that looks totally shit and right up my street.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 8, 2013)

Wonderland. About the life of John Holmes after porn.

You know, I think all the blood really must have been going to that guy's dick.


----------



## Pingu (Nov 8, 2013)

i am posting what i will be watching tonight now.

mainly because i will probably be dead of terminal boredom/tweeness overkill by tomorrow.

twilight breaking dawn part 2. - lets watch hunger games I said. No its my turn we shall watch twilight she said...


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 9, 2013)

Stake Land - hadn't heard of it before, but twas rather good - a bit like The Road but with added vampires.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 9, 2013)

Made Men.

Vince Vaughn at his most irritating.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 9, 2013)

*Potiche* (Francois Ozon 2010) Enjoyable enough seventies set screwball comedy. Catherine Deneuve is very good as the lead, Gerard Depardieu is very fat.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 9, 2013)

Just watched this;
http://www.pruitt-igoe.com/the-film/

The Pruitt Igoe myth.



> It began as a housing marvel. Two decades later, it ended in rubble. But what happened to those caught in between? The Pruitt-Igoe Myth tells the story of the transformation of the American city in the decades after World War II, through the lens of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing development and the St. Louis residents who called it home. At the film’s historical center is an analysis of the massive impact of the national urban renewal program of the 1950s and 1960s, which prompted the process of mass suburbanization and emptied American cities of their residents, businesses, and industries. Those left behind in the city faced a destitute, rapidly de-industrializing St. Louis , parceled out to downtown interests and increasingly segregated by class and race. The residents of Pruitt-Igoe were among the hardest hit. Their gripping stories of survival, adaptation, and success are at the emotional heart of the film. The domestic turmoil wrought by punitive public welfare policies; the frustrating interactions with a paternalistic and cash-strapped Housing Authority; and the downward spiral of vacancy, vandalism and crime led to resident protest and action during the 1969 Rent Strike, the first in the history of public housing. And yet, despite this complex history, Pruitt-Igoe has often been stereotyped. The world-famous image of its implosion has helped to perpetuate a myth of failure, a failure that has been used to critique Modernist architecture, attack public assistance programs, and stigmatize public housing residents. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth seeks to set the historical record straight. To examine the interests involved in Pruitt-Igoe’s creation. To re-evaluate the rumors and the stigma. To implode the myth.



Fuckin great. Recommended.I hadn't heard of this film til recently, though I had heard of the place.

The bits about punitive welfare policies/social control and the bits about redevelopment are still relevant now. As is the whole thing though really.

e2a Favelado  you ever heard of this? I know you like the bronx n that. This film needs to be seen, swing it about a bit.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 9, 2013)

*A Useful Life* (Federico Veiroj 2012) Short and sweet Uruguayan film about cinema and cinephiles.


----------



## Voley (Nov 9, 2013)

NVP said:


> Got Hammer Of The Gods to watch tonight that looks totally shit and right up my street.


Woah. That was _proper _shit.


----------



## Favelado (Nov 9, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Just watched this;
> http://www.pruitt-igoe.com/the-film/
> 
> The Pruitt Igoe myth.
> ...



Thank you so much. I'm very interested in how conditions develop in cities that ultimately create alternate worlds to the ones of their neighbours. I have heard of this particular case and would love to see a film about it.

If there's a film about Cabrini Green or the Robert Taylor homes in Chicago out there, I'd like to hear about that too.

Good work.


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 10, 2013)

Escape from Tomorrow
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2187884/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

A film shot (without permission) at Walt Disney World. A bit "David Lynch" in feel. Not sure what the hell it was about. Will need to watch it again.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 10, 2013)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

I think that Daniel Craig always does a good job; and Rooney Mara is great as well.

Plus: they're battling evil, avaricious Swedes!


----------



## DrRingDing (Nov 10, 2013)

Worst. Film. Ever.

Breaking the 4th wall, twice!

Out of focus shots.

Terrible acting.

That bad gorrilla-man thing.

Excellent


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 10, 2013)

_The Burned Barns_ - Part of an Alain Delon collection I got out of the library. It might have been OK with subtitles but the terrible dubbing just killed it.

It's rather put me off watching the rest of the collection.


----------



## felixthecat (Nov 10, 2013)

Mary and Max - why have I not seen this before now? What an excellent film!

I blubbed.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 10, 2013)

Defiance- partisans film

documentary about space


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 10, 2013)

Glengarry Glen Ross.   Still great.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 10, 2013)

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate ... a bunch of flaccid CGI Chinese balls. had high hopes for it being a good action/chinese myth / history mashup  with an impressive number of talented people involved (director tsui hark, jet li among others 'acting') but it's a giant waste of time. boo!


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 11, 2013)

tried to watch hornblower, fell asleep.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 11, 2013)

Watched Welcome to the Jungle on the telly box.

A remake of Cannibal Holocaust,  they said. What could be a better Saturday night in with the wife?

How wrong I was.  They spent an hour wandering into the jungle before seeing any signs at all  that all was not going to be rosy.

And then not much happened, apart from one of them being impaled through the mouth with a  bamboo pole and left to dry like the a huge piece of biltong.  There was so little cannibal action that I wandered off before the end.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 11, 2013)

The first episode of Hunderby.

Very good indeed


----------



## avu9lives (Nov 11, 2013)

*The World End (2013)*  Just had to switch it off bloody rubbish constantine cant do comedy.thats fer sure and and and and cant be arsed reviewin it. How about some dots............................................


----------



## Yetman (Nov 12, 2013)

*The World End (2013)* Pretty good actually. Considine was alright in a comedy role, nowhere near as good as he is in darker roles but still alright with his poncey hairdo, pulled it off imo. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny all the way but was still constantly amusing with a few hilarious bits.

I only remembered halfway through about the blue theme in it, and when you know about it, it's a very blue film, but not so much that it becomes noticeable unless you know about it and know why it's there. 7.5/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 12, 2013)

44 inch chest- jon hurt and lovejoy on fine form


Conspiracy, about the Wansee conference. horrible.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 12, 2013)

Saw Skyfall the other night. Perfect for a moronic Friday night on the couch, would never pay to see it.


----------



## flypanam (Nov 13, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> Stick with it


 
I did. Quite unbelieveable but was good fun.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 13, 2013)

Watched this the other night:



About the kidnapping of Pierre Laporte, the event which sparked the Canadian October crisis of 1970. An attempt to show that the FLQ cell who abducted and killed the "minister of unemployment and assimilation" were the real victims.

Not truly terrible, but more of a "low costas-gavras" than a Costa-Gavras if you see what I mean.


----------



## starfish (Nov 14, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Stake Land - hadn't heard of it before, but twas rather good - a bit like The Road but with added vampires.



Saw that too the other night. Agree, was pretty good.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 14, 2013)

Battle Los Angles - started off good, Army, guns, stories.....and it just carried on with the same thing all the way through. I turned it off with 15 mins to go cos I knew what was gonna happen.... exactly the same thing that had happened throughout the whole film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 14, 2013)

Best In Show.   Haven't watched this for ages, by the makers of Spinal Tap.  At least as good, painfully, excruciatingly funny at times.


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 14, 2013)

Dark Star. Curiously engaging. I laughed a lot at Pinback's recorded message compilation.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 14, 2013)

May Kasahara said:


> Dark Star. Curiously engaging. I laughed a lot at Pinback's recorded message compilation.



I turned it off after 45 minutes. Should I have stuck with it?


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 14, 2013)

I don't know, should you?


----------



## belboid (Nov 14, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> I turned it off after 45 minutes. Should I have stuck with it?


its almost over by then! you might like the philosophical conversations with the bomb, but if the first 45 didnt grab you, its unlikely the other 35 would


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 14, 2013)

belboid said:


> i you might like the philosophical conversations with the bomb,



You know me so well.


----------



## Supine (Nov 14, 2013)

The Prisoners - a very dark abduction story. Difficult to watch but also captivating. A big 9/10 from me.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 15, 2013)

Gambit. Cameron Diaz is a ditzy blonde Texan cowgirl and rodeo star, recruited by art historian Colin Firth to help defraud his boss, obnoxious press billionaire Alan Rickman.

Script by Joel and Ethan Coen, so it's better than it sounds, and better than it has a right to be. 

Ms. Diaz was especially . . . _stimulating . . . _in her cowgirl outfits.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 15, 2013)

21 (2008 ).  Awful film about card counting student geniuses starring Kevin Spacey.  Awful, awful, awful.

The Net (1995).  Ahead-of-its-time cautionary tale about a world that is increasingly at the mercy of computers and those who control them.  Or it was a badly acted  mid-90s Sandra Bullock vehicle that could rival the worst of the worse thrillers. I'm struggling to remember anything about it tbh.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 15, 2013)

The Boy said:


> 21 (2008 ).  Awful film about card counting student geniuses starring Kevin Spacey.  Awful, awful, awful.
> 
> The Net (1995).  Ahead-of-its-time cautionary tale about a world that is increasingly at the mercy of computers and those who control them.  Or it was a badly acted  mid-90s Sandra Bullock vehicle that could rival the worst of the worse thrillers. I'm struggling to remember anything about it tbh.




I saw that at the cinema. One of the games she is working on at the start is Wolfenstein 3d

ages it quite a bit.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 16, 2013)

Prisoners. On at the pictures currently but good copies are to be had online. Two you girls abducted, how far will their fathers go to find them - that's the tagline or something similar.

It looks great, top cinematography reminded me of Winter's Bone. Torture scenes are well done, suggested violence with the results but difficult to view all the same. The story is good and tension keeps going for the full 150 minutes but needs a bit of concentration to pick up all the little bits of dialogue. (One of the problems with watching torrented films sometimes is the volume levels, if I'd turned it up anymore for the voices the bass when the music comes in would've broken the windows).

No sure about Jake Gyllenhal, what was with the tattoos?

Worth a watch anyway. 7/10


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 16, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Cave of Forgotten Dreams* (Werner Herzog 2010) Wonderful.


 
This.  Beautiful, captivating and a bit odd...


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 16, 2013)

Supine said:


> The Prisoners - a very dark abduction story. Difficult to watch but also captivating. A big 9/10 from me.


The superfluous definite article here bothers way more than it should, so excuse me for the pedantry, but it is Prisoners not The Prisoners. Why do people do this?


----------



## Me76 (Nov 16, 2013)

The Time Traveler's Wife.  Really enjoyed it, even if it was sentimental twaddle.


----------



## Supine (Nov 16, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> The superfluous definite article here bothers way more than it should, so excuse me for the pedantry, but it is Prisoners not The Prisoners. Why do people do this?



Good point 

Better to use superfluous prose as a character flaw rather than child abduction!!!


----------



## Awesome Wells (Nov 16, 2013)

Pacific Rim.

awesome fun.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 16, 2013)

I'll sleep when I'm dead (2003). Weak British film about a retired British gangster type looking into the death of his annoying brother. Made worse by some very poor acting by some who should know better. Edit: and Clive Owen.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 17, 2013)

Much Ado About Nothing.  The Joss Whedon version.

Filmed in black and white in his own house (very nice) it's a who's who of Whedon's work.   Some great performances.  Funny, sexy, engaging.   Easily recommended.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 17, 2013)

Sherlock - the Cumberbatch one.

I thought it was pretty good for what it was, but that won't stop me annoying my American lady academic contacts on facebook who have a certain gra for the Cumberbatch fellow.


----------



## slightlytouched (Nov 18, 2013)

I watched Topgun for the first time, probably the last time too!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 18, 2013)

Me76 said:


> The Time Traveler's Wife.  Really enjoyed it, even if it was sentimental twaddle.


Does it have the bit in the book where the man goes back in time to wank himself of, only to be discovered by his dad and not even tell himself later when his past self goes back to fiddle with himself?


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 18, 2013)

A Liar's Autobiography

The Lost Python, Graham Chapman, speaks FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, via recordings he did for his mid-80s memoirs about three years before he died of throat cancer at 48.

The thing is largely animated with other Pythons dropping in to play themselves, and the occasional bit of footage from MPFC. Each episode in our hero's life is done in a different animation style by a different animation team. 

Hardcore Pythonistas will need to watch it, while the rest of us will still find plenty to enjoy and appreciate. Oh, and there's gay sex and plenty of it, until Chapman's drink-induced meltdown leads him to have sex with an actual woman or two.

Oh, and the DVD has a "making of" feature, with voiceover by none other than Paul Gambaccini.


----------



## silverfish (Nov 18, 2013)

"Wrong"

Utterly baffled and frustrated by it

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1901040/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 18, 2013)

Spy Kids - absolutely terrific children's fantasy/action adventure directed by Richard Rodriguez, full of real jokes and real wit as well as astonishing production design and a fantastic cast (Banderas, Carla Gugino, Tony Shalhoub, Alan Cummings, Teri Hatcher among many others) - everyone having an insane amount of fun and the lead pair of child actors aren't even annoying. Just brilliant.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 18, 2013)

Robert.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 18, 2013)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).  Shit.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 18, 2013)

Oh, I also forgot: The Ward (2010).  John Carpenter film. Beyond weak tbh, though was kind of expecting that.  The dénouement was silly and the ending even sillier.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 18, 2013)

Waxwork - a horror film that was written in three days by the writer/director in order to pay for repairs to the producer's car after the writer/director crashed into it.
It has David Warner AND Patrick Macnee in it. 
It is terrible


----------



## Belushi (Nov 18, 2013)

*Kill List* (Ben Wheatley 2012) Not really my cup of tea, the lead actors were good but I found it a bit derivative.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 19, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Kill List* (Ben Wheatley 2012) Not really my cup of tea, the lead actors were good but I found it a bit derivative.



The bit in the kitchen is excellent


----------



## magneze (Nov 19, 2013)

The Book Of Eli
It's basically 'Fallout 3: The Movie'. Really good, despite the religious overtones. Denzel kicks butt.


----------



## DrRingDing (Nov 19, 2013)

magneze said:


> The Book Of Eli
> It's basically 'Fallout 3: The Movie'. Really good, despite the religious overtones. Denzel kicks butt.



Total cock bollocks IMO.


----------



## magneze (Nov 19, 2013)

DrRingDing said:


> Total cock bollocks IMO.


Which bit?


----------



## DrRingDing (Nov 19, 2013)

magneze said:


> Which bit?



The entire film.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 19, 2013)

Last night's viewing was a Martin Lawrence double bill.

First up was Blue Streak (1999). A jewel thief stashes a stolen diamond in a building site before being lifted. Goes back after getting out of jail to find said building site is now a police station, so he has to pose as a police to get his hands on the diamond.  As bad as it sounds.

Second up was Nothing to Lose (1997). Clinton era yuppy-bollix buddy movie. The highlight was Tim Robbins dancing about with his shoes on fire to a soundtrack of Scatman John.  As bad as it sounds.


----------



## magneze (Nov 20, 2013)

DrRingDing said:


> The entire film.


Someone has just explained the twist. I missed it somewhat.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 21, 2013)

A skate themed double bill.  Lords of Dogtown (2005) & Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012).  Old people talk about skateboarding while we see footage of them riding skateboards before they were old.  More interesting than I'm making it sound.

Would be rude not to follow it up with Gleaming the Cube (1989). Teen action movie that existed solely to capitalize on the popularity of skateboarding and Christian Slater.  One for the purists tbh.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 21, 2013)

We Are What We Are - This was a bit nuts, good but nuts. Adapted from a stage play it tells the story of a family of reluctant cannibals who struggle to cope after the mother dies and they have to work to obtain human flesh for themselves, and struggle to do so. I recommend it!

I also watched the first 2 hours of The Act of Killing - a harrowing documentary where the film makers go to Indonesia to try and make a film about the 1965 genocide with the families of the victims of the atrocities. However, the perpetrators are still in power, and they demand that they tell the story instead of the victims. As the film goes on they start to realise the horror of what they did. The candidness of them as they explain the torture and murder is shocking - looking forward to watching the last 40 minutes later on. The acting of the families of the victims is clearly not acting. The children continue to cry after they stop filming.....it's horrible.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 22, 2013)

*The Iron Lady* (Phyllida Lloyd 2011) Mediocre Thatcher bio-pic.


----------



## Voley (Nov 23, 2013)

Bad week at work so needed some mindless CGI-ooh-look-at-the-lovely-Blu-Ray-shiny-shiny-type stuff tonight. Thor sort of fitted the bill.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2013)

7 psychopaths

an odd film, leavened only by the presence of christopher walken


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 23, 2013)

Close My Eyes - good film.  Must have seen it ages ago, but didn't twig there's so much in it apart from the muck.   Couldn't really be more of its time.


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 23, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Waxwork - a horror film that was written in three days by the writer/director in order to pay for repairs to the producer's car after the writer/director crashed into it.
> It has David Warner AND Patrick Macnee in it.
> It is terrible



This is one of my favourite films 

We watched Down Terrace last night. Thought it was great, both disturbed at how much it resonated with our own experience of family life (minus the bloodshed, of course).


----------



## Casually Red (Nov 23, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Close My Eyes - good film.  Must have seen it ages ago, but didn't twig there's so much in it apart from the muck.   Couldn't really be more of its time.



isnt that the one with that dirty fucker riding his sister


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 23, 2013)

Casually Red said:


> isnt that the one with that dirty fucker riding his sister


 
Nicely put.


----------



## Casually Red (Nov 23, 2013)

I ghost write Mark Kermodes best lines


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 23, 2013)

What I might watch later... Berberian Sound Studio, on film four tonight.  Sounds interesting (especially if you like 70s Italian horror) - anyone seen it?


----------



## Mapped (Nov 23, 2013)

Yetman said:


> I also watched the first 2 hours of The Act of Killing - a harrowing documentary where the film makers go to Indonesia to try and make a film about the 1965 genocide with the families of the victims of the atrocities. However, the perpetrators are still in power, and they demand that they tell the story instead of the victims. As the film goes on they start to realise the horror of what they did. The candidness of them as they explain the torture and murder is shocking - looking forward to watching the last 40 minutes later on. The acting of the families of the victims is clearly not acting. The children continue to cry after they stop filming.....it's horrible.



I watched this a few weeks ago, it is harrowing, I couldn't get it out of my head for days. Those sick fucks need to be strung up


----------



## Supine (Nov 23, 2013)

Computer Chess - 7.5/10. Quirky, weird film about chess geeks. Enjoyable film which end with a total wtf moment. Worth watching if you like chess and computer programming!


----------



## Casually Red (Nov 23, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> What I might watch later... Berberian Sound Studio, on film four tonight.  Sounds interesting (especially if you like 70s Italian horror) - anyone seen it?



plannning on watching that, the little gnome guy from tinker tailor is in it


----------



## magneze (Nov 23, 2013)

Watching Monsters University. Toga, toga, toga. Possibly.


----------



## Casually Red (Nov 23, 2013)

ive found that Act of killing streaming online...but then again i want to watch Berberian sound studio later....the 2 together might be a bit too dark. Might stick a partridge dvd on instead


----------



## Casually Red (Nov 23, 2013)

oh...want to watch that World war z but the dvd rental is an extortionate 3 quid. cant find it streaming though 

ETA

ha..found it..eat my shorts hollywood moguls


----------



## blairsh (Nov 24, 2013)

Just on to series3 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, plenty of lolz and Danny DeVito is ace


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 24, 2013)

High Noon. 

Always reminds me of It's A Wonderful Life.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 25, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> What I might watch later... Berberian Sound Studio, on film four tonight.  Sounds interesting (especially if you like 70s Italian horror) - anyone seen it?



Yep! It's ace. Very surreal and kind of slow, but in a good way. A definite is some good quality headphones to listen to it with. It's a very audio based film, rather than visual.


----------



## Phenol (Nov 25, 2013)

NEDS - Pretty good but I've always liked Peter Mullan
American Beauty - superb
Mama - scared the shit out of me!


----------



## maya (Nov 25, 2013)

I was going to write a review of this film, but I think the trailer says it all, really...


----------



## avu9lives (Nov 25, 2013)

*David Bland with stars or summat) *  what is goin on. de impossible is real. OmG Its mr blaine himself just recoverd from his facebook drowning,,,,,.Iwish.. YOU belong in the 80's with Paul daniel's wife on im a celebrity get me outta here you muppit.. Magic eh!! Maybe you dont matter anymore DAVID. Cough* Mind over body my arse! Omg ders no blood ...wow..wow..wow

I need ta study...


----------



## starfish (Nov 25, 2013)

Johnny Vodka said:


> What I might watch later... Berberian Sound Studio, on film four tonight.  Sounds interesting (especially if you like 70s Italian horror) - anyone seen it?



Watched this last night. Was a bit sleepy so didnt fully get what was going on. Probably worth another watch though.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 26, 2013)

A Storyville on killer whales in captivity  .  

Blackfish . It's on iplayer for a bit

There's no way I'm getting in with one of those


----------



## Belushi (Nov 26, 2013)

rubbershoes said:


> A Storyville on killer whales in captivity  .
> 
> Blackfish . It's on iplayer for a bit
> 
> There's no way I'm getting in with one of those


 
I saw it when it was shown the other evening, it's an excellent programme, free the Orcas!


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 26, 2013)

Elysium. Not as good as District 9 but still enjoyable.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 26, 2013)

fishfinger said:


> Elysium. Not as good as District 9 but still enjoyable.



Got this to watch later


----------



## Yetman (Nov 26, 2013)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2208216/ Vanishing Waves

Forgot to mention that - watched it the other night. Captivating stuff.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 26, 2013)

Soul Men. Bernie Mac and Samuel L Jackson play two aged has beens of the soul circuit who are forced to set aside past differences in order to attend and perform at the funeral of the one from their group who made it solo.

This involves a road trip, and lots, I mean lots of saying 'motherfucker'

It was quite good in its own way, bit schmaltzy, but funny none the less.


----------



## white rabbit (Nov 26, 2013)

I watched Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind again last night. This was before Sam Rockwell had been in Moon and Seven Psychopaths and was relatively unknown, but he really carries this one. Support from George Clooney and Julia Roberts and with Drew Barrymore doing a great performance as the desperate gf. It's a favourite of mine. Who knew that Chuck Barrish was a CIA assassin? That is all kinds of fucked up.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 27, 2013)

Elysium - pretty good I think. Lost a bit of it halfway through


----------



## The Boy (Nov 28, 2013)

Swingers (1996). A young Jon Favreau is dragged to VEGAS BABY! after being ditched by his missus. Once there, he and a young Vince Vaughn make docks of themselves, while the later punctuated every sentence with the word 'baby' and tells us all about how to show with the chicks.  There was a joke about a waitress knowing who Voltaire is. Was the short of straight to video efforts that me and mates lived on when we were stoned teenagers. Switched it off after about fifteen minutes.

Dude, where's my Car? (2000).  That only lasted five minutes.

He Got Game (1998 ). Spike Lee, Denzel Washington.  Somehow never got round to watching this back in the day despite their being a bit of a thing with Public Enemy doing the soundtrack iirc.  Was alright, though not exactly Lee's best.

Jerry Maguire (1996).  Eminently quotable film, though the biggest thing I took away from her was how many times they could make a show of their notoriously short-arsed lead actor hitting his head/having to duck under stuff.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 29, 2013)

Alpha Pappa. Funniest thing with alan in since ages


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 29, 2013)

Watched the second Sherlock movie the other night - the vaguely racist one with the Chinese "Tongs".

Not as good as the pilot.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 29, 2013)

*Elisyum *- not as bad as expected. enjoyed it alot. silly at parts.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 29, 2013)

The Tracey Fragments

I lasted about ten minutes before giving up.  It may have been rewarding in the end but the constant split screen was just irritating


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Nov 29, 2013)

Working my way through Season 3 of Homicide - Life on the Streets which is based on the book by David Simon.
I read the book recently and loved it. Felt i was part of the rotation, in that squad room, involved in the office politics, out on the streets, in the rowhouses, living and breathing Baltimore.
The TV series is growing on me, had trouble adjusting to the characters working out who they were based on and accepting the different media demands. I'm enjoying it and feel affinity with the characters in a different way.
It's good but not even close to The Wire but what is?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106028/


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 29, 2013)

Beware of Mr Baker.

Fucking hell that was good. Didn't come across as being as much of a twat as I expected tbh. Bought the dvd for me dad for Xmas.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 29, 2013)

Phenol said:


> American Beauty - superb



It's times like this when this site misses dubversion.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 30, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Watched the second Sherlock movie the other night - the vaguely racist one with the Chinese "Tongs".
> 
> Not as good as the pilot.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Nov 30, 2013)

Still pluggin away at Friday Night Lights - In all honesty, I'll be gutted when I've finished it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 30, 2013)

Nemesis

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107668/reviews?ref_=tt_urv

it is fairly crap but not so bad its bad, just bare cheese and didn't make much sense but was quite good for the action. Fatally let down by a really bad stop motion sequence at the end where a cyborg frame that looked like a post-meth addiction Terminator attacked the get away plane.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 30, 2013)

Recently watched a UK horror flick called Heartless. The guy from Across the Universe [Sturgess?] has a big birthmark on his face. He makes a deal with the devil - take off the birthmark so he can woo the Polish immigrant girl.

He thinks he only has to do graffiti, but it's not true. He has to kill someone. So he wraps a gay hooker in cling wrap, and cuts out his heart.

I hope this isn't spoiling it for anyone.

Truly an odd film.

Also, the devil has a sidekick - an east indian child dressed in traditional clothing, who starts calling Sturgess 'daddy'.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 30, 2013)

A Man For All Seasons. Acting master-classes all around, still engrossing.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 30, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> View attachment 44161




_Cumbie!_


----------



## Jackobi (Nov 30, 2013)

A marathon Western session last night watching the Dollars Trilogy, which is seemingly timeless, and probably not watched for the last time either. I have Yojimbo to watch at a later date, which I haven't seen yet.

Also Elysium and Pacific Rim earlier this week, both fairly run of the mill sci-fi, action films, Pacific Rim's CGI being quite impressive with the sheer scale of objects.

Just finished Once Upon a Time in the West and am moving on to a Fistful of Dynamite soon.


----------



## Fez909 (Nov 30, 2013)

I watched _Up_ this morning before getting out of bed. Got me right in the feels 

Great film!


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 1, 2013)

Last night - The Broken Circle Breakdown - Belgian film. Country band singer meets tattoo artist, has child. It looks good if a bit over shiny and if you're into country music I suppose the soundtrack is ok. It's a very sad story from the off. Not my sort of thing really but some will love it and it will make them cry like babies.

This morning -  The Hit. Had this on the hard drive for ages. Stephen Frears film with Tim Roth, Terence Stamp and John Hurt. I think butchers and Frances have both recommended it in the past, I'll third it. It's a great 80s gangster flick, Tim Roth's first big film role, great performances all round and the story, while mostly told from inside a car is pretty solid too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 1, 2013)

couple of docus

The Vikings

Has that bloke who normally does Coast. You know him, rolling-r scots accent, long black hair, very knowledgeable. Focused mainly on viking life outside of the whole warrior shit. Quite good


The Golden age of Pirates

This bloke really really doesn't like Francis Drake. Nicely puts the boot in the whole jolly pirate stuff and goes straight for the 'thieves, rapists, murderers' etc line. Interesting stuff on letters of Marque etc as an early form of economic warfare done using irregulars


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 1, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> ...The Vikings...



This?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 2, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> This?




thats the one


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 2, 2013)

Machete Kills

I liked the first Machete. It was stupid and bloodsoaked. 

The sequel is studded with cameos but has turned the ridiculous up to 11 and lost something.


----------



## Kaka Tim (Dec 2, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Last night - The Broken Circle Breakdown - Belgian film. Country band singer meets tattoo artist, has child. It looks good if a bit over shiny and if you're into country music I suppose the soundtrack is ok. It's a very sad story from the off. Not my sort of thing really but some will love it and it will make them cry like babies.
> 
> This morning -  The Hit. Had this on the hard drive for ages. Stephen Frears film with Tim Roth, Terence Stamp and John Hurt. I think butchers and Frances have both recommended it in the past, I'll third it. It's a great 80s gangster flick, Tim Roth's first big film role, great performances all round and the story, while mostly told from inside a car is pretty solid too.



The Hit is well underrated.


----------



## Phenol (Dec 2, 2013)

The Liability - Tim Roth, Peter Mullan brit, hit-man flick - quite gritty and bleak with some good scenes and Roth is great but it's all a bit predictable.


----------



## Phenol (Dec 2, 2013)

As Good as It Gets - great film to watch again if you haven't seen it for a while. Grumpy Nicholson is superb with Greg Kinear playing it understated as he is so good at (IMO) !


----------



## Supine (Dec 2, 2013)

Blackfish - a film that is guaranteed to stop you visiting captive orca whales. A bit of a sad story but engrossing viewing. Definitely recommended.


----------



## Voley (Dec 2, 2013)

Compliance. Totally unbelievable sensationalistic load of crap that makes you go  when you see the 'A True Story' bit. About a bloke who pretends to be a cop, rings up a fast food restaurant and coerces the manager, her husband and various others others into abusing one of the employees. Totally unbelievable until I googled it, found out that it did actually happen and there were as many as 70+ similar incidents. If that wasn't bad enough, the bloke was never successfully prosecuted for it. Another one I wish I'd not bothered with.


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 3, 2013)

*This Boy's Life (1993)* Based on a true story and choc full of great performances!


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 3, 2013)

*The Sound of my Voice *- low budget, indyish, only slightly mumbly mystery / thriller / scifiey sort of thing about a couple who become obsessed (or do they?) by infiltrating a cult (or is it?) controlled by a fraudster claiming to be from the future (or is she?). A bit meh really. It got a lot of good press but I can't really see why - not flamboyantly silly or creepy enough to be really weirded-out by and not quite compelling enough for the real human drama side to grip me. Even at just 85 mins it felt a bit long. Could have been a blinding one-hour episode of Twilight Zone or something similar though. If you want something about cults to really make your flesh creep then watch Martha Macy May Marlene instead. And if you want time travel dilemmas about the War To Come then it's back to Terminator's future, again.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 3, 2013)

*Berberian Sound Studio *(Peter Strickland 2012) Excellent psychological thriller and homage to 70's Italian horror films.


----------



## Phenol (Dec 5, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> It's times like this when this site misses dubversion.


 Is this a U75 clique thing or can you explain a little further?


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 5, 2013)

Dubversion - prolific poster of the post.  

#He was never short of an opinion and his view of American Beauty didn't co-incide with yours


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 5, 2013)

Watched 4 episodes of Northern Exposure (season 3), a Christmas present from last year that wasn't opened 'til last night when there was fuck all on the box!


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 5, 2013)

]





rubbershoes said:


> Dubversion - prolific poster of the post.
> 
> #He was never short of an opinion and his view of American Beauty didn't co-incide with yours




he hated the faux meaningfulness. Proper hated it. I quite like it as a film, yes it wants to be bigger than it is but this alone is worth your time


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 5, 2013)

Finale of Breaking Bad (well, the last 3 episodes in one glorious movie length binge )

A little bereft now it's over  Great finish tho (if a little 'safe').



Spoiler: Felina



Walt built Jesse a robot after all 

Also, who doesn't like watching Nazi child-murderers getting cut down by machine gun fire and Jesse getting to strangle Todd? I did a little air punch at that point.... bitch


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 5, 2013)

The Octagon said:


> Finale of Breaking Bad (well, the last 3 episodes in one glorious movie length binge )



Never watched a single episode


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 5, 2013)

"Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Never watched a single episode



I won't evangelise  but it's very, very good and worth a watch.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 5, 2013)

*Some Guy Who Kills People *.... uneasy horror/farce/satire with a twist, a bit too leaden to make the gear shifts work and not everyone at work on screen seems to be in on the joke. Magnificent turn though by Barry Bostwick as a detective who's one part art critic, one part sleazebag, two parts avuncular straight-man and many more % clueless idiot. Also took me ages to figure it out but one major character is played by none other than ... you know, that bloke, the guy who was Bubbles' doomed junkie sidekick in The Wire. Might be worth it if you plan a large gathering of drunk/stoned and easily amused people.


----------



## Sue (Dec 5, 2013)

NVP said:


> Compliance. Totally unbelievable sensationalistic load of crap that makes you go  when you see the 'A True Story' bit. About a bloke who pretends to be a cop, rings up a fast food restaurant and coerces the manager, her husband and various others others into abusing one of the employees. Totally unbelievable until I googled it, found out that it did actually happen and there were as many as 70+ similar incidents. If that wasn't bad enough, the bloke was never successfully prosecuted for it. Another one I wish I'd not bothered with.


 
Thought it was really good -- one of my top ten for the year. And the opposite of sensationalistic, surely?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 5, 2013)

The Octagon said:


> I won't evangelise  but it's very, very good and worth a watch.



I kept seeing it on here and had no idea what it was but it seemed popular so I thought to myself, I'd have some of that, so I bought it for Christmas for a friend (Seasons 1-4)


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 5, 2013)

there is a point where Walter becomes not a figure of sympathy and grudging respect for a good man driven to bad things. The point where he becomes a bona fides monster and a horrible human being. I'm not talking about when he finds the smashed plate missing a shard way back in season 1. A shiny penny to whosoever can guess which point he became truly evil to my mind.


----------



## imposs1904 (Dec 5, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> there is a point where Walter becomes not a figure of sympathy and grudging respect for a good man driven to bad things. The point where he becomes a bona fides monster and a horrible human being. I'm not talking about when he finds the smashed plate missing a shard way back in season 1. A shiny penny to whosoever can guess which point he became truly evil to my mind.



jesse's g/f scene?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 5, 2013)

imposs1904 said:


> jesse's g/f scene?




bingo. Thats where I went 'you evil piece of shit' and lost all the sympathy I had for Walter


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 5, 2013)

haven't watched much further. Cos once he's lost it, then bollocks. I can watch ten a penny villains do villainous shit seven days a week


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 5, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> bingo. Thats where I went 'you evil piece of shit' and lost all the sympathy I had for Walter


Half did it for himself, half did it for Jesse, she would have destroyed them both.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 5, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Half did it for himself, half did it for Jesse, she would have destroyed them both.



she deserved better. She was good for jesse before he got her back on the gear. I'll end up watching the rest at some point, but for me alll the charm and caper went out of it then. Just nasty.


----------



## magneze (Dec 6, 2013)

It wasn't just nasty, like she was choking and he could have saved her. She choked _because_ of him - his rummaging around made her lie on her back.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 7, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> there is a point where Walter becomes not a figure of sympathy and grudging respect for a good man driven to bad things. The point where he becomes a bona fides monster and a horrible human being. I'm not talking about when he finds the smashed plate missing a shard way back in season 1. A shiny penny to whosoever can guess which point he became truly evil to my mind.


It's when he coerces Jesse to make meth with him, right at the beginning. Surely that's the whole point of the show?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 7, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> she deserved better. She was good for jesse before he got her back on the gear. I'll end up watching the rest at some point, but for me alll the charm and caper went out of it then. Just nasty.


You are definitely missing the point


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 7, 2013)

magneze said:


> It wasn't just nasty, like she was choking and he could have saved her. She choked _because_ of him - his rummaging around made her lie on her back.



She's choking because she took smack, and got Jesse hooked on it too.

She would have gotten them both killed, no doubt.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> It's when he coerces Jesse to make meth with him, right at the beginning. Surely that's the whole point of the show?



still a good man at that point. Not crossed the line


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> She's choking because she took smack, and got Jesse hooked on it too.
> 
> She would have gotten them both killed, no doubt.




he watched a young girl choke to death on her own vomit- fuck your utilitarianism, thats not on.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 7, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> still a good man at that point. Not crossed the line


A good man does not blackmail a vulnerable young man to help him make drugs and risk being sent to prison forever.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> A good man does not blackmail a vulnerable young man to help him make drugs and risk being sent to prison forever.




he was driven and not yet truly bad. He wasn't heisenberg


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 7, 2013)

A teacher blackmailing a former student into commiting a crime is unequivocally BREAKING BAD


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 7, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> he watched a young girl choke to death on her own vomit- fuck your utilitarianism, thats not on.


Right...this young girl blackmailed him for millions of dollars, got his mate hooked on heroin and threatened to grass Walt up to the police?

Why do you think her dad was constantly checking on her?  Because she was a naive virgin, prey to the world?   Why do you think he locked her away in that place, a prisoner of his will?   Because she was good?

Would you prefer Little House on the Prairie?   The Waltons?  Happy Days?

Breaking Bad, for me, is the greatest story ever.  All the characters have depths of nastiness...every one of them.  That is not to say they are nasty, it only admits that it can lie in us all.

Walter White enters the world of drug dealers, drug lords, police, DEA, money laundering, corrupt lawyers, hit men, child killers.  In Breaking Bad we see the depths of humanity.   Peekaboo?

And he becomes legend.

They say his name, all of them.  They say his name and feel fear.

It's not perfect, but it damn near is.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2013)

her dad was Q from star trek iirc

but no, you don't let somebody choke on their own vomit. And watch while it happens. There is a line.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 7, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> her dad was Q from star trek iirc
> 
> but no, you don't let somebody choke on their own vomit. And watch while it happens. There is a line.


You need to watch season 3, seriously.

You're hung up on a chapter and stopped reading the book.  Did you notice the titles from episodes 1, 4, 10 and 13?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2013)

nay, wherein lies the significance of these title sequences?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2013)

my fave episode is still the one where they get stuck in the desert and nearly die of thirst.

I'm going to have to watch the rest now aren't I? Godammit.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 7, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> nay, wherein lies the significance of these title sequences?


737, down, over, Albequerque.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 7, 2013)

The stuff with Jane...the episode ? in season 3....there is a moment where your heart will stop.


----------



## renegadechicken (Dec 7, 2013)

The giant mechanical man. Thoroughly enjoyed this and when it finished was surprised that an hour and a half had past.


----------



## magneze (Dec 7, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> She's choking because she took smack, and got Jesse hooked on it too.
> 
> She would have gotten them both killed, no doubt.


Um, no.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 8, 2013)

*Unknown* (Jaume Collet-Serra 2011) Enjoyable, if implausible, Liam Neeson vehicle.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 8, 2013)

Belushi said:


> *Unknown* (Jaume Collet-Serra 2011) Enjoyable, if implausible, Liam Neeson vehicle.




does he get angry and start killing people?


----------



## Belushi (Dec 8, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> does he get angry and start killing people?



Yeah, and cars explode while he looks moody, the full Neeson works. You'll love it, there's even a noble old Stasi officer.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 8, 2013)

Stasi man was the star turn. Neeson was only at 50% till the final fight when he went 100% Neeson.

Berlin looked so pretty though, last time I saw it looking that good on film was Wir Sind Die Nacht. Must go someday.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 8, 2013)

A Team, the Neeson version.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 8, 2013)

In the last few days we watched...

Dead Poets Society.  Better than I remembered, surprisingly little of Robin Williams in it.

Monty Python and The Holy Grail.   Probably their maddest film.


----------



## Voley (Dec 8, 2013)

Mulholland Drive. By all accounts it makes little sense at the best of times. It certainly doesn't when you're on drugs and keep falling asleep. I'll give it another go tonight.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 8, 2013)

NVP said:


> Mulholland Drive. By all accounts it makes little sense at the best of times. It certainly doesn't when you're on drugs and keep falling asleep. I'll give it another go tonight.


I got confused and bought the _Mulholland Falls_ DVD by mistake. I mean, I was confused because it made sense, if that makes sense.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 8, 2013)

Red and Red 2.

I caught the latter on a plane flight recently, and thought I'd check out the former. They were both pretty good, and I must say Bruce Willis looks very good for a man his age (he's about 70 now right?).

Also watched Prometheus last night. I really enjoyed this one, which had the real SFnal sensawunda and I wish I'd seen it in a cinema. Noomi Rapace was excellent as the archaeologist, as were the rest of the cast really. That said though. . .



Spoiler



Some of the plot holes and cliches were unacceptable:

1. Stringer Bell's great-grandson taking one for the team and sacrificing his life - we've seen this done over and over again and it's always the black guy as well. Why would they build a ship like the Promotheus and not fit it with an autopilot?

2. When Idris Elba and Charlize Theron go off to shag, why doesn't he detail one of the crew to keep an eye on the news feed from the secret alien temple?

3. And the two lads who were left behind in the secret alien temple - how did they get lost in the first place, given that they had an electronic surveillance thing keeping tabs on them? And if they were freaked out by finding the alien body in the chamber, why did they then settle down to wait in the spookiest part of the temple they'd found so far?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 8, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Red and Red 2.
> 
> I caught the latter on a plane flight recently, and thought I'd check out the former. They were both pretty good, and I must say Bruce Willis looks very good for a man his age (he's about 70 now right?).
> 
> ...


There's loads more holes:
http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/prometheus-spoiler-thread.294636/


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 8, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> There's loads more holes:
> http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/prometheus-spoiler-thread.294636/



Thanks for that. A good thread I missed at the time. But I don't care about the holes in the end anyway, regardless of the Wrath of the Fanboys.

I see from that thread that Scott is trying to definitively answer the "is Deckard a replicant" question - which is not his place to  do so, and in any case BR makes more sense if Deckard is a human whose sense of identity and self is disturbed and threatened by the "humanity-ness" of the replicants.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 8, 2013)

How many times am I going to click on TV and Film and end up in the Music forum?


----------



## Voley (Dec 8, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> How many times am I going to click on TV and Film and end up in the Music forum?


You won't like this post then.

I've just watched two Stones gigs on BluRay this afternoon - 'Ladies and Gentlemen The Rolling Stones' which is totally ace from start to finish as it's the Mick Taylor 'Exile On Main Street' version of the band and they really were the best fucking band ever then. Now I'm watching 'Some Girls Live In Texas'. This was only a few years later but Keith looks visibly more fucked and Mick has visibly less underpants. They're on really good form on this one, too, despite Mick's ill-advised punk 'Destroy' swastika T-Shirt. The high powered version of 'Starfucker' they do with Mick leaping about like a nutter is a pretty good advert for the virtues of cocaine. Despite this, Mick apologises for the lack of energy from the band as they'd all spent the previous night fucking. They do make me laugh sometimes.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 8, 2013)

The Sessions.  38 year old in iron lung wants to lose his virginity. 'Based on true events' or something like that. It's okay, a good 90 minuter. Story is touching and the main guy is pretty funny at times.

The Nasty Girl. German film about a woman investigating he towns Nazi past. It's bloody brilliant.


----------



## white rabbit (Dec 9, 2013)

*The Letter
*


Psychological trauma with Winona Ryder and James Franco. How many films have there been with Winona Ryder playing a young woman having a breakdown? All of them, right? This is good though. If you like that kind of thing. I'm going to have to watch it again.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 9, 2013)

Queen of the Sun







There are some dodgy hippie sequences; but imo this is one of the most sobering and frightening documentaries about what agri-business is doing to the planet. Some of what's going on seems to transcend the merely short-sighted or blind, and transgress into the diabolical.

 A must-see documentary.


----------



## white rabbit (Dec 9, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Some of what's going on seems to transcend the merely short-sighted or blind, and transgress into the diabolical.


a robin redbreast in a cage puts all heaven in a rage.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 9, 2013)

white rabbit said:


> a robin redbreast in a cage puts all heaven in a rage.


 
Bees being fed corn syrup makes the baby Jesus cry.


----------



## magneze (Dec 9, 2013)

The Great Gatsby
Wonderfully made Baz Luhrmann version. Very entertaining and visually spectacular. The mixing of modern music into it was a little surprising but didn't detract. I guess having Jay-Z as a producer might possibly have influenced that somewhat. Quite fancy seeing it in 3D on a big screen. It's that sort of film.


----------



## yardbird (Dec 9, 2013)

I've finished working my way through Silent Witness, tonight I'm going to start Waking the Dead.
Good British telly with some obvious then and now illustrations.

Casual smoking, funny how it's so noticeable.
Lingering shots on the slab, that's okay, but now you wouldn't see the breasts of an under 16. Well I rather hope not.

Anyway, starting with the pilot.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 9, 2013)

The Act Of Killing.
I saw it a few nights ago and still don't know what to say about it. A grim but funny documentary about the perpetrators of the mass murder of 'communists' in Indonesia. Originally the film was supposed to be about the victims, but the still-in-power gangsters demanded that the crew make a film about them instead, re-enacting scenes of their atrocities, using Hollywood movie clichés, sometimes using some victims' families as extras. There's a horrible bit where they stop filming and the kids and some of the adults don't stop weeping. The matter of fact way that these killers talk about their horrific crimes whilst made up as corpses or dressed as cowboys is chilling but blackly comic.
Not sure what the message is. Still chewing it over.
These gangsters who ran and who still run Indonesia have never been held to account and probably won't be. The fly gangster dude who was head killer only appeared to realise what he'd done was wrong when he pretended to be a victim for the camera. How could he be so blyth about it? The human mind is adept at burying really bad things I guess.
The film could have taken the time to give the events a bit more context. There are just a few introductory captions at the beginning and the end.
Also, the killers kept going on about how the word 'gangster' meant 'free man'. Something must have been lost in translation there.


----------



## Voley (Dec 9, 2013)

Mulholland Drive. It made more sense when I tried to watch it the other night when I was asleep on drugs.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 10, 2013)

NVP said:


> Mulholland Drive. It made more sense when I tried to watch it the other night when I was asleep on drugs.



Wait til you see Inland Empire 

I watched Insidious 2 last night. Bit crap really, the first was better and that wasn't even that good.


----------



## sojourner (Dec 10, 2013)

We had a yearning to watch Zulu again, after talking about it the other day, so watched it on Sunday afternoon, and cried all over again. Fucking brilliant film that


----------



## Supine (Dec 10, 2013)

Treme. Series 4 is off to a good start


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 10, 2013)

its been nearly a decade since Battlestar Galactica aired soI thought I'd start again from episode one. Fantastically, my memories of it are hazy enough to cover only vauge overarching plot points and character dev. 

its like watching it all for the first time 

got to ep 3last night. Forgot all about Balthar rinsing Starbuck at poker


----------



## magneze (Dec 10, 2013)

Got a free month of Netflix so watched a Doug Stanhope show. Really funny.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 10, 2013)

magneze said:


> Got a free month of Netflix so watched a Doug Stanhope show. Really funny.


Now watch Archer...quick.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 11, 2013)

I watched A Late Quartet while on the train. It's been on my hard drive for ages. No idea why I downloaded it.


----------



## magneze (Dec 11, 2013)

DexterTCN said:


> Now watch Archer...quick.



What's that about?


----------



## magneze (Dec 11, 2013)

.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 11, 2013)

magneze said:


> What's that about?


3 seasons, 20 minute long episodes about a private spy company.  First season is funny, seasons 2 and 3 are brilliant.  Some of the best lines ever.

(4th season on the net)


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2013)

World in Action docu about Mengele and how nobody ever got him.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 11, 2013)

some docu from that serial killer series im watching, about serial killers from round the world, it cant have been that good as i fell asleep during it.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 11, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> World in Action docu about Mengele and how nobody ever got him.


 
didn't he go to south america?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> didn't he go to south america?



via bavaria, went to this town which was virtually owned by his fathers business. Used his extensive funds to fuck of to paraguay where he bought a passport and the friendship of some fash loving dictator there. Worth a watch, not easy viewing though


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 11, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> via bavaria, went to this town which was virtually owned by his fathers business. Used his extensive funds to fuck of to paraguay where he bought a passport and the friendship of some fash loving dictator there. Worth a watch, not easy viewing though


 
yeah i find it really hard to watch shit like that.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 11, 2013)

Big Bang Theory, sixth season. Not as bad as it used to be. But why do they still have to make the cast so pathetic?

You could imagine having a drink with Roy off the IT crowd, and maybe even Moss - but these guys?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> yeah i find it really hard to watch shit like that.




Mossad nearly had him, same outfit they were running to do the eichmann snatch- somehow he got wind of it and employed armed guards and attack dogs. At that time israeli security forces were stretched to breaking point finance/materials/manpower wise so they had to let him slip in order to land eichmann.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 11, 2013)

oh well,  hopefully he had a painful death eventually.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 11, 2013)

You might get more out of the Stranger, 1946 film noir with Edward G. Robinson as a nazi-hunter:



Also has Orson Welles in it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> oh well,  hopefully he had a painful death eventually.




fingers crossed eh. But what a horrible decision to have take- one or the other, eichmann or mengele?

I think they took the right decision, get the architect not the freak who used camp people for his 'experiments'. Mengele is still a name that causes revulsion today cos he wasn't even a common and garden sadist, worse he was _curious.

_
I imagine the boots on the ground told themselves the slightly smaller fish's time would come.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 11, 2013)

There's a book called SS-1, which argues that Himmler successfully escaped, leaving a double to die in his place. I had nightmares after reading it. . .


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> There's a book called SS-1, which argues that Himmler successfully escaped, leaving a double to die in his place. I had nightmares after reading it. . .




wasn't he grossly bloated and dying from gout and liver problems anyway?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2013)

also love goebbels diary entry after 'completely sane' Hess did his abortive attempt to broker a peace

'This is a disaster'

no shit sherlock


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 11, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> wasn't he grossly bloated and dying from gout and liver problems anyway?



It would be nice to think so, wouldn't it?


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 11, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> wasn't he grossly bloated and dying from gout and liver problems anyway?


That's depardieu. Why do french actors - him, deloin, bardo love the far right so?


----------



## belboid (Dec 11, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> That's depardieu. Why do french actors - him, deloin, bardo love the far right so?


cos they hate France for being shit


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 11, 2013)

belboid said:


> cos they hate France for being shit


We have Simone  and jves.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> yeah i find it really hard to watch shit like that.




I had to pause at some bits cos of grit in eye etc. There was one scene where his former admin woman (camp inmate) said how he casually had her daughter sterilised but she was just glad he hadn't had her marked for the ovens. I paused it at that point cos jesus christ on a pogo stick, every time you think you have become inured to the moral depravity of the third reich something turns up to punch you in the gut.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 11, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> That's depardieu. Why do french actors - him, deloin, bardo love the far right so?


Delon too? Didn't know that.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 11, 2013)

redsquirrel said:


> Delon too? Didn't know that.


Yep. Sorry.


----------



## rekil (Dec 11, 2013)

http://www.france24.com/en/20131009-french-actor-alain-delon-national-front

Was he open about it at all before now?


----------



## yardbird (Dec 11, 2013)

yardbird said:


> I've finished working my way through Silent Witness, tonight I'm going to start Waking the Dead.
> Good British telly with some obvious then and now illustrations.
> 
> Casual smoking, funny how it's so noticeable.
> ...


----------



## inva (Dec 11, 2013)

Night Train
1959 Polish film directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. Two mysterious and troubled characters Jerzy (Leon Niemczyk) and Marta (Lucyna Winnicka) are forced to share a compartment aboard a train on an overnight journey to a coastal town. As the trip begins, news circulates that a murderer is on the loose and the suspicion forms that he may be on the train. It all culminates in an unscheduled stop in the middle of the night and a fantastic chase scene with almost the atmosphere of a horror film after the man suspected of being the killer leaps from the train and ends up surrounded by a crowd of avenging passengers in a nearby graveyard.

The booklet that came with the dvd mentions Hitchcock and Michelangelo Antonioni as influences (especially his film Il Grido which I've not seen), and I was also reminded of some of the New Wave related directors like Chabrol and Melville.

Jan Laskowski's cinematography is really excellent, and there's a great jazz soundtrack too.

One of the best films I've seen lately. Highly recommended.


----------



## ringo (Dec 12, 2013)

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

Had it in my head that this a favourite, even though I saw it once when it came out and never again. Good to know its as good as I remembered it, every actor is great in it. Probably didn't get some of the subtleties of the food/colour/visceral visual feast aspects the first time.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

S2 eps 2 and 3 of American Horror Story. So far a good sight better than S1.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> S2 eps 2 and 3 of American Horror Story. So far a good sight better than S1.



oh g-d that's a horrible series, i couldn't watch after about episode 3. 

I watched "Planet Ant" about scientists who made an artificial ant colony and observed everything they were doing for a few weeks.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> oh g-d that's a horrible series, i couldn't watch after about episode 3.
> 
> I watched "Planet Ant" about scientists who made an artificial ant colony and observed everything they were doing for a few weeks.


Horrible as in gave you the frights or as in shit?


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Horrible as in gave you the frights or as in shit?



Horrible as in disturbing but also shit. I couldn't watch it after episode or 4, I hated all of the characters and there was no hope at the end of the tunnel.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> Horrible as in disturbing but also shit. I couldn't watch it after episode or 4, I hated all of the characters and there was no hope at the end of the tunnel.



Yeah, there aren't many likeable characters in S1. It was very uneven in quality and the plot got silly. S2 seems a lot tighter in that regard.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Yeah, there aren't many likeable characters in S1. It was very uneven in quality and the plot got silly. S2 seems a lot tighter in that regard.



i thought it was the other way round, i liked series 1. it was funny. 

series 2 was just horrible.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 12, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Big Bang Theory, sixth season. Not as bad as it used to be. But why do they still have to make the cast so pathetic?
> 
> You could imagine having a drink with Roy off the IT crowd, and maybe even Moss - but these guys?



And more of the same last night. When you're depicting the human degradation that loneliness and non-existent self-esteem can wreak on people, you've stopped being a sitcom and you are now something else. . .


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> i thought it was the other way round, i liked series 1. it was funny.
> 
> series 2 was just horrible.


Sorry - I thought you meant S1 all along.  I can see how the MH stuff could be more disturbing alright. S1 was more "let's take all the horror cliches and mash them together in a big crazy stew", it seems with S2 they actually gave it some more thought.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 12, 2013)

inva said:


> Night Train
> 1959 Polish film directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. Two mysterious and troubled characters Jerzy (Leon Niemczyk) and Marta (Lucyna Winnicka) are forced to share a compartment aboard a train on an overnight journey to a coastal town. As the trip begins, news circulates that a murderer is on the loose and the suspicion forms that he may be on the train. It all culminates in an unscheduled stop in the middle of the night and a fantastic chase scene with almost the atmosphere of a horror film after the man suspected of being the killer leaps from the train and ends up surrounded by a crowd of avenging passengers in a nearby graveyard.
> 
> The booklet that came with the dvd mentions Hitchcock and Michelangelo Antonioni as influences (especially his film Il Grido which I've not seen), and I was also reminded of some of the New Wave related directors like Chabrol and Melville.
> ...


JW did another film called Cien/Shadow based around some one being hurled from a train. I can also recommend the two parts of his Celullose series - Celullose and Under the Phrygian Star. I expect that you've seen Mother Joan of the Angels- which Christian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills reminded me of - in a good way.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Sorry - I thought you meant S1 all along.  I can see how the MH stuff could be more disturbing alright. S1 was more "let's take all the horror cliches and mash them together in a big crazy stew", it seems with S2 they actually gave it some more thought.



the mental health stuff was more disturbing and all of the characters i liked seemed to be killed off or made to go mad


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> the mental health stuff was more disturbing and all of the characters i liked were killed off or made to go mad


That's why I like it - it's a horror show after all, and horror is better when the bad guys win IMO.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> That's why I like it - it's a horror show after all, and horror is better when the bad guys win IMO.



the first one was a comedy though.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> horror is better when the bad guys win IMO.



why?


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> the first one was a comedy though.



Kinda. But the bad guys won tho! Kinda...


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Kinda. But the bad guys won tho! Kinda...



Nobody won - they all had to stay in the house forever.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> why?


Oh I dunno. I guess for me it was a reaction to seeing a lot of 80s/90s horror when things became so fucking formulaic - usually ending up with the plucky hero/heroine destroying (at least temporarily - gotta mind that sequel potential) the big bad monster. In real life evil wins as often or more often than good.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> Nobody won - they all had to stay in the house forever.



I can see that angle - but the good guys (the wife and daughter) didn't make it/win either.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

They stopped the other family who were going to move in at the end being killed though.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> They stopped the other family who were going to move in at the end being killed though.


And that disappointed me to no end


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> And that disappointed me to no end



As you say "evil" often (usually) wins in real life so what's wrong with a bit of escapism?


----------



## TruXta (Dec 12, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> As you say "evil" often (usually) wins in real life so what's wrong with a bit of escapism?


Nothing really, but I can get that in any number of other genres. I like my horror evil (mostly).


----------



## inva (Dec 12, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> JW did another film called Cien/Shadow based around some one being hurled from a train. I can also recommend the two parts of his Celullose series - Celullose and Under the Phrygian Star. I expect that you've seen Mother Joan of the Angels- which Christian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills reminded me of - in a good way.


I've not seen Mother Joan yet, though I've got it lined up to watch soon having enjoyed Night Train such a lot. Cheers for all the recommendations - I've only really just begun exploring these sorts of films. So many from around the 60s-ish era I'd like to see 

I saw Beyond the Hills was directed by the same person as 4 Months 3 Weeks & 2 Days which I thought was pretty good so I'll definitely keep an eye out for that.


----------



## starfish (Dec 12, 2013)

2 nights ago we watched Breaking Bad series 5 episodes 13 & 14. Only 2 more episodes to go  Might save them for the weekend.


----------



## starfish (Dec 12, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> The Act Of Killing.
> I saw it a few nights ago and still don't know what to say about it. A grim but funny documentary about the perpetrators of the mass murder of 'communists' in Indonesia. Originally the film was supposed to be about the victims, but the still-in-power gangsters demanded that the crew make a film about them instead, re-enacting scenes of their atrocities, using Hollywood movie clichés, sometimes using some victims' families as extras. There's a horrible bit where they stop filming and the kids and some of the adults don't stop weeping. The matter of fact way that these killers talk about their horrific crimes whilst made up as corpses or dressed as cowboys is chilling but blackly comic.
> Not sure what the message is. Still chewing it over.
> These gangsters who ran and who still run Indonesia have never been held to account and probably won't be. The fly gangster dude who was head killer only appeared to realise what he'd done was wrong when he pretended to be a victim for the camera. How could he be so blyth about it? The human mind is adept at burying really bad things I guess.
> ...



Downloaded this a few weeks ago but havent got round to watching it yet. Will do soon though.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 13, 2013)

Chico and Rita - not as interesting or musically good as all the critics raved. The animation was flat and lacked emotion too.

Clear History - Larry David in Curb lite HBO comedy film with not a lot of of substance and only a couple of laughs.


----------



## Miss-Shelf (Dec 13, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Chico and Rita - not as interesting or musically good as all the critics raved. The animation was flat and lacked emotion too.
> 
> Clear History - Larry David in Curb lite HBO comedy film with not a lot of of substance and only a couple of laughs.


the animation on that lacks nipple detail too


----------



## Yetman (Dec 13, 2013)

The Family - really good, stars DeNiro and Pfeiffer. Mafia snitch is relocated to France and struggles to fit in, they're all ace


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 13, 2013)

Miss-Shelf said:


> the animation on that lacks nipple detail too



There was a lack of nipple detail....or no nipple detail in fact.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 13, 2013)

Yetman said:


> The Family - really good, stars DeNiro and Pfeiffer. Mafia snitch is relocated to France and struggles to fit in, they're all ace



Really? Everything I've read about this and everything I've been told about it suggests it is total pants....


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 13, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Really? Everything I've read about this and everything I've been told about it suggests it is total pants....



same...i think it's expected that De Niro will forever make shit films.
i don't know why but he seems to be taking every role that's offered to him.
such a great history and he decides to turn travolta.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 13, 2013)

Virtual Blue said:


> same...i think it's expected that De Niro will forever make shit films.
> i don't know why but he seems to be taking every role that's offered to him.
> such a great history and he decides to turn travolta.



He's pretty much said he's all about making money for other projects now......I'm not sure being the greatest actor ever is on his agenda any longer, or if it ever was.


----------



## TruXta (Dec 13, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Chico and Rita - not as interesting or musically good as all the critics raved. The animation was flat and lacked emotion too.



Yeah, it was a bit of a let-down after hearing all the hype.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 13, 2013)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Really? Everything I've read about this and everything I've been told about it suggests it is total pants....



Well, if you're expecting DeNiro standards, then yeah, it's not up to his usual standards. But it's a decent enough yarn that does get a little flat at the end I suppose. Still, me and the wife enjoyed at least the first 90 minutes of it. Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 13, 2013)

Think I'll pass.


----------



## Supine (Dec 13, 2013)

Life Is Beautiful. Italian film about the Holocaust. Wonderful movie which moves through happy, funny, sad and shocking with grace. 8.5/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 13, 2013)

Spartacus episodes. Its great watching Roman scum get killed to death in slow motion


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 13, 2013)

watching this now


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 14, 2013)

Pi.  

Rewatched Aronofsky's debut, still very good.  The soundtrack goes well with our protagonist's descent into loneliness and obsession with finding mathematical patterns.  And it has Hector from Breaking Bad.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 14, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> watching this now



I saw this last night too


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 14, 2013)

NVP said:


> Compliance. Totally unbelievable sensationalistic load of crap that makes you go  when you see the 'A True Story' bit. About a bloke who pretends to be a cop, rings up a fast food restaurant and coerces the manager, her husband and various others others into abusing one of the employees. Totally unbelievable until I googled it, found out that it did actually happen and there were as many as 70+ similar incidents. If that wasn't bad enough, the bloke was never successfully prosecuted for it. Another one I wish I'd not bothered with.



I liked it, me - It had me gripped.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 14, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> There's a book called SS-1, which argues that Himmler successfully escaped, leaving a double to die in his place. I had nightmares after reading it. . .



If he did survive, though, he evidently didn't get up to much.


----------



## magneze (Dec 15, 2013)

Anchorman
Overrated.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 15, 2013)

magneze said:


> Anchorman
> Overrated.


 Go to film taste jail immediately


----------



## magneze (Dec 15, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Go to film taste jail immediately


Maybe it was because we watched something funny before it (Archer). Or maybe it's just not funny.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 15, 2013)

magneze said:


> Maybe it was because we watched something funny before it (Archer). Or maybe it's just not funny.


no it's hilarious. it's you that's not funny


----------



## chasbo zelena (Dec 15, 2013)

Anchorman 2 is shaping up to be a massive disappointment though.


----------



## belboid (Dec 15, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> no it's hilarious. it's you that's not funny


Yeah, but you're renowned for having shit taste.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 15, 2013)

belboid said:


> Yeah, but you're renowned for having shit taste.


Moi? I have _exquisite_ taste.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 15, 2013)

I've never got the Anchorman thing either, didn't find it funny, perhaps I should watch it again at some point.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 15, 2013)

Skins.

The Channel 4 series about sexually hyperactive teenagers. Everyone is pretty, and everyone gets some, and no one has to deal with consequences: wherever this is set, it ain't on planet Earth.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 16, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Skins...wherever this is set, it ain't on planet Earth.



It's set in Fake Bristol.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 17, 2013)

This Is The End.

A cameo-filled end of the world comedy from Seth Rogen, lots of A-listers send themselves up and suffer enjoyably gory deaths or worse (Channing Tatum).  Plenty of laughs but the Danny McBride stuff just didn't do it for me, it would have been better without him imo.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 17, 2013)

The Hole - Jacques Becker's last film (probably most well known for Touchez Pas au Grisbi - in anglophone countries at least - and another wonderful film with one of my fav Jean Gabin performances , former asst to Renoir on Le Grande  Illusion, as well as being part of the cultural resistance to the nazis and doing a year in their prisons expecting death at any moment - and being half scottish )  - he died a few days after it was completed. The film is one of the best prison escapes films ever made - can be read as a simple story, on which level it is fantastic, the tension of the theft in Rififi dragged out for two hours plus. It can also be read as commentary on occupied france and complicity with power, as a lesson on individual exploitation, as how power structures exploit individual weakness against collective good, on which level it's excellent.

There was one actor who i thought inhabited his character so well that he must at the very least have been a con himself - on looking him up it turns out he was part of the gang from the actual prison break the film was based on and José Giovanni (the writer) had based his book and screenplay on being told about by JK when he was inside with him - and he himself is another very interesting character - writing the Second Breath which Melville filmed and the brilliant Consider All Risks - Lino Ventura being the perfect lead in both of those. Which is a long winded and involve way of telling redsquirrel to watch The Hole as i know he enjoyed Consider all the Risks a few years back.


----------



## Yetman (Dec 17, 2013)

Prisoners - Very good, surprises you throughout, bit long and the lead role should have been given to someone older than Jake Gylenghall imo but a well thought out and riveting thriller nonetheless.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 17, 2013)

Cloud Atlas. So utterly barking mad that I can't figure out if it's actually one of the most daringly experimental and subversive things I've ever seen, or a load of pukeworthy soft-centred New Age hippy bollocks, or an incoherent babble cackhandedly executed. Maybe all three at once (and more). No I haven't read the book and I was beginning to suspect that the ideas "holding it together" (they don't really) were just mushy nonsense about 'everything is connected it's all the big wheel of fate' and so on.
But it gets massive plus points for ambition and for graphic design - the future-world Korean fascist society in particular was great. And how can you not love the idea of Hugh Grant as a painted roadwarrior cannibal?

One thing I did find deeply interesting about it was the playing about with identity (different actors in different parts etc) which has its worthwhile, cheeky, postmodern side. On the other hand there's a random British kid of West African descent cast as a Moriori (implying that all dark skinned folks are basically interchangeable?) and some of the whiteface / fake Asian prosthetics used are truly woeful. Wonder if this sort of playing around has anything to do with Lana Wachowski's own gender transition?


----------



## inva (Dec 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> The Hole - Jacques Becker's last film (probably most well known for Touchez Pas au Grisbi - in anglophone countries at least - and another wonderful film with one of my fav Jean Gabin performances , former asst to Renoir on Le Grande  Illusion, as well as being part of the cultural resistance to the nazis and doing a year in their prisons expecting death at any moment - and being half scottish )  - he died a few days after it was completed. The film is one of the best prison escapes films ever made - can be read as a simple story, on which level it is fantastic, the tension of the theft in Rififi dragged out for two hours plus. It can also be read as commentary on occupied france and complicity with power, as a lesson on individual exploitation, as how power structures exploit individual weakness against collective good, on which level it's excellent.
> 
> There was one actor who i thought inhabited his character so well that he must at the very least have been a con himself - on looking him up it turns out he was part of the gang from the actual prison break the film was based on and José Giovanni (the writer) had based his book and screenplay on being told about by JK when he was inside with him - and he himself is another very interesting character - writing the Second Breath which Melville filmed and the brilliant Consider All Risks - Lino Ventura being the perfect lead in both of those. Which is a long winded and involve way of telling redsquirrel to watch The Hole as i know he enjoyed Consider all the Risks a few years back.


I've had that on my to watch list for a while. Only Jacques Becker film I've seen myself was Casque D'Or which I thought was very good, I don't know if you've watched that one.


----------



## inva (Dec 17, 2013)

Diamonds of the Night
1964 WW2 film directed by Jan Němec about two boys who are on the run having escaped from a train heading for a concentration camp. Thought this was fantastic with a impressive use of flashbacks and fantasies as exhaustion, hunger and injury gets to them more and more. One thing that stood out a lot was really good camera movement, in particular some brilliant scenes of the two boys trying to get away from their captors through a forest, where the camera moves frantically around them to keep up, and seems to be struggling through the lower branches of the trees as much as the actors are.

There were some haunting scenes of the two characters roaming almost completely deserted streets (I think in Prague) in their coats marked 'KL', which apparently stood for 'Konzentration Lager' although I'm not sure exactly what that means, and it was made even more ghostly looking by a blown out white effect in the photography. Also of note the sound design really effectively captured their state of mind, especially through repetitively focussing on particular sounds and sometimes distorting or amplifying them.

A very powerful film.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 17, 2013)

inva said:


> I've had that on my to watch list for a while. Only Jacques Becker film I've seen myself was Casque D'Or which I thought was very good, I don't know if you've watched that one.


I have it on my Simone Signoret list which i really need to pay some attention to! 

Diamonds of the Night is a great film - the version i saw was horrible and in no way did justice to the film. 

I've noticed you like films about people jumping off trains


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 17, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> There was one actor who i thought inhabited his character so well that he must at the very least have been a con himself - on looking him up it turns out he was part of the gang from the actual prison break the film was based on and José Giovanni (the writer) had based his book and screenplay on being told about by JK when he was inside with him - and he himself is another very interesting character - writing the Second Breath which Melville filmed and the brilliant Consider All Risks - Lino Ventura being the perfect lead in both of those. Which is a long winded and involve way of telling redsquirrel to watch The Hole as i know he enjoyed Consider all the Risks a few years back.


cheers for the recommendation BA, I'll check it out in the new year.


----------



## r0bb0 (Dec 17, 2013)

Trouble every day, a banging Vincent Gallo film with lots of sex and flesh eating craziness. I had no idea what it was about and watched it with a lady friend who found it quite disturbing 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204700/


----------



## Sue (Dec 18, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> .
> 
> There was one actor who i thought inhabited his character so well that he must at the very least have been a con himself - on looking him up it turns out he was part of the gang from the actual prison break the film was based on and José Giovanni (the writer) had based his book and screenplay on being told about by JK when he was inside with him - and he himself is another very interesting character - writing the Second Breath which Melville filmed and the brilliant Consider All Risks - Lino Ventura being the perfect lead in both of those. Which is a long winded and involve way of telling redsquirrel to watch The Hole as i know he enjoyed Consider all the Risks a few years back.


 
Saw Consider All Risks a few months ago and thought it was excellent. Have never seen The Hole but will put it on my list of things to see.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 19, 2013)

*Monsters* (Gareth Edwards 2010) Enjoyed it much more than I expected to.


----------



## ringo (Dec 19, 2013)

Homeland - Season 1, episode 1. Should take us through the Xmas hols nicely, although of course there will be SO MUCH amazing new unrepeated telly on we'll barely have time


----------



## Oldboy (Dec 19, 2013)

Late arriving to the horror/thriller genre, watched the Orphan. Enjoyable without substance. 
I'm still looking for that Das Boot with 28 Days Later thrill.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 19, 2013)

Idris2002 said:


> Skins.
> 
> The Channel 4 series about sexually hyperactive teenagers. Everyone is pretty, and everyone gets some, and no one has to deal with consequences: wherever this is set, it ain't on planet Earth.



It's certainly not fit to lace the boots of Hollyoaks.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Dec 20, 2013)

Documentary film* A Band Called Death* about the black, proto-punk band Death who started in early 1970s Detroit. Interesting and quite touching at times.


----------



## avu9lives (Dec 21, 2013)

*The Fighter (cant remember what year)* i mean wow!! what a film!! you come home stick film 4 on and youve partaken in a few beers and it grabs yer,. so then you roll a fat one and then BANG! humility, empathy, punch bags, drugs, wrong and right, music, western culture, and fecking MOTHERS!! old people tell ya you cant pick yer parents (thank god) but at least you can pick youre friends Eh! any way im off ta look for me lighter coz ive lost it somewere.....


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 21, 2013)

The Drummer-Crab - odd confused mess of a film from Pierre Schoendoerffer, sort of like heart of darkness but in the north atlantic - which means it had some fantastic sea-shots if little else. Basically, a dying old French Navy high up type sets off to find an old navy comrade of his trawling the sea around newfoundland who he thinks he sold him out 20 years ago - one of those french men of honour films. A little research reveals that the person he was looking for (a real person this) was Pierre Guillaume, a notorious violent extreme far-righter at the heart of much of the far-right plotting in france post-war. This is only hinted at in the film when we hear little snippets about the coup attempt he took part in. 

(Oddly enough, the other Pierre Guillaume i know was also a far-righter of sorts, an infamous holocaust denier but from the ultra-left (well, that's his spiel) and centre of the La Vieille Taupe network)


----------



## belboid (Dec 21, 2013)

Indeliblelink said:


> Documentary film* A Band Called Death* about the black, proto-punk band Death who started in early 1970s Detroit. Interesting and quite touching at times.


Ash, that was meant to be on at ATP earlier this year. Except it wasn't, I've been meaning to try to look t up.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2013)

*The Black Death*
a bleak affair really. During the height of bubonic plague a gtoup of armed rogues with a monk as guide seek a village to bring its necromancer to justice. Sean Bean is captain of the hunters. Mellisandre from Game of Thrones plays the witch (again)
low budget, in places overdone on the acting front but all in all not too bad. Excellent marsh scenery



*Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities*
A three part documentary detailing the three major epochs from Byzantium to Constantinople to
Istanbul. Done by everybodies favourite Stalin biographer Simon Sebag Montefiore. Hes wattles are amusing. Bit of an education as I know sfa about the eastern church/ottomans/etc. On my list of 'see before you die' buildings there is now the agia sophia. Looks like one of the finest church/mosques in the world. Also the Blue Mosque looks amazing.
*



*


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 23, 2013)

Despicable Me 2.

Very funny, the minions are brilliant.   The short scene where the fire alarm goes off sums it up.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Dec 24, 2013)

"Death Smiles On A Murderer" (1973) - the debut directorial effort of Aristide Massaccesi aka Joe D'Amato.  This one falls into the horror/thriller vein, and involves a woman who comes back from the dead and kills off various people.  Not bad stylistically speaking, and has its moments, though some of the death sequences are a bit silly and unbelievable.  Features Klaus Kinski, who gets bumped off fairly early on.  D'Amato inflicted some truly woeful and boring films on the public later on in his career ("Anthropophagous", anyone?), but this isn't too bad for a low-budget exploitation effort.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 24, 2013)

MellySingsDoom said:


> "Death Smiles On A Murderer" (1973) - the debut directorial effort of Aristide Massaccesi aka Joe D'Amato.  This one falls into the horror/thriller vein, and involves a woman who comes back from the dead and kills off various people.  Not bad stylistically speaking, and has its moments, though some of the death sequences are a bit silly and unbelievable.  Features Klaus Kinski, who gets bumped off fairly early on.  D'Amato inflicted some truly woeful and boring films on the public later on in his career ("Anthropophagous", anyone?), but this isn't too bad for a low-budget exploitation effort.


Nice to see you again comrade.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Dec 24, 2013)

Thanks butchers - it's good to be back again  Hope you're keeping well.


----------



## Voley (Dec 24, 2013)

I've never watched a Harry Potter film until now but have been catching up on them as ITV have had them all on and I recorded them all. Not bad so far, tweeness aside. I'm onto the third one atm. I like the Robbie Coltrane fella Hagrid.


----------



## belboid (Dec 24, 2013)

Black Swan. Still great. That toenail tearing scene remains as horrible as ever.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 25, 2013)

The Man who Ate His Lover - WTF channel 5 (I think) documentary about Armin Miewes, the german bloke who advertised on the internet for someone to come and be eaten, and his victim who i've forgotten the name of now, it went into the motivations of both. It was made well before his retrial and conviction for murder. More wtf than disturbing although im not sure that was the intention.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 25, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> The Man who Ate His Lover - WTF channel 5 (I think) documentary about Armin Miewes, the german bloke who advertised on the internet for someone to come and be eaten, and his victim who i've forgotten the name of now, it went into the motivations of both. It was made well before his retrial and conviction for murder. More wtf than disturbing although im not sure that was the intention.



When Armin shat out the guy he ate  the next morning, do you reckon he said goodbye to the steaming pile of what remained of his lover as it/he sat on that weirdy German-bog-shelf thingy before flushing him away to a watery grave?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 25, 2013)

Had a quick poke and sift I reckon


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 26, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> When Armin shat out the guy he ate  the next morning, do you reckon he said goodbye to the steaming pile of what remained of his lover as it/he sat on that weirdy German-bog-shelf thingy before flushing him away to a watery grave?



no idea lol, initially Miewes couldn't bear to kill the guy at first so he sent him on his way then he came back and persuaded him to do it  

It was an absolutely mental case. I think what may have made him be convicted for murder is that the guy lay in the bath for hours while Armin Miewes fried and ate bits of him and there probably wasn't really any way he would have consented to that.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 26, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> no idea lol, initially Miewes couldn't bear to kill the guy at first so he sent him on his way then he came back and persuaded him to do it



AFAIR, prior to the main event,they both sat down to eat the guy who was getting scranned's disembodied penis but Miewsy burnt it in the frying pan so they had to abandon that meal. One shouldn't laugh but


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 26, 2013)

He wasn't discovered for years lol, he left absolutely no trace of where he was going when he went off to be eaten. Also nobody at his work knew that he was gay, he pretended to be straight to everyone at work but had a boyfriend at home (who had no idea that he wanted to be eaten) so he was basically lying to everyone. He seemed like quite a straight laced and conservative man to everyone he knew so when it emerged that he'd been eaten everyone who knew him was like WTF


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 26, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> AFAIR, prior to the main event,they both sat down to eat the guy who was getting scranned's disembodied penis but Miewsy burnt it in the frying pan so they had to abandon that meal. One shouldn't laugh but



Yep it was so burnt that it was completely inedible. WTF all round really.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 26, 2013)

Imagine some really boring guy at your work going missing, nobody knows where he is, and then years later it turns out that someone ate him and that he arranged and agreed to the whole thing, and even persuaded the guy to eat him when he wasn't sure about doing it


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2013)

Mad Men series 6 here.  A few years ago I watched series 1-4 then last year watched series 5. 

If ever there was telly to wallow in shit to. It's fucking depressing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 26, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> Yep it was so burnt that it was completely inedible. WTF all round really.


I've had Xmas pigs in blankets like that


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 26, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> Mad Men series 6 here.  A few years ago I watched series 1-4 then last year watched series 5.
> 
> If ever there was telly to wallow in shit to. It's fucking depressing.



Depressing as in crap? I've never watched Mad Men, never liked the look of it - Loads of people seem to wank over it though.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 26, 2013)

frogwoman said:


> Imagine some really boring guy at your work going missing, nobody knows where he is, and then years later it turns out that someone ate him and that he arranged and agreed to the whole thing, and even persuaded the guy to eat him when he wasn't sure about doing it


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2013)

I also watched Snowtown. It's bleak as fuck and scary that it seems to be fairly close to true events (as opposed to films that usually say they are). Often compared to Animal Kingdom but not as good imo, it has all the details there but as far as telling the story it's a bit all over the place. Nicely shot and good performances though.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Depressing as in crap? I've never watched Mad Men, never liked the look of it - Loads of people seem to wank over it though.



It's just soap really. No, depressing as in it's hard to find anyone likeable in it and I always seem to watch it when I'm on a downer.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 26, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> I also watched Snowtown. It's bleak as fuck and scary that it seems to be fairly close to true events (as opposed to films that usually say they are). Often compared to Animal Kingdom but not as good imo, it has all the details there but as far as telling the story it's a bit all over the place. Nicely shot and good performances though.



I found that on the internet the other week but adverts kept getting in the way and I couldn't watch it.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 26, 2013)

I liked the look of all the scran that John was always making for people in snowtown though. That's what stuck with me about the film.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 26, 2013)

where can i watch it then? I found a site with the link but i couldn't watch it because of adverts for washing up liquid that kept starting up constantly.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Dec 26, 2013)

I don't know. Soz, I watched at the pictures a couple of years back.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2013)

I got it off the proxy torrent sites earlier this week.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 26, 2013)

Frances Lengel said:


> Depressing as in crap? I've never watched Mad Men, never liked the look of it - Loads of people seem to wank over it though.



Actually, I might be wrong. Just watched a few more episodes and it is good telly, I laugh at it more than I realise, it's well made and has great cultural/social/historical references. Lots of drugs/sex/politics. The advertising business is interesting but by it's nature very depressing.


----------



## Voley (Dec 27, 2013)

Paths of Glory. Early Kubrick anti-war film I've been meaning to watch for ages. It was great - very powerful for its time, I'd imagine, although fairly obvious if you compare it to his later more abstract stuff. Kirk Douglas is brilliant in it. Early appearance from Lloyd the ghostly bartender from The Shining I noticed, too. I must dig out the rest of his films, now. There's only Eyes Wide Shut that I didn't like.


----------



## magneze (Dec 28, 2013)

Bullet Boy
Reasonable British urban drama. It's okay.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Pappa
Excellent outing for Alan. Very funny throughout.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Dec 29, 2013)

Don't Look In The Basement (aka The Forgotten) - dir.  SF Brownrigg (1973)  - This one is set in a sanitorium somewhere in America, and the tone is set within the first 10 minutes as two doctors are bumped off in gruesome fashion.  Following this, a new nurse joins the staff, and we get to know more about the inmates.  There's the soldier who seems to be always on manoeuvres, a judge who who passes judgment on both patients and staff, a patient who mothers a baby doll, and a would-be nymphomaniac who thrusts her attentions on any passing male.  There's further killings/mutilations afoot as the story progresses, and the environment seems to get to the staff, who lose their nerve/minds within the last 15 minutes.  The last moments have the patients violently turning on the head nurse, whilst the new nurse gets away into the night, never to return...

Although this is by and large low-budget exploitation fare, the tone set by this film is downbeat and there is a sense of claustrophobia as the action never leaves the sanitorium.  Shot on cheap 16mm stock, and lumbered with some rather poor dubbing (the film wasn't shot with sound), the style is pretty rough and ready, and visually the film has a stark, garish feel about it. In general, the acting does leave something to be desired at times, with a couple of actors in particular mugging away endlessly.  The characterisations leave something to be desired as well - there's a few stereoypes at work here - though it's notable that the one sympathetic patient in the film happens to be black (shades of "Night Of The Living Dead").

This film played the grindhouse and drive-in circuit in the States, and, perhaps surprisingly, received a (cut) UK X certificate release in 1977.  It later appeared on uncertificated video uncut, and ended up on the infamous DPP 72 list (it finally received a UK DVD release in 2005).  This film has been criticised for purportedly depicting people suffering from mental illness in a negative light, and it's true that there's not much sensitivity on show here in that respect.  However, there's a bleakness about it which marks it out as being different from your average splatter fare, and there's no resolution to proceedings in the final reel - pretty much everyone dies, and the black character is left alone to contemplate his situation at the end.

There's not much known about Brownrigg - he made 4 more films (including the 1974 effort "Scum Of The Earth"), and then pretty much disappeared without trace - an article about him in an 80's issue of "Shock Xpress" offers little in the way of info.  I'll have to track down Brownrigg's other films to see whether there's a thematic consistency within his efforts, but on the basis of this film, I reckon that Brownrigg was doing something a little different within the world of 70's exploitation.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 29, 2013)

I've given up on the exploitation cinema gig, as it was all so tiring, but glad to hear more from those who can still take it!


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Dec 29, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> I've given up on the exploitation cinema gig, as it was all so tiring, but glad to hear more from those who can still take it!



That's understandable - you have to sift through a lot of rubbish to find the good stuff, but it's worth it, I reckon.  Thankfully online streaming etc makes finding the gems easier than what it used to be, especially in this country.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 29, 2013)

My flatmate had a blog to watch and review all the original 'video nasties'. It never happened. Most were pretty innocuous but the most cravenly exploitative ones did seen to diminish something in me, no matter what I told myself.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Dec 29, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> My flatmate had a blog to watch and review all the original 'video nasties'. It never happened. Most were pretty innocuous but the most cravenly exploitative ones did seen to diminish something in me, no matter what I told myself.



I think the "nasties" which are objectionable are mainly the "Nazisploitation" ones (e.g. "SS Experiment Camp" and "Love Camp 7") - not too sure how Nazi activities and atrocities can ever be justified as entertainment, really; the ones which feature animal cruelty (e.g "Cannibal Ferox" and "Deep River Savages"); and the ones which purport to show gruesome deaths in real life ("Faces Of Death").  The ones which have been claimed to be "snuff" films are pretty laughable really ("Snuff" itself is atrocious - one of the worst films I've ever seen - and "Anthropoghagous" is tiresome, boring and the "snuff" bit so obviously faked and poorly filmed I defy anyone to take it seriously).  I'd also put "Fight For Your Life" in the objectionable category, as the film contains a very large amount of racist language (not excused by the fact that the black family who suffer the constant abuse turn the tables on their assailants towards the end).

Perhaps more problematic are some of the films not on the nasties list - the Jacopetti/Prosperi mondo films contain some blatantly racist attitudes (and again animal cruelty), and films like "Mother's Day" and "Bloodsucking Freaks" contain some overtly misogynistic material.  "Cannibal Holocaust" would arguably be an interesting film if it wasn't for the animal cruelty - it's strong meat for sure, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to everyone (it's framing and structure was also borrowed heavily within "The Blair Witch Project") - but to be honest for me it loses points these days for use of the word "Holocaust" in the title - not clever at all, what with what the real Holocaust stands for.  I think also that the cannibal movies can justifiably be criticsed for displaying racist attitudes in the depiction of indiginous tribespeople as savages ("Cannibal Ferox" is particularly bad at this).

The nasties which I think stand up as genuinely great films are "Possession" (completey mad, but in a good way - Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjiani act their socks off), "The Driller Killer" (a good study into the mental and social disintegration of someone), "Last House On The Left" (a genuienly shocking experience on first viewing), "The Beyond" (the film that best captures Lucio Fulci's horror vision), and "Tenebrae" (Argento's relatively straightfoward but powerful giallo).  The ones that are so bad they defy rational analysis include "The Devil Hunter" (Jesus Franco strikes again), "The Werewolf And The Yeti" (a Paul Naschy clunker), and "Revenge Of The Boogey Man" (cobbled together from out-takes of "The Boogey Man", a film which is also terrible).  I've not seen "The Witch Who Came From The Sea", but that looks interesting from what I've heard.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 29, 2013)

Fight for your life was the best video nasty I saw tbh!


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 29, 2013)

The witch who came from the sea is certainly worth a watch. I will come back to this later as I am too refreshed to talk sensibly about it now .)


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 29, 2013)

Though that goatfucking one on the Greek Island is pretty mental!


----------



## magneze (Dec 29, 2013)

Trollhunter
Really good. Loads better than the Blair Witch that it's unfairly compared to.

TROOOOOOOOLLLL!


----------



## girasol (Dec 29, 2013)

magneze said:


> Trollhunter
> Really good. Loads better than the Blair Witch that it's unfairly compared to.
> 
> TROOOOOOOOLLLL!





magneze said:


> Bullet Boy
> Reasonable British urban drama. It's okay.
> 
> Alan Partridge: Alpha Pappa
> Excellent outing for Alan. Very funny throughout.



Yeah, good choice!  Didn't really like Alpha Pappa though, I don't think...  Something wasn't quite right.

I finally watched 'Downfall' this afternoon...  what took me so long?


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 31, 2013)

The Purge.  Slightly futuristic America where one night a year you can do anything you want, rob, rape, murder.

Sometimes interesting but mostly just predictable.  Could have been a lot better than it was.


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 31, 2013)

Alpha Papa

Back of the net!


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 31, 2013)

girasol said:


> Yeah, good choice!  Didn't really like Alpha Pappa though, I don't think...  Something wasn't quite right.




Alan was too likeable?


----------



## Jackobi (Dec 31, 2013)

American Hustle - a surprisingly good film, as I usually baulk at most US films that mention FBI involvement. Not the usual FBI wankfest.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 31, 2013)

Rolling With the Nines

utterly cliched bankrupt rubbish brit crime flick. More mockney accents than you can shake a stick at.


----------



## frogwoman (Dec 31, 2013)

I saw 'Wajda' yesterday in the cinema, Saudi film about a young girl who wants to get a bike and the sexism in Saudi society she comes up agsinst. Really excellent acting and completely believable.


----------



## Voley (Dec 31, 2013)

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. Good fun. I've watched all of them through a haze of red wine and Valium over the last week and I've really enjoyed them. They get better as they go along. I like Alan Rickman as Snape particularly. Looking forward to both parts of the Deathly Hallows over the next couple of days.


----------



## rekil (Dec 31, 2013)

Clandestine Childhood - A youngster returns to Argentina with his baby sister and Montoneros parents who along with macho uncle Beto are back to have a go at the dictatorship, so he has to juggle the secretive and confusing life of urban guerrillaness with the more or less normal trials of adolescence. I could see what he was trying to do by using comic book sequences in place of violent scenes but I thought they jarred a bit.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 31, 2013)

DotCommunist said:


> Rolling With the Nines
> 
> utterly cliched bankrupt rubbish brit crime flick. More mockney accents than you can shake a stick at.


At least Simon from Blue gets shot in the face early on. Up there with Faye from Steps dropping a barrel of acid on her own head in _Kung Fu Flid_ in the death scenes of crap ex-pop stars in crap films stakes.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 1, 2014)

Documentary about African driver ants, I don't know how to copy and paste on a tablet but should be the first result on youtube


----------



## DrRingDing (Jan 1, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Though that goatfucking one on the Greek Island is pretty mental!



What's the title?


----------



## DrRingDing (Jan 1, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> What's the title?



Island of Death! (1976)


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 1, 2014)

settling down to watch this now. Looks good but the guy presenting is hamming it up a bit.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 2, 2014)

21 Jump Street (2012).  Highly derivative rehashing of 1980s film about a cop going back to high school to investigate drug dealing.  Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star.  Amused me, but that may just be because I've had the will to live crushed out of me by the festive period.

The Inbetweeners Movie (2011).  Highly Derivative rehashing of Kevin and Perry go large.  But not really.  Laughed like a dick for the first half hour or, not so much after that.

Apartment 143 (2012).  Highly derivative example of the "found footage" genre.  Although I'm struggling to think of an example from the genre that isn't.  Terrible acting, awful script and a load of psychobabble and Bad Science.  Oh, and scary moments.  Very, very predictable scary moments.  One for fans of the genre.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jan 2, 2014)

I spent all day boxing day just watching movies.

Contracted - weird film regarding an std and the plot is never fully explained, but it's okay.
7E - no idea what this film was supposed to be about but the blurb that describes it is not what you see.
The stand -tv mini series of the Stephen King book turned into a 6 hr film. Watched in one hit, not bad, pretty true to the book.
Essex Boys and Rise of the Foot-soldiers one after the other - not much to say about them except rotfs was better than essex boys although they both covered the same subject.
Alpha Papa - Enjoyed this, Mrs Chicken laughed out loud at numerous points.
Rogue - some big crocodile kills some people in Australia
The Rock - liked this Nick Cage and Sean Connery break onto the rock to save the day.
And some truly mind numbing, brain off sit and watch movies that did their thing - run fatboy run, speed,revenge of the bridesmaids, blade etc.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 2, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> Island of Death! (1976)



Directed by Nico Mastorakis, and released in UK cinemas under the title "A Craving For Lust" in '76 with nearly 10 minutes cut out.  Issued uncut on the AVI video label in the very early 80's, and was successfully prosecuted for obscenity.  Rejected for video under the title "Psychic Killer 2" in 1987, and finally passed for DVD in 2010.

The goat scene is brief and shows nothing really (obviously faked) - there's a lot more sleaze and unpleasantness on offer (death by earthdigger, anyone?), and the "shock" ending isn't a shock at all (you could see it coming right from the start - remember the telephone box scene?).  The acting is uniformly of the mugging variety, and the whole film is garishly shot.  The theme tune was composed by Mastorakis himself and is truly horrendous.  

Incidentally, he was accused of collaborating with the early 70's Greek junta in doing a programme which interviewed incarcerated students against their will, and was outcast from his career in Greek TV following the junta's fall.  Perhaps that why he turned to low-budget exploitation then.


----------



## yardbird (Jan 2, 2014)

The Bridge.
The beeb are showing the original every night on bbc4 at 3.00 in the morning.
I'd forgotten how good it was and I'm getting a lot more of the detail the second time around.
Excellent stuff.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2014)

The Guard.

Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle team up in a hands-across-the-water cop buddy movie: Garda and FBI, taking on some drug smugglers who plan to land a bunch of dope on the shores of Erin.

I enjoyed it thoroughly.


----------



## DrRingDing (Jan 2, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Incidentally, he was accused of collaborating with the early 70's Greek junta in doing a programme which interviewed incarcerated students against their will, and was outcast from his career in Greek TV following the junta's fall.  Perhaps that why he turned to low-budget exploitation then.



Scumbag.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 2, 2014)

Super - pretty enjoyable
And I took a break from Game of Thrones to start on Mad Men Season 4.  It was beginning to dawn on me that GoT is pretty overrated, and it looks even more so when compared to Mad Men.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 2, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Super - pretty enjoyable
> And I took a break from Game of Thrones to start on Mad Men Season 4.  It was beginning to dawn on me that GoT is pretty overrated, and it looks even more so when compared to Mad Men.



you just like madmen cos casual misogyny happens a lot


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 2, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> you just like madmen cos casual misogyny happens a lot


 
This is where you're precisely wrong.  It's a show that works on so many levels, one of them being a look at gender issues at a particular point in time (which I find interesting).  I'd argue the female characters are very strong.  Now get back under your bridge.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 2, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> Mad Men series 6 here.  A few years ago I watched series 1-4 then last year watched series 5.
> 
> If ever there was telly to wallow in shit to. It's fucking depressing.





Frances Lengel said:


> Depressing as in crap? I've never watched Mad Men, never liked the look of it - Loads of people seem to wank over it though.



It's the soap opera for people who think they're too good for soaps, basically.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 2, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> It's the soap opera for people who think they're too good for soaps, basically.


 
What other soap opera is as well written and acted?  What other soap opera works on the various levels Mad Men does?  I didn't think it would really be my sort of thing, but was hooked by the end of season 1.  I know it shares a writer or something with The Sopranos and a lot of comparisons could be drawn, but personally I think it's a hell of a lot better than The Sopranos.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 2, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> What other soap opera is as well written and acted?  What other soap opera works on the various levels Mad Men does?  I didn't think it would really be my sort of thing, but was hooked by the end of season 1.  I know it shares a writer or something with The Sopranos and a lot of comparisons could be drawn, but personally I think it's a hell of a lot better than The Sopranos.


Dallas, possibly Falcon Crest too.


----------



## yield (Jan 2, 2014)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The Guard.
> 
> Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle team up in a hands-across-the-water cop buddy movie: Garda and FBI, taking on some drug smugglers who plan to land a bunch of dope on the shores of Erin.
> 
> I enjoyed it thoroughly.


Loved the Guard. One of the best films I saw last year. The dialogue was great.  

Don't think I've seen a bad film with Brendan Gleeson in. Apart from Kingdom of Heaven.

Last night I watched Shadow of the Vampire on BBC 2. Never seen it before. Surprisingly good black comedy. 

Willem Dafoe was excellent. John Malkovich played himself again. Eddie Izzard was bearable.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 2, 2014)

*Trollhunter *(Andre Ovredal 2011) Enjoyable Norwegian found-footage comedy.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 2, 2014)

Two from the other day:

Violent Naples (1976), dir. Umberto Lenzi - Italian poliziotteschi film starring Maurizio Merli.  This one is about a wave a crime hitting the streets of Naples - armed robbies, burglaries, assasinations, jewellery smuggling, protection rackets etc - and yer man Merli is the detective in charge of sorting out the mess. He's restrained initially, but towards the end is giving out slaps left, right and centre, and ends up in a shootout with a criminal mastermind.  Genre stalwart John Saxon makes an appearance as a leading businessman who turns out to be corrupt, and who ends up in Merli's bad books.

Quite a good effort from genre-hopper Lenzi, with some good performances and some well-paced moments.  Merli himself is pretty convincing in the lead role (though Franco Nero is better in these things, I feel), and the supporting actors essay the cast of criminals and victims pretty well.  The ending is a bit hokey ("I resign!  Actually, I don't."), but it doesn't detract from the film as a whole.  The end credits music ("Man Before Your Time") is included on the Beretta '70 CD.

The Demons (1973), dir Jesus Franco - This is Franco's take on Ken Russell's "The Devils", and as in Russell's film, there's trouble with a clositer of nuns somewhere in England, who fall into erotic delirium, or as the locals have it, demonic possession.  One by one the nuns are brought in for interrogation by the local bigwig witchfinder, and in the meantime the nuns fall under the spell of the Devil, leading to much nudity, eroticism and some sex scenes.  Various women are accused of being the main witch, and the so-called religious menfolk keep trying it on with the nuns.  Eventually, a well-to-do noblewoman is revelaed to be the witch in question, after being exposed by her sister, and the townsfolk wreak their punishment on her, but not before she carries out one final act of revenge on the witchfinder.

With this being a Franco film, it has its upsides and downsides.  The plus point are a well-lensed film, with some good sets and halfway decent acting.  The erotic moments are overall relatively tastefully done (well, as tasteful as you'll ever get from Franco), and it captures at least some of the sense of madness of the Ken Russell film.  The music (co-composed by Franco) isn't too bad either, veering from jazz to psych rock.  Debit points include dubbing that frequently swaps between English and French, making it hard at times to figure out what's going on; a wonky plot construction which means that you only find out that the film is set in England after an hour has passed; the special effects work is worthy of Ed Wood Jr; and finally, the menfolk keep their trousers on during the erotic/sex scenes.  Franco's quality control veered wildly over the years (his 80's efforts are particularly shoddy), but this is one of his more focused and interested efforts, and a noteworthy addition to both the "nunspolitation" genre and Euro-exploitation cinema as a whole.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 2, 2014)

yield said:


> Loved the Guard. One of the best films I saw last year. The dialogue was great.
> 
> Don't think I've seen a bad film with Brendan Gleeson in. Apart from Kingdom of Heaven.
> 
> ...



I agree about Gleeson. Saw another of his films: Perrier's Bounty. Not as good as The Guard, imo; but still a good, enjoyable movie.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 2, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> Island of Death! (1976)


 
This is an awful, boring, amateurish film, not even that offensive or deserving of its 'nasty' status.  I bought it for ~£4 and sold it for roughly the same.


----------



## T & P (Jan 2, 2014)

Saw yesterday John Dies at the End. Surprisingly enjoyable


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 2, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> This is an awful, boring, amateurish film, not even that offensive or deserving of its 'nasty' status.  I bought it for ~£4 and sold it for roughly the same.



I'd tend to agree, though I thought it was pretty funny in places.  It certainly has it's share of sleaze in it, that's for sure.  Did you have a copy of the AVI VHS, out of interest?  (I had an original of that years ago).


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 2, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> I'd tend to agree, though I thought it was pretty funny in places.  It certainly has it's share of sleaze in it, that's for sure.  Did you have a copy of the AVI VHS, out of interest?  (I had an original of that years ago).


 
No, I bought the Arrow DVD release.  It was one of the few nasties I hadn't seen and I was expecting something at least entertaining, but it's just 2 hours of boring softcore porn and rubbish murders with no decent effects work.  I ended up fast forwarding it to the end.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 2, 2014)

Fair enough - I sat through the whole thing during a viewing session. I was mildly entertained, but like yourself, not impressed, and it's a film that would have been forgotten about were it not for it's "nasties" notoriety.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2014)

The King's Speech - rancid propaganda


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 3, 2014)

Ratman (1988) - dir. "Anthony Ascot" (aka Guiliano Carnimeo) - This one involves a crazed scientist creating a rat/human hybrid on a tropical island, which immediately escapes from captivity and goes on a killing spree.  Various people are bumped off within the first 20 minutes, including the daughter of a US senator, and the victim's sister (Janet Agren) teams up with TV screenwriter (David Warbeck) to investigate her murder.  Their efforts to locate the murderer bear little fruit, and meanwhile more victims pile up, including the crazed scientist who meets his fate at the hands of his creation.  The Ratman seems unstoppable, even turning up at the local police station for some killing.  Warbeck and Agren board their plane home, having hit a dead end in their investigation.  But who's that in the holdall, ready to cause airplane-bourne mayhem?

This film demonstrates how Italian horror had hit some truly unfathomable depths in the late 80's.  "Ratman" is indifferently filmed, and the print is so dark at points that you can't see anything.  The script, by the usually reliable Dardano Sacchetti, is shockingly poor.  The plot and pacing of the film is all over the shop, and there's some rather scenery-chewing acting on offer, to say the least (the crazed scientist takes the top prize for this).  The killings are either done off-screen, or filmed so badly it's hard to make out what's going on; the splatter element is poorly realised too.  The ending is truly ridiculous (had Sacchetti run out of ideas, or was he simply bored with the script?).  The direction is very lacklustre, and the film plods along for its 78 minute duration - I was hoping for it to end a lot sooner.  The score - a Claudio Simonietti rip-off - is synth-driven mediocrity, and adds nothing to the film.

The only positive note at all is the presence of genre stalwarts Warbeck and Agren.  However, they are underused in the film, and both give not exactly involved performances.  As for the Ratman himself, the 2 foot 4 inches Nelson De La Rosa, his use in the film is not so much exploitation as exploitative.  He comes across as a drooling, slobbering, blood crazed animal, and starts proceedings locked up in a very small, uncomfortable looking cage.  You get the impression that the viewer is meant to point and laugh at him...a distasteful use of a man of his stature, really.

Guiliano Carnimeo is best known for his cycle of 70's spaghetti westerns, and directed his final effort in 1988.  On the strength of "Ratman", whatever talent he had had all but dried up by this film.  This, along with the Lucio Fulci/Bruno Mattei effort "Zombi 3", earmarked pretty much the end of the road for Italian horror cinema as a vital genre.  Only the likes of Dario Argento and Michele Soavi were still delivering the goods, and as time has shown, Argento's quality control has subsequently nosedived, whilst Soavi retired in the mid 90's to care for his son, leaving the Italians with nothing to offer the cineaste these day.  It's a sad state of affairs (Belusconi has a lot to blame for funding drying up in Italian genre cinema), but time moves on and the horror sphere is catered for by other nations these days.

As for "Ratman", this barrel-scraping effort deserves to be put on the "avoid" pile.  Just remember that the late David Warbeck was a genuine stand up guy, and this film is unworthy of his talents.


----------



## Fez909 (Jan 3, 2014)

American Horror Story Series 2, Ep 1.

A decent start, I suppose. The way it's shot is annoying, but I suspect it's done like that to keep the tension up or something. Lots of film references in there: Clockwork Orange, Cuckoo's Nest, etc.

Looking forward to the rest


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 3, 2014)

Shadow of the Vampire.  Dafoe and Malokovitch on top form.  Original, darkly funny, scary...with a slightly Tarantino-esque monologue by Orlock/Shrek about Stoker's Dracula book.   Carl Elwes pops up too.

About 80 odd minutes long, too.

(tonight will be Django, Taxi Driver or Twelve Monkeys.)


----------



## TruXta (Jan 3, 2014)

Fez909 said:


> American Horror Story Series 2, Ep 1.
> 
> A decent start, I suppose. The way it's shot is annoying, but I suspect it's done like that to keep the tension up or something. Lots of film references in there: Clockwork Orange, Cuckoo's Nest, etc.
> 
> Looking forward to the rest


It gets a lot better IMO. Am up to ep 5 or 6, head and shoulders above S1 I reckon.


----------



## Fez909 (Jan 3, 2014)

TruXta said:


> It gets a lot better IMO. Am up to ep 5 or 6, head and shoulders above S1 I reckon.


The first series got better as it went on, too, I thought. Good to hear this one does as well.


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 3, 2014)

Vendetta - BEST movie ever


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 3, 2014)

B0B2oo9 said:


> Vendetta - BEST movie ever


No.

This



is the best movie ever.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 3, 2014)

Bought a whole stack of DVDs for $1 each.  Sadly, the first one wasn't worth the money.  It was "Down with Love" with Ewan McGreggor.  I think it might be a contender for the worst movie I've ever seen.  The last Die Hard movie was better, FFS.  I stuck the DVD back in its box and dropped it in with garbage.  I wouldn't want to inflict that on an unsuspecting soul.


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 3, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> No.
> 
> This
> 
> ...


----------



## Supine (Jan 3, 2014)

Wow, another fantastic film. The Butler. The story of a man from child slave, to the butler of presidents during the black civil rights movement right up until Obama was elected.

Featuring an all star cast including Forest Whitacker, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Redgrave, Lenny Kravitz, Robin Williams, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda. Amongst many others. 

A big 9.5 Black Panthers out of 10. I don't mind admitting it made me cry. Twice


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 3, 2014)

Without giving the end away, just watched Carrie and it was like totally like awesome and stuff.


----------



## Voley (Jan 3, 2014)

Just finished the last Harry Potter Deathly Hallows one. The last three are really quite good. Enjoyed watching all these over Xmas.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 4, 2014)

Taxi Driver.

I'd watched this years ago but didn't get it.   Didn't get what a masterpiece it is.   Losing the best film Oscar to Rocky is akin to Pulp Fiction losing to Forrest Gump.



Spoiler



After the shoot-out at the end, the camera floats above the scene and withdraws....now he is a hero, the parents of Iris thank him, the press lauds him as a hero, Betsy comes for him, he is a friend of the other taxi drivers, respected, he can communicate....was that him dead?

or is that just the roll of the dice after what happened...and that little clock is still ticking away...but he's happier now because he knows it will happen....or is he cured and he knows it won't happen, it was cathartic?



And that's just a little bit, that's just the story.

"Are you talking to me?..."  On one level he's planning and practising; on another he's fantasizing about interaction with others, stringing together longer tomes of dialogue and confidence than he's expressed since the start.


----------



## Voley (Jan 4, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Taxi Driver.
> 
> I'd watched this years ago but didn't get it.   Didn't get what a masterpiece it is.   Losing the best film Oscar to Rocky is akin to Pulp Fiction losing to Forrest Gump.
> 
> ...


That's an interesting take on it. I shall have to dig it out again with that in mind.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 4, 2014)

NVP said:


> That's an interesting take on it. I shall have to dig it out again with that in mind.


Well...only two scenes in the film, I think, don't have Bickle in them...both to do with the women in his life and the other guy involved with the women.   Both scenes show subtle interaction to different extremes between the women and these other guys...


Spoiler



...he threatens one with a military form of karate (having watched them through the office window), he shoots the other (the pimp)


Anyway...you've not watched it for a while...sorry.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 4, 2014)

The Designated Victim (1971) - dir. Maurizio Lucidi - Italian thriller based on Hitchcock's "Strangers On A Train".  Conventional yet engaging, with a good performance by lead Tomas Milian.  Different from the giallo cycle, but worthwhile viewing if you don't mind a traditional storyline.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 4, 2014)

An odd night...

Berberian Sound Studio - or at least an hour of it because the recording was fucked.   I was hooked, so can't wait for it be on again so as I can see the whole thing.

The Hitcher remake - erm, okay

Carnage - quite enjoying it, still 30 mins to go.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jan 4, 2014)

Avatar, Titanic (3D Blu Ray) and World War Z

I missed Avatar in the cinema and wanted to wait until I got a swanky TV and Blu Ray 3D player before watching it. Let me just say the plot is slimsy and there's some awful dialogue but hats off to Cameron for the effects and world he created-it really is breathtaking.

I bought Titanic because I dont own any movie that have been retrospectively fitted with 3D and for all its faults Titanic is a big blockbuster movie and the boat sinking sequence is great. I have to say impressed with the retro fit-not bad at all-in fact I couldnt see much difference TBH

World War Z....my god what an abortion. Big brash action sequences stitched together by a flimsy plot, piss poor script and plot holes you could drive a bus through. My turkey of 2013 without any doubt.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 4, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Carnage - quite enjoying it, still 30 mins to go.


 
I fucking hated this in the end.


----------



## girasol (Jan 4, 2014)

Holy Motors, as a random choice from a list of 8 movies. Knew nothing about it... Never heard of it. Not bad, but a tad too long.

Glad I watched it, as some of the scenes were like nothing I have seen before...


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 4, 2014)

The Punk Singer. 

Gobsmacked, great artist, an awesome, amazing woman, more than a bit of grit in my eye. Watch it.


----------



## mentalchik (Jan 4, 2014)

Drive - bloody marvellous if not a bit "" inducing towards the end


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 4, 2014)

I'm contemplating watching 12 years a slave. Not sure I've got it in me tonight but the mrs wants to see it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I fucking hated this in the end.


Why? Funniest thing I'd seen in ages - so savage


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 5, 2014)

An Irish vampire film: Byzantium. Lots of good twisted vampire-ness.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 5, 2014)

Wolf Children. Thought it was beautiful and moving:


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 5, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Why? Funniest thing I'd seen in ages - so savage


 
Savage, maybe, but it's hard to care about a film where the characters have no redeeming features whatsoever.  That said, I'm not really a play person and anything which is basically just a few characters stuck in one location talking shit has to work hard to entertain me.


----------



## yardbird (Jan 6, 2014)

Nikita  
1990 ffs!
Enjoyed it again.
Tonight I may watch Run Lola Run.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Jan 6, 2014)

Star Trek: Into Darkness

In 3d. The first film I've watched on my new TV like that.

I'm not the biggest fan of the first of Abrams' reboots, honestly, so I approached this with slight caution.

Ridiculous amounts of flare-y lens shots (as well documented... everywhere else!) with bright, bright lights, huge wide angle camera-work... and angry, angry Kirk. But as a visual experience, quite impressive. The CGI'd 3d bits were excellent, as you'd expect. Unfortunately, though some of the flatter, standard shots didn't work so well - particularly the over the shoulder, person to person conversations, where image quality was sacrificed for depth. Clearly, the 3d experience will be better with films shot specifically in 3d, rather than converted 2d ones.

The movie itself actually wasn't bad. Standard sci-fi blockbuster fare, some twists you'd probably need to be blind to see coming, a bad guy so bad you want him to lose, triumph in the face of adversity, heroes eventually winning out, a reversal, cheers all round. That sort of thing.

Oh, and Alice Eve.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 6, 2014)

I don't like new Spock.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Jan 6, 2014)

Yeah. No. I can see why that may be. Although, he was redeemed somewhat when 



Spoiler



the big reverse happened, Kirk "died" and he went all angry and did the whole "Kaaaaaaaaahhhhhhn" bit, then beamed down and super Vulcan'd on Cumberbatch's ass


 sorta thing.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 6, 2014)

The Octagon said:


> I won't evangelise  but it's very, very good and worth a watch.



Having never watched a single episode and not having the slightest idea what it was about at all, I have now watched the first four series of _Breaking Bad_ since New Years Eve.  I watched all of Season 4 yesterday, all of Season 3 the day before and the first two seasons in the few days before that.

Now I'll have to get Season 5 which seems to be split into two separate DVDs.  Don't know what I'm going to do with myself today.  Am in withdrawal.  Maybe I'll watch Series 4 of Love/Hate


----------



## kalidarkone (Jan 6, 2014)

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewv...nete_Sauvage_1973_Classic__English_subtitles/

Just watched this! Loved it!


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 6, 2014)

I Am Breathing - feature documentary about a guy dying from Motor Neuron disease.  It's as sad as you'd expect, but worth watching.


----------



## starfish (Jan 6, 2014)

The last episode of Breaking Bad.


----------



## belboid (Jan 6, 2014)

bloody friends have suckered in, after years of refusal, they just refuse to let us not join in their conversations.  So

Game of Thrones - season 1, first half.  Annoyingly entertaining tosh

To make up for it, I watched a Michael Powell.  Though only _Age of Consent_ - his final feature film. Definitely a minor effort, a good performance from James Mason, in a role that's something of a counterpoint to that in Lolita. Helen Mirren is okay, tho clearly too old for the role (her first as a lead). It's probably the pretty scenery of the Great Barrier Reef which is the real star of the show.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 6, 2014)

Oasis Of Fear (aka An Ideal Place To Kill) (1971) dir. Umberto Lenzi - A young couple (Ray Lovelock and Ornella Muti) begin the film by buying and distributing pornography to all and sundry in Italy.  This raises the hackles of the authorities, and the couple try it on further by selling nude snaps of Muti.  On the run from the police, they drive off to a large secluded villa (the "Oasis"), and try to siphon off petrol from a car.  The villa is owned by a "NATO colonel", and his wife (Irene Papas) welcomes in the dirty-pics flogging couple inside.  Initially getting on well with each other, things hot up when the colonel is found dead in the back of one of his cars.  Suspicion and tension mount up, and Papas ends up being held up in her own home.  The police and villa workers sniff around for the colonel, but are put off the scent by Muti and a frightened Papas.  Lovelock and Muti eventually escape from the villa, and Papas is rescued by the police.  In flashbacks, it is revealed that it is Papas herself who shot her colonel husband.  The wayward couple make their escape plans across the border, whilst stopping off for a quick sunbathing session.  Inevitably the police catch them at a roadblock, and Lovelock ends up driving off a cliff, after a dog runs in front of his car.

This has been billed as an entry in the giallo genre in some places, but this is more accurately describe as a crime/kidnap film.  It's a pretty good entry by genre hopper Lenzi, who seemed to be comfortable in this period taking on giallos, thrillers and the like.  Well filmed and put together, the pace moves along nicely, and there's enough tension going on during the latter part of the film.  The script is fairly elementary, but has all the elements necessary for the film to hang together.  Ray Lovelock and Ornella Muti carry off their performances pretty well, and Irene Papas is impressive as the victim with a murderous secret.  The ending is perhaps a bit predictable, but doesn't detract from the rest of the film.

The version of this I saw (the Shameless DVD release) is uncut, but is compiled from different sources - the language swaps between English dubbing and Italian language w/English subtitles.  It's not offputting for me personally, but other viewers may well find it distracting.

Overall then, an adequate entry into the 70's Italian film stakes by Lenzi, who would later tackle the poliziotteschi genre (eg with "Violent Naples"), and would eventually lose his way in the 80's with fare such as the notorious "Cannibal Ferox", and Conan clone "Ironmaster".  Nevertheless, Lenzi had a sure hand on this one, and directs a film worthy of investigation by fans of thrillers and exploitation in general.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 6, 2014)

belboid said:


> bloody friends have suckered in, after years of refusal, they just refuse to let us not join in their conversations.  So
> 
> Game of Thrones - season 1, first half.  Annoyingly entertaining tosh
> 
> To make up for it, I watched a Michael Powell.  Though only _Age of Consent_ - his final feature film. Definitely a minor effort, a good performance from James Mason, in a role that's something of a counterpoint to that in Lolita. Helen Mirren is okay, tho clearly too old for the role (her first as a lead). It's probably the pretty scenery of the Great Barrier Reef which is the real star of the show.


A point may come where you really regret not just keeping on watching GoT.  It's not for everyone...but if it is for you....fuck.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 7, 2014)

Day Of The Dead (1985) - dir. George Romero - Excellent entry into the zombie genre by Romero.  Full of claustrophobia and tension. A team of army personnel and scientists are locked down in an underground bunker, whilst zombies are on the rampage on the outside.  Things get more harrowing for the main protagonists until the last 15 minutes, where in a wham-bam finale, all of the army personnel meet their match with the zombies, whilst some of the scientists make their escape.  Impressive special effect work c/o Tom Savini, and some good all-round performances too.  A worthwhile film for Romero's "Dead" cycle, and one of the highlights of 1980's mainstream horror too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2014)

It's my favourite Dead movie.
I got a nosh to it once at the Hyde Park Cinema in Leeds.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 7, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I got a nosh to it once at the Hyde Park Cinema in Leeds.


----------



## blairsh (Jan 7, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Day Of The Dead (1985) - dir. George Romero - Excellent entry into the zombie genre by Romero.  Full of claustrophobia and tension. A team of army personnel and scientists are locked down in an underground bunker, whilst zombies are on the rampage on the outside.  Things get more harrowing for the main protagonists until the last 15 minutes, where in a wham-bam finale, all of the army personnel meet their match with the zombies, whilst some of the scientists make their escape.  Impressive special effect work c/o Tom Savini, and some good all-round performances too.  A worthwhile film for Romero's "Dead" cycle, and one of the highlights of 1980's mainstream horror too.


Yep. Cracking filum.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 8, 2014)

John Carpenter's Village of the Damned

What an awful, awful film.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 8, 2014)

Magic Mike.  Can't say I walked away remembering the plot..... but it was entertaining.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Jan 8, 2014)

Pacific Rim: Really good action movie
Red 2: enjoyable caper, Bruce Willis being Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Catherine Zeta Jones in a Soviet uniform, the only downside is Malkovich who just serves a ripe ham and kooky sandwich
Blue Jasmine: It's supposed to be a comedy but I found it really disturbing, a movie about a woman breaking down, full of clichés too. Woody Allen is a bit of a wrongun, isn't he?
La Grande Boucle: A feelgood French Movie about the tour de france.


----------



## belboid (Jan 9, 2014)

Black Pond: cheap as chips british black comedy, starring Chris Langham in his (first/only) post-prison release, along with Simon Amstell. Langham is, actually, brilliant, Amstell is shit. But a very good low budget fillum, sits well alongside Kill List or Skeletons.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 9, 2014)

'The Cannibal Warlords of Liberia'

basically vice 'journalists' want dumping in an active caldera for this exploitative shlock value dehumanising piece of shit


----------



## stupid dogbot (Jan 9, 2014)

Pretty Sweet

And it is. One of the greats.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 9, 2014)

Kings of Summer - was having a right shit day til I watched this. Excellent stuff  

You're Next - one of those 'load of people get attacked in a house by unseen attackers' films. Started off typical and pretty cringeworthy but actually got quite enjoyable. Lots of Home Alone-esque traps and hilarity, blenders in the face, knives in the head, great stuff


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 9, 2014)

A Syrian soldier cutting out an enemy's heart and eating it. Not recommended, esp before bedtime and if in a frail psychological state. Insomnia sucks.


----------



## belboid (Jan 9, 2014)

The Exorcist

Somehow, I had never actually seen this until last night. And it really is quite good. The first possession scene is still shocking, and the last one is marvellous. I'll have to try it again when I'm soberer.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 9, 2014)

belboid said:


> The Exorcist
> 
> Somehow, I had never actually seen this until last night. And it really is quite good. The first possession scene is still shocking, and the last one is marvellous. I'll have to try it again when I'm soberer.


I envy you now. e2a was it the original original or the "remastered" one?


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 9, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> A Syrian soldier cutting out an enemy's heart and eating it. Not recommended, esp before bedtime and if in a frail psychological state. Insomnia sucks.



If it makes you feel any better (it won't), it was found to be a bit of lung or liver rather than heart.


----------



## belboid (Jan 9, 2014)

TruXta said:


> I envy you now. e2a was it the original original or the "remastered" one?


126 mins directors cut


----------



## Ponyutd (Jan 9, 2014)

American Hustle.
I really find it hard to see the fuss about this. It might have got better, I bailed out after thirty minutes. I might give it another go...but I very much doubt it.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 9, 2014)

Ponyutd said:


> American Hustle.
> I really find it hard to see the fuss about this. It might have got better, I bailed out after thirty minutes. I might give it another go...but I very much doubt it.


It did get better, but yeah, massively overhyped in a way that reminded me of Argo last year (or the year before?), both decent films but by god shut up already.


----------



## Pol Bishop (Jan 10, 2014)

Recently watched The Butler with Forest Whitaker. It's a great movie with nice historical references, I recommend it to all.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 10, 2014)

I watched both episodes of The 7:39 on iPlayer, and it was ok.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 10, 2014)

Bad Grandpa 

Started off and I was thinking 'this isn't working...it's gonna be shit' but it gets hilarious in places and although the premise is shallow and aimed at slapstick humour, the laughs are more than enough to make up for it


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 10, 2014)

Ponyutd said:


> American Hustle.
> I really find it hard to see the fuss about this. It might have got better, I bailed out after thirty minutes. I might give it another go...but I very much doubt it.



I thought it was great.

Especially Amy Adams in her leather dress.


----------



## rekil (Jan 10, 2014)

.


Idris2002 said:


> I thought it was great.
> 
> Especially Amy Adams in her leather dress.


I thought it was shit. A poor pastiche with a laboured story arc. Adams was out of her depth and is there a greater ham than Bale?


----------



## Ponyutd (Jan 10, 2014)

I don't rate Bale either. I thought it was just me.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 10, 2014)

He's great in the right role. Equlibrium. He was a crap batman and shit in terminator as well


----------



## ffsear (Jan 10, 2014)

American Psycho!  yes!


----------



## belboid (Jan 10, 2014)

ffsear said:


> American Psycho!  yes!


and Machinist, Prestige, 3.10 to Yuma

Cant decide if I want to see Hustle, looks annoying but entertaining. I'll probly see if its still on in a couple of weeks and kill an afternoon with it


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 10, 2014)

I re-watched 'Something from nothing: the art of rap' because my brother was wanting to see it and came visit.


depressingly, he kept pointing out how old the rappers of our yoot now are


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 10, 2014)

belboid said:


> and Machinist, Prestige, *3.10 to Yuma*
> 
> Cant decide if I want to see Hustle, looks annoying but entertaining. I'll probly see if its still on in a couple of weeks and kill an afternoon with it



Thought 3:10 to Yuma was a brilliant Western.


----------



## belboid (Jan 10, 2014)

I'm Not There

re-watched as part of my current 'Cate Blanchett is the worlds greatest living actor' schtick, but then reminded that Christian Bale is also great in it.

Blanchett really is astoundingly brilliant in it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 10, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> He's great in the right role. Equlibrium. He was a crap batman and shit in terminator as well


I love Equilibrium.

Ever watch any of the amv's?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 10, 2014)

First time I've seen Drag Me To Hell.  A minor gem.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Three The Hard Way (1974) - dir. Gordon S Parks - Blaxploitation epic which involves three fighting experts (Jim Kelly, Fred Williamson and Jim Brown) taking on a gang of white supremacists who intend to poison the US water supply in a way that only kills blacks.  There's plenty of action along the way, and there's also a trio of topless, leather trouser clad ladies, who interrogate one the white supremacists with much kicking ass.  There's the (inevitable) love scenes, and the action ramps up even more as we see the white supremacists gathering together (including activists dressed in what can only be described as Sturmabteilung uniforms from Milletts), and just when you think they're going to get away with it, in come our heroes to dispense martial arts justice once and for all.

This is a film I've wanted to see for years, and it certainly didn't disappoint.  There's great performances from the leads (Jim Kelly has an especially fine presence), more action than you can shake a stick at, and the plot moves along nicely.  Although the script is a bit ridiculous at points, it's overall believabe and is structured well.  Park's direction ensures that there's never a boring moment, and delivers a cracking film on all fronts.

Surprisingly, it appears that Gordon S Parks has only directed 4 films (including 1972's "Superfly") -  I wonder why his career came to an end so soon?  Nevertheless, "Three The Hard Way" is a definite highlight of the Blaxploitation genre, and comes highly recommend to all film lovers.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Taste Of Fear (aka Scream Of Fear) (1961) - dir. Seth Holt - A wheelchair-bound woman (Susan Strasberg) returns to her father's estate, but keeps seeing her father dead, to her horror.  The woman slowly begins to unravel, as her stepmother and her doctor father's friend plot to send her further over the edge.  Eventually, she is killed, and it seems that the stepmother has got away with it.  However, a doppelganger appears, who is not disabled, and the tables are turned on the stepmother, who meets an untimely end into a rock-strewn sea just as the law is closing in on her.

This is an impressive effort from the Hammer Films stable.   There's a sense of dreas and suspense as the film progresses, and Strasberg cuts an impressive figure as the wheelchair-bound victim of circumstance.  The stepmother (Ann Todd) comes across as suitably malevolant, and realises only too late what her fate entails.  There's a fairly brief appearance by Christopher Lee as Doctor Gerrard, and he doesn't have quite the presence that he's capable of in other films of this genre.  A decent script is supplied by Jimmy Sangster, and Seth Holt's direction allows the tension to build as the film progresses to it's twist-end climax.  Although the film is shot in black and white, it adds to the overall atmosphere, and certainly looks great and suits the film.

Overall, a worthwhile entry into the Hammer stable, and definitely recommend to fans of atmospheric horror.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Ninjas, Condor 13 (1987) - dir. Kuo-Ren Wu - This is a Hong Kong ninja/action epic, which features an evil dude ("Lucifer") being pursued by an aggrieved former minion of his.  He's joined by a charismatic black guy, who later turns out to be a police officer, and both of them pair up to take on all comers.  After much chasing around and fighting, "Lucifer" is eventually offed, and the former minion and his lady are told to take a hike by the police officer, who suddenly doesn't want to know them.

To describe the "plot" of this would take some doing - ninja fights break out at random, and in all sorts of places.  Often the ninja scenes have little  to do with the actual plot, and seem to have been shoehorned in at moments when the pace/plot is sagging away.  "Lucifer" resembles BBC journalist Gavin Esler, and has about the same amount of charisma.  There's a hair-raising chainsaw scene 20 minutes into the film, a fight in an ice rink, and the final ninja showdown has nothing to do with the film's climax.  People blow up at random, there's much flinging of ninja stars, and some OK gore sequences are present as well.  

'The only "name" actor in this is Alexander Lo Rei - the other actors are either assumed names or aren't listed at all in the credits.   The script for this is the work of one Godfrey Ho, of whom more later in my next review.  The print of the film under review was in a fairly OK state, and seems to have been sourced from the film itself, as opposed to a VHS transfer.  The music that accompanies the film is pretty generic 80's stuff, and the dubbing is quite a work in itself.  Performances overall are pretty whacked out, and the direction could best be described as a bit chaotic.

This film was my first exposure to the "Ninjasploitation" genre, and for all it's baffling elements, it remains a highly entertaining work of Hong Kong action cinema.  It's definitely put me in the mood to see more of this sort of thing.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Ninja Thunderbolt (1984) - dir. Godfrey Ho - This is another entry into the Ninjasploitation stakes, and the plot is almost impossible to describe, though it involves a ninja leaving his master's gang and seeking revenge in time honoured fashion.  There's all sorts of fighting action going on here, including an improbable scene of ninjas giving chase on roller skates.  There's also a skiing sequence which seems to bear no relation to the rest of the film.  There's one sex scene which gets very fruity indeed, until it's swiftly cut away from.  I found it so hard to keep up with what was going on, I had trouble understanding the ending - the ninja master battling it out with a female ninja (who I don't remember being present much at all previously).

Whilst remembering the plot is a very difficult one in this case, "Ninja Thunderbolt" sure had an effect on me.  The endless ninja fighting, random exposition scenes, and very disjointed structure make it a psychotronic film par excellence.  A bit of research has revealed that Godfrey Ho directed many Ninjasploitation and Hong Kong action films during the 1980's, and has a devoted following to this day.

As far as uncategorisible films go, this is up there with the works of exploitation directors such as Jesus Franco.  Godfrey Ho has been compared to Ed Wood Jr in some places, and although I'm new to the world of Ho, you can see a similar aesthetic at play in places.  I really do want to see more of Godfrey Ho's films, as he seems to be capable of coming up with brain-blasting films at their most whacked-out.


----------



## moody (Jan 11, 2014)

drive, ryan goslin... great film, nicely shot


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 11, 2014)

Solomon Kane. Pretty good.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970452/


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 11, 2014)

Enemy At The Gate.

Why is it always acceptable, when they need to have characters who would irl speak a foreign language, to use British actors?

All the Russians have British accents. It seems normal somehow. Bob Hoskins is Krushchev, for God's sake.

I was watching a show set in Scandinavia. Same thing. All British accents. You look at them, and because they're speaking with a British accent, you start to believe that they're Swedish.

Or Romans. Romans always have British accents.

Certain countries, no, though. A Spaniard in a movie will never have a British accent. Germans, yes. Italians, no. Even Chinese, sometimes: think of Fu Manchu.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> First time I've seen Drag Me To Hell.  A minor gem.


It's fucking pants


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> It's fucking pants


 
Nah.  For a low rating horror film, it's pretty good and manages to be gross without really being violent.  There are a few ED2 style moves (particularly in the seance scene) and the lady in it is hot.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

The Prophecy


Walken on top form.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> It's fucking pants


It's quite astoundingly racist


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> It's quite astoundingly racist


 
It's a flipping film.  Deliverance is hill billy-ist and Jaws is shark-ist.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

Being a film doesn't make it not racist.
Calling out racism is fair comment.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

Can't you just sit back and enjoy a film without seeing -ists and -isms everywhere?  Reminds me of some comments I read about Eden Lake and it demonising young people of a certain class.  Christ, if you're going to complain about horror films, there's a lot to get through before you start considering racism.  Most of them aren't exactly PC anyway.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Can't you just sit back and enjoy a film without seeing -ists and -isms everywhere?  Reminds me of some comments I read about Eden Lake and it demonising young people of a certain class.  Christ, if you're going to complain about horror films, there's a lot to get through before you start considering racism.  Most of them aren't exactly PC anyway.


It's not a question of 'seeing', it's a questions of pointing out something evident. That was the thing that struck me most of all about the film. Can't remember much else.
I have a right to make this observation.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 11, 2014)

Episodes 9 and 10 of Breaking Bad season 5.
I was tired and didn't enjoy it as much as i hoped.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Can't you just sit back and enjoy a film without seeing -ists and -isms everywhere?  Reminds me of some comments I read about Eden Lake and it demonising young people of a certain class.  Christ, if you're going to complain about horror films, there's a lot to get through before you start considering racism.  Most of them aren't exactly PC anyway.


fucking hell, did you really just write that? Racism and bigotry don't matter if they're in a film? Wow

Drag Me was lazy, poorly written, poorly acted, uninspired, and, yes, racist. But who cares, cos you fancied the woman in it.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> fucking hell, did you really just write that? Racism and bigotry don't matter if they're in a film? Wow
> 
> Drag Me was lazy, poorly written, poorly acted, uninspired, and, yes, racist. But who cares, cos you fancied the woman in it.


 
It's a film about a gyspy curse ffs.  Do you complain about black people being associated with voodoo in films?  IIRC it was pretty well received, a better Sam Raimi film than all that Spiderman nonsense.  Get a grip y'all.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Do you complain about black people being associated with voodoo in films?


I do if they're done that badly, yes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

wonder how JV views mickey rooney in breakfast at tiffany's


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

depends on whether he fancies Audrey Hepburn or not


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

the voodoo/black thing is particularly heavy handed in Predator 2


its otherwise a great film but that angle a bit errrrr


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> wonder how JV views mickey rooney in breakfast at tiffany's


 
Never seen it.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> the voodoo/black thing is particularly heavy handed in Predator 2
> 
> 
> its otherwise a great film but that angle a bit errrrr


 
It's a film about an alien killing people, not a comment on race.

I wonder how people feel about Halloween; after all, it doesn't show people with mental health issues in a good light.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

i take it the concept of the death of the author is alien to you


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> It's a film about an alien killing people, not a comment on race.
> 
> I wonder how people feel about Halloween; after all, it doesn't show people with mental health issues in a good light.



If you think "Halloween" is bad for that, you should see Jesus Franco's giallo "tribute" "Bloody Moon" - there's more mental-health facepalm in that than you can shake a stick at.  (And one of the lead actor's names is a pseudonym for a Belgian serial killer )


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> It's a film about an alien killing people, not a comment on race.


so, if a film is about aliens, it cant be racist?  Just stick ET into Triumph of the Will and everything's lovely!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

Many horror/slasher films are misogynist too, Jonny!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> If you think "Halloween" is bad for that, you should see Jesus Franco's giallo "tribute" "Bloody Moon" - there's more mental-health facepalm in that than you can shake a stick at.  (And one of the lead actor's names is a pseudonym for a Belgian serial killer )


And all those found footage cannibal films are far from politically correct. But this muppet thinks it's unseemly to observe this.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Many horror/slasher films are misogynist too, Jonny!




mate of mine once argued for A level film studies that the stabbing in Psycho is a metaphor for penetrative rape.

Not sure if I buy that.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> mate of mine once argued for A level film studies that the stabbing in Psycho is a metaphor for penetrative rape.
> 
> Not sure if I buy that.


well, its not a million miles away. It is down to his own sexual inadequacies and failings


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> well, its not a million miles away. It is down to his own sexual inadequacies and failings


Jonny's take on cinema?


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> And all those found footage cannibal films are far from politically correct. But this muppet thinks it's unseemly to observe this.



Agreed - even "Cannibal Holocaust" (a film I have some time for) suffers from this (the "savage tribespeople" meme).  "Cannibal Ferox" is atrocious as well as being politically dodgy; "Deep River Savages" (another Lenzi "triumph") isn't quite as bad but has Ivan Rassimov chewing the scenery, and much animal cruelty too.  "Last Cannibal World" has its moments (there's a stunning sequence in a cave where Massimo Foschi is literally forced to fly like a bird), but again we have the "savages" and a horrible animal cruelty moment.  "Eaten Alive" is so bad/ridiculous you can't take it seriously (Lenzi again!), but again Lenzi can't help himself w/regards to tribespeople.  As for "Cannibal Terror", that looks so bad as to defy any analysis at all (and it's scripted by Jesus Franco too - Franco's scripts range from the interesting to frankly dire)


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Many horror/slasher films are misogynist too, Jonny!


 
Yes, I know many horror films are supposedly misogynistic.  Are you going to tell me you don't enjoy horror films despite this?  That's what I was getting at - it's daft to criticise a film for a bit of (supposed) gypsy racism when the whole genre is shot through with un-PC stuff.  If you want PC viewing, I suggest avoiding horror films.  The terrifying 'other' in many a horror film is often based on our worst prejudices.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Yes, I know many horror films are supposedly misogynistic.  Are you going to tell me you don't enjoy horror films despite this?  That's what I was getting at - it's daft to criticise a film for a bit of (supposed) gypsy racism when the whole genre is shot through with un-PC stuff.  If you want PC viewing, I suggest avoiding horror films.  The terrifying 'other' in many a horror film is often based on our worst prejudices.


and plenty aren't. 

And, 'supposedly'?  Fucks sake


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

also treatment of 'the other' in art is not beyond critcism and analysis. I like Carpenter films- the Thing being my fave.

But look whose doing the assaulting in 'assault on precinct 13'. How the mob is voiceless, they don't even scream when burned. Its a tuat siege movie and well executed. That doesn't mean I'm going to turn my brain off and stop thinking about why that 'enemy' why then and what was it saying beyond the active intentions of the writers


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Yes, I know many horror films are supposedly misogynistic.  Are you going to tell me you don't enjoy horror films despite this?  That's what I was getting at - it's daft to criticise a film for a bit of (supposed) gypsy racism when the whole genre is shot through with un-PC stuff.  If you want PC viewing, I suggest avoiding horror films.  The terrifying 'other' in many a horror film is often based on our worst prejudices.


No, I generally enjoy them and watch all sorts of politically dodgy stuff. You can't avoid it and I wouldn't want to.
Why are you so averse to criticising films? 

I suggest you watch Fight For Your Life. Lots to chew on in that. And try to talk about it without referring to racism, misogyny, prejudice and violence


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I suggest you watch Fight For Your Life. Lots to chew on in that. And try to talk about it without referring to racism, misogyny, prejudice and violence


isn't that still banned over here?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> No, I generally enjoy them and watch all sorts of politically dodgy stuff. You can't avoid it and I wouldn't want to.
> Why are you so averse to criticising films?


 
I'm happy to criticise films.  But I also trust in that old tag line "It's only a movie".  I can sort of see why someone might think DMTH is 'racist', but I doubt it was made with that intent and I think the label is OTT.  It's no different from Jonathan Harker going to Transylvania and finding the locals a bit odd. I think you have to make allowances for horror films.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I think you have to make allowances for *things I want to make allowances for*


corrected for you


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> isn't that still banned over here?



Yes indeed - the BBFC hit it with the censor banhammer when it was submitted for cinema release in the 70's,and the uncertificated video release was successfully prosecuted in the early 80's.  Even with the BBFC now evincing a bit more lenient attitude towards a fair few of the old "nasties", I can't see this one ever being passed, really.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I suggest you watch Fight For Your Life. Lots to chew on in that. And try to talk about it without referring to racism, misogyny, prejudice and violence



If you removed all that from "Fight For Your Life", you'd have about a five minute film!


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> also treatment of 'the other' in art is not beyond critcism and analysis. I like Carpenter films- the Thing being my fave.
> 
> But look whose doing the assaulting in 'assault on precinct 13'. How the mob is voiceless, they don't even scream when burned. Its a tuat siege movie and well executed. That doesn't mean I'm going to turn my brain off and stop thinking about why that 'enemy' why then and what was it saying beyond the active intentions of the writers


 
So we actually have something in common.   I love (some of) Carpenter's films but I wouldn't take much intent away from them bar an intent to thrill and scare.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> isn't that still banned over here?


Yes, I think so. Easy enough to torrent though but I'm pretty sure I saw a DVD of it


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> So we actually have something in common.   I love (some of) Carpenter's films but I wouldn't take much intent away from them bar an intent to thrill and scare.


And you're much poorer for it


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I'm happy to criticise films.  But I also trust in that old tag line "It's only a movie".  I can sort of see why someone might think DMTH is 'racist', but I doubt it was made with that intent and I think the label is OTT.  It's no different from Jonathan Harker going to Transylvania and finding the locals a bit odd. I think you have to make allowances for horror films.



As an aside, I saw "Guinea Pig 2" recently, and actually felt like turning it off - sure, it's a movie and not real, but it just came across as a film for sexual inadequates to "enjoy".  And as for giallo/porno mashup "Fantom Kiler" (by "Roman Nowicki" - most likely an assumed name for Trevor Barley), that was unbearable and about as erotic as a baked potato.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> So we actually have something in common.   I love (some of) Carpenter's films but I wouldn't take much intent away from them bar an intent to thrill and scare.




beyond active intention. The whole 'death of the author' concept is about how we view the produce- what we say about it as a piece divorced from biographical information or stated 'active' intent of the author. It was intended for lit crit but applies to film as well, as theres a wide degree of crossover there.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> So we actually have something in common.   I love (some of) Carpenter's films but I wouldn't take much intent away from them bar an intent to thrill and scare.


John Carpenter would disagree with you


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 11, 2014)

I watched All is Lost. Robert Redford in a boat for 100 minutes. It's pretty tense with an ambiguous ending.

Be interesting to hear what others make of it. There's a decent screener in the usual places.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

Okay, so someone please reveal the deeper meaning in The Thing, The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13 to me.  To my mind, Carpenter's films exist on the surface, which is to say I enjoy them as scare and atmospheric pieces.  He's no Cronenberg.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> I watched All is Lost. Robert Redford in a boat for 100 minutes. It's pretty tense with an ambiguous ending.
> 
> Be interesting to hear what others make of it. There's a decent screener in the usual places.


I thought it was great, more tension in one sextant reading than in twenty minutes of barrel riding. Utterly engrossing. mrs b and I had utterly opposed readings of the ending


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Okay, so someone please reveal the deeper meaning in The Thing, The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13 to me.  To my mind, Carpenter's films exist on the surface, which is to say I enjoy them as scare and atmospheric pieces.  He's no Cronenberg.



the thing: plenty of body horror, themes of paranoiac over 'passing' possibly feeds into reds under the bed- the enemy within.

not seen the fog- iss it a straight adapt from James Herbert?


Assault? a voiceless faceless murderous 'urban' (and we know what that means) underclass lay siege to a bastion of decency- the frontierist outpost police station. That ones not even difficult to dig out.

see its possible to tease themes outof art like this and be completely wrong while making a good fist at being wrong. You can also do it and be bang on right if the films subtext is screaming loudly.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Okay, so someone please reveal the deeper meaning in The Thing, The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13 to me.  To my mind, Carpenter's films exist on the surface, which is to say I enjoy them as scare and atmospheric pieces.  He's no Cronenberg.


The Thing is about alienation, what it is to be human, and, arguably, AIDS.  Several of his films have a gay subtext. The Fog's about postcolonialism and the hypocrisy of US institutions, and Assault is a rather reactionary (if brilliantly made) western


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> not seen the fog- iss it a straight adapt from James Herbert?


 
Nope, nothing to do with the James Herbert book.  And you should see it.  It's brilliantly atmospheric.

Yes, I know about paranoia in The Thing, etc, but I still don't think there's a lot to debate in Carpenter's work compared to someone like Cronenberg or Lynch.  Compare the depth of Videodrome with your average Carpenter.  There's no comparison.  That doesn't mean Carpenter's films are worse.  There's nothing wrong with making a film that succeeds in terms of atmosphere, tension, FX, acting in the way that The Thing does.   But it isn't one of those films you watch and see something new in it every time.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Yes, I think so. Easy enough to torrent though but I'm pretty sure I saw a DVD of it



Just found that the US DVD release is available on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fight-Your-...57985&sr=1-1&keywords=fight+for+your+life+dvd


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> I thought it was great, more tension in one sextant reading than in twenty minutes of barrel riding. Utterly engrossing. mrs b and I had utterly opposed readings of the ending



Aye my mrs b watched the whole thing without asking a question which is unheard of. We both got the same ending though.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> Aye my mrs b watched the whole thing without asking a question which is unheard of.


god, that'd be a luxury!  you thought 



Spoiler



he died


??


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Nope, nothing to do with the James Herbert book.  And you should see it.  It's brilliantly atmospheric.
> 
> Yes, I know about paranoia in The Thing, etc, but I still don't think there's a lot to debate in Carpenter's work compared to someone like Cronenberg or Lynch.  Compare the depth of Videodrome with your average Carpenter.  There's no comparison.  That doesn't mean Carpenter's films are worse.  There's nothing wrong with making a film that succeeds in terms of atmosphere, tension, FX, acting in the way that The Thing does.   But it isn't one of those films you watch and see something new in it every time.



I'll set it to d/l, Carpenter doesn't normally dissapoint.

The only new and interesting thing the re-make (Prequel?) of the Thing brought to the table was how the xenomorph couldn't replicate the metals of its mimicked victims. Otherwise a pointless retread and none of the slaughter scenes come anywhere close to having an open chest cavity grow teeth and eat the coroners arms off at the elbow, or a severed head sprouting spider legs and crawling towards a trapped man. That bit with the spaceship at the end was particularly ill judged. Messy and despite its flashiness- somehow boring. They should have allowed that bit and just had it where the heroine spots the xeno cos he's got the earing in the wrong ear.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Nope, nothing to do with the James Herbert book.  And you should see it.  It's brilliantly atmospheric.
> 
> Yes, I know about paranoia in The Thing, etc, but I still don't think there's a lot to debate in Carpenter's work compared to someone like Cronenberg or Lynch.  Compare the depth of Videodrome with your average Carpenter.  There's no comparison.  That doesn't mean Carpenter's films are worse.  There's nothing wrong with making a film that succeeds in terms of atmosphere, tension, FX, acting in the way that The Thing does.   But it isn't one of those films you watch and see something new in it every time.



I personally love Carpenter's work, and rate his films highly.  Having said that, I'd agree with you that Cronenberg's themes and obsessions take his films to another level.  There's the pre-AIDS permissive panic of "Shivers", the staggering mixture of sexual identity, twisted kinship and medical despair of "Dead Ringers", war against the State in "Scanners", "snuff" and quasi-religious fervour in "Videodrome", medical trauma and pre-AIDS panic (again) in "Rabid", and the nature of mental health issues, a sadness for nostalgia and and obsession with childhood in "Spider".  I think DotCommunist had read well the themes inherent in Carpenter's work, but for me personally, Cronenberg's vision is an incredibly strong one, and his films I think are testament to that.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

Not seen the remake/prequel.  Will probably wait until it's on the telly.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> I personally love Carpenter's work, and rate his films highly.  Having said that, I'd agree with you that Cronenberg's themes and obsessions take his films to another level.  There's the pre-AIDS permissive panic of "Shivers", the staggering mixture of sexual identity, twisted kinship and medical despair of "Dead Ringers", war against the State in "Scanners", "snuff" and quasi-religious fervour in "Videodrome", medical trauma and pre-AIDS panic (again) in "Rabid", and the nature of mental health issues, a sadness for nostalgia and and obsession with childhood in "Spider".  I think DotCommunist had read well the themes inherent in Carpenter's work, but for me personally, Cronenberg's vision is an incredibly strong one, and his films I think are testament to that.


 
The difference between a Cronenberg and a Carpenter is that Cronenberg will often have his characters talk about their condition - like Goldblum in The Fly.  Cronenberg has a real interest in exploring his characters' conditions and there is proper depth (and ambiguity) to his films.  It's all very well to say The Thing is about AIDS (if it is), but what does it actually tell us about AIDS?  It tells us as much about AIDS as Philadelphia tells us about shape-shifting aliens. The Thing could be a metaphor for AIDS, but that's about it.

Also I think you can judge a director's interest in a theme by how often it recurrs in their work.  But that's probably to state the obvious.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Not seen the remake/prequel.  Will probably wait until it's on the telly.




I certainly don't advise paying for it.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> god, that'd be a luxury!  you thought
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I got the other ending. Not what the director intended. I read that polls of audiences have been almost 50/50.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> The difference between a Cronenberg and a Carpenter is that Cronenberg will often have his characters talk about their condition - like Goldblum in The Fly.  Cronenberg has a real interest in exploring his characters' conditions and there is proper depth (and ambiguity) to his films.  It's all very well to say The Thing is about AIDS (if it is), but what does it actually tell us about AIDS?  It tells us as much about AIDS as Philadelphia tells us about shape-shifting aliens. The Thing could be a metaphor for AIDS, but that's about it.
> 
> Also I think you can judge a director's interest in a theme by how often it recurrs in their work.  But that's probably to state the obvious.


Cronenburg is far more upfront about his subtexts, but that doesn't mean they're not there in Carpenter


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 11, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> The difference between a Cronenberg and a Carpenter is that Cronenberg will often have his characters talk about their condition - like Goldblum in The Fly.  Cronenberg has a real interest in exploring his characters' conditions and there is proper depth (and ambiguity) to his films.  It's all very well to say The Thing is about AIDS (if it is), but what does it actually tell us about AIDS?  It tells us as much about AIDS as Philadelphia tells us about shape-shifting aliens. The Thing could be a metaphor for AIDS, but that's about it.



I'd not considered the Cronenberg/characters talking about the condition thing - that's defintely true in "Dead Ringers", and also "The Fly", as you say.  I think the AIDS thing in "The Thing" is about the nature of infection, and about how relentlessly unstoppable that infection can be. As for an actual investigation into AIDS itself,  I'd tend to agree with you that Carpenter doesn't really go far down that road.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 11, 2014)

Spanking the Monkey.    Awkward and very funny.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 11, 2014)

Wild Bill - Fucking loved it


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 12, 2014)

Bout to watch this lol, watched the start yesterday but fell asleep


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 12, 2014)

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970) - dir. Dario Argento - a rewatch for me of this stylish and well-crafted giallo entry by Argento.  The plot involves a guy (Tony Musante) witnessing an attempted murder on a woman in a gallery in Rome.  He gets dragged into a web of intrigue, which also involves his girlfriend (Suzy Kendall).  Musante's investigations is fraught with danger, and he is threatened by phone by the assumed assailant.  Eventually, the suspect is tracked to an apartment by a zoo, and after a fight falls to his death.  What seems to have been resolved soon turns out to be the opposite, when it transpires that it is actually the supposed attack victim who is the real criminal, following a sudden memory recall by Musante.  After a struggle, the woman is apprehended, and Musante and Kendall then make their back to the USA, having finished with Italy.

Argento's sure hand ensures that his debut directorial effort is an eminently watchable and enjoyable film.  The script (written by Argento) is tightly paced and provides tension and drama along the way.  The performances are overall satisfactory (with a barn-bound painter providing some lighter relief), and the Morricone score is very good indeed.  There's some good use of editing to evoke memory recall moments, and although Argento at this point hadn't adopted his Bava-influenced use of colour, the film still looks great, thanks to the cinematography of Vittorio Storario.  The release watched is an Italian language with English subtitles print, and is fully uncut.

Argento's career continues on to this day, and although his quality control has slipped somewhat since the 90's, he still is recognised as one of the key post-war Italian directors.  If you've never seen a giallo before, you could do much worse than start here, and this is also a great entry point into the work of Argento on the whole as well.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 12, 2014)

Finished season five of Breaking Bad.
It was ok and so was i. Need to detox from social media for a bit.
You were great, thank you.


----------



## white rabbit (Jan 12, 2014)

I'm So Excited - the Pedro Almodóvar film. It got rather lukewarm reviews so I wasn't expecting much, but I enjoyed it. It's a trashy melodrama, but that's what he does and in his hands no bad thing. No Volver, but that's okay. It's subtly transgressive as well which is quite uplifting.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Jan 12, 2014)

Ummm. Wrath of the Titans in 3D.

Visually entertaining, but otherwise, utter toss.


----------



## belboid (Jan 12, 2014)

Second half of season 1 of Game of Thrones.

Bloody bastard addictive telly!


----------



## maya (Jan 12, 2014)

*Sea Wolf*, a german-canadian* mini series from 2009 based on the Jack London book (*the dialogue is in english, not german thankfully ). I had no specific expectations, seeing as a lot of the cast was german actors I'd never heard of before, and some of the anglo ones are quite well-known but not my cup of tea (Tim Roth, and, er- Neve Campbell?).

But I needn't worry- The visual side of things, photography and the way things are filmed works very well: You get a realistic depiction of the gritty, filthy life aboard the ships, and the brutal reality of power struggles between the ship's authoritarian captain(s) and crew...

It's also funny to see the story's main character, the scrawny literature critic(!) who accidentally finds himself aboard the nightmare schooner Ghost with its tyrannical captain and unreliable crew, manages to adapt to the circumstances and life at sea and gradually becomes more resilient and resourceful as he's forces to struggle for survival.

The brutal figure of the Captain is intensely portrayed by a Sebastian Koch, an actor I'd never heard of before- he brings an almost Sean Connerish swagger to the role, but he can actually act- and his sudden swings between near likeable/charming and random violent outburst helps fuel the viewer's sense of claustrophobia when you feel just like the crew, stuck at sea with noone to trust, and an increasingly threatening atmosphere.

Funny little details like the evil nemesis of the first captain being his own brother, and also a captain- called Death (because his first name is Todd, which sounds like 'Tod'- the word for death- in german, which his german sailors noticed and gave him his sinister nickname) also adds to the bleakness of this very macho 'survival of the fittest- at sea!' tale.

But the story isn't over... I've yet to watch episode two. But I think I'm hooked, I just remembered how much I used to love a good adventure yarn with sailors and waves and betrayal and bravery... Used to love Robert Luis Stevenson, that sort of thing... These old writers knew how to pace an exciting story. It's pure entertainment, but with little hints of something more aswell (such as the captain's scornful mockery of the main character's lofty ideals of virtue and justice, faced with reality and the moral vacuum of the ship environment where obedience and bullying your inferiors make up its own laws and makes it impossible to uphold any morality... because if you question your orders, you get beaten up until you obey- so what use are abstract ideals and morals then?)

I expect some plot resolutions in episode two, but just saying it looks very good so far...

Now I want to find even more swashbuckling seafaring films- I sense a new phase coming up!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 13, 2014)

Room 237 - dem peoples is crazy...


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 14, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> It's quite astoundingly racist



The gypsy characters are stereotyped but to say the film's racist is going a bit too far. An Drag Me To Hell is the scariest film I've seen for ages. And the ending's top as well.


----------



## yield (Jan 14, 2014)

Working my way through Fringe near the end of season two now. Really like it but I enjoyed the X-files too. 

John Noble steals each scene. He's excellent. It seems to be mainly about him. Maybe it'll change later.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 14, 2014)

City Of The Living Dead (1980) - dir Lucio Fulci - A rewatch of this horror effort by Fucli.  A priest hangs himself right at the start of the film, leading to spooky goings on in the town of Dunwich.  A psychic (Catriona MacColl) drops dead during a seance, only to come alive later on in her coffin.  She's rescued from her grave by a passing male (Christopher George), and together they investigate the priest's death.  Meanwhile, the dead begin to come back to life, leading to some bloody endings for various characters.  Meanwhile, a psychiatric patient (Janet Agren) is having aggravated visions, and becomes overcome with thoughts of death.  A suspected sex case in Dunwich (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) keeps a lonely vigil, whilst more deaths happen at the hands of the undead.  Dunwich eventually collapses under the weight of the horror of the undead, and George and MacColl confront the now-undead priest in an underground lair.  The priest is duly dispatched, and George and MacColl emerge into the light.  A young kid runs towards them, and the pair scream in terror in a hint of more nefarious happenings to come.

This particular Fulci's horror film is one that I enjoyed more this time round.  The plot is pretty straightforward, but chops and changes between locations, and you have to keep an eye on proceedings lest you miss out on anything.  The script (by Dardano Sachetti) emphasises a series of changing sequences of horror and dread over a strictly linear narrative, and there's some good cinematograhy in places too.  Performaces are overall pretty fine (with MacColl being the focus of the film), and one of the minor characters happens to be future director Michele Soavi.  Fulci himself makes a cameo appearance as a pathologist, and Radice evinces a sense of sickness and fear.  Fabio Frizzi's score fits the film well too.  The version under review is uncut, so all the bloody sequences are present and correct, with Radice's demise being particularly noteworthy.

Although the ending to this film is somewhat confusing, "City Of The Living Dead" can still be considered to be a successful outing by Fulci, and it's a good warm-up to what is perhaps his horror masterpiece, 1981's "The Beyond".


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 14, 2014)

Cat o Nine Tails (1971) - dir. Dario Argento - A rewatch of this relatively straightforward thriller by Argento, and considered to be one of his less celebrated works during his golden period.  The plot concerns a blind man (Karl Malden) on the case of a break in at a medical institute, which is deleveloping an XXY chromosone, and gets caught up in trying to track a serial killer who's got a vested interest in the chromosone.  The plot twists and turns as expected, and there's the climax at the end deliver relatively few surprises.  Argento's script eschews his giallo tension for a more whodunnit plot, and the directorial style doesn't quite have the same recognisable ring to it.  Malden acquits himself pretty well, the other performances are OK, and everyone in general sticks to the standard thriller conventions.  Morricone's score is up to the usual fine standard, and my only real criticism is that the film is slightly overlong.  Overall though, this is still a good effort by Argento, albeit a bit of an anomaly in his oeuvre.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> City Of The Living Dead (1980) - dir Lucio Fulci - A rewatch of this horror effort by Fucli.  A priest hangs himself right at the start of the film, leading to spooky goings on in the town of Dunwich.  A psychic (Catriona MacColl) drops dead during a seance, only to come alive later on in her coffin.  She's rescued from her grave by a passing male (Christopher George), and together they investigate the priest's death.  Meanwhile, the dead begin to come back to life, leading to some bloody endings for various characters.  Meanwhile, a psychiatric patient (Janet Agren) is having aggravated visions, and becomes overcome with thoughts of death.  A suspected sex case in Dunwich (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) keeps a lonely vigil, whilst more deaths happen at the hands of the undead.  Dunwich eventually collapses under the weight of the horror of the undead, and George and MacColl confront the now-undead priest in an underground lair.  The priest is duly dispatched, and George and MacColl emerge into the light.  A young kid runs towards them, and the pair scream in terror in a hint of more nefarious happenings to come.
> 
> This particular Fulci's horror film is one that I enjoyed more this time round.  The plot is pretty straightforward, but chops and changes between locations, and you have to keep an eye on proceedings lest you miss out on anything.  The script (by Dardano Sachetti) emphasises a series of changing sequences of horror and dread over a strictly linear narrative, and there's some good cinematograhy in places too.  Performaces are overall pretty fine (with MacColl being the focus of the film), and one of the minor characters happens to be future director Michele Soavi.  Fulci himself makes a cameo appearance as a pathologist, and Radice evinces a sense of sickness and fear.  Fabio Frizzi's score fits the film well too.  The version under review is uncut, so all the bloody sequences are present and correct, with Radice's demise being particularly noteworthy.
> 
> Although the ending to this film is somewhat confusing, "City Of The Living Dead" can still be considered to be a successful outing by Fulci, and it's a good warm-up to what is perhaps his horror masterpiece, 1981's "The Beyond".


Great Frizzi score


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 14, 2014)

*Bad Grandpa *- i'm a big fan of the Jackass franchise and thought this was excellent. real uneasy viewing, in particular the scene in the black strip bar.

*You're Next* - $1million to make! brilliant film, enjoyed it. not what i expected.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 14, 2014)

Let Me In - enjoyed it.  Been a while since I've seen the original so can't really say if it adds anything or not.


----------



## MBV (Jan 14, 2014)

maya said:


> *Sea Wolf*, a german-canadian* mini series from 2009 based on the Jack London book (*the dialogue is in english, not german thankfully ). I had no specific expectations, seeing as a lot of the cast was german actors I'd never heard of before, and some of the anglo ones are quite well-known but not my cup of tea (Tim Roth, and, er- Neve Campbell?).



How did you get hold of this?


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 14, 2014)

Chumlum (1964) - dir. Ron Rice - a somewhat rare video viewing of this work from "experimental" 60's New York based director Rice.  No plot here to speak of - a series of overlaid, sometimes solarised images that merge and de-merge in patterns.  There's some business going on with a couple of actors that tends towards the erotic at times, but the focus is on dreamlike imagery that evokes patterns of altered states.  The film moves along in a drifting, merging manner, and evokes fleeting memories and visions, until it cuts off suddenly.

The film looks to be shot on colour 8mm stock, and the video transfer version really doesn't look too bad at all - the colours are perhaps slighty harsh, but I would imagine that is to do with the age of the 8mm film.  The impressive, percussive-led soundtrack is by Angus MacLise (Theatre Of Eternal Music, first Velvet Underground percussionist), and accompanies the visuals perfectly.  Having just checked, the male actor in this is Jack Smith (NYC director of "Flaming Creatures" fame/infamy).

It seems that you couldn't walk around NYC in the 60's without someone putting together films under the "experimental" banner.  My knowledge of this side is film isn't particularly complete, but this effort holds up well, and is certainly a relief from the "wobbly colour blobs flashing around" school of film-making.  I'm certainly in the mood to see more of Ron Rice's stuff, anyway.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 14, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Chumlum (1964) - dir. Ron Rice - a somewhat rare video viewing of this work from "experimental" 60's New York based director Rice.  No plot here to speak of - a series of overlaid, sometimes solarised images that merge and de-merge in patterns.  There's some business going on with a couple of actors that tends towards the erotic at times, but the focus is on dreamlike imagery that evokes patterns of altered states.  The film moves along in a drifting, merging manner, and evokes fleeting memories and visions, until it cuts off suddenly.
> 
> The film looks to be shot on colour 8mm stock, and the video transfer version really doesn't look too bad at all - the colours are perhaps slighty harsh, but I would imagine that is to do with the age of the 8mm film.  The impressive, percussive-led soundtrack is by Angus MacLise (Theatre Of Eternal Music, first Velvet Underground percussionist), and accompanies the visuals perfectly.  Having just checked, the male actor in this is Jack Smith (NYC director of "Flaming Creatures" fame/infamy).
> 
> It seems that you couldn't walk around NYC in the 60's without someone putting together films under the "experimental" banner.  My knowledge of this side is film isn't particularly complete, but this effort holds up well, and is certainly a relief from the "wobbly colour blobs flashing around" school of film-making.  I'm certainly in the mood to see more of Ron Rice's stuff, anyway.


It's on YouTube.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 14, 2014)

TruXta said:


> It's on YouTube.



Really?  Well, I never.  You certainly get some good stuff on that place these days (and some utter garbage, of course).

Still - VHS for the win, innit?


----------



## TruXta (Jan 14, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Really?  Well, I never.  You certainly get some good stuff on that place these days (and some utter garbage, of course).
> 
> Still - VHS for the win, innit?


VHS you say? That does win.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 14, 2014)

TruXta said:


> VHS you say? That does win.



Yes, thankfully my PAL/NTSC machine is still working, though every once in a while, it has issues w/a tape or two.  It hasn't chewed any up yet so far, though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 14, 2014)

Oddly Enough I just read Sea Wolf and was mightily impressed by his Wolf Larsen figure of brutal nihilism. Not so much the strained paradise lost references

will seek out the tv adapt


----------



## TruXta (Jan 14, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Yes, thankfully my PAL/NTSC machine is still working, though every once in a while, it has issues w/a tape or two.  It hasn't chewed any up yet so far, though.


PAL _and_ NTSC? Well posh.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 14, 2014)

TruXta said:


> PAL _and_ NTSC? Well posh.



I know - talk about middle-class video viewing!  Having said that, I picked it up for £20, and the only hassle getting it was making an epic journey across London to purchase it (and getting lost along the way).  There was a time where a whole bunch of films were only available on the NTSC format in the States - from old 30's/40's/50's stuff, the occasional relatively mainstream fare (quite surprised when I discovered that), to a whole raft of hard-to-find horror/trash/exploitation etc films (from companies like Something Weird).  The Cinema Store in London used to stock a bunch of NTSC tapes, but they were pretty expensive, from what I recall.  

Since the advent of affordable multi-player DVD machines, Region 1 DVDs being more price-friendly over the years, and an explosion of previously NTSC-only films transferred to DVD (and also Blu-Ray in more recent times), the NTSC thing is pretty much now the reserve of video collectors.  But it's nice to still have some NTSC stuff (as I do), and relive the magic of video action every once in a while.


----------



## maya (Jan 15, 2014)

dfm said:


> How did you get hold of this?


Erm... It should be easily available from well-known online sources if you want to get hold of a copy for yourself: Both Amazon and Ebay have it in stock (just checked). *...Or did you wonder specifically where and how _I _personally got to watch it from? (different question)


----------



## The Boy (Jan 15, 2014)

Vanishing on 7th Street (2010).  Just about passable straight to video horror effort about mysterious shadows that make peeps disappear.

Olympus has Fallen (2013).  What the actual fuck?  Worst film since Independence Day.  Which brings me on to;

Independence Daysaster (2013). Sub-Asylum mockbuster about aliens and shit.  Meh.

Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012).  The Asylum at it's awful best.  Terrible SFX abound as a bunch of young guys and girls in bikinis and shorts end up stuck on a sinking atoll being preyed upon by a two-headed shark.  Bad acting, shocking plotholes and it doesn't even end so much as stop.  Oh, and it stars Carmen Electra.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 15, 2014)

Seven Psychopaths.  By the writer/director of In Bruges, which was brilliant.

This probably isn't brilliant, but it's very good.   Should be watched if you liked the former.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 15, 2014)

fell asleep watching nature documentaries AGAIN


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 15, 2014)

Koyaanisqatsi - hadn't seen it for several years. A good piece of mental floss.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 16, 2014)

*Romantics Anonymous* (Jean-Pierre Ameris 2010) Short but very sweet French Rom-Com.


----------



## nomibucha (Jan 16, 2014)

I watch EVILDEAD last night on my DvD... so much scaring movie ....!


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 16, 2014)

La Faille/Weak Spot - following the success of Z there was a whole series of euro-productions that used the Greek Junta as a start point for solid politically charged thrillers (the same happened in Latin America during the dictatorships - often with the same teams) examining different aspects of police regimes and so on - often with sinister lurking types in dark shades. Weak Spot was a slightly off kilter one of these as it didn't really follow a tight narrative plot but rather the psychological effects of playing different roles in such a society. An interesting film with interesting performances by Michel Piccoli and Ugo Tognazzi in difficult roles. I doubt anyone would be surprised to learn that it had a Morricone soundstrack - one of his martial-style efforts, a bit like the one for Ogro


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 16, 2014)

Sunny's Time Now (2008) - dir. Antoine Prum - Music documentary covering the life and work of legendary free jazz drummer James "Sunny" Murray.  This is a pretty comprehensive overview of Murray's work, and begins in impressive style with footage of an incendiary 1968 solo performance.  From there, the film moves on to Murray's more contemporary work, including a rehearsal session for one of his more expanded units.  There's overviews of his beginnings with Cecil Taylor, where he developed and outlined his drumming innovations, and later on, his partnership with Albert Ayler, with whom (with Gary Peacock) he recorded the landmark "Spiritual Unity" album for ESP-Disk.  Later still, Murray moves through the NYC free jazz scene, and then onto France, where he spends some time recording albums for the French BYG/Actuel label.  Through a number of talking heads interviews, Murray's progression and life is discussed in great detail, and the film's final moments see him in action with a trio, where he still evinces much of the same energy and fire that he's become known for.

The interviewees in this documentary include Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley, Val Wilmer (photographer and author of "As Serious As Your Life"), Robert Wyatt, and Edwin Pouncey (someone who I have "issues" with these days...).  There's also a pair of French journalists who discuss Murray's time in France (and who recollect a festival in Belgium where Captain Beefheart and Archie Shepp played a set together onstage).  Val Wilmer is an especially interesting interviewee, who was a very early champion of Murray in Europe, and has many insightful recollections about him. Robert Wyatt discusses Murray's fearsome drumming technique, and how his style broke down a lot of barriers for rhythm playing of all types.  There's some bits where Murray speaks himself, but mostly, he lets his drumming do the talking for him.

The film touches upon Murray's considerable struggles in the 1960's as a free jazz musician, such as with poverty, racism, lack of recognition in his home land, and escape to France.  This could have been expanded upon further, as it was covered more in the Wilner book, where Murray goes into this in much unflinching detail.  On the lighter side, pretty much every who discusses him talks about his energy, enthusiasm and willingness to listen and collaborate with many other musicians.  Edwin Pouncey makes the point that Murray is still a relevant force to be reckoned with today, and still as inspirational as ever.

Overall, the documentary has been put together well, and the way it has been structured ensures that there's not a less-than engaging moment at all.  The photography and editing are well up to standard, and there's a good array of archive recordings of Murray in his various groupings and combos.  It's a shame that there's not more archive footage of Murray avaiable, but it's the case that free jazz remains frustratingly under-documented on film.

This is a well-deserved and timely documentary on an important figure in free jazz, and is definitely worth viewing if you have an interest in this genre at all.  It makes a good companion piece to "My Name Is Albert Ayler" (a film that is equally as fascinating, but inevitably more tragic given Ayler's last years), and deserves to receive as wide an audience as possible.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 16, 2014)

Seven Pounds- sometimes you have to watch a film that your girlfirend want you to watch and in fairness this was a step up from Coyete Ugly. Will Smith manages to act at reasonable levl in a story in which he tries to amend for killing his wife and six others in a car crash by identifying and then helping 'good ' people. Liked it actually.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 16, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Seven Psychopaths.  By the writer/director of In Bruges, which was brilliant.
> 
> This probably isn't brilliant, but it's very good.   Should be watched if you liked the former.


 
Not brilliant but an all time fave. Plot has as many holes in as the Big lebowski and nearly as funny.


----------



## Voley (Jan 16, 2014)

Holy Motors. Fuck me what a load of shite. Didn't even make it to the end.


----------



## Sue (Jan 16, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Seven Pounds- sometimes you have to watch a film that your girlfirend want you to watch and in fairness *this was a step up from Coyete Ugly*. Will Smith manages to act at reasonable levl in a story in which he tries to amend for killing his wife and six others in a car crash by identifying and then helping 'good ' people. Liked it actually.


 
She made you watch Coyote Ugly...?  A dumpable offense if ever I heard of one.


----------



## Sue (Jan 16, 2014)

NVP said:


> Holy Motors. Fuck me what a load of shite. Didn't even make it to the end.


 
Saw this when it came out. Had no idea what was going on but thought it was fab -- was one of my top 10 films of the year.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 16, 2014)

Half watching the Ninth Gate. It's got something about it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 17, 2014)

The Wolf of Wallstreet

v.entertaining if a bit sprawling and messy in places. But there were some fucked up lines.


----------



## white rabbit (Jan 17, 2014)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Room 237 - dem peoples is crazy...


They really are. I expected some thoughtful analysis along with the odd eccentric. But it was all nutters. The one who managed to develop a complex deconstruction based on Theseus and the Minotaur began the theory from a poster of a skier who looks like a Minotaur if you look at it in a certain way, and you're a nutter.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 17, 2014)

white rabbit said:


> They really are. I expected some thoughtful analysis along with the odd eccentric. But it was all nutters. The one who managed to develop a complex deconstruction based on Theseus and the Minotaur began the theory from a poster of a skier who looks like a Minotaur if you look at it in a certain way, and you're a nutter.



It's nota skier IT IS A MINOTAUR....and look at the Rodeo picture.....that looks like a MINOTAUR.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 17, 2014)

Sue said:


> She made you watch Coyote Ugly...?  A dumpable offense if ever I heard of one.



Twice


----------



## Sue (Jan 17, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Twice


And you're still together?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 17, 2014)

Sue said:


> And you're still together?



Maybe he has a crush on Piper Perabo. I watched her in a series: Covert something or other. It's laughably good, but then I watched some Masterpiece Theatre thing about a young Inspector Morse. Also one with Bill Nighy as some sort of secret agent. The writing in the British tv series is so much better.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 17, 2014)

Broad shoulders.
She says my films are crap because they don't have happy endings.wont watch a film with subtitles either.


----------



## Sue (Jan 17, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Broad shoulders.
> She says my films are crap because they don't have happy endings.wont watch a film with subtitles either.


----------



## belboid (Jan 17, 2014)

Broken Circle Breakdown

A Belgian, bluegrass Blue Valentine.  The first half is great, heartfelt, poignant and moving, but the second lets it down a bit, with a couple of key scenes being unconvincing and too crassly didactic.  Still well worth a watch tho


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 17, 2014)

American Hustle. Tries very hard, some great scenes and performances, looks nice, takes ages to get going, kept me guessing, good de niro cameo. Worth a watch, preferred it to 12 years, but still not amazing.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2014)

Alpha Papa...which is very funny.   The scene where he falls out the window...photographer behind him...honestly.   Tears.

"The angels came and took my Molly away"

(someone looks at Molly's picture)

"Must have been quite a few angels"


----------



## Voley (Jan 17, 2014)

World War Z. Wasn't expecting much tbh but lost interest about halfway through. Kept watching as some of it was filmed in Falmouth and I think I recognised a bit towards the end when they're meant to be in Cardiff.

ETA: Nope. It was the scenes on the boat it turns out.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 18, 2014)

12 Years a Slave. 
Superb casting, great acting, the cinematography equally stunning.

There is an excellent screener copy on TPB.


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 18, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Alpha Papa...which is very funny.   The scene where he falls out the window...photographer behind him...honestly.   Tears.
> 
> "The angels came and took my Molly away"
> 
> ...


I quite like Steve Coogan but have never been a fan of his Alan Partridge character. However, I decided to give Alpha Papa a watch. To me, it was mildly amusing but I only managed to laugh once during the film.


----------



## Roadkill (Jan 18, 2014)

_Army of Shadows_.  Tremendous film.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 18, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> American Hustle. Tries very hard, some great scenes and performances, looks nice, takes ages to get going, kept me guessing, good de niro cameo. Worth a watch, preferred it to 12 years, but still not amazing.



Watched it last night straight after 12 Years a Slave.

American Hustle has only two things going for it, Christian Bale and a decent musical score. Yes a few funny moments but the jokes were laboured. I'm amazed it's even Oscar nominated. It's not completely shit and is worth a casual watch.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 18, 2014)

I'm watching The Wolf of Wall Street. I can't wait for it to finish. Really poor, amazed it's been Oscar nominated for best film. It's puerile, misogynist, generally offensive and utterly vacuous.  Even has fewer laughs than American Hustle.

Still, i you want to watch it there is a great screener copy on TPB.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 18, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I'm watching The Wolf of Wall Street. I can't wait for it to finish. Really poor, amazed it's been Oscar nominated for best film. It's puerile, misogynist, generally offensive and utterly vacuous.  Even has fewer laughs than American Hustle.
> 
> Still, i you want to watch it there is a great screener copy on TPB.




I thought it was v. funny in a cartoon way


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 18, 2014)

Erm.. Burke and Hare.  Not very funny for a supposed comedy, but not entirely without charm and a good 'spot the cameo' film.


----------



## Ted Striker (Jan 18, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I'm watching The Wolf of Wall Street. I can't wait for it to finish. Really poor, amazed it's been Oscar nominated for best film. It's puerile, misogynist, generally offensive and utterly vacuous.  Even has fewer laughs than American Hustle.
> 
> Still, i you want to watch it there is a great screener copy on TPB.



It's amazing. Goodfellas meets Wall Street (or Boiler Room) with added humour. Leo is little more than a Tom Hanks of crime tho carries his role very well


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 18, 2014)

Ted Striker said:


> It's amazing.* Goodfellas meets Wall Street (or Boiler Room)* with added humour. Leo is little more than a Tom Hanks of crime tho carries his role very well



More like Porkies meets The Hangover.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 18, 2014)

White Collar Hooligan 2 - England Away

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2291606/

It was alright.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 18, 2014)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Great story, nice to look at, great cast, good performances, very good all round.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 19, 2014)

Logan's Run.

Michael York and Jenny Agutter live in a high technology domed city in the 23rd century, after a series of disasters have wiped out the rest of humanity. Agutter is a secret dissident, York is a "sandman" or policeman, charged with hunting down and killing all who try to escape from this "utopia", where everyone is euthanised at age 30 in a ritual called "carrousel".

Eventually the pair of them are forced to attempt an escape from the city, which brings them into some dangerous encounters.

It's very silly indeed. And it also shows just how much Star Wars was a major leap forward in special effects. In Lucas' film the plastic models don't look like plastic models, which they do here (as was also the case in Silent Running).

Politically, it's also extremely conservative. You could analyse it as a reaction against the permissive society buzz of the 1970s, and a harking back to allegedly more human, and more humane conservative American way of life.

Peter Ustinov was probably the best thing in it.

Also sci-fi's silliest robot:


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 19, 2014)

Her (2013)
Surprisingly good.
Superficially very funny but profoundly sad as well. Creepy but prescient about our relationships with technology.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/

Again another excellent screener available on TPB, i'm working my way through all the Oscar nominations for Best Picture, this won't win it but deserves much acclaim.

Would love to have an operating system like that!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 19, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Logan's Run.
> 
> Michael York and Jenny Agutter live in a high technology domed city in the 23rd century, after a series of disasters have wiped out the rest of humanity. Agutter is a secret dissident, York is a "sandman" or policeman, charged with hunting down and killing all who try to escape from this "utopia", where everyone is euthanised at age 30 in a ritual called "carrousel".
> 
> ...





did you see the version that has Jenny Agutter briefly topless? best bit imo

oh


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 19, 2014)

Blackfish.

A documentary on captive orcas, primarily one called Tilikum.  It also appears to be about corporate greed and evilness.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 20, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> did you see the version that has Jenny Agutter briefly topless? best bit imo
> 
> oh



Apart from a very brief glimpse of an African-American person in the final scene, the cast are uniformly white. Which inspired Richard Pryor to remark, "someone's planning on us not being there".


----------



## stupid dogbot (Jan 20, 2014)

2 Guns

Which featured Denzil Washington and Mark Wahlberg quipping and shooting their way through a convoluted plot which probably thought it was quite well twisted. Spaghetti western style double dealing and double crossing with lots of guns and explosions and one liners.

Tosh, basically, but mildly entertaining in a completely throwaway way, nonetheless.


----------



## blossie33 (Jan 20, 2014)

I watched 24 Hour Party People (bought for £2 from a Charity shop!)
I'd read the book so I knew the basic history of Factory.
Enjoyed watching it, thought it was interesting and done in a quirky way.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 20, 2014)

DRUG WAR - latest cop/crime caper from Johnnie To, a well known and much-admired Hong Kong action director. Bloody (and) brilliant. A very muscular, pared-down, no-nonsense hardman sort of film about police chasing meth dealers around industrial China and trying to work their way up the supply chain. It's blunt and brutal and a bit short on characterisation, tbh, and it's not quite as flashily arty and beautifully-photographed as his last one I saw, ELECTION ... which was more of an exploration of loyalty and betrayal among the crooks. But DRUG WAR is brilliant in its way about the ruthlessness of the drug trade, how the people working inside it are expendable (to everyone, up to and including the Chinese state). It's surprisingly violent and cynical for a mainland Chinese film and has no illusions at all about the extent of corruption, or the pitiless nature of China's justice system. So much so I'm surprised it got released. 

Funnily enough it isn't bleak or grim, it's much too high-adrenaline for that. The storytelling never lets up and what acting the scripts actually allows for is well done. It's not too long (a tidy 1h45m)  and it doesn't have pretensions beyond its reach. Really really reminded me of some of those 1930s US crimewave pics with Edward G Robinson or James Cagney.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 20, 2014)

*Much Ado About Nothing*

Really enjoyed this, Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof are great and it's shot beautifully.

Pretty much a 'spot the Buffy / Angel / Dollhouse / Firefly / Avengers actor' game in parts too 

I also now want to live in Joss Whedon's house (where it was shot in 14 days). He can stay there if he wants and script my witty interactions with other people.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 20, 2014)

The Octagon said:


> *Much Ado About Nothing*
> 
> Really enjoyed this, Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof are great and it's shot beautifully.
> 
> ...


Yes...both house and film were very good.

'Nothing' was slang for fanny, in those days, I read someplace.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 20, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I'm watching The Wolf of Wall Street. I can't wait for it to finish. Really poor, amazed it's been Oscar nominated for best film. It's puerile, misogynist, generally offensive and utterly vacuous.  Even has fewer laughs than American Hustle.
> 
> Still, i you want to watch it there is a great screener copy on TPB.



I generally agree with you.  It seemed really choppy in places.  It's not really Oscar worthy and if it was directed by anyone else, probably wouldn't have scored 10 nominations.  I'm also surprised it only rated an R in the US.  Overall, I thought Margin Call was the better film.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 20, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Logan's Run.
> 
> Michael York and Jenny Agutter live in a high technology domed city in the 23rd century, after a series of disasters have wiped out the rest of humanity. Agutter is a secret dissident, York is a "sandman" or policeman, charged with hunting down and killing all who try to escape from this "utopia", where everyone is euthanised at age 30 in a ritual called "carrousel".
> 
> ...





The movie wasn't a patch on the book.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 20, 2014)

Basket Case.  Utterly tasteless yet compelling film.  Think that's the 1st I've seen the uncut version.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 20, 2014)

KIck Ass was just on Film4.  Ended up watching it all.  Forgot its awesomeness.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 21, 2014)

The History of the Sword

long documentary. High point was a bloke from some traditional german dueling school denying that the legacy (or appropriation by)  far right in german dueling has anything to do with the modern. While dressed in black stood next to a gothic castle


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 21, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Basket Case.  Utterly tasteless yet compelling film.  Think that's the 1st I've seen the uncut version.



I love this film!  The "highlight" has to be where Belial is left alone in its room at the Hotel Breslin, and decides to indulge in some panty sniffing action 

Also worth checking out is the uncut version of Henenlotter's "Brain Damage" (1988)


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 21, 2014)

.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 21, 2014)

On the Job - very well done crime/thriller genre piece from the Philippines  - based on true story of prisoners left out to do murders for the powerful then using their imprisonment as perfect alibi. Expect to see a big-money remake before too long - but with the class war themes turned down a notch.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 21, 2014)

Essex Boys - Retribution.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3339624/

Not bad. And there are pig masks in it which is always a plus.


----------



## inva (Jan 21, 2014)

Marketa Lazarová
1967 film directed by František Vláčil set in the middle of a feud in medieval Czechoslovakia. Thought this was excellent. It was a bit hard to follow the plot to begin with as it took a while to work out who was who but that didn't matter too much and it really did well at getting across a convincing sort of atmosphere of the times. Some good almost surreal scenes showing pagan & Christian practices (seemed to be set at a time when the area was being Christianised) and brilliant black & white photography throughout.

Great film.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 22, 2014)

Raze

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2111392/

Fuckin mint


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 22, 2014)

I tried to watch this, (my grandad was brought up as one of them) the first 20 mins or so were good, but i fell asleep during it


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 22, 2014)

Cold Mountain again, cos it was on the telly. Even worse than I remember it ... schlocky lowbrow soft-focus sentimental rubbish with an inexplicably starry cast (Kidman, jude Law, Natalie Portman, Penne sorry Renee Zellweger and pretty much every character actor who's been through RADA)

 Pretty much the only thing to enjoy about it on a second viewing is trying to figure out just how much eyeliner and dead-white foundation they smeared all over Charlie Hunnam to make him look more evil... and chuckle at a scene where Ray Winstone and Brendan Gleeson are both attempting to talk to each other in cod-Southern States dialect and keep lapsing back into Lahndn and Irish respectively.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2014)

inva said:


> Marketa Lazarová
> 1967 film directed by František Vláčil set in the middle of a feud in medieval Czechoslovakia. Thought this was excellent. It was a bit hard to follow the plot to begin with as it took a while to work out who was who but that didn't matter too much and it really did well at getting across a convincing sort of atmosphere of the times. Some good almost surreal scenes showing pagan & Christian practices (seemed to be set at a time when the area was being Christianised) and brilliant black & white photography throughout.
> 
> Great film.


This is indeed a great film. Try and track down a copy of Shadows of a Hot Summer if you can - i think that and ML are his best.


----------



## inva (Jan 22, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> This is indeed a great film. Try and track down a copy of Shadows of a Hot Summer if you can - i think that and ML are his best.


I'll do that, it sounds good. cheers


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 22, 2014)

I have seasons 1-5 of The Office and am on s3 - it's brilliant. Dunno why it took me so long to come around to it. It's better than the original - much better range of characters.
I love Creed. When asked not to give a baby paper clips to play with as it could swallow them, he says 'don't worry! I've got tons of them'


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 22, 2014)

Filth 

fucking A man!


----------



## electroplated (Jan 22, 2014)

Literally just finished watching Filth 5 mins ago - really good, having enjoyed the book too


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 22, 2014)

Made me cry and everything....


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 22, 2014)

electroplated said:


> Literally just finished watching Filth 5 mins ago - really good, having enjoyed the book too



I loved the book although it was difficult reading. I see there is a torrent......


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 22, 2014)

B0B2oo9 said:


> Filth
> 
> fucking A man!



Yeah, I watched it a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it. Bruce is a hero you really find yourself rooting for.


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 22, 2014)

Bluray rip out, really wish I went to see it on the big screen now.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 22, 2014)

watched,not a patch on the book really, too crammed. Did enjoy the 'same rules apply' logic going on though


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 23, 2014)

Just ordered the book, not a big reader but going to give it a go,


----------



## treelover (Jan 23, 2014)

Agreed, I was going to see The Railway Man but it had mixed  reviews, so will watch on video and see this instead: the Cohen brothers are very good at accurately and atmospherically capturing a time and place .


----------



## belboid (Jan 23, 2014)

Coen!!!


I might have been tempted by The Railway Man, but the bloody trailer tells you everything that happens in it! Everything.


----------



## Ponyutd (Jan 23, 2014)

Lone Survivor. Not your run of the mill American war film. Wahlberg reasonable in it, good unknown (to me) supporting cast. Based on a true story
6/10


----------



## Ponyutd (Jan 23, 2014)

treelover said:


> Agreed, I was going to see The Railway Man but it had mixed  reviews, so will watch on video and see this instead: the Cohen brothers are very good at accurately and atmospherically capturing a time and place .


What is it with them and John Goodman though?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 23, 2014)

Ponyutd said:


> What is it with them and John Goodman though?


They get great performances out of him and can use him really well.  Just like Clooney, McDormand and others.


----------



## Ponyutd (Jan 24, 2014)

First time I watched Fargo I thought John Goodmans coming in to this late.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 24, 2014)

Dallas Buyers Club.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790636/

Very strong film, great performances from Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.
From the Best Picture nominated films (Oscars) that i have watched so far this is the best contender to challenge Twelve Years a Slave.
Have yet to watch Gravity, Captain Phillips and cannot find torrents yet for Nebraska (which i dearly want to see) and Philomina. 

Just as an aside i thought Behind the Candelabra was brilliant and cannot understand why it is not a contender for Best Picture.


----------



## Artaxerxes (Jan 24, 2014)

Pentagon Wars, comedy based on the book funny as hell and slightly depressing.

I'm pretty sure they actually toned the insanity down compared to real life.


----------



## Maltin (Jan 24, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Just as an aside i thought Behind the Candelabra was brilliant and cannot understand why it is not a contender for Best Picture.


Because it was a TV movie in the US.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 24, 2014)

Maltin said:


> Because it was a TV movie in the US.


It could have qualified despite that if it had played commercially in LA for at least one day of a seven day run before being show on tv - i think that's what blocked it rather than the tv movie thing.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 24, 2014)

Finally got round to Baaria Giuseppe Tornatore's epic homage to his Sicilian hometown of  Bagheria and his shepherd/labourer/peasant/bureaucrat Commie old man. Lovely looking mess with almost zero narrative power.

Hajka/The Chase/Manhunt - excellent but depressing yugo film about Montengrian communist partisans on the run from Chetnik scum and Italian occupiers. Featuring a rather young Rade Serbedzija. Reminded me of another film called Night of the Wolves.

Hide and Seek - Decent if nothing special thriller/horror from South Korea. Really can't be bothered to say much more, that's how excited it got me.


----------



## Maltin (Jan 24, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> It could have qualified despite that if it had played commercially in LA for at least one day of a seven day run before being show on tv - i think that's what blocked it rather than the tv movie thing.


Yes, I believe that they could have done this to qualify but they didn't. To answer Dexter Deadwood more fully its because its first public exhibition or distribution in the States was via TV which meant it was ineligible for the Academy Awards. 

It won the Golden Globe for best mini-series or motion picture made for television.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 24, 2014)

1968 Russian TV movie adaptation of Stanilaw Lem’s Solaris. Good but obviously rather overshadowed by Tarkovsky's version a few years later.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 24, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Finally got round to Baaria Giuseppe Tornatore's epic homage to his Sicilian hometown of  Bagheria and his shepherd/labourer/peasant/bureaucrat Commie old man. Lovely looking mess with almost zero narrative power.
> 
> Hajka/The Chase/Manhunt - excellent but depressing yugo film about Montengrian communist partisans on the run from Chetnik scum and Italian occupiers. Featuring a rather young Rade Serbedzija. Reminded me of another film called Night of the Wolves.
> 
> Hide and Seek - Decent if nothing special thriller/horror from South Korea. Really can't be bothered to say much more, that's how excited it got me.



Are any of these Yugo partisan movies as good as _Force Ten from Navarone_?


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 24, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Are any of these Yugo partisan movies as good as _Force Ten from Navarone_?


Some are, some are truly truly patriotic tripe that should never have been made. Some are better even than Guns of Navarone.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 24, 2014)

Love Is Colder Than Death (1969) - dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder - Finally got round to seeing Fassbinder's debut feature film, and it's overall pretty impressive stuff.  Fassbinder himself stars as Franz, a small-time criminal who finds himself being compelled to join a local gang.  The film follows Franz as he and his associates, including fellow criminal Bruno (Ulli Lommel) goes through various scenarios, including the killing of a revenge-fuelled Turkish man.  The police are on their tail on this one (and on other crimes the pair have been fingered for as well), and the film climaxes in a planned armed robbery which goes wrong, leding to the death of Bruno after being shot by the police.  Franz ends up escpaing with his girfriend Joanna (Hanna Scygulla), and here the film ends.

Filmed in black and white, "Love Is Colder Than Death" initially has a stagey feel to it, but soon opens up as Franz and co wander through the environs of an un-named Bavarian town.  Faasbinder spends an inordinate amount of time smoking and snarling at all and sundry, and this with his leather biker jacket, kicks off the public image that he had through much of his career.  Ulli Lommel acquits himself well (and dresses in a style remisicent of Hunter S Thompson in his "Fear and Loathing..." era).  Hanna Schygulla doesn't have that many lines, but looks striking and delivers a much-needed female presence to the film.  The direction itself is competent and functional, but there are hints to what would later develop into Fassbinder's trademark style (use of slow camera pans, "still" images on film etc).

As a debut feature entry into the emerging New German Cinema, this is definitely an important film, I reckon.  I have some rather large gaps in my Fassbinder film viewing, and this has certainly whetted my appetite to check out more of his output this year.  Very much recommended if you're interested in post-war German cinema.


----------



## Voley (Jan 24, 2014)

Side Effects. Not bad, nowt special. Jude Law less irritating than usual.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 25, 2014)

Flith.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1450321/

Completely wrong and very funny. Only a few steps from brilliance but those few steps are very steep.
It's over ten years since i read the book so i won't attempt to compare, different media offer different perspectives and insights.
The musical score deserves a mention as one of the underrated stars of this film although at times it bashes you over the head with the obvious.
Highly recommended.

"Sometimes it takes a wrong doer to show you when you are doing wrong".


----------



## alfajobrob (Jan 25, 2014)

Kick Ass2

Good apart from the wank end message,


----------



## alfajobrob (Jan 25, 2014)

12 years a slave.

Not bad.....bit long, obvious.


----------



## alfajobrob (Jan 25, 2014)

American Hustle.

Ok,  interesting not an Oscar winner although a good couple of parts played.


----------



## alfajobrob (Jan 25, 2014)

I sat up and watched 7Xsamurai last night....better film than any of these....damn film four for sticking oi on at midnight,


----------



## wiskey (Jan 25, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Blackfish.
> 
> A documentary on captive orcas, primarily one called Tilikum.  It also appears to be about corporate greed and evilness.



Just watched this on Netflix. 

God people are stupid


----------



## Ranbay (Jan 25, 2014)

Escape plan - pure cheese! sometimes it's good


----------



## Thraex (Jan 25, 2014)

Just watched "12 Years A Slave" brilliant! (Not going to give some amateur critique about it ). Watched "Lone Survivor" last night, OK, if a little "USA, Yeah!!!".


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 25, 2014)

Last Vegas.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204975/

Could only manage 20 minutes of this before deleting it from my hard drive.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 26, 2014)

Demons (1986) - dir. Lamberto Bava -This is Bava Jnr's sequel to his own "Demons" (1985), and bears little relation to the original.  The plot revolves around a female character turning into one of the said demons, who goes around terrorsing various teenagers and young adults.  More demons join in, and various scenarios occur where said victims try to escape from these tormentors.  And that really is the plot in a nutshell.  The script (co-written by 4 people, inc. Bava and Dario Argento) is very poor, and the film is a tedious melange of cliched horror tropes.  Averagely shot, and with some distinctly silly special effects, this has "80's medium-budget horror" written all over it - and not in a good way, too.  The music is typical (boring) heavy rock, and I can't think of one single actor or actress who made an impression on me in this.  In fact, I was sorely tempted to fast forward through this one to find the "good" bits (there aren't any).

A thoroughly poor and uninspired film, this.  If you want mid-80's Italian horror which is actually good, thern check out Michele Soavi's "Stagefright" - made on a much lower budget, but superior to this in every way.  "Demons 2" is not a film I'd recommended at all, and is one for Lamberto Bava completists only.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 26, 2014)

Raising Arizona.

Loving going through all these Coen films again.  Hi (a perfectly cast Nic Cage) and Ed (also perfect Holly Hunter) kidnap a surplus baby and go through trials and tribulations, hunted by Hi's evil, bunny-killing  alter ego, manipulated by John Goodman (who gets an icky birth scene himself) it's a chase movie, a surreal comedy and overloaded with excellent lines.

You can see bits of 'Oh, Brother' in it too.


----------



## belboid (Jan 26, 2014)

Games of Thrones season 2, eps 1-6

Not quite as good as the first series, but still highly entertaining tosh. Kill them all!


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 26, 2014)

Young Soul Rebels (1991) - dir. Isaac Julien - Not long finished watching this one at the latest Fishco film event.  A great, great film based around a soul DJ based in the Dalston area in 1977. Fine action/plot, a class soundtrack, accurate portrayal of gay characters, and a piece of social/political history in itself. Never a boring moment, either. Definitely recommended if this sounds like it floats your boat.


----------



## Voley (Jan 26, 2014)

Mud. It was alright. Kept me guessing up to the end.  Really wasn't sure how it'd pan out. The two lads in it acted really well, particularly the lead kid. Nothing amazing but OK for a wet Sunday evening.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Jan 26, 2014)

"Mesrine" - admired both the film and Vincent Cassel's performance but disliked his character so much I doubt if I will watch the second one


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 26, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Apart from a very brief glimpse of an African-American person in the final scene, the cast are uniformly white. Which inspired Richard Pryor to remark, "someone's planning on us not being there".



That movie was made before the days of de rigueur tokenism.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 26, 2014)

Gravity.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/

Gripping stuff. Visually stunning. It's not the Best Picture for me regarding the Oscars but still a great watch.

"Houston, I have a bad feeling about this mission."


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 26, 2014)

Wolf of Wall Street.   Too long but very funny and well acted.   Fear and Loathing crossed with Wall Street.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 26, 2014)

Dark Days.  Dug out my old DVD.  Apparently re-released at the cinema.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 26, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Wolf of Wall Street.   Too long but very funny and well acted.   Fear and Loathing crossed with Wall Street.



e2a (and Spartacus the tv series)

e2a (ok that was not an edit)


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 27, 2014)

The Breach (aka "La Rupture") (1970) - dir. Claude Chabrol - Overall pretty impressive stuff by Claude Chabrol - a decent story, some good performances, and pretty-well paced. My criticisms of it is that it could have lost 15-20 mins of running time to tighten up the flow of the film, the ending is slighty daft, and the plot seems to veer off at tangents at times. But all in all, good work by Mr Chabrol. Will check out his "L'Enfer" in due course.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 27, 2014)

Started watching a documentary about a serial killer called Pee Wee Gaskins - The Meanest Man in America. I fell asleep about five minutes in though which I'm glad about because if I'd have stayed up to watch the whole thing I probably wouldn't have slept at all.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 27, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Gravity.
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/
> 
> Gripping stuff. Visually stunning. It's not the Best Picture for me regarding the Oscars but still a great watch.
> ...


 
I saw that the other week with a mate. It was fantastic.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 27, 2014)

Big Bad Wolves - very well done small budget black-humourish revenge and its consequences film. Nothing too original but just different enough to stand out. Hint of political stuff there as well.

My Way - hilariously bad Korean film that i was sold as being a brutal war film but instead was a series of badly executed patriotic cliches and semi-racist nonsense.


----------



## belboid (Jan 27, 2014)

Behind the Candelabra. 

Which we enjoyed. Pretty much all surface, but what a glitzy surface.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 27, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Dark Days.  Dug out my old DVD.  Apparently re-released at the cinema.



Minter, that. I wonder what happened to them all? That Tommy was hip hop as fuck.


----------



## DrRingDing (Jan 27, 2014)

Watched the 1st series of the US version of House of Cards (2013) and then watched the first series of the British one (1990).

The US one was a predictably tamer on the dark sexual stuff. It was milked for 13 episodes which was about 5 episodes too much. Spacey does a decent job but is dull and pedestrian compared to Ian Richardson's performance in the UK version.

The 2nd US version comes out on the 14th Feb I think.


----------



## DrRingDing (Jan 27, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> Watched the 1st series of the US version of House of Cards (2013) and then watched the first series of the British one (1990).
> 
> The US one was a predictably tamer on the dark sexual stuff. It was milked for 13 episodes which was about 5 episodes too much. Spacey does a decent job but is dull and pedestrian compared to Ian Richardson's performance in the UK version.
> 
> The 2nd US version comes out on the 14th Feb I think.



I recommend watching both but there are some very problematic scenes in the US version. One example being the striking teachers protesting outside of a shindig by the protagonist. Spacey's character and his missus deliver food and drink from the party to the protesters and they just accept and are won over by this cheap gimmick. An insult.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 27, 2014)

Gravity

which MUST be based on the Ray Bradbury story 'Kaleidoscope' and yet I see no reference to RB at all, which is out of order.

It was  okay, but we found fault with an awful lot of the Hollywoodisms - man has the best kit/is calmer/more logical, woman has no fucking jetpack, is emotional, less logical, but does manage to wear tiny undercrackers, with lots of titillatory scenes. The 'symbolism' was right fucking cack-handed and clumsy too. 

I liked the view of the planet and the space debris scenes the best. I would give my left arm to go into space, really would. It's something I've dreamed of since being a kid.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 27, 2014)

sojourner said:


> Gravity
> 
> which MUST be based on the Ray Bradbury story 'Kaleidoscope' and yet I see no reference to RB at all, which is out of order.
> 
> ...




Plus those pesky Russians.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 27, 2014)

Cocaine Cowboys (2006) - dir. Billy Corben - a documentary covering the history of the cocaine trade within Miami, and the attendant "drug wars", during the late 1970's, up to the end of the 1980's.  What I was hoping to be a serious, sober look at the cocaine industry turns out to be nothing of the sort - starting out with gun pornography, this documentary wheels outs much-repeated cliches and tropes (including some rather racist commentary upon the Colombian and Cuban population of Miami), and seems to revel in death and murder (there are many gruesome still photos of murder victims featured throughout)

There are little actual insights from the law enforcement agencies and "experts" (no surprise there then), and those involved in the cocaine trade themselves seem to spend much time talking about the "good old days".  Police corruption and political campaign financing is touched upon momentarily, but never followed up, and the documentary peddles the nonsense that Miami was "crime free" before the cocaine wars kicked in.  George Bush Senior is shown in his "war on drugs" mode, which the documentary considers to be a "success", and other minor-league politicos get to air their views without being challenged once.

The last hour of the documentary spends much time upon the life of Medellin Cartel member Griselda Blanco, but even this gives no real insights into her control, power and influence within Miami and beyond - all we hear is that she had expensive tastes, was a lesbian (shock horror!), and was not averse to having rivals bumped off.  The rest of the running time involves various small-fry gangsters and hitmen talking about their activities, and how they ended up being caught and imprisoned.

The documentary itself has a distinctive made-for-TV feel to it, and at 2 hours in length, is way overlong; the running time could easily have been cut by at least 30 minutes.  There's absolutely no comment made on the impact of the cocaine trade on Miami's Latino population -  all we're told is that the Latinos are essentially "bad" people, and that's your lot.  There's also zero comment on the effect/impact of the cocaine trade within Colombia itself.

"Cocaine Cowboys" seems to possess all the accuracy and insight of your average "Mondo" film, and says nothing at all about how the influx of cocaine affected a major American city.  In fact, the only thing to note on this documentary is that the incidental music was done by Jan Hammer, composer of the "Miami Vice" theme tune...and you'd probably get a more accurate idea of the drug trade by watching an episode of said TV programme!

An uninformative, slanted and cliched documentary, then.  Doubtlessly there are other drug-related documentaries out there which offer far more in scope and information.  Seek them out instead, and avoid this pile of nonsense.  Not recommended at all.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 27, 2014)

I think there might be something very very wrong with me. over the weekend I watched PAIN AND GAIN and enjoyed it hugely. I might even have thought it was a bang-on satire of the worst excesses of American get-rich self-improvement gym-bunny culture. 

Bizarrely, this loud, garish, vulgar, coarse, sexist crimefest was directed by Michael Bay and I can say it was the perfect marriage of director and subject; this is a man who knows from big shiny over-the-top neon excess and to my mind lampooned it perfectly.

It also left me thinking that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a hugely talented, deftly intelligent comedy actor who should be doing more movies aimed at non-morons. And it gets worse: the DVD extras persuade me he's also a nice guy and genuinely nuanced human being, not just a marketing dream in a muscle suit.

What just happened?


----------



## Autochthonous1 (Jan 27, 2014)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "Mesrine" - admired both the film and Vincent Cassel's performance but disliked his character so much I doubt if I will watch the second one


Second one is a massive disappointment after the first (which I absolutely loved), so the fact you're put off is a good thing.


----------



## Shirl (Jan 27, 2014)

belboid said:


> Behind the Candelabra.
> 
> Which we enjoyed. Pretty much all surface, but what a glitzy surface.


I watched this recently. I didn't enjoy it all that much but the outfits kept me watching


----------



## Autochthonous1 (Jan 27, 2014)

I just watched (and highly recommend) _Atomised _(_Elementarteilchen_) if you're in Germany. About two half-brothers whose mother was an erratic hippy/unfit mother, forcing them to grow up with their grandmother/boarding school. One brother's a scientists who's done well for himself and all that stuff; working on a revolutionary breakthrough, and one's turned out a bit of fuck-up who turns to prostitutes and orgies after failing so royally in his romantic relationships. Anyway, it's fantastic. Clever. Witty. Funny. Watch it. 

I am STILL trying to get through _Inside Llewyn Davis_ - it's taken me over 24 hours so far; they KEEP FUCKING SINGING. That ginger cat is the best thing about this film (don't get me wrong, the filming is great). I'm really trying with this film, what with all those rave reviews and it being the Coen Bros (I had a dog named Fargo), but I am so close to turning it off, unfinished, again. Oh, the singing, MORE FILM, LESS SINGING, PLEASE, it's doing my head in!


----------



## Autochthonous1 (Jan 27, 2014)

Art and Copy is a great documentary I watched, not last night, but last week (but then I am into copywriting and advertising). Great editing, thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Check that out too.
http://www.artandcopyfilm.com/


----------



## Autochthonous1 (Jan 27, 2014)

sim667 said:


> Spun, thought it was a great film. I need to send it back to lovefilm so will probably buy a copy. Anyone got any recomendations for similar?



Sorry, I just put ''Spun'' into the search bar of this thread. Was presented with your post from last Feb. Did anyone get back to you with those recommendations?


----------



## sim667 (Jan 27, 2014)

Autochthonous1 said:


> Sorry, I just put ''Spun'' into the search bar of this thread. Was presented with your post from last Feb. Did anyone get back to you with those recommendations?


Probably, but it was a very long time ago.

Requiem for a dream is in the same vain though if that's any help. A bit more depressing than spun though


----------



## Autochthonous1 (Jan 27, 2014)

sim667 said:


> Probably, but it was a very long time ago.
> Requiem for a dream is in the same vain though if that's any help. A bit more depressing than spun though


Yeah, not really the same thing at all, to me. I loved the kooky characters in Spun and all the other general kookiness, it was just madness. Ta though.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 27, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> I think there might be something very very wrong with me. over the weekend I watched PAIN AND GAIN and enjoyed it hugely. I might even have thought it was a bang-on satire of the worst excesses of American get-rich self-improvement gym-bunny culture.
> 
> Bizarrely, this loud, garish, vulgar, coarse, sexist crimefest was directed by Michael Bay and I can say it was the perfect marriage of director and subject; this is a man who knows from big shiny over-the-top neon excess and to my mind lampooned it perfectly.
> 
> ...




Haystacks raves about  it  here What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3) & it's actually not bad. A bit over long for me, but it does feature a leather pig mask which can never be a bad thing,


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 27, 2014)

DP


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 27, 2014)

sim667 said:


> Probably, but it was a very long time ago.
> 
> Requiem for a dream is in the same vain vein though if that's any help. A bit more depressing than spun though



See what I did there? Eh, Eh?


----------



## Belushi (Jan 27, 2014)

*Tiny Furniture* (Lena Dunham 2010) Manages to be enjoyable and annoying at the same time.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 28, 2014)

Pricilla, Queen of the Desert.  I'd forgotten that it had Hugo Weaving in it.  He looked_ fabulous_!


----------



## belboid (Jan 28, 2014)

Beware of Mr Baker

What a charming chap. Highly entertaining doc about a truly astounding player. Shame there was nothing about his time with Hawkwind (the only time I saw him play) or indeed about the eighties at all, but still well worth a view.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 28, 2014)

The Great Beauty. Amazing work, long, and a bit self-serving but fuck it, that's what its meant to be and he does it brilliantly


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 28, 2014)

Fargo.   The weirdest reboot of Columbo ever made, ja?

Brilliant.  A pregnant cop who seems to come from an episode of the waltons, doggedly and casually  gets on with a case involving lots of bad language, kidnap, insanity, wanton murder and just plain unnecessary badness.	Pure Coen.

Some tv channel is showing loads of Coen stuff, it's great.

I saw McDormand in Burn After Reading last week...brilliant in that, too.


----------



## belboid (Jan 29, 2014)

finally managed to convince mrs b that we should watch _A Field in England_.

And, mmm, what an intereting film. Veered significantly towards the barking. Quite entertaining, I'll have to watch it again.

What could follow that?  Only a true classic, so out came the Tigon masterpiece _Blood On Satans Claw_. Still wonderful.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 29, 2014)

*Filth* - i should have watched it in the cinema but was put off by the luke-warm reviews. Funny and horrible. I recommend!


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 29, 2014)

The Haunting (1963) - dir. Robert Wise - excellent atmospheric horror effort from Wise, and a film where Hammer-style theatrics are ignored in place of psychological tension and dread.  Great performances from the cast, and the black and white cinematography looks fantastic.  Perhaps slightly overlong (this one hits the 2 hour mark), "The Haunting" nevertheless is a stellar example of 60's horror at its finest.  In fact, it comes close to being as seminal and powerful as "Carnival Of Souls" at points, so you know that this is an exemplary one.  If you're into your horror stuff, this comes very highly recommended indeed.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jan 29, 2014)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Filth* - i should have watched it in the cinema but was put off by the luke-warm reviews. Funny and horrible. I recommend!



I thought McEvoy would be too clean cut, but he was ok in the part I thought.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 29, 2014)

The Square (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2486682/

I'm still wiping the tears from my eyes, i'm shaking with rage. I urge you to watch this documentary. Very powerful, very personal.
I still believe in the Egyptian revolution, i have no choice but to believe. If this revolution fails then all other revolutions fail.

Khalid Abdalla, Magdy Ashour and Ahmed Hassan were were superb.

I feel very upset having watched this.

The people know their way back to Tahrir Square.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 30, 2014)

A History of Explosions

the presenters glee and child like wonder seemed a bit off when we got to the bit about nuclear weapons. Possible PD recruit.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 30, 2014)

Finally watched Marx Re-loaded. Was not the wait worth. From Barker's shallow reading of Marx and history to the tiny little snippets that counted as interviews or opinions. Total let down.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 30, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Fargo.   The weirdest reboot of Columbo ever made, ja?
> 
> Brilliant.  A pregnant cop who seems to come from an episode of the waltons, doggedly and casually  gets on with a case involving lots of bad language, kidnap, insanity, wanton murder and just plain unnecessary badness.	Pure Coen.
> 
> ...


It's been made into a TV series now, At first I thought Bleeding Sacrilege, But I'll give it a go http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802850/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt


----------



## maya (Jan 31, 2014)

"Steam of life (Miesten vuoro)". A great documentary about the only place where the stoic, Finnish man opens up: The sauna.[steam bath] You see lots of Finnish men sitting on benches all sweating and naked like, and you hear their stories. This is one of the few places where they talk freely and honest, deep discussion goes on- albeit not always men of many words. This sounds like an unlikely concept for over an hour, but it works very well and it's actually quite moving (one man reveals that he was abused), intriguing and funny in parts... Apparently the quiet cameraderie and collective support found there is the manly men's version of therapy. A unusual film, I haven't seen anything like it before.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 31, 2014)

maya said:


> "Steam of life (Miesten vuoro)". A great documentary about the only place where the stoic, Finnish man opens up: The sauna.[steam bath] You see lots of Finnish men sitting on benches all sweating and naked like, and you hear their stories. This is one of the few places where they talk freely and honest, deep discussion goes on- albeit not always men of many words. This sounds like an unlikely concept for over an hour, but it works very well and it's actually quite moving (one man reveals that he was abused), intriguing and funny in parts... Apparently the quiet cameraderie and collective support found there is the manly men's version of therapy. A unusual film, I haven't seen anything like it before.



Intrigued enough to look it up and surprised i found a torrent of it on TPB. Added it to my "to watch" list.


----------



## maya (Jan 31, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Intrigued enough to look it up and surprised i found a torrent of it on TPB. Added it to my "to watch" list.


It's great


----------



## inva (Jan 31, 2014)

watched a few over the week

La Cérémonie
1995 thriller directed by Claude Chabrol. The upper class get their comeuppance. Really good, suspect Chabrol particularly enjoyed making it.

Witness for the Prosecution
1957 Billy Wilder film with a fairly ridiculous Agatha Christie plot. Good performances by Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich & Charles Laughton in the lead roles. Entertaining courtroom mystery drama with all the twists and turns you'd want.

Nights of Cabiria
Another film from 1957, this one by Federico Fellini. Really enjoyed this one a lot. Giulietta Masina's perfomance is brilliant as the endlessly unlucky prostitute known as Cabiria. I was especially struck by some of her slightly odd facial expressions - really great and full of character. It was a very old-fashioned sort of film that follows Cabiria's various misfortunes as she travels about Rome with plenty of both humour and sadness.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Jan 31, 2014)

L'Enfer (1993) - dir. Claude Chabrol - An overall decent 90's effort from Chabrol here, in his film which follows a pair of lovers as their relationship becomes increasingly dysfunctional and twisted.  Emmanuelle Beart and Francois Cluzet play the couple in question, and Cluzet becomes ever-more jealous and antagonistic, as he becomes overwhelmed with jealousy and paranoia at his belief of Beart's alleged infidelities.  The film climaxes with Cluzet losing his mind, and imagining that he has "saved" his lover, whilst obsessing over images of his belief of her cheating on him.

The film is essentially set within a couple of locations, and this helps build up the increasing claustrophobia within "L'Enfer". Both Beart and Cluzet acquit themselves well in this one, with the disintegration of their relationship coming across convincingly.  Nicely shot, and well paced, this comes across as a decent study in the failure of two people to understand each other both intimately and emotionally.

I do take one issue with this, though:  the scene in which Beart is examined by her GP, following an incident of non-consensual sex, suddenly turns around on her, as the GP's initial caring and concern for her turns to moral disgust, as he seems to believe Cluzet's accusatory statments re. her having affairs.  Not only does this scene not work at all (it comes across as very lumpy and disjointed), it also leaves a sour taste in one's mouth, as to victims of sexual assault not being believed at the drop of a pin. A rather big flaw in an otherwise convincing film for me.

"L'Enfer" is certainly worth a viewing, but viewer be warned of the afore-mentioned scene.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 31, 2014)

> Nights of Cabiria
> Another film from 1957, this one by Federico Fellini. Really enjoyed this one a lot. Giulietta Masina's perfomance is brilliant as the endlessly unlucky prostitute known as Cabiria. I was especially struck by some of her slightly odd facial expressions - really great and full of character. It was a very old-fashioned sort of film that follows Cabiria's various misfortunes as she travels about Rome with plenty of both humour and sadness.



Chaplin.


----------



## la ressistance (Jan 31, 2014)

Frances Lengel said:


> I thought McEvoy would be too clean cut, but he was ok in the part I thought.


Only ok ? I honestly think that mcevoy gave one of the best performances I've ever seen. He is incredible. I'm even a bit pissed off he never got an Oscar nod for it, he's fucking brilliant in filth.


----------



## la ressistance (Jan 31, 2014)

belboid said:


> finally managed to convince mrs b that we should watch _A Field in England_.
> 
> And, mmm, what an intereting film. Veered significantly towards the barking. Quite entertaining, I'll have to watch it again.
> .



A massive disappointment just like kill list.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 31, 2014)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes.   2nd time.

Still really good, hope they don't fuck up the sequel.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 1, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Chaplin.


She's very, er, Chaplinesque in La Strada


----------



## inva (Feb 1, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Chaplin.


that would explain it


----------



## Voley (Feb 1, 2014)

Seven Psychopaths. Expected it to be like 'The Hangover' or some other such shite but it was actually quite good.  Didn't like the main psycho as an actor though which detracted a bit. A pity as some of the others (Christopher Walken) were good. Nice little twist on the 'characters in search of an author' theme. Woody Harrelson is always going to be Woody Harrelson though, unfortunately.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 1, 2014)

Christopher Walken is particularly well dressed in that film. He is clearly just having fun at this time in his career


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 1, 2014)

Rust and Bone - quite enjoyed it.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 1, 2014)

Captain Phillips.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535109/

Wow, suspense built well and was maintained throughout. Great performances from Barkhad Abdi and Tom Hanks.
Slightly suspicious of the Hollywood treatment but don't let that put you of watching an excellent film.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 1, 2014)

Double bill of A Serious Man and Basket Case 2 tonight.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 2, 2014)

Collateral.   A hitman coerces an LA taxi-driver to take him on 5 stops around LA to kill people involved in a drug deal/possibly witnesses for the prosecution.  Cruise and Foxx.   There are a couple of OH REALLY! moments of serendipity/deus-ex-machina but at the end of the day it's a damn fine thriller.   Michael Mann directed it, great soundtrack and cinematography.   Like a modern Miami Vice.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 2, 2014)

Raging Phoenix - Thai martial arts movie, Same girl was in Chocolate the one about the autistic girl


----------



## Cheesypoof (Feb 3, 2014)

zenie said:


> Just loading up Shame, any good?



watched it tonight, and loved it. I found it mesmerising, it stays with you for a while afterwards.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 3, 2014)

The Wolverine. Tosh. Worst in the franchise since X-men 3.


----------



## yield (Feb 3, 2014)

Finished Fringe last night. Four week marathon season 1 to 5. All in all very good though weaker after season 3. 

John Noble completely dominates with an honourable mention to Anna Torv.

Joshua Jackson should've stuck to Dawson's Creek. So many plot holes and inconsistencies.

Yet it was compelling to the end. I really enjoyed it. Would recommend to anyone who has the time.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Feb 3, 2014)

"Eaten Alive" (1977) - dir. Tobe Hooper - A re-watch for me of the follow up to Hooper's debut effort, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ("TCM"), and is set in some un-named Southern USA/"bayou" town, where there's a hotel run by a war veteran called Judd (Neville Brand). Brand's guests at the Starlight Hotel tend not to survive their stay here for too long - from the first guest we see (a runaway from the local brothel), his guests end up being victims both to himself and a rather large crocodile, who lives in the depths of a whole heap of water next to the hotel. Other guests include a family of three (the wife/mother being Marilyn Burns from "TCM"), and the father and sister of the "missing" brothel runaway. One of the regular guests is a self-styled local "gigolo" (Robert Englund), who immediately raises the ire of Judd. As the bodies pile up, the police become involved, but to little success or intervention. Judd, in a bid to "save" her, ties Burns to the bed, and then a long chase sequence begins where Burn's daughter hides away in the crawlspace of the hotel, with Judd on her tail. Burns is eventually freed by Englund's one-night stand (Englund himself meets his end at the hands of the crocodile), and after a frenzied "chase" sequence, Judd himself finally meets his fate at the hands of the killer croc.

It would appear that director Tobe Hooper was trying to re-create the atmosphere of madness and hysteria that permeates the whole of "TCM", but he largely unsucccessful in his endeavours. The film is shot with a curious flat feel to it, and the print I viewed is rather dark in places. "Eaten Alive" seems to have been filmed all on studio sets (even the outdoor scenes), and this adds to a sense of artificiality to this film. the script (co-written by Kim Henkel ("TCM") and producer Mardi Rustam) emphasises the surface terror aspect, whilst being very low on psychological horror. The characterisations tend to be a tad on the cliched side, and Marilyn Burns' attempts to resurrect her "victim" role in "TCM", but with significantly diminishing returns. The crocodile in "Eaten Alive" is distinctly rubbery-looking, and the scenes where said croc attacks Judd's victims fail to convince at all.

On the positive side, the "found sound" score (co-composed by Wayne Bell and Tobe Hooper) is very impressive, and Robert Englund (in an early role) is convincing as the sleazy, repellent Buck. Neville Brand's Judd is entertaining and enticing as well - he veers between incoherent nutty ramblings and nutso scenery-chewing. Carolyn Jones (best known for being Morticia Addams in "The Addams Family") is also good as the unlikeable brothel madam. There are also appearances by genre stalwart Stuart Whitman, and also veteran actor Mel Ferrer (who also appeared later in the atrocious and racist "Cannibal Ferox").

"Eaten Alive" seems to be imbued with the atmosphere that permeated the classic EC Comics stable, and there are moments where a sense of dread and panic are evoked. However, for too much of "Eaten Alive", the temptation to go into "shock" mode is too much temptation for Hooper to resist, and the film really falls down here. Incidentally, this film is one that Hooper has always been less-than-keen to discuss: he had many behind the scenes rows with US schlock-meister Rustam, and Hooper has essentially distanced himself from the film. The pattern of producer interference and general fallouts has plagued Hooper's career ever since.

"Eaten Alive" certainly has its moments, and is quite an enjoyable film in its own way, but it really has none of the power and effectivess of the seminal "TCM". See this film if you know about "TCM", otherwise do go and watch Hooper's debut film instead.

Notes: "Eaten Alive" was released in the UK under the re-titling of "Death Trap", and had a (cut) cinema UK release in 1978. An uncut version of this film was later released by the Vipco label in the early 1980's, and "campaigner" Mary Whitehouse took violent exception to this film (despite never having seen it). "Death Trap" was successfully prosecuted several times under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act on video during the "video nasties" period, and was subsequently withdrawn in due course. "Death Trap" was finally re-issued by Vipco in 2000 in a cut version (around 30 seconds cut?), and there has never been a subsequent uncut release of this film in the UK.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 3, 2014)

2 films in the last couple of days...

The Godfather.  Fuck me, that's how to make a film....everyone take note.   (also..now I get to watch part 2 again)

No Country For Old Men.  ahem...fuck me, that's how to make a film...everyone take note.  The Coens deftly expand on Fargo, maybe without realising it.  I'm not sure which I prefer (Fargo or NCFOM).


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 3, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> 2 films in the last couple of days...
> 
> The Godfather.  Fuck me, that's how to make a film....everyone take note.   (also..now I get to watch part 2 again)
> 
> *No Country For Old Men.*  ahem...fuck me, that's how to make a film...everyone take note.  The Coens deftly expand on Fargo, maybe without realising it.  I'm not sure which I prefer (Fargo or NCFOM).



I just love No Country For Old Men. Plan to read the book soon.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 3, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I just love No Country For Old Men. Plan to read the book soon.


I don't read a tenth as much as I used to.   Certainly considering giving McCarthy some time this year though.   You can see he's a strong influence on the film (it must be him)...which for a Coen film  is strong recommendation.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 4, 2014)

*The Wolf of Wall Street* - Jordan Belfort is a twat.


----------



## magneze (Feb 4, 2014)

*Elysium*
Enjoyable sci-fi nonsense. Not particularly taxing. I did wonder if Jodie Foster based her character on Theresa May.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 4, 2014)

magneze said:


> *Elysium*
> Enjoyable sci-fi nonsense. Not particularly taxing. I did wonder if Jodie Foster based her character on Theresa May.



More South African accents in films please!


----------



## mwgdrwg (Feb 4, 2014)

TruXta said:


> The Wolverine. Tosh. Worst in the franchise since X-men 3.



Jeez, haven't you seen "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"? The Wolverine is like Citizen Kane in comparison to that.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 4, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> Jeez, haven't you seen "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"? The Wolverine is like Citizen Kane in comparison to that.


I disagree, Origins was a masterpiece compared the The Wolverine.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Feb 4, 2014)

TruXta said:


> I disagree, Origins was a masterpiece compared the The Wolverine.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 4, 2014)

Come on, it was abominable! Way too long to.


----------



## sojourner (Feb 4, 2014)

Not last  night but night before - 'Before Stonewall', a documentary. Excellent, moving, inspiring.

We found the 'documentary' option on Netflix


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 4, 2014)

the beebs new musketeers thing.

good points:
medieval france is sufficiently dirty


bad:

everythingelse. The gore is not there, the sex is rubbish, the court/religious politics are played at for dummies levels. Even Capaldi's phoning it in. Looks like it cost a few bob over all but its just wank


----------



## belboid (Feb 4, 2014)

end of Games of Thrones season 2.

Which certainly picked up in the second half, good stuff. Even if i couldnt tell wtf was going on in the Battle of Blackwater.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 4, 2014)

*American Horror Story: Coven*

Finished the entire season 3. 
Much more co-ordinated with a precise story-line.  A big improvement to the previous 2 seasons.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 4, 2014)

a marked inability to make anyone stay dead in that ^^^


----------



## TruXta (Feb 4, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> a marked inability to make anyone stay dead in that ^^^


Spoilers, cunt


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 4, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> a marked inability to make anyone stay dead in that ^^^



and even if they do die, they're alive in that 'other' place.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 4, 2014)

August: Osage County (2013) 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1322269/

It's as flat as Oklahoma and just as irritating. Stuck with it for 90 mins. Don't care how it ends.


----------



## Jackobi (Feb 4, 2014)

The first episode of Black Sails:

"Captain Flint and his pirates, twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island"."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375692/

Some good piratey action so far and it's promising, Treasure Island is one of my favourite novels, though.

Also, a couple of episodes of The Spoils of Babylon, which sounds shitter than it is:

"Patriarch Jonas Morehouse shepherds his daughter Cynthia and adopted son Devon from meager beginnings in the oil fields of Texas to powerful boardrooms in New York City."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2884286/

Enjoyable so far, it has some interesting production techniques which give it more appeal.


----------



## belboid (Feb 6, 2014)

The Aviator

I think I dodged it at the time cos I still hadn't forgiven DeCaprio for Titanic, but having belatedly accepted that the boy can act and as it also stars the divine Cate, it needed watching.  And there are some mighty fine set pieces, especially early on recreating Hughes' film scenes (even if I did have to pause it twenty minutes in to go 'is it really meant to be that colour?'), and in the final senate hearings, but it just didn't cut it for me. DeCaprio was okay at first, but couldn't convey his collapse into paranoia and madness. Cate was great, but Beckinsale didn't really get to grips with Ava Gardner, and Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow?  What, just...what?  It's like Hughes surrounding himself with pretty young starlets  just because he could. Bad, and wrong.  Alec Baldwin may have been fine when the film came out, but now its impossible to watch him in it without immediately thinking he's Jack Donaghy.

But worst of all, it was just a hagiographic portrayal of Hughes as an Ayn Randian superman bestriding the world like a colossus. Let's skip over his far-right politics and being a bully and descent into complete madness, lets just show some jolly japes and big sexy forties glamour.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 6, 2014)

The music was ace though


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 7, 2014)

Desolation of Smaug.

overall quite fun but giving Beorn less than five minutes is inexcusable


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 7, 2014)

Some British series about a young Inspector Morse. It was good: the British are way better at this kind of stuff.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 7, 2014)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Some British series about a young Inspector Morse. It was good: the British are way better at this kind of stuff.




you might like Foyles War then. It's about a middle aged murder detective in WW2 era britain. The series 'USP' is how this bloke is constantly having to deal with WW2 impacting on his role as a murder catcher.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 7, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> you might like Foyles War then. It's about a middle aged murder detective in WW2 era britain. The series 'USP' is how this bloke is constantly having to deal with WW2 impacting on his role as a murder catcher.



Seen it and enjoyed it.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 7, 2014)

Thor - The Dark World.

Jesus, this must have cost LOADS. And it's pretty SHITE  Love the concept, but so much of it doesn't add up, not that it's meant to, but besides that, the story is a bit too hollow and it does lose itself in places. Nice effects, terrible science, ok acting in parts, rubbish acting in others, aimless plot. 3.5/10


----------



## inva (Feb 7, 2014)

They Made Me a Fugitive

1947 noirish gangster film starring Trevor Howard as a former pilot in post-war London who falls in with a gang, gets set up and then is out for revenge with the police on his tail. I picked this up from a sale a while ago mainly because I recognised the director Alberto Cavalcanti from the great WW2 film Went the Day Well?, and as much as I liked that one They Made Me a Fugitive is even better.

Great fun, full of dark brooding atmosphere in dingy alleys and all that sort of thing and shot in excellent black & white photography. The stand out feature though is the phenomenal performance from Howard. It's well up there with the best noirs.


----------



## belboid (Feb 7, 2014)

Made in Dagenham. Which I'd never got round to watching before. And I suppose I'm glad I did even if it really is a bit rubbish. Tottering on the edge of being a Comic Strip GLC/Miners Strike piece, no cliche left unstitched. Quite well observed in a few places, but, really.....

Filth - that's better. A surprisingly good job of a deeply unpleasant book, good show.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2014)

3 eps of American Horror Story - Asylum (S2). I like it. It's a mish-mash of every genre cliche imaginable, but it's got something.


----------



## christy01 (Feb 7, 2014)

Rush 2013 movie about 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 7, 2014)

christy01 said:


> Rush 2013 movie about 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.



Watched some of that. Bit meh. Well shot though.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Feb 7, 2014)

TruXta said:


> Come on, it was abominable! Way too long to.



It was, but still better (or 'less worse') than Origins!


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> It was, but still better (or 'less worse') than Origins!


NO!


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 7, 2014)

TruXta said:


> 3 eps of American Horror Story - Asylum (S2). I like it. It's a mish-mash of every genre cliche imaginable, but it's got something.




Lange's accent is quite odd in that one. Like she's going for some boston/new england/period accent. She gets away with it because she is Mrs Lange


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Lange's accent is quite odd in that one. Like she's going for some boston/new england/period accent. She gets away with it because she is Mrs Lange


You think? I was just thinking while I watched it she's got a strong southern accent.

/checks ears


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 7, 2014)

TruXta said:


> You think? I was just thinking while I watched it she's got a strong southern accent.
> 
> /checks ears




southern in series 1. series 2 she got that weird 'all vowel sounds are a's' going off


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> southern in series 1. series 2 she got that weird 'all vowel sounds are a's' going off


It's supposed to be set on the East Coast isn't it?


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 7, 2014)

my american geography is hopeless but- the accent side of things is marginally better. Way she says 'Dark meat' in episode 1 had the new england sound foe example, compared to the pronounced southern lilt of series 1.

series 3 is also the tits btw. Best show in ages


----------



## TruXta (Feb 7, 2014)

Nice.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 7, 2014)

Nebraska (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821549/

Finally a screener became available.

Hilarious, poignant, brilliantly cast and equally well acted; i thought Bruce Dern was outstanding. Highly recommend.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 8, 2014)

Philomena (2013) 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431286/

Coogan and Dench combine well. The Catholic church are so craven and  inhumane. Excellent film. Recommend.


----------



## friedaweed (Feb 8, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Philomena (2013)
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431286/
> 
> Coogan and Dench combine well. The Catholic church are so craven and  inhumane. Excellent film. Recommend.


I watched that last night myself. Cracking film


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 8, 2014)

"Best in Show" - really enjoyed it, gentle but sharp humour


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 8, 2014)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "Best in Show" - really enjoyed it, gentle but sharp humour


Lots of improvisation in it, apparently.   Great little movie.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 9, 2014)

Started watching Orange is the New Black last night, 3 episodes in and it's keeping my interest, a few more tonight, maybe it will really get going.

Just watched Her, very good but not everyone's kind of film.


----------



## grubby local (Feb 9, 2014)

Sightseers (2012). so english, so unexpected, so funny.
gx


----------



## Yetman (Feb 10, 2014)

Enders Game - Excellent effects, excellent dialogue, decent acting, it got a bit 'EVE Online' at points but still, maybe not a great film, but a very good one.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 10, 2014)

I watched The Expendables last night.

I think I just needed something which was rubbish to take me out of where I was. This was suitably rubbish.


----------



## Greebo (Feb 10, 2014)

Good Hair - one of the most watchable and unpatronising documentaries I've seen in a long time.  Not exactly feelgood, but not endless misery either.   If you've got afro hair or know somebody with it, you need to see this.


----------



## belboid (Feb 10, 2014)

Prometheus - thought it was time I rewatched it, to see if it made more sense second time around. And it was certainly appearing to, up until the point where I had another large G&T and forgot what the hell was going on.

Kick Ass 2 - wow, just nasty, ultra-violent, witless and crude. One to avoid fer sure


----------



## braindancer (Feb 10, 2014)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams - Werner Herzog doco on the Chauvet cave in Southern France where 32,000 year old paintings were discovered in the nineties.  Brilliant and fascinating film - intended to be seen in 3D however, so no doubt would have been even more impressive at the cinema than on my shitty telly.


----------



## OneStrike (Feb 10, 2014)

Philomena, it's well worth a watch.  Well acted, a strong storyline and a few laughs/tears if you are in the mood.  I wanted my face to leak and it nearly did, progress for me. 9/10, everyone loves Steve Coogan, right? Also has that Bond girl Dench in it.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 11, 2014)

OneStrike said:


> Philomena, it's well worth a watch.  Well acted, a strong storyline and a few laughs/tears if you are in the mood.  I wanted my face to leak and it nearly did, progress for me. 9/10, everyone loves Steve Coogan, right? Also has that Bond girl Dench in it.



After watching Coogan in that dreadful Alpha Papa or whatever it was called i was reluctant to watch Philomena but it was excellent.


----------



## belboid (Feb 11, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> After watching Coogan in that dreadful Alpha Papa or whatever it was called i was reluctant to watch Philomena but it was excellent.


what you on about??!!  Alpha Papa was excellent.  It didn't rely for its humour on taking the mickey out of an elderly Irish woman's 'simpleness' like Philomena did. It could really have done without that cheap tosh. Shame cos it badly let down an otherwise excellent film that is well worth watching (tho I'm not that arsed to have missed it at the pics, cinematic it wasn't)


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 11, 2014)

belboid said:


> what you on about??!!  Alpha Papa was excellent.  It didn't rely for its humour on taking the mickey out of an elderly Irish woman's 'simpleness' like Philomena did. It could really have done without that cheap tosh. Shame cos it badly let down an otherwise excellent film that is well worth watching (tho I'm not that arsed to have missed it at the pics, cinematic it wasn't)



It's an interesting point you make because i thought Alpha Papa had a number of racist moments in it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 11, 2014)

Coogan's family are from Mayo, right?


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 11, 2014)

Dredd - Big improvement on the Danny Cannon film. Karl Urban has the character bang to rights. Shame there won't be a sequel, I'd like to see the sci-fi element increase there.

13 Assasins - Takashi Miike does a samurai flick. Kind of reminded me of Seven Samurai and The Hobbit (part 1), in so far as there's a lot of characters in the gang and the first 30 minutes are mostly dialogue. We liked it immensely.

10 Things I Hate About You - only watched for Ledger, JGL and Julia Styles. Otherwise it felt like a 90s version of an 80s high school "comedy".


----------



## belboid (Feb 11, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Coogan's family are from Mayo, right?


i believe so, which is probably why he thought he could get away with writing something of an irish cliche


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 11, 2014)

Alpha Pappa felt like an extended episode of TV patridge. Which is no shame at all.


----------



## belboid (Feb 11, 2014)

I laughed during it a damned sight more than I did in Wolf of Wall Street


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 11, 2014)

jingle genocide


As for my own viewing pleasuere I enjoyed last night the first three episodes of HBO's True Detective. It's a lot lot better than the mismatched detective premise. The framing is interesting so far too. Harrelson plays himself but he's come a long way since his days behind the bar in cheers- he's a better actor than I think he gets credit for.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 11, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Alpha Pappa felt like an extended episode of TV patridge. Which is no shame at all.


I loved it until it descended into an episode of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 11, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I loved it until it descended into an episode of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.




thats the point where they ride out in the old radio battlebus isn't it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 11, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> thats the point where they ride out in the old radio battlebus isn't it?


no, before that. The pants/window thing. Just lazy shite. Everyone in the cinema was wetting themselves, but I was so disappointed. I dunno what I was expecting. More of a character study I suppose, not pratfalls. 
I loved the new Vic & Bob though.  I guess I expect it of them.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 11, 2014)

watched 4 episodes of The Walking Dead, season 3 last night  wanted to watch more but it was already 1.30am and I had to work today


----------



## Indeliblelink (Feb 11, 2014)

Morel's Invention (1974) , Italian sci-fi based on a novel by Argentine author, Adolfo Bioy Casares. A man adrift in a boat at sea gets washed up on a rocky, wind swept island, he discovers a large building and after investigating it a group of people appear out of nowhere, they seem to be unable to see or hear him and they seem to repeat the same routines each day, even having the same conversations with each other.
Excellent smart sci-fi, deserves to be better known.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 11, 2014)

BBC4's _Who is Harry Nilsson and Why is Everyone Talking About Him?_

Ace


----------



## Garek (Feb 11, 2014)

_Wiseguy_ - Old 80's crime shows featuring an undercover division of the FBI. I'm undecided. Enjoying it so far but my God does it feel dated. Feels like some of the script is drowned under 80's tropes.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 11, 2014)

Working my way through American Horror Story season 3.

Can't beat Jessica Lange, outstanding as always although i'm not enjoying this season (four episodes in) as much as the previous two seasons.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 11, 2014)

Another boxset to seek out!


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 11, 2014)




----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 12, 2014)

marty21 said:


> watched 4 episodes of The Walking Dead, season 3 last night  wanted to watch more but it was already 1.30am and I had to work today


 
Awesome isn't it? That's the season that just keeps on giving.


----------



## la ressistance (Feb 12, 2014)

krtek a houby said:


> Dredd - Big improvement on the Danny Cannon film. Karl Urban has the character bang to rights. Shame there won't be a sequel, I'd like to see the sci-fi element increase there.
> 
> 13 Assasins - Takashi Miike does a samurai flick. Kind of reminded me of Seven Samurai and The Hobbit (part 1), in so far as there's a lot of characters in the gang and the first 30 minutes are mostly dialogue. We liked it immensely.
> 
> 10 Things I Hate About You - only watched for Ledger, JGL and Julia Styles. Otherwise it felt like a 90s version of an 80s high school "comedy".


13 assassins is great fun. Must watch it again. Cheers.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 13, 2014)

Pacific Rim. Clay morrow AND Jax Teller in the same film? Kept expecting Chibs to turn up


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 13, 2014)

la ressistance said:


> 13 assassins is great fun. Must watch it again. Cheers.


Dig out the original if you can - also excellent and deserving of independent praise.


----------



## frogwoman (Feb 13, 2014)

Started watching a documentary on the shankill butchers last night, it was really good but I must have been tired again 

I'll finish watching it tonight.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 13, 2014)

if its the bbc NI docu its bare harrowing


----------



## frogwoman (Feb 13, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> if its the bbc NI docu its bare harrowing


 
It was. I got about 15 minutes in I think.


----------



## fishfinger (Feb 13, 2014)

Oldboy, the Spike Lee remake of Chan-wook Park's 2003 film of the same name.
If you've seen the original, then this remake is shit. If you haven't seen the original, then this remake is shit.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 13, 2014)

Inside No 9 - "A Quiet Night In". Genius.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 13, 2014)

krtek a houby said:


> Awesome isn't it? That's the season that just keeps on giving.


 it is! Watched another 4 last night - work is getting in the way of it


----------



## revol68 (Feb 13, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Finally watched Marx Re-loaded. Was not the wait worth. From Barker's shallow reading of Marx and history to the tiny little snippets that counted as interviews or opinions. Total let down.



I dry heaved at the bit where Trotsky offers Marx's the pills! Trotsky! Jesus H.

And yeah it was superficial turd. I just rewatched Stuart Halls Spectres of Marx and it is much better.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 13, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Working my way through American Horror Story season 3.
> 
> Can't beat Jessica Lange, outstanding as always although i'm not enjoying this season (four episodes in) as much as the previous two seasons.



Finished season 3, it got stronger through the middle but tailed off towards the end. Loved the location and themes. Great cast. Recommend.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 14, 2014)

A history of Canadian cinema:


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 14, 2014)

The Arbor (2010)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623008/

Instead if making a conventional documentary or adapting Dunbar's play The Arbor for the screen, director Clio Barnard has crafted a truly unique work that transcends genre and defies categorization. Following two years conducting audio interviews with Dunbar's family, friends and neighbors, Barnard filmed actors lip-synching the interviews, flawlessly interpreting every breath, tick and nuance. The film focuses in particular on the playwright's troubled relationship with her daughter Lorraine.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_arbor_2010/

If you have seen "_Rita, Sue and Bob Too" _you might be interested in this.


----------



## maya (Feb 15, 2014)

I've got 'A Field in England' lined up for tomorrow, if it's anywhere near as good as it looks from the trailer I'll be in a happy blissful state for the rest of the day afterwards:


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 16, 2014)

Hunger Games: load of shit. Battle Royale beats it hands down.


Enders Game: much like the book its quite good but incredibly self important


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

Dracula 2000. It starts off pretty good. Jerry Ryan [Seven of Nine] gets bitten in the bayou. Later on, she's part of the standard scene - three hot vampire chicks menacing the stalwart British vampire fighter [I think he's out of that MI5 show].

But she's the first to take a spike to the heart. I'd have kept her, and delivered the screen spike to the dark haired one. It's a personal preference; what can I say?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

p.s. those who crave intellectual validation: there's some guy out of the Wire in it.


----------



## fishfinger (Feb 16, 2014)

The Pervert's Guide to Ideology. Interesting and entertaining.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

I also watched Inspector Gently. The joy of social commentary with a grade B Foyle.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 16, 2014)

Elysium. Disappointing.  Lots of decent ideas but all a bit flat.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2014)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> p.s. those who crave intellectual validation: there's some guy out of the Wire in it.


Are you sure?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Are you sure?



No. Am I wrong?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

I checked. You're right. It was Scream 2 he was in. I always get those two mixed up.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Are you sure?



I just wanted to say: I'm impressed by the amount of diligent Googling you must have performed in order to come up with the background for this post.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2014)

I just went to IMDb!
I just find vagueness infuriating and have to find these things out myself.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2014)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I checked. You're right. It was Scream 2 he was in. I always get those two mixed up.


Ha!


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I just find vagueness infuriating and have to find these things out myself.



What reason would you have to find vagueness in a statement that an actor from The Wire was also in Dracula 2000?

Turns out it's wrong; but it's not vague.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Ha!



You sure you're a librarian and not a school marm?

I had a teacher you made a mistake like this, and she hit you across the knuckles with a yardstick.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2014)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> What reason would you have to find vagueness in a statement that an actor from The Wire was also in Dracula 2000?
> 
> Turns out it's wrong; but it's not vague.


Yes it is. You didn't say who it was.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2014)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> You sure you're a librarian and not a school marm?
> 
> I had a teacher you made a mistake like this, and she hit you across the knuckles with a yardstick.


I was saying ha! at your joke


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I was saying ha! at your joke



Ok. I'm just used to getting the whip hand from you.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Feb 16, 2014)

About Time.

jesus fucking christ.


----------



## Tankus (Feb 16, 2014)

Disconnect
worth a look  ........relationships coming together and apart from bad decision's linked by the internet ...
Identity theft and loneliness....
Opened up quite a not of discission afterwards , where as a lot a of films are ...oh hum , put the kettle on!


----------



## peterkro (Feb 16, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> jingle genocide
> 
> 
> As for my own viewing pleasuere I enjoyed last night the first three episodes of HBO's True Detective. It's a lot lot better than the mismatched detective premise. The framing is interesting so far too. Harrelson plays himself but he's come a long way since his days behind the bar in cheers- he's a better actor than I think he gets credit for.


I was a bit "meh" for the first three episodes,but the fourth "samcro" episode points to a getting better,perhaps.


----------



## OneStrike (Feb 16, 2014)

Captain Phillips.  I couldn't get the subtitles to work so missed out on all of the Somalian dialogue, it did make me concentrate harder upon their expressions.  I felt ambiguous as to who I supported throughout the flick, perhaps if i'd heard the pirates words it would have swung my sympathy one way or the other?  There weren't really any likeable characters imo, still though, worth a watch.


----------



## OneStrike (Feb 16, 2014)

Currently watching Prisoners, it's fecking grim as fuck so i'm posting this for respite.  All misery so far.


----------



## la ressistance (Feb 16, 2014)

Before the devil knows you're dead. If you've not seen it, you should.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 16, 2014)

la ressistance said:


> Before the devil knows you're dead. If you've not seen it, you should.


Is that the steven seagal vampire film?   Dying to watch that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Is that the steven seagal vampire film?   Dying to watch that.


Nah, that's the Sydney Lumet film with Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Marisa Tomei and Ethan Hawke in it.
It's great! Though it has rather an unlikely sex scene featuring Hoffmann and Tomei


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Nah, that's the Sydney Lumet film with Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Marisa Tomei and Ethan Hawke in it.
> It's great! Though it has rather an unlikely sex scene featuring Hoffmann and Tomei


My mistake.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 16, 2014)

Watch it!


----------



## Belushi (Feb 16, 2014)

*'The Arrival of Wang'* low budget Italian sci-fi, quite enjoyable.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 17, 2014)

After Earth.

Yeah, look, it was on and I couldn't be bothered to choose something else.

It wasn't totally awful (ok, yes it was), but I have to know this. If "everything on this planet has evolved to kill humans", how come Jayden Fuckwit Smith could lie on the grass for so long, and climb trees? Eh?

Toss, basically.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 17, 2014)

A couple of episodes of American Horror Story and 45 minutes of Iron Man 3. Started watching the last Thor movie but it got too silly, so turned it off after 10 minutes.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 17, 2014)

*Hannibal - all of Season 1.*

Slow burner this but wow, what a finale. Most innovative series I seen for a long, long while.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 17, 2014)

Kapringen/A Hijacking - excellently made film about somali pirates hijacking a danish vessel returning from Mumbai. *Not an action film*. More a sort of step by step reconstruction like the Hamburg Cell or Bloody Sunday. Makes it abundantly clear through a clever series of mirroring scenes that the larger pirates here are the shipping capitalists. Recommended.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 17, 2014)

Bamako - Mali drama, the IMF & World Bank on trial as life and love goes on. An old man sings a song of lament and a gun goes missing.

Rosemary's Baby - Pixie like Mia Farrow is impregnated by chiselled John Cassavetes. Or the devil. Or not.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 17, 2014)

krtek a houby said:


> Bamako - Mali drama, the IMF & World Bank on trial as life and love goes on. An old man sings a song of lament and a gun goes missing.
> 
> Rosemary's Baby - Pixie like Mia Farrow is impregnated by chiselled John Cassavetes. Or the devil. Or not.


Or Frank Sinatra.


----------



## golightly (Feb 17, 2014)

Derek Jarman's Jubilee.  Amateur dramatics with the occasional gratuitous penis thrown for good measure.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 17, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Kapringen/A Hijacking - excellently made film about somali pirates hijacking a danish vessel returning from Mumbai. *Not an action film*. More a sort of step by step reconstruction like the Hamburg Cell or Bloody Sunday. Makes it abundantly clear through a clever series of mirroring scenes that the larger pirates here are the shipping capitalists. Recommended.



That's a great film. Far better then the gung-ho of Captain Phillips


----------



## frogwoman (Feb 17, 2014)

I finished watching the NI BBC Shankill Butchers documentary the other night. Horrible.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 18, 2014)

House of Cards Season 2 (first two episodes) Yeah i was surprised by what has happened so far, shaping up to be very interesting.


----------



## Oldboy (Feb 18, 2014)

The first Ep of True Detectives, appears rooted in James Ellroy territory, I like it.


----------



## andysays (Feb 18, 2014)

The Driver, 1978, dir Walter Hill

Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 18, 2014)

frogwoman said:


> I finished watching the NI BBC Shankill Butchers documentary the other night. Horrible.




and there is no way on gods earth that the brit security forces didn't know about it.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 18, 2014)

frogwoman said:


> I finished watching the NI BBC Shankill Butchers documentary the other night. Horrible.


Is that on Iplayer ?


----------



## frogwoman (Feb 18, 2014)

jeff_leigh said:


> Is that on Iplayer ?



It's on YouTube, couple of years old now I think


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 18, 2014)

Is it this one ?


----------



## The Boy (Feb 20, 2014)

The Godfather: Part 3 (1990).  Meh.

Scanners (1981).  First time watching this in about ten years.  Mind poppingly good.   Alternatively, it was OK and I just wanted to get a popping- heads themed comment in.  You decide.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 20, 2014)

*The American* (Anton Corbijn 2010) Lifeless Clooney vehicle, some nice cinematography.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 20, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *The American* (Anton Corbijn 2010) Lifeless Clooney vehicle, some nice cinematography.


I enjoyed it.  I was a bit surprised when I watched it as the 'hype' portrayed it as more of an action movie, which it isn't.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Feb 21, 2014)

Kenneth Mcpherson's 1930 "Borderline" about an adulterous inter-racial love triangle set in a Swiss village. Pretty remarkable for it's time, looks more like a silent version of a 50s kitchen sink drama. The 2006 version's Courtney Pine soundtrack was a decent addition.


----------



## Voley (Feb 21, 2014)

A Serious Man, a nicely odd bit of Coen Brothers I missed first time round. Not their best but then their best is pretty much as good as it gets for me. I'm bracing myself for Pain And Gain tonight. Any film that Mark Kermode describes as 'like swimming through a river of effluent' has to be worth a watch.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2014)

Butchersapron's fav film ever that!
Though I suspect he was a little bit over-excited.
I'm gonna watch Argo now.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Feb 21, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Butchersapron's fav film ever that!
> Though I suspect he was a little bit over-excited.
> I'm gonna watch Argo now.



I've got a copy Argo but have never got round to watching it.  Will watch it tonight.


----------



## la ressistance (Feb 21, 2014)

.


----------



## la ressistance (Feb 21, 2014)

farmerbarleymow said:


> I've got a copy Argo but have never got round to watching it.  Will watch it tonight.


Tis a good film. Even affleck is great in it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2014)

What do you mean 'even'? He's never been a bad actor


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Feb 21, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> What do you mean 'even'? He's never been a bad actor



And even if the film is rubbish, he is nice to look at.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 22, 2014)

The Undefeated - one of a series of terrible post collapse of the USSR films made by Oles Yanchuk to glorify Bandera,Ukrainian Military Organization, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (so basically the whole Ukrainian far-right military traditions - underground or otherwise from the early 20s to the mids 50s) - or as he claimed, put the record straight on the record of the former and challenge the calumny that western ukrainians had suffered under Russian rule. All of these films are awful historical untruths, appallingly made and embarrassingly acted and basically just propaganda. This one is about the war-time and then post-war guerrilla activity of Roman Shukhevych. His role in massacres of jews, poles and others, his pre-war terrorist atrocities are not mentioned (well assassination of a pole in peacetime designed to provoke a pogrom is confusingly thrown in with no explanation in the middle of another scene) and it _flatly lies_ that he was captured in 1950 and continued struggling within soviet prisons until 1980 - rather than the reality of him being killed in 1950.

A very good film on a similar-ish subject is Shadows of a Hot Summer which concerns a banderovici gang taking over a farm on their way to try and break into Austria from Czechoslovakia.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 22, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> The Undefeated - one of a series of terrible post collapse of the USSR films made by Oles Yanchuk to glorify Bandera...





> > It’s the true story of Roman Shukhevych, the commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army that fought against both of the 20th century's most devastating war machines, *the Nazis* and the Soviets.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 22, 2014)

Roman's role in this was covered in two minutes and was turned into one of defying the nazis. Rather than commanding a battalion for them. Really.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 22, 2014)

Finished watching Orange is the New Black. It takes a few episodes to get going and there's a few dodgy performances but the characters and writing are great.


----------



## gabi (Feb 23, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> What do you mean 'even'? He's never been a bad actor



Cough. Have you fucking seen pearl harbour?

Anyway. Can anyone remember the name of the flick about the first wave of immigrants from the Caribbean? Based on a novel... A bit of a love story.


----------



## Yelkcub (Feb 23, 2014)

The World's End.

Shit re-make of SoTD.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 23, 2014)

Assassination: An Autumn Murder in Munich - another Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (the OUN-B in that link is the Bandera faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists following the 39/40 split) funded piece of pro-Bandera propaganda. This one follow the banderovici that i mentioned above after they break into Czechoslovakia and then onto Austria and Germany - how they tried to re-organise on guerilla lines, how the soviets hunted them (using underhand cheating methods, the dastards) how they tried to get the west to recognise them, how the US recognised that they didn't really fight the nazis and agreed they were secretly anti-nazi patriots, how ukranians will never give the fight for freedom etc etc - all culminating in the soviet assasination of Bandera by an enemy within *who exists today and must be crushed. *It's one of the oddest films i've ever seen with massive unannounced chronological jumps, clashing genres appearing out of nowhere and looking like it was  filmed on a kettle in the 1930s.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 23, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Assassination: An Autumn Murder in Munich - another Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (the OUN-B in that link is the Bandera faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists following the 39/40 split) funded piece of pro-Bandera propaganda. This one follow the banderovici that i mentioned above after they break into Czechoslovakia and then onto Austria and Germany - how they tried to re-organise on guerilla lines, how the soviets hunted them (using underhand cheating methods, the dastards) how they tried to get the west to recognise them, how the US recognised that they didn't really fight the nazis and agreed they were secretly anti-nazi patriots, how ukranians will never give the fight for freedom etc etc - all culminating in the soviet assasination of Bandera by an enemy within *who exists today and must be crushed. *It's one of the oddest films i've ever seen with massive unannounced chronological jumps, clashing genres appearing out of nowhere and looking like it was  filmed on a kettle in the 1930s.


Worth watching for the comic value or just rubbish?


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 23, 2014)

No comic value at all. Pretty horrible stuff.


----------



## xes (Feb 24, 2014)

Had Cherry Tree Lane on sky+ from the other week, saw it last night, kind of wish I hadn't. It was a bit disturbing.


----------



## Supine (Feb 24, 2014)

Line of duty series one. Worth a watch.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 24, 2014)

Saw _Rush_ last night. Pleasantly entertaining and a great job by Daniel Bruhl in particular.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2014)

Red Dawn 2011. North Korea invades america, a group of high school buddies and an marine on leave have to saved the day and restore old glory to prominence.

I shit you not, this film is hilarious.

with an absolute straight face the marine tells his nascent contras 'When I was in Afghanistan, we were the good guys. We restored order. Now, now we bring chaos'

Semper Fi!


----------



## TruXta (Feb 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Red Dawn 2011. North Korea invades america, a group of high school buddies and an marine on leave have to saved the day and restore old glory to prominence.
> 
> I shit you not, this film is hilarious.
> 
> ...


I loved the original. When I was about 10.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 24, 2014)

Captain Philips - gripping pro USA propaganda offering no insight into Somalia priracy but plenty on the supposed supremacy of hi tech American military capability and how nice it's citizens are .


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 24, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Captain Philips - gripping pro USA propaganda offering no insight into Somalia priracy but plenty on the supposed supremacy of hi tech American military capability and how nice it's citizens are .



Totally agree but i did enjoy it.  Someone on Twitter recommended A Highjacking (2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2216240/ after i tweeted about Captain Phillips.


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> no insight into Somalia priracy


but, but, but, they're only _fishermen_!!!


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2014)

TruXta said:


> I loved the original. When I was about 10.


I was prepared to swallow the ludicrous premise of an actual parachuted, conventional military offensive by NK on the USA. But the dozen teenage dissidents morphing into the fucking viet cong overnight was just LOL


----------



## Supine (Feb 24, 2014)

TruXta said:


> I loved the original. When I was about 10.



The original is dated but still a million times better than the remake


----------



## TruXta (Feb 24, 2014)

Supine said:


> The original is dated but still a million times better than the remake


I currently have no need to either revisit the original or view the remake. I suspect this state of affairs will remain so in perpetuity.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2014)

belboid said:


> but, but, but, they're only _fishermen_!!!




typically smooth War Nerd line that stuck with me on this 'Karma went out and traded useless fishing boats for fast outboards and yemeni guns'


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 24, 2014)

What I've been watching in no particular order:

Before Midnight, Full Metal Jacket, Elysium, Flight of the Conchords, Curb Your Enthusiasm - and season 2 of Girls, which has to be the worst thing ever to appear on television.


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2014)

over the weekend I finished off

24 - Season 8. Having seen the relaunch stuff I thought I'd finally watch the  last one. It was (comparatively) alright at first, usual utter nonsense, but perfectly fine within its own fictionalised world. And then the last four or five eps!  Ohh, just fucking hilariously bad and stupid. Beyond any parody of its own stupidity, just truly awful.  But at least there is definitely n way back for Jack after that.   Ohhh.....

Game of Thrones - end of Season 3. Well.  Well, well, well. I wasn't quite expecting that. How jolly disrespectful. I mean, I know they were all the boring ones, but still


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> season 2 of Girls, which has to be the worst thing ever to appear on television.


wait till you see the beginning of season 3!  Your TV will be lucky to survive.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2014)

best non-book bit from the Red Wedding is where caitlin checks Boltons arm and realises he is wearin mail under his clothes and realises that the ordure has met the fan


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> best non-book bit from the Red Wedding is where caitlin checks Boltons arm and realises he is wearin mail under his clothes and realises that the ordure has met the fan


that does happen in the show, doesn't it?  I may have to watch again to make sure.

Also, bloody South Park misled me!  I saw the GoT episodes before watching any of the show, and laughed without understanding what I was really laughing at but then watched it again after seeing season 2, got all of it and went, 'ohh, well that's the end of season 3 spoilt a bit then.'  Thankfully not


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2014)

belboid said:


> that does happen in the show, doesn't it?  I may have to watch again to make sure.
> 
> Also, bloody South Park misled me!  I saw the GoT episodes before watching any of the show, and laughed without understanding what I was really laughing at but then watched it again after seeing season 2, got all of it and went, 'ohh, well that's the end of season 3 spoilt a bit then.'  Thankfully not



It does. It doesn't happen in the books.

that bit about having accepted salt and etc as well, that was in the book. Hospitality rules violated, like spitting on the gods etc


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2014)

ohh, sorry, best 'non-book' bit.

The violation of the rules of hospitality make it very clearly based upon Glencoe


----------



## ringo (Feb 24, 2014)

The Box
Odd bit of sci-fi, just about disturbing enough to be interesting, if not that enjoyable.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 24, 2014)

The Godfather Part II

3 and a half hours of Awesome.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 24, 2014)

Forgot to mention I watched a screening of Nymphomaniac the other night. Well well....

Its much more about an emotional state and the exploration of that than a proper story, interweaving plotlines, usual film stuff like that, but very eye opening. Had to skip the 2nd half cos the mrs neck was hurting


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2014)

Yetman said:


> Had to skip the 2nd half cos the mrs neck was hurting


whatever did you have her doing??!!


----------



## Yetman (Feb 24, 2014)

belboid said:


> whatever did you have her doing??!!


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> It does. It doesn't happen in the books.
> 
> that bit about having accepted salt and etc as well, that was in the book. Hospitality rules violated, like spitting on the gods etc


 
Almost the same in the books, just it's not Roose who Cat realises is armoured and slaps. The TV version was actually an improvement.


----------



## belboid (Feb 25, 2014)

Jagten/ The Hunt.

The Danish Oscar nominee, about a kindergarten teacher falsely accused of abusing the kids in his care. I started watching it a month or so go, but after the first ten minutes could tell pretty much exactly how it would play out, and had to stop as I just didn't fancy two hours of the bleakness. Having finally built up the nerve to sit through it all, it is very well worth it. Every bit as bleak as I thought it would be, but despite being pretty well able to predict the twists and turns you couldn't help but think that every person was acting in a perfectly understandable, and usually quite reasonable (considering), way. Except for the headmistress, who should have been sacked.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 25, 2014)

Episodes 3 to 7 inclusive. House of Cards season 2. Cracking stuff. Will finish it tomorrow evening.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 25, 2014)

THE GRANDMASTER - yet another retelling of the life of martial arts near-legend Ip Man, but because it's directed by Wong Kar-Wai it's a lot artier and more highbrow than the previous versions starring Donnie Yen or Dennis To. It's also an infinitely better film than the other versions - dreamy and sensual and dramatic. It looks AMAZING, has clothes and decor and music to die for,  and stars the heartbreakingly goodlooking Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi (you know, him out of "Happy Together" and "In the Mood for Love" and her the minxy one out of House of Flying Daggers etc.) It's much more of a character study than previous versions of the story, the real heart of it is human drama and dilemmas about loyalty, tradition, revenge and so on, and there's much less flagwaving Jap-hating WW2 propaganda to it than the other films about Ip. Best of all, the actual fighting is choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping so it's absolutely quality smackdowns all the way, with some genius demonstrations of the regional variations in style and wirework which actually beefs up the character and drama content rather than just making things go whooshing about a lot. 

Can't give it enough stars - highly highly HIGHLY recommended. And I don't normally get on with Wong Kar Wai because it's too arty for me. But this is just utterly terrific.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 26, 2014)

belboid said:


> Except for the headmistress, who should have been sacked.


That was one of the few false notes for me, the behaviour of the school just didn't ring true at all.


----------



## belboid (Feb 26, 2014)

I did spend quite a bit of the first half hour thinking 'wtf is your child protection policy like?' - but I really have no idea what Denmark's policy is like. And even then, it's not 'the school', it's one human being. And after hearing the kids' tale (particularly the line she picked up from her bro), then who could blame her for just believing the girl?  It all sounded so real. Which was the thing, I think,for me - the _verisimilitude _of it, pretty much note perfect.

(I hope the above is sufficiently confusing to anyone who hasn't seen the film, it all happens in the first fifteen mins, so no major spoilers!)


----------



## belboid (Feb 26, 2014)

The Great Beauty.

I was trepidatious going in to this as i feared it would be the ultimate oscar bait, style over substance, homage to Fellini. And it isn't a mile off, but as soon as he started his interview with Talia Concept, I was hooked. Utterly sumptuous and recalling every classic Italian movie you can think of, it's not really original or deeply insightful, a Dolce Vita +50, and it is an incredibly male view, but...just wow. I need to go and see it at the cinema.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 26, 2014)

Finished season 2 of House of Cards.

I wonder if people in Washington actually have that kind of sex?

Good; but not as good as season 1; and not as good as the British version.


----------



## belboid (Feb 26, 2014)

Nebraska

Absolutely brilliant, had me laughing throughout, best script I've heard/seen of the last year. Top notch performances (tho I wish Bruce had been even better, so he'd grab a much deserved Oscar, but this aint quite up there, I don't think). 

It's interesting watching it so soon after Philomena, which is very similar in many ways (odd couple on a roadtrip come quest, both oldies rather befuddled and bemused by much of the big wide world). I do wonder if Dern's character is actually a bit of a cliche, like Dench's was, but that because it's one I'm much less familiar with, it didn't bother me.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 26, 2014)

belboid said:


> Nebraska
> 
> Absolutely brilliant, had me laughing throughout, best script I've heard/seen of the last year. Top notch performances (tho I wish Bruce had been even better, so he'd grab a much deserved Oscar, but this aint quite up there, I don't think).
> 
> It's interesting watching it so soon after Philomena, which is very similar in many ways (odd couple on a roadtrip come quest, both oldies rather befuddled and bemused by much of the big wide world). I do wonder if Dern's character is actually a bit of a cliche, like Dench's was, but that because it's one I'm much less familiar with, it didn't bother me.



I loved Nebraska and hope it sweeps the board at the Oscars.


----------



## belboid (Feb 26, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I loved Nebraska and hope it sweeps the board at the Oscars.


it wont  

Just made my nominations - http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/oscars-2014.319514/


----------



## inva (Feb 27, 2014)

It Always Rains on Sunday
1947 film directed by Robert Hamer and set in post-war London. This was a very enjoyable mix of almost kitchen sink style domestic drama and noirish crime thriller, and although I found the climax of the film (and its most thriller-like sequence) to be a bit of an abrupt departure from most of the rest it still worked well on the whole. Generally good performances from the cast, particularly Googie Withers in the lead role (despite the odd dodgy accent) and filmed in excellent black & white photography by Douglas Slocombe. Very good film.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 27, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> THE GRANDMASTER - yet another retelling of the life of martial arts near-legend Ip Man, but because it's directed by Wong Kar-Wai it's a lot artier and more highbrow than the previous versions starring Donnie Yen or Dennis To. It's also an infinitely better film than the other versions - dreamy and sensual and dramatic. It looks AMAZING, has clothes and decor and music to die for,  and stars the heartbreakingly goodlooking Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi (you know, him out of "Happy Together" and "In the Mood for Love" and her the minxy one out of House of Flying Daggers etc.) It's much more of a character study than previous versions of the story, the real heart of it is human drama and dilemmas about loyalty, tradition, revenge and so on, and there's much less flagwaving Jap-hating WW2 propaganda to it than the other films about Ip. Best of all, the actual fighting is choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping so it's absolutely quality smackdowns all the way, with some genius demonstrations of the regional variations in style and wirework which actually beefs up the character and drama content rather than just making things go whooshing about a lot.
> 
> Can't give it enough stars - highly highly HIGHLY recommended. And I don't normally get on with Wong Kar Wai because it's too arty for me. But this is just utterly terrific.



Currently watching this on your recommendation, so far great stuff


----------



## rekil (Feb 27, 2014)

Cautiva - A teenage girl in 90s Argentina gets taken out of her swanky school and told by a federal judge that her parents are not her real ones. Barring a few creaky bits like the dream sequence and symbolism so heavyhanded even an eejit like me can spot it no bother, it's a straightforward depiction of the shocks and emotional travails the children of the disappeared undergo when confronted with the reality of their identities.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Mar 3, 2014)

First episode of True Detective. It's very good.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2356777/


----------



## OneStrike (Mar 3, 2014)

Yep, i've bashed my way through the 6 available episodes of True Detective this weekend, very good, HBO have produced another win imo. 
 Russ steals the screen-time, mostly, quality acting/ageing.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 3, 2014)

We've started watching Charlie Brooker's Newswipes right from S1. Fucking brilliant.


----------



## Voley (Mar 3, 2014)

Pain And Gain which is sadly neither as brilliant or execrable as people make out. Just fairly crap. Some laughs but not many.

Over the weekend saw Alpha Papa which was ace. The Ski Sunday bit (I shall say no more than that so as not to ruin it) had me killing myself laughing.

Started on Ghost Dog last night which is enjoyably fucking weird. The Mafioso quoting Flavor Flav has been my favourite bit so far.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 3, 2014)

Voley said:


> Pain And Gain which is sadly neither as brilliant or execrable as people make out. Just fairly crap. Some laughs but not many.
> 
> Over the weekend saw Alpha Papa which was ace. The Ski Sunday bit (I shall say no more than that so as not to ruin it) had me killing myself laughing.
> 
> Started on Ghost Dog last night which is enjoyably fucking weird. The Mafioso quoting Flavor Flav has been my favourite bit so far.


Sell out.


----------



## Voley (Mar 3, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Sell out.


I'm a don'ter.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 3, 2014)

Voley said:


> I'm a don'ter.


I think i'm going to do be a doer again tonight. God i love that film.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Mar 4, 2014)

OneStrike said:


> Yep, i've bashed my way through the 6 available episodes of True Detective this weekend, very good, HBO have produced another win imo.
> Russ steals the screen-time, mostly, quality acting/ageing.



I'm up to date with it now (episode 7), best thing i have seen in some time. Matthew McConaughey is outstanding, Woody Harrelson's hair piece leaves a bit to be desired and he reminds me of Charles Kennedy. Other than that it is brilliant, love the theme tune must hunt it down.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 4, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> THE GRANDMASTER - yet another retelling of the life of martial arts near-legend Ip Man, but because it's directed by Wong Kar-Wai it's a lot artier and more highbrow than the previous versions starring Donnie Yen or Dennis To. It's also an infinitely better film than the other versions - dreamy and sensual and dramatic. It looks AMAZING, has clothes and decor and music to die for,  and stars the heartbreakingly goodlooking Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi (you know, him out of "Happy Together" and "In the Mood for Love" and her the minxy one out of House of Flying Daggers etc.) It's much more of a character study than previous versions of the story, the real heart of it is human drama and dilemmas about loyalty, tradition, revenge and so on, and there's much less flagwaving Jap-hating WW2 propaganda to it than the other films about Ip. Best of all, the actual fighting is choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping so it's absolutely quality smackdowns all the way, with some genius demonstrations of the regional variations in style and wirework which actually beefs up the character and drama content rather than just making things go whooshing about a lot.
> 
> Can't give it enough stars - highly highly HIGHLY recommended. And I don't normally get on with Wong Kar Wai because it's too arty for me. But this is just utterly terrific.



In what way is it better than Donnie Yen's Ip Man?
To me, the first Ip Man is almost a perfect martial arts movie.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 4, 2014)

Virtual Blue said:


> In what way is it better than Donnie Yen's Ip Man?
> To me, the first Ip Man is almost a perfect martial arts movie.



It's better in the ways I already pointed out:
Better (more psychologically realist) acting and scripting with some sense of the characters as human beings - the Donnie Yen film is fine but you have to admit it's a bit cardboardy and the stereotypes of foreigners in particular are laughably stilted
Less Japan-hating propaganda
Less cheesy "and then the people mobilised to defend themselves" xenophobia and cliche
Better cinematography (and better clothes)


Look - all 3 (or is it 5?) films on this theme I've seen have had fine fighting and each had their own strengths - and was worth watching. There are so many aspects and dramatic moments of Ip Man's life that I am sure you could make dozens and dozens of movies about his life and several of them would be good. But to me, The Grandmaster is just a finer product - it might not be a straight-ahead "martial arts movie" but I can't think that is a bad thing.  (And I love martial arts movies.)


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 4, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> It's better in the ways I already pointed out:
> Better (more psychologically realist) acting and scripting with some sense of the characters as human beings - the Donnie Yen film is fine but you have to admit it's a bit cardboardy and the stereotypes of foreigners in particular are laughably stilted
> Less Japan-hating propaganda
> Less cheesy "and then the people mobilised to defend themselves" xenophobia and cliche
> ...



cool! i will watch it. just wanted to know how you thought it was better than the original Ip Man - the final fights in that were tremendous, probably the best (since Donnie Yen/ Sammo in SPL) but as a story, yeah it lacked substance.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 4, 2014)

*Hannibal *- Season 2 episode 1. Great, best TV since GoT/ Breaking Bad.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 4, 2014)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Hannibal *- Season 2 episode 1. Great, best TV since GoT/ Breaking Bad.



Oo has this just started again on Sky then? It's the only thing I use Sky for. I even download GOT cos it's HD rather than Sky's shitty SD.


----------



## veracity (Mar 4, 2014)

Episode 7 of True Detective - it just gets better, great stuff. Plus the latest ep of Walking Dead.. bit of a disappointment.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 4, 2014)

Yetman said:


> Oo has this just started again on Sky then? It's the only thing I use Sky for. I even download GOT cos it's HD rather than Sky's shitty SD.



I have no clue.
I downloaded episode 1 via torrent.

Funnily I saw that "this is my design" bloke on Ella Enchanted - must say,he's improved alot.

And what's the fuss with True Detective?
I'm half way through episode 1 and there's a dead girl with an antlers helmet...more fuckin' antlers


----------



## OneStrike (Mar 4, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I'm up to date with it now (episode 7), best thing i have seen in some time. Matthew McConaughey is outstanding, Woody Harrelson's hair piece leaves a bit to be desired and he reminds me of Charles Kennedy. Other than that it is brilliant, love the theme tune must hunt it down.
> 
> View attachment 49454



  HBO are masters at theme tunes, not quite at Terry and June levels but outstanding all the same.  Once the white noise ends and the music starts, i'm willingly being groomed to an hours guilty pleasure.

EDIT: the original, Far from any road by The Handsome Family


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 4, 2014)

Virtual Blue said:


> I have no clue.
> I downloaded episode 1 via torrent.
> 
> Funnily I saw that "this is my design" bloke on Ella Enchanted - must say,he's improved alot.
> ...



keep with it, it kicks in by ep 2-3. Typical hbo


----------



## belboid (Mar 4, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> love the theme tune must hunt it down.


Handsome Family, Far From Any Road.  Fine stuff.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks OneStrike & belboid There are a few of their albums on TPB which i look forward to listening to.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 4, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Thanks OneStrike & belboid There are a few of their albums on TPB which i look forward to listening to.


You're lucky to just be discovering them - they are effing fantastic.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 4, 2014)

Oh, started watching Blue is The Warmest Colour the night before last.


----------



## Candi (Mar 5, 2014)

Nebraska - great film.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 5, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Thanks OneStrike & belboid There are a few of their albums on TPB which i look forward to listening to.


Their latest one "Wilderness" is excellent.


----------



## Voley (Mar 5, 2014)

Finished watching Ghost Dog. I think I'd like it if I could work out wtf it was about. Intriguing. Might give it another go some time. Some good surreal laughs in it.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 6, 2014)

Olympus Has Fallen

Tosh, and not even enjoyable, guilty pleasure tosh.


----------



## belboid (Mar 6, 2014)

Phenomena - a 1985 Dario Argento

'Someone is decapitating pupils at an exclusive girls' finishing school in a secluded alpine tourist spot known as the Swiss Transylvania. Can schizophrenic sleepwalker Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) use her strange telepathic power over insects to unmask the hideous assassin before he's compelled to kill again...and again?'

It should have been magnificent, or at least damned funny, but it's actually just terrible. Badly acted, edited, recorded, directed, a great soundtrack terrible used, only the camera work is any good. Until the ending, or rather endings. Which are just magnificently OTT and as absurd as anything you could ever hope for.


----------



## blairsh (Mar 6, 2014)

Voley said:


> Finished watching Ghost Dog. I think I'd like it if I could work out wtf it was about. Intriguing. Might give it another go some time. Some good surreal laughs in it.


You gotta love, if not just for the soundtrack


----------



## Voley (Mar 6, 2014)

blairsh said:


> You gotta love, if not just for the soundtrack


I loved the music in it. Wasn't RZA the sort of samurai/ninja bloke in it that crops up near the end, too? And more films should have gangsters singing along to 'Cold Lampin With Flavor' definitely. Even The Sopranos could've been improved if James Gandolfini occasionally burst into this:


----------



## blairsh (Mar 6, 2014)

I don't know you know...  not watched it for years! I liked the bits with the ice cream man


----------



## Voley (Mar 6, 2014)

blairsh said:


> I liked the bits with the ice cream man


Yeah he was good. I liked the telepathic thing going on. There was loads I liked about it. Just haven't got a clue wtf it was about.


----------



## blairsh (Mar 6, 2014)

Code of the samurai, yo


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 6, 2014)

I love Ghost Dog too - the soundtrack of course but also the decrepit gangsters in it and the inventive killing! Up a pipe through a sink!


----------



## magneze (Mar 6, 2014)

Ghost Dog is one of the greatest films ever.


----------



## Sue (Mar 6, 2014)

Anchorman 2.  Was going to (belatedly) see Inside Llewyn Davis and ended up in the wrong screen by mistake. My fault and by the time the film started and I realised, it would've been about half an hour into ILD. So since I'd paid for it, ended up watching it. Haven't seen Anchorman but it wasn't as bad as I feared it might be. Bizarrely, loads of people turn up for very fleeting on-screen appearances -- Harrison Ford, Marion Cothiard, John C Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Vince Vaughan, Will Smith...

So then I went to see ILD. Low-key, probably not one of their best but decent enough.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 7, 2014)

Cockneys vs Zombies

I laughed.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 7, 2014)

Vikings s2 ep1 on Lovefilm. Likey likey likey - especially how much rope the production team seem to have been given to go all-out with the arty focus / out of focus pulls and the gratuitously cod-Norse accents. You'll believe an Australian can speak Icelandic...


----------



## Garek (Mar 7, 2014)

belboid said:


> ohh, sorry, best 'non-book' bit.
> 
> The violation of the rules of hospitality make it very clearly based upon Glencoe



And Princess Olga of Kiev.

Been watching _True Detective_. Superb stuff. Gothic, haunting. Great performances from the leads.


----------



## belboid (Mar 7, 2014)

Garek said:


> And Princess Olga of Kiev.


ooh, good story.  The Drevlyans seem to have been idiots!


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 7, 2014)

Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai.

Odd film, but probably the best thing I have seen in a month. Didn't make much sense really.


----------



## Voley (Mar 8, 2014)

DotCommunist said:
			
		

> Odd film, but probably the best thing I have seen in a month. Didn't make much sense really.



Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me,  too.  I've decided to give it another go some other time. 

I watched 'Elysium' last night which wasn't anything special but I just wanted something lightweight for a Friday night after a stressful week at work and it did the trick.


----------



## rekil (Mar 8, 2014)

The Bag Man - Rubbish lite-noir about a gangster (John Cusack) who has to deliver a bag to boss gangster De Niro (a bewigged De Niro). Cusack is not allowed to look in the bag. Guess why! I did. Also features tryhard measures such as a Serbian midget, sadistic coppers, a one-eyed pimp and a tall lady with big boobs who is outacted by the bag.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 8, 2014)

I saw a description of this film - it said cusack played a tough guy.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 8, 2014)

The Wolverine.

Wolverine goes to Japan.

This film is entirely predictable all the way through but watchable and quite cool.   You will know the bad guy, then the next bad guy.   You will see the twists, every one.   You will know exactly what is going to happen.   It is absolutely mst3k'able.

It steals some sound effects from Bladerunner in the first half, which is cool.

Women will love Jackman, guys will get hot Japanese girls.  There's ninja, nukes and very few mutants.

Good popcorn movie.


----------



## rekil (Mar 8, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> I saw a description of this film - it said cusack played a tough guy.


Yeah he kills people but not in his inimitable slackery weary way. The only reason I watched it was because the film's official account followed PD on the twitter. (I'm never making that mistake again)


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 8, 2014)

copliker said:


> Yeah he kills people but not in his inimitable slackery weary way. The only reason I watched it was because the film's official account followed PD on the twitter. (I'm never making that mistake again)



Maybe PD needs a twitter cultural division - one fully engaged. In the modern worlds.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Mar 8, 2014)

Mystery Road

http://www.mysteryroadmovie.com/

Pretty good.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Mar 9, 2014)

"Flaming Creatures" (dir. Jack Smith, 1963) - A re-watch for me of NYC-based Smith's third "underground" feature (first saw this at the Lux Cinema in Hoxton in 2000).  No real plot to speak of - mainly depictions of LGBT-style sexuality, with cross-dressing by the male leads thrown in.  What could in theory have been a decent effort mainly induced boredom in me - there's a 10 minute group-sex scene (mostly simulated) which didn't exactly hit the spot for me (and the male-female sex scene made me go "hmmm..." for overtly-groping reasons).  After the sex scene is over, there's really not much to write home about - just shots of the performers posing and lounging around in their get-ups, a bit more erotica...and that's it.

I know that Smith has got a fairly hard-hitting reputation in various film circles, but on the strength of this, I'm once again completely baffled as to where this reputation comes from.  I think that the lack of structure and solidity definitely works against this film, and the actors attempt a laconic insouciance that simply doesn't work.  I mean, Smith should I guess be credited for attempting a study of fluid sexuality (and for which he got hammered for on legal terms by the NYC authorities at the time), but he simply hasn't captured the essence of what this sexuality actually is. 

The print in question I saw was in very poor quality - a lot of stock deterioration is on this copy, making it virtually unwatchable in places.  There are also multiple sound drop-outs on the soundtrack - songs used suddenly cut off, never to re-appear (or re-appear in poor sound quality).  The film is shot on 8mm stock on one camera, and although the editing is OK, I think (even at 42 minutes) some trimming could had taken place to tighten up the whole flow of the film.

Although my reaction this time is not as negative as it was on my initial viewing all them years ago, I can't help but feel that I'm either totally missing the point of this film, or a case of me simply finding this sphere of "underground" film-making not to my taste at all.

If you are a follower of this genre of cinema, I guess that you should give it a go at least once. Otherwise, I'm afraid to say that I can't recommend this one to the casual viewer.


----------



## D'wards (Mar 9, 2014)

The Bling Ring - I'd say style over substance, but there wasn't much style to it either. Larry Clark would have made a much better (pervier fist of it I feel. Apart from the boy all the characters were interchangeable


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 10, 2014)

World's End.

Not a great moment in cinema history, and very obviously tailored to the demographic of middle aged people who were young circa 1990. But it was better than I expected. 7.5/10.


----------



## magneze (Mar 10, 2014)

Oldboy (Korean 2003 one)
Gripping thriller. Seems a bit off the wall in the first hour. The second hour is just wtf and watching between your fingers stuff.


----------



## :-D (Mar 10, 2014)

Top Gear Burma special 

Except it wasn't, just the same as it ever was


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 10, 2014)

Scooby - doo and the Legend of the Vampire

It's a light -hearted adventure , though be aware it does contain mild peril.

Some elements of it stretched my credulity. It's set in Australia and the eponymous Mr Doo is a dog who is there with his owners.  They arrive by boats but there's no sign of Australian immigration authorities.  Australia famously has very strict rules on taking foodstuffs, plants etc into the country and I couldn't believe that the strictures don't apply to dogs.  Apart from that it was ok


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 10, 2014)

rubbershoes said:


> Some elements of it stretched my credulity.



And you would have got away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids.


----------



## andysays (Mar 10, 2014)

_if.... _Dir Lindsay Anderson 1968


----------



## belboid (Mar 11, 2014)

Rush

Very good indeed. I remember watching the '76 season, and, aged 11, desperately wanting Hunt to win. Obviously, I wish he hadn't now, what a fucking dude Lauda is.

"Tell the priest to fuck off, I'm still alive"


----------



## TruXta (Mar 11, 2014)

Two excellent films got the home alone treatment last night. First up was the remarkable _Onibaba_, a Japanese film from 1964 set during the civil wars of the 14th century, portraying lust, envy, wrath, betrayal, fear and anguish through its three main characters. One of those films that stays with you for a long time I suspect. Who knew long grass could look so good, so dark, so lush, so terrifying?

On a lighter note I watched _Tucker and Dale vs Evil_. A well executed horror comedy that rather cleverly subverts a range of genre cliches along the way, whilst fully delivering in terms of the expected violence and laughs.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 11, 2014)

*True Detective* - Episode 2.

Runs the same pace as a James Ellroy book - gets very interesting...getting better.

*Grandmaster* - technically brilliant but if you're expecting to watch a kung-fu/ martial arts film then you're better off with *Ip Man.*


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2014)

Watched episode 1 of True Detective last night. Instantly hooked.
Watching some/most of the rest tonight.


----------



## Voley (Mar 11, 2014)

The Other Guys. Well, half of it before I fell asleep. Will watch the rest tonight. Some good lols. 'I am a peacock and need to fly'  Seemed to have watched an awful lot of films with Mark Wahlberg in them lately. He's quite good in this, playing a total dick. As he was in Pain and Gain, playing a total dick. I'm always a bit wary of actors like that as I have this theory that that's what they're actually like. Total dicks. Tom Cruise being the best example. Total dick that he is.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2014)

Gary Busey always plays dicks, jerks, assholes and arseholes. I bet he is also a dick, a jerk, an asshole and an arsehole.


----------



## Voley (Mar 12, 2014)

Trees Lounge, although I fell asleep again so will have to finish it off tonight. Don't seem to be able to watch a film in one sitting these days. I'm enjoying this, though; Steve Buscemi stumbles drunkenly through life with no particular aim or purpose. Reminds me of a Jim Jarmusch film a bit but that might just be because I still keep thinking about Ghost Dog a lot. Not sure how it'll end. Probably with a hangover.


----------



## Voley (Mar 13, 2014)

Rush. Not bad, this. Yer man from Thor was a pretty convincing James Hunt. A bit Hollywood when it didn't need to be but Ron Howard so to be expected. I watched a documentary about the story that was on one of the ITV channels recently that was better. It's not a story that really needs dressing up much.


----------



## starfish (Mar 13, 2014)

Watched the programme about the Insane Fight Club last night on iplayer. Really enjoyed it, funny & heartwarming.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Mar 13, 2014)

Stone (1974, dir. Sandy Harbutt) - A truly excrutiatingly awful biker movie by Australian director Harbutt.  Starts off OK, but then goes straight into the realms of utter tedium and boredom - I rapidly lost the will to live throughout the entire thing.  There's 100+ minutes of my life I'm never getting back!


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Mar 14, 2014)

And one more before I go:

Step Across The Border (1990, dirs. Nicholas Humbert and Werner Penzel) - an excellent, fascinating documentary about the life and work of former Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith.  Mainly set in Tokyo, this film follows Frith through his many solo and collaborative works, some candid interviews about his approach to music and life in general, and has a real sense of genuine charm and humour about it - Frith forgetting the melody line to one of his own tunes is especially touching.  

The black and white photography suits "Step..." perfectly, with some beautiful/haunting moments of footage.  Well edited on both the visual and sonic fronts, the directors have really put together a worthwhile tribute to Frith here.  Forgot boring nonsense like "The Song Remains The Same" (if I have to hear any more Massive Plagiarism Alert from that lot...), and check this out instead.  Highly recommended to one and all.


----------



## miniGMgoit (Mar 14, 2014)

I watched The Kings of Summer last night. I liked it.


----------



## belboid (Mar 14, 2014)

Breaking Glass - kind of amusing to see it again after all these years. Time hasn't been particularly kind to it. Jonathon Pryce is ace tho.  And it was a Dodi Fayed production, y'know.

Martin Luther, Heretic - also starring Pryce, a BBC early 80's dramatisation of his time at Wittenburg. Decently done, very interesting, its on youtube.


----------



## fishfinger (Mar 14, 2014)

belboid said:


> Breaking Glass - kind of amusing to see it again after all these years. Time hasn't been particularly kind to it. Jonathon Pryce is ace tho.  And it was a Dodi Fayed production, y'know.


Hehehe, I was an extra on that film. A fun day spent at the Rainbow. We were all meant to be playing avid fans, shouting "Kate! Kate!". When she finally turned up on stage in that gold outfit, we all burst out laughing. The production staff were not amused


----------



## sojourner (Mar 14, 2014)

belboid said:


> Breaking Glass - kind of amusing to see it again after all these years. Time hasn't been particularly kind to it. Jonathon Pryce is ace tho.


I did actually cry at the end of that!! 

Well, me and the fella are probably the last people on earth to do this, but we've just started watching Breaking Bad - first 4 episodes. Fucking ace!!


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 14, 2014)

belboid said:


> Breaking Glass - kind of amusing to see it again after all these years. Time hasn't been particularly kind to it. Jonathon Pryce is ace tho.  And it was a Dodi Fayed production, y'know.
> 
> Martin Luther, Heretic - also starring Pryce, a BBC early 80's dramatisation of his time at Wittenburg. Decently done, very interesting, its on youtube.



Full of unintentional comedy, if the trailer is any guide:


----------



## Voley (Mar 14, 2014)

"Eighth Day" by Hazel O Connor was the second single I ever bought, thereby negating all the cred I'd achieved by buying "Ashes To Ashes" by David Bowie as my first single the week previously.


----------



## belboid (Mar 14, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Full of unintentional comedy, if the trailer is any guide:


it was definitely unintentional, that's fer sure.

Eight Day is a decent song, as were a few others. Almost always cos of Zoot Money's sax


----------



## DrRingDing (Mar 14, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Stone (1974, dir. Sandy Harbutt) - A truly excrutiatingly awful biker movie by Australian director Harbutt.  Starts off OK, but then goes straight into the realms of utter tedium and boredom - I rapidly lost the will to live throughout the entire thing.  There's 100+ minutes of my life I'm never getting back!



I saw that in an outdoor cinema in Oz.

Everybody felt the same as you.....apart from me. I thought it was bloody brilliant


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 14, 2014)

World War z. Liked it.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Mar 14, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> I saw that in an outdoor cinema in Oz.
> 
> Everybody felt the same as you.....apart from me. I thought it was bloody brilliant



Fair enough!


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 14, 2014)

The Selfish Giant.

By far the best film I've seen in ages. The performances are excellent, best angry youth since Tim Roth in Made in Britain. Absolutely brilliant.


----------



## Voley (Mar 15, 2014)

Beware Of Mr Baker. Ace doc about the fucking brilliant drummer/thoroughly objectionable man. Highlights include him calling Mick Jagger 'a stupid little cunt' and twatting his interviewer in the face with his walking stick.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 15, 2014)

fishfinger said:


> Hehehe, I was an extra on that film. A fun day spent at the Rainbow. We were all meant to be playing avid fans, shouting "Kate! Kate!". When she finally turned up on stage in that gold outfit, we all burst out laughing. The production staff were not amused


Fuck me too mate, Got £10 a day


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 15, 2014)

The Act of Killing this morning. I'd read a little but was completely unprepared for how bizarre it is. Brilliant.

Le Passe/The Past this evening. Same director as A Separation. Lost interest towards the end, just didn't really grab me.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 17, 2014)

A Hijacking ... pretty decent, lowkey Scandi film about the boredom, confusion and greed on all sides when Somali pirates take over a ship. Sort of the anti-Captain Phillips. Got a lot of praise when it came out; I was left feeling a bit meh. Almost everyone in it had a big role in Borgen so you have to aim off for that. But generally the straightforward, no-drama approach works well and feels right and there's some good (but not great) acting. 

series 3 of the late, lamented and unfinished THE BORGIAS with Jeremy Irons still camping it up a storm as Pope Alexander, sumptuous frocks all round, great cliffhanging dramas which will never be resolved now because Showtime won't stump up any more cash to make more series. Oh and Francois Arnaud, who is so fine it makes my eyes water.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 17, 2014)

I gave up on Borgias around the point when Cesare finally shagged his sister Lucretzia.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 17, 2014)

that's more or less where it ended.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 17, 2014)

*True Detective - Episode 4 *- wow, that was a surprise!

*Anchorman 2* - has it's moments but overall lazy and pointless (and I so wanted to like it).

*Oldboy (Spike Lee)* - pointless remake. cheesy. original was much more surreal and devastating.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 17, 2014)

The Company of Men - couldn't see the point of it.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 17, 2014)

Conviction- sister becomes a lawyer in order to free instantly dislikable oddball brother ( althiough he did look after her when she was young) from wrongful conviction for murder. Run of the mill but at the same time I did hope that she won. Wonder what happened to him when he got out? Personally I wouldn't have wanted to live next door to him.

About the level that I can cope with on a Sunday night after a few beers watching the football.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 17, 2014)

*We Have a Pope* (Nanni Moretti 2012) dull Italian comedy about a Pope who doesn't feel up to the job.


----------



## belboid (Mar 18, 2014)

Wake In Fright.

A classic 'lost' Aussie movie about a teachers descent into hell in an outback town, that they actually rediscovered five years ago, but which has only just been released over here at the pics. It isn't coming anywhere near, so homeviewing it was.  And bloody good it is too, not really a horror movie, it certainly is horrific. The kangaroo hunting scene is really bloody horrible.

Very well worth going to see at the flix if you can.

oh yes, and the lead, Gary Bond, looked invredibly familiar, but I cant place him from his imdb listings, most annoying


----------



## Yetman (Mar 18, 2014)

Her

Brilliant stuff


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2014)

Half of Pain & Gain. WTF? Profoundly strange. Can't make sense of it. A comedy with some very horrible things going down in it. 
 Will finish tonight but fear I will still be scratching my head.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Mar 18, 2014)

belboid said:


> Wake In Fright.
> 
> A classic 'lost' Aussie movie about a teachers descent into hell in an outback town, that they actually rediscovered five years ago, but which has only just been released over here at the pics. It isn't coming anywhere near, so homeviewing it was.  And bloody good it is too, not really a horror movie, it certainly is horrific. The kangaroo hunting scene is really bloody horrible.
> 
> ...



Good film, that.

If I was him though, I'd have just stayed in the yabba. The education committee were taking the piss out of him anyway & when  he landed in the yabba he soon got in with everyone he needed to get in with. If if was a choice between getting sent to teach in some outback school or staying in the yabba getting hammered and killing kangaroos, I know which one I'd have chosen.


----------



## belboid (Mar 18, 2014)

Frances Lengel said:


> Good film, that.
> 
> If I was him though, I'd have just stayed in the yabba. The education committee were taking the piss out of him anyway & when  he landed in the yabba he soon got in with everyone he needed to get in with. If if was a choice between getting sent to teach in some outback school or staying in the yabba getting hammered and killing kangaroos, I know which one I'd have chosen.


I suspect I'd be a bit crap at killing kangaroo's. Just watched the hunting scene again with the directors commentary. Quite interesting, and all perfectly humane, honestly!

Off to watch _The Motel Life_ now


----------



## belboid (Mar 18, 2014)

belboid said:


> Off to watch _The Motel Life_ now


stopped watching _The Motel Life_ now.

It's not that it's awful, bit I can tell that the book will be a hell of a lot better, so I'll leave off watching till I've read it. N then some


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 18, 2014)

belboid said:


> Wake In Fright.
> 
> A classic 'lost' Aussie movie about a teachers descent into hell in an outback town, that they actually rediscovered five years ago, but which has only just been released over here at the pics. It isn't coming anywhere near, so homeviewing it was.  And bloody good it is too, not really a horror movie, it certainly is horrific. The kangaroo hunting scene is really bloody horrible.
> 
> ...


Excellent movie


----------



## inva (Mar 19, 2014)

The Red and the White

A proper epic of a film, one of the all time greats.
RIP Miklós Jancsó


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 19, 2014)

inva said:


> The Red and the White
> 
> A proper epic of a film, one of the all time greats.
> RIP Miklós Jancsó




Damn, i hadn't hear that he'd died - that's my fav war film of all time. Utterly unique. Oddly enough i was just right in the middle of putting Winter Wind onto my tablet to watch after the football.


----------



## inva (Mar 19, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Damn, i hadn't hear that he'd died - that's my fav war film of all time. Utterly unique. Oddly enough i was just right in the middle of putting Winter Wind onto my tablet to watch after the football.


Věra Chytilová died a few days ago as well whose film Daisies I've been planning to watch some time soon.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 19, 2014)

*Tomboy *(Celine Sciamma 2011) a really lovely film about a complex subject, beautifully shot with terrific performances from the young cast.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 21, 2014)

Few from the week:

Acthung banditi! - no nonsense straight ahead narrative retelling a particular partisan operation around Genoa. The straightforwardness of it imposed both by the story itself and the fact that it was majorly funded by the Italian Communist Party who were insisting on films of this type (and dreary didactic tosh) whilst refusing to help set up a national production and distribution network, then accusing independent directors and producers who they forced into the arms of entrepreneurial capital of being "Hollywood collaborationists who don't even recognise their own servitude". This actually led to the great Italian films of the late 60s and 70s when these directors, free of the PCI began making films questioning everything - films like The Working Class goes to Heaven or  which mirrored on the cultural level the PCI's alienation from the class on the political level. Anyway, this is a good example of the partisan genre. Also has Lamberto Maggiorani which is always a good thing. Was also the first film the great director Giuliano Montaldo starred in as an actor, check out his Sacco and Vanzetti.

Tri - another WW2 film, this one of a much more complex variety. A film that pretty much spends it time asking questions about why people do things, what effect doing or not doing them has and how and why that doing/not doing then leads to the need for other questions to be answered. A great pairing with the above.

Winter Wind - the least critically successful of the major films of Miklos Jansco. I can see why some might have warmed to it - mainly because the flimsy narrative device doesn't work on the level it should despite the sophistication of the films construction. Essentially, a group of macedonian nationalists and Croatian fascists (who, for some confused reason, quote Proudhon in  a number of scenes),are hiding out in a village on the verge of their successful assassination of Yugoslavia’s Serbian King Alexander in France in 1934 with the backing of the Hungarian military. The groups leader is paranoid about spies and that he's being set up by both sides. That's it. The film only has twelve shots. Really. None static. The film is constantly circling the characters who constantly circle each other and the camera. Each circle representing either the individuals paranoia and fears, the groups paranoia about wider issues --> psychological-->political--physical etc. This formalism gets boring very quickly i have to say. But a totally unique film so worth the watch if you get the chance.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 23, 2014)

Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

I'm enjoying this series.  Lawrence is great as the lead, Harrelson has been fine.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 23, 2014)

The Veronica Mars film.

Enjoyable but best if you're first a fan of the tv show.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Mar 23, 2014)

"Saving Mr. Banks" - really rather good with an excellent performance from Emma Thompson


----------



## Belushi (Mar 24, 2014)

*Pi *(Darren Aronofsky 1998) as good as I remember.


----------



## belboid (Mar 24, 2014)

*Wadjda*

The first film shot entirely in Saudi, and the first made by a Saudi woman. And you can tell, it's sometimes a bit too 'tell not show,' I guessed the outcome as soon as the basic antagonisms were set up, and its solidly without being spectacularly shot, but as a heartfelt and involving drama it was hard to beat. The insights into  Saudi society was nothing that should come as a surprise to most people likely to see it, but the mundane details of such a vile society, and the ways people accept and reject it, are fascinating. Well worth a view.


----------



## Yetman (Mar 24, 2014)

Did I mention Snowpiercer? Great film. Bonkers. Full of holes and wrong stuff but great nonetheless.

Got The Pirate Fairy tonight  as well as 13 Sins.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 24, 2014)

Yetman said:


> Did I mention Snowpiercer? Great film. Bonkers. Full of holes and wrong stuff but great nonetheless.
> 
> Got The Pirate Fairy tonight  as well as 13 Sins.



it was good to have a northern woman as a baddy in such a film, it added to the surreal edge


----------



## belboid (Mar 24, 2014)

is it all in English?  None of the versions I've seen have subs


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 24, 2014)

imposs1904 said:


> The Veronica Mars film.
> 
> Enjoyable but best if you're first a fan of the tv show.


Rather disappointing IMO, not as good as a typical episode. Very much a TV movie.



_Three Colours Blue/White/Red_ - I'd seen _Red_ before but not the other two, a fantastic set of films, unfortunately they were spoilt slightly by the silly aspect ratio the TV company streamed then in meaning that the picture was smaller than I'd have liked. Even so their brilliance came through. 

_Night of the Sunflowers_ - Spanish drama re-telling a set of actions from a variety of different perspectives, decent but I didn't enjoy it as much as I though I should have.

_Les Cousins_ - Chabrol's second film, very good, very Chabrol.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 25, 2014)

Grabbers. Alien octopus monsters invade an island full of Irish people. They discover that alcohol keeps the monsters at bay.

Sample dialogue[approx.]:

"They're like leeches - they drink blood."
"That one died when it bit Paddy."
"His blood alcohol was so high, it was toxic!"


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 25, 2014)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Grabbers. Alien octopus monsters invade an island full of Irish people. They discover that alcohol keeps the monsters at bay.
> 
> Sample dialogue[approx.]:
> 
> ...



"Inspired by real events."


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 25, 2014)

latest episode of vikings. They've stolen Ragnar Loftbokes lands and he's a little upset about it all. Axe time.

edit: also a documentary on Cosimo De Medici

looked for Jodorowsky's Dune documentary but its only been out three days so nobodys put online yet


----------



## marty21 (Mar 25, 2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Year

The Big Year - comedy about 'birding' which I really enjoyed - partly because I do see similar types out when I do go bird watching 

then i saw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offender_(film)

Offender - Scum-like - set in a youth offenders insitution around the London riots a few years ago - protagonist wants to get revenge on the thugs who attacked his girlfriend - and deliberately twats a couple of coppers so he gets sent down to the same place - very violent - quite enjoyed it


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 25, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> "Inspired by real events."


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 25, 2014)

10 episodes into S1 of Boardwalk Empire and still waiting for it to get going. 
Does it get any better?
It's well teed


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 25, 2014)

marty21 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Year
> 
> The Big Year - comedy about 'birding' which I really enjoyed - partly because I do see similar types out when I do go bird watching
> 
> ...




I just watched that- its no scum. Bit too messy in places, storytelling wise.

not bad overall though and good to see Gregg Adley once again playing a borderline psycho in a uniform (being human, Misfits)


excellent riotous soundtrack also


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 25, 2014)

A lion called Christian

it wasn't the lion cub riding around in 60s London that got me, it's when they'd repatriated the bastard to africa and came back a year later and it still remembered them and came in with big liony love, trying to jump into the arms of people who weighed about half its massive liony weight. Lovely.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 26, 2014)

*The Skin I Live In* (Pedro Almodovar 2011) One of his best.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 26, 2014)

marty21 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Year
> 
> The Big Year - comedy about 'birding' which I really enjoyed - partly because I do see similar types out when I do go bird watching
> 
> ...



there was also too much attempts to make a grim brit YOI look like a US Federal prison. Not the interior shots, they looked as crappily institutional as you'd expect. But some of the external shots were over egging it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 26, 2014)

Star Trek Into Darkness. Dire. Posh off Cumberbatch. 
The first hour of The Dark Knight Rises. Tedious incoherent shite


----------



## DrRingDing (Mar 26, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Star Trek Into Darkness. Dire. Posh off Cumberbatch.



Old matey is directing Star Wars too


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 27, 2014)

when Cummerbund says 'my name is KHAAAAN' his mouth opens so wide you could have shoved a melon in there. Its not proper Star Trk in my opinion but as a sci fi film in itself its OK

they've made spock into a total twat as well.

can't recall what tenuose justification they had for Nimoy appearing in charater as Old Spock either.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 27, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Star Trek Into Darkness. Dire. Posh off Cumberbatch.
> The first hour of The Dark Knight Rises. Tedious incoherent shite



if you stay the course with DKR you are treated to the utterly sick-making reactionary jackboot worshipping 'army of cops' scene where a Gothams Finest charge the evil terrorists and die like heroes. Like that would ever happen, they don't like a fair fight let alone a last stand


----------



## marty21 (Mar 27, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> I just watched that- its no scum. Bit too messy in places, storytelling wise.
> 
> not bad overall though and good to see Gregg Adley once again playing a borderline psycho in a uniform (being human, Misfits)
> 
> ...


there are Scum like scenes - but they are older than the Scum characters - and less of the humour - I found some of Scum hilarious


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 27, 2014)

marty21 said:


> there are Scum like scenes - but they are older than the Scum characters - and less of the humour - I found some of Scum hilarious




'it's at times like these I find myself drawn to mecca'

'MECCA!'




pretty much all Archer is solid comedy gold


----------



## marty21 (Mar 27, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> 'it's at times like these I find myself drawn to mecca'
> 
> 'MECCA!'
> 
> ...


 'I give you my fucking coffee and all you do it rip the fucking piss'

same scene - warder to Archer


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 27, 2014)

the mecca bit is from where Archer is up  before the Governer iirc.

The coffee scene was where he was avoiding chapel- quite tragi-comic that scene, he's trying to get through to the bloke but he's so arrogant he just winds the screw up


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 27, 2014)

Archer is shite! LOLed once in two episodes!


----------



## marty21 (Mar 27, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> the mecca bit is from where Archer is up  before the Governer iirc.
> 
> The coffee scene was where he was avoiding chapel- quite tragi-comic that scene, he's trying to get through to the bloke but he's so arrogant he just winds the screw up


 that's right - the Mecca scene is with the Governor.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 27, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Archer is shite! LOLed once in two episodes!




not that archer man


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 27, 2014)

Oh Scum! d'oh!


----------



## Voley (Mar 27, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> 'it's at times like these I find myself drawn to mecca'
> 
> 'MECCA!'
> 
> ...


 Ray Winstone toeing the line and saying that his faith is a great comfort to him is fucking great, too.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 27, 2014)

Yetman said:


> Did I mention Snowpiercer? Great film. Bonkers. Full of holes and wrong stuff but great nonetheless.



Disappointed in this. And i found Tilda 'i'm a real communist - here's some pics of me and my celeb mates on a tropical island i hired for a million quid piss up that i've given to the Observer' Swinton role as Olive off On the buses to be both deeply annoying and patronising.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 27, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> if you stay the course with DKR you are treated to the utterly sick-making reactionary jackboot worshipping 'army of cops' scene where a Gothams Finest charge the evil terrorists and die like heroes. Like that would ever happen, they don't like a fair fight let alone a last stand


I fast forwarded through all the muttering but stopped for action and Bean talking cos it made me giggle so much. Silliest voice since Merlin in Excalibur


----------



## Voley (Mar 28, 2014)

After a long break I made serious inroads into Series 3 of The Shield this evening. I've ummed and aahed about whether it's actually that good tbh, but if you're drinking and don't want to think too much and shit it's ideal. Watched two discs worth and thoroughly enjoyed them. I've now bought all the rest of the series for the grand total of 17 quid.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 28, 2014)

Why Don't You Play in Hell? - the new Sion/Shion Sono. A brilliant mad burst of energy and inventiveness and love of film (if you've seen a lot of japanese films you'll be spotting the clever - rather than smug - allusions all over the place, but they're not necessary to enjoying the film), containing more ideas that a lot of people manage to produce in their whole career. This one is in the Love Exposure vein rather than Himizu. I couldn't do the plot justice so won't bother. Sono has to to be amongst the most consistent top rank directors working today. Totally 100% recommended.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Mar 28, 2014)

Death Watch (the one from 1980, not the one from 2002)

A bit long but not bad.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081182/


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 29, 2014)

Radio On - much talked about/ Little seen. Fucking rubbish. Stick that on your poster.

A british road movie in black and white with wenders money. Pretentious drivel, redeemed for two minutes by a great shot of the sea and birnbeck pier with great sounds.

edit: there's a great shot of the old temple meads flyover as well. Forgot that.


----------



## andysays (Mar 29, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Radio On - much talked about/ Little seen. Fucking rubbish. Stick that on your poster.
> 
> A british road movie in black and white with wenders money. Pretentious drivel, redeemed for two minutes by a great shot of the sea and birnbeck pier with great sounds.
> 
> edit: there's a great shot of the old temple meads flyover as well. Forgot that.



I saw this when it was on BBC a few months ago.

I agree that it was kind of pretentious in the Wenders style, but I enjoyed the visuals, including playing "spot the location" at the London end.

The soundtrack was also good, and I suspect fairly innovative for the time.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 29, 2014)

Bowie and wreckless eric with their biggest hits?

You could find the same on the That Summer soundtrack from the same year and Dury and others who were in both. A much better film.

edit: look at that, great soundtrack.


----------



## andysays (Mar 29, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Bowie and wreckless eric with their biggest hits?
> 
> You could find the same on the That Summer soundtrack from the same year and Dury and others who were in both. A much better film.
> 
> edit: look at that, great soundtrack.



Cheers, I'll look out for it


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 29, 2014)

The film is utter shite mind. Someone's done a playlist of the soundtrack on youtube:



Spoiler: That Summer. Which is better than Radio on which is pretentious crap.


----------



## andysays (Mar 29, 2014)

Whatever the merits of its soundtrack, I bet "That Summer" doesn't have an aerial shot of a car turning off the Westway at the White City roundabout and down the A3220 towards Shepherd's Bush


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 29, 2014)

Thank fuck, what a cliched shot. Totally overdone. And the one going over the temple meads flyover when we can see directly into the old George Railway Hotel is better.

The one filmed from up there and looking right:







edit: i'll do a proper screenshot after the football and cricket.


----------



## andysays (Mar 29, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Thank fuck, what a cliched shot. Totally overdone. And the one going over the temple meads flyover when we can see directly into the old George Railway Hotel is better.
> 
> The one filmed from up there and looking right:
> 
> ...



Yeah, I remember that bit too, though not having your local knowledge didn't know the names of those landmarks.

Enjoy the footie & cricket. I'm off to the allotment now, so we can argue later about which was better


----------



## zenie (Mar 29, 2014)

Just watched Butterfly on a Wheel. Thoroughly enjoyable Saturday afternoon film


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 29, 2014)

The Woman In Black.
The stage show is supposed to be well scary, but this ain't.
And it has a godawful ending which seems like a total cop out. If they'd cut the last two minutes it would have been much better (though still a load of shite)


----------



## Voley (Mar 30, 2014)

I'm always a bit  when I see a bunch of quotes like those above advertising a film. Justified in this case, though. This is one of the most mindboggling documentaries I've ever seen. I finished watching it about a quarter of an hour ago and I haven't even begun to get my head around it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2014)

Oblivion - awful piece of shit
 Boring, grandiose nonsense.
Only worth it if to see Tom Cruise fighting with himself, which is a rather obvious but gratifying metaphor.


----------



## purenarcotic (Mar 31, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> The Woman In Black.
> The stage show is supposed to be well scary, but this ain't.
> And it has a godawful ending which seems like a total cop out. If they'd cut the last two minutes it would have been much better (though still a load of shite)



I'd say the stage show is well worth it, I don't get scared by any horror stuff but screamed like a little kid in the stage show, it was brilliant.   Only two actors plus the woman in black on stage and barely any set, it's absolutely brilliant.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2014)

Yeah, I have read up on the novel, play and film now and it looks like they have changed huge amounts like the ending, motivation of protagonists and antagonists, just everything really


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 1, 2014)

BATTLE OF WITS - unbearably tedious historical epic from China with Andy Lau as some sort of minority-group mystic warrior who comes to protect a medieval useless town with a corrupt and drunken king against the massed armies of the Liang (I think.) Extraordinarily dull - I kept watching hoping that there would at least be a good fight sequence or a hermaphroditic villain or some hungry ghosts along in a minute, but no. Just endless boring scenes of people whispering and scampering about in the dark, with occasional fires. Don't bother with it. Usually you can count on this sort of Chinese production to at least have some decent period detail, or visuals, or at lease get the sweep of a historical epic which really does have thousands of real live extras, but it was just dire. 

Then a coincidentally Godly double bill of flicks about priests...(I'm an atheist)
OF GODS AND MEN Bit selfconsciously poetic but undeniably affecting movie about a bunch of Roman Catholic French priests working in Algeria who got caught up in the mid 90s civil war ... nicely acted, with great faces, some telling moments, and rather too much liturgy for me although the French style plainchant is beautiful. Very interesting how ambiguous the film chooses to play their eventual fate. And if you're unlikely ever to visit the Algerian Atlas, this film can take you there. 

WHITE ELEPHANT Argentine counterpart to the above, where the priests aren't in the middle of a civil war but a socioeconomic one, living and working in a giant abandoned hospital near Buenos Aires which is ridden with drugs and gangs. More experimental, more political rougher, scuzzier and more realistic (well sorta) than the French movie, with a much stronger sense of coming from the place itself rather than just being about it. The narrative is weak, though. (And I'm so used to seeing Ricardo Darin playing scumbags, fraudsters and bad lads I just can't believe in him as a man of God!)

Both worth a watch for Catholics and heathens alike


----------



## imposs1904 (Apr 1, 2014)

The Punk Singer. 

A documentary about Kathleen Hanna. Maybe a bit too short but there's no denying that she made some of the best pop music in the last 20 years.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 1, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> if you stay the course with DKR you are treated to the utterly sick-making reactionary jackboot worshipping 'army of cops' scene where a Gothams Finest charge the evil terrorists and die like heroes. Like that would ever happen, they don't like a fair fight let alone a last stand


 
Because DKR portrays real life events so convincingly 

This weekend I watched a restored "Up in Smoke". Now I get the jokes. Not because it looks brand new but I was 12 when I last saw it! Justin Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow" - High school over achievers start to go a bit crim, like. I think that has to be the first Asian American movie I've watched. It's the only one I'm aware of. Also, having just finished Traudl Jung's book, I watched "Downfall". The fella who plays Hitler was convincing, I'll say that much.


----------



## Pickman's model (Apr 1, 2014)




----------



## butchersapron (Apr 1, 2014)

krtek a houby said:


> Justin Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow" - High school over achievers start to go a bit crim, like. I think that has to be the first Asian American movie I've watched. It's the only one I'm aware of.


You could have a look at Sion Sono's Hazard or Kitano's much better Brother.


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2014)

over the last few days:

Tyrannosaur - which we've been meaning to watch for the last couple of years, but I've never quite been in the mood for. And, finally, it wasn't as brutal as I'd feared, tho, sadly, not as good as I hoped either. That Olivia Coleman is a brilliant actress is no longer a surprise, and Mullan & Marsan are reprising roles they've played many times before.  Good, but not brilliant.

The Awakening - mrs b and I are both arguing about whose idea it was to watch this. It's rubbish.

Robocop (1987) - which mrs b has never seen, so she needed to. And it is still quite superb, hilarious and brutal and brilliant.

Ridicule - french thingy about the absurd decadence of the (about to fall) French court. Borrows distinctly from Dangerous Liaisons, but with added political vitriol. Very enjoyable, very watchable.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 1, 2014)

Se7en.  Picked this up on blu-ray at HMV for £6 the other day.  It's aged well.   There's no actual scenes of violence in this film, apart from a strike in a chase scene.   That's stunning.

Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman, Paltrow is Paltrow...Spacey and Pitt steal it with their entirely opposite characters, I swear Spacey references Kaiser Soze.  Freeman is probably in the middle of them, he can see both sides and wants everything in the middle.  His desperation and pessimism, his altruism and loss, taint the quiet scenes with different horror.

Fincher's direction is brooding, building and uncomfortable.  The cinematography turns the day scenes into night scenes.

Breath-taking, required viewing for a lover of cinema.

Tonight I watched The Machine, a watchable (not a word) indie about AI, the military and being human...the constant development of killer machines.   Not entirely predictable and full of interesting ideas.   Better than Splice, if you've seen that.


----------



## Jeremy Vile (Apr 2, 2014)

Bomber (DVD) Russian WW2 movie with English subtitles. Soviet pilots crash their plan and end up in nazi territory. One gets captured and switches over to them, the other two find and join the resistance. I cant say too much or it will give it away, but it has a happy ending put it that way. It was a pretty decent movie.


----------



## belboid (Apr 3, 2014)

Name of the Rose

Still absolutely magnificent, just a joy to watch.


----------



## maya (Apr 3, 2014)

belboid said:


> Name of the Rose
> 
> Still absolutely magnificent, just a joy to watch.


Connery is watchable in that, I like him better in those kind of roles. (Note to self: revisit Zardoz soon!) Christian Bale was one of the great child actors, IMO... Great performance in Empire Of The Sun aswell. (It's strange, he does most of the acting with his eyes, not very much facial expression going on but it's all energy and subtle shifts... Just a natural talent. For some reason I'm not as captivated by his roles/acting as an adult, but then again I know almost nothing about film...)


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 3, 2014)

Christian Slater.


----------



## maya (Apr 3, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Christian Slater.


- Ah!  You're right...


----------



## jk27 (Apr 3, 2014)

The Sopranos on last episode episode now but don't want to watch as I know the end will be sad


----------



## jk27 (Apr 3, 2014)

I loved it


----------



## jk27 (Apr 3, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> i watched solaris again, this time on dvd and is was a much more rewarding viewing this time. the print they showed at the BFI was old and scratched and the subtitles appeared to be printed on dymo tape and were only partial. i actually think i understand what happened now. it's an extraordinary film. will go and see stalker next month. i'd like to see tarkovsky's earlier films on the big screen soon.
> i'm in love with natalya bondarchuk now
> i


Love this film, it's beautiful dreamy and surreal


----------



## jk27 (Apr 3, 2014)

avu9lives said:


> Wiv no breaking bad left to watch!  Im havin whivdrawl symptoms and i canna find anything thats the slightest bit interesting!  Tried Fringe, (nope) Wire, (nope) True blood, (nope) Dexter, (gone off it) Then Then Then!  I fink ive found one!  *In Treatment* starrin that irish bloke/  Uptoo episode 7 and im lovin it so far......  Hope it lasts or am goin to have to start watchin the feckin soaps!!!!!


----------



## jk27 (Apr 3, 2014)

avu9lives said:


> Wiv no breaking bad left to watch!  Im havin whivdrawl symptoms and i canna find anything thats the slightest bit interesting!  Tried Fringe, (nope) Wire, (nope) True blood, (nope) Dexter, (gone off it) Then Then Then!  I fink ive found one!  *In Treatment* starrin that irish bloke/  Uptoo episode 7 and im lovin it so far......  Hope it lasts or am goin to have to start watchin the feckin soaps!!!!!


----------



## Frances Lengel (Apr 4, 2014)

Ms.45. Mint film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082776/


----------



## belboid (Apr 4, 2014)

Frances Lengel said:


> Ms.45. Mint film.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082776/


I was thinking about that just yesterday, must see if I can find my copy.  Great movie, probly the finest of its sub-genre


----------



## Frances Lengel (Apr 4, 2014)

belboid said:


> I was thinking about that just yesterday, must see if I can find my copy.  Great movie, probly the finest of its sub-genre



There's torrents out there anyway.


----------



## Garek (Apr 5, 2014)

_Serenity
_
Good fun film. Loved the series and it made a nice follow on.

(shame about the mild Jewish stereotyping)


----------



## jk27 (Apr 5, 2014)

Yes, it was fun and quirky, made a refreshing change.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2014)

Last night I had a look at this excellent South African movie, about Andre Stander, the infamous apartheid regime cop turned bank robber:



The film sort of paints him as a _de facto _anti-apartheid activist, who started knocking over banks because he was disgusted with what he was doing in uniform. As is usually the case in this sort of thing, the real story is a lot more ambiguous.
http://www.brightreview.co.uk/ARTICLE-Whiter-Than-White.html
http://www.brightreview.co.uk/ARTICLE-Whiter-Than-White.html


----------



## Voley (Apr 6, 2014)

Starting watching the first season of American Horror Story. Good innit? I particularly like Jessica Lange's deeply malevolent character. Three hours or so of it seemed to fly by. There's some seriously weird shit going on with whoever's in the gimp suit. Enjoying this a lot.


----------



## Voley (Apr 6, 2014)

I watched Tropic Thunder again over the weekend, too, as it was on the box. Still really funny. Robert Downey Jr kills me in this and Tom Cruise's 'Take a big step back and FUCK YOUR OWN FACE' bloke is ace, too.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 6, 2014)

The Borderlands.   Nice little horror of the found footage variety, and better than most of them.  I'll admit I got a bit creeped out around 60 minutes in.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 6, 2014)

The Fountain. Simultaneously engaging  and infuriating.


----------



## jk27 (Apr 6, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Last night I had a look at this excellent South African movie, about Andre Stander, the infamous apartheid regime cop turned bank robber:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Just watched the trailer, looks like my kind of film, great soundtrack too. Going to try get hold of it


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 7, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Last night I had a look at this excellent South African movie, about Andre Stander, the infamous apartheid regime cop turned bank robber:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered this late at night on ITV4 a few years ago. Certainly no great historically accurate drama, I'm sure, but a thoroughly effective period romp that gets progressively darker. And an impressive fake accent/moustache combo from Dexter Fletcher. Nice Temple of Sound (ex-Transglobal Underground) soundtrack too.

ETA:

Consensus amongst those who'd seen it on the Best films most people haven't seen thread was that it was a decent watch and better than anyone thought it would be


----------



## Awesome Wells (Apr 7, 2014)

Just watched the Hobbit Part 2, the Empire Strikes Back...no, sorry, the Desolation of Smaug.

Can't say I enjoyed it as much as part 1, which i really enjoyed. Perhaps I wasn't in the right dframe of mind, but it feld that Jackson has run out of tricks. Although I know the plot (who doesn't, it's not Sherlock), the viewer is beaten over the head by the foreshadowing and the predictability of it - the last light reveals the keyhole!

Laketown was boring (and, inexplicably, Wales).
Thorin is one of the most twattish people ever.
The interracial love subplot seemed totally out of place. 
I don't remember the elves being such bellends. 

NOt sure about the confrontation in Dol Goldur either. That doesn't happen in the book does it? Isn't it the case that they don't know it's Sauron in the time of the Lord of the Rings. They aren't sure until they find the ring and realise what it is.

Smaug is certainly impressive, but it's all whirly camera 3d super fun CGI time. Does get a little bit old hat nowadays. I love SFX, but I can' timagine sitting through that in the cinema without a major headache.

I think Jackson has stretched this one out too much.


----------



## Voley (Apr 8, 2014)

The Grey which I recorded off the box. Liam Neeson does his 'I Will Kill You' bit again only (and here's the twist) it's _at wolves_ this time. Woah.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 8, 2014)

This excellent 1978 thriller _The Driver_



Ryan O'Neal as the taciturn anti-hero, a professional getaway driver, Bruce Dern as the asshole cop determined to bring him in.

A film noir in colour, complete with a femme fatale played by Isabelle Adjani.

It's really good - check it out.


----------



## Supine (Apr 8, 2014)

Silicon Valley -  the new hbo commedy about computer geeks. Not a bad start to the series. It's heavy on the crazy world of google etc.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 8, 2014)

Voley said:


> After a long break I made serious inroads into Series 3 of The Shield this evening. I've ummed and aahed about whether it's actually that good tbh, but if you're drinking and don't want to think too much and shit it's ideal. Watched two discs worth and thoroughly enjoyed them. I've now bought all the rest of the series for the grand total of 17 quid.


 I loved the Shield -

from now on - when you have a problem, think what would Vic do?


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 8, 2014)

The Jesus Trip (dir. Russ Mayberry, 1971) - a re-watch for me of the world's first (and doubtlessly only) Christian-themed biker movie.  A posse of bikers, led by Waco (Robert Porter) get caught up in a heroin deal burn, and hide out in a nunnery, where after a while, they take a hike with nun Anna (Tippy Walker) in tow.  Much running away from the heroin gang ensues, whilst the bikers do dangerous things like....going to bars and drinking beer!  Eventually, Waco and co, plus Anna (who has now adopted her own take on the "biker chic" look) hide out in an abandoned church for the climatic fight/shootout, with an ending which sure ain't happy...

This is one of the better efforts in the (extensive) biker movie genre - the Christian angle is treated soberly, the bikers come across as rounded individuals out against conventional society, and the minimal settings add to the pace and feel of it all.  Filmed on 16mm in a 4:3 aspect, the print in view was slightly darkened in a number of places, but otherwise perfectly viewable.  This has never received a UK cinema, video or DVD release at all, and was incredibly hard to source in the UK for many years.

After subjecting myself to a re-watch of the utterly atrocious "Stone", this came as a blessed relief, and proof that there's plenty of gold to find in them biker movie hills...


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 8, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> The Jesus Trip (dir. Russ Mayberry, 1971) - a re-watch for me of the world's first (and doubtlessly only) Christian-themed biker movie.  A posse of bikers, led by Waco (Robert Porter) get caught up in a heroin deal burn, and hide out in a nunnery, where after a while, they take a hike with nun Anna (Tippy Walker) in tow.  Much running away from the heroin gang ensues, whilst the bikers do dangerous things like....going to bars and drinking beer!  Eventually, Waco and co, plus Anna (who has now adopted her own take on the "biker chic" look) hide out in an abandoned church for the climatic fight/shootout, with an ending which sure ain't happy...
> 
> This is one of the better efforts in the (extensive) biker movie genre - the Christian angle is treated soberly, the bikers come across as rounded individuals out against conventional society, and the minimal settings add to the pace and feel of it all.  Filmed on 16mm in a 4:3 aspect, the print in view was slightly darkened in a number of places, but otherwise perfectly viewable.  This has never received a UK cinema, video or DVD release at all, and was incredibly hard to source in the UK for many years.
> 
> After subjecting myself to a re-watch of the utterly atrocious "Stone", this came as a blessed relief, and proof that there's plenty of gold to find in them biker movie hills...









Years ago, I remember watching an Alex Cox moviedrome thing where he introduce a UK biker flick about a dead motorbike gang leader who returns from the grave. I don't think I bothered watching the actual movie, but can anyone remember what it might have been called?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2014)

Avengers Assemble - load of shite
Half of Looper - load of bollocks


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Years ago, I remember watching an Alex Cox moviedrome thing where he introduce a UK biker flick about a dead motorbike gang leader who returns from the grave. I don't think I bothered watching the actual movie, but can anyone remember what it might have been called?


Psychomania?


----------



## belboid (Apr 8, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Years ago, I remember watching an Alex Cox moviedrome thing where he introduce a UK biker flick about a dead motorbike gang leader who returns from the grave. I don't think I bothered watching the actual movie, but can anyone remember what it might have been called?


sounds like Psychomania, or maybe Girl on a Motorcycle.  both great.


I watched the minor noir 'Devil Thumbs A Ride' last night. Lawrence Tierney playing a 'slap happy bird with a gun' and hitches a lift of a naive young man, and a couple of gals. Heaviness ensues.  Not a classic of the genre by any means, and nothing to really make it stand out, but its an enjoyable hour and a bit.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 8, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Psychomania?
> View attachment 51868





belboid said:


> sounds like Psychomania, or maybe Girl on a Motorcycle.  both great.
> 
> 
> I watched the minor noir 'Devil Thumbs A Ride' last night. Lawrence Tierney playing a 'slap happy bird with a gun' and hitches a lift of a naive young man, and a couple of gals. Heaviness ensues.  Not a classic of the genre by any means, and nothing to really make it stand out, but its an enjoyable hour and a bit.


Great thank you both, I'll watch that tonight.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 8, 2014)

*Our Man in Havana (1959)*, marvellous, I just wish Coward & Guinness had spent more screen time together.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 8, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


>



One of my fave biker movies posters, for sure!


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 8, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Psychomania?
> View attachment 51868



A fantastic film all round!  Hopefully one day, someone out there will write the definitive book on this one.


----------



## Pickman's model (Apr 8, 2014)




----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 8, 2014)

Awesome Wells said:


> I don't remember the elves being such bellends.




these are Wood Elves. They split from their mainstream elfkind centuries ago and retreated into the forrests, appaled at the state of middle earth and having the right hump with Morgoth. IIRC they even speak a dialect version of sindarin 


as for the dol guldur/radagast the ex timelord with birdshit on his head, well radagast wasn't actually in the Hobbit and the White Councils battles with the Necromancer are mentioned but not so much as the details in these films.

but they had to  pad out for a full three films, so I am not complaining


it has occured to me: if you take the extended version LOTR DVD's, the three hobbit films, and the fan film, you basically have near 24 hours of Middle Earth shennanigans to watch. Thats a hefty amount.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 8, 2014)

Pickman's model said:


>



Definitely one of my fave Lindsay Anderson movies - and , of course, it features - in a sober, serious role....Robin Askwith!

(I once had an argument w/someone who claimed that Malcolm McDowell's role was not iconic/definitve, and that Malcolm M was "far better" in "Caligula" (dir. Tinto Brass, 1979), a film that - to this day - rates as one of the Ten Worst Films I Have Ever Seen.  Needless to say, I was/am right!)


----------



## Awesome Wells (Apr 8, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> these are Wood Elves. They split from their mainstream elfkind centuries ago and retreated into the forrests, appaled at the state of middle earth and having the right hump with Morgoth. IIRC they even speak a dialect version of sindarin
> 
> 
> as for the dol guldur/radagast the ex timelord with birdshit on his head, well radagast wasn't actually in the Hobbit and the White Councils battles with the Necromancer are mentioned but not so much as the details in these films.
> ...


Radagast is the best character in it.

Gandalf just says "hey go through this dangerous forest, but don't get caught by illusions...ok see ya!"

It amused me how totally unhelpful the Eagles at the end of the first movie had proven to be because straight away the dwarves are still running from the orcs who are right on their tail. You could fly them to the Lonely mountain then?

I was hoping the giant gold dwarf would come alive and it would turn into a Japanese monster movie: Mecha Dwarf vs Smaug.

It's not a bad film, but I just fidn't feel it as much as movie no 1. He really has spread his material thin, IMO. Weirdly older, yet younger and with oddly blue eyes Legolas didn't need to be in this.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 8, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> these are Wood Elves. They split from their mainstream elfkind centuries ago and retreated into the forrests, appaled at the state of middle earth and having the right hump with Morgoth. IIRC they even speak a dialect version of sindarin
> 
> 
> as for the dol guldur/radagast the ex timelord with birdshit on his head, well radagast wasn't actually in the Hobbit and the White Councils battles with the Necromancer are mentioned but not so much as the details in these films.
> ...


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 8, 2014)

dunno what happened there, I was attempting an edit to add more detail but it went wrong


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 8, 2014)

Awesome Wells said:


> It's not a bad film, but I just fidn't feel it as much as movie no 1. He really has spread his material thin, IMO. Weirdly older, yet younger and with oddly blue eyes Legolas didn't need to be in this.



amusingly enough in the 'soddit' and 'bored of the rings' parody books he is called 'leg o lamb'. These puerile but funny parodies were written under a psudonym by Adam Roberts, a very skilled sci fi author who wrote an immense andd expensive history of SF tome as well as about a dozen really good sci fi stories. I reccomend Salt, On, and Land of the Headless.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2014)

Bored of the Rings wasn't Roberts' work


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 9, 2014)

I watched the second half of Looper. Still a load of old mumbly time travel bollocks.
All the characters in it are seriously underdeveloped, even for a Bruce-Willis-shooting-people-with-fancy-guns film.
Joseph Gordon Leavitt looks very strange in it. Did they do something to his eyes?


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 9, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> A fantastic film all round!  Hopefully one day, someone out there will write the definitive book on this one.



Fantastic? "Well that was a load of old rubbish, wasn't it, boys and girls".

It might have worked if it had been set in California, but set in home counties England, not so much.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 9, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Fantastic? "Well that was a load of old rubbish, wasn't it, boys and girls".
> 
> It might have worked if it had been set in California, but set in home counties England, not so much.



It's probably a bit obvious by now that I have a penchant for Spectacularly Bad Films, so most people's "what the hell was that???" tends to be my "hello!"

Good to see hear you at least gave it a chance, though


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 9, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:


> It's probably a bit obvious by now that I have a penchant for Spectacularly Bad Films, so most people's "what the hell was that???" tends to be my "hello!"
> 
> Good to see hear you at least gave it a chance, though



It might be alright if you were slightly high, and with a gang of equally high mates, with whom you could make snarky comments about this snarkable flick.


----------



## belboid (Apr 9, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Fantastic? "Well that was a load of old rubbish, wasn't it, boys and girls".
> 
> It might have worked if it had been set in California, but set in home counties England, not so much.


hmmm,  maybe you shouldn't bother with Girl On A Motorcycle then. Altho it is much better shot


----------



## belboid (Apr 9, 2014)

*Wanted for Murder*

A 1947 brit crime flick, concerning the grandson of a legendary hangman who thought he was possessed by his grandpops spirit, so had to go strangling womenfolk. Decent enough late night drama,tho no masterpiece by any means.  Scripted by Emeric Pressburger, and there are some great lines in here. Stanley Holloway does a good straight turn, and Eric Portman is as sinister as ever, a perfect _dubious character - _which is probably why von Ribbentrop told him "when Germany wins the war, you will be installed as the greatest English star in the New Europe"


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 9, 2014)

Grizzly (dir. William Girdler, 1976) - An entry into the "animal terror" genre by the "Three On A Meathook" director, which takes more than a few cues from "Jaws".  In an un-named US state forest/park, a previously-unknown grizzly bear is on the rampage, attacking first campers and hikers, and then seemingly anyone else in paw-shot.  One of the park rangers (Christoper George) is in charge of sorting out this bear menace, and gathers up a posse of self-styled bear hunters to bring the grizzly terror to an end, with various levels of incompetence at hand.  As pressure mounts on George, the bear becomes more confident in striking out, until finally, in a one-on-one encounter, George finally brings all this ursine tomfoolery to a drawn-out conclusion.

Made with a fairly high budget for the time, and certainly aimed for a mainstream audience, "Grizzly" bears (groan!) all the hallmarks of 1970's  exploitation film incompetence.  The script (cobbled together by 3 writers) is low on suspense but high on predictability, and this film contains many moments of dull, pointless exposition sequences.  Christopher George seems to spend an inordinate amount of time smoking ciggies, moaning at everyone, and generally letting that damn bear get to him.

The terror sequences themselves are utterly inept,  to the point of laughability (an off-camera stagehand waves around a manufactured "bear paw" randomly at each victim, point-of-view style), and when the actual bear finally puts in an appearance, it outclasses and out-acts everyone else.  The bear in question looks thoroughly bored by the whole proceedings, and being in a film like this, who can blame it?

There's many moments of unintentionally funny dialogue, and the park commissioner gets pretty much all of the best lines ("Kelly!  I want that bear!").  The bear hunters all seem to be under the influence of skunk weed, as they stumble around randomly all over the shop, and even have problems figuring out just what sort of bear it is that they're meant to be hunting.  The incidental music for the terror sequences rips off "Jaws" so ridiculously (and badly), that John Williams should have sued the producers of "Grizzly" into next Christmas.  And at dead on 90 minutes, this film really knows how to outstay it's welcome.

"Grizzly" has pretensions of being a semi-serious effort, but truly, this one has "total turkey" written all over it.  Avoid!

(Note:  the poster art for this one at the time emphasised the "total terror" aspect ("18 Feet Of Towering Fury!"), but the MPAA gave this a "GP" rating at the time, meaning that the US censors thought "Grizzly" to be as scary and terrifying as an average episode of The Simpsons!)


----------



## starfish (Apr 9, 2014)

The last episode of True Detective. Quite a good little series.


----------



## belboid (Apr 10, 2014)

*Mr Deeds Goes To Town*

The Frank Capra masterpiece, starring Gary Cooper as the small town simple chap who inherits a fortune, and doesn't quite know what to do with it. The rich townsfolk (with the help of a wicked female journalist) then gang up against him to declare him mentally incompetent and take the money away. Can he get his shit together and show that it's the rest of the world that's mad, not him?

The economics promoted are dubious as hell, and the court scene so crazy that even the yanks couldn't have a legal process that insane, but the film is a sheer joy, a classic triumph of the small man over uncaring big...whatever.  It also introduced the phrase 'pixellated' - tho with a rather different definition to today's.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 10, 2014)

I watche Peckinpah's 'Cross of Iron'

I hadn't realised it was him before, although I had heard of the film. Didn't rate it tbf, although it passed the time.

Then I watched the latest two episodes of 'Agents of SHIELD' which has gone off the rails a bit.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 10, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> I watche Peckinpah's 'Cross of Iron'
> 
> I hadn't realised it was him before, although I had heard of the film. Didn't rate it tbf, although it passed the time.



You and Orang Utan are like a low rent online Siskel & Ebert, only where you are both the one with the terrible opinions who is dead.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 10, 2014)

What? Don't lump me in with Dotty. I'm a big Peckinpah fan and have exquisite taste in films. So there.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 10, 2014)

CharlieAddict said:
			
		

> le serpent - i saw this before i think in islington. just a glimpse. it was a french movie. pretty good.





Belushi said:


> *Le Serpent* formulaic French thriller.



I'd go for somewhere in the middle. Not great, but certainly could have been so much better, though!


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 10, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> I'd go for somewhere in the middle. Not great, but certainly could have been so much better, though!





butchersapron said:


> The one from the 70s - AKA Night Flight from Moscow - or the one from the 90s? I really enjoyed the 70s one. Sucker for that genre.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 10, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> The one from the 70s - AKA Night Flight from Moscow - or the one from the 90s? I really enjoyed the 70s one. Sucker for that genre.



The 2006 bourgeois-in-peril one based on the Ted Lewis novel. Ratchets up the tension in a pleasantly implausible fashion until halfway through when it essentially becomes its own mid-80s Hollywood remake, with the Harrison Ford/Tom Hanks lead character _going rogue_.


----------



## N_igma (Apr 11, 2014)

The Cabin in the Woods - Thought this was excellent! The title sounds as though it's going to be one of those generic teen slasher films that gets churned out ad nauseum but it's basically a satire of the whole genre. Not really scary in any parts but funny as hell with a few nods to classic horror films thrown in for good measure. I would recommend this to anyone even those who don't like horror films!


----------



## fishfinger (Apr 11, 2014)

N_igma said:


> The Cabin in the Woods - Thought this was excellent! The title sounds as though it's going to be one of those generic teen slasher films that gets churned out ad nauseum but it's basically a satire of the whole genre. Not really scary in any parts but funny as hell with a few nods to classic horror films thrown in for good measure. I would recommend this to anyone even those who don't like horror films!


I was pleasantly surprised by this one too


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 11, 2014)

Started watching Submarine just now, switched off in boredom after half an hour.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 12, 2014)

Silver Linings Playbook.

An unhappy person could call this a rom-com, but it isn't.   A wonderful, fucked up, love story, with a jaw-dropping performance by De Niro playing De Niro with OCD.   Bradley Cooper is a limited actor, to me, but he uses that limitation to brilliant effect here (or the director does).  Jennifer Lawrence continues to astound.

Really...Lawrence continues to astound me.


----------



## maya (Apr 13, 2014)

The Orphanage- okay-ish horror... Nothing outstanding.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 14, 2014)

Yojimbo, The Raid, Man on Wire and The World's End.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 14, 2014)

Lucky Jim.

Based on the K. Amis novel, it depicts the horrors of life as a junior academic in 1950s Britain. Someone I know who came up slightly after this tells me that you might have fantasized about the kind of drunken and cathartic rebellion that forms the central scene of this movie, but you would have been too scared of losing your job.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 14, 2014)

*Compliance* (Craig Zobel 2012) Thought provoking reconstruction of a real life event.


----------



## Sue (Apr 14, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *Compliance* (Craig Zobel 2012) Thought provoking reconstruction of a real life event.


 
Saw it when it came out. Was one of my top films of the year.


----------



## Voley (Apr 14, 2014)

Choke. A warped, occasionally very funny Chuck Palahniuk thing. Had its moments but nowt special. Can't fault its IMDB blurb though:



> A sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.



Take your Nan. She'll love it.


----------



## avu9lives (Apr 15, 2014)

Baby's Day Out (1994)  Bloody brilliant not laughed so much in ages!  Might do the Home Alone ones sometime dis week..


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 16, 2014)

The Well (1951), film exploring racial tension in an American town when a young black girl is rumoured murdered by the visiting relation of a local businessman. Pretty good.


----------



## starfish (Apr 16, 2014)

Watched Tucker & Dale Versus Evil, with our nieces at the weekend. Thought it was really funny in a really silly way.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 16, 2014)

*Persepolis *(Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi 2007) Engaging animated film about a young upper class womans coming of age in revolutionary Iran.


----------



## andysays (Apr 17, 2014)

Solaris, 1972, Dir Andrei Tarkovsky



Spoiler: Part 1










Spoiler: Part 2








Don't ask me to explain what it's all about


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 17, 2014)

Captain Philips.

Although I'd heard good things about this it turned out to be nothing but a US navy propaganda piece.

And it's about 25 minutes too long.


----------



## yield (Apr 18, 2014)

Finally saw Wolf of Wall Street. Really great. Made me laugh so much. Quaaludes.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 19, 2014)

*Red Cliff* (John Woo 2008) Vast Chinese historical epic. Surprisingly large number of explosions for 280 AD.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 21, 2014)

*Prisoners*

Great performance from Hugh Jackman. Well worth watching


----------



## Voley (Apr 21, 2014)

Behind The Candelabra. Enjoyed it a lot. Worth watching for the hair alone. The plastic surgeon is great, too. Rob Lowe, I think, although he sort of looks like Michael Jackson after lots of surgery.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 22, 2014)

*Goon *- bizarre yet strangely likeable saga of a guy with no talents at all other than punching people in the face, who because of this becomes a valuable player on the Canadian ice hockey sporting scene. Lots of bone dry humour, Canadian injokes, eyewateringly foul language and ridiculous / but also pretty disturbing on-ice punchups. You probably have to be canadian to fully appreciate it but even non-canucks might find a laugh or two in it.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 22, 2014)

"Guru, The Mad Monk" (dir. Andy Milligan, 1970) - an entry into the "Witchfinder General"/"Mark Of The Devil" stakes by everyone's favourite Staten Island-based director, and it sure is a "unique" item indeed.  This one concerns Father Guru (Neil Flanagan) - who actually is really a bishop, not a monk! - whose day-to-day activities involves rounding up various unfortunates, absolving them of their supposed "sins" (one gets absolved for the "sin" of peeping!), then performs various unpleasantries on them in the name of Christ.  He's aided and abetted in all this by his right-hand foil Olga (Jacqueline Webb), who provides "glamour" and sleaze in equal measure, and Igor (Jack Spencer), a leprous hunchback, who seems to be loyal to Father Guru. Various victims come and go, and Father Guru (a dead ringer at times for UK actor Rodney Bewes) chews the scenery about sin, redemption and teaching them damn villagers a thing or two about the Good Lord.  Ultimately, the victims wreak their revenge on the good Guru, and he ends up meeting a truly ridiculous demise at the hands of Igor.  At this point the film crashes to a sudden halt and ends.

This film bears many of the hallmarks of an Andy Milligan effort - choppy, sometimes incoherent editing, some rather wobbly camera work, a script (put together by Milligan himself) full of ripe and ludicrous emoting and dialogue, and a large amount of random stock library music.  The violence/gore scenes are truly inept - I can't believe that Milligan spent more than $10 on the special effects work - and the performances (by a group of unknowns, as per usual) range from the bored/confused to the rather deranged.  At 57 minutes, the film oddly enough feels about the right length; any longer, and it really would have begun to drag out considerably.

You'd think that, going by the above, "Guru...." is a laughable, incompetent, grade-Z exploitation mess that deserves to be forgotten about, and indeed, 98% of film fans would agree with you.  But Milligan's work has always held a fascination for me - his themes of repression, desire, conflict and ever-present violence run throughout his films, and whilst I'm never going to buy into the (utterly ridiculous) claims that Milligan was some type of zero-budget "auteur", he has shown thematic consistency throughout his career.  In addition, Milligan's homosexuality (which he chose not to be open about, and he was also a frequenter of the NYC S&M scene) feeds into his work too - the sense of repressed guilt is present in this at times, and whilst he's no George Kuchar (and indeed, who is?), the gay angle of his film-making should be acknowledged.  Tragically, Milligan passed away from AIDS in 1991, and spent the last couple of years of his life in considerable ill-health and poverty.

I've waited nearly 20 years to see "Guru, The Mad Monk", and was not disappointed.  Milligan's films were nigh-on impossible to find in the UK for many, many years - the only one being distributed (by video) being "The Ghastly Ones" (under the re-titling of "Blood Rites") in the early 1980's, which itself ended up being clobbered under the Obscene Publications Act (for gore scenes reasons).  It was only with the BFI Flipside DVD release of "The Body Beneath" a couple of years ago, that Milligan's work finally was available in general to a UK audience.

"Guru, The Mad Monk" most certainly is an acquired taste, to say the very least, but comes recommended to those interested in low-budget horror/exploitation cinema.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 22, 2014)

*The Party's Over* (1965), Cool 60s Brit film about an American trying to track down his fiance who has fallen in with a bunch of hard partying London Beatniks led by Oliver Reed. Directed by Guy Hamilton around the time he was making Goldfinger, it even has a very Bondish soundtrack by John Barry.


----------



## Voley (Apr 22, 2014)

MellySingsDoom said:
			
		

> "Guru, The Mad Monk" (dir. Andy Milligan, 1970) - an entry into the "Witchfinder General"/"Mark Of The Devil" stakes by everyone's favourite Staten Island-based director, and it sure is a "unique" item indeed.  This one concerns Father Guru (Neil Flanagan) - who actually is really a bishop, not a monk! - whose day-to-day activities involves rounding up various unfortunates, absolving them of their supposed "sins" (one gets absolved for the "sin" of peeping!), then performs various unpleasantries on them in the name of Christ.  He's aided and abetted in all this by his right-hand foil Olga (Jacqueline Webb), who provides "glamour" and sleaze in equal measure, and Igor (Jack Spencer), a leprous hunchback, who seems to be loyal to Father Guru. Various victims come and go, and Father Guru (a dead ringer at times for UK actor Rodney Bewes) chews the scenery about sin, redemption and teaching them damn villagers a thing or two about the Good Lord.  Ultimately, the victims wreak their revenge on the good Guru, and he ends up meeting a truly ridiculous demise at the hands of Igor.  At this point the film crashes to a sudden halt and ends.
> 
> This film bears many of the hallmarks of an Andy Milligan effort - choppy, sometimes incoherent editing, some rather wobbly camera work, a script (put together by Milligan himself) full of ripe and ludicrous emoting and dialogue, and a large amount of random stock library music.  The violence/gore scenes are truly inept - I can't believe that Milligan spent more than $10 on the special effects work - and the performances (by a group of unknowns, as per usual) range from the bored/confused to the rather deranged.  At 57 minutes, the film oddly enough feels about the right length; any longer, and it really would have begun to drag out considerably.
> 
> ...



I really like your reviews, mate.  I doubt I'd like any of the films much but I do like your enthusiasm for your particular niche.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 22, 2014)

Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This.
https://piratereverse.info/torrent/10013797/Tommy.Cooper.Not.Like.That.Like.This.720p.HDTV.x264-TLA

Outstanding performance from David Threlfall as Tommy Cooper.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 22, 2014)

Haxan - Danish 1922 drama doc on witchcraft - memorable images.
London Rivers - 2 people searching for loved ones during the London bombings. Very moving.
The Guard - Brendan Gleeson & Don Cheadle take on Galway gangsters. Sublime.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 23, 2014)

Voley said:


> I really like your reviews, mate.  I doubt I'd like any of the films much but I do like your enthusiasm for your particular niche.


 
Aw, cheers Voley  I do wonder sometimes what people make of my musings on some of the stuff I subject myself to , but it's nice to know that fellow Urbz like to read my reviews!


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 23, 2014)

Me and my mum made the niece watch Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face.


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 23, 2014)

Rare outing to the cinema to see the new Captain America film.

Pleasantly surprised, some good performances and a decent amount of screentime for the supporting players, as well as some well-directed action scenes and an interesting story with actual implications for the future of the Marvel films (or at least the Avengers sequel)

Popcorn, but tasty popcorn.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Apr 23, 2014)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Looks like a pretty ordinary superhero movie but with some pretty dark stuff about surveillance, warmongering and fascism woven into it. Sadly the script doesn't quite do justice to the ideas and by the third act everything's gone back to good guys vs bad guys, ticking clocks, boss fights and wisecracks. It's still a lot better than the first Captain America movie though.

The winter soldier storyline is a bit of a non-sequitur, and without him the film might have had more time to explore the actual plot instead of chasing after some kind of emotional payoff which, thanks to the pretty boring lead character, was never really gonna happen. 

Robert Redford was good, Samuel L Jackson was dependably Samuel L Jackson (there's a great little in-joke at his expense right at the end) and Scarlett Johansson was good value despite the occasionally patchy script. 

I love superhero movies, but they could be so much better if they focussed a bit less on having a more epic final battle than the previous superhero movie and a bit more on stories and ideas. This movie, entertaining as it was, is a case in point.


----------



## Supine (Apr 24, 2014)

Kid Cannabis. True story film about a weed importer just starting out. Basically the stoner version of Scarface. I really enjoyed it, we'll worth a watch.


----------



## Yetman (Apr 24, 2014)

I've got Nebraska and Kill Your Darlings to watch later. Those or the second part of Nyphomaniac


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 25, 2014)

Before she and her granny headed home yesterday, we made the niece watch Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in _Indiscreet.  _A good movie purely on the basis of the chemistry between the two stars, but also one that has to resort to some psychologically incredible manouevres to stay on the right side of the Hays code.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 25, 2014)

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.


2/10. Nephilim in the modern day who dress all gothy and have cool runic tatts battle against demons and vampires to find the Mortal Cup given to the Shadowrunner order by the Angel Raziel etc etc, avoid


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 25, 2014)

Letter from an Unknown Woman - 1948 b & w "women's picture" which is supposed to be a highbrow classic. Couldn't see the classicness myself ... it's a weepie with a plot that's pretty repellent to modern sensibilities - basically, young woman martyrs self through a destructive affair with a musician who couldn't care less about her and ruins her life. She bravely brings up their child alone, then finds another rich guy to marry, but stays obsessed with the muso until the very (early) end of her days. And this is romance? It looks good - not amazing - and I suppose it IS interesting that the story is the woman's, rather than the man's, making her, the ignored "nobody" the central character, instead of him the big star. It's based on a novel by highbrow Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig and said to conjure the very essence of fin de siecle Vienna. It might do, I dunno. (Don't really think so). Some very nice frocks, though...


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 26, 2014)

_Inspecteur Lavardin - _1986 Chabrol film, big fan of Chabrol but I have to say that this is the first film of his that I haven't liked. It's really just a rather ordinary police procedural, which is quite strange as it was made after, and shares the same lead detective as, Chabrol's previous film _Poulet au Vinaigre, _which is a much more interesting piece of work.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 26, 2014)

redsquirrel said:


> _Inspecteur Lavardin - _1986 Chabrol film, big fan of Chabrol but I have to say that this is the first film of his that I haven't liked. It's really just a rather ordinary police procedural...


Sounds like it's basically _Les Meurtres de Midsomer_!



redsquirrel said:


> ...Chabrol's previous film _Poulet au Vinaigre..._



Don't hide that light under a bushel: _Cop au Vin_


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 26, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> Sounds like it's basically _Les Meurtres de Midsomer_!


Unfortunately not as good as the average episode.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 26, 2014)

He did turn Lavarin into a tv series after that.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 26, 2014)

Really? Never knew that, have you seen any eps? Any good? 

It's was particularly as I really rate Chabrol's work usually.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 26, 2014)

Not seen them - they're on KG. I didn't bother after the 2nd on in the lavrdin film series (the one you didn't like). You've another film to go in that series yet as well.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 26, 2014)

ploughed through a load of early Sopranos. Strange to see gandolfini looking so hale as opposed to seeing him so old in Killing Them Softly


----------



## Frances Lengel (Apr 27, 2014)

by jeremy sandford, who also wrote Down and Out In Britain

http://www.amazon.com/Down-Out-Britain-Jeremy-Sandford/dp/0720603412

Which is a book in which the author worries that the welfare state might've left the hard to reach behind. Christ, progress - Now everyone gets left behind.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 27, 2014)

The Singularity Is Near (2010)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049412/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near


----------



## Voley (Apr 27, 2014)

Two thirds through Series 1 of American Horror Story. Getting a bit samey now the novelty's worn off tbh. Acting's getting proper cheesy. I'll stick it out though as I'm intrigued as to how it'll end. Doubt I'll bother with any of the others.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 27, 2014)

Voley said:


> Two thirds through Series 1 of American Horror Story. Getting a bit samey now the novelty's worn off tbh. Acting's getting proper cheesy. I'll stick it out though as I'm intrigued as to how it'll end. Doubt I'll bother with any of the others.



Stick with it, season two is a blinder. Loved it.


----------



## Voley (Apr 27, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Stick with it, season two is a blinder. Loved it.


The psychiatrist bloke's shite. He's beginning to piss me off with his dramatic pauses and stuff. Is he in the next one?


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 27, 2014)

Voley said:


> The psychiatrist bloke's shite. He's beginning to piss me off with his dramatic pauses and stuff. Is he in the next one?



You might think that but i couldn't possibly comment.


----------



## Voley (Apr 27, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> You might think that but i couldn't possibly comment.


If he dies horribly I could be convinced to stick with it. The next one's in an asylum isn't it? That has potential I must admit. Things I have liked are the burnt bloke / the spooky girl going 'you're gonna regret it' all the time and trying to guess who's dead or alive. It started off well but seems to have petered out a bit.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 27, 2014)

Voley said:


> If he dies horribly I could be convinced to stick with it. The next one's in an asylum isn't it? That has potential I must admit. Things I have liked are the burnt bloke / the spooky girl going 'you're gonna regret it' all the time and trying to guess who's dead or alive. It started off well but seems to have petered out a bit.



You want season two. Yes it's set in an asylum and i thought that worked well on a number of levels. You will like it.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Apr 28, 2014)

Frances Lengel said:


> by jeremy sandford, who also wrote Down and Out In Britain
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Down-Out-Britain-Jeremy-Sandford/dp/0720603412
> 
> Which is a book in which the author worries that the welfare state might've left the hard to reach behind. Christ, progress - Now everyone gets left behind.



Was he the guy that disguised himself as an homeless person and went and stayed at some of London's homeless shelters like Arlington House and Camberwell Spike around the early 80's ?


----------



## Yetman (Apr 28, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> The Singularity Is Near (2010)
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049412/
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near



Any good? I liked the Kurzweil documentary about the singularity - this sounds very interesting.

The doc for those interested....

The Transcendent Man


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 28, 2014)

BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL - arty, experimental, revolutionary 1964 Brazilian film which some people reckon kicked off the Cinema Novo movement. A brutal story of faith, violence and class struggle in the arid Brazilian interior. Rated by lots as a lost (or at any rate little-seen) classic to rank up there with Battle of Algiers or Pixote or ... 

Which makes it sound like the sort of thing I would love ... but to me it's painfully clunky, agonisingly slow, and mostly really f**king baffling, as the characters ham around doing nothing recognisably human in a plot which seems to have been dreamt up by a drama-school student with a very short attention span - weird shit happens and people drop in and out of the action apparently at random. The whole thing is a bit like some Jodorowsy acid-trip but with added 'it's art cinema so you MUST SUFFER' earnestness for roughage.  There's some really nice/interesting Brazilian folk music on the soundtrack and some of the actors are giving it their all. But sorry. I thought it was pants.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 28, 2014)

*Let The Fire Burn (2013)* documentary about the MOVE organisation in Philadelphia and the Waco like siege that occurred on their headquarters in 1985. Extremely gripping documentary on a very f*cked up event.


----------



## colbhoy (Apr 28, 2014)

A re-watch of episode 9 (Hatless) of S1 of Justified. Superb and extremely under-rated drama series.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 29, 2014)

Yetman said:


> Any good? I liked the Kurzweil documentary about the singularity - this sounds very interesting.
> 
> The doc for those interested....
> 
> The Transcendent Man




It's worth a watch but was a bit disappointed with it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 29, 2014)

Fell asleep watching Django Unchained again.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Apr 30, 2014)

jeff_leigh said:


> Was he the guy that disguised himself as an homeless person and went and stayed at some of London's homeless shelters like Arlington House and Camberwell Spike around the early 80's ?



That's him, yeah.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 30, 2014)

'our mothers and our fathers'

a big german ww2 production, first part. Its had excellent reviews here and in its homeland. Enjoyed.

Cabin in the Woods' Enjoyably mental twist on the standard teen slasher movie

most of season 3 of Sopranos. I saw these last when they aired. You forget that Tony is essentially a monster who then goes and whines to a shrink about it all.

despite this, its still good stuff


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Apr 30, 2014)

"Female Vampire" (dir. Jesus Franco, 1973) - well, I don't know what's come over me this time (well, actually I do, but anyway), but I've decided to inflict Yet Another Jesus Franco Movie on myself, and sat down expecting yet more, er, "class" from the Euro-director himself.  Still, once more into the breach I go, and here be the review....

The main protagonist of this film is Countess Irina (Lina Romay), a (mute) vampire who gains sustenance not through drinking blood, but through intimate encounters with (mainly) menfolk that she picks up, and then draining them orally of their potency at their point of orgasm.  She has an (also mute) assistant to help her out with day-to-day matters, who she attempts to seduce at one point to no avail.  The authorities soon get wind of this, and hot on her case is pathologist Dr Roberts (Jesus Franco himself), who is unconvinced that the victims are simply murder victims, but giving themselves up to some infernal business.  Countess Irina drives around in her swanky car, and collects more victims along the way, seducing first and then striking out afterwards.  A poet then turns up almost begging to be killed to join Irina amongst the immortals, and inevitably gets his wish.  One of Irina's final victims is Princess de Rochefort (Monica Swinn), who also dies, and Irina almost has a sense of guilt about this one.  Dr Roberts finally gets to discover Irina's lair, and spies her voyeyristically bathing in a bath of blood, a la Countess Bathory. The film closes with a final shot of Irina on her balcony, awaiting a new day and new victims to discover...

"Female Vampire" actually turns out to be not such a bad Franco effort, as it goes.  Although the story has an "interesting" premise (where does Franco get these ideas from?), it's carried out with a certain amount of style, and the sex/erotica scenes are pretty sensitively handled (particularly the scene with Princess de Rochefort) as well.  The plot, although fairly basic, moves along at a fair old pace, and the film itself is put together in a coherent fashion.  The music (by Daniel White) is decent, and there's some good cinematography too.  As for performances, Lina Romay (in her very first role) acquits herself admirably (even w/a non-speaking part), and convinces as the vampire with an insatiable need for human contact.  All else perform pretty well too (yes, even Franco!), and there's a real sense of melancholic desire that Romay puts across.

It has to be said that the usual Franco traits show up, though - frequent crash zooms to the pubic region, some out-of-focus/wobbly camerawork, and moments where the ripe dialogue (mainly from Franco himself) threatens to take off into baffling territory.  Franco has however managed to rein in his more careless tendencies, making for a film which at least holds the attention for the whole running time.

Franco shot more than one version of "Female Vampire", including a "continental" version with hardcore inserts.  The version I saw is hardcore-free, and is frankly all the better for it - there's nothing worse than seeing a horror/exploitation film, only for it to then go into that particular (dull and pointless) territory...see the work of "Joe D'Amato" (Aristide Massacessi) for evidence of that sort of thing.

Jesus Franco's career pretty much nosedived from the late 70's onwards, where he made some truly excruciating/unbearable films on a regular basis.  "Female Vampire" shows him to be on some form, though, and whilst it's never going to compete with the peerless "Vampyros Lesbos" (with the late Soledad Miranda), or with his 60's work (including his take on Sacher-Masoch's "Venus In Furs"), it's still a good effort from him.  If you're not put off by the basic premise of this film (and it's certainly understandable if you are), then "Female Vampire" is worth a viewing, if you're willing to spend some time in the world of Franco.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 1, 2014)

The first three episodes (series one) of The Street. (and it's very good.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472984/


----------



## Part 2 (May 3, 2014)

The first episode of Jonah from Tonga. I'm not decided yet, had a few funny moments but could become predictable and irritating.

Also watched the John Pilger film, Utopia, about the treatment of indigenous Australians. Anyone who's seen Rabbit Proof Fence will have some idea about the history but the recent events are as, if not more shocking. I never understood the draw of Australia myself but even less so now. Really surprised it hasn't been mentioned more on the boards other than a bit in world politics.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 3, 2014)

The Butcher Boy - Black comedy told through the eyes of a troubled kid, Well worth a watch


----------



## DotCommunist (May 3, 2014)

A Bronx Tale. Utterly predictable but enjoyed anyway. De Niro is in it. And directs. Late showing by pesci. Excellent 60s music, jazz and do-wop

think what was good about it was that it wasn't a straight up gangster flick but rather a study in two fathers/life paths presented to our protagonist.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 4, 2014)

Jodorowsky's Dune

Been waiting for this failed to making of docu.

they had Giger and Dali on board! Mick Jagger was gonna be Feyd-Rautha. Whatever went wrong. Well, this docu shows what went wrong. One mans hubris lol.

Jodorowsky manages to come across as really creepy also.


----------



## dessiato (May 4, 2014)

Yesterday was S1 of Person of Interest. Today has been Apocalypse Now and I shall watch Klip later.


----------



## Voley (May 4, 2014)

Fists Of Fury. Bruce Lee. Totally brilliant. Sub-porn movie acting, awesomely bad dubbing, spectacular sound effects during the fights, flying dogs.  I think the love interest's character was called 'Chow Mein'.   Loved every minute of it.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 4, 2014)

Voley said:


> Fists Of Fury. Bruce Lee. Totally brilliant. Sub-porn movie acting, awesomely bad dubbing, spectacular sound effects during the fights, flying dogs.  I think the love interest's character was called 'Chow Mein'.   Loved every minute of it.



is that the one where the chinese dojo is getting bullied by japanese racists and Bruce is pushed to far so delivers some beatings. A lot of beatings?


I'm a Big Boss man myself. Its got drugs in it and a death-touch


----------



## Voley (May 4, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> is that the one where the chinese dojo is getting bullied by japanese racists and Bruce is pushed to far so delivers some beatings. A lot of beatings?
> 
> 
> I'm a Big Boss man myself. Its got drugs in it and a death-touch



No this is an ice factory with a sideline in heroin. Bruce is working there and has to kick fuck out of everyone up to and including the boss and his flying alsatians.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 4, 2014)

Voley That the one based in Bangkok? That's big boss (Immortal line "if you wanna fight, Fight me" )  , Fist Of Fury is like DC says it's the one where Bruce fights Bob Wall who plays a Russian IIRC


----------



## DrRingDing (May 4, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Jodorowsky's Dune
> 
> Been waiting for this failed to making of docu.
> 
> ...




The raping rant was rather odd.

BUT it's distressing this was never made. It looks like it broke him.


----------



## Voley (May 4, 2014)

jeff_leigh said:


> Voley That the one based in Bangkok? That's big boss (Immortal line "if you wanna fight, Fight me" )  , Fist Of Fury is like DC says it's the one where Bruce fights Bob Wall who plays a Russian IIRC


I think so, yes. The houses looked Thai and there were a few street signs that looked like Thai script. Maybe it goes by a few different names.
It's this one:


----------



## Idris2002 (May 4, 2014)

What Kung Fu movie should I start with then, lads? I mean, as a complete novice to the genre.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 4, 2014)

Voley said:


> No this is an ice factory with a sideline in heroin. Bruce is working there and has to kick fuck out of everyone up to and including the boss and his flying alsatians.


Is that the one with the camp gay boss who dresses like a jockey?


----------



## Voley (May 4, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> What Kung Fu movie should I start with then, lads? I mean, as a complete novice to the genre.


Don't know much about them tbh but it's gotta be Enter The Dragon, I reckon.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 4, 2014)

Voley said:


> Don't know much about them tbh but it's gotta be Enter The Dragon, I reckon.



I might just do that, then. . .


----------



## Voley (May 4, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Is that the one with the camp gay boss who dresses like a jockey?


 I wish it was. That sounds ace.


----------



## Voley (May 4, 2014)

I might watch Enter The Dragon again now, too.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 4, 2014)

Idris2002 I'd go with one of the early Shaw Brothers movies something like "Clan of the White Lotus" "One Armed Boxer"  or "Master Of The Flying Guillotine"


----------



## Frances Lengel (May 4, 2014)

Idris2002 

Crystal Fist - Accept no substitutes.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 4, 2014)

Idris2002  Forgot about this


----------



## andysays (May 5, 2014)

Made for Russian TV version of Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov



12 parts, English subs, no kung fu...


----------



## Indeliblelink (May 6, 2014)

*On Borrowed Time (1939)* An Angel of Death comes for a wheelchair bound old man who is looking after his orphaned grandson, the old man traps Death up an apple tree in his garden by tricking him.
I really enjoyed this, one of those "feel good" films about death, I'm surprised it's not better known. Great performances from Lionel Barrymore as the grandfather and Cedric Hardwicke as the personification of Death.


----------



## Yetman (May 6, 2014)

Pompeii - not bad if you're into that sort of thing. John Snow in some good swordfighting scenes. Pants story. Ace volcano. 6/10.

Nebraska - very good, stubborn old bastard movie. Everyone likes a stubborn old bastard. 8/10.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 6, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> What Kung Fu movie should I start with then, lads? I mean, as a complete novice to the genre.



I'd go with the modern-ish classics.
SPL, IP Man, Kung Fu Hustle, Once Upon a Time in China, Fist of Legend...


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 6, 2014)

Idris2002 Check this out 4.38 mins one of the best one on one fights you'll ever see


----------



## The Octagon (May 7, 2014)

*Don Jon*

Not bad, Joseph Gordon Levitt directs and stars as an absolute tool who still manages to be quite likeable at times. Scarlett Johansson coos and purrs in tight dresses but isn't given much else to do (although that's kind of the point, so she plays the part well). Julianne Moore is probably the best thing in the film.

Funny at times, decently-shot (the repetition themes are quite eye-catching), but not a classic.


----------



## belboid (May 7, 2014)

Inglorious Bastards - the original.  Starts appallingly, looks almost unwatchable, but then you get used to it and its a decent bit of nonsense. Utter, utter, nonsense, but so what?

Senna - as superb as it was when it came out.  the Ratzenberger bit   At least you knew the Senna moment was coming.

The Place Beyond the Pines - I am at a loss as to why this got so well reviewed. Its crap. Three ill-fitting-together pieces, the first of which is boring and crap (why Ryan Gosling is hailed a great actor is a real mystery - oh look, he can do a blank expression!), the third is obvious kiddy crap. The second part had the potential to be interesting, but is way to short.


----------



## Grandma Death (May 7, 2014)

Three movies over three night.

Reluctant Fundamentalist-pretty good. Riz was as always really good and I quite enjoyed the story-even if it stretched it a bit far in places.

Only God Forgives-absolutely loved this. The most stylish film Ive ever seen in my life. Sure its pretty devoid of character development (although Krisitin Scott Thomas was exceptional in it)-but every frame and every shot was clearly thought out and it was sumptuous to watch.

The Place Behind The Pines-really enjoyed this. Some flat spots but a bold narrative and some great plot leaps in it. Overall though worth a watch. First and last third are the best parts of the movie


----------



## butchersapron (May 7, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> Only God Forgives-absolutely loved this. The most stylish film Ive ever seen in my life. Sure its pretty devoid of character development (although Krisitin Scott Thomas was exceptional in it)-but every frame and every shot was clearly thought out and it was sumptuous to watch.



Thought out just means thought out.


----------



## Grandma Death (May 7, 2014)

belboid said:


> The Place Beyond the Pines - I am at a loss as to why this got so well reviewed. Its crap. Three ill-fitting-together pieces, the first of which is boring and crap (why Ryan Gosling is hailed a great actor is a real mystery - oh look, he can do a blank expression!), the third is obvious kiddy crap. The second part had the potential to be interesting, but is way to short.



I really rate Gosling. He's got great screen presence-you see Half Nelson?


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 9, 2014)

Finally got around to watching it and very good it was too.
Pandaemonium (2000)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210217/


----------



## DotCommunist (May 9, 2014)

caught a few Docus's. One about the early hanoverian monarchy and how it was received in london- BBC 4. Incredibly annoying accent woman presented. Like Queenie from Blackadder.

I'm sure she can't really help that speech impediment so mean of me, but it was very distracting.

Also a look at the French Revolution through art history and its iconoclasims/dechristianising period. Robespierres grim end was mentioned.


----------



## Belushi (May 9, 2014)

*Year of the Dog* (Mike White 2007) Indie black comedy that loses its way.


----------



## rekil (May 10, 2014)

The East - A private surveillance agent is sent to spy on eco-activists (guilt ridden rich kids and what have you) but, oh dear, begins to question her loyalties. Notable for the projection of sadistic revenge fantasies, an unintentionally hilarious straitjackets and spoons scene and a highly implausible ending. I might pitch a PD fillum idea at Brit Marling for a laugh. Sundance here we come.

Burnt Money - A pair of gay gangsters in 60's Argentina botch a job and go on the run in Uruguay.. One of them has a few mental health issues. Based on a true story.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 10, 2014)

copliker said:


> The East - A private surveillance agent is sent to spy on eco-activists (guilt ridden rich kids and what have you) but, oh dear, begins to question her loyalties. Notable for the projection of sadistic revenge fantasies, an unintentionally hilarious straitjackets and spoons scene and a highly implausible ending. I might pitch a PD fillum idea at Brit Marling for a laugh. Sundance here we come.
> 
> Burnt Money - A pair of gay gangsters in 60's Argentina botch a job and go on the run in Uruguay.. One of them has a few mental health issues. Based on a true story.



Did you like The East? I downloaded it ages ago and forgot all about it. Burnt Money looks interesting.


----------



## rekil (May 10, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Did you like The East? I downloaded it ages ago and forgot all about it. Burnt Money looks interesting.


It's entertaining rubbish that rather overstates the potential of freegans and the like. Burnt Money is v.good, perhaps constrained somewhat by being based on real events.


----------



## Grandma Death (May 11, 2014)

Gravity. Watched it last night and night before. Needless to say.. Blew me away


----------



## Sirena (May 11, 2014)

I won't have Sky, so I content myself with Freeview.

I've discovered Movies4Men on Channel 48 and it has some charmingly terrible films on.

Last night there was an absolutely awful film, 'The King's Guard' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206075/) which rated 3 on Imdb and I don't think I've ever seen a film with that low a rating.  There was another one called 'SOS Pacific' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053234/) which looked like it had been shot on audio-cassette but wasn't too bad as a story.

It's raining this afternoon and I'm watching a b movie called 'Rose of Cimarron', rated 5.2 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045106/) which, I am excited to find, is a 'successful timefiller' which is 'photographed in bright colours'.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 12, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> caught a few Docus's. One about the early hanoverian monarchy and how it was received in london- BBC 4. Incredibly annoying accent woman presented. Like Queenie from Blackadder.
> 
> I'm sure she can't really help that speech impediment so mean of me, but it was very distracting.



I hope that's not Lucy Worsley you're dissing.  She's excellent if a bit jolly hockey sticks

Her series History of the Home on the changing use of rooms is worth digging up


----------



## sojourner (May 12, 2014)

The Mighty Wind



Thought it was a MUCH more sympathetic and affectionate take on the folk world than Spinal Tap was on the rock world! Really loved it.


----------



## Voley (May 12, 2014)

Prisoners. Jake Gyllenhaal as a cop investigating the disappearance of two girls. Hugh Jackmann as the increasingly desperate Dad going all vigilante. It was pretty good but nowt amazing - I couldn't see the twists coming and the acting was good but it took a while to get going and I was just about to turn it off before it got my interest. One of a few films I've seen lately that had a fair bit going for them but ultimately left me a bit cold. Probably just me out of sync with what people are into these days tbh.


----------



## inva (May 12, 2014)

Phantom Lady
1944 noirish Robert Siodmak film. A man is accused of murdering his wife and while he's awaiting execution his secretary sets out to find the mysterious woman who could prove his innocence. Not up to much really this film. There's a couple of excellent scenes (and some very odd ones) but on the whole it's fairly poor.

The Hound of the Baskervilles
This is the 1981 Russian version adapted by Igor Maslennikov as part of a TV series. I enjoyed this one - very atmospheric and a suitably sinister feel to it helped by the bleak exterior locations and gloomy interiors and really nice photography. Vasily Livonov as Holmes and Vitaly Solomin as Watson were both excellent I thought, though I don't know how they compare to other takes on those characters as I've not seen any others. I'll have to see if I can track down some more of the series.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 13, 2014)

Repo Man - The original Alex Cox one, I've always loved this movie, First time I saw it was at the Scala Cinema near Kings X Station


----------



## belboid (May 13, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> I really rate Gosling. He's got great screen presence-you see Half Nelson?


oh yeah, Half Nelson. He's fine in that.

The Bay - the Barry Levinson horror thing from a couple of years back. i think i thought it was something else when I put it ion, but it was a perfectly decent minor horror flick.


----------



## maya (May 13, 2014)

_Der Untergang_. Well, that was cheerful.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 13, 2014)

maya said:


> _Der Untergang_. Well, that was cheerful.


Leeet's paaartaaay!!!


----------



## Orang Utan (May 13, 2014)

It was sad when the dog died


----------



## maya (May 13, 2014)

After twenty minutes of lots of talking and walking around in bunker corridors I was just _waiting_ for the cnut to blow his brains out. But no, it took another two fucking hours before they got there... Cunts.

("He's changed since we came here, mein Adolf... Only talking of vegetarian health food, and those jews")

I don't buy the story that the secretary was as innocent as she claimed to be, though.


----------



## maya (May 13, 2014)

BTW it's a bit funny/fucked up that we got upset when the dog got shot, but not as much when Magda Goebbels murdered her six children... what's wrong with us?

I mean, they were brainwashed nazi clones, but they were just children... It wasn't their fault their parents were batshit nazis.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 13, 2014)

Dogs dying are sadder than children dying. Everyone knows that!

But yeah, how fucked up
I think in the film it was especially sad as it seemed so unnecessary. It wasn't going to spill the beans or owt. I dunno. Maybe they didn't want it to be used politically somehow.
Killing the kids makes more sense, if there's a logic to it.


----------



## Garek (May 14, 2014)

DL'ed and watching _Up Pompeii!
_
I am not even going to try or explain or defend this one. There is no solid ground on which I can stand.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 14, 2014)

Garek said:


> DL'ed and watching _Up Pompeii!
> _
> I am not even going to try or explain or defend this one. There is no solid ground on which I can stand.


Titter ye did not?


----------



## krtek a houby (May 14, 2014)

The Artist. I do like the old films and this was a loving hommage to them.


----------



## andysays (May 14, 2014)

Quick round up of a few films I've found on youtube recently.



Spoiler: Session 9







Psychological horror directed by Brad Anderson, 2001. A crew of asbestos removal workers, including Peter Mullan and David Caruso, come across strange goings on and spooky situations while working in an abandoned mental insitution.



Spoiler: The Clinic







2010 Australian thriller dealing within infant abduction. A young couple are driving across country. The heavily pregnant woman is kidnapped, and wakes to find that her baby has been removed by Caesarean section. She soon discovers that she's not the only one this has happened to.



Spoiler: Primer







Super low budget sci fi drama from 2004 about the accidental discovery of a means of time travel. The plot gets increasing complicated as the two engineers travel back on a number of occasions, and as trust between them breaks down, each one starts to go back alone and in secret, to re-do what they have done and counter act what the other has done.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 14, 2014)

Garek said:


> DL'ed and watching _Up Pompeii!
> _
> I am not even going to try or explain or defend this one. There is no solid ground on which I can stand.


Are you talking about the Frankie Howard one or the new one ? I remember trying blag my way into the Frankie Howard when I was at school, Got turned away


----------



## Awesome Wells (May 14, 2014)

47 Ronin; the new version which is probably blasphemous to most. But I love seeing oriental fantasy elements in films. 

bring on Donnie Yen and Chow Yun Fat in the Monkey King, when they get round to subbing and releasing it over here.


----------



## butchersapron (May 14, 2014)

You could have seen it months ago if you knew how to use the internet.


----------



## Garek (May 15, 2014)

. "jeff_leigh said:


> Are you talking about the Frankie Howard one or the new one ? I remember trying blag my way into the Frankie Howard when I was at school, Got turned away



Howard. Didn't even know there was a new one!


----------



## maya (May 15, 2014)

Rear Window. One of my favourite Hitchcock films actually... As a conceptual story, it's quite clever. It's not got a lot of running away from airplanes or action-filled climbing across the faces of Mount Rushmore or anything, but exactly because the suspense is more low key, I can relate to it. It feels a bit more plausible somehow. Subtlety, you know.

All the action takes place either in the flat of Jimmy Stewart's main character, where he looks out at the windows opposite or the back yard in between- Even when his gf goes over to the other building to investigate, we only see what's happening through the windows from the outside, a cunning visual idea. It helps build the suspense even more... Especially as they're trying to unveil a killer. Bonus points for the plot device of putting Stewart's character in a wheelchair: His character drives the action forward in that he becomes more and more careless in his hunt to confront the killer, something which [SPOILER ALERT!] inevitably comes to the attention of the killer in the end... and when danger looms, he can't move...

Love the intro in the beginning, where you see the backyard through the windows of the flat, and as the subtitles roll by the blinds go up and down... Visually it has a very modern feel to it, must've been way ahead of its time.

Conclusion: Well worth it, I'd watch it again (and I do, usually every third year or so, but wouldn't watch it every day, it ruins the suspense like...) A to A minus/B+.


----------



## Voley (May 15, 2014)

maya said:
			
		

> Rear Window. One of my favourite Hitchcock films actually... As a conceptual story, it's quite clever. It's not got a lot of running away from airplanes or action-filled climbing across the faces of Mount Rushmore or anything, but exactly because the suspense is more low key, I can relate to it. It feels a bit more plausible somehow. Subtlety, you know.
> 
> All the action takes place either in the flat of Jimmy Stewart's main character, where he looks out at the windows opposite or the back yard in between- Even when his gf goes over to the other building to investigate, we only see what's happening through the windows from the outside, a cunning visual idea. It helps build the suspense even more... Especially as they're trying to unveil a killer. Bonus points for the plot device of putting Stewart's character in a wheelchair: His character drives the action forward in that he becomes more and more careless in his hunt to confront the killer, something which [SPOILER ALERT!] inevitably comes to the attention of the killer in the end... and when danger looms, he can't move...
> 
> ...



I love that film. Must watch it again soon. I like all the incidental dramas going on in all the other rooms he's spying on. Haven't seen all of Hitchcock's stuff but this and Psycho are my favourites.


----------



## purenarcotic (May 15, 2014)

I love Rear Window, it's a great film.  Grace Kelly is wonderful (but then I think she could have stood in a paper bag doing nothing and she'd be wonderful).


----------



## Buddy Bradley (May 15, 2014)

Just watched Sleepwalk With Me, an indie dark comedy written, directed by and starring a guy who has shown up as a supporting character on a few sitcoms; it's about a struggling standup comedian with a sleepwalking problem and a relationship that's moving too fast for him. It was pretty good - not too predictable, engaging, and some laugh-out-loud jokes.


----------



## maya (May 15, 2014)

purenarcotic said:


> I love Rear Window, it's a great film.  Grace Kelly is wonderful (but then I think she could have stood in a paper bag doing nothing and she'd be wonderful).


Wow, was that Grace Kelly? Just to think I'd watched this film so many times, yet still didn't know... (Then again, it was only when watching it yesterday that I spotted the Hitchcock cameo scene! It's 



Spoiler



in the pianist/composer's flat, he's winding up an old clock...)


----------



## purenarcotic (May 15, 2014)

maya said:


> Wow, was that Grace Kelly? Just to think I'd watched this film so many times, yet still didn't know... (Then again, it was only when watching it yesterday that I spotted the Hitchcock cameo scene! It's
> 
> 
> 
> ...



She's in quite a few of his.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 16, 2014)

purenarcotic said:


> She's in quite a few of his.


Well, three!


----------



## redsquirrel (May 16, 2014)

Voley said:


> I love that film. Must watch it again soon. I like all the incidental dramas going on in all the other rooms he's spying on. Haven't seen all of Hitchcock's stuff but this and Psycho are my favourites.


Yeah, what makes it so _so_ great for me is that Hitchcock balances the comic elements, thriller elements, incidental dramas and  romantic elements perfectly, none overpowers any of the others.


----------



## maya (May 16, 2014)

Coincidentally, the new biopic about Grace Kelly featuring Nicole Kidman is so shit it becomes involuntarily funny... She should never have had that botox forehead thing (Nicole, not Grace just to clarify). She can hardly make any facial expressions anymore, she looks perpetually surprised. Way, way back before she had all that surgery and ting she was actually a pretty decent actress- "To Die For"(1995) was spot on and very funny (plus featuring a young Joaquin Phoenix!). No idea what attracted ms. Kelly to the jet set prince of a former pirate city state, but at least he didn't lack money... And I guess they didn't lack casinos or fun parties either. Bling bling!


----------



## purenarcotic (May 16, 2014)

I don't rate Kidman as an actor tbh.


----------



## maya (May 16, 2014)

purenarcotic said:


> I don't rate Kidman as an actor tbh.


when i said "pretty decent", i meant okay-ish, not the greatest in the world tbf, so i agree with you- but also as in "then again not the worst in the world either"... i can think of worse ones. winona ryder, for example.


----------



## purenarcotic (May 16, 2014)

maya said:


> when i said "pretty decent", i meant okay-ish, not the greatest in the world tbf, so i agree with you- but also as in "then again not the worst in the world either"... i can think of worse ones. winona ryder, for example.



Very true.  And now I think about it, in Dogville Kidman was actually not bad.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 16, 2014)

The first thing I saw her in was an Oz mini-series about Vietnam. She was less than convincing as a schoolgirl in the first episode, but was able to grow into the role. She wasn't the greatest, but not that bad either, IYSWIM.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 16, 2014)

She's brilliant in To Die For and Malice.
And BMX Bandits.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> She's brilliant in To Die For and Malice.
> And BMX Bandits.


She's also very good in _Birth_ and perfectly good in _Dead Calm_.


----------



## Welsh lad (May 17, 2014)

Once Were Warriors - 10/10. A very upsetting film but asked a lot of questions, something I like from any film.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 17, 2014)

I watched The Damned United. Not a big football fan but this was more a biopic told through the game iyswim. Really good if a bit laden with brit flick schmaltz at some points.

Chief O'brian from Star Trek plays the rival manager


----------



## DexterTCN (May 18, 2014)

Welsh lad said:


> Once Were Warriors - 10/10. A very upsetting film but asked a lot of questions, something I like from any film.


There is a follow-up which is quite good.  Can't remember what it's called.

Last night I watched Goodfellas again, as I go through Scorsese's work.  Still brilliant.


----------



## Garek (May 18, 2014)

Might be watching _Come and See _later. Is it any good?


----------



## maya (May 18, 2014)

I went to a private screening recently and they showed this very interestig documentary, by a scandi filmmaker I believe... It's about Ryuichi, a 44-year old japanese man who works as an actor and problemsolver, basically his business idea is 'rent a fake relative' to people without families or with the need for a stand-in (one girl needs her father's permission to move in with her boyfriend before marriage for instance, she knows her real dad would never consent to such a thing, so in the solemn meeting at a restaurant where she brings her boyfriend to meet her "father", the father is in fact Ryuichi! Also, at a wedding the bride's entire entourage are extras hired from Ryuichi's firm.)

First you feel a bit sorry for the desperate people who are in need of such a service, then as the film explores mr. Ryuichi's private life a bit more I felt more sorry for him: His marriage is in a mess, his wife have chucked him out of their bedroom where she now sleeps with their oldest son, having exiled him to a mattress in the son's bedroom for over four years, the family barely talk or spend time together, he spends more time out on his private affairs than with his kids and wife, at dinner he just watches tv while sat at the table with his family, his family doesn't know about his acting business or what he does for a living and things are tense, he seems like a very unhappy man... You feel sorry both for his famliy and for him, he's just as unhappy as the people he works for... I was intrigued by this extremely intricate and alien world, where reputation seems to be everything and losing face or exposing yourself doesn't seem to be a valid option...

I'd love to watch this again (especially as I spent a lot of the time twitching nervously, hiding my face in my hands, as some of the situations were so uncomfortable to watch- the time where some of the extras in the wedding stutter and give the wrong fake name when presenting themselves, for instance... it's painful to watch.)


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 19, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched The Damned United. Not a big football fan but this was more a biopic told through the game iyswim. Really good if a bit laden with brit flick schmaltz at some points.
> 
> Chief O'brian from Star Trek plays the rival manager


I've got the book on my to read list, Comes highly recommended


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 19, 2014)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Didn't have a clue what was going on  Had an easier time watching David Lynch movies


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 19, 2014)

Garek said:


> Might be watching _Come and See _later. Is it any good?


Laugh-a-minute


----------



## andysays (May 19, 2014)

Spoiler: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) 








A classic, obviously


----------



## butchersapron (May 19, 2014)

Garek said:


> Might be watching _Come and See _later. Is it any good?


It's alright, i suppose.


----------



## andysays (May 19, 2014)

Also available on youtube



Spoiler: For a Few Dollars More










Spoiler: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly


----------



## marty21 (May 19, 2014)

I've been watching Alpha House on Amazon Prime (previously known as Lovefilm)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_House

quite enjoying it - good cast - centres around 4 senators who house share - they are republican senators ( boo - hiss ,etc) and it's about life on the hill, campaigning, ethics committees, sex, drugs , money - written by Gary Trudeau - who created Doonesbury the strip cartoon in the Guardian and elsewhere


----------



## trabuquera (May 19, 2014)

Come and See is a towering masterpiece of a film - and also one of the most the most depressing and scarifying experiences life has to offer. So there's that. 
(personal opinion: this may be the finest war movie ever made.)

I watched BETTER MUS COME - a 2013 Jamaican movie looking at the inter-party violence of the late 70s. Should have been fascinating but it wasn't really ... very low budget, very wooden script, looks cheap and videoey in places and (bizarrely) even the soundtrack wasn't that good. Taps back into a lot of those Western-style archetypes (men with hats, posses, runaway fugitives) you'll already know from Harder They Come etc. Still glad I saw it, some intriguing dialogue and background on the warfare between "garrison constituencies" etc.


----------



## butchersapron (May 19, 2014)

marty21 said:


> I've been watching Alpha House on Amazon Prime (previously known as Lovefilm)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_House
> 
> quite enjoying it - good cast - centres around 4 senators who house share - they are republican senators ( boo - hiss ,etc) and it's about life on the hill, campaigning, ethics committees, sex, drugs , money - written by Gary Trudeau - who created Doonesbury the strip cartoon in the Guardian and elsewhere


Jon Belushi in a toga - genuius.


----------



## Garek (May 19, 2014)

_Come and See - _got just over an hour in. German cleansing of a village is probably one of the most horrifying bits of cinema i have ever seen, a cacophony of noise, with pacing and elements of surrealism that make the whole thing feel frantic and insane. 

Extraordinary film.


----------



## joustmaster (May 19, 2014)

i watched 12 Angry Men, the other day. It was great. I can't believe its taken me this long to get round to watching it


----------



## marty21 (May 19, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Jon Belushi in a toga - genuius.


 the house isn't as much fun as Animal House tbf


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 19, 2014)

The Parallax View - These old 70's movies are still fantastic, Also watched The French Connection the other night


----------



## DexterTCN (May 20, 2014)

A Field in England.  A 17th century treasure hunt in a magic field of mushrooms.  Crazy stuff, well shot and acted.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 20, 2014)

Silver Linings Playbook - two dysfunctional nutters dance themselves sane. Happy ever after. Yuck.


----------



## nicedream (May 20, 2014)

I Am Slave


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 22, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Silver Linings Playbook - two dysfunctional nutters dance themselves sane. Happy ever after. Yuck.



A guilty pleasure of mine last year, i liked it but wouldn't want to watch it again unless i was with a lady friend and she insisted.


----------



## nicedream (May 22, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> A guilty pleasure of mine last year, i liked it but wouldn't want to watch it again unless i was with a lady friend and she insisted.



I read the book, but i dont think i could sit through the film.


----------



## The Octagon (May 23, 2014)

_Spring Breakers_

Erm, I'm still not sure whether it was any good or not 

Franco was very watchable and the whole thing was enjoyably sleazy (a la Wild Things), but overall it was a bit throwaway.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 23, 2014)

Rabbit-Proof Fence - Got a bit a grit in my eye  But seriously I'd recommend this movie to anyone, You'd have to be a cold hearted bastard not to feel anything


----------



## Idris2002 (May 23, 2014)

First episode of this documentary series on Canadian history:


----------



## Betsy (May 23, 2014)

jeff_leigh said:


> Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Didn't have a clue what was going on  Had an easier time watching David Lynch movies


 I started watching it on TV a while ago when it was repeated (the TV series with Alec Guinness) and then got the DVD with Gary Oldman - again started to watch it but it just didn't hold my attention! 

Obviously not for me.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 23, 2014)

Bullitt - Steve McQueen the ultimate cool guy


----------



## Belushi (May 23, 2014)

Garek said:


> Might be watching _Come and See _later. Is it any good?



One of the greatest films ever made, and one of the most harrowing.


----------



## Belushi (May 23, 2014)

jeff_leigh said:


> The Parallax View - These old 70's movies are still fantastic, Also watched The French Connection the other night



I love the French Connection films. Gene Hackman is going to be my role model as I enter middle age


----------



## DexterTCN (May 24, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> A guilty pleasure of mine last year, i liked it but wouldn't want to watch it again unless i was with a lady friend and she insisted.


I hate rom-coms but SLP is a brilliant film.  It's awesometacular.


----------



## starfish (May 24, 2014)

47 Ronin, was alright if you like that sort of thing.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 24, 2014)

Belushi said:


> I love the French Connection films. Gene Hackman is going to be my role model as I enter middle age



I can definitely picture you picking your feet in Poughkeepsie as an old man


----------



## Voley (May 24, 2014)

Belushi said:
			
		

> I love the French Connection films. Gene Hackman is going to be my role model as I enter middle age



I have to watch both in one sitting. I do this roughly once a year. Get a bottle of something decent in and start early. It's fucking great. And I've just decided that's what I'm doing tomorrow night.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 25, 2014)

American Splendor - Forgot how good this movie is Paul Giamatti really nails it


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 25, 2014)

ringo said:


> The remake of Brighton Rock. Not as good as the original and deviated from the book a bit much. Some of the resetting into the 60's went too far into the standard Brighton cliches and detracted from the story. 5/10.


Difficult to disagree with that summary!

I read an interview with the director, Rowan Joffé:



> The novel was worthy of a contemporary adaptation. In fact, it makes it almost more dutiful as a filmmaker if you love the novel, to bring it to life without the restriction of censorship.
> 
> I mean, a lot of the Catholicism was cut out of the original film because they didn’t want to offend Catholics…. there are aspects of the film where if critics were to be honest about, and few of them have been certainly in England, that the 1947 version is a rather tame adaptation and certainly fails to do justice to the character of Rose, because the original black and white was made is a period where we were culturally and politically very patronising to women.



Erm, well, let's skate over how he thinks he's better than Graham Greene, Terence Rattigan and the Boulting Brothers - and yes, there were elements and themes from the book which were much diluted by the time the film came out. But I can't see how the 2010 version is more ‘authentic’ or closer to the text of the book than the 1947 one. Joffé simply doesn't get to grips with the issue of Catholicism as it related to the original story, set as it was in the 1930s, or make it understandable to an audience in the 2010s - not least because by relocating it to the 1960s, it's just not got the same potency.

And how is conflating Ida - a likeable barfly with a moral code in both the book and the 1947 film - with Rose's respectable tea rooms manager in any way a good idea? Or for that matter making newspaperman Hale into a gangster in Colleoni's mob who also already knows Ida? Or - if you are going to have Ida being an old friend of Hale - making her so oblivious to local gangsters, up until she starts nosing around?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 26, 2014)

Dom Hemingway - stupid rubbish


----------



## Idris2002 (May 26, 2014)

Inside Llewelyn Davies.

Coen Bro's story of the early 60s Noo Yawk folk scene. Really, really, good, would recommend it to anyone.


----------



## Voley (May 26, 2014)

The Selfish Giant. Really good, very powerful, the two kids in it were brilliant but fuck me it was bleak. Had to put Requiem For A Dream on after to cheer myself up.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 26, 2014)

Voley said:


> ....Had to put Requiem For A Dream on after to cheer myself up.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 26, 2014)

Voley said:


> The Selfish Giant. Really good, very powerful, the two kids in it were brilliant but fuck me it was bleak. Had to put Requiem For A Dream on after to cheer myself up.


Thanks I'll put this on my list


----------



## Grandma Death (May 26, 2014)

So in last three days. Filth. Which I quite liked. Its as shocking as the book and I thought James McAvoy was outstanding in it. Tonight |Ive watched 12 Years A Slave. Brilliant-Steve McQueen is a brilliant director and his collaborations with Fassbender are oustanding


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 27, 2014)

The Last Picture Show - Brilliant coming of age movie


----------



## Thraex (May 28, 2014)

Voley said:


> The Selfish Giant. Really good, very powerful, the two kids in it were brilliant but fuck me it was bleak. Had to put Requiem For A Dream on after to cheer myself up.


 
My comment when it finished was "Well, that was fuckin' dour". Agree with your appraisal.

After completing: Breaking Bad, The Wire, Orange is the New Black, True Detective, House of Cards (American version) gf and I are now working our way through The Sopranos. I'm currently watching Vikings whilst she's doing Fargo. The odd film does get thrown in, too.


----------



## SpookyFrank (May 29, 2014)

Voley said:


> Had to put Requiem For A Dream on after to cheer myself up.



The first time I watched that I went to a house party straight afterwards. A couple of hours later I was curled up on the flagstones in the back yard crying.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 29, 2014)

Infernal Affairs.   Really enjoyable and quite restrained.   Need to watch the prequel now.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 29, 2014)

Invictus (2009)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/

I loved it. Great performances from Morgan Freeman & Matt Damon.


----------



## jeff_leigh (May 30, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Infernal Affairs.   Really enjoyable and quite restrained.   Need to watch the prequel now.


Is Infernal Affairs 2 the preque IIRC ?


----------



## DexterTCN (May 30, 2014)

jeff_leigh said:


> Is Infernal Affairs 2 the preque IIRC ?


Yes.  I think it's different main actors but the story weaves well.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 30, 2014)

I watched three films. Well, two and a half. The first one was 'I, frankenstein'

absolute shit, start to finish gorgonzola. Good enough CGI. A modern day Frankensteins monster fights demons alongside his Gargoyle friends in order to stop the Demon prince. ETC 


3 days To kill:

a CIA man is diagnosed with terminal cancer so accepts one last job to lay enough p's to keep his family secure when he is gone. Some great action scenes. Some woeful filler bits.

Last House on The Left: I was expecting a fairly average slasher/horror type thing but this was fucking grim and dark and I sacked it off halfway through cos it was grubby.


----------



## Yetman (May 30, 2014)

About Time

Well this was nice  a bit posh and plummy but as with all time travel films, lots of things that don't make sense but a decent story and some very heartwarming bits. Good one for a night in with the mrs.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/


----------



## inva (Jun 4, 2014)

The Silence
2010 German crime film directed by Baran bo Odar. A girl disappears in a way that seems like a repeat of a murder that took place 23 years ago at the same spot. Police investigate and the past comes back to haunt people etc. Could have been a very good film but it was let down mainly by trying to do too much I think. It felt like one of those Scandinavian crime tv series crammed into the running time of a film and it ended up seeming more cluttered than complex.


----------



## Supine (Jun 5, 2014)

Tracks. Lovely film about a woman who walked across Australia with camels.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 5, 2014)

Elysium - starts off promising enough - loved the polite but oppressive RoboCops. But Elysium looks like Benidorm in space and it all ends up in a big boring standard fight sequence.
Sharlto Copley is great though.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 5, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Sharlto Copley is great though.



Brilliant isn't he?! I hate seeing him do films with an American accent now he's more popular, doesn't sound right


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 5, 2014)

starfish said:


> 47 Ronin, was alright if you like that sort of thing.



nearly all of London's chinese population was in that (mainlyt as extras)!
i unfortunately had to start work but showed up for my costume fitting as a wanky demon samauri.

the film was shite btw - what the fuck were they thinking?


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 5, 2014)

Drive

 It was quite noir which I wasn't expecting.  It took me a while to get into it but ultimately it's well worth a look. Won't watch it again though


----------



## killer b (Jun 5, 2014)

Saw this awesome spaghetti western tonight, Orson Welles was magnificent in it. Everyone was tbf. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063679/


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 6, 2014)

'If it bleeds we can kill it'

Making of the film Predator. Lots of fun. Never knew the tobacco chewing marine was an actually ex navy SEAL

and the bloke in the predator suit was HUGE


----------



## magneze (Jun 6, 2014)

Avengers Assemble
Enjoyable superhero nonsense. Captain America is still the worst superhero of all time though.


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2014)

magneze said:


> Captain America is still the worst superhero of all time though.


pah, the Captain has nothing on the Great Lakes Avengers' _Squirrel Girl_







GLA also brought us the amazing Leather Boy, tho he wasn't allowed to join for some reason...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 6, 2014)

hows this for a villain:


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 6, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> 'If it bleeds we can kill it'
> 
> Making of the film Predator. Lots of fun. Never knew the tobacco chewing marine was an actually ex navy SEAL
> 
> and the bloke in the predator suit was HUGE


Isn't Predator also notable cos quite a few cast members ended up as politicians?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 6, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Isn't Predator also notable cos quite a few cast members ended up as politicians?




the docu was quite dated- only 15 years after the release of pred, so no mention of that.. Who other than arnie?


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2014)

not sure if two and a half (Billy ran a couple of times for the Libertarian Party) really counts as quite a few

Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura is the other


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 6, 2014)

belboid said:


> not sure if two and a half (Billy ran a couple of times for the Libertarian Party) really counts as quite a few


 
I think three is a good proportion!
More than most anyway!
Two Governors is certainly notable.


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2014)

I must try and think of a film that has more, there must be something


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 6, 2014)

belboid said:


> I must try and think of a film that has more, there must be something


Now there's a challenge. You're not allowed documentaries, of course.


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2014)

two Labour MP's were in The Music Lovers, several (as well as some mere candidates) have been in Doctor who


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Now there's a challenge. You're not allowed documentaries, of course.


or appearances 'as themselves'


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 6, 2014)

belboid said:


> or appearances 'as themselves'


Aye. There's probably quite a few obscure politicians who have acted in films.
Like Ronald Reagan.

And don't forget Gerald Ford in Beverly Hills Cop


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 6, 2014)

belboid said:


> two Labour MP's were in The Music Lovers, several (as well as some mere candidates) have been in Doctor who


Glenda and ?
Who's been in Dr Who? Recently?


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2014)

Reagan was in That Hagen Girl with Shirley Temple. Can't see a third in there tho.

The Labour guy was called Andrew Faulds - he was actually a Labour MP when he made Music Lovers (and then The Devils and a bunch more Ken's). He was the guy who beat the man who ran the 'if you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour' campaign in Smethwick, and he was denied cabinet office because of his support for Palestine (well, either that or those Ken Russel films).

He was also in Doctor Who, as was Michael Cashman, Cheryl Hall (Labour leader in Kent council) and some UKIP twat. Cheryl was Wolfie's girlfriend in Citizen Smith.


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2014)

just realised that The Music Lovers was also written by Melvyn Bragg, Baron of Wigton, who sits in the House of Lords as a Labour peer.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 6, 2014)

rubbershoes said:


> Drive
> 
> It was quite noir which I wasn't expecting.  It took me a while to get into it but ultimately it's well worth a look. Won't watch it again though


??

It's not noir.  It's funny with awesome action.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 6, 2014)

Pacific Rim.

Utter nonsense, totally brilliant.  

Rips off everything ever made...does them all better.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 6, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> ??
> 
> It's not noir.  It's funny with awesome action.




Not that Drive. The modern one with Ryan Goslng


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 6, 2014)

rubbershoes said:


> Not that Drive. The modern one with Ryan Goslng


Sorry, I thought you meant the good one.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jun 7, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Sorry, I thought you meant the good one.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jun 7, 2014)

Martha Marcy May Marlene.  Brilliant film, probably_ will_ bother with the extras on the blu-ray.


----------



## Supine (Jun 7, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Pacific Rim.
> 
> Utter nonsense, totally brilliant.
> 
> Rips off everything ever made...does them all better.



Have you sobered up yet?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 7, 2014)

Supine said:


> Have you sobered up yet?


How dare you.


----------



## Garek (Jun 9, 2014)

_Devil's Advocate
_
Actually not a bad film, so long as you don't try and view it as it would like to be seen. I think it tries to be like its contemporary _Seven_, but comes no where close. A lot of _Rosemary's Baby _in there to. Al Pacino is gloriously hammy. Keanu Reeves gives a fine display of his acting talent and thankfully no less.

It's almost like someone tried to make a serious '60s/'70s horror movie, like _The Omen _or the aforementioned _Rosemary's Baby,_ for the nineties.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jun 9, 2014)

Orange is the new black - second series. Mint. I really liked tasty's family background - that _is_ how it is - Drug dealers are nice people as well.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jun 9, 2014)

Silence of the Lambs. Lame.


----------



## Ponyutd (Jun 9, 2014)

3 days to kill. I got up and walked out....and I was watching it at home. Luc Beeson, hang your head in shame.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 9, 2014)

killer b said:


> Saw this awesome spaghetti western tonight, Orson Welles was magnificent in it. Everyone was tbf.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063679/


Hmm looks good, I'll have to check that out.

Violent Saturday - Colour film noir set around the robbery of a bank in a small town on a Saturday Morning, but the violence is from plenty of others besides the bank robbers. It's nicely sleazy (for 1955) though it does cop out a bit at the end by having the "fallen woman" killed off. Still worth seeing though looks great and has Ernest Borgnine playing an Amish Farmer.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 9, 2014)

belboid said:


> I must try and think of a film that has more, there must be something


Something starring Reagan? EDIT as OU has pointed out.


----------



## killer b (Jun 9, 2014)

last night I watched this 90 minute interview with Genesis P Orridge. It's not always possible to separate the truth from the self aggrandisement, but I don't suppose that matters much. 

http://ubu.com/film/oursler_p-orridge.html

going to have to track down the other interviews in the series, it looks incredible... John Cale, Thurston Moore, Dan Graham, Kim Gordon, Glenn Branca, Laurie Anderson, Tony Conrad, David Byrne, Lydia Lunch, Alan Vega, and Arto Lindsay.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 9, 2014)

300 sequel - another example of an action movie that's boring - utterly uninspired.

Occulus - recommend, thoroughly enjoyed.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jun 9, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> hows this for a villain:



I don't know what to take away from that post. Something about it just doesn't add up.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 9, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> I don't know what to take away from that post. Something about it just doesn't add up.



Looks like a bunch of dancing lumberjacks.

I blame it on the logger rhythms.


----------



## belboid (Jun 9, 2014)

Peep Show - Series 1. Very, very funny right from the start. Johnson, oh Johnson.

Sgt Bilko - disc 2 of my 50th anniversary box set. Also still very, very funny from the start.

Paths of Glory. Not funny in the slightest. Fucking ace tho.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 10, 2014)

Holiday.

Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant.

Grant is a self-made business type who falls for the sister of blue-blood Katherine Hepburn. He and Hepburn hate each other from the get-go, which naturally means that. . . well, you can guess the rest.

A really nice bit of work, with the scriptwriter slipping in a bit of pro-New Deal and antifascist propaganda into the flick.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 10, 2014)

BLUE STEEL - early Kathryn Bigelow thriller with Jamie Lee Curtis (yes really) as a rookie cop possibly too in love with her gun and Ron Silver as a psychotic stockmarket broker (is there any other kind?) who's possibly far too much in love with her. It's amazing to realise it was made as late as 1989 ... everybody smokes ALL THE TIME, some of the dialogue is ripely sexist in that good old bantery 1970s way, it absolutely feels like something from the late 60s or early 70s. Visually smart, with a terrific soundtrack and some nicely knotty and uncomfortable moments in the script (just how aggressive is Curtis's character - is she too just another psycho with a gun? and how much is she repeating patterns of family violence?). It's also surprisingly graphic about both sex and violence. Not a 100% lost classic but definitely smarter and spikier than the average cop revenge rampage.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 10, 2014)

Occulus - there's not much in the way of decent new horror movies. This was alright but not anything special. Bit boring really.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 10, 2014)

All the Sounds of the Sea - a grindingly slow and utterly boring film about italian-hungaro human traffiking and individual conscience and all that boring shit.

Battle of Okinawa  - old fashioned (because old) Japanese film - looks rather odd to me for a number of reasons. Broad humour laced with hideous scenes (300 women killing themselves and their children with hand grenades and throat slitting and banging their heads on rocks next to a barber messing about with his cutthroat razor for example). Director has a serious record - including the fantastic Sword of Doom.

City of Life and Death - i probably only need say Nanking plot wise here. A serious non-exploitation. Very well done, but let down by some bad acting on the part of the red cross types.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 10, 2014)

How I Won the War.



Or, 'Why Officers Should be Shot'. An intensely bitter and angry attack on all things HM Forces. likesfish and others will find it all depressingly familiar.

Also stars John Lennon as a Mosley fan.

E2A: Did I mention it was a comedy?


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 10, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> let down by some bad acting on the part of the red cross types.



Like in real life, then?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 10, 2014)

300: Rise of an Empire

Cersie Lannister is in it. It's basically 300 with naval battles and slightly less racism. Still very blood and soil.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jun 10, 2014)

OK so Ive uninstalled all social media from my phone in order to reconnect with the world and cleanse myself of shite-so consequently I appear to have loads of time on my hands...so over the last six nights Ive watched the complete series 2 of Top Boy. Series 1 I loved-and I thought this had the same gritty feel as the first one but it did stretch it a little with the amount of killings in it-if that had happened on any other estate there'd have been police crawling everywhere. That aside enjoyable.

I also watched Before Sunset, Sunrise and Midnight over three of those nights. I loved them personally-the complete spectrum of love in all of its glory and Delpy is simply magnificent in it.

Wolf of Wall Street-yeah Scorsese by numbers but still watchable. Its a debauched film but really enjoyed it even if the subject matter wasnt an easy watch. One criticism was the frequency of sex scenes/drug taking. Im not prude but I think the message couldve easily been conveyed without the need for so many of the scenes. Overlong too.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 11, 2014)

CONAN THE BARBARIAN the 2011 remake. Big, dumb, violent, sexist (that's the movie, not the hero) ... and tremendous fun. Jason Momoa aka Khal Drogo does a decent job filling Ahnie's loincloth, the production design is fabulous, Ron Perlman has magnificent ringlets for a warlord and Rose McGowan camps it up a storm as evil princess type with some breathtakingly evil hairdos and unibrow eyeliner everywhere. It's much bloodier but not quite as fascist as the original comic  and film. (nowhere near as nazified as 300 for instance.) There would be far worse ways to waste a couple of hours.


----------



## Garek (Jun 11, 2014)

_Silence of the Lambs
_
I'd forgotten just how classy, well paced and understated this film was. Truly superb.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 12, 2014)

The Monuments Men.

George Clooney helmed thing about the US army unit that scoured wartime Europe for art treasures looted by the Nazis.

Not that bad really, but proof that the Yanks regard the war as a jolly adventure their grandparents went on, rather than an horrific catastrophe.

Cate Blanchett is the French love interest.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 13, 2014)

Wolf of Wall Street - It gave me a headache.


----------



## Supine (Jun 13, 2014)

Louie Series 4

Less of the standup and more of the surrealist drama. It really is very good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 14, 2014)

Desolation of Smaug.   A bit rubbish, really - but it's set at a younger market I assume.

There was one cool bit when someone was launched up from a boat and had their head chopped off.  Legolas is a bit chubby.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jun 14, 2014)

Yetman said:


> Occulus - there's not much in the way of decent new horror movies. This was alright but not anything special. Bit boring really.


Watched this last night, thought it was okay, nothing special like, but really reminded me of an old hammer horror involving a black framed mirror and the shining.


----------



## tufty79 (Jun 14, 2014)

Frances Lengel said:


> Orange is the new black - second series. Mint. I really liked tasty's family background - that _is_ how it is - Drug dealers are nice people as well.


cheers frances - didn't realise it was out yet . that's my weekend's braindistraction sorted


----------



## Kanda (Jun 14, 2014)

Suits, I forgot the second half of season 3 came out. Season 4 just starting


----------



## inva (Jun 14, 2014)

The Edge of the World
1937 Michael Powell film made about the evacuation of the last human inhabitants of the island of Hirta in the Outer Hebrides. A great film that very powerfully captures its harsh and isolated location in a portrayal of a community whose way of life is becoming impossible.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 15, 2014)

Inception.  Seen it twice before but the youngest is going on holiday so we got a take-away and re-watched it the night before she went.

I fucking love this movie, it pretty much has everything.  Acting par excellence, action on par with (or better than?) the Matrix, subtexts, a perfectly complimentary soundtrack, well-timed comedy, a splash of horror-tinged psychopathy.  And it's wonderfully made, I mean top, top quality direction. 

This film came out the same year as Kick-Ass, Black Swan and Easy A.   It's probably better than them all together.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jun 16, 2014)

Freight. Not bad.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1376404/


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 16, 2014)

Episode 13 of a documentary series on Canadian history:



There's 17 films in this series, all on youtube. This one deals with the 1930s, which were unusually bad in Canada. And even before the days of the crack-smoking mayor, it looks like Canada had some very peculiar people indeed involved in its politics.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 16, 2014)

Joe - Nicholas Cage plays the part of a struggling to hold down a straight lifestyle kinda guy while taking a kid under his wing while the kids dad is an absolute prick. Great film 

300 Rise of an Empire - The sea battles were cool, story not as good as the previous one but a jolly enough action history jaunt for a Sunday evening.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 16, 2014)

Dallas Buyers Club

Really good film.  Great central performances though more could have been made of  Jennifer Garner's character


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jun 16, 2014)

The Devil Strikes at Night [_Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam_](1957) - German drama based on the serial killer Bruno Ludke who killed at least 50 people until caught in 1943, the Nazis then tried to hush it up as they didn't want their police force to seem inadequate plus they didn't like the fact he wasnt a a foreigner or Jew. Good film but it seems in real life the evidence against Ludke was pretty flimsy.


----------



## magneze (Jun 16, 2014)

Serenity
Spin off film from Whedon's Firefly series. Actually better than the series and I think would work as a pretty decent film on it's own, although seeing the series before certainly helps.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jun 16, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> ...
> I also watched Before Sunset, Sunrise and Midnight over three of those nights. I loved them personally-the complete spectrum of love in all of its glory and Delpy is simply magnificent in it...



Might watch those. They sound right up my piscean street.


----------



## Ranbay (Jun 16, 2014)

Just insane.... no other words for it.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jun 17, 2014)

I ended up watching and enjoying _Before Sunset_ after it was mentioned by Grandma Death. I thought I'd like it, and I really did. Already got _Before Sunrise_ ready to watch tonight.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 17, 2014)

Cuban Fury - pretty good, a few funny bits in it. Cheesy in places, excellent face on Simon Pegg in his blink and you'll miss it cameo. Olivia Colman is excellent as usual.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jun 17, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> I ended up watching and enjoying _Before Sunset_ after it was mentioned by Grandma Death. I thought I'd like it, and I really did. Already got _Before Sunrise_ ready to watch tonight.


Did you watch it after?


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jun 17, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> Did you watch it after?


Going to watch it tomorrow, football wins tonight.


----------



## D'wards (Jun 19, 2014)

Edge of Tomorrow - very good I thought. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you stop and think about it, but its very fast paced, so you don't stop and think about it


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 19, 2014)

*Let the fire burn.

* What a great documentary.  MOVE were behaving like complete pricks but that doesn't even begin to justify what happened.

Everyone should watch this


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 20, 2014)

Confessions of a Police Captain - brilliant bleak cynical fiercely political _poliziotteschi_ from Damiano Damiani ( A Bullet for the General and other excellent hard morally tinged political films) - the usual mafia/politicians/murder/state/law links and cover ups - but done in an incredibly talky way. This is not like the other Italian crime dramas of that period. Two great performances from Franco Nero and esp Martin Balsam and with a juddering great poke in the chest at the audience/society at the end.

Wolves, Pigs & Men - an early one (64) from Kinji Fukasaku, an odd heist type film with social commentary terrible acting and a tendency for the cast to burst into song. Fantastic scene setting opening but beyond that, can't really recommend it.


----------



## Kuso (Jun 23, 2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1430612/

Brick Mansions.  Essentially District 13 but in Detroit, almost the same cast, exact same plot, same parkour etc etc.  The only thing that didn't make it a complete waste of time was hearing RZA say "cash rules everything around me".  Actually, on second thoughts... nah, just a complete waste of time!


----------



## Todd (Jun 23, 2014)

You guys ever spend "a lot" of time watching movies on an iPad? My wife is consumed. I don't get it. I have a 55" TV!!  Hmm... maybe she just doesn't want to be in the same room with me


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 25, 2014)

Elite Squad 2.



Lt.Colonel Nascimento believes that fascistic displays of murderous force are the best way to keep Rio de Janeiro's favelas in line. Little does he know that among his political bosses, _all is not as it seems. _Yes, it's the old story of the man who learned better.

Not as good as the first movie, but with better politics I think. butchersapron, did you see this one?


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jun 25, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> Did you watch it after?



I watched Before Sunset, and really liked it. Was very short and it flew by though....


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 25, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Elite Squad 2.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yep, this is what i wrote on here at the time:

Elite Squad 2 - blistering follow up to...elite squad. Development of the themes of the first, but this time looking at the intersection between political and police corruption. I somehow doubt those muppets who mistook the first films angry rejection of flabby context-free social liberalism for an endorsement of fascism will be making the same stupid mistake this time. Highly recommended.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 25, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Yep, this is what i wrote on here at the time:
> 
> Elite Squad 2 - blistering follow up to...elite squad. Development of the themes of the first, but this time looking at the intersection between political and police corruption. I somehow doubt those muppets who mistook the first films angry rejection of flabby context-free social liberalism for an endorsement of fascism will be making the same stupid mistake this time. Highly recommended.



I watched that documentary about Ayrton Senna a wee while ago. . . and made the mistake of mentioning it to a Brazilian colleague. "AYRTON SENNA? AYRTON FUKCING SENNA? THAT FUCKING POSH WANKER?" was his response. Context is everything, in Brazil as elsewhere.


----------



## magneze (Jun 25, 2014)

Interesting. I thought Elite Squad 2 was better than the first. I did see them in the wrong order though.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 25, 2014)

The Iceman - enjoyable if routine, but interesting enough to make me want to google about tyhe subject matter, about an alleged hitman/serial killer.


----------



## Awesome Wells (Jun 25, 2014)

Donnie Yen as sun wukong in what might be described as the prequel to Journey to the West - The Monkey King - was very entertaining. Normally he comes across as very serious in his arse kicking, but this was very etnertaining. Pure fantasy and folklore. I liked the effects, pedants won't.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 25, 2014)

Polytechnique  - a recreation of the montreal masscare - another misogynist mass killing, so similar to the Eliiot Rogers justifications that it's quite scary, (This happened in 1989). Film directed by Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Enemy, and that other one...Prisoner). Very well made all round - just not really sure what the point was. As apparently the distributors weren't either so it wasn't really shown. Clear that DV is a very capable and mature director though.

Seventh Code - daft shaggy dog story from the usually reliable Kiyoshi Kurosawa, though far from his normal fare of creepy ass shit. Bit of fluff really.


----------



## D'wards (Jun 25, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> I watched that documentary about Ayrton Senna a wee while ago. . . and made the mistake of mentioning it to a Brazilian colleague. "AYRTON SENNA? AYRTON FUKCING SENNA? THAT FUCKING POSH WANKER?" was his response. Context is everything, in Brazil as elsewhere.


That's interesting - is he not the folk hero we are led to believe or is your colleague particularly "class war"?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 25, 2014)

We feel the same way about our poshos. Imagine if he was a croquet player


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 25, 2014)

was annoyed when people recycled the senna jokes in the wake of diana's demise. So unoriginal.


----------



## D'wards (Jun 25, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> We feel the same way about our poshos. Imagine if he was a croquet player


Has something happened to Rupert Throbisher-Hone?!


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 25, 2014)

Awesome Wells said:


> Donnie Yen as sun wukong in what might be described as the prequel to Journey to the West - The Monkey King - was very entertaining. Normally he comes across as very serious in his arse kicking, but this was very etnertaining. Pure fantasy and folklore. I liked the effects, pedants won't.



Seen Havoc in Heaven?


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 25, 2014)

D'wards said:


> That's interesting - is he not the folk hero we are led to believe or is your colleague particularly "class war"?



Well my colleague isn't from the favelas, but he did do some bird under the military junta, so yeah maybe he's a special case.


----------



## fishfinger (Jun 25, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> The Iceman - enjoyable if routine, but interesting enough to make me want to google about tyhe subject matter, about an alleged hitman/serial killer.


It's not a bad film, but does seem to mix up a few things (no doubt for stylistic reasons). There's a quite interesting documentary with extensive interviews with Richard Kuklinski here:


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 25, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Confessions of a Police Captain - brilliant bleak cynical fiercely political _poliziotteschi_ from Damiano Damiani ( A Bullet for the General and other excellent hard morally tinged political films) - the usual mafia/politicians/murder/state/law links and cover ups - but done in an incredibly talky way. This is not like the other Italian crime dramas of that period. Two great performances from Franco Nero and esp Martin Balsam and with a juddering great poke in the chest at the audience/society at the end.


A Bullet for the General is an excellent film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 26, 2014)

World War Z

much better than I expected- enjoyed a brad shitpit performance for once! the idea of the bit turning people so quickly a crowd could turn that quickly was good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 26, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> ... enjoyed a brad shitpit performance for once!....


Really?

Twelve Monkeys
Fight Club
Thelma and Louse
Se7en
Burn After Reading
True Romance

He was good in them.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 26, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> World War Z
> 
> much better than I expected- enjoyed a brad shitpit performance for once! the idea of the bit turning people so quickly a crowd could turn that quickly was good.


I liked the insectoid swarming too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 26, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Really?
> 
> Twelve Monkeys
> Fight Club
> ...




true say, esp 12 monkeys. Perhaps I should say 'the first time in ages' rather than 'for once'


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 26, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> true say, esp 12 monkeys. Perhaps I should say 'the first time in ages' rather than 'for once'


Fair point.


----------



## maya (Jun 29, 2014)

The Mysterious Apartment (1948).

A timid, uptight director who for unexplained reasons lives a rather modest bachelor life in his shabby rented room at a more than questionable boarding house gets an offer from his well-connected bourgeois mates during a bridge match he loses to purchase a vacant flat whose owner just died under mysterious circumstances.

They all feel he needs to live somewhere the neighbours won't shush and bang the wall with brooms every time someone raises their voice a little in his room. Being a pretty indecisive and useless type, he hesitates- but feels pressured into accepting the offer, and suddenly finds himself handed the keys to the mysterious apartment...

It's an eccentric bachelor den with 'eerie' modernist expressionist paintings on the wall, curious figurines and 'tastelessly excessive' furniture, a sinister parrot who laughs like a ghost and sometimes speaks in its master's voice, and a mute housemaid who silently swoops in with dinner with disapproving dagger stares. A record of modernist string music on the gramophone unsettles him so much he has to turn it off.

If all this wasn't enough to take on, he also finds himself distracted from his work because he's so unsettled by the strange ambience in the flat, it's like the previous tenant still lives there- it's his art, his belongings- he feels like a stranger in his own (new) home. The furniture and art isn't to his taste at all, yet he feels for some reason it's not in his power to change it. He potters around looking at all the strange objects, grimacing at how repellant it all is (why is the grass in one painting painted blue when everyone knows grass is green? he can't understand it). At the same time, he's subconsciously and involuntarily drawn towards it... it's like the apartment have a personality of its own, and the interior the perfect reflection of the previous owner's personality. Slowly but surely, his own personality starts to change, and the apartment takes over...

Before all this happens though, the central mystery have already been presented: On the first day after moving in, he accidentally comes across a bundle of letters hidden in a secret compartment in the bureau in the living room. It turns out to be passionate love letters to the previous owner, written by a young woman. Our uptight protagonist haven't really thought that much about women before now it seems, but the graphic intensity and the passion and the honesty of these letters first baffles and repulses him (as the thinks it's 'vulgar' and improper for someone to talk that way), then obsesses him more and more. He reads these letters over and over again, and starts wondering how it would be to be on the receiving end of such passion. He wovs to find the woman.

Nightmares and things that go bump in the night continues to scare him, as it's like the apartment closes in on him and the grotesque outlines of these curious objects and shapes looks monstrous in the dark... The parrot laughs ominously. He hears someone walking around in the living room one night, and the front door slamming.

(fast-forward a bit so I won't write the entire plot on here) Yada yada yada, and he manages to find the woman. She's working as a receptionist at the city theatre. It was her who snuck into the place at night, she had a key and was trying to retrieve the love letters, but didn't know where her lover hid them. Our man first denies all knowledge of the letters, but promises to look for them. He finds himself helplessly attracted to this woman, who is polite, but hostile to this man who now shamelessly lives at her lover's place and invades the spaces they used to share. He hatches a plan to see her again, by handing over only some of the letters and promising to look for the missing ones with the premise that they meet again.

A double perspective viewpoint goes on, as we see their interactions developing with him thinking he has a chance to get to know her and perhaps even take over from where the last lover let go, and her private thoughts becoming increasingly resentful and even hateful of this impostor, this frightful man who have stolen her loved one's space, soiling and desecrating their most private and personal place...

All comes to a head, but the twist is a bit dull and improbable 



Spoiler



he promises to her that he is a new man now and have changed because he now can see the beauty and secrets of the other man's point of view (he knows that the grass is painted blue because it's not pretending to be realistic but pointing to inner, psychological truths... he now loves the atonal string music stabs because he realises it's not pretending to conform to the old rules, but trying to express something new and unexplored... he's certain that he's changed for the better and promises to respect and care for her, if she just moves in with him and they get married... implausibly, she realises that this will be her only chance to relive the memories of her former lover by being able to live surrounded by his things, so she accepts and becomes a good wife to this new man who now shocks his old bridge mates by championing his newfound love for modernist art and music. Before we know whether this will end well, it's The End... and the film is over.


----------



## oneunder (Jun 30, 2014)

Found this on a usb..must have downloaded it and forgotten..watched it having no idea what it was about..slow paced but strong.. Really enjoyed that.. I was gripped... 	  'A Touch Of Sin' 2013  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2852400/


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 30, 2014)

The Guard.

An "odd couple" film starring Brendan Gleeson as a Wesht of Oireland Guard, and Don Cheadle as the FBI man forced to team up with him. A lot better than I expected, and Gleeson's performance is absolutely spot on. . . especially in the scene where Cheadle has to say "you have some balls to speak to your superior officer like that". It does recall Flann O'Brien's comment that 'the Irish stage Irishman is the finest in the world.'


----------



## rekil (Jun 30, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> The Guard.
> 
> An "odd couple" film starring Brendan Gleeson as a Wesht of Oireland Guard, and Don Cheadle as the FBI man forced to team up with him. A lot better than I expected, and Gleeson's performance is absolutely spot on. . . especially in the scene where Cheadle has to say "you have some balls to speak to your superior officer like that". It does recall Flann O'Brien's comment that 'the Irish stage Irishman is the finest in the world.'


Didn't like it, and John Michael McDonagh's new one Calvary is worse. Seedy underbelly of post celtic tiger blah blah. Leaden pacing, flabby passages of liberal angst and a surfeit of "only in ireland lads!" oddballs.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 30, 2014)

copliker said:


> Didn't like it, and John Michael McDonagh's new one Calvary is worse. Seedy underbelly of post celtic tiger blah blah. Leaden pacing, flabby passages of liberal angst and a surfeit of "only in ireland lads!" oddballs.


I thought calvary had potential, but...they didn't manage to pull it off. Did you notice, both him and his brothers second films both has a seven theme running through them as well?


----------



## rekil (Jun 30, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> I thought calvary had potential, but...they didn't manage to pull it off. Did you notice, both him and his brothers second films both has a seven theme running through them as well?


Good first scene and Dylan Moran on a horse. What's the 7 theme here, just the days?


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 30, 2014)

copliker said:


> Good first scene and Dylan Moran on a horse. What's the 7 theme here, just the days?


Yeah each day of his last week he goes and sees someone whose supposed to represent one of the seven deadly sins - or at least i thought that was it - i've just read JM say it's structured around the five stages of grief instead - so scrub that.


----------



## rekil (Jun 30, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Yeah each day of his last week he goes and sees someone whose supposed to represent one of the seven deadly sins - or at least i thought that was it - i've just read JM say it's structured around the five stages of grief instead - so scrub that.


I thought stations of the cross something something but I just didn't care about any of it.

I watched Killer Elite last night. Statham. De Niro. More my level tbf.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 30, 2014)

copliker said:


> I thought stations of the cross something something but I just didn't care about any of it.


That was my first thought, and so meaning at least 14 days - but he did say that he'd kill him _sunday week, _so that's still possible i suppose. It was sort of like something he couldn't decide if it was a play or a film really.


----------



## ringo (Jun 30, 2014)

Wolf of Wall Street - Great acting from DiCaprio. Having done a 3 week stint as a nipper working for shouty, pyramid scheme selling, money obsessed tossers and another day in Lloyds of London being instructed in the ways of cocaine addled high pressure brokers I reckon he got it spot on. Proud of my 16 year old self for walking away from all that, it was hard work just watching the film.


----------



## Yetman (Jun 30, 2014)

I quite liked Cavalry. Brilliant opening scene but the film failed to deliver toward the end.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 30, 2014)

Hard Candy - over-intellectualised rape/revenge fantasy stuff which would like to sell itself to you as a disturbing, taut, feminist thriller - like Ring filtered through jezebel.com - but which is probably just a bit of grubby exploitation in the end. Having said that, Ellen Page is absolutely phenomenal as the ingenue/avenging angel character - the lead male as a dodgy photographer/borderline perv / Terry Richardson sort just sort of fades away in comparison. Some of the dialogue is searingly sharp and sarcastic and for what's basically a closed-room double act it does keep the twists and hooks coming.  worth a watch, but in the end it's not worthy of the lead female performance.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 30, 2014)

Babylon AD

Vind Diesel in some grimy ramshackle future taking a 'chosen one' etc from point a to point B. Of course its not that simple. Felt a lot like Riddick: The Early Years. Solid if not brilliant

Golden Child. Eddi Murphy vs Charles Dance all scored with that fuck-you I have a synthesizer sound of the 80's. Effects hold up ok despite the age and Eddie cracks wise. Nonsense fun

Charlottes Webb- a recentish version. good story, well told. I was wondering if the spider still dies in the hollywood version, and it does.

seeing it again reminded me what a masterful piece of childrens fiction it is. We're so caught up in wilburs fate- the dreaded somekhouse- that as a kid reding that you wouldn't see the real death coming. Sad but funny for the main.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 30, 2014)

copliker said:


> Didn't like it, and John Michael McDonagh's new one Calvary is worse. Seedy underbelly of post celtic tiger blah blah. Leaden pacing, flabby passages of liberal angst and a surfeit of "only in ireland lads!" oddballs.



I was wondering if my eyes were deceiving me, but it turns out that the chief villain in The Guard is none other than TV favourite Davos Seaworth off that Game of Thrones thingy.


----------



## rekil (Jun 30, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> I was wondering if my eyes were deceiving me, but it turns out that the chief villain in The Guard is none other than TV favourite Davos Seaworth off that Game of Thrones thingy.


Yeah, Liam Cunningham, he pops up all over the place.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 30, 2014)

copliker said:


> I watched Killer Elite last night. Statham. De Niro. More my level tbf.



I read the book that was based on when it first came out; enjoyably ludicrous tosh, the book, but the film doesn't half make it drag. Impressive foley in the bathroom fight though


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 30, 2014)

copliker said:


> Yeah, Liam Cunningham, he pops up all over the place.


I recognised him as the priest from Hunger in the only dialogue scene


----------



## belboid (Jun 30, 2014)

copliker said:


> Yeah, Liam Cunningham, he pops up all over the place.


very good as the Soviet captain in that episode of Doctor Who a couple of seasons back


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 30, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I recognised him as the priest from Hunger in the only dialogue scene



I still haven't watched Hunger. I just. . . can't.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 30, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> I still haven't watched Hunger. I just. . . can't.


Oh you should definitely try Idris, fantastic film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 1, 2014)

pilot + ep 2 of Dominion. It's a SyFy production so I wasn't expecting much and it duly lived down to my expectations. Good choreography, effects 7/10. some brief nudity (arse) no swearing, no blood.

the concept is that God has disappeared. The heavenly host recon its our fault and they are incredibly vexed at us so launch all-out war

Anthony Head stars as an evil politicking blokey. Passable american accent

e2a

I can see this one getting cancelled fairly quickly.


----------



## oneunder (Jul 1, 2014)

Liam cunningham is really yosser hughes!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 1, 2014)

oneunder said:


> Liam cunningham is really yosser hughes!


Bernard Hill innit


----------



## colbhoy (Jul 5, 2014)

Watched the final episode (Bulletville) of S1 of Justfied. Very under-rated show, is absolutely superb!


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 6, 2014)

Angel Heart.  Mickey Rourke back when he was good first time...and Robert De Niro (same).

First time I saw this I enjoyed it...but I saw the 'pun' straight away and it kind of spoiled it for me.

This time I saw it not as a spoiler but as an ominous portent.  The clues are there but the clues were not for me as I'd thought.

Very enjoyable, noir, gothic, nostalgic.  However...one suggestion.  Remaster it without the two 1980s special effects, please.  It's like hollywood added them in for the ultra-stupid and they are just discordant.


----------



## maya (Jul 6, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Angel Heart


Robert De Niro as the devil ("Louis Cyphre"= Lucifer), it's well eerie...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 10, 2014)

Noah

this film is nuts, but its really good. Imagine if someone just made the biblical story of noah even more epic. Ray winstone is mint.

ents help to build the ark.

I cried when Noah spared the lives of the two children

miracles and wonders and cgi


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 10, 2014)

Gods going to have to up his game when it comes to the reboot, cos russel crowe just smashed it


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 10, 2014)

Season 3 of Sherlock.

I thought I had 6 episodes to look forward to: turns out the last three are just people talking about the series.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 10, 2014)

Cape Fear.  The De Niro version.  It's ok.

This film disgracefully steals an entire Simspons episode.


----------



## Frances Lengel (Jul 11, 2014)

Not last night but the other day - Under the Skin. I thought it was gonna be boring coz it's on for nearly an hour and fifty and my attention does wander with films. But nah, this was a good one - And the beech scene was genuinely disturbing. A mint film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 11, 2014)

I've been watching the Arrow. Basically its the story of Marvels Green Arrow. A vigilante millionaire playboy cleaning up the city etc etc

some nice bow work.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 11, 2014)

krtek a houby said:


> Yojimbo, The Raid, Man on Wire and The World's End.



The Raid is on again tonight on Film 4

belboid QueenOfGoths 
_pH_ krtek a houby 
Jon-of-arc mack 
DexterTCN JimW


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 11, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> The Raid is on again tonight on Film 4...


Thanks for the heads-up


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 11, 2014)

and if you miss it tonight, it's repeated on the 18th 

I'll be watching, even though I already have the DVD


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jul 11, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> and if you miss it tonight, it's repeated on the 18th
> 
> I'll be watching, even though I already have the DVD



Probably missed it, but I have the DVD.

I've said it before, I'll say it again; there really arent enough films that show in close up some one being shot in multiple times in the face by a hand gun @ close range.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 11, 2014)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Probably missed it, but I have the DVD.
> 
> I've said it before, I'll say it again; there really arent enough films that show in close up some one being shot in multiple times in the face by a hand gun @ close range.



It's on at 23.55 on the +1 channel


----------



## belboid (Jul 11, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> It's on at 23.55 on the +1 channel


followed by _The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover_, just for contrast.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 12, 2014)

belboid said:


> followed by _The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover_, just for contrast.



Due to TV reception being fucked, I'm having to watch it pixellating.  Would have been easier to just stick the DVD in


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 12, 2014)

Crossbones episodes. Jon Malkovitch IS Edward Teach, Blackbeard. Good support, excellent piracy. Suitably evil english naval officer nemesis.


----------



## blairsh (Jul 12, 2014)

Braindead.

Been meaning to watch it for sometime, i was not disappointed.


----------



## Garek (Jul 13, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> The Guard.
> 
> An "odd couple" film starring Brendan Gleeson as a Wesht of Oireland Guard, and Don Cheadle as the FBI man forced to team up with him. A lot better than I expected, and Gleeson's performance is absolutely spot on. . . especially in the scene where Cheadle has to say "you have some balls to speak to your superior officer like that". It does recall Flann O'Brien's comment that 'the Irish stage Irishman is the finest in the world.'



I avoided the film for years because I thought it was going to be one of those silly films like Hot Fuzz or something. Was surprised to find something a lot bleaker with a sharp sense of humour and a great performance from Gleeson.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 13, 2014)

The raid 2 - excellent stuff. Miles better than the first, really builds on it.


----------



## Ranbay (Jul 13, 2014)

The hooligan factory, it's was rather funny if you have seen the football factory etc,....


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 13, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> The raid 2 - excellent stuff. Miles better than the first, really builds on it.



oh, didn't know there was a second one!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 13, 2014)

Wishmaster 2- this 90s goth woman who wears crop tops and so on releases an evil genie from a jewel during a robbery in a museum.

This film is chock full of wtf moments. Basically no matter what you wish for the genie interprets the wish in a manner that means you die horribly. Or someone does. One scene this con wishes his lawyer could go fuck himself. 'Done' says wishmaster- and we see the implausible self buggery happen as well. This happens a lot. No matter how or what you wish for, you get fucked over.

apropos of nothing, the gothy protagonist chops her finger off. To purify her soul. Yeah that wasn't even explained. The man who plays humaniform Wishmaster has acne scars and a permanent grin.

highly recommended.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jul 13, 2014)

The other woman. Made me laugh but really don't think about it just watch it a wife and 2 mistresses seek revenge on a cheating guy ........


----------



## starfish (Jul 14, 2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel. Was quite enjoyable & enchanting.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 15, 2014)

Metalhead - well made but predictable and ultimately very conservative Icelandic film about the ways in which people deal with grief. Some shocking mistakes made though - for instance, someone wearing a motorhead t-shirt in 1970 and someone in Iceland having a Judas priest song as his fav in the same year. Worth a look.

Shield of Straw - another piece of crap from Miike.  Not even insane crap. Just crap crap.


----------



## Supine (Jul 15, 2014)

A couple of new US TV series, 

The Last Ship - think walking dead at sea 
The Strain - think walking dead in NY

Both utterly rubbish but I'm enjoying them both


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 15, 2014)

The strain! Thats by him who directed Pans Labyrinth!
*Guillermo del Toro*

was hoping for good things!


----------



## fishfinger (Jul 15, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> The strain! Thats by him who directed Pans Labyrinth!
> *Guillermo del Toro*
> 
> was hoping for good things!


It's based on a trilogy of comics written by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I've read the first story called unsurprisingly "The Strain" and I've watched the first episode of the TV series. It's a fairly standard vampire story with a modern slant. Nothing special, but I'll continue watching to see how it develops and whether it differs much from the comic version.


----------



## Supine (Jul 15, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> The strain! Thats by him who directed Pans Labyrinth!
> *Guillermo del Toro*
> 
> was hoping for good things!



It's definitely worth checking out


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 17, 2014)

Raging Bull.   Amazing. Timeless.

Point Break.  This film is still really good, some wonderful photography and great performances by Swayze and Gary Busey.  Keanu slowly morphing from FBI agent to surfer-dude brings most of the humour.


----------



## magneze (Jul 17, 2014)

Pacific Rim
Sort of Godzilla multiplied by Transformers with an addition of awesomeness. I didn't expect much really, but thought it was excellent. A thoroughly entertaining popcorn flick which wasn't overly mawkish or sentimental at the end as these things sometimes are.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 17, 2014)

Is there a dog in it?


----------



## magneze (Jul 17, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Is there a dog in it?


Yes


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 17, 2014)

Stringer Bell is in it. Can't really like Pacific Rim too much, it passed the time but I don't really rate mecha on the implausibility front. You simply wouldn't build a giant bipedal fighting robot, ever, for any reason. Those creatures could have been safely torpedoed back to alien realm from a distance by a pair of ohio nuclear subs. 


I watched the new series of Utopia. Its great, all should tune in.


----------



## magneze (Jul 17, 2014)

The bit I found implausible was the EMP deployed by one of the monsters not affecting the nuclear powered robot.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 17, 2014)

Better than the Mexican servant robots and the old-man-with-a-stick robot of Transformers fame


----------



## inva (Jul 17, 2014)

The Lady Eve
1941 Preston Sturges comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck & Henry Fonda. I've seen a couple of other Sturges films Sullivan's Travels and The Palm Beach Story but I think this is my favourite of them - it never really hits a wrong note the whole way through. Some fantastic dialogue as you'd expect and really well cast with Stanwyck's performance being especially brilliant.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 17, 2014)

magneze said:


> The bit I found implausible...





(btw I loved Pacific Rim...but there wasn't anything plausible in it)


----------



## Garek (Jul 18, 2014)

Watched Pacific Rim the other night. Terrible film. Gender politics completely and utterly disgraceful for a film made so recent.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 19, 2014)

I saw a film called Trance recently with totally fucked gender politics. It was all about a pathetic excuse to show a bare fanny that belongs to a film star and nothing more than that.


----------



## killer b (Jul 19, 2014)

I watched Posetitel Muzeya.

It was beautifully shot, but I dunno how much I liked it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 19, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I saw a film called Trance recently with totally fucked gender politics. It was all about a pathetic excuse to show a bare fanny that belongs to a film star and nothing more than that.


Stop watching at that point, did you?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 19, 2014)

No, I'm not going to stop watching a film cos i think it's a load of shite. Maybe I should.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 19, 2014)

The Strain

good start, jon hurt (yay) and biological rather than supernatural vamps- its some kind of infection rather than magic. the lead is a CDC operative. a touch of the schmaltz (the opening monolouge informs us that one of the greatest forces is love. So fucking deep).


----------



## fishfinger (Jul 19, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> The Strain
> 
> good start, jon hurt (yay) and biological rather than supernatural vamps- its some kind of infection rather than magic. the lead is a CDC operative. a touch of the schmaltz (the opening monolouge informs us that one of the greatest forces is love. So fucking deep).


John Hurt isn't in it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 19, 2014)

fishfinger said:


> John Hurt isn't in it.




who is the bloke with the beard and swordstick then? I thought it was jon with big facial hair


----------



## fishfinger (Jul 19, 2014)

David Bradley


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 19, 2014)

David Bradley? (Waldar Frey off of Game of Thrones) 
Don't you ever look on IMDb?


----------



## fishfinger (Jul 19, 2014)

If you want to watch something with John Hurt in it, there's always Snowpiercer. Based on a French graphic novel. Not bad. Saw it the other night.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706620/?ref_=nv_sr_1


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 19, 2014)

not really, I don't like the site design. Could have checked wiki tho


----------



## fishfinger (Jul 19, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> not really, I don't like the site design. Could have checked wiki tho


You could have gone to specsavers


----------



## Voley (Jul 19, 2014)

I watched Sharknado. Astonishingly it was even worse than I thought it could be. Will definitely watch the sequel.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2014)

Cloud Atlas

thats a 10. Thats nearly an eleven. Will watch again next week after digesting it. Too many things I liked to mention. It had the sort of narrative structure of magnolia but better. arg.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 20, 2014)

Oculus.  Decent enough horror (or is it a horror?) with Karen Gillan.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jul 20, 2014)

Fargo The TV Series well impressed


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 20, 2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel.

If you're into Wes Anderson films, this is one of the best.


----------



## starfish (Jul 20, 2014)

Watched a few episodes of Orange Is The New Black. Quite amusing so far.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 21, 2014)

Hitchcock's Notorious.

Ingrid Bergman is a Bad Girl whose German-American father has just been sent down for twenty years for treason (this is 1946).

Cary Grant is the federal agent (agency unspecified) detailed to guide her through an operation in Rio de Janeiro, where Claude Rains and some other German exiles are Up To No Good.

On youtube, at least it was a while ago. A really good film, possibly the best Hitchcock flick I've seen. This is before his Blonde Ice Queen phase, so there's still  a bit of warmth in a film that might not be as perfect an expression of the Hitchcock vision in the way that say Vertigo is.


----------



## DRTAvailable (Jul 21, 2014)

magneze said:


> The bit I found implausible was the EMP deployed by one of the monsters not affecting the nuclear powered robot.


I've almost finished the first (only) series of Penny Dreadful. Not a fan of horror stuff but big on anything Victoriana and I have to say, pleasantly surprised by the show. Dalton is quality, the major plotline, the search for Mina, is brilliantly written and episode 5 alone - the backstory to the Vanessa-Mina betrayal - deserves a Peabody. Quality writing. 

Up there with the best TV I've seen this year. Big fan of Boardwalk. True Detective easily the best show I've seen since Deadwood and The Wire, but Penny Dreadful is definitely up there.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 23, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Hitchcock's Notorious.
> 
> Ingrid Bergman is a Bad Girl whose German-American father has just been sent down for twenty years for treason (this is 1946).
> 
> ...


Its an excellent film but I think there's better Hitchcock, you really rate it above _The Lady Vanishes,_ _Rear Window_, _Vertigo, Marnie_ and _Psycho_?


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 23, 2014)

redsquirrel said:


> Its an excellent film but I think there's better Hitchcock, you really rate it above _The Lady Vanishes,_ _Rear Window_, _Vertigo, Marnie_ and _Psycho_?



H's later films are great, but they're harder to like than Notorious. They're technically perfect expressions of his vision, but his vision was that of a paid-up member of the see you next tuesday club. 

The Lady Vanishes is also good, but it's all a bit too English for me. 

And I don't think I've seen Grant or Bergman do anything as good as their performances in Notorious.


----------



## belboid (Jul 23, 2014)

Shadow of a Doubt is actually his best film


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2014)

Dexter season 7. But only to see how it turns out. It was always a daft premise but it's got awfully silly. Only two more episodes and straight onto S8.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 1.
It's not very funny. Just a standard American sitcom but with loathsome douchebags running a bar. Disappointing as I was led to believe it was more than that.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2014)

The Guard and half of Grand Budapest Hotel. And true blood latest ep. Long night.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 23, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Dexter season 7. But only to see how it turns out. It was always a daft premise but it's got awfully silly. Only two more episodes and straight onto S8....


If you want to have reasonably good memories of it, stop now, watch no more.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 25, 2014)

Recently, I watched The Nomi Song and Wild Combination, which coincidentally are both documentaries about outsiders, Klaus Nomi and Arthur Russell,who moved to New York, got heavily involved in the avant-garde music/art scene and made some very strange disco music, but never got the wider recognition they needed (and deserved). And died tragically young because of AIDS. 
Both docs were well researched with well chosen and articulate interviewees. I liked Wild Combination better cos I liked Russell and his friends better. When he was ill, his friends visited and supported him and his father speaks movingly of his son's final moments. Nomi's friends deserted him and it's hard to watch them justify themselves one by one.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 25, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 1.
> It's not very funny. Just a standard American sitcom but with loathsome douchebags running a bar. Disappointing as I was led to believe it was more than that.


You're going to feel really foolish for posting this when you're 45. Series get rolling with #2 and danny devito.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 25, 2014)

They always get better in S2.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 27, 2014)

Stone - 1974 biker/cop action from Australia. The reach of the creative minds exceeded their grasp on this one, but it was a bit of fun all the same. Kind of makes me regret not ever having been into the joys of the open road. 

Boy - 2010 early `80s comedy-drama from New Zealand. The eponymous hero is very excited when his Dad comes back from prison. . . unfortunately his Da is very much _not _a good role model. Bitter-sweet, with the emphasis on bitter. An almost all-Maori cast, which was interesting. gabi did you see this one?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 27, 2014)

Chivalry and Treason: The 100 years war

episode 1 is on that iplayer link above. Parts 2 and three watched on youtube

Dr Janina Ramirez (a cultural historian apparently) takes us through the ins and outs. Talks to lots of historians, visits places. Enjoyed.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 27, 2014)

*Bridesmaids* (Paul Feig 2011) Enjoyable Hollywood comedy.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 27, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *Bridesmaids* (Paul Feig 2011) Enjoyable Hollywood comedy.


Some good shitting


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 28, 2014)

Predator.   Because of the other thread I got this on Blu-Ray and watched it Saturday.  It looks brilliant and is still a great action movie.  I think the director did Die Hard next.

Noah.  Quite a mild film from Aronofsky, a bit meh.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 28, 2014)

CRIME IN THE STREETS - bizarre 1956 b & w "issue movie" about what was then called 'juvenile delinquency'. Sort of interesting for being a mishmash of older, tougher, 'crime wave' sort of films and films noir, with a soppy liberal handwringing argument for the value of social workers threaded through it. 

Notable for some outrageously hammy Firsta Gennarationa Fakeo Italiano accents and ethnic stereotyping and being first starring role for JohnCassavetes, who looks and acts utterly unconvincing as an 18 year old delinquent, but that might well be because he was 33 at the time! The plot's a completely unbelievable tissue of nonsense all revolving about someone NOT getting killed in the end. It sort of tries to poke away at youth culture and angst but very ham-fistedly. Adapted (not very fluently) from a stage play, and it shows. 

But it IS interesting for the way it plays out all the old arguments about what to do with wayward and violent kids, questions the American Dream a bit (why must poor children suffer for The System? can everyone REALLY "get there if they try" etc?) and is an interesting snapshot of how Americans were thinking about parenthood and the 'generation gap' even before the 1960s. And some kid called Mark Rydell, who I'd never heard of, does a fantastic turn as a reptilian, camp young gang member keen for there to be as much blood spilt as possible, when he's not waving his arms around gesturing with a cigarette. 

It also made me think: how many "youth crime wave" movies of later years are going to seem just as wooden in a few decades' time? It's been a while since I watched, say, Boyz in the Hood  - but I wonder if in a few years' time it won't seem just as laughably, clunkily earnest as Crime in the Streets


----------



## Belushi (Jul 29, 2014)

*Zodiac* (David Fincher 2007) decent thriller about the serial killer in 1970's San Francisco.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 30, 2014)

Not a DVD but I watched Lyse Douchet's deeply moving Children of Syria on BBC2 last night.

Available on iplayer now http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04c34bv/children-of-syria


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 30, 2014)

The Lego Movie

Surprisingly good, loads of little background moments that bear repeat viewing I think, and the writing / voicework was great.

Will Arnett's Batman was brilliant ("I wrote this song for you, it's about how I'm an orphan" *Music in background "NOOOO PARENTS"* )


----------



## Yetman (Jul 30, 2014)

Divergent

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1840309/

Teen movie, overuse of suspense, very much a rip off of hunger games and not as polished. Still, good if your a 15 year old girl I suppose. Which I'm not, so I didn't really enjoy it.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 30, 2014)

Belle du Seigneur - one of the worst things I've watched in a very long time. 

Based on a French novel that's apparently very famous, about a messed-up young Jewish diplomat going off the rails because he's in love with a married woman - oh, and the Nazis are taking over Europe because it's 1937. I know nothing about the book but the movie version seemed to have selling points - French production, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, wierd cameo role from Marianne Faithfull, being shown on Sky Arts, etc. 

And it was dire. Really truly dire in almost every way but the notable direness being:

 Performances: JRM gives it the roarish posh Irish sneery Henry VIII treatment, AGAIN, while supposed female lead Natalia Vodianova can't convey emotion in any language. (I read they got her to redub all her dialogue to try and introduce some sort of acting, but it didn't work.) She's wonderful looking but mostly just wanders around looking baffled. As well she might because:
Script : also dire - disjointed, unrealistic, stilted, and obviously uncomfortable for most of the Europudding actors to attempt speaking it
Characters: nobody likeable - or even all that interesting
Look: Amazingly, given the rest of this mess, it's lavishly done and the plot entails lots of hopping about from one luxury classic hotel or Swiss mansion to another. So it looks great - but so great, when everything else is so crappy, that it ends up seeming like one long business-class promo film on the Five Star Hotels Of Europe.

And lastly: Sex / morals - well beyond dire and into horrible, offensive, misogynist rubbish territory. Lead character's a nasty, domineering, controlling, pathologically jealous, inexplicably bad-tempered, deceitful, unfaithful type who rapes & beats female lead several times during the narrative, because he's so sensitive and full of feelings and all messed up. And of course she snivels a bit, but stays with him and never considers any other option - because she's just a cardboard cutout of a character and not a real person at all. eeeurgh.


----------



## maya (Jul 31, 2014)

Lair of the White Worm- Pretty awful, but some lols. Peter Capaldi was OK(ish) throughout.

Son Of Rambow- Enjoyed this. Liked how they sort of twisted the story a bit every time you thought you knew what was going to happen next. Also loved how they'd often 'brought to life' some of the nerdy kid's doodles by animation and little films-within-films and how you'd get a peek into his notebooks and the little flip animations he'd been drawing on the book pages and so on... Made me smile anyway.


----------



## stethoscope (Aug 3, 2014)

Philomena.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 3, 2014)

American History X.

A reasonable commentary on racism in America, Edward Norton is very good as a young man who develops into a nazi through the influences of father figures in his life.  Someone dies at the end, I was wrong about who it would be and my daughter was right.

Could have been a bit better, could have been a lot worse.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Aug 3, 2014)

12 Years A Slave - good acting but the film was pretty slow and predictable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2014)

eps 1-4 of The Shield over the last few days. That Vic really is something else.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 3, 2014)

Hard to be a god. 12 years in the making version of the  Arkady and Boris Strugatsky  novel. Blimey. The most muddy film ever made. Possibly the most realised otherworld as well. But i just didn't know what was going on. I think this needs immediate rewatching. I have another version of this from a few dceades back that looks a tad different as well.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 4, 2014)

*Sleepy Hollow* (Tim Burton 1999) An enjoyable enough adaptation of the Washington Irving tale.

*The Black Dahlia* (Brian De Palma 2006) A terrible adaptation of the James Ellroy novel.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 4, 2014)

Captain America - The Winter sl,.xzzzzzzzzzzz


----------



## belboid (Aug 4, 2014)

The Social Network.

Hadn't improved since I first watched it, in fact even more lines stood out as being 'tat sounds good, but means absolutely nothing.' Entertaining enough tho


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2014)

'Spartacus:Vengeance'

moar eps. Excellent stuff. When mutilating the corpse of a roman soldier by carving latin into his arse:

'Spartacus, you leave his cock to the sun?'

'No. I send message'


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 4, 2014)

Lone Survivor: pretty harrowing stuff about four American soldiers who set out to take out a Taliban leader but every thing goes wrong. As usual no understanding of why the Taliban are fighting but does at least portray some Afghans in a positive light. Always get the feeling in these films that it doesn't really matter what the cause is its just the individual bravery. Worth watching though.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 4, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Lone Survivor



It's _Bravo Two Zero_ meets _Behind Enemy Lines_, only without an amiable lead like Owen Wilson or Sean Bean pretending to lick shit off his fingers. Very competently photographed falling-down-hill scene though.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 5, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> It's _Bravo Two Zero_ meets _Behind Enemy Lines_, only without an amiable lead like Owen Wilson or Sean Bean pretending to lick shit off his fingers. Very competently photographed falling-down-hill scene though.



I think I was very nearly sick when they repeatedly crashed into the rocks .


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 5, 2014)

I do love how all these tales of special forces derring do seem to involve Our Boys being foiled by lonely goatherds.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2014)

Moar 'Shield'

bastards for not telling me about this. I've sat through episodes of syfys _Dominion _(Anthony Head, hang your head) ffs, when this good stuff was just already out.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2014)

*'Eccentricities of a Blonde Haired Girl'* (Manoel de Oliveira 2011) Short but intriguing Portuguese morality tale.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 5, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *'Eccentricities of a Blonde Haired Girl'* (Manoel de Oliveira 2011) Short but intriguing Portuguese morality tale.


He was 105 years old when he made that.


----------



## Sue (Aug 5, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> He was 105 years old when he made that.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 5, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> He was 105 years old when he made that.


And from his IMDB page it looks like he's still going!


----------



## magneze (Aug 6, 2014)

American Hustle. Can see how it won lots of awards. Very watchable. 

However, then I watched Dallas Buyer's Club, which is even better. One of the best films I've seen.


----------



## Grandma Death (Aug 6, 2014)

So I watched the  'Muslims are coming' an interesting documentary about a group of muslim comedians doing a free tour around the US to challenge preconceptions about muslims. It wasn't bad as it goes and there are some really interesting parts-for example where they put up a stall in some western town and ask people to guess the religous text and where it came from-those that took part could choose from the Old Testament, The New Testament and the Koran-that was quite an eye opener.

I also watched Dallas Buyers Club. Not bad-the homophobia was a little grinding in it-yes it was part of that culture but still depressing neverthless. Great performance form Matthew M-which held my interest. Overall a 7


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 8, 2014)

Trust The Man (2005) - sort of wannabe "romantic" comedy focusing on dysfunctional lives & loves of 4 neurotic New Yorkers. An amazing cast (Julianne Moore, David Duchovny, Billy Crudup & Maggie Gyllenhaal ) mostly wasted on smug, navel-gazing, whiny 1%er ism as they go about all the NYC locations you've already seen, exploring all the "modern" dilemmas (porn, sex addiction, why won't men commit, sexless marriage, bla bla bla) you've already heard about a million times. It's not unbearable - there are hints of a spiky and more realist approach to these things and some comedy-awkward moments - but like its characters it's sexist, self-absorbed and unattractive. One critic summed it up as "Whiny Petulant Manchildren and the Women Who Just Can't Change Them" which pretty much nails it. Do NOT trust the man who directed this movie.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 8, 2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(TV_series)

Finished watching first series of Revolution, which is a post apocalyptic series - scientists take the world back several hundred years when the develop some nano-tech that stops all electrical devices working - American gets divided into competing republics - mass civil war - but there is  a way to 'turn the lights back on'

enjoyable far fetched nonsense


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2014)

ACAB - All cats are brilliant. Fantastic dardennes style film about 30ish woman in Greece trying to navigate between the crisis, relationships, resistance. Top notch performance from Maria Georgiadou. A film with so many layers and allusions that it needs at least two watches. Double recommend.

Starred Up (i.e moved from YOI to proper nick before time) - pretty brutal scum-ish with the big boys update, Again, good acting, but depressing. Felt real.

Coldwater - sort of US version of same but at private (legal) bootcamp type thing. Rubbish, no characters came across as real, hence the threats to turn people inside out seemed laughable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2014)

marty21 said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(TV_series)
> 
> Finished watching first series of Revolution, which is a post apocalyptic series - scientists take the world back several hundred years when the develop some nano-tech that stops all electrical devices working - American gets divided into competing republics - mass civil war - but there is  a way to 'turn the lights back on'
> 
> enjoyable far fetched nonsense



I managed one episode of that. the sci fi srs coming out of america last two years have been v. hit and miss, and for me, this is a miss.

I watched the rest of series 1 of Shield.

top stuff.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 8, 2014)

Shell... dark and interesting.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Shell... dark and interesting.


Twat


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 8, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Twat



Erm, have you seen it?  What's your problem?  It was definitely dark and psychologically interesting.  Difficult, ambiguous and evocative too.  The kind of low budget, independent film I like.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2014)

Nah, i just think that you're a twat.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 8, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Nah, i just think that you're a twat.



Thanks for that.  Now please fuck off.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Thanks for that.  Now please fuck off.


But lots of twats don't mind being called twats, They seem rather happy.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 8, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> But lots of twats don't mind being called twats, They seem rather happy.



Another useless idiot to stick on ignore.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 8, 2014)

Hmm...doesn't like people jumping in on threads making pointlessly provocative comments knowing the response that they will get. Right. Really. Star. Not at all hypocritical.


----------



## starfish (Aug 8, 2014)

Several episodes of Louie, including the "You cant even rape well" episode & the ones where he catches his daughter smoking dope. Pretty deep but also humorous.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2014)

starfish said:


> Several episodes of Louie, including the "You cant even rape well" episode & the ones where he catches his daughter smoking dope. Pretty deep but also humorous.


That was a strange series. Especially the way that it finished with naked Louis in the bath. Ew!
Fat men getting naked get called brave for doing such a thing. Ha!


----------



## starfish (Aug 9, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> That was a strange series. Especially the way that it finished with naked Louis in the bath. Ew!
> Fat men getting naked get called brave for doing such a thing. Ha!


Havent seen it all yet but that isnt a spoiler  Its very dry & droll. Took me ages before i realised it was Charles Grodin who was the caretaker. He hasnt aged well.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2014)

Charles Grodin is the best thing in it! He has an amazing view of life. He's a doctor though, not a caretaker!

(That wasn't really a spoiler BTW cos you don't know the context!)


----------



## starfish (Aug 9, 2014)

Ah ok, just thought he was the caretaker because of the old woman choking incident. One of my favouritest ever films is Midnight Run which is why it was such a surprise to me.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 10, 2014)

*The Adjustment Bureau* (George Nolfi 2011) Watchable Sci-Fi romance.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 10, 2014)

PK Dicks adapt^^^

I'm on ep 9 of Ahield. Strange how I've come to sympathise with Vic somewhat, he's got a code. And his sometime-lover, the fierce street cop lady with the continual problems is endearing too- in a strange way. I thought she was way too 'cop' to start with but depth has been added.


----------



## Supine (Aug 10, 2014)

Louie s4 was amazing. He has moved his series from half standup half surreal comedy into something much deeper. I have lots of respect for him. Being individual on wd US tv is an achievement.

The bad rape bit was not nice viewing but the rest of the series was 10/10 drama


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 10, 2014)

The episode with the fat girl in it was great too.


----------



## Supine (Aug 10, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> The episode with the fat girl in it was great too.




One of the best written scenes on tv for a very long time 

I just watched it again to make sure


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Aug 10, 2014)

I watched Capote, started then stopped Finding Eric and and then The Butler, both good films but wasn't in the mood for so finished up with the fluff of X-men 1&2.

Don't think, I know that's shit, but I'm shit, feeling shit and sometimes lightweight comic book films have their place!


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 10, 2014)

All Is Lost.

Robert Redford on a boat, alone, almost no dialogue (I'm talking 30 words, max).

It's pretty fucking good.  

The soundtrack is nature, as are the effects, the acting...well I'm not sure there _is_ any acting but if there is it's sublime.  The tension comes from fixing fibreglass, climbing a pole or trying to fix a wire.   Am I over-selling it?

This is an original, engrossing, emotional and immersive experience.	It's like Gravity, but not.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 10, 2014)

I just watched Bridesmaids, because I heard it was funny, which it was, but it was also really, really depressing. And the "happy ending" just didn't leave me convinced at all...I mean I've watched some depressing films and I would say that one was up there, maybe with like Grave of the Fireflies or something. Ok perhaps not that bad but I still feel like I could cry.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 10, 2014)

*A Separation* (Ashgar Farhadi 2011) Another excellent Iranian film. A powerful and insightful portrayal of the messiness of life.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 11, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *Red Cliff* (John Woo 2008) Vast Chinese historical epic. Surprisingly large number of explosions for 280 AD.



It's on again at the minute on Channel 4.  I'm watching it, despite having the DVD


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 11, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> The raid 2 - excellent stuff. Miles better than the first, really builds on it.



I'm currently waiting to receive it in the post.  Can't wait


----------



## Greebo (Aug 11, 2014)

Breaking Bad Season 1


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 11, 2014)

Coherence - a sort of Primer-ish sci-fi mystery thing, with a nice creepy edge for most of it and a bit silly. Glad people are making films like this.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 12, 2014)

Either Way - affable road movie/odd couple type thing.  Road line painters in remote iceland _come to realise they have more in common than they first thought! _If that doesn't get your juices flowing i don't know what will. Affable harmless smiley fun.

How to Kill a Judge - Damiano Damiani's attempt to do a Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion type expose of italian surreal corruption, but it doesn't have the lightness of touch of the latter and ends up being an overlong wordy denunciation rather than the laughing finger pointing of the former. Needed some serious editing in all depts. Nero was good as ever though.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 12, 2014)

Merlin: British tv series about young Merlin, growing under the tutelage of the firm hand of Gaius.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 14, 2014)

Boyhood


----------



## Virtual Blue (Aug 14, 2014)

*Coherence* - 

fuckin' awesome.


----------



## Poi E (Aug 14, 2014)

Days of Thunder. Good car crashes but the actors, dialogue and music kept getting in the way.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 14, 2014)

Dillinger4 said:


> Boyhood


Any good?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 14, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Any good?



Yes. It is _long_ but unlike some films I didn't really notice, and it felt appropriate considering the subject matter and the way it was shot.

I only saw it this afternoon so I am still absorbing it really, I couldn't write a review at this point. I do recommend it. I was quite moved at some points, and in a genuine rather than contrived saccharine sentimental way.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Aug 14, 2014)

We finished re-watching the first season of Utopia... Gonna start second one tonight


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 15, 2014)

Watched some 1993 sci-fi/action film called 'Nemesis' recorded off BBC2.  Very wtf - shit dialogue, shit acting, but some actually not bad action scenes.  Looked very straight to video.  I was actually kinda puzzled as to why the beeb would even show it.


----------



## fucthest8 (Aug 15, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> All Is Lost.
> 
> Robert Redford on a boat, alone, almost no dialogue (I'm talking 30 words, max).



Ooh, sounds great, why I have never heard of it? 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, will give that a go.

We watched Grand Budapest Hotel, just the best, best shaggy dog story ever, Ralph Fiennes having a ball


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 15, 2014)

fucthest8 said:


> Ooh, sounds great, why I have never heard of it? 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, will give that a go.
> 
> We watched Grand Budapest Hotel, just the best, best shaggy dog story ever, Ralph Fiennes having a ball


It's brilliant, honestly.  And I loved Grand Budapest Hotel, too


----------



## Belushi (Aug 15, 2014)

*Heartbeats* (Xavier Dolan 2011) French Canadian film about love, obsession and friendship. Enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 16, 2014)

I watched the clone wars series 1

v.poor indeed


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 16, 2014)

Started on Mad Men season 5.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2014)

The Trench

follows a group of soldiers in ww1 trenches in the last days before the Somme big one. Better than expected. Daniel Craig is the grizzled sergeant (his attempt on a regional accent is awful though, not sure where in the north of england he's meant to be from.) Cillian Murphy is in it, and Danny Dyer!

on iplayer.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 18, 2014)

The Ambush - excellent little film about shooting chetniks/everyone and what killing everyone does to you.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 18, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> The Trench
> 
> follows a group of soldiers in ww1 trenches in the last days before the Somme big one. Better than expected. Daniel Craig is the grizzled sergeant (his attempt on a regional accent is awful though, not sure where in the north of england he's meant to be from.) Cillian Murphy is in it, and Danny Dyer!
> 
> on iplayer.



I saw that with my Grandfather, who was like an Irish version of the Scottish lad on Dad's Army. . . 

MILD SPOILER:

When the officer told the lads in the trench that it was going to be a walkover thanks to the intense shelling that would precede their attack, my grandad said 'the stupid bastard'.


----------



## starfish (Aug 19, 2014)

Filth. It was alright, had a few amusing moments. I read the book ages ago but didnt finish it as i got bored with it so the ending was a surprise.


----------



## belboid (Aug 19, 2014)

The Lego Movie

A work of genius


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 19, 2014)

It's ace, innit? 
So clever.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 20, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *A Separation* (Ashgar Farhadi 2011) Another excellent Iranian film. A powerful and insightful portrayal of the messiness of life.



Watched this yesterday, very good. The only Iranian film ever to have won an Oscar.

Also watched 'The Double'. Had high hopes but despite the excellent sound and visual production, the story and execution was a bit wanky. Chris Morris has a bizarre cameo in it as well.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 20, 2014)

This evening I watched _Singin' In The Rain_ followed by _The Apple_.

A selection at complete opposite poles of the musical genre.

And now I feel quite disoriented


----------



## Yetman (Aug 21, 2014)

The Quiet Ones. Boring, few scary bits I suppose.

Trailer Park Boys. Countdown to Liquor Day. Fucking hilarious


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2014)

I watched the new trailer park boys one, don't legalize it. Oh my boys - what have you done. Not very good apart from a few classic Lahey scenes. Looked tired and at the end of the road.

Caruga - good little film that can be read as a warning of how good political intentions (bolshevik in the story) can degenerate into banditry if taken up opportunistically or a warning of how capitalism can degenerate into banditry and violence. Given the film was made in Yugoslavia in 1991...


----------



## Yetman (Aug 21, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> I watched the new trailer park boys one, don't legalize it. Oh my boys - what have you done. Not very good apart from a few classic Lahey scenes. Looked tired and at the end of the road...



Yeah I went to watch that and it didn't work very well in the first ten minutes, weaker humour than usual, just swearing and falling over. Shame. Watch Countdown to Liqor Day though. Best thing they've done


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2014)

Seen yes, brilliant


----------



## Virtual Blue (Aug 21, 2014)

*Cold in July* 

Neat. Retro. Memorable.


----------



## flypanam (Aug 21, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> The Ambush - excellent little film about shooting chetniks/everyone and what killing everyone does to you.



Yugoslav film? Can you recommend somewhere to get this?


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2014)

flypanam said:


> Yugoslav film? Can you recommend somewhere to get this?


Yes, yugoslav - I got it off karaga***rga which is invite only i'm afraid - hang on a sec and i'll check if i have any spare.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 21, 2014)

You're in luck - pm me and email and i'll send invite (not hotmail or msn though),


----------



## flypanam (Aug 21, 2014)

Thanks Butchers! pm on the way.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 22, 2014)

The Violin - very good film ostensibly about  a very small part of one of the failed peasants revolts and the states dirty war in Mexico in the 70s (this one i think would have been in Guerrero from the presence of a character i think is meant to be Lucio Cabanas - the failure of which later helped in the success of the Chiapas uprising) but actually about how culture and history and consequently resistance is formed and passed on. I've made it sound like Land and Freedom or something, but it's really nothing like that - it's a small film that concentrates big questions and concepts down to a few very simple things. And no fighting - at least not physically.


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 22, 2014)

star wars part 4 ie the 1977 one


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 22, 2014)

Her.  Spike Jonez' movie about a love affair between a man and an intelligent OS (operating system).  

It's clever and insightful and I enjoyed it but I wouldn't watch it again.  It has Starlord in it from Guardians of the Galaxy.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 22, 2014)

About time- that curtis one - this time with the family. As much as I want to kill RC for the smugness and his romanticised version of London, I did find some of it amusing.

Dallas Buyers Club - wonderful. so easily could have slipped into cloying sentimism, but it worked very well.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Aug 23, 2014)

Watched S1 E3 of Gomorrah then went back to re-watching Breaking Bad from the beginning. No spoilers please as I'm on S3 on my re-watch but haven't seen the end (S4/5).


----------



## Ponyutd (Aug 23, 2014)

Watched Frozen Ground last night.....this morning read this on line...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...ka-serial-killer-butcher-baker_n_5698890.html
Bit of a coincidence, watching the film the day the he died.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 23, 2014)

Broken - another good/decent but not top notch Korean revenge thriller type. Friday/sat night thing, but trying for a bit of depth.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 23, 2014)

Bikie Wars eps 1&2

its basically a low rent aussie rip off of Sons of Anarchy. Avoid.


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 23, 2014)

Godzilla (2014)
Godzilla fights 2 overgrown staple-removers in America. Avoid.

Bring back Toho films, and guys in rubber monster suits.


----------



## smmudge (Aug 23, 2014)

I watched "Revenge of the Nerds" because I thought it would be a light-hearted classic of the US college movie, but it was quite disturbing to think that some of the things in it once passed for "comedy".


----------



## Frances Lengel (Aug 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Bikie Wars eps 1&2
> 
> its basically a low rent aussie rip off of Sons of Anarchy. Avoid.



Bikie Wars is based on a true story - It's not a rip off of anything. I liked it anyway.


----------



## magneze (Aug 24, 2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel
An enjoyable story, well told. Nothing particularly stunning, just a lovely film.


----------



## Garek (Aug 24, 2014)

magneze said:


> The Grand Budapest Hotel
> An enjoyable story, well told. Nothing particularly stunning, just a lovely film.



Yeah, I enjoyed it to. The problem I have with Anderson though is sometimes he feels like he's trying to make quirky European films for Americans to insular to actually watch a quirky European film.


----------



## MellySingsDoom (Aug 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Bikie Wars eps 1&2
> 
> its basically a low rent aussie rip off of Sons of Anarchy. Avoid.



Just read up on this, and ye gods - this reads like an extended version of that utterly awful Australian 70's biker movie "Stone" (I yelled about said film on this thread earlier this year)!

(Coming soon:  my lengthy and tiresome rant/"review" of making myself endure "Mark Of The Devil" yet again - bet you all can't wait for that one!)


----------



## The Boy (Aug 24, 2014)

smmudge said:


> I watched "Revenge of the Nerds" because I thought it would be a light-hearted classic of the US college movie, but it was quite disturbing to think that some of the things in it once passed for "comedy".



Little bit seedy, isn't it?

Anyway, last night was The Innkeepers (2011, iirc).  Low rent ghosty yarn about two youngsters in an old hotel as it gets ready to close down.  Not much in the way of spooks, jumps or scares, the characters are dicks that you hope upon hope get got, the dialogue is weak.  And the end is a disgrace.

Still sat through it obviously.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 24, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> I watched the new trailer park boys one, don't legalize it. Oh my boys - what have you done. Not very good apart from a few classic Lahey scenes. Looked tired and at the end of the road.



Sad to hear.  Had many a good evening spent watching their stuff with old flatmates many years ago.


----------



## Grandma Death (Aug 24, 2014)

American Hustle-lots of things I loved about this movie. Some great performances, great soundtrack, some great set pieces (the discotheque for one), the costumes and witty dialogue. I though Bale was great and I should imagine he shared his trailer with De Niro cause there were times he appeared to be blatantly acting like him.

I did think the movie was not very convincing with the storyline in parts and there were some flat bits in the movie-but its pace was quite good apart from that. I think they could've shaved half hour off it though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2014)

Penny Dreadful.
Not quite dreadful but a bit of a curate's egg.
Very unsatisfactory story telling but some interesting characters. I like the idea of telling new stories with characters from public domain classics, but Alan Moore does it better.
They had too many major characters with little to do and it just came across as ill-concieved and unfinished. 
Eva Green's accent was hard to listen and she was a bit panto but Reeve Carney's was impressive, though his Dorian Gray was too wet. Gray is supposed to be a vicious and cruel man. 
Timothy Dalton and Rory Kinnear were as reliable as ever. The latter's Monster (Frankenstein's) was the best thing in it, though underused.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 24, 2014)

*The Guard* (John Michael McDonagh 2011)  A lot of people really rated this so I was disappointed to find it okay at best. Some funny moments and Gleeson is always good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *The Guard* (John Michael McDonagh 2011)  A lot of people really rated this so I was disappointed to find it okay at best. Some funny moments and Gleeson is always good.


I felt the same about it. In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths too.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 25, 2014)

BBC Doc about Hawkwind.


----------



## mentalchik (Aug 25, 2014)

Captain America (The Winter Soldier) - not half bad at all, most enjoyable
The Machine - low budget british B-movie sci fi - okish
Thor (The Dark World) - enjoyable
Ender's Game - seeing as i appear to be one of the few on here that actually like the books.........ok, not a patch on the book and as per usual they softened down the grimness of it


----------



## inva (Aug 25, 2014)

L'Assassino
1961 Elio Petri film. Marcello Mastroianni delivers an excellent performance as a man arrested for murder in a film which seems as much interested in examining the character played by Mastroianni and the moral evidence against him as it does in the actual case. Really enjoyed this and it has a great jazz soundtrack.

Unfaithfully Yours
Preston Sturges comedy from 1948. Rex Harrison is a famous conductor who, having begun to believe his wife (played by Linda Darnell) is having an affair, fantasises (in some well constructed scenes set in the middle of him conducting an orchestra) about revenge, forgiveness and suicide, but finds that enacting what he'd imagined doesn't go as smoothly. I think I'm right in saying that this film marked the end of Sturges' great run of successes as a director/writer and at times it struggles to hit the right notes which he seemed able to do almost effortlessly in earlier films. That being said it's still great on the whole and always watchable, with some real stand-out scenes and generally excellent performances from the leads as well as a number of the familiar Sturges actors. A good comedy with a darker edge and definitely well worth watching.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 25, 2014)

inva said:


> L'Assassino
> 1961 Elio Petri film. Marcello Mastroianni delivers an excellent performance as a man arrested for murder in a film which seems as much interested in examining the character played by Mastroianni and the moral evidence against him as it does in the actual case. Really enjoyed this and it has a great jazz soundtrack.
> 
> Unfaithfully Yours
> Preston Sturges comedy from 1948. Rex Harrison is a famous conductor who, having begun to believe his wife (played by Linda Darnell) is having an affair, fantasises (in some well constructed scenes set in the middle of him conducting an orchestra) about revenge, forgiveness and suicide, but finds that enacting what he'd imagined doesn't go as smoothly. I think I'm right in saying that this film marked the end of Sturges' great run of successes as a director/writer and at times it struggles to hit the right notes which he seemed able to do almost effortlessly in earlier films. That being said it's still great on the whole and always watchable, with some real stand-out scenes and generally excellent performances from the leads as well as a number of the familiar Sturges actors. A good comedy with a darker edge and definitely well worth watching.


 
I like posts like this because they make me want to see films I haven't yet seen, by giving a taste of what they're about but without spoilers


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 25, 2014)

Chef - divorced top chef quits job sets up a Van selling Cubanos and in the process bonds with son and gets wife back. Great soundtrack , warm humour and brill shots of cooking. Makes you definitely want to make and eat a Cuban sandwich


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 25, 2014)

inva said:


> L'Assassino
> 1961 Elio Petri film. Marcello Mastroianni delivers an excellent performance as a man arrested for murder in a film which seems as much interested in examining the character played by Mastroianni and the moral evidence against him as it does in the actual case. Really enjoyed this and it has a great jazz soundtrack.


That was Petri's first full length film - imagine coming out of the blocks that confident, that well formed.


----------



## inva (Aug 25, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> I like posts like this because they make me want to see films I haven't yet seen, by giving a taste of what they're about but without spoilers


thanks, I've got a lot of ideas of films to watch from posts people have made here so I try to give a bit of a review too.



butchersapron said:


> That was Petri's first full length film - imagine coming out of the blocks that confident, that well formed.


yep it's a very impressive film. Now I want to see where he went from there


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 25, 2014)

inva said:


> L'Assassino
> 1961 Elio Petri film. Marcello Mastroianni delivers an excellent performance as a man arrested for murder in a film which seems as much interested in examining the character played by Mastroianni and the moral evidence against him as it does in the actual case. Really enjoyed this and it has a great jazz soundtrack.





butchersapron said:


> That was Petri's first full length film - imagine coming out of the blocks that confident, that well formed.



Saw a review of this on the Guardian website and stuck on my "to watch" list, guess it should be at the top?


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 25, 2014)

It's a very good film, but the good news is that his later stuff is even better. His late 60s to late 70s stuff is up there with the best in post-war italian film making.


----------



## gabi (Aug 25, 2014)

belboid said:


> The Lego Movie
> 
> A work of genius



Lasted two minutes. Seemed cheesier than even toy story. Awful. I assume mr hanks was involved at some point.

Maybe I've grown up.


----------



## belboid (Aug 25, 2014)

gabi said:


> Lasted two minutes. Seemed cheesier than even toy story. Awful. I assume mr hanks was involved at some point.
> 
> Maybe I've grown up.


or maybe you've just got shit judgement


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 25, 2014)

belboid said:


> or maybe you've just got shit judgement


Curiously childish thing to say. 'I'm a grown up. You lot are SOOOOO immature' <crosses arms and pouts>


----------



## Grandma Death (Aug 25, 2014)

gabi said:


> Lasted two minutes. Seemed cheesier than even toy story. Awful. I assume mr hanks was involved at some point.
> 
> Maybe I've grown up.




I watched it tonight. Had its moments-but other than that-quite tedious


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2014)

Doctor in Love. One of several sequels to the Dirk Bogarde movie about medical students (except that Dirk's not in this one). Makes for peculiar viewing today. It dates from 1960, and the treatment of sex and sexual politics is strange to modern eyes. Leslie Philips engages in behaviour that would earn you a one way ticket to P45 city these days, for example.

Joan Sims turns up as a burlesque striptease artiste, with costume to match. James Robertson Justice is the flick's only saving grace, reprising his Dr. Lancelot Spratt act from the first movie.

The original Bogarde movie was from 1954. It's interesting that in the space of a few years they felt able to move on to more close to the knuckle humour.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 28, 2014)

finished the Pirate series about Edward Teach 'Crossbones'

it was quite good, passed the time anyway. The naval battles weren't so hot. Jon Malkovitch basically carried this. Also you don't often see a treppaning on tele do you? that was a bonus.

What this really needed was more profanity, more sex and violence. Not that I'm so shallow thats all that interests me, but for a violent era of piratical etc, it felt a bit tame.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 28, 2014)

Álex de la Iglesia's stupidly titled Witching and Bitching (original title The Witches of Zugarramurdi) - if you know the directors previous work (esp The Last Circus and Acción mutante) and i say this film is about a gang of jewel robbers trapped and tormented by a coven of feminist witches and that this is a pic from the film, then i think you'll get some idea of whether it's for you or not. That said, this one only has a few surface allusions to capital/states mismanagement, his others are a lot heavier with them). Great first half then gets bit too daft. Oh yeah, it also has the Venus of WIllendorf as a big baddy. Really.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 28, 2014)

Spike Lee's Oldboy. Stupid.

Hobbit Part 2 - less shit that 1 but still no better than the ewok movies

Bounty Killer - a fun mad max/grindhouse low budget that wasfar better than both the above for a fraction of he cost: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2369396/

Beneath Hill 60 - Aussie world war 1 drama about miners used to set explosions under trenches - stars a great actor called Brendan Cowell http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1418646/


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 28, 2014)

Watched The Inbetweeners 2 last night....I could do with a laugh tbh....didn't find it there though, bobbins.

Night before I saw Under The Skin which was everything I expected. Quite brilliant.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 29, 2014)

Mr K is making us watch 2012. It is both depressing in its depiction of the end of the human world and depressing in how deeply crap it is.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 29, 2014)

Alladin.  in memoriam

Then I read the imdb trivia.   Awesome.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 29, 2014)

Last night. Calvary. McDonagh film (Six Shooter/In Bruges/The Guard) about a priest given one week to live by a fella who comes to confession. It's addressing the issue of child abuse in the church in Ireland. I'm not sure if just doesn't work, or if I didn't get it.

Tonight. Night Moves. Three environmentalists blow up a dam. That's about it, build up to the act is slow, tension builds then the focus is on the two younger activists and how they deal with the aftermath. It was okay, performances were decent enough and the scenery etc is nice to look at. It's no Edukators though.

Oh, also watched two documentaries on new york gangs in the 70s mentioned somewhere on urban...The Flying Cut Sleeves and 80 blocks from Tiffanys, both of which are excellent.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 30, 2014)

X men: days of future past

good, not great but good. The bloke playing tricky dickie looked like nixon as well, plus wolverine


----------



## starfish (Aug 30, 2014)

Just watched Avengers Assemble. Took a while to get going i felt. Too much talking. Did have a couple of good chucklesome moments though.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 30, 2014)

A.P.E.X. (1994). straight to video sci-fi effort involving time travel, parallel time lines and some dreadful acting.

Prayer of the Rollerboys (1991).  Cory Haim twatting about on inline skates while crypto-fascists with rain coats and mullets sell Cake to the kids.  There's some mild satire of Reagan-era economics and stuff that occasionally gets in the way of the roller skating.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 31, 2014)

Also, Tank Girl (1995).  Goes downhill after the opening credits.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 31, 2014)

Starred Up- one of the best excuses for lengthy jail terms I have seen for a while.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 31, 2014)

True Romance.

I have no idea why Tony Scott gets the credit for this, it's Tarantino from start to end.   Still very good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2014)

x men: days of future past

not as good as it could have been but worth the time even if its just to see wolverine with bone claws


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 1, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> x men: days of future past
> 
> not as good as it could have been but worth the time even if its just to see wolverine with bone claws


Watch something decent man. Or at least something worth posting about.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2014)

I've not see a genuinly good film since Cloud Atlas. I'm looking forward to the damn _lego _film. Dark days.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 1, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> I've not see a genuinly good film since Cloud Atlas. I'm looking forward to the damn _lego _film. Dark days.


There's fucking loads out there - watch cold in july or the red white and blue ffs, make an effort.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 1, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> There's fucking loads out there - watch cold in july



cheers for the tip


----------



## Voley (Sep 1, 2014)

12 Years A Slave. As harrowing as you might imagine but quite surprising, too. It had a stark matter-of-fact take on the horror that I thought was good. Unlike Tarantino, they didn't need to sensationalise it; there were no dramatic escape attempts (which I'd sort of expected) or anything along those lines as the true story was grim enough. Some good stuff early on from Benedict Cumberbatch as the supposedly benevolent slaver that threw up some good contradictions (even if his accent was shit). Some cracking acting across the board - Michael Fassbender and Paul Dano were pure evil throughout. I'm beginning to like Paul Dano a lot; only seen him in a couple of things (There Will be Blood was the last, I think) but he's been very good in both.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> cheers for the tip




86% on Rotten Toms!

might be worth the download.

I just want a good sci fi film. A proper good one, one that makes me feel the way I felt when Luke strode into Jabbas palace all jedi-epic. Like when I first saw 2001 and realised kubrik was a genius. Like the opening sequence to Bladerunner where the towers vent flame as the camera pans down on soe far future night city. I want the wonder again. Cloud Atlas did that. Kicked my instinctive cynic out the window. Forever twelve with my nose pressed up against a window looking at a shiny thing. Thats how good it was.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 1, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> There's fucking loads out there - watch *cold in july* or the red white and blue ffs, make an effort.



another thumbs up one for Cold in July.
Coherence and Raid 2 should get a mention.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 1, 2014)

*Divergent *- one of the worse films to watch if you're over 15. Shit like this should come with a health warning.

*The Fault in our Stars* - Equally as bad as Divergent and involves the same leading actress! Unforgivable Hollywood wank that attempts to pull on all emotional strings...evil...


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 1, 2014)

Voley said:


> I'm beginning to like Paul Dano a lot; only seen him in a couple of things (There Will be Blood was the last, I think) but he's been very good in both.



Prisoners is a good Paul Dano performance, and not a bad film.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 1, 2014)

Maleficent.

Lots of so-so reviews, but I thought it was a very entertaining film. Everyone enjoyed it, and Jolie was great.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 1, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> 86% on Rotten Toms!
> 
> might be worth the download.
> 
> I just want a good sci fi film. A proper good one, one that makes me feel the way I felt when Luke strode into Jabbas palace all jedi-epic. Like when I first saw 2001 and realised kubrik was a genius. Like the opening sequence to Bladerunner where the towers vent flame as the camera pans down on soe far future night city. I want the wonder again. Cloud Atlas did that. Kicked my instinctive cynic out the window. Forever twelve with my nose pressed up against a window looking at a shiny thing. Thats how good it was.


New indie Australian film _Predestination_ might be up your ally. It's got flaws but there's some nice touches in it too, based on a Heinlein short story apparently.



butchersapron said:


> Álex de la Iglesia's stupidly titled Witching and Bitching (original title The Witches of Zugarramurdi) - if you know the directors previous work (esp The Last Circus and Acción mutante)


I loved _The Last Trumpet Ballad_


----------



## Voley (Sep 1, 2014)

Chip Barm said:
			
		

> Prisoners is a good Paul Dano performance, and not a bad film.



Ta. Not seen that yet.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2014)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Divergent *- one of the worse films to watch if you're over 15. Shit like this should come with a health warning.
> 
> *The Fault in our Stars* - Equally as bad as Divergent and involves the same leading actress! Unforgivable Hollywood wank that attempts to pull on all emotional strings...evil...


And her brother in the former plays her boyfriend in the latter.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 3, 2014)

Paradise: Love. 

Austrian film about a woman who goes to Kenya in search of love. Spends her time with gigolos. Thoroughly depressing...pick the most bleak film you've ever seen and times it by 100.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 3, 2014)

Out of the Furnace.

Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Forest Whittaker, Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana .	Bale's brother gets done over by meth criminals and goes for revenge.  There's an underlying criticism of politics, war and the economy, lots of acting.  It's like Winter's Bone but not quite as good.  Worth watching just for the cast though.


----------



## The Boy (Sep 3, 2014)

The woman in black (2012).  Above average, if workmanlike, ghost yarn.  Goes for chills rather than shocks which is refreshing.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 3, 2014)

The Boy said:


> The woman in black (2012).  Above average, if workmanlike, ghost yarn.  Goes for chills rather than shocks which is refreshing.


There's going to be a sequel, I think.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 4, 2014)

_The Lookout - _French crime piece starring Daniel Auteuil, load of old tosh, a bit of a dog's dinner really snipers and bank robbers obviously weren't enough for the writers so they added a serial killer in there for good measure. Not unwatchable but really unimaginative and slap dash.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 4, 2014)

Red, White and Blue. As mentioned by butchers. Simon Rumley. Thriller/Slasher/Iraq war commentary. Girl with HIV meets loner. Great performances from Noah Taylor and Amanda Fuller.

Not seen Rumleys other films but I'll give them a go on the back of this.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 4, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> And her brother in the former plays her boyfriend in the latter.



this could be the start of a new Carry On franchise.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 5, 2014)

Another Simon Rumley film...The Living and the Dead. 

I'm not sure I got it. A couple and their son, who has learning difficulties/mental health problems live in a mansion. Mum is sick and dad has to go away. Son wants to look after her and prevents her nurse from coming in to help out. It's dark as fuck and there's a bit of flashback and forward along with 'delusional' scenes that lost me. The final scenes suggest an ending but I'm not sure I was right and reading online hasn't helped. The son's part is well played if a bit over the top.

Anyone else seen it?


----------



## The Boy (Sep 6, 2014)

The last will and testament of Rosalind Leigh (2012).  Was expecting a low rent horror movie, but got a low rent, ideas-above-its-station psychological horror thing that didn't even have any comedy value.  Thoroughly meh.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 6, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> Another Simon Rumley film...The Living and the Dead.
> 
> I'm not sure I got it. A couple and their son, who has learning difficulties/mental health problems live in a mansion. Mum is sick and dad has to go away. Son wants to look after her and prevents her nurse from coming in to help out. It's dark as fuck and there's a bit of flashback and forward along with 'delusional' scenes that lost me. The final scenes suggest an ending but I'm not sure I was right and reading online hasn't helped. The son's part is well played if a bit over the top.
> 
> Anyone else seen it?


Yes, enjoyed it.  Not the easiest of films though.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 6, 2014)

Been in bed with the lurgy for the last few days

I've finally got round to watching the Top Boy series from C4 .  It's most excellent.  

Some of the acting is clunky but if you want proper gritty drama, this is it.

I've been alternating them with old Alan Partridge episodes.  I know them by heart but they still make me laugh


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 6, 2014)

Le Mans.

From 1971. Steve McQueen fronts this flick about the famous road race. There's a perfunctory plot, but really it's just a hook to hang some interesting race footage (staged presumably, but still thrilling). Worth a look.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 6, 2014)

Just watched Chef - likeable jaunt that went on a bit too long maybe


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 7, 2014)

Most of 'Paradise: Love'.  Had to stop it because The Walking Dead was coming on.  Will resume later today.  Interesting film and subject matter.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 7, 2014)

Inbetweeners2. After fifteen minutes it suddenly came to me that with hindsight I was somewhat surprsied that my step daughter (17 year old) s father took her and her brother for a long awaited 'family day out' to see this.Must have been a bit uncomfortable in the first twenty minutes. Old adage that good tv series doesn't translate well into a film was even truer than the first one. There are some good bits mainly the speech about white trustafarian but to be honest some of us said the same thing on here ten years ago and the humour was far better in a concentrated 25 mins episode where they paid more attention to detail.Light weight comedy that plays to a safe lowest common denominator and I hope for the memory of the TV series they don't make Inbetweeners 3.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 7, 2014)

Yetman said:


> Just watched Chef - likeable jaunt that went on a bit too long maybe



I liked it tbh , the food , the sound track, the use of twitter  and the humour more than made up for the slightly schmaltzy father son bonding getting back with the ex wife story.


----------



## Citizen66 (Sep 7, 2014)

Terminator and Alien - both stunning in HD.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 7, 2014)

Terminator (Directors Cut) and finished Breaking Bad. Hadn't seen the last series and had missed a few in between so watched the whole thing from the start again over the last couple weeks.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 8, 2014)

Ouranos  - depressing film about Greek fighters overrunning Italians and then being overran by the Germans and what this means for their families/hopes/loves etc. But rubbish really. May have made more impact when released in 62. Bit introspective and melancholy.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 8, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> Terminator (Directors Cut) and finished Breaking Bad. Hadn't seen the last series and had missed a few in between so watched the whole thing from the start again over the last couple weeks.



There's a director's cut of Terminator...the first one?


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 8, 2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Pretty enjoyable, but not as good as First Class, and I've seen a lot of better Marvel films this year (Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy)


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 8, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> Terminator (Directors Cut) and finished Breaking Bad. Hadn't seen the last series and had missed a few in between so watched the whole thing from the start again over the last couple weeks.





mwgdrwg said:


> There's a director's cut of Terminator...the first one?



Srry No, I meant Alien (Directors Cut) but somehow chose Terminator from the post above rather than Alien


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 8, 2014)

First episode of Robert Kee's _Ireland a Television History._


----------



## Citizen66 (Sep 8, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> Srry No, I meant Alien (Directors Cut) but somehow chose Terminator from the post above rather than Alien


I was furiously checking how I'd managed to get the one without the director's cut.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 8, 2014)

Saturday I watched Cold In July. Deserving of it's high ratings on Rotten Toms etc Great performances all round and a story that kept me involved and waiting to see what was coming. 

Watched Filth today. I've not read the book so couldn't comment on whether it sticks to that but has some good laughs and use of Frank Sidebottom, which is never a bad thing. I like Eddie Marsan so good to see him in there too.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Sep 8, 2014)

The Andromeda Strain.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 9, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> I hope for the memory of the TV series they don't make Inbetweeners 3.



So you're saying this is their _Mutiny_, and that the next one could tip things over into _Holiday_?


----------



## starfish (Sep 13, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> Red, White and Blue. As mentioned by butchers. Simon Rumley. Thriller/Slasher/Iraq war commentary. Girl with HIV meets loner. Great performances from Noah Taylor and Amanda Fuller.
> 
> Not seen Rumleys other films but I'll give them a go on the back of this.


A good but unsettling film. Theres one scene in particular that sticks in the mind. Im sure youll know which one i mean.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 13, 2014)

The White Bird Marked with Black - utterly depressing Soviet Union/Ukraine film about a family of brothers and their experiences in a small part of the carpathians during the war. Lot of soviets, romanians, germans, murder, partisans, banderists, fracticide and suicide. And songs. One great one. 
An interesting film, more from the style it was made in rather than the actual story or acting - hard to even work out what was happening at times due the construction. I may have missed some ukranian nationalist symbolism as well.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 13, 2014)

Contact - Alan Clarke's TV play of his book about serving in NI. A reminder of the amazing TV of the 70/80s.


----------



## inva (Sep 13, 2014)

Angel Face
Otto Preminger, 1952. Very good film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons. Mitchum is an ambulance driver turned chauffeur who seems unable to escape the psychotic plans dreamt up by Simmons in a very sinister performance. The film is well paced and builds effectively to a gripping and memorable finale which is cleverly preceded by a bit of a lull (with great music) during which you have a good idea of what is about to happen and so adds to the film's sense of fatalism without lessening the impact of the ending.

Starlet
2012 film directed by Sean Baker. A decent little film about a young woman called Jane (Dree Hemingway) who accidentally finds herself with a lot of money belonging to a much older woman, Sadie (Besedka Johnson), who lives nearby. The plot is basically Jane's attempts first to return the money to Sadie and then to befriend her. I enjoyed this, and there were a couple of unexpected twists and few of the clichés that you can often get in these kind of crazy young person & cranky old person films. The strange isolated world that Jane lives in, at least in part because of her work, helps to make her relationship with Sadie and generally odd behaviour much more believable. The two lead performances are both very good. Not bad at all.

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Frank Tashlin, 1957. At the heart of this film is a fairly tiresome finger-wagging moral story about the excesses of modern society turning people into mindless zombies addled by mass media and consumer products and how money/success can't buy you happiness. Fortunately the predictable plot and politics don't get in the way of the film too much, which at times looks like it's forgotten what it was meant to be about in the first place anyway. What you end up with is a lurid cartoonish (and Tashlin worked on cartoons before directing) satire of 1950s corporate America and various other things - especially TV which Tashlin hated apparently. Tony Randall has the leading role as Rockwell P. Hunter, an employee of an advertising agency who's about to lose his job unless he can come up with a way of keeping the agency's contract with Stay-Put Lipstick. His solution involves getting the endorsement of Hollywood star Rita Marlowe, played by Jayne Mansfield but as a result of his efforts Hunter finds himself suddenly thrown unexpectedly into the media spotlight and up the corporate ladder. Joan Blondell is good too as Marlowe's jaded assistant. Overall it's very over the top and pretty entertaining.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 13, 2014)

I watched _2012_ last night.

God, what an awful/amazing film


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 14, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> Contact - Alan Clarke's TV play of his book about serving in NI. A reminder of the amazing TV of the 70/80s.


Excellent film, but Alan Clarke the director is not the AFN Clarke who wrote the script based on his own experiences as a Para in Northern Ireland.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 14, 2014)

Ah I see.... I did wonder


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2014)

Marley & Me: The Puppy Years - this time, the dog talks. There are other talking animals too. My flatmate wanted to watch it, honest. It's appalling. 

Gates Of Heaven - Erroll Morris' first film, in which curious folk who work in pet cemeteries talk about the ins and outs of the trade whilst also waxing lyrical about death and the afterlife.


----------



## belboid (Sep 14, 2014)

Rust & Bone

Pretty good.  My third favourite Marion Cotillard movie. I think


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2014)

Les Femmes De Lombre on the iplayer. WW2 thing. Nothing spectacular but a good story well told


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 14, 2014)

Dangerous Mind of a Hooligan = shit

Wish I could turn of films more easily but I reach a point of no return. To my credit I did turn off Shaft (2000/1?) today.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 14, 2014)

*Riddick *- tedious bollocks and further proof of the law of diminishing returns. I loved Pitch Black (a properly muscular, original and racy genre movie) and even sort-of-liked sequel Chronicles of Riddick, which most people hated, cos it was so overblown/overbudgeted/over-art-directed (and too long.). But this third one is just dull - obviously the idea was to go back to the stripped-down style of PB but it just ends up being boring and unimpressive. Lousy script and nothing even all that interesting to look at.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 14, 2014)

And just about to turn off Thor: The Dark World after 25 minutes (I'm getting better at this ). To be fair I didn't have high hopes at selection time but thought having Natalie Portman in it but get me through 

Next!


----------



## The Boy (Sep 14, 2014)

Alien Abduction (2014).  A not-entirely-necessary addition to the found footage genre.  One of those ones where you want everyone to die now, please.  

Intruders (2011).  Clive Owen playing the part of Clive Owen.  Some other people annoying the tits out of you as the setting skips between Spain and London slowly enough for you to spot the twist before it gets there.  Decent enough effort in a straight-to-DVD fashion, but the shit monster and the really, really poor ending ruin it somewhat.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 14, 2014)

Gibel sensatsii [Loss of Feeling / Jim Ripple's Robot]- 30s Soviet sci-fi about an engineer in an unnamed land who builds a robot hoping it will bring about revolution against the capitalists but he get's denounced as a traitor when the workers think the robots will end up replacing them.
A bit clunky but worth watching just for the bit were he gets drunk and gets his robots to dance. On youtube with eng subs


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 14, 2014)

The Boy said:


> Intruders (2011).  Clive Owen playing the part of Clive Owen.



I'm sure I've seen quite a few of his films but couldn't name them other than Inside Man which I rate. I've also stayed in the 'Clive Owen' room of a Travelodge in Coventry or some where (this only equated to a photo a short bio of his career on the wall lol).


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2014)

Bladerunner Directors cut is on tonight on bbc2


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 14, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> I'm sure I've seen quite a few of his films but couldn't name them other than Inside Man which I rate. I've also stayed in the 'Clive Owen' room of a Travelodge in Coventry or some where (this only equated to a photo a short bio of his career on the wall lol).


Travelodge should do this at all of their locations - Newcastle Quayside is much in need of a Clive Mantle Suite with accompanying plaque, for instance.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 14, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> Travelodge should do this at all of their locations - Newcastle Quayside is much in need of a Clive Mantle Suite with accompanying plaque, for instance.



I agree, although they might be scraping the barrel in some locations!


----------



## Yetman (Sep 14, 2014)

[QUOTE="The Boy, post: 13398703, member:

Intruders (2011).  Clive Owen playing the part of Clive Owen.  Some other people annoying the tits out of you as the setting skips between Spain and London slowly enough for you to spot the twist before it gets there.  Decent enough effort in a straight-to-DVD fashion, but the shit monster and the really, really poor ending ruin it somewhat.[/QUOTE]

That had great potential. It's about incubuses. Twisted and turned well, then just went stupid.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 14, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> I agree, although they might be scraping the barrel in some locations!


You may be right - I just checked and Leslie Grantham's thumb-sucking skype-wank wasn't even in a budget chain hotel


----------



## The Boy (Sep 14, 2014)

Yetman said:


> [QUOTE="The Boy, post: 13398703, member:
> 
> Intruders (2011).  Clive Owen playing the part of Clive Owen.  Some other people annoying the tits out of you as the setting skips between Spain and London slowly enough for you to spot the twist before it gets there.  Decent enough effort in a straight-to-DVD fashion, but the shit monster and the really, really poor ending ruin it somewhat.



That had great potential. It's about incubuses. Twisted and turned well, then just went stupid.[/QUOTE]
It did, and it did.  It was one of those films where you just feel utterly robbed by the finale.


----------



## starfish (Sep 14, 2014)

They Live. Hadnt watched it for a while & thought it was about time to watch it again as ms starfish, who had never seen it, was intrigued by it after she recently watched The Perverts Guide to Ideology. She liked it which was good as it one of my favourite films. The fight scene is still awesome.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 15, 2014)

starfish said:


> They Live. Hadnt watched it for a while & thought it was about time to watch it again as ms starfish, who had never seen it, was intrigued by it after she recently watched The Perverts Guide to Ideology. She liked it which was good as it one of my favourite films. The fight scene is still awesome.


fnord


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 17, 2014)

In The Fog - wonderful large film on small stage in Belarus during the war - so echoes of Come and See right off,  the almost mute lead performance also mirroring Florya in the same. This is a slow thoughtful; film about all sorts of forms of collaboration or resistance. Director was previously working on documentaries and it shows. Highly recommended.

H-8 - another brilliant film i'd missed over the years. 1958 Yugoslav film that starts off with a bus and a lorry crashing into each other and 8 people dead. The film then loops back and retraces the events that led up to that exact point. Sounds like an exercise in cold formalism but it's really not. Manages to create increasing tension and attachment to the characters even though we know where it's heading. Again, highly recommended.

Black Sun - pretty much a visual response/accompaniment to The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890-1935  by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke - but the film has nothing to do with Clarke himself. Worth a lookbut not anything special. Some good scenes at the Externsteine with some idiots in the 80s/90s but beyond that nothing not seen already. Clarke went onto do another book on the same subject with the title Black Sun as well.


----------



## Sprocket. (Sep 18, 2014)

The filmed stage production of, Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell with Peter O'Toole. 
Hilarious.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 18, 2014)

City of God.  First saw it years ago, still as good now, still fresh.	A story of a young boy growing into his teenage years living in a crime-ridden slum near Rio.  Lots of characters and back-stories, really well shot and used locals for many of the parts.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 18, 2014)

Just don't watch City of Men


----------



## Redeyes (Sep 19, 2014)

Watching THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD haven't seen it for ages but it's still well good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 19, 2014)

Raid 2.

Now that's a fucking action movie.

Taking place about 10 minutes after Raid: Redemption this goes to town.   Just great, pretty violent mind.  Put it this way...one of the baddies is called Hammer-Girl.   Moving away from the claustrophobia of the first movie, this one moves effortlessly between slums, kitchens, highways, sumptuous rooms and hallways to up the ante.  

One slightly confusing thing - one of the baddies in the last one plays a different character in this one.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2014)

eps 1-5 of 'Defiance' which has been something of a hit for syfy. It's nicely episodic and the leads carry it. Competent and occasionally witty dialogue and plotting. They've not pushed the boat out mythos wise hence the effects and costumes don't stray into territory where you can see that its low budget tv.


will keep watching.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 20, 2014)

Frank.

Several people whose opinions on such things I value, told me this is a good film. I decided to watch it. I soon managed to switch of from this not being a film about Frank Sidebottom however It was boring. Really not my kind of film at all. A waste of 95 of my minutes.


----------



## inva (Sep 20, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> In The Fog - wonderful large film on small stage in Belarus during the war - so echoes of Come and See right off,  the almost mute lead performance also mirroring Florya in the same. This is a slow thoughtful; film about all sorts of forms of collaboration or resistance. Director was previously working on documentaries and it shows. Highly recommended.


great film that, I think I saw it last year. I remember the bit near the beginning where the two partisans go to the other ones house being excellent.


----------



## fishfinger (Sep 21, 2014)

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

Having seen the 1992 original film "Bad Lieutenant" by Abel Ferrara - and thoroughly hating it, I was more than a little apprehensive about watching this 2009 "re-imagining". In the original, the titular Bad Lieutenant (played by Harvey Keitel) is a corrupt, drug and gambling addicted, rapist cop, with no redeeming features.

The 2009 version stars Nicolas Cage in the title role. Now, I'm no fan of Mr Cage (His OTT, often hammy performances are usually extremely off-putting). However, with Werner Herzog as director, Cage's scenery chewing is ideally suited to this surreal black comedy. The character is still a corrupt, drug and gambling addicted, rapist cop, with no redeeming features, but is too cartoony to actually hate.

So, thanks butchersapron for the recommendation, this was a pleasant surprise.


----------



## sojourner (Sep 21, 2014)

We hardly ever watch films now, but were quite crushingly hungover yesterday, so watched Inception.

Fucking loved it. Feels a bit churlish to say that some of the 'action' scenes were overdone and way too James Bondy, but they were. Brilliant ending. Lush cinematography. Had us thinking whilst watching.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 22, 2014)

Michael... supposedly controversial, but actually just very boring.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2014)

Ploughing through to half way through season 2 of Defiance. Its really good. Unashamedly sci fi, after a long run of recent sort-of (heroes, orphan black et al).

the character development is deft and the plots increasingly clever. Although its hitting every stock-character cliche its actually doing new things with old situations

also alien sideboob. A lot of alien sideboob

also questions on the nature of diversity and multicultural  (or in this case multispecies) societies


----------



## Belushi (Sep 22, 2014)

*Zombieland* (Ruben Fleischer 2009) Undemanding post-apocalypse road movie. Enjoyable enough for a sunday night.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 22, 2014)

The Wall... another Austrian film, I think.  Have come to the conclusion that Austrians don't make the most exciting cinema.


----------



## Mab (Sep 23, 2014)

Redeyes said:


> Watching THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD haven't seen it for ages but it's still well good.


Yes, and especially when the cyclops roasts men on the spit


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 23, 2014)

Dig! the film about the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Flight of the Conchords, but for real, and without the jokes. 

Don't Look Back. Dylan's British tour of '65 is documented in this fly on the wall thing by DA Pennebaker. Where the idea of cool, and the rocker as mad genius comes from - the idea that the bands in Dig! were trying (and failing) to imitate. Almost a relic of a lost civilisation at this point. 

And now for something completely different. The Titfield Thunderbolt. Ealing comedy about a rural English village whose branch line is cut, and who decided to run the railroad themselves. Essentially a cry of frustration from an upper-middle class layer that felt itself threatened by both Butskellist nationalisation and pushy petit-bourgeois. An exercise in nostalgia for an age that never existed - but good fun all the same.


----------



## passenger (Sep 23, 2014)

*Hearafter* Directed by Clint Eastwood not as good as i hoped for very good in bits poor in others


----------



## Belushi (Sep 23, 2014)

*Bullhead* (Michael R. Roskam 2012) Belgian crime drama set in the Flemish countryside. Pretty good.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 23, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *Bullhead* (Michael R. Roskam 2012) Belgian crime drama set in the Flemish countryside. Pretty good.





> ...The young Limburg cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille is approached by an unscrupulous veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious West-Flemish beef trader...



Right, I'm having that


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 24, 2014)

Aliens.  Everybody's seen this a dozen times but it's still surprisingly brilliant.  Director Cameron follows on from Scott's original and improves it beyond measure.  Scary, exciting, dashes of humour and of course Cameron's ability to portray strong female characters.


----------



## ringo (Sep 24, 2014)

Carnivale Series 1 Episode 1. Had the DVDs of both series for several years but only just got round to it.


----------



## Spymaster (Sep 24, 2014)

I've been working my way through the box set of From The Earth To The Moon over the last couple of weeks.

It's pretty much a _must watch_ for any Apollo/space/moon-landing nerds and really gets into the characters and all the missions. 

Ace.

Happy to lend it when I'm done if anyone fancies it.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 24, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Raid 2.
> 
> Now that's a fucking action movie.
> 
> ...



you mean Mad Dog?
he rocked...RIP.

if you want to get more confused...he is in Merantau and also a bad guy who fights Rama.

Raid 2 is just fucking awesome.
Violence was great and the martial arts very accurate (respect to Silat).

Gareth Williams is one of the best directors in world for martial arts movies...


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 24, 2014)

ringo said:


> Carnivale Series 1 Episode 1. Had the DVDs of both series for several years but only just got round to it.




this is quality^^^

I'm waiting for American Horror Story new series to come out- going to be a carny theme as well. compare/contrast

I watched a lot of 'Person of Interest. The conciet is that this bloke built a panopticon type computer for the US state and they use it to predict trrism. except it starts identifying violent crimes as well (of a non trrist nature). The Man doesn't care so the inventor tracks an ex cia bloke who is now a bum and recruits him to have adventures. Its a bit silly


----------



## ringo (Sep 24, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> this is quality^^^
> 
> I'm waiting for American Horror Story new series to come out- going to be a carny theme as well. compare/contrast
> 
> I watched a lot of 'Person of Interest. The conciet is that this bloke built a panopticon type computer for the US state and they use it to predict trrism. except it starts identifying violent crimes as well (of a non trrist nature). The Man doesn't care so the inventor tracks an ex cia bloke who is now a bum and recruits him to have adventures. Its a bit silly



Enjoyed the first one, good to see something a bit different. This was my choice, we've just finished Mrs R's choice which was Banshee season 2. A Spartacus sort of silly. She might go for Person Of Interest, I'll have a look.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 24, 2014)

I watched this the other week:



Hit Canadian comedy-thriller series about a father/son private eye firm. It might be going too far to say that if you like Trailer Park Boys you'll like this (it's really nothing like TPB, btw) but I would say give it a go. It's one of those things that is utter nonsense but which is good fun in spite of that.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 24, 2014)

Virtual Blue said:


> you mean Mad Dog?
> he rocked...RIP.
> 
> if you want to get more confused...he is in Merantau and also a bad guy who fights Rama...


He's dead?


----------



## maya (Sep 24, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> It's one of those things that is utter nonsense but which is good fun in spite of that.


A bit like Psych?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 24, 2014)

A Field In England.

Excellent.

Another good reason to hate tents.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 25, 2014)

Hedgehog in the Fog [Yuriy Norshteyn, 1975] HQ: 
Beautiful


----------



## fishfinger (Sep 25, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Hedgehog in the Fog [Yuriy Norshteyn, 1975] HQ:
> Beautiful



Thanks, I just watched it. Very good.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 26, 2014)

The Illusionist, classy.


----------



## Supine (Sep 26, 2014)

Glue on C5. Surprisingly really rather good who dunnit series.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 26, 2014)

maya said:


> A bit like Psych?



I know not this "psych" of which you speak.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 26, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> Aliens.  Everybody's seen this a dozen times but it's still surprisingly brilliant.  Director Cameron follows on from Scott's original and improves it beyond measure.  Scary, exciting, dashes of humour and of course Cameron's ability to portray strong female characters.



Aliens is a brilliant _action_ film, but to say it improves on Alien beyond measure is ridiculous.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 26, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> Aliens is a brilliant _action_ film, but to say it improves on Alien beyond measure is ridiculous.


I disagree.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 26, 2014)

*Les femmes de l'ombre / Female Agents *- standard , pretty old fashioned WWII Resistance tales of derring-do with Sophie Marceau etc. Surprisingly hardboiled in places, but somehow the drama never really takes wing. (Not half as tense as _Flame and Citron _for example; not even in the same league as classics like _Army of Shadows, A Self Made Hero, Indigenes, Sorrow and the Pity _etc). Not a waste of time - plenty of parachutes, guns, a bit of stripping, nice frocks - but a bit static.


----------



## belboid (Sep 26, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> Aliens is a brilliant _action_ film, but to say it improves on Alien beyond measure is ridiculous.


Cameron's a brilliant action director. But ideas?  The man has none.  And no ear for dialogue.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 26, 2014)

belboid said:


> Cameron's a brilliant action director. But ideas?  The man has none.  And no ear for dialogue.


??

There are loads of cool lines in Aliens...none at all in Alien. T1 and T2 have some brilliant lines too.


----------



## belboid (Sep 26, 2014)

Maybe if you're 12


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 26, 2014)

I really like Aliens and Cameron...it's just that to compare it to Alien is madness. One is an action film with cool dialogue and cool characters, Alien is all about mood, tension, horror...which it does fantastically. Both are equally fantastic at what they intend to do.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 26, 2014)

belboid said:


> Maybe if you're 12



Game over, man! GAME OVER!



Spoiler



(still cool)


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 26, 2014)

A thor movie. Shit. All the Norse gods had thick oldy world posh British accents. The nice one died. . . and that woman from Leon, for no reason.


----------



## maya (Sep 26, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> I know not this "psych" of which you speak.


Ah, OK... it's a TV series about a very observant and analytically gifted (but incredibly annoying) guy who pretends to be a psychic so that he can get a job where he can help the police solve crime cases. Together with his nerdy best friend Gus and his retired ex-cop dad he ends up solving a lot of cases. It's mostly a bit silly/high on comedy and with a lot of references to other series/films and pop culture. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psych

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491738/?ref_=nv_sr_2


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 26, 2014)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> A thor movie. Shit. All the Norse gods had thick oldy world posh British accents. The nice one died. . . and that woman from Leon, for no reason.



Yeah but it's got Kat Dennings in it


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 26, 2014)

The little girl from 40 year old virgin?


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 28, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Night of The Pencils - fine film about the disappearance (i.e rape, torture and murder) of a  group of low level school-activists campaigning for a bus pass in dictatorship Argentina. Based on very real events. Héctor Olivera had previously made what i think is the best radical drama i've seen - Rebellion in Patagonia.



_The pencils are writing again_ - students from the same college protesting in the same place 38 years later:


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 28, 2014)

Joe-can't remember the last Nicolas Cage film since Wild at Heart or Raising Arizona that I liked . Like Liam Neilson his career just seemed to focus on action films rather than build on his earlier performances. 

Joe is set in some god awful small town in some southern state in America . Life is dire, full of poverty, too much alcohol, broken dreams and mind numbing resignation that this , what ever it is , is how it is always going to be . 

Joe ( cage) meets some kid who wants to a job working on Cages field clearance poisoning trees. Won't spoil the story but it's a good grim tale in which nobody lives happily but at least someone lives.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 28, 2014)

*Pompeii* and it's my own fault, it was every bit as bad as I'd expected and worse. Well, ok, a half-entertaining way to unwind for 100min but it's over-CGI'd, historically sloppy, stupidly mushily sentimentally anachronistic (orphaned enslaved Celtic genocide survivor Kit Harrington risks all for lurve of drippy Pompeiian aristocrat because she's not a Roman from Rome, so that's OK then, and she fancies him because he's a great Celtic horse whisperer) … and there's hardly any sex or swearing despite loads and loads of video game style violence. Doesn't have the courage of its convictions to be as brutal/gory as Spartacus or as high-minded as Gladiator, despite loads of blatant stylistic rips from both.

And I just can't get into any reimagined Roman Empire where a leading evil Senator is played by none other than … I shit you not … Kiefer Sutherlaaaand!

It's not even bad enough to be good, only just not very good.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 28, 2014)

*Let me in*

Not bad for a remake


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 28, 2014)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

One of the top 3 Marvel movies, easily.   It's predictable up to a point (lots of points in fact) but the action is very cool and it's a bit subversive.

It's not great but if you're going to watch a Marvel movie this is one of the best.


----------



## Cpatain Rbubish (Sep 28, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Joe-can't remember the last Nicolas Cage film since Wild at Heart or Raising Arizona that I liked . Like Liam Neilson his career just seemed to focus on action films rather than build on his earlier performances.
> 
> Joe is set in some god awful small town in some southern state in America . Life is dire, full of poverty, too much alcohol, broken dreams and mind numbing resignation that this , what ever it is , is how it is always going to be .
> 
> Joe ( cage) meets some kid who wants to a job working on Cages field clearance poisoning trees. Won't spoil the story but it's a good grim tale in which nobody lives happily but at least someone lives.



Leaving Las Vegas is a masterful performance. He's a really good actor but says yes to some awful movies. I can't judge him for that, it's work and I've worked for lots of cunts and corporations in my time.

E2A: His body of work doesn't do him justice but he is a standout actor IMO with the right script and director.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 28, 2014)

Cpatain Rbubish said:


> Leaving Las Vegas is a masterful performance. He's a really good actor but says yes to some awful movies. I can't judge him for that, it's work and I've worked for lots of cunts and corporations in my time.
> 
> E2A: His body of work doesn't do him justice but he is a standout actor IMO with the right script and director.



Forgot about Leaving Las Vegas in which I agree he was excellent


----------



## pesh (Sep 29, 2014)

first 2 episodes of The Code, new Australian 6 part drama featuring a mysterious accident and coverup in the outback, political and corporate shenanigans, hackers, rogue agents, journalists and god know what else. quite good so far.


----------



## The Boy (Sep 29, 2014)

Semi-pro (2008).  There's a bit near the end where will Ferrell's character has a dream where his dad mum explains to him the alley-oop.  At which point I realised it was set in the 1970s.  Nt the 70s fashion, the 70s cars or interior decor, not the repeats shots of the team calendar which clearly showed the year as 1976.  It didn't really have my attention.

Grosse point blank (1997).  John Cusack twatting about all glaikit, killing people and making jokes to a short of cool sound track.  I have an unreasonable fondness for this film.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 30, 2014)

*Arn: the Knight Templar *- supposedly the biggest-budget Scandi film ever made, so it stars every Dane/Swede/Norwegian actor you'll already recognise, except Mads Mikkelsen (including her off _The Bridge_  and, um, Simon Callow in a bit part). A stolid, stodgy Europudding of medieval swordfighting with bits of the Crusades ... including the now-obligatory portrait of Saladin as an honourable and charismatic if a bit ruthless kind of guy ... and a lot of inside-baseball medievallery about the feuding clans of postViking Sweden. The dialogue gets delivered in Swedish, English, French and Arabic. It's not BAD but it is a bit dull - and very old fashioned. Sort of like Ridley Scott's _City of God _but less epic-scale and played straight rather than hammy. One for crusades groupies only I think.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 30, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> Sort of like Ridley Scott's _City of God _



Now that's a remake I am intrigued by...

Or perhaps you meant _Kingdom Of Heaven_


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 30, 2014)

Quite right DaveC. Must have been distracted by all the sword-clanging.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 30, 2014)

Killers - indo/japanese film that was sold to me as a sort of 7even/ichi/odlboy type of film. Which it sort of was. A pale imitation of each but with with more attempts at shock value violence and cruelty. I expect this will become a hip hit very shortly. It is worth a watch if you're after an easy couple of hours -  that's the best i can say for it.


----------



## Grandma Death (Sep 30, 2014)

I watched Her. One of the best films I have seen in a long long time. So much about this film I loved. Its central theme of the construct of love in a digital age was relevant and very moving. Probably the best Jonze film I've ever seen.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 1, 2014)

The two faces of January - goodlooking movie with some actors I like (Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Oscar Isaac out of _Inside Llewyn Davis) _ and nice sense of place (early 1960s Greece) but absolutely no sense of suspense. Very much Talented Mr Ripley territory - it's allegedly a 'thriller' about scammers with lots of double crossing - but it isn't really.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 1, 2014)

Jimmy's Hall - Ken Loach's latest. Insipid and at times flat out embarrassing. It's supposed to be the story of Jimmy Gralton but it's really Wind that Shakes the Barley part 2 crossed with kicking Bishop Brennan up the arse - Bishop Brennan here being the real Bishop Brennan and the ACA (for those who don't know the Army Comrades Association/Blueshirts was a proto-facsist group) and Brennan's arse is Communism. Every bad part of Loach's history is here - the hectoring earnestness, the long-windedness and the the treating the audience like historical illiterates etc. The last half hour of this film is the worst i've seen from him on this score - uninspiring speech after uninspriring speech. All the good bits of Loach's work, stuff that usually makes an appearance in even his small films - Navigators for example - the humour, the sense of accuracy, the warmth, the energy and optimism the collective nature of both the actors and the characters they play - all missing here and made even worse by the utterly lifeless performance of the actor playing Gralton. An utter shambles i'm afraid.


----------



## Voley (Oct 1, 2014)

Just watched Cross Of Iron by Sam Peckinpah this afternoon. Really enjoyed this. Strong class war theme as James Coburn's disenchanted officer-hating soldier gets attacked from all sides on the Russian front. David Warner was good in it, too, as an officer who was beginning to wonder wtf the point of the whole exercise was while sticking to his orders. Loads of trademark Peckinpah slow-motion-explosions-and-people-flying-through-the-air that you see copied by so many other people. Good film - I liked that it was a couple of hours, too. Gave it time to make its point without having to hammer it home. It's been a while since I watched a Sam Peckinpah - I always really enjoy his stuff.


----------



## Sprocket. (Oct 2, 2014)

Whilst clearing some old stuff out found a DVD I thought I had lost years ago, one of my favourite French films.
I watched it last night and still enjoyed it.
Coup de Torchon (Clean Slate)1981.
Brilliant setting in 1938 colonial Africa of Jim Thompson's POP. 1280.
I recommend seeing it if you haven't already.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 2, 2014)

Gravity.

First time I've watched it since the cinema (3D of course).

It's still bloody good on blu-ray, quick too...barely 90 minutes.  Now I want to see it in 3D again.


----------



## The Boy (Oct 4, 2014)

Across 110th Street (1972).   Could have sworn this was a revisit, but turns out it had passed me by.  Good+.


----------



## passenger (Oct 5, 2014)

Anuverhood so funny 8/10 
Inbetwenners 2 surprised at how good it was 7/10


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 5, 2014)

*Our Children *(_*A perdre la raison*_, or something, in French) - devastatingly grim and well acted claustrophobic-family-domestic-nightmare tale. Bit Haneke-ish but not quite that cold in approach, not too long and not lingering too much over the misery. Bleak as, but really worth watching imho - as a childless person. this might be a lot harder to watch if you are a parent. But it's an extraordinary film.


----------



## starfish (Oct 5, 2014)

We watched The Hairdressers Husband earlier. French film about a man who's ambition as a young boy was to marry a hairdresser & does so. It was a funny, moving & quite thoughtful little film.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 6, 2014)

Woodstock, on blu-ray.

A bunch of smelly hippies roll around in a muddy field in upstate New York. Rather than building a new society, their festival (like Glastonbury after it) was one of those rituals of inversion, or carnival, that actually affirms the values of the society in which it occurs, and which it only pretends to oppose. That said, some of the music was good, and in some cases, very good. And it was a good bit of documentary making as well. 

Interesting contrast with contemporary America: almost no fat people visible in the crowd scenes.


----------



## Grandma Death (Oct 7, 2014)

Margin Call. Excellent movie about the collapse of a trading firm prior to the economic meltdown. Outstanding movie


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 7, 2014)

_Mountains on Fire [Berge in Flammen] (1931) - about the fighting on the frontline that ran through the Dolomite mountains in WWI. The acting and script aren't up to much but the battle and climbing sequences on the mountains are great even on the ropey quality version I watched._


----------



## Belushi (Oct 7, 2014)

*Into the Wild* (Sean Penn 2007) pretty good film based on the true story of a young American man who dropped out and ended up starving to death as he tried to survive in the Alaskan wilderness.


----------



## belboid (Oct 7, 2014)

*American Interior.*

The film of the app of the album, not to be confused with the book.  Gruff Rhys goes in an exploratory investigative tour of the US following the tour of John Evans, who was himself on the hunt for the mysterious lost Welsh tribe who actually founded America. Along the way he (and his felt John Evans) meets some interesting and amusing people who fill Gruff in on local history and te possibilities of there having been a lost tribe.  And he meets some people who are clearly bemused at what they thoughyt were going to be 'ordinary' Gruff Rhys gigs.  Entertaining stuff, works better than Separado.


----------



## The Boy (Oct 7, 2014)

22 jump Street.  Dreadful, but it made me laugh like a twat.  Had been a long day, tbf.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 7, 2014)

Just getting into _Old School_. Okay, so it's rather old-fashioned, bit slow going, but it's very likeable.

Impeccable pairing of Bryan Brown as a rogueish ex-con (Lennie Cahill) and Sam Neill as a constipated retired detective (Ted MCabe), who are pushed together by circumstance to work together to discover just what happened on the 2001 Sterling Nickle armoured car robbery, which cost Lennie his liberty (and his $300k cut) and landed Ted in hospital for five months with a bullet in the chest.

It's billed as a show where they ‘investigate old crimes’, but it's not an Aussie _Odd Couple_ twist on _New Tricks_; its a single narrative with a shit-tonne of sub-plots, and lots of character work. If it resembles anything, it's _The Fugitive_ or _The Incredible Hulk_ - chasing after that one elusive thing that will sort everything out, that last jigsaw piece, the missing Macguffin.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 7, 2014)

The first twenty five minutes of Howard The Duck.
Even worse than I remembered. Had to can it.
It does have the most disturbing moment in cinema though.
At the beginning, Howard is removed from his planet of humanoid ducks and dragged through the walls of several apartments, including a lady duck in the bath:

A duck with tits? How? What? Eh?


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 9, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *Into the Wild* (Sean Penn 2007) pretty good film based on the true story of a young American man who dropped out and ended up starving to death as he tried to survive in the Alaskan wilderness.




The book's good too. It gives much more of the background, as you'd expect


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 10, 2014)

The Raid  

Possibly on odd choice to watch on my way home from a course on head injuries


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 11, 2014)

rubbershoes said:


> The Raid
> 
> Possibly on odd choice to watch on my way home from a course on head injuries


It's good though, eh?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 11, 2014)

rubbershoes said:


> The Raid
> 
> Possibly on odd choice to watch on my way home from a course on head injuries



You could've had...


_The Big ECG_
_3:10 To Tumour_
_Salem's Clot_
_Skull Of Rock_
_Concussion Of The Dead_
_Migraine Man_
_Funny Bonce_
Best I could come up with at short notice, soz


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 11, 2014)

DexterTCN said:


> It's good though, eh?




Yes. Most excellent.  

The person on the train next to me was watching my screen.

Even though it was subtitled, he was missing out by not being able to hear.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 11, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> You could've had...
> 
> 
> _The Big ECG_
> ...




You shouldn't have  

Really.


----------



## belboid (Oct 11, 2014)

Gloria - a Chilean movie, evoking both the Cassavetes movie and the song (not the good one) of the same name, from last year about a fifty-something woman looking for love once her kids are grown up,and the trials she goes through with a similarly aged guy, who cant quite stop his grown up kids running his life. Poignant and funny that's beautifully shot and played, with a subtext of how the shadow of Pinochet and the past still hangs over Chilean society.  Great stuff.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 11, 2014)

This:
Victory Over the Sun (eng subtitles): 

Never a dull moment! I have no idea what is going on. I couldn't work out how to switch on the subtitles the first time round, but am still none the wiser second time round, wirb subtitles. It's brilliant though - a new production of a 1913 Futurist Malevich opera.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 12, 2014)

The Fault In Our Stars.

A teen movie about cancer with love and death and heart-ache.

Actually very good.  Some light humour, some dark humour, well-acted and a good narrative.  You will most likely cry.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 13, 2014)

A bit of the IT crowd, and then the recent George Clooney/Sandra Bullock vehicle Gravity - which was really good, and which I would recommend unreservedly. What are you going to do if you find yourself in low earth orbit, and things have gone spectacularly shit shaped? Not one to watch if you're scared of heights, though.


----------



## T & P (Oct 13, 2014)

A Million Ways to Die in the West. Not the funniest comedy in cinematic history, but perfectly enjoyable on a rainy Sunday. Some good cameos too.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 14, 2014)

I'm watching High Hopes by Mike Leigh.  It's absolutely brilliant.


----------



## nastybobby (Oct 16, 2014)

Automata

Watchable, but completely indebted to Bladerunner. I expect it explores similar themes to 'I Robot' as well [haven't seen I Robot], there's probably only a few ideas you can examine in a [fairly mainstream] film about robots becoming sentient. It's well acted and doesn't look cheap and pulpy. Tim McInnerny's in it, haven't seen him in anything for years!


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 16, 2014)

20 minutes of Steve Coogan pet project Saxondale. Turned it off after that. Like a supporting character from some other show had somehow other managed to wangle his own vehicle.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 16, 2014)

For Those In Peril - interesting and dark British film that I'd never heard of before.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 17, 2014)

Cosmonauts: How Russia Won The Space Race


absolutely fascinating. Right from the atomic bomb and the first R7's right through to Mir and then ISS. Loads of footage I'd not seen and interviews with old russian blokes


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 17, 2014)

Priest... the Paul Bettany vampire thing.  90 minutes of my life wasted.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 18, 2014)

Gonzo.

Tolerable documentary about the late Hunter S. Thompson. An amusing fellow, but also a prat who squandered his talent. What I liked most was the archive footage from the old days, especially the McGovern campaign. A time when politicians were just as weird looking as ordinary people (they still look weird, but not in the way ordinary people do).


----------



## Belushi (Oct 19, 2014)

*Red Hill* (Patrick Hughes 2010) Cliched modern day Australian western revenge thriller, some nice cinematography.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 19, 2014)

About to watch We bought a zoo. Preparing to be deeply underwhelmed.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 19, 2014)

8115 said:


> About to watch We bought a zoo. Preparing to be deeply underwhelmed.


It's really good


----------



## Waltz (Oct 21, 2014)

Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 21, 2014)

Good Hair

documentary film from chris rock about black hair. While it was quite informative in terms of the industry that surrounds black hair and so on it sort of glossed over the politicized aspects. Touched on briefly in places, but not really. Also focused near exclusively on wealthy black american womens experiences.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 21, 2014)

Catching up on Walking Dead, just watched Episode 14 of S4 (The Grove).

That might well be one of best Walking Dead episodes I've seen, just nerve shredding and utterly horrible / compelling



Spoiler: The Grove



The little girl playing Lizzie was great, the little half-vacant smile while she waited for her sister to 'come back', with the throwaway comment "I was gonna do Judith next" *shudders*

"Look at the flowers Lizzie" 

Fuck Rick, I want to be on Team Carol (unless I develop a cough or express any sympathy for the walkers ), she's unrecognisable from Season 1 Carol.


----------



## Voley (Oct 21, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Cosmonauts: How Russia Won The Space Race
> 
> 
> absolutely fascinating. Right from the atomic bomb and the first R7's right through to Mir and then ISS. Loads of footage I'd not seen and interviews with old russian blokes


That looks good. I'll give that a go tonight, cheers.

I'm on to the 'Final Act' of The Shield now, series 7. I've thoroughly enjoyed this. I don't think I gave it enough credit when I was first watching it - I kept comparing it to The Wire which is a bit pointless, really, as they're not in the same league. It's had a few plot twists that I really didn't see coming though and some of the bits with Dutch making a prat out of himself have had me laughing a lot.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 21, 2014)

Voley said:


> That looks good. I'll give that a go tonight, cheers.
> 
> I'm on to the 'Final Act' of The Shield now, series 7. I've thoroughly enjoyed this. I don't think I gave it enough credit when I was first watching it - I kept comparing it to The Wire which is a bit pointless, really, as they're not in the same league. It's had a few plot twists that I really didn't see coming though and some of the bits with Dutch making a prat out of himself have had me laughing a lot.




if you need some more vince mackey fix he's currently playing more or less the same character in American Horror Story: Freak Show


----------



## Ranbay (Oct 21, 2014)

Northern soul, was really good and the wife loved it, so that's a plus these days.


----------



## Voley (Oct 21, 2014)

DotCommunist said:
			
		

> if you need some more vince mackey fix he's currently playing more or less the same character in American Horror Story: Freak Show



I can't imagine him playing anyone else tbh.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

Blade runner, the final cut.

Starring Harrison Ford, the favourite actor of girls with daddy issues everywhere.

Regarding the issue of whether Deckard is a replicant, well the film would still make sense (just about) if that was the case, but it would also be pointless. The point is the depiction of an alienated humanity whose artificial replacements are actually closer to certain defining traits of humanity than their creators.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

Furthermore, Los Angeles 2019 is hell, Tyrell is the devil, and Roy Batty and his friends are avenging angels, with the emphasis on 'avenging'.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 22, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Furthermore, Los Angeles 2019 is hell, Tyrell is the devil, and Roy Batty and his friends are avenging angels, with the emphasis on 'avenging'.




but what would that make deckards colleague? (he of origami and Battle Star Galactica fame)


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> but what would that make deckards colleague? (he of origami and Battle Star Galactica fame)



Just another one of Beelzebub's petty demons - hence the famous lyric "Beelzebub - has a devil for a sideboard me!"


----------



## belboid (Oct 22, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> The point is the depiction of an alienated humanity whose artificial replacements are actually closer to certain defining traits of humanity than their creators.


Decker being a replicant fits perfectly with that.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

belboid said:


> Decker being a replicant fits perfectly with that.



But Batty telling him "I've seen things _you people _can't even imagine" doesn't.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 22, 2014)

rutger wrote that speech himself as well. Who knew the muscly man had such poesy in him.


----------



## belboid (Oct 22, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> But Batty telling him "I've seen things _you people _can't even imagine" doesn't.


But Batty had no more idea of Decker's replicantness than Decker did. And he's speaking to us, anyway.  

There is a bit of an issue in that there are virtually no people in it, if Decker is a replicant, so the contrast is rather weakened, but it's still just about there.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 22, 2014)

of course in the original drafting of the story eldon tyrell was a replicant of sorts- passing his memories onto a new replicant body each time the clock wound down on the old one.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

belboid said:


> But Batty had no more idea of Decker's replicantness than Decker did. And he's speaking to us, anyway.
> 
> There is a bit of an issue in that there are virtually no people in it, if Decker is a replicant, so the contrast is rather weakened, but it's still just about there.



No, in that scene he is quite clearly addressing Deckard as a representative of a humanity which has betrayed itself.


----------



## belboid (Oct 22, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> rutger wrote that speech himself as well. Who knew the muscly man had such poesy in him.


The original speech he had to give was simply 'Crap'


----------



## belboid (Oct 22, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> No, in that scene he is quite clearly addressing Deckard as a representative of a humanity which has betrayed itself.


well, that's what he thinks


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

Why do people have such an investment in the idea that Deckard is a replicant?


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 22, 2014)

i know its a completely different story really but because he wasn't in 'do androids' I always erred on the 'probably not' in Bladerunner


so many happy accidents in the making of that film


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 22, 2014)

I think rutger should have played Batty more like Bender.


----------



## belboid (Oct 22, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Why do people have such an investment in the idea that Deckard is a replicant?


well, it's just that...he is.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

belboid said:


> well, it's just that...he is.



But he's not. . . 


butchersapron said:


> I think rutger should have played Batty more like Bender.



Homophobe.


----------



## belboid (Oct 22, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> But he's not. . .


but, but the unicorn...his sparkly eyes, Ridley Scott saying so...


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 22, 2014)

Down Amongst the Tombstones- ex alcoholic cop who can't use mobile phones or social media investigates the sadistic kidnapping and killing of drug dealers wives. Liam Neeson plays the above ( prob got the job on his previous films in which he negotiates with kidnappers) . Dark, very violent , filmed well and with enough touches in it to make a reasonable gripping thriller. Complete absence if any women in it apart from roles as victims btw


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 22, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Down Amongst the Tombstones- ex alcoholic cop who can't use mobile phones or social media investigates the sadistic kidnapping and killing of drug dealers wives. Liam Neeson plays the above ( prob got the job on his previous films in which he negotiates with kidnappers) . Dark, very violent , filmed well and with enough touches in it to make a reasonable gripping thriller. Complete absence if any women in it apart from roles as victims btw


I gave up on that halfway through.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 22, 2014)

After two evenings of True Movies it was a welcome release.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> Down Amongst the Tombstones- ex alcoholic cop who can't use mobile phones or social media investigates the sadistic kidnapping and killing of drug dealers wives. Liam Neeson plays the above ( prob got the job on his previous films in which he negotiates with kidnappers) . Dark, very violent , filmed well and with enough touches in it to make a reasonable gripping thriller. Complete absence if any women in it apart from roles as victims btw



Why can't he use mobile phones and social media? Because of his alcoholism, or some other reason?


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 22, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Why can't he use mobile phones and social media? Because of his alcoholism, or some other reason?



He is a bit old fashioned . The effect is that it sorts of sets the film in a fictitious past or present .


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> He is a bit old fashioned . The effect is that it sorts of sets the film in a fictitious past or present .



Ta. I have no intention of watching the movie, but I was interested in the answer to thon question.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 24, 2014)

Lord of War. Nicolas Cage sells guns, with hilarious consequences


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 24, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> I think rutger should have played Batty more like Bender.


Amen


----------



## maya (Oct 24, 2014)

I used to have such a teenage crush on Rutger because of Blade Runner/Roy Batty, but then I saw him in Fatherland and it's rubbish... It's like he acts out of sync with every other cast member in the entire film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 25, 2014)

maya said:


> I used to have such a teenage crush on Rutger because of Blade Runner/Roy Batty, but then I saw him in Fatherland and it's rubbish... It's like he acts out of sync with every other cast member in the entire film.


I remember really enjoying that film years ago late night on telly... Then a while ago I watched it again and it was pretty poor compared to my memories of it. Awful CGI as well!


----------



## ringo (Oct 25, 2014)

Snowpiercer.
Watchable tosh. Decent cast meets implausible plot but worth it just for Tilda Swinton who is brilliant.


----------



## binka (Oct 26, 2014)

Just finished watching The Purge. What a load of absolute shite. At least it was less than an hour and a half long


----------



## magneze (Oct 26, 2014)

Adam & Paul
It's billed as a comedy drama, but it's more about the drama than the comedy. There are funny bits but it's ultimately a pretty sad story. Good film though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 26, 2014)

binka said:


> Just finished watching The Purge. What a load of absolute shite. At least it was less than an hour and a half long




good idea, squandered. Apparently the Purge 2 does it how you wanted it to be when you heard the idea


----------



## binka (Oct 26, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> good idea, squandered. Apparently the Purge 2 does it how you wanted it to be when you heard the idea


out of all the faults in the purge i think the biggest one is the audience believing that posh twat who led the bad guys would have lasted more than half an hour let alone end up running his own gang of rich kids.

do you know if the purge 2 features workers self defence squads taking advantage of the situation to mete out some justice?


----------



## Sea Star (Oct 26, 2014)

Saturday Night, Sunday morning starring Albert Finney!

Its bleak up north!!


----------



## Thimble Queen (Oct 26, 2014)

We watched the Purge also. It was ok. Fairly predictable. The child that made his own surveillance machine was the best character, but even he was annoying. Felt like too long a build up and then all the action was over too quickly. A few bits of good violence but could've been a bit more graphic imo. I like the ones where they all die.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 26, 2014)

binka said:


> out of all the faults in the purge i think the biggest one is the audience believing that posh twat who led the bad guys would have lasted more than half an hour let alone end up running his own gang of rich kids.
> 
> do you know if the purge 2 features workers self defence squads taking advantage of the situation to mete out some justice?






its not just that, its that it basically turns into a bog standard siege film. Am going to torrent 2 so will let you know if proletarian justice prevails


----------



## binka (Oct 26, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> its not just that, its that it basically turns into a bog standard siege film. Am going to torrent 2 so will let you know if proletarian justice prevails


no it wasn't just that but the idea that posh twat was doing anything other than cowering in a panic room or being dead was really grating on me. 

keep me updated on the purge 2 i am somewhat optimistic about it


----------



## 8115 (Oct 26, 2014)

The Birds. Classic. Back into your gilded cage Miss Daniels


----------



## maya (Oct 26, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> I remember really enjoying that film years ago late night on telly... Then a while ago I watched it again and it was pretty poor compared to my memories of it. Awful CGI as well!


It had CGI?  I never noticed... (EDIT: - ah, that impossibly vulgar massive megadome/Hitlerdome kind of thing? ...Speer, you arselicker! Megalomania much? Nein, sir.) Minor bonus points for a young whatshisname, that blond bloke out of Spooks as a bewildered aryan student jogger in reich-approved singlet and trunks. But the weather seems to be grey and overcast for the entire film for some reason (the hitlerdome creating its own microclimate, disturbing the surrounding skies? Someone needs to ask a meteorologist to find out if that's possible, I've no idea...) Also the whole premise that the Reich had any chance of maintaining cultural homogenity/purity á la DDR for so long, is pretty unlikely- Especially as they seemed to allow foreigners in (but no citizens could travel out). Also the pace in Robert Harris' novel is a bit more easily digested, pageturner mode vs. a more slow approach here. The brainwashed fanatical hitlerjugend son is extremely scary, though... You begin to wonder why the father can't see that the son can't be saved, it's already too late. Pretty gloomy.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 26, 2014)

maya said:


> Minor bonus points for a young whatshisname, that blond bloke out of Spooks as a bewildered aryan student jogger in reich-approved singlet and trunks.


----------



## maya (Oct 26, 2014)

OK, I take it back... he looks a tad anaemic, poor junge. Must be all those manky bratwursts washed down with sauerkraut and bier. And why isn't he sporting the state-approved haircut?  -Exterminate!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 26, 2014)

maya said:


> And why isn't he sporting the state-approved haircut?



Well, this was the sixties!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 26, 2014)

maya said:


> The brainwashed fanatical hitlerjugend son is extremely scary, though...



I believe he was a Pimpf rather than a Hitler Jugend...


----------



## maya (Oct 26, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> Well, this was the sixties!


Totalitarian states aren't exactly renowned for keeping up with the times, though... I'd thunk they'd still go for something like the Kim. - One size fits all!  Or else, to workcamp for you!


----------



## maya (Oct 26, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> I believe he was a Pimpf rather than a Hitler Jugend...


well he'd grow up to be one eventually... looks like he was ready for it   ((( fictional son )))


----------



## Yetman (Oct 27, 2014)

ringo said:


> Snowpiercer.
> Watchable tosh. Decent cast meets implausible plot but worth it just for Tilda Swinton who is brilliant.



She's similar in the Grand Budapest Hotel as well, nothing like her normal look, which is quite stunning.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 27, 2014)

One thing about Fatherland is that in the original book the "President Kennedy" who's mentioned is actually JFK's Da, who was US ambassador to London before the war, and a known supporter of appeasement and isolationism. . . something left out of the film.

Also, did Rutger's portrayal of the hero in Fatherland remind anyone else of Ted Kennedy?


----------



## ringo (Oct 27, 2014)

Yetman said:


> She's similar in the Grand Budapest Hotel as well, nothing like her normal look, which is quite stunning.



I saw that at the weekend and didn't realise it was her, love it


----------



## Voley (Oct 27, 2014)

Watched all of The Godfather Trilogy over the last three nights. I think I enjoyed them more this time round than any of the other umpteen times I've seen them. II is my favourite, I think.


----------



## pacha (Oct 28, 2014)

Funny


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 28, 2014)

superfiend

6 five minute shorts about judge death and dredd and even rico. Really quality menacing animation. Worth it if you like 2000ad


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 29, 2014)

Drive. It was shit - emptier than a Tory's promise, just another would-be glorification of male violence.


----------



## starfish (Oct 30, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> superfiend
> 
> 6 five minute shorts about judge death and dredd and even rico. Really quality menacing animation. Worth it if you like 2000ad


Watched part 1 then got interrupted but will watch rest tonight hopefully.


----------



## Grandma Death (Nov 1, 2014)

Django Unchained. Not sure what to think about it really. On the surface level well acted, great scenes in there but ultimately quite superficial and 'entertaining' about a subject Im not entirely convinced really needed this approach. Cant imagine tarantino making a romp type movie (as was this and Inglorious Basterds) about the holocaust? I also cant imagine Steve McQueen who directed 12 Years A  Slave had much to say about the movies too? Anyone read his views on the film?


----------



## Voley (Nov 1, 2014)

When The Lights Went Out. Good low budget horror for Halloween. Genuinely spooky at times, enjoyed it.


----------



## Voley (Nov 1, 2014)

Grandma Death said:
			
		

> Django Unchained. Not sure what to think about it really. On the surface level well acted, great scenes in there but ultimately quite superficial and 'entertaining' about a subject Im not entirely convinced really needed this approach.



My thoughts entirely. I think Tarantino's lost his way a bit lately.


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 1, 2014)

Zombeavers. A very daft low budget horror/comedy. Formulaic, occasionally funny, and trashy.


----------



## samson33 (Nov 1, 2014)

*FURY *


A dark, claustrophobic and foreboding depiction of how the "greatest generation" not only fought against the evil of Nazism, but also the monster within themselves.

8/10


----------



## Grandma Death (Nov 1, 2014)

Voley said:


> My thoughts entirely. I think Tarantino's lost his way a bit lately.



Taking reservoir dogs out of the equation-hes nothing more than Michael Bay for his specific audience I reckon. Pulp Fiction hasnt aged very well and his movies are nothing but fan boy homages and blatant plagiarism I reckon. Sure he does it quite good-but theres nothing particularly outstanding about his contribution to film making-he doesnt have alot to say really. Course thats not always the measure for a good director and this is just my opinion.


----------



## Voley (Nov 1, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> Taking reservoir dogs out of the equation-hes nothing more than Michael Bay for his specific audience I reckon. Pulp Fiction hasnt aged very well and his movies are nothing but fan boy homages and blatant plagiarism I reckon. Sure he does it quite good-but theres nothing particularly outstanding about his contribution to film making-he doesnt have alot to say really. Course thats not always the measure for a good director and this is just my opinion.


Oh no I really like everything he did up to and including Kill Bill. Can't remember whether Jackie Brown was before or after that but I liked that a lot too. I don't mind the fanboy/homage bit with him usually. He's fairly upfront about it and doesn't try to hide the fact. I thought Inglourious Basterds was just OK and I wasn't struck on Django Unchained for the reasons you mention. Also, the supposedly funny scene with the KKK was just shite. Someone should've had a word with him about that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 1, 2014)

Voley said:


> Oh no I really like everything he did up to and including Kill Bill. Can't remember whether Jackie Brown was before or after that but I liked that a lot too. I don't mind the fanboy/homage bit with him usually. He's fairly upfront about it and doesn't try to hide the fact. I thought Inglourious Basterds was just OK and I wasn't struck on Django Unchained for the reasons you mention. Also, the supposedly funny scene with the KKK was just shite. Someone should've had a word with him about that.


Aye, the KKK scene in Blazing Saddles was funnier


----------



## Voley (Nov 1, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> Pulp Fiction hasnt aged very well


I've not watched it in ages but remember thinking it was one of the best films I'd ever seen when it came out. You might be right. I ought to give it another go. Might do that tonight.


----------



## Grandma Death (Nov 1, 2014)

Voley said:


> Oh no I really like everything he did up to and including Kill Bill. Can't remember whether Jackie Brown was before or after that but I liked that a lot too. I don't mind the fanboy/homage bit with him usually. He's fairly upfront about it and doesn't try to hide the fact. I thought Inglourious Basterds was just OK and I wasn't struck on Django Unchained for the reasons you mention. Also, the supposedly funny scene with the KKK was just shite. Someone should've had a word with him about that.




Dont get me wrong. I like his movies-but Im starting to get the feeling you know what hes going to do and he just loves showboating his encyclopaedic knowledge of films which is fine-but it can get samey.


----------



## Voley (Nov 1, 2014)

Grandma Death said:


> Dont get me wrong. I like his movies-but Im starting to get the feeling you know what hes going to do and he just loves showboating his encyclopaedic knowledge of films which is fine-but it can get samey.


Yeah I think you've got a point there tbh. You've got me wondering whether Pulp Fiction's stood the test of time now though.


----------



## Grandma Death (Nov 1, 2014)

Voley said:


> Yeah I think you've got a point there tbh. You've got me wondering whether Pulp Fiction's stood the test of time now though.




I watched half of it the other day. Like you...totally blown away at the time. Maybe because Ive seen it so many times..-but other movies like Goodfellas sustain repeated viewings for me... I just think its a movie with some great scenes cobbled together with some bad scenes (butch in the taxi after the fight springs to mind as well as tarantinos piss poor acting)...I enjoyed Jackie Brown too. Kill Bill again had some great sequences-but was quite poor in parts and far too long when he couldve done it one movie I reckon. Inglorious I quite enjoyed. I just dont see his movies standing the test of time as classics-again though thats just my opinion.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 1, 2014)

The pilot episode for NBC's Constantine. It's based closer to the Hellblazer comics (dc/vertigo) than the Keanu Reeves led film version of Constantine (which was an OK film but wasn't really Hellblazer in feel).

The pilot is a little rough round the edges but promising and certainly truer in feel than the film. Here is a small teaser promo thing





I followed this with Amirican Horror Story: Freakshow episode 2.1

another quality AHS haloween episode, nicely character focused and creepy. Only there was no anachronistic musical number


----------



## The Boy (Nov 1, 2014)

Grave Encounters (2011).  An entirely unnecessary addition to the found footage genre.  I'd seen it before but remember it being a lot creepier first time round.

Grave Encounters 2 (2013).  An entirely unnecessary addition to the grave encounters series.


----------



## Voley (Nov 1, 2014)

Grandma Death said:
			
		

> I watched half of it the other day. Like you...totally blown away at the time. Maybe because Ive seen it so many times..-but other movies like Goodfellas sustain repeated viewings for me... I just think its a movie with some great scenes cobbled together with some bad scenes (butch in the taxi after the fight springs to mind as well as tarantinos piss poor acting)...I enjoyed Jackie Brown too. Kill Bill again had some great sequences-but was quite poor in parts and far too long when he couldve done it one movie I reckon. Inglorious I quite enjoyed. I just dont see his movies standing the test of time as classics-again though thats just my opinion.



Just watched it again tonight and absolutely loved it. I probably haven't seen it for five years or so, possibly longer, and that helped I think. I can still predict most of the great lines though. I found it all a lot funnier this time round. The absurdity of some of John Travolta's lines, the adrenaline shot scene etc. It's stood the rest of time well, for me. I even watched all the deleted scenes I enjoyed it so much. Might watch Reservoir Dogs again now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 1, 2014)

I hate that Dead Nigger Storage scene. QT is clearly getting off on saying it repeatedly.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 1, 2014)

my stepdad wouldn't let me watch it when I was a teen because of the bumrapey bits.

needless to say I watchd it round a more liberal parented household


----------



## Belushi (Nov 1, 2014)

Reservoir Dogs is great; mainly because it's so short and well edited; everything else he's made I'm a bit meh about.  Pulp Fiction was okay but I never think I'd like to watch it again.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 1, 2014)

Jackie Brown is a fantastic film, but a slow burner. It gets better on repeated viewings.

True Romance is ace too, though of course he didn't direct it.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 2, 2014)

The new daughter - Kevin Costner. Script by numbers faux horror story best described as being on Channel 5.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 2, 2014)

May Kasahara said:


> Drive. It was shit - emptier than a Tory's promise, just another would-be glorification of male violence.



Actually I really liked it especially the soundtrack, the way it was filmed and the fact he never spoke much.


----------



## binka (Nov 2, 2014)

rec and rec2. ok i suppose. found the first person camera quite good at first but it soon wore thin. 2nd installment 'oh we have a building with some scary shit inside, lets send in a team of just four men even though we have the resources of the entire nation to call on'


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 2, 2014)

The Intruders episodes 1-5



excellent stuff. About a cabal of sinister people who don't die but re awaken in other peoples bodies, taking them over. John Simms stars (with a passable american accent). I'd reccomend this to anyone but you'll really enjoy it if you've recently read 'The Bone Clocks'


its a joint us-uk effort for BBC America. Must watch.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 2, 2014)

I gave up after the first episode but I wasn't really paying attention. There seemed to be an awful lot of knocking on doors.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 2, 2014)

give it another go 

'What goes around comes around'


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 2, 2014)

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes watching Dawn of the Planet of the Apes tonight


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 2, 2014)

its not as good. I watched dawn the other day and its a fun film for what it is but lacks the pathos and tightness of Rise. It also lacks Lithgow which holes it below the water


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 2, 2014)

jeff_leigh said:


> Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes watching Dawn of the Planet of the Apes tonight



I watch Dawn last night. Good franchise of remakes I reckon.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 2, 2014)

*Elles* (Malgoska Szumowska 2012) Some good performances but a duff script.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 3, 2014)

Safety Not Guaranteed -  cynical journo/road trip/rites of passage/mad scientist/rom com. I like!

Le Havre - wonderfully retro French flick. Former bohemian looks out for refugee kid on the run. Heart warming.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Nov 3, 2014)

Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark this morning, since I have the day off. Still excellent, although I suspect that as a younger man my infatuation with Marion allowed me to overlook her not-very-good acting. There are some glaring plot holes in it too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 3, 2014)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark this morning, since I have the day off. Still excellent, although I suspect that as a younger man my infatuation with Marion allowed me to overlook her not-very-good acting. There are some glaring plot holes in it too.




thats the one where Indy turns out to be a nonce right?


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Nov 3, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> thats the one where Indy turns out to be a nonce right?


If you choose to interpret it in a particular way, yes.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 3, 2014)

Three Days of the  Condor.

Cult paranoia thriller from the 1970s. Very well done, and a bit more plausible than the "through the looking glass" conpsiraloonery of, e.g. The Parallax view (which is also a good movie, mind). Robert Redford's brutalization of Faye Dunaway strikes  a sour note, however, and her subsequent decision to ally her character with his is psychologically incredible to the point of being absurd.

The fact that it's all about oil, that is oil is the driving force behind the killing of Redford's colleagues, also strikes a sour note today, albeit of a different kind.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 3, 2014)

First two episodes of Peaky Blinders.  Not bad, I guess.  Was annoying having my once-upon-a-time-a-Brummie missus moaning about the accents though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 4, 2014)

I'm gradually working my way through Scrubs, and it's not bad at all, definitely a cut above the the average US sitcom.

Maybe they got away with it because it's a medical-themed show, but some of the stuff on it is very close to the knuckle, if not beyond it. . . which makes me wonder how it got on US telly in the first place.


----------



## belboid (Nov 4, 2014)

Suddenly Last Summer

The third Tennessee Williams play, filmed in the fifties.  There's a great film to be made of the play, but I'm afraid that wasn't quite it.  Shame.  A few standout scenes tho. And an arguably racist ending.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 4, 2014)

Finally got round to the latest Dardennes: Two Days, One Night - typically brilliant and brutally effective whilst remaining totally human. Was sceptical of  Marion Cotillard playing the central character but she was brilliant. A much more conventional/easy film that the majority of their work (none of which is actually that difficult once you're used to the handheld camera and over the shoulder shots) - if anyone here hasn't seen all of these from La Promesse on,do yourself a big favour and get cracking.

A similarly themed film - the damage that happens when capitalist dynamics enter the souls of real people - A Touch of Sin - and also similarly great. Four  interconnected stories of real life things that happened in China during the last decades growth. As a believe a previous reviewer on this thread said: grim. Very grim.

An old play for today from the early 80s - The Flipside of Dominick Hide. Charming little cheapo sci-fi about time traveler who comes back to study london buses and gets involved in the usual entanglements. There's a follow up called another Another Flip for Dominick which i've not yet seen.

A fairly decent Korean action/thriller called A Hard Day -nothing special, just high energy stuff in the vein of many other recent biggish Korean films (Man From Nowhere etc)


----------



## rekil (Nov 4, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> A fairly decent Korean action/thriller called A Hard Day -nothing special, just high energy stuff in the vein of many other recent biggish Korean films (Man From Nowhere etc)


Kundo: Age of the Rampant looks worth a look for the title alone.


> A period action film centered on a militia group who turn against an unjust nobility.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 4, 2014)

copliker said:


> Kundo: Age of the Rampant looks worth a look for the title alone.


Ooh yeah, downloading now - ta! Excellent cover too:


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 4, 2014)

The Cabin in the Woods - yeah, 2 years late and on Channel 5 to boot - the shame, the shame. Loved nearly every batshit minute of it; as you'd expect from a Joss Whedonverse product it's sharp, funny, brilliantly paced and keeps you right off balance all the way through. And it has plenty of Jesse Williams. oh yes.


----------



## Sea Star (Nov 4, 2014)

I watched a film called Prophecy 2. A load of old nonsense, but entertaining and starring Christopher Walken!

I'm only annoyed that Netflix doesn't have Prophecy 1.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 4, 2014)

AuntiStella said:


> I watched a film called Prophecy 2. A load of old nonsense, but entertaining and starring Christopher Walken!
> 
> I'm only annoyed that Netflix doesn't have Prophecy 1.




I've got 1-6. Number 1 is a really unremarked gem, walken, viggo mortensen as satan. Heavy on the catholic imagery and gore 

they get progressively less good and even walken can't save the 3rd one. He's not in the following three


----------



## Sea Star (Nov 4, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> I've got 1-6. Number 1 is a really unremarked gem, walken, viggo mortensen as satan. Heavy on the catholic imagery and gore
> 
> they get progressively less good and even walken can't save the 3rd one. He's not in the following three


I need to get the first one then... sounds like there's little point carrying on with the sequels.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 5, 2014)

_Midnight Lace_ - sub-sub-sub-Hitchcockian thriller about a women who's stalker threatens to kill her, starring Rex Harrison and Doris Day. Very average, Harrison is rather good but Day is terrible, although TBF it's a dreadful role, and the plot can be seen coming a mile off. Don't bother with it.


----------



## Mumbles274 (Nov 5, 2014)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark this morning, since I have the day off. Still excellent, although I suspect that as a younger man my infatuation with Marion allowed me to overlook her not-very-good acting. There are some glaring plot holes in it too.


I like the observation that Indiana jones effectively has no influence on the outcome of the movie.. that they would have still opened the Ark and all died had he been involved in the events or not


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Nov 5, 2014)

Mumbles274 said:


> I like the observation that Indiana jones effectively has no influence on the outcome of the movie.. that they would have still opened the Ark and all died had he been involved in the events or not


That's only sort of true. If he hadn't been there, then the Ark would not have ended up in the US government warehouse, it would probably have been packaged up again by some confused Nazis and shipped somewhere else, probably to Berlin.

Actually, now that I think about it, with Belloch dead, the original Nazi orders to send it back to Hitler would probably have been carried out... in which case Indiana Jones prevented Hitler from being killed when they opened the Ark a second time, and is therefore indirectly responsible for World War 2.


----------



## stethoscope (Nov 8, 2014)

The Tall Guy - still cracks me up


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 8, 2014)

stethoscope said:


> The Tall Guy - still cracks me up



Emma Thompson's brisk manner with the Hoover pipe bloke still makes me laugh.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 8, 2014)

"The French Connection" and "French Connection II".


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 10, 2014)

*Narco Cultura *(on Netflix.) Documentary about how being a cartel member / associate / wannabe has become an aspiration in Mexico and a profitable postmodern business in the USA. Extraordinary stuff - EXTREMELY graphic images of slaughter and mayhem, extremely uncomfortable sequences following the musicians and promoters milking the 'narco corrido' genre for every $ possible.

It is not quite as good as it thinks it is (there are only 2 real strands, and this is a story which it would take thousands of pages/hours to tell properly) - and it's a bit thin on deep analysis of what is going on and quite how/why the state power structures in Mexico are so weak/corrupt/inept/ruthless. But it is absolutely jaw-dropping, every bit as uncomfortable as (say) The Act of Killing, in a different way. Revolting, enraging, astonishing and depressing in equal measure. I recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach. If you watched Breaking Bad you should watch this, for a dose of reality.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 10, 2014)

*The Europa Report *- refreshing to watch a space/ disaster movie without CGI or a running Tom Cruise/ Will Smith.

*Dawn of the Planet of the Apes* - excellent sequel to the recent reboot. Makes you realise how rubbish the Tim Burton version was.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 10, 2014)

Hell on Wheels

season 3 after a fairly long break


I see the writers still think having a Confederate ex soldier as the hero is so boundry pushing and clever they have to ram it down our throats every five mins


----------



## Voley (Nov 10, 2014)

ViolentPanda said:


> "The French Connection" and "French Connection II".


You've just got to watch them both on the same night haven't you? I do this once every couple of years and it's a joy.


----------



## pesh (Nov 11, 2014)

i remember watching The French Connection and being blown away, then watching the sequel a few days later and being underwhelmed. that was about 15 years ago, i should give em a rewatch.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 11, 2014)

Narco Cultura as recc'd by trabuquera  upthread. Grim.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 11, 2014)

*Rachida*  - a 2002 film from Algeria which I've wanted to see for ages but could never find; caught it bizarrely on the ultra-low budget Africa TV channel on cable. Heartfelt but pretty clunky tale, from a female director, of a young woman trying to survive the violence and intimidation of the 1990s "civil war"* in Algeria. Not at all sophisticated, or even all that accurate, in how it portrays the rebel / bandit / Islamist / terrorist fighters (they are cartoon villains with big beards and plenty of eyeliner), but very delicate and moving in how it reveals the secret world of women's lives in the villages and the mountains. And it does drop some pretty daring hints (daring for Algeria that is) about Army also committing the odd atrocity, and on how women's desires and ambitions are often crushed in this society. Worth it as a look into places you'd probably never go or be allowed.

* this is an extremely simple way of describing what went on there ... best film I've seen on the subject is the documentary screened on BBC4 as "Algeria's Bloody Years" but it's no longer available on iPlayer. details here if you want to hunt for it on youtube or elsewhere: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h2mby  . Warning - watching this doc will be very very upsetting.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 12, 2014)

*Blackfish* (Gabriela Cowperthwaite 2013) Watched this for the second time on BBC4 last night. Excellent documentary about a traumatised Orca who occasionally kills his captors.


----------



## dlx1 (Nov 12, 2014)

20 Ft Below: The Darkness Descending.

Below the streets of New York is a dark and dangerous world hidden in the shadows of abandoned subway tunnels and miles of forgotten infrastructure. When a young documentary filmmaker goes into these tunnels to uncover the unseen stories of the people living below our feet.

Danny Trejo

This is truly terrible


----------



## Voley (Nov 12, 2014)

First three hours of 'True Detective'. Absolutely loving it so far.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 13, 2014)

Oi for England - terrible clumsy almost embarrassing early 80s thing by Trevor Griffiths about w/c manipulation by nasty fascist men. Heart in the right place but i was cringing throughout. 

The second Dominick Hide thing - played more for laughs than the first one and bit soap opera-y. Not a patch on the fist one.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 13, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Oi for England - terrible clumsy almost embarrassing early 80s thing by Trevor Griffiths about w/c manipulation by nasty fascist men. Heart in the right place but i was cringing throughout.
> 
> The second Dominick Hide thing - played more for laughs than the first one and bit soap opera-y. Not a patch on the fist one.



I saw that oi for England when it was first aired


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 13, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> I saw that oi for England when it was first aired


Reminded me of this:


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 13, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> I saw that oi for England when it was first aired


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 13, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> I watch Dawn last night. Good franchise of remakes I reckon.


 It's looking good so far I hope they finish on a high like the Batman Dark Knight movies and don't flog it to death like Need for Speed


----------



## Belushi (Nov 14, 2014)

*The Hunger Games* (Gary Ross 2013) Enjoyable, if predictable and derivative, action fantasy. Terrific performance as always from Jennifer Lawrence.


----------



## The Boy (Nov 14, 2014)

Seeking a Friend for the end of the World (2012).  Road trip film about a guy going looking for his childhood sweetheart advert his wife does a bolt on the eve of Armageddon.  Not terrible, and Steve Carell does a decent enough job.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 15, 2014)

*We Are What We Are* (Jorge Michel Grau 2010) Dark Mexican drama about a family of cannibals, doesn't really work.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 16, 2014)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - I thought it was excellent, far better than expecting and way ahead of your typical blockbuster

Dog Pound - jail film, goes through all the jail cliches, but I thought it was very good (hadn't heard of it previously)


----------



## samson33 (Nov 16, 2014)

*Interstellar*


Not a usual Christopher Nolan film. It is epic, has a sharp-eyed view of the future, and characters with real human emotions. I really like this ambitious, thought-provoking, uplifting film.


----------



## blairsh (Nov 16, 2014)

Robocop (the new un)

So long as you pretend its not Robocop and someone stole the idea of the original to make a Hollywoody action film, i was able to sit and watch it without vomiting blood. Bit long though...


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 16, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *We Are What We Are* (Jorge Michel Grau 2010) Dark Mexican drama about a family of cannibals, doesn't really work.



Check out the american remake/remodel - much better.


Johnny Vodka said:


> Dog Pound - jail film, goes through all the jail cliches, but I thought it was very good (hadn't heard of it previously)



Remake of scum and without much of the originals raw power.

To Mikro Psari/Stratos - top notch greek noir/thriller that i found very reminiscent of also excellent Friends of Eddie Coyle in it's small time seediness - but this one has a real bitter political edge, a real anger at what the situation is doing to the people in greece. It effectively says violently kill those who have done this, who take part in this corruption, this theft - and makes its criticisms far more effectively than the recent crop of new greek absurdist-lite films. Seems to have annoyed many critics though. Recommended.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 16, 2014)

Only God Forgives. It looks beautiful to be fair but apart from that I didn't like it.  Weighing in at just under 90 minutes, Ryan Gosling spends most of the film staring and being out of his depth in his relationship with his evil mother who demands vengeance on those who kill his rapist brother.

Very violent, a nameless karaoke-singing cop kills, maims and dishes out retribution to all.

Not one for all the family.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 16, 2014)

Yeah, I think I'll give that one a miss, DexterTCN .

Last night I watched:

Drift.

Australian surfer flick from 2013. In 1960, a woman flees Sydney and her abusive husband. She and her two sons settle in a small one horse town in Western Australia - a small town with big waves. By the early 70s, her two lads are dedicated surfers, who decided to set up in the surfie trade full time (i.e. with a wee shop selling boards and the first generation of wet suits) , even though the squares in the local small town establishment take a dim view.

There's a snake in this Eden, though, in the form of heroin and the bikie gang who push it. I won't say how it comes out, but let's just say everything gets tied together neatly.

And the surfing scenes are genuinely thrilling (and I'm not sure how they pulled some of them off). If you like the sound of this one, I'd strongly recommend that you check it out.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Nov 16, 2014)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes -I thought it was a bit mawkish, the bit where he discovers the old video camera especially so. The most recent one in that franchise was alright.

Godzilla(the most recent one). Good, the plot and monsters are well done.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 16, 2014)

*Jane Eyre* (Cary Fukunaga 2011) An elegant adaption of the Bronte novel, beautifully shot and two terrific performances from Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 17, 2014)

Searching for Sugarman -

thought I'd watch this a second time around. Did anyone else see this? The story of Rodriguez, the Detroit singer/songwriter who cut a couple of discs in the early 70s, and then dropped off the map . . . except in South Africa, where he became a legend, and an icon for people (well, mainly white people) who couldn't stomach apartheid anymore.

And when I say he was a legend, I mean it literally - the Saffas didn't know who he was, or where he came from, or where he went - and a whole crop of urban legends arose claiming that he had killed himself on stage. . .


----------



## dlx1 (Nov 17, 2014)

The Hobbit 
Think it's for children to long & boring, wasn't an ending dragon fly off!


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 17, 2014)

Had a rewatch of They Fought for the Motherland because i thought i'd finally got a copy with decent subs (which they were for part one and pretty ropey for part 2) and because i felt like a grand old war film with slightly odd touches here and there.

Starry Eyes - a 90 minute attack on hollywood, celebrity, ambition etc sort of in the style of the great 80s film Society- in the guise of a horror film. Lead actress (Alex Esso) was on fire for this. Very interesting attempt.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 17, 2014)

*Wadjda *- delicate, absorbing film from Saudi Arabia ( !  !!) about a girl's determined quest to escape at least some of the tyranny around her and get a bicycle. First film ever made by a female Saudi director iirc, and a good addition to that library of films about kids with quests or bikes -Bicycle Thieves, the Red Balloon, etc. I didn't think it would be possible for a movie to make me even more grateful than I am not to live in Saudi, but this one did it. It's not bleak - it's full of sly humour and the lead actresses' performances are all solid - but the overall atmosphere is cramped and oppressive ... just like Saudi *coughcoughcough*. Worth watching but I can't imagine how it will go down in Riyadh (where they'll obviously have to be watching it on DVD because - erm, there's no cinemas in Saudi Arabia because they're sinful )


----------



## seventh bullet (Nov 17, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> Had a rewatch of They Fought for the Motherland because i thought i'd finally got a copy with decent subs (which they were for part one and pretty ropey for part 2) and because i felt like a grand old war film with slightly odd touches here and there.



Mosfilm has its own YouTube channel these days with many of its films uploaded with English subs to watch for free, including that one.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 17, 2014)

seventh bullet said:


> Mosfilm has its own YouTube channel these days with many of its films uploaded with English subs to watch for free, including that one.


Excellent cheers - just had a quick check, and even from a minutes watch it's clear the subtitler on the one i used missed out loads of dialogue.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 17, 2014)

The Grey 2011

Liam Neeson is the star in this bleak tale. A plane goes down (v.good crash scene) while carrying hardboiled oilmen/prospector types. Its on some icy hell. The survivors are then hunted by an angry wolfpack.

really enjoyed. Suprisingly bleak ending and a very simple story, but told well. 8/10


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 17, 2014)

The39thStep said:


> I saw that oi for England when it was first aired



Same here.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 17, 2014)

_Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me_, just because I like to see Ray Wise scream.


----------



## hot air baboon (Nov 17, 2014)

...thanks to this thread finally got to re-watch a ( pretty rough ) version of this 

...if you hanker after a 70's mash-up of Zabriskie Point and Dogs of War, featuring a cameo appearance by Germaine Greer then my strong hunch is this will be your only opportunity...


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 17, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> The Grey 2011
> 
> Liam Neeson is the star in this bleak tale. A plane goes down (v.good crash scene) while carrying hardboiled oilmen/prospector types. Its on some icy hell. The survivors are then hunted by an angry wolfpack.
> 
> really enjoyed. Suprisingly bleak ending and a very simple story, but told well. 8/10



Couldn't really get into a Liam Neeson film without him negotiating with some kidnappers


----------



## passenger (Nov 18, 2014)

Under the Skin (2013)	i really liked this maybe not everyone lol  *9/10*

*Gravity 7/10 really good one of the last to see it as good as people say *


----------



## Indeliblelink (Nov 19, 2014)

Wir [We] (1981) German sci-fi TV movie based on Yevgeny Zamyatin's 1921 dystopian novel. Quite good despite the low budget, there's a good use of perspex and visual effects to create some interesting looking sets and images of life in the glass city.

Octobre (1994) Canadian director Pierre Falardeau's dramatization of the 1970 kidnap of Quebec minister Pierre Laporte by the Quebec Liberation Front, based on a book written by one of the kidnappers. Well worth watching. On youtube with subs


Spoiler


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 19, 2014)

Never seen it and it was on FilmFour, so watched _The Hunger Games _(first one)

Not awful, but not particularly good either, strangely bloodless killings too.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 19, 2014)

*Princess Ka'iulani*  - watched this really only because it stars Q'orianka Kilcher who was so luminous in Malick's THE NEW WORLD and I always wondered what happened to her. Film is about the last days of Hawaiian independence before and after the islands were annexed by the USA. So it's a lot of politicking by men with mustaches, with intermittent scenes of the Princess mooning about in too many unflattering Victorian gowns and petticoats and being oppressed. I would love to have loved this, and it's not awful ... there is a tiny bit of sense of place and time, but not much ... but it's overwhelmingly dull and clunky and Kilcher is a charisma-free zone. The drama is fumbled when it's not just boring. So 2/10, sorry.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 19, 2014)

I watched an examination of the anglo saxons through art history. Second time I've seen a history docu that specifically uses art to examine the culture. Its an interesting approach.
lovely Dr Nina Ramirez presents: Treasures of the Anglo Saxons


----------



## hot air baboon (Nov 19, 2014)

...anyone been watching this / these one(s)....

http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2014/06/16/a-vhs-copy-of-hellraiser/

An Elephant & Castle bus stop may be a portal to hell, according to a peculiar story we picked up from Peckham Peculiar. 

For the last few years, a VHS copy of 1987 horror film ‘Hellraiser’ – the moving tale of a chap with a pincushion for a noggin – has sat atop the bus shelter by Lidl on Old Kent Road. You’re thinking, ‘That’s just littering.’ So were we. 

Until a second copy appeared. And then they both vanished. And then they came back. And vanished again. And returned again. 

And then a copycat VHS turned up on a Stoke Newington bus stop. Is it a prank? Some kind of Walworth wormhole?








...turns out someone is attempting to put 21 copies on the roofs of the stops along the 21 bus route...


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 19, 2014)

The Octagon said:


> Never seen it and it was on FilmFour, so watched _The Hunger Games _(first one)
> 
> Not awful, but not particularly good either, strangely bloodless killings too.


Well it is for kids. Battle Royale is bloodier.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 19, 2014)

*Barbara* (Christian Petzold 2010) Unconvincing character study set in the old DDR.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 22, 2014)

Nothing Bad Can Happen - can't make my mind up whether this is a really strong debut film or a piece of horrible exploitative empty crap under the flag of an attack on religion/humanity. Critics seem split down the middle. Basic plot is abandoned young kid is taken in by christian-punks and then another family and his faith is tested (that's putting it mildly). Based on a true story. But i just don't know...

Two (non-spoiler) pieces from reviews):



> There is provocation, there is exploitation, and then there is Nothing Bad Can Happen, a film so comprehensively miscalculated in its desire to be a batshit think piece that it potentially creates a new category of offense for its multitudinous levels of dastardly nihilism masquerading as a socio-philosophical horror show.





> Rarely does a director exhibit such a proficient understanding and application of nearly every cinematic aspect within their debut feature as Katrin Gebbe undoubtedly showcases with Nothing Bad Can Happen,


----------



## dlx1 (Nov 23, 2014)

Dawn of planet of the apes. - OK
Top gear the perfect road trip 2 -  Just killing time.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Nov 23, 2014)

Breakfast on Pluto - Nice film made me smile


----------



## Shirl (Nov 23, 2014)

Inside Llewyn Davis - A folk singer and a ginger cat. Sorted


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Nov 23, 2014)

2001: A Space Odyssey


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 23, 2014)

Lucy

Directed by Luc Besson, and starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman.

The worst Sci-Fi film I've ever seen (and I've seen some stinkers). It's about a woman (Johansson) who manages to tap into 100% of her brain capacity (the rest of us only managing 10%). With Morgan Freeman providing the completely nonsensical sciencey explanations. Awful. I want those 90 minutes back.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2014)

fishfinger said:


> Lucy
> 
> Directed by Luc Besson, and starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman.
> 
> The worst Sci-Fi film I've ever seen (and I've seen some stinkers). It's about a woman (Johansson) who manages to tap into 100% of her brain capacity (the rest of us only managing 10%). With Morgan Freeman providing the completely nonsensical sciencey explanations. Awful. I want those 90 minutes back.


The basic premise, that we only use 10% of our brains, is a fallacy.


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 23, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> The basic premise, that we only use 10% of our brains, is a fallacy.


I know. It started with that fallacy, and just went downhill from there


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 23, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> The basic premise, that we only use 10% of our brains, is a fallacy.


Have you read some posts on here recently ?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2014)

fishfinger said:


> I know. It started with that fallacy, and just went downhill from there


That's nothing. I'm watching Superman 3. It's super implausible (Onket).
How exactly does Superman fly? He doesn't seem to make any effort at all. It's almost as if he's suspended by some invisible wires.
And why does no-one realise that he's Clark Kent. People still recognise me if I take my glasses off and comb my hair differently.


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 23, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> That's nothing. I'm watching Superman 3. It's super implausible (Onket).
> How exactly does Superman fly? He doesn't seem to make any effort at all. It's almost as if he's suspended by some invisible wires.
> And why does no-one realise that he's Clark Kent. People still recognise me if I take my glasses off and comb my hair differently.


Can't say I'm a fan of Superman either. At least he's only a comic book character. The film "Lucy" had pretensions at making some sort of profound point, and it failed miserably.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Nov 23, 2014)

Just watched season 1 of Haven over the last 2 days.


----------



## Ming (Nov 24, 2014)

The Quiet Earth. New Zealand sci-fi movie from the 80's (bit Quatermass i thought) with a great ending.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 24, 2014)

*Lucy *- okay until the final quarter. gets too stooopid in the end.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 24, 2014)

farmerbarleymow said:


> 2001: A Space Odyssey



I watched that on the plane the other week.
Forgot how good it was.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 24, 2014)

*Ender's Game *- good-looking but vacuous. As soon as the script spends any time with adult characters (and actors with presence, like Viola Davis and Harrison Ford) the conceit sort of falls apart and you realise none of it makes a lot of sense. But amusing enough to while away a rainy afternoon.


----------



## hot air baboon (Nov 24, 2014)

...finally got round to watching the Mel Gibson film version of Edge of Darkness to clear some disc space...it was a bit better than I was expecting but too many big chrome plated guns popping off spraying goo all over the place & Ray WInstone was a totally lame character compared to the glorious original plutonium-toting cowboy Jedburgh.....really need to rewatch the original to refresh the pallet now...


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> *Ender's Game *- good-looking but vacuous. As soon as the script spends any time with adult characters (and actors with presence, like Viola Davis and Harrison Ford) the conceit sort of falls apart and you realise none of it makes a lot of sense. But amusing enough to while away a rainy afternoon.




Enders Game often gets loads of praise as a game changer, a sci fi book that asks deep questions about morality, milirarism- its not. Its pious sub heinlien rubbish in love with itself. Author turned out to be a massive homophobe later on.

The scenes in the zero-g game room were good though.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 25, 2014)

*The Divide *- mucky grubby depressing torture-porny postapocalyptic disaster movie with some assorted New Yorkers locked in a basement to avoid nuclear blasts. Would you be at all surprised to learn that they turn on each other, sweat profusely, hoard the snacks and behave poorly? I like a dystopia as much as anyone and this does have some interesting (not redeeming tho) features: it's got an unusually melancholy/plangent soundtrack, and an agreeably open attitude to having episodes / noises / moments which just happen without being explained to death, as they would be in mainstream SF or drama. And it certainly doesn't go for finding a tale of fake spiritual 'uplift' in the radioactive wastelands ... But overall this is the sort of unpleasant experience which you just end up feeling a bit drained and depressed by. would not rewatch.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 25, 2014)

St.Vincent- Bill Murray in the sort of film which in an ideal world would be on Xmas Day. Likeable and funny without being too smaltzy . Yup I enjoyed that.well done Bill.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 25, 2014)

The Octagon said:


> Never seen it and it was on FilmFour, so watched _The Hunger Games _(first one)
> 
> Not awful, but not particularly good either, strangely bloodless killings too.


And no sex


----------



## The Boy (Nov 25, 2014)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).  Not as bad as I thought it would be. The final third was a bit at odds with the rest of the film.  
Been watching far too much shite lately, so tonight:

Le Cercle Rouge (1970).  Needs no introduction really.  One of my faves as a teenager.

Followed by,  l'armée des ombres (1969).  Cos why watch one Melville flick when you can watch two?  Only seen this once and it was part of a double bill years back.  From memory a pretty decent account of resistance fighters in world war two France.

Or I may instead go for le doulos (1962).  Also a Melville flick, probably more in keeping with the theme of the night if their is such a thing.  Lots of cross and double cross.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 26, 2014)

Lucy

I thought it was OK, but I admit that it being based on a long ago debunked Steve Wright Show style 'factoid' was a bit shit.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Nov 26, 2014)

Edge of Tomorrow, Tom Cruise's sci-fi Groundhog Day.

I was exhausted and not with it, so this was an enjoyable no-brainer to watch.


----------



## nidhish (Nov 28, 2014)

i watched "GMO OMG " ...but its not a video ..its more like documentary.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 28, 2014)

Lego Movie: many many lols. Nicely subversive

Edge of Tomorrow: good sci fi film. And one can never see cruise die too many times


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 28, 2014)

*The 300 Spartans*  - the original 1963 Cinemascope togafest, not the demented Frank Miller / Gerard Butler 2007 'tonight we dine in hell' reboot. Pretty stodgy stuff tbh - 2 and a bit hours of 1950s-style Noble Diction and Talking About Freedom with a few muscle-bunnies grappling in the dirt now and then. Notably more women, more real history and more humanoid Persians in the 1963 version; and the combat looks more like real blokes scuffling about. Noticeably more piercings, atrocities, CGI blood spurting, near-Nazi posturing and fascist ideology in the 2007 reboot.
(They filmed the '63 one in actual real Greece which was not - yet - under its own real life 20th-c fascist dictatorship.)


----------



## Belushi (Nov 28, 2014)

.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 28, 2014)

*Nowhere Boy* (Sam Taylor Wood 2009) Pretty good biopic of the adolescent John Lennon and his relationship with his Mother and the Aunt who raised him.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 29, 2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy

just not really. I know what it was going for tonally. Caper/dirty dozen mavericks-save-universe etc. Done with all sorts of comic and sci fi nods, a witty script. But nothing to it really. The peril was never perilous enough. And it suffers from the disease of post whedon genre ironiscism. Because nothing can be played straight face now.

should flog a lot of merch though.

Apparently there was a cameo from Howard the Duck (I know, I know) but it must have been blink and missed it. Because I didn't see Howard.


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 29, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> Apparently there was a cameo from Howard the Duck (I know, I know) but it must have been blink and missed it. Because I didn't see Howard.


The Howard the Duck bit is after the end credits.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 29, 2014)

fishfinger said:


> The Howard the Duck bit is after the end credits.




dammit, I bailed before the main titles had even finished rolling.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed as eyeball bubblegum, the pithy one liners etc.

Its clearly done well and I bet the kids dem will be loving it. But its just one to many quest for one to many bloody orb. Marvel are reaching market saturation with this spandex shit


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 29, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> dammit, I bailed before the main titles had even finished rolling.



You probably missed baby Groot's dance routine too (just after the end credits started)



> Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed as eyeball bubblegum, the pithy one liners etc.
> 
> Its clearly done well and I bet the kids dem will be loving it. But its just one to many quest for one to many bloody orb. Marvel are reaching market saturation with this spandex shit



I wasn't familiar with the source material, but enjoyed it much the same, as throw-away eye-candy (with a good soundtrack). However, my wife has watched it a few times.


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 29, 2014)

We Are the Best!

Lukas Moodyson's latest film. A sweet and funny film about three 13 years old girls who decide to form a punk band in 1980s Stockholm.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 30, 2014)

Blood Ties.

From this year or last (I think) and based on a French original, this 1974 set film could easily have been made in that year. At first, I thought it was going to be a fairly straight-forward of how clean-cut, straight-shooting cop Billy Crudup persuades his rough-diamond ex-con brother Clive Owen to infiltrate a criminal gang that's wreaking havoc in '74 Noo Yawk. Things quickly took a different turn. Owen's character turns out to be much, much darker than I had assumed, and Crudup's character, meanwhile, turns out to be very much a mixed-up kid. The story kept surprising me, put it that way. Zoe Saldana, Mila Kunis and Marion Cotillard play the long-suffering women in their lives. Not bad at all - I'd give it 6.5 out of ten, but a good 6.5.

Good Vibrations.

Now this I would give 9 out of 10. A Glenn Patterson scripted story of the life and times of Belfast scenester Terri Hooley. Very good indeed, this little story of punk rock versus the troubles. Of course, that could be exagerrated - as someone I know who lived through that chapter of the troubles told me, 'in them days Belfast was too scary, so we used to go and hang out in Bangor'. And while there was a 'hands across the barricades' angle to NI punk rock, those people would have found each other anyway, and while they deserve credit for refusing to participate in sectarian shit, their example was always going to be an eccentric one.

Some random points, in no particular order:

I was going to write that the recreation of 70s Belfast was very well done, before I realised that a lot of Belfast still looks like that to this day.

The utter, utter, absolute complete shitness of the conflict is strongly outlined, but not to the point where it takes over the whole movie. It did confirm my intention to never, ever, watch Steve McQueen's _Hunger _mind.

The portrayal of the army was maybe a bit too soft, but the peelers came in for some well deserved stick, as did the various brands of paramilitary. Adrian Dunbar makes a pretty unlikely Provie godfather, though, the most unlikely I've seen since Gabriel Byrne.

At times it was 'spot the Hiberno-luvvie', with the guy out of Game of Thrones as a hippy mixing engineer.

Did Hooley's Da, a lifelong deposit-losing anti-sectarian socialist candidate really look like Tony Benn?

The lads who played the Undertones did the job very well - with one caveat. Look at the original photos of that group, and you'll see that they were no strangers to 'facial acne as a weapon of terror', while the lad who plays my distant relative Fergal Sharkey in this one looks as if he bathes every day in asses' milk, or the blood of young virgins.

They evidently didn't get the memo about John Peel. . .

Why didn't Rudi and the Outcasts make it big? Their songs were just as catchy as the 'tones, on this reading.

Jodie Whitaker was the long-suffering wife in this one, and she was very good indeed. . .


----------



## magneze (Nov 30, 2014)

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Pretty mediocre sequel to the rather good first (well, sort of first anyway). It's alright, passes the time, but it's not a good film. Not sure why it's got such good reviews or high ratings tbh.


----------



## golightly (Nov 30, 2014)

magneze said:


> Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
> Pretty mediocre sequel to the rather good first (well, sort of first anyway). It's alright, passes the time, but it's not a good film. Not sure why it's got such good reviews or high ratings tbh.


 
Yup.  We watched this today.  The first one was much more engaging.


----------



## Waltz (Dec 2, 2014)

Just Watched cabin in the woods last night, cool but not that scary enough.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 2, 2014)

Manuscripts Don't Burn - i know there's a couple of people on here are well into the Iranian naturalist/social realist type things - you should really try and get to see this wonderful angry film. Like an updated version of The Conformist. The director has already been jailed for his films and this one had to be smuggled out and all cast and crew credits removed, not to mention being filmed clandestinely.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 2, 2014)

_Fury_ - Brad Pitt WII tank warfare/war is hell vehicle. The combat scenes are suitably horrific.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 2, 2014)

*Hunger *(Steve McQueen 2009) Very good, though the narrative was a bit clunky.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 3, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *Hunger *(Steve McQueen 2009) Very good, though the narrative was a bit clunky.



And as I said above, there is no way on earth I am ever going to watch that one (my half-Polish colleague says the same thing about the Wajda film about Katyn).


----------



## Garek (Dec 3, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> The Intruders episodes 1-5
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Just finished watching the first series. Complex, brooding and excellent. And that child actor, Millie Brown, is horrifyingly good at not falling into the 'cutesy' trap. 

I suspect it will be cancelled though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 3, 2014)

Garek said:


> Just finished watching the first series. Complex, brooding and excellent. And that child actor, Millie Brown, is horrifyingly good at not falling into the 'cutesy' trap.
> 
> I suspect it will be cancelled though.




I really suspect that'll be down to how well it played with our yankee brethren, if the ratings pulled in there it might get a 2nd. Obviously its not going to get renewed based on audience figures from BBC4 lol


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 3, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> And as I said above, there is no way on earth I am ever going to watch that one (my half-Polish colleague says the same thing about the Wajda film about Katyn).


You have to. It's not a recreation at all. It's a film about the mind not the body.


----------



## Garek (Dec 3, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> I really suspect that'll be down to how well it played with our yankee brethren, if the ratings pulled in there it might get a 2nd. Obviously its not going to get renewed based on audience figures from BBC4 lol



I also got Carnivale btw, watched on your recommendation. Brilliant. Then cancelled. 

Argh


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 3, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> You have to. It's not a recreation at all. It's a film about the mind not the body.



I know, I know. I just don't think I could bear it. I remember the morning after Bobby died, someone had put black flags on all the lamp posts in our part of Castlebar.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 3, 2014)

​


Garek said:


> I also got Carnivale btw, watched on your recommendation. Brilliant. Then cancelled.
> 
> Argh




right ballache that was. And its not like you could even get that cast and crew together to finish it off now


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 3, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> I know, I know. I just don't think I could bear it. I remember the morning after Bobby died, someone had put black flags on all the lamp posts in our part of Castlebar.


Fair does - your mind is your own. No worries.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 3, 2014)

Double Indemnity (1944) - Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, directed by Billy Wilder. Great writing, genius dialogue:


> Phyllis: He has a lot on his mind. He doesn't seem to want to listen to anything except maybe a baseball game on the radio. Sometimes we sit here all evening and never say a word to each other.
> Walter: Sounds pretty dull.
> Phyllis: So I just sit and knit.
> Walter: Is that what you married him for?
> Phyllis: Maybe I like the way his thumbs hold up the wool.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 4, 2014)

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) - Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, directed by Sergio Leone.

Aside from watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly a long time ago, I don't think I've watched any other of Leone's films. 2 hours 46 minutes is a struggle, especially the ultra-slow pacing (I don't think there's a shot under five seconds long), but Jason Robards is brilliant, and once you get past the ridiculousness of the harmonica playing, Bronson is pretty good too.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 6, 2014)

Beauty - disturbing, but exceptionally well made south African film. Had never heard of it before.


----------



## mentalchik (Dec 6, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> I really suspect that'll be down to how well it played with our yankee brethren, if the ratings pulled in there it might get a 2nd. Obviously its not going to get renewed based on audience figures from BBC4 lol



have the book


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 6, 2014)

mentalchik said:


> have the book



Don't think this was based on a book, if you're referring to my post.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 6, 2014)

Rambo 3, the film the US government probably wish had never been made.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 7, 2014)

Binge marathon of *Treme* season 3. A bit baggy and didactic and finger-wagging in places (when they let David Simon off the leash to vent his own schtick instead of letting the characters speak for themselves) but overall it's another beautiful, strange, touching and enraging story about an American city in crisis, done on a novelistic scale by actors, directors and visual bods at the very top of their game. The sequences in/about the 'Indian Chief' masqueraders  of New Orleans are just extraordinary, true kinetic art and done with unusual respect for TV treatments of subcultures.


----------



## The Boy (Dec 7, 2014)

Started watching series 7: the Contenders (2001).  Thought it might be more interesting in retrospective.  It wasn't.

So that got dumped and we ended up watching Date Night (2010).  Rubbish, but enjoyable none the less.

Night of the creeps (1986).  Students on campus under attack from mind control slug things.  Top one liners from Tom Atkins.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 7, 2014)

The Boy said:


> Started watching series 7: the Contenders (2001).  Thought it might be more interesting in retrospective.  It wasn't.



Seem to remember this was pretty decent - one of the better films on that theme.


----------



## mentalchik (Dec 7, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Don't think this was based on a book, if you're referring to my post.



was quoting dotcommunist


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 7, 2014)

mentalchik said:


> was quoting dotcommunist



Oh!  I can't see his posts for some reason.    But there is a book called Beauty by Louise Mensch.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 8, 2014)

Dredd.

At first I thought this was going to be Dredd as it should be done, but it while it was true enough to the source material, it was really just an action movie shoot 'em up with little real SFnal angles. The way in which they redesigned the costumes and urban setting for the twenty-first century was quite clever (and must have made it easier to film) but that robbed it of the frisson you get with proper SF and often had with the Dredd comics.

The other thing is that the comics were the product of a generation obsessed with Americana as it was viewed from the far side of the Alantic. That era is long gone now, and the movie reflected that. It also showed up that Dredd the character is barely one-dimensional (but the woman who played Anderson did it pretty well, I thought).

So, not a bad effort at all, just. . . not really what it said on the tin.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 8, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Dredd.
> 
> At first I thought this was going to be Dredd as it should be done, but it while it was true enough to the source material, it was really just an action movie shoot 'em up with little real SFnal angles. The way in which they redesigned the costumes and urban setting for the twenty-first century was quite clever (and must have made it easier to film) but that robbed it of the frisson you get with proper SF and often had with the Dredd comics.
> 
> ...




I always wondered if they called him JOE dredd for an unsubtle nod.

Karl Urban fitted the helmet much much much better than sly. The floor by floor block by clearance was uncannily preceded that year by a very similar set up in Raid: Redemption.


it was also annoyingly obvious which bits were there for the sole purpose of three D. Like when cersie was in the bath
What it lacked, imo, was the hints of satire you got from original dredd. Or sometimes not so subtle (remember 'Democracy Now!' ?)



I watched 'Tomorrow's Worlds' which were an entirely predictable cover no new ground set of two BBC SF histories focusing on space, robots and next week is time travel.

All about the talking heads really The narrator revealing that Invasion of the Bodysnatchers might have been linked to reds under the bed paranoia OH WLL THE SCALES HAVE FALLEN

missed opportunity.

Ursula Le Guin is in it talking about Left Hand Of Darkness.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 8, 2014)

An unsubtle to Georgia's Man of Steel, you mean Kimble? I doubt it somehow. . . and you're right satire was what was lacking from this remake.

Apparently there isn't going to be a sequel, which is a shame, because something like the Judge Child saga would make a great movie (though you'd probably need an Avengers- size budget to do it right).


----------



## The Boy (Dec 8, 2014)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Seem to remember this was pretty decent - one of the better films on that theme.



As did I - though very much as the best of a bad bunch. 

Given what we watched instead it may have been that we simply weren't in the right mood.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 8, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> An unsubtle to Georgia's Man of Steel, you mean Kimble? I doubt it somehow. . . and you're right satire was what was lacking from this remake.
> 
> Apparently there isn't going to be a sequel, which is a shame, because something like the Judge Child saga would make a great movie (though you'd probably need an Avengers- size budget to do it right).




heh  just me then

there's 40 minutes worth of very very high quality animation released this year seperated into shorts, follows judge death. Far more 'in the spirit of'

I'll dig them out later. Google 'judge death shortssss'


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 8, 2014)

here you go Superfiend


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 8, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> An unsubtle to Georgia's Man of Steel, you mean Kimble? I doubt it somehow. . . and you're right satire was what was lacking from this remake.
> 
> Apparently there isn't going to be a sequel, which is a shame, because something like the Judge Child saga would make a great movie (though you'd probably need an Avengers- size budget to do it right).




There probably will be another take on Dredd at some point.

WRT the making modern look just futuristic enough- one of the problems with Sly's Dredd was that they tried to faithfully create the hyper-real comic book look and it just looked like 90's crap because they hadn't the money or modern tech or flair to do it faithfully.

It could be done on a big budget marvel superheroes style budget but the studios putting out comic book films have so so many less problematic age wise and theme wise crap to pump out before the spandex craze is done


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 8, 2014)

The comic book format allowed 2000AD to do little things that might not work in a movie format. Like when Rogue Trooper meets the Souther high command, and they turn out to be three bods who look like FDR, Winston and Joe (now that one has to have been deliberate).


----------



## sojourner (Dec 8, 2014)

The fella's never watched the Red Riding Trilogy, so we watched the first one yesterday and he loved it   Second one tonight!


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 8, 2014)

Tusk - A very silly comedy horror by Kevin Smith. Michael Parks is suitably creepy, and Johnny Depp hams it up channelling Inspector Clouseau.


----------



## Greebo (Dec 8, 2014)

American Interior


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 9, 2014)

didn't know where else to plonk this but I think it'll be right up the street of some viewers here. 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' Is about a skateboarding female vampire. Shot in B&W and subtitled in english as its farsi spoken, and the protagonists chador looks vampire-cloakish.

will keep eye out for torrents


----------



## Belushi (Dec 12, 2014)

*Café de Flore *(Jean-Marc Vallee 2011) Café de Merde.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 14, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Dredd....So, not a bad effort at all, just. . . not really what it said on the tin.





DotCommunist said:


> What it lacked, imo, was the hints of satire you got from original dredd.



Just for you two:


----------



## Belushi (Dec 14, 2014)

*Battleship* (Peter Berg 2012) Ludicrous alien invasion film 'inspired' by the game.

*Let Me In *(Matt Reeves 2010) Rather pointless American remake of one of the best films of recent years. Not the complete abomination American remakes often are, there's more emphasis on the horror aspects and less subtlety than in the original, but it lacks the emotional impact that made Let the Right One In a great piece of cinema.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 14, 2014)

The Black Panther - a superb criminally overlooked film from the late 70s about that horrible piece  of nastiness Donald Neilson. Overlooked because when it was released a few years after the events the press went _ban this filth_ crazy lying to the public that it was exploitative filth, when what they really wanted to do was bury the films exposure of the key role the media played in some tragic events (via police corruption - how things change eh?) - they succeeded and got the films distribution pulled and councils to ban it, effectively killing the film. In reality the film is a fantastic piece of almost formalist crime-reporting - sort of an extended mix of Alan Clarke's Elephant and the extended planning and heist sequences of Le Cercle Rouge and Rififi - stunning performance from Donald Sumpter as the panther.  Excellent overview of all this nonsense here.


----------



## magneze (Dec 14, 2014)

Algorithms 
Film about three blind Indian kids who are trying to become chess grand masters. Interesting subject, okay documentary. Odd title. Algorithms weren't mentioned or relevant.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Dec 14, 2014)

Watched episodes 1-3 of series one of _Kingdom_ (the Lars von Trier effort, not the "Stephen Fry as chubby cuddly Norfolk solicitor" effort!).
I'd forgotten how much I hate the theme tune!


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2014)

magneze said:


> Algorithms
> Film about three blind Indian kids who are trying to become chess grand masters. Interesting subject, okay documentary. Odd title. Algorithms weren't mentioned or relevant.


Didn't he invent the internet?


----------



## magneze (Dec 14, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Didn't he invent the internet?


Eh?


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2014)

That Al Gorithms guy.


----------



## magneze (Dec 14, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> That Al Gorithms guy.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2014)

Why not both?


----------



## hot air baboon (Dec 14, 2014)

...wasn't it a Mr H.T. Teepee ...?


----------



## KeeperofDragons (Dec 14, 2014)

The Vikings - yes we know not historically accurate, no stone castles then but we love it anyway


----------



## sleaterkinney (Dec 14, 2014)

Maleficent - Quite good in a disney sort of way.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 14, 2014)

*No* (Pablo Iarrain 2013) Interesting dramatization of the anti-regime ad campaign in the 1988 plebiscite that ended the dictatorship in Chile.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 15, 2014)

Belushi said:


> *No* (Pablo Iarrain 2013) Interesting dramatization of the anti-regime ad campaign in the 1988 plebiscite that ended the dictatorship in Chile.


End of a great trilogy - worstof the three.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Dec 15, 2014)

"Under The Skin".

Horrible to watch, but it was excellent.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 15, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> The Black Panther - a superb criminally overlooked film from the late 70s about that horrible piece  of nastiness Donald Neilson. Overlooked because when it was released a few years after the events the press went _ban this filth_ crazy lying to the public that it was exploitative filth, when what they really wanted to do was bury the films exposure of the key role the media played in some tragic events (via police corruption - how things change eh?) - they succeeded and got the films distribution pulled and councils to ban it, effectively killing the film. In reality the film is a fantastic piece of almost formalist crime-reporting - sort of an extended mix of Alan Clarke's Elephant and the extended planning and heist sequences of Le Cercle Rouge and Rififi - stunning performance from Donald Sumpter as the panther.  Excellent overview of all this nonsense here.


Saw that on the BFI Flipside list and put it down as one to watch, have you seen Man of Violence? That's another one of the Flipside which I quite fancy.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 15, 2014)

A few episodes of Skins that I'd missed.

Better than Rushmore, which I switched off after 30 minutes.

And definitely better than Battle Star Galactica, which I'd seen a couple of episodes before, and which I had not been impressed. Having again been unimpressed by the other two episodes I've just seen, I won't bother with this one.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 15, 2014)

redsquirrel said:


> Saw that on the BFI Flipside list and put it down as one to watch, have you seen Man of Violence? That's another one of the Flipside which I quite fancy.


Have not, will now check it out. BFI doing/did great work in this series.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 15, 2014)

TruXta said:


> It did get better, but yeah, massively overhyped in a way that reminded me of Argo last year (or the year before?), both decent films but by god shut up already.


 
TruXta posted this in January this year about AMERICAN HUSTLE: 11 and a half months and a DVD later I'd say the same - or less. Just left me cold and I normally like David O Russell farces. Jennifer Lawrence is absolutely terrific but the rest is mostly an endless yammering mess.


----------



## magneze (Dec 15, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> And definitely better than Battle Star Galactica, which I'd seen a couple of episodes before, and which I had not been impressed. Having again been unimpressed by the other two episodes I've just seen, I won't bother with this one.


Okay, that's just CRAZY TALK!


----------



## magneze (Dec 15, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> TruXta posted this in January this year about AMERICAN HUSTLE: 11 and a half months and a DVD later I'd say the same - or less. Just left me cold and I normally like David O Russell farces. Jennifer Lawrence is absolutely terrific but the rest is mostly an endless yammering mess.


Yeah, totally agree. Couldn't see what the fuss was about. Really liked Argo though..


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 15, 2014)

magneze said:


> Okay, that's just CRAZY TALK!


----------



## magneze (Dec 15, 2014)

"Why's that Limey staring at me like that?"


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 15, 2014)




----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 15, 2014)

magneze said:


> "Why's that Limey staring at me like that?"



Is that John Rees with the tattoos?


----------



## ringo (Dec 15, 2014)

American Muscle - Mildly entertaining nonsense

Body Of Lies - Pretty good Homelands style naughty CIA types


----------



## magneze (Dec 15, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Is that John Rees with the tattoos?


No idea.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 15, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


>



Tory cum face thread is thataway > > > > >


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 17, 2014)

ep 1 of Marco Polo on Netflix. Sadly - because I love historical costume tosh, this is a fascinating era, and they've obviously spent $$$$$$$$$$$$ on it - it is Not Very Good. Or at least it's not shown me any signs yet of being much good. The scripting is dire and the dramatic dynamic seems weak. 9 more eps to go and I don't know if my life can spend the time on it.


----------



## belboid (Dec 17, 2014)

The Armstrong Lie

Very well done doc.  What a truly nasty piece of shit Armstrong was and clearly still is.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 17, 2014)

belboid said:


> The Armstrong Lie
> 
> Very well done doc.  What a truly nasty piece of shit Armstrong was and clearly still is.



Yeah, faking the moon landing and that.

Or am I mistaken?


----------



## belboid (Dec 17, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Yeah, faking the moon landing and that.
> 
> Or am I mistaken?


Louis.  It's not a wonderful world at all.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 17, 2014)

*Neds* (Peter Mullan 2011) Starts well but loses its way a bit.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 17, 2014)

belboid said:


> Louis.  It's not a wonderful world at all.


Not Stretch?


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 18, 2014)

Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976). One of those 'classics' that I'd never got around to seeing. Despite that "I'm mad as hell" sequence being referenced everywhere, it's a surprisingly powerful scene when you finally watch it in context.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 18, 2014)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976). One of those 'classics' that I'd never got around to seeing. Despite that "I'm mad as hell" sequence being referenced everywhere, it's a surprisingly powerful scene when you finally watch it in context.



I thought the character obviously based on Angela Davis wouldn't have had any time for the faux-Symbionese Liberation Army crowd in it, though.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 18, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> I thought the character obviously based on Angela Davis wouldn't have had any time for the faux-Symbionese Liberation Army crowd in it, though.


Yeah, that sub-plot was definitely the weakest aspect of the movie.


----------



## belboid (Dec 18, 2014)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Yeah, that sub-plot was definitely the weakest aspect of the movie.


but it still had some great laughs in it - You can blow the seminal prisoner class infrastructure out your ass. I'm not knockin' down my goddamn distribution charges.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 18, 2014)

Continuing my short season of Paddy Chayefsky movies, tonight I watched Marty (1955). Deserved its Oscars, really great.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2014)

It's a Wonderful Life

got the projector out. Still one of the greats


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 19, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> ep 1 of Marco Polo on Netflix. Sadly - because I love historical costume tosh, this is a fascinating era, and they've obviously spent $$$$$$$$$$$$ on it - it is Not Very Good. Or at least it's not shown me any signs yet of being much good. The scripting is dire and the dramatic dynamic seems weak. 9 more eps to go and I don't know if my life can spend the time on it.



Oh crap; I've been really looking fwd to this


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 19, 2014)

Watched the first half of We Need To Talk About Kevin on the train home. It's very arty - almost Winterbottom or Greenaway in some parts, with the sound design and colour metaphors. Bit distracted by the fact that the son is very obviously oriental during several years of his early life...


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 19, 2014)

Quatermass and the Pit. It's rubbish.


----------



## starfish (Dec 20, 2014)

Just watched Boyz In The Hood & now watching Scarface. What a double bill for a friday night.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 20, 2014)

Tried that Firefly. Turned it off after 30 minutes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 20, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> Tried that Firefly. Turned it off after 30 minutes.


a wise decision. The extended adventures of han solo given a heavy dose of whedonist irony laden quipping. The film Serenity is worth your time though.


I watched episodes 1&2 of netflix new series 'Marco Polo'

I'm reserving judgement as yet but there is signs of potential flaws already. Good combat and history-lite soft porn so I'll give it another 2 episodes.


----------



## Ted Striker (Dec 21, 2014)

It's going to be my new years resolution to use this thread to log and critique* the films I see in 'one of my' sessions. (When I get in from clubs, instead of doing the normal thing and a few hours of cieling patrol before nodding off, I'll just watch endless endless films, for a truly embarassing amount of time). I'd also take in a few decent picks (that I already do).

*My FIlm critique is genuinely shite - I like thing to be entertaining first - everything around it is merely a column that lifts the 'entertainment' factor to the max! I'm basically way out of my depth when people talk event remotely cerebreously!

Few bits to add: Fury: Doesn't add anything to BoB's/Private Ryan (i.e. the new technical era) escapades tbf. It did open my yes to the joys of tank warfare so led me to Battle Of The Bulge which, considering it's (IME) lowish profil is up there with the 'above average' of them!

Some people have enjoyed Night Moves - Much though I love Jessie E in anything, the ending wasn't complete enough for a simpleton like me, and tbh I found The East a better fillum (with a fair similarities).

If I remember anything notable about anything else I've seen will post!


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 21, 2014)

May Kasahara said:


> Quatermass and the Pit. It's rubbish.


The film or the TV serial?


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 21, 2014)

Film.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 21, 2014)

Killing them softly.

Ray Liotta, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini. Deadly fallout of a  scam gone wrong, set against the US prez election and financial crisis of 2008. Really effective and recommended. 7.7/10


----------



## magneze (Dec 21, 2014)

Black Mirror, White Christmas & Her
Back to back scifi dystopia. Maybe I'd have quite liked 'Her' if I'd seen it on it's own, maybe not, but after Black Mirror, White Christmas it really suffered in comparison. The first was believable, somewhat humourous and thought provoking. The second felt overly contrived to the point of ridiculousness but not in a funny way. Theodore kept asking Samantha what she'd been up to. In my head she replied 'defragmenting your hard disk' or stuff like that.



Spoiler



Eventually even she got bored and fucked off. I'm not surprised and I felt the same way.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2014)

Megastructures: Palm Island

it was great to see how it was done and yet the program was remarkably quiet about who did the grunt work leading me to suspect dark things


----------



## The Boy (Dec 21, 2014)

American hustle (2013).  Someone's gonna have to explain the fuss about this one for me.

First two episodes of Deadwood. The other half not really feeling that so may need to find a different festive box set.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2014)

The Boy said:


> American hustle (2013).  Someone's gonna have to explain the fuss about this one for me.
> 
> First two episodes of Deadwood. The other half not really feeling that so may need to find a different festive box set.


True Detective, best HBO output this year by a country mile


----------



## The Boy (Dec 21, 2014)

DotCommunist said:


> True Detective, best HBO output this year by a country mile



Yeah, we were all set for that but then I mentioned that the ending is reputedly a poor one.  That was met with "well what's the point then?".  I couldn't argue with that.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> ep 1 of Marco Polo on Netflix. Sadly - because I love historical costume tosh, this is a fascinating era, and they've obviously spent $$$$$$$$$$$$ on it - it is Not Very Good. Or at least it's not shown me any signs yet of being much good. The scripting is dire and the dramatic dynamic seems weak. 9 more eps to go and I don't know if my life can spend the time on it.




I quite like it. It's on ep 3 for me and the Great Khan is becoming less 2-d mongol warlord which is good. I think the protagonist is a bit weak in his delivery, but then I like scenery chewing in my historical fluff. He is pretty though and does excellent kung fu scenes with the not at all stereotypical blind wise master of arts martial. Couple of weirdly awkward sex scenes aside the matters amour are OK, not insane or totally illogical.

Whats really killing it for me is:

It's not Borgias

It doesn't have Jeremy Irons in it


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 24, 2014)

Pride

enjoyed


----------



## Garek (Dec 24, 2014)

The Boy said:


> Yeah, we were all set for that but then I mentioned that the ending is reputedly a poor one.  That was met with "well what's the point then?".  I couldn't argue with that.



Except by possibly saying that discounting everything which is potentially flawed is to discount pretty much everything.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 25, 2014)

The Interview

Not the worst film I've ever seen, although it's fairly poor. I think I smirked a couple of times throughout. Watch it if you must, but don't spend any money on it.


----------



## tufty79 (Dec 25, 2014)

belboid said:


> The Bay - the Barry Levinson horror thing from a couple of years back...  a perfectly decent minor horror flick.


This. Had a couple of moments where i proper squeaked/jumped


----------



## belboid (Dec 25, 2014)

tufty79 said:


> This. Had a couple of moments where i proper squeaked/jumped


I'm trying to recall a damned thing about the film now. And failing. 

After finally setting up our new telly the other day, I had to try a variety of films on it. 

Calvary - which I was a bit disappointed by. His daughter and the pseudo-American rent boy were both lousier acted, wasn't sure about wotsisname, Bernard Black, either. Plus it just looked odd, tho that was probably just me getting used to the HDness of the telly, but it did make it all lok very cheaply shot. 

Theatre of Blood - still a Rock sold classic, but I'm going to have to download better quality rips of stuff from now on, I think. 

20,000 Days On Earth - highly entertaining, and actually looked great too. Gotta love a bit of Nick for Christmas.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 27, 2014)

71 - pretty darn good at what it does tale of a squaddie chased all over a belfast he doesn't know over one night in '71. Good all round performances - but i'm fed up of seeing Sean Harris playing sinisterly mumbling 70s men.

P'tit Quinquin AKA Li'l Quinquin - pretty oddball film/tv series (both a 3 hour long film and a 4 part series) from Bruno Dumont, not previously noted for his comedy films, to say the least. Not really sure what to make of it - i did laugh and i was intrigued, did enjoy it but not sure why.

And i watched 90 minutes of the interview then cut my losses - rubbish. Did Prof Franco's mum tell him he could do comedy or something? He can't. he doesn't appear to have a single funny bone in his body or psyche. That Brad Pitt War film Fury is more funny.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 27, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> 71 - pretty darn good at what it does tale of a squaddie chased all over a belfast he doesn't know over one night in '71. Good all round performances - but i'm fed up of seeing Sean Harris playing sinisterly mumbling 70s men.



Yea, I watched this too and enjoyed it, although I was picking fault with the main fella's accent at times when he forgot he wasn't still in Starred Up.

Also Manuscripts Don't Burn which was really good and another Iranian film, Children of Heaven. Brother loses his sisters shoes in the market and they have to share a pair so that both can go to school. The kids in it are great, a really heartwarming film.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Dec 27, 2014)

South [Endurance] (1920), Frank Furley's silent era documentary that he shot on Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill fated expedition in Antarctica. Not as moving as "Great White Silence" or as beautiful as "Epic Of Everest" but still a great film, the footage of the Endurance getting trapped and crushed by the ice flows is particularly stunning.


----------



## rekil (Dec 27, 2014)

Miss Violence on xmas morning. I think I can safely say that it's probably one of the least "festive" films ever made, intending to be a broadside against the delusions, degeneracy and social reproduction of the Greek middle class, its fault lines exposed by the crisis. (If you haven't heard of it, don't click the imdb link cos it's got an early spoiler)


----------



## D'wards (Dec 27, 2014)

Just watched The ABCs of Death. Now I normally love a horror compendium, but this was hard work. The only story I found interesting really was the one about the fat woman. The weird paedo/hunting one showed potential too and the Japanese Nazi one was definitely nightmarish.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 28, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> The Selfish Giant.
> 
> By far the best film I've seen in ages. The performances are excellent, best angry youth since Tim Roth in Made in Britain. Absolutely brilliant.



I'm watching that now.  Some great acting in it.  Sad though


----------



## D'wards (Dec 28, 2014)

Predestination. Very good, but you definitely need to pay utmost attention


----------



## mwgdrwg (Dec 28, 2014)

Watching E.T.

:'(


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 28, 2014)

D'wards said:


> Predestination. Very good, but you definitely need to pay utmost attention


I saw that recently, and although I quite enjoyed it, found it to be very predictable.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 28, 2014)

Soon as you know it's time travel based you know where you're going.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 28, 2014)

Indeliblelink said:


> South [Endurance] (1920), Frank Furley's silent era documentary that he shot on Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill fated expedition in Antarctica. Not as moving as "Great White Silence" or as beautiful as "Epic Of Everest" but still a great film, the footage of the Endurance getting trapped and crushed by the ice flows is particularly stunning.


If you like that you'll like Kon- Tiki, the Norwegian film of Heyerdal's famous voyage across the Pacific by raft. The hypothesis on which that voyage was based has since been disproven  but it's an amazing story nonetheless. But you'll have to see it on the big screen.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 28, 2014)

Idris2002 said:


> If you like that you'll like Kon- Tiki, the Norwegian film of Heyerdal's famous voyage across the Pacific by raft. The hypothesis on which that voyage was based has since been disproven  but it's an amazing story nonetheless. But you'll have to see it on the big screen.



Sounds good. On a seafaring theme I love Deep Water, about the first round the world yacht race.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460766/


----------



## Indeliblelink (Dec 28, 2014)

that sounds interesting Idris2002, I'll try track it down


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 28, 2014)

Remember @IndelibleInk, see it on the big screen.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 29, 2014)

Chip Barm said:


> Sounds good. On a seafaring theme I love Deep Water, about the first round the world yacht race.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460766/


Great little doc that - his log-book from the last days is fascinating:

_I have become a second generation cosmic being. I am conceived in the womb of nature, but in my own mind, in the womb of the universe. I was forced to admit that nature forces on a cosmic being the only sin they are capable of: the sin of concealment. It is a small sin for a man to commit, but it is a terrible sin for a cosmic being. I am what I am and I see the nature of my offence. I will only resign this game if you will agree that on the next occasion that this game is played, it will be played according to the rules that are devised by my great God. It is finished. It is finished. It is the mercy. 

11:15:00 

It is the end of my game. Truth has been revealed and it will be done as my family requires me to do it. 

11:20:40 

There is no reason for harmful"_


----------



## rekil (Dec 29, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> And i watched 90 minutes of the interview then cut my losses - rubbish. Did Prof Franco's mum tell him he could do comedy or something? He can't. he doesn't appear to have a single funny bone in his body or psyche. That Brad Pitt War film Fury is more funny.


I made it to the end. Franco can't even maintain the sub Jerry Lewis mugging and speech impediment all the way through, which is probably for the best. Yer man doesn't even get a 'funny' death, unless his chopper getting shot in the rear is intended to provide bum gag continuity, and elections follow. Yep they give up trying to be funny altogether and try to have a go at making the audience take their stoner liberalism seriously. I'm just relieved that Danny McBride wasn't involved with this mess.


----------



## Gone Girl (Dec 30, 2014)

Interstellar 

I actually watched this at the cinema and quite enjoyed it but did get confused as to what the plot was at times, but pretty good and especially if you are into sci-Fi I guess.

I would rate this film 6.5/10


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 30, 2014)

*The Raven *- overlong, but nicely art-directed sort-of-gothicky romp around 1800s Baltimore in the company of Edgar Allen Poe, who's being stalked and terrified by a copycat serial killer inspired by Poe's works. John Cusack does a nicely disheveled and dipsomaniac Poe and there are lots of good character actors. It all looks very good. But script is a bit flaccid and the damsel in distress didn't work for me. Amusing enough for a couple of hours of relaxation.
(* for the cthulhuthians, there are no tentacles involved at any point.)


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 30, 2014)

Running Blind - rather exciting BBC mini-series also cobbled together as a film. Classic cold-war double-crossing intrigue etc with chases and sniper rifles and trench coats and all that. Very enjoyable. 

Oh yeah, it's set in Iceland too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 31, 2014)

Ipcress File. Early role for Michael Caine. Old school spy thriller. Funny litle cars and grey men chasing each other I liked it. Went through a Deighton phase in my teens so the storytelling was familiar.


Also: Z Nation. Oh shock of shocks, syfy produce something quality! It's funny, dark and the anti-Walking Dead. Hiughly reccomended. I'm on episode 3.

its some ill-defined time after the zombia apocalypse and a rag tag group must escort a cowardly fool who is the on;y man ever to survive zombie bite to a californian CDC so they can synthesize a cure


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 1, 2015)

Snowpiercer.  

Chris Evans (the captain america one), Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, John Hurt and others.

Dark and apocalyptic, the only people left in the world are on a huge, class-divided train.

Tilda Swinton is fucking brilliant in this.  Revelations come near the end.


----------



## magneze (Jan 1, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Snowpiercer.
> 
> Chris Evans (the captain america one), Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, John Hurt and others.
> 
> ...


Great film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 1, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Ipcress File. Early role for Michael Caine.



Well, an early _lead_ role for Caine, perhaps. IMDb clearly shows this to have been in the range of his 50th-55th credited screen role.


----------



## yardbird (Jan 1, 2015)

Ch5 Now not last night.
The Dam Busters with full-on use of the N word.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 1, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Well, an early _lead_ role for Caine, perhaps. IMDb clearly shows this to have been in the range of his 50th-55th credited screen role.


'IMDB clearly shows' lol

feet of clay D


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 2, 2015)

_Man of Violence _(aka_ Moon_) - one of films in the BFI's Flipside series, it's a crime/spy film made at the end of the 60s. It's got it's flaws, that plot is far too complicated for a 90 minute film, but it's also has some things that are genuinely good, as well as being an interesting piece of 60s film making. It's also very progressive regarding homosexuality, for the it's time anyway, with the lead character sleeping with another bloke, admittedly this is to extract some information, but it's clearly something that the character doesn't have a problem with, or even really see as an issue. Definitely recommended.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 2, 2015)

The rest of MARCO POLO, which did get better, but not much.

I'm still baffled how a titanically large-scale saga of clashing empires, fascinating experiments in multicultural society, deaths of tens of thousands, a tale teeming with assassins, harems and drugs turned out to be ... a bit dull really. It must be something to do with the writing (still wooden and dire) and the acting (predominantly clunky fake-archaic English as a second language) but it just never really *grips* you. Wonderfully art directed though - it's not a waste of time. But without actors willing to chew up the scenery and go OTT this kind of caper is hard to pull off. It just all seems much too detached - it never really builds you into the emotional world of any character - and it's hard to care about any of them.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 2, 2015)

Another Earth and I Origins  - couple films of from Mike Cahill - both mixes of sci-fi style stuff intertwined with looks at regrets and loss. Both very similar, both interesting, but neither as deep or complex or clever as some reviewers seem to think.


----------



## D'wards (Jan 2, 2015)

Nightcrawler - thought it was excellent. Jake Gyllenhal was superb as the slimey weirdo protagonist, should at least get an oscar nomination for that I think.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 2, 2015)

D'wards said:


> Nightcrawler - thought it was excellent. Jake Gyllenhal was superb as the slimey weirdo protagonist, should at least get an oscar nomination for that I think.


I enjoyed it until the last 40 minutes when it became too much of an aggressive finger pointing at a grotesque shouting_ DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW?!!!? _exercise_._


----------



## D'wards (Jan 2, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I enjoyed it until the last 40 minutes when it became too much of an aggressive finger pointing at a grotesque shouting_ DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW?!!!? _exercise_._


 Aye, was none-too subtle in that Natural Born Killers way


----------



## belboid (Jan 2, 2015)

On The Town. 

The greatest musical ever. And I never knew before that Betty Garrett was on the HUAC list.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 3, 2015)

Starred (2013)

Brit prison film. Just unrelentingly grim and violent. Captures the claustrophobic and febrile environs perfectly. Btought up some npleasant recollections. Well done for what it is but one watch was enough. Strange, I watched that french on Prophet and it didn't push any buttons


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 3, 2015)

Benched. Excellent US sitcom on the USA Network. Not groundbreaking. Just well done.
Binge watched Amazon Prime's Transparent. Loved Gabby Hoffman but watching reruns of Uncle Buck will never be the same again.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 3, 2015)

Black Mirror: White Christmas 

absolutely horrific.


----------



## belboid (Jan 3, 2015)

Only Lovers Left Alive. Absolutely cracking. Tho it did make me wonder why yank dramas never go anywhere in North Africa other than Morocco. 

Cabin in the Woods - still highly enjoyable.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 3, 2015)

Locke.

Tom Hardy in a car.  No action, no chases.

Voice support from (Alice from Luther), (Moriarty from Sherlock), some others and Olivia Coleman.

Apparently filmed over about 6 days.

It's really, really good.   Hardy is a top class actor.

A short film (85 minutes?) it grows and grows in tension and gravity.  The modern enclosure of the car is his hope and his jail, he creates conversations with his (non-attending) father, laying out his feelings and anger to an empty back seat.  Every phone call brings more pressure and collapse to his well-built, concrete world of facts and figures and error-checking.  Of being responsible.

The ending is worthy.


----------



## D'wards (Jan 4, 2015)

Boyhood. Absolutely brilliant - Ethan Hawke would never be one to sell a film to me just because he's in it, but after watching this I realised he's a quietly excellent actor. Always gives a good performance, even if the film is not so hot.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 4, 2015)

The Strange Colour Of Your Body's Tears (2013) very enjoyable stylish neo-giallo from the directors who did "Amer" a few years ago. A man suspects his wife has been murdered and the killer is stalking their art nouveau styled apartment complex.


----------



## RubyBlue (Jan 4, 2015)

Kill your darlings - brilliant - loved it


----------



## belboid (Jan 5, 2015)

We Are the Best - as good as everyone says.  

Belle - above average costume drama


----------



## Thraex (Jan 5, 2015)

Watched "The Theory of Everything" yesterday, absolutely fantastic. Thought it might be some schmaltzy 'triumph in the face of adversity' thing but, no. Left me feeling quite sad. Awards ahoy, I'd say.


----------



## Tigerlil (Jan 5, 2015)

The Drop. Enjoyed this with Tom Hardy and James Gandolphini, it had an air of menace throughout.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 5, 2015)

Maze Runner - A poor mans hunger games. Not very good really.

The Interview - fell asleep; bit crap with the jokes but raised a few smiles and was quite polished, of what I saw.

'71 - Rookie soldier gets sent to N.Ireland during the troubles and ends up having an absolute right proper shit one. Very good.

Horns - Harry Potter grows horns and starts freaking people out. Good storyline, taking artistic license as far as it can go - I liked it. Mrs thought it was far too silly.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2015)

belboid said:


> We Are the Best - as good as everyone says.


I got all excited about watching this on Netflix, but there are no subtitles


----------



## spartacus mills (Jan 5, 2015)

Closely Observed Trains - a faithful adaptation of Bohumil Hrabal's novel.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 6, 2015)

Thraex said:


> Watched "The Theory of Everything" yesterday, absolutely fantastic. Thought it might be some schmaltzy 'triumph in the face of adversity' thing but, no. Left me feeling quite sad. Awards ahoy, I'd say.


Not seen that, but I have seen The Imitation Game - Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing. I normally dislike him, but he was very good in this very good movie. I was even able to tolerate Keira Knightley as Bletchley Park crytography ace Joan Clarke. I'd thought she was invented to give Cumberbatch's female fans a chance to put themselves in the movie, but she was a real person apparently. And Turing did propose marriage, even though he was gay.

The special effects used to depict the Battle of the Atlantic and the Blitz were stunning - and made me wonder why there hasn't been a new Battle of Britain movie using modern SFX.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 7, 2015)

22 Jump Street.

At least as funny as the first one.  Written by the guys who did the Lego Movie, I think.

It replicates the first film in a good way, some of the jokes miss but so many hit it doesn't matter.

/sings Benny Hill theme tune


----------



## Supine (Jan 7, 2015)

I did a binge and watched five episodes of Transparent yesterday. Is a really good sites on Amazon about a man becoming trans in his late sixties. 

Written by one of the guys who wrote Six Feet Under i believe. Is brilliantly casted and written.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 7, 2015)

episode 1 of Galavant. Extremely silly but very funny. Imagine a disney musical but live action and with dirty jokes. Shouldn't have been my thing really but the sheer bawd and wit won me over

penultimate episode of Z Nation. Easily the best thing SyFy have released this year and makes the tiresome pompous up-its-own-arse Walking Dead look as po faced as it is


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 7, 2015)

The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji - finally a good silly Miike film. Him doing a daft manga and giving it a lot of energy - that's all you need to know.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 8, 2015)

The Imitation Game. It is not entirely historically correct, to say the least.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 8, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> The Imitation Game. It is not entirely historically correct, to say the least.



But it is a much better film than I expected it to be.

At least it didn't turn Alan T. into a squarejawed muy macho hetero Texan.


----------



## inva (Jan 8, 2015)

Green for Danger
Entertaining little wartime murder mystery film from 1946, starring Alastair Sim and Trevor Howard. Great fun.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 8, 2015)

inva said:


> Green for Danger
> Entertaining little wartime murder mystery film from 1946, starring Alastair Sim and Trevor Howard. Great fun.


Love that movie, Sim is excellent


----------



## yardbird (Jan 9, 2015)

Half way through American Sniper.


----------



## Betsy (Jan 9, 2015)

Caught up with Dallas Buyers Club courtesy of Netflix..great film with powerful performances from Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 9, 2015)

*Gloria* (Sebastian Lelio 2014) Paulina Garcia is terrific in a wonderful Chilean film about a middle aged woman in search of happiness.


----------



## belboid (Jan 10, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Gloria* (Sebastian Lelio 2014) Paulina Garcia is terrific in a wonderful Chilean film about a middle aged woman in search of happiness.


it's a few years old, in fact.  But whenever it was, its bloody brill


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 10, 2015)

Watched the first episode of The Corner, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0224853/


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 10, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Starred (2013)
> 
> Brit prison film. Just unrelentingly grim and violent. Captures the claustrophobic and febrile environs perfectly. Btought up some npleasant recollections. Well done for what it is but one watch was enough. Strange, I watched that french on Prophet and it didn't push any buttons


Good until the last 20 mins


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 10, 2015)

Fury

Brad Pitt IS 'wardaddy'! no cliche left unexpressed in this tour de force of 'war is shit'. Special wardaddy ire is reserved for the SS, continuing the clean wermacht trope. 

Combat scenes were good, dialogue atrocious.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 10, 2015)

LFO: The Movie - not, despite the title about LFO: The Band, but a pretty twisted black comedy of sorts from Sweden about a freak who learns to control people though LFO. Original and doesn't go where you think, but certain things mean it's going to put a lot of people off.

Real Life - Albert Brooks' really really early satire on reality TV (1979) and just how the reality is constructed. Really well done and smart, but it's just so frigging gentle compared to where satire has gone since that it doesn't really appear _to bite._


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 11, 2015)

Ahem, well, I just watched _The Equalizer_. It's Denzel doing his everyman-with-depths thing, and it's about as formulaic as expected. Nice use of the contents of a large hardware store though.


----------



## 8115 (Jan 11, 2015)

Dogtooth. Absolutely loved it. Very good. One to watch again.


----------



## belboid (Jan 12, 2015)

Boyhood

Bloody hell, but that's good.

Pina - Wim Wenders' dance thing with Pina Bausch. Very well worth watching


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 12, 2015)

Before Your Eyes/The Children of Diyarbakir - pretty good drama about two very young kids in the Diyarbakir whose kurdish  activists parents are offed by the turkish state and who are are left alone to fend for themselves, but i felt the constant symbolism dragging around the neck of the narrative.

A re-watch of Sacco and Vanzetti with someone whose recently became interested in the case.

And then Mourir à 30/aka Half a life an interesting film from Romain Goupil -it's a sort of look back at his and his mate (Michel Recanati) life from the mid-60s to mid-70s, how they developed from school student strike leaders into national leadership trot figures (the Ligue Communiste for spotters, Krivine's lot) until the banning and imprisoning of many after the july 21st anti-fascist activity. I doubt it was intentional but they look like a bunch of back-stabbing competitive careerists bureaucrats - the worst sort, the sort _that believe_. Anyway,the film has loads of relatively unseen stuff from 68-73 - including the _pre-math to _july 73.  You can watch it with subs here - and skip to 1 hour 28 to see what i'm on about regarding july 73.


----------



## belboid (Jan 14, 2015)

First half of the _Detectorists._	Damned good stuff, it's nice to be able to watch Mackenzie Crook in something that isn't toss.  Simon Farnaby is a bit rubbish, but otherwise it's cracking stuff.


----------



## gabi (Jan 14, 2015)

Mr Turner... Slow. Very slow. But a brilliant portrayal by Spall and some beautiful cinematography.


----------



## moon (Jan 15, 2015)

I woke up early so watched Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo on the iplayer, both produced by Michael Rose.
Such a delightful way to start the day


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2015)

Los Angeles Plays Itself

really good- heres a description


> Consisting mostly of shots from other films, this documentary discusses the many representations of the city of Los Angeles in film and on television. Professor Thom Andersen compares the city as it exists in real life with its depictions on screen to examine how L.A. and its massive community have been misrepresented over the years. In addition to critical analysis, Andersen explains how directors portray the city itself as a character, and he also delves into L.A.'s dark history.



warmed to the narrator when he gets to dissing the Walk of Fame 'None of the blacklisted are here but the blacklisters and the informers are celebrated. It should be called the walk of shame'

fascinating stuff, from architecture to landscape to history character, all played out in the truth and lies of cinema. reccomended


----------



## Voley (Jan 16, 2015)

DotCommunist said:
			
		

> Los Angeles Plays Itself
> 
> really good- heres a description
> 
> ...



Sounds good. Never heard of that before, ta.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 16, 2015)

Hellfjord - brilliantly funny Norwegian black-comedy mini-series. Not really keen on *** crossed with *** style comparisons but...league of gentlemen/hot fuzz/good bits of the comic strip. Hope they're doing a second series.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2015)

Voley said:


> Sounds good. Never heard of that before, ta.


available to stream on vodlocker- 2 n half hours long though, may need a snack break- i  did


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 16, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> available to stream on vodlocker- 2 n half hours long though, may need a snack break- i  did


Is it the 2014 digitally remastered one or the one from the 90s with no official clearance for the many film clips so pretty grubby and filthy almost unwatchable pirated private vhs taped off the telly footage?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Is it the 2014 digitally remastered one or the one from the 90s with no official clearance for the many film clips so pretty grubby and filthy almost unwatchable pirated private vhs taped off the telly footage?


was very clean and watchable- so not the older one I'd assume, crisp and good sound etc, no complaints on that front here


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 16, 2015)

Oh yeah,and Time Lapse a fairly decent time-travelish thing with a good ending. Nice easy watch. And Triage, again, a fairly decent-ish look at war and guilt and forgiveness and all that. Ok if you want to watch a straightforward attempt at serious and worthy without the bombast you may expect from a film with colin farrel film in the lead.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 16, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> was very clean and watchable- so not the older one I'd assume, crisp and good sound etc, no complaints on that front here


Def the new one then cheers - might as well grab a copy and actually be able to see what's going on on screen this time.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 16, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Los Angeles Plays Itself
> 
> really good- heres a description
> 
> ...


Published yesterday: The Hollywood Blacklist, Revisited - Colin Beckett interviews Thom Andersen (for everyone else, that's the bloke who made the film dc is talking about above)



> Few have done more to counter this mythology of the blacklist than filmmaker, writer, and teacher Thom Andersen. His 1985 essay “Red Hollywood” was the first in a series of what he would later describe as “fugitive and ephemeral” contributions to blacklist scholarship. Primarily historiographical, the essay is a caustic dissection of the ways commentators have employed the blacklist and its victims. Andersen savages three generations of liberal historians and cultural critics for their refusal to face the true political and aesthetic stakes of the HUAC hearings, and provides a sensitive sketch of the social forces and political goals that animated Communist screenwriters, directors, and actors.





> *Guernica:* Why have so many mythologies about the blacklist lingered when many of their material supports have dropped away or been altered?
> 
> *Thom Andersen:* There’s no one alive today who defends the blacklist except for Richard Schickel [the American journalist and film critic who currently writes for_Truthdig_]. It’s an example of something I talked about in _Los Angeles Plays Itself_ in relation to _L.A. Confidential_ (1997): “History is written by the victors, but it’s written in crocodile tears.” We have a Malcolm X stamp, a Paul Robeson stamp, a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. We pay our respects to these people precisely so that we can continue policies which are completely antithetical to what they stood for.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2015)

> What they share is a kind of rejection of the idea of politics as the art of the possible, which is a great problem of the American left today—that it has decided to devote itself to causes it can win, like gay marriage, bicycle lanes, banning smoking. Thereby turning politics into the art of the trivial, a _petit-bourgeois_ politics, a kind of recycling.



worth reading that in context, but see the import


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 16, 2015)

BAD BOYS (1983) - so not annoying Martin Lawrence / Will Smith wisecracking, or some dodgy gay erotica, but a much weirder, baggier, more low-budget offer. Sean Penn is a juvenile delinquent (yes, 1983 really was _that long ago... ) _who ends up in an unusually hardcore young offenders' institution where rape, beatings, stabbings, gang leadership and the occasional accidental death are the order of the day. It's amazingly rubbish, but still holds your attention* because:

- it's just so retro - dial phones, hardly any drugs, everyone smoking tabs all the time ...
- cast: it has loads and loads of actors who've barely been off telly since (Esai Morales, Clancy Brown, Reni Santoni) all looking astonishingly fresh faced and youthful
- music: because it's PRISON, and prison is full of ethnic hoodlums, and because hoodlums play loud 'urban' music through large boomboxes, there is a surprising amount of good funk / early electro / even some go-go I think in it. If there's an OST of this it would be worth finding.

*well, sort of - it's really long and the script is one cliché stacked on top of another, so I gave up after a couple of hours an didn't catch the end.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 16, 2015)

Finished season 1 of The Shield, i'll be back for more after a quick film or two.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 16, 2015)

Finished deadwood.  Would quite like to watch seasons 4 and on, but hey ho.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 17, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Finished deadwood.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 17, 2015)

Theory of Everything aka I Married a Dalek

Based on Stephen Hawking 's wife's memoir, which apparently is much more bitter than the film.

Alright for what it was, but no more than that. Also disconcerting to see an era I remember become the subject of costume period drama.


----------



## DrRingDing (Jan 17, 2015)

Watched and enjoyed Wild yesterday.

A young woman goes on a long hike with a massive bag and a shit load more baggage. She manages to trim her bag down to size and loose some baggage along the way (as well as some toenails). Worth a watch but you can feel this was crow-barred into a film format fairly inelegantly by Nick Hornby.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 17, 2015)

Dark floors (2008).  Lordi of eurovision star as the monsters in this poor horror effort.  Think Mr lordi co-wrote actually.

A father and his autistic daughter get stuck in a lift at the hospital and monsters in the guise of a Eurovision act start turning up.  Think it has something to do with the daughter, but the film was neither as camp or fun as I had hoped so stopped caring.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 17, 2015)

'71 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2614684/

It was moody, dark and very slow. It's out there on The Magnet Bay.


----------



## Voley (Jan 18, 2015)

Gravity. Rubbish plot, rubbish Sandra Bullock, rubbish George Clooney but totally ace to look at. Wish I'd seen it in 3D at a big cinema really. Liked the music too.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 18, 2015)

Book of life, box trolls. Both good.

Housebound, not that good.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 18, 2015)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Finished season 1 of The Shield, i'll be back for more after a quick film or two.


I watched the whole series in one go, it's the only way to do it. Get into all the subplots and character developments


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 18, 2015)

Painted Boats (1945) - Ealing Studios docu-fiction about the English canal boat system. Lovely


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 18, 2015)

first two episodes of the new series of 12 Monkeys

Its a good start, its never going to be gilliam is it but it has a strong enough character of its own that I'll give ep three a fair shake


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 18, 2015)

Just watched Whiplash (2014) stunning,high tempo performances from Miles Teller & J.K. Simmons. Highly recommend.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582802/


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 19, 2015)

Boyhood - didn't like it, found it overlong and boring. reminded me of the time-capsule Up-Series programme that BBC/ ITV  showed in the 1980s.


----------



## Yetman (Jan 19, 2015)

What We Do In The Shadows

Different! Funny though


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 19, 2015)

The Wolf of Wall Street - some lovely acting and dialogue here - and astonishing performances from Leonardo diCaprio, Matthew McConaughey and Jonah Hill (!) in a tale of unabashed capitalism taken to the max. You can almost feel Scorsese the one-time aspirant priest dunking you in sex, drugs and greed, time after time, to ludicrous excess, with full-on Catholic disapproval - and yet he's more than half seduced by these characters and their schtick ... not least because he just lets it go on and on and on and on. No need whatsoever for this to be nearly 3 hours long - could have been done in under 2 and been a better film. It does have its highs (like its narrator(s) ) but it's Just Too Much.

All Good Things - effectively creepy and lowkey true crime sort of drama with Ryan Gosling (good acting, terrible makeup) and Kirsten Dunst. A bizarre and deliberately opaque treatment of a series of (possibly?) related killings .... really fantastic acting by everyone in a great cast, terrific art direction - a really convincing evocation of the 70s - but the central mystery of just how bonkers the central character really is, is left a bit unresolved. Worth a watch.


----------



## belboid (Jan 19, 2015)

The Interview

I noticed at least six plot holes or rather implausible events. Not exactly good.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jan 19, 2015)

Stalingrad, the recent Bondarchuk one.  I didn't make it to the end.  Dire.


----------



## gabi (Jan 19, 2015)

Selma. The Martin Luther King one. In the opening credits it said it was an Oprah Winfrey production. Nuff said. I can't believe made it to the end. Absolutely fucking shit.


----------



## magneze (Jan 19, 2015)

Sons of Anarchy Series 6 finale. Fuck me, that was grim. I wish I hadn't watched tbh.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 19, 2015)

The first 8 eps of Orange is the New Black. Addictive and brilliant.


----------



## clcat (Jan 19, 2015)

The Woman in Black



Excellent movie.

"she never forgives"



Looking forward to second film "Angel of Death"


----------



## marty21 (Jan 19, 2015)

been binge watching Jericho on Netflix - enjoyed it, it was cancelled after season 2, and Season 3 and 4 were made as graphic novels so I've bought them to see what happened  (only cost about £8 in total so not too bad)


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 19, 2015)

*The Babadook - *one of the best horrors of 2014 and on so many levels, it's no ordinary horror.

Recommend.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 19, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *well, sort of - it's really long and the script is one cliché stacked on top of another, so I gave up after a couple of hours an didn't catch the end.



Best half-hearted endorsement ever


----------



## clcat (Jan 19, 2015)

Virtual Blue said:


> *The Babadook - *one of the best horrors of 2014 and on so many levels, it's no ordinary horror.
> 
> Recommend.



Plan to watch that soon, only heard good things about it.

You watched Woman In Black? Thought it was excellent.

Hard to find decent horror movies these days.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 19, 2015)

Top Gun (1986).  Camp as fuck, and utterly dreadful.  But fuck it, "talk to me, Goose' .


----------



## clcat (Jan 19, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Top Gun (1986).  Camp as fuck, and utterly dreadful.  But fuck it, "talk to me, Goose' .



"You can be my wingman anytime"

Epic flick


----------



## sovereignb (Jan 19, 2015)

Pain & Gain

Entertaining enough - dark and funny. The Rock was in it playing a Christian cokehead...he didnt do a bad job either!


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 19, 2015)

Watched Wild (2014) Posh girl gets lost,goes for a walk to find herself. Loses baggage metaphorically & physically. It was ok.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2305051/


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 19, 2015)

gabi said:


> Selma. The Martin Luther King one. In the opening credits it said it was an Oprah Winfrey production. Nuff said. I can't believe made it to the end. Absolutely fucking shit.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 19, 2015)

Storage 24 - total Alien rip-off but strangely enjoyable.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 20, 2015)

clcat said:


> Plan to watch that soon, only heard good things about it.
> 
> You watched Woman In Black? Thought it was excellent.
> 
> Hard to find decent horror movies these days.



Isn't Woman in Black a typical horror?
Cheap jumps that kinda thing? I saw it in the Theatre but never bothered with film version.

*Horns* is pretty good - don't know why it got slated tbh...


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 20, 2015)

Greenery Will Bloom Again - Ermanno Olmi's contribution to the WW1 centenary - his 2nd film since retiring in 2007 and nearly 60 years since his fist full length release). As a review says, a film about war, not a war film. If you like people sitting freezing on top of mountains and thinking about their probable death very soon, then this is the film for you.

Also watched a different type of war film,  Five Cartridges/Cartridge Cases - 1960 east german production about a multi-national group of International Brigadiers who volunteer to  cover a retreat, knowing they'll probably die doing so and are then chased across the mountains by the fascists. Different from other straightforward propaganda type films about the anti-fascist nature of the regimes foundations that were being pumped out at the time because this one looked to western films, and westerns in particular for stylistic inspiration. Which means that this one doesn't appear as dated as its contemporaries.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 20, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Greenery Will Bloom Again - Ermanno Olmi's contribution to the WW1 centenary - his 2nd film since retiring in 2007 and nearly 60 years since his fist full length release). As a review says, a film about war, not a war film. If you like people sitting freezing on top of mountains and thinking about their probable death very soon, then this is the film for you.
> 
> Also watched a different type of war film,  Five Cartridges/Cartridge Cases - 1960 east german production about a multi-national group of International Brigadiers who volunteer to  cover a retreat, knowing they'll probably die doing so and are then chased across the mountains by the fascists. Different from other straightforward propaganda type films about the anti-fascist nature of the regimes foundations that were being pumped out at the time because this one looked to western films, and westerns in particular for stylistic inspiration. Which means that this one doesn't appear as dated as its contemporaries.



You had me at "people sitting freezing on top of mountains and thinking about their probable death very soon". The other sounds very intriguing, but I yesterday finally got my hands on a DVD of the Conformist, so that's next on the list.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 20, 2015)

John Wick - a simple film with brilliant execution. great scenes and super violent. not as cool as Raid II but on the same par as Man from Nowhere.


----------



## mypreciouss (Jan 20, 2015)

The Secretary  yeah i know what you think


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 20, 2015)

mypreciouss said:


> The Secretary  yeah i know what you think


That it's called Secretary, not The Secretary?


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 20, 2015)

Virtual Blue said:


> John Wick - a simple film with brilliant execution. great scenes and super violent. not as cool as Raid II but on the same par as Man from Nowhere.


If you like seeing Keanu Reeves shoot lots of blokes in dark suits in the face and a big spray of blood (and i do) then it's great. Very well done example of the Keanu Reeves face shooting genre.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 20, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> If you like seeing Keanu Reeves shoot lots of blokes in dark suits in the face and a big spray of blood (and i do) then it's great. Very well done example of the Keanu Reeves face shooting genre.



it's simple and entertaining - head shot count must be close to a 100 i reckon.
puppy revenge film.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 20, 2015)

I just watched _The Stuff_. Fucking dreadfully brilliant.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 20, 2015)

Birdman (2014) thought it was brilliant, best film of the year. Great performance from Michael Keaton.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2562232/


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 21, 2015)

One for the trots and spotters i'm afraid -  Ernest Mandel: A Life For The Revolution, which despite the title isn't a biography of the man - in fact it doesn't give us a single biographical detail. Rather, it uses the things he was involved in to run through a sort some of the key events in 4th international mythology. So it goes trots action sin occupied Europe-->Belgian General strike/dual power situation of 60-61--> Cuban rev-->manufacturing weapons for the Algerian revolution-->Paris '68-->Vietnam solidarity-->workers control in 70s-->Portuguese revolution-->Sandinistas--Brazil - then a quick look at his relation to feminism and ecology. Mirroring the lack of biographical detail is the lack of any discussion or even basic outline of his views beyond being a trot - nothing at all. These aren't really drawbacks though as the film is full of interesting footage of interesting people and interesting times - including some even more amazing footage of the June 21st 1973 Paris anti-fascist action i mentioned last week.

edit: ah, someone has bunged it on youtube.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 21, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Ernest Mandel: A Life For The Revolution, which despite the title isn't a biography of the man - in fact it doesn't give us a single biographical detail. Rather, it uses the things he was involved in to run through a sort some of the key events in 4th international mythology. So it goes trots action sin occupied Europe-->Belgian General strike/dual power situation of 60-61--> Cuban rev-->manufacturing weapons for the Algerian revolution-->Paris '68-->Vietnam solidarity-->workers control in 70s-->Portuguese revolution-->Sandinistas--Brazil - then a quick look at his relation to feminism and ecology. Mirroring the lack of biographical detail is the lack of any discussion or even basic outline of his views beyond being a trot - nothing at all. These aren't really drawbacks though as the film is full of interesting footage of interesting people and interesting times - including some even more amazing footage of the June 21st 1973 Paris anti-fascist action i mentioned last week.



*"LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY! 
...EXPLOSIVELY EXCITING ACTION! 
...SERIOUS CONTENDER FOR BEST
MOVIE OF THE YEAR!"*​*
- PAUL ROSS*


----------



## marty21 (Jan 21, 2015)

marty21 said:


> been binge watching Jericho on Netflix - enjoyed it, it was cancelled after season 2, and Season 3 and 4 were made as graphic novels so I've bought them to see what happened  (only cost about £8 in total so not too bad)


 read the 2 graphic novels and it still ends with nothing really resolved


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 21, 2015)

Shame, followed by The Hunger Games. A productive use of my day off sick.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 21, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Shame, followed by The Hunger Games. A productive use of my day off sick.


That poor rich man who has a nice flat and nice things and has too much sex and who looks like Michael Fassbender. That poor poor man.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 21, 2015)

I thought he made an excellent hollow man, actually. And his flat looked like it should have a severed head in the fridge!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 21, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> I thought he made an excellent hollow man, actually. And his flat looked like it should have a severed head in the fridge!


It reminded me of Mickey Rourke's flat in 9 1/2 Weeks


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 21, 2015)

Just watched Gone Girl (2014) 2hrs 29 mins of contrived claptrap and no doubt about the cash cow sequel.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 21, 2015)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Just watched Gone Girl (2014) 2hrs 29 mins of contrived claptrap and no doubt about the cash cow sequel.
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/


The woman is a private school oxbridger btw. Would that shock you to hear that?


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 21, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> The woman is a private school oxbridger btw. Would that shock you to hear that?



No.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 21, 2015)

The Natural, an old Robert Redford baseball movie that's enchanting, understated and good.  Full of faces everyone knows and sly references to Homer and stuff like that.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 21, 2015)

Storage 24 (2012).  Rubbish.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 21, 2015)

*In Order Of Disappearance [Kraftidoten] (2014)* - Very entertaining Norwegian dark comedy thriller about a snowplow driver who goes after the gangsters who killed his son.  Recommended.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2675914/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


----------



## The Boy (Jan 21, 2015)

Priest (2011).  Also rubbish.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2015)

I thought i better give american sniper a go. Wow. That was horrific. I don't understand what sort of brain could make that...that..thing. I feel sullied for having watched it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 22, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I thought i better give american sniper a go. Wow. That was horrific. I don't understand what sort of brain could make that...that..thing. I feel sullied for having watched it.



If that cunt had been born in Afghanistan or Syria, he'd have been fucking AQ or Daesh.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> If that cunt had been born in Afghanistan or Syria, he'd have been fucking AQ or Daesh.


Eastwood? I agree.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 22, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Eastwood? I agree.



Thank you very very much, Mr. Eastwood.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Thank you very very much, Mr. Eastwood.


Got to say, the  unforgiven is looking more and more like a fluke with each passing year.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 22, 2015)

Clint's one was Unforgiven, "The Unforgiven" is a different flick.

Remember him this way:


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 22, 2015)

That racist growling one was alright


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Clint's one was Unforgiven, "The Unforgiven" is a different flick.
> 
> Remember him this way:


Either way, the french jihadi's hit the wrong target.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 22, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I thought i better give american sniper a go. Wow. That was horrific. I don't understand what sort of brain could make that...that..thing. I feel sullied for having watched it.



Seriously, what did you expect? Two hours of that shite getting in touch with his feminine side and becoming a tofu chef?


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Seriously, what did you expect? Two hours of that shite getting in touch with his feminine side and becoming a tofu chef?


What do you mean what did i expect? I expected it to be shit and wanted to see just how shit it was. What is the point of saying _What did you expect_ to someone you know didn't have any expectations beyond it being shit? This is what LLETSA used to do and it sent me potty every time. Do you tell your students not to bother with reading things they won't agree with? Not to know the thing they're criticising? Grrr.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 22, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> What do you mean what did i expect? I expected it to be shit and wanted to see just how shit it was. What is the point of saying _What did you expect_ to someone you know didn't have any expectations beyond it being shit? This is what LLETSA used to do and it sent me potty every time. Do you tell your students not to bother with reading things they won't agree with? Not to know the thing they're criticising? Grrr.



I don't have students anymore. . . not since the _incident._


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 22, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I thought i better give american sniper a go. Wow. That was horrific. I don't understand what sort of brain could make that...that..thing. I feel sullied for having watched it.


Really that bad? I was thinking of going to see it, I mean I know it's going to be a load of right wing shit but I thought that it might at least have something, Eastwood did make good movies once upon a time.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 22, 2015)

redsquirrel said:


> Really that bad? I was thinking of going to see it, I mean I know it's going to be a load of right wing shit but I thought that it might at least have something, Eastwood did make good movies once upon a time.


It's filth. Don't give them money.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 22, 2015)

First couple of episodes of Twin Peaks (1991) including the pilot, obvs.  Haven't revisited since it was first on telly when I was a nipper.  Quite heavy going for an ill person and a very tired person though.

Tonight we watched four or five episodes of alpha house (2013).  Amazon originals (or whatever they call it)  comedy about four Republican senators sharing a house.  Quite enjoyed it, though one or two of the characters *really* grate, and US political comedies always same quite tame compared to ours.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 23, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> *"LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY!
> ...EXPLOSIVELY EXCITING ACTION!
> ...SERIOUS CONTENDER FOR BEST
> MOVIE OF THE YEAR!"*​*
> - PAUL ROSS*


I thought it was quite good, actually.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 24, 2015)

Scanners, for the first time in ages.  It's not just an exploding head film!


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 24, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Storage 24 (2012).  Rubbish.



No.  Actually quite good fun (if a total Alien rip-off)  and one of the ladies is well hot.



The Boy said:


> Priest (2011).  Also rubbish.



Yes.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 24, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> No.  Actually quite good fun (if a total Alien rip-off)  and one of the ladies is well hot.



It was shit.  That last bit makes you sound twelve though, so well done you.

Anyway, am now working my way through Alpha House.  John Goodman cracks me up.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 24, 2015)

The Gang's All Here.

Very silly wartime musical, featuring Carmen Miranda and her hat made of fruit.

Some of the dance numbers were like something out of Salvador Dali.


----------



## Sue (Jan 25, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> The Gang's All Here.
> 
> Very silly wartime musical, featuring Carmen Miranda and her hat made of fruit.
> 
> Some of the dance numbers were like something out of Salvador Dali.


(((Carmen Miranda and her hat made of fruit.)))


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## Idris2002 (Jan 25, 2015)

Sue said:


> (((Carmen Miranda and her hat made of fruit.)))


 Came to a tragic end, didn't she? Or am I thinking of someone else?


----------



## Sue (Jan 25, 2015)

According to Wikipedia, she died age 46 of a heart attack, too much booze/fags/barbituates on the way, dodgy husband, Hollywood's highest paid entertainer by 1945. So not all bad.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 25, 2015)

Sue said:


> According to Wikipedia, she died age 46 of a heart attack, too much booze/fags/barbituates on the way, dodgy husband, Hollywood's highest paid entertainer by 1945. So not all bad.



Not all bad. She seems to have had a whale of a time in the movie, anyway:


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 25, 2015)

I just finished season 1 of Deadwood (thanks to CBS Action).    Great show - and I'm not normally fussed about westerns.


----------



## maya (Jan 25, 2015)

Awful title, but the canadian miniseries 'The Book of Negroes' is named after a historical document which records the african-american slaves who escaped to the british during the american revolution and were evacuated by ship to nova scotia as free men. The script is based on a novel of the same name by Lawrence Hill (but the name was changed for the US publication to 'Someone knows my name').

So far it seems a bit like a modern day 'Roots', only with a female protagonist... We follow her from her life as a little girl in west africa (possibly Mali) where she gets captured by local slave traders and have to watch the brutal murder of her parents, the long passage by ship and how she ends up a slave in South Carolina... Her skills as a midwife (picked up from her mother's trade in local villages) gains her certain favours and one of the others secretly learns her to read and write. Interestingly the 'medicine woman' she shares accomodation with manages to vaccinate her for smallpox by cutting a deep wound into her arm, smearing on some sort of infected thread(?) she rubbed against someone who had the pox (to get it into her bloodstream? it's unclear) to give her the illness, then she gets through it and wakes up one day cured and immune to the disease... Something which helps her later on, when the wife of her second owner dies from the same illness.

I'm only on episode three so far- she's now escaped from her second owner during his business trip to proto-new york during a commotion where the rebel mob starts attacking british tories... an innkeeper (played by cuba gooding jr.) helps her with connections and she goes into hiding... later on, a husband stupid enough to volunteer for the losing british side and the whereabouts of their lost daughter sold by her former owner without her consent, complicates things... her husband is now wounded and maybe dying. Lots of awful footage of bodies strewn on the battlefield pecked by ravens in the mist... Still, a definitive absence of testosterone-filled aggression in the narrative gives this away as a canadian production...

I think I'll watch the fourth episode just to see where this is going... but it's easy to imagine what's going to happen so it'll just be to finish what i started (i hate not knowing the endings of stories). It's decent enough, i just haven't decided exactly what i think of it yet... The whole theme/history of this is of course engaging on so many levels, but i'm not sure if i like the way they've done it- they seem to rush through the plot at maximum speed, leaving little time to explore the different eras of her life: one minute she's a little girl, later she's grown and blink again she's already escaped and you sort of wonder if the story might've benefited from a slower pace, because a lot of details seems to be lost from what must've been the original story... (But- bonus points: very beautiful visuals/way of filming things, strong and intelligent female hero- etc.)


----------



## jeff_leigh (Jan 25, 2015)

Sue said:


> According to Wikipedia, she died age 46 of a heart attack, too much booze/fags/barbituates on the way, dodgy husband, Hollywood's highest paid entertainer by 1945. So not all bad.


You'd think walking around with a hat made of fruit she would've gone for a more healthy lifestyle


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 26, 2015)

*Headhunters * - gleefully twisty (and snarky) norwegian thriller - terrific fun even if it doesn't all make much sense if you think about it too hard. stuff about art thieving, management consultancy and genetic envy all get a lookin but basically it's one long and wild man-on-the-run chase movie with some cheeky nasty twists. liked it a lot.

*The Castilian *- unbelievably dull early 1960s tunic epic - a 99p shop ripoff of El Cid I think. Filmed in (Franco era) Spain, apparently by a bunch of woodworkers who didn't know how to move a camera about. Amazingly lurid and horribly racist (plenty of evil scimitar-wielding, fake-tan-wearing evil Moors laugh evilly as they kill nuns etc) and with a heroine lady fair whose beehive hairdo and cantilevered figure are pure early 60s - so un-medieval it's laughable. Frankie Avalon (!) pops up as a lute playing troubadour. It would be more fun if you were very very drunk. Otherwise avoid.


----------



## chainsawjob (Jan 26, 2015)

Long Way Down, British film with Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, and Aaron Paul.  About four people who meet on top of a skyscraper where they have all gone to jump.  Ultimately a feelgood film with a happy ending, with just about enough realism about why people might end up in that position, not too suicide-by-numbers.  A reasonable mix I suppose of lighthearted silliness, and painful convincing-enough emotion.  Doesn't make a mockery of the subject matter. I suppose the main problem with it was the resources these characters have at their disposal to try and resolve their problems are a million miles away from what most people have, but then again it's not trying to be a gritty social-realism thing.  Some scenes are a bit too sugary.  I like the main message that people can get by with a little help from their friends, even if those people start out as unlikely strangers. And that maybe if you want no harm to come to other people, maybe you can end up seeing the logic in wanting that for yourself too.  Ok, it's hollywoodland, but reasonable effort, I enjoyed it.


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 26, 2015)

jeff_leigh said:


> You'd think walking around with a hat made of fruit she would've gone for a more healthy lifestyle


She couldn't have her fruit and eat it


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 26, 2015)

Adam Curtis 'Bitter Lake'

I found it interesting, as much for the footage as the v\o. It's on the iplayer. Missed last 20 mins as fell asleep (it was 2 am!).

couple of disturbing shootings in it, not because they are gory but because they aren't. So if that sot of thing does your head in, be warned


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 26, 2015)

La Isla Minima/Marshland - very good, very dark and gloomy Spanish serial killer thing with socio-politcal elements. Reminded me very much of the also excellent Memories of Murder. An anglo remake expected but don't know how they'll deal with the post-franco darkness. One terrible error though - film set in 1980 yet Blue Monday playing in the background in one scene.

To Love the Damned -  Marco Tullio Giordana's attempt to make a The Conformist for the Italian 67/68-murder of moro years. Fails,obviously, but still a very good film for those interested in the 70s in Italy and who'll get the references and allusions - esp the political ones. Well worth a watch. Director went onto make another film covering similar stuff - the first class Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy/A Story of the Strategy which covers the initial years of the strategy of tension but in a more straightforward narrative style.

Memories of Rain - docu/interview series about people who joined the armed wing of the anti-apartheid struggle. Very very interesting esp seeing the political development of many of the interviewees  - openly talking about just wanting to kill people at the start and this being turned into politics. One fault, far far too long spent talking to the two white posh people - though i see why they had to be included.


----------



## belboid (Jan 26, 2015)

The Imitation Game


Okay. Interesting story, tho only reasonably well told, not really insightful or particularly deep.

Two Days, One Night

Again.  Still bloody brilliant.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 26, 2015)

oh 12 Monkeys episode three

the future bits are starting to look a bit ropey now but thats OK because it has its own interesting 'apocalypse army vs scientists seeking cure' plotline shaping up. Am hoping for a proper legion of doom, wearing fingers and ranting of the end etc

the location of the week was Haiti which played host to a deadly virus. Really not sure how they will pad this all out to a full season tbf


----------



## Tony_LeaS (Jan 26, 2015)

grand budapest hotel - was actually a very good watch, camera work was very well done to make it look cheap but i think thats what made it better. the humour was very well done, cast was excellent.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 26, 2015)

Punch Drunk Love - Adam Sandler exceptionally good in this PT Anderson film. Great soundtrack and visuals and there's a swear off between 2 of the characters that is outstanding.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 26, 2015)

Charlie (2015) 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_(TV_series)
http://www.rte.ie/drama/tv/featured/charlie/abouttheshow.html

Just watched the first of three episodes, going straight in for the second.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 27, 2015)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Charlie (2015)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_(TV_series)
> http://www.rte.ie/drama/tv/featured/charlie/abouttheshow.html
> 
> Just watched the first of three episodes, going straight in for the second.



I liked the bit where Dessie O'Malley cured all them lepers.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 27, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> I liked the bit where Dessie O'Malley cured all them lepers.



I loved the first two episodes and have the third to look forward to this evening, barely recognised Aidan Gillen as Charlie; fantastic performance.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 27, 2015)

I was in need of some cheap lols so \i watched the fist half of season 26 of the Simpsons. The yellow family has still got it  

the Treehouse of Horror episode boasts a very funny clockwork orange rip off and the facking episode was also a standout


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 27, 2015)

After mentions here I watched We Are The Best. 

Just brilliant.


----------



## chainsawjob (Jan 28, 2015)

20 Yards from Stardom, documentary about backing singers from the sixties to the present.  Some amazing voices, and interesting back stories.  Bit slow at the start, but got more interesting once the bands they sang for were more recent and more familiar.


----------



## maya (Jan 28, 2015)

Transamerica- Low key, quirky roadmovie. Bree (formerly Stanley) ends up on a cross-country trek with her (hitherto unknown) juvenile delinquent son, feeling unable to tell him that she is actually his father... A lot of the people they meet along the way are also outsiders in different ways.

It touches on some fairly dark issues at times (broken families, sexual abuse), but not in a too depressive way and it never lingers on it... Bree's bout of OCD is spot on, and the contrast to their unwanted spartan camping life on the road pretty funny (but never in a mocking way, more to show the fragility and complexities of her character i think- her son thinks she's an eccentric church lady who bailed him out to convert him, and her sometimes erratic behaviour just serves to convince him of that)

There's some sort of message in there somewhere too I think... about how our families shaped who we are and how you can't choose your own family (and perhaps never quite escape from it either), but as I interpret it it's also- and more importantly- about how we choose to interact with others and how you decide to live your life now and in the future, which is ultimately our own decision... who and what we find important in our lives. (Phew- that's a lot... will shut up before this ends up sounding like a self-help book or something)

I quite liked it really... a nice little film.


----------



## Shelf esteem (Jan 29, 2015)

Saw American Sniper last night, i didn't even know it was a true story until the end

I was quite affected by it, I know it's been covered quite a lot, but the way that war destroys people's lives, even someone like him who was among the elite soldiers couldn't get away with it
I was a bit annoyed about how people reviewed it and reacted to it, it's controversial that it's up for awards but the criticisms all seem to come from people who were too stupid to understand what the film was about. This idea of wanting to die and kill is such a big terrifying thing, it's like a part of everyone's mind that most of us don't want to explore because none of us are that far from ending up in the situation he did
The ones Eastwood did about America's war with Japan were great as well, I've never been in a war so I'd love to know what people who have think of those movies, but thowe movies and this one seemed to get across the way that the soldiers actually enjoy the fucked up world they live in, despite being aware that it is destroying them
Much better than most war films and anti war films I've seen, I'm not sure if they achieve it completely, but they are definitely aiming to avoid the conceit of knowing the difference between right and wrong


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 29, 2015)

Selma (2014) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020072/

Wow, that was powerful and brilliantly done. Highly recommend it; my film of the year.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 30, 2015)

The Veil of Twilight - medieval serial killer on the loose in scandanavia!!! Attempt at a name of the rose type thing but fails miserably, story is a total mess and the lead is hopelessly miscast. Really annoying as it looks fantastic there is a decent film in there - not worth the two deaths of crew it involved.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 30, 2015)

a real treat for nick cage fans is out tomorrow:


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 30, 2015)

*Bitter Lake*  on iPlayer - the new Adam Curtis BBC dream-documentary, which purports to be about Afghanistan, but is really just another Curtis free-associationfest. It's a lot less annoying and irrelevant than I thought it might be from his shocker of a 'teaser' on Charlie Brooker's 2014 Wipe; it contains, as always, lots of striking and thought-provoking archive footage, which you probably won't have seen before. But also, as always, the central premise is often wrong when it's not just irrelevant; it's under-informed and primitive in its treatment of Wahhabism, which is a central part of its story; and it completely loses its way in the end. It's also much much much too long (2h 16 minutes!) and only available online for 2 more days. I would say it's worth watching for its new recombination of stuff you already knew, but the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome is strong with this one. Not as clever as it thinks it is, by half


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 30, 2015)

Had a friend come round this afternoon with a poorly three year old so i had to sit through Wreck It Ralph  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/

It was ok, did the trick with the three year old who loves it and i thought it was surprisingly deep.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 30, 2015)

The Keep - utterly terrible (and dull) film.  Strangely, I had seen it before (as a kid).


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 31, 2015)

The Golden Dream [La Jaula de Ora] (2013) - Beautifully done debut by cameraman turned director Diego Quemada-Diez, a road movie about the hazardous journey of young Guatemalan immigrants trying to get to the US by hitching rides on freight trains and walking the tracks.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 31, 2015)

Lady of Burlesque.

Barbara Stanwyck is the lady of the title, star of a New York burlesque house where a string of murders have happened. 

 Stanwyck had pretty much cornered the market in Bad Girl roles by this point. I think Double Indemnity was a year later. If you haven't seen DI see it before Lady of burlesque: But do see both of them (they're both on YouTube).

Lady of burlesque is based on the novel "the G-string murders" by Gypsy Rose Lee, the original stripper.


----------



## butchersapron (Jan 31, 2015)

The Absent One -  decent but not great second film (crime-thrillers) in the Deaprtment Q series (two mis-matched cops re-investigate mysterious unsolved old crimes). First one is The Keeper of Lost Causes-again,decent but nothing spectacular. Both worth a look if you're after nothing too taxing.

The Return to Homs - brilliant bottom and utterly demoralising up look at the development of a small group of FSA Homs based rebels, concentrating on the most charismatic of them Abdul Basset Saroot. Follows them as they develop from peaceful demonstrations, writing songs and poems against the regime and dreaming of a non-sectarian social media led revolution and becoming local and national heroes in the process, to being forced to pick up arms after their neighbourhood is shelled and their friends and family massacred, to being outgunned and out-supplied then to being under siege then to being trapped in a few houses to having to dig their way to the outskirts of Homs, then back in to help those left there. At each point there are fewer and fewer of the original group - killed or taken into assads prisons to be tortured and then murdered, invalided out with missing limbs and so on. 

The limits of their power under each stage of their development is clear to see, and suggests why so many people who began like these lot did on a moderate simple anti-regime basis later decided to join the better armed and better supplied islamist groups - they wanted revenge for their family, their friends, their martyrs and they wanted to help those left inside - and they simply couldn't without the arms and resources these people provided. You can see the creeping advances religion made throughout the film. You never got the sense that the brilliant and fearless basset would fall for that though. I looked for any news about him after watching this and he's become a fighter for a hardline Islamic State along ISIS lines (ISIS fanboys claim he has joined them, he's certainly in pics and videos being very friendly with them). Devastating.


----------



## Mogden (Jan 31, 2015)

Frances Ha. Loved it.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 31, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Punch Drunk Love - Adam Sandler exceptionally good in this PT Anderson film. Great soundtrack and visuals and there's a swear off between 2 of the characters that is outstanding.



Mr K took me on a Valentine's date to see this  It was excellent.


----------



## belboid (Jan 31, 2015)

American Sniper.

It's quite clever how the film is made so that pretty much whatever expectation you go in with, you'll have it confirmed.  I mean, what is a Clint eastwood movie about the yanks 'best ever' sniper going to be like?  A gert big whizz bang, blow the heads off the gooks?  You got it.  A film showing you how war is hell and destroys even the winners?  Bingo!  A racist fantasy about an all-american hero from a tough background saving America, and who gives a fuck about the Iraqis?  In spades. 

There are some very well done bits, especially on his first tour, but the bits set 'at home' are poor, and Cooper seemed miscast. Probably didn't help that I could barely tell what was going on in the climactic scene thanks to the dodgy download combined with it being set in a sandstorm.  Although maybe it did help, as from what I could tell, the whole scene seemed grossly implausible.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 31, 2015)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Had a friend come round this afternoon with a poorly three year old so i had to sit through Wreck It Ralph  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/
> 
> It was ok, did the trick with the three year old who loves it and i thought it was surprisingly deep.



I'm watching this right now, again. It's my favourite kids' film.


----------



## Belushi (Jan 31, 2015)

*Love* (William Eubank 2012) Odd, shortish film about an astronaut abandoned on an space station. Lots of ideas that don't really work.  Looks good (especially as it was made on a very tight budget).

*Side by Side* (Chris Kenneally 2013) Interesting documentary produced and narrated by Keanu Reeves about the impact of digital film making and the decline of celluloid.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jan 31, 2015)

Inherent Vice (2014)  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1791528/
Mumbling characters, no pace, gave up with it after 40 mins; i lost the will to live and cleaned the bathroom instead.


----------



## belboid (Jan 31, 2015)

Should have gone to the cinema to see it


----------



## Yetman (Jan 31, 2015)

The Mule - Ozzie true story(?) about a simple fella who gets coerced into swallowing a load of smack and transporting it into the country. Very good I thought


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 31, 2015)

Breaking Glass.

Hazel O'Connor tries to make it as a pop star without selling out in the bleak dystopia of Thatcher's Britain.

"How can Rik be dead if we still have his poetry?"


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 31, 2015)

Nightcrawlers

8/10

Excellent performance from Jake Gyllenhall and it's nice to see Riz Ahmed getting some exposure

One part of the film didn't work for me 



Spoiler: spoiler



the last scene  was completly superfluous and detracted from what had gone before


----------



## Sirena (Feb 1, 2015)

I just watched 'Ginger And Rosa' on BBC2 and thought it was excellent.  A film about growing up in 1962 with the dread of nuclear annihilation stalking the world.  I was 12 at the time and I felt the nightmare inside me even though I barely knew what it was about.

A Sally Potter film (she also did 'Orlando')

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2115295/


----------



## Maltin (Feb 1, 2015)

belboid said:


> Should have gone to the cinema to see it


Why? Quite a few people who saw it at the cinema I was at had a similar reaction, with some people walking out and my mate falling asleep. I'm sure they would have preferred to save the money by watching it at home rather than in the cinema. Whilst I didn't dislike it, it is a bit convoluted and odd and definitely not for all tastes.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 1, 2015)

Ted - a film about a man and a talking bear!


----------



## starfish (Feb 1, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *Bitter Lake*  on iPlayer - the new Adam Curtis BBC dream-documentary, which purports to be about Afghanistan, but is really just another Curtis free-associationfest. It's a lot less annoying and irrelevant than I thought it might be from his shocker of a 'teaser' on Charlie Brooker's 2014 Wipe; it contains, as always, lots of striking and thought-provoking archive footage, which you probably won't have seen before. But also, as always, the central premise is often wrong when it's not just irrelevant; it's under-informed and primitive in its treatment of Wahhabism, which is a central part of its story; and it completely loses its way in the end. It's also much much much too long (2h 16 minutes!) and only available online for 2 more days. I would say it's worth watching for its new recombination of stuff you already knew, but the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome is strong with this one. Not as clever as it thinks it is, by half


I have a memo on my phone that says "Bitter Lake" & I couldn't remember what it meant. Until now.


----------



## pesh (Feb 1, 2015)

Nightcrawlers which was brilliant, 
St Vincent, angry Bill Murray looking after his new neighbours kid, which was lovely, but i think most things would have been after Nightcrawlers.
Inherent Vice, gave up on this 20 minutes in the first time i tried it, decided to give it a second chance, lasted about half hour before switching it off this time.


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2015)

Maltin said:


> Why? Quite a few people who saw it at the cinema I was at had a similar reaction, with some people walking out and my mate falling asleep. I'm sure they would have preferred to save the money by watching it at home rather than in the cinema. Whilst I didn't dislike it, it is a bit convoluted and odd and definitely not for all tastes.


if you know anything about it at all, you know it is a long, highly visual, detailed and complex piece that you will need to concentrate on. Watching a crappy dopwnload on a laptop....it's just never likely to work. If you cant be arsed to put an effort into a film, you're not going to get much out of it.


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2015)

pesh said:


> Inherent Vice, gave up on this 20 minutes in the first time i tried it, decided to give it a second chance, lasted about half hour before switching it off this time.


shoiuld have gone to the cinema to see it


----------



## pesh (Feb 1, 2015)

why? it would still have been mind numbingly dull, just much bigger and more expensive and harder to get away from.


----------



## pesh (Feb 1, 2015)

belboid said:


> if you know anything about it at all, you know it is a long, highly visual, detailed and complex piece that you will need to concentrate on. Watching a crappy dopwnload on a laptop....it's just never likely to work. If you cant be arsed to put an effort into a film, you're not going to get much out of it.


who said anything about laptops? i was watching an Oscar screener on a decent quality TV. if thats good enough for the Academy members to judge it's Oscar worthiness it's good enough for me to decide it was shit.
that said, i do think it's about time the film companies switched to blu-ray for their screeners. it is 2015 after all.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 1, 2015)

Optimistic Tragedy - bizarre anti-anarchist Soviet Union film from 1963. After the October revolution anarchist sailiors gain control of a ship at Kronstadt. A Bolshevik commissar is sent to deal with them and take the ship to fight in the civil war. It's a woman.The drunken, dirty wild haired anarchists immediately attempt to rape her. She kills one on the spot. Main theme established - anarchists are rapists who refuse to fight the whites (if you're reading this cockers _this is not true_) and bolsheviks take no shit. The anarchists then proceed to try and mete out their own form of justice and kill a sailor for robbing a granny, when it's revealed the woman made a mistake and their was no robbery they then kill the old lady too. Theme number 2 established - there can be no order or justice among coward anarchists. The commissar then establishes trust through her confident actions and builds a working relationship with the ex-officer in technical charge of the ship and off they sail to the black sea to fight the whites as infantry. Along the way the anarchists squabble and kill each other unjustly, run away from battle, kill others on a whim and cover it up with political justifications etc whilst the commissar steadily establishes fighting order and proletarian discipline through exemplary bravery and military and organisational intelligence and preparedness to make tough decisions. When they finally reach the black sea they are sold out to the whites by the remaining anarchists. Theme 3 established, anarchists will sell out class conflict, don't trust anyone who isn't an official of the regime (then and now). The only honourable people in the film are the two upper class characters, the commissar and the former officer who has fallen in line and become a good bolshevik.

Nietzsche and the Nazis - an overlong and pretty crude doco on...guess what. Tells the story ok but rather lifelessly. Don't really know why i watched it.


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2015)

I dont think Academy members watch dodgy screeners, dear.

You couldn't be arsed to make an effort with a film, fair enough, its only a film.


----------



## pesh (Feb 1, 2015)

i think at least some Academy members do watch screeners, love. otherwise they wouldn't exist.

and believe me watching the first 20 minutes for the second time was very much an effort.


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2015)

Really?  They watch dodgily ripped copies rather than the ones they are sent?  Most peculiar.


----------



## pesh (Feb 1, 2015)

where did i say anything like that? i think you must be a little confused.

that said, there will always be some loss in quality as the the rip is compressed slightly further, but the real crime here is how little effort most of the major studios put into the transfers they use for their screeners. i think it shows a total contempt for the film makers, the academy members who have to watch them and the public who steal them.


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2015)

lol


----------



## seventh bullet (Feb 1, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Optimistic Tragedy - bizarre anti-anarchist Soviet Union film from 1963. After the October revolution anarchist sailiors gain control of ship at Kronstadt. A Bolshevik commissar is sent to deal with them and take the ship to fight in the civil war. The drunken, dirty wild haired anarchist immediately attempt to rape her.She kills one on the spot. Main theme established - anarchists are rapists who refuse to fight the whites (if you're reading this cockers _this is not true_). The anarchists then proceed to try and mete out their own form of justice and kill a sailor for robbing a granny, when it's revealed the woman made a mistake and their was no robbery they then kill the old lady too. Theme number 2 established - there can be no order or justice among coward anarchists. The commissar then establishes trust through her confident actions and build a working relationship with the ex-officer in technical charge of the ship and off they sail to the black sea to fight the whites as infantry. Along the way the anarchists squabble and kill each other unjustly, run away from battle, kill others on a whim and cover it up with political justifications etc whilst the commissar steadily establishes fighting order and proletarian discipline through exemplary bravery and military and organisational intelligence and preparedness to make tough decisions. When they finally reach the black sea they are sold out to the whites by the remaining anarchists. Theme 3 established, anarchists will sell out class conflict, don't trust anyone who isn't an official of the regime (then and now). The only honourable people in the film are the two upper class characters, the commissar and the former officer who has fallen in line and become a good bolshevik.
> 
> Nietzsche and the Nazis - an overlong and pretty crude doco on...guess what. Tells the story ok but rather lifelessly. Don't really know why i watched it.



There's a 1980s film (made by the Moldovafilm studio) about Mikhail Frunze in the civil war with Makhno and the anarchist fighters as the baddies. It's called The Great-Small War (Bolshaya-malaya voina). I haven't seen it, mind, but it's on YouTube I think.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 1, 2015)

belboid said:


> I dont think Academy members watch dodgy screeners, dear.
> 
> You couldn't be arsed to make an effort with a film, fair enough, its only a film.


Plus who believes that Academy members are sensible/useful judges of films.


----------



## magneze (Feb 2, 2015)

Man of T'ai Chi
Really quite good martial arts film. Well directed by Keanu Reeves, who unfortunately spoils it by also actually being in it. He's just totally unnecessary and his part could have been played much more effectively by, well pretty much anyone. Still, worth watching.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 2, 2015)

*Starred Up *- didn't do much for me, tbh. Well done in how it is relentlessly unglamourised and explores real dynamics of violence in prison rather than lurid pulp fantasies, and some good acting all around. But overall just nearly two hours of violent shouty men shouting violently at each other with the occasional punch/stab up in between. It's a bit crass to draw the comparisons but to me it just didn't have the attention-grabbing power of other jail classics (say Scum or The Prophet or Ghosts of the Civil Dead for instance.)

*The Punk Singer: a film about Kathleen Hanna *- completely uncritical hagiography, and a lot of it is a bit embarrassing (privileged arty upper-middle-class rebels talking about oppression) but I didn't know much about this era (90s riot grrrl/ Bikini Kill / Le Tigre etc) and it comes over as a really interesting portrait of whether it's possible to be a good artist, a genuine force for change, and a bearable human all at once.


----------



## belboid (Feb 2, 2015)

The Blue Dahlia - Raymond Chandlers first screenplay, and it's a doozy.  Tho the film is let down by Alan Ladd, who surely never convinced anyone he was a tough guy.

Gone Girl - pretty good first half/two-thirds. Not convinced by the stuff with Neil Patrick Harris, or even that it really made sense. Better than I expected it to be tho


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 2, 2015)

seventh bullet said:


> There's a 1980s film (made by the Moldovafilm studio) about Mikhail Frunze in the civil war with Makhno and the anarchist fighters as the baddies. It's called The Great-Small War (Bolshaya-malaya voina). I haven't seen it, mind, but it's on YouTube I think.



Ta for that, will have a look when i get a chance. What struck me as he most bizarre thing about Optimistic Tragedy was it's timing.I could see why they would make it in 1917-28 say, or the period after 1952 and 1956, but 1963? What was the point? What internal enemies were they facing that mirrored that of the anarchists in the revolutionary period?

The Adventures of Werner Holt - east german production from 1965, from a Dieter Noll novel that i've not read. Surprisingly good. Follows two young boys/men over the last two years of the war - one well up for it and full of nazi goodness and the other (from a politically dissenting family) not so, but going along with his mate out of camaraderie and wanting some excitement. Of course, the whole story is contained in that. One grows further into the machine, one steadily disillusioned (albeit through the emotional fall out of an individual love affair gone wrong). The we reach the last days of the war, the nazi is killing people who want to retreat or surrender, which his mate does. The red army are everywhere - the proper nazi one gets hung for cowardice himself at which point his mate then turns his gun on the remaining german soldiers (oh yeah, he finds out about the camps and so on from his dad and his experiences shortly before this). It really is that didactic and driven by the need to establish founding myths fore the east german state, but that's what gives it's interest i think - that each character simply symbolises one reaction to the large (nazism, war) and the small (following types of orders, individual conscience) issues and that you're then invited to map those reactions onto society or groups etc. The sort of film that i thought american sniper was supposed to be.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2015)

Ted - The moving story of a man trapped in an a emasculating relationship. His state of mind has led him to construct a foul mouthed companion who enables him to lose any sense of responsiblity when it comes to his actions.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Feb 2, 2015)

St Vincent http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2170593/

Sweet film, good for a chilled Sunday after a messy Saturday. Shame he had to have been a solider tho.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 2, 2015)

belboid said:


> The Blue Dahlia - Raymond Chandlers first screenplay, and it's a doozy.  Tho the film is let down by Alan Ladd, who surely never convinced anyone he was a tough guy.


But Lake makes up for him in spades, probably her best film.


----------



## Sue (Feb 2, 2015)

redsquirrel said:


> But Lake makes up for him in spades, probably her best film.


(((Veronica Lake)))


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 2, 2015)

Slaughter High - awful shite.  Not even enough decent kills or boobies to make it worthwhile.  I actually switched my HDR up to double speed to watch the last half.


----------



## Sue (Feb 2, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Slaughter High - awful shite.  Not even enough decent kills or boobies to make it worthwhile.  I actually switched my HDR up to double speed to watch the last half.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 2, 2015)

Sue said:


>



What can I say?  I'll still give trashy horror/exploitation movies a go.  Roll yer eyes all you like. 

I have about 4 Werner Herzogs on my HDR to repent..


----------



## Sue (Feb 2, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> What can I say?  I'll still give trashy horror/exploitation movies a go.  Roll yer eyes all you like.
> 
> I have about 4 Werner Herzogs on my HDR to repent..


 
'Boobies' FFS? Are you 15?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 2, 2015)

Sue said:


> 'Boobies' FFS? Are you 15?



Are you my mum?


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 2, 2015)

Sue said:


> (((Veronica Lake)))


She was/is great, and underrated as an actor.


----------



## seventh bullet (Feb 2, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Ta for that, will have a look when i get a chance. What struck me as he most bizarre thing about Optimistic Tragedy was it's timing.I could see why they would make it in 1917-28 say, or the period after 1952 and 1956, but 1963? What was the point? What internal enemies were they facing that mirrored that of the anarchists in the revolutionary period?
> 
> The Adventures of Werner Holt - east german production from 1965, from a Dieter Noll novel that i've not read. Surprisingly good. Follows two young boys/men over the last two years of the war - one well up for it and full of nazi goodness and the other (from a politically dissenting family) not so, but going along with his mate out of camaraderie and wanting some excitement. Of course, the whole story is contained in that. One grows further into the machine, one steadily disillusioned (albeit through the emotional fall out of an individual love affair gone wrong). The we reach the last days of the war, the nazi is killing people who want to retreat or surrender, which his mate does. The red army are everywhere - the proper nazi one gets hung for cowardice himself at which point his mate then turns his gun on the remaining german soldiers (oh yeah, he finds out about the camps and so on from his dad and his experiences shortly before this). It really is that didactic and driven by the need to establish founding myths fore the east german state, but that's what gives it's interest i think - that each character simply symbolises one reaction to the large (nazism, war) and the small (following types of orders, individual conscience) issues and that you're then invited to map those reactions onto society or groups etc. The sort of film that i thought american sniper was supposed to be.



There was a fair bit of unrest in the 1960s after the distorting effects of extreme authoritarianism in place before Stalin's death were lessened to a certain extent, with strikes and riots over falling living standards, poor housing, food prices etc.  The well-known protest (outside the USSR) by workers instead of intelligentsia dissidents was in Novocherkassk in 1962.  Do you  think the film was made/timed for immediate reasons?  Is it not just a good (depending on your taste) action-drama film with an appropriate theme (for the authorities)?


----------



## belboid (Feb 2, 2015)

redsquirrel said:


> She was/is great, and underrated as an actor.


Chandler wasn't keen - Moronica Lake, as he called her. She is great in This Gun for Hire & The Glass Key.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 3, 2015)

belboid said:


> Chandler wasn't keen - Moronica Lake, as he called her. She is great in This Gun for Hire & The Glass Key.


_Saigon_ is worth checking out too if you haven't seen it.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 3, 2015)

seventh bullet said:


> There was a fair bit of unrest in the 1960s after the distorting effects of extreme authoritarianism in place before Stalin's death were lessened to a certain extent, with strikes and riots over falling living standards, poor housing, food prices etc.  The well-known protest (outside the USSR) by workers instead of intelligentsia dissidents was in Novocherkassk in 1962.  Do you  think the film was made/timed for immediate reasons?  Is it not just a good (depending on your taste) action-drama film with an appropriate theme (for the authorities)?



I really don't know - it doesn't work as a sort of action-based historical epic (for which it actually won at award at Cannes) because _there is no action - _it's pretty much all debate and walking around. I think it must have been a pet project of someone as it really looked out of time and place to me.

Bonnot's Gang - Rubbish crude retelling of the Bonnot gang story. Doesn't really bother looking at their beliefs or, failing that do action based stuff (for that see The Tiger Brigade). I suspect it was just a cash-in on what was being sold as the spirit of the times (all that politcal shouting plus the fashion for old style mobster films - Borsalino etc) - the directors career seems to bear that out. 

4 notable things though: 
1) Jacques Brel playing Raymond Callemin 
2) Victor Serge was in his last teens early 20s during the events - he was played by a 55 year old.
3) Bonnot's last words in his letter just before dying are actually from the last letter Vanzetti ever sent (to his son) just before his execution in 1927 - 15 years after Bonnot's death. Lazy.
4) The utter arseholes actually shot a dog for real - on purpose, not by accident - in the final scene, for a 3 second shot. 

Tokyo Tribe - Sion Sono is the most exciting japanese director around right now, and i'm glad he feels the need to make films like this ( a piss take hip-hop gang-war OTT mess) but fucking hell that was shit.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 4, 2015)

Insidious 2 (2013).  The first was a fairly pedestrian haunted family type jape, but was at least a reasonably diverting, mildly creepy b-movie.  This one is just a confused mess., and many of the characters' actions don't even make sense.


----------



## ringo (Feb 4, 2015)

Edge Of Tomorrow - Reasonable Tom Cruise sci-fi thing. Bit of a crap ending but the premise & effects were alright. Passable nonsense.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 4, 2015)

The Fifth Element. Has aged badly, but still quirky enough to watch. Tricky lol.

Edge of tomorow was one of my fave sci fi films of recent time tbh ringo, the groundhog day style of it has been done before in pprint and film but it made it work for me. Tom Cruise in something half decent for a change


----------



## ringo (Feb 4, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Edge of tomorow was one of my fave sci fi films of recent time tbh ringo, the groundhog day style of it has been done before in pprint and film but it made it work for me. Tom Cruise in something half decent for a change



Heh, I'm ill and feeling bad tempered. I actually quite liked it apart from the end


----------



## The Boy (Feb 4, 2015)

Paranormal activity 4 (2012).  Watched for the sake of completeness as have sat through the first three which, in terms of quality, went: good, ok, meh.  Two issues with this one:  it took me a while to figure out that it was a sequel to the second film, and; it's not very good.  Not very good at all.  In fact, my heart sank when I discovers there is a fifth on its way.

Pantani: the accidental death of a cyclist (2014).  Saw this at the pictures, but fancied revisiting.  I'd go with my initial assessment: ok, but the only stand out stuff is the archive footage.  Some of the dramatisations are naff too - pantani climbing on the hoods?


----------



## Ted Striker (Feb 5, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Pantani: the accidental death of a cyclist (2014).  Saw this at the pictures, but fancied revisiting.  I'd go with my initial assessment: ok, but the only stand out stuff is the archive footage.  Some of the dramatisations are naff too - *pantani climbing on the hoods*?



That was his style, no?

Tbh, the footage of the Uropa stage are worth the entrance fee alone, though way too much myopic, fawning, context-free guff about him riding on 'pure spirit' (by people that should know better). He was goofed up to his eyeballs ffs (just like everyone else).

Plus, it was just a bit...flat  (quite deliberately, I know). Made me yearn for a more classic US/Trashy over-dramatised storytelling of, say, the Slaying The Badger docu.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 5, 2015)

Ted Striker said:


> That was his style, no?



Nah, he used to sprint up the climbs on the drops in the way only someone with blood like jam could.

Agreed about the rest, though I think my favourite footage was the young pantani riding in the amateurs.  Weird seeing such big crowds out for those sorts of races.  Doubt that even happens in Italy anymore.


----------



## Ted Striker (Feb 5, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Nah, he used to sprint up the climbs on the drops



Sorry, I didn't actually read your original post, and that's ^ what I thought I read!


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 6, 2015)

three episodes of 'Secret History of our Streets'

interesting social histories focusing on certain london streets.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 6, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Bonnot's Gang - Rubbish crude retelling of the Bonnot gang ...


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 6, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> View attachment 67363


A select clientele indeed.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Feb 7, 2015)

Watched Ginger Snaps with idumea last night. It's about two teenage outcast sisters, one of them becomes a werewolf.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 7, 2015)

poptyping said:


> Watched Ginger Snaps with idumea last night. It's about two teenage outcast sisters, one of them becomes a werewolf.



I have that on my to watch list on Netflix.  I remember it being half decent, but I was a mopey teenager when it came out.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 7, 2015)

Donnie Brasco (1997). First of a bunch of Pacino, De Niro etc fillums I've lined up to watch/revisit over the next few days.  Bit meh, tbh.  Pacino is aces though.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Feb 7, 2015)

The Boy said:


> I have that on my to watch list on Netflix.  I remember it being half decent, but I was a mopey teenager when it came out.



Yeah I enjoyed it. But I quite like films about sisters, and women generally, esp if they are weirdos.


----------



## Ponyutd (Feb 7, 2015)

Maps to the Stars. 
Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Juliet Moore is fantastic in this. John Cusack still hasn't bettered Grosse Point Blank but I like his acting. The young child star in this very good, but don't know his name.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 7, 2015)

First two episodes of Lily hammer.  I'm as yet undecided.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 8, 2015)

The white balloon. Iranian. A girl wants a goldfish for new year and has to contend with adults trying to relieve her of the money given to her by her mum. There's a great scene where 3 kids are chewing gum, only very brief but completely adorable.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Feb 8, 2015)

Re-watched Sightseers.


----------



## maya (Feb 8, 2015)

Hairspray (1988 original)

I needed to cheer myself up a bit... and it worked.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 8, 2015)

poptyping said:


> Re-watched Sightseers.



Cracking film.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 8, 2015)

*The Epic of Everest* (Capt. John Noel) Beautiful BFI restoration of the footage from the 1924 Mallory/Irvine Everest expedition. Some stunning images and a great modern score.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 8, 2015)

Finished season two of The Shield last night. I'm going to crack on with season three now.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286486/


----------



## The Boy (Feb 8, 2015)

Caught five minutes of She The Man (2006) due to the TV being left on.   Reckon I'll need to go some to see anything as bad as that. 

Tonight is season four of the It Crowd.


----------



## fishfinger (Feb 8, 2015)

The Prestige - Predictable rubbish.


----------



## magneze (Feb 8, 2015)

T'ai Chi: Zero
The first of a steampunk martial arts trilogy loosely based upon the life of the founder of Yang style T'ai Chi. Good fun. Highly stylized, almost like a computer game at times.

Frank
Actually nothing like what I was expecting. It's nothing to do with Frank Sidebottom apart from having a guy with a paper mache head. Good though, well worth a watch.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 8, 2015)

Big Trouble in Little China.  Nowhere near as good as I remember but still a bit funny.

Capote.   Quite excellent.   You probably wouldn't watch it more than once but it's quality stuff.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 9, 2015)

Man of Tai Chi

I can't wait to give this film to my brother and watch his face take on an expression of pure joy. It has everything he likes.

-unassuming, quiet and good man who is secretly a proper martial artist

- a 'soft' martial art turned to the use of combat

-An old temple where the ancient master schools the student

- totally irrelevant subplot surrounding the cops

- illegal fighting ring that end in death

- keanu reeves

- occasional moments of mystic chi force


He is going to be in heaven when he watches this, then he will ask to practise karate moves on me, and thats a no.

myself, I give it a 6\10. I wanted to watch people doing ludicrous martial arts and it delivered in spades. At the start I was reminded of Enter The Dragon, because the protagonist was pitted against various foes and disciplines. The black guy with his wrestling, the white american with his judo. The brick shithouse russian doing who knows what but he got beat anyway- and his name was romanov (should have been Zangief really). Quality. Should have included a Brazilian doing capoeira for great win, but it didn't.


----------



## DrRingDing (Feb 9, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *The Epic of Everest* (Capt. John Noel) Beautiful BFI restoration of the footage from the 1924 Mallory/Irvine Everest expedition. Some stunning images and a great modern score.



Watched it at the BFI. My gf snored through it. I loved it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 9, 2015)

Oh an Taken 3. What can one say about Taken 3. Its obeying the law of diminishing returns, but if you like angry neeson (and I do) then fill your boots. Its still a really shit film though


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 9, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Man of Tai Chi
> 
> I can't wait to give this film to my brother and watch his face take on an expression of pure joy. It has everything he likes.
> 
> ...



I might get that for my sister, she's a big Keanu fan.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 9, 2015)

Anyway, over der wochenende, I watched the first half of the final season of Mad Men, the soap opera for people who think they're too good for soaps.

My favourite bits involved Megan, Don Draper's Quebecois wife, actually they should make a film about the October crisis with her in it. 

As for MM as a whole, well it compares favourably with the Sopranos final season, which was a case of an exhausted show that had fully run out of ideas. The art direction is excellent as usual, and the tracking of social change in America is pretty cogent (though class is really more or less omitted). I think you'd actually have to be American to get the full nostalgia effect. At about this time in Ireland, we were getting ready for twenty-five years of semtex and checkpoint charlies.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 9, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Mad Men, the soap opera for people who think they're too good for soaps.



No.

I watched 'End of Watch'.  Okay, but a pit too pro-polis.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 10, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Oh an Taken 3. What can one say about Taken 3. Its obeying the law of diminishing returns, but if you like angry neeson (and I do) then fill your boots. Its still a really shit film though



It's a big drop off from the first two Taken films, and that's faint praise.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 10, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> It's a big drop off from the first two Taken films, and that's faint praise.


the only people who have been taken are the fools wwho paid to watch that stinker A hahaha



I watched Wheel of Time: Winter Dragon

this is weird, where was the fanfare, where was the trailers, why was it pumped out on fxx at 12.30 in the am.

because it looks like the company had to air something by this date or else the ip lapses back to the estate. 
It was OK, set in the Age of Legends, basically a conversation between the Forsaken Ishmael and Telamon the Dragon

Shouldn't queer the pitch for series proper, although its inevitably going to be an also ran to GoT

apparently Jordans widow had no knowledge of this and has got the right hump about people taking the piss with ip. Possible litigation on the horizon


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 10, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> No.



But yes!



Spoiler: spoiler for mad men season five


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 10, 2015)




----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 10, 2015)

"Twelve Angry Men". Never seen it before but saw the show on stage last week and wanted to see the film. Both were/are excellent.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 10, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> But yes!



Name me a soap as multi-layered as Mad Men.   The reason I watch Mad Men is not the reason why people watch soaps, and I'd argue soaps are far more preposterous.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 10, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Name me a soap as multi-layered as Mad Men.


Galaxia de Pasion, of course.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 10, 2015)

A Most Violent Year - very well done old school drama about a shady businessman trying to be a shady businessman the right and honourable way ( _to live outside the law, you must be honest_) but finishing that no one on any side wants to be honest, and those that do end up in some trouble. Some fine acting in this  esp from
Oscar Isaac. A serious film done seriously.

Finally watched The Drop - well one in it's shabby atmos but the whole stroy arc was given away in the opening lines plus i can't take Tom Hardy seriously nor,in this film, could i stop imagining Matthias Schoenaerts injecting cattle growth hormone.

Gangster Payday - throwback to the old school of HK crime/cop films, complete with crap slapstick and funny faces. Just outdated now.

Julia - ridiculous rape-revenge thing with more ideas that ability to come through on them.

Son of a Gun - aussie thing that looked like it might be a a decent prison/heist piece but was just terrible all round. Equivalent of all them shit cockney gangster or hooly films. Didn't Ewan McGregor use to be an actor?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 10, 2015)

The Boy said:


> I have that on my to watch list on Netflix.  I remember it being half decent, but I was a mopey teenager when it came out.



While since I've seen it, but I used to love it and thought the ginger burd was HAWT!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 10, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> ...i can't stop imagining Matthias Schoenaerts injecting cattle growth hormone...



Made me think Hollywood had remade _Rundskop_ for a minute there


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 10, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Made me think Hollywood had remade _Rundskop_ for a minute there


I should have mentioned that he was in The Drop and this wasn't just a thing i think about whilst watching tom hardy. Checking if there was a remake this was the first result: _Dubbel goed nieuws voor Rundskop_. Talk about unintelligible.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 10, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Didn't Ewan McGregor use to be an actor?



I think the last thing I saw him was that that thing with Charlie Boorman where they were tramping through the Central American rainforest. Or was it riding motorbikes across Africa? It was quite some time ago, either way.


----------



## starfish (Feb 10, 2015)

First 2 episodes of Tokyo Ghoul. I fancied some anime & thought I'd give this one a go. It's ok so far.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 10, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> plus i can't take Tom Hardy seriously nor,in this film,


Likewise, really don't see why he gets the plaudits he does.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 10, 2015)

*Once Upon a Time in Anatolia* (Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2012) Slow moving character study, beautifully shot.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 10, 2015)

Just watched 'In Fear' - low-key, interesting horror/thriller, which I now need to go away and think about...


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 11, 2015)

The Mighty Boosh. A bit shit, really.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 11, 2015)

*Hercules * - definitive chewing gum for the eyes and brain, a ridiculously camp, trashy, flashy, hyperactive modern cartoon-based thing starring Dwayne Johnson (my new favourite rubbish actor), vast swathes of CGI, and a horrifyingly overqualified cast of brit luvvies (John Hurt, Joseph Fiennes, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell etc etc) who are clearly just in it for a laugh. And it IS a laugh, in a good, stupid, crunchingly violent sort of way. Bit strong for a 12A cert in my view (loads and loads and LOADS of slayings, a bit of swearing, some dodgy bondage jokes) and the one good female character is confined to a suspiciously skimpy leather outfit, though she is a badass with the arrows. Really good fun.

*The Lego Movie* - I'm too old to appreciate every flashing pixel and there's an insane amount of detail to every frame; it's visual overload if you didn't grow up with live gaming, but I loved it. how they managed to sneak quite that much anarchist/marxist/libertarian subversion into a film which is itself a mega-enlarged product placement is a wonder. Fantastic voice acting and some great gags. (The evil Lord Business looks and sounds more like Mitt Romney than Mitt Romney himself.) Lived up to all the good things I had heard.

now for something penitent and miserable and art house and very very adult, i think...


----------



## starfish (Feb 11, 2015)

More Tokyo Ghoul. It's gone from "ok so far" to "wow, omfg, this is brilliant".


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 12, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> The Mighty Boosh. A bit shit, really.



On reflection, after viewing another couple of episodes, it's not that bad. But it does feel awfully like a Radio 4 comedy show that got on the telly.

I presume it was Radio 4, originally?


----------



## Ponyutd (Feb 12, 2015)

This Sporting Life.
I never thought much of Richard Harris as an actor mainly because I haven't seen him much.
This was a bolt out of the blue. Brilliantly acted and just superb viewing.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 12, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> On reflection, after viewing another couple of episodes, it's not that bad. But it does feel awfully like a Radio 4 comedy show that got on the telly.
> 
> I presume it was Radio 4, originally?




You presume correct. Though i think it was just called 'Boosh'.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 12, 2015)

Last night:  Final season of IT Crowd so we could go ahead and watch the final episode which I hadn't seen (was insisting on us watching through the whole series first). Turns out I'd seen it anyway.  Sigh.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 12, 2015)

The Imitation Game (2014) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2084970/

Enjoyed it.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 12, 2015)

American Sniper

How this is nominated for  best picture Oscar is beyond me. It's just not a good film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 13, 2015)

Wrong About Anime

an interesting lecture about how anime has been received in the west and how the cross cultural influences shaped it, some interesting stuff in here. Slightly shrill note struck by the 'we are not hentai buyers!' bits. Highlights the racist nature the press has treated japanese culture on occasion


Stargate SG1: Ark Of Truth

its deffo one for the fans. This was supposed to be the capping off of season 10. I'd given up somewhere in season 8. Its not bad, the production values are that 'just a bit better than a standard episode' you expect from a TV movie. The story was strong, pacing perfect and Tealc got to stride across a vast wilderness while making that endurance face he does
But as a sci fi film alone, well, there wasn't enough exposition to background it for a casual viewer. Only watch this if you like Stargate. Otherwise you'll be bored.

There is a new stargate film on the cards as well, but a complete reboot, no tele lore involved


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 13, 2015)

An old episode of Cracker I haven't seen, featuring Robbie C. as Fitz, and a frighteningly young looking Ricky Tomlinson as DCI Wise.

This time they were in Hong Kong just before the handover, on the trail of a gwailo gone bad. Other than the "fitz out of water" stuff, and the tension between the UK police chief and his Chinese second-in-command (the woman who is about to inherit his job after 1997) nothing spectacular, just the usual formula run through its paces.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 13, 2015)

Ponyutd said:


> This Sporting Life.
> I never thought much of Richard Harris as an actor mainly because I haven't seen him much.
> This was a bolt out of the blue. Brilliantly acted and just superb viewing.


Great performance from him - Rachel Roberts was brilliant too mind.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 13, 2015)

Richard Harris was one of those actors who could be in absolutely awful movies but still turn in a good performance. He's probably the only thing worth watching in _The Wild Geese, _for example.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 13, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Richard Harris was one of those actors who could be in absolutely awful movies but still turn in a good performance. He's probably the only thing worth watching in _The Wild Geese, _for example.


Hardy Kruger and Roger Moore also deliver


----------



## hot air baboon (Feb 13, 2015)

...have fond memories of Harris in that 70's bomb disposal thriller Juggernaut....


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 13, 2015)

hot air baboon said:


> ...have fond memories of Harris in that 70's bomb disposal thriller Juggernaut....


And Roy Kinnear as the much put-upon Ents Officer


----------



## Betsy (Feb 13, 2015)

Watched Gone Girl last night...thoroughly enjoyed it up until the last twenty minutes or so...ended up being very disappointed with it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 13, 2015)

hot air baboon said:


> ...have fond memories of Harris in that 70's bomb disposal thriller Juggernaut....


Omar Sharif was good in that as well.


----------



## Ted Striker (Feb 13, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Richard Harris was one of those actors who could be in absolutely awful movies but still turn in a good performance. He's probably the only thing worth watching in _The Wild Geese, _for example.



A) The Wild Geese if bloody amazing 

B) Richard Harris (for true evidence of his genius) - nay any living creature, soul or hypothetical imaginative religious figure - hasn't performed such a turd polishment as he did to the line "Someone's left the cake out in the rain".


----------



## Ted Striker (Feb 13, 2015)

dp


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 13, 2015)

Byzantium - good for a bit and Gemma thingmibob looking hot but a bit dull in the end.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 14, 2015)

Just finished up the second series of Veep. Julia-Louis Dreyfus is wonderful.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 14, 2015)

Inside Llewyn Davis, I'll have to watch this again. The Coen Brothers don't seem to be making the quality movies they were making years ago


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 14, 2015)

Another Cracker, with Fitz but none of the old team. Back in Manchester for his daughters wedding, Fitz gets involved in the  investigation of a stand-up comics murder. The background: Norn Iron and the Iraq war. Alright but no more than that.


----------



## maya (Feb 14, 2015)

'Weekend' (2011). Romantic brief encounter type story between two young men. Beautifully filmed, down to earth and realistic. Nice use of natural light, the daylight sort of seeping/shining through every frame like it does in real life... Lots of talking, some sex, some kissing and more talking, etc.- but mostly a meeting of two like minds who connect. Never too dramatic or too quiet, just a perfectly balanced story. Very romantic actually. I cried (but I'm sentimental!). One of the best LGBT films I've seen- just a good film full stop.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 14, 2015)

The  Craft  (1996).   Neve Campbell et al do witchcraft at a Catholic school. Her indoors feeling miserable due to hangover and failed driving test so fancied the sort of shit she watched as a teenager. Which also explains :

Tank Girl (1995).  Lord Petty doing some sort of kooky post-apocalyptic cyberpunk shtick.   Opening credits are aces but goes down hill rapidly.   Ice t  though


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 14, 2015)

What We Do In The Shadows

much funnier than the trailer made it look. Vampire mockumentary.


----------



## ringo (Feb 14, 2015)

The Raid Redemption - to quality martial arts business


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 15, 2015)

Interstellar - there's a good film buried in there somewhere, but it's a mess as presented.


----------



## tommers (Feb 15, 2015)

Gone girl.  Great valentine's day film.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 15, 2015)

Cube (1997).   Six people wake up in a giant cube with thousands is rooms and have to find a way out while trying to avoid legal booby traps along the way.   Script and acting aren't great,  and it got a bit meh as it went on.   Half-dozen effort,  I suppose.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 15, 2015)

ringo said:


> The Raid Redemption - to quality martial arts business


its not just the martial arts, quality though they are. Its that floor by floor clearance job, ladled a sort of claustrophobic sense of intense violence

Dredd is also good for the tower clearance combat to


----------



## ringo (Feb 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> its not just the martial arts, quality though they are. Its that floor by floor clearance job, ladled a sort of claustrophobic sense of intense violence
> 
> Dredd is also good for the tower clearance combat to


Yes it was really well done, quite scary and unsettling at times.


----------



## Voley (Feb 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:
			
		

> Oh an Taken 3. What can one say about Taken 3. Its obeying the law of diminishing returns, but if you like angry neeson (and I do) then fill your boots. Its still a really shit film though



Is it at all like Taken 2, ie exactly like Taken 1?


----------



## Voley (Feb 15, 2015)

I didn't really need to ask that question did I?


----------



## Voley (Feb 15, 2015)

I'm nearing the end of The Shield now. It's got a bit daft but I'll miss it when it's finished. Its been reliably entertaining right through all 7 series.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 15, 2015)

Voley said:


> I'm nearing the end of The Shield now. It's got a bit daft but I'll miss it when it's finished. Its been reliably entertaining right through all 7 series.


For some reason I never saw the final season at the time (I think I drifted away sometime during season 5), but when I binged the whole lot in one go, I was really impressed by the switch around. I mean, so fucked up, but after six seasons of getting you to root for a violent, corrupt thug, it made no less sense. That series turned it into a proper tragedy. The final epilogue scene was perfect, too.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 15, 2015)

Watched Horace Ové's Playing Away about a cricket team from Brixton going to the country to play a village team.

Last time I watched it was on a b&w portable telly back when it aired on channel four....I was about 16, still living at home.

Loved it this time around too...funny, poignant, questioning, but not preachy. Funny to see so many actors who went on to become famous in TV land later on....most notably Joseph Marcell who went on to play Geoffrey in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air....

Some great Brixton location scenes too....


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 15, 2015)

"Spirited Away" (again). Lovely


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 15, 2015)

Voley said:


> I'm nearing the end of The Shield now. It's got a bit daft but I'll miss it when it's finished. Its been reliably entertaining right through all 7 series.


The final Episode is brilliant I won't spoil it but stick with with it


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 15, 2015)

Voley said:


> Is it at all like Taken 2, ie exactly like Taken 1?


Shouldn't we be questioning his parenting skills ? I mean once is understandable it can happen to anybody but THREE times


----------



## rekil (Feb 15, 2015)

jeff_leigh said:


> Shouldn't we be questioning his parenting skills ? I mean once is understandable it can happen to anybody but THREE times


Taken 4 - This Time It's Social Services


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 15, 2015)

copliker said:


> Taken 4 - This Time It's Social Services


_Taken 5: Revenge In Rotherham_


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 15, 2015)

RocknRolla (2008) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 15, 2015)

jeff_leigh said:


> Shouldn't we be questioning his parenting skills ? I mean once is understandable it can happen to anybody but THREE times


in the second one he and his wife are the takees


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 16, 2015)

*Child's Pose* - low-key, naturalistic, miserabilist sort of art house movie from Romania which does have a brilliant performance at its centre in a portrait of a totally over-enmeshed, almost incestuous mother who can't stop herself from getting involved and pulling every string she can to get her son, who's run over and killed a young lad, out of trouble. Basically you don't learn much more at the end than a) Romania's a corrupt and cynical society right now and b) mothers will do almost anything for their children. Not sure I needed this movie to know either and can't really see why it was so highly praised (it's not in the same league as Death of Mr Lazarescu  or others), although the acting really is impressive.


----------



## r0bb0 (Feb 16, 2015)

Near Dark - classic cult 80's vampyre flick. Saw it with a Near Dark virgin too which was nice


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 16, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> in the second one he and his wife are the takees


Oh right, I thought it was his Daughter getting kidnapped in all three movies


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 17, 2015)

*We are the Best  - *it really IS the best! agree with every rave review it had and everyone liking it here. it's just spiky enough (in every sense) not to be too cute, it's fun and feminist and baggy and anarchic and sardonic enough to be just the ideal movie about being a teenage punk. Lukas Moodysson proper back on form and it has all the charm and sly sidewise humour of Together - but fewer annoying sanctimonious hippies. The three girl actresses are fantastic and the direction has all the rush and crash and dodge of proper teenagerdom. I fucking loved everything about it (<- see how punk it made me feel!)

(you might or might not think it's suitable for viewers as young as the 13y/os portrayed - there's really a lot of swearing, if you care about that (not fucking likely on urban, but FYI hypocritical fascist parents) and a bit of very mild drinking (and puking) and implied snogging/groping/who knows what. plus some very regrettable homemade haircuts   . but in some ways, weirdly, it's a sweetly nostalgic portrait of a more innocent age … no porn, no internet, no texts, no selfies, no molesters, no vampires … and FANZINES and FIXED LINE PHONES OMG!!!


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 17, 2015)

i might watch that tonight. you've sold it to me!


----------



## Belushi (Feb 17, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> i might watch that tonight. you've sold it to me!



It's a wonderful film

Hate the Sport! Hate the Sport!


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 17, 2015)

1, 2, 3, 4!
 HATE THE SPORT! HATE THE SPORT! 
<clanging chords>
head rings in ecstasy


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 17, 2015)

The Theory of Everything (2014) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980516/

Felt a little bit lightweight and is essentially a number of love stories combined but don't let that put you off; it's watchable.


----------



## inva (Feb 18, 2015)

Bunny Lake is Missing
1965 film directed by Otto Preminger about a woman who goes to collect her daughter on the first day of school only to find that her daughter is not there and that as time goes on those around her are increasingly doubtful that the child ever existed at all. The sinister atmosphere was created well and the quite ordinary locations become suitably strange and menacing. I thought Carol Lynley was good in the lead as Ann Lake as was Laurence Olivier as a police superintendent. Up until about two thirds of the way through it's a very good mystery film but the ending involves a very abrupt change in one of the characters which either needed to be much milder (and I think it would have been better that way), or there needed to be more of a sign than there was in the build up. I'm not sure how much the weird pervert Noel Coward landlord added to the film for that matter either. Still on the whole it was a decent film and well worth a watch.

Chase a Crooked Shadow
This suspense thriller film is from 1958. Kimberly Prescott's brother died in a car crash but a man suddenly appears claiming to be him and everyone else seems to believe it. All very mysterious and though there isn't much about it to make it stand out from many similar films it's entertaining enough.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 18, 2015)

Taken 3- if its not his daughter that is kidnapped , its his wife that is kidnapped, This time someone kills his wife and tries to kill his daughter.Guy deserves a bit of a break imo.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 18, 2015)

*Goodbye First Love* (Mia Hanson-Love 2012) Exactly what it says on the tin, a portrait of youthful infatuation, starts well but goes off the boil a bit. Good performance from Lola Creton in the lead and some lovely shots of the Loire.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 18, 2015)

Belushi said:


> It's a wonderful film
> 
> Hate the Sport! Hate the Sport!


Yeah, I defy anyone to watch it and not come out with a smile on their face.
Moodysson needs to make more stuff like this and Show Me Love and less of the Mammoth stuff.


----------



## rekil (Feb 18, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> i might watch that tonight. you've sold it to me!


See also Linda Linda Linda.


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 21, 2015)

I watched Spiderman 3 last night. It really was one of the worst films I've ever seen. And it went on for three fucking hours.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 21, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> I watched Spiderman 3 last night. It really was one of the worst films I've ever seen. And it went on for three fucking hours.


Awful.  I once watched all three back to back (was in a bad place at the time).


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 21, 2015)

new Series of Vikings. Its more of the same.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 21, 2015)

We're the Millers.

Surprisingly not bad for what it was. Though Jennifer Aniston performing a strip tease is probably the most unerotic thing I have ever seen. High concept: a weed dealer must disguise himself as a family man to smuggle cannabis from Mexico to USA. Behind the facade of dope-smoking rebellion this film insidiously affirms the values of white suburban AmeriKKKa.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 21, 2015)

An American Werewolf in London, which is still excellent.  The jokes don't get old, the music is good and Agutter's in it.


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 21, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> An American Werewolf in London, which is still excellent.  The jokes don't get old, the music is good and Agutter's in it.



It's a timeless classic in every way, I love it.


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 22, 2015)

The Artist. Loved this too


----------



## hot air baboon (Feb 22, 2015)

2001 : A Space Odyssey

...a nice advert & station-logo free recording from BBC2HD....although some jerk still managed to talk over the credits...

..spell binding....a truly awe-inspiring technical & imaginative cinematic achievement that after several decades consigns inferior derivative garbage like Interstellar into the shit-can were it belongs...


----------



## Ted Striker (Feb 22, 2015)

Had a bit of a session recently...(Tried to stick a few soft ones in there as wasn't in the mood to focus properly)

Taken 3: Indistinguishable from the first 2 apart from the whopping drop in interest/ingenuity. Surely the 'thing' is over now?

The Gambler: SO CROSS. I LOVE Marky Mark, and no fear of a shite cheeseathons ( so was really looking forward to it!), but I don't think they could have made a worse film if they tried. The main character is just a dick, there's no real payoff at the predictable end as you just don't care, and I didn't hear Kenny Rogers once 

Foxcatcher - great acting, and everything up to the last few scene was brilliant, though really didn't deliver the end in a remotely satisfactory way . Everything has been said about Magic Mike and the 40 year old Virgin going serious and they nailed it (if Carells make up was a bit much).

Whiplash: Now. We. Are. Talking. The best new film I've seen in flippin ages. The final act is just something else. A genuine joy to watch and I think everyone has felt identically pumped in unison when the credits rolled   The boy lead was a brave choice - he was almost _too_ average/rough round the edges perfect look wise - which I suppose they should be credited for. Don't think it'll be a great advert to launch his career though, sadly (as it should be given the strength of his role and the profile of the film).

Promised Land - Standard IMDB 6/10 Matt Damonathon where he's srs bsns corporate stooge convincing this small town to welcome fracking. A whopping oversight in it that renders the final act simply implausible and otherwise every small US town cliche present and correct!

American Sniper - Not bad, though tbh seen it all before. Couldn't believe it was a Clint direction - his stuff is normally infinitely better executed than this. Could have been a great film if it didn't retire to a budget Enemy of the Gates yawnathon.

As an aside - find it genuinely bonkers that Nightcrawler was so overlooked at the Oscars. Wasn't a huge fan, but American Sniper or Argo aren't remotely in the same league as it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 22, 2015)

The Rolling Stone review of American Sniper is, well as you'd expect. Thumbs down.

I watched five minutes of 'Only Lovers Left Alive'. Its a vampire love story played out over time with Tilda Swinton, Jon Hurt and someone else. Fell asleep beore the title sequences had really finished, long day. Will attempt again tonight.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 22, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> the only people who have been taken are the fools wwho paid to watch that stinker A hahaha
> 
> 
> 
> ...




litigation ensues. The people putting out this short had to do so to stop the rights lapsing back to Universal (why Universal had been been sitting on a goldmine previously and sold the rights to some minor outfit without touching it is a mystery).

But, Jordans widows statements about how they had not the right to do this (frankly poor) short has resulted in them sueing her for queering the pitch wrt them in 'ongoing negotiations' with 'large operators'

so yet more development hell for the forseeable.

I want HBO to do it, if its anyone less risque they will cut out all the spanking bits.


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Feb 22, 2015)

Nightcrawler: Visually it was pretty good but I found the main character far too absurd to take seriously. Came across as sort of a cartoon sociopath rather an actual sociopath.  Another over hyped film.


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Feb 22, 2015)

Ted Striker said:


> Whiplash: Now. We. Are. Talking. The best new film I've seen in flippin ages. The final act is just something else. A genuine joy to watch and I think everyone has felt identically pumped in unison when the credits rolled   The boy lead was a brave choice - he was almost _too_ average/rough round the edges perfect look wise - which I suppose they should be credited for. Don't think it'll be a great advert to launch his career though, sadly (as it should be given the strength of his role and the profile of the film).



Did you like it that much? The lead actor put in a superb performance but I found it to be monstrously overrated and the final act didn't really make up for it.  I really didn't like the film's message at all either.



Spoiler



The final act is essentially just an amazing drum solo that turned out to be disappointing because you thought it was going to be the boy getting one over on his abuser.  Instead it turned into them feeding off each other and then a big smile to each other at the end which said 'Well it's ok to be an abusive cunt to your students, slap them about, throw chairs at them and cause one of them to hang themselves just as long as one of them becomes a great drummer.'  That's the message I took from it and it's an utterly appalling one I feel and coloured the rest of the film for me.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 22, 2015)

We Are The Best - as brilliant as everyone says.
Spot on about everything - being a teen, friendship, hating PE at school, band politics and endearingly crappy punk lyrics:
People die and scream
But all you care about is your soccer team
Children in Africa are dying
But you're all about balls flying 
Nuclear power plants poison the air
You're playing hockey, so unaware
The atomic bombs blow up our cities
Yet you want more tennis committees
Come on! Come on!
No difference at all
It's just a ball!


----------



## Voley (Feb 22, 2015)

Finished 'The Shield' last night. All seven seasons, blimey. Good ending I thought. For the last year or so it's always been good for a couple of episodes when I want to watch something that's not too taxing but with a decent plot that winds all over the place. Bit daft at times, some crappy acting now and then but overall very enjoyable. Some good laughs, too, mainly at Dutch's expense: the 'Hungry Like The Wolf' bit, particularly. 

Need something to take its place so might give Breaking Bad another go - I watched one discs worth first time round and it was pretty good. I never got round to finishing the last season of Deadwood mind so I might start that right from the beginning again.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 22, 2015)

Voley said:


> Finished 'The Shield' last night. All seven seasons, blimey. Good ending I thought. For the last year or so it's always been good for a couple of episodes when I want to watch something that's not too taxing but with a decent plot that winds all over the place. Bit daft at times, some crappy acting now and then but overall very enjoyable. Some good laughs, too, mainly at Dutch's expense: the 'Hungry Like The Wolf' bit, particularly.
> 
> Need something to take its place so might give Breaking Bad another go - I watched one discs worth first time round and it was pretty good. I never got round to finishing the last season of Deadwood mind so I might start that right from the beginning again.



Gave up with The Shield towards the end of season 3. Couldn't stomach The Strike Team any longer. Dutch Boy was my favourite character.

Deadwood is outstanding, on a similar theme Hell On Wheels is a reasonable watch (4 seasons) and you can't go wrong with Breaking Bad.


----------



## starfish (Feb 22, 2015)

The Wee Man. Slightly fictional life story of Glagow gangster Paul Ferris. Accents all over the place but it helped pass a wet Sunday afternoon & I remember when the central events happened. Nasty business.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 22, 2015)

"The Innocents". Excellent, disturbing and scary


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 22, 2015)

Also "The Raid 2" which I thought was a bit over long and disjointed


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 22, 2015)

A most wanted man- a quite taut thriller set in Germany Philip Hoffman playing a counter terrorist trying to use a Chechan dissident to trap an Islamic leader suspected of financing extremists. Hoffman's great and I kept thinking what a loss.


----------



## Voley (Feb 23, 2015)

The39thStep said:
			
		

> Hoffman's great and I kept thinking what a loss.



Agreed. There weren't that many current actors that I considered truly great but he was one. He's really missed.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Feb 23, 2015)

Voley said:


> Finished 'The Shield' last night. All seven seasons, blimey. Good ending I thought. For the last year or so it's always been good for a couple of episodes when I want to watch something that's not too taxing but with a decent plot that winds all over the place. Bit daft at times, some crappy acting now and then but overall very enjoyable. Some good laughs, too, mainly at Dutch's expense: the 'Hungry Like The Wolf' bit, particularly.
> 
> Need something to take its place so might give Breaking Bad another go - I watched one discs worth first time round and it was pretty good. I never got round to finishing the last season of Deadwood mind so I might start that right from the beginning again.


The ending of The Shield was so good, Rick consigned to his own personal Hell, I'd recommend The Wire if you haven't seen it ditto Breaking Bad


----------



## Voley (Feb 23, 2015)

jeff_leigh said:


> The ending of The Shield was so good, Rick consigned to his own personal Hell, I'd recommend The Wire if you haven't seen it ditto Breaking Bad


Yeah I loved The Wire. Will crack on with Breaking Bad after Deadwood I think


----------



## The Boy (Feb 23, 2015)

WarGames (1983).  A young Matthew Bwodewick playing tic-tac-toe with a computer.  Nuclear weapons are involved.


----------



## thriller (Feb 23, 2015)

The Boy said:


> WarGames (1983).  A young Matthew Bwodewick playing tic-tac-toe with a computer.  Nuclear weapons are involved.



i remember after watching it, going and trying the phone booth trick.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2015)

Voley said:


> Yeah I loved The Wire. Will crack on with Breaking Bad after Deadwood I think


if you want some mad crossover watch Sons of Anarchy. The one niners are in it.  The byz lats. Loads of actors cross over. Fuck even vince turns up in the last season (not as vince).

sutter made both so thats why


----------



## Voley (Feb 24, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> if you want some mad crossover watch Sons of Anarchy. The one niners are in it.  The byz lats. Loads of actors cross over. Fuck even vince turns up in the last season (not as vince).
> 
> sutter made both so thats why


Yeah the bloke that plays Shane is in that isn't he?


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2015)

Voley said:


> Yeah the bloke that plays Shane is in that isn't he?


as a trans woman yeah

here, some sad cunts collated all the links:

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/thr...Between-The-Shield-And-Sons-Of-Anarchy/?pc=30

its not just worth it for the links alone though. Its really a quality prog as well. Manly tears were shed at points


----------



## Supine (Feb 24, 2015)

^ word


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 25, 2015)

I gave that Bosch series a go - it was pretty good, not brilliant. Good mix of genres - serial killer/court room drama etc. But the problem is that i've seen the wire. Also watched a film Lincoln Lawyer about the lead detective in Bosch's brother, a lawyer who is essentially the same character but with a mumbling McConaughey instead. Again, good but not brilliant.

Greatful dead - attempt to rip of Sion Sono as far as i can tell. Girl spies on solitarians  (people consumed by grief and regret to the point of madness) and battles for possession of them with South Korean christians. Just stick with Sono.

Malcolm - little aussie film which i'd remembered as being a cousin to Restless Natives but which on rewatching appeared to be close kin to sex lives of the potato men.

The Blue Room - very well done take on a Georges Simenon story, but just so damn french i couldn't take it all that seriously.

Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat - rather confusing mix of social and political comment and adventure and stuff like that as whites, SRs, bolsheviks, british german and french agents, criminals etc look for some actual diamonds (whatever can they symbolise!) across estonia ansd russia - i'dlike to see it again with better subs. It also goes from Black and white colour randomly. Oh yeah, Arvo Part did the music.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 25, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I thought i better give american sniper a go. Wow. That was horrific. I don't understand what sort of brain could make that...that..thing. I feel sullied for having watched it.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Feb 25, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Awful.  I once watched all three back to back (was in a bad place at the time).



1 is decent, 2 is fantastic, 3 though....that emo bit is still unbelievably bad.


----------



## sovereignb (Feb 25, 2015)

Continuum - Canadian time travel series

The whole 2nd series...not bad at all. But showed me again why i dont invest time in series. I guess i have a short attention span and after awhile i giving up caring what happens. Same happened with Homeland


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 26, 2015)

Dazed and Confused.   Linklater's homage to growing up in the 70s is bitter-sweet.  There's no story but plenty of depth, the humour balanced by an underlying cruelty and emptiness.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 26, 2015)

Frank- disappointing really.Loosley based on an ex keyboard players slim book on his time with Frank Sidebottom but in fact nothing to do with Frank Sidebottom .offered some insight into the bizarre world of an act in a paper mâché head but nowhere as good as Mick Middles attempt to explore the impact of a bizarre alter ego being more famous than the musician inside. Looks like I will have to wait for Steve Sutherlands documentary but someone somewhere should be making a Hollywood blockbuster on Frank Sidebottom.

How come he didn't get an award at the Brits rather than the fucking Foo Fighters?


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 26, 2015)

I think the fact that it's nowt to do with him is pretty obvious from the start. It's a brilliant film, if you accept that.


----------



## Belushi (Feb 26, 2015)

*Silver Linings Playbook* (David O. Russell 2012) Enjoyable enough romantic comedy, Jennifer Lawrence is as terrific as always in it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 26, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Silver Linings Playbook* (David O. Russell 2012) Enjoyable enough romantic comedy, Jennifer Lawrence is as terrific as always in it.


I thought it was brilliant, JL the best of them all.   I've seen it 3 times.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 26, 2015)

After Lucia - gripping and disturbing


----------



## 8115 (Feb 27, 2015)

Kiki's Delivery Service (Studio Ghibli).  Predictably great.

Now I am watching Finisterre, the first film on the DVD by St Etienne "A London Trilogy".  It's so good.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 27, 2015)

Slaying the Badger (2014).  One of the better cycling documentaries.  Well worth a watch.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 27, 2015)

Rififi (1955).  Classic.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 28, 2015)

Robocop (2014).  Really not very good.  No doubt someone will be along to disagree, but yeah.  Big sweaty pants.


----------



## starfish (Feb 28, 2015)

First 2 episodes of the new House of Cards. Really enjoyed them but not sure if have time to fit it in except maybe at weekends. Would like to even though I kinda know how it should turn out.


----------



## starfish (Feb 28, 2015)

Had The Wanderers on in the background last Friday night. Still holds up. Great music, funny moments, nice love story & huge big excellent fight scene.

Leave the kid alone.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 28, 2015)

The Sentinel - shit film with Kiefer Sutherland and Michael Douglas.  Should have re-watched a couple of 24 episodes instead.


----------



## magneze (Feb 28, 2015)

Pain & Gain
Not that great at all.

House of Cards S3E01
Glad it's back, top quality all the way through.


----------



## Voley (Feb 28, 2015)

Watching 'Che' again this afternoon. Just about to start on the second film now. It's as great as I remember.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2015)

I watched Educating Rita this afternoon. For a film that doesn't use the C word once it talks about it a lot. Seems somehow crude and dated but the perfomances carry it. and the issues surrounding eduation and class haven't gone away so perhaps its just the age of the film making it seem dated to me


----------



## Ted Striker (Feb 28, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> I thought it was brilliant, JL the best of them all.   I've seen it 3 times.



Yup, an underrated (as much as Hollywood blockbustery things can be) gem IMO. De Niro surprised me the most tbh - was the perfect role to show how Bradley Coopers character came to (though all parts were very good). Sod it, that's tomorrow nights film sorted


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 28, 2015)

The Conformist.

Still as brilliant as I remember it. Marcello is an even bigger shit than I remembered.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2015)

Nanny McPhee one. I've seen two already. There are no words.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2015)

oh and watched Only Lovers Left Alive on the train yesterday. Tilda Swinton is great in it, jon hurt is jon hurt. He was jon hurt when he was doctor who as well. His character is jon hurt.

even when he did 44" chest as a miserable old cockney gangster, it was just him doing a ropey old style cockernee.

Its nice to see a vampire film done with some heart over violence though.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 28, 2015)

Fargo (1996).  Car salesman with money problems arranges for his wife to be kidnapped in order to get his hands on the ransom money.  

Things go wrong.  Steve buscemi is kinda funny looking.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 28, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Fargo (1996).  Car salesman with money problems arranges for his wife to be kidnapped in order to get his hands on the ransom money.
> 
> Things go wrong.  Steve buscemi is kinda funny looking.


Could you be more specific?


----------



## The Boy (Feb 28, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Could you be more specific?


Just in a	general kinda way.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Feb 28, 2015)

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

very odd, very entertaining Swedish forrest gump/ zelig type of filum


----------



## The Boy (Feb 28, 2015)

The traveler (2010).  On Christmas night, a frighteningly old Val Kilmer rocks up to a police station to confess to murders that hasn't happened yet.  

Boringness ensues, with the twist at the end actually detracting from rest of a fairy mediocre horror effort.  Actually,  the most horrifying thing is that there are six cops on duty at Christmas in what appears to be a small town.  

Decent Christmas carol cover at the end credits is about the highlight.


----------



## magneze (Feb 28, 2015)

Big Sur 
Film of the Jack Kerouac book. I fell asleep for a bit. 

Cuban Fury
Nick Frost salsa comedy. Good fun. Better than expected.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Mar 1, 2015)

Watched the first two episodes of House of Cards - season 3.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 1, 2015)

Calvary (2014).  Bleakly dark comedy about a priest who is told by someone in confession that he will kill him in a week.  Brendan Gleeson is great, as usual.  Chris o'dowd was more of a surprise.  Aiden gillen can't even do his own accent.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 1, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Calvary (2014).  Bleakly dark comedy about a priest who is told by someone in confession that he will kill him in a week.  Brendan Gleeson is great, as usual.  Chris o'dowd was more of a surprise.  *Aiden gillen can't even do his own accent.*


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 2, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched Educating Rita this afternoon. For a film that doesn't use the C word once it talks about it a lot. Seems somehow crude and dated but the perfomances carry it. and the issues surrounding eduation and class haven't gone away so perhaps its just the age of the film making it seem dated to me


 A fair old bit of it filmed in Dublin, iirc


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 2, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> A fair old bit of it filmed in Dublin, iirc



All of it in fact, except the bits that were filmed in Maynooth. 

They had a bit of a problem when a priest wouldn't move his car for one particular shot, so they got a carpenter in to build a partition around it.


----------



## ringo (Mar 2, 2015)

magneze said:


> Cuban Fury
> Nick Frost salsa comedy. Good fun. Better than expected.



Agreed, I thought it was going to be shite, but it was pretty good.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 3, 2015)

Wild Tales - great black humour comedy with serious bits and lots of violence, anthology film as well which is quite rare nowadays i think. Oscar nominated as well i read. 6 stories about what happens when the veneer of civilisation is ripped  - looks great, like a proper film. 

The Owl Service - 1969 ITV mini-series adaptation of the Alan Garner book. Very good and built up a nice atmosphere. Rather odd to have such old characters playing the kids which only helps the odd atmosphere. Excellent look at class/culture/sex/memory/myth and many other things - surprised they made something so complex and deep for kids. The bloke playing the welsh lad was murdered in a london pub a few years after this.

The Taking of Tiger Mountain - yes, that one. Enjoyable, big budget patriotic Chinese adventure film about what the title says - bandits vs People's Liberation Army vs Kuomintang vs locals up a mountain in the snow.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Mar 3, 2015)

*Kosmicheskiy reys [Cosmic Journey] (1935)* - a charming soviet sci-fi silent about a professor's rocket ship journey to the moon, made to encourage youngsters to get into space studies. There's not much plot but the special effects are great for the time with some wonderful scale models of the rocket ship base and stop motion animation of them jumping about weightless on the moon. The science is isn't bad too as the director consulted with one of Russia's leading aeronautical theorist of the time, unfortunately the soviet censors claimed it was against the spirit of "socialist realism" and banned the film.


----------



## belboid (Mar 3, 2015)

Alien 3 - the Directors Cut

Still doesn't really quite work.  Shame, there's some great stuff in it, but it's a disappointment after the first two


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 4, 2015)

Girls - the Lena Dunham series.

An appalling document of the appalling lives led by a certain type of appalling person. And this Dunham person obviously expects us to sympathise with the shower she has placed on the screen.

Absolutely awful, but still compelling to watch. How can these people live like this?

And in other hands it could have been satirical, but there's obviously no ironic distance at all between Dunham and her creations.


----------



## Grandma Death (Mar 6, 2015)

The HBO James Gandolfini tribute-very moving

And Still The Enemy Within-very well made documentary about the minders strike. But equally very depressing-the landmark dispute that knocked the stuffing out of a movement that will never ever recover to the same levels of power and membership


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 6, 2015)

3rd attempt on Prometheus, this time with a decent copy. Nope. Just nope.

How is it possible to make a film with spaceships and peril in it that I can't be arsed with. Bladerunner 2 is going to be shit.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> 3rd attempt on Prometheus, this time with a decent copy. Nope. Just nope.
> 
> How is it possible to make a film with spaceships and peril in it that I can't be arsed with. Bladerunner 2 is going to be shit.



The awful thing was that there were obvious points where you could tell they just hadn't bothered making the same effort that they'd made with the rest of the movie.

Like. . . 



Spoiler



the bit where the two "redshirts" get the heebie-jeebies while inside the tomb and run for it. Fair enough. Except that they then spend the night camped out in the spookiest place in the entire complex. A tad inconsistent, no?



And only a fool would go and see Bladerunner 2. My sister doesn't really like SF but she does like Keanu Reeves. . . so she saw the first Matrix film but made a point of not watching the sequels.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 6, 2015)

The warriors (1979).  Grimey, old new York, seriously camp get ups*, quality tunes and every awful lesbian stereotype imaginable.

*though having seen 80 blocks from tiffany's the aesthetic is closer to reality than I had thought.

First few episodes of Braquo (2009-).  Bent cops in the salubrious environs of western Paris.  Was recommended by someone who's suggestions are usually spot on, but not really feeling it atm.


----------



## starfish (Mar 7, 2015)

The Boy said:


> The warriors (1979).  Grimey, old new York, seriously camp get ups*, quality tunes and every .



Great film. Warriors come out to play. 

Just watched Shogun Assassin now watching Yojimbo.


----------



## starfish (Mar 7, 2015)

Now watching Kill List. It should be a comedy given the cast but i have feeling it wont be.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 7, 2015)

A Fantastic Fear of Everything.

Simon Pegg as a freelance author in the grip of a semi-psychotic paranoid meltdown, in old Hackney town.

Would it be going too far to say it was nearly as good as the old Ealing comedies? Probably, yes. But that's what I thought of while watching it. Really good bit of work, that one.


----------



## belboid (Mar 7, 2015)

Duke of Burgundy.

Very funny, with magnificent sound. How many films have Human Toilet Consultant?


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 7, 2015)

belboid said:


> How many films have Human Toilet Consultant?



Did yours also remind you of the classic Ealing comedies of yore?


----------



## belboid (Mar 7, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Did yours also remind you of the classic Ealing comedies of yore?


I could easily, and happily, imagine Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood in the two lead roles


----------



## The Boy (Mar 7, 2015)

The last exorcism (2010).  Good old found footage films, god bless their cotton socks.  Unfortunately, this one didn't seem to know what it was doing.  Spent time actually setting things up and at least trying to flesh out the characters.  Then it seemed to just get bored.

The last exorcism: part 2 (2013).  We only watched the first one as my partner realised after about five minutes that this was a sequel.  Not made in the find footage style, but picks up with the girl from the first film trying to get on with shit in a bizarrely friendly group home.  

Does creepy	bit better than the first one, but the New Orleans stereotypes are a bit tiring, and I've still but figured out what was happening in thw opening scene, or to whom.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Mar 7, 2015)

Finished House of Cards - season 3


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 8, 2015)

The Railway Man

A touching film about torture and the resulting mental scars


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Mar 8, 2015)

"Elysium". It was shit but I asked for a "easy to watch, shit film" and that's what I got.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 8, 2015)

Godzilla. (the new one)

A cross between Monsters, Aliens, a teensy bit Starship Troopers and... Godzilla.   The cinematography is excellent, made for the cinema, obviously.  

The effects are reassuringly big, your volume should be turned up to 'just passed acceptable' and it's a good enough romp with, sadly, no blood or gore.

The use of smoke, cloud and other means to obscure our hero turns into utter annoyance by then end as you feel short-changed .  You get Godzilla for about 5% of the movie.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 9, 2015)

The Grand Seduction.

Set in a Newfoundland fishing harbour, where the fish stopped biting a long time ago, and people are reduced to being government artists, i.e. drawers of the dole.

There's a possibility of a new factory opening up, but only if the town has a resident doctor. Brendan Gleeson hatches a cunning plot to catch and keep a medic, by introducing him to the superior pace of life in rural Newfoundland.

An inoffensive movie, but the sort of thing where you think "haven't I seen this before?"


----------



## Impossible Girl (Mar 9, 2015)

Finished The Walking Dead season 5. Now I believe I'll stay vegetarian forever


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 9, 2015)

Foxcatcher. It was alright but not the greatness I'd hoped. The performances are supposedly great but I couldn't imagine Channing Tatum coming across as anything other than a big daft get anyway and Steve Carrel just has a big nose stuck on and talks slow. Okay so he was a coke snorting spoilt rich kid whose mum paid for him to have a friend but I just never felt he was *that* mental....and I knew the ending, which kind of spoilt it.


----------



## Maltin (Mar 9, 2015)

Impossible Girl said:


> Finished The Walking Dead season 5.


 seeing as they have only aired 13 out of 16 episodes, this sounds a bit implausible.


----------



## Impossible Girl (Mar 10, 2015)

Sorry, my bad, I meant "finished to catch up". Indeed season 5 isn't over yet, thanks for correcting me


----------



## inva (Mar 10, 2015)

The Great Beauty
A stunning film to look at. There were quite a few points during the long running time where I wasn't sure what was going on though, and what with the slow pacing and some fairly interchangeable characters it was a bit of an effort to keep focused all the way through. That being said, it wasn't too much of a problem because the film didn't seem to have a very clear narrative anyway so I was still able to enjoy it mainly and just purely as a visual thing it really did look fantastic.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Mar 11, 2015)

*The Big Trail (1930),* early sound era western from Raoul Walsh, worth watching because it features a young John Wayne in his first starring role and because it was one of the first films to be shot in widescreen 70mm which means it looks gorgeous.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2015)

Powers- quite good. Its a world where superheroes are real and theres a department of law enforcement designed to deal with them. Quite good. Sony Playstation have put the money into this one but its not a game tie-in afaik, they are just diversifying. Eddie Izzard continues his odd career twist playing a Baddie in american shows (he was also a murderer in Hannibal)


----------



## mwgdrwg (Mar 12, 2015)

Hannah and Her Sisters

This seemed so boring to me when I was 14 and it was winning Oscars. It was the first time I'd heard of Woody Allen, maybe except for watching Sleeper one Sunday night, and everyone talking about it in school the next day. 

Really enjoyed it.


----------



## belboid (Mar 12, 2015)

mwgdrwg said:


> Hannah and Her Sisters
> 
> This seemed so boring to me when I was 14 and it was winning Oscars. It was the first time I'd heard of Woody Allen, maybe except for watching Sleeper one Sunday night, and everyone talking about it in school the next day.
> 
> Really enjoyed it.


I was meaning to rewatch that - I'm off to see Dianne Wiest at the theatre on saturday


----------



## mwgdrwg (Mar 12, 2015)

belboid said:


> I was meaning to rewatch that - I'm off to see Dianne Wiest at the theatre on saturday



What is she in?


----------



## belboid (Mar 12, 2015)

mwgdrwg said:


> What is she in?


Hannah and Her Sisters.

She won the Best Supporting Oscar for Holly, Hannah's sister.  And another one for Bullets Over Broadway.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Mar 12, 2015)

belboid said:


> Hannah and Her Sisters.
> 
> She won the Best Supporting Oscar for Holly, Hannah's sister.  And another one for Bullets Over Broadway.



Lol, yes I know that. I meant what play is she in?


----------



## belboid (Mar 12, 2015)

mwgdrwg said:


> Lol, yes I know that. I meant what play is she in?


oh, sorry! 

A new thing, _Rasheeda Speaking - _part of mrs b's birthday treat.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Mar 12, 2015)

belboid said:


> oh, sorry!
> 
> A new thing, _Rasheeda Speaking - _part of mrs b's birthday treat.



Enjoy


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 13, 2015)

Mysterious Skin - brilliant and a little disturbing.


----------



## starfish (Mar 14, 2015)

Have just put on Hudson Hawk. Its one of mine & Dubversions favourite films. I had a conversation with upsidedownwalrus about it too & persuaded him to download it, which he did. I never knew if he watched it though. I hope he did.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 14, 2015)

Fiddler on The Roof

I don't really do musicals but I was told this one would be good. It is. 'If I was a rich Man' is a tune.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 14, 2015)

epic 'we've all had a drink' moment where the big beards dispute the honest tailors suit


----------



## Impossible Girl (Mar 15, 2015)

Castle Season 1, with Nathan Fillion. Well that's just the icing on the cake. Someone got me at "crime fiction writer imitated by a psychopath"


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 15, 2015)

John Wicks- Keanu Reeves in sad mode for fifteen minutes after his wife dies and the puppy she sends him from her death bed is killed by a load of very nasty Russians. Turns out he is an ex paid killer ( there seems to be quite a few of these about in films either that or retired CIA operatives) and surprisingly  seeks revenge. Never mind all that kung fu bollocks this fella must have shot about forty people in the film but its fast paced , got a good twist in some of the action being set in a hotel for hitmen and its got William Defoe in it. If you want mindless fast paced violence then don't bother with re runs of Ashley Barnes against Chelsea and settle down with this.


----------



## ringo (Mar 16, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Fiddler on The Roof
> 
> I don't really do musicals but I was told this one would be good. It is. 'If I was a rich Man' is a tune.



Haven't seen it in years but it's my Dad's favourite film along with Oliver, so saw it many times as a kid. It was the only time he ever remembered he was Jewish. I'd like to watch it again, but fear I may start clapping my hands and shouting "Oi" a lot during normal life.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 16, 2015)

Another Cracker, this time featuring a very young Ser Davos Seaworth as one of the villains.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 16, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Another Cracker, this time featuring a very young Ser Davos Seaworth as one of the villains.



Was that the one that also had a young John Simm?


----------



## The Boy (Mar 16, 2015)

Started Orange is the New Black over the weekend.  5 episodes in and it's ok. 

Still struggling along with Season 1 of Braquo.  Not great, but I'm gonna end it so help me god.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 16, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Was that the one that also had a young John Simm?



Yes - Simm is not someone I know in any other context, but I saw the name in the credits.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 16, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes - Simm is not someone I know in any other context, but I saw the name in the credits.



Wasn't he the twunt in Life on Mars?  I know I could just google that.
edit:  yeah, it totes is.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 16, 2015)

The Canal - quite decent effective little irish horror with a few genuinely creepy moments. Not a hint of originality - in fact, three scenes are direct steals from the most feted horror films of recent years - but a fair enough time waster. Also is going to be hampered by its terrible terrible cover poster which makes it look like one of those shit 80s horror vids you could hire from the newsagents. Seriously bad choice that may hamper distro deals/sales.

The Pine Tree in the Mountain - rather good yugo/croat film about the war between the home army/ustase/villagers and partisans in ww2 (up a mountain again). All the classic yugo partisan tropes are there (a brave commandant who gets his loving where he can and whilst avenging the murder of his wife and kids, the commissar haunted by the decisions he has to make, the cunning cowardly villagers, the regular army officer torn between duty and family etc) but are put together to create a really focused look at the _civil war_ aspect of what is happening - everything is between villages around 4 miles apart. One annoying bit, there's an assault around a ferry towards the end and ferry  is consistently translated as fairy, so they keep talking about attacking the fairy.


----------



## Ponyutd (Mar 16, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> John Wicks- Keanu Reeves in sad mode for fifteen minutes after his wife dies and the puppy she sends him from her death bed is killed by a load of very nasty Russians. Turns out he is an ex paid killer ( there seems to be quite a few of these about in films either that or retired CIA operatives) and surprisingly  seeks revenge. Never mind all that kung fu bollocks this fella must have shot about forty people in the film but its fast paced , got a good twist in some of the action being set in a hotel for hitmen and its got William Defoe in it. If you want mindless fast paced violence then don't bother with re runs of Ashley Barnes against Chelsea and settle down with this.


He's not bad for 50 odd is he.
I thought the film was funny in parts, made for 16 year olds I thought. Written by 14 year old.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 16, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> The Canal - quite decent effective little irish horror with a few genuinely creepy moments. Not a hint of originality - in fact, three scenes are direct steals from the most feted horror films of recent years - but a fair enough time waster. Also is going to be hampered by its terrible terrible cover poster which makes it look like one of those shit 80s horror vids you could hire from the newsagents. Seriously bad choice that may hamper distro deals/sales.



I have that on the computer lined up to watch at some point.  Good to know it isn't a complete miss.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 16, 2015)

The Boy said:


> I have that on the computer lined up to watch at some point.  Good to know it isn't a complete miss.


A good saturday nighter i'd say.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 16, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> John Wicks- Keanu Reeves in sad mode for fifteen minutes after his wife dies and the puppy she sends him from her death bed is killed by a load of very nasty Russians. Turns out he is an ex paid killer ( there seems to be quite a few of these about in films either that or retired CIA operatives) and surprisingly  seeks revenge. Never mind all that kung fu bollocks this fella must have shot about forty people in the film but its fast paced , got a good twist in some of the action being set in a hotel for hitmen and its got William Defoe in it. If you want mindless fast paced violence then don't bother with re runs of Ashley Barnes against Chelsea and settle down with this.


how does it compare with the Taken films


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 16, 2015)

Ponyutd said:


> He's not bad for 50 odd is he.
> I thought the film was funny in parts, made for 16 year olds I thought. Written by 14 year old.



I thought it was a bit too adult for me


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 16, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> how does it compare with the Taken films



no one kidnapped, therefore no need for negotiation.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 17, 2015)

*Klute* (Alan J. Pakula 1971) Classic 70's psychological thriller. Jane Fonda gives the performance of her career, Donald Sutherland and Roy Scheider are terrific too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 17, 2015)

Neds. great film. Character study of a smart working class scots lad falling apart.

e2a painful in places. the frustration of it all.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 17, 2015)

American Horror Story - Asylum. Jessica Lange brilliant as ever. Still a few eps to go.


----------



## seventh bullet (Mar 17, 2015)

Lana, Lana, Bo Bana Banana...


----------



## sovereignb (Mar 17, 2015)

Kingsman - Secret Service

Brilliant. Good performances & action...conspiracy theorists (for lack of a better word) like myself should enjoy it too.


----------



## oneunder (Mar 18, 2015)

Enjoyed these two films..  Odd that i'd not come across them before..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_Swans_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Eighth
The ugly swans reminded me of stalker/solaris maybe
August Eighth is a full on war movie with a sci-fi sub plot..totally different pace to The Ugly Swans..


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Mar 18, 2015)

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015) 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jinx_(miniseries)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4299972/

Unbelievable and utterly gripping. It's a slam dunk must watch.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/16/five-questions-the-jinx-finale-left-unanswered


----------



## oneunder (Mar 19, 2015)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)


cheers gonna check the series out after i watch these  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_to_Be_a_God


----------



## belboid (Mar 19, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes - Simm is not someone I know in any other context, but I saw the name in the credits.


My old school chum (and formerly The Master in Doctor Who)


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 19, 2015)

episode 2-4 of Powers. Really starting to kick into gear now.

Last night saw an insane Eddie Izzard literally ripping people into pieces and eating them whole. Michelle Forbes* is Retrogirl and Sharlto Copley is Walker.

Might have to seek out the comics now

*a true sci fi fan fave- Ensign Ro in TNG, Battlestar Galactica, True Blood.

script can be clunky in places and theres that thing where someone cannot do club scenes- should be a thread for that 'worst club scenes on tele or film'.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Mar 19, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> should be a thread for that 'worst club scenes on tele or film'.



It'd be a short thread: there's nothing worse than Michael Douglas clubbing, while wearing a woolen v-neck and no shirt, in Basic Instinct.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 20, 2015)

Finished season 1 of Braquo.  There are two more, but thankfully they're not on Netflix.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 20, 2015)

Another Cracker, and probably the last one I'll watch for a while. The one featuring 



Spoiler



Jimmy Beck's suicide



It really has dated incredibly badly. Though the places where it was set were still living the hangover of the 80s, and the half-life of the 70s.

Nice to see something from the days when academics could expect to live in big fuck-off houses, though.


----------



## Impossible Girl (Mar 20, 2015)

The thick of it. I wanted to give it a go for a long time  So, I'm delighted by Peter Capaldi's character "and all that swearing", but don't get the political background. It must be cultural or something


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 20, 2015)

Impossible Girl said:


> The thick of it. I wanted to give it a go for a long time  So, I'm delighted by Peter Capaldi's character "and all that swearing", but don't get the political background. It must be cultural or something


it's largely a pisstake of the focus-group driven gaffe prone venal idiots and a satire on their disconnect. Knowledge of brit politics does drive some of it but characters drive also. Like a dysfunctional office only this is backroom government. I'd seen Capaldi as Tucker swearing like a pro long before he was the doctor. Must be odd the other way round.


----------



## Impossible Girl (Mar 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> it's largely a pisstake of the focus-group driven gaffe prone venal idiots and a satire on their disconnect. Knowledge of brit politics does drive some of it but characters drive also. Like a dysfunctional office only this is backroom government. I'd seen Capaldi as Tucker swearing like a pro long before he was the doctor. Must be odd the other way round.



Not really odd I would say, but when you're a foreigner there are things you don't get and it's fine  What is important is the journey not the destination


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 20, 2015)

Lucy.  A film where you look at Scarlet Johansson's face for 60% of the film.   I realised this is not a bad thing.

Choi Min Sik (Oldboy) and Morgan Freeman (voice for rent) and Amr (no idea how you say that, he's not a rapper, he's French) provide the lenses for her to magnify.

Luc Besson to the core with a manga tinge, it flies in at 80 odd minutes and is an enjoyable romp.  He loves female heroes, music and decent action.

Starts drug-drama then she gets kicked in the stomach and turns into Neo.

Enjoyable enough.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Mar 20, 2015)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jinx_(miniseries)
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4299972/
> 
> ...



Following on from this watched All Good Things (2010) inspired by the real life story.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175709/

The film was disappointing but nothing can really top that tv series.


----------



## starfish (Mar 21, 2015)

Up to episode 5 of series 2 of Tokyo Ghoul. Watching it on animeshow. Cant believe how much im enjoying it.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 21, 2015)

Monstered through the last four episodes of season one of Orange Is the New Black.

Really rather enjoying it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 21, 2015)

So, as I said on the shittiest night club scene thread, last night I watched MASH - the film version, directed by Robert Altman and starring Sutherland and Gould, and Sally Kellerman as the uptight major from the nursing corps.

And it was a bit shit to be honest, even if it had some value as a document of its time. Firstly, there's not even an attempt at providing a semblance of a plot. Then there's the crude sexual politics, which are basically what a 16 year old boy would think real life is like.



Spoiler: and if you want to know what those sexual politics are like



The public humiliation of Sally Kellerman's character is something that leaves a bad taste in the mouth today, and would surely have raised eyebrows even then, or at least one would hope so. She turns up later without apparently being permanently pissed off at this experience, and this is never explained - which tells you something about the competence with which this movie was made.



As for that theme song - 



Spoiler



well, the moronic 'suicide is painless' line comes from a sequence involving a mock suicide of a dentist who has convinced himself he is gay, and who is provided with a ritualised rebirth and re-heterosexualisation via a blasphemous reenactment of the last supper.



It should be no surprise that the song was written by a teenager - there was only one Bob Dylan son, and you're not him.

So what is it's value as a document of the time? I don't see how you could read any anti-Vietnam protest into this one, unless it's in the ridiculing of the army life. And even though it was set in the Korean war, it also references World War Two. It's not a complete dead loss, but an historical curio more than anything else.

It's really an exercise in wish fulfilment, I think. In real life you wouldn't take the chance of blackmailing a superior officer to get one over on army regulations, and you'd probably be too intimidated by a woman like "Hot Lips" Houlihan to even speak to her (cue loud chorus of "eh, no, Idris, that's just you").

Also scripted by blacklistee Ring Lardner Jr.

Anyway, I suppose that next I'm going to have to watch the films of Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse-5


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 21, 2015)

.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Mar 21, 2015)

The Day of The Triffids (BBC version).


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 21, 2015)

Chronicle.  Decent enough 'found footage' film.


----------



## fishfinger (Mar 22, 2015)

Wattstax. Film of the 1972 Wattstax festival, which was held to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Watts riots.


----------



## Cadmus (Mar 22, 2015)

Disney's Tangled. Loved it.


----------



## Private Storm (Mar 22, 2015)

Cloud Atlas. Well, half of it, 2nd half tonight.

So far......wut?


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 23, 2015)

*Red Tails *- story of (some of) the Tuskegee airmen i.e. African American pilots who fought both Nazis and redneck southern US racists during WW2. A worthy theme about a neglected side of history, but a clichéd and hamfisted movie. You've probably seen most of it already in various guises - often done better in superior films (Glory, Indigenes, Days of Glory, etc etc etc) ... apart from the ill-advised 'groovy modern' music during the aerial dogfights. Terrence Howard does a good strut 'n sneer as the highest-up airman fighting to get better planes and terms for his men, David Oyelowo gives straightforward hick-hero fodder, everyone else is a bit forgettable. Sorry, but it was a bit too simplistically gung-ho go-USA for me.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 23, 2015)

Boys from Brazil

Gregory Peck hams it as Mengele and Laurence Ollivier does a comedy nazi as Ezra Lieberman. A poor grasp of genetics and child developmental psychology leads two elderly nazis on a plot to resurrect the fuhrer in clone form and establish the fifth riech. Tense stuff in places and the actors were good but could not take seriously. Loads of people had told me this was a great film over the years but I beg to differ.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 23, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Boys from Brazil
> 
> Gregory Peck hams it as Mengele and Laurence Ollivier does a comedy nazi as Ezra Lieberman. A poor grasp of genetics and child developmental psychology leads two elderly nazis on a plot to resurrect the fuhrer in clone form and establish the fifth riech. Tense stuff in places and the actors were good but could not take seriously. Loads of people had told me this was a great film over the years but I beg to differ.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 24, 2015)

I'm two thirds of the way through a fan edit of the Hobbit films.

All 3 films condensed into 4 1/2 hours

so much of the guff has gone. 

Mrs Shoes is out tonight so I can finish my Hobbitathon


----------



## The Boy (Mar 24, 2015)

Paranormal entity 3 (2011).  Found footage AND exorcism.  And made by the asylum to boot.  As rubbish as you would expect.  I always find the most interesting thing about these films to be the financial model they work on.

For example, the above wasn't the third in a series trying to cash in on the paranormal activity franchise (though the asylum did make one).  It was made under a different title in order to rip off The Exorcism of Emily Rose and later picked up and repackaged by a UK distributer and punted out on DVD as paranormal activity 3 was getting a pr push for its cinematic release.


----------



## passenger (Mar 25, 2015)

A film about of the last quarter century of the great British painter  Turner’s life.

Mr.Tuner staring, Timothy Spall


----------



## fishfinger (Mar 25, 2015)

passenger said:


> Mr.*Tuner* staring, Timothy Spall


Is that when he used to service pianos?


----------



## passenger (Mar 25, 2015)

no a painter


----------



## fishfinger (Mar 25, 2015)

passenger said:


> no a painter


What, he used to paint pianos? Surely, he'd have been called Mr. Painter.


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 27, 2015)

A shedload of old 'folk horror' stuff - concentrating on 70s BBC productions:

Robin Redbreast - fantastic (in the proper sense) play for today from 1970 that clearly had a big influence on the wickerman (though i suspect the original book the latter was based on had an influence on the former). All the tropes here - posh middle class urbanist moves to country and doesn't quite get it. Nice and creepy and a very sinister Bernard Hepton. The BFI re-released this with an excellent cover:







Dead of Night :The Exorcism - the 'class war ghost story' - another great creepy play from the BBC. This time with sell-out middle class labour party socialists not quite getting it. Terrible cover on the original and the BFI re-issue.

Against the Crowd: Muraain - and yet another play, this one from ATV -  _is she a witch or isn't she? _More social commentary in this one too.

The Pledge - early 80s short about highwaymen whoi have pledged to recover their dead comrades body. Very creepy indeed and like something Michael Reeves may have made.

Schalcken the Painter - one that the aficionados rate very highly (BBC play). Harder to get a grasp on the others in the same vein because of the choices the rather determined director made (i.e lots of tableau vivant style stuff rather than creepy toothless farmers being odd) - which didn't make it as effective to me. Felt like i was being winked at too much.

Stigma - one from the BBC's Ghost stories strand - mix of the very creepy and horrible and a rather weak ending to this one. Still  worth the watch.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 28, 2015)

The Lair of the White Worm. I can't believe Peter Capaldi was in this, he must look back and cringe so hard.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Mar 28, 2015)

Finally got round to watching Only Lovers Left Alive last night. Really enjoyed it. Adam was like a much moodier Spike  Tilda was majestic as always.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 28, 2015)

Filth - liked it up until the 'twist' at the end, which I didn't really buy.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 28, 2015)

Catch-22

Supposing everyone thought like that, Yossarian ?

The film of the book - whether or not you've read the book, I strongly recommend this one. It works better as a movie than a book, I think (but you should read the book anyway).

One of the best antiwar movies ever made, and certainly one of the most underrated movies to ever come out of Hollywood. Given that this was made decades before the CGI era, some of the stunts are truly impressive.

But the depiction of a madman who is the only sane person in a world that's mad itself is the centre of the story, and well played by Alan Arkin.

Also featuring Tony "shower scene in Psycho" Perkins as the chaplain.

I could go on and on about this one, but seriously just go and see it for yourself (and read the book as well).

"I have named the child Caleb, in accordance with your wishes" (a line from the book, btw).


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 28, 2015)

Major Major's father believed that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism.


----------



## tufty79 (Mar 28, 2015)

^^ one of my favourite books. Many many years since i last saw the film - will have to dig out a copy


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 28, 2015)

tufty79 said:


> ^^ one of my favourite books. Many many years since i last saw the film - will have to dig out a copy



My Da had a story about trying to buy the book in Cork in 1960s, and having the person behind the counter refuse to sell it to him on the grounds that it was filth, or some such reason (and my Da would have been very visibly over 18 at this point, btw).


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 28, 2015)

I also really love the particular effects you get with the sort of film stock and colour processes they were using then in the late 60s, early 70s, and which you can see in Catch-22, for example. I'm sure the hipsters all have fancy programmes that replicate the effects, but I suspect it's not the same.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 28, 2015)

It's also a much better film than MASH, which apparently beat it massively at the box office.


----------



## Voley (Mar 28, 2015)

'Citizenfour', Laura Poitras' excellent doc about Edward Snowden. 

Fly-on-the wall style that unfolds in Snowden's Hong Kong hotel room before, during and after he unleashes his revelations about the NSA on the world. Really compelling and very highly recommended.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 28, 2015)

After Bannockburn


Documentary (1st part). Following Robert the Bruce's invasion of English occupied Ireland. Fascinating, never heard of this period before, nor the bruces appeals to a kind of pan-gaelic nationalism.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Mar 28, 2015)

Paddington. Towards the end it got a bit too "peril heavy", but otherwise a really great film: funny and kind, and visually inventive.


----------



## D'wards (Mar 28, 2015)

Paddington too. Charming!


----------



## onenameshelley (Mar 28, 2015)

The book of life. Sweet and great animation. And all the candy skulls you could want.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 29, 2015)

Finished season 2 of Orange is the New Black.  Should have been better than the first season, but somehow wasn't.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Mar 29, 2015)

Watched a few films yesterday. 

White House Down. Cheesy action thing. Had Channing Tatum (sp) in it playing the hero. He's totally passed me by so far but he's pretty fit. Film wasn't bad for what it was. 

Followed that up with Deep Impact. I'd only ever watched it in bits and OH loves it. 

OH had never seen Do the Right Thing so we watched that. One of my fave films from when I was a kid. Interesting, and sad, to rewatch after Eric Garner, and in this country the recent verdicts on, Habib Ullah and Jimmy Mubenga.


----------



## Maharani (Mar 29, 2015)

Abigail's party. I'm a big Leigh fan and Steadman is outrageously good in it.


----------



## starfish (Mar 29, 2015)

Watched the last few episodes of series 2 of Tokyo Ghoul. I really hope there is a third one in the pipeline.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 29, 2015)

Precious - okay, a bit overrated (though Oscar type films usually are).


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 30, 2015)

AWOL: Absent Without Leave


Jean Claude Van Damme stars as a foreign legionnaire  who deserts to go hunt down people who burned his brother to a crisp. As is a common feature for Van Damme films, this involves lots of illegal fights, which he wins.

total crap, but worth it for the fights. 

so 1990 it hurts


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 30, 2015)

Wolf at the Door - fucking horrible Brazilian thriller. Not saying much more than that in case i ruin the thing. Very well made, well acted and director turns the tension up expertly whilst being clever enough to puncture or undermine it at the right time. But horrible.

The Ice Forest - great looking italian thriller set high up on the Italy-slovenia border in the height of winter. Again, well acted and that but runs out of steam in the 2nd half. Interesting failure.

Oh yeah and i tried that Robert Overlords one - jesus,what tripe.


----------



## The Boy (Mar 30, 2015)

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012).  Annoying American indie flick about some journalists investigating a guy who posted an small ad looking for a companion for time travel.  Horrible, mawkish tripe with a never-ending, twee nu-folk soundtrack.  Hateful characters you couldn't sympathise with.

Dark Skies (2013).  Suburban family start experiencing strange goings on which they believe is the result of aliens visiting their homes and messing with their children. Terrible.  Would have been better off just going for a low-rent horror of the sort churned out by The Asylum.


----------



## Looby (Mar 30, 2015)

poptyping said:


> Watched a few films yesterday.
> 
> White House Down. Cheesy action thing. Had Channing Tatum (sp) in it playing the hero. He's totally passed me by so far but he's pretty fit. Film wasn't bad for what it was.
> 
> Followed that up with Deep Impact. I'd only ever watched it in bits and OH loves.


I've watched a couple of Channing films recently. The Vow-romance with Rachel McAdams about a woman who loses her memory and 10 Years about a school reunion. I quite enjoyed both of them but I really don't get the Channing Tatum thing. I tend to go for skinny, indie boys so that's probably why. 

I bloody love Deep Impact. [emoji41]


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 30, 2015)

Iron Man 3. Much better than 2.
Looper; superior time travel yarn with Bruce Willis. Best thing he's done since the superior time travel yarn; 12 Monkeys.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 30, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Iron Man 3. Much better than 2.
> Looper; superior time travel yarn with Bruce Willis. Best thing he's done since the superior time travel yarn; 12 Monkeys.


There is a series of 12 Monkeys now. It isn't very good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 30, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> There is a series of 12 Monkeys now. It isn't very good.



Oh no


----------



## Thimble Queen (Mar 30, 2015)

sparklefish said:


> I've watched a couple of Channing films recently. The Vow-romance with Rachel McAdams about a woman who loses her memory and 10 Years about a school reunion. I quite enjoyed both of them but I really don't get the Channing Tatum thing. I tend to go for skinny, indie boys so that's probably why.
> 
> I bloody love Deep Impact. [emoji41]



Yeah me too on the skinny boys thing. Well normally def not muscles anyway. Something changed when I turned 30, now i go all funny when i see a hot man with muscles. Hormones?!


----------



## Thimble Queen (Mar 30, 2015)

Films from yesterday....

Grand Budapest Hotel. It was alright. I normally quite like Wed Anderson stuff but it was a bit blah.

Her. The lead character wasn't very likeable but I enjoyed the film overall.

Starred up. Really enjoyed this one. English film about a young man that gets transferred to the same prison as his Dad. It's pretty violent and dark so perfect for a Sunday  Prob enjoyed that one the most.


----------



## ringo (Mar 30, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Abigail's party. I'm a big Leigh fan and Steadman is outrageously good in it.



I keep meaning to watch this as we have Wings Of Love and everyone mentions it if they see it in our room.


----------



## ringo (Mar 30, 2015)

The Shipping News.

Didn't expect it to be as good as the book, and it's not, but great anyway. Nearly didn't get to see it as I didn't exactly sell it to Mrs R - er it's about this sort of misfit bloke who moves to Newfoundland and works for a newspaper


----------



## Thimble Queen (Mar 30, 2015)

Also watched Superman: Man of Steel last night. Better than expected.


----------



## Voley (Mar 30, 2015)

Calvary. Intriguing, this. Brendan Gleeson playing a priest who gets a death threat during confession. I'm not entirely sure it worked tbh - left me with more questions than answers but I really liked the lead character and Dylan Moran was pretty good in a straight role playing an out-and-out prick. I might watch it again sometime. One of those odd films that you're not sure if you enjoyed but you keep thinking about.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 31, 2015)

*The Lookout* (Michele Placido 2012) French crime flick that starts well but loses the plot.


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 1, 2015)

*22 Jump Street*

Surprisingly enjoyable and very meta in it's approach to being a sequel (which sometimes works and other times becomes a get out for it's own failings, as it's basically a re-tread of the first film). 

Ice Cube does good rage, Channing Tatum is actually amusing and the end credits are worth watching as they basically run through sequel ideas


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2015)

Quatermass IV -  Nigel Kneale's 4 hour 1979 version (later somehow cut down to 100 minutes for a film release). Bit of a mess and a wasted opp. Wrong casting and it looked like it was cobbled together from something forgotten about from 1967 and something from 1977 (i.e peace+love/punk nihilism).

However, i now know where mark e smith nicked the "lay lay lay" from Lay of the Land from - and that it's more likely to be "ley ley ley". And also Gretchen Franklin who was mentioned by Mark ("You Gretchen Franklin nosey matron thing") in Telephone Thing is also in it.


----------



## danny la rouge (Apr 2, 2015)

Michael Collins. With it being Easter.


----------



## Voley (Apr 2, 2015)

butchersapron said:
			
		

> Quatermass IV -  Nigel Kneale's 4 hour 1979 version (later somehow cut down to 100 minutes for a film release). Bit of a mess and a wasted opp. Wrong casting and it looked like it was cobbled together from something forgotten about from 1967 and something from 1977 (i.e peace+love/punk nihilism).
> 
> However, i now know where mark e smith nicked the "lay lay lay" from Lay of the Land from - and that it's more likely to be "ley ley ley". And also Gretchen Franklin who was mentioned by Mark ("You Gretchen Franklin nosey matron thing") in Telephone Thing is also in it.



Intriguing. The 'Lay Lay Lay' bit's not anywhere to be seen on this here internet thing is it? I do like having a vague idea wtf Mark's on about sometimes.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2015)

Voley said:


> Intriguing. The 'Lay Lay Lay' bit's not anywhere to be seen on this here internet thing is it? I do like having a vague idea wtf Mark's on about sometimes.


I did try to find the specific clips but no luck - however the full episodes are up so i shall pinpoint the sections and come back with the timings shortly.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2015)

Here from 43:28 and again throughout each time the planet people turn up - this bit is better actually. It later turns into leh (which we later learn means arm - i'm sure it was ley originally though as they're following ley lines).


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2015)

...and just for the sake of completeness, here's gretchen franklin from 1:54.

She even says '_oh arthur' _as she did in EE many times.


----------



## Voley (Apr 2, 2015)

Well that was fucking splendid, thankyou. 

Today has been a good day.


----------



## dessiato (Apr 2, 2015)

Last night I watched Machete, Machete Kills, Bedways, Sleeping Beauty and Quadrophenia. Today, so far, Apocalypse Now, and have more lined up for the rest of the day, although I've not decided which. Mrs D is in EDI, I'm here with nothing else to do.


----------



## Voley (Apr 2, 2015)

butchersapron said:
			
		

> Here from 43:28 and again throughout each time the planet people turn up - this bit is better actually. It later turns into leh (which we later learn means arm - i'm sure it was ley originally though as they're following ley lines).



Favelado btw. I know this will be an important revelation to you, too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 2, 2015)

dessiato said:


> Last night I watched Machete, Machete Kills, Bedways, Sleeping Beauty and Quadrophenia. Today, so far, Apocalypse Now, and have more lined up for the rest of the day, although I've not decided which. Mrs D is in EDI, I'm here with nothing else to do.


Kind of pointless post if you don't say owt about them


----------



## dessiato (Apr 2, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Kind of pointless post if you don't say owt about them


Machete and Machete Kills, good fun, B movies. Can't remember Bedways so it can't have been outstanding. 

Sleeping Beauty was interesting as it is the story of a student who gets involved in a brothel which doesn't allow its clients to have actual sex. The main character is drugged so that she sleeps through the encounters with the men. The start of the film is reminiscent of the Story of O, but it is not a BDSM film, and, although it appears that it is going to be a Story of O film, appart from the costumes it isn't. There is a second story line of the girl's relationship with a dying man. I'm not sure how I would recommend it. It kept my attention as the girl moved further into the alternative lifestyle. But the ending is inconclusive. 

Quadrophenia is one of my favourite fall back movies. I love the music and like the story and how the main character loses his connection with reality and his illusions are shattered.

Apocalypse Now is, IMO, one of the all time great movies. It works especially well on my projector and with the cinema sound turned on.

Nymphomaniac 1 & 2 have been watched. The story of the girl is really interesting. It is the tale of a woman who is connecting with her sexuality and is a nymphomaniac. Part 2 is the story of how she moves away from gratuitous sex and into debt collecting. She relates her stories to an academic man who is asexual. He relates a lot of her stories to either fishing or to his reading. They are interesting stories and films. Although the films, together, are long I'd suggest giving them a look.

Settling down to some more this afternoon.

Maybe I've overdosed on films. So far this week I'm at about 48 hours of movies.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 2, 2015)

Captain Phillips.
Four young Somali men, led by the excellent Barkhad Abdi, try to feed their families by hijacking a ship captained by arrogant bellend Tom Hanks, only to fail miserably. Utterly depressing. Rubbish title.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 2, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> He was 105 years old when he made that.



They've just announced his death at the grand old age of 106.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2015)

Made his first film before Hitler came to power made his last while Obama was US president.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 2, 2015)

Is this Manuel De Oliveirra?


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 2, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Is this Manuel De Oliveirra?


Yep.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 2, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> AWOL: Absent Without Leave
> 
> 
> Jean Claude Van Damme stars as a foreign legionnaire  who deserts to go hunt down people who burned his brother to a crisp. As is a common feature for Van Damme films, this involves lots of illegal fights, which he wins.
> ...


Ah this was a staple of the soap bar addled nights of my youth. Can't remember a damn thing about it. Which one is it where dolf lundgren wears a necklace of ears?


----------



## Voley (Apr 2, 2015)

Crispy said:


> Which one is it where dolf lundgren wears a necklace of ears?


----------



## Voley (Apr 2, 2015)

20 Feet from Stardom

A great doc about backing singers who, more often than not, are shitloads better than the people they're backing. There's a bit in it with Merry Clayton singing on 'Gimme Shelter' that's just wonderful.



I'll be honest - I'd heard her name before but that's it. And she sang on one of the best songs I've ever heard. By anyone, ever.

Great film.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 3, 2015)

Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters 

Brainless, but actually very good fun and more enjoyable than any other action/fantasy/horror I can remember recently.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 3, 2015)

Crispy said:


> Which one is it where dolf lundgren wears a necklace of ears?



Universal soldiers.


----------



## Supine (Apr 3, 2015)

Citizenfour - This is an amazing docu film. Fly on the wall camera as edward snowden first meets journalists in Hong Kong and then they start releasing secrets. I'm amazed this footage exists. A rare 10 security protocols breached out of 10. 

As recommended on this thread


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 3, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Universal soldiers.


Universal Soldier. <pendant>


----------



## The Boy (Apr 3, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Universal Soldier. <pendant>


Autocorrect fucked me.  Hard.

Anyway, finished catching up with Better Call Saul.  Also  Grabbers (2012).  A fun enough horror comedy about a group of people on a remote irish island who have to lock themselves in the pub when scary sea aliens invade.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 3, 2015)

Black Swan. Like a lot of Aronofsky films, both brilliantly gripping and intensely annoying  Mr K agreed that in many ways it could just have been a woman shouting PERIODS PERIODS PERIODS!!!!!!!! at the screen. Really well made though.


----------



## Voley (Apr 3, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Black Swan. Like a lot of Aronofsky films, both brilliantly gripping and intensely annoying  Mr K agreed that in many ways it could just have been a woman shouting PERIODS PERIODS PERIODS!!!!!!!! at the screen. Really well made though.


 You don't get incisive criticism like that from Mark Kermode now, do you? 

I really enjoyed Black Swan though.


----------



## Voley (Apr 3, 2015)

I mostly enjoyed it because a mate of mine at work took her Auntie to see it thinking it'd be a ballet or something. With hilarious consequences.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 3, 2015)

Pretty much my only memory of watching Black Swan is how much I needed a wee at the time.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 3, 2015)

Voley said:


> You don't get incisive criticism like that from Mark Kermode now, do you?



Hehe  you know what I mean though. Femaleness viewed through the lens of someone who basically thinks the lives of women together are nothing but pillow fights and hair pulling. Bless his mystified little heart.


----------



## Voley (Apr 3, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Hehe  you know what I mean though. Femaleness viewed through the lens of someone who basically thinks the lives of women together are nothing but pillow fights and hair pulling. Bless his mystified little heart.


I do, totally. You're better than Kermode. Seriously.


----------



## Voley (Apr 4, 2015)

Fucking hell, May, you've really made laugh tonight.  Fucking spot on.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 4, 2015)

Sleep Tight, shown recently on BBC4.  Spanish suspense thriller/psycho character study in the manner of Hitchcock or Polanski and very highly recommended.  



Ah, just found out it's by the same guy who directed [REC].


----------



## magneze (Apr 5, 2015)

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Pretty decent film for a third sequel especially considering how the trilogy was split into four. Could have done with a "previously" bit at the beginning though as I'd totally forgotten what happened in the second film.

Safety Not Guaranteed
Fantastic little comedy. Well worth seeking out.

Jeff, Who Lives At Home
Feelgood film. Not as good as the above two but passes the time pleasantly enough.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 5, 2015)

sound of my voice (2011).  Two documentary film makers infiltrate a cult lead by a woman who claims to be from the future.  One of the guys starts going native.  

One of the dullest films I've seen.  Not in a "god, this is shit" kind of way.  It's just fucking dull.  Trying to be artsy but missing the target.  And when it looks like it might get interesting, it ends.

Les Revenants.  Only watched episode 1, and my French is now so poor I can't browse the internet while listening.  Shows a lot of promise.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 5, 2015)

The Octagon said:


> *22 Jump Street*
> 
> Surprisingly enjoyable and very meta in it's approach to being a sequel (which sometimes works and other times becomes a get out for it's own failings, as it's basically a re-tread of the first film).
> 
> Ice Cube does good rage, Channing Tatum is actually amusing and the end credits are worth watching as they basically run through sequel ideas


Enjoyed both the jump Street films.  Complete fluff, but they do what they do very well.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 5, 2015)

magneze said:


> Safety Not Guaranteed
> Fantastic little comedy. Well worth seeking out.



A complete opposite of my review up thread.  Think it might be an acquired taste.  Or I'm just wrong.


----------



## magneze (Apr 5, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Safety Not Guaranteed (2012).  Annoying American indie flick about some journalists investigating a guy who posted an small ad looking for a companion for time travel.  Horrible, mawkish tripe with a never-ending, twee nu-folk soundtrack.  Hateful characters you couldn't sympathise with





magneze said:


> Safety Not Guaranteed
> Fantastic little comedy. Well worth seeking out.


   Well I liked it. Didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised.


----------



## Looby (Apr 5, 2015)

Voley said:


> You don't get incisive criticism like that from Mark Kermode now, do you?
> 
> I really enjoyed Black Swan though.



Did you see Kermode yesterday on BBC news? He and Esler were chatting about biros not realising they were on air. It went on for aaages. [emoji1]

I'm watching Pitch Perfect, again! It's just brilliant, it makes me want to dance around and join a glee club. It also features this classic-


[emoji41]


----------



## starfish (Apr 5, 2015)

Interstellar. I thought it was meant to be one of the greatest films of our time the way people had talked about it. Turns out it was just a load of cheesy old w@nk.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 5, 2015)

magneze said:


> Well I liked it. Didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised.


I might just have been in a bad mood, tbf.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> it was good to have a northern woman as a baddy in such a film, it added to the surreal edge



Watched it last night,  and I kept thinking "that looks like Tilda Swinton".

Imagine my surprise when, on watching the credits, I discovered that it actually was Tilda Swinton.

An interesting episode in South Korea's quest for total world cultural hegemony.

Better than I expected, to be honest.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 6, 2015)

A northern woman! It's a very posh southern private school oxbridge marxist being really rather shit.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> A northern woman! It's a very posh southern private school oxbridge marxist being really rather shit.




Yes, and? I've never thought of TS as one of the great luvvies of our time (she was alright as the corporate lawyer villainess in that George Clooney movie, I suppose), so I'm not bothered either way.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2015)

And I didn't recognize Ewen Bremner at all. 

Also, it was much better than Elysium, surely you can agree with that?


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 6, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes, and? I've never thought of TS as one of the great luvvies of our time (she was alright as the corporate lawyer villainess in that George Clooney movie, I suppose), so I'm not bothered either way.


Luvvy as fuck.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Luvvy as fuck.



Can't we all just get along?


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 6, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> And I didn't recognize Ewen Bremner at all.
> 
> Also, it was much better than Elysium, surely you can agree with that?


I know i've seen that but can't remember anything at all about it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I know i've seen that but can't remember anything at all about it.



Matt Damon vs. the 1%. He journeys to outer space to make the ruling class taste the cold steel of revolution (not really).


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 6, 2015)

did  good in 'only lovers left alive' recently though


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 7, 2015)

*A Touch of Sin *- Chinese movie directed by Jia Zhangke, already discussed on this thread. It wasn't quite as gripping as I had thought it would be tbh; for me the deliberately jarring and confusing mishmash of styles in acting made it a bit unclear if it was meant to be farce, tragedy, expose or what. And I just didn't understand what the hell was going on at times.

However, given that it's a very daring (and still banned in China iirc) movie about the internal contradictions of Chinese society right now, and people cracking under the strain and going completely bonkers, all that might be deliberate. I don't totally get on with Jia Zhangke, I found some of the earlier stuff infuriatingly slow and chilly, but this certainly has moments of terrific directorial technique and a lot of interesting things to say (I'm just not sure I understood them.) I think a lot of it is/was referring to cases famous or infamous in China which aren't as well known abroad. Overall: 7.5/10 (and I was expecting it to be a 9 or over given the reviews.)


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 7, 2015)

Good Vibrations - idealist opens record store in Belfast during the "troubles".

The China Syndrome - 70s thriller, followed a couple of weeks later by the Three Mile Island accident, Michael Douglas in groovy threads and Jack Lemmon; excellent as ever.


----------



## magneze (Apr 7, 2015)

Intersteller
Didn't really like it until Matt Damon's character turned up then it seemed to just switch up a gear and get started. So much of it didn't ring true - not just the science but the relationships between the characters. In the end it was all about love. Hmmm. It's entertaining enough especially in the last hour but it's not the most amazing sci-fi ever or whatever it's been billed as.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 7, 2015)

magneze said:


> Intersteller
> Didn't really like it until Matt Damon's character turned up then it seemed to just switch up a gear and get started. So much of it didn't ring true - not just the science but the relationships between the characters. In the end it was all about love. Hmmm. It's entertaining enough especially in the last hour but it's not the most amazing sci-fi ever or whatever it's been billed as.



literally three night in a row now I have fallen asleep before the coming of Damon. I didn't even know he is in it.

Mconoughays southern drawl has a soporific effect on me. It's like he's talking you into a fugue state


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 7, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> literally three night in a row now I have fallen asleep before the coming of Damon. I didn't even know he is in it.


Bad dvd etiquette.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 7, 2015)

Masaki Koboyashi's The Human Condition trilogy, masterful film making for sure but at 10 hours long not an experience I'll repeat again in a hurry.


----------



## magneze (Apr 7, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> literally three night in a row now I have fallen asleep before the coming of Damon. I didn't even know he is in it.


It's pretty ponderous before then and what's the point of the robots? Just utterly crap and useless.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 7, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> literally three night in a row now I have fallen asleep before the coming of Damon. I didn't even know he is in it.
> 
> Mconoughays southern drawl has a soporific effect on me. It's like he's talking you into a fugue state


Do your research mate. I try to IMDb before a film these days, so as to avoid stopping the film every five minutes.


----------



## belboid (Apr 7, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Do your research mate. I try to IMDb before a film these days, so as to avoid stopping the film every five minutes.


which kinda ruins the surprise when you're not meant to know someones in it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 7, 2015)

but people have eulogised it as not the answer but a response to kubriks 2001 so I feel I should finish it if only to be able to point out that this is nonsense hyperbole.

e2a

the square robots with attitude are funny in a good way


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 7, 2015)

belboid said:


> which kinda ruins the surprise when you're not meant to know someones in it.


My need to know trumps my need to be surprised. I always used to read the synopsis is S&S too.  had to stop buying it.


----------



## belboid (Apr 7, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> My need to know trumps my need to be surprised. I always used to read the synopsis is S&S too.  had to stop buying it.


It's (S&S) not as bad as it used to be, the complete reviews are more avoidable now.  I try and show some patience, remember to google when I get home/once its over


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 7, 2015)

belboid said:


> It's (S&S) not as bad as it used to be, the complete reviews are more avoidable now.  I try and show some patience, remember to google when I get home/once its over


I yearn for such self-control. I just started S3 of Parks & Recreation but had to do a bit of skimming just to find out if two characters were going to get it together or not.


----------



## belboid (Apr 7, 2015)

too often I tried to look up a character in Mad Men, and then discovered they die in the next episode, or somesuch.  Cant let it happen again


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 7, 2015)

belboid said:


> too often I tried to look up a character in Mad Men, and then discovered they die in the next episode, or somesuch.  Cant let it happen again


I'm not that fussed about knowing tbh.
I always had to sneak a peak at my Xmas present early, so I think it's too deeply ingrained now to stop finding out stuff beforehand.


----------



## belboid (Apr 7, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> I'm not that fussed about knowing tbh.
> I always had to sneak a peak at my Xmas present early, so I think it's too deeply ingrained now to stop finding out stuff beforehand.


all too often ruins a film, imo.  I spent the last hour of Foxcatcher waiting for [that thing that happens] to happen. Deffo spoiled it for me


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 7, 2015)

its the spoileration issue again, everyone has there lines. Me, I'm more interested in the execution of the plot than the details of it mainly. Theres only so many ways things can go in a story anyway.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 7, 2015)

belboid said:


> all too often ruins a film, imo.  I spent the last hour of Foxcatcher waiting for [that thing that happens] to happen. Deffo spoiled it for me


If it's a historical event like that I couldn't give a stuff


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 7, 2015)

Short Term 12. Set in an American children's home. I was a bit dubious at first but it's really good, really well done I thought.

On Netflix for those that have it...otherwise torrents.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 7, 2015)

Up to the last episode of Les Revenants (season 1).  I got more into it as the season went on, but it has gone a little odd.

edit:  feels a bit like it needed an extra two or three episodes tbh.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Apr 7, 2015)

I've just acquired the complete West Wing, and I'm getting through them at a fair clip. It's great stuff. Not sure how I missed it back in the day.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 9, 2015)

Finished Better Call Saul.  Was decent.

Also, The Burrowers (2008).  Above average straight-to-DVD Horror/Western effort about a group of frontiersman searching for a family they believe have been taken by native Americans.  As the name suggests, it was actually the work of underground beasties.  Looks good for such a low budget film.  Apart from the monsters - they look shit.  And some of the acting is woeful.  Worth a watch though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 9, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> but people have eulogised it as not the answer but a response to kubriks 2001 so I feel I should finish it if only to be able to point out that this is nonsense hyperbole.
> 
> e2a
> 
> the square robots with attitude are funny in a good way



It's not 2001 or Solaris. Or even the Clooney Solaris. But I'd put it in the same category as AI. Which I also enjoyed.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 9, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> It's not 2001 or Solaris. Or even the Clooney Solaris. But I'd put it in the same category as AI. Which I also enjoyed.


AI was strange, I was set up not to like it as I don't like osmond or the robojigalo but somehow it was just visually stunning enough to win me over. Not one I'll watch again though, but a decent enough slice of sci fi


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 9, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> AI was strange, I was set up not to like it as I don't like osmond or the robojigalo but somehow it was just visually stunning enough to win me over. Not one I'll watch again though, but a decent enough slice of sci fi


Certainly one of Spielberg's most interesting "failure".


----------



## yardbird (Apr 9, 2015)

True Detective
I've just started watching it again.
It is just superb, each episode crafted and standing alone as well as part of the whole.
And the T Bone Burnett music is ace.


----------



## starfish (Apr 10, 2015)

Watched Dredd again last night. They really should make another one.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 11, 2015)

Phantoms (1998).  Lady takes her sister for a retreat at the sleepy ski resort town where she lives, but they find that everyone is either dead or missing.  Based on a dean Koontz novel.

First half was a decent enough creepy horror flick with some atmosphere in spite of its flaws.  Then it descended into a typical alien-themed action movie type affair along with the usual nonsense like whole chunks of dialogue who's sole purpose is to move the plot along.  And the whole standoff with the alien thing that goes on for ever. Pete O'Toole though.

Pretty meh overall.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 11, 2015)

starfish said:


> Watched Dredd again last night. They really should make another one.


only this time with humour. One thing that stallones dredd did manage- both in the schlocky cheap 90s looking scenery and the odd aside- was a bit of the comics often sick surreal flourishes of visual and spoken humour.

Karl Urban wears the helm much better than stallone though. Stallones 'I am the Law!' line was delivered with not enough quasi fascsit conviction


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 12, 2015)

Sexy Beast

off the back of that massive diamond heist they pulled in london the other day.

Just as good as recalled. Obviously Kingsleys Don Logan is a matter of legend but I had forgoten Ray Winstones ageing hardman was also good. Also: how did I not spot the first time round that he had palmed a little jewellery for himself? Years I thought Lovejoy waved him off with a tenner.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 12, 2015)

some needlessly surreal dream sequences that added nothing mind


----------



## starfish (Apr 12, 2015)

Birdman. Well acted, good story, great soundtrack. Was not bad at all.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 12, 2015)

Pilot episode of The Americans. Much better than I expected. 1981 Washington DC didn't look as alien as it might have done, so maybe the art direction could use some work - but the plot, script, tension etc. all very well done. And very politically interesting, in that not only are the two deep-cover KGB agents presented sympathetically, they're also pretty much designated the good guys.

Of course, all these things (Breaking Bad especially, but also the Sopranos and Mad Men) are wish-fulfilment fantasies for the harassed and worried white-collar wage slaves who populate contemporary American suburbia. But this show manages to overcome the limitations inherent in that.

And then - To Be or Not To Be.

Later remade with Mel Brooks, this is the wartime original. It's the story of a troupe of Actors who find themselves trapped in Poland after the occupation. Discovering that a double agent has arrived in Warsaw with a list of names of the resistance, they have to use their dramaturgical talents to, amongst other things, imitate Der Fuhrer himself. Great fun altogether. Carole Lombarde as the love interest.


----------



## Voley (Apr 12, 2015)

The Babadook. Genuinely spooky at first but went on a bit, then I fell asleep. People I watched it with said the end was good though so I will finish it at some point.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 13, 2015)

Affliction (2014). Found footage film that I hadn't seen before.  Ultra low budget story about two friends who go on a round the world trip which they document in an online interactive project.  Apart from them being annoying dicks, it's a decent enough effort - although it does have is issues as you would expect from a straight-to-streaming effort.  

The set-up does also to an extent deal with the problem of presenting amateur found footage in the style of a regular movie.  Basic plot is that one of the characters falls ill and starts experiencing odd physical changes.  Horror ensues.


----------



## belboid (Apr 13, 2015)

_Drifting Clouds_ - the first part of genius Aki Kaurismaki's Finnish trilogy.  Not quite as good as the follow up, the stupendous Man Without A Past, but still a wonderful portrait of life in a depressed Helsinki, centred around a woman who loses her job as a head waitress and then tries to make ends meet. Wonderfully human and humane.

Orange Is The New Black - yes, a little late to the picnic, and I hadn't realised it was written by yer _Weeds _woman, which explained why it was far more comic than I'd imagined, and solves its problems a little too easily.  That said, it's a great watch, with largely believable characters and situations. Well worth keeping up with.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 13, 2015)

Couple of episodes of Sky Arts' latest attempt to prove they're oh so down with European arty telly (well, sort of), an Italian series called *1992 *which purports to be a look at the Tangentopoli scandal, corruption, bent coppers, dubious TV game shows and all of the dirt of Italian politics in that era. (it's all totally different now, of course ...)

Bit hard to tell at this point what is really going on and what its own politics are  - if it even has any, other than 'politicians are all a bunch of devious robbing bastards, so don't bother paying your taxes').

Plenty of cringingly uncomfortable commercial/mercenary sex scenes and leching over adolescent female flesh, though I think the show authors are really wanting to have their cake and eat it by making it all so cringey you can feel properly condemnatory and "Shocked, shocked!" by it all. It looks good, has a good soundtrack, many of the cast are very easy on the eye and some of the acting is not bad either.  I'll carry on, for now.


----------



## ringo (Apr 14, 2015)

All This Mayhem

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2938416/

Great documentary from the makers of Senna and Exit Through The Gift Shop I'd been looking forward to for ages and it really lived up to my expectations. Brothers Tas and Ben Pappas were two rough edged young Melbourne skateboarders who at one point managed to nudge Tony Hawk off the top spot to be the number one and two skaters in the world before their lives descended into a nightmare of drugs, prison, murder and death. Highly recommended.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Apr 14, 2015)

The 4th episode of Daredevil on Netflix. Damn, it's good so far!


----------



## mwgdrwg (Apr 14, 2015)

magneze said:


> Intersteller
> Didn't really like it until Matt Damon's character turned up then it seemed to just switch up a gear and get started. ...



Lol, that's the bit I started not enjoying it.


----------



## Voley (Apr 14, 2015)

ringo said:
			
		

> All This Mayhem
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2938416/
> 
> Great documentary from the makers of Senna and Exit Through The Gift Shop I'd been looking forward to for ages and it really lived up to my anticipation. Tas and Ben Pappas were two rough edged young Melbourne skateboarders who at one point managed to nudge Tony Hawk off the top spot to be the number one and two skaters in the world before their lives descended into a nightmare of drugs, prison, murder and death. Highly recommended.



Never heard of that before, ringo. Sounds good, ta.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 14, 2015)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015).   Netflix series about a woman who is rescued from a doomsday cult and decides to make a new life for herself in New York.   Watched the whole series in two days.  Proper laugh out loud funny.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 15, 2015)

mwgdrwg said:


> The 4th episode of Daredevil on Netflix. Damn, it's good so far!



Is it worth it? I gave up on Green Arrow halfway through season 1 and same for Gotham...


----------



## Pickman's model (Apr 15, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Is it worth it? I gave up on Green Arrow halfway through season 1 and same for Gotham...


i am better pleased now i know you no longer watch gotham


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 15, 2015)

Pickman's model said:


> i am better pleased now i know you no longer watch gotham


----------



## mwgdrwg (Apr 15, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Is it worth it? I gave up on Green Arrow halfway through season 1 and same for Gotham...



Haven't seen Green Arrow (but I watch The Flash, and enjoy that because it's light and funny and I can watch it with my boy).

I watched quite a few episodes of Gotham before giving up too. Daredevil is in a different league!

The characters are great, but In particular the fight scenes are just fantastic. Grim and violent, and very very well choreographed.

Seen 6 episodes now, geniune tension and "I must see what happens next" feels, love it!


----------



## oneunder (Apr 15, 2015)

I thought this was excellent.  Its an emotional one
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2936180/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_2

* Far from Men*
*A French teacher in a small Algerian village during the Algerian War forms an unexpected bond with a dissident, and is then ordered to turn him in to the authorities*


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 17, 2015)

*Penny Dreadful, s1. *Liked it a lot, far more than I was expecting to, because this postmodern monster-munch thing of mashing all the horror stories together doesn't really appeal to me - surely each one conjures and deserves its own particular ambience?

But this series sort of carries it off (wolfman + Dracula + Frankenstein + Dorian Gray + La Boheme (maybe) + jack the ripper +probably some Mummy action to come), with tremendous art direction, some cracking performances (Eva Green, Timothy Dalton and Roy Kinnear are all EXCELLENT), and plenty of sly wit and audience-teasing in the dialogue. Plus some proper actual WTF moments.  It looks consistently amazing throughout. It's not high art but it's much much MUCH better and more intelligent than (for instance) the Jonathan Rhys Myers Dracula reboot. There are moments when it all gets very arch and meta indeed.

Well worth your time, imho.

 There's only one real bum note: Billie Piper, acting atrociously (as usual) as a prostitute (as usual.)


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 18, 2015)

John Wick.   Keanu kicks ass as a retired killer who comes back for vengeance.

Very watch-able.   Good soundtrack, nice visuals, good action.

Judo-headshot!  Aikido-headhsot! Punching-headhsot! Somachshot - headshot!

Seriously he does a lot of headshots.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Apr 18, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Seriously he does a lot of headshots.



Double-tap-tastic! The best dead puppy revenge film?


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 18, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Double-tap-tastic! The best dead puppy revenge film?


As far as I can remember.  All the other puppies live in revenge films, don't they?


----------



## golightly (Apr 19, 2015)

Boys don't cry.

Probably the most engaging queer/transgender film I've seen.  It had tragedy written all over it from the beginning but it was clear that Brandon wasn't a tragic character; it was the bigotry that was tragic. Don't know why I didn't go and see it 16 years ago.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 19, 2015)

*Olympus Has Fallen* (Antoine Fuqua 2012) Ludicrous action movie in which the North Koreans seize the White House and one man takes it back.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 19, 2015)

ringo said:


> All This Mayhem
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2938416/
> 
> Great documentary from the makers of Senna and Exit Through The Gift Shop I'd been looking forward to for ages and it really lived up to my expectations. Brothers Tas and Ben Pappas were two rough edged young Melbourne skateboarders who at one point managed to nudge Tony Hawk off the top spot to be the number one and two skaters in the world before their lives descended into a nightmare of drugs, prison, murder and death. Highly recommended.



Just about to put it on..

On a similar tip...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271211/


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 19, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Olympus Has Fallen* (Antoine Fuqua 2012) Ludicrous action movie in which the North Koreans seize the White House and one man takes it back.


Well obviously it's ludicrous...but what's the action like?


----------



## starfish (Apr 19, 2015)

X Men Origins that was on TV. Enjoyable hokum that wasn't ruined by ms starfish pointing out the huge plot whole that while Mutants can bend metal & do all the shit they can do, none of them can fix broken bones.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Apr 19, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Well obviously it's ludicrous...but what's the action like?



Pretty po-faced, imo. White House Down, which has a near-identical plot, is much more fun.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 19, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Pretty po-faced, imo. White House Down, which has a near-identical plot, is much more fun.


Ah well.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 19, 2015)

The Drop - slow based yet gripping thriller set in the hapless world of illegal money


----------



## starfish (Apr 19, 2015)

Finally got round to watching Game of Thrones. Don't get what the fuss is all about.


----------



## sovereignb (Apr 20, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> The Drop - slow based yet gripping thriller set in the hapless world of illegal money



Just watched this too. Was quite disappointed to be honest...much preferred The Town, which others have compared it to.


----------



## ringo (Apr 20, 2015)

Chip Barm said:


> Just about to put it on..
> 
> On a similar tip...
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271211/



Oh ta much, I've never seen it, and had completely forgotten it existed. Not on crappy Netflix or Amazon Prime so I've just bought a copy, as well as this, which I've meant to pick up:







I skated with Hosoi a couple of times in '88, once a kerb session in Venice Beach and the other doing some sketchy downhill on the streets of San Francisco - it was like he was made of liquid steel


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 20, 2015)

Another two episodes of the Americans season one. It's not bad, and I think I'll stick with it, but it is transparently obvious that it's a way to talk about the various fears that beset suburban white America, and I do mean white.



Spoiler: spoiler for episode 2, season 1, "The Clock"



Like the scene where the wee Russian lad fights, and gets the better of, an African-American guy twice his size.



Then, later - Peter Weir's _The Last Wave. _Remember the scene with the tree rings in _Vertigo _("here I was born, and here I died")? Remember how eerie and creepy it was? Well, this is a whole film like that. A lawyer in 70s Sydney experiences increasingly bizarre dreams, at the same time as he takes on the case of some Aboriginals accused of the manslaughter of one of their friends. He quickly finds that he has got in over his head, and in a mystical direction.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 20, 2015)

Fifty Dead Men Walking. The based-on-true-events story of an IRA informant

Ben Kingsley plays the handler


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Fifty Dead Men Walking. The based-on-true-events story of an IRA informant
> 
> Ben Kingsley plays the handler



Not bad for what it was, I thought.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 20, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Not bad for what it was, I thought.


tad simplistic in its politics but it told a story well enough. 70s belfast looks grim


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> tad simplistic in its politics but it told a story well enough. 70s belfast looks grim



When I was watching Good Vibrations, the Teri Hooley film (definitely worth your attention, by the way), I thought "wow, they really did well recreating the look of 70s Belfast". Then I realised that Belfast still looks like that.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 20, 2015)

*The Iceman *- Michael Shannon is very very good as a stone-cold Mafia hitman, but the movie around him is murky, confused and derivative. (The "revelation" of his abusive childhood is pretty grimly predictable.)The cast is very high-calibre throughout in fact: Winona Ryder is OK as his wife, Ray Liotta is, effectively, Ray Liotta again as a hot-tempered mob boss, James Franco gets a cameo as yet another hit victim. There's lots of killing but very little excitement - it's all so murky and low-key that you don't get much sense of tension, or a plot. Not quite sure how a movie about a guy who whacked at least 100-250 people could be dull but it is, a bit.

*Untouchable *(aka _Les Intouchables _in France and _The Intouchables- _neither English or French! in the US). It's basically _The Diving Bell and the Butterfly _mashed up with _Driving Miss Daisy _set in France. Quadriplegic French aristocrat hires semi-criminal welfare claimant from the banlieue to be his carer. Inevitably, they bond, over big spliffs, irresponsible driving in fast cars, commercial sex and other luxury thrills. Some of the humour/banter is agreeably bitter and harsh ... are you surprised that the veyr highlight of a French film is is sarcasm? ... but much of it is groaningly clichéd (oh, look at that 'street' guy liven up all the aristocratic stiffs at a stuffy birthday party with his capering dance routine!). Its politics are all over the place and the attitude to women in particular really stinks. But it does have its moments and Omar Sy is a charismatic actor even when his character's being annoying on every level.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 20, 2015)

Ray Liotta - proof that typecasting means regular work.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Apr 20, 2015)

starfish said:


> Watched Dredd again last night. They really should make another one.



Karl Urban does Ol' Stony-face better than that mumbling muscle-bound mutt Stallone did. I'd love to see another one too, perhaps  the Judge Cal saga?


----------



## ViolentPanda (Apr 20, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Is it worth it? I gave up on Green Arrow halfway through season 1 and same for Gotham...



TBF Arrow pissed me off with the jumping backward and forward, but it kind of pays off for season 2, and the flashbacks were less intrusive.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Apr 20, 2015)

Not last night but Saturday - Northern Soul. It was pretty good but I wouldn't buy it or watch it again, I don't think. Expected more for some reason.


----------



## passenger (Apr 20, 2015)

,71 film about a British solder who goes missing 
in Belfast during the troubles if your feeling 
a bit low, don`t watch it, but i liked it .


----------



## starfish (Apr 20, 2015)

ViolentPanda said:


> Karl Urban does Ol' Stony-face better than that mumbling muscle-bound mutt Stallone did. I'd love to see another one too, perhaps  the Judge Cal saga?


Stallone did deserve to play Dredd first though. I can remember reading that Carlos Ezquerra did base Dredds jaw/mouth on Stallones.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 20, 2015)

ringo said:


> Oh ta much, I've never seen it, and had completely forgotten it existed. Not on crappy Netflix or Amazon Prime so I've just bought a copy, as well as this, which I've meant to pick up:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Hmm, I've a mate who used to ride Hosoi's ramp probably similar times.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 21, 2015)

I'm doing a watch of Troubles era films in conjunction with reading some pretty grim and murky histories. Last night was '71. Talk about a nightmare for that bloke. Will have to watch last half again as kept nodding off (2am  ).  The obvious choice for tonight is In the Name of The Father. Might have to watch Jupiter Ascending first though


----------



## ViolentPanda (Apr 21, 2015)

starfish said:


> Stallone did deserve to play Dredd first though. I can remember reading that Carlos Ezquerra did base Dredds jaw/mouth on Stallones.



Thought he based it on Spaghetti Western-era Eastwood?


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 21, 2015)

ViolentPanda said:


> Thought he based it on Spaghetti Western-era Eastwood?



That's what I thought. Mad Max was also an influence, I believe.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 21, 2015)

starfish said:


> Finally got round to watching Game of Thrones. Don't get what the fuss is all about.



All 4 seasons?


----------



## belboid (Apr 21, 2015)

ViolentPanda said:


> Thought he based it on Spaghetti Western-era Eastwood?


David Carradine, Death Race 2000


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 21, 2015)

stath did a shit remake of that^


----------



## Belushi (Apr 21, 2015)

*Neighbouring Sounds* (Kleber Mendonca Filho 2012) layered portrayal of bourgeoise fears in a fast changing Brazil.


----------



## starfish (Apr 21, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> All 4 seasons?


Nah, just the first 3 episodes  I might persevere with it though.


----------



## starfish (Apr 21, 2015)

ViolentPanda said:


> Thought he based it on Spaghetti Western-era Eastwood?


I think there were a few influences on the character design but am pretty certain mouth/jaw was Stallone.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 22, 2015)

Jupiter Ascending. The plot was by the numbers space opera guff but it looked amazing. one chase sequence alone is worth the ticket price


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 22, 2015)

starfish said:


> Nah, just the first 3 episodes  I might persevere with it though.



I highly recommend it!


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 22, 2015)

I saw Dirty Dancing with keithy and wtfftw - highly recommended. (watching a film with keithy and wtfftw , that is. Not Dirty Dancing, which is a silly film).


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 24, 2015)

I signed up for a free months membership of NetFlix. To be honest, i have more stuff unwatched on my external storage than what they are offering.
But i did come across SILK, (sounds dirty but it's a courtroom drama and i think it's very good.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_(TV_series)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1717455/


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 24, 2015)

God Help the Girl.

Or"the Belle and Sebastian" story. Well, maybe not quite that, but not far off it.  There's a lot of redemption	by the power of indie pop going on here.

You've heard of PFWC? Well this movie is PFMC, proper fucking middle class.

I liked it, you may not. . .


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 25, 2015)

Looper.

Totally not what I thought it would be - really emotional, I loved it.


----------



## starfish (Apr 25, 2015)

The Yellow Sea. Rather ultra-violent Korean film about a taxi driver who takes an assassination job to pay off his debts.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 25, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Looper.
> 
> Totally not what I thought it would be - really emotional, I loved it.






Spoiler: looper



the bloke slowly haviong bits dissapear as they cut his youngerself up is proper grim. His mewling at the door all stumpy then gunshot mercy. Has featured in nightmares for me


----------



## blossie33 (Apr 26, 2015)

starfish said:


> The Yellow Sea. Rather ultra-violent Korean film about a taxi driver who takes an assassination job to pay off his debts.



I saw that at the cinema, thought it was very good, despite the violence which I don't particularly like in films.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 26, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Spoiler: looper
> 
> 
> 
> the bloke slowly haviong bits dissapear as they cut his youngerself up is proper grim. His mewling at the door all stumpy then gunshot mercy. Has featured in nightmares for me



Yes, agreed! But how refreshing to see a film that includes such things end up making a plea for the importance of nurturing. It was stylishly shot but there was no revelling in the grimness there, I thought.


----------



## yardbird (Apr 26, 2015)

American Hustle
Good, but not as good as House of Games.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 26, 2015)

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Miller really is a bellend. Liked for the visual style and the combat. See, noir, even seen through a comic book pastiche lens, should be using the sex, violence and psuedo-marlowe monolouging as spice. Not as the whole fucking point.


----------



## Voley (Apr 26, 2015)

I watched the latest Hobbit on Friday. It weren't bad, but after the last one my expectations weren't exactly high. The bit with Cate Blanchett, Elrond and Saruman battling the Necromancer was good and I enjoyed the hour long battle at the end. It all looked very pretty on a HD telly and what-have-you but it ain't the Lord Of The Rings is it?

After that I gave Game of Thrones a go for the second time. Didn't grab me first time I watched it but I've seen four hours of it now and I'm enjoying it. I managed to get Sky for free this weekend and it's all on there for nowt so I thought I'd at least give it one more go.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 26, 2015)

*Howl* (Jeffrey Friedman 2011) messy biopic about Allen Ginsberg and his most famous work.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 26, 2015)

*Boyhood * Excellent central performances but boy, is it long


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 26, 2015)

*When the Last Sword is Drawn *(fnarf) on Netflix … a reaaaaally long and slightly disconcerting tale of a penniless but honourable samurai during the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan (sort of overlapping with the era and events depicted in The Last Samurai, but with no Tom Cruise in it - it's an exclusively Japanese production). It's a bit odd really, lots of hack and slash battling and claret everywhere interspersed with long, maudlin, weepy soap-opera like plotting about the chap's miserable family life and even more miserable interactions with his snobby reactionary bloodthirsty villainous bosses, or their faithful retainers. Lathered up with lots of weeping and slathered up with super-saccharine cod Western classical soundtrack (it's what I imagine first-class in JAL or posh Japanese hotel lifts sound like and really doesn't go with the rest of the lost traditional world it's showing). I got a feeling a lot of it was going over my head because it was about really about subtle nuances of period Japanese manners which don't really come through in subtitled English. Not bad, but more one for those obsessed with history/Japan rather than for fight fans or art house cinema lovers.


----------



## ringo (Apr 27, 2015)

*Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator* (2002) 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271211/

Documentary exploring the rise and fall of 80s skateboard legend Mark "Gator" Rogowski. Incredible footage and for me personal nostalgia for my skating youth for the first hour. Very sad ending as personal and professional misfortune and ensuing mental health issues led him to the shockingly brutal sexually violent murder for which he's still serving life.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 27, 2015)

Penny Dreadful episode 1. Really enjoyed. Pilot obviously so it has to run through the checklist of at least one shag, one decent combat scene and characters playing the exposition game. But its a fun story. The guy they have for Victor Frankenstein is great.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 27, 2015)

Inside Man (2006).  Decent enough Hollywood heist effort.  Spike Lee directs, and gets as many clumsy 911/TWAT references as possible.

In Order of Disappearance (2014).  Norwegian revenge thriller.  We were looking for a comedy which Netflix listed this as.  Was darkly comic rather than funny iyswim, but lots of beautiful shots of very bleak landscapes and stuff.  Sort of like a prettier version of Taken without the theatrics.


----------



## Ted Striker (Apr 27, 2015)

I LOVE Inside Man. Always my 'goto' suggestion for awesome Hollywood nonBlockbuster thriller  And despite only a small performance, one my favourite Denzilathons aswell


----------



## Belushi (Apr 28, 2015)

*Ginger and Rosa* (Sally Potter 2013) Coming of age flick set in sixties London, doesn't really work though there's a couple of good performances and it's nicely shot.


----------



## trabuquera (May 1, 2015)

*The Decent One *- Israeli documentary, repackaged by BBC Storyville, on the private life and evil thoughts of Heinrich Himmler. Very original use of archive footage and some astonishing excerpts from his diaries and letters. Some marginally original insights into the pettiness, ambition and hypocrisy of the top-Nazi social circle. Needless to say the Holocaust and 'actions in the East' form a large part of the story and there's some extremely graphic footage of executions and prison camps which hasn't already been used in every WWII doc you've ever seen. Grim as anything; worth watching, although not a strikingly new perspective.


----------



## Belushi (May 1, 2015)

*Free Men* (Ismael Ferroukhi 2012) Interesting story based on true events among Algerians in Nazi occupied Paris, Tahar Rahim is good in the lead role.


----------



## May Kasahara (May 2, 2015)

Hanna. One of the worst films I've ever seen. I actually feel offended that I gave up my Friday night to watch this.


----------



## pesh (May 2, 2015)

Kingsman - The Secret Service 
Batshit crazy spoof spy film. Much LOL.


----------



## Voley (May 2, 2015)

Well into Game Of Thrones now (and doing my best to avoid any spoilers). Near the end of Series One. The bits with Tyrion travelling the length and breadth of the Kingdom for no reason other than to drink, whore and insult people are the best bits.


----------



## Ranbay (May 2, 2015)

pesh said:


> Kingsman - The Secret Service
> Batshit crazy spoof spy film. Much LOL.



It's fucking ace init


----------



## The Boy (May 2, 2015)

11.6 (2014).  French film based on the true story of a driver for a Securicor type company who stole 11.6M Euro through the cunning tactic of driving the van away when he is left alone.  There's a bit more to it than that, but it's not great.  Not bad, but not great.


----------



## Ranbay (May 2, 2015)

ringo said:


> *Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator* (2002)
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271211/
> 
> Documentary exploring the rise and fall of 80s skateboard legend Mark "Gator" Rogowski. Incredible footage and for me personal nostalgia for my skating youth for the first hour. Very sad ending as personal and professional misfortune and ensuing mental health issues led him to the shockingly brutal sexually violent murder for which he's still serving life.



This is on youtube if anyone want's to see it


----------



## DotCommunist (May 3, 2015)

Kingsmen. When they sucked all of the camp out of the Casino Royale reboot, they put it to one side  then used it to make this. Entertaining enough but not as funny as it thinks it is, nice line in hyperviolence to balance out the sillier elements 5/10

Re-watched dredd after finding a HD copy. The 'this scene is blates meant to be watched in 3d' bit were evenm more annoying on widescreen hi deff but thge film still stands up

tried to watch Maleficent- was too twee and Gaimanesque for my mood. Tried to watch The Wrestler- too depressing

x-men cartoons of the 90s? just about right


----------



## Idris2002 (May 3, 2015)

I watched God Help the Girl _again, _and why, because fuck you that's why.

And then I watched this:



Vittorio de Sica directs Peter Sellers in the role of Aldo Vanucci, master criminal - "If only I could steal enough to become an honest man".

Britt Ekland plays his sister, aspiring movie star "Gina Romantica", while Victor "hey Vic, fancy getting pissed" Mature sends himself up as fading Hollywood icon "Tony Powell".

Watching it I was reminded of the old line about _At Swim Two-Birds, _"the kind of glee you experience when crockery is smashed on stage".

That was Friday night. Last night I watched _Gone Girl_, efficient but preposterous American crime thriller. Gamergaters and Redditors will delight in this exercise in misogyny. Sixty years ago, Hollywood did "your spouse is not what he or she seems" movies like _Gaslight _(the 1944 version with Ingrid Bergman, which doesn't seem to be on youtube) or _The Stranger_, which are probably worth more of your time.


----------



## Ranbay (May 3, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Kingsmen. When they sucked all of the camp out of the Casino Royale reboot, they put it to one side  then used it to make this. Entertaining enough but not as funny as it thinks it is, nice line in hyperviolence to balance out the sillier elements 5/10
> 
> Re-watched dredd after finding a HD copy. The 'this scene is blates meant to be watched in 3d' bit were evenm more annoying on widescreen hi deff but thge film still stands up
> 
> ...



sort ya ratio out....


----------



## Belushi (May 4, 2015)

*Metropolis* (Fritz Lang 1927) Incredible set design and cinematography, naïve story.


----------



## electroplated (May 4, 2015)

I thought kingsmen was fucking ace


----------



## starfish (May 4, 2015)

Colombiana, a young girls parents are murdered by local drug lord, years later she goes on a revenge rampage.

A few more episodes of Game of Thrones. I'm getting into it but ms starfish is still a bit meh.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 4, 2015)

starfish said:


> Colombiana, a young girls parents are murdered by local drug lord, years later she goes on a revenge rampage...


Is that the one with the avatar woman?   I liked that.


----------



## starfish (May 4, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Is that the one with the avatar woman?   I liked that.


I didn't know that till I just checked, prompted by your post, & she is. Thought I recognised her from somewhere. I knew she wasn't Thandie Newton.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 4, 2015)

starfish said:


> I didn't know that till I just checked, prompted by your post, & she is. Thought I recognised her from somewhere. I knew she wasn't Thandie Newton.


Great action film 

If you like that you may like Haywire.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/haywire_2011/


----------



## Belushi (May 4, 2015)

*The Hidden Fortress* (Akira Kurosawa 1958) Really enjoyable comic adventure.


----------



## The39thStep (May 5, 2015)

yardbird said:


> American Hustle
> Good, but not as good as House of Games.




I saw the House of Games when it first came out.Its a really underrated film imo


----------



## wtfftw (May 5, 2015)

Teen Witch.

Painfully 80s. I had to get very stoned.


----------



## trabuquera (May 5, 2015)

*Dragon *aka *Wu Xia *(2011) on netflix - it tries to raise the bar a bit above the standard slap-fest, with a thinnish but relatively un-clichéd story of an apparently inept 'quiet man' played by Donnie Yen who turns out to be a notorious killer and gang member (surprise!) hiding out in rural Yunan around 1911ish, and the cerebral detective type (played by Takeshi Koneshiro) trying to explode his fake identity with new-fangled knowledge and strong pressure-point skillz. It's beautifully filmed and more downbeat (and in a way subversive) than your standard hero epic - overall, everyone's pretty cynical about authority, mistrustful of the powers that be and even the evil evil gang boss might have turned out to have his reasons. Nothing exceptional about the fighting, though, and the final 10 minutes or so are ludicrous. It looks good, but not beautiful, and the script is a bit more nuanced than usual, but not really deep. Sort of falls between two chairs, it's not an enjoyably trashy all-fight fest or a massive arthouse epic either.


----------



## sovereignb (May 9, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Great action film
> 
> If you like that you may like Haywire.
> 
> http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/haywire_2011/




I thought Haywire was atrocious. Saying that, i only got 20 minutes in before turning off, something i hadnt done before  that film


----------



## sovereignb (May 9, 2015)

Gone Girl - overrated.


----------



## trabuquera (May 10, 2015)

*Gangs of Tooting Broadway *- absolute shite. cackhanded 99p shop uk attempt at yoof issues drama which throws in everything it can think of (drugs, police corruption, mi5, bit of rape and murder blablabla). barely watchable no matter how baked you might be.


----------



## keybored (May 10, 2015)

ringo said:


> *Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator* (2002)
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271211/
> 
> Documentary exploring the rise and fall of 80s skateboard legend Mark "Gator" Rogowski. Incredible footage and for me personal nostalgia for my skating youth for the first hour. Very sad ending as personal and professional misfortune and ensuing mental health issues led him to the shockingly brutal sexually violent murder for which he's still serving life.


Rising Son (Hosoi bio) is worth a watch too. http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0782079/


----------



## ringo (May 10, 2015)

keybored said:


> Rising Son (Hosoi bio) is worth a watch too. http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0782079/


Cheers


----------



## Shirl (May 10, 2015)

Peeping Tom


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 10, 2015)

Blackfish (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2545118/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfish_(film)#Reception


----------



## 8den (May 10, 2015)

Kingsmen is basically Mathew Vaughen doing a english version of Kick Ass.


----------



## May Kasahara (May 10, 2015)

Currently watching Prometheus. Enjoyment of its many fine visual qualities is being spoilt by how incredibly shit everyone is at their jobs. A scientific expedition this revolutionary would not commence with 'park it there and let's barge in for a nosy, yeah?'


----------



## Maharani (May 10, 2015)

The Lunchbox. Shit title but very nice to watch.


----------



## Belushi (May 10, 2015)

*Double Indemnity* (Billy Wilder 1944) Classic film noir. Great cast, great cinematography.


----------



## May Kasahara (May 10, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Double Indemnity* (Billy Wilder 1944) Classic film noir, great cast.



We watched that on Friday! It is ace, unlike the pile of shite we're watching now.


----------



## Maharani (May 10, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> We watched that on Friday! It is ace, unlike the pile of shite we're watching now.


Saw premethewhatsit and thought the same as you May Kasahara


----------



## May Kasahara (May 10, 2015)

It's just finished. It was utter gash! I'm sticking to hipster mumblecore from now on


----------



## rekil (May 10, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> It's just finished. It was utter gash! I'm sticking to hipster mumblecore from now on


I enjoyed Baghead which I think is classed as mumblecore - v.low budget thing about resting actors who, inspired by a shit indie auteur, go off to a cabin in the the woods to write a film over a weekend and end up getting terrorised.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 10, 2015)

McCullin (2012)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2354205/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_McCullin


----------



## trabuquera (May 11, 2015)

*Taras Bulba *(1962) - hilarious cod-epic which is supposed to have something to do with Cossacks battling the Polish empire in the 1700s but is mostly an exercise in spending loads of money* on galloping about on horses with Yul Brynner laughing fake-heartily at things. There's some sort of doomed romance involving Tony Curtis ( ! - least convincing Slav evarrr...) and somebody forgettable, but it's really all about the sweaty men drinking, carousing, waving their swords about, and a surprising amount of flogging. 

*the epic cavalry battles are impressive - no CGI in them days and there are literally thousands of chaps milling about on horseback in impressive scenery. Turns out this was filmed in Argentina under military junta . *and it bankrupted the studio which made it.

I have no idea whatsoever about how close any of it is to historical fact (it's based on a Gogol story which was based on a legend) and my knowledge of Ukrainian politics is dodgy now, never mind in 17xx. If you watched this you'd think Cossacks were Mongolian-looking chaps in topknots and too much bronzer. hmmm.


----------



## sovereignb (May 11, 2015)

*Enemy* - A man seeks out an exact opposite of himself after seeing him in a movie...except its not actually about that at all and is apparently an allegory about something else. 

Its says a lot when i turn off a film off before it gets to the end...


----------



## belboid (May 11, 2015)

Shame - Steve McQueen

It looked just like some art wank at first, beautifully shot, slow, lingering shots, no dialogue, big swinging cock...but after an hour or so it had become quite engrossing, if bleak and horrible. Still very arty, with McQueen's body fascination very much to the fore, but well worth a watch. Tho probably not with your parents. Or on a plane.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 11, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Double Indemnity* (Billy Wilder 1944) Classic film noir. Great cast, great cinematography.



What a brilliant film.  Perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon

I can' wait till my children are old enough to watch it.  Lots of lessons for life in there


----------



## rubbershoes (May 11, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *Taras Bulba *(1962) - hilarious cod-epic ....



In the same vein as El Cid, Spartacus and Ben Hur

By contrast Lawrence of Arabia does it how it should be done


----------



## Ranbay (May 11, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Currently watching Prometheus. Enjoyment of its many fine visual qualities is being spoilt by how incredibly shit everyone is at their jobs. A scientific expedition this revolutionary would not commence with 'park it there and let's barge in for a nosy, yeah?'



Why don't the just run left or right at the end?


----------



## trabuquera (May 11, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Currently watching Prometheus. Enjoyment of its many fine visual qualities is being spoilt by how incredibly shit everyone is at their jobs. A scientific expedition this revolutionary would not commence with 'park it there and let's barge in for a nosy, yeah?'



See also: "we've been on this alien planet with a deadly-hostile atmosphere full of CO2, crawling with creepy necro artwork all over the shop and no sign of life during the last few millennia. Uff, it's a bit fusty innit? Time to take my helmet off .... what are you looking at? readout says there was at least some oxygen in there..."

and: "sorry, away exploring team, big dust storm means you're just going to have to kip in that creepy cave overnight with no provisions, safety kit (or even sleeping bags or groundsheets). BRB, okay?"


----------



## May Kasahara (May 11, 2015)

belboid said:


> Shame - Steve McQueen
> 
> It looked just like some art wank at first, beautifully shot, slow, lingering shots, no dialogue, big swinging cock...but after an hour or so it had become quite engrossing, if bleak and horrible. Still very arty, with McQueen's body fascination very much to the fore, but well worth a watch. Tho probably not with your parents. Or on a plane.



I agree, a film that lingered long in my memory and not just because of Fassbender's cock. I thought he and Carey Mulligan were both outstanding.


----------



## adidaswoody (May 11, 2015)

Inbetweeners 2 and mirror!!
Inbetweeners not as good as first at all, it just felt like a dragged out episode rather than a movie
And mirror, a rip off of oculus, not a very good watch either!
Finsihed off watching X-files on netflix! Series 1-9 is on there so im excited to do some back to back sweating for a while ^.^


----------



## Voley (May 11, 2015)

trabuquera said:
			
		

> Taras Bulba (1962) - hilarious cod-epic which is supposed to have something to do with Cossacks battling the Polish empire in the 1700s but is mostly an exercise in spending loads of money* on galloping about on horses with Yul Brynner laughing fake-heartily at things. There's some sort of doomed romance involving Tony Curtis ( ! - least convincing Slav evarrr...) and somebody forgettable, but it's really all about the sweaty men drinking, carousing, waving their swords about, and a surprising amount of flogging.
> 
> *the epic cavalry battles are impressive - no CGI in them days and there are literally thousands of chaps milling about on horseback in impressive scenery. Turns out this was filmed in Argentina under military junta . *and it bankrupted the studio which made it.
> 
> I have no idea whatsoever about how close any of it is to historical fact (it's based on a Gogol story which was based on a legend) and my knowledge of Ukrainian politics is dodgy now, never mind in 17xx. If you watched this you'd think Cossacks were Mongolian-looking chaps in topknots and too much bronzer. hmmm.



Good film, that. I liked how someone would die, they'd have a drunken wake over a fucking wolf pit or something and inevitably someone else would die meaning another wake/death was necessary. Funerals were better back then imo.


----------



## Belushi (May 12, 2015)

*Day of Wrath* (Carl Theodor Dreyer 1943) Sex, guilt and witchcraft in 17th century Denmark.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 12, 2015)

Religulous (2008)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/


----------



## Orang Utan (May 12, 2015)

Jack Reacher - woeful. Tom Cruise just ruins all of his films. You can tell he insists on fucking with the script and characters of all of his films to supposedly make him look better. In this, every single woman he meets quivers and bare gushes as the mere sight of him. 
Not even Werner Herzog villaining can save this sorry sack of cinematic cliches. The ending is just like a videogame boss fight. it even has save points.


----------



## The Boy (May 13, 2015)

Les Revenants (2004).  Film that the tv series was adapted from.  Millions of dead people come back to life over a two hour period, including 13000 in an unnamed French town.  Is more about how they go about reintegrating these people into society after their being gone and stuff.  Weird things happen with bombs and tunnels, then it ends.  Starts off well but loses its way a bit .

Halt and Catch Fire (2014).  Tv series about the early age of computing.  Set in 1983 and based (loosely, I think) on the group who reverse engineered the IBM PC.  Seems promising after spending ages looking for a new box set to watch.


----------



## adidaswoody (May 13, 2015)

Babadook last night
Film started off slightly eerie and scary, it got me thinking wow, this bitch is getting haunted bad and i wouldnt like it!
Then it got stupid and not scary at all, not funny either, just stupid
Terrible ending also!
I reckon just watch the first 40 minutes then call it a night!


----------



## Idris2002 (May 13, 2015)

Mistaken for Strangers.

Aging manchild is invited to roadie for his older brother, frontman for the National (bog-standard boring Coldplay-style indie rockers). Gets more than he bargained for when he discovers that the real world isn't as tolerant of his manchildishness as his "Mommy". 

Interesting documentary, but very cringeworthy in places.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 13, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> In this, every single woman he meets quivers and bare gushes as the mere sight of him.



I'm told (ahem) that Reacher has that effect on women in the books. Of course, in them, he's 6 foot 5 and built like a brick shithouse.


----------



## Indeliblelink (May 13, 2015)

The Silent Village (1943), Humphrey Jennings' re-enactment of the Nazi massacre of the Czech village of Lidice re-set in a Welsh mining village.


----------



## Belushi (May 13, 2015)

Indeliblelink said:


> The Silent Village (1943), Humphrey Jennings' re-enactment of the Nazi massacre of the Czech village of Lidice re-set in a Welsh mining village.



My grandfather is the union leader making a speech at the pit head in that


----------



## Indeliblelink (May 13, 2015)

Cool 

it's on Youtube also BTW  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE9MLxf1kZk


----------



## Belushi (May 13, 2015)

Most of the film was shot in Cwmgiedd but the pit is Seven Sisters in the Dulais valley.


----------



## Belushi (May 13, 2015)

*Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky* (Jan Kounen 2010) Well made account of their affair which I enjoyed more than I thought I would, terrific score.


----------



## trabuquera (May 14, 2015)

*The Last Legion *(2007) on Netflix - amazingly trashy sword 'n sandal stuff from the shameless Dino de Laurentiis clan. Plot is some sort of bobbins about a lost late-Roman boy emperor finding his way to Britannia and founding noble line of King Arthur, etc, but that is mostly irrelevant. Mostly you just feast your eyes on an absolutely astonishing cast of hi-grade UK thesps, random international stars and loads of people you've already seen in almost everything involving a toga or a wolfskin. (Almost everyone's been in  the HBO TV series Rome, or the telly Spartacus, or Game of Thrones at some point.) For completely inexplicable reasons, Ben Kingsley plays one major character in a strong fake-Welsh accent throughout, Colin Firth just looks constantly baffled the whole way through at what he has done to end up in this, and Aishwarya Rai (!!!) turns up to flash a sword about  (to be fair she does sterling work in the action scenes) and heave her bosom prettily. It's absolutely bizarre but good-natured fun (despite the constant violence there's not much blood or darkness of tone.)


----------



## Maharani (May 14, 2015)

Watched Bobby last night...all star cast...bit cheesy, Hollywood romantic in some places but liked the actual footage of Bobby and the last scene was extremely moving.


----------



## hot air baboon (May 14, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> absolutely astonishing cast of hi-grade UK thesps, random international stars and loads of people you've already seen in almost everything involving a toga or a wolfskin. (Almost everyone's been in the HBO TV series Rome or Game of Thrones at some point.)



...those RADA toga, sandals & wolfskin workshops really seem to pay-off...




Indeliblelink said:


> The Silent Village (1943), Humphrey Jennings' re-enactment of the Nazi massacre of the Czech village of Lidice re-set in a Welsh mining village.



......Michael Mann filmed cult WWII horror-fest The Keep in a Welsh quarry  - doubling up for Transylvania...altogether a rather less historically grounded take on Nazi activity in that theatre of operations tbh...Craig Fairbrass in Darklands however may have single-handedley strangled the nascent Welsh film industry ....


----------



## Idris2002 (May 14, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *The Last Legion *(2007) on Netflix - amazingly trashy sword 'n sandal stuff from the shameless Dino de Laurentiis clan. Plot is some sort of bobbins about a lost late-Roman boy emperor finding his way to Britannia and founding noble line of King Arthur, etc, but that is mostly irrelevant. Mostly you just feast your eyes on an absolutely astonishing cast of hi-grade UK thesps, random international stars and loads of people you've already seen in almost everything involving a toga or a wolfskin. (Almost everyone's been in  the HBO TV series Rome or Game of Thrones at some point.) For completely inexplicable reasons, Ben Kingsley plays one major character in a strong fake-Welsh accent throughout, Colin Firth just looks constantly baffled the whole way through at what he has done to end up in this, and Aishwarya Rai (!!!) turns up to flash a sword about  (to be fair she does sterling work in the action scenes) and heave her bosom prettily. It's absolutely bizarre but good-natured fun (despite the constant violence there's not much blood or darkness of tone.)



Wasn't there a film very like this with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley?


----------



## Orang Utan (May 14, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Watched Bobby last night...all star cast...bit cheesy, Hollywood romantic in some places but liked the actual footage of Bobby and the last scene was extremely moving.


Bobby Kennedy?


----------



## starfish (May 14, 2015)

More Game of Thrones. We're up to series 3 episode 5.


----------



## trabuquera (May 14, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Wasn't there a film very like this with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley?


 
Yup - was called *King Arthur *and came out in 2004. TBH that, the Last Legion, and the infinitely superior *The Eagle *(the Channing Tatum + Jamie Bell one which turned out to be actually quite serious and earnest in tone, and I really liked) all begin to blur together after a bit - I'm sure there's massive overlap in the casts.


----------



## Maharani (May 14, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Bobby Kennedy?


yeah.


----------



## Belushi (May 14, 2015)

*White Elephant* (Pablo Trapero 2013) Argentine drama about Catholic priests in the slums of Buenos Aires. Starts well but ultimately disappoints.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 14, 2015)

Burning through The West Wing, four episodes into series 3. I really like it, but Sorkin was surely coked out his nut while writing by this point? It's so bam bam bam bam bam


----------



## DexterTCN (May 15, 2015)

True Lies.   Arnie as secret agent/family man, Jamie-Lee Curtis as frumpy wife who turns sexy.   Quite funny, incredible amount of money spent on this.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 15, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> True Lies.   Arnie as secret agent/family man, Jamie-Lee Curtis as frumpy wife who turns sexy.   Quite funny, incredible amount of money spent on this.


Pretty disgracefully sexist and racist though


----------



## DexterTCN (May 15, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Pretty disgracefully sexist and racist though


Yes...but in that hollywood way that is racist against any current enemy of the US.  Not really sexist.


----------



## yardbird (May 15, 2015)

I watched Ridley Scott's  The Counselor.
Good and dark.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 15, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Yes...but in that hollywood way that is racist against any current enemy of the US.  Not really sexist.


That doesn't make it less racist 
It's totally sexist


----------



## DotCommunist (May 15, 2015)

I watched an odd little 25 minute thing called Black Angel

34 years ago it was realased (after being comissioned but not shot) by Georgle Lucas as a little warm up piece foe Empire Strikes Back. cost £25k to make so limited even tho 25k bought you a lot more back then. The film then got lost when a company holding it went into recievership. But lo! a print has been unearthed, so they remastered it and for 1 month only its free on youtube. It had gained a sort of legendary status among people who saw it and empire way back then 'I was there man'

Bloke straight back from the crusades finds himself transported into a fantasy england. Its creepy and weird.


----------



## Belushi (May 15, 2015)

*Up in the Air* (Jason Reitman 2009) Enjoyable Clooney vehicle.


----------



## Belushi (May 17, 2015)

*Margin Call* (J.C. Chandor 2011) Watchable financial crisis drama, strong ensemble cast.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 17, 2015)

Birdman.  As a movie-lover it's great to live in a world where a film like this can be made.

Keaton, Stone and (for me, especially) Norton are just brilliant in this.  Nothing wrong with any of the others either.

Funny, original and engaging sound-track, technically **perfect**.....buuuut it's an art house film so not everyone will like it.


----------



## adidaswoody (May 17, 2015)

Just watched extraterrestrial, really enjoyed it


----------



## renegadechicken (May 17, 2015)

Ex-Machina - really enjoyed this film, about testing a robot with AI. All the drama etc is in the dialogue - really great film imo.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/


----------



## sovereignb (May 18, 2015)

Nightcrawler

Brilliant - Jack Gyllenhall was great in this.


----------



## Belushi (May 18, 2015)

*Disconnect* (Henry Alex Rubin 2013) Three interlinked stories exploring the perils of the digital age.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 18, 2015)

Mad Max.

The original, with an incredibly young looking Mel Gibson. 

Every so slightly dated now? But still one of the great stupid movies. Best bit is the Toecutter, as played with scenery-chewing aplomb by thon Shakespearean bloke.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 18, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Best bit is the Toecutter, as played with scenery-chewing aplomb by thon Shakespearean bloke.


He also plays the baddie in the new one!


----------



## Idris2002 (May 18, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> He also plays the baddie in the new one!



I'm listening. Go on.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 18, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> I'm listening. Go on.


He plays a new character called Immortan Joe:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...nt-villain-in-mad-max-fury-road-10255632.html


----------



## Idris2002 (May 18, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> He plays a new character called Immortan Joe:
> http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...nt-villain-in-mad-max-fury-road-10255632.html



I am intrigued by your ideas, and interested in subscribing to your newsletter.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 18, 2015)

Prizzi's Honor - nearly 30 years since I last saw it. Wonderful John Huston mafia flick, old fashioned and Jack Nicholson's Charlie Partana is a great creation.

The Evil Dead - recent remake. Amputations, immolations and smelly cats. Not for the squeamish.

Mad Max - Fury Road - enjoyable romp; can I suggest Hardy, Theron and Hoult as the replacement presenters for Top Gear?


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 18, 2015)

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" - overlong, portentous and dull


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 18, 2015)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" - overlong, portentous and dull



Still, any film that has Billy Connolly astride a battle pig isn't_ completely_ worthless.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 18, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Still, any film that has Billy Connolly astride a battle pig isn't_ completely_ worthless.


True


----------



## belboid (May 18, 2015)

Maps to the Stars

A very enjoyable, and often funny, David Cronenberger.  Not one of his very best tho, the script was written 30 odd years ago - pre The Player - and it really shows.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 18, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Mad Max.
> 
> The original, with an incredibly young looking Mel Gibson.
> 
> Every so slightly dated now? But still one of the great stupid movies. Best bit is the Toecutter, as played with scenery-chewing aplomb by thon Shakespearean bloke.


Gibson was dubbed in the original release as his aussie game was too strong.

Not sure if he was a jew hater back then. Maybe he grew into it.

e2a dubbed not subbed.Fucking brain


----------



## rubbershoes (May 18, 2015)

sovereignb said:


> Nightcrawler
> 
> Brilliant - Jack Gyllenhall was great in this.




As was Riz Ahmed


----------



## rubbershoes (May 18, 2015)

QueenOfGoths said:


> "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" - overlong, portentous and dull



After you've already given over 9 hours of your life to The Hobbit films, now probably isn't the time to know that you could have seen everything worthwhile in less than half the time . 

The fanedit here is about 4 hours .  The whole lot in one sesssion .


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 18, 2015)

rubbershoes said:


> After you've already given over 9 hours of your life to The Hobbit films, now probably isn't the time to know that you could have seen everything worthwhile in less than half the time .
> 
> The fanedit here is about 4 hours .  The whole lot in one sesssion .


Hmmmm....that could be interesting!

I did enjoy the ogre smashing the wall with a stone on his head but that is not quite enough to sustain 130 whatever minutes


----------



## ringo (May 18, 2015)

The Man With The Iron Fists - Fucking awful but perfect for mindless post-pub entertainment.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 18, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Gibson was subbed in the original release as his aussie game was too strong.
> 
> Not sure if he was a jew hater back then. Maybe he grew into it.



I thought it was the whole movie that was dubbed into American English, for poor idiot yanks who no speako da 'Straylian.

Whether or not he was an anti-semite then, he's probably always been an asshole. His Da is in some kind of weird RC far-right group - not Opus Dei but something like that.


----------



## sovereignb (May 18, 2015)

rubbershoes said:


> As was Riz Ahmed



Yes he was excellent too. It was a surprise to see him as i didnt know he was in it but they played off each other really well.


----------



## sovereignb (May 18, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Disconnect* (Henry Alex Rubin 2013) Three interlinked stories exploring the perils of the digital age.



I so loved this film but its hard to find. I ended up having to buy it but its right up my street.


----------



## 8den (May 19, 2015)

rubbershoes said:


> After you've already given over 9 hours of your life to The Hobbit films, now probably isn't the time to know that you could have seen everything worthwhile in less than half the time .
> 
> The fanedit here is about 4 hours .  The whole lot in one sesssion .



Cheers. I wanted to watch the hobbit but there was no fucking way I was investing a day of life to it. I've downloaded it, and if will make the train journey on Wednesday much more interesting.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 19, 2015)

The Call of Cthulhu - arty black and white modern silent film. Best Lovecraft adaptation I've ever seen, despite the rubbish monster - it worked.

Riddick - bag of shite, stupid stupid film, dreadful dreadful script. I bet Vin Diesel has a really squeaky voice in real life. He just acts fast and they slow him down, like reverse Pinky & Perky


----------



## Belushi (May 19, 2015)

*Paprika* (Satoshi Kon 2006) Really enjoyable anime.


----------



## Belushi (May 20, 2015)

*Renoir* (Gilles Bourdos 2013) Beautifully shot but rather dull picture about the great artist in old age.


----------



## trabuquera (May 21, 2015)

*Her *- which I guess I should have loved (near-future dystopia! scarlett johanssen! techno-critique! intelligent drama for grown-ups!) but I just couldn't get on with. Critics wet their undies for it but to my mind it was just a slightly fake-winsome, often self-indulgent whine which moved unforgivably slowly. 2 full hours and IMHO would have been better as a brisk and less sentimental 90 minuter or (even better) a Twilight-Zone style telly hour. It's basically an episode of Black Mirror with pretensions ... and I have my own lurking questions about how it never really interrogated its Big Themes (what makes an AI human, or humanlike, or human-seeming? what are we really searching for in our love objects? what about sexism? etc etc.) It's very subtly and skilfully done, no doubt, and it's definitely a modern and original picture, which is a rare and wonderful thing. But I just can't feel as ecstatic about it as so many people did.

(Plus I think it's at least partially to blame for the epidemic of whispery guitar-plucking nu-folk guys on advertising soundtracks recently, so there's that to resent about it ....)


----------



## 8den (May 21, 2015)

I watched the Tolkien edit of the Hobbit and am struggling to see how Peter Jackson managing to shove another 5 hours of material into the running time. 

Conspiracy a dramatisation of the Wannsse conference where the final solution was planned. Colin Firth, Kenneth Brannagn, Stanley Tucci, and David Threfall.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 21, 2015)

Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2480784/


----------



## DotCommunist (May 22, 2015)

8den said:


> I watched the Tolkien edit of the Hobbit and am struggling to see how Peter Jackson managing to shove another 5 hours of material into the running time.
> 
> Conspiracy a dramatisation of the Wannsse conference where the final solution was planned. Colin Firth, Kenneth Brannagn, Stanley Tucci, and David Threfall.


for a film mainly shot in one room its taut as fuck. Couldn't look away. Most of the dialouge apparently lifted vertabim from the transcripts. Just hammering out the practicalities of mass murders.


----------



## Belushi (May 23, 2015)

*Breathless* (Yang Il-June 2008) Gritty Korean crime drama; pretty good, very violent.


----------



## blairsh (May 23, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Breathless* (Yang Il-June 2008) Gritty Korean crime drama; pretty good, very violent.


Saw that a while back, pretty gritty aye.


----------



## Belushi (May 24, 2015)

*American Beauty* (Sam Mendes 1999) I remember being distinctly underwhelmed by this on its release; watching it again 15 years later I can't say it's improved with time. Every element is unconvincing.


----------



## magneze (May 25, 2015)

Coherence 

Low budget Sci fi thriller. Great, I loved it. It's a really good watch, proper thriller, packing a lot into its 90 minutes.


----------



## Belushi (May 25, 2015)

*Milius* (Joey Figueroa 2013) biographical doc about writer, director and right wing blowhard John Milius. Worth watching if you're interested in the 'New Hollywood' of the 1970's.


----------



## sovereignb (May 25, 2015)

Horns http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1528071/ 

I didnt enjoy this


----------



## trabuquera (May 26, 2015)

*Fury*  - WWII tank thing. Really not bad as far as Hollywood war movies go - unusually bleak, downbeat and moody; Brad Pitt is excellent, understated and not showboaty, rest of the cast give solid support (even Shia LeBoeuf who I usually can't stand in anything.) It all gets a tiny bit silly at the end, and it's not transcendent (this is not _The Thin Red Line _or_ Come and See_ - it's not even quite as good as more recent Israeli tank movie _Lebanon)_ , but overall, loads better than I was expecting.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 26, 2015)

Understated?  he plays 'Wardaddy' ffs  I thought it was a run through every war film cliche going


----------



## Maharani (May 26, 2015)

Short term 12 - very well made; emotive and beautiful.


----------



## Sea Star (May 26, 2015)

Me and the other half watched "Chappie" last night. Apart from the fact that he hadn't downloaded the very end it was a great AI sci fi thriller! Good robots!!


----------



## trabuquera (May 26, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Understated?  he plays 'Wardaddy' ffs  I thought it was a run through every war film cliche going


 
You barely hear him called that - most of the men refer to him throughout as 'Top' (ahem) - which has its own campy macho connotations of course.

"Understated" was referring to Pitt's performance - given that the movie's fundamentally about his leadership keeping his crew alive (or not), and he's by some way the most charismatic as well as the best-looking of our heroes, he could have gone right over the top with a roaring, posturing, Gen-Patton style psycho performance; instead he shows a pinched, exhausted, pretty cynical "hard bitten" type who is also often so scared that he throws up, out of sight of his men....

I don't really agree with you about the clichés, except for


Spoiler



holding off an entire column of SS with a single tank and
our boy being spotted under the wrecked tank but allowed to escape by a young SS officer


 
which were both just bloody stupid. During the rest of the flick I honestly through it did well at subverting those clichés (i.e. the dysfunctional 'family meal' sequence, the 'shoot this German now' sequence) and taking them in a queasier and much more uncomfortable direction than most US movies dare to do when treating WW2.


----------



## Belushi (May 26, 2015)

*Searching for Sugar Man* (Malik Bendjelloul 2012) Enjoyable if somewhat manipulative documentary about a forgotten folk musician.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 27, 2015)

Iron Sky - just the usual nazis on the moon sci fi movie - risible. music by laibach. 
The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb. Dickie Owen plays the Mummy and he was a well known local in Deptford who died last month. So long Dickie. Much better film though. Well made Hammer horror.


----------



## Belushi (May 27, 2015)

*Panic Room* (David Fincher 2002) Watchable home invasion thriller.


----------



## 8den (May 28, 2015)

Behind the Candelabra, Michael Douglas and Matt Damonn excellent Bio of  Liberace


----------



## May Kasahara (May 28, 2015)

The Book of Life - really wonderful kids' film that manages to address issues around death in a gentle and philosophical way, while also looking amazing and being very funny.

Easy A - excellent, funny, made me want to both do and be Emma Stone even more than I did before


----------



## fishfinger (May 29, 2015)

Shaun the Sheep - The Movie. Good stuff from Aardman 

Also, Kung Fury, A spoof of '80s Action movies. It's only 31 minutes long but very funny and it's free to view on YouTube


----------



## 8den (May 29, 2015)

Summer Wars


----------



## sovereignb (May 29, 2015)

*The Babadook*

Interesting horror film that was very creepy at points. Good performances all round.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 29, 2015)

Voices from the Grave- longish docu about the Troubles. Included some stuff from the Boston College tapes (which became a controversy last year iirc cos the deal was full disclosure, publish after death only but somehow people whoare still alive s tapes have got loose. I'll have to look it up)



Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness

not as good as Evil Dead 2 imo, even though ash got more funny lines


----------



## DotCommunist (May 29, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> The Call of Cthulhu - arty black and white modern silent film. Best Lovecraft adaptation I've ever seen, despite the rubbish monster - it worked.
> 
> Riddick - bag of shite, stupid stupid film, dreadful dreadful script. I bet Vin Diesel has a really squeaky voice in real life. He just acts fast and they slow him down, like reverse Pinky & Perky


Meant to be a return to form after the shite Chronicles of Riddick. Takes far too long to get to the monsters part. Fucks around for ages. Gets to the monster part. Its not as good as Pitch Black. Waste of a franchise really (he used to roleplay the character Riddick  in some RPG)


----------



## May Kasahara (May 29, 2015)

The Devil's Daughter. Incredibly, laughably shit 1970s 'horror'.


----------



## The Boy (May 29, 2015)

World War Z (2013).  Zombie yarn very loosely based on the book of r same name.  First third is good as far as big budget zombie efforts go (though struggling to think of another big budget zombie effort tbh).  Middle third gets a bit meh then it goes a bit rubbish and silly.  Which is annoying.

Oh yeah.  Dialogue which had no purpose other than explaining fine aspect of the plot.  Pet hate of mine.


----------



## Belushi (May 29, 2015)

*The Science of Sleep* (Michel Gondry 2006) Enchanting visuals but ultimately a self indulgent mess, watchable but Gondry's films never really work for me.


----------



## imposs1904 (May 29, 2015)

The wonders of YouTube has allowed me to indulge in a Minder/Shoestring marathon in the last few days.

Murphy's Mob is up next.


----------



## Belushi (May 30, 2015)

*Croupier* (Mike Hodges 1998) Pretty good British neo-noir, made Clive Owen's name in the States.


----------



## Vintage Paw (May 30, 2015)

I just watched Iron Sky.

Good god.


----------



## blairsh (May 30, 2015)

Rewatching first series of the 1994 animated Spiderman ont youtube this evening.

Nostalgia


----------



## DotCommunist (May 31, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> I just watched Iron Sky.
> 
> Good god.


Iron Sky 2 is in development. This time its hollow earth nazis and Hitler rides a t-rex


----------



## Indeliblelink (May 31, 2015)

*Decoder (1984)*, German film which looks good and has a decent soundtrack of industrial and synth pop, cameos from Genesis P-Orridge & WIlliam S. Burroughs, no idea what the plot was meant to be, something about toads and making people in McDonalds revolt by playing them music. Cool as fuck anyway.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 31, 2015)

Five Graves to Cairo.

Billy Wilder, 1943. Erich von Stroheim as Rommel is the main attraction in this story of a Brit tankman who gets stranded in a remote hotel on the road to Alexandria, and then discovers that. . .

What could have been a forgettable propaganda flick us raised above that level by the trademark Wilder touch of mixing the comic and the dark. The comic element can be a bit broad though, especially in the case of the opera singing Italian general. No stereo was left untyped there, I can tell you.


----------



## ringo (Jun 1, 2015)

The World's End  
Badly written and completely lacking in humour and any other redeeming feature.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 1, 2015)

White God - Hungarian allegory based around a canine uprising. Good little genre piece. And dedicated to my fav every director.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 1, 2015)

*Cosmopolis* (David Cronenberg 2012) Boring adaptation of a Don DeLillo novel.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jun 1, 2015)

Big Game- watched this on sunday, when it was raining outside. Great sunday afternoon film, just ignore plot holes, eat some junk food we made hotdogs and relax and enjoy. It's okay for what it is, a no Brainer, hangover film.
Also watched this....

 

pretty good film tbh


----------



## Belushi (Jun 2, 2015)

*Rear Window* (Alfred Hitchcock 1954) Jimmy Stewart gets obsessed with the neighbours.


----------



## starfish (Jun 3, 2015)

Kung Fury. Fucking brilliant.
Portuguese telly isn't up to much.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 3, 2015)

Hunger Games:  Mocking Jay part 1

If you haven't read the books or aren't interested in the movie series you probably shouldn't bother.

I have, I am and I enjoyed it...but it's not great and barely even good.  Decent money spent on it, plenty of eye-candy, acceptable acting (exceptional actors here) but this film should not exist.  There is nowhere near enough plot in this two hour film...it's a set-up for the finale and it's not even a good set up.  

It tries to do the first part of the third book and fails but tries hard.

Fans only.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 4, 2015)

*Jagged Edge* (Richard Marquand 1985) Glossy, unconvincing eighties thriller.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 4, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Jagged Edge* (Richard Marquand 1985) Glossy, unconvincing eighties thriller.


i remember being shocked by the twist, but i can't remember the twist


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 5, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Blood Ties.
> 
> From this year or last (I think) and based on a French original, this 1974 set film could easily have been made in that year. At first, I thought it was going to be a fairly straight-forward of how clean-cut, straight-shooting cop Billy Crudup persuades his rough-diamond ex-con brother Clive Owen to infiltrate a criminal gang that's wreaking havoc in '74 Noo Yawk. Things quickly took a different turn. Owen's character turns out to be much, much darker than I had assumed, and Crudup's character, meanwhile, turns out to be very much a mixed-up kid. The story kept surprising me, put it that way. Zoe Saldana, Mila Kunis and Marion Cotillard play the long-suffering women in their lives. Not bad at all - I'd give it 6.5 out of ten, but a good 6.5.



A very fair summation, I think. It sidestepped many of the (over) familiar period crime drama tropes, though ultimately I found the absence of much to replace them somewhat unsatisfying. In a similar to _A Most Violent Year_, though that one pulled together much better, I think.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 5, 2015)

The Look of Love.

Steve Coogan IS King of Soho Paul Raymond.

Or, the Partridge of Wisdom Flies Only at Dusk, as Hegel didn't say.

Well produced, and well performed biopic of Britain's most successful pornographer. "It won't bring you happiness, my lad". Some cool swinging London (and Seventies' London) stuff but ultimately altogether basically depressing.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 5, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> A very fair summation, I think. It sidestepped many of the (over) familiar period crime drama tropes, though ultimately I found the absence of much to replace them somewhat unsatisfying. In a similar to _A Most Violent Year_, though that one pulled together much better, I think.



I see what you mean there, but I don't think I can agree. Sidestepping those overly familiar tropes meant it did its own thing, and did it successfully.


----------



## starfish (Jun 5, 2015)

Ooh, Mr Jolly Lives Next Door is about to start on Gold.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 7, 2015)

Fury.

A good war movie, a bad film about war.

"War is hell, but it will make a man of you". The same old bollocks, in other words. 

I found a lot to enjoy in this one, but Kelly's Heroes remains the better movie.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 7, 2015)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  oooh..Lance Henriksen is in it, never noticed that before.

Gone Girl.  Quality dark stuff from Fincher laced with brilliant humour in the final stages.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 7, 2015)

*Red Sorghum* (Yimou Zhang 1987) Melodramatic fable set in 1930's China.


----------



## ringo (Jun 8, 2015)

Starred Up - Grim and violent but well made prison punch up.


----------



## stethoscope (Jun 8, 2015)

Pride (finally!).


----------



## starfish (Jun 8, 2015)

Iron Man 3. Quite amusing in parts. Thought we'd already seen Iron Man 2 but midway through we realised we hadnt, not sure if it mattered though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 8, 2015)

starfish said:


> Iron Man 3. Quite amusing in parts. Thought we'd already seen* Iron Man 2 but midway through we realised we hadnt, not sure if it mattered though*.


It was rubbish, you missed nothing


----------



## Belushi (Jun 9, 2015)

*Gosford Park* (Robert Altman 2001) Atmospheric period drama.


----------



## TrustmeImaJedi (Jun 9, 2015)

John Wick starring Keanu Reeves.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 9, 2015)

*Our Children* (Joachim Lafosse 2012) Belgian drama based on tragic true events. Very good performances, from Emilie Dequenne in particular.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jun 9, 2015)

*Wild* - Reese Witherspoon escapes from her life by going on a very long walk, meets lots of smug twats on the way, looks at mountains and stuff, finds meaning in the universe.

Under no circumstances watch this film. It is terrible.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 10, 2015)

The Anderson Tapes.

Sean Connery is the eponymous master burglar, out of jail after a ten-stretch and looking for somewhere new to rob. His high class call-girl girlfriend (played by Dyan Cannon: unlike the others, he doesn't have to pay her) lives in a palatial New York apartment complex with plenty of rich neighbours.  . .

Features an incredibly young Christopher Walken in his first big role. Best thing about it: like the Conversation from around the same time, it's one of the first films to deal with issues arising out of the burgeoning surveillance state (hence the 'tapes' in the title).

Also Martin Balsam as a stereotypical gay antiques dealer/fence. He was also in Catch-22 and that Peter Sellers vehicle Hunt the Fox that I saw recently.

This is the real thing, one of the best films I've yet seen,  and definitely worth 90 minutes of your time.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 10, 2015)

As The Gods Will - what's this, another decent film from Miike? Getting dangerously close to some sort of form here. Anyway, very bloody, very colourful, very funny, very inventive film that takes the battle royale games theme a bit further. And very obv set up for a sequel.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 10, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> The Anderson Tapes. [...]. Best thing about it: like the Conversation from around the same time, it's one of the first films to deal with issues arising out of the burgeoning surveillance state (hence the 'tapes' in the title)..


 
Yes, but no - imo the very best thing about the Anderson Tapes is the soundtrack - worth listening to on its own! Agree with you the film's well worth your time as well though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 10, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> Yes, but no - imo the very best thing about the Anderson Tapes is the soundtrack - worth listening to on its own! Agree with you the film's well worth your time as well though.



Soundtrack is by Quincy Jones, and I agree. It's an early example of Jazz Fusion, I think, before that genre became too "music by musicians for other musicians".


----------



## The Boy (Jun 10, 2015)

Fight Club (1999).  Not all that interesting compared to when I was 17.


----------



## RebeccaLoi22 (Jun 10, 2015)

Hi Guys!
Last night I was watching  "I Am Sam" (2002).
It was very nice and interesting!


----------



## Belushi (Jun 10, 2015)

*Mystery Road *(Ivan Sen 2013) Aboriginal detective investigates the murder of a teenage girl in the outback, very good.


----------



## spare part (Jun 11, 2015)

8 1/2 by Fellini, because I was in the mood for a chain-smoking Marcello Mastroianni. Very good but had to stop halfway through because it got a little too depressing and heavy for me. May watch the rest of it tonight.


----------



## The Boy (Jun 11, 2015)

First five episodes of the fifth season of game of thrones.  Still good.

Also watched the first fifteen minutes of an American series called betas (2014).  My other half suggested it was going to be Nathan barley but rubbish and American. i assured her otherwise, but within the first five minutes there had been two jokes lifted straight from barley.  Was rubbish, so off it went.


----------



## sovereignb (Jun 11, 2015)

A film called Coherence, about the effects of a passing comet on a group of friends at a dinner party. Alternate realities kinda stuff that got a bit confusing in the end.


----------



## The Boy (Jun 11, 2015)

sovereignb said:


> A film called Coherence, about the effects of a passing comet on a group of friends at a dinner party. Alternate realities kinda stuff that got a bit confusing in the end.


Are you suggesting it lacked coherence?


----------



## magneze (Jun 11, 2015)

sovereignb said:


> A film called Coherence, about the effects of a passing comet on a group of friends at a dinner party. Alternate realities kinda stuff that got a bit confusing in the end.


Great film imo


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 11, 2015)

More sense8
freema agyeman does an american accent in this


----------



## Belushi (Jun 11, 2015)

*Infamous *(Douglas McGrath 2006) Toby Jones gives a superb performance as Truman Capote during the writing of In Cold Blood.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Jun 11, 2015)

Watched Kick Ass for the first time this afternoon while on the sofa nursing a cold. Was a bit silly but thoroughly enjoyed it


----------



## May Kasahara (Jun 12, 2015)

Vault of Horror. Cheesy as fuck 70s portmanteau flick.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 12, 2015)

*Shame *(2011). I am a huge fan of almost everyone who worked on this film (dir Steve McQueen, actors Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, Nicole Beharie) but I thought it was, in every sense, a load of self-pitying pretentious portentous toss.


----------



## inva (Jun 12, 2015)

*The Ship That Died of Shame*
Fatalistic Ealing film from 1955 directed by Basil Dearden and set in the midst of post WW2 disillusionment as ex Navy servicemen who turn to smuggling across the Channel from France using their old boat from the war find themselves in increasingly morally questionable waters. George Baker and Bill Owen were particularly good in two of the lead roles and it also stars Richard Attenborough. Really a very good little thriller.
*
Daisies*
1966 film directed and co-written by Věra Chytilová and maybe the most 'new wave' of the Czech New Wave. A manic bit of surreal cinema featuring two young women played gleefully well by Ivana Karbanová and Jitka Cerhová who decide that as the world has gone bad they will be bad, which mostly seems to mean spending their time either looking for food or eating it and bundling men on to trains. A better knowledge of the context it was made in would probably have given me more of an understanding of what Chytilová was targeting/responding to but I can't say I minded much. I was very strongly reminded of Jacques Rivette's late New Wave film Celine & Julie Go Boating which Daisies must surely have been a great influence on with its semi-improvised style and most obviously in concerning the mad adventures of two young women.It also has a similar sense of the everyday world made strange/sinister that is shared by Rivette's films like in the investigation of Paris by the two women in Le Pont Du Nord.

I'd been meaning to see this for a long time and it's definitely a great film that is anarchic, fun and very of its time with a filmmaking style as crazed as the content. Good use of colour and sound too. Highly recommended.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 12, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *Shame *(2011). I am a huge fan of almost everyone who worked on this film (dir Steve McQueen, actors Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, Nicole Beharie) but I thought it was, in every sense, a load of self-pitying pretentious portentous toss.


I'm with you. All that triumphant running. Poor handsome guy with a nice and enormous flat who has too much sex. Poor poor handsome guy!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 12, 2015)

Always enjoy your reviews, trabuquera


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 13, 2015)

I saw a tv movie called Trilogy Of Terror at a mate's house. It was the first horror film he ever saw and it scared the shit out of him. It's now on YouTube so thought we'd revisit it and find out if it's still scary. It's not. It's three stories starring the beautiful but mad-looking Karen Black off of Easy Rider in the lead of each story playing women in peril, but it's risible, despite being penned by the mighty Richard Matheson. The third story, the one which scared my friend at eight years old, is about a voodoo doll that comes to life and menaces Black. The doll looks like this:






The ending was actually pretty good and you could see why it would have scared the shit out of a kid. 
It was entertaining at least, which i wish i could say about the next film we tried to watch, Guardians Of The Galaxy. We switched it off after an hour cos it was so appalling. It has far too many characters, the thin plot was hard to follow, it was full of jokes whilst being totally witless (most of them were pop-culture injokes that only Comic Book Store Guy would get the references to), it was full of spectacular stunts, battles and CGI nonsense, but it was boring as fuck. Howard The Duck is a better film. Makes me hate people. If you like this film, I despise you. (well, not really )


----------



## DrRingDing (Jun 13, 2015)

Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch directs a vampire film starring Tilda Swinton. Sounds great but is intensely boring and embarrassing. I was willing for the film to end. It did, badly. Most disapointing film I've seen for a while.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 14, 2015)

KIngsmen

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?DVDID=120282

Deliciously violent and funny take on the spy movie with large nods to Bond, Bourne and Bauer, by the Kick-Ass coupling of Millar and Vaughn.

The second half of this movie is really good.  At one point Colin Firth gets involved with a congregation of westboro-baptist types and it's outrageously satisfying.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 14, 2015)

*The Shipping News* (Lasse Hallstrom 2001) Disappointing adaptation of a good novel.


----------



## belboid (Jun 15, 2015)

*Once Upon A Time In Anatolia*

Been meaning to watch it for an age, and it was well worth the wait. Some cops and a couple of crims go looking for a shallow grave on a windy road in an confusingly unmemorable bit of Anatolia.  It takes them some time. The coppers chat about all sorts, including ones ex-wife.

The firs hour and a half are quite brilliant and gripping. The last hour (or so, once they've left the road) remains very good, but not quite as gripping.  And the sub-plot referred to above just doesn't quite convince because you are two steps ahead of the doctor, who must be as dumb as the character they were searching for if he hadn't twigged what we'd already twigged.  But, despite that, it is a great film and very well worth a watch.


----------



## starfish (Jun 15, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> KIngsmen
> 
> http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?DVDID=120282
> 
> ...


Saw this last night too. Had a couple of niggles with it but it was fairly enjoyable & funny.
Also watched Live.Die.Repeat. Same feelings as above. Bet it went down well in parts in parts of Northern Ireland though. UDF saves the world


----------



## ringo (Jun 15, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *The Shipping News* (Lasse Hallstrom 2001) Disappointing adaptation of a good novel.



It was OK, but only OK. Hard to translate books that good and of that style into film.


----------



## belboid (Jun 15, 2015)

Also watched this weekend, a Melange of Minor Marlowes, with very mixed results.


*The Lady in the Lake* (Robert Montgomery as PM). Most notable for generally refusing to show Marlowe’s face, and using the camera as him – so everyone speaking to Marlowe addresses the camera directly. When you see the intro – where ‘Marlowe’ tells us the set up, you are very glad we don’t see more of Montgomery, he seems like a perfectly good radio actor, but wooden as hell. But then the film starts, and within five minutes the ‘trick’ becomes annoying. Within half an hour it’s unbearable, so it gets turned off.

*Brasher Doubloon* (The High Window, with George Montgomery). A much better film. Not first rate, but good, and a pretty coherent version of a confusing tale. This Montgomery is no Bogart, but he is watchable, if a tad passive-aggressive in how he switches between flirting with all those dames and playing hardball with the big guys.

*The Falcon Takes Over* (George Sanders as The Falcon, based on Farewell, My Lovely).  The first Chandler adaptation, and it replaces Philip with the gentleman detective ‘The Falcon’ (Sanders’ third outing as that detective). It’s still a good story, tho moving much of the action from the black underbelly of American society to a posh nightclub makes various scenes and characters seem completely out of place. Watchable, but only just.

*Murder, My Sweet* (Farwell, My Lovely, with Dick Powell) Shouldn’t really be on a ‘minor Marlowe’ list, it’s the third or second best film with him in it (depending on whether you consider Altman’s film to be anything to do with the ‘real’ Marlowe), but lots of them are quite short, so I ended up watching it again anyway. Powell is no Bogart, and can be quite wooden, especially in the supposedly charming scenes, but he can come over convincingly, certainly better than the other performers, and could propel a sense of menace. They stick to the story fairly closely (tho they remove most of the racial references), and the support are excellent. Dmytryk certianly knew how to create the full repertoire of noirisms, and it’s the most convincing of the other forties films. The title was changed because apparently the producers were afraid people would think 'Farewell, My Lovely' would be a musical. 

*Farewell My Lovely* (Robert Mitchum) – the first of the Mitchum remakes (why do they always start with Farewell?) and it’s the better of the two, as I recall. Altho made in the seventies, it has all the looks of a eighties made for TV film. Mitchum could have been a great Marlowe, but he’s at least twenty years too old in this and really dialling it in. it is probably the most true to Chandler of any of the films tho – right down to all that charming language about ‘shines’ and far more explicit references to homosexuality. They add a few references to the date (seemingly so that we can all go ‘ohh, it’s so long ago, they were allowed to speak like that then), but otherwise it’s pretty pure Chandler. Roger Ebert, for some reason, really rated this film, god knows why. I would have turned it off after half an hour, but then Charlotte Rampling turned up. No one can substitute for Lauren Bacall, but if anyone could….it could well be Charlotte Rampling.  She is very good, deliciously sultry and a convincing femme fatale. Still doesn’t stop it from being a pretty lousy film tho. Also contains an early appearance by Sylvester Stallone, who isn’t the worst thing in it, and Harry Dean Stanton, who is one of the best things in it.

*Marlowe* (The Little Sister, James Garner). One I hadn’t seen before, and a big omission. Updated to the sixties this is almost an anti-noir as all the outdoor scenes are shot in ultra bright daylight, no chiaroscuro here. One whole plotline is removed from the book, but it makes few odds, and it otherwise sticks fairly close to the original. Garner is excellent – a little too light perhaps, you can see exactly where Jim Rockford came from in this – handling the wit, the charm, and the menace with ease. Excellent supports – especially Rita Moreno as Dolores Gonzáles – well paced, and strongly directed. Bruce Lee makes his Hollywood debut (?) in a couple of quite amusing, if wholly misplaced scenes, until he is removed from the action with a quick dollop of slight homophobia. Despite that, it is still well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it before.


I still have a couple more to catch up on _Time to Kill_ (High Window with Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne instead of Marlowe) and _The Big Sleep_ (Robert Mitchum) – I’ll try to get round to them, tho my heart wont be in it. I made a start on the latter, but as it opens with Marlowe driving along a road with a signpost for _Stevenage _I decided I needed to wait before putting myself through it.

Then, once I’ve (re)read the books, I’ll have to (re)watch _The Long Goodbye_ (Elliott Gould) and _Poodle Springs _(James Caan). Neither read nor watched Poodle Springs before, so that should be interesting, even if it is barely Chandler at all.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 15, 2015)

belboid said:


> *Once Upon A Time In Anatolia*
> Some cops and a couple of crims go looking for a shallow grave on a windy road in an confusingly unmemorable bit of Anatolia.  It takes them some time. The coppers chat about all sorts, including ones ex-wife...


 
also one of the only films I have ever seen containing a genuinely funny joke about the EU. Even though it goes on for aaaaages and is so arty, I LOVED this movie (although I'd hated other things the same director made) and one of the best things about it - entirely unexpected in a long bleak arty crime film - is the very wry and dark sense of humour lurking around the edges.


----------



## butchersapron (Jun 15, 2015)

**oops**


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 15, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> **oops**



Good fucking movie.


----------



## sovereignb (Jun 15, 2015)

I spent most of yesterday watching this show...forgot how hilarious it is!


----------



## Belushi (Jun 15, 2015)

*Bright Days Ahead* (Marion Vernoux 2014) Fanny Ardant is terrific as a recently retired dentist coming to terms with ageing and enjoying a fling with a much younger man.


----------



## Voley (Jun 16, 2015)

I'm 20 minutes into this atm.







It's really fucking dire. Why am I surprised by this?


----------



## Belushi (Jun 16, 2015)

*The Pianist* (Roman Polanski 2002) Okay adaptation of Wladyslaw Szpilman's autobiographical account of his struggle to survive in occupied Warsaw, Adrien Brody is good in the lead role.


----------



## starfish (Jun 17, 2015)

The Interview. It made me laugh.


----------



## yardbird (Jun 17, 2015)

Waterworld.
It's not really that bad and I want the catamaran.


----------



## ringo (Jun 17, 2015)

A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Nearly turned it off when I realised it was a comedy but it wasn't nearly as bad as it looks.


----------



## hot air baboon (Jun 17, 2015)

The Hobbit Ep.1  - as recorded from ITV over the week-end...

......my misgivings about this project pretty much vindicated imho....although I admit this type of film loses alot in the scaling down from large to small screen, once you take out the epic vistas then there's really not much else left at the bottom of the glass....

...in parts it looked like a poor shot-for-shot remake of LoTR...Gandalf & butterfly, a directly repeated bit where a stranded pinnacle of rock topples onto a ledge so everyone jumps off, a lead "dwarf" who looks remarkably like Aragorn, Radagast levered in as a very ill-advised surrogate Tom Bombadil with a huge dollop of sea-gulls droppings down the side of his face, and most deleterious of all lamentably poor CGI : the necromancer at dol guldur was sub-Dr Who - as wehre the battling rock-giants, the wargs show no improvement on what the 2001 technology was producing & particualry the goblins under the mountain escape sequence which looked like some cheap 1990's play station platform game...


----------



## Maharani (Jun 17, 2015)

Foxcatcher- was great. Steve Carell was excellent.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 17, 2015)

yardbird said:


> Waterworld.
> It's not really that bad and I want the catamaran.


This film! I must get a torrent!

It got really undeserved stick when it came out. Yes, costner isn't an expressive actor but in this role- the spartan aquatic Mad Max figure- he didn't need to be. Hopper was in great camp villain form and the one eyed baddie 'Dry land is not just our destinination, it is our destiny!'

I'm not really sure why it got so much stick at the time. Its got some great set pieces.


----------



## marty21 (Jun 17, 2015)

I've been binge watching 'Falling Skies' for the past week or so, Aliens invade - kill loads of folks - enslave others with a big parasite which is embedded in the back - there's a resistance -  enjoying it, can get a bit schmaltzy at times - but the action sequences are pretty good, and it motors along nicely


----------



## pesh (Jun 17, 2015)

First 2 series of Silicon Valley... Childish, offensive, geeky, Mike Judge... 
What's not to like


----------



## The Octagon (Jun 18, 2015)

_A Million Ways To Die In The West
_
Not great, pretty much an extended live action Family Guy parody of a western, partially saved by a few good jokes / slapstick moments, one great cameo appearance and Charlize Theron.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 18, 2015)

The Octagon said:


> _A Million Ways To Die In The West
> _
> Not great, pretty much an extended live action Family Guy parody of a western, partially saved by a few good jokes / slapstick moments, one great cameo appearance and Charlize Theron.


Have you seen Dodge City? My dad showed me the bar brawl scene from it a few weeks ago and it's got everything. The daddy of all western bar brawls. The one in Blazing Saddles is a blatant copy of it.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 18, 2015)

Get Hard - two or three funny scenes, still, it is a very bad film.


----------



## The Octagon (Jun 18, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Have you seen Dodge City? My dad showed me the bar brawl scene from it a few weeks ago and it's got everything. The daddy of all western bar brawls. The one in Blazing Saddles is a blatant copy of it.



No, will have a look, interesting to see it's directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca)


----------



## Belushi (Jun 20, 2015)

*Lion's Den* (Pablo Trapero 2008) Slightly unconvincing Argentine prison drama set in a mother and baby unit.


----------



## inva (Jun 21, 2015)

*For All Mankind*
1989 documentary film made by Al Reinert out of footage mainly shot by the Apollo astronauts over the course of the various moon landings and interviews with them which were used as a voiceover. It's a very interesting and well put together documentary and there was some really fantastic shots that were amazing to see in high definition.

*Ikarie XB-1*
1963 sci-fi directed by Jindřich Polák, based on a novel by Stanisław Lem and another film with a screenplay written by Pavel Juráček. I haven't watched that many of this genre although I have seen the excellent Andrei Tarkovsky version of Solaris which was based on a book by the same author and has some similarities in its tone and themes. The plot is fairly simple – a mission to somewhere near Alpha Centauri hoping to find some aliens, but the drama is largely focused on the crew of Ikarie and the tensions that develop over the course of their journey. The characters are all quite quickly drawn but effective and well acted and the filmmakers' efforts to portray the everyday life of people during long distance space travel and some of the routines and practicalities of it are quite clever (with a special mention for the strangely formal space disco scene).

There was some good use of the film camera as if it was the ship's onboard cameras – some of the slow panning shots using wide angled lenses both showed off the well designed sets and also had an alienating and slightly sinister edge to them which becomes more pronounced as the film progresses.

Overall a really good film that stands up very well today given the time it was made. Fantastic futuristic score by Zdenĕk Liška too.


----------



## davesgcr (Jun 21, 2015)

Had a rare and enjoyable watch of "Radio Days" by Woody Allan. A fave - still makes me laugh after about a dozen viewings.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 21, 2015)

*Black Jack * - 1979 Ken Loach film adapted from a kids' book by Alan Garner. 18th-century lad's adventures in the company of a dodgy French heavy (hanged but survived), a bunch of travelling fair folk and a girl declared a lunatic and cast off by her evil rich family. It's all very Loachy - lots of poignant moments of cruelty and oppression and social critique ordinary folk chatting about not much - and doesn't really grip as a drama at all. Full of anachronistic language and behaviour, and the low-key sort-of-realist style doesn't sweep the story along. But there are amazing faces and some ravishingly beautiful shots (fire-lit conversations and misty country dales etc etc).

*The Bay * - recent found-footagey eco-disaster/horror thing. Breaks the premise all the time (there's sequence after sequence which just wouldn't ever be filmed that way at that time) but so many nested layers of recording/editing in the film itself it can probably get away with it. It's basically every mutant-horror-monster-movie ever, but quite snazzily updated and larded with LOADS of eco-paranoia and even a bit of anti capitalist deep green thinking you don't get much in US films. (bit too reminiscent of u75 conspiraloons at times in fact…) needless to say big business, nuclear waste and industrial chicken farming are mostly to blame, governmental agencies pass the buck furiously while a whole idyllic small town die grisly deaths, final girl signs off at the end. Really not bad.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 21, 2015)

That Ken Loach thing sounds like the sort of thing the Young Adult market would go for, trabuquera.

Anyway, last night I watched Pain and Gain - one of the great stupid movies. Mark Wahlberg plays a nasty bit of work who recruits a couple of poor eejits for a plot that involves kidnapping and extortion. This movie will do for gym rats and personal trainers what _The Boston Strangler _did for door-to-door salesmen. The Rock plays one of the eejits and turns in an impressive performance. I think it was butchersapron who recommended this one a while back. . .

Last week I watched _What we Did on our Holiday, _which also involves poor eejits, but of a different  variety. David Tennant and Rosamund Pike are the middle-class whose marriage is crashing and burning, but who return to Scotland for the 75th birthday of Tennant's father, played by Billy Connolly.


Spoiler



I'm not convinced, somehow, that some children aged roughly six to ten would be to organise a Viking burial at sea for their deceased grandfather .


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 21, 2015)

episodes 2-5 of Sense8.

This is really good. If netflix can keep buying/producing/commisioning stuff like this its going to easily rival HBO in terms of subscriber base. 
From the bro and si who boughtyou the Matrix, Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending etc. People are linked in the mind by a mechanism they don't understand. From London to NY to Nairobi to Seuol. They can somehow tap into each others muscle memory, experience what the other is doing and so on. Shot beautifully, can cheeser it in places but regardless, its great.
Freema Agyeman is in it as well, so bonus.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 21, 2015)

*The American Friend* (Wim Wenders 1977) Enjoyable adaption of Patricia Highsmith's novel 'Ripley's Game' with Dennis Hopper surprisingly good as the anti-hero and Bruno Ganz excellent as the innocent picture framer he manipulates.


----------



## renegadechicken (Jun 21, 2015)

The gunman  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2515034/ - with Sean Penn, Ray Winstone, Idris Elba - pretty good film really enjoyed it.


----------



## The Boy (Jun 22, 2015)

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014). Much the same as the other four, but this time following a group of working class Latino kids instead of middle class white families.  Diminishing returns.  And the attempts o shoehorn the previous plotlines into the new films are getting silly now.


----------



## The Boy (Jun 22, 2015)

Apollo 18 (2011).  Found footage, on the moon.  Poor even by the standards of the genre.


----------



## belboid (Jun 22, 2015)

*Time To Kill *(ake The High Window) - another 'Marlowe' where Marlowe is replaced by some bloke.  It's a good tale, the cast and script are decent, so it's still pretty good, and only an hour long.

*The Big Sleep* (1978). Absolutely awful, with Bob Mitchum, sole redeeming feature being that it sticks very close to the original novel, so has a few more twists and turns than the Bogart. Oliver Reed is campilly amusing, briefly.  It's also, amusingly, transposed to England in 1978. but the only thing they change to make that work is turning the dollars into pounds. This makes it somewhat amusing when the General starts to talking about what a good guy Regan is, and what a vital role he played in the Irish revolution. I don't really think they thought that one through.  Like a shit Michael Winner film, which it was.

*Force Majeure* - that one about the bloke who saves his phone not his kids. Very, very, well done until the ending(s), which were just a bit....odd. Absolutely gripping for an hour and forty five minutes tho.


----------



## The Boy (Jun 22, 2015)

It Follows (2015).  Girl has a sexual encounter, after which her date ties her up and explains that he's passed on a curse to her which can only be lifted by hey sleeping with someone else.  A sort of sexually transmitted haunting, if you will.

I'm sure the film thinks it has something to say about the isolation of suburban living and urban decay, but it's basically a decent effort at an old school, creepy horror - has a hint of the Halloween about it IMO.  Enjoyable and recommended, though looking online it seems to have all sorts of rave reviews which over rate it a bit for me.  Maybe I'm just in a bad mood.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 23, 2015)

Rated X - 2001 vanity project with Emilio Estevez directing and playing one of the porn world's Mitchell Brothers (they made Behind the Green Door and ran a skinflick/strip/sex show empire in Sna Francisco); the other brother is played by Emilio's real-life bro Charlie Sheen, who is truly convincing in the part of a raging paranoiac ranting aggressive misogynist cokehead asshole (#norealactingrequired). Both sport hilarious identical balding bonces and lurid 70s fashions, there's lots of swearing, trailer loads of (mostly naked) gals and truckfuls of coke to be snorted. The plot reaches truly sleazy/scary territory at times but overall the mood is a bit flat, it views more like a made-for-TV film than anything deeper. While obviously trying to 'do a Boogie Nights' it doesn't have that film's nuance or - crucially - its humour. But the relationship between the two brothers is infectiously warm and realistic.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 23, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> ... it was boring as fuck. Howard The Duck is a better film. Makes me hate people. If you like this film, I despise you. (well, not really )



So you missed the bit of Guardians of the Galaxy that actually had Howard the Duck _in it_, then?


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 23, 2015)

The Boy said:


> It Follows (2015).  Girl has a sexual encounter, after which her date ties her up and explains that he's passed on a curse to her which can only be lifted by hey sleeping with someone else.  A sort of sexually transmitted haunting, if you will.
> 
> I'm sure the film thinks it has something to say about the isolation of suburban living and urban decay, but it's basically a decent effort at an old school, creepy horror - has a hint of the Halloween about it IMO.  Enjoyable and recommended, though looking online it seems to have all sorts of rave reviews which over rate it a bit for me.  Maybe I'm just in a bad mood.



It was overrated.
You pretty much summed up what I thought about the film - better than average but no way is it a masterpiece.

It's been a long while since I saw a decent horror now.
Maybe The Babadook or Evil Dead (re-issue).


----------



## Sea Star (Jun 23, 2015)

Everything I watch these days has a trans character in it!

Currently watching Sense8 which I'm finding very moving and gripping too, even without Nomi, the trans woman in the series, whose scenes mostly make me cry, but in a good way. Very inspirational!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 23, 2015)

ViolentPanda said:


> So you missed the bit of Guardians of the Galaxy that actually had Howard the Duck _in it_, then?


Yes, as it's in the credits. Hence my reference. I can Google too, you know.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 23, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Yes, as it's in the credits. Hence my reference. I can Google too, you know.



Didn't google, I watched the entire film because I knew to expect exactly what the film showed - fairless mindless action hokum.
All the "Marvel Universe" films have "Easter Eggs" in the credits (from Iron Man onward), so if you've seen one, you know to watch out for them in the rest.


----------



## The Boy (Jun 23, 2015)

We're the Millers (2013).  Silly, stupid comedy about a small time drug dealer who enlists the help of people he doesn't like so they can masquerade as a family to smuggle a heap of drugs into the country for a comedy drug lord he owes money to.

Has Rachel from friends and one of the guys from the hangover movies.  Basically the same sort of humour as those.  

Killed some time, I suppose.

The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974).  Awesome opening credits.  Top film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 24, 2015)

Voley said:


> I'm 20 minutes into this atm.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If it's any consolation I watched this during my night shift last night:






Cheers for that, Netflix algorithm


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 24, 2015)

The Boy said:


> We're the Millers (2013).  Silly, stupid comedy about a small time drug dealer who enlists the help of people he doesn't like so they can masquerade as a family to smuggle a heap of drugs into the country for a comedy drug lord he owes money to.
> 
> Has Rachel from friends and one of the guys from the hangover movies.  Basically the same sort of humour as those.



The actress who played the teenage "daughter" would have done well in the sort of "bad girl" roles Barbara Stanwyck used to do. But Stanwyck made her films back when Hollywood still made movies for grown-ups.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 24, 2015)

*The Look of Love* (Michael Winterbottom 2013) There's a great film to be made of the life of Paul Raymond, but this isn't it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 24, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> If it's any consolation I watched this during my night shift last night:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


There's quite a few reviews out there about this turd, but the one in the comments on this blog post summarises everything that needs to be said about it the best, I feel:

https://britpic.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/he-who-dares-2-downing-street-siege/


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 24, 2015)

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/concert-movies-of-the-late-sixties-and-seventies.336042/


----------



## The Boy (Jun 24, 2015)

Snowpiercer (2014).  Just awful.  Waterworld, or Reign of Fire dreadful.  I actually went for a walk and read the Wikipedia article instead.


----------



## magneze (Jun 24, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Snowpiercer (2014).  Just awful.  Waterworld, or Reign of Fire dreadful.  I actually went for a walk and read the Wikipedia article instead.


Ace film


----------



## The Boy (Jun 24, 2015)

magneze said:


> Ace film


Really?  I'd been looking forward to it for ages, but just didn't get on with it at all.


----------



## magneze (Jun 24, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Really?  I'd been looking forward to it for ages, but just didn't get on with it at all.


Yeah, really liked it.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 25, 2015)

*Calvaire* (Fabrice Du Welz 2004) Low budget Belgian take on Deliverance.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 26, 2015)

The Boat that Rocked.

Shenanigans on the pirate radio ships. There's a great film to be made of that story, but this isn't it. But it passed the time fairly well.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was surprisingly good, and his character was surprisingly likeable.


----------



## starfish (Jun 26, 2015)

Game of Thrones, series 5, episodes 1-5. Almost up to date.


----------



## belboid (Jun 26, 2015)

The Avengers - Series 1

There isn't much of it left, so it didn't take long


----------



## hot air baboon (Jun 26, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> There's quite a few reviews out there about this turd, but the one in the comments on this blog post summarises everything that needs to be said about it the best, I feel:
> 
> https://britpic.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/he-who-dares-2-downing-street-siege/



...god...this thing was actually meant to be "serious"...looked like a Comic Strip Presents spoof of some sort...

....there I was thinking Nick Love was the bottom of the barrel when it turns out he is actually the cream of the crop floating in the rather rancid looking tub that is our own thriving little exploitation film industry.....Extinction : Jurassic Predators, Essex boys Retribution, Dangerous Mind of a Hooligan....I am enlightened...


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 26, 2015)

The Boy said:


> Snowpiercer (2014).  Just awful.  Waterworld, or Reign of Fire dreadful.  I actually went for a walk and read the Wikipedia article instead.


Really?  I thought it was great.

Class warfare with Tilda Swinton turning in an Oscar-worthy performance?


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 27, 2015)

Joe Strummer, The Future is Unwritten:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800099/

St. Joseph of Strummer will need no introduction to anyone on here, of course.

Like all rock n' roll stars he was a real fake, but unlike most of them (like Bono, who appears in this) underneath it all there was a core of sincerity.

Even if there were a few points in his career when he came perilously close to  being the male Hazel O'Connor, the balance sheet is positive.

So yeah, if you're a worshipper at the Shrine of Strummer, you should watch this.

(The most interesting parts were the ones about his hippy artschool days, a part of the story I was previously unaware of).


----------



## May Kasahara (Jun 28, 2015)

Lemmy: The Movie. Greasily enjoyable, especially the footage of him singing 'that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever...apparently I am' during Ace of Spades


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 28, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *The Look of Love* (Michael Winterbottom 2013) There's a great film to be made of the life of Paul Raymond, but this isn't it.



Can't really be made until Richard "dirty" Desmond has snuffed it, I'd have thought.


----------



## The Boy (Jun 28, 2015)

The Babadook (2014).  Another horror film that's been getting a lot of rave reviews.  Wasn't all that bothered by it.  Like with_ It Follows_ it was nice to see a horror film trying to do something a bit more, but I just found the whole affair rather dull tbh.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jun 28, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Lemmy: The Movie. Greasily enjoyable, especially the footage of him singing 'that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever...apparently I am' during Ace of Spades



I continue to be stunned that the only (rarely since he took to wearing a hat full-time) visible sign of ageing on St. Lemuel of Kilminster is his thinning head hair. he still looks pretty much the same as he did 35+ years ago, the first time I saw the 'head.
I reckon all that sulphate and Jack has kind of "pickled" him at a permanent 30-something.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 28, 2015)

Are you kidding? He looks at least twenty years older than that


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jun 28, 2015)

I had a second go at _Jupiter Ascending_ but I could only manage an hour or so. What a confusing and confused mess this is. Fucking magic boots.

I've just got started on Season 6 of The West Wing, and while I'm still liking it, the love has worn off a bit. I'm going to keep with it though, because I still adore CJ, and I really want Josh and Donna to finally just fuck each other and get on with their lives. I'm also noting that John Spencer is looking increasingly ill


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 28, 2015)

Inherent Vice.

Paul Thomas Anderson writes and directs this adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel. Unlike the novel, which is a nostalgic look back at what John "War Nerd" Dolan called the "Tolkien Jihad" of late '60s California, this has a basic core of unease and dread underneath the hippy vibes, maaan. It's almost a sort of '60s Chinatown, except it's not made by a paedophile rapist and it's also a good movie.

Joaquin Phoenix is good as the hippy hero, Josh Brolin is better as his thug-in-uniform-well-plain-clothes LAPD nemesis. Oral symbolism (yes, that kind of oral) is important in this movie - see how much of it you can spot.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 28, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Are you kidding? He looks at least twenty years older than that



I dunno, he looks pretty good for a cartoon character.


----------



## 8den (Jun 28, 2015)

Just popped into my head and I'm going to watch Grosse Point Blank tonight. I hope it's aged as well as it's soundtrack. 



> Martin: I'm a professional killer.
> 
> Paul: Do you have to do post-graduate work for that, or can you just jump right in?


----------



## 8den (Jun 28, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> I had a second go at _Jupiter Ascending_ but I could only manage an hour or so. What a confusing and confused mess this is. Fucking magic boots.
> 
> I've just got started on Season 6 of The West Wing, and while I'm still liking it, the love has worn off a bit. I'm going to keep with it though, because I still adore CJ, and I really want Josh and Donna to finally just fuck each other and get on with their lives. I'm also noting that John Spencer is looking increasingly ill



I think its season 4 where Sorkin got fired (he tried to board a domestic flight with what can only be described as a plethora of drugs on his person) he was writing so much of the show single handed often scripts would arrive minutes before shooting happened, and it was wearing the cast out and putting him under immense pressure, and thus the drugs. 

The show really hurts with him gone and gets much more mauldin, still miles better than most dross on tv (I think someone pointed out that 2004 was the greatest year in the history of tv) and nails it. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamiejones/why-2004-was-the-greatest-year-in-television-history#.sukBEmJZG


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 28, 2015)

Only Lovers Left Alive.

Jim Jarmusch...auteur of Dead Man, Ghost Dog and other excellent movies...does vampires.

Backed up by Hiddlestone, Swinton and Hurt comfortably acting off each other...playing off each other.

Dark, human and affecting.  An undertone of looking after the planet. caring for your resources, living in the modern world.

Probably the best vampire movie since Near Dark.


----------



## 8den (Jun 28, 2015)

I've got Only Lovers Left Alive, and Inherent Vice on my hard drive, must look at them. 

Dexter have you seen "What we do in the Shadows"? Easily the funniest Vampire movie ever


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 28, 2015)

8den said:


> I've got Only Lovers Left Alive, and Inherent Vice on my hard drive, must look at them.
> 
> Dexter have you seen "What we do in the Shadows"? Easily the funniest Vampire movie ever


No but it's on my list.   The trouble is it's been a really good movie period for the last few years....loads of quality stuff all over the place.   It's hard to keep up


----------



## The Boy (Jun 29, 2015)

As Above So Below (2014).  Found footage in the Paris catacombs.  Wonderfully awful, although I always assumed characters in horror films were so annoying so that you cheered when they got mushed.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 29, 2015)

Ex machina (2015)

I really liked it. A sci fi film that doesn't depend on explosions or aliens.

 I preferred the boss to the coder.


----------



## belboid (Jun 29, 2015)

A Girl Walks Alone At Night

A US/Persian (?) film,  the first Iranian vampire western, apparently.  Neatly shot, very funny in places, and well worth a viewing.


Also finished watching Better Call Saul - been meaning to for ages, but only just got round to it. Not quite what I was expecting at all, much, much better.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 29, 2015)

belboid said:


> Also finished watching Better Call Saul - been meaning to for ages, but only just got round to it. Not quite what I was expecting at all, much, much better.




I've had that waiting to go and thought I should finish BB before I started


----------



## moody (Jul 2, 2015)

sovereignb said:


> I spent most of yesterday watching this show...forgot how hilarious it is!





First  time I have ever seen this, didn't even know about it.

It's now 08.16 and i have just finished watching quite a few of them.

Very funny.


----------



## Reno (Jul 2, 2015)

I watched Big Hero 6 which was better than I thought it would be. It's like a mash-up of Brad Bird's two animated features The Iron Giant and The Incredibles and while fun, it's not as good as either of them.

I also watched the retro-style horror film We Are Still Here, which is very good till it falls apart in the last ten minutes. Nice to have middle aged characters in a horror film for once and it's good to see 80s scream queen Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, The Beyond) making a comeback. She is very good as the 50something heroine of the film.


----------



## Jackobi (Jul 2, 2015)

Two, new space travel related series, Dark Matter and Killjoys. Both fairly mediocre but the space angle keeps them interesting, Dark Matter being the slightly better show.


----------



## sovereignb (Jul 2, 2015)

moody said:


> First  time I have ever seen this, didn't even know about it.
> 
> It's now 08.16 and i have just finished watching quite a few of them.
> 
> Very funny.



Another convert! It really is an underrated gem that very few people know about.
Shame they never made anymore.


----------



## moody (Jul 4, 2015)

sovereignb said:


> Another convert! It really is an underrated gem that very few people know about.
> Shame they never made anymore.




Tim's boss reminds me of Mark from Peep Shows boss.


----------



## Reno (Jul 4, 2015)

The Nightmare, an attempt at a horror documentary about sleep paralysis. People describe their nightmares and the documentary sort of dramatises them. Sounds more interesting than it is and gets repetitive fast. From the director of Room 237 about The Shining consiraloons, which also went out of steam well before the end.

The Haunted Palace from my new Vincent Price blu-ray box set. Gothic fun and went well with the real thunderstorm outside.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 4, 2015)

*The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (Peter Jackson 2012) Dreadful, turned it off halfway through. Every scene is three times longer than it needs to be.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 4, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (Peter Jackson 2012) Dreadful, turned it off halfway through. Every scene is three times longer than it needs to be.


by the third one I was only watching out of a sense of duty and shouting abuse at the screen in father jack style outbursts of boredom and rage

such a waste. They turned radagast into a shit-headed magic mushroom casualty as well


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 4, 2015)

I held out til the second one with the posh dragon


----------



## Belushi (Jul 4, 2015)

I couldn't finish the first, let alone watch another one. Especially as I hear Stephen Fry is in it.


----------



## inva (Jul 4, 2015)

*Still Life*
2013 film starring Eddie Marsan as a soon to be redundant funeral officer out on one last case. I've seen it described as a comedy but I can't say I noticed much humour – I thought it had a fairly relentlessly glum tone. There's plenty of lingering shots of nothing much after Marsan's character has moped out of view somewhere and a sad piano score. Marsan acted his part well, as did Joanne Froggatt as one of the relatives he tracks down and whose appearance quite late on in the film does help to lift the plot out of its sluggishness. Overall, despite liking the basic idea I felt like it fell short of the mark.

*Nightmare Alley*
1947 carnival based film noir directed by Edmund Goulding. Tyrone Power stars as a ruthless sideshow worker who is determined to learn the code that Zeena (Joan Blondell) and her alcoholic husband once used in a top-billed clairvoyant act before the husband deteriorated too much to perform it. As you would expect, nothing satisfies his ambitions and Power is suitably charming and treacherous on his way to the top. Another highlight of the film was Helen Walker's scheming psychologist, who is drawn into the plot through her scepticism of Power's character once he's started branching out into spiritualist cons. I did feel the part of the narrative concerning Walker was very promising and could almost have been a whole other film, and maybe as a result you get the sense that everything happens a bit too quickly and without enough development. One other issue was that the ending didn't quite fit, but on the whole it was a very enjoyable noir with a little bit of a difference and well worth a watch.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 5, 2015)

*Hot Tub Time Machine* (Steve Pink 2010) Crap time travel comedy, John Cusack is better than this.


----------



## sovereignb (Jul 5, 2015)

moody said:


> Tim's boss reminds me of Mark from Peep Shows boss.



Didnt think of the Peep Show similarities but your right


----------



## Reno (Jul 5, 2015)

Phoenix by Christian Petzold which got rave reviews but like most of his films found it a bit boring to be honest. There are strong smilarities to Vertigo but this unfolds almost suspenseless.

To perk myself up with some trash afterwards I tried to watch Stung, a monster movie about giant wasps which turned out to be a German film with US leads shot in English. It was unbearably shit and I gave up after 30 minutes. I think I'll get back to my Vincent Price box set tonight for some quality films.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 5, 2015)

Run All Night - Liam Neeson unusually plays a bad guy working for an Irish criminal gang . He is a serial killer , bit of a drunk and his son doesn't want to know him. But guess what? He falls out with his boss and his boss wants to kill his son.Obviously Liam won't let him and is forced to play the same role as he does in his last five films.I was trying to explain that at one time Liam could act and that he was really good in Schindlers List but my girlfriend wasn't interested.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 5, 2015)

*Spirited Away* (Hayao Miyazaki 2001) Classic Studio Ghibli.


----------



## 8den (Jul 5, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (Peter Jackson 2012) Dreadful, turned it off halfway through. Every scene is three times longer than it needs to be.



There's a fan edit of all three films were they are wittled down from over a 9 hour total into one single 4 hour film. Thats still about a hour too long, but there was no fucking way I was watching that tiny book get bloated into a trilogy.


----------



## 8den (Jul 5, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Hot Tub Time Machine* (Steve Pink 2010) Crap time travel comedy, John Cusack is better than this.



John Cusacks career has been in a Nicolas Cage slump for over a decade. I bet he goes to sleep at night by smacking his head against the bed chanting "Why did I turn down Breaking Bad, Why did I turn down Breaking Bad" until he passes out.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 5, 2015)

He would have been a disaster in breaking bad.


----------



## 8den (Jul 5, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> He would have been a disaster in breaking bad.



Quite Probably, it's inconceivable to imagine anyone but Cranston in that role. But Cusack hasn't made a decent film in about 15 years (seriously tell me he's done anything to match either High Fidelity or Being John Malkovich)/


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 5, 2015)

8den said:


> Quite Probably, it's inconceivable to imagine anyone but Cranston in that role. But Cusack hasn't made a decent film in about 15 years (seriously tell me he's done anything to match either High Fidelity or Being John Malkovich)/


I'm struggling to find a good non-smug film that he's ever been in tbh.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jul 5, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I'm struggling to find a good non-smug film that he's ever been in tbh.



Pushing Tin? I suppose your definition of smug might be different to mine.


----------



## 8den (Jul 5, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Pushing Tin? I suppose your definition of smug might be different to mine.



Its okay ish butchers is right though he is very smug.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jul 5, 2015)

8den said:


> Its okay ish butchers is right though he is very smug.



Well, I'd hate to go against the party line


----------



## Belushi (Jul 6, 2015)

*Dog Pound* (Kim Chapiron 2013) Piss poor American remake of Scum.


----------



## Cheesypoof (Jul 6, 2015)

AIDS documentary 'We were here.' Its about how the community responded to the devastating AIDS epidemic in San Francisco when it first appeared in the early 80's. A terrifying number of people died - almost 20,000 in SF (at one point, 50% of the community in the early days) - their friends left behind tell their stories. Powerful, deeply moving stuff. It will stay with me for a long time.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 6, 2015)

Interstellar. 

Better than I expected, not as good as was advertised.


----------



## Sue (Jul 6, 2015)

8den said:


> Quite Probably, it's inconceivable to imagine anyone but Cranston in that role. But Cusack hasn't made a decent film in about 15 years (seriously tell me he's done anything to match either High Fidelity or Being John Malkovich)/


Maps to the Stars was quite good though his was more a supporting role.


----------



## Ozric (Jul 6, 2015)

'Kill List' a disturbing British Horror.  Kept me on edge all the way through...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 6, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> Run All Night - Liam Neeson unusually plays a bad guy working for an Irish criminal gang . He is a serial killer , bit of a drunk and his son doesn't want to know him. But guess what? He falls out with his boss and his boss wants to kill his son.Obviously Liam won't let him and is forced to play the same role as he does in his last five films.I was trying to explain that at one time Liam could act and that he was really good in Schindlers List but my girlfriend wasn't interested.


does he go full neeson in this one? cos thats all I care about


----------



## Belushi (Jul 6, 2015)

Imagine how much better Schindlers List would have been had he been allowed to go the full neeson.


----------



## starfish (Jul 6, 2015)

Holy Motors, holy shit more like. Im sure it was all meant to symbolise something but fuck knows what. Great acting by Denis Lavant though.


----------



## zxspectrum (Jul 6, 2015)

Jupiter Ascending.

Wachowski's in retrograde.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 6, 2015)

zxspectrum said:


> Jupiter Ascending.
> 
> Wachowski's in retrograde.


I really enjoyed it, not for the laughably bad space opera guff crossed with some odd toilet cleaning realism bits, but for the visuals. The hover boots that eventually seemed to become flying boots, the weird looking people, the 'look we are doing a gibsonesque seoul again' city scape and the chase sequences. Wouldn't pay to watch but for free, great.


----------



## zxspectrum (Jul 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I really enjoyed it, not for the laughably bad space opera guff crossed with some odd toilet cleaning realism bits, but for the visuals. The hover boots that eventually seemed to become flying boots, the weird looking people, the 'look we are doing a gibsonesque seoul again' city scape and the chase sequences. Wouldn't pay to watch but for free, great.


Visually it's great.

But the roller skates just made me think I was watching some weird 70's SF - except it didn't have the balls to go full Zardoz or something. 

Instead Mila Kunis just seemed to accept everything that was happening as if she was mildly stoned.

The villain's acting was the worst thing I have ever seen (and not heard because he mumbled the whole way through as if someone had stuck Jack Nicholson's Joker prosthetic face into his mouth).

The intergalactic stuff should have been really awesome, but instead the visuals were wasted; oh look it's a dragon person, a porcupine faced dude, and some woman who bathes in soylent green. It was ho hum and noone really sold any of it.

And then she goes back to cleaning the bogs, like some dutiful lottery winner! 

"ee a've been t' outer space, but it's not going t' change me, I'll keep me job cleaning lavs in t' Asdas!"


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 6, 2015)

Belushi said:


> Imagine how much better Schindlers List would have been had he been allowed to go the full neeson.


Someone needs to do a Taken/Schindler's mash up.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 6, 2015)

zxspectrum said:


> Visually it's great.
> 
> But the roller skates just made me think I was watching some weird 70's SF - except it didn't have the balls to go full Zardoz or something.
> 
> ...



Sense8, the netflix series they done, is by far the better in terms of storytelling. Quality visuals there as well, its not some 'straight to the internet' cheapjack effort




I watched episode 2 of Killjoys. Its a bit grim on the politics front what with debt slavery and all that. Hopefully by the end there is a revolt and heads get mounted on spikes


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 6, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Someone needs to do a Taken/Schindler's mash up.


if he'd been allowed to go full neeson, the war would have ended in 90 minutes as he worked his way through speer, bormann, eichman et al until he got to hitler


----------



## zxspectrum (Jul 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Sense8, the netflix series they done, is by far the better in terms of storytelling. Quality visuals there as well, its not some 'straight to the internet' cheapjack effort
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When sense8 appears on torrents I may check it out.

Jupiter Ascending should have been a stage musical like Starlight Express.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 6, 2015)

zxspectrum said:


> When sense8 appears on torrents I may check it out.
> 
> Jupiter Ascending should have been a stage musical like Starlight Express.



well if you want to see a former doctor who companion doing her girlfriend with a strap on- this is the series for you


----------



## zxspectrum (Jul 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> well if you want to see a former doctor who companion doing her girlfriend with a strap on- this is the series for you


If there's one thing that can persuade me to watch anything on netflix...


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> does he go full neeson in this one? cos thats all I care about



Neeson turbo mode


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> if he'd been allowed to go full neeson, the war would have ended in 90 minutes as he worked his way through speer, bormann, eichman et al until he got to hitler



only if they kidnapped one of his family


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 6, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> only if they kidnapped one of his family


They kidnapped his workers, who he regarded as his private property. Even more deserving of the full Neeson.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 6, 2015)

*In A Better World* (Susanne Bier 2011) Watchable if somewhat glib Danish drama about violence and masculinity.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 6, 2015)

Bad Ass (2012)

there is a lot to like about this film based on a youtube clip of a vietnam vet knocking someone out on a bus. But it didn't feel right. I liked the premise, of an aged vet who lost it and decided to avenge his mate death but the beating up black people angle was overplayed and came across a bit weird. And off. Its like the racial aspect of the whole thing was just over emphasised by the violence, I dunno maybe I'm being too 'pc' or whatever but it didn't feel righteous vengeance, like what neeson does

ron perlman is in it for about 5 mins


----------



## rekil (Jul 7, 2015)

Speaking of Cusack - this promo pic for the appalling Dragon Blade (Romans wandering about China) reminds me of when Nigel Planer was asked to "look mean" in Bad News.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 7, 2015)

*Walkabout* (Nicholas Roeg 1971) As good as I remember.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 8, 2015)

Taken.

I thought I go and see what all the 'full Neeson' fuss was about. And he does convince in the role, even though he's a highly improbably candidate for it.

And the action was really effective - but I wasn't surprised to find that it's a French director, because it's far more like a standard French crime thriller than anything Hollywood makes.

DotCommunist, are the sequels worth bothering with, or is it another case of 'thank God they only made one Matrix film"?


----------



## starfish (Jul 8, 2015)

Watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford on Sunday. Thought it was an excellent film. Very moody & deep.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 8, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I'm struggling to find a good non-smug film that he's ever been in tbh.


It is smug but _Grosse Point Blank_ is good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 8, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Taken.
> 
> I thought I go and see what all the 'full Neeson' fuss was about. And he does convince in the role, even though he's a highly improbably candidate for it.
> 
> ...


they are terrible films but worth it for the full neeson


----------



## belboid (Jul 8, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I'm struggling to find a good non-smug film that he's ever been in tbh.


The Grifters, Eight Men Out.  Both absolutely brilliant, and he is excellent in them.  Both a bloody long time ago now, tho


----------



## starfish (Jul 8, 2015)

He's had good reviews for the new Brian Wilson biopic, not sure of the smugness content though.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 8, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> they are terrible films but worth it for the full neeson



And he has the same glum, hangdog expression in the other two that he has in the first one, then?

And I assume there's to be a Taken 4?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 8, 2015)

I hope so!


----------



## hot air baboon (Jul 8, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> I thought I go and see what all the 'full Neeson' fuss was about. And he does convince in the role...



.....he signally failed to convince me he could impersonate a French police inspector to a room full of ALbanian nogoodniks.....


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 8, 2015)

hot air baboon said:


> .....he signally failed to convince me he could impersonate a French police inspector to a room full of ALbanian nogoodniks.....


It wasn't meant to be Z you know.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 8, 2015)

Or State of Siege.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 10, 2015)

*Black Hawk Down* (Ridley Scott 2001) Carnage porn.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 10, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Black Hawk Down* (Ridley Scott 2001) Carnage porn.


I rewatched that last week. Couldn't finish it.


----------



## inva (Jul 11, 2015)

*A Most Violent Year*
Low key film set in the crooked oil business of 1980s New York. Slow building but intense and engrossing with very good acting - especially from Oscar Isaac but Jessica Chastain also impressed.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 11, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> I rewatched that last week. Couldn't finish it.


I couldn't really follow the action in it. Didn't know who anyone was, why they were doing what they were doing, what they were saying or what they were doing.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 11, 2015)

Taken 2.

The full Neeson, this time in glamorous Istanbul. Even though it's a (different) French director, it felt much more like a conventional Hollywood actioner than the first one - it lacked all the French tropes and mannerisms of the first movie.

Submarine.

Directed by Richard "Moss off the IT Crowd" Ayoade, this depicts the coming of age of an adolescent pseudo-intellectual in provincial Wales. I don't know what he was whinging about, at least he had a girlfriend. In fact the girlfriend's story would have made for a better movie, given that she wasn't an irritating twat. But yes, I liked it. . . it reminded me a bit of _In my father's den _for some reason, even though it has none of the deeply grim stuff that film had.


----------



## Reno (Jul 11, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Taken.
> 
> I thought I go and see what all the 'full Neeson' fuss was about. And he does convince in the role, even though he's a highly improbably candidate for it.
> 
> ...



I love Neeson's grumpy old man approach to the action hero. Skip the awful Taken sequels and watch a few of the other action films he made instead. Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones and Run All Night are all good fun.


----------



## belboid (Jul 11, 2015)

*Wild Tales*

An enjoyable bit of Almodovar type silliness, the first and last tales especially are very funny.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 11, 2015)

Reno said:


> I love Neeson's grumpy old man approach to the action hero. Skip the awful Taken sequels and watch a few of the other action films he made instead. Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones and Run All Night are all good fun.


I'll do that!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 11, 2015)

Just grabbed Walk Among The Tombstones for tonight dose of TFN.

Looks like a decent enough crime/revenge number


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 12, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Just grabbed Walk Among The Tombstones for tonight dose of TFN.
> 
> Looks like a decent enough crime/revenge number


suprisingly bleak as it goes. The sidekick kid was great. As was the idea of shooting a pistol backwards right next to your ear while being garroted. Thats TFN right there.


----------



## starfish (Jul 12, 2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road. Highly enjoyable, batshit crazy, adrenaline rush of a movie.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 12, 2015)

*Sanjuro* (Akira Kurosawa 1962) Not one of Kurosawa's great films but very enjoyable nonetheless, Toshiro Mifune is terrific in the lead.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 13, 2015)

Haywire.

Stephen Soderbergh's action movie, starring MMA champion Gina Carano. Also Ewen McGregor, Michael Douglas, and Michael Fassbender. Channing Tatum does his usual excellent imitation of a meathead (what do you mean that's not acting?).

As good as any of the classic chase thrillers of the 70s, but maybe just a little too chin-strokingly intellectualised. But I really enjoyed it, I have to say. Even the bits set in Ireland (really).


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 13, 2015)

John Carter 'cos it was on telly. Every bit as dire as the universal press pannings suggested; loud, uninvolving, hamfisted, cackhanded, incoherent and - from the first 40 mins which was all I could bear to watch - really kinda racist in an odd Edwardian imperial way (masquerading as being species-ist). That might be from the source material though. It wasn't camp enough to work as a Flash Gordon or Mars Attacks sort of retro-nostalgia SF. Just space pants. Anyone who made it all the way through this "film" is free to convince me otherwise.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 13, 2015)

Dragon Blade 

chackie chan in this chineese warriors vs romans thing that went on for hours and hours. There was war, theere was meolodrama, there was a weird sort of 'combat styles dance-off'  between the romans and chinese. Jackie Chan did a couple of musical numbers. You certainly get your moneys worth when you go cinema in china eh? Some of the CGI looked like PC game cutscenes from 2012.


----------



## hot air baboon (Jul 13, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> John Carter 'cos it was on telly. Every bit as dire as the universal press pannings suggested; loud, uninvolving, hamfisted, cackhanded, incoherent and - from the first 40 mins which was all I could bear to watch - really kinda racist in an odd Edwardian imperial way (masquerading as being species-ist). That might be from the source material though. It wasn't camp enough to work as a Flash Gordon or Mars Attacks sort of retro-nostalgia SF. Just space pants. Anyone who made it all the way through this "film" is free to convince me otherwise.



....ooh I did this one over the weekend aswell to clear some disc space & actually thought that OK is was terrible but it wasn't _*quite*_ as terrible as I'd anticipated...didn't seem that much more loud, overblown & hoky than Avatar tbh...the usual repertory company of british thesps dressing up ridiculously for large cheques were either ludicrous ( West ) or phoning it in though ( Hinds ) , with none of the cheerful vim & brio that an unleashed Blessed would give you...

...I thought the race angle was albeit clumsily trying to make a point in that the "red race" set-up as a Martian counterpart to the Native Americans were the victims of aggression from the whites...

....I also liked the way the hero disappears to Mars leaving a bullet-riddled corpse lying in the graveyard for his nephew to explain away...


----------



## Reno (Jul 13, 2015)

Six episodes into season 2 of Penny Dreadful. Still good fun and Eva Green is great as ever but these nudie witches look stupid and why couldn't Billie Piper have stayed dead ? Characters aren't very consistently written. At one point Eva a Green is driven to insanity by the mindfuck witches and in the next scene she is all smiles again, advising Frankenstein's monster on romantic matters and dropping in on Dorian Gray's party. Maybe it will be a plot point...

Timothy Dalton looks very good for 71, I think he is more handsome now than when he was Bond.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 13, 2015)

I got bored with it after ep2. I only really like the emo Frankenstein's Monster storyline.
Was shocked by the big reveal in the Dorian Gravy segment. Wow!


----------



## Reno (Jul 13, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> I got bored with it after ep2. I only really like the emo Frankenstein's Monster storyline.
> Was shocked by the big reveal in the Dorian Gravy segment. Wow!



I find Frankenstein's monster kind of boring and it involves the dreaded Billie Piper but I like Dorian Gray and Eva Green.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 13, 2015)

Run All Night - Liam Neeson films suits my mental capacity of late. Easy, not too elaborate and simple. Sad times.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 13, 2015)

*Even the Rain* (Iciar Bollein 2011) A decent, if a bit heavy handed, film about the on going exploitation of Native Americans.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Haywire.
> 
> Stephen Soderbergh's action movie, starring MMA champion Gina Carano. Also Ewen McGregor, Michael Douglas, and Michael Fassbender. Channing Tatum does his usual excellent imitation of a meathead (what do you mean that's not acting?).
> 
> As good as any of the classic chase thrillers of the 70s, but maybe just a little too chin-strokingly intellectualised. But I really enjoyed it, I have to say. Even the bits set in Ireland (really).


I liked that there were so many interesting characters and story threads and bits of backstory, but none of them overcooked at the expense of the main narrative or the action.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 14, 2015)

Blood

A pair of brothers are coppers and kill someone who they belive to be a child murderer. Comedy does not ensue. Good film, taut.

6/10


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 14, 2015)

*The Sergeant *(1968) - odd and very downbeat tale of US Army life in France in the wake of WWII; Rod Steiger is a crusty, respected old master sergeant sent to whip a slack platoon into shape and get them to keep the barracks s tidy, but he ends up being overwhelmed with lust for a young officer (John Philip Law, a tall blonde Alain Delon lookalike who was the angel figure in Barbarella), losing his marbles, taking to drink and disgracing himself. It's very very weird; not explicit (at all) about gay desire but doesn't hide it either.  Can't really tell if the film is homophobic or not (? is this a clichéd tragic take on how gays are all so messed up inside? or is Steiger's blistering performance meant to humanise the 'other' and portray serious PTSD as well as other agonies?). It's very slow moving and a right downer in the end, but may be of interest to queer cinema fans or researchers.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 14, 2015)

*Audition* (Takashi Miike 1999) Too slow moving and then too gruesome for my tastes.


----------



## Yetman (Jul 15, 2015)

Before I Go - Stifler appears out of stereotype in romantic suicide comedy. Some points were very funny indeed, was a nice Sunday afternoon flick


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 15, 2015)

http://io9.com/interplanetary-travel-is-only-for-the-rich-in-the-short-1717324297

this 30 minute short film is worth your time. Its the future and after 10 years surveying a new earthlike planet its open for settlers. But you need to be rich to get a ticket. The rest of us stay here in the rapidly decaying ecosphere.
Good little short, crammed a lot of plot into that half hour


----------



## Reno (Jul 16, 2015)

Finished Penny Dreadful S2. Didn't think this was as good as the first season and I got a bit bored with it, though the third episode with the Cut Wife was great and Billie Piper got a lot less irritating in the second half.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jul 16, 2015)

*The Guest (2014)*, starts as a thriller then the end is dark comedy parody of 80s culture. Made very watchable by the Drive influenced soundtrack of new era synth wave and old synthpop / EBM and Brit. actor Dan Stevens' lead performance.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jul 17, 2015)

I'm not proud, but I found five new episodes of The Last Ship. At this point in the story, a rag-tag crew of evil scumlords have control of an Astute-class Royal Navy submarine (fucking somehow), and the lonely US Destroyer hero ship is fighting it. Highly recommended for anyone who likes the full Neeson vibe.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jul 17, 2015)

Ilsa She Wolf Of Siberia (off da Horror Channel) - so bad it's good


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 17, 2015)

that'll be based on koch no doubt, the infamous 'bitch of buchenwald'. How people so love to slaver over nazi women is beyond me.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jul 18, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> that'll be based on koch no doubt, the infamous 'bitch of buchenwald'. How people so love to slaver over nazi women is beyond me.



There's a whole series of those movies - many of them were banned in the 70s/80s.  It's pretty tasteless (though by all accounts not as bad as the earlier ones), but not to be taken seriously...


----------



## Reno (Jul 18, 2015)

There was Ilsa She Wolf of the SS and Ilsa Tigress of Siberia, which was the second sequel. Yup, tasteless, but that's the point of 70s/80s Grindhouse fare, which drew an audience with illicit thrills where production values weren't an option. There was a whole sub-genre of Nazi soft porn in the 70s which ranged from the cheap to the relatively lavish Salon Kitty. The Ilsa films would have especially appealed to men who like to be dominated I assume, with Dyanne Thorne playing the ultimate dominatrix in all of them.


----------



## inva (Jul 18, 2015)

Brute Force
1947 film directed by Jules Dassin. Burt Lancaster (this role following his debut in The Killers) stars as a convict who is determined to attempt a prison break, and to do so means getting by the scheming and sadistic Captain Munsey (a superb menacing performance by Hume Cronyn) and his guards and informants. It's brutal and has a noirish sense of inevitability, brilliantly and starkly shot by William H. Daniels and with a powerful score by Miklós Rózsa. It does stick quite closely to the genre conventions but it is executed in great style and I'd strongly recommend it. The only slight criticism I would have is the series of flashbacks explaining why some of the main characters were imprisoned - while some worked better than others, I think maybe they interrupted the sense of pressure building up that the film creates.

I've been very impressed with Dassin's films. Before this I'd seen a few others - Night and the City, Rififi and Topkapi, all of which were excellent. I also have The Naked City and Thieves' Highway lined up for some other time.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 18, 2015)

Dassin did Topkapi? I never knew that.


----------



## inva (Jul 18, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Dassin did Topkapi? I never knew that.


yeah, it was one of quite a few films he did with Melina Mercouri.


----------



## Reno (Jul 18, 2015)

I watched Roger Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum and the Wachowski's Jupiter Ascending. Corman won.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 18, 2015)

Three failures last night. I thought I had not watched the end of the dreary insurgent, so skipped to the end, only to discover that I had. It was so dull that I had simply forgotten. 
Tried to watch age of ultrons second half. I had previously switched off, but fancied another shot, how bad can a wizz bang popcorn adventure be late on a Friday? Pretty bad it seems. What an utter mess of a film. Like a great big shitting mess all rolled into one tight messy ball. 
Screw this, I'll watch those minions. Those despicable me films were good fun . . . . Jesus no. Plotless and jokeless. Not cute, not funny, just an endless series of dull situations.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 18, 2015)

Reno said:


> I watched Roger Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum and the Wachowski's Jupiter Ascending. Corman won.


A spicy Corman will always taste better than bland, unseasoned and overcooked turkey


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jul 19, 2015)

Kingsman: The Secret Service. My reaction: hahaha holy fuck. I'm not sure what I expected, but Colin Firth going full rage-comedy-Neeson in a church wasn't really it at all.


----------



## purenarcotic (Jul 19, 2015)

Mardaani - been working my way through the Hindi / Bollywood films on Netflix.  Excellent film but depressing content.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 19, 2015)

*In Darkness *(Agnieszka Holland 2011) Well made film based on the true story of a sewer worker who hid a group of Jews beneath the streets of Lwow for 14 months in WW2.


----------



## magneze (Jul 20, 2015)

The Raid 2: Decent martial arts nonsense.

Advantageous: Very good female-led Sci Fi drama. Thoughtful and asks some interesting questions.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 20, 2015)

Couple of weird ones off the telly:

*Man with the Iron Fists *- RZA's demented cinematic love letter to Shaw Brothers-era martial arts films. It makes no sense at all and glories in violence, mutilation and noisome sexist & racist stereotypes. But most people in it are clearly in on the joke and some (especially Lucy Liu) give fine, campy, tongue-in-cheek performances. It's sort of fun in the end. Personally I found the level of actual scrapping rather disappointing.

*Seraphim Falls *- moody atmospheric modern(ish) Western with Liam Neeson (for it is he!) angrily tracking down former Confederate fighter and lone-wolf assassin Pierce Brosnan (who is also quite angry at Neeson for having burnt down his farm and home and family during the War.) There's lots of macho grunting and some good action sequences but it goes a bit soggy/soppy/Christian in the final act. You would have to judge for yourself the fullness of Neeson's neesoning.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 20, 2015)

A Walk Among the Tombstones/Ruhet im Frieden.

The Full Neeson, but this time in the context of a proper movie.

The Taken movies are good fun, but they're no more than hokum. This flick, where Neeson is a hard-boiled ex-cop turned unlicensed PI is an actual proper piece of cinematic art - not just one of the best crime/mystery films I've seen, but also just one of the best films I've ever seen, full-stop. He does threaten the bad guys over the phone, but does it better in this one.

DotCommunist, you saw this one, I think - what was your verdict?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> A Walk Among the Tombstones/Ruhet im Frieden.
> 
> The Full Neeson, but this time in the context of a proper movie.
> 
> ...


I found it suprisingly bleak as it goes- the bit where he nearly gets garroted is closer to the hokum of Taken but there wasn't much of the throwaway action thriller in WATT


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I found it suprisingly bleak as it goes- the bit where he nearly gets garroted is closer to the hokum of Taken but there wasn't much of the throwaway action thriller in WATT


The horrors it deals with (by the way, no one should watch this is they're easily upset) aren't that different than those which motivated the bad guys in Taken, but they're done in that is much more shocking and disturbing than in that one.

Neesons' character in AWATT is also far closer to being a dyed-in-the-wool fuck-up than the role he played in Taken.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> The horrors it deals with (by the way, no one should watch this is they're easily upset) aren't that different than those which motivated the bad guys in Taken, but they're done in that is much more shocking and disturbing than in that one.
> 
> Neesons' character in AWATT is also far closer to being a dyed-in-the-wool fuck-up than the role he played in Taken.


interesting choice, writing wise with the kid. That could have been done badly but the character rang true and his interactions with neeson didn't feel false


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> interesting choice, writing wise with the kid. That could have been done badly but the character rang true and his interactions with neeson didn't feel false


No sense of a "white saviour" thing with the kid, either, who clearly had his own goals and agenda.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jul 20, 2015)

*Kajaki (2014)*, based on a true story about a unit of British soldiers who get stuck in a minefield in Afghanistan while trying rescue a colleague. Great first feature length film from director Paul Katis, very tense with a good script and acting. Certainly one of the best British film I've seen in the last year or two.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *Seraphim Falls *- moody atmospheric modern(ish) Western with Liam Neeson (for it is he!) angrily tracking down former Confederate fighter and lone-wolf assassin Pierce Brosnan (who is also quite angry at Neeson for having burnt down his farm and home and family during the War.) There's lots of macho grunting and some good action sequences but it goes a bit soggy/soppy/Christian in the final act. You would have to judge for yourself the fullness of Neeson's neesoning.



thats tonights film sorted thankyou

'll give the one with Rza a miss even though he was one of the hardest characters in that ludicrous (not him) wu tang themed beat em up game 'Taste The Pain'


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 20, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> thats tonights film sorted thankyou
> 
> 'll give the one with Rza a miss even though he was one of the hardest characters in that ludicrous (not him) wu tang themed beat em up game 'Taste The Pain'


The one set in a pop-up bakery?


----------



## Belushi (Jul 20, 2015)

*Departures* (Yojiro Takita 2009) Sentimental comic drama about a cello player who becomes a 'nakanshi', preparing the bodies of the dead.


----------



## belboid (Jul 21, 2015)

Housebound - a kiwi horror comedy wherein Kylie is subject to house arrest with her mother after a failed bank robbery. Mom thinks the house is haunted, and Kylie thinks that she is nuts, obviously.  But is she.....

Unusually, it succeeds as both horror and comedy, proper rofl stuff on occasions, and while the scares aren't especially original, they are very well done, with a nice use of gore when appropriate. Morgana O'Reilly is great as Kylie, and has some marvelous 'wtf' expressions. Very much worth tracking down


----------



## Reno (Jul 21, 2015)

Housebound is great fun, I especially loved the mother. One of my favourite films from last year.

I watched the Astaire musical The Band Wagon which I had not seen since my teens. Almost up there with Singin' in the Rain and from the same team, this takedown of Broadway theatre is basically Birdman with great songs and without the heavy-handed point scoring.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Jul 21, 2015)

Gravity - more thoughtful than I expected, although obviously not DEEP or owt - it looked stunning and the acting was v. good. Was a bit silly in places but an entertaining 90 mins. Would have HURT in 3D I think


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jul 21, 2015)

belboid said:


> Housebound - a kiwi horror comedy



from your wiki-link there


> In February 2015, New Line Cinema announced the production of the US remake



 It's a great little film and it's in English do we really need a remake already?


----------



## The Boy (Jul 22, 2015)

Sinister (2012).  Above average horror nonsense with yon Ethan Hawke in the lead role.  One of those true crime writer types moves into a small town to investigate the incident of a family being hung from a tree in teh back garden.  Finds some super8 films in the attic which suggest it was the work of a serial killer who looked a bit like Euronymous.  A bit silly, and like all movies the characters do things that don't make sense - like moving your family into the scene of a gruesome murder without telling them, and not running like the wind when you realise that the person responsible for the murders came back and left the films for you to find.

Deliver us from Evil (2014).  Same director as above, and seems to use the same MO of hiring a well known lead actor to try and carry a fairly weak plot.  This time Eric Bana stars as a cop investigating weird crimes which seem to be related and involve some kind of possession.  Aesthetically it borrows a lot from Seven, but that's about the best that can be said for it as the film.  A few cheap jumps does not a horror film make. Not great.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 22, 2015)

The first 6 or 7 eps of Daredevil. This is splendid stuff. A lot more grittier than expected. What Gotham could have been...


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jul 22, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> I'm not proud, but I found five new episodes of The Last Ship. At this point in the story, a rag-tag crew of evil scumlords have control of an Astute-class Royal Navy submarine (fucking somehow), and the lonely US Destroyer hero ship is fighting it. Highly recommended for anyone who likes the full Neeson vibe.



The Last Ship is dreadful. So cheesy. I love it.  We watched it all over the last week or so...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 22, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> The first 6 or 7 eps of Daredevil. This is splendid stuff. A lot more grittier than expected. What Gotham could have been...


I never even rated Daredevil as a comic book character but that series is ace. The man playing big boss is great


----------



## Belushi (Jul 22, 2015)

*Circus Elephant Rampage* (Susan Lambert and Stefan Moore 2015) Blackfish with a trunk.


----------



## Cyclodunc (Jul 23, 2015)

Funeral in Berlin - fantastic stuff.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2015)

Seraphim Falls
I have seen this before, it was on the iplayer once. But I couldn't remember much except it had reminded me of a 70s bronson fim where he gets manhunted till he finally escapes over the snow to canada. Never can recall the title.

Anyway, this was similar manhunting fayre, with pierce pulling the 'I'm so hard a cuaterize my wounds with gunpowder trick, hiding up a tree and dropping a knife on someone, you know. The neesoning in this was around 30-50 % at any given time. As really, this was Pierce Brosnans moment to play the hardarse.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 23, 2015)

^ also set in an era before the phone so Neeson can't menace people telephonically enough for a proper TFN.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> ^ also set in an era before the phone so Neeson can't menace people telephonically enough for a proper TFN.


telegraph era though? 'I willl find you stop and I will kill you stop'


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 23, 2015)

*I will find you STOP and I will kill you STOP Good day sir ENDS*


----------



## Belushi (Jul 23, 2015)

*Arbitrage* (Nicholas Jarecki 2012) Watchable financial thriller, Richard Gere heads up a decent cast.


----------



## The Boy (Jul 23, 2015)

insidious: Chapter 3 (2015).  The law of diminishing returns personified.  Well, not personified, but ykwim.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 24, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Arbitrage* (Nicholas Jarecki 2012) Watchable financial thriller, Richard Gere heads up a decent cast.


 
Okay, I can live with that...




			
				Wikipedia then said:
			
		

> *Plot*
> Sixty-year-old magnate...


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2015)

...did you read on ?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 24, 2015)

Reno said:


> ...did you read on ?


Was it something about 'the attraction of sex magnates'?


----------



## AverageJoe (Jul 24, 2015)

I watched Chappie today. As the father to a terminally Ill 4 year old I was quite surprised that it made me cry. 

'why did you make me with a broken body? '

*tears*

It's just a film ffs


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Was it something about 'the attraction of sex magnates'?


OK, im confused and I give up. Some pun I don't get again. 

Anyways, I quite liked Arbitage, it was a bit like a scaled down version of Bonfire of the Vanities, the novel rather than the terrible film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 24, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> A most wanted man- a quite taut thriller set in Germany Philip Hoffman playing a counter terrorist trying to use a Chechan dissident to trap an Islamic leader suspected of financing extremists. Hoffman's great and I kept thinking what a loss.


 Was rather disappointed, TBH - never really any feeling of tension, or cultural or political or even historical context, just some hams in rooms doing zee accentz. Half expected Hoffmeister to ask "Iz it zafe?"


----------



## Belushi (Jul 24, 2015)

*Memento* (Christopher Nolan 2000) Saw this when it first came out, well worth rewatching.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 24, 2015)

Kill Bill part one.  Still great.  Watch it or turn the tv off and just listen through your speakers....great either way.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jul 25, 2015)

The Last Horror Movie - a nice surprise, even if it did seem to be a rip off of Man Bites Dog.


----------



## alsoknownas (Jul 25, 2015)

Ex Machina - I was severely disappointed.  Very well executed film, but fuck me - are we still at the sexy-lady-robot (wouldn't it be cool if we could just program women to fuck us) narrative? .  I know all this was couched with a Bad Naughty Programer tilt, but the whole film is male POV, titillating crap.
And surprisingly unprofound too; I feel like I've been around that 'do robots really feel' thing a dozen times lately with no meaningful insight apparent.


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2015)

alsoknownas said:


> Ex Machina - I was severely disappointed.  Very well executed film, but fuck me - are we still at the sexy-lady-robot (wouldn't it be cool if we could just program women to fuck us) narrative? .  I know all this was couched with a Bad Naughty Programer tilt, but the whole film is male POV, titillating crap.
> And surprisingly unprofound too; I feel like I've been around that 'do robots really feel' thing a dozen times lately with no meaningful insight apparent.



I don't think the sexy lady robot is gratuitous. The characters sexuality, vulnerability and empathy are woven into the fabric of the plot and are all set up for 



Spoiler



the trap the film springs. I'm not claiming the film does anything particularly original or that it's that great, but thanks to the performance of the actress, who plays a doe eyed victim throughout out so well, it really works when it turns out at the end that all along she has been an ice cold machine with her own agenda. So it punishes both the lead character and the audience for getting her wrong all along.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 25, 2015)

Caught up with all of the laest Hannibal. Had given up but I came back to it and was pleased to find them lifting plotlines from the films/books- so we've had verger, now its buffalo bill. Good move, has really bought it back to life. Even if everyone is a therapist and/or murderer and they all speak to each other in oblique psychobabble


----------



## alsoknownas (Jul 25, 2015)

Reno said:


> I don't think the sexy lady robot is gratuitous. The characters sexuality, vulnerability and empathy are woven into the fabric of the plot and are all set up for...


Yeah, but for me that's classic have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too redemptive plotting.  I agree that sexuality and power are central to the story, but what do we actually see through the majority of the movie?  Nubile bodies silently on display, or performing service, or  (  ) being hacked to pieces.  The majority of our journey is spent with the spectacle of the serving-woman-robot, and the two blokes swigging beer and cock-jockeying. For a film that has sexuality at it's heart, and nudity as a deliberate design element there's a (complete?) absence of male nudity.  It doesn't wash with me to just go...



Spoiler



..oh but she was really the powerful one all along...



...for the last ten minutes or whatever.


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2015)

alsoknownas said:


> Yeah, but for me that's classic have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too redemptive plotting.  I agree that sexuality and power are central to the story, but what do we actually see through the majority of the movie?  Nubile bodies silently on display, or performing service, or  (  ) being hacked to pieces.  The majority of our journey is spent with the spectacle of the serving-woman-robot, and the two blokes swigging beer and cock-jockeying. For a film that has sexuality at it's heart, and nudity as a deliberate design element there's a (complete?) absence of male nudity.  It doesn't wash with me to just go...
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



The last ten minutes are what the film is all about, it's a film entirely engineered around the twist. It's not like that is something the film produces out of nowhere to justify the objectification of the female character, its at the centre of the film. Something is only gratuitous if its introduced for its own sake. Here it's what the film is ultimately about. And the film is explicitly critical of its male characters who are shown to act unethical and boorish throughout. I also found the nudity rather tame and matter of fact under the circumstances and if someone wants their kicks, there is stronger stuff out there.

Anyways, I'm not trying to convince you to like the film, I didn't love it myself, but what it does has to be looked at in context of its overall design and the end is what it's all about. I personally wasn't that keen on the film exactly because I don't like films which are entirely about the twist.


----------



## alsoknownas (Jul 25, 2015)

Reno said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, but films are not just their story, or the moral they are trying to sell - every image, every moment, cut, sound, etc. has a sensual effect on the audience and takes you on some kind of a journey.  The main thing that jarred for me was perspective - the women in the film all exist to be stared at - by the audience of the film, by the men in the film, by the security cameras, etc., and away, for a second, from the story and the supposed moral, the experience on offer, to be lived-in and traveled-through, was one of two blokes enjoying the luxury of enslaved service, while casually discussing it over vodka and beer.

For me it's an old trick (Hay's Code origin?) - show what you like, then subvert it at the end and everything will be alright.  Exploitation movies worked like that, and video nasties (I'm thinking of stuff like 'I Spit On Your Grave') - you get to see women being raped and stuff, but as long as they get a bit of redemption eventually then the movie can claim the high ground.

I'm not trying to say that Ex Machina is trying to be porn - I'm talking about a more subtle kind of fantasy enjoyment, with a sprinkling of titillation thrown in.  I found it a bit depressing that that's where we're still stuck at to be honest.


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2015)

Nothing to do with the Hays Code, that was right wing, puritanical censorship which ruined Hollywood films for decades.

You are basically accusing Ex Machina of being exactly what it criticises and satirises. It's a sci-fi allegory about men creating women to be their playthings but it's nowhere endorsing that. Of course it has to show what it does to condemn it and along the way it implicates its male audience.

It's a very 70s way of looking at film spectatorship to just look at the representation and to ignore the context, Laura Mulvey, etc. I don't buy the "cake and eating it" argument when the "cake" is the subject matter of the film.

Anyways, that's as much I can be bothered with, it's going to get repetitive.


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 25, 2015)

Managed 20 mins of Sharknado 3 whilst flicking thru the channels last night. 

Not even so bad it's good, fucking Jedward turned up at one point in a mercilessly short cameo, then the main characters went to space with David Hasselhoff for... some reason.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 26, 2015)

Perfect Creatures

sort of an alt history\steampunky vampire film basically although they are gene engineered superhumans so they don't say the v word and there is no supernatural stuff. It was OK. Interesting visually anyway


----------



## maya (Jul 26, 2015)

The Octagon said:


> _then the main characters went to space with David Hasselhoff_ for... some reason.


Maybe a nod to the Hoff's third ever film appearance, 'Starcrash' from 1978?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starcrash


----------



## Belushi (Jul 26, 2015)

*London River* (Rachid Bouchareb 2010) Unsubtle script about the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings redeemed by two fine performances from Blenda Blethyn and Sotiguy Kouyate.


----------



## Reno (Jul 26, 2015)

The documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films about the frequently misguided output of the trash peddling 80s production company, which was very entertaining.

Three episodes of Wayward Pines. Not yet sure about this one, though the cliff hanger of episode 3 has me just about intrigued enough to hang in there. It's one of these Lost style conspiracy scifi things which is light on characterisation and all plot twists. I thought it would be a Twin Peaks style show, but it's more like one long Twilight Zone episode. Special agent Matt Dillon Goes looking for his disappeared colleagues and after a car crash wakes up in a town where nobody can leave and where time seems to pass differently. Good cast and at least this will get be wrapped up after ten episodes.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 27, 2015)

I'd say stick with it Reno - it's audacious, if nothing else. Still not sure what all those top-notch names were doing wandering around in it though! Wayward indeed.

I watched *La Rafle *(The Round Up - 2012) and haven't often had such conflicting feelings about a movie. Because it's an honourable attempt to remind France about the horrors of the roundup and deportation (to Nazi extermination) of Jews from Paris - the Vel d'Hiv affaire  of 1942 - which could hardly be more timely or more important, when you think of how many people today think it's ok to vote for Marine Le Pen and the Front National. Otoh, this film is from the schlocky TV mini-series school of aesthetic with a heavy Jean de Florette or Amelie filter - all the usual clichéd tropes of middlebrow French cine are in there, from sexy pouty adolescent girls to knitting nanas to sunlight filtering through the plane trees of a heavily-cobbled Montmartre and an overload of sickly-sweet gamin kids. Almost embarrassing to watch at times (the attempts to grapple with actual historical figures are clumsy and the sequences with 'Hitler' are jawdroppingly badly done; as with a Tarantino WW2 fantasia you check yourself and wonder what exactly is being sent up here, but the sad thing with La Rafle is that I don't even think they knew). There are some decent performances (Jean Reno, Adele Exarchopoulos, Melanie Laurent) amid the mush, but I think honestly if you want to know more about this atrocity you'd be better off with a book.


----------



## colbhoy (Jul 27, 2015)

I watched Holocaust: Night Will Fall last night, recorded from C4 in January. Utterly horrific to watch as I fully expected. To think there are those who claim the Holocaust never happened!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 27, 2015)

colbhoy said:


> I watched Holocaust: Night Will Fall last night, recorded from C4 in January. Utterly horrific to watch as I fully expected. To think there are those who claim the Holocaust never happened!



these days its all about 'Questioning the numbers' for the nazi apologists.

I watched Killjoys latest. SyFy have done it again, they've produced an interesting world and a great premise, made it visually pleasing and then stocked it with dull formulaic one note characters and leaden obvious plotting. This gets one more episode before I sack it off as another syfy failure


----------



## Belushi (Jul 27, 2015)

*We Need to Talk About Kevin* (Lynne Ramsay 2011) So-so adaptation of the novel, but Tilda Swinton gives one of the best performances of her career.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 28, 2015)

I'm watching High On Crack Street. It's really sad (unsurprisingly!)


----------



## The Boy (Jul 30, 2015)

Have started on buffy.  Didn't realise there are seven seasons.


----------



## pesh (Jul 30, 2015)

First few episodes of The Brink http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3216586/

fairly dark new HBO comedy starring Tim Robbins and Jack Black who are trying to prevent WW3 kicking off following a coup in Pakistan.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jul 31, 2015)

I watched Interstellar and Boyhood this week. Both were excellent fairplay but Boyhood was superb. Loved it


----------



## belboid (Jul 31, 2015)

Despicable Me

As funny as everyone said it was


----------



## Johnny Doe (Jul 31, 2015)

The Hijacking - kinda like a Danish 'Captain Phillips' if you've seen that


----------



## Belushi (Jul 31, 2015)

*Seven Samurai* (Akira Kurosawa 1954) Classic Kurosawa epic about a ragbag of ronin defending a peasant village from bandits.


----------



## 8115 (Jul 31, 2015)

Big Hero 6, disappointing


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jul 31, 2015)

On The Road.  Ages since I read the book, but I remember enjoying it.  Thought the film was very good.


----------



## magneze (Aug 1, 2015)

Divergent: Very cheesy, switched off after an hour.
Non-Stop: Ridiculous Neeson action film on a plane. Very watchable though.


----------



## Reno (Aug 1, 2015)

God Told Me To by 70s B-movie maverick Larry Cohen. It's the only one of his  70s/80shorror films I'd never seen. It's got pacing issues and as a director he never lived up to his concepts, but as far as I know it's the only the only horror film to feature an alien hermaphrodite Jesus with a vagina on his/her abdomen.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 1, 2015)

*Vertigo* (Alfred Hitchcock 1958) Perhaps his greatest film, a masterpiece of erotic obsession.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 1, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Vertigo* (Alfred Hitchcock 1958) Perhaps his greatest film, a masterpiece of erotic obsession.


I've just looked, no one else has ever said "a masterpiece of erotic obsession." on the internet before. Variants, sure, but never the phrase. I find that surprising.

And yes - it's a wonderful film. Pretty much very angle done well or perfect.


----------



## Reno (Aug 1, 2015)

Vertigo is the film that shaped my interest in film more than any other after my dad gave me the book Truffaut/Hitchcock for my 13th birthday and I went in a quest to watch every single Hitchcock film. It may be because Orpheus and Eurydice was my favourite story as child and it's basically a modern update. Until its re-release in the early 80s the film was almost impossible to see in the 70s as Hitchcock had pulled it from circulation together with four other of his best films. I did however manage to see a secret screening at the Munich film museum in the late 70s and it was a genuinely life changing event for me.

While it often gets said that Vertigo is about an erotic or sexual obsession, I think it's really about a romantic obsession, even if the erotic/sexual/fetishistic reading is the more daring or attention grabbing one. What makes the obsession in Vertigo so destructive is that we so often want to change the people we claim to love and that isn't love, it's basically narcissism. I think Scotty genuinely wants to bring a woman back from the dead instead of merely turning her into a fetish object for his sexual gratification and the tragedy is that he is completely blind to the woman in front of him, who was his love all along.

I kind of resent that it has gone to be this hallowed masterpiece now, especially since Vertigo knocked Citizen Kane off the top of the Sight and Sound list. Feels so unoriginal to have Vertigo as your all time favourite film and inevitably it provokes a backlash, because a lot of people can't see what the fuss is about. I still have Marnie though, a Hitchcock film that still seems slightly controversial to claim as one of his best. It's my favourite after Vertigo though and it's a great companion piece, dealing with similar themes and Sean Connery actually is a perv in the film.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 1, 2015)

I must watch it again.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 1, 2015)

Vertigo, I mean.

My personal favourite Hitchcock though is (at the time of writing) _Notorious._


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2015)

They Live

Quite a fun film. Now my second fave carpenter film, after 'the thing'. Satisfying gunplay, aliens, slightly subversive message. Enjoyed immensely. I think what made it was the main character being so thoroughly 'wtf' throughout. Dated but worth it, 7/10


----------



## Belushi (Aug 2, 2015)

*Gertrud* (Caro Theodore Dreyer 1964) His final film, I found it stilted at first but then became absorbed in the story of an opera singer who ends up alone rather than settle for less than her ideal of what love should be.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 2, 2015)

The Man With The Iron Fists. RZA's vanity project, just on the right side of enjoyably cheesy. Some good OTT fight scenes and a brilliantly flamboyant villain who seems to have based his performance on Jareth the Goblin King


----------



## maya (Aug 2, 2015)

...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 2, 2015)

maya said:


> ...



I love _Danger 5 
_
The schlocky 80s-mining Cannon/Glenn A Larson/_Miami Vice_/Donald Bellisario (etc)-style second series is even better than the Lew Grade-teefing first.


----------



## Reno (Aug 2, 2015)

Masque of the Red Death from my Vincent Price Blu-Ray box set, looking glorious in HD.

Never Let a Me Go. I haven't read the novel but I like the film even if it seems a little too precious and wistful at times. There is something perverse how it approaches what is usually the subject of body horror films as if it was a Merchant/Ivory production and I quite like the tension between form and content.

I did wonder why this dystopian scifi tale is set in a parallel past rather than the near future. Not that it doesn't work, but for anybody who has read it, does the novel have a narrative reason for it ?


----------



## Belushi (Aug 2, 2015)

*The Birds* (Alfred Hitchcock 1964) More classic hitchcock.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Aug 2, 2015)

*Corn Island [Simindis Kundzuli] (2014)*, a beautiful Georgian film about a man and his grand-daughter building a small shack and growing corn on one of the small temporary islands that appears in the Enguri River, meanwhile the Georgia and Abkhazia war goes on around them. Even though there is a very minimal script I found it a gripping watch, attention is held from the lovely cinematography and soundscape/soundtrack. Lovely stuff, see it.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 2, 2015)

Reno said:


> Never Let a Me Go. I haven't read the novel but I like the film even if it seems a little too precious and wistful at times. There is something perverse how it approaches what is usually the subject of body horror films as if it was a Merchant/Ivory production and I quite like the tension between form and content.
> 
> I did wonder why this dystopian scifi tale is set in a parallel past rather than the near future. Not that it doesn't work, but for anybody who has read it, does the novel have a narrative reason for it ?



The film is decent, but the book is a lot better - takes much longer for the 'reveal' and there's just more in it, more attachment to the characters.  Left me emotionally drained (and pretty much close to tears ).  I know what you mean about the setting.  I don't think there's any indication of exactly when it's set, but it works!

I watched Down To The Bone, random freeview record.  Excellent US indie about drug addiction - similar vibe to Beyond The Pines and Winter's Bone.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 2, 2015)

*Gran Torino* (Clint Eastwood 2009) A growling, cantankerous Korea vet (channeling Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway from Heartbreak Ridge) is won over by the conservative values of his hard working Hmong neighbours. A bit predictable but Eastwood is a good enough actor and director to pull it off.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 3, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> The film is decent, but the book is a lot better - takes much longer for the 'reveal' and there's just more in it, more attachment to the characters.  Left me emotionally drained (and pretty much close to tears ).  I know what you mean about the setting.  I don't think there's any indication of exactly when it's set, but it works!



Haven't seen the film but I cried my eyes out at the book, it left me really mournful. A very good read. There's no overt reason for the setting that I can tell Reno, other than a stylistic thing - to me it seems very evocative of 50s England, the adherence to society's rules and expectations and the acceptance of a certain class structure, all of which would make it easy for people to accept and encourage the book's central premise.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 3, 2015)

*Nightcrawler *- Jake Gyllenhal and Renee Russo both creepy as all get-out playing some of the human vultures of Los Angeles local news, cruising the freeways for images of death and mayhem to feel the city's appetite for stories about (the right kind of) crime. It looks fine - neon noir but not so stylised it's overdone, frames looking like updated Edward Hopper paintings at times. The script bangs home the agenda (that you should FEEL HORRIFIED AND BAD) about their activities a bit too obviously at times and it lacks dramatic tension in places imho. Very nice to see Riz Ahmed getting a juicy supporting role in something like this - his American accent's not bad either!


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2015)

Finished _Daredevil_ on Netflix. Roll on season 2!
Rush - does what it says on the tin. Must be the only Ron Howard film I've actually enjoyed.
Chronicle - now that's a proper superhero film. Nods to Lovecraft, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, too, if I'm not mistaken.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 3, 2015)

*Tyrannosaur* (Paddy Considine 2011) Unrelentingly grim directorial debut with two great performances from the leads, Olivia Coleman in particular.


----------



## Ranbay (Aug 3, 2015)

Unfriended which was better than I thought, Skype bulling internet teen horror


----------



## Yetman (Aug 4, 2015)

Get Hard, Ferrell in another comedy which is a lot better than the rotten tomatoes reviews would have you believe


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Aug 4, 2015)

sunday night: the dark knight rises, now my favourite of the Nolan trilogy. ledger is great in tdk, but i prefer the joker as Nicholson played him, whereas hardy IS bane.

Monday night: the Guy Richie Sherlock film. not bad, but its not the tv version.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 4, 2015)

Nine Bob Note said:


> sunday night: the dark knight rises, now my favourite of the Nolan trilogy. ledger is great in tdk, but i prefer the joker as Nicholson played him, whereas hardy IS bane.
> 
> Monday night: the Guy Richie Sherlock film. not bad, but its not the tv version.



Even the telly version








Isn't the proper telly version


----------



## Maharani (Aug 4, 2015)

Barfly made me feel out of sorts. Loved it though.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 5, 2015)

We are currently racing through Star Trek the Next Generation, Season 2.

The fella got me into bits and bobs of it on Freeview, and I became so completely enamoured of it I bought S1 and we watched it in a few days! Thank god there's fucking loads of it, and then apparently Deep Space Nine


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2015)

Herclues

the Rock is hercule. Jon Hurt is in it and Lovejy. Total guff but funny. Its on netflix trabuquera you'd like this I think


----------



## belboid (Aug 5, 2015)

The Killing of Sister George

Still a bona fide classic that should be seen by everyone.


----------



## marty21 (Aug 5, 2015)

I've been watching North and South - an 80s American Civil War drama starring Patrick Swayze - it's on YouTube - never heard of it before - not enough war shenanigans yet - it starts in the 1840s when Swayze goes to West Point to become a soldier person - and becomes pals with a yankee - then there is lots of stuff about how the Yankees don't understand Southern Ways - David Carradine as a nasty slave owner - and British Upstairs/Downstairs star Lesley-Anne-Down as a Southern Belle married to evil slave owner Carradine but in love with nice Southerner Swayze. Lots of Cameos from Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly, and Johnny Cash as John Brown!

It's not great but strangely addictive


----------



## Maharani (Aug 5, 2015)

marty21 said:


> I've been watching North and South - an 80s American Civil War drama starring Patrick Swayze - it's on YouTube - never heard of it before - not enough war shenanigans yet - it starts in the 1840s when Swayze goes to West Point to become a soldier person - and becomes pals with a yankee - then there is lots of stuff about how the Yankees don't understand Southern Ways - David Carradine as a nasty slave owner - and British Upstairs/Downstairs star Lesley-Anne-Down as a Southern Belle married to evil slave owner Carradine but in love with nice Southerner Swayze. Lots of Cameos from Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly, and Johnny Cash as John Brown!
> 
> It's not great but strangely addictive


I remember watching this when it first came out...at least I remember bits of it.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 5, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Hercules
> 
> the Rock is hercule. Jon Hurt is in it and Lovejy. Total guff but funny. Its on netflix trabuquera you'd like this I think


 
Thanks DotCommunist - I think you may know me too well. Already watched, enjoyed and guffawed at this one. It's great fun. Think I remember being surprised by how much swearing there was for a massmarket US product for the youth market. (It has Ian McShane in it so I suppose the profanity grew infectious...)


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> Thanks DotCommunist - I think you may know me too well. Already watched, enjoyed and guffawed at this one. It's great fun. Think I remember being surprised by how much swearing there was for a massmarket US product for the youth market. (It has Ian McShane in it so I suppose the profanity grew infectious...)


Should have known you'd been on a hercules film like a dog on spilt chips. It always amazes me watching some fantasy or sci fi b movie and who should appear? Jon Hurt. Every time.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 5, 2015)

Jon Hurt: I swear that man is either maintaining a very large and demanding family, or a humungous drink/drug/designer fashion habit, or he is aiming to just buy all the things and leave the largest estate of any actor in history. is there ANYTHING he won't do? surely he must have paid off the mortgage by now? And he's so distinctive and recognisable as well - total character actor rather than method chameleon. Still works. Relentlessly. It must be the gravitaaaaas!


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2015)

*You, The Living* (Roy Andersson 2007) Very strange, utterly compelling account of the lives and dreams of the inhabitants of a Swedish town.


----------



## ringo (Aug 6, 2015)

Trance - Pretty good but I was knackered so shouldn't have chosen a long film which took effort to follow. Not sure about the gore, I suppose it helped to show which bits were not real but seemed a bit gratuitous.


----------



## Reno (Aug 6, 2015)

_Big Eyes,_ by Tim Burton. Everything is sign posted, the characters are as flat as cartoons and there isn't a single subtle moment or surprise in the film. Even the usually great Amy Adams can't to much with the wan role she's been given. Christopher Waltz has been criticised for his dastardly take on the role of Walter Keane but there is nowhere else to go the way its been written and how Burton conceives everything in black and white and in very large letters. It's a shame too, because a good film could be made about commercial mass market art and the strange case of Margaret and Walter Keane. I thought Burton's overrated _Ed Wood, _to which this is a companion piece, had many of the same problems but at least the characters were more eccentric and gave the actors something to work with.

I watched _Still Alice_ instead for which Julianne Moore won the Oscar, which is about a linguistics professor who develops early onset Alzheimers and which is pretty good as disease-of-the-week films go thanks to Moore, who keeps it real.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 6, 2015)

*A Story of Children and Film* (Mark Cousins 2014) An enjoyable essay on childhood in film, a nice companion piece to his excellent Story of Film.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 7, 2015)

Rabies - Israeli horror/thriller.  Doesn't feature the disease; the title is a metaphor.  Very contrived plot-wise (guess it's meant to work more on a thematic level), but I liked it. Nicely filmed and reminiscent of new French/Belgian/etc horror.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 8, 2015)

*The Wild Bunch* (Sam Peckinpah 1969) Overlong, famously bloody western.


----------



## Reno (Aug 8, 2015)

_Miracle Mile_, one of the most underrated films of the 80s and one of the most genuinely unpredictable, changing genres several time due to some wild plot turns as it may or may not hurtle towards the apocalypse. One of a number of films of the period (After Hours, Something Wild) where meek men head into the night to pursue a kooky woman and then get in well over their head. Once it gets going this moves at a cracking pace, aided by a propulsive, shimmery Tangerine Dream score, which fits this LA neon nightmare perfectly. Has one of my favourite endings ever: "Diamonds"

Hitchcock's _Sabotage_, my favourite of his British films. Loosely based on the Conrad novel The Secret Agent, this is surprisingly bleak. I always liked Sylvia Sidney, who had the saddest eyes of any actress ever and who is therefore well cast here. There is a fantastically well edited stabbing in this which looks forward to Psycho. In many ways Sabotage feels more like his later American films , which were about twisted relationships and fucked up families rather than his lighter British films of the period.


----------



## belboid (Aug 9, 2015)

*Slow West* - a gently paced western (I wonder where they got the idea for the name from?) with Michael Fassbender, GoT's The Hound, and a bunch of people who look familiar but aren't actually. Absolutely brilliant, with nary a foot put wrong. Watch and enjoy as Fasssbender helps young Jay (who, at times, looks disconcertingly like a youthful Andy Murray) trek out west to find his beloved Rose. They meet various other 'characters' along the way who do their best to stop Jay in his tracks. All building to a superb ending, and all in a glorious landscape (even if it is clearly New Zealand, rather than the yankee west). Unlike any western you've seen, unless you've seen _Dead Man_ Quite brilliant, get it, watch it.

*The Falling* - keeping up the GoT theme...Maisie Williams is in this one, as a schoolgirl in a strict girls school in 1969.  After a tragedy occurs she starts fainting, as do a number of the other girls, until it seems half the school is passed out.  Is it simply a hysterical reaction, or is there more to it?  It's all very well done, a great supporting cast (Gretta Scachi, Maxine Peake amongst others) and very plausibly told, there are hints of _Picnic at Hanging Rock _about it, but it never quite transcended the sums of its parts for me. Worth a view, unless there's something better on.  Great soundtrack from Tracey Thorn.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 9, 2015)

belboid said:


> *Slow West* - a gently paced western (I wonder where they got the idea for the name from?) with Michael Fassbender, GoT's The Hound, and a bunch of people who look familiar but aren't actually. Absolutely brilliant, with nary a foot put wrong. Watch and enjoy as Fasssbender helps young Jay (who, at times, looks disconcertingly like a youthful Andy Murray) trek out west to find his beloved Rose. They meet various other 'characters' along the way who do their best to stop Jay in his tracks. All building to a superb ending, and all in a glorious landscape (even if it is clearly New Zealand, rather than the yankee west).  Quite brilliant, get it, watch it.
> 
> *The Falling* - keeping up the GoT theme...Maisie Williams is in this one, as a schoolgirl in a strict girls school in 1969.  After a tragedy occurs she starts fainting, as do a number of the other girls, until it seems half the school is passed out.  Is it simply a hysterical reaction, or is there more to it?  It's all very well done, a great supporting cast (Gretta Scachi, Maxine Peake amongst others) and very plausibly told, there are hints of _Picnic at Hanging Rock _about it, but it never quite transcended the sums of its parts for me. Worth a view, unless there's something better on.  Great soundtrack from Tracey Thorn.



any nudity in either? asking for a friend.


----------



## belboid (Aug 9, 2015)

imposs1904 said:


> any nudity in either? asking for a friend.


You wanna see The Hound with his kit off?

No.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 9, 2015)

belboid said:


> You wanna see The Hound with his kit off?
> 
> No.



I've seen the Hound with his kit off. I was thinking more of Fassbender and Scacchi. I'm not fussy.


----------



## belboid (Aug 9, 2015)

imposs1904 said:


> I've seen the Hound with his kit off. I was thinking more of Fassbender and Scacchi. I'm not fussy.


Shame and White Mischief for you then (Michael is....impressive)


----------



## Belushi (Aug 10, 2015)

*Precious* (Lee Daniels 2010) Powerful in parts but the fantasy sequences jarred and the inspirational classroom scenes were a bit clichéd. Gabourey Sidibe is good in the lead and Mo'Nique gives a great performance as her abusive mother.


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2015)

The Raven, another one from my Vincent Price box sets. It's Corman doing Poe as a comedy with Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Price shamelessly out-hamming each other and with an early role for Jack Nicholson, who even gets to flash his famous smile when he gets possessed by a magicians curse. It's cute but I prefer the less humorous Poe films, which are camp enough already.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 11, 2015)

*Leviathan - *almost comically grim Russian arthouse movie which won lots of awards last year. But stay with it - it's genius. Everybody is miserable and the picture it paints of Russia today is one of a violent, vodka-sodden, mafia-ridden, slowly decaying edifice of despair. And it tells a deeply tragic and angry story. But on the upside ...   ... it is amazingly photographed and art-directed (and it takes a lot to make the depressing landscapes and kitschy interiors of postSoviet Arctic Russia look so fascinating and even beautiful); it's amazingly daring about leaving key plot points deliberately unresolved or mysterious; and it's got some of the finest goggle-eyed Drunk Acting (and sober acting to be fair) you'll ever watch. It's breathtakingly outspoken and vicious about Russian government, the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and the legal system. Don't know how they got away with making it tbh, never mind wangling lots of funding from the Russian Ministry of Culture (  ) or getting it shown inside or outside Russia.  It is 2 1/2 hours of harsh truth but I was gripped throughout - it wasn't just something to endure and suffer through. Be daring and give it a go.


----------



## starfish (Aug 11, 2015)

The Fuzz. Half muppet, half human comedy on Netflix. Brilliant.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 11, 2015)

*Boy Meets Girl* (Leos Carax 1984) Pleasingly odd, godardesque debut about youthful alienation. Really beautifully shot.


----------



## Hellsbells (Aug 11, 2015)

Gone Girl. Was disappointed & mostly quite bored. Irritating start full of mumbling that was really hard to understand.
Actually, watching it reminded me that I was pretty disappointed with the book. Never really got the 'anazing' twist. It was all pretty predictable to me.


----------



## Reno (Aug 12, 2015)

The Last Metro. Though much admired in its day, not one of Truffaut's best films but a pleasurable trifle nonetheless.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 12, 2015)

Fury

Wasn't expecting to like it very much. Absolutely loved it!


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 12, 2015)

Black Power Mixtape.

Old Swedish TV news footage of the Black struggle in America, 1967 - 1975, with present-day commentary by Black American artists and writers. If you have any interest in this sort of thing, absolutely essential viewing.

butchersapron did you catch this one?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 12, 2015)

I did myself, torrented it couple of years ago after watching The Murder of Fred Hampton docu


----------



## Belushi (Aug 12, 2015)

*War Book* (Tom Harper 2015) On BBC4 last night. An interesting subject and a decent ensemble cast (except Ben Chaplin hamming it up) watchable but slightly unconvincing.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 12, 2015)

Holy Motors - Really enjoyed it.  Very wtf? sort of film, in a good way.   One to watch again sometime.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 12, 2015)

*Rust and Bone* (Jacques Audiard 2012) Powerful, unsentimental romantic drama. Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts are excellent in the leads.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 13, 2015)

*Kusama's Self-Obliteration* (Jud Yalkut 1967) Short, psychedelic art film, very much of it's time.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 14, 2015)

*Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind* (Hayao Miyazaki 1984) The film that led to the creation of Studio Ghibli. Not as great as some of Miyazaki's later films, but very enjoyable and all the familiar themes are here.


----------



## 8den (Aug 14, 2015)

The Brink American style the thick of it but jack black and Tim Robbins and all the originals  wit surgically extracted,


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 14, 2015)

Kickass 2. Quite funny. Total throwaway film but having the supervillian call himself 'The Motherfucker' tickled me no end.


----------



## 8den (Aug 14, 2015)

Hated the pg13 vomit cannon


----------



## Voley (Aug 14, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Rust and Bone* (Jacques Audiard 2012) Powerful, unsentimental romantic drama. Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts are excellent in the leads.


I really enjoyed that one, too. I'm sort of in love with Marion Cotillard.


----------



## Voley (Aug 14, 2015)

Audiard's new one sounds good, too, Belushi. Won the Palme D'or. I don't think I've seen a bad film by him. A Prophet is fantastic and I really enjoyed Read My Lips, too.


----------



## Reno (Aug 14, 2015)

Read My Lips is my favourite Audiard film. It deals with similar themes as Rust and Bone, but more successfully to my mind. His first film, See How They Fall often gets overlooked but it is one of his best. There is only one film of his I don't like, A Self Made Hero.


----------



## Voley (Aug 14, 2015)

Reno said:


> Read My Lips is my favourite Audiard film. It deals with similar themes as Rust and Bone, but more successfully to my mind. His first film, See How They Fall often gets overlooked but it is one of his best. There is only one film of his I don't like, A Self Made Hero.


I thought Read My Lips and Rust and Bone were very similar, too. Not seen his first one - I'll give it a go, ta.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 14, 2015)

I haven't seen Read My Lips, going to have to add it to my list now :thumbs :


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 14, 2015)

Red Lights - what a stinking pile of shite despite a decent cast!


----------



## magneze (Aug 14, 2015)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1071804/?ref_=nv_sr_4
Ink: Superb low budget fantasy action flick. Exceptional.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 15, 2015)

*Martha Marcy May Marlene* (Sean Durkin 2011) Very good American indie film about a young woman escaping an abusive cult, family relationships, and the ambiguous relationship between reality and delusion. Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson and John Hawkes are all excellent.


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2015)

The surrealist Czech New Wave film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, which has one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever written and which was a huge influence on Angela Carter. The Company of Wolves is almost like a remake, which substitutes werewolves for Valerie's vampires.

Now I'm watching an 80s horror film with Pierce Brosnan doing a terrible French accent, called Nomads which is very silly in a very 80s sort of way. It's also got Adam Ant and ex-Warhol superstar turned B-movie queen Mary Woronov in it. She is always worth watching. Horrible score though, electric guitars noodling away and "scary" just doesn't go together.


----------



## starfish (Aug 15, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Holy Motors - Really enjoyed it.  Very wtf? sort of film, in a good way.   One to watch again sometime.


Isn't it just.

eta I forgot the "it".


----------



## Voley (Aug 15, 2015)

I'm watching the first series of Hannibal atm and am enjoying it a lot. It's a bit daft at times but the main actor is great and there are some good plot twists. I'm interested to see where it goes - some elaboration on the crimes that we only heard about in the films would be good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 15, 2015)

Voley said:


> I'm watching the first series of Hannibal atm and am enjoying it a lot. It's a bit daft at times but the main actor is great and there are some good plot twists. I'm interested to see where it goes - some elaboration on the crimes that we only heard about in the films would be good.



Morpheus as Jack Crawford lol

I tried to watch Akira but ju suis fatigue.


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Morpheus as Jack Crawford lol.


To me he'll always be Cowboy Curtis lol.


----------



## Voley (Aug 15, 2015)

Reno said:


> To me he'll always be Cowboy Curtis lol.











I think he's alright in Hannibal. He does that violence-simmering-beneath-the-surface thing quite well. Not Oscar-winning stuff but OK for this. I always liked him as the stoner kid way out of his depth in Apocalypse Now. He must've been about 18 or something then.

ETA: only 14 according to this.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 15, 2015)

Voley said:


> ETA: only 14 according to this.


Famously so, Voley, famously so! (At least when they started shooting, anyhow.)


----------



## Reno (Aug 16, 2015)

_The Voices_, a film which just seems to be there to prove how difficult it is to pull off a black comedy successfully. Almost nothing works about this attempt to play a serial killer story for laughs, as the film tries painfully hard to be quirky. In the end I had no idea what this film was trying to do or why it exists (deranged serial killers are people too?). Playing mental illness and the gruesome murder of women for laughs ultimately does come off as offensive when the film also strains to be cute. What is especially odd is that the film was directed (if not written) by a woman. It's the third film by comic book artist Marjane Satrapi who made the excellent Persepolis and it seems like she's lost her purpose when moving away from animation and autobiography.

_The Pyramid_, a (wildly cheating) found footage horror film about the discovery of a submerged pyramid in Egypt and the silly fools who explore of its secrets. This got terrible reviews when it came out. While in no way great, it does the job reasonably well when approached late at night with lowered expectations.

Both films feature evil cats.


----------



## Voley (Aug 16, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Famously so, Voley, famously so! (At least when they started shooting, anyhow.)


New one on me, that. Good story about his Dad turning up to bollock him about it, too.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 16, 2015)

*Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives* (Apichatpong Weerasethakul 2010) Strange, beautiful rumination on living and dying.


----------



## 8115 (Aug 16, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Martha Marcy May Marlene* (Sean Durkin 2011) Very good American indie film about a young woman escaping an abusive cult, family relationships, and the ambiguous relationship between reality and delusion. Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson and John Hawkes are all excellent.


Yeah that's a good film.


----------



## ringo (Aug 17, 2015)

45 minutes of the Danny Dyer turkey The Last Seven - the worst film I've ever seen; only watched it that long 'cos I couldn't believe it was so bad. The worst script, weakest story and by a long chalk the most wooden acting ever to have made it to film. Tamer Hassan was the only actor able to deliver his lines at the right time, he must have been wondering what we was doing there.

Shocking, but not how they meant it to be. Dyer didn't speak in the part I watched and was still shit.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Aug 17, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Famously so, Voley, famously so! (At least when they started shooting, anyhow.)



Amazing in 'King of New York' too.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 17, 2015)

*Prometheus* (Ridley Scott 2012) First saw this when it was released, enjoyed it more second time around. It's full of plot holes but very watchable and well made.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 17, 2015)

Reno said:


> The documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films about the frequently misguided output of the trash peddling 80s production company, which was very entertaining.



My god, it rattles along - I didn't realise quite how much shit Globus and Golan spat out of their assembly line!


----------



## Belushi (Aug 17, 2015)

*The Impossible* (Juan Antonio Bayona 2012) Well made true story about a family caught up in the 2004 tsunami.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2015)

Watched Mad Max: Fury Road again. Its just so intense.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 18, 2015)

The Baader Meinhoff Complex - was hoping it was going to be something about spies but it was just a bunch of hipsters hanging out and blowing shit up. 

21 Jump Street - Jonah Hill and another bloke pretend to be school kids in order to take drugs and party with rich kids.

A Man for All Seasons - Like Wolf Hall but Robert Shaw is Henry and Phil Scofield is Mark Rylance.


----------



## flypanam (Aug 18, 2015)

Watched the last 3 episodes of  season 2 of The Fall.

Was quite good, but not as good as the first series.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 18, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Watched Mad Max: Fury Road again. Its just so intense.


Does it still work on a small screen?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Does it still work on a small screen?


big screen and surround sound + seat so my face is mere inches away from the moving pictures. Living the dream. It does. Immortan Joe is now my second favourite comedy baddie after Skeletor


----------



## seventh bullet (Aug 18, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Does it still work on a small screen?



Not as well.  When I saw my excellent pirated copy on the telly a few weeks ago I have to admit I was a little disappointed when it came to that few seconds after the rig is attacked by the Russian-speaking tribe/gang who drive the cars that ate Paris, and you see that aerial shot of Immortan Joe's war party in hot pursuit, kicking up dust and accompanied by live rock music courtesy of the blind guitarist and the Taiko-style drummers.  In the cinema I was like 'This is great!'  I'm a little bit strange like that.  Little things blow me away.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2015)

seventh bullet said:


> Not as well.  When I saw my excellent pirated copy on the telly a few weeks ago I have to admit I was a little disappointed when it came to that few seconds after the rig is attacked by the Russian-speaking tribe/gang who drive the cars that ate Paris, and you see that aerial shot of Immortan Joe's war party in hot pursuit, kicking up dust and accompanied by live rock music courtesy of the blind guitarist and the Taiko-style drummers.  In the cinema I was like 'This is great!'  I'm a little bit strange like that.  Little things blow me away.


ok I'll give you one thing, the people on giant poles doing suicide attacks works so much better on the huge cinema screen. Not that it looks silly or anything, but that it was simply more impressive in giant screen.


----------



## seventh bullet (Aug 18, 2015)

And being without the benefit of surround sound when the distant tanker explosion is felt by the bike people who live inside the canyon.



DotCommunist said:


> Immortan Joe is now my second favourite comedy baddie after Skeletor



Remember I said that the vehicles are over-stylised, but then the camply-dressed villain (complete with codpiece) lives inside a mountain with a skull carved into it.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 18, 2015)

*Late Chrysanthemums* (Mikio Naruse 1954) Beautifully shot and acted film about the lives of a group of retired geisha's in a fast changing post-war Japan.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 18, 2015)

The Man Whose Mind Exploded - affecting documentary and character study of a man suffering from amnesia and, as a result, a sort of hoarding disorder.  Quite 'adult' too, given the chap's predilections!


----------



## moonsi til (Aug 18, 2015)

Inglorious Bastards..watched it on Sunday night. It had passed me by, I clapped and whooped at the end though I was drinking rum!


----------



## mwgdrwg (Aug 19, 2015)

First episode of Sir Patrick Stewart's 'Blunt Talk' - I was in tears of laughter.

(I'm also a fan of the writer's previous show, Bored to Death)


----------



## mwgdrwg (Aug 19, 2015)

eric20 said:


> who else is addicted to watch FF searies???



Somehow, I haven't seen a single one of these films!


----------



## Reno (Aug 19, 2015)

eric20 said:


> who else is addicted to watch FF searies???



I'm not, I don't want to get seared.


----------



## magneze (Aug 19, 2015)

Iron Man 3:
Superbly done superhero film. Nice end to the trilogy.

Lucy:
Well I thought it was great. From speaking to people I may be in a minority.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 19, 2015)

*Roman Holiday* (William Wyler 1953) Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck star in a classic romantic comedy.


----------



## Reno (Aug 20, 2015)

eric20 said:


> No you are not in minority,I think is great movie.


I never knew one person could make a majority.


----------



## pesh (Aug 20, 2015)

Reno said:


> I never knew one person could make a majority.


10 minutes in the labour leadership thread will clarify everything.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 20, 2015)

eric20 said:


> Then you must watch them especially Tokyo drift



Only one I seen. And one of the characters, Han, appeared in "Good Luck Tomorrow" - an earlier Justin Lin film.


----------



## Reno (Aug 20, 2015)

I'm two episodes into _Deutschland 83_ which is an eight part German Cold War thriller series about a young GDR border guard who gets roped into becoming a spy in the West by his Stasi aunt. It's great fun and very well done, which is a pleasant surprise, because most German telly sucks. Very stylish too and beautifully shot, basically it does for the 80s what Mad Men did for the 60s, just some of pop music is a bit too on the nose. This is on the lighter end of Cold War spy capers rather than The Lives of Others but none the worse for it.

No UK date but all episodes can be easily gotten hold of with English subtitles because it just got shown in the U.S. on the Sundance channel to rave reviews, which is how I got wind of it. Brief U.S. trailer which is a bit blah:



For me the scary thing about it is that 1983 was the year I moved to London and now they making costume dramas about a time which doesn't even feel that far in the past.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 21, 2015)

Sounds better than The Americans, Reno, which like most of these US TV shows is just a power fantasy for suburban wage slaves.

Anyhoo, last night I watched _River of no Return, _Marilyn Monroe in full sex bomb mode as a showgirl in a frontier gold rush community, Rory Calhoun as her nogoodnik gambler boyfriend, and Robert Mitchum as the plain-speaking, tough-fighting settler farmer who tangles with the pair of them. The real star is the Pacific North West and the eponymous river down which MM and RM must risk their lives.

I never knew Miss Monroe could play the guitar - she really does play it too, in this one.

E2A: This being made in the '50s, the sexual politics are rotten (with one really dodgy scene), and the portrayal of the Native Americans imbecilic.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 21, 2015)

Reno said:


> For me the scary thing about it is that 1983 was the year I moved to London and now they making costume dramas about a time which doesn't even feel that far in the past.



I had that feeling when I saw _Theory of Everything, _the Stephen Hawking biopic.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 21, 2015)

*The Night is Young* (Leos Carax 1986) Another beautifully shot Carax film, about youth and unrequited love.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 22, 2015)

House by the Cemetery - recorded from the Horror Channel.  Must have seen this on maybe 3rd gen VHS before, and prob didn't enjoy it much...  This time I liked it a lot more.  As with a lot of Fulcis, it would be hard to call it a good film (clumsy editing, camera work and dubbing), but it still has a morbid atmosphere which gets under your skin.  I liked the look of Dr Freudstein too when he was revealed!


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 22, 2015)

Beware of Mr. Baker.

The life and times of Ginger Baker, WORLD'S GREATEST DRUMMER (probably he is, on the strength of this), WORLD'S SCARIEST JUNKIE (for a long portion of his life), and WORLD'S BIGGEST CUNT (as a result of emotional trauma in early childhood).

Years ago I read an interview with Germaine Greer in _Hot Press, _where she commented that what a lot of people in her generation had in common, especially in radical, rebel, revolutionary circles, was that their fathers were dead or absent in their early childhood, thanks to the Second World War.

GB wast born two weeks before the war started, and his only memory of his Da was running after the train that took him back to the front, presumable to his death.

A remarkable life, and a remarkable man, even if he isn't someone it would be good to be around for an extended period of time. He certainly seems to have treated his wives (plural) and kids abominably.

The music wouldn't excuse that, but the music is remarkable. There's an old joke, "what do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? a drummer", but that doesn't apply here. He doesn't just hit things, he can make them talk, and talk in terms of harmony and melody as well as rhythm, or "time" as he calls it.


----------



## Yetman (Aug 22, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives* (Apichatpong Weerasethakul 2010) Strange, beautiful rumination on living and dying.



That's a strange old film innit  the atmosphere reminds me of being on ayahuasca.

I watched The Loved Ones. Mental Ozzie flick about murderous torturous families and general horror, misery, pain etc


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 22, 2015)

Yetman said:


> I watched The Loved Ones. Mental Ozzie flick about murderous torturous families and general horror, misery, pain etc



Great film.  Extremely messed up.   Took me by surprise when I watched it, coz I'd never heard of it.


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2015)

The Summit, a documentary about the 2008 K2 disaster. A gripping story rendered slightly less so by confusing story telling, some of which I suppose had to do with that the survivors themselves often were confused as to what had happened due to stress and exhaustion and many of the victims getting separated from the group. Still interesting and I love mountaineering stories. Should I ever climb K2 I now know a few of the things not to do.

More Deutschland 83 which is only getting better. Still can't believe Germany has finally made a great TV drama (I think Heimat was the last one good enough to warrant International acclaim and export) but this is so much fun. The jokes work (the Stasi befuddled by 80s computer technology) but it gradually turns darker as it goes on. I read a bidding war between three British TV channels broke out over it, so for those who won't break the law, it will get here eventually.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 22, 2015)

*Far From the Madding Crowd* (John Schlesinger 1967) Overlong adaptation of the Hardy novel (which I've never read). Good cast though and it's beautifully photographed by Nicolas Roeg.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Aug 22, 2015)

Queen Of Spades (1948) Edith Evans tries out a prototype Lady Bracknell as an elderly countess  who sold her soul to the devil to win at cards but has to protect her neice when a man tries to woo her in order to svteal her aunts secret.


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Far From the Madding Crowd* (John Schlesinger 1967) Overlong adaptation of the Hardy novel (which I've never read). Good cast though and it's beautifully photographed by Nicolas Roeg.



It's a bit of a snooze, isn't it. I hear that this year's adaptation is pretty good and a bit shorter.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 22, 2015)

Reno said:


> It's a bit of a snooze, isn't it. I hear that this year's adaptation is pretty good a quite bit shorter.



I didn't realise it's just been remade. 2 hours is much better, and with Vinterberg directing and a decent cast it looks promising.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 22, 2015)

I watched 'Season of the Witch

Ron Perlman and Nicholas Cage (a match made in heaven) do a misogynistic quest in a hokey sort of medieval landscape. Theres other actors of high repute in it who you may remember from other, similarly low rent films. It was great. Perlman and cage like ham and cheese.


----------



## oneunder (Aug 23, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Beware of Mr. Baker.
> 
> The life and times of Ginger Baker, WORLD'S GREATEST DRUMMER (probably he is, on the strength of this), WORLD'S SCARIEST JUNKIE (for a long portion of his life), and WORLD'S BIGGEST CUNT (as a result of emotional trauma in early childhood).
> 
> ...


Cheers..  I thought it was great.  Funny !


----------



## oneunder (Aug 23, 2015)

Bent cops losing it.   The soundtrack is done by The The (instrumental) , it's excellent.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1837574/


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 23, 2015)

watched Hyena on the recc of DaveCinzano over in the netflix thread. Its fairly grim but you do get a sort of feel for the grubiness of it all. One line that grabbed me specially is where the bent coppers on the phone to a gangster and says 'theres 33,000 in my gang mate'. Just thought it was a good line. Do watch if you like crime films, its hardly setting the world ablaze but its an engrossing tale.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 23, 2015)

oneunder said:


> Bent cops losing it.   The soundtrack is done by The The (instrumental) , it's excellent.
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1837574/


oh snap- netflix for you to?


----------



## oneunder (Aug 23, 2015)

Torrents. I'm listening to the soundtrack now as it goes. It Follows also has a lovely ost.


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2015)

The Death of Superman Lives, one of several recent documentaries about films which never happened (see also Jodorowsky's Dune and Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's The Island of Dr Moreau) and the least interesting. The proposed Tim Burton take on Superman sounds wacky but nowhere near as intriguing as Dune and the production troubles were comparatively mundane when compared to the insanity which was the Dr Moreau shoot.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Aug 23, 2015)

Finally finished The West Wing. A tremendous piece of work all-in-all, a bit of a dip post-Sorkin, but it rallied nicely to the end. And because I'm a sap, Josh and Donna YAY!


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 23, 2015)

Ginger and Rosa. Teenage angst against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis. Very good piece of work, in spite of the fact that teenage girls are inherently annoying.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 23, 2015)

*Zero Dark Thirty* (Kathryn Bigelow 2013) Pretty good dramatization of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, better than I expected it to be.


----------



## Ted Striker (Aug 24, 2015)

True Story...Utterly bizarre premise of a thriller with absolutely nothing to enthrall the viewer and an entirely manufactured supposed wrongdoing that no one really cares about.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 24, 2015)

Reno said:


> The Death of Superman Lives, one of several recent documentaries about films which never happened (see also Jodorowsky's Dune and Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's The Island of Dr Moreau) and the least interesting. The proposed Tim Burton take on Superman sounds wacky but nowhere near as intriguing as Dune and the production troubles were comparatively mundane when compared to the insanity which was the Dr Moreau shoot.


I've always wondered what could have been with jodorowsky's Dune. In the docu I loved him recounting gleefuly how he went to see Lynch's version and it was awful, despite having said Lynch was a worthy auter to do it, he still saw what the rest of us did- its rubbish. Despite the bits that do work (I think the gom jabbar scene is especially effective, and the whole 'the sleeper must awaken' speech by Leto.)


----------



## ringo (Aug 24, 2015)

The Loft

Shit. Arseholes getting outraged that some of their mates are bigger arseholes than they are and trying not to get caught being arseholes.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 24, 2015)

*Terminator Genisys.*

It's pretty bad. Not unwatchable, but close.

The future war scenes are pretty good in fairness, it's always nice to watch Skynet get smashed and see the timey wimey bollocks stuff.

But then...

Emilia Clarke is not convincing as Sarah Connor and Jai Courtney doesn't even try to recreate Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese (even though he should be exactly the same in terms of weariness / PTSD, not wisecracking and flirty ). The revisit to scenes from the original film are interesting but feel sacrilegious 

Ahnuld behaves like Ahnuld doing an impression of a Terminator, complete with stupid facial expressions and corny one-liners. Sarah calls him "Pops". Ugh. At this point I knew it was going to be a long 2 hours.

The most original idea in the film was inexplicably spoiled in the Trailers , the action scenes don't have any tension or physicality, everything is strangely bloodless (PG13 rating for a Terminator film, fuck off) and the T1000, iconic in T2, is now for some reason inept and unable to kill someone standing right in front of them because....reasons?

Bad writing, bad directing, bad casting.

Might watch T1 for the first time in ages though, so it technically achieved something.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 24, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Ginger and Rosa. Teenage angst against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis. Very good piece of work, in spite of the fact that teenage girls are inherently annoying.



Another point on this one - it had an excellent cast, including Christina Hendricks (whom it took me a while to recognise) at the top of her game. She was streets ahead of anything she's done in glorified soap _Mad Men. 
_
As for the two leads, they'll definitely go far.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 24, 2015)

*Snitch *(2013) - an exercise in having your lame-brained action movie and eating your social-justice indie film with it. My new favourite screen human, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is an ordinary working dad (yeah right) who must rescue his milksop led-astray son, who's stupidly got embroiled with a school ecstasy-dealing ring, from a very long stretch in prison, by going undercover to expose some big fish Mexican coke cartel capos. It's all wildly improbable and not very well written but it does have an absolutely cracking cast (apart from Mr The Rock there are also fantastic Michael K Williams, partially reviving the legend of Omar; Benjamin Bratt as a capo; Barry Pepper looks brilliant and cadaverous as a DEA agent with a scary meth-cook beard, and well-known pinko Susan Sarandon doing a great turn as an utterly amoral DA who just uses Mr The Rock as a very chunky bit of murder-bait.)

So far, so standard, but it's interesting for its oddly liberal bent (it is fundamentally a protest movie about the injustice of mandatory-minimum drug sentencing, and the abuse of informants by all sides) and weirdly understated in what it actually SHOWS. Not your standard crash-bang-wallop-rat-a-tat tale: there are plentiful hints at prison rape, acid baths and unmarked graves for cartel victims - but there's no torturing and surprisingly little gunplay or murdering on screen. The "action" is just a bit crunchy rather than well over-the-top pyrotechnic. So it's sort of Taken, only without the torture porn, and the state/the police/the justice system are the bad guys. So is it worth watching then? One day it might end up being seen as a minor subversive genre classic, like They Live. It really is not a great film but it's a lot quirkier than you might expect.


----------



## pesh (Aug 24, 2015)

the first few episodes of Aquarius, new NBC show starring Fox Mulder as a police officer investigating the early career of Charles Manson. daft but watchable.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2015)

pesh said:


> the first few episodes of Aquarius, new NBC show starring Fox Mulder as a police officer investigating the early career of Charles Manson. daft but watchable.


David Duchovny. Mulder is the character he plays in X-Files.


----------



## pesh (Aug 24, 2015)

no, if you watch this it's clearly Mulder again. he's just fatter and more violent now.


----------



## Reno (Aug 25, 2015)

North West Frontier from 1959 with Kenneth More and Lauren Bacall. A Sunday afternoon favourite when I was a kid, this is still a cracking adventure film. It's really a Western set in India with extremist Muslims instead of Native Americans and it's one of the great films set on a train. I had not watched this in thirty years and while culturally and politically of its time (though anti-imperialist sentiments are voiced, only to get shouted down by the British characters) this still holds up very well with well timed perils and action scenes. Not as well remembered as it should be.


----------



## Reno (Aug 25, 2015)

I just failed yet again to re-watch all of the first Star Wars. Haven't managed to sit through the whole film since the mid-80s and gave up after 40 minutes. Fuck, the thing is boring and one dimensional and it really doesn't hold up unlike some other blockbusters of the 70s (of course millions disagree). As a special effects bonanza it doesn't wow anymore, the characters are as flat as can be and two of the three lead actors are absolutely dire. Of course the 90s CGI added too spruce up the effects has dated horribly and just makes everything worse. The new Star Wars trailers looked quite cool, so I thought I'd give it another try but I still don't get it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 26, 2015)

Ill Manors- vile exploitative shit, really a new nadir for this type of film

Kingsmen- seen before. Nice line in ultraviolence


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Aug 26, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Kingsmen- seen before. Nice line in ultraviolence



And from that nice Mr Firth too!


----------



## Belushi (Aug 27, 2015)

*End of Watch* (David Ayer 2012) Watchable, by the numbers cop buddy movie. The leads are very good, Michael Pena in particular.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 27, 2015)

_The Small Back Room_ (Powell and Pressburger 1949).

Stiff upper-lippery among the wartime boffins. Jerry is dropping new booby-trapped bombs, and it takes a special kind of man to work out how to defuse them safely. And it takes a special kind of woman to put up with his nonsense, until she tells him she's not going to put up with it any longer.

"Dieselpunk" avant la lettre, but also very noirish. If you loved _The Third Man, _you'll like this, though actually it reminded me a bit more of _Odd Man Out_.

_The Small Back Room_ - strongly recommended.



Also features "Sidney James", who is none other than the great Sid J. of Carry On fame himself.


----------



## hot air baboon (Aug 27, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> "Dieselpunk" avant la lettre



...you and your sub-genre's...


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 27, 2015)

hot air baboon said:


> ...you and your sub-genre's...



Just like Jules Verne was "steampunk avant la lettre":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieselpunk

TSBR has a subplot about a new gun the boffins are testing for HM forces - in other hands that could have been the kind of _novum  _that sci-fi writers (in any sub-genre) use as the macguffin to hang their wider plots on.

http://www.dieselpunks.org


----------



## belboid (Aug 27, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> _The Small Back Room_ (Powell and Pressburger 1949).
> 
> Stiff upper-lippery among the wartime boffins. Jerry is dropping new booby-trapped bombs, and it takes a special kind of man to work out how to defuse them safely. And it takes a special kind of woman to put up with his nonsense, until she tells him she's not going to put up with it any longer.
> 
> ...



A great and much underrated film. Small role for Patrick Macnee as well.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 27, 2015)

belboid said:


> A great and much underrated film. Small role for Patrick Macnee as well.


I thought I saw a strangely familiar face in there, yes.


----------



## starfish (Aug 27, 2015)

The 2 most recent eps of Parks & Recreation. Also a few eps of The Last Man on Earth on Dave. Both excellent wee comedies.


----------



## rekil (Aug 28, 2015)

I tried watching Ted 2 and Trainwreck but nether lasted more than half and hour. Shit. Then I gave Vacation a go because Charlie Day and Kaitlin Olson have small parts but it's not going well. Yet another of these comedies where the word "vagina" is supposed to be a gag.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 28, 2015)

Spy.  A spy movie with Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Jude Law and others.  Hysterical...laughed my arse off.

Mad Max Fury Road.   Great road-chase movie but it's all about Charlize Theron not Tom Hardy.  Not a bad thing.  Enjoyable.

Preferred Spy.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 28, 2015)

*Spring in a Small Town* (Fei Mu 1948) Haunting emotional drama about love, duty and the scars of war.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 28, 2015)

copliker said:


> I tried watching Ted 2 and Trainwreck but nether lasted more than half and hour. Shit. Then I gave Vacation a go because Charlie Day and Kaitlin Olson have small parts but it's not going well. Yet another of these comedies where the word "vagina" is supposed to be a gag.



In a better world Charlie Day and Kathleen Olson would be leading actors


----------



## rekil (Aug 28, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> In a better world Charlie Day and Kathleen Olson would be leading actors


Charlie is only on screen for 3 minutes but he's the best thing in it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 29, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *Snitch *


Think you sum it up pretty well. Sort of _Traffic_ with fewer pretensions.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 29, 2015)

copliker said:


> Charlie is only on screen for 3 minutes but he's the best thing in it.


Three minutes of Charlie Work is worth more than a lifetime of regular graft.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 29, 2015)

Does he play the wild card?


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 29, 2015)

A Canterbury Tale.

Made on the eve of D-Day, I think. A celebration of the spiritual values which unite Britain and America as allies, and which mean that fraternisation between soldiers and civilian women has to be suppressed by the squirting of glue into girls' hair (really).


----------



## Sue (Aug 29, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> A Canterbury Tale.
> 
> Made on the eve of D-Day, I think. A celebration of the spiritual values which unite Britain and America as allies, and which mean that fraternisation between soldiers and civilian women has to be suppressed by the squirting of glue into girls' hair (really).


It's a slightly odd film but very P&P.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 29, 2015)

Sue said:


> It's a slightly odd film but very P&P.


I think I liked "Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" better. One thing I've noticed about the films (not P&P, but generally) made later in the war, is that they very explicitly acknowledge just how many deaths there have been.


----------



## belboid (Aug 29, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> A Canterbury Tale.
> 
> Made on the eve of D-Day, I think. A celebration of the spiritual values which unite Britain and America as allies, and which mean that fraternisation between soldiers and civilian women has to be suppressed by the squirting of glue into girls' hair (really).


the first bukkake movie.

That was my major contribution to P&P studies.  Why I'm not a Professor of Film, I don't know.  Are you doing all the lesser known P&P's?  you seem to be getting through them


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 29, 2015)

belboid said:


> the first bukkake movie.
> 
> That was my major contribution to P&P studies.  Why I'm not a Professor of Film, I don't know.  Are you doing all the lesser known P&P's?  you seem to be getting through them


Not deliberately, it just kind of happened that way.


----------



## Sue (Aug 29, 2015)

Saw it at the cinema a couple of years ago. Someone from the P&P Society stood up at the end and invited us all along to their upcoming A Canterbury Tale trip to Canterbury. Which was nice of them if a bit strange I thought.


----------



## belboid (Aug 29, 2015)

Sue said:


> Saw it at the cinema a couple of years ago. Someone from the P&P Society stood up at the end and invited us all along to their upcoming A Canterbury Tale trip to Canterbury. Which was nice of them if a bit strange I thought.


oh, that always sounds lovely.  they've just sent out details of the annual IKWIG trip too, which does sounds rather more fun (a trip to see a phone box!)


----------



## Sue (Aug 29, 2015)

belboid said:


> oh, that always sounds lovely.  they've just sent out details of the annual IKWIG trip too, which does sounds rather more fun (a trip to see a phone box!)


To the Hebrides?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Aug 29, 2015)

Black Rock - sort of feminist take on the likes of Deliverance and Southern Comfort.  Was shown the other night as part of Film 4's Frightfest season.  Had never heard of it before and was pleasantly surprised. Tense and pretty brutal when it needs to be.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 29, 2015)

Narco eps 1-4

its the early 80s and a local south american smuggler called pablo escobar has just had a vision of the money to be made in cocaine...


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Aug 30, 2015)

I have 'the big telly' for a few nights, so tonite it was Beautiful Thing - the only romantic DVD I own. Tomorrow night will have to be something unspeakably violent to make up for it


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 30, 2015)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Beautiful Thing - the only romantic DVD I own


 
A love letter to Thamesmead


----------



## Belushi (Aug 30, 2015)

*Shutter* (Masayuki Ochiai 2008) Crap, predictable horror. Fell asleep halfway through.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 30, 2015)

more Narcos. It's good enough but there are way way to many political dimensions to the story of Escobar just being elided with a few references.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 30, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Shutter* (Masayuki Ochiai 2008) Crap, predictable horror. Fell asleep halfway through.


Got a bit confused by this.  Both the date and the poor review seemed out so had a quick Google and seems this is a us remake of the Thai original.

I thoroughly enjoyed the original, though was back in 2005/2006 that I watched it so might not agree with that assessment now. No mean, it was fairly big standard ghost in the machine stuff, but well executed iirc.


----------



## A380 (Aug 30, 2015)

Just re watched Glory for the first time in about 10 years. A, not sentimental, telling of the first regiment of black soldiers in the American civil war. It doesn't shy away from the racism on the Northern side and it hits you emotionally. Denzil Washington and Morgan Freeman both brilliant.


(So good that after about 20 minutes you stop thinking Cary Elwis is going to announce himself as the dread pirate Roberts).


----------



## belboid (Aug 30, 2015)

Sue said:


> To the Hebrides?


Yup. Tho its only Mull, so there are even bridges to it.

Lone Star for us the other night.  Ages since I've seen it, and although it is a little clunky in places, it really is a cracking piece of art. The tracking shots across forty years are beautifully done, the storylines neatly interwoven to create a thoroughly convincing tale, the relationships all too believable. And the ending, you dont get that in most Hollywood movies.  Sayles' masterpiece?  I probably still prefer Matewan, but, damn, this is good.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Aug 30, 2015)

belboid said:


> Yup. Tho its only Mull, so there are even bridges to it.



There's no bridge to Mull!


----------



## belboid (Aug 30, 2015)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> There's no bridge to Mull!


I'm thinking of the one to Skye aren't I?


----------



## Belushi (Aug 30, 2015)

*Pride and Prejudice* (Joe Wright 2005) Uninspired adaptation of the Austen novel.


----------



## frogwoman (Aug 30, 2015)

Fascinating documentary about the Russian Mafia:


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 30, 2015)

Its a Wonderful Life

I normally save it for christmas but felt the need for George Bailey. What really kills me every time is how he shelves his dreams, how he starts off so big and is going to build cities that will change the world. Then one by one he has to put them aside- even his dreamt of honeymoon, he puts it aside to help others because he's a good man. No good haring off to build the future when the present needs fixing, right. And its only at his lowest ebb does he consider it a life wasted, only when all his sacrifices of dreams have been for nothing (as it seems to him) does he lose faith in decency and look into that dark flowing winter river. I will never tire of that film.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 31, 2015)

*To Catch a Thief* (Alfred Hitchcock 1955) A Hitchcock film I hadn't seen before. Light, very enjoyable romantic crime caper set on the French Riviera. Great cast, Grace Kelly in particular is terrific.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 31, 2015)

The Battle of the River Plate. Powell and Pressburger, 1956 or thereabouts.

Senior Service give Jerry what-for. Early episode from the last war, when the _Admiral Graf Spee _was raiding allied shipping up and down both Atlantics and the Indian Ocean. Some jolly jack tars ambushed the bugger off the coast of Uruguay and - well, see it for yourself.


Sympathetic portrayal of the Kriegsmarine kapitan, explicable by the fact that this dates from the period when West Germany was rearming and a lot of people were looking askance at this.

Great colour tones, though, and it must have been quite spectacular in the cinema.


----------



## Buckaroo (Aug 31, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Its a Wonderful Life
> 
> I normally save it for christmas but felt the need for George Bailey. What really kills me every time is how he shelves his dreams, how he starts off so big and is going to build cities that will change the world. Then one by one he has to put them aside- even his dreamt of honeymoon, he puts it aside to help others because he's a good man. No good haring off to build the future when the present needs fixing, right. And its only at his lowest ebb does he consider it a life wasted, only when all his sacrifices of dreams have been for nothing (as it seems to him) does he lose faith in decency and look into that dark flowing winter river. I will never tire of that film.



No man is a failure if he has friends. It's the banking/building society, housing, misery thing that gets me every time. Wonderful film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 31, 2015)

Buckaroo said:


> No man is a failure if he has friends. It's the banking/building society, housing, misery thing that gets me every time. Wonderful film.


saw it first at 15, rolled my eyes at having to watch a b&w film. then it grabbed me.

I should really seek out some more frank capra films tbf. Mr Smith Goes To Washington is meant to be good.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 31, 2015)

*Untouchable* (Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano 2012) Cliched, predictable but nonetheless very enjoyable odd couple comedy thanks to two great performances from Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 31, 2015)

Shaun the Sheep.   6 years to make, no dialogue, comes from a children's show.  Has a crazy dog in it.  Very funny.


----------



## starfish (Sep 1, 2015)

Seven episodes of Narcos. Who'd have thought Macaulay Culkin & Burt Reynolds would make a great double act.
It is rather good btw.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 1, 2015)

*Bitter Rice [Riso Amaro] (1949)* exceptionally good Italian neo-realist film from Giuseppe De Santis, about two petty criminals hiding out among the mostly female workforce of a rice plantation. Both the lead actresses are briilliant, Silvana Mangano is sexy as hell.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 1, 2015)

*Julia's Eyes* (Guillem Morales 2010) Pretty good Spanish horror.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 2, 2015)

*Kingsman: The Secret Service*

Kickass-esque violent and sweary Bond pisstake. 

Takes a while to get going but then rockets through to the end (mostly at the expense of plot or characterisation).

Nifty action sequences and a hilarious church massacre (not words you hear every day), plus some other amusing visual / audio flourishes (you're unlikely to have seen mass beheadings look so pretty before). Some quite clever subversions of the gentleman spy genre, alongside some fairly broad obvious jokes and a bit of unexpected nudity.

Firth good, new kid decent enough, Sam Jackson doing..._something_, still not quite sure what he was going for, acting-wise. 

Entertaining nonsense


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 2, 2015)

starfish said:


> Macaulay Culkin & Burt Reynolds


----------



## Ted Striker (Sep 2, 2015)

oneunder said:


> Bent cops losing it.   The soundtrack is done by The The (instrumental) , it's excellent.
> Hyena (2014) - IMDb



+1 for the recommendation of this. Really really liked it


----------



## oneunder (Sep 3, 2015)

Ted Striker said:


> +1 for the recommendation of this. Really really liked it


My mate rang me earlier to tell me he was loving it but his media box packed in half way through. He's calling up tomorrow for the second half.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 4, 2015)

*Amour* (Michael Haneke 2012) Brilliant and painful study of love, old age, the difficulty of caring and of accepting care. Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trinitgnant are superb.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 5, 2015)

Mr Smith Goes To Washington


Jimmy Stewart plays a countryside rube of a politico in that scheming Washington


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 5, 2015)

Banshee first three episodes. Makes the full Neeson look like a cuddly Buddhist peace demonstration.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 5, 2015)

Wrong Turn 4, which I kind of enjoyed in a trashy horror way - although the characters in this really are the dumbest in horror film history!


----------



## belboid (Sep 5, 2015)

Angel Heart. 

Damn but Mickey Rourke looked fine when he was young. What happened to ya, Mickey? A bit silly, but still a bit great. 

The Devil Rides Out

Both appalling and brilliant. Some of it really is cringeworthy - the African dude for starters - but it remains an effective chiller.  Until you get to the bit with the spider, when you just can't help giggling.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 5, 2015)

The Octagon said:


> *Kingsman: The Secret Service*
> 
> Kickass-esque violent and sweary Bond pisstake.
> 
> ...


Watched this last night - entertaining nonsense sums it up very well. At one point I thought things might take a turn for the dark and the "heroes" might be revealed as villains - but as they say in this one "this isn't that kind of movie".

My nieces would have absolutely loved it though.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 5, 2015)

*Mysterious Skin* (Greg Araki 2005) A very good film about a deeply disturbing subject. Moving and thought provoking with some excellent performances especially from Joseph Gordon-Levitt.


----------



## DangDarn (Sep 5, 2015)

*Under the Skin*. Never cared much for Scarlet Johansson, but this movie was great. And weird. Two of my favorite descriptors.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 5, 2015)

DangDarn said:


> *Under the Skin*. Never cared much for Scarlet Johansson, but this movie was great. And weird. Two of my favorite descriptors.



It's a real marmite film. I thought it was a stunning piece of cinema, but I've only seen it on the big screen, need to have another viewing on my tv to see if it has the same impact.


----------



## purenarcotic (Sep 5, 2015)

Belushi said:


> It's a real marmite film. I thought it was a stunning piece of cinema, but I've only seen it on the big screen, need to have another viewing on my tv to see if it has the same impact.



Marmite film is a good description.  I thought it was fucking bizarre and didn't really enjoy it at all.  I did want to watch to the end to see what happened though so I guess that's something for it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 5, 2015)

Braindead.

Charming and nostalgic recreation of late '50s Wellington.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 6, 2015)

The One. Sliders meets Highlander in this Jet Li sci fi martial arts timewaster. The deal is they've proved the many worlds theory and can travel between them. They've only found 125 of them and  thats not how many worlds theory works, but fuck it, plot device.

Evil jet Li has been bumping off all the other Jet Li's. Each time one dies he gets stronger, faster, smarter. He's down to the last Jet Li left to kill snd brcome a God.

Jet Li gets to play both the baddie AND the goodie. The Stath is in it.

4/10


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 6, 2015)

*What Richard Did * - sort of mumble core Irish social drama about an elite-y sporting lad who commits a random-ish crime and what ensues. all very very deliberately low-key and frankly not that interesting - not bad, but not a gripper.

*The Double (2013) *- slightly self-consciously weird and arty film by Richard Ayoade based on a novella by Dostoevsky. Another Marmitey sort of film, because it's so stylised satire/nightmare and it's a bit too cool for school, with a Korine co-scripting and Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska starring (they're both excellent, btw). But it's certainly original and distinctive, reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's Brazil and with some real menace and chills at times. Plus a cameo role for Chris Morris!!! I liked it a lot.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 7, 2015)

*Shame *(Steve McQueen 2011) A bit of an underwhelming film about a sex addict, Carey Mulligan is good.


----------



## sim667 (Sep 7, 2015)

Age of Adeline...

Thought it was going to be all luvvy duvvy and yada yada..... I actually quite liked it.

Watch ex machina on friday night and thoroughly enjoyed that.


----------



## ringo (Sep 7, 2015)

Mad Max - Fury Road ~ Delivered everything it promised


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 7, 2015)

Persons of Interest - season 3; I think, just when I was thinking on giving up on it - the whole HR stuff. Enjoyable nonsense.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 8, 2015)

*Howl's Moving Castle* (Hayao Miyazaki 2005) Enjoyable Studio Ghibli anime.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 8, 2015)

Straight Outta Compton

Biopic of NWA's rise. V. Tired so fell asleep halfway through but it appears to e your tandard growing-up-in-the-hood stuff at the moment, presumably p2 will cover easy e's death and the fame n fortune stuf. No sign of murder man suge yet


----------



## ringo (Sep 8, 2015)

Mad Men S1 Ep1.
Avoided for years 'cos I already work in an office with arseholes aplenty and its about advertising twats. Still, it looks good, the script and acting is great and we enjoyed it. I wasn't sure about the period misogyny but it's more of an important part of it than I'd first thought and makes it what it is. Not sure I really want to sit through seven series of it though.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 8, 2015)

*Holy Motors* (Leos Carax 2012) Wonderfully inventive, visually brilliant; Denis Lavant is as good as ever in the lead.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 9, 2015)

*Tale of Tales *- Italian direction of a Hollywood cast. Disconcerting to start with but you get used to it, as long as you're not expecting a Hollywood movie. I liked it. It was quite mad 

*Going Postal -* Sky's rendition of a Pratchett novel. I've never got into Discworld, or any of his stuff tbh. I didn't get into this either. Pratchett just isn't for me I suppose. The film lacked the polish it deserved as well, being a for-TV production rather than a full blown big budget movie.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 9, 2015)

There hasn't been a decent Pratchett TV adapt yet to my mind. This was perfect casting, but underused character:







but they still haven't captured Ankh-Morpork properly. Sooner or later someone with a LOTR budget and an insane plan will nail it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 10, 2015)

What makes Pratchett's books truly great is also what makes them essentially unfilmable, IMO.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 10, 2015)

*Mr X* (Tessa Louise-Salome 2014) Interesting documentary about director Leos Carax.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Sep 10, 2015)

*San Andreas* - it's a disaster movie, a bit more in some ways than others.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 10, 2015)

Watched Snatch again. The funniest of Ritchie's English films with all of his trademarks and the good guys win, what's not to like.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 11, 2015)

Trance.  I've always thought that Danny Boyle is a hack who has got lucky very, very occasionally and this film backs that argument up.  Confusing psychological nonsense, one grotesque shot seems to refer to Lynch's Lost Highway but this is a long, long way off that masterpiece.  Every time the music kicked up a gear to signify _something important is happening_, I wondered "who are these people and why should I care?"  Plus there's seemingly un-ironic use of M-People on the soundtrack...  Terrible film.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 11, 2015)

*The International *(Tom Tykwer 2009) Watchable but predictable thriller.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 12, 2015)

Cool Hand Luke

sad ending, bittersweet

they can kill you but they can't break you


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 12, 2015)

Weekend.  Really enjoyed this British gay drama.  In contrast to last night's Trance, a film that wants to spend serious time with its characters and allow the viewer to really know them, quite emotional ultimately too.  And John Grant on the soundtrack rather than M-People.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Sep 12, 2015)

The Angels Share- Ken Loach filum about Weegie neds, whiskey and bother. 

Its very good- dont expect anything with a savage twist in it or car chases , but its sorta another homage to Bill Forsyth scotch films of the last century. def. check it out of you get the chance


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 13, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Cool Hand Luke


 One of the two best boiled egg movies ever


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 13, 2015)

C'mon, then what's the other one? Angel Heart had a good boiled egg scene.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 13, 2015)

Indeliblelink said:


> C'mon, then what's the other one? Angel Heart had a good boiled egg scene.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> One of the two best boiled egg movies ever


its an iconic scene but the one that had me laughing like a dickhead was the scene where 'lucille' is washing a car laviscously and the work gang are all doing the full disney eyes-on-stalks dying of frustration thing. They don't make em like that anymore


----------



## Belushi (Sep 13, 2015)

*Cave of Forgotten Dreams* (Werner Herzog 2011) Enjoyed a repeat viewing of Herzog's documentary about the wonderful palaeolithic paintings of the Chauvet Cave this afternoon.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 14, 2015)

*35 Shots of Rum* (Claire Denis 2009) Beautifully directed and acted film about a father and daughter in a Paris banlieu.


----------



## yardbird (Sep 14, 2015)

I watched the Spooks film that's got Kit Harrington in it. With scruffy beard.
Drivel of the highest order. Don't bother.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Sep 14, 2015)

Voley said:


> I think he's alright in Hannibal. He does that violence-simmering-beneath-the-surface thing quite well. Not Oscar-winning stuff but OK for this. I always liked him as the stoner kid way out of his depth in Apocalypse Now. He must've been about 18 or something then.
> 
> ETA: only 14 according to this.



Always loved Fishburne in "Prince of New York" with Walken.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Sep 14, 2015)

yardbird said:


> I watched the Spooks film that's got Kit Harrington in it. With scruffy beard.
> Drivel of the highest order. Don't bother.



Damn, just downloaded that.


----------



## The Boy (Sep 14, 2015)

ViolentPanda said:


> Always loved Fishburne in "Prince of New York" with Walken.


King, Shirley?


----------



## Gromit (Sep 15, 2015)

D'wards said:


> Predestination. Very good, but you definitely need to pay utmost attention



Didn't like it. I tend not to like any chicken and the egg time stories but this one stretched it further than i thought it could ever be stretched.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 15, 2015)

Her
Man has nice apartment and falls in love with his operating system. They make twee ukelele music together. OS gets bored and leaves him for a bunch of other OSs.
Bag o' shite.

Electric Dreams is way better.


----------



## DrRingDing (Sep 15, 2015)

DangDarn said:


> *Under the Skin*. Never cared much for Scarlet Johansson, but this movie was great. And weird. Two of my favorite descriptors.



Unfortunately a militant Zionist.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 15, 2015)

*King of Devil's Island *(Marius Holst 2011) Nicely made if predictable film set in a Norwegian reform school in 1915.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 15, 2015)

Watching 'The Story of Film' by Mark Cousins.  As far as I can tell it must be 15 hour long episodes.  It's fucking fantastic.   The story of world cinema from a personal but exceptionally adept viewpoint.  Based on his book, he shows the way cinema has evolved all around the world with editing, acting, lighting, direction and just plain _evolution_....it's pretty encyclopaedic.

I'm just finishing episode two.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 15, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Watching 'The Story of Film' by Mark Cousins.  As far as I can tell it must be 15 hour long episodes.



It's a great series, I watched it when it was shown on Channel 4 a few years ago.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 15, 2015)

It's a bit like Cosmos for the movies.


----------



## 8115 (Sep 17, 2015)

Half of the first episode of Girls.  I might sue for my money back, plus compensation for my time and damages.  It's terrible.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Sep 19, 2015)

After a couple of episodes of Horrible Histories and Babylon 5, I've dug out my Bugs boxset


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 19, 2015)

you sad bastard


----------



## Reno (Sep 19, 2015)

8115 said:


> Half of the first episode of Girls.  I might sue for my money back, plus compensation for my time and damages.  It's terrible.


I think for the most part Girls is great. I also don't think you are supposed to like the characters.


----------



## 8115 (Sep 19, 2015)

Inside Llewyn Davies.  I really liked this film.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 19, 2015)

*The Leopard* (Luchino Visconti 1963) Masterful adaptation of the classic Italian novel about a Sicilian Prince at the time of the risorgimento.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *The Leopard* (Luchino Visconti 1963) Masterful adaptation of the classic Italian novel about a Sicilian Prince at the time of the risorgimento.


shame it doesn't have a leopard in it, though that dog is pretty impressive


----------



## 8115 (Sep 19, 2015)

West.  It was ok.  If you weren't semi obsessed with divided Germany it would be pretty tedious I think.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 20, 2015)

Boardwalk Empire.

Episodes one and two, season one. Much better than I expected. Not one of those "intelligent" TV series that is just trying too hard, and ends up exposing the weakness of the medium.


----------



## belboid (Sep 20, 2015)

Ginger & Rosa

Which has its moments.  Couldn't quite decide if the adults were a bit crapply written, or whether that was just meant to reflect the ways the girls saw them. Ellie Fanning & Alice Englert were both great


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 20, 2015)

belboid said:


> Ginger & Rosa
> 
> Which has its moments.  Couldn't quite decide if the adults were a bit crapply written, or whether that was just meant to reflect the ways the girls saw them. Ellie Fanning & Alice Englert were both great


I thought Christina Hendricks was great in it - I didn't recognise her until an hour in. The arsehole father was well done, and probably a noticeable "social type" on the bohemian left in them days.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 20, 2015)

*Rush *(Ron Howard 2013) Gripping account of the F1 rivalry between between Niki Lauda and James Hunt.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2015)

Escape From Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood as the escapee and him out of the Prisoner as the sadistic Governer. Good, v. good. Old school.


----------



## 8den (Sep 22, 2015)

Started watching Narcos. It's not terrible. Then because of a random urban thread started watching the mad death. Which is.


----------



## seventh bullet (Sep 22, 2015)

The Drop.  Good crime drama with Tom Hardy as a modest and seemingly dim barman who possesses certain skills. James Gandolfini is a fellow underworld minnow, a bitter relative playing a dangerous game with Chechen gangsters.  Noomi Rapace is Hardy's new girlfriend, trying to recover from an abusive relationship while her scumbag ex, basking in local smalltime criminal notoriety, keeps getting in their way. Nothing new but well done.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 22, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Her
> Man has nice apartment and falls in love with his operating system. They make twee ukelele music together....



SPOILER


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 22, 2015)

Yetman said:


> SPOILER


Fuck that, I'm doing you a favour


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 23, 2015)

More Boardwalk Empire.

Kelly Macdonald is probably the best thing in it, followed by the young lad who plays the trenches veteran turned gangland assassin.

But it's really not about Prohibition-era America at all, it's about post-Iraq War America (hence the trenches veteran turned gangland assassin).

If I liked this, would I like that Peaky Blinders? Enquiring minds want to know.


----------



## Yetman (Sep 23, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Fuck that, I'm doing you a favour



I liked it! MODS


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 23, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> More Boardwalk Empire.
> 
> Kelly Macdonald is probably the best thing in it, followed by the young lad who plays the trenches veteran turned gangland assassin.
> 
> ...


yes. Its different. But good. And cillians easier on the eye than buscemi whose face is coming to resemble a gonad more and more every day. Although Buscemi is the better actor so its swings and roundabouts



I watched eps 1&2 of Dusk Till Dawn srs 2. Now its off the film re-tread its even better


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 23, 2015)

Gotham's back in the US, just watched Season 2 Episode 1.

No messing about either, things escalating all over the shop and the guy playing Penguin is as over the top and entertaining as ever.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 23, 2015)

I hope to start season 2 of The Strain tonight. Still struggling with season 1 of Buffy...


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 23, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> yes. Its different. But good. And cillians easier on the eye than buscemi whose face is coming to resemble a gonad more and more every day. Although Buscemi is the better actor so its swings and roundabouts
> 
> 
> 
> I watched eps 1&2 of Dusk Till Dawn srs 2. Now its off the film re-tread its even better


Buscemi used to look like nothing on earth. . . now he looks like nothing on earth, mercury, venus, mars, jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune and pluto.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Sep 24, 2015)

A friend recommended _Blackhat_ on the basis that I quite like shit action movies, and also movies with hilariously bad computer hacking scenes. What can I say, both things are true. 

_Blackhat_ is utterly, utterly without merit. It's fucking terrible. What the hell has happened to Michael Mann?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 26, 2015)

Inbred.  Actually very enjoyable British horror comedy.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Sep 27, 2015)

Birdman.

shit.


----------



## DangDarn (Sep 28, 2015)

NightCrawler.

Wadafug awesome.


----------



## 8den (Sep 28, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> I hope to start season 2 of The Strain tonight. Still struggling with season 1 of Buffy...



The Strain is breathtakingly terrible how you can turn a Guillmero del Toro produced tv series about a Vampire Apocalypse and somehow make it boring and stupid. It's almost awe inspiring


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 28, 2015)

8den said:


> The Strain is breathtakingly terrible how you can turn a Guillmero del Toro produced tv series about a Vampire Apocalypse and somehow make it boring and stupid. It's almost awe inspiring



I think it's quite fun, actually


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 28, 2015)

I couldn't get into the strain- gave it a fair shake of three episodes but it never grabbed me, despite the novel CDC angle


----------



## 8den (Sep 28, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> I think it's quite fun, actually



What season are you on?


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 28, 2015)

8den said:


> What season are you on?



Season 2; just watched the opening post. It's not up there with Fringe/XFiles; it's more akin to Helix.


----------



## 8den (Sep 28, 2015)

As season two progresses it gets more and more sillier.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 28, 2015)

Bingeing on 2/3ds of the first season of OUTLANDER. Very mixed feelings so far  - I love the feminism, the genre-warping, actual human drama allowed for by slow pacing, gratuitous cameos from every good Scottish actor ever, great cliffhangers and outright genius acting from Tobias Menzies .... but I hate the bossy-knowall-millennial moralising, the anachronisms and crap history, the schlocky romance and the chocolate-box (shortbread box?) Highland kitsch. I'll make up my mind when I've finished it.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 29, 2015)

The Maniac remake.  Made me feel a tad uncomfortable, but I 'enjoyed' it.  It does feel a bit weird that this can be on TV, though!


----------



## Belushi (Sep 29, 2015)

*The Bling Ring* (Sofia Coppola 2013) Enjoyable enough film based on real events about a group of LA rich kids who burgled the homes of celebrities.


----------



## red & green (Sep 29, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> Bingeing on 2/3ds of the first season of OUTLANDER. Very mixed feelings so far  - I love the feminism, the genre-warping, actual human drama allowed for by slow pacing, gratuitous cameos from every good Scottish actor ever, great cliffhangers and outright genius acting from Tobias Menzies .... but I hate the bossy-knowall-millennial moralising, the anachronisms and crap history, the schlocky romance and the chocolate-box (shortbread box?) Highland kitsch. I'll make up my mind when I've finished it.



I love the costumes .....


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 30, 2015)

... well, watched the rest of it now. Blimey    - not surprising this didn't get run on UK TV ahead of the independence referendum ... it takes some very dark turns indeed in the final episodes, while the rest of the drama gets sappier and sappier.

I STILL can't make up my mind if I really like it or not - whether I watch the next series will hinge on how much Tobias Menzies there might be in it, as he really makes the whole thing. A total masterclass in English Evil Acting. (He got voted best telly villain of the year by Yahoo commenters, not that that is the biggest accolade going).

Anyway, Highlander: surprisingly explicit bodice-ripper with some unusual twists and high production values. Worth watching if you like historical (or slash) fiction.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 2, 2015)

Wee Man

This is a relatively by-the-numbers gansters rise and fall sort of thing but its set in glasgow. Worth it for the inventive swearing and generally well acted. John Hanna plays a machiavellian menace in it. Much more uderstated than his role as Batiatus in Spartacus.



Parralels

Standard many worlds tale. Theres  a building, every thirty six hours it shifts to another version of earth. Always great for storytelling that device right? They went to TWO other earths! one was a bombed out wasteland where they spent 20 mins being expositioned at. Then some on that loks like apple won the tech wars. What a swizz. Capable but unispired acting, plot holes, a motiveless baddie and plot device wasted by only gong to two other earths. Seriously, I got more out of a Sliders two parter


----------



## Voley (Oct 2, 2015)

I'm halfway through 'Manhunt' HBO's feature-length doc about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. I like its style - no interviewer as such, just lots of CIA folk explaining what they did. When we get to waterboarding etc the CIA really hang themselves - the levels of arrogance displayed are pretty scary. I'm sure others would watch it and think they were totally justified. Good doc that lets you make your own mind up. Will watch the second half tonight.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 2, 2015)

Nightcrawler: With Jake Gyllenhaal. A Travis Bickle like creepy outsider takes the streets to video crime scenes and sells them to a media outlet. Great performances, great cinematography. A very good, and dark, satire.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 2, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Nightcrawler: With Jake Gyllenhaal. A Travis Bickle like creepy outsider takes the streets to video crime scenes and sells them to a media outlet. Great performances, great cinematography. A very good, and dark, satire.


 

That last scene was uncessary and detracted from the whole IMO


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 2, 2015)

rubbershoes said:


> That last scene was uncessary and detracted from the whole IMO



Yes, it wasn't needed, but it didn't really harm the film too much.

The $700 prada jacket he wears throughout bothered me more...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 2, 2015)

Also watched The Rite. Stupid film about excorcism with Anthony Hopkins. Rubbish.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 2, 2015)

Under The Skin.  Normally a fan of cinematic strangeness, but not sure I enjoyed this much.


----------



## 8den (Oct 2, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> Bingeing on 2/3ds of the first season of OUTLANDER. Very mixed feelings so far  - I love the feminism, the genre-warping, actual human drama allowed for by slow pacing, gratuitous cameos from every good Scottish actor ever, great cliffhangers and outright genius acting from Tobias Menzies .... but I hate the bossy-knowall-millennial moralising, the anachronisms and crap history, the schlocky romance and the chocolate-box (shortbread box?) Highland kitsch. I'll make up my mind when I've finished it.



And the voice over


----------



## frogwoman (Oct 3, 2015)

I watched 'Shouting in the Dark' a documentary about Bahrain's 2011 uprising by al Jazeera. Surprised it was screened tbh as it was quite critical of Qatar.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 3, 2015)

I've started watching Ray Donovan. Has anyone perservered with it and is it worth sticking with?


----------



## belboid (Oct 3, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I've started watching Ray Donovan. Has anyone perservered with it and is it worth sticking with?


I keep meaning to try it, one of me mates has gone on about how great it is for the last couple of years


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 4, 2015)

Death and the Compass. Alex Cox's lo-fi, ambitious, comic book take on a Borges short story. It's on youtube and the audio is a bit ropey; some scenes you'd swear there's only one mic! Think Dick Tracy meets The City and The City; it's even weirder. Hadn't seen it for years and this was the completed version from '96. Like it.


----------



## Voley (Oct 4, 2015)

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. Another HBO doc. This one's good, too. No huge surprises, although there's a section that dealt with the abuse/intimidation of former members that was unreal. How they managed to get tax exempt status was pretty incredible too. Best bits are the totally nauseating footage of their conferences, though. At one of their awards ceremonies Tom Cruise is pretty much deified.  Worth watching.


----------



## red & green (Oct 4, 2015)

Voley said:


> Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. Another HBO doc. This one's good, too. No huge surprises, although there's a section that dealt with the abuse/intimidation of former members that was unreal. How they managed to get tax exempt status was pretty incredible too. Best bits are the totally nauseating footage of their conferences, though. At one of their awards ceremonies Tom Cruise is pretty much deified.  Worth watching.



Thought the best bit was when that person reached the top level
and had the secrets revealed ......


----------



## Voley (Oct 5, 2015)

red & green said:


> Thought the best bit was when that person reached the top level
> and had the secrets revealed ......


Yeah that was funny. Refreshing to see that someone who'd gone all the way through their brainwashing could recognise it as a load of total drivel though.


----------



## Kuso (Oct 5, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I've started watching Ray Donovan. Has anyone perservered with it and is it worth sticking with?



The first season is good, but by the second they'd clearly run out of ideas and the third is awful, with terrible new characters introduced


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 5, 2015)

The Salvation-  Swedish Western lol actually beautifully shot  and with all the tell tale hallmarks of spaghetti westerns . I enjoyed it.


----------



## marty21 (Oct 5, 2015)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_(TV_series)

been watching this on Netflix - super expensive ($150m) tv series made in 2011 that was cancelled after 1 season - time travelling jurassic park sort of thing - it ain't great tbf, I can see why it was cancelled


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 5, 2015)

marty21 said:


> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_(TV_series)
> 
> been watching this on Netflix - super expensive ($150m) tv series made in 2011 that was cancelled after 1 season - time travelling jurassic park sort of thing - it ain't great tbf, I can see why it was cancelled


This program actually made me angry when it came out. I'd been looking forward to it. It offended me with how shit it was- the pedigree of the show makers was quality, the trails looked good and it sounded like a good excuse for a sci fi dinosaur mash up. I made two and a half episodes. The bits in the pilot set in the crappy future they were fleeing from were more interesting.


I caught up with eps 1-3 of SyFys second series of Z Nation, a zombie apocalypse series with twisted humour.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 5, 2015)

*The Tenant of Wildfell Hall* (1996 TV dramatization) - bleakish tale adapted from a 19th-century Bronte novel - yet another one with a plain, but spirited and moral woman resisting and finally vanquishing the whims and requirements of various rich bounders or pushy men from further down the social scale. It's sort of interesting because you can see what really got Victorian prudery/moralism off the ground after the Regency period - which in hindsight seems so much more fun. The vices of the elite (drink, shagging, blood sports, rude jokes) are painted as really serious moral offences which hurt everyone including our straitlaced heroine. Unfortunately she's such a sourfaced prig that I sympathised more with the hellraising rake husband drinking himself to death. Tara Fitzgerald is good and not too likeable, Rupert Graves is a right tit as the drunk spouse, Toby Stephens is babyfaced and northern as another pretender to her hand.

*The Outsiders - *1983 adaptation of the S E Hinton novel, filmed by Francis Ford Coppola, and with many of the actors you'd recognise from the more famous and artier _Rumble Fish _(which was the one in b & w, _Outsiders _is in colour.) It's really weird, in retrospect - a sort of mythic approach to 1950s teen gangs and rumbles, in lurid colour and even more lurid melodrama, overripe with sexual subtext as an absolute parade of teeny tiny teenage actors you know much better these days (Patrick Swayze! Matt Dillon! Emilio Estevez! Ralph Macchio! Rob Lowe! dozens and dozens more!) prat about half-naked or in fetishized "greaser" gear.  Script is a shambles and most of the acting is amateurish at best, but worth it for a nostalgia trip if you're of a certain age.

*Narcos *ep 1 I'm not convinced. Wagner Moura is terrific (as always) as the main man, but it all seems a bit of a mishmash, it's not clear whose story is being told or why, the emotion is lacking  and it just seems a really Anglo reading of the whole tale. I cannot express enough how much I despair that it's 2015 and these stories still have to be forced down a US audience's throat through the cunning ploy of having one young, blonde, English-speaking kickass DEA agent as a narrator ... if this is really, as it keeps reminding us, the story which changed life across Latin America and brought Colombia nearly to its knees, then being all yankee-friendly in this way is just not the right approach. But I'll keep watching.


----------



## marty21 (Oct 5, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> This program actually made me angry when it came out. I'd been looking forward to it. It offended me with how shit it was- the pedigree of the show makers was quality, the trails looked good and it sounded like a good excuse for a sci fi dinosaur mash up. I made two and a half episodes. The bits in the pilot set in the crappy future they were fleeing from were more interesting.
> 
> 
> I caught up with eps 1-3 of SyFys second series of Z Nation, a zombie apocalypse series with twisted humour.


 cost an absolute fortune as well, totally fucked it up - like the look of Z Nation, might see if I can watch that somewhere.


----------



## fishfinger (Oct 5, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I caught up with eps 1-3 of SyFys second series of Z Nation, a zombie apocalypse series with twisted humour.


I gotta get some of that Z-weed


----------



## Yetman (Oct 5, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Parralels
> 
> Standard many worlds tale. Theres  a building, every thirty six hours it shifts to another version of earth. Always great for storytelling that device right? They went to TWO other earths! one was a bombed out wasteland where they spent 20 mins being expositioned at. Then some on that loks like apple won the tech wars. What a swizz. Capable but unispired acting, plot holes, a motiveless baddie and plot device wasted by only gong to two other earths. Seriously, I got more out of a Sliders two parter



I've seen this. It's proper testicles innit


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 5, 2015)

Yetman said:


> I've seen this. It's proper testicles innit


I particularly liked how baddie from the nuked out shit world used tech from the slightly-more-advanced-than-us world to hack the systems set up by the core world people who I don't even know what. Cannabis is a hell of a drug, I should have sacked it off halfway through


----------



## Belushi (Oct 5, 2015)

*The Duellists* (Ridley Scott 1977) Scott's beautifully shot debut, an ultimately unconvincing film about two Napoleonic officers fighting a series of duels.


----------



## DangDarn (Oct 5, 2015)

Bridget Jones Diary.

What? Why are you looking at me like that?! I liked it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 6, 2015)

Cronenberg's Map to the Stars...

A vicious comment on vile Hollywood lives...reality as horror!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 6, 2015)

Oh, and I finished Season One of Ray Donovan....all a bit too nicely resolved for my liking...


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 6, 2015)

United 93. Absolutely terrifying.


----------



## 8den (Oct 6, 2015)

Limitless TV Show based on that Bradely Cooper movie. Isn't actually that bad. Very watchable and funny lead (and a great supporting cast), and nice and stylish.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 7, 2015)

*The Four Feathers *- the 2002 remake directed by Shekhar Kapur (and it's not nearly as good as his other historical Elizabethan epics). Beautifully photographed, with some lovely images, and he does inject some interesting undermining of all the British high imperialism and dials down the Islamophobia/racism ... but it really suffers from having big-name Hollywood actors in the central roles. Kate Hudson's Briddish accent is adorably common, and Heath Ledger never sounds less than detectably Australian, so the whole stuffed-shirt ultra-English Victorian military milieu is hard to believe in. An impressive bunch of Brit character talent in the other roles, tho (Michael Sheen!) and an interestingly beefed-up part for Djimon Honsou - as well as a rather bizarre but apt cameo for supermodel Alek Wek. A interesting failure.


----------



## 8den (Oct 7, 2015)

Such a weird film to remake


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 7, 2015)

it's unintentionally funny when they all keep going on about the Big Bad villain - who is unseen throughout - calling him "the Mardy". The Mardy is not to be trifled with. The Mardy will kill you where you stand etc.  (for more on the real Mahdi / Mahdism in Sudan  see Muhammad Ahmad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 7, 2015)

Felt like some teen movie snarkiness so watched *Mean Girls, Easy A* and *Road Trip*.

Mean Girls in particular has held up well, Tina Fey wrote a hell of a script and the supporting cast is very good. Endlessly quotable and moves at a quick pace so no drag at all. Peak-Lohan too /phwoar, etc

Easy A still entertaining too, Emma Stone carries the movie well and again the supporting cast are very good (Stanley Tucci in particular). Looking back tho it almost irks me that the main character is vilified for being a slut when she hasn't even had sex, almost as if they couldn't quite bring themselves to have her be sexually active and unashamed of it, but a minor issue really.

Road Trip, aged a little but one of the better teen sex comedies of the period, rattles along, plenty of decent jokes and Tom Green doesn't offend my ears and eyes as much here as he does in any other film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 7, 2015)

Guardians of the Galaxy - starts off pretty well, not taking itself too seriously, some nice self aware humour, a bit of swagger, and the quickly descends into yet another massive, noisy, slab of hollywood action....

I don't need to see another super hero film in which the last 30 minutes is just non stop CGI action, Arnie-like one liners and plot bending/defying conclusions....

The big action scenes don't even feel dangerous or exciting, because there never seems to be any real casualties of losses. Massive cities get crushed and then the public seem to still be alive to watch the good guys vs the bad guys on the street....

At least in the original superman films I sensed the characters were in the danger when the plot suggested they were in danger....these days...every fucker just gets up and walks away...or dies and comes back to life again...


----------



## Belushi (Oct 7, 2015)

*My Neighbour Totoro* (Hayao Miyazaki 1988) Lovely.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 7, 2015)

I've been reminding myself how much I love the economy of Belushi's reviews 



Belushi said:


> *Panic Room* (David Fincher 2002) Watchable home invasion thriller.





Belushi said:


> *Gosford Park* (Robert Altman 2001) Atmospheric period drama.





Belushi said:


> *Spirited Away* (Hayao Miyazaki 2001) Classic Studio Ghibli.





Belushi said:


> *Walkabout* (Nicholas Roeg 1971) As good as I remember.





Belushi said:


> *Black Hawk Down* (Ridley Scott 2001) Carnage porn.





Belushi said:


> *Bridesmaids* (Paul Feig 2011) Enjoyable Hollywood comedy.





Belushi said:


> *The Adjustment Bureau* (George Nolfi 2011) Watchable Sci-Fi romance.





Belushi said:


> *Café de Flore *(Jean-Marc Vallee 2011) Café de Merde.





Belushi said:


> *The Hidden Fortress* (Akira Kurosawa 1958) Really enjoyable comic adventure.





Belushi said:


> *Up in the Air* (Jason Reitman 2009) Enjoyable Clooney vehicle.





Belushi said:


> *Paprika* (Satoshi Kon 2006) Really enjoyable anime.





Belushi said:


> *Skyline (2011).* Shiteline.





Belushi said:


> *Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) *Shite never sleeps.





Belushi said:


> *Cave of Forgotten Dreams* (Werner Herzog 2010) Wonderful.





Belushi said:


> *The Iron Lady* (Phyllida Lloyd 2011) Mediocre Thatcher bio-pic.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 7, 2015)

I'm particularly proud of _Café de Merde _


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 7, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Or Dead Man Running...Dyer, Hassan, Brenda Blethyn and 50 CENT!


I can't believe I subjected myself to this. The other... day. Full of half-baked Ritchieisms and. Terrible. Pacing. And no respect for. Hitting the. Beats.

Fuck you, Nanker Phelge and Netflix, fuck you very much


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 7, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> I can't believe I subjected myself to this. The other... day. Full of half-baked Ritchieisms and. Terrible. Pacing. And no respect for. Hitting the. Beats.
> 
> Fuck you, Nanker Phelge and Netflix, fuck you very much



You poor fool


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 7, 2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Using my flu as an excuse to catch up on Blockbusters....only to find myself wondering why I feel a need to catch up on blockbusters...

Just more of the same....2.5hrs of more of the same...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 7, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Avengers: Age of Ultron.
> 
> Using my flu as an excuse to catch up on Blockbusters....only to find myself wondering why I feel a need to catch up on blockbusters...
> 
> Just more of the same....2.5hrs of more of the same...


You poor fool


----------



## Voley (Oct 8, 2015)

Finally saw Mad Max Fury Road all the way through. I went to the pictures to see this and despite enjoying what I saw of it, it being right in-yer-face from the opening credits, in booming stereo and in 3D I managed to sleep all the way through it. Glad I gave it another go - it really is spectacular.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 8, 2015)

Splice - science horror type thing about genetic engineering....

A great 'monster' but the story got ridiculous. To have these renowned and dedicated scientists lose control of their moral compass so quickly was silly. Which was a shame because it looked great and could have been very good.


----------



## starfish (Oct 10, 2015)

Catching up with The Walking Dead series 5. Watched episodes 7, 8 & 9 last night.



Spoiler: .


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 10, 2015)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang...a brilliant pastiche of noir written/directed by Shane Black and reminiscent of the comedy of the Coen brothers.  Black's mainly known for Lethal Weapon, Predator,Last Boy Scout but he hadn't done much for years when he came out with this.

Robert Downey Jr finds his rasion d'etre as an actor in this.  Don't try and follow the plot.


----------



## sim667 (Oct 10, 2015)

Just watched blue is the warmest colour.

French, a bit sad, a bit existentialist, nearly pornographic in parts.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 10, 2015)

sim667 said:


> Just watched blue is the warmest colour.
> 
> French, a bit sad, a bit existentialist, nearly pornographic in parts.


nearly!?


----------



## sim667 (Oct 10, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> nearly!?


Very very very nearly.


----------



## fishfinger (Oct 11, 2015)

Turbo Kid. 

A low budget, post apocalyptic scenario. Mad Max on push-bikes meets '70s martial arts movie (gallons of blood spraying everywhere). Quite daft. Cheesy soundtrack, and Michael Ironside is in it too


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 11, 2015)

The Duellists, ridley scotts first film. I liked a great deal of it from dialouge to sumptuose period scenery but ultimately it fell flat. One thing was how the main character never won a single engagement with Kietel (who was playing the other duellist) so why would kietels character keep offering him out? 

I thought the end was nicely done though, even if it did leave the film feeling a bit flat. I think I will give this film a solid 7/10. There is just such a lot to like and that includes boneys cavalrymen wearing the most adorable braids. Watch this film if you like historical fluff done with flair and don't care if it makes much sense


----------



## magneze (Oct 11, 2015)

Upstream Color
Enjoyable but confusing. One of those films that you need to read about afterwards to fully understand.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 11, 2015)

magneze said:


> Upstream Color
> Enjoyable but confusing. One of those films that you need to read about afterwards to fully understand.


yeah I had to read about it then watch it for a second time to get it and I recon I still just enjoyed it for surreal audo visuals. Same people who did Primer which is also a it of a headfuck but a great time travel film


----------



## magneze (Oct 11, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> yeah I had to read about it then watch it for a second time to get it and I recon I still just enjoyed it for surreal audo visuals. Same people who did Primer which is also a it of a headfuck but a great time travel film


Primer is great, it's why I watched this.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 11, 2015)

More _Boardwalk Empire_. What I like about this one is that you genuinely don't know what's going to happen next. 

And the episodes with



Spoiler: Boardwalk Empire Season 2 spoiler



Mrs. Schroder being reunited with her family, only to be rejected by her brother, could have been written for the Abbey theatre, it was that good. It _must _have been an Irish writer on that one, I think.


----------



## renegadechicken (Oct 11, 2015)

The gift. Quite good, tale of new starts and past misdemeanours catching up with you but with a slight twist.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 11, 2015)

*Of Horses and Men* (Benedikt Erlingsson 2014) Brilliantly inventive and original dark comedy set in rural Iceland.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 12, 2015)

Child of God. James Franco directed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's book.

It's fucked up!


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 12, 2015)

Beasts of the Southern Wild. I liked it, but it made me cry.


----------



## ringo (Oct 13, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Child of God. James Franco directed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's book.
> 
> It's fucked up!



Yes, he successfully made a difficult read into difficult viewing. I'd like to see him do Suttree.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 13, 2015)

Rest of NARCOS. Stylish and well-acted but just too gringo by half - not just in the ideology but the way that ordinary non-narco Colombians, Colombian culture, Colombian history, what it all meant for the region, and all that - are completely left out. The actors are good, but they are really obviously speaking a mishmash of accents, not Colombian ones  (and in some scenes, ludicrously, two Spanish-speaking characters talk to each other in English just for the benefit of a Netflix audience.) Also too much sex and sexism (nothing wrong with depicting either but it's cheesily done). And reducing this whole thing to a cops vs robbers hunt/chase means the average footsoldier never gets a lookin and the structural weaknesses and abuses of Colombia - the very things which let Pablo Escobar rise to such surreal heights - go unexamined. But it's entertaining enough.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 13, 2015)

Flesh and Bone. 1983 film starring Dennis Quaid, James Caan, Meg Ryan and and earlt role for Gwynneth Paltrow who shines as a sassy young hustler hiking her way from trouble to trouble.

It's a noirish crime drama and road movie that completely passed me by before...it was a good watch. The type of film they would spend money making well back in the 80s when story telling was still a consideration for studio films...

It's no masterpiece, but it's solid, with good performances, nicely filmed, good score, and it had heart.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 13, 2015)

ringo said:


> Yes, he successfully made a difficult read into difficult viewing. I'd like to see him do Suttree.



James Franco has directed a film about Charles Bukowski. It was due for release last year, but failed to find distribution. I hope it gets some kind of release somewhere.


----------



## ringo (Oct 13, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> James Franco has directed a film about Charles Bukowski. It was due for release last year, but failed to find distribution. I hope it gets some kind of release somewhere.



I've got the DVD of his version of As I Lay Dying, haven't got round to watching it yet but I reckon he'll do Faulkner well.


----------



## hot air baboon (Oct 13, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Flesh and Bone. 1983 film starring Dennis Quaid, James Caan, Meg Ryan and and earlt role for Gwynneth Paltrow who shines as a sassy young hustler hiking her way from trouble to trouble.
> 
> It's a noirish crime drama and road movie that completely passed me by before...it was a good watch. The type of film they would spend money making well back in the 80s when story telling was still a consideration for studio films...
> 
> It's no masterpiece, but it's solid, with good performances, nicely filmed, good score, and it had heart.




...you had me confused for a minute there...I was thinking no,no,no...it's Jeff Bridges in that.....

....subsequent research shows I was thinking of Cutter's Way.....(  that was the film of the book Cutter & Bone...)...another good film of that type btw....

....as you were....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 13, 2015)

hot air baboon said:


> ...you had me confused for a minute there...I was thinking no,no,no...it's Jeff Bridges in that.....
> 
> ....subsequent research shows I was thinking of Cutter's Way.....(  that was the film of the book Cutter & Bone...)...another good film of that type btw....
> 
> ....as you were....



Cutter's Way is great...


----------



## magneze (Oct 13, 2015)

Detachment: A film about a supply teacher. Sounds shit. Isn't at all.
What Maisie Knew: A divorce seen through the eyes of a child. Alright but some parts of the plot can be seen from space.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 13, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Cutter's Way is great...


An excellent film, and one that should be much more well known.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 13, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> An excellent film, and one that should be much more well known.



Used to be quite regularly on late night bbc...back when the bbc showed a lot of films.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 13, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Flesh and Bone. 1983 film starring Dennis Quaid, James Caan, Meg Ryan and and earlt role for Gwynneth Paltrow who shines as a sassy young hustler hiking her way from trouble to trouble.
> 
> It's a noirish crime drama and road movie that completely passed me by before...it was a good watch. The type of film they would spend money making well back in the 80s when story telling was still a consideration for studio films...
> 
> It's no masterpiece, but it's solid, with good performances, nicely filmed, good score, and it had heart.


it's not that old! do you mean 1993?


----------



## 8115 (Oct 13, 2015)

May Kasahara said:


> Beasts of the Southern Wild. I liked it, but it made me cry.


I loved this film!  Thanks for reminding me of it, think I'm going to order the dvd


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 13, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> it's not that old! do you mean 1993?



You're right....it is 1993....that explains alot. I was on mucho drugs during those early 90s years....hence it passed me by


----------



## keybored (Oct 13, 2015)

Sicario

Good cinematography, unconvincing characters and some daft plot-holes. It's like they decided to base a film on the Mexican cartel bits of Breaking Bad (some of the menacing music sounds almost identical) and didn't do it all that well.


----------



## Voley (Oct 13, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Child of God. James Franco directed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's book.
> 
> It's fucked up!


They've made a film of that?! The mind boggles.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 14, 2015)

Pressure: Divers trapped at the bottom of the ocean in a diving pod....good performances, but a by numbers plot, and the tension never really mounts...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 14, 2015)

Voley said:


> They've made a film of that?! The mind boggles.



Yeah, it's a good effort too. There were moments I actually found myself rooting for the main character despite him being a sick and despicable animal.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 14, 2015)

Before I Go to Sleep.  Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth in a run of the mill amnesiac thriller.

Not as inventive as Momento

And it's let down badly by the last scene


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 14, 2015)

Hoodlum

Laurence Fishburne is a gangster in 1930 harlem, chief henchman to an underworld queenpin. The harlem underworld at war over the numbers racket (an illegal gambling thing from BITD). Tim roth is the rival 'Dutch' Schultz.

It's quite good for what it is- the violence is shocking and loud an infrequent enough to underscore its shock to the viewer. Something weird about the overall tone though, like sometimes it slips into melodrama as if its not sure wether it wants to be a character study or a ganster film. Still some solid performances, leaving Roths american accent to one side. 5.5/10


----------



## Voley (Oct 14, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Yeah, it's a good effort too. There were moments I actually found myself rooting for the main character despite him being a sick and despicable animal.


Just like the book then. I'll have to give it a go, ta.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 14, 2015)

butchersapron said:
			
		

> Come Sweet Death
> Silentium
> The Bone Man
> 
> Three films made by Wolfgang Murnberger based on the Simon Brenner novels by Wolf Haas. Black austrian humour, deadbeat couldn't give a shit private dick sort of investigates various cases. Very funny, very cynical and watchable for the thiller/detective elements as well.



Blast from the past but if butchersapron or anyone else is interested there's a new film in this series Das Ewige Leben, not got around to watching it yet so I can't say if it is up to the quality of the previous films.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 14, 2015)

redsquirrel said:


> Blast from the past but if butchersapron or anyone else is interested there's a new film in this series Das Ewige Leben, not got around to watching it yet so I can't say if it is up to the quality of the previous films.


Excellent news ta.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 15, 2015)

redsquirrel said:


> Blast from the past but if butchersapron or anyone else is interested there's a new film in this series Das Ewige Leben, not got around to watching it yet so I can't say if it is up to the quality of the previous films.


Watched it last night - top notch, easily up to the standards of the earlier films, with a far darker/tragic tone though. And featuring a breakthrough performance from Michael Portillo.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 15, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Watched it last night - top notch, easily up to the standards of the earlier films, with a far darker/tragic tone though. And featuring a breakthrough performance from Michael Portillo.


I'll have to get downloading it then


----------



## frogwoman (Oct 15, 2015)

I'm writing a story atm with a prison escape in it and I watched a documentary about the IRA breakout from the Maze prison in 1983, got about halfway through just before I fell asleep. It's really good so far


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2015)

frogwoman said:


> I'm writing a story atm with a prison escape in it and I watched a documentary about the IRA breakout from the Maze prison in 1983, got about halfway through just before I fell asleep. It's really good so far



linkage m8s? I need something serious to watch after the ever-more-ludicrous but funny American Horror Story: Hotel


----------



## frogwoman (Oct 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> linkage m8s? I need something serious to watch after the ever-more-ludicrous but funny American Horror Story: Hotel



I'll link you when i'm at home


----------



## frogwoman (Oct 15, 2015)

surprised you havent seen it actually - its right up your street  

"this is now an official IRA operation"


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2015)

:d yeah it sounds like it would be.


----------



## frogwoman (Oct 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> :d yeah it sounds like it would be.



It was meant to be one of the most difficult Prisons in Europe to escape from but the IRA smuggled guns in to it and planned their operation with "military precision". Part of what they did was to act all matey with the screws so that they would think that they had broken them and act all relaxed around security systems, start leaving doors unlocked etc, they did this over a period of many months


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 15, 2015)

The Rover, directed by David Michôd who also made the excellent Animal Kingdom.

It's set in a post econimic collapse Australia, not quite Mad Max world...but close, it's lawless and desolate, and grim. Guy Pearce plays a guy who just wants his car back...

That's about it. Pearce and Robert Pattinson make a fairly nothing film incredibly watchable. Great score too.


----------



## frogwoman (Oct 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> :d yeah it sounds like it would be.



Here you are mate


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2015)

frogwoman said:


> Here you are mate




nice one


----------



## frogwoman (Oct 15, 2015)

Its mental. The most secure prison in western europe lol.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 16, 2015)

frogwoman said:


> Its mental. The most secure prison in western europe lol.


must have been gutting to get to europe and start settling only to be rumbled.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 16, 2015)

so watched the Maze prison break docu, good stuff
American horror story: Hotel. Lady gaga joins the familiar cast in what is already basicaly sex, gore, humour and horror film pastiches 
Dusk Till Dawn series 2, episodes 5-8

very good indeed.

Heroes Reborn catch up run tonight


----------



## Steel Icarus (Oct 16, 2015)

I watched Jarhead; I thought I might like it but I found it to be really good, especially as there wasn't much actual fighting in it, more how the characters dealt with what they had to do. Performances were really good other than a few generic grunt types, but Gyllenhall was terrific - the bit where he tried to apologise was fantastic acting imo
Plus some of the shots were visually astonishing.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 16, 2015)

Love and Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic. A lot better than I expected.

Paul Dano is young hitmaker Wilson, John Cusack the old Wilson, trapped in the clutches of abusive hustler Eugene Landy, played by Paul Giamatti.

Elizabeth Banks plays Brian W.'s potential rescuer. Will she be able to rescue him? Watch it for yourself.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 17, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> 50 Dead Men Walking- v. good, IRA tout story. Ben Kingsley does a solid turn as the handler


 
Fuck off! Seriously, fuck off!


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 17, 2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron
yeah, not brilliant but it had its moments. Still waiting on Suicide Squad really.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Oct 18, 2015)

Anyone think Bikini Model Academy might be quite good? It's got Morgan Fairchild and Gary Busey in.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 20, 2015)

Gary Busey would never be in a load of old pony now would he?


I've lined up Robocop the uncut version for tonight so I can see what the cut ultraviolence adds. The torrent came with a commentary track from verhoeven and others so I'll watch it with that on, given how often I've seen various cuts I don't need to follow every line of dialouge.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 20, 2015)

A former urbanite send me a usb stick packed with films and four seasons of Game of Thrones so I'm working my way through that atm.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 21, 2015)

The ultraviolence of robocop was fairly tame, but the voice over from verhoeven and co was brilliant. As he's describing what he was trying to do with the unease of comedy/violence and this  hper reality- the exaggeration of it all I was nodding along, you can see exactly the same style and themes teased out in the later starship troopers. will look for a few more directors commentaries to films I know well I think.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 21, 2015)

*The Paperboy *- bonkers, overheated, Southern-gothic murder/mystery/thriller sort of thing directed by Lee Daniels (Precious) and a stonking worlds-colliding cast (Nicole Kidman, David Oyelowo, Zac Efron, Macy Gracy (!) John Cusack and Matthew McConaughey, who're all brilliant.) It's completely over the top and doesn't make much sense at all but it's weirdly compelling.


----------



## gimesumtruf (Oct 21, 2015)

12 Years a Slave.
It was a gift so I had to watch it really, although I didn't want to. It was as I thought, hard to watch and gives the viewer a helplessness, sorrow, and well, sod It, I (allegedly) cried a lot.
Surprisingly I had a tiny bit of empathy for the some of the slave owners who were caught in their own nightmares and would have found it difficult to escape from that society.  
I thought the cast was very good.


----------



## belboid (Oct 21, 2015)

*The Homesman* - Tommy Lee Jones stars and directs this tale of one woman, a very good Hilary Swank, taking three other women, who are cracking up in the brutality of 1850's Nebraska (and/or their shitty husbands) back Home, to Ohio.  It starts well, and looks great, but also looks like a middle aged man trying hard to tell a feminist tale. Some of the brutality is laid on with a trowel, and TLJ himself is just not very good. Absurd in places, in fact.

It gets a bit better after the 'shocking incident', but that really just stands in contradiction to everything else the film was trying to do. Okay, but not as good as it should have been.


----------



## Maharani (Oct 22, 2015)

Catch Me Daddy...fucking harrowing, briliiantly acted...very violent and extremely sad. Don't watch it if you're feeling poorly or unhinged...


----------



## Maharani (Oct 22, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *The Paperboy *- bonkers, overheated, Southern-gothic murder/mystery/thriller sort of thing directed by Lee Daniels (Precious) and a stonking worlds-colliding cast (Nicole Kidman, David Oyelowo, Zac Efron, Macy Gracy (!) John Cusack and Matthew McConaughey, who're all brilliant.) It's completely over the top and doesn't make much sense at all but it's weirdly compelling.


I liked it...but yes, tis bonkers!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 22, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Catch Me Daddy...fucking harrowing, briliiantly acted...very violent and extremely sad. Don't watch it if you're feeling poorly or unhinged...



Was that on Netflix or proper DVD?


----------



## Maharani (Oct 22, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Was that on Netflix or proper DVD?


Virgin films...bought it on demand.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 22, 2015)

I'll try and Kodi it...


----------



## Belushi (Oct 22, 2015)

*La Vie en Rose* (Olivier Dahan 2007) Marion Cotillard is good in an otherwise disjointed biopic of Edith Piaf.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 22, 2015)

Good Night, and Good Luck.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 22, 2015)

*The Principles of Lust*  - well up there as one of the worst films I have EVER seen, and the competition is fierce. Grim, pretentious, po-faced, miserable, "look at me I'm so daring" tale of a wannabe writer who can't decide whether to settle down with his nice single-mother GF or keep going out on the lash for lots of decadent drugssexdrugs with his evil BF (Marc Warren doing his best to be charismatic-demonic). Set in Sheffield. It's just painful - surely one of those Lottery-funded Britfilms which attracted about 7 people to the cinema. Do not bother, it doesn't even have kitsch or laugh value.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 23, 2015)

Recently, If a tree falls: The story of the earth liberation front, excellent documentary, very interesting. The Double, a terrible terrible let down which I turned off after twenty minutes. I might give it another go through. It was too surreal in a bad way.


----------



## starfish (Oct 23, 2015)

Not a film but have been loving Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands with Paul Murton on beeb2 the last 2 weeks. So much of my homeland previously unknown to me.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 24, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *The Principles of Lust*  - well up there as one of the worst films I have EVER seen...it doesn't even have kitsch or laugh value.


Bit disappointing to hear, as it's by Penny Woolcock, who did the Tina films, which I loved


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 24, 2015)

not-bono-ever said:


> The Angels Share- Ken Loach filum about Weegie neds, whiskey and bother.
> 
> Its very good- dont expect anything with a savage twist in it or car chases , but its sorta another homage to Bill Forsyth scotch films of the last century. def. check it out of you get the chance


Just watched this and I second this motion.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 27, 2015)

Starting watching Fargo. 4 eps in.

It's strange how it captures the whole look/feel/mood of the film and deliver characters that seem familar to those in the film while delivering a new story which is disconnected yet totally within the same universe. It's cleverly achieved. I'm enjoying. 

Martin Freeman reminds me of Norman Wisdom in it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 27, 2015)

Field of Dreams.  I like neither Costner nor baseball.  I still like this though.   "I'm Melting!"

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.	The Flash changes history, things are fucked up.  Gorier than most of this kind of thing, good voice-acting.  Direct link on google, too.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 27, 2015)

*Mistaken for Strangers* (Tom Berninger 2014) By playing the slacker little brother Berninger manages to create an entertaining and insightful documentary about brotherhood from a rather boring band tour.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 28, 2015)

Thing is, Belushi, the younger bro in that movie wasn't playing a role, that's what he's actually like.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 28, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Thing is, Belushi, the younger bro in that movie wasn't playing a role, that's what he's actually like.



I don't know, I thought he was playing the fool to an extent and that there's a lot more going on with him than the hapless slacker persona.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 28, 2015)

Belushi said:


> I don't know, I thought he was playing the fool to an extent and that there's a lot more going on with him than the hapless slacker persona.


If he was that good an actor, would he still be living in his parents house at age 35+?

What did you think of it as a doc, by the way? I'd never heard of this band "the National", but they seemed like a more boring version of Coldplay.


----------



## Belushi (Oct 28, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> If he was that good an actor, would he still be living in his parents house at age 35+?
> 
> What did you think of it as a doc, by the way? I'd never heard of this band "the National", but they seemed like a more boring version of Coldplay.



He had had some acting roles prior to making that film, lots of actor/arty types still at home at 30 

I thought he managed to make a good documentary out of the most boring band tour ever.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Oct 30, 2015)

I'm having a complete playthrough of One Foot in the Grave. Since I discovered let's plays on YT a couple of years ago, I've been giving the old sitcom DVDs a rest, but it's time for a change. OFITG really is riotously funny. To think it ended fifteen years ago


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 31, 2015)

Nine Bob Note said:


> I'm having a complete playthrough of One Foot in the Grave. Since I discovered let's plays on YT a couple of years ago, I've been giving the old sitcom DVDs a rest, but it's time for a change. OFITG really is riotously funny. To think it ended fifteen years ago


the stone classic is the episode set entirely in the car in traffic with him, mrs warboise and mrs meldrew. I thought it couldn't crack me up these days but when he sticks the tape in and the mechanic have done a whole song cunting him off


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 31, 2015)

*Frailty - *bleak mucky serial-killer psychological drama with Matthew McConaughey as grown-up son of a psycho religiously-inspired murderer, who may or may not be leading police to solve all his dad's bonkers crimez. Good nasty Halloween fun, not massively gory but very unsettling because Psycho Dad is played by Bill Paxton the archetypal straight-arrow boring Midwestern good-guy good dad type … even has he coerces 2 young sons into getting busy with the farm implements. Good twist ending as well.


----------



## D'wards (Oct 31, 2015)

I just watched The Hunt - literally the best film I've seen in years. I'm in tears here!


----------



## hot air baboon (Nov 1, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> the stone classic is the episode set entirely in the car in traffic with him, mrs warboise and mrs meldrew. I thought it couldn't crack me up these days but when he sticks the tape in and the mechanic have done a whole song cunting him off



....the best moment has to be the one when he's trying ( unsuccessfully ofcourse ) to push a car off a cliff...its those 3 or 4 seconds of pure comedy gold when the viewer knows before he does that his own car has slipped the handbrake and is rolling with gathering speed towards the precipitous void....


----------



## 8den (Nov 1, 2015)

DexterTCN said:


> Kiss Kiss Bang Bang...a brilliant pastiche of noir written/directed by Shane Black and reminiscent of the comedy of the Coen brothers.  Black's mainly known for Lethal Weapon, Predator,Last Boy Scout but he hadn't done much for years when he came out with this.
> 
> Robert Downey Jr finds his rasion d'etre as an actor in this.  Don't try and follow the plot.



Really a tremendous Hollywood action movie. 

We're the Millers. Surprisingly funny


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 1, 2015)

8den said:


> Really a tremendous Hollywood action movie.
> 
> We're the Millers. Surprisingly funny


That one _was _surprisingly funny, and the actress who played the young street kid could have been very good in the kind of "bad girl" roles Barbara Stanwyck used to do. I think that was the problem though - it made you realise just how much better the old Hollywood classics like _It Happened One Night _and _Sullivan's Travels _were.


----------



## 8den (Nov 1, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> it made you realise just how much better the old Hollywood classics like _It Happened One Night _and _Sullivan's Travels _were.



"With a little Sex"...

Nick Offerman is popping up everywhere at the moment (he& his wife played the human I laws on hotel Transylvania 2) he's generally typecast but so good you don't care.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 1, 2015)

20 Feet from Stardom & Miss Simone, What Happened?

Both inspiring, spirited, sad and revealing.

I thought I knew a good amount about Nina Simone's life, but there was a big chunk I hadn't realised.

That someone who was such a strong, powerful, outspoken individual in the civil rights movement went home to be beaten and raped by her husband was difficult to comprehend and hard to learn. 

Footage of Simone in Paris during her fall from grace was shocking too. I always imagined her living a bit of a boho muso existence but she was really down and out and broken.


----------



## Maharani (Nov 2, 2015)

Watched 'Tracks' last night. Was excellent. I'm thinking of becoming a camel trainer now...


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 2, 2015)

Mr Robot - basically everyone on urban needs to watch this ASAP as it could not be more relevant to average poster's interests. Top.


----------



## Mogden (Nov 2, 2015)

Just digested the entire first season of Secrets and Lies, Juliette Lewis not Mike Leigh. Excellent stuff and kept me guessing. Can't wait for season 2. Of course JL being an ass kicking stone cold fox helps [emoji14]


----------



## Maharani (Nov 2, 2015)

Mogden said:


> Just digested the entire first season of Secrets and Lies, Juliette Lewis not Mike Leigh. Excellent stuff and kept me guessing. Can't wait for season 2. Of course JL being an ass kicking stone cold fox helps [emoji14]


Where's that on? Or was it a box set?


----------



## Mogden (Nov 2, 2015)

On the Watch channel. Last 2 episodes "acquired"


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 2, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> Mr Robot - basically everyone on urban needs to watch this ASAP as it could not be more relevant to average poster's interests. Top.



Excellent.  A programme about pub quizzes and long distance walking


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 2, 2015)

*Jurassic World* and *Mad Max: Fury Road*

*Jurassic World* was pretty easy watching with a few decent action moments, but the plot was silly and the kid actors were irritating beyond belief. Chris Pratt was likeable enough but a bit too secure in his own awesomeness. Overall the whole thing felt surprisingly small considering the pedigree of Jurassic Park, and how it's managed to become the 3rd highest grossing film of all time I don't know. 6/10

*Mad Max* was great from an action perspective, basically one non-stop chase scene, but all the things that gave it it's strength (hardly slowing down, barely any dialogue, film-as-pure-visual-experience) were also what stopped it being a coherent film IMO. 
Charlize Theron's character was great, but there's no indication of why she's picked this moment to turn on her captors and rescue the 'wives', it's an example of incomplete info that the film is littered with. Nitpicky perhaps, but it pulled me out of the film several times, as did the repetitive assaults on the War Rig, it all got a bit samey.
Tom Hardy didn't really add much besides squinting (I'd argue Nicholas Hoult put in the best performance of the film, at least his character was sketched out quickly but instantly easy to empathise with).
That said, a stunning film to look at and respect to the practical effects used, maybe it was one I should have seen on the big screen - 7/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 2, 2015)

Imperator Furiosa much like max had just had enough. 'As the world fell, each of us in our own way were broken'

It's the finest of the Mad Max films. There is a version- called 'Black and Chrome' that is done in b&w with no dialouge. Thats the one the director says he wanted to release if he could have persuaded people to give him money to do it. It got leaked on the internet as a fan edit job but has now vanished.

I fucking loved it. Immortan Joe 

it wasn't perhaps the most coherent of narratives but then its just a big long car chase. But fuck me. I left the cinema wanting to be a Warboy


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 2, 2015)

rubbershoes said:


> Excellent.  A programme about pub quizzes and long distance walking


Live the dream, my friend, live the dream


----------



## seventh bullet (Nov 3, 2015)

8den said:


> Nick Offerman is popping up everywhere at the moment (he& his wife played the human I laws on hotel Transylvania 2) he's generally typecast but so good you don't care.



And Metal Beard, of course.

I recently saw The Guest.  Slick, silly and very very good. Dan Stevens is great fun as the psychopathic killing machine making himself at home.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 3, 2015)

Finished season one of Fargo. Loved it.


----------



## Maharani (Nov 3, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Finished season one of Fargo. Loved it.


First season was ace..I just watched ep one of season 2 last night...not as gripping so far as season one but still very good.


----------



## 8den (Nov 3, 2015)

Ash V Evil Dead. 

New Evil Dead tv show staring Bruce, "Hail to the King", Campbell.


----------



## 8den (Nov 3, 2015)

Maharani said:


> First season was ace..I just watched ep one of season 2 last night...not as gripping so far as season one but still very good.



I'm loving Season 2, and the cast is frankly redonkuously good.


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 3, 2015)

8den said:


> Ash V Evil Dead.
> 
> New Evil Dead tv show staring Bruce, "Hail to the King", Campbell.


Didn't know about this - will give it a watch


----------



## Maharani (Nov 3, 2015)

8den said:


> I'm loving Season 2, and the cast is frankly redonkuously good.


Stupidly I can only watch the most current ep on my Virgin media so I have to catch up on my tablet which is just silly imo.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 4, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *The Epic of Everest* (Capt. John Noel) Beautiful BFI restoration of the footage from the 1924 Mallory/Irvine Everest expedition. Some stunning images and a great modern score.



This was repeated on BBC4 again last night so I ended up watching it again until I drifted off.


----------



## marty21 (Nov 4, 2015)

currently enjoying Continium on Netflix - time travel shenanigans


----------



## Belushi (Nov 5, 2015)

*The Quiet American* (Phillip Noyce 2002) Watchable adaptation of the Graham Greene novel, one of Caine's best performances.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 6, 2015)

*Oki's Movie* (Sang-Soo Hong 2012) A love triangle from each angle.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 6, 2015)

I fancy a Bill Murraython. Obviously Groundhog Day, but what else is must-watch murray mint?


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 6, 2015)

He is the best thing about _Lost in Translation _but might not be enough to save it in your view.
Also
_Fantastic Mr Fox (_and loads of other Wes Anderson so it depends how much whimsy you can stand)
_Zombieland
Rushmore_


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 6, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> He is the best thing about _Lost in Translation _but might not be enough to save it in your view.
> Also
> _Fantastic Mr Fox (_and loads of other Wes Anderson so it depends how much whimsy you can stand)
> _Zombieland
> Rushmore_


Rushmore and Zombieland it is then! ta


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 6, 2015)

DotCommunist  beware - I thought Murray was good in Rushmore (or at least in the bit I saw), but the teenage lead (presumably a proxy for Anderson himself) was so annoying I turned it off after 30 minutes.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 6, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> DotCommunist  beware - I thought Murray was good in Rushmore (or at least in the bit I saw), but the teenage lead (presumably a proxy for Anderson himself) was so annoying I turned it off after 30 minutes.


Nonsense! Max is brilliant. Love that kid!

You should watch Caddyshack too


----------



## umop apisdn (Nov 6, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I fancy a Bill Murraython. Obviously Groundhog Day, but what else is must-watch murray mint?



The Rutles


----------



## Maharani (Nov 7, 2015)

Fucking loved Escobar: Paradise Lost. Glad I'd got the background from watching Narcos too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 7, 2015)

i think the kids at my school are watching Narcos.  seems to be a lot of misplaced hero-worshipping of Escobar...


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 8, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> i think the kids at my school are watching Narcos.  seems to be a lot of misplaced hero-worshipping of Escobar...


he's like a character from grand theft auto I suppose, only real.




I found tennants Hamlet on the tube of you so I watched that again, good as ever


----------



## bi0boy (Nov 8, 2015)

Bone Tomahawk. Went on a bit but was fun seeing two actors from Fargo and Jack from Lost.


----------



## Voley (Nov 8, 2015)

The new Jurassic Park one. People in it annoying, dinosaurs in it ace. Dinosaurs eating annoying people = good. Dinosaurs not eating both annoying lead characters = not so good. Would've liked to see it in 3D - there were a few bits obviously designed to look good bursting out of the screen.


----------



## Kitton5 (Nov 8, 2015)

*DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997)*


----------



## Shirl (Nov 8, 2015)

Not last night but just about to watch Red Rock West for the hundredth time


----------



## Voley (Nov 8, 2015)

Just watched For No Good Reason which I really enjoyed. 

Johnny Depp chatting to Ralph Steadman about his life and work. As much about Hunter S Thompson as Ralph, at times, and very interesting for it. Some funny footage of HST sweating profusely and looking totally fucked. Some less funny stuff that showed the complicated and sometime fractious relationship he had with Steadman. Seems they parted on sour terms which is sad as they were clearly very good friends at one point, if very different people. Good bit of William Burroughs shooting his paintings with a twelve bore, as was his wont, too. I also enjoyed watching Ralph splatter paint all over a canvas with no idea how it was going to pan out and turning it into a portrait of (possibly) a person going insane in a city. Good doc, well worth a watch.


----------



## Shirl (Nov 8, 2015)

Shirl said:


> Not last night but just about to watch Red Rock West for the hundredth time


No I'm not. I've bought a fucking cunting French copy


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 8, 2015)

*The Hunters / Jagarna (1996)* - mad Swedish murder thriller which is basically Deliverance nordic style. Hero is a Stockholm copper who returns to his deep-north rural roots but finds his unstable brother is all in with a bunch of evil poaching redneck nogoodniks. Chaos ensues. Lots of very very macho men, elk, firearms and fisticuffs. Well OTT in many ways (they really lay it on with a shovel, the bad guys are not just violent but racist, rapists, drunken homophobes, who abuse puppies, Saami herds people and local 'slow' lads etc etc) but it's impressively blunt in tone. Utterly implausibly gorgeous blonde DA turns up to help but in the end it doesn't help - the rot goes too deep. If you like Scandinoir (or even Blood Simple, tho it's not that good) this will do you nicely.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 8, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I fancy a Bill Murraython. Obviously Groundhog Day, but what else is must-watch murray mint?


St Vincent is excellent


----------



## ringo (Nov 9, 2015)

Inherent Vice

Boring and self-indulgent. A meandering shit mumble. Turned it off. 2.5 hours ffs.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 9, 2015)

ringo said:


> Inherent Vice
> 
> Boring and self-indulgent. A meandering shit mumble. Turned it off. 2.5 hours ffs.


Still a better movie than Chinatown, though.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 9, 2015)

*False Trail aka Jagarna 2 (2011) - *sequel to the mad Swedish film above. Things are still grim up North in Sweden as our hero gets dragged back into the woods for another murder hunt. Bleaker and more po-faced than the earlier one, still classy and worthwhile but lacking the streak of berserk comedy in the first instalment. More low-key and naturalistic all round. And it stars this guy, who I had honestly never ever even suspected of being Swedish ever, I thought he was a strictly US product!


----------



## Belushi (Nov 10, 2015)

*Snowpiercer* (Joon-Ho Bong 2014) Entertaining sci-fi action movie.


----------



## belboid (Nov 10, 2015)

Thor (2011)

Not bothered with it before as I thought it would be silly.  And so it was.  But just right for a knackered, brain dead, evening.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 10, 2015)

Blackthorn.

Turns out Butch Cassidy didn't die and its 20 years later. He's just been farming it in Bolivia. He has Unfinished Business that leads him on an entertaining yet somehow unsatisfactory last adventure. Beautiful scenery and Jaime Lannister plays the young him in flashback scenes

7/10

e2a

disconcertingly titled as thats the same name as one of northamptons estates


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 12, 2015)

Raid 2

more hyperviolence and undercover shennanigans. A truly eyewatering train scene with twin claw hammers. Ang she uses the claw ends.

The Hunted
This christopher lambert gem also contains an excellent train combat scene. More violent than my memory has it. Soundtrack dates it badly but other than, solid fayre with special props to the bloke who plays the Samurai


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 12, 2015)

The circle. Basically weakest link the movie. 

I fell asleep.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 12, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I fancy a Bill Murraython. Obviously Groundhog Day, but what else is must-watch murray mint?



There's an early film of his on Netflix; a Hunter S Thompson kind of thing. I have no idea if it's any good, mind.

Today I have watched Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist. It's got Kat Denning and Michael Cera in it.


----------



## Maharani (Nov 12, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The circle. Basically weakest link the movie.
> 
> I fell asleep.


Is that based on the book? About some twats trying to control people's minds, like Facebook types?


----------



## Maharani (Nov 12, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The circle. Basically weakest link the movie.
> 
> I fell asleep.


Repost


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 12, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Is that based on the book? About some twats trying to control people's minds, like Facebook types?



Dunno. It's a bunch of people in a circle forced to vote on who stays alive....it is quite a good premise, but seen stuff like this before....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 12, 2015)

trailer here


----------



## Maharani (Nov 12, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> trailer here



Looks wank and no it's not same as the book which is equally as wank as that film looks.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 12, 2015)

Two wanks don't make a right...I guess


----------



## Maharani (Nov 12, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Two wanks don't make a right...I guess


I dunno...


----------



## inva (Nov 12, 2015)

School for Scoundrels
really enjoyed it, a great film.


----------



## 8115 (Nov 12, 2015)

I'm watching Foxcatcher, it's a bit slow so far.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 12, 2015)

8115 said:


> I'm watching Foxcatcher, it's a bit slow so far.



Do they catch the fox?


----------



## 8115 (Nov 12, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Do they catch the fox?


I wish.


----------



## Maharani (Nov 12, 2015)

8115 said:


> I'm watching Foxcatcher, it's a bit slow so far.


Oooh I loved that. Steve Carell was very good in it.


----------



## Maharani (Nov 12, 2015)

inva said:


> School for Scoundrels
> really enjoyed it, a great film.


Is that a sequel to dirty rotten scoundrels?


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 12, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Is that a sequel to dirty rotten scoundrels?


It's a remake of the classic School for scoundrels from 1960 - which was inspired by the Gamesmanship novels by Stephen Potter. The remake is ok but not a patch on the original.


----------



## Maharani (Nov 12, 2015)

fishfinger said:


> It's a remake of the classic School for scoundrels from 1960 - which was inspired by the Gamesmanship novels by Stephen Potter. The remake is ok but not a patch on the original.


I was being silly really but I do love that film...dirty rotten scoundrels, ain't seen school for scoundrels.


----------



## inva (Nov 12, 2015)

Maharani said:


> I was being silly really but I do love that film...dirty rotten scoundrels, ain't seen school for scoundrels.


give it a go if you can, it's excellent. I watched the original - don't know about the remake


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 12, 2015)

I'm halfway through a sci-fi film called The Signal....which is interesting so far.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 12, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I'm halfway through a sci-fi film called The Signal....which is interesting so far.



Yes. I enjoyed that.


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 12, 2015)

The Station Agent. What a lovely film


----------



## Maharani (Nov 13, 2015)

Mr Turner...Mike Leigh never fails in my eyes. A brilliant depiction of a working class person in an age of classism, just being himself. A huge talent.  

Spall gave a brilliant performance, grunting and groaning. Generally and absolutely just marvellous. Fuck, I do feel somewhat pretentious...


----------



## Voley (Nov 14, 2015)

First three episodes of Narcos. Not bad. I know what happens at the end but I'm interested to see how it gets there. Bloke that plays Pablo Escobar is suitably coolly ruthless. Nothing Earth-shatteringly brilliant but a good way to pass three hours on a wet Saturday afternoon.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 15, 2015)

The Martian

I loved it. Start to finish loved it. No wastage, no mawk. Just really tight and sort of believable survival stuff. We should all go and live on mars from shit potatos


----------



## oneunder (Nov 15, 2015)

Voley said:


> First three episodes of Narcos. Not bad. I know what happens at the end but I'm interested to see how it gets there. Bloke that plays Pablo Escobar is suitably coolly ruthless. Nothing Earth-shatteringly brilliant but a good way to pass three hours on a wet Saturday afternoon.


theres a season 2 on the cards .


----------



## Maharani (Nov 15, 2015)

Interstellar. Beautiful to watch but found all the detail hard to follow. Was very long too.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 15, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> The Martian
> 
> I loved it. Start to finish loved it. No wastage, no mawk. Just really tight and sort of believable survival stuff. We should all go and live on mars from shit potatos



Excellent; am off to see that later. 

We finished the last 2 eps of This Is England '90. Exceptional acting and funny and grim in equal parts.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 15, 2015)

So yeah, after finishing Boardwalk Empire (great stuff, 10/10 would watch again, it and the Wire are the only shows I know that really live up to the current hype about intelligent TV drama you hear all the time nowadays), I thought I'd stick with the gangster thing, and watch Jimmy Cagney in _the Public Enemy._ Worth seeing for Jimmy Cagney, but really more of an historical curio today.
_
_I have to say I think _Little Caesar _is the better gangster flick from that era, but what's interesting about both of those films is that they're basically silent movies with sound, if you see what I mean. . . What I mean is that they were still using all the old methods of staging, directing and acting they'd built up during the silent era.

Reno, if you're still around what do you think of that? Is that a fair point regarding the history of Hollywood?


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Nov 15, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Mr Turner...Mike Leigh never fails in my eyes. A brilliant depiction of a working class person in an age of classism, just being himself. A huge talent.
> 
> Spall gave a brilliant performance, grunting and groaning. Generally and absolutely just marvellous. Fuck, I do feel somewhat pretentious...



Some of the cinematography was just ridiculously beautiful to look at.


----------



## Reno (Nov 15, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> So yeah, after finishing Boardwalk Empire (great stuff, 10/10 would watch again, it and the Wire are the only shows I know that really live up to the current hype about intelligent TV drama you hear all the time nowadays), I thought I'd stick with the gangster thing, and watch Jimmy Cagney in _the Public Enemy._ Worth seeing for Jimmy Cagney, but really more of an historical curio today.
> 
> I have to say I think _Little Caesar _is the better gangster flick from that era, but what's interesting about both of those films is that they're basically silent movies with sound, if you see what I mean. . . What I mean is that they were still using all the old methods of staging, directing and acting they'd built up during the silent era.
> 
> Reno, if you're still around what do you think of that? Is that a fair point regarding the history of Hollywood?


I haven't seen either film in a while, so can't comment specifically, but in general early sound film was a step back cinematically speaking and they look a little like filmed stage plays. Silent films had become very sophisticated, with fluid camera moves, effects, transitions,etc. Early sound equipment required for the camera to remain static during dialogue scenes because actors had to stay close to microphones which were hidden in props and behind sets. A late silent film like Sunrise by Murnau or Pandora's Box by Pabst looks so much more sophisticated and cinematic than most early talkies ( and they look more sophisticated than most modern films).


----------



## Voley (Nov 15, 2015)

oneunder said:
			
		

> theres a season 2 on the cards .



I hope that happens as I've happily watched 6 hours of it this weekend. Will finish it this week, I'd imagine. Very easy to get into a 'just one more episode' loop with this. Which is what decent box sets are all about. New to this Netflix lark and impressed with the variety of stuff on offer. Will probably subscribe when my free months up.


----------



## magneze (Nov 15, 2015)

Zombieland 
Pretty good horror comedy.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 16, 2015)

It Follows. A supernatural horror indie film about a girl that 'inherits' an evil entity, after sex, which follows her around.

It's all very vague and wispy and indie movie like, but I did enjoy it. Had a good John Carpenter style soundtrack. Strong performances from all involved, and it looked great, and the entity, which takes on different appearences every time it shows up, is genuinly creepy at times.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 16, 2015)

*Stoker (2013) *- Chan Wook Park (who directed the Korean _Vengeance _trilogy so stylishly) goes to a weirdly disembodied Middle America for a gleefully nasty tale of roiling insanity, jealousy, lust, family secrets and, um, vengeance. It's very weird, deliberately so, and the flamboyance or unreality of the plot is mirrored by a sort of narcotised no-affect acting and script a lot of the time. Got no love from critics. But I rather liked it ... it looks wonderful, it's got plenty of swagger, Mia Wasikowska just brilliant, as always, Nicole Kidman not bad and the male lead Matthew Goode quite good too as the too-good-to-be-true returning uncle with secrets. (imdb says this was written by Wentworth Miller the ridiculously handsome lead actor in _Prison Break! _some mistake surely?)


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 16, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *Stoker (2013) *- Chan Wook Park (who directed the Korean _Vengeance _trilogy so stylishly) goes to a weirdly disembodied Middle America for a gleefully nasty tale of roiling insanity, jealousy, lust, family secrets and, um, vengeance. It's very weird, deliberately so, and the flamboyance or unreality of the plot is mirrored by a sort of narcotised no-affect acting and script a lot of the time. Got no love from critics. But I rather liked it ... it looks wonderful, it's got plenty of swagger, Mia Wasikowska just brilliant, as always, Nicole Kidman not bad and the male lead Matthew Goode quite good too as the too-good-to-be-true returning uncle with secrets. (imdb says this was written by Wentworth Miller the ridiculously handsome lead actor in _Prison Break! _some mistake surely?)



He used to a pseudonym to flog the script, but it is


----------



## Reno (Nov 16, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> He used to a pseudonym to flog the script, but it is


..actually he just took the script for Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, took out anything that was thought provoking, emotionally involving or otherwise interesting about that classic and then Park Chan-wook turned it into what looked like a life style magazine spread.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 16, 2015)

Yes, very disappointing film


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 16, 2015)

Reno said:


> ..actually he just took the script for Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, took out anything that was thought provoking, emotionally involving or otherwise interesting about that classic and then Park Chan-wook turned it into what looked like a life style magazine spread.



I liked Mia.

And the soundtrack.


----------



## Reno (Nov 16, 2015)

_Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed_ which I think is the best of the Hammer Frankenstein films. Quite bleak, it's really a home invasion film where Frankenstein blackmails the young couple he rents his room from into assisting him with his experiments. of all the classic horror star, Peter Cushing was probably the one who was the best actor and I always found his face fascinating to look at. He's so bird like, all swift moves and sharp angles

_Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation_. Never cared too much for these films because they always are a bunch of action scenes barely connected by a story, but I sort of enjoyed this. The main reason for that was Rebecca Ferguson who is one hell of an action heroine while also being quite soulful. She's a bit like Ingrid Bergman with amazing martial arts skills. I'm not a fan of the Cruise when he actually tries some acting, but he's fine in action roles like this.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 16, 2015)

The East. Eco-warriors infiltrated by an undercover private security operative.

Starts out fairly well....runs out of steam...gets a bit silly and unbelievable.

I didnt like any characters.


----------



## oneunder (Nov 17, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It Follows. A supernatural horror indie film about a girl that 'inherits' an evil entity, after sex, which follows her aroun
> It's all very vague and wispy and indie movie like, but I did enjoy it. Had a good John Carpenter style soundtrack. Strong performances from all involved, and it looked great, and the entity, which takes on different appearences every time it shows up, is genuinly creepy at times.


It's a Soundtrack movie..  Made the movie for me.  Great on headphones.


----------



## oneunder (Nov 17, 2015)




----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 17, 2015)

Watched this last night (the whole thing, not just the trailer):



Not bad for what it was, even though Madeleine Carroll wasn't quite fatale enough as the femme fatale. And some of the dialogue must have been verging on the ridiculous even at the time. But Gary Cooper was so good, I could even tolerate the fact that his character travelled around China with a pet monkey.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 17, 2015)

Captain America Winter Soldier

I told myself I wasn't going to watch Captain Nationalism chucking his shield about anymore but I caved and gave it a go. Garbage, straight to the dustbin alng with ant man.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 18, 2015)

2001 film called Deep End with Tilda Swinton. Utter shit....I only stayed watching it because I couldn't sleep, but it was bloody awful. A thriller with nothing thrilling about it...


----------



## Reno (Nov 18, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> 2001 film called Deep End with Tilda Swinton. Utter shit....I only stayed watching it because I couldn't sleep, but it was bloody awful. A thriller with nothing thrilling about it...


Oh, I quite like that one. 

It's a remake of a 40s film called The Reckless Moment.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 18, 2015)

Reno said:


> Oh, I quite like that one.
> 
> It's a remake of a 40s film called The Reckless Moment.



It felt like someone had cut the middle out of the story...

As a result I've just treated myself to the 1970 Jane Asher starring Deep End to make up for it....


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 18, 2015)

As part of the ongoing masochistic Robin Williams simperfest that me and a friend are putting ourselves through, we watched What Dreams May Come, a schmaltzy (what else could it be?) cheesemare about the afterlife with a new age slant. It's terrible but the visuals are impressive for the time, especially the bits where Max Von Sydow takes Williams down to hell and Werner Herzog appears as a tortured complaining soul.
Vincent Ward directed it, and he showed such promise early in his career.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 19, 2015)

Episode 6 of Mr Robot - Still interesting enough to stick with. Great turn from lead actor. The show is not as clever as it think it is, but it's clever enough, and not afraid to stir the pot and the plot out of the obvious...

Episode 4&5 of Extant - bit of a daft sci fi. I watch it in bed. Spielberg produced. It's ok. It's an Alien using earthling as a vessel for birth story...with  an added A.I 'pinocchio' story...some goverement 'space race' consipiracy stuff....nothing overly taxing. Goran Višnjić acts badly, Halle Berry isn't too bad, both are pretty to look at. The story ticks along like a good to average episode of the X files. I think it's been cancelled now.


----------



## DezKayFan (Nov 19, 2015)

editor said:


> Following on from the monster 4,000+ post part two of this thread, here's part three!


I watched the complete series of Mr.bean dvd for the 12th time since I purchased it 3 weeks ago


----------



## Reno (Nov 19, 2015)

DezKayFan said:


> I watched the complete series of Mr.bean dvd for the 12th time since I purchased it 3 weeks ago


----------



## DezKayFan (Nov 19, 2015)

Reno said:


>


What's wrong with that?! Mr. Bean is genius!!!


----------



## Reno (Nov 20, 2015)

I watched Humans over the last three evenings which I'd held off on because I'd seen some of Real Humans, which I didn't really care for too much. I thought the remake was far better. The original feels a little like a kids show, with more simplistic characterisation and a political allegory front and centre which is terribly on the nose.

The remake is better written and more streamlined, wisely dropping some of the sub-plots which made the original a bit soapy and pushing the clunky immigration metaphor into the background. The acting and writing for the family in the remake is far better, especially Anita/Mia who is the centre and heart of the show. Unlike with original, when the Mia personality breaks though, here it's genuinely moving and I liked how they treated her more as a mystery here.

The last two episodes were a little rushed and not as good as the rest of the show, but looking forward to a second season.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 21, 2015)

*Better Mus Come* (Storm Saulter 2013) Poorly made film set among gangs in 1970's Jamaica.


----------



## Spymaster (Nov 21, 2015)

Indeliblelink said:


> *Kajaki (2014)*, based on a true story about a unit of British soldiers who get stuck in a minefield in Afghanistan while trying rescue a colleague. Great first feature length film from director Paul Katis, very tense with a good script and acting. Certainly one of the best British film I've seen in the last year or two.


Agreed.

We watched this last night. Excellent film, superb acting, very tense, and very different to your usual "bang, bang, bang" war film.

It's on Netflix.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 21, 2015)

Spymaster said:


> Agreed.
> 
> We watched this last night. Excellent film, superb acting, very tense, and very different to your usual "bang, bang, bang" war film.
> 
> It's on Netflix.


I rather liked that, too - pretty much entirely avoids all the usual war movie tropes, gung ho nonsense etc, and feels very real and natural.

But still very "bang, bang, bang" in its own way


----------



## Voley (Nov 21, 2015)

Sounds good that Spy. Will give it a go before my free month of Netflix is up, ta.


----------



## getsleep (Nov 22, 2015)

Red MACHINE - a film about an blood loving bear that kills a lot of humans in Alaska - well, not that good.


----------



## Reno (Nov 22, 2015)

I watched the HBO mini series Olive Kitteridge for the second time. Had this been a film, it would have been my favourite film of the year. It's more proof that the real talent in Hollywood goes into TV now.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 23, 2015)

*Heli* (Amat Escalante 2014) A young girl gets her family caught up in the Mexican drug trade.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 23, 2015)

The F-Word

Worth watching if you fancy seeing Daniel Radcliffe get punched in the face, and shoved down a flight of stairs. He looks like a junkie throughout the whole thing, which is odd given that it's meant to be a lighthearted romantic comedy. Seriously, he looks like death warmed up.

A Canadian-Irish co-production, which is why I watched it. They don't do much with the Toronto setting, but it's odd that Dublin is portrayed as if the Celtic Tiger is still in full swing. Little would the average Canuck viewer realise that Dublin is in fact the greatest hive of scum and villainy in the known universe.

Fallen Angel.

Now this is more like it. An Otto Preminger Film Noir from the fifties, with a dodgy, dodgy guy as the antihero lead. From wikipedia:

"As the frustrated adventurer, Dana Andrews adds another excellent tight-lipped portrait of a growing gallery. Linda Darnell is beautiful and perfectly cast as the sultry and single-minded siren, while Miss Faye, whose lines often border on the banal, shoulders her first straight, dramatic burden, gracefully. Charles Bickford, as a dishonorably discharged cop, Anne Revere, as Miss Faye's spinster sister, and Percy Kilbride, as the lovesick proprietor of the diner in which Miss Darnell works, are outstanding among the supporting players. But for all of its acting wealth, _Fallen Angel_ falls short of being a top flight whodunit."

I wouldn't be so hard on it, I'd say it's still an effective bit of work that stands up six decades on. Deeply conservative of course - the bad girl gets punished, the good girl gets rewarded for acting like a doormat, and the dickhead male lead gets the girl and the money, despite the fact that he's a dickhead. Interestingly, though, it did acknowledge the reality of police brutality, in fact that's a major plot point.

Also some interesting use of natural light in the street scenes - contrasts very well with the way the noir element is used in more set-based scenes.

Reno, do you know this one?


----------



## Reno (Nov 23, 2015)

Nope, haven't seen that one. I have seen Angel Face, another Preminger noir which I like very much.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 23, 2015)

Melancholia - Lars Von Trier does sci-fi. Sort of. Shades of Solaris, Tree of Life in there. Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg are compelling as 2 sisters dealing with approaching catastrophe.


----------



## Spymaster (Nov 23, 2015)

We watched the first two episodes of The Man In The High Castle last night. It's a good idea and well filmed but quite dark and a lot going on. Not sure about it, tbh.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2015)

seriously though if theres one complaint I have about MITHC the book is that it has cast a long, long shadow over the alt.history genre. Every man and his dog wants to do an 'if der narzis won the war' story.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 23, 2015)

Spymaster said:


> We watched the first two episodes of The Man In The High Castle last night. It's a good idea and well filmed but quite dark and a lot going on. Not sure about it, tbh.


Not sure about it as a TV series, or not sure about in terms of its 'message'? (genuine question)


----------



## Reno (Nov 23, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> seriously though if theres one complaint I have about MITHC the book is that it has cast a long, long shadow over the alt.history genre. Every man and his dog wants to do an 'if der narzis won the war' story.


There have been a lot of literary ones, even before Dick but there haven't been many on film or TV. It Happened Here from 1966 is still the best one and then there was the okeyish TV movie of Fatherland and the rest isn't that memorable.


----------



## Spymaster (Nov 23, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Not sure about it as a TV series, or not sure about in terms of its 'message'? (genuine question)


Just not sure if we're going to persevere with it. It's quite heavy and rather slow. We'll probably watch another episode or two, then decide.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2015)

Reno said:


> There have been a lot of literary ones, even before Dick but there haven't been many on film or TV. It Happened Here from 1966 is still the best one and then there was the okeyish TV movie of Fatherland and the rest isn't that memorable.


Fatherland made a better book for me although the film didn't fall completely flat. It Happened Here is...interesting. I don't see as I'll ever watch it again but its closness to the period makes for a kind of authenticity iyswim?


----------



## belboid (Nov 23, 2015)

Reno said:


> There have been a lot of literary ones, even before Dick but there haven't been many on film or TV.


Only one pre-Dick, really. Sarban's The Sound of His Horn [/pedant]


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2015)

belboid said:


> The Sound of His Horn


----------



## Reno (Nov 23, 2015)

Spymaster said:


> Just not sure if we're going to persevere with it. It's quite heavy and rather slow. We'll probably watch another episode or two, then decide.


...and I don't mind heavy and slow if there is substance and great characterisation, but there isn't. I don't think I'll get back to it and I'm not sure why this is getting rave reviews.


----------



## sovereignb (Nov 23, 2015)

Pretty Persuasion - about a very manipulative 15yr old girl who persuades her friends to make a joint claim of abuse against their teacher in order to get famous
Very funny and inappropriate at times but with a great political subtext. Excellent film


----------



## Reno (Nov 24, 2015)

I needed a comfort film and watched Hammer's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. One of the better ones and I'd forgotten that they make a point of the hero being an atheist.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2015)

Terminator Genisys

started strong and looked like it was going to be amazing but then went crap. Not the poorest addition to the series but a load of balls anyway. First 30mins were banging then it all went south.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 25, 2015)

CARTEL LAND - documentary available via iPlayer (was broadcast as part of the STORYVILLE strand) and I think some subscription sites as well. Visually striking film following the parallel stories of two "self defence" militias formed either side of the US/Mexico border fence, supposedly to fight drug cartels but (of course) getting enmeshed in hideous violence, corruption and paranoid confusion. It's got brilliant access and the stories themselves are astonishing, BUT it's light on proper analysis and understanding of Mexico. It's a good companion piece to NARCO CULTURA, which covers similar ground but is better (and gorier, and more depressing, and more Mexican.) Cartel Land also contains some stills of revolting cartel 'messages' full of blood and body parts but the action sequences are less distressing than Narco Cultura's. If you enjoyed Breaking Bad I guess you really ought to watch both of them...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 25, 2015)

Adult World - Indie comedy about a girl who aspires to be a published poet. John Cusack plays a semi-reclusive poet who she idolises and bothers a bit, inbetween working in a sex shop called Adult World, and hanging out with some 'fringe of society' types while being completely oblivious to her lack of 'fringe of society' credentials...

It was ok. Cusack was very good. Highlighted how shit some of the straight to netflix movies he has currently started to appear in have been.


----------



## oneunder (Nov 25, 2015)

That Cusack guy (since he started dressing in and dying his hair black) reminds me of George Osbourne.  They both look slightly Mask-like.  
just an observation.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 25, 2015)

Finished Mr Robot. 

I think it got a bit lost by the end. Too busy driving towards a cliffhanger ending and trying hard to be a bit weird.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 25, 2015)

...and still quite like Extant. For sci fi lite it keeps good momentum.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 25, 2015)

I have watched the first episode of Mr Robot twice now. Don't get the appeal. Seems like something from Channel 5 from the 00s


----------



## Reno (Nov 26, 2015)

I watched Pixar's Inside Out. Not as funny as the ejaculation segment from Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex.


----------



## Yetman (Nov 26, 2015)

First few episodes of DAG on Sky Arts. Bit like Louis but foreign. Proper foreign.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 26, 2015)

Kind Hearts and Coronets - I'd forgotten how weird Joan Greenwood's voice is, how ruthlessly the plot rips along, and just HOW MANY TIMES the script repeats the N word (in a non racist context but still.)


----------



## Voley (Nov 26, 2015)

Indeliblelink said:


> *Kajaki (2014)*, based on a true story about a unit of British soldiers who get stuck in a minefield in Afghanistan while trying rescue a colleague. Great first feature length film from director Paul Katis, very tense with a good script and acting. Certainly one of the best British film I've seen in the last year or two.


Thanks for recommending this. Very tense. I liked the gallows humour of all the blokes involved. Seemed realistic didn't it? The helicopter fuck-up bit was painful to watch. As was the bit where the rescuer who had no idea it was a minefield just legged it right into the middle. I actually went 'Nooooo!!!' out loud. Good little film, schmaltzy end music notwithstanding. I'll have to keep an eye out for other stuff by this guy; I like directors who can create dramatic tension like that on a small budget.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 27, 2015)

Whirlpool.

1949: like Fallen Angel mentioned above, this one was by Otto Preminger. The blurb on the box said it was a mix of noir and woman's picture, and. . . it was OK I suppose. The sight of a psychoanalyst having the cheek to condemn an astrologer as a quack was funny. The rest of the film was - not bad. Neurotic "doctor's" wife falls into the clutches of a blackmailer, thanks to her kleptomania problem. Her troubles escalate from there.

If you're into Art Deco stuff you might like this one.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 28, 2015)

Spring Breakers.  Loved it.  Complete trash filmed in the artiest way.


----------



## Belushi (Nov 28, 2015)

*'71* (Yann Demange 2014) Decent thriller about a young squaddie separated from his Platoon in a divided and dangerous Belfast.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 28, 2015)

Winter soldier.
I was told it was the best marvel film (obviously these things aren't made for me then), I was also told that there was a big and dramatic plot twist. . . . so what was that then? I don't remember one.
Also. Why didn't they use the face change tech earlier when they were hiding? And why reveal who you are after gaining the element of surprise?


----------



## Reno (Nov 28, 2015)

After surprisingly enough enjoying the latest Mission Impossible film I decided to rewatch the earlier ones. Never cared too much about them, they always struck me as action scenes loosely connected by an impenetrable plot and I had pretty much forgotten them all. Quite enjoyed them, especially from the third one onwards. It's the rare franchise which gets (more or less) better with every film with the last two being really rather great. Was also curious because each is a showcase for a distinctive director.

I still didn't care too much for the first one despite generally being a fan of De Palma's work. There are two famous and outstanding sequences (a high wire heist and the helicopter vs train climax) but Cruise is still young, cocky and irritating in that Top Gun/Cocktail way and Emanuelle Beart's botched trout-pout is disturbing. They should have kept Kristen Scott Thomas, who plays the only likeable character, instead they kill her off in the first 20 minutes. Everybody overacts, especially Vanessa Redgrave.

Mission Impossble II by John Woo in his Hollywood phase is the least liked film in the series, but I enjoyed it slightly more. Cruise actually looks like an adult in this and is far less bratty. It's basically a remake of Hitchcock's Notorious and kind of works as a romantic thriller till it becomes a bonkers action fest in the last third when it all gets a little tedious, slomo doves etc.

The third film by JJ Abrams is the first good film in the series, with a great villain in Philip Seymor Hoffman. Some of the action is too fast and incoherent, but the Shanghai sequence is brilliant. This one gets back to the TV series more with the films following on from this one being about a team of agents rather than Tom Cruise as the lone hero.

The fourth film Ghost Protocol, the first live action film by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles) is the best in the series. A really great action film with one great set piece after another and it even has a decent plot. Loved the gadgets, especially the scene with the invisibility screen.

I watched the fifth film a couple of weeks ago. Almost as good as Ghost Protocol and it features the best character in the series in Rebecca Ferguson's totally badass yet soulful action heroine. They should dump Cruise and continue the series with her.

I'm a Bond movie fan and these aren't so different, with touristy locations, cool gadgets, glamorous women (most of whom are more capable action heroines than the Bond girls) and lots of action. You just have to put up with how much they are about Tom Cruise being awesome, but I don't mind him in films where he just has to run and jump around a lot.


----------



## xsunnysuex (Nov 28, 2015)

No Escape.  Loved it.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 28, 2015)

Reno said:


> After surprisingly enough enjoying the latest Mission Impossible film I decided to rewatch the earlier ones. Never cared too much about them, they always struck me as action scenes loosely connected by an impenetrable plot and I had pretty much forgotten them all. Quite enjoyed them, especially from the third one onwards. It's the rare franchise which gets (more or less) better with every film with the last two being really rather great. Was also curious because each is a showcase for a distinctive director.
> 
> I still didn't care too mch for the first one despite generally being a fan of De Palma's work. There are two famous and outstanding sequences (a heist and the helicopter vs train climax) but Cruise is still young, cocky and irritating in that Top Gun/Cocktail way and Emanuelle Beart's botched trout-pout is disturbing. They should have kept Kristen Scott Thomas, who plays the only likeable character, instead they kill her off in the first 20 minutes. Everybody overacts, especially Vanessa Redgrave.
> 
> ...


Good sum up on the series. Though I hated woos two more than, the obvious and boring first movie. Was very surprised by ghost protocol being so good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2015)

Which is the one in which they all keep pulling masks off and saying 'tis I'?


----------



## Reno (Nov 29, 2015)

After enjoying my Mission Impossible marathon I thought I'd give another series I never got into another try and I watched Oceans Eleven as I generally like Soderbergh. It's. just so smug and pleased with itself. I like George Clooney and don't mind Brad Pitt, but the film assumes that we can all agree that they are the most charming movie stars ever, which I'm not convinced of.

Instead of Oceans Twelve I watched House on Haunted Hill, the original with Vincent Price, which is camp, creaky fun and The Puppetoon Movie which collects George Pal's 30s and 40s stop motion shorts into a feature. They are quite amazing, like animated Busby Berkley musicals, but you have to put up with a lot of puppet black face and weird racial stereotyping.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 29, 2015)

The Captains

its a ddocumentary by William Shatner where he interviews the various trek captains. Other crew members pop up on talking head bits. Tis on netflix


----------



## Indeliblelink (Nov 29, 2015)

Edge Of Darkness (1943) & A Walk In The Sun (1945). A couple of wartime war films from Lewis Milestone, both OK but a bit slow with no great perfomances from the actors.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 29, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> The Captains
> 
> its a ddocumentary by William Shatner where he interviews the various trek captains. Other crew members pop up on talking head bits. Tis on netflix


Son, have you ever kissed a girl?


----------



## magneze (Nov 29, 2015)

Police Story
Super Jackie Chan film. There's a fair bit in the middle that's somewhat meh but the beginning and end are just amazing.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 29, 2015)

Riding Giants.

Surfing documentary. I first saw this in Belfast years ago. One of those cases where even if you're not interested in  the subject, you can still enjoy the way the story is told.

There was a side of surfing I hadn't considered before: mentalists seeking out ever bigger, ever more dangerous waves. Looking at it from that point of view, it looks more mountaineering or spelunking than anything else.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 29, 2015)

oh also the first three episodes of Lilyhammer. A mob face (seriously I think he's been in Sopranos as tony's consigliori, Casino, Goodfellas et al.) has to go states evidnce and takes his WP Program posting in some god forsaken outpost of scandawegia. Its quite funny in its 'fish out of water' style but I'm struggling to see how this was maintained as a show for three series.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 30, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> The Captains
> 
> its a ddocumentary by William Shatner where he interviews the various trek captains. Other crew members pop up on talking head bits. Tis on netflix



Yeah, I watched that as well. Avery Brooks was magnificent and Shatner's interviewing style is bonkers. Kate Mulgrew was ace as well.

Did you watch the Shatner doc on TNG after? That's worth a look and Shatner is less intrusive...

Also, we watched Under the Skin with Scarlett Johanson as an alien picking up men in Glasgow. Quite disturbing, especially in the second half. Shades of Kubrick and Lynch in the film. Can't believe it's the same director as Sexy Beast.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 30, 2015)

Feltrinelli.

Confused (well at least it felt like that to me) about. . . well the best way I can put it is that it's not directly about Giacomo Feltrinelli, the millionaire Italian publisher who died in 1972. He blew himself up while trying to plant a bomb on an electricity pylon for the leftist paramilitary group "Group of Armed Partisans". Some interesting documentary footage from the time, but you have to sit through loads of boring, recent, footage from some publishers' fair in Milan.

I'd have to advise that you avoid this. butchersapron, what documentary should I really be watching about this case, or about this period in Italy more generally? I was hoping to get something along the lines of _Action _the Canadian flick about the October crisis of 1970.


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 30, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Feltrinelli.
> 
> Confused (well at least it felt like that to me) about. . . well the best way I can put it is that it's not directly about Giacomo Feltrinelli, the millionaire Italian publisher who died in 1972. He blew himself up while trying to plant a bomb on an electricity pylon for the leftist paramilitary group "Group of Armed Partisans". Some interesting documentary footage from the time, but you have to sit through loads of boring, recent, footage from some publishers' fair in Milan.
> 
> I'd have to advise that you avoid this. butchersapron, what documentary should I really be watching about this case, or about this period in Italy more generally? I was hoping to get something along the lines of _Action _the Canadian flick about the October crisis of 1970.


Possibly this,though it does concentrate on one region/enterprise:



In fabbrica is patchy but has some amazing footage.
For an other very important struggle of the time: We Want Roses Too 

I'll have to have look through my stuff later for more.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 30, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Possibly this,though it does concentrate on one region/enterprise:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Cheers, thank you. I'll watch that tonight.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 30, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Yeah, I watched that as well. Avery Brooks was magnificent and Shatner's interviewing style is bonkers. Kate Mulgrew was ace as well.
> 
> Did you watch the Shatner doc on TNG after? That's worth a look and Shatner is less intrusive...
> 
> Also, we watched Under the Skin with Scarlett Johanson as an alien picking up men in Glasgow. Quite disturbing, especially in the second half. Shades of Kubrick and Lynch in the film. Can't believe it's the same director as Sexy Beast.


I did not, will watch it tonight. Would like to see riker interviewd iirc he's into film direction also.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 1, 2015)

butchersapron said:


> Possibly this,though it does concentrate on one region/enterprise:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So yes, I did watch this one in the end - impressive (DotCommunist, you might enjoy this one also).

Afterwards, I cleared my palate with some Nana Mouskouri:


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 1, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> So yes, I did watch this one in the end - impressive (DotCommunist, you might enjoy this one also).



I'll see if I can find a download.

I watched the Cube which was a great little horror sci fi about a group trapped in a series of cube shaped rooms in a complex. No idea how they arrived, no food etc. They have to escape and some of the cubes are lethal. 6/10. Points deducted for being slightly too long and a bit stingy with the deaths


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 1, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll see if I can find a download.
> 
> I watched the Cube which was a great little horror sci fi about a group trapped in a series of cube shaped rooms in a complex. No idea how they arrived, no food etc. They have to escape and some of the cubes are lethal. 6/10. Points deducted for being slightly too long and a bit stingy with the deaths


There's a plug-in for Mozilla Firefox which adds a button on the toolbar that gives you automatic downloads as MP4. That's how I pirate all _my _stuff.


----------



## Reno (Dec 1, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll see if I can find a download.
> 
> I watched the Cube which was a great little horror sci fi about a group trapped in a series of cube shaped rooms in a complex. No idea how they arrived, no food etc. They have to escape and some of the cubes are lethal. 6/10. Points deducted for being slightly too long and a bit stingy with the deaths


Stingy ? 



Spoiler



Only one survives !


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 1, 2015)

Reno said:


> Stingy ?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I know but there was a stretch where people didn't for a bit. Total heart in mouth jump moment when 



Spoiler: deaths



the prison break expert reveals his skills then his face is melted off


I probably should have seen it coming but they totally got me


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 1, 2015)

Cube, not The Cube


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 1, 2015)

etc


----------



## CharlyCoin (Dec 1, 2015)

I recently bought all the harry potter movies, because I am still a big fan of the books… I have watched all of them on the weekend because I have been sick and had to stay in bed the whole time :/ fortunately the weather was rather awful, so I didn’t want to leave my flat anyway…


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 1, 2015)

Caught quite a bit of *Movie 43* last night, may have been because we were slightly inebriated that we laughed quite a bit, but it was mostly awful.

The sketch with Chloe Grace-Moritz and another one with Liev Schrieber and Naomi Watts were the best of the bunch.

Just moved house and we really need to get the broadband working


----------



## Belushi (Dec 1, 2015)

*Ilo Ilo* (Anthony Chen 2013) Enjoyable family drama from Singapore.


----------



## Reno (Dec 1, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Ilo Ilo* (Anthony Chen 2013) Enjoyable family drama from Singapore.


Herr Flick ?


----------



## andysays (Dec 1, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll see if I can find a download.
> 
> I watched the Cube which was a great little horror sci fi about a group trapped in a series of cube shaped rooms in a complex. No idea how they arrived, no food etc. They have to escape and some of the cubes are lethal. 6/10. Points deducted for being slightly too long and a bit stingy with the deaths



There are three Cube films, they're all on youtube (I think I posted a link on the youtube thread recently)

Also on youtube, I've recently been watching six part Granada doc about the Spanish Civil War, made in 1983, less than a decade after the death of Franco, and including loads of interviews with those involved in various ways and on various sides.


----------



## Reno (Dec 1, 2015)

andysays said:


> There are three Cube films, they're all on youtube (I think I posted a link on the youtube thread recently)]


The sequels are dross. The reason Cube is good is because it was made by Vincenzo Natali who is a genre film maker of some talent. It was his first film and it's a small gem of micro-budget ingenuity. The sequels are straight to video cash-ins by other people, which add nothing of interest. Instead of the Cube sequels, check out some other films by Natali like Cypher or Splice instead.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 2, 2015)

Chocolat - Single mother tempts town with brazen chocolate retail outlet; Travellers throw rave on the river, much handwringing ensues.

Return to Oz - Dorothy up for electro therapy finds herself back in Oz where chums have been turned to stone, Narnia fashion. 

Sugarland Express - Goldie Hawn springs husband about to be released to get baby back from the welfare people, lots of cops, cars and gun nuts follow. Possibly one of Spielberg's greatest films.


----------



## Reno (Dec 2, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Sugarland Express - Goldie Hawn springs husband about to be released to get baby back from the welfare people, lots of cops, cars and gun nuts follow. Possibly one of Spielberg's greatest films.



I agree ! It was Spielberg's first feature film and it often gets forgotten about because his next film Jaws made such an impact and his previous film Duel was one of the best remembered TV movies ever made. Great film though with a career best performance by Hawn who was mainly known for comedy.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 2, 2015)

Reno said:


> I agree ! It was Spielberg's first feature film and it often gets forgotten about because his next film Jaws made such an impact and his previous film Duel was one of the best remembered TV movies ever made. Great film though with a career best performance by Hawn who was mainly known for comedy.



Goldie Hawn is excellent in that film; quite a revelation to me. For some reason; I thought it was going to be a screwball comedy vehicle. I am pleased that I was entirely wrong.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 2, 2015)

Watched a film called Façade, made in 1999. 

It is the first film I've seen in ages which is so bad it borders on genius. It is badly acted, badly shot, and badly plotted, but there is something about it that is so meticulously constructed that I could almost hear the writer's and director's brain ticking. There were some genuinely laugh out loud moments, lots on in-jokes relating to art, literature and music, and the whole film is clearly a victim of the post-Tarantino blues, but all the same, I thoroughly enjoyed it for being a totally bonkers slice of hollywood cinema.


----------



## ringo (Dec 3, 2015)

Frankenstein - The Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh version.

Some crap additions to the book and Branagh over acts badly. Gave up half way through to watch Peep Show.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2015)

ringo said:


> Frankenstein - The Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh version.
> 
> Some crap additions to the book and Branagh over acts badly. Gave up half way through to watch Peep Show.


It's not a good film but it is the most faithful adaptation of the novel to date. The only major addition is the creation of the "bride" which Frankenstein never manages to carry out in the book, but it includes a lot of characters and incidents from the novel which are not in the other film versions.


----------



## ringo (Dec 3, 2015)

Reno said:


> It's not a good film but it is the most faithful adaptation of the novel to date. The only major addition is the creation of the "bride" which Frankenstein never manages to carry out in the book, but it includes a lot of characters and incidents from the novel which are not in the other film versions.



I didn't like the changes to Professor Waldman (John Cleese). I don't remember him reanimating a monkey's hand and it grabbing F's mate in the book. I just got bored of it, so agreed, not a great film.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2015)

ringo said:


> I didn't like the changes to Professor Waldman (John Cleese). I don't remember him reanimating a monkey's hand and it grabbing F's mate in the book. I just got bored of it, so agreed, not a great film.


I like the inclusion of Justine's death which was what shocked me the most in the novel (though it's an execution rather than a lynching) . Still wish someone would do a faithful adaptation which isn't as silly and overblown as the Branagh version. He's not a good director outside of Shakespeare adaptations.


----------



## ringo (Dec 3, 2015)

Reno said:


> I like the inclusion of Justine's death which was what shocked me the most in the novel (though it's an execution rather than a lynching) . Still wish someone would do a faithful adaptation which isn't as silly and overblown as the Branagh version. He's not a good director outside of Shakespeare adaptations.



Yes when they threw her off the parapet was a bit much - irl that would have torn her head off. It was Branagh that ruined it for me though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 3, 2015)

Reno said:


> which Frankenstein never manages to carry out in the book


that makes it sound like he didn't get the chance or was unable. He refused. Not just refused, said he would do it then got an attack of conscience/had a vison. NOW he runs out of hubris? The one thing he could have done to stop the slaughter and bring a shred of hapiness to his creation. Victor is one of literatures biggest wankers imo


----------



## starfish (Dec 4, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll see if I can find a download.
> 
> I watched the Cube which was a great little horror sci fi about a group trapped in a series of cube shaped rooms in a complex. No idea how they arrived, no food etc. They have to escape and some of the cubes are lethal. 6/10. Points deducted for being slightly too long and a bit stingy with the deaths


It's not too bad a film that one. The Horror Channel is your friend for its ilk.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2015)

Men in Black 3

a suprisingly fun entry to the MiB series where will smith has to go back in time to save the day


----------



## Belushi (Dec 7, 2015)

*The Ghost* (Roman Polanski 2010) Decent political thriller about a Blairesque ex-pm.


----------



## ringo (Dec 7, 2015)

Star Wars Episode 1:The Phantom Menace

My kids decided they wanted to watch the whole lot as they've never seen them other than the odd clip so I got them off a mate. I suggested they watch the original film first but the tiddler claimed to have seen it as a baby and the littlun wanted to watch them in order. The Tiddler got bored after 15 minutes, the littlun loved it but thought Darth Maul had been to a dodgy face painting stall at a school fair 
Not seen it since it came out, still slightly underwhelmed. Jar Jar Binks remains one of the most annoying characters committed to film.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 7, 2015)

*The Deep - *2012 Icelandic film, based on a true story, of a man who survives the shipwreck of a small fishing boat, survives being out in the very very cold North Atlantic ocean overnight, and makes it home alive - but with most of his ideas about life all thrown into a mess because of this horrendous experience. It's slow-moving ... but moving ... because it's all so very low key and undramatic (Nordic stoicism x a million) and because the lead is NOT handsome, or heroic, or exceptional in any way really. So how come he made it through such an epic scrape with death? It's mysterious and makes you think (and so does the film.) If you contrast it with A Perfect Storm, the Hollywood product comes out much worse, seems manipulative and hysterical and overblown compared to this. Also has interesting sequences of eruptions & evacuations on the volcanic islands in Iceland which might, or might not, have inoculated our hero with extra special stoic powers.


----------



## Reno (Dec 7, 2015)

trabuquera said:


> *The Deep - *2012 Icelandic film, based on a true story, of a man who survives the shipwreck of a small fishing boat, survives being out in the very very cold North Atlantic ocean overnight, and makes it home alive - but with most of his ideas about life all thrown into a mess because of this horrendous experience. It's slow-moving ... but moving ... because it's all so very low key and undramatic (Nordic stoicism x a million) and because the lead is NOT handsome, or heroic, or exceptional in any way really. So how come he made it through such an epic scrape with death? It's mysterious and makes you think (and so does the film.) If you contrast it with A Perfect Storm, the Hollywood product comes out much worse, seems manipulative and hysterical and overblown compared to this. Also has interesting sequences of eruptions & evacuations on the volcanic islands in Iceland which might, or might not, have inoculated our hero with extra special stoic powers.



_All Is Lost_ may be a more fair Hollywood comparison than the rubbish A Perfect Storm and I thought that was a pretty good film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2015)

Anchorman 2

well, the original lacked wit and charm but made up for it in slapstick and scholcky shock humour. This was more of the same. I dunno, sometimes will ferrel makes me laugh and others it just comes off as cheap i.e 'ho ho this guy is anachronistically racist and sexist and thick'


3/10


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 7, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Men in Black 3
> 
> a suprisingly fun entry to the MiB series where will smith has to go back in time to save the day



Josh Brolin does a good 'younger Tommy Lee Jones'


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2015)

The Octagon said:


> Josh Brolin does a good 'younger Tommy Lee Jones'


he certainly got the characters dead-pan delivery down pat. I'd rate no3 better than no2


----------



## 8115 (Dec 7, 2015)

Bombon el perro. Beautiful Argentinian film about a man and a dog. 5*


----------



## Voley (Dec 7, 2015)

Getting near the end of the second series of True Detective now. It's been enjoyable and the plot looks like it's still got a few twists left. I can't help but compare it to the first series, though, and it's not in the same league. Still, Colin Farrell's descent into drug hell is good viewing, Vince Vaughan's study in controlled menace is good, and there's  some deeply disturbing shit coming out about Rachel McAdam's character, now, too. She acts well, I like her. Whole thing's still missing something, though.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 7, 2015)

Ex Machina (very late to this, obviously)

Excellent little film that is entirely different second time you watch it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 7, 2015)

World's Greatest Dad - wow someone made a good Robin Williams film. And it was Bobcat Goldthwait, the screechy punk cop off of Police Academy. His debut, Shakes The Clown is also a great film with Williams in it if only for a minute. Must check his other films.


----------



## ringo (Dec 8, 2015)

Star Wars 2: Attack Of The Clones
Never seen it before, vaguely remember it getting panned by my mates at the time. Very enjoyable apart from a really slow section in the middle with the clumsy love story. The city backgrounds to the action were brilliant, right up there with the best Bolland et al from early 2000AD. Bet it looked good on the big screen. The littlun absolutely loved it and can't wait to get onto the next one, so nice to see it had that kiddie magic quality.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 8, 2015)

ringo said:


> Star Wars 2: Attack Of The Clones
> Never seen it before, vaguely remember it getting panned by my mates at the time. Very enjoyable apart from a really slow section in the middle with the clumsy love story. The city backgrounds to the action were brilliant, right up there with the best Bolland et al from early 2000AD. Bet it looked good on the big screen. The littlun absolutely loved it and can't wait to get onto the next one, so nice to see it had that kiddie magic quality.



My boy was young when these came out so we saw them all at the cinema. Watching with kids helps, their excitement is infectious and helps lower the old critical shields...


----------



## Reno (Dec 8, 2015)

Watching them with cats makes no difference on the other hand. I know, I've tried. Still crap.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 8, 2015)

elements are ok but the whole is not good. General Greivous was quite good.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 8, 2015)

I think all three had good stuff in them....it's the mediocre stuff really stood out.


----------



## ringo (Dec 8, 2015)

Nanker Phelge said:


> My boy was young when these came out so we saw them all at the cinema. Watching with kids helps, their excitement is infectious and helps lower the old critical shields...



Exactly. I've been completely meh about Star Wars for years, but watching them with my nipper and seeing how excited she is has got me appreciating them again. Attempting to throw out all of your preconceptions and intolerances helps, it's worked with literature for me for a few years now and I'm applying it to other things. Even watched a Bond film again.


----------



## ringo (Dec 8, 2015)

Reno said:


> Watching them with cats makes no difference on the other hand. I know, I've tried. Still crap.



I'll lend you a nipper for a week


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## Reno (Dec 8, 2015)

ringo said:


> I'll lend you a nipper for a week



I've borrowed my friend's teenagers to introduce them the the Godfather films, Alien and Blade Runner and that worked. The younger one didn't like Blade Runner but otherwise they went down a treat. They are too old and cool for Star Wars now (and they have probably seen them when they were smaller anyways.)


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## Nanker Phelge (Dec 8, 2015)

ringo said:


> Exactly. I've been completely meh about Star Wars for years, but watching them with my nipper and seeing how excited she is has got me appreciating them again. Attempting to throw out all of your preconceptions and intolerances helps, it's worked with literature for me for a few years now and I'm applying it to other things. Even watched a Bond film again.



My boy got into Brosnan's Bond. Even had the Brosnan Bond Action Man


----------



## sovereignb (Dec 8, 2015)

Ex-Machina - really enjoyed this but the ending didn't make much sense.


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## Reno (Dec 8, 2015)

sovereignb said:


> Ex-Machina - really enjoyed this but the ending didn't make much sense.


Why not ? Isn't that what the whole thing is geared towards ?


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## sovereignb (Dec 8, 2015)

Reno said:


> Why not ? Isn't that what the whole thing is geared towards ?



My only issue is how it got on the plane when the pilot had come to collect someone else...didn't understand that but its a small gripe.


----------



## Chz (Dec 10, 2015)

I watched Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

Now I like my arthouse stuff, and I think I have a fairly high tolerance for artistic wankitude when it serves a purpose. Buuuut...

I fell asleep. Palme D'Or, critics' darling, 88% on RT. Well it's rubbish. There is some excuse that it's supposed to be a small part of a larger art installation and blah-diddy-blah-blah-blah. But it's boring, and it's crap.

The last time I hated a critics' favourite this much was Under The Skin. At least that divided opinion and not everyone loved it.


----------



## ringo (Dec 11, 2015)

Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope _aka_ Star Wars innit

We were supposed to watch Revenge Of The Sith but I'd accidentally downloaded that crappy animation Clone Wars instead of episode 3. Me and the littlun decided it must be shit and we could go straight on to the original.

Hadn't seen it since 1978, when it was the birthday party treat of every boy at school, so I saw it three times at the cinema. Really enjoyed watching it with the littlun (12). The tiddler (6) was scared and had to sit on my lap hiding; just the right amount of scary and exciting to make them both completely obsessed with it. The constant light sabre battles they've had since are exactly the same as everyone did when it came out. That sums it up, it really has aged well and still has exactly the same affect on kids. Even the effects don't seem as dated as I thought they might, it doesn't look nearly 40 years old.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2015)

ringo said:


> Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope _aka_ Star Wars innit
> 
> We were supposed to watch Revenge Of The Sith but I'd accidentally downloaded that crappy animation Clone Wars instead of episode 3. Me and the littlun decided it must be shit and we could go straight on to the original.
> 
> Hadn't seen it since 1978, when it was the birthday party treat of every boy at school, so I saw it three times at the cinema. Really enjoyed watching it with the littlun (12). The tiddler (6) was scared and had to sit on my lap hiding; just the right amount of scary and exciting to make them both completely obsessed with it. The constant light sabre battles they've had since are exactly the same as everyone did when it came out. That sums it up, it really has aged well and still has exactly the same affect on kids. Even the effects don't seem as dated as I thought they might, it doesn't look nearly 40 years old.


I take it you watched the version that was touched up and changed in the 90s? Special edition one, got a cinema release?

if so thats why it doesn't look like its from '77 (even tho the OG still looks good it does show its age)

also revenge of the Sith is indeed shit but the final duel between anakin and obi wan is good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2015)

I saw the latest American Horror Story episodes.

I think its quite good even if the story makes no real sense ATM, Lady Gaga and Kathy Bates plus the bald gay receptionist make the core team. Identikit blandly hansome american men who I can't really tell apart, not so much


----------



## ringo (Dec 11, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I take it you watched the version that was touched up and changed in the 90s? Special edition one, got a cinema release?
> 
> if so thats why it doesn't look like its from '77 (even tho the OG still looks good it does show its age)
> 
> also revenge of the Sith is indeed shit but the final duel between anakin and obi wan is good.



Ooh, dunno. It was a rip a mate got of a Blu Ray release, but reading about that on Wikipedia just made my brain hurt so I have no idea. 

We'll watch episode 3 some time, but now we're in a race to watch ESB and ROJ so I can take her to see the new one at the cinema in the Xmas holidays.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 11, 2015)

Django Unchained. Much preferred it to Inglorious Basterds - Christoph Waltz was magnificent in both, mind.


----------



## teqniq (Dec 11, 2015)

Watched just now. Sci fi short. Reminded me of Pat Cadigan novels, Synners and Fools.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 11, 2015)

Just thoroughly enjoyed Ant Man. The first marvel film in ages to be a fun ride. It was daft, but entertaining daft.


----------



## teqniq (Dec 12, 2015)

Yes I saw that last week. Lots of comedy moments/lines. I like that it didn't take itself seriously at all.

'This is the work of Gypsies!'


----------



## sovereignb (Dec 12, 2015)

A film called Pretty Persuasions - a slightly darker version of "Election"...funny, inappropriate and with a great underlying political commentary.
Good little find


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 12, 2015)

The Gunman. 

Sean Penn made a poor choice to star in this film. It plods along with a stale plot and offers little to get excited about. Trying to do a Neeson with Penn has not worked here. I'm still not convinced it worked with Neeson.

I like watching Penn on screen, but I turned this film off. It was dull.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 12, 2015)

Gave it another go this afternoon....cos I hate not finishing a film.

Fell asleep.


----------



## rekil (Dec 13, 2015)

The Wave - Norwegian disaster fillum about a mountain that's going to fall into a fjord and cause a wave (hence the title) which will destroy Gerainger. All cliches present and correct. Boss who _won't listen_, genius geologist having a domestic, fuckwit teenager, coward freakout etc. Amazing scenery and very unpleasant drowning scene.

I also watched Hamlet 2 and The Parole Officer. The less said about them the better I think.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 13, 2015)

I watched the jimmy saville meets louis theroux docu with two people who hadn't seen it before. Crikey, seemed dodgy enough at the time but in retrospect its far worse


----------



## 8115 (Dec 13, 2015)

Two days, one night, really beautiful French film about a woman recovering from depression at risk of losing her job. Really gentle.


----------



## Reno (Dec 13, 2015)

I started rewatching The X-Files after getting the Blu-Ray box set of the entire show as an early Christmas present for myself. Watched the first three episodes which hold up well. Now there is a batch of rubbish episodes coming up. Will have to see whether I'll watch them all or skip the lesser ones.

Tangerine, which got a lot of attention for having been shot on an iPhone. Quite funny in places this film about LA transgender sex workers is no Pretty Woman, which us just as well. Not as good as Sean Baker's last film Starlet though, which unfortunately never got a release here. 

Howl, British horror film which basically is Werewolves On A Train. Not bad, though it seems like the people who made the film have never been on a train in the UK.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 14, 2015)

Reno said:


> Howl, British horror film which basically is Werewolves On A Train. Not bad, though it seems like the people who made the film have never been on a train in the UK.


 
Probably never even seen a proper werewolf either


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Probably never even seen a proper werewolf either


Werewolves always look a bit rubbish. The only werewolf designs I've really liked so far were the ones in the original The Howling. Even the one in An American Werewolf in London (the greatest werewolf film ever made) looked more like a wild boar when fully transformed. The werewolves in this looked great at a distance and not so great close up, but they weren't the worst ones I've seen.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 14, 2015)

Reno said:


> (the greatest werewolf film ever made)


You've earned yourself a reprieve


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2015)

There were Werewolves in that _What we do in the shadows _think I watched last night. Great gas altogether.

Friday night I watched _Le Cercle Rouge. _A _film noir_ in colour, if you can imagine such a thing. Also very good.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> There were Werewolves in that _What we do in the shadows _think I watched last night. Great gas altogether.


My favourite film of the year, featuring my favourite line of dialogue ever!


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2015)

Reno said:


> My favourite film of the year, featuring my favourite line of dialogue ever!


Is it the one about virgins?


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Is it the one about virgins?





Spoiler



"We are werewolves, not swear wolves!"


----------



## ringo (Dec 14, 2015)

Spaced Series 1, episodes 1 - 4.
Only saw bits of this at the time. Enjoyed it, but would have been better at the time.


----------



## Chz (Dec 14, 2015)

Watching Ash vs. Evil Dead.

It has Bruce Campbell, so it's obviously incredibly good. But even by the Almighty's standards, it's pretty good fun. It remains to be seen whether it suffers the same fate as most projects where a bunch of old buddies get together and fart around (disappearing up its own arse, usually), but I'm quite enjoying the silliness for now.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 14, 2015)

^^I watched the latest of that Ash vs Evil dead, still strong. Was hoping for a kind of 'deadite monster of the week' set up, every week the book spits forth another etc.

I watched the penultimate episode of syfy's Z Nation which was darker than usual. You saw all the main characters origin stories.

Tried to watch The Hunt: Conservation but attenboroughs avancular tones and the lush scenery put me to sleep


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2015)

Reno said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> "We are werewolves, not swear wolves!"


It was very very Kiwi-ish. 

I see it was co-produced by someone who wrote a couple of the Flight of the Conchords episodes.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> It was very very Kiwi-ish.
> 
> I see it was co-produced by someone who wrote a couple of the Flight of the Conchords episodes.


It was co-directed, co-written and it co-starred Jemaine Clement, who is one of the duo.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 14, 2015)

Reno said:


> It was co-directed, co-written and it co-starred Jemaine Clement, who is one of the duo.


Ah yes, Jemaine Clement, man of a thousand faces.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Ah yes, Jemaine Clement, man of a thousand faces.


Eh? Quite the opposite, surely? He's instantly recognisable


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 14, 2015)

*What Maisie Knew* (2012) - an updating of a Henry James novel to modern privileged-boho New York, with a small girl's-eye view of her awful parents' chaotic divorce. Julianne Moore (as an utterly narcissistic and needy rock star) and Steve Coogan (an art-dealer/weasel hybrid) are memorably horrible as the parents; the young lead actress Onata Aprile is great as poor Maisie. Your sympathies though will lie with the sensible, kind nanny (Joanna Vandersomething) and the dazed, doofus new bartender husband of Julianne Moore's character, played by Alexander Skarsgard (impossibly gorgeous, impossibly tall, plausibly nice-but-dim), who end up actually doing most of the childcare. It's not thrilling and it's not perfect, but it's a deft and sensitive minor movie about children and adults and their conflicting needs.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 14, 2015)

Reno said:


> Werewolves always look a bit rubbish. The only werewolf designs I've really liked so far were the ones in the original The Howling. Even the one in An American Werewolf in London (the greatest werewolf film ever made) looked more like a wild boar when fully transformed. The werewolves in this looked great at a distance and not so great close up, but they weren't the worst ones I've seen.



Have you seen Company of Wolves? A Neil Jordan film from the 80s - creepy, fairy tale, other worldly kind of vibe. I recommend it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2015)

the wolves do look rubbish though


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 14, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Eh? Quite the opposite, surely? He's instantly recognisable



Really?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 14, 2015)

Being Human and Dog Soldiers had good werewolves.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Being Human and Dog Soldiers had good werewolves.



And Hemlock Grove; despite the story spiralling into just plain silliness...


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Really?


His voice gives it away! Bit generally there's no getting away from that face and stature!


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> Have you seen Company of Wolves? A Neil Jordan film from the 80s - creepy, fairy tale, other worldly kind of vibe. I recommend it.



I really liked it when it came out, but I watched it again recently and it hasn't quite stood the test of time for me. Angela Carter was influenced by the Czech New Wave film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders when she wrote it and I prefer that one, though it has vampires instead of werewolves. It has one of the most beatiful scores ever written for a film. It seems effortless where Company of Wolves strikes me as a little forced.


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2015)

krtek a houby said:


> And Hemlock Grove; despite the story spiralling into just plain silliness...


Spiralling ? I never made it past the first episode .


----------



## Reno (Dec 14, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> Being Human and Dog Soldiers had good werewolves.


The werewolves in Dog Soldiers looked rubbish. They only built heads, the rest they tried to hide with fast editing and low light, but they didn't pull it off.

I still think the werewolves in The Howling were very cool. They were animatronic rod puppets, not a guy in a suit, so they looked spindly rather than beefy or porky.








I like for werewolves to walk upright, but to still look like wolves and to have some animal beauty to them and I think they have all of that.


----------



## Voley (Dec 14, 2015)

Orang Utan said:


> Is it the one about virgins?


That line cracked me up. Good film that.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 16, 2015)

*Lore* (Cate Shortland 2013) A teenage girl whose parents are imprisoned by the Allies leads her younger siblings across occupied Germany to their Grandmothers house. Unconvincing script but well acted and nicely shot.


----------



## Reno (Dec 16, 2015)

Belushi said:


> *Lore* (Cate Shortland 2013) A teenage girl whose parents are imprisoned by the Allies leads her younger siblings across occupied Germany to their Grandmothers house. Unconvincing script but well acted and nicely shot.



Or "Nazi Walkabout" as I like to call it.


----------



## belboid (Dec 16, 2015)

*Trainwreck*

An Judd Apatow & Amy Schumer comedy vehicle that got pretty good reviews a couple of months back. A slightly odd title as Schumer's life really isn't any kind of trainwreck, but let's let that one go. Schumer herself is great in it, and the people playing her beau, her sister and her father are all good too. The actor playing the English boss is a bit weird, and only gets weirder on discovering that its a virtually unrecognisable Tilda Swinton.  I hope she had fun. The whole thing would be pretty good if it was 90 minutes long, but its 130!! The plot is all incredibly obvious so it really needs to zip along to get away with it, but it doesn't. 

It's no Bridesmaids, it's probably not even a Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but Schumer is good to watch, and you can go make a brew in the bits she's offscreen.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 16, 2015)

Finished S1 of The Bridge (fucking brilliant), and started Transparent, just the first 2 episodes so far.

Wow. The main characters are utterly self-obsessed and complete fucking idiots but idk what it is about it... it's brilliant.


----------



## Voley (Dec 16, 2015)

Started rewatching Game Of Thrones and am enjoying it more this time round. There were a few subplots that are set up early on that passed me by first time round. I think it took me about half the first series to decide whether I was really into it or not and by then I'd missed a fair bit.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 16, 2015)

Magnolia- haven't watched this for years.Sprawling, flawed, and overlong but never the less a magnificent and memorising effort .


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 16, 2015)

The39thStep said:


> Magnolia- haven't watched this for years.Sprawling, flawed, and overlong but never the less a magnificent and memorising effort .


possibly Cruise's best performance 'TAME THE CUNT'


----------



## Reno (Dec 17, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> possibly Cruise's best performance 'TAME THE CUNT'


It's just his most cast-against-type performance in a serious film and people fell over themselves to praise him for doing this at all because he has to be unsympathetic. I find him as self-conscious and unconvincing as every time he actually attempts to act. Just as well that Magnolia is an ensemble piece and that he isn't in it very much, though people always talk about Cruise in Magnolia like he has the starring role. I'll credit him for helping to get the film made at the budget it did. The truly great performance people should mention is that of Melora Walters as the fucked up coke head who gets together with the cop. It's a great film though. It may overreach at times, but better that than being safe.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 17, 2015)

Reno said:


> It's just his most cast-against-type performance in a serious film and people fell over themselves to praise him for doing this at all because he has to be unsympathetic. I find him as self-conscious and unconvincing as every time he actually attempts to act. Just as well that Magnolia is an ensemble piece and that he isn't in it very much, though people always talk about Cruise in Magnolia like he has the starring role. I'll credit him for helping to get the film made at the budget it did. The truly great performance people should mention is that of Melora Walters as the fucked up coke head who gets together with the cop. It's a great film though. It may overreach at times, but better that than being safe.


I just think he nails it because the character is an emotionally stunted dickhead with a tenuose grasp on reality so it is no great stretch for him


----------



## Reno (Dec 17, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I just think he nails it because the character is an emotionally stunted dickhead with a tenuose grasp on reality so it is no great stretch for him


Tom Cruise is a very different type of asshole from the one he plays in Magnolia and that's not quite how acting works.


----------



## Ponyutd (Dec 17, 2015)

"What would you say if I rubbed your nose in the coke!?"

A very well known film this. Hugely popular on Rottten Tomatoes and always gets a mention in the top ten lists on here, and elsewhere. I only watched it just now because it was mentioned on the radio today.

Name that film... if you can.


----------



## Chz (Dec 17, 2015)

I've no idea. 

But I did just watch Kingsman. I really shouldn't have enjoyed that anywhere near as much as I did. That's going to be a guilty pleasure.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 18, 2015)

Call Me Lucky

A documentary about Barry Crimmins. A fascinating, funny, and very troubled man. It includes a rather grim account of him being raped as a child, and his campaign to stop child porn on the net.


----------



## Reno (Dec 18, 2015)

Magic Mike XXL. I really like the first film, of his later films is one of Soderbergh's better ones. Many dismissed it as a piece of fluff aimed the hen party crowd, but it's comparable to something like Saturday Fever which was smilarely misunderstood as merely exploiting an entertaiment subculture to appeal to a particular demographic. Both are surprisingly downbeat films about working class men caught up in an economic recession. The stripping in Magic Mike was the least interesting thing about it (and it was as sexy as a toddlers tricycle)

The sequel wasn't directed by Soderbergh, but he was still heavily involved and it has its fervent supporters among some critics. It's watchable thanks to the easy going charm of Channing Tatum and it takes a different approach by being a road movie, but by the end when it turns into a male stripper version of Pitch Perfect, I was done with it. In this the antiseptic bump and grind does take centre stage. Matthew McConaughey as the stripper past-his-prime is also badly missed.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 18, 2015)

*Easy Money *(2010) - Swedish thriller - a relatively straightforward crime story of upwardly-mobile Swedish lad falling in with coke-smuggling gangsters and chaos ensuing. It's not very arty but much more psychologically subtle and downbeat than the average US or UK crime caper. In true Scandi fashion most of the characters are miserable and bear hidden emotional burdens. It reaches for the complex plotting of say Amores Perros but doesn't quite get there. But interesting for its portrayal of a multi-ethnic Swedish underworld (various other characters are Latin Americans, Serbs, Arabs, Turks) and the vile Swedish elite, who are like UK red-trousered hoorays inbred with themselves over several generations.

*21 and Over*  (2013) basically an updating of the stoner/campus/animal house sort of film, but with millennial bad attitude, snark, scads of swearing and irony. Basically the tale of one night's epic bender through a college town with a few life lessons about friendship, freedom and standing up for yourself thrown in. It's nicely written in places - though as with _Juno _sometimes verging on overdone, because these lines are too smart for the characters, who are really not that likeable (but are well played even when they're abrasive). As you would expect a lot of the humour is crass, sexist, and revolves around vomit. It toys with racism but sends it up at the same time. All very bro-ey but entertaining enough.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 18, 2015)

I watched a docu on the beeb about Ray Harryhausen and his stop motion stuff. He's done loads more than I knew and I shall deffo look up the 6 limbed giant squid one.

After I was tempted by Jason and The Argonauts so I downloaded that and marvelled. Its aged well. First tine I've seen it since I was knee high to a grasshopper. the stop motion effect may be yesterdays tech but it still cuts the mustard imo.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 18, 2015)

Psycho 2. Hadn't seen it for years and not as bad as I thought it might be. Must read the book which is apparently completely different to the movie. Bob Bloch sends up Hollywood slasher flicks...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 18, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> the stop motion effect may be yesterdays tech but it still cuts the mustard imo.



Totally agree - it's not just his technical skills, it's his mastery of tension and pace that means it retains its effectiveness


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 19, 2015)

I'm really struggling to see why Mad Max: Fury Road got so many good reviews. There's nothing there. Perhaps the last hour redeems it, but I guess I'll never know.


----------



## Reno (Dec 20, 2015)

Bone Tomahawk. Rare hybrid of western and horror film. Starts out as The Searchers with four men setting out to search for an abducted woman (the wife of one of the men) and in the last third it turns into a 19th century The Hills Have Eyes when it turns out that who snatched her weren't just a regular Native American tribe. Pretty good, with a great cast including Kurt Russell and Patrick Wilson (and a small role for a post-career implosion Sean Young). It may be too slow for some, but I liked the way it was paced and the way we get to know the four main characters during their search. When the film shifts into horror, it gets quite gruesome.


----------



## mack (Dec 20, 2015)

Ahhh just love this time of year... Screener season is upon us!

Watched Sicario last night - was OK - a bit moody, simple story.

Tonight is the Revenant, also floating around is Carol and apparently Hateful 8 - which I think I might miss to see that at the flicks.


----------



## souljacker (Dec 20, 2015)

This is The End: Seth Rogan/Jonah Hill/James FRanco vehicle about a bunch of hollywood types trying to survive the Apocalypse. Its fucking awful but thankfully I was drunk so I laughed a couple of times.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Dec 20, 2015)

*Cop Car (2015)* - thriller with Kevin Bacon as a corrupt small town cop who has to get his patrol car back after a couple of runaway kids steal it. The director seems to have deliberately left characters backstories unexplored which leaves you feeling a bit cold towards them at the end but overall I really enjoyed this.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 20, 2015)

See my post here:

The Man Who Would Be King BBC4 tonight.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 20, 2015)

Brooklyn - a simple story lifted by a wonderful performance by Saoirse Ronan. She has to carry the film, being in every scene, and does so with great skill. She communicates so much by shifts of posture, the slightest glance. *swoon*

Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters do their thing to great effect too. A really good film.


----------



## mack (Dec 20, 2015)

Revenant is absolutely stunning..gripping all the way through. Leo will finally get his Oscar!


----------



## Dieselpunk2000 (Dec 22, 2015)

One of my favourite trashy horrors. Has a few quirky camera angles and a scene involving a meat bandsaw that will curl your toes!


----------



## Reno (Dec 22, 2015)

...


----------



## Reno (Dec 23, 2015)

Catch Me Daddy, a recent British thriller about honour killing. The film is well made, beautifully shot and often very tense but it felt exploitative, taking a hot button issue as the launching pad for a semi-horror film without having much to say about the issue. As a thriller it works, but it ends up being a rather depressing film.

The Visit, a low budget found footage horror film by M. Night Shyamalan who has done a fantastic job of running his career into the ground with a string of truly awful films over he last couple of decades. Not getting big budgets from the studios anymore since his last few films have bombed, he's gone back to basics. Surprisingly this is good fun and the best thing he's done since Unbreakable. You have to get over how bloody annoying the two kids who are the protagonists are, but the scary grandparents who are the monsters in this, are rather good villains. There are too many horror films with scary children and I rarely find a scowling tyke scary. This one has scary old people which works far better for me. The film even appears to have a sense of humor, which must be a first for Shyamalan.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 23, 2015)

Reno said:


> ... M. Night Shyamalan...



The twist is he rips off a latex face mask to reveal... UWE BOLL


----------



## Yetman (Dec 23, 2015)

Ponyutd said:


> "What would you say if I rubbed your nose in the coke!?"



I fucking saw this. Recently. Bastard. Can't remember 

I've watched The Lobster

Bonkers. Up there with Snowpiercer. People go to a hotel to find a partner within a certain amount of days otherwise they get turned into an animal of their choice. Some escape and live as 'loners' in the woods who get chased as sport by the hotel guests. Olivia Coleman and Colin Farrell star.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 24, 2015)

Children of Dune miniseries from 2000


some of the acting is just appaling but the leads carry it and the story still holds up.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 24, 2015)

Yetman said:


> I fucking saw this. Recently. Bastard. Can't remember
> 
> I've watched The Lobster
> 
> Bonkers. Up there with Snowpiercer. People go to a hotel to find a partner within a certain amount of days otherwise they get turned into an animal of their choice. Some escape and live as 'loners' in the woods who get chased as sport by the hotel guests. Olivia Coleman and Colin Farrell star.


Is it any good?  I loved Snowpiercer.

I watched Kung Fu Panda, hadn't seen it for years, forgot how awesome and funny it is.


----------



## Reno (Dec 24, 2015)

I love Snowpiercer but hated The Lobster. Batshit as the world of Snowpiercer may be, there is an internal logic to it which ties together. The Lobster is just whimsy overload for the sake of making up crazy shit.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 26, 2015)

I watched Pixars Inside Out, a numbskulls adventure set in the head of an 11 year old girl

visually beatiful as you'd expect and plenty of proper laughs aimed at kids and grown alike. I think the character of Anger lives in my head.

Simple message at the end of the day, sometimes its OK and its right to be Sad. Sometimes those are ties that bind too. Giving way to frantic Joy manically leads to you trying to be all things to all men. I approve of this message and I rate the film higher than Up.


----------



## Reno (Dec 26, 2015)

I don't think Inside Out comes anywhere near Up. Didn't make me laugh once.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 26, 2015)

Frozen is better than either of them.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 26, 2015)

Idris2002 said:


> Frozen is better than either of them.


Fuck off!


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 26, 2015)

No, you fuck off.


----------



## crossthebreeze (Dec 26, 2015)

*Rescue Dawn (2007)* - was our now-traditional Werner Herzog film on xmas day this year.  Based on the True story of Dieter Dengler, an American pilot crash-landing and captured in Laos at the start of the Vietnam war who escapes from a horrific POW camp and survives a gruelling trek through the Loation jungle.  Great acting performances from Christian Bale among others, and it revisits many of Herzog's favourite themes.  Beautifully shot, even though much of the subject matter is harrowing.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Dec 26, 2015)

grlf bought me all 'Northern Exposure' on dvd - my fave tv series from '90s. Great to see it again and looking forward to it all again, all 6 series of it. 
Have watched the pilot and episodes 1 & 2 so far.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 26, 2015)

friendofdorothy said:


> grlf bought me all 'Northern Exposure' on dvd - my fave tv series from '90s. Great to see it again and looking forward to it all again, all 6 series of it.
> Have watched the pilot and episodes 1 & 2 so far.


Was it really only six series? Wow.


----------



## Maharani (Dec 26, 2015)

crossthebreeze said:


> *Rescue Dawn (2007)* - was our now-traditional Werner Herzog film on xmas day this year.  Based on the True story of Dieter Dengler, an American pilot crash-landing and captured in Laos at the start of the Vietnam war who escapes from a horrific POW camp and survives a gruelling trek through the Loation jungle.  Great acting performances from Christian Bale among others, and it revisits many of Herzog's favourite themes.  Beautifully shot, even though much of the subject matter is harrowing.


Isn't a lot of Herzog harrowing?


----------



## Maharani (Dec 26, 2015)

Watched August in Osage County. Thought it was brilliantly dramatic.  I commend Meryl Streep.


----------



## oneunder (Dec 26, 2015)

crossthebreeze said:


> *Rescue Dawn (2007)* - was our now-traditional Werner Herzog film on xmas day this year.  Based on the True story of Dieter Dengler, an American pilot crash-landing and captured in Laos at the start of the Vietnam war who escapes from a horrific POW camp and survives a gruelling trek through the Loation jungle.  Great acting performances from Christian Bale among others, and it revisits many of Herzog's favourite themes.  Beautifully shot, even though much of the subject matter is harrowing.


W H's Loch Ness movie was so funny.


----------



## crossthebreeze (Dec 26, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Isn't a lot of Herzog harrowing?


yes - he's the director of some of the least feel-good films ever (though there is often lots of dark humour in it) - and so is a perfect antidote to the overdose of cartoons, comedy, tinsel, and chocolate at this time of year.


----------



## crossthebreeze (Dec 26, 2015)

oneunder said:


> W H's Loch Ness movie was so funny.


I haven't seen that one - but it does look like fun


----------



## Maharani (Dec 26, 2015)

I like the one about moving the ship...bizarre.


----------



## Reno (Dec 27, 2015)

Maharani said:


> Isn't a lot of Herzog harrowing?


I always find Herzog too concerned with his own sense of being a visionary film maker to find his films emotionally affecting.


----------



## twentythreedom (Dec 27, 2015)

Bombon El Perro


----------



## The Boy (Dec 27, 2015)

We Are Still Here (2015).  Decent-ish haunted house type thing, but with a rubbish end.

The Asylum (2015).  Decent-ish teenagers partying in a disused asylum followed by possession and horror type thing.  But with a rubbish ending.


----------



## Reno (Dec 27, 2015)

*These Final Hours*, Australian apocalyptic indie film from last year about the last twelve hours on earth, which is about to get obliterated by a meteor. The main character is an average Joe who is trying to get to a party in Perth to do shitloads of drugs as the world ends and then things start getting in his way. The outcome is never in question, but the characters ring true and the film does a fantastic job of creating a sense of society falling apart on what must have been a small budget. Great little film. It was hardly released anywhere because it flopped in Australia, but it's far better than the recent The Rover, an Aussie post-apocalyptic drama which got a lot more attention. Was going to post a trailer, but it's one of those which give most of the film away.

More *Jordskott*, a Scandi crime drama which starts like a The Killing knock off complete with troubled female cop and a missing child and then it introduces supernatural elements from Nordic folklore, like child snatching forest folk. Six episodes in and quite good.


----------



## Chz (Dec 28, 2015)

Reno said:


> I don't think Inside Out comes anywhere near Up. Didn't make me laugh once.


I'll agree whole-heartedly with the first statement, but I think you're being a bit unkind in the second one.


----------



## bi0boy (Dec 28, 2015)

Despicable Me, lasted about nine minutes.


----------



## Reno (Dec 28, 2015)

Chz said:


> I'll agree whole-heartedly with the first statement, but I think you're being a bit unkind in the second one.


I can't help my funnybone !

For me Inside Out was the most overrated film of the year. I think a lot of the enthusiasm for it comes from that it's better than the last few Pixar films, which were a disappointment but it's far from top tier Pixar. It's a nice idea, blandly executed and much of it didn't make sense to me. The only interesting character was the imaginary friend (who may have brought a smile to my face), the rest I thought were blah and the quest becomes a little monotonous after a while.


----------



## Belushi (Dec 28, 2015)

*Dial M for Murder* (Alfred Hitchcock 1954) Not one of his greatest films but very enjoyable nonetheless. Grace Kelly is as terrific as ever.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2015)

Reno said:


> I can't help my funnybone !
> 
> For me Inside Out was the most overrated film of the year. I think a lot of the enthusiasm for it comes from that it's better than the last few Pixar films, which were a disappointment but it's far from top tier Pixar. It's a nice idea, blandly executed and much of it didn't make sense to me. The only interesting character was the imaginary friend (who may have brought a smile to my face), the rest I thought were blah and the quest becomes a little monotonous after a while.


possibly helps if you took the beano as a kid and have nostalgia for the numbskulls.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Dec 28, 2015)

The martian- better than I thought it would be , after reading teh book

Everest- just a rehash of into thin air- still gripping though


----------



## Reno (Dec 28, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> possibly helps if you took the beano as a kid and have nostalgia for the numbskulls.


Im fairly certain it doesn't.


----------



## 8115 (Dec 28, 2015)

Reno said:


> I can't help my funnybone !
> 
> For me Inside Out was the most overrated film of the year. I think a lot of the enthusiasm for it comes from that it's better than the last few Pixar films, which were a disappointment but it's far from top tier Pixar. It's a nice idea, blandly executed and much of it didn't make sense to me. The only interesting character was the imaginary friend (who may have brought a smile to my face), the rest I thought were blah and the quest becomes a little monotonous after a while.


When you say imaginary friend do you mean the elephant? I think that was a metaphor for consciousness.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 28, 2015)

Reno said:


> Im fairly certain it doesn't.


well you certainly get more laughs than Bunyans early allegorical work Holy War


----------



## Reno (Dec 28, 2015)

8115 said:


> When you say imaginary friend do you mean the elephant? I think that was a metaphor for consciousness.



The character of Bing Bong is her imaginary friend.

Bing Bong

He is a character with a specific narrative function and he fades from her memory because Riley has outgrown him, which is similar to the main theme that runs through the Toy Story films (each of which is far superior to this). I'm pretty certain you already have to be conscious to create an imaginary friend, so I don't  understand how he is a metaphor for consciousness, especially as that's part of the setting and subject matter of the film anyway.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 28, 2015)

I really liked Inside Out, as I said when it came out.

This is an interesting short on its ideas.  Not so interesting if you don't like the movie, obviously.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 29, 2015)

The Revenant.  Maybe the best cinematography I've ever seen. 

Sometimes you say to yourself 'Wait...how did they do that with the camera?"   Filmed entirely in natural light afaik and an Oscar-winning performance by Di Caprio, a man is left for dead and comes back to seek his revenge.  It's not really like that though, it's punishing and exhilarating. 

Not for everyone though....not family viewing.


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 29, 2015)

8115 said:


> When you say imaginary friend do you mean the elephant?



Part elephant, part dolphin, part cat 

And made of candy floss

What's not to like?


----------



## Reno (Dec 30, 2015)

I finished Jordkott, the Swedish TV series about cops and fairies (as in folklore, not as in homophobic slur) It all got a little silly by the end and they didn't show the scary monster fairy. Fuck "leaving it to the imagination is more powerful", I wanted to see the monster.


----------



## unrepentant85 (Dec 30, 2015)

Spotlight - I really enjoyed this movie. Portrayal of journalism at its best. 

It is the story of the Boston Globe and its uncovering of child abuse and cover ups within the catholic church.


----------



## Reno (Dec 31, 2015)

Queen of Blood, 60s Corman produced quicky which recycled elaborate special effects sequences from a Russian scifi epic about heroic space exploration and matched them with cheaply shot footage of a plot about a bloodsucking, green skinned female alien who was clearly the inspiration for the big haired Martian girl from Mars Attacks.

The plot is strikingly similar to Alien. The creature gets on board after the crew pick up an SOS signal from a faraway planet. She bumps off the crew one by one but they are reluctant to kill her at first because they have been ordered to bring an alien life form back to earth. She even has an elongated head and lays eggs.

I caught the original Russian film called A Dream Come True at the BFI a few years ago and it looked gorgeous, but its conflict free high-mindedness and lack of drama made it a bit of a snooze. I was hoping to get the beauty of the Russian film with something more trashily entertaining, but the Russian sequences have been heavily cropped and crudely reprinted on grainy stock, which pretty much ruins them.

The only thing to commend about the US film is the actress who plays the alien, she does a good job at being strange and otherworldly, aided by some clever lighting.

That's Dennis Hopper on the right, in an early career high as one of the alien's snacks.





Love Streams from 1984, John Cassavetes' last film as a director, with another amazing performance from Gena Rowlands. For the first half the film cuts back and forth between two protagonists, one is a womanising, insomniac alcoholic writer played by Cassavetes. The other is Rowlands as a just divorced mother with mental health issues. Having lost custody of her daughter, she returns from a manic jaunt round Europe. They meet an hour into the film (the nature or their relationship doesn't become clear till later) and spiral off into mutual fuckedupness, till it all ends with a small menagerie of animals and a surreal musical sequence worthy of David Lynch.

Absolutely amazing and never miserable as it's also darkly funny and ultimately strangely hopeful. A sequence where Cassavetes' absent father is asked to look after his eight year old son for a day by one of his ex-wives, gets the kid drunk and takes him to Vegas only to abandon him to chase after women is an appalling, yet wickedly funny depiction of truly shitty parenting.

Rowlands is one of the greatest of all screen actors and she is still criminally underrated. She played emotionally/mentally vulnerable women without a shred of sentimentality or self-pity. There is a defiant toughness to her characters which makes her as electrifying as Brando at his best. Despite playing several characters with mental health issues for Cassavetes, she never allowed herself to come across as victimised. Awards voters love an obvious victim turn, so she's never been properly recognised as one of the great actors of her generation. Here she plays a woman who loves too much, which becomes too much to deal with for everyone but Cassavetes' equally damaged character. With an actress who would have made less interesting choicest, this could have come off as maudlin but Rowlands' performance undermines any emotional vanity or sign-posting. She never indicates how one should feel about her characters, which is what makes her so compelling.

Cassavetes too gives a fantastic performance (clearly not looking very well though) and he is up there with my all time favourite directors. The characters in his films feel so alive and unpredictable, there is constant tension because anything could happen. Cassavetes, the godfather of the American indie film, at this point had abandoned the improvisational cinema verite style he had basically invented. The film has a dreamlike quality, features a shape shifting dog and ends as a mini-opera. Love Streams is a two and a half hour character study and it had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Watched this on a gorgeous Criterion restauration.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 31, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> possibly helps if you took the beano as a kid and have nostalgia for the numbskulls.


Don't try and downplay your age - it was in _The Beezer_ when you were a nipper.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 31, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Don't try and downplay your age - it was in _The Beezer_ when you were a nipper.


I looked and I would have been 10 when beezer folded into the beano. Two years away from big boys school. Ah the skies went on forever, big fluffy clouds


----------



## mentalchik (Dec 31, 2015)

Jupiter Ascending - meh
Avengers Age Of Ultron - okish
Byzantium - wicked
Chappie - not bad
Exodus (don't ask was bit tired) 
The Equalizer - ok action/shoot em up

got Interstellar to watch


----------



## ViolentPanda (Dec 31, 2015)

unrepentant85 said:


> Spotlight - I really enjoyed this movie. Portrayal of journalism at its best.
> 
> It is the story of the Boston Globe and its uncovering of child abuse and cover ups within the catholic church.



To be frank, any previous portrayals of _svartalfar_ on film (I'm especially looking at you here, "Thor: The Dark World"!) have been utter shite.


----------



## Reno (Dec 31, 2015)

unrepentant85 said:


> Spotlight - I really enjoyed this movie. Portrayal of journalism at its best.
> 
> It is the story of the Boston Globe and its uncovering of child abuse and cover ups within the catholic church.





ViolentPanda said:


> To be frank, any previous portrayals of _svartalfar_ on film (I'm especially looking at you here, "Thor: The Dark World"!) have been utter shite.



What am I missing here ?


----------



## ViolentPanda (Dec 31, 2015)

Reno said:


> What am I missing here ?



That portraying evil fairies/elves isn't as simple as portraying the good ones, so I never expect "dark elves" to be much cop.


----------



## Reno (Dec 31, 2015)

ViolentPanda said:


> That portraying evil fairies/elves isn't as simple as portraying the good ones, so I never expect "dark elves" to be much cop.



But what has that to with Spotlight, a journalism drama based on a real child abuse case ? Do you think it was the dark fairies wot did it ? Are you sure you quoted the right post ?


----------



## ViolentPanda (Dec 31, 2015)

Reno said:


> But what has that to with Spotlight, a journalism drama based on a real child abuse case ? Do you think it was the dark fairies wot did it ? Are you sure you quoted the right post ?



No, I'm sure I *didn't* quote the right post! _mea culpa!_


----------



## mack (Dec 31, 2015)

Gonna watch the big short later as it's just leaked on the torrent sites. Supposed to be quite good.


----------



## D'wards (Jan 2, 2016)

Stumbled across Pulp Fiction on Dave - I can never not watch it until the end whenever I catch it on telly. Its a flipping masterpiece


----------



## Maharani (Jan 2, 2016)

A good filmy day yesterday. Watched the Eagle has landed, can't believe I've never seen it before. Loved it. Donald Sutherland was really brilliant. 

Then The Sapphires which was billed as a comedy and it was not. I really liked it though. 

Telstar: The Joe Meek story. Was ok, not the best biopic I've ever seen. 

I really enjoyed the Sinatra doc that was on BBC 4 last night.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 2, 2016)

I've just got my Firestick so who knows what's in store today!


----------



## D'wards (Jan 2, 2016)

Maharani said:


> I've just got my Firestick so who knows what's in store today!


are you going to put kodi on?


----------



## Maharani (Jan 2, 2016)

D'wards said:


> are you going to put kodi on?


Yes! Is it easy to do?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 2, 2016)

Backyard - fictionalised account of the investigation into the murder of 100s of women in Mexico during the 90s...

A powerful film, not an easy watch. The script let it down in places and the story wasn't always coherent, but overall it was a strong film about a harsh subject.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 3, 2016)

The Big Short - who'd have thought it would be possible to make an entertaining film (and  informative, too) about the sub-prime mortgage crisis? Steve Carell is great, and I'll confess I didn't even know Brad Pitt was in it until the credits *phones Specsavers*. Great soundtrack too - not many films with Mastodon and Kelis both working well with the scene.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 3, 2016)

*The Bishop's Wife (1947)* ,starring Cary Grant as an angel sent down to help a bishop (David Niven) but ends up taking a bit of a shine to his missus. Lovely christmas film that fits in well with the other festive feel good movies of the era, (It''s a Wonderful Life, Miracle On 34th Street, A Christmas Carol). A nice way to end the Xmas hols.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 3, 2016)

Maharani said:


> Watched the Eagle has landed, can't believe I've never seen it before. Loved it. Donald Sutherland was really brilliant.




Get in!

Fantastic film


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 3, 2016)

Netflix's A Very Murray Christmas - directed by Sofia Coppola. So so hommage to festive telly shows of yesteryear meets behind the scenes chaos schtick. Not as funny as it could have been.

American Horror Story - Coven. 5 eps in and so far; the best season yet. 

The Bridge 3 - I thought it would dive a bit after Martin but Henrik was a good replacement.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 3, 2016)

Creed.  

This is like the best Rocky movie but better 

Pathos is big in this but I don't mind so much, it fits in well.


----------



## 8115 (Jan 3, 2016)

Alan Partridge - Alpha Papa, shit but good. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 4, 2016)

Maharani said:


> A good filmy day yesterday. Watched the Eagle has landed, can't believe I've never seen it before. Loved it. Donald Sutherland was really brilliant.





rubbershoes said:


> Get in!
> 
> Fantastic film



STEINER!


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 4, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Creed.
> 
> This is like the best Rocky movie but better
> 
> Pathos is big in this but I don't mind so much, it fits in well.



It's 'almost' like a remake and was obviously written by a fan.
I loved it too.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 4, 2016)

*Behind the Candelabra*  - 3 years after everyone else I've seen how absolutely magnificent Michael Douglas was as Liberace - and Michael Douglas usually repels me so much I can't watch anything with him in it. Consistently entertaining throughout but I don't think it really plumbed his (or his assistant Matt Damon's) psyche deeply enough; some of the antics on display were so completely bizarre by any standard that imho the film should have either camped it up MORE and gone for broke as one long crrrazy caper, or gone a bit more arthouse-miserable and had a bit more psychoanalysis-style picking things apart. But honestly it's great. (favourite bit: keeping gaga Mama amused with slot machines loaded with cash, kept specially in the house for her and regularly topped up with cash by minions...)


----------



## ringo (Jan 4, 2016)

The Counselor

Really bad. The book was shit, the most obviously 'written for the movie' book Cormac McCarthy has churned out to date, which is annoying 'cos he's a favourite author of mine. Not much happens in the slim book, and its all a bit silly, but what is there is so OTT and glossy it could have made a good looking film if nothing else. It doesn't. Cameron Diaz does look great, as do the cheetahs, but everything about it is awful. I knew the plot and still couldn't follow it, and it went on for over 2 hours - too long by about 80 minutes.


----------



## stdP (Jan 4, 2016)

French action film Sleepless Night (Nuit Blanche). Slightly daft premise of kidnapped-son-of-corrupt-cop-turns-into-Die-Hard-in-a-nightclub but really quite lovely action sequences and fights that look like a couple of guys just clobbering each other in a barbaric fashion rather than taking the scenic route via Bloodless Hollywood Fight Choreography. Nice intimate camerawork. Entertaining popcorn fare with a great soundtrack. Very pleasantly surprised.


----------



## bimble (Jan 4, 2016)

not a dvd an actual film at the movies right now (Ritzy Brixton, for example) .. 
I went to see The Lobster yesterday.
And it was wonderful, highly recommended.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 4, 2016)

bimble said:


> not a dvd an actual film at the movies right now (Ritzy Brixton, for example) ..
> I went to see The Lobster yesterday.
> And it was wonderful, highly recommended.


We'll have none of that here thank you very much 

List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2016


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2016)

Mistress America. Like some awful stage farce where not a single character rings true. Lots of manic overacting.


----------



## ringo (Jan 5, 2016)

Revenge Of The Sith - Not great, Anakin is quite annoying.


----------



## oneflewover (Jan 5, 2016)

Heat. Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro. 

Wow, managed to get relatively old and missed this. Some film. Nasty robbers you want to do well, old fashioned cops beating the bad guys. Superb acting, back story's. Shoot outs and a run round the airfield climax.

Watch.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 5, 2016)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) - Danny Kaye and Boris Karloff in a classic comedy.
Modern Times  (1936) - The Little Tramp is driven mad by repetitive factory work and the boss spying on workers via giant telly screens. Then he's mistakenly arrested leading a workers rights march and in jail he ends up accidentaly taking coke. Brutal cops and quite a comment on the times.
I Am Big Bird - The Caroll Spinney Story (2014) - Unashamedly sentimental and heartwarming doc on the man behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Took me right back to the early 70s. Sesame Street was shown on RTE; so it had a big influence on me. I blubbed several times!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 5, 2016)

Hateful 8. Tarantinos new one. It was ok I suppose, but really not much to it. Lots of it distastefuly. Some good shots. curates egg

season finale for Ash vs Evil Dead.

excellent. Whole series has been great


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Hateful 8. Tarantinos new one. It was ok I suppose, but really not much to it. Lots of it distastefuly. Some good shots. curates egg
> 
> season finale for Ash vs Evil Dead.
> 
> excellent. Whole series has been great


Loved the music in the tv series - so well chosen! Loved the Whitesnake especially.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 5, 2016)

Spectre haunting the cinema and torrent sites

it was Bond, I'll say better than quantum of solace. But very by the book bond. Some great set pieces but ultimately hollow. The bloke who plays C looks like Moriarty from Sherlock but I haven't checked imdb to confirm yet.

New M is a bit of a maggot. New Q has come into his own.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Spectre haunting the cinema and torrent sites
> 
> it was Bond, I'll say better than quantum of solace. But very by the book bond. Some great set pieces but ultimately hollow. The bloke who plays C looks like Moriarty from Sherlock but I haven't checked imdb to confirm yet.
> 
> New M is a bit of a maggot. New Q has come into his own.


You've been doing the same as me as I have also watched Spectre, Hateful 8 and Ash Vs Evil Dead. 
Yes. Andrew Scott is in Sherlock. 
Q (Ben Whishaw) is also Pingu in Nathan Barley.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 5, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> You've been doing the same as me as I have also watched Spectre, Hateful 8 and Ash Vs Evil Dead.
> Yes. Andrew Scott is in Sherlock.
> Q (Ben Whishaw) is also Pingu in Nathan Barley.



Legend next. Its going to be the cartoon version of the kray story but fuck it, I like tom hardy and we must take andvantage of screener leak season.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 5, 2016)

Can't be arsed with that one. Liked the Medak film well enough.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 6, 2016)

Or there's this - "the best British gangster film ever made"


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 6, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Can't be arsed with that one. Liked the Medak film well enough.


fell asleep halfway through. Complete tosh. At least the Kemps version had a little of the kitchen sink about it.


----------



## Reno (Jan 6, 2016)

Count Yorga, Vampire. 1970 exploitation flick which is a sentimental favourite and which basically is Dracula set in modern LA. Still fun.





Tonight's entertainment:


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 6, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Or there's this - "the best British gangster film ever made"


I was in That There Lunnon recently and saw An Actual Poster for _Rise Of The Footsoldier 2 _


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 6, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> fell asleep halfway through. Complete tosh. At least the Kemps version had a little of the kitchen sink about it.


Arguing with Billie Whitelaw about biscuits. Class scene.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 6, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Arguing with Billie Whitelaw about biscuits. Class scene.


its her impassioned rant about being in the undergound while the bombs dropped delivering someones baby which died anyway that I semi-recall from it as striking me. Something about men didn't even know while they had their war etc. I googled for the quote but to no joy.


No I wouldn't waste your time with this new one if I were you, it looked like a good enough romp and you've double the tom hardy so why not but its without soul, cynical and the humour is niether funny nor done well. Might have to watch the end half so I can scorn it properly, but probably won't because life is too short. Tom's Ronnie sprays rather than says a lot which is distractingly rank as well.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 6, 2016)

I am watching the Star Wars Holiday Special. It's two hours long and I'm only twenty minutes in. Not sure I can last much longer


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 6, 2016)

Spent the past week or so watching the first 3 seasons of Luther. It's total nonsense from start to finish, but entertaining nonsense. I shall embark on series 4 tonight.

I really don't rate Idris as an actor. He only just passed muster in The Wire. Not sure what all the fuss is.


----------



## SamSav (Jan 7, 2016)

Know there is a separate thread dedicated to it, but Making a Murderer is a must watch series. Just coming to the end of the last episode and it has been brilliant from start to finish. Done the full 10 episodes in 2 days, couldn't help myself.


----------



## sovereignb (Jan 7, 2016)

Halfway through Season 3 of House of Cards...its starting to loose its momentum for me.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 7, 2016)

Slow West: an excellent addition to the western genre and a brilliant directorial debut from John Maclean. Good original story and looks great....


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 8, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I really don't rate Idris2002



Break his heart, why don't you


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 8, 2016)

Child 44. Shit serial killer flick set in post war Russia.

Great cast wasted on a plodding story. It was as dreary as the time and place it depicted.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 8, 2016)

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Boring poop.

An action movie about global banking that was so daft I forgot to use my brain while watching it. Kiera Knightly was badly miscast as some clingy wife....Costner and Captain Kirk just played the usual. Kenneth Brannagh was hilariously bad.

I switched it off.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 8, 2016)

SamSav said:


> Know there is a separate thread dedicated to it, but Making a Murderer is a must watch series. Just coming to the end of the last episode and it has been brilliant from start to finish. Done the full 10 episodes in 2 days, couldn't help myself.



Just started watching this yesterday. So far, so "good". Or bad. Very bad.


----------



## Reno (Jan 8, 2016)

Terminator Gynysys. Not as terrible as I expected it to be, but still not very good. The film is seriously hobbled by its relentless fan service and by the miscasting of all three non-Schwarzenegger leads (Emilia Clarke  as badass Sarah Connor is a sorry sight). The film's recreation of a young Arnie Terminator is impressive and the action sequences are reasonably well done, if not a patch on the first two films.


----------



## sovereignb (Jan 9, 2016)

I watched the Amy Winehouse film on Channel 4...sad as fuck


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> Terminator Gynysys. Not as terrible as I expected it to be, but still not very good. The film is seriously hobbled by its relentless fan service and by the miscasting of all three non-Schwarzenegger leads (Emilia Clarke  as badass Sarah Connor is a sorry sight). The film's recreation of a young Arnie Terminator is impressive and the action sequences are reasonably well done, if not a patch on the first two films.



And let's hope they leave it there and don't make any more


----------



## Almost There (Jan 9, 2016)

Transformers. Boring! I fell asleep.


----------



## Reno (Jan 9, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> And let's hope they leave it there and don't make any more


I don't care. It's not that because they don't make another Terminator sequel that means they are going to use that money to make the modern equivalent to The Godfather or Chinatown. The franchise sausage factory is where it's at in Hollywood for the foreseeable future.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 9, 2016)

Watching Making of a Murderer. A fucked up, addictive viewing, descent into chaos law and order....


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 9, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Child 44. Shit serial killer flick set in post war Russia.





Nanker Phelge said:


> Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Boring poop.



Have you been grazing on Netflix? 

Saw both of these last week, really disappointing.

About half an hour into_ Child 44_ I found myself going 'Wait a minute, this is just the Andrei Chikatilo case dressed up', and it compared not very favourably to the leaner, tauter, and just plain better_ Citizen X_, for all the period fifties Soviet stuff. Even the execrable _Evilenko_ (Malcolm McDowell hamminess and all) was a less dull take on the subject. And are there no actual Russian/East European actors available? Apparently only Englishmen doing silly accents, leavened by the occasional Scot or Australian or a Lebanese.

_Shadow Recruit_ on the other hand at least had the potential to be a silly, rollicking ridei but instead it ended up in the vein of a boring lesser mid-period Roger Moore Bond, all rubbish international plot and a haven't-we-seen-this-done-before? action set piece. Not an auspicious start to a franchise reboot.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 9, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Legend next.



I always see this as _Leg End_, and think of it as a remake of _My Left Foot_. Would probably be more enjoyable that way.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 10, 2016)

My last late night before going back to work on Monday.

I started watching Homicide: Life on the Street from the beginning. I haven't seen this since it was bounced randomly around the TV schedules way back when. Man, it's such a great, great show.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 10, 2016)

The Revenant

quite good. Di Caprio gets fucked up quite a lot.By a massive bear to start with. At one point he pulled the 'I'm so hard I cuaterise my wound with gunpowder' move which I always enjoy


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 10, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Have you been grazing on Netflix?
> 
> Saw both of these last week, really disappointing.
> 
> ...



Citizen X was on my mind throughout. A much better film.

....and yes.. I have been purging on prime and netflix....


----------



## seventh bullet (Jan 10, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> The Revenant
> 
> quite good. Di Caprio gets fucked up quite a lot.By a massive bear to start with. At one point he pulled the 'I'm so hard I cuaterise my wound with gunpowder' move which I always enjoy



I think I'll see that at the cinema.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 10, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> I think I'll see that at the cinema.


yeah the scenery is breathtaking even on my home widescreen monitor. The initial bear attack reminded me never to visit bear country. It just went savage on him. Cinema would favour some of those amazing shots


----------



## ringo (Jan 11, 2016)

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes - Dull. Long, long stretches of film where nothing happens. Huge build ups to make relatively small and obvious comparisons between humans and apes with the occasional battle thrown in as a desperate attempt to keep it entertaining.


----------



## magneze (Jan 11, 2016)

Parallels
Alternative Earth concept film. Quite good. In the end, I thought it would make a good TV series. After investigating turned out that this was the intention. Hope they make it, it was a good setup.


----------



## SamSav (Jan 11, 2016)

Watched 'The Jinx' last night based on another member's recommendation in the 'Making a Murderer' thread and it was brilliant. Another gripping whodunnit type doc with an amazing ending.


----------



## belboid (Jan 11, 2016)

What We Did In The Shadows - very entertaining, just the right side of silly.

Ex Machina - for the first fifteen minutes or so, I really didn't think I was going to enjoy this.  But then I started to, and it only got better. I may have a couple of philosophical quibbles about the ending, but fuck 'em.  Quite brilliant film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2016)

magneze said:


> Parallels
> Alternative Earth concept film. Quite good. In the end, I thought it would make a good TV series. After investigating turned out that this was the intention. Hope they make it, it was a good setup.


this is a terible film


----------



## Chz (Jan 11, 2016)

SpookyFrank said:


> *Wild* - Reese Witherspoon escapes from her life by going on a very long walk, meets lots of smug twats on the way, looks at mountains and stuff, finds meaning in the universe.
> 
> Under no circumstances watch this film. It is terrible.


I have to agree...

Okay, I don't think it was _terrible_. It's pretty and I like Reese. But that's about all it has going for it. I didn't think "Oh my god, I want those two hours back", but at no time did I actually enjoy myself either.


----------



## magneze (Jan 11, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> this is a terible film


It has potential as a TV series though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 11, 2016)

Headhunters - Norwegian thriller based on a stand alone Jo Nesbo effort. Thoroughly enjoyable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2016)

magneze said:


> It has potential as a TV series though.


I'll give you that, I love a many worlds thing like Sliders. Even stargate had that potential of 'new world every week'

in the film though they only visit two worlds, one bombe out shithole and one about 5 years ahead of us in tech terms. A series could deffo do a lot more than that.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 11, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> in the film though they only visit two worlds, one bombe out shithole and one about 5 years ahead of us in tech terms.


In real terms, isn't that just every possible iteration of Northampton?


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 11, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll give you that, I love a many worlds thing like Sliders. Even stargate had that potential of 'new world every week'
> 
> in the film though they only visit two worlds, one bombe out shithole and one about 5 years ahead of us in tech terms. A series could deffo do a lot more than that.



Best parallell universe show for me was Fringe.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 11, 2016)

Reno said:


> Bone Tomahawk. Rare hybrid of western and horror film. Starts out as The Searchers with four men setting out to search for an abducted woman (the wife of one of the men) and in the last third it turns into a 19th century The Hills Have Eyes when it turns out that who snatched her weren't just a regular Native American tribe. Pretty good, with a great cast including Kurt Russell and Patrick Wilson (and a small role for a post-career implosion Sean Young). It may be too slow for some, but I liked the way it was paced and the way we get to know the four main characters during their search. When the film shifts into horror, it gets quite gruesome.



I spent an hour trawling through Genesis looking for something to watch that wouldn't need rewatched when the OH gets back later in the week.  Spotted this and thought it looked an OK western but passed over it.

Went back to it on the basis of the above and glad I did.  Probably should have read till the end of your post though - the scene with the deputy was a bit "Oh, they're done now.  Oh, no they're going to do...oh...."


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 11, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Headhunters - Norwegian thriller based on a stand alone Jo Nesbo effort. Thoroughly enjoyable.



The book is worth reading


----------



## The Boy (Jan 12, 2016)

The signal (2014).  Not totally dreadful sci-fi effort.  Was a bit silly though, and the end was telegraphed.  Overall: meh.


----------



## westpier (Jan 12, 2016)

SamSav said:


> Watched 'The Jinx' last night based on another member's recommendation in the 'Making a Murderer' thread and it was brilliant. Another gripping whodunnit type doc with an amazing ending.



I thought the Jinx was excellent, probably one of the best documentaries out there. I didn't look up any info before watching it which helped as the amount of surprises in it were great. Robert Durst himself made for compelling viewing along with his partner (though I think she was only in the first programme sadly).


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 12, 2016)

Reno said:


> Count Yorga, Vampire. 1970 exploitation flick which is a sentimental favourite and which basically is Dracula set in modern LA. Still fun.



That looks like a nice death.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 12, 2016)

We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Looked great. Excellent performance from Tilda Swinton. It wasn't an easy watch. I'm not it answered any of its own questions.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 12, 2016)

The Parallax View (1974).  Cold War paranoia and political assassinations and stuff.  Decent enough way to pretend it was a bank holiday.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 12, 2016)

The Backwoods - Gary Oldman and Paddy Considine star in a Deliverence/Straw Dogs type tale set in the Basque Country. They find the a girl chained up in a barn, and try to free her, much to the upset of the locals...

It's ok enough...passes 90 mins...


----------



## SamSav (Jan 12, 2016)

westpier said:


> I thought the Jinx was excellent, probably one of the best documentaries out there. I didn't look up any info before watching it which helped as the amount of surprises in it were great. Robert Durst himself made for compelling viewing along with his partner (though I think she was only in the first programme sadly).



Yeah I resisted the urge to Google it as well, enjoyed it much more than ones I've watched where I had an idea of what was going on. Desperately trying to find similar documentaries or short series similar to this but struggling so far.


----------



## r0bb0 (Jan 12, 2016)

I enjoyed watching this documentary as I always wanted to be at that table. Offers some insightful glimpses into the workings of the craft.
The directors include Quentin Tarantino ('The Hateful Eight'), Tom Hooper ('The Danish Girl'), Alejandro G. Inarritu ('The Revenant'), Ridley Scott ('The Martian'), Danny Boyle ('Steve Jobs') and David O. Russell ('Joy').


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 13, 2016)

Monster: Dark Continent.

Dull as fuck.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 13, 2016)

47 Ronin.

Everything about it was poor. The story, the action, the acting, the casting, the special effects....everything was bad.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 13, 2016)

Ravenous (1999).  Cowardice and cannibalism with Robert Carlyle and Guy Pierce.  Directed by the same person as Face (1995) and misses in much the same way.   Interesting start buy pretty meh by the end. 

He Who Dares (2014).  Ok so I say we watched this, but we only really fastforwarded through it focusing on the funniest looking parts.  Awful acting, script and just about everything else. Laughably bad. Someone on here once posted a blog that reviewed these ultra-low budget gangster/soldier/other tough guy-themed brit flicks. There's a reason it's a niche interest.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2016)

Fringe

a series. Three eps in. JJ Abrams is on the opening credits and it rattles along nicely but I'm getting a huge x-files 'they will never explain half this mysterious shit' vibe. Its sort of sci fi but only 5 mins in the future. Say, a decade or two from now in terms of biotech and cybernetics and computing


----------



## The Boy (Jan 13, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Monster: Dark Continent.
> 
> Dull as fuck.



Was going to watch this, but then I remembered how much I disliked Monsters.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 13, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Was going to watch this, but then I remembered how much I disliked Monsters.



The two films are pretty much disconnected....

ETA: "Tom Green wrote the screenplay with Jay Basu and the two had free rein to make what type of movie they wanted as long as it included monsters"


----------



## magneze (Jan 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Fringe
> 
> a series. Three eps in. JJ Abrams is on the opening credits and it rattles along nicely but I'm getting a huge x-files 'they will never explain half this mysterious shit' vibe. Its sort of sci fi but only 5 mins in the future. Say, a decade or two from now in terms of biotech and cybernetics and computing


It's great. I'm on about episode 12 of the first series now. Gets really interesting. The science is completely fake throughout but it's just really enjoyable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2016)

magneze said:


> It's great. I'm on about episode 12 of the first series now. Gets really interesting. The science is completely fake throughout but it's just really enjoyable.



the son of the mad genius also stars in that fucking hilarious remake of Red Dawn as the marine who whips the kids into insurgents par ecellance


----------



## magneze (Jan 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> the son of the mad genius also stars in that fucking hilarious remake of Red Dawn as the marine who whips the kids into insurgents par ecellance


Wasn't he in Dawson's Creek too? (So I'm told anyway, not that I watched it)


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2016)

magneze said:


> Wasn't he in Dawson's Creek too? (So I'm told anyway, not that I watched it)


alas my knowledge of teen soaps goes no further than Heartbreak High, Moesha and Sister Sister


----------



## The Boy (Jan 13, 2016)

magneze said:


> Wasn't he in Dawson's Creek too? (So I'm told anyway, not that I watched it)



Pacey, I believe.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 13, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The two films are pretty much disconnected....
> 
> ETA: "Tom Green wrote the screenplay with Jay Basu and the two had free rein to make what type of movie they wanted as long as it included monsters"



fair enough.  The suggestion of linkage was enough for me - your review confirm for met hat my decision was teh correct one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> the son of the mad genius also stars in that fucking hilarious remake of Red Dawn as the marine who whips the kids into insurgents par ecellance


No he doesn't! Jeffry Dean Morgan and Joshua Jackson don't even look alike!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2016)

yes they do. But I accept I may be mistaken


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Fringe
> 
> a series. Three eps in. JJ Abrams is on the opening credits and it rattles along nicely but I'm getting a huge x-files 'they will never explain half this mysterious shit' vibe. Its sort of sci fi but only 5 mins in the future. Say, a decade or two from now in terms of biotech and cybernetics and computing



I thoroughly enjoyed all of Fringe, it's batshit insane but the leads are all brilliant, and don't worry, it's much better at internal consistency and plot resolution than X-Files or Lost.


----------



## Reno (Jan 13, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> I thoroughly enjoyed all of Fringe, it's batshit insane but the leads are all brilliant, and don't worry, it's much better at internal consistency and plot resolution than X-Files or Lost.


The X-Files mostly consisted of stand alone episodes and those were on the whole better than the ones in Fringe. It never was a heavily serialised show like Lost and only about a quarter of each season was devoted to an ongoing story. With The X-Files the mytholgy episodes lost their way by season 5, with Fringe I always felt the show was treading water with its stand alones, but the mythology episodes were better. Fringe still owed an awful lot to The X-Files though and while a decent enough show, I never thought it was good as The X-Files at its best.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> The X-Files mostly consisted of stand alone episodes and those were on the whole better than the ones in Fringe. It never was a heavily serialised show like Lost and only about a quarter of each season was devoted to an ongoing story. With The X-Files the mytholgy episodes lost their way by season 5, with Fringe I always felt the show was treading water with its stand alones, but the mythology episodes were better. Fringe still owed an awful lot to The X-Files though and while a decent enough show, I never thought it was good as The X-Files at its best.



Honestly I just didn't enjoy a lot of The X-Files, I enjoyed the characters and their chemistry, and several standalone episodes, but the overarcing plot was a mess and IMO Fringe was more focused and took far greater risks with better results.

X-Files made Fringe (and a lot of what we now call 'The Golden Age of TV') possible, but in all honesty a lot of it was filler.



Spoiler: for later seasons of fringe, don't read if you're not finished



Mulder's absence really hurt X-Files, whereas Peter's propelled the story in interesting ways


----------



## Reno (Jan 14, 2016)

Watched the first four episodes of Ash vs The Evil Dead. The pilot may just be the best incarnation of The Evil Dead ever, but after that it quickly seems to run out of ideas. 

Then I watched the first episode of Making a Murderer and though: he set the family cat on fire, he deserves everything he got.


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 14, 2016)

I've just finished watching Suffragette. Brave, brave women. I'm still crying as I type this.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> I've just finished watching Suffragette. Brave, brave women. I'm still crying as I type this.



That bit at end where David Bowie dies is very sad.


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> That bit at end where David Bowie dies is very sad.


Fuck off


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

Started Fringe.

What totally watchable nonsense.

Much like Person of Interest. 

I shall continue.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> Fuck off



Ooh...handbag


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Ooh...handbag


No. Really FUCK OFF!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> No. Really FUCK OFF!



What's your problem. Ffs. Get over yourself.


----------



## felixthecat (Jan 14, 2016)

Watched Child44 - wasn't as dire as I was lead to believe, more turgid and heavy that strictly rubbish. A good story, some good acting but a bit like wading through treacle.

Any film starring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman should be brilliant - this sadly wasn't, even though Mr Hardy thinks its one of his best acting performances.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 14, 2016)

magneze said:


> It's great. I'm on about episode 12 of the first series now. Gets really interesting. The science is completely fake throughout but it's just really enjoyable.



Yup. Season 1 is a bit X Files but the underlying story arc just gets better and better.


----------



## Teenage Cthulhu (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> That bit at end where David Bowie dies is very sad.



It got too much for me when Alan Rickman came into the room with a spoon


----------



## Teenage Cthulhu (Jan 14, 2016)

We watched The Circle with an old friend last night who recommended it to us. 


The Circle

"Jafar Panahi's political edge has never been more searing or devastating than in "The Circle." The movie centers on the interconnected stories of several women in Tehran and paints a crippling portrait of how the country treats its female citizens. Be it a new grandmother who is upset to learn her daughter has given birth to a baby girl — she knows her son-in-law won't be happy with such results — or a group of escaped prisoners whose attempt to flee the city are constantly upended by strict and sexist laws (i.e women aren't allowed to travel alone), Panahi keeps the stories of female suffering spinning without any sense of closure or background. The result is a powerful wake-up call for international viewers that is impossible to shake."


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> What's your problem. Ffs. Get over yourself.


First you responded to my post, with gross insensitivity to my stated feelings (bonus points for turning it into a Bowie joke before his ashes are even cold). Then you manage to make a sexist reference to handbags (irony much).

Now, I know you enjoy the sartorial aesthetic of the 1960s (which is fine), but you might want to try to bring your attitudes into _this_ century.

As for me getting over myself - What do you mean?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> First you responded to my post, with gross insensitivity to my stated feelings (bonus points for turning it into a Bowie joke before his ashes are even cold). Then you manage to make a sexist reference to handbags (irony much).
> 
> Now, I know you enjoy the sartorial aesthetic of the 1960s (which is fine), but you might want to try to bring your attitudes into _this_ century.
> 
> As for me getting over myself - What do you mean?



Don't be fucking daft. The handbag thing is not in anyway sexist. It's a very popular method of calling out a humorless twit much used by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.......and I'm sure Bowie's ashes were cold quite quickly after his cremation, that is part of the process.

As I said. Get over yourself.

This is a fairly light hearted thread and your reaction has been well over the top and continues to be.

Give it a rest now.


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Don't be fucking daft. The handbag thing is not in anyway sexist. It's a very popular method of calling out a humorless twit much used by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.......and I'm sure Bowie's ashes were cold quite quickly after his cremation, that is part of the process.
> 
> As I said. Get over yourself.
> 
> ...



Handbags is short for "handbags at dawn" which is very much a sexist reference to women supposedly using the aforementioned articles when fighting.

I _really_ don't know what you mean by "get over yourself". Is it some sort of reference to my* very real feelings?



* Bear in mind that I am autistic, and my emotional responses are likely to be more extreme than most.


----------



## Chz (Jan 14, 2016)

Babadook.

Alright, and a decent flick (if telegraphing _everything_ from the word go is alright). But hideously overrated on RT.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 14, 2016)

Sorry to interject and I know Nanker can fight his own battles, but I know he doesn't have a sexist bone in his body. 

I also agree that this is a lighthearted thread and it'd be nice to keep it so.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 14, 2016)

This episode of Callan, featuring Edward Woodward as the eponymous secret agent:



"The entire section goes on red alert when Liz, Hunter's ever-punctual secretary, fails to show up for work. Trying to trace her, Callan begins to suspect that Liz's disappearance involves not an enemy from the present, but a ghost from her past."

I thought it was very good indeed, even if Callan's boss does look like an unearthly cross between Frankie Howerd and Leonid Brezhnev.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> Handbags is short for "handbags at dawn" which is very much a sexist reference to women supposedly using the aforementioned articles when fighting.
> 
> I _really_ don't know what you mean by "get over yourself". Is it some sort of reference to my* very real feelings?
> 
> ...



I'm not going to engage with you on this any longer. I have nothing to prove or win, and I doubt it's doing you any favours.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

Forced myself to watch the final part of The Hobbit trilogy last night. I've been putting it of for ages, but as I am having sleepless nights due to Bronchitis I figured a 3 hour fantasy film might send me to sleep....

It didn't send me to sleep, but it was boring. Those films really jumped the shark. the plot, like the fight scenes, went on and on, characters were thinly sketched and there was nothing that made me care who lived/died/died and came back to life.

Jackson SFX seem to have got worse and worse since the first Lord of the Rings films....from King Kong onwards they look rushed and 'acceptable'

Clearly Ian McKellen was not available much because there were so many shots of a random dressed as Gandalf stood in the background with his hat low to his beard, that it was quite fun spotting the stand in.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Forced myself to watch the final part of The Hobbit trilogy last night. I've been putting it of for ages, but as I am having sleepless nights due to Bronchitis I figured a 3 hour fantasy film might send me to sleep....
> 
> It didn't send me to sleep, but it was boring. Those films really jumped the shark. the plot, like the fight scenes, went on and on, characters were thinly sketched and there was nothing that made me care who lived/died/died and came back to life.
> 
> ...


_Ah cannae feel mah leg_


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 14, 2016)

The Glenn Miller Story (1954). Jimmy Stewart brings a lump to the throat (albeit it in a jazz lite way) again.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Forced myself to watch the final part of The Hobbit trilogy last night. I've been putting it of for ages, but as I am having sleepless nights due to Bronchitis I figured a 3 hour fantasy film might send me to sleep....
> 
> It didn't send me to sleep, but it was boring. Those films really jumped the shark. the plot, like the fight scenes, went on and on, characters were thinly sketched and there was nothing that made me care who lived/died/died and came back to life.
> 
> ...



Fantasy film jumps the shark shocker


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Fantasy film jumps the shark shocker



I really should have avoided it....but felt I had to finish what I'd started.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 14, 2016)

they should never have added non book material to pad it to three films then, and get this, favour the new material over giving the treasured beats from the written story decent treatment! Maggotry of the highest order. Wasted Beorn, made Radagast a dickhead  by having him in itetc etc


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I really should have avoided it....but felt I had to finish what I'd started.



Just be prepared for much fish based acrobatics in the new Star Wars flick (if you haven't already seen it)


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 14, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Just be prepared for much fish based acrobatics in the new Star Wars flick (if you haven't already seen it)



Seen and loved.


----------



## starfish (Jan 14, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Ravenous (1999).  Cowardice and cannibalism with Robert Carlyle and Guy Pierce.  Directed by the same person as Face (1995) and misses in much the same way.   Interesting start buy pretty meh by the end.


Its got one of my favourite lines of dialogue in it. Surely "“what you just did there, that was pretty sneaky" made you laugh.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 14, 2016)

starfish said:


> Its got one of my favourite lines of dialogue in it. Surely "“what you just did there, that was pretty sneaky" made you laugh.



It was a funny line, but he would have been protected from the brunt of the blow from the bear trap by the guy who had landed on top of him so totes would have been fine.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 14, 2016)

Chz said:


> Babadook.
> 
> Alright, and a decent flick (if telegraphing _everything_ from the word go is alright). *But hideously overrated on RT*.



It really is, isn't it.   It's decent enough, and when my partner and I watched it we were in the middle of a flurry of really awful horror films that seemed to bask in their awfulness, so it was refreshing to see someone making an effort to make something good but it was good and no more, imo.

See also: It Follows.  Good film, but from some of the hype (which I admittedly only picked up on after watching) you'd think it was the horror genre's answer to The Third Man or something.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2016)

Chz said:


> Babadook.
> 
> Alright, and a decent flick (if telegraphing _everything_ from the word go is alright). But hideously overrated on RT.


what's RT?


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 14, 2016)

Rotten Tomatoes I'm guessing.


----------



## frogwoman (Jan 14, 2016)

Surprisingly good documentary on 'Russia's Toughest Prisons'


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2016)

Watched a couple more eps of Fringe. There's some really duff shit in it, and already one throwaway episode and I'm only 5 in.

The overall premise is good, and I like the Mad Professor idea and the whole 50s sci fi retro nod introduced with the Observer. The shady corporation, the secret government cells, the blurred lines between terrorism and global defence, technology, science, sci-fi and the paranormal all offer endless opportunities to blend and bend genres to fit these bonkers/half baked stories....

So, it's fun, but It's silly. I am enjoying it.

I think Person of Interest is better. Abrams is involved in that with the Nolans (the Brothers not the sisters). That's more grounded in tech and science and public surveillance. It has its fair share of throwaway eps too...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 15, 2016)

Galaxy Quest 

seen it before but its still good.


----------



## Chz (Jan 15, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> what's RT?


Rotten Tomatoes, as Indelibleink says. It's only just occurred to me that Russia Today gets enough viewers/readers now that it might actually be confused with it without explicit context. 

And yeah, Galaxy Quest is good fun. Should be part of any Alan Rickman marathon.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 15, 2016)

The Backwoods
Good idea but I thought ALL of the acting was dire. I love both Oldman and Considine but they weren't at their best at all. Both of the women were god awful. 

Jimi Hendrix: All is By My Side (on Netflix)
Biopic of the early days of Jimi Hendrix. Andre Benjamin was absolutely superb playing Jimi. I actually believed it was him throughout the film. He did his voice excellently. Shame the makers decided to add some very negative untruths about him. There was talk of hi ex gf suing them. 

I enjoyed it regardless. Acting in it was ace and the music obv. 

I do like a good biopic. 

Just went to see Room. Was hard to watch, very moving. Brilliantly acted. The kid was the best.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 15, 2016)

Why I just agreed to watch Pitchperfect 2 with my daughter I do not know. That's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back.


----------



## magneze (Jan 15, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Watched a couple more eps of Fringe. There's some really duff shit in it, and already one throwaway episode and I'm only 5 in.
> 
> The overall premise is good, and I like the Mad Professor idea and the whole 50s sci fi retro nod introduced with the Observer. The shady corporation, the secret government cells, the blurred lines between terrorism and global defence, technology, science, sci-fi and the paranormal all offer endless opportunities to blend and bend genres to fit these bonkers/half baked stories....
> 
> ...


Yeah, at that stage I think it's still finding it's feet. They get better around Ep 9/10. Am only on 12 at the moment.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 15, 2016)

Amy...  Wouldn't have considered myself a fan (though this doc certainly proved her talents), but this is an excellent and heart-breaking film.


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2016)

Three episodes into Making a Murderer and not as gripped by it as the rest of the world seems to be. After listening to Serial and watching The Jinx (which I though was amazing) I've become maybe a little too familiar with the format. This was clearly comissioned by Netflx because of the success of the earlier two true crime series. Both of these had more fascinating or at least more engaging central characters than the redneck murder suspect in this. It's also no news to me how utterly fucked the US justice system is. I'll stick with it a little longer and hope the reason this is so popular is because it will become more interesting and unpredictable.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 16, 2016)

i recently downloaded Serial and got to the fifth episode, then read somewhere that you don't find out if he did it or not, so gave up.
I have Making Of A Murderer downloaded, and am now wary of watching it. I like closure.


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> i recently downloaded Serial and got to the fifth episode, then read somewhere that you don't find out if he did it or not, so gave up.
> I have Making Of A Murderer downloaded, and am now wary of watching it. I like closure.


I think it's not too hard to make up your mind about whether he did it or not by the end of Serial. I know where I stand and I wasn't left dissatisfied by the end.

The Jinx is by far the best of the three (unless something amazingly unexpected happens in Making a Murderer). It's truly a story you could not make up. If it was fiction, it would be considered too far fetched. There were a couple of moments I found genuinely hair raising. Robert Durst, the central character, is also a freakishly fascinating character and he isn't even the only eccentric weirdo in it. It's also a beautiful piece of film making, almost like a David Lynch film come true.


----------



## belboid (Jan 16, 2016)

Finished Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt last night. Starts slowly, gets great.  Looking forward to the second season.


----------



## 8115 (Jan 16, 2016)

I'm watching The Wire at the moment but I'm struggling to get into it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2016)

season finale of American Horror Story: Hotel

deffo not as strong as the first couple of series but beautifully done. The art deco hotel itself, all that 20-30s styling and some genuine jumps. Lady Gaga did ok, felt a bit flat in places but the character was designed to be this cold and aloof. I can't help wonder what the part would have been like played with Jessica Lange's flamboyance and intensity. Bald guy and kathy bates alsoo good. Not sure what was going on with the whole vampirical subtext here, the ghosts trapped in a hotel run by vamps with a few tame demons? but overall it hung together.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 16, 2016)

Labyrinth - so much fun. Bowie is a bit wooden in it and I really didn't need to see his cock and balls bouncing around in his grey JD Sports sweatpants, but the puppet characters are ace - I  especially liked the posh English foxthing Sir Didymus who had absurd sense of entitlement and just assumed he'd win at everything because he was an aristocrat. 

Then for some reason, I reaaaally don't know what, I watched Michael Jackson's Ghosts. It's really fucking weird and even fucking weirder in hindsight. It's basically an extended dance video, with Jackson in various guises as himself, a skeleton, a ghoul and a white old man - see what I mean?
Some villagers turn up at his house to pitchfork him out of town so he weirds them out even more - the adults are freaked out and scared but the children are delighted. 
One of the villagers is a young Mos Def/Yaasin Bey, Make up and direction by the dependable and ubiquitous Stan Winston.
File under curate's egg


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2016)

Five episodes into Making a Murderer and I'm finding this a lot more gripping now that it is about the trial.


----------



## mentalchik (Jan 16, 2016)

Just watched Ex Machina - fucking superb !


----------



## mentalchik (Jan 16, 2016)

Watching Drive again- also superb and engrossing


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 16, 2016)

Before Dawn - crap zombie film that has something to do with Emmerdale


----------



## Geoffrey (Jan 17, 2016)

Watched Frank last night.  Inspired by the story of Chris Sievey, set in modern day.  Funny and sad, well worth a watch.


----------



## Geoffrey (Jan 17, 2016)

Also watched Whiplash the night before, recommended too.


----------



## keybored (Jan 17, 2016)

Victoria - A cracking Berlin tale of loneliness, camaraderie, friendship, love and tragedy. The whole film is shot in just one take... over two hours long.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 17, 2016)

Creed

Thought it was great, both Michael B. Jordan and Stallone are excellent and the direction is superb (the 2nd fight especially, shot as one take, is a stunning sequence). 

Ryan Coogler is definitely one to watch. 

Genuine emotion at several points, bit of a duff antagonist but he's a real boxer rather than actor and the film's not really about the rivalry anyway. 

Can't believe that's Wallace from The Wire either.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2016)

mentalchik said:


> Just watched Ex Machina - fucking superb !


Watch it again sometime...it's totally different...and still superb.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2016)

keybored said:


> Victoria - A cracking Berlin tale of loneliness, camaraderie, friendship, love and tragedy. The whole film is shot in just one take... over two hours long.



I just watched this and thought it was too meandering and apart from the single take gimmick and an impressive performance by the lead actress, it doesn't have much going for it. Due to the logistics of the single take conceit and all the improvisation going on, every scene goes on three times longer than it needs to. It feels the desire to make a film in one single shot came first and the rest was written down on a napkin. I get that Victoria is lonely, has experienced disappointment and is yearning for an adventure, but her choices didn't make much sense to me. Her characterisation is in the service of facilitating all the one take action and it's to the credit of the actress that she salvages a compelling performance from that.


----------



## flypanam (Jan 18, 2016)

Serie Noire - a Quebecois comedy about two screenwriters who have written a TV show that is universally panned. The show gets re-commissioned and the writers try to get authentic in their writing. It's very good.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

The last four episodes of Mad Men. It should have ended with Draper holed up in the Watergate hotel, surrounded by bottles of his own urine and faeces. Alas, this was not to be.

I actually remember this advert, which they played before the end credits:



The fact that they chose to go out on this note indicates to me that the whole series was a not a critique of the American air-conditioned nightmare, but rather a nostalgic celebration of same.


----------



## belboid (Jan 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> The fact that they chose to go out on this note indicates to me that the whole series was a not a critique of the American air-conditioned nightmare, but rather a nostalgic celebration of same.


Weiner said that that was his favourite ad ever. He really likes advertising.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 18, 2016)

The Revenant - cinematography was a big thing in this movie. Enjoyable and grim.

I still think Peter Mayhew should win Best Supporting Actor instead of Tom Hardy/ Stallone.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> The last four episodes of Mad Men. It should have ended with Draper holed up in the Watergate hotel, surrounded by bottles of his own urine and faeces. Alas, this was not to be.
> 
> I actually remember this advert, which they played before the end credits:
> 
> ...




I think your nihilistic ending would have been trite and obvious. people always equal bleak/nihilistic with meaningful, but I think a bleak ending can be just as much of a cliche as a happy one. 

I also don't think you can sum up an entire series to it's last moment. This is where it arrived, it is not what it was about. There is some considerable irony in that Draper channels the supposed spiritual hippie enlightenment he's just experienced into the most capitalist endeavor imaginable. It was a work place drama and it makes sense that it ends with a piece of work, in this case one of the most iconic commercial the advertising industry has produced.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> I think your nihilistic ending would have been trite and obvious. people always equal bleak/nihilistic with meaningful, but I think a bleak ending can be just as much of a cliche as a happy one.
> 
> I also don't think you can sum up an entire series to it's last moment. This is where it arrived, it is not what it was about. There is some considerable irony in that Draper channels the supposed spiritual hippie enlightenment he's just experienced into the most capitalist endeavor imaginable. It was a work place drama and it makes sense that it ends with a piece of work, in this case one of the most iconic commercial the advertising industry has produced.


I didn't get that he was supposed to have been inspired to produce the coke ad by his dabbling in hippydom, so point to you.


----------



## belboid (Jan 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I didn't get that he was supposed to have been inspired to produce the coke ad by his dabbling in hippydom, so point to you.


really?  The ad is an almost direct copy of DD's final scene!


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

belboid said:


> really?  The ad is an almost direct copy of DD's final scene!



Like I said, I can remember the ad from the first time around (I can also remember the opening credits of MASH, a Saturn V launch (which I think must have been for the Soyuz/Apollo launch, and Archie Bunker slamming the front door in his daughter's boyfriend's face), so that wasn't the immediate connection I made.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 18, 2016)

8115 said:


> I'm watching The Wire at the moment but I'm struggling to get into it.


Persevere. Put subtitles on. It's hard to understand some of the characters sometimes. Once it's clicked you'll be in pure tv heaven. It took me 2 attempts to get into it. Need to rewatch as it goes.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Like I said, I can remember the ad from the first time around (I can also remember the opening credits of MASH, a Saturn V launch (which I think must have been for the Soyuz/Apollo launch, and Archie Bunker slamming the front door in his daughter's boyfriend's face), so that wasn't the immediate connection I made.



I'm old enough to remember the commercial on the telly, but here its in context to everything Don Draper goes through in the last couple of episodes. It's not like the ad was just chosen at random.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> I'm old enough to remember the commercial on the telly, but here its in context to everything Don Draper goes through in the last couple of episodes. It's not like the ad was just chosen at random.


Everything he goes through is a symbol of AmeriKKKa, which is what I thought the Coke ad was intended as. Also the whole arc of the last few episodes was Draper shedding his old life, like



Spoiler



when he gives the car away to that kid


, so I didn't immediately infer that he was going to go back to his old life.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

Oh, and even if I did miss the immediate point about the significance of the Coke ad, the wider point still stands. It was a big reveal of what that show was really about, and it wasn't about "behold advertising and Amerikkka, as rotten as their prince of lies Don Draper".


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Everything he goes through is a symbol of AmeriKKKa, which is what I thought the Coke ad was intended as. Also the whole arc of the last few episodes was Draper shedding his old life, like
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It doesn't mean that he hasn't absorbed the hippie spirituality into his own life, but it also has also made him better at his job and that is what has revived his career. There is irony and ambiguity at play, not a heavy handed message. I didn't see everything in this series just as a "symbol for AmerriKKKa". I think the series was a little more shaded than that.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

Spoiler






Reno said:


> It doesn't mean that he hasn't absorbed the hippie spirituality into his own life, but it also has also made him better at his job and that is what has revived his career. There is irony and ambiguity at play, not a heavy handed message. I didn't see everything in this series just as a "symbol for AmerriKKKa". I think the series was a little more shaded than that.


I don't think it was that shaded, because A) it was  a glorified soap opera, and B) nostalgia was always fighting critique, and in the end nostalgia won.  This from the Grauniad makes sense to me though:

"The idea that he returns to advertising and makes the Coke ad is missing the point of Don's journey. He is done with advertising, and done with being Don. The whole of the final series was Don's symbolic death and rebirth — his life passes before him, he meets himself as a young man, a daughter figure, his old army comrades, etc. Don's life has been ruined by his appetites (which is why he's such a good ad man and such a terrible human being) and he can only redeem himself by giving them up, as he does at the retreat. His selfless act of compassion for a stranger (Leonard) is the turning point. He can finally give up his burdens and go to heaven — as Dick Whitman. (Side point: it's not just Pete who goes to heaven too, as Sam points out, but all the other cast in their different ways. The Sixties are literally dead and 'Person To Person' is the Rapture).

The Coke ad symbolizes not a trite "I'm back, baby!" moment but the foreshadowing that the advertising world will eventually colonise Dick's new nirvana too. There is no escape from the machine he helped build. The little smile? Dick thinks he's happy at last. We don't want to be around when he finds out he's wrong."

Mad Men review – ‘no deaths or crashes, but an apt and cool conclusion’


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 18, 2016)

Spoilers people!!!!!


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Spoilers people!!!!!


I do beg your pardon.


----------



## Reno (Jan 18, 2016)

Well, that's The Guardian for you.

(Can't be bothered to read it all as I'm working on a commercial. No, I really am...)


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> Well, that's The Guardian for you.
> 
> (Can't be bothered to read it all as I'm working on a commercial. No, I really am...)


----------



## pesh (Jan 18, 2016)

Moonwalkers - somewhat damaged CIA agent and a bunch of swinging sixties London fuckwits attempt to produce fake moon landing film for NASA. surprise acid and bloodbaths ensue. lots of fun.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 18, 2016)

*Children of Men *cropping up again on lots of TV repeats. 10 years on and it's looking less and less like scifi, more and more like documentary


----------



## The Boy (Jan 18, 2016)

Parallels (2015).  About halfway through I started thinking the plot sounded familiar.  I eventually realised it was from this thread.  Agree with whoever it was that said it would work better as a TV series.  Annoying twunts all of them, but was interesting enough.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2016)

Ex Machina - loved it.


Spoiler



Kind of a feel good film really. Let out a little cheer at the end when she got to fulfil her dream. Love how we start off thinking Caleb's the hero but it's Eva all along.


----------



## Voley (Jan 19, 2016)

I'm about halfway through Cartel Land; good documentary about armed resistance to drug cartels both sides of the Mexico/US border. Raises more questions than it answers, like a lot of good docs - the nature/legitimacy of people taking the law into their own hands / vigilantism being the main one. Will watch the rest tonight. It's on Netflix who really have had some cracking documentaries recently.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 19, 2016)

The Atticus Institute (2015).  Purported to be a found footage film, but is really a mockumentary with smatterings of found footage used within it. Centres on a unit studying psychic abilities which was apparently commandeered by the us military when a bona fide possessed patient end up in their care.

Scores 5.2 on imdb which should make it a classic of the genre, but in reality it's absolute garbage.  Avoid.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 19, 2016)

More Callan. They really don't make them like this anymore.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 19, 2016)

The Wolf of Wall Street - A glorious celebration of capitalist succcess or a searing indictment of capitalist excess? You chose. It's possibly the best Scorsese in years and DiCaprio has never been better.

I Know Where I'm Going - Powell and Pressburger classic. Romance, ceilidhs and social climbing in the Hebrides.

Making a Murderer - We finished it this weekend. If you haven't seen it yet; do so.

Sense8 - I thought this was going to be another "Heroes". It's not. The Wachowskis have created an interconnected thriller/comic book/sci fi odyssey & gosh only knows where it's all going but am enjoying the ride.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 19, 2016)

Watched The Gift on Sunday, really could have been a cliched psychological thriller but it wasn't. It was brilliantly made, with a good couple of twists. I haven't screamed like I did watching this in a long time! Very entertaining indeed.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 19, 2016)

belboid said:


> Finished Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt last night. Starts slowly, gets great.  Looking forward to the second season.



First 2 eps are a bit meh but by the end of the season, I'm thinking "more, please!"


----------



## belboid (Jan 19, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> First 2 eps are a bit meh but by the end of the season, I'm thinking "more, please!"



Quite.  First couple were 'oh Tina, how lowly you have fallen' but by the end....waiting for S2 with breath appropriately bated  (April 15, not long to go)


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Watch it again sometime...it's totally different...and still superb.


How is it different on second viewing? I thought it was great.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2016)

sovereignb said:


> My only issue is how it got on the plane when the pilot had come to collect someone else...didn't understand that but its a small gripe.


It? She! 


Spoiler



she got away. The pilot was probably just instructed to pick up whoever was waiting. Loved how it ended. Like Blade Runner but much more hopeful. 
Loved the abuse subtext too. She escapes the horrible men and gets to fulfil her dream of just people watching - all she wants is to be amongst peope. brilliant ending.


----------



## belboid (Jan 19, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> It? She!
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


I thought 



Spoiler



she was simply able to send a message saying that there had been a slight change of plan.  She would have to come up with an excuse as to why Caleb wasn't going back to work as well. So she must have told them he was staying on for a other week or so, at least. A shot of her doing something to imply communication with the outside world would have been nice, but it was all clearly within her capabilities.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 19, 2016)

American Ultra

pretty weak stuff about some pothead who is a manchurian candidate and is triggered to wakefulnes before a rogue splinter of the CIA can take him out. I wasn't expecting more than popcorn fayre but if I'd payed to see that I'd be annoyed. Leads don't carry it and nor does story. a grudging 5/10

its not as good as kinsmen and kingsmen was no more than entertaining fluff


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2016)

Kingsmen was a nasty little film


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 19, 2016)

well one thing American Ultra has over Kingsmen is it doesn't contain some fucked up misogyny. I think they were going for some sort of old school bond nod wink chuavanism and failed horrifically. If I'm being generous to the scriptwriter. Still, worth it for the church massacre


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 19, 2016)

Housebound - Kiwi horror-comedy. Original and fun. I liked it a lot.


----------



## belboid (Jan 19, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Housebound - Kiwi horror-comedy. Original and fun. I liked it a lot.


great film.  For some reason the yanks are remaking it. The accents aren't that bloody hard to understand


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 19, 2016)

belboid said:


> great film.  For some reason the yanks are remaking it. The accents aren't that bloody hard to understand



Well...I'm glad I chanced upon this version. It was just a random play....so I was well pleased.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 19, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> How is it different on second viewing? I thought it was great.


Still great second time, but different.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Still great second time, but different.


How though?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 19, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> How though?





Spoiler



Because the second time you know from the start she's planning the whole thing.


----------



## sovereignb (Jan 19, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> It? She!
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...





Spoiler



Dont get me wrong i really liked the film...I was rooting for her but she probably managed to manipulate the pilot the same way she did with the visitor and us


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2016)

The first spoiler tag needs the / removing from it


----------



## belboid (Jan 20, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> Because the second time you know from the start she's planning the whole thing.


hmm, philosophically dubious. There isn't the evidence in the script to say that that _is _what happens - it's a plausible interpretation, for sure, but not the only one. But that is, I hope, one of the joys of the film, that it should allow reviewings where we can can see it with this possibility, or that one, and see how that affects our judgement of it. 
Aah, I was going to try and do this without spoiler tags, but I will have to give up on that now...



Spoiler



I think the interesting thing will be to go back and try to work out just _when _she starts plotting.  Having never met more than one human being before, they (yes, I'm going with 'they', gender being bullshit n all, an absolute construct in this instance - but there's another interesting question it throws up) can't know anything about how they will respond, or even whether there really is an 'outside' to go to.


----------



## belboid (Jan 20, 2016)

Spoiler: still Ex Machina






sovereignb said:


> My only issue is how it got on the plane when the pilot had come to collect someone else...didn't understand that but its a small gripe.





dunno if you can still put a spoiler around that, but as it is at the end of the film...

There is a bigger problem



Spoiler



wtf didn't Nathan implement Asimov's Three Laws? Or something similar, at least replacing 'a human being' with 'Nathan')


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 20, 2016)

belboid said:


> dunno if you can still put a spoiler around that, but as it is at the end of the film...
> 
> There is a bigger problem
> 
> ...





Spoiler



Hubris.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 20, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> well one thing American Ultra has over Kingsmen is it doesn't contain some fucked up misogyny. I think they were going for some sort of old school bond nod wink chuavanism and failed horrifically. If I'm being generous to the scriptwriter. Still, worth it for the church massacre



My wife's favourite scene!


----------



## 8115 (Jan 20, 2016)

I didn't really rate Ex Machina.

I think it was all the "sexy robot" stuff.


----------



## Voley (Jan 20, 2016)

I watched 'Montage Of Heck', the film about Kurt Cobain this evening. Really good, this, I thought. Fairly warts-n-all, some good concert footage, nice to hear some demo versions of songs you know and love etc. It filled a few gaps in the story that I've always wondered about (the Rome OD particularly) but some of the bits of him and Courtney smacked up to the eyeballs are difficult to watch. Necessary part of the story mind. Not sure if the animations worked that well, either, but a good film. 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' off Unplugged still sends shivers down my spine even now.


----------



## Reno (Jan 21, 2016)

Spectre. As the Daniel Craig films go not as good as Casino Royale or Skyfall, but still a perfectly serviceable Bond film and far better than Quantum of Solace (but then, what isn't). Bonus points for blowing up one of my least favourite London buildings....again!

Ben Wishaw is a Q after my own heart ("I've got a mortgage and two cats to feed"). And as I didn't see this at the cinema, when M says "Now I know what "C" stands for" and he leaves a pause, did everybody blurt out "Cunt"  ?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 21, 2016)

Cavalry - Brendan Gleeson in a darkly comic drama about a Priest who is told in confession that he will be killed on the beach on Sunday. The film follows him in the week up to the time of his threatened death.

Gleeson puts in another great performanace, as does the rest of the cast, which is full of recognisable faces from Irish cinema and other corners of the indie cinema world.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 21, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Cavalry


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 21, 2016)

*Good *(2008) starring Viggo Mortensen - supposed to be an examination of how even decent German people got sucked into the Nazi whirlpool in the 1930s. Sadly the film is not, in fact, all that good - mediocre at best - though everyone's trying hard, it looks fine and and there is some OK acting from the (predominantly British) cast. It's interesting as an experiment in teasing out sympathy or at least understanding for 'the average German' but it's not quite compelling enough; there's a psychoanalytical strand, including some musical hallucinations, which doesn't quite work. And - just like it happened in real history! - the account of how the characters suddenly find themselves in the middle of a genocidal hellhole and it's all so surprising to them, doesn't quite ring true.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 21, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


>



Yeah...duh...

CALVARY


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 21, 2016)

Drinking Buddies - Indie improv romcom set in a brewery. Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick are the only names I recognised. But all the cast are good and it feels real.

The Debt - Jessica Chastain, Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson. Mossad drama set in 60s and 90s. Not bad at all; script from Vaughan and Goldman (but nothing likes Kick Ass, Kingsman etc) and what really helped was that I knew nothing about it or had seen any trailers. I didn't even read the blurb on the back of the casing so it was a "nice" surprise.


----------



## belboid (Jan 21, 2016)

Time to watch A Canterbury Tale again

Sheila Sim obituary


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 21, 2016)

Well into Banshee at the moment


----------



## The Boy (Jan 22, 2016)

The Program (2015).  Lance Armstrong Biopic.  Might be more interesting to those who didn't follow the sport too closely over the time in question, but as it is it tries to cover too much and the result is that it misses out key moments and key figures.  I'd forgive that if it had managed to do a better job of what it did cover, but I didn't feel I knew any of the characters better by the end of the film than the start and structurally it was a little confused about what it wanted to do imo.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 22, 2016)

Welcome to the Rileys - One of James Gandolfini's last roles, starring alongside, the always excellent, Melissa Leo, and a fairly good Kristen Stewart. It's a decent little indie flick about grief and growing up and moving on in life. Little happens, but the performance keep it rolling nicely, and it's always good to see JG outside of The Sopranos.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 22, 2016)

Full English Breakfast

a brit gangster film starring Dave Courtney. Avoid at all costs. If you see any physical copies, destroy them -1/10

e2a

the imdb reviews are better  than the film:

"This is a truly amateurish attempt at making a movie. It isn't as good as the student movies found for free on youtube.

The script is the strongest element, and even that is dreadful. It is completely predictable, simplistic and clichéd. It is however much better than the direction.

The cast are uniformly embarrassing, even making allowances for the complete incompetence of Manish Patel's direction. Even amongst the general low level of acting special mention must be made of Lucy Drive, whose expression never changes even when someone is trying to kick her to death.Some unkind viewers have suggested that Drive's permanent befuddled expression hints at a fondness for Dopey Dave's Dodgy Drugs.I think there may be another explanation. Dave Courtney plays dave Bishop, Jamie Bannerman plays Jamie, poor Lucy plays dave's wife Susie. The poor thing has to remember a slightly different name, and this takes up much of her acting ability.

There is entertainment to be had if you abandon the idea of this film as a thriller and laugh at the incompetence.

I screamed with laughter when Dave picked jamie as his driver because he drove tanks in the army. " tanks, motorbikes, helicopters it's all the same"revealing why he is not a criminal mastermind. And he's the CLEVER brother.

One would need a heart of stone not to laugh when the drug dealer's wife ( the wooden spoon of trophy wives) tries to seduce Jamie on the nightclub dancefloor. The sight of the two of them hopping pathetically from foot to fooot like embarrassed eleven year olds at a school disco has to be seen to be believed."


----------



## mack (Jan 22, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Welcome to the Rileys - One of James Gandolfini's last roles, starring alongside, the always excellent, Melissa Leo, and a fairly good Kristen Stewart. It's a decent little indie flick about grief and growing up and moving on in life. Little happens, but the performance keep it rolling nicely, and it's always good to see JG outside of The Sopranos.



Missed out on this one for some reason..will download now! I quite liked the film he did with Jl Dreyfus called Enough Said, JG being romantic and a big softie..worth a watch.

RIP big man.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 22, 2016)

mack said:


> Missed out on this one for some reason..will download now! I quite liked the film he did with Jl Dreyfus called Enough Said, JG being romantic and a big softie..worth a watch.
> 
> RIP big man.



I've got that lined up next.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 22, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Full English Breakfast



I admire the reckless adventurism of a fellow pilgrim; not for us the banal safety of fair-to-middling, quite-well-known, moderately successful films - no, we must seek after the gems no one else has heard of. And our desire to find these gems means we have to sieve through an awful lot of the shit that drips out of the creatively diarrheoal arses of people like Dave Courtney.

Sir, I salute your indefatigability.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 22, 2016)

I hoped it would be a nice series of crap but entrtaining geezer film shorts done on the cheap themed around the idea of the breakfast somehow. Fuck me it was bad. The random al queda element with a man avenging his murdered brother Habib was particularly...inspired.


----------



## Reno (Jan 22, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> I admire the reckless adventurism of a fellow pilgrim; not for us the banal safety of fair-to-middling, quite-well-known, moderately successful films - no, we must seek after the gems no one else has heard of. And our desire to find these gems means we have to sieve through an awful lot of the shit that drips out of the creatively diarrheoal arses of people like Dave Courtney.
> 
> Sir, I salute your indefatigability.



Then again there are obscure films which show potential and then there are obscure films which are among the worst reviewed of the year and which look horrible just from the title and one glimpse at the poster.


----------



## DrRingDing (Jan 22, 2016)

The Revenant. 

Basically Peter Griffin Vs The Chicken without the humour, acting and panache. 

I've never wanted a lead to die so much.


----------



## Voley (Jan 23, 2016)

I watched The Wolf Of Wall Street a few nights back. It was a bit 'Goodfellas' but with stockbrokers instead of mafiosi and consequently not as good. Leonardo DiCaprio was pretty good although he was pretty much channeling Jack Nicholson. The 'trying to drive on quaaludes' bit was genuinely funny. At the end I thought it was OK but nothing original. But I keep thinking back to bits of it a few days later - it's stuck with me - and that's always a good sign. I might watch it again some time, see if it grows on me. Even when Martin Scorsese's just sticking to the formula he's still good.


----------



## Reno (Jan 24, 2016)

A Child is Waiting (1963). This was one of the few studio films the godfather of the American indie film John Cassavetes directed, starring Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland and Gena Rowlands. It's about an institute for mentally handicapped children at a time when the best way to deal with them was considered to separate them from the rest of the world. Parents were persuaded that the best way of dealing with handicapped children was to hand them over to institutionalise them. The film is a little mawkish in places, but overall it's quite good if rather depressing. It's about new teacher Garland becoming  close to one of the kids who has been abandoned by his parents and clashing with disciplinarian principal Lancaster over how to deal with the boy. Apparently Cassavetes disowned the film because he didn't have final cut but despite melodramatic moments, there is a docudrama quality to the film which shows his influence. Gena Rowlands as the boy's mother is like the blueprint for Mad Men's Betty Draper.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 24, 2016)

Moneyball (2011).  Film adaptation of the book about Oakland Athletics coach Billy Bene who used a statistical analysis in an attempt to win the World Series on a shoe-string budget.  The book was pretty interesting but the film isn't that great.  Though in saying that I did watch it all the way through and didn't notice that it ran for 2 hours, so can't have that bad either.


----------



## magneze (Jan 24, 2016)

Beasts Of No Nation
Amazing film set in a fictional country, tracking the experiences of a child soldier. Brilliant acting throughout, especially the lead.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 24, 2016)

Enough said. James Gandolfini and Julia Lloyd-Dreyfus. It was sweet, and nice, and a little sad.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 25, 2016)

Sicario (2015). FBI agent joins a taskforce working on dismantling the Mexican drug cartels.  The second half of the film didn't hit the mark quite so much for me, but pretty good.  Some of the camera shots are proper lovely - especially in the scenes around Juarez.  Reminded me of the wide angle shots of the scenery and terrain you see in proper old Westerns.


----------



## Chz (Jan 25, 2016)

Finally got around to watching _Leviathan_. Loved it. I don't get why everyone says it's so irrepressibly grim. It's full of funny bits and cheer in various places, and next to _The Selfish Giant_ it's practically uplifting. Yes, yes, it's Russia so it's not exactly happy, but I like that.

I just hope the cast weren't Method actors, or they're going to need new livers shortly.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 25, 2016)

*Spectre*

Daniel Craig's Bond finally goes full homage. And suffers massively as a result.

Tepid action sequences (seriously one of the most boring car chases I've ever watched), shoe-horned plot contrivances and relationships, no real spying, and it goes on about 30 minutes too long. Again. (fucks sake Mendes, just end a film).

Monica Belluci wasted as a character in favour of a bland damsel-in-distress too.

I don't mind campy Bond, but you've got to go for it. Spectre holds back, trying to retain the gritty Bond, and as a result achieves neither.

Time for a new team to have a crack I think.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 25, 2016)

You Only Live Twice - Dodgy moments aside (sexism, racism etc) it still looks great (apart from volcano bit)
8Mile - Really enjoyed this; Eminem didn't suck as an actor
Mystery Road - Aaron Pederson, Hugo Weaving and Jason Stackhouse in disadvantaged community murder drama. Depressing but brilliant

Oh and we finished Sense8. Really like it. I can see how some people might find it infuriating to begin with but by the end it's mesmerising.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> You Only Live Twice - Dodgy moments aside (sexism, racism etc) it still looks great (apart from volcano bit)



Isn't the volcano the best thing about it ? Amazing set design by Ken Adam.


----------



## Teenage Cthulhu (Jan 25, 2016)

The Tribe, highly recommended:

The sign language film we can’t stop thinking about


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 25, 2016)

There's a film on Amazon Prime called New Years Eve. It's a fucking stinker. It has a huge cast, featuring a good few oscar winners, and it is possibly the worst film ever. 

It makes those xmas tele-movies on channel five look like Citizen Kane.

How they hooked in so many names to do so very little is a fucking mystery. I can only imagine the producer is in the secret selling business and had blackmailed them all to appear.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2016)

Deep Red by Dario Argento, the greatest giallo ever, in a fantastic new restoration on Blu-ray. This was the third time I've watched it and it may now have overtaken Suspiria as my favourite Argento. It may even be working its way into my list of time favourite films. It also kicks Antonioni's ass, being similar to Blow Up and even starring David Hemmings, but it's a hell of a lot more fun and at least as stylish. The camera work and use of architecture and locations is simply stunning. The prog rock score by The Goblin initially takes some getting used to, but it is genius. And apart from the staggeringly violent set pieces, in the director's cut at least there is so much interesting stuff going on in terms of sexual politics and gender. While not exactly progressive, the way the film deals with feminism and its gay characters is unusual for a giallo.


----------



## belboid (Jan 25, 2016)

Mad Max Fury Road

Thought I should get something flashy for our first Blu ray watch, and it certainly looked quite impressive. Some of it is _very _silly indeed (that guitarist ), and I found bits of its visual style irritating, but it was mostly a very enjoyable romp, and a fairly clever reimagining.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2016)

belboid said:


> Mad Max Fury Road
> 
> Thought I should get something flashy for our first Blu ray watch, and it certainly looked quite impressive. Some of it is _very _silly indeed (that guitarist ), and I found bits of its visual style irritating, but it was mostly a very enjoyable romp, and a fairly clever reimagining.


The guitarist is comedy gold ! (and intended as such)


----------



## belboid (Jan 25, 2016)

Reno said:


> The guitarist is comedy gold ! (and intended as such)


well, clearly.  I found it a small step too far. It was funny in Doctor Who, but....


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jan 25, 2016)

Some Kind Of Beautiful - rom-com starring Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek.

You get to see Salma Hayek's bum.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2016)

skyscraper101 said:


> Some Kind Of Beautiful - rom-com starring Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek.
> 
> You get to see Salma Hayek's bum.



Slavoy Zizek could not have said it better.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 25, 2016)

skyscraper101 said:


> You get to see Salma Hayek's bum.



François-Henri Pinault is in it?


----------



## Maharani (Jan 26, 2016)

I'm currently watching Mad Dogs on Prime and loving it.  It's a bit silly but very entertaining and quite gripping in some places.


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2016)

_99 Homes_. One of these well intentioned, not bad and therefore overpraised films of which I've seen way too many recently. It's a Faustian drama/semi-thriller about the eviction and foreclosure racket in the wake of the financial crisis in the US. Stars Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern and Michael Shannon does his usual villain thing. Unfortunately everything about the plot is utterly predictable once the chess pieces are in place. It reminded my of the recent Nighcrawler which was a similarly overpraised morality tale and also totally predictable. Both are well made, well meaning and well acted but I could barely remember them an hour after I saw them.


----------



## belboid (Jan 26, 2016)

45 Years

Shame Charlotte has fucked her Oscar chances.  A superbly observed film, very poignant, with some stiletto sharp dialogue and wistful camerawork, although it is Courtenay and Rampling who really raise it to a wonderful level. They really should have talked before tho, and I am at a bit of a loss as to why they didn't.


----------



## Artaxerxes (Jan 26, 2016)

skyscraper101 said:


> Some Kind Of Beautiful - rom-com starring Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek.
> 
> You get to see Salma Hayek's bum.



*watches in 3D*


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 26, 2016)

Maharani said:


> I'm currently watching Mad Dogs on Prime and loving it.  It's a bit silly but very entertaining and quite gripping in some places.



Is that a remake of a brit tv show?


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 26, 2016)

The Big Clock (1948), enjoyable Hitchcockian murder thriller, starring Ray Milland & Charles Laughton


----------



## Maharani (Jan 26, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Is that a remake of a brit tv show?


Dunno


----------



## ringo (Jan 26, 2016)

Spectre - Bond by numbers, but they have been for years. 

A Walk In The Woods - The book is quite funny and if you've spent time hiking or in mountains there's a lot to relate to. None of that made the film. A dreary trudge might have been a more apt title.

Everest - Only half way through but might as well finish it to see what it's been building up to. I wanted another Touching The Void but this is a corny disaster film. I already knew it was scary and frightening up there and allowing loads of groups to go up at once is a really bad idea. Struggling to get anything more from it.


----------



## belboid (Jan 26, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Is that a remake of a brit tv show?


it is


----------



## Maharani (Jan 26, 2016)

belboid said:


> it is


Hence the name I expect.


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2016)

I thought Mad Dogs was a Mad Men spin-off, chronicling the adventures of Betty Draper's dog through the turbulent 60s.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> Isn't the volcano the best thing about it ? Amazing set design by Ken Adam.



Let me clarify; the volcano lair is just fine. It's when the damn thing errupts at the end it just looks cartoony.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 27, 2016)

*Edge of Tomorrow* (or Live. Die. Repeat. as I think it became known as in the US).

Brilliant high concept action movie, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pacing was great, action was well shot (in that you could actually see the action) and the leads bounce off each other well too.

It's sometimes easy to forget that Tom Cruise, regardless of how weird his private life may be, is a very good actor and charismatic as fuck, nice to see him doing something a little different in this, where he isn't smooth and heroic from the off.

Solidified my Emily Blunt crush too 

Possibly the best action film I've seen in quite a few years.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 27, 2016)

I didn't realise Ben Chaplin is in both of the Mad Dogs. I used to love him in game on.


----------



## Reno (Jan 28, 2016)

Israeli found footage horror film called _Jeruzalem_. Two American tourists get caught up in the biblical apocalypse. Takes a while to get going, but not bad for if you don't mind that sort of thing. It's like [REC] meets Cloverfield with mass possessions and winged demons taking apart Jerusalem, which makes for an interesting backdrop to the Satanic mayhem.


----------



## sovereignb (Jan 28, 2016)

The Man from UNCLE reboot - i was entertained.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 28, 2016)

Reno said:


> Israeli found footage horror film called _Jeruzalem_. Two American tourists get caught up in the biblical apocalypse. Takes a while to get going, but not bad for if you don't mind that sort of thing. It's like [REC] meets Cloverfield with mass possessions and winged demons taking apart Jerusalem, which makes for an interesting backdrop to the Satanic mayhem.



I've been desperate to watch this all week, but the other half hasn't been up to watching a fillum.

Friday night sorted.


----------



## mentalchik (Jan 30, 2016)

John Wick - actually really enjoyed it


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 30, 2016)

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

Got a few classic Herzog's to catch up on.  Hadn't seen anything before Nosferatu.


----------



## The Boy (Jan 30, 2016)

The Boy said:


> I've been desperate to watch this all week, but the other half hasn't been up to watching a fillum.
> 
> Friday night sorted.



Overall score: meh.  Probably my fault for expecting too much tbh.

Still, we also finished Aziz Ansari vehicle Master of None which I have been enjoying very much


----------



## magneze (Jan 30, 2016)

Currently watching "Into The Wild". Finding it really annoying.


----------



## TikkiB (Jan 31, 2016)

mentalchik said:


> Just watched Ex Machina - fucking superb !


We saw that last night and I wholeheartedly concur!  I can't stop thinking about it and can't remember the last time I watched something so damn satisfying.


----------



## Reno (Jan 31, 2016)

I had friends round for a film evening and I've continued proslethising on behalf of What We Do in the Shadows and introduced four more people to what I think was the best film of 2015 and the funniest film in years. We also watched Starlet, one of my favourite most overlooked films of the last few years. It's the previous film by the director of last year's "shot on an iPhone" Tangerine and it feels like an early 70s Hal Ashby movie. In a good way.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 31, 2016)

Only four episodes to go in the last season of Banshee .I think they are making a fourth . Horses for courses , but imo it's definitely worth a watch , iis pacy , got loads of different sub plots and a good balance between action and story.


----------



## Chz (Jan 31, 2016)

*Birdman
*
Considering how overly self-indulgent it was, I enjoyed it. Good to see Michael Keaton doing some decent acting. It's lovely, well-acted, and paces itself well. You just have to get over the fact that it's Hollywood telling itself how wonderful it is.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 31, 2016)

magneze said:


> Currently watching "Into The Wild". Finding it really annoying.


Why?


----------



## Reno (Jan 31, 2016)

Chz said:


> *Birdman
> *
> Considering how overly self-indulgent it was, I enjoyed it. Good to see Michael Keaton doing some decent acting. It's lovely, well-acted, and paces itself well. You just have to get over the fact that it's Hollywood telling itself how wonderful it is.


I didn't much like the film but I'm not sure it's message was that Hollywood is wonderful, considering that it's about the theatre and how rubbish Hollywood superhero films are.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 31, 2016)

i want to watch a film to distract myself tonight. I am a bit drunk and in mourning for a friend.
I have the following:
Antman
Interstellar
Birdman
Fargo S1
Mr Robot S1E04 onwards
Room
The Man In The High Castle S1 E01-E02
The Revenant
Trainwreck
Making A Murderer S1
The second half of Parks & Recreation S6
Black Mass
E4,5 & 6 of The Genius Of Photography
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
True Detective S2E01

What shall I watch?


----------



## Chz (Jan 31, 2016)

Reno said:


> I didn't much like the film but I'm not sure it's message was that Hollywood is wonderful, considering that it's about the theatre and how rubbish Hollywood superhero films are.


Maybe with a different ending.


----------



## magneze (Jan 31, 2016)

Maharani said:


> Why?


The main character was an insufferable arsehole which the film seemed to pander to.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 31, 2016)

first two eps of DC's Legends of Tomorrow

wasn't expecting much cos the DC TV stuff hasn't grabbed me massively but it was actually quite good.


----------



## fishfinger (Jan 31, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> first two eps of DC's Legends of Tomorrow
> 
> wasn't expecting much cos the DC TV stuff hasn't grabbed me massively but it was actually quite good.


I've watched them too. I'll probably watch some more before making a final decision. At the mo' it's a bit "Dr Who meets the rejects from Arrow and Flash". I do like the Snart brothers though


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 31, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> I've watched them too. I'll probably watch some more before making a final decision. At the mo' it's a bit "Dr Who meets the rejects from Arrow and Flash". I do like the Snart brothers though



I like the subtly named 'Vandal Savage' lol


----------



## Reno (Jan 31, 2016)

Chz said:


> Maybe with a different ending.


???


----------



## Reno (Feb 1, 2016)

Crimson Peak, which only convinced me further that Guillermo Del Toro has a great eye, but not much else. It's a pastiche of a gothic romance (as Del Toro and the publicity kept explaining when the film came out) rather than a credible addition to the genre, which means the characters act the way they do because characters in that type of film/book do, not because they appear to have an internal life or convincing motivations. Mia Wasikowska's wan heroine hasn't been given much of a personality by the script, Tom Hiddleston is miscast as a romantic lead with skeletons in the closet and only Jessica Chastain is having fun as the villainess.

Costumes and art direction are beautiful, but so OTT that the story doesn't seem to take place in any known universe. The plot simply ticks off the cliches rather than springing genuine surprises on you. The ghosts are pretty cool looking, but ultimately they are just more set dressing instead of being essential to the plot. I liked that this was a rare R-rated film unlike the usual PG-13 which meant that it was surprisingly violent. It's worth a watch for the visuals, but it should have been so much better.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 1, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> first two eps of DC's Legends of Tomorrow
> 
> wasn't expecting much cos the DC TV stuff hasn't grabbed me massively but it was actually quite good.



I watched these over the weekend too, thought it was a strong pilot but worried they've blown their load (effects, etc) early, fingers crossed it carries on like this.

Surprisingly chilled about cannabis use on US network television too, the times are a'changin clearly.

Captain Cold, Heatwave and Canary are the most entertaining characters by far.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 1, 2016)

Also watched John Wick.

It was very slick and Keanu was perfectly cast, but the whole thing was a bit throwaway.


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2016)

The Martian

Entertaining nonsense.  It did at last lack the portentous pretensions of the last Alien, and Damon was perfectly watchable.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 1, 2016)

Klondike, a 6 parter on Amazon Prime - about the Gold Rush in 1898, really enjoyed it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 1, 2016)

Gave Netflix's Marco Polo a try today. Despite being ravaged by critics I found it quite watchable. It's no masterpiece, but it is no stinker either.

I shall see it through.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 1, 2016)

Cloud Atlas. Had its moments. Was like a blueprint for Sense8. I enjoyed watching it. Not sure how long it will stick in my mind. Looked beautiful in places...and was ambitious and sprawling and messy.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2016)

Am half an hour into "Spaceballs". It's really, really bad.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 2, 2016)

Killer: Journal of a Murder

Pretty good, about a depression era kid who grew up in institutions and jails (of that eras brutality) and how he became a killer. Well done I thought, some  bits in there about prison reform etc.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 2, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Killer: Journal of a Murder
> 
> Pretty good, about a depression era kid who grew up in institutions and jails (of that eras brutality) and how he became a killer. Well done I thought, some  bits in there about prison reform etc.



Netflix


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 2, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Netflix


yeah I've kissed a lot of frogs recently  this was quite good though.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Feb 2, 2016)

Brooklyn - Romantic drama set in the mid 1950s between Ireland and Brooklyn, NY with Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters. Not too shabby.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 3, 2016)

Skin Trade

A film in which the combination of Dolf Lundergrun, Ron Perlman and Tony Jaa should have been great B movie win. In a way it was- there was an excellent 'I'm on a bike ripping through an asian market' scene. Some heroic gunfights. Hand-to-hand beatings that went on far longer than is humanly possible. I just don't think hanging an action film this light on such grimness, and the first 20 mins make it well grim, is really justified. Perlmans serbian accent was also off. Not that I can tell accents from eastern europe apart with any accuracy but Perlman was not even trying much. Still, it as a film wasn't totally rubbish except that it was.


5/10

I'd give it six except all the women in it were furniture or dead and the whole thing was a bit grubby in that respect.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 3, 2016)

The Hunter. Willem Dafoe hunts Tasmanian Tigers for a shady corporate in a rather good thriller cum eco-fable....


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 3, 2016)

The Martian - possibly better than Ray Mear's Bushcraft.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 3, 2016)

skyscraper101 said:


> Brooklyn - Romantic drama set in the mid 1950s between Ireland and Brooklyn, NY with Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters. Not too shabby.



If you liked that; try reading some of Colm Toibin's stuff - he's a truly great writer.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 3, 2016)

*Legend of the Soldier * aka *Bruc, the Manhunt *(2010) - one of amazon prime's pathetic collection of foreign language films. dire, dull, doomy tale of some obscure rucking in the Pyrenees during the French/Spanish standoffs of the Napoleonic wars. I was hoping for some Sharpe-like swashbuckling, but this is a static Europudding obviously made to fulfil some cultural quota somewhere, and full of those suspiciously irrelevant swoopy drone shots of the landscape which you so often see in French movies sponsored by the local departemente's tourist board.

Basically it's a plodding and surprisingly sadistic revenge tale where our cute young Spanish hero (played by Juan Jose Ballesta, who was fantastic as a rough-edged adolescent in _El Bola _a few years ago but can't sustain an adult lead role yet) is hunted down by Evil French Lieutenant played by Vincent Perez (now looking rough as a few miles of gravel road, and sulking impressively). There are hints at psychological trauma on both sides but really it's just a load of old Francoist guff about bravery and sacrifice and not giving up an inch of sacred Spain blah blah blah. The Evil French aren't just plain Evil, they kill priests in church (literally) and also have dodgy Arab sidekicks, the dirty dirty bastards. Despite plenty of rucking, stabbing and those lovely landscapes this just never gets interesting.

So don't bother - I watched this one so you don't have to.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 3, 2016)

Room - good. Bit mad.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 3, 2016)

Watched the first episode of The Wire again on Monday

Mrs Shoes says she doesn't like it and won't watch any more*   

I'll probably have to give it a full run through on my own



*possibly grounds for divorce?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 3, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Watched the first episode of The Wire again on Monday
> 
> Mrs Shoes says she doesn't like it and won't watch any more*
> 
> ...



First ep wasn't great.....took a few to move.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 3, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> First ep wasn't great.....took a few to move.



I told her to give it 2 or 3 but it's not happening


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 3, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> I told her to give it 2 or 3 but it's not happening



I'm sorry you couldn't make it work.


----------



## mack (Feb 3, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> I told her to give it 2 or 3 but it's not happening









It's the only way!


----------



## The Boy (Feb 3, 2016)

Nearly finished The Expanse.  Gets my seal of approval.  

Tried to watch this is England 90 but Genesis was being a twat.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 4, 2016)

first half dozen eps of Trailer Park Boys. I lolled


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 4, 2016)

Ant-Man
What a piece of shit.
Featuring one of the worst haircuts in movies since The Fifth Element.
But the subatomic sequence was well ketamine


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 5, 2016)

Flatliners

I hadn't seen it in over a decade and the person with me had never seen it. I remembered the bones of a good story but had forgotten everything else including the cast! julia roberts, kiefer sutherland, michael douglas directing. Still holds up 7/10


----------



## sovereignb (Feb 6, 2016)

Sicario - 6/10. This film seemed to get alot of hype...dunno why, unless i really missed something deep about it, seen it done before more entertaingly...not a complete waste though.

Dope - 8/10 - i enjoyed this.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 6, 2016)

_Spotlight_

Okay, so an interesting story (investigative reporters in Boston unearth evidence of cover-up by Catholic church of widespread child abuse by its priests), and some committed performances (Ruffalo, Keaton, McAdams, Schreiber), but there's no real 'wow' to it. I mean, the whole thing is there in the first five minutes.



Spoiler



It's established from the off some Catholic priests are abusing kids but avoiding prosecution; that the Cardinal and other diocesan officers are facilitating their avoidance of charges; that details of the abuse and the cover-ups were known to lawyers and even sent to the _Globe _several years earlier.

Essentially the investigative unit doesn't want to cover the story, but is made to by the incoming editor. All the evidence was provided to the paper years earlier by a victim/survivor who is viewed as something of a kook - there aren't really any leads the journalists chase which don't come from the cache of material he provides.

The only thing they come up with themselves is from reading the diocesan directories, where they note that suspected abusers are given bland labels such as 'on sick leave'. It's a good ten, fifteen minutes in the film (or hours/days in real life) before they come up with the plainly obvious idea to search through the directories for any priests with these labels as a means of flagging up previously unidentified abusers, rather than just using it as a confirmation tool for the priests they already knew about.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 6, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> _Spotlight_
> 
> Okay, so an interesting story (investigative reporters in Boston unearth evidence of cover-up by Catholic church of widespread child abuse by its priests), and some committed performances (Ruffalo, Keaton, McAdams, Schreiber), but there's no real 'wow' to it. I mean, the whole thing is there in the first five minutes.



It's really rather pedestrian - it's essentially "reporters rummage through newspaper cuttings and other paperwork to expose the deeper scandal behind a scandal".  There's nowt wrong with that, and it's decent enough, but ehhh.


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Flatliners
> 
> I hadn't seen it in over a decade and the person with me had never seen it. I remembered the bones of a good story but had forgotten everything else including the cast! julia roberts, kiefer sutherland, michael douglas directing. Still holds up 7/10


You really have no taste !


----------



## KeeperofDragons (Feb 6, 2016)

Last 2 episodes of the first series of The Musketeers


----------



## mack (Feb 6, 2016)

Trumbo..good film..interesting story.


----------



## danny la rouge (Feb 6, 2016)

The Lost Weekend. Hadn't seen it for years. Great film. Great acting from Milland. Great music. Great directing from Wilder. Great lines. Great bit parts. Great shots. 

Watch it again soon.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 6, 2016)

*Ilo Ilo *(2013) - sensitive, slow moving, sardonic family drama set in Singapore about the problems and power plays among a struggling ethnic-Chinese Singaporean family (dad drowning in debt, pregnant mother worried about her job and the family's future, stroppy naughty son) and the Filipina woman who comes to work for them as a maid. It's very very low-key, neorealist style, but not bleak - some really good acting, touching moments, and very delicately-balanced script, careful to show how everyone involved has their own flaws and choices and often do the worst things for real, if not admirable, reasons. It's not thrilling and could be at least 10-15 minutes shorter, but really not bad at all.


----------



## starfish (Feb 7, 2016)

The Martian. Thought it was pretty good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 7, 2016)

E.T.

I watched it with my 8-year old grand-daughter who had not seen it and one of my daughters.

About 30 tissues were used, it was great.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 7, 2016)

Slow West 2014.  Beautiful landscapes - proper lush and as a big a star of the as any of the actors.  Nicely understated film, though a couple of points I'm not sure I understood why characters acted teh way they did.  The end left me a little deflated too.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 7, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> E.T.
> 
> I watched it with my 8-year old grand-daughter who had not seen it and one of my daughters.
> 
> About 30 tissues were used, it was great.



I once watched ET in a bar on Xmas day. It was a bit of an afternoon lock-in for some of the regulars who didn't have anywhere else to go, so we made food for everyone, and ET was the film on whatever channel, so we all watched it on the big screen. There were tears, oh yes.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 8, 2016)

Dallas Buyers Club.

I enjoyed it for the performances but storytelling was patchy.

It was basically the kind of film that could have been made as a true life tv film...

Jared Leto was great.


----------



## magneze (Feb 8, 2016)

The Imitation Game
Pretty good film, but let down by a cursory look at the facts which reveal that it's all made up. It comes across as almost a documentary, but it's actually a fabrication.


----------



## ringo (Feb 8, 2016)

Gone Girl - Good stuff, original story, but no reason to drag it out for 2.5 hours. Most the films I've seen this year have gone on too long.

The Good Dinosaur - The Tiddler absolutely loved it. I found it a bit traumatic . Loved the early hominids with their attempts at speech and bipedal movement.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 8, 2016)

Interstellar - enjoyed it far more than Nolan's other films. Didn't quite understand the time space stuff and how Coop could communicate with his daughter. 

Room - very good adaptation - must check out Lenny Abrahamson's other films as Frank was great too.

Sisters - saw it a couple of weeks ago and have forgotten if I liked it or what the fuck it was all about. It had Any Poehler and Tina Fey in it. That's the best I can do.

Trainwreck - pretty funny, but ultimately forgettable.

Amy - fantastic doc, very sad.


----------



## stdP (Feb 8, 2016)

The Grand Budapest Hotel on the insistence of a friend; "I guarantee you it's a Wes Anderson film you'll actually like!".

Didn't like it. Lovely performances from Ralph Fiennes and F Murray Abraham (and a bit annoyed that the brilliant Mathieu Amalric didn't get more of a part) but still had that sort of air of wholly deliberately conscious whimsy that always seems to annoy me so much about Wes Anderson films.



Orang Utan said:


> Interstellar - enjoyed it far more than Nolan's other films. Didn't quite understand the time space stuff and how Coop could communicate with his daughter.



Think that bit of the film sent me from "hey this is quite a nice film" into eye-rolling territory personally. Loved all the pre-apocalyptic drama and the space stuff was utterly spectacular (and this is someone who thought Gravity was relatively unspectacular space-stuff-wise), but an overwrought Matthew McConnaghey hamfistedly playing a 3D bookcase time harp whilst quipping with his sarcastic dead robot pal made me want them to have ended the film a half hour sooner with everyone getting killed. It's like Nolan was trying to recreate the "WTF/WTF this is awesome" from the last act of 2001 but without having dropped enough acid first.


----------



## Zabo (Feb 8, 2016)

_Herr Lehmann/Berlin Blue - Leander Haußmann_

Some say the Germans have no sense of humour or it is different from ours. Nonsense! A lovely little film with a relatively unknown cast. The opening sequence was a hoot.

_Christoph Waltz_ was good as the doctor but the best was the second main character Karl, played by _Detlev Buck._


----------



## Dandred (Feb 8, 2016)

Sicario, and hateful-eight both very good.


----------



## danny la rouge (Feb 8, 2016)

Grand Hotel, with Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 9, 2016)

The Two Faces of January - didn't know much about it before watching, but good film.  Kirsten Dunst


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 9, 2016)

Tapeheads. A ramshackle 80s mess, just the kind of thing I enjoy. Also Tim Robbins


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 10, 2016)

_The Most Dangerous Band in the World - The Story of Guns N' Roses._ About as ridiculous as it sounds.
_Ash Vs Evil Dead_ - First 3 episodes & as ridiculous as it sounds. But in a good way; loving it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 10, 2016)

Man of the Year

It had Robin Williams as an outsider comedian challenging for the presidency. Christopher Walken was the campaign manager. I thought it was ok, some good laughs and so on. But I dunno if it struck a consistent tone. Or even two tones that blended well. Sort of veered between pious and comedic. a 5/10


----------



## skyscraper101 (Feb 11, 2016)

Zoolander.

Never seen it before, which for some reason seems to amaze people. It always looked unfunny to me so never really bothered. Anyway, I was right. Utter shite.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 11, 2016)

The Motel Life. Excellent little film anout two brothers trying to make through the bottom of society.

Great performances by Emile Hirsch and Brad Dorff....and a grand turn from Kris Kristofferson.


----------



## inva (Feb 12, 2016)

A New Leaf
Elaine May's 1971 comedy starring May herself and Walter Matthau as the two leads. Henry Graham  (Matthau) is spoilt, self-centered and upper class but out of money, so he decides to marry and then murder a naive, awkward and very rich botanist (May). A bit of a gem this film, sharply written and with real quality performances from the cast. Reminded me of some Ealing films.


----------



## seventh bullet (Feb 12, 2016)

It Follows. A sexually-transmitted curse causes a murderous shape-shifting being to doggedly pursue its victims. 

Pretty damn good, but it could've done without Dostoevsky.  Great soundtrack as well.


----------



## mhendo (Feb 13, 2016)

Finally, almost ten years after it came out, i sat down and watched _Apocalypto_.

Non-stop action, and visually stunning, but about as deep as a frisbee, and with as much plot and character development as my camera's instruction manual.

It's _First Blood_ meets _Last of the Mohicans, _with none of the subtlety of either.


----------



## red & green (Feb 13, 2016)

Black Panther : Vanguard of the Revolution - highly recommend


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 13, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> It Follows. A sexually-transmitted curse causes a murderous shape-shifting being to doggedly pursue its victims.
> 
> Pretty damn good, but it could've done without Dostoevsky.  Great soundtrack as well.



I enjoyed this a lot.


----------



## Reno (Feb 13, 2016)

It Follows was the best scored and best shot film I saw last year. If awards weren't all about prestige and a consensus about what is and isn't awards bait, it should have been nominated  for every award going in those two categories.


----------



## Reno (Feb 13, 2016)

...and its art direction was fantastic too. It Follows appears to take place in some never defined decade sometime between the late 70s and the near future.



seventh bullet said:


> Pretty damn good, but it could've done without Dostoevsky.  Great soundtrack as well.



I liked the Dostoevsky. Not only is that something teenagers read and like to be seen to be reading, I liked the shell e-reader which is an object that doesn't exist and which seemed futuristic in what mostly looked like the 70s or 80s.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll give you that, I love a many worlds thing like Sliders. Even stargate had that potential of 'new world every week'
> 
> in the film though they only visit two worlds, one bombe out shithole and one about 5 years ahead of us in tech terms. A series could deffo do a lot more than that.



Watched it yesterday & apparently the series proper starts on 19th. As a film; it doesn't work but as a pilot it's intrigueing.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 13, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Watched it yesterday & apparently the series proper starts on 19th. As a film; it doesn't work but as a pilot it's intrigueing.


I'd have been a lot less harsh if I'd known it was supposed to be a pilot. One makes allowances for things like the loose ends and the occaisonal bit of ropey acting with a pilot.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I'd have been a lot less harsh if I'd known it was supposed to be a pilot. One makes allowances for things like the loose ends and the occaisonal bit of ropey acting with a pilot.



Indeed. When I started watching Fringe I wasn't sure about that, either. Not that this is going to be up there with Fringe, mind.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 13, 2016)

Shit, I've been meaning to mention that it appeared to be a pilot for fucking ages.  I was looking at it on imdb and saw 'season 1' and thought "must mention that on the DVD thread".  Got sidetracked a bit though


----------



## Indeliblelink (Feb 13, 2016)

*Five Star Final (1931)* - Edward G. Robinson as a newspaper editor whose paper rakes over the 20 year old story of a murderess causing tragic consequences for her family. Boris Karloff as a slimey undercover reporter is creepier than he is in most of his horror films.
Really good and still topical in the age of Leveson. Ripe for a modern day remake.
Murdoch & Co. should be strapped to chairs and forced to watch the last 15 minutes on a loop.


----------



## mhendo (Feb 13, 2016)

red & green said:


> Black Panther : Vanguard of the Revolution - highly recommend


I've really been looking forward to seeing this. It's showing on PBS here this Tuesday night.


----------



## mentalchik (Feb 13, 2016)

Watched Predestination last night - very decent time paradox type film...really good turn by Sarah Snook


----------



## seventh bullet (Feb 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> I liked the Dostoevsky. Not only is that something teenagers read and like to be seen to be reading, I liked the shell e-reader which is an object that doesn't exist and which seemed futuristic in what mostly looked like the 70s or 80s.



I get the teenage pretensions, but it seemed clunky to me when relating its content to the threat of death by the being.


----------



## Reno (Feb 13, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> I get the teenage pretensions, but it seemed clunky to me when relating its content to the threat of death by the being.


Last saw the film half a year ago and don't remember if it is directly referred to as such.


----------



## seventh bullet (Feb 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> I didn't see that connection as the two don't really share a theme. But last saw the film half a year ago and don't remember if it is directly referred to as such.



The quote in the hospital bed, about the mental anguish in awaiting inevitable death, read aloud in-between bites of a sandwich.  I cringed a little but maybe that was the point with regard to the teenage thing...  I was probably cringing about a myself in other youthful situations but didn't recognise it. 

It's one of the best horror films I've seen in a long time though.  The being was genuinely scary in some of its manifestations (the tall man plodding his way into the girl's bedroom being one).  The music helped in that a lot, bringing up a feeling of dread for the safety of the cursed characters.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 13, 2016)

Electric Boogaloo - the story of Cannon films documentary...  I've only seen about half of the films featured.


----------



## Reno (Feb 13, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Electric Boogaloo - the story of Cannon films documentary...  I've only seen about half of the films featured.


Only ? You deserve a medal !


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 14, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Electric Boogaloo - the story of Cannon films documentary...  I've only seen about half of the films featured.





Reno said:


> Only ? You deserve a medal !



More like long term counselling


----------



## magneze (Feb 14, 2016)

The Rover 
Mike from Neighbours loses his beloved Rover 216 Coupe with hilarious consequences in this sequel to "Dude, where's my car?"


----------



## Reno (Feb 14, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> More like long term counselling


I did recently watch what was probably the one genuine masterpiece they produced, John Cassavetes' Love Streams.


----------



## DrRingDing (Feb 14, 2016)

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Iranian feminist vampire shenanigans. Recommended.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 15, 2016)

*Chef* (Dir. Jon Favreau, 2014)

Clearly a passion project for Favreau, but a lovely little film. Top chef loses his position at a restaurant and starts up a food truck selling Cuban food, along the way reconnects with his family, specifically his son.

Well acted (especially the kid, no cloying child performance here), not too long, ace music and a few A-list cameos that don't overshadow the film.

The real star is the food and cooking, was starving by the end of the film


----------



## Reno (Feb 15, 2016)

Truffaut's Day for Night, still probably the most entertaining film about the making of a film.

Over the previous two evenings season 2 of Transparent, which was fantastic.


----------



## Ranbay (Feb 15, 2016)

Columbo - never watched them before, (well caught some of one here and there)

doing all 13 series and the pilots, on series 2 now, ep 5 last night!

one was even in that London.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 15, 2016)

Reno said:


> Truffaut's Day for Night, still probably the most entertaining film about the making of a film.
> .


Have you seen the Hitchcock/Truffaut film?


----------



## Reno (Feb 15, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> Have you seen the Hitchcock/Truffaut film?


No, but I'm really looking forward to it. My dad gave me the book when I was 12 or 13 and it started an obsession with Hitchcock and my interest in film in general.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 16, 2016)

7 eps of The Walking Dead series 5. I was worried that the show wouldn't be able to keep up the momentum that series 3 & 4 had. I was wrong.

The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Brad Pitt has never been better. Beautifully shot; it reminded me of a Malick film.

Trapped - new Icelandic drama set in a small port in the north of the country. Very promising.


----------



## fishfinger (Feb 16, 2016)

Theory of Obscurity: A Film About the Residents
A documentary about the Residents, with contributors including Matt Groening, Penn Jillette, Les Claypool and members of the cryptic corporation.


----------



## Reno (Feb 16, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> Theory of Obscurity: A Film About the Residents
> A documentary about the Residents, with contributors including Matt Groening, Penn Jillette, Les Claypool and members of the cryptic corporation.


Was it good ? If yes, I'll have to check it out.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Feb 16, 2016)

*Movie Crazy (1932)* - Harold Lloyd talkie about a guy trying to get into the Hollywood movie industry. The stunts aren't as spectacular as some of his silent work and Lloyd's acting is a bit ropey but there's still plenty of laughs, the bit at the party with the magician's coat being particularly funny.

*American Madness (1932)*, depression era Frank Capra film about a manager trying to stop a run on his bank after the rumours that they got robbed spread around the town. Similar themes to It's A Wonderful Life and maybe thats why this film seems to have been largely forgotten but it's a decent effort worth a watch.


----------



## fishfinger (Feb 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> Was it good ? If yes, I'll have to check it out.


I quite enjoyed it*. 






*Disclaimer: I am a big fan of the Residents


----------



## ringo (Feb 16, 2016)

Ex Machina - Almost put off by the slow pace but once I got into it that made perfect sense, very good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 19, 2016)

The Limey. Terence Stamp goes to america to avenge his dawatah. Violence ensues. Something of the neeson about it all 6/10


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 19, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> The Limey. Terence Stamp goes to america to avenge his dawatah. Violence ensues. Something of the neeson about it all 6/10


What annoyed me about that, apart from the stupid lighting, was that Stamp had to explain all of his rhyming slang, so he'd say something like 'I'm just going down these apples and pears - stairs'


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 19, 2016)

Telexes! Mobile phones! And Cagney's meltdown as Cody Jarret. Actually; the scene at the chemical plant reminds me a little bit of Burton's Batman released 40 years later....







And quite enjoyed this oddity from 1956


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 19, 2016)

Currently watching Prince of Darkness. It's magnificently crap.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 19, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> What annoyed me about that, apart from the stupid lighting, was that Stamp had to explain all of his rhyming slang, so he'd say something like 'I'm just going down these apples and pears - stairs'


He should have explained why he couldn't actually do cockney anymore.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 20, 2016)

May Kasahara said:


> Currently watching Prince of Darkness. It's magnificently crap.



It's magnificently great is what you really mean.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 20, 2016)

White God (2015).  A teenager and her dog are sent to live with her bitter dad for three months.  Dad dumps the dog on the street in a moment of rage, and the rest of the film follows said teenager and dog's journeys as they try to find each other.  Oh, and all the waifs and strays in the dog kennel.  They rise up and overthrow the man and go on a revenge fueled rampage.

Part horror, part coming of age story and I'm sure also part some-sort-of-class-themed parable.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 21, 2016)

*Northmen (2014) *- ridiculously poor _Vikings _ripoff with that bloke what played Prince Andrei, that bloke what plays Billy Biceps in _Black Sails_, some randos and and even more random (and underwritten) hostage princess there for variation. Complete twaddle and dull with it. No real history, imagery, or even great camp value. Bad wigs, no story to speak of, mediocre rucking and nothing but a bit of suspense over a CGI-generated footbridge to perk it up. Don't bother.

and then by some weird synchronicity of shite…
*The Colony (2013) * more dull twaddle with basically the same structure (one long chase with periodic rucking and - wait - a bit of tension on a rickety CGI-generated footbridge to perk it up! ) Only this time it's set in post apocalyptic Earth with our heroes being some sciencey survivor types trying to rescue some seeds, or something, while being chased by possibly mutant cannibal outlaws. Laurence Fishburne utterly wasted in this. Just as worthless as the above, though gorier.


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2016)

Room - Pretty good thanks to the performances by Brie Larson, who totally deserves her Oscar nomination and the kid who plays her son. Quite moving too, though I could have done without the slushy score. The subject matter is so devastating, I didn't need music to tell me when to be sad.


----------



## starfish (Feb 22, 2016)

What We Do In the Shadows. Fucking hilarious.


----------



## DrRingDing (Feb 22, 2016)

It's ok.


----------



## magneze (Feb 22, 2016)

starfish said:


> What We Do In the Shadows. Fucking hilarious.


It's great. Also watched at the weekend.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 22, 2016)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).  Am I allowed to say I was s bit bored after the first hour?


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 22, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).  Am I allowed to say I was s bit bored after the first hour?



I didn't finish it, it really didn't hold my interest.


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2016)

Spotlight - In the style of All the Presidents Men and very good for what it is, but not the type of film to get me very excited. I usually like Mark Ruffalo but he sticks out here, over-emoting among the low key performances of journalistic professionalism which surround him.

Carol - Beautifully made and well acted, but too reserved to be very moving. Kind of liked it though.

Southbound - Anthology horror film with a road trip theme from the team behind the VHS films. Kind of works, but the individual episodes all lack any sort of resolution because they all bleed not each other. There is a nightmarish wtf quality to it, which keeps it spooky.

Tales from the Crypt - Southbound made me want to watch this British anthology horror classic from Amicus again, which still hold up surprisingly well.

World of Tomorrow - Animation short by the great Don Hertzfeld and by far the best film I've seen to get Oscar nominated this year. Done in his stick figure style it's both a very funny and yet surprisingly haunting look into a little girl's (cloned) future.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 23, 2016)

I saw Carol over Xmas and it was great - but the final climactic scene was spoiled by some gobshite getting up in our row and running out to use his mobile.


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I saw Carol over Xmas and it was great - but the final climactic scene was spoiled by some gobshite getting up in our row and running out to use his mobile.


At least he ran out !


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> At least he ran out !


His speed didn't save him from being a dick.


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> His speed didn't save him from being a dick.


I hardly ever go to the cinema because of his type of thing, I've become extremely irritable in my twilight years. I bought myself a projector and a surround system, which means I now have a small cinema in my living room and I catch up with most new films once the Blu-ray or a decent HD torrent comes out.


----------



## Yetman (Feb 23, 2016)

The Night Before - I try to tire of Seth Rogen but again, he's brilliant in this. Excellent late christmas hoo-ha involving drugs, drink, crazy times and a jew crucifying jesus at christmas. Well worth a watch.

Victoria - the entire film is shot in one take. Which is about the only thing that was interesting for about the first hour before I turned it off, bored. I'm sure it might get a bit livelier but I'm a busy man with shit to do and sitting around watching an hour of flirting is not what I call time well spent.


----------



## ringo (Feb 23, 2016)

ET - All the girls in floods of tears, nearly had a bit of grit myself


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Feb 23, 2016)

The whole series of Walking with Dinosaurs.

Crying out for a new series IMHO


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2016)

Nine Bob Note said:


> The whole series of Walking with Dinosaurs.
> 
> Crying out for a new series IMHO


Have you seen Planet Dinosaur ?


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Feb 23, 2016)

*Quick search*

I don't think I've even heard of it, which is strange  I must have been ill that week...

Gonna guess it's not on Netflix, but hold on, it's on YT!


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2016)

Nine Bob Note said:


> *Quick search*
> 
> I don't think I've even heard of it, which is strange  I must have been ill that week...
> 
> Gonna guess it's not on Netflix, but hold on, it's on YT!


I have to admit, it's a plug, I worked on it. I think it's pretty good though and if you liked Walking with Dinosaurs, you may like this as well.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Feb 24, 2016)

Well, let me tell you, I was seriously pissed by those Diplodocus playing chicking shit when attacked by the Allosaurus in the Ballad of Big Al, especially as the original series had built them up so strong.

Back when I read Dinosaur Magazine, I was always a fan of Allosaurus (issue 5 ot 6 IIRC), but then, I wasn't a herbivore back then  I *expect* them to get their heat back in your show


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 24, 2016)

NEDS

Cheered me right up


----------



## Reno (Feb 25, 2016)

Everest, at home, in 3D. Drama based on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster which has been covered in the book Into Thin Air and the documentary based on it. This isn't based on the Krakauer book but on seperate witness accounts and therefore deviates to some degree. It looks fantastic, but once things go wrong it becomes difficult to distinguish between characters who are heavily wrapped up, at night and in a snow storm. That's where the book and the documentary work better and are far more gripping because you know exactly when and where everybody is and why things went wrong.

Episode 3 of The Expanse. Impressively done, but not having read the books I find it at times hard to follow. Will stick with it though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 25, 2016)

Lots more trailer park boys.
It shouldn't be funny to watch these idiots fail to do anything they set their minds to but it does make me laugh. God love you canada


----------



## D'wards (Feb 25, 2016)

The Forest - awful. Every horror fanboys like myself, should avoid.

It has an initially spooky premise, but then descends into pointless jump-scares and cliches


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 25, 2016)

_She woke up pregnant_

A woman goes to the dentist and comes out pregnant. Based on a  true story

True life TV movies are


----------



## Reno (Feb 25, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> _She woke up pregnant_
> 
> A woman goes to the dentist and comes out pregnant. Based on a  true story
> 
> True life TV movies are


Does what it says on the tin !


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 26, 2016)

I found a dvd copy of Master and Commander at home. So I put on when I went to bed in the hope it would send me to sleep....but it didnt.

I quite enjoyed it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 26, 2016)

What Richard Did - Based on Kevin Power's book; Bad Day In Blackrock, which in turn is based on the real life murder of Brian Murphy outside of Anabel's nightclub in Dublin. Dublin and Wicklow look beautiful in the film, which clashes with the ugliness of the people involved. The book gives you more mindset into that privileged class of Dubliner. It's like Ross O' Carrol Kelly - without the belly laughs.


----------



## belboid (Feb 26, 2016)

The Big Short - not quite as clever as it thinks it is, but a very entertaining depiction of the crash, and the idiocy and wilful ignorance at its heart. Shame the two brief references to the tens of thousands of working-class Americans who actually suffered from the crash weren't done better.

Bridge of Spies - I think the word for this is 'solid'  Rylance immensely watchable, Hanks being his usual not quite convincing Atticus Finch type stand up guy.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Feb 26, 2016)

MORTAL KOMBAT!!

Da de dada dada dada da da,  da de dada dada dada da da,  Da de dada dada dada da da

MORTAL KOMBAT!!

Holy fuck it's awesome. I might have to start watching this at least once a week



*resumes dancing / shadow-ninjaing*

Da de dada dada dada da da,  da de dada dada dada da da,  Da de dada dada dada da da

MORTAL KOMBAT!!


----------



## belboid (Feb 26, 2016)

Joy - nasty little movie about a lucky lass whose immense brilliance saves her from a life with the vile and stupid working class


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 27, 2016)

The World's End.  Pretty fucking awesome; great cast and soundtrack.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 27, 2016)

Kingsmen. 

It's daft, nowhere near as clever or knowing as it thinks it is.

In parts it reminded me of those gangster/geezer/hoolie b flicks that are made to launder drug money...

Anyways...it was still entertaining enough and there was some fun action set pieces.


----------



## belboid (Feb 27, 2016)

Steve Jobs - annoyingly entertaining superior telemovie


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 27, 2016)

belboid said:


> Steve Jobs - annoyingly entertaining superior telemovie



A channel 5 special?


----------



## Reno (Feb 29, 2016)

Krampus, which was terrible. A horror comedy which is neither scary nor funny, just loud and manic. The characters are one-note and loathsome from the start and the title monster barely makes an appearance. There have been a few Krampus films recently and none of them good, which is a shame because as folklore goes he has a lot of potential to be scary.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 29, 2016)

It Follows - loved it, i love how people can still manage to scare the shit out of you by showing you so very little. hard to explain without spoiling. wicked film.


----------



## Dieselpunk2000 (Feb 29, 2016)

Death Ship. A brilliantly trashy 1980 horror starring George Kennedy.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 29, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> It Follows - loved it, i love how people can still manage to scare the shit out of you by showing you so very little. hard to explain without spoiling. wicked film.



It is great. Lovely soundtrack too.


----------



## The Boy (Feb 29, 2016)

V/H/S/2 (2014).  Think I preferred the first one, tbh.  Then again, the crazy cult segment was pretty good.

The pact (2012).  Decent enough take on the haunted house genre.

The canal (2014).  Irish horror, thriller thing.  Probably the most interesting of the three films we've watched over the last couple of nights and I'm sure on another occasion some of it would have been genuinely unsettling, but for some reason I wasn't feeling it.


----------



## magneze (Feb 29, 2016)

12 Angry Men
Pumping Iron
Chappie
All recommended.


----------



## Reno (Mar 1, 2016)

The three first episodes of season one of American Crime (not to be confused with American Crime Story about OJ Simpson, currently on BBC2). It has the same anthology format as American Horror Story in that every season tells a different, self contained story with some of the same cast members returning for to play different roles. Season 1 is about a murder of a rich white guy by a black junky but it's less about the investigation or a trial, than how the murder affects both the families of the victims and families of the accused. Ultimately its an examination about race and crime in America now and it's pretty gripping. Felicity Huffman plays the mother of the victim and she is the stand out in a fantastic cast. She plays a very real monster in the way she pursues what is clearly a racist agenda and how she intimidates those nearest and dearest.


----------



## catinthehat (Mar 1, 2016)

Two final films at the Stockfish Film Festival.  Victoria - German film, Sebastian Shipper cinematography  by Sturla Brandth Grovlen the same guy that did Rams, my top film of 2015.  Victoria is set in Berlin and filmed in a single shot in real time.  Spanish girl who has been studying piano for 17 years and is chucked out of music school, goes to Berlin.  It starts in a club, has a heist in the middle, then stuff which I wont spoil.  Really great film and the technique used gives it a "you are in it" effect.  There was a Q and A with the film maker after the screening.  It sort of out dogmad dogma.  Then Journey to Istanbul about a Belgian mother trying to get her daughter back from running off to Syria.  French film by Rachid Bouchareb.  I#m no expert but I would say that Sturla Brandth Grovlen is a ruddy genius.


----------



## Reno (Mar 1, 2016)

catinthehat said:


> Two final films at the Stockfish Film Festival.  Victoria - German film, Sebastian Shipper cinematography  by Sturla Brandth Grovlen the same guy that did Rams, my top film of 2015.  Victoria is set in Berlin and filmed in a single shot in real time.  Spanish girl who has been studying piano for 17 years and is chucked out of music school, goes to Berlin.  It starts in a club, has a heist in the middle, then stuff which I wont spoil.  Really great film and the technique used gives it a "you are in it" effect.  There was a Q and A with the film maker after the screening.  It sort of out dogmad dogma.  Then Journey to Istanbul about a Belgian mother trying to get her daughter back from running off to Syria.  French film by Rachid Bouchareb.  I#m no expert but I would say that Sturla Brandth Grovlen is a ruddy genius.


Cinema thread here: List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2016

I thought all Victoria had going for it was its central gimmick of shooting the film in one take and that was also the reason why it didn't work as a film.


----------



## catinthehat (Mar 1, 2016)

Woops - clearly I am not an expert!!  I really liked it, it didnt seem like a gimmick to me as actually I did not even know anything about that until the Q an A at the end where I was totally amazed that the actors could keep it up or the logistics of it, let alone running around with a camera, fitting in the car and all that stuff.  Apologies for posting in the wrong bit - I don't usually wander round this bit of the village.


----------



## Reno (Mar 1, 2016)

catinthehat said:


> Woops - clearly I am not an expert!!  I really liked it, it didnt seem like a gimmick to me as actually I did not even know anything about that until the Q an A at the end where I was totally amazed that the actors could keep it up or the logistics of it, let alone running around with a camera, fitting in the car and all that stuff.  Apologies for posting in the wrong bit - I don't usually wander round this bit of the village.


If you thought that was impressive then watch Timecode by Mike Figgis from 2000. It was the first feature film to be shot in one take, but he had four storylines on a screen split into four panels and they all cross at some point, so he had to do the same thing times four and all of it at the same time. I think they shot Victoria four or five times till they got it, Timecode took 16 takes. Like Victoria I don't think the film works as a successful drama because editing is essential for pacing a film, but the logistics are impressive.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 1, 2016)

Reno said:


> If you thought that was impressive then watch *Timecode by Mike Figgis from 2000*. It was the first feature film to be shot in one take, but he had four storylines on a screen split into four panels and they all cross at some point, so he had to do the same thing times four and all of it at the same time. I think they shot Victoria four or five times till they got it, Timecode took 16 takes. Like Victoria I don't think the film works as a successful drama because editing is essential for pacing a film, but the logistics are impressive.



I remember watching that in the art cinema in Sheffield when it came out, was such a trippy experience for a 1st year Film Student ("what are you doing? how? oh that's clever" etc).


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 2, 2016)

Black Mass - Seen it all before Goodfellas lite gangster bio. Good turn from Johnny Depp. 

Legend - Seen it all before gangster bio. Good turns from Tom Hardy and half the cast of Gangster No 1.


----------



## wiskey (Mar 3, 2016)

Just watched Kingsman ... actually far better than I thought it was going to be.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 4, 2016)

Ricki and the Flash.

Years ago, Meryl Streep's character deserted her family to try and make it as a rock star. She ended up as a supermarket cashier and playing in a pub band. Meanwhile, her ex became an ultra-wealthy yuppie and her kids became extremely dysfunctional. Not bad for what it is. Interesting for what it says about the racial anxieties of white America, as that demographic moves towards minority status - Streep's boss in the supermarket, and her ex-husband's new wife are both African-American.


----------



## Chz (Mar 4, 2016)

Tuesday, After Christmas - Romanian film about a man who confesses to his wife that he's in love with his mistress. (spoilers, I guess - but that's literally all that happens in the whole film)

It's superbly well acted and written, but it's also one of those films where not a heck of a lot actually happens and you're left with a "Is that *it*?" once the credits roll. There are some seriously long takes in it - I wonder if it was a play before it was a film?


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 4, 2016)

Watched this Storyville The Fear of 13 a few nights ago.  It's really good but not on iplayer any more

It's just one person talking about being on Death Row and what led him to withdraw his appeal and ask that an execution be set

A powerful story, very well  shot with no one else in it all iirc


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 4, 2016)

Donkeys - convoluted low-budget Scottish drama.  Just about passable.


----------



## KeeperofDragons (Mar 5, 2016)

Started the second series of Blake's 7


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 7, 2016)

Gandhi.  Still awesome.

The Twilight Zone:  Five Characters Looking For An Exit.   Someone posted a Rod Serling interview last week so I've been revisiting great old episodes.


----------



## ringo (Mar 7, 2016)

Top Dog - Directed by Martin Kemp, 2014
Possibly the worst London gangster movie ever made, and it doesn't even have Danny Dyer in. Danny Dyer would have made it better. Football hooligan crew take on local gangsters and get smashed up. Silly plot, bad acting, ridiculous script, obvious stereotyping. I knew it was going to bad  within 5 minutes when the bad men got out of their car and the driver locked it before the the passengers had shut their doors.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 7, 2016)

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

I'd known that his Bobness did the soundtrack, but I didn't know he was in it.

Not that he takes any attention away from the central relationship that between James Coburn as the eponymous Garrett and Kris Kristofferson as the Kid.

This is the real thing: if you haven't seen it do. The theme is the end of the Old West and the coming of law to the frontier - that's emphatically law, by the way, not justice.

The cinematography of the landscapes and the skies is fantastic, I wish I could have seen it on the big screen.


----------



## Sue (Mar 7, 2016)

ringo said:


> Top Dog - Directed by Martin Kemp, 2014
> *Possibly the worst London gangster movie ever made, and it doesn't even have Danny Dyer in. Danny Dyer would have made it better. *Football hooligan crew take on local gangsters and get smashed up. Silly plot, bad acting, ridiculous script, obvious stereotyping. I knew it was going to bad  within 5 minutes when the bad men got out of their car and the driver locked it before the the passengers had shut their doors.


----------



## ringo (Mar 7, 2016)

Sue said:


>


Imagine


----------



## stethoscope (Mar 8, 2016)

Paris Is Burning.


----------



## shifting gears (Mar 8, 2016)

stethoscope said:


> Paris Is Burning.



Great documentary...

Fascinating look into the world of drag balls, vogue offs, throwing shade, NYC disco nitelife and transgender culture... Fierce!

Paris Is Burning (1990) - IMDb


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 8, 2016)

Girls.

What an appalling person Lena Dunham is.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 8, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Girls.
> 
> What an appalling person Lena Dunham is.


I almost had a blazing row with my wife over this show as I voiced my disbelief that she could possibly enjoy that appalling travesty of a show.


----------



## Reno (Mar 8, 2016)

I suppose some people aren't quite getting that Girls is a satire ?

It's about appalling people behaving appallingly, but that doesn't mean the show endorses that behaviour. It's a modern comedy of manners (or lack of) and you either find that funny and compelling or you don't but for what it is, it's well observed. I don't know why that makes Lena Dunham an appalling person unless you don't realise that she's playing a character and not herself.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 8, 2016)

I don't care, it's shite either way.


----------



## belboid (Mar 8, 2016)

Reno said:


> I suppose some people aren't quite getting that Girls is a satire ?
> 
> It's about appalling people behaving appallingly, but that doesn't mean the show endorses that behaviour. It's a modern comedy of manners (or lack of) and you either find that funny and compelling or you don't but for what it is, it's well observed. I don't know why that makes Lena Dunham an appalling person unless you don't realise that she's playing a character and not herself.


except, she does love the characters, which is why they are always brilliant (her getting onto the writing courses, Marnie getting her contract, Jenna being correctly incisive in her therapy classes). It maintains a postmodern distance so she can be critical, but maintains its utter devotion to these vile people.


----------



## Kilgore Trout (Mar 8, 2016)

Are the charachters in Girls so appaling and vile? (I must admit I got bored somewhere during series 2 and stopped watching).

However, they generally seem to be trying to get along with each other and are out to have fun. Ok they are somewhat pompous, full of their own self importance and grandeur. That partly comes from being young, rich, pretty, privileged and living in New York though I would think. I woulnt go so far as to call them appaling and vile. Just young and self obessed.

Hello all by the way, I'm new.

On what I'm watching The Walking Dead Series 2. So I'm a long way behind the current series. Its kind of fun, zombies, gore, shock horror moments. I think it may get dull, after all how many zombies can one guy shoot in the head. But its fun at the minute.

I've also just started The Sopranos and I've nearly finished True Detective series 1.


----------



## Chz (Mar 8, 2016)

I actually think Girls is quite well done. I consider it a fault in myself that I just can't watch a show that lacks a single likeable character. I find it's difficult to enjoy myself when I want to murder the cast.


----------



## belboid (Mar 8, 2016)

Series One, I think they could just be called self-obsessed and superficial - not wholly inappropriate for middle class teens barely into their twenties. As the series progresses, they learn nothing and are happy to shit all over people not in their clique.  Ick.

(which isn't to say there aren't any cleverly written bits, and smart observations about the lives of vacuous, self obsessed, people)


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2016)

Yeah, I abandoned it in S2 cos I hated everyone


----------



## Supine (Mar 8, 2016)

KeeperofDragons said:


> Started the second series of Blake's 7



God, I used to love that. I bet it has mega-aged!


----------



## magneze (Mar 8, 2016)

You're meant to hate everyone. That's the point. Apart from Ray, of course.


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## Reno (Mar 8, 2016)

belboid said:


> except, she does love the characters, which is why they are always brilliant (her getting onto the writing courses, Marnie getting her contract, Jenna being correctly incisive in her therapy classes). It maintains a postmodern distance so she can be critical, but maintains its utter devotion to these vile people.


Of course she loves her characters as any writer loves their creations be they good or bad, but that doesn't mean Dunham endorses the emotional damage they inflict. She dissects their pretensions and narcissism for the purposes of comedy in the same way Woody Allen did when he was still good. There are characters in this who I do find likeable (Shoshanna, Ray, Adam as the series goes on) and most of them have traits or aims that are at least relatable. I find we now live in a culture where people are mega-judgemental of the flaws of others. In fiction that often translates to people on the Internet condemning flawed characters with the same ferocity of condemning a mass murderer which I always find rather OTT. Fine, you don't relate to this very specific world or to these characters at all and you don't find this type of social satire funny, but I don't see why that makes Lena Dunham an appalling human being. She draws on the world she knows and takes the piss out of it like so many a social satirist.


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## belboid (Mar 8, 2016)

Reno said:


> Of course she loves her characters as any writer loves their creations be they good or bad, but that doesn't mean Dunham endorses the emotional damage they inflict. She dissects their pretensions and narcissism for the purposes of comedy in the same way Woody Allen did when he was still good. There are characters in this who I do find likeable or at last relatable (Shoshanna, Ray, Adam as the series goes on) but then I'm find we now live in a culture though where people are mega-judgemental of the flaws of others. In fiction that often relates to people on the Internet condemning flawed characters with the same ferocity of a mass murderer which I always find rather OTT. Fine, you don't relate to this very specific world or to these characters at all and you don't find this type of social satire funny, but I don't see why that makes Lena Dunham an appalling human being.


wow, talk about missing the point. I never said I found Lena Dunham an appalling human being, you just made that up. The problem with her loving the characters goes way beyond how any writer could even love the Hitler they wrote.  The point was,as said, that she shows them behaving like scumbags, but then says they were right, she _justifies _their appalingness. That's why it is vile.


----------



## Reno (Mar 8, 2016)

belboid said:


> wow, talk about missing the point. I never said I found Lena Dunham an appalling human being, you just made that up. The problem with her loving the characters goes way beyond how any writer could even love the Hitler they wrote.  The point was,as said, that she shows them behaving like scumbags, but then says they were right, she _justifies _their appalingness. That's why it is vile.


You didn't say she was appalling, Idris2002 did and I was answering to the general hatred of Girls and Dunham, which I find odd,
However, I totally disagree with you that she endorses her character's terrible behaviour, that's almost like we are watching a different show and I won't go around in circles on that one, so will leave it there.


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## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2016)

magneze said:


> You're meant to hate everyone. That's the point. Apart from Ray, of course.


 Not if it makes you indifferent to their fates


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## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2016)

I loved the Sopranos,  and that was full of detestable people,  but they were fascinating.  Girls' characters are too solipsistic to be interesting


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## belboid (Mar 8, 2016)

Reno said:


> You didn't say she was appalling, Idris2002 did and I was answering to the general hatred of Girls and Dunham, which I find odd,
> However, I totally disagree with you that she endorses her character's terrible behaviour, that's almost like we are watching a different show and I won't go around in circles on that one, so will leave it there.


of course she does.


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## oneflewover (Mar 8, 2016)

The Lady In The Van
Wonderful tale by Alan Bennett, Wonderfully played by Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings. 
Just Wonderful


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## Reno (Mar 8, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I loved the Sopranos,  and that was full of detestable people,  but they were fascinating.  Girls' characters are too solipsistic to be interesting



I suppose that's down to a matter of taste and nuance. The Sopranos were interesting because most of the characters were essentially evil and therefore far removed from my experience, while Girl's characters are frequently appalling in a way that I recognise in people I know and if I'm honest, occasionally in myself, especially when I was young. I may not have tortured anybody to death, but I have been crassly insensitive, talked myself out of a job by saying a stupid thing in an interview or emotionally damaged a lover, so they are two entirely different things. Girls catches the idiocies of youth quite accurately. Young people are inherently solipsistic, that's the theme of the show and that's the main source of its comedy.

One thing with shows like The Sopranos, The Wire or Breaking Bad I always found a little  troubling was that the most horrendous characters and actions inspire hero worship in fans. I don't think I've heard a single person who likes Girls express the desire to be anything like those characters and that is to the credit of the show. You can't accuse Girls of being an aspirational show.

One thing which I think was quite groundbreaking about Girls is the honest way it deals with sex. Unlike most sex scenes they genuinely serve a narrative purpose here. I've rarely seen a film and never a TV show which is so unvarnished about sex while never being prurient or judgemental. It shows sex for the mine field it can be in the real world rather than being idealised like most screen sex. And it may not mean much to many guys, but the way Lena Dunham put herself and her body out there is and was heroic and important. The early sex scenes between Hannah and Adam said a few thing about sex which may be uncomfortable but struck me as very truthful, in that our desires may not always conform to our principles and how to navigate that, especially as a young woman. I think that's important stuff to deal with in our sex shaming, sex negative culture which constantly polices how young women should look and behave.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 8, 2016)

Reno said:


> I suppose that's down to a matter of taste and nuance. The Sopranos were interesting because most of the characters were essentially evil and therefore far removed from my experience, while Girl's characters are frequently appalling in a way that I recognise in people I know and if I'm honest, occasionally in myself, especially when I was young. I may not have tortured anybody to death, but I have been crassly insensitive, talked myself out of a job by saying a stupid thing in an interview or emotionally damaged a lover, so they are two entirely different things. Girls catches the idiocies of youth quite accurately. Young people are inherently solipsistic, that's the theme of the show and that's the main source of its comedy.
> 
> One thing with shows like The Sopranos, The Wire or Breaking Bad I always found a little  troubling was that the most horrendous characters and actions inspire hero worship in fans. I don't think I've heard a single person who likes Girls express the desire to be anything like those characters and that is to the credit of the show. You can't accuse Girls of being an aspirational show.
> 
> One thing which I think was quite groundbreaking about Girls is the honest way it deals with sex. Unlike most sex scenes they genuinely serve a narrative purpose here. I've rarely seen a film and never a TV show which is so unvarnished about sex while never being prurient or judgemental. It shows sex for the mine field it can be in the real world rather than being idealised like most screen sex. And it may not mean much to many guys, but the way Lena Dunham put herself and her body out there is and was heroic and important. The early sex scenes between Hannah and Adam said a few thing about sex which may be uncomfortable but struck me as very truthful, in that our desires may not always conform to our principles and how to navigate that, especially as a young woman. I think that's important stuff to deal with in our sex shaming, sex negative culture which constantly polices how young women should look and behave.


You and your "facts" and your "logic".


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## TruXta (Mar 8, 2016)

Young people aren't inherently solipsistic.


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## KeeperofDragons (Mar 8, 2016)

Supine said:


> God, I used to love that. I bet it has mega-aged!


The sets & effects have aged a bit but the story lines are still as good


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## The Octagon (Mar 8, 2016)

Watched *The Truman Show* for the first time in years (possibly since it came out).

It's held up well, still relevant (if not more so) and Jim Carrey is excellent, as is Ed Harris.

In fact I was surprised Carrey didn't even warrant an Oscar Nom that year (especially having picked up the Golden Globe), although the competition was strong in the Best Actor category.


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## Reno (Mar 8, 2016)

TruXta said:


> Young people aren't inherently solipsistic.



Being around two teenagers a lot at the moment, I beg to disagree. I also think that the self belief which comes with that is essential in finding your place in the world and in discovering yourself. There is all this stuff to discover and do for the first time on your way to becoming an adult and most young people behave like they are the first to experience that. Then you have to grow out of it but with some people that happens quite late and with a few never. In my case it got me through a horrible time as a teenager and it probably saved my life.


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## TruXta (Mar 8, 2016)

Reno said:


> Being around two teenagers a lot at the moment, I beg to disagree. I also think that the self belief which comes with that is essential in finding your place in the world and in discovering yourself. There is all this stuff to discover and do for the first time on your way to becoming an adult and most young people behave like they are the first to experience that. Then you have to grow out of it but with some people that happens quite late and with a few never. In my case it got me through a horrible time as a teenager and it probably saved my life.


There's nothing inherent about any of that.


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## krtek a houby (Mar 8, 2016)

John Boorman's "Excalibur" - at last, got to watch the full movie, un-interrupted. Beautiful in places and odd, in others. Nicol Williamson is a great Merlin.

And a doc about hip hop & the fashion it inspired.  "Fresh Dressed".


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## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> John Boorman's "Excalibur" - at last, got to watch the full movie, un-interrupted. Beautiful in places and odd, in others. Nicol Williamson is a great Merlin.


such an odd performance. ace though. 
now THAT was a film that had a profound effect on me


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## krtek a houby (Mar 8, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> such an odd performance. ace though.
> now THAT was a film that had a profound effect on me



Neil Jordan was involved with it, as well. Have you seen his "Company of Wolves"? Another atmospheric film.


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## radgiesteve (Mar 8, 2016)

I watched Marighella, documentary about Carlos Marighella Brazilian revolutionary. Sad and inspiring -well worth a watch imo


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## Indeliblelink (Mar 8, 2016)

*She (1935) *- A man goes to search the arctic for a hidden civilization that guards a flame of eternal life and is ruled by an immortal queen.
This was great fun once it got going. I saw the colorized version, done by Ray Harryhausen in 2006, which unlike most colorized B&W films works well, probably as director Merian Cooper had originally intended to shoot it in colour before being told the studio couldn't afford it at the last moment.
The film was thought lost for years until a copy turned up in Buster Keaton's garage.


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## Reno (Mar 10, 2016)

I watched all six of the *Paranormal Activity* films over the last three evenings. I get that many people hate found footage films and that these films in particular split opinion but for enough others they must be working as they've made a ton of money. I find the best of these are genuinely creepy in a MR James' "The Mezzotint" kind of way and they did something new in the horror genre, making the audience more active participants. As found footage horror films go they work far better for me than The Blair Witch Project, but I get that everybody's responses to these are different. Many people often complain that modern horror films are too explicit and these films scare almost entirely by suggestion. The long held survaillance camera shots which are the trademark of the series, force you to examine the frame for details that may be "off" and while these long, basically action less shots create tedium for some, they create suspense for others. Like the J-horror films from a few years ago, these films use modern technology to put a spin on the classic ghost story.

I had seen the first five films before, but with a year in between each instalment and as they create an elaborate mythology as they go on, with different time lines where the plot of earlier films is nestled and elaborated on in later ones, I wanted to see how well they work as a whole. they make for a fun horror soap and four films I enjoyed, while two are rather poor.

The first film genuinely was a micro budget surprise hit. It's the most minimal of the lot, but also the one which explores it's concept with the most purity. The studio who bought up the film initial wanted to remake it on a bigger budget but in the end they just reshot the ending which does improve on the original ending, giving the film more of a pay off. A couple find that the malevolent supernatural force which has been plaguing the woman and her sister in their childhood becomes active again. The man puts up surveillance cameras to capture "teh activity". It doesn't end well. 3/5

The second film is more elaborate, with more dramatic incidents. It mostly stays with the surveillance cameras, which doesn't make you wonder why characters lug a camera everywhere, like with so many found footage films (and some of the later PA films). The film is both a prequel and a sequel to the first film, mostly taking place two months before the first film. It focuses on the family of the sister of the woman from the original and why the entity which plagued them in the first film came to haunt the sister in the first film. The last ten minutes are a sequel to PA1, which also starts a plot line the fourth film returns to. 4/5

The third film is another prequel, taking place nearly two decades before the first two films and it's about the sisters from 1&2 when they were little girls. It's probably the most fun in the series with the best set pieces, essentially becoming a found footage variation on Poltergeist and making a much better job of it than the official Poltergeist remake. On the down side, this is the first film which becomes more of a conventional found footage film, forcing characters to lug round a large VHS camera in 1988 to keep filming while scary stuff happens, which strand credibility. Some of the individual scenes are among the best in the series though and the last fifteen minutes which change location, introduce the bad apple in the family and explain how the demon became the scourge of the two sisters, I found genuinely creepy. It's a toss up between this and the 2nd film as to which is my favourite. 4/5

The fourth film is the first weak entry in the series. It's a sequel to the previous films, but especially the second one, elaborating on the fate of what happened to one of the children from PA2. It's watchable enough, but adds little which is new. From this one on the films are sequels, rather than prequels. 2/5

The fifth film called Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones was promoted as more of a spin off, but by the end it ties into the overall mythology with some ingenuity, with the reappearance of some of the regular characters and locations. It's a return to form for the series and what really works is that the protagonists aren't for once white middle class people who live in large houses in suburbia, but a poor Latino family in an urban environment. The film features a lot of Catholic iconography which is genuinely spooky. This again is more of a regular found footage films, where characters keep filming under circumstances when no normal person would. The end is great though, returning to the scary house at the climax of PA3 and adding a supernatural time travelling element which explains something which happened in the first film, but which was never seen. 4/5

The sixth film called PA: The Ghost Dimension which also partially is in 3D has some good ideas but is also the weakest and least inventive of the films. It concerns a family who move to the location of the 3rd film where they discover the VHS tapes and the camera from that film, which meanwhile has aquired the ability to make the evil entity, which has so far never been seen despite possessing several characters, visible. There is an interesting scene where the characters from the video tapes from PA3 in 1988 comment on the current characters. The idea of finally showing you the invisible monster is not a bad one at this point, but otherwise the film is less inventive than the rest it doesn't actually show you enough of "teh activity". The 3D sequences are few and far between with only the ectoplasm and barely glimpsed demon being in 3 dimensions, which is an interesting concept but it's tiresome to wear 3D glass for so much of a film which isn't 3D. 1/5

Paranormal Activity and Saw were the two reigning horror franchises over the last decade and for all their flaws, they did something more interesting with their continuity than earlier series. The sequels to Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street for the most part merely repeated the plot of first film. The Paranormal Activity and the Saw films became elaborate horror soap operas, featuring a set of recurring characters and time hopping plotlines which at their best genuinely expanded their universe, rewarding fans who paid attention. Something seemingly minor which happens in one film could have a major pay off later on and the films would play with your expectations.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 11, 2016)

TruXta said:


> I almost had a blazing row with my wife over this show as I voiced my disbelief that she could possibly enjoy that appalling travesty of a show.



I did LOL hard at the home birth episode.



Reno said:


> I suppose some people aren't quite getting that Girls is a satire ?
> 
> It's about appalling people behaving appallingly, but that doesn't mean the show endorses that behaviour. It's a modern comedy of manners (or lack of) and you either find that funny and compelling or you don't but for what it is, it's well observed. I don't know why that makes Lena Dunham an appalling person unless you don't realise that she's playing a character and not herself.



I'm not sure about that. I think she does (deliberately or not) blur the lines between her own public persona and that of her character. That's how it seems to me anyway.


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## Reno (Mar 11, 2016)

The Hateful Eight. Watchable enough, but very slight for what is nearly a three hour film and not among Tarantino's best. Once it gets going it's alright, but it takes what would be the length of many a feature film film to get there. Felt uncomfortable about how the violence perpetrated against Jennifer Jason Leigh seems to be played for laughs, though it was good to see her in a substantial role again. By the end I was a bit like "is that it ?" It's also time to retire the male rape trope for an easy shock effect now,

I'd still chose the far smaller Bone Tomahawk over either of the two big westerns this year (this one and The Revenant)


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## Reno (Mar 11, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I'm not sure about that. I think she does (deliberately or not) blur the lines between her own public persona and that of her character. That's how it seems to me anyway.


While she takes a few superficial aspects of her life (Hannah is also a writer) to draw on because she know about them, once you actually read or listen to an interview with Lena Dunham, it becomes very clear that she is nothing like Hannah. She would be the first to say so, however media tends to always be very keen to cast a writer's work as strictly autobiographical.

Anyway, I've written close to the length of a PhD on Girls here now, so I think I'm done.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 11, 2016)

Reno said:


> While she takes a few superficial aspects of her life (Hannah is also a writer) to draw on because she know about them, once you actually read or listen to an interview with Lena Dunham, it becomes very clear that she is nothing like Hannah. She would be the first to say so, however media tends to always be very keen to cast a writer's work as strictly autobiographical.
> 
> Anyway, I've written close to the length of a PhD on Girls here now, so I think I'm done.


You've written close to 80,000 words on Girls? I venture to say I think not, hem hem.

After I wrote that post I realised that one big difference between LD and her ghastly creation is that the former has demonstrated a capacity to stick at a job, and stay on the job, until the job's done, as evidenced by the fact that her show is now in several seasons. One thing that really ticked me off about the show was the "heroine" chucking in her writer's degree after a minor bump in the road.


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## Reno (Mar 11, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> You've written close to 80,000 words on Girls? I venture to say I think not, hem hem.



It certainly feels like it and you seem to be doing your best to get me there.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 11, 2016)

Chappie. I didn't like it much. Some decent enough action but I felt the three crims were played badly like some stereotyped 80s crazed-gang member screechers.

I can't decide if the creator being indian was a nod to Short Circuit or just a whifffy stereotype. If it was a nod then its a bit weird anyway cos the short circuit bloke was browned up ffs


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## krtek a houby (Mar 11, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Chappie. I didn't like it much. Some decent enough action but I felt the three crims were played badly like some stereotyped 80s crazed-gang member screechers.
> 
> I can't decide if the creator being indian was a nod to Short Circuit or just a whifffy stereotype. If it was a nod then its a bit weird anyway cos the short circuit bloke was browned up ffs



If you like nods to Short Circuit, I heartily recommend "Master of None". In fact; I insist.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 14, 2016)

Saturday, I watched The Martian, which did exactly what it said on the tin. Probably the most faithful screen adaptation of a book there's ever been. What was really interesting was the way the cooperation with the Chinese was presented - it was portrayed as a lot less fraught and prickly than in the book.

What was misssing in the book was a real sensawunda about being the only human on the planet Mars, and I felt that was missing here too. But it was a good piece of feel-good, can-do space race optimism.

Sunday, I watched this:



Hidden City, from 1987. A genuine lost classic, I'd say. London psychologist Charles Dance tangles with film librarian Cassie Stuart, who is convinced she has discovered evidence of a serious crime by the security organs amidst her reels of old footage. At first he dismisses her as a lunatic, but he soon has evidence that maybe she's on to something after all. Well worth watching (also has Richard E. Grant in a supporting role).


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## Geoffrey (Mar 14, 2016)

I watched The Lobster the other night.  Was pretty decent, although relied a bit to much on the purposefully stilted acting and weirdness.  Worth a watch if you like a bit of a far out story and it worked well that it had two definite halves to the film, The Hotel and then The Wilderness.  

Not much explained throughout though with not a lot of context given to the situation which might frustrate some but easy enough to roll along with.


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## Reno (Mar 14, 2016)

The Salvation, revenge western starring Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green. I believe it's a Danish production, though it was mostly shot in English. The small budget is lent some scope with a lot of CGI, some of it a little ropey. Not bad, but maybe too much of a pastiche and I'm getting tired of revenge stories. Eva Green plays the most interesting character, but isn't in it enough and Eric Cantona got star billing even though he has a fairly minor role.

I think the only western from 2015 I've now still got to watch is Slow West.


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## Nanker Phelge (Mar 14, 2016)

Terminus - a low budget 2015 sci-fi filmed in Sydney, but set in a smalltown USA.

It's a good, low key, sci fi tale about a meteorite incident. Good old fashioned, small town 50s type story telling with some political leanings and commentary on soldiers returning from war and living with injuries. There's quite a nice ending to.

The Director, Mark Furmie, has another sci fi film out which I will keep and eye out for called Airlock.


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## Virtual Blue (Mar 14, 2016)

Ip Man 3 - so disappointing


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## krtek a houby (Mar 14, 2016)

Finally started House of Cards on Netflix; am now 11 eps into the first season. As much as I love the original; it was very much of its time & small scale. Spacey is magnificent; his Francis feels like a blend of his characters in Midnite in the Garden of Good and Evil/Swimming with Sharks/American Beauty. It's like Boss meets Borgen. But better.


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## krtek a houby (Mar 14, 2016)

And Frankenweenie. Loved it; one of Burton's best in a good while. So many references to classic monster movies & the animation is wonderful.


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## Nine Bob Note (Mar 14, 2016)

*Predator*

Never actually seen it before, how embarrassing 

"He was my, err ...friend" So were Jesse Ventura and the Sergeant supposed to be fucking each other, or what? I was half-asleep and so could have misinterpreted things  And why did the woman they captured voluntarily get in the helicopter? You're off to Guantanamo Bay, dear


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## DotCommunist (Mar 14, 2016)

Nine Bob Note said:


> *Predator*
> 
> Never actually seen it before, how embarrassing
> 
> "He was my, err ...friend" So were Jesse Ventura and the Sergeant supposed to be fucking each other, or what? I was half-asleep and so could have misinterpreted things  And why did the woman they captured voluntarily get in the helicopter? You're off to Guantanamo Bay, dear


the CIA agent in it also went on to prosper in american politics like arnie  seeing it first time its easy to miss how hench he is cos he's surrounded by bodybuilders.

The american south sort of one with the hat, you know he makes the awful pussy/echo joke, was actual ex special forces lol

e2a you HAVE to watch predator two as well, danny glovers finest hour. Its so of-its-time it hurts but its a brilliant film


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## Reno (Mar 15, 2016)

Brooklyn. Low key romantic immigration drama and pretty good for what it is. I expected for this to be a bit twee and to dislike this, but it won me over. Saoirse Ronan deserved her Oscar nomination, she's totally convincing going from insecure, mousy Irish girl to confident woman.


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## skyscraper101 (Mar 16, 2016)

Some movies I watched on the plane the other day...

The Big Short - enjoyed. Although still got as confused about the ins and outs of the crash as I did IRL. Very well acted by Steve Carell though. 8/10
Love & Mercy - Brian Wilson biographical drama. Really well played by both John Cusack and Paul Dano. 8/10
Legend - Tom Hardy playing the Krays. He played the part well but I found the film pretty dull and fell asleep. I was tired though tbf. 6/10
Hector - drama about a homeless bloke from Scotland making his way to a London shelter for Christmas. Family strife backstory intervenes. Notable appearances from Stephen Tompkinson and Keith Allen. A bit depressing but then homelessness is. 6.5/10
Learning To Drive - A NYC based middle aged writer's husband walks out on her, she finally decides to learn to drive and forms an unlikely friendship with her instructor, Darwan, played by Ben Kingsley. Enjoyed 7.5/10


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## krtek a houby (Mar 16, 2016)

VHS 2 - a found footage horror anthology by the people behind The Raid films & Blair Witch Project. Enjoyable; esp the Indonesian segment. Apparently the best film in the franchise.

Rec 3 - Genesis - Spanish zombie film. Enjoyable but nothing special. Apparently the weakest of the franchise.


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## trabuquera (Mar 17, 2016)

*Forget Me Not *(2010) - cringemakingly gauche and embarrassing 'rom com with an added element of early-onset dementia for pulling those heartstrings', set in London. Only watched it for star Tobias Menzies (who I'd watch avidly if he were in a PPI compensation commercial, to be honest) ... which is just as well because the script is dire and trite, the leading lady is plastic in the bits where she's not wooden, and it's just not funny or weird or witty or sexy enough to really work as a romcom. PLUS, it's full of bizarre non-Londony scenarios with no real sense of place, its minor characters are all wrong and worst of all - it contains earnest heartfelt busking and a scene set in a silent disco. And yes, almost inevitably, they snog in a pod in the London Eye. It's not trash - it's earnest and sort of not-commercial - but it's a big fat miss.


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## The Boy (Mar 17, 2016)

Bridesmaids (2011).  Rom-com effort by he who is responsible for delivering the new Ghostbusters.  The other half was in the mood for something fluffy and funny, and I laughed like a cunt at The Heat (which was also directed by Paul Feig) so was happy to give this a shot.  Decent enough for what it is, though Chris O'Dowd annoyed the shit out of me for reasons I can't quite figure out.  Especially since half the characters were - as is to be expected in a rom-com - utterly contemptible human beings.


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## Reno (Mar 17, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Bridesmaids (2011).  Rom-com effort by he who is responsible for delivering the new Ghostbusters.  The other half was in the mood for something fluffy and funny, and I laughed like a cunt at The Heat (which was also directed by Paul Feig) so was happy to give this a shot.  Decent enough for what it is, though Chris O'Dowd annoyed the shit out of me for reasons I can't quite figure out.  Especially since half the characters were - as is to be expected in a rom-com - utterly contemptible human beings.


I don't think Bridesmaids is a "romcom" as the romantic angle is a subplot which takes a backseat to the relationship between the women and their (mis)adventures. The humour is also far more raucous than a that of a romcom. This is the female version of a gross out comedy like The Hangover. That too has a romantic subplot, but nobody ever called that a romcom because it's about men.


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## The Boy (Mar 17, 2016)

Reno said:


> the female version of...The Hangover.



Funnily enough, I was going to use that very sentence.  But then I'm also the someone who does call* The Hangover a rom-com.

edit: possibly archly, and a little bit sneeringly.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 17, 2016)

I watched the most recent  Punisher filmas Daredevil comes out tomorrow and the roster of eebil (or morally ambiguos) contains the Punisher. Which btw, if you want a character nickname that sounds like some sort of Dom, go with that.

it was a bit poor tbf. This fellas deal is that he's a bit tasty, his family got massacred and now he's just going to kill the bad people. I like a revenge/action flick as much as the next man but I'm left wondering whats the point of having this in marvelverse? I've seen the same story done a million times and often far better.

also, was the writer sieg heiling as he penned this line?


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## Maharani (Mar 18, 2016)

Just went to see Ben Wheatley's latest 'high rise'. Was very good. I love his dark comedy style. The score was also incredible.


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## ringo (Mar 18, 2016)

Maharani said:


> Just went to see Ben Wheatley's latest 'high rise'. Was very good. I love his dark comedy style. The score was also incredible.



The book's great, hoping the film lives up to it. Looks great from the trailer.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 18, 2016)

American Ultra.

A bit of fun, though I can't say I cared much for the supporting character who was a wigger, nor for his liberal use of the n-word.

My favourite thing about it is that it was only 90 minutes long, which is probably the ideal length for a movie.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> American Ultra.
> 
> A bit of fun, though I can't say I cared much for the supporting character who was a wigger, nor for his liberal use of the n-word.
> 
> My favourite thing about it is that it was only 90 minutes long, which is probably the ideal length for a movie.


themes of getting high too much and being unable to leave your small town resonated with me. The CIA girlfriend not so much


----------



## marty21 (Mar 18, 2016)

Green Street : Stand Your Ground

Hammer Hooligans in prison, up against Chelsea fans , then Millwall fans after a ruck in the first prison - Millwall fans rule the 2nd prison as they have a corrupt Prison Warden on their side - but a good prison warden is on their side and helps them out - they eventually have to play a game of football for their freedom - and win despite the Millwall firm kidnapping a girlfriend, so after initially throwing this crucial match, A Russian fixer is able to arrange a rescue, and they romp to victory and FREEDOM!

I watched it, so you don't have to 

truly awful


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 18, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> themes of getting high too much and being unable to leave your small town resonated with me. The CIA girlfriend not so much


Your girlfriend was FSB, if memory serves.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 18, 2016)

*SPL 2*  - has no link to the original SPL series. Film was a headfuck - moral dilemmas throughout and the martial arts was as crude (and cool) as The Raid 1 and 2. Excellent shit.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 18, 2016)

marty21 said:


> Green Street : Stand Your Ground
> 
> Hammer Hooligans in prison, up against Chelsea fans , then Millwall fans after a ruck in the first prison - Millwall fans rule the 2nd prison as they have a corrupt Prison Warden on their side - but a good prison warden is on their side and helps them out - they eventually have to play a game of football for their freedom - and win despite the Millwall firm kidnapping a girlfriend, so after throwing this crucial match, A Russian fixer is able to arrange a rescue.
> 
> ...



Film deserved an oscar tbh...


----------



## Sue (Mar 18, 2016)

ringo said:


> The book's great, hoping the film lives up to it. Looks great from the trailer.


Was going to re-read the book before going to see this. Can't find it anywhere so assume I must've lent it to someone.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 18, 2016)

*City of God*
Excellent stuff. Would've liked the film to stay in the 60s for a bit longer, which I guess probably means I missed the point of the film


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 19, 2016)

Coconut Hero

Canada /Germany coproduction. At first it seems like a product of the Northern Exposure school of quirk, set as it is in a small north Ontario town. It turns out to be darker than that, though the dark themes are handled lightly.

The hero is a Canadian teenager called Mike Tyson - see what I mean about quirk? The dark themes are marriage break up, suicidal ideation and the deadly consequences of selfish codology.


----------



## pesh (Mar 20, 2016)

Maharani said:


> Just went to see Ben Wheatley's latest 'high rise'. Was very good. I love his dark comedy style. The score was also incredible.


loved it. Portishead's cover of SOS was a nice touch as well.


----------



## Maharani (Mar 20, 2016)

pesh said:


> loved it. Portishead's cover of SOS was a nice touch as well.


Agreed.


----------



## Reno (Mar 20, 2016)

I watched Under the Skin for the second time, had not watched it since it came out. I think it's an absolute masterpiece and it's now my favourite film of the last five years. When I watched it the first time I still had the novel by Michael Faber in my head and I couldn't help comparing how different the film is. Loved the novel but it's an entirely different thing. The film catches some of its tone, while throwing out most of the plot and while the book is one of ideas as much as of atmosphere, the film works almost entirely on an emotional level. It conveys a sense of profound loneliness which is unlike anything I've seen. The idea of showing humanity though the eyes of an alien life form is perfectly realised and it's very unsettling. The film is full of incredible images/impressions and the jittery, pulsing score is one of the most powerful in recent memory. I think Jonathan Glazer is the best British director currently working. Unfortunately his films are not commercial enough for him to get funding, so I'll probably have to wait another decade for the next one.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 20, 2016)

*Bladerunner*

First time I've ever made it all the way through. Just don't get what's so great about it  Why does HF's apartment look like a spaceship?


----------



## Maharani (Mar 20, 2016)

I've just started Bates Motel. It's actually pretty ok.


----------



## Reno (Mar 20, 2016)

Nine Bob Note said:


> *Bladerunner*
> 
> First time I've ever made it all the way through. Just don't get what's so great about it  Why does HF's apartment look like a spaceship?


I don't think the apartment looks like a space ship, it has modular elements which go with the overall design aesthetic for the film, which was that everything would be retro-fitted. That meant not much new would be built in the future (earth being left to the less well off while the rich populated "off world") and existing buildings would be added to and adapted for current purpose.


----------



## Reno (Mar 20, 2016)

....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 21, 2016)

Beyond the Reach. Cat and mouse shenanigans in the Mojave desert as Michael Douglas does Gecko with a gun in a far fetched, but mildly entertaining, hunter vs prey thriller...


----------



## Chz (Mar 21, 2016)

Reno said:


> I watched Under the Skin for the second time, had not watched it since it came out. I think it's an absolute masterpiece and it's now my favourite film of the last five years. When I watched it the first time I still had the novel by Michael Faber in my head and I couldn't help comparing how different the film is. Loved the novel but it's an entirely different thing. The film catches some of its tone, while throwing out most of the plot and while the book is one of ideas as much as of atmosphere, the film works almost entirely on an emotional level. It conveys a sense of profound loneliness which is unlike anything I've seen. The idea of showing humanity though the eyes of an alien life form is perfectly realised and it's very unsettling. The film is full of incredible images/impressions and the jittery, pulsing score is one of the most powerful in recent memory. I think Jonathan Glazer is the best British director currently working. Unfortunately his films are not commercial enough for him to get funding, so I'll probably have to wait another decade for the next one.


I've noticed that most of the people I've spoken to who liked it have read the book.  I still think it looks like what you'd get if you gave someone pursuing a B.FA in film a big budget and a Hollywood star to do their 3rd year project. It came off schmaltzy, rather than deep.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 21, 2016)

"Marvellous" with Toby Jones. He really is one of the best actors around.


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2016)

Chz said:


> I've noticed that most of the people I've spoken to who liked it have read the book.  I still think it looks like what you'd get if you gave someone pursuing a B.FA in film a big budget and a Hollywood star to do their 3rd year project. It came off schmaltzy, rather than deep.


Most of the predominantly enthuseastic reviews were by critics who had not read the book. In fact as I wrote above, having read the book initially made me not take to the film as much as I did the second time, because it deliberately is far from a faithful adaptation. I had to be able to put the book out of my mind to truly enjoy it.

How a film this emotionally remote and stark can be described as "schaltzy" is beyond me. Every film which pursues more avant grade aesthetics gets the accusation labelled at it that it's like a film school project by its detractors. Boring.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 21, 2016)

Spectre.

What was missing in this, as in all the Craig era bonds, was a sense of fun.

Shocking.


----------



## magneze (Mar 21, 2016)

Lone Survivor. Reasonable war film, quite watchable.


----------



## Chz (Mar 21, 2016)

Reno said:


> How a film this emotionally remote and stark can be described as "schaltzy" is beyond me. Every film which pursues more avant grade aesthetics gets the accusation labelled at it that it's like a film school project by its detractors. Boring.


That it was, I agree there. 
I can certainly understand how people like it (it's not "beyond me"), I just happen to disagree. The film very publicly divides opinion. It's not worth having a snit over. The reason I brought up the book (and my experience was contrary - almost all of the positive reviews I read were from people who'd read the book) is because I was hoping to glean something more about why some people like it so much. I was kind of hoping you'd explain something more about it.


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2016)

Chz said:


> That it was, I agree there.
> I can certainly understand how people like it (it's not "beyond me"), I just happen to disagree. The film very publicly divides opinion. It's not worth having a snit over. The reason I brought up the book (and my experience was contrary - almost all of the positive reviews I read were from people who'd read the book) is because I was hoping to glean something more about why some people like it so much. I was kind of hoping you'd explain something more about it.


Give the book a try, maybe you'll like it. It's one of my favourite novels of the last couple of decades and it is different from the film in that it has far more of a plot and concrete themes. I don't think it shines more of a light on the film because the film deliberately leaves events open to interpretation and if you've read the book you are more likely to interpret it along those lines, which for me got in the way. The central character in the book is quite different to start with, a surgically altered quadruped who is described as rather grotesque and who barely passes for human.

While I was initially disappointed that the film is such a loose interpretation, now I think it's one of the things which are admirable about it. So many faithful adaptations feel like mere illustrations of a text, which reduce rather than enhance it and add little to the experience of reading the book. The film of Under the Skin completely becomes its own thing and the only aspect it is really faithful too is its atmosphere and the concept of looking at our world through alien eyes.

It is a deliberately slow and repetitive film. To some that approach is boring, to me it was hypnotic.


----------



## D'wards (Mar 22, 2016)

Wake in Fright - a brilliant Australian film that was kind of forgotten about for many years. It really stayed with me for a few days. Really encapsulates that once the grog starts flowing things can go awry pretty quick, and how the aggressive hospitality of some types is a pretty horrible thing really.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 22, 2016)

I watched Method Man in the Mortician. He was very good. The film was a bit flimsy, but a good try.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I watched Method Man in the Mortician. He was very good. The film was a bit flimsy, but a good try.


whats his preferred acting style?


I watched Spectre. Either bond films are getting insanely repetitive or I've seen it before and somehow forgotten completly. It was alright, JB ennit. A big sugary cake of nothing but there is some good fights and cars chases etc


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 22, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> whats his preferred acting style?


don't you remember him from The Wire?


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 22, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> don't you remember him from The Wire?


cheese, the dog murdering bastard. I was making a joke based on his hip hop name


----------



## Sue (Mar 22, 2016)

D'wards said:


> Wake in Fright - a brilliant Australian film that was kind of forgotten about for many years. It really stayed with me for a few days. Really encapsulates that once the grog starts flowing things can go awry pretty quick, and how the aggressive hospitality of some types is a pretty horrible thing really.


After watching that I didn't drink for weeks.


----------



## inva (Mar 22, 2016)

Duelle
Jacques Rivette's 1976 supernatural film noir. A fairly straightforward plot compared with a lot of his work of that period and with less of an improvised 'theatrical' feel. It is beautifully shot by William Lubtchansky and mainly set in bars, dancehalls and at card tables and has a familiar Rivette atmosphere of conspiracy and mystery along with a dose of mystical nonsense which he also seemed to have a liking for. I think I'm right in saying it was intended to be the second of a series of four films followed by Noroît. The first was never made and Rivette had a breakdown during the filming of the fourth, but ended up partially making it years later as The Story of Marie and Julien which I've watched before and liked a lot.

Anyway, while the supernatural story in Duelle is a bit lacking, it is a very stylish film with nicely composed nods to classic noir and on the whole makes up for its shortcomings.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 23, 2016)

The Martian, which I enjoyed a lot. As a slab of hollywood entertainment it was very good.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 23, 2016)

*Crimson Peak *- perhaps Del Toro's weakest _fantasy horror_ to date. Casting and costumes were good but man, what up with the shit story? Too predictable. Maybe it's me. I'm just not liking his Hollywood efforts.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 23, 2016)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - I like apes, I like apes on horseback, I like apes on horseback firing machine guns....


----------



## Reno (Mar 24, 2016)

The Fassbinder Foundation is restoring all of his films and releasing them on Blu-ray and I got the box set of the first ten restored films this week. Now I've got a Fassbinder film retrospective in a box. 

Watched *The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant* last night which looks great. Essentially the filmed version of his stage play, six characters claustrophobically confined to one room, the film is still very cinematic as the camera is always on the move. I love the compositions of how the characters are arranged in the frame, they are so tightly choreographed this could be a dance piece. It charts the start and end of a love story, which as so often with Fassbinder is closely linked to exploitation, both emotionally and financially. In addition to her infatuation with her callous younger lover Karin, Petra is in an abusive master-servant relationship with her always silent assistant Marlene, which may be more erotically charged than her romantic involvement.

Fassbinder was ahead of his time in the depiction same sex relationships in that the homosexuality of the characters is never the issue, though at the time that was often misunderstood because he didn't feature "positive stereotypes". However while in other films of the period the homosexuality of the characters is linked to their flaws, unhappiness or downfall, this is not the case here. His gay characters are simply no better than his straight ones.

This is one of a small handful of films which exclusively features female characters. Loved the costumes, with Petra being a fashion designer this goes to town with the costume design, which was influenced by the early 70s art-nouveau revival. The women are always elaborately dressed up and styled, while merely hanging out at Petra's home. The dress below which looks like something from a Klimt painting is one of my all time favourite costume designs. If there is such a thing as lesbian camp, this is it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 24, 2016)

Reno said:


> The Fassbinder Foundation is restoring all of his films and releasing them on Blu-ray and I got the box set of the first ten restored films this week. Now I've got a Fassbinder film retrospective in a box.
> 
> Watched *The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant* last night which looks great. Essentially the filmed version of his stage play, six characters claustrophobically confined to one room, the film is still very cinematic as the camera is always on the move. I love the compositions of how the characters are arranged in the frame, they are so tightly choreographed this could be a dance piece. It charts the start and end of a love story, which as so often with Fassbinder is closely linked to exploitation, both emotionally and financially. In addition to her infatuation with her callous younger lover Karin, Petra is in an abusive master-servant relationship with her always silent assistant Marlene, which may be more erotically charged than her romantic involvement.
> 
> ...



No apes on horseback?


----------



## Reno (Mar 24, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> No apes on horseback?


Sorry 

...but I like those too. I think the Planet of the Apes reboot is the best Hollywood film franchise going and Caesar is the most interesting ongoing character in a film series right now. Can't wait for the third one.


----------



## Maharani (Mar 24, 2016)

marty21 said:


> Green Street : Stand Your Ground
> 
> Hammer Hooligans in prison, up against Chelsea fans , then Millwall fans after a ruck in the first prison - Millwall fans rule the 2nd prison as they have a corrupt Prison Warden on their side - but a good prison warden is on their side and helps them out - they eventually have to play a game of football for their freedom - and win despite the Millwall firm kidnapping a girlfriend, so after initially throwing this crucial match, A Russian fixer is able to arrange a rescue, and they romp to victory and FREEDOM!
> 
> ...


Isn't the gorgeous Danny Dyer in this?


----------



## Maharani (Mar 24, 2016)

Maharani said:


> I've just started Bates Motel. It's actually pretty ok.


EDIT: it's actually shit but I'm hooked now.


----------



## Maharani (Mar 24, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I watched Method Man in the Mortician. He was very good. The film was a bit flimsy, but a good try.


He was in something I watched recently but I can't recall what it was. He's a good actor.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 24, 2016)

He was great in The Wire.

I'm going to see him and Redman live soon...with my kid and my brother....


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 25, 2016)

*Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation*

Two films with subtitles inside a week! It was on Amazon and I didn't have to pay for it. Swedish James Bond for an adult audience. Clearly done on a budget but still really enjoyable


----------



## Maharani (Mar 25, 2016)

Girlhood. What an irritating bunch of characters and so unbelievable in the change in personality of the main girl. AND playing a whole Rihanna track while girls jump around, dancing badly, was more than unnecessary. Rihanna IMO is unnecessary anyway. 

Didn't finish the film as was ready to break the TV.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 25, 2016)

Maharani said:


> EDIT: it's actually shit but I'm hooked now.



There's a whiff of Twin Peaks about it but that's not a bad thing. Norman is the least interesting character in it.


----------



## Maharani (Mar 25, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> There's a whiff of Twin Peaks about it but that's not a bad thing. Norman is the least interesting character in it.


I thought that at the first couple of eps but that feeling soon withered. I do like the mother and the elder brother is mmmm. But it's just silly, I suppose that's ok and it's easy to watch.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 25, 2016)

Maharani said:


> I thought that at the first couple of eps but that feeling soon withered. I do like the mother and the elder brother is mmmm. But it's just silly, I suppose that's ok and it's easy to watch.



Dylan is easy on the eye but it's Sheriff Romero who gets my pulse racing. I don't know why; his character in Lost never did it for me!


----------



## ViolentPanda (Mar 25, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched the most recent  Punisher filmas Daredevil comes out tomorrow and the roster of eebil (or morally ambiguos) contains the Punisher. Which btw, if you want a character nickname that sounds like some sort of Dom, go with that.
> 
> it was a bit poor tbf. This fellas deal is that he's a bit tasty, his family got massacred and now he's just going to kill the bad people. I like a revenge/action flick as much as the next man but I'm left wondering whats the point of having this in marvelverse? I've seen the same story done a million times and often far better.
> 
> also, was the writer sieg heiling as he penned this line?




The point being that Frank Castle came from a morally-dubious background - CIA field agent and cop - so his reaction to the death of his family is of a piece with the social role he's previously played in society, _sans_ the legality.

Speaking of Daredevil, in the comic-verse there are a few crossovers between DD and Punisher, via Jigsaw.


----------



## Maharani (Mar 25, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Dylan is easy on the eye but it's Sheriff Romero who gets my pulse racing. I don't know why; his character in Lost never did it for me!


I preferred the other detective. Romero looks like he's got kohl no 1 on. Although I do like a man in eyeliner usually. I think he's just too cold for me.


----------



## magneze (Mar 25, 2016)

Hyena 
Corrupt cops and gangsters. Deserves better ratings. Thought it was good.


----------



## oneunder (Mar 26, 2016)

magneze said:


> Hyena
> Corrupt cops and gangsters. Deserves better ratings. Thought it was good.


Soundtrack is nice too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 26, 2016)

Trailer Park Boys: Don't Legalize It

You'd think a running piss joke would get old but they maintained it along with many other lols. I think its fast becoming my fave comedy prog since peep show or misfits.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 26, 2016)

Badlands.

Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, 1973. Terence Malick directs.

Sheen turns in a much better performance than he does in the Cassandra Crossing, where he was Ava Gardner's toy boy. He's also playing a mass-murdering nonce though, so there's that.

Warren Oates turns in the best performance as Spacek's doomed father. The very best thing in it, though, is the scenes of the American mid-west, its open spaces and its big skies. Another one I wish I'd seen on the big screen.

It's also another film that makes me think that Americans have never really processed the trauma of the depression. Even though it was made forty years after FDR became president, a lot of the locations and sets look unchanged since the 1930s.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Mar 27, 2016)

I noticed Philomena was just about to drop off the iPlayer, so watched it just to see Dench and Coogan really.

I've not been so blindsided by a film for ages, wow. Enraging, moving, beautifully played.


----------



## Reno (Mar 27, 2016)

I'm five episodes into Trapped and not quite feeling it. I like the idea of a killer lose during a snowstorm, but otherwise this is a bogstandart whodunnit which ticks all the boxes of the genre, with red herrings at regular intervals.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 27, 2016)

Been watching Dickensian, which is a lot of fun. Enjoying it very much, but quite sad knowing that most of the characters' fates are unhappy ones.
Compeyson is a great villain.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 27, 2016)

Re watched the first series of Banshee in anticipation of the fourth and final season which starts April1st. Very underrated series imo although the 'sex' scenes are pretty superfluous .


----------



## belboid (Mar 27, 2016)

American Horror Story, Murder House.  

There's far too much telly to watch, so it's taken me till now to get around to AHS. Damn, but it's bloody good tho. Deliciously done.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 27, 2016)

Quadrophenia.

I know it means a lot to some people on here (if memory serves), but I'd never seen it, and I was surprised at how good it was. Not just a vanity project for a bunch of aging multi-millionaire rock stars.

And Phil Daniels was truly excellent in the lead role of tormented Mod Jimmy. Though maybe it was the Mod subculture that was the  real star of the show?

The scenes where they ride into Brighton over the Downs were as exciting as any of the road scenes in _Easy Rider. _A possible influence?

Also, did this flick play any role in sparking the mod revival, which IIRC was roughly around the same time it was released.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Mar 27, 2016)

Just watched Mockingjay Part 2. Great stuff, did the book justice. Still wiping my eyes


----------



## Indeliblelink (Mar 28, 2016)

*St. Martins Lane (1938)*, - a London busker recruits a young female pickpocket off the street to be part of his troupe but he then has to cope when she leaves to bcome a famous actress. Simple plot but oustanding performances from Charles Laughton & Vivien Leigh make this a a hidden gem of British cinema.

on youtube here


Spoiler


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 28, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> whats his preferred acting style?
> 
> 
> I watched Spectre. Either bond films are getting insanely repetitive or I've seen it before and somehow forgotten completly. It was alright, JB ennit. A big sugary cake of nothing but there is some good fights and cars chases etc



You're not wrong. Spectre is boring as shire.


----------



## ringo (Mar 29, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Re watched the first series of Banshee in anticipation of the fourth and final season which starts April1st.



Not appearing on the Sky Guide website, can't find a listing showing it...


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 29, 2016)

ringo said:


> Not appearing on the Sky Guide website, can't find a listing showing it...


It's screened in the US April 1st . Don't know who if anyone will get the series rights in UK. Good reason to download Kodi ?


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 29, 2016)

Deustchland 83 - 4 eps in and we are really enjoying it. Great pop songs peppered throughout & story is increasingly bonkers!


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 29, 2016)

Watched *Terminator *on demand as have just discovered we have Sky Movies (!!). They only have one and _three _though, fucks sake, what is the point of that? .

I always thought Arnie's bouncing wang was darkened out of shot in the SD release, but for HD they don't seem to bothered


----------



## The Boy (Mar 29, 2016)

He never died (2015).  About the best thing about this is that it had Henry Rollins deadpanning it in the lead role.  Other than that a fairly pedestrian horror effort that sees the above playing the part of an immortal cannibal living as a loner to control his urge to eat people.  Meh.

Housebound (2014).  New Zealand horror comedy.  I didn't like this, but can see why it appeals. I might actually give it another try as i was in a pretty funny mood.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 30, 2016)

Man Up.

(German title: Es Ist Kompliziert).

Simon Pegg and Kate Bell meet cute amidst the human drama that is dating among the upper-middle classes of London town.

A better than average rom-com, I suppose. Though a creepy stalker's creepy stalking is played for laughs, in way that is almost certainly not true-to-life.

And this depicts a world where people hosting a party have _designated sofas _for red and white wine drinkers.


----------



## Sue (Mar 30, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Man Up.
> 
> (German title: Es Ist Kompliziert).
> 
> ...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 30, 2016)

Been watching How to Get Away with Murder. Viola Davis is quite marvellous. The plotting is pretty good with enough suspension of disbelief, and the cast mostly hold it all together enough to keep it entertaining.....but, god, I am bored of all the endless shagging between them all.

All these pretty people with fit bods and lovely underwear always at it is so dull.


----------



## Reno (Mar 31, 2016)

Chinese Roulette, considered one of RW Fassbinders lesser films, but actually pretty great. A psycho-drama which plays a bit like a country house murder mystery without the murders. The plot is like a parody of the 70s Euro art house film, where the layers of hypocrisy are peeled off the bourgeois characters during a climactic children's game. It works thanks thanks to the stylised acting, where the characters are so tightly choreographed that they almost dance around each other and thanks to the camera work by Michael Ballhaus which deliriously circles around them. The casts members who frequently worked with Fassbinder and who are completely attuned to his theatrical style, work far better in the film than French star Anna Karina, who is too subdued and naturalistic to register much.

The Walk, Robert Zemeckis fictionalised film of French wire walker Philippe Petit who walked between the Twin Towers in the 70s. Mainly watched this to give my 3D projector a work out. I'd seen the documentary Man on a Wire and I found Petit so intensely irritating (French, mime, raging ego) I just wanted him to fall off his rope to his death. He is only moderately less annoying as played here by Joseph Gordon-Levitt with an Inspector Closeau accent (actually pretty close to the real man). As a tribute to the World Trade Centre the film is more interesting. The camera regards the building in an almost fetishistic manner, just like Petit did. There is something haunting about seeing it recreated here via CGI during a time when it had just been built.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 31, 2016)

I've watched most of the first series of house of cards as I was persuaded to in a trade off for getting someone to watch Daredevil, something out of their TV comfort zone. Its good, power game after power game. Frank Underwood however is a moral vacuum he literally exists to win. Money, sex the trappings. He likes those well enough. But its all simple status markers indicating the only thing he exists for- power over other people. Its weird watching a program and cheering for his enemies and gutted cos you know this sharks going to eat them

his wife is just as cold and clever and power-fluent. Lady macbeth and hilary clinton but with more charm than both. I'll have to watch the lot now. I want to know how far Franks ambition goes- the big chair itself?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 31, 2016)

Kick Ass 2 - must have been one of the few people to enjoy it!


----------



## Reno (Mar 31, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Kick Ass 2 - must have been one of the few people to enjoy it!


Why doesn't that surprise me !


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 31, 2016)

Reno said:


> Why doesn't that surprise me !



I like what I like!  It was inappropriately rude and violent, much like the first one (from what I remember of it).  It made me chuckle and I enjoyed the action scenes.  The choppings and spurting limbs reminded me of one of my all time faves, Shogun Assassin.  I'd sit through this again before any X-Men/Superman/Fantastic Four 12-cert snoozefest.  Maybe a bit gratuitous for a 15 cert, but that's a bbfc issue...


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 31, 2016)

*300: Rise of an Empire*
Loved the first one, but this was pretty bad. Didn't look as 'different' and not enough Xerxes. On the plus side, Sullivan Stapleton is FOOKIN hot, and Jack O'Connell too.
*
Taken*
Loved it. Hugely enjoyable nonsense from start to finish. Typically, Sky don't have the second one, but I'm led to believe the sequels are total shit.

Now have True Lies and Midnight Cowboy downloading


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 31, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Re watched the first series of Banshee in anticipation of the fourth and final season which starts April1st. Very underrated series imo although the 'sex' scenes are pretty superfluous .



I really enjoyed the 1st one - have the 2nd on my shelf to watch.  It's silly entertainment and realises it (unlike, say, GoT ).


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 31, 2016)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Now have True Lies and Midnight Cowboy downloading



*Midnight Cowboy* was excellent, possibly the best film I've crammed in this week  Been through the entire Sky Movies catalogue, and there really isn't anything else I want to watch. Deffo not worth whatever we are paying for it. Fortunately, have a few DVDs due tmoz.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 1, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched the most recent  Punisher film



No you didn't


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 1, 2016)

magneze said:


> Hyena
> Corrupt cops and gangsters. Deserves better ratings. Thought it was good.


Worth checking out the earlier _Tony _- same lead actor, director, composer - low budget London serial killer stuff, but very downbeat.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 1, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Worth checking out the earlier _Tony _- same lead actor, director, composer - low budget London serial killer stuff, but very downbeat.


Rather than the happy-go-lucky, cheerful, uplifting serial killer stuff, obviously.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 1, 2016)

Reno said:


> If you thought that was impressive then watch Timecode by Mike Figgis from 2000. It was the first feature film to be shot in one take, but he had four storylines on a screen split into four panels and they all cross at some point, so he had to do the same thing times four and all of it at the same time. I think they shot Victoria four or five times till they got it, Timecode took 16 takes. Like Victoria I don't think the film works as a successful drama because editing is essential for pacing a film, but the logistics are impressive.


A few years ago I went to a live mix of Timecode Figgis give as the last film to be shown in the Newcastle Odeon. Interesting to see different stories focussed from the original version


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 1, 2016)

*Sweeney Todd *- the 2006 BBC TV movie version. Goes much heavier on Georgian/18th century set dressing, postulating boils, gouting gore, Hogarthian squalor, street banter and despair than most treatments of the subject. Ray Winston is strangely affecting as a demon barber with a bad case of PTSD, his doomed twisted romance with Mrs Lovett is genuinely touching and uncomfortable. Tom Hardy shows up  looking very pretty in a wig and pantaloons but sadly gets shanked in the end. It's a strange fever dream of an adaptation but for my taste (ha!) an interesting one.


----------



## Reno (Apr 1, 2016)

S☼I said:


> Just watched Mockingjay Part 2. Great stuff, did the book justice. Still wiping my eyes


It was alright, watched it last night together with the first part which I had not yet seen. The last two parts probably work best as one long film. Part 2 does have a few plot turns which are surprisingly dark, I didn't expect they would go there. There were complaints a about splitting the last book into two films, but I thought that worked fine, it didn't feel too extended to me.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's death presented some problems which they weren't quite able to resolve. He was really needed in what would have been his last scene. And just why did they have to add that now obligatory, soppy epilogue a couple of years into the future ? It would have been a perfect end the scene before with her answering: "It's real". Was the epilogue in the book ?

On the whole this was pretty good as these thing go.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 1, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> No you didn't


oh well I'm not encouraged to seek out the most modern iteration anyway what with me not loving him much in netflix daredevil srs 2. Just can't get over his pointless powers (being ex military badass is his powrs) and how he's basically a cipher for american comic writers to have the argument about lethal force. Between themselves.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 1, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I really enjoyed the 1st one - have the 2nd on my shelf to watch.  It's silly entertainment and realises it (unlike, say, GoT ).



Gets better and better imo


----------



## hot air baboon (Apr 1, 2016)

Run All Night is Neeson and Collet-Serra’s third pairing, after Unknown (2011) and Non-Stop (2014) – all films that make use not just of Neeson’s mighty-oak physique but also of his awkwardness and mournful gravity.

And how did Phillips choose Neeson for the cameo? “There’s a lot of people [we considered],” he said. “He has gravity. Liam brings a sense of gravity.

We meet our hero, Bill Marks (Liam Neeson), sitting mournfully in his car at the airport

Neeson's movies' problem isn't Neeson, who brings the right amount of gravity and world-weariness to them.

He’s a powerful presence, both in his athletic assurance (no creaky joints for this 61-year-old) and his mournful gravitas.

"Run All Night" is about a mournful hit man and his son who do just that.

Neeson embodies his character with a hard-edged gravity and matter-of-fact curtness that conveys how Scudder accepts the world–in all its ugliness and unfairness–for what it is, all while nonetheless exhibiting an irrepressible resolve, however irrational, to want to make it a better place. It’s a quietly mournful performance

Neeson is the increasingly rare kind of action star that doesn’t rely on martial-arts mastery, a beefcake physique, or pretty-boy looks as the key to his appeal. He’s more a Charles Bronson type, nothing but distilled conviction and gravity.

The film opens grimly enough with Ottway working on an oil refinery as a wolf sniper in the remote Alaskan wilderness amongst men “not fit for civilization.”  He waxes mournfully in voice-over about being separated from his wife......Here we finally have a character who marries the gravity of an Oskar Schindler with the gruff bad-assery of Neeson’s more recent commercial incarnations.


...if ever called upon to pen a review of a Neeson film please be sure to mention that he is mournful & has  * _gravity_ * ...


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 1, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Deustchland 83 - 4 eps in and we are really enjoying it. Great pop songs peppered throughout & story is increasingly bonkers!



Think I'm at the same point as you in catching up.  Really enjoying it more with every episode.


----------



## starfish (Apr 1, 2016)

Last weekend we watched:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 



Spoiler: My tuppence worth



Better than the prequels but still felt like I'd seen it all before & felt a certain emptiness at the end. But then again I am 46 & I saw the originals between 8-12.


Kung Fu Panda 3. A few cute funny bits but overall disappointing. Probably worse than KFP2.
Legend (The Krays thingy). Gor blimey me old china, we love our mum. Tom Hardy was good in both roles (you could tell the difference) but they were evil cunts & films like this just help to make them out like Robin Hood types.
The Revenant. Koyaanisqatsi with dialogue. Beautifully filmed, acting wasn't bad but felt the story was a bit cliched. Plus I still think Di Caprio looks like he's wearing his big brothers clothes.
Deadpool. The best of the lot. Funny, violent, sexy & funny. Didn't go on too long either.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 1, 2016)

Lebanon.  Had never heard of this before, but really good 'madness of war' film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 1, 2016)

hot air baboon said:


> Run All Night is Neeson and Collet-Serra’s third pairing, after Unknown (2011) and Non-Stop (2014) – all films that make use not just of Neeson’s mighty-oak physique but also of his awkwardness and mournful gravity.
> 
> And how did Phillips choose Neeson for the cameo? “There’s a lot of people [we considered],” he said. “He has gravity. Liam brings a sense of gravity.
> 
> ...


Surely they mean _gravitas? _


----------



## Reno (Apr 2, 2016)

gravy ?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 2, 2016)

starfish said:


> Koyaanisqatsi with dialogue.



Like you were channelling your inner Belushi, top work


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 2, 2016)

Reno said:


> gravy ?


Thick, meaty and with the occasional lumps thrown in


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 2, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Think I'm at the same point as you in catching up.  Really enjoying it more with every episode.



Slightly disappointed with the finale but I get the feeling it's been left open ended for a possible second season?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 3, 2016)

Ex Machina - which I very much enjoyed.

I also watched two eps of Gotham, but I am really not sure what I think about it yet. I'm not sure I can go 20+ episodes, and get caught up with Arrow, Flash, the new one about the future people thing....


----------



## ginger_syn (Apr 4, 2016)

Alien v predator with commentary, I do love a commentary, Battle Los Angeles, Godzilla and Godzilla


----------



## magneze (Apr 4, 2016)

Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt 2
The sequel that actually had some story in unlike Pt1. Alright, could have been shorted and one film rather than two.

Straight Outta Compton
NWA biopic. Excellent - superbly played by the cast and the soundtrack is of course great.

The Big Short
Film of the book. Pretty good. The book got a bit annoying after a while, I think I preferred the film.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 4, 2016)

Rec 4: Apocalypse (2014).  Shifts away from the found footage style of the first three which, while it's nice not to have to put up with the conceit, doesn't make for any better a fillum.  Hopefully the end of the franchise as it's been downhill quick after the first two..

Clueless (1995).  Couldn't find anything to watch, and happened across one of these awful '20 Best Comedies of the last 25 years' lists which suggested this.  The other half fancied it, I didn't, though i did go see it in the pictures 20 years ago with my first ever girlfriend so OH managed to convince me on the grounds of nostalgia.  Was fun.  the young teenaged me didn't even know it was an adaptation of Emma.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 4, 2016)

*The Departed*
Excellent from start to finish, possibly overtaking Goodfellas as my favourite Scorsese flick.
I bought it because Di Caprio was in it, so no surprises that I thought he was great, and Jack Nicholson played himself which is always nice


----------



## Maharani (Apr 5, 2016)

Love
Not one to watch with your parents or your children for that matter. I actually enjoyed this quite a lot. The sex scenes were real and very sexy as it goes. There was nothing mind bogglingly brilliant about it but it served a purpose for 2 hours and didn't irritate me. 

Pineapple Express
Silly but funny and anything with Franco in is always something to watch IMO. I like Seth Rogan too.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 5, 2016)

X Men - Days of Future Past - the same as the others with some mind time travel. Goes in the eyeballs....hits the back of the head, bounces back out again.

The Quicksilver scene at the White House accompanied by Jim Croce's Bottled Time was my fave bit...........oh, and Jennifer Lawrence.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 5, 2016)

Maharani said:


> Love



The pits. I wanted to stab them both in the genitals!!!

Then through the eyes.

Then cut out their whining fucking tongues!


----------



## Reno (Apr 5, 2016)

I got hugely irritated with the male lead of Love, so I ended up fast forwarding to the porny bits and then left it at that. Nice cinematography by Benoit Debie whose work is always by far the best thing about Gaspar Noe's films, but that's about it.


----------



## Maharani (Apr 5, 2016)

Ok, ok...Electra was annoying when she went totally over the top angry at Murphy when he came to her flat. Her screaming did make me want to get the knives out. Murphy was just a loser, but a fit one so I he didn't really annoy me. I'm so shallow .


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 5, 2016)

Two relics from the mists of the 20th century made me think about time, fashion, taste and cultural norms...

*Silk Stockings *1957 musical in the classic musical style, with tremendous hoofing (no other word is right) from Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse - he's a Broadway song & dance man, she's a humourless Soviet cultural commissar, they meet in postwar Paris and fancy each other. Apart from some standard-issue 1950s American Red-baiting, and Cyd C being magically transformed into a lighthearted skittish ballerina by her first luxurious touch of French lingerie, the romance isn't too obnoxious. The dance sequences themselves are terrific - that woman was a Goddess. The rest is mostly filled in with Hollywood in-jokes about how musicals are declining, how the movie industry is dying, how "swim queen" movie stars now have to find new fans, how audiences just move on to the next fad etc etc ... watching Fred Astaire trying to do a "rock n roll" number is just painful, and ironic too, and you get the feeling he knows it. There's some great support work from Zero Mostel and others as a trio of Russian roué artistes desperately trying not to get recalled to spend time in Siber-ee-eer-ee-eer-ia. For a bit of blatant Cold War propaganda full of sexist rubbish, I really really loved it. 

*Sliver *1993 - a movie from back in the days when Sharon Stone was a starlet, _Unfinished Sympathy _was not yet a raging cliché for a soundtrack, and concerns about privacy / voyerurism / electronic surveillance / sex tapes were a bit edgy rather than the stuff of everyday life and conversation. (William Baldwin did have a funny squashed-in face even then though.) Plot is some sort of bobbins about a mysterious young millionaire with a voyeuristic streak spy-camming all his tenants - and remember, children, back then, this was considered a bit out of order, not a standard use of technology.

I hadn't realised this was based on a novel by the same guy who wrote Rosemary's Baby and the Boys from Brazil - so I suppose he knows a thing or two about the mass market. It's a tacky, meretricious, mostly woman-hating, toecurlingly pretentious 'erotic thriller' with not much suspense to the thrills or art to the shocks. But fun to watch and remember that Polly Walker wasn't always the 'spoilt posh middle class lady' stereotype she plays in history-telly-tosh these days, and fun to giggle over all the ridiculously passé soapbox preaching about Voyeurism is Bad, No Substitute for Real Life, Images Aren't Real, etc etc etc, when the last 20 years have moved the world so incredibly quickly in the other direction.


----------



## belboid (Apr 5, 2016)

*Girlhood*.

Probably not _quite _as good as the critics would have us believe (there were a few moments which were 'well, that happened quickly/easily') but an engrossing an endearing coming of age drama about black lasses living in the banlieue's.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 5, 2016)

Rewatching The Amazing Spiderman with my boy


----------



## Reno (Apr 5, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> Two relics from the mists of the 20th century made me think about time, fashion, taste and cultural norms...
> 
> *Silk Stockings *1957 musical in the classic musical style, with tremendous hoofing (no other word is right) from Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse - he's a Broadway song & dance man, she's a humourless Soviet cultural commissar, they meet in postwar Paris and fancy each other. Apart from some standard-issue 1950s American Red-baiting, and Cyd C being magically transformed into a lighthearted skittish ballerina by her first luxurious touch of French lingerie, the romance isn't too obnoxious. The dance sequences themselves are terrific - that woman was a Goddess. The rest is mostly filled in with Hollywood in-jokes about how musicals are declining, how the movie industry is dying, how "swim queen" movie stars now have to find new fans, how audiences just move on to the next fad etc etc ... watching Fred Astaire trying to do a "rock n roll" number is just painful, and ironic too, and you get the feeling he knows it. There's some great support work from Zero Mostel and others as a trio of Russian roué artistes desperately trying not to get recalled to spend time in Siber-ee-eer-ee-eer-ia. For a bit of blatant Cold War propaganda full of sexist rubbish, I really really loved it.
> 
> ...



Silk Stockins was a musical remake of the 1939 Greta Garbo/Ernst Lubitsch comedy Ninotchka. Have you seen it ? I like Silk Stockins for the dance numbers, but Ninotchka is a better film.

Silver was one of the legendary bad movies of the 90s. It's based on what was far from Ira Levin's best novel, but it was screenwriter Joe Ezterhas (Basic Instinct, Showgirls) who turned it into another erotic thriller to serve as a star vehicle for Sharon Stone.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 6, 2016)

I haven't seen _Ninotchka, _which is a shame 'cos I love Lubitsch and the lightness of touch of that earlier comedy era. Silk Stockings is fun but a bit plodding, not quite sophisticated enough. 

Sliver is certainly bad, but not bad enough to be preposterously enjoyable like _Showgirls _etc. I guess what struck me about it was how strikingly, self-consciously appalled it is, or pretends to be, about all the voyeurism/eavesdropping/spying stuff - sort of hysterical and earnest and naive and cynical all at once. Look, man obsessed with cameras. Camera man bad. etc. this sort of posturing looks even sillier in 2016!


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2016)

The More the Merrier.

Romantic comedy with Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea, set against the backdrop of the wartime housing shortage in Washington DC (better than it sounds).




Annoyingly, this is on the tube of you in ten-minute chunks. It's an historically interesting film, given that the propaganda intentions are openly signalled - there must have been a  drive  on then to reinforce the "careless talk costs lives" message. Like the Hepburn/Tracy vehicle Woman of the Year, it also seems to be intended to support "traditional gender roles" at a time when they were being disrupted by women's mass entrance into the labour force.

Sherlock Holmes - the Scarlet Claw.

Basil Rathbone as the eponymous sleuth, in a truly ludicrous travesty of a film set in Quebec. Again this is a wartime morale booster from 1944, though I can't see anyone having their morale boosted by this insult to their intelligence. Seriously this is one of the worst films I have ever seen in my life:



Worth watching if you fancy the idea of Watson falling into a bog.


----------



## Maharani (Apr 6, 2016)

Off to watch Eddie the Eagle with my girl. Hope it's good. 

Has anyone seen Grand Budapest Hotel? Good/crap? Might give it a go later.


----------



## Chz (Apr 6, 2016)

It's conceited and self-indulgent as all hell, but it's done so well and so lovingly that you'll like it anyway.

Edit: GBH, of course.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2016)

Chz said:


> It's conceited and self-indulgent as all hell, but it's done so well and so lovingly that you'll like it anyway.


It's also an American's idea of what Europe is like. 

That may or may not be a bad thing, your mileage may vary.

I saw it with a German audience . . . there's one scene where the villain's badge flashes up, and at first glance it looks like the SS double lightning flash. There was a noticeable, and noticeably horrified intake of breath from said German audience.


----------



## Sue (Apr 6, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> It's also an American's idea of what Europe is like.
> 
> That may or may not be a bad thing, your mileage may vary.
> 
> I saw it with a German audience . . . there's one scene where the villain's badge flashes up, and at first glance it looks like the SS double lightning flash. There was a noticeable, and noticeably horrified intake of breath from said German audience.



Assume you're talking about GBH rather than Eddie the Eagle?  (Which looks bloody awful from the trailers.)


----------



## Sue (Apr 6, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> Two relics from the mists of the 20th century made me think about time, fashion, taste and cultural norms...
> 
> *Silk Stockings *1957 musical in the classic musical style, with tremendous hoofing (no other word is right) from Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse - he's a Broadway song & dance man, she's a humourless Soviet cultural commissar, they meet in postwar Paris and fancy each other. Apart from some standard-issue 1950s American Red-baiting, and Cyd C being magically transformed into a lighthearted skittish ballerina by her first luxurious touch of French lingerie, the romance isn't too obnoxious. The dance sequences themselves are terrific - that woman was a Goddess. The rest is mostly filled in with Hollywood in-jokes about how musicals are declining, how the movie industry is dying, how "swim queen" movie stars now have to find new fans, how audiences just move on to the next fad etc etc ... watching Fred Astaire trying to do a "rock n roll" number is just painful, and ironic too, and you get the feeling he knows it. There's some great support work from Zero Mostel and others as a trio of Russian roué artistes desperately trying not to get recalled to spend time in Siber-ee-eer-ee-eer-ia. For a bit of blatant Cold War propaganda full of sexist rubbish, I really really loved it.



I love a good musical. Watched Singin' in the Rain (one of my favourite films ever) and Easter Parade on TV over the last few weeks. They really don't make 'em like they used to.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2016)

Sue said:


> Assume you're talking about GBH rather than Eddie the Eagle?  (Which looks bloody awful from the trailers.)


Yes, I'm talking about the Wes Anderson flick. . . but wouldn't it have been ironic if I hadn't?


----------



## Sue (Apr 6, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Yes, I'm talking about the Wes Anderson flick. . . but wouldn't it have been ironic if I hadn't?



Hmm, a German ski jumping villain, flashing an SS-style badge..? There's an idea for a film...


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> It's also an American's idea of what Europe is like.
> 
> That may or may not be a bad thing, your mileage may vary.
> 
> I saw it with a German audience . . . there's one scene where the villain's badge flashes up, and at first glance it looks like the SS double lightning flash. There was a noticeable, and noticeably horrified intake of breath from said German audience.



The film takes place in Anderson's usual obsessive compulsive toy town parallel universe, in this case loosely based on Europe in WWII. It's not some Americans ignorant idea of Europe.

Do German's seriously still act like some "don't mention the war" cliche or is that your interpretation? Germans had an excess of "Vergangenheirsbewaelting" (dealing with the past) for the last four decades and have been inundated with the iconography of WWII in the media, art and entertainment more than any other population on the planet. I doubt there will be a collective clutching of pearls at a Nazi reference in a German cinema in this day and age.

I've never been an unreserved fan of Wes Anderson. His films often are so airless and precious that I find them suffocating and dramatically dead. I loved The Grand Budapest Hotel though, mainly due to Rafe Fiennes fantastic performance, the relationship with his apprentice and there actually is something at stake here. Filed alongside Rushmore and The Fantastic Mr Fox alongside the films of his I like enough to own.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2016)

Reno said:


> The film takes place in Anderson's usual obsessive compulsive toy town parallel universe, in this case loosely based on Europe in WWII. It's not some Americans ignorant idea of Europe.
> 
> Do German's seriously still act like some "don't mention the war" cliche or is that your interpretation? Germans had an excess of "Vergangenheirsbewaelting" (dealing with the past) for the last four decades and have been inundated with the iconography of WWII in the media, art and entertainment more than any other population on the planet. I doubt there will be a collective clutching of pearls at a Nazi reference in a German cinema in the day and age.
> 
> I've never been an unreserved fan of Wes Anderson. His films often are so airless and precious that I find them suffocating and dramatically dead. I loved The Grand Bdapest Hotel though, mainly due to Ralph Fiennes fantastic performance, the relationship with his apprentice and there actually is something at stake here. Filed alongside Rushmore and The Fantastic Mr Fox alongside the films of his I like enough to own.


Reno, man, I know about how people round here try to deal with the past. I wasn't trying to be funny: there really was a collective gasp, and shudder, when that badge flashed on the screen. That's what happened. I was there. 

I also agree with you about Anderson, by the way - I normally can't stand Fiennes but he was good in that (and good in Hail, Caesar, as well). Rushmore I turned off after half an hour: TFMF I never saw, but a parental type who did told me that in the screening he went to with his kid, all the grown-ups laughed well hard, and the kids didn't laugh at all.


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2016)

These anecdotal audience reactions again (this time second hand !) 

I don't care whether kids laugh at Rushmore. The film isn't meant for kids, it isn't about some typical kid nor does it try to say anything about kids in general. It's about one very particular, rather peculiar boy, based on Anderson himself no doubt.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2016)

Reno said:


> These anecdotal audience reactions again (this time second hand !)
> 
> I don't care whether kids laugh at Rushmore. The film isn't meant for kids, it isn't about some typical kid nor does it try to say anything about kids in general. It's about one very particular, rather peculiar boy, based on Anderson himself no doubt.


I was talking about The Fantastic Mister Fox being the film kids didn't laugh at.

And what a dickhead Anderson's fictionalised self transpired to be, eh?


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I was talking about The Fantastic Mister Fox being the film kids didn't laugh at.
> 
> And what a dickhead Anderson's fictionalised self transpired to be, eh?



I didn't laugh much at The Fantastic Mr Fox either, I don't think it's supposed to be a particularly funny film. It's rather melancholy and at times slightly disturbing, like a lot of Roald Dahl really. 

Dickhead for some, comedy gold for others (and Rushmore I did find funny)


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 6, 2016)

Rushmore and Fox are the two I enjoyed most . Not seen Grand Budapest Hotel yet.

I always like the soundtracks to his films.


----------



## belboid (Apr 6, 2016)

Life Aquatic is enjoyable too, but that's the lot for me as well.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 6, 2016)

They're well twee but I've never not enjoyed an Anderson film,  though I have been annoyed by them. I like they way they look and I like the way the characters dress.


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2016)

belboid said:


> Life Aquatic is enjoyable too, but that's the lot for me as well.


That one I found unbearable. A film with a lot of great stuff in it doesn't necessarily make a great film.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 6, 2016)

So, anyway, Reno - how about that Jean Arthur?


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> So, anyway, Reno - how about that Jean Arthur?


She was great. Only Angels Have Wings and A Foreign Affair are my favourite films with her.


----------



## belboid (Apr 6, 2016)

Reno said:


> That one I found unbearable. A film with a lot of great stuff in it doesn't necessarily make a great film.


I found the great stuff very enjoyable.  I can barely remember what actually happens in it at all


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2016)

belboid said:


> I found the great stuff very enjoyable.  I can barely remember what actually happens in it at all


That's the problem with the film. Lots of stuff which should be great in theory but characters so flat not even a great cast can do much with them and nothing much is at stake. It's Wes Anderson at his whimsical worst, like a kid who has dragged you to his room to show you all his favourite toys. I left the theatre half way through the film, I was so bored.


----------



## Maharani (Apr 6, 2016)

FYI - we enjoyed Eddie the Eagle. It sends a good message to the youth and it passed 2 hours out of the wind and rain.  AND we got free photo booth pics at the Ritzy. I bloody love the Ritzy.


----------



## belboid (Apr 6, 2016)

Maharani said:


> FYI - we enjoyed Eddie the Eagle. It sends a good message to the youth and it passed 2 hours out of the wind and rain.  AND we got free photo booth pics at the Ritzy. I bloody love the Ritzy.


seems a great shame they didn't tell his actual story - which is of a very good working class athlete who was treated like shit by the poshoes of the skiing world.  But sod that, lets have a plucky brit loser story instead.


----------



## Maharani (Apr 6, 2016)

belboid said:


> seems a great shame they didn't tell his actual story - which is of a very good working class athlete who was treated like shit by the poshoes of the skiing world.  But sod that, lets have a plucky brit loser story instead.


Eh? They did tell that story.


----------



## belboid (Apr 6, 2016)

Hmm, really? Not from the reviews I've heard, including from Mr Eagle himself! But fair play, maybe I'll download it eventually


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 6, 2016)

Five episodes into *Making a Murderer*. I wasn't sold initially, hearing people calling it the best show ever, but it's great


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 7, 2016)

Who called it the best show ever?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 7, 2016)

belboid said:


> Hmm, really? Not from the reviews I've heard, including from Mr Eagle himself! But fair play, maybe I'll download it eventually



He aint making no money from it, so I doubt he'll have much positive to say about it....or anything else these days given his run of bad luck over recent years....


----------



## Reno (Apr 7, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> He aint making no money from it, so I doubt he'll have much positive to say about it....or anything else these days given his run of bad luck over recent years....


He is getting money from it. The film is based on his life story, the rights of which he sold. He also gets a share of the profit if the film makes over a certain amount of money. 

He's been complimentary are about the film (as he would be under the circumstances) while also saying that not a lot of it is factually right. Of course they made it into a "plucky underdog makes good" British feel-good comedy even if the actual story was darker.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 7, 2016)

Reno said:


> He is getting money from it. The film is based on his life story, the rights of which he sold. He also gets a share of the profit if the film makes over a certain amount of money.
> 
> He's been complimentary are about the film (as he would be under the circumstances) while also saying that not a lot of it is factually right. Of course they made it into a "plucky underdog makes good" British feel-good comedy even if the actual story was darker.



OK - I read somewhere he wasn't getting a penny from it....but it was a newspaper....so no knowing if anything is true.

ETA: He isn't going to make a penny from it, because he has to spend it all on his divorce....

‘I sold the film rights to my life story for £180,000 18 years ago. That’s payable now, but will be eaten up by my divorce. I won’t see any royalties unless the film makes a crazy amount – something like £65 million at the box office – so I’m not expecting anything other than a resurgence of interest in me and my story,’ he reveals


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 7, 2016)

Kingsman  - funnier than I expected and superb choreography


----------



## Maharani (Apr 7, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Kingsman  - funnier than I expected and superb choreography


One of my mates wanted to watch it but the trailer put me off. I might give it a go.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 7, 2016)

Maharani said:


> One of my mates wanted to watch it but the trailer put me off. I might give it a go.



It's just a spoof of  all spy movies with a massive nod to Bond.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 7, 2016)

Maharani said:


> It sends a good message to the youth


That's certainly what I look for in a movie


----------



## Maharani (Apr 7, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> That's certainly what I look for in a movie


Well it is when I take my 9 year old out


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 9, 2016)

I've been watching *Luther* (and staying up to watch more episodes on Thursday made me VERY tired at work the next day!) For some reason, despite the fact that I love crime dramas and think Idris Elba is as cool as his name sounds, I haven't seen this previously. It's very good, but not great.

I'm on to series two, so Superintendent Pauline Fowler is thankfully in the bin, replaced by the clock-dodging polygamist from Jonathan Creek. Not sure I'm gonna enjoy it as much now that random crime-sprees of the week have seemingly been swapped out for further tales of Luther and the Mimi Gallagher crimegang, but there aren't that many episodes, so it's getting watched to fuck.


----------



## magneze (Apr 9, 2016)

Sicaro
Ok thriller. Billed as Emily Blunts 'career defining performance'. I hope it isn't because the role wasn't very empowering.

Bit of Fantastic Four (2015 version)
By the numbers superhero stuff. Predictable all the way. Reg E. Cathey the only highlight for me.


----------



## Chuff (Apr 9, 2016)

Deadpool very much enjoyed, even ordered a chimmichanga to go with it.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 9, 2016)

I just watched _The Martian_. Didn't know anything about it before I started watching. Was hoping it'd be similar in feel to _Moon_ but it wasn't as good.

Still, it was enjoyable enough. Very "rah, yeah, we rock" and I was expecting the commander to die at the end because that would fit perfectly with your usual story telling arc, but of course she didn't because it would have diluted the "rah, yeah, we rock" vibe.

Still, a fun enough way to spend a couple of hours.


----------



## boohoo (Apr 9, 2016)

I watched a Bollywood movie from 2003 called Kal Ho Na Ho. Cheesy, some quick fire dialogue and good comic acting in places. And then a sob fest after the two hour mark. I have watched one of the songs on you tube and all the comments are "I am crying watching this" - I completely get it now (it helps if the song has subtitles)



Good film though (if you like an emotional roller-coaster)


----------



## 50yrsInBrixton (Apr 10, 2016)

boohoo said:


> I watched a Bollywood movie from 2003 called Kal Ho Na Ho. Cheesy, some quick fire dialogue and good comic acting in places. And then a sob fest after the two hour mark. I have watched one of the songs on you tube and all the comments are "I am crying watching this" - I completely get it now (it helps if the song has subtitles)
> 
> 
> 
> Good film though (if you like an emotional roller-coaster)




It was shit.


----------



## Chz (Apr 10, 2016)

Mad Max : Fury Road

Gosh, I wish I'd gone to see that in the cinema. Not that it didn't still work at home, but once it got after 10 or so I didn't want to have to keep doing the Hollywood Movie Volume Level Juggle.

I suppose I needn't have worried, it's not like the dialogue is in _any way_ important to the movie. The spoken part of the script has to be 10 pages, maximum. Doesn't matter, it's a wonderful turn-off-your-brains thrill ride whose worst offence is perhaps to be a little *too* intense at times. Possibly to not let the thinking part of your brain to have a chance to recover. Some people (the very large "Construction" section in the credits) had an awful lot of fun making this.

You know, if that moronic, overly-long Goblin King chase sequence in The Hobbit had been _anything at all_ like MM it would've been a half decent film. The missus who doesn't like most action films approves. I think that's the first one since Dredd (also excellent).


----------



## Mattym (Apr 10, 2016)

One of my fave ever documentaries.


----------



## boohoo (Apr 10, 2016)

50yrsInBrixton said:


> It was shit.


  Some Bollywood is definatly an aquired taste.  Piku and Filmistan were good story lines and no singing/dancing.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 11, 2016)

Breathless - Korean drama that at first look seems to be about street thugs working for a loan shark but is a hard hitting unblinking look at domestic violence and its legacy. Not easy viewing but riveting all the same.

Future Shock - The Story of 2000AD - Loved the comic? Seeking behind the scenes thrills and intrigue? This is it; warts, Rosettes of Sirius and all.

Heroes Reborn - 2 eps in and not so sure. I like the Noah Bennet stuff and the computer game story but it's not as gripping as I hoped.


----------



## belboid (Apr 11, 2016)

Sisters

A wholly by the book belated coming-of-age comedy that does nothing special at all, but is kept going by the smartness and wittiness of Tina Fey & Amy Poehler.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 11, 2016)

This thread prompted me to watch Grand Budapest Hotel. I loved it. Love the ridiculously convoluted prison escape.


----------



## starfish (Apr 11, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Future Shock - The Story of 2000AD - Loved the comic? Seeking behind the scenes thrills and intrigue? This is it; warts, Rosettes of Sirius and all.


Would quite like to see that.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 11, 2016)

it was on Film4 so will come round again (and again and again and again) over the coming weeks no doubt


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 11, 2016)

Justice League Unlimited, two series of. The things having no net connection will do to a man

But itt was a lot better than expected. Some right shit characters got a chance to shine in it and the a-listers were very different from the modern film/tv versions. Only the Flash is truest to his TV persona. Superman is actually a bit of a cock. Batman has a sly sense of humour. Wonderwoman is both backbone and commander. Even Lex comes off less shitty than in the newer films. No gene hackman mind


----------



## keybored (Apr 11, 2016)

bi0boy said:


> Bone Tomahawk. Went on a bit but was fun seeing two actors from Fargo and Jack from Lost.


Beth from True Detective too.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 12, 2016)

I watched the very first episode of Game of Thrones. Realising I have now opened myself up to a new commitment to watch it.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Apr 12, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> This thread prompted me to watch Grand Budapest Hotel. I loved it. Love the ridiculously convoluted prison escape.



I noticed this was on Netflix and I watched it for the first time since seeing it at the cinema. Still magnificent on the small screen.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 12, 2016)

Oblivion - TC is ok in this but the female characters are let down by the script; which is a shame. The (Icelandic) scenery is magnificent and the drones are cool.


----------



## Reno (Apr 12, 2016)

The Invitation, excellent new thriller which almost entirely takes place over the course of a dinner party. A bit of a slow burn, but none the worse for it, as it's all about accumulating detail and growing paranoia. Very well shot, great sound design, very tense and one of the better films I've seen recently.

Trailer here, though you may want to go in cold:


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 13, 2016)

*Natural Born Killers*
Shite. Not sure I'd even give it two stars. Didn't like the actors, the script or the effects/techniques.


----------



## Reno (Apr 14, 2016)

The Forbidden Room by Guy Maddin in his customary style, which looks like a film shot in 1931 in some bizarro parallel universe on a budget of $20. It's often clever, often funny, often beautiful but at two hours it rambles on for too long, like most of Maddin's films. Still great though and his films are like nothing else out there.



I also watched Emelie, a psycho thriller about a deranged babysitter who threatens the lives of three vaguely annoying children on their parent's anniversary. It was watchable enough but far from great, especially after the far better thriller I watched last night.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 14, 2016)

The Black Balloon. Astonishingly good.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 14, 2016)

Nine Bob Note said:


> *Natural Born Killers*
> Shite. Not sure I'd even give it two stars. Didn't like the actors, the script or the effects/techniques.



Have you seen Badlands?

It's a similar theme but so much better in every way


----------



## Supine (Apr 14, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I watched the very first episode of Game of Thrones. Realising I have now opened myself up to a new commitment to watch it.



See you back here in three weeks when you've finished the last series


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 15, 2016)

House of Cards season 2, lots of. Frank Underwood has connived, killed and slimed his way into the big chair  just oce I want to see him take a fall


----------



## Reno (Apr 15, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> House of Cards season 2, lots of. Frank Underwood has connived, killed and slimed his way into the big chair  just oce I want to see him take a fall


That's the reason why I think this series is massively overrated and I didn't stick with it beyond season 1. I like a good political drama with lots of intrigue, but I can only suspend my disbelief so far. Mr and Mrs Underwood are such a couple of obvious rotters from the first episode onwards, there isn't much surprise as they always the most devious route possible. I like my anti-heroes with a bit more shading. It's silly nonsense with the gloss of the modern prestige TV drama.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 15, 2016)

Reno said:


> That's the reason why I think this series is massively overrated and I didn't stick with it beyond season 1. I like a good political drama with lots of intrigue, but I can only suspend my disbelief so far. Mr and Mrs Underwood are such a couple of obvious rotters from the first episode onwards, there isn't much surprise as they always the most devious route possible. I like my anti-heroes with a bit more shading. It's silly nonsense with the gloss of the modern prestige TV drama.


With the (very) honourable exception of the Wire, and (partially) Game of Thrones, all these "quality" US TV dramas are fantasies of power, and unrestrained power at that. Shading would involve at least some restraint.

Anyway, last DVD I watched was _Nowhere Boy, _the John Lennon biopic.

Alternative titles:

A Portrait of the Artist as  Young Cunt

When Scousers ATTACK!

I nearly switched it off when I saw that Kristin Scott Thomas was in it as Lennon's aspirational Aunt Mimi. She's a great actress, but she always seems to pick the grimmest films. In this one, she seemed to have come out of an entirely different picture where she was playing the chief of the MI6 station in Vienna circa 1956.

Best thing about it was the set design: I found myself admiring the formica counter-top in one of the Blackpool scenes, which is probably not a good sign.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 15, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> With the (very) honourable exception of the Wire, and (partially) Game of Thrones, all these "quality" US TV dramas are fantasies of power, and unrestrained power at that. Shading would involve at least some restraint.



was reccomended this which I have yet to buy:
Why We Love Sociopaths: A Guide To Late Capitalist Television: Amazon.co.uk: Adam Kotsko: 9781780990910: Books


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 15, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> was reccomended this which I have yet to buy:
> Why We Love Sociopaths: A Guide To Late Capitalist Television: Amazon.co.uk: Adam Kotsko: 9781780990910: Books


Looks good, that one, thanks.

I wonder has anyone ever done anything that compares the likes of Tony Soprano or Don Draper with (e.g.) Quincy, Colombo, etc.?


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 15, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Have you seen Badlands?
> 
> It's a similar theme but so much better in every way


NBK isn't fit to lick the boots of Badlands.


----------



## Reno (Apr 15, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> With the (very) honourable exception of the Wire, and (partially) Game of Thrones, all these "quality" US TV dramas are fantasies of power, and unrestrained power at that. Shading would involve at least some restraint.



I was referring to the production values and the glossy look. The statement that US "quality" dramas (shows on cable and subscription channels which are not under the boot of advertisers) all are fantasies of unrestrained power is rubbish if you've watched Mad Men, Fargo, Oranges are the New Black, Looking, Transparent and many others which explicitly deal with those who are disenfranchised vs those in power. It's besides the point anyway. I don't even mind an aspirational fantasy if it's well done, my problem is that House of Cards is a lazy and poorly written show.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 15, 2016)

Reno said:


> I was referring to the production values and the glossy look. The statement that US "quality" dramas (shows on cable and subscription channels which are not under the boot of advertisers) all are fantasies of unrestrained power is rubbish if you've watched Mad Men, Fargo, Oranges are the New Black, Looking, Transparent and many others which explicitly deal with those who are disenfranchised vs those in power. It's besides the point anyway. I don't even mind an aspirational fantasy if it's well done, my problem is that House of Cards is a lazy and poorly written show.


There's a lot of bros out there who think Don Draper was a model to emulate. Or so I would wager, anyway.


----------



## Reno (Apr 15, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> There's a lot of bros out there who think Don Draper was a model to emulate. Or so I would wager, anyway.




I don't care about idiots out there who are unable to comprehend a show, I care about the intentions behind the show. I don't even think that's true for Mad Men because it was a show which is way too cerebral and slow moving and for "bros". However a lot of bros idolised some of the most despicable characters on The Wire like Marlo, even on here, because gangstas are always badass no matter what the actual message is.

I get the feeling you haven't actually seen a lot of the great US cable shows of the last few years and will be one of the Urbanites who will for ever go on about how The Wire was really the only US show worth watching.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 15, 2016)

Reno said:


> I don't care about idiots out there who are unable to comprehend a show, I care about the intentions behind the show. I don't even think that's true for Mad Men because it was a show which is way too cerebral and slow moving and for "bros". However a lot of bros idolised some of the most despicable characters on The Wire like Marlo, even on here, because gangstas are always badass no matter what the actual message is.
> 
> I get the feeling you haven't actually seen a lot of the great US cable shows of the last few years and will be one of the Urbanites who will for ever go on about how The Wire was really the only US show worth watching.


Nuh-uh - _Star Trek _is the only US show worth watching, duh.



(Trek TOS, natch)


----------



## Reno (Apr 15, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Nuh-uh - _Star Trek _is the only US show worth watching, duh.
> 
> 
> 
> (Trek TOS, natch)



DS9 was great !


----------



## Sue (Apr 15, 2016)

The original version of 3:10 to Yuma. I do like a good Western.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 15, 2016)

Sue said:


> The original version of 3:10 to Yuma. I do like a good Western.



Stop trolling returner


----------



## Sue (Apr 15, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Stop trolling returner


Was it my taste in films that gave me away..?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 15, 2016)

Sue said:


> Was it my taste in films that gave me away..?



It was the use of a full stop at the end of each sentence. That's what Firky would do. You are Firky.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 16, 2016)

Snowpiercer - sorta High Rise on a train but it also reminded me of video games like Fallout New Vegas and Bioshock. It had this linear progression of levels punctuated by boss fights and overextended and overdesigned cutscenes. It also had a Mobiusy comic strip feel to it.
I loved it. Though I'll need to watch it cos there were no subtitles for the Korean dialogue. I think I got it though.


----------



## fishfinger (Apr 16, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Snowpiercer - sorta High Rise on a train but it also reminded me of video games like Fallout New Vegas and Bioshock. It had this linear progression of levels punctuated by boss fights and overextended and overdesigned cutscenes. It also had a Mobiusy comic strip feel to it.
> I loved it. Though I'll need to watch it cos there were no subtitles for the Korean dialogue. I think I got it though.


I enjoyed it too. I thought Tilda Swinton was great. I'm not surprised that you  felt the Moebius vibe, as It is based on a French graphic novel - Le Transperceneige


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 16, 2016)

The Yellow Sea.  I enjoyed it, but it was definitely overlong and repetitive.  Thought from the first hour it was going to be a more cerebral experience than it turned out to be.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 16, 2016)

The Carrier (2014).  Apparently this was originally called The Bag Man, but the name was changed for Netflix.  God knows why, cos the new name is shit and no even more descriptive or owt.  Anyway, John Cussack's hitman is paid by Bobby De Niro's gangster boss to collect a bag and deliver it to him at a Motel somewhere in't deep South.  Only thing is, he's not to look in the bag under any circumstances.  Plot is silly, the twist at the end is rubbish and didn't need explaining by way of a flashback sequence and the only person not phoning in their performance was John Cussack.  Which is nice, cos I was beginning to think he was doomed to endless sequels of Hot Tub Time Machine.

Oh, and if the central plot device for your film is that the main protagonist isn't allowed to look in the bag, you don't let the main protagonist look in the fucking bag.  If it's not a rule, it should be.


----------



## Sue (Apr 16, 2016)

TBF though, De Niro's been phoning it in for years. Not really sure why he bothers these days, surely he can't need the money..?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 16, 2016)

Age of Ultron.

Enjoyed it. Preferred Avengers Assemble, but this was a fine way to spend a couple of hours.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 16, 2016)

Sue said:


> TBF though, De Niro's been phoning it in for years. Not really sure why he bothers these days, surely he can't need the money..?



I was thinking this while watching, but thought it was just selective memory.   But I can't actually think of any decent performances he's put in for yeears.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 16, 2016)

Anyway, Season 2 of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  I like/


----------



## Reno (Apr 16, 2016)

The Boy said:


> I was thinking this while watching, but thought it was just selective memory.   But I can't actually think of any decent performances he's put in for yeears.



I wasn't a huge fan of the film, but he was good in Silver Linings Playbook.


----------



## Sue (Apr 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> I wasn't a huge fan of the film, but was good in Silver Linings Playbook.


Yes, I came out thinking it was the best thing he'd done in years. Mind, there wasn't much competition.


----------



## 8115 (Apr 17, 2016)

Welcome to Leith. Documentary about an American white supremacist who moves to a small town and begins buying up land. Disturbing but ultimately slightly unsatisfying film.


----------



## Sue (Apr 17, 2016)

8115 said:


> Welcome to Leith. Documentary about an American white supremacist who moves to a small town and begins buying up land. Disturbing but ultimately slightly unsatisfying film.


Saw the trailers for that and was slightly confused, what with Leith being the docks area of Edinburgh and all. (Or a completely separate place if you're from Leith.)


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 17, 2016)

*Saint Jack (1979)*, Peter Bogdanovich film staring Ben Gazzara as a Singapore brothel keeper and Denholm Elliot as a visiting company auditor who he befriends. This film seems little known, less than 1000 votes on IMBD, which is a shame as it's a real gem with brilliant performances all round. Highly recommended.


----------



## blairsh (Apr 17, 2016)

I binge watched all series three of Eastboound and Down the other week, funnier the series two without a doubt.  Good to see Ashley Shaffer back


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 17, 2016)

Falling Skies eps 1-3. Enjoyed it. Following the survivors of an alien invasion. May watch more, its got a good set up


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 18, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Have you seen Badlands?
> 
> It's a similar theme but so much better in every way



Reckon it also influenced True Romance, Kalifornia, Too Young to Die


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 18, 2016)

FILTH (2014) - adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel, featuring more or less every good UK actor born north of Liverpool in a shambolic, lurid, slightly try-hard trawl through the revolting inner life and even more revolting police career of a Very Bad Man who's also an Edinburgh copper. (I haven't read the book.) Goes all out for the gross-out with satirical barbs firing in all directions (posh nymphos, disco bunny gays and the homophobic Protestants who hate them, schemies, polis, the Masons, and all) and the performances are great but it all feels a bit heartless (in the wrong way) by the end.

James McAvoy gives it everything he's got and you can tell how convincing his moral degradation is because he starts looking worryingly like Gerard Butler. As usual, Eddie Marsan is the best thing in the film and his portrayal of a good accountant gone off the rails on an E-fuelled sex tour to Hamburg will live with me for some time. Everyone else also clearly having a grand time hamming it up to the max.

Energetic and entertaining enough until the final reel (the apparently 'redemptive' power of being a pretty blonde female is yawnsome), definitely not one to watch with your Mum. (or dad or nan or children.)


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 18, 2016)

" because he starts looking worryingly like Gerard Butler."

A truly disgusting transmogrification.


----------



## Maharani (Apr 18, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> FILTH (2014) - adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel, featuring more or less every good UK actor born north of Liverpool in a shambolic, lurid, slightly try-hard trawl through the revolting inner life and even more revolting police career of a Very Bad Man who's also an Edinburgh copper. (I haven't read the book.) Goes all out for the gross-out with satirical barbs firing in all directions (posh nymphos, disco bunny gays and the homophobic Protestants who hate them, schemies, polis, the Masons, and all) and the performances are great but it all feels a bit heartless (in the wrong way) by the end.
> 
> James McAvoy gives it everything he's got and you can tell how convincing his moral degradation is because he starts looking worryingly like Gerard Butler. As usual, Eddie Marsan is the best thing in the film and his portrayal of a good accountant gone off the rails on an E-fuelled sex tour to Hamburg will live with me for some time. Everyone else also clearly having a grand time hamming it up to the max.
> 
> Energetic and entertaining enough until the final reel (the apparently 'redemptive' power of being a pretty blonde female is yawnsome), definitely not one to watch with your Mum. (or dad or nan or children.)


I hated this. James M was not the right actor for this role IMO.


----------



## Sue (Apr 18, 2016)

Maharani said:


> I hated this. James M was not the right actor for this role IMO.


Thought his accent was good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 18, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> (I haven't read the book


its a lot harsher in certain scenes. It does what it says on the tin really, there is a massively annoying tapeworm running through the whole book as well. As literary affectations go that device was fucking annoying.

I didn't think the film did the book service although it was good


----------



## flypanam (Apr 18, 2016)

Michael Strogoff a French/Swiss/German adaptation of the Jules Verne novel. Remember watching it on BBC2 in the early 80's. The image of him being blinded by a hot sword was really vivid. So I watched it for that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 18, 2016)

Sue said:


> Thought his accent was good.


Isn't that his actual accent though?


----------



## Sue (Apr 18, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Isn't that his actual accent though?



No, in it he's doing an Edinburgh accent, his normal accent is West coast.


----------



## Reno (Apr 19, 2016)

"Hush", a women-in-peril home invasion thriller along the lines of the Audrey Hepburn starring Wait Until Dark, but with a deaf potential victim, rather than a blind one. Doesn't do anything particularely new, but it's fairly tense, with a resourceful heroine and it doesn't outstay its welcome at 80 minutes.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 19, 2016)

Second half series one of Prison Break. Bloody knackered this morning, but worth it!

Don't do it, Sara!


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 19, 2016)

Second half series one of Prison Break. Bloody knackered this morning, but worth it!

Don't do it, Sara!


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 19, 2016)

First two episodes of Game of Thrones Season 5.

The bad ended happily, and the good unhappily.

As per usual.

I'm liking Brienne's new "who gives a fuck" approach to being a swordswoman, though.


----------



## Sirena (Apr 20, 2016)

I watched 'Locke' on telly last night, on Film 4

It's totally set in a car, with a single man (Tom Hardy) driving to London over a period of 2 hours. Apparently, it was shot in real-time!

It's not a blockbuster and there are no superheroes, guns or car-chases.

I was very impressed.

Locke (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 20, 2016)

^ Did that too - and stayed on to watch BRONSON after for a full evening's Tom Hardying. Liked both films very much though I was *slightly* less impressed with Locke than everyone else - sure, he's great in it, apart from the bits where the Welsh accent goes a bit wobbly  - and it does hold your interest throughout, but really there's no reason for this to be a film at all (apart from looking at Tom Hardy's beautiful face for ages of course) ... it's a radio play really. Just doing it as a film seemed a bit of a stunt - "look, we can have a film with one actor in a car all the time, just because we can,  and you'll still watch it!" - like that movie with some Ryan or other buried underground in a box for the whole thing.

BRONSON I liked better - I might be turning into a full on Nicholas Winding Refn fan at this rate. The approach of dressing it all up as grandiose fantasy with all the opera soundtrack, outbreaks of mime, lots of absurdist humour and energetic fighting etc, does pretty well I think. I worry that I might have a bit of a sense of humour in common with Bronson and Refn, which is worrying 'cos one's a life prisoner and the other recently pilloried for (ill advised attempts at) joking about being a Nazi


----------



## Sirena (Apr 20, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> ^ Did that too - and stayed on to watch BRONSON after for a full evening's Tom Hardying. Liked both films very much though I was *slightly* less impressed with Locke than everyone else - sure, he's great in it, apart from the bits where the Welsh accent goes a bit wobbly  - and it does hold your interest throughout, but really there's no reason for this to be a film at all (apart from looking at Tom Hardy's beautiful face for ages of course) ... it's a radio play really. Just doing it as a film seemed a bit of a stunt - "look, we can have a film with one actor in a car all the time, just because we can,  and you'll still watch it!" - like that movie with some Ryan or other buried underground in a box for the whole thing.
> 
> BRONSON I liked better - I might be turning into a full on Nicholas Winding Refn fan at this rate. The approach of dressing it all up as grandiose fantasy with all the opera soundtrack, outbreaks of mime, lots of absurdist humour and energetic fighting etc, does pretty well I think. I worry that I might have a bit of a sense of humour in common with Bronson and Refn, which is worrying 'cos one's a life prisoner and the other recently pilloried for (ill advised attempts at) joking about being a Nazi


I like your point about the radio play but I thought it was a good cinematic experiment.  I'm dead against blockbusters and CGI and the whole nonsense cartoonery of modern Hollywood and this was a really lovely, quiet film.  I loved the sense of quiet personal honour of the central character.

'Bronson' was top-notch too and I like the fact that it had no message, no point, no purpose, other than to present a slice of a very strange life.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> ^ Did that too - and stayed on to watch BRONSON after for a full evening's Tom Hardying. Liked both films very much though I was *slightly* less impressed with Locke than everyone else - sure, he's great in it, apart from the bits where the Welsh accent goes a bit wobbly  - and it does hold your interest throughout, but really there's no reason for this to be a film at all (apart from looking at Tom Hardy's beautiful face for ages of course) ... it's a radio play really. Just doing it as a film seemed a bit of a stunt - "look, we can have a film with one actor in a car all the time, just because we can,  and you'll still watch it!" - like that movie with some Ryan or other buried underground in a box for the whole thing.
> 
> BRONSON I liked better - I might be turning into a full on Nicholas Winding Refn fan at this rate. The approach of dressing it all up as grandiose fantasy with all the opera soundtrack, outbreaks of mime, lots of absurdist humour and energetic fighting etc, does pretty well I think. I worry that I might have a bit of a sense of humour in common with Bronson and Refn, which is worrying 'cos one's a life prisoner and the other recently pilloried for (ill advised attempts at) joking about being a Nazi


Surely you are thinking of that other controversial Danish film director Lars Von Trier?


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 20, 2016)

^ yep that's the man. phew. so I'm only empathising with a psycho, not a Nazi.


----------



## felixthecat (Apr 20, 2016)

Sirena said:


> I watched 'Locke' on telly last night, on Film 4
> 
> It's totally set in a car, with a single man (Tom Hardy) driving to London over a period of 2 hours. Apparently, it was shot in real-time!
> 
> ...


I loved that film. It's my favourite Hardy


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 20, 2016)

Kajaki

group of british soldiers get trapped in a minefield. Good film 8/10. I liked the set up, no real cheese to it just showing a sort of easy sweary professionalism rather than conscripts sharing photos of the girl back home etc.
reminded me that landmines aren't designed to kill and how rank that is.


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Kajaki
> 
> group of british soldiers get trapped in a minefield. Good film 8/10. I liked the set up, no real cheese to it just showing a sort of easy sweary professionalism rather than conscripts sharing photos of the girl back home etc.
> reminded me that landmines aren't designed to kill and how rank that is.



That's the most tense film I've seen in recent years. Thought it was excellent.


----------



## felixthecat (Apr 20, 2016)

Reno said:


> That's the most tense film I've seen in recent years. Thought it was excellent.


I agree with this^. Really good film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 20, 2016)

felixthecat said:


> I agree with this^. Really good film.


yeah tense is deffo the right word here

what I mean about the sense of causual workmanlike behaviour is how it took me a little while to clock the command structure- who was officer, who was sgnt who was medic. None of this gung-ho hoo rah stuff like from a big hollywood war film. I spent the whole time thinking 'they're fucked if enemy shows up' and expecting it to happen. Had to look away at some of the torniquet bits, just grim. Oh and another thing that I liked spread of brit accents within the unit(s). Reflects the modern army etc- as does the chaos and fuck ups of landing a chinook in a minefield for medical evacuation.

Tried to watch Grabbers afterwards but was not in the comedic mood after the previous film  will revisit


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2016)

Grabbers is great ! Absolutely watch it when you are in the mood. The way they defeat monsters in this is genius.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2016)

ooh, i have Grabbers. might watch that tonight, if i have time to watch it after the Mr Robot finale.


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> ooh, i have Grabbers. might watch that tonight, if i have time to watch it after the Mr Robot finale.


It's a bit like Father Ted meets The Thing and that's a winning combination in my book.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 22, 2016)

as part of my quest to work my way through netflix reccomendations I watched 'Down Terrace'. I'd spotted it in the list of 'suggested for j' thingy before but dismissed it as sub-par football aggro nonsense cos of the title. Its not, its actually a decent little crime flick. Tiny cast, nice locations, some good performances. One thing that didn't do it for me was the bit at the end where his fiancee 



Spoiler: stuff



does that murder. its just theres been no indication she was part of the life till then



overall though, strong. a 6/10


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 22, 2016)

Straw Dogs remake.  Actually thought it was pretty good.  Been a long time since I watched the original.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 22, 2016)

End of Season 2 of Better Call Saul.  Very good, like the rest of the season.

Been battering Season 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  I loves it/


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 22, 2016)

Will watch Better Call Saul as I liked the pick up towards the end.

Saw The Witch and fuck me, it was worth the wait.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 23, 2016)

More GoT.  Reached the Blood Wedding episode.  I knew such an event was coming up, but was expecting it to happen at a different wedding. Definitely up there with one of the most shocking telly episodes I've seen and I'm not sure why this series has a lower BBFC rating than the others...  Really enjoying GoT now, my previous opinion being it was *just* good enough to make me keep watching.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Apr 23, 2016)

Just started on a nostalgia-fest: E.R. from the very beginning. God, they are all SO YOUNG.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 23, 2016)

Last 2 eps of Better Call Saul. This season was gripping, I wish it could have been a few more eps longer...


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 23, 2016)

The Parallax View.  Pakula film from the 70s, the paranoia is tangible, the cinematography is exquisite.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 24, 2016)

Finished first season of How to get Away with Murder. 

It's not at all believable, but it's high class unbelievable, trash that shines.

Viola Davis gives a powerful performance and some of her scenes have been top notch telly (especially the scene where she removes her hair and make up to reveal herself as she naturally looks, and a scene she shares with her mother later in the season).

The rest of the cast range from annoying to sometimes funny, but mostly dislikable brats, selfish ego-centrics and just plain rotters. 

The only 'good' character is a straight cop who's story has seen him be nothing but punished for being a decent human being.

If the show is saying anything about the US justice system at all it's that the meek and the poor and the salt of the earth types get fuck all in a world full of rich, greedy, corrupt and vicious wolves. Which is hardly news. 

Anyway....I liked the twisted, turning storylines, even if a lot of it was a bit daft and hard to swallow.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 24, 2016)

Rewatched L'Inferno, one of the oldest suviving feature length films from way back in 1911 and what a cracker it is too, an adaptation of Dante's The Divine Comedy. As a vision of a man being shown the sights of hell, the film is packed with stunning images and great effects, as much as I'm a fan of Tangerine Dream i'm not sure the soundtrack added by them adds too much.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 24, 2016)

red & green said:


> Black Panther : Vanguard of the Revolution - highly recommend



Watched this last week, cheers for the heads up! Was good but I would have liked that the Communist influence on the Panthers to have been explored in more depth. A good introduction nonetheless.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 24, 2016)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Watched this last week, cheers for the heads up! Was good but I would have liked that the Communist influence on the Panthers to have been explored in more depth. A good introduction nonetheless.


have you seen Black Power Mixtape? Its not all panthers but its a good watch.


----------



## 8115 (Apr 24, 2016)

The House I Live In, documentary about the American war on drugs.

Really excellent film, I was interested to see it but I thought yeah, yeah, I pretty much know what it's going to be about and say but it really packs a punch.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 24, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> have you seen Black Power Mixtape? Its not all panthers but its a good watch.



No, but it's on the list. It's one area of history that I have proper slept on. Got a tidy reading list sorted now as well. 

Cheers.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 25, 2016)

The Quiet Ones - one of the new Hammer films and, frankly, shit.  I had high hopes for a while after spotting the English chap from Mad Men.


----------



## Reno (Apr 25, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> The Quiet Ones - one of the new Hammer films and, frankly, shit.  I had high hopes for a while after spotting the English chap from Mad Men.


Unfortunately all the new Hammer films so far have been shit. It's just not Hammer without the likes of Peter Cushing and Cristopher Lee. I wished they would dig into the Hammer tradition and do something like some new Quatermass films.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 25, 2016)

Reno said:


> Unfortunately all the new Hammer films so far have been shit. It's just not Hammer without the likes of Peter Cushing and Cristopher Lee. I wished they would dig into the Hammer tradition and do something like some new Quatermass films.



The Woman in Black, Let Me In and Wake Wood are all at least decent imo.


----------



## Reno (Apr 25, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> The Woman in Black, Let Me In and Wake Wood are all at least decent imo.


I thought they all were shit.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 26, 2016)

I thought the Woman in Black was alright.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

The Boy said:


> I thought the Woman in Black was alright.


It was another rubbish remake which didn't get what made the original great. The 80s TV movie written by Nigel Kneale was a far better adaptation of the novel. The film was just silly and unlike the TV movie, not scary at all.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> It was another rubbish remake which didn't get what made the original great. The 80s TV movie written by Nigel Kneale was a far better adaptation of the novel. The film was just silly and unlike the TV movie, not scary at all.



Meh.  We'll just have to agree to disagree.  I thought it was a decent enough low-budget haunted house effort compared to some of the other crap low-budget haunted house efforts I've watched on Netflix/Lovefilm.

What's it a remake of, by-the-by?


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Meh.  We'll just have to agree to disagree.  I thought it was a decent enough low-budget haunted house effort compared to some of the other crap low-budget haunted house efforts I've watched on Netflix/Lovefilm.
> 
> What's it a remake of, by-the-by?


As I wrote above, it's a remake of the 80s British TV movie.

The Woman in Black (1989 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It wasn't a low budget film either (if you think thats a justification for its failings) it had a relatively large budget for a British horror film and was art directed to death, cramming every corner of the frame with "creepy dolls" and other tiresome cliches of the haunted house film. From The Pact, to The Innkeepers, to Left Bank I can think of about ten haunted house films of the last few years which felt a lot more fresh than The Woman in Black.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 26, 2016)

Onwards with season one of Game of Thrones.

Some baby dragons have just arrived. I hope it's not gonna go all lord of the rings.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> It was another rubbish remake which didn't get what made the original great. The 80s TV movie written by Nigel Kneale was a far better adaptation of the novel. The film was just silly and unlike the TV movie, not scary at all.


I've been trying to get a NIgel Kneale revival going for years. He did so much that just isn't shown. Beasts for instance. I might take to the people at the Cube about this. They love the folk horror stuff.


----------



## moody (Apr 26, 2016)

watched Nymphomanic Vol 1 last night thinking it'd be quite smutty but was in fact quite dark, esp the bit where her dad is dying. 

I am sure there was an erect penis in one bit towards the end, surely thats not ok in movies no?


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

moody said:


> watched Nymphomanic Vol 1 last night thinking it'd be quite smutty but was in fact quite dark, esp the bit where her dad is dying.
> 
> I am sure there was an erect penis in one bit towards the end, surely thats not ok in movies no?


What's not ok about an erect penis ?


----------



## The Boy (Apr 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> What's not ok about an erect penis ?



Censors are a bit funny about it, aren't they?


----------



## oneunder (Apr 26, 2016)

moody said:


> watched Nymphomanic Vol 1 last night thinking it'd be quite smutty but was in fact quite dark, esp the bit where her dad is dying.
> 
> I am sure there was an erect penis in one bit towards the end, surely thats not ok in movies no?


Ha ha.  Watch Vol 2.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> I've been trying to get a NIgel Kneale revival going for years. He did so much that just isn't shown. Beasts for instance. I might take to the people at the Cube about this. They love the folk horror stuff.


The had a great evening on him at The Horse Hospital a while ago with a reading of The Road, which is considered lost. 

Even The Woman in Black is difficult to get hold of now apart from poor quality YouTube versions, even though it was a great success for ITV at the time. I think there were complaints about it being too scary because they never showed it again.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Censors are a bit funny about it, aren't they?


There have been quite a few erect penises in art house films for the last couple of decades now. It's not considered that big a taboo anymore and it shouldn't be, considering there has been lots of explicit female nudity even in mainstream films, while the culture has always been far more coy about penises.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

oneunder said:


> Ha ha.  Watch Vol 2.


Also there are two versions of Nymphomaniac, the director's cut being longer and far more explicit.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> It's not considered that big a taboo anymore and it shouldn't be, .



Of course it shouldn't, but it's still rare enough that one can be surprised (which is what I assumed moody meant by 'not ok').


----------



## moody (Apr 26, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Of course it shouldn't, but it's still rare enough that one can be surprised (which is what I assumed moody meant by 'not ok').




Exactly. I'm no Mary Whitehouse so am cool but was surprised as never seen in a non porn movie before


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 26, 2016)

The Boy said:


> I thought the Woman in Black was alright.



She's not my type


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

moody said:


> Exactly. I'm no Mary Whitehouse so am cool but was surprised as never seen in a non porn movie before


Some non-porn films which feature unsimulated sex and erections:

9 Songs
Love
Enter the Void
Intimacy
Romance
The Brown Bunny
Stranger by the Lake
Baise-moi
Shortbus
Import/Export
Pasolini
Starlet
Wetlands

...and Von Trier's own Antichrist


----------



## moody (Apr 26, 2016)

oneunder said:


> Ha ha.  Watch Vol 2.



I doubt I could.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

I watched season 5 of Girls over the last three evenings and thought it was great, though Hannah is more monstrous than ever. The episode with Shoshanna in Tokyo was particularely good.

Started watching American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson which pretty compelling and unlike quite anything I've seen. It's a serialised 10 episode crime drama based very closely on the infamous case with a high profile cast. This was shown on the BBC but then was moved later and later in the schedules. It shouldn't work but somehow it does. Cuba Gooding Jr. Seems miscast, but his performance is excellent, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro looks like an animatronic puppet, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian is uncanny and Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark proves yet again that she's the most versatile actress on US TV.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> Also there are two versions of Nymphomaniac, the director's cut being longer and far more explicit.



I'm assuming he watched whatever version Film Four are showing, which is split into two parts (2nd part on tonight).  Is this the director's cut?  Still to watch it meself.  Looking forward to some filth.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> Some non-porn films which feature unsimulated sex and erections:
> 
> 9 Songs
> Love
> ...



Sex and Lucia has a mud caked semi, iirc


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I'm assuming he watched whatever version Film Four are showing, which is split into two parts (2nd part on tonight).  Is this the director's cut?  Still to watch it meself.  Looking forward to some filth.



Both versions come in two parts, I don't know which one Film Four is showing. You can check the running time against what it says in the Wikipedia entry: Nymphomaniac (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> Both versions come in two parts, I don't know which one Film Four is showing. You can check the running time against what it says in the Wikipedia entry: Nymphomaniac (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Looks like the short version.  Boo.


----------



## moody (Apr 26, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I'm assuming he watched whatever version Film Four are showing, which is split into two parts (2nd part on tonight).  Is this the director's cut?  Still to watch it meself.  Looking forward to some filth.




Vol 2 tonight huh?

I read up on Vol 2 from wiki, it looks dark, dark erm..........dark.

No thanks.


----------



## The Boy (Apr 26, 2016)

Finished watching season 2 of Kimmy Schmidt.  good.  

Started watching that Flowers which has Olivia Coleman and Julian Barret.  Not so sure.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

Von Trier works so hard on being a provocateur, I find it impossible to take him that seriously. So no matter how "dark" he goes, I always find his films a bit silly.


----------



## keybored (Apr 26, 2016)

I think I can pinpoint the precise moment I stopped taking Von Trier seriously.


----------



## Reno (Apr 26, 2016)

For me it was when those heavenly bells show up at the end of Breaking the Waves.

I liked the creepy animals in Antichrist, it's the sexual politics I found ridiculous.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 29, 2016)

The Crimson Pirate - Burt Lancaster, Christopher Lee and the wonderful Noel Purcell. Swashbuckling with ham, thickly sliced 

Influenced both Terry Gilliam and Pirates of the Caribbean, apparently.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 29, 2016)

Pandorum. Enjoyable space opera thing, nicely claustrophobic and jumpy 7/10


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 29, 2016)

There's a full HD version of Deadpool out online now, so rewatched it last night.

Slightly less funny now I know the jokes, but overall still very entertaining.


----------



## Reno (Apr 29, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Pandorum. Enjoyable space opera thing, nicely claustrophobic and jumpy 7/10


I quite like that one too and the final plot twist is great. It's the only science fiction film I can think of which is about 



Spoiler



a generation ship.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 29, 2016)

Reno said:


> I quite like that one too and the final plot twist is great. It's the only science fiction film I can think of which is about
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler: spoile



yes I was enthused to see a film that dark and veering on space-horror have a really happy uplifting ending. In many ways it reminded me of something that alistair reynolds migth have written, his Revelation Space universe would easily tell this sort of story.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 30, 2016)

moody said:


> Exactly. I'm no Mary Whitehouse so am cool but was surprised as never seen in a non porn movie before


I was the same!

I was sure it was a 'law'.  There was one in that Under The Skin film and I was totally confused.  I was shrugging my shoulders going 'isn't that illegal'...sounding like a homophobe.


----------



## ginger_syn (Apr 30, 2016)

Watched Amy today, a beautiful film but sad and horrible too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 30, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> I was the same!
> 
> I was sure it was a 'law'.  There was one in that Under The Skin film and I was totally confused.  I was shrugging my shoulders going 'isn't that illegal'...sounding like a homophobe.


I don't think erect penises have ever been banned specifically. I think the only specific guidance is whether the material is likely to deprave or corrupt, which would make it obscene and therefore illegal. So it's very much to do with the standards of the time, rather than anything definite, though there was a rumour that the BBFC had a 'Mull Of Kintyre' rule on penises - if it got any higher than how the peninsula looked on a map, then it had to be cut!


----------



## seventh bullet (Apr 30, 2016)

Midnight Special.  A film about parental love done as a 1970/80s-style sci-fi thriller partly influenced by the likes of John Carpenter's Starman and Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters.  Worth the ticket and the cost of the next one.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 30, 2016)

Reno said:


> Also there are two versions of Nymphomaniac, the director's cut being longer and far more explicit.


Do you think the directors cut brings a lot more to the table? I saw _Nymphomaniac_ at the cinema and while I don't regret it I can't say that I'm burning with desire to see it again.


----------



## Reno (Apr 30, 2016)

redsquirrel said:


> Do you think the directors cut brings a lot more to the table? I saw _Nymphomaniac_ at the cinema and while I don't regret it I can't say that I'm burning with desire to see it again.


I only saw the directors cut, so don't know how they compare apart from what I read. I too wouldn't sit through it for a second time.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 30, 2016)

Reno said:


> Some non-porn films which feature unsimulated sex and erections:



How about _Ai No Corrida/In The Realm Of The Senses_? I can't remember if there's any actual pink-on-pink or glowing tumescences - mind always slightly distracted by, ah, other stuff


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 30, 2016)

All The President's Men.

A masterclass in acting, screenwriting, cinematography and narrative.  Pretty much perfect.


----------



## Dieselpunk2000 (May 1, 2016)

High-rise. I still haven't made my mind up as to liking it or not. I may give it a second viewing. The book is one of my favourites though, as I am a fan of Ballard and brutalist buildings.


----------



## Plumdaff (May 1, 2016)

Series 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Really hit its stride, very funny indeed. 

Edge of Tomorrow. Much better than a Sci fi action film involving time travel and Tom Cruise has any right to be. An enjoyable Saturday evening watch.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 1, 2016)

Plumdaff said:


> Edge of Tomorrow. Much better than a Sci fi action film involving time travel and Tom Cruise has any right to be. An enjoyable Saturday evening watch.



I think this is the film that has the highest ratio of delivery:expectation I've seen for years


----------



## trabuquera (May 1, 2016)

*Bessie* (2014) - very pedestrian made for TV biopic of legendary blueswoman Bessie Smith, which smothers an absolutely fantastic cast in a blanket of cliche. It's like a rolodex of great black acting talent (Queen Latifah! Michael K Williams! Khandi Alexander!) but the best performance of them all is actually Mo'Nique as Bessie's mentor/frenemy Ma Rainey. The script is weak and the visuals are way too airbrushy, and it tries to fit too much in, without really catching fire. But not at all a waste of time if you're interested in an extraordinary woman.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 1, 2016)

RED

Loads of people in this 'retired black ops caper' thing. The jason bournes of yesteryear are goaded into action when blah blah karl urban leads the baddies. Fairly fun, malkovitch and freeman and bruce willis and some nonsense. 4.5/10


Legion

This riffs a little on The Prophecy but not a lot its mainly a war-in-heaven horror siege monster demon thing. I give it a 6.5/10
that .5 goes to an early scene where michael cuts off his wings for reasons that go entirely unexplained.


----------



## Vintage Paw (May 2, 2016)

Jupiter Ascending.

lol


----------



## Vintage Paw (May 2, 2016)

Reno said:


> As I wrote above, it's a remake of the 80s British TV movie.
> 
> The Woman in Black (1989 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> It wasn't a low budget film either (if you think thats a justification for its failings) it had a relatively large budget for a British horror film and was art directed to death, cramming every corner of the frame with "creepy dolls" and other tiresome cliches of the haunted house film. From The Pact, to The Innkeepers, to Left Bank I can think of about ten haunted house films of the last few years which felt a lot more fresh than The Woman in Black.



It's a book, first and foremost. The book is great (v. short too).

It gets adapted for stage an awful lot. I've seen it locally, and the production was fab. Proper creepy.


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2016)

Vintage Paw said:


> It's a book, first and foremost. The book is great (v. short too).
> 
> It gets adapted for stage an awful lot. I've seen it locally, and the production was fab. Proper creepy.


I've read the book and it's great. Is there a stage play based on it other than the one which has been in the West End for decades now ?


----------



## Vintage Paw (May 2, 2016)

Not sure. I saw it in Stoke-on-Trent, maybe 6 years ago. Don't know what tour it was part of.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 2, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> RED
> 
> Loads of people in this 'retired black ops caper' thing. The jason bournes of yesteryear are goaded into action when blah blah karl urban leads the baddies. Fairly fun, malkovitch and freeman and bruce willis and some nonsense. 4.5/10



Helen Mirren in an evening dress firing a big fuck-off machine gun...


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 2, 2016)

Blue is the Warmest Colour.  Enjoyed it, even if it was a tad on the long side.  Kept looking for blue in every scene.  There was indeed lots of blue, though no idea what the significance was meant to be.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 2, 2016)

Midnight Special - interesting sci-fi/ road movie with a strong 80s feel. Well worth a watch.


----------



## Chz (May 2, 2016)

Vintage Paw said:


> Jupiter Ascending.
> 
> lol


It was fun once you decide to switch the brain off for the duration. Very pretty, things go bang. Falls apart whenever there's too much "plot" exposition. Having seen it _after_ reading all the horrible reviews, I enjoyed it.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 2, 2016)

Edge Of Tomorrow. 
Great fun,  but very bad time travel  'science'. 
Tom Cruise's must have got very bored.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 2, 2016)

In The Electric Mist

Tommy Lee Jones hallucinates and beats people up and I'm pretty sure he killed a woman. Also starring: the everglades


----------



## seventh bullet (May 2, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> Midnight Special - interesting sci-fi/ road movie with a strong 80s feel. Well worth a watch.



I saw this last week and really like it.



Spoiler



The story is sparse in detail which isn't a bad thing. It comes together well in the boy's search for his place in a parallel world, his special abilities  seen as either a direct line to God and imminent salvation (the apocalyptic religious cult to which he belonged), or an urgent and dangerous problem (the more powerful FBI-NSA agents) when it is discovered he can decode encrypted information from government satellites.

I like it that the film starts after the race against time to make the as yet unexplained rendezvous has begun. I also think the not so happy outcomes for the father, mother and friend (but sure they have done the right thing) ends it well and without mawkishness.


----------



## ViolentPanda (May 2, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> RED
> 
> Loads of people in this 'retired black ops caper' thing. The jason bournes of yesteryear are goaded into action when blah blah karl urban leads the baddies. Fairly fun, malkovitch and freeman and bruce willis and some nonsense. 4.5/10
> 
> ...



It's cos he's rather noticeable with them on, and clumsy - like Gabriel is. I quite like Bettany as an action hero. He doesn't say a lot. He's good in "Priest" too, where - surprise! surprise! - Karl Urban plays a baddie!


----------



## flypanam (May 3, 2016)

Barney's version - Adaptation of Mordechai Richler's novel, though lacked some of the tension of the novel.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 3, 2016)

Inside Llewn Davis. Second time round and (as with so many Coen Brothers flicks) I enjoyed it even more. Oscar Isaac is rather brilliant and I'd forgotten his Star Wars nemesis turns up as a fellow singer songwriter!


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 3, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> I saw this last week and really like it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



For me, the film had glimpses of The Fury and in particular, Firestarter (the Raunch/ the Shop - government agencies etc) and thankfully didn't take the religion vs science route.
Does the film end unhappily? I figured it was how both parents  felt when they saw their child's becoming - their reactions would be the same even if they stood outside of the walls (sacrifice n' all)


----------



## seventh bullet (May 3, 2016)

Spoiler



Unhappy as in the circumstances of the parents and the friend left behind, the cost of their sacrifice.  The film is about the worries of parenthood and what parents are willing to do, to their own detriment, to ensure their children are protected and able to thrive but wearing the clothes of derivative sci-fi (the director, Jeff Nichols, has talked about John Carpenter as an influence for example).

While on the run the parents have to quickly deal with the realisation that they'll soon have to let their son go. They (with a large part of the US) catch a glimpse of the world 'built on top of this one,' where the boy truly belongs with disembodied humanoid beings of light (lol), but the father never gets to see his son make the other-worldly crossing when he and his friend decide to make a diversion for pursuing soldiers, allowing mother and son to run for it.  He knows it's happening, as he had an earlier glimpse of this parallel world when he let his ailing boy see the sunrise, but given the chase his is a very brief goodbye.

The final scene shows the father chained up in a prison yard looking up at the sun. He knows his son has made it, but his own prospects (likely to rot behind bars) are looking grim.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 3, 2016)

Very good deconstruction seventh bullet.
Yes I can see that too.

I hope there are more films like this coming out in 2016!


----------



## Reno (May 4, 2016)

After giving up on Deadpool after 20 minute because I found it absolutely repellent from "hilariously self-aware" title sequence onwards, I watched an anthology horror film called Holidays, which was wasn't very good either, with only one decent segment (the Father's Day one)


----------



## Vintage Paw (May 4, 2016)

Chz said:


> It was fun once you decide to switch the brain off for the duration. Very pretty, things go bang. Falls apart whenever there's too much "plot" exposition. Having seen it _after_ reading all the horrible reviews, I enjoyed it.



I knew nothing about it before I watched it (I'm not a big film watcher, neither do I pay much attention to film news). Honestly, my best experiences have been going in with no idea (Devil's Advocate was an amazing experience, expecting your average crime drama).

But this was... well. It was a total mess. I suppose enjoyably so, but a total mess. Kunis' character was so passive, zero character growth. Space Puck lived up to his character concept, and was nothing but a pathetic doting puppy. Eddie Redmayne's voice, omg. It had bits from every kind of film you can imagine: Superman, Harry Potter, everything Marvel, meets low-budget Maid in Manhattan. I mean, it was enjoyable in the sense that it was a curiosity, but even the set pieces with all the 'splosions and so on had me drifting off into my own little world because they were directionless, pointless, and mostly boring.

There were some redeeming features, and as I say overall I enjoyed the experience of watching it, even if I didn't enjoy it as a film.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 4, 2016)

I don't get how two people who can do somethng as quality as sense 8 can also do Jupiter Ascending. I liked jupiter Ascending for its mental visual rides but it was eyewateringly bad in every other respect. Bogbrush realism, ham fisted space opera stuff sort of jammed in there while not making any sense at all. The flyng boots were cool tho.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 4, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Bogbrush realism



Don't know what this means but I'm STEALING IT


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 4, 2016)

_Detective Byomkesh Bakshy_!

An inquisitive Bengali student in wartime Calcutta becomes a private investigator and uncovers a murderous conspiracy - enjoyable and effective noir. Would like more.

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia!


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 4, 2016)

*Batman vs Superman - Dawn of Justice*

Perhaps the shittiest and heacachey of a fucked up film I've seen since Spawn. Utter pants.
There's also something about Ben Affleck. He strikes me as  racist who  throws poo at Koreans and Mexicans while spitting at poor people. Avoid.


----------



## Reno (May 4, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I don't get how two people who can do somethng as quality as sense 8 can also do Jupiter Ascending. I liked jupiter Ascending for its mental visual rides but it was eyewateringly bad in every other respect. Bogbrush realism, ham fisted space opera stuff sort of jammed in there while not making any sense at all. The flyng boots were cool tho.


I thought Sense 8 was plenty silly as well. It's closer to Cloud Atlas, which is loads of silly too, but which I rather liked. Just about the only thing they've done which I think is really great is their debut film Bound.


----------



## The39thStep (May 4, 2016)

Banshee season 4 episode 4 . What's not to like about a town with Neo nazis, Amish gangsters, black ops, women vigilantes , santanic cults and a murder investigation of a young woman


----------



## Reno (May 4, 2016)

I'm up to episode 7 with American Crime Story: The People v OJ Simpson. This gets better and better as it goes on, especially once prosecuter Marcia Clark becomes the central character. There is plenty about how the media treat professional, hard working, competent women which is perceptive and smart. The way the press almost exclusively fixated on her hair style and how this contributed to her being seen as unsympathetic and was a reason to dismiss and humiliate her (and which in turn benefited the Simpson case) is depressing but all too common. Sarah Paulson is great in the role and deserves every TV acting award going.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (May 5, 2016)

Halfway through series four of Prison Break now, don't know what I'll do without it


----------



## Reno (May 5, 2016)

I watched the new Star Wars film. I'm not much of a Star Wars fan and this didn't make me into one either but it was alright. It bobbed along at a decent pace and did a great job at recapturing the look and feel of the original trilogy, sometimes a little too well. Like the original first Star Wars it feels a little underpowered dramatically, but it's a better film with more appealing lead actors. I think it's the second best Star Wars film after Empire, but I can also see why after the initial excitement died down, it was forgotten about by the time the awards season and year's best lists came out. It's just another servicable blockbuster.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 5, 2016)

Deadpool. It was ok. Not as funny as it thinks it is and the conciet of having the hero just the sort of obnoxious twat you imagine as the ur-fan so often mocked works well enough. Generally though its not that good. Action sequences carried it otherwise I would have given up 3/10


----------



## Orang Utan (May 5, 2016)

Reno said:


> I watched the new Star Wars film. I'm not much of a Star Wars fan and this hasn't made me into one either but it was alright. It bobbed along at a decent pace and did a great job at recapturing the look and feel of the original trilogy, sometimes a little too well. Like the original first Star Wars it feels a little underpowered, but it's a better film with more appealing lead actors.  Second best Star Wars film after Empire.


Controversial! Everyone knows that Return Of The Jedi is the best!


----------



## Reno (May 5, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Controversial! Everyone knows that Return Of The Jedi is the best!


That's not how I remember general consensus going down. Anyways, I don't care that much as I'm more of Star Trek sort of person and no Star Wars film can touch Wrath of Khan.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (May 5, 2016)

Reno said:


> That's not how I remember general consensus going down.



I didn't realise Palpatine's throne was so accomodating...


----------



## DotCommunist (May 5, 2016)

Empire is the tightest.

Also it contains some of the most quality vader of all three


----------



## Orang Utan (May 5, 2016)

empire is the most boring.
and it's just a join film between the first and the third. 
and return has the ewoks in it. and the ewok disco.


----------



## belboid (May 5, 2016)

naah, Empire is blates the nest movie up until the point where it goes _'wtf, there isn't an ending, you cheating fuckers'

Return _doesn't work except as part 2 of _Empire_, so _Empire _wins


----------



## DotCommunist (May 5, 2016)

bollocks Orang Utan. It has lukes training and cloud city/lando. Thats more than enough. Plus Vader at his most menacing. Lets face it, when he isn't choking quasi fascist imperial flunkies with his mind vader doesn't really get to fuck people up much except in Empire where he fucks people up badly. Apparently in the new Rogue One film we are going to see battlefield vader which I for one am bang upfor seeing.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 5, 2016)

chopping people in half with his lazer sword


----------



## Orang Utan (May 5, 2016)

Empire is a boring film


----------



## lefteri (May 5, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Empire is a boring film



It is quite slow moving but it's the best looking one by a country mile, jedi's very silly

I wish the new one had been slower - some of the edits were like wtf?


----------



## Idris2002 (May 5, 2016)

I have a  bad feeling about this.

Jedi will always be my favorite though, because that summer everyone on the estate was going to the pictures, and Jedi was one of the ones we saw. That and Condorman which I must watch again.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 5, 2016)

Watched the 1964 Russian version of Hamlet. B&W. Beautiful sweeping shots, cinematographt used to great effect - especially with the ghost scenes. And an original score by Shostakovich!

My fave version yet. Although I still haven't seen the Branagh film which is supposed to be a decent effort.


----------



## ringo (May 5, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Banshee season 4 episode 4 . What's not to like about a town with Neo nazis, Amish gangsters, black ops, women vigilantes , santanic cults and a murder investigation of a young woman



Don't forget the psychological torture, flame throwers and meth labs; they're packing everything they can think of into this series 

Saw episode 5 last night. Blimey.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 5, 2016)

Nymphomaniac vol 1. I enjoyed it.


----------



## The Boy (May 5, 2016)

Marseille episode 1. It was... OK.  Ish

New episode of peaky blinders.  Better.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 5, 2016)

Hateful Eight. It was too long, over talky, really lacked much energy or flair. There was some nice cinematography, the Morricone score was very good.

Even in his early classics Tarantino's chatty scripts could feel clumsy and forced, but this was more so than usual. There was just too much babbling away....and little of any of it added much to the story or the 'tension' being built.

The cast did their best with it, but even they couldn't help but ham up that material.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 5, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Even in his early classics Tarantino's chatty scripts could feel clumsy and forced, but this was more so than usual. There was just too much babbling away....and little of any of it added much to the story or the 'tension' being built.



The only one I rewatch after all this time is Jackie Brown. I was totally blown away by Pulp Fiction the first few times (including two screenings on the same day,  the second after a pub discussion about the order of events), but other than that his films aren't really for me.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 5, 2016)

Jackie Brown was the first I didnt like...then rewatched it and it is probably my fave now...


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2016)

The Witch, 2015s hyped Sundance horror film (there is one every year).

The film takes place in 17th Century New England and is about an Puritan family, outcast from their community, whose luck runs out once they set up their lonely farm next to a dark forest. The forest harbours a witch, who appears to have designs on the children. The film looks striking. The image is so desaturated, it's almost black & white and the only colour seen in full is blood red. Period detail is meticulous from the severe costuming to the archaic English spoken but as a horror film it's never particularly scary or unsettling.

Unlike earlier period classics about witches like The Witchfinder General the film is unambigious from early on that the witch is for real. This is surprising as in all other respects The Witch is such an art house film, reminiscent of Herzog, Bergman and Kubrick in particular. The thorough lack of ambiguity robs the film of any deeper themes or subtext. It ends up as a beautifully shot and art directed spook show which feels too remote to get really scary and too superficial to work as anything more artful. The film spends much of its time on a drama of the disintegrating family, which is never that riveting because in the end nothing is down to the repressive religious dynamics within the family. There never is any doubt that there really is a witch who means harm to the children. Unlike more thematically ambitious horror films about Christianity vs paganism/satanism like The Wicker Man, The Devils or The Witchfinder General, the film has nothing to say about religion, which means in the end it's no more profound than something like The Omen, without the trashy rewards of that film.

The Witch is still striking enough to check out for its meticulous sense of time and place. It's also more entertaining than Ben Wheatley's similar but meandering A Field in England. I'm curious what the director will do next as he clearly has talent. He just needs a plot with a little more substance to support his confident sense of style.

The always excellent Kate Dickie (Red Road, GoT) who plays the mother here, starred in a little seen contemporary film about witchcraft and Celtic folklore called Outcast (2010), which is rather underrated and which worked better as a horror film.

The trailer makes the film look more intense and scary than it is:


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 7, 2016)

I'm on a rewatch of ER, having never seen any of it since original broadcast. I've got to the part in the second series where Mark is having his heart broken. Aw, man.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 9, 2016)

Nymphomaniac Vol 2.  Really 'enjoyed' the whole thing as a provocative piece of cinema.  I wonder what 50 Shades fans would make of some it...  The S&M stuff is pretty extreme.  In time I'll probably get my hands on the director's cut.  Film Four showed the shorter version.


----------



## Yetman (May 9, 2016)

The Witch - more about the story than the horror, of which there is little, but what there is is very good. Otherwise it's slow and a bit disappointing if you view it expecting what the trailer promises. 7/10 

Southbound - this one lives up to expectations a bit more, but the apparent lack of experience of the directors shows, though not to the point where it's massively detrimental to the movie. 6/10


----------



## Reno (May 9, 2016)

Yetman said:


> The Witch - more about the story than the horror, of which there is little, but what there is is very good. Otherwise it's slow and a bit disappointing if you view it expecting what the trailer promises. 7/10
> 
> Southbound - this one lives up to expectations a bit more, but the apparent lack of experience of the directors shows, though not to the point where it's massively detrimental to the movie. 6/10


So if the second film lives up to expectations more, why did you give it a lower score? (that rhymes!  )


----------



## krtek a houby (May 10, 2016)

Mutiny on the Bounty - the 1935 version with Clark Gable as Christian and Charles Laughton as Bly. I'd only seen the 1984 version with Anthony Hopkins as Bly. Laughton's Bly is an out and out bastard, while Hopkin's is a (bit) more reserved. Still prefer the 1984 version. Have to watch the Brando take on it, next.


----------



## The Octagon (May 10, 2016)

*The Hateful Eight*

Probably loses some impact on the small screen (particularly the first 30-40 mins out in the wilderness, some lovely shots), but after that it's kind of a cross between Reservoir Dogs and The Thing.

Hard to judge it given that Tarantino is a marmite filmmaker, personally I enjoy the long stretches of dialogue punctuated by quick moments of brutality, and overly theatrical setting (you tend not to forget you're watching a film with QT as a director and writer), but can imagine it feeling quite slow to others and some of the dialogue is a little too self-referential.

Walton Goggins was the standout (as he has been for several years on _The Shield_ and _Justified_), but all the actors have their moments (apart from Michael Madsen perhaps) and it was enjoyable enough, if not one of his better films.

Bloody, foul-mouthed and smartly plotted (although not as clever as it thinks it is) - *7/10*


----------



## DotCommunist (May 10, 2016)

Started watching Line of Duty and was very impressed. More of this tonight


----------



## krtek a houby (May 10, 2016)

The Man who Came to Dinner - Bette Davis, Monty Wooley, Ann Sheridan and Grant Mitchell in a classic comedy from 1941. Wooley is brilliant as a caustic, pompous critic who finds himself housebound and up to mischief in Ohio. I get the feeling his character was an influence on Stewie in Family Guy...


----------



## Buddy Bradley (May 10, 2016)

Watched Only Lovers Left Alive, Jim Jarmusch vampire film with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. Looked great, nice sets and costumes, bit light on plot, and terribly clunky script.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 10, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> *The Hateful Eight*
> 
> Probably loses some impact on the small screen (particularly the first 30-40 mins out in the wilderness, some lovely shots), but after that it's kind of a cross between Reservoir Dogs and The Thing.
> 
> ...



What about the plot was smart?


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 10, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Started watching Line of Duty and was very impressed. More of this tonight



From the start of series 1?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Empire is a boring film



Is there a Star Wars film that isn't boring to the adult brain?


----------



## DotCommunist (May 10, 2016)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> From the start of series 1?


yeah its on netflix. I made it to ep 2 but ju suis fatigue by that point so will have to rewatch from there


----------



## Orang Utan (May 10, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Is there a Star Wars film that isn't boring to the adult brain?


I enjoyed The Force Awakens very much and I am an adult.
I also enjoyed Return Of The Jedi and I'm pretty sure I was an adult when I last watched it.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 10, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Is there a Star Wars film that isn't boring to the adult brain?


well its really when you think about it full of the tropes of a folk tale, now we can pretend our concept of adulthood means thats now boring but it embodies concepts that have never fallen from fictional use because they speak to human experience, or at least to what the human wants to be. Rescue the princess. Defeat the evil wizard. Be part of a band of warriors and friends. Old school really. Zipes is excellent on skewering the worst aspects of the tale and doing so with impeccable research. But. I'll take a fairy story over Human Centipede or Hostel any day of the week. Evin that Devils Rejects film, that was a good watch but so so grubby. Sometimes the adult mind wants stories where the good bears out and evil is slapped back into its box. Tales of personal redemption. This is probably why I watch It's A Wonderful Life every year


----------



## Reno (May 10, 2016)

Hostel 1&2 are tales of personal redemption as well and they warm the the lump of rock I call my heart.


----------



## The Octagon (May 10, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> What about the plot was smart?



Off the top of my head - 



Spoiler



The small touches to hint at the fracas that went before (the door, jelly beans, the coffee being shit), Major Warren's probing of 'Bob' in the stable and later on, it wasn't over the top and it mixed the truth and lies to catch 'Bob' out, something we find out later Warren has been doing for years with the Lincoln Letter.

The character's shifting allegiances all made sense in the wider context too, they may have felt like caricatures at times but their motivations made sense and no loose ends, not an easy thing to plot over a near-3 hour film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 10, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> Off the top of my head -
> 
> 
> 
> ...



All nice touches, but I didn't feel they were anything more than playful or anything more than an average episode of columbo...


----------



## Reno (May 10, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> All nice touches, but I didn't feel they were anything more than playful or anything more than an average episode of columbo...


That arguement doesn't work for me because Columbo is the pinacle of Western civilisation. It's my "apes with guns on horses".


----------



## neonwilderness (May 10, 2016)

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Very surreal, but I liked it.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 11, 2016)

More Line of Duty. It just gets better. You think the complexity will fall off and it'll start being obvious but it doesn't.


----------



## Chz (May 11, 2016)

Finished watching Hap & Leonard on Prime. It's not amazing great, but more than good enough to hold you through. I can't really point out why I enjoyed it, just that I did. The leads mesh well, I guess.


----------



## Reno (May 11, 2016)

I watched the last couple of episodes of The People v OJ Simpson which were great and I started on the last season of The Good Wife.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 12, 2016)

Upstart Crow - Ben Elton's new Shakespeare sitcom; wasn't sure about it at first but at the end of it I quite enjoyed it. Very Blackadder.


----------



## trabuquera (May 12, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> More Line of Duty. It just gets better. You think the complexity will fall off and it'll start being obvious but it doesn't.


  I want to know what you think of the very ending DC. Not going to spoiler it for you but would be very interested for your reaction when you get to end of s3!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 12, 2016)

Watched a sci fi film called air with Norman Reedus. Bit of a throwback to 70s budget sci fi. 

Two engineers overseeing some cryo-chamber underground after the air on earth becomes polluted....some of their equipment starts to fail and they get a bit intense.

I wanted to like it, but it was kinda dull, although it had merits and the director showed promise.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (May 12, 2016)

Prison Break is now done with  ...until the new series starts anyhoo


----------



## Orang Utan (May 12, 2016)

First episode of Fargo.  I think I'm going to like it, despite the presence of Martin Freeman


----------



## DotCommunist (May 12, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> I want to know what you think of the very ending DC. Not going to spoiler it for you but would be very interested for your reaction when you get to end of s3!


I shall keep you informed. Its fascinating to watch someone who doesn't think he is bad letting shit roll down a slope of shit and it turning turning into a giant boulder of shit chasing him down the tunnel like he is Indiana Jones. That and the power games they play with each other. Not yank style house of cards power games either. Those slights, that odd g up, that fuckaround. Vipers the lot of them


----------



## Reno (May 12, 2016)

The Martian, which was fine and no more. I'm not even sure why the film didn't really land with me, everything about it (apart from the unimaginative use of 70s pop music) worked pretty well. It reminded me of Gravity and Contact, both of which I like better, even though The Martian is probably a less flawed film.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 12, 2016)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Prison Break is now done with  ...until the new series starts anyhoo




If they haven't escaped by now, they should give up


----------



## rubbershoes (May 12, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> First episode of Fargo.  I think I'm going to like it, despite the presence of Martin Freeman




I'm surprised you didn't see it first time round.

You've got a treat watching series 1 and 2


----------



## Orang Utan (May 12, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> I'm surprised you didn't see it first time round.
> 
> You've got a treat watching series 1 and 2


I like the fact that I know nowt about it, so everything will be a surprise to me. Avoiding looking at IMDb too.


----------



## Reno (May 13, 2016)

Three episodes into Season 7 of The Good Wife. It's the televisual equivalent of comfort food for me and I will so miss it after I've watched all of this final season.


----------



## Mab (May 13, 2016)

Sirena said:


> I watched 'Locke' on telly last night, on Film 4
> 
> It's totally set in a car, with a single man (Tom Hardy) driving to London over a period of 2 hours. Apparently, it was shot in real-time!
> 
> ...


I really liked it too. Tom Hardy was great.


----------



## Yetman (May 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> So if the second film lives up to expectations more, why did you give it a lower score? (that rhymes!  )



Simple - expectations were lower


----------



## DotCommunist (May 13, 2016)

Captain America: Civil War


bit too busy. some excellent fights though which always saves the day for me. scarlet witch was pretty good and they've got peter parker tonally perfect


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 13, 2016)

Deadpool. Daft.

Finished Game of Thrones Season 2. Thought I would hate the dragon stuff....but was quite liking it by the end...


----------



## krtek a houby (May 13, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I like the fact that I know nowt about it, so everything will be a surprise to me. Avoiding looking at IMDb too.



You lucky, lucky man! No spoilers but I recommend you watch the film as well. It's not essential but it's worth a look if you haven't seen it.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 13, 2016)

Oh, I've seen the film alright


----------



## DotCommunist (May 14, 2016)

Planet Hulk. Hulk ends up on another planet because reasons and it turns out he's needed to help defeat baddies by smash, which I so didn't see coming.

at no point did he revert back to Banner, I assume by this point in the comics there had been some seperation between jeckyl&hyde so now they are two entities. This Hulk is more articulate than most times you see him but still relies on everyone else to do the exposition cons he's a Hulk of few words, still


----------



## neonwilderness (May 14, 2016)

10 Cloverfield Lane. 

Pretty good up until the last 20 minutes or so. Much like Cloverfield


----------



## Orang Utan (May 15, 2016)

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films.
Very entertaining and funny.
I now have a slew of bad films to watch. I've already downloaded The Apple.


----------



## Reno (May 15, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films.
> Very entertaining and funny.
> I now have a slew of bad films to watch. I've already downloaded The Apple.


I really want to see the weird ET rip-off featured on that documentary.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 15, 2016)

Reno said:


> I really want to see the weird ET rip-off featured on that documentary.


do you mean the one with the ape and the boy?


----------



## krtek a houby (May 15, 2016)

First 3 eps of Daredevil Season 3 and a French documentary on the Canary Islands.


----------



## trabuquera (May 16, 2016)

*300 : Rise of an Empire*  - absolute rubbish and not even enjoyable rubbish like 'the original' 300 either. (It's blatantly a fascist tract but 300 has style to burn and some coherence, even if it's just coherently fascist.) This sequel is just toss from beginning to end, far too many gallons of spurty gouty CGI blood, busy videogame style megazooms and camera lurches and in Sullivan Stapleton (some tightlipped Australian I'd never heard of) a male lead even more charmless (if less shouty) than dread lord Gerard Butler in 300. Really only worth watching for Eva Green chewing the wooden-ship scenery with fantastic abandon ... but overall it's too dull for even that to save it.

*Margin Call *(2011) - about global financial crisis-triggering banks over-leveraging and so on ...  it tries but mostly fails to build real drama out of a "banking story" and a breathtakingly amazing cast (Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, many many more). All of them act brilliantly but the script's a bit too talky (clunking loudly on the floor at times as it goes on about "but what have we actually achieved that's concrete? what have we actually done for the world?" ) and it still doesn't crack the problem of making complex finance involving beeeeeellions of dollars actually seem to matter on a human level. But maybe that's the point, in a funny way.  Very very classily done and more exciting than a film of a lot of suits in meeting rooms has any right to be.


----------



## Reno (May 16, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> do you mean the one with the ape and the boy?


I can't quite remember. Was it a fake ape ?


----------



## Orang Utan (May 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> I can't quite remember. Was it a fake ape ?


Yep, Deep Roy in a chimp suit.


----------



## Reno (May 16, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Yep, Deep Roy in a chimp suit.


That's why I remembered it as an alien, the ape looked too weird. The film looked like it could be a laugh.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> That's why I remembered it as an alien, the ape looked too weird. The film looked like it could be a laugh.


The story was that they were originally going to use the orang utan from Every Which Way But Loose but it bit the boy actor, so they got a little person in a suit instead.
Good job really, cos you don't get Orangs in Africa, which the film is set in (in a country called Momba-Zomba Land  )


----------



## Reno (May 16, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> The story was that they were originally going to use the orang utan from Every Which Way But Loose but it bit the boy actor, so they got a little person in a suit instead.
> Good job really, cos you don't get Orangs in Africa, which the film is set in (*in a country called Momba-Zomba Land*  )



I really do need to see this.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> I really do need to see this.


It's called Going Bananas


----------



## krtek a houby (May 16, 2016)

Mutiny on the Bounty from 1962. Brando and Trevor Howard square off, chew scenery (and what great scenery), able support from Richard Harris, Noel Purcell etc. Not as good as the previous version or the '84 one but a lot better than I expected.


----------



## Chz (May 17, 2016)

Watched Tootsie for the first time since it debuted on VHS. It's held up surprisingly well! Yes, there's a few 80s movie musical montages, but overall still pretty enjoyable and not too schlocky. Most 80s films don't age so well.

Bonus points for the large poster of the Broadway version of Amadeus, which would be the Academy's Best Film a short time later.
(Edit: And one of the few very deserving ones at that time, I might add)


----------



## Sue (May 17, 2016)

Just watched the Marseilles trilogy based on Marcel Pagnol's plays/scripts (Marius/Fanny/Cesar). Funny, charming, touching.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 18, 2016)

Control.

The Ian Curtis story, which probably needs no introduction to any here. Much better than I expected, with good acting all round, and interesting direction by Anton Corbijn. I did have to laugh at the divs flirting with Nazi imagery, and then getting outraged when everyone thought they were of that persuasion.

It did make me think, could anything like this happen today? I mean the emergence of the kind of angry young man who assemble their own personal aesthetic world out of rumours of the New York punk scene, Bowie influences etc.


----------



## ringo (May 18, 2016)

The Revenant

Enjoyed it. Can see why some thought it was a bit long and boring, but like Hateful 8 I got right into it and enjoyed the ride. Both relentless and grim, but good stories and well made.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 18, 2016)

Imitation of Life 1959 weepy melodrama with Lana Turner, Juanita Moore, Robert Alda, Sandra Dee and Susan Kohner. The ending is extraordinarily moving.


----------



## Reno (May 19, 2016)

I watched Psycho III which I hadn't seen in a long time. It's an odd film, quite interesting in places in how it merges the universe of Psycho with that of Vertigo. Unfortunately it's a bit clunky and it lacks style with the main set pieces which are supposed to remind you of Hitchcock bungled by poor editing. Its reasonably ambitious for a slasher sequel to a great cinematic classic, but its set up is better than its execution. I still find it slightly underrated.

Its most interesting aspect is a fantastic early score my the great Carter Burwell who has since scored most films by the Coen brothers.

Recognise this ?


----------



## Orang Utan (May 19, 2016)

Really loving S1 of Fargo. Gonna have to splurge the rest this evening (eps 6-10)
I'm even impressed by Tim from The Office.
The rest of the cast are amazing too, esp Allison Tolman


----------



## krtek a houby (May 19, 2016)

Reno said:


> I watched Psycho III which I hadn't seen in a long time. It's an odd film, quite interesting in places in how it merges the universe of Psycho with that of Vertigo. Unfortunately it's a bit clunky and it lacks style with the main set pieces which are supposed to remind you of Hitchcock, bungled by poor editing. It's set up is better than its resolution, but I still find it slightly underrated.
> 
> Its most interesting aspect is a fantastic early score my the great Carter Burwell who has since scored most films by the Coen brothers.
> 
> Recognise this ?




What's the connection between Psycho III and Vertigo? 

I liked Psycho II but it would have been interesting if they had actually filmed Robert Bloch's novel  - apparently it's a kind of satire on Hollywood slasher movies? Maybe they weren't ready for that kind of post modern ironic thingy...


----------



## Reno (May 19, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> What's the connection between Psycho III and Vertigo?
> 
> I liked Psycho II but it would have been interesting if they had actually filmed Robert Bloch's novel  - apparently it's a kind of satire on Hollywood slasher movies? Maybe they weren't ready for that kind of post modern ironic thingy...



The first scene of Psycho III is a straight rerun of the last scene from Vertigo, involving a church tower (which is an exact replica of the one from Vertigo), a deadly fall and nuns. Then the nun who caused the accident, escapes from Vertigo-world to Psycho-world and becomes a double of Janet Leigh's character from the original Psycho for Norman Bates, just like Vertigo is about a double female lead characters. She is styled to look similar to Marion Crane and her character even shares to same initials. The film turns on whether her resemblance to Marion will unhinge Norman Bates further or whether she will become his redemption.

I know of the Bloch sequel, but haven't read it. What they did with the first two Psycho sequels is better than expected though.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 19, 2016)

Kiss the Cook.

Jon Favreau is a celebrity chef who returns to his working stiff roots by running a food truck. This allows him to reconnect with both his authentic self, his ten-year old son, and - well that would be a spoiler.

Not bad at all, one for the "fine for what it is" file.

The son's improbably beautiful Cuban-American mother was a little implausible, I have to say.

Like "Ricki and the Flash", I'd say this is partly an attempt by Hollywood to deal with class issues in America, underneath the schmaltz anyway.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 20, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Kiss the Cook.
> 
> Jon Favreau is a celebrity chef who returns to his working stiff roots by running a food truck. This allows him to reconnect with both his authentic self, his ten-year old son, and - well that would be a spoiler.



That film's called Chef?


----------



## Idris2002 (May 20, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> That film's called Chef?


Nichts auf Deutsch.

KISS THE COOK | Ab Jetzt im Kino!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 20, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Nichts auf Deutsch.
> 
> KISS THE COOK | Ab Jetzt im Kino!



I see

Does Chef mean something else in German? Or is just not a word?


----------



## Idris2002 (May 20, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I see


Nein, "du siehst".


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 20, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Nein, "du siehst".



ich bin ein engländer


----------



## The Boy (May 20, 2016)

A laughably bad documentary on football casuals I stumbled upon on Netflix.  A lot of the interviews might as well have been recorded on a mobile, and a big chunk of the later part paid an awful lot of attention to an online business who appear to have funded the film.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 20, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> ich bin ein engländer


Du bist ein ARSCH.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 20, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I see
> 
> Does Chef mean something else in German? Or is just not a word?


It's a word, but it just means "boss", rather than being specifically kitchen related.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 20, 2016)

The Duke of Burgundy.  Didn't realise this was by the director of the excellent Berberian Sound Studio until I started watching it.  Interesting and trippy homage to 70s Euro-art/sleaze.  I need to check out the soundtrack album too.


----------



## starfish (May 21, 2016)

Catching up on The Last Man on Earth. Very funny little comedy on Dave of all places.


----------



## The Boy (May 21, 2016)

The Duellists (1977).  Two Napoleonic officers have a falling out and continue to behave like children for a couple of decades.

12 Angry Men (1957). I had a friend who watched this before serving on jury.  He felt a bit short changed by the real world after.

Network (1976).  I've somehow managed not to avoid watching this for about twenty years.  Nice way to round of matinee Friday.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 21, 2016)

Star Trek: first contact. Still looking good, 20 years on, strong story etc. Had forgotten the cheesy Data bits mind. Followed it with 'Chaos on the Bridge' a shat-fronted docu about TNG


----------



## DexterTCN (May 21, 2016)

The Ninth Configuration (just released on blu-ray).

One of my favourite ever films.  It's about god and...well...stuff.   Excellent cast, very funny.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 21, 2016)

Taking Off

Milos Forman 1971

Very "of its time". Which is the middle of the first Nixon administration. Suburban square parents vs. runaway teens. Some of the plot points involve things that could have ended very badly indeed, but in this case don't.

In the end, the generation gap does look like its being bridged.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 22, 2016)

The Hateful Eight.  Boring.  Even worse than Django Unchained.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 22, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> The Ninth Configuration (just released on blu-ray).
> 
> One of my favourite ever films.  It's about god and...well...stuff.   Excellent cast, very funny.


----------



## Reno (May 22, 2016)

Goodnight Mommy (Ich seh, Ich seh) an Austrian horror film/psychological thriller. It's about twin boys who start to suspect that their mother is someone else when she returns home with her face bandaged after plastic surgery. The film is well made and very stylish in a chilly, remote arthouse sort of way (most Austrian films seem to have that quality since Michael Haneke became the most famous Austrian film director) but there is a familiar plot twist which becomes very obvious early on. It appears to be a remake of the early 70s horror film 



Spoiler



The Other


, though that's not acknowledged. Still worth seeing even if like with The Witch, the film never is as scary or intense as the trailer implies:



I started to watch another horror film called Hellions because it's by the director of the interesting Pontypool (about a zombie virus transmitted by language) but it was terrible and I gave up an hour in.


----------



## Reno (May 22, 2016)

Hitchcock/Truffaut, very enjoyable documentary on the famous film book and an excellent reminder of why Hitchcock was/is great. The only flaw is that it's too short as far as I'm concerned, but the DVD extras remedy that to some extend. There is extra interview footage with various directors which got cut.


----------



## Reno (May 23, 2016)

I watched The Omen again last night and it's still tremendously fun hokum, the third of the three great horror films about Satan and kids of the 60s and 70s. Great cast (a mixture of classic Hollywood and great character actors) , iconic Jerry Goldsmith score and nice production values, it's hard to believe it was made on a relatively low budget. It has a really lush, big budget look. It's nowhere near as great a film as Rosemary's Baby and it isn't as well directed as The Exorcist, but it also doesn't demand to be taken seriously like The Exorcist, something which never sat well with me. The kid in The Omen is really good and they didn't do what they do now with evil kids in horror films, including the rubbish The Omen remake, where they tell them to constantly scowl at the camera. He's just a normal child for most of the time, but every so often there is a wicked, knowing smile. Over the next two night I'll watch the two sequels.


----------



## TruXta (May 23, 2016)

The Witch. Great little film. The only thing that irked me slightly was the occasional heavy handed scoring.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 23, 2016)

127 Hours - True story about a mountaineer type who gets trapped in a canyon in Utah. If you haven't seen it, it's got one of James Franco's better performances and it's directed by Danny Boyle. Just be prepared for some gory moments.

The Hollow Crown - Henry VI & Richard III, last 2 eps with Cumberbatch, Sophie Okenedo, Adrian Dunbar, Judi Dench and everyone. Was able to follow this about 75% of the time, so quite pleased with that. Feels like they've _Game of Thrones-ed up_ Shakespeare for these productions.


----------



## Chz (May 23, 2016)

On Urban's recommendation, Grabbers.

First reactions:
"Oh look, it's him that left Coupling to pursue a film career. Because we all know how much it hurt Jack Davenport's career to do the last series."
"Russell Tovey's really not very good in this, is he?"

It was good fun, and it's amazing how good even budget CGI is these days. Not quite the Father Ted meets The Thing that I was promised, but I'll happily recommend it as a bit of fluff. I still think somewhat more havoc could have been worked out of a pub full of extremely drunk, terrified people.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> I watched The Omen again last night and it's still tremendously fun hokum, the third of the three great horror films about Satan and kids of the 60s and 70s. Great cast (a mixture of classic Hollywood and great character actors) , iconic Jerry Goldsmith score and nice production values, it's hard to believe it was made on a relatively low budget. It has a really lush, big budget look. It's nowhere near as great a film as Rosemary's Baby and it isn't as well directed as The Exorcist, but it also doesn't demand to be taken seriously like The Exorcist, something which never sat well with me. The kid in The Omen is really good and they didn't do what they do now with evil kids in horror films, including the rubbish The Omen remake, where they tell them to constantly scowl at the camera. He's just a normal child for most of the time, but every so often there is a wicked, knowing smile. Over the next two night I'll watch the two sequels.


I loved _The Omen_ from the first time I saw it - late night (in reality probably 10pm) on ITV in a one-a-week Omen mini-season. The physical effects are still IMHO awesome, with some proper scares and spooks, and a great score (sounds great in a major key, too). And the cast relly throw themselves into it as well 

The sequels are also damn fine given the laws of diminishing returns, even though the shocks of the original are gone, and overall they ration the big moments in comparison (the ice pond scene in _Damien_ still gives me shudders, and the baby-hunt montage in _Final Conflict_, brrrr...)


----------



## Reno (May 23, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> I loved _The Omen_ from the first time I saw it - late night (in reality probably 10pm) on ITV in a one-a-week Omen mini-season. The physical effects are still IMHO awesome, with some proper scares and spooks, and a great score (sounds great in a major key, too). And the cast relly throw themselves into it as well
> 
> The sequels are also damn fine given the laws of diminishing returns, even though the shocks of the original are gone, and overall they ration the big moments in comparison (the ice pond scene in _Damien_ still gives me shudders, and the baby-hunt montage in _Final Conflict_, brrrr...)



I really like Damien, I think it's almost as good as the first one and it feels very consistent in tone. Final Conflict is OK till Jesus turns up and then it really starts to look like one of these "faith based" films aimed at Christian fundamentalists. It also looks low budget compared to the first two. The three actors who play Damien at different ages are all well cast and look like they could all plausibly be the same person. I'll try and watch 2 & 3 tonight.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 23, 2016)

Jupiter Ascending - bonkers nonsense. eddie redmayne wtf?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (May 23, 2016)

Terror - 70s horror that I hadn't seen before.  Piss-poor, although some scenes had a Suspiria influence.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 24, 2016)

columbo srs 1 episode two 'ransom for a dead man'

curse you both Santino kabbes 


it was pretty good, falk had some lines of win and the support did great as well, strange to see falk so young, he's always craggier in my head. The murder plot was quite a good one as well i recon you could have sailed it if columbo hadn't been bang on the case. At one point the murderer spells out columbos entire MO lol 'here with your shabby questions and little details' etc. Yep.


----------



## Reno (May 24, 2016)

I watched The Omen 2 & 3 last night, following the first film the night before. 2 is a stylish film with some great sequences but I found it a little slow going this time round and 3 is bad movie heaven. I don't think this would get green lit today, it's surprisingly outrageous for a studio horror film, complete with mass baby slaughter (quite funny in a camp sort of way) and satanic bum rape. It's also very, very sill all ending with a floaty glow Jesus serving up the happy end. Sam Neill gives a rather hammy performance. He isn't nearly as good as the two child actors who played Damien in the previous two films.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 24, 2016)

Is the third one is the one with Ruby Wax in it as the secretary who witnesses the suicide of the US ambassador (iirc)?


----------



## Reno (May 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Is the third one is the one with Ruby Wax in it as the secretary who witnesses the suicide of the US ambassador (iirc)?


Yes ! 

Completely distracts from that scene.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 24, 2016)

There was a short lived Omen TV show called Damien. Not seen it. Got cancelled pretty quick I think.


----------



## Reno (May 24, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> There was a short lived Omen TV show called Damien. Not seen it. Got cancelled pretty quick I think.


It got terrible reviews, sounds like no great loss. There is a TV show based on The Exorcist coming up next.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 24, 2016)

Reno said:


> It got terrible reviews, sounds like no great loss. There is a TV show based on The Exorcist coming up next.



Oh dear....more wasted money


----------



## Reno (May 24, 2016)

I think it's because the Psycho prequel show was a hit. That's why all these shows based on classic horror films are coming out.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 24, 2016)

Is Bates Motel any good?
I hope not as I have far too many TV shows on my hard drive to burn through, including five series of American Horror Story and three of Walking Dead.


----------



## Reno (May 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Is Bates Motel any good?
> I hope not as I have far too many TV shows on my hard drive to burn through, including five series of American Horror Story and three of Walking Dead.


I watched half of the first season, but couldn't get into it. The two leads are good but it feels quite formulaic.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 24, 2016)

I managed about 5 or 6 eps and just stopped bothering....as Reno says, the leads are good, but the show never really gets rolling..


----------



## Reno (May 25, 2016)

Son of Saul. Apart from it being an interesting experiment in representation, of course it depressed the fuck out of me. Maybe tonight wasn't the right night to watch this, I should have started on the latest season of Rupaul's Drag Race instead.


----------



## Reno (May 26, 2016)

The feature length first episode of _11.22.63_, the Stephen King time travel/save J.F. Kennedy adaptation with James Franco. It's alright, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with the rest of it.


----------



## The Octagon (May 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> The feature length first episode of _11.22.63_, the Stephen King time travel/save J.F. Kennedy adaptation with James Franco. It's alright, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with the rest of it.



Watching the first episode just constantly made me think of Goodnight Sweetheart.

Then I imagined Rodney sighting up JFK in the book depository and it ruined my immersion


----------



## Reno (May 26, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> Watching the first episode just constantly made me think of Goodnight Sweetheart.
> 
> Then I imagined Rodney sighting up JFK in the book depository and it ruined my immersion


I've never seen Goodnight Sweetheart. It has that look of period pieces where everything looks brand new, because it's been in storage. Nothing about these 60s looks lived in.

Does it get better ?


----------



## The Octagon (May 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> I've never seen Goodnight Sweetheart. It has that look of period pieces where everything looks brand new, because it's been in storage. Nothing about these 60s looks lived in.
> 
> *Does it get better* ?



11.22.63 or Goodnight Sweetheart?

Still only watched the 1st ep of 11.22.63, will persevere once I finally finish Parks and Rec sometime this week.

Goodnight Sweetheart was fairly forgettable with a couple of decent observations, typical ITV gentle comedy with added time travelling adultery played for laughs.


----------



## Reno (May 26, 2016)

11.22.63 is the show I started watching, so yes, that one. I have no intention watching Goodnight Sweetheart, as I've not even heard of it till now.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 26, 2016)

Ah, Reno, you're there.

Last night I watched half of this desperate nonsense:



Germany, WHAT THE FUCK?


----------



## Reno (May 26, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Ah, Reno, you're there.
> 
> Last night I watched half of this desperate nonsense:
> 
> ...




I've had a download of the first one for ages, feeling it was my duty as a German to watch this, but I never got round to it. I think it was the biggest German film in ages there. I tried to watch a previous film by the director and found that unwatchable.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> I've had a download of the first one for ages, feeling it was my duty as a German to watch this, but I never got round to it. I think it was the biggest German film in ages there. I tried to watch a previous film by the director and found that unwatchable.


I might just look out for the first one, but I think an hour of the sequel is all I can manage.

It was quite charming to see what counts as a "tough inner-city school" in the German imagination.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 26, 2016)

Aliens, Directors cut. In really good quality. Still got it. I'd forgotten how slimy wayland-yutani company man is. Good acting, gives off perfectly ther air of an opportunist groper.



The Octagon said:


> Goodnight Sweetheart was fairly forgettable with a couple of decent observations, typical ITV gentle comedy with added time travelling adultery played for laughs.


it was wank, proper wank. They never left that pub or the present day front room of rodneys house.


----------



## hot air baboon (May 26, 2016)

...it was BBC not ITV...blame where blames due...


----------



## Idris2002 (May 26, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Aliens, Directors cut. In really good quality. Still got it. I'd forgotten how slimy wayland-yutani company man is. Good acting, gives off perfectly ther air of an opportunist groper.
> 
> 
> it was wank, proper wank. They never left that pub or the present day front room of rodneys house.


Must have been cheap as chips to make, then.


----------



## hot air baboon (May 26, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Aliens, Directors cut. In really good quality. Still got it. I'd forgotten how slimy wayland-yutani company man is. Good acting, gives off perfectly ther air of an opportunist groper.



...the added scenes are very brief and you wonder why Cameron ever thought it improved the film to remove them - the bit about Ripley's daughter explains the whole maternal thing with Newt that runs through the whole film whilst the sentry guns are just generally frickin' brilliant - why would you not show that bit..

..one of the clever little bits of Paul Reiser's performance is as he comes face to face with his nemesis at the end he lets out this little whimpering noise....I was involved in ( ...what I thought for a moment was going to be... ) quite a nasty road accident and actually spontaneously emitted exactly the same noise as I clutched the steering wheel !


----------



## Reno (May 26, 2016)

hot air baboon said:


> ...the added scenes are very brief and you wonder why Cameron ever thought it improved the film to remove them - the bit about Ripley's daughter explains the whole maternal thing with Newt that runs through the whole film whilst the sentry guns are just generally frickin' brilliant - why would you not show that bit..
> 
> ..one of the clever little bits of Paul Reiser's performance is as he comes face to face with his nemesis at the end he lets out this little whimpering noise....I was involved in ( ...what I thought for a moment was going to be... ) quite a nasty road accident and actually spontaneously emitted exactly the same noise as I clutched the steering wheel !


It wasn't his choice to remove the scenes, he was contractually obliged to bring in the film at a certain length. The extra scenes come to around an extra 25 minutes. It was already a long film and that pushed the film to a length where theaters can't get in enough screenings in a day. While I find the extra scenes interesting, I think the shorter cut is better paced.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 26, 2016)

the drone guns bits absolutely should have stayed but I suppose when you have to make sacrifices for the cinema release you have to weigh up all the other neccesary and equally cool bits that cannot go without compromising the entire piece


----------



## The Octagon (May 26, 2016)

hot air baboon said:


> ...it was BBC not ITV...blame where blames due...



When it comes to shite sitcoms there's little difference between the 2, but fair point.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 27, 2016)

An old History Channel doc on Fletcher Christian and the Bounty.

Last Days in Vietnam - stunning doc about the fall of Saigon in 1975. If it's on BBC player, I highly recommend it.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 27, 2016)

I've been trying to catch up on old DC cartoons as I remember them being pretty good. Batman Beyond was last nights run of progs. 1) just over 20 mins long each. Just enough to get the ads for stretch armstrong and lego in. 2) 20 years in the future, overly 'coolified' title sequence. 3) Old Bruce Wayne lol


but despite that some strong episodes and Amanda Waller turns up as an old lady, much diminished in bulk.

Interesting that, no waller in the new films.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 27, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Last Days in Vietnam - stunning doc about the fall of Saigon in 1975. If it's on BBC player, I highly recommend it.



It's on for another 27 days. Storyville, 2015-2016: 2. Last Days in Vietnam

Also, +1, pro-watch etc


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 27, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> the drone guns



Sentry Guns


----------



## The Octagon (May 27, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I've been trying to catch up on old DC cartoons as I remember them being pretty good. Batman Beyond was last nights run of progs. 1) just over 20 mins long each. Just enough to get the ads for stretch armstrong and lego in. 2) 20 years in the future, overly 'coolified' title sequence. 3) Old Bruce Wayne lol
> 
> 
> but despite that some strong episodes and Amanda Waller turns up as an old lady, much diminished in bulk.
> ...



Erm, Suicide Squad? 

That's definitely Waller bringing them together.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 27, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> Erm, Suicide Squad?
> 
> That's definitely Waller bringing them together.


Missed that, to busy ogling quinn probably, but will re-watch trailers to confirm what you allege
e2a
yes must be, she is much wider in JLU but then thats cartoons, everyone was massive. Supermans chest was wider than the doorframes


----------



## Voley (May 27, 2016)

krtek a houby said:
			
		

> Last Days in Vietnam - stunning doc about the fall of Saigon in 1975. If it's on BBC player, I highly recommend it.



I watched that last night. Very good, I agree. I liked the bloke who described it as a microcosm of America's entire Vietnam War fuck up. Some scary stuff in the end credits about the re-education centres for the folk left behind, too. One poor sod got 13 years hard labour.


----------



## seventh bullet (May 27, 2016)

It's one-sided.


----------



## Duncan2 (May 27, 2016)

Voley said:


> I watched that last night. Very good, I agree. I liked the bloke who described it as a microcosm of America's entire Vietnam War fuck up. Some scary stuff in the end credits about the re-education centres for the folk left behind, too. One poor sod got 13 years hard labour.


Last Days In Vietnam also on you-tube well worth watching as krtek and others have said.Quite a story.


----------



## Duncan2 (May 27, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> It's one-sided.


Can you suggest a more balanced doc on the same ground?Fwiw I didn't think it portrayed the Americans in a good light.


----------



## SE25 (May 28, 2016)

watching The Office (proper version) for the first time, on s02e01 now. Kind of hits home in places how you can waste your life doing shit you don't care about for 40 years just to earn a living. Even Tim's dreams are put to one side for £500 extra a year.

Gareth is such a knob


----------



## Maharani (May 28, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Is Bates Motel any good?
> I hope not as I have far too many TV shows on my hard drive to burn through, including five series of American Horror Story and three of Walking Dead.


I loved it. But bonkers but fun.


----------



## seventh bullet (May 28, 2016)

Duncan2 said:


> Can you suggest a more balanced doc on the same ground?Fwiw I didn't think it portrayed the Americans in a good light.



I have to offer a counter-doc for my point to be valid?

No US-assisted state terror against the southern regime's own citizens in its struggle with the NLF. That organisation isn't mentioned at all. Nothing about the utter devastation wrought by one of the most brutal military onslaughts against a peasantry. Nothing about the many hushed up atrocities of the kind perpetrated at My Lai.  It was a lament on the loss of the south to the horrible Commies (like at Hue) and the ruddy brave blokes seeing it out. No northern or southern Communist figures interviewed.

It's of interest to me but you don't need a detailed knowledge of Marxist-Leninist politics in that part of the world or to let the northern Stalinists' own murderous authoritarianism off the hook (because they fought the Yankee imperialists) to see the bias. It's pro-American intervention propaganda with the US merely helping the south out against the evil north, and the heroism in helping a few collaborators escape.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 28, 2016)

Doctor Strange (2007) animation. Films out sooner or later so I thought I'd see this. Bog standard origin tale really but nicely done with some decent animation and a good sense of the mecurial arrogance that drives Strange


----------



## rubbershoes (May 29, 2016)

*Went* *the* *day* *well*.

A rather good 1942 propaganda film. I watched it with my 9 year old son who absolutely loved it even though it was black and white!

And it has a young Thora Hird  in


----------



## Reno (May 29, 2016)

The American-Indian horror film _The Other Side of the Door_, a variation on The Monkey's Paw/Pet Sematary. It has all the hallmarks of the modern PG-13 ghost film: jump scares, creepy kids, a skinny apparition with long hair and a crumbling house. It really just exploits India and it's folklore as a backdrop to weird goings on and yet it's reasonably effective for what it is if you are in an undemanding mood.

It's about an American family who live in India and the wife can't get over their young son's recent death. She is told about a temple where she can briefly be reunited with her dead child to say her goodbyes, as long as she doesn't open the door to him. And guess what! Of course she breaks the main rule, ghost kid follows her home and so does a scary Indian goddess whose job it is the keep the dead from sticking around, so they can get reincarnated. Spooky hijinx ensue.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 30, 2016)

Sunday Bloody Sunday.

John Schlesinger, 1971.

Despite the title, nothing to do with Ireland or the 1905 Russian revolution. It's a love triangle movie, featuring Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch and Murray Head. The latter is the bisexual connecting point between the other two. What I couldn't really get was what they see in him, as he's a sort of smug pampered housecat in human form. It's also a glimpse into a world that's almost entirely vanished, the Observer-reading Hampstead intellectuals (the Observer still comes out, of course, but only in  a degenerated form, much like the latter-day descendants of the Hampstead intelligentsia). I love the look of these early 70s films, it's something about the kind of film stock they use.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 30, 2016)

London Has Fallen

It's like a bunch of patriotic 11-year-old American kids - ones who have just learned that there are other countries, and those countries are _bad_ - scripted a movie that was then made by a half-decent FX crew. 

Recommended.


----------



## Reno (May 30, 2016)

The documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? which had some interesting footage, but which didn't tell me much I didn't already know about Nina Simone and which was of course rather depressing. It seemed a bit in the surface and here is a lot of stuff it didn't touch on.

I also watched the first three episodes of the alien invasion TV series Colony because it got some good reviews, but so far find it mediocre and it's like a lot of other shows I've seen and didn't stick with. Like a lot of these things it's very plot driven and weak on characterisation.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 31, 2016)

Big Wednesday.

John Milius, 1978.

A group of surfing dudes grow up, and the film tracks their progress from 1962 to 1974. Though this was made years before the term "bromance" was coined, this one has that quality in spades. This being Milius, the tone is ra-ra gung-ho-ism, and the cast is almost uniformly white (though it does feature real-life surfer champ Gerry Lopez in a non-speaking role).

There are some beautiful seascapes, and the ocean's drama (and danger) is suitably evoked.

I think if I'm ever reincarnated, I would like it to be as a surfer.


----------



## Chz (May 31, 2016)

After recommendations here, we watched *Pandorum*. Very pleasing to the SF fan in me, and I'd love to read a book that fleshed it out a bit. 

Missus didn't care for it being so jumpy and thought the... um, spoilery thing was obvious. 
I didn't find it too scary - most of the jumps are telegraphed way in advance. 

So yeah, it was a bit derivative. But I loved it, same as I loved Interstellar despite it getting incoherent at the end. Not enough Big SF out there.


----------



## pesh (May 31, 2016)

The Brothers Grimsby. sort of like Kingsman but in reverse with Sacha Baron Cohen playing Liam Gallagher in the lead role. stupid. highly offensive on many levels. recommended.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 31, 2016)

episodes 1-4 of Dark Matter

its quite good for what it is. A group of people wake up from cold sleep with no memory of who they are. Of course it turns out they are all gunrunners with Pasts


----------



## The39thStep (May 31, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Big Wednesday.
> 
> John Milius, 1978.
> 
> ...


Saw this film decades ago and thought it was really good


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 31, 2016)

Started on Season 2 of How to Get Away with Murder. It's not as good as season one, they are stringing it out a bit, but they did have one good episode about a trans woman in an abusive relationship that managed to address the issues of domestic abuse without really getting too preachy or even relying too much on the character being trans....actually if someone was not paying close attention to the details they might even have missed it altogether...

Viola Davis is still great, but her character is losing my sympathy, and even an anti-hero at the center of a shows needs to keep viewers on side.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 31, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Saw this film decades ago and thought it was really good


Then we are in agreement. Though I do need to correct myself . . . the _politics _are Milius' standard American nationalism, but the tone is more elegaic, nostalgic.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> I have to offer a counter-doc for my point to be valid?
> 
> No US-assisted state terror against the southern regime's own citizens in its struggle with the NLF. That organisation isn't mentioned at all. Nothing about the utter devastation wrought by one of the most brutal military onslaughts against a peasantry. Nothing about the many hushed up atrocities of the kind perpetrated at My Lai.  It was a lament on the loss of the south to the horrible Commies (like at Hue) and the ruddy brave blokes seeing it out. No northern or southern Communist figures interviewed.
> 
> It's of interest to me but you don't need a detailed knowledge of Marxist-Leninist politics in that part of the world or to let the northern Stalinists' own murderous authoritarianism off the hook (because they fought the Yankee imperialists) to see the bias. It's pro-American intervention propaganda with the US merely helping the south out against the evil north, and the heroism in helping a few collaborators escape.



Propaganda? You clearly didn't watch the same doc.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

Ran - Kurosawa epic from 1985. Based upon King Lear and historical Japanese tales. Beautiful looking but not AK's best. Also; too much Noh style "acting" which isn't my cup of tea.

Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck directs Casey in Lehane based thriller from 2007. Not bad at all. But I'll watch and read anything that Lehane is connected to...


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Propaganda? You clearly didn't watch the same doc.



Oh yes I did.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> Oh yes I did.



And yet, you see it as propaganda? How odd.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

Explain...


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> Explain...



I wish you would.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

It was a film of reaffirmaton for those who want or prefer to believe that American intentions towards the country were only good really, but unfortunately it became a bit of a mess and their southern Vietnamese friends were too incompetent to deal with the situation involving such a dangerous enemy.  The narrative is an insultingly simplistic one about the noble fight against the spread of Communism (and has been criticised by specialists in that conflict and journalists who were actually there).  

The clock is ticking...  The Commies are almost upon Saigon...  Such courage in the face of tragedy.  We did our best but even in our failure to prevent the Commies from defeating the south it was a Good Thing that we did here.  They can interview Kissenger but nobody from the other side?  I mentioned Hue because the 1968 battle for that city (one of the bloodiest of the war) was mentioned as an example of Communist brutality in the numbers of people killed by PAVN, but nothing, absolutely nothing about American actions.  Look who directed it.

Three million.

Now, your turn.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> It was a film of reaffirmaton for those who want or prefer to believe that American intentions towards the country were only good really, but unfortunately it became a bit of a mess and their southern Vietnamese friends were too incompetent to deal with the situation involving such a dangerous enemy.  The narrative is an insultingly simplistic one about the noble fight against the spread of Communism (and has been criticised by specialists in that conflict and journalists who were actually there).
> 
> The clock is ticking...  The Commies are almost upon Saigon...  Such courage in the face of tragedy.  We did our best but even in our failure to prevent the Commies from defeating the south it was a Good Thing that we did here.  They can interview Kissenger but nobody from the other side?  I mentioned Hue because the 1968 battle for that city (one of the bloodiest of the war) was mentioned as an example of Communist brutality in the numbers of people killed by PAVN, but nothing, absolutely nothing about American actions.  Look who directed it.
> 
> ...



American intentions were not even touched upon. It was a tragedy that was certainly enhanced by not only "communism" but also American involvement. The film made that clear. The US vets made it also clear about their "betrayal" of those left behind in Saigon.

3 million, indeed. Not all killed by your hated America, though.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

Did you actually pay attention to what was presented in the film?


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> Did you actually pay attention to what was presented in the film?



Yeah, did you?


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

Nothing except for the Americans making a bit of a mess, _and_ there was a great bunch of individuals who helped a few to escape from the clutches of the evil Communists.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> Nothing except for the Americans making a bit of a mess, _and_ there was a great bunch of individuals who helped a few to escape from the clutches of the evil Communists.



No sympathy for the fleeing Southern Vietnamese? Or those who were sent to "re-education" camps?


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

Ah, this is the trick now, where I am being weaseled into a position that defends the Stalinists.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> Ah, this is the trick now, where I am being weaseled into a position that defends the Stalinists.



Similar to the position where I have to cheerlead the US.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

I haven't done that though. I have criticised the content of the documentary. Your naivety is understandable.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> I haven't done that though. I have criticised the content of the documentary. Your naivety is understandable.



Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'm clearly incapable of realising the story is told from one viewpoint only and have been hoodwinked by its blatant propaganda. 

On another note, Ho Chi Minh used to work in my local.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

Stop being such a highly-strung so and so.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> Stop being such a highly-strung so and so.



You know nothing. Fuck you.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 1, 2016)

Okay.  Want the last word after this?

Shoot.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jun 1, 2016)

Only just realised the director is Robert F. Kennedy's daughter.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2016)

Indeliblelink said:


> Only just realised the director is Robert F. Kennedy's daughter.



Sure and she did a fine job.


----------



## red & green (Jun 1, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Sure and she did a fine job.



With no context


----------



## bi0boy (Jun 2, 2016)

All the Way - Lyndon B Johnson biopic staring that bloke off of Breaking Bad


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 4, 2016)

B Movie

One man's story of living the dream, which in this case was his participation in the Kreuzberg scene of 1980s West Berlin (the man is Mark Reeder, who was Factory records' man in the former Prussian capital). Essentially a record of an utterly lost world at this point: contemporary hipsterdom is naught but a bastardised version of this sort of set-up.

Nena, Einsturzende Neubaten, New Order and Nick Cave all come and go, but the real star is the scene itself, and the city itself, which was an utterly different place to what it is today. One scene has graffitists on the western side of the wall being warned by the western cops that their safety cannot be guaranteed if the GDR cops get stroppy with them. And sure enough a GDR border guard pops his head up over the wall to tell them to stop.

Can't say I liked the flippant use of the swastika for shock value in the early scenes; OK it was something some of the punks were into, but it was also a bloody stupid thing to do.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 4, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> B Movie
> 
> One man's story of living the dream, which in this case was his participation in the Kreuzberg scene of 1980s West Berlin (the man is Mark Reeder, who was Factory records' man in the former Prussian capital). Essentially a record of an utterly lost world at this point: contemporary hipsterdom is naught but a bastardised version of this sort of set-up.
> 
> ...


Mark Reeder was also a main player in the burgeoning techno scene in Berlin in the early 90s. He had a record label called MFS which released a lot of early Teutonic techno and trance 
Does it cover that too?


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 4, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Mark Reeder was also a main player in the burgeoning techno scene in Berlin in the early 90s. He had a record label called MFS which released a lot of early Teutonic techno and trance
> Does it cover that too?


It does indeed! MFS was named after the Stasi, apparently.

I didn't mention it because I've always regarded rave etc as the music that was so bad you had to be on drugs to listen to it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 4, 2016)

I enjoy it on and off drugs!


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 5, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Sure and she did a fine job.


Got the last word in there


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 5, 2016)

Outcast - new TV series . First episode is more than a scene setter ,although performs that role superbly in flashbacks and in its narrative. Seemingly dysfunctional father ,a former victim of abuse by mother , and who has served time for assaulting his daughter links up with anti satanic preacher to assist boy possessed by demons. Beautifully shot, great plot ,and an absolute show stopper of a first episode.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 5, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I didn't mention it because I've always regarded rave etc as the music that was so bad you had to be on drugs to listen to it.



You are trevhagl and I claim my £5


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 5, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> anti satanic preacher


exorcist. Preachers are normally by definition anti satan


----------



## belboid (Jun 5, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> exorcist. Preachers are normally by definition anti satan


Oh yeah?

Some Evangelical Preachers are Satanists


----------



## hot air baboon (Jun 5, 2016)

...not much of a stretch when yer actual Arch Bishop of Canterbury was a flippin' Druid...


----------



## Reno (Jun 5, 2016)

Had a friend round for a film all nighter.

We watched A New Leaf by Elaine May, one of the greatest ever comedy films and a reminder of how brilliant Walter Matthau was.

The Witch, because my friend wanted to watch it and I was intrigued enough to see how it holds up for a second viewing. I also put on subtitles because I didn't understand all the dialogue the first time round. I liked it better this time. It's a beautiful piece of film making, however I still can't get to grips with what it says about witches and religion.

10 Cloverfield Lane. 80% twisty, claustrophobic thriller, 20% WTF swerve into Kaiju territory, but fun.

The Visit. Silly found footage horror film to keep us awake after three bottles of wine and worth it for one hilariously gross moment.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 5, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> exorcist. Preachers are normally by definition anti satan


It's the age of diversity


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 6, 2016)

Made in America.

Mid-Sixties Godard. There was no one else at all like Godard, he was a true one-off . . . and that was both a good thing and a bad thing, as this film shows.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 6, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Made in America.
> 
> Mid-Sixties Godard. There was no one else at all like Godard, he was a true one-off . . . and that was both a good thing and a bad thing, as this film shows.


For a minute there I was thinking about the Eddie Murphy/Arsenio Hall film


----------



## Sue (Jun 6, 2016)

Le Feu Follet. Recovering alcoholic decides to commit suicide after deciding bourgeois life is empty and pointless. Very French, very stylish but (unsurprisingly) a bit depressing.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 6, 2016)

Last ep of season 5 of game of thrones. Quite frankly I'm not sure I can cope with anymore loss....


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 6, 2016)

Sue said:


> Le Feu Follet. Recovering alcoholic decides to commit suicide after deciding bourgeois life is empty and pointless. Very French, very stylish but (unsurprisingly) a bit depressing.


Let me just cross that off my list


----------



## Sue (Jun 6, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Let me just cross that off my list


It's worth a watch but you maybe need to be in the mood...


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 8, 2016)

Finished Season 2 of Daredevil. So much going on - almost too much!


----------



## Reno (Jun 8, 2016)

Five episodes into season 2 of Fear the Walking Dead. Starts off slow and boring, but picks up by episode 3.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 8, 2016)

Reno said:


> Five episodes into season 2 of Fear the Walking Dead. Starts off slow and boring, but picks up by episode 3.



I've just started season 1...it's ok so far


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 8, 2016)

Is this a spin-off series? Is Walking Dead over then?


----------



## Reno (Jun 8, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Is this a spin-off series? Is Walking Dead over then?


Yes, it's a spin-off and no The Walking Dead is not over.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 8, 2016)

Just watched the last 2 eps of season 4 of Bates Motel. Macabre!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 8, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Is this a spin-off series? Is Walking Dead over then?



It's set in LA, before Walking Dead begins, and covers the dawn of the outbreak...


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 8, 2016)

American Horror Story S1 in a big binge.  Loved it. Lots of twists and turns and great performances. 
Bit far fetched though. Where do all the ghosts get all their clothes and stuff from?


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 8, 2016)

He Never Died - Henry Rollins!! I love this guy. Didn't know what to expect. Surprised. Sure it dips in the middle. Still enjoyable.


----------



## Reno (Jun 9, 2016)

The rest of the first half of Fear the Walking Dead S02 and the series is just ok.

The series gets to the point where the world is overrun with zombies and people become competent zombie killers far to quickly, so after a few episodes it isn't that different from The Walking Dead, only that the zombies are less gnarly because they are still a lot more fresh. By the middle of season two this has already settled into the rythm where the lead characters find a refuge where 



Spoiler



the top dog turns out to be a maniac and it all goes to shit again.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 9, 2016)

Episode 1 of Preacher - fun
Some new Game of Thrones - Season 6 has not been up to scratch for me, and I watch the other 5 seasons in the past 6 weeks, so it's fresh.
Outcast - good start to new demonic possession themed show from Robert Kirkman


----------



## Reno (Jun 12, 2016)

Eden, a low key but very good (if slightly overlong) drama about a Paris DJ whose career runs parallel to that of Daft Punk, but who unlike them never quite makes it. It's the rare film which acknowledged the bitter truth that most artists who chase their dream never become rich and famous and that talent and determination isn't quite enough to get you there. No spectacular rise and fall, just the fact that a little affirmation is more dangerous than outright failure. This may make the film less dramatically satisfying than a lot of films about artists but it also makes it more truthful. Eden makes up for lack of dramatic fireworks by being a very good film about the rave and club scene of the 90s and 00s.

Midnight Special, another underwhelming attempt by Jeff Nichols to channel Stephen Spielberg in general and Close Encounters in particular (this time with a dash of Carpenter's Starman). A great cast keeps it watchable, but ultimately the film never rises above pastiche, doesn't make much sense and ends up somewhere disappointing: 



Spoiler



that same shiny parallel universe of last year's sci-fi flop Tomorrowland, it seems.


 There is ambiguity and then there is a type of vagueness which masks sloppy story telling and this is the latter.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jun 12, 2016)

Prey (1977). Not exactly a good (British horror) film, but bizarre and watchable, and loads of laughs which might be intentional or not. 

Also watched Elegy this weekend - pretty damn good, surprised to find Dennis Hopper in it.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jun 12, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> American Horror Story S1 in a big binge.  Loved it. Lots of twists and turns and great performances.
> Bit far fetched though. Where do all the ghosts get all their clothes and stuff from?



Tried to watch s2 of this after hating s1. I stopped after 15 mins. I really don't understand why people like it. It seems like a mash up of 4 or 5 really shit horror films per season.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 13, 2016)

12 Years a Slave - harrowing stuff
Fright Night - recent remake, better than the original
About Time - Richard Curtis time travel rom com. average.
Line of Duty - latest series, excellent apart from last 15 mins...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 14, 2016)

x men apocalypse. Far better than I was expecting given some mixed reviews but I really enjoyed its set pieces. All of quicksilvers bits were mint for a start. Liked the (and I know its hackneyed but it was new to me when I read the x men) magneto/xavier philosophy face off. I hope if I had Magntos power I would not follow his philosophy. 

Also, excellent wolverine set up.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 15, 2016)

10 Cloverfield Lane. 2 hours zips along nicely in an almost instantly forgettable thriller that opens up the 'Cloverfield' franchise to more interesting sequals which are completely disconnected 'survival' stories. I think there's potential to spin some good yarns which are not about man vs alien, but about the people and their lives post d-day.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2016)

Hours and hours of watching Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen & Ricky Gervais on Youtube. Whilst eating tonnes of crisps. What's happening to me?


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jun 15, 2016)

Continuing with the grand ER rewatch, and I'm half-way through season 7. This is past the point where I was a regular viewer back in the day, and season 7 has seen a very noticeable uptick in the speed of the arc stories, and the quality is suffering quite badly. I am still interested enough to give it a couple of episodes a night though, but the prospect of completing all 15 seasons is looking ever more remote.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2016)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Continuing with the grand ER rewatch, and I'm half-way through season 7. This is past the point where I was a regular viewer back in the day, and season 7 has seen a very noticeable uptick in the speed of the arc stories, and the quality is suffering quite badly. I still am interested enough to give it a couple of episodes a night though.



Stick with it, still lots of good stuff to come over the remainder of the seasons...


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jun 15, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Stick with it, still lots of good stuff to come over the remainder of the seasons...



I added a bit to my post, but yeah, it's still holding my interest now that there's characters/storylines in it I don't remember at all. I'd also forgotten how much I like Maura Teirney...


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2016)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> I added a bit to my post, but yeah, it's still holding my interest now that there's characters/storylines in it I don't remember at all. I'd also forgotten how much I like Maura Teirney...



Yeah she was ace. John Leguizamo and Scott Grimes' characters were also brilliant, in an annoying sort of way.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jun 15, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Yeah she was ace. John Leguizamo and Scott Grimes' characters were also brilliant, in an annoying sort of way.



Doctor Romano is excellent, in a "I can't believe he's not getting punched every episode" sort of way. I _do_ remember what happens to him though


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2016)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Doctor Romano is excellent, in a "I can't believe he's not getting punched every episode" sort of way. I _do_ remember what happens to him though



Oh, yeah! I forgot about him. Shit!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 17, 2016)

The Zero Theorem - A Terry Gilliam film I had not realised existed.
It starts off a bit over the top and garish with extras in ridiculous clothes at parties all looking at their phones, but it gets better.
Loved the set and production, especially the outside sections.
And I liked the 'message'.
And I now have a crush on Melanie Thierry.
And it features Christopher Waltz doing an impression of Chris Lowe off of The Pet Shop Boys:


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 17, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> And it features Christopher Waltz doing an impression of Chris Lowe off of The Pet Shop Boys:


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 18, 2016)

When Snooker Ruled The World. If you like snooker, its 100% gold and is on iplayer. If you don't like snooker, then you probably would avoid this anyway. Its the talking heads bits that make it.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jun 18, 2016)

Dirty Weekend [Mordi e Fuggi] (1973) - light-hearted Italian film about a fleeing trio of communist bank robbers that kidnap a rich man and his mistress. Starring Marcello Mastroianni & Oliver Reed, it's OK but is rather spoiled by the fact most of the cast have had their voices dubbed in the version I saw.


----------



## Reno (Jun 18, 2016)

Indeliblelink said:


> Dirty Weekend [Mordi e Fuggi] (1973) - light-hearted Italian film about a fleeing trio of communist bank robbers that kidnap a rich man and his mistress. Starring Marcello Mastroianni & Oliver Reed, it's OK but is rather spoiled by the fact most of the cast have had their voices dubbed in the version I saw.


Until the 90s Italian films weren't recorded with synch sound and everything got dubbed afterwards, so this is the only way to watch them. When there were English or American leads, the cast mostly spoke their lines in English and often the English dub can be superior to the Italian version.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jun 18, 2016)

It was dubbed into Italian although everyone seemed to have been dubbed except Mastrioanni, a reviewer on IMDB mentions Reed's character having a German accent which I couldn't detect (I wouldn't know Italian with a German accent anyway) so maybe an English language version exists with Reed's voice.


----------



## Reno (Jun 18, 2016)

Indeliblelink said:


> It was dubbed into Italian although everyone seemed to have been dubbed except Mastrioanni, a reviewer on IMDB mentions Reed's character having a German accent which I couldn't detect (I wouldn't know Italian with a German accent anyway) so maybe an English language version exists with Reed's voice.


Everybody would have been post-synchronised and there would have been Italian and English dubs made in Italy (other countries would have made their own dubs locally). Most of the time the lead actors would dub their own voices in their native language version, as with Mastrioanni here and it's probable that Reed dubbed himself for the English language track. Sometimes actors would have moved onto another job though and then they would have been voiced by someone else.

It's one of those quirks of vintage Italian, Spanish, German and (a lot of) Asian cinema, no sound was recorded on set and everything got dubbed and some films with more care than others. Many of these films were expected to make much of their money in English speaking territories, that's why an English dub was frequently prioritised.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jun 18, 2016)

Explains why pretty much every spagetti western I've seen, whether in Italian or English, always appears dubbed.


----------



## Reno (Jun 18, 2016)

I'm a fan of Italian horror films and thrillers from the 60s to the 80s and the wonky dubbing lends another level of unreality to these frequently weird and dream-like films.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 18, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> When Snooker Ruled The World. If you like snooker, its 100% gold and is on iplayer. If you don't like snooker, then you probably would avoid this anyway. Its the talking heads bits that make it.


Does 'ol Hurricane feature?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Does 'ol Hurricane feature?


he does! says he never learned to read proper till his teens and spent all his time bunking off school to go to play snooker. Great little docu.

edit no he doesn't I'm thinking of Jimmy White, the whirlwind

if I could clear a table as fast as them lads I'd call myself 'the ill wind' or maybe the 'sirroco'


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 18, 2016)

The Circle - bad sci-fi. Wished I hadn't bothered.


----------



## Reno (Jun 19, 2016)

Victor Victoria, which I rather liked when it came out but which hasn't dated well at all. Poor songs and the film runs out of steam half way though going on for way too long. A drag.

The first two episodes of the supernatural BBC series The Living and the Dead by one of the writers of Life on Mars. Not that hooked yet and for a period drama, the spunky female lead feels far to modern. It's trying to be Thomas Hardy with ghosts and possessions. There are intriguing things about it tough, like hints at The Wicker Man style folk horror and a plot strand which seems inspired by Nigel Kneale's legendary, lost The Road. The BBC has made all of this available on iPlayer two weeks before it goes out, trying the Netflix model.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 20, 2016)

Reno said:


> Victor Victoria, which I rather liked when it came out but which hasn't dated well at all. Poor songs and the film runs out of steam half way though going on for way too long. A drag.



I see what you did there.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 20, 2016)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Continuing with the grand ER rewatch, and I'm half-way through season 7. This is past the point where I was a regular viewer back in the day, and season 7 has seen a very noticeable uptick in the speed of the arc stories, and the quality is suffering quite badly. I am still interested enough to give it a couple of episodes a night though, but the prospect of completing all 15 seasons is looking ever more remote.


Inspired by this post, I watched some early ER last night, the pilot and first episode to be precise. And it does stand up quite well after - well, it's more than twenty years isn't it?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 20, 2016)

watched an episode of columbo from series 1 but fell asleep just before he did the 'final questioning' that always gets them. FML


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 20, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> watched an episode of columbo from series 1 but fell asleep just before he did the 'final questioning' that always gets them. FML


WAKE UP, Dotty! WAKE UP!!! I just One-More-Thinged him!


----------



## Reno (Jun 20, 2016)

I gave up of The Living and the Dead, which is a snooze and went on to season 3 of Penny Dreadful which is a lot more fun. They've added the last two of the classic monsters to their line of characters, Jekyll/Hyde and Dracula (plus Renfield and a female Dr Seward, both from Dracula as well).


----------



## felixthecat (Jun 20, 2016)

Pacific Rim

Oh dear Lord. I LIKE monster movies, but not that one.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 20, 2016)

Idris Elba phoning it in hard and thinking about the money


----------



## felixthecat (Jun 20, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Idris Elba phoning it in hard and thinking about the money


He should be ashamed of himself for that pile of steaming shite. No Idris, just NO.


----------



## Reno (Jun 20, 2016)

felixthecat said:


> He should be ashamed of himself for that pile of steaming shite. No Idris, just NO.


While I don't think Elba has done anything particularly remarkable which would justify all the good will built up from his work on The Wire, I can't blame actors for doing jobs for the money. Elba isn't even the lead in Pacific Rim. The wildly overrated and perpetually disappointing Guillermo Del Toro is the one who deserves the blame. Nearly all of his Hollywood films have been shit so far.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 20, 2016)

I thought Pacific Rim was great fun altogether.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 20, 2016)

Well. If you can't get giant robots battling aliens to interest me, a lifelong fan of robots and aliens, then its not doing its job.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 20, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Well. If you can't get giant robots battling aliens to interest me, a lifelong fan of robots and aliens, then its not doing its job.


Perhaps I lack the jaded palate so common among epicures such as yourself.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 20, 2016)

Dare I check if anyone in The Valley ever got all ‘Yo, Fair Use bro!’ up in _Pacific Rim_'s grille? Title-wise it's born to be XXXified.


----------



## bi0boy (Jun 20, 2016)

Allegiant - third movie in the Divergent series. Worth watching for the sci-fi graphics if you like that sort of thing:


----------



## Reno (Jun 20, 2016)

Pacific Rim already went wrong for me with one of those endless info dumps at the start which made the rest of the film seem like it was the sequel to a far more interesting film which never existed. The characters were cartoonish, none of them resembling an actual human being and there was no sense of scale or anything at stake with the actual battles sequences. Everything seemed like a lark. The last Godzilla film wasn't perfect, but one thing it got right was to shoot the monsters from a human POV, which gave them scale and while the characterisation may have been thin, the action sequences worked.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 20, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Dare I check if anyone in The Valley ever got all ‘Yo, Fair Use bro!’ up in _Pacific Rim_'s grille? Title-wise it's born to be XXXified.



Don't know about the adult industry but the title and much of the scenario was already ripped off for an even shitter film called _Atlantic Rim _(har har)
Atlantic Rim (Video 2013) - IMDb

Notable only for a) rapper Treach in a speaking role (wearing the same mic-battle screwface throughout, whatever his character was meant to be up to at the time) and b) yeah, being even worse than _Pacific Rim *
_
*which I actually kind of enjoyed - briefly - out of my mind on a very long flight, but I don't know if I'd have the patience for otherwise.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 20, 2016)

Barry Lyndon - Kubrick epic that is now regarded as one his best films. Beautiful looking and reminds me of Herzog's The Enigma of Kaspar Hauer. Starring Ryan O'Neal. I've only seen one other of his films; Green Ice. Some caper thing from the 70s... was he Kubrick's first choice? An odd lead, IMO.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 20, 2016)

felixthecat said:


> Pacific Rim
> 
> Oh dear Lord. I LIKE monster movies, but not that one.



When it first came out, I thought it was some kind of Asian porno.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 20, 2016)

Pacific Rim was the biggest bummer movies for years....and not in any good way


----------



## Reno (Jun 20, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Barry Lyndon - Kubrick epic that is now regarded as one his best films. Beautiful looking and reminds me of Herzog's The Enigma of Kaspar Hauer. Starring Ryan O'Neal. I've only seen one other of his films; Green Ice. Some caper thing from the 70s... was he Kubrick's first choice? An odd lead, IMO.


Lyndon is a shallow, callow man, so Kubrick cast one of the blandest of film stars to fit the character. From the mid-60s onwards he used to either cast actors who generally gave larger than life performances for characters who were crazy (Nicholson, Sellers, McDowell) or he cast rather bland actors for characters who were enigmas or who had limited inner lives. That's why you get the unremarkable Keir Duella in 2001, a film about the dehumanising qualities of technological progress and Matthew Modine in Full Metal Jacket and Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut. They are the purposely empty cores around whom the films revolve.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 21, 2016)

The Green Inferno. 
A racist anti-SJW/activist rehash of Cannibal Holocaust.  Really no excuse for this sort of thing in this day and age.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 22, 2016)

The Zero Theorum. Liked the street scenes for the wierdness but by god it grated. lots of self referential touches and general 'weird for the sake of being weird'. Odd cos I really like eXistnZe. And this isn't a million thematic miles away from it but everyone in it was a weird  unlikable twat. 4/10 ok maybe 5 for the cool idea. But nah.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jun 22, 2016)

X-Men: Apocalypse. Didn't enjoy this at all. No. Not at all.


----------



## Reno (Jun 22, 2016)

More of Penny Dreadful S3, got the last two episodes lined up for tonight. It's a choppy season with the characters divided up into three different storylines which barely have any overlap. What makes it watchable is the the always fantastic Eva Green and lush production values. The fourth episode, which almost entirely takes place in a padded cell in Bedlam and features only three of the main characters, is the best.

There isn't enough of Simon Russel Beale's  fabulously coiffed Ferdinand Lyle this season:




I wished he had his own spin-off show, he is a wonderful character.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 22, 2016)

Zootopia - a bit childish.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 22, 2016)

Fingersmith - BBC adaptation of the novel from 2005. Apparently Sarah Waters was quite impressed by it. Not sure, myself. The book was more engaging. The screen version veered into melodrama at times.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jun 22, 2016)

After DotCommunist's recent viewing of the special edition of Aliens, I decided to revisit the theatrical version after many years. It still has it in terms of its pacing, with the build up to one thrilling set-piece rolling after another. And I agree, Paul Reiser is a great sleazeball.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 22, 2016)

*Weekender *(2011) - fundamentally pretty pointless British comedy about likely lads getting in over their heads when trying to set up as megalarge rave promoters in Ibiza and their friendship then suffering the effects of drugs, profits and menaces from thugs. Story and script not great, but has loads of good young(ish) character actors in it including Jack O Connell  (being an entertaining-but-annoying shambling Bestie Mate type, like Bez without the political intelligence) , Zawe Ashton (good as ever but criminally underused) and my new favourite 'face that gives you the fear' Ben Batt giving great nasty Manc gangster:


(but, overall, it's still not even up to _Human Traffic _as a film portrayal of this world.)

*The Counsellor (*2013) - in which Ridley Scott obviously got paid too much money and grew too enthusiastic in trying to make a hardhitting noir about the Mexican drug inferno and international corruption, but doesn't know enough about politics to think his way out of one bizarre scenario after another. A jawdropping cast, some doing great work (Cameron Diaz is amazingly reptilian as a ruthless moll of a druglord, Javier Bardem properly loopy and has terrific hair as the nice-in-comparison druglord) and some of them sleepwalking through it in search of a plot (Penelope Cruz and - awkwardly - Michael Fassbender in the lead role, don't seem to have a clue what is going on) and some I can't really tell if they're taking the piss or not (Brad Pitt in a cowboy hat.) Even the supporting actors are of a different league (Rosie Perez, Goran Visnic, Ruben Blades, Bruno Ganz) but somehow it doesn't add up to greatness. There's a lot of studiedly outrageous dialogue - lots of it outlining "things far too terrible and gory and disgusting to actually show you on screen, but let's talk slaveringly about them at great length anyway" - some good stunts - and a nicely cynical ending, but overall this is heartless in the wrong way.


----------



## Reno (Jun 22, 2016)

The last two episodes of Penny Dreadful and as it turns out the end of the series. This was the weakest season, so it's probably for the best. And the ending sucked.

At least now I can move on to binge watch the new season of Game of Thrones.


----------



## ringo (Jun 23, 2016)

Dumb And Dumber To
Never seen any of these, but wanted to watch a movie with my littlun to celebrate her becoming a teenager and thought this would appeal to my puerile sense of humour, which she has inherited. Silly and rubbish, but funny in places. The teen loved it, a bit embarassed at some of the sex jokes but not as bad as I remember watching TV with my more prudish parents.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 23, 2016)

6 eps into Wayward Pines. Starts off like a cross between Twin Peaks and Lost, with a bit of 1984 surveillance thrown in. Then it gets stranger, a bit like The 100. But better. So far. Good cast.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 23, 2016)

srs 2 of powers, first three eps. Still a very good show. What heroes could have been.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 23, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> *Weekender *(2011) - fundamentally pretty pointless British comedy about likely lads getting in over their heads when trying to set up as megalarge rave promoters in Ibiza and their friendship then suffering the effects of drugs, profits and menaces from thugs. Story and script not great, but has loads of good young(ish) character actors in it including Jack O Connell  (being an entertaining-but-annoying shambling Bestie Mate type, like Bez without the political intelligence) , Zawe Ashton (good as ever but criminally underused) and my new favourite 'face that gives you the fear' Ben Batt giving great nasty Manc gangster:
> View attachment 88750
> 
> (but, overall, it's still not even up to _Human Traffic _as a film portrayal of this world.)
> ...


I quite liked the Counsellor , a bit slow moving at first but gets an increasing momentum as the noose tightens. Well shot and as you say a good cast but yes doesn't really deliver a knock out blow .


----------



## ringo (Jun 23, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> *The Counsellor (*2013) - in which Ridley Scott obviously got paid too much money and grew too enthusiastic in trying to make a hardhitting noir about the Mexican drug inferno and international corruption, but doesn't know enough about politics to think his way out of one bizarre scenario after another. A jawdropping cast, some doing great work (Cameron Diaz is amazingly reptilian as a ruthless moll of a druglord, Javier Bardem properly loopy and has terrific hair as the nice-in-comparison druglord) and some of them sleepwalking through it in search of a plot (Penelope Cruz and - awkwardly - Michael Fassbender in the lead role, don't seem to have a clue what is going on) and some I can't really tell if they're taking the piss or not (Brad Pitt in a cowboy hat.) Even the supporting actors are of a different league (Rosie Perez, Goran Visnic, Ruben Blades, Bruno Ganz) but somehow it doesn't add up to greatness. There's a lot of studiedly outrageous dialogue - lots of it outlining "things far too terrible and gory and disgusting to actually show you on screen, but let's talk slaveringly about them at great length anyway" - some good stunts - and a nicely cynical ending, but overall this is heartless in the wrong way.



Scott stuck very closely to Cormac McCarthy's book, which was even more 'aimed at the screenplay' than most of his other recent novels. Moments of brilliance in there, but not enough. Still, he's already written some of the greatest fiction of the last 50 years so he can do what he likes in my book.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 23, 2016)

^ yeah I knew of the C McC link when the film first came out but had forgotten about it - which was why I was so baffled and kept thinking "why do all these characters keep saying such pompous unnaturalistic portentous words about DEATH all the time???"  it's pretty obvious now 

I'd happily watch the Counsellor again (probably will in fact) - I am a genuine Ridley Scott fan and there's often so much more than just the (glossy and impressive) surface to his films.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 24, 2016)

The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. A very respectful and senstive telling of the real-life story of retired schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies who was initially questioned by police as a suspect in the murder of Jo Yeates.

Jason Watkins does a fanatasic job portraying the naturally quirky outsider, who was villified because he existed on the edge of societal norms. It's a brilliant performance which doesn't try to wring any laughs out of the character or his affectations and unsual place in the world.

I really enjoyed it.


----------



## Corax (Jun 24, 2016)

Mr Right

Reformed-ish contract killer meets deranged lunatic girl, they fall in love, stuff happens.

The plot's not exactly deep or thought-provoking, but I thought Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick were outstanding in the lead roles.  Perplexed why it didn't go down better with the critics.  I'm sure it would have if it had eg Tarantino's name somewhere in the credits.

Stretch

Another one that seems not to have scored that highly, and I'm sure wouldn't hold up so well to close examination.  But fuck it, the film is _*fun*_ - is that not enough anymore FFS?


----------



## Corax (Jun 24, 2016)

I dosed myself a triple set of *What We Do In The Shadows*, *Bloodsucking Bastards*, and *Housebound* the other day too.

Wouldn't bother with the latter, although it's not without merit.  _Bloodsucking Bastards_ is good fun, with a definite _Office Space_ influence going on.

But the stand-out film of the three is by far _What We Do In The Shadows_.  Has to be one of my favourite films in recent memory now.  Loved it.


----------



## Reno (Jun 24, 2016)

Corax said:


> I dosed myself a triple set of *What They Do In The Shadows*, *Bloodsucking Bastards*, and *Housebound* the other day too.
> 
> Wouldn't bother with the latter, although it's not without merit.  _Bloodsucking Bastards_ is good fun, with a definite _Office Space_ influence going on.
> 
> But the stand-out film of the three is by far _What They Do In The Shadows_.  Has to be one of my favourite films in recent memory now.  Loved it.


_Housebound_ is a gazillion times better than _Bloodsucking Bastard_s !

Agree on _What They Do In The Shadows,_ it was my favourite film of last year.


----------



## belboid (Jun 24, 2016)

What? Housebound's brilliant


----------



## Corax (Jun 24, 2016)

Reno said:


> _Housebound_ is a gazillion times better than _Bloodsucking Bastard_s !
> 
> Agree on _What They Do In The Shadows,_ it was my favourite film of last year.





belboid said:


> What? Housebound's brilliant


Meh - maybe it was the mood I was in then.  Don't get me wrong, I _*did*_ enjoy it, and didn't see the twists coming until they were right on me.  



Spoiler



I enjoyed the dialogue-preemptive 'Oh, _that's_ why the teddy/food/power/etc' feeling too.


  I just didn't enjoy it as much as the other two.


----------



## Reno (Jun 24, 2016)

The reason why I liked it so much had less to do with the plot twists, though they were good. Genre films which are as strong on characterisation and dialogue as Housebound are rare and the two actresses who played mother and daughter were fantastic. The film is really about how Kylie goes from someone who is stuck in obnoxious suspended adolescence to responsible human being. And her chatterbox mum is annoying and lovely in the way many mums are.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 24, 2016)

Columbo: Blueprint for Murder

this time its a posh architect and I don't want to ruin it but columbo gets his man

also episde 6 season 2 of Powers, whih is refreshingly good for a show lost among the current glut of this sort of show


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 24, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Columbo: Blueprint for Murder
> 
> this time its a posh architect and I don't want to ruin it but columbo gets his man



Amazing! How did they keep coming up with these twist endings?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 25, 2016)

a half dozen episodes of the Marvel's Avengers Assemble cartoon. Suprisingly good, must have been released in line with the film but they have spared no detail and the writers celarly know the universe like the back of their hands. More tonight, I'm avoiding the tele cos its full of stupid people saying stupid things atm


----------



## bi0boy (Jun 26, 2016)

Sicario - it started out well, I thought it would be what True Detective S2 should have been, but then it all got a bit meh. Best thermal image camera sequences I've seen in a movie though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 28, 2016)

Guardians of the Galaxy - good fun but I'm tiring of the Marvel one on one combats, mass shoot 'em ups and all that... they get a bit samey.

Apart from the Netflix adaptations. So far.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 28, 2016)

funnily enough I watched Marvel also: more of the avengers assemble cartoon. It can be very crude in places but sometimes the writing shows a deft touch. Animation is uniformly top notch

also, last ep of this seasons GoT. Fairly epic. Not as good as last weeks battle though, that was some fucked up shit


----------



## Corax (Jun 28, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Guardians of the Galaxy - good fun but I'm tiring of the Marvel one on one combats, mass shoot 'em ups and all that... they get a bit samey.
> 
> Apart from the Netflix adaptations. So far.


That and Deadpool have to be my favourites - not just crash bang wallop like some are.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 28, 2016)

Corax said:


> That and Deadpool have to be my favourites - not just crash bang wallop like some are.



Dying to watch Deadpool.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 28, 2016)

Aside from showcasing a satirical hero I didn't see the purpose of Deadpool. It was a fairly flimsy film once the juvenile jokes were removed.


----------



## Corax (Jun 28, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Aside from showcasing a satirical hero I didn't see the purpose of Deadpool. It was a fairly flimsy film once the juvenile jokes were removed.


I like juvenile jokes and satire.

Although The Brothers Grimsby was too puerile even for me...


----------



## Maharani (Jun 28, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Tried to watch s2 of this after hating s1. I stopped after 15 mins. I really don't understand why people like it. It seems like a mash up of 4 or 5 really shit horror films per season.


I totally agree. I couldn't get past ep 1 and I tried twice!


----------



## Maharani (Jun 28, 2016)

felixthecat said:


> Pacific Rim
> 
> Oh dear Lord. I LIKE monster movies, but not that one.


I preferred Pacific Rimming


----------



## Maharani (Jun 28, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Fingersmith - BBC adaptation of the novel from 2005. Apparently Sarah Waters was quite impressed by it. Not sure, myself. The book was more engaging. The screen version veered into melodrama at times.


She's one of my favourite modern day authors. I think I've seen the film but it obviously wasn't that memorable.


----------



## Maharani (Jun 28, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. A very respectful and senstive telling of the real-life story of retired schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies who was initially questioned by police as a suspect in the murder of Jo Yeates.
> 
> Jason Watkins does a fanatasic job portraying the naturally quirky outsider, who was villified because he existed on the edge of societal norms. It's a brilliant performance which doesn't try to wring any laughs out of the character or his affectations and unsual place in the world.
> 
> I really enjoyed it.


Ever seen the hunt? It's along these lines. A very well made danish film based on a very sad story.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 28, 2016)

Maharani said:


> Ever seen the hunt? It's along these lines. A very well made danish film based on a very sad story.



No. Will seek.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 28, 2016)

Corax said:


> I like juvenile jokes and satire.
> 
> Although The Brothers Grimsby was too puerile even for me...



Deadpool is flimsy. I dislike flimsy.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 29, 2016)

The first half of S1 of Transparent.
It's so good!
What a family. The three children are such fuck ups but fuck ups in a plausible and real way. I identity with the youngest daughter so much it's embarrassing.
They could have been so selfish and unlikeable but it's a credit to the writing and acting that you love that family and want them all to be happy. And I'm only 5 episodes in. It's only half an hour long, which again is so impressive as I feel like I've watched an hour long show. I know way much more about everyone than I would have found in some hour long dramas.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 30, 2016)

Finished season 1 of Wayward Pines. WTF?


----------



## Maharani (Jun 30, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> The first half of S1 of Transparent.
> It's so good!
> What a family. The three children are such fuck ups but fuck ups in a plausible and real way. I identity with the youngest daughter so much it's embarrassing.
> They could have been so selfish and unlikeable but it's a credit to the writing and acting that you love that family and want them all to be happy. And I'm only 5 episodes in. It's only half an hour long, which again is so impressive as I feel like I've watched an hour long show. I know way much more about everyone than I would have found in some hour long dramas.


Yes I enjoyed this season one and two but the kids are hopeless, esp the son!


----------



## Maharani (Jun 30, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. A very respectful and senstive telling of the real-life story of retired schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies who was initially questioned by police as a suspect in the murder of Jo Yeates.
> 
> Jason Watkins does a fanatasic job portraying the naturally quirky outsider, who was villified because he existed on the edge of societal norms. It's a brilliant performance which doesn't try to wring any laughs out of the character or his affectations and unsual place in the world.
> 
> I really enjoyed it.


Watched last night. Loved it. Didn't know he went on to champion Hacked Off. Good got him. I was expecting him to be a total recluse but he was just odd and looked a bit funny.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jun 30, 2016)

I'm back catching up with Mad Men - 4 episodes in to season 6.


----------



## keybored (Jun 30, 2016)

Reno said:


> The Invitation, excellent new thriller which almost entirely takes place over the course of a dinner party. A bit of a slow burn, but none the worse for it, as it's all about accumulating detail and growing paranoia. Very well shot, great sound design, very tense and one of the better films I've seen recently.
> 
> Trailer here, though you may want to go in cold:




Seconded. Watched this last night and it's all the above.

I followed it up tonight with another horror/thriller, Hush. A more basic plot than The Invitation and with only two main characters but once the first ten minutes are done the tension is tighter than cramp throughout. Highly recommended.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 1, 2016)

Dark Places - Charlize Theron murder/mystery type thing, also starring Nicholas Hoult...Barely worth bothering with.

Some more episodes of American Crime - loving it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 1, 2016)

_Cleaner _- Sam Jackson as an ex-cop turned crime scene cleaner. Started off as a promising bit of throwaway genre fluff, but not really enough in the way of twists or turns to elevate it above 'meh'.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 1, 2016)

Maharani said:


> Watched last night. Loved it. Didn't know he went on to champion Hacked Off. Good got him. I was expecting him to be a total recluse but he was just odd and looked a bit funny.




I'm told by someone who knows him that it's an accurate portrayal


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 1, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Dark Places - Charlize Theron murder/mystery type thing, also starring Nicholas Hoult...Barely worth bothering with.



The book IS worth bothering with and I probably would have watched the film, but don't think I will now


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 1, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> The book IS worth bothering with and I probably would have watched the film, but don't think I will now



Yes, there was clearly a very good story in there somewhere. I suspect the 'Kill Club' get more time spent on them in the book. That would have been a part of the story that needed more screen time. I wondered of it had been cut to death, because they barely appear.


----------



## felixthecat (Jul 2, 2016)

keybored said:


> I followed it up tonight with another horror/thriller, Hush. A more basic plot than The Invitation and with only two main characters but once the first ten minutes are done the tension is tighter than cramp throughout. Highly recommended.


Watched that last night - arrrgh!
My sort of scary - really enjoyed it.

Couldn't sleep afterwards mind you...


----------



## Sue (Jul 2, 2016)

The Last Metro. Turned out there was something wrong with the DVD and it packed up with about 20 minutes left to go. Had to Google to find out what happened. 

ETA Had no idea Depardieu was handsome when young.


----------



## felixthecat (Jul 2, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. A very respectful and senstive telling of the real-life story of retired schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies who was initially questioned by police as a suspect in the murder of Jo Yeates.
> 
> Jason Watkins does a fanatasic job portraying the naturally quirky outsider, who was villified because he existed on the edge of societal norms. It's a brilliant performance which doesn't try to wring any laughs out of the character or his affectations and unsual place in the world.
> 
> I really enjoyed it.


How good was that? Really really good. I wouldn't have watched it if it hadn't been for the recommendation on this thread.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 2, 2016)

felixthecat said:


> How good was that? Really really good. I wouldn't have watched it if it hadn't been for the recommendation on this thread.



I'll be honest...I put on as background telly..but was taken in straight away...


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 7, 2016)

Big Game.

An extended advert for Finland's tourist industry, dressed up as a comedy thriller. Samuel L. Jackson, as President of the USA is shot down by terrorists over Lapland, and only a 13 year old Saami boy can save him. Better than it sounds, though really no more than a bit of fluff. The scenes of the Finnish wilderness were really good, though.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 7, 2016)

*The Green Room *

Quite brilliant - tense and there's a mad energy about it. Great soundtrack too. One of the best thrillers of this year. Recommend!!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 7, 2016)

Marvel's Ultimate Spider Man. Marvel. 2 eps. Its like spiderman on all the E numbers. Its annoyingly post modern. Sacked it off and went with Crises on Earth 2, one of DC's better offerings to the animation genre I feel


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 7, 2016)

First 2 episodes of Banshee S1.

So far so good, faintly ridiculous and over the top but I think that's the idea, seems like a wackier version of Justified, with extra explicit violence and nudity from the get go.

Very much True Blood / Spartacus in tone, but with some promising characters, will give it the full season I think.

Nice to see a few actors from The Wire, Daredevil and True Detective popping up too.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 7, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Big Game.
> 
> An extended advert for Finland's tourist industry, dressed up as a comedy thriller. Samuel L. Jackson, as President of the USA is shot down by terrorists over Lapland, and only a 13 year old Saami boy can save him. Better than it sounds, though really no more than a bit of fluff. The scenes of the Finnish wilderness were really good, though.


One thing this reminded me of was the New Zealand film Sleeping Dogs, which is also a tale of masculinity at bay in the wilderness. The two are very very different, though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 8, 2016)

The Lobster. 
Beyond awful. 
Dreadful script. Great actors but it's all for shite.


----------



## Reno (Jul 8, 2016)

I watched Ex Machina for a second time with a friend who had not seen it and it's one of those films which works a lot better on a rewatch for me. First time round I found it little slow in places but knowing how it ends made me pay a lot more attention to how the film arrives at that ending and changed my view on several of the characters. Really underestimated that one the first time round, it's a great film.

Intruders, which was originally called Shut In. It's a home invasion horror film with an intriguing premise but it then falls apart in the second half. Robbers break into the house of an extremely agoraphobic woman who keeps a lot of money there, but she has a few secrets of her own.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 8, 2016)

*Restoration (*1995, and seems older). Amazingly lavish adaptation of the Rose Tremain historical novel. Worth a rewatch for just how good Robert Downey Jr is as a dissolute shambolic rake (not much acting required tbh) and supporting cast (Sam Neill, David Threlfall, Polly Walker) not half bad either. Visually lovely, if a bit chocolate-boxey. But overall a little too saccharine and massmarket to really explore its themes of death, duty, madness, Puritanism and ruthless royal power to more interesting extremes. Subplot with Meg Ryan attempting to animate character of a muddy Irish colleen turned lunatic should have been axed completely. Still has moments of startling surrealism and beauty though.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 9, 2016)

Godzilla. Rather dull.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 9, 2016)

Green Room - Punks in peril with lashings of violence being rained upon them by neo-nazi skins in some backwater hellhole of a bar/club...

Entertaining enough...not as good as Blue Ruin, Jeremy Saulnier's previous film...

...a bit sad seeing Anton Yelchin who died so young recently...


----------



## Sue (Jul 9, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Green Room - Punks in peril with lashings of violence being rained upon them by neo-nazi skins in some backwater hellhole of a bar/club...
> 
> Entertaining enough...not as good as Blue Ruin, Jeremy Saulnier's previous film...
> 
> ...a bit sad seeing Anton Yelchin who died so young recently...


I did like the Nazi Punks Fuck Off bit.


----------



## Reno (Jul 9, 2016)

I found Green Room more entertaining than Blue Ruin, but I don't get why Saulnier's films earn such raves. He coats routine genre films with an indie movie gloss and that's the only remarkable thing about them. So you get a revenge thriller with a homeless guy instead of Charles Bronson and a siege thriller with punks vs skinheads rather than with police vs gang members but then that's the last surprising thing about that film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> I found Green Room more entertaining than Blue Ruin, but I don't get why Saulnier's films earn such raves. He coats routine genre films with an indie movie gloss and that's the only remarkable thing about them. So you get a revenge thriller with a homeless guy instead of Charles Bronson and a siege thriller with punks vs skinheads rather than with police vs gang members but then that's the last surprising thing about that film.



Yes, agreed. I found some of the plotting in Green Room quite daft...mainly the last 20 minutes...but it kept me entertained.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 10, 2016)

First two episodes of American Gothic (2016) - a soapy mystery/family drama about a rich family living with the idea that their patriarch may have been a famed serial killer who became inactive 14 years prior to when this is set. The discovery of new evidence throws up all sorts of questions and quizzing as this clan full of cliches, (druggy son with destructive relationship, rebel son who ran off to the woods, go getting ambitious girl, uptight girl, evil witch mum, animal torturing grandkid....list goes on) start turning on each other in a bid to suppress/expose/understand the truth....

Quite frankly, if I was the serial killer dad to this lot, I would have murdered the lot of 'em....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 10, 2016)

Sue said:


> I did like the Nazi Punks Fuck Off bit.



Yes, but given how fairly wimpy they were, I don't imagine them having the nuts to pull that off, or for the skins to let them get away with it with only one thrown bottle and a bit of gobbing...


----------



## Sue (Jul 10, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Yes, but given how fairly wimpy they were, I don't imagine them having the nuts to pull that off, or for the skins to let them get away with it with only one thrown bottle and a bit of gobbing...


Oh, I agree. Thought it might end very prematurely with them getting their heads kicked in. Completely unrealistic but hey.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 10, 2016)

Sue said:


> Oh, I agree. Thought it might end very prematurely with them getting their heads kicked in. Completely unrealistic but hey.



I liked it that Patrick Sewart's wardrobe was that of UK Farmer...


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 10, 2016)

Patton - George C Scott nabs an oscar as the poetry loving, reincarnation believing General. From a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 10, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Patton - George C Scott nabs an oscar as the poetry loving, reincarnation believing General. From a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola.


Glad to see you back.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 10, 2016)

Just watched The Drop. Hardy, Galdolfini NY crime thriller...it's brooding stuff, it's got a shaggy dog story at it's core, but it's also well trodden ground worth watching for the two leads out-mumbling each other. Rapace was yet again wasted in another woman on the sidelines in a shitty world of men and low level crime plotline...

It's always good to see Gandolfini, and I'd put off watching this because it was his last film and I've nothing left to look forward to from him.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jul 11, 2016)

A Hijacking - awesome film, best I've seen in a while.  Will watch Captain Phillips, based on the same material, eventually, though I don't usually care for Tom Hanks and I doubt any Hollywood film would be so restrained.


----------



## Sue (Jul 11, 2016)

Pretty in Pink. First time I've seen it since not long after it came out. Not sure my opinion's changed much -- she so should've told Andrew McCarthy where to go at the end -- but an enjoyable enough way to spend a Sunday evening. I'd forgotten a very young James Spader was in it and had managed to wipe some of the worst 80s fashion moments from my mind. (Her dress wasn't quite as I remembered it but still thought it was pretty horrible.)


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 11, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> A Hijacking - awesome film, best I've seen in a while.  Will watch Captain Phillips, based on the same material, eventually, though I don't usually care for Tom Hanks and I doubt any Hollywood film would be so restrained.



Captain Phillips is standard Hollywood fare and can't hold a candle to A Hijacking


----------



## Reno (Jul 11, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Captain Phillips is standard Hollywood fare and can't hold a candle to A Hijacking


I usually cheer the foreign language low budget underdog but found A Hijacking well meaning but rather listless and I thought Captain Phillips was genuinely tense.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jul 11, 2016)

Reno said:


> I usually cheer the foreign language low budget underdog but found A Hijacking well meaning but rather listless and I thought Captain Phillips was genuinely tense.



Despite having virtually no action, I thought A Hijacking was pretty tense.  It really seemed to get into the psychology of negotiation.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 11, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Glad to see you back.



Go raibh maith agat


----------



## Chz (Jul 12, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> A Hijacking - awesome film, best I've seen in a while.  Will watch Captain Phillips, based on the same material, eventually, though I don't usually care for Tom Hanks and I doubt any Hollywood film would be so restrained.


I didn't know that, though I haven't seen the Hanks version. I'm not sure it's the sort of thing that would Hollywood-ize well. A lot of the tension is long periods of absolutely nothing happening.


----------



## Reno (Jul 12, 2016)

Johnny Vodka said:


> A Hijacking - awesome film, best I've seen in a while.  Will watch Captain Phillips, based on the same material, eventually, though I don't usually care for Tom Hanks and I doubt any Hollywood film would be so restrained.





Chz said:


> I didn't know that, though I haven't seen the Hanks version. I'm not sure it's the sort of thing that would Hollywood-ize well. A lot of the tension is long periods of absolutely nothing happening.



They weren't based on the same material, they are unrelated films with similar subject matter. No doubt a lot of research went into A Hijacking but it's essentially a fictional film (a loosely connected spin-off from the TV series Borgen) while Captain Phillips was based on a real case.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 12, 2016)

Reno said:


> They weren't based on the same material, they are unrelated films with similar subject matter. No doubt a lot of research went into A Hijacking but it's essentially a fictional film (a loosely connected spin-off from the TV series Borgen) while Captain Philips was based on a real case.



Oh wow; without spoilers, is it possible to reveal the conncection to Borgen?

I quite enjoyed Captain Philips; think it was a Paul Greengrass?


----------



## Reno (Jul 12, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Oh wow; without spoilers, is it possible to reveal the conncection to Borgen?
> 
> I quite enjoyed Captain Philips; think it was a Paul Greengrass?


In one episode of Borgen Brigitte Nyborg dealt with a sea hijacking which is never seen but which was exactly as described in the film. I believe that's how the film got started.

Yes, Captain Phillips was Greengrass. It's in line with his docudramas based on real cases starting with his TV work (Bloody Sunday, etc)


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 12, 2016)

Reno said:


> In one episode of Borgen Brigitte Nyborg dealt with a sea hijacking which is never seen but which was exactly as described in the film. I believe that's how the film got started.
> 
> Yes, Captain Phillips was Greengrass. It's in line with his docudramas based on real cases starting with his TV work (Bloody Sunday, etc)



Ah; clever!


----------



## felixthecat (Jul 12, 2016)

The Resident. Hillary Swank as a doctor in NYC who moves into a suspiciously cheap apartment with a creepy landlord (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his creepier grandfather (Christopher Lee). You can guess where it goes from there...

Should have been much better than it actually was. Cinematography was quite nice but the story of the creepy obsessive landlord has been done before and done much better. Seemed to be more a vehicle for Ms Swank to walk around half naked than anything else.

Alright if you're a bit bored I guess.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 12, 2016)

Nick Offerman - American Ham. 

Decent fella, solid.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 12, 2016)

*The East *(2013) intriguingly downbeat and non-clichéd thriller about a young female corporate spy who gets too deeply embedded (in all senses) for comfort with an earnest eco-anarchist collective who might just be taking direct action a bit too far. Some pretty subtle and shaded acting from leads Britt Marling (even though I normally can't stand her) and Alexander Skarsgard (who starts off the movie looking like a shambolic bearded schizophrenic, but is soon smartened up into the same dreamboat as always). It has some nice montaging/use of 'cyber' visual texturing to get across some of the feel of 21st century activism and its heart might be in a more radical place than the usual US movie. Has some good moments of unease tension but sadly, overall, just not that exciting - and definitely not as nerve shredding as it might be.

*Marco Polo *(Netflix) series 2. Gets more and more lavish and more and more confused, although there's some quality large-scale battling and one-one-one wuxia displays. Still no real sense whatsoever of Mongol (or Mongolian) culture in particular - it's all just some vague conception of 'Asia', boiling all the clichés about anywhere east of Lebanon together in a large hotpot while somehow leaching out all the flavour. Worst of all is how our token white boy hero (Lorenzo Richelmy, still mostly charisma-free) has to be shoehorned into the middle of every possible even to make a mostly-white US audience relate and stay interested. Netflix is also I guess trying not to offend Chinese audiences/financiers so the inter-Asian dynamics of the 13th-century world are kept discreetly blurry.

 So, when Kublai has to finish off the last hopes of the deposed Song dynasty by doing an especially ethically-questionable murder, and take a decisive fork in world history, guess who just HAS to be in that very room, watching from the shadows? Yeah, you guessed it, our boy from Venice. Nothing can ever be done - even by the world's effective emperors - without a white hero to bear witness. Argh.... 

 Still, amazing art direction, some striking images / shots / cinematography, and some really fine acting from rather older, more character actors (Joan Chen, Michelle Yeoh and Benedict Wong in particular) who can draw real feelings out of a mostly dire script and execution.  (The younger ones are almost all completely wooden.) It is not a complete waste of your time, but don't expect to be gripped or educated. Just mildly entertained.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 12, 2016)

I wanted to kill every character in The East.

Boring fucking hippies. All that eco twat babble and they still left lights on when they left the room....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 12, 2016)

I tried Batman Vs Superman...the 3hr special edition version....I tried 3 times....

I did not want to be beaten....

But, boy oh boy, it was tragically fucking shit.....so I finally quit....

Everything was wrong. Story. Casting. Everything.

Zak Snyder clearly thought he was making some meaningful film about, erm...something big and meaningful....but it was just a pile of wank socks in the corner.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 12, 2016)

Jeremey Irons was the shittest Alfred ever.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 12, 2016)

Gone Girl. Very enjoyable.


----------



## belboid (Jul 12, 2016)

Deadpool

Highly dubious physics. Damned good fun tho


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 12, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Jeremey Irons was the shittest Alfred ever.



Actually, he's one of the better ones. And Affleck made a good Batman. Film is still a mess with all the flash forwards, hallucinations and shoe horning stuff in for the uber fans but there's still a few cool things in there.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 12, 2016)

Just panickingly bought loads of digital shit from Amazon, as, although I've been checking out 'prime day' all day (load of old bollocks IMEO), I didn't realise they had offers on Video until an hour ago.

Never seen NYPD Blue before ('cept in clips, pop culture etc...) but know that I'll love it, so got the first two series for £4 each. Suspect this will be my new couple of eps a day show, now that I've finished (re)watching all the series of Bake Off that are available from BBC Store (all but S3 - easily the best season).


----------



## ringo (Jul 13, 2016)

First two episodes of Justified, think we're getting into it.

First episode of Brief Encounters - ITV series on Ann Summers parties in 1982. Gentle/saucy humour but still quite well done and we liked the 80's period stuff, spot on.


----------



## belboid (Jul 13, 2016)

ringo said:


> First episode of Brief Encounters - ITV series on Ann Summers parties in 1982. Gentle/saucy humour but still quite well done and we liked the 80's period stuff, spot on.


I must watch that, filmed locally, the cop shop shown is just by my works front door.


----------



## ringo (Jul 13, 2016)

belboid said:


> I must watch that, filmed locally, the cop shop shown is just by my works front door.



I lived in Sheffield for 4 years and miss it, enjoyed trying to working out where they were, so add locations please


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 13, 2016)

Preacher. A lot more is making sense now, in terms of how they are doing the backstories for the TV version. Perhaps a little too flashback ridden but has to be done. Cassidy is as ever, a legend


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 13, 2016)

Today: Entire first series of Bosch while waiting downstairs for the Amazon delivery guy (the TV doesn't have WWE Network or Netflix so had to make do) 

Pretty good actually, after I rubbished the first episode a couple of months ago. One big problem though - I learn't the main guy's name, but no one elses. I've gone through the whole thing refering to them as characters from other shows they've all been in (chiefly the Wire).


----------



## ringo (Jul 14, 2016)

ringo said:


> First episode of Brief Encounters - ITV series on Ann Summers parties in 1982. Gentle/saucy humour but still quite well done and we liked the 80's period stuff, spot on.



Episode 2, like this


----------



## Chz (Jul 14, 2016)

I was slightly put off by the hype over it, but the first three episodes of The Americans have been really quite good. Only slightly spoiled by knowing that there's four seasons of it and no-one's going to die right away. Not as cool and stylish as Deutchland 83, but a lot less fluffy.


----------



## Reno (Jul 14, 2016)

Dark Mirror, 40s film noir/psychological thriller with Olivia De Havilland as twins, one nice, the other one nasty. Not a patch on Hitchcock's far more cinematic psychological thrillers of the period. The film is rather talky and confined to a few interiors, but De Havilland is fun.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 14, 2016)

I started to watch High Rise and had to switch it off. It looked wonderful, but was so cold and callous it made me feel a bit angry towards it.

I was feeling a bit tired, so I will give it another go. It clearly owes a debt to Kubrick's Clorkwork Orange, and maybe even 2001 and the cruise/kidman one.....also himts of Greenaway, Draughtsman's Contract...

I'll try again.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jul 14, 2016)

Alien Extinction.

Fucking hell


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 15, 2016)

Series two of Bosch. Waaaaaay better that series one. Writing, acting and production values are much higher.


----------



## Reno (Jul 16, 2016)

The Survivalist, recent British low budget, post-apocalyptic drama which got rave reviews but which I found excruciatingly dull. It has only three characters of any importance and it goes for "enigmatic" with their depiction (little dialogue, long meaningful glances) but to me they ended up as not terribly interesting. Neither trashy fun nor arty enough to be profound or beautiful, this is about as much fun as a zombie apocalypse without any zombies.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> The Survivalist, recent British low budget, post-apocalyptic drama which got rave reviews but which I found excruciatingly dull. It has only three characters of any importance and it goes for "enigmatic" with their depiction (little dialogue, long meaningful glances) but to me they ended up as not terribly interesting. Neither trashy fun nor arty enough to be profound or beautiful, this is about as much fun as a zombie apocalypse without any zombies.


I quite enjoyed that one. Don't agree that it tried to be enigmatic whatsoever. It merely depicted a state of affairs where people would be intensely paranoid and tight-lipped about their intentions.


----------



## Reno (Jul 16, 2016)

TruXta said:


> I quite enjoyed that one. Don't agree that it tried to be enigmatic whatsoever. It merely depicted a state of affairs where people would be intensely paranoid and tight-lipped about their intentions.


...which I didn't find very interesting because the people weren't. Everybody is frightened and paranoid in just about every post-apocalyptic film I've seen, so there was nothing new there.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> ...which I didn't find very interesting because the people weren't. I've seen way too many films like this and there are far better ones out there


Fair enough, horses for courses, but I still think your description as trying to be enigmatic is just plain wrong.


----------



## Reno (Jul 16, 2016)

TruXta said:


> Fair enough, horses for courses, but I still think your description as trying to be enigmatic is just plain wrong.


No,it's not wrong. Good night!


----------



## TruXta (Jul 16, 2016)

What, you needed more exposition? More "I feel this" kinda dialogue? Just curious really. Also, what movies in the same vein would you rate higher?


----------



## starfish (Jul 16, 2016)

We're giving Bloodline a go at the mo. First few eps got me intrigued & im prepared to stick it out.


----------



## Reno (Jul 16, 2016)

TruXta said:


> What, you needed more exposition? More "I feel this" kinda dialogue? Just curious really. Also, what movies in the same vein would you rate higher?


I don't need more exposition, but if you do a post-apocalyptic film which is primarily character based, then come up with more interesting characters. Don't entirely rely on that the dire situation they are in will be enough to make them compelling. The idea that they may fuck each other over alone didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, that comes with the genre. There was one moment where the mother character inserted so long a pause before the (expected) final word of a sentence, it actually made me laugh at the stilted approach to attempt "meaningful drama"

Small scale apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films which were better and which were primarily about the dynamics and tensions between the characters: The Quiet Earth, The Dark Hour (aka La Hora Fria), Time of the Wolf, The Road, Right at Your Door, It's a Disaster, Testament, These Final Hours, The Last Battle, Last Night, The Invitation, Pontypool, A Boy and His Dog, Hell, The Rover.

Some of them I didn't even like that much but all of them brought more to the able than this.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 16, 2016)

Cheers, will have to check some of those out.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 16, 2016)

Justice League: Gods and Monsters

ok so in this one the League are bad, Superman is evil (he has the mirror universe goatee as well and I know some geek twat did that reference deliberatly. Must have). Lex Luthor is actually the gooddie. I found it fun if forgettable. Evil Wonderwoman (bekka) should have been more domme.

I think there is a vast chunk of backstory her that I CBA with cos DC is all about the reboots and shit gets confusing. Worth a watch tho, excellent animation as per


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jul 16, 2016)

Midnight Special.

Absolutely terrible film, charmless and lacking any real substance.


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 16, 2016)

Up to episode 8 of Banshee. 

Nuts, but very entertaining. 

The actor who plays the sleazy drug lawyer (Levy) from The Wire shows up and was almost unrecognizable but still great. 

The 'Bad guys' are complex and the 'good guys' are often arseholes of the first order, just how I like my pulpy action shows


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 16, 2016)

Watching the second Hobbit film on telly. I've never had any desire to see these, but have been watching them with my 7yo which seems to have highlighted their point i.e. as big dumb action entertainers for 7yos. Still disappointed at how much Sauron's eye looks like a big scary fanny though.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 17, 2016)

May Kasahara said:


> Watching the second Hobbit film on telly.



Cheers - now whenever I hear the phrase



> Sauron's eye



I'm going to get inappropriate images flashing in front of my eyes


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jul 17, 2016)

13 hours.

A strange film, featuring scenes that often appear to have been inserted later with no regard for continuity. It claims to be based on a true story, but the accuracy of the film can only be judged by those present at the time. One thing is clear - it appears to have been a full scale _shit storm_ to have been involved in.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 17, 2016)

Filth - James McAvoy gives a career best as a manic cop on a murder case. Lots of romping, tooting, causing all manner of offense. Kind of like _Trainspotting_ meets _Bad Lieutenant_. 

Philomena - Judi Dench and Steve Coogan portray Philomena Lee and Martin Sixsmith in the true story of a woman's search for her son. Very moving and not popular with apologists for the RCC's taliban lite treatment of women in 20th century Ireland.


----------



## Sue (Jul 17, 2016)

The Keep. Michael Mann supernatural horror from the early 80s. Lots of plot holes (probably explained by the studio cutting it from its intended three and a half hours to an hour and a half), dodgy accents and a very, very 80s soundtrack from Tangerine Dream. Quite fun if ultimately quite rubbish.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 17, 2016)

First two eps of Stranger Things, new Netflix show. Like a bunch of great 80s movies rolled into one. Really enjoyed it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 17, 2016)

Sue said:


> The Keep. Michael Mann supernatural horror from the early 80s. Lots of plot holes (probably explained by the studio cutting it from its intended three and a half hours to an hour and a half), dodgy accents and a very, very 80s soundtrack from Tangerine Dream. Quite fun if ultimately quite rubbish.


Possibly the best, fairest review of that film ever made


----------



## Sue (Jul 17, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Possibly the best, fairest review of that film ever made



I'd never even heard of it before, never mind seen it (horror's really not my thing).


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 18, 2016)

Sue said:


> The Keep. Michael Mann supernatural horror from the early 80s. Lots of plot holes (probably explained by the studio cutting it from its intended three and a half hours to an hour and a half), dodgy accents and a very, very 80s soundtrack from Tangerine Dream. Quite fun if ultimately quite rubbish.



I'm sure the version I saw on Film 4 last year was three and a half hours  Maybe it just felt like it. Either way, it wasn't any more coherent.


----------



## Sue (Jul 18, 2016)

May Kasahara said:


> I'm sure the version I saw on Film 4 last year was three and a half hours  Maybe it just felt like it. Either way, it wasn't any more coherent.


Wouldn't be surprised if there're various versions floating about.

Eta Or maybe it did just feel like it.


----------



## Reno (Jul 18, 2016)

Originally The Keep was 3.5 hours long but the studio cut it down to just over 1.5 hours  before its release, so what they showed on Film 4 must have been a director's cut. A synopsis of the film makes it sound really interesting, but I've never made it all the way through the short version. The film is an incoherent mess and it looks like a poor 80s pop promo.


----------



## TruXta (Jul 18, 2016)

It blew my mind at 10 years old but I don't think I've seen it since.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 18, 2016)

Yeah, it's a shame because the opening section is quite atmospheric and effective.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 18, 2016)

*Keanu* - what a stupid but fun film, i haven't laughed so much for ages.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 18, 2016)

Seeing as there's a fucking heatwave on, my fave summer film (and the only lovey-dovey slush fesh I can stand), *Beautiful Thing*.

*Downloads Mama cass tracks*


----------



## Reno (Jul 18, 2016)

The Peanuts Movie which was surprisingly good and despite its translation into 3D animation, true to its source. The only thing I was missing was a Vince Guaraldi score.


----------



## The Boy (Jul 18, 2016)

A million ways to die in the west (2014).  Meh.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 19, 2016)

Enjoying season 2 of Grace & Frankie. Lily Tomlin is magnificent, as always.


----------



## belboid (Jul 19, 2016)

ringo said:


> I lived in Sheffield for 4 years and miss it, enjoyed trying to working out where they were, so add locations please


Just watched the first one.  It's a rather cheesy, gender bending, TV version of Full Monty (even down to vaguely knowing a couple of people in it!). With incredibly dubious race relations on show.

As far as we could tell....the main shots looking over the city were from Crookes, the house where hubby is shagging whoever she is definitely was. The bit where the shops looked nice was Sharrow Vale Road. The factory they get made redundant from was on Egerton Street (city centre, between Fitzwilliam St & Hanover Way).  The cop shop was apparently in last nights episode, and was the old post office outside the Manpower Services building at Moorfoot.


----------



## ringo (Jul 20, 2016)

belboid said:


> Just watched the first one.  It's a rather cheesy, gender bending, TV version of Full Monty (even down to vaguely knowing a couple of people in it!). With incredibly dubious race relations on show.
> 
> As far as we could tell....the main shots looking over the city were from Crookes, the house where hubby is shagging whoever she is definitely was. The bit where the shops looked nice was Sharrow Vale Road. The factory they get made redundant from was on Egerton Street (city centre, between Fitzwilliam St & Hanover Way).  The cop shop was apparently in last nights episode, and was the old post office outside the Manpower Services building at Moorfoot.



Yes, it's ITV drama, but I like it. I used to live in Crookes, on Springvale Road


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2016)

My son kept nagging at me to watch Misfits, so I watched two episodes, and I enjoyed it. Some very funny writing going on there.


----------



## Reno (Jul 20, 2016)

I'm watching S4 of Orange is the New Black and got two more episodes to go. Far better than S3, but I feel the series would work better if the episodes were be shorter. A Network episode length of 42 minutes would move things along more briskly than the streaming 50 to 60 minutes.


----------



## pesh (Jul 20, 2016)

TruXta said:


> First two eps of Stranger Things, new Netflix show. Like a bunch of great 80s movies rolled into one. Really enjoyed it.


loving this... every decent Spielberg movie in a TV show... episode 1 was basically Jaws in some woods.


----------



## Yetman (Jul 20, 2016)

Keanu is good, funny although a bit overacted in places. Batman vs Superman is too long.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2016)

Midnight Special. Not that special. Starts strong quickly goes limp.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2016)

The Thing (2011) - a more than adequate prequel to the 1982 film playing with similar characters in an almost indentical setting to create a film which feels like both a remake and prequel at the same time...also with a nice homage to Ripley from the Alien franchise in Mary Elizabeth Winstead's character. Enjoyable....although some of the special effects looked like they pre-dated the 1982 version...


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 20, 2016)

Watched most of season one of NYPD Blue over the past two days. It's been stupidly hot, and I've been slowly and monotonously cataloguing my DVD collection - it's been a welcome relief. I've had my industral fan going so I've had to turn the volume right up and presumably share it with the rest of the street. Regret only buying two seasons in the sale for £3 each though as they're now £45 a piece


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jul 20, 2016)

The Long March through ER continues. I'm up to season 13 episode 13 now. It's...it's not very good any more, but there are still long-term characters I care about (Abby and Luka, mainly), so I'll persevere. Only 50-odd episodes to go...

The next box-set is either getting back into Homicide: Life on the Street, or on a randomly purchased whim Tour of Duty. I suspect I may regret buying the latter.


----------



## Yetman (Jul 21, 2016)

High Rise - Ben Wheatley's take on the novel of the same name. Reminded me a bit of Richard Ayoade's 'The Double'. Weird block of flats full of weird people starts normal, ends up mental. When you're trying to pull off a socio-political allegory in a film it needs to be done very well so as not to detract from the experience and this was, though it was a little too long. 7.5/10.


----------



## ringo (Jul 22, 2016)

Yetman said:


> High Rise - Ben Wheatley's take on the novel of the same name. Reminded me a bit of Richard Ayoade's 'The Double'. Weird block of flats full of weird people starts normal, ends up mental. When you're trying to pull off a socio-political allegory in a film it needs to be done very well so as not to detract from the experience and this was, though it was a little too long. 7.5/10.



Got this for tonight, great book, hope the fillum lives up to it.


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 22, 2016)

Finished Season 1 of Banshee, enjoyable nonsense with some great shootout / fight scenes and plenty of tense scenes.

Weird Amish incest subplot was a curveball, mind.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 22, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> Finished Season 1 of Banshee, enjoyable nonsense with some great shootout / fight scenes and plenty of tense scenes.
> 
> Weird Amish incest subplot was a curveball, mind.


It's a really entertaining series , completely over the top but well crafted and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Very underrated imo.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 22, 2016)

*Thor *(2011) good campy fun, though I'd never suspected that the Nordic realm of the gods contained quite so much gilded chrome, Art Deco streamlining or CGI light effects. Absolutely atrocious hairdressing on everyone. Having Idris Elba as guard the sky bridge without dropping his London accent was a little touch of genius.

*Something in the Air (aka Apres Mai) - 2011 *- massively self-indulgent story of how wonderful it was to be young and revolutionary in 1968 France. Very thinly-disguised self-portrait of the director (Olivier Assayas) as a young artist, with too much hair, a bourgeois dad, several hippy chicks on the go and really deep creative ideas for psychedelic lightshows and so on. Oh yeah and a real love for the revolution and the people, except if it means going without money or freedom to do whatever you like. Critics went wild over its 'sensual evocation of time and place and historical moment'. There might be more tongue-in-cheek humour in there than I'm giving it credit for, but I found most of the characters incredibly annoying, callow, stupid, pompous in a totally French way. The female comrades get treated like dirt and nobody explains who's paying all the bills. (So it's just like real life!). But it's interesting even when it's annoying.


----------



## stdP (Jul 22, 2016)

Yetman said:


> High Rise - Ben Wheatley's take on the novel of the same name. Reminded me a bit of Richard Ayoade's 'The Double'. Weird block of flats full of weird people starts normal, ends up mental. When you're trying to pull off a socio-political allegory in a film it needs to be done very well so as not to detract from the experience and this was, though it was a little too long. 7.5/10.



Watched the DVD myself last night. After the... well, divisive reviews I wasn't really sure what to expect. Somewhat indecipherable, preposterous, pompous and pretentious... yes, it is also all those things. But much like the book I found it a brilliantly evocative allegory (and the first "uncompromised" allegory that didn't try and stray from its source for the sake of narrative simplicity that I've seen in quite a long time) with a host of really rather disquietingly psychotic performances. Think it might be Hiddleston's best yet.

<side note>Portishead's cover of Abba's SOS was simply breathtaking - really rams home how Abba were like a mirror image of Radiohead in managing to take very dark subject matter and turn them into shining nuggets of feel-good pop. Perfectly dissonant counterpoint to the flighty Abba covers by the string quartet earlier.


----------



## Sue (Jul 22, 2016)

White Dog. Black trainer tries to reprogramme a dog which has been trained to attack black people. Interesting take on racism (can it be treated?) though apparently v controversial at the time. 

(Also interested to see it was loosely based on a book by Romain Gary.)


----------



## Reno (Jul 22, 2016)

Sue said:


> White Dog. Black trainer tries to reprogramme a dog which has been trained to attack black people. Interesting take on racism (can it be treated?) though apparently v controversial at the time.
> 
> (Also interested to see it was loosely based on a book by Romain Gary.)


That was an odd case where a film which was an anti-racist allegory ended up accused of racism. I watched that again recently. It's an interesting if flawed film, marred by poor casting.


----------



## belboid (Jul 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> That was an odd case where a film which was an anti-racist allegory ended up accused of racism. I watched that again recently. It's an interesting if flawed film, marred by poor casting.


I dont think its the casting that is at fault. If anything is, it's Fuller's style of direction, which, to me, is fitting, but very much of its time. Subtle, it is not.


----------



## belboid (Jul 23, 2016)

Potiche.  Seventies set farce from Francois Ozon with Catherine Deneuve as the wife of a shitbag umbrella factory boss who, after a strike and a punch up, takes over the factory, with hilarious results.  No, really, the results are genuinely hilarious. Deneuve is marvellous, Gerard Depardieu is pretty good as the Communist MP (the film does mention the need to build the revolutionary party, so we're covered there), and it looks great - a very hymn of praise to Jacques Demy, and Umbrellas of Cherbourg in particular.


----------



## Sue (Jul 23, 2016)

belboid said:


> Potiche.  Seventies set farce from Francois Ozon with Catherine Deneuve as the wife of a shitbag umbrella factory boss who, after a strike and a punch up, takes over the factory, with hilarious results.  No, really, the results are genuinely hilarious. Deneuve is marvellous, Gerard Depardieu is pretty good as the Communist MP (the film does mention the need to build the revolutionary party, so we're covered there), and it looks great - a very hymn of praise to Jacques Demy, and Umbrellas of Cherbourg in particular.



Saw that when it came it out and pretty much hated it. Felt like it was trying to be a Carry On film. 

Funny, but I seem to either really like or really dislike his films and in about equal measure so end up going to see whatever he puts out hoping it's in the former category.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2016)

I watched 'Wyrd Sisters' the first of the Lancre Witches tales from pratchett and one of 2 commited to cartoon by the same outfit. Spot on, leaned heavily on Pratchetts writing so quite funny and where it had to make departures, it made them seamless and flowing. Good animation, they've got the wtches perfect AND given tham all regional accents  well worth the time for any fan of the books


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2016)

The Believer. A jewish neo-nazi american kid spirals slowly downwards, an interesting watch. There's a few beat points in there that reminded me of the old cry 'and where was God in Dachau?' etc. Really worth the watch. Theere's even a wannabe marine le pen sort and everything. Thoughtful piece I reconed, didn't try to shy away from what the protaganist had become, rather showed the unravelling of that persona and the ID crisis of late 20s people writ large and in big ugly numbers, told through ugly currents. 8/10.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 24, 2016)

Slow West

a fairly bleak tale of love denied and revenge ungained. The Hound features. What got me the most about it was not just the ruthless utalitarianism of the characters but how bitterly everyone lost. Great scenery, good gunfights and some easy unforced characterisation, both of time and protagonists. 7/10

What was good about it was how the 'innocent' never lost that, despite some pretty horrific shit, he was still theis wild eyed lad looking for his love. Would watch again. Compare/contrast with True Grit


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 24, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched 'Wyrd Sisters' the first of the Lancre Witches tales from pratchett and one of 2 commited to cartoon by the same outfit. Spot on, leaned heavily on Pratchetts writing so quite funny and where it had to make departures, it made them seamless and flowing. Good animation, they've got the wtches perfect AND given tham all regional accents  well worth the time for any fan of the books


Big shoes to fill, and they filled them, you mean?


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2016)

belboid said:


> I dont think its the casting that is at fault. If anything is, it's Fuller's style of direction, which, to me, is fitting, but very much of its time. Subtle, it is not.



Kristy McNichol, who became famous in tomboy roles on 70s TV shows, doesn't work at all in the lead role. She's one of these child actors who never made a credible transition to adult roles. White Dog was one of a string of failed attempts to turn her into a film star.

White Dog was based on a true story experienced by Jean Seberg, the American movie star still best known for Godard's Breathless. The book White Dog was based on her account, retaining the real people's names. Though the film moved the characters away from their real-life counterparts, the perky-bland girl-next-door McNichol is totally miscast as an actress based on someone as sophisticated, smart and complex as Jean Seberg.

BTW, Seberg's story is a fascinating if sad one. She came to a tragic end in the late 70s, which many believe had to do with her support for various civil rights causes, including the Black Panthers. She got blacklisted by Hollywood and was smeared and hounded by the FBI for years, which ruined her career and eventually ended her life far too early.

I agree that there is something off about Fuller's pulpy, blunt style which felt edgy in the 50s and 60s but by the 80s has the feel of a TV movie.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 24, 2016)

Pride.

pushed all the right emotional buttons. has paddy considine ever put in a bad performance?


----------



## Sue (Jul 24, 2016)

And Romain Gary (who wrote the original story) was an extremely interesting man. 

Moved to France as a child from Russia (now Lithuania), brought up by a single mother, was a pilot in the Free French Air Wing during WWII,  became a lawyer, UN diplomat, wrote a couple of dozen novels, won the Prix Goncourt twice (you're only allowed to win it once so the second time was under a pseudonym), married Jean Seberg and squeezed in a couple of screenplays/directed a couple of films. 

Almost enough to make one feel a touch inadequate...


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 24, 2016)

Just finished S1 of Veronica Mars.

Smartly written and funny, surprised I missed it the first time round.

For those who've seen the first season at least, a question though... 



Spoiler



Was it just me or was the final episode meant to be a parody homage? It felt ridiculous with its twists and turns and seriously poor acting, I assumed it was a dream sequence for the first 20 mins and then realised it wasn't, oddly disappointed by the end.


----------



## stdP (Jul 25, 2016)

Watched Niccol's Catch-22 for the first time since I read the book about a decade ago.

Don't understand the scorn apparently piled upon this movie - I'm going to watch it again shortly but I thought it did an absolutely fantastic job of capturing most of the story of the book and certainly the spirit of it. Stellar cast; Alan Arkin's perfect as Yossarian and Awesome Welles had me in stitches. Voight as Milo did a superb job of going from enthusiastic go-getting prick to chillingly fascistic uber-capitalist. Technically brilliant as well - crapton of really nice long shots, complicated but un-showy camerawork, understated visual gags a-go-go, brilliant sound editing.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 25, 2016)

Creed

Sly Stallone is in it as the trainer but it follows the rise of Appollo Creed's son in the boxing world. Pretty by the numbers fayre but everyone gives it good guns. Nice to see an american boxing film acknowledge that british boxers exist and are the best in the world also


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 26, 2016)

several Justice League films. Total visual bubblegum as 90% of DC animation is (you do get the odd bit of quality 'Under The Red Hood' for eg). What struck me over and over is what a mardy prick superman is in the JLA films. You an almost forgive snyders interpretation of the character if he was going on the JLA cartoons.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jul 26, 2016)

Oblivion.

Visually quite interesting with very clear references to earlier films but let down by a very thin plot with little real dramatic substance or impact.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jul 26, 2016)

*Hu-Man (1975)* - scientists organize a TV broadcast where that put an actor in dangerous circumstances and harness the watching viewers emotions which they then use that to send him into the future. There's not much of a plot & not much science fiction, its mostly an excuse to send Terence Stamp to various interesting outdoor locations and have him run about. Not great but it's visuals, a groovy looking long haired Stamp and electronic soundtrack had enough to keep me watching.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 26, 2016)

*Dragon Blade (*2015) - has all the ingredients of a laughably enjoyable piece of rubbish (Ancient Romans meet Early Chinese on the Silk Road for a punchup? Jackie Chan? John Cusack? Massively overpaid Hollywood stars just slumming it for the travel? I'm in!) but it just doesn't work on any level. It's not bad enough to be entertainingly camp (even Adrien Brody affecting a cod-English Depraved Aristocrat accent and flowing hair doesn't go far enough), it leaps about in time and place for no reason at all, the 'humour' is painfully weak and the 'cute kid' character is so grating you wish they'd strangled him at birth. There's not enough myth or magic - no dragons, unfeasibly long eyebrows or vengeful hermaphrodites. It has all of the rubbishness of Shaw Brothers / Golden Harvest / other cult HK cinema but without any of the bonkers folksy charm.

You may or may not be surprised to know that there is no Actual History in this at all; it groans under the weight of every possible variety of anachronism (technological, cultural, linguistic) and none of them are deliberate. The only thing at all which is genuinely interesting, is the insight it gives you into current Chinese perceptions of what Westerners might be good for. In this  bizarre parallel universe, the Chinese find the Roman centurions hairy, shouty and only a little bit good at fighting, but by gum they can draw up a construction plan, do great maths, and get a fortress stronghold built in a fortnight - useful little barbarians that they are. The ironic reversal was almost definitely not intended. (There are amaaaazingly long animated sequences of all the gears and cogs and stuff.) 

Spot the crudely-stitched in "message for Xinjiang" propaganda ("Here in Silk Road we are 36 nations, we must cooperate and love each other to keep safe!") as well. Also, the Romans burst out into patriotic song - in Latin! - leaving the proto-Chinese characters impressed by their teary-eyed nationalist karaoke. PROJECTION MUCH?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 26, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> *Dragon Blade (*2015) - has all the ingredients of a laughably enjoyable piece of rubbish (Ancient Romans meet Early Chinese on the Silk Road for a punchup? Jackie Chan? John Cusack? Massively overpaid Hollywood stars just slumming it for the travel? I'm in!) but it just doesn't work on any level. It's not bad enough to be entertainingly camp (even Adrien Brody affecting a cod-English Depraved Aristocrat accent and flowing hair doesn't go far enough), it leaps about in time and place for no reason at all, the 'humour' is painfully weak and the 'cute kid' character is so grating you wish they'd strangled him at birth. There's not enough myth or magic - no dragons, unfeasibly long eyebrows or vengeful hermaphrodites. It has all of the rubbishness of Shaw Brothers / Golden Harvest / other cult HK cinema but without any of the bonkers folksy charm.
> 
> You may or may not be surprised to know that there is no Actual History in this at all; it groans under the weight of every possible variety of anachronism (technological, cultural, linguistic) and none of them are deliberate. The only thing at all which is genuinely interesting, is the insight it gives you into current Chinese perceptions of what Westerners might be good for. In this  bizarre parallel universe, the Chinese find the Roman centurions hairy, shouty and only a little bit good at fighting, but by gum they can draw up a construction plan, do great maths, and get a fortress stronghold built in a fortnight - useful little barbarians that they are. The ironic reversal was almost definitely not intended. (also, the Romans burst out into patriotic song - in Latin! - leaving the Chinese characters impressed by their teary-eyed nationalist karaoke. PROJECTION MUCH?)


 its a great film to watch mad high. The warrior dance off. Jackie Chans suprisingly good singing voice doing a few numbers


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 26, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> *Dragon Blade (*2015) - has all the ingredients of a laughably enjoyable piece of rubbish (Ancient Romans meet Early Chinese on the Silk Road for a punchup? Jackie Chan? John Cusack? Massively overpaid Hollywood stars just slumming it for the travel? I'm in!) but it just doesn't work on any level. It's not bad enough to be entertainingly camp (even Adrien Brody affecting a cod-English Depraved Aristocrat accent and flowing hair doesn't go far enough), it leaps about in time and place for no reason at all, the 'humour' is painfully weak and the 'cute kid' character is so grating you wish they'd strangled him at birth. There's not enough myth or magic - no dragons, unfeasibly long eyebrows or vengeful hermaphrodites. It has all of the rubbishness of Shaw Brothers / Golden Harvest / other cult HK cinema but without any of the bonkers folksy charm.
> 
> You may or may not be surprised to know that there is no Actual History in this at all; it groans under the weight of every possible variety of anachronism (technological, cultural, linguistic) and none of them are deliberate. The only thing at all which is genuinely interesting, is the insight it gives you into current Chinese perceptions of what Westerners might be good for. In this  bizarre parallel universe, the Chinese find the Roman centurions hairy, shouty and only a little bit good at fighting, but by gum they can draw up a construction plan, do great maths, and get a fortress stronghold built in a fortnight - useful little barbarians that they are. The ironic reversal was almost definitely not intended. (There are amaaaazingly long animated sequences of all the gears and cogs and stuff.)
> 
> Spot the crudely-stitched in "message for Xinjiang" propaganda ("Here in Silk Road we are 36 nations, we must cooperate and love each other to keep safe!") as well. Also, the Romans burst out into patriotic song - in Latin! - leaving the proto-Chinese characters impressed by their teary-eyed nationalist karaoke. PROJECTION MUCH?


This sounds great. Is it on DVD? And as your last paragraph implies, is it a PRC production?


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 26, 2016)

Saw it on Netflix Idris2002. Make sure you take lots and lots and LOTS of drink / drugs / mind-altering substances before you start.
About the money, wiki says "The film was shot with a budget of US$65 million ...  financed by Sparkle Roll Media Corporation, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, Shanghai Film Group, Home Media & Entertainment Fund, Tencent Video and the Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film and Television Fund..."

so I think a completely opaque mix of any spare cash Jackie Chan has lying around that needs accounting for, a bit of PRC government slush and who knows what else.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 26, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Creed
> 
> Sly Stallone is in it as the trainer but it follows the rise of Appollo Creed's son in the boxing world. Pretty by the numbers fayre but everyone gives it good guns. Nice to see an american boxing film acknowledge that british boxers exist and are the best in the world also


Better than I expected.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 27, 2016)

Funny Girl - Barbara Streisand musical from 1968 based on the rise of Fanny Brice from the NYC tenements to the toast of the stage under the tutelage of Florenz Ziegfield. Marvellous.

Stranger Things - Season 1. Immensely enjoyable.


----------



## Reno (Jul 27, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Funny Girl - Barbara Streisand musical from 1968 based on the rise of Fanny Brice from the NYC tenements to the toast of the stage under the tutelage of Florenz Ziegfield. Marvellous.



I revisited this recently because I went to see the stage show. I think the first half is great when its all about Babs. Once the plot shifts to her romance with a miscast and extremely wooden Omar Sharif, the ooompf goes out of the film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 27, 2016)

Reno said:


> I revisited this recently because I went to see the stage show. I think the first half is great when its all about Babs. Once the plot shifts to her romance with a miscast and extremely wooden Omar Sharif, the ooompf goes out of the film.



You think? I loved them both but I could see the outcome, despite knowing nothing about the real story. It's alright but I prefer Hello Dolly


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jul 29, 2016)

*Blind Husbands (1919)*, Enjoyable early entry from director Erich von Stroheim into the German "mountain film" genre, an army Leitenant (von Stroheim) trys it on with the wife of an American Dr. while they are on a climbing holiday in the Alps.


----------



## Reno (Jul 30, 2016)

Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufmann's stop frame animated midlife crisis drama. Beautifully observed and animated, typically idiosyncratic and meta, but I can see why this wasn't a crowd pleaser. It's a bit of a downer. I enjoyed how perverse it was to recreate the most mundane of environments and situations on elaborately detailed miniature sets. The film mostly takes place in an anonymous hotel and conference centre. There is a long sex scene which unlike the one in Team America, doesn't get played for laughs. The fact that it's performed by puppets oddly enough makes it more human and and the characters appear more vulnerable.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 30, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> Saw it on Netflix Idris2002. Make sure you take lots and lots and LOTS of drink / drugs / mind-altering substances before you start.
> About the money, wiki says "The film was shot with a budget of US$65 million ...  financed by Sparkle Roll Media Corporation, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, Shanghai Film Group, Home Media & Entertainment Fund, Tencent Video and the Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film and Television Fund..."
> 
> so I think a completely opaque mix of any spare cash Jackie Chan has lying around that needs accounting for, a bit of PRC government slush and who knows what else.



"..._Dragon Blade_ is a hot mess and a spectacular misfire, not just by its star but also by its director, and if anything, further confirms that the once-promising careers of Hollywood stars John Cusack and Adrien Brody are going the way of Nicolas Cage."

Harsh


----------



## Reno (Jul 31, 2016)

My Stranger Things withdrawal inspired me to watch Super 8 again and that lead to more JJ Abrams produced monster mayhem, so I also rewatched 10 Cloverfield Lane and then Cloverfield.

I still enjoyed them all. Super 8 is spot on in recreating that vintage Spielberg magic, but it also works on its own terms because the writing and acting is great. In the 70s and early 80s Spielberg was my biggest hero, but now I don't connect with what he does at all anymore, so it's now up to others to make films which still feel like Spielberg.

10 Cloverfield Lane is one of the few decent Hollywood films I've seen recently. Many people don't seem to like the genre hopping lasts 15 minutes but I think the ending is great. 



Spoiler



Usually someone would escape from a nutcase conspiracy theorist and find that they just told a pack of lies but the joke is that the truth is so much more extreme than any conspiracy nut could have imagined. Mary Elizabeth Winstead always makes for a great heroine and the point of the ending is her story arc. Having to deal with and outwit a survivalist psycho prepares her for the alien invasion she finds outside and it has turned her into an efficient survivalist herself. A woman who appears emotionally fragile at the start, is ready to kick alien ass by the end of the film.



I still enjoyed Cloverfield and was checking what the links between the two films are, but there aren't really any, are there ? Cloverfield doesn't feel as fresh as it did at the time as the found footage thing has been done to death since then. Cloverfield wasn't the first found footage genre film, but it was the first to apply major Hollywood production values and that worked because these type of horror films are usually made because they are easy to produce on next to no budget. So when Cloverfield goes epic in its destruction, the you-are-really-there quality of the lo-fi way of shooting really puts you there. It's also a great New York movie, its monster apocalypse has a sense of place as it was shot from a street level POV on location. Roland Emmerich's disaster films and all these Marvel city destructions always look like their locations have been created on sound stages and in CGI, but the Manhatten of Cloverfield looks like the city I know. I love touches like that empty horse drawn Central Park carriage against a keeling high rise.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 31, 2016)

I really enjoyed 10 Cloverfield Lane. I think there's an opportunity to build a franchise out of completely discinnected tales which exist in that post invasion universe which never have to rely on returning characters or continuing a narrative or a time line.


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## Hurin85 (Jul 31, 2016)

Leon !!! what a film


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 31, 2016)

Hurin85 said:


> Leon !!! what a film



Of it's time


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## Reno (Jul 31, 2016)

...when perving on prepubescent girls was still considered acceptable.


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## DotCommunist (Jul 31, 2016)

looking back that was dodge


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## Hurin85 (Jul 31, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> looking back that was dodge


did you ever see the directors commentary on this ... it was hilarious and weird all at the same time.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> looking back that was dodge


Not even looking back


----------



## fishfinger (Jul 31, 2016)

Independence Day: Resurgence

Let's just say that I had very low expectations for this film, and it failed to live up to them.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 31, 2016)

Reno said:


> ...when perving on prepubescent girls was still considered acceptable.



I don't recall it being acceptable even then...


----------



## Reno (Jul 31, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I don't recall it being acceptable even then...


I was being flippant. I remember going to see the film with a friend when it came out and we couldn't believe what a pile of shit and a subtext minefield it was. Now I read all over the internet that apparently it's a classic. It's usually the same people who claim that The Goonies and Shawshank Redemption are cinematic masterpieces.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 31, 2016)

I did enjoy it at the cinema, but never seen it since.

I hate shawshank.

I really disliked Goonies when it came out, but my son got into it as a child and watched it a few times. It's a weak and disjointed bit of fun. He loved it cos it had the indiana jones kid in it. He loved Indiana jones, the princess bride, star wars and stand by me...and the outsiders. At one point, around 10, he wanted nothing more than to be a cross between river pheonix in stand by me and c thomas howell in the outsiders.

He confused his secondary school teachers with his film, literature and music references.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jul 31, 2016)

That's the ER re-watch/first time watch completed. 331 episodes, jeez. I may go outside now...

Overall I liked it a lot - there's crazy variability in quality over the run mind you - but yeah, glad I did this.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 31, 2016)

Reno said:


> subtext minefield



Band name thread >>>>


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Aug 1, 2016)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> That's the ER re-watch/first time watch completed. 331 episodes, jeez. I may go outside now...
> 
> Overall I liked it a lot - there's crazy variability in quality over the run mind you - but yeah, glad I did this.



Started on Homeland. It's quite a bit of a tone-change from ER, to say the least.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 2, 2016)

In the Heart of the Sea.

Too self-consciously attempting to reference a constructed, and entirely mythic 'American' identity (the literary Hawthorne / Melville dualism), and let down by a very bad application (but undoubtedly expensive) of CGI. Some interesting religious (Christian) themes and imagery employed too.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 3, 2016)

Legend.

Good performance by Tom Hardy - the film _is_ Tom Hardy, although Emily Browning provides a suitably supportive role.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 4, 2016)

Finished season 1 of Misfits. The knack of getting the best out of fairly crude and juvenile humour by overdosing it in attitude makes this show work. It's a bit like episodes of the monkees. It's not really about stories and plots....they are just loose frameworks to give these characters a universe to show off a bit.

It's silly, but it's good silly.


----------



## Reno (Aug 4, 2016)

Looking The Movie, which fittingly wrapped up the excellent HBO series about a group of gay friends in San Francisco which got cancelled far too early.

Tallulah, Netflix movie about a young drifter who steals a baby from a rich woman who is clearly unfit to be a mother. There are a few Sundance friendly indie movie tropes, but the film just about works thanks to excellent work from its three lead actresses, Ellen Page, Allison Janney and Tammy Blanchard.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Finished season 1 of Misfits. The knack of getting the best out of fairly crude and juvenile humour by overdosing it in attitude makes this show work. It's a bit like episodes of the monkees. It's not really about stories and plots....they are just loose frameworks to give these characters a universe to show off a bit.
> 
> It's silly, but it's good silly.


nathan is a personal hero. Story does come in later, a rather neat time travel tale that manages to avoid paradox

I watched batman vs superman and it was fucking shit. Decent enough alfred. Batfleck was rubbish. Superman was rubbish. Too long, too dark and even the fights were not so good al


----------



## seventh bullet (Aug 4, 2016)

Sicario on Netflix.  Interesting to start with then became a bit silly, but the later night vision/thermal imaging knife and gun fight in a tunnel was great.  Nice score, but I did have my headphones on.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2016)

tried twice with sicario and not made it past ten mins. Just poor.

I need something good.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 4, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> tried twice with sicario and not made it past ten mins. Just poor.
> 
> I need something good.



A friend of mine had a similar experience, eventually managed to sit through it and found it utterly depressing. I quite liked it!


----------



## seventh bullet (Aug 4, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> tried twice with sicario and not made it past ten mins. Just poor.
> 
> I need something good.



For me it started out as a pretty good thriller.


----------



## starfish (Aug 6, 2016)

Penultimate episode of Bloodline. It has its flaws but i like its leisurely pace.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 6, 2016)

Reno said:


> I'm watching S4 of Orange is the New Black and got two more episodes to go. Far better than S3, but I feel the series would work better if the episodes were be shorter. A Network episode length of 42 minutes would move things along more briskly than the streaming 50 to 60 minutes.


The series of _The Girlfriend Experience_ had it's problems but the decision to go for 30 minute episodes was a very smart one, hopefully some others will take notice that you don't have to hour long eps.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 6, 2016)

Beasts of No Nation.	  A child falls in with a group of rebels led by warlord Stringer Bell. There's a strong lead performance from Abraham Atta. String's accent veers between central Africa and south London.

Good soundtrack, beautifully shot and well worth a watch.

Give it a go DotCommunist


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 6, 2016)

redsquirrel said:


> The series of _The Girlfriend Experience_ had it's problems but the decision to go for 30 minute episodes was a very smart one, hopefully some others will take notice that you don't have to hour long eps.


Yeah, it works really well with Transparent


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 6, 2016)

found Star Trek TNG on netflix so started at season 6, cracked open the weed and made a session of it. Theres a brilliant 2 parter that reminds you what utter fascist bastards the Cardassians are, a thing that can be muted by DS9 sometimes. Proper cunts. Tortured the fuck out of Picard


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 7, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Beasts of No Nation.	  A child falls in with a group of rebels led by warlord Stringer Bell. There's a strong lead performance from Abraham Atta. String's accent veers between central Africa and south London.
> 
> Good soundtrack, beautifully shot and well worth a watch.
> 
> Give it a go DotCommunist


I've seen it. The machete scene where the bloke is begging for his life was raw. Good film, not pleasant tho


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 7, 2016)

The Last Samurai


----------



## Reno (Aug 7, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> The Last Samurai


Liked, didn't like ?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 7, 2016)

I quite like it as a piece of entertainment, Timothy Spall's accent is very amusing and Zimmer's score is very effective too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 7, 2016)

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre 
John Huston directing a fabulously twitchy and sweaty Bogart as a drifter in Mexico and his greed for gold.
Fucking ace. Such great performances and a great story. The ending is fantastic.


----------



## Voley (Aug 7, 2016)

Ted 2. A few giggles. The weed names bit made me lol. Wouldn't mind trying 'Here Comes Autism.'  The sperm bank bit was amusingly gross too.


----------



## butchersapron (Aug 7, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
> John Huston directing a fabulously twitchy and sweaty Bogart as a drifter in Mexico and his greed for gold.
> Fucking ace. Such great performances and a great story. The ending is fantastic.


Written by a violent anarchist insurrectionist of course. Which adds something i feel.


----------



## Reno (Aug 7, 2016)

"Tab Hunter Confidential", about the 50s teen idol and what it was like to be a closeted gay film star in those days. Not bad, but a little on the superficial side. Hunter comes across as very likeable though.

"Kung Fury", which is the greatest thing ever for about fifteen minutes and then runs out of steam even at a length of half an hour. Still worth seeing though.

Watched both on Netflix.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 7, 2016)

Coincidentally Reno  Tab Hunter featured in "I Am Divine!" which we watched last night. Very interesting, amusing, bittersweet and sad


----------



## Reno (Aug 7, 2016)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Coincidentally Reno  Tab Hunter featured in "I Am Divine!" which we watched last night. Very interesting, amusing, bittersweet and sad


I watched that recently as well. Good fun!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Aug 7, 2016)

Reno said:


> I watched that recently as well. Good fun!


I gather both films are by the same director, must look up "Tab Hunter Confidential"


----------



## Reno (Aug 7, 2016)

QueenOfGoths said:


> I gather both films are by the same director, must look up "Tab Hunter Confidential"


Yes, he seems to have cornered the market in documentaries about gay film makers and stars.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 7, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> Written by a violent anarchist insurrectionist of course. Which adds something i feel.


Certainly - there's a good bit with the old prospector outlining very clearly the labour theory of value.
My dad was telling me about B Traven, who sounds like a very interesting fellow. He also wrote a book called Death Ship about stateless refugees.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 8, 2016)

*Blood Ties (2013) - *yet _another _movie set in the early 70s, with a good (cop) brother and a bad (gangster) brother and a lot of lapels and a lot of classic pop and a lot of nasty 1970s hair (on everyone), which can't rescue a clichéd and pretty grubby dabbling in wannabe-_Mean Streets _crime saga. Even a dream cast - including Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Matthias Schoenaerts, and James Caan - can't rescue it. About the only thing to recommend it (kind of) is the unrelieved brutality and plenty of killings of innocent bystanders, so there's no idolising the scumbags.

*The Bastard Executioner *(TV series) - Kurt Sutter tries to do medieval gore and everybody loses. I'm quite partial to medieval gore and to some of Sutter's work so this should have panned out well. Instead it's just painfully relentlessly bad. Leering and exploitative and tacky ; it doesn't look right or sound right (it's supposedly medieval Wales, yet nobody sounds even the teeny tiniest bit Welsh and everything's brightly lit and clean). Has all the aesthetic and the depth of a cheesy self-published Tolkein fanfic. At least no dragons though. But I won't be wasting any more time with it, and given my huge appetite for historical schlock that's a sign of just how bad it is.

*Barry Lyndon (1975) *watching it again I'm less distracted by how much I hate all the characters, and the overall symmetry of the design and shape of the film come through more. Still astonishing-looking and the pacing is just so confident in taking its time and unspooling the story at will. For a Baroque romp, though, I felt it lacked a bit of a spark of essential life - more of the bawdiness and filth of the real 18th century and its literature. A few fart jokes would have livened things up nicely AND they would have been completely period-appropriate


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 8, 2016)

I've got to say, trabuquera , that although I see where you're coming from with regard to _Blood Ties_,  I thought it was much better than you give it credit for. The eventual fates of the characters, I thought, were not what you'd expect from a by-the-numbers clichéd movie. You're right about the grubbiness, especially the killing of the innocent bystanders.


----------



## starfish (Aug 8, 2016)

I watched The Third Man yesterday as it was on the telly. What a great film. A true classic.


----------



## keybored (Aug 8, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> A child falls in with a group of rebels led by warlord Stringer Bell


----------



## Reno (Aug 8, 2016)

I've started to watch Better Call Saul. Two episodes in and while I find it watchable enough, I can't say I'm hooked yet.


----------



## magneze (Aug 9, 2016)

Deadpool: funny
Creed: fighty 
Star Wars, the Force Awakens: fantastic


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> I've started to watch Better Call Saul. Two episodes in and while I find it watchable enough, I can't say I'm hooked yet.



It's a slow starter....I wasn't sure to begin with, and I think I like it more than Breaking Bad now.


----------



## Reno (Aug 9, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It's a slow starter....I wasn't sure to begin with, and I think I like it more than Breaking Bad now.


At this point I can take it or leave it and the only reason why I might keep watching is because I forgot to cancel my Netflix trial which I got to watch Stranger Things.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> At this point I can take it or leave it and the only reason why I might keep watching is because I forgot to cancel my Netflix trial which I got to watch Stranger Things.



Rhea Seehorn gives a stand out performance in season two. It's worth watching just for her.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 9, 2016)

Miss congeniality (2000).  Not even Bill Shatner was gonna save this one.  

Mean Girls (2004).  Teenage girls, bullying, identity crises.  Killed 90minutes with the added advantage that it didn't really matter if little man kicked off and we had to miss a few minutes.

The Trip S1 (2010).  Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon go on a work related eating tour of...somewhere in England.  Kind of gentle and bitter sweet and somehow made me laugh a lot even though I can't really remember at what.

Started season 2 which which sees them doing the same but in Piedmont in Italy.  Not as good for some reason - lacks the needle between the two main characters that was present in the first.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2016)

The Boy said:


> I can't really remember at what.


the michael caine impressions


----------



## Yetman (Aug 9, 2016)

Unsolved - The Boy Who Disappeared (BBC iplayer): I like the short episode length but some of the things the investigators miss is annoying, and it's all a bit pointless in that you know there's never going to be any great closure for the mother. Still good though.

Eye in the Sky: Helen Mirren and Jesse off of Breaking Bad star in a morality movie about drones in Africa. Again, short, but I don't believe there's as much legal dithering as there appears to be when it comes to things like this.... or maybe there is. Highly watchable.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 9, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> the michael caine impressions



"She was only 15..."


----------



## belboid (Aug 9, 2016)

Finished season two of American Horror Story. Slightly disappointing conclusion, but still a gripping, shocking and sometimes hilarious show.


----------



## Reno (Aug 9, 2016)

belboid said:


> Finished season two of American Horror Story. Slightly disappointing conclusion, but still a gripping, shocking and sometimes hilarious show.


It's all downhill from there.


----------



## belboid (Aug 9, 2016)

Don't tell me that! I'm looking forward to Kathy Bates


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 9, 2016)

belboid said:


> Don't tell me that! I'm looking forward to Kathy Bates



I gave up on that nonsense...


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2016)

it had lost it by the Carnval season, which was done much better but unfinished with Carnivale. Imagine I know how to do an accent on the E there.

First 3 seasons are fucking gold tho. Taking pastiche to incredible hieghts


----------



## Reno (Aug 9, 2016)

I thought it became shit by season 3 and I gave up half way through season 4. American Horror Story features great actors, looks fantastic and has the occasional, effective scene but as a piece of serialised story telling its crap. It keeps introducing promising plot lines and characters only to drop them or them not going anywhere interesting. And if in doubt, kill off a character...and then bring them back...and repeat. The second season was by far the best one.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> I thought it became shit by season 3 and I gave up half way through season 4. American Horror Story features great actors, looks fantastic and has the occasional, effective scene but as a piece of serialised story telling its crap. It keeps introducing promising plot lines and characters only to drop them or them not going anywhere interesting. And if in doubt, kill off a character...and then bring them back...and repeat. The second season was by far the best one.



It was certainly one show I really wanted to enjoy more. As you state, great performers and some brilliant scenes etc.....but yeah...it would often fall flat on its fancy arse...


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

The Wolf Of Wall Street

DiCaprio's performance stood out - with a true 'laugh out loud' moment prior to returning home in his car.


----------



## belboid (Aug 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> The Wolf Of Wall Street
> 
> DiCaprio's performance stood out - with a true 'laugh out loud' moment prior to returning home in his car.


It's not laugh out loud. It's witless shit for cunts.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 10, 2016)

belboid said:


> It's not laugh out loud. It's witless shit for cunts.



I think you should say what you mean!


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 10, 2016)

belboid said:


> It's not laugh out loud. It's witless shit for cunts.


I enjoyed it, but it was essentially fake. . . it was basically nudge-nudge wink-wink "wouldn't you love to be him lads".

_The Big Short_, which I watched last night, was the real thing, a proper film by grown-ups for grown-ups, nearly as good as _All the President's Men_, I thought.


----------



## TruXta (Aug 10, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I enjoyed it, but it was essentially fake. . . it was basically nudge-nudge wink-wink "wouldn't you love to be him lads".
> 
> _The Big Short_, which I watched last night, was the real thing, a proper film by grown-ups for grown-ups, nearly as good as _All the President's Men_, I thought.


Far too didactic to work as a film I thought.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 10, 2016)

TruXta said:


> Far too didactic to work as a film I thought.


"Didactic" is the sort of term I'd apply to a Ken Loach film, which the BS definitely wasn't.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 10, 2016)

and what's wrong with that anyway? how does being didactic make a film fail?


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> and what's wrong with that anyway? how does being didactic make a film fail?



It doesn't but sometimes you just want to be entertained rather than improved


----------



## TruXta (Aug 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> and what's wrong with that anyway? how does being didactic make a film fail?


Nothing in principle, but in this case I thought the pace was off and the whole thing a bit clunky.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 10, 2016)

*47 Ronin *(2013) - uneasy mashup of samurai movie, fantasy/folklore and Keanu Reeves vehicle. 

It is of course inherently daft that a film supposedly about the crushing code of samurai duty ends up being made in English, so there's lots of clunky dancing around showing the aristocratic bad guys racially abusing Keanu for being "a halfbreed ... son of a peasant and a sailor" etc before he battles the CGI dragons and fox-lady-demon for them. Then it's off to the woods for some Robin-Hood style insurrection and a mass seppuku at the end.

It looks fine - very nicely shot - (apart from the crap CGI) and chugs along entertainingly enough. But it's very very silly all around and not quite entertaining enough.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 10, 2016)

It was shit.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

belboid said:


> It's not laugh out loud. It's witless shit for cunts.



I can see why the film could be viewed in that way, even found to be offensive. The fact it raises such a reaction speaks of DiCaprio's performance.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

Gravity.

A very pretty film but ultimately lacking any real emotional impact. Disappointing.


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> I can see why the film could be viewed in that way, even found to be offensive. The fact it raises such a reaction speaks of DiCaprio's performance.


I think it speaks to Scorsese's by now tiresome obsession with the excesses of hyper-masculinity.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

Reno said:


> I think it speaks to Scorsese's by now tiresome obsession with excessive hyper-masculinity.



Not a fan then?


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Not a fan then?


Goodfellas was the last film of his I've liked.


----------



## TruXta (Aug 10, 2016)

Casino was good.


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2016)

TruXta said:


> Casino was good.



That was the first Scorsese film I hated. It felt like a tired rerun of Goodfellas, just louder, more sadistic and seemingly never ending.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

I will always be very fond of this film.


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
> 
> I will always be very fond of this film.


I have to watch that once a year. This was for me what Star Wars was for other kids. In the middle of my teenage drama I happily would have gotten on that space ship and get out of here. The special effects sequences were offset against a human dimension which Star Wars lacked. It was just as much of a brilliantly acted drama about a man's mental breakdown and his disintegrating marriage as it was about alien encounters.


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2016)

Sweeney Todd, probably the only good film Tim Burton has made in the last couple of decades and even Depp manages not to be irritating. That's because they had one of the best musicals ever written to work with and Burton doesn't fuck it up. What I like about it is that Burton really went for it and he genuinely turns it into a horror film. The scene where victim after victim drops through the trap door, always on their head, is truly wince inducing and no less so for being set to one of Sondheim's most beautiful tunes.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

Reno said:


> I have to watch that once a year. This was for me what Star Wars was for other kids. In the middle of my teenage drama I happily would have gotten on that space ship and get out of here. The special effects sequences were offset against a human dimension which Star Wars lacked. It was just as much of a brilliantly acted drama about a man's mental breakdown and his disintegrating marriage as it was about alien encounters.



That is one of the striking things in the film, the apparent chasing of an idea, a dream, with the accompanying rejection (or refusal to acknowledge) by wider society and immediate family. What is madness? Outside or inside, a necessary facet of being human? Is being a child the true madness - that of innocence?


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> That is one of the striking things in the film, the apparent chasing of an idea, a dream, with the accompanying rejection (or refusal to acknowledge) by wider society and immediate family. What is madness? Outside or inside, a necessary facet of being human? Is being a child the true madness - that of innocence?



In this case what appears to be madness really does turn out to be aliens communicating. Not quite sure what that has to do with being a child or with innocence though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Gravity.
> 
> A very pretty film but ultimately lacking any real emotional impact. Disappointing.


Was it a bit of a let down?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Was it a bit of a let down?



I didn't have any expectations before seeing it, although I was aware the special effects had received some acclaim. Clooney was (as ever) playing Clooney, and you realise that something is terribly wrong when you don't care if the lead character survives.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> I didn't have any expectations before seeing it, although I was aware the special effects had received some acclaim. Clooney was (as ever) playing Clooney, and you realise that something is terribly wrong when you don't care if the lead character survives.


So did it have an uplifting ending?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> So did it have an uplifting ending?



I don't want to spoil it for you.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 10, 2016)

My pun fu is clearly weak today


----------



## keybored (Aug 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> My pun fu is clearly weak today


Have some sympathy likes.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> My pun fu is clearly weak today



It happens.


----------



## Reno (Aug 10, 2016)

Airport 1975. Still as entertainingly terrible as ever.


----------



## Voley (Aug 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> My pun fu is clearly weak today



Went down like a lead balloon.


----------



## stdP (Aug 11, 2016)

Voley said:


> Went down like a lead balloon.



Certainly brought me down to earth with a bump 

Watched The Taking of Pelham One Two Three last night; came for Robert Shaw, stayed for an unexpectedly great Walter Matthau (and Robert Shaw). Tame by today's standard of thrillers I guess but nicely plotted, paced and superbly acted. And obviously written by a real NY subway geek


----------



## The Boy (Aug 11, 2016)

stdP said:


> Certainly brought me down to earth with a bump
> 
> Watched The Taking of Pelham One Two Three last night; came for Robert Shaw, stayed for an unexpectedly great Walter Matthau (and Robert Shaw). Tame by today's standard of thrillers I guess but nicely plotted, paced and superbly acted. And obviously written by a real NY subway geek



And an awesome theme tune.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 11, 2016)

Convenience (2015).  British straight of video effort about two guys holding up an all-night garage and pretending to work there while they wait for the time-locked safe to open.  One of those films where everyone who walks on screen is that guy/girl from that thing *checks IMDb*.

Kinda meh.


----------



## Reno (Aug 11, 2016)

stdP said:


> Certainly brought me down to earth with a bump
> 
> Watched The Taking of Pelham One Two Three last night; came for Robert Shaw, stayed for an unexpectedly great Walter Matthau (and Robert Shaw). Tame by today's standard of thrillers I guess but nicely plotted, paced and superbly acted. And obviously written by a real NY subway geek


Fantastic film (with one of the all time great endings), however there is never anything unexpected about Walter Matthau's greatness. I recently watched A New Leaf again, one of the great 70s comedies and he is pure genius in it.


----------



## stdP (Aug 11, 2016)

Reno said:


> Fantastic film (with one of the all time great endings), however there is never anything unexpected about Walter Matthau's greatness. I recently watched A New Leaf again, one of the great 70s comedies and he is pure genius in it.



I've clearly seen precious little Matthau, had always attributed him to fluff comedies but I was clearly under a severe misapprehension. Now I'm tasked with the arduousness of continuing my Robert Shaw mini-marathon _and_ sourcing some Walter Matthau! (Should I be putting this in the First-World Problems thread?) A mate of mine expressed much the same sentiment as yourself and has just demanded I take his Charley Varrick DVD off his hands.

Yup, ending was brilliant. Shaw's exit was brilliantly executed (arf), utterly understated and perfectly in character. Matthau coming back through the door in the final frame with that look on his face was worthy of Columbo  Oh yeah, and the soundtrack did indeed kick arse. Damnit US, why can't you have another 1970's cinema


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 11, 2016)

Kumiko.

Beautiful. Simply beautiful and deeply touching.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 11, 2016)

Soul Boys of the Western World


----------



## magneze (Aug 12, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Gravity.
> 
> A very pretty film but ultimately lacking any real emotional impact. Disappointing.


I love that film.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 12, 2016)

Shame.

Interesting.


----------



## Reno (Aug 12, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Shame.
> 
> Interesting.


It's alright, you can admit it was rubbish.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 12, 2016)

Reno said:


> It's alright, you can admit it was rubbish.



Not rubbish (except for the rendition of 'New York, New York') but certainly not great except for fans of Fassbender's penis.


----------



## Reno (Aug 12, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> except for fans of Fassbender's penis.


That was indeed impressive. Otherwise I thought it was a fairly silly film about first world problems.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 12, 2016)

Reno said:


> That was indeed impressive. Otherwise I thought it was a fairly silly film about first world problems.



Any recommendations for something to watch Reno?


----------



## Reno (Aug 12, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Any recommendations for something to watch Reno?


----------



## starfish (Aug 13, 2016)

First 3 episodes of Mr. Robot seeing as its popped up for free on our Virgin thingy. Theres enough to keep me interested, i think its pretty good so far.


----------



## seventh bullet (Aug 13, 2016)

Faults.  A once successful academic expert on cult behaviour and manipulation, now a desperate and penniless has-been, is approached by an elderly couple who need his help in a last-ditch attempt to free their daughter from a religious cult, or so it seems.

Very good even though you can see what's coming. It's also good to see Leland Orser in a leading role.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 13, 2016)

Premium Rush.

Chase movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a Noo Yawk bicycle courier, who tangles with a corrupt cop played by Michael Shannon (TV favourite Van Alden off Boardwalk Empire).

When I rented it (yes, I still rent actual physical DVDs, so fuck you all) I thought it would be a bit meh, but that it would pass the time. As it turned out, I really, really enjoyed it, and I'd recommend it to anyone.


----------



## bi0boy (Aug 15, 2016)

Demolition, was promising, turned out a bit meh in the end.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 16, 2016)

Watched some late season (bearded sisko) DS9 and was suprised at the quality. I remember sisko as quite wooden but re-watching I can see that the actor is doing the character of a tightly controlled man, this shows in his odd, terce cadence while speaking

There was an episode where quark steals a klingon woman that Worf was blatantly ganting on which was both funny and reminded me why I find any episode where Worf has emotional issues hilarious.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 16, 2016)

Slow West.

I fell asleep.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 16, 2016)

Getting on with series 3 of _The Americans _on Amazon. Getting a bit formulaic in the 'new wig, surveillance operation, moral dilemma and near-lethal punchup of the week' way, but still full of wonderful performances and ever-deepening psychological insight into what being deep-cover operatives does to your head. Keri Russell is astonishing.

It's complete hokum, of course - despite being based on a real-life case - and there's absolutely nothing to suggest Soviet spies in the US really worked in quite this way. Understandably, too, the American scriptwriters/producers are a bit at a loss on how to write or treat the real meat of the matter i.e. how the spies, such elite products of the finest indoctrination the KGB had to offer, could live so comprehensively 'normal' American lives and not notice, or not care about, the difference between US and Soviet society. It is just not credible that they never, ever, ever broke character and spoke Russian to each other, or judged the US by Russian mores.


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2016)

High Rise. Nice art direction and soundtrack, not much else. Halfway in the film abandons any sort of narrative or momentum and it doesn't come up with much of value instead. Snowpiercer did the whole dystopian class struggle in a contained space so much more entertainingly. Ben Wheatley's career is becoming increasingly dissappointing. Maybe he should get someone else but his wife to write his screenplays.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2016)

Know what you mean with the comparison with Snowpiercer, but High Rise is kind of supposed to descend into chaos. The book certainly does. There's no way to sustain an institution like that so chaos ensues.


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Know what you mean with the comparison with Snowpiercer, but High Rise is kind of supposed to descend into chaos. The book certainly does. There's no way to sustain an institution like that so chaos ensues.


A film can still maintain a narrative thread while depicting a society which descends into chaos. I simply lost interest half way through, it just becomes a random jumble of orgies and destruction which I didn't find hugely interesting or enlightening. Cronenberg did a better job with Crash which is also thin on narrative but is carried through by its icy atmosphere.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2016)

Funny you should mention Cronenberg because High Rise reminded me of Shivers


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2016)

Loved the music in High Rise as well. More films with Can please


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Funny you should mention Cronenberg because High Rise reminded me of Shivers


Wheatley was clearly aiming for a mix of Kubrick and early Cronenberg. Jeremy Irons even looks like David Cronenberg in this and of course he starred in Cronenberg's Dead Ringers.

Shivers came out the same year High-Rise was published, not sure if it was inspired by the novel, they certainly are quite similar.

Wheatley's films are stylish, but I found both this an A Field in England rather uninvolving and dissappointing.


----------



## stdP (Aug 18, 2016)

_Shivers_ was my first thought of comparison with High Rise when I read the book - wasn't aware they both came out at more or less the same time though. Has anyone ever seen Ballard and Cronenberg at the same place and time?!

I couldn't get a handle on _A Field in England_ either, and _Sightseers_ was fun but kind of went nowhere, but I actually thought _High Rise_ had a stronger narrative than either of those.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 18, 2016)

stdP said:


> _Sightseers_ was fun but kind of went nowhere



I _think _you'll find they _kind of _went all over the Midlands and Northern England


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2016)

stdP said:


> _Shivers_ was my first thought of comparison with High Rise when I read the book - wasn't aware they both came out at more or less the same time though. Has anyone ever seen Ballard and Cronenberg at the same place and time?!
> 
> I couldn't get a handle on _A Field in England_ either, and _Sightseers_ was fun but kind of went nowhere, but I actually thought _High Rise_ had a stronger narrative than either of those.


Kill List is the only film by Ben Wheatley I really liked, one of the best horror films of the last decade.

Ballard and Cronenberg did an interview together when Cronenberg's adaptation of Crash wound up being wildly controversial. I never understood why that film was considered so scandalous, getting banned by Westminster Council among other things. It always struck me as fairly tame even by the standards of its time. Good film though, I actually preferred it to the novel.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> Kill List is the only film by Ben Wheatley I really liked, one of the best horror films of the last decade.



I enjoyed _Down Terrace_ and _Sightseers_, have to catch up with the rest of his work, but _Kill List_ is by far the best of the ones I've seen, some genuine chills


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 19, 2016)

Reno said:


> Kill List is the only film by Ben Wheatley I really liked, one of the best horror films of the last decade.



Kill List is by far his best work, but I am fond of Sightseers. Down Terrace was a good watch, but I have no desire to see it ever again. High Rise I lost after about 30 mins, I just got angry with it. Field in England I've yet to see.


----------



## Reno (Aug 19, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Kill List is by far his best work, but I am fond of Sightseers. Down Terrace was a good watch, but I have no desire to see it ever again. High Rise I lost after about 30 mins, I just got angry with it. Field in England I've yet to see.


A Field in England is narratively even more frustrating than High Rise. This year's The Witch does 17th century folk horror far better than Wheatley's film.

Still chasing that Stranger Things vibe, I rewatched Poltergeist last night. Still great and what makes it work so well is that the family is so likeable, especially the mother played by JoBeth Williams. I always liked that when her kids say there are ghosts in the house, she isn't a sceptic like adults usually are in these films, she believes and trusts them, which makes her ready to fight for them when they are in danger. If you need a mom to snatch you from demons of the great beyond, she's the one. Williams is so great in the film, it's a shame she never had another memorable role. Her character was clearly the main influence on Winona Ryder's, who plays a crazier version (and to be honest, isn't quite as good in that role)


----------



## stdP (Aug 19, 2016)

Reno said:


> Kill List is the only film by Ben Wheatley I really liked, one of the best horror films of the last decade.



Well looks like everynoe's agreed Kill List is a bit of a proper film then  Easily my favourite of Wheatley's too, very british I thought (felt like it was channelling _The Wicker Man_ something chronic)



Reno said:


> Ballard and Cronenberg did an interview together when Cronenberg's adaptation of Crash wound up being wildly controversial. I never understood why that film was considered so scandalous, getting banned by Westminster Council among other things. It always struck me as fairly tame even by the standards of its time. Good film though, I actually preferred it to the novel.



Never understood the furore over Crash either (but was only dimly aware of it as I hadn't really gotten serious/po-faced about cinema when it came out).



Reno said:


> I rewatched Poltergeist last night. Still great



Hack, spit, bleurgh, etcetera! Never understood the appeal of Poltergeist, always seemed clunkily written and completely lacking in anything resembling suspense or internal self-consistency to me. Felt more like a demo reel of "ideas for student horror film" than an actual story to me. C'est la vie. Talking of horros from 1982... must watch The Thing again at some point.

Back on topic - first three episodes of Mr. Robot last night. Mildly impressed at the much-more-realistic-than-usual depiction of Hollywood Hacking (but still quite a few technical howlers) but yet to start caring that much about the characters.


----------



## Reno (Aug 19, 2016)

stdP said:


> Hack, spit, bleurgh, etcetera! Never understood the appeal of Poltergeist, always seemed clunkily written and completely lacking in anything resembling suspense or internal self-consistency to me. Felt more like a demo reel of "ideas for student horror film" than an actual story to me. C'est la vie. Talking of horros from 1982... must watch The Thing again at some point.
> 
> Back on topic - first three episodes of Mr. Robot last night. Mildly impressed at the much-more-realistic-than-usual depiction of Hollywood Hacking (but still quite a few technical howlers) but yet to start caring that much about the characters.



I can understand people not liking Poltergeist, because they generally don't like Spielberg but I disagree that it is badly written. One of the things which I really like about it is that it still has many virtues of films from the 70s, when studio genre films still put some effort into characterisation. You wouldn't get a scene now like the one where the parents smoke pot and lark around because execs would be afraid audiences will get impatient and will want to get to the action. It's a scene which is just there for us to get to know these people and it tells us so much of where they've come from, who they are now and it illustrates the shift from the 70s to the 80s.


----------



## danny la rouge (Aug 19, 2016)

The original Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. 

I plan to watch the Sutherland one on Saturday.


----------



## Reno (Aug 19, 2016)

danny la rouge said:


> The original Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.
> 
> I plan to watch the Sutherland one on Saturday.


Both are great (don't bother with the other two versions).


----------



## danny la rouge (Aug 19, 2016)

Reno said:


> Both are great (don't bother with the other two versions).


There are other versions?

I've loved both of these for many years, and have them on DVD. I saw the 50s version as a kid as part of a sci Fi series on TV, before the Sutherland one came out. I've been hooked on 50s sci Fi ever since.


----------



## Sue (Aug 19, 2016)

danny la rouge said:


> The original Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.
> 
> I plan to watch the Sutherland one on Saturday.



I've a bit of a soft spot for 50s scifi films -- my Dad saw them all when they came out so we'd all watch them when they were on the TV. (Haven't seen the Sutherland one.)


----------



## danny la rouge (Aug 19, 2016)

Sue said:


> (Haven't seen the Sutherland one.)


It's one of the rare cases where a remake is worth seeing. (Scarface, Philadelphia Story, maybe Cape Fear. Can't be many others).


----------



## stdP (Aug 19, 2016)

Reno said:


> You wouldn't get a scene now like the one where the parents smoke pot and lark around because execs would be afraid audiences will get impatient and will want to get to the action.



True (to a degree), but I don't think a bit of risk-taking willing to show people indulging in a bit o' weed and a wee chance at characterisation does much to counter the plot holes, seemingly artificial stupidity and lack of overall cohesion. That's the kind of bad writing that even good direction and production can't save... but I stray offtopic again. Doubtless there's a Hideously Overrated Films thread languishing somewhere in need of a necro-bump 



danny la rouge said:


> I plan to watch the Sutherland one on Saturday.



One of the really thoroughly excellent horror movies of the 70's IMHO. If anything I think it's better than the (awesome) original because its pessimistic themes tie in perfectly with the national mood of the time (something I felt that was muted in the original when a mandatory happy ending was added).


----------



## Sue (Aug 19, 2016)

Dp


----------



## Reno (Aug 19, 2016)

danny la rouge said:


> There are other versions?
> 
> I've loved both of these for many years, and have them on DVD. I saw the 50s version as a kid as part of a sci Fi series on TV, before the Sutherland one came out. I've been hooked on 50s sci Fi ever since.


There is a 90s version by Abel Ferrara called Body Snatchers, which has no semblance to the original plot and feel more like a sequel and there is The Invasion by the director of Downfall, which apparently got ruined by studio interference but looks like it was probably never very good in the first place.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 19, 2016)

'71 - Squaddie on the run from psychos on the mean streets of Belfast. Excellent performance from Jack O' Connell and one of the best "thrillers" I've seen in aeons.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2016)

I watched suasage party. It was completely juvenile seth rogan bollocks but there was som lols

then because apparently life isn't short enough I watched a bb4 docu about Tetris and then a docu about Grand Theft Auto. The game, not the american crime. Tetris one was OK but the V/O was shoehorning in cold war references sooo hard and trying to turn it into a whole clash of cultures east meets west and that shit. The tale was intersting enough, it didn't need all the cold war psuedo bullshit that had all the subtelty and accuracy of that rocky film


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> '71 - Squaddie on the run from psychos on the mean streets of Belfast. Excellent performance from Jack O' Connell and one of the best "thrillers" I've seen in aeons.


loved the bit where you realise he's on the wrong side of the wrong town in the wrong uniform and has no weapon. That's when you go 'fuuuuuuck'


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 19, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> loved the bit where you realise he's on the wrong side of the wrong town in the wrong uniform and has no weapon. That's when you go 'fuuuuuuck'



Indeed and it twists one's perceptions of the notion of "sides" by the end of the film. And it's got Arthur from Peaky Blinders, too!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 21, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> What a brilliant film.  Perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon
> 
> I can' wait till my children are old enough to watch it.  Lots of lessons for life in there


Do you see yourself as the Edward G Robinson character...or the Fred MacMurray one?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 21, 2016)

Star Wars.

Ace!


----------



## felixthecat (Aug 21, 2016)

Jane got a Gun 

I love Joel Edgerton and I love a good western - he was great but film was average. In fact everyone put in decent performances but production had some serious issues. Didn't like the flashbacks - didn't work here.
5/10


----------



## Señor Sol (Aug 21, 2016)

I watched Terry Nations' the Survivors, the first series, 70's distopia, when beige goes grey.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 21, 2016)

*Black Souls - *superior, bleak, unshowy, uncliched Italian movie about a family of Calabrian gangsters and the inevitable doom their business brings with it. It's low-key and arty (but not pretentious), takes its time to make you care about the characters even if you don't like them, and glamorises nothing. Some terrific local colour in the locations, dialect and music too. Also a great assortment of faces, all very plausible as made men. Interesting because it's pretty relentlessly dour and serious, not a drop of hero-worship about it, in contrast to many better-known mafia flicks.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 21, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Do you see yourself as the Edward G Robinson character...or the Fred MacMurray one?




 Barbara Stanwyck, of course


----------



## stdP (Aug 22, 2016)

A mate brought over the blu-ray of the BFI restore of 1995's Richard III. Given that it's been out of print for years (the few DVDs of it that were made were going for stupid money second-hand) and the only copy I had of it was a xvid encode I did from a VHS copy taped from the telly, this was sorely appreciated and the film looks _absolutely stunning_.

Production design and the filming locations in this film deserves a thread all to itself really. Londoners will enjoy spotting a pre-Tate Bankside power station, the empty gasometer at Battersea, the awesome staircase inside St. Pancras. The "British Reich" costumes are chillingly gorgeous.


----------



## ringo (Aug 22, 2016)

Zoolander 2 - As silly as I hoped.

The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale
While the Kingdom of Korea is under occupation by the Japanese, an old and experienced hunter is challenged by the hunt of the last tiger. 
Excellent film, couple of silly tiger puppet moments but the story and cinematography really well done.


----------



## oneflewover (Aug 22, 2016)

Flash Gordon,
Camp, glorious tosh. Love it


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 22, 2016)

oneflewover said:


> Flash Gordon,
> Camp, glorious tosh. Love it


The 30s serial or the 1980 cinema blockbuster?


----------



## oneflewover (Aug 22, 2016)

Idris2002 1980s Blockbuster with the ace soundtrack


----------



## The Boy (Aug 22, 2016)

Finished Stranger Things, started Spotless.


----------



## magneze (Aug 22, 2016)

The Boy said:


> Finished Stranger Things, started Spotless.


Similar. Stranger Things was excellent. Coming to the end of Spotless now. It's improves as it goes on.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 23, 2016)

Best Of Enemies.

Fascinating stuff.


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2016)

Dheepan, the latest by Jacques Audiard, still best known here for the prison film A Prophet. The man is incapable of making a film which isn't great. Audiard's style is a mixture of social realism and genre elements and they often go off into these dreamlike tangents. Dheepan is about a "family" of Sri Lankan immigrants who get housed on a grubby, French council estate where they end up in the firing line of gang warfare, which isn't much better than what they escaped from. For the most part a low key character study which treats its immigrant protagonists as fully rounded human beings rather than as an issue to be dealt with, this goes all Death Wish by the end. Some critics didn't like that shift in tone, but I thought it worked a treat especially as the action finale is shot in a really unusual way.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> Dheepan, the latest by Jacques Audiard, still best known here for the prison film A Prophet. The man is incapable of making a film which isn't great. Audiard's style is a mixture of social realism and genre elements and they often go off into these dreamlike tangents. Dheepan is about a "family" of Sri Lankan immigrants who get housed on a grubby, French council estate where they end up in the firing line of a gang war, which isn't much better than what they escaped from. For the most part a low key character study which treats its immigrant protagonists as fully rounded human beings rather than as an issue to content with, this goes all Death Wish by the end. Some critics didn't like that shift in tone, but I thought it worked a treat especially as the action finale is shot in a really unusual way.




The ending did come out of nowhere, but as you say, shot in a manner which made it really quite intriguing and tense without seeing much of anything, but knowing it wasn't pretty....

It reminded me of the corridor scene in Oldboy, but shot at ankle to knee level.


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The ending did come out of nowhere, but as you say, shot in a manner which made it really quite intriguing and tense without seeing much of anything, but knowing it wasn't pretty....
> 
> It reminded me of the corridor scene in Oldboy, but shot at ankle to knee level.


I watched an interview with the director and co-screenwriter in one of the extras and they said that the beginning of the idea for Dheepan was that they wanted to make a variation on Straw Dogs (outsider moves into a hostile community, violence erupts, vengeance follows), so the end was what came first. 



Spoiler



When I read about the ending in reviews I was worried that there would be something exploitative, like the rape of the 'wife' or the 'daughter' getting murdered as you often get with revenge films, so I was relieved it didn't go there, considering the tone of the rest of the film. And the end doesn't quite come out of nowhere considering it's set up from the start that the lead character was a Tamil Tiger with the potential for violence. When he finally snaps he is the trained soldier, while the gang members are amateurs who stand no chance. It just seems unusual in a film which is a subtle, social realist drama for most of its running time.



The one criticism Audiard's films sometimes get is that despite the social realist elements, at heart they always are genre films, but Audiard isn't the Dardenne brothers and clearly loves genre. His last films, Rust & Bone may have dealt with disability but it was unashamedly a Douglas Sirk-style melodrama, which some critics found OTT.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 23, 2016)

Desire.

Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, 1936.

Cooper is an American innocent abroad in Europe, who tangles with Dietrich's character, an international jewel thief posing as an exiled Russian aristocrat (the mcguffin is a string of stolen pearls).

Sedately paced, but keeps the interest throughout (I didn't look at my watch once).


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> The one criticism Audiard's films sometimes get is that despite the social realist elements, at heart they always are genre films, but Audiard isn't the Dardenne brothers and clearly loves genre. His last films, Rust & Bone may have dealt with disability but it was unashamedly a Douglas Sirk-style melodrama, which some critics found OTT.



I've yet to see Rust and Bone. Hadn't realised it was by Audiard.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 23, 2016)

Up to Season 1, episode 8 of Mr Robot.

I have next to no idea what's going on, but it's fascinating, funny and horrific at the same time.


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I've yet to see Rust and Bone. Hadn't realised it was by Audiard.


It's more in line with Read My Lips, both are romances which centre on disabled female protagonists. Read My Lips is the stronger film tough, genre wise it's what would be considered a Hitchcock-style romantic thriller. It's my favourite film of his. All of his films are worth seeing, he has not made a bad film yet.


----------



## Chz (Aug 23, 2016)

The Lobster. Which is nowhere near as bizarre a film as its premise is. Quite enjoyable.
I was worried it was going to be artsy cinema wank based on the description, but it was quite grounded.


----------



## flypanam (Aug 23, 2016)

The Detour

Father loses his job, has a grudge, needs to get to Florida. Coaxes family into a road trip. Hilarity ensues.

Pretty funny.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 24, 2016)

Mad Max - Original un-dubbed version. Haven't seen it in over 30 years. So very different to the latest incarnation. I suppose you could call it "Mad Max Begins"...

47 Ronin - Silly CGI fest and very loosely inspired by the actual true story.

Follow the Money - nearly finished this Danish thriller, set in the murky world of big business.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2016)

The original Australian version of Mad Max has long be the default and the US dub is now a mere curiosity which you would have to make an effort to get hold of.

The first film is quite different from the sequels, more of a Death Wish style revenge film with cars than a post-apocalyptic sci-fi flick.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 24, 2016)

Always felt to me that Mad Max was more edge of civilisation than post apocalypse.....whereas Road Warrior is very much post apocalypse....and that something catastrophic happened between the two films that Max managed to survive.

I'd quite like to see Gibson do another....perhaps two maxs in one film...walking towards each other from opposite ends of the outback and set upon by whatever foe is plaguing the space at the time....and they never tell each other their name....it just two blokes thrown into turmoil....on a wild ride...the same...but different...


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 24, 2016)

the holocaust was clearly nuclear ennit? And pretty comprehensive an exhange too, we aren't talking a tactical nuke but a full on mass exange


I rewatched the last two eps of Stranger Things and it still had me on the edge of my seat.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 24, 2016)

Once Upon A Time In America.

A beguiling and beautiful film, with fantastic performances from all involved. The soundtrack is equally stunning.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 24, 2016)

also I thought I'd seen it but clearly hadn't cos I watched 'Went the Day Well' as I've heard good things. The tonal shift halfway through is dark as fuck. Cos the build up was soo gentle and slow then theres people getting bayonetted all over the shop and a particularly moving bit where a woman saves a roomful of kids from a grenade by grabbing it and jumping into a cupoard and slamming the door, boom. It was good though, ropey german accents aside. I let that off anyway cos I thought that this stealth brigade would be so thouroughly drilled in english they'd have little accent left. They made a point out of how the radio operater couldn't do an english accent. Well worth anyones time.


----------



## belboid (Aug 24, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> also I thought I'd seen it but clearly hadn't cos I watched 'Went the Day Well' as I've heard good things. The tonal shift halfway through is dark as fuck. Cos the build up was soo gentle and slow then theres people getting bayonetted all over the shop and a particularly moving bit where a woman saves a roomful of kids from a grenade by grabbing it and jumping into a cupoard and slamming the door, boom. It was good though, ropey german accents aside. I let that off anyway cos I thought that this stealth brigade would be so thouroughly drilled in english they'd have little accent left. They made a point out of how the radio operater couldn't do an english accent. Well worth anyones time.


gotta love a gun toting Thora Hird


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 24, 2016)

Just seen The National Health, a film directed by Jack Gold and scripted by Peter Nichols based upon his play.

It was so good. I expected the political satire and a criricism of health care etc, but hadn't bargained on the commentary on racism, peadophilia and homophobia....all while managing to keep the laughs flowing and the satire biting.

It was funny, sad and questioning in equals measures and the writing, acting and directing were all outstanding.

A great piece of work.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 25, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Just seen The National Health, a film directed by Jack Gold and scripted by Peter Nichols based upon his play.
> 
> It was so good. I expected the political satire and a criricism of health care etc, but hadn't bargained on the commentary on racism, peadophilia and homophobia....all while managing to keep the laughs flowing and the satire biting.
> 
> ...


Right, that's going on the list


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 25, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Loved the music in High Rise as well. More films with Can please


And the Fall to close out with


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 25, 2016)

danny la rouge said:


> It's one of the rare cases where a remake is worth seeing. (Scarface, Philadelphia Story, maybe Cape Fear. Can't be many others).


I prefer _Late Autumn_ to _Late Spring_, and while there not a patch on _Rio Bravo_ (aren't many that are, of course), _El Dorado_ and _Rio Lobo_ are both enjoyable enough.

_Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach_, enjoyable enough 90 mins without being anything groundbreaking. The stuff about _Perdition_ was quite interesting, and I was slightly disappointed that the Save the Children film wasn't mentioned.


----------



## magneze (Aug 25, 2016)

Finished Spotless. Excellent series. Well worth the time.


----------



## Reno (Aug 25, 2016)

I watched the pilot of The Get Down. Like all of Baz Lurman it looks and sounds dazzling, but dramatically it's a bag of tired cliches. I'll stick with it because I read it improves once Lurman takes a more hands-off approach.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 26, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Once Upon A Time In America.
> 
> A beguiling and beautiful film, with fantastic performances from all involved. The soundtrack is equally stunning.



Apparetnly there was a truncated version released stateside, which had everything in chronological order.

Which sounds like butchery to me, as the whole thing is about time, memory, perception and the tricks the passage of time plays on one's memory.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 26, 2016)

I never could work out the ambiguity of that ending. ^^^


I watched most of Astonishing X-men. Written by Jos Whedon of Buffy fame, some of the star wars references in the dialouge were a little forced. Odd animation style, lots of stills with only the mouth moving like it was ripped from the original art and given a rudimentary life plus vocals. Didn't mind though, it looked as good as was, 7/10

loses ponts for there being no xavier, no magneto and some cunts genocided genosha


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 26, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I never could work out the ambiguity of that ending. ^^^
> 
> 
> I watched most of Astonishing X-men. Written by Jos Whedon of Buffy fame, some of the star wars references in the dialouge were a little forced. Odd animation style, lots of stills with only the mouth moving like it was ripped from the original art and given a rudimentary life plus vocals. Didn't mind though, it looked as good as was, 7/10
> ...



Not being the smartest tool in the box, it did take me several viewings to work out the ending. And what actually happened! But the more I think about it, the more I think it's one of the best endings in film, ever.

Haven't seen the X Men animation but I do recall Genosha was genocided in Grant Morrison's run on the title.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 26, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Apparetnly there was a truncated version released stateside, which had everything in chronological order.
> 
> Which sounds like butchery to me, as the whole thing is about time, memory, perception and the tricks the passage of time plays on one's memory.



This sounds right - I believe there was an edited version for the US market (139 minutes) and a longer European version (229 minutes) with a further version shown at Cannes in 2012 (255 minutes) - I'm not sure if this is available yet.


----------



## Reno (Aug 26, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> This sounds right - I believe there was an edited version for the US market (139 minutes) and a longer European version (229 minutes) with a further version shown at Cannes in 2012 (255 minutes) - I'm not sure if this is available yet.


The 2012 Cannes restauration is out on DVD/Blu-ray. I was intrigued to see it because it fills in some characters who get a short shrift even in the 229 minute version, especially Eve, Noodle's second girlfriend who gets shot at the start of the film. It's interesting but I also thought it dragged a little and they tampered with the colour grading, giving the whole film a nostalgic golden hue, which I wished they hadn't done.

There are rumours that a restoration is underway which restores the film to something like five or six hours, which was Leone's original intention. I'm good with the original international cut though.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> The 2012 Cannes restauration is out in DVD/Blu-ray. I was intrigued to see it because it fills in some characters who get a short shrift even in the 229 minute version, especially Eve, Noodle's second girlfriend who gets shot at the start of the film. It's interesting but I also thought it dragged a little and they tampered with the colour grading, giving the whole film a nostalgic golden hue, which I wished they hadn't done.
> 
> There are rumours that a restoration is underway which resores the film to something like five or six hours, which was Leone's original intention. I'm good with the original international cut though.



Is that the one involving Scorcese?


----------



## Reno (Aug 26, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Is that the one involving Scorcese?


I've lost track of the many restaurations and versions of this film, maybe that's the one he is involved with.


----------



## Reno (Aug 27, 2016)

Up to episode 4 of The Get Down and really enjoying it now.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Aug 27, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> also I thought I'd seen it but clearly hadn't cos I watched 'Went the Day Well' as I've heard good things. The tonal shift halfway through is dark as fuck. Cos the build up was soo gentle and slow then theres people getting bayonetted all over the shop and a particularly moving bit where a woman saves a roomful of kids from a grenade by grabbing it and jumping into a cupoard and slamming the door, boom. It was good though, ropey german accents aside. I let that off anyway cos I thought that this stealth brigade would be so thouroughly drilled in english they'd have little accent left. They made a point out of how the radio operater couldn't do an english accent. Well worth anyones time.



I've got the box set of Ealing comedies but have never watched this one - will give it a go tonight.

ETA - when Thora Hird goes bad.


----------



## inva (Aug 27, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> also I thought I'd seen it but clearly hadn't cos I watched 'Went the Day Well' as I've heard good things. The tonal shift halfway through is dark as fuck. Cos the build up was soo gentle and slow then theres people getting bayonetted all over the shop and a particularly moving bit where a woman saves a roomful of kids from a grenade by grabbing it and jumping into a cupoard and slamming the door, boom. It was good though, ropey german accents aside. I let that off anyway cos I thought that this stealth brigade would be so thouroughly drilled in english they'd have little accent left. They made a point out of how the radio operater couldn't do an english accent. Well worth anyones time.


I've seen another great film by Alberto Cavalcanti who directed that called They Made Me a Fugitive. It's a bit different to Went the Day Well, it's more of a gangster/noir style set after WW2. Trevor Howard's in it. It's a really good film I thought, you'd probably like it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 27, 2016)

inva said:


> I've seen another great film by Alberto Cavalcanti who directed that called They Made Me a Fugitive. It's a bit different to Went the Day Well, it's more of a gangster/noir style set after WW2. Trevor Howard's in it. It's a really good film I thought, you'd probably like it.


cheers, I'll seek a d/l. I quite like a bit of noirish


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Aug 27, 2016)

Just watched Passport to Pimlico, and next is Whisky Galore.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 28, 2016)

Reno said:


> Up to episode 4 of The Get Down and really enjoying it now.


 Is it worth watching? I saw the reviews were a bit harsh.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

Dog Day Afternoon.

Sidney Lumet 1975.

I love these old 70s movies about losers and loserdom. This one was based on a true story, a bank robbery gone wrong that turned into a hostage situation. The perpetrator in this one was a fellow who looked very  like Al Pacino, and guess who they cast to play him in the movie? That's right, Mrs. Pacino's boy.

The tension was built _and sustained _very effectively, even if at times it was more like a filmed play than a movie. Also very sparing use of music. I don't think I'm giving anything away if I say that crime didn't pay in this one either.

My only problem with films of this sort is that they probably did help Reagan win in '80, though maybe the Great Middle American Backlash would have happened anyway.

I also watched a late Monty Python episode I'd never seen. Still funny after four decades.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Is it worth watching? I saw the reviews were a bit harsh.


It seems to be divisive, but overall it got more positive review than bad ones. Many reviewers only saw the pilot and the pilot doesn't really work. As it settles into a grove it becomes much better and I now think it has the potential to be great. It's one of he most expensive TV series ever made and it certainly looks and sounds lush.

Due to budged overruns and production problems Netflx has only released the first six episodes so far, with the rest to follow next year.


----------



## inva (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> My only problem with films of this sort is that they probably did help Reagan win in '80, though maybe the Great Middle American Backlash would have happened anyway.


what does that mean?


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

inva said:


> what does that mean?


The character Pacino plays was (and apparently this is true to the original real-life case) hoping to steal enough money to pay for his gay lover's sex-change operation. The average suburban gobshite would, I'm surmising, have watched this and starting hoping for "a rain to come and clean the scum off the streets", to quote Travis Bickle. And that's how -again, I'm surmising - Reagan was helped sweep to power in 1980.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Dog Day Afternoon.
> 
> Sidney Lumet 1975.
> 
> ...


I doubt most of Middle America went to see films like Dog Day Afternoon, so I don't think it had much influence on politics.

There was a good documentary about the real case a couple of years ago: The Dog (2013) - IMDb


----------



## inva (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> The character Pacino plays was (and apparently this is true to the original real-life case) hoping to steal enough money to pay for his gay lover's sex-change operation. The average suburban gobshite would, I'm surmising, have watched this and starting hoping for "a rain to come and clean the scum off the streets", to quote Travis Bickle. And that's how -again, I'm surmising - Reagan was helped sweep to power in 1980.


he's a very sympathetic character though isn't he? I'd find it a bit surprising if it had that sort of effect, not that I know anything about it or Reagan.

it is a great film though, I watched it earlier in the year.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> The character Pacino plays was (and apparently this is true to the original real-life case) hoping to steal enough money to pay for his gay lover's sex-change operation. The average suburban gobshite would, I'm surmising, have watched this and starting hoping for "a rain to come and clean the scum off the streets", to quote Travis Bickle. And that's how -again, I'm surmising - Reagan was helped sweep to power in 1980.



And an attempt was made on his life by a real life Travis Bickle. Ironic?


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> And an attempt was made on his life by a real life Travis Bickle. Ironic?


"Thus, the cosmic ballet continues."


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

inva said:


> he's a very sympathetic character though isn't he? I'd find it a bit surprising if it had that sort of effect, not that I know anything about it or Reagan.
> 
> it is a great film though, I watched it earlier in the year.


His character is sympathetic, but he's also clearly the sort of bad guy who thinks he's a good guy. And the average suburban or blue-collar schmo isn't going to be converted to the LGBTQ cause by a Hollywood movie, even less so in the 70s than today.


----------



## inva (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> His character is sympathetic, but he's also clearly the sort of bad guy who thinks he's a good guy. And the average suburban or blue-collar schmo isn't going to be converted to the LGBTQ cause by a Hollywood movie, even less so in the 70s than today.


well sure but I can't really see it causing them to go in the opposite direction either... do films really ever have that kind of effect?


----------



## danny la rouge (Aug 28, 2016)

A Town Called Panic.

Fabulous dialogue.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> His character is sympathetic, but he's also clearly the sort of bad guy who thinks he's a good guy. And the average suburban or blue-collar schmo isn't going to be converted to the LGBTQ cause by a Hollywood movie, even less so in the 70s than today.


The culture of the day was mostly very homophobic, Dog Day Afternoon was at least unusual in its matter of fact, non-judgemental representation of its main character's sexuality, but it's neither positive nor negative. If you were homophobic you could claim that the film reinforced how LGBTQ people were morally flawed as the lead character is a criminal. 

Considered how all-pervasive homophobia was and how there was a lack of positive representations of LGBTQ people, I don't think this film had much influence on way or another.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 28, 2016)

Pacino was also in Cruising, which I think kicked up quite a fuss on its release:
Cruising (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I have not seen it, but I like this Skatt Bros fan vid :


mmmm poppers....


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

Reno said:


> The culture of the day was mostly very homophobic, Dog Day Afternoon was at least unusual in its matter of fact, non-judgemental representation of its main character's sexuality, but it's neither positive nor negative. If you were homophobic you could claim that the film reinforced how LGBTQ people were morally flawed as the lead character is a criminal.



That's what I was trying to say. 



Reno said:


> Considered how all-pervasive homophobia was and how there was a lack of positive representations of LGBTQ people, I don't think this film had much influence on way or another.



I wouldn't say it had much influence one way or the other, but it would have been part of a steady "drip, drip" of media product that challenged White AmeriKKKa's view of itself - challenged that view in ways that helped inspire and sustain the backlash that started rolling with Nixon in 1968.

Though it was interesting that Pacino's character was apparently a Goldwaterite in 1964.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Pacino was also in Cruising, which I think kicked up quite a fuss on its release:
> Cruising (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> I have not seen it, but I like this Skatt Bros fan vid :
> 
> ...



The NYC gay community really kicked off when that was being shot, it was the last straw when it comes to negative representations. It's a fairly confused film in what it wants to say and objectionable in the way it suggests that kinky sex will turn you into a serial killer, but now it's also a fascinating document of the pre-AIDS hedonism of its day. It's hard to believe that a Hollywood studio actually bankrolled a film like this and it's a curiosity worth a watch.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

What was the first movie to have a sympathetic depiction of gay people?

One of the characters in _The League of Gentlemen _happens to be gay, for example, and that's from about 1960.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> What was the first movie to have a sympathetic depiction of gay people?
> 
> One of the characters in _The League of Gentlemen _happens to be gay, for example, and that's from about 1960.



From 1919, curtesy of the Weimar Republic:

Different from the Others - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There were a few other sympathetic gay characters in German films till the early 30s.

After that there were characters who were coded as gay in British and Hollywood films, but never explicitly so and only those in the know would catch on to it. Not till the 60s when censorship became more relaxed, were there explicitly gay characters, so you may well be right. The most famous British film was Victim from 1961 with Dirk Bogarde, which is thought to have helped changing social attitudes and the law in decriminalising homosexuality.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

Reno said:


> From 1919, curtesy of the Weimar Republic:
> 
> Different from the Others - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


That crazy Weimar republic!


----------



## inva (Aug 28, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> What was the first movie to have a sympathetic depiction of gay people?
> 
> One of the characters in _The League of Gentlemen _happens to be gay, for example, and that's from about 1960.


there was A Taste of Honey from around the same year too, where it is more of a major theme


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 28, 2016)

inva said:


> there was A Taste of Honey from around the same year too, where it is more of a major theme


That crazy Shelagh Delaney!


----------



## The Boy (Aug 28, 2016)

Am halfway through Spotless. Still not entirely sold on it for a number of reasons, but it's doing enough to keep us going for now.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 28, 2016)

Brooklyn - Saoirse Ronan puts a tremendous performance in the film of Colm Toibin's novel. Brilliant.

Mr Robot - Ep 1. Ok, I'm hooked. So far it's like Person of Interest meets The Matrix meets Fight Club.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 28, 2016)

The Man In The White Suit - I seem to have overlooked this film - Guinness at his best, and that's saying something considering the other Ealing comedies he's appeared in. Brilliant stuff.


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2016)

Sing Street about a group of Dublin teenagers who start a band in the early 80s. Quite sweet, but not as great as the reviews claim. It's nothing new and the band is just a little too good to be believable. I'm also reaching 80s nostalgia overkill. Passes the time well enough but The Commitments did this better.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 29, 2016)

Her - Spike Jonze tale about a man who falls for his AI.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 30, 2016)

*The Admiral (aka Roaring Currents) - *2014 - via Amazon Prime Video. The most-watched film EVER in S Korea. Passionately jingoistic tubthumping historical epic (sort of) about a famous naval battle of 1597 when they repelled the attacking Japanese fleet and saved the future. Choi Min Sik out of Oldboy does a lot of frowning. Everyone does lots of gruff manly shouting. There's a lot of stuff about sea-battle tactics, weaponry, noble self-sacrifice etc etc etc. Basically it is _Elizabeth: the Golden Age_  or _We Dive At Dawn_  but in Korean. No real human/emotional/dramatic soppy stuff, but that is OK because it's reasonably stylish (lots of shock zooms and post-_Saving Private Ryan _slomo and post-explosion deafness) and well paced. Did I mention it was insanely nationalistic and patriotic? Because it is.

Also full of obsessively-detailed costuming and really rather well-done CGI. Special commendation to Ryu Seung-ryong rocking an exceptionally strong look as Japanese naval commander known as "King of the Pirates":


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 30, 2016)

All of 'Wolverine and the X men'. Seriously these cartoons are better than the films. Its not just cos its cynically got their most rated character in the title, theres all sorts. Destruction of genosha, phoenix, all sorts.  Made me want to dig out some old boxes...


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 31, 2016)

Blazing Saddles - it's very crude and pretty offensive - it certainly wouldn't get made today - but it remains one of the funniest films of all time. I love the mediaeval hangman.
 Young Frankenstein is even funnier though, so will watch that next week


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2016)

David Attenborough's Wild City. 3 part look at the wild life in and around Singapore. Fascinating.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 31, 2016)

An episode of DS9 where sisko is a comic book writer in what looked like 30s america. Lots of other characters were also in his hallucination? Prophet led intervention? lots of comments on race and so forth. Really strange alt. episode. Not holodeck either, those are axiomaticaly shite


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> An episode of DS9 where sisko is a comic book writer in what looked like 30s america. Lots of other characters were also in his hallucination? Prophet led intervention? lots of comments on race and so forth. Really strange alt. episode. Not holodeck either, those are axiomaticaly shite



Hate the holodeck eps but that one was agreeable.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2016)

Although STTNG had the ep where Moriarty came to life, which was one of the better ones


----------



## belboid (Aug 31, 2016)

Eye in the Sky

A terrible script and somewhat underwhelming performances from the leads (Alan Rickman's final performance) make this a rather tepid affair. Some interesting aspects, as one person after the other passes the buck on making a kill decision. Nicely shot, and Barkhad Abdi is good, even tho they quite often subtitled him _when he was speaking English. _


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 31, 2016)

Watch a couple of eps of The Get Down. Really enjoying it. It's a bit of fun really innit....


----------



## Yetman (Aug 31, 2016)

The Conjouring 2 - this is the Enfield Haunting from the American angle, with the mother out of Bates Motel as the lead. Pretty good. Not that scary or owt but worth a watch.

Started season 1 of Elementary - Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Lui play Holmes and Watson in New York. Not as polished as the UK 3-parters with Bengledink Humbersnatch but good easy watching telly, and there's absolutely loads of them.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2016)

Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior. Can't believe I've never watched it before. Was one of my late Uncle's faves, so I feel like I knew it well. 

Guns for San Sebastian - Spaghetti western starring Anthony Quinn and Charles Bronson with another excellent Moriccone score.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 31, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Hate the holodeck eps but that one was agreeable.


They did one in 40s film noir style, and with Beverly Crusher in a figure hugging femme fatale outfit. That one was agreeable, also.


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 31, 2016)

Cell - John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson caught up in a mobile phone zombie plague. It's probably just a sly dig at pokemon go really. Predictable and bland. Cusack and Jackson must be pretty hard up 

Bastille Day - Idris Elba and Richard "King of the North" Madden playing Americans in Paris, with terrorists and bombs as a background - passable as a TV movie.


----------



## red & green (Aug 31, 2016)

Bridge of spies - confirmed my dislike for S Spielberg film making


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2016)

red & green said:


> Bridge of spies - confirmed my dislike for S Spielberg film making



All his films?


----------



## red & green (Aug 31, 2016)

Yep


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2016)

red & green said:


> Yep



Harsh.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 31, 2016)

Finished spotless.  Pretty meh overall tbh.  Full of plot holes and characters doing things that didn't make sense, but the denouement in particular was weak.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> Cell - John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson caught up in a mobile phone zombie plague. It's probably just a sly dig at pokemon go really. Predictable and bland. Cusack and Jackson must be pretty hard up


I doubt either are hard up, esp Jackson. They're just greedy. 
Pokemon Go was released after the book was written and I would imagine the film was in production before it was released too,  but certainly it's a critique of handheld technology. I'm surprised there haven't been more of this type of horror.  It's a rich seam, surely?


----------



## fishfinger (Sep 1, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I doubt either are hard up, esp Jackson. They're just greedy.
> Pokemon Go was released after the book was written and I would imagine the film was in production before it was released too,  but certainly it's a critique of handheld technology. I'm surprised there haven't been more of this type of horror.  It's a rich seam, surely?


I hadn't even realised that it was based on a Stephen King story  It was such a piss-poor zombie film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2016)

Deep Space 9: In The Pale Mooonlight

best dominion war episode yet. Sisko calmly details how he is a utalitarian monster as he drags an entire species into the war via underhand means. He is only one-upped on his slyness and false flaggery by the cardassian tailor. Good episode, strong.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Sep 2, 2016)

Gone Girl.

Pike's performance is something, and there is something oddly attractive about her character.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 2, 2016)

A Time to Kill - Joel Schumacher does a Grisham. Excellent cast but kind of mediocre result. Trying to be 12 Angry Men/To Kill a Mockingbird/Mississipi Burning but ending up somewhat melodramatic.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 2, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> A Time to Kill - Joel Schumacher does a Grisham. Excellent cast but kind of mediocre result. Trying to be 12 Angry Men/To Kill a Mockingbird/Mississipi Burning but ending up somewhat melodramatic.


A bit celebratory of vigilantism and rather racist too


----------



## starfish (Sep 2, 2016)

We watched Absolutely Anything, Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, voices of Robin Williams & Pythons, at the weekend. Hoped it would be hilariously funny, a film to remember. Turned out to be a typically shite Brit rom-com with embarrassing performances from all including the voices. ms starfish didnt speak to me for a few hours after because she was so appalled by its utter shiteness & the fact i chose it.


----------



## belboid (Sep 3, 2016)

Sing Street - a cross between the Commitments & We Are the Best - without the pathos of the former or the spirit and energy of the latter. Therw are more plotholes than tunes and we both managed to predict almost the entire plot three minutes in, but it's charmingly done. The first and fantasy videos are hilarious and one of the kids (all of whom are great) can pull of a pink jacket surprisingly well.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 3, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> A bit celebratory of vigilantism and rather racist too



Yeah, there was that


----------



## T & P (Sep 4, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> Cell - John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson caught up in a mobile phone zombie plague. It's probably just a sly dig at pokemon go really. Predictable and bland. Cusack and Jackson must be pretty hard up
> .


 The book was good though. One of Stephen King's best works of recent times. So I wouldn't necessarily blame Cusack and Jackson for having a punt at it. But King's film adaptations are always a gamble, and as well as memorable ones you also get stinkers.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 4, 2016)

Mud - Wonderful effort from a few years back. Set on the river in Arkansas, two boys find Matthew McConaughey hiding out on an island.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Sep 5, 2016)

American Psycho

I didn't like the book, and I really didn't enjoy the film. The ambiguity of narrative in the book was unsettling - the film just doesn't appear to have anything to offer except a mild confusion at the end.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 6, 2016)

A couple of log haul flights allowed me to catch up on the things that Mrs Shoes wouldn't be interested in watching

*Deadpool* - Boring superhero stuff.  It thinks it's clever than it is
*Brothers Grimsby* - I laughed so much I had to stop the film.  Like all Sacha Baron Cohen films, if you can ignore the  chorus of disapproval, there's some real humour there.  It's the funniest film I've seen this year 
*10 Cloverfield Lane*  - John Goodman is excellent at being menacing while trying to be avuncular .  The film was OK but I felt let down at the end
*Deep Web*  Alex Winter documentary about the arrest of the person running the Silk Road .  Really good. There are loose threads at the end  but these aren't down to the filmmaker but the way the court case was controlled by the US Government
*The man who knew infinity *Decent mathematical biopic
*
*


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 6, 2016)

The last few eps of the final season of Parks & Recreation. A disappointing season, due to the absence of some characters and the heavily laid on sentimentality. But will genuinely miss the gang. Especially Ron.

Watchman - an everyday tale of CCTV surveillance, a bit of vigilantism and the wonderful Stephen Graham. He's the best thing about it. Oh and the ending, which is a nod to a famous British crime classic.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 6, 2016)

6 Bullets

Jean Claud Van Damme won't let me down, thinks I. And indeed in the first bit theres an excellent fight scene. But the repeated use of child rape and abduction as the driver for what is a knockabout action flick got too gratitous. Charred kids bodies and everything, cheap. Sacked it off after half hour. Avoid.


----------



## belboid (Sep 6, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> The last few eps of the final season of Parks & Recreation. A disappointing season, due to the absence of some characters and the heavily laid on sentimentality. But will genuinely miss the gang. Especially Ron.


Yeah, it wasn't as poor or twee as I feared it might be, but a mere shadow of earlier seasons.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 6, 2016)

Overlord.

Docudrama about the Normandy landings. A fictional conscript is followed through basic training, and then to his doom. This is intercut with wartime archive footage.

Good overall, but it didn't really grab me. What I did like was on the extras, where they had 15 minute wartime documentary about newsreel cameramen in action.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 6, 2016)

Finally got round to *Wolf of Wall Street.*

Bit overlong, but otherwise pretty entertaining with some laugh out loud moments, Di Caprio owns the film and Scorsese does his usual thing with unlikeable characters. 7/10

Several opening episodes from *Banshee* Season 3 - so far I've watched a Neo-Nazi executed like he was Alex Murphy in the opening to Robocop, a Native American warrior/psychopath take down several marines with a bow and arrow and snap necks all over the place (including a deer's), and finally a brutal (and brilliantly shot) fight between a scalpel-wielding serial killer and a tomahawk-throwing warrior woman.

Oh, and incest plotlines and sex scenes that make Game of Thrones look like a model of restraint.

It's daft as fuck but hell if it isn't entertaining


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 6, 2016)

Jailhouse Rock - searing indictment of the American prison system and subsequent recording contracts in 50s America.

Elvis on Tour - his last film, circa 72? Scorsese was involved and the backstage stuff is cool but it makes me sad, for some reason.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 9, 2016)

_Keeper of Lost Causes_ - dreadful Danish police procedural using every tired cliche possible - divorced, troubled but "brilliant" who won't be bound by those pen-pushers cop tracks down sadistic murder. Absolute fucking crap, only single interesting character is the female lead who is the victim (of course). Avoid


----------



## Reno (Sep 9, 2016)

I Am Not a Serial Killer. Indie movie mix of coming of age and horror film, based on the first of a series of novels. It's about a teenager who gets diagnosed as a sociopath with the potential of being a serial killer by his therapist. Knowing that, the boy keeps his urges to kill in check and when an active serial killer strikes in his small town, the boy's ability to relate to the murders makes him the perfect detective. 

The film is pretty good, though it has a supernatural element which eventually leads to some dodgy CGI in the climax, which didn't fit with the gritty feel of the rest of the film. Apparently that gets explored more in the following novels, but here it's a set up for something left unexplored here. Otherwise it's very good and worth a watch.


----------



## Artaxerxes (Sep 9, 2016)

Beasts of No Nation - Cracking film, well worth a watch.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 9, 2016)

Vertigo - Hitch classic with Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart. I'd always believed I'd seen this but I'm wrong, must have been Rear Window.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 10, 2016)

Lolita - Kubrick's 1962 take on the Nabakov novel. I guess it was quite controversial for it's time. James Mason comes across as a controlling lech, Sue Lyon and Shelley Winters are great but it's Peter Sellers who steals the show, for me.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 10, 2016)

Ice Age 4

once again the squirrel and his nut make the film. He should get his own film. Nay, he should get a series. there were some excellent 'for the adults' gags including a very brief visual reference to Planet of the Apes, the smashed Statue of Liberty scene.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 10, 2016)

oh and also all of star wars rebels season 2. Ezra is far less annoying, the tone has matured and VADER.


----------



## Voley (Sep 10, 2016)

Really into the second series of Narcos right now. I'm pleased that it's just like the first series. The menacing bloke who plays Escobar is ace.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 10, 2016)

Tower Block - Sheridan Smith leads a plucky band of top floor dwellers in a block about to be demolished. Superior B movie.


----------



## Reno (Sep 11, 2016)

Nina Forever. Oddball British horror film about a young man who starts a new relationship after the death of his girlfriend and then the mangled, dead girlfriend keeps reappearing in their bed, every time the couple have sex. Not bad and curious take on how grief sometimes doesn't let go but it gets a little repetitive after a while.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 11, 2016)

Zootopia (aka Zootropolis).  An extremely funny disney film.  The opening scene is brilliant.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 11, 2016)

I watched this old documentary about this guy "Leonard Zelig", who was apparently the cultural phenomenon of 1920s America. He used to change his appearance, ethnicity, body size, etc. to match that of whoever he encountered at the time. I was wondering why I had never heard of him before.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Zootopia (aka Zootropolis).  An extremely funny disney film.  The opening scene is brilliant.


I watched this and The Secret Life Of Pets recently and found myself overthinking them too much.
What about fish? Are fish and insects prey that they are allowed to stalk and kill and eat? Or are all these utopian animals vegetarians?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I watched this old documentary about this guy "Leonard Zelig", who was apparently the cultural phenomenon of 1920s America. He used to change his appearance, ethnicity, body size, etc. to match that of whoever he encountered at the time. I was wondering why I had never heard of him before.


His reputation was damaged when he started hanging out with Roman Polanski, Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile. He just had to fit in.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 11, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> His reputation was damaged when he started hanging out with Roman Polanski, Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile. He just had to fit in.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Sep 11, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


>



Woody Allen?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Woody Allen?


no, Zelig


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Sep 11, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> no, Zelig


----------



## Artaxerxes (Sep 11, 2016)

American remake of Les Revanants on Netflix

Little did we know we'd be left with Series Blue Balls as it was cancelled and no second series, right at the crucial point before the series finale.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 11, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Zootopia (aka Zootropolis).  An extremely funny disney film.  The opening scene is brilliant.


It was a lot better than I thought it would be (I had to chaperon four 5/6 year olds for a birthday treat)


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 11, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I watched this and The Secret Life Of Pets recently and found myself overthinking them too much.
> What about fish? Are fish and insects prey that they are allowed to stalk and kill and eat? Or are all these utopian animals vegetarians?


Yup...totally overthinking.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Yup...totally overthinking.


 not sure though, i had a very interesting conversation with my 10 year old nephew about it


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2016)

these things need to follow some kind of internal logic. i don't think they considered invertebrates enough, the speciesist bastards


----------



## Voley (Sep 11, 2016)

Ex Machina. Enjoyed this. Couldn't guess where the plot was going. Woman that played the robot was very good. Annoying pissed bloke was good too.


----------



## Nebulous. (Sep 11, 2016)

Last night I watched Pulp Fiction.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2016)

Nebulous. said:


> Last night I watched Pulp Fiction.


yes, but what did you think of it?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 12, 2016)

Enjoying Gotham series 2, much more than the first season.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

The Shallows, which basically is the first scene from Jaws expanded to feature length. Young woman gets attacked by shark near a lonely beach. Only instead of getting eaten after the fish takes a bite out of her, she does everything she can to survive. It gets a little preposterous by the end, but entertainingly so. I liked that the second most important character is a seagull. This unpretentious but very efficient genre film is far more thrilling and fun than all the superhero battles which lumbered through the multiplexes this year and it was made on a fraction of their budget.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 13, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> *Tower Block* - Sheridan Smith leads a plucky band of top floor dwellers in a block about to be demolished. Superior B movie.



Ditto - it's a bit too obviously recapping the directors' favourite bits of The Raid, Assault on Precinct 13, etc and it's a bit self-conscious about how much it loves John Carpenter (the synth soundtrack and the odd crashing bit of Social Messaging are straight rips), but it's fun enough, refreshingly OTT in the brutality at the front end, and it keeps your attention. Sheridan Smith is OK but in my view not quite charismatic enough. Jack O Connell much better.

( The basic concept is clearly bobbins though - no way one sniper would be able to keep an entire building tied down, and - like every movie of this sort - the whole thing could be easily sorted out with a few well-placed mobile phone calls )


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

Totally forgot that I watched Captan America: Civil War a few days ago, which really says it all. It's not even that it's bad, it's just totally disposable and anonymous as a piece of film-making.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> Totally forgot that I watched Captan America: Civil War a few days ago, which really says it all. It's not even that it's bad, it's just totally disposable and anonymous as a piece of film-making.



I just remember tony stark being an annoying prick. Still, at least it wasn't Suicide Squad. The cartoons are doing me better service tbh, the superhero films are just over for me. And I like comics. 


I'll still be a sucker for x-men films though. Examining the plight of the Other through heroic mythos? always works for me, that and the competing ideologies 'we are gods lets fuck them all up' vs 'we must be in control of ourselves and learn as they must learn to accept us'

never gets old


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I just remember tony stark being an annoying prick. Still, at least it wasn't Suicide Squad. The cartoons are doing me better service tbh, the superhero films are just over for me. And I like comics.
> 
> 
> I'll still be a sucker for x-men films though. Examining the plight of the Other through heroic mythos? always works for me, that and the competing ideologies 'we are gods lets fuck them all up' vs 'we must be in control of ourselves and learn as they must learn to accept us'
> ...


I've enjoyed several of the Marvel and X-Men films but both series have gotten repetitive and they are running out of steam. The DC equivalent has been so utterly shit from the little I have seen, I'm not going to bother with it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 13, 2016)

I agree with Alan Moore about comic book films:
Alan Moore confirms he is retiring from creating comic books


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2016)

He's always hated film versions of his work. See his chapter in 'Mythmakers and Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction'


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> He's always hated film versions of his work. See his chapter in 'Mythmakers and Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction'


I can't blame him, they've all been shit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> He's always hated film versions of his work. See his chapter in 'Mythmakers and Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction'


I was referring to him talking about how Hollywood keeps using sixty year old superheroes like Batman and Superman. I mean, Captain America, wtf? Why can't they invent their own contemporary superheroes?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I was referring to him talking about how Hollywood keeps using sixty year old superheroes like Batman and Superman. I mean, Captain America, wtf? Why can't they invent their own contemporary superheroes?


archetypes *knowing nod* its all about that. Why do we still love doctor who? I like moore and have met him in the shop when buying beer and he's an affable chap. Thing is you run out of ways to subvert the original ideas imo. Look at Supe vs Bat. Unmitigated wank based on the shittest re-imaginings of characters who once stood for decency in an unironic way. I like comic book 'what if?' sorts of thing but the film stuff has grown bland. And in DC's case, shit from start to finish.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 13, 2016)

I don't love Dr Who. I'm a grown up.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Sep 13, 2016)

Star Wars (Silver Screen Edition - Team Negative 1)

There has been at least one other significant attempt at this kind of restoration, the 'de-specialized' version created by Petr 'Harmy' Harmecek, although the methodology used is quite different. This may well be the closest thing to seeing the film in 1977 that people can experience.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I was referring to him talking about how Hollywood keeps using sixty year old superheroes like Batman and Superman. I mean, Captain America, wtf? Why can't they invent their own contemporary superheroes?


Because the whole point of modern Hollywood is to base their projects on something which has name recognition. Looking at this year's box office though, there may be signs that audiences are getting tired of this. The Marvel films are still doing well, but a lot of the other blockbusters which were reboots/remakes/sequels tanked or they underperformed.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 13, 2016)

They're also plumbing the depths with characters most people don't know - Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Dr Strange etc


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> They're also plumbing the depths with characters most people don't know - Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Dr Strange etc


They still all have the branding of known franchises, in this case X-Men, DC and Marvel.

There've been a few articles recently that low to mid-budget horror films and thrillers like The Shallows, The Witch, Lights Out, Green Room and Don't Breathe were the big winners of the year. They cost far less to make, they don't have to make a billion at the box office each but all together these films made a ton of money in 2016. Would be nice if Hollywood would make more films at different budgets again instead of pooling it all into a small number of mega blockbusters which gave to appeal to the widest possible audience.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't love Dr Who. I'm a grown up.


the lack of Who this year has been most distressing to me. Bastards. Get back to work.


----------



## belboid (Sep 13, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> They're also plumbing the depths with characters most people don't know - Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Dr Strange etc


Doctor Strange is a golden age stalwart. One of their finest creations. Could be a great film, although it probably won't be.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2016)

trailers look excellent. The sorcerer supreme 

I will end up torrenting this one cos y'know, fuck cinema prices and they have got bland so hopefully this breaks the pattern


----------



## belboid (Sep 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> There've been a few articles recently that low to mid-budget horror films and thrillers like The Shallows, The Witch, Lights Out, Green Room and Don't Breathe were the big winners of the year. They cost far less to make, they don't have to make a billion at the box office each but all together these films made a ton of money in 2016.


They're talking rubbish tho, aren't they? Sure, there have been a few that have done very well (return wise), but how many more have lost money. After a very good year, they'll still only just leave their production companies with a slight profit, most likely.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

belboid said:


> They're talking rubbish tho, aren't they? Sure, there have been a few that have done very well (return wise), but how many more have lost money. After a very good year, they'll still only just leave their production companies with a slight profit, most likely.


It's not if you do the maths. Suicide Squat may have made a lot of money, but due to high production and promotion costs, it will just about break even. The Witch cost $3 million to make and it made $40 million at the box office. In 2016 many expensive blockbusters which were considered sure bets like Independence Day 2, Ghostbusters, Alice Through the Looking Glass and The Huntsman flopped or underperformed. Many of these low budget genre films recouped their budget many times. You add these up and altogether they make serious money. A low budget film doesn't have to be that successful to break even and it is moderately successful it's a winner but when an Independence Day 2 flops, it can damage a studio.

This was the way Hollywood used to do things, bet on many films, but spend less money on each, while now there are a small number of blockbuster behemoths on which everything depends. There are signs that financial model is finally crumbling. I certainly hope so.

Why Horror Movies Are This Summer's Real Winners

2016’s Summer of Movie Flops Is Not a Fluke, It’s the Beginning of the End


----------



## belboid (Sep 13, 2016)

You could at least read my post before replying. The above articles ignore the small budget films that make losses. And the vast majority of the ones that do make money don't make enough to cover the costs of a single big budget flop. The Shallows, for example, has officially made $60m profit so far (although those figures tend to exclude promo costs, which can even wipe out the headline figure), but that will be wiped out by  the losses on the Angry Birds Movie.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

belboid said:


> You could at least read my post before replying. The above articles ignore the small budget films that make losses. And the vast majority of the ones that do make money don't make enough to cover the costs of a single big budget flop. The Shallows, for example, has officially made $60m profit so far (although those figures tend to exclude promo costs, which can even wipe out the headline figure), but that will be wiped out by  the losses on the Angry Birds Movie.


I read your post but you don't seem to understand what I said. This is about early trends which are possible indicators, not the revolution that is saving Hollywood right now. That would be impossible after one or two years, because Hollywod is still betting on large blockbusters. The point is that with so many of these huge films tanking, maybe Hollywood should change their strategy and make fewer hugely expensive films and more small ones and then let's see what happens. And that will take a few years, because films which are in production now won't come out till in two or three years. Nobody is claiming that all low budget films are huge hits, but even when they are not, they can still break even or make a small profit. And if they totally flop it's just a few millions lost rather than hundreds of millions. There aren't these huge numbers of smaller studio films ignored by the article which are losing money, because not that many get made, most of the money gets funnelled into blockbusters.

As to The Shallows, you are confusing earnings with profit. Profit gets counted after marketing and a small film like that doesn't get the type of marketing a Suicide Squat gets. The film cost $17 million, maybe there was another $8million for marketing (you roughly add half the budget). So far it's made $110 million and the film hasn't even been released or is on release in many countries. Home entertainment media and streaming services will add more.

Then again you of course know far more than any of these silly entertainment journalists whose job it is to follow these things because of......what goes on in your head which has nothing to do with facts or numbers ?


----------



## belboid (Sep 13, 2016)

Come on, journalists never find a ‘new thing’ to hype because they have little to write about, do they?

Yes, relatively small films have done well this year compared to the blockbusters, but even that wont change anything. (or very little, anyway). The profits fo those smaller films just aren’t big enough to significantly change things.  I probably exaggerated The Shallows’ profit margin before, as the $80m it took includes the theatres cut as well as the studios.  So, once that and advertising are taken into account, there isn’t much left over.  Definitely less than the berated Suicide Squad. And yes, blockbusters can obviously lose a hell of a lot more, but this isn’t new, Waterworld came out twenty years ago. Its failure didn’t really make much difference, did it?   I doubt very much that this latest round of failures will make much difference either.  Maybe it will make the studios think a bit more about what a blockbuster should be, and a shift away from superheroes, but that'll be about it.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

belboid said:


> Come on, journalists never find a ‘new thing’ to hype because they have little to write about, do they?
> 
> Yes, relatively small films have done well this year compared to the blockbusters, but even that wont change anything. (or very little, anyway). The profits fo those smaller films just aren’t big enough to significantly change things.  I probably exaggerated The Shallows’ profit margin before, as the $80m it took includes the theatres cut as well as the studios.  So, once that and advertising are taken into account, there isn’t much left over.  Definitely less than the berated Suicide Squad. And yes, blockbusters can obviously lose a hell of a lot more, but this isn’t new, Waterworld came out twenty years ago. Its failure didn’t really make much difference, did it?   I doubt very much that this latest round of failures will make much difference either.  Maybe it will make the studios think a bit more about what a blockbuster should be, and a shift away from superheroes, but that'll be about it.



I realise that when it comes to journalism, cynicisism is the default mode here, but there always is plenty to write about when it comes to film journalism. Obviously you aren't following much of it. It shouldn't come as a total surprise that I do and let me assure you that there is no rational reason for it to be corrupt, it's not politics. But with this post you have shown that you don't have clue about very basics of film finance and accounting in general.

You are still confusing profit with earnings. The advertising is half the budget, so if we are generous, with advertising The Shallows comes to 26 million all included. The film has made $110 million according to box office mojo. So far 84 million is the profit, no more advertising or other expenses come out of that. That's what "profit" means. Have you never done your accounts?

And a low budget thriller, which got far less advertising and played in fewer theatres than a blockbuster, doesn't need to perform the same as Suicide Squat. A film's profitability gets measured by how many times a film doubles it's expenses. Suicide Squat hasn't at all, it will merely break even. So far The Shallows has made more than three times of what it cost to make and to advertise, which makes it a far more profitable film.

As to Waterworld, it eventually broke even and it wasn't even that much of a flop though it was a laughing stock. There always have been flops. There haven't been any summers like this one where more than half of the blockbusters have flopped or underperformed.


----------



## belboid (Sep 13, 2016)

No need to go into full patronising twat mode.



Reno said:


> I realise that when it comes to journalism, cynicisism is the default mode here, but there always is plenty to write about when it comes to film journalism. Obviously you aren't following much of it. It shouldn't come as a total surprise that I do and let me assure you that there is no rational reason for it to be corrupt, it's not politics. But with this post you have shown that you don't have clue about very basics of film finance and accounting in general.


I didn 't sday it was 'corrupt'  stop making things up. I said it sexes stories up, and it does. 

[qiote]You are still confusing profit with earnings. The advertising is half the budget, so if we are generous, with advertising The Shallows comes to 26 million all included. The film has made $110 million according to box office mojo. So far 84 million is the profit, no more advertising or other expenses come out of that. That's what "profit" means. Have you never done your accounts?[/quote]
I'm a qualified accountant, so its my turn to call smartarse. I see you have changed your original post, where you claimed the £17 million production budget _included _the advertising.  And you've then just guessed at a figure.  Probably a reasonable guess (altho once it started being a hit, they will probably have increased the advertising budget) tho, and even if we double it, its still a decent figure. And it will have a strong long tail, it will do well on DVD & streaming. I'm not arguing it wasn't a good hit, just about the extent of it. 



> And a low budget thriller, which got far less advertising and played in fewer theatres than a blockbuster, doesn't need to perform the same as Suicide Squat. A film's profitability gets measured by how many times a film doubles it's expenses. Suicide Squat hasn't at all, it will merely break even. So far The Shallows has made more than three times of what it cost to make and to advertise, which makes it a far more profitable film.


The rate of return is very handy, and _very _well publicised, but the bottom line is the bottom line. The rate of return is brilliant for allowing the filmmakers a bigger budget next time, because it shows they can deliver.  But that isn't what the company stockholders really care about.



> As to Waterworld, it eventually broke even and it wasn't even that much of a flop though it was a laughing stock. There always have been flops. There haven't been any summers like this one where more than half of the blockbusters have flopped or underperformed.


But SS made its money back, as did the awful Spiderman v Batman. They did badly, but they didn't come close to bankrupting a studio. 

Look, I'm not arguing you (or the articles you were referring to) are _completely _wrong, merely that you/they are over-egging the pudding. And that not much is going to change.  Not unless next years, and the year afters, blockbusters go tits up too.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

Spiderman v Batman ? 

I'm actually doubting you can read a sentence while simultaneously engaging your brain after that last post. You are making completely ignorant statements about the finances of an industry I work in. Pointless !


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2016)

Spiderman would win. Bats good, but he's not good enough to take spiderman. Plus Peter Parker is a good boy who lives with his old auntie and batman is basically a cunt now since miller ruined him


----------



## fishfinger (Sep 13, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Spiderman would win. Bats good, but he's not good enough to take spiderman. Plus Peter Parker is a good boy who lives with his old auntie and batman is basically a cunt now since miller ruined him


----------



## belboid (Sep 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> Spiderman v Batman ?
> 
> I'm actually doubting you can read a sentence while simultaneously engaging your brain after that last post. You are making completely ignorant statements about the finances of an industry I work in. Pointless !


Oh no, I made a dumb mistake which means everything I say must be wrong! i note you couldn't deny how you changed your figures, or that you changed what I said about the press. 

Oh and you still didn't knock the cinemas cut off that $110m for The Shallows, reducing that '84 million' profit even further. Figures really aren't your strong point.


----------



## belboid (Sep 13, 2016)

Anyway, aside from all that....I've been watching (I'm sure Reno will appreciate this) Braindead - not the Peter Jackson film, a yankee series.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the lass from 10 Cloverfield Lane, stars as a Senator's assistant (and sister) in (something very like) today's Congress - Trump & Clinton are squaring off in the background. As well as a partisan, gridlocked, government, she also has to deal with an invasion of bugs from outer space, who crawl into people's brains and either turn them into radical (of either left or right, it doesn't matter), or make their heads explode.  While its message of 'gee, we should all be centrists who just work together to sort shit out' is patent liberal nonsense, it's very well done, sharp and fast paced, with enough 'wtf' to make it a very entertaining 43 minutes.  It's just finished in the US, and well worth catching up with.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Sep 13, 2016)

All this thread needs is Pickman's Model to come on....


----------



## seventh bullet (Sep 14, 2016)

belboid said:


> Anyway, aside from all that....I've been watching (I'm sure Reno will appreciate this) Braindead - not the Peter Jackson film, a yankee series.
> 
> Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the lass from 10 Cloverfield Lane, stars as a Senator's assistant (and sister) in (something very like) today's Congress - Trump & Clinton are squaring off in the background. As well as a partisan, gridlocked, government, she also has to deal with an invasion of bugs from outer space, who crawl into people's brains and either turn them into radical (of either left or right, it doesn't matter), or make their heads explode.  While its message of 'gee, we should all be centrists who just work together to sort shit out' is patent liberal nonsense, it's very well done, sharp and fast paced, with enough 'wtf' to make it a very entertaining 43 minutes.  It's just finished in the US, and well worth catching up with.



I noticed it on Amazon, have quite enjoyed it.  The little recap ditties at the beginning of each episode have raised a smile, too.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 15, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> They're also plumbing the depths with characters most people don't know - Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Dr Strange etc



I'd not heard of the first two until relatively recent but I grew up readinf Doctor Strange.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 16, 2016)

Top Five

Not what i was expecting. As it's written by and starring Chris Rock , you might expect everything being way over the top.  And bits of it are but It treads a line between being reflective and funny and manages to hit both. 

There's some great cameos, especially DMX


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2016)

Cleverman


> The six-part drama series reimagines several stories of the Aboriginal Dreamtime in a modern, superheroic context, and reflects on racism, asylum seekers and border protection.[2] Its central story revolves around two estranged Gumbaynggirr brothers who are forced together to fight for their own survival when one of them is passed the mantle of the "Cleverman". Creatures from the Dreaming also feature in the series' real world dystopian landscape.[3]



really good stuff imo, I only saw the first two but I was glued to my screen. Reminded me in its sci-fi/spec fiction as allegory of District 9. Heavy handed but it knows it is, really good aussie sci fi, seems to be set five mins into the future iyswim

its on the iplayer for all us honest license payers


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 16, 2016)

Speaking of "heavy handed, but knows it is": Barbarians Rising - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History Channel gamely tries to rip off the Spartacus "bloodshed + guitar shred" genre, but less bloody, less pulpy, lower-budget and with the (pretty weak) dramatisations interrupted by all these geeky 20thC historians, writers and civil rights activists ((yeah really)) popping up at intervals to chip in extra info. It's really just a way of getting adolescent boys into basic Classics (by luring them in with vidgame style CGI blood and "gallery of heroes" etc) but it has its moments - and the focus being NOT on Mighty Rome but the various hairy guys trying to bring it down is also interesting. It won't do anyone as a useful revolutionary manual but it's not a total waste of time.

Another bonus is that several of the Barbarians are played by familiar faces from other historical series, so you've got several actors best known to me as Vikings, pirates and other miscreants popping up centuries out of sync.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 16, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Top Five
> 
> Not what i was expecting. As it's written by and starring Chris Rock , you might expect everything being way over the top.  And bits of it are but It treads a line between being reflective and funny and manages to hit both.
> 
> There's some great cameos, especially DMX


Shit...really wanted to watch that....then forgot all about it.  Age...sigh.

Anyway!

Here is the first 5 minutes of Zootopia!


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 16, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Here is the first 5 minutes of Zootopia!





Zootopia's good.  Not a patch on Inside Out but good enough


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 17, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Zootopia's good.  Not a patch on Inside Out but good enough


Different things.  Inside Out is about growing up, Zootopia is about gender stereotypes and racism.  But yes Inside Out is a better film.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 17, 2016)

I'm strictly a Frozen man, myself.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 17, 2016)

*Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made*

A great documentary about some kids in the 80s making a scene by scene remake of raiders if the lost ark.

They did every scene but the pay roach aeroplane scene so they go back and finish it. In the meantime their efforts are 'found' by the film world and taken from home movie to LA film fests.

Great fun....and very emotional too.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 17, 2016)

First 3 eps of The Get Down. Love it.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Sep 17, 2016)

lots of flights of late, lots movies

Trumbo- lovely

The Dressmaker- odd little dark Australian piece with Kate Winslett

Zootopia- brilliant


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2016)

Rogue - Aussie crocodile flick with a brief appearance from Sam Worthington. Just another Jaws variation.

Eternal (AKA Trance AKA The Mummy) - Supernatural horror set in Ireland with Christopher Walken and Jared Harris. What a pile of shite.

Reef - Some young aussie folk fuck their boat and decide to swim 12 miles through shark infested waters to reach land. I fell alseep.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 18, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> First 3 eps of The Get Down. Love it.



And the last 3. Can't wait until part 2, whenever that is.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 18, 2016)

Scarface.

I'd never seen it, so when I saw it for rent, I thought "why not?"

Not exactly Al Pacino's greatest role, but at the same time, without him it would just have been a pretty witless b-movie. Michelle Pfeiffer also very good, her performance a masterpiece of coiled tension. All those movies from the Carter/Early Reagan era look absolutely hellish, I have to say, with or without cocaine.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2016)

I have mixed feelings about Scarface these days...but agree about Pfeiffer. 

All the females parts are played well.


----------



## Reno (Sep 18, 2016)

I'm a huge De Palma fan (this for some reason always gets one Urbanite into a state of frothing rage) but while its among his most popular, Scarface is among my least favourite films of his. It feels more like a later Scorsese film, with all the excess and obsession with machismo which I dislike about those films. Cinematography, Pfeiffer and the Moroder score are great, but the film and Pacino grate on me.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> I'm a huge De Palma fan (this for some reason always gets one Urbanite into a state of frothing rage) but while its among his most popular, Scarface is among my least favourite films of his. It feels more like a later Scorsese film, with all the excess and obsession with machismo which I dislike about those films. Cinematography, Pfeiffer and the Moroder score are great, but the film and Pacino grate on me.



I love Body Double...lol


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2016)

No....really I do.


----------



## Reno (Sep 18, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> No....really I do.


So do I. It was made as a big "fuck you!" to all his critics and he gleefully put everything in there they found objectionable about his previous films.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> I'm a huge De Palma fan (this for some reason always gets one Urbanite into a state of frothing rage) but while its among his most popular, Scarface is among my least favourite films of his. It feels more like a later Scorsese film, with all the excess and obsession with machismo which I dislike about those films. Cinematography, Pfeiffer and the Moroder score are great, but the film and Pacino grate on me.


There's a scene at the beginning, when Pacino and his mate are still in the refugee camp, where he's still playing it like the old Pacino, the lad who was in Panic in Needle Park, and the Godfather, and Dog Day Afternoon.

After that, he just turns into a caricature - why I don't know. Maybe he got high on his own supply.


----------



## Reno (Sep 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> There's a scene at the beginning, when Pacino and his mate are still in the refugee camp, where he's still playing it like the old Pacino, the lad who was in Panic in Needle Park, and the Godfather, and Dog Day Afternoon.
> 
> After that, he just turns into a caricature - why I don't know. Maybe he got high on his own supply.


True, this is the film where he started to became a caricature of himself, the same happened with Nicholson after The Shining. Both still occasionally gave good performances afterwards, but more often they kept chewing the scenery and everything else in sight.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2016)

Given the way he played Michael Corleone, it is really quite sad how Pacino took that route.

I actually fear new Pacino and DeNiro films for the continued eroding of their genuine and original talent that they displayed early on.


----------



## Reno (Sep 18, 2016)

There is a new documentary about Brian De Palma out by Noah Baumbach which is supposed to be very good. I'm off on a holiday to the States next week and I've got it on my tablet to watch on the plane.

De Palma


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> True, this is the film where he started to became a caricature of himself, the same happened with Nicholson after The Shining. Both still occasionally gave good performances afterwards, but more often they kept chewing the scenery and everything else in sight.





Nanker Phelge said:


> Given the way he played Michael Corleone, it is really quite sad how Pacino took that route.
> 
> I actually fear new Pacino and DeNiro films for the continued eroding of their genuine and original talent that they displayed early on.



I never saw _Heat. _Should I bother, or is it 3 hours of scenery-chewing?


----------



## Reno (Sep 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I never saw _Heat. _Should I bother, or is it 3 hours of scenery-chewing?


Watch it. I think it's Michael Mann's best film and both of them are good in it.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> Watch it. I think it's Michael Mann's best film.


It's on film 4 tonight. It's a great heist film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I never saw _Heat. _Should I bother, or is it 3 hours of scenery-chewing?



I hated it when it was released. I have grown fonder of it accepting it as no more than a good action/heist thriler.

Some great set pieces.

Frankly, I think Mann's first go at it, the tv film, L.A. Takedown, is better.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2016)

Creed. What's not to like.

It's a Rocky movie. Stallone proves again there is an actor in there and that he is smart enough to not only add another film to the series but reboot it with intelligence and passion and heart. 

Good on him.

Here's to Creed 2.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 18, 2016)

Searching for Sugarman.  A selective (for good reasons) but involving documentary about a singer from the 70s who sounded like Cat Stevens but was Mexican so never got played on the radio.

Bit surprised it won an oscar but it was compelling.  Would have liked more stuff about the regime in South Africa, which was obviously horrific.


----------



## Reno (Sep 19, 2016)

Krisha, American indie drama about the family fuck-up who comes home for Thanksgiving to make amends. Only she is still getting wasted, she still fucks everything up and now she's in her sixties. It's a small scale but very confidently made film, with strong hints of John Cassavetes and David Lynch and structured around the impressive performance of its lead actress. It's very much a first film but one which makes me curious about what the filmmaker will do next.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 19, 2016)

What Richard Did.

This one made me angry. Loosely - very loosely - based on the killing of 19 year old Brian Murphy by a gang of drunk rugger-bugger meatheads in Dublin in 2000, it's a pretty blatant attempt to whitewash the perpetrators of that crime, and the social class they sprung from. 

Competently directed by Lenny Abrahamson (the guy who did the Frank Sidebottom movie, which wasn't really about FS, of course, and Adam and Paul, which I'm going to have to watch now), it also had competent acting from a young cast. But that cast are drawn from the same social swamp of unearned privilege that the killers in the original case came from, so it's not like they were being stretched.

Though more than a few of them could do with a "stretch", preferably in Mountjoy. Or maybe we could rent a gulag off Putin.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 19, 2016)

*Sicario *. It's OK. Does roiling unease very well (soundtrack full of the Droney Buzz of Doom(TM)  and Emily Blunt is great at looking nervous.) Doesn't really bed the characters in or - as usual - take anything much more than a cursory interest in actual Mexico or actual Mexicans, the Evil of Drugs and Good Guys vs Bad Guys themes being thought more important. But it's great at conjuring the extraordinary murk of this world of mercs - and anything getting Benicio Del Toro more screen time should be welcomed. However, if you ever imagined that there are even such things as good guys in this narco-war affair you should read this first: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/world/americas/colombia-cocaine-human-rights.html?_r=0 before believing that the US federal agencies are really interested in fighting evil drugs cartels.


----------



## flypanam (Sep 19, 2016)

Silicon Valley - S3.

Finally I've gotten into this. A very good satire on the tech industry. Worth it alone for TJ Miller's flights of megalomania.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Sep 19, 2016)

Rewatched Pride. With German subtitles.


----------



## magneze (Sep 19, 2016)

The Lobster. Dystopian dark comedy where newly single people have 45 days to find a new partner or be changed into an animal of their choosing. Highly recommended.


----------



## Reno (Sep 19, 2016)

poptyping said:


> Rewatched Pride. With German subtitles.


"Stolz"


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 19, 2016)

Reno said:


> "Stolz"


Gesundheit.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Sep 19, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Gesundheit.


----------



## The Boy (Sep 19, 2016)

Halfway through S2 of Les Revenants.  Enjoying it.  Doing a good job of moving things forward while filling in the back story.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 19, 2016)

*The White Reindeer [Valkoinen Peura]* early 1950s Finnish story of a newly married woman who goes to the local shaman to get a potion to help her love life but gets turned into a shape shifting vampire reindeer who starts killing off the remote village's men folk, that sounds rather silly but it's actually a rather gorgeous film full of beautiful shots of the snowy plains of Lapland.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 19, 2016)

Indeliblelink said:


> *The White Reindeer [Valkoinen Peura]* early 1950s Finnish story of a newly married woman who goes to the local shamen to get a potion to help her love life but gets turned into a shape shifting vampire reindeer who starts killing off the remote village's men folk, that sounds rather silly but it's actually a rather gorgeous film full of beautiful shots of the snowy plains of Lapland.


You mean Shaman. She didn't recruit an 80s indie band to turn her into a reindeer.


----------



## Chz (Sep 19, 2016)

magneze said:


> The Lobster. Dystopian dark comedy where newly single people have 45 days to find a new partner or be changed into an animal of their choosing. Highly recommended.


It's way less weird than it sounds.


----------



## Sue (Sep 19, 2016)

La Ceremonie. Claude Chabrol does a Ruth Rendell/Jean Genet mashup. Excellent.


----------



## magneze (Sep 20, 2016)

Chz said:


> It's way less weird than it sounds.


Yes and no.



Spoiler



It's pretty weird but the animal thing gets completely lost.


----------



## inva (Sep 20, 2016)

Sue said:


> La Ceremonie. Claude Chabrol does a Ruth Rendell/Jean Genet mashup. Excellent.


That's a great description of it. It's probably Chabrol's best that I've seen, really good.


----------



## Sue (Sep 20, 2016)

inva said:


> That's a great description of it. It's probably Chabrol's best that I've seen, really good.


I really like those of his I've seen. All quite dark and not very sympathetic to bourgeois France.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 20, 2016)

Season Of The Witch.
Another gloriously abominable Nicolas Cage movie made in Europe and featuring the supernatural.
Except there's no witch. 
It's basically justifying the Catholic Church's persecution of women. Cos one of them is a demon. Or something like that. It's not very coherent.
On the plus side, it has Ron Perlman in it and Cage has a interesting barnet.
On the negative side, it's shit and the CGI is shit.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 20, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> What Richard Did.
> 
> This one made me angry. Loosely - very loosely - based on the killing of 19 year old Brian Murphy by a gang of drunk rugger-bugger meatheads in Dublin in 2000, it's a pretty blatant attempt to whitewash the perpetrators of that crime, and the social class they sprung from.
> 
> ...



It's also based on the book "Bad Day in Blackrock" which is loosely based on the murder. I thought it was more of a supressed rage at the perps and their privileged background. I got the impression it was designed to make the viewer feel "those fucking bastards" rather than a whitewash...

Watched "Locke" - Tom Hardy is on a personal mission and he's willing to sacrifice his marriage and job in order to prove a point. Brought to you by the writer of Peaky Blinders. But don't expect Alfie Solomons.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 20, 2016)

The Gift - Fairly standard yuppies in peril genre piece....fairly well put together, nicely played out, passed the time.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 20, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> It's also based on the book "Bad Day in Blackrock" which is loosely based on the murder. I thought it was more of a supressed rage at the perps and their privileged background. I got the impression it was designed to make the viewer feel "those fucking bastards" rather than a whitewash...



I honestly don't get how you could think that. Even in the funeral scene, when the victim's mum lashes out at those hiding behind a wall  of silence, the camera immediately cuts to the perpetrator and his Da sitting in the pew. That looked to me like a very conscious, deliberate effort to divert sympathy towards those two, not to make the viewer think "those fucking bastards".


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 20, 2016)

The MAgicians

I'd avoided it because it sounded shit but people kept bigging it up and some end of season reviews were favourable. 4 people discover they have magic and enter a world of etc. Its quite good, plenty of horror and magic, odd bit of vanilla sex and a strong story with a decently intimidating baddie. Will watch season 2


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 21, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> I honestly don't get how you could think that. Even in the funeral scene, when the victim's mum lashes out at those hiding behind a wall  of silence, the camera immediately cuts to the perpetrator and his Da sitting in the pew. That looked to me like a very conscious, deliberate effort to divert sympathy towards those two, not to make the viewer think "those fucking bastards".



What can I say? It had the opposite effect on me. At no point did I feel any sympathy or empathy with the perps. They got away with it - how could anyone pitch for the perp?


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 21, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> What can I say? It had the opposite effect on me. At no point did I feel any sympathy or empathy with the perps. They got away with it - how could anyone pitch for the perp?


If they were a D4, anything is possible. One of my cousins from the posh intellectual side of the family (really) taught the lads involved in the original case. Her comment to me was "they were such nice boys, I can't understand it".

I could understand it only too well. . .


----------



## ringo (Sep 21, 2016)

Brick Mansions - Cliched but entertaining.

Jane Got A Gun - Can't believe I sat through all of it. Nothing new, not a lot to look at.

Narcos Series 2 - excellent tellybox

The Get Down, episode 1. Enjoyed that, wasn't sure about the fantasy/magic realism in it at first but they got away with it. Good stuff.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 21, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> If they were a D4, anything is possible. One of my cousins from the posh intellectual side of the family (really) taught the lads involved in the original case. Her comment to me was "they were such nice boys, I can't understand it".
> 
> I could understand it only too well. . .



Yeah, there's people like that. And not just in D4. Double murder, out in the sticks some years back. Local sympathy went to the perp; as his partner had been allegedly shagging someone else. The saying was, at the time, (from some) that they deserved it and you could hardly blame the poor man


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 21, 2016)

Battle of the Bogside

Lots of crazy footage and talking heads from those who were there

Harlan County USA

very strong docu about the miners and people of harlan county, history of struggle told through them and the songs. At one point theres footage of a machine gun pointing at strikers. That got me wound up more than a little. Excellent docu tho.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 21, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Battle of the Bogside
> 
> Lots of crazy footage and talking heads from those who were there
> 
> ...


At one point you see the bits of the brains of a striker on the ground never mind a machine gun.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 21, 2016)

First 4 episodes of Atlanta.
Fav show of 2016.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 21, 2016)

Sue said:


> I really like those of his I've seen. All quite dark and not very sympathetic to bourgeois France.


I've only see one Chabrol that wasn't worth watching, _Inspector Lavardin. _Of his late work _The Colour of Lies, The Bridesmaid, The Girl Cut In Two _and _Bellamy _all have at least something in them.


----------



## Sue (Sep 21, 2016)

redsquirrel said:


> I've only see one Chabrol that wasn't worth watching, _Inspector Lavardin. _Of his late work _The Colour of Lies, The Bridesmaid, The Girl Cut In Two _and _Bellamy _all have at least something in them.


Still a few to work through but will keep in mind that IL's not up to much.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 21, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> At one point you see the bits of the brains of a striker on the ground never mind a machine gun.


one thing out of many that struck me- not allowed to call scab at a scab. The gun thugs allowed to murder with impunity but should a striking worker so much as raise a fist, you're nicked. Made me think about the Matewan film and how the local sherrif actually being onside must have been a rarity in places where the company had bought the judiacry a long time ago


----------



## Yossarian (Sep 24, 2016)

The Lost Boys, for what I think was the first or possibly second time since I snuck out of the house to see a midnight showing of it when it first came out.

Made me laugh and it's aged pretty well considering it is nearly 30 years old - one big contrast to today was that in a movie full of alternative types, the only tattoo I noticed was a sleeve tattoo on a guy at an ear-piercing stand in the opening shots of Santa Carla, he was in the credits as "Tattoo Man."


----------



## keybored (Sep 24, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The Gift - Fairly standard yuppies in peril genre piece....fairly well put together, nicely played out, passed the time.



I loved this one.




Nanker Phelge said:


> yuppies in peril


See also: The Invitation


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 24, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Gesundheit.


----------



## Reno (Sep 24, 2016)

keybored said:


> I loved this one.
> 
> 
> 
> See also: The Invitation


The yuppies in The Invitation are the peril.


----------



## keybored (Sep 25, 2016)

Reno said:


> The yuppies in The Invitation are the peril.


Some of them.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 26, 2016)

The traffick jam episode of One Foot In The Grave. Still the best of the lot. It did feel a bit dated but the lols were there, good timing and superb writing plus that bitter meldrew sign-off about life as a traffic jam:
" Mirror image of your life really, isn't it? Car journey on a bank holiday. First fifty-odd miles on the go all the way - a sense of direction - bowling along. Get past sixty, everything slows down to a sudden crawl and you realise you're not going anywhere any more. All the things you thought you were going to do that never came to anything. And you can't turn the clock back. One way traffic just gradually grinding to a complete halt."


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 26, 2016)

I tried watching that Metallica documentary, Some Kind of Monster. But I turned it off after 50 minutes, and frankly I'm surprised I got that far.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 26, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> The traffick jam episode of One Foot In The Grave. Still the best of the lot. It did feel a bit dated but the lols were there, good timing and superb writing plus that bitter meldrew sign-off about life as a traffic jam:
> " Mirror image of your life really, isn't it? Car journey on a bank holiday. First fifty-odd miles on the go all the way - a sense of direction - bowling along. Get past sixty, everything slows down to a sudden crawl and you realise you're not going anywhere any more. All the things you thought you were going to do that never came to anything. And you can't turn the clock back. One way traffic just gradually grinding to a complete halt."


I liked the one where they go to Portugal on holiday


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 26, 2016)

Sausage Party.   Great adult fun.  Hilarious and over the top.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 27, 2016)

Jungle book 

I haven't sen the original for 40 years but is so well known that there is a lot to live up to.  This one does that but without feeling bound by it.  The songs are done really well


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 28, 2016)

The Invitation. L.A yuppies dinner party goes a bit wonky!!!


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 28, 2016)

*Train To Busan (2016)*- very enjoyable Korean zombie apocalypse film set on a high speed train, it doesn't bring anything new to the genre but it moves along at a good pace with only a couple of brief soppy moments. There's an animated prequel called Seoul Station that came out a few weeks ago too which I'd like to see.

Also watched another Korean horror called The Wailing which seems to have good reviews but I didn't much like it. Too long and I didn't care for the main bumbling cop character.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 28, 2016)

They Might Be Giants. Oddity from 1971 starring George C Scott & Joanne Woodward. Scott believes himself to be Sherlock Holmes and Woodward is the psychiatrist who gets drawn into his world. A bit sentimental in parts and I don't get the ending. On the plus side; James Tolkan (Strickland from Bact to the Future) is in it. And a blink and you miss appearance from M Emmet Walsh.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 28, 2016)

*Swiss Army Man.
*
This movie is more than just fart and dick jokes.
Was surprised and it's probably the most touching film I've seen since _Her. _

Paul Dano is always great.
Harry Potter's best performance since _Horns._

Recommend this one.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 28, 2016)

The Guest. Up there with It Follows and Stranger Things as a modern take on 80s Spielberg/Carpenter et al....

All the elements were in place yet it still felt fresh and modern.


----------



## Yossarian (Sep 29, 2016)

The Dead Zone - 1980 Steven King adaptation with Christopher Walken as a psychic and Martin Sheen as a psychopath who wants to become president. There were a few parallels with today but not as many as I expected -  the Sheen character came across as a lot more rational than Donald Trump does.


----------



## dessiato (Sep 29, 2016)

Over the last few days I've been watching The Big Bang Theory. I'm completely up to date, up to S10E2 now. I love it and have enjoyed watching some of the secondary characters develop. I'm hoping as S10 continues Bernadette develops. 

Favourite episode, at the moment, is when Howard finds out his mother died and Sheldon's reaction. I like the first time Penny tells Leonard she loves him. Most disappointing episode so far is S10E1.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 29, 2016)

The Girl Can't Help It - Very dated comedy from 1956, with Jane Mansfield. Worth seeing for the wealth of talent on display; Little Richard, Abbey Lincoln, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochrane, The Platters, Fats Domino etc. And an all too brief appearance from Juanita Moore.

Boys - Saw this on netflix; I guess it was about the confusion that abounds in young love and all that. Not sure if it's Danish or German made.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 29, 2016)

been watching Voyager to give it a fairer shake than I have in the past, keep me going till Discovery comes out. As someone else mentioned, its not as awful as I remember, there are some strong episodes with characters I don't even like much like Harry 'boring' Kim. Some have to be skipped cos when its bad, it is baaaaad. But when its good, its solid Star Trek. Will have to catch some more tonight. Good old netflix


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 29, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Will have to catch some more tonight. Good old neelix


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 29, 2016)

Is Lucy worth 90 mins just for entrrtainment?


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 29, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Is Lucy worth 90 mins just for entrrtainment?


yup


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 29, 2016)

The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2.

By the numbers but _extremely well done_ horrors.  Wonderful tension building, nice scares.


----------



## Reno (Sep 29, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Is Lucy worth 90 mins just for entrrtainment?


nope


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 30, 2016)

Reno said:


> nope



I didn't bother. Opted for Gillian Anderson posing moodily in a blouse on bbc2 and then an episode of 4400


----------



## Chz (Sep 30, 2016)

Mommy. 
Actually quite good if you can withstand the director's "thing" for changing the aspect ratio to reflect mood.
And even if you know French fairly well, you're still gonna need subtitles. There's Quebecois, and then there's Joual...


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Oct 1, 2016)

Star Trek Beyond

Well, it's pretty much how you'd expect a Star Trek movie written by Simon Pegg to be. Apart from some of the character moments, the only thing I liked was the design of the huge starbase - it's the sort of megastructure a society with the resources of the Federation should always have been building in the Trek universe.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 1, 2016)

Quarry- first three episodes of a new series on Cinemax. Set in the early 70s two men return home from Vietnam both having been investigated and then cleared of a massacre in Vietnam. The stigma follows them leading to reluctant involvement with a very shady criminal element. It's dark , broody and tense, well acted , with some great camera work and a brilliant soundtrack. Well worth watching so far.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 1, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I didn't bother. Opted for Gillian Anderson posing moodily in a blouse on bbc2 and then an episode of 4400


She has always reminded me of someone's elder sister when I was at school


----------



## starfish (Oct 3, 2016)

Sausage Party. Vulgar, offensive, juvenile, hilarious.


----------



## hot air baboon (Oct 4, 2016)

...took a punt on this as it was a fairly cheap DVD ...and was not disappointed...one for those who deeply grok those gritty 70's New York crime thrillers ( Pelham 123, Serpico, 3 Days of the Condor etc )

effectively the unofficial sequel to French Connection by the same team with Roy Scheider playing the same character he played in FC, Sonny Grosso - add in the Bullitt car chase transplanted to NY but minus Friedkein, Hackman and the plot of FC it can't quite measure up to its predecessor ofcourse


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 4, 2016)

*Savannah *(2013) - Jim Caviezel is a roisterin' wild-duck hunter in early 20thC Georgia who lurves his wetlands as well as his Shakespeare and doesn't adapt well to high society, even though he was born into it. Would rather go camp in the marshes and shoot ducks with his bestie mate who is a former slave. Together they have Huck-Finn-like adventures, dodging redneck bigots, hoodwinking smalltown judges and telling lots and lots of manly shootin' anecdotes. Chiwetel Ejiofor struggles greatly to overcome the clichés of the script and the worst ageing-up makeup ever in cinema history but as a terrific actor, can make it work. Caviezel doesn't quite convince as this sort of larger-than-life Southern 'gentleman' and the movie hints at all sorts of Great Historical Crimes which it then wusses out of tackling seriously.  Lots of nice pics of Georgia wetlands and marsh birds if you like that sort of thing. But it doesn't have the power or the authenticity of many other, better Southern / Southern Gothic movies.


----------



## Reno (Oct 5, 2016)

I watched the first three episodes of the six episode miniseries Wolf Creek, based on the Australian horror film and its sequel. This is surisingly good. Unlike the two films, which were quite gruesome, this is more of a revenge story where a girl whose family has been killed by Mick Taylor, the ongoing serial killer from the films and still played by John Jarratt, goes after him. It has a likeable and resourceful heroine and it's gripping and beautifully shot.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 5, 2016)

Star Trek Beyond.

This was simply bad. The script is a mess, it feels very much like a film lacking any real story, it simply has nothing to say of any real interest - and _Star Trek_ at its best is about ideas! Perhaps most tellingly the few moments that work are clearly (and quite knowingly) built upon nostalgia and fondness for the original series crew. Even more surprisingly, it is a film that looks cheap (outside of the big set pieces in space).


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 5, 2016)

Approaching The Unkown.

Pretty decent little near future sci fi film about one man on his one way trip to mars. It wasn't perfect but it was Worth My Time a 6/20 I recon. On that netflix

As is Luke Cage which I enjoyed even if the final boss battle was a bit wtf. Good series though


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 6, 2016)

He Never Died. Henry Rollins. Really interesting structure till it gets going on the violence front, latter third I'd say. And that was good shit as well. A hearty 8/10 here, would reccomend.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 6, 2016)

OK, let's see.

I Give It a Year.

Genuinely the worst film I have ever seen. It must have been made as a tax dodge or something.

Narcos, episodes 1 - 4. Good, just not as good as it thinks it is. I'll still keep watching, though.

Columbo, Season 1, Episode 2. Surprisingly inventive. I'd say the battered raincoat-wearer belongs to a tradition of trickster mythology, which tends to crop up in mythologies all over the world.

Trickster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## magneze (Oct 6, 2016)

I can't be bothered with Narcos S2. It's really dull.


----------



## magneze (Oct 6, 2016)

Watched Rubble Kings last night. That was interesting.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 6, 2016)

*The Charge of the Light Brigade*  - 1968 - pretty much what it says on the tin, a historical epic which isn't all that epic. An interesting failure imo - being a British production of that era, it's at once stuffed with stuffy grandee fossil actors (Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, Harry Andrews etc etc) playing stuffy snobby military commanders riding their tactical hobbyhorses into disaster, and quite a bit of social-commentary/satire about how ridiculous the class system of the military and British society was in the 1850s. There's some quite bolshy stuff about stupid rules about drinking in the barracks and how all the nice girls in bonnets loved a soldier, and upper class twits just wanting to show off their flash uniforms while the peons died. Some terrific waxed facial hairs throughout.

Overall though it's just a bit dull and the final battle is bungled - real scenery and real horses, not CGI, but somehow there's very little drama to it.
Nicely bleak end credits though (soundtrack: flies buzzing over the corpses. More war films and westerns should do this. )


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 6, 2016)

First 3 episodes of Luke Cage - I hope Mrs Lin isn't dead (she reminds me of my mum )


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 6, 2016)

hot air baboon said:


> ...took a punt on this as it was a fairly cheap DVD ...and was not disappointed...one for those who deeply grok those gritty 70's New York crime thrillers ( Pelham 123, Serpico, 3 Days of the Condor etc )



You've seen Prince of the City?  Absolute belter


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 6, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> You've seen Prince of the City?  Absolute belter


The book it's based on is an excellent read, too


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 6, 2016)

magneze said:


> Watched Rubble Kings last night. That was interesting.


New York in the 70s. Imagine letting the city thats supposed to be the jewel of your countries cities (even if DC is admin capital) fall to that ruin. People should have been shot for that- starting with trumps father. Oh for a time machine


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 6, 2016)

^ steady on DC, even when risking total planetary destruction you should never mess with the prime directive.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 6, 2016)

Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil

enjoyable splatterfest nonsense with an amusing conciet. 5/10

The big bloke from Reaper is in it and there are a few solid lols


----------



## TruXta (Oct 6, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil
> 
> enjoyable splatterfest nonsense with an amusing conciet. 5/10
> 
> The big bloke from Reaper is in it and there are a few solid lols


More like a 6.5/10.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 7, 2016)

The Running Man was on telly last night, me and my housemate spent a very pleasant 90-ish minutes tearing it apart and enjoying it at the same time 

"Here iz Sub-Zero...naaaoow... Plain Zero"


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 7, 2016)

first 4 episodes of banshee.

OK so the main man has just looked at a woman and then been balls deep within moments. Are we to suppose there was dialouge inbetween the cut to shagging? Twice its happened.

The main baddy is quite good. Guy behind the bar is I think Pops from Luke Cage. Excellent fights. I'll finish up the season and see if I fancy more, the diamonds/eastern european gangsters plotline isn't really grabbing me

always eastern europeans now. Used to be italian american mafia for your generic mobster character needs


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 7, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> first 4 episodes of banshee.
> 
> OK so the main man has just looked at a woman and then been balls deep within moments. Are we to suppose there was dialouge inbetween the cut to shagging? Twice its happened.
> 
> ...


There was even a Noo Yawk Italian-American mafia guy in _The Wild Geese. _The poor sap of an actor who plays him has a real "wtf am I doing here expression on his face".


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 7, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> first 4 episodes of banshee.
> 
> OK so the main man has just looked at a woman and then been balls deep within moments. Are we to suppose there was dialouge inbetween the cut to shagging? Twice its happened.
> 
> ...



Also Deputy Ops Burrell from The Wire, in fact you'll get quite a few Baltimore alumni as the show goes on.

It's very over the top but fun, and the plotlines go all over the place.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 7, 2016)

Three Night Stand.

#uttershit


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 7, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> It's very over the top but fun, and the plotlines go all over the place.


I realised it was going to get OTT quickly when the baddie gets a woman to put on an amish bonnet before sucking him off and him taking his shirt off to reveal a full crucifix backpiece


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 8, 2016)

The Parole Officer.

It was amazing...ly shit


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 8, 2016)

*Whiskey Tango Foxtrot*

Quirky feisty lady war reporter Tina Fey - for it is she - LIBERATES THE WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN via her quirky feistiness.

OK, that's unfair. But it's not that wide of the mark either. But, also, this was still good for what it was. Based on the memoirs of, yes, a lady war reporter (Kim Barker) who went to Kabul just as the Iraq war was beginning and as the first signs of what 'liberation' really meant in Afghanistan were beginning to set in. Despite Fey having made her name as a comedienne, this is far more serious than you might assume, and I'd say you could do a lot worse than have a look at this one.

Solid script and cast, and Billy Bob Thornton is good as  the increasingly disillusioned USMC colonel. Martin Freeman is the foul-mouthed Weegie snapper.

That said, the real lady war reporters I've encountered in my time have been a whole lot tougher (and cynical in a way that's only hinted at here, and in a way that doesn't involve Fey's character) than their movie equivalents.


----------



## moody (Oct 8, 2016)

watched a really good feature length doc on the history of London.

focusing on the waves of immigration that the city has gone through from just after victorian times at the turn of the century, with the Jews first.

features some amazing archive footage, period news-reels and interviews from people who lived in those times.

London: The Modern Babylon


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 8, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> first 4 episodes of banshee.
> 
> OK so the main man has just looked at a woman and then been balls deep within moments. Are we to suppose there was dialouge inbetween the cut to shagging? Twice its happened.
> 
> ...



It's brill


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 8, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> It's brill


Last night I saw an albino giant prison daddy try to get him to suck his dick. The albino even comes our to the yard to demand it with a black brolly. Its mental but I like it so far.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 8, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Last night I saw an albino giant prison daddy try to get him to suck his dick. The albino even comes our to the yard to demand it with a black brolly. Its mental but I like it so far.


Forgot all about that. The albino isn't the  most likeable person .


----------



## flypanam (Oct 9, 2016)

Siege of Jadotville - The Irish armed forces "peacekeeping" in (The) Congo. Kill a load of 'rebels' Irish establishment proves itself to the west.

Dross, working class lads fill for the establishment. Irish establishment cums hard and says look what we did...'reward us" can we take our place as a nation of the world?

No lad gets regonition at home


----------



## Reno (Oct 9, 2016)

Bastille Day, mediocre Paris set action film with Idris Elba which has further convinced me that he doesn't have it what it takes to make for a great leading man. He goes through the tough guy motions efficiently enough, but he doesn't bring anything extra to the role which would have made him memorable. Stringer Bell is still the most impressive thing he's done by far.

Lights Out, decent if one-note horror films with a few good scares, but with absolutely no depth or subtext unlike genuinely great ghost stories. I'm never keen when horror films which link physical afflictions with evil as this one does but on the most superficial level it works well enough. Not a patch in the great Under the Shadow which I saw at the pictures this week and which is a far better ghosty film about a mother and child.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 9, 2016)

I don't have much attention span right now, so have been watching some very bad movies, as I have been listening to the How Did This Film Get Made? podcast which entertainingly roasts a turkey every week.
I've watched:
The Last Airbender
Old Dogs
Drive Angry
Jupiter Ascending
The Island Of Dr Moreau
Howard The Duck
Sucker Punch
Battlefield Earth
Season Of The Witch

They are are all truly terrible but I am glad I watched them.


----------



## Sue (Oct 9, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> OK, let's see.
> 
> I Give It a Year.
> 
> Genuinely the worst film I have ever seen. It must have been made as a tax dodge or something.


A friend went to one of those 'test it on the audience' things for this before it was released. That's pretty much exactly what she said, though believe they made some 'improvements' after they got the audience feedback. 

Imagine how much worse that might've been than the version you saw. j


----------



## Reno (Oct 9, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't have much attention span right now, so have been watching some very bad movies, as I have been listening to the How Did This Film Get Made? podcast which entertainingly roasts a turkey every week.
> I've watched:
> The Last Airbender
> Old Dogs
> ...



The Nicolas Cage version of The Wicker Man should be next !


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> Bastille Day, mediocre Paris set action film with Idris Elba which has further convinced me that he doesn't have it what it takes to make for a great leading man. He goes through the tough guy motions efficiently enough, but he doesn't bring anything extra to the role which would have made him memorable. Stringer Bell is still the most impressive thing he's done by far.



Completely agree about Idris, I have long given up trying to understand the fuss that surrounds him.


----------



## Sue (Oct 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> The Nicolas Cage version of The Wicker Man should be next !


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 9, 2016)

new Z Nation  its all gone a bit weird. More weird than it was anyway.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2016)

flypanam said:


> Siege of Jadotville - The Irish armed forces "peacekeeping" in (The) Congo. Kill a load of 'rebels' Irish establishment proves itself to the west.
> 
> Dross, working class lads fill for the establishment. Irish establishment cums hard and says look what we did...'reward us" can we take our place as a nation of the world?
> 
> No lad gets regonition at home


Shit, that sounds worse than I expected. Did you see that stuff that Conor Cruise fucked up big time in Congo, asking the UN forces to go on the offensive to take back Katanga, when they didn't have the kit needed for an op like that?


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2016)

*Brooklyn's Finest.*

I expected this to be a bit 'meh', going by the cover, but it turned out to be really good. Richard Gere is the burnt-out beat cop, seven days from retirement, Don Cheadle is the undercover drugs squad man who is in so deep he has trouble remembering which side he's on, and Ethan Hawke is the Catholic family man cop who desperately needs to move his family to a mould-free house - except he can't afford that on a peeler's wage. So he ends up doing some dodgy, dodgy things. That he can't afford.

Gere was good, Cheadle was really good, and Hawke was surprisingly good, especially if you only really know him from the flicks he made with Julie Delpy.

Very much a post-Iraq War movie, and a post-Black Lives Matter film too. And totally disillusioned about the possibility of the police being more than just the biggest gang in town. The finale belongs to Gere, after his character has finally turned in his badge.

DotCommunist I reckon you'd like this one.



Nanker Phelge said:


> Completely agree about Idris, I have long given up trying to understand the fuss that surrounds him.



My mom says I'm cool.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't have much attention span right now, so have been watching some very bad movies, as I have been listening to the How Did This Film Get Made? podcast which entertainingly roasts a turkey every week.
> I've watched:
> The Last Airbender
> Old Dogs
> ...


I really enjoyed Howard the Duck.


----------



## Sue (Oct 9, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Completely agree about Idris, I have long given up trying to understand the fuss that surrounds him.


People fancy him. A lot.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 9, 2016)

Sue said:


> People fancy him. A lot.



Well, he is a handsome chap....but sadly it doesn't help him act.


----------



## Sue (Oct 9, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Well, he is a handsome chap....but sadly it doesn't help him act.


I don't think he's terrible (and he's v good in The Wire) and he's  certainly no worse than many a leading wo/man who're there mainly because of their looks. (Haven't seen the Bastille Day thing mind.)


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2016)

Sue said:


> People fancy him. A lot.


Well, it's nice of you to say so.

(blushes)


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 9, 2016)

Sue said:


> I don't think he's terrible (and he's v good in The Wire) and he's  certainly no worse than many a leading wo/man who're there mainly because of their looks. (Haven't seen the Bastille Day thing mind.)



He is watchable, he's not a 'bad' actor, he just isn't a great actor. There are many equally average actors out there.


----------



## Sue (Oct 9, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Well, it's nice of you to say so.
> 
> (blushes)


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2016)

Sue said:


>


----------



## mwgdrwg (Oct 9, 2016)

John Wick.

An absurd film, and I loved every second.


----------



## pesh (Oct 9, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Well, he is a handsome chap....but sadly it doesn't help him act.


or DJ


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 9, 2016)

Oh, and one I forgot to mention - Bad Behaviour.

Aussie crime from a few years ago. School of Tarantino: blood flows in buckets, and the dialogue keeps cutting through flesh and bone!

Bad shit goes down in a provincial town. A couple (boy and girl - brother and sister? I can't tell) of nasty pieces of work are hunted down by an even nastier piece of work. Those who get in the way meet a terrible fate. Thing about this one was, it was too short - it felt like there was an entire act missing. There was one very clever montage (I think that's the term) when the local cop is working his way through the crime scene, and we glimpse what happened the night before.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 9, 2016)

mwgdrwg said:


> John Wick.
> 
> An absurd film, and I loved every second.


Sequel out next year


----------



## mwgdrwg (Oct 9, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Sequel out next year



Yes, looks fantastic!


----------



## moody (Oct 10, 2016)

Just finished watching Basquiat, story of Jean Michel Basquiat - NYC 80s, artist, very cool, from homeless bohemian to Warhol-sidekick- etc etc.  Really good!

on Youtube, also there has been a bit in the media about him just recently, some bits about upcoming shows.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 10, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> *Brooklyn's Finest.*
> 
> I expected this to be a bit 'meh', going by the cover, but it turned out to be really good. Richard Gere is the burnt-out beat cop, seven days from retirement, Don Cheadle is the undercover drugs squad man who is in so deep he has trouble remembering which side he's on, and Ethan Hawke is the Catholic family man cop who desperately needs to move his family to a mould-free house - except he can't afford that on a peeler's wage. So he ends up doing some dodgy, dodgy things. That he can't afford.
> 
> ...


I'll give it a spin then, even though I find gere bland, maybe he works in this


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 10, 2016)

First 3 eps of iZombie - straight to the point, kind of Buffy style. Like.
First 3 eps of Fresh Off the Boat - Chinese American family in 90s America. Constance Wu shines in this sitcom.
Neighbours 2 - Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne back for more of the same. If you liked the first instalment, you'll like this.
The Jungle Book - Jon Favreau successfully helms this remake. 
Finding Dory - Another sequel, fun but not as good as the original.
Sing Street - John Carney delivers another Dublin musical, this time set in the 80s. Very nostalgic and feel good with slightly unrealistic ending. Still recommend it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 10, 2016)

Oh, forgot. We went to see Suicide Squad last week and it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. Leto's Joker failed to make an impact, though. And Smith's Deadshot just had to be a decent dad type. You wonder if he has that stipulation when signing up to a production...

Best bit was the trailer for Rogue One, mind


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 10, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I'll give it a spin then, even though I find gere bland, maybe he works in this


He works well enough, though you can't stop thinking "hey that's Richard Gere". Don Cheadle is the real heart of the movie, with Hawke a close second.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 10, 2016)

Suicide Squad.

I expected to hate this but it was actually not bad - certainly not a great film - and it does exactly what it was meant to do in introducing some characters and setting things up for further stories. Will Smith was surprisingly restrained, the aesthetic is compatible with 'Batman Vs Superman', and Harlequin steals the show.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 11, 2016)

White Settlers, aka Blood Lands.

Reading the reviews afterward, apparently it was about the Scottish referendum.


Spoiler alert.......

If anyone else has seen this movie: what is the city that they're dropped in at the end?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 11, 2016)

Free State Of Jones.

There are some deeply unsettling moments, raw and emotionally charged. At the same time there is a realisation that you are actually learning about a specific history at the same. The material might have been handled better, but I would challenge anyone not to be moved - especially at the sight of the end credit first photograph.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 12, 2016)

*Suicide Squad* - so much potential, good material. Wasted. What a let down.

The Joker.
What the fuck had they done to you?
And your gang, are they in the printing business too? The merchandise, the clothes - all branded 'Joker.' I can go on but will say no more, except the movie brought back memories of Spawn and Batman & Robin.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 12, 2016)

I liked the aesthetic of Letos joker, went well with Harley Quins prison-punk look. The film was first degree gash tho


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 12, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I liked the aesthetic of Letos joker, went well with Harley Quins prison-punk look. The film was first degree gash tho



He looked the part but just didn't deliver. Apparently there's lots of his scenes cut from the film so maybe that's why his character didn't impact so much...


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 12, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I liked the aesthetic of Letos joker, went well with Harley Quins prison-punk look. The film was first degree gash tho



Harley Quin was well played.

The way the Joker looked - he was way too garish, and does he need a tattoo spelling out his own name?
Maybe I'm getting boring, I think minimal is sometimes more menacing (thinking of Ledger's portrayal).


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 12, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> Harley Quin was well played.
> 
> The way the Joker looked - he was way too garish, and does he need a tattoo spelling out his own name?
> Maybe I'm getting boring, I think minimal is sometimes more menacing (thinking of Ledger's portrayal).



You just can't top that performance.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 12, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Suicide Squad* - so much potential, good material. Wasted. What a let down.
> 
> The Joker.
> What the fuck had they done to you?
> And your gang, are they in the printing business too? The merchandise, the clothes - all branded 'Joker.' I can go on but will say no more, except the movie brought back memories of Spawn and Batman & Robin.



I can see that point but the film wasn't about Joker. The film has very much set up the possibility of Joker having a central role in a future film with Harlequin - given that they are returning to Gotham.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 13, 2016)

Fourth episode of Quarry. This is seriously good series on Cinemax but you can get it on Kodi.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 13, 2016)

big trouble in little China


I never saw this as a kid. I feel that it may be a little of its time iyswim. Young Kurt Russel was young Kurt Russel but as for the rest eh, well lets say that I'm not sure there will be a reboot of this film


----------



## belboid (Oct 13, 2016)

Killer Joe

Well, that was silly. Was waiting for the chicken scene, which turned out to be exceedingly silly.


----------



## Reno (Oct 14, 2016)

An American Werewolf in London for the gazillionth time. I never get tired of this film which is still the best combination of horror and comedy ever made. Unlike with most horror comedies, the comedy doesn't undermine the horror and the horror makes the comedy sharper. It's also my favourite London film because it captures a time when I'd been visiting London regularly and it got released a couple of years before I moved here. Considering I'll be leaving soon, it was a bitter sweet experience revisiting the London I fell in love with.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 14, 2016)

Reno said:


> An American Werewolf in London for the gazillionth time. I never get tired of this film which is still the best combination of horror and comedy ever made. Unlike with most horror comedies, the comedy doesn't undermine the horror and the horror makes the comedy sharper. It's also my favourite London film because it captures a time when I'd been visiting London regularly and it got released a couple of years before I moved here. Considering I'll be leaving soon, it was a bitter sweet experience revisiting the London I fell in love with.



I've lost count of how many times I've watched this. Still cracks me up. And scary; "stay off the moors"!

I believe I once watched the sequel, although, luckily, I can't remember a thing about it.


----------



## Reno (Oct 14, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> I've lost count of how many times I've watched this. Still cracks me up. And scary; "stay off the moors"!
> 
> I believe I once watched the sequel, although, luckily, I can't remember a thing about it.


Same for me with the sequel. I watched it once and can't remember anything about it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 14, 2016)

Reno said:


> Same for me with the sequel. I watched it once and can't remember anything about it.



The BBC radio adaptation of the original is quite worth the listen.


----------



## Reno (Oct 14, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> The BBC radio adaptation of the original is quite worth the listen.


I didn't even know there was one! I'll try to find it.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 14, 2016)

Episode 8 of Outcast - after a great start this has hit a bit of a lull although there is a lot of character development and the theme of loss is more prevalent than the exorcisms. It's good but not quite as good as I thought it would be. Will watch the last two episodes of the series then make up my mind.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 14, 2016)

Designated Survivor ep 4

cheesy at is I can't help liking it somehow. Theres hardly any swearing in it and the drama is the main driver- and its melodrama. Normally that would have warning klaxons for me but this does do OK. Maybe its Kiefer Sutherland carrying it


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Oct 14, 2016)

mwgdrwg said:


> John Wick.
> 
> An absurd film, and I loved every second.



A smart thing that _John Wick_ does is to show glimpses of a whole underworld - the coins, the cleaners, the Continental Hotel etc - without ever really trying to explain it. It's just enough of a fantasy setting to let John's almost-superhuman abilities seem plausible in the context.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 14, 2016)

Reno said:


> An American Werewolf in London for the gazillionth time. I never get tired of this film which is still the best combination of horror and comedy ever made. Unlike with most horror comedies, the comedy doesn't undermine the horror and the horror makes the comedy sharper. It's also my favourite London film because it captures a time when I'd been visiting London regularly and it got released a couple of years before I moved here. Considering I'll be leaving soon, it was a bitter sweet experience revisiting the London I fell in love with.




Last Sunday when I was walking on Dartmoor, I'm sure none of my friends got in the slightest bit bored of my Brian Glover impression


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 15, 2016)

Once upon a Time in Shanghai - as far as Kung-fu flicks go, this one hits all of the right notes. 80s in feel and features respected Wing Chun dude, Philip Ng (I'm a geek for this genre).


----------



## Reno (Oct 16, 2016)

"Nerve", teen thriller based on YA novel about an online reality game in which the participants take part in increasingly risky dares for money. Surprisingly entertaining, it's the Adventures in Babysitting for the social media age, about a girl heading into the New York night for a high-stakes thrill-ride. Only drops the ball by the end, when after flirting with a bleak conclusion, it unconvincingly contrives something more upbeat. Has two cast members from Orange Is the New Black in supporting roles, so there must be some link.

"The Neon Demon". Intriguing enough for the first hour and as expected for Nicholas Winding Refn, extremely stylishly shot and scored. Then it becomes apparent that there is no plot, no characterisation and nothing of interest to say about its subject matter and that there is another hour to go. Refn is becoming a one-trick-pony and the film completely falls apart by the end with laughable attempts at being provocative and shocking. I've seen episodes of America's Next Top Model which were more scary and disturbing. Jena Malone is often the best thing about the films she appears in, but the role she's been given here feels like an insulting throwback (predatory dyke), while the usually very good Elle Fanning is given little to do in the lead apart from looking sulky. For a horror film about the fashion industry, the styling and clothes are surprisingly poor. Churning out icily stylish eye candy does not make you the next Stanley Kubrick (or David Lynch and not even Dario Argento).


----------



## Voley (Oct 16, 2016)

First episode of The Jinx. 

Intriguing so far, mainly because I'm fairly certain I've seen it before, probably when I was pissed, and can't remember a fucking thing about it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 16, 2016)

Transcendence - Wally Pfister directs, Chris Nolan produces in this Johnny Depp sci fi thing. Better than expected, even if the direction was a bit flat.

You're Next - Indie horror flick - horrible family get together is disturbed by home invasion. Gory and darkly funny.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Oct 16, 2016)

Bone Tomahawk. Really good western. A bit gory.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 17, 2016)

First 3 eps of Ripper Street s5 (whole series now on Amazon). Blimey ...  it just gets darker and darker, in every sense. And more and more good-looking. And beautifully written. Wish I'd saved it for a Saturday night for a proper allnighter as it's compelling as anything. But gotta go to work tomorrow so Monday night's reserved for the second half.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 17, 2016)

.


----------



## bi0boy (Oct 17, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> First 3 eps of Ripper Street s5 (whole series now on Amazon). Blimey ...  it just gets darker and darker, in every sense. And more and more good-looking. And beautifully written. Wish I'd saved it for a Saturday night for a proper allnighter as it's compelling as anything. But gotta go to work tomorrow so Monday night's reserved for the second half.



I'm not digging it tbh. I preferred when each ep was a standalone story. The plotlines about any of their families  are just yawnsome.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 17, 2016)

*Arq* - what a shit sci-fi. 

In short, they stretched a 30 min narrative to a 90 min feature.


----------



## magneze (Oct 17, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Arq* - what a shit sci-fi.
> 
> In short, they stretched a 30 min narrative to a 90 min feature.


Looked quite good in the trailer. I guess those are the best bits.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 17, 2016)

magneze said:


> Looked quite good in the trailer. I guess those are the best bits.



If I was to watch that film.

Watch the first 15-20 mins and then watch the last 15mins.

That's the whole story


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 17, 2016)

Zulu.

Not the Michael Caine flick, but a 2013 cops-and-crims action thriller set in present-day Cape Town. A motley trio of two white cops and a black veteran find themselves in an increasingly dangerous whirpool of drugs, violence and murder, one whose roots stretch back to the darker projects of the apartheid regime.

Even though some of the violence was too much, I thought this was very good indeed. Forest Whitaker and  Orlando Bloom were both really good, as the Zulu detective and his Afrikaner fuck-up deputy respectively, with good support from the rest of the cast, including the third detective, played by Conrad Kemp. The disappointing results of the transition to majority rule in SA are very important to this film, which handles its central themes very well. Well worth checking out (but be warned, the violence is very graphic).


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 17, 2016)

Gave up on 4400. Got really bored of it.

Started watching Spooks....which I have never seen. It is a bit crap, but helps me doze off at night...

....funny seeing Jenny Agutter & Peter Firth on screen together....hardly Equus though is it?


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 17, 2016)

Idris2002 what are the Saffa accents like? I ended up gibbering with annoyance at Taylor Kitsch and all the other slumming USAnians in _The Bang Bang Club _because they just couldn't talk the talk.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 17, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Gave up on 4400. Got really bored of it.
> 
> Started watching Spooks....which I have never seen. It is a bit crap, but helps me doze off at night...
> 
> ....funny seeing Jenny Agutter & Peter Firth on screen together....hardly Equus though is it?


You've got a new Johnnie To to watch first.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 17, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> You've got a new Johnnie To to watch first.



Nice. Thanks.  Wow. Looks great!!!!


----------



## Chz (Oct 17, 2016)

"We Are The Best!"

IMDB summary does it best: "Three girls in 1980s Stockholm decide to form a punk band -- despite not having any instruments and being told by everyone that punk is dead."

An object lesson in how to do warm-hearted without making the viewer yak on syrupy nonsense.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 17, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> Idris2002 what are the Saffa accents like? I ended up gibbering with annoyance at Taylor Kitsch and all the other slumming USAnians in _The Bang Bang Club _because they just couldn't talk the talk.


The Saffa accents sounded OK to me. I will say that the actors (especially Whitaker and Bloom) really inhabited their roles, their acting was very good. So I suppose that would extend to their accents also?


----------



## Voley (Oct 17, 2016)

Voley said:


> First episode of The Jinx.
> 
> Intriguing so far, mainly because I'm fairly certain I've seen it before, probably when I was pissed, and can't remember a fucking thing about it.


This was really good. I won't give away what happened in the last episode but it actually made me go 'fuuuuuuck' out loud. Great documentary. Up there with 'Making A Murderer' for me.

For a bit of light relief after that I watched the second episode of 'Westworld'. Enjoying that, too, particularly the evil Ed Harris bloke.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 18, 2016)

Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me.

Kermode loves it & reckons it was unfairly treated at the time of release. It still drags a bit but it's not as bad as I remember it. And yes, Sheryl Lee is very affecting and effective in it.


----------



## Reno (Oct 19, 2016)

Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words, fantastic documentary on the Hollywood star who was far more intelligent and interesting than your average Hollywood diva and who documented everything on a 16mm, so there are masses of archive footage.

Amanda Knox, the Netflix documentary, which when compared to something like The Jinx or Making a Murderer, feels too short to do the case justice, but in its focus on four characters, comes up with two compelling villains in the Daily Mail hack who termed the nickname "Foxy Knoxy" and in the Italian prosecuter who pursued his theory of an orgy gone wrong, which seemed to only be based on his own Catholic fucked up sex fantasy rather than by going on forensic evidence. The film doesn't have a commentary, just by interviewing them it gives them enough rope to hang themselves with. Nick Pisa, the journalist, obviously fancies himself a bit of a rogue and bad boy of tabloid journalism but comes across as an irredeemable arsehole. You couldn't come up with a more extreme parody of tabloid journalism than the real thing here.

Friend Request, another social media horror film which isn't exactly a great film, but which has some very effective scares.

Tried to watch Swiss Army Man, the Daniel Radcliffe "farting corpse comedy" but it irritated the fuck out of me in its contrived wackiness and it features a particularely annoying Paul Dano performance in the lead.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 20, 2016)

Reno said:


> Tried to watch Swiss Army Man, the Daniel Radcliffe "farting corpse comedy" but it irritated the fuck out of me in its contrived wackiness and it features a particularely annoying Paul Dano performance in the lead.



I like Paul Dano!
Also liked Swiss Army Man very much.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 20, 2016)

Episode 5 of Luke Cage - it's getting boring now and feels more like a chore.
Will invest my time in Westworld and Walking Dead (when it starts).


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 20, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> Episode 5 of Luke Cage - it's getting boring now and feels more like a chore.
> Will invest my time in Westworld and Walking Dead (when it starts).



Damn, was really looking fwd to it. Mate was raving about it yesterday.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 20, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Damn, was really looking fwd to it. Mate was raving about it yesterday.



It's good and loadsa people love it. 
I'm finding Luke to be a tad boring. He's too much of a cheesebag with the ladies and too self-righteous with the men he fights. All the villains are lame.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 20, 2016)

*Don't Breathe* - Jane Levy is superb in this. Has a similar feel to The Green Room. Recommend.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 20, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> It's good and loadsa people love it.
> I'm finding Luke to be a tad boring. He's too much of a cheesebag with the ladies and too self-righteous with the men he fights. All the villains are lame.



Bummer. DD had Kingpin, the various gangs and Frank Castle. JJ had the mad David Tennant character. Lame villains on a Marvel Netflix effort does not compute


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 20, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Bummer. DD had Kingpin, the various gangs and Frank Castle. JJ had the mad David Tennant character. Lame villains on a Marvel Netflix effort does not compute



Frank Castle? I love that guy!!
I doubt a series about him could possibly work. The guy is meant to a serial killer with inventive ways of murdering (Garth Ennis' version).


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 20, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> Frank Castle? I love that guy!!
> I doubt a series about him could possibly work. The guy is meant to a serial killer with inventive ways of murdering (Garth Ennis' version).



Agree. He's a brilliant supporting character but not sure an entire series could revolve around him. Mind you, Season 2 DD nearly did!


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 21, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Agree. He's a brilliant supporting character but not sure an entire series could revolve around him. Mind you, Season 2 DD nearly did!



Well he's getting his own series so we'll find out - Netflix Original Series 'Marvel's The Punisher' Announces Three New Cast Members | News | Marvel.com


----------



## ska invita (Oct 22, 2016)

rubbershoes said:


> Last Sunday when I was walking on Dartmoor, I'm sure none of my friends got in the slightest bit bored of my Brian Glover impression


_thats enough
_
(**im always saying 'thats enough' to people in that accent, but i dont think they know why, usually just get a quizzical look )


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 22, 2016)

The Roaring Twenties - I've been watching Boardwalk Empire S1 with my Dad, and he suggested we watch this as a complement to the tv series.
It's great - James Cagney was a deserved star with a natural charisma and Raoul Walsh's montages depicting Prohibition in the 20s are fantastic and much imitated - it reminded me of The Hudsucker Proxy in that respect.
We now have White Heat, The Public Enemy and Angels With Dirty Faces in the queue.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 22, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> The Roaring Twenties - I've been watching Boardwalk Empire S1 with my Dad, and he suggested we watch this as a complement to the tv series.
> It's great - James Cagney was a deserved star with a natural charisma and Raoul Walsh's montages depicting Prohibition in the 20s are fantastic and much imitated - it reminded me of The Hudsucker Proxy in that respect.
> We now have White Heat, The Public Enemy and Angels With Dirty Faces in the queue.


Bloody hell, I was just watching that now! You're right, it's great stuff. Anyone who hasn't seen it, should.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 23, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> The Roaring Twenties - I've been watching Boardwalk Empire S1 with my Dad, and he suggested we watch this as a complement to the tv series.
> It's great - James Cagney was a deserved star with a natural charisma and Raoul Walsh's montages depicting Prohibition in the 20s are fantastic and much imitated - it reminded me of The Hudsucker Proxy in that respect.
> We now have White Heat, The Public Enemy and Angels With Dirty Faces in the queue.



All great movies. Angels is probably the best...although many would say White Heat.

Roaring Twenties is a bit special though.

The original scarface is worth viewing and Little Ceaser.


----------



## extra dry (Oct 23, 2016)

Bored to death (Ted Danson comedy vehicle, some funny lines) 
Rookie blue (predictable Canadian police drama)
Line of Duty (British Polish drama)
Hell on Wheels (American railway drama/Indians/death/shoot outs)
Heroes (Dull and sloppy)


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 23, 2016)

I think is in Angels where the kids that play the two leads as kids were cast and the scenes shot before the decision to have Cagney play Rocky. So in the young scenes the kids are playing the wrong version of the older version.


----------



## Reno (Oct 23, 2016)

I love Angels With Dirty Faces and it is my favourite of what is a fantastic bunch of gangster films. I haven't watched it in a while and this is a good reminder to revisit it.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 23, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me.
> 
> Kermode loves it & reckons it was unfairly treated at the time of release. It still drags a bit but it's not as bad as I remember it. And yes, Sheryl Lee is very affecting and effective in it.



It's a 5 star Lynch film, as good as anything he's done (but very bleak).


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 23, 2016)

In Tinme - from the writer of Gattaca & The Truman Show. But not as good.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 24, 2016)

*The Social Network*

Had it sat on my DVD shelf for ages and finally got round to watching it last night.

Really enjoyed it, fantastically shot and written, with Fincher's visuals and stylistic choices helping to balance out Sorkin's mile-a-minute screenplay. Great soundtrack too, so many scenes enhanced by the music or even deliberately dwarfed by it (the club scene where Sean Parker manipulates Zuckerberg is brilliantly done, with the audience left in just as much confusion as Mark, straining to hear what Sean is alluding to whilst distracted by models and stories of million dollar losses).

Good performances across the board, not much in the way of likeable characters but Garfield and Eisenberg in particular are great to watch. Timberlake plays paranoid asshole well too.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 24, 2016)

Under the Shadow - very confident debut, very obv influenced by 2000s era J-horror, but adding a subtle political undertone. Great performance by Narges Rashidi who had to carry almost the whole film.

Symptoms - very interesting 'lost' horror/psychological/gothic thriller from mid-70s, restored by BFI. Very creepy and atmospheric. Only thing that put me off was the pretty poor acting and forced RP accents which slightly undermined it, without adding to the feeling of unreality as it may have done otherwise. I notice a lot of non-anglophone reviewers particularly liked this, which may have something to do with them not picking up on that aspect. Jean Seberg was first choice for the lead but there was some union problem and it never happened. Even with that mild annoyance this is one worth searching out.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 24, 2016)

Non-Stop

Liam Neeson brings you the FULL NEESON - ON A PLANE! Julianne Moore excels as his suspect co-passenger. Interesting entry in the cinema of post-9/11 security (that's probably worth a thread in itself).

Sleeping With Other People

A rare thing, a rom-com with brains. Surprisingly not bad. Includes master class in female masturbation technique.

The Roaring Twenties.

Already mentioned above. Like Key Largo, there seems to be a subtext that involves reminding people of just what a bad idea Prohibition really was. While The Public Enemy, from about eight years before is only really of historical interest, this one still stands up as a very effective movie.

The Kremlin Letter.

Spy thriller with some improbable incidents and plotting. Helsinki stands in for Moscow, and they don't even bother to put Cyrillic on all the buildings. Only made in 1969, but already it's assumed that agencies like the CIA are dodgy people who do dirty things. Orson Welles appears as a KGB boss, but alas we don't quite get the FULL ORSON. John Huston directs.


----------



## hot air baboon (Oct 24, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> Under the Shadow -
> 
> Symptoms




....have you heard about this one B.A.....?


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 24, 2016)

hot air baboon said:


> ....have you heard about this one B.A.....?


I hadn't - looks exactly like what i like. Ta.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 24, 2016)

Angels With Dirty Faces - this is as good as Reno and Nanker Phelge say - it is a bit preachy when the priest speechifies, but he is a priest after all. The ending was great - I hope it was meant to be as ambiguous as I felt it was. I may be romanticising old movies, but they knew how to end films better in those days. or so it seems.
I had assumed the New York street scenes had been shot on location, but it appears that they were filmed at Burbank - it must have been a vast set. 
The shoot-out at near the end is especially memorable with fantastic shadows and angles.



Nanker Phelge said:


> I think is in Angels where the kids that play the two leads as kids were cast and the scenes shot before the decision to have Cagney play Rocky. So in the young scenes the kids are playing the wrong version of the older version.


I don't think so - they were teens rather than kids and the young man who plays Rocky, Frankie Burke, is the spit of Cagney:


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't think so - they were teens rather than kids and the young man who plays Rocky, Frankie Burke, is the spit of Cagney:
> View attachment 94334



It must be The Public Enemy then....


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 24, 2016)

Yes it was The Public Enemy

_Edward Woods was originally cast in the lead role of Tom Powers and James Cagney was cast as Tom's best friend Matt Doyle, until director Wellman decided Cagney would be more effective in the part and switched the two actors[4][6] but never reshot the sequences with the characters as children, which is why the child playing Cagney's role looks like Woods while the one playing Woods' role looks like Cagney._


----------



## starfish (Oct 24, 2016)

Inside Out. Really enjoyed it. Thought the little Rage character was funny as fuck.

The Greasy Strangler. Erm, yeah. Still not too sure what to make of that one.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 24, 2016)

The Excorcist III  Legion.  One of only 2 films directed by Blatty, both heavily religious but this with a wonderful dark humour missing from the first film.


----------



## Sue (Oct 24, 2016)

One of Our Aircraft is Missing. Classic P&P.

Les Visiteurs. French time travel comedy starting Jean Reno. Not a great film but enjoyable enough.


----------



## Reno (Oct 24, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> The Excorcist III  Legion.  One of only 2 films directed by Blatty, both heavily religious but this with a wonderful dark humour missing from the first film.


I like this one. Did you watch the theatrical cut or the recently restored directors cut ?


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 25, 2016)

Reno said:


> I like this one. Did you watch the theatrical cut or the recently restored directors cut ?


Didn't know there was a director's cut, Reno.  Will have to check it out.


----------



## Reno (Oct 25, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Didn't know there was a director's cut, Reno.  Will have to check it out.


It just got released on BD/DVD in the US. Originally the film was a lot closer to Blatty's novel Legion, till the studio decided to do major reshoots to add the whole exorcism subplot which always felt a bit tacked on. I'm curious to see it, though people who have seen the director's cut say the end is now a little anti-climactic. I long thought this film is rather underrated with one of the scariest sequences of any horror film ever.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 25, 2016)

Ooh thanks Reno, you know I'm a fan too, didn't realise there was a director's cut.

I finally got round to watching Inside No.9 - The 12 Days of Christine. Wonderfully well made, I need to watch it again. Cut the sorrow with three episodes of Mid Morning Matters.


----------



## hot air baboon (Oct 27, 2016)

...getting to see it ( Ex III ) in an actual proper cinema tomorrow...


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 27, 2016)

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.

I think that's what it's called.  Iranian language vampire film which is kind of a western and a romance.  It's complex in its simplicity, good soundtrack too.  I was clucking about the cool Iranian buildings until I found out it was filmed in California.

Really enjoyed it.   Needed more vampire though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 28, 2016)

The rather insane cartoon; Rick & Morty


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 28, 2016)

The Secret Life Of Pets.

Meh.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 28, 2016)

Watchmen - extended version. Love this film.


----------



## Duncan2 (Oct 28, 2016)

Picnic at Hanging Rock-watched out of curiosity because I remembered being impressed the first time I saw it which was quite a while ago now.I wasn't disappointed-bit of a shaggy dog story but nicely shot I think.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 28, 2016)

Reno said:


> It just got released on BD/DVD in the US. Originally the film was a lot closer to Blatty's novel Legion, till the studio decided to do major reshoots to add the whole exorcism subplot which always felt a bit tacked on. I'm curious to see it, though people who have seen the director's cut say the end is now a little anti-climactic. I long thought this film is rather underrated with one of the scariest sequences of any horror film ever.


Just found out that Jason Miller's son is Jason Patric who was Michael in The Lost Boys.

Anyway...I thought it was interesting


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 29, 2016)

Sue said:


> Les Visiteurs. French time travel comedy starting Jean Reno. Not a great film but enjoyable enough.



If you want to fully appreciate the film watch the re-make for US audiences.


----------



## Reno (Oct 30, 2016)

Train to Busan, Korean action horror film which could have been called Zombies on a Train and it's excellent, doing just about everything with zombies on a train which can be done. I liked its old school disaster movie approach to the dwindling group of survivors it follows as a train (and the world outside) get taken over by the zombie apocalypse.



The Greasy Strangler. Words fail me when it comes to this one. People will either love or hate the film, I loved it. It's disgusting and extremely weird but the expression of a fully worked out vision. The closest it comes to reminding me of something is John Waters 70s films via an adults only Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, it's the gross out comedy to end them all. OMG the "disco outfit" !

Trailer NSFW:


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 30, 2016)

The Brothers Grimsby.  Sasha Baron Conen's latest.  Extremely rude, totally over the top and very, very funny.  The best elephant gang-bang you'll ever see.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 30, 2016)

Reno said:


> Train to Busan, Korean action horror film which could have been called Zombies on a Train and it's excellent, doing just about everything with zombies on a train which can be done. I liked its old school disaster movie approach to the dwindling group of survivors it follows as a train (and the world outside) get taken over by the zombie apocalypse.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I didn't know Train to Busan was a Korean horror as the posters made it look like a 'serious' movie.

The Greasy Strangler was god damn awful.
First 15mins was funny (potato/ chip joke in particular) but the humour was on repeat too many times. 

John Water films had a certain charm to the characters. These guys were just too grotesque and unlikable. No redemption or light...way too 2D.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 30, 2016)

Non Stop

pretty by the numbers action film set on a plane. Not bad, 5 out of 10 neesons


----------



## Reno (Oct 30, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> I didn't know Train to Busan was a Korean horror as the posters made it look like a 'serious' movie.
> 
> The Greasy Strangler was god damn awful.
> First 15mins was funny (potato/ chip joke in particular) but the humour was on repeat too many times.
> ...



I actually liked it's repetitiveness and every time I thought it was running out of steam, it came up with another visual which seared itself into my brain. Watched it with a group of friends and copious amounts of alcohol and we laughed like drains. I felt the way you felt about TGS about Swiss Army Man which is a similarly divisive film, which for all its shock-quirkiness, bored me to tears.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 30, 2016)

Wrecking Crew - Doc about the LA session musicians that played on thousands of great tunes throughout the 60s and early 70s.


----------



## Duncan2 (Oct 30, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> The Brothers Grimsby.  Sasha Baron Conen's latest.  Extremely rude, totally over the top and very, very funny.  The best elephant gang-bang you'll ever see.


This


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 30, 2016)

Atlanta - episode on Monatgue and the trans-racial black man. I love this series, best comedy for years.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 30, 2016)

Excision.  Fuck me, that's a good film.


----------



## DrRingDing (Oct 30, 2016)

Chain watched the new series of Black Mirror. Best bit of work by Brooker so far......helped along by a fat budget.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 31, 2016)

Train to Busan on Reno  's reccomendation. Korean zombies on a train, quite good. No padding and great zombies. Bit mawkish in the emotional bits but thats ok cos the zombies. They have this cool way of turning where they sort of crunch and twist like a smashed up corpse pulling itself together. I give it a 6


----------



## Reno (Oct 31, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I give it a 6



Out of 7 I hope !


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 31, 2016)

Gone Girl - David Fincher's recent thriller. If you like Fincher, you'll like this.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Oct 31, 2016)

Was going to watch Train To Busan last night but I'm kinda zombied out atm (Walking Dead/ Ash vs Evil Dead).


----------



## Reno (Oct 31, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Gone Girl - David Fincher's recent thriller. If you like Fincher, you'll like this.


I like Fincher, but I didn't like this. It's a trashy airport novel, contrived and with the pretense that it has something valuable to say about male/female relationships, which it doesn't.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 31, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> Was going to watch Train To Busan last night but I'm kinda zombied out atm (Walking Dead/ Ash vs Evil Dead).


bailed on walking dead seasons ago. Its to po-faced and thecharacters are all incredibly shallowly drawn imo.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 31, 2016)

Reno said:


> I like Fincher, but I didn't like this. It's a trashy airport novel, contrived and with the pretense that it has something valuable to say about male/female relationships, which it doesn't.



I just took it at face value; an entertaining thriller. What's wrong with trashy, anyway?


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 31, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> bailed on walking dead seasons ago. Its to po-faced and thecharacters are all incredibly shallowly drawn imo.



I know a lot of people bailed on season 2. I almost did but it got so much better...


----------



## Reno (Oct 31, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> I just took it at face value; an entertaining thriller. What's wrong with trashy, anyway?


Nothing until trashy pretends its classy !


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 31, 2016)

Reno said:


> Nothing until trashy pretends its classy !



Ok, the novel may have been a turd - I haven't read it - but IMHO Fincher may well have polished it


----------



## Chz (Oct 31, 2016)

The end was fairly unsatisfying, but the trip to get there was entertaining enough.


----------



## pesh (Oct 31, 2016)

No it wasn't.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 31, 2016)

Reno said:


> I like Fincher, but I didn't like this. It's a trashy airport novel, contrived and with the pretense that it has something valuable to say about male/female relationships, which it doesn't.


erm. I disagree.


----------



## Reno (Oct 31, 2016)

Don't link to some online amateur film studies stuff using a text book step for step, because I don't care for the film enough to spend much time on this. If you disagree, tell me why you think so.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 1, 2016)

It's a multi-media world, Reno.  Tony's screenplay analyses are very interesting to me.


----------



## Reno (Nov 1, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> It's a multi-media world, Reno.  Tony's screenplay analyses are very interesting to me.


I just don't have the time for all these itty-bitty youtube clips, especially, when it's on a film I don't care for. :shakes walking stick at the heavens:


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 1, 2016)

Reno said:


> I just don't have the time for all these itty-bitty youtube clips, especially, when it's on a film I don't care for. :shakes walking stick at the heavens:


You don't like it, fine.  I'll link to what I want though...the links are certainly more informative than you on the many occasions you don't like a film 

I don't have a problem when you don't like a film but you have a tendency to a form of snobbery about it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 1, 2016)

I've been watching Spooks at bedtime. I am on series 3. Do any of these characters ever develop?


----------



## Reno (Nov 1, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> You don't like it, fine.  I'll link to what I want though...the links are certainly more informative than you on the many occasions you don't like a film
> 
> I don't have a problem when you don't like a film but you have a tendency to a form of snobbery about it.


Maybe starting a post with a condescending  "erm" as if you are presenting some irrefutable truth by linking to some video doesn't help. The examples presented in the video could be applied to lots of other films, it's all so non-specific, basically its waffle. I like film theory and read a lt of it, but not in 5 minute YouTube clips for the ADHD crowd. In the end, Gone Girl is no Chinatown and this certainly didn't convice me that we are dealing with a great screenplay here.

A recent film which did something similar but far better is Steven Soderberg's neo-noir Side Effects which finds the right tone for its pulpy, twisty plot and which I thought was a lot more fun than Gone Girl.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 1, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I've been watching Spooks at bedtime. I am on series 3. Do any of these characters ever develop?



Sort of. Harry's probably the most defined by the end. Worth sticking around for the most fabulous character; Ros.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 1, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Sort of. Harry's probably the most defined by the end. Worth sticking around for the most fabulous character; Ros.



I don't know much about you as a poster but, from what I have seen from your posts in film and TV, your endorsement is not a positive thing.

Sorry. No insult intended.


----------



## hot air baboon (Nov 1, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I've been watching Spooks at bedtime. I am on series 3. Do any of these characters ever develop?



...no they mainly get blown up...


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 1, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I don't know much about you as a poster but, from what I have seen from your posts in film and TV, your endorsement is not a positive thing.
> 
> Sorry. No insult intended.



That's fine. Everybody has their own tastes. I can just as easily watch Gilmore Girls as I can Breaking Bad. Or The Tree of Life or Finding Nemo.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 1, 2016)

The Witch.  Most excellent halloween viewing


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 2, 2016)

Our Man in Havana.

Alec Guinness in fine form. Ostensibly comic spying in prerevolutionary Cuba, but with a hard centre.

Carol Reed directs with only the rarest of nods to the Third Man.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 2, 2016)

*Phantasm V - Ravager
*
I knew this was going to be shit and it didn't disappoint.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Nov 2, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I've been watching Spooks at bedtime. I am on series 3. Do any of these characters ever develop?



Not really, no. Harry is the only character you get any sort of deeper insight into (and possibly one other, who I'm not sure will have showed up for you yet). But eh, it's Spooks, even if it is perfect bedtime fodder, it's really just more of the same right through to the end.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 2, 2016)

Reno said:


> <snip>
> 
> The Greasy Strangler. Words fail me when it comes to this one. People will either love or hate the film, I loved it. It's disgusting and extremely weird but the expression of a fully worked out vision. The closest it comes to reminding me of something is John Waters 70s films via an adults only Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, it's the gross out comedy to end them all. OMG the "disco outfit" !
> 
> Trailer NSFW:




I went to see this at the cinema this weekend - hilarious from start to finish.  It is very like a John Waters film.

The 'disco outfit' as great, but I wouldn't wear one myself.   #GetGreasy

It has been nominated for a BIFA Discovery Award.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 2, 2016)

Jack Reacher.

Twas okay, nothing new, just a standard attempt at an action thriller. There was, however, one line delivered by Cruise that SWMBO nearly choked at (regarding pregnancy or lack thereof).


----------



## seventh bullet (Nov 3, 2016)

I recently watched all of the Hunger Games films.  I really enjoyed them while not expecting to, and having never read the novels they are based on, didn't think they would be as bleak as they were.  I particularly liked the final one, which apart from the moral wrangling over what is deemed to be acceptable or necessary behaviour in war, was helped by the look and feel of the evacuated parts of the Capitol as the rebel army closed in on the government, with its Soviet-style buildings that could belong on 1930s architectural plans or in the realised central parts of 1950s Moscow, although as seen in earlier films even the Victors' Village  that's seen better days in the monochromatic coal mining district was like a pavilioned exhibition centre in the old USSR.  The only thing that didn't quite fit was the ending, that final few minutes (I guess on how to deal with the mental trauma of war haunting you in the present, which isn't as 'happy' an ending as it might appear).  Mockingjay parts one and two could also have just been one film, but I guess more money could be rinsed from the making of two.

Reno will be along soon to contradict me on something (and I do enjoy reading your posts).


----------



## Reno (Nov 3, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> I recently watched all of the Hunger Games films.  I really enjoyed them while not expecting to, and having never read the novels they are based on, didn't think they would be as bleak as they were.  I particularly liked the final one, which apart from the moral wrangling over what is deemed to be acceptable or necessary behaviour in war, was helped by the look and feel of the evacuated parts of the Capitol as the rebel army closed in on the government, with its Soviet-style buildings that could belong on 1930s architectural plans or in the realised central parts of 1950s Moscow, although as seen in earlier films even the Victors' Village  that's seen better days in the monochromatic coal mining district was like a pavilioned exhibition centre in the old USSR.  The only thing that didn't quite fit was the ending, that final few minutes (I guess on how to deal with the mental trauma of war haunting you in the present, which isn't as 'happy' an ending as it might appear).  Mockingjay parts one and two could also have just been one film, but I guess more money could be rinsed from the making of two.
> 
> Reno will be along soon to contradict me on something (and I do enjoy reading your posts).


They were alright, I thought the second film was the best. Agree with you on the ending.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 3, 2016)

*Train to Busan* - I cried. Memorable and intense.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 3, 2016)

Scream 2 was on last night, got sucked into re-watching and think it might actually have the first one beat, very cleverly plotted and just self-deprecating enough to get away with the knowing references.

The first one has a stunning opening and some entertaining villain moments (Matthew Lillard in particular), but I think the 2nd one is superior.

For completeness - the 3rd one is mostly crap but Parker Posey has some good moments, while Scream 4 is actually pretty good (but not quite up to the standard of the first 2).

Also the latest Agents of Shield episode (S4 Ep 6), which was brilliant and felt like a mid-season finale, they are really not hanging about! Plus the fucking* Ghost Rider* is done very well (both in effects and in acting)


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 3, 2016)

Reno said:


> They were alright, I thought the second film was the best. Agree with you on the ending.



I felt the series kind of petered out before the end. Defintely the last 2 could have been one film. Great panto performance from Donald Sutherland.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Nov 3, 2016)

*The Quiet One (1948)* - docufiction about the attempts of Wiltwyck School in New York to rehabilitate a neglected and disturbed young black boy. Very moving.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 3, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Train to Busan* - I cried. Memorable and intense.





Spoiler: ending



I liked that they killed of the hero, didn't see it coming at all




I watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

eh expensively poor imo. Charles dance and doctor who were in it. Very pretty but I suspect you have to know the austen to get the most from it. Pretty sure the zombie war is a stand in for the napoleonic wars.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 3, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Spoiler: ending
> 
> 
> 
> I liked that they killed of the hero, didn't see it coming at all



Yes, in typical Korean fashion.

The COO of the train company and the little girl.
All they wanted were their mums


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 3, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
> 
> eh expensively poor imo. Charles dance and doctor who were in it. Very pretty but I suspect you have to know the austen to get the most from it. Pretty sure the zombie war is a stand in for the napoleonic wars.



I saw this a few weeks ago. I thought it had a Hollyoaks feel to it too. Cheap.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 3, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> I saw this a few weeks ago. I thought it had a Hollyoaks feel to it too. Cheap.


obligatory 'weapons in corsetry/hosiery' scene as well


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 3, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> It has been nominated for a BIFA Discovery Award.


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 3, 2016)

The Last Picture Show.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 4, 2016)

I watched Harlem Nights to see if stood the test of time and its not aged badly. Slightly marred by me knowing these days what a monumental prick Eddie Murphy is irl


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 4, 2016)

May Kasahara said:


> The Last Picture Show.



Saw it some months ago; it's really stuck in my mind. I don't think I'll watch the sequel, though. It would take away from the original.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 4, 2016)

Luke Cage.
Enjoying the Tarantinoesque cultural and literary references, but 4 episodes in and I'm a bit bored. But it's not too late to retreat now, so must plough on.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 4, 2016)

My housemate and I are on an 80's nostalgia trip at the mo, so watched *Caddyshack* last night.

Dated as fuck but still holds up, laughed several times and enjoyed most of the performances.

Can't beat a bit of Kenny Loggins on the soundtrack either


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 4, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Luke Cage.
> Enjoying the Tarantinoesque cultural and literary references, but 4 episodes in and I'm a bit bored. But it's not too late to retreat now, so must plough on.



It gets better and then slightly shit again.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 4, 2016)

seventh bullet said:


> I recently watched all of the Hunger Games films.  I really enjoyed them while not expecting to, and having never read the novels they are based on, didn't think they would be as bleak as they were.  I particularly liked the final one, which apart from the moral wrangling over what is deemed to be acceptable or necessary behaviour in war, was helped by the look and feel of the evacuated parts of the Capitol as the rebel army closed in on the government, with its Soviet-style buildings that could belong on 1930s architectural plans or in the realised central parts of 1950s Moscow, although as seen in earlier films even the Victors' Village  that's seen better days in the monochromatic coal mining district was like a pavilioned exhibition centre in the old USSR.  The only thing that didn't quite fit was the ending, that final few minutes (I guess on how to deal with the mental trauma of war haunting you in the present, which isn't as 'happy' an ending as it might appear).  Mockingjay parts one and two could also have just been one film, but I guess more money could be rinsed from the making of two.
> 
> Reno will be along soon to contradict me on something (and I do enjoy reading your posts).


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 4, 2016)

Rodney P's passionate documentary - Hip Hop World News. Highlights the origins, messages and positivity of hip hop and touches on the negative side. Not bad but I wish there had been more British and global hip hop included. Rodney correctly had issues with raps's treatment of women but there didn't seem to be much focus on women apart from a brief mention of Lauren Hill. Still, brought a lot of good memories back.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 6, 2016)

Went to see Doctor Strange. Lot better than expected; Marvel really is consistently notching up the hits. Trippy, Inception meets Batman Begins. Not as clever or beautiful as a Nolan film, of course, but great fun.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 6, 2016)

"My Trans American American Road Trip". Abigail Austin's upsetting report on the treatment of transgenders in the US - especially in North Carolina. Needless to say, the doc had us both in tears. The level of hatred against transgenders is astonishing and the ignorance on display - quite breathtaking. As with opponents of gay marriage - the rights for transgenders (mtf) to use the women's toilet - the language here equates transgender with sexual predator. The irony then, that a lot of these prejudiced folk are Trump supporters...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 6, 2016)

Really enjoying The Missing series 2. I bypassed the first series. This one is really good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 6, 2016)

Supersonic.  The Oasis documentary.

It's fascinating.  Two brothers butting heads their whole lives.  Full of wonderful tales and observations.  Music isn't too bad either (and cleverly gets better as it goes on, like a concert).

The light that burns twice as brightly....


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 7, 2016)

Rick n Morty season 1, most of. Very funny


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 7, 2016)

About two episodes of *Black Jesus.* Unfortunately, this is my kind of humour


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 7, 2016)

In addition to episodes of Columbo that are as old as I am, and the first two episodes of Fargo, which is much better than I expected, there are these full episodes of a show called Doctor at Large, which you can find on Youtube. These derive from the Doctor books by Richard Gordon, which were adapted as the Dirk Bogarde vehicles _Doctor in the House _and _Doctor at Sea_. And most of these shows have not aged well at all, and they come with some very dodgy subtexts as well. This was one was interesting, though, because it had Arthur Lowe in a non-Mainwaring role:


----------



## Reno (Nov 8, 2016)

Season 3 of The Strain. It's shit, but its fun.


----------



## EllenY (Nov 9, 2016)

Warcraft


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 9, 2016)

The US Presidential Race (Sky) - Bad start, dips further in the middle and one of the most godawful endings ever.


----------



## Reno (Nov 9, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> The US Presidential Race (Sky) - Bad start, dips further in the middle and one of the most godawful endings ever.


I did a whole thread how this was great year for horror films !


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 10, 2016)

Tombstone. Less earnest than Costner's Wyatt Earp from the same year. Everybody is in it!


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 11, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> Tombstone. Less earnest than Costner's Wyatt Earp from the same year. Everybody is in it!


Val Kilmer is great in this.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 11, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Val Kilmer is great in this.



He is, rather. I can take or leave VKs performances but he's standout in this movie.


----------



## Chz (Nov 11, 2016)

It's probably the _only_ film he's quite good in.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 11, 2016)

Chz said:


> It's probably the _only_ film he's quite good in.



Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
possibly Heat too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 11, 2016)

The Octagon said:


> Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
> possibly Heat too.


True Romance
Top Gun
Top Secret
The Doors


----------



## Chz (Nov 11, 2016)

Disagree with the lot. Some of those are good films (Top Secret, really?), but he's not good in them. Never understood how he got work.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 11, 2016)

Chz said:


> Disagree with the lot. Some of those are good films (Top Secret, really?), but he's not good in them.


Top Secret is brilliant
The Doors is awful, but he is totally Jim Morrison in it
He's great as Iceman in Top Gun
And his Elvis in True Romance is way better than Kurt Russell's


----------



## Reno (Nov 11, 2016)

Top Secret is one of the funniest films I've ever seen !


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 11, 2016)

I watched an actual film on the telly last night - The Bourne Legacy. Haven't in years.
The ad breaks made me lose concentration and I got bored and picked up a book, so I missed the climactic Hong Kong car and foot chase, which I glimpsed in the background.
It wasn't awful, but it was a bit relentless.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 11, 2016)

Chz said:


> It's probably the _only_ film he's quite good in.


Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.


----------



## Reno (Nov 11, 2016)

Val Kilmer wasn't a bad actor but his career nosedived because he gained a reputation for being one of the most unpleasant film stars to work with.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 11, 2016)

Reno said:


> Val Kilmer wasn't a bad actor but his career nosedived because he gained a reputation for being one of the most unpleasant film stars to work with.



Why? What was he alleged to be like?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 11, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Why? What was he alleged to be like?


He was reputedly the reason Richard Stanley got sacked from Dr Moreau, and John Frankenheimer, who replaced Stanley, hated him even more.
He was reportedly very difficult and demanding, and slowed film productions down, which costs a lot of money and didn't endear him to both crews and casts


----------



## Reno (Nov 11, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Why? What was he alleged to be like?


It's easily googled. Many people in the industry who have worked with him have nothing good to say about him and they don't hold back when interviewed. Hollywood people tend to be diplomatic about co-workers and they are used to a certain degree of bad behaviour and diva tantrums. In Kilmer's case many of his costars and directors, etc have gone on record that he is a nightmare to work with. Even the notoriously difficult Marlon Brando thought Kilmer was an asshole. Just as he was ascending to A-list stardom, he became unemployable because nobody wanted to work with him anymore. It appears he has become more humble since his career imploded and he gets the occasional character part in a bigger picture, but his bread and butter are B-movies and straight to video fare, when once he was tipped for superstardom.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 12, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Why? What was he alleged to be like?


Look for stories about the making of _The Island Of Dr Moreau_ (there's even a documentary, _Lost Souls: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr Moreau_)


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 12, 2016)

Hell or High Water - loved it and enjoyed the depiction of Texas (my favourite state). multiple layers to the story, essentially about banks and poverty, or the threat of. Recommend.


----------



## Reno (Nov 12, 2016)

Episodes 3&4 of the new season of Black Mirror. This is by far the strongest season yet, I've liked all four episodes so far and absolutely loved San Junipero. It's a science fiction update of one of my favourite lesser known films, the romantic fantasy Peter Ibbetson with Gary Cooper from 1935. Also good to see how much colourblind casting of black actors there is in this series.


----------



## Reno (Nov 13, 2016)

Episode 5 of Black Mirror, which I thought was the weakest of the bunch because it's the most preachy and it has the least engaging main character of the lot. X-Men: Apocalypse which is fine for the first half and like so many of these superhero films, gets tedious when the fighting and mega-destruction starts. I fell asleep and not sure I can be bothered to pick up from where I passed out.


----------



## fishfinger (Nov 13, 2016)

Into the volcano - a documentary about active volcanoes, by Werner Herzog. Not just the volcanoes but also about the people living near them and their cultures. Very interesting.


----------



## magneze (Nov 13, 2016)

Watched that too. Was interesting and had some amazing footage but I did almost fall asleep. That said, I'm ill.


----------



## magneze (Nov 13, 2016)

Also watching The Expanse. Very good sci-fi.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 13, 2016)

The Heat - Sandra Bullock & Melissa McCarthy in Paul Feig cop buddy comedy. I laughed a few times and it was good to see Biff in it.

Prisoners - Dennis Villeneuve directs Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhal in kidnap drama. Uneasy viewing but makes me more hopeful for the new Blade Runner film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 13, 2016)

_The Hand_

Early directorial gig for Oliver Stone, with Michael Caine at his most RANDOM SHOUTY and frizzy of hair as a cartoonist who has his



Spoiler



hand ripped off in a freak car accident



and subsequently suffers from black-outs, terrified by flashbacks in which his



Spoiler



severed hand attacks and murders people.



It's not great. Really, it is not good at all.

Stone puts in a decent turn as a growly hobo though


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> _The Hand_
> 
> Early directorial gig for Oliver Stone, with Michael Caine at his most RANDOM SHOUTY and frizzy of hair as a cartoonist who has his
> 
> ...


I watched this clandestinely when I was a kid and it scared the shit out of me.
And it had a bare naked lady in it


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 14, 2016)

I think the only reason I had it was because I had been cruising Maurice's Wikipedia page and thought, "Hmmm, I've missed out a lot of his mid-70s to mid-80s output, I'd better catch up."

Hence, I now have a queue of fair-to-middling-to-very-much-not-fair fare to work through...

Have already dutifully dispatched:

_The Swarm _(THE BEES! THE BEES!)
_Beyond The Poseidon Adventure_ ("You were only supposed to RAISE THE BLOODY BOAT UP!")
_The Honorary Consul _(a minor dress rehearsal for _The Quiet American_)
_The Hand_ (total fist)
_Without A Clue_ (Holmes/Watson pastiche)
That leaves:

_Pulp_
_The Marseille Contract_
_The Wilby Conspiracy_
_Peeper_
_Deathtrap_
_The Holcroft Covenant_

I'm not sure what I did to deserve this


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 14, 2016)

magneze said:


> Watched that too. Was interesting and had some amazing footage but I did almost fall asleep. That said, I'm ill.



Herzogs voice always sends me to sleep.

Mark Cousins is the other. Ive never made it through a single episode of his Story of Film without dozing off.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 14, 2016)

The Intern.

Mmmm. A very odd film. Very odd.


----------



## Reno (Nov 14, 2016)

The fist two episodes of American Horror Story S6 and so far it's showing promise. Gave up on this show half way through season 4 but read that this is a return to form and so far it seems to be true.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 15, 2016)

La Regle du Jeu - Jean Renoir directs and stars in this classic from 1939. I watched the restored version from 1998. Tragicomedy about a bunch of aristocrats and their servants. Casual affairs, casual racism, cruelty to animals and all that malarkey.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 15, 2016)

episode 3 of the new Black Mirror. It was pretty intense and I may watch more of this season.


----------



## belboid (Nov 15, 2016)

All That Jazz

Bob Fosse's autobiographical film about an egotistical but brilliant choreographer/director that fails entirely to hold back or show Fosse Joe Gideon in a particularly flattering light.  A womanising, pill popping, lousy dad and husband, he is still one fuck of a choreographer and director.  The last scene, a ten minute sing and dancealong to a reworked Bye Bye Love is thoroughly deserving of its almost legendary status, magnificently over the top but wonderful. It's actually topped tho by two less well remembered dances, one with just his ex-wife is lusciously threatening, while the one with the ex-wife and daughter is funny and really touching.  Lots of the rest of it doesn't entirely stand up 35 years on, but it's still a fine way to spend a couple of hours.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 15, 2016)

War Dogs.


----------



## Reno (Nov 15, 2016)

belboid said:


> All That Jazz
> 
> Bob Fosse's autobiographical film about an egotistical but brilliant choreographer/director that fails entirely to hold back or show Fosse Joe Gideon in a particularly flattering light.  A womanising, pill popping, lousy dad and husband, he is still one fuck of a choreographer and director.  The last scene, a ten minute sing and dancealong to a reworked Bye Bye Love is thoroughly deserving of its almost legendary status, magnificently over the top but wonderful. It's actually topped tho by two less well remembered dances, one with just his ex-wife is lusciously threatening, while the one with the ex-wife and daughter is funny and really touching.  Lots of the rest of it doesn't entirely stand up 35 years on, but it's still a fine way to spend a couple of hours.


I recently rewatched this and think the entire film is still fantastic. Bob Fosse's best as far as I'm concerned, I even prefer this over Cabaret.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 15, 2016)

Usual Suspects.  For about the 30th time.

Superlative, even though if partly by accident.  Baldwin's performance is magnificent even though he didn't mean it and was incapable of it.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Nov 15, 2016)

Grimsby

fucking hell- it is one of the most tasteless and politically iffy films i have ever seen...i did chortle though. its proper terrible


----------



## extra dry (Nov 16, 2016)

Bones season 5. Formula driven american mind mush, police/forensic show.

Ripper street seasons 1 and 2, BBC trying hard to do a victorian police/historical drama based in and around whitechaple.

Good kill, fact based movie about UAV pilots and the psycological stresses of blowing terrorists up on the say so of the CIA.

5TH wave, aliens/resistance fighters etc.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 16, 2016)

On season 2 of Gilmore Girls. Last night's ep included a delightful reference to beloved Trump 

'Gilmore Girls' Knew Donald Trump Was The Worst Before It Was Cool | The Huffington Post


----------



## Reno (Nov 16, 2016)

extra dry said:


> Bones season 5. Formula driven american mind mush, police/forensic show.
> 
> Ripper street seasons 1 and 2, BBC trying hard to do a victorian police/historical drama based in and around whitechaple.



If you think both of these series are crap, then why do you watch them ?


----------



## extra dry (Nov 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> If you think both of these series are crap, then why do you watch them
> 
> Out of spite.
> 
> Joking I just get stuff recommended then give my honest opinion. Not easily impressed but willing to watch most stuff.


----------



## extra dry (Nov 16, 2016)

Well messed up the quote system there what I am trying to say is,

I just get stuff recommended then give my honest opinion. Not easily impressed but willing to watch most stuff.


----------



## belboid (Nov 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> I recently rewatched this and think the entire film is still fantastic. Bob Fosse's best as far as I'm concerned, I even prefer this over Cabaret.


The only thing that stops me from agreeing is the odd changes in film quality.  It seemed at various points to swap between film and video, and to use bluescreen in really odd situations.  It might well just have been the quality of the transfer, or the four bottles of wine, but it kept looking really odd, and took me out of the moment


----------



## Reno (Nov 16, 2016)

belboid said:


> The only thing that stops me from agreeing is the odd changes in film quality.  It seemed at various points to swap between film and video, and to use bluescreen in really odd situations.  It might well just have been the quality of the transfer, or the four bottles of wine, but it kept looking really odd, and took me out of the moment



Huh ? There is no video at all in this, that would not have been viable for a feature film during the 70s and 80s. Did you download a crap torrent ? High speed film stock in the 70s could get grainy at times, but many films had that gritty, semi-documentary look then. There is absolutely no use of blue screen or of any other optical effects either. 

I watched the Criterion blu-ray and the film looked beautiful, so it was the four bottles of wine.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 16, 2016)

Reno said:


> Huh ? There is no video at all in this, that would not have been viable for a feature film during the 70s and 80s. Did you download a crap torrent ? High speed film stock in the 70s could get grainy at times, but many films had that gritty, semi-documentary look then. There is absolutely no use of blue screen or of any other optical effects either. I watched the Criterion blu-ray and the film looked beautiful.



I think of you in a grainy resolution. A fuzzy Mark Kermode, if you like...


----------



## Reno (Nov 16, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> I think of you in a grainy resolution. A fuzzy Mark Kermode, if you like...


I don't like Kermode.


----------



## belboid (Nov 17, 2016)

Reno said:


> Huh ? There is no video at all in this, that would not have been viable for a feature film during the 70s and 80s. Did you download a crap torrent ? High speed film stock in the 70s could get grainy at times, but many films had that gritty, semi-documentary look then. There is absolutely no use of blue screen or of any other optical effects either.
> 
> I watched the Criterion blu-ray and the film looked beautiful, so it was the four bottles of wine.


Me dads DVD. Should have been decent, but was...a bit weird.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 17, 2016)

Reno said:


> I don't like Kermode.



I didn't think you would


----------



## Reno (Nov 17, 2016)

belboid said:


> Me dads DVD. Should have been decent, but was...a bit weird.


I was the wine !


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 17, 2016)

Invitation to a Gunfighter - 1964 melodramatic western with Yul Brynner, Pat Hingle. Yul is called out to deal with a rebel but has a identity crisis. George Segal, William Hickey & that annoying souther sherrif from Bond films appear.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 18, 2016)

50 Shades Of Black.

How on earth does this shit even get made?!!


----------



## Reno (Nov 18, 2016)

The Coen's "Hail, Caesar!" which is entertaining and has a couple of great scenes (especially a parody of On the Town, involving dancing sailors, which gets increasingly homoerotic) but overall it's feels slight and episodic, without much narrative momentum.

Gave up on American Horror Story again. Still rubbish.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 18, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> *Dragon Blade (*2015) - has all the ingredients of a laughably enjoyable piece of rubbish (Ancient Romans meet Early Chinese on the Silk Road for a punchup? Jackie Chan? John Cusack? Massively overpaid Hollywood stars just slumming it for the travel? I'm in!) but it just doesn't work on any level. It's not bad enough to be entertainingly camp (even Adrien Brody affecting a cod-English Depraved Aristocrat accent and flowing hair doesn't go far enough), it leaps about in time and place for no reason at all, the 'humour' is painfully weak and the 'cute kid' character is so grating you wish they'd strangled him at birth. There's not enough myth or magic - no dragons, unfeasibly long eyebrows or vengeful hermaphrodites. It has all of the rubbishness of Shaw Brothers / Golden Harvest / other cult HK cinema but without any of the bonkers folksy charm.
> 
> You may or may not be surprised to know that there is no Actual History in this at all; it groans under the weight of every possible variety of anachronism (technological, cultural, linguistic) and none of them are deliberate. The only thing at all which is genuinely interesting, is the insight it gives you into current Chinese perceptions of what Westerners might be good for. In this  bizarre parallel universe, the Chinese find the Roman centurions hairy, shouty and only a little bit good at fighting, but by gum they can draw up a construction plan, do great maths, and get a fortress stronghold built in a fortnight - useful little barbarians that they are. The ironic reversal was almost definitely not intended. (There are amaaaazingly long animated sequences of all the gears and cogs and stuff.)
> 
> Spot the crudely-stitched in "message for Xinjiang" propaganda ("Here in Silk Road we are 36 nations, we must cooperate and love each other to keep safe!") as well. Also, the Romans burst out into patriotic song - in Latin! - leaving the proto-Chinese characters impressed by their teary-eyed nationalist karaoke. PROJECTION MUCH?



Against my own better judgement, and your own flashing-lights-and-screeching-klaxon review, I had a crack at this last night. I just wanted something mindless to chunter along in the background - but this went so far beyond mindless that I thought my brain had folded in on itself. 

Cusack increasingly has the look and air of an uninsured stroke victim fretting about making mortgage payments; Brody acts as if he was shot with a Thorazine dart one morning whilst queuing for his skinny latte before being bundled off to wardrobe - every so often his dead eyes blink what could be Morse code for H-E-L-P-M-E. And the 'cute kid', well, we're talking _Golden Child_ levels of awfulness.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 18, 2016)

warrior dance competition and jackie chan doing songs tho


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 18, 2016)

The Nice Guys.

A not-bad-for-what-it-is comedy thriller set in 1977 Los Angeles. The McGuffin is a porn movie whose stars keep disappearing and dying. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are the washed-up ex cop and ex thug who are hired to find one of the runaway stars of this flick. There's also a connection to air pollution and auto industry corruption.

Crowe is starting to look like Orson Welles - and in a _big _way, if you know what I mean. If I was a Hollywood actress, I'd be fucking raging about the fact that he can get away with being a roly-poly barrel on legs, while hollywood actresses of all ages have to subsist on a mineral water and lettuce based diet.

Like I said, though, not bad for what it is. The recreation of the 1970s was done pretty effectively. Even the inclusion of a cute kid as Gosling's daughter didn't prove entirely disastrous.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> The Coen's "Hail, Caesar!" which is entertaining and has a couple of great scenes (especially a parody of On the Town, involving dancing sailors, which gets increasingly homoerotic) but overall it's feels slight and episodic, without much narrative momentum.



It was good, but it never lived up to the promise of that early scene in the script conference. And the dancing sailors scene was good, but not as good as On the Town.

It also made me think that Coen bros were saying that the blacklist was right, and the Commie writers got what was coming to them.

I would totally watch _All the Way to Uruguay, _though.


----------



## Reno (Nov 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> The Nice Guys.
> 
> A not-bad-for-what-it-is comedy thriller set in 1977 Los Angeles. The McGuffin is a porn movie whose stars keep disappearing and dying. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are the washed-up ex cop and ex thug who are hired to find one of the runaway stars of this flick. There's also a connection to air pollution and auto industry corruption.
> 
> ...


Everything Shane Black does feels like it's been written by someone who does way too much coke.


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## Idris2002 (Nov 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> Everything Shane Black does feels like it's been written by someone who does way too much coke.


That would account for the 70s setting, at any rate.


----------



## Reno (Nov 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> It was good, but it never lived up to the promise of that early scene in the script conference. And the dancing sailors scene was good, but not as good as On the Town.
> 
> It also made me think that Coen bros were saying that the blacklist was right, and the Commie writers got what was coming to them.
> 
> I would totally watch _All the Way to Uruguay, _though.


The original stage show of On the Town is better than the film!

The film's political message seemed muddled. The Coen's are arch caricaturists and there is a lack of generosity when it comes to their characters. Everybody comes out a fool or a heel. Fargo is the rare film of theirs where I felt they actually liked their main character.


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## Idris2002 (Nov 18, 2016)

Reno said:


> The original stage show of On the Town is better than the film!
> 
> The film's political message seemed muddled. The Coen's are arch caricaturists and there is a lack of generosity when it comes to their characters. Everybody comes out a fool or a heel. Fargo is the rare film of theirs where I felt they actually liked their main character.


Frances McD. probably reminded them of their mum.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Frances McD. probably reminded them of their mum.


Freud would having a field day with then Joel then


----------



## Reno (Nov 18, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Frances McD. probably reminded them of their mum.


Which would be freaky considering she's married to one of them.


----------



## Chz (Nov 18, 2016)

Finally got around to watching _all_ (I've seen bits before) of Welcome to the Dollhouse.

So very, very painful. And good. I'm going to get a copy for when The Boy is that age and thinks _his_ life is tough.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 18, 2016)

redsquirrel said:


> Freud would having a field day with then Joel then





Reno said:


> Which would be freaky considering she's married to one of them.


 
All sorts of alternative lifestyles here on Craggy island.


----------



## starfish (Nov 18, 2016)

Ive been half watching Braquo, a French crime drama on Fox. Pretty gritty stuff.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 18, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> 50 Shades Of Black.
> 
> How on earth does this shit even get made?!!



I liked the unedited version where he stabbed his own eyes out with a dildo attached to a power drill. Amazing scene.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 18, 2016)

Elizabeth - The Golden Age. Blanchett shines in an otherwise dull and overblown sequel to the superior Elizabeth.


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## belboid (Nov 19, 2016)

The Two Faces of January

Rock solid version of a novel by the worlds best crime writer. The charm and danger of the key characters are well portrayed, and everything looks beautiful. Doesn't do anything particularly special, but does everything very well.


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## The39thStep (Nov 19, 2016)

Mississippi Grind -surprisingly good slow burner about a hopeless semi alcoholic debt ridden gambler who meets a 'lucky' new fellow gambler and goes on a road trip.


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## Sue (Nov 19, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Mississippi Grind -surprisingly good slow burner about a hopeless semi alcoholic debt ridden gambler who meets a 'lucky' new fellow gambler and goes on a road trip.


I thought this was good too. Ben Mendelsohn always is but Ryan Reynolds (who'd kind of escaped my attention up to that point) was too.


----------



## mentalchik (Nov 19, 2016)

Android - similar set up to Ex-Machina (which i loved) and was unfortunately done around the same time and got very overshadowed.......liked it a lot, shortish and some great performances


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 20, 2016)

Our Kind of Traitor

Nifty little spy thriller based on the John Le Carre novel. A chance meeting with a Russian leads naive academic Ewen McGregor into a shadowy world of double-crosses, threats, international money laundering and violence. Naomie Harris as his long suffering wife is dragged into the scenario as well. Makes me want to read up on how the "legal" banking system assists and relies on organized crime. I'm not sure if the stoic heroic MI6 man is based on fact, though I bet the banking is stuff Le Carre has heard from his ex-colleagues.

I also tried watching the first episode of the Gilmore Girls, based on this forum's thread. Live a little, I thought, leave your comfort zone - but the flames, on the side of my face, burning. . .


----------



## belboid (Nov 20, 2016)

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

A surprisingly good rendition of the actually rather dull book (P&P&Z that is, not P&P), with the zombies clearly representing the rising working class, knocking at the door of the bourgeoisie. Sam Riley is a fine Darcy, and Matt Smith is magnificent. An all the sisters just kicking ass is frequently very funny.


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## DotCommunist (Nov 20, 2016)

belboid said:


> Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
> 
> A surprisingly good rendition of the actually rather dull book (P&P&Z that is, not P&P), with the zombies clearly representing the rising working class, knocking at the door of the bourgeoisie. Sam Riley is a fine Darcy, and Matt Smith is magnificent. An all the sisters just kicking ass is frequently very funny.


i took the war on zombies to be a stand in for the napoleonic wars but then I've never finished an austen novel so may be well off beam


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## DaveCinzano (Nov 20, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> but the flames, on the side of my face, burning. . .



Is this going to be another chilli digression..?


----------



## belboid (Nov 20, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> i took the war on zombies to be a stand in for the napoleonic wars but then I've never finished an austen novel so may be well off beam


The word 'clearly' might be a bit of an exaggeration.


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## Idris2002 (Nov 20, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Is this going to be another chilli digression..?


CHILE OUT


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 20, 2016)

Voodoo chilli


----------



## Reno (Nov 21, 2016)

The Wailing, Korean mix of police procedural and possession horror film by the director of The Chaser. This has been highly acclaimed, but I couldn't get into it. At 2 hours 40 minutes it was way too long and I couldn't make sense of the convoluted ending. As often with Korean films there is an odd friction between dark and deadly serious subject matter and bursts of lowbrow comedy, like slapstick interludes and a foul mouthed, elderly mother-in-law. I found the bumbling cop lead character more annoying than endearing. This film may be more ambitios and it's beautifully shot and scored but the other Korean horror film of the year Train to Busan, is a lot more fun.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 21, 2016)

Watched the whole series on Kodi but for those who haven't Quarry is coming to Sky Atlantic. Well worth a watch.


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## Orang Utan (Nov 21, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Watched the whole series on Kodi but for those who haven't Quarry is coming to Sky Atlantic. Well worth a watch.


How do you watch something on Kodi? I downloaded it, and it's not obvious. It's not a platform like Netflix.


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## Virtual Blue (Nov 21, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> How do you watch something on Kodi? I downloaded it, and it's not obvious. It's not a platform like Netflix.





Phoenix is great for an most content including films.
Exodus for TV.


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## Orang Utan (Nov 21, 2016)

I have to watch a video on YouTube to find out? Aaargh.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 21, 2016)

*Captain Fantastic* - hard to characterise this one (road-movie, coming of age, comedy) but it was enjoyable. Think alot of people born in the 70s and 80s can identify. Nice twist in the end.


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## Virtual Blue (Nov 21, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I have to watch a video on YouTube to find out? Aaargh.



yeah i know but it'll take 10 mins max and you'll get loads of free content.


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## Orang Utan (Nov 21, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> yeah i know but it'll take 10 mins max and you'll get loads of free content.


Is there a link to a text that explains it, rather than a vid? I can't deal with instructional videos.


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## Virtual Blue (Nov 21, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Is there a link to a text that explains it, rather than a vid? I can't deal with instructional videos.



Addon Installer for Unofficial Kodi Addons


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## The39thStep (Nov 21, 2016)

Exodus and SALTS for films, Phoenix is ok but the Bob spin off is just as good. UK Turks for TV . 
Best to get a Real Debrid account to ensure getting links.


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## Beats & Pieces (Nov 21, 2016)

Snowden.

Despite the best attempts by the movie it really is hard to like the character they present. But in this film it is hard to like _any_ of the characters.


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## Idris2002 (Nov 23, 2016)

The first couple of episodes of season one of Peep Show.

I missed this one at the time, and I can't say I'm too sorry. It's just a little too close to home, you see.

The Toni character is the spit of an Italian girl I used to know. I went to a party where she was as well, once - the hostess was mid-way into a big bottle of vodka and pointed at the two of us and said "you two should kiss".

The Italian girl's reaction consisted of a facial expression that very clearly meant "don't even think it,  boy".

Like I said, a bit too close to home.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> I watched *Polytechnique*. It's a French Canadian docu-drama based on the 1989 Montreal Massacre, when a former student who blamed feminism for all the failures of his life, returned to his University to shoot a large number of mostly female students. The film states that to protect the victims all the characters have been fictionalised, but having since read up on the massacre, the film follows the events very closely.
> 
> The film jumps back and forth in time and has been shot in B&W. The film doesn't linger on the victims getting hit and it never feels exploitative, but the part of the film that deals with the shooting, which takes up the midsection, is unbearably tense.
> 
> ...


Not quite the uplifting film I should have been watching last night before bed, but very good. For the most part avoids the expected beats of the stereotypical cinematic high school massacre type scene, and avoids explicit on-screen violence too, which shifts the emphasis away from pretend technicolor fake wounds and FX and on to the real consequences - silence, absence of movement, stillness.


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## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> Phoenix is great for an most content including films.
> Exodus for TV.






Virtual Blue said:


> yeah i know but it'll take 10 mins max and you'll get loads of free content.





Virtual Blue said:


> Addon Installer for Unofficial Kodi Addons





The39thStep said:


> Exodus and SALTS for films, Phoenix is ok but the Bob spin off is just as good. UK Turks for TV .
> Best to get a Real Debrid account to ensure getting links.


Cheers, quite a clunky interface and it's hard to exit the programme but lots on there. Will give it a whirl this evening, but the first film I found was not the film itself but one taken by a video camera in a cinema. Are there a lot of cam files on there?


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## Reno (Nov 23, 2016)

I watched the first couple of episodes of the much hyped The Crown on Netflix and I was bored to tears. This could do with a Stranger Things crossover, where that monster from the Upside Down drags Prince Philip to its hell dimension.


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## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2016)

he would say something wankerish to Barb, you know what he is like


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## Beats & Pieces (Nov 23, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> he would say something wankerish to barb, you know what he is like



Are you okay mate?


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## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Are you okay mate?


What's your problem?


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2016)

I watched this three parter JLA cartoon. Vandal Savage alters time so the nazis won. So our heroes must go back in time to right this wrong and save the day. Been sporadically working my way through various JLA cartoons, DC really do better cartoons than films. Caught up with Ash vs Evil Dead, have to say the baal plotline is weak but then its all about the splatter and jokes really. Up to speed on Z Nation as well, now that has gone exceptionally weird. I don't know how they'll finish it and I don't recon the writers do either. Its still got it though.


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## Beats & Pieces (Nov 23, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> What's your problem?



I don't have one. You?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> I don't have one. You?


just feeling a bit defensive of our dotty. you seem to enjoy having digs at him


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## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2016)

possibly missed the gag cos I didn't capitalise 'Barb' so reading it as barb as in 'barbed comment' would seem odd. I will edit for clarity


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## TheHoodedClaw (Nov 23, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Will give it a whirl this evening, but the first film I found was not the film itself but one taken by a video camera in a cinema. Are there a lot of cam files on there?



There's nothing available to stream on these that isn't already all over Extratorrent etc, so yes, if it's a new to cinema release, chances are it's a cam.


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## Beats & Pieces (Nov 23, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> just feeling a bit defensive of our dotty. you seem to enjoy having digs at him



Not at all, quite the opposite in fact.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2016)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> There's nothing available to stream on these that isn't already all over Extratorrent etc, so yes, if it's a new to cinema release, chances are it's a cam.


i think torrents are probs best for me, with my shitty laptop as there might be a lag between picture and sound like with youtube and other streams


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## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Not at all, quite the opposite in fact.


liar


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 23, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> liar



No, that statement was true. Who do you think you are? Pickmans?


----------



## Voley (Nov 23, 2016)

Black Mass. Gangster movie. Quite liked it but it stuck to the Scorsese gangster formula a bit too much. There are other ways to do this sort of film surely. Great story though (true, apparently) and some good atmospheric shots of 70's Boston. Johnny Depps cadaverous main character a bit OTT. Some great shit 70s outfits.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> No, that statement was true. Who do you think you are? Pickmans?


i am very very suspicious of you and think you have a snide agenda


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 23, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> i am very very suspicious of you and think you have a snide agenda


oh god could you fuck off.

this guy's a paedo, that one's dodgy...listen at yourself

and don't start on me...just give it a fuckin rest eh


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 23, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> oh god could you fuck off.
> 
> this guy's a paedo, that one's dodgy...listen at yourself
> 
> and don't start on me...just give it a fuckin rest eh


i beg your pardon?


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Cheers, quite a clunky interface and it's hard to exit the programme but lots on there. Will give it a whirl this evening, but the first film I found was not the film itself but one taken by a video camera in a cinema. Are there a lot of cam files on there?


Cam files in new movies or At The Theatre sections but otherwise no. Are you running Kodi on a laptop or PC or android box ?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Cheers, quite a clunky interface and it's hard to exit the programme but lots on there. Will give it a whirl this evening, but the first film I found was not the film itself but one taken by a video camera in a cinema. Are there a lot of cam files on there?



The more you use it the easier it gets to navigate, you learn where to find HD versions of films and TV, get your head around subtitles (I'm a bit deaf) etc....You can also build a library using a Trakt or IMBD account....I really like now I understand, but I was put off initially

I like the tutorials here, they are video and written: kodi addons - Page 1 - MJD

You do have to keep Kodi and the add ons updated and maintained. It's freeware/shareware, so can be glitchy at times, but I'd say 95% of the time it operates very well. Some add ons come and go as they get shut down (seems to be the sports ones and TV streams).

The moment new DVDs come out they tend to be on there....


----------



## Reno (Nov 24, 2016)

Star Trek Beyond. It was alright.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 24, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Cam files in new movies or At The Theatre sections but otherwise no. Are you running Kodi on a laptop or PC or android box ?


Laptop. I still haven't watched anything on it as I got distracted last night and forgot. Watched torrents instead. I'm worried it will lag too much. Streaming is not something I'm used to as ime it doesn't work as well as just playing a downloaded file using VLC.
Nanker Phelge I use subs too as I prefer them when everyone's shouting and there's a lot of background noise.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2016)

Dirty Granpa

De Niro....ffs. Just why? you don't need the money. Some half decent gags but overall fratboy comedy pie fucking seth roganesque shite 3/10. And that three is only cos De Niro gets some decent lols


----------



## blairsh (Nov 24, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Dirty Granpa
> 
> De Niro....ffs. Just why? you don't need the money. Some half decent gags but overall fratboy comedy pie fucking seth roganesque shite 3/10. And that three is only cos De Niro gets some decent lols


Didn't De Niro say he did any old shit as he puts the money straight back into theatre and grass roots stuff (for want of a better description)?


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2016)

blairsh said:


> Didn't De Niro say he did any old shit as he puts the money straight back into theatre and grass roots stuff (for want of a better description)?


well fair fucks if so, he has more money than he can ever spend no doubt.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 24, 2016)

Ever since De Niro found interests outside acting....like his Tribeca regeneration...and ongoing business interests, his work has suffered. He is a businessman now...not an actor.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 24, 2016)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Ever since De Niro found interests outside acting....like his Tribeca regeneration...and ongoing business interests, his work has suffered. He is a businessman now...not an actor.


He is an actor as evidenced by the films he still appears in


----------



## belboid (Nov 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> He is an actor as evidenced by the films he still appears in


Just not a very good one any more


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 24, 2016)

It's Rod Stewart all over again.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> He is an actor as evidenced by the films he still appears in



I wouldn't use them in court as evidence...


----------



## Reno (Nov 24, 2016)

De Niro is fine in the films he appears in and plays the roles as required. That many of the films aren't very good is a different matter and that doesn't have anything with his actual performances. I haven't seen Dirty Grandpa and have no desire to, but he was very good in Silver Linings Playbook and fine in The Intern. He now mostly does comedy and he's good at it, playing off or subverting his tough guy image. Maybe one day someone will write him a meaty dramatic role in a great film again, but not many Raging Bulls or Taxi Drivers get made these days, especially not with someone at his age.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2016)

Reno said:


> He now mostly does comedy and he's good at it, playing off or subverting his tough guy image


yes, how Meet the Parents works. Although in that he had a funnier script and better fellow cast members. Also it was novel to me to see the hardman doing comedic then. In Dirty Grandpa he is ALSO a retired badass, but this time ex special forces.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 24, 2016)

Kubo and the Two Strings.

I don't think I've ever seen a stop-motion animation film as good as this.  It was absolutely wonderful.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 24, 2016)

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

Now I thought that 'Fifty Shades Of Black' was bad - but this? Words fail me. It is _that_ bad!


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 24, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> i am very very suspicious of you and think you have a snide agenda



I don't know you, but I have seen some of your posts that suggested you are not having a great time - for which I wished you well (and still do). I don't know what your apparent problem is but if you start to behave like a cunt I'll treat you like one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 24, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> I don't know you, but I have seen some of your posts that suggested you are not having a great time - for which I wished you well (and still do). I don't know what your apparent problem is but if you start to behave like a cunt I'll treat you like one.


You're patronising me now. Well done.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2016)

needless row m8s, either I'm too rhino-hide thick to take offence or none was meant. Ta for caring orang, but I see no beef here- you know I am not shy of dishing it out if I feel aggreived m8  

Let the matter rest says I, and list the worst films you saw De Niro in


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 24, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> needless row m8s, either I'm too rhino-hide thick to take offence or none was meant. Ta for caring orang, but I see no beef here- you know I am not shy of dishing it out if I feel aggreived m8
> 
> Let the matter rest says I, and list the worst films you saw De Niro in



The Intern. It was _shit_. Have you managed to see 'Arrival' yet Dot Com?


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2016)

not as yet, am marshalling my p's for it by cutting out the sweets and crisps. Healthier anyway.. This Dirty Grandpa rates as the worst. I did laugh out loud when he described having a wank as a 'number 3' though


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 24, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> not as yet, am marshalling my p's for it by cutting out the sweets and crisps. Healthier anyway.. This Dirty Grandpa rates as the worst. I did laugh out loud when he described having a wank as a 'number 3' though



Not seen that one - is De Niro deliberately seeking to piss over his legacy?


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 25, 2016)

Well I watched Kubo again, this time with my daughter


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 26, 2016)

Reno said:


> Bastille Day, mediocre Paris set action film with Idris Elba which has further convinced me that he doesn't have it what it takes to make for a great leading man. He goes through the tough guy motions efficiently enough, but he doesn't bring anything extra to the role which would have made him memorable. Stringer Bell is still the most impressive thing he's done by far.
> 
> Lights Out, decent if one-note horror films with a few good scares, but with absolutely no depth or subtext unlike genuinely great ghost stories. I'm never keen when horror films which link physical afflictions with evil as this one does but on the most superficial level it works well enough. Not a patch in the great Under the Shadow which I saw at the pictures this week and which is a far better ghosty film about a mother and child.


Just watched Bastille Day. Not bad at all, I thought.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 27, 2016)

Start Trek beyond (always read that like the title of a madness song). It was okayish, certainly the best of the new ones so far.felt like bones kirk and spock settled into the roles now. I bought them more as the characters. Scotty, alas, remains simon pegg doing a shit accent


----------



## Voley (Nov 27, 2016)

Neds. I can't help thinking that I've seen this before but have totally forgotten about it. 

My review, then: 'Not hugely memorable.'


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 27, 2016)

The Assassin (the Hou Hsiao-Hsien one) - Not a good film to watch when you're tired, I almost dropped off a bunch of times. As such I guess it's not really fair to be too critical of it but I can't say that I agree with all the praise it's got.


----------



## Sweet FA (Nov 27, 2016)

Watched The Survivalist. Really liked it; some great acting, very atmospheric. Can see what Reno was saying in his review (but disagree), lean more towards what TruXta said. Have you seen it DotCommunist? Up your post apocalyptic alley maybe?


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 27, 2016)

no but I'll stick it on the list.

I watched first half of Synchronicity. Quite good so far, although complicated in the way good time travel films can be.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Nov 27, 2016)

Pablo Escobar: El Patron Del Mal - Episode Forty..... something.

Pablo is almost nabbed by the Federales when Pati spends too much time needlessly fussing about the handling of the family artwork during a short-notice evacuation.


----------



## ringo (Nov 28, 2016)

Sweet FA said:


> DotCommunist[/USER]? Up your post apocalyptic alley maybe?


Never heard it called that before


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 28, 2016)

Darling Companion - Diane Wiest, Diane Keaton, Richard Jenkins get all mushy about a dog. Rough.
All of my Heart - Ed Asner just about makes this romcom bearable. Two complete strangers inherit a house, don't like each other but over the course of time start to bond. Ugh.
Firehouse Dog - Firefighters and an annoying kid get all mushy about a dog. Enough.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 29, 2016)

Everybody Wants Some.

Odd film from Richard Linklater. A few days in the life of a young American college boy, set in 1980. The hero comes to his south Texas uni to play baseball. The film follows him and his teammates over their first weekend on campus. Apart from the heteronormative homosociality you would expect in that situation, nothing much happens at all. 

I'm really not sure what the point of this one was - an exercise in nostalgia for Americans who remember how they used to be the cool kids who got invited to the big party, before the Reagan Revolution and the Trump Terror?

Muscle cars, sound systems and disco (and also classic rock) feature heavily in this one. At one point a headline detailing the Carter administration's negotiations with the machinists' union is displayed, so prominently displayed in fact that I thought there must be some sort of symbolism going on there.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 29, 2016)

krtek a houby - that's the Lou Grant Ed Asner, right?


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 29, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> krtek a houby - that's the Lou Grant Ed Asner, right?



Correct!

Moving on from low quality to the better stuff. Watched Sam Fuller's "The Big Red One" this was the restored uncut version from 2004. Great war film with Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill. Shot in Israel and Ireland, no less.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 29, 2016)

Sully.

Dull. A film that suits the Tom Hank's speciality of playing the supra-historical 'Every-man'. I did wonder if the apparent resonance with US audiences had more to do with the imagery of a plane flying close to buildings - and not hitting - over anything else.

Made me long for Eastwood's 'Bird'.


----------



## belboid (Nov 29, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Made me long for Eastwood's 'Bird'.


Bizarre comparison


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2016)

belboid said:


> Bizarre comparison


Not really. Boring films about boring people is probably the thing here.


----------



## belboid (Nov 29, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Not really. Boring films about boring people is probably the thing here.


That really doesn't work, does it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2016)

belboid said:


> That really doesn't work, does it?


why not? B&P remembers an equally boring film about an equally boring person and makes the connection.


----------



## Reno (Nov 30, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> why not? B&P remembers an equally boring film about an equally boring person and makes the connection.


Neither are boring people or boring stories. For me the problem is that Eastwood makes underwhelming, yet bewilderingly overrated films about potentionally interesting subject matter.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 30, 2016)

An episode of DS9 with Iggy Pop (!) in it. I don't remember this one; which is baffling as it also has a bizarre "Weekend at Bernie's" style finish...


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 30, 2016)

belboid said:


> Bizarre comparison



Not at all as I have fond memories of 'Bird', and Forrest Whitaker's performance. Far superior film to 'Sully'.


----------



## ringo (Dec 1, 2016)

Jason Bourne. Does what it says on the tin.


----------



## hot air baboon (Dec 1, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> Scotty, alas, remains simon pegg doing a shit accent



as opposed to James Doohan doing a shit accent


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 1, 2016)

hot air baboon said:


> as opposed to James Doohan doing a shit accent


I know, I know. But I knew nothing of Doohan except him being scotty when I was watching re-runs as a kid. Whereas Pegg is Pegg. He's from shaun of the dead and big train.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 1, 2016)

anyways I watched a brace of 'young justice' cartoons. More DC fayre, was initially a bit  cos these sort of things can be bad but it actually works here. They even manage to make Robin cool. Robin ffs!


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 1, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> anyways I watched a brace of 'young justice' cartoons. More DC fayre, was initially a bit  cos these sort of things can be bad but it actually works here. They even manage to make Robin cool. Robin ffs!


/posts panel from Dark Knight Returns


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 2, 2016)

Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters.

I watched this with SWMBO. It is terrible!


----------



## bubblesmcgrath (Dec 2, 2016)

Inception . ..



Possibly my 5th time watching this........ but ....
.....not
...........sure......


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 3, 2016)

Ouija: Origins of Evil

Decent old school horror. No cheap scares and is creepy throughout. Slow effective burn.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 4, 2016)

_'71_

Belfast at the dawn of the conflict. A young British soldier is separated from his unit in West Belfast, and has to find his way back home. But the Provies, Loyalists, and the MRF are all looking for him. And not with good intentions. Very well done, so well done, in fact, that I would advise a friend of mine who lived that era to avoid it. It helps that most of Belfast still looks as rough as it did back then. Obviously recalls Odd Man Out, but has its own very distinct visual style. I'd recommend it - so long as you're not the sort of person for whom it would trigger some bad memories.

_Money Monster_

George Clooney is a TV financial journalist who specialises in tabloid-style hype. He ends getting taken hostage in his own studio. I don't want to give too much away, let's just say that is _at least _an 8 out of 10. One good scene where Clooney's character, in fear of his life, channels the restless spirit of Jimmy Stewart - only to get a very different result from that which he was hoping for. Julia Roberts, Dominic West, and a guy called Lenny who I recognised from _Flight of the Conchords _all play leading parts. A key role also goes to an Irish actress I hadn't heard of before, Catriona Balfe. Her accent was  a bit odd - mainly south Dublin, but the occasional Belfast-y vowel.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Dec 4, 2016)

*Rome 11:00 [Roma, ore 11] (1952)* - Giuseppe De Santis's neorealist disaster movie based on a real incident in 1951 when more than a hundred women answered an advert for an office typist job interview and the resulting crowd on the buildings internal stairway caused it to collapse. Not quite as good as as his excellent Bitter Rice (1949) but still a brilliant film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 4, 2016)

Kind Hearts and Coronets

I liked it, some actual lols at the sheer old school caddish vibe of the man. Reminded me of Alfie in a way, that surfing the wave. And his complete amorality cracked me up, plus that lovely sting in the tail. My memoirs  The two ladies in his life put in a great performance but special mention for the lugubrious hangman. I hope it was all considered quite scandalous as a film back then cos it is pretty close to the bone for a film of that era. Best murder is where he bumps the vicar up the list for having bored him.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 4, 2016)

Captain America: Civil War....

Which I enjoyed...loved the new Spiderman.
The action sequences were a a little lower key than the usual destroy another city stuff that bores the shit outta me. 

Thought Black Panther was a good addition.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 5, 2016)

Masterminds.

There are moments that are funny - but they are too few to justify watching the film which is a shame as it could have been so much more interesting.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 5, 2016)

redsquirrel said:


> Rewatched_ Kiss Me Deadly_ still fantastic, one of my favourite noirs.







redsquirrel said:


> I know a number of people who think it's a bit silly.



Give me their names and I'll stick a torpedo in their ride


----------



## r0bb0 (Dec 5, 2016)

War dogs, great film , some fucked up shit right there! It's a movie about 2 twenty year olds who landed huge contracts with the pentagon.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 5, 2016)

Lincoln - DDL is, of course, magnificent but kudos to Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and James Spader.

Midnight's Children - I got this, it's an allegory, right? Must read the book now. Didn't expect the Sense8 vibe at all.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 5, 2016)

Grimy London past and near-present double bill:
*Black Joy *(1977) - Norman Beaton is the ridiculously flamboyant high point in an ancient-seeming creaky farce about an 'innocent young country boy' from Guyana cast adrift in the very strange country that was mid70s Britain. I'd heard about this as a cult film and a classic early representation of Black Britain. It's a very bawdy (read:sexist), rudey, sweary version of the eternal tale of the young ingénue abroad. Lots of vintage racism, terrible haircuts and clothes, an obnoxious chirpy urchin, etc etc. It has verve and rarity value but the production values are so poor and the script so ragged and stagey it comes off like a Black version of Confessions of a Window Cleaner or a Black Carry on, rather than a classic. But not a waste of time as long as you approach it as a historic document, rather than an artistic experience. 
*Ill Manors *(2012) - Plan B's anthem to doomed urban yoot. It's a bit better than the average modern Britcrime flick but falls into the same trap as most of the rest (Kidulthood etc etc) of trying to ramp up the drama by shuffling too many screwed-up characters together and having too many implausible things happen within a short time frame to make it all exciting and gangster. Plenty of _Serious Ishoos _(drugs, sex trafficking, pimping, petty crime, gun crime, care system, prison system, racism, stabbing, shooting, more drugs, more sex trafficking...) and it's done with a sincere heart, but the overload of misery just sinks it in the end. Some refreshingly new faces and a standout performance from Riz Ahmed in the lead, though - he really is the best thing about this very miserable film, actual proper acting done there.


----------



## neonwilderness (Dec 5, 2016)

Lost Dog

A short film about the consequences of austerity on a disabled guy. A bit grim, but decent for a low budget film. One of the leads is one half of Sleaford Mods (Jason Williamson). 

Watch #LostDogFilm Short Online | Vimeo On Demand


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 6, 2016)

pierpoint

starts strong and then sort of goes nowhere. Or maybe it went somewhere, I fell asleep 40 mins in. Get the impression that other than his proffesion pierpoint wasn't that interesting


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 6, 2016)

*Friend Request *- rather dry and too similar to the other social media horror,* Unfriended *(with the latter telling a better story in real time, cross-platform sort of way)


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 6, 2016)

Finished off s4 of ludicrous French hardnut cop drama *Braquo *- increasingly bleak, pompous, silly and full of itself, but still Frenchy enough to make it an interesting contrast to things like The Shield. It's not nearly as good as The Shield, though, of course.

Absolutely larded, like a prize poulet, with crazy heavy weaponry, fine dining, corrupt politicos, hardboiled clichés, and shagging. Everyone is contractually obliged to sneer "_Putain!!!" _a few times per ep, preferably through a screen of cigarette smoke. (They're seriously committed to this last one: I had to laugh when even a super-hard-boiled female 'tec was having an existential dilemma when she found out she was pregnant, and still carried on chaining it.) Plot is silly and maybe a tiny, tiny bit stereotypical (white cops, black thugs, Turkish kingpins, native French safecrackers etc). Visually nothing special. But grimly compelling, up to a point.

And I finally realised that lead actor Jean-Huges Anglade, now looking like six-cent-kilometres of rough road to Albania, was once the scrawny young male lead in _Betty Blue!_


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 7, 2016)

Paranorman - animated horror comedy from a few years back. Not Pixar or Tim Burton standards but not far offf, IMHO.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 7, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> Finished off s4 of ludicrous French hardnut cop drama *Braquo *- increasingly bleak, pompous, silly and full of itself, but still Frenchy enough to make it an interesting contrast to things like The Shield. It's not nearly as good as The Shield, though, of course.
> 
> Absolutely larded, like a prize poulet, with crazy heavy weaponry, fine dining, corrupt politicos, hardboiled clichés, and shagging. Everyone is contractually obliged to sneer "_Putain!!!" _a few times per ep, preferably through a screen of cigarette smoke. (They're seriously committed to this last one: I had to laugh when even a super-hard-boiled female 'tec was having an existential dilemma when she found out she was pregnant, and still carried on chaining it.) Plot is silly and maybe a tiny, tiny bit stereotypical (white cops, black thugs, Turkish kingpins, native French safecrackers etc). Visually nothing special. But grimly compelling, up to a point.
> 
> And I finally realised that lead actor Jean-Huges Anglade, now looking like six-cent-kilometres of rough road to Albania, was once the scrawny young male lead in _Betty Blue!_


In fairness, he was already pretty fucking rough in BB.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 7, 2016)

*Mystery Road *(2013) - really, really good (if spare and slow moving) thriller/westerny thing set in New South Wales. Basically a modern noir set in the Outback with Aaron Pederson excellent as the Aboriginal copper trying to do right in a vast empty landscape where the few people you do run across are embroiled in drugs, the sex trade, too many guns and a bit of murder. Oh and racism. Lots is said and done with the wide spaces in vision and long silences in the script. Liked it a lot.


----------



## CrabbedOne (Dec 8, 2016)

On Kottke.org The Secret World of Stuff

Just a short.


----------



## ringo (Dec 9, 2016)

Mechanic Resurrection - reassuringly pointless and requiring no brain activity.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2016)

If been watching Westworld the TV show. Got two more episodes to go. It's watchable enough but I'm not entirely sold on it. I find the whole concept far fetched and Westworld as a high end amusement park strikes me as unappealing. Westerns aren't particularelu popular, a Futureworld or Jurassic Park makes a lot more sense to me in this day and age. And for anybody wanting to indulge their basest instincts there should be Torturepornworld, no need for cowboys.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 9, 2016)

neonwilderness said:


> Lost Dog
> 
> A short film about the consequences of austerity on a disabled guy. A bit grim, but decent for a low budget film. One of the leads is one half of Sleaford Mods (Jason Williamson).
> 
> Watch #LostDogFilm Short Online | Vimeo On Demand



Watched. Shed a tear.

JW could have a career in acting...


----------



## ringo (Dec 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> If been watching Westworld the TV show. Got two more episodes to go. It's watchable enough but I'm not entirely sold on it. I find the whole concept far fetched and Westworld as a high end amusement park strikes me as unappealing. Westerns aren't particularelu popular, a Futureworld or Jurassic Park makes a lot more sense to me in this day and age. And for anybody wanting to indulge their basest instincts there should be Torturepornworld, no need for cowboys.


Aren't westerns nearly as popular as they were when Crichton wrote the book? There seem to be a lot of Western style movies being made. It is aimed mainly at blokey/macho men though.

Torturepornworld wouldn't have mass appeal, we like our torture and porn dressed up with glossy advertising and an all American toothy grin.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 9, 2016)

*The Assassin *(2015) - this was meant to be an intelligent wuxia (martial arts) movie, directed by Taiwanese arthouse favourite Hou Hsiao Hsien. I've seen a couple of his historical films before and liked them - even though they're always really, really slow and often really, really silent. So I was interested to see what his take on a fight film with feelings might look like - was hoping for something visually lovely as well as wham-bam-choppy, ideally a bit like _The Grandmaster _(2013) which I still think is a towering masterpiece. But I was to be disappointed

*The Assassin*  is supposedly set in 10th-century China - and given how little I know of this era, it's maybe not surprising that a lot of it went right over my head (like those 5-clawed sword strikes etc.). But it wasn't all my fault: the endless silences, the incredibly complicated plot, and the actors and characters all going under 5 layers of disguise and double cross just lost me completely. Also, the "emotional sensitivity" that got this film a lot of praise from critics doesn't work if you can't tell what the emotions actually are. Yes it does look wonderful - though more for the landscapes and framing than the bling or swish - there's no jawdropping costumery or setbuilding or set pieces. The fighting itself is largely obscured or done out of shot - there's no visible blood or wounding (despite several deaths). So overall it was just endlessly frustrating: a bunch of characters who don't make you care about them, scheming along lines you don't understand, to commit acts that you don't see. Maybe it's an elaborate joke or a dare ("go on Hou, I want you to make a fight film with no visible violence! get those suckers to the cinema!") but this really really did not work on any level imho. Felt it was far too sophisticated for me.  

One thing I really did love about it: the enduring presence of nature - they must have gone a LONG way in China to find such unspoiled locations - and the beautiful, continuous use of natural sounds (wind in the trees, rain, birdsong etc) on the soundtrack.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2016)

ringo said:


> Aren't westerns nearly as popular as they were when Crichton wrote the book? There seem to be a lot of Western style movies being made. It is aimed mainly at blokey/macho men though.
> 
> Torturepornworld wouldn't have mass appeal, we like our torture and porn dressed up with glossy advertising and an all American toothy grin.


There has been a resurgence of the Western recently but the genre isn't nearly as mainstream or popular as it was in the early 70s when John Wayne was still around, Clint Eastwood was in lots of them and there still were shows like Bonanza and Gunsmoke on network telly. With the exception of the (mid-budget) The Magnificent Seven remake, most recent Westers were art house or low budget independent films. I certainly wouldn't base a hugely expensive amusement park on the Western when popular culture is all about superheroes, sci-fi, giant robots, Harry Potter/LOTR and other fantastic genres. Everything which now aims to make a huge profit has to be aimed at a family audience. An X- or even an R-rated amusement park aimed at mainly one gender, for which they develop a technology so sophisticated it goes A.I., makes no sense to me.

I was flippant about Torturepornworld, but when it comes to man indulging his basest instincts the Western wouldn't be the first genre that comes to mind. The TV series feels like it has to make sense of the (then already slightly silly) Michael Crichton film in this day and age and to me it doesn't. Crichton himself revised the idea as Jurassic Park, which is a far more appealing and commercially viable idea than cowboy robots. Everybody loves dinosaurs !

I'm not hating the series. Considering I don't buy the premise it's very well made, but for me it doesn't live up to the hype. I certainly don't think it's anywhere near as good as Game of Thrones, for which Westworld is supposed to be the next big HBO thing/replacement.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 9, 2016)

It is smart and it is interesting. Those two things do not mean it is great.

I'm with Reno on this one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 9, 2016)

Jonathan Nolan is certainly overrated as a writer. Making your audiences have to resort to the internet to find out wtf is going on does not make you a good writer.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 9, 2016)

Reno said:


> I was flippant about Torturepornworld, but when it comes to man indulging his basest instincts the Western wouldn't be the first genre that comes to mind.



Indeed not. Torturepornworld(TM) already exists, it's on prime time national telly and it's called _I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here._


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 9, 2016)

The Magnificent Seven.

Okay, so this isn't a bad film, but it just can't reach the heights of the original. Good solid performances (Denzil Washington as always), some great photography, and I would like to see a sequel!


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Dec 9, 2016)

Just starting to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Remember seeing that at the pictures in the 70s.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 9, 2016)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Just starting to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Remember seeing that at the pictures in the 70s.



Love, love, love that film. Love it.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Dec 9, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Love, love, love that film. Love it.



Done now.  Another watch in sixth months.


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Love, love, love that film. Love it.


Me too !


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 10, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> The Magnificent Seven.
> 
> Okay, so this isn't a bad film, but it just can't reach the heights of the original. Good solid performances (Denzil Washington as always), some great photography, and I would like to see a sequel!



But Denzil Washington has been shit for the last 10 years.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 10, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> But Denzil Washington has been shit for the last 10 years.


? he's a great actor. why the ten year cut off point?


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 10, 2016)

The Conjuring 2 - I like retro but found this boring.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> ? he's a great actor. why the ten year cut off point?



He is a tremendous actor - The Hurricane, Malcolm X, He Got Game, Devil in a Blue Dress, Fallen - all  great films and proves he's a versatile actor.

Last 10 years, I'm not feeling it no more. His films, his characters - they're pretty much the same.
He's become an unmotivated screen hogger - admittedly, not on the same level as De Niro or Travolta but still...


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 10, 2016)

Episode 1, Season 2 of _A Very Peculiar Practice._

Bloody hell, but Barbara Flynn was something else in her day.


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> He is a tremendous actor - The Hurricane, Malcolm X, He Got Game, Devil in a Blue Dress, Fallen - all  great films and proves he's a versatile actor.
> 
> Last 10 years, I'm not feeling it no more. His films, his characters - they're pretty much the same.
> He's become an unmotivated screen hogger - admittedly, not on the same level as De Niro or Travolta but still...


I know that's a controversial but don't like Denzil Washington at all and I never have. It's not that I think he's s bad actor but he strikes me as someone who has absolutely no sense of humour and that comes across in his performances. There is a good reason why he never does comedy and in his dramatic performances that translates as essentially charmless for me. He is always seriously serious and I think he's kind of boring.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 10, 2016)

Reno said:


> I know that's a controversial but don't like Denzil Washington at all and I never have. It's not that I think he's s bad actor but he strikes me as someone who has absolutely no sense of humour and that comes across in his performances. There is a good reason why he never does comedy


Now now, I think that's unfair and untrue - have you not seen that film where he haunts Bob Hoskins?


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 10, 2016)

Reno said:


> I know that's a controversial but don't like Denzil Washington at all and I never have. It's not that I think he's s bad actor but he strikes me as someone who has absolutely no sense of humour and that comes across in his performances. There is a good reason why he never does comedy and in his dramatic performances that translates as essentially charmless for me. He is always seriously serious and I think he's kind of boring.



I had to google Washington and comedy.
My god...look at this gem.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Now now, I think that's unfair and untrue - have you not seen that film where he haunts Bob Hoskins?



Bloody hell...
That one slipped under the radar.

It looks as good as the other comedy I quoted.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 10, 2016)

Reno said:


> I know that's a controversial but don't like Denzil Washington at all and I never have. It's not that I think he's s bad actor but he strikes me as someone who has absolutely no sense of humour and that comes across in his performances. There is a good reason why he never does comedy and in his dramatic performances that translates as essentially charmless for me. He is always seriously serious and I think he's kind of boring.



His reputation was built on serious good acting (similar to Daniel Day Lewis I guess).
He is missing a good comedy and a cartoon on his CV mind.


----------



## Reno (Dec 10, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> His reputation was built on serious good acting (similar to Daniel Day Lewis I guess).
> He is missing a good comedy and a cartoon on his CV mind.


I don't think he needs to do comedy, he knows comedy is outside of his range as an actor and the reason why he is successful is because he knows his limitations. What I meant is that his lack of a sense of humour informs every one of his performances. He doesn't give bad performances as such, but my heart always sinks when Washington stars in a film I want to see, because I know exactly what I'm going to get. Unlike Daniel Day Lewis, he never surprises me with the choices he makes. I believe that as a great performer you need a sense of humour, it's an essential personality trait to making interesting artistic choices, even if in the end that doesn't translate as comedy.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 10, 2016)

Virtual Blue said:


> Bloody hell...
> That one slipped under the radar.
> 
> It looks as good as the other comedy I quoted.



I would totally watch that


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Dec 10, 2016)

2010.


----------



## starfish (Dec 10, 2016)

Just watched Creed. I dont think i can properly explain how much we, me & ms starfish, enjoyed it. It was an emotional couple of hours. And we both agree it was a pretty bloody good movie.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 11, 2016)

Nicholas and Alexander. Again. The Romanovs, the Revolution and a lot of worthy thesps. Especially Tom Baker and the Valeyard.


----------



## Maharani (Dec 11, 2016)

Meadowland. Indie type production. Leading lady was excellent imo. Moving to watch, had a great score but let down by the ending.


----------



## Maharani (Dec 11, 2016)

starfish said:


> Just watched Creed. I dont think i can properly explain how much we, me & ms starfish, enjoyed it. It was an emotional couple of hours. And we both agree it was a pretty bloody good movie.


Interesting. I thought it looked bad when I saw a trailer at the cinema but I'll give it a go maybe.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 11, 2016)

Taken 3.

For something that is essentially a formula at this point, not altogether bad.

Neeson still makes an incongruous action hero.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 12, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Neeson still makes an incongruous action hero.



I hope Peter Sallis gets a similar late-career reinvention as an action hero, he'd be perfect for delivering sanguine but self-deprecating put-downs to bad guys whose kneecaps he's just scooped out like scallops from a shell.

But the clock is ticking...


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 12, 2016)

Free State of Jones - despite whatever the critics had to say this is a great story well acted and well written about a revolt against the Confederate states during the American Civil War.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 12, 2016)

Synchronicity- again. I wanted to go through the time travel paradox again to see if he could 'realistically' engineer himself out of the loop in the happy ending way he did. Still not sure.

BUT. This time round I was not distracted by Ironside and the plot so much- they've nicked the aesthetic vertabim from Bladerunner, the exterior shots all city skylines at night, interiors all art deco-ish. Even the waaah waah keybord/synth tones, the same ones, over those external shots. Smoky dark lit interiors. I'm gussing the night setting was same reason as bladerunner, saves on effects costs but it wan't even a nod. Still a good film though, ironside is a bit player really but the female co star is good and the lead carries what is a story just on the right side of complex.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 12, 2016)

The39thStep said:


> Free State of Jones - despite whatever the critics had to say this is a great story well acted and well written about a revolt against the Confederate states during the American Civil War.


I've seen some up and down reviews and one wider interesting piece from mark Lause. I liked it but was worried about the potential white saviour stuff. I think lause addressed that pretty well. Bynums book was republished when the film came out btw-  it is excellent. I went to see Birth of a Nation over the weekend. Similar entry but told utterly boringly apart from one or two scenes. Glad it was made but...


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 12, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> I've seen some up and down reviews and one wider interesting piece from mark Lause. I liked it but was worried about the potential white saviour stuff. I think lause addressed that pretty well. Bynums book was republished when the film came out btw-  it is excellent. I went to see Birth of a Nation over the weekend. Similar entry but told utterly boringly apart from one or two scenes. Glad it was made but...


That Mark Lause article is a very good read, thanks.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 12, 2016)

The Charge of the Light Brigade - 1968. Lords Cardigan, Raglan and Lucan get their soldiers slaughtered in spectacular fashion. An odd and beautiful film, sometimes it feels like an anti-war film and there's an almost Pythonesque vibe at times. Trevor Howard delivers the goods.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 14, 2016)

*Journey Into Fear *(1943) - Joseph Cotten is an American engineer/spy dragged into dubious foreign goings-on via Istanbul as Nazis plot to kill him and steal his blueprints etc. Based on a spy novel by Eric Ambler, although apparently he (Ambler) didn't even recognise it when he went to the premiere of the movie. Although it is supposedly half-directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and the fantastically louche Dolores del Rio gets to pout alluringly, this is no noir classic or edgy thriller. It's more than a bit creaky, doesn't flow at any point, the final shootout is utterly anticlimactic and there's no real sense of peril at all. Tiny flashes of interest in the framing / composition of some shots, and little sparks of inspiration every now and again in the script, can't overcome the general sense of being suffocated in one dull scene in one tiny room after another. You can miss this one without feeling regrets.


----------



## ringo (Dec 15, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> *Journey Into Fear *(1943) - Joseph Cotten is an American engineer/spy dragged into dubious foreign goings-on via Istanbul as Nazis plot to kill him and steal his blueprints etc. Based on a spy novel by Eric Ambler, although apparently he (Ambler) didn't even recognise it when he went to the premiere of the movie. Although it is supposedly half-directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and the fantastically louche Dolores del Rio gets to pout alluringly, this is no noir classic or edgy thriller. It's more than a bit creaky, doesn't flow at any point, the final shootout is utterly anticlimactic and there's no real sense of peril at all. Tiny flashes of interest in the framing / composition of some shots, and little sparks of inspiration every now and again in the script, can't overcome the general sense of being suffocated in one dull scene in one tiny room after another. You can miss this one without feeling regrets.


Shame, the book's a little gem.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 15, 2016)

Storyville, Forever Pure - Football and Racism in Jerusalem

Jawdropping, very depressing, infuriating, but also blackly comedic documentary about the hijinks that ensue when Beitar Jerusalem (notoriously rightwing Israeli football club) got bought by a Russian and hired in a couple of Chechen players, for reasons which remain ... well, questionable. Boneheaded racists fans boycott the club, monster the manager, diss the coach, abuse the players who welcome the new arrivals, BURN THE CLUB MUSEUM and won't accept Muslims on the team even if they score. The entire history of modern Israel is bound up in the club's relationships to politicians,  and there's plenty of fascinating stuff in there about corruption, dodgy mayoral bids, Ashkenazi/Sephardi splits, sport violence, tribalism, working class culture and all sorts. It is absolutely fascinating (and I'm not interested in football the game per se) and will make you gasp, shake your head and shout at the telly. still available for 19 days.

Short version: watch this, it will make you go


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 18, 2016)

Jason Bourne (2016)

pretty good in execution, but all somehow formulaic. The anti bond has become the bond or something. The chases and explosions and tech/spook stuff. Well done all round, if a bit by the numbers. Tommy Lee Jones schemeing spook was decent though.

Zootopia queued up for later


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 18, 2016)

Room.

This movie is stunning.  Although I've no idea why they had the William H Macey character, he was pointless.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 18, 2016)

DexterTCN said:


> Room.
> 
> This movie is stunning.  Although I've no idea why they had the William H Macey character, he was pointless.



Going to be watching that in the next few days - looking forward to it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 18, 2016)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Going to be watching that in the next few days - looking forward to it.


Avoid the trailers if you can.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 19, 2016)

Parker.

The first Jason Statham movie I've ever seen. An efficient action-stroke-caper movie with noirish undertones. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Good support roles from the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Wendell Pierce and Nick Nolte. The latter looks like he might not make it to 31st December 2016, and I'm having him in the celebrity death pool next year.

A Very Peculiar Practice, season 2, episode 2. They could remake this under the title "they tried to warn us". Barbara Flynn: hhnnngggnnn.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 19, 2016)

John Pilger's The Coming War on China. Informative and upsetting doc tracing current posturing by both the US and China.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 19, 2016)

trabuquera said:


> apparently he (Ambler) didn't even recognise it when he went to the premiere of the movie


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 19, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> Parker.
> 
> The first Jason Statham movie I've ever seen. An efficient action-stroke-caper movie with noirish undertones. Does exactly what it says on the tin.



Worth seeing a few other adaptations of Westlake's 'Parker' novels for comparison's sake:

Point Blank (1967 film) - Wikipedia
The Outfit (1973 film) - Wikipedia
The Split - Wikipedia
Made in U.S.A. (1966 film) - Wikipedia
Slayground - Wikipedia


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 19, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Worth seeing a few other adaptations of Westlake's 'Parker' novels for comparison's sake:
> 
> Point Blank (1967 film) - Wikipedia
> The Outfit (1973 film) - Wikipedia
> ...


<parts high grass, peers out>

_Interesting. . . _


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 19, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Worth seeing a few other adaptations of Westlake's 'Parker' novels for comparison's sake:
> 
> Point Blank (1967 film) - Wikipedia
> The Outfit (1973 film) - Wikipedia
> ...



Point Blank is a stone cold classic...

Avoid the Mel Gibson remake.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 19, 2016)

Goodnight Mommy

Another cheerful movie for xmas.
Shame I figured it out in the 10th minute.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 19, 2016)

DaveCinzano said:


> Worth seeing a few other adaptations of Westlake's 'Parker' novels for comparison's sake:
> 
> Point Blank (1967 film) - Wikipedia
> The Outfit (1973 film) - Wikipedia
> ...



The Split is another film based on the Parker character.

I saw it as a double bill with the Outfit at the nft.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2016)

The Expanse eps, last three of season 1

its crimanally undermentioned. Proper space opera, the real deal. Never felt cheap, never felt star-trek lite. Tempted to get the books now


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 19, 2016)

^ this is what I should have been watching at stupid o'clock last night
Instead my insatiable lust for vintage fashion inspiration (read: handome men in tights) made me undertake the big ol' Netflix turkey that is _Medici: Masters of Florence. _

Mostly just seems like a school reunion for all the Brit-thesps who've now been killed out of Game of Thrones .... plus Dustin Hoffman, even more mannered and annoying than he was in _Perfume - _costume drama really brings out the worst in him. Richard Madden / Robb Stark can't pull off being Italian or posh so is a bit of a loss as a Renaissance man (princeling) called Cosimo. Brian Cox (the old rogue) makes for a very acceptable head councilman of Florence. They're obviously reusing a lot of the sets+clothes from _Da Vinci's Demons _and treading a lot on the toes of _The Borgias, _but this doesn't have the mad fanfic inventions of the first, or the sweeping style and cheek of the second. Perhaps the Italians on the team insisted it be all history-based and authentic. Even though it's not really.

Given that the Medici amazed, appalled and intrigued all Europe for centuries it's kind of baffling to me how a joint UK-Italian production team and Netflix dollars have managed to weed any trace  of drama, suspense, decadence, vice, peril, ambiguity, or even interest from the whole story so far. It's just wodge after wodge of pisspoor Exposition 101 ("Hey! Lorenzo! Son! What are you doing?" "Father, it is essential we win the goodwill of the Doge" ...  etc etc etc, delivered by actors who're just not that good. Also annoyingly whispery so you have to lean your head into the laptop to hear what they're muttering about, which kind of ruins the time-travel effect. Wooden would be an improvement.

5 eps out of 8 in, sunk cost fallacy in action: I'll watch the rest but be very glad to vault into the future with Expanse.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2016)

You'll no doubt enjoy the linguistic oddities of the Belter creole/accents. I never could pin down where exactly its influences were, its familiar but oddly alien. Reminded me of hearing Tristan islander accents the other day on beebs 'Treasure Islands' about minute islands still populated by brits.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 19, 2016)

DotCommunist said:


> The Expanse eps, last three of season 1
> 
> its crimanally undermentioned. Proper space opera, the real deal. Never felt cheap, never felt star-trek lite. Tempted to get the books now



I'm intrigued. When you say space opera, would it rate alongside BSG or even Firefly? I just don't want to invest in another The 100...


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2016)

krtek a houby said:


> I'm intrigued. When you say space opera, would it rate alongside BSG or even Firefly? I just don't want to invest in another The 100...


absolutely up there with BSG- hard to say on where the story is going and wether we'd get the damp squib ending we got from BSG. Unlikely though as its based on a written trilogy. Never rated firefly much.

If you have netflix, give it a go. I shall probably have this as my 'TV sci fi of the year' pick


----------



## extra dry (Dec 20, 2016)

My bad luck with movies continues...
Ghostbusters the remake...err auwful.

Nine lives...kevin Spacy sleeps throughout most of the movie I would strongly advise veiwers to do the same.

Only highlight this week The infiltrator.

Film Review: ‘The Infiltrator’


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 22, 2016)

National Treasure - Robbie Coltrane as much loved comedy double act partner accused of rape/abuse.
Grim as fuck, but compelling and superbly acted by everyone in it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 22, 2016)

I really enjoyed Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, so thought I'd previously been unfair on comic book movies I'd watched. 
I decided to give the Marvel Cinematic Universe another shot and thought I'd have a shot at Phase One.
Tony Stark is an annoying dick and not even funny to make up for it. Dunno why Pepper Potts puts up with him.
Captain America at least has an interesting back story.
The Hulk is just boring.
Thor at least had some wit and self-parody about it.
And The Avengers Assemble is just a mess.
The action scenes in nearly all the films were boring as fuck. They go on for ever and you can only see so many yellow taxi cabs get flipped.
Perhaps I enjoyed the tv series better because they took their time to establish the characters and the reasons they do what they do. And they are much better written.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 22, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> I really enjoyed Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, so thought I'd previously been unfair on comic book movies I'd watched.
> I decided to give the Marvel Cinematic Universe another shot and thought I'd have a shot at Phase One.
> Tony Stark is an annoying dick and not even funny to make up for it. Dunno why Pepper Potts puts up with him.
> Captain America at least has an interesting back story.
> ...


very different beasts, the netflix series and the movie universe. Violence levels is one thing, sex, language and as you mention serious plotting. You are not a fan of fight scenes in general which is basically the only reaon I find to watch Marvel or DC films. No wonder you got nothing from the films lol

on that note I have been finishing off DC's animated 'Young Justice' which started strong, dragged a little and picked up for series 2. 20 mins is a good length for a kids cartoon and it manages humour in a way DC films do not.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 24, 2016)

Room.

Dexter was right - the performances are quite something. An unusual film (quite old fashioned) in regard to the pacing and texture in comparison to the urgency usually deemed necessary in many recent films.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Dec 24, 2016)

Event Horizon.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 24, 2016)

And Then There Were None.

Quite good adaptation of the Agatha Christie story. Charles Dance very good, as was Aidan Turner.


----------



## magneze (Dec 25, 2016)

Sense 8 Christmas Special. Turned it off after an hour. I don't remember the first series being quite so badly written.


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 26, 2016)

Idris2002 said:


> And Then There Were None.
> 
> Quite good adaptation of the Agatha Christie story. Charles Dance very good, as was Aidan Turner.




Wasn't that on last Christmas ?


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 27, 2016)

Carnage - Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christophe Waltz and John C Reilly drop the polite facade and argue. A lot.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 27, 2016)

magneze said:


> Sense 8 Christmas Special. Turned it off after an hour. I don't remember the first series being quite so badly written.



It didn't really progress the plot but I found it more of a celebration of life, love, sexuality and joy.


----------



## weltweit (Dec 27, 2016)

I watched The Life of Brian .. and much enjoyed it


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 27, 2016)

Sicario - Denis Villeneuve directs this cartel/cops thriller with Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro. Superior.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 27, 2016)

Love (2015)

A very odd film.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 28, 2016)

Bad Santa 2

If you remove all the vulgarity there isn't much here to engage with.


----------



## butchersapron (Dec 28, 2016)

Any particular reason that you'd want to do that?


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 30, 2016)

Finished watching The OA on netflix.

Very frustrating for the first few episodes but it all ties together by the end.  Innovative and well worth watching.


----------



## 5t3IIa (Dec 30, 2016)

Attack of the Clones  Never seen the 'middle' 3 so thought I'd get 'em under my belt. The script is so so awful


----------



## Ranbay (Dec 30, 2016)

Brotherhood - had bare fanny init, you get me bruv?


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 31, 2016)

Under The Skin


----------



## 5t3IIa (Dec 31, 2016)

5t3IIa said:


> Attack of the Clones  Never seen the 'middle' 3 so thought I'd get 'em under my belt. The script is so so awful


And last night Revenge of the Sith. That's that then  Not one redeeming feature between the three of them


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 31, 2016)

Nocturnal Animals - 3 stories in 1. Amazing film. Looks good and packs a few truths.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Dec 31, 2016)

Hunt For The Wilderpeople - Taika Waititi movie about a teenage boy and his cantakerous foster dad who run off into the New Zealand bush to avoid social services. Waititi has already been poached by Marvel and from the storytelling chops and visual style at work in this movie you can see why. Some great comic scenes too, although some of them feel a bit out of place and spoil the tone of the movie a bit.


----------



## bi0boy (Jan 2, 2017)

Farinelli - the characters were so completely different to our historical knowledge of them it put me right off tbh

The scene where Farinelli performs Lascia ch'io pianga with the castration flashbacks made it worth watching though.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 2, 2017)

Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen. Very good. Miserable as usual....but also often funny.

Looking for Eric. Seen before, but enjoyed the re-watch. Lighter than usual Loach films, but still grim. Lots of laughs too.

Might cheer myself up later by watching Ladybird Ladybird.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 3, 2017)

Binge watched the whole of Fleabag. Great stuff.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 3, 2017)

Someone gave me a box set of Marilyn Monroe movies for Xmas. So on New Year's Eve we watched the following:

*How to Marry a Millionaire.*

Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and MM all take a flat in Manhattan, in the hope of snaring a millionaire. Running gag about how near-sighted MM doesn't want a prospective catch to see her wearing glasses, rendering her accident-prone. Bacall is maybe just a tad too hard-boiled for a gig like this, but on the other hand maybe that's not a bad thing. The married man Grable goes off with bore a striking resemblance to my sister's shit of an ex-husband, in fact he could have been the man's twin brother.

*Let's Make Love*

Avoid this dud from 1960. MM does her best, and she is good, but no one and nobody could rescue this stinker of a film. Yves Montand is the playboy businessman who's being satirised in an off-broadway stage revue that features MM in a key role. Naturally he falls for her, and inveigles his way into the company. This one is just bad, not even so bad it's good. YM (who was too old for the part) apparently hooked up with MM after this (like the music, the celebrity gossip was better in the old days). Also features the old lad who was the British Council guy in _The Third Man. _He's probably the best thing in it.

*Dublin Nightmare*

Not featuring MM. A roguish broth-of-a-boy photographer returns to Baile Átha Cliath, only to be informed that he has to identify the body of his deceased friend, killed while robbing a bank for the "movement". If you're thinking "it's that Third Man again" you'd be right, but this is more Lemon and Lime than Harry Lime. A by-the-numbers B-movie, whose one saving grace is the noirish vistas of night-time Dublin in the late 1950s. Also an early example of an experimental electronic music soundtrack - which must have been way ahead of its time for 1958. Said soundtrack is almost unlistenable, but it beats the usual diddley-aye stuff you'd get in a Dublin-set crime flick.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 3, 2017)

Film day / night with gf last night, 2 choices each:

*Calamity Jane* - More entertaining than I remember, Doris Day puts in a good central performance and Howard Keel was decent too. Surprisingly more overt lesbian overtones than I remember too.

*Seven Brides for Seven Brothers* - What. The. Fuck. I know films are of their time and all that, but apart from the excellent dancing, this does not come across well now  *sings upbeat* "And the women were sobbing, sobbing, sobbing" *slaps thigh* 

*The Man from UNCLE* (the new one) - Pretty decent actually, Cavill is charm and smugness personified as the US agent, and Armie Hammer does good anger management issues as his Russian counterpart. Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki each put their stamp on what could have been secondary characters, and Guy Ritchie reins in his worst excesses to put out a good (if not excellent) film.

*Die Hard* - Still brilliant, RIP Alan Rickman


----------



## belboid (Jan 3, 2017)

Somehow my sister had never Seen either Gypsy or A Matter of Life & Death.  So we made her watch them.  The former is okay, a couple of good songs and routines, but generally only so so.  The latter remains an utter masterpiece, a work of sublime genius and wonder.  She quite liked it.

New Years Day was marked with a viewing of the Icelandic bleak comedy Rams.  Which was ace, but made me seriously reconsider my notion of becoming a sheep farmer in an obscure (even by their standards) corner of Iceland.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 3, 2017)

Some ace knitwear in Rams.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 3, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen. Very good. Miserable as usual....but also often funny.
> 
> Looking for Eric. Seen before, but enjoyed the re-watch. Lighter than usual Loach films, but still grim. Lots of laughs too.
> 
> Might cheer myself up later by watching Ladybird Ladybird.


Looking for Eric is ace. I am sure when I went to see Sweet Sixteen I read in the paper that it was going to be released with subtitles in the States.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 3, 2017)

The39thStep said:


> Looking for Eric is ace. I am sure when I went to see Sweet Sixteen I read in the paper that it was going to be released with subtitles in the States.



It was. And a dubbed version.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 4, 2017)

And in the UK. At least the version I saw in the cinema had subtitles for the first 20 or so minutes


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 4, 2017)

Trainspotting was also subtitled in the states, I think.


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Trainspotting was also subtitled in the states, I think.


When I watched The Wire I did so with subtitles whenever I could.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2017)

I watch everything with subtitles so I don't miss anything


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 4, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> I watch everything with subtitles so I don't miss anything



Me too, pretty much.


----------



## og ogilby (Jan 4, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> I watch everything with subtitles so I don't miss anything


Me too. It was The Wire that made me make the switch. I've watched it twice, the second time it had subtitles and I realised how much more I got from it when I knew everything that was being said.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 4, 2017)

I made a terrible mistake and watched London Has Fallen.

What a lot of racist/xenophobic crap

“Get back to Fuckheadistan or wherever it is you're from.”

Oh dear oh dear


----------



## Chz (Jan 4, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> I watch everything with subtitles so I don't miss anything


Also useful for watching films using the "Hollywood Action" mix. I need subtitles to know what anyone is saying, or else the speakers will blow a wall down.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2017)

Chz said:


> Also useful for watching films using the "Hollywood Action" mix. I need subtitles to know what anyone is saying, or else the speakers will blow a wall down.


Yes, exactly. Anything with explosions going on in the background.
Also, 'mumblecore' type films. 
Shoulda watched The Dark Knight Returns with subs so I could've understood wtf Bane was on about.


----------



## bubblesmcgrath (Jan 4, 2017)

Started watching The Sopranos ... again.

Love it ..


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 4, 2017)

*Godzilla vs King Kong* (without subtitles).

Fucking rad man. This is one crazy ass film.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 4, 2017)

...how the fuck did King Kong win? Bullshit man.


*Shin Godzilla - *modern spin on the classic. My favourite Gojira movie of all time. Simplicity at its best...just one monster smashing and burning up Japan (no other monsters !!).
He lets rip on the 45th minute, fucks up entire armies and shit. The Americans are in it (well, one American) and that Ishihara bird.

That Atomic Breath. 
What a cool fucker.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 5, 2017)

*The Last King (2016) *- Norwegian historical 'epic' - it's very Nordic though, so emotionally understated and everyone's so swaddled up in grubby sackcloth that the epicness doesn't really come through. Set in early 1200s, some sort of a plot about two brave woodsmen saving an orphaned Prince from nasty civil wars, mostly by doing lots of very daring skiing through forests. Most of the actors are _Game of Thrones / Vikings_ graduates, except for one lead who's the pretty lad out of _1864. _They obviously spent a fortune - and had a blast - on all the skidoos and helicopters filming headlong deep-forest ski-races. Medieval axe battling on skis is entertaining 

Historically I have no fucking idea how accurate it is, if at all - the mishmash of armour and weaponry suggests not, but this was obviously a confused and inbetweeny sort of setting - the territory's being fought over by Swedes, Norwegians and Danes,  there are some menacingly swarthy Latin-speaking guys from "Rome" and some evil bishops thrown in, and people do lots of Christian praying but also lots of chat about Ragnarok and Fenrir and other pagan stuff. Overall it's sort of interesting for learning a bit about Norse values (stoicism, loyalty, ultraviolence), and for what it tells you about contemporary ideals of Scandi maleness: those brave woodsmen are not just good with skis and axes but also at LOOKING AFTER THE BABY KING - even though they don't know what to feed him and don't wrap him up warm enough, they're quite good at carrying him through hand-to-hand combat, on skis, at 60mph, in a birch-bark papoose.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 5, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> Storyville, Forever Pure - Football and Racism in Jerusalem
> 
> Jawdropping, very depressing, infuriating, but also blackly comedic documentary about the hijinks that ensue when Beitar Jerusalem (notoriously rightwing Israeli football club) got bought by a Russian and hired in a couple of Chechen players, for reasons which remain ... well, questionable. Boneheaded racists fans boycott the club, monster the manager, diss the coach, abuse the players who welcome the new arrivals, BURN THE CLUB MUSEUM and won't accept Muslims on the team even if they score. The entire history of modern Israel is bound up in the club's relationships to politicians,  and there's plenty of fascinating stuff in there about corruption, dodgy mayoral bids, Ashkenazi/Sephardi splits, sport violence, tribalism, working class culture and all sorts. It is absolutely fascinating (and I'm not interested in football the game per se) and will make you gasp, shake your head and shout at the telly. still available for 19 days.
> 
> Short version: watch this, it will make you go



What a most excellent programme. That poor young Chechen was like a rabbit in the headlights 
Was the owner trying hard to come across as a wanker or is it his natural state?

A fucked up club with fucked up fans.


----------



## belboid (Jan 5, 2017)

First five episodes of Vikings. 

They weren't a very pleasant lot, on the whole.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 5, 2017)

belboid said:


> First five episodes of Vikings.
> 
> They weren't a very pleasant lot, on the whole.


In a good way or a not good way?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 5, 2017)

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

I will admit that the first one wasn't too bad (the final confrontation excepted). But this, this just didn't feel right at all. The fight scenes are poorly choreographed, camera angles are odd, the score is generic, and the story is so flimsy it is impossible to care about what happens - there is simply no narrative thrust. It felt like a 'made for TV' film from the 1990s.

And Tom's hair. Always Tom's bloody hair!


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 6, 2017)

Trying to watch a Marvel toon; Punisher versus Black Widow or something. Bit of a struggle.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 6, 2017)

Watched Interstellar and The Martian on consecutive nights. Now deeply in crush territory with Jessica Chastain. Also, LOVED Interstellar, and thought The Martian was better than expected.


----------



## belboid (Jan 6, 2017)

redsquirrel said:


> In a good way or a not good way?


In a, quite entertaining way, I guess. Except for those bits that make you look way in disgust


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 6, 2017)

belboid said:


> First five episodes of Vikings.
> 
> They weren't a very pleasant lot, on the whole.


The missus has this series on her shortlist, perhaps we should have gone for that rather than opting for Arrow which is ok but a bit lightweight .


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 6, 2017)

The39thStep said:


> The missus has this series on her shortlist, perhaps we should have gone for that rather than opting for Arrow which is ok but a bit lightweight .


cut rate batman. Go for Vikings, the first two sasons are gold


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 7, 2017)

The Girl With All the Gifts.



Have you played The Last Of Us?

It's basically a decent version of that.


----------



## bubblesmcgrath (Jan 7, 2017)

Still watching The Sopranos


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2017)

The39thStep said:


> The missus has this series on her shortlist, perhaps we should have gone for that rather than opting for Arrow which is ok but a bit lightweight .


Finished off S1 last night. It's not exactly Shakespeare. But it's pretty well done, with bloody good stories of rampaging hordes, useless Christians and fairly rounded characters. Thoroughly decent entertainment.  Gabriel Byrne doesn't half dial it in tho


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 7, 2017)

Man in the High Castle - first 3 episodes.

Excellent sci-fi. Good pace and it got me re-reading some Nazi literature including some shit from Empire of Japan.


----------



## magneze (Jan 7, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> Man in the High Castle - first 3 episodes.
> 
> Excellent sci-fi. Good pace and it got me re-reading some Nazi literature including some shit from Empire of Japan.


Tried to get into it. I just didn't care about any of the characters though.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 7, 2017)

magneze said:


> Tried to get into it. I just didn't care about any of the characters though.



How many episodes did you watch?


----------



## magneze (Jan 7, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> How many episodes did you watch?


Episode 7 or 8. Someone got thrown off a bridge. Just after that.


----------



## Reno (Jan 7, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> How many episodes did you watch?


I watched 5 or 6 and I also couldn't get into it because of the incredibly dull characters. It's a problem I have with a lot of science fiction and especially TV. Great concept, so-so story telling, utterly bland characters.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2017)

Anyone seen The OA yet? I've been told it's beautiful to look at but self-important and boring.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 7, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Anyone seen The OA yet? I've been told it's beautiful to look at but self-important and boring.



Nope but it does have decent reviews...


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 7, 2017)

Reno said:


> I watched 5 or 6 and I also couldn't get into it because of the incredibly dull characters. It's a problem I have with a lot of science fiction and especially TV. Great concept, so-so story telling, utterly bland characters.





magneze said:


> Episode 7 or 8. Someone got thrown off a bridge. Just after that.



That's the worse.
Investing a number of hours into a show and realising it's shit (this happened to me with Mr Robot season 2, Luke Cage etc).


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2017)

Luke Cage was great!


----------



## magneze (Jan 7, 2017)

Reno said:


> I watched 5 or 6 and I also couldn't get into it because of the incredibly dull characters. It's a problem I have with a lot of science fiction and especially TV. Great concept, so-so story telling, utterly bland characters.


Yeah. It's a fantastic concept but dull as shit.


----------



## starfish (Jan 7, 2017)

The new Star Trek film. I really didnt get what was going on & would have happily stopped watching around the hour mark.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 7, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Anyone seen The OA yet? I've been told it's beautiful to look at but self-important and boring.


It's on the netflix thread.

You probably wouldn't like it though.   Things like that annoy you.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> It's on the netflix thread.
> 
> You probably wouldn't like it though.   Things like that annoy you.


Things like what?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 7, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Things like what?


It asks you to accept that for the first four hours you get to know fuck all about what's going on then gives a challenging finish.   The ending leaves lots of unanswered questions.

I loved it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 7, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> It asks you to accept that for the first four hours you get to know fuck all about what's going on then gives a challenging finish.   The ending leaves lots of unanswered questions.
> 
> I loved it.


Ah like Westworld


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 7, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Ah like Westworld


Oh it's worse than that.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 7, 2017)

You should give it a shot, it's really challenging but if you go with it the pay off is amazing.   Only 7 hours long.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 8, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> It asks you to accept that for the first four hours you get to know fuck all about what's going on then gives a challenging finish.   The ending leaves lots of unanswered questions.
> 
> I loved it.



I just watched the first 2 episodes.
Think I will invest the time to watch the remaining 6.

It feels a bit like Aronofsky's The Fountain...


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 8, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> I just watched the first 2 episodes.
> Think I will invest the time to watch the remaining 6.
> 
> It feels a bit like Aronofsky's The Fountain...


You mean the visuals when she meets Khatoun, I guess.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 8, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> You mean the visuals when she meets Khatoun, I guess.



Yep and the story behind the story.
Or does that change from episode 3?

ETA - I hope it doesn't change to an art dance thingy that will annoy the fuck out of me.


----------



## Voley (Jan 8, 2017)

The Imposter.

Good documentary in the ''Jinx'' / ''Making A Murderer'' style. True story of a 13 year old American lad who disappears after going to play basketball. 3 years or so later he turns up in Spain, supposedly having escaped his kidnappers. Only he looks a bit older than 16, speaks with a French accent and his eyes are a different colour. We've had a few good truth-stranger-than-fiction docs lately. Enjoyed this a lot.


----------



## Chz (Jan 8, 2017)

Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Much better (and funnier!) than I expected for a heart-warming Kiwi flick and I had to admit the mrs was right to watch it.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 8, 2017)

*Storm Centre (1956)* Bette Davis as a librarian (based on Ruth W. Brown) who is accused of being a communist when she refuses to remove a book from the town library. One of the first anti-McCarthyism films from Hollywood, Davis gives a good performance as usual but the film is let down by some of the others in the cast and the plot.


----------



## felixthecat (Jan 8, 2017)

Just watched the BBC production  of Witness for the Prosecution on iplayer
Not bad at all


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 8, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> Yep and the story behind the story.
> Or does that change from episode 3?
> 
> ETA - I hope it doesn't change to an art dance thingy that will annoy the fuck out of me.


Let's see how you feel when it ends.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 8, 2017)

The OA - episode 3 and 4.
Halfway through. 
It's better than The OC.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 10, 2017)

Spectral - sci-fi action flick; a bunch of grunts take on an army of spooky ghost like things...not bad, some good effects, nice ideas....great real locations filmed in derelict bits of Budapest.

Criminal - pretty stupid film with a fairly stellar cast; dr tommy lee jones transplants dead ryan reynolds cia agent's memories in to kevin costners head so he can give boss Gary Oldman the low down on hacker/terrorist michael pitt fella whereabouts. Totally stoopid...but enjoyed all the London locations and watching good actors slum it for a pay day.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 11, 2017)

*Pet *- painful and frustrating. a silly movie of role reversals. dialogue simplistic and corny. I hate this film.

Also watched *The Monster* a couple of weeks ago. Engaging until the final quarter - I just didn't get the main character's logic. Too dumb.


----------



## rekil (Jan 11, 2017)

Mascots - by a very tired Christopher Guest. Rubbish.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2017)

3nhour PBS docu on the history of american comic books. v. Good. Stan Lee comes across as a good egg and there's loads of info/talking heads and so on.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2017)

oh and a docu on 'The Death of Superman' which was interesting as it went way back to the 30s with the two struggling jewish artists in newyoik who thought up something in the vein of sampson, of hercules and so on, plus how dodgy mob money financed early stuff because it was a legit thing to do with your ill gotten gains. Didn't shy away from supes use as a propaganda tool which was nice, sometimes these docus don't like to look at the social and political- just talk about the stories like they are in a vacum, unsatisfying is that. This one managed to not do that


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 11, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> oh and a docu on 'The Death of Superman' which was interesting as it went way back to the 30s with the two struggling jewish artists in newyoik who thought up something in the vein of sampson, of hercules and so on, plus how dodgy mob money financed early stuff because it was a legit thing to do with your ill gotten gains. Didn't shy away from supes use as a propaganda tool which was nice, sometimes these docus don't like to look at the social and political- just talk about the stories like they are in a vacum, unsatisfying is that. This one managed to not do that





Spoiler


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 11, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> oh and a docu on 'The Death of Superman' which was interesting as it went way back to the 30s with the two struggling jewish artists in newyoik who thought up something in the vein of sampson, of hercules and so on, plus how dodgy mob money financed early stuff because it was a legit thing to do with your ill gotten gains. Didn't shy away from supes use as a propaganda tool which was nice, sometimes these docus don't like to look at the social and political- just talk about the stories like they are in a vacum, unsatisfying is that. This one managed to not do that


Have you read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Have you read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay?



I've not. The wiki looks good, will seek an epub


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 11, 2017)

Do read it Dotty, it's great.

Just finished the first series of Being Human, a mere ten years after it was first shown.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2017)

May Kasahara said:


> Do read it Dotty, it's great.
> 
> Just finished the first series of Being Human, a mere ten years after it was first shown.


oh being human is great. That vampire copper brr. I liked the way it made the werewolf a socially akward sort but kept the vamp of the trio as it should be- a fit, tortured soul raging against his blood addiction while being all cool and well dressed. They haven't done a decent spec-fic type series for ages now, we had The Fades for one intriguing series yrs ago but nothing more. I blame the tories


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 12, 2017)

Finished season 1 of The OA.

I liked it.
I feel like this guy (spoiler on link).


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 13, 2017)

*The Girl on the Train* - What the fuck is this tripe? Murder-mystery, where there are only two suspects. Lame.


----------



## pesh (Jan 13, 2017)

BBC America's version of Dirk Gently. enjoying it.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 13, 2017)

Polished off s2 of *Narcos*  - much better than the first series IMHO, takes things more seriously and is more of a Colombian story than a tale of some Americans' adventures in the jungle (which was my problem with s1). Also good for undermining the Pablo Escobar-worship by going heavy on the unglamorous aspects of his tale. Some great sequences lampooning his dreams to be President and his mother's "but he was a good lad who build playparks for poor kids" schtick, which she kept up to the end. Wagner Moura is very very good, as Pablo, even if his Spanish is still horrible and his Colombian accent wanders all over Latin America.


----------



## graham1699 (Jan 13, 2017)

Just watched The Witch, had great reviews but director forgot to go anywhere, could of been good. Never entered Gore fest in any way, never went for quick spooks which would of definitely worked as have to listen! Due to it being olde english being spoken and having to near lean forward to catch and understand them would of jumped you backwards. Could of had the kids visit other house closer and closer each time for suspense. Could of been crueler to the daughter psychologically, was a much simpler film than girlfriend or I was guessing. Just one big suspense to the end like a kamikaze water slide-lots of steps that you just gotta go up easy enough then a quick fast ending but the film never came with a thrill. Got a what the folk man! From gf. Shame decent acting directing wardrobe all that but I'd just stay away until he makes something else that won't rob you of 90mins. It would make a great book is what it seems maybe. Send to insomniacs ward video libraries


----------



## graham1699 (Jan 13, 2017)

Yetman said:


> The Witch - more about the story than the horror, of which there is little, but what there is is very good. Otherwise it's slow and a bit disappointing if you view it expecting what the trailer promises. 7/10
> 
> Southbound - this one lives up to expectations a bit more, but the apparent lack of experience of the directors shows, though not to the point where it's massively detrimental to the movie. 6/10



I think 6 or 7/10 out of ten is too high. I'd not watch again. Director missed quite a few chances of making it bloody good, thought it was building up to be.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 14, 2017)

I've watched The Witch three times now.
It's a slow burner and not your typical horror. Creepy is the word.


----------



## Reno (Jan 14, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> I've watched The Witch three times now.
> It's a slow burner and not your typical horror. Creepy is the word.


I actually enjoyed The Witch a lot more the second time I watched it. After seeing the trailer I came to it with certain preconceptions about it being the scariest horror film ever, which it isn't. But it still is very creepy and very well made. The thing which initially threw me is how unambiguous it is about its titular character from very early on, but the second time round that worked for me, especially when reading that it is based on historic records of claims about witches. As a period piece it's also tremendously effective and you have to adjust as a viewer that it takes place in a past which feels quite alienating.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 14, 2017)

The Dance of Reality.  Remarkable film.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 14, 2017)

Whiplash.

Not great, not bad.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 14, 2017)

Hidden Figures. Really good performances from Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Jannelle Monae in this, and even Kevin Costner is pretty good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 15, 2017)

The Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution

joined a few dots for me, linking in to other things I've seen and read. At turns inspiring and depressing. The murder of fred hampton was the real kcker. I'd seen a docu of the same name but not really understood his role and relevance to the party. That turn to electoral politics at the end, that one. Just... Hoover can burn in hell


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 15, 2017)

Kubo and the Two Strings.

Beautifully presented, the story is lightweight and is told quite simply. The soundtrack is very interesting too.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 15, 2017)

The Girl with all the Gifts.

I thought soft focus throughout would give me headaches.
It didn't.

Not what I expected (a full out zombie movie). Thoroughly enjoyed.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 15, 2017)

E.T - decided to watch this with my son. Surprisingly, the narrative pace still captivates.

Note, A single mother leaving her sick 7 year old boy at home alone while she goes to work.
If that movie was made today she'd be charged with child neglect.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 16, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> No, that statement was true. Who do you think you are? Pickmans?


You sad obsessive


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2017)

New sherlock, ssn 4 episode 1. I'm almost glad moffat was confined to doing this shit rather than another srs of doctor who. Peggs watson is a two note character, and sherlock himself is about one note (a good note, there was a few lols). Gatiss' mycroft remains as ever smug as fuck. I might watch more tonight but I probably won't. Story is trademark moffat set ups that appear clever but slowly give way to nowt.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 16, 2017)

DotCommunist Simon Pegg is not Watson, Martin Freeman is!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> DotCommunist Simon Pegg is not Watson, Martin Freeman is!


you know me and names  I'll stick to calling him bilbo


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 16, 2017)

My Winnipeg

Bizarre, dream-like experimental documentary about the Canadian city.  Weird, but not quite for the sake of weird. There is something there about the city's history, and the director's own psychosexual peculiarities.


----------



## belboid (Jan 16, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> My Winnipeg
> 
> Bizarre, dream-like experimental documentary about the Canadian city.  Weird, but not quite for the sake of weird. There is something there about the city's history, and the director's own psychosexual peculiarities.


That is great, must watch it again.  The bit with the horses frozen in the river is quite amazing


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 16, 2017)

belboid said:


> That is great, must watch it again.  The bit with the horses frozen in the river is quite amazing


You start thinking "he must have made this one up", and then it cuts to archive footage of the event. . .


----------



## belboid (Jan 16, 2017)

He did actually make that bit up, but it took me a couple of days googling to confirm it, I found a few sites at the time saying it was definitely true.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 16, 2017)

belboid said:


> He did actually make that bit up, but it took me a couple of days googling to confirm it, I found a few sites at the time saying it was definitely true.


Way to spoil the magic, dude.


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2017)

A couple of days googling !!!

Anyways, I love My Winnipeg and Guy Maddin's work in general. Doesn't really matter whether things are true or not as the filmmaker clearly is an unreliable narrator, blending facts, myths and dreams.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 16, 2017)

copliker said:


> Mascots - by a very tired Christopher Guest. Rubbish.


That's disappointing as I normally look foward to his films


----------



## belboid (Jan 16, 2017)

Reno said:


> A couple of days googling !!!.


Not the _entire_ 48 hours.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 16, 2017)

belboid said:


> Not the _entire_ 48 hours.


Did you have to give the chief your badge?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 16, 2017)

La La Land.

As this film progressed I steadily became angry, a fantasy film of candy floss nostalgia, a utopia written by Hollywood for Hollywood, with all the self-referencing and self-reverence that might suggest. But the treatment of Jazz in particular, the appropriation of visual and musical elements associated with Jazz - as a marker of 'cool' or 'alternative' (including the use of vinyl and cassette tape) - whilst still featuring a dialogue by John Legend (Mr Jazz himself, right?) arguing for Jazz to be revolutionary and not die - was sickening. And this is a film in which Jazz remains largely absent - and for that matter - so are black people.

A vacuous shit heap of a film.


----------



## belboid (Jan 16, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> La La Land.
> 
> As this film progressed I steadily became angry, a fantasy film of candy floss nostalgia, a utopia written by Hollywood for Hollywood, with all the self-referencing and self-reverence that might suggest. But the treatment of Jazz in particular, the appropriation of visual and musical elements associated with Jazz - as a marker of 'cool' or 'alternative' (including the use of vinyl and cassette tape) - whilst still featuring a dialogue by John Legend (Mr Jazz himself, right?) arguing for Jazz to be revolutionary and not die - was sickening. And this is a film in which Jazz remains largely absent - and for that matter - so are black people.
> 
> A vacuous shit heap of a film.


You completely missed the whole point.


----------



## belboid (Jan 16, 2017)

Nocturnal animals

Couldn't fault the acting, script, or look of it at all. Still didn't like it tho.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 16, 2017)

Thank god for Oscar screener season, eh 

Anyway...I watched Arrival.  It blew me away.  It has bits of Contact, Close Encounters, Independence Day amongst others but easily has its own originality. Genuine surprises dawn on you like back when m night shamalan was good.   

A really good film that fills it's entire 2 hour run-time.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 17, 2017)

belboid said:


> You completely missed the whole point.



Explain what YOU think the point was then.


----------



## Maharani (Jan 17, 2017)

Pride. 

A bit brasses off in places but I really enjoyed it. Mark was played by a brilliant actor and Paddy C never disappoints.  

It made me cry a lot too.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 17, 2017)




----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 17, 2017)

Magnolia.

Really enjoyed this - some great performances - recommended.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 17, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> Thank god for Oscar screener season, eh



It's late this year, isn't it? Or maybe I'm misremembering the last couple of years.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2017)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> It's late this year, isn't it? Or maybe I'm misremembering the last couple of years.


same as usual I think but you get the globes and baftas first


----------



## Reno (Jan 17, 2017)

The Oscars is always the last one, it's what awards season works up to.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 18, 2017)

Arrival

This kind of blind-sided me, really. I didn't expect it to be quite so, I dunno, it really hit home in some unexpected ways. A good and thoughtful film, probably my favourite science fiction one since Contact.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 18, 2017)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Arrival
> 
> This kind of blind-sided me, really. I didn't expect it to be quite so, I dunno, it really hit home in some unexpected ways. A good and thoughtful film, probably my favourite science fiction one since Contact.


watched this last night also. String, both story and performances. Sci fi plus linguistics was always going to be an easy sell to me but this was more thoughtful than those two things describe.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 19, 2017)

*Gabriel Over The White House (1933)* – Walter Huston as a newly elected US President who turns the country into a dictatorship, after divine intervention from the Angel Gabriel, following a near-death injury in a car accident. Interesting political fantasy that received financial backing and creative input of William Randolph Hearst and FD Roosevelt took time off his first week in office to help tweak the script.


----------



## Sue (Jan 21, 2017)

La Grande Bouffe. Four friends decide to eat themselves to death. Gluttony and dodgy sexual politics 70's style. Quite a weird one, pretty much soft porn in places, can see why it caused a scandal at the time.

Wish I hadn't started watching it while eating...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 21, 2017)

What Doesn't Kill You

downbeat crimme/drama about two young men growing up in crime in south Boston. Rufffaloe stars. Well done n all but a bit depressing


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 21, 2017)

*The Big Red One *(Samuel Fuller) - some sort of early-2000s recut of this big manly macho WWII flick first released around 1980. Bit of an odd one overall. 

Stars Lee Marvin at his most flinty and taciturn, but playing a surprisingly good and gentle man (when he's not bayoneting Germans that is) trying to get himself and his callow bunch of kid soldiers out alive through a pretty chaotic career through North Africa and Europe. It's a bit Tin Drum or Catch-22 or Mash-like in parts, plenty of surreal and horrible and odd moments, civilians catching it all over, snooty toffeenosed Brit soldiers, and lots of bickering among the multiethnic (but all white) US GIs in between their random blunderings into major campaigns or abandoned concentration camps - and it's very, very very long (nearly 3 hours). 

It's more interesting than anything else about the mindset of how macho guys who'd served in the war (like Fuller himself) processed the whole thing. Weary cynicism but trying to be decent now and then, faith in humanity tested etc etc etc. The sexual politics are UNBELIEVABLY retro, all romping about with blowsy willing local prostitutes, prehistoric 'jokes' about women which are 99% pure misogyny and the guys even having to deliver a baby in the middle of a tank battle at one point. ("well I don't really know what to do here Sarge, but it's almost making me horny" <-- actual direct quote  )

Then again it was showing on a channel called Movies4Men so what was I expecting


----------



## TruXta (Jan 21, 2017)

M. Night Shyamalan's *The Visit*. Well hot diddly damn, he can actually make a decent movie after all the dross he's helmed over the years. Some genuinely unsettling moments in this one and fine performances from young and old alike.


----------



## Reno (Jan 21, 2017)

TruXta said:


> M. Night Shyamalan's *The Visit*. Well hot diddly damn, he can actually make a decent movie after all the dross he's helmed over the years. Some genuinely unsettling moments in this one and fine performances from young and old alike.


That one was a pleasant surprise and it has one of the most darkly (or brownly) funny gags of any horror film ever.

His new horror film Split has been well received too, so maybe he's remembered how to make decent genre films again.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 21, 2017)

I'd actually forgotten it was an M. Night Delight until the opening credits, but I'd heard good things so didn't let it deter me. Started a bit slow and the mom character is a bit annoying, but got a lot better. The ending was maybe a bit heavy-handed but I was willing to let that slide, all over my face


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 21, 2017)

Reno said:


> ...His new horror film Split has been well received too, so maybe he's remembered how to make decent genre films again.



I've heard a very interesting thing about that...but it would be a spoiler.



Spoiler: this spoiler



Unbreakable


----------



## Maharani (Jan 22, 2017)

10 Cloverfield Road...how have I not seen this before? 

Just changed to Sky...movietastic.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 22, 2017)

Ill Manors - Plan B's directorial debut & a lot better than I expected. Riz Ahmed is brilliant in it and the pace never lets up. Not exactly cheerful viewing and the female characters have a pretty rough time of it but yeah, worth a look. Great soundtrack.


----------



## Reno (Jan 22, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> I've heard a very interesting thing about that...but it would be a spoiler.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't understand.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 22, 2017)

Reno said:


> I don't understand.


I don't want to say then.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 22, 2017)

Hacksaw Ridge.

Allowing for the inevitable 'tweaking' by Hollywood - this is apparently based on a true story! Does rather put 'modern life' in to perspective!


----------



## belboid (Jan 22, 2017)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Arrival
> 
> This kind of blind-sided me, really. I didn't expect it to be quite so, I dunno, it really hit home in some unexpected ways. A good and thoughtful film, probably my favourite science fiction one since Contact.


Watched this last night. Unexpectedly good, indeed. Amiable Adams is always an easy watch, even alongside Jeremy Renner. The linguistics were surprisingly well done, the flashbacks neat, only a couple of 'why the fuck would they do that?' moments. A solid B

Followed it with (Sympathy for) Lady Vengeance. Which is a bit different to the earlier two, but absolutely belting. A must see for anyone who likes that kis no of thing.


----------



## yield (Jan 22, 2017)

Saw Arrival in the last few days good slow paced and not what I expected very good. 

Also watched Girl with All the Gifts. I'll watch anything with Paddy Considine in.

Sennia Nanua absolutely stole it. Best zombie movie since 28 days later


----------



## seventh bullet (Jan 23, 2017)

yield said:


> Saw Arrival in the last few days good slow paced and not what I expected very good.
> 
> Also watched Girl with All the Gifts. I'll watch anything with Paddy Considine in.
> 
> Sennia Nanua absolutely stole it. Best zombie movie since 28 days later





Spoiler



Justineau: 'Do you want a cat?'

 Melanie: 'I already had one.'


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 23, 2017)

OK, over the weekend.

Wild Card. Jason Statham as a Vegas based "security consultant". JS gives the worst performance I have ever seen, and I didn't bother finishing this one. Worth watching, just so you can appreciate what good acting really means.

Last two episodes of Callan. There is  nothing like this today.

First episode of "the Lakes", a Jimmy McGovern series from the '90s which I missed at the time, but which looks to be really good. Ticks all the McGovern boxes, of course - "I've got a theory about Scousers", "who made me? God made me", etc., etc.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 23, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> OK, over the weekend.
> 
> Wild Card. Jason Statham as a Vegas based "security consultant". JS gives the worst performance I have ever seen, and I didn't bother finishing this one. Worth watching, just so you can appreciate what good acting really means.
> 
> ...



The Lakes is excellent - series 2 is seriously dark and bonkers. At the time I was thinking a bit Twin Peaks like... without the paranormal/alien stuff, of course.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 23, 2017)

Last Man on the Moon

good stuff. Not particularly technical but really the mans own experience. You can tell he's not a sentimental or emotive soul but even from some hardbitten pilot sort- the moon humbled him. Looking at the earth rising over the shoulder of the moon and thinking 'I want to grab that and put it here *indicates heart* so I can show people what it is'

we shall return


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 23, 2017)

Pluto - 2012 South Korean film about dangerously competitive students. Compelling, disturbing and not at all the Disney "short animated film about Pluto, Chip & Dale" that our Tivo seemed to think it was...


----------



## 74drew (Jan 23, 2017)

Manchester by the Sea (2016) - IMDb Manchester by the Sea. A really well layered family drama. Made me think of my relationship with my brother a lot.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 25, 2017)

The Pervert's Guide To Ideology.

Comedy gold.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 25, 2017)

X MEN APOCASHITS

Basically the story of how Prof X went bald and aquired a better wheelchair.

Give me Superman 2 anyday.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 25, 2017)

*Belle *(2013) - I absolutely loved it, 18th-century period drama with added feminism and black history, so what's not to like. A little too genteel in the style, but full of good actors voicing a clever script in lovely surroundings. Tom Wilkinson's brilliant, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is brave and convincing in a tough role to find the right voice/body language for (mixed-race illegitimate daughter of a slave and a toff, brought up among the aristocracy in one of Britain's most stately homes) and the supporting lot all do their bit. The plot doesn't race along, it's more of a series of thoughts (why are things so messed up in Georgian London? how can a woman be happy in a viciously sexist age? is money or beauty a bigger liberator? etc) than a story where this happens, then this happens, then that happens.

The only bum note is that they have to shoehorn in a reconstruction of the real historical painting (school of Zoffany) with a detail of Belle which is one of the best-known depictions a of Black Georgian person, and very well known in its own right - it's this one:


But in the movie - as in so so many historical romps - the prop picture is HORRIBLE, fake and tacky-looking, worse than a bit of velvet art you'd find in a trailer or that Spanish granny's Ecce Monkey fresco repair. Why does this always happen? (Other really crap reconstructions of known paintings appear in _Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Tudors _tv series etc etc etc. Why? can't they just scan and print the original onto a canvas, or is it some obscure copyright battle? anyway, paintings in historical movies are nearly always terrible.)

Then *A Most Violent Year *(2014) - chilly, not all that engaging "trials of a gangster" flick set in early 1980s New York following threats and tactics of a dealer in heating oil taking a lot of heat (heh) from the Mob. Critics loved it. I can see why they liked it (leads Oscar Issac and Jessica Chastain are both great - she in particular better than I've seen her in anything - there's some great retro clothing + cars - and it's overall a miserable but intelligent treatment, not a bang-bang entertainment.) But overall it felt a bit pointless to me. Crucial things which would make you care a bit more - where does the hero spring from? What really drives him? Why bother with all these shenanigans?  - are just never explained or even touched on.


----------



## Reno (Jan 25, 2017)

A Most Violent Year is an odd one. I agree, it's more interesting than truly successful in what it does. It's a gangster film about someone working hard not to go down that path and therefore deprives you of the thrills of the gangster film. It stuck with me though and I'd like to see it again.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 25, 2017)

I enjoyed it, but it is a bit icey around the edges. Well crafted. Well acted. Looks lovely.


----------



## D'wards (Jan 25, 2017)

Saw Arrival. Thought it was great, just the sort of hard sci fi I like.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 25, 2017)

Justice League Dark

the justice league are in it for all of five mins, this is basically an excuse to use the JL label to push what is essentially a Constantine cartoon. Batman hangs around for the whole film but other than that, no. It's ok though, Constantines accent (where in england is that? toured north and south) aside it was a good enough tale, excellent animation and some humour. Its still better than snyderverse DC by miles but a 6/10. Would have had more but the demon etrigan does my head in with that speaking in verse shite.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 26, 2017)

We're Not Married

From 1952 - otherwise forgettable comedy that happens to feature both Marilyn Monroe as a beauty queen and a young Lee Marvin. Their paths don't cross though, because the gimmick (or high concept if you prefer) is that five couples discover that they are not legally married as they thought they were, because the 'justice of the peace' who did the ceremonies hadn't properly been commissioned (he does these weddings before he officially takes up his office, you see). Interesting in that it demonstrates the anxiety in America that still surrounded the social changes that came out of the Second World War, and continued into Korea and beyond. The final scenes involve an army chaplain who makes everything alright via the use of a radio, but before then the damage has been done


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 26, 2017)

Legends of Tomorrow is back after the holiday break

this time they had to back in time and stop george lucas from quitting film school. Every star wars reference you can think of shoehorned in.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 26, 2017)

Star Wars (Silver Screen Edition).

None of that 'Special Edition' nonsense here, thank you.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 27, 2017)

Was off work sick today so finally got round to watching The Cabin In The Woods. Good splattery fun.

Also watched loads more Being Human  Inevitably have a bit of a Mitchell vampire crush


----------



## seventh bullet (Jan 28, 2017)

May Kasahara said:


> Was off work sick today so finally got round to watching The Cabin In The Woods. Good splattery fun.
> 
> Also watched loads more Being Human  Inevitably have a bit of a Mitchell vampire crush





Spoiler



Richard Jenkins shouting 'Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!' when he loses his bet made me laugh. Oh, and the bit when hunk Hemsworth hits the forcefield thingy on his bike and falls to his doom after making his dumb heroic speech.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 28, 2017)

First episode of Case.  Pretty gripping.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 28, 2017)

Mechanic Resurrection.

Jason Statham, dressed as a tiny mechanism, burst out of John Hurt (RIP)'s stomach.

No not really. Statham is himself (he doesn't even bother to act) in another actioner. Only watch this one if you can turn off your mind and float downstream, as the moptop scousers would put it.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 28, 2017)

Jackie.

A tremendous performance by Natalie Portman in what I thought was a rather unfocussed, rambling film.


----------



## Voley (Jan 28, 2017)

The Witch. Enjoyed this, genuinely spooky in places. Good to see the bloke I only know as David Brent/Theon Greyjoy's arsehole mate get a starring role. Good actor when he's given a free reign.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 29, 2017)

Watched The Elephant Man and then the end of Twin Peaks Firewalk With Me. I like spotting the similar motifs in those films: paintings, angels, classical music..


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 29, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Justice League Dark
> 
> the justice league are in it for all of five mins, this is basically an excuse to use the JL label to push what is essentially a Constantine cartoon. Batman hangs around for the whole film but other than that, no. It's ok though, Constantines accent (where in england is that? toured north and south) aside it was a good enough tale, excellent animation and some humour. Its still better than snyderverse DC by miles but a 6/10. Would have had more but the demon etrigan does my head in with that speaking in verse shite.



As I remember it; John was originally from Liverpool but had lived in London for many years. I always imagined it as a bit of a mish mash. This is going back to Alan Moore and later Jamie Delano era (Swamp Thing/Hellblazer)


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 29, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> As I remember it; John was originally from Liverpool but had lived in London for many years. I always imagined it as a bit of a mish mash. This is going back to Alan Moore and later Jamie Delano era (Swamp Thing/Hellblazer)


he certainly gets away with a few swears in this one! two wankers, a shite and a fuck iirc!


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jan 30, 2017)

Command nd Control- Doc based on Eric Schlossers buke about the Titan 2 nuke accident in Arkansas in 1980. Well made and atmospheric and something people seem to have forgotten about


----------



## T & P (Feb 1, 2017)

Just saw Kubo and the Two Strings. Beautiful.


----------



## pesh (Feb 2, 2017)

not-bono-ever said:


> Command nd Control- Doc based on Eric Schlossers buke about the Titan 2 nuke accident in Arkansas in 1980. Well made and atmospheric and something people seem to have forgotten about


25 minutes into this and it's like Dumb and Dumber. How are we all still here?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 2, 2017)

Watched first our of the latest version of Magnificent Seven.

It's a good western actioner, with some interesting performances (Hawke/Denofrio).

There's a big McQueen sized hole where the cool guy should be, but I'm enjoying overall.

Was too tired to watch it all...will finish later.


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## Sue (Feb 2, 2017)

Our Man in Havana. Alec Guinness, Maureen O'Hara, Noel Coward, scripted by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed. What's not to like?


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## Idris2002 (Feb 2, 2017)

Sue said:


> Our Man in Havana. Alec Guinness, Maureen O'Hara, Noel Coward, scripted by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed. What's not to like?


O'Hara was surprisingly good, I thought.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 2, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> The Lakes is excellent - series 2 is seriously dark and bonkers. At the time I was thinking a bit Twin Peaks like... without the paranormal/alien stuff, of course.


I watched the first episode of season two last night. . . and I see what you mean!


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 2, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Legends of Tomorrow is back after the holiday break
> 
> this time they had to back in time and stop george lucas from quitting film school. Every star wars reference you can think of shoehorned in.



That whole episode was both fun as hell and eye-rollingly stupid at times. 

Which pretty much sums up the show and why I keep watching.

Just watched the one after that, some good time spent with the Legion Of Doom (Sara - "I'm not calling them that").


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 4, 2017)

belboid said:


> *Murder, My Sweet* (Farwell, My Lovely, with Dick Powell) Shouldn’t really be on a ‘minor Marlowe’ list, it’s the third or second best film with him in it...*The title was changed because apparently the producers were afraid people would think 'Farewell, My Lovely' would be a musical*.



I think that's fair enough, given that Powell was up to that point known for his lighthearted roles in musicals - the original Chandler title combined with Powell's name on the marquee would not really conjure up 'hard boiled detective thriller' in the minds of audiences.


----------



## Sue (Feb 5, 2017)

J'ai tue ma mere (I killed my mother). Xavier Dolan's first film about the troubled relationship between a French-Canadian teenager and his mother. 

Inretesting take on teenage angst, made when Dolan was 20.


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## Chz (Feb 6, 2017)

Sue said:


> J'ai tue ma mere (I killed my mother). Xavier Dolan's first film about the troubled relationship between a French-Canadian teenager and his mother.
> 
> Inretesting take on teenage angst, made when Dolan was 20.


Pretty damned good for a debut, but his work's only got better. I loved _Mommy, _even if neither I, nor my French wife, could understand *any* of the Joual they were speaking.


----------



## belboid (Feb 6, 2017)

*Florence Foster Jenkins*

That woman who couldn’t sing as well as she thought she could, as played by that woman that can’t act as well as she thinks she can (© TheDonald).  It’s by Stephen Frears, so it really should be pretty decent, and thankfully it is. Hugh Grant is surprisingly good. Well, I didn’t want to punch him every time he spoke, which is a blessed improvement. There’s no real depth to it, but it’s a not unpleasant way to spend 100 minutes.


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## Idris2002 (Feb 6, 2017)

Spring in a Small Town.

A Chinese film, made the year before Mao came to power. The theme is personal and national rebirth after catastrophe. A small family (husband, wife, husband's younger sister, only remaining servant) live in their family house, one badly damaged by the war. We never see the small town, they live in, only the town wall, along which the mother walks everyday, after going to the pharmacy to buy medicine for her depressed husband ("the family fortune was destroyed on my watch"). His old friend a doctor, returns home from the war against the Japanese, and she is sorely tempted to betray her husband with him. And the doctor is sorely tempted too. I won't say how it comes out, only that the blurb's comparison to _Brief Encounter _is an obvious one, but it reminded me more of _Wild Strawberries_.

Verdict: if you feel like getting your arthouse on, I'd strongly recommend this one. JimW do you know SIAST? If so, what do you think?


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## JimW (Feb 6, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Spring in a Small Town.
> 
> A Chinese film, made the year before Mao came to power. The theme is personal and national rebirth after catastrophe. A small family (husband, wife, husband's younger sister, only remaining servant) live in their family house, one badly damaged by the war. We never see the small town, they live in, only the town wall, along which the mother walks everyday, after going to the pharmacy to buy medicine for her depressed husband ("the family fortune was destroyed on my watch"). His old friend a doctor, returns home from the war against the Japanese, and she is sorely tempted to betray her husband with him. And the doctor is sorely tempted too. I won't say how it comes out, only that the blurb's comparison to _Brief Encounter _is an obvious one, but it reminded me more of _Wild Strawberries_.
> 
> Verdict: if you feel like getting your arthouse on, I'd strongly recommend this one. JimW do you know SIAST? If so, what do you think?


I know of it as it's one of those monuments of Chinese cinema but of course never actually watched it.


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## Idris2002 (Feb 6, 2017)

JimW said:


> I know of it as it's one of those monuments of Chinese cinema but of course never actually watched it.


I'd say you should.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 6, 2017)

*Ex Machina *- much like the morally stunted, creepy tech billionaire whose "Turing test" scenario this is set in, the film itself is not nearly as clever as it thinks it is.

It does look absolutely gorgeous and it presses all the right current-events creepout buttons (sexism, objectification, commodification, rise of the robots, the singularity etc etc etc). It does wring surprising amounts of suspense and drama out of a claustrophobic, minimal setup. All three actors with speaking parts do amazing things with them. But sadly it is, fundamentally, a bit stupid and the twists aren't really surprising enough to be full twists. It's class entertainment, for sure - but I was expecting this to be proper mindblowing, which it isn't. More like a bit of mental bubble gum.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 6, 2017)

*Arrival *- average first half but loved how the story came together in the end.
One thing that bugged me though was the first scene. It didn't make sense...


----------



## Reno (Feb 6, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Arrival *- average first half but loved how the story came together in the end.
> One thing that bugged me though was the first scene. It didn't make sense...


I thought it was the other way round. A stunning first two thirds and then it dropped the ball at the end. Not so much what was happening, but how it handled it.

The first scene makes sense though.


----------



## Sue (Feb 6, 2017)

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg. Perfect.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 6, 2017)

Reno said:


> I thought it was the other way round. A stunning first two thirds and then it dropped the ball at the end. Not so much what was happening, but how it handled it.
> 
> The first scene makes sense though.



Maybe I missed something.
....


----------



## Supine (Feb 6, 2017)

*Chance*

Hugh Laurie plays a specialist medical practitioner with an American accent. Sounds familiar? Think House with a bent cop thriller story ark. Enjoying it so far


----------



## belboid (Feb 6, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You do know that various posters won't have seen the film.


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## Reno (Feb 6, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



The beginning is a flashforward, which we think is a flashback till the end. It doesn't matter that she hasn't yet met A&C. Through learning their language she learns to experience time in a non-linear way and as the film is from her perspective, it turns out that the film told the story in a non-linear way too. The alien language doesn't so much as enable her to live in the future, she can access different points in a timeline.



...and as belboid said, put that in a spoiler (even though you got it slightly wrong)


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## belboid (Feb 6, 2017)

Reno said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I really should have put one in myself, shouldn't I?


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## Virtual Blue (Feb 7, 2017)

Reno said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Very well put.
I think I like it even more now


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 7, 2017)

The Founder.

A curious film - Keaton gives a beguiling performance - and you wonder at the takeover and exploitation of the original McDonalds brand.

8/10


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 7, 2017)

Quit trying with Suicide Squad....Just meandering nonsense....

Quit trying with Batman Vs Superman....more meandering nonsense...

The Lego Batman film is the best superhero flick in ages...


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 7, 2017)

First 4 eps of Taboo. Dark, broody and bonkers. And that's just Hardy... I like it.


----------



## Sue (Feb 7, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Quit trying with Suicide Squad....Just meandering nonsense....
> 
> Quit trying with Batman Vs Superman....more meandering nonsense...
> 
> The Lego Batman film is the best superhero flick in ages...


Watched Suicide Squad on a plane. Well watched a small bit of it before I lost the will and had a kip instead. (The bit I watched was right rubbish. But then I'm not into superhero type movies so...)


----------



## Sue (Feb 7, 2017)

California Split. Find gamblers and gambling pretty dull in general but liked the 70s feel and the performances. And a super-young Jeff Goldblum to boot!


----------



## belboid (Feb 7, 2017)

Vikings, season 2. 

More bloodiness and politicking. Linus Roache actually puts some effort in as King of Wessex, unlike Gabriel Byrne in S1. They still downplay the surprisingly democratic nature of Viking society, and rather exaggerate its feminism, but, hey. Good entertainment. 

Can't decide what series to do next, Stranger Things or Search Party.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 8, 2017)

The Seventh Bullet - Soviet Central Asian western (eastern?) about communist ideology versus Muslim ideology. Also, slightly dodgy love interest (she's clearly underage)...


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 8, 2017)

belboid said:


> Vikings, season 2.
> 
> More bloodiness and politicking. Linus Roache actually puts some effort in as King of Wessex, unlike Gabriel Byrne in S1. They still downplay the surprisingly democratic nature of Viking society, and rather exaggerate its feminism, but, hey. Good entertainment.
> 
> Can't decide what series to do next, Stranger Things or Search Party.


almost certainly stranger things. Its very good. Winona Ryder from the adult cast suprised me a lot, didn't know she had such a performance in her. Last thing I cheered her on in was some Alin film. Probably 4. The one where she's a synthetic on the downlow

I caught up with Marves Agent of Shield.

its quite disturbing to see jon hannah who will forever be Batiatus in my head acting allongside people who don't sy 'jupiters cock!' and so on


----------



## Chz (Feb 9, 2017)

> Winona Ryder from the adult cast suprised me a lot, didn't know she had such a performance in her


I just felt sorry for her. The way the role is written, it's 80% teetering on the edge of total breakdown and 20% stone cold killer. I think she's awful in it, but it's not her fault - just the way it's written.


----------



## Reno (Feb 9, 2017)

Ryder hits the "crazy" pedal in Stranger Things and never takes the foot off. A more subtle actress might have done more with the role but she's fun to watch. I still can't wrap my mind round the fact that Winona Ryder plays mums now.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 9, 2017)

Fresh Off The Boat.

Very much influneced by 'Everybody Hates Chris', this is funny but very interesting for the positions taken in respect of 'otherness' (largely through the references to Hip Hop by the main protagonist).


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 9, 2017)

Ex Machina - superb. Reminded me a little bit of Blade Runner in parts. And that Oscar Issacs is a chameleon.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 9, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> Ex Machina - superb. Reminded me a little bit of Blade Runner in parts. And that Oscar Issacs is a chameleon.



This. I thought the way the story unfolded was very well handled, with some very good performances from all involved.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 9, 2017)

Moana.

You could be cynical about this, and question the slightly confused musical material, but this made me smile. Moreover, it was very interesting to see that the physicality of the main female character was established by action and body type.

9/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 10, 2017)

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - great cast, terrible adaptation. Read the book instead.
Roots - the reboot, as I can barely remember the original, this is quite something. Nice to see Levar Burton is involve in it.


----------



## crossthebreeze (Feb 11, 2017)

Dukhtar (2014)
A really beautifully shot and very feminist film about a mother running away with her daughter in northern Pakistan in order to protect her from child marriage, with the leaders of two clans ordering their pursuit with murderous intent. It got a bit formulaic at times (a campfire scene in which a people thrown together on the run reveal their pasts,  a vehicle that won't start as the enemy approaches) and it was no suprise that the good-looking truckdriver who finds them hiding in his beautiful truck becomes a big part of the story, but the relationships are nicely portrayed and the theme of mother's love makes the film stand out.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 11, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> Roots - the reboot, as I can barely remember the original, this is quite something. Nice to see Levar Burton is involve in it.



Well damn, I didn't realise Burton played the young Kunta Kinte in the original. It _was_ a long time ago though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 11, 2017)

Legends of Tomorrow

in this weeks installment Rip has been turned evil so goes back in time to kill george washington. Jack Harkness stars once mor as the least convincing ex ra's al ghul ever, but he is funny. Also, theres a nice bit of an american history lesson within. I knew nothing about washington attacking over the Delaware


----------



## TruXta (Feb 11, 2017)

Ouija Origin of evil. Nicely made if rather by the numbers haunted house scary kids period effort.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 12, 2017)

Watchmen.

Horrible. Dull. Pretentious. Ponderous. There is _nothing_ about this film that I like.


----------



## belboid (Feb 12, 2017)

Reno said:


> Ryder hits the "crazy" pedal in Stranger Things and never takes the foot off. A more subtle actress might have done more with the role but she's fun to watch. I still can't wrap my mind round the fact that Winona Ryder plays mums now.


Really? I'm more surprised she was actually the age of the character she was playing in Heathers. 

Watched the first half of ST tonight. The very fact we watched the first half should tel you we enjoye it. Winnie is very watchable, and I'll be generous and say the cheesiness of her performance is something of a homage to eighties values.  The kids are great, especially El, and the story is a sold blend of a dozen or so eighties movies. What's not to love?


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 12, 2017)

A Million Ways to Die in the West - Seth McFarlane takes on the Western. Sort of Family Guy meets Blazing Saddles, with some great cameos in.


----------



## Reno (Feb 12, 2017)

belboid said:


> Really? I'm more surprised she was actually the age of the character she was playing in Heathers.
> 
> Watched the first half of ST tonight. The very fact we watched the first half should tel you we enjoye it. Winnie is very watchable, and I'll be generous and say the cheesiness of her performance is something of a homage to eighties values.  The kids are great, especially El, and the story is a sold blend of a dozen or so eighties movies. What's not to love?


She was 17 and played a character who was 17 in Heathers.


----------



## belboid (Feb 12, 2017)

Reno said:


> She was 17 and played a character who was 17 in Heathers.


Yes, that was my point. 29 years ago.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 13, 2017)

"Split." Good, well made, tense movie, but hated it. Generic "man abducts teenage girls and kills them" serial killer schlock-gore, with a ludicrous silly "supervillain with special powers" twist. FFS.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 13, 2017)

The Seven Year Itch.

Marilyn Monroe breezes into the life of a Manhattan schlub who has sent his wife and kids away for the summer. Still iconic because of that scene with the ventilation, but it's no _Some Like it hot. _


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 13, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Watchmen.
> 
> Horrible. Dull. Pretentious. Ponderous. There is _nothing_ about this film that I like.


Oh come on.

OK...absolutely, it's not the graphic novel, not even close....but that opening montage is great.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 13, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> Oh come on.
> 
> OK...absolutely, it's not the graphic novel, not even close....but that opening montage is great.



I've tried. I've watched this a number of times (and the most recent one included the addition of the pirate cartoon) and it just doesn't work for me. Too heavy handed, and too self-consciously attempting to be subversive. Sorry Dexter.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 13, 2017)

What?   You mean this kind of thing?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 13, 2017)

Moi, Pierre Rivière, ayant égorgé ma mère, ma soeur et mon frère... (1976).

Engaging, subtle, and thought provoking (especially given the involvement of local people in particular parts). If you like Foucault this has to be a 'must view'.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 13, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> What?   You mean this kind of thing?




I really didn't think 'BVS' was _that_ bad a film - although the best thing to come out of it was undoubtedly the introduction of 'Wonder Woman'. Given the recent changes regarding the next proposed 'Batman' film her potential importance to the DC franchise has increased massively.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 13, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> I really didn't think 'BVS' was _that_ bad a film - although the best thing to come out of it was undoubtedly the introduction of 'Wonder Woman'. Given the recent changes regarding the next proposed 'Batman' film her potential importance to the DC franchise has increased massively.



I didn't think it was that bad either, but Snyder does have a propensity for moments.

Next one looks fucked, just now.   (Probably just Batfleck flexing his Hollywood muscle though)


----------



## Sue (Feb 13, 2017)

The Parallax View. Now a bit confused as it wasn't the film I thought it was.

So...what's the film where a fascist type politician is running for the US senate/presidency and the only way to stop him is assassination. Except it doesn't quite work out like that? Saw it years ago and always thought it was The Parallax View except turns out it wasn't.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 13, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> I didn't think it was that bad either, but Snyder does have a propensity for moments.
> 
> Next one looks fucked, just now.   (Probably just Batfleck flexing his Hollywood muscle though)



It does look as if a great deal has been happening behind the scenes! I think it has been suggested that Affleck may not even want to stay on as 'Batman' given his anger at the way things have been handled, but I suspect (and hope) the changes have been made to take a longer view with respect to the development of the individual character arcs and how they might intersect in future films (probably learning from the Marvel model?).


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 13, 2017)

Sue said:


> So...what's the film where a fascist type politician is running for the US senate/presidency and the only way to stop him is assassination. Except it doesn't quite work out like that? Saw it years ago and always thought it was The Parallax View except turns out it wasn't.



Bob Roberts?


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 13, 2017)

meh....it'll never be better than Nolan's...I'll still watch it though...love Batman


----------



## Sue (Feb 13, 2017)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Bob Roberts?


Saw it when I was a kid and I'm not quite that young...


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 14, 2017)

Sue said:


> The Parallax View. Now a bit confused as it wasn't the film I thought it was.
> 
> So...what's the film where a fascist type politician is running for the US senate/presidency and the only way to stop him is assassination. Except it doesn't quite work out like that? Saw it years ago and always thought it was The Parallax View except turns out it wasn't.


Are you thinking of _The Dead Zone_?


----------



## Boyo (Feb 14, 2017)

"13 Hours". Made me feel I was there. And I didn't want to be!

A bit "Anything American Is Better Than Anything Else", but then that's par for the course for Hollywood. I enjoyed it.

Well, maybe "enjoyed" isn't the right word; it was pretty full-on in parts. But definitely watchable to the end, a characteristic of modern movies which I'm finding less common lately.


----------



## Sue (Feb 14, 2017)

redsquirrel said:


> Are you thinking of _The Dead Zone_?


Was a long time ago but that sounds very much like it. Going to have to try and find copy now just to be sure. Thanks v much.


----------



## Boyo (Feb 14, 2017)

redsquirrel said:


> Are you thinking of _The Dead Zone_?


Good flick, I thought. One of the very few movie adaptations of a Stephen King novel which actually worked. Almost, (but not quite), better than the novel, and that's saying something!


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Feb 14, 2017)

I watched The Comfort of Strangers (on YouTube).  One of those films I've always intended on seeing (once being a big fan of Ian McEwan) but had just never got round to.  There are certainly a lot of good people involved and it's beautifully shot in Venice, but it's not a story for those who need explanations.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 16, 2017)

Jackie (2016)

I like Portman, but this film took some time to adjust to - the extremely mannered acting, and the 'play within a play' (through reference to the White House tour) initially seemed very forced, the acting seemed _too_ obvious. The soundtrack was also quite jarring, an odd mix which appeared to have been influenced by minimalism and the occasional nod to John Barry by way of John Adams. I can see that a more traditional, orchestrated score might have been too difficult to use given the emotionally charged scenes featured.

This is one I will watch again, to see if a second viewing helps.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 16, 2017)

Fantastic Four (2015)

Poor special effects - or rather the money has been spent in the wrong places (DOOM looks cheap), the dialogue is clunky, and there is no real sense of dramatic tension - the film ends before it appears to have even started.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 16, 2017)

Ant Man. A lot better than I was expecting. Michael Douglas! I didn't even bother to read the castlist before watching. It was good 6.5/10

Independence Day 2 or resurgent. I wasn't expecting much so wasn't dissapointed. V. Good combat scenes and the cheese was cheesy enough. 4/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 16, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Ant Man. A lot better than I was expecting. Michael Douglas! I didn't even bother to read the castlist before watching. It was good 6.5/10
> 
> Independence Day 2 or resurgent. I wasn't expecting much so wasn't dissapointed. V. Good combat scenes and the cheese was cheesy enough. 4/10



Yup, 'Ant Man' is surprisingly good - whilst 'Independence Day 2' is a 'tick box' film designed to appeal to various markets at the lowest possible point of engagement. Marx would have LOVED watching and critiquing that film.


----------



## belboid (Feb 18, 2017)

The Witch 

Yup, its as good as everyone says.  It maybe tries a little too hard i the first few minutes (look! I'm an arty film ,not just a scary one!!) but it/I soon gets over that and it is a proper spooky, insidious, creeper with a good few shocks in it.  Thoroughly recommended.

Beyonce - Lemonade, for some reason mrs b was offended that I had downloaded this, and, i think, suspected it was actually porn or something.  So we had to watch it. And, damn, but it is such a fine album. In places. The videos aren't bad either, powerful and highly watchable, even if they have a slight wiff of very well funded final year film student about them.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 18, 2017)

Resident Evil 6. its' Unmitigated Shite. Worst of the series, by far,


----------



## yardbird (Feb 19, 2017)

Justified - I'm going to watch the whole thing right from the start now that it's steaming in HD.

To a black pastor:  "I saw Peter Tosh once"
Timothy Olyphant is superb.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 19, 2017)

Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Otto Preminger, 1950. Corrupt cop kills suspect. Then watches as an innocent man looks as if he's going to be framed for the crime. . .


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 20, 2017)

Lion (2016)

A very simple story, but supremely engaging and moving (a testament to the quality of the performances). You could argue that it was manipulative (but then all film / narratives necessarily are) but it is the most moving film I have seen in a long time.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 21, 2017)

Watched an odd sci-fi film called The Frame. It was ok then got a bit weird at the end.


----------



## belboid (Feb 21, 2017)

Good weird or bad weird?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 22, 2017)

belboid said:


> Good weird or bad weird?



I don't if it was bad...just big ideas done on a budget so it felt a bit half done...and clunky...and slightly odd alongside the previous 90mins of the film.


----------



## magneze (Feb 22, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Watched an odd sci-fi film called The Frame. It was ok then got a bit weird at the end.


Great film imo.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 22, 2017)

magneze said:


> Great film imo.



I enjoyed most of it....


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 22, 2017)

Assassin's Creed.

Why. Did. I. Bother.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 22, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Assassin's Creed.
> 
> Why. Did. I Bother.



I asked myself the same question. Utterly pointless, and unengaging.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 22, 2017)

flustercuck said:


> I asked myself the same question. Utterly pointless, and unengaging.



It was a production that clearly had been given a budget, as the visual special effects worked very well. It was the story (or rather lack thereof) that was so irritating, and the fact it was clearly constructed with a view to launching a franchise. The game has been successful but it is hard to see this enjoying the same degree or level of appeal.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 23, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> It was a production that clearly had been given a budget, as the visual special effects worked very well.



I felt the action scenes were well constructed, and unlike many a film - very clearly geographically so you always knew where the action was taking place and in relation to everyone else. However, the whole "it happened 500 years ago" means there was never any sense of danger - you knew the character escaped. he had to escape, otherwise they could never have succeeded, or his bloodline continued...

Ultimately as a framing device it made everything pointless, and never in any real danger. And thats why it failed.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 23, 2017)

computer game films are always shit. Mario, Street Fighter. Mortal Kombat scrapes in at watchable because of the fantasy/martial arts stuff being well done. But even that, 50p bargain bin only


I watched Marvels Agents of Shield. Was starting to get bored with the robot shenanigans but last nights kicked it right up a notch


----------



## Chz (Feb 23, 2017)

Prince of Persia was (to my extreme surprise) a passable film as well. But in terms of game adaptations, I can only think of Mortal Kombat, PoP and Resident Evil as being Not Shit. None of them were great, but Not Shit is incredibly high praise compared to all the other game-based films.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 23, 2017)

Chz said:


> Prince of Persia was (to my extreme surprise) a passable film as well. But in terms of game adaptations, I can only think of Mortal Kombat, PoP and Resident Evil as being Not Shit. None of them were great, but Not Shit is incredibly high praise compared to all the other game-based films.



Resident Evil has been very successful as a franchise - I wonder if the games are still enjoying the same appeal?


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 24, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Resident Evil has been very successful as a franchise - I wonder if the games are still enjoying the same appeal?



First and Only Video Game franchise to hit $1billion at box office (unless I've forgotten something), First and Only horror franchise to hit $1 billion as box office too.

Mind you, in terms of video game adaptations - Doom was much in the same ballpark, but mostly a failure. There's a fan re-edit of Doom on vimeo that is about 15 minutes shorter, changed all the music over to stuff from the video game...much much better than the other version.

I'll see if I can find it.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 24, 2017)

flustercuck said:


> I'll see if I can find it.





here it is! (I saved to to my hard drive and watched it on the big tellybocks, mind you)


----------



## lefteri (Feb 24, 2017)

Final fantasy was interesting, the first and possibly only attempt at full lifelike cgi


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 24, 2017)

lefteri said:


> Final fantasy was interesting, the first and possibly only attempt at full lifelike cgi



Yes, it was. But in mixing oriental mysticism and western aesthetics, It failed, miserably. This whole earth gaia thing wouldn't sit well with the American "blow shit up!" ethos. I still rate the backgrounds in it immensely, but wish they had used real actors instead. Looking at stuff like "Starship Troopers:Invasion" shows just how far things have come in the intervening 15 years.


----------



## lefteri (Feb 24, 2017)

flustercuck said:


> Yes, it was. But in mixing oriental mysticism and western aesthetics, It failed, miserably. This whole earth gaia thing wouldn't sit well with the American "blow shit up!" ethos. I still rate the backgrounds in it immensely, but wish they had used real actors instead. Looking at stuff like "Starship Troopers:Invasion" shows just how far things have come in the intervening 15 years.



Should I look at starship troopers: invasion then?


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 24, 2017)

lefteri said:


> Should I look at starship troopers: invasion then?



As a 100% Japanese made CGI Sci-fi actioner, I thought it was quite good. The levels and texturing for the CGI was on a par, if not better than FF:Spirits Within. 

However,it does have a completely gratitous  and unneeded shower scene for the female characters. If you know, CGI hand to gland combat is your thing. if you want to check out that scene for the animation quality, i think it is pronhub... ;-)


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 24, 2017)

Wolf Children.   

Girl falls in love with werewolf, two children are born, she has to bring them up on her own.

This was wonderful and nothing like you'd expect.  Very high RT scores.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 24, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched Marvels Agents of Shield. Was starting to get bored with the robot shenanigans but last nights kicked it right up a notch



The latest US episode?

I thought that was possibly the best ep they've done in the entire series, the acting was incredible and the twists were really well done.


----------



## yardbird (Feb 24, 2017)

Last night I watched The Drug Trial (bbc2).
A magnificent lesson in how to pad out 20mins to 1hour.
Unbelievable number of shots of London from above, both day and night. Lingering waste of time as required.
The meat of all this could easily been told in a much much shorter time because  it was a pure waste of mine.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 24, 2017)

The Octagon said:


> The latest US episode?
> 
> I thought that was possibly the best ep they've done in the entire series, the acting was incredible and the twists were really well done.


yep. For the first time robot woman was actually scary.


----------



## malatesta32 (Feb 24, 2017)

for some fucken reason i accidentally did a ben affleck double bill - The Accountant, where he is utterly unconvincing as an autistic person, and Live By Night where he is utterly unconvincing as an anti-racist gangster. how did that happen? what is wrong with my VCR tape recording television set?


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2017)

Hidden Figures

A superior TV movie. A fascinating story, even if it's accuracy is somewhat dubious. There's nothing that will change your mind about anything, nor any particularly visually splendiferous scenes, but it is a damned good story well worth seeing.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 24, 2017)

belboid said:


> Hidden Figures
> 
> A superior TV movie. A fascinating story, even if it's accuracy is somewhat dubious. There's nothing that will change your mind about anything, nor any particularly visually splendiferous scenes, but it is a damned good story well worth seeing.



Aye. It falls foul of the typical biopic issues - compression of events, merging multiple people into one fictional character etc. - but well worth seeing. And much funnier than I expected,


----------



## yield (Feb 24, 2017)

Interstellar due to Pickman's ug99 thread. Then Brotherhood of the Wolf but couldn't make the subtitles sync.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 25, 2017)

yield said:


> Interstellar due to Pickman's ug99 thread. Then Brotherhood of the Wolf but couldn't make the subtitles sync.



There's a whole host of  different cuts of Brotherhood Of The Wolf.
1. Original french version; (Also on US DVD)
2. UK Cinema / DVD Version ; 137mins (PAL Speedup)
3. Directors Cut (Canadian DVD); 152mins

I've only seen the UK Cinema version (subbed) and it is... unmissable. As for Interstellar, I'd love there to be a proper, shorter re-edit of that film. The opening 40 minutes is all backstory and it drags to high hell.


----------



## yield (Feb 25, 2017)

flustercuck said:


> There's a whole host of  different cuts of Brotherhood Of The Wolf.
> 1. Original french version; (Also on US DVD)
> 2. UK Cinema / DVD Version ; 137mins (PAL Speedup)
> 3. Directors Cut (Canadian DVD); 152mins


Didn't know that. Just streamed it no idea which version. Got the gist of it though I've not seen it for years. As good as I remembered.



flustercuck said:


> I've only seen the UK Cinema version (subbed) and it is... unmissable. As for Interstellar, I'd love there to be a proper, shorter re-edit of that film. The opening 40 minutes is all backstory and it drags to high hell.


Didn't drag at all. Used to detest Matthew McConaughey but he's done well recently. Loved Dallas Buyers Club and Mud.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 25, 2017)

yield said:


> Didn't drag at all. Used to detest Matthew McConaughey but he's done well recently. Loved Dallas Buyers Club and Mud.



On rewatches I find the first 40 minutes or so - the earthbound stuff - very dull and lacking. I'm not saying he's not great - because he clearly is very good at what he dpes. (Though that Wild Turkey ad really grates)

 The whole stuff about the drone - what was that needed for? there was little in that scene that could not be verbalised in 30 seconds. Same as with the school  teachers / we didn't go the moon scene. And really - there is absolutely NO way that an interloper onto a secret govt site would then be handed the keys to a spaceship. Nope, that doesnt so much strain credible plotting as much as... break into a thousand pieces. had he been approached by the govt directly and then he not allowed to explain to his daughter, it would have made much more sense than the whole "stumble into it / you're the right man for the job" - which is an all too often too used trope in movies (see the "White Man / outsider saviour" cliche).

A re-edit could trim 20 minutes of the flab and be more linear and direct. 2001 is 25 minutes shorter and perfect. Just imagine what 2001 might have been like with an extra half hour of monkeys grunting, and you get my point ;-)


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 25, 2017)

Elizabeth.

The Cate Blanchett flick from the late 1990s. It's a good thing that Kathy Burke as Mary Tudor dies early on, or she would have stolen the whole thing with her scenery chewing aplomb. But this was well done - I didn't notice the time passing, and the cast all look like they're having fun, Blanchett especially.

Someone needs to make an historically accurate movie about Elizabeth I's Irish wars, though.


----------



## malatesta32 (Feb 25, 2017)

with interstellar, skip to rocket launch. its great but you only need to see the 1st bit once. mini-mal has been doing space at school so watched the intersteller feller and gravity several times! great!


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 25, 2017)

malatesta32 said:


> with interstellar, skip to rocket launch. its great but you only need to see the 1st bit once. mini-mal has been doing space at school so watched the intersteller feller and gravity several times! great!



In essence, the first 40 minutes of the film isn't really anything to do with the story, its just a massive infodump. It does set up the father-daughter relationship for later on though....


----------



## malatesta32 (Feb 25, 2017)

yeah, i liked the idea of dustbowl storms (and the interviews) and running out of food but please, just get the spacesuit on and CGI me for 2 hours.


----------



## seventh bullet (Feb 25, 2017)

malatesta32 said:


> yeah, i liked the idea of dustbowl storms (and the interviews) and running out of food but please, just get the spacesuit on and CGI me for 2 hours.



I like the 'major league' baseball game the family goes to see, which shows up society's dwindling economic resources and population.  The interviews of elderly people (except for Ellen Burstyn) are taken from a documentary on those who lived through the man-made dust bowl conditions in the 1930s Depression.


----------



## magneze (Feb 25, 2017)

Ip Man 2. It's not very good although the fighting is alright. Is 3 any good?


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 25, 2017)

magneze said:


> Ip Man 2. It's not very good although the fighting is alright. Is 3 any good?


It has Mike Tyson.


----------



## magneze (Feb 25, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> It has Mike Tyson.


Is that a good thing?


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 26, 2017)

Yup.  The three films have different fighting themes.  Apart from a fight against Tyson in the third one he has to fight against his own style.


----------



## malatesta32 (Feb 27, 2017)

cold mountain, field of shoes and a steven seagal sniper movie - none of which i saw all of. never seen a seagal movie before but he sure cant act. he was sitting down in most of it. awful.


----------



## flustercuck (Feb 27, 2017)

malatesta32 said:


> field of shoes and a steven seagal sniper movie -



Quite possibly "Sniper:Black Ops", where he gets killed before the end.

On the other hand, "Field of Shoes" sounds like the best Steven Seagal movie never made...even better than Sheep Impact


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 27, 2017)

War Dogs.

Based on a true story - in this case the true story of a pair of gobshites who tried to get rich by becoming scumsucking bottom feeders in the post-Iraq war international arms trade. Stars the loathsome Jonah Hill as the chief scumsucker, though I doubt if the other party - the hero of this flick - really is the 'nice guy' he's portrayed as here. He's played by a "Miles Teller", whom I had not previously heard of before, and he bears a startling resemblance to the current PM of Canada.

It's a good flick, fine for what it is  - but I bet the 4chan crowd and other basement dwellers will get the wrong end of the stick and think these guys were heroes. That's because, from what I can see on the net, it actually downplays the darkness of what these to got up to.


----------



## belboid (Feb 27, 2017)

All About Eve

A pre-Oscars treat, the best film ever to get fourteen nominations. And, god, but it is still amazing. Anne Baxter really should have won best actress, she's astounding. Even better than the mighty Bette. 

Jackie

Kind of admirable in a cold way. It didn't grab me, except for Portmans performance, which is stonily impressive.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 27, 2017)

*Moonlight* - not just another tragic love story, and definitely one that will be on my mind for long time.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 27, 2017)

Collateral Beauty

There was an interesting story to be developed here, but this suffers from taking all the easy options in every and any possible choice. This is a highly manipulative piece of work, best avoided.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Feb 28, 2017)

Just watched the first two series of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - probably the first thing I've watched on Netflix in months. I briefly feel asleep towards the end of series one and woke up to find Danny DeVito was now a thing  Charlie Day is so fucking cute


----------



## bi0boy (Mar 4, 2017)

Manchester by the Sea - I don't read about movies before watching them so thought it was going to be some gritty Ken Loach type thing set in Blackpool but it wasn't. Watchable but then it just ended. It was a nice piece of artwork hut not really emotionally engaging.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 4, 2017)

bi0boy said:


> Manchester by the Sea - I don't read about movies before watching them so thought it was going to be some gritty Ken Loach type thing set in Blackpool but it wasn't. Watchable but then it just ended. It was a nice piece of artwork hut not really emotionally engaging.


Not emotionally engaging? WHAT? are you some sort of sociopath or something? i felt so much for all the characters in that film. even the most minor of characters was well drawn in that film - the granny on the phone, Affleck's boss, even the kids.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 4, 2017)

My dad started playing some weird film about some monkeys that find a giant iPhone in the desert then go mental. Then things get even weirder, until I realised I had seen it before as a teenager drunk and stoned at some late show.


----------



## bi0boy (Mar 4, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Not emotionally engaging? WHAT? are you some sort of sociopath or something? i felt so much for all the characters in that film. even the most minor of characters was well drawn in that film - the granny on the phone, Affleck's boss, even the kids.



I normally cry pretty easily with movies, perhaps this wasn't cheesy enough, perhaps it was the characters bottling everything up, or perhaps it was just family deaths overload. 

There were only two moments where I felt a teeny bit sad, when he was being interviewed by the cops and when his nephew was staring at the three framed photos for a long time. But even with those I didn't even feel particular moved.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 4, 2017)

I didn't cry at all but that doesn't mean that it wasn't emotionally engaging, like OU I felt the pain, the horror, the devastation that the characters had experienced.


----------



## lefteri (Mar 4, 2017)

Two days and one night - on iplayer atm - French film with marion cotillard 

A really realistic portrayal of depression without necessarily being depressing to watch - first time I've seen that in a film I think


----------



## TruXta (Mar 4, 2017)

lefteri said:


> Two days and one night - on iplayer atm - French film with marion cotillard
> 
> A really realistic portrayal of depression without necessarily being depressing to watch - first time I've seen that in a film I think


Huh. I loved that film, but moreso for the way the lead character fought. I hadn't thought about the angle you've seen it through. Cheers.


----------



## starfish (Mar 4, 2017)

I Am Not A Serial Killer. Her choice obviously. It was quite an interesting little film sprinkled with macabre & humurous scenes & beautiful vistas.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 4, 2017)

Moonlight.

A film of our time, and that isn't necessarily a good thing. I can't believe that Mahershala Ali won the 'Best Supporting Actor' for this, it just makes no sense whatsoever.


----------



## Maltin (Mar 5, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Moonlight.
> 
> A film of our time, and that isn't necessarily a good thing. I can't believe that Mahershala Ali won the 'Best Supporting Actor' for this, it just makes no sense whatsoever.


Can you expand on both points? On the first, do you mean because of the setting and scenario or a general comment on the movies that are made now?

On the second, do you mean you don't think he was any good or just not in the film long enough?

I was disappointed with the film given the positive reviews and Oscar nomination but thought Mahershala was the best thing in it and would have preferred if he was in the film longer and they had allowed that part of the story to develop more.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 5, 2017)

Passengers - total max speed bollocks. When Laurence Fishburne makes an appearance, I thought it would be saved and turn into an Event Horizon scenario. Nope. Hah, and Andy Garcia WTF! His best performance in years.


----------



## moody (Mar 5, 2017)

eat the rich, lemmy on film....

not the greatest movie but worth a view.


----------



## Jackobi (Mar 5, 2017)

This week:

Spotless - French made, black comedy series based in the UK about a crime scene cleaner and his brother. Surprised I missed this the first time round as it was right up my street.

Roots (2016) - I remember the original being much better but still a stark reminder.

Moonlight - Recommended, and not what I was expecting but an intelligent film if slow paced. Brokeback Mountain in the ghetto.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 5, 2017)

*The Second Mother *(2015) - deft, nuanced, tragicomic farce (if that's a thing) about a Brazilian housekeeper and her employers whose lives are all turned upside down when the lead character's daughter (raised out in the poorer northeast while her Mum slaved out a lifetime in service) breezes in to live with them and breaks all the social rules of this setup. It's very, very good - understated but absolutely pointed and sharp about Brazil's social stratifications, snobbery, sexism, class, women's labour in all its forms, etc etc etc. Perhaps a tiny bit slow and goes a little sweet-softy at the end, but Regina Case in the lead role is a revelation, a real, live, touching, infuriating, heartbreaking, funny, brave and unique person. Some scenes are genuine absurdist slapstick, others have you squirming in pure awkwardness. Recommended as long as you're not expecting action thrills.


----------



## magneze (Mar 5, 2017)

Ip Man 3
Probably the best of the three, even Mike Tyson was pretty good. Ip Man 2 was the shit one.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 5, 2017)

White Heat

It's Jimmy Cagney, baby! In his most Cagneyesque role. Probably the most extreme crime does not pay ending in cinema history. If you haven't seen this one, you're missing a real part of your cinematic education.


----------



## Duncan2 (Mar 5, 2017)

Guess this film has been mentioned earlier in the thread.But anyway watched Hunt For The Wilder-people last night with my eldest son.It was very much better than I was expecting it to be-great shots of NZ and Julian Dennison very funny right from the get-go.Tickled pink we were.Sort of sad too in an off-beat way.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 6, 2017)

I wasn't planning on staying up late but I started watching Copenhagen and had to finish it. Really enjoyed it. I only picked it because I don't watch Game of Thrones and I wanted to see what Gethin Anthony is like


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 6, 2017)

Clouds of Sils Maria.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 6, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Clouds of Sils Maria.


?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 7, 2017)

Sing (2016)

Simple fun, no more, no less.


----------



## snadge (Mar 8, 2017)

Just watched Warcraft, surprisingly good, CGI is amazing and a sequel budding storyline, 8/10.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 9, 2017)

A Boy and His Dog

post apocalyptic film from 1975, the boy has a telepathic bond with the dog. Its full of odd imagery, strangeness and doesn't fall into any of the standard patterns for this sort of thing. 6/10


----------



## Chz (Mar 9, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> A Boy and His Dog
> 
> post apocalyptic film from 1975, the boy has a telepathic bond with the dog. Its full of odd imagery, strangeness and doesn't fall into any of the standard patterns for this sort of thing. 6/10


It's not a _bad_ film, but really nothing like the (quite excellent) short story.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 9, 2017)

Fifth episode of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation.

This one deals with Pope Julius II, Michelangelo, David, the Sistine Chapel and the works of Raphael.

There is nothing like this today. I don't know what professional art historians made of it at the time, or would make of it today, but it definitely repays the investment of time in it.


----------



## Chz (Mar 9, 2017)

It just seems to attract criticism for how how euro-centric it is, completely skipping over the fact that once you accept that it's flipping brilliant.


----------



## ringo (Mar 9, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Fifth episode of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation.
> 
> This one deals with Pope Julius II, Michelangelo, David, the Sistine Chapel and the works of Raphael.
> 
> There is nothing like this today. I don't know what professional art historians made of it at the time, or would make of it today, but it definitely repays the investment of time in it.


Still unsurpassed. That criticism is valid, but for what it is there's not much to touch it. Would have loved it if he'd then done the same for West Africa, China, the Indian sub-continent etc.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 9, 2017)

Blazing Saddles.  This has not worn well.


----------



## crossthebreeze (Mar 10, 2017)

Unconditional -  on iplayer - all filmed in the north east including my old neighbourhood. I thought it was going to be a sweet film about a trans teenager, but it was a actually about a really creepy abusive relationship. Well acted, but not the chilled friday night lgbt positive film i was after!


----------



## Duncan2 (Mar 11, 2017)

'Manchester By The Sea' will probably stay with me. But the poster above who called it out as featuring a notably abrupt ending was not kidding.One could almost imagine that something untoward occurred involving the script-writer's tuna-boat.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 13, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> Blazing Saddles.  This has not worn well.



Strangely enough I watched it last night and thought it was still great, I'd forgotten a lot of the smaller jokes / sight gags.

Definitely winced at the language a few times to be fair, but that almost feels like part of the experience of watching the film.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Lots more trailer park boys.
> It shouldn't be funny to watch these idiots fail to do anything they set their minds to but it does make me laugh. God love you canada


Up to their old tricks again, it appears:

Shooting victims not co-operating with police


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2017)

Topkapi.

Caper flick from 1964, directed by Jules Dassin from an Eric Ambler novel. Hapless small-time hustler Peter Ustinov is drawn into a plot to steal a priceless, jewel-encrusted dagger from the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. 

A bit of fun, but the scenes where PU falls into the hands of the Turkish security organs carry a real sense of menace.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 13, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Up to their old tricks again, it appears:
> 
> Shooting victims not co-operating with police


one man seen still holding his glass of rum and coke.

I started Fringe. Started it from two episodes before season 2 as I read the first parts of series 1 are sub-par x filesish monster of the week guff and I'm not feeling that. So far so good. Lt Daniels from The Wire is in it.


----------



## ringo (Mar 13, 2017)

_Jack Reacher_: Never Go Back
Dependably brain dead and action packed. Does exactly what it says on the tin, so not bad.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> one man seen still holding his glass of rum and coke.
> 
> I started Fringe. Started it from two episodes before season 2 as I read the first parts of series 1 are sub-par x filesish monster of the week guff and I'm not feeling that. So far so good. Lt Daniels from The Wire is in it.


I started _Gotham_ - suprisingly good for what it is. Best thing is the lad playing the young Gordon, closely followed by the proletarian Alfred. Not quite as retro as I was expecting, though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 13, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> I started _Gotham_ - suprisingly good for what it is. Best thing is the lad playing the young Gordon, closely followed by the proletarian Alfred. Not quite as retro as I was expecting, though.


I bailed around season 2 although there are some excellent performances by 'Oswald Cobblepot' the future Penguin and Fish Mooney.

See as you watch if you spot when the 'I have no idea what to do with barbera gorden' writing kicks in. Think its srs 2.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I bailed around season 2 although there are some excellent performances by 'Oswald Cobblepot' the future Penguin and Fish Mooney.
> 
> See as you watch if you spot when the 'I have no idea what to do with barbera gorden' writing kicks in. Think its srs 2.


The guy who plays the Mayor is good - he normally plays hapless shmucks. The Falcone actor is very familiar, but I can't place him.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 13, 2017)

oh


Idris2002 said:


> The guy who plays the Mayor is good - he normally plays hapless shmucks. The Falcone actor is very familiar, but I can't place him.


rawls from the wire. You should have also seen the slimy barksdale lawyer as well, eps one or two.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> oh
> 
> rawls from the wire. You should have also seen the slimy barksdale lawyer as well, eps one or two.



Ah of course, Rawls from the Wire.

The Barksdale lawyer - was he the one who tried to tell off Omar in court for being a bandit, only to have Omar say "same as you, man"?


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 13, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Ah of course, Rawls from the Wire.
> 
> The Barksdale lawyer - was he the one who tried to tell off Omar in court for being a bandit, only to have Omar say "same as you, man"?


him


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> him





DotCommunist said:


> him


That's the one!


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 14, 2017)

Logan (2017)

Very much worth watching - sad to see the big guy go.


----------



## magneze (Mar 14, 2017)

Helix is awesome. Almost finished the first series.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 14, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Logan (2017)
> 
> Very much worth watching - sad to see the big guy go.


I thought it was absolutely terrific.  Have you seen the TV show Legion yet?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 15, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> I thought it was absolutely terrific.  Have you seen the TV show Legion yet?



No, I haven't - yet. Is it worth watching?


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 15, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> No, I haven't - yet. Is it worth watching?


It's extremely good.  On a different level to any other MCU product.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 15, 2017)

OK, so. . . more Civilization, taking the story up to the Reformation. 

And I'm nearly finished the Lakes - John Simm is really good.

Not to mention this, from 1967:



Nancy Sinatra's TV special from 1967. Sponsored by Royal Crown Cola, which apparently still exists.

Also featuring her old man, who is credited as "Daddy", _with all that that implies._


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 15, 2017)

*A Woman's Secret (*Nicholas Ray 1949) - watched because he's a famous director and thought this might be a famous early 'women's picture' but it's a creaky and mostly gigantically dull farrago about a singer whose factotum/manager might or might not have shot her. Don't bother.

*The House Bunny *(2015) - made with the full support of and a cameo from the Hef, so it pulls its punches considerably, but having a dumb campus-frat-sorority flick based around a superannuated Playboy Bunny having to learn to navigate the real world, and serve as house mother for a sorority of unloved outsiders, makes for surprisingly nuanced comedy with even the odd whisper of feminism. Anna Faris is fucking amazing - physically entirely believable as a Bunny, slapstick comedic talent up there with Laurel&Hardy as written by Sarah Silverman. It's utterly heteronormative, bit dodgy on race, and has Emma Stone (Emma friggin Stone, people) playing a stock geeky-nerdy-unattractive character.  But considering the genre it's in - frathouse farce -  and the audience it's targeting - tweens teens and 20somethings - this is seriously subversive stuff. (it is also, occasionally, funny enough to make you wince.)
/humourlessfeministreviewsofgonzofarces


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 16, 2017)

I bought the boxset of Deadwood a couple of months ago, and I've finally started watching it. Fucking hell, Bullock has hairy arms


----------



## not-bono-ever (Mar 19, 2017)

Maharani said:


> Mr Turner...Mike Leigh never fails in my eyes. A brilliant depiction of a working class person in an age of classism, just being himself. A huge talent.
> 
> Spall gave a brilliant performance, grunting and groaning. Generally and absolutely just marvellous. Fuck, I do feel somewhat pretentious...




I am a bit behind and only just caught this - it is a truly beautiful film- I usually avoid anything costumey, but glad I stayed up to watch this.The cinemaography captured what Turner was seeing in many scenes. Best 3 hours i have spent watching a filum this year


----------



## Sue (Mar 19, 2017)

Investigation of a citizen above suspicion. A high-up cop kills a woman then manipulates the investigation into her murder. 1970s crime drama about corruption in the Italian police. Interesting detail about the workings of the political police section and a Morricone score.

Les biches. Manipulative woman starts a relationship with a man her female lover's already involved with. (Presumably her lover anyway, it's not made completely clear.) Not Chabrol's best but interesting enough.


----------



## extra dry (Mar 21, 2017)

The Lobster. I have to watch again as it is very odd film.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 21, 2017)

The Great Wall.

Utterly pointless and not even fun. Avoid.


----------



## sarahjo (Mar 24, 2017)

Age of Adaline was on my screen last nite.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 24, 2017)

sarahjo said:


> Age of Adaline was on my screen last nite.


But what did you think of it?


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 24, 2017)

Sue said:


> Les biches. Manipulative woman starts a relationship with a man her female lover's already involved with. (Presumably her lover anyway, it's not made completely clear.) Not Chabrol's best but interesting enough.


Even his lesser stuff is worth checking out. The only one of his that I really didn't think was worth watching was _Inspecteur Lavardin. _


----------



## moody (Mar 25, 2017)

Saw an trailer for High-Rise (2016) by Ben Wheatley on film4, showing next week. It looked really good so cheated and watched it online.

Based on JG Ballard's dystopian novel of the same name, its pretty slick Brit Flick, set in the 70s, in a highrise block of flats, with the rich on the upper floors, rifraff on the lower.

Really well done with a good cast, deffo worth a watch.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 25, 2017)

Just watched I, Daniel Blake. I had thought I was ready for it but I was in bits pretty much throughout the film, and devastated by the end. 
It has been criticised for exaggeration, but only by people who haven't experienced the gruelling experience of signing on. I have been lucky enough to only catch a glimpse of the reality portrayed in the film, but it all rings so true. 
My right-wing moneybags uncle and aunt visited recently from NZ and they had seen it and expressed some understanding and sympathy with the characters in the film and their appreciation of the terrible situations they'd been forced into. They are the target audience of this film, and I am glad it has at the least given them some perspective on the situation. Loach is to be applauded for this. His films have a lot of reach and do not merely preach to the choir.


----------



## bi0boy (Mar 26, 2017)

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Didn't think it was up to much, especially in comparison to the first five movies in the series which were all excellent. It had a cheesy low budget feel to it and too many action scenes.


----------



## r0bb0 (Mar 26, 2017)

Gold rocked, based on a true story the film's characters expressed humanity and had a transcendence towards the end!


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 27, 2017)

Northwest , a Danish film about a young burglar in a working class area on Copenhagen who is tied into selling his proceeds to an Arab fence and his gang.  By chance a stranger requests him to steal items to order and he ends up working for a firm a couple of leagues higher than the Arabs. His on going spat with the Arabs starts to have an impact with his new work. 
Dead realistic , very touching and grim.Would definitely reccomend.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 27, 2017)

*Love and Friendship *- adapted from a minor Jane Austen novella, filmed mostly in Ireland. Critics went mad for it, saying it might be the best/wittiest version of Austen on screen ... I was slightly less convinced. There was plenty I liked about it - Kate Beckinsale is really pretty good as a ruthless scheming social parasite, it looks great, and there's much more bitchy tone and scathing sarcasm than usually makes it into pretty-frock Regency dramas. Also a brilliant turn from Tom Bennett as perhaps the stupidest man in England, who is amazed by the very existence of peas. It's great fun and a crisp, economical 92 minutes, not an ounce of fat on it. Well worth your time, but it's not quite the artistic miracle some reviews might suggest.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 27, 2017)

I watched two documentaries, one from quite some time ago:



this ones quite good- you can see precisely where a lot of journos have got those nuggets of his sleazy and corrupt past for their articles

then:


this from very recently, still good enough and makes for an interesting compare/contrast, howevere most was not new news to me as we all saw trumps run for the big seat in real time.


Then I saw star wars rebels, the season finale to cleanse my brain of lingering trump


----------



## sarahjo (Mar 29, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> But what did you think of it?


Well,umm i think it was good movie. A one timer. Would recommend.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 29, 2017)

Right now, I'm watching the Killing. I know, I'm years behind everyone else with this one, but it's really good. I like Lund's grumpy arsehole of an assistant especially.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 2, 2017)

Headshot - felt like a filler for The Raid 3. Bad sign when one falls asleep through the action.

Live By Night - boring. Wasted 2 hours on this shit.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 2, 2017)

Belle. How fantastic to see a beautifully made costume drama so acutely explore the nonsense that is race/sex/class structures.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 2, 2017)

Arrival

A good first alien contact film but if you're expecting anything in the style of Independence Day, you'll be disappointed


----------



## belboid (Apr 5, 2017)

The Descent


Surprisingly decent minor horror flick, despite some truly abysmal dialogue and performances at the beginning. Some good caving action early on, and it would probably have been better carrying on down that route, rather than introducing a gargantuan gang of gollums. But it delivered its shocks well enough, and it was enjoyable to watch a women based horror where they don’t have to get their clothes off at all. Quite how the fuck they got a sequel out of it, I don’t know.



Northern Soul


A film of the seventies music scene of the same name. I’m not wild about retro brit seventies flicks, they’re too often too bothered about recreating the look and not bothered enough about decent scripts, or even basic set ups. This is a very numbers scenario – young disaffected lad gets into <insert scene here> in order to impress a girl. He gets good at it and does indeed impress the girl; then something horrid happens.  It’s delivered perfectly well, and the dance scenes are very well done and do bring over the excitement of the scene. Not a bad way to kill a dull evening.


Bright Lights


The Debbie Reynolds/Carrie Fisher doc made just before they both died. I’d put it off for a while as I’m just not that fussed about DR, and had seen enough of CF’s real life since they passed. But it was surprisingly entertaining, I don’t think I particularly learned anything about either of them, but they were both sassy and funny, except for when they were being sad and fucked up. Better than expected


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 5, 2017)

_OJ: Made in America_ - 7 hour documentary on OJ Simpson but telling a much wider story of America, LA, racism, media etc. Fantastic really, the last episode about his life post-trial was probably a little weak, which meant that the end was a little flat but that's a minor quibble. The interviews were excellent, they managed to get people say things to the camera that you struggled to believe.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 5, 2017)

*Hue & Cry (1947) *- an Ealing classic. Young East End lad obsessed with crime comics ends up embroiled in a caper based out of Old Covent Garden veg market, where his boss turns out to be a major crim. Brilliant performances throughout, a much more realistic/less patronising depiction of working class characters than was common in UK cinema at the time; some astonishing visuals of Blitzed London and near-Victorian working conditions, and hints at the War leaving some serious psychological scars. Beautifully clear sound (film bods: did Ealing record on location or redub everything on sound stages?) and I think a restored print, too. It's safe for all ages, though I'm not sure how interesting people who are young today would find it. Like an amazing glimpse into a vanished world preserved alive forever on film ... even though the plot/story are silly and it gets cartoony toward the end.

*The Frozen Ground *(2013) - mediocre, standard-issue serial killer thriller which doesn't deliver. You might think a film starring Nic Cage and John Cusack couldn't fail, but this one keeps both of them on such short dramatic leashes that it never takes off. Determinedly downbeat and grimy and miserabilist, unsensational but somehow still a bit exploitative. Vanessa Hudgens does OK in an underwritten role as one of the working girls who manage to escape psychokiller Cusack. And 50 Cent (!!!) turns up in epically awful hair as a pimp. Nowt else to recommend it.

Also rewatched *Blood Ties *(2014) and I'm still not feeling it - a terrific cast but the actors are too diverse in style & mood to make the mileu believable. Also a right downer.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 5, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> *...* You might think a film starring Nic Cage and John Cusack couldn't fail....


we need more smilies..all I'm saying


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 5, 2017)

ah ! typed that in a hurry. what I meant was of course "couldn't fail _to go drastically and ridiculously over the top as they chew chunks out of the scenery, _but....." 

(if they'd gone that way it would have been a much more entertaining watch tbh)


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 6, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> ah ! typed that in a hurry. what I meant was of course "couldn't fail _to go drastically and ridiculously over the top as they chew chunks out of the scenery, _but....."
> 
> (if they'd gone that way it would have been a much more entertaining watch tbh)


hah!


----------



## sarahjo (Apr 7, 2017)

Anyone here watched the Belko Experiment? I have just watched the trailer and i think would be a good movie.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Apr 7, 2017)

The kids are sick and under duvets this weekend. so we had a couple of filums saved to watch last night

Super 8 - JJ abrahams/ Speilberg thang. Sorta odd combo of Close encounters/ Stand by me/ ET/ Jaws mish mash with a cast of kids but full of drugs and swearing - not sure who it was aimed at Silly but good fun :8/10

Coming to America- yes, the Eddie murphy / Landis chuckle vehicle - rather dated in places and some odd stereotyping going on but it kept us going for a couple of hours- what as good was the nods and triggers all throughout the film relating to other Landis and hollywood  output. 7/10


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 8, 2017)

Currently lying in bed watching Total Divas


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 8, 2017)

Homo Sapiens (2016) by director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, lots of long lingering beautifully framed shots of abandoned places with a natural soundtrack of birds, rain, winds, echoes etc. A post apocalypse film where nobody made it or a haunted house film with no ghosts. I love this sort of thing, maybe it's my longing for a bit of peace and quiet.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Apr 8, 2017)

Battlestar Galactica.

Having mentioned this to partner she decided to watch the introductory 2 parter - now (approximately 4 days later) we are in season 4.

She likes it!


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 9, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Battlestar Galactica.
> 
> Having mentioned this to partner she decided to watch the introductory 2 parter - now (approximately 4 days later) we are in season 4.
> 
> She likes it!


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Apr 9, 2017)

She: Is X a cylon?

Me: Just watch!

She: But X MUST be a cylon?

Me: Just watch!

She: You are a bloody cylon!

Me: Just watch!


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 11, 2017)

Agents of Shield is having its Evil Mirror Universe moment. And why not. Its ace, Hydra are in charge and you aren't allowed to call them Nazi. Fitz is 2cnd in command as a terrifying and evil mengele sort


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 11, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Agents of Shield is having its Evil Mirror Universe moment. And why not. Its ace, Hydra are in charge and you aren't allowed to call them Nazi. Fitz is 2cnd in command as a terrifying and evil mengele sort



My favourite network show at the moment, it's quite impressive how much they switch things up even within a season, to think we started S4 with Ghost Rider and it's led to this without feeling forced at all.

Watched the first episode of the Prison Break revival. I think going in with super low expectations and being prepared to mock it has helped massively, as I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Forgot how great a character T-Bag is and nice to see the cast in general after a long time. 

It's silly as hell and overly contrived (and seems to be delving into a Yemen / ISIS plotline that will likely come off as wildly inappropriate), but will stick with it for at least another ep


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 11, 2017)

The Octagon said:


> My favourite network show at the moment


Into The Badlands for me. Much as I enjoy agents of sheild , agent may does my head in. Nobody can be that much of a mard all the time. Yes there is rare occasions where her and coulsen have relaxed and she's let the guard down enough to crack a wry grin but still.


----------



## Sue (Apr 11, 2017)

Child Mother. Documentary where elderly Jewish women talk about being forced as young girls in Yemen/Morocco to marry men decades older then themselves. 

Utterly depressing, especially the lack of understanding from many of their children. 

Like the man, bitter that his father died when he was six, asking his mother if they'd never thought how unfair on their children it would be having them when his father was so old. 

Given she was 10 or something when she got married, poor and illiterate, thinking she had any say in the matter seemed to be missing the point entirely. (His father was at least 40 years older than his mother.)


----------



## sarahjo (Apr 12, 2017)

Never heard about this movie, with the description you shared i think i should watch it.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 14, 2017)

Interstellar. I loved it, plot holes, expositionary cheese and all.


----------



## yardbird (Apr 14, 2017)

Eagles of Death Metal:Nos Amis.
Very moving visit to share the horror and the love.
Worth watching.


----------



## Sue (Apr 16, 2017)

Groundhog Day. Saw this when it came out (1993!) and reckon it holds up pretty well.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Apr 16, 2017)

Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo

The Apollo programme from the perspective of the Mission Control staff, this is an excellent documentary, featuring loads of the surviving participants eg Chris Kraft, Gene Kranz, Jim Lovell, Charlie Duke, the aptly-named Bill Moon etc They are really quite frank about some of the failings of the project, particularly the Apollo 1 fire, as well as the great bits. Archive footage, CGI reconstructions, talking heads expertly blended into an engaging tale of engineering derring-do.  Recommended for space freaks, and fans of men in white short-sleeved shirts smoking furiously. Also, James Burke pops up a lot.

It's available for rent/purchase on Youtube (and on Itunes also, I think).


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 17, 2017)

Last night we watched Ninja Scroll which was lol.

This evening I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel which was all about Ralph Fiennes, really.


----------



## Looby (Apr 17, 2017)

Today I watched the worst film I have ever seen. It's called The fast and the fierce and is meant to be Speed but in the sky. 
I really really like shit disaster films but this was fucking ridiculous. Worst CGI, appalling acting, fucking bizarre plot 'twist'. 

The worst bit is, it wasn't a movies4men special, I paid £5.49 to rent the piece of shit. It my defence I was very hungover. [emoji1]


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 17, 2017)

Colony.

I gave this a three eps fair shake as is my habit with these things, BigTom and others had recommended it. I can't put my finger on why it doesn't work for me, but it doesn't.


then I watched Robot Wars because robots, fighting...its great.


----------



## BigTom (Apr 17, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Colony.
> 
> I gave this a three eps fair shake as is my habit with these things, BigTom and others had recommended it. I can't put my finger on why it doesn't work for me, but it doesn't.
> 
> ...



I watched the full season, but whilst doing other things for the latter part of it. Has all the right elements but never came together, and likewise I can't really say why. Has another two seasons (at least) to come though so must have done good ratings wise.


----------



## FiFi (Apr 17, 2017)

The Resident Teen was given Moana for Easter so we "watched" it last night. I didn't catch much of it as I was trying to  complete the online Student Finance application  
I believe the film has an ecological theme, but I may have to watch it again to be sure!


----------



## sarahjo (Apr 17, 2017)

Finally i did watch the Fast 8 last night, they never fail to impress me.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 17, 2017)

Lifeboat.

Wartime Hitchcock - an allied ship is torpedoed in the Atlantic, and the story follows the survivors: a couple of why-I-oughta crewmen, a millionaire shipbuilder, the African-American steward, the posh lady war correspondent, the nurse. 

And also the U-Boat captain who sank the ship, only to come a cropper from the last shells fired by his target before it went down.

Good Hitch-style tension and suspicion that keeps you watching to the end. Tallulah Bankhead particularly good as the war reporter ("oh I know all about men darling, married men especially"). The portrayal of the African-American steward is very good for its time, but is still of its time, mind.

Nearly at the end of the Killing Season One. It's not looking good for DCI Lund.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 17, 2017)

The Boss Baby - average, my son enjoyed it.

Logan - true to the comics. Recommend.

Kong: Skull Island - lame and a waste of time.


----------



## belboid (Apr 17, 2017)

The Shallows

Last years highly successful low budget Aussie survival/thriller/drama. Easy to see why it did well, the tension is well developed despite the very straight forward 'complication' (get off the rock, avoid the shark). Blake Lively does a fine job in the main role, and the various but players are all perfectly adequate.  There are some great surfing scenes early on and, I know I'm repeating myself but...the tension is really well wracked up even tho she's only 100 yards from safety.

It is let down tho by having a very very adverty look, so bright, shiny almost hyper-real. And some of the first twenty minutes are just lascivious leering over BL, when she gets into her wetsuit its sub Baywatch soft porn.  Oh and there's a tragic family backstory, but that pretty easy to just ignore.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 17, 2017)

From IMDB, I've learned that Canada Lee, the actor who portrayed Joe Spencer, the African-American steward wrote his own lines. There are also these remarkable revelations about T.Bankhead:

In "The Dark Side of Genius", Donald Spoto wrote that Tallulah Bankhead would climb a ladder every day to reach the tank where the filming took place. She never wore underwear and regularly received an ovation from the film crew.

Tallulah Bankhead was noted for her fierce political positions, including a vehement hatred of the Axis powers during World War II. Although co-star Walter Slezak was an outspoken critic of the German government, his Austrian background and the Nazi character he played in the film put him firmly in Bankhead's sites, and she insulted him constantly. When Italy surrendered during filming and Slezak expressed the hope that this would bring the war to an early end, Bankhead spat out "I hope they spill every drop of German blood there is. I hate them all! And I HATE YOU!" All he could say was "I'm sorry about that, Tallulah."


----------



## sarahjo (Apr 20, 2017)

The Girl on a train suggested by a friend.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 20, 2017)

The Void - a cross between Carpenter's The Thing and From Beyond. Quite liked it.


----------



## stockwelljonny (Apr 23, 2017)

Crimes and Misdemeanours- hadn't watched it for ages and enjoyed. Hadn't previously picked up the rabbi at the end who loses his sight becauseof the dodgy doc not paying attention because he is pre occupied. I do like a bit of Woody Allen from time to time. I quite like the unresolved angle of the film. Plus there is something re assuring about watching a film where Woody Allen is having a discussion as he goes into watch a film, a Hitchcock double bill, on a blustery New York day in the 1970's. May watch Purple Rose of Cairo later


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 23, 2017)

Edge of Tomorrow - adequately did its job of entertaining me for 2hrs. Credit to the director for keeping the repetition entertaining and credible.

I try to dislike Tom Cruise, but his films are generally good quality entertainment. I don't get the Mission Impossible films though...they leave me a bit cold..


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 23, 2017)

Get Out - better than Stepford Wives. Love the concept.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 24, 2017)

Looby said:


> I paid £5.49 to rent the piece of shit



Let this be your epitaph


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 24, 2017)

Finished Season One of the Killing.

Great stuff, though I'm slightly unconvinced by the result.



Spoiler: Major MAJOR spoiler for Season One of the Killing



He was portrayed as such a fukc-up throughout the series, could he really be the criminal mastermind he turned out to be?



Also New Zealand's Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

Dealing with issues around child abandonment, the defects of the Kiwi care system, bereavement etc., it is also the feel-good hit of the summer.

Features Sam Neill, a newcomer called Julian Dennison (touch of the Hurley problem with this one, alas), and peterkro as himself:


----------



## sarahjo (Apr 25, 2017)

Tom Cruise Mission Impossible series always went over my head. Wanna be James Bond.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Apr 25, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> Get Out - better than Stepford Wives. Love the concept.



Went cinema last nite for this. Really great film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 25, 2017)

Sicario - I wanted to see what the fuss about Denis Villeneuve was. It was very well put together and the score and performances were excellent, but I didn't find the story that compelling.
 A strand of the film with the corrupt Mexican cop just made me think of the henchman subplot of the Austin Powers movies, which kind of marred the gravitas of such a serious film.
I read that it didn't go down very well with Mexicans, especially residents of Juarez, who complained about stereotyping.

As a sidenote, there's a very good tense action scene set on The Bridge Of The Americas, and on reading about it, found out that the American version of the Danish-Swedish political thriller tv series The Bridge is based on that bridge. Anyone seen it? Any good?


----------



## fishfinger (Apr 25, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> As a sidenote, there's a very good tense action scene set on The Bridge Of The Americas


That was definitely the best part of the film.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 25, 2017)

Second series Outcast, more punchy ,fast moving without losing the suspense.worth watching


----------



## ringo (Apr 26, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> As a sidenote, there's a very good tense action scene set on The Bridge Of The Americas, and on reading about it, found out that the American version of the Danish-Swedish political thriller tv series The Bridge is based on that bridge. Anyone seen it? Any good?



This one?   The Bridge (TV Series 2013–2014) - IMDb

Its very good, really enjoyed it


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 26, 2017)

*Predestination *(2015) - don't know how I missed this one first time around as it contains many Good Things. A knotty, intelligent, mind-bending, beautifully art-designed story of time travel and paradox, based on a Robert A Heinlein short story. Ethan Hawke is reliably world-weary and bewildered but the real star is Australian actress Sarah Snook, who does amazing work in a very demanding set-up. Don't want to spoil it for others  by revealing too much - but this is not half bad at all, and if the Source Code / Inception / Looper sort of universe doesn't drive you mad, this will work very well for you. An intelligent and engaging movie - not a braindead 'unwind and let it wash over you' sort of entertainment - but really intriguing and well crafted.


----------



## starfish (Apr 28, 2017)

We're giving The Sopranos a go. Somehow we didnt watch it years ago when it was on the telly. About to watch episode 7 of series 1. 80 hours to go.


----------



## spliff (Apr 29, 2017)

Mapped said:


> Magic Trip - Documentary about Ken Kessey and the Merry Pranksters acid fuelled bus trip to the World's Fair. It's 90 mins long, but apparently they had to wade through over 100 hours of archive footage that these trippers filmed during the journey.


Watched this during the night because I couldn't sleep. I knew the history of it and thought I'd enjoy it more than I actually did.
They come over as a bunch of self-centered individuals seemingly uncaring of their fellow travellers who fall by the wayside.
An interesting documentary though. Watch Magic Trip Online | Watch Full Magic Trip (2011) Online For Free


----------



## starfish (May 1, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> *Predestination *(2015) - don't know how I missed this one first time around as it contains many Good Things. A knotty, intelligent, mind-bending, beautifully art-designed story of time travel and paradox, based on a Robert A Heinlein short story. Ethan Hawke is reliably world-weary and bewildered but the real star is Australian actress Sarah Snook, who does amazing work in a very demanding set-up. Don't want to spoil it for others  by revealing too much - but this is not half bad at all, and if the Source Code / Inception / Looper sort of universe doesn't drive you mad, this will work very well for you. An intelligent and engaging movie - not a braindead 'unwind and let it wash over you' sort of entertainment - but really intriguing and well crafted.


We watched this the other night but somehow both fell asleep at different points. That was annoying because we were both enjoying it. Will rewatch soon.


----------



## oneflewover (May 2, 2017)

*Convoy *(1978)
Don't think it has actually been watched in this thread. Bit of silliness with serious themes that are pushed in your face so you can't miss them. Wooden acting but beautiful scenery. Don't think it has dated that much.
*
*


----------



## DotCommunist (May 4, 2017)

The Last Witchunter

Vin Diesel and Elijah wood star in this tale. Vin is an immortal witchunter. elijah was some sort of priest from an order that has been supplying vin with companions for centuries. Michael Caine is in it for 5 mins at the start. Eh, fucked if I'd pay for that 5/10


----------



## RubyToogood (May 7, 2017)

Girl with a Pearl Earring. Couldn't help thinking it was melodramatic toss. Although I liked some things about it, so not unmitigated toss.


----------



## A380 (May 7, 2017)

Watched Bridge of Spies for the first time since seeing it at the cinema. Mark Rylance just acts rings round every one. Tom Hanks is pretty good but Rylance is just fantastic.

Also the, too brief, U2 sequences are great to look at.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 7, 2017)

Casbah.

Very silly stuff this, Hollywood's take on the Pepe Le Moko story. Gangland villains, in the Algiers casbah or anywhere else, do not engage in Mario Lanza-style crooning about their unrequited loves.

It's worth it, though, if you're a Peter Lorre fan, as PL stars as the indefatigable fez-wearing detective who is hot on PLM's trail.


----------



## bi0boy (May 7, 2017)

Passengers

Surprised I didn't kms tbh. Fucking hell.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 7, 2017)

"Kms"?


----------



## The39thStep (May 7, 2017)

A380 said:


> Watched Bridge of Spies for the first time since seeing it at the cinema. Mark Rylance just acts rings round every one. Tom Hanks is pretty good but Rylance is just fantastic.
> 
> Also the, too brief, U2 sequences are great to look at.


Agreed Rylance was superb


----------



## aileen (May 8, 2017)

What Doesn't Kill You


----------



## Orang Utan (May 8, 2017)

aileen said:


> What Doesn't Kill You


and?


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 8, 2017)

bi0boy said:


> Passenger 57
> 
> Surprised I didn't kms tbh. Fucking hell.





Idris2002 said:


> "Kms"?



Kill Mr Snipes?


----------



## aileen (May 8, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> and?


Well, I cannot say that it was the best but I liked it. I assume watching this movie you have to be in the particular mood.


----------



## Sue (May 8, 2017)

Chinatown and The Two Jakes.  

Hadn't seen TTJ before. Fine as far as it goes but...it's not Chinatown.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 8, 2017)

Sue said:


> Chinatown and The Two Jakes.
> 
> Hadn't seen TTJ before. Fine as far as it goes but...it's not Chinatown.


It's certainly better than, say, _The Godfather Part III_ was to its own forebears


----------



## Sue (May 8, 2017)

DaveCinzano said:


> It's certainly better than, say, _The Godfather Part III_ was to its own forebears


Sure, maybe shouldn't have watched them back to back though.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (May 9, 2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy II

Very silly and good all round fun, and doesn't take itself too seriously. If you go make sure you stay for the after-credit scenes.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 9, 2017)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Riz  Ahmed was good, as always. It had to shoehorn an additional kidnap plot in that isn't in the book.  It made it more filmic but lost the purity of the book.

And I'd happily watch a film of Om Puri doing nothing.  His face is (was)  amazing


----------



## FreguentLy (May 10, 2017)

Fellini 8 and a half  , Von Triers The idiots... and....Possession 1981.. all in one day. I know its not very wise))


----------



## campanula (May 14, 2017)

I don't watch films..but for a special occasion (home alone, house to myself) I thought I was going to be watching a film about gardening in space...but it only dawned on me, after several tedious hours (numerous spliff breaks) that I was watching the wrong film. Blighted earth, mumbling actors and very unlikely space ship trips (with endless waffle about gravity, wormholes, love (!))...the final hour stretched over what felt like 3 days. There was no gardening apart from some scenes of cornfields at the very beginning...but due to character mumbling and being unable to work youngest's Play Station, I had no idea what was going on. Youngest offspring has offered to remedy situation (should have been watching The Martian but ended up with Interstellar)...but I am going back to not watching ANY films after the mind-blowing shitness of several hours I will never get back.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 14, 2017)

Sue said:


> Sure, maybe shouldn't have watched them back to back though.


Couple of years ago all three were shown at a cinema here with virgin prints, brilliant but make the mistake of watching 2 & 3 back to back.

_Two Jakes_ is at least an interesting film but just feels flat compared with _Chinatown_.


----------



## trabuquera (May 14, 2017)

Therese Desqueyroux - in a shocking departure from the normal order of the universe, Audrey Tautou isn't a wide-eyed ingenue tripping through an idealised Paris, but a sulky, mysterious, simmering, bored 1920s provincial housewife who tries to off her oafish husband with his own arsenic drops, for no particular reason other than ennui at her boring life. Refreshingly dark but rather pointless overall.


----------



## Sue (May 14, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> Therese Desqueyroux - in a shocking departure from the normal order of the universe, Audrey Tautou isn't a wide-eyed ingenue tripping through an idealised Paris, but a sulky, mysterious, simmering, bored 1920s provincial housewife who tries to off her oafish husband with his own arsenic drops, for no particular reason other than ennui at her boring life. Refreshingly dark but rather pointless overall.



Saw that at the cinema when it came out. Found it really dull and couldn't care less what happened to any of them. 

The book's meant to be way more interesting than the film and Mauriac was a Nobel laureate after all so presumably had something going for him but the film's definitely put me off reading it.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 15, 2017)

_Wolf Lake - _A bunch of hunters, led by Rod Steiger - who lost his son in Vietnam, go up to a remote lakeside cabin for a spot of hunting. Once there conflict between them and the caretaker, a deserter, and his girlfriend, reaches flash point and violence ensues. Directed by Burt Kennedy who did some semi-reasonable westerns (_Support your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter_). 

The cabin location is nicely used but like all films in this genre it suffers from the problem of just being significantly inferior to _Straw Dogs. _Peckinpah really did write the last word for this type on film, has anyone done something that competes with _Straw Dogs_?


----------



## ringo (May 16, 2017)

Scarface (1983)
Not seen it since the 80's, thought it might have dated a bit but it's still grim, relentless and visceral. 

The Great Wall
Solid bit of big budget mindless entertainment


----------



## FreguentLy (May 17, 2017)

Hour of the Wolf . Ingmar Bergman


----------



## DexterTCN (May 18, 2017)

Colossal.

An absolutely fantastic monster movie, one of the best ever.

It starts of kinda light-hearted and slowly darkens, the acting is good (Anne Hathaway knocks it out the park as a drunken waster) and the premise is original and engaging.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 21, 2017)

The Lego Batman Movie.

Obviously it's great.  Loads of references to ...well..._everything.  Daleks, T-Rex, Sauron_..everything (gremlins).  The jokes come so fast it's hard to keep up, references to every batman ever.

Add in a nice reverse message about friendship and you've got a nice little package for kids and adults alike.


----------



## sojourner (May 22, 2017)

Downfall.

But we chortled all the way through 'that' scene, unable to divorce the seriousness of the film from daft internet memes.


----------



## magneze (May 22, 2017)

Metallica: Some kind of monster
Great documentary about the band meltdown. They all look like arses throughout, especially the guy who killed a bear (lead singer).


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 24, 2017)

*The Tower *- abundance of sadness and loss throughout, it was gripping throughout. Good story-telling.

Last episode of *American Gods.*


----------



## FreguentLy (May 24, 2017)

The Neon Demon... and Ed Wood


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 24, 2017)

magneze said:


> Metallica: Some kind of monster
> Great documentary about the band meltdown. They all look like arses throughout, especially the guy who killed a bear (lead singer).


_We Are Twisted Fucking Sister!_ is another great documentary about a band I had hitherto absolutely no interest in - it's on Netflix if you fancy a punt


----------



## DotCommunist (May 24, 2017)

Black Dynamite. From 2009. Appears to be a parody/pastiche of those 70s blaxsploitation films. I chuckled once or twice but in the end sacked it off. Perhaps you have to have been a fan of the genre to get it completely and all that stuff was before my time.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 24, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Black Dynamite. From 2009. Appears to be a parody/pastiche of those 70s blaxsploitation films. I chuckled once or twice but in the end sacked it off. Perhaps you have to have been a fan of the genre to get it completely and all that stuff was before my time.



Great Adrian Younge soundtrack though


----------



## DotCommunist (May 25, 2017)

Ares

a weird but good french near future dystopia- you know the drill, corporate rule, everything looks shit. Its good. Twisty enough tale to hang the violence on and ends with my favourite thing so all i all 7/10


----------



## rubbershoes (May 26, 2017)

Sing Street 

Entertaining


----------



## DexterTCN (May 27, 2017)

John Wick 2.

If you liked the first one, you'll love this.  Action-packed, looks great, great soundtrack.  Wonderfully violent.

Death by pencil.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 28, 2017)

Allied.

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard are SOE agents who fall for each other. What starts out as exciting derring-do against the Fascist beast soon takes a darker turn. 

This one seemed to get panned when it was released last year, but I thought it was pretty good for what it was - "not bad at all" would be my verdict. I normally don't much care for BP, but he was good for this. And Cotillard I definitely liked. I doubt if wartime Casablanca was anything like either this or the Bogart flick, but it's a convincing bit of world building, as was the stuff about wartime London and occupied provincial France. And the tension was not only built early on, but sustained throughout, and kept up to the final scene. I'd recommend it, actually.


----------



## belboid (May 28, 2017)

*Fences*

Denzel Washington is outstanding in this stage play from 1985 that hasn't really been opened out to a cinematic experience. The film is okay, but doesn't have anything particularly new or insightful to say, but DW is engrossing.


*Passengers*

Chris Pratt & Jennifer Lawrence wake up in space, but aren't sure why.  Not as bad as many other reports had made it sound, but there isn't really much to it. Pratt & Lawrence are as pleasant to watch as usual, and the Michael Sheen scenes are great, despite making no real sense at all. In fact the whole film makes no real sense at all, but wtf.
*
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
*
Inexplicably popular, well, maybe not inexplicable as it loosely derived from those books, but still...it's just rubbish.  Even if you like those books, this is just a bit rubbish.

*20th Century Women*

The truish story of Mike Mills' upbringing among three strong, feminist, women in the late twentieth century. Often very funny, sometimes a tad unbelievable, it made for an interesting contrast with Emma Clines' _The Girls_ which mrs b & I had just read.  Bad parenting doesn't always ruin your life, it seems.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 29, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> John Wick 2.
> 
> If you liked the first one, you'll love this.  Action-packed, looks great, great soundtrack.  Wonderfully violent.
> 
> Death by pencil.


Certificate HB


----------



## Idris2002 (May 29, 2017)

The last episodes of the last season of _Forbrydelsen, _the Danish documentary series that tracked the social devastation wrought by the collapse of Denmark's red herring industry.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 29, 2017)

Forced myself to finish Luke Cage from ep9 til the end. Glad I did. It improved a lot towards the end, despite being a bit silly throughout.

I shall now endeavour to finish Iron Fist before The Defenders arrives.

On that note, I am enjoying Endeavour greatly. Shaun Evans makes a captivating Morse and inhabits the character thoroughly, bringing something very personal to the role whilst channelling just enough of John Thaw for it not to be impersonation.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 29, 2017)

Dr Janina Rameriz did a two parter on the histories of britains monastic orders. So thats fascinating church history and all the ancient places and things used to tell the stories of the monasteries. I now know the difference between a cistercian and a benedictine


----------



## Idris2002 (May 29, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Dr Janina Rameriz did a two parter on the histories of britains monastic orders. So thats fascinating church history and all the ancient places and things used to tell the stories of the monasteries. I now know the difference between a cistercian and a benedictine


Did Buckfast have a charming cameo role?


----------



## DotCommunist (May 29, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Did Buckfast have a charming cameo role?


I don't remember any lasting talk of it. Apocryphal or not, I once heard that the monks who made it were shocked to discover it was the drink of choice for rowdy young men in scotland and even considered stopping.

I'll probably look that up but I suspect its a nice little falsity playing on the 'oh, those unworldly monks, bless them eh'


----------



## sarahjo (May 30, 2017)

Watched episode 1 from Genius. Was good enough. Would, recommend people to give it a watch.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 30, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Forced myself to finish Luke Cage from ep9 til the end. Glad I did. It improved a lot towards the end, despite being a bit silly throughout.
> 
> I shall now endeavour to finish Iron Fist before The Defenders arrives.


I didn't think Luke Cage was as good as the hype and Iron Fist isn't as bad as some of the reviews but it is far worse than Luke Cage/Jessica Jones. Though Jessica Henwick is pretty good in it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 30, 2017)

redsquirrel said:


> I didn't think Luke Cage was as good as the hype and Iron Fist isn't as bad as some of the reviews but it is far worse than Luke Cage/Jessica Jones. Though Jessica Henwick is pretty good in it.



I had given up on Luke Cage to be honest, but for some reason decided to go back to it. It was not that well written, loads of plot holes, or just plain weak plotting, but I enjoyed it towards the end.

I'm not all that convinced by Colter as an actor, and he was sluggish in the action sequences.

Misty and Claire Temple were my fave characters from the show.


----------



## Virtual Blue (May 30, 2017)

*T2 - Trainspotting*.

Nostalgic as fuck. The 1970s distorted imagery of childhood, flashes of the local social club, gave me proper goosebumps.
Pretty much everything in this movie made me sad, makes me think of the city I left behind.
Was good.


----------



## tobsen2000 (Jun 2, 2017)

Clint Eastwood - Sinola


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 2, 2017)

tobsen2000 said:


> Clint Eastwood - Sinola


And?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 5, 2017)

Watched Stakeland, and Stakeland 2, which were passable zombie apocalypse flicks. They did a lot with not much, and it was mainly a character driven story with action thrown in.

Also watched Captain Phillips, which was an entertaining ride. Paul Greengrass is good at wringing tension out of a scene, and getting great performances from even minor characters. Hanks was thoroughly believable, and when he was acting scared he looked really scared.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 5, 2017)

tobsen2000 said:


> Clint Eastwood - Sinola



Joe Kidd


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 6, 2017)

Eastern Promise(s).  An excellent crime film, russians and chechens in london, Vigo Mortensen starring, it's really good.  Cronenberg directs but it's not like his mad stuff.

Stranger than Fiction.   3rd time I've watched this.   Mix Emma Thompson, Will Ferrell (yuk) and Maggie Gyllenhall into a film about an author with writers' block whilst one of the characters in the book carries on with his 'life'.  Distressingly Will Ferrell is the best thing in it, I mean...he's actually great in this.  Opinions vary.

Zodiac.   Fincher at the top of his game, the cast on good form, you don't even notice all the cgi.   A story about the hunt for a serial killer that looks like All The President's Men crossed with....hmmm...maybe 7even?   Brilliant.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 9, 2017)

*Legend *in which Tom Hardy proves that there's a limit to even my appetite for him, or more accurately his hammy histrionics. Only a very narrow notch above standard LondonLive 'tales of the great villains' wannabe gangsta stuff; it tries and mostly fails to cast a more de-mythifying, downbeat frame over the whole story but it still hero worships the Krays (brawlings and bottlings and beatings to death set to catchy 60s hits, what where they thinking...) . Sweet sweet Tom Hardy can't act realistically against most other thesps so making him try and play both twins against himself in CGI was a step too far. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

*Lucy *Scarlett Johanssen kicks humanity's butt as she becomes a one-woman Singularity with drug-induced 100% use of her human brain. Witless Luc Besson nonsense without even his usual sense of style; there are bits of quirky French/art/hiphop on the soundtrack and French actors with interestingly lumpy faces, and AI philosopher-character Morgan Freeman's evolution slideshows are nicely done, but this also contains some of the stupidest 'science' ever to feature in science fiction. Just trashy, but not toxic.

*The Americans *season 4 - if you can look past the pro-Yankee-imperialist spin of the politics (yeah, sure, KGB not nice, but WERE THEY REALLY _that _brutal ...) and the inherent ridiculousness of some of the setup (would even lifelong Soviet moles really talk to _each other _in American English?) this continues to be one of the best things on the tellybox. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys both keep doing amazing work in exploring these characters' internal dilemmas through subtle face, manner, gesture stuff, and even the stupid and Russian-atmosphere-free flashbacks can't ruin things. Proper cliffhangers on many eps, too.


----------



## flypanam (Jun 12, 2017)

Atlanta - Donald Glover's show. Wow, not what I expected. It's class though.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jun 16, 2017)

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Gorgeous to look at and listen to, several engaging performances, somewhat pretentious and a bit thin.


----------



## bi0boy (Jun 21, 2017)

Gold -  Matthew McConaughey puts in a great performance as a prospector in this film about the Bre-X mining scandal (details changed for legal reasons). Good soundtrack if you like New Order.


----------



## sojourner (Jun 22, 2017)

Lemmy the movie. Loved it. Some weird bits mind haha, but most of it was ace and had me laughing. Loved the scene with the towel turban after the show - I can't think of many rock n roll people who would do that.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 22, 2017)

About 5 episodes of *Hand Maid's Tale*.
It's very silly. Lots of willy bashing in a mainstream and what-if sort of way.
Not as deep as it thinks it is but enjoyable.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 22, 2017)

*Europa Report (2013)*  - worthwhile, low-budget, low-key, low-fame sci-fi - with some real actual science in! No recognisable actors and very little cgi/sfx. Things all go pearshaped, in classic style, for the small crew of a launch exploring one of Saturn's moons. They commit many of the usual gaffes leading to DOOM (overconfidence, cackhandedness, desperation to GO GET THOSE SAMPLES whatever the risks...) but it's done with an unusual amount of logic, and more respect for how research is actually done than you normally see in scifi. At least nobody takes their helmet off in an entirely untested alien environment. Nice one, but it's not going to be much fun for anyone not already interested in space flicks.

*The Homesman (2014) *- bleak and weird Western, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, whose eccentric-rogue character isn't nearly as interesting as that of brave, practical, admirable spinster played by Hillary Swank. Sort of feminist in its depiction of the horrors of frontier life for women, but the narrative dodges about a LOT and meanders into a sort of deadend imho. Very watchable, well acted, nicely art directed, but not as compelling as some reviews made me think it might be.

*Gods of Egypt (2016) *Oh my. Worst film of 2016 hands down ... it OUGHT to be full enough of gleaming CGI gold, shimmering linens and godly bling to be a trashy enjoyable camp classic. Instead it's just a lump of incoherent, noisy, clanging yet BORING nonsense. If you watched this in a double bill with Dragon Blade you might implode your brain trying to figure out which is worse. When you have Nikolai Coster-Waldau playing the ancient Egyptian god Horus (no, really), no leading roles for black (or even brown) people, a random white-boy mortal for 'human empathy' and ethnic whitewashing is still the *least* problematic thing about the film, there are problems.  Director Alex Proyas lost the plot here, a well as his previous talent. Only bright spots in it are Elodie Yung (painfully beautiful to look at though she can't act for toffee) and Chadwick Boseman (giving a hilariously OTT screaming-camp posh Black British English characterisation of the god Thoth. Even though for some reason they pronounce that "Toth". ) Just don't bother.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 22, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> About 5 episodes of *Hand Maid's Tale*.
> It's very silly. Lots of willy bashing in a mainstream and what-if sort of way.
> Not as deep as it thinks it is but enjoyable.


Nonsense. It's not silly at all. It's spot on as a critique of patriarchy.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 24, 2017)

Blood Drive episode one



basically its a grindhouse thing where people race cars that eat people. Will watch ep 2


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 27, 2017)

Vengeance. Nic Cage starring revenge flick based on a Joyce Carol Oates book. I suspect it strays a fair distance from the novella after having read some reviews.

The film wasn't too much more than an update of Death Wish. Cage was quite restrained. Don Johnson plays the hot shot lawyer that negotiates the rapists freedom, and he is very entertaining in the role. The redneck rapists are suitably horrible.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jun 27, 2017)

I Believe In Miracles.

Documentary about Notts Forest conquering Europe in the late seventies.

Tony Woodcock's hair.  Still in the shock.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 29, 2017)

In The Mood For Love.

Wong Kar-Wai's visual masterpiece.   Beautiful.


----------



## flypanam (Jun 30, 2017)

High Maintenance - HBO comedy thing. Apparently was a web comedy till HBO bought it. Very silly.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 30, 2017)

*
Deserter (2002) *- dull Foreign Legion bobbins set in Algerian conflict, 1960. Confused and random (for some reason near-nonentity Paul Fox is the star, as a naïf young Englishman who joins up for a bit of adventure and finds out he doesn't want to kill Arabs after all, while Tom Hardy FOR IT IS HE does a bit of twitch 'n growl as the supposed villain, a semi-crim hard nut who bunks off to join the OAS and try to keep Algerie Francaise.) It's apparently based on a real life memoir and it takes some sort-of-interesting turns - you think it's going to be full-throated hero-worship of the _mission civilatrice _but in fact it veers into rather straightfaced explanation of why the colonialists need to go, etc.) Seeds of something interesting there, but it's filmed and 'dramatised' with a tin ear and a clumsy hand. TV movie territory and nothing more.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 30, 2017)

Blood Drive episode three

this is supposed to be grindhouse homage yet I have yet to hear many curse words and there has not been a boob in sight. Feeding people face first into an engine that eats them and watching the blood spray- fine. Nudity and profanity- ooh no. 

I've got The Ninth Gate set for tonight, missed it at the time. Directed by massive nonce polanski


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 30, 2017)

The Lost City of Z- I read the book about two years ago and it was a cracking read . An English Army bloke  gets transfered to map out the border between Bolivia and Brazil which because of thge value of rubber trees in the forests is in dispute.This area and others in the Amazon are pretty much the last areas of the globe not to have been mapped and  are full of natives who have never seen a European since the Conquistadors. Whilst there he is told by the Indians of a lost city and finds evidence of civilisation . Obssessed he returns spending two years or so each trip  in appalling conditions.He defends the equality of the Indians to the Royal Geographical Association who funded his trip but is howled down as it doesnt fit in with their racism and greed for minerals and gold . He undertakes one final trip with his son but never returns. 
The film is beautifully shot, its quite slow paced but its a fascinating story, worth watching and nobody knows what happened to him.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 2, 2017)

City of Tiny Lights- flawed but nevertheless engrossing private eye yarn set in modern day London with a bit of a twist. Riz Ahmed plays Tommy Aktar  a private eye who is asked to investigate the disappearance of a Russia prostitute. At the same time  his investigation unravels his past relationships are also unravelled and the two become merged. Tense and claustrophobic, infuriating at times it just about holds together and its one of those films that after seeing it I would probably watch it again if it turmed up on TV .
Ahmed should be the next James Bond btw.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 3, 2017)

4 eps of Dark Matter

quite good. A group wake up on a ship in space with no idea who they are or what their ship is. They name each other in the order they woke from stasis, 1-6

its not as good as The Expanse but its still pretty good so far


----------



## belboid (Jul 4, 2017)

*Prevenge
*
Alice (Sightseers) Lowe writes, acts and directs in a black comedy about a woman whose unborn child is telling her to kill as bunch of people. Very funny in places, deliciously dark, with some cracking supporting characters (Gemma (Yara Greyjoy) Whelan in particular). Not quite as masterful as Sightseers, but well worth ninety minutes of your time.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 4, 2017)

Been watching episodes of Lewis. I loved Morse, and Endeavour, but Lewis really isn't that great...and it's Kevin Whatley that lets it down for me. The Fox kid is interesting enough (despite being the 'Morse' replacement). I am on season 6 and only after all that time do the characters start to interact in a believable way.

The plots are, as usual....bonkers...but fun.


----------



## genesisDoes1t (Jul 7, 2017)

Netflixing - OITNB

-----------------------
THIS IS WHAT I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW:
-Rapper DaBaby, dude who wears a diaper but can actually rap: www.audiomack.com/album/artist1984/billion-dollar-baby
-R.I.P. prodigy of Mobb Deep, Infamous album on repeat
-4:44 Jay-Z


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 7, 2017)

Recently . . .

*Charade.*

Starry-eyed ingenue Audrey Hepburn teams up with debonair Cary Grant to find out exactly what happened to her husband, before his dead body was thrown from the Geneva-Paris train. If you like AH you'll like this, even though CG was just on the verge of being too old for this sort of role.

*Around the Block.*

Christina Ricci is a young American teacher who finds herself educating inner-city Australian kids in the ways of Willy Shakespeare. That's just a subplot really - the main one follows the young Aborigine kid who is torn between his (white) father's life of crime and its siren call, and the example of his (Aboriginal, killed by the cops) uncle's black consciousness theatre career. There's nothing here we haven't seen before, but it's all very well done, even if Ricci's role is obviously tacked on so that they could get the funding by brandishing an American star.

Set in the tough but proud Sydney area of Redfern.
*
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.*

Jane Russell steals an entire movie from under the nose of co-star Marilyn Monroe, who in her turn takes the dumb blonde thing to new heights of idiocy. Interesting for a truly creepy turn by a child actor, which feels like something out of David Lynch.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 11, 2017)

We Kill the Old Way - no accounting for the taste of visitors when they say lets watch a film at 12.30 am . Retired gangster returns from Spain to team up with other geriatric gangsters to avenge his brothers killing by a 'street gang'. Sort of British version of the Expendables really. Utter shite only watchable if you are really drunk and can't be bothered to turn the TV off in case you offend people staying at your house . Apparently there's a sequel and I noticed that one of the writers used to author books on football hooliganism. Nice little earner .


----------



## seventh bullet (Jul 12, 2017)

David Cronenberg's London-based Russian mafia drama Eastern Promises on Netflix.

It was a little cliched wrt Russian culture, and the twist involving the long-suffering driver and gofer for the manchild son of his gangster employer demonstrated naivety about the Russian state and its involvement with organised crime. There's a great fight scene in a public baths, though, and Viggo Mortensen's sharply-dressed thug doesn't have a bad generic accent when speaking broken English or his character's mother tongue. 7/10.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 12, 2017)

Hennessy.

Very silly NI-related thriller from the mid-70s. After his wife and child are killed by the British Army (in cross-fire from a street riot in Belfast), the eponymous Catholic WW2 veteran travels to London to assassinate the Queen.

Both the Provies and Special Branch try to track him down before he can do his worst.



The accents aren't the worst I've ever heard.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 12, 2017)

Also Trainspotting 2.

A lot better than it had any right to be. _Porno, _the novel Welsh wrote as the follow-up to Trainspotting the book, was genuinely woeful. I got it for free from a library, and I still felt like I wanted my money back.

Ewen Bremner as Spud was the best thing in it. They could easily have had the whole movie about him.


----------



## Chz (Jul 12, 2017)

*John Wick
*
If I'd seen it when it came out, I might have liked it more. But after _Mad Max_ showing how to do "mindless action movie" to perfection, there simply wasn't enough shooting and killing and too much time trying to justify the flimsy plot. As if someone killing your dog (spoilers!) justifies murdering a hundred people. I don't care about his motivations. The entire purpose of the film is that everyone is trying to kill him and so he kills everyone. The rest is fluff, and there's too much fluff. If you're going to waste time justifying this, there had better be a bloody good story in it! Not something that even comic books would laugh at.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 12, 2017)

I fell asleep watching....I don't feel that I missed much....


----------



## flypanam (Jul 14, 2017)

Eastbound and down.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 14, 2017)

Frontline Fighting: Battling ISIS

follows a group of brits with the YPG. Not particularly in depth about wider situations but rather followed a single mission.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 15, 2017)

The Signal (2007) I was looking for The Signal (2014) but got it wrong. Didn't mind too much as the 2007 film as a grim disjointed horror tale that makes little sense but is mad mad mad. And brutal. The tvs, phones etc. Everything starts pumping out a weird signal that makes people go paranoid insane and start beating each other to death messily.  6/10


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 15, 2017)

E.T. Watching with my children for the first time. Everyone is crying


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 15, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> The Signal (2007) I was looking for The Signal (2014) but got it wrong. Didn't mind too much as the 2007 film as a grim disjointed horror tale that makes little sense but is mad mad mad. And brutal. The tvs, phones etc. Everything starts pumping out a weird signal that makes people go paranoid insane and start beating each other to death messily.  6/10


The film that inspired twitter, then.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 15, 2017)

May Kasahara said:


> E.T. Watching with my children for the first time. Everyone is crying



Son is taking his revenge by making me watch Ghostbusters the remake. Fucking hell, it's dire.


----------



## donkyboy (Jul 15, 2017)

Alien Covenant. OK two hours passing time.


----------



## ringo (Jul 17, 2017)

Second attempt to watch John Wick:Chapter 2
First time managed an hour, this time 90 minutes. Just couldn't be bothered to watch him kill people for the last 30 minutes.

Rewatched Northern Soul: Living For The Weekend 

Baby Boss - Just enough jokes for grown ups to be manageable.


----------



## ringo (Jul 17, 2017)

May Kasahara said:


> Son is taking his revenge by making me watch Ghostbusters the remake. Fucking hell, it's dire.


My youngest did that to me. I made her watch the original, which she agreed was much better.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 17, 2017)

Chz said:


> *John Wick
> *
> If I'd seen it when it came out, I might have liked it more. But after _Mad Max_ showing how to do "mindless action movie" to perfection, there simply wasn't enough shooting and killing and too much time trying to justify the flimsy plot. As if someone killing your dog (spoilers!) justifies murdering a hundred people. I don't care about his motivations. The entire purpose of the film is that everyone is trying to kill him and so he kills everyone. The rest is fluff, and there's too much fluff. If you're going to waste time justifying this, there had better be a bloody good story in it! Not something that even comic books would laugh at.


I guess there's no point recommending...



Spoiler: SPOILER!!!



_The Rover_



....to you then


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 17, 2017)

Alien Covenant. I liked it better than I had expected. The spine-bursters were cool. Everyone was struck by the stupidity stick as per. No idea wht that synthetic is such an arsehole though, must have been something in prometheus.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 17, 2017)

*Casino Jack*  (2010) - being the sort-of-jawdropping-but-not-at-all-suprising story of loathsome US political lobbyist Jack Abramoff and all his dodgy dealings. Plenty of dirt about how Washington beltway politics really works, how to pull the strings of both Houses etc. Based on real life and of course Kevin Spacey in the lead role is a perfect fit - gruesomely compelling to watch even as you recoil from his reptilian tactics. Some excellent ranting and swearing. Same sort of ballpark as _Charlie Wilson's War / The Ides of March / The Walker _etc - you won't be shocked by much of it unless you really believe that the US system of government is a democracy designed to serve the people; for the rest of us it's not much news that money buys action or that Republicans can be amoral. Perfectly OK for a couple of hours and classily done, but it's not gonna change the world.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 17, 2017)

Their Finest Their Finest (2016) - IMDb

Verdict: It was ok, typical BBC type film, ok as background fodder, but wouldn't go out my way to watch it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 17, 2017)

*Run All Night*

A  _very _good thriller with Liam Neeson as a washed-up hitman for the New York Irish-American mob, who is alienated from his straight-arrow, family man son. Then both he and the son have to go on the run one night, chased by the mob (Neeson's character has done something that requires Ed Harris' mob boss to take revenge on both of them), corrupt cops and even non-corrupt cops. Not just a good action adventure, but also a proper story with some key themes handled very well. One of the best Neesons I've yet seen.

*Filth*

Adapted from the Irvine Welsh novel (German title: Drecksau). I really regretted watching this one, which is a knee in the "baws" of humanity.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 17, 2017)

flypanam said:


> Eastbound and down.



Years ago my son was always saying watch Eastbound and Down. I simply didnt like it untill after epsiode 4 and then suddenly it clicked and the person who I despised suddenly became both my hero and anti hero.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 19, 2017)

The Fate of the Furious: Fast & Furious 8 (2017) - IMDb

Whilst these films are no brainers, I recently put myself through sitting through them all. I'm amazed I let myself get past the 3rd one, which was awful, but was totally different cast and location, so I gave 4 a chance. It's not very often you find a film franchise that goes on for this many films, and the quality actually improves. Obviously helped by big budgets because these films clearly make a ton at the box office, and always kind of give you that uplifting there's good left in humanity ending where enemies have a habit of becoming friends, that actually works well. This is as good as 7, which I thought had been the best so far. I'm not massive on action films, especially long drawn out fight or car chase scenes that generally add nothing to the films, and I'm normally just thinking, can someone just win already so we can progress the story. However the Manhattan chase scene in this, is quite possibly the best car chase scene I've ever seen. Clearly a lot of it has been done with CGI rather than real cars, but it looks ace! The plot is obviously far fetched as usual, but something about this bunch of characters that you now like and want them to succeed and genuinely worry if any are going to get killed off.

7/10


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 19, 2017)

cybershot said:


> The Fate of the Furious: Fast & Furious 8 (2017) - IMDb
> 
> Whilst these films are no brainers, I recently put myself through sitting through them all. I'm amazed I let myself get past the 3rd one, which was awful, but was totally different cast and location, so I gave 4 a chance. It's not very often you find a film franchise that goes on for this many films, and the quality actually improves. Obviously helped by big budgets because these films clearly make a ton at the box office, and always kind of give you that uplifting there's good left in humanity ending where enemies have a habit of becoming friends, that actually works well. This is as good as 7, which I thought had been the best so far. I'm not massive on action films, especially long drawn out fight or car chase scenes that generally add nothing to the films, and I'm normally just thinking, can someone just win already so we can progress the story. However the Manhattan chase scene in this, is quite possibly the best car chase scene I've ever seen. Clearly a lot of it has been done with CGI rather than real cars, but it looks ace! The plot is obviously far fetched as usual, but something about this bunch of characters that you now like and want them to succeed and genuinely worry if any are going to get killed off.
> 
> 7/10


The original cast are now pretty much background characters as Diesel, Statham and The Rock hold centre stage


----------



## cybershot (Jul 19, 2017)

The39thStep said:


> The original cast are now pretty much background characters as Diesel, Statham and The Rock hold centre stage



True, but they still all have their moments, even if some are purely for comedy effect. Maybe it's because I've watched all 8 in about a month, so I'm more engaged with them.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 19, 2017)

*The Drop (2014)* - downbeat, lowkey, slightly numbed NY Mafia tale with unusually high-notch cast (Tom Hardy! Noomi Rapace!! James Gandolfini!!!) and some rather murky plotting. Mostly a transparent excuse for Tom Hardy to spend a lot of screen time mucking about with a cute pitbull puppy. Not spectacular, not gripping, but not too stereotyped either and the gunplay is kept to a minimum. Also surprisingly (and kind of appealingly) amoral at the end. Not a gripper, but no embarrassment either.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 19, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> *The Drop (2014)* - downbeat, lowkey, slightly numbed NY Mafia tale with unusually high-notch cast (Tom Hardy! Naomi Rapace! James Gandolfini) and some rather murky plotting. Mostly a transparent excuse for Tom Hardy to spend a lot of screen time mucking about with a cute pitbull puppy. Not spectacular, not gripping, but not too stereotyped either and the gunplay is kept to a minimum. Also surprisingly (and kind of appealingly) amoral at the end. Not a gripper, but no embarrassment either.


I enjoyed that film


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 19, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> *The Drop (2014)* - downbeat, lowkey, slightly numbed NY Mafia tale with unusually high-notch cast (Tom Hardy! Noomi Rapace!! James Gandolfini!!!) and some rather murky plotting. Mostly a transparent excuse for Tom Hardy to spend a lot of screen time mucking about with a cute pitbull puppy. Not spectacular, not gripping, but not too stereotyped either and the gunplay is kept to a minimum. Also surprisingly (and kind of appealingly) amoral at the end. Not a gripper, but no embarrassment either.



I love that film.
Underplayed for a purpose.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 20, 2017)

I've got the week off and got a lot of crap done earlier in the week, so yesterday evening turned into a bit of a film fest

Selma Selma (2014) - IMDb
Not a whole lot to say about this as it's a biopic of Martin Luther King's campaign to get black people the vote. Obviously telling a very historic story.
7/10

Once Upon a Time in Venice Once Upon a Time in Venice (2017) - IMDb
Not quite sure why this is getting such a bad rap, a decent cast, plenty of funny moments (that I found funny anyway) and who can't relate to a man wanting to get his dog back! Probably could have come up with a better title!
8/10

Buster's Mal Heart Buster's Mal Heart (2016) - IMDb
I think this just tried to hard to be something that David Lynch fans would enjoy and in the end just fell a bit flat on it's face.
5/10


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 20, 2017)

May Kasahara said:


> E.T. Watching with my children for the first time. Everyone is crying



Took my kid to see ET in Leicester Square. It was his first time watching. Spent 30 mins outside crying cos he 'didn't want ET to go home'

I was like 'It'd be a shit film if he stayed!'


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 20, 2017)

_Don't Feel_ at _Home in This World Anymore -_depressed woman gets burgled and enlists her dysfunctional neighbour to track down her stolen belongings. Enjoyable thriller /dark humour comedy even if a bit uneven in places but it is refreshing , non formulaic and on the whole an admiral effort.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 20, 2017)

John Wick
John Wick Chapter 2
Free Fire

In the John Wick films, Keanu Reeves realised that he needed to a do Full Neeson to save his career, so he dresses in black and shoots dozens of Russian gangsters in the face, all in stylish interiors with colour-coded lighting and decor. In the first film, he's angry cos Alfie Allen killed his dog, a departing gift from his dead wife, and stole his car. In the second film, he gets a harder dog, then goes on the rampage after stealing his old car and inviting more Russians to come and try and kill him. 
Top notch no-brain fantasy-action with hyper-stylised art direction - I'm sure they franchise will continue successfully.

Free Fire is another film with lots of shooting in warehouses, except everyone is shit at shooting. Eventually, everyone shoots each other, but there's a lot of missing and excellent ricocheting noises. If John Wick had been one of the gang members, it would have only lasted five minutes. Disappointing on the whole. Ben Wheatley directed it, but it suffers from lack of plot just as High Rise and his other films tend to.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 21, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Free Fire is another film with lots of shooting in warehouses, except everyone is shit at shooting. Eventually, everyone shoots each other, but there's a lot of missing and excellent ricocheting noises. If John Wick had been one of the gang members, it would have only lasted five minutes. Disappointing on the whole. Ben Wheatley directed it, but it suffers from lack of plot just as High Rise and his other films tend to.



Also watched this last night and pretty much agree with you, pretty much an hour of the film is just people shooting at each other with the odd attempting to be funny line. 5/10


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 21, 2017)

Mindhorn - crap and unfunny.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 23, 2017)

A surprising productive weekend, that also included a bit of film watching!

Invictus (2009) - IMDb
The story of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and how Nelson Mendela used it as an opportunity to break down the barriers between white/black folk of South Africa after becoming president. 8/10

Gifted (2017) - IMDb
Story of some smart arse 8 year old who is a genius (and superbly played) and a battle between her dead mothers brother and mother on who should look after her and the path she should take in life. Quite good. 8/10

Ghost in the Shell (2017) - IMDb
Really, really wanted to enjoy this, but I just didn't. Never seen the anime version, and probably never will. Kind of felt a bit like a Blade Runner rip off. Probably mainly didn't like it because I just really seem to be struggling with action films as of late. The special effects however are top notch if that makes a film for you. 5/10

The Hippopotamus (2017) - IMDb
Based on the novel by Stephen Fry, an out of work poet is sent on a mission by his god daughter to discover if miracle do happen at a particular manor house. It's a typical British comedy, some of the jokes are obvious, plenty of swearing, but in general it's good fun. 7/10


----------



## Sea Star (Jul 23, 2017)

Been watching Twin Peaks series two. Had forgotten loads of it. Now I have a sudden urge to watch Fire Walk With Me. Does it never end?


----------



## cybershot (Jul 23, 2017)

AuntiStella said:


> Been watching Twin Peaks series two. Had forgotten loads of it. Now I have a sudden urge to watch Fire Walk With Me. Does it never end?



The film is an important part of the puzzle, but I recommend you watch it after series 2.

The new season is fantastic (imo) but complex, I guess it will come down to ratings on if it will carry on further.


----------



## Sea Star (Jul 23, 2017)

cybershot said:


> The film is an important part of the puzzle, but I recommend you watch it after series 2.
> 
> The new season is fantastic (imo) but complex, I guess it will come down to ratings on if it will carry on further.


I've seen the film three times, and seen series one. Missed a few from series 2 but I've read the books which probably fill in a lot of the important stuff, and keeping up with series 3. When the dust settles I'll probably watch everything again. 

I have a theory that the film could be watched either as a prequel or a sequel to the tv series but in a completely different way. I've yet to test this out, but i will. Eventually.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 24, 2017)

Life - derivative sci-fi horror with scientists doing stupid things that get them killed by a space octopus.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 24, 2017)

Finished GLOW - was an alright ending....upbeat enough, some funny lines, it's good to watch while I am having my dinner.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 24, 2017)

*Maps to the Stars (2014) *- deliciously, gruesomely savage and flinty satire of awful Hollywood people, with less gore but (even) more discomfort and alienation than the usual David Cronenberg standar. All the acting is terrific - Julianne Moore got all the limelight for the scene-stealing hideous neediness and egotism of her over-the-hill nearly-made-it actress character, but John Cusack as a clammily manipulative New Age healer/self help guru, Mia Wasikowska as a crazed wannabe personal assistant, and Evan Bird as maybe the nastiest imaginable child-star-gone wrong, are all impossible to tear your eyes away from, even if you feel as though you really want to and really ought to. It's all about power and abuse and wanting ... and while some of it's just a bit daft there are genuinely chilling and frightening moments. Also even ROFL funny at odd moments. It is perhaps a bit of a caricature Cronenberg from time to time (sample line: "Sis, you realise your schizophrenia is actually affecting _all Hollywood _right now?") and I'm still not sure what actually happens at the end... but it's just brilliant imho.


----------



## dessiato (Jul 24, 2017)

I've been watching Sugar Rush on All4. I'm enjoying it. The humour is, I think, just right, as is the angst.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 24, 2017)

dessiato said:


> I've been watching Sugar Rush on All4. I'm enjoying it. The humour is, I think, just right, as is the angst.


Dirty bastard


----------



## Supine (Jul 25, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> 4 eps of Dark Matter
> 
> quite good. A group wake up on a ship in space with no idea who they are or what their ship is. They name each other in the order they woke from stasis, 1-6
> 
> its not as good as The Expanse but its still pretty good so far



Enjoying this so far. Good tip


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 25, 2017)

Supine said:


> Enjoying this so far. Good tip


I've caught up enough that I have to wait for it weekly now. Its not as good as The Expanse for me but I still rate it. Its almost like the A-Team in space


----------



## cybershot (Jul 28, 2017)

A Quiet Passion (2016) - IMDb
The Story of Emily Dickinson, it was ok. 6/10

Colossal (2016) - IMDb (probably giving too much away with the below, so if you are waiting to watch this, you might not want to read on)


Spoiler



Billed as an action/comedy film, and the trailer makes it out to look funny and with an interesting concept on how this woman who is going through a mental breakdown is somehow connected to this monster that keeps appearng in south korea! However, the film takes a turn, in quiet an almost sickening way, maybe it's just me, maybe it's the mindset I'm in this evening, but this film turns blackmail and domestic violence into a fantasy battle and a bit of a joke. Anyone who has dealt with it (I'm not one, so I dread to think what someone who has would think of this, going into it not expecting this) would probably find this film quite insulting. There's also one art of the plot that explains the origins of how the monster appears, and I'm sorry, but if you were connected to something that looked like a toy from your childhood, I think you'd remember it! 4/10 and I'm probably being generous. Quite surprised Anne Hathaway accepted this role.[\spoiler]


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jul 28, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> *Maps to the Stars (2014) *- .



Just watched it, quite enjoyed it, but not sure what it was meant to be.  Was the story meant to be taken at face value or was there some Lynchian Mulholland Drive/Lost Highway type stuff going on with the links between characters and mirroring of their experiences?


----------



## bi0boy (Jul 29, 2017)

Shot Caller - The Lannister bloke from GoT plays a prisoner in this prison drama. Very watchable.


----------



## belboid (Jul 30, 2017)

I Love Dick

Amazon series with Kevin Bacon as a charismatic arty dude, whose mere existence besots and confounds Kathryn Hahn's Chris, who then starts writing him lots of vividly detailed letters. Hilarious and often brilliant.

Attack the Block 

Also very good indeed, Boyega and all the kids are excellent. Properly funny.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jul 30, 2017)

Logan's Run.

Pacing, plotting, acting, dialogue and coherent storytelling in sci fi have, mercifully, come on in leaps and bounds since this came out. There's still some charm in it though, and some really well-composed images.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 31, 2017)

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

A stinker and a dud, I turned it off after 40 minutes and I won't be going back.

Only interesting because the female lead could have been the twin sister of urban's very own Laurie Penny.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 31, 2017)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Just watched it, quite enjoyed it, but not sure what it was meant to be.  Was the story meant to be taken at face value or was there some Lynchian Mulholland Drive/Lost Highway type stuff going on with the links between characters and mirroring of their experiences?



No idea tbh (and I'm still not sure if some of the stuff at the end was just hallucinated (and if so, by whom?) or "actually happened" - or at least actually happened in the universe the film imagines). I am sure that lots of the eerie parallels/doublings (violent hallucinations, incestuous overtones - for different characters) were entirely deliberate and designed.


----------



## bi0boy (Aug 1, 2017)

Brimstone - a bit too gratuitous really, especially with the kids... not sure what the point was. Kit Harrington trying to do an American accent and it veering into Australian was the main highlight.


----------



## cybershot (Aug 1, 2017)

bi0boy said:


> Brimstone - a bit too gratuitous really, especially with the kids... not sure what the point was. Kit Harrington trying to do an American accent and it veering into Australian was the main highlight.



Found that quite a hard watch!


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 2, 2017)

Spiderman: Homecoming

It manages to set up the possibility of further films, attempts to capture the feel of 80s 'coming of age' movies - whilst still fitting firmly within the template of recent action movies.

A solid 8/10.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 2, 2017)

Just binge-watched the entire 13 episodes (20 mins each) of *The Good Place, *the new sitcom from Mike Schur (Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine Nine, etc).

Kristen Bell plays a fairly shitty person accidentally sent to heaven when she dies. Ted Danson also stars and a few Parks and Rec alumni show up periodically.

It's very watchable, not a huge amount of belly laughs but consistently funny and quite subversive / clever in places.

Looking forward to season 2 in September.


----------



## Sea Star (Aug 2, 2017)

I fell asleep watching Twin Peaks episode 12 on Monday night - no reflection on David Lynch's fine work - I was just knackered. Then last night I had awful toothache so I i kept myself amused through the night (and distracted) by watching most of series one of Steven Universe. I'm late to this - it has a cult following among trans people and so i stayed away from it in order to avoid become a walking cliche. However, had a recommendation yesterday from someone whose opinions i respect and gave it a go. It's pretty amazing, especially considering it's a kids show. So I'm hooked and have another 3 series to catch up with! Very funny, imaginative, good politics, and amazing music. What's not to like?


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 2, 2017)

*The Connection *(2014) unoriginal but stylish French reworking of the classic "two men on opposite sides of the law have oddly parallel lives" story. Set in 1975 Marseille so in some ways it it's _The French Connection _but told by French people, but in reality it is more like _Heat _or _We Own the Night _or _Blood Ties, _just made in French. It's a good deal softer-hearted and less exciting than _The French Connection_ (everyone is a recognisable human, the violent horrors are toned down, there's little real suspense); but there's some decent acting, even though Jean Dujardin as the crusading judge and Gilles Lelouche as the mafia kingpin are both a little too low-key and also look like each other too much, which gets confusing. (When some of the real controlling minds come into the drama and they ALSO look like the two leads it gets a bit more confusing still).

To my mind it didn't really have enough Marseille atmosphere or enough to say about the codes/habits of the criminal world there to be gripping; there's none of the sense of how a whole criminal ecosystem locks together that you could get from _A Prophet _(or even, up to a point, the ludicrous TV series _Braquo). _But it looks fantastic throughout, brilliant 70s clothes, hair and music; and there's a bracingly cynical end to it all, which sets off some of the earlier sentimental guff. It's a reasonably engaging 2hrs+, but I wouldn't bother if you have anything more pressing to do, or anything more mould-breaking waiting to be watched.


----------



## Fingers (Aug 2, 2017)

Watched the first two episodes of Bates Motel last night, surrounded by real life blood and gore as Miss B had sliced her finger open with a kitchen knife. Certainly added to the experience.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2017)

Command and Control. Infuriating docu about a deadly accident at a Titan 2 missile silo. These retired old lads tallking blithely about how shit they all were at their jobs and the man responsible for the whole accident looked like he couldn't give a flying. It reminded me of another netflix docu 'the seven five' in the same way it was talking heads with the the twats for who that stuff they did was another life.


----------



## cybershot (Aug 4, 2017)

Sleight (2016) - IMDb

Young magician looking after little sister after parents die gets caught up with a bunch of drug dealers. This could have been so much more perhaps with another studio behind it a better cast and a re write of the script. Haha. In the end not a lot happens. 5/10


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 4, 2017)

belboid said:


> Attack the Block
> 
> Also very good indeed, Boyega and all the kids are excellent. Properly funny.




And Jodie Whittaker's first foray into sci fi


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Aug 4, 2017)

Most of the Borgias over the past six days. Excellent stuff, but it's distracting me from Thrones, so I need to get it finished. Four episodes left for tmoz night


----------



## cybershot (Aug 5, 2017)

Going in Style (2017) - IMDb
Some guys nearing retirement get screwed out of their jobs and pensions and begin struggling with the bills. After one gets caught up in a bank robbery, they decide to do the same themselves. Strong cast, should have been funnier, kinda film you'd watch with your Nan. 6/10

The Circle (2017) - IMDb
The Circle, AKA facebook, and how a tech company end up wanting to control the world. A bit out there, unrealistic and the main character (Played by Emma Watson) is just so unlikable and an idiot that you just hate her. Tom Hanks also stars as a Mak Zuckerberg/Steve Jobs hybrid but again comes across as a bit of a prick. Film doesn't go where I'd have liked it to go, and seemingly just ends abruptly. 5/10


----------



## Poi E (Aug 5, 2017)

John Wick 2. Lots of guns and head shots but not enough cars, and they managed the trick (again) of not minding Keanu Reeves being on screen. Shows another way to handle the loss of a loved one: get a nice suit on and go out and kill lots of bad people. Something in that for all of us, I think. 7/10.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Aug 5, 2017)

Brighton Pride today so I thought I'd watch camp cult film "Auntie Mame" (1958) and very funny it was too. Rosalind Russell in the title role is great but at 2.5 hours long it could maybe do with losing 30 mins to stop it sagging in places.


----------



## Duncan2 (Aug 5, 2017)

Poi E said:


> John Wick 2. Lots of guns and head shots but not enough cars, and they managed the trick (again) of not minding Keanu Reeves being on screen. Shows another way to handle the loss of a loved one: get a nice suit on and go out and kill lots of bad people. Something in that for all of us, I think. 7/10.


Keanu Reeves pops up quite unexpectedly as the clinical psychologist in Bred in The Bone-Netflix.I watched this last night expecting to be under-whelmed but it was okay.Its about teens struggling with eating disorders which,as we know,are on the rise and beyond the scope of a lot of GPs.Its a frightening phenomenon,hard to fathom and the film brings this out and still manages to end on an optimistic note.8/10


----------



## snadge (Aug 5, 2017)

Shot caller.	  Shot Caller (2017) - IMDb

A grim, sad film about the gang culture in US gaols.

Pretty brutal and obviously exaggerated but a fine performance from Jamie Lanister.

I was entertained.


----------



## cybershot (Aug 6, 2017)

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) - IMDb
Yep, I'd never seen this, and it is delightfully funny and British with the best possible outcome you could hope for! 7/10

The Lovers (2017) - IMDb
This started off really well, and the bloke, kinda reminded me of me, especially in scenes when his wife is crying and as a bloke, you stand there for a bit, try to console, they move away, you hang your head etc..., and then there's the crazy woman he's having an affair with who just seems a fucking nightmare, and reminded me of another ex. Anyway, married couple, both having affairs, the woman, is having an affair with Littlefinger from GoT so that's a little weird, and both are planning when to tell the other, before they eventually end up back in bed with each other to make it even more complex. Despite the good start, this seemed to drag in the end for a film that only goes on for 1h40m. 5/10


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 6, 2017)

Ghost in the Shell.

Better than I expected, even though it didn't have anything we hadn't seen before, e.g. in Bladerunner and the Matrix. 

Good action, and some good acting from some of the cast (not Scarlet J. as the cyborg though).

DotCommunist, did you see this one? If so, what was the Kimble verdict?


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 6, 2017)

_Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance_. Surprisingly enjoyable, mainly thanks to excellent special effects. My 8yo son pronounced it one of the best films he's ever seen, which probably means it has perfectly fulfilled its brief.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 6, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Ghost in the Shell.
> 
> Better than I expected, even though it didn't have anything we hadn't seen before, e.g. in Bladerunner and the Matrix.
> 
> ...


Not seen it yet, caught the anime way back. Will see if theres a d/l. I recall a fair amount of complaints about whitewashing surrounding the live action earlier this year


----------



## blairsh (Aug 6, 2017)

Logan.

I was really enjoying upto the point (after just over an hour) that i fell asleep


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 6, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Not seen it yet, caught the anime way back. Will see if theres a d/l. I recall a fair amount of complaints about whitewashing surrounding the live action earlier this year


Yeah, there were a couple of scenes that did feel awkward like that. Maybe if they had just set it in a generic dystopia, and not a specific Neo-Tokyo?


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 7, 2017)

It Follows.  An extremely well made horror film with a limited budget.  Almost no special effects, it makes you check out everyone in the background for possible threat.  Constantly rotating the camera 360 slowly, you scan every person, every alley, every door.   Effective and engaging with (for a teen horror) a compelling narrative and lots of undertones.

Baby Driver. aka The Fault in our Cars.  Edgar Wright is on top, top form.  There's a transition scene early on using sunglasses.  Quality actors all over, great music, great action.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 9, 2017)

Plan Z

odd little zombie film that looks like it cost very little to produce but holds together well enough


docu on Grinling Gibbon. Worked in limewood during the Restoration era, wood carver to the bourgeoisie and the royals


----------



## lefteri (Aug 9, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Ghost in the Shell.
> 
> Better than I expected, even though it didn't have anything we hadn't seen before, e.g. in Bladerunner and the Matrix.



The original was a huge influence on the matrix so not surprising the remake reminds you of that


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 10, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Yeah, there were a couple of scenes that did feel awkward like that. Maybe if they had just set it in a generic dystopia, and not a specific Neo-Tokyo?


well I watched it and I don't think it could have been done without that neo-tokyo background. It's one of the films strengths that the background is so engaging, also theres a nice amount of body discomfort stuff, the way they jack in and all the bio/mech mod stuff. It wasn't a bad story but it feels strangely of its time although it is modern as a film (which being an adapt you'd expect) but not just in the themes, the styling over all. Impossibly large lightweight guns that fire high rates per second. Cyberpunk future. Rain and water, neon. And the bloke who plays her partner? white hair and robot eyes? They wanted Malcom McDowell 10 years ago. Mabe Tankgirl era, which is when this film would have blown my brainz out with cool. But despite my critiscisms it was very good for what it was. Oh, the other thing which ties into fifth element  tempers bladerunner visual style I was getting. Fractured beautiful assasin woman. Flawed and deadly. So Leeloo from fifth element, Dollhouse. Battle Angel Alita. You see where I'm going with this. Her invisibility suit is her birthday suit near enough.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Aug 10, 2017)

Fanfare (1958) - Dutch comedy about a small village brass band that splits into two competing sides after the local cafe owners fall out. Very charming, very funny, lovely footage of the canals and waterways, even the cows and ducks give good performances.


----------



## hot air baboon (Aug 10, 2017)

thanks to the inestimable programmers of freeview channel London Live I was able to catch this one without having to pop down to Poundland 

 

and despite being a whole pound better off I'm still slightly..... _processing_ the experience  

whilst the title suggests a product with a target audience for whom sophisticated command of english, or indeed language based communication generally, is by no means a requirement, emanating from one of those back-room film companies whose emails Jason Statham's spam detector sends straight to the trash bin the first slightly surprising indication to the contrary was the cast list 

Mickey Rourke
Daryl Hannah
Eric Roberts
Michael Madsen
Jeff Fahey
Alan Ford
Gary Daniels

hmm..... people you have actually _heard_ of - OK in some cases not for a considerable period of time but still...and yeah you did read that right - they actually got _THE_ Gary Daniels in the title role

and to his credit his rather more minimalist approach to the craft of acting was in no way shown up by the somewhat broader style on display from others amongst the cast. Connoisseurs will particularly enjoy the Hannah-Madsen double act wearing expressions that could either have been the result of past, not entirely successful, surgical procedures or else genuine surprise that they were actually appearing in this shit

whilst the cheap digital cinematography imparts a strangely surreal patina to the whole thing that in some ways helps viewers contending with Beirut-on-a-budget scenes of urban mayhem performed in incongruous London film locations. The demented & whacky rogue-vigilante "plot"  however ( "Please I have a wife & kids" "They're better off without you" )  was almost enough to make one nostalgic for the restrained authenticity of Michael Winner's higher-numbered Death Wish instalments

as if all of that wasn't enough daftness for 90 minutes sofa time Gary Daniels began to take on a distracting resemblance to a startlingly homicidal although it must be admitted , rather more entertaining version of  Paul Mason


----------



## dessiato (Aug 10, 2017)

Just watched Taxi Driver. Great film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 10, 2017)

hot air baboon said:


> thanks to the inestimable programmers of freeview channel London Live I was able to catch this one without having to pop down to Poundland
> 
> View attachment 113224
> 
> ...


LOL at THE Gary Daniels. Had to look him up. Can't remember him in The Expendables. Haven't seen owt else he's been in


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 10, 2017)

Icarus (2017) - IMDb

A documentary by Bryan Fogel about doping in sport. Absolutely riveting.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 11, 2017)

dessiato said:


> Just watched Taxi Driver. Great film.



For the first time?


----------



## cybershot (Aug 11, 2017)

A bit of catching up from the last several nights

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016) - IMDb
Richard Gere stars as Norman who is a fixer, mainly dealing with American-Isreali business and politics. It's not very exciting, but there's some good bits. 6/10

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) - IMDb
Different spin on a very old tale, that was better than I was expecting. 7/10

Shot Caller (2017) - IMDb
A couple had already mentioned this so I gave it a go purely based on what people had said, and they were right, a well good gritty prison film starring that guy who plays Jaime in GoT. Surprised they didn't make a bigger deal out of this, but seems a small studio and budget, deserves to become a cult classic. 8/10


----------



## dessiato (Aug 11, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> For the first time?


Yes. As strange as that seems.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 11, 2017)

dessiato said:


> Yes. As strange as that seems.



Glad you liked it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 12, 2017)

Billion Dollar Brain

Michael Caine has to try to stop a mad American billionaire from starting World War 3.

Freshly relevant for obvious reasons. I'm surprised it's not a major cult film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 12, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Billion Dollar Brain
> 
> Michael Caine has to try to stop a mad American billionaire from starting World War 3.
> 
> Freshly relevant for obvious reasons. I'm surprised it's not a major cult film.



It is a major cult film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 13, 2017)

cybershot said:


> A bit of catching up from the last several nights
> 
> Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016) - IMDb
> Richard Gere stars as Norman who is a fixer, mainly dealing with American-Isreali business and politics. It's not very exciting, but there's some good bits. 6/10
> ...


shot caller is quite good even if the ending is daft and cheese]

That king arthur one though, fuck me thats expensive looking trash.

I also watched the new Ducktales, David Tennant voices the capitalist duck.


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 13, 2017)

Shin Gojira (2016) - IMDb

A proper Godzilla movie from Toho. Much better than the horrible American versions.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 13, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> Shin Gojira (2016) - IMDb
> 
> A proper Godzilla movie from Toho. Much better than the horrible American versions.


OG godzilla mine died the other day. He mentioned in an interview how when he did suit work it was still looked down o as not proper acting. Today of course computer enhanced gollum brings all the awards to the yard


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> OG godzilla mine died the other day. He mentioned in an interview how when he did suit work it was still looked down o as not proper acting. Today of course computer enhanced gollum brings all the awards to the yard


I hadn't realised that he'd died last week. RIP Haruo Nakajima


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 13, 2017)

cybershot said:


> A bit of catching up from the last several nights
> 
> Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016) - IMDb
> Richard Gere stars as Norman who is a fixer, mainly dealing with American-Isreali business and politics. It's not very exciting, but there's some good bits. 6/10
> ...


Yup, really enjoyed Shot Caller. I think the actor who played Shotgun was in The Walking Dead.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 13, 2017)

The39thStep said:


> Yup, really enjoyed Shot Caller. I think the actor who played Shotgun was in The Walking Dead.


he was, the sketchy one who 



Spoiler: film



turned out to be the main grass


. First three srs of WD iirc


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 14, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It is a major cult film.


It was a new one on me.

Anyway, the other night I watched New Zealand family drama _Mahana._

Temeura Morison is the patriarch of a sheep-shearing Maori family in 1950s Poverty Bay, Aotearoa. He rules the clan with an iron fist, but his teenage grandson is on the verge of standing up to him, and this will involve the airing of the big family secret. . .

I'd give it 9/10.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 14, 2017)

I'm watching Independence Day 2 with my son  Smash up those landmarks!


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Aug 16, 2017)

A rewatch of series one of Luther, now that I'm done with Whitechapel


----------



## cybershot (Aug 18, 2017)

A couple to catch up on

Wakefield (2016) - IMDb
Bryan Cranston stars as a bloke going through a mental breakdown and becomming bitter about his home life. Decides to pretend to go missing and lives in the adjacent (but part of their property so a bit far fetched) attic so he can still keep an eye on them. Months pass, we see flashbacks to why he does this and how he got together with his wife. I really, really, liked this film. I think the dark side of me would actually enjoy doing something like this and going off the grid and seeing how people cope. It's a bit weird I know. I also sort of related to a few things. Make of that what you will. Obviously a point comes when you then have to decide to go missing forever or just turn back up, which was also good. 7/10

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) - IMDb
Yeah I know, 20+ years old, and I had never seen this. Starts off as pretty much any Tarantino film, and then goes all crazy with the vampires. Sure pretty much everyone has seen this. Enjoyable. I'm not a fan of feet but oh my, I would loved to have had a beer/wine whatever it was poured down Selma Hayek's leg and drink it from off her feet. Yummy. 7/10


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2017)

cybershot said:


> A couple to catch up on
> 
> Wakefield (2016) - IMDb
> Bryan Cranston stars as a bloke going through a mental breakdown and becomming bitter about his home life. Decides to pretend to go missing and lives in the adjacent (but part of their property so a bit far fetched) attic so he can still keep an eye on them. Months pass, we see flashbacks to why he does this and how he got together with his wife. I really, really, liked this film. I think the dark side of me would actually enjoy doing something like this and going off the grid and seeing how people cope. It's a bit weird I know. I also sort of related to a few things. Make of that what you will. Obviously a point comes when you then have to decide to go missing forever or just turn back up, which was also good. 7/10


It might sound far-fetched but that's what John Darwin did, albeit with the collusion of his wife. His sons didn't know though.
John Darwin disappearance case - Wikipedia


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Aug 19, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Blood Drive episode one
> 
> 
> 
> basically its a grindhouse thing where people race cars that eat people. Will watch ep 2




Just watched the first half of episode 1, downloaded from Syfy - does it get better as it progresses or should I ditch?  DotCommunist  - did you persevere?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Just watched the first half of episode 1, downloaded from Syfy - does it get better as it progresses or should I ditch?  DotCommunist  - did you persevere?


no. It fails in attempts to mix humour ad grindhouse level violence to a good conclusion. I gave up 4 eps in. One of the things it can't do is profanity of epic levels and sex. So you just get the bloodsprays and that. It fails to make any points about anything and is literally just leaning on the idea of 'cars you feed people to lol'. Its not even mad max enough although some of the car runs are admittedly fairly cool. Its cheap shit (cheap in meaning, it probably cost lots of money to do) with no heart and no humour.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Aug 19, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> no. It fails in attempts to mix humour ad grindhouse level violence to a good conclusion. I gave up 4 eps in. One of the things it can't do is profanity of epic levels and sex. So you just get the bloodsprays and that. It fails to make any points about anything and is literally just leaning on the idea of 'cars you feed people to lol'. Its not even mad max enough although some of the car runs are admittedly fairly cool. Its cheap shit (cheap in meaning, it probably cost lots of money to do) with no heart and no humour.



Cheers for that - deleted


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 20, 2017)

Arrival- God knows why I never bothered to see this film before but it was brilliant imo.


----------



## starfish (Aug 20, 2017)

The penultimate episode of The Sopranos. Should have watched the last one tonight but shes having a weird "no it cant end, its the greatest tv thing ever, id go so far as to say its even better than The Wire, its so fucking great. No. Please dont let it stop" reaction to this situation.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 20, 2017)

Self/Less - average sci-fi actioner: Rich man seeks immortality through some program for rich folk, only to discover the new body he has attained is not what he first thought...then the film becomes a cat & mouse chase film, with various punch ups, car chases, explosions and nothing especially original.

Sicaro - Not the masterpiece it thinks it is, but a decent couple of hours viewing. It wants to be a much deeper and meaningful film, but on the whole it's a smart, action film filled with some great performances, especially from Emily Blunt, vut also Josh Brolin, and Daniel Kaluunya. I wasn't so keen on Del Toro's performance. Thought his character was a bit cartooonish. Beautifully shot bu Roger Deakins (who, shockingly, has never got an oscar despite 13 noms!)


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 21, 2017)

Arrival - really enjoyed. Good to see a film where the aliens didn't wanna fuck us up, and we, at least to begin with, attempted to some peaceful communication.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Aug 21, 2017)

*Raw* - not what i expected. 'odd' and sexy with glimpses of suggestive horror.
recommend.


----------



## Sue (Aug 21, 2017)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Raw* - not what i expected. 'odd' and sexy with glimpses of suggestive horror.
> recommend.


Thought this was really good and I'm not a horror fan.


----------



## cybershot (Aug 24, 2017)

A few to catch up on again.

The Dark Crystal (1982) - IMDb
Had never seen this, and my sister loves it, to the point she has tattoos of it. So thought I better give it a spin. What surrpised me was how dark this was for a Henson production and something aimed at kids. If I'd watched this when I was 6 I would have been terrified, and quite possibly would never have watched Labrinyth. But thankfully that never happened, and now I'm 37 and can appreciate this! 7/10

Dead Space: Downfall (Video 2008) - IMDb
The video game is one of my favourites of all time, so thought I'd give this animation film a go. It basically tells the story of what happens before the first game. Although they kinda did this also with a Wii game, but this seemed a completely different story. 6/10

Dead Space: Aftermath (Video 2011) - IMDb
Couldn't quite work out where this one was set in terms of the games, seemed more of a follow up of the above film. Loads of nods here to Alien, which is kinda what the franchise is based on anyway, a character called Ripley, and a ship called the O'Bannon. Pretty sure they use the sound of the proton packs booting up from Ghostbusters too. Enjoyed this one more. 7/10


----------



## belboid (Aug 25, 2017)

The Handmaiden (extended version)

The Korean adaptation of Fingersmiths, I think the ending works better here, it's certainly more satisfactory. And, blimey, but it is a little bit raunchy at times.


----------



## starfish (Aug 25, 2017)

The last episode of The Sopranos. I knew roughly how it ended, who didnt given all the coverage it had at the time & since, well ms starfish for one, she didnt have a clue & had a "Huh what.. what.. is the TV broken. What is that it after all that thats it? Seriously, thats how they... oh it was actually quite perfect really. Yes im glad thats how it ended" reaction to it.


----------



## belboid (Aug 27, 2017)

Columbo Goes to College

A late episode from The Master, that beers towards the slightly silly in places, but such a beautifully done reveal, you gotta live it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 27, 2017)

Death Note

It starts in the visual and scripting feel as a sort of Final Destination style film, then there isn't enough death. This kid gets a notebook from a demon ( a japanese death god according to the manga). You write a name in it, that person dies a mousetrap/final destination style death 48 hrs later. But its more complicated than that cos you can make the person do your bidding.  Its crap really but watchable as the demon is good, the acting competent and the deaths quality (although there are not enough)

this film has attracted some vocal complaints about whitewashing by moving it to an american setting and having the lead as white american. Its also not a very good film. One for the high and bored night.


----------



## PursuedByBears (Aug 27, 2017)

Guardians of the galaxy 2. Not great, the best stuff was in the trailer. Glad I torrented it instead of paying for it.


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 27, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Death Note
> 
> It starts in the visual and scripting feel as a sort of Final Destination style film, then there isn't enough death. This kid gets a notebook from a demon ( a japanese death god according to the manga). You write a name in it, that person dies a mousetrap/final destination style death 48 hrs later. But its more complicated than that cos you can make the person do your bidding.  Its crap really but watchable as the demon is good, the acting competent and the deaths quality (although there are not enough)
> 
> this film has attracted some vocal complaints about whitewashing by moving it to an american setting and having the lead as white american. Its also not a very good film. One for the high and bored night.


I'll probably give this one a look, as I've seen the anime series and the live action films.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 27, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> I'll probably give this one a look, as I've seen the anime series and the live action films.


I may seek out the anime because frankly Lights turn into insta-nihilist was not convincing. I mean power corrupts yeah, but he just goes next level


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 27, 2017)

Terminator Genesys - bag o shite


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 27, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I may seek out the anime because frankly Lights turn into insta-nihilist was not convincing. I mean power corrupts yeah, but he just goes next level


The anime is very good - definitely worth a watch.


----------



## Chz (Aug 27, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> The anime is very good - definitely worth a watch.


It's good fun. I'm struggling to see how it works live though.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 27, 2017)

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016).  Father and son perform an autopsy on an unidentified corpse and things turn out not to be as they seem. 

Starts off as an above average straight-to-dvd effort but, like Brian Cox's accent it loses its way fairly quickly. The 5-point-something it has on IMDb is probably a fair reflection.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 28, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I may seek out the anime because frankly Lights turn into insta-nihilist was not convincing. I mean power corrupts yeah, but he just goes next level


It's on netflix.  Superior to the film in every way.  Apart from the intro theme.


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 28, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> It's on netflix.  Superior to the film in every way.  Apart from the intro theme.


The theme changes from episode 20 onwards, and is much better


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 28, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> The theme changes from episode 20 onwards, and is much better


Oh...brilliant.  I'm not that far in yet.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 29, 2017)

Peanut and Pickle; anarchic cartoon that reminds me a bit of Ren & Stimpy. Makes us giggle over its silliness.
The Crown - fascinating show. About 4 eps in and I thought given the subject matter I would hate it. I'm hooked,dammit.
The Defenders - loving it. First ep is slow but once it gets going it's great craic. Not as good as DD and JJ.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Aug 29, 2017)

Baywatch.

Don't bother. Please, don't. _Please_.


----------



## cybershot (Aug 29, 2017)

A few from over the weekend.

The Bleeder (2016) - IMDb It's not called the Bleeder, it's called Chuck!!!
Enjoyable biography type pic of the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, the inspiration behind Rocky Balbao and his rise & fall, and happy ending.
7/10

How to Be a Latin Lover (2017) - IMDb
A pretty poor quality comedy that has few laughs and is only saved by the calibre of some of the stars.
5/10

The Infiltrator (2016) - IMDb
Seem to be having a Bryan Cranston love in at the moment. Nicely paced and gritty true story drama of a customs officer going undercover in a bid to bring down a number of the drug lords in Pablo Escobar's drug network. No doubt would never have been made if Narcos was not such a hit on Netflix, but this film is really quite good, and anyone that enjoys said series will no doubt really enjoy this.
8/10


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 30, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Baywatch.
> 
> Don't bother. Please, don't. _Please_.



I second this.

Thought they may manage 21 Jump Street-esque level of humour, but nope, just dick jokes, silly plotting and very pretty people being (admittedly) very pretty.

Basically a perfect film version of Baywatch to be fair.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 30, 2017)

Just finished The Defenders last night.

Overall I enjoyed it (probably rate the whole series 7/10), but that last episode was not great...



Spoiler: whole season



Inconsistent fight scenes (both in terms of in-show power levels and cinematography), poor CGI (that elevator scene ) and having Matt 'sacrifice' himself when we know full well he's going to come back, meaning all the emotional weight of scenes with Karen, Foggy, et al don't really hit as hard as they should. Also the LOTR-type multiple endings with each character dragged a bit.

Oh, and they managed to fuck up using Wu Tang during that big final fight scene - the tone was jarring, the mixing was genuinely awful, and it robbed the action of a lot of the urgency it had built up 

The overall show has been decent and had some excellent moments, especially when it focused on the character interactions (the Chinese restaurant episode was by far the best), hopefully they can move on from The Hand for a while now though in each character's respective next seasons.

And Jessica Jones is still awesome


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 30, 2017)

Chappie - Blomkamp's latest sci-fi romp. Heavily borrowing from Robocop (with a little bit of ET); it's fun but nothing outstanding. Die Antwoord are game and Sharlto is great as usual but Sigourney Weaver is wasted and Hugh Jackman is two dimensional. I feel it was kind of rushed; there was potential for a better movie here.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 30, 2017)

cybershot said:


> A few from over the weekend.
> 
> The Bleeder (2016) - IMDb It's not called the Bleeder, it's called Chuck!!!
> Enjoyable biography type pic of the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, the inspiration behind Rocky Balbao and his rise & fall, and happy ending.
> ...


I enjoyed The Infiltrator


----------



## 8den (Aug 30, 2017)

Starting watching "The Good Place" 

From the creators of Parks and Rec, Kristen Bell is accidentally let in heaven after she dies. She has to fake being a good person to fool Angel Ted Danson. Much funnier than the premise sounds.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 30, 2017)

8den said:


> Starting watching "The Good Place"
> 
> From the creators of Parks and Rec, Kristen Bell is accidentally let in heaven after she dies. She has to fake being a good person to fool Angel Ted Danson. Much funnier than the premise sounds.



I've got that lined up for later.

Chiefly watched The Tick new series last night. Its reasonably funny but a bit slow.


----------



## 8den (Aug 30, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I've got that lined up for later.
> 
> Chiefly watched The Tick new series last night. Its reasonably funny but a bit slow.



Is more than one episode out? Where are you watching at the moment? I was using couchtuner but it seems down.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 30, 2017)

8den said:


> Is more than one episode out? Where are you watching at the moment? I was using couchtuner but it seems down.


yeah theres a season out now. I'm on ep 4. Torrents ennit


----------



## 8den (Aug 31, 2017)

8den said:


> Starting watching "The Good Place"
> 
> From the creators of Parks and Rec, Kristen Bell is accidentally let in heaven after she dies. She has to fake being a good person to fool Angel Ted Danson. Much funnier than the premise sounds.




Just finished this and I've revised my opinion from very good to "tremendous" 



Spoiler: Season Finale



The Twist at the end of the Season and the set up for season 2 are excellent and I can't forking wait for Season two in a few weeks.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 31, 2017)

8den said:


> Just finished this and I've revised my opinion from very good to "tremendous"
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler: The Good Place finale



Yeah I nearly replied to your earlier post saying "I'd be interested to see what you thought of it once finished" but realised it was slightly hinting and spoilery

Ted Danson's grotesque smile when Eleanor figures it all out is truly disturbing and great


----------



## belboid (Aug 31, 2017)

Lady Macbeth

A stunning adaptation by William Oldroyd and Alice Birch, based on the short story which became the (semi) famous opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtensk. Relocated to the north-east, it's magnificently bleak and gorgeous, stark and brutal. The way your sympathies are shifted is brilliantly done, and the cinematography is stunningly good.  A magnificent film, watch it.


----------



## 8den (Aug 31, 2017)

New TV show is basically the 'Masterchef' of LEGO

Lego Masters. Bake off but with Lego. Genius.


----------



## cybershot (Aug 31, 2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) - IMDb
More of the same, but a formula that works, if you enjoyed the first one, you'll enjoy this one
8/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 1, 2017)

Archer Dreamland. Another season, another variation on the spoof spy series. The animation is superb.


----------



## PursuedByBears (Sep 2, 2017)

The Tick episodes 1-3 on Amazon Prime. Great so far


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 2, 2017)

White God. It was okay, but a bit disappointing - I was expecting a bit less Disney, a bit more Cujo.

Also The Green Inferno.  Good, gory fun, but obviously a total rip-off of old skool Cannibal films and I can see many folks getting upset over its portrayal of indigenous people, being a recent film. I quite like Eli Roth.  Get over it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2017)

Johnny Vodka said:


> White God. It was okay, but a bit disappointing - I was expecting a bit less Disney, a bit more Cujo.
> 
> Also The Green Inferno.  Good, gory fun, but obviously a total rip-off of old skool Cannibal films and I can see many folks getting upset over its portrayal of indigenous people, being a recent film. I quite like Eli Roth.  Get over it.


Read this: "The Green Inferno" – Even Worse Than We Anticipated
and then tell the Amazonian people and those who advocate for them who are offended by the film to 'get over it'


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 3, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> Read this: "The Green Inferno" – Even Worse Than We Anticipated
> and then tell the Amazonian people and those who advocate for them who are offended by the film to 'get over it'



I'm telling people to get over my liking of Eli Roth.  The Hostel films were singled out as being shit, but I actually think they're quite smart and have more ideas than most modern horror films.  I might read that piece later, but The Green Inferno is just really a love letter to 70s cannibal movies.  I'd hope most people watching it would get the references and understand its portrayal of indigenous people is intentionally outdated.  At least Roth didn't kill any turtles..


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 3, 2017)

Kong: Skull Island: passable B-flick with some good action, some terrible performances from some big names, a few laughs and a CGI Kong who isn't as cool as original stop motion version....


----------



## cybershot (Sep 3, 2017)

Snowpiercer (2013) - IMDb
Set in a future where climate change has changed the world so much that what is left of the human race is living on a train that goes around the globe, the train is sectioned into various levels of classes as per a normal train. After some kids are taken away from the grubs, they make it their mission to get them back and fight the system.
7/10


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 4, 2017)

Started watching Atlanta, Donald Glover's comedy/drama about life and rap and shit. It's great. Some excellent satire and social commentary tightly written into a script which follows Glover's character as he tries to make a career out of managing a rapper, while trying keep a family going, learning the business ropes and coping with the everyday minefield of being a black American male....it's excellent stuff.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 4, 2017)

I watched a Richard Pryor documentary on netflix. Bit of a hagiography

then a documentary on pygmies which wasn't very informative but had good jungle footage


----------



## belboid (Sep 4, 2017)

Vikings - Season 4.1

Which continued to be very good, if somewhat at odds with the known facts.  Sadly, I mentioned having watched it when out the other night, and the person I spoke to clearly missed the '.1' part, as he then told me a rather important development from .2.  The bastard.


----------



## stockwelljonny (Sep 4, 2017)

Jawbone  - decent boxing comeback set in s London with Ray Winstone and Ian McShane.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 5, 2017)

Spectre.   A recent 007 outing.

Fucking terrible.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 5, 2017)

Frontier (2016 TV series) - Wikipedia

first few episodes. Its got Jason Moamoa in it, hudson bay company/brits as the enemy. I like it, bit cheese but the story rattles along. Some questionable accents

trabuquera this is one for you. On netflix


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 5, 2017)

Seen it dunnit mate! An *outstanding* collection of dodgy accents and acting I thought, but roughly charming in its way. And I am maybe the only viewer in any possible universe who's more interested in what it tells us about the formation of Canadian national identity, than in leering at Jason Momoa (he seems like a very cool bloke IRL and enviable muscles - but not my type in any way whatsoever!)
Some nifty work with the throwing axes, though, as I recall. Wanted more indigenous languages and a bit more First Nations nature imagery to really go full-on weird an interesting IMHO - all I can really remember is lots of tussling and snobbery.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 5, 2017)

Finished Atlanta. Great show.

I thought there were 2 seasons....but no.

Gutted I ran out.

Started Insecure. Luv it!


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 6, 2017)

Places in the Heart; depression era melodrama which won Sally Fieled her Oscar. Supporting cast includes Danny Glover, John Malkovich and Ed Harris. Felt a bit like an old made for tv movie.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 6, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Finished Atlanta. Great show.
> 
> I thought there were 2 seasons....but no.
> 
> ...


New season next year iirc. Great show innit.


----------



## pesh (Sep 6, 2017)

Atlanta is


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 6, 2017)

*Nära livet [Brink Of Life / So Close to Life] (1958)*- Bergman film set in a maternity ward, three women in various states of pregnancy explore life, death and potential parenthood . Great film.


----------



## cinna (Sep 7, 2017)

Yesterday I saw a movie A League of Their Own about the woman baseball league in US. Very nice movie!


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 7, 2017)

cinna said:


> Yesterday I saw a movie A League of Their Own about the woman baseball league in US. Very nice movie!


Welcome to the forums


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 8, 2017)

A doc about Creation and Alan McGee, fab stuff with McGee and the crew over the years. Jesus and Mary Chain etc. Highlights was when they cottoned on to the acid house scene. Lowlights was the Oasis stuff but obvs. important to the overall story.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 8, 2017)

Batman/Superman: Worlds Finest

better than the recent vs film. Best bits: airship blows up with the Joker presumably on it, harley goes 'Puddin!' while the dark knight quips 'he probably is now' ehehehe. Also Bruce Wayne sweeps louis off her feet and Superman is not happy.

stitched together from how it aired as three episodes.


----------



## hot air baboon (Sep 8, 2017)

will want to check this out based on recommendation although not actually seen as yet 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Song-DVD-Catherine-Walker/dp/B07288N7BF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504883650&sr=8-1


----------



## Thimble Queen (Sep 11, 2017)

Not last night but Friday night: There's a horror film festival on atm... Confusingly it's called Fantasy Film Fest. Anyway, I went to watch Super Dark Times (2017)		 - IMDb. It's coming of age tale and reminded me a bit of Stand By Me but more grisly. I thought it was pretty good. Gonna try and catch another couple of films this week after work.

www.fantasyfilmfest.com


----------



## cybershot (Sep 11, 2017)

Fury (2014) - IMDb
Following a crew of a poorly equipped American tank going through German territory in WWII. Quite enjoying war films these days, used to hate them in my teens. 
8/10

The Selfish Giant (2013) - IMDb
Follows two lads from poverty stricken backgrounds in Bradford as they get involved with a scrap dealer. Better than how I explain it. 
7/10

Baywatch (2017) - IMDb
Much better than I expected to be, especially after someone else on here panned it, but I've always had a bit of soft spot for slapstick American college humour, and any film where the nerd gets to kiss a hot girl, at least puts a smile on my face.
7/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2017)

The Duece 

70s new york, sleazy af


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 11, 2017)

*The Expanse s2 *now on Netflix so binged 2/3ds of it ... awww yissssssss - this is the absolute business. (or at least it is so far.) Space opera for grownups. Proper worldbuilding, future space politics, silly accents, great clothes, delicious eye candy. As a standard human I regret only having evolved two thumbs up to give it.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 11, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Fury (2014) - IMDb
> Following a crew of a poorly equipped American tank going through German territory in WWII. Quite enjoying war films these days, used to hate them in my teens.
> 8/10
> 
> ...


Selfish Giant was good .


----------



## Chz (Sep 12, 2017)

The39thStep said:


> Selfish Giant was good .


Bleak as fuck, mind you. It made _Leviathan_ seem chirpy.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Sep 12, 2017)

Just finished S1 of Doctor Foster (BBC Series) after starting to watch Series 2 which premièred last week and realising it would make much more sense if I watched Series 1 first.

I love all the property porn, and locations they shoot in, as much as the show itself.


----------



## belboid (Sep 12, 2017)

started on *Comrade Detective *last night. Supposedly a Romanian drama from the early eighties, it is very silly, but quite entertaining.


----------



## Chz (Sep 12, 2017)

belboid said:


> started on *Comrade Detective *last night. Supposedly a Romanian drama from the early eighties, it is very silly, but quite entertaining.


It didn't grab me. It's certainly not bad, but out of all the things vying for my attention it comes pretty low in the list. Maybe it picks up after the pilot.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 12, 2017)

Triple 9

four bent cops doing dodgy business with russian gangsters, not bad, decent cast. Nothing you haven't seen before though


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 12, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Triple 9
> 
> four bent cops doing dodgy business with russian gangsters, not bad, decent cast. Nothing you haven't seen before though



Script was dervative shit. Waste of talent.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2017)

Papillon

Steve Mqueen prison film. Its long but worth it. Dustin Hoffman also stars 6/10

also I just read Neeson has hung up his phone and retired his menacing rants because he won't be doing action films anymore. End of an era.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2017)

Orville. Its a seth mcfarlan thing that I thought I'd give a fair three eps shake. Scifi comedy in the vein of a star trek spoof, I think. Its not that funny. I laughed at space balls more or less constantly so its not like I am hard to please. However its not so appaling I won't give it another ep.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 14, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Orville. Its a seth mcfarlan thing that I thought I'd give a fair three eps shake. Scifi comedy in the vein of a star trek spoof, I think. Its not that funny. I laughed at space balls more or less constantly so its not like I am hard to please. However its not so appaling I won't give it another ep.



Agree that it wasn't that funny. It actually felt like a proper episode of Star Trek/Babylon 5 almost, with the odd crappy joke here and there. I'll watch the whole series, but unless it takes a massive swerve I already cast my doubts that this will get renewed. You can understand Mcfarlan's desire to do it as he is a massive Trekkie, and had probably originally planned that the new Trek series would have aired by now. Instead it's aired before, and had FOX not moved it to Thursdays later in the month, would actually have aired the same day as Discovery.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 14, 2017)

Inconceivable (2017) - IMDb
Woman can't have kids, has a surrogate, surrogate is using her own eggs she had frozen years before, attempts to make other woman look like she's losing the plot in order to keep her own baby. Women are mental.
6/10


----------



## moonsi til (Sep 16, 2017)

Watched 'Secret Life of Pets' which I actually for real laughed out loud at. I recommend everyone to watch this. It's a animation about what pets do when left at home, squabble, get lost etc.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 16, 2017)

Been watching Tin Star, new thing with Tim Roth, up to ep 5... it's very good. 

I could probably watch the rest this afternoon but my housemate would kick off


----------



## Hollis (Sep 16, 2017)

Been watching 'Icarus' - documentary about Russian state-sponsored doping... it has left us in very weird headspace... I'm going to watch 'The Office' to lighten up..


----------



## Thimble Queen (Sep 17, 2017)

Again a few days late, we went to the cinema to see My Friend Dahmer. The film looks at Jeffrey Dahmer's life as a teenager before he was a murderous cunt. I enjoyed it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 17, 2017)

Thimble Queen said:


> we went to the cinema to see...



Wrong thread


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 17, 2017)

Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

It's fucking amazing, some of the greatest film-making ever seen.

And because I enjoyed that so much I watched Hot Fuzz again...I think some of this film is genuinely symmetrical.  Edgar Wright is amazing.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 17, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
> 
> It's fucking amazing, some of the greatest film-making ever seen.
> 
> And because I enjoyed that so much I watched Hot Fuzz again...I think some of this film is genuinely symmetrical.  Edgar Wright is amazing.



I'm glad someone else loves this as much as me (pilgrim), I've watched it loads, My film of the year, for whatever year it came out!

Had a bit of a film binge today after a heavy day yesterday in Liverpool. Managed to fit 4 in!

Churchill (2017) - IMDb
Brian Cox delivers one of his best performances to date in my opinion. If it wasn't for the fact there's a few factually incorrect errors in this, I'd have probably given it a higher score. The film focuses on the weeks/days before the D-Day landing from Churchill's perspective and having the ultimate decision taken away from him.
7/10

Cube (1997) - IMDb
A bunch of people get stuck in what in modern terms would be described as an escape room situation. Each 'cube' has various exits, some booby trapped, others not. Tensions obviously get the better of them as the group obviously starts to thin out and they think an insider is part of the group. Que people going loopy against each other as well as the games to find the exit.
8/10

It Comes at Night (2017) - IMDb
Not quite sure how this garnered such god critical reviews, as the world seems to be dealing with some sort of zombie esque outbreak, a family takes in another family until all sorts of suspicions start creeping in. Not a whole lot seems to come at night.
5/10

A Dark Song (2016) - IMDb
Filmed in Wales and starring just 2 people, I wish I had seen this at the cinema as I'm sure it would have made some scenes feel rather intense. A woman wants to get back in touch with her dead child and rents a huge house and hires an occultist to carry out the various rituals required to get to the necessary stage. Shit goes down, mainly between the two of them, and then comes what quite frankly, felt like a terrifying ending.
8/10


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 17, 2017)

cybershot said:


> I'm glad someone else loves this as much as me (pilgrim), I've watched it loads, My film of the year, for whatever year it came out!...





Spoiler


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 18, 2017)

Tora-san's Dream of Spring. 

The umpteenth entry in the inexplicably popular Japanese saga of an slightly dodgy but well meaning small time salesman. In this one he's looking for love and so is an American fella (Herb Edelman off Big John Little John). Herbert falls for Tora-san's sister and hi jinks ensue.


----------



## ringo (Sep 18, 2017)

Shogun Assassin 1980 
Switches between very good and a bit silly, but can see why it's a classic samurai film. The endless killing gets a bit much, but not as monotonous as in John Wick etc


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2017)

Future Shock: The Story of 2000AD - very entertaining - demonstrates how truly influential the comic was. I could have watched hours more about it. It tells the story of the comic and the writers, but very little on the characters, which I would have liked as well.

I still dream of a Rogue Trooper film.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2017)

Wonder Woman: better than expected. Falls into the usual superhero film trap of having a big fight at the end which was boring.

Good fun though. A Wonder Woman/Cap America film would really work well....set in WW2


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 18, 2017)

First ep of Tin Star - not what I expected. Tim Roth is great - so good to hear him speaking his native tongue.  Not sure what to make of this yet, but it is intriguing enough to keep me wanting to watch more for now.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 19, 2017)

Hatfield&Mcoy  its a three part telling of the infamous american fued. Kevin Costner. Just after the american civil war ends two large families who live along the kentucky-west virginia border fall into murderous conflict. And their beef has passed into history as a byword for bitter disputes apparently


----------



## Brainaddict (Sep 19, 2017)

Chz said:


> It didn't grab me.


Really? It's among the weirdest shows I've seen, to the point I'm amazed it got funded. I very much enjoy the anti-American propaganda element of it.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 19, 2017)

Mr Right.

An (imo) excellent and quirky tale of love between a hitman and a woman.  Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendricks, Tim Roth and RZA.  No-one else in this can act.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 19, 2017)

Wonder Woman (2017) - IMDb
Actually quite enjoyed this story as it progressed through time telling the back story of Wonder Woman and her then apparent involvement in WWI
7/10


----------



## 8den (Sep 21, 2017)

8den said:


> Starting watching "The Good Place"
> 
> From the creators of Parks and Rec, Kristen Bell is accidentally let in heaven after she dies. She has to fake being a good person to fool Angel Ted Danson. Much funnier than the premise sounds.




New series premiered last night


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 21, 2017)

Been watching Wallander with Kenneth Branagh - It's been quite good up to now, and Branagh does play the part really well.

The stories are Morse level TV stuff, with a bit more violence. Entertaining weekday TV stuff....


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2017)

8den said:


> New series premiered last night


The new double episode really made me think of some of the better Frasier episodes.

First one was called Everything is Awesome Great.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 21, 2017)

Also...its a 4 timeline story.  What the shirt!


----------



## Chz (Sep 22, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> The new double episode really made me think of some of the better Frasier episodes.
> 
> First one was called Everything is Awesome Great.


I've watched the first couple episodes of S1 and enjoyed them, but it reminds me a quite a lot of other "gimmick" shows. Starts really well, but I question how long they can stretch out the gimmick. Last Man on Earth started well and plummeted into crapulence pretty fast. Lucifer was fun for a series and then died out. iZombie was great fun for a while and got boring. Does this really manage to keep going?


----------



## TruXta (Sep 22, 2017)

Kill List. It was pretty good up until the last 15 minutes or so, but the ending left me cold. Trying and failing to be shocking.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Sep 22, 2017)

*Tanna*
The tale of Romeo and Juliet, set amongst the Phil the Greek-worshipping people of Vanuatu. Not much to it, but stunning cinematography.
I'm feeling pretentious, so downloading everything off Sky world cinema. Got something about a down-on-his-luck french supermarket security guard to look forward to next


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 22, 2017)

Been binge-watching Community for the first time, now up to Season 3 and loving every second of it.

So, so clever, relies heavily on references but I'm fine with that, the characters are so well done and the writing is great. Laugh out loud stuff constantly.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 22, 2017)

Oh, and the Season opener for The Good Place S2. No spoilers, but I'm intrigued to see how they structure the show this year, good start though


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2017)

Chz said:


> Does this really manage to keep going?


yes. Its worth it.

I watched Wonder Woman. Well ok so its not as bad as the last two DC films but thats a low bar. Didn't think much of it tbh


----------



## 8den (Sep 22, 2017)

Chz said:


> I've watched the first couple episodes of S1 and enjoyed them, but it reminds me a quite a lot of other "gimmick" shows. Starts really well, but I question how long they can stretch out the gimmick. Last Man on Earth started well and plummeted into crapulence pretty fast. Lucifer was fun for a series and then died out. iZombie was great fun for a while and got boring. Does this really manage to keep going?



hold out, amazingly it gets better 



Spoiler: season 2



what I liked it I think we saw the potential of season 2. With a simple clue Elanor and Chihi figured out the Good Place in a day, but now it's a full reset, with no clues, and we've all got a taste of what the season has in store. Plus the Pizza place only serve ham and pineapple, evil


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2017)

its also the first time Ted Danson has been funny since Cheers (he was! Don't diss cheers)


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 22, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> its also the first time Ted Danson has been funny since Cheers (he was! Don't diss cheers)


he was great in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
He also has the most impressive hair transplant I've seen.


----------



## 8den (Sep 22, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> its also the first time Ted Danson has been funny since Cheers (he was! Don't diss cheers)



He was also ace in Fargo. Not strictly funny. But ace.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 22, 2017)

Anyone watched Strike, the bbc adap of the JK Rowling shuffling detective yarn....

Tom Burke is a great as the main fella, Cormoran Strike, a character that has legs (or not) and could run and run with the right scripts (really, no puns intended!).


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 22, 2017)

Chz said:


> I've watched the first couple episodes of S1 and enjoyed them, but it reminds me a quite a lot of other "gimmick" shows. Starts really well, but I question how long they can stretch out the gimmick. Last Man on Earth started well and plummeted into crapulence pretty fast. Lucifer was fun for a series and then died out. iZombie was great fun for a while and got boring. Does this really manage to keep going?


I'd say it's worth it...and it's not my kind of thing.  22 minute episodes, 13 in a season?  It sneakily says loads about morality and it's the best kind of humour...desperate people in farcical situations trying to avoid being caught.


----------



## 8den (Sep 22, 2017)

Watching "The Orville" it's a lot gentler than most Seth Myers stuff, and clearly done with alot of love for both classic and next gen Trek. You'd literally describe the pilot as ST: NG but funny. I'm going to keep checking it out.

ETA even the music cues are TNG worthy


----------



## 8den (Sep 22, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> I'd say it's worth it...and it's not my kind of thing.  22 minute episodes, 13 in a season?  It sneakily says loads about morality and it's the best kind of humour...desperate people in farcical situations trying to avoid being caught.



Plus lots of abstract and non abstract stuff about morality, and enough philosophy and ethics gags to last a whole conference.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2017)

I do like the conceit that



Spoiler: stuff



the ethics prof is such a monumental prick about his ethical principles he ends up in hell because he just couldn't tell those half lies and meaningless comforts that keep human beings from savagery


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 22, 2017)

8den said:


> Plus lots of abstract and non abstract stuff about morality, and enough philosophy and ethics gags to last a whole conference.


Tahina's reaction to her new short soul-mate.  Priceless.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 24, 2017)

Baby Driver - fantastic. Great characters and soundtrack and genuinely thrilling driving in it


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 25, 2017)

I finished watching Strike. The 2nd story was a bit lame, and it was really carried by Tom Burke, who is really strong in the role. Holliday Grainger is very good too, and they work well together on screen. Can't see it going anywhere if the stories don't rise out of the Jonathan Creek style whodunnits....


----------



## TruXta (Sep 25, 2017)

D'wards said:


> Baby Driver - fantastic. Great characters and soundtrack and genuinely thrilling driving in it


About 20 minutes too long imo.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 25, 2017)

*The Handmaiden *(2016) - flamboyantly twisted Park Chan Wook remake/adaptation of _Fingersmith_ _- _relocating the story to 1920s-30s Korea, under Japanese rule. Done with all of PCW's signature sweeping style, cheeky provocation and scathing contempt for 'respectability' and social toadying. Technically it's amazing, camerawork worthy of Hitchcock and some really clever handling of the timeline from three different points of view. Shot through with all sorts of subversive commentary about sexism, empire, Japan vs Korea, and properly mucky/steamy in the right parts. But it's never quite as visceral or as downright WTF as, say, _Lady Vengeance _or _Oldboy_  and it doesn't half drag on at more than two and a half hours. Worth seeing for sure, but I thought this would be absolutely superlative, and it's a little flabby imho. (Also I'm not sure about the kitschy ending.)

Whereas...
*Lady Macbeth *(2017) is a properly brutal, shocking, bleak costume drama (mid 19thc Northern England) as far from your usual bijou bonnet bibbling as it is possible to imagine.  Florence Pugh downright astonishing as a young woman trapped in a hideous social milieu who ends up making life more exciting in all the wrong ways ... and the bodies pile up. Stunningly shot (maybe a bit too selfconsciously spare and minimalist in parts) and acted with scary commitment by everyone involved. At just under 90mins there isn't an ounce of fat on it and despite being very naturalistic and not awash with gore, it's one of the most disturbing and chilly horrors I've seen for years. Very explicit and at times so ruthless in making you look at things you would rather not, that it really shakes you up. It is brilliant. Watch if you're ready to be shaken.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 25, 2017)

D'wards said:


> Great characters



I didn't feel the characters even made it to one dimensional......they were 1/2 dimensional cliches...


----------



## D'wards (Sep 25, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I didn't feel the characters even made it to one dimensional......they were 1/2 dimensional cliches...


I agree Foxx wasn't a good baddie but I liked Baby, his girlfriend and yer man Spacey.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 25, 2017)

D'wards said:


> I agree Foxx wasn't a good baddie but I liked Baby, his girlfriend and yer man Spacey.



Spacey did Spacey....


----------



## cybershot (Sep 28, 2017)

Couple to catch up on.

The Ghoul (2016) - IMDb
British film, which, quite frankly, I never did figure out if he was a detective, or dealing with demons in his head. Film tries to be a bit Fight Club. 
6/10

The Big Sick (2017) - IMDb
Trailer for this looked brilliant, and while there were funny parts and a decent backstory, well it it based on a true story and the comedian plays himself, it just didn't live up to either the trailer or the review hype for me.
6/10


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 29, 2017)

Spooks: the greater good.

MI5 renegade Jon Snow trying to catch someone who used to be a doctor on Casualty. As hokum as you'd expect but decent enough if you liked Spooks


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 29, 2017)

*Anthropoid *(2016) Agreeably bleak account of how Czech resistants managed to kill Reinhardt Heydrich in 1942 ... despite hiring fine-cheekboned model-boys Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan into the lead roles, this really isn't a media-glamourising-dramatizing kitschfest at all.

If anything it takes itself too seriously. It has the decency to at least raise (and worry away a bit at) the question of whether, given the appalling Nazi collective punishments which would inevitably follow, the assassination was the right strategy. Some not-bad ensemble acting and scenarios for proper tension.

Murphy and Dornan both make a decent, lowkey, fist of it - no camera-hogging star antics, and decent Czech-ish accents from both. But to my mind the whole film spends far too much time on the 'climactic' gun battle at the end, rather than making the characters a bit more rounded at the start. It's never altogether clear why (other than 'well Nazis, duh') these *particular* Czechs were so ready and able to get stuck in. More than watchable though, and interesting on how divided the Czech resistance was about what to do under occupation.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 29, 2017)

The Sinner - best show I seen for ages. 3 episodes to go.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 30, 2017)

trabuquera said:


> It's never altogether clear why (other than 'well Nazis, duh') these *particular* Czechs were so ready and able to get stuck in..



Wasn't it an SOE operation? They were trained and equipped here


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 30, 2017)

^ No, what I meant was, the film doesn't go into why these individual *characters* were motivated to fight rather than collaborate or lie low, or how they got into the resistance, how people got recruited and chosen for missions etc. There's a fair bit of dialogue in the film about lines of command / internal splits between leadership in Czechoslovakia and in exile in the UK. No SOE chaps in moustaches turn up to be dashing though


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 30, 2017)

13 Assassins


the more recent one. Really enjoyed it, the story was simple as can be but it looks very good and the fights- the epically long one at the end esp- are really good. It is long tho.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 30, 2017)

*Wonder Woman*.

I don't know why (after BvS), but the reviews had me thinking this would be a step up.

It's so bland, I'm genuinely surprised by how mediocre and clichéd the whole thing was. Tonally it bounced all over the place and action sequences that looked promising in the trailer were CGI / quick cutting headaches.

Chris Pine was a bright spark but Gal Gadot's acting chops weren't great over a full film and the overhanging narration was just, ugh.

5/10


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 30, 2017)

The Octagon said:


> *Wonder Woman*.
> 
> I don't know why (after BvS), but the reviews had me thinking this would be a step up.
> 
> ...


Although I agree about chops being not great and cliches...the rest is totally wrong.

It's not bland, the action was not quick-cut and there was almost no narration.

And the movie is awesome.  The middle action sequence is up there with any superhero movie, ever.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 1, 2017)

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) - IMDb
Possibly the only good review you'll ever read of this, but, here goes. I really enjoyed it. I think it's the best transformers film by a mile. I kind of wish they had only just started doing these films now because visually, this is probably the best looking film I've seen, at least on my home setup, first time I think I've ever given Michael Bay praise. The story has obvious plot holes which I'll happily overlook, it's about giant transforming robots for christs sake, and the storyline isn't too bad, the ending gets drawn out for far too long (typical Bay) and could have been about 20 minutes shorter, but overall, I actually really liked this!
8/10


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 1, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) - IMDb...8/10







Spoiler


----------



## Chz (Oct 2, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) - IMDb
> * I think it's the best transformers film by a mile.*


Never


----------



## cybershot (Oct 2, 2017)

Chz said:


> Never



I stand corrected. It's the best CGI/Live action transformers movie, nothing will ever beat that 86 animated film, and what a soundtrack.


----------



## magneze (Oct 2, 2017)

cybershot said:


> I stand corrected. It's the best CGI/Live action transformers movie, nothing will ever beat that 86 animated film, and what a soundtrack.


Orson Welles last film.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 3, 2017)

Watched half of that last night ^^ Leonard Nimoy was Galvatron. 

also, ep 4 of The Duece which continues to be quite good


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 3, 2017)

Really enjoying season 2 of Animal Kingdom. Love the way they developed Pope beyond the character portrayed in the films (as a fairly one dimensional murderous nut job). All the characters apart from Baz and Smurf have become much more interesting. The action is good. The heists are fun. The dirty double dealings are nawty and nasty. Good, light, crime telly.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 5, 2017)

A Ghost Story (2017) - IMDb
Guy dies, and haunts the house he and his girlfriend lived in.


Spoiler



"Ex then moves out and he gets stranded in the house, which then gets bulldozed and turned into office blocks. He seemingly tries to kill himself, which then results in him going back in time to the old house to haunt himself and his ex."


Quite a moving film, that explores death and loneliness.
7/10


----------



## cybershot (Oct 5, 2017)

Baby Driver (2017) - IMDb
Nothing new, but you can't beat some good old fashioned car chases, and crime vs love.
8/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 6, 2017)

Finished off season 4 of House of Cards. Good season, this one. Started season 6 of GoT. Getting well past the books, now.


----------



## flypanam (Oct 7, 2017)

Bobby Sands: 66 days. 

a good documentary. The screw is a prick and I'm hoping they'll be a Norman Tebbitt death party.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Oct 7, 2017)

Spooks: the Greater Good
Not bad. Harrington is wooden but gorgeous. Harry is awesome. Pretty short film though.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 7, 2017)

Coherence.  One of those mind fuck multiple timelines/realities movies.  On netflix, interesting enough to watch, very logical ending.  It is well filmed and low budget.  A comet passes.

I will now put the ending in a spoiler for those who will not watch it.



Spoiler: ending



A woman from a slightly shiter reality (worse pals, that is, just worse pals) hunts out a nicer reality version of herself and kills that one so she can have a slightly better social life, but gets caught.



That however is only the very end and nothing to do with the rest which is very watchable if you like that sort of thing, which I do.


----------



## fishfinger (Oct 7, 2017)

City 40 - It's about the town of Ozersk, near Mayak, where plutonium was produced for the soviet atom bombs.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 7, 2017)

I'm watching Passengers, at my son's request. It's very beautiful to look at, and very enjoyable so far.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 7, 2017)

first of the amazon prime series Electric Dreams, based on PK Dicks stories. I clocked which one straight away, the old woman looking for earth. Really good, think it captured the mood of the short perfectly.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 7, 2017)

May Kasahara said:


> I'm watching Passengers, at my son's request. It's very beautiful to look at, and very enjoyable so far.



Really enjoyed Passengers myself. Wish I'd seen it at the cinema.



DotCommunist said:


> first of the amazon prime series Electric Dreams, based on PK Dicks stories. I clocked which one straight away, the old woman looking for earth. Really good, think it captured the mood of the short perfectly.



It airs on Channel 4 on Sunday nights. Think there are two left.

As for me today:

The Beguiled (2017) - IMDb
Remake of Clint Eastwood film of the same name from the 70s. It was pretty boring despite a solid cast. Most of the scenes, were poorly lit and you could hardly see what was going on. I understand capturing the essence of the times, but if you can barely see what's going on!
5/10

Spider-Man Homecoming (2017) - IMDb
Wow. This is just plain awful. Could have been about an hour shorter, I don't know how they managed to put out a film that goes on for over 2 hours that is complete drivel. They've totally wrecked the Spider-Man legacy by involving Tony Stark, and the avengers, and making out his suit is all high tech gadgets. What happened to the old fashioned spidey sense. Worst Spider-man reboot ever and sadly as they've decided to mix in the avengers, I doubt we'll be seeing another reboot for a long time.
4/10


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 7, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> first of the amazon prime series Electric Dreams, based on PK Dicks stories. I clocked which one straight away, the old woman looking for earth. Really good, think it captured the mood of the short perfectly.


Channel 4 series?


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 7, 2017)

butchersapron said:


> Channel 4 series?


eh I d/l'd it. It came to my attention advertised online as having come to amazon. I'll be watching more.


----------



## butchersapron (Oct 7, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> eh I d/l'd it. It came to my attention advertised online as having come to amazon. I'll be watching more.


It's a C4 series  and is in the middle of the series right now. You can watch the ones already shown on their player. Amazon just have the rights to to show in in the US. They didn't make it or anything.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 7, 2017)

butchersapron said:


> It's a C4 series  and is in the middle of the series right now. You can watch the ones already shown on their player. Amazon just have the rights to to show in in the US. They didn't make it or anything.


I see. I've not looked at episode descriptions but a screamers/claws one would be interesting, the second variety stuff.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 8, 2017)

Spiderman Homecoming was the best Spidy film since Raimi's tenure on the franchise. Better than his third effort. It brought back the magic and the kid who plays him was perfect for the role. Keaton was clearly having a ball and we loved the Ferris Bueller nods. Spiderman has teamed up withthe Avengers, Fantastic 4 and the X Men on occasion so I don't see why involving the Marvel Universe would be wrecking any "legacy". This will run and run. 8/10


----------



## cybershot (Oct 8, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> Spiderman Homecoming was the best Spidy film since Raimi's tenure on the franchise. Better than his third effort. It brought back the magic and the kid who plays him was perfect for the role. Keaton was clearly having a ball and we loved the Ferris Bueller nods. Spiderman has teamed up withthe Avengers, Fantastic 4 and the X Men on occasion so I don't see why involving the Marvel Universe would be wrecking any "legacy". This will run and run. 8/10



I think I’m just bored of the whole marvel/dc thing and why they feel the need to have all the franchises cross over. is making the whole thing very stale and one dimensional with guest stars for the sake of it. Maybe I’m just getting old but after years and years of these films now it’s just the same over and over for the most part. Also why do they have to be so long. Each one is now bordering 2h30m. No need.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 8, 2017)

cybershot said:


> I think I’m just bored of the whole marvel/dc thing and why they feel the need to have all the franchises cross over. is making the whole thing very stale and one dimensional with guest stars for the sake of it. Maybe I’m just getting old but after years and years of these films now it’s just the same over and over for the most part. Also why do they have to be so long. Each one is now bordering 2h30m. No need.



It didn't feel long to me,compared to Spiderman 3 and the two Garfield efforts. As a comic reader for over forty years, the Marvel and DC crossovers were part and parcel of the experience. Hell, I remember actual Marvel/DC crossovers in the 70s with Supes, Spidy, Wonderwoman, the Hulk all in once story!

Obviously, I cant speak for all comic fans but I kind of like the crossovers. When they make "sense".


----------



## cybershot (Oct 8, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> It didn't feel long to me,compared to Spiderman 3 and the two Garfield efforts. As a comic reader for over forty years, the Marvel and DC crossovers were part and parcel of the experience. Hell, I remember actual Marvel/DC crossovers in the 70s with Supes, Spidy, Wonderwoman, the Hulk all in once story!
> 
> Obviously, I cant speak for all comic fans but I kind of like the crossovers. When they make "sense".



I get it with the graphic novels. Once you start doing it on film thou you're reliant on actors, you ca't reboot a single franchise, without rebooting the whole lot, unless you just pretend it never happened or kill someone off. Also take into account their will be years between certain films and films where they cross. It then makes the singular films weird. Like Iron Man popping up when it's convenient why didn't he stick around and help him defeat this dude! Where the fuck is everyone else?

The one thing I did enjoy, weirdly, was the beginning, where there was actually some acknowledgement of a city's damage after the first avengers film and it's repair process. Which rarely happens.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 8, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> first of the amazon prime series Electric Dreams, based on PK Dicks stories. I clocked which one straight away, the old woman looking for earth. Really good, think it captured the mood of the short perfectly.


that was the second one. the third one, The Commuter, is good - with Timothy Spall


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 8, 2017)

cybershot said:


> It airs on Channel 4 on Sunday nights. Think there are two left.


there are seven left! we've only had three so far


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 8, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> that was the second one. the third one, The Commuter, is good - with Timothy Spall


aye I realised this when I went to get the next one, realised I had d/led 2 first

I don't think the first was as spot on as the second, decent enough, teeps and the hoodmaker etc but thats not really how I remember the story! I'll end up re-reading all of these.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 8, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> aye I realised this when I went to get the next one, realised I had d/led 2 first
> 
> I don't think the first was as spot on as the second, decent enough, teeps and the hoodmaker etc but thats not really how I remember the story! I'll end up re-reading all of these.



Electric Dreams


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 8, 2017)

After watching Metropolis (restored version) recently, we decided to watch Blade Runner (Final Cut) in preparation for the new instalment. How I love that film and what a brilliant documentary on the DVD to go along with it. Had no idea they were seriously considering Dustin Hoffman for the role.

Incidentally, the new film has been judged a financial flop already! Bit like the orginal, I guess.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 8, 2017)

It won't be a financial flop.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 8, 2017)

Electric Dreams. 3rd one is my fave so far.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 8, 2017)

I'm on Westworld. I really like the contrast between the counselling/ psycho analytical reflection between the androids and the programmers and the action bits. its quite existentialist .


----------



## cybershot (Oct 8, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> After watching Metropolis (restored version) recently, we decided to watch Blade Runner (Final Cut) in preparation for the new instalment. How I love that film and what a brilliant documentary on the DVD to go along with it. Had no idea they were seriously considering Dustin Hoffman for the role.
> 
> Incidentally, the new film has been judged a financial flop already! Bit like the orginal, I guess.



Pretty much every major film has bombed at the box office this and last year, in terms of first weekend takings. I'm sure by the end of it's run and Bluray release, it will make up it's budget.


----------



## belboid (Oct 8, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Pretty much every major film has bombed at the box office this and last year, in terms of first weekend takings. I'm sure by the end of it's run and Bluray release, it will make up it's budget.


It’s already taken over half it’s production budget, so it seems unlikely to be a flop.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 8, 2017)

belboid said:


> It’s already taken over half it’s production budget, so it seems unlikely to be a flop.



It's 'officially' a flop if you google 'blade runner 2049' and read latest news articles. Although why we judge films box office performances after 3 days is beyond me. It's done better overseas than the US, but yeah, it's going to be a niche crowd, and it's never going to hit massive numbers, because it's not kid friendly!

I'm sure the studio were well aware of this, and know cult films will make more over time anyway.


----------



## mx wcfc (Oct 8, 2017)

Blade Runner (Director's Cut), ahead of next weekend's trip to see the new one.  
We have the cinema version on VHS which we may watch too.


----------



## belboid (Oct 8, 2017)

cybershot said:


> It's 'officially' a flop if you google 'blade runner 2049' and read latest news articles. Although why we judge films box office performances after 3 days is beyond me. It's done better overseas than the US, but yeah, it's going to be a niche crowd, and it's never going to hit massive numbers, because it's not kid friendly!
> 
> I'm sure the studio were well aware of this, and know cult films will make more over time anyway.


One headline said so, but....the figures it was quoting are way out too. It’s not the saviour of the film industry they hoped for, but it’s doing okay.


----------



## Maltin (Oct 8, 2017)

belboid said:


> It’s already taken over half it’s production budget, so it seems unlikely to be a flop.


The problem with reading the data reported is that only about half of the takings reported go towards the production costs and in addition to the production costs there are the print and marketing costs, so the actual costs may be double.

So while the gross reported may be half the production budget in the first 3 days, that probably only represents 25% recovery and if the other costs are double, only 12.5% recovery.

Given that many films take a third or a quarter of their box office takings in the first weekend, you are looking at there being possibly quite a shortfall in the recovery of the costs. Obviously there are ancillary revenues and it's only just opened so it is a bit premature to label something a flop after grossing $80 million in 3 days but given they were expecting $100 million it has performed below expectation.


----------



## belboid (Oct 8, 2017)

Print costs are included in production costs these days, I think. Ads are on top, with 50% of production being average (as you say), tho big films like this will go even higher. Total cost looks like $250-300 mill, with a take of $80 mill so far. So it’s gong to break even even before the DVD and streaming releases. 

As I said above, it’s not going to be the saviour of cinema for this year, but certainly not a ‘flop’


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 10, 2017)

Yeah, it still managed to get the number one box office spot and 36.7 million is a hell of a lot of money for a "flop". 
In other news;  I watched Tora's Tropical Fever. Tora goes to Okinawa to look after his lady and flirts with other ladies.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 10, 2017)

T2 Trainspotting.  It sagged in the middle and had some good lines.   

It was enjoyable nostalgia


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 10, 2017)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Spooks: the Greater Good
> Not bad. Harrington is wooden but gorgeous. Harry is awesome. Pretty short film though.




You wouldn't want it to be any longer though.  It was creaky enough as it was


----------



## Maltin (Oct 10, 2017)

belboid said:


> Print costs are included in production costs these days, I think. Ads are on top, with 50% of production being average (as you say), tho big films like this will go even higher. Total cost looks like $250-300 mill, with a take of $80 mill so far. So it’s gong to break even even before the DVD and streaming releases.


But $80 million isn't what goes towards that $300 million. Only about half of that gross figure goes towards it (although a bigger percentage will go to the production company in the first week). The production company reported they need to gross $400 million at the cinema to break even, which given the likely cost seems a bit low.  Even if that number is true, they need to multiply the first weekend earnings by 5 and most films only do 3 or 4 times opening weekend.


----------



## belboid (Oct 10, 2017)

Maltin said:


> But $80 million isn't what goes towards that $300 million. Only about half of that gross figure goes towards it (although a bigger percentage will go to the production company in the first week). The production company reported they need to gross $400 million at the cinema to break even, which given the likely cost seems a bit low.  Even if that number is true, they need to multiply the first weekend earnings by 5 and most films only do 3 or 4 times opening weekend.


True - but it hasn't opened at all in China yet, or much of Asia.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 10, 2017)

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) - Disney film playing on Irish folklore stories (although adapted from a Herminie T Kavanagh book) about Leprechauns & banshees, some great special effects for the time and Sean Connery singing. 
Loved it.


----------



## belboid (Oct 10, 2017)

Maltin said:


> But $80 million isn't what goes towards that $300 million. Only about half of that gross figure goes towards it (although a bigger percentage will go to the production company in the first week). The production company reported they need to gross $400 million at the cinema to break even, which given the likely cost seems a bit low.  Even if that number is true, they need to multiply the first weekend earnings by 5 and most films only do 3 or 4 times opening weekend.


And, further to the preceding post...

It's interesting to compare to Interstellar - similar production budget, similar opening week expectations. Interstellar sold just under $50m in the opening weekend, and ended up taking $190m in the US, and $675m worldwide. Pretty, pretty good. So even if BR only takes two-thirds of that, ie maintains it's opening weekend average, it's still on $450m, which puts it in profit, if a bit disappointing.


----------



## Thimble Queen (Oct 10, 2017)

I watched Okja last night made by the same person as Snow Piercer very good but quite different. Its on Netflix too.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 11, 2017)

Thimble Queen said:


> I watched Okja last night made by the same person as Snow Piercer very good but quite different. Its on Netflix too.


Here you go


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 11, 2017)

The first ten minutes of Baby Driver - doubt I'll go back to it - made me cringe


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 12, 2017)

Game of Thrones; season 6 "The Door".

Wow!


----------



## bubblesmcgrath (Oct 12, 2017)

24 
Season 7.
It's been a bit shit since season 3....but I keep watching..


----------



## bubblesmcgrath (Oct 12, 2017)

Indeliblelink said:


> Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) - Disney film playing on Irish folklore stories (although adapted from a Herminie T Kavanagh book) about Leprechauns & banshees, some great special effects for the time and Sean Connery singing.
> Loved it.




Lol...that's brought back memories...it used to be on rte every St Patrick's day until some sophisticated persons in Donnybrook decided it was twee...the fuckers....


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 13, 2017)

'Now You See Me'

ludicrous hiest/magicians/thing but fun with it. Woody Harrelson and Morgan Freeman are in it but Mark 'sane' Gruffaloe steals it. 6/10.

on the netflix


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> 'Now You Don't'
> 
> ludicrous hiest/magicians/thing but fun with it. Woody Harrelson and Morgan Freeman are in it but Mark 'sane' Gruffaloe steals it. 6/10.


that must be a sequel to 'now you see me'?


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 13, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> that must be a sequel to 'now you see me'?


no just me getting the name of the film wrong. will edit.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> no just me getting the name of the film wrong. will edit.


there is a sequel though, but unimaginatively titled 'now you see me 2' - yours is better


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 13, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> 'Now You See Me'
> 
> ludicrous hiest/magicians/thing but fun with it. Woody Harrelson and Morgan Freeman are in it but Mark 'sane' Gruffaloe steals it. 6/10.
> 
> on the netflix


I watched that too...it's as daft as a brush.  Decent popcorn movie.

Although it does try to steal from one of the greatest movies ever, but never mind.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 13, 2017)

The Little Hours (2017) - IMDb
Has Alison Brie (Ruth from GLOW) John C. Reilly and Dave Franco in it, but this comedy is hardly funny in the slightest and tries to throw in as much sex and tits as possible to keep you interested.
3/10


----------



## cybershot (Oct 14, 2017)

The Dark Tower (2017) - IMDb
How can a film with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey be so poor? No idea, but it is. Maybe because the star of the show, is a kid, and we all know that unless it's a horror film, films centered around a kid are generally shit. This is no exception. 
5/10


----------



## belboid (Oct 14, 2017)

The Godfather

mrs b, my nephew n my sisters boyfriend had somehow never seen it before. It was still bloody great, the nephew just managed to stay awake till the end.


----------



## Sue (Oct 14, 2017)

belboid said:


> The Godfather
> 
> mrs b, my nephew n my sisters boyfriend had somehow never seen it before. It was still bloody great, the nephew just managed to stay awake till the end.




When've you GF2 lined up for?


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 15, 2017)

War For the Planet of the Apes

Darkest instalment yet and sets it up nicely for the original series. Brilliant score also.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 15, 2017)

*Fiasco In Milan [Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti] (1959) *- A sequel to the Italian heist comedy "Big Deal On Madonna Street" (remade decades later in Hollywood as Welcome To Collingwood), not quite as good as that classic but still very entertaining & funny. Here they are stealing money from a bank (a pools prize ??) while it's being delivered by an accountant, they end up with a suitcase of money while the police close in on them.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 15, 2017)

cybershot said:


> The Dark Tower (2017) - IMDb
> How can a film with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey be so poor? No idea, but it is. Maybe because the star of the show, is a kid, and we all know that unless it's a horror film, films centered around a kid are generally shit. This is no exception.
> 5/10



ET
AI
Stranger Things (tv,I know)
Super 8
Beasts of the Southern Wild

are centred around kid(s) and are kind of brilliant


----------



## cybershot (Oct 15, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> ET
> AI
> Stranger Things (tv,I know)
> Super 8
> ...



I did say generally. Not all. There’s certainly very few that are ‘brilliant’


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 15, 2017)

cybershot said:


> I did say generally. Not all. There’s certainly very few that are ‘brilliant’



Possibly. I am disappointed hearing about The Dark Tower, mind. But the series of books is just too much (esp when it gets all meta) to condense into a film. If only it had been turned into a televison series.


----------



## belboid (Oct 15, 2017)

Sue said:


> When've you GF2 lined up for?


Next Friday - as long as I can teach everyone else how to stfu during a film in that time.


----------



## Sue (Oct 15, 2017)

belboid said:


> Next Friday - as long as I can teach everyone else how to stfu during a film in that time.


Good luck with that...


----------



## hot air baboon (Oct 16, 2017)

The Baader Meinhof Complex - what seems to be a superbly authentic - almost documentary but hugely dramatic depiction of events between 1967-77 - brilliantly staged re-creations of real events often filmed in the exact locations with spookily accurate looking actors . Similar to but greatly superior to the Carlos biopic imo


----------



## smee22 (Oct 16, 2017)

Bad Boys II


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 16, 2017)

*Spiderman Homecoming*

Not too bad at all, managed to place Spidey in amongst the rest of the Marvel craziness but kept the story more intimate.

Tom Holland nails the part and does some genuinely decent acting at times, the support cast are good too. Keaton doesn't get loads to do but is one of the better Marvel villains overall.

The school scenes weren't as much of a drag as in previous films too, which definitely helped.

7/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 16, 2017)

Tony Stark still comes off as a raging bellend/ I don't know if this is set after Civil War but he was a dick in that as well


----------



## cybershot (Oct 16, 2017)

The Emoji Movie (2017) - IMDb
Nowhere near as bad as I expecting, maybe it's because I work in IT and there were plenty of references to jailbreaking, hacking, sandboxing, firewalls. No wonder 8 year olds didn't get the story.
4/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 17, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Tony Stark still comes off as a raging bellend/ I don't know if this is set after Civil War but he was a dick in that as well



Post Civil War. Peter keeps expecting to get a call to hook up with the Avengers again.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 18, 2017)

The General - 1926 silent classic from Buster Keaton. Amazing stunts and a thrilling special effect. Can't believe it was a flop on release.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 19, 2017)

Blake's 7 Sr 3 "Ultraworld".

Hadn't seen it for years but it had always stuck in my brain. Watching it again, I'm reminded just how brilliant Avon was. And how Tarrant was a piss poor Blake replacement. Also, there's a Borg like quality to the Ultra and their planet. Not to mention the influence on The Orb's _Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.
_
Best bits "Is this the bonding ceremony?" asks an Ulta after an explosion goes off when Dayna and Tarrant "demonstrate" human reproduction methods & Vila chanelling Tommy Cooper.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 19, 2017)

Annabelle: Creation (2017) - IMDb
Better than the first one, actually made me jump in a few places, nothing that hasn't been done before mind.
6/10


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Oct 19, 2017)

Rewatching the whole run of Steptoe and Son on YT even though I have the DVDs which are higher quality, I simply can't be bothered


----------



## flypanam (Oct 19, 2017)

A buddy from Home told me to watch Outlander. Watched two episodes then twigged the reason he told me watch it is because his sister is in it. It’s alright, slightly better than ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 21, 2017)

AI

A strange and sad fairytale.


----------



## pesh (Oct 21, 2017)

Atomic Blonde. Cold War spy shenanigans set against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall coming down to a banging soundtrack. Think you'll love it or hate it, I loved it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 23, 2017)

The Hateful Eight - Tarantino does another western. Great cast & Moriconne score. Quite violent.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 23, 2017)

The Decline of Western Civilisation Part 2 - The Metal Years. Penelope Spheeris (Wayne's World) documentary about excess, sleaze and everything else that went with the hair metal bands of the 80s. Fascinatlingly grim, misogynist, sad stuff. If it wasn't such a searing indictment of the mindset of the scene it could well have been a parody.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 23, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> The Hateful Eight - Tarantino does another western. Great cast & Moriconne score. Quite violent.



.....and quite dull


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 23, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> .....and quite dull



I have a thing for westerns, so I don't mind the slow build but I've seen better Tarantino films,for sure.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Oct 23, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> I have a thing for westerns, so I don't mind the slow build but I've seen better Tarantino films,for sure.



Slow doesn't bother me, but slow and boring is a different matter.


----------



## D'wards (Oct 23, 2017)

Brawl in Cell Block 99.

Arm-breaking, head-stomping, electrocuting fun.  Very much enjoyed - 4/5


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 24, 2017)

Terrace House. Normally give reality tv a wide berth but this is oddly fascinating. More like that MTV show, The Real World (iirc) than Big Brother. Which prob won't sell it all the same... 
Terrace House: the must-watch Japanese reality show in which nothing happens
I wouldn'tsay it's"must watch" but def. charming, imho.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Oct 29, 2017)

Split (2016)

I hated this - whilst admiring JM's acting.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 30, 2017)

Vampire In Brooklyn

eddie murphy is a vampire in brooklyn, comedy/horror ensues. Ice Cubes dad from Friday is in it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 30, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Split (2016)
> 
> I hated this - whilst admiring JM's acting.



I heard it was a return to form for MNS. Having only seen Sixth Sense and the magnificent Unbreakable, I can't imagine how bad the rest of his output was up to this.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 30, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> I heard it was a return to form for MNS. Having only seen Sixth Sense and the magnificent Unbreakable, I can't imagine how bad the rest of his output was up to this.



If you enjoyed Unbreakable you'll enjoy Split.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 30, 2017)

cybershot said:


> If you enjoyed Unbreakable you'll enjoy Split.



Yeah; saw it and thought JM was excellent but the story was not up to Unbreakable standards, imho


----------



## cybershot (Oct 30, 2017)

A few to catch up on.

Clueless (1995) - IMDb
Hadn't seen this since it's initial release and a friends revelation on it being her favourite film made me to decide to give it a re-watch. It's still enjoyable, and plenty of good one liners.
7/10

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) - IMDb
Was it just me that found the title of this film misleading? Also when I saw the runtime was 2h20m I thought great, another film with prolonged action sequences that could probably be condensed into an 1h30m film. In fact there was not much fighting at all, and the story was pleasently slow paced and continues to tell the troubles of the humans and the apes co-habiting. There's plenty of thought provoking and emotional moments as the story unfolds.
Quite relieved there was bugger all war in it, and the runtime was probably justified. Pleasently surprised to be misled.
7/10

The NeverEnding Story (1984) - IMDb
Had somehow never seen this, and instantly regretted not seeing it as a child. What a fantastic fantasy story that was just a joy to watch. The horse scene thou. 
8/10

I, Daniel Blake (2016) - IMDb
Tells the story of a guy who has had a heart attack and unable to work on the advise of his doctors and is caught up in the ridiculous state system of claiming benefits and support. Also befriends a struggling single parent along the way as this story highlights the main problem of many of the Govt/DWP 'systems' today in being that there is no room for humanity, just rules. The ending is something that is happening far too often, or very close to happening to some.
8/10


----------



## cybershot (Oct 30, 2017)

Missed one out.

Ingrid Goes West (2017) - IMDb
Not quite sure why this has good reviews, it's pretty terrible and just shows the desperations many of the young go too, in order to just be liked on social media. What made the film worse was that despite how it all went so wrong, it seemed nothing was ever learned by the main character. A massive missed opportunity to appeal to some younger social media obsessed people.
4/10


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Oct 30, 2017)

*Halloween*
Never actually seen it before. Not bad.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 2, 2017)

Finished season 2 of The Expanse. Wow.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 2, 2017)

John Wick. eeh. keanu does not manage the full neeson although you have to admire how dedicated the film was to showing the secondary 'just make sure' headshots.

also featuring lovejoy and ltnt daniels from the Wire. a shaky 5/10, the five based mostly on the actioning.


----------



## belboid (Nov 4, 2017)

Wonder Woman

Despite the involvement of Zack Snyder, this still manages to be really rather good. Godot is excellent is Diana, with a fine supporting cast that ensure the film zips along merrily.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 4, 2017)

belboid said:


> Wonder Woman
> 
> Despite the involvement of Zack Snyder, this still manages to be really rather good. Godot is excellent is Diana, with a fine supporting cast that ensure the film zips along merrily.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 4, 2017)

Pride (2014) - IMDb
Gays and lesbians team up with miners on strike in Wales in the 80s in a support of solidarity against the establishment. Barriers are broken and friendships formed.
7/10

Under the Skin (2013) - IMDb
An alien in the form of Scarlett Johansson drives around Scotland in a van, seduces blokes and consumes them. It's not as good as it sounds.
5/10


----------



## belboid (Nov 4, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


>


----------



## belboid (Nov 6, 2017)

Spiridnova - Armed Love

A Class War production, that will undoubtedly be cruelly overlooked at next years BAFTA's. Good story.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 7, 2017)

Hitler - A Career. 40 year old doc about his rise to power. Ending's a little bit rushed but otherwise grimly fascinating.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 7, 2017)

belboid said:


> Wonder Woman
> 
> Despite the involvement of Zack Snyder, this still manages to be really rather good. Godot is excellent is Diana, with a fine supporting cast that ensure the film zips along merrily.


First time I watched it I thought it was pretty good, so watched it later with my daughter (tough female lead etc) but it is in fact utter shit. I guess my expectations were so low the first time because it was a DC film. Also the dumbarse fish out of water shit was painful. Bollocks.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 7, 2017)

I only watched half. There was no lasso of truth. You can't have WW without the lasso of truth.


----------



## belboid (Nov 7, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I only watched half. There was no lasso of truth. You can't have WW without the lasso of truth.


There was,she uses it on Steve


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 7, 2017)

belboid said:


> There is,she uses it on Steve


then I might watch the second half


----------



## belboid (Nov 7, 2017)

I'm fairly sure it's in the first half, when she first catches him


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 7, 2017)

oh the bit at the start where he is on the island...yeah I think I'll need watch the whole thing again. Drink.

After suicide squad my time for DC movies (films, they still do good cartoon) went down


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 7, 2017)

Gulag - extremely partial but valuable 1999 documentary talking to people who survived the system. More factual /ideological holes than a string vest, but some extraordinary images and testimony. 3h+ of pure frozen misery so not a light watch though. Still available for the rest of Nov here.
Gulag


----------



## seventh bullet (Nov 7, 2017)

Just in time for the centenary of the Russian Revolution.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 7, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I only watched half. There was no lasso of truth. You can't have WW without the lasso of truth.


Yeah there is. Quite a bit I think.
No invisible plane.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 8, 2017)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Yeah there is. Quite a bit I think.
> No invisible plane.



You just didn't see it. 'tis invisible!


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 8, 2017)

belboid said:


> I'm fairly sure it's in the first half, when she first catches him


She also uses it in major fight scenes later.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 11, 2017)

Belting through season 2 of Stranger Things and season 3 of Rick & Morty. Yay.


----------



## Chz (Nov 11, 2017)

I was a bit "Yeah, it's okay" about S1 & S2 of Rick & Morty, but series 3 was absolutely brilliant.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 12, 2017)

Girl With All The Gifts

cracking film, no happy ever afters and no wastage. Just a smart well made zombie/apocalypse film


----------



## Sue (Nov 12, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> Girl With All The Gifts
> 
> cracking film, no happy ever afters and no wastage. Just a smart well made zombie/apocalypse film



I thought this was really good too and the twist at the end was well done. 

Excellent cast too -- was a bit surprised to see Glenn Close in a lowish budget British film but good for her, going for something interesting rather than blockbuster.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 12, 2017)

Sue said:


> I thought this was really good too and the twist at the end was well done.
> 
> Excellent cast too -- was a bit surprised to see Glenn Close in a lowish budget British film but good for her, going for something interesting rather than blockbuster.


pady considine, and one of my fave characters from The Expanse, Naomi! I think of the three lead roles Close and the kid were the strongest. Both disturbing for different reasons- oh and the compulsive jaw snapping thing was an uncanny twist to the zombie style


----------



## Steel Icarus (Nov 12, 2017)

Watched 'Source Code' last night. Pretty good sci-fi time travel thriller thing with Jake Gyllenhall.


----------



## seventh bullet (Nov 12, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> and one of my fave characters from The Expanse, Naomi



I think she's the one who calls young Melanie 'Cujo,' lol.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 12, 2017)

S☼I said:


> Watched 'Source Code' last night. Pretty good sci-fi time travel thriller thing with Jake Gyllenhall.


His second time travel film


----------



## cybershot (Nov 12, 2017)

Atomic Blonde (2017) - IMDb
MI6/CIA spy/action film that treads all the same ground that existing films in this genre have visited before. It's nothing new. It's not a bad film, but it's not anything you'd ever watch again. Clearly an attempt at creating a new franchise, not quite sure it performed well enough at box office to warrant a sequel, but then hardly anything has performed well over the past 24 months.
6/10


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 12, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Atomic Blonde (2017) - IMDb
> MI6/CIA spy/action film that treads all the same ground that existing films in this genre have visited before. It's nothing new. It's not a bad film, but it's not anything you'd ever watch again. Clearly an attempt at creating a new franchise, not quite sure it performed well enough at box office to warrant a sequel, but then hardly anything has performed well over the past 24 months.
> 6/10


It may have been run of the mill but Charlize gets a nod of approval because she brought a lot to it, working with a dire script, and obviously trained for the part.   Seems to be a thing these days.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 13, 2017)

Finished Stranger Things 2. I think it needs to move out beyond the confines of the small town because it will just end up being a rehash. Then again, it may well get criticised for doing so. 



Spoiler



ep 7 where Eleven goes to the city (I quite enjoyed it) wasn't overly popular, afaik



Started Mindhunter. Very cinematic, charismatic leads and grim wrong 'uns. Another David Fincher cracker.

The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries. I couldn't rememeber much of the original case so this was gripping as I didn't know where it was leading but by the time we got to 



Spoiler



the Leveson Inquiry


 the penny had dropped. How good was Jason Watkins in this?


----------



## belboid (Nov 17, 2017)

Get Shorty (the series)

Chris O’Dowd doesn’t quite convince as the hoodlum, but he does well enough and is enjoyable to watch in this quality nothing like the book really adaptation.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 20, 2017)

The Villainess.  Korean hit girl movie with some of the best action sequences and camera work I've ever seen.


----------



## Supine (Nov 20, 2017)

The Survivalist 

Utter tosh. Avoid.


----------



## TruXta (Nov 20, 2017)

Supine said:


> The Survivalist
> 
> Utter tosh. Avoid.


Quite enjoyable if you ask me.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 20, 2017)

A few to catch up on.

Good Time (2017) - IMDb
Utter rubbish. No idea why this has such highly regarded reviews. Poor writing, poor direction, poor acting and generally just a really poor film. I can't even be bothered to go into it, so I'll just nick the IMDB blurb: After a heist goes awry, a bank robber spends a night trying to free his mentally ill brother from being sent to Riker's Island prison.
3/10

The Glass Castle (2017) - IMDb
About a troubled family who are pursued by law agencies. Always seemingly on the run, moving from squat to squat, from city to city. Until eventually the kids grow older and have enough and plan to leave. Told from the perspective of the older girl who is about to get married and we keep seeing various flashbacks. The long and short of it is we can't choose our family, but no matter how badly they treat us, it's hard to just give up on them. Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts are on on their game.
7/10

Brigsby Bear (2017) - IMDb
Not going to give to much of this one away, because it's probably not what you expect, the trailer for it is awesome, and the story although maybe not what you expect is a great story. One of the best films of the year in my opinion.
8/10

Wind River (2017) - IMDb
So many of these crime stories these days are better told on the TV than on the cinema screen, it's hard to put a murder story into 2 hours these days, and while this is a little slow paced it tells the investigation well enough and has an explosive ending that makes it all worthwhile. Good performances from Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner.
8/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 20, 2017)

I watched the first few eps of Punisher. I wasn't going to cos I never thought much of Punisher. He has no superpowers beyond the ability and willingness to engage in lots of gun-based slaughter, thats it. His 'thing' is that he only kills Bad Guys. But he decides who they are, so no, thats not cool. Plus the punisher logo/attitude seems to have been taken up by some US coppers, r/w gun nuts and militia sorts. Gave it a go anyway and its well made but
1)wife flashbacks. Enough of them 
2) repeated flashbacks to his time in the army as part of an american death/torture squad including one iraqi translator getting tortured and shot. This flashback happens A LOT
3) You can't escape the fact that Frank Castle is a prick

his sidekick is reasonably amusing and deberoah anne woll...is in it...

might finish it but the plots not grabbed me much either. Theres some interesting enough bits in a Vets talking group for ex soldiers and some stuff about war is hell and PTSD as well.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 20, 2017)

First few eps of _Suburra: Blood on Rome_  which makes about as much sense as the title (blood _on _Rome? what bit of it? what difference does it make to those stones, they've surely seen a bit of claret over the past 2 millennia and survived) .... but it's sort of fun. Like lots of Italian telly it's desperately trying to have its cake and eat it, by showing you lots of startlingly explicit sex n violence but insisting that you disapprove of it all heartily because it's evil and bad. There are just a few glints of human feeling for cute dogs, old racehorses and fit women (only the fit ones, mind.) Some of the plotting just makes no sense whatsoever (three rival young wannabe bad men who all hate each other team up to stick it to the Man, and despite all of them having perfectly good reasons to put the other 2 in prison / cement / custody, they seem to want to be friends and pal about instead) and there's the odd cliché, but it is twisty and dirty enough to sustain. There's bent priests and bent politicians and dodgy property deals and some nice garments, so worth a look. Also it might (don't know yet, it's still on the fence) possibly have something worth saying about how Roma/Sinti/gypsy/zingaro (*delete as appropriate) chancers fit into the Mafia system, or don't.

It may make me a snob to say this but: only worth watching in Italian really (you'll pick up a Lamborghini's worth of guttural Roman slang). The dubbed English "acting" is so laughably bad, with shockingly stilted translation read aloud in monotone middle-American-accented voices, that it's unwatchable IMO.


----------



## flypanam (Nov 20, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched the first few eps of Punisher. I wasn't going to cos I never thought much of Punisher. He has no superpowers beyond the ability and willingness to engage in lots of gun-based slaughter, thats it. His 'thing' is that he only kills Bad Guys. But he decides who they are, so no, thats not cool. Plus the punisher logo/attitude seems to have been taken up by some US coppers, r/w gun nuts and militia sorts. Gave it a go anyway and its well made but
> 1)wife flashbacks. Enough of them
> 2) repeated flashbacks to his time in the army as part of an american death/torture squad including one iraqi translator getting tortured and shot. This flashback happens A LOT
> 3) You can't escape the fact that Frank Castle is a prick
> .


4. The American Iranian Homeland security woman is on point and right about everything, except in affairs of the heart...she's poorly conceived and written imo.

It's a laboured show. So far only Daredevil and Jessica Jones show any characters have any ambivalence or even doubt.

Watched 20th century women last night, nearly had my old stone heart melting...great visuals and soundtrack too.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 20, 2017)

Finished Mindhunter. 



Spoiler



Nice use of Led Zep at the end


. Roll on season 2. 



Spoiler



I wonder will they interview Manson?


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 20, 2017)

flypanam said:


> ambivalence or even doubt.


seems with Iron fist they replaced that with consuming arrogance/self belief and in Punisher they've used grief/war damage in place of that. And it doesn't work the same wayimo, its the doubt and self reflection that makes JJ and DD more human.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 20, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> Finished Mindhunter.Roll on season 2.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


em....nope


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 20, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> em....nope


it's doubtful


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 20, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> it's doubtful


He'll need a really good agent. 

Frasier's agent Bebe could probably arrange it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 21, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> em....nope



Ach, you know what I mean if you been watching it. 



Spoiler



He's been mentioned twice as a kind of wish list interviewee & the series is set in the late 70s...


----------



## SpookyFrank (Nov 22, 2017)

Atomic Blonde

Boring, pointless, didn't make it to the end. One of those movies where you get half way in, realise you don't know the lead character's name, then realise you don't care.


----------



## Mordi (Nov 22, 2017)

Free Men

On iplayer for the next couple of weeks and has Algerian Communist Jews (who are gay) in occupied Paris. So that's good. 

Reminded me a bit of the superb Army of Crime.

We also watched one of our favourites, Fucking Åmål which manages to address the isolation and boredom of queer teenagers in a small shit town in Sweden without losing any warmth or humour; and no one dies! Unheard of.


----------



## belboid (Nov 22, 2017)

Mordi said:


> We also watched one of our favourites, Fucking Åmål which manages to address the isolation and boredom of queer teenagers in a small shit town in Sweden without losing any warmth or humour; and no one dies! Unheard of.


Great film. Don’t know why they chose to rename it _Show Me Love_ over here.


----------



## Mordi (Nov 22, 2017)

belboid said:


> Great film. Don’t know why they chose to rename it _Show Me Love_ over here.



Yeah, I didn't know that until I looked up the IMDB page. It has a great '90s indie pop soundtrack with the Robyn track of the english title for the credits. 
Do you know if it got a cinematic release in the UK?


----------



## belboid (Nov 22, 2017)

Not sure, I picked it up on video about fifteen years ago - one of the few I haven’t hidden away in the loft.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 22, 2017)

The Limehouse Golem (2016) - IMDb
A pretty poor horror/thriller about murders that could only be caused my a mythical creature, which of course, are not.
5/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 23, 2017)

Rome

before Game of Thrones, before Spartacus: Blood and Sand there was HBO's Rome. And it has aged well. Forgot what a great cast it has


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 23, 2017)

Rest of _Suburra _on Netflix- once you get into it the last third is horribly compelling, even if overall it gets more than a little implausible. Surprisingly similar in plot terms to HBO's _Rome _in fact ... how little humans have learned in 2,500 years, it's still all thugs n gangsters feeding off the poor as they pursue their own incestuous vendettas. Bodies pile up a bit too quickly, and there's an argument to be made that it's needlessly sexist (the female characters are sketchy and underdeveloped) ... but much, much better than I expected from the first couple of eps. Some very classy multi-level explorations of corruption, tightly-wound if exaggerated plotting and some terrific performances. Also its ambientish electronic soundtrack does wonders, lending the whole thing a properly elegiac and mournful feel, not just providing a backdrop to all the bang-bang-bang. To repeat: don't even try watching with the dubbed English soundtrack which completely ruins it.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 24, 2017)

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) - IMDb
A very watchable criminal mastermind befriending arch enemy to help him out in order to get one from A to B in order to get to a courtroom to expose more baddies. It's pretty much a fast & furious film without as many fast cars and a bit more guns and fighting. If you like them, you'll like this.
7/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 26, 2017)

Valhall Rising (2009)

This is a curious thing, featuring some beautiful and brooding camera work, possibly hinting at an interplay of the epic and the metaphysical. Brutal, and yet there are hints at a salvation narrative (baptism, water, purity, sacrifice - possibly aimed directly at Christianity) - without any 'feel good' ending based on a clear indication as to who is being saved. Worth watching, and certainly a film of two parts, but one that I'm going to have to watch again at some point.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 26, 2017)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) - IMDb

Went into this not really knowing much about it but really enjoyed this sci fi romp. It would have been an 8 but for the seemingly pointless Rihanna cameo. A whole 30 minute section of the film that could have not been included and would have made no difference to the story at all. One of the weirdest 30 minutes of film I’ve seen in a while. However apart from that is quite good. 

7/10


----------



## Virtual Blue (Nov 26, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched the first few eps of Punisher. I wasn't going to cos I never thought much of Punisher. He has no superpowers beyond the ability and willingness to engage in lots of gun-based slaughter, thats it. His 'thing' is that he only kills Bad Guys. But he decides who they are, so no, thats not cool. Plus the punisher logo/attitude seems to have been taken up by some US coppers, r/w gun nuts and militia sorts. Gave it a go anyway and its well made but
> 1)wife flashbacks. Enough of them
> 2) repeated flashbacks to his time in the army as part of an american death/torture squad including one iraqi translator getting tortured and shot. This flashback happens A LOT
> 3) You can't escape the fact that Frank Castle is a prick
> ...



Frank Castle is meant to be a sadistic murderous prick. His super powers is that he’s super tactical, like a chess player of the marvel twats but as a character he is very one dimensional.

Satisfied with the first two episodes and liking it so far (much better than Luke Cage and the white guy doing Kung fu one).

Hope it doesn’t run out of steam.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Nov 27, 2017)

Patti Cake$ - a shamelessly traditional underdog feelgood flick about a poor girl from New Jersey who dreams of making it as a rap star. it has every cliche in the book, but still delivers a cracking couple of hours of entertainment through sheer energy and great performances, especially from Danielle Macdonald. Also a nice cameo from Cathy Moriarty.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 27, 2017)

21 Jump Street (2012) - IMDb
Hilarious, but I've always enjoyed American College humour films for some reason. 
8/10

22 Jump Street (2014) - IMDb
More of the same, and takes the piss out of itself, as it's more or less exactly the same film, but that's not a bad thing!
7/10


----------



## 8115 (Nov 27, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Patti Cake$ - a shamelessly traditional underdog feelgood flick about a poor girl from New Jersey who dreams of making it as a rap star. it has every cliche in the book, but still delivers a cracking couple of hours of entertainment through sheer energy and great performances, especially from Danielle Macdonald. Also a nice cameo from Cathy Moriarty.


I saw this in the cinema and loved it. It's a really unique film for all its flaws.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 27, 2017)

Geostorm

Okay. If you are a fan of 90s big action films then this works. It is a film entirely at ease with itself, no pretensions to a greater meaning, either through the narative or excessive CGI. It is a fun film for a Friday night with popcorn - sheer nonsensical escapism.

Bloody great fun.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Nov 27, 2017)

9 Songs.

Shit songs and shit sex. A shit film. It makes 'Love' look like a metaphysical exploration of the highest order...


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 28, 2017)

Baby driver

I feared it was going to be a shitty Fast and Furious rip off but it was actually pretty good

And it has a fantastic soundtrack


----------



## flypanam (Nov 28, 2017)

Kind hearts and coronets

A distant poor relative of the Duke of D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.

Alec Guinness in his prime.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 28, 2017)

flypanam said:


> Kind hearts and coronets
> 
> A distant poor relative of the Duke of D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
> 
> Alec Guinness in his prime.


favourite murder? Bumping off the vicar for me


----------



## flypanam (Nov 28, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> favourite murder? Bumping off the vicar for me


I though Lady Agatha's demise was very funny.


----------



## Sue (Nov 28, 2017)

flypanam said:


> I though Lady Agatha's demise was very funny.


I shot an arrow in the air...


----------



## Pac man (Nov 28, 2017)

The Salvation 2014. Solid western revenge thriller, small amount of subtitles for first 5 minutes. Great film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 29, 2017)

Spooks: For the Greater Good.

Basically, big budget version of the show. Reasonable. Nice few nods to previous storylines.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 30, 2017)

1st ep of crisis on earth x

its the usual 4 parter four show crossover CW DC thing. The last one was quite good but this ones a bit shit so far. I mean, its CW and its Supergirl so you expect a bit of superhero soap opera but really, shit. American comics/comic shows have rediscovered their love of punching nazis and having nazis as the baddies again and its ok in some places (agents of shield pulled it off admirably) but this is just cheap now


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 30, 2017)

Heavy Metal. Animated anthology type thing from another era. Mostly dated and misogynist. 

On the plus side, good metal sountrack and Dan O' Bannon and Berni Wrightson were involved.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 30, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> 1st ep of crisis on earth x
> 
> its the usual 4 parter four show crossover CW DC thing. The last one was quite good but this ones a bit shit so far. I mean, its CW and its Supergirl so you expect a bit of superhero soap opera but really, shit. American comics/comic shows have rediscovered their love of punching nazis and having nazis as the baddies again and its ok in some places (agents of shield pulled it off admirably) but this is just cheap now



I've just watched part 3 of this and yeah, the Trump / Far Right baiting is heavy handed to the point of eye-rolling, but good for the odd laugh. 

I've found myself fast forwarding most of the relationship bits (with the exception of Sara Lance seducing Supergirl's sister, because that was to be expected and still funny).

Action scenes were decent, the Church fight was more interesting than any of the Steppenwolf fights in Justice League for a start.

It's nice to occasionally watch something not taking itself entirely seriously, but it's very inconsistent.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 30, 2017)

The Octagon said:


> I've just watched part 3 of this and yeah, the Trump / Far Right baiting is heavy handed to the point of eye-rolling, but good for the odd laugh.
> 
> I've found myself fast forwarding most of the relationship bits (with the exception of Sara Lance seducing Supergirl's sister, because that was to be expected and still funny).
> 
> ...


whatsis face out of Legends was Good Value For Money as always 'Best wedding ever' and he's not being ironic


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 30, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> whatsis face out of Legends was Good Value For Money as always 'Best wedding ever' and he's not being ironic



I nearly singled him out as a constant snarky highlight, Dom Purcell has clearly found his niche as an actor and is sticking with it  

I agree with him on Caitlin / Killer Frost too, it's Evil Willow from Buffy all over again


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 30, 2017)

Good Time - indie thriller set in New York about a small time rubbish criminal who gets his mentally disabled brother jailed through his incompetence and needs to raise bail money to get him out of Rikers, where he is in danger of getting killed. Nothing goes to plan and he meets lots of interesting characters over one frantic night. He's not a sympathetic character at all (violent, manipulative and possibly ephebophiliac 



Spoiler: (spoiler)



he makes on a move on a girl who looks to be about 11 or 12, despite her saying she's 16)


 ), and you only root for him cos of his poor brother, but it's brilliantly acted and shot and it's tense and bleak as fuck. All of this is underpinned by a throbbing Tangerine-Dreamesque score by Oneohtrix Point Never. Directed by Benny & Josh Sabdie - need to check out their other films. They're ones to watch.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 30, 2017)

Limitless (2011) - IMDb
Weird film about a struggling author who takes these random pills that makes him mega intelligent and then gets caught up in all sorts of stuff and then of course the drugs run out, but it seems silly to be that the this now incredibly smart dude, can't figure it out for himself!
5/10

Logan Lucky (2017) - IMDb
Kylo Ren and his brothers attempt to pull off a massive heist while at a NASCAR festival. Its nothing special. and it's no brainer, a bit like the ocean's films. It passes the time and doesn't offend and has a few laughs.
6/10


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 3, 2017)

Wild Tales. Absolutely brilliant  We haven't laughed so much in ages.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 3, 2017)

Super Dark Times (2017) - IMDb
Dark is about right for this, teenagers mucking around, with, frankly, something they shouldn't be mucking around with, end up having a massive accident that results in the death of one of them. They hide the body and the evidence but it becomes clear two of the teens are struggling to contain the information. One goes paranoid, the other turns sadistic violent which all leads to an bloody conclusion.
7/10


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 3, 2017)

Pac man said:


> The Salvation 2014. Solid western revenge thriller, small amount of subtitles for first 5 minutes. Great film.


Really liked this film and the main actor was very good.


----------



## catinthehat (Dec 3, 2017)

Hross í oss (2013) - IMDb
Of Horses and Men.  An Icelandic film I have been meaning to watch for ages and it was as good as expected.  If you liked Runtur (Rams) you should like this one.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 5, 2017)

American Honey - stunningly good film.


----------



## 8115 (Dec 5, 2017)

Okja. A very enjoyable watch. It felt like it had a real old fashioned structure, with loads of jeopardy and a good old fashioned denouement, plus an ace child lead. Plus who doesn't love a cute super pig?


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 5, 2017)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is back in the US and picking right up from an excellent 4th Season with a great double length premiere episode.

Several wtf moments, some great visuals, a few knowing nods to the silliness and a cast that works so well together it feels like Buffy in it's heyday.

Suffice to say I'm enjoying it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2017)

Mayhem 
A funny and violent office revenge story. A virus removes that superego and leaves people raw id. Turns out everyone wants to  kill the boss.  6/10


Blade of the Immortal pt 1

its not actually in two parts but it is now because I watched half. Its good, Takeshi Miike directs, immortal warrior, ancient japan, lots of swordfighting. I'll rate it after I've seen pt 2 tonight


----------



## cybershot (Dec 7, 2017)

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - IMDb
Slow burner, but very capitvating final hour. The so called true story into the detection of Osama Bin Laden and his eventual execution.
7/10

Trance (2013) - IMDb
Guy is part of a plot to rob a painting, bumps head, loses memory, his gang hire a hypnotist to assist in getting him to remember where the painting is and the plot thickens.
8/10

High Fidelity (2000) - IMDb
re-watch of one of my favourite films. Who doesn't enjoy doing a top 5 break ups list.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 8, 2017)

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

A film that I still find difficult to like  - largely because of the Ewoks, _another_ bloody Death Star, Leia's 'golden' outfit, and the killing of Boba Fett in such 'throwaway' manner. With each iteration it just becomes more problematic. I hate this.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 8, 2017)

The Room.

A 90s porn film without the sex. Or a commentary on a newly emergent form of femininity. Or a film in need of Janet Jacme (with a nod to the soundtrack).


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 8, 2017)

The first episode of Happy! It's based on a comic of the same name. Christopher Meloni plays a former cop-turned hitman. After a near fatal experience, he gains an imaginary friend...

Great fun so far. Looking forward to seeing the next episode.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 8, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
> 
> A film that I still find difficult to like  - largely because of the Ewoks, _another_ bloody Death Star, Leia's 'golden' outfit, and the killing of Boba Fett in such 'throwaway' manner. With each iteration it just becomes more problematic. I hate this.



Agree, it's a terrible film, I really struggle with it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 8, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
> 
> A film that I still find difficult to like  - largely because of the Ewoks, _another_ bloody Death Star, Leia's 'golden' outfit, and the killing of Boba Fett in such 'throwaway' manner. With each iteration it just becomes more problematic. I hate this.



Yeah but Jabba, Palpatine, the scooters through the forest. And Boba Fett's death was fine, he didn't deserve a big scene 'cos he's barely in Emprie.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 8, 2017)

I think it's the most entertaining out of the three, largely because of the Ewoks


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 8, 2017)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Star Wars: Rise of the Space Muppets....


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 9, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> I think it's the most entertaining out of the three, largely because of the Ewoks



This is just _wrong_.

Do you remember 'Caravan of Courage'?


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 9, 2017)

Orang Utan said:


> I think it's the most entertaining out of the three, largely because of the Ewoks



Endor would have been catastrophically devastated by the destruction of the second Death Star. Debris gonna follow the rules of physics. So it is perfect fan service for the two camps a) yay plucky Ewoks, and b) they all die eventually anyway

See also: Independence Day


----------



## Colin Maxwell (Dec 9, 2017)

Birth of the Dragon.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 9, 2017)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Debris gonna follow the rules of physics.



The laws of physics always being such a big part of SW canon and all


----------



## belboid (Dec 9, 2017)

Atomic Blonde - pretty meh. Some nice evocation of the late eighties, a good soundtrack, but not enough to it otherwise.

Dunkirk - surprisingly uninvolving, for me. It's a Chris Nolan film, so it has various strong scenes and moments, I did like the beginning, and how he finished it. And that it wasn't stretched out to intermimable length, 105 minutes is positively brief. But most of the stuff inbetween just didn't grab me at all, almost a compilation of the best bits of other war films.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 9, 2017)

Spotlight - a look at the RCC's cover ups of systematic child abuse in Boston over several decades. From the director of The Station Agent.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 9, 2017)

Gook (2017) - IMDb
Based in 1992, although I’m not sure why that warrants the film needing to be in black and white! A story of an 11 year old black girl befriending a pair of Korean brothers who are running a dodgy trainer store. Of course shit hits the fan when the riots kick off with the girl caught in the middle of it all. 
6/10


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 9, 2017)

belboid said:


> Dunkirk - surprisingly uninvolving, for me. It's a Chris Nolan film, so it has various strong scenes and moments, I did like the beginning, and how he finished it. And that it wasn't stretched out to intermimable length, 105 minutes is positively brief. But most of the stuff inbetween just didn't grab me at all, almost a compilation of the best bits of other war films.



It doesn't happen too often, but I really, really wish I'd seen this at the cinema.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 11, 2017)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> It doesn't happen too often, but I really, really wish I'd seen this at the cinema.



To expand, having watched again, it's the Zimmer score and the sound design really. Jeez, seeing this on an excellent BR rip that's somehow out there made me anxious and nervous, a proper unsettling experience at times. Damn.


----------



## magneze (Dec 11, 2017)

Midnight Special. Liked it a lot, good sci-fi.


----------



## D'wards (Dec 13, 2017)

Just watched Mother. What a strange, horrifying, nightmarish disturbing film. Not sure if i totally understood it, but I well enjoyed it.

I googled it afterwards and with a brief bit of info it all makes sense. Info I wish I'd realised/known before


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 13, 2017)

D'wards said:


> Just watched Mother. What a strange, horrifying, nightmarish disturbing film. Not sure if i totally understood it, but I well enjoyed it.
> 
> I googled it afterwards and with a brief bit of info it all makes sense. Info I wish I'd realised/known before


Comicbook Girl 19 on youtube has done 3 videos on it (basic, intermediate, advanced) that you might like.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 13, 2017)

D'wards said:


> Just watched Mother. What a strange, horrifying, nightmarish disturbing film. Not sure if i totally understood it, but I well enjoyed it.
> 
> I googled it afterwards and with a brief bit of info it all makes sense. Info I wish I'd realised/known before



I watched it at the cinema. People walked out. I’m sure you can guess at which bit.

I almost did myself to be honest before ‘that’ bit. The ‘party’ scene is just a mess and goes on for fucking ages.

The beginning of the film also pretty much gave away how it was going to end, I’m not sure if that was on purpose or just that people are so thick these days that they didn’t expect anyone with more than several brain cells to see it.


----------



## D'wards (Dec 13, 2017)

cybershot said:


> The beginning of the film also pretty much gave away how it was going to end, I’m not sure if that was on purpose or just that people are so thick these days that they didn’t expect anyone with more than several brain cells to see it.


Yeah, was strange to show that, so you knew it was coming.  Watched it a few hours ago and it's still on my mind though, and most films I've largely forgotten by the end of the credits.

I'm a big fan of Aronofsky; Requiem for a Dream is in my all time top ten and I even loved The Fountain.  Oddly I turned off Noah though, and I never normally abandon films


----------



## cybershot (Dec 13, 2017)

Might as well update my watches whilst here.

Shame (2011) - IMDb
Michael fassbender has a sex problem. Downside is he can’t get horny for the Woman that actually likes him. He has sex with hookers and wanks on webcam with cam girls. His sister moves in to complicate things and she fucks his boss. You may as well just watch an erotic film, there’s probably a better plot.
5/10

Better Watch Out (2016) - IMDb
Kids want to impress babysitter and stage a break in. Goes bat shit crazy as one of them clearly has some issues. Should probably add it to the shit Christmas films thread.
4/10

Misery (1990) - IMDb
Rewatch of a favourite film. Kathy Bates is just brilliant in this as the mad woman imprisoning her favourite author and making him bring back her favourite character to live.
8/10

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) - IMDb
Loved the first film and despite this one having a lot more American involvement which kind of took away the Britishness of it. Julianne Moore plays a great villain. I still really enjoyed it and some good laugh out loud moments. One of my new favourite franchises I think. Hope they can keep up the high standards.
8/10

Detroit (2017) - IMDb
‘Fact based’ drama on the 1967 Detroit riots. Majority of the film is based around one night and one incident of police brutality. I’d have liked to have seen more of the court room drama to be honest but that only gets about 30 minutes at the end.
6/10


----------



## cybershot (Dec 13, 2017)

D'wards said:


> Yeah, was strange to show that, so you knew it was coming.  Watched it a few hours ago and it's still on my mind though, and most films I've largely forgotten by the end of the credits.
> 
> I'm a big fan of Aronofsky; Requiem for a Dream is in my all time top ten and I even loved The Fountain.  Oddly I turned off Noah though, and I never normally abandon films



Ditto re aronofsky. Requiem is also one of my top 10 all times I think.


----------



## Sue (Dec 14, 2017)

cybershot said:


> I watched it at the cinema. People walked out. I’m sure you can guess at which bit.
> 
> I almost did myself to be honest before ‘that’ bit. The ‘party’ scene is just a mess and goes on for fucking ages.
> 
> The beginning of the film also pretty much gave away how it was going to end, I’m not sure if that was on purpose or just that people are so thick these days that they didn’t expect anyone with more than several brain cells to see it.


I laughed a lot at the bit I'm guessing people walked out at  (no-one did when I saw it) -- it was so ludicrous and OTT it was funny and I think was meant to be too. And the party scene was surely meant to be long and nightmarish and never ending..?

I thought it was really good, if not my usual kind of thing. Interesting and with something about it which is way more than this seemingly endless stream of superheroes/prequels/sequels/remakes.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 14, 2017)

Sue said:


> I laughed a lot at the bit I'm guessing people walked out at  (no-one did when I saw it) -- it was so ludicrous and OTT it was funny and I think was meant to be too. And the party scene was surely meant to be long and nightmarish and never ending..?
> 
> I thought it was really good, if not my usual kind of thing. Interesting and with something about it which is way more than this seemingly endless stream of superheroes/prequels/sequels/remakes.



I suspect the vast majority of people that did walk out were indeed Mothers! Of young children. It seemed a common story of people that went to see it.

And just as the cinema thread the movie has done a good job of making people talk about it. It’s the marmite film of 2017. I’m not sure the party scene needed to quite go on for as long as it did to prove its point. I’m the kind of guy that will go to the toilet at the start of a fight scene because the only significant bit to the next 5-10 minutes of action regardless of how well it’s done is the final blow. I’m all for story’s progressing rather than spending too long on one thing and getting boring, so many films could be 30 mins shorter this day and age by cutting down on the drawn out scenes and that went on for significantly longer than it needed too. In my opinion.

It will go down as a flop purely based on its box office performance. Which is impressive for a type of film that should be a box office winner. It’s why studios love horrors. Cheap to make and generally always make a profit. I’m not sure it needed Jennifer Lawrence. Her fee alone probably took up a significant amount of the budget and while not damaging her career has done nothing to enhance it, where as it could have been a significant break through film for some young actress and turned its box office performance around.

But we’re talking about it, again. Which is good and may make people want to see it. Which in potentially enough to say the director did his job. The studio won’t see it that way thou.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 14, 2017)

D'wards said:


> Yeah, was strange to show that, so you knew it was coming.  Watched it a few hours ago and it's still on my mind though, and most films I've largely forgotten by the end of the credits.
> 
> I'm a big fan of Aronofsky; Requiem for a Dream is in my all time top ten and I even loved The Fountain.  Oddly I turned off Noah though, and I never normally abandon films



Not sure why The Fountain isn't appreciated more. The better half didn't like the Buddha style imagery in parts of it but I thought it was a refreshing change from, say, Catholic imagery what pops up in Scorsese movies. We're still unsure of Silence, although she preferred the novel...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 14, 2017)

D'wards said:


> Oddly I turned off Noah though, and I never normally abandon films



You missed the twist ending?!


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 14, 2017)

I don't remember ray winston being in the old testament


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 16, 2017)

Boyz n the Hood

It doesn't look too dated


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 16, 2017)

The Foreigner 

Jackie Chan and Brosnan as gerry adams. Wonderful accent. Excellent explosions, terible dialogue and a good scene where chan cauterizes his own wound with a hot knife


----------



## Maltin (Dec 16, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> The Foreigner
> 
> Jackie Chan and Brosnan as gerry adams. Wonderful accent. Excellent explosions, terible dialogue and a good scene where chan cauterizes his own wound with a hot knife


You need to update your thread

film/tv where someone cuaterizes a wound with crude field surgery.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Dec 16, 2017)

Blue Planet 2.


----------



## Poi E (Dec 17, 2017)

The Vault. Actually a bloody good little horror film despite the reviews. James Franco in it which pleased my wife. Made nods to the Shining and Driller Killer


----------



## stethoscope (Dec 17, 2017)

Dispossession: Great Housing Swindle.

Required viewing for anybody who does but particularly doesn't give a shit about what's happening with our social housing.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 17, 2017)

Lost City of Z. Amazingly, given it's about fascinating archaeological discoveries and the rough end of colonialism up the Amazon, and made on a decent budget, it's very very dull. Also seems to have been shot in the dark 90% of the time. Robert Pattinson pleasingly unrecognisable and melts into the background, mainly because of the blazing awfulness of Charlie Hunnam's acting in the lead role. He can't remember what the Yoookay is like so his attempts at an Edwardian officer-class accent and manner are absolutely painful. You know things are in trouble when Sienna Miller's doing the best work on screen. Overall rather interesting if dour because it's a big flick all about failure and left kind of unresolved.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2017)

127 hours. Bloke gets stuck in a canyon and then spends five days tripping and trying to get his arm free before deciding to break it at the elbow and hack it off. He also drinks his piss at one point. Its simple but keeps it tense enough.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 21, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> 127 hours. Bloke gets stuck in a canyon and then spends five days tripping and trying to get his arm free before deciding to break it at the elbow and hack it off. He also drinks his piss at one point. Its simple but keeps it tense enough.


Does he want a medal?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2017)

Idris2002 said:


> Does he want a medal?


we've never heard the end of it etc


I have to say my grudging respect was tempered with the thought that the man had no phone, hadn't told anyone where he was going. And it cost him an arm lol


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 23, 2017)

The Big Sick (2017)

5/10.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Dec 24, 2017)

The Last Jedi - disappointed Beginning was average, middle was shite and final picked up a tad.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 24, 2017)

It's a Wonderful Life....

For the first time ever....

Loved it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 24, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It's a Wonderful Life....
> 
> For the first time ever....
> 
> Loved it.


my favourite xmas film. B&W rather than colour for me, although I understand the technicolour version has its charms for some. I just like the subtleties of light and shadow in b&w


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 24, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> my favourite xmas film. B&W rather than colour for me, although I understand the technicolour version has its charms for some. I just like the subtleties of light and shadow in b&w



I watched the B&W version....looked fantastic...


----------



## rekil (Dec 24, 2017)

Park Yeol (2017) - IMDb Korean blockbuster about anarchists Park Yeol and Fumiko Kaneko and their trial for treason which was used to divert attention from the massacre of Koreans in the wake of Japan's 1923 earthquake. 

Taeksi Woonjunsa (2017) - IMDb Korean blockbuster about a taxi driver (funnyman/hardman Kang-Ho Song) who snuck grumpy German journo Jurgen Hinzpeter into Gwangju to cover the May 18th 1979 uprising. 

A Ghost Story - Trigger warning for 6 minute long pie scene. Neither big nor clever.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 24, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> It's a Wonderful Life....
> 
> For the first time ever....
> 
> Loved it.



I only saw it for the first time a couple of years ago. It really does deserve its reputation, it really does.


----------



## belboid (Dec 25, 2017)

DotCommunist said:


> my favourite xmas film. B&W rather than colour for me, although I understand the technicolour version has its charms for some. I just like the subtleties of light and shadow in b&w


I’ve seen the colorised Casablanca, but never IAWL (which we watched again last night too). It’s just wrong. And it just doesn’t work. The colours just don’t look right, no subtlety to them. 

Guardians of the Galaxy tonight. The kids in the house we are staying at really didn’t want to watch it. Until ten minutes in by which time they were totally engrossed.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 26, 2017)

El Camino Christmas.

A load of shit. Complete waste of time.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 26, 2017)

Blade Runner 2049.
A worthy sequel, with an atmospheric soundtrack, very much in keeping with the original style of music.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 27, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> Blade Runner 2049.
> A worthy sequel, with an atmospheric soundtrack, very much in keeping with the original style of music.


Is it online yet, I want to see it again.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 27, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> Is it online yet, I want to see it again.


Yes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 27, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> Yes.


is it a good copy? I haven't seen it at all.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 27, 2017)

no cam jobs


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 27, 2017)

Not a cam. It's a perfect stream rip: _Blade.Runner.2049.2017.1080p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H264-FGT.mkv_ Video and sound quality is excellent, even includes subtitles and is 5.64GB. There are other rips available too but you won't get a better quality version until the Blu-Ray is out in a few weeks.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 27, 2017)

Blu day rips usually follow within a few days if you want the 5.1 audio experience.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 27, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Blu day rips usually follow within a few days if you want the 5.1 audio experience.


The stream rip is 5.1


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 28, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> Yes.


In direct relation to this...

Just watched Dunkirk.

Good Nolan stuff...the stress started to build in me about 20 minutes in.  Genuinely thought I was having heart problems just after an hour.  And I loved the way they crossed each other's time-lines so many times.

Ending was a bit meh.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 28, 2017)

I watched Dunkirk today also. 

Unfortunately I just couldn’t forgive the inaccuracies which is obviously common in film versions of such events but I expect better from Nolan. I appreciate he doesn’t like using CGI but this film needed it so badly in an attempt to make it more authentic. I didn’t watch this at the cinema as I expected I’d be a bubbling mess but I just didn’t connect emotionally with it at all. 

7/10. Doesn’t even make my top 10 for the year.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 28, 2017)

cybershot said:


> I watched Dunkirk today also.
> 
> Unfortunately I just couldn’t forgive the inaccuracies which is obviously common in film versions of such events but I expect better from Nolan. I appreciate he doesn’t like using CGI but this film needed it so badly in an attempt to make it more authentic. I didn’t watch this at the cinema as I expected I’d be a bubbling mess but I just didn’t connect emotionally with it at all.
> 
> 7/10. Doesn’t even make my top 10 for the year.


If by cgi you mean



Spoiler: spoiler



1000s of fucking boats!  There was only about 12!



then I agree with you.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 28, 2017)

DexterTCN said:


> If by cgi you mean
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



yes. Pretty much the lack of everything which would have actually made this epic. More boats, more explosions, more people on the beaches, more RAF (my main grievance with the film as the RAF were made to look piss poor) and those little boats were made out to be saviours of the mission when in reality, yes they helped but not really that much, the ships at the mole were made out to be little when in reality the large ships docking there provided the majority of the evacuation, and oh yeah. Everyone was white.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 28, 2017)

Spoiler: spoiler



and 400,000 men would have been nice too


----------



## seventh bullet (Dec 29, 2017)

fishfinger said:


> Not a cam. It's a perfect stream rip: _Blade.Runner.2049.2017.1080p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H264-FGT.mkv_ Video and sound quality is excellent, even includes subtitles and is 5.64GB.



I watched that copy yesterday with my mum.  Not bad at all.  I'm glad I saw it at the cinema, though.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 29, 2017)

A few I've watched since last posting

Hell or High Water (2016) - IMDb
Really enjoyed this one, two brothers robbing banks, and the just about to retire sheriff who wants to nab them.
8/10

Eraserhead (1977) - IMDb
David Lynch's weird debut about a guy, his moany girlfriend, odd mutant child and plenty of odd trips. Hasn't dated well.
6/10

The Iron Giant (1999) - IMDb
Good to see a film animated in the kind of way I remember them as a child, it's a heart warming story and despite the typical sad ending for a kids film, it isn't a total sad ending.
7/10

'71 (2014) - IMDb
British soilder gets abonded in Belfast during a riot, but I failed to connect emotionally one way or the other with this film
6/10

The Mountain Between Us (2017) - IMDb
Random couple get stranded on a mountain with a dog after their small craft crashes. This isn't really the 'disaster' film I was hoping for, and turned out to be a completely unrealistic soppy love story.
6/10

Brazil (1985) - IMDb
More weirdness, this time from Terry Gilliam as an admin bloke tries to correct an error, falls in love with a woman from his dreams & gets blamed for terrorist bombs.
6/10

Victoria & Abdul (2017) - IMDb
Surpringsly enjoyable in a typical British flick kind of way, plenty of amusing moments and Judi plays Victoria (again) really well.
7/10

Gremlins (1984) - IMDb
Rewatch of this 1984 Christmas classic, and boy it has not aged well. Everyone in the film is an idiot and I forgot just how bad the second half of the film is, total car crash.
5/10


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 29, 2017)

cybershot said:


> A few I've watched since last posting
> 
> Hell or High Water (2016) - IMDb
> Really enjoyed this one, two brothers robbing banks, and the just about to retire sheriff who wants to nab them.
> ...


The Mountain Between Us was terrible mauling slush regularly and predictedly punctuated by heroic acts


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 29, 2017)

Jurassic World. I watched it with my son, and it ticked every big dumb action box  Plus the two kids aren't nearly as annoying as the two in Jurassic Park.


----------



## Mordi (Dec 30, 2017)

copliker said:


> Park Yeol (2017) - IMDb Korean blockbuster about anarchists Park Yeol and Fumiko Kaneko and their trial for treason which was used to divert attention from the massacre of Koreans in the wake of Japan's 1923 earthquake.
> 
> Taeksi Woonjunsa (2017) - IMDb Korean blockbuster about a taxi driver (funnyman/hardman Kang-Ho Song) who snuck grumpy German journo Jurgen Hinzpeter into Gwangju to cover the May 18th 1979 uprising.



Both on my list. Looking forward to sitting down with them properly. My partner doesn't have the patience for subtitles currently.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 30, 2017)

Contact.

First time in years. I can see the influence of 2001, Close Encounters in there. Not to mention the influence it's had on stuff since - like Arrival, Interstellar.

Lovely film but the Silvestri score is a little bit much and Zemeckis gets a bit sentimental. Still, I'd been banging on about it to the better half for ages, and she was impressed all the same.


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 30, 2017)

krtek a houby said:


> Contact.
> 
> First time in years. I can see the influence of 2001, Close Encounters in there. Not to mention the influence it's had on stuff since - like Arrival, Interstellar.
> 
> Lovely film but the Silvestri score is a little bit much and Zemeckis gets a bit sentimental. Still, I'd been banging on about it to the better half for ages, and she was impressed all the same.


Amazing shot.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 30, 2017)

A few random choices for a movie day with cheese (in both senses)

*The Amazing Mr Blunden* - quite an entertaining (if poorly acted at times) ghost story, reasonably gentle but not overlong and some decent lines. Diana Dors prob the most well known name, although there are some other familiar faces. 

*Jesus Christ Superstar* - still not sure if I liked it or not, but I was entertained throughout, even if some of the enjoyment was at the films expense. Judas was good, Jesus a bit wet. Wtf was the Herod sequence tho? 

*Road House* - very, very 80s, bit illogical and not Swayze's best performance, but some decent music, eye candy on both sides (Sam Elliott was a fine looking man) and what felt like a _lot_ of crotch punching  before the classic throat ripping.

*Idle Hands* - horror comedy that just about skates by on some good physical comedy, clever death scenes and decent effects. Early Jessica Alba a bonus


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Dec 31, 2017)

Dunkirk.

I didn't really enjoy it at all, which is a shame as I had heard (and seen) good things about the movie. Perhaps one to revisit for another try in the near future.


----------



## D'wards (Jan 1, 2018)

Lady Bird. Great. I suspected it might be a bit mumblecore, or "empowering" or about issues, but it was just a great film with great nuanced characters with all their foibles, apart from Julie and Dad maybe (who were both lovely characters).

Greta Gerwig is definitely one to look out for.

Sometimes I think reviewers, and particularly Kermode, positively discriminate against female directors  (Raw, Prevenge were merely quite good imho) but this is a genuinely really good film that justifies the hype.

Reminiscent of (but not quite as good) juno


----------



## D'wards (Jan 1, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Contact.
> 
> First time in years. I can see the influence of 2001, Close Encounters in there. Not to mention the influence it's had on stuff since - like Arrival, Interstellar.
> 
> Lovely film but the Silvestri score is a little bit much and Zemeckis gets a bit sentimental. Still, I'd been banging on about it to the better half for ages, and she was impressed all the same.


The book is great and has some high level sci fi concepts that are really interesting, but didn't put in the film as they are quite heavy


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 1, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> Amazing shot.



Cracking stuff


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 1, 2018)

'Christmas Inheritance' on Netflix.

Absolutely awful, but I enjoyed every second!


----------



## cybershot (Jan 1, 2018)

It (TV Mini-Series 1990) - IMDb
A re-watch of the original before watching the new film. It's actually aged pretty well all things considered
7/10

It (2017) - IMDb
The new version, which is more the telling of the kids story rather than done from a flashback perspective. A lot of scenes from the original are re-hashed, all in all it's a good re-boot film, but considering the hysteria the trailers caused, it wasn't as good as I expected, or because maybe I watched the original just hours before took away from it because I knew what to expect, and it may be worth actually not (re)watching the original first.
7/10

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) - IMDb
Brilliant, I almost forgot just how funny this is. So many brilliant scenes, will now go on a binge of watching the follow ups also.
9/10

American Made (2017) - IMDb
This would probably have been more enjoyable had Tom Cruise actually not been at the height of being annoying in this. The narrator parts and the parts where he talks into the camera just seemed to annoy me so much that it stopped me enjoying this. Other than that this could have been another good film in an ever growing collection of Pablo Escobar related movies.
6/10

October Sky (1999) - IMDb
The true story of a young American lad in a coal mining town who decided he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and choose to enter a national science fair with his friends and went on to become an engineer at NASA.
8/10


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 1, 2018)

cybershot said:


> It (TV Mini-Series 1990) - IMDb
> A re-watch of the original before watching the new film. It's actually aged pretty well all things considered
> 7/10
> 
> ...


did you d/l the new It? I've been waiting for a good torrent...


----------



## cybershot (Jan 1, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> did you d/l the new It? I've been waiting for a good torrent...



Yes, blu-ray rips have been available for couple of weeks.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 1, 2018)

cybershot said:


> Yes, blu-ray rips have been available for weeks.


 dammit. Well I shall watch tonight then


----------



## phillm (Jan 3, 2018)

cybershot said:


> A few to catch up on.
> 
> Good Time (2017) - IMDb
> Utter rubbish. No idea why this has such highly regarded reviews. Poor writing, poor direction, poor acting and generally just a really poor film. I can't even be bothered to go into it, so I'll just nick the IMDB blurb: After a heist goes awry, a bank robber spends a night trying to free his mentally ill brother from being sent to Riker's Island prison.
> ...



Second the Brigsby Bear nomination - a riveting watch from start to end and an amazing story arc and conceit that I think they pull off magnificently. Want to watch it again soon to see if it can survive a second viewing. Kermode is quit sniffly in damning it with faint praise and calling it a Sundance Loving Formula cranked out in the end for him to not much effect. Surprised it's not more well known has all the hallmarks of a cult classic.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 5, 2018)

been catching up on the Richard Herring podcasts FTW!!!!!!
Bladerunner - Boring
Get out - ok ... well about as good as an episode of
Black Mirror
Is the man who is tall happy- If you admire Chomsky you will like this
Pyscoville- first time ive seen it ... grrrrreaat!


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 5, 2018)

Apocalypse Now Redux - like watching a whole new film, hadn't seen the original for years and this was quite the treat. 
Handsome Devil - two pupils come to terms with being outsiders in their posh rugger obsessed school. Jim Moriarty and Roose Bolton co-star. Lightweight but fun.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 5, 2018)

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) - IMDb
More of the same Frank Drebin tom foolery, doesn't quite have the charm of the original, but still some good laughs.
7/10

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) - IMDb
Decided to watch this anyway despite the fact re-watching the original was a bad decision. Instead I came out of this one appreciating it a lot more than I did at the time, and actually thinking that this film is actually the better of the two. Instead of trying to be be, whatever the original was trying to be, this flips Gremlins on his head. It's now just a comedy, a pretty decent one. It takes the piss out of itself, there's lots of satire, tangents, and generally, it's just a lot more fun than the original.
6/10

Battle of the Sexes (2017) - IMDb
This all happened before I was born, and maybe because it's an American story, perhaps it didn't get much attention over here, because frankly this film was the first I had even heard of this. It tells a good story, the formation of the WTA for one, as well as the obvious build up to the match. The sad thing about this film in reality is, that we haven't actually moved on as much as we like to think we have in the last 40 odd years, in fact, it seems like we've hardly moved on at all. Of course assuming this film represenation of the story is accurate, I haven't checked for inaccuracies, no doubt there's some.
8/10

Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) - IMDb
Vince Vaughan stars as the hard knock you wouldn't want to piss off, but if you know him, is probably alright kind of guy. Gets sent down after being caught up with some muppets on a drug run and then gets caught up in a blackmail scenario whilst inside the slammer. It wasn't as good as I was hoping.
5/10

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) - IMDb
A film you put on because you realise you've watched the others but never finished it off, then as you're watching it, you remember why you never bothered, and that the title of the film tells you all you need to know. Basically 2 odd hours of battles. Yawn.
3/10


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 5, 2018)

Carol. Really underwhelming, just two hours of people staring intensely at each other. Cate Blanchett excellent as always though, her delivery of the only scene with any life in it (custody scene with lawyers) made me cry.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 5, 2018)

Justice League

A real mess of a film, lacking a coherent narrative and any real architectural sense of meaning. 

The Disaster Artist

A very strange film, painful to watch at times. I do wonder how much sense it will make to those who might not have seen 'The Room'. Tommy is laughing at us all.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 6, 2018)

Geostorm

It doesn't even pass the basic "pissed on a Friday night, so I quite like an apocalypse movie" test. This movie is no _San Andreas._

If you do watch, please suspend all knowledge of everything you know about physics, and basically your knowledge about everything else as well.


----------



## pesh (Jan 6, 2018)

Happy! (TV Series 2017– ) - IMDb
Happy. A hitman and an imaginary horse attempt to rescue a kidnapped girl. 
batshit crazy.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 6, 2018)

Gotti (TV Movie 1996) - IMDb

this 1996 HBO film about the rise and fall of the eponymous john gotti is decent if not electrifying fare but everyone from sopranos is in it. Near enough. Younger ish Junior, Paulie and others. DaveCinzano  this is something you would definitely watch


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 6, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> DaveCinzano  this is something you would definitely watch



Not necessarily a mark of quality 

But I see it's on YT so I guess I am fated to give it a go


----------



## rekil (Jan 6, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> DaveCinzano  this is something you would definitely watch


See also this load of cobblers. Cardboard Gangsters (2016) - IMDb


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 6, 2018)

copliker said:


> See also this load of cobblers. Cardboard Gangsters (2016) - IMDb


----------



## rekil (Jan 6, 2018)

DaveCinzano said:


>


Meath Chronicle - Tipple-loving thieves trolley dash from Aldi with €400 worth of beer


> Since their arrest and from further enquiries, gardai are satisfied that these two males are suspects for a number of thefts from the Navan and Trim areas and a number of thefts from Aldi/Lidl stores in the past 24 hours including the theft of alcohol from Lidl in Navan, theft of 'Celebrations' and 'Roses' sweets from Aldi in Ashbourne and the theft of 70 containers of sweets from Aldi in Santry.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 7, 2018)

Kenny (2017) - IMDb
A sort of biography of Liverpool FC legend Kenny Dalglish, his rise from Scotland, and most importantly his dealings with 2 of Britains worst Sporting disasters. Hillsbrough will seemingly haunt this man forever.
8/10

The Young Offenders (2016) - IMDb
Couple of Irish lads go in search of washed up cocaine. It's mildly amusing.
6/10

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) - IMDb
Frank Drebin comes out of retirement to help his old Police Squad buddies foil a terrorist attack. Too many cameos hurt the film, but still a good laugh. 
7/10

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - IMDb
Something that will no doubt get watched countless times over the coming years, and will probably cement it's place as being my favourite film of 2017
9/10

Supersonic (2016) - IMDb
A look back at Oasis during the first two albums and the lead up to the Knebworth concert.
8/10

Cast Away (2000) - IMDb
Tom Hanks finds himself in a spot of bother yet again as he gets stranded on an island after the FedEx plane he is travelling on gets caught up in a storm and crashes down into the Ocean.
8/10

Batman Returns (1992) - IMDb
Tim Burton's follow up to Batman and is one of my favourite films of the caped crusader. 
9/10


----------



## rekil (Jan 7, 2018)

Pilgrimage (2017) - IMDb Irish entry for the oscars forrin fillum category. It's 1209 and the pope wants a rock, a magic rock in a fancy box that was used to bash saint Matthew's head in, because he reckons he can use it as a wonder weapon against johnny turk. A demented dad burning holy man ropes a gaggle of monks including Tom 'Spiderman' Holland and a 'mute' PTSD'd Shane from Walking Dead into carting it across Oirland to Rome. But an evil Norman overlord wants to nick it for his king and use it as leverage or something. No colour and no women. There are several unintentionally funny bits, especially the torture prod thing and Shane's one word at the end. 

It's full of dialogue like this. 

 

It's utter rubbish.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 7, 2018)

Downsizing (2017)

This could have been so much more! Starts off with an interesting premise (more than a nod to Swift) but then starts to lose its way. The *sex* scene leads to one of the funniest questions I've seen in a film recently.


----------



## sovereignb (Jan 8, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Fresh Off The Boat.
> 
> Very much influneced by 'Everybody Hates Chris', this is funny but very interesting for the positions taken in respect of 'otherness' (largely through the references to Hip Hop by the main protagonist).



really enjoying this show at the moment


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 9, 2018)

The Lego Batman Movie

Best Batman film since Nolan.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 9, 2018)

The Foreigner (2017) - IMDb
Best Jackie Chan film in a long long while. His daughter gets killed in a apparent IRA explosion in London and he wants the names of the people responsible. Cue a trip to Northern Ireland to talk to some Irish Government, one of which played by Pierce Brosnan. Of course Jackie gets to kick ass, but in a more conventional and totally straight way. No comedy here.
7/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 9, 2018)

Young Sheldon

A very sweet comedy, with some great moments. Not sure how long it will last but a very easy going watch for fun.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 13, 2018)

Ted 2 and Gone With the Wind.

Not sure which is more offensive.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 13, 2018)

Raw - cracking French horror film.  It was either this or Get Out, which I've read so much about I feel I've seen already!  (Will watch it at some point.)


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 13, 2018)

Darkest Hour. Gary Oldman might well get his long-deserved Best Actor Oscar for this, but it's not that great a film. There's a sequence set in the Underground towards the end that is just so jarring and so unlikely that it really spoils the rest of it.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 13, 2018)

Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle. 

It wasn't a bunch of laughs by any means. I was happy and sad to see Greebo in it making her voice heard.

It's a shocking exposure of the decline of social housing in this country and it didn't offer any signs of hope for improvement.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 13, 2018)

Inland Empire - David Lynch oddity from 2006. Still letting it settle in. The imagery and especially the soundscapes/soundtrack is scratched on my brain.

The only thing that could follow that was "Fishing with John". John Lurie goes fishing with Tom Waits in Jamaica, circa '92.

Tom does his tall tales, puts a fish in his pants and gets sea sick.

What's not to like?


----------



## cybershot (Jan 14, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> The Disaster Artist
> 
> A very strange film, painful to watch at times. I do wonder how much sense it will make to those who might not have seen 'The Room'. Tommy is laughing at us all.



I hadn't seen it, but I really enjoyed this, will certainly now dig out the room itself and give it a watch. I don't think it really matters if you've seen it or not, if anything, not seeing it, makes you want to watch it, where as those who have seen it, will just appreciate this maybe slightly more than those who haven't. Overall it's a well made and enjoyable film to watch. Would be brilliant if this does get some recognition at the academy awards.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 14, 2018)

cybershot said:


> I hadn't seen it, but I really enjoyed this, will certainly now dig out the room itself and give it a watch. I don't think it really matters if you've seen it or not, if anything, not seeing it, makes you want to watch it, where as those who have seen it, will just appreciate this maybe slightly more than those who haven't. Overall it's a well made and enjoyable film to watch. Would be brilliant if this does get some recognition at the academy awards.



Definitely worth doing, I think it can only enrich your viewing of TDA.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 15, 2018)

Finally got around to *The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford.
*
Long, but possibly one of the best shot films I've ever seen, the whole thing was full of atmosphere and tension. Narration felt a bit overly wanky at times, but was useful in filling in some backstory.

Brad Pitt good (but not really stretching himself), Casey Affleck and the other supporting actors are brilliant as Ford and the rest of the James gang.

Great music too.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 15, 2018)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)

Some great acting and moments where the dialogue works very well indeed. 7/10


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 15, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)
> 
> Some great acting and moments where the dialogue works very well indeed. 7/10


McDormand for the Oscar?


----------



## Mordi (Jan 15, 2018)

The Octagon said:


> Finally got around to *The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford.*




Been thinking to watch this again. But I'm not sure watching the train robbery sequence will be as good on a smaller screen. Casey Affleck is fantastic.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 15, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> McDormand for the Oscar?



It is a great performance, and she is very well supported too. It would be a justifiable decision.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 15, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> McDormand for the Oscar?



Do you have anyone in mind for this year?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 15, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Do you have anyone in mind for this year?


McDormand.  She's great and can't get enough awards imo.


----------



## Chz (Jan 16, 2018)

Got around to watching Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Probably good to have waited, as it allowed expectations (Love the BD, who better than Luc "5th Element" Besson? Hah!) to settle a bit based on the luke-warm reviews.

It's alright. It's gorgeous, and the world-building is great. But the story set inside that world? Meh. And the male lead? Where in the hell did they find someone with that level of screen presence? The ex-model who's the female lead acts circles around him, and she's no great shakes herself. The way that he basically tries to act like Keanu Reeves should remove any doubt that Reeves actually does have some talent. 

So terrible acting, meh story, fantastic world and gorgeous. I'm still giving it an "alright" because I _want_ to like it. It's the fanboy in me, and Rihanna's cameo is fantastic.
Quite frankly, if you want a shiny, whiz-bang SF film, _Jupiter Rising_ was a lot better. The plot may have been utterly incoherent, but the leads did a decent job and it was lively. This one just sort of plods along most of the time.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 16, 2018)

Chz said:


> Rihanna's cameo is fantastic.



I just didn't get that at all. It was 30 minutes of randomness that did nothing for the story. The whole thing should have ended up on the cutting room floor and made the film shorter, which would have made it a bit more enjoyable.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 16, 2018)

*Mother! *- Not my favourite of his films, thought it was pretentious.

*Bladerunner 2049 *- Decent film but I was expecting something like the Korean movie, *Natural City.*


----------



## Chz (Jan 16, 2018)

cybershot said:


> I just didn't get that at all. It was 30 minutes of randomness that did nothing for the story. The whole thing should have ended up on the cutting room floor and made the film shorter, which would have made it a bit more enjoyable.


It was decorative, though. And since the rest of the film was very filler-ish anyhow...


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 18, 2018)

Ghost in the shell- watered down but great.
The Invitation - Brilliant horror!



krtek a houby said:


> Inland Empire - David Lynch oddity from 2006. Still letting it settle in. The imagery and especially the soundscapes/soundtrack is scratched on my brain.




I love Lynch. Probably the best film artist EVER. Truly scary stuff, and I just love the way he connects different scenes together with subliminal images.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 18, 2018)

Documentary on Lovecraft; _Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown.
_
Fascinating and makes you realise how influential the man was. Also, the doc doesn't gloss over his racism. And it's a sad almost self-imposed isolation that he was in with real success always just out of reach. But 80 years on and what a legacy. I've come to the conclusion that a helluva lot of my comic/sci fi/film preferences since I was a kid owed big time to HP's writings. That said, I wasn't really aware of him until my teens and Grant Morrison carried on the Cthulu mythos in 2000AD.


----------



## Sue (Jan 18, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Documentary on Lovecraft; _Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown.
> _
> Fascinating and makes you realise how influential the man was. Also, the doc doesn't gloss over his racism. And it's a sad almost self-imposed isolation that he was in with real success always just out of reach. But 80 years on and what a legacy. I've come to the conclusion that a helluva lot of my comic/sci fi/film preferences since I was a kid owed big time to HP's writings. That said, I wasn't really aware of him until my teens and Grant Morrison carried on the Cthulu mythos in 2000AD.


Pickman's model


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 18, 2018)

Sue said:


> Pickman's model



We're on mutual ignore, afaik


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 19, 2018)

Fuck me though is he a racist cunt.. I mean even when i was 10 when i first read all his stuff it made me sick.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 19, 2018)

Ralph Llama said:


> Fuck me though is he a racist cunt.. I mean even when i was 10 when i first read all his stuff it made me sick.



Yeah, there's no excusing that. According to the doc, he mellowed in his later years but all the same. It does leave a bitter aftertaste.

That said; what an incredible writer and spinner of frightful yarns! I see the influence he's had more clearly than ever now. He's the Kraftwerk of horror writers. Love Kraftwerk, me.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 19, 2018)

Absolutley.... the Cuthulu mythos is uber-cool !
My favourite horror film -Evil Dead 2 - was inspired by his necronomicon.

*torrents that doc


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 19, 2018)

Ralph Llama said:


> Absolutley.... the Cuthulu mythos is uber-cool !
> My favourite horror film -Evil Dead 2 - was inspired by his necronomicon.
> 
> *torrents that doc



Alien and The Thing are also inspired by HP. Even Doctor Who... 

I would love to see a decent _At the Mountains of Madness_ film.


----------



## Gromit (Jan 19, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Yeah, there's no excusing that. According to the doc, he mellowed in his later years but all the same. It does leave a bitter aftertaste.
> 
> That said; what an incredible writer and spinner of frightful yarns! I see the influence he's had more clearly than ever now. He's the Kraftwerk of horror writers. Love Kraftwerk, me.


He was born 25 years after the civil war and 18 years before Rosa Parks protests.
We cant say he was right but i would like to think that if he'd been born and raised today he wouldn't have been racists because different times n all that. No guarantees though.

Saying that maybe i should watch the documentary first. I don't actually know how he behaved.
I'll see if i can find it now.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 19, 2018)

Gromit said:


> He was born 25 years after the civil war and 18 years before Rosa Parks protests.
> We cant say he was right but i would like to think that if he'd been born and raised today he wouldn't have been racists because different times n all that. No guarantees though.
> 
> Saying that maybe i should watch the documentary first. I don't actually know how he behaved.
> I'll see if i can find it now.



Here it is


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 19, 2018)

Nice one  Torrent only had one seed
*grabs popcorn

this is great First speaker -Neil Gaimian !


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 19, 2018)

Molly's Game

This is Oscar bait, featuring a strong central performance from Jessica Chastain. Costner is good and Elba cranks his gears as fully as possible (perhaps a little too much). Is it a great film? No, but it will have strong support.

6/10


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 19, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Molly's Game
> 
> This is Oscar bait, featuring a strong central performance from Jessica Chastain. Costner is good and Elba cranks his gears as fully as possible (perhaps a little too much). Is it a great film? No, but it will have strong support.
> 
> 6/10



I really liked the first hour or so, basically until the Russians turn up. Full-on Aaron Sorkin dialogue and full-steam-ahead narrative, which I enjoy in smallish doses, but the film rather limps over the finish line. Chastain is great throughout though.


----------



## MBV (Jan 20, 2018)

It took me two sittings to finish Molly's Game. I didn't really enjoy it as much as I was expecting so agree with 6/10. I'm probably going to rewatch Call Me By Your Name tonight as I enjoyed it so much:

Call Me by Your Name (2017) - IMDb


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 21, 2018)

The Narrow Gauge - Richard Fleischer crime thriller from 1952. Plot is a policeman has to guard the wife of a (dead) mobster who is going to testify during a train trip across the states. It's all a bit standard really, not bad but strictly inferior to Fleischer's Violent Saturday he made a few years later. Best thing is the portrait it gives of US train travel in the 50s.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 21, 2018)

redsquirrel said:


> The Narrow Gauge - Richard Fleischer crime thriller from 1952. Plot is a policeman has to guard the wife of a (dead) mobster who is going to testify during a train trip across the states. It's all a bit standard really, not bad but strictly inferior to Fleischer's Violent Saturday he made a few years later. Best thing is the portrait it gives of US train travel in the 50s.


I was just thinking, ‘that sounds very similar to _The Narrow Margin_...’


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 21, 2018)

DaveCinzano said:


> I was just thinking, ‘that sounds very similar to _The Narrow Margin_...’


D'oh. Trains on the mind


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 21, 2018)

Coco (2017)

Predictable - yes - but still very sweet and moving. A film about memory, love, and the importance of family 7.5/10

American Made (2017)

Tom Cruise _acts _in this film! A good solid performance from Cruise in a fairly straight forward and enjoyable film. 7/10

(He does run in it too)


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jan 21, 2018)

Just watched Forbidden Planet, and now onto Logan's Run.  Slightly disappointed that Silent Running isn't available on archive.org.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 21, 2018)

Paddington  (one)

There was no reason for me to like this film but it's sublime.   It's a superior movie.   The jokes hit, the visuals are impressive ...well the whole thing just works.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 21, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> Paddington  (one)
> 
> There was no reason for me to like this film but it's sublime.   It's a superior movie.   The jokes hit, the visuals are impressive ...well the whole thing just works.


Plenty of reasons to like it then!


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 21, 2018)

Orang Utan said:


> Plenty of reasons to like it then!


I was genuinely impressed.  Apparently the second one is better.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 22, 2018)

Argo.

Not bad. Was expecting a little bit more grit and angst but worth a look all the same.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 23, 2018)

Thor: Ragnarok

Pirates got it leaked early so theres a HD rip on the usual places. Best Marvel film in ages. Thors generally quite a boring character but this worked  because of the humour. Genuinely funny throughout which means you put up with all the cheese storyline.


----------



## rekil (Jan 24, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Thor: Ragnarok
> 
> Pirates got it leaked early so theres a HD rip on the usual places. Best Marvel film in ages. Thors generally quite a boring character but this worked  because of the humour. Genuinely funny throughout which means you put up with all the cheese storyline.


1/10 according to this person on imdb. Now I don't know what to think.




			
				shitfilmliker said:
			
		

> Was this movie a crappy comedy? Why so many people liked it so much? What was this movie about? What was the purpose of all the jokes? Is this only for kids?
> 
> Things that bothered me: Ragnarok is supposed to mean the end of the "world" but no one took it seriously. Hela is about to conquer the world and kill everybody let's make a little joke. A fight started, oh, please, another little joke. Thor steps on a banana and falls down, ahahaha, funny. Loki - 0 power in all the movie, 0 spells, 0 abilities, just nothing, where was his power, he was so useless and did almost nothing in all the movie. Hulk - personality of a teenage boy on steroids. Thor - so funny, oh my god, joke after joke. Is he THOR or the kid of Deadpool?
> 
> I had so high expectations but this movie targeted only the kids with all the not funny jokes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 24, 2018)

copliker said:


> 1/10 according to this person on imdb. Now I don't know what to think.


Likes his norse mythos done grim faced and seriously eh? cards marked...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 24, 2018)

copliker said:


> 1/10 according to this person on imdb. Now I don't know what to think.



To be fair, shitfilmliker has pretty much summed it up.

I still enjoyed it though. Most fun superhero flick since Superman 2.


----------



## bryanthhen (Jan 24, 2018)

the dark knight, 8th time


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 24, 2018)

copliker said:


> 1/10 according to this person on imdb. Now I don't know what to think.


It's fucking awesome.

It's the funniest superhero movie ever, it has some led zep in the soundtrack...at TOTALLY APPROPRIATE PLACES...it has Jeff Goldblum...it has the hulk the best you'll ever see him.

You cannot go wrong watching it.   The God of Thunder from Down Under!


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 25, 2018)

Peaky Blinders series 4.

Nothing else like it. Loved it.


----------



## ringo (Jan 25, 2018)

Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves on the telly at the weekend. Never seen it before, or any of the Kevin Costner 'epics'. 

Needed something brain dead and it more than delivered. Can't see the slapstick attempted rape happening these days


----------



## Chz (Jan 25, 2018)

Oh christ, we had that on too. I simply didn't remember it being that _intensely_ awful. I just thought it was a bad film, but really it's a complete disaster on all levels. Far better to watch two episodes of Robin of Sherwood back-to-back, even the wanky ones with Herne the fucking Hunter in them.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 25, 2018)

it's a stone cold classic you heathens. Morgan Freeman pins a witch to a wall with a big spear. 'WITH A SPOON' and my personal fave, the bit in the burning sherwood tree camp. Littlejohn's standing up in the tree and bellows 'FANNNY!'

that was fucking hilarious when I were a lad


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 25, 2018)

Christian Slater's accent alone makes that film unmissable, let alone Alan Rickman going full ham.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 25, 2018)

the anti-celt racism that passes you by as a kid. Nottinghams men are easily defeated but then the celts get hired and they all look like bestial devils


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 25, 2018)

ringo said:


> Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves on the telly at the weekend. Never seen it before, or any of the Kevin Costner 'epics'.
> 
> Needed something brain dead and it more than delivered. Can't see the slapstick attempted rape happening these days



That fucking song, though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 25, 2018)

Legend. Ridley Scott fantasy/dark fairytale from 85. I think it's the European version, as it has the Jerry Goldsmith score, rather than Tangerine Dream. I sometimes forget that there was a lot of this genre type movie about, back then. Dark Crystal, Labyrinth,Return to Oz, Time Bandits, Company of Wolves. I'm guessing Willow is in there, too. Haven't seen it.

But yeah, Legend. Looks lovely,as you'd expect from Scott. But it feels strange (and it felt out of sorts when I first saw it years back). Tom Cruise is all Peter Pan/Michael Jackson, there's the odd anachronism like "adios, amigo", the characters don't really establish themselves, even Tim Curry's Sith-like villain. And the unicorns and whale songs!


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 25, 2018)

Couple more crime/noir pieces from the 50s 

On Dangerous Ground - Nicholas Ray noir starring Robert Ryan as a cop who's sent out of the city and into the county to learn how to deal with people where he meets Ida Lupino. Ryan, Lupino and Ray all do their best but are held back by the plot and script. Not terrible but a long, long way from Ray's best. 

The Lineup - crime film by Don Siegel, apparently a spin off from a TV series, starring a young Eli Wallach. Wallach plays a killer hired to collect a series of drug shipments that the police are also after, cue killings and kidnappings. It's rather good, Wallach is nicely cold as the killer, action scenes well as well done as you'd expect from Siegel and San Francisco makes an excellent backdrop. There's a couple of gaping plot holes but all in all very enjoyable.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 25, 2018)

The Girl on the Train. Nowhere near as bad a critics made out. It's an adequate enough thriller, with a good central performance from Emily Blunt (who does a great job playing an alcoholic).  It's a glum and miserable though.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jan 27, 2018)

*Krasnye dyavolyata [The Red Imps / Little Red Devils] (1923) *The added rousing soundtrack with a mix of music styles from classical to folk singing along with sound effects is the star here, also interesting is a black actor [Kador Ben-Salim] playing a leading role in a 1923 Russian film. This is no Battleship Potemkin but the movie is a fun action adventure romp set in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War of Red vs White armies, with Nestor "Batko" Makhno's Makhnovist army also being baddies here, with the usual Commie propaganda points covered. It was a big hit at the time and they made another four sequels in 1926. The plot concerns a brother and sister who both fantasize about being characters Hunter & Hornet from their favourite novels, they get to become action heroes when their father is killed by Makhno's bandits and they swear to avenge him, joining up with a afro-american sailor who has jumped ship along the way. The plot is a bit hard to follow at times, IMDb has it down as 2 hours long but mine was only 1hr 23 so must be some parts missing / lost - hence characters occasionally appear out of nowhere with no introduction, the print is a little dark too adding to the problem. A full length well restored version of this with the soundtrack in synch & the subs well translated would definitely be a classic.

there are subs lurking about the usual sites


----------



## starfish (Jan 27, 2018)

Watched The Foreigner last weekend. Id read the book its based on, The Chinaman by Stephen Leather, years ago & thought it would make a good film & i was right, it was bloody good. Even ms starfish liked it despite her initial objections.

We then watched The Red Turtle which was just beautiful. A perfect film for a wet sunday afternoon.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 28, 2018)

Watched _Groundhog Day_.

Again.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 28, 2018)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The Girl on the Train. Nowhere near as bad a critics made out. It's an adequate enough thriller,


It's terrible, no tension whatsoever. _Gone Girl_ was no masterpiece but it was a throughly decent thriller, TGONT wasn't even that. 

_Charley Varrick_ - Excellent Don Siegel heist film starring Walter Matthau, not really sure why it's not better know. Good central performances, nicely drawn bit parts, good script. 

_Mischief Night_ - full length feature film by Penny Woolcock that serves as the last part of the _Tina_ trilogy, doesn't quite live up to the quality of the first two parts but still very good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 28, 2018)

Bright - Will Smith in a film by the guy who made Sucide Squad. Marginally better. The premise is great; set in an alternate world where an age of fantasy existed. Present day LA has humans, elves, orcs etc living side by side but not necessarily in harmony. Alien Nation probably did it better.

Obligatory scene of Smith being a good dad. I wonder is that something he insists in, when he signs up for a picture?


----------



## imposs1904 (Jan 28, 2018)

Victor Crowley (2017)

Comedy-Horror slasher flick. Not a genre of movie I'd usually watch but it was (intentionally) funnier than most comedies. Recommended.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 28, 2018)

Loving Vincent (2017) - IMDb
Each frame is apparently done by oil painting. It looks good, too good, and it does appear to have been based off green screen type stuff (Loving Vincent: The film made entirely of oil paintings) However I did find some of it to make me feel a little dizzy. Probably just me.
The story itself is about a lad who is trying to deliver Vincent's last letter, and ends up being a kind of investigation into his last days of being alive.

I'm giving it a 6/10 but that's mainly for how the film was done to be fair. The story itself really isn't that interesting, but it's a feat in film-making.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 28, 2018)

The Founder (on Amazon) - Michael Keaton stars as Ray Kroc, the man who (while wasn't the founder) grew McDonalds to the worldwide business it is today.

Keaton plays Kroc as a likeable, but failing, travelling salesman, alone in hotel rooms listening to motivational records, who stumbles upon the McDonald brothers little burger joint where they have developed a way to deliver prefect burgers and shakes quickly and efficiently. In this he sees an opportunity and talks the very humble McD brothers into starting a franchise operation.....this takes off, but for Kroc the next buck is never far from his sights and he wants more more more....regardless of what is in his way.

It's an interesting film, and entertaining, but ultimately it boils down to the bastards win and the good guys get sucker punched out of the game, and that is what underpins the American dream; Take what you want and fuck everyone else.....

So for all it's brightly coloured 50s nostalgia and an enigmatic performance by Keaton, it's basically a film about a loser who hits the big time by being a cunt to the very people who offered him the opportunity in the first place.

Oh, and they completely waste Laura Dern having her play his wife who just sits at home a lot waiting for him to take her out to dinner.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 28, 2018)

Isn't that the point? He's a cunt.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 29, 2018)

TruXta said:


> Isn't that the point? He's a cunt.



I'm not sure what the film's purpose is.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 29, 2018)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I'm not sure what the film's purpose is.


Surely not to show Kroc in a good light.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 29, 2018)

Manhunt: Unabomber - Rather over-stretched (could have been a few eps shorter IMO) but better and certainly much more compelling than you might think. Several cuts above the usual FBI profiling / true crime / airbrushed crime drama. Visually it's positively arty- some really well-done prefiguring and a nice weaving of nature motifs throughout; Paul Bettany does terrific work at opening a small window into Ted Kaczynski's thought process, not easy with an antisocial hermit; there's some agreeably acerbic stuff on FBI machine politics and how the media (and toads in the law-enforcemtn hierarchy) get to sway how these sorts of 'manhunt' stories are told. And without soft-pedalling the impact on the bombs' victims at all, it quietly points out, again and again, and sometimes quite subtly: didn't this guy have a point after all?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 29, 2018)

Downsizing

funny in places and nicely odd. Props to both the serbian nieghbour and the vietnamese dissident. I know it wasn't meant to be that sort of film but I did hope for at least one fight with an insect.


----------



## marty21 (Jan 29, 2018)

Blade Runner - The Director's Cut - haven't seen the original for years - it is still a fantastic film


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 29, 2018)

coogan's bluff - not seen it before, had a few good moments. but very much not eastwood's finest feature.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 29, 2018)

TruXta said:


> Surely not to show Kroc in a good light.



It doesn't go out of its way to show him in a bad light. If anything if presents the original owners as a couple of unambitious nice guy losers, and while not quite celebrating Kroc's ruthlessness certainly doesn't condemn him for it.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 30, 2018)

Made in Dagenham - fucking BRILLIANT, love love loved it  

Girl With A Pearl Earring - read the book years ago, enjoyed the film.

Into The Forest - a good film, if dark and disturbing at times, with one of the shittest fucking endings ever 

Noah - errr  That's...an _interesting _interpretation


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jan 30, 2018)

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

That Denzel can act is unquestionable, and here his performance is very strong indeed. Unfortunately it is the only thing about the film that is of note (except for the soundtrack), with a female lead providing little more than an attractive but unconvincing social activist cypher (Carmen Ejogo) and Colin Farrell being as uneven as ever - in his performance as a transformation (not helped by the way his character has been written). It really isn't clear what the film is trying to achieve, or indeed the audience for which it was intended - and the ending is deeply unconvincing and problematic.

5/10 for the film.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 1, 2018)

The Shape of Water.

This started with the suggestion of something good - a possible exploration of sexuality, otherness, power, religion, only to slowly unfurl in to a beautiful confection with little or no substance. It is a joy to watch the careful composition of colour, scene, and movement but this is not matched by the story - shallow and unsophisticated.

6/10


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 1, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> The Shape of Water.
> 
> This started with the suggestion of something good - a possible exploration of sexuality, otherness, power, religion, only to slowly unfurl in to a beautiful confection with little or no substance. It is a joy to watch the careful composition of colour, scene, and movement but this is not matched by the story - shallow and unsophisticated.
> 
> 6/10


I disagree about substance.   Sally Hawkins, playing a mute, gives an exceptionally expressive performance.   The film is all about her journey, her limits, crossing those limits.

And masturbating, lots of masturbating.   

I agree it's a joy to watch though.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 1, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> I disagree about substance.   Sally Hawkins, playing a mute, gives an exceptionally expressive performance.   The film is all about her journey, her limits, crossing those limits.
> 
> And masturbating, lots of masturbating.
> 
> I agree it's a joy to watch though.



The opening scene was fantastic - but contributed to the sense of disappointment that followed - it started out very strongly placing the woman's sexuality before the viewer - only to fall away.

Post

This is a very old fashioned film, presenting the world as a place free of moral ambiguity or difficulty. It is a piece of self-conscious Amercian myth making - and (despite the presence of Hanks and Streep) is utterly dull as a result.

4.5/10


----------



## cybershot (Feb 2, 2018)

The Snowman (2017) - IMDb
Everything about this film said I should have loved it, however it's just plainly poorly executed and with a terrible predictable ending. Every cliche that you could ever put into a murder/mystery/serial killer story is here and there is a reason a lot of this stuff gets  made for multipart TV dramas these days.
5/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2018)

cybershot said:


> The Snowman (2017) - IMDb
> Everything about this film said I should have loved it, however it's just plainly poorly executed and with a terrible predictable ending. Every cliche that you could ever put into a murder/mystery/serial killer story is here and there is a reason a lot of this stuff gets  made for multipart TV dramas these days.
> 5/10



Haven't seen it but the Jo Nesbo books are pretty enjoyable. Yeah, the maverick cop, enemies within the force, hard drinking cliches are there but over the series you're pretty much rooting for Harry.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 2, 2018)

I, Tonya

A very enjoyable film, featuring some great acting. Margot Robbie is good, Allison Janney is especially compelling as her Mother.

8.5/10


----------



## 8115 (Feb 2, 2018)

Small time.

Tonight, Movern Callar. Ace film.


----------



## samkosenko (Feb 3, 2018)

into the mind, 2013.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 4, 2018)

Get Out

A 'B movie' setting itself up as a critique of white liberal racism - but failing so very hard to escape the paradigm it wants to subvert. Oscar worthy? No. 

But don't say that out loud.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 4, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> But don't say that out loud.


How telling.


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 4, 2018)

Birdman    Fantastic film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 4, 2018)

Seven Psychopaths. Not up there with Bruges and Billboards but better than expected. Walken in particular.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 4, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Seven Psychopaths. Not up there with Bruges and Billboards but better than expected. Walken in particular.


Great film


----------



## magneze (Feb 4, 2018)

Thor: Ragnarok - really entertaining all the way through. An easy watch.


----------



## Chz (Feb 4, 2018)

Takes the piss out of itself without being irritating like Deadpool.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 4, 2018)

Loki was top notch.


----------



## yardbird (Feb 4, 2018)

Series IV - I've only just started. I'll watch until I'm up to current transmission, then each week.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 4, 2018)

The Best Pair of Legs in the Business

Reg Varney playing Sherry, an aging female impersonator who is past his parime and working on a caravan site. He's living in the past and can't see what's crumbling around him.  Mainly watched out of morbid fascination.  5/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 5, 2018)

Under an Arctic Sky - short doc on surfing in remote west Iceland. Stunning scenery.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 6, 2018)

*Thor Ragnarok*

It was mostly well done, but they veered too far into the comedy side at times, Taika Wahiti should really have restrained himself, particularly with regard to the self-indulgent Korg character (although "Piss off ghost" was the best joke in the film ).

Thor himself definitely benefited from the lighter tone, as did Loki and Banner, but the whole thing felt lightweight. Goldblum being Goldblum didn't really help in that respect.

Cate Blanchett hammed it up pretty well, is it damning with faint praise to say she was the best Thor villain so far?

Cracking music though, and Tessa Thompson was great (loved her since Veronica Mars tbf), a good step up from Natalie Portman's bored appearances as Jane.

Also, weirdest Matt Damon cameo since Eurotrip.

7/10


----------



## cybershot (Feb 6, 2018)

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017) - IMDb
Telling the story of how the creator of the lie detector test also came up with the idea of wonder woman via his polyamorous relationship with his wife & lover and also the relationship between his wife and his lover, who all lived together and raised their kids together! As well as the basic fundamentals of bondage and submission being a key factor in many of Wonder Woman's early outings!
6/10


----------



## sovereignb (Feb 6, 2018)

A film called Downsizing...first half hour was pleasant enough but then descended into a completely different film
Dissapointing.


----------



## moody (Feb 8, 2018)

on the iplayer at the mo,

Birdman,  random watch but done it twice now...  great movie & oscar winner.

Michael Keaton plays in an  powerful, Oscar-winning drama about a former movie star, haunted by self-doubt, who gambles all on mounting a Broadway production of a Raymond Carver short story on Broadway.

Fast paced and really cool camera.

18 days left......

Birdman


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 8, 2018)

Altered Carbon

Visually beautiful, bearing the imprint of many films. The story? Less impressive - but undoubtedly worth your time.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 10, 2018)

Black Mirror - Hated in the Nation. Probably my favourite episode so far. Exceptional. We followed that with the USS Callister ep, which, although enjoyable, couldn't top the previous ep.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 10, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Black Mirror - Hated in the Nation. Probably my favourite episode so far. Exceptional. We followed that with the USS Callister ep, which, although enjoyable, couldn't top the previous ep.



That was one of my top episodes. It felt a bit more complete than lots of the episodes can seem like little more than a good idea with a flimsy plot attached.


----------



## moody (Feb 10, 2018)

just found a decent copy of the bladerunner sequel,  looks good if a little slow so far,  gonna watch again another day as with a mate atm who is distracting a little.


+ he not even seen the first one yet!


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 11, 2018)

_The Running Man_ - 1963 Carol Reed thriller starring Lee Remik, Laurence Harvey and Alan Bates. Despite all that talent they still can't pull this mess into something decent, and Harvey's blond hair and moustache are appalling.


----------



## cybershot (Feb 11, 2018)

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) - IMDb
Denzel Washington plays a defence attorney who finds himself out of a job after his partner has a heart attack, after failing to find work he gives in and works for the man his partners family sold the business too. In between this he does something that breaks the rules of his profession and everything tumbles slowly out of control. I say slowly, because everything in the film is supposed to happen within a 3 week period!
8/10

Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) - IMDb
If you've seen the others you know what to expect. A few laughs, silliness and a happy ending.
7/10


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 11, 2018)

Alien Covenant - meh


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 12, 2018)

Lady Bird - it was funny, touching, sad, well written, well directed, a great turn from Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as Lady Bird's Mum.

A real showcase for Greta Gerwig's talents.


----------



## belboid (Feb 12, 2018)

Cloverfield Paradox

An hour and forty two minutes of my life I’ll never get back. The very end scene was quite good.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 12, 2018)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Lady Bird - it was funny, touching, sad, well written, well directed, a great turn from Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as Lady Bird's Mum.
> 
> A real showcase for Greta Gerwig's talents.


Metcalf was great, but other than that I didn't quite see what all the fuss was about.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 13, 2018)

TruXta said:


> Metcalf was great, but other than that I didn't quite see what all the fuss was about.



Almost everything you post on this thread is negative so your opinion is no suprise.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Feb 13, 2018)

Realive (2016) from Spanish director Mateo Gil, who wrote Open Your Eyes and The Sea Inside, about a man who is the first person to be brought back to life, after being cryogenically frozen, when medical technology has advanced enough in 2084. It explores some of the momentous morel & ethical questions this asks but doesn't really delve deep enough but instead focuses more on the romance story lines. Could of been better but I still enjoyed this this and would recommend it if you fancy some sci-fi that's a bit more thoughtful.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 13, 2018)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Almost everything you post on this thread is negative so your opinion is no suprise.


Only positive opinions allowed?


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 13, 2018)

TruXta said:


> Only positive opinions allowed?



Clearly not from you.


----------



## sovereignb (Feb 13, 2018)

Surburbicon - B-


----------



## not-bono-ever (Feb 15, 2018)

The Lobster

I got it, dont mistake that. I definately got it. but a metaphor too far , far too often.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Feb 15, 2018)

Throbbing Angel said:


> View attachment 126741
> 
> The Best Pair of Legs in the Business
> 
> Reg Varney playing Sherry, an aging female impersonator who is past his parime and working on a caravan site. He's living in the past and can't see what's crumbling around him.  Mainly watched out of morbid fascination.  5/10



I found it fascinating.Given  the Reg CV, its a grim watch. maybe a brave one for him at the time.Unlikely to want to see it again though


----------



## cybershot (Feb 15, 2018)

Daddy's Home (2015) - IMDb
A typical Will Ferrell comedy, they arn't as good as they used to be, but how many time can you tell the same jokes. Still has a few highlights thou.
6/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 15, 2018)

Lady Bird

A vehicle for Saoirse Ronan, and she completely occupies the space made available to her. The problem here is that the film is entirely orientated _by her_, not _through her_, and this means that the other characters remain curiously detached. The relationship with her Mother, and the nature of female interaction which is so crucial to the film, thereby suffers. It is a true 'coming of age' film, by way of a highly particularised gender gaze that wishes to escape the apparent subordination and terrors of the universal. 

7/10


----------



## cybershot (Feb 16, 2018)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) - IMDb
Slow paced, though provoking, and also quite very silly. In the 70s and 80s this would probably have got reviewed as being one of the best horror/mystery films ever made and probably would have still had cult status today, however in 2017, redoing this kind of stuff won't see you make any top 250 lists anytime soon.
7/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 18, 2018)

Sunshine on Leith

Wonderful little musical with Jane Horrocks, Peter Mullan. And a soundtrack by The Proclaimers, which made me well up. In a good way.


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 19, 2018)

Troy: Fall of a City

in this version of the tale Paris is a _total lad._ no cliche left unexpressed, no nuance bothered with. Absolute rubbish. trabuquera I defy you to find something of value in this


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 19, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Troy: Fall of a City
> 
> in this version of the tale Paris is a _total lad._ no cliche left unexpressed, no nuance bothered with. Absolute rubbish. trabuquera I defy you to find something of value in this


Do they at least have the wooden horse?


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 19, 2018)

Idris2002 said:


> Do they at least have the wooden horse?


not yet. Its the inauspicious first episode of a thing on the Beeb and the gods wept to see it. Or I did, which amounts to the same thing these days


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 19, 2018)

'oh look theres a distraught looking sketchy woman wringing her hands. Cassandra? yeah its cassandra.' etc


----------



## TruXta (Feb 19, 2018)

OH briefly turned it on, first thing we saw was a bare arse bobbing up and down in a field. Left it at that.


----------



## cybershot (Feb 19, 2018)

Miss Sloane (2016) - IMDb
Absolutely loved this, but then I do have a thing for American politics and combined with Jessica Chastain who is probably my favourite actress at the moment it was going to be a hit for me from the off. It's also a good time to watch this sort of film. It's centered around gun control, and American politicians almost have to be convinced or blackmailed into which way they are going to vote. With it being a mid-term in 2018 in America and guns again being the center of attention, it's a very current climate film. Let's hope the potential mass walkouts from Schools happen, because it's clear the only way reform will happen on this on in the states is by mass people power.
9/10

Munich (2005) - IMDb
Based on the Black September aftermath and the group of men 'hired' by the Government to eliminate those responsible. 
7/10


----------



## sojourner (Feb 19, 2018)

I only found out about the BFI Player very recently, so we watched Paddington 2 on it yesterday, cos both been dying to watch it.

Fucking LOVED it. Bit of a hangover made the pair of us more emotional than we'd normally be, and we were in tears at various points


----------



## ringo (Feb 19, 2018)

Early Man. 
Disappointing. I thought it would be about discovering new technologies or some other prehistoric events. Its about football. Nothing else, just football. The smallest child was even more disappointed.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 19, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Troy: Fall of a City
> 
> in this version of the tale Paris is a _total lad._ no cliche left unexpressed, no nuance bothered with. Absolute rubbish. trabuquera I defy you to find something of value in this



I have not seen the film but you do have to expect Paris to have been a bit of a upstart - going off with Menelaus' wife - what on earth did he expect?!


----------



## flypanam (Feb 19, 2018)

Sergei Bondarchuk's Waterloo.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 19, 2018)

Kung Fury 

This could be seen as an ironic work of genius or a misguided piss take of the highest order. I'll go for the former.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 19, 2018)

Nope DotCommunist - I am in 100% agreement with you on this one. No redeeming values whatsoever*. Not even camp and amusing, not even breathtakingly bad, just so. fucking. DULL. No decent acting, not a worthwhile line in the script, not even any gratuitously anachronistic gym-honed physiques or elaborate swearing to goggle at. Aarggghghhh! A tale that's survived at least 3 millennia and killed stone dead by the BBC and crushing boredom. Also, wtf with the Regency-style frilled lace collars on a Bronze Age lady's neck? "Troy, Fall of a City" nah, "Troy, Complete Collapse of Interest" might have been more like it. 

(* and bear in mind I even sort of kind of enjoyed the atrocious Hollywood _Troy, _so this is saying something.)


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 19, 2018)

trabuquera said:


> Nope DotCommunist - I am in 100% agreement with you on this one. No redeeming values whatsoever*. Not even camp and amusing, not even breathtakingly bad, just so. fucking. DULL. No decent acting, not a worthwhile line in the script, not even any gratuitously anachronistic gym-honed physiques or elaborate swearing to goggle at. Aarggghghhh! A tale that's survived at least 3 millennia and killed stone dead by the BBC and crushing boredom. Also, wtf with the Regency-style frilled lace collars on a Bronze Age lady's neck? "Troy, Fall of a City" nah, "Troy, Complete Collapse of Interest" might have been more like it.
> 
> (* and bear in mind I even sort of kind of enjoyed the atrocious Hollywood _Troy, _so this is saying something.)


Colin Farrell looks like a young George Bush Jr in that Troy film


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 19, 2018)

The troy film had some good fights if I recall correctly. Both single combat and battle. I'm still not 100% sure on the plot of Kingdom of Heaven but I even watched the directors cut for the battle/plumage/chevalerie
What Trab said about the dialogue. Spartacus: Blood and Sand had some fucking great dialogue, who can forget Batiatus in full on rant mode. But this has been weak. I'll half watch the second episode to see if anything happens. Truxta basically caught it the highpoint then wisely sacked it off


----------



## Sue (Feb 19, 2018)

Orang Utan said:


> Colin Farrell looks like a young George Bush Jr in that Troy film
> View attachment 127840


Was that not Alexander where Angelina Jolie was playing his mother ffs? Both films were awful IIRC.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 19, 2018)

Sue said:


> Was that not Alexander where Angelina Jolie was playing his mother ffs? Both films were awful IIRC.


Oh fuck yea it is. Both came out around the same time and both are indeeddreadful


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 21, 2018)

Brigsby Bear - Given the subject matter this could have a been a very dark and funny film, and if Michel Gondry or Charlie Kaufman had been involved it might have been just that, but instead it stays on the light and fluffy side. It still manages to be fun, and sweet, and perfectly good light entertainment (or as light as the story of a kidnapped kid who had been kept in a bunker until adulthood could possibly ever be). It's Be Kind Rewind by way of Napoleon Dynamite dipped in sugar and whimsy.


----------



## cybershot (Feb 22, 2018)

Realised I've missed a few out recently.

Marshall (2017) - IMDb
Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice on a case has he also trains up his first white colleague.
7/10

Last Flag Flying (2017) - IMDb
What looks like a good fun film as 3 war vets help one of their former comrades in retrieving the body of his dead son from war turns out to just be a stereotypical American film that covers every cliche possible about ex war vets.
5/10

Brad's Status (2017) - IMDb
Ben Stiller takes on the role of honest dad whose lived a normal life, going to visit colleges with his son, and realising along the way that all his ex college friends have all done better in life than him. Or have they!
5/10

LBJ (2016) - IMDb
Woody Harrelson is superb as Lyndon Baines Johnson in this biopic that documents his original run for leader of the Democrats against JFK, to becoming his running mate/vice president and eventually his successor, and carrying out the visions of his assassinated colleague, despite having very opposing views in the early days.
6/10

Crooked House (2017) - IMDb
An old Agatha Cristie tale with what was back then i guess a bit of a dark twist. These days, it's not that exciting or anything new, some good performances thou.
6/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 22, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> The troy film had some good fights if I recall correctly. Both single combat and battle. I'm still not 100% sure on the plot of Kingdom of Heaven but I even watched the directors cut for the battle/plumage/chevalerie
> What Trab said about the dialogue. Spartacus: Blood and Sand had some fucking great dialogue, who can forget Batiatus in full on rant mode. But this has been weak. I'll half watch the second episode to see if anything happens. Truxta basically caught it the highpoint then wisely sacked it off



Great dialogue? Are you serious?


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 22, 2018)

Alien: Covenant

I thought I would try again - not worth the effort. It really is lazy film-making of the highest order, despite the visual beauty of some scenes.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 22, 2018)

Beats & Pieces said:


> Alien: Covenant
> 
> I thought I would try again - not worth the effort. It really is lazy film-making of the highest order, despite the visual beauty of some scenes.



I ended up watching it over 3 sittings because I just wasn't held by it.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 22, 2018)

Catching up on latest season of *Legends of Tomorrow*, probably the most comic-book-campy of all the DC / Marvel TV shows right now.

Agents of SHIELD may be the best IMO, but it doesn't have (mild spoilers) a twice-resurrected bisexual master-assassin being mind controlled by a giant psychic gorilla who's hanging onto a time ship while they fly above a forest in Vietnam currently being napalmed.

Oh, and then she's incapacitated with a frying pan by Isaac Newton, who was Bill & Tedded onto the ship to help solve a physics problem, with the promise of cake 

Gloriously stupid but very watchable.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 22, 2018)

Finished The Punisher Season 1.

As a fan of the comics, I found the series pleasing and superior to all of the other Marvel TV series (Luke Cage, Iron Fist etc)


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 22, 2018)

Bigger Stronger Faster (2008)

Really interesting, but a little too long and rambling.


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 23, 2018)

Goldstone (2016)

Excellent Australian thriller about murky deeds in the outback. The director, Ivan Sen, also wrote it, scored it, edited it, and, because he was at a loose end at the weekend, decided to do the cinematography for the film too.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Feb 26, 2018)

Gran Torino

A typically assured film by Eastwood, really very good.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 26, 2018)

Saints & Strangers - Netflix take on the European settlement of New England. Mostly earnest and plodding, slight moves to a more revisionist approach (there's plenty of Native American actors apparently speaking in Massachusett (?) for long sequences,  and quite a lot on the internal divisions and complicated faction politics among both British and Native Americans, and a few glimmers of feminism). Ends on a nicely doomy note too. Quite a lot of sense of the sheer cold and labour and hunger and disease and getting whittled away aspect. Surprisingly high-level cast (inc Ray Stevenson, Vincent Kartheiser, Natasha McElhone) do their best, but YET AGAIN a weak script with no sense of the language or the beliefs of the time. Not nearly enough bonkers Christian messianism there for a start. But ooh it does go on (2 x 90 min eps) and honestly you'd be better off watching Terrence Malick's _The New World, _which is weirder and better in almost every way.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 27, 2018)

A Fistful of Dollars.

The poor dubbing was a tad distracting, but overall still enjoyable, Eastwood had some great charisma and the music is excellent.

Looking forward to watching the other two in the trilogy and delving into the special features on the Blu-Ray, there's some good documentaries and commentaries on there.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 27, 2018)

The Octagon said:


> A Fistful of Dollars.
> 
> The poor dubbing was a tad distracting, but overall still enjoyable, Eastwood had some great charisma and the music is excellent.
> 
> Looking forward to watching the other two in the trilogy and delving into the special features on the Blu-Ray, there's some good documentaries and commentaries on there.



They didn't actually record any sound when making those euro-westerns. It was all added afterwards (The same for Once Upon A Time in America - everything was added later)


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 27, 2018)

Nanker Phelge said:


> They didn't actually record any sound when making those euro-westerns. It was all added afterwards (The same for Once Upon A Time in America - everything was added later)



Interesting, it does show, at least I'm prepped for it next time.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 27, 2018)

The Octagon said:


> Interesting, it does show, at least I'm prepped for it next time.



Once Upon A Time in the West has some great sound work on it......along with the usual dubbing of all the Euro actors by Americans


----------



## sojourner (Feb 27, 2018)

The Wind That Shakes The Barley.  Great film, depressing and fist-pumpingly infuriating at the same time. Standard Loach.

Also - I have a rare male crush - Cillian Murphy. Good god - those eyes, that face


----------



## magneze (Feb 27, 2018)

The Shape Of Water
Shouldn't work but it does. Suspension of disbelief required.

I, Tonya
Pretty interesting film but what's true and what isn't? The film could have have gone into that a bit more.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2018)

mother! Pretentious guff but wow at the visuals and especially the sound design.
I managed to dodge reviews of this, thankfully as I think they would have put me off. Though I 'read' it as analogous with fairy tales, rather than the Bible


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2018)

docu 'seven wonders of the industrial world'. Its a series, this one was on the baselgette London sewage system. Which is an amazing piece of work. My admiration for it was tempered only by how it took 7 years to get the green light and money and in the meantime the dead of the east end from cholera numbered tens of thousands. Only when the stink reache parliament in true evil form did they drop 3 mill on the project. Amazing it is too. Panama Canal next, bet that ones built on bones as well


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 28, 2018)

Finished Altered Carbon. Solid B movie stuff. Looks great. Think I preferred Discovery and Expanse,though.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 1, 2018)

Captain America: Civil War

This is a lot better now Homecoming, Ant Man and Black Panther have been released.


----------



## 8115 (Mar 1, 2018)

Orang Utan said:


> mother! Pretentious guff but wow at the visuals and especially the sound design.
> I managed to dodge reviews of this, thankfully as I think they would have put me off. Though I 'read' it as analogous with fairy tales, rather than the Bible


I hated mother! The set up was ok but I couldn't stand the rest of it.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 3, 2018)

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - IMDb
It kind of feels like Kenneth Branagh just really wanted to play Poirot, and to fulfil that dream he had to find a way of doing it for himself as he stars and directs this Agatha Cristie classic (the 2nd one of watched on the trot) and much like Crooked House in the current era it just doesn't feel engrossing enough for a feature length film in one sitting. Visually stunning the film falls flat due to the restrictions of classic who done it methods.
5/10


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 4, 2018)

Trolls. A lovely rainbow coloured slice of pleasure. Made me quite teary in my hideously hungover state.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 4, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> Trolls. A lovely rainbow coloured slice of pleasure. Made me quite teary in my hideously hungover state.


I saw it on New Years Day at 10 am in the movies . Great soundtrack.


----------



## belboid (Mar 4, 2018)

Lady Bird


A very good debut from Greta Gerwig. Saoirse Ronan is very good, tho it’s Laurie Metcalfe who is outstanding. The script starts and ends a bit weakly and predictably, but for the most part it was top notch.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 4, 2018)

Thor Ragnorak - loved it. Very 80s feel.

Justice League - shite.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 5, 2018)

High Rise - Ben Wheatley takes on JG Ballard. Visually sublime, great soundtrack & score and feels like Kubrick in parts.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 5, 2018)

Bit of a binge this weekend while snowed in.

The Florida Project (2017) - IMDb
Follows the exploits mainly of a young girl during the summer holidays in the backlight of Disneyland as her mum, living out of a motel struggles the balancing act.
7/10

Room (2015) - IMDb
Different to what I was expecting


Spoiler



Was expecting the majority of the film to be based in the room


 but none the less a very good tale of how a young boy comes to terms with life outside the room. Was surprised to see Brie Larrson won the Oscar for this performance. I personally would have assumed she also, would be a hell of lot more traumitised from the expierence, but just seemed to take it in her stride.
7/10

Big Hero 6 (2014) - IMDb
Typical modern day Disney film. Young boy takes over project from brother to discover a sinister plot with the help of his brothers work colleagues. Bit dissapointed that every chrachter in this had to fit all the American sterotypes, including every female being stick thin.
6/10

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) - IMDb
Day dreamer Walter Mitty embarks on a journey to find a lost negative for his failing employer. It's one of those feel good happy films that you can't help but enjoy as everything unrealistically falls into the place and we the viewer daydream that our lives could actually be like that!
8/10


----------



## magneze (Mar 5, 2018)

1922
Alright.

Snowden
Really good - well worth the watch.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 5, 2018)

The Goonies

Well, having avoided it at the cinema initially because it looked a bit silly, I caught the end of it on telly some years later and still wasn't impressed. Now some 30 years later I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. It's a bit muddled, too many people talking at the same time, everything falls into place a little too easy and it doesn't feel "magical" at all. Liked the Gremlins reference, mind.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Mar 8, 2018)

Justice League (or Superman Returns Again). It was pretty fucking lousy, but not as lousy as I expected. The dialogue was bloody awful, and the plot stupid, but I enjoyed Flash, and Aquaman wasn't as silly as he could have been. 

Some of the early action sequences were quite good, but as usual the big punch up at the end was dull as dishwater.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 8, 2018)

Les Misérables (2012) - IMDb
For whatever reason this film adaption of the theatre classic just didn't quite click for me. The musical score seemed overly dubbed, which is to be expected in a movie i guess, but it just didn't feel right.
6/10

Moulin Rouge! (2001) - IMDb
Where as Moulin Rouge seemed to hit all the right notes, how had I not seen this before. The whole thing was brilliant, storytelling, song, dance, the choice of songs used, how they were delivered. Brilliant.
8/10

Thor Ragnarok (2017) - IMDb
Got bullied into watching this, yay another Marvel film. What fun. Well, actually, yes it is. Easily the best film in the Thor franchise as comedy takes a big leap forward to transform the normally rather serious world of assguard. Good story, lots of laughs, not the fairytale ending such films are usually given.
8/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 11, 2018)

The Battle Of Algiers (1966)

Powerful, moving, utterly engaging with a very good soundtrack.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 12, 2018)

A History of Violence (2005) - IMDb
A re-watch of this as it had seemed ages since I first watched it and remembered enjoying it, but couldn't quite remember it properly. As good a watch years later as it was the first time of the small town hero, who turns out to not be who they think he is.
8/10

Lady Bird (2017) - IMDb
Coming of age teenage girl American drama/comedy set in the early 2000s just before the social media/smartphone revolution and it was lovely to watch as she grows as a person and her relationship with her parents & friends.
7/10

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) - IMDb
Although I mentioned on the main thread for this film that the second watching of this is nowhere near as enjoyable as a watch on the big screen, and that the film perhaps has little re-watch value, and the fact I also fell asleep with about 30 mins to go, I'm leaving it at it's original rating of 8/10 mainly for the foundations the film sets for future films in the SW universe. (Destroying the temple and symbolism of destroying a religion and that the force/jedi is not a religion, early death of snoke, recognition of profiteering from war, Rose being a better role model for younger girls then Rey, Carrie Fisher)


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 12, 2018)

*Villain (1971) *an unintentionally hilarious-to-look-back-on London gangster film starring ... wait for it ... Richard Burton as a very bad boy indeed, into witness nobbling and peer-framing and extortion and all sorts, loosely based on a Kray. Being chased by Sweeney=-in-embryo type tough coppers who think the whole country's going to the dogs. Amazing cast (for look, t is Lovejoy, Ian McShane, as big Rick's enforcer-cum-bedfellow! It's Donald Sinden being super sleazy as a corrupt MP! Joss Ackland as an old lag!) full of very posh actors doing their best antique "I'm working class, I am, no really guv bob's yer uncle" dialects as taught at RADA. Brilliant period scenes of late 60s Soho sleaze and London looking rough and industrial as anything. Startlingly violent and explicit robbery sequence as well (no torture porn, but more damage done with some lengths of lead pipe and railings than you'd be allowed today.) Good for a laugh but whereas Get Carter, from the same year, still stands up well, this one has aged badly.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2018)

trabuquera said:


> *Villain (1971) *an unintentionally hilarious-to-look-back-on London gangster film starring ... wait for it ... Richard Burton as a very bad boy indeed, into witness nobbling and peer-framing and extortion and all sorts, loosely based on a Kray. Being chased by Sweeney=-in-embryo type tough coppers who think the whole country's going to the dogs. Amazing cast (for look, t is Lovejoy, Ian McShane, as big Rick's enforcer-cum-bedfellow! It's Donald Sinden being super sleazy as a corrupt MP! Joss Ackland as an old lag!) full of very posh actors doing their best antique "I'm working class, I am, no really guv bob's yer uncle" dialects as taught at RADA. Brilliant period scenes of late 60s Soho sleaze and London looking rough and industrial as anything. Good for a laugh but whereas Get Carter, from the same year, still stands up well, this one has aged badly.


you should follow it with Sitting Target (1972) - IMDb

ollie reed and ian mcshane, reed pretending to be 'ard. 72.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 12, 2018)

Logan Lucky - very entertaining, slightly off kilter, slowly paced comedy about a robbery at some car racing event. There's some good little jokes in it , I really liked the scene where the prisoners demand the game of thrones book sequels. Nothing sensational but I'd watch it again and it's the first time I've seen Craig Daniels in a comedy.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 12, 2018)

*Flight of the Navigator *-  My 7 year old loved it and the time-jumping sequence spun him out. Wouldn't recommend as it's quite shit tbh (was better the first time round).


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 12, 2018)

The39thStep said:


> Logan Lucky - very entertaining, slightly off kilter, slowly paced comedy about a robbery at some car racing event. There's some good little jokes in it , I really liked the scene where the prisoners demand the game of thrones book sequels. Nothing sensational but I'd watch it again and it's the first time I've seen Craig Daniels in a comedy.


Don't you mean Craig David?


----------



## belboid (Mar 13, 2018)

Call Me By Your Name

Beautifully shot, located, dialogued, etc etc. But just another tale about some rich boy and his angst amidst the astounding beauty of both Italy and his friends. Oscar bait.


The Ritual

Fairly bog standard lost in the woods horror, very Blair Witch like but without the found footage nonsense. Rafe Spall is decent and it's a good monster. Effective enough.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 13, 2018)

The Wagner Family - Tony Palmer (2009)

This is far from balanced. Thank God for the music.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 14, 2018)

ChristineReed said:


> I watched the show 13 reasons why


Yes, but what did you think of it?


----------



## sojourner (Mar 15, 2018)

The Theory of Everything, naturally.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Mar 16, 2018)

The Director & The Jedi (2018)

There are moments when you might want to scream 'Nooooo!' at the screen - and especially at Rian Johnson. Quite sad really.


----------



## binka (Mar 18, 2018)

sovereignb said:


> A film called Downsizing...first half hour was pleasant enough but then descended into a completely different film
> Dissapointing.


Watched it this afternoon. I also thought it started quite well but I was bored to death by the end. Did it really need to be 2 and a quarter hours long?



Spoiler



At one point I thought it was going to get interesting and maybe have something about the exploitation of the poor, people trafficking, drug smuggling etc.

At the end I got my hopes up for a twist where that foundation had planned the death of the human race while they see it out in their bunker.



But no, absolutely nothing interesting happened


----------



## sovereignb (Mar 18, 2018)

binka said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah I don't really get how this film got the green light in its current form.
I think it kinda tried to make those points, it just failed miserably.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 19, 2018)

A few days off work and snow meant a few binges

The Conjuring (2013) - IMDb
re-watch with new GF who hates horror, so naturally had to make her watch one to prove they aren't all about making you jump. She agreed it wasn't too bad.
7/10

Wonder (2017) - IMDb
Feel good story of boy born with facial differences goes to school and ultimately builds friendships.
7/10

Ricky Gervais: Humanity (2018) - IMDb
Latest stand up show on Netflix, always find him a bit hit and miss in this sort of thing, but enjoyed this one.
8/10

Desperado (1995) - IMDb
Kind of western Mexico sty lee with gunslinger and drugs
6/10

I, Tonya (2017) - IMDb
Was looking forward to this but was ultimately a little disappointing, this could have been so much more, or perhaps, actually, the story isn't really as interesting as we've been led to believe. Tonya comes out of it as still the bad person, but with perhaps a more modern perspective would have been that she probably should have been identified much earlier on that she needed outside support to escape a damaging childhood and violent relationship, instead they tried to make it a comedy, which didn't really work.
7/10


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 19, 2018)

*Killing of a Sacred Deer* - pretty messed up retelling of that Greek tragedy. Nice dialogue. Good score. Enjoyed.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 19, 2018)

*Baby Driver *- total wank and waste of time. switched off after 20 mins.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 19, 2018)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Baby Driver *- total wank and waste of time. switched off after 20 mins.


 it was OK though


----------



## sovereignb (Mar 19, 2018)

Completed the latest series of Black Mirror...never fails to let me down


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 20, 2018)

TruXta said:


> it was OK though



OK if the viewer enjoys car chases with an annoying twat with his apple headphones.

To me, it tries too hard to be slick. Made me think of Basic Instinct, with Michael Douglas (and sweater) in THAT nightclub...


----------



## TruXta (Mar 20, 2018)

Virtual Blue said:


> OK if the viewer enjoys car chases with an annoying twat with his apple headphones.
> 
> To me, it tries too hard to be slick. Made me think of Basic Instinct, with Michael Douglas (and sweater) in THAT nightclub...


Sorry, was making a crap joke


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 20, 2018)

The Pentagon Wars (TV Movie 1998) - IMDb
this was an unexpectedly good HBO tv film about military procurement gone wrong and a coverup. Somehow they manage to pull some farcical chuckles on this one. Kelsey Grammar is in it and Dr Cox from scrubs.





Preadator 2

The best of all the predator sequels and as good as the original. This time Danny Glover is the pred killer. Still gold


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 21, 2018)

Selma. David Oyelowo excells as MLK. Very moving.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 21, 2018)

Gangs of New York (2002) - IMDb
Took 2 sittings for me to get through this almost typical 3 hour Scorsese epic telling the very long winded story of a returning man who seeks revenge for the death of his father while he was a boy. Thought it was quite over rated if I'm honest. Like most Scorsese stuff it never seems to connect with me.
6/10


----------



## sovereignb (Mar 21, 2018)

Latest series of Black Mirror complete. good series but think, maybe get one more out of it then time to call it a day.


----------



## magneze (Mar 21, 2018)

Jupiter Ascending
Completely mental and pretty entertaining. Couldn't work out why they shoved a love story in there though, it really didn't need it. Eddie Redmayne chewing the scenery was cool too.


----------



## Supine (Mar 21, 2018)

Atlanta S1E1 - US hip hop show with some good scripting. Never heard of it before but the first episode was OK. Will give the series a go.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 25, 2018)

Calvary. Bloody hell, that's some unvarnished human nature right there.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 25, 2018)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Interesting Terry Gilliam fail, last Heath Ledger performance in a film that pilfers from Baron Munchausen and Fisher King. Would have preferred TGs FX of yore, rather than the OTT CGI but not all bad. Tom Waits brilliant, as ever.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 25, 2018)

Despicable Me 3 (2017) - IMDb
Had to do a family visit and this was on to keep the kids quiet. It was alright.
6/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 26, 2018)

rogerflash said:


> Revised Shawshank Redempten. It's my favorite movie



If you liked that, try _Papillon_, _The Birdman of Alcatraz _and _Escape from Alcatraz.
_


----------



## 8115 (Mar 28, 2018)

Serial Mom on Mubi. Incredible, such a joy. I love John Waters.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 28, 2018)

X-Men: Days of Future Past. Enjoyed for the spectacle, Fassbender / Jackman / Lawrence / McAvoy plus bonus Dinklage, Quicksilver was great; disliked the hokey Matrix-style last stand against killer robots aspect.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 28, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> X-Men: Days of Future Past. Enjoyed for the spectacle, Fassbender / Jackman / Lawrence / McAvoy plus bonus Dinklage, Quicksilver was great; disliked the hokey Matrix-style last stand against killer robots aspect.


Massively predates the matrix actually as it's quite true to source material published in the 70s and 80s. My fave X movie.

Myself I watched The Battle of Algiers. Brutal and brilliant.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 28, 2018)

TruXta said:


> Massively predates the matrix actually as it's quite true to source material published in the 70s and 80s. My fave X movie.



I'm sure. It's a shame I saw them out of order, as it were - I just couldn't shake the association, and I like the X-Men films a great deal more than the Matrix.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 28, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> I'm sure. It's a shame I saw them out of order, as it were - I just couldn't shake the association, and I like the X-Men films a great deal more than the Matrix.


I love the first Matrix film, but the other two are best left alone. You could say that about the third X-men movie too...


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 28, 2018)

Just finished season 1 of Legion. Completely unlike any of the other telly adaptations. Which I also enjoy but this was something else.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 28, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Just finished season 1 of Legion. Completely unlike any of the other telly adaptations. Which I also enjoy but this was something else.


The best superhero show so far IMO. Certainly from a stylistic POV.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 28, 2018)

I've been catching up with new Agents of Shield. This time they are in space, and the future. Sort of. Its good guns but settling into that 8-9th episodes of padding and needless complication imo. The main bad cree is channelling Thrawn from star wars rebels (and the t.zahn books)


----------



## marty21 (Mar 28, 2018)

Bladerunner 2049, it looked fantastic but found it a bit depressing tbh


----------



## cybershot (Mar 28, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> I've been catching up with new Agents of Shield. This time they are in space, and the future. Sort of. Its good guns but settling into that 8-9th episodes of padding and needless complication imo. The main bad cree is channelling Thrawn from star wars rebels (and the t.zahn books)



I'm still watching, just about. Totally void of ideas now, so let's put them into a time travel story so that it doesn't mess with what else is going on in the marvel universe. I'm surprised it got renewed to be honest, it needs ending now.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 29, 2018)

cybershot said:


> I'm still watching, just about. Totally void of ideas now, so let's put them into a time travel story so that it doesn't mess with what else is going on in the marvel universe. I'm surprised it got renewed to be honest, it needs ending now.



Love time travel tales! Besides, Marvel has been doing time travel stories in the comics for years, not to mention alternative realities and "what if" scenarios...


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 30, 2018)

10 Cloverfield Lane. I enjoyed, husband a bit less so. A quality small set psycho thriller.


----------



## Chz (Mar 30, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> 10 Cloverfield Lane. I enjoyed, husband a bit less so. A quality small set psycho thriller.


I'll watch anything with John Goodman in it.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 30, 2018)

Chz said:


> I'll watch anything with John Goodman in it.



Yes, he was predictably excellent. All three actors were great actually.


----------



## TruXta (Mar 30, 2018)

I couldn't quite get with the ending, but maybe it was because I was half asleep?


----------



## cybershot (Apr 2, 2018)

Justice League (2017) - IMDb
Whilst not being anywhere as bad as I was actually expecting, it's also not brilliant. The humour falls flat on it's face, and the guy playing the flash by the end of the film is just really annoying. Wish Superman would have come back without some stupid over the top plan. The bad guy was typical boring unmemorable alien from space.
6/10


----------



## binka (Apr 2, 2018)

Watched Get Out this afternoon. I liked it although one thing I didn't really understand:


Spoiler



if the housekeeper and gardener were really the grand parents having gone through the transplant procedure... why were they the housekeeper and gardener and being treated like shit?


----------



## Chz (Apr 2, 2018)

binka said:


> Watched Get Out this afternoon. I liked it although one thing I didn't really understand:
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


I assumed, being an early version of the procedure, they're a bit.. different after surgery. We haven't really seen any that looked like they work _well_.


----------



## Supine (Apr 2, 2018)

Leftovers Series 2 - half way through and running out of 'what the fucks'. Seriously weired TV in a good way.


----------



## belboid (Apr 3, 2018)

*The Shape of Water*

We all love the Jeunet’s don’t we? Guillermo certainly seems to. Looks wonderful, is a bit barking, and just generally charming. Not an absolute masterpiece, but really very good.


*Battle of the Sexes*

A well done retelling of the famous tennis match, and surrounding furore. Stone & Carell are great, and everything zips along. Probably misfired a bit by making Carell’s Riggs into a more interesting character than the rather straight (oh, the irony) King, but holds up well enough.


*Killing of a Sacred Deer*

It was only when we started watching this that I realised that I had absolutely no idea at all what it was about. Not a clue. Which was possibly a good thing. Quite astounding performances from Colin Farrell & Barry Keoghan as Steven and Martin, who have a strange, unexplained, and somewhat disturbing relationship. Then they explain it, and it doesn’t get any less strange, but probably more disturbing. We get drawn into the question of whether it is real, because it can’t be, it’s just impossible, but it sure seems to be real. So maybe we should act as if it is. And then it ends, and life goes on. Something, something, something, guilt, consequences, responsibility. Frequently very funny, just before it makes you wince.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 3, 2018)

Only the Brave (2017) - IMDb
Based on the true story of a group of elite forest firemen. Would have faired better as a two part TV drama.
6/10


----------



## steveo87 (Apr 4, 2018)

So I watched PS, I Love You with Mrs o87 last night.
Turns out it's her favourite film...ever!

And I literally have absolutely no idea why. It's a good half an hour too long, there's genuinely no point in the bit where they go to Ireland (I'm not putting spoilers, cos all you need to know is it's shit). 
None of actors who are meant to be Irish are actually Irish.
Hilary Swank is either melodramaticly crying has this weird half-smirk as if she's not read the script and is trying desperately to ad-lib her way through.
The bits set in New York are trying so very to be like Friends, complete with the same font in credits and Sixth Form Student levels of over use of Iconography. 
Gerard Butler seems to have taken his 'Irish Accent' tuition from a bloke in Essex who can "PATAEYTOES". 
On the Irish front(as it were), baring in mind -as mentioned above - a large portion of the film is set in Ireland:
NONE OF THE ACTORS ARE IRISH!


It's an hour and twenty five minutes I'm never getting back.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 7, 2018)

The Robe with richard burton

its dated. The 'making a greedy jew dive for pennies' scene is particularly wince worthy. Other than that, if you've ever seen a biblical epic from the 50s/60s then you know this sort of thing. Its all about easter weekend/the crucifixtion


----------



## magneze (Apr 7, 2018)

The Hitman's Bodyguard
Stepson put this on. I thought it would be total shit, but actually it was really well done. Good thriller, nicely paced with a smattering of comedy.


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 7, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> The Robe with richard burton
> 
> its dated. The 'making a greedy jew dive for pennies' scene is particularly wince worthy. Other than that, if you've ever seen a biblical epic from the 50s/60s then you know this sort of thing. Its all about easter weekend/the crucifixtion


I think I'll stick with Pasolini, thanks.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 7, 2018)

The Big Risk [Classe Tous Risques] (1960), - after a post-heist escape from Italy to France goes wrong, a bank robber (Lino Ventura) goes on the lam with his two young sons. First half is pretty tense before slowing a bit in the middle before picking up towards he end.  Another one to add to the list of decent French gangster films from the 50s/60s.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 7, 2018)

Phantom Thread (2017) - IMDb
Daniel Day Lewis stars in Paul Thomas Anderson's latest venture on the big screen. The relationship between him and the young lady he picks up whlst staying in a hotel, is at first, a little creepy/pervy but you have to take into account the time the film is set in. Once she realises his OCDs run his life and that the only time she spends with him is when he is ill, things take a sadistic turn. It's good, if not a little slow paced. Better than the majority of other Oscar nominations this year bar 3 billboards.
8/10

Boyz n the Hood (1991) - IMDb
I always avoided this is a teenager, as rap culture at the time didn't interest in and I was even less interested in gang culture. As i watch this film in 2018, perhaps not a lot has changed at all in America in this regard. However the film was refreshing, bar the 90s fashion mistakes it was actually a film telling the story of kids that wern't really involved in gang culture at all, but just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
7/10

The Death of Stalin (2017) - IMDb
Think Monty Python, but not as good, in fact nowhere near as good. Even if this was Monty Python would it have been any better? Probably not. Despite the rave reviews this is a tired comedy format that has little place in 2018.
6/10

Lincoln (2012) - IMDb
Continuing the Daniel Day Lewis love in this month, with this biopic of Lincoln during the American Cival War and his attempts to pass the 13th amendment.
7/10

The Square (2017) - IMDb
I have no idea what actually drew me to this Swedish film (subtitled for the most part) about an art exhibitor and his professional and personal life complications, but whatever it was, I'm glad I did, it's very funny and quite fresh.
8/10


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 8, 2018)

*Thelma *- Norwegian film about a girl who develops seizures when she starts attending university in Oslo having been brought up in a rural area by a religious family. When she develops a friendship with another female student it seems her feelings are the cause of strange things happening.

It's bloody amazing. Beautifully shot, great performances and very thought provoking. 8/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 8, 2018)

Season 5 of House of Cards, 4 eps in. It feels odd, watching Spacey's towering performance with what's known about him, now.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Apr 8, 2018)

cybershot said:


> The Death of Stalin (2017) - IMDb
> Think Monty Python, but not as good, in fact nowhere near as good. Even if this was Monty Python would it have been any better? Probably not. Despite the rave reviews this is a tired comedy format that has little place in 2018.
> 6/10



Commie ?


----------



## moody (Apr 9, 2018)

ghost in the shell. 2017

amaze-balls film, reminds me of the original blade runner.

set in japan in the future, scarlett johanasson plays a cyborg/robot with a human brain who is employed by a crime fighting agency but goes awol when her past catches up with her via a rouge hacker.

bit noir, bit cyber, bit manga. 

8/10 from me.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Apr 10, 2018)

I just watched Human Flow. Beautifully shot, and very informative about the migration situation.

Human Flow (Official Movie Site) - Own It On Digital HD



9/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Apr 10, 2018)

Ready Player One 

Visually very impressive, especially in respect of the CGI and the transition to the 'real world'. There are some very nice scenes - largely driven on nostalgia (the floating dance scene in particular) - and some shots that might be considered classic Spielberg. But, ultimately, it all feels a bit pointless with a story that is paper thin and lacking in dramatic tension. I have not read the book so I have no idea what changes have been made.

6/10

The 'Chucky Joke' was funny.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 12, 2018)

Seryozha [ A Summer To Remember] (1960) - Heart-warming Russian film about a mother who remarries, to the new manager of the local collective farm, and her young son's relationship with his new step-father. Not much of a plot but very charming.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 12, 2018)

moody said:


> ghost in the shell. 2017
> 
> amaze-balls film, reminds me of the original blade runner.
> 
> ...




I loved the original and the follow up. And the first and second series but haven't really watched much beyond them. Is it worth a look, just ask as the reviews were not so flattering...


----------



## Ralph Llama (Apr 12, 2018)

Yes, but it is dumbed down a lot.


----------



## binka (Apr 12, 2018)

Having never got round to seeing it I put Once Upon A Time In America on the other night - the 4hr9min version. I did enjoy it in parts but fuck me it's long and mostly very boring.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 12, 2018)

binka said:


> Having never got round to seeing it I put Once Upon A Time In America on the other night - the 4hr9min version. I did enjoy it in parts but fuck me it's long and mostly very boring.


Films that are 4hr9mins are generally long


----------



## Supine (Apr 12, 2018)

moody said:


> ghost in the shell. 2017
> 
> amaze-balls film, reminds me of the original blade runner.
> 
> ...




Enjoyed that. Thanks for the heads up


----------



## cybershot (Apr 12, 2018)

Cape Fear (1991) - IMDb
Finally a Scorsese film that I really enjoyed, in fact I loved. Criminal comes out of jail, and stalks the family of the lawyer that was supposed to be defending him.
9/10


----------



## Sue (Apr 12, 2018)

cybershot said:


> Cape Fear (1991) - IMDb
> Finally a Scorsese film that I really enjoyed, in fact I loved. Criminal comes out of jail, and stalks the family of the lawyer that was supposed to be defending him.
> 9/10


...but not as good as the original (imo).


----------



## moody (Apr 12, 2018)

Sue said:


> ...but not as good as the original (imo).




the original was animation?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 12, 2018)

magneze said:


> Jupiter Ascending
> Completely mental and pretty entertaining. Couldn't work out why they shoved a love story in there though, it really didn't need it.



I was wondering why you were singing the praises of some nondescript, crappy Bruce Willis thriller until I got to this bit...



magneze said:


> Eddie Redmayne chewing the scenery was cool too.



...which made me think  until I realised that I was getting mixed up with _Mercury Rising _


----------



## belboid (Apr 12, 2018)

moody said:


> the original was animation?


No, the one by the Icelandic Meteorological Organisation.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Apr 12, 2018)

Jaws

Possibly the perfect film, let down (perhaps) as time has passed by the mechanics and visual representation of the shark. Nut this film is, in many ways, not about the shark.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 13, 2018)

binka said:


> Having never got round to seeing it I put Once Upon A Time In America on the other night - the 4hr9min version. I did enjoy it in parts but fuck me it's long and mostly very boring.



It's a masterpiece. Leone's swansong, a mediatation on time and memory and possibly one of the greatest gangster films, or films about America, ever made.


----------



## Sue (Apr 13, 2018)

moody said:


> the original was animation?


No. Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck as the leads -- no-one does scary psycho quite like Mitchum. (See also Night of the Hunter where he's absolutely terrifying.)


----------



## binka (Apr 13, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> It's a masterpiece. Leone's swansong, a mediatation on time and memory and possibly one of the greatest gangster films, or films about America, ever made.


I can see why some might think that it just didn't really do it for me. In the week before I'd also watched The Godfather 1 & 2 and I found them much more engrossing.


----------



## Ted Striker (Apr 13, 2018)

binka said:


> I can see why some might think that it just didn't really do it for me. In the week before I'd also watched The Godfather 1 & 2 and I found them much more engrossing.



Which is, tbf, the recipe for _not_ enjoying OUATIA  (i.e. expecting sharp gangster goodness, when it's a 4h+ plodder about life and internal struggles, yadda...).

Please tell me you didn't stop at GF 2 though? GF3 IS a good film!


----------



## Ted Striker (Apr 13, 2018)

moody said:


> the original was animation?



Widely regarded in my (student) house as the second best ever Simpsons


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 13, 2018)

binka said:


> I can see why some might think that it just didn't really do it for me. In the week before I'd also watched The Godfather 1 & 2 and I found them much more engrossing.



G2 is the best of the 3. G3 is not of the same calibre and that really hits home if you've just watched the other 2. It's not a bad film, if you lower expectations.

I think Leone's films can be seen as slow, compared to "regular" gangster epics and the violence and misogyny in OUATIA is hard to stomach, that's for sure...


----------



## Ted Striker (Apr 13, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> G2 is the best of the 3. G3 is not of the same calibre and that really hits home if you've just watched the other 2. It's not a bad film, if you lower expectations.
> 
> I think Leone's films can be seen as slow, compared to "regular" gangster epics and the violence and misogyny in OUATIA is hard to stomach, that's for sure...



IIRC, Coppola always wanted GF3 to be titled "The Death of Michael Corleone" (or something) (and not GF3). Naturally the studio didn't let this happen, but I suppose that frames my fondness of it. It's not the last sequel, just has the same characters in. There's a lot of casting (2 obvious ones) missteps that kill it more than anything, but I digress...


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 13, 2018)

Ted Striker said:


> IIRC, Coppola always wanted GF3 to be titled "The Death of Michael Corleone" (or something) (and not GF3). Naturally the studio didn't let this happen, but I suppose that frames my fondness of it. It's not the last sequel, just has the same characters in. There's a lot of casting (2 obvious ones) missteps that kill it more than anything, but I digress...



IIRC, Stallone wanted to direct it at one stage. Gang of us went to see it when it was released (all fans of the first 2) and the reaction was mixed. I've watched it 2 or 3 times since and I just think Coppola went off the boil with it. I don't hate it... I just don't rate it (in comparison with what went before).


----------



## binka (Apr 13, 2018)

I haven't watched gf3 yet might try and make the effort this weekend


----------



## not-bono-ever (Apr 16, 2018)

Goodbye berlin

A lovely little filum


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 16, 2018)

*American Satan* - very bad.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 20, 2018)

Black Lightening first three eps

I wasn't expecting much, its CW doing DC again and apart from Legends of Tomorrow its all teen superhero soap opera shite. But BL is not bad, I'd say its the second best DC tv adapt. For reasons I haven't bothered to check its not in the 'arrowverse' so there will be no crossover episodes with supergirl or any of that.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Apr 22, 2018)

Crank2= high voltage

what the fuck was that ?


----------



## 8115 (Apr 22, 2018)

I watched The Great Gatsby with Robert Redford. It was so bad I turned it off and read a book for a change.


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Apr 22, 2018)

The Death Of Stalin (2017)

Very funny - but also quite dark. 

9/10


----------



## flypanam (Apr 27, 2018)

Watched Mike Judge's Idiocracy.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 28, 2018)

Romper Stomper

Grim


----------



## Infidel Castro (May 5, 2018)

I watched Evil Ed. And it was shit.


----------



## TruXta (May 5, 2018)

rubbershoes said:


> Romper Stomper
> 
> Grim


Brilliant film that.


----------



## not-bono-ever (May 6, 2018)

manchester by the sea.

I dunno.


----------



## 74drew (May 7, 2018)

Legion season 2 is great so far. A bit more David Lynch stylings than the first one. Darker but still funny.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 7, 2018)

In bed with flu.....so:

Heart of the Sea: the story behind the story of Moby Dick, Melville meets a grumpy ol' fella who tells a tall tale of woe and misery wrapped up in class war and sea faring action....Spiderman and Thor are in it. 

Jersey Boys - Goodfellas the musical dutifully directed by Clint Eastwood. Like every film about a band, it shows them get together, fall apart and reflect on what could have been....despite all the hits, the money, the dames, the fame, the success....with added Goodfella's because Joe Pesci is actually a character (the real Joe Pesci being played by some bum who actually recites the words 'funny how' - I bet Clint was weeing his pants at that!)

Fury - Brad Pitt plays a slightly less cartoonish, but more intense, version of his Inglorious Bastards character as he leads a tank command as they mooch through Germany whooping ass. He has a young soldier under his wing who learns about War, waste and the human condition. I am glad he did. I didn't.

Deception (AKA The Best Offer) - slightly pervy art-crime thriller with Geoffrey Rush as a dodgy, but world renowned, auctioneer, who has spent his life conning a fab collection for himself. He's called upon to the sell the contents of a property inhabited by (of course) a beautiful woman who hides in a room...in the meantime he is eyeing up the goodies while being slowly seduced by her enigmatic mystery and her vagina. Suffice to say it all goes exactly as anyone with a brain cell would predict. Donald Sutherland is barely in it, but absolutely robs the screen when he is. Rush does a fine job of playing a stuffy cunt, although I suspect it aint much of a stretch. There's a disabled small person in it who is used to dramatically offensive effect (as a freak show in a local bar), and the whole film seems to think it can get away with being so crude because the ultimate victim is a rich selfish prick who doesn't know how to relate to other humans.

I started to watch a film called Andron, but lasted about 10 minutes. It was a sci-fi with one of the Baldwins and a girl from Eastenders, and Skin, from Skunk Anansie (although I didn't watch it long enough to see her or hear her funny squeaky voice!)

I watched an Ep of The Alienist. It was alright. A bit glum, but then cutting child a prostitute's genitals off and carving out his eyes and internal organs shouldn't really be fun should it....?


----------



## DexterTCN (May 8, 2018)

74drew said:


> Legion season 2 is great so far. A bit more David Lynch stylings than the first one. Darker but still funny.


Best thing on tv imo.  Hardly anyone watches it.  An extra episode has been added to this season for some reason.


----------



## cybershot (May 8, 2018)

Not posted for a while.

Downsizing (2017) - IMDb
A rather messy film that sounds intriguing but achieves nothing. Loads of different sub plots lead to another. Also no idea why Kristen Wiig even bothered with this for the small part she plays.
5/10

Paddington (2014) - IMDb
Charming re-telling of the classic bear found in a train station story.
7/10

Paddington 2 (2017) - IMDb
More capers with the small bear and the brown family as he hunts for a birthday present for his aunt and ends up behind bars.
7/10

All the Money in the World (2017) - IMDb
True story of the kidnapping of Jean Paul Getty's grandson and his refusal to pay a ransom. Kevin Spacey originally starred in this but Ridley Scott decided to replace him in post production and all the scenes had to be re-shot. The film itself isn't really that entertaining, other than providing an insight to a man who was obsessed with possessions.
6/10

Wonderstruck (2017) - IMDb
Mirroring stories of two deaf children some fifty years apart that visit New York. Felt like a missed opportunity.
6/10

Please Stand By (2017) - IMDb
Story of autistic girl who loves Star Trek, and her mission to get a script delivered to Paramount Studios to enter a competition after missing the opportunity to post it. Solid cast.
6/10

Black Panther (2018) - IMDb
Oh dear, oh dear. Yet another over hyped Marvel film where I struggled to keep my eyes open. Why do I keep falling for the hype of these things.
5/10


----------



## Beats & Pieces (May 8, 2018)

All The Money In The World (2017)

Not a bad film - not a bad film at all.

7/10


----------



## krtek a houby (May 9, 2018)

_National Lampoon's Animal House_. Wow, that's aged badly. Very uncomfortable with the humour there and misogyny. Watched _A Futile and Stupid Gesture_ after, a Netflix film about Doug Kenney - one of the creators of National Lampoon. What a different world it was back then. Will Forte is ok in it but Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard was rather good. Didn't even recognise him!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (May 12, 2018)

"The Angry Birds Movie" - it was alright, there were some middling funny bits and entertained the small one


----------



## rubbershoes (May 12, 2018)

Breach. 

True life tale about the  unmasking of an FBI employee who'd been spying for the Russkis for decades  

The whole thing was flat. Surprisingly short of tension or excitement


----------



## DotCommunist (May 12, 2018)

Batman Ninja. Really better than I'd expected. All japanese artists, leaning heavily on anime sensibilities and pretty good with it. Theres mecha!


----------



## Nine Bob Note (May 13, 2018)

Prime Suspect is now on Netflix (perhaps it always was) so have watched the first two eps, and I doubt I'll be having an early night


----------



## cybershot (May 14, 2018)

Insidious: The Last Key (2018) - IMDb
If the 3rd film wasn't completely pointless for this franchise, the 4th totally is.
4/10

Looking Glass (2018) - IMDb
Nicolas Cage's latest straight to DVD B-movie is a compelling thriller, that doesn't do anything that hasn't been done before, but takes far too long to get where it needs too.
5/10


----------



## trabuquera (May 14, 2018)

_The Last Valley (_1970) - absolute stinker of a historical 'epic' - adapted from a James Clavell novel about the 30 years war, filmed in Switzerland. Bunch of mercs rock up in a village isolated from the horrors of war, then inflict the horrors of war on it. Amusing for spotting old UK acting lags doing their best manly bellowing (Brian Blessed! Michael Caine!) and some startlingly nasty 70s misogyny (local women being divvied up as tribute for the mercs, witch burnings etc.) Omar Sharif is in it, for no apparent reason, wearing amazingly unconvincing chalky-white makeup. Larded with great lumps of clodhopping dialogue about how war is hell and there's no god etc etc. Action sequences with vast hordes of extras in an amazing landscape and there's still not a hint of excitement throughout. Only bright spot (literally) is an amazingly hamfisted bit of model-burning (no CGI in them days son) purporting to depict the sack of a city. Just dire, a load of claggy old porridge.


----------



## fishfinger (May 14, 2018)

Derailroaded (2005) - IMDb

A documentary about Larry "Wild Man" Fischer, an outsider musician with a diagnosis of manic depression and paranoid schizophrenia. I'm already a fan of his work but it was really good to see him and to learn about his family relationships.

You can see this film on ubuweb here: UbuWeb Film & Video: Wild Man Fischer -  Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Wild Man Fischer (2005)


----------



## Sea Star (May 14, 2018)

Watched King of New York over the weekend. Surprised I've not seen it before. And yesterday I watched Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2. Very dated now, but both still work quite well imo. Love the depiction of hell in Hellbound. And the cenobites themselves are still fab!!


----------



## TruXta (May 14, 2018)

Sea Star said:


> Watched King of New York over the weekend. Surprised I've not seen it before. And yesterday I watched Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2. Very dated now, but both still work quite well imo. Love the depiction of hell in Hellbound. And the cenobites themselves are still fab!!


I love the first two. Don't bother with the rest, they are travesties


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 14, 2018)

Hellraiser looked dated when it came out. It was really grainy, and costumes and hairstyles seemed old even at the time.


----------



## Sea Star (May 14, 2018)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Hellraiser looked dated when it came out. It was really grainy, and costumes and hairstyles seemed old even at the time.


yeah, that's true. I thought it was a bit Hammer Horror at the time.


----------



## seventh bullet (May 14, 2018)

Sea Star said:


> Watched King of New York over the weekend. Surprised I've not seen it before. And yesterday I watched Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2. Very dated now, but both still work quite well imo. Love the depiction of hell in Hellbound. And the cenobites themselves are still fab!!



Leviathan!


----------



## Sea Star (May 14, 2018)

seventh bullet said:


> Leviathan!


yes - i still found that quite spine-chilling despite the obviously dodgy special effects


----------



## seventh bullet (May 14, 2018)

The horn music was great in that scene when Leviathan is revealed, beaming out black light.  I also liked the matte painting of the endless labyrinth.


----------



## Sea Star (May 15, 2018)

seventh bullet said:


> The horn music was great in that scene when Leviathan is revealed, beaming out black light.  I also liked the matte painting of the endless labyrinth.


Me too!!


----------



## The39thStep (May 18, 2018)

The 15:17 to Paris -  Three very ordinary blokes who are long time friends who do pretty ordinary things decide to go to Europe and happen to be on a train when a terrorist opens fire. 3 mins of utterly foolhardy reckless yet heroic  behaviour in attacking and subduing the gunman and stabilisng ( with the help of an English bloke) a man critically wounded by the terrorist. Thats it really.The terrorist had 300 rounds ,without them it would have been a massacre.Not sure if I expected anything from a film whose key 3 mins you know the ending of ,its an unexceptional film about three unexceptional men who did something that was exceptional and thats about it. I'm glad someone told the story though.


----------



## Indeliblelink (May 21, 2018)

*Marjorie Prime (2017)** - *decent science fiction, psychological drama set in near future where a service will provide you with holograms of deceased love ones in your home. Explores memory, loss & grief, story adapted from a Jordan Harrison play by Michael Almereyda. Good performances from the four main cast members. Lois Smith, Jon Hamm, Tim Robbins & Geena Davis.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 21, 2018)

Piccadilly - silent classic from 1929 with Anna May Wong and brief cameo from Charles Laughton. Quite fascinating melodrama and beautifully shot.


----------



## Indeliblelink (May 22, 2018)

*The Wizard Of Lies (2017)*, Robert De Niro as infamous Ponzi scheme runner Bernie Madoff. His performance & Michelle Pfieffer, as his wife, make this watchable and while it’s not the best drama about Wall Street / financial scams it’s still good to see him back to making something worthy of his talent & legacy rather than rubbish like Dirty Grandpa.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 22, 2018)

Sea Star said:


> yes - i still found that quite spine-chilling despite the obviously dodgy special effects


It's 30 years old...computers hadn't even been properly invented.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 23, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> It's 30 years old...computers hadn't even been properly invented.



Been around since the 40s, no?


----------



## May Kasahara (May 24, 2018)

I'm watching What We Do In The Shadows. It's really dull.


----------



## May Kasahara (May 25, 2018)

Mighten said:


> I'd say it's absurdly funny.



Yes, lots of people seem to, but it didn't do much for me.


----------



## May Kasahara (May 27, 2018)

La La Land. I didn't expect to fall so hard for it, but was completely transported. A much needed pleasure.


----------



## ringo (May 29, 2018)

Goodfellas

Still great, especially the "Do you think I'm a clown" scene.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 29, 2018)

Goodbye Pork Pie - at least up until the big car chase in the south island.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2018)

Rams - Icelandic tale of two feuding brothers and their sheep. Quite moving, actually.
Ghostbusters - Can't see why this got so much hate. It's ok, passed an hour or two. Can't see a franchise coming from it, even if the post post credits scene hinted at one...


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jun 1, 2018)

*The Commuter *- a very good 'Liam Neeson' movie. I do wish Liam Neeson was my dad or buddy. Liam Neeson is hard as fuck. Liam Neeson is wise too.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jun 2, 2018)

revenant. fucking hell

superbad and goodbye lenin for the weekend


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 4, 2018)

12 Monkeys - still a great film. I think I finally "get" the ending.


----------



## 8115 (Jun 9, 2018)

While we're young. I don't remember it being in the cinema but it's great.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jun 9, 2018)

The 'Burbs
. . . as shit as I remember it.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jun 9, 2018)

Maze- jazzed up story of the '83 Maze jailbreak

The biggest jailbreak in UK history
 ( I am sure you know all about this)

some terrible accents and continuity issues but overall a decent watch


----------



## 8115 (Jun 9, 2018)

London Road. It's ok, not sure about all the singing.


----------



## ginger_syn (Jun 13, 2018)

Guardians of the galaxy1 and 2 and Thor Ragnarok. Throughly enjoyable.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 15, 2018)

Millions Like Us (1943) - discreetly but definitely propagandistic, stiff upper lip / Ealing comedy account of the different classes mixing in a munitions factory during WW2. Surprising number of laughs in it. Loads and loads of near-Soviet sequences of the joy of labour and mass participation in singalongs and communal dining rooms. Terribly sexist but also has an unusual sense of energy and urgency for the period - quickfire dialogue, some cracking tracking shots, and relaxed, more nearly-naturalistic pacing than many 1940s (or even later) films.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 15, 2018)

trabuquera said:


> Millions Like Us (1943) - discreetly but definitely propagandistic, stiff upper lip / Ealing comedy account of the different classes mixing in a munitions factory during WW2. Surprising number of laughs in it. Loads and loads of near-Soviet sequences of the joy of labour and mass participation in singalongs and communal dining rooms. Terribly sexist but also has an unusual sense of energy and urgency for the period - quickfire dialogue, some cracking tracking shots, and relaxed, more nearly-naturalistic pacing than many 1940s (or even later) films.


Is that on DVD? I know someone for whom it would be ideal.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 15, 2018)

The Man Between

You've heard of the Third Man - but this is Carol Reed directing James Mason in a decidedly Harry Lime-esq role. It's early 50s Berlin, and a naive Clare Bloom goes to join her medical officer brother and his German wife in the divided city. The wife has some sort of unavowable relationship with Mason. . . the plot thickens nicely, and the bombed city is nicely expressionist. 

Bloom's role is probably better written than Valli's in the TM was - and no one could do suave and sinister like Mason.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 15, 2018)

Idris2002 said:


> Is that on DVD? I know someone for whom it would be ideal.



Looks like it (tho I watched it on "Talking Pictures TV" - entire channel of vintage British faves available via Virgin Media - they run on a shoestring budget so likely to repeat this one ad infinitum.) If you want your own copy, this looks like the cleanest copy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Millions-L...29073153&sr=1-1&keywords=millions+like+us+dvd


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jun 16, 2018)

The Black Hole - as shit as I remember it, but harmless fun.

Next is San Andreas Quake - bargain bin film so hopefully incredibly shit.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jun 16, 2018)

farmerbarleymow said:


> The Black Hole - as shit as I remember it, but harmless fun.



The most mental ending to any Disney film, imo


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 17, 2018)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (again) and The Zero Theorem. 
The latter reminds me of Brazil, though not as good. 
And the former has a scene in which Sir Lancelot fights his way through the Swamp Castle and the daring-do music that's used crops up later in Brazil when the workers at Sam Lowry's office are watching television.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jun 17, 2018)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> The most mental ending to any Disney film, imo



I was disappointed that they didn't refer to the opposite end of the black hole as a white hole, and there was no indication of just how fucked they were ending up in a different universe/part of our universe with no supplies.  But yes, an odd ending.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jun 17, 2018)

farmerbarleymow said:


> I was disappointed that they didn't refer to the opposite end of the black hole as a white hole, and there was no indication of just how fucked they were ending up in a different universe/part of our universe with no supplies.  But yes, an odd ending.



Maximilian ends up in Hell.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jun 17, 2018)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> Maximilian ends up in Hell.



A very shit version of Hell, sadly.  But the survivors managed to get through the Black Hole on the probe ship with presumably no supplies so were effectively dead.  

There Quake film was shit - band acting aplenty.  Downtown LA was destroyed by a 10 magnitude earthquake (they might have said it was a 12, but I was a bit pissed by that point).


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 17, 2018)

Apart from the magnificent Cygnus ship, this image always stayed with me


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 18, 2018)

Talking Pictures TV are on some sort of a "youth crime panic flicks of the 50s" roll so I got these in:

*Too Young To Love - 1960 - US -  *absolutely horrifying (in hindsight) treatment of the "problem" of "delinquent" young girls, neglected by their working parents, being sucked into a whirlwind of drunken partying, "heavy petting" and what we'd now call a grooming ring run by some dissolute 40 and 50 something businessmen. The solution offered by the courts? (it's set in a NY youth courtroom) - send those slatterns upstate to a reform school while letting their older 'gentlemen' off with a mild tongue lashing because they should know better and it's a bit sad that grown married men are still 'running around with young girls'. Gave me the shudders good enough.

and
*Cosh Boy *(aka *Slasher) - 1953 - UK - *almost equally appalling but far more ridiculous "throw up your hands in horror at youth crime" tale of a cowardly, spoilt, overindulged, callous teenage boy who manipulates his thicker mates into coshing people during robberies (or just for kicks), more or less rapes his girlfriend, and treats his mum and nan like dirt. His criminal trajectory picks up speed until he nearly ends up murdering his mum's Canadian straight-arrow fancy man. Much head scratching about how the youth of today (of 1953) seem aimless, violent and nihilist, but because the police "aren't allowed by the law" to "set them straight" physically, there's nothing much to be done. Problem solved in the end by having Canada Man move in and give the boy a good thrashing (I'm not kidding, it ends with his screaming sobbing pleading on the soundtrack and happy pictures indicating "it's all right now!"). Notable again for shocking sexism (everything is going wrong because "mum's too soft"), extreme brutality about street crime / beating kids / wives / miscarriage / attempted suicide - and its prurient, judgemental, Daily Mail style sensationalism. Also an extremely early turn by Joan Colllins who doesn't know whether to act posh or common.

After all that *Silence (2016) *by Martin Scorsese (three hours of deeply deeply serious moral reflection on the meaning of faith, alienation and will, via the tale of a couple of Jesuits trying to spread the Gospel in 17th century Japan) seemed almost like light relief. Well OK not really. It's a good and visually beautiful film and the slow, meditative, unshowy style - so unlike stereotype-Scorsese - is a perfect match for the subject matter, but some of it is a little silly and it's a tough sell to a post-religious 21st century audience.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jun 18, 2018)

I wouldn't mind seeing Cosh Boy, tbh.

Arabesque

Silly mid-60s comedy thriller with Gregory Peck as an Oxbridge Egyptologist, and Sophia Loren as an Arab princess. Peck's role was originally written for Cary Grant, and it shows, but he does the job, as does Miss Loren. Not so sure about the English actors browning up to play Arab people, mind.


----------



## flypanam (Jun 21, 2018)

Barry - a hit man decides he want's to become an actor. Very funny.


----------



## Liza Grey (Jun 21, 2018)

I watched the wonderful movie "Asterisks on Earth"


----------



## Liza Grey (Jun 21, 2018)

And I liked the movie " The Island" of Russian production. Watched it one of these days.


----------



## yardbird (Jun 22, 2018)

I've just started watching Unforgotten from the beginning because there's a series three coming soon.
The wonderful Nicola Walker.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 22, 2018)

Edge of Tomorrow.

Decent Tom Cruise flick. Aliens meets Groundhog Day. Surprised how much I enjoyed it.


----------



## magneze (Jun 22, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Edge of Tomorrow.
> 
> Decent Tom Cruise flick. Aliens meets Groundhog Day. Surprised how much I enjoyed it.


Watching Tom Cruise being killed endlessly.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jun 22, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Edge of Tomorrow.
> 
> Decent Tom Cruise flick. Aliens meets Groundhog Day. Surprised how much I enjoyed it.



It didn't really do the business it deserved. They even sorta changed the name of the film in later marketing to Live Die Repeat, but it only made modest bank. It's a hoot, and Cruise and Blunt are excellent in it, as is Bill Paxton.


----------



## TruXta (Jun 22, 2018)

Rampage. As in the old coin-op arcade game.

The Rock stars as a former Marine turned gorilla whisperer. Not that this movie has many quiet moments. Surprisingly violent, competently paced contender to the title of best video game movie to date. Not that it takes much.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 22, 2018)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> It didn't really do the business it deserved. They even sorta changed the name of the film in later marketing to Live Die Repeat, but it only made modest bank. It's a hoot, and Cruise and Blunt are excellent in it, as is Bill Paxton.



It was marketed in Japan as "All You Need Is Kill" which makes me think of a bizarro-world Beatles...


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 24, 2018)

Beyond Skyline - a sequel that never needed making, but turns out to be a fun, action packed b-flick

Cargo - Martin Freeman plays Martin Freeman in an Aussie set Zombie pic - I enjoyed it.


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 24, 2018)

*Marshland *aka *La Isla Minima * - Spain 2014 - a real corker of a serial-killer thriller set at the very seedy fag-end of Francoism in 1980s Andalusia. Two coppers (one a Francoist, the other a not-Francoist) have to descend into the murk of the far-south swamplands to find out who's abducting, raping and murdering local teenagers. Pretty sexist (same old woman-as-victim tropes and the real drama is all about what's between men's ears) but nonetheless amazingly good - great art direction (all mustard and dust and 70s filters- never has southern Spain looked less appealing!), tremendous control of the twists and turns in sympathy and plot, authentic details and terrible hair, and some absolutely brilliant acting. Has some of the filthy-sleazy mood of say Angel Heart or Memories of Murder, though very different from either. The political subtext is glaring and more subtly done than in a lot of Spanish cinema (which tends to go - yeah the dictatorship was horrible and we were all in the resistance, weren't we? - this is a lot more flinty about how much many people compromised.) Had never heard of it before but firmly recommend, with all the stars.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 24, 2018)

trabuquera said:


> *Marshland *aka *La Isla Minima * - Spain 2014 - a real corker of a serial-killer thriller set at the very seedy fag-end of Francoism in 1980s Andalusia. Two coppers (one a Francoist, the other a not-Francoist) have to descend into the murk of the far-south swamplands to find out who's abducting, raping and murdering local teenagers. Pretty sexist (same old woman-as-victim tropes and the real drama is all about what's between men's ears) but nonetheless amazingly good - great art direction (all mustard and dust and 70s filters- never has southern Spain looked less appealing!), tremendous control of the twists and turns in sympathy and plot, authentic details and terrible hair, and some absolutely brilliant acting. Has some of the filthy-sleazy mood of say Angel Heart or Memories of Murder, though very different from either. The political subtext is glaring and more subtly done than in a lot of Spanish cinema (which tends to go - yeah the dictatorship was horrible and we were all in the resistance, weren't we? - this is a lot more flinty about how much many people compromised.) Had never heard of it before but firmly recommend, with all the stars.



Great film. I watched it at The Phoenix in Leicester a  couple of years ago, where it was showing for one night. Cinema was packed out.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 24, 2018)

trabuquera said:


> *Marshland *aka *La Isla Minima * - Spain 2014 - a real corker of a serial-killer thriller set at the very seedy fag-end of Francoism in 1980s Andalusia. Two coppers (one a Francoist, the other a not-Francoist) have to descend into the murk of the far-south swamplands to find out who's abducting, raping and murdering local teenagers. Pretty sexist (same old woman-as-victim tropes and the real drama is all about what's between men's ears) but nonetheless amazingly good - great art direction (all mustard and dust and 70s filters- never has southern Spain looked less appealing!), tremendous control of the twists and turns in sympathy and plot, authentic details and terrible hair, and some absolutely brilliant acting. Has some of the filthy-sleazy mood of say Angel Heart or Memories of Murder, though very different from either. The political subtext is glaring and more subtly done than in a lot of Spanish cinema (which tends to go - yeah the dictatorship was horrible and we were all in the resistance, weren't we? - this is a lot more flinty about how much many people compromised.) Had never heard of it before but firmly recommend, with all the stars.



You may also like The Night of the Sunflowers (2006)

The Night of the Sunflowers


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 24, 2018)

You were never really here- Jesus. This is a dark film , so dark that the first bit of light you get is when Joaquim Phoenix holds the hand of somone that he has shot and is dying and the second is when he is saying his goodbye to corpse. He plays a character that can only in the politist words be described as troubled. A trouble past, a troubled present and the future to be frank probably the same. The early part of the film has imo an intrusive and irritating soundtrack, shots that seem to be cut annoyingly short and an overwhelming sense of walking determinedly  though some claustrophobic form of mire . Slowly this gives way to some beautiful lingering shots and music as the plot gathers pace to a conclusion that you knew was going to happen but it doesnt end in the way you thought it might. You never get out of the mire though, although one person might have done. Recommended.


----------



## Grandma Death (Jun 25, 2018)

Finally got around to Babadook. I had no idea about the plot of this movie-all I know was it garnered some rave reviews.

I found it completely terrifying, and terrifying how a horror movie should be. Im so anaesthetised to horror these days. I grew up in the 80s when a loophole in the law meant VHS videos were, for a short period of time, exempt from classification. So I saw many of the films deemed video nasties. I soaked up so much horror that it now takes horror to be extra special to grab me. 

Rarely does horror float my boat. Certainly over the last 10-20 years I can only think of a handful...Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, and to a lesser extent, Hereditary...to name a few.

I found babadook to be completely enthralling and it chilled me to the bone. A superb film IMO. Great central performance. Really unsettling imagery and use of light and music. I shit myself basically


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 25, 2018)

Midnight in Paris. I think I missed this at the time, it was one of those films where critics claimed it was a return to form for Woody Allen. But it really is. Couldn't stop thinking of Stella Street and Goodnight Sweetheart in places, though


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jun 25, 2018)

Annihilation - I enjoyed it, even if I didn't quite get it....I think I got it, but I wouldn't place any bets that I really got it...


----------



## Beats & Pieces (Jun 29, 2018)

Been working through 'the Walking Dead' - currently on Season 4.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 2, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Gotti (TV Movie 1996) - IMDb
> 
> this 1996 HBO film about the rise and fall of the eponymous john gotti is decent if not electrifying fare but everyone from sopranos is in it. Near enough. Younger ish Junior, Paulie and others. DaveCinzano  this is something you would definitely watch


BTW you were right, after checking my notes I see that I watched it in May


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 2, 2018)

copliker said:


> See also this load of cobblers. Cardboard Gangsters (2016) - IMDb


April


----------



## Mrs D (Jul 3, 2018)

Ideal Home

I had high hopes for a movie co-starring Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd, but it didn’t really work. In fact it might have been better if they had got rid of all the rubbish jokes and made it	 a drama with occasional funny bits rather than a comedy with occasional drama bits.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 3, 2018)

Mrs D said:


> I had high hopes for a movie co-starring Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd



I hear that there's a new illustrated dictionary just been released, and opposite the entry for 'optimist' there's a picture of you


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 3, 2018)

copliker said:


> See also this load of cobblers. Cardboard Gangsters (2016) - IMDb


I actually enjoyed watching that film


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 3, 2018)

DaveCinzano said:


> BTW you were right, after checking my notes I see that I watched it in May


top quality fayre



I've been watching Krypton which is bad, very bad, but somehow compelling. Everyone is british in the days before kal el


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 3, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> top quality fayre
> 
> 
> 
> I've been watching Krypton which is bad, very bad, but somehow compelling. Everyone is british in the days before kal el



Then along came the dreaded Krypton_EU_nite...


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 3, 2018)

First episode of Godless , liked it .


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 5, 2018)

The39thStep said:


> First episode of Godless , liked it .


Godless is brilliant.  Enjoy.


----------



## electroplated (Jul 5, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> Godless is brilliant.  Enjoy.



Seconded. Watched the whole lot in one massive binge.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 6, 2018)

electroplated said:


> Seconded. Watched the whole lot in one massive binge.


hah!

Took me near a week but it's excellent.  That look Roy Good gives when he puts his hat back on...worth the whole thing.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jul 6, 2018)

Silent Running.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jul 8, 2018)

pride. again.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 8, 2018)

Binge watching Peep Show:


----------



## keybored (Jul 14, 2018)

The Endless

Two brothers (played by the directors Justin Benson/Aaron Moorhead) who live an unhappy, dead-end life together are compelled to visit the UFO cult they fled from 10 years earlier. Shit gets surreal. A proper "what the fuck am I watching?" experience tempered by decent performances and humour. Much like dropping acid that turns out to be far stronger than you anticipated, but ends up being enjoyable all the same. Recommended.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 14, 2018)

Soylent Green. Finally got round to watching, obviously the big reveal isn't that big as everybody knows it by now. Esp if you're a fan of Millennium. That said, it's still fascinating. Edward G Robinson's last scene in any movie also being one of the most poignant moments. But 50 year old Charlton Heston with 27 year old Leigh Taylor Young is uncomfortable and the dystopian future treatment of women as "furniture" seems to foreshadow Blade Runner, esp Blade Runner 2049. And possibly Cloud Atlas. Joseph Cotten crops up and DS9s Brock Peters. Quite a cast.

A very 70s view of the future but still worth a look, food riots, corrupt cops, global warming.


----------



## Mrs D (Jul 15, 2018)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

I want a feel good movie to take my mind off things, I thought.

Watch this heartwarming tale of a soldier’s son who befriends a Jewish boy during the war, the synopsis said.


----------



## Supine (Jul 16, 2018)

*2036 - Origin Unknown*

Beyond shit sci-fi film with a terrible story line. Do yourself a favour and avoid like the plague.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jul 16, 2018)

*Annihilation* - i loved the many depths to this, and that ending...enjoyed its philosophy.


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 16, 2018)

*Ant Man and The Wasp*

Cinematic equivalent of whiplash after Infinity War, but the lower stakes and humour suit the franchise and it improves on the original in several ways IMO.

Quite a few laughs and inventive set pieces, Evangeline Lily given more to do, Paul Rudd still solidly Paul Rudd. 

Nothing groundbreaking but pleasant nonetheless. Interesting antagonists too, Marvel seem to be getting the hang of their 'villains' lately.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 16, 2018)

The Octagon said:


> *...* Paul Rudd still solidly Paul Rudd...


60% of the time, he does it every time.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 17, 2018)

The Octagon said:


> Paul Rudd still solidly Paul Rudd



The Andrew McCarthy it's okay to like


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 19, 2018)

Ep 1 of _Knightfall _- new History Channel "epic" sword thing supposedly based on history of Crusades and Templars. I am a hardcore fan of costume-drama nonsense and ahistorical trash but this one's just dull, as well as anachronistic. Extra penalty points for having a supposedly celibate warrior monk boffing his lady love and telling her (more or less) he likes shagging more than battling (without a hint of guilt!) and for the Templars being portrayed as PC-warriors defending victimised Jews from the antisemitism of the mob.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 21, 2018)

Crank. How the fuck have I not managed to see this until now, it's fantastic


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 21, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> Midnight in Paris. I think I missed this at the time, it was one of those films where critics claimed it was a return to form for Woody Allen. But it really is. Couldn't stop thinking of Stella Street and Goodnight Sweetheart in places, though


Yeah I quite liked it. Surprised me.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 21, 2018)

Visioneers.







I didn't find it as laugh out loud funny as many claim. In fact it's not funny at all. It feels like it's meant to have a message but I'm not sure it delivered on any level. Very one note throughout. There is an interesting story in there somewhere, but I don't think it was clearly developed or told very well. Shame, because it looked great and I liked the acting, but it fell short on storytelling and depth.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2018)

I've been watching stan against evil which is just funny enough to get away with its short doses but is not a keeper.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 21, 2018)

Dear White People - the film. Clever and engaging college flick about privilege and race. Hope the series is as good.
The Babadook - not what I expected at all. Horror movie where the monster is 



Spoiler



all about loss and containing it, I think


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 22, 2018)

Happy Death Day.  A groundhog day murder mystery.  Has some original bits, some funny bits and subverts the cliches now and then. An enjoyable 90 minutes.

Thor Ragnarok, again.  I mean come on...those drums kick in and then...


Spoiler








Well done, new Doug.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 22, 2018)

Isle of dogs. 
The whole family enjoyed it. 
My daughter laughed out loud, I didn't find it funny, but it was beautiful and breathtakingly charming to look at, great cinematography.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 22, 2018)

I presume you mean this







and not this


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jul 23, 2018)

Ghost Stories - Ghost Stories – Warp Films

Lives well up to the high standards that Warp Films has established.
A nice bit of brain fuckery, but keeps it pretty tongue in cheek . Great performance from Paul Whitehouse.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 25, 2018)

*Mediterranea *(2015) - depressing, enraging, and really very good film about the lives & journeys of young West African men making it to Italy through routes over the Sahara, through Libya, over the Med in a leaky boat, and dropping straight into the hands of exploitative, dodgy, Mafia-linked citrus groves in Calabria in southern Italy. It sounds grim - and it's not a light evening's watch - but it is not ever mawkish, or just wanting to torture you or make you feel guilty. All shot in a very grimy, low-key, not-arty neorealist style, and lots of it in the dark, too - so it does have an aesthetic, but it's not pretentious arthouse 'watch the light glitter on the waves while we pull this focus" sort of visual essay. The heart - so much heart - of it is in a couple of brilliant performances from the two leads, and an unusually light and generous view of human motivations (when you consider the setting.) Every character in this is a real person, not a caricature, with a real back story and an individual character - not just a cardboard cut-out serving as a symbol or to push an argument. Jonas Carpignano (the director) looks like a talent to watch out for, on this showing. I was expecting Mediterranea to be just relentlessly earnest and downbeat (like _Biutiful_, for instance - so po-faced about its misery it almost made me laugh) - but this is a much much more nuanced, and tougher, sort of movie than that. Recommended.


----------



## flypanam (Jul 25, 2018)

Zazie dans le metro. Fucking excellent movie by Louis Malle based on the novel of the same name. Young girl arrives with her ma in Paris. Her ma goes off with her new lover but Zazie is looked after by her uncle. Chaos happens.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 27, 2018)

We're on holiday in Spain at the moment and the only English language TV channel in our apartment is Movies 4 Men  so I've watched a right load of old shit the last few evenings. Last night's offering was Bad Country, a film which managed to make Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon and Louisiana itself look irredeemably cheap.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 27, 2018)

Death of Superman (2018)
an update on the classic, modern day costume styles that look closer to the comics of now and better dialogue than the original. Warner Brothers, so excellent animation


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 27, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> We're on holiday in Spain at the moment and the only English language TV channel in our apartment is Movies 4 Men  so I've watched a right load of old shit the last few evenings. Last night's offering was Bad Country, a film which managed to make Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon and Louisiana itself look irredeemably cheap.



Movies 4 Men has unexpected gems now and then but soooo much of it is bargain-bin nonsense... they've got a weakness for historical epics tho so I end up watching it a lot (thinking to myself all the time "..... and I'm not a man so **** you, channel schedulers  "


----------



## flypanam (Jul 28, 2018)

The battle ofNeretva. Film by veljko Bulajic about the partisans in Nazi occupied Bosnia. It’s got orson Welles in it. Good but not great.

The OST is very good though.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jul 28, 2018)

flypanam said:


> The battle ofNeretva. Film by veljko Bulajic about the partisans in Nazi occupied Bosnia. It’s got orson Welles in it. Good but not great.
> 
> The OST is very good though.


That's the one where they spent loads of money to blow up an actual railway bridge over the river only to find the smoke from the explosives had hidden most of the action, so at great cost they rebuilt the bridge and did it again, only for the same thing to happen.


----------



## starfish (Jul 28, 2018)

I, Tonya. Pretty damn good i have to say.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 30, 2018)

Somewhere in Time - cheesy time travelling romantic drama from 1980 with Christophers Reeve & Plummer, Jane Seymour. From a story by (I am Legend) Richard Matheson and with a gorgeous John Barry soundtrack.

Loved this when I was younger. Perhaps due for a remake?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 30, 2018)

Sleep Dealer

Really enjoyed this. Its a smart sci fi story with heart. Missed it in 2008, but then foreign language films often pass me by. Worth checking out. Covers political, environmental and social themes as by product/driver of a great story. 9/10



The Commuter
Neeson on a train. A silly conceit really, about choice and blah, but in the end its a tense and enjoyable action film on a train. Slow build but once ots off it doesn't stop. Saw this billed as 'the best train action film since Under Siege 2, which is fair enough although this ones played less cheesily.

6.5 out of ten neesons


----------



## Chz (Jul 30, 2018)

Finally caught up with The Last Jedi.

It's... okay. I don't get the hatred thrown at it, as it's no sillier than most SW films. Yes, it could have left a good 20 minutes on the cutting room floor to be a better film, but that's a common complaint.

Editing to add:
I'm not sure how you can sit in an editing suite, for a film that's already 2.5 hours long, and watch Luke milk a space walrus and think "This is pretty important. It stays."


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 31, 2018)

I'm watching the Citizen Khan christmas specials, as you do in July


----------



## belboid (Jul 31, 2018)

Times Square


Tim Curry’s finest 107 minutes.


----------



## Supine (Jul 31, 2018)

Rectify S4 - really enjoyed the pace and acting of this series. Sad but enjoyable. 

Thought I'd watch something less likely to make me cry next so I'm heading into Glow S1


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 1, 2018)

10 clover field lane 


What THE FUCK were the producers thinking about with the glued  on ending ?  Deeply unhappy


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 1, 2018)

belboid said:


> Times Square
> 
> 
> Tim Curry’s finest 107 minutes.



I love that film....first saw it at school....love the soundtrack


----------



## belboid (Aug 1, 2018)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I love that film....first saw it at school....love the soundtrack


I'm surprised no one has (to my knowledge) covered Damn Dog or any of their other songs. The soundtrack was the only place to get XTC's 'Take This Town' for years


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 1, 2018)

belboid said:


> I'm surprised no one has (to my knowledge) covered Damn Dog or any of their other songs. The soundtrack was the only place to get XTC's 'Take This Town' for years



I have two copies of that soundtrack...


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 6, 2018)

Incredibles 2

Not as fresh as the original but still great fun. The animation is superb and like the last one, I felt that this is the way to do a superhero film (esp Fantastic Four)...


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 6, 2018)

First episode of Jessica Jones ,by complete mistake , but was pleasantly surprised.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 8, 2018)

Denial

Largely a courtroom drama about the libel action brought by holocaust denier David Irving.  It was alright but the only character I liked was Alex Jennings as the judge.

If the trial happened now, Irving would probably have a large crowd of supporters outside court


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 8, 2018)

Impossible

About family surviving the Asians tsunami. Rarely have I had so little empathy for characters. How they managed to string this out for 90 minutes is beyond me


----------



## Reno (Aug 9, 2018)

I watched the whole first season of Killing Eve over the last three evenings, which I thought was great fun. The three lead actresses, Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer and Fiona Shaw are fantastic and they threw in Kim "Sexy Bear" Bodnia from The Bridge as well.


----------



## Reno (Aug 11, 2018)

Last night I watched Isle of Dogs with the cat. It looks great and the animation is beautiful, but it’s not as good as Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox. However, it’s Alfie‘s new favourite film (the previous one was the CGI/live action remake of The Jungle Book). He watched the whole thing intently. I think he may have been fascinated by the vaguely familiar looking animals and the odd way they moved in stop motion.



Then I thought as a special treat I’d show him the original Cat People from the 40s, but he wasn’t into that. Too scary or maybe the b&w is too abstract.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 12, 2018)

Gravity. Incredibly well made, cheesy as fuck plotwise. 

My cat was unimpressed and slept through it all


----------



## belboid (Aug 12, 2018)

Inception 

Mrs b had never seen it. Holds up quite well. Still looks really good and I like the fact that it is a blockbuster you have to pay proper attention to. But it is really very silly.


----------



## PricelessTrifle (Aug 13, 2018)

I watched Rampage a few nights ago - I was wildly underwhelmed, personally. Dwayne Johnson can usually make any shit movie seem at least vaguely entertaining to me, but I found myself struggling to even hold my attention to it. Maybe it was just me, maybe it's actually a good movie and I'm just sore I spent the 7 bucks to rent it on OnDemand and didn't immediately fall in love with it - I have a track record of spending more than I'd like on content I like even less than that what I spent was more. But less so, in a, in a 'less' type of way. 

I was expecting more like a King Kong vibe, the recent one with john c reilly as the sort of shipwrecked older pilot - although I guess you could say it had that sort of vibe, if you really sucked at reading vibes I mean - I didn't actually read anything at all about the film beforehand, which is a really effective way to go about over spending on movies over the internet, if you're into that sort of thing, blindly renting trash and going 'yippeeee' like the vacuous human dumpster I are 

And where the fuck was quinton jackson the whole movie, for that matter 

*makes series of increasingly vapid complaints*

MONKEY WERR NO BIG ENOUFG TO ME BE SAY 'HE BIGG ENOUGH'


----------



## marty21 (Aug 13, 2018)

Finished Season 4 of  Bosch - really enjoyed it - binge watched the last 4 - season 5 is being made  Available on Prime. 

Bosch (TV series) - Wikipedia


----------



## TruXta (Aug 13, 2018)

Rampage was underwhelming. 

Watched Deepwater Horizon with my dad, who worked oil rigs for decades. He scoffed at many scenes for their unrealistic portrayal of things. Wasn't even a decent disaster movie.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 13, 2018)

theres literally one funny line, where he is choking out a soldier and says 'yeah, its a big arm, don't fight it'. Other than that its just giant things fighting, which is OK, but thats all it is


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 13, 2018)

*Death of Stalin *- astonishing cast doesn't quite gel in coal-black-comedy treatment of the big man's final days and the murderous and confusing aftermath. Everyone is individually good but the acting styles don't always mesh. Some of the script's brilliant, as you would expect from Armando Iannucci, some of it a bit try-hard. A sort of weird farce-fantasy, whose exaggerated and bitter feel might be in keeping with the subject but somehow you can never really suspend disbelief and buy these actors as actual Russians.


----------



## belboid (Aug 13, 2018)

Raw

Marvellous 100 minutes of French horror. Funny, ridiculous, and absolutely stomach turning. Thoroughly recommended. Although not while you're eating dinner.


----------



## Sue (Aug 13, 2018)

belboid said:


> Raw
> 
> Marvellous 100 minutes of French horror. Funny, ridiculous, and absolutely stomach turning. Thoroughly recommended. Although not while you're eating dinner.


Saw it at the cinema, thought it was excellent.



Spoiler: Spoiler



The bit with the finger made the entire audience gasp .


----------



## Reno (Aug 13, 2018)

I loved Raw too, my favourite film of 2017.


----------



## belboid (Aug 13, 2018)

Sue said:


> Saw it at the cinema, thought it was excellent.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, that bit was probably the grossest. Me n mrs b were positively squirming on the sofa


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 13, 2018)

Ant Man

Enjoyable, if B-movie type entry for the MCU. Paul Rudd does his thing and Michaels Pena and Douglas and Evangeline Lilly do their best.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 13, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> Gravity. Incredibly well made, cheesy as fuck plotwise.
> 
> My cat was unimpressed and slept through it all




Cats aren't affected by gravity


----------



## Sue (Aug 13, 2018)

belboid said:


> Yeah, that bit was probably the grossest. Me n mrs b were positively squirming on the sofa


And in the scheme of horror films, it's pretty tame really which says something about how well it was all done.


----------



## yardbird (Aug 13, 2018)

I'm binge-watching Justified from the beginning. I watched a long time ago and caught bits that I missed first time.
Big plus - the music is just great.


----------



## T & P (Aug 14, 2018)

A Quiet Place. A very enjoyable edge-of-the-seat near future sci-fi/ disaster film. Tense as fuck at times but in an enjoyable way.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 14, 2018)

Binge-watching the 2000s US detective show, Monk. Cozy viewing.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 15, 2018)

_La La Land_ - musical oscar hoover with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. I much preferred _Hail, Caesar_ which comes across as a love letter to B movie Hollywood. Cracking cast, too.


----------



## Chz (Aug 15, 2018)

krtek a houby said:


> _La La Land_ - musical oscar hoover with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. I much preferred _Hail, Caesar_ which comes across as a love letter to B movie Hollywood. Cracking cast, too.


Both of them I enjoyed, but... both lacking in something, somehow. Out of the two, I preferred La La Land. Hail, Caesar was actively disappointing, whereas La La Land was just... okay. I actually enjoy it more in retrospect having seen the comparison Kermode did with "Let's Face the Music and Dance".


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 15, 2018)

Chz said:


> Both of them I enjoyed, but... both lacking in something, somehow. Out of the two, I preferred La La Land. Hail, Caesar was actively disappointing, whereas La La Land was just... okay. I actually enjoy it more in retrospect having seen the comparison Kermode did with "Let's Face the Music and Dance".



After watching each one, I checked Kermode's reviews and he mentions _Singing in the Rain_. Which I can see a little bit in both. _Hail, Caesar _was more satisfying for me, as I love the Coen Bros films and this made me laugh. LLL left me a bit cold. But I can appreciate the canvas and there's not enough musicals these days!


----------



## rekil (Aug 16, 2018)

The39thStep said:


> I actually enjoyed watching that film


I don't think Connors has any talent really, but since he has his foot in the film board door, he should do a sequel to Fatal Deviation. 



Spoiler: Fatal Deviation


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 16, 2018)

Deadpool 2. Proper up its own arse like the original and a tiresome vein of paedo jokes running right through it. That said, there are some funny bits. But I can't reccomend this to anyone. Oh look at me making knowing references to being in a film, is your mind not blown? nah.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 16, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Deadpool 2. Proper up its own arse like the original and a tiresome vein of paedo jokes running right through it. That said, there are some funny bits. But I can't reccomend this to anyone. Oh look at me making knowing references to being in a film, is your mind not blown? nah.




Did you expect anything else?


----------



## Ralph Llama (Aug 16, 2018)

Upgrade
Upgrade (2018) - IMDb

Excellent Sci-Fi riddled with anarco-prim concepts. Better than Bladerunner.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 16, 2018)

rubbershoes said:


> Cats aren't affected by gravity


Then how do you explain the feline double-buttered toast perpetual motion dynamo, eh?


----------



## Reno (Aug 16, 2018)

Ralph Llama said:


> Upgrade
> Upgrade (2018) - IMDb
> 
> Excellent Sci-Fi riddled with anarco-prim concepts. Better than Bladerunner.


Yes to the first, no to the last.


----------



## yield (Aug 17, 2018)

Been trying to catch up on good films I missed. So Wind River and It Comes at Night

Wind River loved the quietness, open and the snow. Felt like a western more than a thriller 

It Comes at Night wasn't what I expected. So little was explained. Paranoia in the nuclear family. A slow burn like Wind River very good.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Aug 17, 2018)

Reno- I may have been a little over enthused due to the sexy ideas in it.

Just watched American Animals 

American Animals (2018) - IMDb

Really good film about kids seeking life transformation ... I was most impressed how the feeling of nervousness and panic were acted out around the robbery ... really drags you into it... my heart was pounding!


----------



## flypanam (Aug 17, 2018)

Bela Tarr's Wrekmeister Harmonies.  A circus arrives in run down town in Hungary, it exhibits a whale, drives the town mad, unleashing violence.

A proper lovely film with a great score.


----------



## starfish (Aug 17, 2018)

Paddington 2. I thought i laughed more during the first one but it was still an enjoyable watch with some very funny moments. Obviously we cried at the bit youre meant to & if you dont youre beyond help. Huge Grant deserves an Oscar.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 17, 2018)

trabuquera said:


> _The Last Valley (_1970) - absolute stinker of a historical 'epic' - adapted from a James Clavell novel about the 30 years war, filmed in Switzerland. Bunch of mercs rock up in a village isolated from the horrors of war, then inflict the horrors of war on it. Amusing for spotting old UK acting lags doing their best manly bellowing (Brian Blessed! Michael Caine!) and some startlingly nasty 70s misogyny (local women being divvied up as tribute for the mercs, witch burnings etc.) Omar Sharif is in it, for no apparent reason, wearing amazingly unconvincing chalky-white makeup. Larded with great lumps of clodhopping dialogue about how war is hell and there's no god etc etc. Action sequences with vast hordes of extras in an amazing landscape and there's still not a hint of excitement throughout. Only bright spot (literally) is an amazingly hamfisted bit of model-burning (no CGI in them days son) purporting to depict the sack of a city. Just dire, a load of claggy old porridge.


I've just revisited my notes from watching that - I think I felt it was less of a turd than you, though it is not without many flaws. I seemed to like the performances, in the main.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2018)

Upgrade- a decent sci fi film, relatively simple story thats effective. It was well done, no massive clunky exposition dumps or 'look here I am worldbuilding'. Special props for the penultimate baddie, was like a wetwired assasin from something Elizabeth Bear or Neal Asher might write. Its got a lot of style all round 



Spoiler: stuff



the murder sneeze thing was quality


 and I will probs watch again towards the end of the year on a bigger screen.

Disenchanted

sounds weird but I'd almost missed groenings animation style some how. It was actually just good to see that again, in fantasy clothes. First two eps have some laughs, not sure yet overall but then futurama took a few eps to grown on me as well so...


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 18, 2018)

child 44

Stalin era filum with tom hardy about a serial killer and the dying throes of 50s stalinism and its madness

should have worked but felt a bit ropey


----------



## Ralph Llama (Aug 20, 2018)

The House Of Tomorrow is basically a good feel good film about some hippy kid brought up on Buckminster Fuller's philosophy who forms a punk band with the son of an Evangelical minster. I liked it.

The House of Tomorrow (2017) - IMDb


----------



## Toast Rider (Aug 21, 2018)

Dr WHo, Terror of the Autons.

nuff fucking said


----------



## ringo (Aug 21, 2018)

Revolver. 
A below par Guy Richie job I spotted in a charity shop and had never seen before. Entertainingly silly, especially when it tries to get clever at the end.


----------



## flypanam (Aug 22, 2018)

Search party. All4 silliness. Quite good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 22, 2018)

Whiskey Galore which is funny, even now its still lolz. The iplayer has been showing old ealing stuff.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 22, 2018)

Good Time - basically a film about fucked up people doing fucked up things that are normal to their fucked up lives. It was ok sometimes it was good but I had a long sigh of relief when it ended and woke up to my more mundane and normal life.


----------



## hot air baboon (Aug 24, 2018)

this really enjoyable little gem from 1970 courtesy of the film necromancers at London Live - ( ok a pretty shoddy channel but with some great hard-to-see 1960'-70's films filling their graveyard slot )

 

like one of those New English Library exploitation paperbacks brought to celluloid about the groupie scene


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 24, 2018)

I am watching a worrying amount of London Live and Talking Pictures recently. Nostalgia for times before my birth wtf.


----------



## hot air baboon (Aug 24, 2018)

join the club ( although if you can't remember half-crowns you won't qualify for a gold membership I'm afraid )


----------



## yield (Aug 25, 2018)

Cargo an Australian zombie apocalypse. Martin Freeman is great in this. Must find a home for his child before he turns.

Infinity Chamber low budget indie thoughtful scifi. Mainly shot in a prison cell. Kept thinking of Portal. Very good.


----------



## rekil (Aug 28, 2018)

yield said:


> Cargo an Australian zombie apocalypse. Martin Freeman is great in this. Must find a home for his child before he turns.


He was just Tim from The Office yet again.  Ghost Stories (2017) - IMDb is great apart from all the scenes he's in.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2018)

yield said:


> Cargo an Australian zombie apocalypse. Martin Freeman is great in this. Must find a home for his child before he turns.


I’ve enjoyed that a lot too. There is another good Netflix-exclusive zombie movie, the French-Canadian Ravenous. Doesn’t do anything new, but it’s scary and very well directed.


----------



## ginger_syn (Aug 30, 2018)

Train to Busan, an excellent south korean zombie film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 30, 2018)

copliker said:


> He was just Tim from The Office yet again.  Ghost Stories (2017) - IMDb is great apart from all the scenes he's in.



Haven't seen the latter yet but in Cargo he was nothing like Tim from The Office. Which is one of the reasons why I liked it


----------



## not-bono-ever (Sep 3, 2018)

Wind river. Murder and misery in the utterly stunning Wyoming rockies. A jaundiced swipe at the grim situation of native Americans in the USA


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 3, 2018)

*Red Sparrow* - I'm not sure why I expected more from this. A film needs more than thick Russian accidents and convoluted spy capers . 5/10

*Unsane - *with HM Claire Foy . IMO they should have kept the central _is he/isn't he_ question going longer , but it was a decent film  overall.  The message is don't mess with Claire Foy  6/10

*Journeyman  *- Bleak but excellent tale of a boxer coming back from injury.  Paddy Considine wrote, directed and starred in it and possibly did the catering too.  8/10

*American animals*  - True life heist movie including bits of interviews with some of the actual people 8/10


----------



## Virtual Blue (Sep 3, 2018)

*Upgrade* - watched this a few hours after finishing Harari's Deus. 

There was something real 80s about it, maybe cos 'Stem' sounded so much like KIT. Fun low budget sci-fi - a rare find these days.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 3, 2018)

*Fragment of Fear *(1970) - proper trippy paranoia thriller with an increasingly sweaty and deranged David Hemmings trying to solve the apparent murder of a rich aunt in Italy. As he's a (supposedly) recovered drug addict, his attempts to play detective and uncover the truth lead to social embarassment, sinister encounters with men in hats, a ruined wedding and some dunkings in the sleazier tail-end of 60s London hipness. Terrific soundtrack (you'll recognise it when you hear that screaming breathy flute!) and some great hallucination/dream/nightmare sequences - and wonderful period detail. It doesn't make a lot of sense, it's perhaps more than a bit misogynist ... but it's a good 'un.

*Beyond the Valley of the Dolls *- never seen it before. Completely demented. Ruined a bit for me by some dated 'satire' (Bormann jokes? really?) and attitudes towards women, trans, etc. But the music is amaaaaaaaayyyyzing! Worth watching even if just once. Ideally out of your box on something or other, I think.


----------



## sojourner (Sep 4, 2018)

Watched Interstellar again. What a fucking brilliant film that is


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 4, 2018)

rubbershoes said:


> *Journeyman  *- Bleak but excellent tale of a boxer coming back from injury.  Paddy Considine wrote, directed and starred in it and possibly did the catering too.  8/10



But did he sing the theme tune? No he did not, the lazy fuck


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 4, 2018)

DaveCinzano said:


> But did he sing the theme tune? No he did not, the lazy fuck



Under Equity rules, the only actor allowed to sing theme tunes is Denis Waterman.


----------



## Sue (Sep 4, 2018)

rubbershoes said:


> Under Equity rules, the only actor allowed to sign theme tunes is Denis Waterman.


I see your Denis Waterman and I raise you Jimmy 'Crocodile Shoes' Nail...


----------



## Ralph Llama (Sep 5, 2018)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Upgrade* - watched this a few hours after finishing Harari's Deus.
> 
> There was something real 80s about it




This little baby might have something to do with it.


----------



## sojourner (Sep 6, 2018)

Mudbound.  Good slow build.


----------



## flypanam (Sep 6, 2018)

Succession. HBO show. Could be about the Murdochs.


----------



## Supine (Sep 6, 2018)

flypanam said:


> Succession. HBO show. Could be about the Murdochs.



Thought that was great. Hope S2 is made.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Sep 7, 2018)

Hereditary ... Absolutely terrifying. Sound track is brilliant. Just watch it.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 7, 2018)

Ralph Llama said:


> Hereditary ... Absolutely terrifying. Sound track is brilliant. Just watch it.


I thought the ending was a bit meh, but pretty much everything leading up to that was really good. Reminded me of movies like Rosemary's Baby and other 60s and 70s goodies.


----------



## sojourner (Sep 7, 2018)

Calvary.  Fucking HELL.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 12, 2018)

Loads of stuff.

_Who Do You Think You Are_ - Damien Dempsey. A look at the singer's ancestors and the roles they played in Irish history. Fascinating and sad.
_Fair City_ - ropey Dublin soap that hasn't changed in the decades since I last watched it.
_Kingsman - The Golden Circle_ - rubbish follow up to Matthew Vaughn smash.
_Big Hero 6_ - Disney adaption of obscure Marvel tale. Inflatable robot minder and nerd kids take on Elon Musk. Wonderful animation.
_Doctor Who - Twice Upon a Time_ - Capaldi's last dance as the Doctor. David Bradley does a great job, too. Cracking Xmas ep, marred only by the usual sentimental departure and bloody Clara again.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 12, 2018)

Spinal Tap. My bother in law had never seen it. Funnily enough my mate Russ who was over last month hadn't either. And neither had seen The Big Lebowski. Whats going on in the world these days?


----------



## rekil (Sep 12, 2018)

Spoiler: The Onion's Future News From The Year 2137










Spoiler: Grimland Laws


----------



## sojourner (Sep 12, 2018)

Annihilation. Whilst I loved the idea of all-female leading roles, thought it was let down by a crap story and even crapper ending.


----------



## seventh bullet (Sep 13, 2018)

The Disaster Artist.

A rich creep directs and stars in a film about a rich creep who directs and stars in a film.


----------



## TruXta (Sep 13, 2018)

seventh bullet said:


> The Disaster Artist.
> 
> A rich creep directs and stars in a film about a rich creep who directs and stars in a film.


Yeah but was it entertaining?


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2018)

I've only read the book but that was very entertaining.


----------



## rekil (Sep 13, 2018)

seventh bullet said:


> The Disaster Artist.
> 
> A rich creep directs and stars in a film about a rich creep who directs and stars in a film.


Have you seen Brad's Status? Horrible super-privileged angst.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2018)

four episodes of The Gifted

its OK, like an x-men light. Vampire Bill from True Blood plays the dad lol. I think its going somewhere, ep 4 was a bit padding but we'll see. The leader of the Mutant Underground has the 90s cartoon x men theme tune as his ring tone


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Sep 22, 2018)

I'm watching Shock Treatment for, like, the fourth time this week. I found it on YT, so I don't have to bother hooking up my R1 DVD player (t'wasn't available here when I got my DVD from Murica)


----------



## Supine (Sep 23, 2018)

Disaster Artist 

Not your normal run of the mill Hollywood movie. Great story based on a true event. 

Make sure you don't miss the bit at the end when the credits start


----------



## TruXta (Sep 25, 2018)

Two TV shows. The Purge, from the movie series of the same name. Decent so far. 

The other one is an Indian Netflix show called Ghoul. Surprisingly good if veering into cliché here and there.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 1, 2018)

Mulholland Drive. Pretty far out, as expected and up there with Lost Highway.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 1, 2018)

Bayou Blue

heres a synopsis:
'From 1997 to 2006, serial killer Ronald Dominique raped and killed twenty-three men in poverty- stricken Southeastern Louisiana. Difficulties in apprehending Dominique ranged from the underfunding of law enforcement to a lack of family advocacy for the victims, to the general distraction by other catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina. Bayou Blue meditates on the decay of a community'

the murders etc are grim enough but the poverty, the generational dirt poorness, fcking infuriating. Its easy to forget because of america the shiny and functional being the dress up set for so much of its tv/film output.


----------



## imposs1904 (Oct 3, 2018)

Black '47

Not bad but I much preferred the short film it was based on:


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 3, 2018)

Michael Palin in North Korea. C5 effort that's cropped up on YT, which was quite a surprise. Nothing new or in depth, but fascinating all the same.


----------



## Reno (Oct 3, 2018)

Leave No Trace by Debra Granik who also made the excellent Winter’s Bone. This is just as good, even if it doesn’t have the hook of being a mystery. It’s about an Iraq vet, who suffers from PTSD, unable of reintegrating into society and who lives off the grid in a forest in Oregon with his teenage daughter. Then the authorities find them. Understated but involving and moving, it’s about when the needs of a damaged person come in conflict with the needs of someone who isn’t. The young actress who plays the girl is a real find.


----------



## yield (Oct 5, 2018)

Reno said:


> Leave No Trace by Debra Granik who also made the excellent Winter’s Bone. This is just as good, even if it doesn’t have the hook of being a mystery. It’s about an Iraq vet, who suffers from PTSD, unable of reintegrating into society and who lives off the grid in a forest in Oregon with his teenage daughter. Then the authorities find them. Understated but involving and moving, it’s about when the needs of a damaged person come in conflict with the needs of someone who isn’t. The young actress who plays the girl is a real find.


Plan to watch that soon. Thanks!

Recently watched Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. What can I say. I thought Seven Psychopaths was shit. Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell & Woody Harrelson are great. Amazing black comedy.

and You Were Never Really Here. Tense, visceral and action packed. Joaquin Phoenix is staggering. Film ended almost before it began. Can't say what it reminded me of without spoiling it.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 5, 2018)

Hereditary. 

Probably the most fucked up film I’ve seen in a while. 8/10


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 6, 2018)

Oceans 8 . How they pull the heist off is clever , how they pull the film off isn't. Only watched it because Cate Blanchett is in it and I quite liked Oceans Trilogy.


----------



## Ax^ (Oct 6, 2018)

watched it today  black '47,

could of been a great movie 

but lacked focus


----------



## cybershot (Oct 7, 2018)

Shock and awe.

Good political drama with plenty of great actors about the one news desk that tried to prove at the time that invading iraq in 2003 was all for the wrong reasons.

Also reading metacritic reviews back it was interesting how most of America’s mainstream press panned this. I wonder why!!


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 8, 2018)

Game Night. Actor who plays Marty in Ozark plays slightly less tense character who with his partner hosts games nights .One games night involves a murder mystery which turns out not to be quite what they were expecting. Hilarious fast pitched comedy in which the humour is far better than the normal slaptick American shite with some clever twists. Most enjoyable.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 8, 2018)

*Malevolent*

Netflix exclusive horror / ghost story.

Even worse than I was expecting it to be, and ironically for a shit film, far too short (1 hr 28 mins). There's no time to get into the characters (paper thin as they are), the plot is weirdly paced and the 'reveals' are painfully telegraphed (and make no sense). They've set it in 1986 (Glasgow) but there's no real reason for the time-specific setting besides perhaps sidestepping the mobile phone solution.

Massive waste of some great actors in James Cosmo and Celia Imrie too.

Avoid unless you want to get tipsy and take the piss throughout.

3/10


----------



## Supine (Oct 13, 2018)

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

What the bloody hell was that about!???


----------



## Reno (Oct 13, 2018)

Supine said:


> Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
> 
> What the bloody hell was that about!???


Not that difficult to figure out, is it ?


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 13, 2018)

Supine said:


> Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
> 
> What the bloody hell was that about!???



Love, losing love and the almost unbearable pain of losing love. Iirc.


----------



## Supine (Oct 13, 2018)

Reno said:


> Not that difficult to figure out, is it ?



Not for you maybe


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 14, 2018)

_Moby Dick_, the 1956 John Huston effort. Bit melodramatic and obviously shears off the novel's digressions, which I guess you'd have to back in the day to make for a standard seat-filler. Nice to see Noel Purcell and a bit of Youghal in there but overall, not one of Huston's best.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 15, 2018)

Castaway.

Never seen this.  Tom Hanks gets marooned on a desert island with nothing but a picture of Helen Hunt.  This obviously makes him want to kill himself but her evil spirit stops him.

He eventually decides to go out into the sea and die amongst the whales but her evil spirit finds him again and draws him to her.  Fortunately he escapes at the end.  We're talking Requiem for a Dream level horror here.

That about right?


----------



## sojourner (Oct 15, 2018)

I Am Not An Easy Man.

Thought it would be great. It was fucking shit, and offensive to boot


----------



## Reno (Oct 15, 2018)

Summer of 84, a deeply mediocre entry in the wave of 80s nostalgia horror movies and TV series.


----------



## belboid (Oct 16, 2018)

*Ready Player One* - I wasn’t exactly expecting Shakespeare, but this was just pants. Never seen Mark Rylance be so shit.

*American* *Animals* - that’s better! Top drawer entertainment. Of course the mixture of the real people and actors is nowt like as original as the publicity claimed, but it works and is a pretty great tale. Despite the fact that they’re obviously arseholes.

*Hereditary* - nearly brilliant. I’m still not quite sure why the ending doesn’t have the impact it should, it’s all set up in earlier scenes, and makes sense. But it isn’t scary or shocking, more ‘oh, okay, so that’s it’. Shame, but still well worth viewing.

*Amadeus* - again, obviously. Tom Hulce is more irritating than I remembered, but it’s still fucking magnificent.


----------



## flypanam (Oct 17, 2018)

Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace.

Watched the first hour of it last night and will watch the rest over the next five days (It's 6 hours long). It's excellent though, much better than the BBC adaptation fro a couple of years ago.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 18, 2018)

Bad Sarmatian 

Thought this was pretty good. Don't get me wrong it's a formula that's been done to death but had enough in it to keep it interesting. Has David Tennant in, being delightfully creepy, and that Irish lad who was in Misfits. Rather than give anything away, I'll just post the blurb..

A pair of burglars stumble upon a woman being held captive in a home they intended to rob.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 18, 2018)

cybershot said:


> Bad Sarmatian
> 
> Thought this was pretty good. Don't get me wrong it's a formula that's been done to death but had enough in it to keep it interesting. Has David Tennant in, being delightfully creepy, and that Irish lad who was in Misfits. Rather than give anything away, I'll just post the blurb..
> 
> A pair of burglars stumble upon a woman being held captive in a home they intended to rob.


Nice to see Sarmatia getting some recognition. Sarmatians - Wikipedia


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 19, 2018)

Idris2002 said:


> Nice to see Sarmatia getting some recognition. Sarmatians - Wikipedia


I like _101 Sarmatians_, but _102_ was just a cash-in sequel too far


----------



## not-bono-ever (Oct 21, 2018)

bit behind the curve on this - La La land

its a beautiful sumptious film

well worth the time


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 21, 2018)

Sightseers.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 21, 2018)

A rather sobering and depressing documentary on migrant workers in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and Jordan where domestic staff are made part of the kafala system.
_Maid in Hell_, it's a BBC co-production and follows the plight of a worker who was burnt by her employees. Horrific and desperately shocking stuff.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 25, 2018)

Legends of Tomorrow

the best comic book thing on small or big screen returns with a killer unicorn at woodstock and all round lols. Saras continued love affair with the head of the time bureau  and gary's missing nipple bringing the background


----------



## rekil (Oct 26, 2018)

The39thStep said:


> Oceans 8 . How they pull the heist off is clever , how they pull the film off isn't. Only watched it because Cate Blanchett is in it and I quite liked Oceans Trilogy.


I went along with it until the necklace bit. Count on guards to be sub-G4S calibre then plonk a massive chunk of jewellery on a passing waiter's tray and hope he's too thick/blind to notice. Also it's not a heist fillum if they don't end up killing or ratting out each other.


----------



## belboid (Oct 26, 2018)

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Watched mostly for it's shots of Angkor Wat, I had remembered it as being a pretty good romp, which it was, I guess, although showing its age. I had forgotten just how very very silly it was tho, Chris bloody Barrie! Such a young Julian Rhind-Tutt. Met the criteria for amusing guff. Not one I'll be in a desperate rush to revisit tho


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 28, 2018)

Ouija : origin of evil

Complete tosh.


----------



## Reno (Oct 28, 2018)

rubbershoes said:


> Ouija : origin of evil
> 
> Complete tosh.


Not sure what your expectations were. For a low budget horror sequel to a film which was terrible, I thought this was pretty good.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 28, 2018)

Chronicle.  A gem of a found footage film (but it's better than those really) from 2012 which can be found on youtube in hd.  Only an hour and a half, it's kinda like an origin story and well worth your time for its original take on superhero-ish type movies.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 28, 2018)

Sicario 2.  Brolin and Del Toro still here from the first one, the main plotline is 'fuck with the cartels'.  It's decent enough, plenty of tension.  Not as good as the first one but very watchable.


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2018)

I watched the original The Fly from the 50s, which I had not seen in a long time. Still pretty good and structured like a murder mystery till it gets to the monster stuff in the last act. The end is one of the best.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 29, 2018)

_The Journey to Greenland_

Two French lads head off to Greenland to see one lad's dad and hang out with the locals. That's it, really. Slight but sweet.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 29, 2018)

Reno said:


> Not sure what your expectations were. For a low budget horror sequel to a film which was terrible, I thought this was pretty good.



Thank you for telling me that I was wrong. I'll bear this in mind before posting on this thread again


----------



## Reno (Oct 29, 2018)

rubbershoes said:


> Thank you for telling me that I was wrong. I'll bear this in mind before posting on this thread again


Much obliged! We couldn’t possibly disagree on an issue on urban, it’s practically unheard of.


----------



## The Octagon (Oct 29, 2018)

*Ocean's Eight*

Bit of a waste of everyone's involvement to be honest, couple of funny moments and the soundtrack is pleasant, but the plot is nonsense and the characters don't behave in logical ways.



Spoiler: general plot stuff



The plan goes smoothly from start to finish, with very little in the way of conflict (any hint of a bump in the road, such as Anne Hathaway's character figuring things out or James Corden's insurance investigator digging into the case, is handwaved away by "they like these women and therefore will go along with framing Debbie's Ocean's ex-boyfriend for no reason"), doesn't really make for a particularly engaging experience.



5/10


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 29, 2018)

*Mandy (2018) *Absolutely loved this, both beautifully psychedelic and fantastic fun, with Nicholas Cage on good form getting to turn it up to 11. Surely destined to become a cult midnight movie.
The score by Johann Johannsson, one the last he did before sadly passing away this year, is great too.
I had enjoyed director, Panos Cosmatos' previous effort "Beyond The Black Rainbow" despite it being rather let down by a crap ending but he nails it here.
10/10


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 29, 2018)

DexterTCN said:


> Chronicle.  A gem of a found footage film (but it's better than those really) from 2012 which can be found on youtube in hd.  Only an hour and a half, it's kinda like an origin story and well worth your time for its original take on superhero-ish type movies.


Liked that when it came out


----------



## Reno (Oct 30, 2018)

I’m three episodes into season 4 of Channel Zero and it’s by far the best (it’s an anthology show, so you can skip the others). If you want a horror tv series that’s actually scary, then this is a better bet than The Haunting of Hill House.


----------



## seventh bullet (Oct 30, 2018)

Indeliblelink said:


> *Mandy (2018) *Absolutely loved this, both beautifully psychedelic and fantastic fun, with Nicholas Cage on good form getting to turn it up to 11. Surely destined to become a cult midnight movie.
> The score by Johann Johannsson, one the last he did before sadly passing away this year, is great too.
> I had enjoyed director, Panos Cosmatos' previous effort "Beyond The Black Rainbow" despite it being rather let down by a crap ending but he nails it here.
> 10/10





Spoiler



There was thin characterisation, but what there was of it, the cult leader was more interesting in his insecure, ego like a sheet of glass depravity than Cage screaming in his underpants while downing vodka.

The vaguely Cenobite trio of 'demon' bikers on a permanent bad trip were also interesting but dispatched easily.


----------



## keybored (Oct 30, 2018)

seventh bullet said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



Enjoyed it, but I was properly thrown because I watched half last night, then at some point at work today I half-arsed Googled reviews for it to see if it was worth watching the rest and there were mentions of the title character being a liar and abuse survivor. "That'll explain the scars on her face" I thought, and watched the rest tonight, fully expecting that the body that was burnt was the young chubby kid and Mandy turns out to be not only alive and well, but the real leader of the hippy cult and she'd been been stringing along poor wide-eyed Cage for a laugh.

Turns out there was a different film called Mandy a few years back.


----------



## seventh bullet (Oct 30, 2018)

?


----------



## keybored (Oct 30, 2018)

seventh bullet said:


> ?


Mix-up lead me to believe there was going to be a very different ending.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 5, 2018)

*The Reckoning *- amazingly snarling, misanthropic, misogynist, satirical 1969 period piece about a thrusting (in every sense), successful businessman still "haunted" by his Liverpool-Irish working-class background, whose beloved Da's death kicks off a wild kamikaze blaze through British industry, the class system and his miserable marriage to some hateful posh totty. Nicol Williamson (who I only know otherwise from his over-enunciated voice and creepy-sarky turn as Merlin in John Boorman's _Excalibur) _acts up an absolute storm as the central antihero, who's mostly a vehicle for some rather dated kitchen-sink thoughts about class conflict and how a man's got to be a man for all that, (even if that involves beating and cheating on his wife, exploiting his underlings and being an all-round Lad before the fact.) 

Not one for doctiVery spiky and combative and interesting though. Brilliant for some hilariously retro bits of dialogue about "the firm would be doing so much better if we'd invested and got into computers", some granite-hard direction and some grade-A hate-rants, including one I want to find on YouTube because it's urban75's philosophy in a nutshell, a fireball of bile culminating in the words ..."you BUNCH OF TWATS !!!  " which is pretty plain speaking on film for 1969. You've got to stomach a lot of woman-hating but this might just qualify as a lost masterpiece, a few years earlier and many decades wiser than _Get Carter _but in that sort of rough territory.


----------



## belboid (Nov 7, 2018)

*Swimming to Cambodia*

Spalding Gray's very funny monologue about his time filming a couple of brief scenes in The Killing Fields (and vaguely related stories).  Not quite as sharp and hilarious thirty years on, but it's still damned fine.

Worst thing about it, mrs b has now taken to calling me 'Balding Grey' for some reason I can't fathom.


----------



## Grandma Death (Nov 9, 2018)

Im on a roll at the moment. Come Sunday I'll have seen 7 films in as many days. 5 at cinema and two at home-and the two I watched last night...

You Were Never Really There....which fucking blew me out of the water. That Greenwood soundtrack is breathtaking and this is hands down Pheonix's greatest ever performance. I was completely lost in the movie. Set pieces. Music. Atmosphere. Editing-it was all fucking flawless. And its forced its way into my Top 10 movies of all time for sure

After I watched that I sought out Kermodes review of it and he talked a lot about the director (who I'd never heard of) and immmediately after I watched one of her others 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' which again I really really enjoyed. I mean how good is Tildaw Swinton...I have so much love for her. Thought the lad who played Kevin was fucking well scary. Although this wasnt as good as YWNRT it still impressed me. Lynne Ramsay is clearly a director that has her own style. Each shot seems carefully considered and well thought out. Both films had a very similar feel to them.

Two great great movies!


----------



## Indeliblelink (Nov 11, 2018)

The Life Story Of David Lloyd George (1918), 2.5 hr silent biopic of the WWI Prime Minister, directed by Maurice Elvey. For me this is one of the best British films from the 1910s but the public never got to see it back then as it was suppressed by the Liberal party after a newspaper published discouraging remarks about the Jewish producers. It was thought lost for many years until a copy turned up in Lord Tenby's possessions. The public finally got to see it in 1996.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 12, 2018)

_The Stranger_ (1946) - Orson Welles as a former nazi now living the charmed life in New England until UN private dick, Edward G Robinson comes to town. Smalltown, gothic melodrama which was (as usual with Welles films) interfered with by the studio.
_Moonlight_ - Oscar winning, beautifully shot coming of age film about identity, betrayal and lost childhood. Immensely good, this. All the actors are memorable and although it's not a particularly joyous film, I think I'd easily watch again.
_Outlaw King_ - Sort of sequel to _Braveheart _but not as involving. Felt a bit rushed in places (I believe 20 minutes were cut) but overall, reasonably enjoyable. Aaron Taylor Johnson steals the scenes he's in and nice to see a few familiar GoT faces, too.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 17, 2018)

Flashbacks of a Fool- I only watched because I saw the clip below however its not a bad little film at all especially if you can remember the early 70s.   Daniel Craig plays a bit of a twat who makes it in America and then returms for his schoolboy pals  funeral,in between is quite a charming tale of families and growing up by the sea.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 18, 2018)

_Sons of the Desert_ - Laurel & Hardy classic from 1933. Joyous.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 19, 2018)

Grandma Death said:


> You Were Never Really There....which fucking blew me out of the water. That Greenwood soundtrack is breathtaking and this is hands down Pheonix's greatest ever performance. I was completely lost in the movie. Set pieces. Music. Atmosphere. Editing-it was all fucking flawless. And its forced its way into my Top 10 movies of all time for sure
> 
> After I watched that I sought out Kermodes review of it and he talked a lot about the director (who I'd never heard of) and immmediately after I watched one of her others 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' which again I really really enjoyed. I mean how good is Tildaw Swinton...I have so much love for her. Thought the lad who played Kevin was fucking well scary. Although this wasnt as good as YWNRT it still impressed me. Lynne Ramsay is clearly a director that has her own style. Each shot seems carefully considered and well thought out. Both films had a very similar feel to them.
> 
> Two great great movies!



Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar are great Lynn Ramsay films too. WNTTAK is her weakest by far.


----------



## Supine (Nov 19, 2018)

Fargo Series 2 - really enjoyed it


----------



## Indeliblelink (Nov 19, 2018)

The Other Side Of The Wind (2018) Orson Welles' final film gets a a release after 40 years in limbo, I liked it, it's not great  but a film starring John Huston & Peter Bogdanovich and directed by Orson Welles can't help but be fascinating. The plot is that it's a mockumentary film about a once well regarded but now has-been director struggling to make his last film.

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018) - A film about the making of the above, so a documentary film about a once well regarded but now has-been director struggling to make his last film.


----------



## magneze (Nov 19, 2018)

I also watched those two. The Other Side of the Wind is a bit shit. Whereas the documentary about making it is actually pretty good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 20, 2018)

_T2 Trainspotting_. Really enjoyed this, poignant and darkly humorous (esp a scene with Renton and Sick Boy scamming a club and the scam goes in a direction you don't expect).
Sure, it's not as seismic and fresh as the original but 20 years on, who's life is?


----------



## butchersapron (Nov 20, 2018)

butchersapron said:


> The Black Panther - a superb criminally overlooked film from the late 70s about that horrible piece  of nastiness Donald Neilson. Overlooked because when it was released a few years after the events the press went _ban this filth_ crazy lying to the public that it was exploitative filth, when what they really wanted to do was bury the films exposure of the key role the media played in some tragic events (via police corruption - how things change eh?) - they succeeded and got the films distribution pulled and councils to ban it, effectively killing the film. In reality the film is a fantastic piece of almost formalist crime-reporting - sort of an extended mix of Alan Clarke's Elephant and the extended planning and heist sequences of Le Cercle Rouge and Rififi - stunning performance from Donald Sumpter as the panther.  Excellent overview of all this nonsense here.


This superb film is now availible on amazon prime.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 20, 2018)

Downfall.   It seems that Hitler chap had some unpleasant personality traits.


----------



## The Octagon (Nov 21, 2018)

*The Lego Batman Movie*

Several laugh out loud moments, definitely felt more geared towards an older audience than the Lego Movie was (tons of Batman and wider references / in-jokes from older films).

Some good voice work and well devised action scenes (can imagine the pause button bringing forth hundreds of background jokes and moments). Great music too.

Decent message for the kids too.

Batman being a complete asshole is the best decision they've made for these films.

7/10


----------



## Reno (Nov 23, 2018)

_Love Gilda_, a documentary about the comedian Gilda Radner, best known for Saturday Night Live in the 70s. If she was really talented, then this fawning, insipid  documentary doesn't make a good case for it. Then again, I've never found anything I've seen of Saturday Night Live funny, no matter how many famous comedians it spawned.

Currently stuck in an Airbnb is Stuttgart for work, with wobbly WIFI and a telly with no reception, so my viewing options are limited.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 23, 2018)

_Deadpool_ - Marvel maverick breaks fourth wall and lots of heads. Amusing.
_Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 _- Kurt Russell and Sly Stallone join in the fun. Diverting.


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 25, 2018)

Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Brilliant, no nonsense exploration of human folly, with an amazing ambient soundtrack.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Nov 26, 2018)

_Miss Congeniality -_ a completely nonsense exploration of human folly. Good cast though - Bullock, Bergen, Shatner and Caine all have fun, but it's really


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 27, 2018)

_No Trees in the Street _ - 1958 - awkward, between-the-eras hybrid between a 1940s Ealing-style, social-realist, working-class drama and a 1950s gangster pic. Herbert Lom (! ! !) massively miscast as a supposedly East London slum lord and gangster capo, putting the moves on sizzling Sylvia Sims (pouty, heaving-bosom, bourgeois-morals-aspiring local girl with a loser brother who gets mixed up with a gun.) He's about a hundred times more intense than everyone else in the movie and seems to be from a different universe entirely. Ronald Howard, son of Trevor Howard, turns up as a good copper out to enforce proper British middle class values on "the slums". There's a bit of a shootout but it's not really about the action, but the attitudes expressed. Load of bobbins really but there's some history value in all the monologues spouted about "we've got to get out of this place, the streets will eat us alive", some carnivalesque music-hall-loving dysfunctional extended families.... there's an unintentional bit of comedy at the end with a closing sequence in one of those lovely sparkling nice new council estates where there are trees _all over the place, _not like those nasty cramped terraces of back to backs where we used to live ...


----------



## rekil (Nov 30, 2018)

I'd like to see this but I doubt it'll get a release here. Bisbee '17 (2018) - IMDb



Spoiler: Trailer








Bisbee '17 Movie Review & Film Summary (2018) | Roger Ebert


----------



## Sue (Nov 30, 2018)

copliker said:


> I'd like to see this but I doubt it'll get a release here. Bisbee '17 (2018) - IMDb
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Saw it at the London Film Festival. Interesting that the town is still divided on what happened a hundred years later.


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 1, 2018)

Triangle. Intermittently interesting and consistently atmospheric mindbendy thriller.


----------



## colbhoy (Dec 1, 2018)

Episodes 1 and 2 (1964 and 1966) of the peerless Our Friends in the North. Having not watched it for over 10 years thought it was time again. Utterly superb!


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 2, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> Triangle. Intermittently interesting and consistently atmospheric mindbendy thriller.









Mindbendingly bad


----------



## DexterTCN (Dec 2, 2018)

Triangle's great.  It's like one of the best twilight zone episodes.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 2, 2018)

May Kasahara said:


> Triangle. Intermittently interesting and consistently atmospheric mindbendy thriller.



Ah yes, the mindbendiness of the Felixtowe ferry. The greatest opening minutes of any show ever...


----------



## Reno (Dec 5, 2018)

The Little Stranger, which though based on and acclaimed novel and with a hot director and a first rate cast behind it, got thrown away by its distributior, flopped and got middling reviews. It’s very good, the problem is that despite it apparently being a haunted house movie, it doesn’t attempt to be a horror film but they tried to market it as such. It’s an intelligent drama though, with interesting characters, an involving plot and an intriguing central idea which turns out to be rather unsettling by the time the credits roll. Ruth Wilson gives one of the best performances of the year. One of the more underrated films I’ve seen recently.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 6, 2018)

Predators- so this wasn't bad in the way AvP 1&2 were bad. Those were barely watchable. You have here a fairly fun, coherent sci fi actioner that sort of makes sense. The story was absolute nonsense though, cos ok the preators, well now they hunt us for our spinal fluid because DNA. An theres a mini predator that want to save us. and predator dogs. And autism is the next stage of human evolution. Theres something about climate change in there to. Thats all bad stuff but crucially the nonsense hangs on a half decent film.


----------



## Reno (Dec 6, 2018)

The second one is awful but I never understood why AvP 1 gets such a bad rap. It’s decent enough and more fun than most of the Alien or Predator sequels and prequels.


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 6, 2018)

Three billboards outside Ebbing Missouri

I know I'm late to the party on this , but what a good film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 7, 2018)

Reno said:


> The second one is awful but I never understood why AvP 1 gets such a bad rap. It’s decent enough and more fun than most of the Alien or Predator sequels and prequels.



I can't remember much of those crossover films but I read this way before they were a movie thing and though at the time, this is a good idea


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 7, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Predators- so this wasn't bad in the way AvP 1&2 were bad. Those were barely watchable. You have here a fairly fun, coherent sci fi actioner that sort of makes sense. The story was absolute nonsense though, cos ok the preators, well now they hunt us for our spinal fluid because DNA. An theres a mini predator that want to save us. and predator dogs. And autism is the next stage of human evolution. Theres something about climate change in there to. Thats all bad stuff but crucially the nonsense hangs on a half decent film.



Just FYI, Predators is the shit one from a few years ago with Adrien Brody as a badass merc (lol), this one is called 'The Predator'.

Everything else you said is what I thought while watching it the other night, utterly ridiculous but occasionally entertaining. 

Although the bit at the end should have been



Spoiler



Arnie (as either Dutch or a Terminator, not fussy) or Danny Glover emerging from the pod, not a frigging Iron Man suit


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 7, 2018)

The Octagon said:


> Just FYI, Predators is the shit one from a few years ago with Adrien Brody as a badass merc (lol), this one is called 'The Predator'.
> 
> Everything else you said is what I thought while watching it the other night, utterly ridiculous but occasionally entertaining.
> 
> ...



both waited for the torrent hey. Who can blame us after the last few... but cheers on the title correction.

Glover emerging would have been great, by thier bullshit new lore they could say mini pred has 're created the best of you' or something.

enjoyable number of dumb but funny nods, busey jnr, 'get to the choppers', etc


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 7, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> both waited for the torrent hey. Who can blame us after the last few... but cheers on the title correction.
> 
> Glover emerging would have been great, by thier bullshit new lore they could say mini pred has 're created the best of you' or something.
> 
> enjoyable number of dumb but funny nods, busey jnr, 'get to the choppers', etc



I did also enjoy the small boy accidentally eviscerating a fratboy and blowing up his house at the same time.


----------



## T & P (Dec 9, 2018)

April and the Extraordinary World 

A slightly bizarre but ultimately brilliant animation film set on a steampunk-rich alternate reality Paris in the 1940s. Really enjoyed it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 9, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Predators- so this wasn't bad in the way AvP 1&2 were bad. Those were barely watchable. You have here a fairly fun, coherent sci fi actioner that sort of makes sense. The story was absolute nonsense though, cos ok the preators, well now they hunt us for our spinal fluid because DNA. An theres a mini predator that want to save us. and predator dogs. And autism is the next stage of human evolution. Theres something about climate change in there to. Thats all bad stuff but crucially the nonsense hangs on a half decent film.


Are you talking about 2010's _Predators_, or 2018's _The Predator_?

ETA:

Just seen The Octagon's interjection.


----------



## Sprocket. (Dec 10, 2018)

The Natural, 1984. Robert Redford.
Sentimental but great film.
The baseball smashing the clock at Wrigley Field, iconic cinema moment.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 11, 2018)

It's time for the annual DC TV ('Arrowverse') crossover event - _Elseworlds_

Just watched the first ep, very fan-service and good fun, the Flash and Green Arrow have switched places and the writers have decided to point out every issue the fans have with the respective character / show tropes.

A great nod to a previous superhero show on the WB too, won't spoil it, but the nostalgia came flooding back 

Lightweight, but easy watching, like a live action cartoon.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 11, 2018)

The Octagon said:


> It's time for the annual DC TV ('Arrowverse') crossover event - _Elseworlds_
> 
> Just watched the first ep, very fan-service and good fun, the Flash and Green Arrow have switched places and the writers have decided to point out every issue the fans have with the respective character / show tropes.
> 
> ...


I can't see a Legends one, why is there no Legends one


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 11, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> I can't see a Legends one, why is there no Legends one



They're not part of it this year (probably too many characters as they're adding some extra ones for this), though their episode this week looks suitably batshit anyway.


----------



## Rosemary Jest (Dec 15, 2018)

Indeliblelink said:


> *Mandy (2018) *Absolutely loved this, both beautifully psychedelic and fantastic fun, with Nicholas Cage on good form getting to turn it up to 11. Surely destined to become a cult midnight movie.
> The score by Johann Johannsson, one the last he did before sadly passing away this year, is great too.
> I had enjoyed director, Panos Cosmatos' previous effort "Beyond The Black Rainbow" despite it being rather let down by a crap ending but he nails it here.
> 10/10



Watched this the other day and thought it was great. Loved the weird biker gang and the surrealness and violence. Excellent film.


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 17, 2018)

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Enjoyed it, but more from a technical point of view, it was brilliantly shot and scored, but seemed lightweight and a bit inconsequential (even with all the death and war background)

To be fair, Wes Anderson has always seemed that way to me (although I think The Royal Tenenbaums is a little more emotional), almost detached and occasionally cruel for the sake of it (animals never fare well in his films ), but very funny and clever wordplay.

Ralph Fiennes was great, one of his best comedic performances.


----------



## cybershot (Dec 17, 2018)

Blackkklansman. 

Excellent.


----------



## D'wards (Dec 17, 2018)

Mandy- absolutely fantastic.

If you're looking for a psychedelic horror gorefest with Nicholas Cage in full Nicholas Cage then look no further!


----------



## D'wards (Dec 18, 2018)

The House that Jack Built - another insane brilliant film from Lars Von Trier


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 19, 2018)

My Favourite Brunette

Bumbling fool Bob Hope dreams of swapping his boring baby photographer job for life as a Bogart-style gumshoe or PI. The opportunity for such a swap arises, in the form of Paulette Goddard. Soon, BH is being pursued by a murderous (for it is he) Peter Lorre, and realises the error of his ways. When the film opens, our hero is in fact on Death Row.


----------



## Reno (Dec 19, 2018)

DotCommunist said:


> Predators- so this wasn't bad in the way AvP 1&2 were bad. Those were barely watchable. You have here a fairly fun, coherent sci fi actioner that sort of makes sense. The story was absolute nonsense though, cos ok the preators, well now they hunt us for our spinal fluid because DNA. An theres a mini predator that want to save us. and predator dogs. And autism is the next stage of human evolution. Theres something about climate change in there to. Thats all bad stuff but crucially the nonsense hangs on a half decent film.


Predator_s_ was the sequel from 2010. You are probably talking about _The_ Predator from this year, right ?

I watched that last night. Not being much of a fan of the monster or the series in general, this is the predator movie I probably enjoyed the most, thanks to some snappy dialogue by Shane Black.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2018)

Reno said:


> Predator_s_ was the sequel from 2010. You are probably talking about _The_ Predator from this year, right ?
> 
> I watched that last night. Not being much of a fan of the monster or the series in general, this is the predator movie I probably enjoyed the most, thanks to some snappy dialogue by Shane Black.


yes, as corrected by Octagon


----------



## Reno (Dec 23, 2018)

First Reformed, Paul Schrader’s new film which ended up on many critics Best of 2018 lists. The acclaim is deserved and the film is a great reminder that Ethan Hawke is one of America’s most underrated actors.

It’s about a Protestant priest who experiences a crisis of faith (or it could be argued, becomes more truly connected to his faith) after an encounter with a despairing environmentalist. There are similarities with Schrader’s screenplay for Taxi Driver in the way the action escalates. It’s beautifully shot in the old academy ratio and it’s austere compositions fit the bleak despair of the film.

It’s rare that a filmmaker has a truly great film up his sleeve at this point of their career, especially as Schrader’s recent films were dross but this ranks among his best.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 23, 2018)

Trouble is my Business - Think what if it would be like to have Raymond Chandler write a script for an amateur dramatics club who sacrifice the make up bill and get someone who watches Martin Scorsese films to produce it? You really want it to succeed and it struggles with its  its low budget , the acting etc but however better it could have been its  a brave and valiant attempt at a lush 1940s detective noir full of loveable cliches , wisecracks and perfectly imperfect.


----------



## starfish (Dec 24, 2018)

Kevin Smiths Tusk. Was lent it by a colleague after a few minutes chat about films. He obviously thought we'd like it. Was right up ms starfishs street as films go. I thought it was funny, if a bit fucking mental.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Dec 24, 2018)

mowgli- andy serkis directed take on the Kipling tale. not a bad film to watch as a family. contains mild peril. and stabbings


----------



## Reno (Dec 27, 2018)

Hotel Artemis, a sci-fi action film which could be taking place in the John Wick universe. Its about a private hospital in a lawless Los Angeles of 2028, which patches up criminals. The main character is Jodie Foster‘s elderly nurse, one of only two members of staff among a lot of futuristic health care machinery. I liked that this focuses on an elderly woman in a violent action film but Foster, playing a character about a decade older, overdoes the little-old-lady mannerisms with an odd shuffle of a walk. She’s also riddled with a way too common backstory for this type of movie. Dave Bautista is the only other member of staff, a bouncer-like orderly and Sofia Bautella gets yet again cast as the kick-ass action chick. Jeff Goldblum turns up for a too short cameo. Quite stylish and watchable enough but it never manages to string its elements together to arrive at anything like a plot.

Satan‘s Slaves, an Indonesian horror film which was a huge hit locally and is a reboot of a local 80s horror classic. It’s a bit like the Indonesian equivalent of Hereditary, where it turns out that a dead matriarch has left a sinister inheritance. Unlike Hereditary (my favourite film of 2018) this relies on endless jump scares instead of poisonous family dynamics and an atmosphere of dread. Having the dead mothers apparition pop up over and over Fr a scare, becomes tiresome. Slickly made, this doesn’t feel different enough from Hollywood horror films like Insidious of The Conjuring. The last scene is a head scratcher if you haven’t seen the original 80s movie, to which this is a prequel.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Dec 29, 2018)

Bird box. It’s not bad but is no classic. Bit low budget tbh but not the worse for it iykwim


----------



## Rosemary Jest (Dec 30, 2018)

not-bono-ever said:


> Bird box. It’s not bad but is no classic. Bit low budget tbh but not the worse for it iykwim



Kind of enjoyed it, but it made no sense really. Good idea but not very well done.


----------



## Reno (Dec 30, 2018)

Rosemary Jest said:


> Kind of enjoyed it, but it made no sense really. Good idea but not very well done.


I thought it made more sense than A Quiet Place, where I kept yelling at the screen at every dumb decision the characters made. It’s internal logic was worked out reasonably well, I just thought it could have been 20 minutes shorter. Sandra Bullock needs to go easy on the Botox, those eyebrows did not move.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 31, 2018)

Dinner For One - shite - apparently they show it on German telly every NY - beats me why


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 31, 2018)

Norte: The end of history directed by Lav Diaz

A film from the Philippines that's four hours long. Its slow moving but I got drawn into it. Starting with coffee bar philosophical discussion amongst Philippines academia then moving to darker territory as the law student drop out decides to put his ideas into practise. Leading to disaster for a struggling working class family. 

The landscape gradually takes on bigger role in the film. Panoramic shots of the beautiful countryside against which  everyday life is dwarfed by nature. Can't help but feel that the film is saying this is such a beautiful country yet everyday life is dsyfunctional. It shouldn't be like this. 

The film is part social critique part existential look at how to live ones life.

A theme in film is the global economy. The effect this has on family life with people living abroad and sending money home. So its also political critique of an effect of capitalism. 

The poor family try through all the adversity to keep their common humanity and family together. The only bit of hope in the film. Which ultimately is pessimistic. 

Its a rewarding watch. I like to see a film that moves at a slower place than most.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 1, 2019)

The Long Goodbye . I like Altmans films and to me this runs  McCabe and Mrs Miller as favourite. Chandlers book is brought forward to Los Angeles in the 70s, Marlowe hovers around the other characters engaging/disengaging in a perpetual blur of cigarette smoke .The film is like a dream , its coherent and incoherent and the nearest we get to a femme fatal is his cat.


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 1, 2019)

Hard To Be a God directed by Aleksei German

Based on the sci fi novel by the Strugatsky brothers. ( Whose other novel Roadside Picnic was made into the film Stalker by Tarkovsky). The novel is a thinly veiled attack on Stalinism.

Another world appears to be stuck in the fuedal state of history. Scientists from an advanced Communist Earth observe this society but are not supposed to interfere.

I have read the novel before the seeing the film so knew the plot.

The film in black and white creates a surreal but complete world trapped in ignorance. The scientist is feared and resented. His cover is making them believe he is descended from a God.

The reign of fear unleashed by the Greys has parallels with Stalin's terror. The Strugatsky brothers meant readers to see this. Things get bad then they get even worse.

The film is another long watch at almost three hours.

There are great scenes including a lot of black humour amongst the terror. Its a great sci fi film. Creating a world that is human but weirdly different.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 1, 2019)

The Green Book - US Italian rough house takes a job driving a black musician in a tour in the southern states.He's racist short of money , the musician is rich, snobbish and gay. Not sure if the film could have avoided  cliches but none the less its a lovely story  about decent people with at the end of the day decent attitudes from building a bond. If thats cliched I'm fine with that because thats not just the world we'd like but in small and large doses thats the way the world is .Decent music too and a good film to watch .


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 2, 2019)

Leave No Trace 
Wonderful Debra Granik (Winter's Bone) film about a father and daughter living wild in a National Park in Oregan, who are discovered and made by the authorities to live in a proper house. He can't handle it, probably because he's a veteran with PTSD, which is triggered by things like helicopters and other trappings of 'civilization'. She has a strong bond with her dad, but she's growing up and yearning for the company of others.
Hardly any of this is explained and much of the exposition in the film is through what happens, rather than what we're told. This is very effective, with many non-verbal exchanges between father and daughter saying more than any dialogue could ever do. A particularly meaningful and moving scene is just of the daughter showing her dad a beehive. So much is said in this brief scene with very few words used. It's both uplifting and devastating.
Ben Foster and Thomasin Mackenzie deserve to he heaped with awards for their work on this - the threadbare script doesn't give them much to work with, but to Granik's credit, they don't need much to deliver such convincing and touching performances.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 2, 2019)

the lavender hill mob
comedy with alec guinness and stan holloway


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 2, 2019)

Girlhood. Gorgeous coming of age film with an embarrassment of strong female performances. Beautiful soundtrack too.


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2019)

Bad Times at the El Royale, Drew Goddard‘s follow up to his meta-horror satire Cabin in the Woods, is a combination of pulpy neo noir and drawing room mystery, set in the late 60s.

Seven strangers arrive at the motel of the title, each is there for a particular purpose, most have sinister secrets. Like in Cabin in the Woods, two sided mirrors feature prominently. Similar to several Tarrantino films the non-chronological structure keeps resetting the plot to explain how and why each of the characters ended up there. I loved the first two thirds but then it introduces a new character in the third act to bring things to a head. It feels like Goddard couldn‘t keep all the plates spinning till the end. Like Cabin in the Woods the movie tries a little too hard to be clever and it has more style than substance but it’s very entertaining while it lasts.


----------



## pesh (Jan 5, 2019)

loved the first half of El Royale hated the second half. so many directions it could have gone in and it just turned to shit instead.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 8, 2019)

*Halloween (2018)* - newest one

Meh, some nice flourishes and mirroring the original's key scenes in clever ways sometimes, but the overall plot was wank and Jamie Lee Curtis was surprisingly poor. Walks a decent line between suggestion and gore (bar a couple of kills) and Carpenter's music is on point again.

Watchable. 6/10.


----------



## Reno (Jan 8, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *Halloween (2018)* - newest one
> 
> Meh, some nice flourishes and mirroring the original's key scenes in clever ways sometimes, but the overall plot was wank and Jamie Lee Curtis was surprisingly poor. Walks a decent line between suggestion and gore (bar a couple of kills) and Carpenter's music is on point again.
> 
> Watchable. 6/10.


Considering the talent involved, this was disappointing. The thing I liked least about it (apart from that it wasn't scary and lacked Carpenter's gift for style and atmosphere) was how unimaginative it was in developing Curtis' Laurie Strode as a survivalist Sarah Connor clone, who was defined by nothing but her encounter with Michael Myers. Pure fan service.  For all its flaws, the alternative sequel Halloween H20 which brought her back in 1998, gave her a far better written role.


----------



## belboid (Jan 8, 2019)

*Deadpool 2*

Pleasantly silly fun.

*Die Hard*

See above


----------



## Reno (Jan 8, 2019)

*Venom* 

Not as bad as the terrible reviews would suggest but still not very good. It's surprisingly similar to the far superior Upgrade, which stars Tom Hardy lookalike Logan Marshall-Green. 

*Alexander McQueen
*
Excellent but haunting documentary on the great British fashion designer.


----------



## D'wards (Jan 9, 2019)

Yardie

 Felt there was a good film in there wanting to get out, but as it stands it was a bit clunky with strange character motivations. With a bit of script tightening it might have been half decent. As it stands, a mildly entertaining period piece. 3/5


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 11, 2019)

Reno said:


> *Venom*
> 
> Not as bad as the terrible reviews would suggest but still not very good. It's surprisingly similar to the far superior Upgrade, which stars Tom Hardy lookalike Logan Marshall-Green...


In some shots you really think it's Tom Hardy.  Haven't seen Venom yet...the trailers actually really put me off.


----------



## wiskey (Jan 12, 2019)

Just watched Gravity, bit surprised it came out 4 years ago actually as I thought it was more recent. The special effects are still jaw dropping. It was thorough enjoyable.

Watched it on a massive projector screen too which added to the enjoyment.

Don't normally l either of the cast or kinda forgot it was them.


----------



## Reno (Jan 13, 2019)

I'm working my way through the most critically acclaimed films of 2018. Last night it was _The Rider_ by Chloé Zhao. This was a film I appreciated more than actually enjoyed. I suppose the most interesting thing about it is Zao's docu-drama approach. She finds real stories she wants to tell and then has the actual people they happened to play slightly fictionalised versions of themselves. In this case almost the entire cast play versions of themselves. This is about a young rodeo rider who has to re-evalue how to make a living after sustaining brain damage during a rodeo accident. The film-making is first-rate and everything feels authentic, I just felt so remote from the subject matter. What a fucking insane sport and why isn't everybody participating required to wear helmets ? Two of the characters who play themselves suffered disastrous disabilities due to sustaining brain damage. I suppose it's because cowboy hats look cooler.

There is another acclaimed "impoverished young man and horses" movie from 2018 I haven't caught up with yet, Andrew Haigh's _Lean on Pet_e.

To up my trash-levels I chased this up with an Irish found footage horror films called_ The Devil's Doorway,_ about supernatural going-ons at one of the notorious Magdalene Laundries in the 1960s. It was alternately boring and scary. The two lead performances by the elderly actors playing the investigating priest and the evil Mother Superior were excellent. The possession plot is over-familiar but the scares are effective. It's not like the horrors of what really happened there needed exaggerating though


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 13, 2019)

Lean On Pete is on my watchlist. It's been recommended by a lot of people whose opinions i respect.


----------



## Reno (Jan 13, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> Lean On Pete is on my watchlist. It's been recommended by a lot of people whose opinions i respect.


It's on mine to, I love Haigh's films and his TV series _Looking_. _Lean on Pete_ came out to much acclaim but nobody went to see it. Then it got critically overshadowed by the thematically similar _The Rider_.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 13, 2019)

I've only seen 45 Years from Haigh. Wasn't a huge fan of it, but Lean On Pete looks great.


----------



## Supine (Jan 13, 2019)

*Museo*
Mexican film with subtitles about a robbery and the difficulties of fencing treasures. Nicely shot film, not a bad watch. 7.5/10.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 14, 2019)

You Were Never Really Here.  Lynne Ramsay gets a brilliant performance from Joachim Phoenix in a beautifully shot piece.

JP gets drawn into a conspiracy whilst trying to save a young girl from a paedo gang.  Not a lot of dialogue.  One scene when two wounded guys are lying on a floor singing...heartbreaking.

This is free on amazon if you have prime.


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 14, 2019)

*Escape Plan* (random 'let's find a cheesy action film' choice)

Stallone and Schwarzenegger in a maximum security prison, trying to escape.

Like a longer episode of Prison Break with added machismo and barely intelligible dialogue (Stallone mumbles and Arnie does whatever that accent is nowadays)

Lightweight but not truly awful, just phoned in mainly.

Good supporting cast though (Vinnie Jones excepted) and the opening scene is clever, throwing you straight in.

5/10


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 14, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> You Were Never Really Here.  Lynne Ramsay gets a brilliant performance from Joachim Phoenix in a beautifully shot piece.
> 
> JP gets drawn into a conspiracy whilst trying to save a young girl from a paedo gang.  Not a lot of dialogue.  One scene when two wounded guys are lying on a floor singing...heartbreaking.
> 
> This is free on amazon if you have prime.


One of my favourite films from last year


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 14, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> One of my favourite films from last year


It's nothing like what the premise would suggest.  I was honestly very impressed and will watch it again.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 14, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> It's nothing like what the premise would suggest.  I was honestly very impressed and will watch it again.


very very dark film


----------



## Reno (Jan 16, 2019)

First Man. Wanted to like this more than I did. Does everything right and yet it feels a little lifeless. Makes a decent history lesson though.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 16, 2019)

Reno said:


> First Man. Wanted to like this more than I did. Does everything right and yet it feels a little lifeless.



Lacks atmosphere, you could say


----------



## NnamAries (Jan 17, 2019)

I watched Night School. I am sure everyone must have seen it tho, but better late than never right?


----------



## Reno (Jan 17, 2019)

NnamAries said:


> I am sure everyone must have seen it tho, but better late than never right?


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 17, 2019)

Hell or High Water.

An excellent film about two bank robbers and two cops chasing them in Texas (although it's nothing like that).  Nick Cave does the score (I think) and it works well, Taylor Sheridan is involved (Wind River and Sicario).

It's like a cross between No Country For Old Men and The Big Short.


----------



## ginger_syn (Jan 19, 2019)

Currently watching the Wynnona Earp season two box set and enjoyiny it very much.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 19, 2019)

Watched Split the other day. Good performance from McAvoy, and I quite liked his psychiatrist as well. Thought the plot went a bit funny and predictable towards the end.



Spoiler: plot



Especially where the beast didn't kill the main girl because she was _pure _



Also re-watched Cabin in the Woods. Excellent. I see the Canadian Ravenous is on Netflix, seeing as Reno recommended it might give it a go. And I do loke zombies. Or like them even.


----------



## Reno (Jan 19, 2019)

TruXta said:


> Watched Split the other day. Good performance from McAvoy, and I quite liked his psychiatrist as well. Thought the plot went a bit funny and predictable towards the end.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



I don’t quite understand your objection to “pure” within the context of the film. Its meaning is defined by its villain and therefore insane. It isn’t meant in a conventionally moralistic way.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 19, 2019)

Reno said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> I don’t quite understand your objection to “pure” within the context of the film. Its meaning is defined by its villain and therefore insane. It isn’t meant in a conventionally moralistic way.


Yeah I got that. Just thought it was too easy a way out for the heroine.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 19, 2019)

Well if you like Split here's 24 minutes of lauding.



Spoiler


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 21, 2019)

It Follows. Lots to like about the cinematography etc but ultimately disappointing because it wasn't at all scary. And I'm a right wuss.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 23, 2019)

Bone Tomahawk - brutal and grisly horror Western with Kurt Russell as a sheriff trying to rescue his townfolk from the grips of a hostile group of people. Perhaps problematic in its portrayal of native Americans, it thinks it can get away with it with a plot contrivance, but I'm not convinced.
Top marks though for some truly horrific scenes, augmented by wince-inducing sound effects.


----------



## Reno (Jan 23, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> Bone Tomahawk - brutal and grisly horror Western with Kurt Russell as a sheriff trying to rescue his townfolk from the grips of a hostile group of people. Perhaps problematic in its portrayal of native Americans, it thinks it can get away with it with a plot contrivance, but I'm not convinced.
> Top marks though for some truly horrific scenes, augmented by wince-inducing sound effects.





Spoiler



I’m don’t think the troglodytes are supposed to represent traditional Native Americans, they are the last remnants of some prehistoric race.



I loved this, three quarters The Searchers and one quarter The Hills Have Eyes, the acting and writing were really strong.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 23, 2019)

Reno said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



that's the convenient get-out clause that i wasn't convinced by


----------



## TruXta (Jan 23, 2019)

May Kasahara said:


> It Follows. Lots to like about the cinematography etc but ultimately disappointing because it wasn't at all scary. And I'm a right wuss.


Funny that, I thought it was really disturbing.


----------



## Reno (Jan 23, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> that's the convenient get-out clause that i wasn't convinced by


I was.


----------



## TruXta (Jan 23, 2019)

Also loved Bone Tomahawk


----------



## TruXta (Jan 23, 2019)

I can see the point OU is making, but it didn't really strike me while watching.


----------



## flypanam (Jan 26, 2019)

I watched Dusan Makavejev’s ‘W R mysteries of the organism.’ A look at Wilhelm Reich and communism and sexuality. Pretty good movie.

Dusan died yesterday, which prompted me to watch it. 

WR - Mysteries of the Organism (1971 - Dusan Makavejev) | Watch Online


----------



## TruXta (Jan 26, 2019)

flypanam said:


> I watched Dusan Makavejev’s ‘W R mysteries of the organism.’ A look at Wilhelm Reich and communism and sexuality. Pretty good movie.
> 
> Dusan died yesterday, which prompted me to watch it.
> 
> WR - Mysteries of the Organism (1971 - Dusan Makavejev) | Watch Online


Pretty mental stuff iirc


----------



## belboid (Jan 26, 2019)

Bird Box

Which is very silly indeed, and makes A Quiet Place look entirely plot hole free in comparison.  Still, it was very enjoyable nonsense, and I really should have sussed what would happen at the end considering I kept talking about that HG Wells story. Tom Hollander was fun.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2019)

Upgrade
Scifi body horror film about a man, who, after losing his wife and his mobility in a vicious attack, gets equipped with an AI system that enables him to get revenge on his attackers.
Didn't like this as much as others here did. The killer sneeze thing was just silly, the bloke who played the AI genius was terrible and the twist was obvious from the outset. Some good fight scenes though.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 29, 2019)

Kingdom (Korean horror) - Train to Busan/ Mr Vampire meets period drama. I recommend.


----------



## Baronage-Phase (Jan 29, 2019)

Watching Maigre for the past few nights. Michele Gambon has really long fingers


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 1, 2019)

Tin Star series 2. Absolute dogshit. First series was a bit beyond belief but enjoyable, a copper who develops super powers when he has a drink but this time round it's poor in all areas, writing, acting and characters are ridiculous. Some scenes obviously shot on different days where snow magically disappears and the main character gets shot in the leg and walks without a limp the following day. I wonder if Tim Roth is like his character and just does whatever the fuck he likes. I'm a fan but in this he's shit.

Escape at Dannemora on the other hand is brilliant. Paul Dano, Benicio Del Toro and Patricia Arquette in (ahem) true life inspired story of a prison break. Always a fan of BDT and Dano, together they're ace, playing rather horrible people.


----------



## belboid (Feb 2, 2019)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

A very enjoyable, if fairly light, bit of Coen's. The Girl Who Got Rattled stood out as the best of the tales. 


The Greasy Strangler.

Well, what can you say about that.... grotesque and hilarious, but mostly grotesque. John Waters would nod appreciatively, and some highly memorable images. Not for everyone.


----------



## D'wards (Feb 4, 2019)

First Men- it was quite good. I'd rather that it concentrated on the space stuff more though, as it was so well done.

Widows- some great ideas but dragged a little in the middle. Enjoyed it though


----------



## cybershot (Feb 4, 2019)

Groundhog Day. Again.


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 6, 2019)

ringo said:


> All This Mayhem
> 
> All This Mayhem (2014) - IMDb
> 
> Great documentary from the makers of Senna and Exit Through The Gift Shop I'd been looking forward to for ages and it really lived up to my expectations. Brothers Tas and Ben Pappas were two rough edged young Melbourne skateboarders who at one point managed to nudge Tony Hawk off the top spot to be the number one and two skaters in the world before their lives descended into a nightmare of drugs, prison, murder and death. Highly recommended.



Years behind the curve as usual, I watched this last night - jawdropping stuff (and I still don't really see the point of competitive skateboarding and don't find all the 'sport' sequences exciting at all) - it's the family drama that is so gripping. Heartening that Tas Pappas is still active and seems OK...


----------



## ringo (Feb 6, 2019)

trabuquera said:


> Years behind the curve as usual, I watched this last night - jawdropping stuff (and I still don't really see the point of competitive skateboarding and don't find all the 'sport' sequences exciting at all) - it's the family drama that is so gripping. Heartening that Tas Pappas is still active and seems OK...


Good isn't it. Yes, skate competitions are by definition money making industry tools which go against the spirit of skating. I think there's a good debate to be had as to whether they're a necessary evil or not.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 7, 2019)

*Aquaman
*
Not as bad as I was expecting, given recent DC fare (I didn't even like Wonder Woman that much). Visually it's better than it has any right to be, some of the shots and VFX are extremely well done and beautiful.

The plot isn't great (basically Black Panther with a few twists) and some of the acting is a bit hammy, but Momoa and Heard make for a decent duo, although the emotional heft of the story is carried by the hero's parents, which was pretty well done.

Some big splashy action scenes that are very comic-booky (not a bad thing), overall good dumb spectacle.

7/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 7, 2019)

_Ready Player One_

Not classic Spielberg, but enjoyed the ride. Great references if you're into that kind of thing and loved _The Shining_ one most of all!


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 7, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> _Ready Player One_
> 
> Not classic Spielberg, but enjoyed the ride. Great references if you're into that kind of thing and loved _The Shining_ one most of all!


Why not. . . you know. . . just watch _The Shining_?


----------



## Reno (Feb 7, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> Why not. . . you know. . . just watch _The Shining_?



I didn't like Ready Player One, but that's missing the point a little. The game in the movie is all about referencing past (mostly 80s and 90s) pop culture. The environment of The Shining appears in a different context from the Kubrick film and it requires your knowledge of the earlier films to work for this film. It's by far the best sequence in Ready Player One, because the recreation is so accurate and there is something uncanny about that.

I haven't read the novel but I believe that The Shining replaced the world of Blade Runner for the film due to rights issues.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 7, 2019)

Reno said:


> I didn't like Ready Player One, but that's missing the point a little. The game in the movie is all about referencing past (mostly 80s and 90s) pop culture. The environment of The Shining appears in a different context from the Kubrick film and it requires your knowledge of the earlier films to work for this film. It's by far the best sequence in Ready Player One, because the recreation is so accurate and there is something uncanny about that.
> 
> I haven't read the novel but I believe that The Shining replaced the world of Blade Runner for the film due to rights issues.


I think it was just that they thought the original ending of BR was too down-beat, so stuck in leftover footage from the Kubrick flick.


----------



## Reno (Feb 7, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> I think it was just that they thought the original ending of BR was too down-beat, so stuck in leftover footage from the Kubrick flick.


I'm not sure you understand what I said. There is a Blade Runner sequence in the novel of Ready Player One. In the movie Spielberg replaced that with a sequence which references The Shining instead.

I just looked it up, they did it because the Blade Runner sequel was being shot at the same time, so they didn't want Ready Player One connected to that.

The Best Scene in 'Ready Player One' Wasn't Even in the Original Script


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 7, 2019)

Reno said:


> I'm not sure you understand what I said. There is a Blade Runner sequence in the novel of Ready Player One. In the movie Spielberg replaced that with a sequence which references The Shining instead.
> 
> I just looked it up, they did it because the Blade Runner sequel was being shot at the same time, so the didn't want ready Player One connected to that.
> 
> The Best Scene in 'Ready Player One' Wasn't Even in the Original Script


You're right, I didn't understand what you said!


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 7, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> Why not. . . you know. . . just watch _The Shining_?



Because _Ready Player One_ was on Netflix and I like Spielberg and I seen _The Shining_ about half a dozen times...


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 7, 2019)

_*I Origins* - _dire - faux-intelligent semi-sci-fi with barely two logical steps to rub together, knitting together some sort of farrago of nonsense about retina scanning and a global database of scans revealing "unique" patterns which reveal that the same individual might get reincarnated ... or something ... meaning that the whole of scientific thought might need rethinking... clumsily and elliptically told through the tale of an unfeeling, uber-atheist 'scientific genius' and his batshit lab partner/substitute girlfriend who think they've cracked it and made the biggest discovery in science ever. Plagued with hippy-bollocks woolly thinking about "souls" etc and unlikeable characters played by unlikeable actors mouthing creaky dialogue throughout. Also dodgy in how it handles its scenes and characters set in India. Like the characters, this is a film that thinks it's so fucking clever but hasn't grasped the basics. Definitely original (no big budget, lowkey stile, no FX at all) but in an annoyingly worthy, fake-deep way. Don't bother unless this sort of science vs belief bobbins rings your bell.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 7, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> Because _Ready Player One_ was on Netflix and I like Spielberg and I seen _The Shining_ about half a dozen times...


All Shining and no play makes krtek a...


----------



## belboid (Feb 8, 2019)

*Abducted In Plain Sight*

Which is just... fucking hell....he did what...they let him to do _what?_ Hang on, what did he just say?  And she did _what???  _How fucking long!!!

Grippingly shocking stuff.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 9, 2019)

After watching The Greasy Strangler on Wednesday which is fucking hilarious (though the ending was a let down)...I watched An Evening with Beverley Luff Linn. It was funny enough though not as bad taste/crude as TGS.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 10, 2019)

Bad Times at The El Royale. One from last year that I'd missed but my mate recommended. 

Enjoyable and entertaining plot with a few unexpected twists, a good cast and some surprise early exits. Particularly good performances from Jeff Bridges and Cynthis Erivo. A great Saturday night film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 10, 2019)

Love, Simon - coming-of-age coming-out comedy. The characters are all believable and sympathetic - even when they behave badly, as all teens do. The script has some moments of cheesy clunkiness, but it's too charming for this to be a problem.


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 10, 2019)

Just watched Akira with my 10yo son


----------



## TruXta (Feb 10, 2019)

May Kasahara said:


> Just watched Akira with my 10yo son


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 10, 2019)

Rewatched Midnight Run.

You can shove Taxi Driver and Raging Bull up your arse. This is my favourite De Niro movie.


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2019)

Still been catching up with some of the more talked about movies from last year, but not much strikes me as interesting enough to write much about. _A Star is Born_ is an improvement on the Streisand version from the 70s (the worst of the four film versions) which was the first to move the story from Hollywood to the music business. It's well directed and performed but I wasn't entirely convinced. It doesn't come anywhere near the Judy Garland version, one of the most emotionally raw films of the 50s. As a modern film it struggles to incorporate the melodramatic beats of the story and I hated the music. It's fine but I couldn't see what the fuss is about.

_Widows_ is more proof that after a promising debut feature, Steve McQueen has become a rather overrated director. It passes the time well enough but is instantly forgettable. Viola Davis is great but the doggie steals the show (and solves the film's main mystery). Never seen the 80s TV show it was based on, so don't know how it compares.

Still need to see_ Can You Ever Forgive Me_ and _The Favourite_.


----------



## Sue (Feb 11, 2019)

Reno said:


> Still been catching up with some of the more talked about movies from last year, but not much strikes me as interesting enough to write much about. _A Star is Born_ is an improvement on the Streisand version from the 70s (the worst of the four film versions) which was the first to move the story from Hollywood to the music business. It's well directed and performed but I wasn't entirely convinced. It doesn't come anywhere near the Judy Garland version, one of the most emotionally raw films of the 50s. As a modern film it struggles to incorporate the melodramatic beats of the story and I hated the music. It's fine but I couldn't see what the fuss is about.
> 
> _Widows_ is more proof that after a promising debut feature, Steve McQueen has become a rather overrated director. It passes the time well enough but is instantly forgettable. Viola Davis is great but the doggie steals the show (and solves the film's main mystery). Never seen the 80s TV show it was based on, so don't know how it compares.
> 
> Still need to see_ Can You Ever Forgive Me_ and _The Favourite_.



I've been telling friends who've raved about ASIB to go and watch the Garland-Mason version which I love. (Saying that, I haven't seen the new version -- as a fan of classic musicals, I've found more modern ones generally very pedestrian. Like La La Land which I thought was pretty rubbish as a musical and would've IMO been better as a straight film.)


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2019)

Sue said:


> I've been telling friends who've raved about ASIB to go and watch the Garland-Mason version which I love. (Saying that, I haven't seen the new version -- as a fan of classic musicals, I've found more modern ones generally very pedestrian. Like La La Land which I thought was pretty rubbish as a musical and would've IMO have been better as a straight film.)


A potentially deeply embarrassing admission but my guilty movie pleasure of last year was _Mamma Mia ! Here We go Again_ and I thought the first _Mamma Mia!_ film was just horrible. I was intrigued by the good reviews, so as a fan of movie musicals I checked it out. It's cheesy as fuck but it's probably the only recent live action musical I can think of which works. Of course if you hate Abba, nothing will convince you.


----------



## Sue (Feb 11, 2019)

Reno said:


> A potentially deeply embarrassing admission but my guilty movie pleasure of last year was _Mamma Mia ! Here We go Again_ and I thought the first _Mamma Mia!_ film was just horrible. I was intrigued by the good reviews, so as a fan of movie musicals I checked it out. It's cheesy as fuck but it's probably the only recent live action musical I can think of which works. Of course if you hate Abba, nothing will convince you.



I didn't see the first but a friend dragged me to see the second. (For some reason, we decided to each choose a film and go and see both. I'd forgotten our film tastes were...different. She chose this -- which she loved and I hated -- I chose Mildred Pierce. 'It was quite..._long_..', was all she had to say of Mildred Pierce. )


----------



## trabuquera (Feb 11, 2019)

*Cal *- 1984, quite famous in its time but I'd never seen it - surprisingly rough-edged and experimental in style, but pretty "bad bastards on both sides"-ish in its politics. I vaguely remember it being thought controversial once, but can't think why. A miserable romance between a Catholic N Irish lad whose family's menaced on all sides, by the British state, the Protestant/UVF thugs roaming his estate and the IRA / borderline hoodlums he's kind-of-obliged to. Falls in love with Helen Mirren (!) who's supposedly the Catholic widow of a policeman shot dead by the IRA. Predictable narrative but strikes a good mood of grimy, aggressive, very 80s misery, some fine performances and a number of faces you'll recognise.


----------



## Reno (Feb 11, 2019)

Sue said:


> I didn't see the first but a friend dragged me to see the second. (For some reason, we decided to each choose a film and go and see both. I'd forgotten our film tastes were...different. She chose this -- which she loved and I hated -- I chose Mildred Pierce. 'It was quite..._long_..', was all she had to say of Mildred Pierce. )


I like the Todd Haines mini-series of Mildred Pierce even better than the Crawford movie. Unlike the movie, that really is long...


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 11, 2019)

trabuquera said:


> *Cal *- 1984, quite famous in its time but I'd never seen it - surprisingly rough-edged and experimental in style, but pretty "bad bastards on both sides"-ish in its politics. I vaguely remember it being thought controversial once, but can't think why. A miserable romance between a Catholic N Irish lad whose family's menaced on all sides, by the British state, the Protestant/UVF thugs roaming his estate and the IRA / borderline hoodlums he's kind-of-obliged to. Falls in love with Helen Mirren (!) who's supposedly the Catholic widow of a policeman shot dead by the IRA. Predictable narrative but strikes a good mood of grimy, aggressive, very 80s misery, some fine performances and a number of faces you'll recognise.



The novel it's based is also worth checking out.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 12, 2019)

_I, Daniel Blake_.

The better half and myself were in tears throughout. Can't recommend it highly enough. Makes one very, very angry.


----------



## cybershot (Feb 17, 2019)

A private war
Based on the life of Sunday times journalist Marie Colvin. A story worth telling but like many recent ‘based on true story’ films the main character is actually somewhat boring when she’s not doing her job and doesn’t really go deep enough into the dangers of doing her job. 
6/10

Suspiria
Remake of the 77 horror film that for some reason needs to go for over an hour longer than the original. It’s an hour too long and really feels to drag by the end. It’s quite frankly a load of twaddle. Expected more from something Tilda Swinton is in but not even she can save this. 2h30m of my life wasted and a top contender for worst film out of 2018 I’ve seen so far. 
4/10


----------



## cybershot (Feb 17, 2019)

Oh. Also grabbed ghostbusters in 4K from currys for £8 (check website to see if local store has stock as for some reason they keep all the films in a cupboard behind the counter and not on display) so actually watched 3 films and a lot of telly yesterday (OH is ill)

Because it’s an 80s 35mm film for the most part the transfer to 4K and on these new dangle huge TVs you can’t help but notice how grainy the picture is especially early on. But it adds to the beauty of watching it in this format. Most 80s films I suspect will have the same problem, labrinth defiantly does as I have that also and read stuff the original Jurassic park is as well. But as I said. To me it just adds to its original glory.

That said, close up faces, colours, uniforms and especially the special effects have never looked better. No idea how many times I’ve now watched this film. Probably my 2nd most watched film after alien (4K of that is on pre order) and I was glued to it and still laugh out loud at stuff I know is coming.

10/10


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 17, 2019)

Went to the local Toho cinema to watch _The Favourite_. Very dark with some comic moments. Couldn't gauge the reactions of the audience as everyone was so damn quiet but really enjoyed it. Will it hoover up the Oscars, though? Still reckon _Roma _is peerless.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 17, 2019)

The Matrix - it's a dystopian sci-fi film. I don't want to give too much away for people who haven't seen it yet but you'll never look at the world the same way. If it's real, man, like, wow 

Watched it with my 12 year old who thought it had a slow start but loved it by the end.


----------



## cybershot (Feb 17, 2019)

rubbershoes said:


> The Matrix - it's a dystopian sci-fi film. I don't want to give too much away for people who haven't seen it yet but you'll never look at the world the same way. If it's real, man, like, wow
> 
> Watched it with my 12 year old who thought it had a slow start but loved it by the end.



Don’t tell them sequels exist. Just leave it there and die happy.


----------



## Sue (Feb 17, 2019)

cybershot said:


> Don’t tell them sequels exist. Just leave it there and die happy.


There are sequels..?


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 17, 2019)

cybershot said:


> Don’t tell them sequels exist. Just leave it there and die happy.



I told them the sequel was as disappointing as the Star Wars prequels or Terminator 3


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 18, 2019)

rubbershoes said:


> I told them the sequel was as disappointing as the Star Wars prequels or Terminator 3



_The Animatrix_ isn't half bad, mind.


----------



## Reno (Feb 18, 2019)

Decided to fill a gap in my movie knowledge and I’m currently watching all the *Rocky/Creed* films. The reason I’ve never watched them is because I don’t like sports movies much and I’m not a Stallone fan. But I’m intrigued by the rave reviews for the Creed movies, so I thought I’d catch up. So far I’ve watched the first three.

*Rocky* is difficult to evaluate now. It’s become the template for so many films, so what was fresh then, now looks very cliched (I doubt it ever was _that_ fresh). So much of it has seeped into popular culture that it feels like I’ve already seen it. Stallone overdoes the dim blue collar shtick to the point where he appears mentally challenged. Talia Shire received the least deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination of all time, it’s a thankless role and it's a supporting part. (Looking at the films from 1976, there really weren’t many great roles for women around, though Genevieve Bujold in Obsession would have been far more deserving. At least the right actress won that year, Faye Dunaway in *Network*) The film bounces along well enough, even if it’s cheesy as fuck and all the other movies nominated for Best Picture that year were more deserving (*Taxi Driver* lost to this !!!). One thing which is surprising is how little actual boxing is in the film. The climactic fight only takes up the last ten minutes and then the movie abruptly ends. The scene I liked the best is there Rocky gives advice to a tough little street kid, who is a girl. I read she comes back in a later film.

*Rocky II* is the type of sequel which is a carbon copy of the first film, it just advances the (not terribly interesting) love story between Rocky and Adrian. After his moment of fame is over and he's burned through the money, Rocky is back at square one and by the end, back in the ring with Creed. Unlike the later films, in terms of style it connects to Rocky almost seamlessly. One thing it has over the first film is that the climactic fight sequence is far better staged (and it is twice as long).

*Rock III* is the one I’ve enjoyed the most so far, I actually thought it was good fun. Rocky almost seems like a completely different character and has received an upgrade in terms of body and brain power. At least it gets Stallone to drop his poor Marlon Brando impersonation. The style of the movie is far more hyper in an 80s way but also more dynamic and the relationships are a little more interesting. They even wrote Adrian one decent scene (and it becomes clear that Talia Shire really isn’t much of an actress). The training sequence with Rocky and Creed is shot in a hilariously homoerotic way. What was it with midriff baring sweatshirts in the 80s ? I’m glad Burgess Meredith snuffs it, he’s always been an unbearable ham. The fight scenes in this are great (Hulk Hogan ! ) and Mr. T is a hissable opponent.
*
Rocky IV* tonight...


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 18, 2019)

This was on at my local on Valentine's day, didn't fancy watching it on that date on my own, so I sacked it off and watched it on Prime instead. 
 
Glad I watched it. It's very good if rather rude. A touching and believable love story, set in The Dales, between a young local Yorkshire boy, who's frustrated by family obligations (helping run a farm after his dad has had a stroke), and an older Romanian farm labourer, brought in by the boy's dad, to help out over lambing season. There's a great scene in which the more worldly Romanian saves a runty lamb that's been rejected by its mother, by wrapping it in the skin of a stillborn lamb, tricking the grieving ewe into caring for it. Not much dialogue passes between the two of them so we're invited to infer meaning from scenes such as this. It would feel rather obvious in a worse film, but this film is all the better for it.


----------



## Ranbay (Feb 18, 2019)

Overlord: so bad it was bad.

Overlord (2018) - IMDb


----------



## 8115 (Feb 18, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> This was on at my local on Valentine's day, didn't fancy watching it on that date on my own, so I sacked it off and watched it on Prime instead.
> View attachment 162244
> Glad I watched it. It's very good if rather rude. A touching and believable love story, set in The Dales, between a young local Yorkshire boy, who's frustrated by family obligations (helping run a farm after his dad has had a stroke), and an older Romanian farm labourer, brought in by the boy's dad, to help out over lambing season. There's a great scene in which the more worldly Romanian saves a runty lamb that's been rejected by its mother, by wrapping it in the skin of a stillborn lamb, tricking the grieving ewe into caring for it. Not much dialogue passes between the two of them so we're invited to infer meaning from scenes such as this. It would feel rather obvious in a worse film, but this film is all the better for it.


One of my favourite films of 2017.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 18, 2019)

I just can't bear Ian Hart.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 18, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> I just can't bear Ian Hart.


He's very good in this. He's in one of the most moving scenes in it.


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 18, 2019)

Watched Gremlins with my boy this afternoon. We both really enjoyed it.


----------



## Reno (Feb 18, 2019)

Rocky IV. It was shit.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 18, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> He's very good in this. He's in one of the most moving scenes in it.



Yea I've seen it, he ruined it for me. I think I was OK with him in land and freedom but saw a really bad film with him in that I can't shake. Can't remember the name but he plays an absent dad and there's a scene where he has his kid driving his car. It was piss poor.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 19, 2019)

Reno said:


> Rocky IV. It was shit.



But...but...the montages.

And Rocky ending the Cold War with a speech 

To be fair, I think you're only going to enjoy Rocky Balboa and Creed (not seen Creed 2 yet) if any, the series morphs into a much more thoughtful and interesting one at that point.


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 19, 2019)

Reno said:


> Rocky IV. It was shit.



...was one of the bad yet watchable films ever made.
The Cold War speech was silly.
Preferred when he goes black in number III.

Still, wanna check out Creed II.


----------



## Reno (Feb 19, 2019)

I think you have to watch Rocky IV with a fair degree of nostalgic affection to enjoy it. Yes, it is prime Reagan era kitsch, but it’s also repetitive and this time the climactic fight takes far too long, nearly a third of the movie. The training sequence is funny but the film is not as trashily enjoyable as I hoped. I thought Rocky III was more fun.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 19, 2019)

Hidden Figures. Unsubtle, but enjoyable.


----------



## pesh (Feb 20, 2019)

Bohemian Rhapsody. Not saying the films inaccurate but we consumed more drugs watching it than Freddie got through between 1970 and 1985 if the film is to be believed.


----------



## Reno (Feb 20, 2019)

pesh said:


> Bohemian Rhapsody. Not saying the films inaccurate but we consumed more drugs watching it than Freddie got through between 1970 and 1985 if the film is to be believed.


By all accounts, much of the film is inaccurate.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 20, 2019)

The Greasy Strangler - wow. It's certainly unique.Can't wait to see Jim Hoskyn's next film, An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, which i think is on Netflix


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 21, 2019)

Watched *Creed 2* last night, it wasn't as good as the first one, the fight scenes weren't shot with the same energy and skill, and the plot is a bit of a retread.

Good work from Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson though, they make some otherwise corny scenes feel real.

Stallone not given as much to do this time around, but handles his moments nicely.

Also - as far as I can tell there were supposed to be subtitles for the numerous conversations in foreign languages, but my dodgy copy didn't have them, so I probably missed some plot or character building there 

Good soundtrack though.

6/10


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2019)

I made it through Rocky V, which apparently is the least liked of all the Rocky films. It’s bad, but I enjoyed it marginally more than the previous film. At least it breaks with the formular which stayed exactly the same for four movies and tries to tell a different story. The only supporting actor I like in this series of films was Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, who I also found to be the only likeable character. The other three are all horrible. Burt Young and Burgess Meredith overact like crazy, while Talia Shire is a wooden charisma void. Next to Ali McGraw she must be the worst lead actress of the 70s/80s.

Before that I needed a Rocky break and I watched the Swedish film Border. Based on a short story by the writer of Let the Right One In (which is in my top three films of the 21st century) this is certainly unlike anything else out there. It’s about a woman who seems to have a genetic disorder and who works at airport security because she can smell the emotions of people. Then she meets a man who appears to have the same condition. This has some wild plot turns up its sleeve and it has one of the more out there sex scenes I’ve seen. There is a subplot I found troubling though and I’m not sure the film earns going somewhere this dark. This got a Oscar nomination for best make-up this year.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2019)

Reno said:


> I watched the Swedish film Border. Based on a short story by the writer of Let the Right One In (which is in my top three films of the 21st century) this is certainly unlike anything else out there. It’s about a woman who seems to have a genetic disorder and who works at airport security because she can smell the emotions of people. Then she meets a man who appears to have the same condition. This has some wild plot turns up its sleeve and it has one of the more out there sex scenes I’ve seen. There is a subplot I found troubling though and I’m not sure the film earns going somewhere this dark. This got a Oscar nomination for best make-up this year.





Spoiler: subplot



are you referring to the child pornography subplot? if so, i completely agree, it really troubled me too, though on reflection, it kind of makes sense within the plot. Not sure I buy it though, it just seemed in poor taste to me


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> Spoiler: subplot
> 
> 
> 
> are you referring to the child pornography subplot? if so, i completely agree, it really troubled me too, though on reflection, it kind of makes sense within the plot. Not sure I buy it though, it just seemed in poor taste to me


Yes, that’s it. Completely agree with you.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2019)

Reno said:


> Yes, that’s it. Completely agree with you.


though it seems a bit redundant to be criticising such a fucked up film as in poor taste!


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> though it seems a bit redundant to be criticising such a fucked up film as in poor taste!


All the other fucked up stuff at least was the subject matter of the film. 



Spoiler



The raping babies thing was more of a plot device and as such just felt gross and exploitative. It’s a shame because I liked the rest of it and the revelation of what she is.

The writer Lindqvist seems to have an ongoing preoccupation with paedophilia and non-gender specific characters and the film of Let the Right One In wisely left out the kid-rapey stuff from the book.


----------



## Sue (Feb 21, 2019)

Reno said:


> All the other fucked up stuff at least was the subject matter of the film. The
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I saw it at the LFF and completely agree. I liked it in general but... Strangely, they were doing a preview last week at my local cinema and were billing it as a Valentine's Day event...


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 21, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> ...Also - as far as I can tell there were supposed to be subtitles for the numerous conversations in foreign languages, but my dodgy copy didn't have them, so I probably missed some plot or character building there
> 
> Good soundtrack though.
> 
> 6/10


Yeah my stream had no subtitles either.  I just kept thinking they were saying 'sweep the leg!' or some such.

Soundtrack went from rap to rock to oh brother, was excellent.


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2019)

Rocky Balboa. Quite sentimental but better than most of the Rocky films.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 22, 2019)

Reno said:


> Rocky Balboa. Quite sentimental but better than most of the Rocky films.



Possibly my favourite of the whole series, Stallone ups his acting game and it has just the right amount of Rocky cheese - 



> Duke: You know all there is to know about fightin', so there's no sense us going down that same old road again. To beat this guy, you need speed. You don't have it. And your knees can't take the poundin', so hard runnin's out. And you've got arthritis in your neck, and you've got calcium deposits on most of your joints, so sparrin's out.
> 
> So what we'll be callin' on is good old fashioned blunt force trauma. Horsepower! Heavy duty, cast-iron, pile-driving punches that'll have to hurt so much they'll rattle his ancestors! Every time you hit him with this shot (*smack*) it's gotta feel like he tried kissin' the express train! Yeah! Let's start buildin' some hurtin' bombs!


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 22, 2019)

*Bad Times At The El Royale*

Really enjoyed this, although it was probably 20-30 mins too long and could have benefitted from excising a few spoilery scenes from the trailer to increase the plot impact. 

But otherwise it was fun, twisty and beautifully shot, with several long scenes filled with tension, then punctuated occasionally with realistic violence. The cinematography is stunning (neon in rain is a great look on film), and the use of the camera with static shots, mirrored compositions and shifting perspective all adds to the film.

Jeff Bridges is solidly great but Cynthia Erivo steals the show (as does another character, but that would be spoilery), hope she gets some more starring roles, great voice too.

Overall it felt like a more cohesive version of Hateful Eight, shame it flopped at the Box Office, hopefully it will be appreciated in future.

8/10


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2019)

I Am a Hero, Japanese zombie movie based on a popular manga. Rather good if slightly too long at over two hours. At least it#s a zombie movie that's really gory and the make-up for the zombies (who are more rage infected than then the shuffling undead) is genuinely grotesque. 

The characters are fun and they all end up at a shopping mall, which makes this a bit too similar to Dawn of the Dead (more the remake than the original). If you like that sort of thing, it's still among the better zombie movies in recent years, if not as good as Train to Busan or The Girl With all the Gifts.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 23, 2019)

Slaughterhouse Rulez- looked promising : public school built over a fracking site that is actually a monsters den sort of Robert Rankine style comedy with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Well it is promising but it never really lives up to its promise, some funny parts that make you laugh and the schools rituals are good but overall very flat in places , uneven and inconsistent . If it was on TV again I'd prob either watch it again to see if I missed something or quite easily find something else.  At the end I realised that it was directed and written by Crispian Mills ex Kula Shaker who obviously knows quite a lot about public schools  but unfortunately not a lot about comedy.

Now Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in The Worlds End well thats a diffrent matter.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 23, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> I just can't bear Ian Hart.


_Land And Freedom_? _This Year's Love_? _Loved Up_? _Clockwork Mice_? _Nothing Personal_?


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 23, 2019)

DaveCinzano said:


> _Land And Freedom_? _This Year's Love_? _Loved Up_? _Clockwork Mice_? _Nothing Personal_?



Land and Freedom I've seen.

As I posted above, he was in a film I now know was called ' A Boy Called Dad'. Someone I worked with at the time, her husband was involved in the making of it. It was shit. Not been able to watch anything with him in since. For me, the scene in God's Own Country was like someone pretending to be disabled like a schoolyard Joey Deacon rather than heartfelt moment others have experienced.


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2019)

Creed. Enjoyed this by far the most of all the Rocky films, really great on every level.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 24, 2019)

Reno said:


> Creed. Enjoyed this by far the most of all the Rocky films, really great on every level.


Yup.  Was waiting for you to watch it. 

Coogler brings freshness, humour, music and spirit to the franchise.


----------



## belboid (Feb 24, 2019)

Confessions (Kokuhaku)

A 2010, Japanese, not quite horror but bloody horrific drama, starting with a teacher in a ridiculously large and unruly class telling them she wont be coming back next term. And she wont be doing so for a bloody good reason which unfolds over the opening twenty minutes or so. We then go to the various confessions of those involved (or close to them), all of which just gets more and more horrific as it goes along. There's nothing (well, hardly anything) truly gory, nor jump scars, it just builds and builds an intense all prevailing sense of dread and despair for humanity.   Bloody brilliant.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 24, 2019)

Split - schlocky M Night Shyamalan fare - a waste of two hours to be frank


----------



## cybershot (Feb 25, 2019)

Creed 
As the OH hadn't seen it yet in prep for Creed II. Simple film but does a really good job of getting you to care about the main charachters, which makes the main fight at the end emotionally charged. 8/10


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 25, 2019)

Nae Pasaran. It's on iPlayer. It's brilliant.

BBC iPlayer - Nae Pasaran


----------



## Reno (Feb 25, 2019)

cybershot said:


> Creed
> As the OH hadn't seen it yet in prep for Creed II. Simple film but does a really good job of getting you to care about the main charachters, which makes the main fight at the end emotionally charged. 8/10


Lightweight, I just watched all the Rocky films in my preparation for Creed !


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 25, 2019)

In The Fade - German film following a woman widowed when her husband and son are killed in neo nazi bombing. Good bit of suspense and kept me guessing. Other films by the same director, Fatih Akin look promising.


----------



## Reno (Feb 26, 2019)

Creed II. Not bad but not nearly as good as the first one. It misses Coogler’s touch. Good idea to make this a sequel to Rocky IV though.


----------



## Ming (Feb 27, 2019)

Hunter Killer. Crappy submarine hokum. Gary Oldman and Michael Nyqvist are in it for some reason.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 27, 2019)

First 2 episodes of *Doom Patrol* (DC Comics property that had a soft introduction during Titans Season 1).

Basically a loose 'family' of misfits and experiments brought together by Timothy Dalton's mad professor patriarch.

It's proper batshit and fun, but has some genuine pathos mixed in too, very enjoyable.

Some decently big names in quirky roles, including Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer and the aforementioned Dalton.

Not to mention the always great Alan Tudyk as both the narrator and antagonist, leading to much 4th wall breaking and potshots at the various superhero cliches / format.

Well worth a watch, you'll know after the 1st episode if you want to carry on


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 27, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> First 2 episodes of *Doom Patrol* (DC Comics property that had a soft introduction during Titans Season 1).
> 
> Basically a loose 'family' of misfits and experiments brought together by Timothy Dalton's mad professor patriarch.
> 
> ...


Was that those mad mum, dad, daughter, son bastards?

Could be worth a watch.


----------



## Reno (Feb 27, 2019)

Still catching up with the Oscar movies. If there was an award for Most Direction, The Favourite would have deserved it. 

Loved Can You Ever Forgive Me, which cuts a little too close to the bone these days. Also features one of my favourite NYC bars.


----------



## The Octagon (Feb 27, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> Was that those mad mum, dad, daughter, son bastards?
> 
> Could be worth a watch.



No, the AC-DC cooking mummy and robot man, etc.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 28, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> No, the AC-DC cooking mummy and robot man, etc.


Oh yeah, gotchya.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 28, 2019)

belboid said:


> Confessions (Kokuhaku)
> 
> A 2010, Japanese, not quite horror but bloody horrific drama, starting with a teacher in a ridiculously large and unruly class telling them she wont be coming back next term. And she wont be doing so for a bloody good reason which unfolds over the opening twenty minutes or so. We then go to the various confessions of those involved (or close to them), all of which just gets more and more horrific as it goes along. There's nothing (well, hardly anything) truly gory, nor jump scars, it just builds and builds an intense all prevailing sense of dread and despair for humanity.   Bloody brilliant.



Watched it this afternoon. Second maternal revenge film of the week. So intense and such great storytelling. Loved it.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 1, 2019)

*SpiderMan: Into The SpiderVerse
*
Wow. I'd heard it was good and obviously it won the Animated Oscar too, but it far exceeded what I was expecting.

Possibly the best animated film I've seen, inventive with the medium, pitched perfectly to appeal to both superfans and casuals, and with a perfect balance of humour and seriousness (some fairly dark and heavy themes for a 'kid's film' throughout).

As much as I love the MCU take on Spidey, they lean a little too heavily on him being a Stark fanboy and almost sidekick, whereas the guys making this film seem to get the character more than any other I've seen, and the various alternate versions were all distinct but still shared the same characteristics.

The voice acting is great (Nicholas Cage as SpiderNoir was inspired casting, to pick out just one example) and the visuals are fantastic, there's desktop wallpapers for days throughout 

Brilliant soundtrack too.

Requires a second viewing just for all the references and quick cut moments I think, not to mention the best Stan Lee cameo of the lot 

Watch right to the end of the credits, it's worth it 

9/10


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 1, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *SpiderMan: Into The SpiderVerse
> *
> Wow. I'd heard it was good and obviously it won the Animated Oscar too, but it far exceeded what I was expecting.
> 
> ...


Aye, i saw a late night showing of this and there were literally six of us. All stayed for the credits and we all fell about laughing at the coda


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 3, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *SpiderMan: Into The SpiderVerse
> *
> Wow. I'd heard it was good and obviously it won the Animated Oscar too, but it far exceeded what I was expecting.
> 
> ...



Seeing this next week, cannot wait!


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 3, 2019)

Three Billboards. Excellent, compassionate, troubled, unresolving, everything I expected really.


----------



## Reno (Mar 3, 2019)

Von Trier’s latest cinematic provocation, _The House that Jack Built_. I’m no fan of the director and haven’t really liked anything by him since his haunted hospital series Riget/The Kingdom. I can't take a film-maker, whose very film gets made to cause walkouts at Cannes, too seriously. 

This one is a serial killer flick with some philosophical waffling and extreme violence committed against men, women, children and ducks. While it's a difficult film to recommended, I minded this less than most of his other films. Being aware that the violence is just there to provoke a reaction, I didn't feel particularly affected by it and I quite liked where the film ends up. It's too long but if you like horror films and can stomach extreme gruesomeness, it's worth a watch, otherwise give it a wide berth.



I watched the unrated version. There also is an R-rated version which cuts a lot of the worst stuff but considering what the film attempts, that's probably defeating the purpose.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 3, 2019)

Burning. 

Slow paced, some beautiful long shots and lots of time to think 'wtf is going on here?'. Great characters and performances...hated the bad guy. The trailer really did get me hooked into a film that was quite unlike anything I would've expected. Wish I'd seen it at the pictures. Still thinking about it morning after is always a good sign I think.

SpiderMan: Into The SpiderVerse.

Really enjoyed it. My son said he was surprised Isle of Dogs didn't win best animation but this is next level, astounding stuff.


----------



## T & P (Mar 3, 2019)

Watching Bohemian Rhapsody on a feed from the Middle East. We noticed the film seems roughly edited at places, but then remembered that over there they censor out stuff as trivial as heterosexual kissing in the mouth, never mind gay stuff.

I’ve just checked the running time and our version is 39 minutes shorter than the full film. I guess we’ll have to watch it again when it reaches the UK channels to see what debauchery we’ve missed.


----------



## planetgeli (Mar 3, 2019)

T & P said:


> Watching Bohemian Rhapsody on a feed from the Middle East. We noticed the film seems roughly edited at places, but then remembered that over there they censor out stuff as trivial as heterosexual kissing in the mouth, never mind gay stuff.
> 
> I’ve just checked the running time and our version is 39 minutes shorter than the full film. I guess we’ll have to watch it again when it reaches the UK channels to see what debauchery we’ve missed.



You missed nothing, whitewashed to the core. One brief, very brief, pill popping scene and if you watched while taking only cursory notice you might even think Mercury was straight. A 'film' about Queen, not Mercury, and built around Queen songs. I saw Live Aid so what was the point of the last 25 minutes exactly? Overlong.

PS Get ShowBox app.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 3, 2019)

Is the last 25 minutes Live Aid?   I would want to see that.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 4, 2019)

John Wick - Chapter 2. Keanu does his thing, lots of blood and bullets. 



Spoiler



Just watching the body count will make you dizzy and just how many assassins for hire are there? I feel like it's set in an alternate world where everybody is a killer. Or maybe it's a metaphor for our own world...


----------



## Reno (Mar 4, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> John Wick - Chapter 2. Keanu does his thing, lots of blood and bullets.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't think _everybody_ is supposed to be a killer in this world, John Wick is about a hidden underground world, which just caters to and is populated by assassins. Last year's Hotel Artemis has a similar premise though it leans more explicitly into dystopian science fiction.


----------



## cybershot (Mar 4, 2019)

Widows
Remake of an old British TV show where 3 wives of killed criminals carry out the last act of their husbands to claim $5m in order to pay off the people chasing them and start new lives, plenty of twists along the way. It's been done countless times, and while the leader of the women is a bit of a twat at the best of times, you want them to come through. Worth watching.

What they had.
Hard watch as family struggles to come to terms with their mothers Alzheimer's disease, but well worth watching, try not to watch wen you're already sad or depressed as this won't help your mood.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 4, 2019)

Blackkklansman - always thought Spike Lee was overated since Do the Right Thing but enjoyed this.Great story and a brilliant parallel bit where an eye witness decribes a public lynching and burning as the KKK have their initiation service .The film concludes with some timely footage of the modern far right in America.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 4, 2019)

*The Shepherd: Border Control *(2008) with Jean Claude van Damme. Genuinely one of the worst things I've ever watched, so breathtakingly shoddy in every way that it's no surprise it went straight to video. Some sort of trite bobbins about drug trafficking bad guys and grief and that. Yet there are odd flashes of self-awareness from the script and the star, a pitch-perfect 1970s exploitation-movie pastiche soundtrack, and it contains one bit of deathless dialogue:

_[Drunk woman in bar] Sho, aren't you gonna take me home? Why not?
[JVD] Because you're piss drunk and I'm holding a rabbit._

Almost worth wasting an hour and a half of my life just for that tbh.


----------



## Sue (Mar 4, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> Blackkklansman - always thought Spike Lee was overated since Do the Right Thing but enjoyed this.Great story and *a brilliant parallel bit where an eye witness decribes a public lynching and burning as the KKK have their initiation service .*The film concludes with some timely footage of the modern far right in America.


See, I hated that bit (felt quite meh about the film in general). Such heavy handed hammering home of the message just in case you hadn't already got the point...


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 4, 2019)

Sue said:


> See, I hated that bit (felt quite meh about the film in general). Such heavy handed hammering home of the message just in case you hadn't already got the point...


Might just be me then  but I thought it was clever and sobered up the mainly comical portrayal of the KKK in the film.


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2019)

trabuquera said:


> *The Shepherd: Border Control *(2008) with Jean Claude van Damme. Genuinely one of the worst things I've ever watched, so breathtakingly shoddy in every way that it's no surprise it went straight to video. Some sort of trite bobbins about drug trafficking bad guys and grief and that. Yet there are odd flashes of self-awareness from the script and the star, a pitch-perfect 1970s exploitation-movie pastiche soundtrack, and it contains one bit of deathless dialogue:
> 
> _[Drunk woman in bar] Sho, aren't you gonna take me home? Why not?
> [JVD] Because you're piss drunk and I'm holding a rabbit._
> ...


Does he kickbox sheep in it ?


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 5, 2019)

Nope, the sheep are spared. (thankful for small mercies )


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2019)

I’m currently rewatching all the Bourne films. I’m through the first three and they haven’t really aged that well, despite not being that old. Compared to what the Mission Impossible films do now, the action scenes aren’t much to get excited  about. Greengrass’ shakeycam and habit of holding no shot for longer than two seconds has always been an acquired taste and after the (quite likeable) love-on-the-run story of the first movie, there isn’t much to invest in the characters. It’s not like they are bad, I just liked them a lot better when they came out.


----------



## Sue (Mar 5, 2019)

Are you on an action kick, Reno, what with all the Rocky films and now Bourne?


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2019)

Sue said:


> Are you on an action kick, Reno, what with all the Rocky films and now Bourne?


I’m on a serialised films kick. This tends to happen February/March when I’m fed up with winter and need something to pass the time.

Last year it was all the Antoine Doinel and Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight films. This year it’s the Rocky films because I’d never seen them and now Bourne, because I’ve never seen the most recent one.


----------



## Chz (Mar 5, 2019)

Reno said:


> I’m currently rewatching all the Bourne films. I’m through the first three and they haven’t really aged that well, despite not being that old. Compared to what the Mission Impossible films do now, the action scenes aren’t much to get excited  about. Greengrass’ shakeycam and habit of holding no shot for longer than two seconds has always been an acquired taste and after the (quite likeable) love-on-the-run story of the first movie, there isn’t much to invest in the characters. It’s not like they are bad, I just liked them a lot better when they came out.


I dunno. I mean, I agree that they're not as fresh as when they came out. Sure. But they've only gone from awesome to pretty damned good in my mind. The exception being _Supremacy_ where it took me time to warm to the shakeycam. But having warmed to it, I loved the film and its successor.

Even the new one was pretty good, but there's only so much mileage they can get out of the story.

My viewpoint is coloured by the fact that I can't bloody stand Tom Cruise, though.


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2019)

Chz said:


> I dunno. I mean, I agree that they're not as fresh as when they came out. Sure. But they've only gone from awesome to pretty damned good in my mind. The exception being _Supremacy_ where it took me time to warm to the shakeycam. But having warmed to it, I loved the film and its successor.
> 
> Even the new one was pretty good, but there's only so much mileage they can get out of the story.
> 
> My viewpoint is coloured by the fact that I can't bloody stand Tom Cruise, though.



I'm not of a Cruise fan either but I don't mind him when rather than acting, he mainly runs around. I'm generally not that bothered by movie stars I dislike if I the movie itself is great. The fact that he does his own stunts and pretty dangerous ones at that, it impressive and give the action scenes in the M:I movies a tangible quality. I only really like them from the third one onwards, when they start to surround him with interesting supporting charters. The last three M:I films are among the best action films ever made IMO.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 5, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> No, the AC-DC cooking mummy and robot man, etc.


This is getting incredibly good reviews!


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 5, 2019)

Does Vanilla Sky, Collateral and Edge of Tomorrow count as a trilogy?


----------



## Reno (Mar 5, 2019)

Burning, highly praised, overlong Korean movie (I’d call it a thriller if any of it was thrilling) which didn’t do much for me. The biggest surprise about the film is that there is no surprise. What one suspects happened for over hour, most probably did happen.

The acting is very good and Steven Yeun, who used to be in The Walking Dead, is very good as a character right out of a Patricia Highsmith novel. But why did it all have to take so long ?


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 6, 2019)

*I'm All Right Jack *(1959) - at first glance you might think it's an heir to the glories of Ealing comedy, sharp British social commentary wrapped up in a bit of slapstick and clowning. In fact it's nasty anti-union propaganda in which a dopy young nice-but-dim toff is manipulated by a scheming, machiavellian union rep, management with no nationalist conscience, the gutter press and some dodgy foreigners. Very much the politics of the 1950s Beaverbrook press, fighting back mightily against Labour and new social mobility. Few good period in-jokes about rock 'n roll haircuts, gossip magazines and rationing. But a lot of it now sails overhead without amusing you. Was Peter Sellers (the union rep, played as a pathetic wannabe Stalinist) ever really funny? Still, has its moments, including gold-plated turns from Terry-Thomas as a right bounder of a factory boss ("they're a shower, an absolute shower... what a shocker!") and Margaret Rutherford doing great posh-but-kindly again. Full of faces you'll recognise from British comedy from the 1950s to the 80s.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 6, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> This is getting incredibly good reviews!



Up to the 3rd episode, it's very good thus far, upped the gore level a tad this week too.

Sign of a good show when your favourite character changes from scene to scene.

I assume it'll hit Netflix before too long.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 6, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> Up to the 3rd episode, it's very good thus far, upped the gore level a tad this week too.
> 
> Sign of a good show when your favourite character changes from scene to scene.
> 
> I assume it'll hit Netflix before too long.


Dunno it appears to be coming from a WB pay channel or something.  I'll wait till the full thing is out though and prob binge.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 6, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> Dunno it appears to be coming from a WB pay channel or something.  I'll wait till the full thing is out though and prob binge.



It's the new DC streaming service, but so was Titans and that's on Netflix UK so fingers crossed.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 6, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> It's the new DC streaming service, but so was Titans and that's on Netflix UK so fingers crossed.


Ah right, good. cheers

Teen Titans Go! is on Amazon (and some on youtube) and it's still the best of them


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 7, 2019)

Lords of Chaos. Film version of the semi fictional book about the Norwegian Black Metal scene, church burnings etc. I've no idea how much is based on any truth but there are 3 very violent scenes that are prolonged and gratuitous. I didn't find it to be an easy watch.


----------



## friedaweed (Mar 8, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> Blackkklansman - always thought Spike Lee was overated since Do the Right Thing but enjoyed this.Great story and a brilliant parallel bit where an eye witness decribes a public lynching and burning as the KKK have their initiation service .The film concludes with some timely footage of the modern far right in America.


Yeah I thought that was quite good.


----------



## Reno (Mar 9, 2019)

I carried on with my Bourne rewatch with The Bourne Legacy. I really like this one and think it’s underrated. It’s a great action film and by revealing what Threadstone did, it goes a bit more towards science fiction but that’s not a bad thing. It has a more high stakes plot and I find Renner a more likeable hero than Damon. 

The Bourne films have been considered a more modern take on the Bond movies but now they look like a more low key take on the superhero film. These guys are the product of mad scientists and must be on the same superpower level as Captain America.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 9, 2019)

Reno said:


> I carried on with my Bourne rewatch with The Bourne Legacy. I really like this one and think it’s underrated. It’s a great action film and by revealing what Threadstone did, it goes a bit more towards science fiction but that’s not a bad thing. It has a more high stakes plot and I find Renner a more likeable hero than Damon.
> 
> The Bourne films have been considered a more modern take on the Bond movies but now they look like a more low key take on the superhero film. These guys are the product of mad scientists and must be on the same superpower level as Captain America.


I came across that one on the telly, without knowing anything about it, and got sucked in pretty quickly. So I agree, underrated is right.

Would it be fair to say that they're Iraq war movies in a certain way?


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 10, 2019)

Under The Tree.

Icelandic film about neighbours who fall out over a tree in one garden that cast shadow on their neighbours'. Starts out quite humorous with some low level neighbour nuisance and escalates beyond what I could've imagined. Meanwhile the son of one set of neighbours moves back in after his wife catches him watching porn. It's a solid 90 minute film...I do like a good 90 minute filler.

Also rewatched Vertigo. My son's doing A level film studies and it's a year or so since we watched it last. I'd like to revisit all of Hitchcock's films, something about good memories from my childhood I expect, my mum loved them. Watching them with my lad is great to see all he's learnt.


----------



## Reno (Mar 10, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> Would it be fair to say that they're Iraq war movies in a certain way?


There certainly are hints of that. Greengrass and Damon followed up the third Bourne film with Green Zone, an action film which takes place in Iraq.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 10, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> ...Meanwhile the son of one set of neighbours moves back in after his wife catches him watching porn. It's a solid 90 minute film...I do like a good 90 minute filler....



Is that the name of the porn film?


----------



## friedaweed (Mar 10, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *Bad Times At The El Royale*
> 
> Really enjoyed this, although it was probably 20-30 mins too long and could have benefitted from excising a few spoilery scenes from the trailer to increase the plot impact.
> 
> ...


I quite enjoyed that. Watched it last night after reading your synopsis on here. Rather good


----------



## planetgeli (Mar 10, 2019)

May Kasahara said:


> Three Billboards. Excellent, compassionate, troubled, unresolving, everything I expected really.



Watched last night. Good film, some really funny lines and some pretty outrageous ones too.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 11, 2019)

Border.

Wow!...Fantasy, mystery, romance, crime, horror from the same writer as Let The Right One In. Avoided reading too much beforehand so although I knew the very basics of it I hadn't much of a clue what was about to happen. Gripping throughout, some real wtf! moments, a really good watch.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 11, 2019)

The Lighthouse, cos it was on a last gasp on the iplayer.

It's about the Smalls Lighthouse incident in 1801. Watched it with a right hooley of a storm blowing outside, which was just perfect.  The film was great - massively atmospheric, suitably claustrophobic, and I learned a lot.


----------



## ska invita (Mar 11, 2019)

Midnight's children film adaptation....I thought excellent, slated by (western) reviewers, reaffirms the maxim always ignore reviews. 

Strong acting, beautifully shot, gentle tone, not confusing despite lots of story telling elements.... Maybe a bit boring if watched in the cinema but a great home watch.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 11, 2019)

ska invita said:


> Midnight's children film adaptation....I thought excellent, slated by (western) reviewers, reaffirms the maxim always ignore reviews.
> 
> Strong acting, beautifully shot, gentle tone, not confusing despite lots of story telling elements.... Maybe a bit boring if watched in the cinema but a great home watch.


That the  one on iplayer? Was thinking about watching that.


----------



## ska invita (Mar 11, 2019)

sojourner said:


> That the  one on iplayer? Was thinking about watching that.


Yes do. Goes off next Saturday


----------



## sojourner (Mar 11, 2019)

ska invita said:


> Yes do. Goes off next Saturday


Smashing, thanks


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2019)

The Miseducation Of Cameron Post
Chloe Grace Moretz plays a 90s teen who's sent to gay conversion camp. Here she meets some friends.
 It's rather sweet considering how horribly damaging and destructive it is to subject someone to gay conversion 'therapy', though the adults responsible are not portrayed as monsters but as damaged people with mostly good intentions.
Above all though, it is a refreshingly truthful coming of age comedy drama about finding fellowship and friendship in adversity. I've not experienced much of what the characters gp through but their experiences resonated all the same - that pure enjoyment of just being with your friends is portrayed so perfectly by Desiree Akhavan and her cast. Must check out her other stuff.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 12, 2019)

Dom Hemingway. Jesus fucking wept. There are probably worse films but I can't think of any right now that are THAT fucking dire. I genuinely thought that it was gonna be some kind of spoof, and there'd be a midway epiphany or SOMETHING to spin it right round, but no - it kept on, and on, and on, with unfunny, pretty despicable sexism, racism, homophobia, and glorification of gobbing off and violence. Wtaf?!  Wouldn't wipe me arse on it.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 12, 2019)

sojourner said:


> Dom Hemingway. Jesus fucking wept. There are probably worse films but I can't think of any right now that are THAT fucking dire. I genuinely thought that it was gonna be some kind of spoof, and there'd be a midway epiphany or SOMETHING to spin it right round, but no - it kept on, and on, and on, with unfunny, pretty despicable sexism, racism, homophobia, and glorification of gobbing off and violence. Wtaf?!  Wouldn't wipe me arse on it.


Come on, have a bit of perspective, it's not even the worst Jude Law film


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 13, 2019)

omg shopping


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 13, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> omg shopping


Nice soundtrack from the Channel 4 ident bloke


----------



## sojourner (Mar 13, 2019)

DaveCinzano said:


> Come on, have a bit of perspective, it's not even the worst Jude Law film


Gotta admit, I know his name, but I couldn't think of any other films I've watched that he's been in. Does he always play fucking wankers then?


----------



## Sue (Mar 13, 2019)

sojourner said:


> Gotta admit, I know his name, but I couldn't think of any other films I've watched that he's been in. Does he always play fucking wankers then?



He was good in The Talented Mr Ripley and (imo) would've made a better Ripley than Matt Damon.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 13, 2019)

Sue said:


> He was good in The Talented Mr Ripley and (imo) would've made a better Ripley than Matt Damon.


Law was so annoying in that film, and the film itself so slow, that I ended up thinking "hurry up and kill him already".


----------



## Sue (Mar 13, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> Law was so annoying in that film, and the film itself so slow, that I ended up thinking "hurry up and kill him already".


He was meant to be annoying IIRC...


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 13, 2019)

His Gigolo Joe character in AI is OK. I rated him in GATTACA as well


----------



## belboid (Mar 13, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> Law was so annoying in that film, and the film itself so slow, that I ended up thinking "hurry up and kill him already".


He is meant to be rather irritating. It's one of the reasons we like Ripley (though none of the films have done him justice).

Law's nadir was surely Love, Honour & Obey


----------



## Reno (Mar 13, 2019)

Sue said:


> He was good in The Talented Mr Ripley and (imo) would've made a better Ripley than Matt Damon.


Ha, was just going to write exactly the same thing. He’s so much more like Highsmith’s Ripley than Matt Damon. The film (which otherwise isn’t bad) would have been a better adaptation had he and Damon swapped roles.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 13, 2019)

It would have been better if they swapped Damon with a potato


----------



## Sue (Mar 13, 2019)

belboid said:


> He is meant to be rather irritating. It's one of the reasons we like Ripley (though none of the films have done him justice).
> Law's nadir was surely Love, Honour & Obey



I did like Alain Delon in Plein Soleil though.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 13, 2019)

The Rider.  Felt almost like a documentary...a rodeo rider has to quit the sport and consider his life after suffering a brain injury. It's very realistic...possibly due to the main characters playing parts that might be very close to their real lives. The horse training scenes are amazing, the rodeo scenes and attitudes of the other cowboys scary and quite believable. Hit a few very personal notes for me. A good watch.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 13, 2019)

belboid said:


> He is meant to be rather irritating. It's one of the reasons we like Ripley (though none of the films have done him justice).
> 
> Law's nadir was surely Love, Honour & Obey


Which some sick soul has upped to the 'Tube in its entirety


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 14, 2019)

Prospect.Sort of retro future sci fi film with he who plays Oberyn Martell, a great performance from Sophie Thatcher. Andre Royo, Bubs from the wire, is in it also. I've seen comparisons with Outland which I get, not for the story but the closeness of it, small scale frontier world story. 



Spoiler



Contains a brilliant amount of impromptu surgery including an arm amputation.


easily 9 /10


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Mar 17, 2019)

Just watched an episode of a US TV series I've kept up with - The Blacklist - which I quite like. The release group I usually dl from uploaded this episode without snipping the NBC network ads. Holy fucking shit - it is really quite a different viewing experience.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2019)

Gaslight 
1940 British adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play. The US adaptation is more famous, and the film company attempted to destroy all copies of this to bolster ticket sales, but luckily some prints survived.
The print I saw was horrible, but I 'enjoyed' the film all the same. It features a beastly (but rather dapper, in a smoking jacket) villain, played by a ridiculously-accented 'foreigner' Anton Walbrook, who deliberately torments his wife into thinking she's going mad, all as part of a scheme to steal some hidden jewellery from the house he is renting next door in Pimlico Square. Walbrook makes an excellent monster and his victim, played by Diana Wynyard, plays the tormented heroine very well, esp when the tables are turned. 
Can't wait to see the remake, as it has Ingrid Bergman in.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> Gaslight
> 1940 British adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play. The US adaptation is more famous, and the film company attempted to destroy all copies of this to bolster ticket sales, but luckily some prints survived.
> The print I saw was horrible, but I 'enjoyed' the film all the same. It features a beastly (but rather dapper, in a smoking jacket) villain, played by a ridiculously-accented 'foreigner' Anton Walbrook, who deliberately torments his wife into thinking she's going mad, all as part of a scheme to steal some hidden jewellery from the house he is renting next door in Pimlico Square. Walbrook makes an excellent monster and his victim, played by Diana Wynyard, plays the tormented heroine very well, esp when the tables are turned.
> Can't wait to see the remake, as it has Ingrid Bergman in.


In my ideal version it would be Walbrook tormenting Bergman. I think he makes the better villain, she makes the better victim. That was Walbrook‘s real accent, he was an Austrian actor who moved to the UK in the 30s because he was part Jewish and off screen quite unapologetically gay.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 18, 2019)

Reno said:


> In my ideal version it would be Walbrook tormenting Bergman. I think he makes the better villain, she makes the better victim. That was Walbrook‘s real accent, he was an Austrian actor who moved to the UK in the 30s because he was part Jewish and off screen quite unapologetically gay.


aye, i read about him afterwards, at first I thought he was a Brit putting on a silly non-specific 'foreign' accent. What else is he good in? He's a fantastic villain


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> aye, i read about him afterwards, at first I thought he was a Brit putting on a silly non-specific 'foreign' accent. What else is he good in? He's a fantastic villain


He was in several Powell and Pressburger films, most notably The Red Shoes and Colonel Blimp, where he played an honourable German which was considered controversial in a movie made during WWII. Also a couple of Max Ophuls films and Queen of Spades is great too. One of my favourite actors.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 19, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> Gaslight
> 1940 British adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play. The US adaptation is more famous, and the film company attempted to destroy all copies of this to bolster ticket sales, but luckily some prints survived.
> The print I saw was horrible, but I 'enjoyed' the film all the same. It features a beastly (but rather dapper, in a smoking jacket) villain, played by a ridiculously-accented 'foreigner' Anton Walbrook, who deliberately torments his wife into thinking she's going mad, all as part of a scheme to steal some hidden jewellery from the house he is renting next door in Pimlico Square. Walbrook makes an excellent monster and his victim, played by Diana Wynyard, plays the tormented heroine very well, esp when the tables are turned.
> Can't wait to see the remake, as it has Ingrid Bergman in.





Reno said:


> In my ideal version it would be Walbrook tormenting Bergman. I think he makes the better villain, she makes the better victim. That was Walbrook‘s real accent, he was an Austrian actor who moved to the UK in the 30s because he was part Jewish and off screen quite unapologetically gay.



I saw this over Xmas last. The fact that the earlier versh was made in 1940 must surely have something to do with the German-ness of Walbrook's villain. What struck me watching the 1940 job, though, was the contrast in the portrayal of the maids - in the 1945 the maid as played by Angela Lansbury (yes, of Murder She Wrote fame) is a bit racy, but the 1940 versh has her (as played by Catherine Cordell) in full "bury me in a y-shaped coffin" mode. I mean for its time it was really close to the knuckle - an early sign of the loosening of sexual mores in wartime?


----------



## Reno (Mar 19, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> I saw this over Xmas last. The fact that the earlier versh was made in 1940 must surely have something to do with the German-ness of Walbrook's villain. What struck me watching the 1940 job, though, was the contrast in the portrayal of the maids - in the 1945 the maid as played by Angela Lansbury (yes, of Murder She Wrote fame) is a bit racy, but the 1940 versh has her (as played by Catherine Cordell) in full "bury me in a y-shaped coffin" mode. I mean for its time it was really close to the knuckle - an early sign of the loosening of sexual mores in wartime?


If anything British films were more a little more daring when it comes to sexuality, the Hays Code in the US was strictly enforced, till it loosened in the late 50s. Landsbury is great in the remake, it was her first film role and she was only a teenager then. She always was a fantastic actress especially when playing shady dames (her character in The Manchurian Candidate is one of the great movie villains of all time), kind of a shame that she's best known for Murder She Wrote. 

I think  innuendo went over the US censors head, the stuff Mae West got away with even after censorship kicked in was because thy just didn't get it. On the whole I prefer the US version, it's a better made film, got lush production values and Bergman hits it out of the park. I saw the British version later and it feels a little clunky in comparison. Both film versions changed the villain to a foreigner, in the play by Patrick Hamilton he's a Brit. I'm not sure they cast Walbrook because of the war in the British version. He had become a star in the UK a couple of years before when he played Prince Albert in Victoria the Great which was a huge hit, so he was quite popular.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 19, 2019)

Reno said:


> If anything British films were more a little more daring when it comes to sexuality, the Hays Code in the US was strictly enforced, till it loosened in the late 50s. Landsbury is great in the remake, it was her first film role and she was only a teenager then. She always was a fantastic actress especially when playing shady dames (her character in The Manchurian Candidate is one of the great movie villains of all time), kind of a shame that she's best known for Murder She Wrote.
> 
> I think  innuendo went over the US censors head, the stuff Mae West got away with even after censorship kicked in was because thy just didn't get it. On the whole I prefer the US version, it's a better made film, got lush production values and Bergman hits it out of the park. I saw the British version later and it feels a little clunky in comparison. Both film versions changed the villain to a foreigner, in the play by Patrick Hamilton he's a Brit. I'm not sure they cast Walbrook because of the war in the British version. He had become a star in the UK a couple of years before when he played Prince Albert in Victoria the Great which was a huge hit, so he was quite popular.


Huh, I'd never heard of this Victoria the Great. A landmark in British cinema history, I take it?


----------



## Reno (Mar 19, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> Huh, I'd never heard of this Victoria the Great. A landmark in British cinema history, I take it?


A lot of films which were huge hits then are forgotten now and many films which are considered among the greatest ever made were flops and got poor reviews. The success of that one was down to national pride rather than artistic merit.


----------



## Sue (Mar 19, 2019)

Reno said:


> If anything British films were more a little more daring when it comes to sexuality, the Hays Code in the US was strictly enforced, till it loosened in the late 50s. Landsbury is great in the remake, it was her first film role and she was only a teenager then. She always was a fantastic actress especially when playing shady dames (her character in The Manchurian Candidate is one of the great movie villains of all time), kind of a shame that she's best known for Murder She Wrote.



I thought National Velvet was her first film role but you're right, it was Gaslight. They were both made in 1944 though so I wasn't that far off. 

The Hays Code stuff is interesting though. When I saw Miracle at Morgan's Creek a few years ago, for example, I was struck but how racy its basic premise was -- I've just checked and that was also made in 1944.


----------



## Reno (Mar 19, 2019)

Sue said:


> I thought National Velvet was her first film role but you're right, it was Gaslight. They were both made in 1944 though so I wasn't that far off.
> 
> The Hays Code stuff is interesting though. When I saw Miracle at Morgan's Creek a few years ago, for example, I was struck but how racy its basic premise was -- I've just checked and that was also made in 1944.


Hinting at stuff was ok, but you couldn’t show anything. Then you’ve got a British film like Black Narcissus at the same time, where a bunch of nuns lose their shit over David Farrar flashing his bare legs.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 19, 2019)

Or you have the ridiculous scene in _I Was a Male War Bride, _in which an exhausted Cary Grant falls asleep while sitting in a very odd position that allows him to keep his feet on the ground while the rest of him is lying on a bed (as per the requirements of the Hays code).


----------



## Reno (Mar 20, 2019)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I always thought that CG animation films all look a bit the same when so much could be done with the medium. This proves it, the film is endlessly visually inventive and fantastic on a visual level. On the downside, despite all the meta aspects, it’s yet another Spider-Man movie and with its heavy mythology, it may be more meaningful to those who’ve read the comics, than those like me, who have not. It’s good, but I’m not on board with declaring it the greatest animation film ever, as some have done.

The Quake, Norwegian disaster movie and the sequel to The Wave. Claims for the earlier film were that it was the thinking persons disaster movie because it was European and had subtitles. It was not, it was full of the cliches of all disaster movies, just the actors looked a lot less movie-star glamorous. This is more of the same with the added ridiculousness that the same family would find itself in a similar situation all over.  But once the quake hits, it’s actually pretty exciting and the special effects are far more spectacular than for the previous film. It nicks from a lot of other movies (Jaws, Cloverfield, Towering Inferno) but it’s good fun, if you like that sort of thing.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the original of course. There is nothing that has dated badly about it, it's just great ! Has maybe the greatest last shot of any movie. What was Tony Scott thinking when remaking this.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 22, 2019)

Reno said:


> What was Tony Scott thinking when remaking this.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 22, 2019)

DaveCinzano said:


>


Crystal meth was my verdict after watching that travesty.


----------



## Ming (Mar 25, 2019)

The Dirt on Netflix. I'm a huge Motley Crue fan (used to glam up and go to The Web club at The Astoria in the late 80's/early 90's and saw them live on the Dr Feelgood tour at Wembley Arena). Fucking excellent entertainment even if you hate them. And the book's probably my favourite rock biography. I can't believe they got the 'Bullwinkle' scene in it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 25, 2019)

Saw the 1944 version of Gaslight, with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer - Reno is right - Bergman owns this, but Walbrook is the star of the 1940 version. I think I prefer the 1940 version all the same. They're both excellent films and their cultural resonance is warranted.


----------



## belboid (Mar 26, 2019)

*Free Solo*


I have been climbing and have seen a few climbing movies, and they all have their 'fucking hell, what a madman' [it is always a man] moments, but none of them prepare you for this. Just the vertiginous shots overlooking the climb routes set my vertigo off, well before any of the ridiculous moves that have to be made. But then there are the climbs.....that bloke falling off...that thumb hold.  Sorry, it wasn't a 'thumb hold' it was a slight indent in the rock where a thumb would just about fit, before you had to _swap thumbs _and basically leap to an almost certain death (unless you've got ropes on). I was completely wide of eye and slack of jaw for half the film, whilst mrs b was looking away, far more scared than by anything seen in Hereditary.  Bloody brilliant.


----------



## Supine (Mar 26, 2019)

Yeah free solo was great. Watched it with my mum who covered her eyes at points 

I've just downloaded dawn wall which is about a difficult climb on that same slab but using ropes this time.


----------



## belboid (Mar 26, 2019)

Supine said:


> using ropes this time.


wusses!


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 28, 2019)

_Sorcerer _- _Wages of Fear_ remake that bombed spectacularly on release (77) but is now rightly considered a classic. William Friedkin directs and aparently was akin to the problematic shoot that Herzog and Coppola had with _Fitzcarraldo_ and _Apocalypse Now_, respectively.

_The 36th Chamber of Shaolin_ - influential Shaw Bros classic martial arts flick (78). Best bit is the training, the climax feels a bit rushed.

_Piranha_ - Remake of 70s film, gore galore, gratuitous nudity, severed limbs and appendages all floating about. Elizabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Kelly Brook and Steve McQueen (grandson of _the_ Steve McQueen) and that bloke from _Parks & Recreation_ all star.


----------



## yield (Mar 30, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> First 2 episodes of *Doom Patrol* (DC Comics property that had a soft introduction during Titans Season 1).
> 
> Basically a loose 'family' of misfits and experiments brought together by Timothy Dalton's mad professor patriarch.
> 
> ...


It's really good! Similarities with Legion. Superpowers as mental illness.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 30, 2019)

Original two series over the past week


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 31, 2019)

Reno said:


> I carried on with my Bourne rewatch with The Bourne Legacy. I really like this one and think it’s underrated. It’s a great action film and by revealing what Threadstone did, it goes a bit more towards science fiction but that’s not a bad thing. It has a more high stakes plot and I find Renner a more likeable hero than Damon.
> 
> The Bourne films have been considered a more modern take on the Bond movies but now they look like a more low key take on the superhero film. These guys are the product of mad scientists and must be on the same superpower level as Captain America.



Watched last night, and a lot better than expected. Good call.


----------



## pesh (Apr 2, 2019)

Black Monday. 10 parter starring Don Cheadle. Wolf of Wall Street meets Caddyshack. Daft, highly offensive. 7/10


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 4, 2019)

*Minding The Gap. *A coming of age documentary about 3 skateboarders, their relationship with each other, and parenting. It was nominated for the oscar for Best documentary.

While one of the 3, Bing Liu is the director and remains behind the camera for most of the film, it's his understanding of the shared experience of poor parenting and toxic masculinity that seem to motivate him. Shot over 12 years it follows the changes in their lives and relationships. It's a must see, for young men especially. A real insight into the relationships between friends, parents and their children....and skateboarding.

*Mid90s. *On a similar theme, Jona Hill's film about a bunch of skateboarders who pick up a new recruit, a younger kid who's having a tough time at home. The relationships within the group feel very real although some of the acting/dialogue is a bit clunky at times. It's been described as cliched and there's a lot of comparison to 'Kids' which I've never seen. I enjoyed it.


----------



## MBV (Apr 4, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> *Minding The Gap. *A coming of age documentary about 3 skateboarders, their relationship with each other, and parenting. It was nominated for the oscar for Best documentary.
> 
> While one of the 3, Bing Liu is the director and remains behind the camera for most of the film, it's his understanding of the shared experience of poor parenting and toxic masculinity that seem to motivate him. Shot over 12 years it follows the changes in their lives and relationships. It's a must see, for young men especially. A real insight into the relationships between friends, parents and their children....and skateboarding.
> 
> *Mid90s. *On a similar theme, Jona Hill's film about a bunch of skateboarders who pick up a new recruit, a younger kid who's having a tough time at home. The relationships within the group feel very real although some of the acting/dialogue is a bit clunky at times. It's been described as cliched and there's a lot of comparison to 'Kids' which I've never seen. I enjoyed it.



Thanks for the Mid90s tip - I really liked it. I wasn't what I thought it was going to be.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 6, 2019)

Brief Encounter. Never seen it before and was mightily impressed - it was much more emotionally direct and vivid than I expected.


----------



## 8115 (Apr 6, 2019)

May Kasahara said:


> Brief Encounter. Never seen it before and was mightily impressed - it was much more emotionally direct and vivid than I expected.


It's one of my favourite films, if not my favourite film.


----------



## Sue (Apr 6, 2019)

May Kasahara said:


> Brief Encounter. Never seen it before and was mightily impressed - it was much more emotionally direct and vivid than I expected.


It's a great film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 10, 2019)

_The Cabinet of Dr Caligari_ (1920)

Unexpectedly magnificent. I mean, I'd read about it over the years but can see the huuuuge influence on Tim Burton there.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 12, 2019)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, watched with my son on the sofa yesterday while in the grip of a truly spectacular hangover  (me, not him). Perfect recovery viewing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 14, 2019)

Brawl In Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler's follow up to Bone Tomahawk, this is also sickeningly violent. I suspect I wouldn't like Zahler's politics, esp since reading about his next film, Dragged Across Concrete, which is out soon. He's like a cross between Tarantino and John Milius - an exhilarating but troubling film maker.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 14, 2019)

*Jayne Mansfield's Car - *bizarre, loopy, looping, shaggy, baggy Southern-Gothic character drama set in 1969. Many generations of war-scarred men deal with near-farcical family drama between them and an equally war-scarred English family after an unexpected death. Absolutely astonishing cast (Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Billy Bob Thornton, Kevin Bacon, Ray Stevenson, Robert Patrick) all acting up a storm though the women's roles are totally underwritten. Most of them are bonkers in one way or another and there's plenty of oddball humour, oddly gruesome jokes, surprising (verbal) filth and accidents with LSD and firearms. Goes on too long and a bit of an acting-studio bro-fest, but atmospheric and unusual. worth a punt if Tennessee Williams meets Angry Young Men might be your thing.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 15, 2019)

Ben Is Back - Julia Roberts stars as the caring mother that's been put through hell (but lives a very nice life thanks to her wealthy husband) by her drug abusing son who returns home one Christmas Eve attempting to put things right, of course things go a little wrong.

Aquaman - two hours and twenty minutes of utter confusion that I won't get back.


----------



## Chz (Apr 15, 2019)

Finally got around to Three Billboards.

A meh flick, saved by some absolutely outstanding acting.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 16, 2019)

Black Dynamite. 2009 Blaxploitation action comedy. Every cliche in the book, done very well. I laughed, lots.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 17, 2019)

Roxanne Roxanne (2017) - biographical film about rapper Roxanne Shante, acting is OK from Chante Adams & Mahershala Ali but the story is more of a misery memoir family drama about her abusive partner, it would of been better had it shown the rise of The Juice Crew, as it is a few members are portrayed but there's not even a mention of the Bridge wars with BDP/KRS1. Worst of all for a music business biopic set in the 80's New York rap scene there's hardly any music, it should of been packed with classic rap tracks but we don't even hear Shante's best tracks, no "Bite this", "Have a nice day" or "Go on girl". Disappointing.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 17, 2019)

Brawl in Cell Block 99

more intense than I'd thought, agree with Orang Utan that it was a ride, but yes problematic also. Are we to take the cross on his head as far right? None of tha sort of thing is actually said (dialouge is fairly sparse overall! longest chat I can remember is with the prosecutor guy 'every now and then I see someone across that table who could be in my chair etc') but theres an undercurrent/overcurrent


----------



## belboid (Apr 20, 2019)

*Disobedience*

2017 film with  Rachel Weisz and, Rachel McAdams, by Sebastián Lelio who did Gloria and A Fantastic Woman. All about a woman returning to her Orthodox Jewish home after the death of her father. The community no longer really recognises her as his daughter for reasons which become clear as we progress. It's all very muted, in look and tone, not at all preachy, and quite satisfying without being sensational in any way.  Solid film-making.


----------



## Sue (Apr 20, 2019)

The Killers. Classic noir with Burt Lancaster in his first screen role and a young Ava Gardner as the beautiful but double-crossing dame he falls in love with.


----------



## T & P (Apr 20, 2019)

Life of Brian. Seeing as it's Easter, and the 40th anniversary of its release to boot. As funny as ever


----------



## Idris2002 (Apr 21, 2019)

Sue said:


> The Killers. Classic noir with Burt Lancaster in his first screen role and a young Ava Gardner as the beautiful but double-crossing dame he falls in love with.


Based on a Hemingway story, and you can tell.


----------



## Ranbay (Apr 23, 2019)

pesh said:


> Black Monday. 10 parter starring Don Cheadle. Wolf of Wall Street meets Caddyshack. Daft, highly offensive. 7/10




Thanks, loving this


----------



## Chz (Apr 23, 2019)

_Incredibles 2_
I mean, it was fine. Good, even. But it seems like Pixar lost the magic along with John Lasseter.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 23, 2019)

Chz said:


> _Incredibles 2_
> I mean, it was fine. Good, even. But it seems like Pixar lost the magic along with John Lasseter.


Along with the creepy hugs


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 30, 2019)

*Bohemian Rhapsody*

Great central performance from Rami Malek, but the rest felt a bit sanitised (yeah, sure the rest of the band didn't join in with the parties and debauchery at all ).

Good decision to finish it with Live Aid, and they recreated it well, would have rather seen the Sacha Baron Cohen version though.

7/10 (mainly for Malek and the music)


*Dracula 1972 A.D.*

My girlfriend watched this when she was younger and wanted to see it again.

Jesus it's awful, but has enough to take the piss out of that it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Both Lee and Cushing looked embarrassed to be there 

3/10


*Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
*
Sort of mockumentary following a budding serial killer / boogeyman as he goes about his business.

A few laughs and decent send up of the genre, but pretty formulaic and a crap ending.

Reminded me of the Belgian film *Man Bites Dog *(which is well worth watching), but played for sporadic laughs.

Passable 5/10


----------



## Virtual Blue (Apr 30, 2019)

*Hereditary *- very fun and similar to The Witch.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 30, 2019)

I watched Waterworld the Ulysses cut the other night. I've always had time for the film, even though its much derided, its mad max on water and its a lt better than earlier mm2 knock offs like Steel Dawn. This cut adds in anther 40 mins that didn't make it to the big screen but apparently did make it into some tv version (with the brief nudity of the cinema realase cut). Dennis Hopper is still great as Deacon.


----------



## Chz (Apr 30, 2019)

While I enjoyed Waterworld, I didn't come away from it thinking "this needs to be another 40 minutes longer"


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 30, 2019)

*West 11 *(1953)  - grubby, seedy, sleazy hybrid of true-crime and tabloid-sanctimony and yellow paperbacks, set in crumbly, racist, post-WWII austerity Notting Hill, following aimless driftings of a nihilist young drifter through bedsit-land and into a possible murder-for-hire plot which ends up not really happening. Directed - bizarrely - by the heinous Michael Winner, and nothing stylish about it; notable for some jolly good 50s-period character types (bounders, slappers, fake military 'veterans', racist politicians) and an interestingly blowsy role for Diana Dors. It's all a bit mean-spirited and (goes without saying really) highly misogynist; but worth a look for a sense of the feel of the time, and for fascinating images of how London looked then.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 30, 2019)

Incendies - A woman dies in Canada and her twin children are sent to Palestine to look for their father and brother.

A solid 8/10, excellent story told well and great performances.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 30, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
> *
> Sort of mockumentary following a budding serial killer / boogeyman as he goes about his business.
> 
> ...



I remember that, not great but definitely watchable


----------



## cybershot (May 1, 2019)

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

Admittedly a 4K version of the film, which may have helped, but wow. Personally think this is the most stunning animated film I have ever seen. The water as it went down into the hole to all intents and purposes was water. I couldn’t tell the difference. To mimic the physics and colour of of things like moving water is quite an achievement. The grass, the hair, the outfits, the sunset skies, fire and the colours of the hidden world. The whole thing is just stunning.

It helps the film isn't that bad either. 7/10


----------



## Part 2 (May 4, 2019)

Just watched Detainment. Nominated for best short film at this years Oscars, it's about John Venables and Robert Thompson and derived from the transcripts of the police interviews with both following the abduction and murder of James Bulger. 

Needless to say it's not an easy watch and anyone who's read anything about the case probably won't learn anything new. It didn't win the Oscar and I'd question whether it's such an amazing film that it should be nominated. Having said that...I'm not sure how you get young kids to play such parts but the two actors playing the boys were very good, particularly the lad who played Venables. 

It's easy enough to find on Youtube for anyone who wants to see it.


----------



## Part 2 (May 8, 2019)

Eighth Grade.

I'm not a teenage girl and have little expereince of them but this appeared to me to be a solid representation of someone steering her way through adolescence. Social media features heavily and from the off we see her making videos about her experiences. She's very introverted; the videos are cringeworthy and I felt really uncomfortable for her and on her side throughout the film. It's a great performance and a great debut from the director. 

As coming of age films go it's definitely up there. Highly recommended.


----------



## cybershot (May 8, 2019)

The Lego movie 2. 

Not as good as the first one. Alright though.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 8, 2019)

The Millionairess.

Sophia Loren in the title role, and Peter Sellers as the Indian doctor she falls for (this character was Egyptian in the original Shaw play).

Very "of its time" which was 1960. Felt almost like a transitional piece bridging the gap between Ealing and Swinging London.


----------



## cybershot (May 8, 2019)

Arctic

Survival film following story of man who has already crashed (we don't know how) and has to deal with the elements while doing whatever he can to try and be noticed to be rescued. Which obviously, doesn't go to plan.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 8, 2019)

cybershot said:


> Arctic
> 
> Survival film following story of man who has already crashed (we don't know how) and has to deal with the elements while doing whatever he can to try and be noticed to be rescued. Which obviously, doesn't go to plan.


Saw this last year. Thought it was brilliant. Lonely job for Mikkelsen though.


----------



## Part 2 (May 8, 2019)

Dog Soldiers. I needed something mindless today and a friend recommended this. 

It's non-stop action with the kind of ridiculous storyline and stupidity Jed Mercurio probably wishes he could slot into the next series of Line of Duty. I loved it.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (May 9, 2019)

Threads.

Been a few years since I watched this, but fuck me - I forgot just how bleak this film is.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 9, 2019)

Season 3 of _Fear the Walking Dead_. Best yet.


----------



## Part 2 (May 9, 2019)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Threads.
> 
> Been a few years since I watched this, but fuck me - I forgot just how bleak this film is.



My first response when anyone asks, 'Recommend me a scary film'.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 9, 2019)

The Wandering Earth

this is the big chinese sci fi blckbuster based on a work by Cixin Lui (his _Three Body Problem_ trilogy was translated to english some years back and is really good). It was pretty good as an effects vehicle, it actually felt like a big disaster film with big sci fi ideas to drive the set pieces. It as dubbed, which I hate, but so be it.


----------



## hot air baboon (May 9, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *Dracula 1972 A.D.*
> 
> My girlfriend watched this when she was younger and wanted to see it again.
> 
> ...



yeah - its Satanic Rites of Dracula you'll be wanting


----------



## hot air baboon (May 9, 2019)

just picked up the Deer Hunter DVD for £3 in Sainsbury's. I only went in for some milk but had watched a DVD of Apocalypse Now Redux over the Bank Hol which I bought years ago & had never got round to watching & was pretty underwhelmed tbh. The synth soundtrack is oddly dated. That's not a major fault - the fault was that I was sufficiently uninvolved to notice it in the first place. Anyway the DH was the "other" Vietnam film that came out around the same time so hoping this holds up better


----------



## Orang Utan (May 9, 2019)

DotCommunist said:


> The Wandering Earth
> 
> this is the big chinese sci fi blckbuster based on a work by Cixin Lui (his _Three Body Problem_ trilogy was translated to english some years back and is really good). It was pretty good as an effects vehicle, it actually felt like a big disaster film with big sci fi ideas to drive the set pieces. It as dubbed, which I hate, but so be it.


You can watch it subtitled in Mandarin on Netflix


----------



## DotCommunist (May 9, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> You can watch it subtitled in Mandarin on Netflix


my download had dubbing 'baked in' (coded in maybe, whatever). It's not dialogue heavy tbf, bar the odd speech or voice over exposition dump.


----------



## T & P (May 12, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *SpiderMan: Into The SpiderVerse
> *
> Wow. I'd heard it was good and obviously it won the Animated Oscar too, but it far exceeded what I was expecting.
> 
> ...


Couldn’t agree more. I can take or leave superhero films and have been getting increasingly tired of them as they seem to devour everything in their path with every passing year. When I heard there was a new Spidey animation film coming out last year I dismissed it as a kiddie film, so I was surprised when it started to get glowing reviews. Finally watched it this weekend and it is superb, just superb.


----------



## cybershot (May 12, 2019)

Vice

About US Vice President Dick Cherney. Very Liberal type film, which plants Cherney as some cartoon type villain, and a villain he is, but you feel far too much is glanced over here in order to point blame for September 11 aftermath. Not sure the comedy aspects of it were well placed either. Overall it's not as bad as I'm making out and worth a watch if you're into American politics or 'the war on terror'


----------



## DexterTCN (May 13, 2019)

T & P said:


> Couldn’t agree more. I can take or leave superhero films and have been getting increasingly tired of them as they seem to devour everything in their path with every passing year. When I heard there was a new Spidey animation film coming out last year I dismissed it as a kiddie film, so I was surprised when it started to get glowing reviews. Finally watched it this weekend and it is superb, just superb.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (May 13, 2019)

hot air baboon said:


> just picked up the Deer Hunter DVD for £3 in Sainsbury's. I only went in for some milk but had watched a DVD of Apocalypse Now Redux over the Bank Hol which I bought years ago & had never got round to watching & was pretty underwhelmed tbh. The synth soundtrack is oddly dated. That's not a major fault - the fault was that I was sufficiently uninvolved to notice it in the first place. Anyway the DH was the "other" Vietnam film that came out around the same time so hoping this holds up better



Coppola recently admitted he'd gone too far with redux, and has now put out a 'final cut' which screened at the Tribeca film fest last week.


----------



## hot air baboon (May 13, 2019)

The Deer Hunter was great actually - the prisoner scene is still gruelling to watch . Unlike AN it has a heart & soul - which makes "the horror, the horror" actually register with you


----------



## belboid (May 13, 2019)

hot air baboon said:


> The Deer Hunter was great actually - the prisoner scene is still gruelling to watch . Unlike AN it has a heart & soul - which makes "the horror, the horror" actually register with you


Shame so much if it is bullshit. That last scene


----------



## hot air baboon (May 14, 2019)

I can't even remember what the last scene was now - was that when he went back to Vietnam ?


----------



## DexterTCN (May 15, 2019)

The Octagon said:


> *SpiderMan: Into The SpiderVerse
> *
> Wow. I'd heard it was good and obviously it won the Animated Oscar too, but it far exceeded what I was expecting.
> 
> ...


I've watched it four times now.  Can't get over how well it's made, how much love, originality and work was obviously put into it.

Here's a thing


----------



## hot air baboon (May 16, 2019)

oh yeah - I've just remembered it now   I actually think they are both pretty bad films in their own way - ooh look how awful it is for us as we go into someone's else's country & fuck shit up before we pack up & go home again. In alot of ways AN's gonzo surrealist naplam drops are alot closer to the military reality - leaving aside all the stuff they don't go anywhere near like My Lai & the industrial scale killings & assassinations they carried out


----------



## DotCommunist (May 16, 2019)

Appaloosa

Ed Harris, Vigo Mortensen and Renee Zelwegger in this western that doesn't go anywhere you'd expect. 7/10.


----------



## D'wards (May 19, 2019)

High Life: after finishing I enjoyed it but thought it was a bit over praised by the critics.
(This is one of those arty films that critics adored and the paying public didn't so much).

But since I watched it I've been thinking about it, it's a very eerie film with brilliant ideas.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 20, 2019)

Gandhi - 1982 biopic about the man and his evolution from lawyer to Mahatma. Obvs, it doesn't deal with his own brand of bigotry and the direction is epic but a bit flat. Still, Kingsley, Day Lewis, Yosser Hughes and Cliff from Cheers in one film. That doesn't happen much.


----------



## cybershot (May 20, 2019)

Tyrel - got it, but as someone used to being the spare part at house parties it didn’t make a great film.

The prodigy - not a bad entry into the children are the root of all evil horror genre.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 27, 2019)

_Let's Meet at Walkerhill_ - 1966 Korean comedy musical. Old Korea meets new when 2 country fellers journey to Seoul to find missing loved ones. Enjoyably silly, full of 60s numbers and ballads and slapstick. Courtesy of the Korean Classic Film collection on that there Youtube.

Korean Classic Film


----------



## not-bono-ever (May 28, 2019)

Mrs NBE had never seen it , so I rewatched Mississippi burning. It’s often factual bollocks - as is much of Parker’s output -  but still has impact . Was surprised how good gene Hackman is again . A believable southern popeye Doyle. He really is an overlooked actor


----------



## cybershot (May 28, 2019)

Greta.

Thriller/horror about an old lady who leaves bags on the subway hoping a goody two shoes will return it personally to befriend them.

A bit unrealistic by today's standards but some of the stalking scenes especially were well done.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 28, 2019)

_The Man with the Golden Arm_ - Sinatra and Novak star in this tale of addiction from 1955. Frankie is no sooner out of the joint, having kicked the habit, when his best laid plans to be an ace jazz drummer are put into jeopardy. Great soundtrack and one of Sinatra's finest performances, apparently (only seen a handful of his films). Arnold Strang plays Frankie's slightly annoying sidekick (he's better known as the voice of Top Cat's TC).


----------



## hash tag (May 28, 2019)

Dead Presidents. Saw about it on Mark Kermodes secrets of the cinema. A heist film, a Viet Nam film, a film which explores the AfroAmerican life.
A brutal film, with moments of humour. "one of the great films of the nineties"..
Dead Presidents (1995) - IMDb


----------



## The Octagon (May 28, 2019)

*Rock Of Ages*

Awful, sub-Glee shite, with a pair of leads you'll want to drown after the first few scenes.

Tonally all over the place, some very weird messages, cringey musical numbers and Russell Brand attempting an accent that I'm still not clear on.

Truly bizarre political subplot with a wasted Bryan Cranston and a _wasted_ Catherine Zeta Jones (at least I assume, from her expressions throughout).

Fair play to Tom Cruise and Malin Akerman for actually bothering to go all-out, their scenes are the only ones worth watching (from a 'I can't believe I'm watching this' perspective).

I judge my girlfriend's sister for recommending it.

3/10


----------



## Ming (May 29, 2019)

These Final Hours. Aussie film about how society would work if it was obvious we had a day to live (asteroid strike). Really good.


----------



## trabuquera (May 29, 2019)

*The Terror *- telly drama series (10x45min) made for AMC - had to pay for it from Amazon Prime because I'd heard great things about it. A high-star-power cast (Ciaran Hinds, Tobias Menzies, Jared Harris and many more faces you'll recognise) are trying to find the Northwest Passage in the 1840s in a couple of boats not fit for purpose. It's very cold and very dark and really rather scary so far (3 eps in.) Great art direction and script - not really sure where it's all going yet though (much like the unlucky crewmen who're being picked off at a rate of knots.)


----------



## DotCommunist (May 29, 2019)

Grapes of Wrath from 1940. I haven't read the novel although I probably should, the film is out of sequence to the book to give it a happier ending. I'll get the book, probably free now if its old enough.

also Batman vs Ninja Turtles, an animated film from last month. One hundred percent worth it for the batman vs shredder fights (after the inevitable initial misunderstandings and fights between the goodies).


----------



## Part 2 (May 29, 2019)

Following - Christopher Nolan's first feature film, only just over an hour. Easy to see how he went from that to Memento. It's on Youtube but has spanish subtitles.


----------



## May Kasahara (May 30, 2019)

The Love Witch. Gorgeously recreated 60s technicolour horror / relationships pastiche.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jun 1, 2019)

Free Solo.

A bunch of people here had recommended it so I gave it a shot last week.  Gave up after half an hour.

My daughter went nuts when I told her, she came around yesterday and we watched the whole thing.  When it finished I was surprised to notice that I was covered in sweat.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 1, 2019)

_Hacksaw Ridge_ - Mel Gibson film of two halves. First one feels like a tv movie and second half is blood, guts, gore and pacifism. I remain unconvinced that this was his return to form.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 1, 2019)

Man Bites Dog....I owned it years ago on VHS and hadn't any recollection of seeing it. It's very funny although there's a few questionable scenes that may have dated more than the film as a whole.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jun 2, 2019)

Logan's Run.  Enjoyable nonsense.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 3, 2019)

Turbo Kid

Its an oddly charming watch, a kid in a post-apocalyptic landscape with his bicycle, Michael Ironside is the wasteland warlord (ayotollah of etc etc) who he faces. There is a robot girlfriend, absurd violence and synth, a comic book fantasy element. Worth my time 8/10


----------



## Ming (Jun 5, 2019)

Battleship. Not Loach’s best work.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jun 9, 2019)

The Titfield Thunderbolt.

Now onto to Whiskey Galore.


----------



## passenger (Jun 9, 2019)

Watched this yesterday I`m a sucker for a good thriller, this film is exactly that 
9/10 for me, hopefully others think the same well worth a watch.

The Clovehitch Killer (2018)


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jun 9, 2019)

Passport to Pimlico


----------



## trabuquera (Jun 10, 2019)

Rest of *The Terror *only gets sillier, more FX-ridden and a bit more ridiculous, BUT ALSO, lashings of lip-smacking period gore, some great greatcoats and some nice lines of archaic shipspeak. Some grand acting and absolutely breathtaking* art direction throughout. It has mood and presence, no doubt.

(* almost literally - the only thing to break the authentic chill is that you can't see the characters' breath freezing in the air.)


----------



## Pac man (Jun 10, 2019)

I Am Mother, A Netflix film 2019, pretty decent 7/10


----------



## cybershot (Jun 10, 2019)

Captain marvel
Better than I was expecting. Solid 7/10

Make us dream
Documentary about former Liverpool captain Steven gerrard and the pressures of the club and the need for glory, especially the one that got away. Twice.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 11, 2019)

Cockneys v Zombies

When gentrification threatens their stability,  a family comes together across the generations to take action   

Truly heart-warming


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 12, 2019)

_God Told Me To_ - Bizarre cop story from 1976 that starts with mass shooting in gritty NYC, and moves on to religious hysteria and aliens. I reckon Chris Carter must have seen it before he came up with _X-Files_ and _Millennium_. Sandy Dennis and Andy Kaufman (!) feature. A real oddity, with touches of _The Omen_ and _Psycho_ in parts. 

_Super Mario Bros._ - Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper, Fiona Shaw and John Leguizamo can't save this dystopian dinosaur adventure in a parallel universe. Not as bad as I was led to believe but still a disappointment from the creators of Max Headroom.

_The Princess Bride_ - I still don't get the love for this. 80s fantasy yarn with Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Mandy Pantinkin and directed by Rob Reiner. Mildly funny.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 12, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> _God Told Me To_ - Bizarre cop story from 1976 that starts with mass shooting in gritty NYC, and moves on to religious hysteria and aliens. I reckon Chris Carter must have seen it before he came up with _X-Files_ and _Millennium_. Sandy Dennis and Andy Kaufman (!) feature. A real oddity, with touches of _The Omen_ and _Psycho_ in parts.
> 
> _Super Mario Bros._ - Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper, Fiona Shaw and John Leguizamo can't save this dystopian dinosaur adventure in a parallel universe. Not as bad as I was led to believe but still a disappointment from the creators of Max Headroom.
> 
> _The Princess Bride_ - I still don't get the love for this. 80s fantasy yarn with Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Mandy Pantinkin and directed by Rob Reiner. Mildly funny.


The Princess Bride is great.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 12, 2019)

talking of which I saw this the other night:
Andre the Giant (TV Movie 2018) - IMDb

I'd heard of the guy but never realised just how big he was till you see him making hulk hogan look small.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 12, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> The Princess Bride is great.



A lot of people say that, so I was quite disappointed. Peter Falk and Carol Kane were marvellous, though.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 12, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> A lot of people say that, so I was quite disappointed. Peter Falk and Carol Kane were marvellous, though.


I think its  a little dated now tbh but I always remember


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 12, 2019)

L'Enfant.... Dardenne bros classic. Bruno and Sonia have a child. They're young and daft and in love. Bruno has nowhere to live and isn't very well prepared for fatherhood. 

I think that's as much as you need to know going into the film. Anyone who likes Ken Loach films will like this. In terms of social realism, Dardennes are among my favourite directors.


----------



## Chz (Jun 13, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> L'Enfant.... Dardenne bros classic. Bruno and Sonia have a child. They're young and daft and in love. Bruno has nowhere to live and isn't very well prepared for fatherhood.
> 
> I think that's as much as you need to know going into the film. Anyone who likes Ken Loach films will like this. In terms of social realism, Dardennes are among my favourite directors.


"What? We can make another one."


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 13, 2019)

The Return. Russian film about 2 brothers whose Dad re-appears at the family home after a 12 year absence to take the on a road trip.

I've seen this before when it came out. It's a beautifully shot film, slowly paced and the kids provide great performances. Another one where dad is a bit shit really. Didn't really intend to watch 2 such films one after the other.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jun 14, 2019)

The Dead Don't Die

Fluff.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 20, 2019)

_Tales from the Crypt_ - 1972 Amicus anthology of old EC Comics stories of terror and woe. Joan Collins, Ralph Richardson, Peter Cushing star amongst others.

Desperately delightful.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 20, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> _Tales from the Crypt_ - 1972 Amicus anthology of old EC Comics stories of terror and woe. Joan Collins, Ralph Richardson, Peter Cushing star amongst others.
> 
> Desperately delightful.



The razor blade walled passage with the dog. Always one of my most memorable film scenes.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 20, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> The razor blade walled passage with the dog. Always one of my most memorable film scenes.



Yikes! Which one were you?


----------



## Steel Icarus (Jun 20, 2019)

Watched _American Animals _on Tuesday morning. Excellent film about bored teenagers attempting a heist without really knowing what they were doing it letting themselves in for. Stylishly directed and well-acted, and interestingly the REAL teenagers involved are in it, giving their insights alongside the actors portraying the events. Really liked it despite only JUST deciding to watch it. Give it a go.


----------



## belboid (Jun 21, 2019)

Started watching the Italian TV series of _Name of the Rose_ last night It retains a lot more of the religious and political background than made it to the film, and has more time to revel in a few details, but is, unsurprisingly, very similar in mood and tone. Bernardo Gui is an even bigger bastard. Should be worth sticking with, even if Salvatore's nose looks ridiculous.


----------



## Chz (Jun 21, 2019)

S☼I said:


> Watched _American Animals _on Tuesday morning. Excellent film about bored teenagers attempting a heist without really knowing what they were doing it letting themselves in for. Stylishly directed and well-acted, and interestingly the REAL teenagers involved are in it, giving their insights alongside the actors portraying the events. Really liked it despite only JUST deciding to watch it. Give it a go.


I've heard a lot of great things about it. I really must get around to seeing that.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Jun 21, 2019)

Chz said:


> I've heard a lot of great things about it. I really must get around to seeing that.


Chz it's free on Amazon Prime, I don't know about Netflix etc. Well worth it. Let me know what you thought when you get round to it.


----------



## Supine (Jun 21, 2019)

Chz said:


> I've heard a lot of great things about it. I really must get around to seeing that.



Another recommendation from me


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jun 21, 2019)

The guilty

Fucking hell


----------



## May Kasahara (Jun 23, 2019)

Annihilation. For a film of one of my favourite books (and one I would consider nigh on impossible to faithfully adapt in any meaningful way), it was surprisingly satisfying. Atmosphere captured, performances uniformly excellent (especially Portman who I like more and more as she ages), great soundtrack/soundscape and some really unsettling moments.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 23, 2019)

808
Delightfully thorough documentary about Roland's iconic drum machine
Also tickled to note that Todd Terry looks like Chevy Chase


----------



## Sue (Jun 23, 2019)

Chz said:


> I've heard a lot of great things about it. I really must get around to seeing that.


Saw it when it came out. Thought it was pretty meh and there were some things I quite hated about it. Not quite sure why it got so much acclaim tbh.


Spoiler



Spoilt kids who didn't give a fuck about the poor woman they brutalised.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 25, 2019)

_We Are What We Are_ - 2013 remake of a Mexican urban horror, relocated to the Catskills. Atmospheric, creepy and reminded me of that _Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene_ film from a while back.


----------



## petee (Jun 26, 2019)

term's over and i've gone on a nice steady binge. here are the last ten days' with ratings out of four smilies.

Chinatown     gloats a bit too much in hierarchical thuggishness.
Gomorrah      brilliant. stone cold. 
A Hatful of Rain      (re-watch.) interesting to me especially as it was filmed just before i was born and shows manhattan as it was then. it looks now like an "old new york" movie, but it's set in the projects. major release, about addiction.
The Man in the Funny Suit      i'm still grappling with it. by the end of the summer it may be the best thing i watched. hard to summarize.
The Violent Years      (re-watch.) suburban girl gang who do stickups and more. written by ed wood.
Yidl mitn Fidl      when i watched Naked City there was a scene with an old jewish woman playing an old jewish woman and she stole the scene completely and i looked into her career. turns out it was Molly Picon, queen of the yiddish theater. this is her star turn on film, the most successful yiddish-language move ever (i read at wikipedia). 
A Skin So Soft      2018 documentary about bodybuilders in quebec. i love the quiet of the soundtrack, but there are too many close-ups which are so close-up that you lose the context of the shot.
Hard Eight      paul thomas anderson's first film. some good acting but a bit of ticking-off-film-school-requirements.
The Hidden Hand      oh holy moly. it's on youtube, just watch it.
Borderline   no rating as it's intensely personal and of interest to me (ex-marriage business) but it would be enlightening for anyone not familiar.
Tales of Manhattan     i was primed to love it and didn't. the best performance was cut (W. C. Fields') and the end is dubious.
The Seven Samuraai      an epic yes, many great moments, but stilted at other moments.
The Third Man      (re-watch.) the vienna-sure-is-atmospheric business was less of a plus this time but trevor howard makes a toggle coat look good.

next up: 
The Battle of Algiers
Lost Boundaries


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 27, 2019)

petee said:


> The Seven Samuraai
> The Third Man


----------



## petee (Jun 27, 2019)

DaveCinzano said:


>




wat


----------



## Ming (Jun 27, 2019)

Kajaki. Great movie about British troops in Afghanistan based on true events.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jun 27, 2019)

Ming said:


> Kajaki. Great movie about British troops in Afghanistan based on true events.


One of a handful of memorable Netflix auto-recommendations (cf The Guest, Hyena, The Shallows etc) which I took a punt on despite knowing nothing about it, and which ended up being really good


----------



## flypanam (Jun 27, 2019)

Southern Comfort on Amazon prime. Remains excellent.


----------



## flypanam (Jun 28, 2019)

Started watching Banshee after a friend recommended it. The pilot is a bit shit as is the second episode. Does it get better?


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 28, 2019)

flypanam said:


> Started watching Banshee after a friend recommended it. The pilot is a bit shit as is the second episode. Does it get better?


The plot is bananas tbh but yes it does get better and I really enjoyed the whole series. You've still got Nazis, militant Native Americans and other assorted weirdos to come.


----------



## flypanam (Jun 28, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> The plot is bananas tbh but yes it does get better and I really enjoyed the whole series. You've still got Nazis, militant Native Americans and other assorted weirdos to come.



Weirdos you say? The bloke with Jesus tat is pretty weird. I'll persist.


----------



## The39thStep (Jun 28, 2019)

flypanam said:


> Weirdos you say? The bloke with Jesus tat is pretty weird. I'll persist.


Amish gangster. Try and watch the first season in full then decide?


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 1, 2019)

Revenge

Excellent French thriller from 2017.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 1, 2019)

*Tale of Tales *(2016) Very self-consciously fantastical / grotesque / whimsical melange of various bits of extremely odd Neapolitan folklore, into a bizarre magic-satire-mythos Europudding. Some big names (Toby Jones! Vincent Cassel! Salma Hayek!) break rather than sustain the mood, but the art direction and costumes are spectacular, and the supporting players have the best collection of faces in any film I've ever seen (except maybe _Delicatessen) - _an embarassingly rich collection of gurners and fuglies who look to have jumped right out of the backdrop of an old painting. It's long and probably a bit pretentious (I still don't know what if anything its 'deeper meaning' is other than entertaining fairytale) but didn't feel like a total waste of time. Definitely very ODD though.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 2, 2019)

The Foreigner - Jackie Chan takes on the IRA (Pierce Brosnon doing his best Gerry Adams impression) - it's a grim and silly film and the action sequences lack spark. Plot sucks. Only good for playing spot the familiar British character actors.


----------



## emmasanchez3 (Jul 6, 2019)

does anyone have watch the new spider man movie? any review on the movie? thanks guys


---

Emma Sanchez


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 6, 2019)

emmasanchez3 said:


> does anyone have watch the new spider man movie? any review on the movie? thanks guys
> 
> 
> ---
> ...


Try this thread.

List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2019


----------



## MBV (Jul 6, 2019)

I'm enjoying series one of Top of the Lake as recommended on here. Thanks to whoever gave the tip


----------



## petee (Jul 6, 2019)

petee said:


> next up:
> The Battle of Algiers
> Lost Boundaries



continuing my rampage: 

haven't returned to Lost Boundaries yet, but i will.
The Battle Of Algiers  perhaps smilies aren't the right scale to use for such as this. i'll watch it again, but first impression is that it gets every angle just right. 
Crime Wave  los angeles + sterling hayden = you can't go wrong.
Stray Dog  better this time than ever before. ordered the DVD as a result, so many scenes need re-watching. takashi shimura is the greatest.
F for Fake  to watch, as a movie, it's fascinating. i hesitate to grade it as i'm repelled by the boozhwah milieu in which it takes place. 
Good Morning  only my second Ozu. i saw Tokyo Story in the 80s, not long after it arrived in the states, and the story was so painful that i haven't watched it since. this is an easier introduction to his style. impeccable acting.


----------



## Part 2 (Jul 6, 2019)

petee said:


> Good Morning  only my second Ozu. i saw Tokyo Story in the 80s, not long after it arrived in the states, and the story was so painful that i haven't watched it since. this is an easier introduction to his style. impeccable acting.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 7, 2019)

Beyond the silver lake, one for David Lynch type fans. Also the latest pet sematary which was no improvement on the original but not exactly worse either.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 7, 2019)

_Venom_ - silly Marvel effort but worth it for Tom Hardy arguing with himself.
_Fahrenheit 11/9_ - Michael Moore goes after obvious Trump target but also rightly slams the Democrat old guard and Obama. And the section concerning Flint will have you up in arms. Highly recommend.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 7, 2019)

petee said:


> Good Morning  only my second Ozu. i saw Tokyo Story in the 80s, not long after it arrived in the states, and the story was so painful that i haven't watched it since. this is an easier introduction to his style. impeccable acting.


Painful? 
Sure the characters experience pain I would not call the story painful at all - elegiac, bittersweet, sorrowful, yes but painful misses the pathos that is present in every scene of the film.


----------



## petee (Jul 7, 2019)

redsquirrel said:


> Painful?
> Sure the characters experience pain I would not call the story painful at all - elegiac, bittersweet, sorrowful, yes but painful misses the pathos that is present in every scene of the film.



i'm so fucking sorry i don't see in films what you do.


----------



## seventh bullet (Jul 7, 2019)

flypanam said:


> Started watching Banshee after a friend recommended it. The pilot is a bit shit as is the second episode. Does it get better?



It's trash, but good trash.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 8, 2019)

petee said:


> i'm so fucking sorry i don't see in films what you do.


Jesus, it was a question. But, sorry for trying to discuss a films on a film thread.

I just wanted you to explain because painful is not a word that I see associated with Ozu's work. While many of his films have a downbeat feel, there are comic moments, there are happy moments too. His films aren't tragedies, I've not see any film of his that has the pain and grief of, say, _Manchester by the Sea_, or the real bleakness of _Sweet Sixteen_ or _The Pledge_.

Personally I find his films intently life affirming with their humanism, people just being people. Trying to live, dealing with each other as best they can, sometimes they hurt each other but, as the daughter-in-law in _Tokyo Story_ points out, that is natural.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 8, 2019)

The Oath,
American, but almost Brexit like comedy about a family over Thanksgiving with different political views, would like to see something like this with warring Brexit families! 

The Beach Bum - Matthew McConaughey doing his best take on a stoner author, supported by Snoop Dogg and Isla Fisher. Wasn't very good.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 8, 2019)

Alita. Its based on the anime Battle Angel Alita. I thought it was great, groaning cliches aside, the film could maybe have done with a few more big fights but not bad, not bad at all.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 8, 2019)

Been in England for a few days and can't get enough of the Talking Pictures channel. All old , mainly British films , absolutely fascinating .


----------



## Chz (Jul 8, 2019)

Watched Cold War.
Despite being another black and white film set in Poland 50 years ago, it's nothing at all like Ida from the same director. The other similarities are that it's fantastic and the cinematography is to die for. It looks _very _different for being shot on digital - really high contrast and no grain makes for a unique look. Most digital shoots try to tone it down so it's not obvious - even adding grain, but you can't go 10 minutes in this without wondering how they shot it.

There's a plot, a good one even, and the acting is top rate; but it's still very much a film to *look* at.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 8, 2019)

Chz said:


> Watched Cold War.
> Despite being another black and white film set in Poland 50 years ago, it's nothing at all like Ida from the same director. The other similarities are that it's fantastic and the cinematography is to die for. It looks _very _different for being shot on digital - really high contrast and no grain makes for a unique look. Most digital shoots try to tone it down so it's not obvious - even adding grain, but you can't go 10 minutes in this without wondering how they shot it.
> 
> There's a plot, a good one even, and the acting is top rate; but it's still very much a film to *look* at.


I really liked a lot about this, but I just didn't understand the central relationship at all. Maybe cos I'm dead inside though


----------



## DexterTCN (Jul 9, 2019)

Avengement.

Scott Adkins has made a bunch of reasonably well-done martial arts movies.  He's a producer on this and it's not really MA, more like a cross between A Sense of Freedom, a cockney gangster film and a big pile of shite.  Avoid unless you want to pass 90 minutes watching utter violence and listening to swearing.


----------



## electroplated (Jul 9, 2019)

Watched "The Dig" with my wife last night - excellent movie 8/10


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jul 13, 2019)

Them - about giant mutant ants as a result of atomic tests, rampaging through the US eating people.  Daft but good fun.


----------



## Poi E (Jul 14, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> Tin Star series 2. Absolute dogshit. First series was a bit beyond belief but enjoyable, a copper who develops super powers when he has a drink but this time round it's poor in all areas, writing, acting and characters are ridiculous. Some scenes obviously shot on different days where snow magically disappears and the main character gets shot in the leg and walks without a limp the following day. I wonder if Tim Roth is like his character and just does whatever the fuck he likes. I'm a fan but in this he's shit..



Just made the mistake of watching several episodes of this shit. It had a feel of a non-north american writer way out of his depth in the landscape. Throw in an odd Quebecois? Of course! Chuck in some story line about an abused first nations woman, don't follow it through, and ignore completely the horror of disappearances and murders of nations women in Canada that is going on right now. Wife encourages her philandering violent alcoholic husband to drink so he can find the killers of their son? Bullshit, no fucking way. The whole family were deeply unpleasant and I could have no sympathy for the psychotic bunch. I was just hoping some biker would do us a favour and shoot them all. What a stinking mess.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 14, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> Avengement.
> 
> Scott Adkins has made a bunch of reasonably well-done martial arts movies.  He's a producer on this and it's not really MA, more like a cross between A Sense of Freedom, a cockney gangster film and a big pile of shite.  Avoid unless you want to pass 90 minutes watching utter violence and listening to swearing.


TBH that is an intriguing review


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jul 14, 2019)

Over the hedge.
All star cast
Shit CGI
Shit story
Unrealistic (even for talking animals)
Shit jokes.

Verdict. . . 

Shit.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 18, 2019)

Nightcrawler.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jul 21, 2019)

just caught Bohemian raphsody. its better than I thought it would be


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 21, 2019)

Finished season 2 of _Veep_ and season 3 of _The Expanse_. Well satisfied.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 21, 2019)

May Kasahara said:


> Nightcrawler.




What a great film.  Riz mixing it with the A list


----------



## Rivendelboy (Jul 22, 2019)

Orphan Black is fantastic. Enjoying a late night viewing of one episode a day.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 22, 2019)

A few over the weekend between food festivals and nursing the cat!

High Life - R Pats and his daughter trying to survive in space alone. Wouldn't go out of your way to watch unless this sounds like something you may enjoy.
Hotel Mumbai - Based on the true story of the terrorist attacks on the Taj Hotel. OK if you're into this sort of thing.
I Am Mother - Robot trying to bring back the human race with embryos. Caring for one sole female to start with. Bit naff.
Hellboy (2019) - Mess of a film, avoid.


----------



## butchersapron (Jul 22, 2019)

cybershot said:


> High Life - R Pats and his daughter trying to survive in space alone. Wouldn't go out of your way to watch unless this sounds like something you may enjoy.
> Hotel Mumbai - Based on the true story of the terrorist attacks on the Taj Hotel. OK if you're into this sort of thing.
> I


Who isn't into films based on the true story of the terrorist attacks on the Taj Hotel?  Best genre.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 22, 2019)

butchersapron said:


> Who isn't into films based on the true story of the terrorist attacks on the Taj Hotel?  Best genre.



I'm massively into true story based stuff, especially politics/war/terrorist based things, but appreciate not everyone is into guns and violence, even more so when it's 'real' per se.


----------



## petee (Jul 22, 2019)

petee said:


> continuing my rampage:
> 
> haven't returned to Lost Boundaries yet, but i will.
> The Battle Of Algiers  perhaps smilies aren't the right scale to use for such as this. i'll watch it again, but first impression is that it gets every angle just right.
> ...



to clean the palate:
The Italian Job  a dud.

back to regular programming:
Record of a Tenement Gentleman  Ozu hitting his theme of generations and loss. very interesting documentary bits.
Woman of Tokyo  Ozu exposing deformed gender expectations. the end is unconvincing.
I Was Born, But ...  comparisons with Good Morning are overdrawn. on first watching this has the better story.
Drunken Angel  kurosawa blasts organized crime, which is refreshing since here in the states it's often romanticized. again, shimura is the greatest. 
Yojimbo  probably a 3-smiley on the merits, but the music puts it over the top.


----------



## petee (Jul 25, 2019)

i see that Machiko Kyō, who played The Woman in _Rashomon_, and was in lots of other top films, passed about 2 months ago, at 95.

Machiko Kyo, Star of ‘Rashomon’ and Other Films, Dies at 95


----------



## MBV (Jul 28, 2019)

Decide to watch the Souvenir last night The Souvenir - Wikipedia

Had a to have a break after an hour and watched The Gift instead.

Finished off the Souvenir this morning. I don't know if I'm not intellectual enough for it but I think I have to agree with the swathes of user reviews that essentially say it's crap.

Has anyone here watched it?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 28, 2019)

I'm working my way through Rutger 
Hauer films as he died the other day so last night was 'Blind Fury'. I can see why its loved as a 'bad-good' film because its rubbish but has a certain charm anyway.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 28, 2019)

The Boys - superheroes being not so super. In fact, being downright bastards. Karl Urban and co. out to teach them a lesson. 2 eps in and everything you'd expect from Garth Ennis.


----------



## Chz (Jul 28, 2019)

The Secret In Their Eyes. Argentinian flick, difficult to say much about without ruining the way it unfolds. Highly recommended, though.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 28, 2019)

Chz said:


> The Secret In Their Eyes. Argentinian flick, difficult to say much about without ruining the way it unfolds. Highly recommended, though.


Belter of a film


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jul 29, 2019)

Rita, Sue and Bob Too.


----------



## Chz (Jul 29, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> Belter of a film


Though my missus insists it must be mocked for having the "Lover running down the train platform as train departs" trope.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 29, 2019)

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Big Foot starring Sam Elliot.

I really enjoyed it. It's not as mad as the title suggests.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 29, 2019)

The curse of la llorona. Pretty decent horror flick.


----------



## belboid (Jul 29, 2019)

Edge of the World.

Yet again. We went to Foula (where it was filmed) the other day - quite a weird experience in itself - and me dad had never seen it, so it made sense to watch it again. Still bloody marvellous.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Aug 2, 2019)

The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963)
A strip club compère has to run around Soho to hustle £300 in 5 hours to pay the gambling debt he owes before the heavies are sent to beat him up. Good gritty Brit drama, starring Anthony Newley, with some nice footage of 60s London.


----------



## Rivendelboy (Aug 3, 2019)

I watched Legion (the tv show about a schizophrenic mutant). 

It's confusing.

Perhaps too much for me to enjoy.


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 3, 2019)

Rivendelboy said:


> I watched Legion (the tv show about a schizophrenic mutant).
> 
> It's confusing.
> 
> Perhaps too much for me to enjoy.


It's one of the best things ever imo.

Mad as a bag of mad things.


----------



## Rivendelboy (Aug 3, 2019)

I got to episode 6 and I really hated that episode.
The rest of it was ok, but the whole asylum thing is lost on me. It seems an easy vehicle to choose for general weirdness. 
Maybe it just went above my head.


----------



## starfish (Aug 3, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> The Boys - superheroes being not so super. In fact, being downright bastards. Karl Urban and co. out to teach them a lesson. 2 eps in and everything you'd expect from Garth Ennis.


Was going to say been watching this. About to watch episode 7. We like it.


----------



## passenger (Aug 3, 2019)

Brother`s nest on sky cinema a very good film indeed 10/10 for me 

Brothers' Nest (2018)


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 4, 2019)

Rivendelboy said:


> I got to episode 6 and I really hated that episode.
> The rest of it was ok, but the whole asylum thing is lost on me. It seems an easy vehicle to choose for general weirdness.
> Maybe it just went above my head.


Trying to figure it out is a mistake.  Best just watching it.

It's absolute candy.


----------



## Rivendelboy (Aug 4, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> Trying to figure it out is a mistake.  Best just watching it.
> 
> It's absolute candy.



I thought that but episode 6 was just awful.

I will come back to it, seems a bit silly to forego the last two eps.

But the fat bloke with the shitty make up who looks like mental mr creosote? That's not candy. Is he meant to look that bad?

Plus Rachel Keller is a hottie (yes, I went there)


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 4, 2019)

Rivendelboy said:


> I thought that but episode 6 was just awful.
> 
> I will come back to it, seems a bit silly to forego the last two eps.
> 
> ...


It's only the first season, story hasn't even started.


----------



## flypanam (Aug 6, 2019)

On holiday so have watched: 

Babylon Berlin. Set in 1928, a web of murder, political intrigue, and a large dose of What the fucks. Fun.

The Sisters Brothers: adaptation of the Patrick de Witt novel. John C Reilly is really good in this. Can’t say much else but I fell asleep but the bit i saw was good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 7, 2019)

_Bolero_ - George Raft and Carole Lombard in a tale of love, dancing, jealousy etc.

_Palooka_- Jimmy Durante, Lupe Velez and William Cagney (brother of James) in boxing comedy based on the comic strip of the time.

Both pre-code, both from 1934


----------



## T & P (Aug 10, 2019)

Watching Spider-Man: into the Spider-verse for the second time as it is now available on Sky Movies. Enjoying it even more than the first time. Goddamn it, it's absurdity good...


----------



## DexterTCN (Aug 10, 2019)

T & P said:


> Watching Spider-Man: into the Spider-verse for the second time as it is now available on Sky Movies. Enjoying it even more than the first time. Goddamn it, it's absurdity good...


Isn't it?

Soundtrack's fucking good too.

Here you go.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 10, 2019)

DexterTCN said:


> Isn't it?
> 
> Soundtrack's fucking good too.
> 
> Here you go.




Great video...really enjoyed that.


----------



## barlimo (Aug 15, 2019)

I watched the TV series 'The Night Of'. Great series and great acting. It seems to me some of this TV stuff is of a higher quality than the film world is lately producing much of which I find very disappointing.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 15, 2019)

Arq

Time loopy sci fi that was quite good, not sure if the ending makes complete sense but its a good journey.

Escape Room

So this is a horror based on the idea of th Escape Room games except, wait for it, the rooms actually kill people. OK for one viewing, popcorn fayre. As I kid I was very young watching crystal maze and still wasn't 100% sure if failed contestants stayed in that room forever, so this scratched an itch.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Aug 15, 2019)

Nanker Phelge said:


> The Foreigner - Jackie Chan takes on the IRA (Pierce Brosnon doing his best Gerry Adams impression) - it's a grim and silly film and the action sequences lack spark. Plot sucks. Only good for playing spot the familiar British character actors.



I love this film so much I've watched it like 3 or 4 times. Mainly because I'm a sucker for plots where highly trained ex-special forces characters are suddenly compelled into tooling up one last job and re-engaging all their military expertise 

Obvs you have to have the obligatory taking out of low-grade mercenaries with effortless grace, before facing a more challenging match. All the hallmarks of _Commando_ or _Under Siege just_ without the love interest -  but it's more than made up for with Chan's fly fight scenes, booby traps, improvised explosives, and jungle warfare tactics . Good soundtrack too.


----------



## Supine (Aug 15, 2019)

Succession - S02E01

Fantastic return for one of the best series on TV


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 23, 2019)

A Cure For Wellness - Gothic horror/thriller with nothing to recommend it. One of the worst films ever made.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 24, 2019)

Hail Satan. 

Documentary about The Satanic Temple. It's a well made film and the satanists are presented in the main as articulate and reasonable people with decent aims and morals. I might join.

Also first 7 episodes of Snowfall season 3, which is every bit as good as the first 2.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 30, 2019)

Started watching The Hurt Locker but it was boring, so watched Deadpool instead, which was very entertaining.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 30, 2019)

Watched Eden Lake. I thought I'd seen it before. I hadn't.

It racks up the tension really well, and the violence made me flinch, but the whole plot is a bit grubby. 

As a horror it worked, but the yuppies in peril from a bunch of working class kids left a bad taste in my mouth.

I suppose they were trying to make a kind of British version of the hillbilly horrors, but not sure it translates.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Aug 31, 2019)

You Were Never Really Here.

I'd put off watching this for a while because I'd read it was powerful stuff.

Very powerful stuff! Excellent film making, excellent performances, great score and soundtrack. Lean, visceral, horrific, and incredibly emotional.

Loved it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 6, 2019)

_Manson Family Holiday _

Two estranged brothers set out on a road trip and discover more about themselves than they bargained for. An indie style antidote to the likes of _Once Upon a Time in Hollywood_, which I also enjoyed.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 7, 2019)

The Seventh Continent.

Early Haneke. It's a brilliant piece of film making but fucking hell it's about as grim subject matter as anything I've seen. There was a moment where I realised what was gonna happen, then a moment I realised I was watching it happen but didn't turn it off. 

Watched it with my son and we talked for ages after which is a good sign. Wouldn't recommend it to everyone though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 8, 2019)

_A Farewell to Arms_ - 1932 melodrama adaptation of the Hemingway novel. Can't compare them since not got round to reading it but Cooper and Helen Hayes do well with support from Adolphe Menjou.


----------



## Gimigimi (Sep 8, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> The Seventh Continent.
> 
> Early Haneke. It's a brilliant piece of film making but fucking hell it's about as grim subject matter as anything I've seen. There was a moment where I realised what was gonna happen, then a moment I realised I was watching it happen but didn't turn it off.
> 
> Watched it with my son and we talked for ages after which is a good sign. Wouldn't recommend it to everyone though.



That's a really brutal movie, the kind I wouldn't watch with others for fear of depressing them too much. I'm really attracted to movies like that, though. I preferred Cache out of the three Haneke films I've watched, though it's a little messed up to put the key to the entire movie at the edge of the frame during the credits roll, where most people won't even see it.

I'm rewatching _Rebels of the Neon God_, a 1992 film by Tsai Ming-liang that's light on plot but heavy on alienation.  I started hearing the theme music in my head while i was out on a rainy street alone. The trailer does a pretty good job of conveying the mood, which is the main draw of the movie anyway.  It actually does kind of remind me of Haneke in a lot of ways, though Tsai Ming-liang is definitely his own (weird) filmmaker.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 8, 2019)

Gimigimi said:


> That's a really brutal movie, the kind I wouldn't watch with others for fear of depressing them too much. I'm really attracted to movies like that, though. I preferred Cache out of the three Haneke films I've watched, though it's a little messed up to put the key to the entire movie at the edge of the frame during the credits roll, where most people won't even see it.
> 
> I'm rewatching _Rebels of the Neon God_, a 1992 film by Tsai Ming-liang that's light on plot but heavy on alienation.  I started hearing the theme music in my head while i was out on a rainy street alone. The trailer does a pretty good job of conveying the mood, which is the main draw of the movie anyway.  It actually does kind of remind me of Haneke in a lot of ways, though Tsai Ming-liang is definitely his own (weird) filmmaker.



Cheers I'll check that out. My son picked The Seventh Continent as he'd seen it come up on Mubi. The trailer doesn't appear to give much away until you're midway through the film and things start to slot into place.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Sep 8, 2019)

sat the boy and mrs NBE down to watch the baader meinhof complex as it was a free DVD we had lying about and its German practice for him . Having to explain who was who and what was the political / historical background to scenes didnt help - you need to know the story before watching the filum kinda thing


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 14, 2019)

Been watching Absolutely as I've discovered all four series are available to view on All 4. Rarely has a TV discovery made me this happy  fucking love this show and haven't seen it for years.


----------



## Ming (Sep 16, 2019)

I've only watched the first one but I think it's funny that the 'After Porn' documentary has reached number 3.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 16, 2019)

_La Belle et la Meute_ aka Beauty and the Dogs - 2017 Tunisian drama about a young woman's horrific journey through the 'justice' system as she tries to report being raped by police officers after they 'caught' her and a man kissing on their way home after a college disco. Stilted and agit-prop-drama-workshop in places, and the tone is uncertain - it lurches from horror movie to satire to viral campaign video to Greek tragedy to Kafka - and a pretty gruelling watch if you think about it all too hard. Still, terrific performances, a valuable work from a female director, and a great insight into Tunisians' discontent and the nasty power dynamics at work.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 20, 2019)

Spiderman: Far from Home 

Some really good performances but a bit of a duff plot and several overly elaborate twists. 

Entertaining, but bit lightweight.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Sep 22, 2019)

Just watched Stan and Ollie. Lovely, touching film with two exceptional lead performances. Got a bit of something in my eye at the end.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 23, 2019)

_In Order of Disappearance _ - 2016 Norwegian thriller / black comedy with Stellan Skarsgard (and lots of other Nordics you will recognise from Danish TV and other Scandi films). Had it on a watchlist for ages, never got round to it as I thought it wouldn't be all that, but it's great. Farcical revenge hijinks in the frozen north, beautifully shot, appealingly deadpan, interesting for hints at political/national prejudices ... and full of humour as dry and cold as the finest powdered snow. Plus perhaps the best joke ever made about Stockholm syndrome. Worth it.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 23, 2019)

John Wick 3 - Brutal, Raid esque violence!

The Dead Don't Die - Bill Murray Adam Driver dry witted zombie comedy.


----------



## DexterTCN (Sep 24, 2019)

cybershot said:


> John Wick 3 - Brutal, Raid esque violence!...


The two little guys are from Raid 2.

Now check out the first 10 minutes of The Villainess on netflix if you haven't seen it


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Sep 28, 2019)

I've been watching "Britain's War of Thrones" (it's on Sky demand somewhere - History Channel I think) which I've found to be a very informative and enjoyable docu series, if a little odd.

Despite the title, it's actually mostly about _France _and the hundred years war (not England and the Wars of the Roses, on which GoT is supposedly based) - probably because all the reenactments appear to have been recycled from a French TV series and badly dubbed over. Also, being French, it has added tits. Can't imagine Simon Sharma or Mary Beard talking over that  

Also started Elementary which seems fun enough, and I'm pleased to see there are 150 episodes to keep me busy


----------



## cybershot (Sep 28, 2019)

A re watch of gladiator. Great film.


----------



## Detroit City (Sep 28, 2019)

Last nite I watched Star Trek II: TWOK, great flick


----------



## 8115 (Sep 28, 2019)

Film called Moon Dogs on iplayer. Pretty good.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Sep 29, 2019)

Yesterday.

What on earth was Danny Boyle thinking?

It's actually a pretty good concept - what happens if a major cultural thing is somehow erased, and only one person can remember it? In this case it is the recorded works of The Beatles. That's a really good pitch to a studio, to be honest.

But it fails on nearly every level.

The romance: there's no doubt at all whatsoever that the two main characters are, and always have been, destined to be together. Indeed, they have always _actually been together, _albeit platonically, but for a brief blip in the narrative that means nothing to anyone involved.

The mysterious erasure of The Beatles from history: It turns out that a couple of other people remember them too, but absolutely nothing is done with this other than "It's good to hear the songs again, thank you"

Some other stuff is erased from history: Oasis (obviously) and also Coca Cola and, like, cigarettes?!? WTAF I don't feel this aspect is explored nearly enough.

Ed Sheeran is in it a fair bit, playing Ed Sheeran.

Oh, and a non-famous John Lennon is in it.

Oh I give up now, it's generally a terrible film.

There's a couple of good bits though:

There's a cracking version of Help in it. It's like the version my mate Chris's thinly-disguised Husker Du tribute band did decades ago though, but eh, still good.

Himesh Patel and Lily James are both excellent given the material they are working with, and Kate McKinnon likewise.

What a waste of a good concept though - the script just isn't up to it.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 29, 2019)

Blair Witch Project.

It gets a lot of criticism but it's a great film. Each day as the light fades, their situation gets worse and they know it.


----------



## cybershot (Sep 29, 2019)

Mrs ill on the sofa so besides the F1 quali yesterday we caught up on some 4K blu Ray purchases.

The karate kid.
Gladiator
Star Trek into darkness (lots of imax camera lens scenes in this that blow up nicely on the big tv with HDR10)
Star Trek beyond.

Probably be more of the same today.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 2, 2019)

Watched The Sword of Trust (2019) this afternoon . Delightful , well observed , and at times beautifully shot comedy. I say comedy but it’s a story built on a small premise that is touching , funny , quirky and understated. Woman’s grandfather dies and leaves her an antique sword with correspondence that claims the South really won the American Civil War and they take it to a pawn shop. They team up with the pawn shop owner and staff to try and sell the sword. 
I really enjoyed it .


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 4, 2019)

The Dead Dont Die - seemingly what could go wrong with Bill Murray in a zombie film? Turned it off after 20 mins. Dire.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 4, 2019)

The Dead Dont Die - seemingly what could go wrong with Bill Murray in a zombie film? Turned it off after 20 mins. Dire.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 4, 2019)

I Stand Alone - Gaspar Noe's first feature length film. What appears to be quite a straight forward tale turns very dark/grim indeed. I think he's one of my favourite directors.


----------



## Chz (Oct 5, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> The Dead Dont Die - seemingly what could go wrong with Bill Murray in a zombie film? Turned it off after 20 mins. Dire.


I know it's supposed to be tongue in cheek and all that, but I didn't enjoy it either.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 6, 2019)

I've watched The Silence of the Lambs for the first time this weekend, quite good, I can see what all the fuss is about. Also To Catch a Thief. Bit convoluted. Not one of Hitchcock's finest.


----------



## donkyboy (Oct 6, 2019)

started Bran Stokers Dracula. love the visuals but Jesus Kenaue Reeves...


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 6, 2019)

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Shot Big Foot- either you get it or you dont.If you get it at its heart its a remakably self affirming love story , if you dont well I'm sorry for you.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 7, 2019)

Night hunter. Thought it was alright despite the average at best reviews. 

Saving private Ryan. 

Wind river. Second time. As good the second time as the first. Think it’s going to become another watch over and over. 

Yesterday. Silly but alright happy go lucky film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Oct 7, 2019)

cybershot said:


> ...Wind river. Second time. As good the second time as the first. Think it’s going to become another watch over and over...


It's stunning...made me rethink Jeremy Renner (along with The Town).


----------



## flypanam (Oct 9, 2019)

X Men: Dark phoenix. Utter shite. Main actress can't act either.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 11, 2019)

Raw (2017) - arty, chilly, bit feminist, French arthouse-horror - I am not a big splatter fan but this had enough bite (ha!) to keep me watching. Mousy girl student-veterinarian is driven to the brink by bizarre hazing rituals at her college and a ... well, let's just say "enmeshed" relationship with her older sister. Extremely uneasy body-gore and bleak in places but it doesn't have the relentless sadism that depresses me about a lot of  horror overall. Brilliantly done with some genius moments of the darkest possible humour and of real tenderness . Some of the deliberately alienating/confusing style is annoying to me but it deserved all the critical love it got. (Irrelevant detail: lead actress Garance Millier could be Jodie Comer's Continental twin.)


----------



## sojourner (Oct 11, 2019)

We watched Four Lions again last night. Quality film that. 



rubbershoes said:


> Blair Witch Project.
> 
> It gets a lot of criticism but it's a great film. Each day as the light fades, their situation gets worse and they know it.


Agreed rubbershoes  - I loved it when it first came out. My daughter was absolutely convinced it was real  Showed me the "website and everything, of course it's real muuuum"  



donkyboy said:


> started Bran Stokers Dracula. love the visuals but Jesus Kenaue Reeves...


Innit? I'd have stopped the film halfway through and found someone else. He is CLUNKINGLY shit in it.


----------



## belboid (Oct 11, 2019)

flypanam said:


> X Men: Dark phoenix. Utter shite. Main actress can't act either.


Finally caught that the other day too. Dark Phoenix was about when I started reading X-Men, and it was just marvellous.  There's a great film in there.  This wasn't it. It _might _be better than The Last Stand.  But it's still shit.


----------



## belboid (Oct 11, 2019)

Also recently,

Booksmart - smart coming of age drama.  Nothing really original but very well done.

Eighth Grade - another school coming of age drama, but with younger, more believable, people and situations. Very excellent.

The Hate You Give - following the fallout after a high school student witnesses a police shooting. Quite brilliant.


----------



## flypanam (Oct 11, 2019)

belboid said:


> Finally caught that the other day too. Dark Phoenix was about when I started reading X-Men, and it was just marvellous.  There's a great film in there.  This wasn't it. It _might _be better than The Last Stand.  But it's still shit.


Agreed. It's a good job with live in such staid times, there is 100% chance of a remake, a stage musical, and a YA novel that the good story will be retold.


----------



## mod (Oct 11, 2019)

A single Man,


----------



## cybershot (Oct 11, 2019)

The art of self-defense. Smart comedy with jesse eisenberg as a wimpy bloke who decides to get karate lessons after getting mugged. Turns a bit dark. Enjoyable but maybe not for everyone.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 12, 2019)

Venom. Dear god, one of the worst films I've watched in recent memory.


----------



## magneze (Oct 12, 2019)

El Camino
The answer to a question that no one was asking.


----------



## D'wards (Oct 13, 2019)

Midsommar. Loved it; weird and atmospheric.
A real antidote to cattle-prod horror cinema, where it gets it scares from building up tension and an air of terror rather than just making is jump cheaply


----------



## Chz (Oct 13, 2019)

Watched _Moonlight_ on C4 yesterday. I mean... it was alright. I was a bit bored. Not sure what I was missing from it.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 13, 2019)

Chz said:


> Watched _Moonlight_ on C4 yesterday. I mean... it was alright. I was a bit bored. Not sure what I was missing from it.


I saw it in the cinema and it was pretty good.


----------



## 8115 (Oct 14, 2019)

Booksmart. Really excellent.


----------



## flypanam (Oct 15, 2019)

A Czech show called Hořící keř (Burning Bush) concerning the aftermath of Jan Palach's self immolation. Gripping. I think C4 has shown this but I missed it when it was on.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 15, 2019)

Perpetual Grace Ltd. Its a new series on US channel Epix  with Ben Kingsley, Jackie Weaver and Jimmi Simpson who was in Westworld. Simpson plays an addict involved in an con with Kingsley and Weavers estranged son . Kingsley and Weaver have a religious community and a bank account of donations , Simpson and the son want to extract 4m. Its quite quirky , bit Fargoish , you have to get used to black and white flash backs but its a good plot twister well acted. Seen two episodes so  fingers crossed.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 15, 2019)

*Shot Caller (2017) *Brutal and depressing California-jail-gang saga with one ordinary middle class bloke who has a car accident ending up in the pen with the nasty Nazi boneheads. Twist: he ends up as one of their leaders. Some great art direction (big empty skies and chainlink fences) but even Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's beautiful nose and prison-built muscles aren't pretty enough to distract from all the bleak. Testosterone overload all over the place and the attempts at nuance don't hit home. (Unlike all the fists, shivs, shanks, clubs, breezeblocks, razor blades, etc.)


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 15, 2019)

trabuquera said:


> *Shot Caller (2017) *Brutal and depressing California-jail-gang saga with one ordinary middle class bloke who has a car accident ending up in the pen with the nasty Nazi boneheads. Twist: he ends up as one of their leaders. Some great art direction (big empty skies and chainlink fences) but even Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's pretty nose and prison-built muscles aren't pretty enough to distract from all the bleak. Testosterone overload all over the place and the attempts at nuance don't hit home. (Unlike all the fists, shivs, shanks, clubs, breezeblocks, razor blades, etc.)


Its pretty enjoyable though I thought


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 15, 2019)

Nah, I love a good prison/crime flick or series (come back, Oz!) but somehow this movie just seemed too up itself and too in love with the violence. The odd bit of sniffling over old family photos doesn't add up to a full gamut of emotion; there are hints of a more interesting story (and film) about the guy's deliberate distancing from his family but that part's not well enough explored imho. It does look terrific but for something with so much lethal and near-lethal threat I just found it deadening rather than exciting.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 15, 2019)

Have you seen Brawl In Cell Block 99, trabuquera?


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 15, 2019)

No, but good gawd it sounds like the _very same jail pic _as Shot Caller! Heard good/grim things about Zahler's latest _Dragged Across Concrete _as well.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2019)

Godfather of Harlem

Forrest Whitaker is the eponymous godfather, Bumpy Johnson who returns to Harem after 10 years in Alcatraz. Its set in the late 50s early 60's if my eye is right. You can't tell by the tunes becuase the soundtrack is modern which works. 2 eps in.

e2a of course my eye is right, its civil rights era ffs. Malcom x is in it.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 15, 2019)

The Proposition. Top class Aussie western written by Nick Cave, starring Ray Winstone, Emily Watson and Guy Pierce


----------



## Detroit City (Oct 15, 2019)

I watched Robocop I (for the 5th time)


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 16, 2019)

DotCommunist said:


> Godfather of Harlem
> 
> Forrest Whitaker is the eponymous godfather, Bumpy Johnson who returns to Harem after 10 years in Alcatraz. Its set in the late 50s early 60's if my eye is right. You can't tell by the tunes becuase the soundtrack is modern which works. 2 eps in.
> 
> e2a of course my eye is right, its civil rights era ffs. Malcom x is in it.


That's also an EPIX original. There's quite a few of these American series companys.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 16, 2019)

Part 2 said:


> The Proposition. Top class Aussie western written by Nick Cave, starring Ray Winstone, Emily Watson and Guy Pierce


Spot on that film. Always remember the flies in it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 16, 2019)

Hell's House (1932) another pre-code tale of crime and punishment. Kid takes a fall for local bootlegger and goes to reform school. Early role for Bette Davis as well.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 16, 2019)

Finished season 2 of The Terror last night. Doesn't really warrant a thread of it's own but it's good entertainment if you like supernatural horror. Both seasons are based around true life events. First season Franklin's expedition to find the North West passage and second about Japanese internment after Pearl Harbour.

On AMC channel or torrents


----------



## Ming (Oct 18, 2019)

Shoot 'Em Up with Clive Owen. Fucking great movie.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 18, 2019)

_The Martian_. Enjoyable Matt Damon on Mars flick. Kind of _Robinson Crusoe_ meets _Gravity_. Great cast.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 20, 2019)

Just watched Mad Max: Fury Road. Fucking hell  It was brilliant.


----------



## Detroit City (Oct 20, 2019)

I'm gonna watch Goodfellas tonight, if I can find the time...it's more than 2 hours long


----------



## 8115 (Oct 20, 2019)

The Green Book. It was ok.


----------



## cybershot (Oct 20, 2019)

Stuber. 

Uber driver becomes a cops sidekick. Killed 90 minutes.


----------



## Chz (Oct 20, 2019)

8115 said:


> The Green Book. It was ok.


I've started to enjoy more TV and films that are just "nice and pleasant". That did the trick. It's not deep or moving, but all the performances are good and it was a pleasant way to pass the time. See also: The Detectorists.


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 22, 2019)

I started another Epix show, Pennyworth. Its the origin story for batmans butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

its awful but entertainingly so. The bizarre anachronisms and weirdness and pastiche brit stuff. It feels like a piss take. Its supposed to be post ww1 and executions are, get this, pubic hanging and disembowelment that gets shown on TV to the cheers of all. Why is alfred ex sas when the forerunner soe came out off ww2 not ww1?

Simon Day has turned up as well as other uk actors from the past. It deffo isn't sure which time period it is set in at all. Just a brit history megamix covering 1800-1970.

and the lead can't help but keep veering into Michael Cain impressions the whole time


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 22, 2019)

DotCommunist said:


> I started another Epix show, Pennyworth. Its the origin story for batmans butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
> 
> its awful but entertainingly so. The bizarre anachronisms and weirdness and pastiche brit stuff. It feels like a piss take. Its supposed to be post ww1 and executions are, get this, pubic hanging and disembowelment that gets shown on TV to the cheers of all. Why is albert ex sas when the forerunner soe came out off ww2 not ww1?
> 
> ...


I’m really into Epix’s Perpetual Grace LTD


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 22, 2019)

DotCommunist said:


> Why is alfred ex sas when the forerunner soe came out off ww2 not ww1?



SOE was not in any sense a forerunner of the SAS.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 22, 2019)

Liked for pubic hanging  sorry DotCommunist. Although it sounds plausible that something so badly made might randomly include pubic hanging.


----------



## Detroit City (Oct 22, 2019)

last night I watched Robin Hood (2010) with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, it was ok but nothing special


----------



## flypanam (Oct 23, 2019)

A.P. Bio - stars Glenn Howerton (Dennis from Always Sunny) as a Harvard professor who has lost his job and returns to his hometown, embittered. A familiar premise but some funny moments and could be a grower.


----------



## The39thStep (Oct 26, 2019)

Perpetual Grace LTD isnt on Amazon or Netflix ( depends if Epix want to do a deal with them or forge ahead as a streaming company in their own right) but if you can get on any bent android film/TV boxset app or site is really worth a watch. Ben Kingsley plays a superb nutter/pyscho role prob his best since Sexy Beast imo. The whole plot is engagingly surreal. I'm 3/4s through but I havent enjoyed a series like this since Fargo.


----------



## T & P (Oct 29, 2019)

DotCommunist said:


> I started another Epix show, Pennyworth. Its the origin story for batmans butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
> 
> its awful but entertainingly so. The bizarre anachronisms and weirdness and pastiche brit stuff. It feels like a piss take. Its supposed to be post ww1 and executions are, get this, pubic hanging and disembowelment that gets shown on TV to the cheers of all. Why is alfred ex sas when the forerunner soe came out off ww2 not ww1?
> 
> ...


We’ve paid for a month subscription for Starzplay on Amazon Prime and this is available. Is this DC Comics cañón for the Batman universe? Because if so I never knew it took place in an alternative reality. I mean, outside of accepting the existence of Gotham, you expect the rest of the world to be as we know it.

Middle Age-style executed convicts hanging from buildings in metal cages in wartime London? WTF?


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 30, 2019)

T & P said:


> We’ve paid for a month subscription for Starzplay on Amazon Prime and this is available. Is this DC Comics cañón for the Batman universe? Because if so I never knew it took place in an alternative reality. I mean, outside of accepting the existence of Gotham, you expect the rest of the world to be as we know it.
> 
> Middle Age-style executed convicts hanging from buildings in metal cages in wartime London? WTF?



Wiki says it takes place in an alternate London. It could be part of the greater Elseworlds DC stuff?


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 30, 2019)

_Empire of Dreams - The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy_. In depth doc from 2004 focusing mainly on the original 3 films, outtakes, rare footage of screen tests (Kurt Russell as Han Solo! William Katt as Luke Skywalker!) and lots of behind the scenes stuff.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 30, 2019)

DotCommunist said:


> I started another Epix show, Pennyworth. Its the origin story for batmans butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
> 
> its awful but entertainingly so. The bizarre anachronisms and weirdness and pastiche brit stuff. It feels like a piss take. Its supposed to be post ww1 and executions are, get this, pubic hanging and disembowelment that gets shown on TV to the cheers of all. Why is alfred ex sas when the forerunner soe came out off ww2 not ww1?
> 
> ...


That sounds pretty good, actually.


----------



## T & P (Oct 30, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> That sounds pretty good, actually.


I’m only on ep 2 but an enjoying it enough so far, even if the alternative history takes a bit to get used to. I thought Paloma Faith was going to be a weak link but she’s pretty good as a likeable villain


----------



## Detroit City (Oct 31, 2019)

I'm going to try to squeeze in GoodFellas (1990) if I can tonight but the World Series game 7 is on tonight. It's on DVR so I can really watch it anytime


----------



## DotCommunist (Oct 31, 2019)

Idris2002 said:


> That sounds pretty good, actually.


The first two eps have a ridiculous momentum but I didn't make it past ep 3 yet.


----------



## belboid (Oct 31, 2019)

Detroit City said:


> I'm going to try to squeeze in GoodFellas (1990) if I can tonight but the World Series game 7 is on tonight. It's on DVR so I can really watch it anytime


It's an annoyingly tight game, I should be in bed now


----------



## Ming (Oct 31, 2019)

Shoot 'Em Up. Fun Clive Owen action movie.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Oct 31, 2019)

Unsurpisingly, have been Hallowe'en/horror movies for the past few days: -

Hocus Pocus 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			










Trick 'R' Treat 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	












Get Out 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	









Videoman (Swedish, not a horror, but Skybox told me it was) 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	












Nightmare Before Xmas (Annual tradition)


----------



## T & P (Nov 1, 2019)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Unsurpisingly, have been Hallowe'en/horror movies for the past few days: -
> 
> Hocus Pocus
> 
> ...


Do you also watch the last one at Christmas?


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Nov 1, 2019)

T & P said:


> Do you also watch the last one at Christmas?



Certainly not, I'll be too busy watching xmas films


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 2, 2019)

_The Card _- Alec Guinness excels (as always) in this forgotten comedy classic from 1952. Capitalism, class, cads and football. Sterling support from Glynis Johns and Petula Clark.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 4, 2019)

Finished Perpetual Grace LTD which is a cracking 10 party series on Epix with Ben Kingsley, a really good cast and great plot.Nearest thing to it would be Fargo imo. Its  not on Amazon or Netflix but hopefully they'll buy it. One of the best and most original  series I've seen for a while. You've got a grieving firefighter whose failed astronaut father wanders Austin, Texas, in his spacesuit, a two time murderer whose ambition was to run a glasses franchise,an accused sex offender, a Texas ranger , a compromised Mexican sheriff,  and a wierd nearly autistic kid all wrapped up in a plot with the son of a preacher and his wife who wants to steal his parents money. Highly reccomended.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 5, 2019)

_Tetsuo - The Iron Man_

Bonkers short film from 1989. It's a mindfuck of a monster movie which is, in turns, groundbreaking (for its time), dark, humorous, very disturbing. What's it about? Fear of industry or sex or neither? Fuck knows.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 5, 2019)

_The Age of Shadows _(2016) - tense, brutal, very Melville-esque tale of spy and counterspy in Korea under the Japanese occupation. Bit too long and slightly low on emotional nuance (because there's too much high-stakes life-and-death espionage and assassination going on.) Reminded me a bit of aspects of _Army of Shadows _and _Infernal Affairs _- the agonising dilemmas of being in a Resistance and running double agents high up in the occupying powers, cat-and-mouse games of trying to figure out the oppo etc. Being Korean this is a bit long, looks absolutely gorgeous, is insanely patriotic /jingoistic (Japanese villain hams it up a storm), bone-crunchingly violent. No sex at all but lots of drinking and gunplay. Unbearably tense at times. Would recommend.

Also got sucked into a rabbit hole and binge watched the whole series of _Giri/Haji _- Japanese/UK contemporary crime drama - on iPlayer - it really weaves a spell, full of dry, Fargo-like drollery, some tremendous performances, innovative story telling and a properly rainy dank London. Thinking back on it, much of it doesn't make much or any sense at all but it really gets a grip on you. Worth your time even if some of it's silly looking back.


----------



## rekil (Nov 7, 2019)

trabuquera said:


> _The Age of Shadows _(2016) - tense, brutal, very Melville-esque tale of spy and counterspy in Korea under the Japanese occupation. Bit too long and slightly low on emotional nuance (because there's too much high-stakes life-and-death espionage and assassination going on.) Reminded me a bit of aspects of _Army of Shadows _and _Infernal Affairs _- the agonising dilemmas of being in a Resistance and running double agents high up in the occupying powers, cat-and-mouse games of trying to figure out the oppo etc. Being Korean this is a bit long, looks absolutely gorgeous, is insanely patriotic /jingoistic (Japanese villain hams it up a storm), bone-crunchingly violent. No sex at all but lots of drinking and gunplay. Unbearably tense at times. Would recommend.


Kang Ho Song has been in a crazy amount of great fillums. On the same theme, see Assassination as well. Amsal (2015) - IMDb


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 9, 2019)

The39thStep said:


> Finished Perpetual Grace LTD which is a cracking 10 party series on Epix with Ben Kingsley, a really good cast and great plot.Nearest thing to it would be Fargo imo. Its  not on Amazon or Netflix but hopefully they'll buy it. One of the best and most original  series I've seen for a while. You've got a grieving firefighter whose failed astronaut father wanders Austin, Texas, in his spacesuit, a two time murderer whose ambition was to run a glasses franchise,an accused sex offender, a Texas ranger , a compromised Mexican sheriff,  and a wierd nearly autistic kid all wrapped up in a plot with the son of a preacher and his wife who wants to steal his parents money. Highly reccomended.


If anyone wants to dip their toe in the water here is a streaming site  with it on  Watch Online Perpetual Grace LTD Season 1 Episode 1 - Eleven


----------



## T & P (Nov 9, 2019)

The Dead Don’t Die. A deadpan comedy zombie film that was the opening flick at the Cannes Film Festival, and well received as well. Ignore the low IMDB ratings- usual idiots doing their usual downvoting thing I suspect.

Bizarre but very watchable- it reminds you of Wes Anderson’s films. Good cast. Adam Driver is great in it, he steals the show.

Not sure it’s worth the pay per view fee, so unless you’re itching to watch it I’d recommend waiting until it’s free somewhere. But great Saturday night fodder.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 9, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> _Tetsuo - The Iron Man_
> 
> Bonkers short film from 1989. It's a mindfuck of a monster movie which is, in turns, groundbreaking (for its time), dark, humorous, very disturbing. What's it about? Fear of industry or sex or neither? Fuck knows.



Still groundbreaking now. Worth reading up on Japanese punk cinema, some great weird fims to be found.


----------



## DexterTCN (Nov 9, 2019)

T & P said:


> The Dead Don’t Die. A deadpan comedy zombie film that was the opening flick at the Cannes Film Festival, and well received as well. Ignore the low IMDB ratings- usual idiots doing their usual downvoting thing I suspect.
> 
> Bizarre but very watchable- it reminds you of Wes Anderson’s films. Good cast. Adam Driver is great in it, he steals the show.
> 
> Not sure it’s worth the pay per view fee, so unless you’re itching to watch it I’d recommend waiting until it’s free somewhere. But great Saturday night fodder.





Spoiler



It's worth the price for the soundtrack joke


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 9, 2019)

Beanpole. It's on Mubi but had limited cinema screenings.

Follows 2 women in Leningrad after the war. It's really beautiful to look at, such amazing use of colour it looks like it's painted at times. Performances from the two lead actors are excellent aswell.


----------



## Chz (Nov 10, 2019)

T & P said:


> The Dead Don’t Die. A deadpan comedy zombie film that was the opening flick at the Cannes Film Festival, and well received as well. Ignore the low IMDB ratings- usual idiots doing their usual downvoting thing I suspect.
> 
> Bizarre but very watchable- it reminds you of Wes Anderson’s films. Good cast. Adam Driver is great in it, he steals the show.
> 
> Not sure it’s worth the pay per view fee, so unless you’re itching to watch it I’d recommend waiting until it’s free somewhere. But great Saturday night fodder.


For me, it was just one more thing in a long series of "If Adam Driver is in it, I won't like it". I've nothing against him personally, he's just not in things that I like.

The Dead Don't Die reminds me of Once Upon a Time in Mexico - the director and a load of his mates get together and appear to have a great time making a film. Film is flat, not actually bad, just flat. It was almost worth it for Tilda Swinton, though.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 10, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> _Tetsuo - The Iron Man_
> 
> Bonkers short film from 1989. It's a mindfuck of a monster movie which is, in turns, groundbreaking (for its time), dark, humorous, very disturbing. What's it about? Fear of industry or sex or neither? Fuck knows.



Tetsuo 2 is quite disturbing. Worth watching though


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 10, 2019)

A Dog Called Money....PJ Harvey film about the making of The Hope Six Demolition Project album. Filmed in Kabul, Kosovo and Washington.

I like PJ but it's really not that good. A few good moments but the artistic process just wasn't that interesting for me. Pretty sure there was a documentary about at the time of the album release that only featured Washington filming that was shorter and better.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Nov 13, 2019)

Tentacles - a truly bad 1977 film about a murderous giant octopus that kills people.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 13, 2019)

*The King *on Netflix - sort of a millennial reboot of Henry V with Timothee Chalamet in the lead (who does well, but is just far too much the pouty pretty boy for the role) and a cast of various faces you'll recognise. Sean Harris does a brilliantly slippery councillor, Robert Pattinson a ridiculously camp and obnoxious French Dauphin, and Joel Edgerton a genuinely moving Falstaff. Excellent take on the battle of Agincourt (a sort of medieval presaging of WWI, an inferno of blood mud and clanking metal) and it's all beautifully shot. Overall the mood's impressively dark and twisty but po-faced and a bit too full of posh young boys posturing and whining (but hey I guess that's not so far from the reality of medieval or indeed modern warfare.)


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 13, 2019)

I watched *The Concorde: Airport '79.
*
Probably one of the worst movies I've seen


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Nov 14, 2019)

Grizzly - another shit 70s film about a grizzly bear that takes to murdering backpackers in a national park.  They used a bazooka in the end to blow it up, after it had killed lots of people and eaten them.

Next tonight is Quatermass II.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Nov 14, 2019)

It was Monday night, but Tales of Halloween (sic). Not bad, especially enjoyed Barry Bostwick as a tophatted suburban devil out for kicks


----------



## imposs1904 (Nov 14, 2019)

Tootsie

Still holds up.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 15, 2019)

The Keeper- Film about Bert Trautman who in post war England went from being a POW doing forced labour to Man City's keeper. Surprisingly better than I thought it would be , well filmed , well acted and a delightful cameo of post war life in the North of England . It posed for me  an interesting question about what my attitude would have been to City signing him if I'd have been alive at the time. The whole dilemna of forgiving but not forgetting versus the anti fascist feeling at the time is actually well explored, especially the position of City's Jewish supporters. Enjoyable and interesting.


----------



## T & P (Nov 16, 2019)

Detroit City said:


> I watched *The Concorde: Airport '79.
> *
> Probably one of the worst movies I've seen


Apart from being one of the all time great comedies imo, Airplane! is widely credited with killing off the airport disaster movie franchise (Airport 75, 77, etc) as nobody would take them seriously after its release. For which we should all be grateful.


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 16, 2019)

T & P said:


> Apart from being one of the all time great comedies imo, Airplane! is widely credited with killing off the airport disaster movie franchise (Airport 75, 77, etc) as nobody would take them seriously after its release. For which we should all be grateful.


indeed


----------



## Reno (Nov 16, 2019)

T & P said:


> Apart from being one of the all time great comedies imo, Airplane! is widely credited with killing off the airport disaster movie franchise (Airport 75, 77, etc) as nobody would take them seriously after its release. For which we should all be grateful.


Love Airplane! but by the time it came along, the cycle of disaster movies which was at its height in the early to mid-70s had run its course. Nobody took The Concorde: Airport ‘79 seriously when it came out, it’s one of the most hilariously awful movies ever released by a major studio. It was mocked at the time and the franchise killed itself off when that movie flopped. Airport ‘79 is almost as funny as Airplane! and includes moments like the pilot opening the cockpit window of the Concorde mid-flight to fire a flare gun.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 17, 2019)

flypanam said:


> A.P. Bio - stars Glenn Howerton (Dennis from Always Sunny) as a Harvard professor who has lost his job and returns to his hometown, embittered. A familiar premise but some funny moments and could be a grower.


“It's just difficult to get any work done in this town, with its possums, and their screams”


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 17, 2019)

_Aquama_n. DC effort which seems to be riffing on _Splash, Indiana Jones, The Phantom Menace, Avatar, Finding Nemo, Godzilla, Jurassic Park, Journey to the Centre of the Earth _and many more.

That said, it's enjoyable, despite DCs recent output.


----------



## Chz (Nov 17, 2019)

_The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot_.
Not at all what you might be expecting, and pretty decent stuff. Some great acting from the lead. Not 5/5 or anything, but well worth adding to your rental list I'd think.


----------



## magneze (Nov 17, 2019)

Jonathan
Mysterious film where two people share the same body. The whole thing is really well written and acted. I was drawn in by the first 10 minutes and utterly absorbed for the whole film.


----------



## Marty1 (Nov 17, 2019)

StarWars The Last Jedi on BluRay to test out new amp.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 18, 2019)

On youtube.

The Magic Christian.

Ringo Starr is the adopted son of eccentric millionaire Peter Sellers, who travels the country staging elaborate and bizarre pranks. Very "of its time", but not in a bad way. Contains scene where Roman Polanski is made to feel uncomfortable by a drag artiste (I think this must have been filmed before the Manson killings, and before Polanski got his rape conviction - but let's face it he was probably up to no good long before that).


----------



## skyscraper101 (Nov 18, 2019)

The Morning Show on Apple TV+ - 5 eps in, really enjoying so far.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 18, 2019)

*American Fable (2016) *twisty, mystical-ish, borderline surreal rural noir / thriller about an 11yr old girl on a Midwest farm in the 1980s, discovering that all's not well on the homestead, what with Dad being deep in debt, Big Bro being a psychopathic bully and something nasty in a silo. Won't spoiler it. Gorgeously shot, the lead actress is phenomenal and her relationship with her idolised Dad is very nicely portrayed. In some limited ways it reminded me a bit of Coen Bros' _Blood Simple, _though far more restrained and less Gothic. The elements of tension & fantasy don't altogether work but it's a very watchable oddball hidden gem. (Not at all gory - it's not horror at all - and not disturbing - I'd say safe to watch for anyone say 14+ even if often scared by films.)


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 18, 2019)

Chz said:


> _The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot_.
> Not at all what you might be expecting, and pretty decent stuff. Some great acting from the lead. Not 5/5 or anything, but well worth adding to your rental list I'd think.


I really liked that film


----------



## barlimo (Nov 18, 2019)

A couple of episodes of Btitannia. What a waste of time ! Absolute   rubbish! A complete waste of time.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 19, 2019)

Low budge British horror from 1958. Forrest Tucker (_F Troop, The Ghost Busters_) stars and Warren Mitchell provides reliable support as a Professor.
Strange clouds on the mountain, dead mountaineers coming to life, telepathic sisters and nameless, creeping, tentacled horrors are abroad. Forrest Tucker is at hand to sort it out - he's part of a United Nations outfit who investigate strange phenomena. Wouldn't have been out of place in the original _Doctor Who_ saga...


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 20, 2019)

*Sicilian Ghost Story (2018) *- was on Film4 but I think it's on Netflix as well. Insidiously disturbing movie based on the notorious Giuseppe Di Stefano abduction/kidnapping/captivity story. The preadolescent son of a _pentito _(repentant mafioso who grasses up all his gangster pals to the State) in Sicily is kidnapped in turn; the whole community stays schtum; but the boy's oddball, deeply-attached girl friend (girlfriend? just friend? guardian angel?) won't let the matter rest and rebels against her family, village, schoolmates and society to keep trying to uncover what's happened. It's all done in a deliberately dreamy, symbolic, artsy style and turned into a sort of metaphysical abstract love story; but the horror and moral squalor of what's going on is never underplayed. Not gory, but it doesn't soft-pedal or conceal the violence or the corruption. It's too long and a bit pretentious. Some of it's questionable - was this slightly hippy-dippy tack really the right one to take? - but its heart is definitely in the right place and it ends up far more moving, and even beautiful in parts, than expected. Some terrific performances as well. Give it a chance.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 20, 2019)

Godfather of Harlem- Epix an American streaming and TV company have produced three watchable series recently ; Perpetual Grace Ltd which was superb, Pennyworth and Godfather of Harlem. Godfather of Harlem tells a reasonable story about Bumpy Johnson a black gang leader allied to the Genovese crime family who gets released after a ten year stretch in Alacatraz. Its got some pace to it, an interesting interplay with Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, a bent Black politician who is a Christian preacher, the different sides of those who profit and lose out of heroin and some pretty stark politics on race. I'm half way through , it doesnt do anything new but its a big bold good ride and very enjoyable.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 21, 2019)

_Howard the Duck_ (1986)
Despite support from Leah Thompson (_Back to the Future_) and Tim Robbins, despite John Barry and Thomas Dolby on soundtrack duties, this Marvel adaptation really doesn't fly. Finally sat through all 1 hr 50 mins of it (felt longer) and there's nothing redeemable about this massacre of Steve Gerber's comic cult classic.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Nov 21, 2019)

Sewers Of Gold (1979) starring Ian McShane & Warren Clarke. ------- bunch of neo-fascists tunnel into a safety deposit vault to rob the contents, based on the break-in into a Société Générale bank in Nice, France in 1976.
Not particulary stylish but a good watch.

Hope to watch the french version of the story tonight Les égouts du paradis (1979)


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 24, 2019)

_Frankenstein _(1931) 
The James Whale classic that set the template for countless sequels, remakes and parodies. Quite a short movie (1 hr 7 mins) but it does the job. Disappointed that Igor is called "Fritz", though.


----------



## T & P (Nov 24, 2019)

Captain Marvel. One of the better Marvel films of the last few years; the right pace, entertaining, and quite funny in places. And a lot of Samuel L Jackson screen time to boot.


----------



## D'wards (Nov 27, 2019)

Rambo: Last Blood. 

The critics savaged it, but I think they missed the point. Sometimes some people want to watch a 90 minute film where they set up some one-dimensional baddies to be really evil and they get dispatched in ridiculous Itchy and Scratchy type ways. No room for intricate plot development or characterisation here.
Rotten tomatoes critic score - 23% audience score 82%
The biggest gap I've seen I think


----------



## mod (Nov 27, 2019)

Eyes Wide Shut. 

Thats one fucked up unpredictable film. Loved it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2019)

_Shoplifters_ by Hirokazu Kore-eda, which is wonderful. This was one of the most acclaimed films of last year, only caught up with it now. It’s about a Tokyo family who boost their meagre income with benefits fraud and shoplifting and who kidnap a little girl, whom they suspect gets abused by her mother. Unsentimental, yet very moving and one of the best films about family I’ve seen. 

__


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## Reno (Dec 3, 2019)

A few days ago I watched _A Bread Factory Part 1 & 2_ by Patrick Wang, a four hour indie movie epic spread over two films, about gentrification and arts funding. It’s one of the better films of the year. It’s about a community run arts center in a New York small town, which is about to loose its  funding. A rival and far more glitzy center is about to open nearby, run by two high profile conceptual artists and the local government wonks are impressed by the cache and money they’ll bring along.

Made on a small budget but not lacking in ideas or ambition, this has a large cast of characters and the two films are distinct in style. The first part is more naturalistic, like a 70s Robert Altman movie and the second one goes off into fantasy and musical sequences. Tyne Daly is probably the best known actor. She is wonderful as the woman who has run the center for decades with her partner and who is about to loose everything she’s worked for. There are some curious casting choices among the ensemble, James Marsters from Buffy and Nana Visitor from Deep Space Nine turn up, playing a married couple. They blend right into the film‘s large ensemble and the whole thing is frequently surprising and unlike anything I’ve seen.


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## krtek a houby (Dec 5, 2019)

_Breakfast at Tiffany's_

1961 charmer with Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Holly Golightly is a delightful socialite/escort & and Paul Varjak is a struggling writer and gigolo? Anyway, sadness lies underneath, there's a party or two, a cat and a dreadful stereotype who live upstairs. Would give it 5 stars but the ill-judged Mickey Rooney role really rankles.


----------



## Reno (Dec 5, 2019)

John Cassavetes' _Gloria_, which I hadn't revisited in a while. Of all of Cassavetes' commercial studio films as a film-maker, this feels the most like a Cassavetes movie, even if it doesn't scale the heights of _A Woman Under the Influence_ or _Opening Night_. Gena Rowlands plays a former gangster's moll, who just wants a quiet retirement. She suddenly finds herself on the run with the neighbour's kid, whose entire family got bumped off by the mob in a tense opening scene. The mob of course are Gloria’s former "family".

Rowlands' brand of nervy toughness is the show here and earned her an Oscar nomination. She's supported by a gorgeous Bill Conti score and New York in all its rough, late 70s glory. The atmosphere and glimpses of mob life are great, the gangsters feel authentic in their ordinariness. On the down side, there is not quite enough plot to sustain the two hours running time and Rowlands is saddled with a terrible child actor as her co-star.



_Gloria_ got remade with Sharon Stone (never bothered with it) and was an influence on a few other films, most notably Walter Salles' _Central Station_ and Erick Zonca's underrated _Julia_ with Tilda Swinton, which I think improves on Cassavetes' movie.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 9, 2019)

_The Irishman_. Despite the CGI, it's quite an absorbing film and if you take the de-ageing process as some kind of makeup, it doesn't jar so much. Pesci was brilliant, great to see him play a more chilled don rather than previous headbangers. 



Spoiler



That scene where he appears in a blood stained shirt, without explanation was enough to convince that he was still someone to be reckoned with.


 And kudos to Ray Romano and Stephen Graham for excellent support.


----------



## Idris2002 (Dec 10, 2019)

Head.

The Monkee's answer to Hard Day's Night. Very _very _of its time, but surprisingly still effective. 

On youtube.


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## Idris2002 (Dec 10, 2019)

krtek a houby said:


> _The Irishman_. Despite the CGI, it's quite an absorbing film and if you take the de-ageing process as some kind of makeup, it doesn't jar so much. Pesci was brilliant, great to see him play a more chilled don rather than previous headbangers.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Eyyyy I'm Irishing here.

You got your dinnner potatoes and your dessert potatoes, and then I got one at home with toothpaste on it so I don't gotta brush.


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 10, 2019)

Indeliblelink said:


> Masaki Koboyashi's The Human Condition trilogy, masterful film making for sure but at 10 hours long not an experience I'll repeat again in a hurry.



Seen this poster has mentioned the film.

The Human Condition Trilogy Blu-ray | Arrow Films

I picked it up in Fopps as a two for one deal on Blu Ray. I have Blu Ray player and notice the difference in quality.

I'd never heard of it before.

At nine hours its on three DVDs so got my money's worth.

I've watched the first two parts and part way through the last section.

It is called the human condition as it shows how an ordinary decent man tries to live in an authoritarian colonialist state- Japan. He fails miserably. But its a case of what would you do in that situation?

The protagonist is a Japanese civilian who works in China. Which the Japanese state had ruthlessly colonised . The first section is how he goes to help manage a mine in Manchuria. Trying to put his humanist principles into action to show how a "liberal" colonial state is more productive than the harsh way it has been run.

He fails miserably. The first section has great set pieces in the dramatic landscape where humans appear small against nature. Its in wide screen black and white. Great cinematography.

The second part is him going through boot camp in Japanese army. Having lost his job in the mine and called up for the Japanese army. Despite the suspicion of his superiors of his leftist tendencies he is acknowledged as a good soldier.

What surprised me about this part (film was made in late 50s) was the the basic training / bootcamp was almost exactly the same as in Kubrick's first half of Full Metal Jacket. I am almost certain Kubrick must have seen this film. Its the same plot.

I did find the second part get a bit slow. But maybe because Id already seen the story in Full Metal Jacket.

Third part ( which I've seen some of ) is him in Japanese army fighting the Red Army. I didn't know about this. Thought it was made up. But its not. When Hitler was defeated Stalin opened second front fighting the Japanese in China. Which he had agreed he would do once Hitler was defeated. A lesser known part of WW2.

This section shows the waste and futility of war. The Japanese try to retreat and escape.

The film is very long but does not feel like it. Touching humanity alongside brutal state led violence. No one comes out of this unsullied.

Its a film about the individual and the the bigger theme of colonialist violence and defeat. Its told through the characters our "hero" meets as he tries to stay alive and get back to his wife. An individual living through and being tested by extreme circumstances. Absorbing and fulfilling to watch.

Its interesting to see a take on WW2 from the defeated side.

Definitely a connection with Full Metal Jacket.


----------



## D'wards (Dec 10, 2019)

The Searchers 

Was on itv4 on Sunday. 
Ford is a genius, John Wayne is giant of cinema. He's a big imposing guy with a great voice and bags of charisma. You can see why he is so loved.
Me pal tells me he was a stagehand and the director saw something in him and cast him in the film they were making.
The Searchers was a great film


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 11, 2019)

i watched the original Jaws


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## Detroit City (Dec 11, 2019)

Reno said:


> Love Airplane! but by the time it came along, the cycle of disaster movies which was at its height in the early to mid-70s had run its course. Nobody took The Concorde: Airport ‘79 seriously when it came out, it’s one of the most hilariously awful movies ever released by a major studio. It was mocked at the time and the franchise killed itself off when that movie flopped. Airport ‘79 is almost as funny as Airplane! and includes moments like the pilot opening the cockpit window of the Concorde mid-flight to fire a flare gun.


yea I watched Airport '79 a month ago, it was pretty bad but strangely entertaining


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2019)

_Tigers Are Not Afraid_, Mexican movie which deals with a bunch of street kids orphaned by the drugs war, who seek revenge on the gangsters who killed their parents. So do some of the dead, as this is a mixture of crime drama, ghost story and magic realism. It’s ambitious and diverting enough but not entirely successful, maybe because it tries too much in too little time (the movie is barely 80 minutes long). Reminded me of Guillermo Del Toro‘s The Devil‘s Backbone, which works better.


----------



## flypanam (Dec 15, 2019)

Silicon Valley season 6. much better than series 5, an excellent, effective and funny end to the series. Mike Judge for all his shit politics has made a very good take down of tech but oddly an ode to it too.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 16, 2019)

_Marriage Story_

Outstanding performances from the leads, reminds me a bit of prime Woody Allen, in places.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 17, 2019)

flypanam said:


> A.P. Bio - stars Glenn Howerton (Dennis from Always Sunny) as a Harvard professor who has lost his job and returns to his hometown, embittered. A familiar premise but some funny moments and could be a grower.


Cheers for the recco - now onto S2


----------



## Reno (Dec 19, 2019)

Two films about young women who date inappropriate men.
_
The Souvenir_ by Joanna Hogg. Oddly close to the bone as I studied film in London in the 80s and I knew a lot of the same people Hogg was friends with. Unlike her, I didn't have parents who bought me a flat in Knightsbridge though and going to college meant so much to me that I was actually doing work rather than wasting my time on a relationship with some posh junkie. Which sounds like I didn't like the film, I did though. It's very understated, remote even but I found it absorbing nevertheless.



_Tammy and the T-Rex_, which is the latest rediscovery to be hailed as "the worst film ever". Its bad but its far from the worst. The entire film came together because soon after Jurassic Park came out the filmmakers had access to an animatronic T-Rex for two weeks and quickly knocked out an exploitation film. It's an odd mishmash, mixing teen comedy with quite strong gore all revolving around the gonzo plot of a teenager getting his brain transplanted into a robot-dinosaur by a mad scientist. He then still tries to maintain a relationship with his girlfriend. The dinosaur is rather stiff as are Denise Richards and Paul Walker, who got their first roles in this. Very silly but competently made for what it is. Probably best watched after a few beers with a crowd, rather than alone at home.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 19, 2019)

Reno said:


> Two films about young women who date inappropriate men.
> _
> The Souvenir_ by Joanna Hogg. Oddly close to the bone as I studied film in London in the 80s and I knew a lot of the same people Hogg was friends with. Unlike her, I didn't have parents who bought me a flat in Knightsbridge though and going to college meant so much to me that I was actually doing work rather than wasting my time on a relationship with some posh junkie. Which sounds like I didn't like the film, I did though. It's very understated, remote even but I found it absorbing nevertheless.
> 
> _Tammy and the T-Rex_, which is the latest rediscovery to be hailed as "the worst film ever". Its bad but its far from the worst. The entire film came together because soon after Jurassic Park came out the filmmakers had access to an animatronic T-Rex for two weeks and quickly knocked out an exploitation film. It's an odd mishmash, mixing teen comedy with quite strong gore all revolving around the gonzo plot of a teenager getting his brain transplanted into a robot-dinosaur by a mad scientist. He then still tries to maintain a relationship with his girlfriend. The dinosaur is rather stiff as are Denise Richards and Paul Walker, who got their first roles in this. Very silly but competently made for what it is. Probably best watched after a few beers with a crowd, rather than alone at home.


I was certain I would hate The Souvenir - I'd previously avoided Joanna Hogg's output because her privilege and limited milieu made me think she would either be irritating or of no interest, but The Souvenir really drew me in and I found the acting mesmerising. Now curious to check her out her other work but they seem to feature a lot of Tom Hiddleston who can grate somewhat.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 19, 2019)

After Hours- Is a  brilliant little dark comedy directed by Scorsese . Wonderfully filmed it captures in almost like a dream sequence a catastrophic night out when a word processer decides to try and meet up with a woman he has previously met in a diner earlier in the evening. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong, every person he meets initially tries to help him but ends up blaming him for whatever has gone wrong in their lives.  Its full of oddball characters that inhabit the early hours of the day/night, dialogue is great and its well acted. I saw it at the cinema when it was first released in the mid 80s and had never seen it again. Makes me wonder why its not screened more tbh, the dress sense is dated but the comedy isnt.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2019)

Code 8
an unusual superpowers tale, they've gone from being the people who built new york (lots of those old time shots of men eating lunch on a steel beam beam in the sky but its all done with powers) to replaced by machines, a monitored and feared underclass. One young man falls in with criminal elements in order to pay for his mothers medical issues. I really liked this, it was original and while obviously not swimming in money the effects are good. I enjoyed it a lot more than Ad Astra anyway, which was the other sci fi film I saw this week.


----------



## Reno (Dec 21, 2019)

The Farewell, which was good but which is another film which I felt was critically overpraised this year. It’s based on a podcast of The American Life and it’s about a young Chinese-American woman who returns to China with her family because her beloved grandmother has terminal cancer. As apparently is common in China, the family has no intention of telling the grandmother about her diagnosis and instead they stage a wedding for her grandson as an excuse to see the grandmother one last time as a family. It’s perfectly fine, quite likeable and entertaining, it just faded from my memory as I was watching it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 22, 2019)

_Dazed and Confused_.

Didn't really get it when I saw it years back. I suppose it's an _American Graffiti_ type of film but I just can't get to like any of the characters that much and the hazing and bullying is particularly unpleasant. McConaughey is a standout but damn, his character is well dodgy, lusting after young girls etc.

Top marks for the soundtrack, mind. Even if there is a bit of Ted Nugent in the mix...


----------



## D'wards (Dec 22, 2019)

Just watched Blinded by the Light. Really enjoyed it but then I am a big Bruce fan


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 26, 2019)

Hunting around the charity shops for DVDs sometimes gets one a decent film for 50pence.

I picked Frozen River as I wanted a thriller. As it said "superior thriller" ( Time Out) on the cover I bought it.

Frozen River turned out to be a little gem of a film.

Two women , both single parents , accidently meet and become smugglers across the US/ Canadian border. The Frozen River of the title.

They are hardly best buddies at the begining of the film. One is a native American and the other a blue collar mum living in a trailer with her two children. Both need money. Both are only just getting by.

Two good performances from the women. They both come across as believable characters. Both gradually learn to like each other. This is developed well in the film.

Its also a film about bigger themes - borders.

But I won't spoil the plot.

Well worth a watch.

Its also interesting as a thriller where the two main characters are women. Men don't come out of this film well. Either absent fathers or uncaring thugs. 

Works well as a thriller. Several tense scenes.


Frozen River (2008) - IMDb


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 26, 2019)

Franz Fanon: Black Skin White Mask

Frantz Fanon: Black Skin White Mask (1995) - IMDb

A film by the artist / film maker Isaac Julien and Mark Nash.

 I haven't read Fanon. Somewhat forgotten he was a must read back in sixties. An important writer on racism and colonialism.

The film is part talking heads/ part art film . The title is the first book he wrote. He trained as a Psychiatrist in France and this was his dissertation. For him personal psychology and the social circumstances one lived in were linked.

Colin Salmon plays Fanon.

Not the run of the mill doc. The way I see the film is tableaux featuring a young Fanon / older Fanon that try to get the feel of what Fanon wrote about. This isn't a straightforward reconstruction of his life.

Two recurring images are Fanon ( Colin) staring out at the viewer and him in the desert wearing his suit and carrying his suitcase.

Both show aspects of Fanon life and thought .

One was his idea that for racism against black people the act of looking was important. How well one wore a "white mask" it would not work. I've coincidentally just been reading the collection of short stories called Friday Black ( which I recommend if you like speculative fiction) - the first story in the collection is just about this. Kind of shows Fanon is still relevant.

The second image of him in the desert. An incongrous image of a suited man in the desert I read as him always being an outsider but trying to find somewhere where he can be really free.

His adopted country was Algeria. The film explains how he ended up in Algeria supporting the independence fight against the French army after WW2.

The film does intercut footage from the famous film Battle of Algiers.

The "talking heads" include his close family , Stuart Hall and people he worked with.

Surprisingly this doc isn't uncritical. I did start to look up more about Fanon after the film.

Its in the end a moving portrait of a man of his times.

I did feel it could have been a longer film. Issues were touched on. The use of violence, his take on women and gay men. The film didn't pull punches. He was criticised in the film.

I would have liked more on how is work is relevant now. Stuart Hall touched on it. How racism can operate on a visual level. It operates and is continued through daily interactions.

As a film I felt it was a bit frustrating. It was an uneasy balance between the talking heads ( who were very good ) and a more cinematic / poetic expression of the Fanons work. The images were getting there but not fully realised. Setting up tableaux and mixing it in with actual other footage as a kind of collage. Good idea and I would have liked to see a film about Fanon that was mainly this.

There is however one excellent bit in the film where the French academic is talking about Fanon work and Fanon ( Colin) appears in the background. This works well to combine the two ways the film is made.


----------



## Kilgore Trout (Jan 2, 2020)

I'm watching Fear the Walking Dead series 2 that I recorded on E4. Its not as good as The Walking Dead (series 1 to 4 before Negen was introduced and it got rubbish) but fun and watchable if a little silly in places.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 2, 2020)

Industrial Accident: The Story Of Wax Trax Records
Thorough documentary on the seminal industrial/ebm label.
Some great stories of debauchery (such as live chickens with Annie Lennox masks being released into the crowd at a RevCo gig) and a surprisingly warm and moving love letter from the film-maker, Julia Nash, to her dad and his partner (Jim Nash and Danny Flesher), who co-founded the label


----------



## 8115 (Jan 3, 2020)

The More You Ignore Me. Really enjoyed this. Well worth a watch if you're interested in mental health. Written by Jo Brand.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 4, 2020)

Dune - David Lynch's effort from 1984. Still a bit of a mess. Impressive sets and design, but tonnes of exposition and raced scenes (esp in the second half). Haven't read the books but I can imagine fans of them were severely disappointed. When I originally saw this, aeons ago, I was a huge fan of Lynch but this left me disappointed. I think (hope) Villeneuve does a better job with what is clearly an epic storyline.


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Dune - David Lynch's effort from 1984. Still a bit of a mess. Impressive sets and design, but tonnes of exposition and raced scenes (esp in the second half). Haven't read the books but I can imagine fans of them were severely disappointed. When I originally saw this, aeons ago, I was a huge fan of Lynch but this left me disappointed. I think (hope) Villeneuve does a better job with what is clearly an epic storyline.


In fairness to Lynch, he never got to make the film he wanted to make. After he turned in his first rough cut, which lasted four hours and was without finished effects, the studio made him recut the film to get it down to two hours. Lynch’s intention was a three hour film and he was faced with an impossible task. They added a narration and all these weird voice overs to paper over the cracks. Lynch has disowned the film and refuses to even talk about it.

The Villeneuve Dune is planned as two films, but the second one will only go into production if the first half is a success. As this is far from a sure thing (see Blade Runner 2049) , we could end up with half an adaptation.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 6, 2020)

Reno said:


> In fairness to Lynch, he never got to make the film he wanted to make. After he turned in his first rough cut, which lasted four hours and was without finished effects, the studio made him recut the film to get it down to two hours. Lynch’s intention was a three hour film and he was faced with an impossible task. They added a narration and all these weird voice overs to paper over the cracks. Lynch has disowned the film and refuses to even talk about it.
> 
> The Villeneuve Dune is planned as two films, but the second one will only go into production if the first half is a success. As this is far from a sure thing (see Blade Runner 2049) , we could end up with half an adaptation.



I think Blade Runner 2049 is incredible, so I have faith in Villeneuve...


----------



## Reno (Jan 6, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> I think Blade Runner 2049 is incredible, so I have faith in Villeneuve...


I quite like it too (if not nearly as much as the original), but financially it was considered a disappointment. With Dune, Villeneuve is taking on his second film in a row, based on an earlier 80s sci-fi blockbuster, which wasn’t a hit the first time round. My point is, that we may end up with only half an adaptation, if Dune Part 1 suffers the same fate as Blade Runner 2049 at the box office.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 6, 2020)

Reno said:


> I quite like it too (if not nearly as much as the original), but financially it was considered a disappointment. With Dune, Villeneuve is taking on his second film based on an earlier 80s sci-fi blockbuster, which wasn’t a hit the first time round. My point is, that we may end up with only half an adaptation, if Dune Part 1 suffers the same fate as Blade Runner 2049 at the box office.



I'm sort of happy that we don't get to progress with anymore Blade Runners, tbh. As much as I appreciated the latest installment, I was not interested in the replica resistance thread that seemed to be setting it up for a future sequel.

I think that there's a lot of material for Dune, and maybe not so many of the newer generation of cinema-goers may be aware of its past, so may well embrace it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 6, 2020)

Fancied watching something terrible so picked Aquaman - it didn't disappoint. To save you over two hours of suffering, this is the best bit, specifically the goat's reaction


----------



## Reno (Jan 9, 2020)

_Code 8_, the second low budget sci-fi flick I've recently seen about a dystopian future in which people with super-...ooops...special powers have become outlaws for using their powers. This is slightly better than the godawful _Freaks_ (not the 30s horror classic) but it still feels like a pilot for just another middling superhero tv series.


----------



## belboid (Jan 9, 2020)

Some recent viewings:


*The Goldfinch*

It got poor reviews and it turns out they were way too generous. Nicole Kidman stops it from being unutterable shite, but that’s all anyone could say for it. 
Badly acted, scored and directed.  Despite the book having great dialogue and imagery, both are simply unmemorable here. None of the books strengths come through and it’s weaknesses (notably Boris and half of it being a Ripley knock off) are push’s massively to the fore. 


Awful.

*Blinded by the Light*

Much better than expected. A bit retro cliche in places, but properly understood the power and importance of music. 

*Yesterday*

Also much better than expected, with many really nice bits, even tho it’s full of holes and the ending is half an idea not thought through properly. 



*The Dead Don’t Die *

The height of meh

*Zombieland: Double Tap*

Pointless sequel that made me yearn for The Dead Don’t Die


----------



## hot air baboon (Jan 9, 2020)

Ok this was back in December some time but the musings on Blade Runner have just reminded me that I had a DVD of Ex Machina from a charity shop that I finally decided to give a spin & was pleasantly surprised. I actually thought it knocked BR 2049 into a cocked hat on the whole AI-cyborg issue tbh


----------



## 8115 (Jan 9, 2020)

All About Eve. Really enjoyed it.


----------



## Reno (Jan 10, 2020)

_The Killing of a Chinese Bookie_, one of the few John Cassavetes films I'd never seen. I get why some people like it the most of his films. It's in part a gangster film, complete with shootouts and offers one can't refuse, so it may be more accessible for many. Like all of his more personal films, it's a character study first though, with Ben Gazzara as a gambling addicted strip club proprietor who directs his strip club routines as an eccentric form of theatrical self-expression. Curious and I enjoyed it, but of Cassavetes' personal films its not among my favourites. I find the characters Gena Rowlands plays in_ A Woman Under the Influence, Opening Night,_ etc, including surrounding relationship dynamics, far more compelling.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 14, 2020)

_Jodorowsky's Dune_

2013 documentary about an adaptation that never was. The controversial director's vision would have been interesting, for sure, but possibly too far out for mainstream audiences.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2020)

Started watching S2 of American Horror Story. Enjoying it, but fucking hell it’s so gloomy and unpleasant. As it should be of course, but it’s gonna take me a while to get through. Will be done with all the seasons by 2025 at this rate. Are they all worth a watch?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 14, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Started watching S2 of American Horror Story. Enjoying it, but fucking hell it’s so gloomy and unpleasant. As it should be of course, but it’s gonna take me a while to get through. Will be done with all the seasons by 2025 at this rate. Are they all worth a watch?


it starts to tail off around the carnival season, where I stopped watching. Skipped a couple of seasons  (roanoke and cult) and picked it up again for Apocalypse. It never gets as good as the first two again though imo.


----------



## Reno (Jan 14, 2020)

Asylum/S2 is by far the best season of American Horror Story. The 3rd one with the witches is watchable, after that I didn’t make it through a whole season. I tried to watch most of them and after an intriguing set up, they always turn crap. I recently gave up on Apocalypse, which was hailed as a return to form. As always, great start and then I gave up after four episodes.

Channel Zero, is another horror anthology series where every season is self contained and I think it’s better. It’s based on creepypasta web stories. Wasn’t that keen on the first season, but I thought season 2 & 4 were great. Haven’t gotten round to season 3 yet.


----------



## magneze (Jan 14, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Started watching S2 of American Horror Story. Enjoying it, but fucking hell it’s so gloomy and unpleasant. As it should be of course, but it’s gonna take me a while to get through. Will be done with all the seasons by 2025 at this rate. Are they all worth a watch?


It's awful imo. Some of the nastiest TV I've ever seen. No upside that I could find. Unremittingly grim.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2020)

magneze said:


> It's awful imo. Some of the nastiest TV I've ever seen. No upside that I could find. Unremittingly grim.


There’s a clue in the title there


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 14, 2020)

_Ivan's Childhood - _1962 - Andrei Tarkovsky's breakthrough hit, an amazingly hallucinatory tale of an underage Russian lad fighting through the hellscape of WW2. Probably one of the best war films ever made. Also a bit of outrageous Soviet propaganda. Extraordinarily beautiful, horribly ugly, kind of pretentious, kind of baffling, also unbearably moving and unspeakably brutal. Warning: absolutely not for the squeamish - there is very little gore (and it's all in b&w anyway) but there's an accelerating turn in to horrors of war towards the end where all sorts of genuine war footage gets collaged in. It's proper shaken me up!


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jan 15, 2020)

Eps 1 & 2 of the new HBO show The Outsider.

So far so good Stephen King adaptation (that I've never heard of).

This watches like HBOs grittiest police procedurals with sprinkles of supernatural mystery and whodunnit (not like scooby doo)

Great cast, great direction from Jason Batemen and episodes written by Richard Price and Dennis Lehane.

lots of King's stuff gets silly at the end. Hope this avoids it.


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## Detroit City (Jan 15, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> I think Blade Runner 2049 is incredible, so I have faith in Villeneuve...


incredible? wtf, it was sooo boring that I fell asleep half way thru


----------



## Detroit City (Jan 15, 2020)

last night I watched Platoon (1986) - still as powerful as ever


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 16, 2020)

Some Bill Burr stand up thing. 

I really don't get this guy's popularity at all.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jan 16, 2020)

Terminator Dark Future has finally leaked so I saw that. Its a good Terminator film, best one I can recall for years.


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 16, 2020)

_Teddy Pendergrass - If You Don't Know Me _- 2017 documentary. Uneasy mix of star hagiography, true-crime investigation, soap-opera drama and 70s vintage-kitsch extravaganza, but it's a fascinating and bizarre and sad story of how the prototype "lurve man" soul star rose to fame and what came next. One hell of a life lived, for sure, and some of the stuff early on about the lawless nature of the music business and Philadelphia in that era is hair-raising and original. (BTW I was never ever a Teddy P fan, but watching some of the footage from this, have new respect for his amazing voice.)


----------



## Virtual Blue (Jan 16, 2020)

Uncut Gems - what a depressing film. good but depressing. 

Thunder Road - funny and depressing...recommend.


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## Badgers (Jan 16, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Some Bill Burr stand up thing.
> 
> I really don't get this guy's popularity at all.


I really like his podcasts but dislike his stand ups  
Probably the same as Micky Flanagan would go done in the USA


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 16, 2020)

Bumper Day waiting at my mates house for a delivery that never arrived: 
The Great Train Robbery
2 Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone  
Paul Blart - Mall Cop 2 

Im off to the pub now


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## Chz (Jan 17, 2020)

Saw *Lilting* the other day.

There's admittedly not an awful lot of story to it, but the acting is superb and it manages to be sad and full of emotion whilst not giving in to mawkishness. I quite rate it.
I normally don't watch that sort of thing because it's needlessly manipulative, but this one never felt that way.


----------



## pesh (Jan 17, 2020)

Dark Waters, a corporate attorney takes on DuPont for poisoning everyone. really good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 20, 2020)

_Okja_ - starts off a bit like a Ghibli film and then goes some weird and wonderful places. From Bong Joon Ho, the director of _The Host_ and _Snowpiercer_.


----------



## kalidarkone (Jan 20, 2020)

I watched 'Primal' an animated series about an unlikely alliance between a neanderthal man and a female dinosaur. I loved it! Beautiful visually and musically. Very moving and funny.








						Primal (TV Series 2019– ) - IMDb
					

Primal: Created by Genndy Tartakovsky. With Aaron LaPlante, Laëtitia Eïdo, Fred Tatasciore, Imari Williams. A caveman and a dinosaur bond over shared tragedy and work together to survive in a perilous prehistoric world.




					www.imdb.com


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## Detroit City (Jan 20, 2020)

Saturday Night Fever (1977)


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jan 25, 2020)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Bought the 40th anniversary remastered edition on blu-ray.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 25, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Bought the 40th anniversary remastered edition on blu-ray.


Love it  great Sunday film. Cheesy but done well.


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## farmerbarleymow (Jan 25, 2020)

Badgers said:


> Love it  great Sunday film. Cheesy but done well.


It had a scene inside the ship when the chap went inside which wasn't in the original.  The quality seemed a bit sharper than the original, but there is only so much they can improve on the video quality of the day.


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## Reno (Jan 25, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> It had a scene inside the ship when the chap went inside which wasn't in the original.  The quality seemed a bit sharper than the original, but there is only so much they can improve on the video quality of the day.


There are three versions on the blu-ray. The one you watched is the Special Edition, which due to that scene is the worst. Roy going into the space ship, with the aliens looking in from a distance feels sinister, it makes me worry about anal probes. Spielberg cut and released that one in part to regain the rights to the film. He later did a Directors Cut which thankfully eliminates that scene and which he considers his definitive version, it’s also in the blu-ray. I still like the Theatrical Cut best though because that the one I watched about ten times at the cinema when Close Encounters first came out.

I don’t know what you mean with “a bit” sharper than the original, the film was shot on 35mm, not on video. No theatrical films were shot on video, especially not in the 70s. 35mm is actually a tad sharper than what a blu-ray is capable of. It’s just that the cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond liked a look at the time, which had a slightly soft quality. I’ve watched this on my projector a few times and it looks great.

Sorry for nerding out but this is one if my favourite films of all time.


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## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 25, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> It had a scene inside the ship when the chap went inside which wasn't in the original.  The quality seemed a bit sharper than the original, but there is only so much they can improve on the video quality of the day.



Sounds like the Special Edition. There's a Director's Cut as well, which omits that scene, but retains some of the others added to the original release. It was shot on 35mm film though, which is higher-res than blu-ray, so the video quality is there. The FX probably need reworking though.

It's one of my favourite films, but I really wish there was a cut that omitted one line of dialogue that has bugged me for decades.

Edit: simulpost with Reno, heh


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## Reno (Jan 25, 2020)

The FX doesn’t need reworking either, can’t stand that revisionism of replacing old school analogue effects with shiny new digital effects which Lucas is so fond of. Classic movies should look of their time.  A film like Close Encounters doesn’t need CGI, it still looks great and special effects technologies of the time should be preserved.

Spielberg did that once with E.T. for the DVD release. Everybody hated the result and he junked it, never making it available for the blu-ray.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 25, 2020)

Reno said:


> The FX doesn’t need reworking either, can’t stand that revisionism of replacing old school analogue effects with shiny new digital effects which Lucas is so fond of. A film like Close Encounters doesn’t need a CGI, it still looks great and special effects technologies of the time should be preserved.



Yeah, you are right, and that was a dumb throwaway line by me. The team on Close Encounters did extraordinary work. Early ILM? 

(they still need to cut that damn fool Einstein line)


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Jan 26, 2020)

Reno said:


> Sorry for nerding out but this is one if my favourite films of all time.


Yes, Mr Anorak.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 26, 2020)

_Shazam!_

Old fashioned kids superhero film with nods to Spielberg, Harry Potter, The Greatest American Hero, Big etc. Occasionally, DC can deliver.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 26, 2020)

Safe...Julieanne Moore is a California step mum who contracts a strange illness which nobody appears able to diagnose until she comes across a flyer at the gym. The environment appears to be to blame. She moves to a commune of others with the illness in the desert.

Mubi had it down as one of the best films of the 90s and it's really good although I kind of lost interest in the second half.

Tina Goes Shopping...Watched it on Youtube. Still very entertaining. Might watch the second one today.


----------



## MBV (Jan 26, 2020)

I watched Waves yesterday. Its not an easy watch but I would recommend it.









						Waves (2019) - IMDb
					

Waves: Directed by Trey Edward Shults. With Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucas Hedges, Taylor Russell, Alexa Demie. Traces the journey of a suburban family - led by a well-intentioned but domineering father - as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.




					www.imdb.com


----------



## flypanam (Jan 28, 2020)

The Righteous Gemstones - Love McBride's work but this really is savage, its a take down of the evangelical church in particular the Falwell family.


----------



## T & P (Jan 29, 2020)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Eps 1 & 2 of the new HBO show The Outsider.
> 
> So far so good Stephen King adaptation (that I've never heard of).
> 
> ...


Another vote for this. Very good so far and while there is clearly a supernatural element at play it is mostly a police crime drama so far.

King seems to be writing a few of those of recent. Mr Mercedes is another series (on Amazon/ Starzplay) based on his books that is more police crime than sci-fi.


----------



## Reno (Jan 30, 2020)

It took me three or four episodes to get into it, but I'm really enjoying season one of _Evil_. It's a horror show by Robert & Michelle King,  the creative duo behind _The Good Wife_, which I think was the best Network show of the last decade. Its spin-off _The Good Fight_ is even better.

_Evil_ could be described as _The X-Files_ meets _The Exorcist_. It's about three investigators who work for the catholic church and who try to determine whether possessions and miracles are real. Two are sceptics, one is a believer. It took me a few episodes to catch on to what this show is doing and what I really like about it is that it never comes down on one side or the other. A lot of spooky stuff happens, but it's always played so there could be a scientific or a supernatural explanation. There even are two important supporting characters who could be demons or they could have a more rational explanation. Unlike _The X-Files_, it doesn't undermine its sceptic characters and unlike_ The Exorcist_ it doesn't take catholic doctrine at face value.

The show is similar to in structure and features many of the same virtues as _The Good Wife_. A lot of emphasis on strong characterisation, this is a procedural with a new case every week and a continuing plot going through the entire season. Like _The Good Wife_ it feels a little formulaic and old fashioned at first and then it becomes richer and smarter as it goes on. It has surprises up its sleeve, which are sprinkled thought the show. There is the same wit to the dialogue as there was in the _The Good Wife_, the same preoccupation with how 21st technology is changing our lives and a growing cast of intriguing, recurring characters. It's already been renewed for a second season.


----------



## 8115 (Jan 31, 2020)

The Hustle on Netflix. It's pretty good if you want something bubblegummy. I've put it here rather than the Netflix thread because I think it (just about) got a cinematic release and deserves to count as a real film, although Netflix are changing the cinematic landscape as we all well know.


----------



## DexterTCN (Jan 31, 2020)

Ford v Ferrari.   Pretty much by the numbers racing drama mixed with evil interfering corporate politics.

It's fucking fantastic.  It does what it does really well, Bale and Damon play the leads and steal the film, especially Bale.  It's a true story so you (kinda but not really) know how it will end but...really well done.  Also you get to see Batman fight Jason Bourne...not to be missed.


----------



## Marty1 (Feb 1, 2020)

Pacific Rim.



Stirring stuff.


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 1, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Some Bill Burr stand up thing.
> 
> I really don't get this guy's popularity at all.



I like him. However, his fanboys are wankers.


----------



## imposs1904 (Feb 1, 2020)

Louis Malle's Lacombe, Lucien


----------



## Part-timah (Feb 1, 2020)

I’m currently watching the topical Contagion. It’s pretty daft.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 1, 2020)

_The Meyerowitz Stories_

This Baumach director is great. I've only seen _Marriage Story_ but so far, his films (in regard to families not listening to each other) really resonate. And yes, Sandler can act properly.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 1, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> _The Meyerowitz Stories_
> 
> This Baumach director is great. I've only seen _Marriage Story_ but so far, his films (in regard to families not listening to each other) really resonate. And yes, Sandler can act properly.



He acted 'properly' in Punch Drunk Love


----------



## starfish (Feb 1, 2020)

Just watched Uncut Gems. Thought it was really good which surprised me as i usually avoid Adam Sandler like the plague.


----------



## Detroit City (Feb 1, 2020)

starfish said:


> Just watched Uncut Gems. Thought it was really good which surprised me as i usually avoid Adam Sandler like the plague.


I hate Sandler too, especially on SNL.  I've never seen any of his movies.


----------



## Reno (Feb 1, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> I hate Sandler too, especially on SNL.  I've never seen any of his movies.


His comedies are awful but he’s proven himself to be a surprisingly good actor when cast in non-comedic roles.


----------



## starfish (Feb 1, 2020)

Reno said:


> His comedies are awful but he’s proven himself to be a surprisingly good actor when cast in non-comedic roles.


His characters are all fairly the same though. Maybe hes just not funny.


----------



## Reno (Feb 1, 2020)

starfish said:


> His characters are all fairly the same though. Maybe hes just not funny.


I don’t care and to be honest I haven’t watched most of his comedies because they don’t interest me. When he’s in non-comedies he’s been in films by first rate directors like P.T. Anderson, Noah Baubach and the Safdie Brorthers and they cast him because he fit the roles they wrote.


----------



## starfish (Feb 2, 2020)

Reno said:


> I don’t care and to be honest I haven’t watched most of his comedies because they don’t interest me. When he’s in non-comedies he’s been in films by first rate directors like P.T. Anderson, Noah Baubach and the Safdie Brorthers and they cast him because he fit the roles they wrote.


He plays it better straight. After this film im happy to see him in other films like this.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2020)

Nanker Phelge said:


> He acted 'properly' in Punch Drunk Love



Brilliant film. Perhaps "properly" is a clumsy word in relation to his acting. It's just rewarding to see him perform without the usual Sanderisms...


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> I hate Sandler too, especially on SNL.  I've never seen any of his movies.



You're missing out. As pointed out, _Punch Drunk Love_ and _The Meyorowitz Stories_ highlight his range.


----------



## Detroit City (Feb 2, 2020)

just finished watching The Prestige (2006) with Hugh Jackman, Christain Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansen

it was pretty good, I would recommend it

oh and David Bowie was in it too


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2020)

_All Quiet on the Western Front_ (1930)

Not sure what I can add to the tonnes of praise that this film has received over the last 90 years. Simply awestruck by it. No wonder it was banned in some countries because the anti-war message would have been seen as dangerous. It was a clever move to have the focus on German soldiers as regular guys with all the fears and hopes that so many young people have at that age. And having the cast keep their American accents.


----------



## Chz (Feb 2, 2020)

Reno said:


> His comedies are awful but he’s proven himself to be a surprisingly good actor when cast in non-comedic roles.


His first two comedies were, I thought, pretty good. But he then did the same schtick over and over again for 15 years. Had some sort of chemistry with Drew Barrymore that made those ones not-awful, but that's about it for the comedies. As others have noted, surprisingly good at the straight role even if he hasn't done it much.


----------



## Reno (Feb 2, 2020)

I watched the last three episodes of the TV series _Evil_ which I wrote about above. Excellent, if you like_ X-Files_-style TV shows, though where _The X-Files_ is more conspiracy-theory and science fiction based, this is more sceptical and leans more into horror. Can't wait for season 2.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 2, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> just finished watching The Prestige (2006) with Hugh Jackman, Christain Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansen
> 
> it was pretty good, I would recommend it
> 
> oh and David Bowie was in it too


One of my faves . It was released around the same time as and overshadowed by The Illusionist which was a cracking film but I think the Prestige has had better longetivity


----------



## Sue (Feb 2, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> _All Quiet on the Western Front_ (1930)
> 
> Not sure what I can add to the tonnes of praise that this film has received over the last 90 years. Simply awestruck by it. No wonder it was banned in some countries because the anti-war message would have been seen as dangerous. It was a clever move to have the focus on German soldiers as regular guys with all the fears and hopes that so many young people have at that age. And having the cast keep their American accents.


You do know it was based on a book by a German author hence the focus on 'German soldiers as regular guys'...


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 2, 2020)

Finished the first part of season 10 of The Walking Dead which I must say has massivly improved since Rick Grimes departed .


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2020)

Sue said:


> You do know it was based on a book by a German author hence the focus on 'German soldiers as regular guys'...



I did not know that, no. It's been a while since the movie came out, so I missed all the hype and spoilers


----------



## Detroit City (Feb 2, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> You're missing out. As pointed out, _Punch Drunk Love_ and _The Meyorowitz Stories_ highlight his range.


I dislike Sandler just like I dislike Donald Trump


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 2, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> I dislike Sandler just like I dislike Donald Trump



Ok.... Trump doesn't have that much range.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 2, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> just finished watching The Prestige (2006) with Hugh Jackman, Christain Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansen
> 
> it was pretty good, I would recommend it
> 
> oh and David Bowie was in it too


The second time you watch it it shows you how clever it is.   Great film, love it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 3, 2020)

Ep 1 of Gatiss and Moffat's _Dracula_. Completely OTT and more gruesome than scary. Special effects reminded me a bit of _Company of Wolve_s in once scene. Silly but highly enjoyable.


----------



## sojourner (Feb 3, 2020)

Snowpiercer. Absolute fucking steaming hot pile of wank juice.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 3, 2020)

sojourner said:


> Snowpiercer. Absolute fucking steaming hot pile of wank juice.


What, it's ace


----------



## sojourner (Feb 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> What, it's ace


So many things wrong with it. I can't be arsed listing the very long list of what was shit about it, but I fucking hated it.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 3, 2020)

sojourner said:


> Snowpiercer. Absolute fucking steaming hot pile of wank juice.



I watched it last week. It's far from the sort of film I usually watch but I thought it was brilliant.


----------



## rekil (Feb 3, 2020)

sojourner said:


> Snowpiercer. Absolute fucking steaming hot pile of wank juice.


I hated it too. Chang Dong Lee is a better Korean fillum maker all round.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 3, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> I watched it last week. It's far from the sort of film I usually watch but I thought it was brilliant.


He's got a new one, Parasite, out very soon that has received a lot of acclaim. Will deffo go see it


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> He's got a new one, Parasite, out very soon that has received a lot of acclaim. Will deffo go see it



Off to the preview tonight! 🙂


----------



## Reno (Feb 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> He's got a new one, Parasite, out very soon that has received a lot of acclaim. Will deffo go see it


That’s not out in the UK yet ? And I thought films take a long time to get to Germany.


----------



## Reno (Feb 3, 2020)

It’s currently cleaning up awards right, left and center.


----------



## sojourner (Feb 3, 2020)

rekil said:


> I hated it too. Chang Dong Lee is a better Korean fillum maker all round.


Seems to be a bit of a marmite movie.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 3, 2020)

Reno said:


> That’s not out in the UK yet ? And I thought films take a long time to get to Germany.


I think it actually came out on Friday in the chain cinemas but my local isn’t showing it for a couple of weeks


----------



## Reno (Feb 3, 2020)

I think Snowpiercer is the best film Terry Gilliam never made.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 4, 2020)

Wasn't sure where else to put this ....An Elephant Sitting Still is on All4 for anyone who fancies watching it. 4 hours but doesn't feel like it.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 4, 2020)

*


----------



## Chz (Feb 5, 2020)

Watched _Drive_ on DVD. Not sure how I missed it the first time around.

Pretty good action flick. I like that they don't waste time with exposition and whatnot. It's an action film, show me don't tell me. I'd put it in the "Better than it has any right to be" category, but not quite at Mad Max levels.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 5, 2020)

Chz said:


> Watched _Drive_ on DVD. Not sure how I missed it the first time around.
> 
> Pretty good action flick. I like that they don't waste time with exposition and whatnot. It's an action film, show me don't tell me. I'd put it in the "Better than it has any right to be" category, but not quite at Mad Max levels.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Feb 5, 2020)

Good place to find all the streaming new releases as they arrive daily. You can filter it to the subs you have: JustWatch


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 5, 2020)

Naked - Mike Leigh. I'd not seen this since it came out and all I could remember is the initial scene and the one with Johnny and the security guard. 

It's a fucking horrible film, grim as fuck. Some of the performances are very theatrical I thought. I'd never seen David Thewlis before this and I imagine the security guard scene is still the best thing he's ever done. Watched it with my son and he thought it the most difficult thing he's had to watch. I could sense him flinching everytime Johnny got close to another female character. Mananging to find a shittier character in the landlord is quite something.


----------



## T & P (Feb 5, 2020)

flypanam said:


> The Righteous Gemstones - Love McBride's work but this really is savage, its a take down of the evangelical church in particular the Falwell family.



This just started on Sky Comedy and fucking loving it so far


----------



## Chz (Feb 7, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


>



Ah, okay. I didn't know there was a 2019 film of the same name that looks... less good. I mean the 2011 Ryan Gosling one.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 7, 2020)

Chz said:


> Ah, okay. I didn't know there was a 2019 film of the same name that looks... less good. I mean the 2011 Ryan Gosling one.


1997


----------



## Reno (Feb 7, 2020)

Drive (2019):


----------



## Chz (Feb 7, 2020)

Reno said:


> Drive 2019:



Yeah, that looked awful so I thought that was the one DexterTCN meant.


----------



## Reno (Feb 7, 2020)

Chz said:


> Yeah, that looked awful so I thought that was the one DexterTCN meant.


It's supposed a Bollywood remake of the 2011 Drive, but during production it morphed into a mash-up of Drive and The Fast and the Furious. The original Drive got sued at the time by an unhappy punter for not being enough like The Fast and the Furious. 









						Woman Sues 'Drive' Distributors Because The Movie Wasn't Enough Like 'Fast And Furious'
					






					www.businessinsider.com


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 7, 2020)

Love the soundtrack in the 2011 Drive


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 8, 2020)

flypanam said:


> The Righteous Gemstones - Love McBride's work but this really is savage, its a take down of the evangelical church in particular the Falwell family.



Watched the first episode last night, loved it.


----------



## rekil (Feb 8, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Watched the first episode last night, loved it.


 That Adam Devine fucker put me right off. He pops up everywhere with his shitty mugging but I'll go back to it because of McBride.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 8, 2020)

rekil said:


> That Adam Devine fucker put me right off. He pops up everywhere with his shitty mugging but I'll go back to it because of McBride.


Yes he's irritating . Particular american type of stereotype. I like the sisters role though


----------



## MBV (Feb 8, 2020)

Is it a musical? Or is there more to it?


----------



## Reno (Feb 8, 2020)

*Knives Out* by Ryan Johnson, which is good fun. It’s a modern take on an Agatha Christie-style drawing room mystery, was a big hit critically and financially last year and it is exactly the type of film "they don't make them like" anymore. It's also a big "fuck you" to Trump's America and a take-down of the 1%, not dissimilar to Parasite in the way it frames social satire as a genre film.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 8, 2020)

Reno said:


> *Knives Out* by Ryan Johnson, which is good fun. It’s a modern take on an Agatha Christie-style drawing room mystery, was a big hit critically and financially last year and it is exactly the type of film "they don't make them like" anymore. It's also a big "fuck you" to Trump's America and a take-down of the 1%, not dissimilar to Parasite in the way it frames social satire as a genre film.
> 
> View attachment 197888


It's wonderful.  They're all so grotesque.


----------



## Reno (Feb 9, 2020)

Watched the black comedy/thriller Come to Daddy. Urban hipster gets letter from his father who abandoned the family long ago and visits him in the middle of nowhere. It turns into the worst father/son reunion imaginable, there are plot twists along the way and people end up dying gruesomely. Loved it.


----------



## Detroit City (Feb 9, 2020)

Rush Hour 2 with Jackie Chan.  It was ok entertainment but nothing more.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 9, 2020)

Reno said:


> *Knives Out* by Ryan Johnson, which is good fun. It’s a modern take on an Agatha Christie-style drawing room mystery, was a big hit critically and financially last year and it is exactly the type of film "they don't make them like" anymore. It's also a big "fuck you" to Trump's America and a take-down of the 1%, not dissimilar to Parasite in the way it frames social satire as a genre film.
> 
> View attachment 197888


When you put it like that, it sounds like what last year's _Murder Mystery_ tried to be


----------



## Reno (Feb 9, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> When you put it like that, it sounds like what last year's _Murder Mystery_ tried to be


I've never had the pleasure and probably never will.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Feb 9, 2020)

Finally got around to watching _Booksmart_ over the last couple of days. Really liked it, even if it was just a female-driven rehash of _Superbad_. Some of the subplots were a bit hit-and-miss, but all of the leads were really good, the dialogue was smart, and it didn't rely at all on gross-out humour to get laughs. (It's on Amazon Prime for free now!)


----------



## flypanam (Feb 11, 2020)

Shoplifters - a rather beautiful movie about lost people who have been found and taken in to form a family. It's also an unflinching look at poverty in Japan.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Feb 13, 2020)

Hellraiser.


----------



## belboid (Feb 13, 2020)

Upstream Color.

Which is... different. The life cycle of a larva with psychic abilities. And pigs. And a love story (between humans). Engrossing and bewildering, a magnificent soundtrack.


----------



## Reno (Feb 14, 2020)

belboid said:


> Upstream Color.
> 
> Which is... different. The life cycle of a larva with psychic abilities. And pigs. And a love story (between humans). Engrossing and bewildering, a magnificent soundtrack.


I’ve never seen a film which benefits as much from a rewatch as this one does. It gets a lot less bewildering.


----------



## Reno (Feb 14, 2020)

Color Out of Space, based on the Lovecraft story and which is Richard Stanley’s return to feature filmmaking after several decades. After two genre films in the early 90s, which showed promise (but weren’t all that great IMO) Stanley probably became most famous for the disastrous The Island of Dr. Moreau movie, starring a barely alive Marlon Brando. Stanley, who originated the project, got bootet off it early into the shoot, which led to a trainwreck of a movie and a hilarious documentary of everything which can go wrong on a film, going wrong:









						Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				




His new film has been met with praise. There is a lot of goodwill towards Stanley, whose career is considered to have been unfairly derailed. Unfortunately this isn’t  very good. It‘s got a reasonably large budget (nice cinematography and score) and a movie star in Nicolas Cage. After the first half of the movie showing promise, it goes down the drain when it should be getting off the ground. Several characters introduced early on, get lost in the shuffle. Once various, extraterrestrial mishaps start plaguing the family at the centre of this, we have nobody to root for. There is a character who should be the lead, who we are introduced to in the beginning and who then only pops up again in the end.

This is about an otherworldly event which rapidly mutates all life, but what we get are a few sub-The Thing effects, a CGI bug and Cage doing his crazy-shtick. The lighting effects which cause the mutations look like some 80s pop video effect.

The recent Annihilation by Alex Garland dealt with the same premise, far more imaginatively and thoughtfully.


----------



## fishfinger (Feb 14, 2020)

Reno said:


> Color Out of Space...


It seemed like a good premise, although poorly executed. Cage doing his usual over-acting, channelling Jack Nicholson in the shining.


----------



## Reno (Feb 14, 2020)

_Judy_, which I watched despite my general dislike of biopics. It is a run-of-the-mill biopic, but Zellweger really knocks it out of the park. Her performance drew me in despite the cliches. She goes beyond impersonation and mannerisms and really captures Judy Garland, I was doubtful but she deserved her Oscar win. The only times when this doesn’t quite work is when she has to sing. She does an OK approximation of Garland’s singing style, she just doesn’t have the pipes. Still better than expected and quite touching.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 14, 2020)

Reno said:


> Color Out of Space, based on the Lovecraft story and which is Richard Stanley’s return to feature filmmaking after several decades. After two genre films in the early 90s, which showed promise (but weren’t all that great IMO) Stanley probably became most famous for the disastrous The Island of Dr. Moreau movie, starring a barely alive Marlon Brando. Stanley, who originated the project, got bootet off it early into the shoot, which led to a trainwreck of a movie and a hilarious documentary of everything which can go wrong on a film, going wrong:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I was looking forward to this, in fact narrowly missed a preview double bill of this last night with Little Joe (which also looks promising). Nicolas Cage, Richard Stanley and HP Lovecraft and a poster like this:

made it look like a recipe for entertaining derangement.


----------



## Reno (Feb 14, 2020)

You dodged a bullet, I thought Little Joe was even worse. The publicity makes Color Out of Space look like another Mandy. It’s watchable enough and starts out promisingly but then it never really delivers and I’d rather watch Annihilation again.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 14, 2020)

Wish I'd been able to see Annihilation on a big screen


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 15, 2020)

Brassic - This comedy series set in some Lancashire type small town about the adventures of a bi-polar likely lad and his mates is seriously worth watching . Its consistently  funny , well scripted , fast paced and probably enhanced if you've ever set foot in one of these places. Too easy to be pigeonholed as just another shameless type comedy ,even though the writer worked on the third series apparantly , this is set exactly in one of those northern towns where after Blair the lack of meaningful jobs  created extended adolescence . Think Early Doors for the post DReam generation.Reccomended.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 15, 2020)




----------



## Reno (Feb 16, 2020)

_Maborosi_ by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Sometimes a great filmmaker just passes you by, despite reading about how good their films are for decades. I finally caught up with Hirokazu Kore-eda with his film _Shoplifters_ and even that a year after it came out. After it instantly became one of my favourite films of the last few years, I ended up getting a BFI blu-ray box set of his early films. Last night I watched his debut feature from 1995. With some early films you have to accept that a filmmaker is finding their voice or learning their craft, but not here. This is a masterpiece out of the gate.

Yumiko and Ikuo met as kids, married and just had a baby. They are a young working class couple living in Osaka but they appear happy and it's clear that Yumiko is deeply in love with her husband. Then one day she receives the news that her husband has died. He got hit by a train, an apparent suicide. The film moves on a few years. Yumiko has agreed to an arranged marriage to a widower who has a young daughter and she moves to a small seaside town with her son to join her new husband. She appears content, the new husband is kind and the two children get along well. After a brief visit to Osaka to visit friends and relatives, memories of Ikuo come flooding back and with it, her never really having come to terms with why he committed suicide. After she returns to her family, Yumiko becomes withdrawn. The film avoids melodrama or big moments, it's all in the details and in the expressions of the lead actress. Then the end packs an emotional wallop, I still get teary just thinking about it.

I've got three more films to go with the box set and then I'm going to get my hands on everything Hirokazu Kore-eda has directed.


----------



## cybershot (Feb 16, 2020)

Gemini man. Rubbish. Really weird cinematography which is probably down to being filmed with 3D cameras. It felt like I was watching a bunch of cut scenes from a video game. In fact it would probably have been more suited as a video game story. 5/10


----------



## Reno (Feb 16, 2020)

cybershot said:


> Gemini man. Rubbish. Really weird cinematography which is probably down to being filmed with 3D cameras. It felt like I was watching a bunch of cut scenes from a video game. In fact it would probably have been more suited as a video game story. 5/10


Ang Lee seems to have become preoccupied with pushing new technology over the last few years, rather than making good films. This was supposed to showcase HFR (high frame rate) in combination with 3D, a technology most cinemas are not equipped to display and therefore only a few people have seen the film in the way it was supposed to be shown. HFR is supposed to feature an unprecedented level of detail and realism. _Gemini Man_ is a film which has been in various stages of development since the mid-90s and was long considered to be one of the best unproduced screenplay due to its central hook. So it's odd that the thing most critics have complained about is its plot. Over the years other films have come along with a similar premise (Ryan Johnson's _Looper_) , so that's one reason it's not that novel anymore.


----------



## starfish (Feb 16, 2020)

Joker. Fell asleep midway through it. Will try & rewatch today.


----------



## Reno (Feb 16, 2020)

starfish said:


> Joker. Fell asleep midway through it. Will try & rewatch today.


At least I'm not the only one who thought this was a snooze.


----------



## starfish (Feb 16, 2020)

Reno said:


> At least I'm not the only one who thought this was a snooze.


Aye. Just rewatched it & am trying to work out what all the fuss was about.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Feb 16, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Brassic - This comedy series set in some Lancashire type small town about the adventures of a bi-polar likely lad and his mates is seriously worth watching . Its consistently  funny , well scripted , fast paced and probably enhanced if you've ever set foot in one of these places. Too easy to be pigeonholed as just another shameless type comedy ,even though the writer worked on the third series apparantly , this is set exactly in one of those northern towns where after Blair the lack of meaningful jobs  created extended adolescence . Think Early Doors for the post DReam generation.Reccomended.


That looks good.  Is it on telly or on DVD/streaming?


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 17, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> That looks good.  Is it on telly or on DVD/streaming?


It was on Sky. I watched it on a bent app on a firestick but if you have a laptop/pc download and set up Stremio and sign up ( its free) and its on there.


----------



## flypanam (Feb 17, 2020)

Late night - a movie about a talk show host (Emma Thompson) who is facing the end of her career unless she can make her act relevant. In steps Mindy Kailing to save the show with some woke humour. A terrible movie.

Joker - I liked it. The background of austerity in 1970's Gothem, the sense of alienation, being left behind while Wall Street and Thomas Wayne own the place was well done. A tale about how having no hope, no life other than day to day struggle, of being seen as vermin, can turn people to prejudice and nihilism.

Heimat - Life in Germany from the end of the War to the 1980's. Just got through the first disc. Loved it.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 17, 2020)

Finished Brassic , now looking foward to series 2.


----------



## Chz (Feb 17, 2020)

_Capernaum. _
Fantastic tale of a young boy from a poor family in Lebanon who stabs a son-of-a-bitch and sues his parents. Admittedly one of those wanky films that's not so much _about_ something as it is a life experience. We loved it. Good balance of heart-wrenching and hilarious.

Also finally watched _Lady Bird_ on Netflix last night. Admittedly, I'll watch anything with Laurie Metcalf in it - even Big Bang Theory. Loved it, though had to explain to the mrs just what a wasteland Sacramento is.


----------



## T & P (Feb 22, 2020)

Just discovered Channel Zero, a sci-fi/ horror anthology series that’s been running for four seasons already. Absolutely great within that genre- S2 & 3 boast 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Recommended to anyone eho likes American Horror Story-style series.


----------



## Chz (Feb 24, 2020)

Downloaded and watched _Beforeigners_. Utterly bonkers in a fun way. For no adequately explored reason, people from the past keep popping into the present day where they're treated as refugees. In Norway, they only appear from Victorian Age, Viking Age, and Stone Age. Let's set up a buddy-cop whodunnit with a Viking sidekick!


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 24, 2020)

Bit of a Susan George collection

_A Small Town in Texas_ - ropey "thriller" about the conflict between an ex-con and sheriff (George playing the woman stuck in the middle of the two). Don't bother with it.

_Tomorrow Never Comes_ - British-Canadian film directed by Peter Collinson (_The Italian Job_) with a top cast - Oliver Reed, Donald Pleasance, Raymond Burr, John Osbourne, George. There's a half-decent film here but it's smothered and never really gets going. 

_Sonny and Jed_ - Sergio Corbucci spaghetti western, with George playing one half of the couple, Tomas Milian the other half and Telly Savalas the man hunting them down. Not one of Corbucci's best it is mostly spaghetti western by the numbers but there are a couple of nice moments. 

_Die Screaming Marianne_ - Pete Walker thriller with George playing the heroine in danger. Usual Walker exploitation fare but for all his faults Walker does have some style and this is easily the best of the four films. The set-up is done very well, though the finale ends up being a little but rushed.


----------



## D'wards (Feb 26, 2020)

The Swimmer. Old Burt Lancaster film.

Loved it. It started off very different from how it ended and was not what I expected at all.
A real classic I thought.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Feb 26, 2020)

Watched _Marriage Story_ on Netflix. Enjoyed it, although when the downtrodden assistant from _Baskets_ showed up as the court-appointed observer it totally ruined any immersion I had.


----------



## Marty1 (Feb 27, 2020)

Terminator Dark Fate.

Watchable but this franchise really has ran out of steam now.

5/10


----------



## D'wards (Feb 27, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Terminator Dark Fate.
> 
> Watchable but this franchise really has ran out of steam now.
> 
> 5/10


I gave it 6. It was basically a "Best Hits" of the Terminator series recreated.
Interesting that Arnie's Terminator is now settled with a family and in the soft furnishings business 🧐


----------



## Marty1 (Feb 27, 2020)

D'wards said:


> I gave it 6. It was basically a "Best Hits" of the Terminator series recreated.
> Interesting that Arnie's Terminator is now settled with a family and in the soft furnishings business 🧐



Yeah both him and Linda Hamilton showing their age now.


----------



## D'wards (Feb 27, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Yeah both him and Linda Hamilton showing their age now.


I didn't like Sarah Connor in this at all. 
She was just a nasty aggressive middle aged woman - although my unease with her may have been more to do with my own dear mater, lol


----------



## RTWL (Feb 27, 2020)

Queen & Slim 2019. Wicked film. Handles the subject with responsibility. Instantly charismatic leads - 8/10

Dark Waters - A Teflon nightmare . Tense and all that stuff thrillers have with the extra punch that it is real. Great acting/script/direction and it achieves what it sets out to do so 10/10 .


----------



## Reno (Feb 28, 2020)

_The Marriage of Maria Braun_, one of RW Fassbinder’s most famous. I first watched this soon after it came out and maybe because I was too young I didn’t quite get it. It’s always been considered one of Fassbinder’s best and it was his international breakthrough. This time I did get it. Bookended by two explosions, the film is a sharp and funny satire about a woman who is ruthlessly pragmatic and who will stop at nothing from making her life and her constantly delayed marriage, a success in a post-WWII Germany. It also gave me a new appreciation for Hannah Schygulla, who though Fassbinders most famous muse, was never my favourite. She’s great in this.


----------



## Reno (Feb 28, 2020)

Where is Kyra ? Interesting film with the subject matter close to Ken Loach, but shot like a horror film. Michelle Pfeiffer plays a middle aged woman who lives with and cares for her ailing mother in a small New York apartment. They live off the mothers pension, but when the mother dies, Kyra can’t get a job because she’s considered to old. She is driven to ever desperate measures to keep afloat. Visually this may be the darkest looking film I’ve ever seen. Very glad Pfeiffer is doing more work again, she is great.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 28, 2020)

To be honest the only Fassbinder I've ever seen (I think) was Fear Eats the Soul. Where does that fit into his overall body of work?


----------



## Reno (Feb 28, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> To be honest the only Fassbinder I've ever seen (I think) was Fear Eats the Soul. Where does that fit into his overall body of work?


It is generally  considered to be among his best and it’s my personal favourite film of his. Maria Braun would be a good one to follow it up with, like Fear Eats the Soul it’s among his more accessible films.

Of the best known directors of the German New Wave of the 70s, Fassbinder is my favourite. His work travels less well than Wenders and Herzog because most of his films are very much about Germany, its post-WWII history and its politics. Herzog and Wenders are more about visuals and atmosphere.

Which reminds me, Wim Wenders cycled past me yesterday, looking dapper as ever.


----------



## Sue (Feb 29, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> To be honest the only Fassbinder I've ever seen (I think) was Fear Eats the Soul. Where does that fit into his overall body of work?


They had a Fassbinder season at the BFI last year so I saw quite a few then. I think Fear Eats the Soul was my favourite. (Agreed about Maria Braun but was pretty meh about The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant for example.)


----------



## Reno (Feb 29, 2020)

Sue said:


> They had a Fassbinder season at the BFI last year so I saw quite a few then. I think Fear Eats the Soul was my favourite. (Agreed about Maria Braun but was pretty meh about The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant for example.)


Petra von Kant basically is a filmed stage play. It's very claustrophobic and like several Fassbinder films it goes on too long, but its one of my favorite movies about fashion. Teh costumes !!!! 😍


----------



## Sue (Feb 29, 2020)

Reno said:


> Petra von Kant basically is a filmed stage play. It's very claustrophobic and like several Fassbinder films it goes on too long, but its one of my favorite movies about fashion. Teh costumes !!!! 😍
> 
> View attachment 200122


Hah, I'm not really interested in fashion which probably didn't help!


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 29, 2020)

Another ep of _The Dark Crysta_l. How beautifully made is this show? And the voice cast is top notch.


----------



## belboid (Feb 29, 2020)

Jojo Rabbit.

Gosh, weren't there a lot of quite nice nazi's! Plenty of good bits, fantasy Hitler worked, but the rest of it was just... a bit shallow and superficial. Moonrise Kingdom with Hitler Youth instead of scouts. Not awful, but pointless.


The Handmaiden (bells and whistles version).

Our mate, who we went to Parasite with last week, said that was the first Korean film he'd seen, so he got invited back to watch this masterpiece.  Even better second time  around, funny, clever, touching, a bit brutal and, gosh, what a lot of sex there is!  Magnificent.  he didn't like it, the buffoon.


----------



## Reno (Mar 1, 2020)

I watched Jojo Rabbit, which I’ve been putting off because everything about it sounds fucking awful, but I’ve loved most things by Taika Waititi so far so I finally watched it. It was fucking awful.


----------



## Chz (Mar 1, 2020)

Definitely my least favourite Waititi film, and I _liked_ the sound of it before I watched it. I'm with the "not awful, but pointless" on this.


----------



## Reno (Mar 1, 2020)

Chz said:


> Definitely my least favourite Waititi film, and I _liked_ the sound of it before I watched it. I'm with the "not awful, but pointless" on this.


This is a case where the attempt at being good natured (a quality all films and TV series by Waititi try to go for) comes up disastrously short in doing justice to its subject matter. Nothing really counts emotionally, even



Spoiler



Scarlett Johansson's death


 appears to be quickly forgotten about to keep things light. I didn't find the film funny at all, as much of the comedy comes down to Waititi clowning around as the imaginary Hitler. He did a far better job as the German vampire in _What We Do in the Shadows_. This review gets to the heart of why this film rings so false for me:




			
				hyperallergic.com said:
			
		

> Why, precisely, do so many films about “fighting hate” decide that the best way to do this is to redeem or soften racists? We see this in everything from _Green Book _(which was rewarded with multiple Oscars) to _Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri _(also fêted) to _Where Hands Touch _(which was thankfully rewarded with nothing but delayed disdain) to _The Best of Enemies _(which no one really cared about at all, though it is notably the third film mentioned in this article to star Sam Rockwell, _man wyd_). Jojo comes to understand the error of his ways through getting to know Elsa as a human and unlearning the ideas he’s been taught about Jews. This is good for warming hearts but a completely irrelevant framework for reality; we can’t pair up every racist with a minority to teach them the error of their ways. It also means the film is technically starting from the same premise that racists are working on — that marginalized people have to work to prove their humanity.











						Jojo Rabbit, Billed as a Satire About Nazis, Lacks Any Actual Satirical Wit
					

Writer-Director Taika Waititi’s latest falls into the same trap of films like Green Book — that marginalized people have to work to prove their humanity




					hyperallergic.com


----------



## Sue (Mar 1, 2020)

Reno said:


> This is a case where the attempt at being good natured (a quality all films and TV series by Waititi try to go for) comes up disastrously short in doing justice to its subject matter. Nothing really counts emotionally, even
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I didn't much like it and I found the bit you spoilered completely manipulative. I also came out and said to the friend I saw it with 



Spoiler



'has Sam Rockwell got it in his contract that he always has to be redeemed at the end'?


----------



## belboid (Mar 2, 2020)

Britannia

Finished season 1.  It really is very, very silly indeed. But most entertaining in a completely ahistorical way.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 3, 2020)

Superman: Red Son

based on the comic of the same name where superman surfaces in 40s russia rather than in america. Its good but they've changed the story drastically. In this one Red Superman 



Spoiler: stuff



is eventually taught the error of his ways by president luthor and his wife Louis Lane-Luthor, a bit of a cop out I feel. I preferred the comic book ending


.  7/10


----------



## kalidarkone (Mar 8, 2020)

I just watched 'Fighting with my family'

Fucking brilliant!


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 8, 2020)

kalidarkone said:


> I just watched 'Fighting with my family'
> 
> Fucking brilliant!


You're not going out robbing at your age...we'll get the kids to do it."


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 12, 2020)

The Art of Self Defense.   Which I thought would be shite.

Turns out it's a wonderful dark comedy but if you've been through any martial arts grading type structure just has extra laughs.

There are a lot of jodan age ukes.


----------



## Gramsci (Mar 12, 2020)

Saw this Greek film. Suntan

I thought it was really good though the end was a bit over the top.

As Im the roughly the age of the main character I watched this with my head in my hands going no don't go there at the main character. Says that , excruciatingly, this film is spot on.

Middle aged man goes to small island to work as a GP. Its quiet and peaceful. Then summer comes along and suddenly the north European hedonist young people come to the island.

He treats one them and falls into hanging out with them. His lonely life suddenly is changed.

He falls for one of the young women in this group. Its a film where I was going don't do this as the film unfolds.

A film of a man destroying himself.

A really excruciating bit is when he meets on old student friend whose come to the island with his family. The contrast between the lonely loser and the successful family man is unbearable to watch.

Great little film.

Its a film about masculinity. Done in a subtle way.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 12, 2020)

Gramsci is this on a streaming service or an actual dvd/video?


----------



## rekil (Mar 12, 2020)

TruXta said:


> Sweet Smell of Success, starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Very enjoyable albeit bleak.
> 
> _Come back here, I want to chastise you!_


It killed the director's career but it's a fantastic fillum with line after line of crackling dialogue. 

"Match me Sidney"


----------



## Gramsci (Mar 13, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Gramsci is this on a streaming service or an actual dvd/video?



It was on C4 iPlayer. Its on DVD as well.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 13, 2020)

The Australian Dream - documentary about aussie rules football player Adam Goodes. He has a kid thrown out of a game after she racially abuses him and become the target for an internet hate campaign. When he's made Australian of the year he uses the opportunity to talk about racism in the country and it gets worse.

It's not the best put together film, jumps about a bit talking about his past and his mum's history etc but shows Australia for the backwards country it is in it's treatment of indiginous people.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 14, 2020)

The Long Goodbye, an incredible short film starring and co-created (with Aneil Karia, who directs). It's on YouTube and I urge people to watch it - it's only 12 minutes long. Don't want to give anything away, but it is an upsetting watch, so take care.


----------



## Reno (Mar 15, 2020)

Frozen II. It’s not the worst animated film I ever saw and there are nice individual sequences but what a staggeringly shit sequel. Where was the plot ? The concepts are weirdly abstract, all rooted in magic rather than in character and totally unrelatable. The relationship between the two sisters was at the heart of the original film and that’s what worked about it.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 15, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> The Long Goodbye, an incredible short film starring and co-created (with Aneil Karia, who directs). It's on YouTube and I urge people to watch it - it's only 12 minutes long. Don't want to give anything away, but it is an upsetting watch, so take care.



His City of Tiny Lights is worth a watch as well.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 15, 2020)

The Walking Dead episodes 9,10 and 11of the  10th season. This has really improved since they got rid of Rick tbh


----------



## Reno (Mar 15, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> The Walking Dead episodes 9,10 and 11of the  10th season. This has really improved since they got rid of Rick tbh


I watched the first half of this season and barely made it through it. That’s it for me. I didn’t think Rick was much worse than most of the characters.The newer characters are so non-descript, I can’t even remember who most of them are from episode to episode. They killed off too many of the original cast for me to care and the show is as repetitive as ever. I think The Walking Dead peaked around season 4 & 5 and it’s been getting worse ever since. Now it’s hit rock bottom.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 15, 2020)

Ad Astra. Brad Pitt works out his daddy issues in space. Beautiful to look at, narratively dreadful.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 15, 2020)

When the Wind Blows. I'd never seen this though it's been sat on the memory stick in the telly for a while and seemed kind of timely. 

Animation of the Raymond Briggs story of a retired couple in the days following a nuclear strike on the UK. Like a cartoon Threads. Excellent stuff.


----------



## belboid (Mar 17, 2020)

This thread may start getting more popular again soon....anyway

In Fabric - again.  Still bloody great. By watching the DVD extras I made the shocking discovery that Stash and Clive weren't actually a couple.

Asylum (1972)- yet again.  No one did those portmanteau movies like Amicus.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 17, 2020)

May Kasahara said:


> Ad Astra. Brad Pitt works out his daddy issues in space. Beautiful to look at, narratively dreadful.


I remember thinking 'its kicking off now boys!' when there was the confrontation with the ape. But it did not kick off. In the end the only cool idea that stuck with me was about not being allowed to travel unless you are fully zen chilled. A minor plot point.


----------



## D'wards (Mar 18, 2020)

I'm half way through Farming but finding it a bit depressing. The racism is just too grim and relentless. 
I'll give it another ten minutes then might abandon it.

On a side note, why can posh actors very rarely get a working class accent right?


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2020)

I watched the HBO horror series The Outsider over the last few evenings and thought this was by far the best of recent Stephen King adaptations. What worked for me was how much more it rooted the supernatural in a realistic context than other recent King adaptations, or at least in a more grounded noir/crime context. It starts as a moody murder mystery with a great hook and the horror elements slowly seep in. Unlike with the more fantastical worlds of Dr. Sleep or It, where it feels like anything can happen, when an investigating character presents their theory that the perpetrator may not be quite human, the outrage and disbelief of the other characters makes sense. The supernatural feels invasive and shocking here.

Great cast, nobody looks glamorous, all great character actors who look like real people. I felt invested in the characters and I was sad when 



Spoiler



Andy gets killed. A supporting character but his sheer decency comes through.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 18, 2020)

Reno said:


> I watched the HBO horror series The Outsider over the last few evenings and thought this was by far the best of recent Stephen King adaptations. What worked for me was how much more it rooted the supernatural in a realistic context than other recent King adaptations, or at least in a more grounded noir/crime context. It starts as a moody murder mystery with a great hook and the horror elements slowly seep in. Unlike with the more fantastical worlds of Dr. Sleep or It, where it feels like anything can happen, when an investigating character presents their theory that the perpetrator may not be quite human, the outrage and disbelief of the other characters makes sense. The supernatural feels invasive and shocking here.
> 
> Great cast, nobody looks glamorous, all great character actors who look like real people. I felt invested in the characters and I was sad when
> 
> ...



What was always hard to translate from the books to film was the internal character progression (usually to acceptance of the horror involved).  This series managed it really well, carried by Ben Mendelson.

However I'm still convinced that that was Paddy Considine and not Sam Rockwell.


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> However I'm still convinced that that was Paddy Considine and not Sam Rockwell.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 18, 2020)

Reno said:


>


Sam


Paddy


----------



## Reno (Mar 18, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> Sam
> View attachment 202232
> 
> Paddy
> View attachment 202233


Wouldn't that observation have worked better with the two names reversed ? Now you are convinced that something is as it is.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 19, 2020)

Reno said:


> Wouldn't that observation have worked better with the two names reversed ? Now you are convinced that something is as it is.


There may have been some confusion.  I swear to god that an announcer said Rockwell.  I'm glad that I was right, even though I was wrong that there was a wrong.  One right, two wrongs...that's a right, right?


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 21, 2020)

Does anyone actually still watch DVD's and the old VHS videos ? Whenever I contribute to this thread I usually mean either Iplayer or a downloaded torrent


----------



## belboid (Mar 21, 2020)

Yes.  They tend to be better quality.


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2020)

belboid said:


> Yes.  They tend to be better quality.


Better quality than what ?


----------



## belboid (Mar 21, 2020)

Reno said:


> Better quality than what ?


downloaded torrrents (unless you go for the massive file versions).  And better than streaming now resolutions are being downgraded.


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2020)

belboid said:


> downloaded torrrents (unless you go for the massive file versions).  And better than streaming now resolutions are being downgraded.


HD torrents aren’t what’s considered massive in this day and age and I watched Netflix last night which still looks way better than any DVD. VHS looked crap even back in the day.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 21, 2020)

I would’ve thought a torrent of around 4g would be dvd quality


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2020)

jeff_leigh said:


> I would’ve thought a torrent of around 4g would be dvd quality


You can get good looking HD torrents that size. Watched a 1080p torrent of The Invisible Man last night which went to streaming early due to the current crisis. It was just under 4GB and it looked ace on my projector. I usually go for something larger if available but it looked far better than any DVD.


----------



## belboid (Mar 21, 2020)

Reno said:


> HD torrents aren’t what’s considered massive in this day and age and I watched Netflix last night which still looks way better than any DVD. VHS looked crap even back in the day.


I'll give you VHS, but wouldn't agree about Netflix, definitely looks worse than blu-rats and even most DVD's.  Some old ones are crap transfers, but not in the main.


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2020)

belboid said:


> I'll give you VHS, but wouldn't agree about Netflix, definitely looks worse than blu-rats and even most DVD's.  Some old ones are crap transfers, but not in the main.


If you just pay for SD Netflix then yes. HD Netflix looks far better than any DVD but only slightly worse than Blu-Ray. 4K Netflix is also available which looks better than Blu-ray. Nearly all streaming services offer at least HD now.


----------



## Chz (Mar 21, 2020)

Superman: Red Son
Very silly, but enjoyable. What if Kal-El landed not in the American Midwest, but in the Ukrainian Steppe?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 21, 2020)

Reno said:


> If you just pay for SD Netflix then yes. HD Netflix looks far better than any DVD but only slightly worse than Blu-Ray. 4K Netflix is also available which looks better than Blu-ray. Nearly all streaming services offer at least HD now.


Sorry, Reno


----------



## Reno (Mar 21, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> Sorry, Reno


I know about that. jeff-leigh was speaking in general terms about the quality of torrents and streaming services, not about a limited period when Netflix is offering a reduced service due to the current crisis. Only Netflix and YouTube have agreed to this so far and it’s not clear whether they are going SD or just reducing slightly, other streaming services haven’t.

:edit: Netflix will reduce by 25% but will still be streaming in HD: Netflix Says It'll Still Stream HD & 4K - Dark Horizons


----------



## colbhoy (Mar 22, 2020)

Watched Million Dollar Baby, was very good.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 22, 2020)

Personal Shopper. Really very good, chilly, emotional, understated and Kristin Stewart was excellent.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 23, 2020)

starfish said:


> Just watched Uncut Gems. Thought it was really good which surprised me as i usually avoid Adam Sandler like the plague.


Agreed on bothe points. Saw this last night and was very very surprised . If Sandlers role had been played by Pacino it would be in the Oscar/Grammy category  as it is I think he played the role superbly , the plot is spot on , casting and dialogue superb and the film has real pace to it as it leads to its climax. One of the best films of the year.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 23, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Agreed on bothe points. Saw this last night and was very very surprised . If Sandlers role had been played by Pacino it would be in the Oscar/Grammy category  as it is I think he played the role superbly , the plot is spot on , casting and dialogue superb and the film has real pace to it as it leads to its climax. One of the best films of the year.



Have you seen Good Time? Same directors, equally as stressful to watch, great score. Also on Netflix I think.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 23, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Have you seen Good Time? Same directors, equally as stressful to watch, great score. Also on Netflix I think.


Yes about the two brothers ? I saw it a couple of years ago , a claustrophobic spiral into a dead end , some brilliant balck humour in it.


----------



## Chz (Mar 23, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Have you seen Good Time? Same directors, equally as stressful to watch, great score. Also on Netflix I think.


And for those who didn't particularly like Uncut Gems (I mean, it was _alright_), I really quite liked Good Time.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 23, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Yes about the two brothers ? I saw it a couple of years ago , a claustrophobic spiral into a dead end , some brilliant balck humour in it.



One of my favourite films that year. Also enjoyed The Pleasure of Being Robbed by the Safdies.


----------



## The39thStep (Mar 23, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> One of my favourite films that year. Also enjoyed The Pleasure of Being Robbed by the Safdies.


I'll have to give that a go, thanks


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Mar 24, 2020)

Rewatched _Some Like It Hot_ tonight - my wife's request, but I'd forgotten how good it was (although it does get a bit silly in the final 10 minutes, almost Scooby Doo levels of chasing-in-and-out-of-doors wackiness).

Might have a Billy Wilder themed week and rewatch _The Apartment_, _Double Indemnity_ and _Sunset Boulevard_ too.


----------



## Reno (Mar 25, 2020)

I rewatched the 1954 A Star is Born after reading the book on its making and later restoration by Ronald Haver.

The film was heavily cut by the studio during its initial release because it was three hours long. Twenty minutes were found in the 80s and got reinserted and the rest was substituted with photos. Of the four film version this is by far the best one and it’s one of the greatest films of the 50s. Judy Garland and James Mason are simply incredible and heartbreaking, especially when considering that Garland‘s career trajectory was closer to that of Mason‘s fading star in the film. It was also one of the most expensive films made up to that point and it’s all up there on the screen.

The original 30s version with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March is good too, the 70s version with Barbara Streisand is a train wreck and the recent one with Lady Gaga is an improved version of the Streisand film (both being set in the music business rather than in Hollywood) though it loses its focus after the first half.


----------



## Reno (Mar 26, 2020)

I recently watched:

the 2020 reboot of_ The Invisible Man_ (great, one of the better horror films in recent years)
_Swallow_ (overrated, plays like the idiot's version of Todd Haines' _Safe_)
Greta Gerwig's _Little Women_ (very good, considering it's a story which never did much for me)
_Birds of Prey_ (awful, like getting hit over the head with a mallet for two hours)


----------



## Reno (Mar 26, 2020)

I also rewatched the 1979 mini-series of Stephen King's _Salem's Lot_. Still one of the better Stephen King adaptations and considering it was made for TV in the 70s, still quite scary. These glowy eyed vampires are creepy.  Salem's Lot is one of King's best novels and I wished this would get another remake (there was a terrible one with Rob Lowe) , ideally as a longer, bigger budgeted TV series. At 3 hours the mini-series is both too long and not quite long enough. Tobe Hooper is great on the horror stuff, but not so great on the character work. David Soul is a dull lead, made up somewhat by a great cast of character actors. There are a lot of characters in this (already cut down from the book) and the series doesn't have time to serve them that well. So there is 2 1/2 hours of underdeveloped drama till it gets to the horror in the last 30 minutes. The book is a little like a small town soap opera, eventually town apart by its vampire threat, so it would work well as a longer series.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 26, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> The contrast between the lonely loser and the successful family man is unbearable to watch.




Yeah, I think I'll give that one a miss.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Mar 26, 2020)

The Doll [Vaxdockan] (1962) from Swedish director Arne Mattsson, starring Per Oscarsson.
A lonely young man with mental health problems works as a night watchman at a department store, he falls in love with one of the clothes mannequins stored there and steals it pretending it was stolen in a burglary. When he gets it home to his flat in a block of flats he believes she has come to life but his neighbours start to become concerned over his increasingly odd behaviour. 
A dark psychological drama with a good performance from Per Oscarsson playing the loner. Not sure if this partially inspired the 1987 film Mannequin.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 26, 2020)

Jojo Rabbit. Watched with my 11yo, we both thought it was great.


----------



## Gramsci (Mar 27, 2020)

Das Schloß (TV Movie 1997) - IMDb
					

Das Schloß: Directed by Michael Haneke. With Ulrich Mühe, Susanne Lothar, Frank Giering, Felix Eitner. When a land surveyor arrives at a small snowy village, local authorities refuse to allow him to advance to the nearby castle. Increasingly complicated bureaucratic obstacles arise.




					www.imdb.com
				




Watched an early film by Micheal Haneke "The Castle". Taken from the Kafka novel.

Starightforward production with a lot of voice over. Some of which I didnt feel was necessary. 

I took me time to get into it. I gradually got engrosed in it. Due to the fine acting by Ulrich Muhe as K and Susanne Lother as Frieda. 

Both of whom were in Haneke later films. 

The two young men who follow K around all the time reminded my of the two in Funny Games. 

Thing about Kafka is that he had a sense of humour. He used to give readings of his work to friends. He found the situations he put his characters in funny. 

So to my mind the combination of Kafka and Haneke works well. I have found some of Haneke work so moralistic that its offputting. Haneke version of the Castle has some absurd humour that makes watching this a different experience to his later films. 

I feel like watching one of his later films to see if Kafka is an influence.

Kafka wrote his work before WW2 and the Fascism that took over Europe. For Haneke this is his history. Its almost like Kafka work the Castle is from a more innocent time. In the Castle there is no violence or violence in the background. As K is told at one point no one is making him stay. He could leave..

Michael Haneke - IMDb

Just looked Haneke up and he made this as a TV movie in 1997. He made Funny Games same year.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Mar 27, 2020)

fury- that tank war thing. not sure of the point really. odd to see brad pitt using a german stg 44


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 28, 2020)

Wild Goose Lake - on Mubi. Surprisingly poor quality, had some trouble getting it to start, maybe they've done something whiel the demands are greater. Anyway it's a Chinese film about a gangster tryign to evade the police and a rival gang with the help of a prositute. It's a good story and engaging enough although there's some bad acting at times.

Lourdes - Also on Mubi the day before although didn't suffer from quality issues, maybe because I watched it int he daytime. It's about a young woman in a wheelchair who goes to Lourdes with other pilgrims. I really liked it, there's a lot to be made of the different characters and how they relate to one another and not a loads of exposition so plenty to think about.


----------



## Gramsci (Mar 28, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Wild Goose Lake - on Mubi. Surprisingly poor quality, had some trouble getting it to start, maybe they've done something whiel the demands are greater. Anyway it's a Chinese film about a gangster tryign to evade the police and a rival gang with the help of a prositute. It's a good story and engaging enough although there's some bad acting at times.
> 
> Lourdes - Also on Mubi the day before although didn't suffer from quality issues, maybe because I watched it int he daytime. It's about a young woman in a wheelchair who goes to Lourdes with other pilgrims. I really liked it, there's a lot to be made of the different characters and how they relate to one another and not a loads of exposition so plenty to think about.



Just looked at Mubi and a £1 for three months offer and one can cancel at any time. Might check that out.

MUBI: Watch and Discover Movies

I have been using the BBC and C4 Iplayers. They have free film section. Some good films on it.

Im a Curzon cinema member and as part of that get 12 free films a month free on their streaming service. Curzon cinemas have distribution arm Artificial Eye.

I think its possible to download and then watch films. I have not tried that yet. It might overcome the broadband streaming problem. Ive had the same.

Lourdes is a good film. Saw it in the cinema when it came out.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 28, 2020)

not-bono-ever said:


> fury- that tank war thing. not sure of the point really. odd to see brad pitt using a german stg 44



There is no real subtext. It's just a straight forward action movie, and a damn fine one IMO.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 28, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> Just looked at Mubi and a £1 for three months offer and one can cancel at any time. Might check that out.
> 
> MUBI: Watch and Discover Movies



Fully recommend Mubi. Mostly arthouse films but with only 30 to choose from it's not the overload you get with some streaming services and often I'll take a punt on the film that's goign off the following day. The Chan-wook Park venegeance trilogy is on just now and they often have focus on particular directors, debuts etc...lots of Jean Pierre Melville currently.

We've got it for 3 years for free as my son's a film studies student but full paid members can also get Mubi Go....when the cinemas are open again you can get 1 free ticket a week for a film chosen by Mubi. If you can make use of that it's incredible value.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Mar 28, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> Just looked at Mubi and a £1 for three months offer and one can cancel at any time. Might check that out.
> MUBI: Watch and Discover Movies


There's some really good titles in that catalogue, Think I'll check it out myself for a £


----------



## Gramsci (Mar 28, 2020)

After the Storm (2016) - IMDb
					

After the Storm: Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. With Hiroshi Abe, Yôko Maki, Satomi Kobayashi, Lily Franky. After the death of his father, a private detective struggles to find child support money and reconnect with his son and ex-wife.




					www.imdb.com
				




After The Storm by the director of Shoplifters. I haven't see Shoplifters yet. This is the first film Ive seen of by this director.

On the basis of this film I want to see more of his work.

This isn't a flashy film or full of action. Its gentle film that treats all the characters with respect.

By that I mean its not just the main character- a divorced man- that the action revolves around. All the main characters have their place in this story. One gets to know all them gradually. The son, ex wife and mother as well as Abe.

Its not that much is resolved by end of the film. Its that one is taken on a journey to get to know these people.

Its still on BBC IPlayer until Tuesday.


----------



## Reno (Mar 28, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> After the Storm (2016) - IMDb
> 
> 
> After the Storm: Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. With Hiroshi Abe, Yôko Maki, Satomi Kobayashi, Lily Franky. After the death of his father, a private detective struggles to find child support money and reconnect with his son and ex-wife.
> ...


I’ve been on a Hirokazu Kore-eda exploration since I‘ve watched Shoplifters. Amazing filmmaker, definitely check out Shoplifters, Nobody Knows and Afterlife, but everything by him is worth watching. I’ve watched After the Storm a couple of weeks ago and also really liked that.


----------



## Sue (Mar 28, 2020)

eXistenZ.  David Cronenburg does virtual reality. Saw this when it came out (20 years ago -- gulp!). Not sure it's held up very well -- I mean it's okay, just sure I liked it a lot more then than I did just now.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 28, 2020)

Knives Out. My goodness, what a brilliant, brilliant film. The most enjoyable film I've seen in years. Fabulous.


----------



## MBV (Mar 28, 2020)

Reno said:


> Bombshell
> 
> I’ve been on a Hirokazu Kore-eda exploration since I‘ve watched Shoplifters. Amazing filmmaker, definitely check out Shoplifters, Nobody Knows and Afterlife, but everything by him is worth watching. I’ve watched After the Storm a couple of weeks ago and also really liked that.



Just watched and I really enjoyed this.

ETA messed up the  quote - this is in ref to after the storm.


----------



## Reno (Mar 28, 2020)

dfm said:


> Just watched and I really enjoyed this.
> 
> ETA messed up the  quote - this is in ref to after the storm.


I was going to write something about Bombshell a few hours before and then couldn’t be bothered. I always forget that the drafts are still there.


----------



## starfish (Mar 28, 2020)

Just watched Knives Out. Yes its a good film but its also half an hour too fucking long like a lot of films these days. Learn how to end a film ffs.


----------



## Reno (Mar 29, 2020)

starfish said:


> Just watched Knives Out. Yes its a good film but its also half an hour too fucking long like a lot of films these days. Learn how to end a film ffs.


It didn’t feel too long to me.


----------



## Reno (Mar 29, 2020)

_Detention_, the 2011 mash-up of _The_ _Breakfast Club, Donnie Darko, Scott Pilgrim_ and _Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II_, which I never knew I needed. This high school movie satire flew under the radar when it came out but it's completely nuts and it has more ideas and gags per minute than most films have in their entire running time. For the first five minutes I thought I'm going to hate it, after half an hour I never wanted it to end. It starts out like a hyperactive version of _Scream _meets_ Heathers_ and by the time it gets to a time traveling stuffed bear, all bets are off and the movie folds in on itself several times over. It's the ultimate in ADHD cinema and I can easily see how it can look like the most annoying film ever made, but it's just so fucking smart and it's my favourite cinematic discovery of the year. This should be a major cult movie.


----------



## Reno (Mar 29, 2020)

I also watched_ The Hunt_, the satirical horror film which got pulled from release after a couple of US mass shootings and was condemned by Trump in a speech, who obviously had not seen it. It then got released a few months later,  just before the virus hit and now like many recently released films, has made it to streaming far sooner than intended. On a surface level, as a gory horror film with a fun performance by Betty Gilpin (Nurse Jackie, GLOW) it just about works but as a political satire it falls flat and ultimately its rather muddled. It pits "the liberal elite" and "the deplorables" against each other in a _The Most Dangerous Game _scenario where one hunts the other for sport. Just putting the broadest of stereotypes on screen in itself isn't good satire and then a plot twist fudge the issues further. In the end it seems to come down more on the side of Trump-supporting rednecks but ultimately it's too toothless to offend.


----------



## belboid (Mar 29, 2020)

Judy.  

for the most part a very average biopic with the common themes of a tragic life coming to a tragic end. Made watchable by Zellweger who puts in one hell of a performance.  It topples over into impression with too many (distracting) tics at times, and the singing isn’t Judy Garland, but it’s still bloody good. And the ending is obviously nonsense, but quite movingly so.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 29, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Fully recommend Mubi. Mostly arthouse films but with only 30 to choose from it's not the overload you get with some streaming services and often I'll take a punt on the film that's goign off the following day. The Chan-wook Park venegeance trilogy is on just now and they often have focus on particular directors, debuts etc...lots of Jean Pierre Melville currently.


Cheers for the heads up looks really good. Love Melville, I've seen many of these but can watch them again and again.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Mar 29, 2020)

Vivarium (2019) - low fantasy,/horror about a young couple who are trapped with a small annoying child in a house that they don't seem able to leave. Not a great film but apt quarantine watching.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 30, 2020)

Contagion (2011)

Bit late to the party on this one, but thought I'd check it out as it's gone right up the Netflix ratings and Soderbergh is the director. "Enjoyed" it, and it was quite terrifying without being sensational. Also realized that's where the term "social distancing" comes from...


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 31, 2020)

Sympathy For Mr Vengeance. Under the guidance of his anarchist girlfriend, a young deaf man kidnaps his ex-boss's daughter and It all goes to shit basically. First of the Chan Wook Park vengeance trilogy, all of which are on Mubi just now. Saw it years ago but my memory is terrible....I'd completely forgotten the twist so it was a really satisfying film to rewatch. I've seen Oldboy more recently, thought this was much better but will probably watch all 3 over this week  anyway.

Existenz. Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh in a David Cronenburg film mentioned upthread. In the testing of a new video game which appears to be a bit like VR, reality and game become blurred. I enjoy Cronenburg films if only for the smile they give me the first time some blobby latex is used and there's plenty of that here along wiht some rubbish acting. It was pretty enjoyable as daft sci fi type stuff goes. 

3 Iron. Korean film directed by Kim Ki Duk. Not sure if it was mentioned here. A young man rides aroudn on a motorbike identifying empty properties which he breaks into and does a few odd jobs and tidying up in exchange for a bath and somewhere to sleep before leaving. In one house he meets a woman who's in an abusive relationship. It's a really gentle film aside from the use of the 3 Iron. Few (if any) words are spoken between the couple but it's really engaging. I really enjoyed it.


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 31, 2020)

*Joker*

Good central performance by Joaquin Phoenix, but the rest of the film is a bit of a mess. 

Interesting in places, but essentially Taxi Driver meets King of Comedy (sure that comparison has already been made), except made by a lesser director. 

Nice to see De Niro put some effort in for once though.


----------



## Reno (Mar 31, 2020)

_The Psychic_, a 1977 giallo by Lucio Fulci which I hadn't watched before, though I prefer its alternative, more giallo title _Murder to the Tune of the Seven Black Notes. _It's a little slow but unlike many Fulci movies, it has a solid plot and is a good mystery, even if I knew where it was going before its psychic heroine had figured it out. The HR Giger-rip-off poster is pretty cool.


----------



## Reno (Mar 31, 2020)

...


----------



## T & P (Apr 1, 2020)

flypanam said:


> A.P. Bio - stars Glenn Howerton (Dennis from Always Sunny) as a Harvard professor who has lost his job and returns to his hometown, embittered. A familiar premise but some funny moments and could be a grower.


Started watching this today and ended up watching all 13 episodes available. Very good and watchable. Not as funny as Always Sunny (what series is?) but it gets better as the season progresses. Very funny at places.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Apr 2, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Sympathy For Mr Vengeance. Under the guidance of his anarchist girlfriend, a young deaf man kidnaps his ex-boss's daughter and It all goes to shit basically. First of the Chan Wook Park vengeance trilogy, all of which are on Mubi just now. Saw it years ago but my memory is terrible....I'd completely forgotten the twist so it was a really satisfying film to rewatch. I've seen Oldboy more recently, thought this was much better but will probably watch all 3 over this week  anyway.


An upside of this Isolation is we all get plenty of free time, I think I'll watch that Trilogy myself in the next few days, Again


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 2, 2020)

One Child Nation...Documentary about China's one child policy. It's extremely graphic and harrowing in parts. Interviews with midwives and village officials shwo the different perspectives on the roles they undertook but the overall view is that the policy was necessary and they were just doing their jobs. Not for the faint hearted or easily upset.

A Man Escaped...Robert Bresson. Based on a true story... french prisoner in the second world war plans his escape from a Nazi prison. It's brilliant, I loved it. Even thought the conclusion appeared obvious the suspense in getting there is well maintained all the way through.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 2, 2020)

Invasion of the body snatchers 1978 version. Hadn't seen it for 35 years


----------



## Reno (Apr 2, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> Invasion of the body snatchers 1978 version. Hadn't seen it for 35 years


You forgot to add that it’s great ! One of the few remakes which surpasses an already first rate original film.


----------



## Sue (Apr 2, 2020)

Reno said:


> You forgot to add that it’s great ! One of the few remakes which surpasses an already first rate original film.


I preferred the original but I have a soft spot for 50s sci-fi -- my Dad was a fan* and I remember watching this with him as a kid.

*See also old black and white horror movies, Roger Corman films and more Audie Murphy films than I care to think of.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 2, 2020)

Reno said:


> You forgot to add that it’s great ! One of the few remakes which surpasses an already first rate original film.



Indeed it is great.  It was my 15 year old's first viewing of it. She was surprised at the ending. "But they can't win"

Wasn't there a forgettable 80s remake,too?


----------



## Reno (Apr 2, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> Indeed it is great.  It was my 15 year old's first viewing of it. She was surprised at the ending. "But they can't win"
> 
> Wasn't there a forgettable 80s remake,too?


There were two more remakes. The Abel Ferrara one from the 90s feels more like a poor sequel to the 70s movie than a remake and there is another one from the noughts which is a total disaster.


----------



## Reno (Apr 2, 2020)

Sue said:


> I preferred the original but I have a soft spot for 50s sci-fi -- my Dad was a fan* and I remember watching this with him as a kid.
> 
> *See also old black and white horror movies, Roger Corman films and more Audie Murphy films than I care to think of.


The 50s one is great. That one has a very film noir quality while the remake is in the tradition of the 70s conspiracy thriller. I slightly give the 70s version the edge because it has a cast of favourite actors of mine from that period and it takes more time to establish its characters. The original also is slightly compromised by its studio imposed framing story, which hints at a hopeful end, while the 70s film ends on one of the the most chilling last shots ever.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 3, 2020)

Two Half Times In Hell (1961) [Dir. Zoltan Fabri] - WWII story about a group of Hungarian forced labourers in a brutal POW camp who are told to organize a team to play a football match against German soldiers. Based on The Death Match which has influenced a handful of films including Escape To Victory & The Longest Yard, think this might be the best of the bunch though.


----------



## cybershot (Apr 3, 2020)

rewatched Lucy in 4K. It's alright to kill an hour and a half.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 3, 2020)

I watched The Hunt last night...there are no cinemas anymore so this thread'll do.

Your basic "superiors" hunt and kill "inferiors".

It twists every cliche of the genre and I had a great time watching it.   Violent, funney, clever.


----------



## Reno (Apr 3, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> I watched The Hunt last night...there are no cinemas anymore so this thread'll do.
> 
> Your basic "superiors" hunt and kill "inferiors".
> 
> It twists every cliche of the genre and I had a great time watching it.   Violent, funney, clever.


They weren’t just your basic superiors and inferiors, they specifically were the GOP stereotype of “the liberal elite" hunting down Trump voters. It was supposed to be a satire on current US political divisions, more specifically the constant sense of persecution right wingers claim even though their man is in the White House. I thought as political satire it toothless and rather flat. As a "The Most Dangerous" game knock-off it was entertaining enough, but like countless other films, save for the political angle.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 3, 2020)

Yeah...I was trying not to spoil it.


----------



## Reno (Apr 3, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> Yeah...I was trying not to spoil it.


It’s not a spoiler as that’s made clear from the start. It’s the premise of the film, not a plot twist (though there are some)


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 3, 2020)

Then we shall disagree!


----------



## Reno (Apr 3, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> Then we shall disagree!


That something which is made clear from the outset is a spoiler ?


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 3, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Fully recommend Mubi.


Cheers again for the heads up about Mubi, really good. 
Caught _Les Doulos_, _Chaotic Ana_ and _The Proposition_ and looking forward to the new Andrew Kotting.


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 3, 2020)

Reno said:


> That something which is made clear from the outset is a spoiler ?


No mate.

I just thought it was clever and very funny.   I'll certainly watch it again...it's in the vein of Happy Death Day and Ready Or Not.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 3, 2020)

There was a lot about it in the press when it was first supposed to come out, but release got delayed I think because of yet another politically motivated mass shooting in the US. So you kind of know from the start that it’s libs vs rednecks


----------



## T & P (Apr 3, 2020)

UFO (2018). I thought it was going to be your typical fantastical sci-fi film but it’s really about science and mathematics even though it does involve a UFO. One of those movies in which nothing much really happens yet is enjoyable and satisfying. Well written and decent cast. I liked it even though I know fuck all about maths.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 3, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> looking forward to the new Andrew Kotting.



Came on today...I'd not realised it was a Mubi film and had planned to see it at the pictures. Not seen any of his others.

Watched Sisters last night. Brian De Palma borrowing everything from Hitchcock to make an enetertaining Psycho type film. 

Need to start watching the Melville films.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 3, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> Invasion of the body snatchers 1978 version. Hadn't seen it for 35 years






Spoiler


----------



## Reno (Apr 4, 2020)

The Captain, a staggeringly cheesy Chinese disaster movie based on the Sichuan Airlines 



Spoiler



averted


 disaster from 2018. The real case is fascinating enough for this to be gripping at times, but it heaps on the sentimentality and excess to Airplane! levels of absurdity. After 80 minutes the plot comes to a natural end and then for some reason the movie still carries on for another 30 minutes.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 4, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Came on today...I'd not realised it was a Mubi film and had planned to see it at the pictures. Not seen any of his others.
> 
> Watched Sisters last night. Brian De Palma borrowing everything from Hitchcock to make an enetertaining Psycho type film.
> 
> Need to start watching the Melville films.


Have you seen Melville before? If not I cannot recommend his stuff strongly enough. You've got two of his three masterpieces (_Le Cercle Rouge_ and _Army of Shadows_) on there, sadly one of my absolute favourites _Bob le Flambeur_, with the gorgeous Isabella Corey, has already expired. BTW if you like _Army of Shadows_ then I can recommend _Army of Crime_ as a companion piece

Anyway despite being a big Julio Medem fan this was the first time I've seen _Chaotic Ana_, have to say its not a patch on his earlier work. The first third is pretty good, similar in both style and themes to other works, but the noble savage stuff is not just ludicrous but actually offensive and the banal anti-americanism is dreadful. If anyone is interested in Medem's work I'd advise them to swerve this one and instead go for _The Red Squirrel, Vacas_ or _Sex and Lucia_


----------



## lefteri (Apr 4, 2020)

watched about half of devs, alex garland’s new series for FX, about fishy goings on at a tech firm developing quantum computing

pretty gripping and an excellent soundtrack of west coast 70s stuff and original score by geoff barrow of portishead

there’s a lot of suspension of disbelief required and some preposterously over-aestheticization of technology but i’m still finding it to be a good yarn


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 4, 2020)

Bacarau (on MUBI - just £1 a month for 3 months right now). Thoroughly recommended - one of those films that it's best to know nothing of the plot going in - all I'll say is that it is a Brazilian political/satirical parable with faint sci fi and western overtones.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 4, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Have you seen Melville before? If not I cannot recommend his stuff strongly enough. You've got two of his three masterpieces (_Le Cercle Rouge_ and _Army of Shadows_) on there, sadly one of my absolute favourites _Bob le Flambeur_, with the gorgeous Isabella Corey, has already expired. BTW if you like _Army of Shadows_ then I can recommend _Army of Crime_ as a companion piece



Not until this morning. Watched Le Doulos since it's only on until tomorrow. I'm not a huge fan of noir but it was ok. I thought I was getting what was going on there were a few dialogue heavy scenes where I got a bit lost.I suppose ultimately crime doesn't pay and everyone shits on each other in the end.


----------



## T & P (Apr 4, 2020)

A Ghost Story. One of those allegedly  thought-provoking, deeply meaningful films that makes me feel like an ejit because it was widely praised by critics and has massive ratings, and yet at the end of it I thought it as one of the biggest, most pointless steaming piles of fucking shite I have wasted two hours of my life on.


----------



## RTWL (Apr 4, 2020)

EDIT.... sorry got it confused with Warps Ghost stories.

Just finished watching Monty Pythons Flying Circus . Never ceases to amaze and inspire me  . Noticed this time that Douglas Adams pops up a couple of times in the 4th season  !


----------



## kazza007 (Apr 5, 2020)

Indeliblelink said:


> Vivarium (2019) - low fantasy,/horror about a young couple who are trapped with a small annoying child in a house that they don't seem able to leave. Not a great film but apt quarantine watching.


I don't have time to see many movies, but enjoyed VIVARIUM last night. 
Any similar recommendations from people who've seen it?


----------



## lefteri (Apr 5, 2020)

T & P said:


> UFO (2018). I thought it was going to be your typical fantastical sci-fi film but it’s really about science and mathematics even though it does involve a UFO. One of those movies in which nothing much really happens yet is enjoyable and satisfying. Well written and decent cast. I liked it even though I know fuck all about maths.



i liked it at first but the sexism started to get to me - the girlfriend had barely a line despite appearing in loads of scenes and was suspiciously glam for a maths student (admittedly, that’s me with the stereotypes) and was just used as a sounding board for him to show his workings

gillian anderson mumbled her way through it and had a bizarre syrup 

i was underwhelmed by philip glass’s score

but otherwise more of this sort of thing!


----------



## jeff_leigh (Apr 5, 2020)

RTWL said:


> EDIT.... sorry got it confused with Warps Ghost stories.
> 
> Just finished watching Monty Pythons Flying Circus . Never ceases to amaze and inspire me  . Noticed this time that Douglas Adams pops up a couple of times in the 4th season  !


Wasn't the 4th Series the final one ? I'll have to watch it to see if I can spot him


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 5, 2020)

kazza007 said:


> I don't have time to see many movies, but enjoyed VIVARIUM last night.
> Any similar recommendations from people who've seen it?


Greener Grass


----------



## lefteri (Apr 5, 2020)

lefteri said:


> watched about half of devs, alex garland’s new series for FX, about fishy goings on at a tech firm developing quantum computing
> 
> pretty gripping and an excellent soundtrack of west coast 70s stuff and original score by geoff barrow of portishead
> 
> there’s a lot of suspension of disbelief required and some preposterously over-aestheticization of technology but i’m still finding it to be a good yarn



forgot to mention a huge plus: a scene soundtracked by patrick cowley’s menergy


----------



## RTWL (Apr 5, 2020)

jeff_leigh said:


> Wasn't the 4th Series the final one ? I'll have to watch it to see if I can spot him



Yep. The Golden Age of Ballooning etc. TBH I saw his name on the credits and skipped back to find him .  Always thought he had a bit of the python anarchic spirit in him .

Incidently I am currently watching Good Omens where he teams up with another absolute god ... Neil Gaimen (at least to write the book)... which on ep3, I am absolutely loving


----------



## Reno (Apr 5, 2020)

kazza007 said:


> I don't have time to see many movies, but enjoyed VIVARIUM last night.
> Any similar recommendations from people who've seen it?



As in "couple gets itself in Twilight Zone-style predicament"


----------



## kazza007 (Apr 5, 2020)

Reno said:


> As in "couple gets itself in Twilight Zone-style predicament"
> View attachment 205056


Seen it, enjoyed it


----------



## kazza007 (Apr 5, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Greener Grass


Thanks, saw kermode mention this in his review of Vivarium after I watched it. Will give it a go.


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Apr 5, 2020)

lefteri said:


> sexism





> suspiciously glam for a maths student



WELL. OK, that's a brutal hack of your post, but come the fuck on.

Apart from that, a decent wee flick. Strathairn and Anderson's fees probably made up much of the production costs, but none the worse for that. I'd kinda like to see a sequel, but I doubt that'll ever happen.


----------



## lefteri (Apr 5, 2020)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> WELL. OK, that's a brutal hack of your post, but come the fuck on.
> 
> Apart from that, a decent wee flick. Strathairn and Anderson's fees probably made up much of the production costs, but none the worse for that. I'd kinda like to see a sequel, but I doubt that'll ever happen.



yeah I did acknowledge that - if she had been a proper character it wouldn't have been a problem

didn't help that the protagonist looked like zuckerberg either


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (Apr 5, 2020)

lefteri said:


> didn't help that the protagonist looked like zuckerberg either



That didn't occur to me at the time, but hahaha yeah totally does


----------



## 8115 (Apr 5, 2020)

Mrs Dalloway. Moving and adept 1997 adaptation of the Virginia Woolf novel. Not my usual thing but I really enjoyed it.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 5, 2020)

Man behind the sun... Occasionally I scroll through my watchlist and come across a film and wonder how it got there. Ive been known to binge shock films at times, Grotesque, a Serbian film etc etc and expect that's where my head was at when I added this.

It's the story of 731 squadron, a Japanese unit who conducted tests on their Chinese captives. The first torture scenes are shocking, far more so for knowing it's based on the truth... shortly after there was a scene where a cat was killed by rats. I lost interest soon after.


----------



## ginger_syn (Apr 6, 2020)

Cloverfield, it was on the telly so I decided to watch the dvd instead and do without add breaks


----------



## jeff_leigh (Apr 6, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Man behind the sun... Occasionally I scroll through my watchlist and come across a film and wonder how it got there.


I've got that in my collection and funny enough I'm wondering too how it got there.


----------



## belboid (Apr 6, 2020)

Wellington Paranormal

The NZ based follow on series to the What We Do In The Shadows film (they haven't had the series there yet, poor sods).  One of the very best NZ comedy series I've ever seen.  Not that it is much of a pool to choose from.  Well worth it though.


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2020)

belboid said:


> Wellington Paranormal
> 
> The NZ based follow on series to the What We Do In The Shadows film (they haven't had the series their yer, poor sods).  One of the very best NZ comedy series I've ever seen.  Not that it is much of a pool to choose from.  Well worth it though.


Cool, I read about this before it went into production, didn’t know it was already out.


----------



## belboid (Apr 6, 2020)

Reno said:


> Cool, I read about this before it went into production, didn’t know it was already out.


 I dont think it is anywhere but NZ.  The first series came out in mid-2018, and the new one is meant to be out now, but I'm fairly sure it isn't actually.  as well!  S1 is on all the usual sites, and both are streaming on NZTV On Demand of you have a VPN


----------



## Reno (Apr 6, 2020)

belboid said:


> I dont think it is anywhere but NZ.  The first series came out in mid-2018, and the new one is meant to be out now, but I'm fairly sure it isn't actually.  as well!  S1 is on all the usual sites, and both are streaming on NZTV On Demand of you have a VPN


I was assuming that anyway, will see if I can torrent it.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 6, 2020)

Finished The Righteous Gemstones, I'd been rationing myself as the second series isnt likley untill summer next year. Found it hilarious easily the best comedy Ive seen this year.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 6, 2020)

belboid said:


> Wellington Paranormal
> 
> The NZ based follow on series to the What We Do In The Shadows film (they haven't had the series there yet, poor sods).  One of the very best NZ comedy series I've ever seen.  Not that it is much of a pool to choose from.  Well worth it though.


Just found season 1 and 2 on an android app called Typhoon, I'll watch that.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 8, 2020)

jeff_leigh said:


> I've got that in my collection and funny enough I'm wondering too how it got there.



Coincidentally Spookyrice just added a Disturbing Breakdown to his Youtube channel. His reviews are funny and generally cover the most shocking/gory/brutal parts of films. He doesn't quite cover the worst shots here.



Spoiler: Viewer discretion advised.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Apr 8, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Finished The Righteous Gemstones, I'd been rationing myself as the second series isnt likley untill summer next year. Found it hilarious easily the best comedy Ive seen this year.


Not heard of that before but looks ace. Is it on any streaming services?


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 8, 2020)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Not heard of that before but looks ace. Is it on any streaming services?


Not in the UK I’m afraid . If you’ve got an android box or firestick you can get it on Typhoon if you side load it or if on a PC/ Laptop it will be on Leonflix or Stremio but you’ll have to install them first .


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Apr 11, 2020)

Contagion.  A bit silly but OK to pass the time of an evening.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 11, 2020)

_A Countess From Hong Kong_ - The last film Chaplin's directed, starring Marlon Brando and Sofia Loren and showing as part of Mubi's Perfect Failures season. I don't think this can count as a perfect anything. You can kind of see glimpses of a decent film there, a classic screwball comedy but it really does not work. The whole thing unfolds too slowly and the set pieces just fall flat. I guess it is interesting so see Brando in the (purposely) comic role but I wouldn't bother with it.

_Oldboy_ - For whatever reason I've never got around to seeing this and I have to say it was a massive disappointment. I just did not connect with it in any way, yes there are some great scenes, with a few nice black comic moments but overall I found myself drifting off from it. And the whole "just as I planned" was thing tedious and annoying. I know I'm in a massive minority and maybe I just wasn't in the right mood but not impressed. Hopefully I'll find something more in _Sympathy for Lady Vengeance _


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 11, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Oldboy_ - For whatever reason I've never got around to seeing this and I have to say it was a massive disappointment. I just did not connect with it in any way, yes there are some great scenes, with a few nice black comic moments but overall I found myself drifting off from it. And the whole "just as I planned" was thing tedious and annoying. I know I'm in a massive minority and maybe I just wasn't in the right mood but not impressed. Hopefully I'll find something more in _Sympathy for Lady Vengeance _



Yea, I thought I'd watch it this morning before it left Mubi. I don't understand why it's considered the best of the trilogy. Still got Lady Vengeance to watch but my mate says it's one of a handful of films he would never want to see twice and though I've seen it years ago I can't remember why.

Noticed Visitor Q was added today...not sure I really want to see that again. I watched the trailer though, iIt doesn't actually show you anything but it's probably enough to put some people off.

If you haven't seen it, I think Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a masterpiece.


----------



## Dragnet (Apr 11, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Noticed Visitor Q was added today...not sure I really want to see that again. I watched the trailer though, iIt doesn't actually show you anything but it's probably enough to put some people off.



I watched that a year or so ago after reading about it for years - found it pretty underwhelming, considering how much i'd heard it hyped up. Not a bad film, a few good over-the-top black comedy moments but that was about it for me. Hasn't really inspired me to see any more Miike, but i've heard good things about Audition.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 11, 2020)

Dragnet said:


> I watched that a year or so ago after reading about it for years - found it pretty underwhelming, considering how much i'd heard it hyped up. Not a bad film, a few good over-the-top black comedy moments but that was about it for me. Hasn't really inspired me to see any more Miike, but i've heard good things about Audition.



I saw Audition years ago but I've got a shit memory for films. Saw Ichi The Killer aswell but I've forgotten that aswell. I saw his recent one, First Love and it didn't impress me at all.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 11, 2020)

Dawn [Morgenrot] (1933) - German WWI U-Boat thriller. Decent war drama with some good battle sequences.


----------



## Reno (Apr 11, 2020)

Dragnet said:


> I watched that a year or so ago after reading about it for years - found it pretty underwhelming, considering how much i'd heard it hyped up. Not a bad film, a few good over-the-top black comedy moments but that was about it for me. Hasn't really inspired me to see any more Miike, but i've heard good things about Audition.


I find most of Miike‘s films rather slapdash. They often get praised for being quirky but for me that can quickly get irritating. Audition is the best, least self-indulgent and most accessible of the films of his I’ve seen.


----------



## Sprocket. (Apr 11, 2020)

Finally got around to see Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Loved it, two main characters who deserve little sympathy. Both delivered good performances and the story was a joy. Did not expect to see Tom Clancy give a cameo, especially in the way Lee Israel berated him.
Grant plays the most marvellous drunk again.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 12, 2020)

Army of Shadows... Thanks redsquirrel I'm really enjoying the Melville films on Mubi... this ones leaving today.  It's about the French Resistance which Imittedly know very little about and had no idea to expect but it's another great story superbly told with lots of suspense. A scene of a prison escape reminded me of Mesrine and I'd noticed the name Cassell in the titles so was good to learn that Vincent Cassel's dad was in it. Very much looking forward to Le Circle Rouge.


----------



## Sue (Apr 12, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Army of Shadows... Thanks redsquirrel I'm really enjoying the Melville films on Mubi... this ones leaving today.  It's about the French Resistance which Imittedly know very little about and had no idea to expect but it's another great story superbly told with lots of suspense. A scene of a prison escape reminded me of Mesrine and I'd noticed the name Cassell in the titles so was good to learn that Vincent Cassel's dad was in it. Very much looking forward to Le Circle Rouge.



It's a great film and informed by his own experiences in the Resistance. If you haven't seen them, his other France under the Occupation films -- Le Silence de la Mer and Leon Morin, Pretre -- deal with different aspects of resistance.(His crime films are also great.)


----------



## Sue (Apr 12, 2020)

I've also just watched Army of Shadows. I've seen it umpteen times but it still gets me. It's so sad and brave and understated. What a great film. 

It's also prompted me to text a friend I lent this to ages ago as I really want to re-read it.   









						A Fine of Two Hundred Francs
					

A Fine of Two Hundred Francs book. Read 9 reviews from the world's largest community for readers.



					www.goodreads.com


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 12, 2020)

Deerskin...new film by by Quentin Dupieux/Mr Oizo. A man's obsession with his designer deerskin jacket causes him to blow his life savings and turn to crime. I've not seen any of his other films since Rubber, the horror film about tyre called Robert who kills people by making their heads explode. This one is equally great fun....probably not to everyones taste though, it's kind of stupid.


----------



## Sue (Apr 12, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Deerskin...new film by by Quentin Dupieux/Mr Oizo. A man's obsession with his designer deerskin jacket causes him to blow his life savings and turn to crime. I've not seen any of his other films since Rubber, the horror film about tyre called Robert who kills people by making their heads explode. This one is equally great fun....probably not to everyones taste though, it's kind of stupid.


Saw it at the LFF. Thought it was fun.


----------



## Sprocket. (Apr 13, 2020)

Knives Out, brilliant cast, excellent set design and cracking story.
Thoroughly enjoyable and will no doubt get another viewing.
Laugh out loud moments in a well crafted non-comedy film.
Hats off to writer/director Rian Johnson and a special nod to an outstanding performance from 90 year old Christopher Plummer.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Army of Shadows... Thanks redsquirrel I'm really enjoying the Melville films on Mubi... this ones leaving today.  It's about the French Resistance which Imittedly know very little about and had no idea to expect but it's another great story superbly told with lots of suspense. A scene of a prison escape reminded me of Mesrine and I'd noticed the name Cassell in the titles so was good to learn that Vincent Cassel's dad was in it. Very much looking forward to Le Circle Rouge.


Yes watched it again, absolutely brilliant film the way it depicts the bleakness of the resistance's (real) heroism is fantastic. _Le Cercle Rouge_ and _Le Samouari_ are both masterpieces in their way and probably more influential but if there is only film that Melville is to be remembered for I think it has to be _Army of Shadows._

Followed up _Army of Shadows_ with _Army of Crime_, not in the same league but a good resistance film highlighting the importance of communist immigrants in the movement.

Yesterday I watched _Das Ewige Leben_, the 4th of Wolfgang Murnburger/Josef Hader's Brenner films, if you like black comedy (with a large hit of crime) this is for you. While probably not reaching the top heights and absurdity of the first three (the pastiche of the plane attack of _North by Northwest_ in _Silentium _probably being the apex)  it's still got a lot to recommend it.


----------



## jeff_leigh (Apr 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Army of Shadows... Thanks redsquirrel I'm really enjoying the Melville films on Mubi... this ones leaving today.  It's about the French Resistance which Imittedly know very little about and had no idea to expect but it's another great story superbly told with lots of suspense. A scene of a prison escape reminded me of Mesrine and I'd noticed the name Cassell in the titles so was good to learn that Vincent Cassel's dad was in it. Very much looking forward to Le Circle Rouge.


I've got Le Samouraï ,Army of Shadows and Le Cercle Rouge in my downloaded Torrents folder, Think I'll get round to watching them this week


----------



## Detroit City (Apr 14, 2020)

Das Boot (1981)


----------



## magneze (Apr 14, 2020)

Ponyo
Brilliant isn't it?


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 14, 2020)

Leon Morin, Priest...another Melville. France in WW2, an atheist woman starts meeting with a priest and falls in love. It's a lot to think about, I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as his others I've seen, maybe because I don't have a great understanding of catholicism and it was a bit dialogue heavy at times. 

Eden Lake...I've seen it before when it came out. It's a lot better than I remembered.

Also watched 2 short films on Youtube....The Child Molester, which is an american public information film but shows actual shots of dead kids at then end and so wasn't shown for long because unsurprisingly, little kids were fucked up after watching it.

The other was Slut...a short horror film about a teenager who changes her appearance, seemingly with the intention of attracting boys. It's a really good 20 minutes.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 14, 2020)

_The Image Book_ - a film essay by Godard supposedly "[examining] the history of cinema and its inability to recognise the atrocities of the 20th and 21st centuries", maybe. To me it was 85 minutes of tedium, the worst sort of banality masquerading as profundity. Bad things occurred in Europe, the west is doing bad things to the Arab World. Don't know of you've got around to this yet Part 2 but I really would not bother.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 14, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Image Book_ - a film essay by Godard supposedly "[examining] the history of cinema and its inability to recognise the atrocities of the 20th and 21st centuries", maybe. To me it was 85 minutes of tedium, the worst sort of banality masquerading as profundity. Bad things occurred in Europe, the west is doing bad things to the Arab World. Don't know of you've got around to this yet Part 2 but I really would not bother.



No I decided to pass on that one, when it came out I wasn't that bothered to see it.

Watched Lady Vengeance this afternoon. The most interesting of the trilogy I think, lots more going on stylistically but not a comfortable watch. I'd say Mr Vengeance was my most enjoyable of the three. Was just talking to my son about them, wondering why Oldboy is the one everyone knows when the other 2 are imo better films.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 14, 2020)

_Wildlife_ - Paul Dano's directorial debut of a suburban marriage breaking-down in 60s America. Looks good and has a good cast but I was not massively impressed. Main problem is that the story has been told so many times that if just feels very old hat, added to that the middle section drags. It's by no means bad but there are much better versions of the same thing out there.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 15, 2020)

_Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate_ - Never heard of Yûzô Kawashima but after seeing this I'll have to try and check some more of his work out. A sort of bawdy screwball comedy with a trickster taking up residence in a brothel and helping out the deserving and fooling the undeserving. Almost something of a folktale about it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 16, 2020)

Django (1966)

Another spaghetti western based on Yojimbo. Quite vicious and entertaining at the same time. The dubbed version sounds awful, unfortunately.


----------



## MrCurry (Apr 16, 2020)

An Idiot Abroad series 2.

Good old Karl Pilkington, offending the rest of the world one surprised foreigner at a time....


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 16, 2020)

_Neighbouring Sounds_ - Very good ensemble piece set in a well-off suburb of Recife, into which a set of security guards have started a neighbour hood patrol, and where the undercurrent of class tension is always present. It looks and sounds great and there's lots of good oblique hints at other stories, as well as some fantasy scenes, yet the director manages to keep everything together an in balance. Cast is excellent too. Well worth catching.


----------



## lizzieloo (Apr 16, 2020)

I've watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood twice this week.

'tis a good film.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Apr 17, 2020)

Just found out EE offer a 6 month subscription to Britbox free, with the data covered too.  Watching Educating Rita at the moment.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 17, 2020)

Just watched the first episode of a new series called Run . It’s an American comedy about a woman receiving a text from an old boyfriend which just says RUN and that’s what she does , ie run off with him. It’s pacy , very witty and promising . I’m looking forward to next weeks episode
Edit apparantly its on Sky in the UK which has the contract for HBO in the UK  . Review here Run: Is this your new favourite lockdown drama? ★★★★☆


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 17, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Bacarau (on MUBI - just £1 a month for 3 months right now). Thoroughly recommended - one of those films that it's best to know nothing of the plot going in - all I'll say is that it is a Brazilian political/satirical parable with faint sci fi and western overtones.



Just watched this, probably the strangest film I've seen for a while. Lots going on and fuck knows what some of it was about was very entertaining. As you say best not to know too much going in but I'll definitely be reading a few reviews tomorrow to try to understand it a bit more. 

The director appears to be a former film critic which I guess doesn't happen too often.


----------



## belboid (Apr 17, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Just watched this, probably the strangest film I've seen for a while. Lots going on and fuck knows what some of it was about was very entertaining. As you say best not to know too much going in but I'll definitely be reading a few reviews tomorrow to try to understand it a bit more.
> 
> The director appears to be a former film critic which I guess doesn't happen too often.


Just seen it too. It was odd, then odder, then what the actual fuck?????  Then all settled down, sort of.  

I think we can safely say the director is not a bolsonaro fan


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 18, 2020)

belboid said:


> Just seen it too. It was odd, then odder, then what the actual fuck?????  Then all settled down, sort of.
> 
> I think we can safely say the director is not a bolsonaro fan



Forgot to say, for the second time when I've watched s film leaving that day, the quality on Mubi wasn't great. I'm not sure what the problem is...running it on a 4k firestick and broadband speed is fast enough. Had problems with the app freezing at other times aswell.


----------



## Mr.Bishie (Apr 18, 2020)

Just rewatched 4 seasons of The Killing - what a cracking series


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 18, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> belboid said:
> 
> 
> > Just seen it too. It was odd, then odder, then what the actual fuck?????  Then all settled down, sort of.
> ...


Also watched _Bacarau_ yesterday, really good, (one of the) same director(s) as in _Neighbouring Sounds_ I mentioned above and while quite different in some ways you can see the same underlying interests and style of filming. The first ~60 minutes share a strong similarity with _Neighbouring Sounds,_ a ensemble piece built around a community, then the second half of the film goes somewhere different. Despite that shift I think its to the directors' credit that while you have an initial jolt with the change of tone I still felt the film did work as an overall piece with the different parts pulled together.


----------



## belboid (Apr 18, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Forgot to say, for the second time when I've watched s film leaving that day, the quality on Mubi wasn't great. I'm not sure what the problem is...running it on a 4k firestick and broadband speed is fast enough. Had problems with the app freezing at other times aswell.


agreed, we had to knock it down to 720 to get it to run smoothly


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 18, 2020)

belboid said:


> agreed, we had to knock it down to 720 to get it to run smoothly



Nice one, I'll have a look at settings and do that next time.


----------



## fucthest8 (Apr 18, 2020)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Not heard of that before but looks ace. Is it on any streaming services?





The39thStep said:


> Not in the UK I’m afraid . If you’ve got an android box or firestick you can get it on Typhoon if you side load it or if on a PC/ Laptop it will be on Leonflix or Stremio but you’ll have to install them first .



It was on Sky IIRC do they do a catch-up service at all? I recorded it via Virgin, so no idea.

Anyway, loved it


----------



## bmd (Apr 18, 2020)

Just watched Fantasy Island. Not, you know, ”look, Boss, the plane!“ But a shitty B movie attempt at a similar thing. I’ve seen worse tbf.


----------



## bmd (Apr 18, 2020)

And here it is: Time Trap. It’s a Netflix film. The premise is that these kids go caving and find the fountain of youth which is actually behind some time walls in this cave with H.G. Wells‘ Time Machine type Neanderthals in it as the baddies. There’s also an alien race and an upside down pool of water, conquistadors and a cowboy. 2 people return from the dead and they work out that years are passing in the blink of an eye. Possibly up for an Oscar, possibly the shittest film I’ve ever seen.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 18, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Watched Lady Vengeance this afternoon. The most interesting of the trilogy I think, lots more going on stylistically but not a comfortable watch. I'd say Mr Vengeance was my most enjoyable of the three. Was just talking to my son about them, wondering why Oldboy is the one everyone knows when the other 2 are imo better films.


Totally agree with you on this much preferred _Lady Vengeance _to _Oldboy, _better drawn characters and a more interesting story


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 18, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Just found out EE offer a 6 month subscription to Britbox free, with the data covered too.  Watching Educating Rita at the moment.


Cheers - all signed up now


----------



## Reno (Apr 19, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> The director appears to be a former film critic which I guess doesn't happen too often.


Most of the key directors of the French New Wave like Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer, Rivette and Chabrol started as film critics. In the US you've got Peter Bogdanovich and Paul Schrader.


----------



## Reno (Apr 19, 2020)

Porno, a horror film about Christian fundamentalist kids working at a cinema in the 90s, who come across a demonically possessed art house porn film.  Not great, but for a film where most of the gore consists of men getting their genitals ripped off, it has its heart in the right place. This looks like it was by someone working through stuff.


----------



## bmd (Apr 19, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Watched Lady Vengeance this afternoon. The most interesting of the trilogy I think, lots more going on stylistically but not a comfortable watch. I'd say Mr Vengeance was my most enjoyable of the three. Was just talking to my son about them, wondering why Oldboy is the one everyone knows when the other 2 are imo better films.



I had no idea there was a trilogy. Only just seen Oldboy tbf. Not sure if it just couldn’t stand up to the hype or if it has been surpassed since its release but it seemed a bit mundane to me. As a film I mean, not as a series of whoa moments.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Apr 19, 2020)

Rewatched Contagion, now it's on Netflix. Bet they never expected that the thing they got wrong was how it's not rogue bloggers spreading fake miracle cures, it's the President of the USA.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 19, 2020)

fucthest8 said:


> It was on Sky IIRC do they do a catch-up service at all? I recorded it via Virgin, so no idea.
> 
> Anyway, loved it


Buddy Bradley  Apparantly Gemstones, ( Along with Run and Brassic both of which I really like) are on Now TV who do a free month offer Watch The Righteous Gemstones Online - Stream Full Episodes
You dont need a Now Tv box or stick to watch  Now TV content


----------



## Chz (Apr 19, 2020)

Watched _The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane_.
Wow, Martin Sheen can do sex creep well. And just how many great roles did Jodie Foster have under her belt before she was an adult?


----------



## Reno (Apr 19, 2020)

Chz said:


> Watched _The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane_.
> Wow, Martin Sheen can do sex creep well. And just how many great roles did Jodie Foster have under her belt before she was an adult?


Love that film and it was a favourite of mine when I was a teenager. Its like an inversion of the evil child horror film of the 70s but it's from the kid's POV where she is the (anti-) heroine of the narrative.


----------



## Sue (Apr 19, 2020)

Just watched Le Cercle Rouge which I think is the first Melville film I ever saw. Really wasn't at all as I remembered -- in fact, in my head, I think I had it mixed up with Rififi.  Which kind of makes sense since the subject matter is similar. Think Rififi is the better film though.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 19, 2020)

Sue said:


> Just watched Le Cercle Rouge which I think is the first Melville film I ever saw. Really wasn't at all as I remembered -- in fact, in my head, I think I had it mixed up with Rififi.  Which kind of makes sense since the subject matter is similar. Think Rififi is the better film though.



I just watched it too (it's starting to look like there should be a Mubi discussion thread!). I really enjoyed it, especially the silence of the robbery, like I saw in the pink panther films as a kid but also reminded me of the inside number 9 burglary episode. 

Looks like just Un Flic left of Melville's on Mubi now so there's a few I need to download.


----------



## Reno (Apr 20, 2020)

I could be catching up up with the great classics of cinema I've missed out in and watch those Eric Rohmer and Bela Tarr movies I've never seen but here we are. 

Butt Boy is an extension of a comedy sketch by the YouTube comedy collective Tiny Cinema. The plan must have been to make the best film possible from the most stupid, most purile premise imaginable. This is about a family man who discovers he derives great pleasure from shoving things up his butt. At first small objects start disappearing, eventually pets and small children go missing too. 

The odd thing is that the film treats this almost completely straight. It is very stylishly made, in an 80s retro-cool way, like a neo-noir serial killer procedural with a synth score and cinematography reminiscent of the movie Drive. There is a stakeout sequence at night with a Spielberg-sky of twinkling stars and I though, why did they take such care to make this look beautiful ?
The problem is, that the length of a feature film can't sustain its one-joke premise and it's not outrageous and tasteless enough. I was hoping for something as insane, funny and outright peculiar as The Greasy Strangler, but during the mid-section this really drags and it isn't funny enough. The last act gets increasingly surreal but the logistics of the butt magic never convinced me. I'm probably looking for sense and reason in all the wrong places. I never though I'd say this about a film, but considering its premise, this isn't scatologial enough. 

Watching the movies you don't have to...



_Gretel & Hansel _was much better, though not perfect. It's a horror retelling of the fairy tale and the spooky world it createst is gorgeous, somewhere between a fairy tale past and a future black-magic dystopia. The pacing and plotting is a little wobbly, but its atmosphere and visual invention carry it. If you like gothic horror, check it out, it's the best horror update of a classic fairy tale I've seen.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 20, 2020)

The Kid (1921)

Classic Chaplin in which he adopts an abandoned infant at first reluctantly and then a bond grows. Jackie Coogan was the child actor who later portrayed the original Uncle Fester...


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 20, 2020)

_Sisters_ - Have somewhat mixed feelings about de Palma, there are things that I admired - performance of two leads is good, Charles Durning great, if underused, and some good set pieces - but somehow it seemed less than the some of its parts. Maybe it is partly because I re-watched _Rear Window_ a few days earlier and it can't help but be in the shadow of that film

_Autumn Sonata_ - Only second Ingmar Bergman I've seen, I saw _The Seventh Seal_ a number of years ago and appreciated it but didn't really get much from it. In contrast I loved _Autumn Sonata_, really wonderful, it is an absolutely beautifully looking film, full of autumn colours and light. Top notch performances from Bergman (Ingrid) and Liv Ullman, and also a very good supporting role from Halvar Björk.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2020)

these are all on Mubi aren't they? I admire your brio. Thought I'd watch loads of films during lockdown but instead i've been playing videogames and chewing my nails frantically (which i concede is taboo in a pandemic)


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> these are all on Mubi aren't they? I admire your brio. Thought I'd watch loads of films during lockdown but instead i've been playing videogames and chewing my nails frantically (which i concede is taboo in a pandemic)


It's fine as long as you've washed your hands before. Whatever gets you through this.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 21, 2020)

Reno said:


> It's fine as long as you've washed your hands before. Whatever gets you through this.


haha, i've not gone mad about it - no point if you're in all day - only bother if I've left the house.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 21, 2020)

Which reminds me, wtf is with people watching all these pandemic movies - I keep gettting Contagion and Outbreak and other lower budget efforts like Flu and Pandemic flagged up on Netflix and Prime. Why would you watch that shit right now?


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2020)

No fucking idea. I haven't been watching pandemic movies but then I'm also not watching christmas movies on christmas.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 21, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> these are all on Mubi aren't they? I admire your brio. Thought I'd watch loads of films during lockdown but instead i've been playing videogames and chewing my nails frantically (which i concede is taboo in a pandemic)


Yeah, really loving MUBI. For me the relatively limited, but top quality, selection and 30 day countdown is actually a positive, making me commit to watching these movies. I also subscribe to the BFI but often end up thinking I'll just watch something "later", and ending up just watching trash or browsing the net instead.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 21, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Yeah, really loving MUBI. For me the relatively limited, but top quality, selection and 30 day countdown is actually a positive, making me commit to watching these movies. I also subscribe to the BFI but often end up thinking I'll just watch something "later", and ending up just watching trash or browsing the net instead.


I do that with films I’ve rented and paid for. Have done that twice with both First Love and Pain & Glory


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 21, 2020)

*Dolittle* (the newish CGI fest with RDJ doing some weird meandering accent between Scottish and Welsh). 

Don'tlittle.


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2020)

The Octagon said:


> *Dolittle* (the newish CGI fest with RDJ doing some weird meandering accent between Scottish and Welsh).
> 
> Don'tlittle.


Had it not been for Cats, this would be the most ridiculed CGI animal film in recent memory. Both were hugely troubled productions because they were made by film directors with no understanding of special effects technology and who were unwilling to learn on the job. Both drove their their respective blockbusters off the cliff. I've heard horror stories from friends who worked on this.


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 21, 2020)

Reno said:


> Had it not been for Cats, this would be the most ridiculed CGI animal film in recent memory. Both were hugely troubled productions because they were made by film directors with no understanding of special effects technology and how were unwilling to learn on the job. Both drove their their respective blockbusters off the cliff. *I've heard horror stories from friends who worked on this.*



None of us are going anywhere, share please


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2020)

The Octagon said:


> None of us are going anywhere, share please


You can't shoot scenes with a massive amount of CG creatures and keep improvising on the day. Everything has to be meticulously planned in advance when it comes to special effects. The director decided to approach this like a live action shoot, which meant him demanding lots of CG animation so he could chose afterwards, instead of planning ahead. This inflated the budget massively und unnecccessarily and meant that the animators had to work excessive overtime. Here is an article from an industry publication: 'Dolittle' Doesn't Use CG Animation Very Well: Here Are The Key Complaints From Critics

When I still worked in digital effects and animation, you'd occasionally get a director who had no idea about the process. Invariably they were too arrogant to back down, listen to people who know their stuff and learn and they'd insist of doing it their way. In that field, they are your worst nightmare.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 21, 2020)

Read a bit about Tom Hooper being a CGI dullard and throwing fits at people cos they couldn't do the impossible


----------



## Reno (Apr 21, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Read a bit about Tom Hooper being a CGI dullard and throwing fits at people cos they couldn't do the impossible


Just dug out one of the articles and posted it here:









						Cats the movie has some awesomely scathing reviews...
					

why waste time and money Cats when you have so much better available.




					www.urban75.net


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 21, 2020)

_Daughters of Fire_ - a sort of road/porn movie. A director intending to make a porn film and her girlfriend go on a road trip in southern Argentina, during the trip they meet, interact and have (explicit) sex with a number of other women. I can see what this was trying to do and bits of it are rather good and it looks great, however, I don't think the porn film within the porn film idea works all that well and the narration is the worst sort of pompous twaddle which only works against the film. And could easily lose 20 minutes from the running time and be a better film.


----------



## Reno (Apr 22, 2020)

I watched the first two episodes of _The Plot Against America,_ the new HBO drama by David Simon, based of the Philip Roth novel. It takes place in an alternate 1940s where Charles Lindbergh becomes president and then takes the US to the far right and into anti-semitism, all from the POV of a Jewish family. Considering Simon's Twitter activity, its obvious why he was attracted to this. The series looks lavish, a lot of money has been thrown at it, though I'm not yet sold. Dramatically its a little underpowered so far, with characters mostly discussing possible political repercussions but it's supposed to get better. At least it's not as clunky as _The Man in the High Castle _series and the premise is interesting enough to stick with it.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Apr 22, 2020)

Reno said:


> I watched the first two episodes of _The Plot Against America,_ the new HBO drama by David Simon, based of the Philip Roth novel. It takes place in an alternate 1940s where Charles Lindbergh becomes president and then takes the US to the far right, all from the POV of a Jewish family. Considering Simon's Twitter activity, its obvious why he was attracted to this. The series looks lavish, a lot of money has been thrown at it, though I'm not yet sold. Dramatically its a little underpowered so far, with characters mostly discussing possible political repercussions but it's supposed to get better. At least it's not as clunky as _The Man in the High Castle _series and the premise is interesting enough to stick with it.


His last mini-series, Show Me A Hero, also started off a bit shakily, but really came together by the end.

I watched Sense and Sensibility tonight - just felt terribly miscast, with 36-year-old Emma Thompson playing a 19-year-old, while the real 19-year-old Kate Winslet is supposed to have fallen for 49-year-old Alan Rickman.


----------



## Reno (Apr 22, 2020)

Buddy Bradley said:


> His last mini-series, Show Me A Hero, also started off a bit shakily, but really came together by the end.


There is more urgency and dramatic tension by episode 3, which i just watched.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 23, 2020)

There's some great films on All4 at the moment. Adverts the obvious downside.



			https://www.channel4.com/categories/film


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 23, 2020)

Sightseers, forgotten all about that , I enjoyed watching that when it came out. Sexy Beast is ace as well.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 23, 2020)

most of those are on other platforms without ads


----------



## belboid (Apr 23, 2020)

Cromwell

The 1970 one about Oliver, not Thomas. A typical British period piece of the time - they really don''t age very well.  Richard Harris is good as the big man (perhaps surprisingly so, considering), and Alec Guinness is always watchable but the script is rather lackadaisical and it relies on the fact the a civil war and <spoiler> chopping a king's head off </spoiler> is always entertaining. You wouldn't want to base a history essay upon it, but it isn't too many miles off and does get some of the spirit of revolutionary fervour across.

Forays into Ireland are conspicuous by there absence.


----------



## Sue (Apr 23, 2020)

belboid said:


> Cromwell
> 
> The 1970 one about Oliver, not Thomas. A typical British period piece of the time - they really don''t age very well.  Richard Harris is good as the big man (perhaps surprisingly so, considering), and Alec Guinness is always watchable but the script is rather lackadaisical and it relies on the fact the a civil war and <spoiler> chopping a king's head off </spoiler> is always entertaining. You wouldn't want to base a history essay upon it, but it isn't too many miles off and does get some of the spirit of revolutionary fervour across.
> 
> Forays into Ireland are conspicuous by there absence.


Fuck's sake, ruined for me now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 23, 2020)

Tried to watch Fleabag (the play not the series) and just can't get on with stage acting - it looks too demonstrative to be convincing. I guess having to shout in a theatre detracts from the actual acting.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 23, 2020)

_The Blood of a Poet_ and _Testament of Orpheus_ - Jean Cocteau double bill, not really my thing to be honest, certain bits mildly amusing and some nice scenes but just found it all a bit cold.

MUBI is great but not sure if having two Coetau films followed by what looks like a pretty strange documentary is the best curation. (And I like Sterling Hayden)


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 23, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Sightseers, forgotten all about that , I enjoyed watching that when it came out. Sexy Beast is ace as well.



Border, My Life as a Courgette, Duke of Burgundy and Thelma are all excellent...and The Greasy Strangler is puerile stupidity at its best if you like that sort of thing.


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2020)

I watched the rest of _The Plot Against America_. Dramatically it just about comes together by the end but as political commentary it feels redundant. Current political reality in the US has overtaken it. Donald Trump is worse than the fictional president Charles Lindbergh in the show. Also, why have a fictional political threat to Jews in the US in the 40s when there have been a gazillion films/tv shows of the same thing happening during the third reich in Germany ? The show changes the ending of the novel to a cliff hanger, so I assume Simon wants this to become a continuous series. If that happens I may stick with it because it has potential, it's just not all there yet. The best thing about the show is Zoe Kazan who plays a character who is the moral center of the story. I wished she'd has more scenes with Winona Rider, who plays her sister. Their increasingly complicated relationship is the most interesting aspect of the show.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 24, 2020)

_Pharos of Chaos_ - Documentary portrait of Sterling Hayden made towards the end of his life, it's not a great, or even particularly good, film to be honest, too much in love with it's protagonist and there's too much rambling of someone who's drunk - eh? eh? eh?. That said Hayden's charisma and story do manage to raise the film above what it should be. Probably not everyones cup of tea but if you are a film and/or Hayden fan then it is of some interest.

Be interested to know what other film buffs made of it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2020)

Are you watching EVERYTHING on MUBI, redsquirrel ?


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 24, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Are you watching EVERYTHING on MUBI, redsquirrel ?


Maybe not everything but trying to do most.

Been really bad at watching films since I came back to the UK. In Australia I was a member of the Melbourne Cinematheque which was great and I tried to keep up with their programme when I came back to the UK but just have just lacked the commitment. Likewise I tried to make it to the Tuesday showings at the Hype Park Picture House (when it was open) but often finish work late on Tuesday's so that didn't help. Barely went to the cinema last year.

With the way that MUBI's been set up and working from home (so no commute) I've been able to get back to watching more films.

Next few days on MUBI look ace anyway - Primer (which I've never seen), Un Flic (not quite top draw Melville but some amazing set pieces, plus the ice-cool, if fascist shit, Delon), Losey,_ Coffee and Cigarettes, Southland Tales _(which I know is meant to be crap but I'm interested in seeing) and a Źuławski (I've have a certain fondness for _Possession_).


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2020)

I admire your zeal - i've only managed to watch one film so far on MUBI


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 24, 2020)

Well I don't know if you are a Hayden fan but _Pharos of Chaos,_ while flawed, is not without its charms


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 24, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Well I don't know if you are a Hayden fan but _Pharos of Chaos,_ while flawed, is not without its charms


i was tempted by it!


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 24, 2020)

BTW Reno do you have any suggestions about where to start with Yūzō Kawashima films?


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 24, 2020)

I tried Primer but nodded off for a minute and completely lost the plot.  

Needed a break last night and watched Ip Man 2. It's not as good as Ip Man.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 24, 2020)

Under the Silver Lake
A  very engrossing  if meandering noir stoner  film which when it ends you think what was that all about? Remimded mea bit of Donnie Darko, never the less I'd reccomend it, its fascinating  ,even though its a case of the journey being better than the destination.


----------



## Reno (Apr 24, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> BTW Reno do you have any suggestions about where to start with Yūzō Kawashima films?


Never even heard of him. There goes my cred !


----------



## Sue (Apr 24, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Maybe not everything but trying to do most.
> 
> Been really bad at watching films since I came back to the UK. In Australia I was a member of the Melbourne Cinematheque which was great and I tried to keep up with their programme when I came back to the UK but just have just lacked the commitment. Likewise I tried to make it to the Tuesday showings at the Hype Park Picture House (when it was open) but often finish work late on Tuesday's so that didn't help. Barely went to the cinema last year.
> 
> ...


The stuff that's on there at the moment is pretty good; sometimes it's not so much. Saying that, I reckon it's well worth it if there are even three or four things  a month that are decent and Mubi Go is very good. (I've been a member for a long time so am locked into a very cheap deal so  )


----------



## Sue (Apr 24, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Under the Silver Lake
> A  very engrossing  if meandering noir stoner  film which when it ends you think what was that all about? Remimded mea bit of Donnie Darko, never the less I'd reccomend it, its fascinating  ,even though its a case of the journey being better than the destination.


I thought it really wasn't very good. Disappointed as I really liked It Follows.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 25, 2020)

Reno said:


> Never even heard of him. There goes my cred !


Bugger, ta anyway.


----------



## Reno (Apr 25, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Bugger, ta anyway.


Do report if you see anything good by him.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 25, 2020)

_Prevenge_ - quite good dark comedy horror flick directed by and starring Alice Lowe (_Sightseers_, _Sometimes, Always, Never_) as a mum to be who's commanded to go an a series of revenge killings by her unborn child. It's not as strong as _Sightseers_ but there are some good moments, and the "baby" is great. 

_Hide and Seek_ - Four people decide to go off and live together, trying to isolate themselves from the world and form relationships between the each of them. It's not terrible but there's the characters are not really drawn well enough, it all feels a bit artificial (and not in a good way), you don't know why these people would do this, is it some art experiment or what? Lack of exposition is not necessarily a bad thing (as illustrated by the film below) but you need something to drive the film. It's not often I say this but this is actually a film that could do with being longer.

_Primer_ - Had high expectations for this, _Upstream Color_ is one of my favourite films of the last few years, and was worried it would not live up to them but it did. Absolutely fantastic, Shane Carruth must be one of the most exciting film makers out there at the moment. For all the time travel trickery the real core of the film is just that it is wonderfully made, some directors might get lost in the mathematics of the time travel but while these are worked out, Carruth does not lose sight of the fact that a film needs more than that. This has great dialogue, strong characters and is at its must fundamental level is deeply moving (all traits that _Upstream Color_ shares). Wonderful.


----------



## May Kasahara (Apr 25, 2020)

Logan. I thought this was fantastic, bleak and tender and emotionally realistic while also being full of bone-crunching, desperate violence.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Apr 25, 2020)

Watched the first series of Brassic today on a whim and ended up loving it. The first five episodes at least - wtf was that finale supposed to be?  Initially struck me as a mix of Shameless and the Young Offenders, but I fear it's gonna be some Ideal gangster shit from here on.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 25, 2020)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Watched the first series of Brassic today on a whim and ended up loving it. The first five episodes at least - wtf was that finale supposed to be?  Initially struck me as a mix of Shameless and the Young Offenders, but I fear it's gonna be some Ideal gangster shit from here on.


Iis brill isnt it , second series begins next month.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 26, 2020)

Mortal Engines from 2018. Visually stunning but becomes a bit derivative by the end. The book does it better.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 26, 2020)

Once Upon a Time in London. A fairly terrible film showing the rise and fall of the gangsters of ww2 london, the generation before the krays. Its not great but I was tempted in by the 'once upon a time' bit in the title. One day I'll see all of the films titled so, I note netflix also has 'once upon a time in mumbai' which can't be worse than london...


----------



## T & P (Apr 26, 2020)

Ready or Not. A thoroughly enjoyable and watchable horror-comedy. Just what the doctor ordered for a Saturday night. One of the best in that sub-genre I’ve seen in a long time. Worth the £4.95 rent price if you’re stuck for things to watch.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Apr 26, 2020)

Aniara - story of a shuttle to a Mars colony because the Earth is buggered.  The ship gets damaged by space debris and makes a course correction and has to dump it's nuclear fuel.  Then it drifts further and further away from the solar system and everyone eventually dies.  Unusual but not that bad.  The ship arrives at the nearest habitable planet about five million years later.  On Amazon.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Apr 26, 2020)

The Road Home (1987)
					






					www.bfi.org.uk
				




A strange one - often meet this oldish fella when we are walking the dog late at night. big and bearded and very well spoken - he has that intellectual angle, but a decent chap. Found out he was a director in a previous life - this is one of his works above - he is Polish. I think its on you tube but will find out and link it. It might be OK . report back if you can find the time to chew it over.


----------



## flypanam (Apr 27, 2020)

The Leopard.

An adaptation of the novel. It’s good, and Burt Lancaster’s Italian is flawless 😉


----------



## belboid (Apr 27, 2020)

*Film Stars Dont Die In Liverpool *- about the last couple of years of the marvellous Gloria Grahame's life. Annette Benning is excellent as GG and Jamie Bell pretty good as Peter.  Otherwise, its just an okay biopic, usual story of a tragic ending that came all too soon.  Omits almost any discussion of the event(s) that ended her career, which you can half understand even if it does help make some sense of what is happening at the time.   the most surprising thing about it is that Julie Walters doesn't get the title as a line at the end of the film.

*Un Flic - *mrsb  had never seen a Melville and it was its last day on mubi, so watch it we did. Far from his finest, it's still well worth seeing Alain Delon taking on a master criminal in a rather misanthropic piece.  A couple of great set pieces, and Catherine Deneuve.

*Chloe *- Atom Egoyan remakes a french erotic thriller in his only film that he didn't write himself. A woman suspects her husband of having affairs so pays a sex worker to go and seduce him - with unexpected consequences! Maybe that's why the opening is not great, the middle only a tad improved, and the ending pretty rubbish. Or maybe it was because Liam Neeson had to take a break from shooting because Natasha Richardson had just had her skiing accident. And came back to finish shooting just after she'd died.   Worth watching only if you want to see Amanda Seyfried (as the titular character) talking dirty.


----------



## magneze (Apr 27, 2020)

Home internet is dead but found some weird new TV channel with an Israeli Psytrance programme. 🤔


----------



## T & P (Apr 27, 2020)

The Gentlemen. I know Guy Ritchie is very Marmite, even more so around these boards I’ve always thought, but it really is rather good. One of his best work IMO.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 28, 2020)

An episode of Adventure Time. It's wonderful and weird.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 28, 2020)

_Southland Tales - _Richard Kelly's follow up to _Donnie Darko_, it is not a good film. The story and plot are messy, few characters well drawn and has some rather bad filming and performances. That said it is not totally without interest, the politics are superficial but there are some echos to the present and there is some attempt at vision in there. With a good editor + producer and better cast this might have been a decent movie.

_Detention_ - based on Reno's recommendation. I don't think I rate it quite as highly as he does but it is tremendous fun and while it teeters on the edge of annoying up-its-own-arseiness for me it never quite went over.

_Coffee and Cigarettes_ - never quite got the Jarmusch love that some have. And this movie sums up the feelings I have with a lot of his films bits of genuine intelligence and humour but an awful lot of self-satisfied bollocks. A collection of shorts of people discussing things over coffee and cigarettes there are more misses than hits.

_Orpheline_ - French film about the life of a women at four different ages. Despite a decent cast - Gemma Arterton, Adéle Exarchopoulos, Adéle Haenel - it never really got going for me. The central message of the story is hammered home pretty bluntly. It might not have helped that the subtitles I had weren't great. Also I'm not sure that the casting was quite on, while the teenager version of the main character resembles a younger Adéle Exarchopoulos strongly, I don't think either of them particularly look like Adéle Haenel (who is hardly much older than Adéle E anyway), it took me a while to work out that both the Adele's were playing the same character.


----------



## belboid (Apr 28, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Southland Tales - _Richard Kelly's follow up to _Donnie Darko_, it is not a good film. The story and plot are messy, few characters well drawn and has some rather bad filming and performances. That said it is not totally without interest, the politics are superficial but there are some echos to the present and there is some attempt at vision in there. With a good editor + producer and better cast this might have been a decent movie.


I was never a fan of Donnie Darko,it always felt like a film trying to impress 15 year olds with its ohh so deep man philosophy.  And as I have a _real_ philosophy degree, I looked down my nose at it.

every now and then I do realise that that is snobby bullshit and I should give it/Kelly another chance.  40 minutes into this I remember that the follow up to DD was actually Domino, and this is as shit as that was.


----------



## Reno (Apr 28, 2020)

belboid said:


> I was never a fan of Donnie Darko,it always felt like a film trying to impress 15 year olds with its ohh so deep man philosophy.  And as I have a _real_ philosophy degree, I looked down my nose at it.
> 
> every now and then I do realise that that is snobby bullshit and I should give it/Kelly another chance.  40 minutes into this I remember that the follow up to DD was actually Domino, and this is as shit as that was.


He got hired to write the screenplay for Domino which very much ended up being a Tony Scott film, so it's not quite fair to regard it as a film of his. Southland Tales is a notorious overreach of a sophomore film though, I didn't know wtf was going on and I'm not sure I ever made it to the end.


----------



## belboid (Apr 28, 2020)

Reno said:


> He got hired to write the screenplay for Domino which very much ended up being a Tony Scott film, so it's not quite fair to regard it as a film of his. Southland Tales is a notorious overreach of a sophomore film though, I didn't know wtf was going on and I'm not sure I ever made it to the end.


Gawd, I knew RK didnt direct it, but had forgotten it was Tony Scott who did. Not one of his best, and probably not his worst tho I hope never to find out.

It remained on (for another two fucking hours!) which gave me almost enough time to re-organise my CD collection.



Now I just have to work out where to put my 107 Julian Cope CD's.


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 28, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> BTW Reno do you have any suggestions about where to start with Yūzō Kawashima films?



My Film Studies classmate at Uni was a fan of Kawashima, I remember him getting us to watch *Burden of Love* and *Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate, *which are prob the director's most famous films and well regarded. I never really clicked with Japanese film generally, but both of those were def watchable. 

The same classmate became something of an authority on another Japanese director, Yasujiro Ozu, travelling to Japan several times to research articles and books. 

If you're interested in Ozu, his most famous film is *Tokyo Story, *and that is genuinely a great film.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 28, 2020)

There were a few Ozu films on Mubi last year including Tokyo Story. Good Morning was my favourite though.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 28, 2020)

The Octagon said:


> My Film Studies classmate at Uni was a fan of Kawashima, I remember him getting us to watch *Burden of Love* and *Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate, *which are prob the director's most famous films and well regarded. I never really clicked with Japanese film generally, but both of those were def watchable.


Thanks Octagon. It was _Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate_ that introduced me to Kawashima, really enjoyed it. Absolutely love Ozu.


belboid said:


> I was never a fan of Donnie Darko,it always felt like a film trying to impress 15 year olds with its ohh so deep man philosophy.  And as I have a _real_ philosophy degree, I looked down my nose at it.
> 
> every now and then I do realise that that is snobby bullshit and I should give it/Kelly another chance.  40 minutes into this I remember that the follow up to DD was actually Domino, and this is as shit as that was.


Both ST and DD do have a sort of max freakout superficial philosophy, but while DD is not a great film its does come together and is genuinely entertaining. ST is a real mess.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 28, 2020)

_Eva_ - Joseph Losey has Jeanne Moreau destroy Stanley Baker with his own weaknesses in Venice. It's somewhat of its time but it looks great, some of the shots of Venice are gorgeous, and Moreau is cold as ice.


----------



## Reno (Apr 29, 2020)

The Lodge which is the first American film by the directors of the Austrian horror film Goodnight Mommy. That film was hugely atmospheric and very stylish. I enjoyed it up to the reveal of its plot twist. Then the film went on a less interesting and more familiar direction than it had been on before. The Lodge also has a plot twist, but this one I really enjoyed.

A father takes his new girlfriend and his two children to his holiday home for Christmas. The kids resent her because the seperation from their mother didn't go well. The girlfriend has mental health issues due to a traumatic childhood. Dad needs to leave her in charge of the kids for a couple of days, while he attends to an emergency at work. Things don't go well.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 29, 2020)

Chugging through season 6 of The Good Wife before it's taken off the streaming service. So far, so good but not as good as the previous season.


----------



## RTWL (Apr 29, 2020)

Watched Children of Men last night. Great film . Its quite accurate in its near future predictions . Places a pandemic in 2018 .


----------



## Reno (May 1, 2020)

_We Summon the Darkness_, which was good fun. Three girls head for a heavy metal gig, they meet three boys, nothing good comes of it. Can't really get into what actually happens because there is a plot twist half an hour in when it's revealed what the film really is about. Without giving much away, it's a satirical thriller/horror film to do with the 80s satanic panic scare.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 1, 2020)

_The Duke of Burgundy_ - Re-watched this and pleased to see that it stands up to re-watching, if fact like the best films you get something different from it. Need to get around to watching _In Fabric

From the Life of the Marionettes_ -  Another Bergman, detailing a failing marriage with a crime that the husband commits, didn't enjoy this one as much as _Autumn Sonata_.  The scenes between the married couple are good and the use of black and white is lovely, but the gay business partner and psychiatrist are weak. The "explanation" for the action the husband is horribly pat, I'm not entirely sure whether that is a decision made on purpose (society, as the psychiatrist, has to rationalise Peter's action, so creating his theory of latent homosexuality) or just not great writing/direction, but I think I probably lean towards the latter.


----------



## belboid (May 1, 2020)

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

Finally got around to it, and it's distinctly okay. Spent far too long getting around to the main bit, all that 'we've got to do a thing that will let us find a clue to the main thing that will let us do another thing, none of which really matter that much.'  The last hour is good, and there were a couple of 'blimey, didn't expect that' moments. 

Carrie Fisher still managed to out act Mark Hammil.


----------



## Chz (May 1, 2020)

Hammil's not a _bad_ actor, but he's not the sort that can rise above the insipid source material they're feeding him. I can't blame him for being bad in that. Plus he's still the best Joker.


----------



## Sasaferrato (May 1, 2020)

I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.

Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.


----------



## DexterTCN (May 1, 2020)

Sasaferrato said:


> I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.
> 
> Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.


It is.  Don't ever think anyone is nice.


----------



## Supine (May 1, 2020)

Sasaferrato said:


> I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.
> 
> Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.



I might rewatch the shield. Tis good.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 1, 2020)

Sasaferrato said:


> I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.
> 
> Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.



Oh, it's good.


----------



## T & P (May 2, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Watched The Sword of Trust (2019) this afternoon . Delightful , well observed , and at times beautifully shot comedy. I say comedy but it’s a story built on a small premise that is touching , funny , quirky and understated. Woman’s grandfather dies and leaves her an antique sword with correspondence that claims the South really won the American Civil War and they take it to a pawn shop. They team up with the pawn shop owner and staff to try and sell the sword.
> I really enjoyed it .


Watched this today. A very enjoyable independent offbeat dark comedy. As you said, very good observational comedy at times. It's now available on Sky Movies and I'd recommend watching it to anyone subscribed to it. Not superb but certainly very good, and a great weekend film.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 2, 2020)

_Nona, If They Soak Me I'll Burn Them_ - A sort of part documentary, part drama about a Chilean grandmother who moves to the country (after some vigilantism in the city), where there is a background danger of wildfires. The film is shot using a number of different mediums, for the fiction and "fact", which is ambitious but does not work. Maybe I'm missing some background but with the movement between drama and documentary, between film styles and plot points it all feels like a bit of a mess, and not even a particularly interesting mess.

_Assault on Precinct 13_ - The John Carpenter the original not the re-make, excellent stuff, love a bit of 70s Hollywood action - _The Outfit_, _Charley Varrick_, _Prime Cut -_ this is probably not quite up there with those but still good. Anyone got any suggestions for anything else in the same line?


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Assault on Precinct 13_ - The John Carpenter the original not the re-make, excellent stuff, love a bit of 70s Hollywood action - _The Outfit_, _Charley Varrick_, _Prime Cut -_ this is probably not quite up there with those but still good. *Anyone got any suggestions for anything else in the same line?*


_Rio Bravo_ by Howard Hawks 

Carpenter's_ The Fog_ revisits a similar scenario with a supernatural twist.

Mario Bava's minimalist pulp thriller _Rabid Dogs_ is the closest to something similar to _Assault on Precinct 13_  I can think of. Make sure you watch Bava's original version, not the one revised by his son which also goes under the title _Kidnapped_.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 2, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Outfit_, _Charley Varrick_, _Prime Cut -_ this is probably not quite up there with those but still good.


I've never even heard of those!


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I've never even heard of those!


All great. _Prime Cut_ is one of my favourite films of the 70s but you need a stomach for politically very incorrect 70s pulp.


----------



## belboid (May 2, 2020)

Charley Varrick!  totes amazeballs


----------



## Orang Utan (May 2, 2020)

just looked them up and they look like a lot of fun


----------



## Orang Utan (May 2, 2020)

I guess Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia is in this territory. My dad is watching all the Peckinpah movies, so rewatched this with him the other night. Also very politicallly incorrect


----------



## Reno (May 2, 2020)

Of more recent films, Jeremy Saulnier's _Green Room_ is in the same ballpark as _Assault on Precinct 13._


----------



## redsquirrel (May 2, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I've never even heard of those!


What! All three absolutely excellent if you like that sort of nihilistic 70s action strand. _The Outfit_ is not quite as good as the other two but still well worth watching.


Reno said:


> _Rio Bravo_ by Howard Hawks





Reno said:


> Mario Bava's minimalist pulp thriller _Rabid Dogs_ is the closest to something similar to _Assault on Precinct 13_  I can think of. Make sure you watch Bava's original version, not the one revised by his son which also goes under the title _Kidnapped_.


Ta, I'll check that out. Enjoyed _Green Room_ at the cinema, Patrick Stewart nicely menacing.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 2, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> What! All three absolutely excellent if you like that sort of nihilistic 70s action strand
> 
> 
> Ta, I'll check that out. Enjoyed _Green Room_ at the cinema, Patrick Stewart nicely menacing.


I was quite shocked by the violence in it, think I’m getting soft


----------



## TheHoodedClaw (May 2, 2020)

Reno said:


> Carpenter's_ The Fog_ revisits a similar scenario with a supernatural twist.



As does his _Prince of Darkness_


----------



## redsquirrel (May 3, 2020)

_The Whalebone Box_ - Andrew Kötting's latest. Kotting, his daughter, Iain Sinclair and others go on a trip to take a box made of whalebone back to the Hebrides where the whale it was made from was first washed up in order to release the healing energies inside the box. Hmm guess how much you like this one will depend on how into the occult end of psychogeography. 20 minutes too long anyway.

_Le Corbeau_ - Great, gorgeously shot with strong characters and contrasting views. You can debate Clouzot's actions and the intentions of the film but it is an excellent piece of film making. I loved every minute of it up until the last five minutes which are handled terribly, both pat, muddled and hurried all at the same time. In fact the ending seems such a bad mis-step from the rest of the films that I wondered if, like the dreadful ending of _Suspicion, _it was forced on Clouzot but couldn't find anything.


----------



## Reno (May 3, 2020)

_Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare_, a documentary about an Australian filmmaker financing a horror film called _Red Christmas_ with his own and his family's money. Entertaining and the guy is just so likeable and engaging that I really wanted him to succeed. I remember his film being shown at horror film festivals, it got OK reviews and a limited release but it wasn't the type of low budget break out film like _The Babadook_ which he was hoping for.


----------



## DaveCinzano (May 3, 2020)

belboid said:


> Gawd, I knew RK didnt direct it, but had forgotten it was Tony Scott who did. Not one of his best, and probably not his worst tho I hope never to find out.
> 
> It remained on (for another two fucking hours!) which gave me almost enough time to re-organise my CD collection.
> 
> ...


Nice bit of shelfie humbebragging with the JC book in the background


----------



## belboid (May 3, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> Nice bit of shelfie humbebragging with the JC book in the background


book?  There are three if you're paying attention.  The toy car I paid £75 for twenty years ago is just out of shot....


----------



## redsquirrel (May 4, 2020)

_Quai des Orfèvres_ - Another Clouzot, this one set, and made, just after the war. Great little crime movie with definite shades of Chabrol, there's no mystery as such rather just an exploration of what can drive people to such actions. The characters, even the minor ones, are all interesting and deepen the story. It is probably not quite as good a film as _Le Corbeau_ or _Wages of Fear_ but really really enjoyable.

_Woman in Chains_ - last one of the Clouzot series on mubi, shades of Chabrol here too. No crime as such but an exploration of the motivations of people for their (self-destructive) actions. The central female character is attracted to a submission relationship with a business partner of her husband, all of then struggling with the consequences. The setting in the late 60s French art world is unusual and adds to how the film is shot. I rather liked it with the exception of the ending which was daft and badly done. 

_Blessed_ - Australian film adaptation of the play Who's Afraid of the Working Class but Christos Tsiolkas (_The Slap_) among others. It's about the lives of a set of children out on the streets of Melbourne, and their mothers. Like a lot of modern plays I don't think it adapts well to the screen, what often works in the theatre becomes cliched, overwritten and lacking subtly when put into a film. Despite a very good cast - William McInnes, Debora-Lee Furness - it does not really get off the ground.


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## redsquirrel (May 5, 2020)

_The Servant_ - Saw this 10(?) or so years ago and while I could admire it I can't say that I particularly liked or enjoyed it at the time. This time I enjoyed it much more, getting drawn into the black humour. Bogarde is obviously excellent but I noticed Wendy Craig's performance much more this time, the scenes between the two of them are some of the high spots of the film.


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## platinumsage (May 6, 2020)

_Low Tide_ - one of the best movies I've seen for such a low budget (I heard it was $300k). A coming of age drama set in the height of summer on the Jersey shore. There's boardwalks and fish. There may be flaws but the acting, cinematography and pacing are all top notch and the tension builds throughout.


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## krtek a houby (May 6, 2020)

The Shadow of Chikara 

Odd Western from 1977. Joe Don Baker, Sondra Locke and others go in search of Slim Pickens treasure and someone... or something is trying to stop them.


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## redsquirrel (May 6, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> The Shadow of Chikara
> 
> Odd Western from 1977. Joe Don Baker, Sondra Locke and others go in search of Slim Pickens treasure and someone... or something is trying to stop them.


Oh always had soft spot for Baker might have to check that one out.


_That Most Important Thing Love_ - Only previous Andrzej Żuławski film I've seen is the utterly insane _Possession, _in comparison to that this is positively commonplace despite the presence of Klaus Kinski. The plot has a young photojournalist fall in love with a failing actress, played by Romy Schneider, forced to take up part in soft-core films, borrow money to get her a part in a stage version of Richard III. Compounding problems are the presence of Schneider's husband, a father and a friend. The best bits of the film are the parts looking at the play and lives of those involved in acting, Schneider struggling her confidence to return to stage and Kinski talking her through. The husband, played by Jacques Dutroc, is also an interesting character. The events in the final third all go a bit off the rails but overall I enjoyed it.


----------



## Reno (May 6, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Assault on Precinct 13_ - The John Carpenter the original not the re-make, excellent stuff, love a bit of 70s Hollywood action - _The Outfit_, _Charley Varrick_, _Prime Cut -_ this is probably not quite up there with those but still good. Anyone got any suggestions for anything else in the same line?


Your post made me rewatch Charley Varrick, which I had not seen since my 20s. I love these type of cold blooded crime films from the 70s. The lead character is a heartless sociopath, the only thing which makes you stay with him, is that he's played by Walter Matthau. 



Spoiler



The matter of fact way he moves on from his wife's gun death, only caring for the money from the heist !


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## redsquirrel (May 6, 2020)

Reno said:


> Your post made me rewatch Charley Varrick, which I had not seen since my 20s. I love these type of cold blooded crime films from the 70s. The lead character is a heartless sociopath, the only thing which makes you stay with him, is that he's played by Walter Matthau.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah there's a real coldness to those 70s action pieces, which I love. As you move into the 80s it seems to me that you lose that and either get a sort of ironic schlockiness and/or sentimentality.

_The Outfit_ is also stone cold


Spoiler



Duvall "mourns' his girlfriend for a couple of minutes, he displays more emotion when she touches his gun than over her death, or the death of his brother


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## redsquirrel (May 7, 2020)

_Saraband_ - Ingmar Bergman's final film, a sort of sequel to _Scenes from a Marriage_ (which I've not seen), with five characters an ex-husband and wife, the husbands son from another marriage, the son's wife (unseen) and the son's daughter. Basically the film details the relationships between these people, in particular the suffocating relationship between son and grand-daughter. It is very theatrical, I'm not sure if it was originally developed as a play or intended to be adapted to stage but the whole film very much comes across as a filmed play. I guess you could say the same about other Bergman films but it seems especially strong here, I notice that this film was not shot by Sven Nykvist, so maybe that is part of the reason. Regardless I think the theatrical set-up distances you from the story and characters, I was drawn into _Autumn Sonata,_ here I felt very much an outsider looking in.


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## Nine Bob Note (May 7, 2020)

Spent all day watching the new series of Brassic which was quite excellent


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## The39thStep (May 8, 2020)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Spent all day watching the new series of Brassic which was quite excellent


Watched the first episode last night . It was brilliant, I cant bring myself to binge watch the whole series as its too long to wait for the next series. It really is well written.Although he breezes in and out Dominic Wests character is really good and Steve Evetts is a gem.


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## redsquirrel (May 8, 2020)

_The Grand Bizarre_ - supposedly a documentary, actually more of a video art piece of fabrics/textiles with accompanying soundtrack. Eh, ok I guess but at 1 hr far too long (like a lot of video art pieces). 

_The Anderson Tapes_ - one of Lumet and Connery's pairings, a crime caper utilising the concept of surveillance. Some nice bit parts from Christopher Walken and Ralph Meeker. Connery's performances for Lumet must be the best of his career.


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## Sue (May 8, 2020)

Haven't seen The Anderson Tapes but off the top of my head, The Offence is the best I've seen Connery so yeah.


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## redsquirrel (May 8, 2020)

Sue said:


> Haven't seen The Anderson Tapes but off the top of my head, The Offence is the best I've seen Connery so yeah.


Oh it's definitely worth watching, despite some very bad 70s homophobia, Connery as the leader the a gang of (pretty crap) burglars. The catch being that almost the whole plan of the robbery has been caught by the (illegal) surveillance of different government bodies - but as it is illegal none are talking to the others.


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## Indeliblelink (May 8, 2020)

I wanted to watch a WWII film today, a better way to mark the VE anniversary than drinking beer in my front garden, so went for Theirs Is The Glory (1946) which I hadn't seen before. It's a docu-drama re-enactment of British attempt to capture the bridge at Arnhem as part of Operation Market Garden, it was filmed in 1945 the year after the battle and was shot in the ruins of Arnhem using British veteran soldiers and Dutch civilians who had lived through it as the actors, it's mixed with documentary footage taken in the battle. It's a fine watch, a worthwhile accompaniment to the later "A Bridge Too Far".


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## belboid (May 8, 2020)

*Crossfire (1947)*

After watching Film Stars Dont Die in Liverpool we thought we would check back in with Gloria Grahame's first Oscar nominated role (and the first B Movie to receive a best film nom),

Quite why GG got the nod, I dont know. She's only in it for two scenes., less than ten minutes in total. She's perfectly good in each of those minutes, but still....

The film centres the murder of a man, probably by some GI's on leave. And it soon comes clear that this is down to straightforward anti-semitism and how one person in a tightly knit unit can exert such a strong influence over his 'comrades.' The speech the police chief gives when convincing one solider (who is sympathetic to the main baddie, but not a complete bastard) is really quite something, absolutely how even the smallest jokes and discriminations lead onto and allows the vicious violence of the hardened bigot. 

So good it earned director Dmytryk a visit to HUAC.


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## The39thStep (May 8, 2020)

This second season of Brassic is mint . Funniest British comedy I’ve seen for ages.


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## Nine Bob Note (May 9, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> This second season of Brassic is mint . Funniest British comedy I’ve seen for ages.



I think I like S2 even more than S1. I HATED the last episode of S1. I'd still prefer it without the added gangster shit that writers/show runners love, but that has at least been toned back, and I was very surprised to see Bill Paterson as I thought he'd died a couple of years ago 

It's a toss up as to what is my favourite scene. I _thought _it was Farmer Jim railing against middle-class festival-goers, but that was likely overtaken by John Thomson's unexpected return in episode six as the shambolic Maurice Bojangles  Seriously, I'm pissing myself laughing at the recollection.

I watched it in a day, which means I'll have to wait a year for more episodes, but I'll watch it all through again at least twice in that time. If you haven't watched it yet, you should. Now.


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## Reno (May 9, 2020)

_The Painted Bird_, which is least year's film to make headlines for the most walkouts at film festivals. Beatifully shot in b&w and in widescreen, this adaptation of Jerzy Kosińsky novel is a three hour catalogue of horrors about the evils of mankind, as a young boy makes his way across a non-specified Eastern European country during WWII.  Almost everytime he encounters other people, they exploit and abuse him and the film becomes numbing after a while. Closest to _Come & See, _though its look and timeless rural setting almost gives it the feel of a dark fairy tale. Probably as good a film as could be made from its source. Considering it's a long art house film in b&w, I also wonder who this film is aimed at and what it wants to convey apart from total nihilism for a limited audience. Every so often a famous international actor pops up in a small role (Udo Kier, typecast again as an ogre), possibly to help with financing, as the film must have been expensive.


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## The39thStep (May 9, 2020)

Nine Bob Note said:


> I think I like S2 even more than S1. I HATED the last episode of S1. I'd still prefer it without the added gangster shit that writers/show runners love, but that has at least been toned back, and I was very surprised to see Bill Paterson as I thought he'd died a couple of years ago
> 
> It's a toss up as to what is my favourite scene. I _thought _it was Farmer Jim railing against middle-class festival-goers, but that was likely overtaken by John Thomson's unexpected return in episode six as the shambolic Maurice Bojangles  Seriously, I'm pissing myself laughing at the recollection.
> 
> I watched it in a day, which means I'll have to wait a year for more episodes, but I'll watch it all through again at least twice in that time. If you haven't watched it yet, you should. Now.



There are  just loads of jokes, comments , characters . unexpected events in it that are hilarious .I Don't want to put a spoiler in it but the scene where Vinni reassures the team that no one is going to die when they are ' escorting '  Patterson nearly caused me a convulsion.  It's refreshingly working class and northern rural working class at that.,  its like a permanent bad Friday night out  in Emmerdale .


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## redsquirrel (May 9, 2020)

_Twilight's Last Gleaming_ and _Seven Days in May_ - Double bill of Bert Lancaster playing generals intent on forcing a change in the world, both rather good. TLG is basically the plot of _The Rock_ only in a genuinely good intelligent movie, Aldrich is not in the top rank of directions but he's an interesting director, able to good strong action films that still have some thought. Likewise SDM is type of movie that you would not really get know, mainstream Hollywood film but with character action rather than anything else.

_Portrait of a Lady on Fire_ - Absolutely bloody magnificent. When something has got such good reviews I'm always a little nervous if it match expectations but this really does. Just about everything in the film is right, the cast all give great performances; it is beautifully shot; the characters, both main and minor, are brilliantly drawn; the pacing is terrific. Always dangerous calling something a masterpiece so soon but I certainly think this has the potential to be one.


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## Reno (May 10, 2020)

_A Good Woman is Hard to Find_, which starts out like a Ken Loach film and ends up as a very violent crime thriller. A recently widowed young woman lives with her two small children on a Belfast council estate and can barely make ends meet. One night a dealer forces his way into her flat, escaping gangsters who he just stole a stash of drugs from. To her horror he keeps returning to use her flat as his base for business.

Eventually it gets quite silly but it's entertaining enough and is held together by an excellent performance by lead actress Sarah Bolger.


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## krtek a houby (May 10, 2020)

The Death of Stalin

Black comedy in which the inner circle battles it out for control. Veep meets The Thick of It with a touch of Monty Python.

Great cast, in particular, Simon Russell Beale.


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## rubbershoes (May 11, 2020)

Cannibal Holocaust. 

 One of the original video nasties. It's grim and very nasty in a whole variety of ways. 

Apparently the director was trying to make a point about how exploitative the media is. Maybe he was, but that's a very small fig leaf.


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## redsquirrel (May 11, 2020)

_Charade_ - romantic comedy with thriller elements starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Excellently put together and very good fun, despite often be cited as a very Hitchcockian film made without Hitchcock, it doesn't that dark edge that the best Hitchcock pictures have, it closer to _The Trouble with Harry_ than _Vertigo_ or _Rear Window_. Nevertheless still excellent. 

_Tale of Tales_ - I have the feeling I should have liked this more than I did. I'm a huge Angela Carter, re-worked fairy tales fan so this telling of three macabre fairy tales should have been up my street, but it fell a little flat. For one thing it is too long, over two hours, cutting a good half hour would have improved the pacing significantly. Perhaps the style also didn't work with my sensibilities, in _The Company of Wolves_ the film tries to capture Carter's atmosphere of dreams, strangeness and bizarre that create their own reality, this film tries to be naturalist rather than supra-naturalist and while I can appreciate the idea ultimately I don't think it works as well. An interesting film but one that does not quite pull off what it intends. 

_Accident_ - Losey and Pinter's second pairing with two oxford tutors and an aristocrat student competing over the attentions of a female student, lots of similarities in theme to _The Servant, _though rather than the stark shadows of the black and white of that film you have the muted greens, yellows and reds of a hot late summer evening. The best section of the film is the part around the weekend visit of all the main characters to Dirk Bogarde's house, it is gorgeously shot and the aggressive undertones complement the brilliant portrayal of lazy, sticky summer day.


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## T & P (May 11, 2020)

_The Man Who Killed Don Quixote_- Terry Gilliam's take on the Spanish novel is finally completed at the third time of asking, after a couple of now infamous attempts over the last two decades. Indeed, the previous failed attempts to make the film are an obvious and heavy influence over the plot of this one.

It is highly imperfect and felt slightly disjointed in places, but overall I rather enjoyed it. Jonathan Pryce was superb as Don Quixote. I suspect Adam Driver's perfomance will be a bit Marmite for viewers, but I liked him also.


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## Reno (May 11, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Charade_ - romantic comedy with thriller elements starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Excellently put together and very good fun, despite often be cited as a very Hitchcockian film made without Hitchcock, it doesn't that dark edge that the best Hitchcock pictures have, it closer to _The Trouble with Harry_ than _Vertigo_ or _Rear Window_. Nevertheless still excellent.


_Charade_ is closer to Hitchcock's Cary Grant starring romantic thrillers _North by Northwest_ (despite a lighter in tone, one of his best) and _To Catch a Thief_ than to _The Trouble with Harry, _which I find to be one of his rare duds.


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## farmerbarleymow (May 11, 2020)

Just watched New Town Utopia - a documentary about Basildon.  Quite interesting to hear from the original residents and how it has changed over the years.  Place I've never been (never set foot in Essex I think).


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## belboid (May 11, 2020)

_*Naissance des Pieuvres*_ (Water Lillies) 

The first film by Céline 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' Sciamma, both of which star Adèle Haenel. A tale of teen love, anxiety and synchronised swiming, between the shy girl, the weird girl and the 'slag.'  It's all very good, beautifully performed and shot, nothing wasted at all. It's a bit annoying that although they are all (I think) meant to be the same age, the main character is obviously two or three years younger.  And it never really goes anywhere completely unexpected, you can probably guess the ending already.


*Night of the Party *(1935)

Possibly the first MIchael Powell still extant. A posh bloke is going to hold a party for a princess and invites several of people all of whom hate him because he's a complete shit. The princess suggests they blame a game of 'Murder' - and guess what happens!  It's all rather rubbish, the party is lively and fun, the princess gets one great line, and some other bloke obviously has a ball being generally a bit odd.  The BFI describe it as 'unquestionably the least distinguished of the quartet of films he made at Gaumont-British' but it did at least bring Powell into contact with Alfred Junge who would be an intrinsic part of The Archers for years.


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## Reno (May 11, 2020)

belboid said:


> _*Naissance des Pieuvres*_ (Water Lillies)
> 
> The first film by Céline 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' Sciamma, both of which star Adèle Haenel. A tale of teen love, anxiety and synchronised swiming, between the shy girl, the weird girl and the 'slag.'  It's all very good, beautifully performed and shot, nothing wasted at all. It's a bit annoying that although they are all (I think) meant to be the same age, the main character is obviously two or three years younger.  And it never really goes anywhere completely unexpected, you can probably guess the ending already.


Have you seen _Tomboy_ by Céline Sciamma ? I still think it's her best film.


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## belboid (May 11, 2020)

Reno said:


> Have you seen _Tomboy_ by Céline Sciamma ? I still think it's her best film.


no, but it's on the list!


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## redsquirrel (May 11, 2020)

I've still got to re-watch _Water Lilies_ but the main problem it had for me is that the plot/theme is too close to _Fucking Amal_ to avoid comparison, and the latter is just better.


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## Reno (May 11, 2020)

I'm not a huge fan of Water Lilies either, for me the best thing about it is the score by Pare One.


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## belboid (May 11, 2020)

Reno said:


> I'm not a huge fan of Water Lilies either, for me the best thing about it is the score by Pare One.


the most fascinating bit was watching the underwater swimming scenes, they really have to work quite hard to maintain those silly poses!


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## Reno (May 11, 2020)

belboid said:


> the most fascinating bit was watching the underwater swimming scenes, they really have to work quite hard to maintain those silly poses!


It was nicely shot but yes, synchronised swimming is a weird sport.


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## Orang Utan (May 11, 2020)

Reno said:


> Have you seen _Tomboy_ by Céline Sciamma ? I still think it's her best film.


Saw that on the big screen last year. Outstanding. Ought to be shown to those transphobic folk who only seem to be concerned about trans women.


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## flypanam (May 11, 2020)

my wife has been watching an American comedy called Superstore, I’ve now started watching it, it’s quite good for a Saturday 6pm watch with the kids kind of way. It’s got the led actor from Ugly Betty in it.


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## T & P (May 12, 2020)

Reno said:


> I also rewatched the 1979 mini-series of Stephen King's _Salem's Lot_. Still one of the better Stephen King adaptations and considering it was made for TV in the 70s, still quite scary. These glowy eyed vampires are creepy.  Salem's Lot is one of King's best novels and I wished this would get another remake (there was a terrible one with Rob Lowe) , ideally as a longer, bigger budgeted TV series. At 3 hours the mini-series is both too long and not quite long enough. Tobe Hooper is great on the horror stuff, but not so great on the character work. David Soul is a dull lead, made up somewhat by a great cast of character actors. There are a lot of characters in this (already cut down from the book) and the series doesn't have time to serve them that well. So there is 2 1/2 hours of underdeveloped drama till it gets to the horror in the last 30 minutes. The book is a little like a small town soap opera, eventually town apart by its vampire threat, so it would work well as a longer series.
> 
> View attachment 203372


I was probably 10-12 when I first watched that (don’t blame my parents, they didn’t know and the TV watershed was kind of non-existent in Spain back in the day) and it truly petrified me. When I first read the book I was an adult and even though horror does rarely bother me whether in film or print, this book was one of the few that came back to prey on my mind on a few nights.

Interestingly I’m sure I remember reading an interview with King about his works and writing in general, and he said that whereas he was pleased with Salem’s Lot overall, it showed his then lack of experience as a writer, and he would have written some passages differently if he was writing the book today, as he sees them as almost a little cringeworthy. Which to this day I am at a loss what he might have been talking about. I rate it as one of his very best works.

I fully agree about a remake- a well written and produced series has sooo much potential.


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## Orang Utan (May 12, 2020)

this still shits me up:


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## Orang Utan (May 12, 2020)

(the music is incredible too)


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## belboid (May 12, 2020)

*Michael Moore Presents: Planet of the Humans*

It's quite interesting to watch an MM (well, not really an MM, but it is by one of his co-producers and is very much MM 'style') where you disagree with so much of the thesis put forward. The blatant cut-offs and cherry picked interviews to make someone look more of an arsehole than they are, dubious statistics, blah blah.  

The first two are fair enough, he's making a propaganda film not a BBC report, but that last one really lets the side down. Decent points being made about astroturfing and needing to change the way we live, not merely the energy form we use to do so, will be lost because of the rubbish data on wind and solar, and the lack of understanding of how new technologies develop. 

Half good, half complete crap.


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## The39thStep (May 12, 2020)

Good  Boys , not without a fair dollop of sentimental slush and an an overdose of pre teen male feelings but nevertheless a quite enjoyable comedy with bits that you laugh out loud to.. Plots promising but doesn't develop as well as it could  do tbh. Seen worse seen better. Five out of ten .


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## Reno (May 13, 2020)

_Ms. 45_, the 1981 exploitation classic which I've never gotten round to because I've never liked a single Abel Ferrara film. This is ok, it's somewhat amateurish in execution but for the most dodgy of sub-genres, the rape-revenge film, it's remarkably non-exploitative and more political than most. The women in the film constantly push back against sexism and exploitation.

The best part of the film is seeing Manhattan in all its grimy late 70s/early 80s glory. Cult actress Zoe Tamerlis, killing her way through the city, is stunningly beautiful, fully embodying the hard edged glamour of the period. I like that she just snaps and eventually kills any man in her sight. The film doesn't enoble her vigilantism but suggests that it is the result of an understandable mental breakdown, making _Ms. 45_ the exploitation heir to _Repulsion_.

I'm not sure Ferrara's idea to shoot the climactic massacre in slow motion works. He's no Brian De Palma, whose Carrie may have been the inspiration for the idea. The eccentric and nosey neighbour of the anti-heroine is amusing, the actress (photographer Editta Sherman) is so incapable of delivering a single line of dialogue convincingly, she is reminiscent of Edith Massey from the early John Waters films. At least her doggy 



Spoiler



gets a happy ending.



Two posters for the film, the first one appealing to an exploitation crowd, the second one for later releases once it became a cult hit in art house cinemas.


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## redsquirrel (May 13, 2020)

Hmm sounds interesting might check it out. 

There's a whole of those female revenge films that while very flawed (both politically and as films) nevertheless have something. Micheal Winner's _Dirty Weekend_ is one example, really crp on a number of levels but still with some interest.


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## belboid (May 13, 2020)

Reno said:


> _Ms. 45_, the 1981 exploitation classic which I've never gotten round to because I've never liked a single Abel Ferrara film.


and there was me thinking you’d taken your name from the hero of Driller Killer!

I think this is one of the few times Ferrara has really captured the seediness of poverty and the city and the violence of all exploitation - not just sexual, but economic as well, and presented it so viscerally. There’s a great bit in Carol Clovers book about a cinema audience with many of the men whooping alongg in sympathy with one of the rapists, who suddenly shut up, slump back in their seats and keep watching. Our identification with Thana is complete and it’s portrayal of rape far more feminist than thst in, say, Straw Dogs.

It has been a while since I’ve seen it.


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## Reno (May 13, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Hmm sounds interesting might check it out.
> 
> There's a whole of those female revenge films that while very flawed (both politically and as films) nevertheless have something. Micheal Winner's _Dirty Weekend_ is one example, really crp on a number of levels but still with some interest.


I'm not going anywhere near Michael Winner anymore because I find him to be such a godawful filmmaker. The most contentious of the rape revenge films and the one which kicked off the cycle was_ I Spit on Your Grave_ from 1978. The problem with it and similar films was that it showed a lengthy, exploitative rape sequence with the justification that women gets her revenge in the end and that this somehow qualifies as a feminist message. In _Ms. 45_ at least it never feels like the lead actress gets exploited, unusually for the genre, there is no nudity.


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## Reno (May 13, 2020)

belboid said:


> and there was me thinking you’d taken your name from the hero of Driller Killer!





My name comes from a Magnetic Fields song. I first posted here because I had a particular question. Had I known I'm still here 15 years later, I would have put more effort into it.


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## belboid (May 13, 2020)

Reno said:


> My name comes from a Magnetic Fields song. I first posted here because I had a particular question. Had I known I'm still here 15 years later, I would have put more effort into it.


Great song! Haven’t played that album in ages, I think I’ll rectify that now.


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## The Octagon (May 13, 2020)

*Dredd (2012 one)*

Decent action film, borrows heavily from The Raid but the pace is frenetic, the city feels lived in and the main characters do enough (wasn't as much of a fan of Urban in the role as others may have been though, felt fairly phoned in).

Probably wouldn't come back to it but decent entertainment for 90 odd minutes.


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## Reno (May 13, 2020)

The Octagon said:


> *Dredd (2012 one)*
> 
> Decent action film, borrows heavily from The Raid but the pace is frenetic, the city feels lived in and the main characters do enough (wasn't as much of a fan of Urban in the role as others may have been though, felt fairly phoned in).
> 
> Probably wouldn't come back to it but decent entertainment for 90 odd minutes.



The claim that Dredd borrowed from The Raid always gets made but both were shot at around the same time and released only months apart. I'm not sure how much scope for a traditional performance there is under the circumstances, by nature Dredd has to be inexpressive and most of his face is hidden.


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## The Octagon (May 13, 2020)

Reno said:


> The claim that Dredd borrowed from The Raid always gets made but both were shot at around the same time and released only months apart. I'm not sure how much scope for a traditional performance there is under the circumstances, by nature Dredd has to be inexpressive and most of his face is hidden.



Fair point, didn't realise how early Dredd starting shooting, maybe more of a Deep Impact / Armageddon feeling then. 

I like Karl Urban, he's a talented actor, but I think you could have stuck any number of randoms in the main role and it wouldn't make a difference to the film at all.


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## Reno (May 13, 2020)

The Octagon said:


> I like Karl Urban, he's a talented actor, but I think you could have stuck any number of randoms in the main role and it wouldn't make a difference to the film at all.


Sylvester Stallone played the role in the earlier and poorly received Judge Dredd movie and proved that you can get it wrong by being a movie star and by insisting that the helmet has to come off. I think the praise Urban got from fans of the comic was for staying true to the character, in what is a fairly thankless role.


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## DotCommunist (May 13, 2020)

I preferred Urban's to Stallone's Dredd, yes the removal of the helmet but also the story was a mess. Stallones best sci fi film was Demolition Man.

Wasn't the newer Dredd filmed for 3d? I saw it in normal mode.


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## Reno (May 13, 2020)

DotCommunist said:


> I preferred Urban's to Stallone's Dredd, yes the removal of the helmet but also the story was a mess. Stallones best sci fi film was Demolition Man.
> 
> Wasn't the newer Dredd filmed for 3d? I saw it in normal mode.


I've got the 3D blu-ray. It looks great. The saturated, slow motion sequences when characters are under the influence look even more trippy.


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## trabuquera (May 13, 2020)

I think the 2012 Dredd is pretty brilliant tbh (regardless of how derivative it may be of The Raid) and think in hindsight it might have been a bigger influence on Blade Runner 2046 than anyone talked about much... perhaps.


----------



## Reno (May 13, 2020)

trabuquera said:


> I think the 2012 Dredd is pretty brilliant tbh (*regardless of how derivative it may be of The Raid*) and think in hindsight it might have been a bigger influence on Blade Runner 2046 than anyone talked about much... perhaps.



It's not ! 
I agree that it's pretty brilliant though. 

The original _Blade Runner_ was an influence on almost every film taking place in a futuristic city which came after, including _Dredd_. That's probably why _Dredd_ looks a little like the _Blade Runner sequel_.

A film which is more likely to have been influenced by _Dredd_ is last year's _Upgrade_, both are throwbacks to R-rated, 80s style sci-fi action films along the lines of _The Terminator_ and _Robocop_.


----------



## rubbershoes (May 13, 2020)

A Field in England

Somehow I'd never seen it before.  Wonderfully dark and unsettling. 

 In rewatchability,  I'd put it midway between the  quirky brutality of Sightseers and the absolute horror of Kill List.


----------



## Reno (May 14, 2020)

_The Assistant_, independent film about a new PA to the boss at a Weinstein-style company, who slowly becomes aware what she's complicit in. Subtle and low key drama, admirable for how it avoids sensationalism. Maybe a little too understated for its own good but at under 90 minutes the film doesn't outstay its welcome. It stars Julia Garner, the break-out star from _Ozark_, without doing the accent. She is very good, the entire film is entirely focused on how she reacts to situations.



Before that I tried to watch a French art house horror film called _Knife + Heart, _starring Vanessa Paradis. A wannabe-stylish giallo homage about a serial killer who murders their way through the cast and crew of a gay porn studio in the late 70s. This should have been in my wheelhouse, but I found it unbearable and gave up after an hour.


----------



## Part 2 (May 14, 2020)

Reno said:


> _The Painted Bird_, which is least year's film to make headlines for the most walkouts at film festivals. Beatifully shot in b&w and in widescreen, this adaptation of Jerzy Kosińsky novel is a three hour catalogue of horrors about the evils of mankind, as a young boy makes his way across a non-specified Eastern European country during WWII.  Almost everytime he encounters other people, they exploit and abuse him and the film becomes numbing after a while. Closest to _Come & See, _though its look and timeless rural setting almost gives it the feel of a dark fairy tale. Probably as good a film as could be made from its source. Considering it's a long art house film in b&w, I also wonder who this film is aimed at and what it wants to convey apart from total nihilism for a limited audience. Every so often a famous international actor pops up in a small role (Udo Kier, typecast again as an ogre), possibly to help with financing, as the film must have been expensive.
> 
> View attachment 211600



This was one I was looking forward to seeing at the pictures but that's not looking likely for a while....How did you watch it?


----------



## Reno (May 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> This was one I was looking forward to seeing at the pictures but that's not looking likely for a while....How did you watch it?


I torrented it.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 14, 2020)

Reno said:


> Before that I tried to watch a French art house horror film called _Knife + Heart, _starring Vanessa Paradis. A wannabe-stylish giallo homage about a serial killer who murders their way through the cast and crew of a gay porn studio in the late 70s. This should have been in my wheelhouse, but I found it unbearable and gave up after an hour.


Yes  I was disappointed in that, have you seen the directors previous film _You and the Night_?


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## Reno (May 14, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Yes  I was disappointed in that, have you seen the directors previous film _You and the Night_?


I haven't seen it and I doubt that I ever will. Not a single thing worked for me about _Knife+Heart. _It didn't work as a queer film (I hated every character), as a period piece (nothing about it looked like 1979), as erotica (its so coy about the porn aspects) as a giallo pastiche (no suspense, no tension, no real style) or even just as eye candy.

Can you tell I didn't like it ?


----------



## platinumsage (May 17, 2020)

Capone - the last year of Al Capone’s life as he suffers from syphillis. I managed 33 minutes and 17 seconds at which point I gave up and left Al to finish watching The Wizard of Oz without me.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 17, 2020)

Ip Man 4. I've enjoyed all 4 Ip Man films immensely, great martial arts choreography. Some cheese to the stories but perfect for it nonetheless. Ip man demonstrated the superiority of chinese kug fu to first the invading Japanese general, then the arrogant English and their lackeys in hong kong and so on in each film. Really its all about the fight scenes though, theres a mass brawl in Ip Man 1 that sold me on the lot tbf


----------



## redsquirrel (May 17, 2020)

_Blue Valentine_ - When I first saw this at the cinema 10 years ago I was very impressed and re-watching it now it still holds up. Williams and Gosling are absolutely excellent in the lead roles - real, flawed but very much people you can empathise with. Also has a wonderful soundtrack. 

_My Blueberry Nights_ - Wong Kar-Wai's English language film and a total mess.  Norah Jones's performance in the lead role is probably not the worst given by a musician in a film but neither is it very good, that said despite the presence of some decent actors (Rachel Weisz and the usually excellent David Straitharn) nobody really manages to pull this things together - ironically probably the best scene of the film has another musician, Chan Marshall, trying her acting chops in it. The plot is that Norah Jones goes on a trip across America as a means to try and get over a break up, all the while writing to Jude Law, along the way she meets some people. I guess the plot is not the point in this type of film so much as the style but unfortunately the style fails utterly, the films was made in 2007 but it is not only dated but feels dated from the 1990s rather than the 2000s. And Jude Law's "Manchester" accent is a fucking crime. 

_La Grande Illusion_ - Again another film I've seen before, I actually liked this film more this time I watched it than the first time. Don't think I can say anything that about it that has not already been said but just wonderful. If you haven't seen it yet do so. 

_Stalag 17_ - Billy Wilder's POW film, with William Holden as a Sefton, a man unfairly(?) marked out as the cuckoo in nest, feeding information to the Nazi's. The parts with Holden I really enjoyed, while the film obviously influenced _The Great Escape_ hugely with the Steve McQueen and James Garner character's being inspired by Sefton, Holden's character is far, far less of a hero than those - a man who's fundamentally only in it for himself. However, while that part of the film worked the second strand the comic elements just fell totally flat. The film was adapted from a Broadway musical and apparently the two lead comic parts where taken by actors from the play, that may help explain why the comedy feels so overdone, and it really is overdone, the German guards could have come from _Allo, Allo_.  It probably didn't help matters that I watched this just after _La Grande Illusion._ Decent in parts and interesting but not a success for me.


----------



## The Octagon (May 17, 2020)

*Free Fire *

Not bad. 
Not great either. 

Good cast (Sharlto Copley and Armie Hammer the highlights, as they usually are), some funny writing, but could have been shot much better. 

Crying out for some overhead oner shots to better establish where the characters were. 

Almost dragged, which is not great for a 90 min film.


----------



## Sue (May 17, 2020)

I also watched My Blueberry Nights. Like redsquirrel, didn't think it was great but I didn't think it was terrible terrible either. Suppose more disappointing given the talent involved.

L'Eclisse.  So I've tried with Antonioni but.... This is the kind of film on paper that I should love but just found it really slow and dull. I think the only one I've seen that I thought was okay was The Passenger and I suspect that's not very typically Antonioni.

ETA And one I didn't watch. Was flicking through the TV guide earlier and saw Brief Encounter was just about to start. Turned out not to be the David Lean classic (which I love) but some 70s remake with Richard Burton and Sophie Loren.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 18, 2020)

Sue said:


> L'Eclisse.  So I've tried with Antonioni but.... This is the kind of film on paper that I should love but just found it really slow and dull. I think the only one I've seen that I thought was okay was The Passenger and I suspect that's not very typically Antonioni.


Yes I just watched this, I liked the scenes in the stock exchange but all the stuff with Monica Vitti's character seemed untouchable. I guess that's kind of the point, modernism creating this space between us and making it impossible to connect with each other - but to me that makes the film itself hard to connect with.

_The Go-Between_ - Losey and Pinter's final collaboration and probably their best - "the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there". Wonderfully shot you have the sweaty, lazy heat of _The Accident_ repeated but also some fantastic long shots showing the minuscule figures moving like ants in the Norfolk countryside. If I do have one criticism it is that the flash forward scenes don't totally work, I know they are in the book but I'm not sure they are needed for the film.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 18, 2020)

_Night Movies_ - The Kelly Reichardt one not the Arthur Penn one. Looking back about what I said about this 6 years ago I don't think my opinion has changed much, it's a very good piece of film making and Fanning shows hoe good an actor she can be if given good material. That said it does seem to be just missing something that would make it a top quality film.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 20, 2020)

_Ghost Town Anthology_ - Strange Canadian film set in a small town in rural Quebec, after the suicide(?) of a young man, silent strangers start to appear in the town. This is where MUBI can be really good, I doubt whether I would have ever bothered searching out or even watching this if it was not going to disappear from the now showing list soon which would have been a shame because it is a rather good piece of work, it is quite strange - I'm still not entirely sure what I make of it - but that is to it's credit, and it is very well made/acted/etc. One of those strange pieces of work that are worth checking out - I can recommend that those with MUBI subscriptions (Part 2 , Orang Utan , Sue) that haven't seen it yet check it out before it disappears tonight.


----------



## Part 2 (May 20, 2020)

Cheers redsquirrel.  Just finished Better Call Saul so I may get chance to have a look at that.


----------



## Fedayn (May 20, 2020)

Everton: Howard's Way

Lovely bit of mid 80s football nostalgia. Basically telling a story of the Everton team 1982 -1985 (1987) set against the backdrop of Britain and the Liverpool Labour Council. Utterly glorious if you're an Everton fan, bit less so if you're not.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 20, 2020)

DotCommunist said:


> Ip Man 4. I've enjoyed all 4 Ip Man films immensely, great martial arts choreography. Some cheese to the stories but perfect for it nonetheless. Ip man demonstrated the superiority of chinese kug fu to first the invading Japanese general, then the arrogant English and their lackeys in hong kong and so on in each film. Really its all about the fight scenes though, theres a mass brawl in Ip Man 1 that sold me on the lot tbf


Bitten by a radioactive Ip, was he?


----------



## Sue (May 20, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Ghost Town Anthology_ - Strange Canadian film set in a small town in rural Quebec, after the suicide(?) of a young man, silent strangers start to appear in the town. This is where MUBI can be really good, I doubt whether I would have ever bothered searching out or even watching this if it was not going to disappear from the now showing list soon which would have been a shame because it is a rather good piece of work, it is quite strange - I'm still not entirely sure what I make of it - but that is to it's credit, and it is very well made/acted/etc. One of those strange pieces of work that are worth checking out - I can recommend that those with MUBI subscriptions (Part 2 , Orang Utan , Sue) that haven't seen it yet check it out before it disappears tonight.


Interesting, quite liked it. Also not very often you see smalltown Canada on film.



Spoiler



Reminded me of Les Revenants.[\Spoiler]


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## Part 2 (May 20, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Ghost Town Anthology_ - Strange Canadian film set in a small town in rural Quebec, after the suicide(?) of a young man, silent strangers start to appear in the town. This is where MUBI can be really good, I doubt whether I would have ever bothered searching out or even watching this if it was not going to disappear from the now showing list soon which would have been a shame because it is a rather good piece of work, it is quite strange - I'm still not entirely sure what I make of it - but that is to it's credit, and it is very well made/acted/etc. One of those strange pieces of work that are worth checking out - I can recommend that those with MUBI subscriptions (Part 2 , Orang Utan , Sue) that haven't seen it yet check it out before it disappears tonight.



Yea I watched it this afternoon. I liked it and agree with Sue's spoiler. As a film about grief it was good but there seemed to be a connection being made between the characters with depression that didn't go anywhere and the film lost it's way a bit towards the end I thought. I loved the kids masks though, reminded me of a Boards of Canada music video.



Spoiler



I think it probably lost me at the point Adele started levitating....wtf was that about?


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## Sue (May 20, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Yea I watched it this afternoon. I liked it and agree with Sue's spoiler. As a film about grief it was good but there seemed to be a connection being made between the characters with depression that didn't go anywhere and the film lost it's way a bit towards the end I thought. I loved the kids masks though, reminded me of a Boards of Canada music video.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


In terms of your spoiler, not quite sure but was happy to go with it...


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## Orang Utan (May 21, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Ghost Town Anthology_ - Strange Canadian film set in a small town in rural Quebec, after the suicide(?) of a young man, silent strangers start to appear in the town. This is where MUBI can be really good, I doubt whether I would have ever bothered searching out or even watching this if it was not going to disappear from the now showing list soon which would have been a shame because it is a rather good piece of work, it is quite strange - I'm still not entirely sure what I make of it - but that is to it's credit, and it is very well made/acted/etc. One of those strange pieces of work that are worth checking out - I can recommend that those with MUBI subscriptions (Part 2 , Orang Utan , Sue) that haven't seen it yet check it out before it disappears tonight.


Looks like Mubi have now opened up their back catalogue online - can't quite work out if it's possible to get on my telly via the Playstation app, but looks like I can only view on the laptop, but that's quite a collection:




__





						Films Now Showing on MUBI
					

A new, hand-picked film every day. Cult, classic, independent cinema.




					mubi.com


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## Part 2 (May 21, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Looks like Mubi have now opened up their back catalogue online - can't quite work out if it's possible to get on my telly via the Playstation app, but looks like I can only view on the laptop, but that's quite a collection:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yea it's not on my TV app either. I noticed this is free for anyone to watch. Those who haven't got an account just need to input an email address and password.









						Night Tide
					

A sailor (Dennis Hopper’s first starring role!) falls in love with a girl in a beatnik jazz club, and is drawn into a strange world in which she may be a mermaid. Turning Venice Beach locations into indelible film noir images, Night Tide is part gothic horror, part mood piece, all fever dream.




					mubi.com


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## Orang Utan (May 21, 2020)

Worked out I can search for and watch MUBI films via Amazon Prime Video


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## redsquirrel (May 22, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Looks like Mubi have now opened up their back catalogue online - can't quite work out if it's possible to get on my telly via the Playstation app, but looks like I can only view on the laptop, but that's quite a collection:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yep some good stuff.


Part 2 said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> I think it probably lost me at the point Adele started levitating....wtf was that about?


Like Sue I did not quite get that, but I didn't feel it was out of place.


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## redsquirrel (May 22, 2020)

Anyone recommend any of the work of Jean-Pierre Mocky? Or know where's a good place to start?


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## redsquirrel (May 23, 2020)

_La Bête Humaine_ - Jean Renoir adaptation of Zola starring the always watchable Jean Gabin, this is not the masterpiece that _La Grande Illusion_ is trying to get all of a book into 96 minutes results in some themes feeling rushed, while at the same time other there are other scenes that you feel could be cut, but it is still a very assured and enjoyable piece of work. The scenes on the trains are particularly effective and the tension and spiralling emotions of the principles are nicely ratcheted up in the hour and a half. Seeing these two Renoir's underlines that I need to watch _La Régle du Jeu_.

_Chloe_ - Amanda Seyfried and Julianna Moore play off each other in an 'erotic' psychological thriller by Atom Egoyan. It's all a bit depressing you've got one good and one excellent actor in the leads, a director that used to make some interesting films and the result is this pretty dull flawed drama. It doe not have the sleazy drive that somelike Verhoeven might have brought to it but neither does it have remotely enough depth and characterisation to go beyond such. Seyfried is actually very good but her character is so woefully drawn that it is a waste of her acting ability, and Moore is a good as usual but is also limited by the script. The best things about it is the sense of location, it makes Toronto - and the places it references there - look wonderful, Canadian tourist board must be fans.


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## Reno (May 23, 2020)

_Like Father Like Son_, another great film by Hirokazu Kore-eda. The parents of a six your old boy are informed by the hospital where he was born, that at the time of his birth he got swapped with another baby. The family then contact the family of their biological son to consider what they should do.  One is a well to do family, the other are a working class family of a shop keeper. The father of the well to do family starts to believe that blood is stronger than emotional bonds. As always with Kore-eda there are no simple heroes and villains, everybody has their reasons.



_The Fan_ from 1981, a trash favourite of mine. Lauren Bacall players a famous actres (basically a nicer version of herself) with an obsessed fan who attacks her staff and coworkers with a razor as she prepares to star in a Broadway musical. This was a big studio attempt to get in on the slasher craze of the period and it was capitalising on Bacall's career revival in musical theatre. As was the case for so many villains of the period, the killer is a self a hating closet case. The glimpses of the musical are hilariously awful. It's very entertaining though, I'm a sucker for New York set films of the period, especially slightly dodgy thrillers and the cast is great, with James Garner as to off-on love interest , Maureen Stapleton the year she won an Oscar for Reds and a very young looking Michael Biehn as the psycho.


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## Sue (May 23, 2020)

Citizen Kane's on at 15:15 on BBC2 if anyone's interested -- they're showing a progamme with clips from interviews with Welles at the moment.


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## Sue (May 23, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _La Bête Humaine_ - Jean Renoir adaptation of Zola starring the always watchable Jean Gabin, this is not the masterpiece that _La Grande Illusion_ is trying to get all of a book into 96 minutes results in some themes feeling rushed, while at the same time other there are other scenes that you feel could be cut, but it is still a very assured and enjoyable piece of work. The scenes on the trains are particularly effective and the tension and spiralling emotions of the principles are nicely ratcheted up in the hour and a half. Seeing these two Renoir's underlines that I need to watch _La Régle du Jeu_.



I'm a bit lukewarm on La Regle due Jeu -- I think his Le Crime de M Lange and Boudu Sauve des Eaux are much more interesting depictions of class conflict -- though obviously it's worth a watch.


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## The39thStep (May 23, 2020)

Forgot to say I rewatched the French film the Man on the Train with Johnny Holiday in it. Loved it as much I did many years ago . Understated poignancy.


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## redsquirrel (May 23, 2020)

Sue said:


> I'm a bit lukewarm on La Regle due Jeu -- I think his Le Crime de M Lange and Boudu Sauve des Eaux are much more interesting depictions of class conflict -- though obviously it's worth a watch.


Ta, I'll bear those recommendations in mind. 

_The World is Yours_ - good French comedy from Romain Gavras, with a small time crook having to get involved in a deal in order to finance his dreams of going straight. Isabelle Adjani is great as the mum from hell and Vincent Cassel puts in a good performance as a just released criminal that gets caught up in illuminati conspiracies. Reminded me a bit of the excellent _Louise Michel._


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## Part 2 (May 24, 2020)

Calm with Horses....shocking. Really very poor I thought. A real mess. It's got me worked up more than the press conference this afternoon.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 24, 2020)

Jack the Giant Killer

Fantasy adventure from 1962. Loved it as a kid, can see some influence on Terry Gilliam and Doctor Who. A bit ropey now, tbf.

Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler in career best? Disturbing, disagreeable and hypnotic film. Great soundtrack, too.


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## redsquirrel (May 27, 2020)

_Grosse Pointe Blank_ - This is almost 25 years old now and it's now become a bit of a picture of the 90s. Still excellent though. Top notch soundtrack, great lines, Minnie Driver should have got more work


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## Part 2 (May 27, 2020)

We Are One film festival coming to Youtube from 29/5. Talks, Short Films, Premiers. 

Any tips on what to watch?...noticed the Trojan Records Story that I fancy seeing.









						We Are One
					

Experience a film festival like never before during this first ever 10-day global film festival co-curated by over 21 film festivals from across the world. A...




					www.youtube.com


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## redsquirrel (May 27, 2020)

_The King and Four Queens_ - Clark Gable and Raoul Walsh western, with Gable trying to trick hidden gold from a woman and her four daughters in law. Nothing special but entertaining enough.

_Mr Klein_ - Losey directs Delon as a man caught up in a Kafka like nightmare (through his own actions?) of the anti-semitism of Vichy Paris. I can't say it's an enjoyable watch, l It's a little too long IMO but some scenes are really effective, like Klein the viewer is set on a path that can only lead to one place, the appalling inevitability is almost exhausting but very effective. Delon is good, smooth and stylish as always but with more uncertainty than he sometimes shows.


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## rekil (May 28, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Finished The Righteous Gemstones, I'd been rationing myself as the second series isnt likley untill summer next year. Found it hilarious easily the best comedy Ive seen this year.


Give Mr D a go. Canadian sitcom about out of his depth manchild teacher. It runs out of ideas eventually but the first 3 and a half series are great. Like Review it should be much better known.









						Mr. D (TV Series 2012–2018) - IMDb
					

Mr. D: Created by Gerry Dee, Michael Volpe. With Gerry Dee, Jonathan Torrens, Lauren Hammersley, Naomi Snieckus. Follows a teacher juggle through being a teacher and deal with his students while trying to maintain his not so cool lifestyle.




					www.imdb.com
				











						Review with Myles Barlow (TV Series 2008–2010) - IMDb
					

Review with Myles Barlow: Created by Phil Lloyd, Trent O'Donnell. With Phil Lloyd, Mandy Bishop, Ivy Nehl, Craig Anderson. While other critics waste time with trivial matters such as film, food or art, one man dares to review all facets of life - our experiences, our emotions, our deepest...




					www.imdb.com
				











						Review (TV Series 2014–2017) - IMDb
					

Review: Created by Jeffrey Blitz, Andy Daly, Charlie Siskel. With Andy Daly, Jessica St. Clair, Megan Stevenson, Michael Croner. In this spoof of review shows, Forrest MacNeil, a critic obsessed with his work, experiences whatever the viewers ask him to review including divorce, anonymous sex...




					www.imdb.com


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## redsquirrel (May 29, 2020)

_La Strada_ - Bloody brilliant! Giulietta Masina is brilliant and Anthony Quinn does an excellent job as the straight man. The only other Fellini I've seen is _La Dolce Vita _and this is much warmer more heartfelt than that.


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## Reno (May 29, 2020)

I've started to watch _Mrs. America,_ the 9 part Hulu mini-series about feminism in the 70s and the movement to pass the Equal Right Amendment. Three episodes in I'm trying to put my finder on why this doesn't work as well as it should. Great cast, fascinating subject matter and the type of production values you'd expect from "peak tv" these days but I don't find it as involving as it should be. The conceit to make the central character Phyllis Schlaffly (played by Cate Blanchett in grand-dame mode), a prominent antagonist to the feminist movement, is not a bad one but you spend a lot of time with a loathsome hypocrite. In terms of its politics it all feels a little flat and obvious. A made up drama like _Mad Men_ dealt with similar themes with more nuance. It's not bad, so far it's  just not as good as I'd like it to be but I'll stick with it.


----------



## 8115 (May 29, 2020)

Blinded by the light. Film about a young British Pakistani boy in the 80s who wants to be a writer and becomes a fan of Bruce Springsteen. Recommended by a friend. I really enjoyed it.


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## 8115 (May 29, 2020)

Never rarely sometimes always. Film about a 17 year old girl living in Pennsylvania who finds out she is pregnant. It's great, really subtle but with great depth.


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## Reno (May 30, 2020)

I watched episode 4 of _Mrs. America_ and maybe I wrote it off too early. The episode focusing on Betty Friedan was the best one yet and Tracey Ullman is fantastic in the role.

I also watched _The Vast of Night_, an indie science fiction film which got a lot of praise after film festival outings but which I can't quite make up my mind about. It's about two teenagers in the 50s who come across possible UFO activity in New Mexico. The material may not be new but the way it's made is sometimes very original and at others slightly frustrating, mostly consisting of dialogue sequences in very long single takes. Then right in the middle there is a long single shot which is breathtaking and which made me wonder how they did that on a tiny budget. The framing device which is that of a Twilight Zone style tv series, adds nothing, but the dialogue full of period appropriate slang, is interesting.

While in no way a horror film, the film it reminded my most of is _Pontypool_, which also is a film about a major unearthly event from a limited perspective, based around a radio programme. This is a promising first film and even if this didn't quite work for me, I'm curious about what the filmmakers will do next.


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## farmerbarleymow (May 30, 2020)

Watched some of the Alien films over the last few days. Always enjoyable.


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## Badgers (May 31, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Watched some of the Alien films over the last few days. Always enjoyable.


Some?


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## farmerbarleymow (May 31, 2020)

Badgers said:


> Some?


Yes, i.e. not all of the box set.


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## Reno (May 31, 2020)

I find two them enjoyable. Who can guess which ones ?


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## redsquirrel (May 31, 2020)

_Tomboy_ - Great. Wonderfully subtle examination of how kids, and adults, see gender and homosexuality. Célina Sciamma gets some amazing performances out of the kids, the scenes with both the family and the children playing together feel incredible natural. I think I prefer _Portrait of a Women on Fire_ but this is a really good film.

_Water Lilies_ - In contrast while this film definitely showed Sciamma's promise as a film maker, as I've said before, I don't think it quite works. Watching it again I think part of the problem might be the Anne storyline - it takes up too much time to be a supporting part but is not developed enough to balance the Marie/Floriane relationship. Not a bad film by any means, but one that does not quite work.

_Ema_ - Pablo Larraín's latest, not sure about this. In some ways it is a really excellent piece of work on loss, hurt and anger. The direction is great, the images you see are wonderful - the dance scenes really exciting, Gael Garcia Bernal is as good as usual and Mariana di Girolamo (who plays the eponymous character) is fantastic, she has an amazing physicality that drives the film but is also capable of subtly. That said there is one key weakness that really works against the film. The plot concerns the loss of a child, by returning him to adoption services, now this is essentially a framing device which is not necessarily a problem but that framing device needs to be strong enough for the film to hang on and frankly it isn't. Put a child into the care of these people, I wouldn't trust them with a pair of plastic scissors.

While watching it I was reminded of _Joe Cinque’s Consolation_ (more the book than the film), that is also built around a mothers/parents loss of a child, and like here you think that it would be much better for all if the parents could escape from that hurt and anger. But however destructive and unhealthy those emotions are to Joe Cinque’s parents they are part of the tragedy of that death. In _Ema_ the "loss" is entirely selfish, this is not the devastating grief of parents but the toy throwing of self-obsessed, self-entitled wankers.


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## Reno (Jun 1, 2020)

Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson

Starts as a fun documentary about 60s/70s exploitation filmmaker of Al Adamson and then turns into a true crime documentary when he became the victim of a murder. Entertaining and well made, by the director of the excellent Lost Soul.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 2, 2020)

_Fedora_ - Billy Wilder's second to last film and a sort of re-visiting/companion piece to _Sunset Boulevard_. with William Holden again meeting up with a reclusive film star and trying to tempt her out of retirement. It's part of MUBI perfect failures group and while it certainly is not on par with _Sunset Boulevard_ it's not without some qualities. The plot is very silly and (purposefully) cliched but that's the point. I don't think it quite hangs together for me, it is certainly too long (losing 20 minutes would improve the film considerably) and Marthe Keller is no Gloria Swanson, but there is obvious potential there, Wilder is still a top notch director. One of those films that you feel with a few changes could have been very good, as it is it is a curiosity.


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2020)

Reno said:


> I've started to watch _Mrs. America,_ the 9 part Hulu mini-series about feminism in the 70s and the movement to pass the Equal Right Amendment. Three episodes in I'm trying to put my finder on why this doesn't work as well as it should. Great cast, fascinating subject matter and the type of production values you'd expect from "peak tv" these days but I don't find it as involving as it should be. The conceit to make the central character Phyllis Schlafly (played by Cate Blanchett in grand-dame mode), a prominent antagonist to the feminist movement, is not a bad one but you spend a lot of time with a loathsome hypocrite. In terms of its politics it all feels a little flat and obvious. A made up drama like _Mad Men_ dealt with similar themes with more nuance. It's not bad, so far it's  just not as good as I'd like it to be but I'll stick with it.



I watched all of Mrs. America. I was cool on it at the start but ended up liking and it works as a drama and a history lesson. Gloria Steinem I knew a reasonable amount about but the other figures of US 70s feminism, I often knew no more than the names and it made me read up on them. Making an antagonist like Phyllis Schlafly the central characters draws a line to the present and Trump, as she employed some of the same tactics as the modern republican party. The cast is first rate. Worth a watch.


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _Fedora_ - Billy Wilder's second to last film and a sort of re-visiting/companion piece to _Sunset Boulevard_. with William Holden again meeting up with a reclusive film star and trying to tempt her out of retirement. It's part of MUBI perfect failures group and while it certainly is not on par with _Sunset Boulevard_ it's not without some qualities. The plot is very silly and (purposefully) cliched but that's the point. I don't think it quite hangs together for me, it is certainly too long (losing 20 minutes would improve the film considerably) and Marthe Keller is no Gloria Swanson, but there is obvious potential there, Wilder is still a top notch director. One of those films that you feel with a few changes could have been very good, as it is it is a curiosity.


I too have a soft spot for _Fedora_ though it feels a little too subdued and leisurely for its melodrama and its crazy plot twist. Billy Wilder wanted Marlene Dietrich and Faye Dunaway in the two central roles and the film probably would have worked a lot better with more star wattage. It's similar to Hitchcock's _Family Plot_. Both giants of classic Hollywood tried to pull of one more old school Hollywood film in the age of the movie brats and both were hampered by not getting the cast (and budget) which could have made that type of film work.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 4, 2020)

Two firsts for me, first Bresson and first Huillet-Straub.

_Diary of a Country Priest _- Robert Bresson's film of a young priest tormented by his faith. It's obviously a very good piece of film making and did provoke an emotional response, the case are good in their roles and even the narration works. That said while the film is such a good piece of work that you can't help but feel some of the crisis the priest is going through, there was a part of me that found the ennobling of suffering and pain quite unpleasant.  

_Antigone_ - this is less an adaptation of Sophocles play than a simple presentation of it on screen, that can work _The Hollow Crown_ took a similar approach and a lot of those plays were rather good. Here Huillet-Straub take such an approach to an extreme, there is only a series of static shots, the actors only move to leave the "stage" and often the shots do not include the actor(s). I suppose on one level this approach does work as it produces a strong response in the viewer, and viewed as a piece of video art there's something to be said for the film, but as an actually movie, or even a filming of a play, it fails totally. I saw a brilliant version of _Antigone_ live it brought the play to life and made you really feel the characters motives, it was a wonderful adaptation, but this is just totally dead, the actors declaim but the only emotional response is tedium. While seeing a play on screen cannot be the same as seeing it on screen _The Hollow Crown _and NT Live performances nevertheless show that such screenings can work but _Antigone_ does not, largely because of how the play was shot, though I also felt the translation/subtitling was strange (perhaps because it was verse?). I think I'll take some convincing to watch another Huillet-Straub.


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## Sue (Jun 4, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Two firsts for me, first Bresson and first Huillet-Straub.
> 
> _Diary of a Country Priest _- Robert Bresson's film of a young priest tormented by his faith. It's obviously a very good piece of film making and did provoke an emotional response, the case are good in their roles and even the narration works. That said while the film is such a good piece of work that you can't help but feel some of the crisis the priest is going through, there was a part of me that found the ennobling of suffering and pain quite unpleasant.
> 
> _Antigone_ - this is less an adaptation of Sophocles play than a simple presentation of it on screen, that can work _The Hollow Crown_ took a similar approach and a lot of those plays were rather good. Here Huillet-Straub take such an approach to an extreme, there is only a series of static shots, the actors only move to leave the "stage" and often the shots do not include the actor(s). I suppose on one level this approach does work as it produces a strong response in the viewer, and viewed as a piece of video art there's something to be said for the film, but as an actually movie, or even a filming of a play, it fails totally. I saw a brilliant version of _Antigone_ live it brought the play to life and made you really feel the characters motives, it was a wonderful adaptation, but this is just totally dead, the actors declaim but the only emotional response is tedium. While seeing a play on screen cannot be the same as seeing it on screen _The Hollow Crown _and NT Live performances nevertheless show that such screenings can work but _Antigone_ does not, largely because of how the play was shot, though I also felt the translation/subtitling was strange (perhaps because it was verse?). I think I'll take some convincing to watch another Huillet-Straub.


I really love Bresson's films, though he didn't make very many of them. The 'ennobling of suffering and pain' and how that's tied up with faith and sacrifice is I guess, a common theme in religion and religous films. (Everything from Joan of Arc to Ordet to The Song of Bernadette to Silence. And don't get me started on Biblical epics.)

Maybe it's my Catholic upbringing or something -- all those martyrs and martyrdom being something to aspire to...

I'm with you on Huillet-Straub though.


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2020)

I like Bresson's films of the 50s (_A Man Escaped, Diary of a Country Priest_ and _Pickpocket_) but after that, his films make me feel like a dog who gets his face rubbed in his own wee, as in being taught about the awfulness of mankind. I never need to see _Mouchette_ or_ Au Hasard Balthazar _again.


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## Reno (Jun 5, 2020)

_Paris, Texas_, which I had not watched since it came out. This and _Wings of Desire_ were the only Wim Wenders films I'd seen for many years and I never liked them much. Over the last few years I've checked out Wenders' early films and I especially loved _Kings of the Road _and _The American Friend_. So I thought I'd revisit this to see whether I'd revised my opinion.

Maybe I now appreciate even more just how beautiful the film looks and sounds and its worth it for that alone. I'm still not invested in the plot or in the characters. Travis getting his family back together is too sentimental and cliched a motor for the plot. There is something both creepy and not credible that the incredibly young and beautiful Nastassja Kinski would have been his wife. The nearly four decade age difference between her and Travis never really gets addressed. As soon as he takes his son from his brother and his sister in law (who clearly loves the kid like her own son) to find Kinski, he lost my sympathy because the boy was better off with them. The child actor is very good, but I found it hard to believe that he would so easily leave his foster family behind. Kinski's character doesn't make sense, she comes across more like Wenders' idealised version of a woman rather than an actual human being, so when she gets reunited with her son, I felt nothing. Travis' amnesia, which starts the film as a mystery is just forgotten about a third in.

Stanton's look at the start of the film has inspired millions of hipster though. I read that initially the film was to focus on Travis and his brother, played by Dean Stockwell and I would have preferred that film, even if it may have been too similar to _Kings of the Road. _The first half, when it is about Travis' relationship with Walt and his family, is stronger than the quest for Kinski.

Cinematographer Robby Müller is the real star of _Paris, Texas_ and despite my reservations about the film, I thoroughly recommend it because of his work:


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## redsquirrel (Jun 5, 2020)

Reno said:


> As soon as he takes his son from his brother and his sister in law (who clearly loves the kid like her own son) to find Kinski, he lost my sympathy because the boy was better off with them.
> .....
> The first half, when it is about Travis' relationship with Walt and his family, is stronger than the quest for Kinski.


Agree with pretty much all that Reno, never quite got the adoration _Paris, Texas_ often receives.


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## Reno (Jun 5, 2020)

I'm half way through the first season of _What We Do in the Shadows_. I was a huge fan of the film and initially couldn't get into the series, so after watching the first episode I didn't get back to it for months. I found the cast not as funny the one in the film and thought this type of humor may wear thin in a tv series. Now I'm five episodes in and it makes me laugh at least two or three times an episode. As you can tell from my posts, I hardly ever laugh, so this is a good sign.


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## Chz (Jun 5, 2020)

Just wait until you get to their "trial". That was a fantastic episode!


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## T & P (Jun 6, 2020)

I See You. Fairly new so on pay per view atm, and whereas I wouldn’t endorse paying a fiver to watch it, it’s definitely worth checking out once you can watch it for free.

Just by telling what genre it is I would be spoiling it to a small degree. Suffice to say that while the first third of the film firmly indicates the film is of a certain genre- and not a particularly good one at that- something then happens that changes everything and you realise everything you’ve watched so far is quite different to what you’d assumed it to be.

That is not the only twist and although the film is not much more than decent overall, the unexpected turns and capacity to surprise gets a big thumbs up from me, and makes the film worth checking out.


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## Reno (Jun 6, 2020)

_The Deeper You Dig_, a micro-budget indie horror film which got some good reviews. The film itself shows promise, the acting is good and there are some striking visuals and and effective frights. As a ghost story it doesn't do anything new though and the pacing is a bit on the slow side.



The most interesting thing about the film is that it was made be a family, the Adams family no less, father, mother and teenage daughter. They wrote, shot, edited and directed the film and they played the three lead roles, which makes them a very cool family in my book. A family who makes horror films together is of course the family I would have loved to grow up in. 

If they keep at it I can see them making a great film one day, the potential is there.


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## metalguru (Jun 7, 2020)

MUBI served up a bit of a mixed bag this weeked:

Ena Sendijarević’s debut *Take Me Somewhere Nice* was great. Based around a Dutch girl visiting relatives in Bosnia, this was a beautifully filmed road movie which was very reminiscent of Jarmusch's Stranger the Paradise. The photography/cinematography was incredible, with a pastel drenched palette. Completely loved it.

In contrast, Claire Denis's *Let The Sunshine In* - with Juliette Binoche - is one of the worst and most tedious and depressing films I've ever had the misfortune to sit through. Juliette Binoche plays a successful painter who goes through a series of transitory relationships with a variety of men, punctuated by would-be profound conversations. This is then topped by a completely cringe-worth end credits sequence featuring Gerard Depardieu.


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## Sue (Jun 7, 2020)

metalguru said:


> In contrast, Claire Denis's *Let The Sunshine In* - with Juliette Binoche - is one of the worst and most tedious and depressing films I've ever had the misfortune to sit through. Juliette Binoche plays a successful painter who goes through a series of transitory relationships with a variety of men, punctuated by would-be profound conversations. This is then topped by a completely cringe-worth end credits sequence featuring Gerard Depardieu.


Saw this at the cinema when it came out. I too thought it was terrible -- no idea why it got loads of great reviews. I left during the Depardieu bit as I literally couldn't take any more...


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## DotCommunist (Jun 7, 2020)

I watched the first part of The Sorrow and The Pity*  and some of the second half, will finish it tonight. Saw it years back but this is remastered, better subtitled and I'm following it closer. Getting more from it this time.



*a two-part 1969 documentary film by Marcel Ophuls about the collaboration between the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II. The film uses interviews with a German officer, collaborators, and resistance fighters from Clermont-Ferrand. They comment on the nature of and reasons for collaboration, including antisemitism, Anglophobia, fear of Bolsheviks and Soviet invasion, and the desire for power.

The title comes from a comment by interviewee Marcel Verdier, a pharmacist in Montferrat, Isère, who says "the two emotions I experienced the most [during the Nazi occupation] were sorrow and pity".


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## Orang Utan (Jun 7, 2020)

Why Don't You Just Die? Russian family implodes in an imaginative and funny Tom & Jerry-style orgy of ultraviolene. Seems to use the same colour palette of Beanpole - all reds and greens. The music   is a pastiche of Morricone/Leone westerns and works well with the action. Recommended. 

Spy - loads of people have said it's one of the funniest films in years. Meh. I did laugh quite a bit but I was drunk on tequila


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## Chz (Jun 7, 2020)

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! 

Best anime series I've seen in a while. It's about three high school girls who just want to... create anime! It's hard to do the show justice by describing it, but it's joyous. It truly is. Fantastic use of different art styles to show what they're imagining, and one of the best theme tunes in ages.


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## belboid (Jun 7, 2020)

Misbehaviour

About the protests around the 1970 Miss World competition.  A feelgood British movie hoping to replicate _Pride.  _It's all decent enough and perfectly enjoyable but without any of the outstanding scenes that could elevate it to something more.  Not seeing it at a cinema didn't seem like a great loss.

After Hours - havent seen this for years,probably Scorcese's lightest movie in many ways. Griffin Dunne is even more of an asshole than I recalled and thoroughly gets what he deserves. A fine blend of comedy and noirishness.  Michael Powell came up with the ending.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 8, 2020)

DotCommunist said:


> I watched the first part of The Sorrow and The Pity*  and some of the second half, will finish it tonight. Saw it years back but this is remastered, better subtitled and I'm following it closer. Getting more from it this time.


Probably my favourite documentary film of all.


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## trabuquera (Jun 8, 2020)

*Hidden Figures - *the one about the African American women who worked for NASA during the space race. Had it recorded but never got round to it as I expected it to be preachy and mainstream and glib-eral. Which it sort of is, but it's also much much better than that, with high-wattage star power, more fun than expected, brilliant production design and lots of great early-60s fashion and architecture and music. The message that 'workplace discrimination is bad m'kay?' is driven home repeatedly but the period detail and the performances really make it a worthwhile use of your time. It still doesn't crack the central problem of how to 'do' (not exactly to explain, but to show why it matters) complex maths and the workings of truly inspired intelligence though. Lots of chalkboards and furious equation-ing.


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## ska invita (Jun 8, 2020)

Embrace The Serpent (2015)
Early 20th century white men going up the Amazon film, in the tradition of Aguirre Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo < but very different, placing native tribespeople - or rather, tribesperson, central to the story/perspective . An excellent and important film. Right up there with the Herzogs ones, and in some aspects better - no mean feat. A film that stays with you as a memory...or a dream or a song, to put it into the films themes
Some top notch acting, especially from the two actors who play the stoic Karamakate, neither professional actors, always a good moment.  Manduca really well portrayed too.







Antonio Bolivar who played old Karamakate died last month, likely Covid








						The Death of Antonio Bolívar, an Indigenous Elder in the Amazon Rain Forest
					

Bolívar, who achieved fame appearing in the film “Embrace of the Serpent,” as a man forgetting his roots, is believed to have been infected by the coronavirus, which is now threatening Amazon communities.




					www.newyorker.com
				









Its on the Channel 4 OD player


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## ska invita (Jun 8, 2020)

There's a good film in Iplayer up for the next 2 weeks








						BBC Two - Good Vibrations
					

A music lover decides to open a record shop in 1970s Belfast, and call it Good Vibrations.




					www.bbc.co.uk
				



....tells the story of the home of Belfast Punk, Good Vibrations, and one Terri Hooley, the man behind it
Enjoyable film, done in that BBC Films style, make everyone a bit two dimensional, a bit cartoony, tweak the story for maximum convenient story telling purpose etc...similiar to Pride in style
Drama and comedy, but theatrical....As someone totally unaware of all this it didnt offend me.
Enjoyed it and learned a lot

Two bits of excellent follow on watching are these two slices of the real thing








						Watch Self-Conscious Over You - BFI Player
					

Witness The Outcasts at their incendiary best in this thrilling concert film




					player.bfi.org.uk
				





> Organised by Terri Hooley's Good Vibration Records, this legendary gig found almost 1800 people cramming into The Ulster Hall to see local band The Outcasts. The events depicted here were later immortalised in the 2013 film Good Vibrations. The final part of documentary filmmaker John T. Davis 'punk trilogy' – preceded by Shellshock Rock (1979) and Protex Hurrah (1980). These films sought to portray the leading figures of Ulster’s underground punk scene of the late-1970s and early 1980s.



and also




Shellshock Rock (1979)


> The raw energy and excitement of the 1970s punk rock scene in Northern Ireland is on display. Derry heroes The Undertones and the uncompromising Belfast band Stiff Little Fingers both feature, as do the less well-remembered Rudi, The Outcasts, The Idiots, Protex, Parasites, Victim and Rhesus Negative, while young fans talk about overcoming sectarian divisions to come together and live their lives their own way, united by music.




"overcoming sectarian divisions to come together and live their lives their own way, united by music" perhaps the key message the Good Vibrations film has.

Catch it all before it gets taken offline again


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## The39thStep (Jun 8, 2020)

Fascinating tale of Colonel Percy Fawcet and his search for The Lost City of Z . A bit British stiff upperlip but  at the same time absorbing


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## Sue (Jun 8, 2020)

ska invita, if you haven't see it, Birds of Passage (by the same team as Embrace of the Serpent) is also excellent.


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## ska invita (Jun 8, 2020)

Sue said:


> ska invita, if you haven't see it, Birds of Passage (by the same team as Embrace of the Serpent) is also excellent.


i haven't, thanks for the tip, will investigate


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## Idris2002 (Jun 8, 2020)

ska invita said:


> There's a good film in Iplayer up for the next 2 weeks
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Well worth watching, yes. I did ask someone who was around then "is it true that punk brought the communities together?" and he said "Belfast was too scary in them days, so we used to go and hang out in Bangor".

While watching it, I thought "wow, they did a really good job of recreating the look and feel of Belfast in the 1970s and 80s". But then I thought, "hang on, Belfast still looks like that".


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## Part 2 (Jun 9, 2020)

Days of the Bagnold Summer... based on a comic book I haven't read. When his dad cancels a visit to see him in Florida, Daniel (Earl Cave)l, a metal loving 15 year old spends the Summer with his mum (Monica Dolan). After watching the trailer I wasn't sure I was gonna enjoy it so was a bit cycnical...maybe I had a Kevin the teenager type character in mind as a reference point.

The dialogue sometimes felt a bit wooden but there's plenty of laughs and some real cringey moments where Rob Brydon plays one of Daniel's teachers and goes for a date with his Mum.  An easy watch though and I haven't got much concentration in me at the moment for complex things.


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## Orang Utan (Jun 9, 2020)

I really liked it. That garage door moment! 🤣
Earl Cave is the spit of his dad isn’t he?


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## redsquirrel (Jun 10, 2020)

metalguru said:


> In contrast, Claire Denis's *Let The Sunshine In* - with Juliette Binoche - is one of the worst and most tedious and depressing films I've ever had the misfortune to sit through. Juliette Binoche plays a successful painter who goes through a series of transitory relationships with a variety of men, punctuated by would-be profound conversations. This is then topped by a completely cringe-worth end credits sequence featuring Gerard Depardieu.





Sue said:


> Saw this at the cinema when it came out. I too thought it was terrible -- no idea why it got loads of great reviews. I left during the Depardieu bit as I literally couldn't take any more...


Saw this last night and had pretty much the same thoughts, really really disappointing from Denis. Just sort of meandered (and not in a good way) through a series of conversations. I actually thought the final scene was one of the best bits of the film but it was too late and utterly disconnected from the previous 90 mins.
I missed this at the cinema (thankfully) but I remember HOME advertising it and Philippe Garrel's _Lover for a Day_ (also available on MUBI) as sort of companion pieces -  that is a meandering film on relationships that is excellent.

_I Vitelloni_ - Does not quite reach the heights of _La Strada_ but still great work, and amazingly fresh considering that it is almost 70 years old and very much a story (exploits of young men dreaming of their futures) that has been told many times. Fellini gives a scene of real vigour and life.


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## Part 2 (Jun 10, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Earl Cave is the spit of his dad isn’t he?



Yea...although I hadn't realised it was him in series 2 of The End of the Fucking World until I read it.


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## krtek a houby (Jun 11, 2020)

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Roger Corman tale of love, greed, desperation, murder and dentistry.

Great cameos from Dick Miller and Jack Nicholson.

Inherent Vice (2015)

PT Anderson does 70s noir. Great cast, soundtrack and slightly confusing story.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 11, 2020)

MUBI have a season on Indian cinema. Have to say I'm almost no experience of such, I've heard of Ray (though not seen any of his films) but that's about it so this I hope this will be good introduction. 

_Uski Roti/Our Daily Bread_ - the debut film by a director called Mani Kaul who I'd not heard of but has a name and after watching this I can see why. It's quite a challenging watch, so probably was not the best thing for me to watch yesterday when I was knackered, to do it justice I probably need to re-watch it. But even tired and missing some of the subtly it is clear that it is a remarkable work. The core story is clear enough, a wife makes and delivers meals to her faithless husband but the film plays around with time and place very effectively. Bresson's influence is clear, definitely worth checking out but you do need to give it the concentration it deserves.


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## krtek a houby (Jun 11, 2020)

The Island (2006)

Russian film about a priest living on a remote island, racked with guilt over his past. Reminded me a bit of Silence but with a sense of humour.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 12, 2020)

_92 in the Shade_ - Peter Fonda, Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton play boat guides under tension in Florida. Very, very 70s - rambling plot, strange (partially drawn) characters, storylines that are introduced but not really dealt with - if you are looking for a coherent story then don't bother with it, but as a series of strange vignettes it kind of works. I can imagine some people really disliking it but to me to has a certain charm.

_Our Little Sister_ - fantastic portrayal of a family, three sisters take in their younger half-sister after their father dies, very much Ozu inspired, no great "dramatic" set pieces but a series of unfolding scenes looking at the lives of these people and their friends. Absolutely great.


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## Knotted (Jun 12, 2020)

I rewatched the Shining last night after not seeing it for maybe 20 years. I ended up really annoyed with it. Horrible overuse of the soundtrack and flashy camera work to the point it kept taking me out of the film. If you're sat there thinking, "oh I like the piece of Penderecki and the way the camera swings round the corner is gorgeous" then you're not absorbed into the film - which is crucial for horror. The way the soundtrack in particular is slavered over the whole film is particularly grating - nothing much is happening in this scene but we need to constantly remind you that this is horror. Woo scary. Woo scary. At one point you used a heartbeat soundtrack Kubrick. You bastard. Why? Just because woo scary (it was that point I snapped). Chanting voices. Is there suddenly a religious subtext maybe? No just woo scary. River of blood - is that an abstract representation of the horror of the hotel's history. Is it hell. No it's just woo scary. Flash up scenes of hacked up bodies. Woo scary. Obligatory twist at the end. Woo scary.

All these techniques are not integrated with the story telling. Kubrick uses Ligeti in 2001 Space Odyssey to give you a sense of the alien, abstract and complex. Here it's just hey "this has some high and low string noises and that's pretty scary isn't it"? It's not used at certain points to communicate the uncommuncatible. It's slavered everywhere. It's an insult to all this classy music he has employed.

And yes its fans will say it has half a dozen subtexts. But how shallow are they? Vague mention of an Indian burial ground not followed up. Something about Danny's ghost friend not followed up.  Something about Danny's shining talent that leads nowhere. Domestic violence, bullying? Sure but it doesn't show how it ends up there, Jack Nicholson is pulling scary faces and being dickish from the start. Obsession? What's the obsession even about and why should I care?

So all it is is a descent into madness that's relies on Jack Nicholson pulling and Shelley Duvall pulling faces (yes they're both really, really good at it, but take that away and you are left with nothing). Good horror films have subtext all this has is technique. This film subverts nothing.

It's made me really angry. It felt like an insult to the genre. It's like Kubrick thought "well this is just a horror film, we don't need to worry about characters or subtext or emotions other than fear and anger. I'm going to use my talents to create atmospheric film and hit the audience over the head with it. Easy peasy." Bloody coaster.

It's a shit horror film made well. But it's still a shit horror film.

----

Just needed to get that off my chest. 

I do like his other films though.


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## T & P (Jun 12, 2020)

Knotted said:


> I rewatched the Shining last night after not seeing it for maybe 20 years. I ended up really annoyed with it. Horrible overuse of the soundtrack and flashy camera work to the point it kept taking me out of the film. If you're sat there thinking, "oh I like the piece of Penderecki and the way the camera swings round the corner is gorgeous" then you're not absorbed into the film - which is crucial for horror. The way the soundtrack in particular is slavered over the whole film is particularly grating - nothing much is happening in this scene but we need to constantly remind you that this is horror. Woo scary. Woo scary. At one point you used a heartbeat soundtrack Kubrick. You bastard. Why? Just because woo scary (it was that point I snapped). Chanting voices. Is there suddenly a religious subtext maybe? No just woo scary. River of blood - is that an abstract representation of the horror of the hotel's history. Is it hell. No it's just woo scary. Flash up scenes of hacked up bodies. Woo scary. Obligatory twist at the end. Woo scary.
> 
> All these techniques are not integrated with the story telling. Kubrick uses Ligeti in 2001 Space Odyssey to give you a sense of the alien, abstract and complex. Here it's just hey "this has some high and low string noises and that's pretty scary isn't it"? It's not used at certain points to communicate the uncommuncatible. It's slavered everywhere. It's an insult to all this classy music he has employed.
> 
> ...


Oh god. As a layman with no pretence to understand or get the finer points of acclaimed films or the genius of their creators, I am often apprehensive about criticising certain films that are particularly revered by critics and/ or students of the art form in question.

As it happens I love The Shining. It ignores or chooses to play down much of the supernatural aspect of the story as told in the novel, which apparently was the main reason  why Stephen King hated it. But there is a lot to be admired about the film, not least the acting, setting and claustrophobic atmosphere. The bathroom scene showing the exchange between (ghost) Grady and Jack Torrance is absolutely superb, and when you read an analysis of the scene and the significance of even subtle changes in the camera angle, it all makes sense and appreciate the genius of the man.

Having said that, I found parts 2001 A Space Odyssey to be boring as fuck, and Eyes Wide Shut insufferable shite. If that makes me an eejit, so be it.


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## Reno (Jun 12, 2020)

Knotted said:


> I rewatched the Shining last night after not seeing it for maybe 20 years. I ended up really annoyed with it. Horrible overuse of the soundtrack and flashy camera work to the point it kept taking me out of the film. If you're sat there thinking, "oh I like the piece of Penderecki and the way the camera swings round the corner is gorgeous" then you're not absorbed into the film - which is crucial for horror. The way the soundtrack in particular is slavered over the whole film is particularly grating - nothing much is happening in this scene but we need to constantly remind you that this is horror. Woo scary. Woo scary. At one point you used a heartbeat soundtrack Kubrick. You bastard. Why? Just because woo scary (it was that point I snapped). Chanting voices. Is there suddenly a religious subtext maybe? No just woo scary. River of blood - is that an abstract representation of the horror of the hotel's history. Is it hell. No it's just woo scary. Flash up scenes of hacked up bodies. Woo scary. Obligatory twist at the end. Woo scary.
> 
> All these techniques are not integrated with the story telling. Kubrick uses Ligeti in 2001 Space Odyssey to give you a sense of the alien, abstract and complex. Here it's just hey "this has some high and low string noises and that's pretty scary isn't it"? It's not used at certain points to communicate the uncommuncatible. It's slavered everywhere. It's an insult to all this classy music he has employed.
> 
> ...


Much of that is valid. I really loved the novel and that's exactly how I (and many others, including Stephen King) felt when Kubrick's The Shining first came out. The first half hour feels like this is going to be the scariest film ever made, but that dissipates once Nicholson takes the film towards comedy with his Big Bad Wolf turn. I've come to love the film as an audio-visual experience though, it's Kubrick's aesthetic at its most distilled and I love the way he uses the musical cues.

I prefer the shorter European cut to to the longer US cut which doesn't add much of importance and slows down the already deliberate pacing to a crawl.

The Kubrick classic I don't like is A Clockwork Orange, it gives me a headache.


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## T & P (Jun 12, 2020)

Reno said:


> Much of that is valid. I really loved the novel and that's exactly how I (and many others, including Stephen King) felt when Kubrick's The Shining first came out. The first half hour feels like this is going to be the scariest film ever made, but that dissipates once Nicholson takes the film towards comedy with his Big Bad Wolf turn. I've come to love the film as an audio-visual experience though, it's Kubrick's aesthetic at its most distilled and I love the way he uses the musical cues.
> 
> I prefer the shorter European cut to to the longer US cut which doesn't add much of importance and slows down the already deliberate pacing to a crawl.
> 
> The Kubrick classic I don't like is A Clockwork Orange, it gives me a headache.


What did you think of Eyes Wide Shut?


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## Reno (Jun 12, 2020)

T & P said:


> What did you think of Eyes Wide Shut?


I've only seen it once and I didn't care for it much, but probably should give it another try. Many of Kubrick's films have grown on me on a rewatch. It still hasn't experienced the critical reevaluation of other, initially poorly received Kubrick films like The Shining or Barry Lyndon and isn't considered to be among his better films. I also don't like Full Metal Jacket, after a good first half it goes down the drain.

The first time I saw 2001 in my teens on TV I didn't quite get what the fuss was about. Seeing it on the big screen many years later completely changed my mind and it is now among my favourite films.


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## Knotted (Jun 12, 2020)

T & P said:


> Oh god. As a layman with no pretence to understand or get the finer points of acclaimed films or the genius of their creators, I am often apprehensive about criticising certain films that are particularly revered by critics and/ or students of the art form in question.
> 
> As it happens I love The Shining. It ignores or chooses to play down much of the supernatural aspect of the story as told in the novel, which apparently was the main reason  why Stephen King hated it. But there is a lot to be admired about the film, not least the acting, setting and claustrophobic atmosphere. The bathroom scene showing the exchange between (ghost) Grady and Jack Torrance is absolutely superb, and when you read an analysis of the scene and the significance of even subtle changes in the camera angle, it all makes sense and appreciate the genius of the man.
> 
> Having said that, I found parts 2001 A Space Odyssey to be boring as fuck, and Eyes Wide Shut insufferable shite. If that makes me an eejit, so be it.



You probably know more about film than me. I didn't like the bathroom scene because it just felt like another random horror thing, although it's far from the worst part of the film. There are two scenes that really worked for me, the first time the two girls show up and the part where the cook walks into the hotel. Both very related to how the film doesn't just scream "horror film!" at you in particularly via the soundtrack. Suddenly a bit of quiet and the film breathes.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jun 12, 2020)

*Vice's The Dark Side of the Ring*

Behind the scenes scandal in the wrestling business. All available to download off of Sky. So far, I've found it to be not too in depth and seemingly aimed at former wrestling fans and casual observers who have heard of the big names and enjoy scandal, true crime etc, so some of the episodes - the Montreal Screwjob for example - I found pretty poor, but I've been fascinated hearing about the Road Warriors, the murder of Dino Bravo, the relationship between Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth etc


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## Knotted (Jun 12, 2020)

Reno said:


> Much of that is valid. I really loved the novel and that's exactly how I (and many others, including Stephen King) felt when Kubrick's The Shining first came out. The first half hour feels like this is going to be the scariest film ever made, but that dissipates once Nicholson takes the film towards comedy with his Big Bad Wolf turn. I've come to love the film as an audio-visual experience though, it's Kubrick's aesthetic at its most distilled and I love the way he uses the musical cues.
> 
> I prefer the shorter European cut to to the longer US cut which doesn't add much of importance and slows down the already deliberate pacing to a crawl.
> 
> The Kubrick classic I don't like is A Clockwork Orange, it gives me a headache.



The musical cues were the thing I hated the most, partly because I know Kubrick can be great for exactly that. The film doesn't let up with the noise. It feels manipulative not relevant. But anyway this has been cathartic thanks.

PS That final image of Nicholson - that was comedy right?


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## Reno (Jun 12, 2020)

Knotted said:


> You probably know more about film than me. I didn't like the bathroom scene because it just felt like another random horror thing, although it's far from the worst part of the film. There are two scenes that really worked for me, the first time the two girls show up and the part where the cook walks into the hotel. Both very related to how the film doesn't just scream "horror film!" at you in particularly via the soundtrack. Suddenly a bit of quiet and the film breathes.



I love the bathroom scene and how he cast those two actresses and I do actually find that scary. I think he tried to not do the thing with ghosts other horror films did at the time, have them be transparent fade in and out. He didn't use any optical effects and instead did everything with editing. 

I recently watched Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining and while it's not entirely without merit, the bathtub ghost from room 237 turns up in it and she looks so rubbish compared to the Kubrick film. For the "crone" version they cast a younger, more attractive actress and then they put lots of makeup on her, which makes her look like a cliche movie ghost. There is something physical and concrete to the ghosts in The Shining which I think makes them effective and different.


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## Reno (Jun 12, 2020)

Knotted said:


> PS That final image of Nicholson - that was comedy right?


Everything with Nicholson kind of seems to be.


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## Chz (Jun 12, 2020)

I've been watching Watchmen. 

It helps if you know the source material. It adds to it. But it's not essential. And it's brilliant. It really, really is.


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## Knotted (Jun 12, 2020)

Reno said:


> I love the bathroom scene and how he cast those two actresses and I do actually find that scary. I think he tried to not do the thing with ghosts other horror films did at the time, have them be transparent fade in and out. He didn't use any optical effects and instead did everything with editing.
> 
> I recently watched Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining and while it's not entirely without merit, the bathtub ghost from room 237 turns up in it and she looks so rubbish compared to the Kubrick film. For the "crone" version they cast a younger, more attractive actress and then they put lots of makeup on her, which makes her look like a cliche movie ghost. There is something physical and concrete to the ghosts in The Shining which I think makes them effective and different.



I agree it was an effective scene. But in context how does it fit into the story? And if it doesn't what does it symbolise? If it's there to just scare then I'm annoyed whether or not it's effective. Kubrick did some great war films, he seemed to _get it_ with those, but I'm glad this was his only horror. Random scares are the hallmark of bad horror, all the best horror films have a bit of intellect to them even if they have the reputation that they don't.


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## T & P (Jun 12, 2020)

Knotted said:


> The musical cues were the thing I hated the most, partly because I know Kubrick can be great for exactly that. The film doesn't let up with the noise. It feels manipulative not relevant. But anyway this has been cathartic thanks.
> 
> PS That final image of Nicholson - that was comedy right?


He was famously extremely fastidious and demanding, not only of the actors but the props & set. One well known anecdote is that in the scene when Wendy flicks through the half written novel her husband had been meant to be typing for weeks, and sees that it is just hundreds of pages of ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’.

Even though the shot only shows the written content of about 10-20 pages as Wendy flicks through them, Kubrick insisted that some crew member must actually type the several hundred pages that made pile. Not even photocopy some of them- every sheet had to be typed individually. I’m sure his incredible attention to detail made his films what they are, but the above demand is unjustifiable bullshit. From what I’ve read he could come  across as a sociopath and horrible person to work under.


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## Sue (Jun 12, 2020)

T & P said:


> He was famously extremely fastidious and demanding, not only of the actors but the props & set. One well known anecdote is that in the scene when Wendy flicks through the half written novel her husband had been meant to be typing for weeks, and sees that it is just hundreds of pages of ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’.
> 
> Even though the shot only shows the written content of about 10-20 pages as Wendy flicks through them, Kubrick insisted that some crew member must actually type the several hundred pages that made pile. Not even photocopy some of them- every sheet had to be typed individually. I’m sure his incredible attention to detail made his films what they are, but the above demand is unjustifiable bullshit. From what I’ve read he could come  across as a sociopath and horrible person to work under.


Noticed Filmworker was on last night on Film4. If you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend it -- it's a documentary about a man who devoted his life to working with Kubrick at great personal cost.


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## Reno (Jun 13, 2020)

Knotted said:


> I agree it was an effective scene. But in context how does it fit into the story? And if it doesn't what does it symbolise? If it's there to just scare then I'm annoyed whether or not it's effective. Kubrick did some great war films, he seemed to _get it_ with those, but I'm glad this was his only horror. Random scares are the hallmark of bad horror, all the best horror films have a bit of intellect to them even if they have the reputation that they don't.


The scene in room 237 comes from the novel it's an adaptation of. Danny gets hurt by the ghost despite having been told by Halloran to stay away from it and later Jack investigates room 237 and encounters a ghost for the first time himself. One could argue that scene suffers from having been taken from its context in the novel where that female ghost is a larger character with a back story. Kubrick makes it more ambiguous by having the ghosts be a possible extension of Jack's declining mental state but only to a certain point. I think it works for the film, which could not have adapted all of what is a very long novel. While Kubrick plays down the supernatural elements from the novel, they are still there. It's a story about a haunted hotel full of the ghosts of former occupants who now haunt it, so I don't see why the woman in room 237 is random.


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## Detroit City (Jun 13, 2020)

I watched a dark scifi drama called Enemy Mine (1985)....didn't much care for it but it had some good points


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## redsquirrel (Jun 13, 2020)

Gate of Hell - part of the BFIs Japan 2020 showcase, a samurai becomes obsessed by a woman who is already married. It is absolutely gorgeous to look, and the use of light and colour is fantastic. Definitely worth checking out.

_The Orphanage_ - story of a boys orphanage in Afghanistan just as the Russians are moving out. Some very good performances by the young cast, with naturalistic scenes interspersed with fantasy dream sequences in a Bollywood style. Worth watching.


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## Part 2 (Jun 13, 2020)

Black cat white cat....mentioned here before but not for many years. Outdoor cinema experience in the estate.



Amazing, funniest film I've seen in a long time....I'd had a few drinks and may have been a bit stoned aswell which is something I usually avoid before watching films but seemed to suit this one. 

A low level criminal comes up with a hair brained plan to make loads of money and fucks up so has to agree for his son to marry the sister of a gangster who just takes coke every minute of the film. There's a tune that plays a few times called Pitbull terrier and he goes mental to it and there's a wedding scene that might be second only to  The Godfather. Its super fast paced and I didn't follow the story as closely as I might have with eating, drinking and smoking through...but expect it stands up to multiple viewings anyway.

The only other Hungarian film I've seen of the top of my head is The Werkmeister Harmonies which I loved and been planning to rewatch for ages. 

Any other recommendations?


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## Part 2 (Jun 13, 2020)

I appear to be wrong and it's not Hungarian but Serbian.


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## Reno (Jun 13, 2020)

Why Don't You Just Die!, the Russian black comedy which OU mentioned and which is a lot of fun if you can handle the violence.

The Towering Inferno...again. One of my comfort films. Not sure what it is about watching over-the-hill Hollywood stars burning to a crisp that I find so soothing.


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## Reno (Jun 13, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> I appear to be wrong and it's not Hungarian but Serbian.


Ambitious programming none the less. Love your set up !


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## Part 2 (Jun 13, 2020)

Reno said:


> Ambitious programming none the less. Love your set up !



Not mine I must confess but it made for a great shared experience. 🙂


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## Knotted (Jun 13, 2020)

T & P said:


> He was famously extremely fastidious and demanding, not only of the actors but the props & set. One well known anecdote is that in the scene when Wendy flicks through the half written novel her husband had been meant to be typing for weeks, and sees that it is just hundreds of pages of ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’.
> 
> Even though the shot only shows the written content of about 10-20 pages as Wendy flicks through them, Kubrick insisted that some crew member must actually type the several hundred pages that made pile. Not even photocopy some of them- every sheet had to be typed individually. I’m sure his incredible attention to detail made his films what they are, but the above demand is unjustifiable bullshit. From what I’ve read he could come  across as a sociopath and horrible person to work under.



I love the detail in that. I love all the interior design and lighting as well. It's just I don't like the way it's all belaboured. Might watch it again with subtitles and the sound turned off...


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## Knotted (Jun 13, 2020)

Reno said:


> The scene in room 237 comes from the novel it's an adaptation of. Danny gets hurt by the ghost despite having been told by Halloran to stay away from it and later Jack investigates room 237 and encounters a ghost for the first time himself. One could argue that scene suffers from having been taken from its context in the novel where that female ghost is a larger character with a back story. Kubrick makes it more ambiguous by having the ghosts be a possible extension of Jack's declining mental state but only to a certain point. I think it works for the film, which could not have adapted all of what is a very long novel. While Kubrick plays down the supernatural elements from the novel, they are still there. It's a story about a haunted hotel full of the ghosts of former occupants who now haunt it, so I don't see why the woman in room 237 is random.



Well we could call it non-specific rather than random if you prefer. The scene could be cut without it affecting the rest of the film.

Having said that I actually don't think it is just a random/non-specific ghostly encounter. It's obviously sexually charged and reflects Jack's misogyny. Women are desirable yet repulsive. I also think it's too cold and distant to be scary and that's not a criticism. I think it's supposed to be queasy but not scary - if it were scary we would be empathising with Jack's misogynist perspective which would be all sorts of wrong. The scary thing in the scene should be Jack not the woman.

The film's substance is the horror of having an abusive husband/father. I'm pretty sure that Jack not the lady in room 237 strangled Danny. That appears to be a completely different story to the one Stephen King wrote (I haven't read it mind), but that's not necessarily a problem. The film is cryptic while being extremely unsubtle in its execution. I think the real horrors are not shown (is there child abuse going on?) while the (in practice inconsequential) ghost stuff is ramped up to a continuous 11. It's an odd way to go about it and I have no idea why anybody would get anything from a film like that. I don't think it's an intelligent way to make a point about abuse if there is even a point being made. The whole thing seems shallow to me.


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## Reno (Jun 13, 2020)

Knotted said:


> Well we could call it non-specific rather than random if you prefer. The scene could be cut without it affecting the rest of the film.
> 
> Having said that I actually don't think it is just a random/non-specific ghostly encounter. It's obviously sexually charged and reflects Jack's misogyny. Women are desirable yet repulsive. I also think it's too cold and distant to be scary and that's not a criticism. I think it's supposed to be queasy but not scary - if it were scary we would be empathising with Jack's misogynist perspective which would be all sorts of wrong. The scary thing in the scene should be Jack not the woman.
> 
> The film's substance is the horror of having an abusive husband/father. I'm pretty sure that Jack not the lady in room 237 strangled Danny. That appears to be a completely different story to the one Stephen King wrote (I haven't read it mind), but that's not necessarily a problem. The film is cryptic while being extremely unsubtle in its execution. I think the real horrors are not shown (is there child abuse going on?) while the (in practice inconsequential) ghost stuff is ramped up to a continuous 11. It's an odd way to go about it and I have no idea why anybody would get anything from a film like that. I don't think it's an intelligent way to make a point about abuse if there is even a point being made. The whole thing seems shallow to me.


Cold and distant has been applied to Kubrick's general filmmaking style though.

I will leave it here as my response to the film used to be similar to yours but it has changed over the decades. I now love it on a purely emotional and aesthetic level which is hard to verbalise. 

Stephen King would certainly be in your corner as he famously hates the film. I've enjoyed your posts on the film, even if I don't entirely agree.


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## farmerbarleymow (Jun 13, 2020)

The Wave.  A Norwegian film about a mountainside collapsing into the fjord and destroying a town at the head of the fjord from the resulting tsunami.  Quite well done.  Based on a real unstable mountainside that is moving year on year and will eventually fall.


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## Orang Utan (Jun 13, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> The Wave.  A Norwegian film about a mountainside collapsing into the fjord and destroying a town at the head of the fjord from the resulting tsunami.  Quite well done.  Based on a real unstable mountainside that is moving year on year and will eventually fall.


Just read about something like this happening only last week:


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## Reno (Jun 13, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> The Wave.  A Norwegian film about a mountainside collapsing into the fjord and destroying a town at the head of the fjord from the resulting tsunami.  Quite well done.  Based on a real unstable mountainside that is moving year on year and will eventually fall.


I saw that at the London Film Festival wondering if it was a more arty version of a 70s disaster film but it was just as trashy, only with less glamorous looking actors. That isn't necessarily a bad thing as I love 70s disaster films, I was just hoping for a smarter spin on the genre. There is a sequel to this called The Quake which I enjoyed more because the suspense and the action sequences are handled better.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 14, 2020)

_Take Me Somewhere Nice_ - Dutch teenager goes to visit her dying father in Bosnia and goes on a road trip with her cousin and his mate. It's a debut film and it shows it there is some promise there but it suffers from many of the same faults that loads of indie debuts do, a real need to appear quirky, characters with elaborate mannerisms, daft plot turns that bend/break any suspension of disbelief. Despite all that the cast do give good performances and the style (obviously indebted to Jarmusch) is just about enough to get it over the line. If you want something for an entertaining 90 minutes and don't want to think too much this is worth checking out.


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## flypanam (Jun 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Black cat white cat....mentioned here before but not for many years. Outdoor cinema experience in the estate.
> 
> View attachment 217446
> 
> ...


The other Emir Kusturica I’ve seen is Underground. It was years ago though. Something to do with the Yugoslav partisans had quite a few laughs in it. Seem to remember it took an age to watch but could be wrong.


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## butchersapron (Jun 14, 2020)

Depends if you watch the 8 hour version or not... Even the shorter ones start at 4 plus I think.


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## DaveCinzano (Jun 14, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> I watched a dark scifi drama called Enemy Mine (1985)....didn't much care for it but it had some good points


It's a future war update of the WW2-set Lee Marvin-Toshiro Mifune two-hander _Hell In The Pacific _


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## DaveCinzano (Jun 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> I appear to be wrong and it's not Hungarian but Serbian.


If you were in the market for a Hungarian movie, may I suggest _Két Félidő A Pokolban_? 

It is a based-on-real-events 1962 war (well, POW) movie that in turn inspired _Escape To Victory_.









						Escape To Victory – The Original: ‘Here’s Magyar Eye’
					

‘Két Félidő A Pokolban’, a.k.a. ‘The Last Goal’, a.k.a. ‘Two Half Times In Hell’, is a 1961 (or 1962, if you trust the running dog Western websites) Hungarian fi…




					bristle.wordpress.com


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## DaveCinzano (Jun 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> I appear to be wrong and it's not Hungarian but Serbian.


But if you wanted Serbian/Yugo reccos, then you might like to try _Bure Baruta_ AKA _Cabaret Balkan_, which has an Altmanish vibe to it.









						Cabaret Balkan - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## Orang Utan (Jun 14, 2020)

Taxidermia is the only Hungarian film I've seen and it's weird as fuck but in a good way


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## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2020)

Da 5 Bloods

Spike Lee takes on the Vietnam experience for black veterans in search of a lost comrade. Rage, race, regret and a treasure hunt. Lindo and Peters head a great cast.


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## platinumsage (Jun 15, 2020)

Leave No Trace - kinda reminded me of Lean on Pete


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## not-bono-ever (Jun 15, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Da 5 Bloods
> 
> Spike Lee takes on the Vietnam experience for black veterans in search of a lost comrade. Rage, race, regret and a treasure hunt. Lindo and Peters head a great cast.




i thought it was all over the place and about half an hour too long


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## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2020)

not-bono-ever said:


> i thought it was all over the place and about half an hour too long



Not as tight as Black Klansman, but thought it conveyed that sheer madness of conflict and the legacy of.


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## Part 2 (Jun 15, 2020)

Reno said:


> Why Don't You Just Die!, the Russian black comedy which OU mentioned and which is a lot of fun if you can handle the violence.



Watched this tonight. Great fun and the colours reminded me of beanpole with all the red and green going on. Definitely one I'll be recommending.


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## RTWL (Jun 17, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> _Jodorowsky's Dune_
> 
> 2013 documentary about an adaptation that never was. The controversial director's vision would have been interesting, for sure, but possibly too far out for mainstream audiences.



What a film it would have been .... Holy mountain and El Topo where amaaaaazing but this ... with Dali as the emperor and totally luminaires involved all round would have been transcendent .


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## Part 2 (Jun 17, 2020)

After Hours....reminded by The39thStep mentioning it, I'd been meaning to rewatch for years. I'd only seen it by accident maybe 30 years ago. A Scorcese film that rarely gets mentioned it's unlike any of his others. 

Loved it. Very funny, great lead performance by Griffin Dunne, recognisable as Jack from An American Werewolf in London.


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## T & P (Jun 17, 2020)

I finally got to see Parasite. It is certainly very good, though perhaps not as incredibly brilliant as a few of the critics had painted it as.

But a 7.5/10 at the least for me, and most definitely worth a watch. Any film nowadays that still boasts an unconventional, original  story and keeps you guessing as to the direction it’s going to take next deserves praise and a viewing AFAIAC.


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## T & P (Jun 17, 2020)

I’ve also discovered and started watching Get Shorty (the TV series). On Now TV & Sky. Four episodes in and good enough without being great. Will continue watching.

I’ll say something else for it as well. Even though I was initially put off a bit when I saw two of the main characters were played by actors that irritate me deeply and I did not previously rate much, namely Chris O’Dowd and Ray Romano, they’re both very good in this. The former in particular.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 18, 2020)

_Passion_ - Brian de Palma's remake of a French thriller (I've not seen the original). Absolutely appalling, not a huge de Palma fan but this is just tripe. Stupid, boring, and hackneyed. I've seen some people trying to claim that this is supposed to be a partial send up erotic thrillers,  post-justification for a very bad film IMO.

_Mona Lisa_ - Never got around to seeing this previously. Really good, though far more comic/absurd than I had expected. Hoskins really was a good actor and Cathy Tyson does not get enough work. Caine is better than he often is too playing a very slimy mid-level crim. 

_L'Amant Double_ -  François Ozon psychological thriller with a twin theme, you can't but help the thoughts of Hitchcock and, even more, de Palma's _Sisters_. It's not one of Ozon's better films, but is far more watchable than _Passion_ above. Still I'd suggest going for _Swimming Pool_ or even _In the House_ instead.


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## Reno (Jun 18, 2020)

Pinocchio by Matteo Garrone, who still is most famous for Gomorrah. Since then he's already made the fairy tale film Tale of Tales, which I found interminable. Pinocchio is a lot better. Of all the film versions this may be the most faithful to the book, blending  a neo realist approach in regard of its Tuscan setting with the grotesquery of 19th century children's book illustrations.

The first half hour is a bit of a slog, Garrone indulges in stunt-casting by having Roberto Benigni play Gepetto, who starred as Pinocchio in a disastrous adaptation in 2002, a vanity project after he won his Oscar for the horrendous Life is Beautiful. He's unlikeable and irritating in the role. The film gets better once Pinocchio gets kidnapped by Mangiafuoco and sets off on his adventures. Instead of using CGI, all the characters are played by actors in make up and if ever a film deserved an Oscar for best make up, this is it. The characters, including Pinocchio, look the stuff of nightmares but that works. The art direction and costumes are stunning, I suppose Terry Gilliam could have made something like this in the 80s and sometimes this feels like what The Singing Ringing Tree might have looked like had it been made on a far larger budget. Its sensibility and aesthetics are rooted in what would have been regarded as funny and whimsical the 19th century when the novel was written, which makes it feel far less cute than other modern fairy tale films but that's what I liked about it.


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## T & P (Jun 18, 2020)

Not that I hadn’t seen it before, but enjoyed a late night viewing of The Thing the other night and remarked to myself, not for the first time, what a fucking good sci-fi movie this film is.

Yes, the special effects are legendary, but the film is so much more than that. It conveys a sense of tension and impending doom throughout that only the best in the genre achieve. Not more so than the scene when all surviving characters have been tied to a chair while Kurt Russell tests their blood samples one by one to work out who the alien replica might be. Absolutely bloody superb.

A ludicrously underrated film even today with its fairly positive ratings, never mind when it was first released and received mind-boggling widespread negative reviews. Top 10 sci-fi material for me.


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## Reno (Jun 18, 2020)

T & P said:


> Not that I hadn’t seen it before, but enjoyed a late night viewing of The Thing the other night and remarked to myself, not for the first time, what a fucking good sci-fi movie this film is.
> 
> Yes, the special effects are legendary, but the film is so much more than that. It conveys a sense of tension and impending doom throughout that only the best in the genre achieve. Not more so than the scene when all surviving characters have been tied to a chair while Kurt Russell tests their blood samples one by one to work out who the alien replica might be. Absolutely bloody superb.
> 
> A ludicrously underrated film even today with its fairly positive ratings, never mind when it was first released and received mind-boggling widespread negative reviews. Top 10 sci-fi material for me.


I really don't think The Thing is ludicrously underrated anymore, its considered a classic now (status sealed by the BFI book in its series in classic films) and usually comes up first when the conversation turns to great remakes or John Carpenter's best movie. Agree with the rest.


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## Part 2 (Jun 18, 2020)

Low Tide....Low budget debut feature film for writer/producer/director Kevin McMullin.

3 teenagers burgle holiday homes off (New) Jersey shore. They're shitty teenage criminals with all the faults that go with that. No backstory is given into their personalities and the story begins when one is left with a broken leg after a job goes wrong. The younger brother of one of the trio joins the next trip as lookout and things begin to fall apart from there.

It's a well paced 84 minutes, the performances were good and the story well told but I had no idea why these kids were robbing from houses. Midway through there's some exposition in relation to the brothers then there's obvs got to be the one who's a bad influence, although I'd no idea how he got to be like that. The 4th kid is a snivelling shit. I liked the younger brother though played by Jaeden Martell who was in Knives Out and IT.


----------



## T & P (Jun 18, 2020)

Reno said:


> I really don't think The Thing is ludicrously underrated anymore, its considered a classic now (status sealed by the BFI book in its series in classic films) and usually comes up first when the conversation turns to great remakes or John Carpenter's best movie. Agree with the rest.


I have just checked the current ratings online and you're quite right. I sort of remember that when I checked a while ago they were decent enough but not in the same level as other classic films of the genre.


----------



## Detroit City (Jun 18, 2020)

New Wave Hookers 3


----------



## Reno (Jun 18, 2020)

T & P said:


> I have just checked the current ratings online and you're quite right. I sort of remember that when I checked a while ago they were decent enough but not in the same level as other classic films of the genre.


I don't know what ratings you refer to (I hope not imdb) but when books get written about a film years later, it's a classic.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 21, 2020)

_Youth of the Beast_ - Japanese gangster film, with a plot inspired by _Yojimbo_, a mad cast of semi-drawn characters, plot holes galore and scenes that do not seem to connect. It should not work at all and yet somehow it manages to overcome all these flaws and become a really exciting piece of cinema. It's the type of film that sends Tarantino into ecstasies but it has an enthusiasm that is missing from a lot of his bloated recent work.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jun 21, 2020)

Watched _Da 5 Bloods_ on Netflix. Took a while to get going, and some of the coincidences that moved the plot along did stretch credibility a tad, but performances were good and the ending was fun.


----------



## T & P (Jun 21, 2020)

Come to Daddy Weird in more ways than one, but ultimately satisfying as it turns to be more interesting and also of a completely different genre than the first half of the film seemed to be.

Not great but one of those films that you watch when you can’t find anything else at all expecting it to be 1h 45m of your life you’ll never get back, but it ended up as a poor man’s Cohen Brothers film, and weird enough to work.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 22, 2020)

T & P said:


> Come to Daddy Weird in more ways than one, but ultimately satisfying as it turns to be more interesting and also of a completely different genre than the first half of the film seemed to be.
> 
> Not great but one of those films that you watch when you can’t find anything else at all expecting it to be 1h 45m of your life you’ll never get back, but it ended up as a poor man’s Cohen Brothers film, and weird enough to work.


That was one film in which I never expected there to be a joke featuring Michael Heseltine


----------



## Sue (Jun 22, 2020)

The Magnificent Seven.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 22, 2020)

_Hoop Dreams_ - Excellent documentary following two very good young basketball players, but using their stories to introduce issues of race and education in American. Despite dating from the late 80s/early 90s it still feels relevant to today's world and avoids 'casting' people in the role of good/bad guys. Despite being almost three hours it does not drag, which indicates how good it is.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 24, 2020)

_The Stranger_ - As I said above I've virtually no experience of Indian cinema, I've heard of Ray of course but this is the first film if his I've seen, and it is absolutely great. It looks lovely, no flashy effects or tricks just wonderfully but understatedly shot, the performances are great and the story moving. It reminded me of Ozu, not so much in terms of style but the humanism running through it, the problems of people (families) trying to connect with each other. So far MUBI's Indian cinema series has been top notch, I'm looking forward to the next films.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jun 24, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Stranger_ - As I said above I've virtually no experience of Indian cinema, I've heard of Ray of course but this is the first film if his I've seen, and it is absolutely great. It looks lovely, no flashy effects or tricks just wonderfully but understatedly shot, the performances are great and the story moving. It reminded me of Ozu, not so much in terms of style but the humanism running through it, the problems of people (families) trying to connect with each other. So far MUBI's Indian cinema series has been top notch, I'm looking forward to the next films.




Satyajit Ray is a world away from typical Indian cinema.  Where's the songs? The dancing? The mustachioed villain? 

There's plenty of Bollywood on netflix if you want to dive in.  Be prepared for some 3 hour epics


----------



## Reno (Jun 24, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> Satyajit Ray is a world away from typical Indian cinema.  Where's the songs? The dancing? The mustachioed villain?
> 
> There's plenty of Bollywood on netflix if you want to dive in.  Be prepared for some 3 hour epics


John  Cassavetes is a world away from typical US cinema. India long had its own alternative to mainstream cinema, mostly social realist films. Ray was the most famous but far from the only film-maker in that tradition.


----------



## Chz (Jun 25, 2020)

Watched _Call Me By Your Name_.

I wasn't surprised to see James Ivory's name on it. Like most things he's been involved in, it's gorgeous, well-acted, and - to me - boring.

I can see why people loved it, and there's a lot to like in there, just not me.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 26, 2020)

_Mia Madre_ - Nanni Moretti's latest, about a director struggling to make a film while her mother is dying. John Turturro gives a great turn as a mad actor. Probably 15 minutes or so too long but nicely relaxing.


----------



## T & P (Jun 26, 2020)

I posted this already in the Netflix thread so apologies for the repetition. 
I watched a new sci-fi film called Freaks last night. Nothing to do with the 1932 flick- this is a sci-fi/ horror movie (though it's not really horror at all) that starts rather slowly but finishes at a frantic pace, and whereas the premise borrows heavily from certain aspects of the X-Men concept, it turned out to be a surprisingly good and watchable film.


----------



## Reno (Jun 27, 2020)

I watched An Unmarried Woman for the first time last night and so far it's my favourite film discovery of the year. This came out when I was 15. I'd started to watch more "grown up" films like Annie Hall and The Goodbye Girl, but a film about middle aged divorce wasn't in my ballpark yet. The film was a big deal then, probably being the major Hollywood film informed by second wave feminism of the late 70s. Since it came out the film hasn't been that easy to see and I thought it may have rightfully been consigned to the dustbin of time, as of-the-moment, well meaning and probably a little dated. The film is nothing like it, it's wonderfully alive, with characters who feel flawed, likeable and real. You don't see sex scenes which feel this awkward and real in Hollywood films anymore. I get why this was a star-making turn for Jill Clayburg, she is wonderful in the film. After initially finding it intrusive, I even warmed to the somewhat overbearing saxophone score by Bill Conti and there is nothing I love more than a 70s New York movie.

I also watched A League of Their Own for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Even if one can lament that Hollywood doesn't make mid- to large budgeted films like it anymore, it feels broad and unsubtle when compared to the low key naturalism of An Unmarried Woman. Every statement about feminism is broadly signposted to generate cheers, every character feels like a stereotype there to make a point. It's the type of film I was afraid An Unmarried Woman would be but wasn't. Hollywood films from the 90s now often look far more like relics than films from the 70s.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 27, 2020)

I wonder if they know what they're about to experience?


----------



## Reno (Jun 27, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I wonder if they know what they're about to experience?



Looking at their twitter, I think they know.


----------



## Detroit City (Jun 27, 2020)

I watched _Sleeper_ with Woody Allen.  Still as funny as ever...


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 27, 2020)

Reno said:


> Looking at their twitter, I think they know.


the dog definitely know what's coming


----------



## T & P (Jun 30, 2020)

Reno said:


> I recently watched:
> 
> the 2020 reboot of_ The Invisible Man_ (great, one of the better horror films in recent years)
> _Swallow_ (overrated, plays like the idiot's version of Todd Haines' _Safe_)


Just saw this and really enjoyed it. For the sake of those who don’t like horror films I would myself describe it as a psychological thriller rather than horror, so no need to give it a miss if you dislike that genre but are okay with thrillers with a few ‘jump moments’. A great, entertaining film.

Although more than happy to suspend my disbelief for the main premise of the film, something did irk me plot-wise, namely that



Spoiler



unless I missed something (which happens not infrequently nowadays) the initial claim that the main antagonist had killed himself was never explained and seems a significant plot hole to me. All we ever heard as evidence is his brother saying he saw the body. That clearly would never be enough for the cops, so why did everyone believe he was dead?


----------



## Reno (Jun 30, 2020)

T & P said:


> Just saw this and really enjoyed it. For the sake of those who don’t like horror films I would myself describe it as a psychological thriller rather than horror, so no need to give it a miss if you dislike that genre but are okay with thrillers with a few ‘jump moments’. A great, entertaining film.
> 
> Although more than happy to suspend my disbelief for the main premise of the film, something did irk me plot-wise, namely that
> 
> ...


It's now several months ago that I saw the film but I can't remember it bothering me. In the beginning the film sketches in the backstory quickly to get to the point where it needs to be. 



Spoiler



Faking ones death is a thriller trope we've seen many times and we simply have to take it on faith that a brilliant inventor with unlimited financial resources who creates an invisibility suit, wouldn't have problems faking his own death. Cecilia never really believes he is dead because she knows what he is capable of and this appears to be confirmed 15 minutes into the film. As the entire film is from her POV, it never bothers spending time on trying to convince the audience of that aspect.


----------



## T & P (Jul 3, 2020)

Would You Rather. A dark psychological horror/ thriller on Netflix. Kind of like the Saw franchise films in terms of fuck-upness, but with added moral dilemmas and ethical choices, which is what makes the film worth watching so long as you’re okay with the unpleasantness and like that genre.

Not great but certainly better than the critics’ ratings would suggest IMO.


----------



## Humberto (Jul 3, 2020)

Hereditary. Pointless shite.


----------



## Humberto (Jul 3, 2020)

I like the actors in it too. just a nothing.


----------



## Reno (Jul 3, 2020)

Erm, ok....


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 3, 2020)

Humberto said:


> Hereditary. Pointless shite.


What’s pointless about it? Saying that is kind of pointless


----------



## Humberto (Jul 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> What’s pointless about it? Saying that is kind of pointless



Indeed. I guess with horror films they either 'work' on you or not. Maybe depending on your mood. I quite enjoyed it, which is enough really.


----------



## Reno (Jul 3, 2020)

Humberto said:


> Indeed. I guess with horror films they either 'work' on you or not. Maybe depending on your mood.* I quite enjoyed it*, which is enough really.


I like it when the second time round, I get the answer I want.


----------



## Humberto (Jul 3, 2020)

Yeah sorry, thread requires a bit more effort.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jul 3, 2020)

that eurovison movie thing. OK as far as it went I suppose but not a side splitter


----------



## magneze (Jul 3, 2020)

Yeah watched that too. It's alright. 

Also saw Princess Mononoke for the first time. Incredible film, really well done throughout. Kinda surprised it's only a PG. No idea why it's compared with Star Wars though. It's a better film for a start.


----------



## Reno (Jul 3, 2020)

magneze said:


> Also saw Princess Mononoke for the first time. Incredible film, really well done throughout. Kinda surprised it's only a PG. No idea why it's compared with Star Wars though. It's a better film for a start.



A US review called it "The _Star Wars_ of Animation" and that slogan got put on the promotion, to sell the film to people who would otherwise stay away from Japanese animation. Of course it has nothing to do with Star Wars apart from that its fantasy and that it features creatures.


----------



## magneze (Jul 3, 2020)

Fighting with my family. A far better and more entertaining feel-good film than the Eurovision one. Well worth your time.


----------



## flypanam (Jul 4, 2020)

Humberto said:


> Hereditary. Pointless shite.


Good soundtrack though.


----------



## Humberto (Jul 4, 2020)

flypanam said:


> Good soundtrack though.



You know I feel a bit silly for saying that. It's a good film. I'd built it up as 'the scariest film eveh' when I found it more intriguing.


----------



## Reno (Jul 4, 2020)

I love Hereditary probably more than most, it's my favourite horror film of the last decade.  The way that family disintegrates after 



Spoiler



the death of a child


is wrenching and very believable. The criticism people seem to have with the film, is that after most of it is a devastating study of grief, the end dives head first into the supernatural, with a very dark sense of comedy, abandoning the characters to their fate. I've read complaints that this comes out of nowhere but it makes a lot of sense on a second watch. There are many accumulating details which initially pass you by but which point to where this is going from the start. The sense of inevitability is what's so scary about the film for me. 



Spoiler



That family never stood a chance, locked in an inescapable fate decided by the family matriarch, with whose funeral the story kicks off. The main villain is dead from the beginning and we watch as the gears of her plot grind into place with the precision of a clockwork. The family is just collateral damage.


 I also think it's a beautiful piece of filmmaking with a stunning performance by Toni Colette at its core.


----------



## Part 2 (Jul 4, 2020)

Last night I watched 2 1/2 episodes of the Epstein thing on Netflix....then realised I'd already seen it.

This morning I watched The Fountain. Half an hour in my son came in and said 'We watched this not long ago'

That's where my heads at.


----------



## T & P (Jul 4, 2020)

Just watched Princess Mononoke after reading the posts about it here. Very good indeed.

Another great Japanese animation film is Kubo and the Two Strings. Really enjoyed that...


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jul 4, 2020)

Ghibli love in this thread 

I am a Ghibli nut.

The best ones are Princess Mononoke, My Neighbout Totoro, Nausicaa, Laputa, Spirited Away. But they are all fantastic really!

If you want a a different, not so fantastical one, I really recommend "Only Yesterday". It's one I hadn't seen until recently and fell in love with it


----------



## Reno (Jul 4, 2020)

T & P said:


> Another great Japanese animation film is Kubo and the Two Strings. Really enjoyed that...


That's an American stop-motion animation film made by Laika who also made Coraline and last year's Missing Link.


----------



## T & P (Jul 4, 2020)

Reno said:


> That's an American stop-motion animation film made by Laika who also made Coraline and last year's Missing Link.


Wow, never guessed that.


----------



## D'wards (Jul 5, 2020)

Watched I Am not Your Negro, which I thought was great. Baldwin was a very interesting character.  He shagged Marlon Brando did you know!

There was a clip of an old John Wayne western in it, which was there to kind of highlight that Baldwin felt that the black man had more in common with the native that the Duke was taking out with his trusty Winchester than the hero himself.

This clip was great (i'm obviously missing the point of why it was there, but anyway...) so I asked my film buff pal what it was.
It was Stagecoach,  the old John Ford film.

Its on its entirety on YouTube so I watched that too - what a brilliant film. Ford was a cinematic genius and John Wayne had all the presence and charisma.

The scene where they are fighting off the apache attack from the moving stagecoach was thrilling


----------



## Reno (Jul 5, 2020)

I rewatched The Shining. I still think it's a poor adaptation but a wonderful film. I watched the blu-ray based on a new 4k scan which looks glorious. Unfortunately it's only available as the longer US cut, I think the shorter European cut is superior. After the US release was poorly received, Kubrick decided to trim another 25 minutes from the film and the shorter cut, which is still 2 hours long, works far better. The US cut at 144 minutes is simply too long.


----------



## Reno (Jul 5, 2020)

T & P said:


> Wow, never guessed that.


There is no tradition for stop-motion animation in Japan, the main style still is 2D (drawn) animation.


----------



## D'wards (Jul 5, 2020)

Reno said:


> I rewatched The Shining. I still think it's a poor adaptation but a wonderful film. I watched the blu-ray based on a new 4k scan which looks glorious. Unfortunately it's only available as the longer US cut, I think the shorter European cut is superior. After the US release was poorly received, Kubrick decided to trim another 25 minutes from the film and the shorter cut, which is still 2 hours long, works far better. The US cut at 144 minutes is simply too long.


I do like the fact that although Kubrick was a very controlling and hands on director he allowed his leads to gloriously ham it up - Jack in the Shining, Pile in full Metal Jacket, Alex in Clockwork Orange of course the titular Dr Strangelove


----------



## Reno (Jul 5, 2020)

D'wards said:


> I do like the fact that although Kubrick was a very controlling and hands on director he allowed his leads to gloriously ham it up - Jack in the Shining, Pile in full Metal Jacket and Alex in Clockwork Orange


He could go the opposite way as well though, casting inexpressive actors like Keir Dulea, Ryan o'Neil and  Tom Cruise to build his films around. Considering that in the book Jack and Wendy are an average couple caught up in extraordinary circumstances, Kubrick cast two of the least average actors imaginable.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 5, 2020)

Re-watching _Cheer_s and am struck by it's subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ridiculing of the rich and shameless. Season 7, esp, where Woody and Kelly start dating. Her friends and family are haughty snobs and patronising. Or Rebecca's boss going on about honesty and then being done for insider trading. Even regular characters Frasier and Lillith's pomposity is regularly shot down, notably by Carla. Who'd have thought _his_ spin off would have succeeded where Carla's failed?

Sure, not all of it holds up well today. Sam's creepy hitting on younger women - later identified as a sex addiction in the last series (iirc) and the lack of bame characters. But for the most part, the show is a joy to watch after all this time and the writing, when on form, is peerless.

Can't believe it's nearly 30 years since it closed!


----------



## lefteri (Jul 5, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Re-watching _Cheer_s and am struck by it's subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ridiculing of the rich and shameless. Season 7, esp, where Woody and Kelly start dating. Her friends and family are haughty snobs and patronising. Or Rebecca's boss going on about honesty and then being done for insider trading. Even regular characters Frasier and Lillith's pomposity is regularly shot down, notably by Carla. Who'd have thought _his_ spin off would have succeeded where Carla's failed?
> 
> Sure, not all of it holds up well today. Sam's creepy hitting on younger women - later identified as a sex addiction in the last series (iirc) and the lack of bame characters. But for the most part, the show is a joy to watch after all this time and the writing, when on form, is peerless.
> 
> Can't believe it's nearly 30 years since it closed!


frasier continues the pomposity-pricking of the wasp metropolitan middle classes pretty well too


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 5, 2020)

The Goldfinch . Curious film based on a book I’d never heard of . Marvellously shot , quite slow paced but complex in some places with some twists and turns. Revolves around a painting but the it’s the soulless , tragic , painful  lives of the characters that is probably the real story. Got slated on release but its well acted and intriguing enough to watch to the end although I probably wouldn’t watch it again


----------



## T & P (Jul 5, 2020)

Reno said:


> *I rewatched The Shining. I still think it's a poor adaptation but a wonderful film.* I watched the blu-ray based on a new 4k scan which looks glorious. Unfortunately it's only available as the longer US cut, I think the shorter European cut is superior. After the US release was poorly received, Kubrick decided to trim another 25 minutes from the film and the shorter cut, which is still 2 hours long, works far better. The US cut at 144 minutes is simply too long.


I think your opening sentences sums it up perfectly for me. If it had been a stand-alone script the film would have about zero negatives for me- indeed it works great as a story where Jack Torrance simply has a complete mental breakdown.

But at the end of the day the in the book the events that unfold are firmly of a supernatural nature, which Kubrick omits for the most part. I can’t blame StephKing for being as pissed off with itas he was.


----------



## Reno (Jul 5, 2020)

T & P said:


> I think your opening sentences sums it up perfectly for me. If it had been a stand-alone script the film would have about zero negatives for me- indeed it works great as a story where Jack Torrance simply has a complete mental breakdown.
> 
> But at the end of the day the in the book the events that unfold are firmly of a supernatural nature, which Kubrick omits for the most part. I can’t blame StephKing for being as pissed off with itas he was.


I'd be happy for someone to have another go at adapting The Shining, ideally as something like a Netflix series. The book is one of the best horror novels I've read and not much of it survives in the film. There was a 90s mini-series which was more faithful to the book but unfortunately it was directed by the painfully untalented Mick Garris, who had a monopoly on Stephen King adaptations at the time. 

I've read that new adaptations of Salem's Lot and The Stand are in the works, both of which could easily improve on previous TV adaptations,


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 8, 2020)

Currently enjoying Dark.

Love the references to Donnie Darko and other time travel movies.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 9, 2020)

Reno said:


> I've started to watch _Mrs. America,_ the 9 part Hulu mini-series about feminism in the 70s and the movement to pass the Equal Right Amendment. Three episodes in I'm trying to put my finder on why this doesn't work as well as it should. Great cast, fascinating subject matter and the type of production values you'd expect from "peak tv" these days but I don't find it as involving as it should be. The conceit to make the central character Phyllis Schlaffly (played by Cate Blanchett in grand-dame mode), a prominent antagonist to the feminist movement, is not a bad one but you spend a lot of time with a loathsome hypocrite. In terms of its politics it all feels a little flat and obvious. A made up drama like _Mad Men_ dealt with similar themes with more nuance. It's not bad, so far it's  just not as good as I'd like it to be but I'll stick with it.



Saw the first two eps of this on BBC2 last night. If it doesn't work as well as it could (and it does work very well in spite of that, IMO) it's because Blanchett steals the whole thing from under the eyes of every other actor involved. She maybe  makes Schlafly - a genuine monster - a bit too sympathetic in the process. . . 

As a political lesson, it was a good idea to make Blanchett the centrepiece though. What we're looking at is US "progressives" consistently underestimating the opposition - something they continue to do to this day.


----------



## Espresso (Jul 9, 2020)

I was flicking around the channels the other night and saw Ken Stott. So I stopped to see what it was because I like him in mostly everything I have ever seen him in. It was An Inspector Calls on Drama.
I have heard of it, but have never read it and didn't know what it was about.  I absolutely loved it. 
Made me think that putting it on now wasn't a coincidence. The big wigs are all responsible for the misery and destruction of the little people and none of them want to admit any part of it.


----------



## Reno (Jul 9, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> Saw the first two eps of this on BBC2 last night. If it doesn't work as well as it could (and it does work very well in spite of that, IMO) it's because Blanchett steals the whole thing from under the eyes of every other actor involved. She maybe  makes Schlafly - a genuine monster - a bit too sympathetic in the process. . .
> 
> As a political lesson, it was a good idea to make Blanchett the centrepiece though. What we're looking at is US "progressives" consistently underestimating the opposition - something they continue to do to this day.


I wrote another post after I finished it and by the end I really liked it. Schlafly becomes far less sympathetic and other characters get to shine as it goes on.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 9, 2020)

Reno said:


> Death of a Vlogger
> 
> I wrote another post after I finished it and by the end I really liked it. Schlafly becomes far less sympathetic and other characters get to shine as it goes on.


I'll have to keep watching so - as long as Blanchett continues to radiate her intense sexual charisma.


----------



## Reno (Jul 10, 2020)

Relic, new Australian horror film which is a promising debut feature. An old woman goes missing, her daughter and granddaughter drive from Melbourne to search for her. Eventually the grandmother returns but she doesn't seem to be the same and something may have followed her into the house. Strong on atmosphere and a sense of menace, it taps into the fear of an ageing parent declining. Great performances from the three lead actresses too, I enjoyed this a lot.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 11, 2020)

Making the most of my (probs temp) subscription to Britbox, I watched the first series of Broadchurch on Thursday - fantastic show. I then watched the first few episodes of the second series, convincing me that it was done already. Now sat watching Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy


----------



## Reno (Jul 11, 2020)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Making the most of my (probs temp) subscription to Britbox, I watched the first series of Broadchurch on Thursday - fantastic show. I then watched the first few episodes of the second series, convincing me that it was done already. Now sat watching Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy


The second season of Broadchurch is really bad but the third one is very good.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 11, 2020)

Watched Touching the Void with my boy, he loved it


----------



## Reno (Jul 14, 2020)

Black Sunday, the 1977 political thriller by John Frankenheimer which I'd never managed to see. It was banned when I grew up in Germany due to parallels with the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics. As a fan of 70s disaster films I always was curious because it was promoted as such. It really isn't though. It's decent enough if a little too long and could have done with a more compelling lead actress than the lethargic Marthe Keller (someone like Genevieve Bujold would have been great). Robert Shaw who is credited as the main character has surprisingly little screen time, Bruce Dern is cast to type as a psychotic creep. The film was tooled to be a major blockbuster and was thought to become a major hit, but it flopped at the box office when it came out. In part that had to do with another terror-attack-on-a-football stadium movie which got released just before, the turgid Charlton Heston starring Two Minute Warning.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 15, 2020)

Season 3 of Narcos. Was initially worried that it would be less focused, post-Escobar, but ended up being absolute gripped by it.


----------



## platinumsage (Jul 15, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Season 3 of Narcos. Was initially worried that it would be less focused, post-Escobar, but ended up being absolute gripped by it.



S3 was my favourite, although the next season of Narcos Mexico is shaping up to be a good one.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 15, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> S3 was my favourite, although the next season of Narcos Mexico is shaping up to be a good one.



Looking forward to seeing it!


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 15, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> I'll have to keep watching so - as long as Blanchett continues to radiate her intense sexual charisma.


Intense sexual charisma-ing intensifies.


Hhhhhhnnnnnngggggghhhhh


----------



## Reno (Jul 16, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> Intense sexual charisma-ing intensifies.
> View attachment 222476
> 
> Hhhhhhnnnnnngggggghhhhh
> ...


Cate Blanchett is an accomplished and very attractive actress (many actresses are) but "phoarring" over her playing Phillis Schlafly in a series about second wave feminism, may just be missing the point.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 16, 2020)

In the series, Blanchett is clearly fighting the urge to say "I am surrounded by idiots".

Which is probably historically accurate. I'm not so sure about the accuracy of the scenes where she runs the southern blondes out of her group for their open racism.


----------



## Reno (Jul 16, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> In the series, Blanchett is clearly fighting the urge to say "I am surrounded by idiots".
> 
> Which is probably historically accurate. I'm not so sure about the accuracy of the scenes where she runs the southern blondes out of her group for their open racism.


Apparently Schlafly was prepared to work alongside anybody who would support Stop ERA, be that black church ladies or Southern racists. The scene is fictional but it's supposed to demonstrate how her principles slip in the pursuit of her campaign. This becomes more clear in later episodes.


----------



## Sue (Jul 17, 2020)

Nymphomaniac Vol I. I'm not that keen on Von Trier's films so avoided this when it came out. (Being in two, longish parts put me off too.) 

Anyway, found it surprisingly funny in places, if bleak. There's a lot of sex but it's really very unsexy which I guess is kind of the point. Will probably watch Vol 2 over the weekend.


----------



## Sue (Jul 19, 2020)

Sue said:


> Nymphomaniac Vol I. I'm not that keen on Von Trier's films so avoided this when it came out. (Being in two, longish parts put me off too.)
> 
> Anyway, found it surprisingly funny in places, if bleak. There's a lot of sex but it's really very unsexy which I guess is kind of the point. Will probably watch Vol 2 over the weekend.



Nymphomaniac Vol 2. Darker and less funny than the first part. Not sure it merited an overall 4+ hour running time. 

Mullholland Drive. Saw this when it came out, not sure I understood what was happening any better this time round... Very stylishly made though.


----------



## colbhoy (Jul 19, 2020)

Gran Torino (again!) - 9/10


----------



## RTWL (Jul 20, 2020)

Contrary to the opinions of the bourgeoisie, the new nine part TV serialisation entitled Brave New World is a pretty impressive adaptation! 
I am on episode 6 and all is well ... it really is quite close to the book essentially.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 20, 2020)

Most of series 1 of Preacher. That's mad. The usual Garth Ennis shaking his fist at god, in an exceptionally bloody way...


----------



## T & P (Jul 21, 2020)

After rather enjoying The Righteous Gemstones a few months ago, we’ve started watching Danny McBride’s previous creation, Vice Principals, currently showing on Sky Comedy.

While not as superbly funny as Community, it is still very good indeed, based on the six episodes we’ve seen. I also like the fact that this conceived and written as a limited, 18-episode miniseries before a single day’s filming had began, rather than the usual let’s-write-an-open-ended-season-and-see-if-we-get-renewed norm.

I know it’s irrational but because he usually gets cast as a complete arsehole in the Seth Rogen subdivision of the Frat Pack films and subconsciously dislikable, I had until recently overlooked McBride’s work. But Righteous Gemstones was great, and this is shaping up to be quite good also.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 21, 2020)

T & P said:


> After rather enjoying The Righteous Gemstones a few months ago, we’ve started watching Danny McBride’s previous creation, Vice Principals, currently showing on Sky Comedy.
> 
> While not as superbly funny as Community, it is still very good indeed, based on the six episodes we’ve seen. I also like the fact that this conceived and written as a limited, 18-episode miniseries before a single day’s filming had began, rather than the usual let’s-write-an-open-ended-season-and-see-if-we-get-renewed norm.
> 
> I know it’s irrational but because he usually gets cast as a complete arsehole in the Seth Rogen subdivision of the Frat Pack films and subconsciously dislikable, I had until recently overlooked McBride’s work. But Righteous Gemstones was great, and this is shaping up to be quite good also.


Loved it .


----------



## freakydave (Jul 22, 2020)

I was so affected being an alcoholic that I was scared to do it, but I rewatched The Lighthouse last night.  I enjoyed it a lot more second time around, I would imagine that this is a very hack observation, but it's a comedy,

I am really glad that comedy has become so dark. It must be so amazing to work on something like that. On reviewing, a lot of the flourishes are pretty silly, but it's just so solid


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2020)

_Palm Springs_, comedy which turns out to be about a Groundhog Day-style time loop. Surprisingly good and very funny, this manages to add a couple of twists to the formula (it takes place in a world where the characters are aware of films like Groundhog Day). The two leads, Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti have been around for a while but not in lead roles and I hope this gives them a career boost, both have comedic chops and great chemistry.



_Archive _about an A.I. robot in the mould of Ex_Machina. It tries hard but just isn't very good and not nearly as smart as it thinks it is. It takes aspects from many better science fiction films. Unlike _Palm Springs_ it doesn't manage the breathe any fresh air into a familiar concept. Even a big plot twist is a snooze which I've seen done too many times before.



_The Nightshifter_ is a Brazilian horror film which starts out strong but then becomes a little too conventional. It's about a morgue worker who can converse with the dead. The image of the talking corpses is unsettling as only their faces move. When one day he uses information gained from on of those conversations to take revenge on someone, the dead don't take well to having been used in that way. Good but could have been better, worth a watch though if you like horror films.


----------



## belboid (Jul 24, 2020)

Poodle Springs

An early HBO TV movie based on the eighth Philip Marlowe novel - one that chandler had only written four chapters of. 

James Caan is an aged Marlowe who starts badly by wearing a toupee.  He doesn’t get much better.  The dvd itself doesn’t seem too impressed by the film, including a quote on the back that’s says it resembles a quagmire.  Why they thought that was a good idea, I don’t know.  

The basic story is okay, a bit Big Sleepy with elements of Chinatown.   The conclusion is actually described on the back cover. 

Not as bad as Robert Mitchum’s Big Sleep, but pretty darned rubbish.


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 24, 2020)

belboid said:


> Poodle Springs
> 
> An early HBO TV movie based on the eighth Philip Marlowe novel - one that chandler had only written four chapters of.
> 
> ...


Seen this , its watchable but not good. I did like Mitchum's Farewell My Lovely though


----------



## The39thStep (Jul 24, 2020)

Started and couldnt stop watching the first series of  Its the End of the Fxxckxxg World , not brilliant but very different and enjoyable.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 24, 2020)

*Sweet Country (2017/8) *- a brutal revisionist Western (but aren't they all, these days?) with the twist of being set in traumatised post-WW1 Australia and mostly about critiquing racism, colonialism and male violence. A tale of inevitable, spiralling doom and revenge in a time and place where stealing and enslaving native people, especially children, was considered no big deal at all, especially if there was some menial work which needed doing. Beautifully shot and acted (decent chewy roles for old Antipodean stagers Sam Neill and Bryan Brown, but more importantly for a trio of Aboriginal actors I'd not seen before), script's a bit overbaked in places, slightly arty flash-forward-and-back structure but it stands up pretty well. Director Warwick Thornton did _Samson and Delilah (_one of my favourite heartbreak/feel-bad movies ever) so you know where it's all going. Really, really, really worth a watch, for the history and politics as much as for the wonderful visuals. Yes, everything in Australia probably is trying to kill you.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 25, 2020)

Warwick Thornton is a real talent, I just hope there's a shorter gap between his films.


----------



## Part 2 (Jul 25, 2020)

The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Not felt able to concentrate on a film for ages so this was very much welcome.

What a beautiful film. I've always convinced myself I don't much like Westerns but need to reconsider that.

Had Sweet Country waiting to watch for ages so I'll give it go.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 26, 2020)

Red Sparrow. Rather ludicrous spy thriller that traps the excellent Jennifer Lawrence in a male-gaze world of unerotic sex and unpleasant dynamics. Lovely apartments though.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 26, 2020)

May Kasahara said:


> Lovely apartments though.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jul 26, 2020)

Probably not one to watch if ever you've suffered an ankle injury and wish to avoid traumatic flashbacks though


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 26, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Not felt able to concentrate on a film for ages so this was very much welcome.
> 
> What a beautiful film. I've always convinced myself I don't much like Westerns but need to reconsider that.
> 
> Had Sweet Country waiting to watch for ages so I'll give it go.



If they haven't been recommended enough, Godless on Netflix is a brilliant one off series. And the late, great Sam Shepard (from the film you watched) is perfect for Blackthorn.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jul 26, 2020)

As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would of started this weekend, if the world hadn't gone to pot, then it's a good time to feel slightly better by watching the rather excellent documentary film about the 1964 Tokyo Games.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 26, 2020)

May Kasahara said:


> Red Sparrow. Rather ludicrous spy thriller that traps the excellent Jennifer Lawrence in a male-gaze world of unerotic sex and unpleasant dynamics. Lovely apartments though.


At the end I was thinking "yay, go Russia!", which I don't think was the original intention.


----------



## Reno (Jul 26, 2020)

_The Rental_, which "does for Airbnb what Jaws did for sharks". Tense, entertaining horror film/thriller though I'd wished it had gone a different route in the end rather than becoming 



Spoiler



Halloween on Vacation.


----------



## danski (Jul 26, 2020)

Bubba Ho-Tep.


----------



## Supine (Jul 26, 2020)

Watched Vast Of Night last night based on some recommendations on urban. Hated it


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 26, 2020)

The Invincibles - (Directors cut) German police action genre piece that has an underlying political thread. A strange interesting film, the opening is truly superb with one of the most shocking scenes I've seen for some time. The rest of the film doesn't manage to live up to that opening (though that would be asking at lot) but there are some truly excellent scenes mixed with(in) genre cliches. The plot is preposterous, but knowingly so, and somehow the film manages to get you to go along with it, in contrast the actors and scenes look dirtily realistic. The director is Dominik Graf, who I've not heard of but who's work I'd be interested in seeing more of - if anyone (Reno) has suggestions of his work that would be great. Apparently the film has never been released on DVD with English subtitles so I recommend that those orbs with MUBI subscriptions take the opportunity to watch it.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 27, 2020)

May Kasahara said:


> Red Sparrow. Rather ludicrous spy thriller that traps the excellent Jennifer Lawrence in a male-gaze world of unerotic sex and unpleasant dynamics. Lovely apartments though.



Her accent was "interesting"


----------



## platinumsage (Jul 27, 2020)

Palm Spring - worst movie I've seen for about twenty years.


----------



## Reno (Jul 27, 2020)

_Impetigore_, Indonesian horror film which dives deep into local folklore. Enjoyed this a lot, it's very stylishly shot, well acted and at times quite creepy but what I liked the most is the way it introduces you to its local culture and mythologies. Well worth checking out if you are into horror and especially international horror, even if the plot gets a little convoluted by the end.


----------



## T & P (Jul 27, 2020)

Daniel isn’t Real. A psychological sci-Fi/ horror film. Not really horror in the scary sense but that was not the intention of the story anyway. Not great but not terrible either, certainly watchable so long as you don’t pay for it.

The young actors playing the two main male leads were rather good I thought. One of them is Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of Arnold. I didn’t even know any of Arnie’s kids were actors- not that I’d given any thoughts to their very existence though.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 28, 2020)

*Fortress (2017)* - plodding Korean historical epic about how the stifling protocol, infighting bureaucrats and dithering monarch of the Joseon dynasty managed to fail to fight off the Qing (Manchu) invading hordes. The battle scenes don't rise to the majesty of anything Kurosawa (or even Miike) - and most of the film is made up of cold, grumpy, hungry people debating their bad options despairingly - but it's still quite interesting for how downbeat the message is. Sometimes you just have to accept defeat and/or humiliation; rigid hierarchies stifle and victimise everyone, even those very near the top; only the stoicism and kindness of despised common people is worth a damn in the end. Very different to the general fight-to-the-last-man tub-thumping patriotism of most contemporary Korean films - final message is more like 'sometimes it really is better to accept disgrace and live to fight another day'. Bit of a boys' military/strategic fest (almost no women have speaking roles, apart from the nearly-obligatory cute orphan kid there to jerk your tears) but worth it if you're interested in this part of the world or this era. Or like castle sieges.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 28, 2020)

Finished Series 1 of The Wire, yo

It's my third or fourth watch.  I'd forgotten so much of the detail.  It's still brilliant.


----------



## rubbershoes (Jul 28, 2020)

dp


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## Reno (Jul 31, 2020)

*Becky*, extremely violent home invasion thriller, which plays like the gore drenched version of _Home Alone_. Probably in questionable taste, the way it puts young children in very violent situations but it caught me in the right mood after dealing with some annoying people at work.

It's about a sullen teenage girl who finds herself in a John McClane situation when her family home  gets taken over by Neo-Nazi convicts, who've escaped prison. I've read complains that the heroine isn't very sympathetic but I think the point is that Becky is a baby sociopath, which is what makes her so ruthless. I liked that she's not played by some ”teenager“ who looks like they are in their 20s, she really is a little girl dispatching villains in gruesome ways.

The film skirts around the Neo-Nazi issue to a degree where it wouldn’t have made any difference had they been regular thugs, so that didn’t quite work for me, but otherwise it was good, unclean fun.


----------



## alsoknownas (Jul 31, 2020)

*Ronja Rövardotter *(Ronia, the Robber's Daughter), 1984 Swedish children's film / TV series.  Not the more recent Studio Ghibli adaptation.

A delightful fantasy tale of a girl who forms a sibling-like bond with a boy from the rival robber gang, set amongst the spectacular rolling forests of an imaginary Scandinavian kingdom.

This was a nostalgia-fest suggestion from the gf person, who had seen it as a child.  It's a wee bit hammy, and the effects are tacky, but you'd have to be pretty hard of heart not to get swept along with the rollicking production.  They've thrown in - extraordinary Nordic harmonic singing, sweeping vistas, forest trolls, and vile flying harpies - _"Now the blood will flow..!"._

In uniquely eighties Swedish style this is a children's film (it was also formatted for episodic TV) that contains a liberal amount of nudity - something to be aware of if you're planning a family viewing!

I'd be interested to see the Ghibli for comparison.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 1, 2020)

Just watched Poltergeist with the boy   I've always enjoyed it very much, but now, watching from the perspective of a married middle aged mum, there is so much more brilliant detail to appreciate: the relationship between the parents, their thin veneer of middle class respectability (like how they were obviously teenage parents the first time round), the way that their haphazard, just-good-enough day to day parenting coexists with absolute, bone-deep love for their children. And it's so funny - I always liked the broad humour but noticed loads of little touches this time round that really made me lol.

The boy also thought it was great, so win win all round


----------



## T & P (Aug 1, 2020)

May Kasahara said:


> Just watched Poltergeist with the boy   I've always enjoyed it very much, but now, watching from the perspective of a married middle aged mum, there is so much more brilliant detail to appreciate: the relationship between the parents, their thin veneer of middle class respectability (like how they were obviously teenage parents the first time round), the way that their haphazard, just-good-enough day to day parenting coexists with absolute, bone-deep love for their children. And it's so funny - I always liked the broad humour but noticed loads of little touches this time round that really made me lol.
> 
> The boy also thought it was great, so win win all round


How old is your boy? Balls of steel 

Having said that I’ve long pondered if audiences of all ages are much more difficult to scare or shock nowadays than in yesteryear  after decades of exposure to horror films and shocking scenes.

When you read about multiple instances of people leaving the cinema mid-film in a terrified state or even fainting when watching The Exorcist, or see footage of test audiences utterly shocked at the chestbuster scene in Alien, it’s hard to imagine any film today would ever have the same effect.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 1, 2020)

Poltergeist was a PG/A when it came out. It’s scary as fuck but not that gory. Kids love being scared/shocked just like adults.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 1, 2020)

Ha, he's nearly 12  Tbh I've never considered Poltergeist that scary - it's got that Spielberg stamp of wonder all over it that stops it being a grim watch of any kind.

He's fine with monsters and cartoony violence, but struggles with anything emotionally resonant in terms of horror or despair. So Poltergeist is fine but Jaws was a no - too real once the kid got killed.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 1, 2020)

Jaws is a PG as well. Still shits me up to this day.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 1, 2020)

And The Temple Of Doom has a scene in which an adolescent has his heart ripped out. Remember being shocked and horrified by that (in a good way though, not traumatised)


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## Reno (Aug 1, 2020)

Poltergeist is fine for early teens, it's all fantasy horror. It's also the only horror film I can think of where nobody dies. Of course it all depends on the kids. I took my then 11 year old niece to the Pixar A Bug's Life and she was shitting herself at that. Possibly the least scary film imaginable.


----------



## Reno (Aug 1, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> And The Temple Of Doom has a scene in which an adolescent has his heart ripped out. Remember being shocked and horrified by that (in a good way though, not traumatised)


The PG-13 rating was brought in because of that scene.


----------



## T & P (Aug 2, 2020)

Shimmer Lake. Currently on Netflix. A crime mystery told backwards. Far better than I thought it was going to be, but one of those clever films that requires your full attention so not one to watch late at night whilst tipsy. Will watch again tonight to get the bits I clearly missed last night.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> And The Temple Of Doom has a scene in which an adolescent has his heart ripped out. Remember being shocked and horrified by that (in a good way though, not traumatised)



Yeah, it's a relatively gory film compared to the next two. The heart ripping scene always seemed to get cut from telly showings, as did the stoned scene from Poltergeist.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Yeah, it's a relatively gory film compared to the next two. The heart ripping scene always seemed to get cut from telly showings, as did the stoned scene from Poltergeist.


the most horrifying bit of Poltergeist for me is the bit when Craig T Nelson is in the swimming pool with all the corpses


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> the most horrifying bit of Poltergeist for me is the bit when Craig T Nelson is in the swimming pool with all the corpses



Jobeth Williams, iirc, but yeah. Also, the kid and his scary toys and the tree outside his window.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 3, 2020)

Indeliblelink said:


> As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would of started this weekend, if the world hadn't gone to pot, then it's a good time to feel slightly better by watching the rather excellent documentary film about the 1964 Tokyo Games.



I had tickets. Bah.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2020)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I had tickets. Bah.



To 1964?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 3, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> To 1964?


Budum, fish.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2020)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Budum, fish.



Tbh, I had tickets, too. So, disappointing but sensible.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 3, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Tbh, I had tickets, too. So, disappointing but sensible.


I was intending to spend pretty much the whole summer holiday.
I'd also won a free internal jal flight for the family to a spar onsen thing in the country. This was also the year that my Japanese sister in law had saved up for a once in a lifetime flight to the UK. . Getting work to agree time off had also been almost impossible. The only positive is that, it will be unbearably hot in Tokyo at the moment. I also hate flying and travel in general.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2020)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I was intending to spend pretty much the whole summer holiday.
> I'd also won a free internal jal flight for the family to a spar onsen thing in the country. This was also the year that my Japanese sister in law had saved up for a once in a lifetime flight to the UK. . Getting work to agree time off had also been almost impossible. The only positive is that, it will be unbearably hot in Tokyo at the moment. I also hate flying and travel in general.



That's a shame. Tbf, I wouldn't fancy Tokyo in this weather. Had been wondering how the venue's wouldn't cope... Haven't been there since February. Not big fan of flying, either but getting out to the country is a joy.

Maybe next year, if the games go ahead?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 3, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> That's a shame. Tbf, I wouldn't fancy Tokyo in this weather. Had been wondering how the venue's wouldn't cope... Haven't been there since February. Not big fan of flying, either but getting out to the country is a joy.
> 
> Maybe next year, if the games go ahead?


Yes, I think my wife has already been given the chance to keep the tickets and use them again next year, but it just means syncing all that up with her work and new flights. everything is so uncertain now. I had been getting a lot of work and was booked up for the rest of the year bar summer (which I set aside for holidays). Now I have no work and probably none for a long time. I also have neutropenia, which means an extremely low immune system so I should not really be going out until this all ends / or there is a vaccine,  so might have to take whatever I can get next year, even if it hits in the summer. . . or we might not even be back to normal by next summer. Bummer.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2020)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Yes, I think my wife has already been given the chance to keep the tickets and use them again next year, but it just means syncing all that up with her work and new flights. everything is so uncertain now. I had been getting a lot of work and was booked up for the rest of the year bar summer (which I set aside for holidays). Now I have no work and probably none for a long time. I also have neutropenia, which means an extremely low immune system so I should not really be going out until this all ends / or there is a vaccine,  so might have to take whatever I can get next year, even if it hits in the summer. . . or we might not even be back to normal by next summer. Bummer.



Damn. Best stay safe and hope this bloody thing burns itself out.


----------



## Reno (Aug 3, 2020)

_Marathon Man_, which I’d last watched on tv in the 80s. It’s ok, but no classic. A lot of audience hand holding so they really get certain plot points and a rather overwrought performance by Dustin Hoffmann, who can’t do much with a character who is a cypher.

_Sorcerer_ by William Friedkin which I've never watched and which was largely considered to be a dud at the time but which has since gone through a re-evaluation of sorts. It's a dud and it only convinced me further that Friedkin had one great film in him, The French Connection and that was that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2020)

It also probably didn’t help that Sorcerer came out in 1977, when this other film that no one remembers was doing quite well


----------



## Reno (Aug 4, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> It also probably didn’t help that Sorcerer came out in 1977, when this other film that no one remembers was doing quite well


I always read that Star Wars was blamed for why Sorcerer failed but A Bridge Too Far (also all-manly action) got released around the same time as Sorcerer, the month after Star Wars and that made money. I was hoping to discover that underrated masterpiece some claim Sorcerer to be, I just found it incredibly dull, so there may be more to audiences staying away. 

The title has also been blamed as audiences expected a fantasy element. The Wages of Fear definitely was a better title the first time round.


----------



## Sue (Aug 4, 2020)

Reno said:


> I always read that Star Wars was blamed for why Sorcerer failed but A Bridge Too Far (also all-manly action) got released around the same time as Sorcerer, the month after Star Wars and that made money. I was hoping to discover that underrated masterpiece some claim Sorcerer to be, I just found it incredibly dull, so there may be more to audiences staying away.
> 
> The title has also been blamed as audiences expected a fantasy element. The Wages of Fear definitely was a better title the first time round.


They were showing the TWOF and Sorcerer as a double bill at the Prince Charles a while back. I've never seen Sorcerer but reckoned it probably would be better if I didn't see it right after TWOF.


----------



## Reno (Aug 4, 2020)

Sue said:


> They were showing the TWOF and Sorcerer as a double bill at the Prince Charles a while back. I've never seen Sorcerer but reckoned it probably would be better if I didn't see it right after TWOF.


I haven't seen The Wages of Fear in a long time, would quite like to check it out again now.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 4, 2020)

*Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) *- finally caught up with it - and kind of wish I hadn't. Directed by the same guy who did _Bone Tomahawk, _and given the title you know it was always going to be grisly and bloody and violent. Nothing against that - but I feel kind of soiled having watched it because it goes well beyond 'ruthlessly crunchy pulp fiction' to 'quite sick depiction of living human heads being ruthlessly crunched to pulp a lot'. Positively slavering over all the ubermensch violence, larded with racism and an anti-choice agenda (evil foreign abortionists want to mutilate our jailed hero's unborn son in utero as part of a blackmail plot! and one of them is of course Chinese!) and general extreme rightwingery. Part of the 'climax' is straight NRA masturbation fodder as the kidnapped and traumatised wife decides to get in on the homicidal action too.Just ugh. Seems to me a near-Nazi vision of the universe. Vince Vaughan got mad critical plaudits for doing this one and there are some half-decent deadpan jokes (about VV's height, among other things) but to me he just looked like Vincent d'Onofrio at his fattest and most lumpen. I can see why the deranged energy and spare style might have thrilled some, but honestly can't understand why this got love. One for grind house aficionados who won't take it too seriously.


----------



## platinumsage (Aug 4, 2020)

The Godfather part I. It's alright, doesn't deserve its 9.2 IMDB rating though and the ending was a bit meh.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 4, 2020)

Out of Sight. Underrated late 90s crime / heist film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 4, 2020)

trabuquera said:


> *Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) *- finally caught up with it - and kind of wish I hadn't. Directed by the same guy who did _Bone Tomahawk, _and given the title you know it was always going to be grisly and bloody and violent. Nothing against that - but I feel kind of soiled having watched it because it goes well beyond 'ruthlessly crunchy pulp fiction' to 'quite sick depiction of living human heads being ruthlessly crunched to pulp a lot'. Positively slavering over all the ubermensch violence, larded with racism and an anti-choice agenda (evil foreign abortionists want to mutilate our jailed hero's unborn son in utero as part of a blackmail plot! and one of them is of course Chinese!) and general extreme rightwingery. Part of the 'climax' is straight NRA masturbation fodder as the kidnapped and traumatised wife decides to get in on the homicidal action too.Just ugh. Seems to me a near-Nazi vision of the universe. Vince Vaughan got mad critical plaudits for doing this one and there are some half-decent deadpan jokes (about VV's height, among other things) but to me he just looked like Vincent d'Onofrio at his fattest and most lumpen. I can see why the deranged energy and spare style might have thrilled some, but honestly can't understand why this got love. One for grind house aficionados who won't take it too seriously.


Something tells me you are not going to be in the target audience for _Dragged Across Concrete_ then


----------



## freakydave (Aug 5, 2020)

I just watched Copland. Really enjoyed it, although I did smoke 5 cigarettes in 2 hours because everyone is just constantly smoking 

I have affection for it because it is very 90s and reminds me of being a teenager and 'the past is another country' etc but it's also a pretty decent film. It's very lovable with Keitel, De Niro, Stallone, Liotta all putting in a good shift. Those guys have all become kind of ironic and if they do gangster stuff there is always a bit of a wink to the old days, in this they are all putting in the work. I remember that it was a big deal for Stallone because he had been making shit films based on his muscles and this was his first 'proper' film for years, and it's one of the best Ray Liotta performances that I can think of. Good stuff


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 5, 2020)

Reno said:


> I haven't seen The Wages of Fear in a long time, would quite like to check it out again now.



My mom made me watch it as a kid. Glad she did, though. Watched Sorcerer last year, with no idea what it was about... until the penny dropped.

Quite enjoyed it but would love to see TWoF again.


----------



## platinumsage (Aug 5, 2020)

The Godfather part II. It got dull towards the end, trying to be all Citizen Kane. 7/10


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 6, 2020)

70s crime films for me this week, some mentioned quite a few pages back, Charley Varrick, The Outfit, The Friends of Eddy Coyle, Dirty Harry, Great stuff.

Also watched Dragon Inn on Mubi. Classic Taiwanese 'martial arts' film, when it was all swordfighting before kung fu took over. It's beautiful to look at and obvs has some great fight scenes. Reminded me of The Hateful Eight at times.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 6, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> 70s crime films for me this week, some mentioned quite a few pages back, Charley Varrick, The Outfit, The Friends of Eddy Coyle, Dirty Harry, Great stuff.
> 
> Also watched Dragon Inn on Mubi. Classic Taiwanese 'martial arts' film, when it was all swordfighting before kung fu took over. It's beautiful to look at and obvs has some great fight scenes. Reminded me of The Hateful Eight at times.


The Friends of Eddy Coyle is great


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 6, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> The Friends of Eddy Coyle is great



Yea, it is. I was prompted to watch it after finding the book among my son's stuff in the garage. Probably the best of those I've seen this week, may have to rewatch Bullit.


----------



## Reno (Aug 6, 2020)

Currently watching the HBO true crime series_ I'll Be Gone in the Dark._ Stayed away from true crime documentary series lately because recently there were so many, some of them stretched to interminable length. This is very good, focusing on the Golden State Killer who long remained an unsolved case and who was not well known despite having killed many more people than Son of Sam or the Zodiac Killer. This is better than most, focusing very much on the investigator, a crime blogger whose book this is based on and the surviving victims. Easily as gripping as any crime series, with twists and turns along the way.


----------



## Sue (Aug 6, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Also watched Dragon Inn on Mubi. Classic Taiwanese 'martial arts' film, when it was all swordfighting before kung fu took over. It's beautiful to look at and obvs has some great fight scenes. *Reminded me of The Hateful Eight at times*.



Talk about damning with faint praise...


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 6, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> The Friends of Eddy Coyle is great


It is.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 6, 2020)

_Gumnaam - _version of Christie's _Then There Were None_ complete with musical interludes. Easily the weakest of MUBI Indian cinema season so far. There are bits that have the sort of energy that allow you to forgot the nonsense that is the plot and acting but it is far, far too long (140 mins). Some of the musical numbers are fun but this type of film needs to be rapid and short and this drags far too much.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 6, 2020)

Reno said:


> Currently watching the HBO true crime series_ I'll Be Gone in the Dark._ Stayed away from true crime documentary series lately because recently there were so many, some of them stretched to interminable length. This is very good, focusing on the Golden State Killer who long remained an unsolved case and who was not well known despite having killed many more people than Son of Sam or the Zodiac Killer. This is better than most, focusing very much on the investigator, a crime blogger whose book this is based on and the surviving victims. Easily as gripping as any crime series, with twists and turns along the way.




Started this tonight. 

Must. Not. Google.


----------



## Reno (Aug 6, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Started this tonight.
> 
> Must. Not. Google.


Don't ! 

I knew what happens having followed the story before and it didn't make it less gripping, but if you don't know, then this has a few major plot turns up its sleeve.

I just watched the last two episodes and thought this was fantastic. It covers a whole lot more than the cold case of a serial killer. There is a reason why the writer of the book this is based on herself is an important character in this. It also deals with popularity of true crime genre itself and especially why it is so popular with women (the entire series was written and directed by women). Most of all, rather than being about the murderer/rapist, it's very much about the women who survived and I thought they were incredible. They are given a voice and the women interviewed for the series are tremendously articulate and perceptive.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 7, 2020)

Reno said:


> Don't !
> 
> I knew what happens having followed the story before and it didn't make it less gripping, but if you don't know, then this has a few major plot turns up its sleeve.
> 
> I just watched the last two episodes and thought this was fantastic. It covers a whole lot more than the cold case of a serial killer. There is a reason why the writer of the book this is based on herself is an important character in this. It also deals with popularity of true crime genre itself and especially why it is so popular with women (the entire series was written and directed by women). Most of all, rather than being about the murderer/rapist, it's very much about the women who survived and I thought they were incredible. They are given a voice and the women interviewed for the series are tremendously articulate and perceptive.



Yea there were points in it where it reminded me of the Ripper series that focussed on the victims and the attitudes of the time.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 8, 2020)

Narcos Mexico, the first season. Or fourth of the Narcos world.

Anyway, absolutely gripping and it helped that am not up on the history of the drug trade in Mexico.


----------



## Reno (Aug 8, 2020)

_Host_, the first horror film of the Covid-19 era (Corona Zombies doesn't count, as it's mostly a repurposed zombie movie from the 80s) shot under social distancing conditions. It's one of those films which take place entirely on a computer screen and it's about a seance via Zoom, due to the lockdown. It's all supposed to be a laugh but of course it all ends in tears and mayhem. Under an hour long, this works quite well and is one of the better "on-screen" movies.


----------



## Johnny Doe (Aug 8, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> Finished Series 1 of The Wire, yo
> 
> It's my third or fourth watch.  I'd forgotten so much of the detail.  It's still brilliant.



Yeah, I've just watched this again over a few nights. All in the game, yo


----------



## T & P (Aug 8, 2020)

The Devil’s Candy. Billed as a supernatural horror film. One of those films that has rave reviews from the critics but no more than okay-ish ratings from audiences. Must say I have to side with the latter, though definitely still a 6.5 / 10 for me and worth watching.

It’s a decent tense film though the sub-genre it was meant to be really wasn’t much, and the film is more of a house invasion thriller than anything else. The very ending scene left me confused and I had to check online for its meaning. It wasn’t was I thought it was meant to be, which makes the film far less dark though also far less surprising.


----------



## Reno (Aug 9, 2020)

I started to watch the TV series adaptation of Huxley's Brave New World. It got mixed reviews and two episodes in, it feels too lightweight to really grab me but it's watchable enough. I read criticisms that it barely follows the novel but so far it follows the plot, with all the main characters present but a lot more action added. Some of the changes are necessary,  like changing the Native American reservation to a tacky 20th century theme park and making the female characters more interesting. Visually I quite like it, it reminds me of Logan's Run. That film was more influenced by Brave New World than the novel it was based on.

I'll give it another couple of episodes before I'll decide whether to stick with it.


----------



## Chz (Aug 11, 2020)

Been watching the Harley Quinn animated series. Much better than the film that came out a year or two back. Batman is very much his Lego persona in it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 11, 2020)

Chz said:


> Been watching the Harley Quinn animated series. Much better than the film that came out a year or two back. Batman is very much his Lego persona in it.


Had a lot of time for this, Jim Gordon is V.funny, comedy bane as well.

I'm re-watching all of SG1 for the first time in years eh, when its good its good.


----------



## Knotted (Aug 11, 2020)

Blakkklansman. Turned out to be a disappointing centrist dad potboiler where the main gag was that a black guy can sound "white" on the phone. They had some powerful and well edited footage of the Chartlottesville counter protests tagged on at the end as if Spike Lee was saying, "I would have made a documentary on that instead if only there were cash in it." Can't believe the same guy made American History X.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 11, 2020)

Knotted said:


> Blakkklansman. Turned out to be a disappointing centrist dad potboiler where the main gag was that a black guy can sound "white" on the phone. They had some powerful and well edited footage of the Chartlottesville counter protests tagged on at the end as if Spike Lee was saying, "I would have made a documentary on that instead if only there were cash in it." *Can't believe the same guy made American History X.*


He didn't


----------



## belboid (Aug 11, 2020)

Knotted said:


> Can't believe the same guy made American History X.


He didn’t


----------



## Knotted (Aug 11, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> He didn't



Oops my bad. OK not so fussed now. It's the disappointment that hurts.


----------



## Supine (Aug 11, 2020)

Knotted said:


> Blakkklansman. Turned out to be a disappointing centrist dad potboiler where the main gag was that a black guy can sound "white" on the phone. They had some powerful and well edited footage of the Chartlottesville counter protests tagged on at the end as if Spike Lee was saying, "I would have made a documentary on that instead if only there were cash in it." Can't believe the same guy made American History X.



Main gag? It's based on a true story


----------



## Sue (Aug 11, 2020)

Knotted said:


> Blakkklansman. Turned out to be a disappointing centrist dad potboiler where the main gag was that a black guy can sound "white" on the phone. They had some powerful and well edited footage of the Chartlottesville counter protests tagged on at the end as if Spike Lee was saying, "I would have made a documentary on that instead if only there were cash in it." *Can't believe the same guy made American History X.*


He didn't. Malcolm X?


----------



## Marty1 (Aug 11, 2020)

The Invisible Man (2020).

Absolutely superb 8/10.


----------



## platinumsage (Aug 12, 2020)

Lincoln Lawyer - i had passed up the chance to watch this before, having thought I had already seen it, but that was Lincoln, which is a different film. 

It may have been the weather but my brain seemed unable to follow all the plot details. The scenario seemed a bit contrived, and as I couldn’t really understand the baddy’s motivation, it wasn’t particularly gripping.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 12, 2020)

The Peanut Butter Falcon. Absolutely gorgeous, visually and emotionally, funny and refreshing - the perfect film to watch on a hot sticky day. Really recommend.


----------



## Reno (Aug 13, 2020)

With _Sputnik_ Russia finally got round to make an Alien-rip off. It's better than expected but then most of Russian commercial films are not that great so my expectations were low.  A perfectly fine way to waste a couple of hours if you like monster movies, but also not that memorable.


----------



## platinumsage (Aug 14, 2020)

Venom. Did about 20 minutes before realising it was one of those kind of movies which I don’t really like. 

A brief moment of humour when Tom Hardy playing a US TV reporter uses the Chinese QQ messaging app on his phone, like it was totally normal thing. Worst product placement ever thanks to the funding from Tencent.


----------



## Humberto (Aug 14, 2020)

I watched Stand By Me the other night for the first time in ages. It's a really good film no doubt, but that has to have the worst product placement I've seen that I can recall/didn't just sink into my mind unnoticed. It was for cigarettes.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 15, 2020)

sleaterkinney said:


> Bone Tomahawk. Really good western. A bit gory.


A. bit.


----------



## magneze (Aug 15, 2020)

Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace
How is it, years down the line from the initial outcry? It's an entertaining film but it's difficult to get past the awful acting and bad CGI. Every scene where CGI and real things are together looks shit.


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2020)

magneze said:


> Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace
> How is it, years down the line from the initial outcry? It's an entertaining film but it's difficult to get past the awful acting and bad CGI. Every scene where CGI and real things are together looks shit.


When it first came out, Star Wars fans appeared so intent on loving it that initially it was fairly well received. Not being much of a Star Wars fan, I couldn't believe how shit it was when I went to see it. Eventually the world caught up with me, admitting that it's an awful film, but I don't remember an initial outcry. I think the opinion didn't turn against it till Attack of the Clones when it became clear that Lucas had lost it and The Phantom Menace wasn't a fluke.


----------



## Maltin (Aug 15, 2020)

Reno said:


> When it first came out Star Wars fans appeared so intent on loving it that initially it was fairly well received. Not being much of a Star Wars fan, I couldn't believe how shit it was when I went to see it. Eventually the world caught up with admitting that it's an awful film, but I don't remember an initial outcry. I think the opinion fully didn't turn against it till Attack of the Clones when it became clear that Lucas had lost it and The Phantom Menace wasn't a fluke.


I think Jar Jar Binks was considered an embarrassment from the start.


----------



## magneze (Aug 15, 2020)

Reno said:


> When it first came out Star Wars fans appeared so intent on loving it that initially it was well received. Not being mich of a Star Wars fan, I couldn't believe how shit it was when I went to see it. Eventually the world caught up in admitting that it's an awful film, but I don't remember an initial outcry


I seem to remember thinking it was bad at the time. Today I see that the story is ok, but the film is simply poorly made. Its so bad that you never really believe in it. The puppets are fine. Yoda doesn't seem out of place like the CGI characters and mostly acts better too. 😂


----------



## magneze (Aug 15, 2020)

Maltin said:


> I think Jar Jar Binks was considered an embarrassment from the start.


Agreed. Again, the story of Jar Jar is fine but the realisation of the character is again just.. shit.


----------



## Maltin (Aug 15, 2020)

magneze said:


> Agreed. Again, the story of Jar Jar is fine but the realisation of the character is again just.. shit.


With the film being released in the early days of the Internet and before having my own computer connected to the internet, I did have quite a few reviews printed. Reading Roger Ebert’s review, he does note that many of the early reviews were blasé although went on to give the film 3.5 stars out of 4. Variety’s review by Todd McCarthy, which was probably one of the early ones Ebert referred to, said it can scarcely help being a letdown but it’s bad that it disappoints in so many.


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2020)

Star Wars has always been critic proof. The Empire Strikes Back initially got middling reviews, it was considered a cynical cash in at a time when sequels were always seen as inferior films (The Godfather II being the one exception) and it took a while to gain its reputation as the best Star Wars movie. I still have a scathing review in Cinefantastique, then the most influential genre-movie magazine. The Phantom Menace also got middling reviews, but initially the fans embraced it. It took a while for people to admit that it was a stinker, though even now there are rabid Star Wars prequel trilogy fans. 

Anyways, not my battle, I'm the non-Star Wars fan who thinks The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars film ever made, a film which was loved by film critics, but hated by fans.


----------



## magneze (Aug 15, 2020)

Episode 2 next week 😃


----------



## Maltin (Aug 15, 2020)

Reno said:


> Star Wars has always been critic proof. The Empire Strikes Back initially got middling reviews, it was considered a cynical cash in at a time when sequels were always seen as inferior films (The Godfather II being the one exception) and it took a while to gain its reputation as the best Star Wars movie. I still have a scathing review in Cinefantastique, then the most influential genre-movie magazine. The Phantom Menace also got middling reviews, but initially the fans embraced it. It took a while for people to admit that it was a stinker, though even now there are rabid Star Wars prequel trilogy fans.
> 
> Anyways, not my battle, I'm the non-Star Wars fan who thinks The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars film ever made, a film which was loved by film critics, but hated by fans.


Variety, which would have been one of the first reviews of Empire, said "The Empire Strikes Back is a worthy sequel to Star Wars, equal in both technical mastery and characterization, suffering only from the familiarity with the effects generated in the original and imitated too much by others. Only boxoffice question is how many earthly trucks it will take to carry the cash to the bank."









						Film Review: ‘The Empire Strikes Back’
					

“The Empire Strikes Back” is a worthy sequel to Star Wars, equal in both technical mastery and characterization, suffering only from the familiarity with the effects generated in the or…




					variety.com
				




Vincent Canby at The New York Times was less kind but it's not probably the type of movie that The New York Times would be raving about.





__





						'The Empire Strikes Back' Strikes a Bland Note
					





					archive.nytimes.com
				




Based on a summary of major reviews per Wikipedia, I would say it got mixed reviews rather than middling, on release.









						The Empire Strikes Back - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2020)

I know where to find the Wikipedia page for The Empire Strikes Back is, but thanks  

I remember many reviews at the time as simply unimpressed. A nice exception was Pauline Kael, who didn't care for Star Wars but who had genuine praise for Empire.


----------



## Maltin (Aug 15, 2020)

Maltin said:


> With the film being released in the early days of the Internet and before having my own computer connected to the internet, I did have quite a few reviews printed. Reading Roger Ebert’s review, he does note that many of the early reviews were blasé although went on to give the film 3.5 stars out of 4. Variety’s review by Todd McCarthy, which was probably one of the early ones Ebert referred to, said it can scarcely help being a letdown but it’s bad that it disappoints in so many.


Re-reading the Ebert review reminds me of why I so enjoyed his reviews. Even though I thought The Phantom Menace was not very good, his love of movies in general shines through and makes me want to watch it again to try to experience the wonder that he experienced. I'm not too impressed with his dismissal of Star Trek though 




			
				Ebert said:
			
		

> I am reminded of the Isaac Asimov story "Nightfall," about the planet where the stars were visible only once in a thousand years. So awesome was the sight that it drove men mad. We who can see the stars every night glance up casually at the cosmos and then quickly down again, searching for a Dairy Queen.
> ...
> an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking. If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that's inevitable: This is the first story in the chronology and has to set up characters...I will say that the stories of the "Star Wars" movies have always been space operas, and that the importance of the movies comes from their energy, their sense of fun, their colorful inventions and their state-of-the-art special effects. I do not attend with the hope of gaining insights into human behavior... Set against awesome backdrops, the characters in "The Phantom Menace" inhabit a plot that is little more complex than the stories I grew up on in science-fiction magazines. The whole series sometimes feel like a cover from Thrilling Wonder Stories, come to life. The dialogue is pretty flat and straightforward, although seasoned with a little quasi-classical formality, as if the characters had read but not retained "Julius Caesar." I wish the "Star Wars" characters spoke with more elegance and wit (as Gore Vidal's Greeks and Romans do), but dialogue isn't the point, anyway: These movies are about new things to look at...But mostly I was happy to drink in the sights on the screen, in the same spirit that I might enjoy "Metropolis," "Forbidden Planet," "2001" "Dark City" or "The Matrix." The difference is that Lucas' visuals are more fanciful and his film's energy level is more cheerful; he doesn't share the prevailing view that the future is a dark and lonely place.
> ...
> As for the bad rap about the characters--hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called "Star Trek" movies. Give me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day.







__





						Star Wars -- Episode I: The Phantom Menace movie review (1999) | Roger Ebert
					

If it were the first "Star Wars" movie, "The Phantom Menace" would be hailed as a visionary breakthrough. But this is the fourth movie of the famous series, and we think we know the territory; many of the early reviews have been blase, paying lip service to the visuals and wondering why the...




					www.rogerebert.com


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 15, 2020)

*The Emperor of Paris *(2018) via Amazon. Grimy period-crime epic from France with Vincent Cassel giving the usual Gallic macho sneer in the lead role as a criminal-turned-snitch-turned-proto-detective-mastermind in chaotic Napoleonic times (the 1810s I think). Most just a lot of sweaty chaps in pantaloons and top hats shouting at each other then attacking each other with daggers, swords, rubbish antique firearms, candlesticks, etc, but done with a decent budget and sort-of-informative about this very confusing period in French history. I thought a lot of it was going over my head - even with subtitles - but it turns out it's based on the life of a bloke who's clearly a legend in France but I'd never heard of: Eugène François Vidocq - Wikipedia - the real-life model for both Jean Valjean AND Insp Javert in _Les Miserables_ , as Vidocq was a friend of Victor Hugo. It's quite a yarn but the film is dramatically flat and confusing. Good if you want to brush up your idiomatic 19th-century French criminal slang though. Lots of familiar French actors crop up and Olga Kurylenko speaks great French and also looks brilliant in Empire-line fashion, one of vanishingly few women who can do that... some fun CGI renditions of the pre-Haussmann, leftover-medieval bits of Paris at that time as well. Pffft _Gallic shrug_


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2020)

Maltin said:


> Re-reading the Ebert review reminds me of why I so enjoyed his reviews. Even though I thought The Phantom Menace was not very good, his love of movies in general shines through and makes me want to watch it again to try to experience the wonder that he experienced. I'm not too impressed with his dismissal of Star Trek though
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I never cared that much for Ebert, as hinted in my last post, I am a massive fan of Pauline Kael. I have most books about and by her. I love her writing and her thinking about film, even though half of the time I disagreed with her. Even when she hated a film I loved, I respected her thinking behind a pan, she had a great bullshit detector. 

I never had that with Ebert, I thought he didn't always have great taste and compared to Kael, who was an influence on him, he was a bit of a lightweight. I loved the documentary on him though from a few years ago, he came across as a wonderful man. There also is one out on Kael, which still hasn't been made widely available yet.


----------



## Maltin (Aug 15, 2020)

Reno said:


> I never cared that much for Ebert, as hinted in my last post, I am a massive fan of Pauline Kael. I have most books about and by her. I love her writing and her thinking about film, even though half of the time I disagreed with her. Even when she hated a film I loved, I respected her thinking behind a pan, she had a great bullshit detector.
> 
> I never had that with Ebert, I thought he didn't always have great taste and compared to Kael, who was an influence on him, he was a bit of a lightweight. I loved the documentary on him though from a few years ago, he came across as a wonderful man. There also is one out on Kael, which still hasn't been made widely available yet.


I haven't read much of Kael. I do have 5001 Nights at the Movies but it's on a CD-ROM for Cinemania and it doesn't work with Windows 10  I just looked for that Kael documentary but does not seem to be listed on the streaming services I have.


----------



## Reno (Aug 15, 2020)

Maltin said:


> I haven't read much of Kael. I do have 5001 Nights at the Movies but it's on a CD-ROM for Cinemania and it doesn't work with Windows 10  I just looked for that Kael documentary but does not seem to be listed on the streaming services I have.


The Kael documentary has only played film festivals so far. 5001 Night at the Movies isn’t the best representation of her work as it’s her essays reduced to a few sentences.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 16, 2020)

_Love, Thy Name be Sorrow/The Mad Fox_ - Strange Japanese film that starts normally enough as a sort of melodrama only to develop into a sort of folktale, the director makes use of all sorts of styles/effects - colorised experiments, animation, inspiration from kabuki plays, collapsing sets, animal masks - it is probably a touch too long IMO, the first (relatively traditional) part could be cut a little, but it is definitely worth seeing as it really is something quite different. Michiko Saga is excellent as two twins sisters and the vixen.


----------



## Chz (Aug 16, 2020)

magneze said:


> Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace
> How is it, years down the line from the initial outcry? It's an entertaining film but it's difficult to get past the awful acting and bad CGI. Every scene where CGI and real things are together looks shit.


If you think the acting is awful in that, wait until you get to the next one and see Hayden Christensen's "acting".
Though I shouldn't be so hard on him. If the lines and direction are so bad that Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Sam Jackson _and_ Natalie Portman all look horrid, then what possible chance did he have?


----------



## T & P (Aug 17, 2020)

Oh where to start with A Phantom Menace (and its successors)? Apart from the disappointing CGI, the film fails to deliver at so many other levels. Whereas it gets points for trying an original story, the plot is, frankly,  really fucking boring, and the dialogue so bad even award-winning established actors deliver flat, wooden performances.

In my mind Lucas clearly felt the need to throw in as many characters from the original trilogy as he could. C-3PO and R2 should have never been written in, at least not in the way they were. The introduction of R2 and subsequent medal of honour for valour for doing his job was truly pisspoor and cringeworthy. Given that in the original trilogy he and Obi Wan didn’t seem to know each other, he should have simply not been in that film, at least not in contact with any of the characters from the original trilogy. And Anakin turning out to be C-3PO’s creator was desperate and random and fan service of the worst kind.

 And then most of the action bits in the film are taken by a pod race that takes a substantial amount of the film’s running time, and which was wholly pointless and unnecessary. A child could come up with a scheme for the Jedi knights to raise the  money required to repair their ship and free Anakin (and his mother, more on that later) without having to devote 20 minutes to them betting on a race.

And last but not least, never mind Jar Jar Binks. The biggest problem is young Anakin. I’m sure the actor was a lovely likeable kid but the character he portrayed as the future Darth Vader was an insufferable annoying brat and about as ill-fitting as a young Vader-to-be as anyone could have imagined. Not helped by some truly diabolical lines, such as ‘Now, this is pod racing!’ or, in the middle of a space battle flying a fighter all by himself like he’d been doing it for years, proclaiming ‘This is tense’.

It’s a fucking horror show and a massive letdown in the original trilogy. But incredibly, not as bad as episode Il.


----------



## T & P (Aug 17, 2020)

And to finish off, the issue of Anakin’s mother being left to rot for many years before her son decided in Ep II he should perhaps go and free her. That’s more a failing of the latter than of Phantom Menace, but it is just indescribably shit storytelling.


----------



## Chz (Aug 18, 2020)

Watched a Spanish film, _Everybody Knows_. It started off fairly well and keep me interested. Good acting, and the family felt quite real (a strong point of the writer). But the finale pushed my suspension of disbelief that little bit too far and I ended up feeling disappointed with it. Mostly because it was written and directed by Asghar Farhadi and I've come to expect a lot better from him.



Spoiler: Spoilers



The idea that someone can whip up €300k in cash from selling a bit of real estate and somehow keep the whole thing under the radar of the police is ludicrous.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 20, 2020)

_A Touch of Zen_ - an arthouse wuxia film, probably a little long at three hours but interesting as trying to do something a little different from usual in this genre, with the hero not as warrior but a scholar. The fight scenes don't have the type of special effects seen in modern works but nevertheless they are as exciting as anything. Definitely worth watching.

_The Iron Lady_ - on C4 so decided to watch this against my better judgement, a bad mistake. Just fucking dreadful, I'm not even talking about the politics, the film itself is just badly written and directed. Silly little scenes which do not really lead anywhere and IMO Streep's lauded performance is frankly just not very good, an impression rather than anything deeper. Avoid.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 20, 2020)

I rewatched Young Frankenstein. Absolutely perfect.
I found Marty Feldman absolutely hilarious. He had such a funny and likeable way about him.
Its a shame he didn't do more films but with those looks I can see how his parts would have to be niche


----------



## T & P (Aug 20, 2020)

D'wards said:


> I rewatched Young Frankenstein. Absolutely perfect.
> I found Marty Feldman absolutely hilarious. He had such a funny and likeable way about him.
> Its a shame he didn't do more films but with those looks I can see how his parts would have to be niche


By far my favourite Mel Brooks film. Great comedic performances all around and some genuinely funny gags/ jokes.

IIRC Feldman died quite young, no? He certainly was the crowning glory of this film.


----------



## lunar (Aug 21, 2020)

Marty Feldman wrote Quite a lot of comedy. Under-rated. 
Gene Wilder was also brilliant in the film. 
Mel Brooks once said he wrote scenes where Hitler would be ridiculed. That is apparent in Young Frankenstein.


----------



## lunar (Aug 21, 2020)

Just watched The Twilight Zone. Currently watching season 3.


----------



## freakydave (Aug 21, 2020)

Saw two good films this week already

The Handmaiden: Korean thriller. I don't watch a lot of Korean films but it is amazing how they come out with these really clever and dark things for fun. This one is apparently really highly rated, I thought it was quite silly, but I was enthralled.
Very exploitative, the idea of Japanese as a bunch of sick racists and also the incredibly porny elements, it just shouldn't work, but it did. 
It's about a con organised by Korean crooks on Japanese aristocrats in occupied Korea in the the 1930s, very convoluted and more twists that an alpine road.

The Hateful Eight: I did watch this twice drunk and high when it was new, but I watched it last night concentrating on it and got a lot more out of it. I think it's in his top 3.


----------



## ginger_syn (Aug 21, 2020)

Glass, it was good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 21, 2020)

magneze said:


> Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace
> How is it, years down the line from the initial outcry? It's an entertaining film but it's difficult to get past the awful acting and bad CGI. Every scene where CGI and real things are together looks shit.



Duel of the fates is pretty epic, though.


----------



## magneze (Aug 21, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Duel of the fates is pretty epic, though.


All the characters are non-CGI though?

It's when CGI & non-CGI characters are on screen, the perspective is just wrong.


----------



## Idris2002 (Aug 21, 2020)

The Looking Glass War

1970, from the Le Carre novel. Anthony Hopkins is the young MI6 agent training an even younger Christopher Jones for infiltration into the GDR. Everything goes horribly wrong. The themes are the late sixties generation gap, and the inability of the UK to get over the Second World War. The ancient and decrepit handlers of the section are hoping to refloat their careers by reenacting the glory days of that conflict: which means that Hopkins and his kid soon get a lesson in betrayal.

The GDR security costumes are outfitted in what appears to be 3rd Reich uniforms, while British officers kit do for what are presumably meant to be the Soviet liaison with the Ossi border control.

Cinematically, there are parts of it that are "Godard for normal people", but one scene blatantly rips off Ingmar Bergman (specifically I was thinking of Summer with Monika). The "cool jazz" soundtrack must have been dated at the time, and the VC-10 passenger jet is lovingly portrayed as an example of jet-set glamour.

I'd watch it again. Anyone know anymore like this (I've already scene the Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin, if that helps)?


----------



## killer b (Aug 22, 2020)

We watched this Polish thriller last night, Corpus Christi - about an ex-con who impersonates a priest to become the vicar of a small backwoods village. Really good stuff - kind of like a bleak Polish sister act. The star Bartosz Bielenia is incredible - really intense and beautiful, and totally believable.









						Review: 'Corpus Christi' is an Oscar-nominated knockout
					

Jan Komasa's drama, one of Poland's biggest international hits, lives up to its reputation, and more




					www.latimes.com


----------



## freakydave (Aug 22, 2020)

I was drunk but I watched 'Band a part' yesterday. So so so cool. Like modern cool is ok, but 60s French constantly smoking cigarettes and being alienated in the 60s cool is better. It's very poppy and fast moving for a 60s film, highly recommend


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 23, 2020)

_A High Wind in Jamaica_ - Adaptation of children's novel by Alexander Mackendrick. In late 18th Century a group of children on the way back to England from Jamaica get kidnapped by pirates. Not quite in the same class as _The Railway Children_ but not without its charms, Anthony Quinn and James Coburn are as watchable as usual. 

_Hot Millions_ - Peter Ustinov is a swindler who is trying to use a computer for a fiddle while also starting up a romance with Maggie Smith. Something of a period piece - strikes, early computers, fashions - and a little too long but passes the time.

_Les Assassins de L'order/The Lawbreakers_ - French _policier_ with a political bent. A judge has to investigate the case of a former criminal killed in custody. Nicely downbeat and cynical.


----------



## Sue (Aug 23, 2020)

I read A High Wind in Jamaica as a kid but I've never seen the film. Been meaning to hunt it out as I like Mackendrick's film and because (very randomly) Martin Amis is one of the kids.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2020)

I haven't seen A High Wind in Jamaica in a long time but remember it being closer to Lord of the Flies than to The Railway Children. As it happens, I ordered the blu-ray this weekend, so I will give it another watch soon.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 24, 2020)

Sue said:


> I read A High Wind in Jamaica as a kid but I've never seen the film. Been meaning to hunt it out as I like Mackendrick's film and because (very randomly) Martin Amis is one of the kids.


Yep the one that dies (add joke about why life could not imitate art).


Reno said:


> I haven't seen A High Wind in Jamaica in a long time but remember it being closer to Lord of the Flies than to The Railway Children. As it happens, I ordered the blu-ray this weekend, so I will give it another watch soon.


In terms of style it probably sits somewhere between the two, but I've never seen any film version of _Lord of Flies_ so don't know about the quality.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Yep the one that dies (add joke about why life could not imitate art).
> In terms of style it probably sits somewhere between the two, but I've never seen any film version of _Lord of Flies_ so don't know about the quality.


I've only seen the adaptation of _Lord of the Flies_ from the 60s by Peter Brook, which I remember being quite good.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2020)

I'm craving cinematic comfort food at the moment and watched Indiscreet, which I had not seen in many years. It has a nothing plot based on a wisp of a premise, yet hanging out with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman being utterly charming for a couple of hours, was tonic for the soul.


----------



## Sue (Aug 24, 2020)

Reno said:


> I'm craving cinematic comfort food at the moment and watched Indiscreet, which I had not seen in many years. It has a nothing plot based on a wisp of a premise, yet hanging out with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman being utterly charming for a couple of hours, was tonic for the soul.



I love that Ingrid Bergman is all  at his dancing shenanigans.


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2020)

Sue said:


> I love that Ingrid Bergman is all  at his dancing shenanigans.


She's found out that he's deceived her about something just before and is considering whether to dump him.

Watching this also reminded me that romantic comedies up to the 60s were a perfectly fine genre, while most romantic comedies from the 80s onwards make me run for the hills.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 24, 2020)

Reno said:


> Watching this also reminded me that romantic comedies up to the 60s were a perfectly fine genre, while most romantic comedies from the 80s onwards make me run for the hills.


Absolutely. There was a documentary on MUBI about romantic comedies that touched on this, though overall too much focus on the modern stuff and not enough on the classics. 

Never heard of _Indiscreet_ but I'm going to have to check it out. 


_Shoot Out_ - Pretty weak Henry Hathaway western with Gregory Peck as a former bank robber who ends up having to take care of (and incredibly annoying) child. Not one of Peck's or Hathaway's best.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 24, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> The Looking Glass War
> 
> 1970, from the Le Carre novel. Anthony Hopkins is the young MI6 agent training an even younger Christopher Jones for infiltration into the GDR. Everything goes horribly wrong. The themes are the late sixties generation gap, and the inability of the UK to get over the Second World War. The ancient and decrepit handlers of the section are hoping to refloat their careers by reenacting the glory days of that conflict: which means that Hopkins and his kid soon get a lesson in betrayal.


I think Le Carré sums it up best in his introduction to a later reprint of the book, which is not about MI6 (‘the Circus’), but about a smaller, rival, barely-still existing SOE-rooted intelligence-gathering organisation (‘the Department’) “that is really not very good at all; that is eking out its wartime glory; that is feeding itself on Little England fantasies; is isolated, directionless, overprotected and destined ultimately to destroy itself.”

He goes on:


----------



## Sue (Aug 24, 2020)

Reno said:


> She's found out that he's deceived her about something just before and is considering whether to dump him.
> 
> Watching this also reminded me that romantic comedies up to the 60s were a perfectly fine genre, while most romantic comedies from the 80s onwards make me run for the hills.


Hah.  Though presumably hasn't treated her as badly as in Notorious. (I haven't seen Indiscreet -- really should.)

See also screwball comedies which I love and modernish rom coms which I do not.


----------



## Sue (Aug 24, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> I think Le Carré sums it up best in his introduction to a later reprint of the book, which is not about MI6 (‘the Circus’), but about a smaller, rival, barely-still existing SOE-rooted intelligence-gathering organisation (‘the Department’) “that is really not very good at all; that is eking out its wartime glory; that is feeding itself on Little England fantasies; is isolated, directionless, overprotected and destined ultimately to destroy itself.”
> 
> He goes on:
> 
> ...


I've actually read the book (not quite sure why as it's not my usual kind of thing) and it's clear they're deluded and trying to (very badly) emulate past glories. I found it quite sad.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 24, 2020)

Emma full stop
Loved this, though not sure why they needed the full stop. It's annoying. Period.
Some great performances there - Anna Taylor-Joy and Bill Nighy are particularly great, but I also enjoyed Josh O'Connor and Tanya Reynolds as a couple of horrids and Miranda Hart as poor Miss Bates. Great music too. 5 jaunty bonnets out of 5


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 24, 2020)

Sue said:


> I've actually read the book (not quite sure why as it's not my usual kind of thing) and it's clear they're deluded and trying to (very badly) emulate past glories. I found it quite sad.


Yes, I quite agree. An absolute shower of holding-onto-the-past fuckwits, who condemn Leiser to a horrendous fate before he so much as steps across the border, all in pursuit of _prestige as currency_.


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## Idris2002 (Aug 24, 2020)

And fifty years on the ideological children of those deluded defectives are running the show, and the discourse in UK has gone backwards.


----------



## T & P (Aug 25, 2020)

Prodigal Son, newish HBO crime drama that has finally made it to the UK. Main premise is a physiologically fucked up man who gets hired as a police consultant for certain cases due to him being the son of an infamous serial killer (played by Michael Sheen) and having a certain insight into the minds of other psycho killers. And also having to ask  his serial killer father, who is serving a life sentence in an asylum, for help.

I was surprised to see a lukewarm critics reception so far. I’ve watched the first four episodes and thought it is very good indeed.

More so as I rarely give police/ crime dramas the time of day, simply because it is by far the most overdone genre in TV history. But the premise is interesting if not original, and I love Michael Sheen as a Hannibal Lecter-ish serial killer recurring character.

I suspect that could be why the critics are unimpressed, because they feel his character is too much of a Silence of the Lambs rip-off. And in some ways it does feel that way. But Sheen makes the character far creepier, in a creepy uncle way, than Lecter was.  And the story arch clearly has some shockers in stock regarding family secrets. At the least I found it more gripping and better paced that countless other police dramas out there.


----------



## Reno (Aug 25, 2020)

_Peninsular_, the sequel to _Train to Busan_. Unfortunately not nearly as good, just another post-apocalyptic zombie film. Not the worst film of its kind but by opening the film out in favour of an _Escape from New York/Mad Max_ scenario, it loses the appeal of the original, which worked so well because it was mostly contained to its train setting. The characters are far less memorable. There are too many of them who we never get to know well enough to care about. This goes for a more epic feel and the budget is obviously larger, but still not large enough. The last act features _Mad Max_ style car chases which don't really work because they are so obviously CGI. One aspect carried over is the mawkish spectacle of small children crying over a dead relative.  While that was earned in the original, because it concerned our lead characters, here it involves characters who barely featured until then and it just feels gratuitous. The zombies feel more like an afterthought here and rarely pose any real thread.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 26, 2020)

Struggling through season 2


----------



## Reno (Aug 26, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Struggling through season 2


...of ?


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 26, 2020)

Reno said:


> ...of ?



Oops. Altered Carbon. It's cartoonish.


----------



## T & P (Aug 27, 2020)

*I Hate Suzie.* A new bitter comedy-drama series starring (and co-written by) Billie Piper. She’s fucking great in it, and we’re really enjoying this so far. If you have Now TV or Sky Atlantic I thoroughly recommend you check it out.

Don’t just take my word for it, plenty of glowing reviews out there





__





						Redirect Notice
					





					www.google.com


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## Reno (Aug 27, 2020)

_Waves_, which I thought was great. I've been on the fence about Trey Shults as a filmmaker. I really liked his first film, the ultra-low budget _Krisha_ about the middle aged family fuck-up returning home but then I wasn't very keen on his second film, _It Comes at Night_ because......nothing came at night !!!  .

While not entirely flawless_ Waves_ is a beautiful piece of filmmaking and it's on a different level entirely from his earlier films. Not going to say anything about the plot apart from that structurally this pulls off an interesting switch which reveals whose story this really is quite late on, which works incredibly well. Now I'm excited about whatever Shults will do next.


----------



## Reno (Aug 29, 2020)

_Lean On Pete,_ which is a film I've been meaning to watch for ages because I love almost everything Andrew Haigh has done (only his first film _Greek Pete_ is a dud).

This was one of those cases of movie-synchronicity, where two films with very similar subject matter came out at the same time. The other film was _The Rider_ by Chloé Zhao, which got more attention, possibly because the hook was that it was a real story where the people who had experienced it, all played themselves. I preferred _Lean on Pete_ though, which I found more involving and by the end, tremendously moving.

After _Waves_ this is the second film in a row I've watched about boys who are failed by their father and the importance of kindness. Both had me in tears.


----------



## T & P (Aug 29, 2020)

Kill Ben Lyk. A 2018 British comedy crime thriller. It was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be, and a rather watchable light entertainment film of a weekend afternoon. I checked the reviews afterwards and was surprised how well it fares in Rotten Tomatoes.





__





						kill ben lyk - Google Search
					





					www.google.com


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 29, 2020)

Reno said:


> _Lean On Pete,_ which is a film I've been meaning to watch for ages because I love almost everything Andrew Haigh has done (only his first film _Greek Pete_ is a dud).


Not seen this yet but Willy Vlautin is pretty great. 

_Witchfinder General_ - Great. One of the things that struck me most about this is what a truly visually beautiful film it is, the shots of the countryside full of colour and atmosphere. I kind of had an idea of what it was going to do thematically but the visuals are great, and done on a small budget. Price keeps the camp in check enough that it works, and Ogilvy gives some nuance to what could be a pretty flat role, Hilary Dwyer's part is underwritten though. The soundtrack is great, obvious influence/inspiration to whole load of people.


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## T & P (Aug 29, 2020)

It’s been mentioned in this thread before, but as it has just arrived to Sky Movies, I make no excuses for plugging Ready or Not again. Ridiculously entertaining comedy-horror and perfect Saturday evening entertainment


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## redsquirrel (Aug 30, 2020)

_The Principles of Lust_ - One of those films that wanted try to and capture the energy of _Trainspotting_, but was just pretty shit and embarrassing. Bloke has to choose between 'regular' life with his girlfriend and her kid and the excitement offered by his 'uninhibited' mate, played by Marc Warren. This is directed by Penny Woolcock, who did the great _Tina_ films, but she cannot rescue this mess.

_Stories We Tell_ - Sarah Polley's great documentary about her family and memory. I loved this when I saw it at the cinema when it was released and coming back to it for a second viewing I'm pleased it stands up. Polley is a real talent as both an actor and a director and it's a huge shame that she has not done more since this. 

_Live Flesh_ - The first Almodovar film I saw and, while probably not quite in the 1st tier of his work, still a personal favourite of mine. It's from the beginning of that period that marked a change in tone in his work. Bardem is good and Francesca Neri gives a good performance in a great role. Still love it.


----------



## Reno (Aug 30, 2020)

I got my Blu-ray of The Woman in Black yesterday, the hard-to-get-hold-of ITV movie, not the crappy 2012 remake with Harry Potter. It still holds up, "that moment" still is pant-wetting and it is one of the best ghost stories ever committed to film.

Nigel Kneale's screenplay improves on the Susan Hill novel, which I found disappointing when I read it soon after catching this on TV in 1989. He adds his ongoing preoccupation with hauntings as recordings of traumatic events to great effect, the looping sound of the horse and carriage accident still is chilling. The sparseness and naturalism of the art direction ends up being far more sinister than the gothic overkill of the remake. Here the supernatural disrupts the real world, while the remake seems to take place in a haunted house theme park attraction. The sentimental ending of the remake was another serious misstep, when compared to the shockingly bleak ending here.

The Blu-ray, taken from the original 16mm, film looks glorious. Till now this was only available as a VHS quality youtube version and a long out of print Canadian DVD which didn't look much better.


----------



## flypanam (Aug 30, 2020)

Kids by Larry Clark - remains a grim movie even after 15 years since I’d first seen it. Great OST.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 31, 2020)

_A Fine Pair_ - Italian comedy with Ruck Hudson and Claudia Cardinale trying to fool each other, he's a cop she's a thief. Premise is fine but the jokes just aren't funny enough which no amount of Cardinale legs can make up for. I wasn't expecting greatness but this is disappointing. 

_Howards End_ - I know that a lot of the cliches about Merchant-Ivory adaptations are semi-fair but a lot of the films, including this one, were very good. Thompson and Bonham Carter are good and Hopkins, not an actor I'm especially fond of, is better than he can sometimes be.


----------



## danski (Aug 31, 2020)

Angel Heart.


----------



## Reno (Aug 31, 2020)

danski said:


> Angel Heart.


Not sure what to do with that information.


----------



## Sue (Aug 31, 2020)

Rescue Dawn, Werner Herzog's take on a true life story of a US Naval pilot shot down in Laos just prior to the Vietnam War and his capture/escape from Laotian/Viet Cong forces. 

I'm not a huge Herzog fan but he generally has an unusual/interesting take on things. This felt very conventional by contrast (with a schmaltzy ending to boot) and while it was okay for what it was, a bit disappointing overall.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 31, 2020)

Sue said:


> Rescue Dawn, Werner Herzog's take on a true life story of a US Naval pilot shot down in Laos just prior to the Vietnam War and his capture/escape from Laotian/Viet Cong forces.
> 
> I'm not a huge Herzog fan but he generally has an unusual/interesting take on things. This felt very conventional by contrast (with a schmaltzy ending to boot) and while it was okay for what it was, a bit disappointing overall.


Plus Bale Does An Accent


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## danski (Aug 31, 2020)

Reno said:


> Not sure what to do with that information.


Assume it was the dvd/video I watched last night.


----------



## Sue (Aug 31, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> Plus Bale Does An Accent


And Acting.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 31, 2020)

Sue said:


> And Acting.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 31, 2020)

Sue said:


> I'm not a huge Herzog fan but he generally has an unusual/interesting take on things. This felt very conventional by contrast (with a schmaltzy ending to boot) and while it was okay for what it was, a bit disappointing overall.





Sue said:


> And Acting.


Capital A acting? 
Hmm, I was mulling over whether to bother with this or not, and you're not inclining me to it Sue. Might re-watch another Almodovar instead.


----------



## Sue (Aug 31, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Capital A acting?
> Hmm, I was mulling over whether to bother with this or not, and you're not inclining me to it Sue. Might re-watch another Almodovar instead.


Yeah though I generally feel like that about Christian Bale so maybe I'm being unfair.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 31, 2020)

Sue said:


> Yeah though I generally feel like that about Christian Bale so maybe I'm being unfair.


I'm totally with you on Bale in general - far, far too much Acting.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 31, 2020)

Watch Little Dieter Needs To Fly instead


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## Reno (Aug 31, 2020)

I find Herzog amusing in interviews, but I find him irritating as a film-maker even in his documentaries. His follow up to Little Dieter... was Wings of Hope about Juliane Koepcke, who was the only survivor of a plane crash and who had to survive in the Amazon rainforest for a couple of weeks, coping with various nasty critters. It's one of these stories you wouldn't believe if it wasn't true. She struck me as an extraordinary character, very intelligent and analytical, not very emotional. But Herzog tried the entire time to manipulate her into becoming emotional, which she resisted. It really got on my nerves. He always imposes himself on his subject matter.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 31, 2020)

I just had a look through my hard drive to see if I had any screen grabs, and the only one I could find was of The Baleinator dribbling into grass, which does not bode well.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 31, 2020)

The Florida Project. What a brilliant film.


----------



## imposs1904 (Sep 1, 2020)

Reno said:


> _Lean On Pete,_ which is a film I've been meaning to watch for ages because I love almost everything Andrew Haigh has done (only his first film _Greek Pete_ is a dud).
> 
> This was one of those cases of movie-synchronicity, where two films with very similar subject matter came out at the same time. The other film was _The Rider_ by Chloé Zhao, which got more attention, possibly because the hook was that it was a real story where the people who had experienced it, all played themselves. I preferred _Lean on Pete_ though, which I found more involving and by the end, tremendously moving.
> 
> After _Waves_ this is the second film in a row I've watched about boys who are failed by their father and the importance of kindness. Both had me in tears.




Really loved the novel . . . which means I'm a bit wary of checking out the film. I don't want to be disappointed.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 1, 2020)

_Indiscreet_ - what Reno said, just wonderful being in the present of Grant and Bergman.

_Bite the Bullet_ - Late period (early C20th) western, Gene Hackman and James Coburn are two competitors in a long distance horse race, lots of nice little touches and themes raised. Really rather good. 

_Count Three and Prey_ - Solider, and former hellralser, back from the US civil war struggles with his attempt to become a preacher. Interesting period film from the 50s, with views of civil war and religion that part of that sort of 'progressive' Hollywood 50s vibe. Also noticeable as Joanne Woodward's first film and an appearance by Raymond Barr.


----------



## T & P (Sep 1, 2020)

Banshee. An action/ thriller TV series about a just-released con who through unforeseen circumstances assumes the identity of an incoming new town sheriff who is killed in front of him. Half way through S1 and as an action series is pretty good, actually.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 2, 2020)

_Shotgun_ - After a couple of rather good western's got an absolute dud. Uninspired, by the numbers cliched nonsense. Not even Sterling Hayden can save it. 

_The Long Hot Summer_ - Not seen this before, more interesting for the cast it boasts (Newman, Remick, Lansbury, Welles, Woodward) than anything else really. OK but there are probably better southern drama's out there.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 3, 2020)

_I Married a Witch_ - The wonderful Veronica Lake is a witch who falls in love with the descendant of the man who's family she cursed 270 years before. Lake steals the show and is absolutely great, unfortunately, Fredric March as the make lead does not really play off her effectively enough and the script is little flabby in places to make a really good film. Still it's an enjoyable 80 minutes of Lake being great and that's still pretty good.


----------



## freakydave (Sep 3, 2020)

I'm rewatching Horace and Pete
It's a true work of art 
I cry so many times, I mean we don't know what will happen, he is bound to get more opportunities and he is too good (and rich, connected etc) to not make any more ambitious stuff, but that is Louis CK at his absolute best proving why He was number one, it's cynical and nihilistic and also incredibly sweet and self aware.
It's got death, loneliness, selfishness, illness, madness, the lot. 

edit: it's much better second time around knowing how tragic it is, and also I suppose  the dynamic of him owning a dark thing that he didn't ask for but can't get rid of in the context of him becoming world famous for being 'not a criminal,  but a bit dodgy'


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2020)

He is a criminal though.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2020)

I hope no one wants to work with him again


----------



## freakydave (Sep 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> He is a criminal though.


no he isn't.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2020)

freakydave said:


> no he isn't.


He certainly is. 
He has sexually harassed women and indecently exposed himself to them. Fuck that guy. Was a big fan but can’t watch anything of his again


----------



## freakydave (Sep 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> He certainly is.
> He has sexually harassed women and indecently exposed himself to them. Fuck that guy. Was a big fan but can’t watch anything of his again



Nobody is asking you to watch his stuff.

It is you making a fuss that I said I enjoyed one of his  projects


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2020)

freakydave said:


> Nobody is asking you to watch his stuff.


Nope. But you shouldn’t be labouring under the misapprehension that he’s not a criminal and piece of shit of a human being either. Dunno how you can watch that after knowing what he’s done


----------



## freakydave (Sep 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Nope. But you shouldn’t be labouring under the misapprehension that he’s not a criminal and piece of shit of a human being either. Dunno how you can watch that after knowing what he’s done



I was just saying that I really loved the show.
I also enjoy Elvis and Michael Jackson


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2020)

freakydave said:


> I was just saying that I really loved the show.
> I also enjoy Elvis and Michael Jackson


Watching it again though and then saying he’s not a criminal ffs. Sounds like you’re trying to make excuses


----------



## freakydave (Sep 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Watching it again though and then saying he’s not a criminal ffs. Sounds like you’re trying to make excuses



More like you are trying to start an argument


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2020)

freakydave said:


> More like you are trying to start an argument


Trying to finish one


----------



## freakydave (Sep 3, 2020)

It's beautifully shot and acted. It's an amazing piece of art. 
Alan Alda, Edie Falco, Jessica Lange, Steve Buscemi and Louis CK are the main actors, they all do an incredible job. There is a supporting cast of great actors in their life, and it's punctuated by Kurt Metzger, Stephen Wright and a bunch of other stand up comics and New York actors as the barflies. 
It makes me cry because it's all about this darkness that exists within families and this shame and love that we have. And they are all just so lost and alone, there are no simple answers and everything is falling to pieces around them. They have arrived at middle age and have not managed to escape themselves, it's a sort of Waiting for Godot thing where they are free from illusion and find companionship clinging onto this rotten thing. It keeps seeming to come together but of course it never does, and I won't ruin the end but it is tragic in the true sense of the word. 
It hits on so many themes in a way that is directly relevant to my life, I absolutely loved it and it makes me tear up just thinking about the final episode which I haven't seen yet this time around where it all resolves itself


----------



## Badgers (Sep 4, 2020)

Picked up Winged Migration for 50p at a charity shop  have seem before but lost/lent my dvd. Seems like a good calming thing to watch.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 4, 2020)

_A Touch of Sin_ - fantastic. Film made up of four short stories about the Chinese 'economic boom', violence and anger, relationships and nature of changing society themes running through all. It looks absolutely great too, making the locations exist as sort of deserts, often few people about, blasted by elements (physical and human), a contrast between nature and man-made structures. Really excellent.


----------



## Reno (Sep 4, 2020)

_No Way to Treat a Lady_, thriller/black comedy from 1968. I remember liking this as a kid but I found the film insufferable this time round. It's mainly a showcase for Rod Steiger to overact like mad as a serial killer of middle aged women. He visits each of his victims in a different disguise, I suppose to show off his range, all dialled up to 11. Steiger probably was the hammiest of actors to ever grace the screen and he sucks the air from the film. Lee Remick tries her best in an early version of a manic pixie dream girl (cookie mod-chick back then) and Eileen Heckard is almost as overbearing as Steiger as the broadest of Jewish mother caricatures. Only George Segal as her son and the detective on the case gives a performance which resembles an actual human being. Overall, rather grating.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 4, 2020)

You know you've sort of half inclined me to search that out now Reno, sounds pretty dreadful


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 4, 2020)

T & P said:


> Banshee. An action/ thriller TV series about a just-released con who through unforeseen circumstances assumes the identity of an incoming new town sheriff who is killed in front of him. Half way through S1 and as an action series is pretty good, actually.


Fantastic series


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 5, 2020)

_A Kiss Before Dying_ - Not in the top division of film noirs IMO but still pretty good and interesting. The first half of the film with Robert Wagner planning murder (practicing for real life?) is better than the second investigation half of the movie. Wagner is nicely sinister and Woodward makes what could be a pretty weak part (doomed heroine) into something stronger, Jeffery Hunter is not particularly convincing as pipe smoking young detective, who just coincidentally acts as a student mentor for Woodward.

_Wild River_ - Very enjoyable and really interesting film by Elia Kazan (he may have been a lousy stoolie but he could direct), the type of film that they really don't make nowadays. Plot is Montgomery Clift is the government man come to rural Tennessee to move a old woman off her land in order so a dam can be built, while there her falls in love the old woman's granddaughter, played by Leigh Remick. What strikes you is the attitude of the film to government, while the old woman is sympathised with Clift is very much the hero, the dam will be a good thing and does need to be built. In any sort of modern version you'd have the opposite view, with the sympathy lying with the 'common people' being forced out of their home by the government. Clift and Remick are very good and while the overall tone of the film is pro-government most characters are well drawn enough that you can relate and empathise with them. There's good relationship created between Clift and another man that has proposed marriage to Remick's character, with avoids the typical cliches. Well worth checking out if you are in the mood for a Hollywood classic.


----------



## Reno (Sep 5, 2020)

_Wild River_ is my favourite film by Kazan.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 5, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> You know you've sort of half inclined me to search that out now Reno, sounds pretty dreadful


IT'S A TRAP


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 5, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Jeffery Hunter is not particularly convincing


As epitaphs go, etc


----------



## platinumsage (Sep 5, 2020)

Condor - anti-terrorist/CIA TV series. It is a bit shit and has the most cringeworthy dialogue ever.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 6, 2020)

American Horror Story - Hotel.

Bizarre, brutal, shlocky, and an improvement over the previous series. Great goth/synth soundtrack.


----------



## T & P (Sep 6, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> American Horror Story - Hotel.
> 
> Bizarre, brutal, shlocky, and an improvement over the previous series. Great goth/synth soundtrack.


Yes, I really liked that one. Lady Gaga was a revelation, very good performance and a captivating character.


----------



## T & P (Sep 6, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Fantastic series


Just finished S1, really fucking good series indeed. If the other seasons are of comparable quality I’ll be a happy man.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 6, 2020)

T & P said:


> Yes, I really liked that one. Lady Gaga was a revelation, very good performance and a captivating character.



She is so alien in it... bit Bowie like. The show is so OTT and gory. It's sending up the fascination with serial killers and ghouls splendidly.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 6, 2020)

T & P said:


> Just finished S1, really fucking good series indeed. If the other seasons are of comparable quality I’ll be a happy man.


youve got a whole host of baddies to deal with in the other seasons . I was heartbroken when it ended.


----------



## magneze (Sep 6, 2020)

Can't stand that series. Grim.


----------



## T & P (Sep 6, 2020)

magneze said:


> Can't stand that series. Grim.


Which one, American Horror Story, or Banshee?


----------



## magneze (Sep 6, 2020)

T & P said:


> Which one, American Horror Story, or Banshee?


American Horror Story


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 6, 2020)

magneze said:


> American Horror Story


it's supposed to be grim. Clue in the title


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 6, 2020)

Banshee is excellent


----------



## T & P (Sep 6, 2020)

magneze said:


> American Horror Story


They can be quite grim but some of seasons felt more ‘righteous’ than others. The very first one was great for me, as was the freak show one. The asylum one and the gaslighting themed one around the Donald Trump election victory I found uncomfortable to watch.


----------



## Reno (Sep 6, 2020)

I only really liked the second season (Asylum) of AHS, the first and third were watchable. With the other seasons I never made it to the end. As a fan of horror with a camp sensibility I should love the show, but the storytelling is a mess. Storylines get set up and then get dropped, characters get killed off when they can't decide what to do with them, then later they resurrect them when they think of something. Seasons never feel like they are planned, it always feels like they make it up as they go along. Worst of all for a horror show, it isn't scary.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 6, 2020)

It happened here. 1965 alternate reality film if the Germans had successfully invaded in 1940. It's an amazing film bearing in mind it was written and directed by a couple of teenagers. 
The main focus is on the conscience of a nurse working with the domestic fascist collaborator organisation. 
Parts of it seem rushed but I'd recommended it to anyone with an interest in history. 
The main actor Pauline Murray is good but was never on film again, restricting her acting to village plays.


----------



## Knotted (Sep 6, 2020)

Reno said:


> I only really liked the second season (Asylum) of AHS, the first and third were watchable. With the other seasons I never made it to the end. As a fan of horror with a camp sensibility I should love the show, but the storytelling is a mess. Storylines get set up and then get dropped, characters get killed off when they can't decide what to do with them, then later they resurrect them when they think of something. Seasons never feel like they are planned, it always feels like they make it up as they go along. Worst of all for a horror show, it isn't scary.



I keep trying the first series and I just can't get into it. It sort of just flings horror stuff at you with no build up of tension. Maybe I should just skip to series 2.


----------



## The39thStep (Sep 6, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> It happened here. 1965 alternate reality film if the Germans had successfully invaded in 1940. It's an amazing film bearing in mind it was written and directed by a couple of teenagers.
> The main focus is on the conscience of a nurse working with the domestic fascist collaborator organisation.
> Parts of it seem rushed but I'd recommended it to anyone with an interest in history.
> The main actor Pauline Murray is good but was never on film again, restricting her acting to village plays.


Featuring a youngish Colin Jordan and extras who were firmer prisoners of war


----------



## Reno (Sep 6, 2020)

Knotted said:


> I keep trying the first series and I just can't get into it. It sort of just flings horror stuff at you with no build up of tension. Maybe I should just skip to series 2.


Try season 2, it's not that scary either but I liked the story of that one. There was another horror anthology series called Channel Zero, which got four seasons and I thought the 2nd and 4th season were better than any AHS season. Haven't gotten round to the 3rd one yet.


----------



## T & P (Sep 6, 2020)

Reno said:


> There was another horror anthology series called Channel Zero, which got four seasons and I thought the 2nd and 4th season were better than any AHS season. Haven't gotten round to the 3rd one yet.


Ha! I had come back here right now precisely to recommend that very series. Not too grim, not unduly violent, and very good sci-fi/ horror tales.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 6, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> It happened here. 1965 alternate reality film if the Germans had successfully invaded in 1940. It's an amazing film bearing in mind it was written and directed by a couple of teenagers.
> The main focus is on the conscience of a nurse working with the domestic fascist collaborator organisation.
> Parts of it seem rushed but I'd recommended it to anyone with an interest in history.
> The main actor Pauline Murray is good but was never on film again, restricting her acting to village plays.


It's an excellent artefact, and even just as a story it's pretty good. Given that it took years of part-time filming that they managed to cobble together something that works narratively at all is a miracle!

The book _How It Happened Here_ is worth reading.

I once queued for half an hour behind a bunch of elderly movie buffs wanting to talk about Chaplin and Keaton to fanboi Kevin Brownlow about _IHH_ after he did a Q&A on his main specialty silent cinema comedy  









						How to make a home made feature film about the Nazi invasion of Britain (and only take eight years doing it)
					

How It Happened Here is a memoir by Kevin Brownlow, about the making of the extraordinary ‘what if’ film, It Happened Here. If you are not familiar with It Happened Here, then I encoura…




					bristle.wordpress.com


----------



## Reno (Sep 9, 2020)

_Nocturnal Animals_, fashion designer-turned-film-maker Tom Ford's follow up to _A_ _Single Man_. I was in a minority of people  who thought _A Single Man_ was rubbish, so I didn't rush to see this. Morbid curiosity made me check it out and it did not disappoint. If the true nature of camp is failed art then this is camp. This is like a parody of an art house film and it appears to take itself very seriously. There are two narratives, one regarding the main character played by a Amy Adams (a total waste of her talents) and one which is the book she reads. She does things like suddenly drop the book in surprise when something shocking occurs in it. She reads that book like nobody ever read a book before. It was very silly and up itself, but underneath all the good taste, it's quite lurid and I laughed a lot. At least I wasn't bored. Apparently the novel it's based on is rather good.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 9, 2020)

Us - Jordan Peele's follow up to Get Out. It's all there in the title. Brilliant.


----------



## belboid (Sep 9, 2020)

Reno said:


> She does things like suddenly drop the book in surprise when something shocking occurs in it.


I did that once - at the really 'ugghhh' bit in _Wasp Factory_


----------



## D'wards (Sep 10, 2020)

Just watched Sorcerer. Absolutely fantastic. 
Like an arty action thriller.
Genuinely one of the most tense films I've seen in parts.
I'm surprised they haven't made a straight Hollywood thriller remake. 
The Coens would make a great go of it.
Why was it called Sorcerer BTW?

I'm gonna seek out Wages of Fear now which my mate assures me is the better film.


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 12, 2020)

Continuing my education of the boy, we just watched Alien    I enjoyed it all over again and he was transfixed, which for a 12yo child of the 2000s with ADHD speaks volumes for the quality of the film.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 14, 2020)

Bad Taste.  Low budget comedy alien gore film by an indie NZ film maker

Hadn't seen it for 30 years and it's better than I remember.  That's quite surprising as I wasn't stoned this time


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2020)

“An indie NZ film maker” lol wut


----------



## belboid (Sep 14, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> “An indie NZ film maker” lol wut


Well, he was then


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2020)

belboid said:


> Well, he was then


It just seems absurd and unfair not to name him - filmmakers deserve credit. (Peter Jackson for those who don’t know).


----------



## T & P (Sep 14, 2020)

Just discovered Bored to Death, an offbeat comedy series about a struggling writer who puts out a classified ad pretending to be a private detective with hilarious consequences. Good cast and episodes are short and sweet so pretty easy to watch. On NowTV.

Yet another decent series I hadn’t even heard of. I wonder how many simply never get shown in the UK...


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 15, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> “An indie NZ film maker” lol wut


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 16, 2020)

WFH today so took a couple of hours off and watched Mandy. Massive Cage lolz. I enjoyed it.


----------



## T & P (Sep 17, 2020)

I’d been aware of True Blood for years as so many people have mentioned it but had never got to watch it or had that much urge to.

But we finally gave it a go a couple of weeks ago and damn it, it’s a lot better than any series about vampires has the right to be. A perfect blend of humour, action and drama, and it actually gets better with every passing season. On S6 out of the 7 made, and loving it


----------



## Reno (Sep 17, 2020)

T & P said:


> I’d been aware of True Blood for years as so many people have mentioned it but had never got to watch it or had that much urge to.
> 
> But we finally gave it a go a couple of weeks ago and damn it, it’s a lot better than any series about vampires has the right to be. A perfect blend of humour, action and drama, and it actually gets better with every passing season. On S6 out of the 7 made, and loving it


How do you manage to watch so much so fast ?


----------



## T & P (Sep 17, 2020)

Reno said:


> How do you manage to watch so much so fast ?


Come to think of it, it must be a bit longer just out of the sheer number of episodes, but certainly less than a month. We’ve watched at least a couple every weekday and binged it at weekends.

Also, we’ve dramatically increased our viewing of it after NowTV started displaying a message the other day saying they were about to take it off. They were supposed to have switched it off at midnight last night but somehow we can still play them.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 17, 2020)

jeez, i can usually only manage one episode a week, maybe two in one sitting if it's really gripping, but more than that and I don't really take it in


----------



## Reno (Sep 17, 2020)

I watch one film every evening I'm home or 2 hours of tv episodes when I'm watching a series. On weekends sometimes two films.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 17, 2020)

Reno said:


> I watch one film every evening I'm home or 2 hours of tv episodes when I'm watching a series. On weekends sometimes two films.


i can watch more films cos they're over in one go. With TV series, I need to sip at them like a fine wine


----------



## T & P (Sep 17, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> jeez, i can usually only manage one episode a week, maybe two in one sitting if it's really gripping, but more than that and I don't really take it in


I don’t do it often, but sometimes when we’re really into a series. But it must also be reasonably fast paced, otherwise one a day is the limit and the length of the episodes should ideally be no more than forty minutes (True Blood being the one exception so far).

I absolutely loved Breaking Bad for instance, but couldn’t take more than one a day. On the other hand we watch the two seasons of Cobra Kai (20 episodes) in a mere 4-5 days.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Sep 18, 2020)

Forbidden Planet.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2020)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Forbidden Planet.


And?


----------



## freakydave (Sep 19, 2020)

I have been watching Game of Thrones haha. I have seen the last episode so many times, if I wasn't here I was watching GoT final season
It is rubbish however many times you watch it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 19, 2020)

freakydave said:


> I have been watching Game of Thrones haha. I have seen the last episode so many times, if I wasn't here I was watching GoT final season
> It is rubbish however many times you watch it.



So I hear, but we still have the last season to see, since we seen all the rest - might as well get round to it eventually.

Currently watching _Sacred Games_, season 1. One ep a night, if we not too knackered. Don't get to see too many Indian cop/gangster shows, so it's arresting viewing, in that sense.


----------



## weltweit (Sep 19, 2020)

Pink Panther when former Chief Inspector Dreyfus escapes from the institute for the criminally insane!


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 19, 2020)

Bill and Ted Face the Music. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up, fine holiday fare


----------



## Badgers (Sep 19, 2020)

Winged Migration 

Have also got 'Das Experiment' and 'Lilya 4-ever' plus a load of others from the local charity shop (10x DVD for £1) queued up to watch.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2020)

Badgers said:


> Winged Migration
> 
> Have also got 'Das Experiment' and 'Lilya 4-ever' plus a load of others from the local charity shop (10x DVD for £1) queued up to watch.


don't watch the latter if you're in a bad mood! It's ace though


----------



## Reno (Sep 20, 2020)

I recently watched the Russian sci-fi/horror film Sputnik (an okeyish Alien clone) and couldn't figure out where I'd seen the lead actress till it hit me that she was the girl from Lilya 4-ever. Yes, very good that one, but steel yourself.


----------



## Reno (Sep 20, 2020)

I finished a Cary Grant box set, mostly of some later, minor films of his. The Grass is Greener was the last film I watched from it and its a snooze. A stodgy adaptation of a dated stage farce, both Grant and Robert Mitchum are horribly miscast. Nobody in it talks or behaves even remotely like a recognisable human being. Penny Serenade, a tear jerker  from 1941, was the only film from before the late 50s. I enjoyed that a lot but the last scene, there to contrive a happy end after tragedy strikes, is awful by contemporary standards. Indiscreet is the one film in the set which I loved and I've written about it here. Father Goose with Leslie Caron, was better than expected and Operation Petticoat was entertaining enough, despite much dodgy sexism. Grant and Tony Curtis make a good comedy team. Wasn't a fan of  That Touch of Mink, his one film with Doris Day, both their characters come across as awful and the two stars are a poor match. Additionally I watched To Catch a Thief, which isn't in that set. The least substantial of Grant's films with Hitchcock, but still fun. Grant is always wonderful to watch though, the ultimate movie star. His ability to connect with an audience makes him like an old friend, very comforting.

Now I've got a 10 film Louis Malle box set lined up, plus I'm going to try and get hold of as many his films as possible,  which aren't in the set. My own NFT retrospective, there is nothing like it in Berlin. I've liked most of the films of his I've watched, but I realised how many I haven't seen.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 20, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> don't watch the latter if you're in a bad mood! It's ace though


Yeah, I saw it 5-10 years ago. Was bleak as I recall but still a brilliant film. Well worth 10p for the dvd.


----------



## Reno (Sep 20, 2020)

Lift to the Scaffold, first in the Louis Malle box set. I last saw this on the telly as a teenager and I didn't like it much. What was I thinking, this is great ! While I remembered the premise of a man getting stuck in an elevator after committing a murder, I'd forgotten almost everything else. For the first two thirds the subplot of a young couple stealing the murderers car takes up more time than the main plot and I kept wondering where this is going. Then something happens and the pieces of the plot fall into place. The film is probably most famous for its Miles Davis score and for giving Jeanne Moreau her first important role as the murderers girl and the victims wife. A great neo noir with a killer of an ending.


----------



## Sue (Sep 20, 2020)

Reno said:


> Lift to the Scaffold, first in the Louis Malle box set. I last saw this on the telly as a teenager and I didn't like it much. What was I thinking, this is great ! While I remembered the premise of a man getting stuck in an elevator after committing a murder, I'd forgotten almost everything else. For the first two thirds the subplot of a young couple stealing the murderers car takes up more time than the main plot and I kept wondering where this is going. Then something happens and the pieces of the plot fall into place. The film is probably most famous for its Miles Davis score and for giving Jeanne Moreau her first important role as the murderers girl and the victims wife. A great neo noir with a killer of an ending.
> 
> View attachment 231141


I've seen quite a few of his films and think this is my favourite.  (I'm a sucker for French 40s/50 noir though.) When Jeanne Moreau died, my local cinema did a tribute with this and Diary of a Chambermaid as a double bill.

ETA I also love that Lino Ventura always only seemed to play a gangster or a cop and nothing inbetween. Well apart from Army of Shadows that is.


----------



## T & P (Sep 21, 2020)

Terminator Dark Fate. Not very good and instantly forgettable, though not as terrible as I thought it was going to be.

But in many ways it felt like The Force Awakens in terms of the shameless fan service and de facto reboot of the original.

Also 



Spoiler



I didn’t get the bit about Arnie managing to kill John Connor at the beginning, but Skynet still being defeated in the future. In the original film and also T2 the sole mission was to kill Sarah/ John in the present to prevent humans to win in the future. But now it doesn’t matter anymore? Unless I missed something


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 21, 2020)

Reno said:


> Lift to the Scaffold, first in the Louis Malle box set. I last saw this on the telly as a teenager and I didn't like it much. What was I thinking, this is great ! While I remembered the premise of a man getting stuck in an elevator after committing a murder, I'd forgotten almost everything else. For the first two thirds the subplot of a young couple stealing the murderers car takes up more time than the main plot and I kept wondering where this is going. Then something happens and the pieces of the plot fall into place. The film is probably most famous for its Miles Davis score and for giving Jeanne Moreau her first important role as the murderers girl and the victims wife. A great neo noir with a killer of an ending.


Top film.

_Talk to Her_ - Continuing re-visiting Almodovar's via MUBI season of his later work. I find it quite hard not to enjoy an Almodovar as they usually hit all the right buttons for me. That said while I did enjoy this one I don't think it is quite in the top draw of his films, the first half is great but the second is a little loose. Still very good though, and I'd forgotten the silent movie sequence which is great.


----------



## Reno (Sep 22, 2020)

Le Amants/The Lovers (1958), second in my at-home Louis Malle season. I had never seen this but I was aware that it was considered scandalous at the time and it led to an obscenity trial in the US, where the film was condemned as pornography. Having it seen now, I suppose it applied to the non-judgemental treatment of infidelity (it's about an open marriage) and a sex scene, which briefly shows Jeanne Moreau's breast. That at a time when married couples could not be shown in a double bed in Hollywood movies.

This is a "rich bored wife takes a lover" drama. Here our heroine already has a husband and lover as the film starts and then she falls in love with another man. While Moreau's character isn't particularly likeable, Moreau herself is wonderful. This is where she becomes a film star and her character is allowed her a type of agency which would would have come with heavy moralising and probably punishment in a US film. Visually this looks beautiful in widescreen b&w. If it feels a little cliched, then that's because it anticipates many of the conventions which become routine in European art house films of the 60s.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 22, 2020)

_The Brand New Testament_ - missed this at the cinema when it came out so looking forward to seeing it. Concept is that God is a miserable bastard who deliberately sets out to hurt mankind, this is objected to y his daughter Ea so she decides to go to earth and find her own set of apostles after the manner of her brother Jesus. The premise had legs, there are some nice touches and scenes and anything with Catherine Deneuve and Yolande Moreau has something to recommend it, but I don't think the individual parts are pulled together as well as they need to be. Enjoyable enough but also slightly unsatisfying.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Sep 22, 2020)

Reno said:


> led to an obscenity trial in the US, where the film was condemned as pornography.


Famously overturned on appeal after the judge said of considering whether it was pornography or not "I know it when I see it".
Also read somewhere that this is first mainstream film that depicts a woman having an orgasm, although don't expect When Harry Met Sally type theatrics.


----------



## Reno (Sep 22, 2020)

Zazie dans le Métro (1960). The first time I tried to watch this, I didn't make it all the way through, this is the one Louis Malle film I which a dreaded. This time I made it to the end but while much of it is no doubt inventive and rather nice to look at, I still don't care for the film much. I don't find this type of manic, relentlessly wacky comedy funny or entertaining, the whole thing feels rather mechanical. I now know where Richard Lester got his ideas for his 60s comedies from though. On a plus side, this features the most gorgeous bus I've ever seen.


----------



## Sue (Sep 22, 2020)

Interested to see what you reckon to Le Feu Follet when you get to it, Reno (not sure if you've seen it before). I found it unrelentingly bleak and depressing. Not one I'd watch again tbh.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Saw this when it came out (mainly for the director) and really liked it. Still did on a rewatch (it's on iPlayer). Loved the bleak greyness of it all. And that look between Mark Strong and Colin Firth at the Christmas party and then again right at the end.


----------



## Reno (Sep 22, 2020)

Sue said:


> Interested to see what you reckon to Le Feu Follet when you get to it, Reno (not sure if you've seen it before). I found it unrelentingly bleak and depressing. Not one I'd watch again tbh.


I saw it a long time ago, probably in my teens and I don't remember that much about it. Its next up in the box set and I will get to it tomorrow, unless i'll go out in the evening.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 23, 2020)

The Illusionist 
The Prestige


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 23, 2020)

_The Mouring Forest_ - First in a triple bill of Naomi Kawase films (not seen any of her work previously). This one has a man in a retirement community forming a connection with a young helper. Maybe I just was not in the mood but I did not find myself clicking with it at all. Hopefully I'll enjoy the other two films more.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 23, 2020)

A Streetcar Named Desire

Brando and Leigh acting styles collide in classic Tenesee Williams melodrama from 1951. STELLAAAAA!


----------



## belboid (Sep 23, 2020)

Badgers said:


> The Illusionist
> The Prestige


we rewatched The Prestige last night. I think it's my favourite of Nolan's, Bowies marvellous, shits on Tenet.  Even the women had some actual character and agency of their own!


----------



## freakydave (Sep 24, 2020)

Just watched Bill and Ted. Really loved it. 
It should have been terrible, everything about it, but it's so unpretentious and just as silly as the old ones. I'm really happy about that, I hate these reboots but this one actually did live up to the other two.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 24, 2020)

belboid said:


> we rewatched The Prestige last night. I think it's my favourite of Nolan's, Bowies marvellous, shits on Tenet.  Even the women had some actual character and agency of their own!


It is a great film. I watched the Illusionist alongside it because it was overlooked by The Prestige but very similar in theme. Great films.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 24, 2020)

_Johnny Cool_ - 60s crime flick with a Sicilian gangster sent to the US to kill a bunch of people. Sadly after a good initially 10 minutes it rather loses it way, dawdling through a series of pieces that are supposed to make a plot. Probably the best thing about the movie is Elizabeth Montgomery who gives a good performance in the most interesting character role.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 25, 2020)

Dr. Zhivago.

David Lean, 1965 (BBC 4 last night). It all still works, even though it shouldn't, and even after all that's happened since. Omar Sharif is especially good, as is Julie Christie. Tom Courtenay's priggish intello-Bolshevik is also a good turn. They're really, most of them, English types playing Russians, like the red-faced Colonel of dragoons who gets his comeuppance at the hands of a band of deserters. Courtenay's type doesn't really exist anymore though.

"Happy men don't volunteer".


----------



## T & P (Sep 25, 2020)

Judy and Punch. A Punch & Judy heavily-inspired story about a a woman wronged by her husband taking revenge on him. On Netflix now.

Not bad actually. A strong feminist message (probably why its IMDB rating is a bit low). Good production values.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 26, 2020)

_A Couch in New York _- A sort of romantic comedy by Chantel Akerman starring William Hurt and Julliette Binoche. He's a New York psychiatrist, she's a Parisian ballet dancer they saw apartments and a set of mildly comic scenes ensue. It's kind of interesting and not totally devoid of charm but it runs out of steam well before the credits roll

_Matthias & Maxime_ - Xavier Dolan's latest, two best friends kiss for a film shortly before one is due to leave the country and find it brings up a conflict of emotions. I was not a big fan of Dolan's _Mommy_ but thought this a much more subtle, interesting work. All kinds of points - class, sexuality, work, friendships - are raised through the relationship of the two central characters and the people in their circles.


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## Reno (Sep 26, 2020)

Sue said:


> Interested to see what you reckon to Le Feu Follet when you get to it, Reno (not sure if you've seen it before). I found it unrelentingly bleak and depressing. Not one I'd watch again tbh.
> 
> Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Saw this when it came out (mainly for the director) and really liked it. Still did on a rewatch (it's on iPlayer). Loved the bleak greyness of it all. And that look between Mark Strong and Colin Firth at the Christmas party and then again right at the end.


I wasn't keen on Le Feu Follet, I didn't feel much for the main character. It felt like he was emotionally stuck in adolescence and the whole thing was too much of a wallow for me. Only Jeanne Moreau in her brief appearance brings some life to the film, the other characters I found interchangeable, though that was the point I suppose. It's very much of its time and I'm sure it felt more revelatory then. 



On to the incest film tonight....


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## Reno (Sep 27, 2020)

Murmur of the Heart. Oh my, the 70s !  

A lot of lines are being stepped over here, I really can't see this being made in today's climate, especially not in such a light hearted way but that's also what makes it fascinating. I quite enjoyed it even if all three brothers are such horrendous, entitled brats that I was hoping for some sort of comeuppance.

I can't help but draw parallels to Francois Truffaut's filmography, even if the order is different. If Lift to the Scaffold is Malle's Shoot the Piano Player, The Lovers is his The Soft Skin (with a dash of Jules et Jim) and Le Feu Follet is the inverse of The Man Who Loved Woman, then Murmur of the Heart is his The 400 Blows.


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## T & P (Sep 27, 2020)

A Cure for Wellness. A New York corporation’s young executive is sent to a sanatorium in Switzerland to urgently retrieve the company’s CEO so he can rubber-stamp a vital merger. But the latter, together with the rest of the patients receiving treatment, says he’s happy there and refuses to leave, and the young man starts to realise things are not quite they seem. Oh, not by a long way.

Mad psychological horror-mystery thriller, and I loved it.


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## redsquirrel (Sep 27, 2020)

Reno said:


> Murmur of the Heart. Oh my, the 70s !
> 
> A lot of lines are being stepped over here, I really can't see this being made in today's climate, especially not in such a light hearted way but that's also what makes it fascinating. I quite enjoyed it even if all three brothers are such horrendous, entitled brats that I was hoping for some sort of comeuppance.


Never seen this film but reading the plot _Spanking the Monkey_ came to mind as another mother-son incestuous relationship. 

_The Trout_ - Isabelle Huppert and Joseph Losey team up. Huppert is a young woman you feels little but contempt for men, taking up and using one after another. Huppert and Jeanne Moreau both turn in good performances, and manage to keep you involved but the film seems to lack a real centre and there is nothing of the sinisterness of the Pinter/Losey collaborations. In fact it seems a bit of a shame that Pinter was not involved in the film as he may have been able to contribute that sharp edge that this needed.


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## Reno (Sep 27, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Never seen this film but reading the plot _Spanking the Monkey_ came to mind as another mother-son incestuous relationship.


I suppose what I found shocking in _Murmur of the Heart _is that the boy (actor and character) was only 14 or 15 and he gets involved all sorts of sexual situations. Jeremy Davis in _Spanking the Monkey_ was in his 20s.

For another mother son incest movie, there also is Bertolucci's _La Luna_ with Jill Clayburg, which is terrible.


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## Indeliblelink (Sep 27, 2020)

The Wonderful Lies Of Nina Petrovna [ Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna] (1929)
Silent melodrama about a love triangle between a high ranking army office, his kept mistress and a young army cadet. Simple story but very nicely done from director Hanns Schwarz. Brigitte Helm (most famous for Metropolis) in the type of role that Garbo would normally be seen in but Helm is great and gives a wonderfully passionate performance.


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## Sue (Sep 27, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Trout_ - Isabelle Huppert and Joseph Losey team up. Huppert is a young woman you feels little but contempt for men, taking up and using one after another. Huppert and Jeanne Moreau both turn in good performances, and manage to keep you involved but the film seems to lack a real centre and there is nothing of the sinisterness of the Pinter/Losey collaborations. In fact it seems a bit of a shame that Pinter was not involved in the film as he may have been able to contribute that sharp edge that this needed.


Found it pretty unengaging tbh. Disappointing.


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## Reno (Sep 28, 2020)

_Lacombe, Lucien_, I had not seen this before, great film and my favourite so far of my at-home Louis Malle season. A barely educated peasant boy in WWII rural France, after being unsuccessful in joining the resistance, joins the collaborators instead. Then he becomes interested in the pretty daughter of his Jewish tailor. I found this thoroughly involving and it kept me on edge throughout. Controversial at the time as, many French people were still claiming that all of France was in the resistance.


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## Sue (Sep 28, 2020)

I've never seen that one, Reno. Sounds like an interesting companion piece to Au revoir les Enfants.


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## freakydave (Sep 29, 2020)

I just watched 'Knives Out'

Found it really annoying, I heard that it was good, it seemed very self satisfied and didn't really excite me
Cos I saw Toni Collette yesterday in 'I'm thinking of ending things' I've kind of fallen in love with her, but it felt like an off brand version of an ensemble genre film


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## redsquirrel (Sep 29, 2020)

Reno said:


> _Lacombe, Lucien_, I had not seen this before, great film and my favourite so far of my at-home Louis Malle season. A barely educated peasant boy in WWII rural France, after being unsuccessful in joining the resistance, joins the collaborators instead. Then he becomes interested in the pretty daughter of his Jewish tailor. I found this thoroughly involving and it kept me on edge throughout. Controversial at the time as, many French people were still claiming that all of France was in the resistance.


Agree with Sue this sounds really interesting. Going to have to try and watch it.


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## Idris2002 (Sep 29, 2020)

I've not seen Lacombe Lucien in years, but it's one of those flicks that really stays in your mind. Reno's right, you want to see this one.


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## Reno (Sep 29, 2020)

From the brilliance of _Lacombe, Lucien_ to the failure that is _Black Moon_. I've always been curious about this, as surreal dreamlike films are in my wheelhouse but suspected it won't be very good. This is exactly the film I was thought it would be. To be good at this type of thing you need a particular talent and sensibility like Lynch, Resnais or Zulawski. When directors who usually have work in a realist tradition like Malle try their hands at surrealism, they tend to fall flat in their face (Robert Altman with _3 Women_ is a rare exception but he had a few practice runs to get there). This tries hard but apart from the odd beautiful image, it never gets off the ground and it wore my patience thin. Still, great directors take risks and sometimes they fail. Malle never went there again.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 29, 2020)

Reno said:


> From the brilliance of _Lacombe, Lucien_ to the failure that is _Black Moon_. I've always been curious about this, as surreal dreamlike films are in my wheelhouse but suspected it won't be very good. This is exactly the film I was thought it would be. To be good at this type of thing you need a particular talent and sensibility like Lynch, Resnais or Zulawski. When directors who usually have work in a realist tradition like Malle try their hands at surrealism, they tend to fall flat in their face (Robert Altman with _3 Women_ is a rare exception but he had a few practice runs to get there). This tries hard but apart from the odd beautiful image, it never gets off the ground and it wore my patience thin. Still, great directors take risks and sometimes they fail. Malle never went there again.
> 
> View attachment 232326


I watched that ages ago, and I cannot for the life of me remember anything about it, except that I couldn't figure out what he hell it was about, and ended up taking hundreds of screen shots with the intention of going back to it and trying to piece together what it all meant.

That was twelve years ago


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 30, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> I watched that ages ago, and I cannot for the life of me remember anything about it, except that I couldn't figure out what he hell it was about, and ended up taking hundreds of screen shots with the intention of going back to it and trying to piece together what it all meant.
> 
> That was twelve years ago   *
> 
> View attachment 232340


I found my viewing notes:



> Now this is officially getting a bit Fucking Odd. Lily senses something behind her, turns round, and sees a unicorn. A short, tubby, dirty brown unicorn. Kind of like an alkie Shetland pony who got pissed in Blackpool and ended up with a Cornetto stuck to its noggin.





> WTF is it with the insects and shit? Breaking the spell of the unicorn, a woman on horseback rides in, circles Lily then fucks off again. Lily chases on foot, following the trail until she runs into a gang of naked children gamboling around with a fat sow on a leash. To repeat, WTF?!





> To recap so far: battle of the sexes, animals, not big on dialogue. Oh, and the hint of sexualised childhood. Sheesh, this is knackering – I’m off to make a cuppa.



Reader, I never made it back from that tea break 

ETA:

* I was practically in my twenties!


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## Reno (Sep 30, 2020)

So that the evening wasn't a write off, I went on to the next Louis Malle film _Atlantic City_. This one I love and have watched many times, though not for a while. Still great but maybe a little more sentimental than I remember. In the film Lancaster plays a former gangster who always was very low in the pecking order, but Lancaster very much is a movie star and legend. This makes it believable that Susan Sarandon would be attracted to him, but it makes him less credible as the looser he is supposed to be. One is always aware that Lancaster is a legend. A minor niggle though, otherwise this is a wonderful mixture of crime film and character study, its backdrop of Atlantic City between decline and (dubious) regeneration is fascinating.  This also features the most deserved and satisfying death of a hippy.


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## Bahnhof Strasse (Sep 30, 2020)

T & P said:


> The Gentlemen. I know Guy Ritchie is very Marmite, even more so around these boards I’ve always thought, but it really is rather good. One of his best work IMO.





It's a shocker. One thing is does do is make the accents in Snatch seem plausible. And as someone who rarely indulges in culture even I could see where he ripped off a number of scenes from. Had the potential to be a good film, but no, rather ungood for me.


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## krtek a houby (Sep 30, 2020)

J Edgar, 2011 Clint directed biopic. There's an interesting story to be told about Hoover but don't think Eastwood quite captured it. DiCaprio is rather good and the film does briefly feature brilliant character actors like Stephen Root and Dennis O'Hare.


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## The39thStep (Sep 30, 2020)

Reno said:


> So that the evening wasn't a write off, I went on to the next Louis Malle film _Atlantic City_. This one I love and have watched many times, though not for a while. Still great but maybe a little more sentimental than I remember. In the film Lancaster plays a former gangster who always was very low in the pecking order, but Lancaster very much is a movie star and legend. This makes it believable that Susan Sarandon would be attracted to him, but it makes him less credible as the looser he is supposed to be. One is always aware that Lancaster is a legend. A minor niggle though, otherwise this is a wonderful mixture of crime film and character study, its backdrop of Atlantic City between decline and (dubious) regeneration is fascinating.  This also features the most deserved and satisfying death of a hippy.
> 
> 
> View attachment 232351


Great film , first saw it at the cinema and was enthralled by its poignancy


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## T & P (Sep 30, 2020)

Finished Banshee. What a fucking superb series that was. I know the amount of gratitious sex and nudity is off the scale and becomes comical in its quantity, but other than that is a fantastically good and gripping action thriller series.


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## T & P (Oct 3, 2020)

I’ve already mentioned this in the Brave New World thread, but worth mentioning here as the other thread is about the book. I’m really enjoying the new TV adaptation that started on Sky last night. Not super amazing or anything but as an entertaining light thriller mini-series it’s pretty good. Do get past the first episode- it gets much better afterwards.


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## Reno (Oct 3, 2020)

_My Dinner with Andre_, another famous Louis Malle film I've never seen. By now this may be more famous for the parodies about it, getting referenced as the ultimate "inaction film" and it's probably a film more talked about than seen. It came out when I was 18 and despite it getting great reviews and being an art house hit, I didn't rush to see a film about two men having a conversation in a restaurant. Finally catching up with it, I really liked it. I found it involving and the conversation resonates with much that is still going on now. For two thirds it's more of Andre's monologue, how he strives to have spiritual experiences, though thankfully they are not just of the crystal & chakra kind. Andre is a smart and interesting man, but Wallace eventually intervenes, pointing out that not many people (including him) have the means to have Andre's experiences. Some of us have to make do with the comforts of life found in an electric blanket.


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## Reno (Oct 3, 2020)

Moved here:









						Brave New World By Aldous Huxley
					

i find it interesting how in Brave New World everyone was basically taking ecstasy and shagging each other is how they were 'oppressed'   i'd definetely go there on holiday, heh




					www.urban75.net


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## redsquirrel (Oct 3, 2020)

_A Woman's Revenge_ - Adaptation of a French story, really rather good. All the sets, even the "outside" ones shot are purposely staged as if in the theatre, I'm typically not a particular fan of films of (modern) plays, they seem to static, but here the deliberately staginess of the sets and performances enhances the plot and material. Just a pity I missed the director's (Rita Azevedo Gomes) other films in this MUBI season.

_Baxter, Vera Baxter_ - part of a series of films directed by Marguerite Duras, who wrote the script for the truly brilliant _Hiroshima, Mon Amor_. You can see the shared style running through the two films - the deliberately elliptical conversations. The continually playing music is a great contrast to the conversation and melancholy. Definitely recommend this - also has an appearance by a very young Gerard Depardieu. Looking forward to the rest of the season.

_Bad Education_ - latest in Almodovar season, continuing in the same type of vein as _Talk to Her_, a filmmaker that knows his game and style totally and is at ease bringing together different parts of his earlier work while still moving forward.

_Talking Heads_ - decided to watch the original set of six. It's become almost de rigour so satirise Bennet these days but seeing these again, and the NTs recent version of _Madness of King George_, you realise just what a great writer he is. Totally brilliant.


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## Sue (Oct 3, 2020)

redsquirrel, I gave up on Baxter, Vera Baxter as I found the music so annoying. Probably didn't help that it was at the end of a very long  week.


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## redsquirrel (Oct 3, 2020)

Sue said:


> redsquirrel, I gave up on Baxter, Vera Baxter as I found the music so annoying. Probably didn't help that it was at the end of a very long  week.


Personally I loved the music (and really enjoyed the film) but I can absolutely see how other people might find it grating. As soon as it started I thought this is going to go one of two ways


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## Ponyutd (Oct 4, 2020)




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## Reno (Oct 4, 2020)

_Au revoir les enfants_, which is based on a childhood experience Louis Malle had, where priests at his catholic boarding school sheltered a group of Jewish boys in occupied France.

Here Malle is revisiting and combining themes from _Murmur of the Heart_ and _Lacombe, Lucien_ both of which I liked better, they were more unpredictable. In those films I had didn’t always know how to feel about the characters, they kept me on my toes. This is a good film but a little too safe and maybe too awards-baity for me. It’s  comparable to Truffaut's once admired and slightly overprsised _The Last Metro_.



This is the real life case it was based on:








						Père Jacques - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## starfish (Oct 4, 2020)

Gangster Squad. Sounded right up my street. Post war LA cops taking on a big mobster. Decent cast, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Vonny Ribisi, Emma Stone. Unfortunately it was a big bag of shite.


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## Reno (Oct 4, 2020)

starfish said:


> Gangster Squad. Sounded right up my street. Post war LA cops taking on a big mobster. Decent cast, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Vonny Ribisi, Emma Stone. Unfortunately it was a big bag of shite.



That may be why it made every worst films list of its year


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## T & P (Oct 4, 2020)

The Hunt (2020). A comedy-horror satire. I thought it was going to be a low-budget cheap entertainment film but I was surprised to see it had good production values and a solid cast including a multiple Oscar winner. It turns out it had meant to have had a proper theatrical release but along came Covid.

Hints of Animal Farm, Ready or Not and The Hunger Games.Turned out to be much better than I’d anticipated. Nearly as good as Ready or Not I’d say.


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## Idris2002 (Oct 5, 2020)

starfish said:


> Gangster Squad. Sounded right up my street. Post war LA cops taking on a big mobster. Decent cast, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Vonny Ribisi, Emma Stone. Unfortunately it was a big bag of shite.


It was more like a video game than a movie. Sean Penn was utterly wasted.


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## not-bono-ever (Oct 5, 2020)

about 5 years behind the curve but watched I tonya last night. not exacyly uplifting


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## T & P (Oct 5, 2020)

not-bono-ever said:


> about 5 years behind the curve but watched I tonya last night. not exacyly uplifting


Wasn’t meant to be given the real life story it narrates. But I thought it was fucking great.

Historical films are not my first choice of genre to pick, and whereas I admire and recognise the talent required, I have zero interest in ice skating. So prior to seeing this film it didn’t tick any boxes for me. Yet I left the cinema highly satisfied.


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## not-bono-ever (Oct 5, 2020)

i know. it was good but the violence didn't seem to fit for me in a black comedy


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## Reno (Oct 5, 2020)

not-bono-ever said:


> i know. it was good but the violence didn't seem to fit for me in a black comedy



Violence usually is about laughing at transgressions, most of all acts of violence. _I, Tonya_ never treats any act of violence as a joke though. If anything, it makes a case for a woman, who has been treated by the media as a punchline for most of her life.


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## purves grundy (Oct 7, 2020)

Humberto said:


> Hereditary. Pointless shite.


Kidding? I thought it was fantastic. Just the kind of sinister horror I like.


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## Humberto (Oct 7, 2020)

Yeah you are right, it's a great film. I was so wrong there.


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## T & P (Oct 7, 2020)

We’ve been watching Fringe over the last few months, about to reach the fourth and last season. As a ‘leave-your-sense-of-disbelief-at-the-door’ type of sci-fi series, it’s not bad actually. Borrows a fair bit from The X Files but doesn’t have as high opinion of itself, and the story arch is pretty engaging.

As a JJ Abrams product it’s certainly better than Lost even if lacking the kind of budget and publicity the latter enjoyed. Haven’t finished the series yet though, so I can’t tell whether it will all end up having been a dream as well.


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## krtek a houby (Oct 7, 2020)

T & P said:


> We’ve been watching Fringe over the last few months, about to reach the fourth and last season. As a ‘leave-your-sense-of-disbelief-at-the-door’ type of sci-fi series, it’s not bad actually. Borrows a fair bit from The X Files but doesn’t have as high opinion of itself, and the story arch is pretty engaging.
> 
> As a JJ Abrams product it’s certainly better than Lost even if lacking the kind of budget and publicity the latter enjoyed. Haven’t finished the series yet though, so I can’t tell whether it will all end up having been a dream as well.



First season owes a lot to X-Files and in a later series, there's a great little Twin Peaks reference... but the show takes an audacious story arc as it goes on and the ending (imho) is indeed, satisfying.


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## rubbershoes (Oct 8, 2020)

_Wadjda_. A Saudi film about a girl who wants a bicycle. This is the first Saudi film I've come across and whilst it isn't directly about religion, it shows how the religious derived rules are such a part of their lives.

_Yardie_. The best thing about it is that it didn't follow the plot of the book, and focused instead on D's quest for the truth.

Was Stephen Graham's accent meant to veer suddenly into London now and again?

And did I spot Idris Elba giving himself a brief vanity appearance as one of Rico's goons


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## tony.c (Oct 10, 2020)

A Sky documentary called 'In the Cold Dark Night' about the brutal lynching of a Tim Coggins, a young black man, in Georgia, Deep South US in 1983. Worth watching the re-examination of the case recently.


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 10, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> Sean Penn was utterly wasted.



And not in the mid-late 80s sense


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## 5t3IIa (Oct 11, 2020)

Onward, new Pixar. What a mess. The unicorns were the best bit 🦄


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## The39thStep (Oct 11, 2020)

T & P said:


> Wasn’t meant to be given the real life story it narrates. But I thought it was fucking great.
> 
> Historical films are not my first choice of genre to pick, and whereas I admire and recognise the talent required, I have zero interest in ice skating. So prior to seeing this film it didn’t tick any boxes for me. Yet I left the cinema highly satisfied.



Surfjan Stevens does a brilliantly scathing song about her


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## Reno (Oct 11, 2020)

5t3IIa said:


> Onward, new Pixar. What a mess. The unicorns were the best bit 🦄


Had that one lined up for a while, but the premise sounds so unappealing.


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## magneze (Oct 11, 2020)

Upgrade
Really enjoyed this. Just an excellent dystopian sci-fi.

Icarus
Documentary vaguely related to drugs in cycling but then goes a bit sideways. Very watchable.

Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
Finally got around to Episode II after watching Episode I a few weeks ago. I prefer this to Episode I - it's a better story. The problems from Episode I remain - the CGI is better but still a bit off, the acting is still wooden and Hayden Christensen is badly miscast.

The Old Guard
Massive bodycount. Fairly obvious plotholes all the way through. An enjoyable popcorn action film.


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## BlanketAddict (Oct 11, 2020)

Oblivion, the 2013 Tom Cruise sci-fi. 

I saw it when it first came out, enjoyed it more this second watch.


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## DexterTCN (Oct 11, 2020)

BlanketAddict said:


> Oblivion, the 2013 Tom Cruise sci-fi.
> 
> I saw it when it first came out, enjoyed it more this second watch.


I liked the double-meaning.


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## BlanketAddict (Oct 11, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> I liked the double-meaning.



The only issue I had with the story was why the aliens would just make loads of copies of two people to do what seemed fairly straightforward tasks. Seemed like a big and unnecessary risk!
Really liked the music in it as well.


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## T & P (Oct 11, 2020)

BlanketAddict said:


> Oblivion, the 2013 Tom Cruise sci-fi.
> 
> I saw it when it first came out, enjoyed it more this second watch.


Agreed, of all the time loop sub genre films it’s one of the best ones.


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## krtek a houby (Oct 11, 2020)

T & P said:


> Agreed, of all the time loop sub genre films it’s one of the best ones.



Edge of Tomorrow?


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## T & P (Oct 11, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Edge of Tomorrow?


Sorry, yes of course


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## BlanketAddict (Oct 11, 2020)

T & P said:


> Sorry, yes of course



Edge Of Tomorrow is one of my favourite sci-fi films of recent times. Not a big Tom Cruise fan but he's really good in it. 

As for time loop films, I loved Primer. A different approach to the usual fare...


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 11, 2020)

Agreed, of all the time loop sub genre films it’s one of the best ones.


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## Reno (Oct 11, 2020)

_Happy Death Day_, the slasher movie/black comedy variation on the time loop film is good fun. It even got a decent sequel which managed to be more than a mere repeat. I also enjoyed this years time loop movie, _Palm Springs._


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## T & P (Oct 12, 2020)

Uncle Peckerhead. A 2020 comedy-horror. Whereas it is low budget it looks and feels quite glossy. Checked it out after seeing it boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

it certainly has an engaging and plot that is much more multilayered than you’d normally see in that sub genre. Not as good as the 100% rating might suggest, but certainly very decent.









						Uncle Peckerhead
					

Terror strikes when a man-eating roadie joins a bassist and her punk-rock band on their first tour.




					www.rottentomatoes.com


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## rubbershoes (Oct 12, 2020)

Four Lions 

As bitter sweet as ever


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## BlanketAddict (Oct 12, 2020)

rubbershoes said:


> Four Lions
> 
> As bitter sweet as ever



Chris Morris's crowning achievement (so far). 
Absolute genius to make something so funny and tragic, often within the same scene, about such a raw subject matter. 
Came out in 2007 I think , more relevant than ever. 
Also has some of the most quotable lines which I couldn't possibly repeat here!


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## DexterTCN (Oct 12, 2020)

Night School.  A Kevin Hart movie billed as a comedy.  I didn't see any jokes though as I only watched an hour of it, they must all be at the end.


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## Reno (Oct 12, 2020)

Black Box, low budget sci-fi-horror film about an amnesiac, undergoing a new treatment, which may not be what he thinks it is. Pretty good in a Twilight Zone way, with some decent plot twists and Mrs Huxtable from The Cosby Show gets to play a mad scientist.


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## Idris2002 (Oct 12, 2020)

Reno said:


> Black Box, low budget sci-fi-horror film about an amnesiac, undergoing a new treatment, which may not be what he thinks it is. Pretty good in a Twilight Zone way, with some decent plot twists and Mrs Huxtable from The Cosby Show gets to play a mad scientist.


Sounds like one of those things you watch just to see what it's like.


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## Reno (Oct 14, 2020)

_Blood Quantum_, Canadian zombie film about a zombie outbreak where only indigenous people are immune to the zombie plague. Got good reviews, but it didn't do much for me. Apart from the Native American twist, it didn't do anything new.

...and just because all of Urban is waiting for this with bated breath:

I'm stuck with my Louis Malle retrospective. The last few films don't look that enticing and the next film up (and the last one in my box set) is _Milou en mai/Mai Fools_. Nothing puts the fear in me like "gentle comedy of manners". I've also downloaded _Damage_ and _Vanya on 42nd Street. _There are a few more films of his which I haven't been able to get hold of or which I have seen and don't need to see again.


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## Idris2002 (Oct 14, 2020)

I never knew Vanya on 42nd Street was Louis Malle. I saw it a few times on VHS in the '90s. Definitely worth a look, I'd say, even if it's inevitably more of a filmed stage drama than a movie.


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## Reno (Oct 14, 2020)

Idris2002 said:


> I never knew Vanya on 42nd Street was Louis Malle. I saw it a few times on VHS in the '90s. Definitely worth a look, I'd say, even if it's inevitably more of a filmed stage drama than a movie.


His last film and it looks like the most interesting one of the ones I've got left.


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## T & P (Oct 15, 2020)

You Should Have Left. A 2020! horror film with Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried. It’s shit, don’t bother.


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## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2020)

I've been working my way through everything Stargate over the last few months for nostalgia value, first SG1 which I saw as it aired. Done with that I moved onto Stargate: Atlantis which passed me by at the time. Who should turn up a couple of series in?  Jason Momoa. As the groups Warrior hardcase like worf or tealc

Last night I watched Hardware which was bad to the point of incoherency but I stuck with it anyway having been sucked in by some good opening effects and Lemmy as a future taxi driver. Avoid.


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2020)

DotCommunist said:


> Last night I watched Hardware which was bad to the point of incoherency but I stuck with it anyway having been sucked in by some good opening effects and Lemmy as a future taxi driver. Avoid.


The very first _2000AD_ movie


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## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> The very first _2000AD_ movie


this is what attracted my attention in the first place and despite itself there are some really cool shots, you know where theres a sliver of promise and you stick with it to see if the underlying vision/idea will come through. Iggy Pop is in it as well, it has all the ingredients to be a fllawed gem of-its-time but it was a mess.


----------



## Sasaferrato (Oct 15, 2020)

Le Mis. the movie. Very good.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2020)

DotCommunist said:


> theres a sliver of promise and you stick with it to see if the underlying vision/idea will come through.


Tis the tragic fate to which we seekers are all doomed


----------



## secondwind (Oct 16, 2020)

Asda wagyu burger with baked beans/


----------



## Micky D (Oct 16, 2020)

The Beiderbeck Trilogy - accept no substitute


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 17, 2020)

Micky D said:


> The Beiderbeck Trilogy - accept no substitute


"It's Nicaraguan"


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Oct 17, 2020)

mid90s, Jonah Hill's writer/director debut from a couple of years ago. Enjoyed it a lot, bit of a Kids vibe, good central performances - right up until the final 30 seconds when it just ended with no real resolution, like they ran out of money and just decided to end partway through a scene.


----------



## MBV (Oct 17, 2020)

Buddy Bradley said:


> mid90s, Jonah Hill's writer/director debut from a couple of years ago. Enjoyed it a lot, bit of a Kids vibe, good central performances - right up until the final 30 seconds when it just ended with no real resolution, like they ran out of money and just decided to end partway through a scene.


 Was very good - someone on here recommended it a while ago.I even like the Morrisey track they used.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 18, 2020)

Dark River. On All4.

Yorkshire...a farmer's daughter returns to the family farm to claim the tenancy after he dies. I really like Clio Barnard's first 2 films but this one didn't work so well for me. 

The Yorkshire scenery is beautiful but the setting is bleak, the farm is dilapidated and of another age. I spotted Markham Cove immediately though I don't ever remember going there. The dialogue is limited initially but it quickly becomes apparent what's happened. Like God's Own Country it's a sensitive story that's quite possibly based in some reality. 

The acting wasn't great though, (Ruth Wilson can pull a serious face) and there were a few scenes that just didn't work. Still, worth a watch if you need to fill 90 minutes.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Oct 19, 2020)

Rambo: Last Blood. At least it was fairly short and unintentionally ridiculous...


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 19, 2020)

Colour out of Space. HP Lovecraft story turned into a film with Nicholas Cage. I almost thought he wasn't gonna play the usual loon but he turns it up to 11 and doesn't disappoint. A meteorite lands in his garden and sends the family and it's Alpacas mad. Entertaining enough and the effects were good.


----------



## T & P (Oct 19, 2020)

Scare Me. A 2020 comedy horror by Josh Ruben. Set entirely in a holiday cabin, it involves two neighbours, both writers but with contrasting fortunes and writing talent, who get under the same roof one evening when the power goes out and decide to past the time by telling each other horror stories.

Some might not like it. I fucking loved it. Clever script and dialogue, good performances, and whereas this is mainly a wordy play, things do happen. Out on Shudder.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Oct 19, 2020)

Knives Out. Deserved all of the plaudits it received. 10/10


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 20, 2020)

Finding Vivian Maier. A young auction hunter buys a box of negatives for $380 and discovers one of the greatest street photographers ever. It's a really great story and her photography is absolutely outstanding.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 21, 2020)

Finished Sacred Games. Interesting ending.


----------



## ska invita (Oct 22, 2020)

The Square
					

Egyptian revolutionaries battle their leaders and regime to build a new society.




					www.rottentomatoes.com
				




The Square - documentary shot right in the thick of it from 2010 to 2013, capturing the fall of Mubarak, the fall of Tantawi, and then the fall of Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood...told from the intimate view point of a cast of a handful of revolutionaries who are there throughout, which includes the people making the film - this isnt an outside-looking-in account
Really impressive footage and story telling , I've never seen anything quite like it in all honesty.

Currently on Netflix, may be elsewhere. According to IMDB Trivia " The film is both the first Kickstarter (crowd-sourced) film to be nominated for an Oscar, but it is also the first film released by Netflix to receive a nomination. "


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 22, 2020)

_The Trial of the Chicago 7_

Aaron Sorkin delivers the dialogue and a great cast excel in this courtroom drama that played out 50 years ago and shows little has changed. Brilliant.


----------



## ska invita (Oct 22, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> _The Trial of the Chicago 7_
> 
> Aaron Sorkin delivers the dialogue and a great cast excel in this courtroom drama that played out 50 years ago and shows little has changed. Brilliant.


saw it got a bit slated on the netflix thread for innacuracies


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 22, 2020)

ska invita said:


> saw it got a bit slated on the netflix thread for innacuracies



Yeah, it's more of an entertaining drama than a proper history lesson. But am sure anyone with any interest in politics then and now would be reasonably familiar with the case or would be checking out how things went down after seeing the movie...


----------



## Reno (Oct 22, 2020)

_The Uninvited_, which in 1944 was the first proper Hollywood haunted house film. The films which dealt with haunted houses before, like _The Ghost Breakers_ or _The Cat and the Canary_, were comedies and it was usually revealed that the haunting had a rational, Scooby-Doo style explanation. _The Uninvited_ is about a brother and sister (Ray Milland & Ruth Hussey) who purchase an abandoned mansion on the Cornish coast, for a suspiciously low price and then things go bump in the night. They also befriend a young woman, who has a connection to the house and who may hold the key to its past.

Many elements which were to become tropes of the haunted house film are present. A room which is always cold, a seance that gets out of control and a character who eventually becomes possessed by the apparition.  _The Uninvited_ has its lighter moments and isn't necessarily that scary today, but it takes its ghost seriously and there are a few plot twists along the way as to the nature of the haunting. When the ghostly presence materialises in the climax, it's a surprisingly beautiful special effect (which got removed by the British censors at the time), anticipating the amorphous, glowing spectre who descends the staircase in _Poltergeist_.


----------



## belboid (Oct 23, 2020)

Rebecca (2020)

Oh well, it was not to be. All the gothic is gone, turned into a simple melodrama (well, okay, not that simple). Armie & Lily aren't right and if they are going to stick strictly to ther book (in the way that the Hitchcock doesn't) you really need show and explain a bit more because it makes Max look like a complete bastard.  Or was that the point? [ambivalent knowing look].  KST and Jason Williamson are the best things in it. I thought Sam Riley was going to literally twiddle his moustache at one point.


----------



## Sue (Oct 23, 2020)

belboid said:


> Rebecca (2020)
> 
> Oh well, it was not to be. All the gothic is gone, turned into a simple melodrama (well, okay, not that simple). Armie & Lily aren't right and if they are going to stick strictly to ther book (in the way that the Hitchcock doesn't) you really need show and explain a bit more because it makes Max look like a complete bastard.  Or was that the point? [ambivalent knowing look].  KST and Jason Williamson are the best things in it. I thought Sam Riley was going to literally twiddle his moustache at one point.


This was on at my local cinema and I was a bit 'nah', especially as it's on Netflix soon (today?) Is it worth bothering with? I love the Hitchcock version but thought this might be vaguely worth watching as it's Ben Wheatley, if I did hate his adaptation of High Rise..


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 23, 2020)

Islands in the Stream.

Watched this on one of the nostalgia channels last weekend. Based on a Hemingway novel which he completed in the early '50s but never published, it was surprisingly good. Sculptor Tom Hudson (George C. Scott as a passable Hemingway) is chilling on a Caribbean island, but it's 1940 and the war is coming. Final scenes, involving trying to smuggle Jewish refugees into Cuba deliver the goods.

Better than I expected.


----------



## belboid (Oct 23, 2020)

Sue said:


> This was on at my local cinema and I was a bit 'nah', especially as it's on Netflix soon (today?) Is it worth bothering with? I love the Hitchcock version but thought this might be vaguely worth watching as it's Ben Wheatley, if I did hate his adaptation of High Rise..


It is still Rebecca, so its a grand story and its lusciously shot, but it's no Hitchcock. If you had never read the book or seen the film you'd probably find it quite entertaining.


----------



## Detroit City (Oct 23, 2020)

Joker


----------



## Reno (Oct 24, 2020)

_The Wolf of Snow Hollow_, a horror comedy about cops in a small town in Utah, who come to suspect that a werewolf may be behind a series of brutal murders. I liked this a lot, it isn't your run of the mill horror comedy and its filmmaker has a distinctive voice, which keeps the film unpredictable. It's the second film written and directed by Jim Cummings who also plays the lead role. He plays a cop whose life is a mess, who is in over his head and who is edging towards a breakdown as it becomes apparent that the murderer may not be entirely human. It's played for an curious mixture of funny and serious, especially when it comes to its protagonist's unravelling mental state  and the tonal shifts are what makes this interesting. This also features Robert Forster in his last role. Well worth checking out and I'm going to track down Cumming's first film_ Thunder Road.



_


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 24, 2020)

Ooh didn't know about that - is it available to stream, Reno ?


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 24, 2020)

I saw the new Borat - nowhere near as funny as the first one and a bit redundant - it's just too easy for him to expose these nutbar Republicans - he didn't even need to be Borat to do so. Stil, some very funny moments.


----------



## Reno (Oct 24, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Ooh didn't know about that - is it available to stream, Reno ?


It must be streaming somewhere, otherwise it wouldn't be on torrent sites.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 24, 2020)

Seen first two films in MUBI's Aki Kaurismaki season. I've seen _Le Havre_ before and it remains an absolute delight in every way wonderful to look at, charming and just full of humanism. _Lights in the Dusk_ is a lot bleaker, the protagonist subjected to one pain after another, though there might just be a little tiny bit of hope at the end. 

Then had a French crime double bill
_The Color of Lies_ - On on Chanbrol's later works, going over his favourite ground, relationships breaking apart and murder, but no worse for all that. The relationship and contrasting personalities of the two central characters is top notch. 
Then watched an adaptation of his spiritual partner Ruth Rendell in Claude Miller's _Betty Fisher and Other Stories_ which trends similar ground, how people find themselves in the strangest situations. Not quite in the league of Chabrol's own Rendell adaptations but still good, and I have a soft spot for Sandrine Kiberlain as an actor. 

_The New Girlfriend_ - Another Rendell adaptation, though in this case only very loosely, this is very much Francois Ozon's sensibilities rather than Rendell's (he does not have the sympathy with her work that Chabrol and Miller do). It's ok but the balance between the comedy, thriller and more sexual elements did not work.


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 24, 2020)

ringo said:


> Jason Bourne. Does what it says on the tin.


That it does!


----------



## T & P (Oct 25, 2020)

Aterrados (Terrified). A 2017 Argentinian supernatural horror. Pretty good, actually. Keeps the jump-scares to a minimum, and that actually works pretty well as the story is strong enough to sustain the film.


----------



## passenger (Oct 25, 2020)

Watching a film called platform, on Netflix rather gory not for the squeamish but I like it.


----------



## T & P (Oct 25, 2020)

passenger said:


> Watching a film called platform, on Netflix rather gory not for the squeamish but I like it.


It’s a good film


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 25, 2020)

Season (or "volume") 3 of _Dear White People_. Not quite as good as season 2 but still very watchable, great dialogue and characters.


----------



## Chz (Oct 25, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Season (or "volume") 3 of _Dear White People_. Not quite as good as season 2 but still very watchable, great dialogue and characters.


I dropped it after a few there. I'm not sure that S3 is better or worse than the first two, but it's very _different_ in tone and it put me off. That being said, I do think it kind of jumped the shark with the conspiracies.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Oct 25, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I saw the new Borat - nowhere near as funny as the first one and a bit redundant - it's just too easy for him to expose these nutbar Republicans - he didn't even need to be Borat to do so. Stil, some very funny moments.



Yeah, it was dreadful. Most of the people we're supposed to believe are real in it are obviously actors and the editing in it at the real points was not very clever. I like SBC as a person, but Borat has passed it's sell by years ago.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 25, 2020)

skyscraper101 said:


> Yeah, it was dreadful. Most of the people we're supposed to believe are real in it are obviously actors and the editing in it at the real points was not very clever. I like SBC as a person, but Borat has passed it's sell by years ago.


Who are we supposed to believe are real?


----------



## skyscraper101 (Oct 25, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Who are we supposed to believe are real?



e.g. the guy in the fax shop


----------



## Knotted (Oct 25, 2020)

belboid said:


> Rebecca (2020)
> 
> Oh well, it was not to be. All the gothic is gone, turned into a simple melodrama (well, okay, not that simple). Armie & Lily aren't right and if they are going to stick strictly to ther book (in the way that the Hitchcock doesn't) you really need show and explain a bit more because it makes Max look like a complete bastard.  Or was that the point? [ambivalent knowing look].  KST and Jason Williamson are the best things in it. I thought Sam Riley was going to literally twiddle his moustache at one point.



Well I watched it last night and although the last act is a simple melodrama I thought the rest of the film had an interesting atmosphere and a sense of alienation that even dabbled in folk horror at a couple of points there was one fleeting scene that even reminded me of the May Day celebrations in the Wicker Man and in a way that didn't feel forced. The sudden use of Pentangle tune in the soundtrack was jarring but on reflection it brought out what was already there. So I thought it worked as a satire on the landed gentry even if Wheatley's intentions were ultimately at odds with the source material (I guess, I haven't read it).


----------



## Knotted (Oct 25, 2020)

Watched Parasite now that it's free on Amazon Prime a couple of nights ago. I liked it but not as much as I was expecting to. I thought the dialogue was really well written and the story would have been jarring if it hadn't been told so well, but it was seamlessly alarming. I still just didn't love it, I would have preferred a film that's more slimmed down but then it might not have been so seamless.

It's amazingly similar thematically to a certain other film that came out at about the same time.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Oct 25, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I saw the new Borat - nowhere near as funny as the first one and a bit redundant - it's just too easy for him to expose these nutbar Republicans - he didn't even need to be Borat to do so. Stil, some very funny moments.



his daughter stole the show i think. also, he wasnt as hard on the patriots as he could have been - i suggest his subjects were not as bigoted as he hoped


----------



## belboid (Oct 25, 2020)

The Nun - having completely misremembered the reviews.  It's even worse than they said, absolutely terrible (tho it might have helped if I'd seen any of the others in the Conjuring series).

The Nightingale - Jennifer Kents follow up to Babadook, and, my god, but it is brilliant.  A western, rape-revenge, and damnation of colonialism and genocide drama. It is incredibly brutal and hard to watch at times but I couldn't take my eyes from it.  The three leads are superb and the soundtrack is quite wonderful. Intense and magnificent.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 25, 2020)

Rebecca...the Ben Wheatley remake. An entirely watchable film, very different to his others. I probably saw the Hitchcock original years ago and I'll definitely seek it out just to see how much better it is.


----------



## Reno (Oct 26, 2020)

Knotted said:


> Watched Parasite now that it's free on Amazon Prime a couple of nights ago. I liked it but not as much as I was expecting to. I thought the dialogue was really well written and the story would have been jarring if it hadn't been told so well, but it was seamlessly alarming. I still just didn't love it, I would have preferred a film that's more slimmed down but then it might not have been so seamless.
> 
> *It's amazingly similar thematically to a certain other film that came out at about the same time.*


Knives Out, Shoplifters ?


----------



## Reno (Oct 26, 2020)

_Antrum_, which seems to divide horror fans, with some finding it scary and others finding it boring. I rather liked it and found it original and creepy. It starts with a first act that's a faux-documentary, explaining that there is this mysterious film from the 70s, made in Bulgaria but in English, which was submitted to and rejected by several film festivals. Everybody who watched the film died soon after. Then the main bulk of the film is _Antrum_ in its entirety, with a warning that the cinema takes no responsibility for any effects the film may have. 

The film itself has a grubby, handmade quality, which makes it rather dreamlike, bits are missing here and there and another film has been spliced in at times. It starts out very slow, almost like an experimental film, about a young woman who goes camping with her kid brother. The boy's dog had to be put down and he's been told, the dog is in hell, because he was a "bad dog". So his sister takes him to a spot, where she claims Satan has fallen to earth, to dig a hole in the forest to retrieve the dog from hell. The film has a genuinely sinister atmosphere and the plot takes on a babes-lost-in-the-woods fairy tale quality, where anything could happen. There is something lurking in the woods with the children and the film uses the jump cuts in the supposedly damaged film print rather well to suggest an evil presence lurking in the forest. It also brings in a couple of characters from a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-type of film. 

Of course it can't live up to the claims that it's the most dangerous film ever made, but its film-within-a-film aspect works really well, it liberates the film from conventional narrative expectations and can just concentrate on atmosphere and scary situations. I can see why it wouldn't work for some as it's not a conventional horror film and in the first half it demands some patience from the viewer, but it worked on me.

This may be on Amazon Prime.


----------



## Knotted (Oct 26, 2020)

Reno said:


> Knives Out, Shoplifters ?



I was trying not to spoil either film but



Spoiler



Us - ie. haves and have nots, home invention (sort of) and people living in underground bunkers.


----------



## Reno (Oct 26, 2020)

I also watched the first couple of episodes of a new horror anthology series called _Monsterland_, which I didn't like at all. Each story takes place in a different US state and they are more depressing than scary. The supernatural elements feel shoehorned into what are rather downbeat dramas about people in desperate circumstances (a young single mother who regrets having had her baby, a teenage boy who feels stuck caring for his disabled mother) . Each episode ends abruptly without any sort of explanation. If it was successful you could put it down to the stories being ambiguous, but here it just feels like they simply couldn't be bothered to make sense of the horror elements, which feel tacked on. The circumstances the characters find themselves in are bad enough. Like Lovecraft Country, another prestige horror tv series which is well cast and well directed and which has had money thrown at it but the writing lets it down.


----------



## trabuquera (Oct 26, 2020)

*The Alienist *series 2 on Netflix - a manageable 6 x 50'ish, which is just as well as the oppressive industrial-gothic-Golden-Age-New-York smoke and darkness might have got a bit too much if it had dragged on any longer. A curate's egg ... some impressive visuals, amazing costumery and set pieces, decently doom-y shivery soundtrack. Dakota Fanning's rather good; the script isn't terrible but never really picks up momentum and hedges a lot of its bets. Plot is mostly bobbins and makes little sense. If you loved or hated S1 of this it's essentially more of the same.

Spoiler for content: 



Spoiler: it may not be suitable for recently bereaved or traumatised viewers because...



Plot revolves around child loss and infanticide with plenty of unpleasant violence against women too. Not in my view exploitative but getting pretty near it....



Un-serious spoiler that's one of its delights: 



Spoiler: look who shows up in the cast but....



Bunny Colvin off the Wire, still acting the avuncular boss amid a sea of mire as a bar-keeper - and Jodie Foster being an amazingly intimidating 19th-c intellectual sexologist!


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 27, 2020)

Reno said:


> _Antrum_, which seems to divide horror fans, with some finding it scary and others finding it boring. I rather liked it and found it original and creepy. It starts with a first act that's a faux-documentary, explaining that there is this mysterious film from the 70s, made in Bulgaria but in English, which was submitted to and rejected by several film festivals. Everybody who watched the film died soon after. Then the main bulk of the film is _Antrum_ in its entirety, with a warning that the cinema takes no responsibility for any effects the film may have.
> 
> The film itself has a grubby, handmade quality, which makes it rather dreamlike, bits are missing here and there and another film has been spliced in at times. It starts out very slow, almost like an experimental film, about a young woman who goes camping with her kid brother. The boy's dog had to be put down and he's been told, the dog is in hell, because he was a "bad dog". So his sister takes him to a spot, where she claims Satan has fallen to earth, to dig a hole in the forest to retrieve the dog from hell. The film has a genuinely sinister atmosphere and the plot takes on a babes-lost-in-the-woods fairy tale quality, where anything could happen. There is something lurking in the woods with the children and the film uses the jump cuts in the supposedly damaged film print rather well to suggest an evil presence lurking in the forest. It also brings in a couple of characters from a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-type of film.
> 
> ...



Watched this last night and thought it was great. The Antrum film as you say was very dreamlike and nicely shot, quite believable as an authentic 60s/70s film. I thought the kid and sister were really good and only the character in pants and wellies was a bit ott. I was expecting more of a climactic scene but was content enough with the ending.

Also watched The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue...also known as Don't Open The Windows and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. 

I never knew about this until a friend posted the trailer yesterday. It was a good find...a 1974 Spanish/Italian zombie film set in and near Manchester that's well worth watching.


----------



## Reno (Oct 27, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Also watched The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue...also known as Don't Open The Windows and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie.
> 
> I never knew about this until a friend posted the trailer yesterday. It was a good find...a 1974 Spanish/Italian zombie film set in and near Manchester that's well worth watching.



Or _Zombies vs Junkies_, as I like to call it  

It’s little known 70s gem, the Spanish horror films of the period are not as well known as the Italian ones, but there are some great ones.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 27, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Also watched The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue...also known as Don't Open The Windows and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie.
> 
> I never knew about this until a friend posted the trailer yesterday. It was a good find...a 1974 Spanish/Italian zombie film set in and near Manchester that's well worth watching.



“Listen, boy, you keep getting on my nerves and I'm going to give you another kind of house to look after - one with lots of bars on the windows!”


----------



## platinumsage (Oct 28, 2020)

The Undoing episode1, new HBO thrillery mystery thing. Will definitely watch episode 2.


----------



## T & P (Oct 28, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> The Undoing episode1, new HBO thrillery mystery thing. Will definitely watch episode 2.


Liked it as well.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 28, 2020)

Reno said:


> *Becky*, extremely violent home invasion thriller, which plays like the gore drenched version of _Home Alone_. Probably in questionable taste, the way it puts young children in very violent situations but it caught me in the right mood after dealing with some annoying people at work.
> 
> It's about a sullen teenage girl who finds herself in a John McClane situation when her family home  gets taken over by Neo-Nazi convicts, who've escaped prison. I've read complains that the heroine isn't very sympathetic but I think the point is that Becky is a baby sociopath, which is what makes her so ruthless. I liked that she's not played by some ”teenager“ who looks like they are in their 20s, she really is a little girl dispatching villains in gruesome ways.
> 
> The film skirts around the Neo-Nazi issue to a degree where it wouldn’t have made any difference had they been regular thugs, so that didn’t quite work for me, but otherwise it was good, unclean fun.



Really enjoyed it, wasn't expecting it to be quite so, uh, _visceral_ 

Lulu Wilson was excellent, and Kevin James certainly gave it a good shot.


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 1, 2020)

Watched Aliens with the boy. He enjoyed it but said he preferred Alien! I didn't see that coming from a 12yo


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 1, 2020)

May Kasahara said:


> Watched Aliens with the boy. He enjoyed it but said he preferred Alien! I didn't see that coming from a 12yo


Good lad. He is correct.


----------



## T & P (Nov 1, 2020)

May Kasahara said:


> Watched Aliens with the boy. He enjoyed it but said he preferred Alien! I didn't see that coming from a 12yo


Wise choice and impressive coming from a young lad. As Bill Paxman might have said, why don’t you put him in charge?


----------



## starfish (Nov 1, 2020)

Calm with Horses. Pretty decent Irish drama. Quite gritty.


----------



## May Kasahara (Nov 1, 2020)

T & P said:


> Wise choice and impressive coming from a young lad. As Bill Paxman might have said, why don’t you put him in charge?



I would, but that would mean convincing my 9yo that she's not


----------



## MBV (Nov 1, 2020)

New (third) series of Suburra on netflix. Decent Italian drama.


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 2, 2020)

Love & Monsters - the first half at any rate, seems like it's aimed at 9-year olds, it's like Labyrinth but with boring actors and more sunshine and no labyrinth.


----------



## T & P (Nov 2, 2020)

Kadaver (or Cadaver as Netflix lists it). A post-nuclear war dystopian near future horror-thriller in which the struggling, hungry survivals of a town are invited to a lavish immersive theatre show at a nearby posh hotel, but not all is what it seems.

You see the plot coming a mile off, and mostly guess what's going to happen next- yet I found the film enjoyable and satisfying. 6/10


----------



## T & P (Nov 2, 2020)

Also,, not a film per se but I would *urge* anyone who loves iconic 1980s films such as The Goonies, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and so on (so anyone who has a pulse and is not a wrong’un imo), to watch Reunited Apart on YouTube.

It is basically a six-episode Zoom chat, each featuring most if not all of the surviving principal cast members of such films, plus special guests such as the likes of Stephen Spielberg and others. And it’s a Covid fundraiser for added kudos.

I know celebrity live video conference programmes are not a new thing, but this one is by far the best of the kind I have seen. Some episodes are better than others but the lesser good ones are still very good, and the better ones are absurdly enjoyable. For me the   greatest two were those featuring The Goonies, and The Lord of the Rings, which by their own admission is a bit of a cheat as it’s not 1980s, but so fucking good you don’t care.











						The great 80s Zoom reunion! How Josh Gad lured film giants out of lockdown
					

From Splash to Ferris Bueller, movies from the 80s have proved lockdown dynamite. The voice of Frozen’s Olaf reveals how he turned this nostalgia into Reunited Apart, now a YouTube sensation




					www.google.com


----------



## ska invita (Nov 3, 2020)

Watched the Beatles Hard Days Night (again...saw it years ago). Still a fun and entertaining watch 
What amazes me is:
This was filmed in 1964 - average age of the band members was 22 years old
The Beatles split up in 1970 just six years later, with average aged of the band members as 28 years old
Incredible to me how young they were, how much music they made in such a short period, but more so how much their style and thinking changed in such a short period. The transforming power of lsd frankly.


----------



## T & P (Nov 3, 2020)

We’ve just discovered *Barry*, an HBO dark action comedy-drama series about a reluctant hit man trying to quit and live a normal live but being unable to through various unwanted entanglements with assassins, mafias and the likes. Written, directed and starred by Bill Harder.

You know what? It’s actually really fucking good. Finishing S1 now and really enjoying it. Recommended.









						Barry
					

Synopsis:Disillusioned at the thought of taking down another




					www.rottentomatoes.com


----------



## Reno (Nov 4, 2020)

Maybe because it's in part about a political campaign, but I rewatched Robert Altman's _Nashville_ after not having seen it in a couple of decades. It blew me away how great it still is, the best film ever starring a large ensemble of actors. The 70s really was the best decade for US movies.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 4, 2020)

Cinemas are closed, so Leeds Film Festival has gone online. This is the first film I saw:
*And Tomorrow the Entire World*. Nailbiting thriller about an antifascist activist collective at odds with each other over violent action against Nazis. 4 hippies playing bongos out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 4, 2020)

I also saw Train To Busan last night - very very good South Korean zombie movie with some inventive thrills that lever it above most zombie flicks. 4 neck snaps out of 5


----------



## fucthest8 (Nov 4, 2020)

The History of Time Travel

Excellent little documentary, even though it's mostly covered by scientists who weren't actually part of the project. Unsurprising I guess. Still very good though. Takes 15 minutes to get into its stride, but once it does, pay close attention!

E2A oops, meant to out this in the Amazon thread. So, er, it's on Prime


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 4, 2020)

*Anne at 13,000 Feet*
Tense and excruciating drama about a young woman unravelling after she's thrilled by a parachute jump. 2 horribly awkward faux-pas out of 5
and here the problem with watching at home as opposed to on the big screen has become apparent - it's one of those films that is hard to watch as it's all about a volatile person having a breakdown and behaving rashly and inappropriately - I found it so torturous that it took me a few goes to watch it, despite it only lasting 75 minutes.


----------



## Reno (Nov 4, 2020)

_Possessor_, the second film by Brandon Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg. He's definitely a chip of the old block, making sci-fi body-horror films which resemble his dad's early films. I didn't care for this. Intriguing at first, it's a far from original idea (body hopping killer) not executed in a way which I found particularly interesting.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 4, 2020)

Reno said:


> _Possessor_, the second film by Brandon Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg. He's definitely a chip of the old block, making sci-fi body-horror films which resemble his dad's early films. I didn't care for this. Intriguing at first, it's a far from original idea (body hopping killer) not executed in a way which I found particularly interesting.


Shame, there’s a lot of hype about this


----------



## Reno (Nov 4, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Shame, there’s a lot of hype about this


...and I fell for it !


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 4, 2020)

Witches of Eastwick with jack nicholson


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 5, 2020)

Knives Out, the first half of. It’s alright, even though I think I’m supposed to find it funny but don’t. An I’m not keen on Daniel Craig, and no idea why he was cast here.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 5, 2020)

*Arracht*
Inevitably bleak Irish-language drama about the famine in the 1840s. also features a Roy Keane lookalike as a brooding pyschopath. "this didn't happen to us, it was done to us" - what a year for this to come out. The Connemara locations are stunning though bleak (there's that word again) 4 rotten taters out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 6, 2020)

*Beauty Water*
On-the-nose Korean animated cautionary tale about a young woman who uses a radical beauty treatment that results in her behaving in an ugly manner to say the least. Shallow thrills with some horrific moments. 3 melting faces out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 6, 2020)

*Andrey Tarkovsky: A Cinema Prayer*
Excellent doc on the visionary Russian director, in which he is the sole voice, explaining his artistic intent. I even understand Mirror now! 4 lingering shots of water out of 5


----------



## Reno (Nov 7, 2020)

_The Dark and the Wicked_, another overpraised horror film which went straight to streaming during the pandemic, instead of getting a theatrical release. The film is atmospheric and well acted, the first third is effective and scary but then it starts to drag and it doesn't do anything especially new. 

I preferred the similar _Relic_, also from this year. Both are about relatives visiting their elderly parents in rural seclusion where an evil, supernatural entity appears to have taken over. Both use the frailty of old age as a source of horror.


----------



## Sweet FA (Nov 7, 2020)

*Spontaneous*

_"A yarn about exploding teens...an intriguing comment on culture wars, Gen-Z despair and even Covid quarantine"._

It's excellent. Watched it with my teen who is head over heels in love with the lead (Katherine Langford off 13 Reasons Why). Really reminded me of films from my own teens - Winona Ryder and Crispin Glover would probably have had the leads back then. Sharp script, great performances; well worth 100 mins of your time.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 7, 2020)

*Balloon*
Bittersweet Tibetan drama about a sheep-farming family whose harmony is threatened by China's one child policy. Best looking film so far - a bleached-out colour palette with lots of shades of blue. Loved it. 4 massive ram's bollocks out of 5


----------



## cybershot (Nov 7, 2020)

War with grandpa.
Juvenile film starring Robert de Niro as the grandad who moves in with his daughter (Uma Thurman) and takes over her sons bedroom kicking him into the attic and they declare war over the room.

it’s very silly but it’s actually very funny.


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 8, 2020)

7 Days in Entebbe

Potentially gripping drama about Operation Entebbe which was totally ruined by interspersing the climax with an interpretive dance routine being performed by a soldier's girlfriend back in Israel.


----------



## Sweet FA (Nov 8, 2020)

*Love and Monsters*

Actually quite good post-apocalyptic giant insects teen romp. Dylan O'Brien does his Maze Runner/Teen Wolf goofy winning smile thing again even though he's 30 or something now.


----------



## Reno (Nov 8, 2020)

_Kajillionaire_, Miranda July's new one. Her films and writing are quirky in a way which puts off some people, but her work also is warm hearted and sincere and her eccentricities are too specific to be easily dismissed. There is a fully developed view of the world, people and their relationships rather than just whimsy for its own sake.

I loved her first film, _You, Me and Everyone We Know _but still I haven't caught up with _The Future_ (despite it being about a talking cat !!!). _Kajillionaire_ is a dark comedy about a family of extremely inept con-artists. More poignantly, it's about an abusive relationships between parents and their now adult daughter (Evan Rachel Wood is fantastic, combining deadpan physical comedy with real heartbreak), who they never regarded as more than an accomplice in their harebrained criminal schemes.

While I enjoyed aspects, like fantastic performances from all four leads and some good gags (a running gag of the family sneaking past their landlord made me laugh every time), I didn't think there were enough ideas to sustain a feature film and it didn't have enough substance to really grapple with its issues. Still worth checking out if you like July's other work but for newcomers I'd recommend her first film.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 8, 2020)

*Bring Down The Walls*
Doc by Phil Collins (not that one) on the injustices of incarceration in the US and the impact it has on the marginaliised communities that house music originated from. It focuses on panel discussions on the justice system interspersed with people dancing to house music at an arts/politics event in NY. Some great stills of people having fun too. 4 Promised Lands out of 5


----------



## T & P (Nov 9, 2020)

pesh said:


> Black Monday. 10 parter starring Don Cheadle. Wolf of Wall Street meets Caddyshack. Daft, highly offensive. 7/10


Just discovered this and half way through S1, and fully agree with your assessment.


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 9, 2020)

In the name of the father with Daniel Day-Lewis


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 9, 2020)

Two Of Us (Deux)
A touching romance about two older women in a secret relationship that is threatened by tragedy. It's rare but cheering to see a film about older people's love lives, esp between two women. 5 pieces of grit in my eye out of 5.


----------



## T & P (Nov 9, 2020)

Black Monday update. Nearly finished S1. This is actually pretty fucking good


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 10, 2020)

*Colectiv*
Rigorous, compelling and enraging fly-on-the-wall doc on the aftermath of the Bucharest nightclub fire that killed 64 young people in 2015. It focuses on a newspaper's investigation into the corrupt and broken Romanian health system that killed more of the victims than the fire did, while also following a newly appointed young health minister trying valiantly to face down the behometh of mass state kleptocracy. It's an inevitably grim watch but it is enlivened slightly by its third strand that shows how one young survivor manages to rise above her trauma through art. 4 kleptocrats out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 10, 2020)

*Caveat*
Claustrophobic low budget horror about a man employed to keep a disturbed woman company in a semi-derelict isolated house, with one very strange condition. Things get weird and weirder. Debut director Damian McCarthy is one to watch. 4 creepy toy rabbits out of 5


----------



## belboid (Nov 10, 2020)

Inspired by the 'perfect' films thread....

*Casablanca*

I thought it would be all about modern travails at the White House.  I was misinformed.


----------



## Reno (Nov 10, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> *Colectiv*
> Rigorous, compelling and enraging fly-on-the-wall doc on the aftermath of the Bucharest nightclub fire that killed 64 young people in 2015. It focuses on a newspaper's investigation into the corrupt and broken Romanian health system that killed more of the victims than the fire did, while also following a newly appointed young health minister trying valiantly to face down the behometh of mass state kleptocracy. It's an inevitably grim watch but it is enlivened slightly by its third strand that shows how one young survivor manages to rise above her trauma through art. 4 kleptocrats out of 5





Orang Utan said:


> *Caveat*
> Claustrophobic low budget horror about a man employed to keep a disturbed woman company in a semi-derelict isolated house, with one very strange condition. Things get weird and weirder. Debut director Damian McCarthy is one to watch. 4 creepy toy rabbits out of 5


Where did you watch these ?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 10, 2020)

Reno said:


> Where did you watch these ?











						Leeds Film Player | Home
					






					player.leedsfilm.com
				







__





						Leeds Film Player | Fanomenon
					

_We hope you enjoyed the LIFF 2020 programme on Leeds Film Player in November. We are presenting new selections of films year-round on the Player from 16th December, see you back here soon!_  Fanomenon is the destination for genre fans looking for the latest in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action...




					player.leedsfilm.com


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 10, 2020)

*2040*
Won't rate this - it would be unfair as I bailed after 20 minutes. Doc on the environment by a nauseatingly breezy father of a young kid who is desperately polyanna-ish about the future of the planet. This old grump had to switch off, but it's not aimed at me. Would prefer to read The Unhabitable Earth and despair instead. Eeyore!


----------



## pesh (Nov 11, 2020)

Truth Seekers, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, Spaced meets The X Files. Fun.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2020)

*Black Milk*
A Mongolian woman who has been in the West for years returns to visit her sister, who lives a nomadic traditional life, resulting in a clash of values. Like Baloon, it shines a light on a culture and landscape I knew nothing about. 3 yurts out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2020)

*Kubrick On Kubrick*
Revealing doc featuring a rare audio interview with Kubrick with a French critic, over stills and clips of him working, his work and props from his huge archive. Fascinating. 400 takes out of 500.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2020)

*Meanwhile On Earth*
This Swedish doc on the 'death industry' is deceptively simple, following morticians, grave diggers and undertakers going about their business whilst talking about their pets and what they're having for dinner. Curiously affecting. 4 leaking corpses out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2020)

*The Columnist*
Black comedy-horror about a writer who gets trolled on social media and wreaks their bloody revenge. While trite and unsubtle as the social media it is criticising, it's a fun watch. 3 grim trophies out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2020)

*Curveball - A True Story, Unfortunately*
Farcical German comedy-drama about a bioweapons expert who finds himself embroiled in interstate shenanigans that led to millions of deaths in the Middle East. Not sure about the tone of this, but it does feature the funniest sleigh ride since Cool Runnings, so it's not all bad and at least this expert doesn't kill himself at the end like his British counterpart. 2 sexed-up WMD reports out of 5


----------



## T & P (Nov 12, 2020)

Blimey! Don’t forget to eat or sleep occasionally, Orang Utan


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 12, 2020)

T & P said:


> Blimey! Don’t forget to eat or sleep occasionally, Orang Utan


Eating is fine, sleep not so. Have until the 30th to watch them all now anyway, but still need to step it up a gear


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 13, 2020)

Changeling - thought it was a policing drama, then it turned into a horror movie, then I thought oh shit this is too fucked up it has to be a true story, which it was.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 13, 2020)

Succession

Amazon prime effort from writer of Peep Show/Fresh Meat. It's not at all like them, so far it's a 21st century Dynasty meets House of Cards... full of unlikeable characters but a great cast, writing and can't help feeling it's a thinly veiled drama about the Trump/Murdoch families...


----------



## belboid (Nov 13, 2020)

Kiss and the Attack of the Phantoms

Or, more properly, Kiss Meet the Phantom of the Park, as I think I got the original US tv version rather than the European release - you can tell because Ace Frehley has lines.  

it is, perhaps unsurprisingly, dreadful beyond words. With a plot that would make a fine scooby doo episode stretched painfully over 96 minutes, unhilariously dreadful effects, and completely random cuts and scene jumps it could only be saved by a solid script and committed performances.  Neither of which it gets.  Even the bits of concert footage aren’t very good.  

Paul Stanley does preen towards the camera quite attractively at times.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2020)

*Dear Comrades*
Gripping B&W depiction about the real-life events of a violent suppression of a strike in the USSR at the height of the cold war, and the state's subsequent efforts to cover up the carnage. Told from the point of view of a party loyalist whose daughter is one of the protestors, it's a savage indictment of Soviet totalitarianism 4 unmarked graves out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 13, 2020)

*High Ground*
Unrelentingly grim thriller about the persecution of Aboriginal people in post-WW1 Australia. Australia never looked so beautiful but the events depicted are ugly and brutal. 4 startled cockatoos out of 5


----------



## starfish (Nov 13, 2020)

Just watched 'The Captain' on Prime. Fuck me its bleak. Really bad people doing really bad things in Germany two weeks before the end of WW2.

For some reason it said it was 3hr 58m but its half that. After the credits the film plays again.


----------



## Reno (Nov 14, 2020)

_Greenland_, a disaster movie of the comet/meteor variety, starring Gerard Butler. If you like that type of film, it's actually pretty good. It ticks off one cliche after the other (the marriage of our hero is on the rocks, his kid has a medical condition and of course they lose his medication) but I find that comforting in a film like this. A mid-budget effort as befits Butler's second rank stardom, it  doesn't have the budget to dazzle with non-stop CGI mayhem (every major effects sequence is featured in the trailer), so it concentrates on building tension and it succeeds in that. I'm at a point where I miss the occasional dumb blockbuster and _Greenland_ did the job fairly well.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 14, 2020)

*Chop Chop *
Crap Crap more like.
The first turkey of the festival. 
Thinks it's Tarantino but in reality it's Ed Wood 
1 premature ejactulation out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 14, 2020)

*Sisters With Transistors*
Enthralling doc on pioneering women in electronic music. Will have to watch this again as it's packed with content. 5 Buchla synthesisers out of 5.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 15, 2020)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. 

Enjoyed it a lot


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 15, 2020)

*One Day In The Life Of Noah Piugattuk*
An Inuit elder meets with a Canadian government agent who is trying to persuade him to abandon his nomadic lifestyle and go live in a settlement. Surprisingly absorbing for what is essentially a 2 hour meeting in the snow. 3 dogteams out of 5


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 15, 2020)

*Sauvage *(2018) - mucky, grimy, interesting but infuriating French film following a homeless, crack-taking gay hustler through various chaotic episodes. Almost cliched in its late-night-Channel-4-French-arts-provocations - this one would DEFINITELY have rated one of those infamous red triangles in the corner of the screen - for extremely explicit sex, drugs, violence, crime, exploitation, and so on. It reaches for higher things - there's some decent acting and moments of surprising kindness amid the squalor - but for most of the time it's (quite literally) a trawl through the gutter and leaves you feeling pretty bruised. Like its protagonist. Sort of wants to be that kind of Genet (even sexed-up Victor Hugo?) 'jewels in the depths' narrative, that society's outlaws are the only truly free blah blah blah, and it takes some dramatic turns which are genuinely interesting and wry. At least it doesn't end up as a cliched 'redemption' story. But seems to me to be just mostly romanticising desperation in a particularly pretentious poverty-tourist way. Lead actor's got the absolutely perfect face and look for the role though.

One to definitely NOT watch even a few minutes of in your parents' company


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 15, 2020)

trabuquera said:


> *Sauvage *(2018) - mucky, grimy, interesting but infuriating French film following a homeless, crack-taking gay hustler through various chaotic episodes. Almost cliched in its late-night-Channel-4-French-arts-provocations - this one would DEFINITELY have rated one of those infamous red triangles in the corner of the screen - for extremely explicit sex, drugs, violence, crime, exploitation, and so on. It reaches for higher things - there's some decent acting and moments of surprising kindness amid the squalor - but for most of the time it's (quite literally) a trawl through the gutter and leaves you feeling pretty bruised. Like its protagonist. Sort of wants to be that kind of Genet (even sexed-up Victor Hugo?) 'jewels in the depths' narrative, that society's outlaws are the only truly free blah blah blah, and it takes some dramatic turns which are genuinely interesting and wry. At least it doesn't end up as a cliched 'redemption' story. But seems to me to be just mostly romanticising desperation in a particularly pretentious poverty-tourist way. Lead actor's got the absolutely perfect face and look for the role though.
> 
> One to definitely NOT watch even a few minutes of in your parents' company


it's very rude isn't it?


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 15, 2020)

Uncomfortably so!  The subject matter's not far off Pixote or Requiem for a Dream but it's way way more sex-heavy than either.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 16, 2020)

*The Reckoning*
Truly abysmal medieval nasty torture porn from Neil Marshall who should know better. Woeful acting from the leads and a very poor script. Watch Witchfinder General instead - Sean Pertwee is no Vincent Price. 1 Pear Of Anguish out of 5


----------



## Supine (Nov 16, 2020)

I've downloaded a film called African Kung Fu Nazis. I haven't dared watch it yet


----------



## T & P (Nov 16, 2020)

Supine said:


> I've downloaded a film called African Kung Fu Nazis. I haven't dared watch it yet


With that title, how could it possibly be anything other than great?


----------



## T & P (Nov 16, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> The Undoing episode1, new HBO thrillery mystery thing. Will definitely watch episode 2.


On episode 4 now. It’s good and solid enough, but certainly a bit slow paced and not particularly remarkable so far.

It’s funny how having made his acting career and spanning most of it as a hapless, mumbling timid likeable Englishman in romantic comedies, Hugh Grant has suddenly revealed himself as a semi-decent actor  playing unlikeable characters in dramatic roles.


----------



## T & P (Nov 17, 2020)

Well, I’d been meaning to check out Color out of Space, and finally did last night. I’ve watched some fucked up shit over the years, but this might yet top it all.

Apart from his love of HP Lovecraft in general and his desire to be in film adaptations of his works, I can imagine Nicolas Cage jumping at the chance to play his character here and make it his own, as he indeed does


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 17, 2020)

T & P said:


> Well, I’d been meaning to check out Color out of Space, and finally did last night. I’ve watched some fucked up shit over the years, but this might yet top it all.
> 
> Apart from his love of HP Lovecraft in general and his desire to be in film adaptations of his works, I can imagine Nicolas Cage jumping at the chance to play his character here and make it his own, as he indeed does


On topic slightly but I watched the first two episodes of Lovecraft Country  which I’d downloaded . Not made my mind up completely but I’d give it 6.5 out of 10.


----------



## T & P (Nov 17, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> On topic slightly but I watched the first two episodes of Lovecraft Country  which I’d downloaded . Not made my mind up completely but I’d give it 6.5 out of 10.


I would say on the whole it’s watchable and a 6/10, but no more than that. It varies from episode to episode as well. One or two of them I thought were very good indeed and in the 8/10 territory, but some others were firmly in ‘meh’ territory.

One thing to be said for it is that the final episode is one of the better ones, and it mostly concludes the story, as opposed to being one of those series left completely open ended. So if you make it to the first two thirds it’s worth to conclude it even if you’re still unconvinced but not disliking it.

I also reckon the series it might benefit from one being able to binge it, or at least watching the next episode as soon as you feel like it. We watched it as it first premiered and had to wait a week for each new episode, and whereas that works pretty well with really good series, I kept thinking ‘well that didn’t feel like waiting a whole week for’.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 17, 2020)

T & P said:


> I would say on the whole it’s watchable and a 6/10, but no more than that. It varies from episode to episode as well. One or two of them I thought were very good indeed and in the 8/10 territory, but some others were firmly in ‘meh’ territory.
> 
> One thing to be said for it is that the final episode is one of the better ones, and it mostly concludes the story, as opposed to being one of those series left completely open ended. So if you make it to the first two thirds it’s worth to conclude it even if you’re still unconvinced but not disliking it.
> 
> I also reckon the series it might benefit from one being able to binge it, or at least watching the next episode as soon as you feel like it. We watched it as it first premiered and had to wait a week for each new episode, and whereas that works pretty well with really good series, I kept thinking ‘well that didn’t feel like waiting a whole week for’.


Thanks for that . Must admit watching the first episode I was struggling to pay any attention till the last fifteen minutes which completely changed my view .


----------



## T & P (Nov 17, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Thanks for that . Must admit watching the first episode I was struggling to pay any attention till the last fifteen minutes which completely changed my view .


The production values are undoubtedly very good, and there is some good action ahead of you, so if started to get into it as the episode progressed you’ll likely not regret sticking with it.

On the subject of H.P. Lovecraft, there seem to be a lot of TV and film adaptations of his stories about of late. I’ve been wondering jf perhaps some copyright on his works has recently expired, and studios can now produce adaptations of his books without seeking permission from his estate/ paying royalties? Does Reno or any other film buff know?


----------



## Reno (Nov 17, 2020)

T & P said:


> The production values are undoubtedly very good, and there is some good action ahead of you, so if started to get into it as the episode progressed you’ll likely not regret sticking with it.
> 
> On the subject of H.P. Lovecraft, there seem to be a lot of TV and film adaptations of his stories about of late. I’ve been wondering jf perhaps some copyright on his works has recently expired, and studios can now produce adaptations of his books without seeking permission from his estate/ paying royalties? Does Reno or any other film buff know?


The only recent Lovecraft adaptation I can think of was _The Color of Space_. _Lovecraft Country_ isn't an adaptation of Lovecraft's work, it's based on the novel by Mark Ruff.


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 17, 2020)

Diehard with Bruce Willis


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 17, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> Diehard with Bruce Willis



Any good?


----------



## Reno (Nov 17, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Thanks for that . Must admit watching the first episode I was struggling to pay any attention till the last fifteen minutes which completely changed my view .


The end of episode one was the high point of the series for me. I struggled through this and gave up halfway through episode 5. This should have been tailor made for me but I found Lovecraft Country disappointing.


----------



## T & P (Nov 17, 2020)

Reno said:


> The only recent Lovecraft adaptation I can think of was _The Color of Space_. _Lovecraft Country_ isn't an adaptation of Lovecraft's work, it's based on the novel by Mark Ruff.


There is also The Beach House, brand new film on Shudder  that got some decent reviews but I thought was a steaming pile of shit and a waste of basic premise.


----------



## Reno (Nov 17, 2020)

T & P said:


> There is also The Beach House, brand new film on Shudder  that got some decent reviews but I thought was a steaming pile of shit and a waste of basic premise.


That wasn't an adaptation of a Lovecraft story or novel, it's merely one of many films which have been described as "Lovecraftian".


----------



## T & P (Nov 17, 2020)

Ah fair enough, misunderstood that then.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 17, 2020)

Reno said:


> ...starring Gerard Butler...actually pretty good...
































If you are typing under duress, just append ‘I've always been a big Snyder fan’ to your next post so we can initiate a rescue operation, Reno


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 18, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Any good?


It’s a classic


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 18, 2020)

Detroit City said:


> It’s a classic



Sounds grim


----------



## editor (Nov 19, 2020)

RTWL said:


> Queen & Slim 2019. Wicked film. Handles the subject with responsibility. Instantly charismatic leads - 8/10
> 
> Dark Waters - A Teflon nightmare . Tense and all that stuff thrillers have with the extra punch that it is real. Great acting/script/direction and it achieves what it sets out to do so 10/10 .


I just watched Dark Water. Fantastic story - and that lawyer was a hero.


----------



## 8115 (Nov 19, 2020)

editor said:


> I just watched Dark Water. Fantastic story - and that lawyer was a hero.


I saw this in the cinema, absolutely fantastic. I was bawling at the end. Everyone in the world should see this film.


----------



## editor (Nov 19, 2020)

8115 said:


> I saw this in the cinema, absolutely fantastic. I was bawling at the end. Everyone in the world should see this film.


I think it deserves a thread of its own. 
*goes off to do it


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 20, 2020)

Hounds of Love, recorded off Film Four.  Fuck me, that was an intense and grim film.


----------



## Elpenor (Nov 21, 2020)

Very guilty trashy Friday night pleasure of Rise of the Footsoldier 2


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 21, 2020)

The hunt for red october


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 21, 2020)

Elpenor said:


> Very guilty trashy Friday night pleasure of Rise of the Footsoldier 2


Well, you'd better catch up quick as they've just wrapped on the fifth one!


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 21, 2020)

Thought I needed something trashy. Tried watching Bone Tomahawk. Within minutes I thought 'fuck the acting is really bad'. Got to an hour and started phone messing.

Not scary, just rubbish.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 21, 2020)

Reno, we've got a live one!


----------



## Elpenor (Nov 21, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> Well, you'd better catch up quick as they've just wrapped on the fifth one!



I ended up watching ROTF 4 as well. I'd already seen 3 so up to date.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 21, 2020)

Elpenor said:


> I ended up watching ROTF 4 as well. I'd already seen 3 so up to date.


Craig Fairbrass salutes you, in a gruff voice


----------



## belboid (Nov 21, 2020)

Bill & Ted Face the Music

Silly nonsense, with poor historical accuracy and bad hair. The two daughters were just plain daft.   And absolutely brilliant. I may even have had dust in my eye at the end, thinking 'fuck me, I really miss going to a gig.'


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 21, 2020)

*One Of These Days*
Sweaty drama about a bunch of misfits competing to win a truck - by touching a truck until everyone else gives up. Not a comedy as I first thought, these people really need that truck and their desperation is palpable, 4 stinky yellow t-shirts out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 21, 2020)

*The Trouble With Nature*
A bewigged and bepowdered Edmund Burke explores the Alps with an enslaved Native American woman in an attempt to experience the sublime that he's written a book about. Only she seems able to experience it, he just cowers and cringes. 3 icy cathedrals out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 21, 2020)

*76 Days*
Terrifying doc filmed secretly in Wuhan hospitals during the initial outbreak of Covid early this year. Some heartbreaking and horrifying moments as we witness the hospital staff struggling to cope. 5 wailing relatives out of 5


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 21, 2020)

Sweet Country, excellent Australian western.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Nov 22, 2020)

im well out of the curve here, but finally seen lost in translation. its very good.


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 22, 2020)

Finished the Sopranos , well finished rewatching the episodes I’d seen and watching ones I hadn’t . Must say that I thought the last season a little underwhelming in places but pleasantly surprised that they played John Cooper Clark’s Evidently Chicken  Town .


----------



## Badgers (Nov 22, 2020)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 22, 2020)

Kaleidoscope - started brilliantly, but had lost interest a bit by the end.


----------



## Sprocket. (Nov 22, 2020)

Knives out. Loved it, again.


----------



## Detroit City (Nov 22, 2020)

Notting Hill with Hugh grant and Julia roberts. It wasn’t bad but really more a chick flick


----------



## T & P (Nov 22, 2020)

Reno said:


> Relic, new Australian horror film which is a promising debut feature. An old woman goes missing, her daughter and granddaughter drive from Melbourne to search for her. Eventually the grandmother returns but she doesn't seem to be the same and something may have followed her into the house. Strong on atmosphere and a sense of menace, it taps into the fear of an ageing parent declining. Great performances from the three lead actresses too, I enjoyed this a lot.



Really liked this, though 3/4 in my other half, being as confused as me as the possible theme, looked it up online and told me. I actually reckon that spoiler helped me enjoy the ending much more, because sure as fuck I would have been scratching my head about the actual meaning of it otherwise.

Apart from its meaning, I was most impressed with its effectiveness as a horror film. It is far more tense and nerve-wrecking, and without actually resorting to any jump scares or violence, than plenty other horror flicks that throw every trick of the trade at you. Brilliant effort.


----------



## Sue (Nov 22, 2020)

The Apartment. Was on BBC2 earlier and probably on iPlayer by now.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 23, 2020)

*Amundsen *(2019) Almost unbelievably dull and hamfisted bio pic about the great (?but HOW great?) polar explorer. If you recorded it, feel free to save hours of your life (it'll feel like many more) and delete before bothering with it. slower than a frostbitten trek over the ice while dragging an overloaded sled.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 24, 2020)

Started watching Dekalog. Rationing myself to one episode a night it's that good. 

Balancing it out with an episode of The Crown which is ridiculous.


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2020)

I have never seen......Lawrence of Arabia. That is until last night when in my lockdown boredom, I decided to plug that gap in my film knowledge. It's probably the most famous film I had never gotten round to. Nothing about it appeals to me, I'm not a fan of historical epics, these characters and that part of history holds little interest for me and I've never been much of a fan of David Lean. The film of his a like the most is the atypical and rarely mentioned romantic comedy Summertime. And guess what, I fucking hated Lawrence of Arabia, all interminable 3 hours 47 minutes of it.  

Now I too have that one unassailable classic of a movie which I hate. I've read plenty of bitching about 2001 and Citizen Kane on social,media, both of which I love. I'm aware of how well Lawrence of Arabia is made and how impressive it must have looked in its day but it's just not for me and neither are Lean's other epics (the Dickens films are fine)


----------



## mack (Nov 25, 2020)

Watched a moody download of Greenland - good disaster movie - if you liked Deep Impact, Armageddon.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 25, 2020)

Reno said:


> I have never seen......Lawrence of Arabia. That is until last night when in my lockdown boredom, I decided to plug that gap in my film knowledge. It's probably the most famous film I had never gotten round to. Nothing about it appeals to me, I'm not a fan of historical epics, these characters and that part of history holds little interest for me. I've never been much of a fan of David Lean, the film of his a like the most is the atypical and rarely mentioned romantic comedy Summertime. And guess what, I fucking hated Lawrence of Arabia, all interminable 3 hours 47 minutes of it.
> 
> Now I too have that one unassailable classic of a movie which I hate. I've read plenty of bitching about 2001 and Citizen Kane on social,media, both of which I love. I'm aware of how well Lawrence of Arabia is made and how impressive it must have looked in its day but it's just not for me and neither are Lean's other epics (the Dickens films are fine)



Looking forward to Mank?


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Looking forward to Mank?


I am, though its take on Citizen Kane is controversial.


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2020)

mack said:


> Watched a moody download of Greenland - good disaster movie - if you liked Deep Impact, Armageddon.


Considerably better than Armageddon but then so is a fork in the eyeball as far as I'm concerned.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 25, 2020)

Reno said:


> I am, though its take on Citizen Kane is controversial.



Not aware of the controversy. Do like films about films. That one about Nosferatu was quite (if slight) enjoyable. Shadow of a Vampire, iirc


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2020)

krtek a houby said:


> Not aware of the controversy. Do like films about films. That one about Nosferatu was quite (if slight) enjoyable. Shadow of a Vampire, iirc


There always has been controversy about who wrote Citizen Kane, whether it was Mankiewicz alone or a close collaboration with Welles.


----------



## Sue (Nov 25, 2020)

Reno said:


> I have never seen......Lawrence of Arabia. That is until last night when in my lockdown boredom, I decided to plug that gap in my film knowledge. It's probably the most famous film I had never gotten round to. Nothing about it appeals to me, I'm not a fan of historical epics, these characters and that part of history holds little interest for me and I've never been much of a fan of David Lean. The film of his a like the most is the atypical and rarely mentioned romantic comedy Summertime. And guess what, I fucking hated Lawrence of Arabia, all interminable 3 hours 47 minutes of it.
> 
> Now I too have that one unassailable classic of a movie which I hate. I've read plenty of bitching about 2001 and Citizen Kane on social,media, both of which I love. I'm aware of how well Lawrence of Arabia is made and how impressive it must have looked in its day but it's just not for me and neither are Lean's other epics (the Dickens films are fine)


Not one of my favourites but when I saw it on a proper big screen (NFT1) a couple of years ago, it looked like quite a different film -- the cinematography was absolutely stunning. (There was also someone there doing a talk/Q&A who'd worked on the film which made it all more interesting too.)


----------



## Reno (Nov 25, 2020)

Sue said:


> Not one of my favourites but when I saw it on a proper big screen (NFT1) a couple of years ago, it looked like quite a different film -- the cinematography was absolutely stunning. (There was also someone there doing a talk/Q&A who'd worked on the film which made it all more interesting too.)


I'm sure the desert looks great on a big screen in 70mm, but I guess it must have been even more obvious that many of the actors wear eyeliner and mascara and that Anthony Quinn's fake looking "Arab nose" doesn't match the colour of the rest of his face. Obviously I was paying attention to all the wrong stuff.


----------



## rubbershoes (Nov 25, 2020)

Reno said:


> I'm sure the desert looks great on a big screen in 70mm, but I guess it must have been even more obvious that many of the actors wear eyeliner and mascara and that Anthony Quinn's fake looking "Arab nose" doesn't match the colour of the rest of his face. Obviously I was paying attention to all the wrong stuff.



I saw it on the massive screen at Leicester Square and it was magnificent, regardless of the ham.


----------



## Chz (Nov 26, 2020)

*The Souvenir*

Well, I didn't hate it despite the lack of characters I could give two shits about. I'm going to have to add it to my list of films that the critics adore and I can't understand why. It's perfectly cromulent, but didn't really grab me.


----------



## MBV (Nov 26, 2020)

Chz even more baffling is there's going to be a follow up.


----------



## Reno (Nov 26, 2020)

The Souvenir II - Back with a Vengeance !

The film is autobiographical for Joanna Hogg, so I suppose she’ll continue with that. I studied art/film in London at around the same time and to me The Souvenir struck me as truthful and there was much I recognised, I hung out with much of the same arty crowd as she did. I wasn’t posh but I studied with a lot of people like her. It’s also spot on about how one can fall for a total dickhead when one is young and impressionable.


----------



## Hearse Pileup (Nov 26, 2020)

I watched the finale of Star Trek: TNG and got a bit emotional


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 27, 2020)

The Invisible Man (2020). Average at best, despite a good performance from Elizabeth Moss. Some moments that were meant to be horrific were just incredibly silly.


----------



## Sprocket. (Nov 27, 2020)

Dr. Sleep. Enjoyed the storyline more than The Shining.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 27, 2020)

Sprocket. said:


> Dr. Sleep. Enjoyed the storyline more than The Shining.



Might watch that tonight. Got discounted now TV cinema pass for Black Friday.


----------



## Sasaferrato (Nov 27, 2020)

I'm watching NCIS from the start again. Season 2 ep 15 so far.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 27, 2020)

Sprocket. said:


> Dr. Sleep. Enjoyed the storyline more than The Shining.



Just watched.  Thought it was fairly terrible tbh.


----------



## Reno (Nov 28, 2020)

_The Nest_ (not to be confused with the British tv series), about a trader (Jude Law) who on a spur, relocates his Anglo-American family from New York to a huge mansion in Surrey during the 80s and everything goes to shit. This is great, probably my favourite film of the year. It is Sean Durkin's second film as a writer-director after the excellent _Martha Marcy May Marlene _and he has a knack for making dramas which feel like horror films. This has a similarly haunting quality as his debut. Carrie Coon is excellent as the wife who, once far from home, finds out that hubby may be delusional about his "greed is good" aspirations and their financial prospects. It's just a shame that after a highly acclaimed debut feature, these days it takes a filmmaker as talented as Durkin nearly a decade to get another film off the ground.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 28, 2020)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Just watched.  Thought it was fairly terrible tbh.



As Shining tributes go, Ready Player One was the better...


----------



## Sprocket. (Nov 28, 2020)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Just watched.  Thought it was fairly terrible tbh.



I enjoyed the storyline, I had to find a small positive.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 28, 2020)

Sprocket. said:


> I enjoyed the storyline, I had to find a small positive.



I thought the whole shining vampire idea was silly and terrible.  I don't know if in that crew they were trying to recreate something of Bob & co from Twin Peaks (that was the giant from Twin Peaks, yeah?) but it really didn't work for me.  Actually, the more I think about the film, the more I dislike it.


----------



## Sprocket. (Nov 28, 2020)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I thought the whole shining vampire idea was silly and terrible.  I don't know if in that crew they were trying to recreate something of Bob & co from Twin Peaks (that was the giant from Twin Peaks, yeah?) but it really didn't work for me.  Actually, the more I think about the film, the more I dislike it.



Blame Mike Flanagan, he did Occulus and is on a roll from The Haunting of Hill House. 
To be fair watched The Shining earlier in the week and didn’t enjoy that as much as seeing it the first time.


----------



## Reno (Nov 28, 2020)

In Germany they have the puzzling habit of retitling English language films with alternate, considerably worse English titles. They really outdone themselves with Doctor Sleep*s*, as if this was based on the thrilling premise of a doctor who sleeps a lot.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 28, 2020)

Sprocket. said:


> Blame Mike Flanagan, he did Occulus and is on a roll from The Haunting of Hill House.
> To be fair watched The Shining earlier in the week and didn’t enjoy that as much as seeing it the first time.



I haven't seen The Shining for years (rarely re-watch now, just because I can't keep up with all the new things I want to see), but every time I've watched it in the past, I thought it amazing.  It's the atmosphere, not the story.  I've never read the book - maybe someday I will, as would be interesting to understand why King hates Kubrick's film so much.


----------



## Reno (Nov 28, 2020)

I love the book and the film of _The Shining_ for entirely different reasons. The novel is superior and far more coherent when it comes to plot, themes and characters. I think its one of the greatest horror novels ever written and its still my favourite Stephen King book. The film is a poor adaptation of the novel, but its a great Kubrick film and like all of his best films, an amazing audio-visual experience.

I tried to read _Doctor Sleep_, but I didn't get through it. I too felt that it wasn't a story worth telling. There is something primal and relatable to being stuck with your father/husband going homicidally insane at a remote (and haunted) location in the middle of winter. Energy vampires preying on the psychically gifted, lead by a woman with a silly hat ? Gimme a break. The film is probably as good an adaptation as could have been made from the novel and I thought it was interesting how it managed to be a sequel to the book and the film of _The Shining_, considering how far Kubrick diverged from the source, but I still didn't care for the premise.


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 28, 2020)

The Flight Attendant - I think it's supposed to be a thriller-comedy or something. Not my cup of tea but will persist with it at least for a while.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 28, 2020)

Reno said:


> _The Nest_ (not to be confused with the British tv series), about a trader (Jude Law) who on a spur, relocates his Anglo-American family from New York to a huge mansion in Surrey during the 80s and everything goes to shit. This is great, probably my favourite film of the year. It is Sean Durkin's second film as a writer-director after the excellent _Martha Marcy May Marlene _and he has a knack for making dramas which feel like horror films. This has a similarly haunting quality as his debut. Carrie Coon is excellent as the wife who, once far from home, finds out that hubby may be delusional about his "greed is good" aspirations and their financial prospects. It's just a shame that after a highly acclaimed debut feature, these days it takes a filmmaker as talented as Durkin nearly a decade to get another film off the ground.


Sounds good. Can't believe it has taken Durkin so long to make a follow up _MMMM_ was very good.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 28, 2020)

Yorgos Lanthimos' new short, Nimic on Mubi. 

Bloody brilliant, very dark and very funny.


----------



## MBV (Nov 28, 2020)

Watched The Nest based on Reno 's recommendation. Some great performances - I'm going to look up _MMMM_  now.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 28, 2020)

Terminator: Dark Fate.  I enjoyed it.


----------



## sojourner (Nov 28, 2020)

Just watched '71 on 4OD. Intense, traumatic, brilliant. The writer must know the history of the situation in Belfast at the time. Very true to the Peter Taylor trilogy.


----------



## Artaxerxes (Nov 28, 2020)

The App - Italian film on Netflix


Why the fuck did I bother.


----------



## T & P (Nov 28, 2020)

I’ve already plugged this in the Netflix thread, but worth a mention here. *Call* (aka The Call) is great and ludicrously enjoyable time-bending brand new sci-fi thriller from South Korea. As gripping, clever and enjoyable as you can hope to get in the genre. Worth checking out if you have Netflix.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 29, 2020)

Halfway through Rohmer's comedies and proverbs series, seen _The Aviator's Wife, A Good Marriage _and _Pauline at the Beach_. Never seen any Rohmer before, overall I'm  somewhat mixed about them, all have bits I like and bits I don't. Rohmer does seem to get good performances out of youngsters the best bits of both _The Aviator's Wife _and _Pauline at the Beach_ are those where Pauline (Amanda Langlet) and Lucie (Anne-Laure Meury) star, they seem to inject more life and humanity into the films.

_The Skin I Live In_ - first time I've seen this since it came out at the cinema and glad to find it stands up, both Banderas and Elena Anya are top notch.

_Beautiful New Bay Area Project _- short showing as part of the Kiyoshi Kurosawa season on MUBI, I've not caught anything in the rest of the season but this is great - a mad sort of fantasy, martial arts comedy. Definitely worth checking out if you've a spare half hour

_What We Do in the Shadows_ - Despite all the rave reviews I've seen people give this I've never actually got around to watching it, I was somewhat worried that that it would not live up to expectations but it does. Very funny and very silly.

_Diego Maradona_ - Asif Kapadia's documentary about Maradona. Very good, the concentration on the Napoli period works well as providing structure for the film. Probably not quite as strong as Kapadia's _Senna_, but still very good.

_Three Days of the Condor_ - Decent-ish 70s Cold War thriller, not quite in the top rank but Redford and especially Von Sydow make sure there is enough quality. Certainly much better than ...

_The Executioner_ - George Peppard is a British spy. The aim is obviously a sort of _Ipcress File_ downbeat but with enough action to move the plot but despite a cast of British 70s luminaries starring opposite Peppard (really not sure they could have found anyway less suitable) and Joan Collins. There could have been a decent film there but the final result is just cliched and pretty dreadful.

_Happiest Season_ - Clea Duvall's follow up to _The Intervention_, with a similar mix of comedy and drama, it does drop into schmaltz at points but overall the two central performances keep it above the quality of most Xmas films.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 29, 2020)

Parasite.  Sort of forced myself to watch this, because nothing I'd heard about it beforehand made me desperate to watch it (other than all the praise it received ).  Anyway, glad I made time for it - great, thought-provoking film.


----------



## Sue (Nov 29, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Halfway through Rohmer's comedies and proverbs series, seen _The Aviator's Wife, A Good Marriage _and _Pauline at the Beach_. Never seen any Rohmer before, overall I'm  somewhat mixed about them, all have bits I like and bits I don't. Rohmer does seem to get good performances out of youngsters the best bits of both _The Aviator's Wife _and _Pauline at the Beach_ are those where Pauline (Amanda Langlet) and Lucie (Anne-Laure Meury) star, they seem to inject more life and humanity into the films.



I'm torn about Rohmer. Some of his films I really like (Ma Nuit Chez Maud, Le Rayon Vert), some I absolutely hate (Le Genou de Claire) and some I think are mixed (Pauline a la Plage, La Collectionneuse).  IIRC, he was quite a rightwing Catholic and there sometimes feels like a bit of an undercurrent of misogyny in there that gets my back up.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2020)

*Wolfwalkers*
Irish animation set in Cromwell's rule in 17th century Kilkenny, about a young girl encountering a werewolf-like creature in the forest Cromwell is planning on destroying. It looks beautiful and hand-drawn (though it may not be), but it has its own original look, with nods to Irish pagan culture. 5 runes out of 5


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 29, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> *Wolfwalkers*
> Irish animation set in Cromwell's rule in 17th century Kilkenny, about a young girl encountering a werewolf-like creature in the forest Cromwell is planning on destroying. It looks beautiful and hand-drawn (though it may not be), but it has its own original look, with nods to Irish pagan culture. 5 runes out of 5


Loved the previous two films by the filmmakers of this. Did you see this as part of Leeds IFF?


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Loved the previous two films by the filmmakers of this. Did you see this as part of Leeds IFF?


Aye - you'll need to take a bite of the Apple to see it now though (or torrent it)


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 29, 2020)

Probably come onto BFI, KG or MUBI before long. Looking forward to it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 29, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Probably come onto BFI, KG or MUBI before long. Looking forward to it.


Might not as it's an 'Apple Original' whatever that means


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 29, 2020)

The Lighthouse.


----------



## Reno (Dec 1, 2020)

_Proxima_, French film about a female astronaut in training for a year long space mission. Definitely not a science fiction film, it's a drama about how a woman reconciles the toughest of career choices with having a young daughter. The main reason to watch is Eva Green, who is a wonderful actress and IMO still somewhat underrated. I found the film absorbing but there is a plot point late on, involving breaking quarantine, to which I was much more sensitive now than I would have been in 2019, when the film was made. It undermines the point the film tries to make. Also, Matt Dillon as the leader of the space mission is too much of a chauvinist stereotype and the film is pushing too hard there. Still worth watching, just don't expect a space adventure.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 2, 2020)

_Pool of London_ - excellent Ealing drama, with crime tones, from 1950. Uses the docking of a ship and the shore leave of some sailors to bring together a series of stories  - race relations, crime, human drams. While not quite in the same class I see similarities to _It Always Rains on a Sunday_, with the crime forming a core around which a human drama is made, and like IAROAS it is surprisingly progressive. Well worth watching

_Full Moon in Paris_ - Continuing with Rohmer, again it seems to have the mix of highlights and problems for me that most of his films do (and that Sue mentioned above). This one does star a very young Thcéky Karyo which is a definite plus.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 2, 2020)

T & P said:


> On episode 4 now. It’s good and solid enough, but certainly a bit slow paced and not particularly remarkable so far.
> 
> It’s funny how having made his acting career and spanning most of it as a hapless, mumbling timid likeable Englishman in romantic comedies, Hugh Grant has suddenly revealed himself as a semi-decent actor  playing unlikeable characters in dramatic roles.



I have finished The Undoing and now thoroughly recommend it - I believe it was on Sky Atlantic for those who don't do torrents.



Spoiler



I love how I was totally taken in by Hugh Grant's character, just as his wife was, and I decided early on that he probably didn't do it. I then spent the rest of the series wondering which of the other characters committed the murder, even considering the victim's son. This was in spite of the sometimes overwhelming evidence pointing his way such as his mother claiming he was basically a psychopath.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 2, 2020)

Boys State, documentary.

16 and 17 year old Texas boys attend a camp to develop their interest in politics and get put into one of 2 parties, Federalists and Nationalists,. They then go about choosing some of the party roles from their number, governor being the highest position. The policies they focus on are probably unsurprising, it's Texas after all. Debates are held and at the end of camp an election is held between the 2 at which point regardless of which party they've been in they can vote as they choose.

It's a compelling watch, there's some characters to get behind, some easy to dilike, some surprises and it was easy for me to pick a side.

Also Dekalog 8. Still great telly but my one episode a night rationing is making it feel drawn out now.


----------



## Reno (Dec 2, 2020)

Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck,  because I needed something comforting and cheerful and it did the job. One thing which struck me this time was that Hollywood films of that time so seldom were shot almost entirely on location. Despite being a romantic comedy about a runaway princess, there is a touch of neo-realism about it. The plot is simple but it grows out of the characters and unlike with most romantic comedies, nothing feels contrived. Everything about this film works, I'd almost say it's perfect.


----------



## T & P (Dec 2, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> I have finished The Undoing and now thoroughly recommend it - I believe it was on Sky Atlantic for those who don't do torrents.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, completely agree. Finished it the other day and also enjoyed it. And like you said  I was fully expecting the murderer to be just about anyone- the wife, her father, the kid, the blonde lawyer friend- but I guess because so very few scriptwriters choose to make the murderer the guy who seems overwhelmingly guilty throughout the story, this caught me off-guard. I was fully expecting Grant to either be found guilty and then revealed innocent or the other way around.

I must also say I rate Grant so much more as an actor when he plays baddies. Who would’ve thought he could even manage to look remotely threatening or a wrong’un after watching him playing a bumbling idiot in romcoms for most of his career... .

It’s also on NowTV for anyone tempted who hasn’t got Sky Atlantic.


----------



## D'wards (Dec 2, 2020)

Just watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles for the first time in about 20 years.
Just as great as I remembered. The death of John Candy was a real loss to cinema - he was fantastic in it.
If they had made it about Christmas rather than Thanksgiving it would be talked about as being one of the great Christmas films


----------



## Marty1 (Dec 3, 2020)

So the gf ‘forced’ me to watch this - and I’m glad she did.



It’s filmed entirely in London and features the cities most narrow alley.

The plot has an unexpected twist and the entire soundtrack is George Michael songs - unsurprisingly the film is named after GM’s famous Xmas song.

It’s a feel good film and it doesn’t disappoint- the gf informs this is the 4th time she’s watched it.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 3, 2020)

The Weight of Gold, documentary.

Presented by Michael Phelps, former Olympians discuss the impact of training and competing on their mental health. I went in feeling they're not the easiest people to identify with but came out feeling they were pretty much fucked over, and usually from being kids. Groomed for their special talents, often at the expense of every other thing in their lives. I knew someone who fucked up her Olympic moment when she was a dead cert for gold and wondered what her life is like now.


----------



## Cloo (Dec 3, 2020)

Watched Midsommar, which is not normally my kind of thing at all, and Ari Aster's other film, Hereditary, is a firm 'Never, ever want to see on any account'. But I was intrigued by what I heard about Midsommar - found it blackly (very blackly) funny as well as horrifying and disturbing. Amazing imagery and attention to detail as well.


----------



## T & P (Dec 3, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> So the gf ‘forced’ me to watch this - and I’m glad she did.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It it was perfectly alright in my opinion too. Certainly as good as you can expect a romcom Xmas film to be. This is one of those cases in which the professional critics are being biase,  snob and/ or prejudiced twerps, and laughably disconnected from the public.


----------



## Reno (Dec 3, 2020)

T & P said:


> It it was perfectly alright in my opinion too. Certainly as good as you can expect a romcom Xmas film to be. This is one of those cases in which the professional critics are being biase,  snob and/ or prejudiced twerps, and laughably disconnected from the public.


Give me a break.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2020)

T & P said:


> It it was perfectly alright in my opinion too. Certainly as good as you can expect a romcom Xmas film to be. This is one of those cases in which the professional critics are being biase,  snob and/ or prejudiced twerps, and laughably disconnected from the public.


They’re paid to say what they think not what others might think.


----------



## Sue (Dec 3, 2020)

T & P said:


> It it was perfectly alright in my opinion too. Certainly as good as you can expect a romcom Xmas film to be. This is one of those cases in which the professional critics are being biase,  snob and/ or prejudiced twerps, and laughably disconnected from the public.


I bet you like Love Actually too....


----------



## T & P (Dec 3, 2020)

Reno said:


> Give me a break.



Rotten Tomatoes approval ratings for selected British romcoms:

Last Christmas: 47%
Notting Hill: 83%
Bend it like Beckham: 85% (!)

I’m not going to get into a discussion about which of those three is the best. But nobody needs to be a professional critic to tell you that there’s no fucking way in a million years that if Last Christmas deserves a 47% approval rating, the ultra chliched, predictable piece of fucking shit that was Bend it like Beckham could possibly deserve an 85% rating.

I realise in most cases it would not have been the same critics reviewing both films, but as a trade consensus in general, the disparity is fucking absurd and in my view unexplainable.

If however you disagree and have seen both those films, I’d be interested in your informed opinion on why both films are deserving of their massively differing consensus ratings.


----------



## T & P (Dec 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> They’re paid to say what they think not what others might think.


And yet, some of their ratings are inexplicable. See my post above


Sue said:


> I bet you like Love Actually too....


I thought it was cheesy as fuck, but no different to Last Christmas. At least that has a less enthusiastic 64% Rotten Tomatoes rating. But I challenge you, Orang Utan and anyone else to tell me the Bend it like Fucking Beckham is deserving of a RT 87% rating.


----------



## seventh bullet (Dec 3, 2020)

Rewatch of Australian grimfest The Rover.

I didn't know what to make of it when I saw it five years ago.  I've only ever seen Robert Pattinson in films after Twilight so judge him on those than that franchise, but I'm aware he still gets knee-jerk stick because of it, ignorantly stating he can't act when he can.  Here, he plays a naive criminal simpleton, mumbling his way through a near future Oz that, like the rest of the world, has crumbled following a global economic depression, the Outback now a lawless shithole thinly patrolled by the army, which seems to be the only presence of what's left of the government in far away cities. Love the Khmer karaoke song Otdar Meanchey blaring out in the ramshackle diner at the start. Will watch again.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 3, 2020)

Never Rarely Sometimes Always - eye-opening, thought-provoking, great.  Strange to see such a low rating attached to it on Now Cinema.


----------



## Marty1 (Dec 3, 2020)

T & P said:


> Rotten Tomatoes approval ratings for selected British romcoms:
> 
> Last Christmas: 47%
> Notting Hill: 83%
> ...



Ignore the Last Christmas RT critics score - the audience score of 81% is correct


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2020)

Fuck the audience - use your own judgement!


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## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2020)

T & P said:


> And yet, some of their ratings are inexplicable. See my post above
> 
> I thought it was cheesy as fuck, but no different to Last Christmas. At least that has a less enthusiastic 64% Rotten Tomatoes rating. But I challenge you, Orang Utan and anyone else to tell me the Bend it like Fucking Beckham is deserving of a RT 87% rating.


I don’t really care what Rotten Tomatoes think of it.


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## 8115 (Dec 3, 2020)

Bend it like Beckham was pretty good.


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## T & P (Dec 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I don’t really care what Rotten Tomatoes think of it.


Hold on a second. Rotten Tomatoes aggregate ratings are formed entirely of established film critics’ reviews (as opposed to Joe Public). A few posts up you appeared to be defending their objectivity when I highlighted their apparent discrepancies. Now you say you don’t care about what they think. Which one is it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2020)

T & P said:


> Hold on a second. Rotten Tomatoes aggregate ratings are formed entirely of established film critics’ reviews (as opposed to Joe Public). A few posts up you appeared to be defending their objectivity when I highlighted their apparent discrepancies. Now you say you don’t care about what they think. Which one is it?


I don’t rate totting up average ratings as a guide for judging if a film’s worth watching. Using stats to judge art. I know certain writers tastes and views and I like to read their opinions (usually) after I’ve watched a film, but I’m more guided by who made the film and what people I know say about films (that includes posters on this site).


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## Reno (Dec 4, 2020)

T & P said:


> Hold on a second. Rotten Tomatoes aggregate ratings are formed entirely of established film critics’ reviews (as opposed to Joe Public). A few posts up you appeared to be defending their objectivity when I highlighted their apparent discrepancies. Now you say you don’t care about what they think. Which one is it?



RT are not formed entirely of established film critics. Only their section of Top Critics is actual film critics, that means those employed by respected online and print publications, who get paid for that they do. Many of the rest are fans who set up their own sites and play at being film critics and amateurs who write reviews unpaid for small local publications. The RT aggregator also often can't distinguish between what a good, mediocre and a bad review is. I don't have the problem that the critics on RT are too harsh, I find them too positive and frequently have fallen on my face when checking out something because it has good ratings there. Metacritic is a little better and only admits reviews by actual film critics and it differentiates between reviews. In the end it's always far better to find critics you like and actually read their reviews. I certainly would never rely on audience ratings to pick something. Why would I trust a large number of people who vote Boris Johnson and Trump into office, when it comes to my cultural tastes ?

It's fine occasionally enjoying rubbish films and tv, we all do. Just don't decry all of those as "snobs" who don't meet your low standards, because they have seen enough good work to have no patience with lazy cliches. Mind, I don't need to read reviews to see that Last Christmas is cack, Marty1 came here to sing its praises, so nuff said.


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## redsquirrel (Dec 4, 2020)

_Eight Woman_ - Rewatching this made me realise its been ~18 years since I saw it at the cinema. I actually enjoyed it more now than I did then, it is still very flawed, the musical numbers just do not seem to fit in with the story, and it does not really make that great a use of the top notch cast it has. But it was light, frothy and enjoyable and after a shitty week that was kind of what I wanted.

_You, the Living_ - again I've seen this before but it stands up a second watch. The care and attention Andersson must put into each scene is really quick breathtaking. Finding truly great comic films is difficult but this probably is one.


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## not-bono-ever (Dec 4, 2020)

today I have watched 2x filums

The Jokers- 1967 crime caper with Oliver reed & Michael crawford. of its time. good fun. have not seen it since I was a kid

Arkansas- 2020 drug crime thriller with a few names. I enjoyed it, despite critics giving it a meh review. A modern day western effectively with a decent flaming lips soundtrack.


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## Elpenor (Dec 4, 2020)

Boogie nights,  a real favourite with great soundtrack, look, cast, style, script acting... and fun to watch as well


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 5, 2020)

Love and Friendship. A most entertaining period comedy with Kate Beckinsale as a refreshingly upfront schemer determined to make the most out of her life.


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## BlanketAddict (Dec 5, 2020)

Arkansas. 

On Netflix. Not bad at all.


----------



## purves grundy (Dec 5, 2020)

I’m currently watching _Falling Down._ Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall. Hilarious, like a feature-length Grumpy Old Men rant, with added retribution.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 5, 2020)

Season 1 finale of Succession.

Forget The Crown. If you want dysfunctional monsters and Dynasty style family bickering, this is the show to watch. Actually, more like Oz ... everyone you think a character will do the right thing, someone gets stabbed in the back.

Compelling Trump family meets Murdoch family meets Royal family drama from the writer of... Peep Show! Great cast, too. Brian Cox, Sarah Snook, Matthew McFadden and Cameron from Ferris Bueller...


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 5, 2020)

His House. Very well made and affecting spooky story about people seeking asylum who are haunted (literally) by their trauma. Recommended to me by my 12yo, and very well worth it. Although he had to talk me through the scary bits cos I'm a wuss


----------



## T & P (Dec 5, 2020)

*Save Yourselves*. A satirical deadpan comedy-sci-fi about a New York full-on hipster couple with a serious social media and internet addiction that for once decide to have a week’s holiday in a cabin in the woods completely offline, and happen to do so on the weekend when an alien invasion begin.

It is surprisingly entertaining and funny and very watchable


----------



## T & P (Dec 6, 2020)

*Death of a Vlogger.* A Scottish supernatural horror found footage film. While nowhere near as scary as other found footage films, it’s still pretty good and watchable.


----------



## Chz (Dec 6, 2020)

purves grundy said:


> I’m currently watching _Falling Down._ Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall. Hilarious, like a feature-length Grumpy Old Men rant, with added retribution.


Extremely funny at the time; I don't think it's aged well at all.


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## Reno (Dec 6, 2020)

Chz said:


> Extremely funny at the time; I don't think it's aged well at all.


I didn't think _Falling Dow_n was good back then. Subtle as a brick.


----------



## Reno (Dec 6, 2020)

_Freaky_, which is short for _Freaky Friday the 13th_ as this horror comedy blends the Disney body-swap comedy _Freaky Friday_ with a _Friday the 13th_ type slasher. Jason-style killer swaps bodies with a shy teenage victim after he attacks her with a magical dagger. The hulking slasher is played by Vince Vaughn, who then gets to play a teenage girl stuck in his body for most of the film. Initially I was put off by the US teen-stereotypes, but I suppose the point is to jam two opposing teenage genres together. The film wallows in cliches, only to eventually neatly subvert several of them. I ended up really enjoying it, it blends comedy with some surprisingly gory kills and has its heart in the right place. By Christopher Landon who also made the fun _Happy Death Day_ and its sequel, which was _Friday the 13th_ meets _Groundhog Day_ and who has carved out his niche with meta-slasher comedies.

_Dracula's Daughter _from 1936, the sequel to the original Universal Dracula with Bela Lugosi. Never seen it but I was always aware that it has developed a cult following due to its queer subtext. Apart from some ill fitting comedy relief, this is pretty good thanks to Gloria Holden's performance, who wants to be rid of the curse of being a vampire and consults a psychiatrist. One of the best of the original Universal monster movies, I prefer this to the Lugosi _Dracula_.

The first episode of _The Reagans,_ US docu-series about the gruesome twosome.


----------



## Reno (Dec 6, 2020)

More of The Reagans, which isn't great for my blood pressure. Good series which doesn't let Reagan and his equally ghastly wife off the hook. A reminder that no matter how awful Trump was, the Reagan administration did way more damage and politically and economically it got us to where we are now.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 6, 2020)

Dirty God, on the Beeb last night, about a woman disfigured in an acid attack.  The structure and the style made me think a bit of Morvern Callar.  Powerful film that makes you think about stuff that you'd probably rather not.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 6, 2020)

Hell and High Water - loved it , slow burner that slowly paints out the characters in a half win half lose conclusion that maybe or maybe not the end


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 6, 2020)

S☼I said:


> Watched _American Animals _on Tuesday morning. Excellent film about bored teenagers attempting a heist without really knowing what they were doing it letting themselves in for. Stylishly directed and well-acted, and interestingly the REAL teenagers involved are in it, giving their insights alongside the actors portraying the events. Really liked it despite only JUST deciding to watch it. Give it a go.



Seconded. 

True story/heist movie/unreliable narrator... the mix makes an excellent and unusual tale. Evan Peters great as usual.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 7, 2020)

Your Honor - Bryan Cranston plays a judge whose son commits a crime. Seems like  he might have been cast for the BB aspect. I found the actions of most people in the first episode rather implausible, so I am not sure how much of foundation it will be as everything plays out.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2020)

_The Pledge_, from 2001, neo-noir by Sean Penn, starring Jack Nicholson and based on the Dürrenmatt "anti-detective" novel, which has seen several adaptations (I've seen the German one from the 50s) It was good but it wasn't the overlooked masterpiece it's reputation would have you believe. 

I wished this had starred someone else than Nicholson. It's a low-key performance only by Nicholson's standards, there is something self-regarding and unconvincing about him trying to dial himself down. At the end he has a slack jawed expression of surprise at the outcome, which he holds for ages, like a beached fish. Another actor would have registered surprise and anguish more subtly. 

Penn managed rope in a lot of famous actors for one-scene cameos, which becomes distracting. I think now this would have been made as a lower budgeted independent film or a mini-series for Netflix, relying on character actors rather than on stars, which would have served the material better. 

Otherwise Penn's direction is very good, the film is atmospheric and sinister.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 9, 2020)

Ava (2020) - a succession of dull fights between cardboard characters, and guess what the main one is an alcoholic, how interesting.

Yet more evidence that I shouldn't watch anything with Colin Farrell in it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> Ava (2020) - a succession of dull fights between cardboard characters, and guess what the main one is an alcoholic, how interesting.
> 
> Yet more evidence that I shouldn't watch anything with Colin Farrell in it.


Or just don't watch one of the worst reviewed films of the year.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 9, 2020)

Reno said:


> Or just don't watch one of the worst reviewed films of the year.



I don’t read reviews before watching films, often I disagree with them, and I don’t even like tiny spoilers.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> I don’t read reviews before watching films, often I disagree with them, and I don’t even like tiny spoilers.


Everybody who reads reviews often disagrees with them, but when every critic across the board thinks a film is a piece shit, I've found that it usually is. Critics aren't a homogenous group who all hold uniform opinions on a film. I'd rather risk tiny spoilers (as in finding out what the premise is) than waste an evening. I try to find out a little bit more about a film than rely on the advertising and films are not the only product I do that with. It's also odd to pin this on Colin Farrell, he's been in some very good films and tv series.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 9, 2020)

Reno said:


> Otherwise Penn's direction is very good, the film is atmospheric and sinister.


I found that one of the most exhausting and depressing films I've ever seen, not that is is a bad film, quite the opposite, but by the end I felt just felt totally drained. Like Loach's _Sweet Sixteen_ part of me wants to see them again to see if they stand up to a second viewing but another part of me doesn't want that emotional punch again.


----------



## Reno (Dec 9, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> I found that one of the most exhausting and depressing films I've ever seen, not that is is a bad film, quite the opposite, but by the end I felt just felt totally drained.


Maybe its my high tolerance for depressing films but after reading how depressing this is, I didn't feel I got my money's worth. That may be because Nicholson's performance never drew me in.


----------



## T & P (Dec 9, 2020)

*Anything for Jackson.* An interesting dark humour supernatural horror. Interesting because in many respects this is pretty much Fargo in a supernatural horror setting.

Relatively small cast but most of the characters are weird and hapless, and even the baddies are somewhat likeable. Even the geographical setting reminds you of Fargo. Not superb but good enough.


----------



## T & P (Dec 9, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> Ava (2020) - a succession of dull fights between cardboard characters, and guess what the main one is an alcoholic, how interesting.
> 
> Yet more evidence that I shouldn't watch anything with Colin Farrell in it.


Half way through, and I don’t think he’s the biggest problem with the film, so far at least.

Jessica Chastain is a superb actor but imo she was somewhat miscast here, in terms of her inner demons and past problems. Her character is not very well written though, so I am not sure anyone else would have done a significantly better job of the role.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 11, 2020)

The39thStep said:


> Perpetual Grace Ltd. Its a new series on US channel Epix  with Ben Kingsley, Jackie Weaver and Jimmi Simpson who was in Westworld. Simpson plays an addict involved in an con with Kingsley and Weavers estranged son . Kingsley and Weaver have a religious community and a bank account of donations , Simpson and the son want to extract 4m. Its quite quirky , bit Fargoish , you have to get used to black and white flash backs but its a good plot twister well acted. Seen two episodes so  fingers crossed.




I watched the first episode last night. It felt like the first half of a feature film so I hope they can keep it up through ten episodes.


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## The39thStep (Dec 11, 2020)

platinumsage said:


> I watched the first episode last night. It felt like the first half of a feature film so I hope they can keep it up through ten episodes.


I really liked it  probably the best series I saw this year.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 11, 2020)

Japanese week, my son's here and writing an essay for his film course...

Tokyo Story, Ozu classic once voted by directors as the best non English film. Grandparents travel to visit their children in Tokyo. It's very slow and not much seems to happen, then there's the moment that everything comes together. I'm not sure it's the best film I've ever seen but I like how gentle it feels.

An Autumn Afternoon. Ozu's last film, a widower arranges the marriage of his daughter. There's a few funny moments in this and Chishu Ryu does his lovely face while 'Mmmming' plenty but ultimately it left a sad feeling. 

Like Father like Son. Koreeda who also made Shoplifters. A couple discover the 6 year old boy they've been raising as their own was switched in hospital. Father, a high achiever finds his approach to parenting has been much different to that of the man who has raised his 'real' son.

Our Little Sister.  Another Koreeda. Three sisters discover they have a younger sister following the death of their father and invite them to live with them. Another film where not much appears to be happening but slowly their characters develop. A heartwarming film with a happy ending.

I'd recommend any of these.


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## redsquirrel (Dec 12, 2020)

_The Green Ray_ - Easily the best Rohmer I've seen. The simplicity of it is really appealing, and of course it looks gorgeous, you can almost feel the sun. smell the hydrangeas, etc. Delphine is often exasperating but you can understand her loneliness and frustration.


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## Sue (Dec 12, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Green Ray_ - Easily the best Rohmer I've seen. The simplicity of it is really appealing, and of course it looks gorgeous, you can almost feel the sun. smell the hydrangeas, etc. Delphine is often exasperating but you can understand her loneliness and frustration.


Yeah, this and Ma Nuit Chez Maud are definitely the best of his I've seen, though they feel quite different to each other. (Not that I've seen all of his mind.)


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 12, 2020)

Saw _Nobi_ AKA _Fires On The Plain _the other day. A sick Japanese soldier wanders across a Pacific island as the war's end creeps ever closer. Dark shit happens.

Kind of like slamming a cupboard door on your balls, then finding a bigger cupboard and slamming the door harder, and repeating the process with ever bigger cupboard doors and ever harder slamming, only in a good, or at least meaningful, way. May your bruised balls forever remind you that War is Hell.

ETA Apparently there was a remake in 2014. I watched the 1959 original by Ichikawa.


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 12, 2020)

PS I am available to review movies for your website, payable in exposure.


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## Sue (Dec 12, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> PS I am available to review movies for your website, payable in exposure.


I'm still not quite sure whether you liked _Nobi_ AKA _Fires On The Plain _or not so...  🤷‍♀️.


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 12, 2020)

Sue said:


> I'm still not quite sure whether you liked _Nobi_ AKA _Fires On The Plain _or not so...  🤷‍♀️.


Who doesn't like catching their balls in a cupboard door?


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## Sue (Dec 12, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> Who doesn't like catching their balls in a cupboard door?


Each to their own...


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 12, 2020)

Sue said:


> Each to their own...


That's exactly the argument my lawyer put forward 

To little avail


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## Sue (Dec 13, 2020)

Victim. Groundbreaking (and very controversial at the time) film that highlights how the criminalisation of homosexuality left gay people vulnerable to blackmail. Interesting for the historical context and from a 'thank fuck things have changed' POV. And Dirk Bogarde. I love Dirk Bogarde.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 15, 2020)

_A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence_ - Roy Andersson's follow up to his great _You, the Living_, I do not think APSOABROE is quite in the same class as its predecessor, for me it did not have the same pathos that YtL did, but even so you have to admire Andersson and his co-workers care and attention to detail.

_Angel's Leap_ - a revenge thriller with Sterling Hayden (yay) in a supporting role. Billed as a French _Get Carter _there is a nice 70s bleak vibe, the first half of the film is very good and almost in the same league as GC but it loses its way a bit and the finish is somewhat lacklustre. Still one worth checking out. 

_The Night of the Big Heat_ - aliens are invading a small island and causing the temperature to rise, Christopher Lee is the only hope. Hammer horror that is kind of fun enough and (just) does not go on too long for you to lose interest. Large proportion of the film involves Jane Morrow wandering around causing havoc (apparently hot temperatures cause men to sexually assault women) in states of undress.

_My Girlfriend's Boyfriend -_ final Rohmer film in the Comedies and Proverbs hexalogy (that is a terrible word, is there not a better alternative?) I do not like it as much as _The Green Ray_ but there is quite a lot to enjoy (visuals are great) as well as some stuff that does not quite work. 

_Comedies and Proverbs_ - having completed the viewing of all six films I'm glad I've finally got around to watching Rohmer. Prior to the MUBI season I had not had seen any Rohmer despite being familiar with his material. Rohmer does will not make the list of my favourite directors, there are things I love in his films and this I do not like, but even those films that I like the least have elements of interest. Also one very big tick Rohmer gets is length, all these films are less than 2 hours. some around 90 minutes, and yet none of them really feel hurried, it is just that the films are tight with no time wasted. A *huge* number of modern directors could learn from Rohmer in that respect.


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## redsquirrel (Dec 15, 2020)

Sue said:


> I love Dirk Bogarde.


He's one of those actors that cane even make twaddle, like _Doctor in the House_, watchable via his presence alone.


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2020)

_I Start Counting_, oddball British thriller/coming of age film from 1970, starring a young Jenny Agutter. It's about a 14 year old teenage girl who comes to suspect that her 32 year old step brother, who she has a crush on, may be a serial killer. The thriller elements are mostly in the background, the bulk of the film is about Agutter's character's sexual confusion. Superficially a kitchen sink _Shadow of a Doubt_, this is very much of its time, with some hair raising sexual politics. I liked the brutalist high rise Agutter's family lives in, looked it up, Point Royal in Bracknell.


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## redsquirrel (Dec 15, 2020)

Reno said:


> _I Start Counting_, oddball British thriller/coming of age film from 1970, starring a young Jenny Agutter. It's about a 14 year old teenage girl who suspects that her 33 year old step brother, who she has a crush on, may be a serial killer. The thriller elements are mostly in the background, the bulk of the film is about Agutter's character's sexual confusion. Superficially a kitchen sink _Shadow of a Doubt_, very much of its time, with some hair raising sexual politics. I liked the brutalist high rise Agutter's family lives in, looked it up, Point Royal in Bracknell.


Heh, snap I forgot to include that in my list above. Like you say it is dated, but it also has strong points that really work well


----------



## belboid (Dec 15, 2020)

A Riddle for Puppets

Included in my Columbo box set, it’s an episode from the spin off series that I was vaguely aware of but had never seen - Mrs Columbo.  

A series so bad that in its eight episodes it got renamed thrice -as Kate Columbo, followed by Kate the Detective and then Kate Loves a Mystery. Mrs C gets quietly divorced at some point in the show and becomes Kate Callahan, presumably so as not to destroy the reputation of the original, but it was no good, the show was doomed.

in this episode Mrs C sees a ventriloquist show where the puppet starts behaving oddly. Starring Jay Johnson - who also had a ‘real’ puppet as Chuck/Bob Campbell in Soap - his doll starts acting up and demanding that he kill the man who taught him his trade, for reasons not entirely clear.

All of which makes it sound more interesting than it is.


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 15, 2020)

Reno said:


> I liked the brutalist high rise Agutter's family lives in, looked it up, Point Royal in Bracknell.



You love a ubiquitous brutalist southern English filming location don't you 

It was used in_ The Offence _as well IIRC - the flat where Connery had his stormy argument with his wife.


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2020)

_Save Yourselves !_, indie comedy about a Brooklyn hipster couple who decide to "unplug" and go on a digital cleanse at a friends cottage, just as an alien invasion is about to kick off. Not the first alien invasion film which foregrounds a couple's relationship against the backdrop of an alien invasion (_Monsters, Extraterrestre_) this was watchable but not nearly as funny as it should have been. The aliens, which resemble the Tribbles from Star Trek, are too silly even for this and the end  is unsatisfying.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 18, 2020)

This week...a few from the end of year lists and one from last year.

The Assistant...Julia Barner (Ruth Langmore in Ozark) plays an assistant in a film production office as she goes about her duties over the course of a day. It's a #metoo film, I'm guessing possibly based on the directors own experiences. It's really well shot and the lead puts in a good performance but don't expect too much to happen aside from her doing a shitty job with shitty people. 

Only the Animals...A french film in a rural setting somewhere cold. The story begins with a woman going missing and the events being told through the stories of 4/5 main characters. Then it jumps to Africa where we find out whats really been going on. I really liked it, it's a good story and I'd not seen the issue raised in film before I don't think. (Trying not to say too much or I'll spoil it). The ending could've been better though, I felt a bit disatissfied.

The Golden Glove...Follows the true story of Fritz Honka, German serial killer in Hamburg in the early 70s. It's a good serial killer film and feels filthy and disgsuting. The killing scenes are sometimes long and violent and it's not an easy watch. By the looks of the photos of real life Fritz, his victims and his flat, the wardrobe, make up and set designers did an excellent job of recreating the things. Apparently the Golden Glove where Fritz used to drink is still there. Reminded me of Angst that I watched not so long ago.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 19, 2020)

Lynn + Lucy - really interesting film, brilliantly acted and every scene is thought-provoking/insightful.  Got the feeling that the big thing that happens in it (which you think is going to be the focus) isn't really what it's about.  One of those films that you want to watch again after knowing where it goes.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 19, 2020)

_The Other Side of Hope_ - latest Aki Kaurismäki film, really really good. It's very much in Kaurismäki's usual style. Funny, moving, looks great with some top visual gags.

_Wild Honey Pie!_ - the worst sort of indie film, cliche, try hard crap, that is painfully unfunny, lacking any sort of rounded characters. Avoid.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 20, 2020)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Lynn + Lucy - really interesting film, brilliantly acted and every scene is thought-provoking/insightful.  Got the feeling that the big thing that happens in it (which you think is going to be the focus) isn't really what it's about.  One of those films that you want to watch again after knowing where it goes.



Watched it tonight. Had no idea what it was about. Wow! A great debut for the director, reallyhard hitting and excellent performances from the 2 leads. I read Kermode's review afterwards and apparently it was inspired by a story of a mother who'd been in the same situation as Lucy. As you say it would definitely stand up to a rewatch.


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## Johnny Vodka (Dec 21, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Watched it tonight. Had no idea what it was about. Wow! A great debut for the director, reallyhard hitting and excellent performances from the 2 leads. I read Kermode's review afterwards and apparently it was inspired by a story of a mother who'd been in the same situation as Lucy. As you say it would definitely stand up to a rewatch.



Worth listening to his radio review - he talks more about the bigger themes and ideas in that. 



Spoiler



I was a bit bothered about the girl lying.  Did I miss the motivation, or are we to assume there was no real motivation?



This looks worth a watch.


----------



## Jay Park (Dec 21, 2020)

Happy Gilmore - still holds up
Anchorman - doesn’t 
Whip It - formulaic crap that I was inspired to watch after Hard Candy. Couldn’t finish it.
Ex Machina - s’alright


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 21, 2020)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Worth listening to his radio review - he talks more about the bigger themes and ideas in that.
> 
> 
> 
> ...






Spoiler



Yea I thought the only reason she had to do that was the relationship with her parents and wanting some attention. Dad seemed to be on his laptop all the time and mum shouting at her to get her shit together for school or come downstairs. I'd also not thought of her as being so young until mum went into what was obvs a junior school. 

The film did seem to play a few different angles and as you said I don't think it was really about the big event and the relationship between Lucy and Clark but more about Lynn being a young mum trying to find her way and make friends. I think that's how I would watch it second viewing because I was consumed more with Lucy's storyline.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 23, 2020)

One Man's Hero - Tom Berenger stars in this old fashioned tale of the San Patricios, who left the brutal nativist American army and joined up with the Mexicans in the 1846-48 war. From 1999 but feels like an 80s mini series.

There's a fascinating story to be told about this almost forgotten chapter of American/Irish/Mexican history. Sadly, this isn't it.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 23, 2020)

Still walking... another Kore Eda, another middle class Japanese family. The family have three children including one son who died rescuing a boy from drowning. The father, a doctor, had hoped one son would inherit his practice however he went for a career restoring paintings and married a widow with a son from a previous marriage. I found it involving perhaps because there were aspects of Japanese culture that I understood less although the old couple who nag at each other is clearly universally accepted.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 23, 2020)

Also...Time. Seen this in a few end of year lists. A black woman fighting for the release of her partner from a 60 year jail sentence for armed robbery. It's only 81 minutes and super intense, all black and white, very captivating. I found it hard to get on side with someone who'd gone until a bank with a gun to save his families failing hip hop clothing store though. 



Spoiler



American sentencing is fucking stupid but it's disclosed that he rejected a plea deal that would've had him out much earlier than the 20 years he ended up serving.



On the other hand she's an inspiring partner and mother to her kids. The family present as bright and positive. Shame about all the church going but interesting how the law is challenged by her in terms of her marriage vows because he belongs to her so the justice department shouldn't be able to take him away.

Anyway...a challenging documentary that's worth a watch.


----------



## Reno (Dec 23, 2020)

_The Twentieth Century_, a retro-style pisstake of biopics about Canada's former PM Mackenzie King, this is an absolute riot. My only reservation is that it looks and feels exactly like a Guy Maddin film, who has been doing this sort of thing for over three decades and who should probably sue. I'm a huge fan of Maddin, but have to admit that this is better paced than his films, which often run on for 20 - 30 minutes too long. I know nothing about Mackenzie King and I don't know whether some of the satire went over my head but this is very funny, very weird and lovely to look at.


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 23, 2020)

Just watched Drop Dead Fred with the kids. I loved this film as a teen (enduring love of Rik Mayall, plus I could watch Phoebe Cates all day) and was delighted to find I enjoyed it just as much today as I did back then. Kids also enjoyed, win win.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 23, 2020)

Kajillionaire. In an oddball family of scammers the daughter discovers a different way of life when a stranger joins them.on a job.  It's a quirky film and I don't generally get on with quirky but it's very sweet. 

It made me think of other films where a stranger comes along and changes people. It's an idea I like.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 24, 2020)

Cocoon - excellent coming of age movie set in Berlin during a hot summer - very good at examining the fleeting but intense feelings one has as an adolescent.


----------



## Jay Park (Dec 24, 2020)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Lynn + Lucy - really interesting film, brilliantly acted and every scene is thought-provoking/insightful.  Got the feeling that the big thing that happens in it (which you think is going to be the focus) isn't really what it's about.  One of those films that you want to watch again after knowing where it goes.



yeah watching it again, who is in the wrong?

I think with the story about the husband and the allusions toward the UK’s foreign military exploits and the tat rags that stir up hatred for people to indulge in.


----------



## Reno (Dec 24, 2020)

Not sure what made me watch _84 Charing Cross Road_. Never seen it, it was well liked in its day but it's like getting bludgeoned to death with a feather duster. Dire.


----------



## Sue (Dec 24, 2020)

Reno said:


> Not sure what made me watch _84 Charing Cross Road_. Never seen it, it was well liked in its day but it's like getting bludgeoned to death with a feather duster. Dire.


Hah, I started off watching that a few years ago and gave up about half an hour in as I was really bored. Sounds like I made the right choice...


----------



## not-bono-ever (Dec 24, 2020)

Bait

Fucking brilliant


----------



## Chz (Dec 25, 2020)

Reno said:


> Not sure what made me watch _84 Charing Cross Road_. Never seen it, it was well liked in its day but it's like getting bludgeoned to death with a feather duster. Dire.


I remember watching it when it came out. Mostly because I don't think I've been that bored since. (Untrue: I have watched The Piano)


----------



## D'wards (Dec 27, 2020)

Just watched Shoplifters. 
What a fantastic wonderful film.
Best film I've seen all year


----------



## Reno (Dec 27, 2020)

_Never Rarely Sometimes Always_ about a teenage girl who has to travel to NYC to get an abortion, because she can't get one in Pennsylvania without her parent's consent. Sounds like a heavy issue drama but it never feels like it, this is all about the accumulation of details. If Ken Loach made films which were less didactic and more lyrical, that's what it would look like. Loved this.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 27, 2020)

First 2 episodes of Patrick Melrose. I've almost finished the second book and although they're hard going, I didn't want them spoilt by the TV show.

Fucking hell it's brutal. I hadn't pictured it quite the same and I'm not a big fan of cumberbatch but Hugo Weaving as David Melrose is terrifying.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 27, 2020)

I watched half of Kenneth Branagh's Hanry V- a story which I previously just knew a couple of quotes from cos they get everywhere- enjoyed, its a good war story so far. Will watch the rest tonight


----------



## belboid (Dec 27, 2020)

Wonder Woman 1984

Bummer.  We really enjoyed the first one, but the sequel tries to hit the same buttons but fails.  Superhero movies are, by their very nature, a bit silly, but they make you ignore, or not even notice that, with wit or cracking action. WW84 fails on both scores. There wasn't a moment when I didn't think 'this is very silly.' Steve becomes an idiot, GG doesn't have enough action scenes (and isn't a very good actress). Kristen Wiig is good fun, but the conclusion just doesn't make sense.  Hey ho.


----------



## T & P (Dec 27, 2020)

*The Dark (2018).* A horror film that appears to be of supernatural origin about a man-killing monster in the woods, but ends up being something else, and more of a drama/ thriller than horror.

There are some dark themes in it, but also tenderness. I rather liked it.


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 28, 2020)

La Noche

The Night (2016) - IMDb

Argentinian film that follows middle aged man as he goes around clubs and bars picking up partners for sex.

Not a happy man. Its not a didactic film - which I liked. Simply follows him around. You see what he watches.

Very graphic depictions of sex and drug taking. He moves in a night world of gay / transexual bars and clubs.

No one is that nasty in the film. There is a certain camaderie in the clubs. But no one is that happy. In the night world everyone accepts who they are. There is no judgement.

Its a long film and not fast paced. Takes one into a dark underworld. One point in the film they go out into the daylight and can't deal with it. The world they live in / have a different life in is the night.

No one says much. There is little conversation. What there is is stilted. It is though the characters are all slightly detached. Even when having sex.

The film gradually revolves around him and a transexual. Really liked the ending ofthe film.

I found it easy to watch. The lack of action and storyline might not be to everyones taste. But I preferred that. There is no back story of why the man is out every night getting wrecked and having casual sex.

Its on BFI player which Ive got now as cinemas are closed.


----------



## belboid (Dec 28, 2020)

*The Kid Detective*

Imagine if the kid from Brick had grown up, still pretending to be a detective (with all his glory days behind him). Still trying to be sly and neo-noir, hitting a lot of the right buttons, but never quite managing to get the tone quite right.   An enjoyable if hardly earth-shattering hour and a half.


----------



## belboid (Dec 28, 2020)

*Relic*

Now that's more like it. An elderly woman complains of strangers being in her home, so her daughter and granddaughter go to check her out for a while. For the first hour, if it weren't for the soundtrack, this could almost be a Ken Loach film about trying to deal with dementia.  There are external events and actions that do seem relevant and proper spooky, but its blates granny has alzheimer's.  And then there is the last half hour, which brilliantly throws us into classic horror territory. Slow building right up until the point of release, which turns out not to be the climax at all (natch). Is granny mad or is there some terrible family secret that haunts them all?  Only one way to find out...


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 28, 2020)

*The Liability *(2012/2013) - droll, slightly underfunded Brit-crime-noir-black-comedy frippery with Jack McConnell uncannily convincing as a teenage moron wastrel getting in way over his head with a mysterious 'colleague' of his psychotic gangster stepdad. As the menacingly random colleague, Tim Roth is _very _Tim Roth, while Peter Mullan's _extremely _Peter Mullen, and the tone throughout is extremely Fargo-by-way-of-Sightseers-via-Tin-Star ... so it's not all that original, larded with smartarse Tarantino and crime-flick references, and all gets extremely silly in the last half hour. Still generally fun and not a waste of time.


----------



## Elpenor (Dec 28, 2020)

Bonded by Blood. Passable but no Rise of the Footsoldier


----------



## T & P (Dec 28, 2020)

belboid said:


> *Relic*
> 
> Now that's more like it. An elderly woman complains of strangers being in her home, so her daughter and granddaughter go to check her out for a while. For the first hour, if it weren't for the soundtrack, this could almost be a Ken Loach film about trying to deal with dementia.  There are external events and actions that do seem relevant and proper spooky, but its blates granny has alzheimer's.  And then there is the last half hour, which brilliantly throws us into classic horror territory. Slow building right up until the point of release, which turns out not to be the climax at all (natch). Is granny mad or is there some terrible family secret that haunts them all?  Only one way to find out...


Did you get what the core reason of it all was? We had to look it up- then everything made sense  But rather enjoyed it, even when we still didn’t know what the meaning of it all was.


----------



## belboid (Dec 28, 2020)

T & P said:


> Did you get what the core reason of it all was? We had to look it up- then everything made sense  But rather enjoyed it, even when we still didn’t know what the meaning of it all was.


umm, my initial thought was 'don't really know, don't really care, its a macguffin.'  But chatting to mrsb about it it suddenly made sense and neatly played on what we might have expected from the set up.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 29, 2020)

Elpenor said:


> Bonded by Blood. Passable but no Rise of the Footsoldier


🤣


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 29, 2020)

belboid said:


> *The Kid Detective*
> 
> Imagine if the kid from Brick had grown up, still pretending to be a detective (with all his glory days behind him). Still trying to be sly and neo-noir, hitting a lot of the right buttons, but never quite managing to get the tone quite right.   An enjoyable if hardly earth-shattering hour and a half.


Oh, I was looking forward to this. Where did you see it? 

_The Commune_ - Thomas Vinterberg (Dogme) film set in 70s Danemark, a married couple (with kid) decide to start a commune. Shortly after the husband begins an affair with a student of his and things become problematic. Lighter than some of Vinterberg's stuff it is not totally successfully but is entertaining enough, stand out is the performance by Trine Dryholm (who was also excellent in _Queen of Hearts_)

_Meek's Cutoff_ - Kelly Reichardt is one of those artists who's work I respect but which I never really click with, and this film continues that trend. I admire the work of all involved but it just left me a bit cold, and while I appreciate it is meant to be austere there needs to be some sort of emotional response.


----------



## Reno (Dec 29, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Oh, I was looking forward to this. Where did you see it?
> 
> _The Commune_ - Thomas Vinterberg (Dogme) film set in 70s Danemark, a married couple (with kid) decide to start a commune. Shortly after the husband begins an affair with a student of his and things become problematic. Lighter than some of Vinterberg's stuff it is not totally successfully but is entertaining enough, stand out is the performance by Trine Dryholm (who was also excellent in _Queen of Hearts_)
> 
> _Meek's Cutoff_ - Kelly Reichardt is one of those artists who's work I respect but which I never really click with, and this film continues that trend. I admire the work of all involved but it just left me a bit cold, and while I appreciate it is meant to be austere there needs to be some sort of emotional response.



You are not the only one, I can't get into Kelly Reichardt's films. I never find them very involving and I'm not sure I can be bothered to check out _First Cow_, her new one.

Got Vinterberg's new one, _Another Round_, lined up as I'm working my way through the acclaimed films of 2020.

Speaking of which, I watched _Sound of Metal_ last night, about a heavy metal drummer who suddenly looses his hearing and has to readjust his life to being deaf. Very good, Riz Ahmed isn't the first actor you'd think of for the role (and he wasn't the first choice) but he is great and the sound design is excellent. Most of the supporting cast are deaf actors. I have questions about the end.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 29, 2020)

Possessor... features in a few end of year lists, thought it may be worth a look. 

It wasn't, it was boring.


----------



## Hollis (Dec 29, 2020)

Watched 'Parasite' last night - brilliant!  I actually fell asleep in the cinema when I watched it but nothing to do with the film...


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 29, 2020)

Soldier (1998)
Kurt Russel and Sean Pertwee star in this classic  slice of ninties sci fi. Jason Scott Lee is the muscle baddie, Gary Busey puts in fine work as the likeable, decent at heart baddie next to real villain, an officer. They do not make them like this anymore. Also Kurts character Todd was at the Tanhauser Gate battle thus confirming its sort of in the bladerunner universe


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 29, 2020)

Stalingrad. The German film not the Russian one.
Grim


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 29, 2020)

Never Rarely Sometimes Always...a pregnant teenager and her cousin travel to New York for an abortion. Not the cheeriest of films but incredibly well done. Great performances and it's as much about the everyday sexism experienced by the two girls as the abortion issue.


----------



## belboid (Dec 30, 2020)

redsquirrel said:


> Oh, I was looking forward to this. Where did you see it?


via the bay of pirates

_



			Meek's Cutoff
		
Click to expand...

_


> - Kelly Reichardt is one of those artists who's work I respect but which I never really click with, and this film continues that trend. I admire the work of all involved but it just left me a bit cold, and while I appreciate it is meant to be austere there needs to be some sort of emotional response.


Meek's Cutoff is her best, imo, mostly for the way it is shot.  She does excellent landscape and her characters are intriguing, if not entirely 'satisfying' (for want of a better word).  I've got First Cow to watch, but it wont play on my telly, annoyingly, even tho it is in the same format and from the same source The Kid Detective. I'll get round to it eventually.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 30, 2020)

belboid said:


> via the bay of pirates


Ah, ta I'll grab a copy.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 31, 2020)

Clemency. A warden overseeing death row starts to feel the impact of her job. Another end of year list film that looked promising but after a very intense scene at the beginning where an execution doesn't go to plan it just wasn't very good. Characters I couldn't believe in coupled with some terrible acting and a story I should've carried about but didn't. Proper rubbish. 😕


----------



## Supine (Dec 31, 2020)

I don't know how the numbers are working out but if you are given the option which do you choose?

1. Continue with 2nd dose at 3-4wks. 50,000 deaths in Q1
2. Modify 2nd dose regime which is low risk but will add some confusion to the general public. 30,000 deaths in Q1

I'd go with option 2. If it saves a lot of lives it's worth it imho.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 31, 2020)

Supine said:


> I don't know how the numbers are working out but if you are given the option which do you choose?
> 
> 1. Continue with 2nd dose at 3-4wks. 50,000 deaths in Q1
> 2. Modify 2nd dose regime which is low risk but will add some confusion to the general public. 30,000 deaths in Q1
> ...


I dunno, but it sounds well boring for a video


----------



## Supine (Dec 31, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I dunno, but it sounds well boring for a video



Haha. Wrong thread obviously


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 31, 2020)

Supine said:


> Haha. Wrong thread obviously


Can’t work out if it’s a tech thriller, dystopian weepie or sardonic farce


----------



## Sue (Dec 31, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Can’t work out if it’s a tech thriller, dystopian weepie or sardonic farce


I don't really fancy it whatever..


----------



## Knotted (Jan 1, 2021)

A couple of night ago, I watched _Adoration _which is a 2019 Belgian young lovers on the run film. It explores themes of mental illness and abuse and it will shock without warning. Shaky, intimate camera work and an incredible, intense/paranoid performance from Fantine Harduin make this film something very special. It's on BFI player.


----------



## brogdale (Jan 1, 2021)

2 hours 26 minutes very well spent:









						BBC Four - Uncle Vanya
					

Anton Chekhov’s tender exploration of human frailty, filmed during 2020's lockdown.




					www.bbc.co.uk
				




Highly recommended.


----------



## T & P (Jan 1, 2021)

Watching the second and final season of Vice Principals. It’s pretty good


----------



## belboid (Jan 1, 2021)

*Hamilton*

It's pretty good. A nicely done filming that captures a most of the staging and properly cinematic moments. The women could have been given somewhat stronger roles, they're a bit sidelined, but otherwise an excellent piece of historical entertainment.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 3, 2021)

3 eps into _The Queen's Gambit_. Stunning, sad, dark humour and an excellent performance from the 2 actors playing Beth.

No clue about chess, but still the makers manage to make it exciting and trippy, in parts.


----------



## marty21 (Jan 3, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Mindhorn - crap and unfunny.


Watched it last night (it's on Iplayer) thought it was hilarious 😆


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 4, 2021)

Manhunt: Deadly Games. Second series after Manhunt: Unabomber, one of the best recent crime drama series imo.

Started it last night and already 5 episodes in. It's exciellent....about the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and following investigation. Interesting to see a series focused on US domestic terrorism and inability of agencies to work together. Holding off in doing any reading about the case until I've finished it.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 4, 2021)

The Assistant.  "A searing look at a day in the life of an assistant to a powerful executive" - absolutely loved this, and it does make you think of only one man at the centre of it all.

First Cow -  "A skilled cook has traveled west and joined a group of fur trappers in Oregon, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. Soon the two collaborate on a successful business".   A lovely slow moving thoughtful and interesting film.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 4, 2021)

_Festen_ - First film shot in the Dogme95 manifesto, made by Thomas Vinterberg. Despite the plot (child abuse) being far, far more common now than when this was made the film still hits. 

_The Kid Detective_ - as belboid said an enjoyable 90 minutes but the film does not really get the (shift in) tones correct. It veers between darkly comic and tragic but in a manner that undermines both.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 4, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _Festen_ - First film shot in the Dogme95 manifesto, made by Thomas Vinterberg. Despite the plot (child abuse) being far, far more common now than when this was made the film still hits.


I went through a bit of an obsession with Dogme films years ago, and loved this one. Loved most of them tbh.


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 6, 2021)

Bad times at El Royal - never watched this as I’d seen a lot of bad /medium reviews however no worse than Tarantinos’s  Hatefull 8 tbh . Interesting plot reaches a dead end with the arrival of the bad guy and inevitable stand off. A little more black humour , fleshing the roles out and more interplay between the characters plus a a few more twists would have made this but overall a good yarn and enjoyable .


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 6, 2021)

The Long Goodbye 1973 directed by  Robert Altman.

Never seen this before watched it few nights ago.

I really enjoyed this film. He transposes the story to his present day. Hippy trippy US.

The Marlowe character ( an excellant Gould) is out of place. Spends the film in his crumpled suit and tie. A lot of humour in the film but its also very violent. There is an undertow of potential violence thorughout the film. Marlowe - " the born loser" goes through the film being knocked about, played and its not until the very end that he finds the truth.

Some great set pieces. The beginning with him trying to feed his cat is hilarious. But today I thought the cat is like the characters in the film. Taking him a merry. dance. Taking advantage of good natured Marlowe. He ends up with nothing.

The pyscho gangster/ alcoholic writer,  charismatic controlling pyschiatrist and his hippy trippy yoga loving neighbours all start to become appaling by end of the film. Reviews say its a critique of the liberated sixties/ early seventies. Its in the end harsh look at people who are bound up with themselves. Not really interested beyond themselves. The one time he asks for something- asking his neighbours to feed his cat he is ignored.

Its an old film but comes across as fresh. The way its filmed and shot does not look dated. Even if fashions etc have changed.

So I would recommend looking this film up.










						The Long Goodbye (1973) - IMDb
					

The Long Goodbye: Directed by Robert Altman. With Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell. Private investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.




					www.imdb.com


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 6, 2021)

Liberte (2019) by Albert Serra









						Liberty (2019) - IMDb
					

Liberty: Directed by Albert Serra. With Helmut Berger, Marc Susini, Iliana Zabeth, Laura Poulvet. Madame de Dumeval, the Duke de Tesis and the Duke de Wand, libertines expelled from the court of Louis XVI, seek the support of the Duc de Walchen, German seducer and freethinker, lonely in a...




					www.imdb.com
				




Spanish film maker. First of his films Ive seen. He is in the arthouse category from seeing this film.

Plot is fairly simple. A group of decadent French aristocrats spend a nght "dogging" in a forest.

Reminded of Marquis de Sade. Also Pasolini Salo. But in this film the sex is consensual. Women are also active in the sexual scenarios.

Its wonderfully shot. Some bits look like a painting. I like films that do that. It takes place over one night in a forest. As the night deepens so it becomes more dreamlike and surreal. What is rather fascinating is how the different characters watch and comment. Voyeurism plays a large part in the film. The characters also engage in lengthy discussions of sexually depraved scenerios. Which are rather riveting considering its turns out to be just talk. But then sex is in the head. Its socially constructed. They are sort of making a mockery of that by producing their own little world of sex in the dark of the forest.

I don't think the film was a critique of aristcrats. It was rather a group of people attempting to go beyond everyday life. It becomes surreal as they are playing with desires that are kept deep down in the normal world.

Its not all grim. Not grim at all. Some dark humor cuts through this film.


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2021)

Gramsci said:


> The Long Goodbye 1973 directed by  Robert Altman.
> 
> Never seen this before watched it few nights ago.
> 
> ...


I hated it the first time I saw it  - it wasn't Bogey!   Didn't get a chance to rewatch for many years, but when I finally did, it was a real 'ohhh, yeah, okay, i get it now' moment


----------



## Sue (Jan 7, 2021)

belboid said:


> I hated it the first time I saw it  - it wasn't Bogey!   Didn't get a chance to rewatch for many years, but when I finally did, it was a real 'ohhh, yeah, okay, i get it now' moment


I still prefer Bogey though...


----------



## belboid (Jan 7, 2021)

Sue said:


> I still prefer Bogey though...


god, me too.  The Big Sleep is the greatest black and white movie ever made. But Elliott Gould does a damned fine job in this circumstance.


----------



## Sue (Jan 7, 2021)

belboid said:


> god, me too.  The Big Sleep is the greatest black and white movie ever made. But Elliott Gould does a damned fine job in this circumstance.


And the cat stuff rings true too...


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 8, 2021)

_Duck Butter_ - meh, very, very American indie. Just could not get into it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 8, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _Duck Butter_ - meh, very, very American indie. Just could not get into it.


is it anything to do with Jacko?


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Green Mile

Some great character acting performances. Slow and steady pace. Beautifully shot. Shed a tear at the end.

Am I right in thinking the whole John Coffey healing ability story arch is an analogy for what the African peoples brought to the US might have achieved had they not been shackled? As in, how much would US society had benefited if those people were free to excell and exceed. Yes, I know capitalism would have still have had them working long and hard but you get my point.


----------



## belboid (Jan 9, 2021)

Nude for Satan.

An early seventies Italian film that looked hilariously bad: 'demented' and 'sex spider' being the key words I recall, along, perhaps, with 'full of lesbianism and satanism'. Directed by Luigi Batzella, in a rare outing under his actual name, it has a vaguely interesting premise- time confused couples who must find...ohhh something, something, or Satan. Sadly, this high promise was not fulfilled and it was the worst piece of anything I have ever seen. I could have done a better job in every single aspect of its production, including being a lesbian. It isn't even so bad it's good, it's just bad and boring. The erotic moments were distinctly less erotic than watching the puppets in Team America. A fifth rate Jean Rollin.

But still better than Wonder Woman 84


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

belboid said:


> Nude for Satan.
> 
> An early seventies Italian film that looked hilariously bad: 'demented' and 'sex spider' being the key words I recall, along, perhaps, with 'full of lesbianism and satanism'. It has a vaguely interesting premise- time confused couples who must find...ohhh something, something, or Satan. Sadly, this high promise was not fulfilled and it was the worst piece of anything I have ever seen. I could have done a better job in every single aspect of its production, including being a lesbian. It isn't even so bad it's good, it's just bad and boring. The erotic moments were distinctly less erotic than watching the puppets in Team America. A fifth rate Jean Rollin.
> 
> But still better than Wonder Woman 84



what is this thing about WW84? I haven't read anything about it but it keeps popping up.


----------



## 8ball (Jan 9, 2021)

Jay Park said:


> what is this thing about WW84? I haven't read anything about it but it keeps popping up.



It seems the humans have decided near-unanimously that it is bad.


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

8ball said:


> It seems the humans have decided near-unanimously that it is bad.



a belated avalanche of dissatisfaction from movie watchers? What's all that about?


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

sO jAY PARK IS THE DARLING OF THE MIDDLE CLASS MAJORITY OF u75 LIKE 8BALL AND jAY pARK


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

wELL DONE GUYS


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> sO jAY PARK IS THE DARLING OF THE MIDDLE CLASS MAJORITY OF u75 LIKE 8BALL AND jAY pARK



do I know you? Supa Star DJ.


----------



## belboid (Jan 9, 2021)

Jay Park said:


> what is this thing about WW84? I haven't read anything about it but it keeps popping up.


It's poorly written with unspecial effects and a waste of decent actors and characters. I would give it being distinctly sexier than NfS though.


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

belboid said:


> It's poorly written with unspecial effects and a waste of decent actors and characters. I would give it being distinctly sexier than NfS though.



Faster Pussy Cat Kill Kill ?


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

8 BALL FLICKS HIS HAIR


----------



## 8ball (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> wELL DONE GUYS



Just so I can get a baseline, which thread do you think you're replying to?


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

belboid said:


> It's poorly written with unspecial effects and a waste of decent actors and characters. I would give it being distinctly sexier than NfS though.





I never quite got this


----------



## 8ball (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> 8 BALL FLICKS HIS HAIR



I assume sobriety has been enjoying a level of moderation this evening.


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

8ball said:


> I assume sobriety has been enjoying a level of moderation this evening.



You haven't got a clue lad


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

8ball said:


> Just so I can get a baseline, which thread do you think you're replying to?



you mean bassline









						What are you listening to right now? v2.0
					

Tories be like 'you are discourteous to us on social media'  God's son/ a great prophet/ a righteous man - 'your going to die forever in a furnace because you are against the truth and justice'




					www.urban75.net


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> You haven't got a clue lad



Tell us then, who does?


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

me


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto the sage. What did you watch last night/this morning?


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

Jay Park said:


> Humberto the sage. What did you watch last night/this morning?



Don't start


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

belboid said:


> It's poorly written with unspecial effects and a waste of decent actors and characters. I would give it being distinctly sexier than NfS though.



so it's a smutty misogynistic gig?


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Watched Spinal Tap again the other day. So many times now and I still hear lines I missed the first 15 times.

*the Stonehenge fiasco *

all arguing about the Stonehenge replica

'let's not make a big deal about all of this'

Harry Shearer 'making a big deal out of this would have been the right thing to do'


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

Jay Park said:


> Humberto the sage. What did you watch last night/this morning?














Still the sage ?


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> Still the sage ?



show it! show it!


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

Jay Park said:


> show it! show it!



Nah.


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> Nah.



flake - pm it then.


----------



## Humberto (Jan 9, 2021)

Fuck sake. Apologies all round. I'll see you later guys. Jay Park 8ball

Jay, you're sound tbh 

8ball it was a few too many


----------



## Jay Park (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> Fuck sake. Apologies all round. I'll see you later guys. Jay Park 8ball
> 
> Jay, you're sound tbh
> 
> 8ball it was a few too many



happens


----------



## colbhoy (Jan 9, 2021)

Watched The Hurt Locker, just before it disappears from IPlayer. First time I’ve seen it and had actually forgotten it won best picture Oscar.

Was very good.


----------



## 8ball (Jan 9, 2021)

Humberto said:


> Fuck sake. Apologies all round. I'll see you later guys. Jay Park 8ball
> 
> Jay, you're sound tbh
> 
> 8ball it was a few too many



  A look at your general posts around that time were a bit of clue - no probs.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 9, 2021)

_The Big Scare_ - Jean-Pierre Mockey film, with Bourvil as a naive police inspector who ends up in a town full of interesting characters. Very sill but rather fun. 

2 episodes of _Polizeiruf 110 _directed by Dominik Graf, _Cassandra's Warning _and _Smoke on the Water_, plots of both are rather ludicrous but Graf's direction and style rise about the material and the first is in particular is worth checking out. Reno (or anyone else) I'm interested in checking out more of Graf's work have you got any recommendations? The three parter he, Petzold and another director worked on sounds interesting.


----------



## T & P (Jan 9, 2021)

Just discovered House of Lies, a 2010 Showtime comedy-drama series that ran for five or six seasons. It’s pretty watchable, actually.

It follows the lives and exploits of a ruthless marketing company executive, and the lengths he and his team will go to secure new contracts with customers. Good performances  by Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell. Available on NowTV and Sky.


----------



## BristolEcho (Jan 9, 2021)

Watched Jaws tonight for the first time. Was actually better than I thought it was going to be. Preferred the first half to the second half. 

We are trying to watch some of the classics we haven't seen yet. Did The Shining the other night but I thought it was a bit self indulgent..... Was decent enough though.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 10, 2021)

_Last In, First Out_ - Downbeat 70s French spy thriller with bit parts for Donald Pleasance, Joseph Cotton and Dennis Hopper (with some bad dubbing). Not quite in the top division but the cynicism and general pessimism makes it worth the time.


----------



## belboid (Jan 10, 2021)

Tiger King: the Movie.  Not, as I had assumed, a selection of highlights from the series, but a pisstake based around two 'ditzy young women' watching the 'true' story of young Joe. Which is a re-editing and redubbing of a couple of utterly mad looking sixties/seventies atrocities (including Terror in the Jungle and Luana the Girl Tarzan).   It's just about good enough to amuse for an hour.


----------



## T & P (Jan 10, 2021)

I’m pretty sure I’ll end up being in a minority of one here seeing both the critics and audiences‘ lukewarm reception so far, but to my surprise I find myself here giving an overall positive review of the latest Marvel spinoff film, The New Mutants. And bear in mind I’ve been saying for a while how sick and tired I am now of the superhero genre.

The main reason is that this is really a horror-fantasy film rather than your average Marvel product. It is massively darker, with far more character development, and a lot of things aren’t what they seem so it has a degree of unpredictability miles completely absent from 99% of Marvel products. 

Not amazing and not worth paying for it, but pretty decent overall IMO, and a breath of fresh air within the genre.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 12, 2021)

_De Palma_ - Interview with Brian De Palma made by Noam Baumbach. Meh, just a bit bland, no conflict, no challenges to De Palma's opinions. If you are big fan of his films probably worth a watch. Frankly I've never been that blown away by his work.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 12, 2021)

Relic....Aussie horror from a few of the 2020 top 50s lists. 

Not sure what it is about having an obvious issue placed at the centre of a horror film but I didn't get on with His House and I wasn't that arsed with this either.


----------



## Chz (Jan 12, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _De Palma_ - Interview with Brian De Palma made by Noam Baumbach. Meh, just a bit bland, no conflict, no challenges to De Palma's opinions. If you are big fan of his films probably worth a watch. Frankly I've never been that blown away by his work.


Along those lines, watched _Phantom of the Paradise_ tonight. Yes, some of it has aged badly. But bits are still brilliant and it's just a riot to look at. I still recommend it.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 13, 2021)

System Crasher. A 9 year old girl who's been through a succession of care placements wants to return to her mum. Her social worker is worn out and a school escort takes her away to the woods for a break hoping to break the cycle.

I have a personal/professional interest but this a brilliant film. The kid gives an excellent performance as do others and the story feels very real. I've sometimes wondered when a modern day Made in Britain might be made. Maybe this is it but it's a 9 year old German girl not a teenage English skinhead.

One of the best films I've seen from the 2020 top 50s and should've placed much higher. Fully recommended.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 13, 2021)

Dawn of the Deb.

Passable fluff zombie comedy. Looks a bit low budget in its scale but who cares . Really only works because the lead does a fun turn, and because of something I cant mention due to spoilers.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 14, 2021)

_The Wayward Girl_ - very good Norwegian film from 1959, interesting not only for its own sake but also as Liv Ullman's first (major) role (she is great, as if it needs saying) and as a picture of Norway in the late 50s. Ullman is the wayward girl, in a relationship with a middle class boy who's family are not too keen on her, they go off to live in the country together for a few weeks and their relationship is tested. Definitely worth watching, and I'm intrigued by the director Edith Carlmar who apparently also directed Norway's first film noir.


----------



## T & P (Jan 15, 2021)

Already plugged it on the Disney+ thread, but WandaVision is great so far, and as far removed from anything Marvel had done before as one could imagine. Very positive reviews from across the board 




__





						Redirect Notice
					





					www.google.co.uk


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 15, 2021)

Just watched Life of Brian with the kids


----------



## MBV (Jan 16, 2021)

I've been working my way through Yellowstone about a ranch and various family relationships:









						Yellowstone (TV Series 2018– ) - IMDb
					

Yellowstone: Created by Taylor Sheridan, John Linson. With Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley. A ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.




					www.imdb.com
				




Its a pretty easy watch.


----------



## ska invita (Jan 16, 2021)

this was some higher level documentary film making - or was it




__





						Watch The Latest Films Online - Curzon Home Cinema
					

Watch brand new films online every week. Choose from hundreds of independent films and stream the latest cinema film releases at home on any device.




					www.curzonhomecinema.com
				




its like bukwoski / barfly, but realer - if that appeals at all you should really watch it, ive not seen anything quite like it
worth reading about it, but only after watching
lots of amazing intimate footage
a torrent exists


----------



## Ted Striker (Jan 17, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Manhunt: Deadly Games. Second series after Manhunt: Unabomber, one of the best recent crime drama series imo.
> 
> Started it last night and already 5 episodes in. It's exciellent....about the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and following investigation. Interesting to see a series focused on US domestic terrorism and inability of agencies to work together. Holding off in doing any reading about the case until I've finished it.



Thanks for suggesting this - I'm now midway through it. Tbh I was originally drawn to it due to its similarities with the recent Richard Jewel (dir by Clint Eastwood) film, but this goes into more depth. Loving it so far


----------



## Ted Striker (Jan 17, 2021)

dfm said:


> I've been working my way through Yellowstone about a ranch and various family relationships:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yep, I loved it too, mainly for the scenery. I've just had to torrent S2 (and S3).

As you say, an easy watch, but has one crazy outstanding feature, that dawned on me when I finished the first series:



Spoiler



There is hardly ANY peril.

Like, any pending potential disaster or hindrance to the implicit antihero KC...Is resolved in... seconds! Its like a roadrunner cartoon! 

If you've ever watched a film and in some polyanna state really regretted the initial wrongdoing that sparks the hero's ultimate revenge, or the crucial setback 2/3rds of the way through that nearly decimates the hero's comeback...Watch Yellowstone!

Eden Lake, it is not! (


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 17, 2021)

_Three Colours: Red_ - I've seen this multiple times before but still love it. Has to be one of the top films of the 90s, Both Jacob and Trintignant are great (why did Irene Jacob not become bigger she's not only great in this but she's gorgeous (which clearly helps even if it should not)) and the both the plot, scenes, visuals and politics are all beautiful. 

_Perfect Strangers_ - 80s film directed by Larry Cohen (_Q the Winged Serpent_), one of those films that is a curious mix of totally rubbish with the odd spot of really quite good/interesting stuff (bit like Winner's _Dirty Weekend_). Plot is a hitman is spotted by a 3 year old kid killing someone, he then romances the kids mother to get closer to the kid and find out what he knows/possibly kill him. Sub-plots are the mothers strained relationship with her ex and some (very daft and crap) stuff about the feminist movement. It's incredibly badly made, random scenes for (bad) exposition, jumps in plot that clearly don't make sense, some very bad acting, stereotyped characterisation and with some dodgy politics. However, there are bits that are genuinely quite good, mostly around Anne Carlisle who plays the mother, and brings, considering what she is working with, an incredible amount of depth to the role. And while the feminist/gay stuff is badly handled, nevertheless there is an attempt to do something interesting. it's one of those films that could have been really quite good but unfortunately isn't. Worth a watch only as a period piece and for Carlisle. 

_Obsession_ - Brian De Palma homage to _Vertigo_, only _Vertigo_ is amazing and this is ok. For all De Palma's love of Hitchcock he either doesn't understand, or does not have the ability to make, that for a thriller to really work you need to ensure the stuff around the plot is high enough quality that the audience will go with the (fancy silly) plot. And that simply is not present here, for a start it is obvious what the 'twist' is, which is fine, you know James Mason is the bad guy in NbNW from the start but Hitchcock uses that, De Palma doesn't. Then the actors do not really turn in performances that make you buy the central conceit. I totally accept that James Stewart is obsessed in _Vertigo,_ here I just think Cliff Robertson is a bit of loony dick. The most interesting thing is the short/long split screen approach which is quite good. Apparently Paul Schrader had conceived of a third chapter (set in the future) which De Palma nixed, I'd rather have seen Schrader's film.

_All That Heaven Allows_ - despite being aware of him as a name I'm not sure that I've ever seen any of Douglas Sirk's movies so looking forward to this and it did not disappoint, gorgeous to look at, great performances from Hudson and, especially, Wyman. It is as good as people say.


----------



## Sue (Jan 17, 2021)

redsquirrel, if you haven't already seen it, would be worth watching Far From Heaven, Todd Haynes' take on Sirk (kind of a companion piece to ATHA). I really like Sirk's films and am glad they were reappraised after being dismissed for a long time as 'women's pictures' .


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 17, 2021)

Sue said:


> redsquirrel, if you haven't already seen it, would be worth watching Far From Heaven, Todd Haynes' take on Sirk (kind of a companion piece to ATHA). I really like Sirk's films and am glad they were reappraised after being dismissed for a long time as 'women's pictures' .


Cheers, I know of FFH but never seen it. It is on my list, but I want to watch _Imitation of Life_ first. (Plus got a big backlog of MUBI films).


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 17, 2021)

_The Nightingale _on Netflix. Bloody, brutal, brilliant feminist-revisionist-anticolonialist rape & revenge tale set in 1820s Tasmania. Excellent - a tiny bit over-egged in places as you seem to plunge ever deeper from one circle of hell to another, but full of spiky, difficult, intelligent questions (more like interrogations really) about the old western/outback movie tropes, and about Australia's bloody history. An extremely gruelling watch (trigger warnings for - well, more or less everything) but not exploitative - and there are moments of real insight and maybe even beauty. Mostly well acted and looks a dream.


----------



## Sue (Jan 17, 2021)

trabuquera said:


> _The Nightingale _on Netflix. Bloody, brutal, brilliant feminist-revisionist-anticolonialist rape & revenge tale set in 1820s Tasmania. Excellent - a tiny bit over-egged in places as you seem to plunge ever deeper from one circle of hell to another, but full of spiky, difficult, intelligent questions (more like interrogations really) about the old western/outback movie tropes, and about Australia's bloody history. An extremely gruelling watch (trigger warnings for - well, more or less everything) but not exploitative - and there are moments of real insight and maybe even beauty. Mostly well acted and looks a dream.


That's on my list of things to watch so glad it was good. Sounds like I'd need to be in the right frame of mind for it though so thanks for the warning!


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 17, 2021)

Ted Striker said:


> Thanks for suggesting this - I'm now midway through it. Tbh I was originally drawn to it due to its similarities with the recent Richard Jewel (dir by Clint Eastwood) film, but this goes into more depth. Loving it so far



I wasn't aware of the film until I started googling after watching the series. Is it worth seeing?


----------



## Ted Striker (Jan 17, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> I wasn't aware of the film until I started googling after watching the series. Is it worth seeing?



I guess so  - it's pretty forgettable tbh, but is interesting from a compare-and-contrast perspective. The lead actor, and the set of the actual original bombing are so similar...crazy to think there were 2 parallel projects going on at the same time. I'll be googling that element of it when I've finished watching the series  

Worth a few hours of your time, for sure.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 18, 2021)

News of the World - Tom Hanks an itinerant newspaper reader trudges around the post-civil war southern US and ends up with a mission to take an orphan to her aunt and uncle. This is vacuous stuff, just a few tropes tossed into the pot and no surprises. There's probably a market for it amongst 90-year old women or something.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jan 19, 2021)

Nomadland 

Francis mcdormand. 

Give it a go.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> Nomadland
> 
> Francis mcdormand.
> 
> Give it a go.


What platform? Was going to see this at a film festival but Covid


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jan 19, 2021)

A bogus one online I’m afraid but good quality


----------



## belboid (Jan 19, 2021)

Our Daily Bread

A slightly peculiar King Vidor film from 1934 that follows two city dwellers all but ruined by the depression who take on a piece of land to give themselves one last chance. Very quickly they realise that they have none of the requisite skills and go out recruiting. But not recruiting workers, recruiting fellow co-op members because they realise they need to work co-operatively in order to survive and that between them can they can do almost anything - no matter what race, colour or creed, but united as a class.   It's slightly peculiar because Vidor was an arch-conservative who was, at the same time, campaigning against Upton Sinclair  in his campaign for California Governor - a campaign which basically said folk needed to do what they did in Vidor's film.

There is also the best ditch digging scene I can recall seeing for a long time. 

On Amazon prime, although with a promo pic taken from a completely different film, which is momentarily confusing.


----------



## Sue (Jan 19, 2021)

belboid said:


> Our Daily Bread
> 
> A slightly peculiar King Vidor film from 1934 that follows two city dwellers all but ruined by the depression who take on a piece of land to give themselves one last chance. Very quickly they realise that they have none of the requisite skills and go out recruiting. But not recruiting workers, recruiting fellow co-op members because they realise they need to work co-operatively in order to survive and that between them can they can do almost anything - no matter what race, colour or creed, but united as a class.   It's slightly peculiar because Vidor was an arch-conservative who was, at the same time, campaigning against Upton Sinclair  in his campaign for California Governor - a campaign which basically said folk needed to do what they did in Vidor's film.
> 
> ...


That sounds interesting (though I don't have Amazon prime). I have a sot spot for the (in real time) hole digging scene in Le Trou...


----------



## belboid (Jan 19, 2021)

Sue said:


> That sounds interesting (though I don't have Amazon prime). I have a sot spot for the (in real time) hole digging scene in Le Trou...


I see it is on youtube too, not quite as good quality but not too bad looking.


----------



## Sue (Jan 19, 2021)

Great, thanks for that, belboid .


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2021)

First episode of AP Bio on Now/Sky. Starring It’s Always Sunny’s Glenn Howerton (Dennis) who seems to do a fine line in self-regarding petty despicable arseholes. He plays a disgraced Harvard philosophy professor forced to teach biology in a Californian high school but instead using his class to help him take his mean-spirited revenge on those who have wronged him. I laughed a lot. Will be watching again and there’s 3 seasons of it


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2021)

*Bill & Ted Face The Music*
Sloppy and cheap but endearing return of the franchise - perfectly adequate Saturday popcorn fare
Ted's daughter is a stand out, aping Reeves ably. 
3 whoahs out of 5

*Possessor*
Really enjoyed this - Riseborough is always worth a watch and the horror is actually horrifying. Look forward to seeing more from Cronenburg Jr
4 spouting jugulars out of 5

*Save Yourselves*
Low budget scifi comedy about a couple trying to get away from online distractions while unaware of an alien invasion. Moments of amusment and does a lot with very little. The Critter/Tribblesque aliens are shite though despite this. 
3 hairy balls out of 5

*Silent Night*
Brit crime flick with few surprises beyond the Xmas theme. Does what you expect but not as annoying as many a UK gangster film. Not seen the main antagonist in it and he makes a fine psychopath. 
3 woodland shootings out of 5

*Host*
Lockdown-made no-budget that's very impressive considering it's literally just a 65 minute video conference call made by friends, centring on an online seance. Fails in the scariness stakes though, but I don't get scared by spirits/ghosts, so maybe that's just me.
3 bloody zooms out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2021)

*Dreams Of A Life*
Carol Morley documentary/drama hybrid about the sad case of Joyce Carol Vincent, who died alone in her flat in Wood Green and wasn't discovered until three years after she had died, despite being a popular and sociable person who just faded out of everyone's lives. She was discovered with the telly still on and surrounded by unsent Xmas presents for her family. Thoroughly recommended - there are no villains here - it's just a depressing reflection of how easy it is to live an isolated life in a big city to the point that no-one notices someone with many friends dropping out of view like that.
It reminded me a little bit of the documentary on the life of Klaus Nomi, who died alone of AIDS, despite being a popular NY scenester and entertainer, though in Dreams Of A Life, the friends are less shallow and self-serving.
4 stacks of unopened mail out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2021)

*American Utopia*
This is such a joy - if you liked Stop Making Sense, this might be even better. Spike Lee directs David Byrne and band playing live AND dancing barefoot in a minimal grey set - grey suits and a bare set framed with hanging chains. It's almost unbelievable that it is all played live. It's just so exciting and thrilling to watch. Every moment of it is special. Film of the year so far.
5 bike rides home out of 5


----------



## belboid (Jan 21, 2021)

*Les Biches *- a Claude Chabrol film from 1968, written by Paul Gegauff, who wrote _Plein Soleil_. 

When it's a Poulenc ballet, l_es biches, _is usually translated as 'the does' or 'the darlings.'  For this film they go with Bad Girls (not unlike _Plein Soleil - _literally Full Sun, but generally called Purple Noon).

Not a classic Chabrol but an interestingly understated and subdued (visually and tonally, mostly) tortured lesbian affair and confused menage-a-trois. Frederique & Why (I know, I know, but bear with it) are great characters and the main man is really not that main at all. A slightly unsettling mix of frivolity and unpleasantness, Chabrol said it was about how 'the poor have to submit, until they revolt, and the only possible revolt is destruction. It is from a Marxist point of view but it is not political at all. I'm sure you cannot make a revolution with a camera.' Which is one take on it. 

I had a reason for watching it, but I wish I'd found out about _why I wanted to watch it_ afterwards, as I kept trying to spot the really clear examples of _why I wanted to watch it _instead of just going with the flow and then only really twigging it at the end. If you see what I mean.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 21, 2021)

Lucky...Harry Dean Stanton plays himself, a man getting old. Nothing much happens, it's a really gentle film, I liked it. His last film before he died which is kind of appropriate, and also features David Lynch who plays a man who lost his tortoise.

Ham on Rye...An 84 minute story centred around a small town prom type party but the characters aren't those you'd generally associate with that kind of film, they're the nerdy kids who don't really fit in. It's very Lynch like, an easy watch.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 21, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> Nomadland
> 
> Francis mcdormand.
> 
> Give it a go.



Well that was just wonderful. What a beautiful film.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jan 23, 2021)

Left Behind

Filum with Nick Cage (in it for the money) and some unknown bad actors. Its about the rapture. Lots of Jesus references and bibles. Its engrossing as it is utter pants.The script is terrible, the plane flying sequences are shite, the players are laughingly wooden. give it a go. a solid 9/10 if your are a Born again midwestern Christian


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 23, 2021)

Something about that bloke off of Altered Carbon and robot soldiers in a Hungarian power station.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 23, 2021)

Gonna give this a go tonight. Might be worth it for a laugh:









						COVID-21: Lethal Virus (2021) - IMDb
					

COVID-21: Lethal Virus: Directed by Daniel Hernández Torrado. With Christian Stamm, Loretta Hope, Ramon Álvarez, Tomás Paredes. The climate change has released an ancient rabies virus trapped in the Antarctica ice. A female scientist tries to get to the laboratory to create a cure to save the...




					www.imdb.com


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 23, 2021)

The Painted Bird.









						The Painted Bird (2019) - IMDb
					

The Painted Bird: Directed by Václav Marhoul. With Petr Kotlár, Nina Sunevic, Alla Sokolova, Stanislav Bilyi. A young Jewish boy somewhere in Eastern Europe seeks refuge during World War II where he encounters many different characters.




					www.imdb.com
				




Based on a Polish novel which I have not read. The history of the novel is not without controversy. Whether it was acucurate portrayal of polish peasants or based on the authors real life experiences.

Its almost three hours of wonderful black and white wdescreen cinematography. Following a young Jewish boy as he tries to flee. At beginning of the film we are not told he is Jewish. It looks like its set in the far past not WW2.

Its split into different chapters. One for each person the boy flees to. Its an unending sequence of cruelty and abuse. Not until he falls in with some Russian soldiers does he find sanctuary.

On the references to the Holocaust in the film. What the film left me with is how the Holocaust would effect his life as a survivor. The film has been criticised for showing the boy as almost numb emotionally. He, like us, watches powerlessly the cruelties enacted on him and others. This to me seems plausible. I watched documentary series recently on Iraq. The people interviewed had haunted faces of those who saw their country descend into barbarism. The boy at end of this film has this.

The other thing the film accurately portrays is Jewish survivors in Europe were not welcomed back.

I thought that the boy stands in for Jewishness in Europe. Whatever community he ended up in however hard he tried he was not accepted in the end. Except the Communist Russian soldier who acts as a stand in father for him. I did wonder if the boy would be a ardent communist in the new post war ( Poland).

The grim lesson he learns from the Russian soldier who takes him under his wing is that an "eye for an eye" is the only way to live. The boy gradually learns to use violence to survive. To survive one has to become inured to violence. Another scene shows him witnessing the shooting of Jews by Germans. He later goes through the luggage of them to look for food. To survive he had too numb himself and become almost callous.

There is no cathartic ending to this film. Throughout the film he is asked where is he trying to get to. Home he says. When asked where that it he doesn't know. The film left me with feeling that his future life is uncertain.

The film reminded me of Bela Tarr Satantango In particular the chapter about the Miller and the woman healer who "buys" him. There is something almost blackly comic about the scenerios staged. Its like he is moving across a landscape by hieronymus bosch.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 23, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> Left Behind
> 
> Filum with Nick Cage (in it for the money) and some unknown bad actors. Its about the rapture. Lots of Jesus references and bibles. Its engrossing as it is utter pants.The script is terrible, the plane flying sequences are shite, the players are laughingly wooden. give it a go. a solid 9/10 if your are a Born again midwestern Christian


That's on my _watched-half-stopped-because-it's-shit-but-intend-to-go-back-to-eventually_ list


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 23, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> Something about that bloke off of Altered Carbon and robot soldiers in a Hungarian power station.


_Outside The Wire_? That's on my _watched-half-gave-up-because-it's-boring-shit-and-don't-intend-to-go-back-to-ever_ list


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 23, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> _Outside The Wire_? That's on my _watched-half-gave-up-because-it's-boring-shit-and-don't-intend-to-go-back-to-ever_ list



That's the one. I gave up twenty minutes before the end.

Awesome filming location though, Kelenföld power station built in 1914 and given an Art Deco makeover in 1927.

Quite a few things filmed there, unfortunately in this one they didn't show the best bits:












						The semi-abandoned Kelenföld power plant in Budapest
					

View on Google Maps     The  Kelenföld power plant  of Budapest  was built in 1914. Back then, it was the first boiler house and electricit...




					desertedplaces.blogspot.com


----------



## MBV (Jan 23, 2021)

Spiral - series 2 very French and good for it 

Not looking at the main Spiral thread in case I see spoilers.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 25, 2021)

_Written on the Wind_ - Another Sirk melodrama with Rock Hudson, and this time Lauren Bacall plays the heroine. Not in the same league as _All That Heaven Allows_, it neither looks as good and the core of the film is less sympathetic. Still there are some good bits.

_Fantastic Planet_ - watched this as it was about to leave MUBI and it was not quite what I expected, not that that means that it was bad or unenjoyable just a bit surprising. Very much of the 70s (again not necessarily a bad thing) it is definitely worth checking out, some of the themes feel very dated but others are still relevant. And the animation is rather lovely. 

_The Straight Story_ - Despite being a bit Lynch fan I'd not seen this before. Had to say that considering its reputation I was a little disappointed, maybe I was not in the mood. but I wanted more Lynch. Sissy Spacek is rather good.


----------



## belboid (Jan 25, 2021)

Finally got around to watching _*Bait *_last night. 

At first I found it quite entertaining and interesting to watch, but did wonder if it would really be able to keep it up for the whole film and whether the director had tried for a social realist piece, realised it was terrible, and so re-invented it artily. But as I kept watching the style dissolved into the substance and it became properly gripping. That bit with Martin and Hugh in the pub....


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 25, 2021)

This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection (2019) - IMDb
					

This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection: Directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese. With Mary Twala, Jerry Mofokeng, Makhaola Ndebele, Tseko Monaheng. When her village is threatened with forced resettlement due to reservoir construction, an 80-year-old widow finds a new will to live and ignites the...




					www.imdb.com
				




"This is not a burial, Its a Resurrection."

New film. The director is fom Lesotho but now lives in Berlin.

Not easy to categorise this film. Roughly the story is of an old lady who opposes the flooding of her village for a dam. 

Could have been Hollywood touchy feely or worthy Loach style. Which is why I did not watch it straight off. Its neither but manages to say a lot in much more subtle way. It could have glamourised the bucolic life of these villagers but does not.

What it does show is the attachment to land as living historical memory. Its good to see a film made in Africa from African perspective.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 26, 2021)

_To Catch a Spy_ - Spy comedy from Clement and Le Frenais, sadly well below the best. Trevor Howard is rather good, Tom Courtney does his best with the material but Kirk Douglas is absolutely appalling and the Marlene Jobert character is jus really badly written. Avoid.


----------



## Knotted (Jan 26, 2021)

I watched Vince Ward's film _The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey_. It's about 14th century English (possibly Scottish by the peculiar accents) peasants trying to escape the black death and somehow tunnelling to modern day New Zealand. What follows is on the face of it a culture clash comedy except it is played completely straight. A deadly serious spiritual mission. They face the travails of crossing a road and crossing a bay and scaling a church steeple. Almost harrowing. A very odd film. Recommended.


----------



## belboid (Jan 27, 2021)

And caught up with The Queens Gambit.  

enjoyable but really just a ya novel lushly dramatised.  Couldn’t take it at all seriously once the knob in the hat came along.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 27, 2021)

The Vast of Night - had to give up because the two main characters just kept jabbering at each other, just calm down and shut up for a while please.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 27, 2021)

Festen...Thomas Vinterberg's film about an upperclass Danish family coming together to celebrate the father's 60th birthday.  It's apparent early on that they're a bit disfunctional and quite how fucked up they are soon unfolds. It's a hell of a ride. Super fast paced, intense and wobbly camera work combined with the subject matter made me feel pretty disorientated at times. Some amazing performances. Well recommended.

The Hunt...Another Vinterberg. A schoolgirl says 'something foolish' that leads to a teacher being suspended and the village turning against him. I'd seen this when it came out but again this is intense stuff. Once the professionals decide he's guilty he's fucked. More great performances , particularly from Thomas Bo Larsen and Mad Mikkelsen.


----------



## Knotted (Jan 27, 2021)

I watched The Hunt as well a few weeks ago. It's definitely an object lesson in how not to handle such cases, to the extent that I thought it was getting really quite contrived. But a powerful drama nevertheless.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jan 27, 2021)

Three series of Man Down on All4 (OK, it was over two nights). I was laughing my lungs up, but I gather it was panned at the time.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 27, 2021)

Submarino...more Vinterberg. 2 brothers living with an alcoholic mother are spearated following a traumatic event and meet again in adulthood, both with fucked up lives. At times I wasn't sure it was coming together as well as the Hunt or Festen but there were moments where it felt like a more hopeful story. The characters are more identifiable than the upper/middle classes in the other 2 films and it felt more like a Dardennes film or bits of The Pusher trilogy. Dark as fuck and a few very difficult to watch scenes. Full recommend it anyway. 

I've got Another Round to watch tomorrow. Anyone know if his other films are worth watching? I got the idea his stuff in English isn't so good.


----------



## Elpenor (Jan 28, 2021)

The Light Between Oceans on iPlayer

Gloomy lighthouse life for a shellshocked Great War veteran
 in Australia. First half hour looks amazing. The plot which kicks in after that is a little by numbers. I thought the sensibilities would have been a bit more repressed than the film made us believe.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 28, 2021)

Another Round...Vinterberg's multi award winning comedy drama from last year. 4 Teachers test the theory that their lives will improve by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood. So different from his other films and a much easier watch, but equally brilliant. Really funny, some very touching moments and the usual excellent performances. Most adults I know would probably argue that alcohol has improved their lives in some way so it would seem like a film a lot of people will enjoy. I loved it.


----------



## belboid (Jan 30, 2021)

*Howard the Duck*

Having just got a Freak Bros collection I decided to continue indulging my eighties pleasures. Not that HtD the film was one of those, but the comics were great and it can't really be as bad as legend has it, can it?  

Well, no, not quite. I mean, it's pretty terrible, bears hardly any relation to the fowl-mouthed one we know and love, but it isn't abysmal. Tim Robbins has fun and some bits are even vaguely amusing. Plus it's got a theme written by Thomas Dolby and George Clinton!  Shame its rubbish, but you can't have everything.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 30, 2021)

belboid said:


> *Howard the Duck*
> 
> Having just got a Freak Bros collection I decided to continue indulging my eighties pleasures. Not that HtD the film was one of those, but the comics were great and it can't really be as bad as legend has it, can it?
> 
> Well, no, not quite. I mean, it's pretty terrible, bears hardly any relation to the fowl-mouthed one we know and love, but it isn't abysmal. Tim Robbins has fun and some bits are even vaguely amusing. Plus it's got a theme written by Thomas Dolby and George Clinton!  Shame its rubbish, but you can't have everything.


the nude female duck in the bath scarred me for life


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 30, 2021)

The Idiots...Lars Von Trier's Dogma 95 #2. I remember seeing this in The Cornerhouse brochure when it came out. The idea of adults pretending to be disabled was more amusing to my younger self but I never got to see it and only recently found a torrent. It's offensive but not so difficult to watch as I'd expected and I thought the twist at the end was worth waiting for.


----------



## Chz (Jan 31, 2021)

_High Life_

Just no. Maybe you lot who liked _Under The Skin_ will like it, but it's a load of tosh so far as I'm concerned. The idea for the story is good, pity they didn't actually make a film about it. And I've liked some of Claire Denis' other work!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 31, 2021)

Chz said:


> _High Life_
> 
> Just no. Maybe you lot who liked _Under The Skin_ will like it, but it's a load of tosh so far as I'm concerned. The idea for the story is good, pity they didn't actually make a film about it. And I've liked some of Claire Denis' other work!


FFS I was literally just getting that after a mention on a list


----------



## Chz (Jan 31, 2021)

I like my artsy wanky stuff up to a point. This is well past it. But then the forum tells me I'm wrong about Under the Skin, so what do I know?


----------



## belboid (Feb 1, 2021)

*Ma Rainey's Black Bottom*

A very stagey adaptation of the play that doesn't quite bring it alive the way it should.  The big speeches are too telegraphed as _Big Speeches _and there's just not enough movement, but it is a damned fine play very well performed that is well worth a watch.

*
Uncle Frank*

Wherein Beth leaves her 1970's rural home to go to NY, where her favourite uncle lives (and teaches). Just as she discovers he's gay, his vile old father dies and they have to make a road trip and confront ghosts of his past. There is a central 'ghost' that is almost a cliche but that aside it is a wonderfully funny and tender film. Paul Bettany is, frankly, astounding, I would never have thought he had it in him. Sophia Lillis is very good indeed as Beth, too.


----------



## platinumsage (Feb 3, 2021)

The Murders at White House Farm

Great casting including both Theon and Yara Greyjoy, and Freddie Fox does what I imagine is a pretty good Jeremy Bamber:


----------



## Scaggs (Feb 3, 2021)

We watched '_The King of Staten Island' last night. Thought it was great. Liked all the characters and there some nice comedy bits._ Loved the firestation scenes.


----------



## smokedout (Feb 3, 2021)

Want to try remember to post on here because I've had a lot of good recommendations that I've really appreciated.

Anyway probably most people have seen it but Lincoln - the Abraham Lincoln biopic.

It was watchable, Tommy Lee Jones is great and it's obviously an important and interesting period which I thought it covered quite well.  It's not really a biopic actually, more a political drama about the struggle to pass the 13th Amendment which banned slavery in the closing period of the civil war.  It looks great and is well paced but what I mostly learnt is that Abraham Lincoln was really fucking annoying.  He's like some posh dickhead regaling his sychophants with his stories and grand proclaimations because he's oh so wise and superior, kind of like some horrible cross between Clinton and Blair except a hipster as well.  It's good that he helped end slavery and stuff but I'm not surprised someone shot him.


----------



## T & P (Feb 4, 2021)

Started watching Resident Alien, a new offbeat sci-fi comedy starring Alan Tudyk as an alien sent on a certain mission to Earth who crash lands and has to improvise.

On Sky/ NowTV. Quite decent so far and clearly building up to a good plot as the series progresses.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 5, 2021)

The Velocipastor. When his parents are killed and his boss sends him off into the world a pastor finds himself in China where he gains the ability to turn himself into a dinosaur. He returns home to use his new powers to fight bad guys. The film had a $35k budget and for that it's surprisingly watchable but tries too hard. There's a few fun scenes though and it's only 70 minutes.


----------



## belboid (Feb 7, 2021)

Brightburn.

A superhero/horror cross that has lots of potential, several good ideas and nice moments (okay, 'nice' isnt really the right word) but that never fulfills its potential. A sequel will be all but inevitable.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Feb 7, 2021)

siege of jabotville. interesting little war pic about irish UN soldiers in the fucking awful merc riddled mess of post colonial africa. i knew about the background of the tale but wasnt aware there was a filum about it. not bad


----------



## T & P (Feb 8, 2021)

Chasing Amy. Very good indeed. I like Kevin Smith’s films and humour and I know he’s a very talented filmmaker, but this has a depth I wouldn’t have normally expected to find in a film written by him. Fantastic script, and superlative performance from the main female lead.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 8, 2021)

Quite dodgy sexual politics IIRC though


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 8, 2021)

belboid said:


> *Howard the Duck*
> 
> Having just got a Freak Bros collection I decided to continue indulging my eighties pleasures. Not that HtD the film was one of those, but the comics were great and it can't really be as bad as legend has it, can it?
> 
> Well, no, not quite. I mean, it's pretty terrible, bears hardly any relation to the fowl-mouthed one we know and love, but it isn't abysmal. Tim Robbins has fun and some bits are even vaguely amusing. Plus it's got a theme written by Thomas Dolby and George Clinton!  Shame its rubbish, but you can't have everything.



Have you seen the Super Mario Bros film? If you "enjoyed" HtD, this is a fascinating mess


----------



## belboid (Feb 9, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Have you seen the Super Mario Bros film? If you "enjoyed" HtD, this is a fascinating mess


naah, I only watched Howard cos I loved the comics, but never cared about the plumber, so never bothered.  The biggest failure with HtD is in its presentation of him - not the lously costume, just the fact that he wasn't the deeply misanthropic, foul-mouthed, creature he was in them.  It made him quite boring.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 9, 2021)

Started watching Perpetual Grace Ltd as recommended by The39thStep. 3 episodes in and it's really good, very Coen brothers like and really funny. Way better than what I've seen of Fargo series 4.


----------



## belboid (Feb 9, 2021)

Possession (1981)

A definite _wtf? _of a movie. Sam Neill & Isabelle Adjani act distractedly in a rather peculiar, mmm, I'm not entirely sure what genre it fits in - although whatever it is it will undoubtedly include the word 'psychological.'  Wife Isabelle asks for a divorce, hubby Sam (who is probably a spy) isn't keen. Everyone acts strangely, there's a fight or two and then _what the actual fuck? _Weird shit, that's what.  Something something doppelgangers, something something, collapse of state and marriage, something something life is shit.

A hellish shoot, apparently, Neill said there is no way he'd do anything like it again, and it drove Adjani to the brink of suicide.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 9, 2021)

belboid said:


> Possession (1981)
> 
> A definite _wtf? _of a movie. Sam Neill & Isabelle Adjani act distractedly in a rather peculiar, mmm, I'm not entirely sure what genre it fits in - although whatever it is it will undoubtedly include the word 'psychological.'  Wife Isabelle asks for a divorce, hubby Sam (who is probably a spy) isn't keen. Everyone acts strangely, there's a fight or two and then _what the actual fuck? _Weird shit, that's what.  Something something doppelgangers, something something, collapse of state and marriage, something something life is shit.


It really is one of those movies that has to be been seen to be believed. Can't say that I loved it but it has something.

Whereas _Ham on Rye_ is something of the opposite, very, very well made, really gorgeous and lots of care taken to create mood but it just does not go anywhere (and as a metaphor it is pretty banal). It's a film that would have been really great as a 30 minute short (or even an hour) but at 85 minutes it is too long.

In contrast _Ratcatcher_ is an example of how a film can be a mood piece and still have engaging characters and pull you in.

_The Thin Man_ - Perfect Sunday afternoon viewing, silly but fun and madcap and knows to keep things to a brief but frenetic 90 mins. The sequel _After the Thin Man_ extends the joke and loses something, but still has it's moments, also has an appearance by a very young James Stewart.


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 9, 2021)

belboid said:


> naah, I only watched Howard cos I loved the comics, but never cared about the plumber, so never bothered.  The biggest failure with HtD is in its presentation of him - not the lously costume, just the fact that he wasn't the deeply misanthropic, foul-mouthed, creature he was in them.  It made him quite boring.



Yep. Loved the comics and Dolby but the film gets him so wrong. Never even played Mario (or most of the iconic computer games) but was a big fan of Max Headroom, so was interested to see what the creators could do with a big Hollywood budget. 

Believe that they never worked there again!


----------



## pesh (Feb 10, 2021)

Uncle Peckerhead - Hapless punk band embarking on their first tour inadvertently hire a flesh eating demon as their roadie. occasional gore and a cool soundtrack


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 10, 2021)

_Under the Tree_ - rather good Icelandic black comedy (there have been a number of rather good Icelandic films in recent years), with two interlinking plots, the separation of two parents and the antagonism between two sets of neighbours (the separating father being the son of the one of the sets of neighbours). Tight, focused and making good use of sound, not sure that the ending quite works but overall well worth watching.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Feb 10, 2021)

Five series of Birds of a Feather over the past week


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 12, 2021)

I'm defnitely going to watch this when its released


----------



## platinumsage (Feb 12, 2021)

Hotel Artemis - a near-future sci-fi where LA is beset by massive riots, and there’s an underground hospital for criminals. Apparently it had that Sigourney Weaver of off Alien in it, but the plot grabbed so little of my attention that I didn’t really know what was going on. There are a few fights and something about her son on a beach. If I had rented it from the cheapest shelf in the video store for a slightly intoxicated night in with friends I’d have been disappointed.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 12, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> Hotel Artemis - a near-future sci-fi where LA is beset by massive riots, and there’s an underground hospital for criminals. Apparently it had that Sigourney Weaver of off Alien in it, but the plot grabbed so little of my attention that I didn’t really know what was going on. There are a few fights and something about her son on a beach. If I had rented it from the cheapest shelf in the video store for a slightly intoxicated night in with friends I’d have been disappointed.


It didn’t have Weaver in it. Jodie Foster was the star but it was quite star studded for such a comparatively low budget films


----------



## platinumsage (Feb 12, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> It didn’t have Weaver in it. Jodie Foster was the star but it was quite star studded for such a comparatively low budget films



Yes seems it was her, I guess I shouldn't believe everything that people tell me.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 12, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> Yes seems it was her, I guess I shouldn't believe everything that people tell me.


Or just use the evidence in front of your eyes while watching the film 
(or IMBd)


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 12, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> that Sigourney Weaver of off Alien



Think she's been in a few other things since 1979


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 12, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Think she's been in a few other things since 1979


Yes, there was _Alien 2_, _Alien 3_ and, correct me if I am wrong, _Alien 4_


----------



## Indeliblelink (Feb 12, 2021)

ska invita said:


> this was some higher level documentary film making - or was it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I watched this the other night and loved it, but yeah don't read the reviews before you see it.
Someone mentioned "Last Night At The Alamo" (1983) was similar, although a drama, so gave that a watch and it's great too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 13, 2021)

Leeds International Film Festival are presenting a continuing monthly programme online, 10 a month, in two strands, one for cult/fan films and the other for more arthouse fare. It’s dead cheap as well.








						Leeds Film Player | Home
					






					player.leedsfilm.com
				



Paging redsquirrel belboid Part 2 trabuquera Reno


----------



## not-bono-ever (Feb 13, 2021)

Fish tank. 

Utter misery


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 14, 2021)

_Please Turn Over_ - 1959 British comedy, with a young woman writing a risqué novel "revealing life in suburbia", only some of the characters in the novel are mistaken for members of her family, hi-kinks ensue. It's actually not a bad 90 minutes, little too long in parts and it's hardly a masterpiece of comedy but good Sunday afternoon viewing. 

_Itty Bitty Titty Committee_ - Directed by Jamie Babbit it is kind of a follow up/partner piece to her _But I'm a Cheerleader._ Anna is drifting along in her job/life until she gets involved with a feminist activist group. Personal and political conflicts cause problems in the group. Lots of references to riot grrrl groups (although as it was made and set in 2007 these seem slightly out of time). Like _BIAC_ it has a definite charm.

_Mad Dog Morgan - 1976 _ozploitation pic version of a Ned Kelly type story with Dennis Hopper in flow blown scenery managing move. Never really been a Hopper fan, for me his antics just bore after a while. Thankfully the film is just short enough that that is not too much a problem in this case. And there are some nice appearances from Australian actors - Jack Thompson, David Guptill, Bill Hunter 

_The Belles of St Trinian's_ - First in the series, Alistair Sim steals the show in the double roles, with George Cole and Joyce Grenfell providing support. 

_The Holly and the Ivy_ - Similar to _It Always Rains on a Sunday_ and _Pool of London_ this is one of those films from the 50s that shows that the decade was not as conservative (at least in terms of films) as some would have it. The aftereffects of the war are still felt and viewed with a sympathy and compassion. Also has the advantage of having an appearance by a very young Denholm Elliott


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 14, 2021)

Uncle Peckerhead...punk band goes on their first tour with man eating demon roadie. As ridiculous as it sounds but surprisingly watchable.


----------



## MBV (Feb 14, 2021)

Parasite - very much deserving of its awards. Keeps going right to the end. Would recommend.


----------



## belboid (Feb 15, 2021)

Possessor

Brandon Cronenberg continues to follow in his fathers footsteps with this distinctly bizarre killer for hire story starring Andrea Riseborough - who continues to dazzle and look completely different again with each role she takes.

Bloody as hell, brilliant opening scene and an erect penis! Well worth it if you don’t mind this first and last things on that list.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 15, 2021)

_Death Weekend_ - Rubbish Canadian _Straw Dogs_-esque flick, with an arsehole dentist taking a model to his country house and earning the enmity of some local hoods, but without any of the power, characterisation or anything else that makes _Straw Dogs_ worth watching for all its faults. The female character is the only person in this whole show you care about and Brenda Vaccaro raises above the dreadful script, plot and acting from much of the cast but still cannot save this. Avoid. 

_Fantastic Mr Fox_ - Wes Anderson's stop motion. Not totally convinced, its sort of a cross of Anderson's world with the original book and I do not think the two mesh well, it feels rather like a sub-par Anderson film. There are some very nice jokes in it but overall somewhat disappointing. 

_Harakiri_ - Wow, flipping amazing. A wandering ronin turns up at the gates of a samurai compound and asks permission to commit Hara Kiri there, the ronin and counsellor of the clan trade stories and seek to out manoeuvre each other. Great in all ways, tense, clever, well acted, looks amazing. A truly great film


----------



## nogojones (Feb 15, 2021)

Upgrade. Though I guessed the Pinocchio plot from pretty early on the journey was fun


----------



## Sue (Feb 15, 2021)

Once Upon a Time in America. I'd never seen the original(?) 229 minute version. It's very good. (And yes, despite some problematic bits.)


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 15, 2021)

_Enormous_ - French "comedy", appalling unfunny and pretty appalling in every way. Claire is a concert pianist who's husband Fred (also her agent/manger) decides he wants a kid and screws with her birth control to get her pregnant. There are then a series of "jokes" based on a reversal of traditional gender roles. Absolute and total crap, about as funny as a hole in the head and with characters that you wish would die painfully. Fred is just a grade A cunt and Claire is just annoying. Do not watch.


----------



## Sue (Feb 15, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _Enormous_ - French "comedy", appalling unfunny and pretty appalling in every way. Claire is a concert pianist who's husband Fred (also her agent/manger) decides he wants a kid and screws with her birth control to get her pregnant. There are then a series of "jokes" based on a reversal of traditional gender roles. Absolute and total crap, about as funny as a hole in the head and with characters that you wish would die painfully. Fred is just a grade A cunt and Claire is just annoying. Do not watch.


I decided against watching that -- sounds like I dodged a bullet. (Despite having lived in France, I often struggle with French 'comedy'.)


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 15, 2021)

Sue said:


> I decided against watching that -- sounds like I dodged a bullet. (Despite having lived in France, I often struggle with French 'comedy'.)


You definitely made a good decision. It's been a while since I've seen a film I hated as much as this one.


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 15, 2021)

On a much better note I forgot to mention

_The Devil and Miss Jones_ - screwball comedy, with Jean Arthur as a labour organiser in a department store who meets, and converts, the owner of the store (and richest man in the world). Arthur is wonderful and Charles Coburn plays his part as the capitalist well. Quite amazing how pro-union it is, especially interesting seeing it after reading Thomas Frank's _The People, No!_ it encapsulates the New Deal populism mentioned.


----------



## fishfinger (Feb 15, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _Harakiri_


The 1962 version or the Takashi Miike 2011 remake? They're both very good but the original is better.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 15, 2021)

First 2 episodes of The Singing Detective.

I was never allowed to watch it when it was on telly because a) I was too young, b) it was bath night and c) my dad probably wanted to watch semi naked women on telly on his own..

It's fucking great.


----------



## D'wards (Feb 16, 2021)

Just watched Singin in the Rain for the first time. What a pure joy. I absolutely loved it - the singing, the dancing, the sets, the clothes, the four leads were wonderful.
It really made me laugh too.

One of the extremely rare 10/10 films


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 16, 2021)

fishfinger said:


> The 1962 version or the Takashi Miike 2011 remake? They're both very good but the original is better.


The original


----------



## redsquirrel (Feb 17, 2021)

_My Man Godfrey_ - great screwball comedy with William Powell and Carole Lombard playing off each other brilliantly. I love 30s/40s screwball comedies, they have to be some of the greatest films ever made. When was the last time anyone tried to re-capture this style of film successfully, Bogdanovoch's _What's Up Doc?

World for Ransom _- Early Robert Aldrich film noir, not in the first league of noir films, such as Aldrich's truly great _Kiss Me Deadly_ but you can see the genesis of that film in this one. It's tight, cynical and well made, even if utterly implausible (if if was this easy to kidnap nuclear scientists, the world would have blown up some time ago). An enjoyable diversion.

_The Silent Partner_ - I cannot believe that this film does not get more attention. It's a very good Canadian crime thriller starring Elliot Gould, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York. Gould is a bank teller who works out that Piummer is mounting a robbery of his bank and uses it to take the money himself. There is then a very nice psychological contest between the two. Gould is good, the cold strategist under the mild manner while Plummer does sadistic very well. The film loses its way a bit in the last 30 minutes and York's character is a bit of a drag, I'd rather have had more time given to Celine Lomez's femme fatale, but definitely one worth checking out. Also has an appearance from a very young John Candy.


----------



## Idris2002 (Feb 18, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _Death Weekend_ - Rubbish Canadian _Straw Dogs_-esque flick, with an arsehole dentist taking a model to his country house and earning the enmity of some local hoods, but without any of the power, characterisation or anything else that makes _Straw Dogs_ worth watching for all its faults. The female character is the only person in this whole show you care about and Brenda Vaccaro raises above the dreadful script, plot and acting from much of the cast but still cannot save this. Avoid.
> 
> _Fantastic Mr Fox_ - Wes Anderson's stop motion. Not totally convinced, its sort of a cross of Anderson's world with the original book and I do not think the two mesh well, it feels rather like a sub-par Anderson film. There are some very nice jokes in it but overall somewhat disappointing.
> 
> _Harakiri_ - Wow, flipping amazing. A wandering ronin turns up at the gates of a samurai compound and asks permission to commit Hara Kiri there, the ronin and counsellor of the clan trade stories and seek to out manoeuvre each other. Great in all ways, tense, clever, well acted, looks amazing. A truly great film


Re: the Mr. Fox movie. When it came out one of my brother's friends who has kids told me that he took the kids to see it, and the audience was full of similar parent/kid parties. . . and all the parents laughed fulsomely, but the kids didn't laugh once.

You see the problem.


----------



## platinumsage (Feb 20, 2021)

Currently on Valley of Tears, about the Yom Kippur War (and a hedgehog)


----------



## May Kasahara (Feb 20, 2021)

Just watched Attack the Block with my boy. He loved it, and I enjoyed it even more than on first watch - such a brilliant Saturday night movie.


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Feb 21, 2021)

Young Ones (video nasty and Rick's pretend girlfriend).


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 21, 2021)

Behind her eyes....Netflix series. Pile of shit.


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Feb 22, 2021)

The last two Young Ones episodes (Sick and Summer Holiday).


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 28, 2021)

Watched zerozerozero over the last few days. Based on a book by the writer of Gomorrah, Roberto Saviano. It's about the global cocaine trade and felt more like the Gomorrah film than the series. Saying that it does go downhill in the second half when the stories behind the individual characters take over. I'm gonna have to read the book because a lot of the back stories in Gomorrah supposedly had some factual reference so I'll be interested to see what it says in this case


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2021)

Red Riding 1974. Fucking hell man, how did I miss this at the time. Corruption and murder in the dark north, an under the surface horror. Will follow with the other 2 tonight.


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 28, 2021)

DotCommunist said:


> Red Riding 1974. Fucking hell man, how did I miss this at the time. Corruption and murder in the dark north, an under the surface horror. Will follow with the other 2 tonight.



The books are worth a read, too


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 28, 2021)

The Kid Detective- former local celebrity child sleuth who made his name solving small local crimes is now a 30 something nobody in the same small town occasionally solving even smaller crimes. Then one day a teenager comes to his office to ask if he can solve the mystery of who killed her boyfriend.  It's a strange little film about someone who's out of his depth not just in being a detective but with life itself and who actually was out of his depth when it came to him failing to solve the disappearance of a teenager when he was a child sleuth. His investigation, like his life,  stumbles along going nowhere until it suddenly veers into something a lot darker. It's a quirky if frustrating tale whose humour could in my opinion been a bit sharper, the plot better written and some scenes rewritten. In short, it promises more than it delivers but the promise is there and that just about nudges it into the flawed but 'actually, I quite enjoyed that' category.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Mar 1, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> Nomadland
> 
> Francis mcdormand.
> 
> Give it a go.



I saw it last night in the theater and felt like I was taking a risk, but I enjoyed a night out for once.

It was a little lacking in plot, but overall I liked it.  I've been most of the places it was filmed.  I even camped at the campsite where they filmed her working as a camp host.  It looks like it was filmed mostly in national and state parks (Badlands, Grasslands, Custer State Park, and Toadstool).  I might have seen a glimpse of Wind Cave there.)  I was familiar with some of the people before I watched the film.  Bob Wells is a real person who has a channel of Youtube.  It had great cinematography, which showed the beauty of the places, but also provided the mood of the film.  It seemed a bit melancholy, almost like it was a mourning for the American Dream.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 3, 2021)

Minari...this year's Parasite, ie, a Korean film that's been tipped to pick up Oscars.

A Korean family move from California to the Ozarks where dad wants to stop sexing chickens and become a farmer, having not really told his Mrs about his plans. His mother in law moves in and the story revolves around her relationship with the son who has a heart illness....while dad gets on with his farming but neglecting his family. Not much seems to be happening and it's a good watch with plenty of humorous moments involving grandma and the kid who's cute as. 

About half an hour before the end I felt like much more had been going on. I think there were cultural things and meaning I hadn't picked up on and things started happening that I hadn't anticipated at all. It left me thinking I'll watch it again. It's really good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 3, 2021)

did you get that in a legit way?


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 3, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> did you get that in a legit way?



Nope


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 3, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Nope


damn


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 4, 2021)

The Swimmer. Burt Lancaster stars as a man who plans to swim cross country through the pools of his neighbours to make his way home. 

I've looked at this loads of times and thought it didn't sound like much but I couldn't be more wrong. There's so much going on, it's absolutely brilliant and I'd recommend it to anyone.


----------



## Elpenor (Mar 5, 2021)

I'm watching The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin on Youtube. Never seen it before, and enjoying Leonard Rossiter's performance.


----------



## zora (Mar 6, 2021)

Just completed a cracking triple bill for the day: 

Bhaji on the Beach 
My Name is Joe
and
Attack the Block.

None of which I had seen before, somehow.


----------



## BlanketAddict (Mar 6, 2021)

3:10 To Yuma. Excellent, particularly Russell Crowe. 

Extinction. Not bad, nice idea but flawed execution.


----------



## BlanketAddict (Mar 6, 2021)

zora said:


> Just completed a cracking triple bill for the day:
> 
> Bhaji on the Beach
> My Name is Joe
> ...



I liked Attack The Block.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 6, 2021)

For those which don't have Mubi there's currently a way to get 15 months for free. If you like to watch world/arthouse cinema it's a must.










						15 Free Months Of Streaming Films @ Mubi - hotukdeals
					

You can pick up 15 (yes 15!) months of free subscription with Mubi, a nice addition on top of the previous 3 months deal we had earlier - thanks to @m303  (high




					www.hotukdeals.com


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 7, 2021)

Cure.... Japanese film on Mubi by the other Kurosawa. A series of murders with similarities. The obvious suspects in each case are unable to remember anything about what happened. A detective investigates.

This is brilliant. It's exactly the sort of film Hollywood would remake and make a fuck up of. And I learnt that Mesmer was a doctor whose name is the origin of mesmerising/mesmerised.

Videoman...Swedish film on all4 about a man who once had a video shop and who still collects and hires tapes out from his basement. He meets a woman with crimped hair who likes 80s stuff and gets involved in some dodgy stuff when a collector wants to buy an expensive rare tape. It's alright, not amazing.

Inland Empire... David Lynch's last feature length film. It's 3 hours long. After the first hour I was feeling pretty smug, thinking I knew what was going on then it was just a headfuck and I hadn't a clue. On reading up afterwards I was pleased to see that the lead actors didn't know what it was about either. It's kind of like the cut up method done on film. Not really recommended unless your a die hard lynch fan but then you've probably seen it anyway.


----------



## Idris2002 (Mar 7, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> First 2 episodes of The Singing Detective.
> 
> I was never allowed to watch it when it was on telly because a) I was too young, b) it was bath night and c) my dad probably wanted to watch semi naked women on telly on his own..
> 
> It's fucking great.


Were there that many semi-naked women in TSD? I think that was more the case in Lipstick on Your Collar.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 7, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Inland Empire... David Lynch's last feature length film. It's 3 hours long. After the first hour I was feeling pretty smug, thinking I knew what was going on then it was just a headfuck and I hadn't a clue. On reading up afterwards I was pleased to see that the lead actors didn't know what it was about either. It's kind of like the cut up method done on film. Not really recommended unless your a die hard lynch fan but then you've probably seen it anyway.


I like lynch, but inland empire is a pile of shit. Could have been something, but he got carried away with how digital film cost sod all (going by the dvd extras) and decided long and tedious had some mesmerising artistic merit. The digital film looks shite too. It has such a promising start, and had he been forced to edit it down I think it might have been something quite interesting. Such a shame.
I'd be curious as to what his thoughts on it are now that he is a few years removed from it.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 7, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Were there that many semi-naked women in TSD? I think that was more the case in Lipstick on Your Collar.



I've forgotten already, tbh I completely lost interest by the last episode. But there was shagging in it where the young lad sees his mum in the woods with a fella other than his dad.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2021)

*Atelier De Conversation*
Fascinating doc about a weekly meeting in the library of the Pompidou Centre in Paris, in which learners practice their conversational French. It's mostly just head shots of the people from all over the world talking and listening to each other. Such a simple format, yet they talk about quite deep subjects in their faltering French. The speakers' hesitancy in carefully choosing their words make their discussions respectful and with no rancour, even though there are clashing cultural values and different opinons on such things as sexism, racism etc. Recommended. 4 stacked Eames chairs out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2021)

*Chuck Norris Versus Communism*
Drama-documentary about how hastily dubbed and badly duplicated Western action films of the 80s were distributed amongst Romanians in the last years of the Caecescu's reign. Doesn't quite work with the reconstructions of crowded apartments of people watching these films on small televisions and the one female interpreter who dubbed all of the voices in all of the films, but it was a diveerting insight into how cloistered from reality Romania was in its communist years. 3 melon farmers out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2021)

*Kajillionaire*
I wanted to hate this as it's a Miranda July film and she can be maddeningly twee. Less said about the plot the better but the four main leads - Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger, Richard Jenkins and Gina Rodriguez - are all excellent and the strange story of a family of grifting thieves is hardly plausible but feels real due to the convincing performances. 3 leaking suds of pink bubbles out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2021)

*The Mole Agent*
Fake Chilean documentary about an 83 year old sent by a detective agency to spy on the goings on of a nursing home. The client suspects that abuse may be happening to a relative who is staying there. The gentlemen in question is gallant, conscientious and rather dapper, so the resident women all fall for him. It all kind of fizzles out and all of the scenes are quite obviously staged, so it's hard to fathom the reason the film was made in the first place. 2 horny seniors out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 11, 2021)

*Shirley*
Elisabeth Moss and Michael Schulberg are eminently watchable but the film is a right old mess and the plot device of the younger couple visiting doesn't make it any more interesting 
2 barbed drunken comments out of 5


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Mar 11, 2021)

Watched _Parasite _tonight, finally. It was enjoyable enough, but I wasn't blown away. 8/10


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 12, 2021)

Collectiv...This was in a few of the top films of last year lists and not surprisingly. An amazing documentary about the aftermath of a nightclub fire that revealed widespread corruption in the Romanian health service. A must see.


----------



## BlanketAddict (Mar 14, 2021)

The Sister Brothers (Netflix). 

Never been a John C Reilly fan but he stole the show. Enjoyed the peculiar atmosphere of the film. 

Really been getting into Westerns lately...


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 14, 2021)

_The Killer Elite_ - Sam Peckinpah action flick. This has a bad reputation but while it is not a patch on Peckinpah's best work I thought it was enjoyable enough. Robert Duvall and James Caan give solid, in not ground shattering performances, and there are some nice set pieces. It is too long and the ninja stuff is pretty weak. But certainly better than the zero out of ten Caan supposedly gives it (he's made a lot of films worse than this one) 

_Lady Snowblood 2_ - much weaker than the original, there are some glorious scenes full of colour that stay with you, but the story is badly paced, at some points too slow, at others too fast. Of interest to those that like the genre but passable. 

_Rally Round the Flag Boys_ - Really rather bad comedy starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Joan Collins. There are about 2 genuinely funny jokes in the whole thing. Swerve and take in a different Newman/Woodward picture.

_The Lonely Man_ - Decent black and white B-western starring Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins, nothing special and some of the father-son psychology will raise eyebrows but it looks good and has some solid performances, from both the stars and supporting cast.


----------



## seventh bullet (Mar 14, 2021)

BlanketAddict said:


> The Sister Brothers (Netflix).
> 
> Never been a John C Reilly fan but he stole the show. Enjoyed the peculiar atmosphere of the film.
> 
> Really been getting into Westerns lately...



His wonder at this strange, fancy thing called a toothbrush, and the luxury experience of a flushing toilet.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 14, 2021)

_La Prochaine Fois Je Viserai Le Cœur_ (AKA _Next Time I'll Aim For The Heart_). Sort of timely.

It's a semi-fictionalised version of the story of Alain Lamare, a young gendarme in rural Picardy who terrorised women around the Oise in a year-long misogynistic spree of violence that saw at least five attacked, one fatally.

Guillaume Canet (perhaps most familiar to anglo audiences from bit parts in things like _The Beach_ or _The Siege At Jadotville_, or as a director of films including _Ne Le Dis À Personne_ AKA _Tell No One_ and the English language _Blood Ties_) is excellent in the lead role - exemplifying this would-be serial killer not as an exceptional-but-flawed or troubled-and-misunderstood cipher, but as an unlikeable, ascetic dick, who leaves massive clues all over the shop yet is overlooked as a suspect for almost the entirety of his blood odyssey, because cops don't think other cops commit crime.

Ana Giradot (_Les Revenants_) is also very good as a woman who for various reasons comes to feel close to him, but who never gets anywhere near knowing him.

Written and directed by Cédric Anger, who never tries to spectacularise what are grim and pathetic crimes of hate, and who chooses stillness over movement.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 14, 2021)

Rain The Colour Of Blue But With A Little Red In It
A Tuareg (a desert tribe living in Niger and Mali who recently declared independence as the state of Azawad) remix of Prince’s Purple Rain, with a purple clad guitarist arriving in Timbuktu on a purple decked motorcycle and wowing everyone in town with his left handed Hendrix style virtuosity. 
The acting ain’t up to much but it’s better than it is in Purple Rain and the music is joyous.
Thoroughly recommended


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 16, 2021)

_The Phenix City Story_ - Noir giving fictionalised account of the crime wave, including murder of an elected state Attorney General in Phenix city. Plenty of better noirs

_The African Queen_ - Hepburn, Bogart and Huston what more could anybody want

_The Spanish Apartment_ - a sort of liberal wet dream of the EU/Erasmus program. Despite a good cast it is all very by the numbers, parts 2 and 3 in the trilogy coming up on MUBI shortly

_The Twentieth Century_ - Canadian "comedy", that uses William Mackenzie King (former PM) as a sort of centre point for a "biopic". The mix of filmic styles is done with style and smartness and maybe if you have a better knowledge of the real history the film works but for me it was just was not funny.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 19, 2021)

finished the red riding trilogy last night, it sticks with you. If I'd seen that in my 20s I think a good deal of it would have gone straight over my head.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 19, 2021)

Slumber Party Massacre...1982 slasher film that does what it says on the tin. I do like a good sub 90 minute horror.

El Sicario: Room 164. Former cartel soldier of 20 years speaks from the hotel room where he previously held and tortured hostages. Wearing a black mesh cloth over his head to hide his identity he doodles and writes in a book with a marker pen while narrating the kidnap methods of his bosses. It's all very matter of fact explanation of a boring nature and reminded me of the same sort of violence described by the same sort of people in The Act of Killing.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Mar 19, 2021)

Not watched them yet, but the Blakes-7 box set and also Tripods arrived today. Not watched either for donkeys years so will give them a go at some point.


----------



## T & P (Mar 19, 2021)

Just started HBO’s new mystery crime-comedy series, The Flight Attendant. Two episodes in and it is fast paced and perfectly entertaining so far.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 19, 2021)

The Lads (2018)

 Bunch of lads get caught up with local heavies and owing a lot of money. 

Shot on a budget of 250 Euros and despite pacing problems and cartoonish violence, it's ok.


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 19, 2021)

Moxie. Enjoyable YA flick about high school girls fighting sexism culture through zines and collective action. I watched with my 9yo daughter and it was perfectly pitched for her - fired up but cheery and positive.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 20, 2021)

I've been liking WP Amsterdam: Vice (All4). I've always enjoyed filums with subtitles, and decided it was time I watched a series or two.


----------



## T & P (Mar 20, 2021)

I am really enjoying *The Flight Attendant.* The right mix of quirky action, comedy and drama.

Kaley Cuoco is great in this, and after spending nearly three decades playing the same dumb blonde waitress in Big Bang Theory, she has for once been given a three-dimensional, emotionally wrecked character to  play, and she does this pretty well.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 20, 2021)

_Destry Rides Again _- Never seen this before and cannot believe what I was missing, it is absolutely great! Dietrich and Stewart are great but the real genius is the script which is just superb, from the willingness to take aim at the genre to all the "I once had a friend..." stories. Genuine masterpiece. If you've not seen it put that right ASAP.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 20, 2021)

Creation Stories.  Meh.


----------



## imposs1904 (Mar 20, 2021)

Rewatched 'Midnight Run'.

An almost perfect movie. Fuck Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and that Godfather film; this is De Niro's best film.


----------



## MBV (Mar 21, 2021)

Beats as recommended by someone on this thread. One of those films where you think you'll watch 30 mins and finish it another day but it draws you in with what is quite a simple story. Great music used in it too.


----------



## Petcha (Mar 21, 2021)

T & P said:


> I am really enjoying *The Flight Attendant.* The right mix of quirky action, comedy and drama.
> 
> Kaley Cuoco is great in this, and after spending nearly three decades playing the same dumb blonde waitress in Big Bang Theory, she has for once been given a three-dimensional, emotionally wrecked character to  play, and she does this pretty well.



Really? I lasted 1.5 episodes.. it was terrible! There's a bit of a debate happening about it on the Guardian site. The reviewer gave it 5 stars. Then theres 10 pages of actual people giving it zero stars and questioning the sanity of Lucy Mangan (the reviewer)   

She wasn't 'given' the role. Kaley Cuoco funded, produced and starred in the thing. Nice, flashy production but it feels like a film students project to me.


----------



## T & P (Mar 21, 2021)

Petcha said:


> Really? I lasted 1.5 episodes.. it was terrible! There's a bit of a debate happening about it on the Guardian site. The reviewer gave it 5 stars. Then theres 10 pages of actual people giving it zero stars and questioning the sanity of Lucy Mangan (the reviewer)
> 
> She wasn't 'given' the role. Kaley Cuoco funded, produced and starred in the thing. Nice, flashy production but it feels like a film students project to me.


Not just The Guardian though. It currently has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so most critics seem to like it.


----------



## belboid (Mar 21, 2021)

Promising Young Woman


Blimey, that was good. Carey Mulligan is magnificent, Bo Burnham plays his role to a T.  It's all so horribly believable. That bloke who wrote that stupid review was not only completely wrong, but he missed the entire point by a mile.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 21, 2021)

belboid said:


> Promising Young Woman
> 
> 
> Blimey, that was good. Carey Mulligan is magnificent, Bo Burnham plays his role to a T.  It's all so horribly believable. That bloke who wrote that stupid review was not only completely wrong, but he missed the entire point by a mile.


Which stupid review? All I’ve seen are very positive


----------



## belboid (Mar 21, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Which stupid review? All I’ve seen are very positive


an american one that said CM wasn't 'hot enough' for the role.  The paper later apologised (which is also ridiculous, even if it was an awful review).


----------



## Gramsci (Mar 21, 2021)

I've been watching Pere Portabella on Mubi. Not well known here but important film maker from Spain.

He made this documentary near the end of the Franco regime. Franco had died and the country was moving to some form of democracy. Talks with leading political figures from monarchists to communists. Between this an actor gives a short history of Francoism.

Spain at the time was in process of change and nothing had been decided. So the film is documenting history as its made. All the more powerful for that.

It can also be seen as not purely about Spain. Its a discussion of what is democracy. Everything from direct democracy, dictatorship of the proletariat to representative democracy. Also for Spain whether centrised state or federal state is best. The issues of nationalities come up a lot. He interviews ETA and Catalan nationalists.

For Spain the Civil War was traumatic. One bit of film he has two exiles talk of returning to Spain.

My partner says in Spain when Franco died half the country celebrated the other half thought about getting there money out of the country.

One of the themes in the film was the possibility of Francoism without Franco. A danger that some reforms with limited democracy would happen.

The film has a young Felipe Gonzalez of the PSOE. Who would be major figure in the new Spain. The PSOE would run Spain for many years.

Its difficult for people here to imagine what a big social and cultural change this was









						General Report
					

Shot in the months after the death of Franco, Informe general is a “documentary” shot with the techniques of a fiction film—exploring the limits of film representations.  The speakers are concerned with one question: How do you go from a dictatorship to a democracy?




					mubi.com
				




Also watched this early short film of his from 1970









						Umbracle
					

Umbracle is made up of fragments (some are archive footage) that resound rather than progress by unusual links, with dejá vu scenes that promise us more but remain intensely unfinished. It stars Christopher Lee, wandering around a dream-like Barcelona.




					mubi.com
				




Featuring Christopher Lee wandering around Barcelona. This is quite surreal experience. One part is discussion of censorship in Franco Spain. The near impossibility of making film. Then Portabella goes on to make film so absurd (in a good way) that it cannot be censored. Whilst poking the censors in the eye so to speak. Christopher Lee in Franco Spain as the wandering British flaneur is an experience in itself. He is outstanding. I really enjoyed this film. Something exhilarating about it. The way he cuts through the artifice of film making is also seen in the documentary Informe General. The way he shoots scenes in somewhat surreal settings is seen in the doc as well.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 21, 2021)

Gramsci said:


> The film has a young Felipe Gonzalez of the PSOE. Who would be major figure in the new Spain. The PSOE would run Spain for many years.


Periodic reminder that González was intimately involved in, and possibly the leader of, the PSOE cabal which conspired with Franco-era police military and intelligence officers, as well as various far right paramilitary nutters from all over the world, to unleash murder and violence on Basque people in Spain and France through the GAL terror network.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Mar 21, 2021)

I streamed "Soylent Green" and it holds up pretty well.  It takes place in 2022 and parts of it looks pretty much like San Francisco or Detroit 2021.  My main beef with it is that 2022, looks an awful lot like 1972 with green shag carpet and avocado appliances.  The other thing that doesn't translate well is the casual sexism, where most of the women make their living as "furniture", aka women who work as housekeeper and sexual partners in exchange for a place to live and come as part of a furnished apartment.  I'm not sure Soylent Green would fly in the current, "me too" environment.  In any case, I hope they don't remake it.  It would lose too much context.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 22, 2021)

Yuwipi Woman said:


> I streamed "Soylent Green" and it holds up pretty well.  It takes place in 2022 and parts of it looks pretty much like San Francisco or Detroit 2021.  My main beef with it is that 2022, looks an awful lot like 1972 with green shag carpet and avocado appliances.  The other thing that doesn't translate well is the casual sexism, where most of the women make their living as "furniture", aka women who work as housekeeper and sexual partners in exchange for a place to live and come as part of a furnished apartment.  I'm not sure Soylent Green would fly in the current, "me too" environment.  In any case, I hope they don't remake it.  It would lose too much context.



And marvelous support from the great Edward G Robinson.


----------



## seventh bullet (Mar 22, 2021)

Yuwipi Woman said:


> I streamed "Soylent Green" and it holds up pretty well.  It takes place in 2022 and parts of it looks pretty much like San Francisco or Detroit 2021.  My main beef with it is that 2022, looks an awful lot like 1972 with green shag carpet and avocado appliances.  The other thing that doesn't translate well is the casual sexism, where most of the women make their living as "furniture", aka women who work as housekeeper and sexual partners in exchange for a place to live and come as part of a furnished apartment.  I'm not sure Soylent Green would fly in the current, "me too" environment.  In any case, I hope they don't remake it.  It would lose too much context.



Some great matte painting backgrounds used in that, of the fucked near-future NY.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Mar 22, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> And marvelous support from the great Edward G Robinson.



That was probably the performance of his career.  It (almost) made up for his miscasting in The Ten Commandments.

The other thing that I liked about it was that it was librarians that were the secret heroes of the film.  I also noticed that Celia Lovsky was in it.  She's one of those supporting actors that everyone knows by sight, but don't know their name.  She also was in Star Trek-TOS where she played T-Pau.


----------



## ska invita (Mar 22, 2021)

I watched the Scottish Beats thing. Didn't love it, the rave scene was well done yes, Spanner did some great facial acting, but only when it was finished and it said "based on a play" it all made sense. This kind of slightly unrealistic story telling makes more sense in a play , but I don't really like "issue" based fringe theatre either.
Similar experience with Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock - left me wondering what Id just watched, all felt a bit off, and I concluded it was like a bit of fringe theatre you might see.

Somehow this is confusing when its on TV, and especially when its in a film format.
I watched History Boys once, made no sense to me at all, a massive shrug, but at least I knew it was a  film of a play from the off.

I think if Id seen either of these things on a stage Id have been more into them, but as I rarely watch films these days and always seem disappointed at the end this felt another let down. I miss watching a satisfying good film.

moan moan moan

that said they're both memorable.


----------



## T & P (Mar 23, 2021)

2/3rds into Wonder Woman 1984. Whereas I am bored overall with the superhero genre I still enjoy some films, and in fact thought the first Wonder Woman was reasonably entertaining.

This one is nowhere near that, so far at least. Needlessly elongated scenes, uneven pace,  and miscast or badly written characters. Pedro Pascal is undoubtedly a great actor but his character here just doesn’t work very well. If the final act manages to rescue the film I’ll be back to eat my hat.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 23, 2021)

Finished Amsterdam Vice (Walter Presents, All4). First WP I've watched through and loved it


----------



## Gort (Mar 25, 2021)

It's a TV series' episode rather than a film, but I did watch it on DVD. I'm currently going through The Wire for the umpteenth time. I tend to rewatch it every year or so. Yesterday I watched the first episode of season four, Boys of Summer. I love season four, as it's my favourite of the lot (season two comes a close second).


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 26, 2021)

The excellent French director Bertrand Tavernier has died. 


> If any film-maker was a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood icon of French cinema, it was Bertrand Tavernier, the legendary, prolific director and a proud son of Lyon – which was itself arguably the historical epicentre of cinema, as the city where Auguste and Louis Lumière set up business. In 2017, I went to the Lumière festival in that city, and was briefly introduced to him there. Tavernier’s presence was indispensable: I have a photograph of a raucous dinner hosted by Thierry Frémaux with Benicio del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón, and Tavernier is an impish, grinning figure to be glimpsed in the mirror, loved by everyone there, a sprightly tutelary deity.



His _Coup de Tocuhon_ is for me the best adaptation of a Jim Thompson work (_Pop. 1280_) in cinema. _Captain Conan_ is an excellent WWI film, and his last two non -documentary films _The Princess of Montpensier_ and _The French Minister_ are both very good.


(Wasn't really sure where to put this, don't think it would get much interest on its own thread. What do people think about a "cinephiles" type thread, for posting things like this as well as film discussion?)


----------



## Sue (Mar 26, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> The excellent French director Bertrand Tavernier has died.
> 
> 
> His _Coup de Tocuhon_ is for me the best adaptation of a Jim Thompson work (_Pop. 1280_) in cinema. _Captain Conan_ is an excellent WWI film, and his last two non -documentary films _The Princess of Montpensier_ and _The French Minister_ are both very good.
> ...


Ah, that's sad. I saw him do an intro and Q&A at the BFI to his _My journey through French cinema_ a few years ago.

From his first memory (the liberation of Lyon where his father had been an active resistant) to working with Godard and Melville and Rohmer and knowing greats like Jean Gabin and Renoir,  he was full of absolutely fascinating stories about everything. I could've listened to him all night.

That documentary ^ is a great meditation on his view of French cinema. Mentioned loads of directors I'd never heard of and have since been finding out more about. Highly, highly recommended.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 26, 2021)

And his films (at least those I've seen) had a decent political bent too.

I'll check the docu out Sue , cheers


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 26, 2021)

_Zack Snyder's Justice League_

It's dare I say, watchable, and even good in places. Extended run time means more character focus and a few plotlines that seemed oddly truncated or misplaced in the theatrical cut now make more sense and it flows much better. The breaking it up into chapters helps it not feel like a marathon, although I watched it over 2 nights.

A little overstuffed and still very Zack Snyder in all the usual ways (so your mileage may vary), but it's clearly a passion project for him and he's done a decent job salvaging a terrible film.


----------



## Sue (Mar 26, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> And his films (at least those I've seen) had a decent political bent too.
> 
> I'll check the docu out Sue , cheers


IIRC, he reports Gabin being very scathing about Renoir, saying he was practically a collaborator.  I think Tavernier was a Communist at least at one time.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 26, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> The excellent French director Bertrand Tavernier has died.
> 
> 
> 
> > Tavernier’s presence was indispensable: I have a photograph of a raucous dinner hosted by Thierry Frémaux with *Benicio del Toro* and Alfonso Cuarón, and Tavernier is an impish, grinning figure to be glimpsed in the mirror, loved by everyone there, a sprightly tutelary deity.



That really is Peak _Graun_ - even Bradshaw's Insta manages to correctly label it as Guillermo del Toro.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 26, 2021)

Halfway through season 10 of The Walking Dead. This, and the previous season are a big improvement on the tired 7 and 8.


----------



## flypanam (Mar 27, 2021)

We’ve been watching an episode of Jeeves and Wooster a night for the last month. Pretty good, the best thing either Fry or Laurie have done. Should have packed it in after the show ended.

Stray - a film about stray dogs in Istanbul, beautiful and lovely. Worth watching.

Pilgrimage - BBC2 documentary seven celebs including the Dawkins loving, telegraph writing Dom Tedious Jolly. Edwina  currie comes over all Maggie T and some others, walk the sultan’s trail. Great scenery. Some odious cunts. But great scenery.


----------



## purves grundy (Mar 27, 2021)

Gort said:


> It's a TV series' episode rather than a film, but I did watch it on DVD. I'm currently going through The Wire for the umpteenth time. I tend to rewatch it every year or so.


I’ve been wondering if I should rewatch The Wire. I don’t think I really got it first (only) time.

Anyway, I watched_ The Sisters Brothers_. Excellent.


----------



## Gort (Mar 28, 2021)

purves grundy said:


> I’ve been wondering if I should rewatch The Wire. I don’t think I really got it first (only) time.



It's one of those shows that you'll find new things each time you watch it. A second watch should help fill in many of the missed gaps.

Anyway, I'm also watching The Larry Sanders Show on DVD, too. Currently on season three.


----------



## petee (Mar 28, 2021)

Gort said:


> Anyway, I'm also watching The Larry Sanders Show on DVD, too.



one of the best ever.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 28, 2021)

Two more eps of Hamilton's Pharmacoepia.  Now on series 2.  Just brilliant.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 28, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Halfway through season 10 of The Walking Dead. This, and the previous season are a big improvement on the tired 7 and 8.



Just wait until you get to the new short 'filler' series.


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 28, 2021)

_Comanche Station_ - Last of the Renown Cycle of Westerns by Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott. Finishing off an excellent series of films. _Ride Lonesome_ is my favourite but they are all worth checking out

_The Flower of Evil_ - Late Chabrol, no surprise that murder and secrets. Not from his top draw but even lesser Chabrol is still worth watching. 

_Cross of Iron_ - Superb. Coburn is brilliant, Warner and Mason delivering as usual. And it looks great.


----------



## Elpenor (Mar 28, 2021)

Alpha Papa. I don’t know why but despite loving Partridge I just don’t like him in the big screen format. I saw this film on a plane several years ago and felt the same way, my opinion hasn’t changed.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 28, 2021)

purves grundy said:


> I’ve been wondering if I should rewatch The Wire. I don’t think I really got it first (only) time.
> 
> Anyway, I watched_ The Sisters Brothers_. Excellent.



Did my 4th Wire rewatch last year. It was as magnificent as ever.


----------



## Badgers (Mar 28, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> Did my 4th Wire rewatch last year. It was as magnificent as ever.


4th? 

Pffft 

Part timer


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 28, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Alpha Papa. I don’t know why but despite loving Partridge I just don’t like him in the big screen format. I saw this film on a plane several years ago and felt the same way, my opinion hasn’t changed.



That's bollocks, but go on


----------



## Elpenor (Mar 28, 2021)

I think because he shares billing with Pat Farrell the attention on Alan is reduced. Or possibly I watched it on a really unpleasant flight so my memories are forever tainted.


----------



## T & P (Mar 28, 2021)

Rango. It really is a fantastic animation film; superb look and drawings, great soundtrack, and a good storyline that works for both children and grown-ups.

Even though it was critically acclaimed, did well at the box office and won the Oscar for best animated feature, it feels to me it has flown under the radar compared with any old  shit Disney/Pixar releases.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 28, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Alpha Papa. I don’t know why but despite loving Partridge I just don’t like him in the big screen format. I saw this film on a plane several years ago and felt the same way, my opinion hasn’t changed.





rubbershoes said:


> That's bollocks, but go on


Come on, rubbershoes, the only approved response for this is, of course


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 28, 2021)

T & P said:


> Rango. It really is a fantastic animation film; superb look and drawings, great soundtrack, and a good storyline that works for both children and grown-ups.
> 
> Even though it was critically acclaimed, did well at the box office and won the Oscar for best animated feature, it feels to me it has flown under the radar compared with any old  shit Disney/Pixar releases.



Same for Inside Out


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 29, 2021)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Just wait until you get to the new short 'filler' series.



Am struggling with Fear the Walking Dead, it went weirdly off kilter after season 3, but hear it's improved lately


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Mar 29, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Am struggling with Fear the Walking Dead, it went weirdly off kilter after season 3, but hear it's improved lately



I stopped that at the end of S4.


----------



## krtek a houby (Mar 29, 2021)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I stopped that at the end of S4.



Yeah, it was hit and miss, really. Just hate giving up on shows, so usually struggle on. Shame as season 3 was excellent.


----------



## Elpenor (Mar 31, 2021)

Brideshead Revisited on Britbox. Got 6 months free from BT.

One of my favourite books, and not seen the TV adaptation for at least 15 years


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 1, 2021)

_The Imperialists are Still Alive_ - Rather good film following the exploits of a French-Lebanese woman living in New York post-9/11 and Iraq who's friend has gone missing (possibly detained by the US government). There's a subtle understated comedy about the piece, it avoids a lot of the traps of US indie films. And it looks gorgeous shot on 16 mm.

_Chinese Puzzle_ - Last part off the _Spanish Apartment_, _Russian Dolls_ trilogy maybe it's just the mood I was in (apart to go on leave) but, while still not a fan of the trilogy, I thought this was probably the best of the three (certainly better than RD). It's the same characters, plot, and themes but the plot was tighter here, there was less annoying mannerisms and fantasy sequences. If you've not seen any of the three but are interested I'd recommend skipping parts 1 and 2 and going straight to this.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 4, 2021)

BFI Obituary of Tavernier


> Both men loved British cinema more than most Brits, taking up the cause of Michael Powell when he had fallen from grace after the scandal of Peeping Tom. Tavernier was proud of his casting of a crotchety Dirk Bogarde in These Foolish Things (Daddy Nostalgie, 1990), and wasn’t afraid to challenge the actor when he tried to rule the set, thereafter earning his respect (years before, Tavernier had also dared to confront Stanley Kubrick, who drove him crazy when Tavernier was working as a publicist for A Clockwork Orange).





> More significant was his final production, a documentary and television series examining the history of French cinema, A Journey Through French Cinema (Voyage a travers le cinema français, 2016). Tavernier’s approach was unashamedly personal, following the line of Scorsese’s explorations of American and Italian cinema, with an authoritative voiceover binding together a huge range of film extracts. This seemingly never-ending project revealed both his strengths and prejudices, as Tavernier made little reference to the silent period and had no apparent sympathy for anything escapist. Just as in his own films, Tavernier was only really interested in a cinema that demonstrated a social or political engagement. It was an attitude from which he never wavered.


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 4, 2021)

The Big Ugly - Despite the presence of Malcolm McDowell and Ron Pearlman and potentially fairly interesting premise this film suffers from what could only be described as a tragic waste of time and money. London gangsters invest dirty money into an oil producer in the Appalachians . Oil bosses son cops off with the gangsters muscle’s girlfriend who is found dead and hence a tale of revenge that suits neither the London Gangster or the Oilmans business interests . The fact that role of the muscle is played by Vinny Jones sent warning signs but due to wanting to finish the bottle of red I’d half drunk I persisted with it only to be let down at every borrowed idea , shallow character development and cliche to the inevitable heart warming end . On par with Steven Segal films tbh . If you want revenge get the full Neeson .


----------



## T & P (Apr 4, 2021)

Season 2 of *Pennyworth*. Superb so far, better than S1 IMO. Good story and great production values. This series deserves far more public awareness and recognition than it gets. If it was being shown on Netflix it’d have a much higher profile I reckon.


----------



## Chz (Apr 5, 2021)

So We Bought a Zoo - I have to always give at least one star to a "family" film that doesn't make me puke, so I'll give it two. Tragic lack of Peter, Paul, and Mary on the soundtrack, too.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Apr 10, 2021)

The Important Man [Ánimas Trujano (El hombre importante)] (1961)
Excellent film by Mexican director Ismael Rodríguez starring legendary Japanese actor Toshirô Mifune, who was dubbed by another actor but he learnt the lines phonetically and the lip syncing and voice matching is so good you can hardly tell. It's Mifune's performance here that really carries the film, Rodriguez directing might not be up to the standards of other directors Mifune had worked with but it's pretty good for a Mexican film of that time.
Plot - A Mexican man wants to become the Mayordomo of his village, a prestigious but expensive role where you get to organize the towns annual celebrations. Unfortunately, and to the displeasure of his wife and children, he is an unfaithful, lazy drunk & a luckless gambler.
Also watched Tizoc [Indian Love] a colour film from 1957 by the same director which is OK but not as good.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 10, 2021)

The Father. Anthony Hopkins hospital n the title role as a man with dementia/Alzheimer's and Olivia Coleman as his daughter. Destined for awards success and I'm not surprised. The performances are excellent. One of those films with wide appeal and interest that if they're not already, will leave many viewers fearful of growing old. Absolutely brilliant.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 10, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> The Father. Anthony Hopkins hospital n the title role as a man with dementia/Alzheimer's and Olivia Coleman as his daughter. Destined for awards success and I'm not surprised. The performances are excellent. One of those films with wide appeal and interest that if they're not already, will leave many viewers fearful of growing old. Absolutely brilliant.


Is that another naughty acquisition? I’ve got a similar film lined up to watch: Falling - Viggo Mortensen directing and starring with Lance Henrikson as his ailing Dad


----------



## The39thStep (Apr 10, 2021)

Re watching Eastbound and Down , still brill.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 11, 2021)

_Bellamy_ - The great Claude Chabrol's last film, his summary of it as 'Maigret on vacation' is very apt. Depardieu is the detective on holiday who gets embroiled in a mystery while dealing with the tense relationship between him and his brother. It is very much a continuation of the themes and ideas that Chabrol explored throughout his career and while not in the very top draw of Chabrol's it shows that even after 50(?) films he was still doing some good work.

_La Ceremonie_ - Now this is from the top draw, Chabrol's adaptation of Ruth Rendell's _A Judgement in Stone. _Despite moving the plot forward two decades (from the mid-70s to the mid-90s) the tensions of class and provincial life still work. Isabelle Huppert is her usual quality, and the actors playing the family are good (including Jean-Pierre Cassel and a very young Virginie Leydon) but Sandrine Bonnaire steals the show as the illiterate Sophie. Her can feel her fear and panic at the appearance of the notes from the family that she tries to decipher. Bonnaire also stars, in a very different role, in one of my other favourite Chabrol's _The Colour of Lies_, I don't know why she is not a bigger star, she is clearly an excellent actor (as well as being very attractive, which shouldn't matter, but of course did/does).

_Splendour in the Grass_ - Elia Kazan directs Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood as mixed up kids. It's all very 60s melodrama, the gap of understanding between parents and children. For me there is an awful lot of ACTING going on. And it lacks the subtlety of the excellent _Wild River_, Kazan made a year earlier. Still it does look gorgeous.

_A Prophet_ - Re-watched this on MUBI, I saw it at the cinema when it was first released and was very impressed, and I'm still impressed on this viewing. Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup are excellent, some of the scenes are really beautiful. The 2 1/2 hour time is probably pushing it a little, losing 15 minutes would not have hurt but still an excellent piece of work. I'm looking forward to watching _Dheepan_ (which I've not seen before)

_The Ex-Mrs Bradford_ - An attempt to capture the success of _The Thin Man_ mix of screwball comedy with crime mystery, William Powell basically plays the same role but Jean Arthur steps in for Myrna Loy. It does not quite have the sharpness and speed of the best of _The Thin Man_ series but there are some very nice gags, it's good fun and Arthur and Powell are charming.

Then I caught up on the Marlene Desire season Melbourne Cinematheque had/are having watching _Angel_, _Desire_ and _A Foreign Affair.
Angel _is very Lubitsch (not a bad thing) and Dietrich plays off Herbert Marshall well, but it suffers from a badly cast Melvyn Douglas who not only looks and sounds very American (he's supposed to be English) but is also not very credible as someone who Dietrich would fall for.
_Desire_ has a great start, it sets off at a hundred miles an hour and it works, Cooper's interaction with his boss to get a holiday and Dietrich's jewell theft are brilliant, but it loses pace a bit in the middle travel section and the final third is weaker still, having Dietrich cowed by Cooper does not work and is just disappointing.
_A Foreign Affair_ is my favourite of the three, I'm not a huge fan of Wilder - I recognise he's an excellent director but a lot of his films just do not click with me - but this is great. Dietrich certainly does not let any man take her down here, and Jean Arthur is fantastic as the business first, morally upright Iowa congresswoman who falls in love. The script is brilliant, the unashamedly literary speech given by the US colonel when taking the congress committee for a tour of Berlin is a masterpiece. And there are just some very simple but funny gags. Only slight let down is John Lund as the love interest, he does not convince as the ladies man.

_Undine _- Christian Petzold is one of my favourite modern directors, but I saw mixed reviews for this most recent film of his so was a little apprehensive sitting down to watch this. I did not need to be as is it excellent. For a start it is a wonderfully beautiful film to look at, the colours are amazing (lots of rich reds and greens), it's portrait of Berlin looks great (I've never been so no idea how accurate it is), I absolutely want to go and visit the museum (if if exists) where Undine works and see the models of the city. Then the acting is uniformly good, Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski are great in the lead roles but the supporting cast is all on the ball too. It's a perfect 90 minutes, no flab. It is more fey, or fantastical than you might associate with Petzold's work like _Barbara_ or _Phoenix_, but I agree with the Sight and Sound review, that these elements are within Petzold's older work, what you have is a change of tack not a total shift in style. Absolutely recommend this


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 11, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Is that another naughty acquisition? I’ve got a similar film lined up to watch: Falling - Viggo Mortensen directing and starring with Lance Henrikson as his ailing Dad



It is . (I should start stating that I think)...I'd not heard of it before seeing Bradshaw's list of Baftas contenders yesterday morning. I'll have a look for Falling.


----------



## Chz (Apr 11, 2021)

_Baby Done_, a fairly run-of-the-mill Kiwi rom-com made good by a quite charming cast. Rose Matafeo of many UK comedy shows stars and does a pretty good job of it.


----------



## belboid (Apr 11, 2021)

*Judas & the Black Messiah*

The betrayal and assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.  LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya are both just amazing and the story itself is almost unbelievable, except it is all true. It actually espouses _his _politics not the screenwriters', unlike the equally lauded Trial of the Chicago Seven.  It shows offing pigs as being not just justifiable, but positively necessary. It's smart, sassy and sharp.   Very, very well worth viewing.

Quite how both of the actors portraying the characters referred to in the films title got nominated for Best Supporting Actor is a tad bizarre.  Who the hell is the film about then, if it aint either of them?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 11, 2021)

belboid said:


> *Judas & the Black Messiah*
> 
> The betrayal and assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.  LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya are both just amazing and the story itself is almost unbelievable, except it is all true. It actually espouses _his _politics not the screenwriters', unlike the equally lauded Trial of the Chicago Seven.  It shows offing pigs as being not just justifiable, but positively necessary. It's smart, sassy and sharp.   Very, very well worth viewing.
> 
> Quite how both of the actors portraying the characters referred to in the films title got nominated for Best Supporting Actor is a tad bizarre.  Who the hell is the film about then, if it aint either of them?


I think it’s just strategy on the part of the studio


----------



## belboid (Apr 11, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> I think it’s just strategy on the part of the studio


Apparently the studio pushed LaKeith as the lead, but it is up to the nominators to decide where they want to nominate him. Daft, either way.


----------



## Chz (Apr 12, 2021)

_Ghost Stories _- Horror written by Jeremy Dyson of League of Gentlemen fame, based on his play.
The story of a professional sceptic who, upon meeting his aged childhood idol of poo-pooing the paranormal, is given three cases to try and disprove. "Please tell me I'm wrong". 
Very little in the way of shock horror, just trying to be as creepy and eerie as possible and largely succeeding. I would recommend, even if the end seemed a bit drawn out. (The stage play is meant to be quite short)


----------



## T & P (Apr 12, 2021)

*Happily*. A dark comedy thriller mystery. It is a strange beast, but not a bad film. A good directorial debut. The story and characters could have had a bit more mileage than we get in the finished product, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 12, 2021)

Songs My Brothers Taught Me...Chloe Zhao's first feature length film follows Johnny as he prepares to finish school, sells booze on the Lakota reservation where he lives and manages his love life. I like Chloe Zhao's films and although this isn't quite as good as Nomadland or The Rider it does a great job of showing a community I might not otherwise realise existed and uses a lot of non actors. Seems pretty mad that she's directing a Marvel film next.


----------



## inva (Apr 12, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _La Ceremonie_ - Now this is from the top draw, Chabrol's adaptation of Ruth Rendell's _A Judgement in Stone. _Despite moving the plot forward two decades (from the mid-70s to the mid-90s) the tensions of class and provincial life still work. Isabelle Huppert is her usual quality, and the actors playing the family are good (including Jean-Pierre Cassel and a very young Virginie Leydon) but Sandrine Bonnaire steals the show as the illiterate Sophie. Her can feel her fear and panic at the appearance of the notes from the family that she tries to decipher. Bonnaire also stars, in a very different role, in one of my other favourite Chabrol's _The Colour of Lies_, I don't know why she is not a bigger star, she is clearly an excellent actor (as well as being very attractive, which shouldn't matter, but of course did/does).


Brilliant film that, my favourite of Chabrol's that I've seen.
You're right about Bonnaire, I also thought she was outstanding in Jacques Rivette's long slow thriller Secret Defense which you might be interested in if you haven't seen it.


----------



## Sue (Apr 12, 2021)

inva said:


> Brilliant film that, my favourite of Chabrol's that I've seen.
> You're right about Bonnaire, I also thought she was outstanding in Jacques Rivette's long slow thriller Secret Defense which you might be interested in if you haven't seen it.


And even better in _Sans toi ni loi_ (_Vagabond_) by Agnes Varda which is a great, if very bleak, film.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Apr 12, 2021)

Watched _Sorry To Bother You_ last night, with the excellent LaKeith Stanfield. Was generally pretty good, but did not go at all in the direction I was expecting at the end!


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 12, 2021)

inva said:


> Brilliant film that, my favourite of Chabrol's that I've seen.
> You're right about Bonnaire, I also thought she was outstanding in Jacques Rivette's long slow thriller Secret Defense which you might be interested in if you haven't seen it.





Sue said:


> And even better in _Sans toi ni loi_ (_Vagabond_) by Agnes Varda which is a great, if very bleak, film.


Cheers I'll try and check out both of those.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 16, 2021)

Indeliblelink said:


> The Important Man [Ánimas Trujano (El hombre importante)] (1961)
> Excellent film by Mexican director Ismael Rodríguez starring legendary Japanese actor Toshirô Mifune, who was dubbed by another actor but he learnt the lines phonetically and the lip syncing and voice matching is so good you can hardly tell. It's Mifune's performance here that really carries the film, Rodriguez directing might not be up to the standards of other directors Mifune had worked with but it's pretty good for a Mexican film of that time.
> Plot - A Mexican man wants to become the Mayordomo of his village, a prestigious but expensive role where you get to organize the towns annual celebrations. Unfortunately, and to the displeasure of his wife and children, he is an unfaithful, lazy drunk & a luckless gambler.
> Also watched Tizoc [Indian Love] a colour film from 1957 by the same director which is OK but not as good.




Oh, would love to see the Mifune film. I see it's on YouTube but in Spanish...


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 17, 2021)

Pusher 2. The trilogy is on Mubi and it's a while since I first watched them. First part is a great intro to some nasty characters but the second piles on the misery. Tonny played by Mads Mikkelson is a great character like De Niro's Johnny Boy in Mean Streets, just a loose canon, although here we get to see why he's like he is with the introduction of his father, The Duke. These are some of the best crime films ever imo, just horrible in how real looking it all is....well everything except Tonny's tattoos. I felt drained by the end.

Fuck knows why they needed US remakes. Has anyone seen them?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 17, 2021)

Kedi - Doc about cats in Istanbul. Loved it. Made me laugh with joy
Stray - Doc about dogs in Istanbul. Even better. Got a bit of grit in my eye at the end.
miss direct you may be interested in these


----------



## miss direct (Apr 17, 2021)

I saw Kedi at the cinema. Loved it. 

I'm not sure I can cope with watching Stray at the moment. I've been feeling really homesick and I'm missing "my" street dog, Countess, who visited our garden regularly during lockdown last Spring.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Apr 17, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Pusher 2. The trilogy is on Mubi and it's a while since I first watched them. First part is a great intro to some nasty characters but the second piles on the misery. Tonny played by Mads Mikkelson is a great character like De Niro's Johnny Boy in Mean Streets, just a loose canon, although here we get to see why he's like he is with the introduction of his father, The Duke. These are some of the best crime films ever imo, just horrible in how real looking it all is....well everything except Tonny's tattoos. I felt drained by the end.



Funnily enough today I found an old screengrab of Mikkelson looking particularly sheckshee in this


----------



## fucthest8 (Apr 17, 2021)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Watched _Sorry To Bother You_ last night, with the excellent LaKeith Stanfield. Was generally pretty good, but did not go at all in the direction I was expecting at the end!



I bloody loved that film. The rap scene will stay with me forever. And yes, the, er, change of direction was proper jaw dropping.


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 17, 2021)

_Computer Chess_ - comedy set in the mid-80s about the happenings at the US national computer chess championships. It is very American indie, lots of tricks, lots of side-glances, but at a reasonably fast 90 minutes the joke just about lasts.

_Slack Bay_ - Not quite sure what I make of this one. It's a sort of French slapstick mad comedy fantasy. It is 1910 and an upper class family are going to their country house on the coast, the local oyster pickers/seamen are going about their business and there are some cops investigating a series of disappearances. The first half I hard a bit hard going but then things did pick up in the second. Unlike _Computer Chess_ it does not know when the joke is up and could do with shortening by at least 15 minutes. For my money there is too much of the cops and family and not enough of the two you lovers.

_Twentieth Century_ - Howard Hawks directs Carole Lombard and John Barrymore in one of the first screwball comedies. It does not quite compete with the great _Bringing Up Baby_ but Lombard is delightful and Barrymore hams it up brilliantly.

_Silent Action_ - An Italian action film I tried on the basis of a recommendation from the BFI, but the comparisons to _Dirty Harry _must have been done under the influence of something pretty strong. It is pretty terrible, most interesting as a period piece. The most interesting thing about it is the cynicism and sort of acknowledgement of the strategy of tension in the film from that era.

_I Kiss You Hand Madame_ - Marlene Dietrich silent film. Dietrich falls in love with a waiter under the impression that he is a count (which he secretly is). Of interest to film buffs but not really something that many will find a great watch

_The Lavender Hill Mob_ - More modern films should be 90 minutes, it cuts out all the chaff and ensures there is no flab. This is a perfect example, incidental details be damned we want things to be moving at a cracking pace, with the jokes coming constantly.

_Autumn Leaves_ - Joan Crawford falls in love with the mentally ill Cliff Robertson, will their love survive? A portrayal of mental illness by Robert Aldrich, you can kind of suspect what you are going to get and you'd be right on the money. Subtlety was not in a 100 miles of this film. That said like a lot of Aldrich's work there is something there. The build of the relationship is played well, and Crawford delivers a good performance

_Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte _- The lesser sister of _Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?_ Aldrich tries the same style moved to the Deep South (accents aplenty) Bette Davies returns but Crawford dropped out. At over 2 hours it lacks the economy of _Autumn Leaves_, and is the worse for it.

_L'Enfer_ - Chabrol's completion of Clouzet's unfinished film. Very interesting to to see the two the combination of two different film makes who share a commonality of themes. To my mind there are definite Clouzet touches present, whether they were present already or whether Chabrol added them in homage I do not know. Anyway the film shows that John Peel's adage about The Fall also applies to Chabrol, same themes but still adding something new and while following the same path still making good films through the 90s into the 00s. This one has a hotel owner become suspicious of his wife and slowly descend into paranoia. The mixing of fantasy and reality echos back to Chabrol's earlier 70s work of _The Butcher_ or _La Rupture_.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Apr 17, 2021)

Watched _Sound of Metal_ tonight. Very good, shoo-in for best sound design Oscar. Riz Ahmed was excellent.


----------



## Elpenor (Apr 18, 2021)

Not films but in what ended up being  a classic TV evening I watched 

the final 3 episodes of series 1 of the rise and fall of reggie perrin
an episode of Brideshead Revisited
the first episode of Auf Wiedersen Pet - which I discovered on Britbox


----------



## T & P (Apr 18, 2021)

Con Man (series). Nothing to do with swindlers, but rather comic cons. A two-season short-episode farcical comedy series written and starring Alan Tudyc about an actor who once played the pilot of a spaceship in a cult following sci-fi space series (rings any bells?), and now reluctantly attends comic cons to raise cash whilst trying to revive his ailing career.

I had heard great things about this so when the first two or three episodes failed to make much of an impression, I was as surprised as was disappointed. But then it got massively better very quickly, and by the end of S1 I wouldn’t describe it as anything else than a bloody brilliant and clever sitcom series.

Fans of sci-fi will also enjoy the numerous cameos, including some of the main main characters from Firefly playing themselves. But regardless of that, it is a very good comedy series.

We bought S1 on Amazon for £7, but for some idiotic reason S2 is sold by the episode only, so we’ll have to wait until we find a cheaper alternative.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Apr 18, 2021)

T & P said:


> Con Man (series)


Loved that when I watched it a few years ago.


----------



## Chz (Apr 18, 2021)

Watched _Suicide Squad _ on ITV2 last night.

Okay, yes it's a bit of a hot mess, but it's nowhere near as bad as the RT crowd seem to think it is. I'd love to see the original cut, which was supposedly more black humour, less blockbuster nonsense.
Though there was the plot hole of
If Harley's nanobomb was disabled by Joker halfway through the film, why is she back in jail at the end of it? She could have just said "See yas!" and wandered off around a bombed out Toronto.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Apr 19, 2021)

I went and saw "Nobody" in the theater.  The theater was empty and I had a private showing.  I have to start by saying that this is an incredibly bad movie.  Its plotting is silly and the dialogue is worse.  The whole thing is implausible.  I like Bob Odenkirk, but I'm not certain he's an action star, but he certainly gave it his best.  That said, it was still a fun romp once you decide that its just a dungeon crawl, where the idea is to kill as many monsters as quickly and efficiently as possible.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 19, 2021)

Was this a play or a film?
ETA: I guess it must be a film considering this thread. The word theatre confused me


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Apr 19, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Was this a play or a film?
> ETA: I guess it must be a film considering this thread. The word theatre confused me



Film:

Nobody (2021) - IMDb

I think part of their marketing is to send it to the theaters while there's nothing else playing for weirdos like me who will still go to the theater to see a movie.  They sanitize the seats for your protection.  LOL.

Same director as John Wick.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 19, 2021)

Yuwipi Woman said:


> Film:
> 
> Nobody (2021) - IMDb
> 
> ...


Over here, plays are performed in theatres, not films. There’s another thread for cinema outings. Can’t wait for the cinemas to open again, so I can bomb the thread with reviews - May 17th!


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Apr 19, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Over here, plays are performed in theatres, not films. There’s another thread for cinema outings. Can’t wait for the cinemas to open again, so I can bomb the thread with reviews - May 17th!



Please excuse my Americanism.  Some of them never closed here.  We have an art theater that's continued to play international stuff, and then we have a chain that shut down all but one or two venues, but stayed open.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 19, 2021)

what film was Lincoln watching when Booth shot him?


----------



## magneze (Apr 19, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> what film was Lincoln watching when Booth shot him?


Con Air


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 19, 2021)

magneze said:


> Con Air


Nah, Lincoln


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Apr 19, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> what film was Lincoln watching when Booth shot him?




Our American Cousin - Wikipedia


----------



## T & P (Apr 19, 2021)

*The Power*. A new horror/ thriller British film set in in a London hospital during the 1970s strikes and power cuts era.

I enjoyed it. Not necessarily as a horror film (I like my proper genre horror films to be sufficiently scary or creepy, and this one doesn’t quite hit the mark, but fwiw it never intended to anyway). But it certainly works well as a thriller with a tinge of horror/ mystery mixed in. All the better as it incorporates the social background of social unrest and strike action in 1970s’ Britain, as well as something else I won’t mention as to not to spoil things.

As the film approaches its business end, and it becomes apparent it’s much less of a supernatural horror story than a compelling thriller story with a social message, it suddenly became much better, and by its climax all but transforms into an edge-of-seat thriller.

Whilst not amazing, it’s perfectly alright, and much more so in the second half of the film once you realise this is far from a scare jump ghost story.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Apr 20, 2021)

Watched the first ep of Mare of Easttown.  Excellent telly.  Hopefully it can maintain the quality!


----------



## MBV (Apr 20, 2021)

Watching White House Farm. Its decent.


----------



## krtek a houby (Apr 21, 2021)

Yuwipi Woman said:


> Please excuse my Americanism.  Some of them never closed here.  We have an art theater that's continued to play international stuff, and then we have a chain that shut down all but one or two venues, but stayed open.



Please don't apologise for not speaking the same as the British do. In Ireland, we'd be going to the pictures or filums.


----------



## Yuwipi Woman (Apr 21, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Please don't apologise for not speaking the same as the British do. In Ireland, we'd be going to the pictures or filums.



I was more joking about that, but I see your point.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 23, 2021)

Punishment Park. Mentioned a few times in the thread. Early 70s'mockumentary' where young radical thinkers are given the choice between long prison sentences and 3 days in Punishment Park. Unbeknown to them the 3 days in the park involves being hunted across desert without food or water by cops and soldiers. It's on Mubi atm, well worth a look.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 23, 2021)

Best Summer Ever
Feelgood high school musical, much along the lines of Grease, and as satisfyingly predictable and formulaic as the rest, except for one aspect: most of the cast and many of the crew have physical and/or mental disabilities. This is a labour of love and it succeeds on all points - to make a cracking high school musical and also to be as inclusive as possible. There’s cameos from Maggie Gyllenhall, Peter Saasgard and Benjamin Bratt, who also helped get it made. Bratt’s daughter, Sophia, who had disabilities, also has a cameo and so does Zack from Peanut Butter Falcon. 
Loved every minute of it and I normally hate musicals, especially high school ones.


----------



## Elpenor (Apr 23, 2021)

The Spy Who Loved Me, one of my top 5 bond films, and one I’ve not seen for a few years, so happy to enjoy again on TV tonight


----------



## T & P (Apr 24, 2021)

belboid said:


> Promising Young Woman
> 
> 
> Blimey, that was good. Carey Mulligan is magnificent, Bo Burnham plays his role to a T.  It's all so horribly believable. That bloke who wrote that stupid review was not only completely wrong, but he missed the entire point by a mile.


Just watched it. Really bloody good. I had already seen the glowing reviews so it was no surprise, but whereas decent enough, the opening act doesn’t suggest how much more engaging the film gets from there.

I must say this though: 



Spoiler



I found her death one of the most upsetting scenes I can think of. Both because of the sense of injustice, and the agonisingly long time it all took.

FWIW the ending went a long way towards redeeming the sense of injustice angle, and as I cool down I’m starting to consider her fate an important part of what makes this film good, and certainly that makes it something other than your cliched revenge thriller.



Oscars tomorrow. Good to see this is competing in various categories including best leading female actor. I haven’t seen any of the other nominees, but Mulligan would be a worthy recipient on the strength of this.

By far the best film I’ve ever seen Sky get involved with. Given the unspeakable garbage they often produce even to this day, this is a refreshing change.


----------



## platinumsage (Apr 26, 2021)

Anyone else watching Barkskins? A decent cast but the first episode was a bit slow in that I'm still not sure what the plot is going to be.

just seen this post about the book so maybe that explains it?



rubbershoes said:


> Barkskins by Annie Proulx.
> 
> I'm three quarters in and still  waiting for it to get going


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 26, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> Anyone else watching Barkskins? A decent cast but the first episode was a bit slow in that I'm still not sure what the plot is going to be.
> 
> just seen this post about the book so maybe that explains it?



Can't remember the book at all. It made no lasting impression on me at


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 26, 2021)

This...which is Chris Morris's first short film starring Paddy Considine. Piss funny.



Then Pusher 3, which isn't funny at all and in fact one of the most brutal and intense 100 minutes of film. I'd vaguely remembered the setting for it while watching one of the first 2 films but none of the story. Such a great trilogy.


----------



## T & P (Apr 26, 2021)

The Knick. A 2014-5 two season drama series set around the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York in the early 20th century.

It’s actually really bloody good. I can’t believe I hadn’t even heard of it until now.









						The Knick - Wikipedia
					






					en.m.wikipedia.org


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 27, 2021)

Mortal Kombat (2021)

Extra gory, a good entrant to the stable of MK films and animations. They've eased up on the banging techno for the fights, which is a mistake but its still there a bit. In a change to usual MK fiction the film (and the animated prequel) focus on the sub-zero/scorpion rivalry as the heart driving the usual outworld vs earth plot. I don't know who the new Raiden actor is, but he is not as good as Christopher Lambert's Raiden. 7/10 sound popcorn fayre.


----------



## BlanketAddict (Apr 30, 2021)

Death Of Stalin. 

Third time of watching, perfect last scene, love it!


----------



## rubbershoes (May 1, 2021)

JoJo Rabbit

I'd avoided seeing it before as the trailer made it look crass slapstick. How wrong I was. 

Very funny and poignant with great performances from the young leads

Highly recommended


----------



## mack (May 1, 2021)

Promising young woman.

It was awful, bad acting, bad writing, rubbish storyline.

I'm talking Boxing Helena type bad..so bad it was funny.

Can't believe the high ratings it's received on RT 🤔


----------



## mauvais (May 1, 2021)

I watched _Nobody_ last night, I thought it was really good fun - the less you know about it, the better, as part of the enjoyment is trying to work out what kind of film it's going to turn out to be. Odenkirk is a great actor - can't separate him from Saul now, but it still works.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 1, 2021)

Series of Billy Wilder films based on Melbourne Cinematheque season. Wilder is a director that, while I respect his body of work, I often feel a little cold, untouched by his films so interesting to see five in short succession, overall I have a better liking of his work than I did before
_- Mauvaise Graine_ - French film Wilder made between leaving Germany and moving to the states. It is a talky film but is strongly influenced by the early silent films. It is not really especially Wilder-ish, though I think you can see certain elements of his later style there. An interesting film rather than a classic. 
_- The Private Lives of Sherlock Holmes_ - not even heard of this before this season and I'm very pleased that I've now seen it. It really is excellent (and a huge influence on other adaptations/versions of Holmes) and very enjoyable film, just the right balance of comedy, mystery and action. I definitely recommend it.
_- Ace In the Hole - _Excellent, really quite vicious satire/drama starring Kirk Douglas as the newspaperman who will go to long lengths to get a good story. Douglas is fantastic, this may be his best performance that I've seen (certainly better than the famous _Spartacus_). As in the previous film Wilder balances the dry wit, social satire and more broad comedy elements excellently.
_- Kiss Me, Stupid -_ Dean Martin (playing a fictional version of himself) gets stuck in a small town. Some aspiring songwriters want to sell him their songs but one of them is afraid that Dino will seduce his wife. To stop this he gets Kim Novak, a waitress/prostitute to take the role of his wife while Dino stays in his house. The premise is not bad but the script is just not good enough (strange for Wilder film) and the whole thing just drags on. And one does not much liking, or even sympathy with Dino or the songwriters. Novak's character is the heart of the film but she does not turn up until about a third of the way through. A big disappointment compared with the previous films.
_- The Major and the Minor_ - Considering the central plot of this film - bloke falling in love with a woman 'disguised' as a twelve year old - it should not work, but it does. The script is good but Rodgers is the real star, while she Rodgers does not look 12, or anything like it, she does manage to create enough of a persona (or rather two persona's) and energy that I could not help going along with it. What in the hands of many would just be creepy and sleazy manages to retain a charm and even a certain sweetness under Wilder. 
- (final film in the Melbourne Cinematheque season was Stalag 17, which I watched about a year ago) 

_This Boys Life _- The film where Leonardo DiCaprio got his big break playing opposite DeNiro. It's one of those troubled 50s childhood films that were big at the time and despite the cast (Ellen Barkin, Carla Gugino and a very young Eliza Dushku all also make appearances) it is absolutely by the numbers. No surprises, lots of stuff you've seen before and all a bit dull with the attempt to be worthy. Don't bother

_Tigerland_ -  Joel Schumacher and Colin Farrell do a (Vietnam) war film, I had bad forebodings about this film but it very pleasantly surprised me. It's a far more subtle and intelligent piece of filmmaking that I expected. Schumacher's decision to base the whole film in the US, during the training of the soldiers is a good one, allowing the film to focus on a relatively small cast and keeps the film a tight 100 minutes. Farrell is actually very good in his role and Matthew Davies delivers a decent supporting performance. I'm not sure that this is not a better film than many of the Vietnam classics.

_Dheepan_ - I liked _Read My Lips_ and consider _A Prophet_ to be excellent, but while I enjoyed _Rust and Bone_ I felt it lacked something in comparison with Audiard's previous work. _Dheepan_ is seriously good. The changing relationships between the three 'family' members is developed brilliantly, there is nothing wasted, nothing extraneous, a moving film with a humanistic core.

_Plan 9 from Outer Space_ - The classic 'worst film of all time'. It is not really, it's very silly and takes far, far too long to get going but the last 20 minutes (with the aliens as anti-hero's is even quite interesting in the context of the 50s). I've certainly seem many more objectionable films and/or films I dislike more. It's just a bit boring, I guess it is of certain interest to cinephiles for the history aspect but for most people I would not bother with it.


----------



## platinumsage (May 1, 2021)

mauvais said:


> I watched _Nobody_ last night, I thought it was really good fun - the less you know about it, the better, as part of the enjoyment is trying to work out what kind of film it's going to turn out to be. Odenkirk is a great actor - can't separate him from Saul now, but it still works.



The bit at the beginning when it was deliberately like Better Call Saul was good, but I thought the rest of it was tedious shite.


----------



## Supine (May 2, 2021)

Black Bear. Watched it last night and still thinking about it. Great film


----------



## belboid (May 2, 2021)

Supine said:


> Black Bear. Watched it last night and still thinking about it. Great film


We nearly did, may do after LoD.  

Ended up watching The Power instead, low budget horror set amidst the seventies power cuts in a Victorian hospital beset by ghosts.  A bit cheap n cheerful but effective and sufficiently scary.


----------



## T & P (May 2, 2021)

belboid said:


> We nearly did, may do after LoD.
> 
> Ended up watching The Power instead, low budget horror set amidst the seventies power cuts in a Victorian hospital beset by ghosts.  A bit cheap n cheerful but effective and sufficiently scary.


I liked that. I would say to anyone who starts it that they should not expect a horror film, and quit halfway because it feels formulaic and not scary. This is in fact a thriller, and once it becomes apparent the film becomes a different beast, and end ends up being quite entertaining.


----------



## T & P (May 2, 2021)

Supine said:


> Black Bear. Watched it last night and still thinking about it. Great film


The acting was superb and additional points for a reasonably original storyline, though as soon as the second act started the premise and structure of the film became crystal clear. Good enough but kept thinking a full third act would have made for an ever fuller movie.


----------



## Sue (May 3, 2021)

I love Billy Wilder movies. And yes, _Ace in the Hole_ is great though believe its cynicism went down very badly at the time, if now it looks pretty prescient. 

'I don't pray. Kneeling bags my nylons.'

So I settled down to watch _This Boy's Life_. Then it strikes me that this doesn't seem to be the 50's gay coming of age story I remember reading. That'd be because that's _A Boy's Own Story_. Oops. 

_Rules Don't Apply_, Warren's Beatty's take on Howard Hughes. So better than _The Aviator_ (which I pretty much hated) but pretty bland and a bit pointless. Meh. (Maybe I just don't find Hughes very interesting.)


----------



## Idris2002 (May 4, 2021)

I'm watching Borgen, a decade after everyone else. The whole "Nyborg as Mother of the Nation" thing is laid on a bit thick.


----------



## belboid (May 4, 2021)

Sound of Metal

Fuck me, that was good.   Riz Ahmed is outstanding as is the whole sound production.  The fear and sadness of Ruben is palpable as is the appalling nature of American healthcare.   My fil had a cochlear implant, as in the film, but they spent a month talking to him about exactly what it could achieve, the idea of just taking the money without that kind of help first is just horrifying.  

Black Bear

Aubrey Plaza led piece about…. relationships and film-making?? Funny, unsettling, highly watchable.   The ‘switch’ is neatly done and carried through.  A bit too reminiscent of Living in Oblivion occasionally, but well worth a view.


----------



## Chz (May 4, 2021)

belboid said:


> A bit too reminiscent of Living in Oblivion occasionally,


When they stopped to get the room background I immediately thought of that. At which point the mrs quipped "*I* don't even have dreams with dwarves in them".


----------



## belboid (May 4, 2021)

Chz said:


> When they stopped to get the room background I immediately thought of that. At which point the mrs quipped "*I* don't even have dreams with dwarves in them".


yup, the words 'room tone' can never be uttered again without making you think of LIO


----------



## Orang Utan (May 6, 2021)

Synchronic - an indie scifi film by directors Moorhead & Benson - who apparently have made a bunch of decent horror/scifi films with the theme of addiction running through them.
This one's about two paramedics dealing with the effects of a designer drug kind of like DMT. Best not say any more as the less you know the better. Packed with ideas and imagination and realised brilliantly on a low budget indie. Thumbs up from me. Now have to check out their other films.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 7, 2021)

Does anyone buy videos off google play? If you do so, is the video yours to download and keep?


----------



## Orang Utan (May 7, 2021)

Film lovers! Some great new releases available  for a short time, very cheaply:


----------



## rubbershoes (May 8, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Does anyone buy videos off google play? If you do so, is the video yours to download and keep?



I think you can either rent or buy


----------



## Idris2002 (May 8, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> I think you can either rent or buy


Thanks, but it turns out the fil-um I was interested in isn't yet available (No Blade of Grass, 1970).


----------



## belboid (May 8, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Thanks, but it turns out the fil-um I was interested in isn't yet available (No Blade of Grass, 1970).


its on Amazon Prime (£8 to buy)


----------



## rekil (May 8, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Thanks, but it turns out the fil-um I was interested in isn't yet available (No Blade of Grass, 1970).


If you have a torrent client word on the street is you can find it.

I too would die for some pots.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 10, 2021)

Finished Shadow and Bone, drags a bit for first couple of eps but good fun by the end. Also finished Invincible. Gory and rather brilliant comic/anime with the greatest voice cast, ever.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 10, 2021)

Raw 
Belgian feminist body horror about an student at the weirdest veterinary college I’ve ever seen on screen (although admittedly I’ve not seen any others) who gets cannibalistic stirrings after being forced into eating raw meat in a absurd hazing ritual for new arrivals. 
Brilliant - some truly gross scenes (the waxing scene - eek!) and a wildly unpredictable plot. Fantastic soundtrack and score too. 5 sausage fingers out of 5


----------



## krtek a houby (May 10, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Raw
> Belgian feminist body horror about an student at the weirdest veterinary college I’ve ever seen on screen (although admittedly I’ve not seen any others) who gets cannibalistic stirrings after being forced into eating raw meat in a absurd hazing ritual for new arrivals.
> Brilliant - some truly gross scenes (the waxing scene - eek!) and a wildly unpredictable plot. Fantastic soundtrack and score too. 5 sausage fingers out of 5



Is it streaming?


----------



## Sue (May 10, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Raw
> Belgian feminist body horror about an student at the weirdest veterinary college I’ve ever seen on screen (although admittedly I’ve not seen any others) who gets cannibalistic stirrings after being forced into eating raw meat in a absurd hazing ritual for new arrivals.
> Brilliant - some truly gross scenes (the waxing scene - eek!) and a wildly unpredictable plot. Fantastic soundtrack and score too. 5 sausage fingers out of 5


I saw that in the cinema when it came out without knowing anything about it. It was one of my top films of that year and I'm not even into horror.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 10, 2021)

Cat In The Wall 
Loachian no-budget comedy drama about a Bulgarian family on a council estate in Peckham struggling to get by and warring with their neighbours. It’s ok, some of the characters have rather unsavoury views but the film carefully examines our post-Brexit cultural landscape - the tensions between ‘old’ and ‘new’ immigrants and ‘indigenous’ Londoners, the corruption of councils refurbishing their estates and even some class tension, the middle class and anti-Marxist Bulgarian family look down upon the White and Black population of their estate as benefits scroungers, but we’re not invited to share that view. 3 piss-covered lifts out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (May 10, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Is it streaming?


Aye


----------



## Orang Utan (May 10, 2021)

In Search Of Blind Joe Death - The Saga Of John Fahey
Documentary about the visionary eccentric ‘Primitive American’ steel string guitarist. It’s not a hagiography but Fahey is a likeable character despite his chaotic life and alcoholism. And the music is of course transportingly beautiful
4 box turtles out of 5


----------



## Buddy Bradley (May 17, 2021)

Watched _Mank_ the other night, which was okay but nowhere near as good as it's bundle of Oscar nominations would suggest.



belboid said:


> Black Bear
> 
> Aubrey Plaza led piece about…. relationships and film-making?? Funny, unsettling, highly watchable.   The ‘switch’ is neatly done and carried through.  A bit too reminiscent of Living in Oblivion occasionally, but well worth a view.


Never heard of this, but sounds right up my street - adding to the watchlist.


----------



## Chz (May 17, 2021)

_Stories We Tell_, a film about actor/director Sarah Polley's family (mainly her mother, who died when she was 11), directed by her. Not normally my cup of tea, this sort of thing. But it was highly recommended and I'm glad I did watch it.
It's not necessary to have grown up with her in _Road to Avonlea _as I did, in fact it probably helps to have never heard of anyone involved at all.

I give it 4/5, and I'm not normally a fan of these "true family" sort of things.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 17, 2021)

Quo Vadis, Aida?
Harrowing and almost unwatchable (but at the same time utterly compelling) film about a Bosnian Muslim teacher working in Sbrenica as a go-between for the UN negotiating with Serbian General Mladic, whilst trying to save her husband and sons from being taken away by Mladic’s goons. It’s no spoiler to say that it doesn’t end well as it’s documented history and Is struggle to describe the film as an entertainment. I am ashamed to say I knew very little about the massacre as in 1995 I was only interested in partying was only dimly aware of it at the time.
I say it’s a hard watch but most of the violence is off screen - there is no gore or fetishised war violence. We are under no illusions about what is happening though and the tension and inevitability of it all made me feel sick to the stomach. It should have won the Oscar for best ‘foreign’ film, but lost out a comedy about teachers getting pissed (Another around)
The best film about the mundane obscenity of war and genocide since Come and See and as equally nightmarish. 5/5


----------



## Supine (May 17, 2021)

Minari. Lovely gentle film about the American dream. Recommended.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 17, 2021)

Supine said:


> Minari. Lovely gentle film about the American dream. Recommended.


Off to see that at an actual cinema on Wednesday


----------



## Orang Utan (May 18, 2021)

Tusk - an untypical Kevin Smith film that was apparently made for a sort of dare after a stupid idle chit chat on a podcast. You can tell. 2 screaming manwalruses out of 5


----------



## platinumsage (May 18, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Tusk - an untypical Kevin Smith film that was apparently made for a sort of dare after a stupid idle chit chat on a podcast. You can tell. 2 screaming manwalruses out of 5



For a moment there I was hoping you would be giving your opinion on a biopic of a former President of the European Council.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 18, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> For a moment there I was hoping you would be giving your opinion on a biopic of a former President of the European Council.


it would certainly be more interesting.

btq one of our customers is a Donald Tuskalike - he's a creepy sex pest (the lookalike, can't vouch for the authentic Tusk)


----------



## T & P (May 18, 2021)

Archenemy. A 2020 independent dark superhero film based on a story not related to any of the established comic/ superhero universes.

We saw it out of desperation as we had nothing else at all to watch, and I was expecting a shitshow, but it turned out to be surprisingly decent, and no worse than plenty of the second-tier films from Marvel and DC.

It feels like a Tarantino/ Sin City hybrid and whilst not fantastically good, it is certainly very watchable.









						Archenemy (film) - Wikipedia
					






					en.m.wikipedia.org


----------



## T & P (May 20, 2021)

The Nevers. A new Joss Whedon/ HBO supernatural sci-fi series. I wasn’t hopeful after seeing some critics‘ reviews, but whereas the first episode feels a bit pedestrian and more Sky than HBO, it gets better by every episode. The second half of the series will be released at a later date, but this first half really finds its sweet spot in the latter episodes, the fifth one in particular being fantastically good.

I’ll say something else for it: the series contains two or three great twists, one in particular being a mind fuck of Kyser Soze proportions.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 21, 2021)

Succession.

Skulduggery in high places, specifically a media empire family who are obviously based on the Murdochs. The beta cuck son who's being groomed to take over the family firm bears a striking resemblance to Bashar Al-Assad the killer geek. Seriously, when they make _World's Biggest Cunts: the Movie _they could cast this guy as the Shithouse of Damascus.

Anyway, in this case the son ends up in some pretty dark places. His siblings are also all different varieties of bastards, including the sister who is a Democratic party (funny sort of democracy) strategist. Brian Cox is the toxic, abusive patriarch who is going to sink the while operation with his outdated business concepts, and on whom they are all financially and emotionally dependent.

At one point a character turns up who might as well be called Sernie Banders. But he isn't as well used as you might like. In fact I think this show might be aimed at downwardly mobile types who regret not properly getting behind America's Last Hope.

Basically, nearly everyone in this show is a horrible person, including the poor eejit we first see vomiting into the hood of his theme park character suit. In spite of this, however, the first season of this show has a very compulsive quality, and will keep you watching. Should you watch it? Maybe, but the first couple of episodes will make you long for Lady Guillotine. 

One last couple of things: the filming is really dark, at first you'll wonder if there's something up with your telly. And then you'll say, OK, we get the point, these people are living in Darkness. And the dialogue and acting are pretty good. The script in some places, made me wonder if it would have been better as a stage play.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 21, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Succession.
> 
> Skulduggery in high places, specifically a media empire family who are obviously based on the Murdochs. The beta cuck son who's being groomed to take over the family firm bears a striking resemblance to Bashar Al-Assad the killer geek. Seriously, when they make _World's Biggest Cunts: the Movie _they could cast this guy as the Shithouse of Damascus.
> 
> ...


S2 is even better. Love that show.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 21, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> S2 is even better. Love that show.


The beta boy's resemblance to Assad was uncanny, though, would you agree?


----------



## Orang Utan (May 21, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> The beta boy's resemblance to Assad was uncanny, though, would you agree?


Not at all!


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## Idris2002 (May 21, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Not at all!


Admit defeat, primate dude


----------



## Orang Utan (May 21, 2021)

They’ve both got hair, I’ll grant you that


----------



## Part 2 (May 24, 2021)

State Funeral. 2 hours of compiled footage of Stalin's funeral in 1953 followed by a Q&A with the director. I was prepared for this being hard work but it's absolutely fascinating, like a meditation watching the thousands of faces not knowing what they're really thinking. There's some amazing clothing on display from the biggest hats of the Bulgarian contingent come to pay respects to the smocks and padded coats of workers in frozen regions. I was hoping for a rendition of the national anthem but it wasn't to be.I've always liked the death march though which gets good airtime and its all worth it for the end where a woman sings the most bizarre song.  It's on mubi.


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## redsquirrel (May 24, 2021)

Being re-watching quite a few things that have come up on MUBI over the last couple of weeks

_Donnie Darko_ - now 20 years old. Both its qualities and flaws were more moderate than I remembered. Not a great classic but enjoyable and with more content than many blockbusters. Also helped launch Maggie Gyllenhaal's career which is a good thing.

_Compliance_ - still very good on second viewing. I always found the 'complicity of the viewer' angle some critics banged on about trite but film is just excellently put together. Anne Dowd and Dreama Walker turn in excellent performances, good script, good pacing keeping the tension high, and knows the right length for itself.

_LA Confidential_ - have to say the first thing that struck me on re-watching this was how young Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe look. The first two thirds are absolutely excellent, brilliant blend of sleazy neo-noir. The  tightness drops in the last third of the film, I do not have any problem with the ending not being faithful to the books, but the films ending is too wrapped up and cliched.

_Touchez pas au Grisbi_ - film that returning Jean Gabin to star status. Totally fantastic and probably even better on second viewing. Two ageing gangsters confront themselves, their friendship and those that would take the proceeds of their latest robbery. If you have not seen it take the free MUBI trial and watch it before it leaves in the next 48 hours. A total stone cold classic.

_The Duellists_ - Back when Ridley Scott could make a decent film. Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel are the titular characters, two officers in the Napoleonic army that fight a series of duels. Contains a huge number of British character actors from the time (the entire cast apart from the two stars and one of the female roles) - Alun Armstrong, Pete Postlethwaite, Edward Fox, Tom Conti, etc. It's a well made, well acted piece and Scott keeps things moving on track (something that he can seemingly no longer do), no spare flesh.


Then some stuff I've seen for the first time

_The Wrecking Crew _- fucking awful, primarily remembered as Sharon Tate's last completed film and frankly that is about all it has going for it. Supposedly a spy comedy starring Dean Martin it is unfunny, tedious and best missed. The director Phil Karlson was a decent noir filmmaker but he turned in crap here

_Hell's Island_ - Karlson also directed this, which while no first rate classic is a millions times better than _The Wrecking Crew_, it's got all the usual noir stereotypes but they are done with enough style and quality that you can go along for the ride.

_The Sniper_ - one of those progressive 50s Hollywood message pictures that are more common that some think. Its view of mental illness is pretty terrible by today's standards (though the angle on violence against women is interesting in light of recent stories) but at the time was probably quote out there. Sadly the focus on the films message detracts from the quality of the film, leading to problems with the pacing. Interesting and worth while checking out of this period is up your street but not great.

_Foxy Brown_ - First time I've ever seen this and watched it for the historic aspect. Frankly I don't think there is much else going for it. Pan Grier is good but film as a whole is a tedious mess. Would not bother with it.

_Wanted for Murder_ - post-war British thriller. Watched it because has Eric Portman, from _A Canterbury Tale _and an actor I like, it in but sadly its not a great deal of cop. Portman is a serial killer who feels compelled to strangle woman, probably a interesting angle at the time it was made but not so much now. There are some good one liners in it and some good set pieces but it needs 15 minutes cutting from it and a better hero and heroine.


----------



## davesgcr (May 29, 2021)

"Nomadland" - stunning desert shots and life in Trump USA. Very thought provoking.  Warning - includes shots of an Amazon fulfillment center.


----------



## redsquirrel (May 31, 2021)

I've been catching up with a MUBI season on the early works of Hou Hsiao-Hsien. I know the name but the only film I've previously seen is _The Assassin_, which despite the glowing reviews I was not madly impressed. Here there was 
_Cute Girl_ - HHHs first film and really pretty rubbish, a highly formulaic (at least that is the impression I got) romantic comedy that is not funny and with has some very silly jumps. Of interest as a curiosity but otherwise give it a miss
_The Green, Green Grass of Home_ - Better, another romantic comedy and still with some flaws (cliched characters, daft jokes) but with much greater depth than the previous film and some genuinely charming moments 
_The Boys from Fengkuei_ - supposedly the directors break through movie, you can see some of the elements (young people growing up) from the previous films here but the formulaic aspects have been cut and a more personal vision is present. Characters are much better drawn, there is a much more downbeat feel and it looks better.
_The Daughter of the Nile_ - easily the best of the four, again plot concerns young characters navigating their lives, coming into conflict of their own making and the interactions with older generations and society. It looks good and the characters are both real while remaining sympathetic. 
Overall I'd probably skip the first two and concentrate on the latter two. 

Also two films by Carl Theodor Dreyer 
_Vampyr_ - wonderful little horror, official a sound film it does not have any real dialogue but does have music. As you can guess from the title it is based on vampire myths. The story really plays second role to the look, it is gorgeous to look at, beautiful black and white images. 
_The Passion of Joan of Arc _- In contrast to the previous film I have to say I was a little disappointed in this given it's reputation. For me Vampyr worked so well because it was a wonderful short piece, this felt too extended to me. It may be that the subject matter was part of the reason why I found this less interesting, I've never got the deep interest so many people have of Joan of Arc. Worth watching due to it's history but I'll take _Vampyr_ over it any day of the week.

_Death in the Garden_ - Stupendous, absolutely gorgeous film from Buñuel. A group of people get trapped in the jungle and have to survive and escape. As I said this looks truly wonderful. I'm nota major Buñuel fan but this is great, it keeps many of his classic themes but has a much stronger plot and characters than you sometimes get in his films. Definitely worth checking out.

_The Cruel Story of Youth_ - A school girl falls in love with a young student and they move in together despite the views of her family and society. They get their money from ripping off older men that offer her 'a lift home'. It all ends badly. Again another wonderful looking film, lots of great colours. 

_The Chess Players_ - Satyajit Ray's film about the East India Company's manoeuvrings in India prior to the 1857 Mutiny/Revolt. Ray has two plots unfolding simultaneously in one the company's chiefs are attempting to depose a ruler of his kingdom so they can move in (even more), while this is occurring, but oblivious to these events, two aristocrats of the kingdom are meeting daily for games of chess (Said Jeffrey delivers a great turn as one of the aristocrats). Ray intertwines the two plots brilliantly mixing the comic and tragic elements. Very good.


----------



## BlanketAddict (May 31, 2021)

Marked For Death. 

Steven Seagal flick from 1990. Absolute shite, and this was supposed to be his golden age!


----------



## not-bono-ever (May 31, 2021)

1917

better than Dunkirk but mebbes not sure of the end product


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## Idris2002 (May 31, 2021)

Jean de Florette

It's kind of improbable that a French person would throw over a pensionable civil service job in the tax office and go and become a peasant farmer.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 1, 2021)

_Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno_ - Documentary outlining the failed attempt by Clouzot to make his film _L'enfer_, starring Romy Schneider. A very good documentary, using a combination of talking heads (well limited), re-discovered footage of both test and some scenes, and some re-created scenes. I'm always a little suspicious of 'lost masterpieces', but some of the images presented are wonderful and the nearly complete scenes of the husband following his wife and the chase after the boat are outstanding. By coincidence I watched Chabrol's version of film, made using Clouzot's script, only a month and half ago so that added interest and they I'd suggest that you watch them as a double bill.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jun 1, 2021)

Watched _Army of the Dead_, the new Zack Snyder zombie thing on Netflix. Enjoyable nonsense.


----------



## Reno (Jun 1, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Jean de Florette
> 
> It's kind of improbable that a French person would throw over a pensionable civil service job in the tax office and go and become a peasant farmer.


Minari is the better version of Jean de Florette.


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## belboid (Jun 2, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Jean de Florette
> 
> It's kind of improbable that a French person would throw over a pensionable civil service job in the tax office and go and become a peasant farmer.


Yeah,  but they'd like to think they would.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jun 2, 2021)

*Clue*

Was planning on watching series seven of Bakeoff, but Amazon seem to have lost the rights to that, so clicked this as I'd added it to my playlist some time ago. Hugely enjoyable nonsense. Definite shades of Sir Humphrey with Lynn's dialogue for Wadsworth. I really need to watch everything Tim Curry has ever done.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 2, 2021)

East of Eden, possibly the greatest of the James Dean films. 

Want to read the book now, as apparently the film only focuses on the last half of the novel. Also, Sookie Stackhouse's Gramma is in the movie.


----------



## Reno (Jun 2, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> East of Eden, possibly the greatest of the James Dean films.
> 
> Want to read the book now, as apparently the film only focuses on the last half of the novel. Also, Sookie Stackhouse's Gramma is in the movie.


I was always frustrated that the film only covers the second half of the novel because it reduces the novel's best character to a minor role. Beautiful but rotten-to-the-core  Cathy Trask/Kate Ames is one of the great literary villains but you wouldn't know it from the film. There was a mini-series from the early 80s which covers the entire novel with Jane Seymour as Cathy/Kate. I haven't seen it since then and of it didn't have the production values of the film but at the time I thought it was very good and it got me to read the novel.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jun 2, 2021)

_The Legend of the Stardust Brothers_ - What you get if you take a pop musical combine it with a live action cartoon and throw in some badly done Buster Keaton-esque visual gags. It is very very silly but rather fun. The "plot" is about two singers finding fame and there is some of satire of pop music but really is it just an excuse for silly gags, which combined with the frantic energy keep it going. It's probably a little too long, I felt it drag in the middle but after a long, long day of zoom meetings it was just what I needed.


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## Idris2002 (Jun 3, 2021)

Trumbo.

The less successful sequel to Dumbo.

Not really - it's the story of blacklist hero Dalton Trumbo, who was an all-American boy, though he wouldn't have thanked you for it. The vim and vigour of Trumbo's resistance to, and triumph over, the McCarthyite blacklist is a story well told - this one was a lot better than the liberal pabulum I expected.


----------



## Reno (Jun 4, 2021)

Watched the first 3 episodes of Mare of Easttown. It's very watchable but so far it's nothing I haven't seen many times before when it comes to small town murder mysteries, especially the cranky, middle aged female detective who is rude to everybody and who is still working through a trauma in her past. The blue collar vibe is little overdone, like Winslet constantly tearing into fast food and the hotheaded toxic masculinity on display. Will read dedicated thread once I've watched it all, at least it's a short series but so far I'm not seeing why it got rave reviews.


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## Idris2002 (Jun 4, 2021)

Manon des Sources

"Jean de Florette 2: Electric Boogaloo"

The scenes of Emanuelle Beart in the rain caused Mrs. Idris to remark "any excuse for a wet t-shirt". The French tourist board must have been over the moon with the scenery in this one.


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Manon des Sources
> 
> "Jean de Florette 2: Electric Boogaloo"
> 
> The scenes of Emanuelle Beart in the rain caused Mrs. Idris to remark "any excuse for a wet t-shirt". The French tourist board must have been over the moon with the scenery in this one.


I missed out on Jean de Florette at the time, it was the big mainstream art house hit back then. I decided to watch it a few weeks ago, there was a new restoration around. Absolutely hated it, a film with no nuance or subtlety, everything is signposted and underlined. You know where this is going from the start, cinema de papa at its most boring. Never made it to the sequel and yes, the films biggest impact was on the tourism industry.


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## Idris2002 (Jun 4, 2021)

Reno said:


> I missed out on Jean de Florette at the time, it was the big mainstream art house hit back then. I decided to watch it a few weeks ago, there was a new restoration around. Absolutely hated it, a film with no nuance or subtlety, everything is signposted and underlined and you know where this is going from the start, cinema de papa at its most boring. Never made it to the sequel and yes, the films biggest impact was on the tourism industry.


It reminded us of The Field - Richard Harris as an Irish farming patriarch who won't let a "yank" take "his" field (that's peasant communities for you). Your mileage varies, of course, but I'd say J de F is a masterpiece of subtlety compared to the work of Irish hack Jim Sheridan in the Field.

Of the two, though, M de S is far the better film. Mlle Beart doesn't get many speaking lines, but her role as avenging angel is a  damn good one.


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> It reminded us of The Field - Richard Harris as an Irish farming patriarch who won't let a "yank" take "his" field (that's peasant communities for you). Your mileage varies, of course, but I'd say J de F is a masterpiece of subtlety compared to the work of Irish hack Jim Sheridan in the Field.
> 
> Of the two, though, M de S is far the better film. Mlle Beart doesn't get many speaking lines, but her role as avenging angel is a  damn good one.


This type of "landscape porn" heritage cinema isn't my thing anyway, so I never watched The Field. Just the title puts me to sleep.


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## Badgers (Jun 4, 2021)

LOTR


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2021)

Badgers said:


> LOTR


Not what i'd call heritage cinema though. It's great for a film to feature beautiful locations, what bores me is when that's the main thing going for them.


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## krtek a houby (Jun 4, 2021)

Reno said:


> This type of "landscape porn" heritage cinema isn't my thing anyway, so I never watched The Field. Just the title puts me to sleep.



It's a fair stab at puncturing arrogant US imperialism, so it gets a thumbs up from me


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## Orang Utan (Jun 4, 2021)

Reno said:


> I missed out on Jean de Florette at the time, it was the big mainstream art house hit back then. I decided to watch it a few weeks ago, there was a new restoration around. Absolutely hated it, a film with no nuance or subtlety, everything is signposted and underlined. You know where this is going from the start, cinema de papa at its most boring. Never made it to the sequel and yes, the films biggest impact was on the tourism industry.


It’s like a film length Stella ad


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2021)

Reno said:


> Watched the first 3 episodes of Mare of Easttown. It's very watchable but so far it's nothing I haven't seen many times before when it comes to small town murder mysteries, especially the cranky, middle aged female detective who is rude to everybody and who is still working through a trauma in her past. The blue collar vibe is little overdone, like Winslet constantly tearing into fast food and the hotheaded toxic masculinity on display. Will read dedicated thread once I've watched it all, at least it's a short series but so far I'm not seeing why it got rave reviews.


I will admit, it surprised me by the next two episodes.


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## The39thStep (Jun 4, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> It’s like a film length Stella ad


check out A Very Long Engagement


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## Reno (Jun 4, 2021)

The39thStep said:


> check out A Very Long Engagement


I bailed half way through that one.


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## The39thStep (Jun 4, 2021)

Reno said:


> I bailed half way through that one.


I loved it but it did remind me of Stella Artois adverts


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## Chz (Jun 5, 2021)

Watched The Predator on C4 tonight. 

Christ, it's been a while since I've seen something so howlingly bad. Bad lines, bad CGI, plot holes roomy enough for a good sized moving van... I suppose the acting didn't suck as hard as it could given the rest of it. If the objective was to make 2010's Predators look like a decent film, then job done.


----------



## T & P (Jun 8, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> *Caveat*
> Claustrophobic low budget horror about a man employed to keep a disturbed woman company in a semi-derelict isolated house, with one very strange condition. Things get weird and weirder. Debut director Damian McCarthy is one to watch. 4 creepy toy rabbits out of 5


Watched this on Shudder the other day and really enjoyed it. Very effective without trying to be an all-out horror vehicle. I fucking loved the creepy toy bunny


----------



## Reno (Jun 9, 2021)

Riders of Justice, Danish revenge thriller/black comedy starring The Mads, which is my favourite film of the year so far.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 12, 2021)

Three Alex Ross Perry films _The Color Wheel_, _Listen Up Philip_ and _Queen of Earth _(which I saw previously at the cinema).
The first is very American indie comedy for the first two-thirds (black and white, embarrassment jokes, unlikable egoists as the main characters) and while there is the odd funny scene I was pretty underwhelmed given it’s reputation. Then the last third is totally different, far more interesting and surprises you. A very strange movie.
In my view _Listen Up Philip_ is the strongest and most complete film of the three, again egoist middle class characters behaving like assholes but the quality of the writing, acting (I’m not sure I’ve even seen Jason Swartzman give a better performance) and pacing raise it above the average. The narration which could easily been an annoying gimmick actually works really well.
_Queen of Earth_ is a movie I feel I should like more than I do, I like the genre of films, descent in madness, (see _Cold Day in the Park_, below) and Katherine Waterson and Elizabeth Moss are very good but it just does not quite come together

_That Cold Day in the Park_ - Before seeing this on MUBI and the BFI list of his underrated films I was not familiar with this Altman picture. Which is a real shame as it is very good. Altman’s body of work is so good that this is not quite one of his essential films - unlike say _3 Woman_, which has some similar themes - but it is miles better than anything a lot of directors will make in their careers. Absolutely worth checking out - available on BFI subscribers.

_Rosebud_ - One of Otto Preminger’s last films a sort of espionage action. Despite the dodgy politics (the portable of the Palestinian’s is abysmal) and frequent silliness it is not totally terrible. Worth checking out for Peter O’Toole’s performance (just about the right side of hammy), an appearance by a very young Isabelle Huppert and, brilliantly, Dickie Attenborough playing an English convert to fundamentalist Islam. Also interesting to compare with the recent adaptation of le Carre’s _Little Drummer Girl, _very different views and styles on related material.

_The Dark Past_ - One of those 50s films where psychologists can unlock the keys to the mind - it must have been great being a psychologist in the middle part of the 20th century. Here Lee J Cobb manages to resolve the issues of murderer William Holden while being held hostage. Not first class noir but good fun and worth checking out as an excellent example of its type.

_Rolling Thunder_ - One of those films that has a (Vietnam) veteran having to go seek revenge for the killing of his family, but better than the usual fare of that sub-genre. Mostly due to the Paul Schrader script which, as you might expect, has a more psychological angle than most. Tommy Lee Jones has a good supporting role but the biggest surprise is how good William Devane is as the lead. For me Devane was one of those actors that play the sort of rich, smart bad/amoral guys in minor films/TV, like he did in _Knot’s Landing_. But here he is really very good, I guess he took the stereotyping to keep in work but it is a shame as he obviously had/has more quality than that.


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## platinumsage (Jun 12, 2021)

Butterfly Effect - A good movie, despite the derision of critics. I'd never heard Ashton Kutcher before but apparently he's supposed to be a twat. Thought he might have been married to a Trump but I now see that is Jared Kushner.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 12, 2021)

Reno said:


> Riders of Justice, Danish revenge thriller/black comedy starring The Mads, which is my favourite film of the year so far.



That looks top, cheers for the heads up Reno


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## Reno (Jun 12, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> That looks top, cheers for the heads up Reno


I also enjoyed Another Round, the Mads Mikkelsen film which got a lot of critical acclaim and awards attention this year, but I liked this one even better. It’s not as much of an action movie as the trailer makes out, it's an offbeat and often very funny character study about a group of neurotic and dysfunctional men.


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## The39thStep (Jun 12, 2021)

Reno said:


> I also enjoyed Another Round, the Mads Mikkelsen film which got a lot of critical acclaim and awards attention this year, but I liked this one even better. It’s not as much of an action movie as the trailer makes out, it's an offbeat and often very funny character study about a group of very neurotic and dysfunctional men.


I liked Another Round


----------



## Gramsci (Jun 13, 2021)

Watched Atlantis. A Ukrainian film set in the near future. A dystopian look at the aftermath of conflict. Totally unromantic look at war.

An ex soldier eeks out an existence delivering water to soldiers in the now peaceful zone. Bits of film reminded me of Tarkovsky. There is little dialogue the story is mainly told through set piece images. Unrelenting grim.

He falls in with a group of people who are recovering dead bodies of those who died in conflict and giving them a decent burial. The autopsy scene is truly harrowing. The film is partly about how ordinary people are damaged by war.

Visually its stunning from start to finish. I would have liked to see this in cinema.


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## The39thStep (Jun 13, 2021)

Two episodes of The Good Lord Bird , fuck knows who streams this but its great. Ethan Hawkes as a demented anti slavery Christian not so much as putting the world to rights but making a decent attempt to put a dent in pro slavery. Could have done with his sort in the take the knee issue


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## krtek a houby (Jun 14, 2021)

Season 3 of Master of None. Aziz Ansari mostly behind camera this time as the story focuses on Denise and her wife's relationship. Very different from the previous seasons (almost like a different show) and ultimately, very moving.


----------



## cybershot (Jun 14, 2021)

Nobody.

Film starting that bloke from breaking bad and better call saul who goes and kicks some ass in search of his daughers kitty kat bracelet. 

Does it's job as just being a fun not to be taken too seriously watch.


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## Reno (Jun 15, 2021)

In The Heights, new movie musical which has been getting rave reviews, based on the Lin-Manuel Miranda stage show. It's about 3 days in the life of a largely Latin community in Washington Heights, NYC. I saw this on stage when I still lived in London and didn't care for it. I was so bored, I actually walked out during the break. I liked the film better but still thought it was only ok and I'm someone who really likes musicals (as long as it isn't Andrew Lloyd Fishface). It passes the time pleasantly enough though. This has a large cast of characters with several plot-lines interweaving and its nicely directed. I just found the drama underpowered, there doesn't seem to be much at stake and the characters weren't that compelling. The music is fine, mostly Latin and rap. There is a musical number where two characters dance up the facade of a building, which I liked.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2021)

One of Many

Short Russian film from 1927 on the perils of Hollywood idols.

John Wick Chapter 3

Keanu breaks the rules in increasingly spectacular set pieces. Possibly the greatest movie ever made.


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Jun 16, 2021)

Father Ted (_Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep _and _Speed 3 _from series 3).


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 16, 2021)

Man With a Movie Camera

Astonishing and hypnotic Russian "documentary" from 1929, showcasing a day in the lives of citizens at work and play in 3 cities.

The version watched had the excellent 2002 The Cinematic Orchestra soundtrack, which really complements the film,  rather than come across as anachronistic.


----------



## Reno (Jun 16, 2021)

The Satanic Rites of Dracula, the sequel to the fabulous/hilarious Dracula AD 1972. Hammer horror films are cinematic comfort food for me but that one is a bit of a chore. There are a few atmospheric shots of London in the first half and I appreciated that they tried to introduce a science fiction element, the film just feels too long even at 87 minutes.

Massacre at Central High, from 1976. I've always been aware of this from Danny Peary's Cult Movie books but never seen it. Interesting mixture exploitation film and political allegory, which looks like it may influenced Heathers. Apparently the Italian version was called Sexy Jeans and they added pornographic inserts.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 16, 2021)

_Billy Liar_ - Never seen this before, not totally what I was expecting with the fantasy sequences. Courtney is good as a dreamer who lack the courage to really make things happen and Julie Christie brings her usual touch of class. 

_He Walked by Night_ - Anthony Mann directed noir, the LAPD have to track down a criminal who knows police procedure and changes their MO. Not quite in the first class of noir films nor quite the quality of Mann's later westerns but a good tight film that makes an enjoyable 90 minutes 

_Kansas City Confidential_ - Excellent Phil Karlson noir. Our hero gets mistakenly picked up by the police after a robbery and decides to go looking for revenge on the robbers. Some great scenes and it looks good. Plus a young Lee van Cleef turns up. Check it out. 

_Four Roads_ - Short film shot during COVID by Alice Rohrwacher, who decided to go out and meet her neighbours during lockdown. Just 8 minutes long but rather moving and it looks absolutely gorgeous.  

_Bully_ - Larry Clark's tale of young kids getting up to murder - literally. I saw this all the way when it first came out in 2001, 20 years on it's flaws are evident (it is 15 minutes too long) and while everything I've read about Clark suggests he's a wanker (putting it nicely) he is able to capture a real feel of sleazy youth. It still has a certain something. 

_Things of Life_ - Wonderful. A man is involved in a car crash and we journey through his life through his memories - his time with his wife, mistress, son, friend. Totally brilliant, 90 minutes with no wasted time and no missing pieces, paced expertly.


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## Reno (Jun 16, 2021)

The Hand from 1981. This as the second film Oliver Stone directed, a studio horror film after making a low budget horror movie called Seizure. It's starring Michael Caine as a comic book artist who, after loosing his hand in a car accident, comes to suspect that his hand has taken on a life of it's own. I never liked Stone as a filmmaker but at least this is pre-VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT MATTER. It's not a good film by any means, but it's very entertaining.


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## Sue (Jun 17, 2021)

Reno said:


> The Hand from 1981. This as the second film Oliver Stone directed, a studio horror film after making a low budget horror movie called Seizure. It's starring Michael Caine as a comic book artist who, after loosing his hand in a car accident, comes to suspect that his hand has taken on a life of it's own. I never liked Stone as a filmmaker but at least this is pre-VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT MATTER. It's not a good film by any means, but it's very entertaining.


Is that a remake? I just recall seeing an old black and white film with what sounds   like the same plot...


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## fishfinger (Jun 17, 2021)

Sue said:


> Is that a remake? I just recall seeing an old black and white film with what sounds   like the same plot...


It's not a remake, but it does resemble "The Beast With Five Fingers".


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## Orang Utan (Jun 17, 2021)

Reno said:


> The Hand from 1981. This as the second film Oliver Stone directed, a studio horror film after making a low budget horror movie called Seizure. It's starring Michael Caine as a comic book artist who, after loosing his hand in a car accident, comes to suspect that his hand has taken on a life of it's own. I never liked Stone as a filmmaker but at least this is pre-VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT MATTER. It's not a good film by any means, but it's very entertaining.


The first horror film I’ve ever seen (secretly, while my parents were asleep). I was maybe 11 and it scared the shit out of me. Daren’t revisit it!


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## Sue (Jun 17, 2021)

fishfinger said:


> It's not a remake, but it does resemble "The Beast With Five Fingers".


Ah, thanks! That looks like the one I was thinking of .


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## Reno (Jun 17, 2021)

Sue said:


> Is that a remake? I just recall seeing an old black and white film with what sounds   like the same plot...


It has a similarities to The Beast With Five Fingers but The Hand was adapted from the horror novel The Lizard's Tail and it has an (easy to guess) plot twist which makes it different from the earlier film. Much of the human drama is about a marriage falling apart, a popular theme at the time, so it's Kramer vs Kramer with a killer hand. Here the wife finds herself via yoga and runs off with the excessively blow dried (but hot-bodied and spiritually enlightened) yoga teacher. Talking of hair, the frizzy bob Michael Caine favoured at the time, doesn't do him any favours either.

I've been catching up with or re-watching a few late 70s, early 80s big budget monster movies recently, the studios were churning them out at the time. For every Alien or An American Werewolf in London there was a less successful Prophecy (mutant killer bear), Nightwing (killer bats) or Wolfen (mystical killer wolves). Most are quite talky with not enough monster action, while hitting you over the head with a message about the ecology and/or native Americans (at one with nature !), which The Hand at least didn't. Even when they are bad, they still have a look and atmosphere which I quite like for nostalgic reasons.


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## Part 2 (Jun 17, 2021)

Greener Grass. Follows Jill and her family, friends and neighbours in their community where keeping up with the Jones's is practiced to psychotic levels.  I felt sorry for Jill but conflicted as to whether I should. It's amazing though and very funny. I loved it.


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## LeytonCatLady (Jun 17, 2021)

Father Ted (episodes "The Mainland" starring Richard Wilson as himself, and "Escape From Victory" where Ted cheats in a football match).


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## platinumsage (Jun 17, 2021)

Buckskin - some low budget moralistic Canadian crap, 1/10 don't bother.


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Jun 18, 2021)

Father Ted (Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse, followed by Night of the Nearly Dead, where Mrs Doyle wins a competition to meet her favourite singer).


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## LeytonCatLady (Jun 19, 2021)

The last ever episode of Father Ted (Going to America). Then Dish and Dishonesty (the opening episode of Blackadder the third).


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## Part 2 (Jun 19, 2021)

The Stepford Wives...the 1975 original. I haven't seen it since last 80s and it wasn't as I remembered but at the same time loads of it was very familiar. Probably because I've seen Get Out.


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## Reno (Jun 19, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> The Stepford Wives...the 1975 original. I haven't seen it since last 80s and it wasn't as I remembered but at the same time loads of it was very familiar. Probably because I've seen Get Out.


...or Rosemary's Baby. Ira Levin basically recycled the plot of his horror classic and gave it a science fiction spin. When it comes to the films, the first is a masterpiece, the second looks like a TV movie. Campy fun, but no classic, it's still better than the sequels (The Stepford Children !) or the awful remake.

William Goldman, who wrote the screenplay, described how director Bryan Forbes basically ruined the concept by insisting on casting his wife Nanette Newman as one of the robo-wifes, who was too old for the role. In the original screenplay they get turned into Playboy sex bunnies, but in the film they now wear chaste maxi-dresses, which doesnt work considering it was supposed to be a satire of misogyny and sexism.


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## T & P (Jun 19, 2021)

30 Miles from Nowhere. A horror-comedy about a group of Ex college friends who get together for the funeral of a stranger former friend who’s killed himself. They all meet in a cabin er, 30 miles from anywhere, and things start to happen.

The formula might be less than original, but still I found it a good and watchable flick as that genre goes.


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## LeytonCatLady (Jun 20, 2021)

Blackadder the Third episodes "Ink and Incapability" (Dr Johnson and his dictionary), "Nob and Nobility" (with the Scarlet Pimpernel).


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## Elpenor (Jun 20, 2021)

LeytonCatLady said:


> Blackadder the Third episodes "Ink and Incapability" (Dr Johnson and his dictionary), "Nob and Nobility" (with the Scarlet Pimpernel).


Sausage!


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## LeytonCatLady (Jun 20, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Sausage!


"Awww, di'n fink it was that bad!"
"No Baldrick, he missed 'sausage' out of the dictionary. ...and aardvark."


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## MBV (Jun 20, 2021)

Isn't it Romantic - Rebel Wilson film. Interesting take on the rom com formula but not one I would recommend anyone rushes to watch.


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## rubbershoes (Jun 20, 2021)

Went the day well

A classic propaganda film from 1942. As is often the case, I found all the background stuff interesting. Seeing how people lived and the way society worked, accepting of course that it's all stylised for the film


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## Sue (Jun 20, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> Went the day well
> 
> A classic propaganda film from 1942. As is often the case, I found all the background stuff interesting. Seeing how people lived and the way society worked, accepting of course that it's all stylised for the film


I like that it's the local bigwig who turns out to be the traitor. And there's a young Thora Hird to boot!


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## rubbershoes (Jun 20, 2021)

Sue said:


> I like that it's the local bigwig who turns out to be the traitor. And there's a young Thora Hird to boot!



Thora Hird with a rifle. What's not to like?


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## UrbaneFox (Jun 20, 2021)

The Straight Story, David Lynch. Hard up old man travels across several US states on his lawnmower in order to see his brother, sharing stories with troubled / carefree / kind/ traumatised people he meets on the way.

Harry Dean Stanton opens the door. Some beautiful scenes along the way.


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## DotCommunist (Jun 21, 2021)

American Gangster, historical crime bio with Denzel Washington as the former driver and heir to Harlem kingpin Bumpy Johnson (Forrest Whittaker plays Bumpy in the series 'Godfather of Harlem', worth a watch). It outstayed its welcome at two and a half hours but otherwise good. Russel Crowe is the copper nemesis, eh, so-so.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 21, 2021)

MUBI's season of four 'lesser' Francis Ford Coppola films

_One from the Heart_ - as a tribute to the musical by one of the 70s key directors I can't help comparing this to _New York, New York_ though the films are not really that similar in lots of ways. The ambition and visuals of OftH genuinely do hit, and it is certainly not as bad as some have said but while playing with the genre _New York, New York_ had a level of characterisation and story that is missing from this. An interesting film and one worth watching if you like cinema.

_The Outsiders_ - You can see what Coppola is trying to do, like with OftH an attempt to play with and embrace a genre. But the result is just pretty rubbish, the performances are pretty mixed, and the characterisation is thread bare. Both _New York, New York_ and even _One from the Heart_ that you can still build characterisation within a twist on genre this just does not have it.

_Youth Without Youth_ - Coppola's first film from the 21st Century and passion piece from him, and that partly the problem. This is a film that needed a strong producer and/or editor, someone to tell Coppola to cut this, extend that, simplify this, etc. In addition, the "philosophy" of the film is sub-6th form trite naffness. Despite that it is by no means a terrible film. Tim Roth delivers an excellent performance and it has some nice scenes. It won't be one the films Coppola is remembered for but it's ok.

_Tetro_ - OK so this looks absolutely wonderful, gorgeous B&W shots of Buenos Aires. It is almost worth watching it for its look alone. I really don't like Vincent Gallo but to be fair the excesses are just about kept in rein here and the rest of the cast are good. At 127 minutes it is too long and could easily lose 20-30 minutes and be much better for it. But while you always know where things are going (by design not accident) the journey is pretty good.

Overall an interesting season of flawed films that nevertheless have something.


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## The39thStep (Jun 21, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> MUBI's season of four 'lesser' Francis Ford Coppola films
> 
> _One from the Heart_ - as a tribute to the musical by one of the 70s key directors I can't help comparing this to _New York, New York_ though the films are.not really that similar I'm lots of ways. The ambition and visuals of OftH are genuinely do hit, and it is certainly not as bad as some have said but while playing with the genre _New York, New York_ had a level of characterisation and sore that is missing from this. An interesting film and one worth watching if you like film.
> 
> ...


I love the soundtrack to One from the Heart and whilst the film itself doesn’t live up to its promise it’s got its moments and the premise is good .


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## Hovercraft Eel (Jun 22, 2021)

The Hidden


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## trabuquera (Jun 22, 2021)

_Un Amour Impossible (_An Impossible Love) - long, arty, sort of mystifying French misery-family-drama about the sheer weight of wreckage one sociopathic rich man can wreak over the decades if he finds enough female victims to torment. Not a serial-killer-thriller but deeply disturbing in many ways. Sustained by a fantastic central performance from Virginie Efira who's got an amazing, period-perfect face for the role and the acting chops to cover more than 40 years' of ageing and a slightly mystifying script. She endures and survives and tolerates a lot she shouldn't - which is of course the film's point about France and every other country and all of us everywhere.

Lots of things to say about French machismo, class and race prejudice; is pretty feminist; looks great. Probably won't change the world, but is a worthwhile use of a few hours for sure. Trigger warning for those with experience of domestic, psychological or sexual abuse.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 22, 2021)

Six films that formed the Melbourne Cinematheque's Barbara Stanwyck season  

_Double Indemnity_ - The classic, with Stanwyck and Fred McMurry smouldering over each other and trying to get rich my removing her husband, while having to beat  Edward G Robinson. Seen it before but I think I liked it even more this time around than the first. 

_The Strange Love of Martha Ivers_ - One of Kirk Douglas' first roles as Stanwyk's weak husband. A quite strange but very good film, really quite modern in some respects. All four of the main characters are deeply flawed and all, at least partially, sympathetic. Stanwyck's Martha is both cold and calculating while also intelligent, and a victim. 

_Night Nurse_ - Wow, really quite amazingly gritty and brutal. It is stark just how much the code changed Hollywood, you have children being killed for money, drug users, attempted rape, Clark Gable beating up women, and plenty of excuses for nurses to change clothes regularly. It's not in anything like the class of the previous two films but this is Wirth checking out because it is not just surprising but also shows the changes in cinema. 

_Meet John Doe_ - Another one of Frank Capra's portraits of America - on the media, populism and individualism. For me it is not in the class of his best. Perhaps because I'm not a huge Gary Cooper fan. Also I do not think the writing is quite top notch. Stanwyck is good (playing a similar role to Jean Arthur in _Mr Deeds Goes to Town_) but there is a hell of a lot of exposition. 

_The Lady Eve_ - Stanwyck is the gold digging card sharp out to take Henry Fonda for all he's worth only to fall in love with him, then have him dump her when he finds out what she is. But she has the last laugh playing him for a sucker. Screwball comedy from Preston Sturges. Some nice turns from Charles Coburn as Stanwyck's father. 

_Stella Davies _- Rather good melodrama, with Stanwyck as the woman marrying above her and determined to make a better life for her daughter. It could be terribly trite but the quality of the script, direction and Stanwyck's acting give a heft despite the most obvious elements. One minor complaint is Anna Shirley as the daughter, ok is is a pretty thankless role but she is just too saccharine in it.


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## Sue (Jun 22, 2021)

Nice redsquirrel. They had a Stanwyck season season at the BFI a couple of years ago too which was great. _Double Indemnity_ is still my favourite though I think. If you haven't seen _Baby Face_, that's also worth catching. It's pre-Code with a vengeance.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 25, 2021)

_The Hot Spot_ - Neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper. Mid-quality, entertaining enough but pretty forgettable. Jennifer Connelly gives a good performance.   

_Clan of the White Lotus_ - Shaw Brothers film, you can kind of guess what to expect. It is ok but probably only worth checking out if you a particular fan of the genre. There’s a good amount of better films to check out first. 

_A Fistful of Dynamite_ - One of those films that you love, despite or actually because of its flaws. It is not the same quality as Leone’s other films but to me it just has an incredible charm. And great to see Bakunin referenced.  

_El Dorado_ - Howard Hawks first re-make of _Rio Bravo_, not as good as the original but it does have Robert Mitchum, and a young James Caan. Even though it is not quite as sharp as _Rio Bravo_ it is still a good western.  

_City of Fear_ - Passable noir with an escaped convict endangering a city by mistakenly taking a radioactive sample. OK but plenty of better stuff out there, like …

_Slightly Scarlet _- technicolour noir, not in the 1st division but a strong mid-weight entry in the genre. John Payne (who starred in the excellent Kansas City Confidential) plays the make lead while Rhonda Fleming looks great. 

_52 Pick Up_ - Another yuppie revenge movie, despite a pretty decent cast (Roy Schneider, Kelly Preston) it is in the third division of a genre that is not know for its great quality. The only thing really worth while in it is the ludicrous, over the top performance of sociopathy by John Glover

_The Two Jakes_ - Sequel to _Chinatown_, I’ve seen this before but it was a long time ago. Of course it was never as good as _Chinatown_ but I have to say that I think this even more disappointing than I remembered. It feels like there are some semi-decent scenes trying to get out but the overall movie needs a good editor/director, as indicated by the exposition heavy narration which is clearly added because the plot is not told well enough. Polanski’s actions were appalling but you can’t but wish that her and Towne had been able to work on this rather than Nicholson. 

_Alfie_ - First time I’ve ever seen this, main problem I have with it is that I’m just not a Michael Caine fan, and considering this film is so built around him it I just could not properly connect with it. Even so I can see the that the film does have something.


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## Reno (Jun 25, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Hot Spot_ - Neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper. Mid-quality, entertaining enough but pretty forgettable. Jennifer Connelly gives a good performance.
> 
> _Clan of the White Lotus_ - Shaw Brothers film, you can kind of guess what to expect. It is ok but probably only worth checking out if you a particular fan of the genre. There’s a good amount of better films to check out first.
> 
> ...


I've just rewatched Chinatown, because it is one of my favourite films and because I just read The Big Goodbye about the making of Chinatown by Sam Wasson, which is fascinating. While Robert Towne always got the credit for having written what is considered to be among the greatest screenplays ever, Polanski basically rewrote it, threw out a gazillion of unnecessary subplots focused the plot on Gittes and added the bleak ending which made it the classic the film is. Wasson writes that The Two Jakes is what Chinatown would have been like if the original Towne screenplay would have been shot the way it was. Anyways, if you read books about film, the book is highly recommended. It also covers the Manson murders in the first part about so much has been written and managed to bring some new insights to it and how it connects to the end of Chinatown.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 25, 2021)

Reno said:


> I've just rewatched Chinatown, because it is one of my favourite films and because I just read The Big Goodbye about the making of Chinatown by Sam Wasson, which is fascinating. While Robert Towne always got the credit for having written what is considered to be among the greatest screenplays ever, Polanski basically rewrote it, threw out a gazillion oft unnecessary subplots and added the bleak ending and made it the classic the film is. Wasson writes that The Two Jakes is what Chinatown would have been like if the original Towne screenplay would have been shot the way it was. Anyways, if you read books about film, the book is highly recommended. It also covers the Manson murders kn the first part about so much has been written and managed to bring some new insights to it and how it connects to the end of Chinatown.


Ah, never knew that but it does make a lot of sense. You can see the line connecting the two movies but Chinatown is just so much sharper, elegant, cleaner. 

I'll see if I can get the book from local library. Thanks


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## Sue (Jun 25, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Hot Spot_ - Neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper. Mid-quality, entertaining enough but pretty forgettable. Jennifer Connelly gives a good performance.
> 
> _Clan of the White Lotus_ - Shaw Brothers film, you can kind of guess what to expect. It is ok but probably only worth checking out if you a particular fan of the genre. There’s a good amount of better films to check out first.
> 
> ...


I really like A Fistful of Dynamite too --more than some of Leone's more celebrated films I think because of the subject matter. Saying that, the Oirish, Vaseline-lensed (menage a trois?) flashback scenes are a bit weird...


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## Sue (Jun 26, 2021)

Casablanca. (Happened to just be starting on BBC2 when I turned the TV on.) I've seen it umpteen times but still gets me every time. (((Bogart and Bergman)))


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## belboid (Jun 27, 2021)

Sue said:


> Casablanca. (Happened to just be starting on BBC2 when I turned the TV on.) I've seen it umpteen times but still gets me every time. (((Bogart and Bergman)))


it is one of those, if it ever comes on as I'm watching telly, I have to watch to the end.  It is just perfect (apart from that one line...)


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## The39thStep (Jun 27, 2021)

I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore - watched this when it first came out but found it on Netflix. Depressed woman gets her laptop stolen and joins up with weirdo neighbour to track it down  and then gets involved in a bizarre hunt for the people responsible. I love this sort of black /deadpan humour set in a detective type scene.Its a well observed qurky little story with some great moments .Its slight but perhaps its its slightness that I find engaging .The other world  awkwardness of its main characters dominates the film , its well observed, a little poignant and in its own way quite charming.


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## flypanam (Jun 27, 2021)

Le Corbeau by Henri George Clouzot. Really good French Noir from from the 40's. A whole town is lost to fear and turn on each other after people start receiving poison pen letters.


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## platinumsage (Jun 27, 2021)

Koma - a Russian sci-fiish movie about a world created from the memories of coma patients. A bit Inception-esque. Only saw the first three-quarters so far so can't comment further.


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## belboid (Jun 27, 2021)

*I Care A Lot*

Rosamund Pike as a dodgy legal guardian who rips off her clients and their families... until she gets involved with the wrong family!  Quite nicely done, RP is mostly very good and Peter Dinklage is always worth a watch. Sadly the script is often poor and there are too many occasions when you think 'why the fuck would you do that?' and 'but you just said you were going to do the precise opposite thing!'  Pleasant enough if a little frustrating.

*Escape Room*

I fancied something nice and trashy and this got decent reviews. Or so I thought.  Turns out there is a film called Escape Room released almost every year now and the one I got wasn't the well reviewed one from 2019, but one from 2017. One of two from 2017 but, again, not the one that got half decent reviews. There was a promising start when I realised the woman in the shop was Sean Young, but that promise rapidly faded as she had to deliver some of the daftest lines ever and looked thoroughly embarassed doing so.  The first death was okay but everything else was pants.


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## redsquirrel (Jun 27, 2021)

_Shiva Baby_ - It is one of those cringe making embarrassment comedies (not really my favourite genre TBH). It's a very well made film and as a debut feature does show that the director has some real talent. But I have to say I don't quite see why it is getting such rave reviews. There really is very little characterisation indeed, ok yes the stereotypes are knowing stereotypes but that does not get around the problem. I'm usually a fan of keeping things short and tight but in this case a extra 10 minutes might have helped. The Maya character is the most interesting one and a little more of her would have helped the film. Overall interesting enough and with some funny moments but somewhat flawed.


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## cybershot (Jun 28, 2021)

Siberia (2020) starring Willem Defoe, who seems to just star in WTF films these days.

I've honestly no idea what I just watched, well, I kinda do, but still, WTF.


----------



## Baby Yoda (Jun 30, 2021)

Great movie. Very complex but much enjoyable.


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## Reno (Jul 1, 2021)

A Quiet Place 2. The first one is maybe the dumbest horror film I've seen, entirely relying on the characters making all the wrong choices to get the attention of the very CGI looking monsters (the design of which is ripped off from Stranger Things, which executed its monster better). This one isn't quite as bad, but I still wanted the strangle the teenage boy, who does exactly what he was told not to do with predictable results. I don't get the acclaim for these, they are watchable enough but not even I am prepared to suspend my disbelief to this extend.


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## platinumsage (Jul 2, 2021)

No Sudden Move - maybe I’m thick but I needed to look up the plot afterwards.


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## Reno (Jul 2, 2021)

Gaia, rather good and stylish South African body horror film where Mother Nature does some fucked up shit with fungi.


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## May Kasahara (Jul 2, 2021)

Hancock. Strange film.


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## T & P (Jul 4, 2021)

*Vicious Fun.* A new horror-comedy-thriller about a young man who accidentally gatecrashes a a gathering of serial killers.

It is genuinely a very enjoyable film of the genre. I am very fond of horror-comedy films and am happy to overlook a degree of not-so-good a plot, or acting, or whatever. But this turned out to be not just adequate but a lot better than I had expected, and as satisfying a late night entertaining film as one can hope to find.


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## Chz (Jul 4, 2021)

*Happy End*
In the past, I've quite liked Michael Haneke's films. But this is nonsense. Full of unlikeable characters, and instead of "show, don't tell" the director has decided to go with "don't show or tell". All sorts of things happen for which there is no explanation. And I'm not missing it because my French is poor - my wife *is *French and had no idea either. 

I can't recommend it, even if you like Haneke's other work.


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## Sue (Jul 4, 2021)

Chz said:


> *Happy End*
> In the past, I've quite liked Michael Haneke's films. But this is nonsense. Full of unlikeable characters, and instead of "show, don't tell" the director has decided to go with "don't show or tell". All sorts of things happen for which there is no explanation. And I'm not missing it because my French is poor - my wife *is *French and had no idea either.
> 
> I can't recommend it, even if you like Haneke's other work.


I saw this at the cinema. I normally really like his films but yeah, thought this was pretty bad.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 5, 2021)

Hearts of the West

An absolute cracker of a wee film, featuring Jeff "El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing" Bridges as a naive midwestern farm boy who tries to make it as a writer in  Hollywood, only to find that he's better suited to the life of an extra in b-movie westerns. I'd never heard of it, but it popped up on TG4 friday and I'd recommend it to anyone. Also features Alan Arkin as an irascible director, and Donald Pleasence as an eccentric mogul with ze cherman accent. Lovely cinematography to.

Millions Like Us

Wartime feel-good propaganda among the UK's Rosie the Riveters. I last saw this back in the 80s. Still stands up. Features a cameo from Charters and Caldicott, who were  the comic relief in The Lady Vanishes. When I say "feel-good", that's feel-good for 1943, when victory wasn't yet certain, and the casualty figures were still pretty high . . .

The Scarlet and the Black.

Gregory Peck as real-life Irish priest and Vatican high flyer Hugh O'Flaherty, who rescued a lot of Allied POWs and Italian Jews from a bad fate at the hands of the Gestapo. This was made in 1983, well before all the Ratlines revelations. O'Flaherty was a hero, though. According to the end credits, he later converted the Gestapo chief he'd tangled with - by then in the nick for war crimes - to Catholicism (this is a very Catholic flick).

 "O'Flaherty - is that Irish?" "As Irish as McGinty's goat".  

You see the problem.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 5, 2021)

Spiral: From the book of Saw.

Was ok for a saw franchise film!


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## purves grundy (Jul 5, 2021)

*Phantom Thread *

On the iPlayers. Daniel Day Lewis as a rather highly-strung and unaccommodating designer / dressmaker in the 1950s... ah you've probably all heard of it and know all about it but I hadn't. Thought it was magnificent.


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## belboid (Jul 5, 2021)

*Violation*

A movie that takes the phrase 'revenge is a dish best served cold' quite literally.  Two sisters and their partners go on holiday, something happens so that they fall out and dont talk again for years, until the older (slightly psycopathic) one comes back for some kind of family thing and the violating event is revealed. A very explicit  (but not at all gory) revenge is then put into action, following a quite magnificent cinematic distraction technique (the like of which I have never seen before in any 'mainstream' movie). The depiction of the event and the different people's version of it is superbly done, entirely believable and entirely horrific.  Slowly and in great detail we see the plan unfold and there is a fear about what she is going to do next.  Finishing off with a neatly ambiguous ending that various reviewers have taken in quite different ways.

It has tpoo many shots where the camera lingers in close up of a mundane piece of action or on a bit of nature, that dont really serve any purpose, but thats a minor criticism of a very well put together film, well worth a viewing.


----------



## trabuquera (Jul 6, 2021)

*Night in Paradise *via Netflix: gory, grim, slightly over-inflated S Korean crime drama with a bucket of unexpected charm and interest. Junior gangster has to leave town for peaceful, tranquil Jeju Island; mayhem predictably ensues. It's all VERY Korean - melodramatic and maudlin emotions, explicit and matter-of-fact  extreme violence, corrupt police, lots of double-crossing, looks amazing and is gratuitously, selfconsciously 'cinematic' at times. There's also a lot of eating, moody smoking, heavy drinking and a fair bit of rhapsodising about seafood. Some decent character acting and a nicely-turned script (with plenty of swearing, vividly subtitled - whatever the Korean is for 'you useless cunt' it gets used a LOT.) Might not be the most original thing you'll ever see - in a lot of ways it reminded me of Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine, though a bit less absurdist - but it does grip throughout. Both lead actors have plenty to work with but my main big gold star goes to Eum Tae Goo (or Uhm Tae Gu depending on which Romanization system you use) who must surely break internationally big before long - an amazing face which can go in an instant from 'hopeless dork' to 'unbearably gorgeous man' to 'no-mark villain'. Not a masterpiece but worth your time if you have a strong stomach.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 7, 2021)

Godzilla Vs Kong

Mindless fun. Kong is the most fully fleshed out character, so make of that what you will. Needed more Hollow Earth stuff.


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## Reno (Jul 7, 2021)

*Testament *from 1983. One of three TV movies about nuclear holocaust which made waves around the same time, Threads and The Day After being the other two. This was produced by PBS but considered good enough to get a theatrical release. I'd never seen this one but I remember it being highly acclaimed back then. It's the most low key of the three, concentrating on a suburban family in California, who try to carry on as they succumb to radiation poisoning one after the other. This was considered powerful in the 80s, but it now comes across as a little mawkish and repetitive, its roots as a TV movie show. For all its attempt at being restrained, there is something exploitative about watching a film about a mother who has to watch her children die. All it has to say is that nuclear war is a bit rubbish and should be avoided, which was no news to me. The main thing it has going for it is Jane Alexander's understated performance as the mother, she got an Oscar nomination at the time. She was one of many great actresses who came along in the 70s, who never had the career in film they deserved because there weren't that many good lead roles for women at the time. It also features Kevin Costner and Rebecca De Mornay as a young couple, just before they got famous.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 8, 2021)

Tenet (again). Still can't figure out what's going on but the better half and this self can agree that Robert Pattison is lovely and will make a great Bond.

Watched first 2 eps of Tales from the Loop. Unusual and reminds of the Twilight Zone, in parts. Philip Glass soundtrack a bit overwhelming, but will persevere.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 9, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Tenet (again). Still can't figure out what's going on but the better half and this self can agree that Robert Pattison is lovely and will make a great Bond.
> 
> Watched first 2 eps of Tales from the Loop. Unusual and reminds of the Twilight Zone, in parts. Philip Glass soundtrack a bit overwhelming, but will persevere.



eta: ep 3 really reminds me of the 80s Twilight Zone, and after checking, there was an ep from 1985 that rings some bells. Which is fine, as loved that series. Also a bit of Roadside Picnic vibe going on, with all the discarded high tech artefacts lying around.


----------



## Gramsci (Jul 9, 2021)

Found this film Deadlock on Prime ( also on Mubi). A German Spaghetti Western. Curious so watched it. Its a superior take on Sergio Leone Westerns. Three men fight over a suitcase of money in an abandoned mining town. 

Good use of the desert location. Which gives the film a surreal not of this world feeling. 

The director Roland Klick wrote and directed this. A talented German director who never made it big. This Mubi article says he was overlooked due to not fitting into the New German Post war film industry. 









						Roland Klick: Celebration
					

It's time for film culture to embrace German director Roland Klick.




					mubi.com
				




Bit of the find this. Would like to see his other films. 

Music for film is by Can. Didn't know them. Well known German band of the time.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 12, 2021)

Rewatched Midnight Run . . . again.

I honestly think it's a perfect movie.


----------



## T & P (Jul 12, 2021)

*It Follows.* A 2015 psychological supernatural horror. Bloody good. It doesn’t rely on jump scares or gore- it’s just a compelling story, slow building, and well filmed (perhaps a bit heavy on arty shots, but it doesn’t really matter).


----------



## Elpenor (Jul 13, 2021)

Harry Brown. Hadn’t seen it before. Quite liked the tense scene in the drug dealers cannabis farm.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 15, 2021)

Nice piece from BFI on _Get Carter_ locations 50 years on.



> If asked to think of a film about the north-east of England, chances are that one of the first to come to mind would be Get Carter (1971). Adapted from Ted Lewis’s equally important novel, Mike Hodges’ film revitalised British crime drama, bringing in a pessimism that replaced the previous decade’s swinging frivolities. Making the most of its Newcastle setting, as well as filming along the coast around Hartlepool and Blyth, Hodges defined the city on screen, with only Sidney Hayers’ Payroll (1961) providing competition.
> Hodges’ film follows the revenge of London gangster Jack Carter (Michael Caine). Having heard the news of his brother’s unusual demise, he returns to his native Newcastle in order to discover the truth. His journey takes him through the underworld of the north-east, controlled largely by Cyril Kinnear (John Osborne). Traversing the streets of the city and talking to a range of acquaintances, including the suspicious Eric Paice (Ian Hendry), Carter learns of the sleazy conspiracy at the heart of his brother’s murder. Facing down pressure from a variety of local villains, as well as those sent from his own manor to bring him back before he causes trouble, Carter uses violence to find out what really happened.



What's strikes me the most is how much more greenery there is now. I know Hodges probably shot in such a way to emphasise the dirt and grime, and that the modern shots seem to have been shot on a lovely sunny day, but all the trees that you can see now that weren't there 50 years ago.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 16, 2021)

_2 Days in Paris_ - Julie Delpy's comedy about a photographer and her American boyfriend spending a weekend in Paris with her parents. It's not.a masterpiece but it is a good relaxing, enjoyable, occasionally silly and quite well observed film. Does not go on longer than it needs and is well put together.

_Cecil B Demented_ - John Waters comedy about filmmaking, a bit of a favourite of mine and an enjoyable rewatch.

_Princess Cyd_ - Very nice family/coming of age comedy/drama. A young woman comes to stay with her aunt for a couple of weeks, there's a clash of cultures but it's done (very well) in a low key realistic way, no fireworks more just tensions. Really good performances, well written, shot well and a good story told well. I'd not heard of it but it came up on MUBI and pleased that it did.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 18, 2021)

_One in A Thousand _- Argentinian film, dealing with a young woman, Iris, living in a deprived area with her family. She develops and attraction for, and relationship with, another woman, Renata, but is conflicted about the rumours about Renata - is she HIV positive? is she a sex worker? Debut feature of the director and it kind of shows, while it is a very promising debut, well shot, mostly good characterisation it has some of the classic flaws of debut features. The director obviously understands all the background characterisation and plot moves, but at times this is not communicated clearly enough to the viewer (I'm not sure if MUBI's subtitling is not partly to blame here, I don't speak Spanish so cannot say how good it is but there have been times in the past where I've seen some not great subtitling). Also while the characterisation is generally good, the film does spend too long ambling along, a stronger focus on plot and moving the narrative forward is a flaw. Even so credit to the director for a good ambitious first work. 

_Sunchaser_ - I love _Heaven's Gate_, in my view it is great, and while I'm a lot more critical of _The Deerhunter_ it is obviously a significant movie.  So I was looking forward to this one of Michael Cimino's last films. Sadly it is rather a disappointment, a rather cliched round movie with a doctor being kidnapped (at least initially) by a terminally ill juvenile convict. All the usual plot points are there - initial tension between the two, growing understanding, revelations. I guess after _Heaven's Gate_ the studio kept Cimino on a much higher lease but you really feel this movie could have been made by any number of directors working in Hollywood. There is nothing like the imagination, silliness and joy of the roller skating scene of HG. It's not terrible but I would not bother with it unless you really cannot find anything on. (Oh and the sort of mystic wisdom of Native American's is the worst sort of 90s new age crap). 

_The Judge and the The Assassin_ - The excellent Bertrand Tavernier uses a period film about a serial killer to look at the actions of the state and justice. Absolutely top notch. Tavernier makes us feel more sympathy for the murderous, though obviously mentally ill, killer Bouvier than the guardians of law and order, especially the eponymous judge. It has Tavernier's themes and politics embedded in it (an excellent thing) but never in such a way as they become didactic or detract from the plot/characterisation. Very, very well recommended. 

_Hannah and her Sisters_ - Despite it's reputation as (one of) Allen's greatest I've never seen this. It's hard not to think about Allen's relationship with Farrow when watching it and the sort of autobiographical (or should that be autobiopictorial?) nods in the film. But that does not detract from the movie, it has many of the usual Allen concerns but they are far better developed than of recent. I'm not a particular Michael Caine fan but gives one of his best performances here, and Max von Sydow is very funny in a minor role. It has not displaced _Crimes and Misdemeanours_ as my personal #1 Allen film but it is an excellent piece of work.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jul 19, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _Cecil B Demented_ - John Waters comedy about filmmaking, a bit of a favourite of mine and an enjoyable rewatch.


Despite being a pretty big JW fan, I only watched _Serial Mom _for the first time the other day, which was excellent. Will have to track down a copy of the above too.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 20, 2021)

I'm watching Baby Driver with the boy, and it is...quite boring?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 20, 2021)

May Kasahara said:


> I'm watching Baby Driver with the boy, and it is...quite boring?


aye, it’s shite and has two creeps in the main cast


----------



## May Kasahara (Jul 20, 2021)

And a dreadfully underwritten pair of good girl/bad girl side pieces


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 20, 2021)

soundtrack ain’t as good as it thinks it is either.
and what’s entertaining about skidding about?


----------



## Nikkormat (Jul 21, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Quo Vadis, Aida?
> Harrowing and almost unwatchable (but at the same time utterly compelling) film about a Bosnian Muslim teacher working in Sbrenica as a go-between for the UN negotiating with Serbian General Mladic, whilst trying to save her husband and sons from being taken away by Mladic’s goons. It’s no spoiler to say that it doesn’t end well as it’s documented history and Is struggle to describe the film as an entertainment. I am ashamed to say I knew very little about the massacre as in 1995 I was only interested in partying was only dimly aware of it at the time.
> I say it’s a hard watch but most of the violence is off screen - there is no gore or fetishised war violence. We are under no illusions about what is happening though and the tension and inevitability of it all made me feel sick to the stomach. It should have won the Oscar for best ‘foreign’ film, but lost out a comedy about teachers getting pissed (Another around)
> The best film about the mundane obscenity of war and genocide since Come and See and as equally nightmarish. 5/5



I watched this last night, and my thoughts are as yours. Highly recommended, but utterly depressing.


----------



## T & P (Jul 21, 2021)

Supine said:


> Leftovers Series 2 - half way through and running out of 'what the fucks'. Seriously weired TV in a good way.


Yet another HBO series I hadn’t even heard about, and noticed only recently through NowTV. Nearly finished S1 and rather enjoying it.


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Jul 23, 2021)

Currently working my way through my _Auf Wiedersehen Pet_ boxset of series 1 and 2. Last night's episode was "The Alien" where Magowan comes to stay in the hut, causes trouble and ends up nicking their dartboard.


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Jul 24, 2021)

LeytonCatLady said:


> Currently working my way through my _Auf Wiedersehen Pet_ boxset of series 1 and 2. Last night's episode was "The Alien" where Magowan comes to stay in the hut, causes trouble and ends up nicking their dartboard.


Last night's episode was "Last Rites". Oz has a secret porn export business on the side, and when a friend of the Geordie lads dies, tries to smuggle the videos to the UK in his coffin. Which literally backfires when he's cremated!


----------



## Reno (Jul 24, 2021)

LeytonCatLady said:


> Currently working my way through my _Auf Wiedersehen Pet_ boxset of series 1 and 2. Last night's episode was "The Alien" where Magowan comes to stay in the hut, causes trouble and ends up nicking their dartboard.











						Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
					

Been watching these again - it is such a great series, funny and sad and dramatic. With a great variety of well rounded characters, and Bomber. Barry, Oz and Wayne being the outstanding ones   The later series were pretty bad though, but the first two in Germany, Spain and England were superb...




					www.urban75.net


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jul 24, 2021)

_Ghost World_ (2001). Not watched it since it came out, so I didn't remember anything of the plot, but it feels very much like a predecessor of movies like _Juno_ and the Jared and Jerusha Hess universe. Ordered the comic book off eBay because I can't remember reading that either, and now I'm curious how much the movie reinvented.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 24, 2021)

Three rather good pieces of entertainment. Needed relaxing after dealing with management shits this week. 

_Manhatten Murder Mystery_ - Still one of my favourite Allen's and certainly better than anything he's ever done since. Just a great very fun, daft murder mystery with a marries couple. It helps that it has some extremely likeable actors in the main roles (Keaton, Alda and I'm a fan of Allen himself) plus I like the movies it is a homage to.

_Isn't it Shocking_ - Rather good TV movie with Alan Alda as a local police chief investigating a series of murders in a small town. In is in a similar style to the excellent _They Only Kill Their Masters_ although it is not as high quality as that. 

_The Stick-Up_ - James Spader is a cop and/or bank robber, who's one night stand ex-husband, former cop buddies and the rookie FBI agent are all on his trail. Just came across this and surprised that it is not better know. It's clever, fun, well made, well acted and with good chemistry between the leads. It's no _Hiroshim Mon Amour_ but it is well worth checking out.


----------



## Aladdin (Jul 24, 2021)

Watched the Lord of the rings trilogy (the directors cut) over the past 3 nights.


----------



## UrbaneFox (Jul 24, 2021)

Casino.

I saw it when it came out and thought it was just Goodfellas lite, which it is, but have been watching it again this week, and it's great fun.

A bunch of mobsters control a Las Vegas Casino, with Robert de Niro as the brilliant manager. Sharon Stone plays his wife, who is still stuck to her ex-pimp. It's all going well until the top guys send Joe Pesco to watch over de Niro.

Pesci does what he does best and between them, the ruin their lives and the racket.

The filmed it in a real Casino, sometimes when it was open, and the noise, flash, sets, performances, music and stunts are dazzling.

They pay House of the Rising Sun as it all gets out of control.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jul 24, 2021)

Dead don’t die

curiously odd


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Jul 24, 2021)

First two episodes of Netflix's new Masters of the Universe: Revelation, which I hadn't really been looking forward to despite spending £100s a month on toys

Oooooooookay...


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 25, 2021)

I was thinking about _Manhattan Murder Mystery_ and how to put together a really good season of married couples comic mysteries. 

Obviously you could have a number of the Thin Man films but lets just limit ourselves to one, then I have 

_The Thin Man_ - The absolute classic, William Powell and Myra Loy great with gags verbal and visual coming at 100 miles an hour
_The Ex-Mrs Bradford_ - Does not have Myra Loy but does have the wonderful Jean Arthur, definitely makes the cut
_Manhattan Murder Mystery_ - More modern homage to the genre. Allen, Keaton and Alda some 

People got any other suggestions? Sue? Reno?
Plenty of Hitchcock's have couples (though usually not married) and comic elements but there's too much of a edge to most of them - I suppose _Young and Innocent_ or _The Lady Vanishes_ might be able to squeeze in there if needed. Any non-english language alternatives? It seems pretty Anglo, even American, at the moment. I'd like to get up to 6 if possible.


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> I was thinking about _Manhattan Murder Mystery_ and how to put together a really good season of married couples comic mysteries.
> 
> Obviously you could have a number of the Thin Man films but lets just limit ourselves to one, then I have
> 
> ...


The Thin Man is very rare in that it centres on a married couple and any film about a married couple solving crimes tends to by a homage to it. Here some romantic thrillers centring on couples:

In the 60s the success of Charade, starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn sparked a series of "Hitchcock light" romantic thrillers, pairing movie stars: Arabesque (Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren), Blindfold (Rock Hudson, Claudia Cardinale) and Mirage (Gregory Peck, Diane Baker) come to mind.

I remember enjoying Foul Play (1977) with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, another comedic, Hitchcock inspired thriller which benefits from a screenplay by Colin Higgins (Harold and Maude, 9 to 5)

Deep Red (1975) by Dario Argento is probably the greatest giallo ever made but the director's cut at least manages to weave a screwball comedy into its plot. Daria Nicolodi's feminist journalist, who pairs up with David Hemmings to solve a murder mystery, is a throwback to Rosalind Russell and the likes. Some prefer the shorter international cut because it condensed the film down to it's horror thriller elements, but the longer Italian cut is far more interesting (and ahead of its time) in terms of sexual politics.

One of my favourite romantic thrillers ever is Read My Lips (2001) by Jacques Audiard. The gloriously dysfunctional Vincent Cassel and Emanuelle Devos are one of my all time favourite movie couples, though they pair up to commit, rather than to solve a crime.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jul 25, 2021)

Cheers Reno I've seen (and like) _Charade_, and have seen _Read My Lips_. I'll try to check the others out.


----------



## Reno (Jul 25, 2021)

_Woodstock `99_, good HBO documentary on the infamous Woodstock revival. Somehow the love & peace vibes aren't there when you court the audience for Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock (and charge punters $4 for water during a heatwave) rather than that for Joan Baez and Santana, though the documentary makes the point that the original Woodstock wasn't quite the love-in it has been made out to be either.

_The Bloodhound_, a contemporary take on Poe's _The Fall of the House_ of Usher. Stylish and initially intriguing thanks to its two lead actors, but even at 71 minutes it isn't able to sustain itself and ends up a bit of a snooze.


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Jul 25, 2021)

LeytonCatLady said:


> Last night's episode was "Last Rites". Oz has a secret porn export business on the side, and when a friend of the Geordie lads dies, tries to smuggle the videos to the UK in his coffin. Which literally backfires when he's cremated!


"The Lovers", where Oz falls in love with a German woman and tries to impress her by telling her he's heir to his fictitious rich dad's business, only to end up having her boyfriend chase him with a knife.


----------



## T & P (Jul 25, 2021)

*Barb and Star go to Vista del Mar.* A very silly comedy, but if you like that sub genre, it is actually surprisingly enjoyable and entertaining. Kristen Wiig writes, produces and stars in it, and all the other main characters are as amusing. In particular Jamie Dornan, who clearly had a lot of fun making this. You’ll know what I’m saying if you watch it  

While not every absurd gag that’s typical of the genre lands in, overall it gets away with them quite deftly, and the overall product is pretty satisfying and it made me smile and quite often laugh throughout. A perfect Sunday afternoon film.


----------



## Reno (Jul 26, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> *Colectiv*
> Rigorous, compelling and enraging fly-on-the-wall doc on the aftermath of the Bucharest nightclub fire that killed 64 young people in 2015. It focuses on a newspaper's investigation into the corrupt and broken Romanian health system that killed more of the victims than the fire did, while also following a newly appointed young health minister trying valiantly to face down the behometh of mass state kleptocracy. It's an inevitably grim watch but it is enlivened slightly by its third strand that shows how one young survivor manages to rise above her trauma through art. 4 kleptocrats out of 5


I watched that yesterday, gripping and utterly depressing. Reading up on it afterwards, health minister Vlad Voiculescu, who emerges as one of the heroes of this story, got fired not long ago. The official reason being his handling of Covid, the real reason being that he demanded more transparency and tried to get corrupt hospital administrators fired.


----------



## Elpenor (Jul 26, 2021)

Blinded by the Light, growing up as a British Pakistani kid in Luton who’s obsessed with Bruce Springsteen. 

Good fun, singalong to the lyrics, passed some time


----------



## T & P (Jul 27, 2021)

T & P said:


> Yet another HBO series I hadn’t even heard about, and noticed only recently through NowTV. Nearly finished S1 and rather enjoying it.


Leftovers near-of-S2 update, in the ‘spy’ episode in particular. WTF (but in a good way) is going on??


----------



## Idris2002 (Jul 27, 2021)

Reno said:


> The Thin Man is very rare in that it centres on a married couple and any film about a married couple solving crimes tends to by a homage to it. Here some romantic thrillers centring on couples:
> 
> In the 60s the success of Charade, starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn sparked a series of "Hitchcock light" romantic thrillers, pairing movie stars: Arabesque (Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren), Blindfold (Rock Hudson, Claudia Cardinale) and Mirage (Gregory Peck, Diane Baker) come to mind.
> 
> ...


Arabesque is very good, and Greg Peck is good in it, but am I right in thinking that surely this part must have been written with Cary Grant in mind?


----------



## belboid (Jul 27, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Arabesque is very good, and Greg Peck is good in it, but am I right in thinking that surely this part must have been written with Cary Grant in mind?


It was, but he thought the script was shit.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jul 29, 2021)

T-34

russian propaganda filum

oh dear


----------



## Elpenor (Jul 29, 2021)

I’m enjoying “He Kills Coppers” tonight which is available on the STV catch up app which seems to be available outside of Scotland too. Good cast including the wonderful Paul Ritter


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Jul 29, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> I’m enjoying “He Kills Coppers” tonight which is available on the STV catch up app which seems to be available outside of Scotland too. Good cast including the wonderful Paul Ritter


I liked that series.


----------



## platinumsage (Jul 30, 2021)

Emil und die Detektive (1931). Probably the earliest film I've ever seen and well worth watching. Apparently it's superior to the remakes and book it was based on which lack the subtleties contained herein.


----------



## belboid (Jul 30, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> Emil und die Detektive (1931). Probably the earliest film I've ever seen and well worth watching. Apparently it's superior to the remakes and book it was based on which lack the subtleties contained herein.


Written by billy wilder with emeric pressburger.  The Disney version is good as well.


----------



## platinumsage (Jul 30, 2021)

belboid said:


> Written by billy wilder with emeric pressburger.  The Disney version is good as well.



I had a quick look at that and seemed rather trite in comparison.

Kinda depressing that at least three of the leading kids in the 1931 movie died in 1941/1942 fighting for the Nazis...I haven't really seen any pre-war German stuff before.


----------



## imposs1904 (Jul 30, 2021)

Binged the first season of Ted Lasso.

Loved it.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 30, 2021)

Together Together - Comedy (apparently) a young woman becomes a surrogate mother for a single, middle-aged man who wants a child. Don't think I laughed once.

Georgetown - An eccentric and smooth-talking social climber is investigated after his wealthy, well-connected and much older wife turns up dead in their home. Quite enjoyed it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 4, 2021)

Soul - visually splendid Pixar flick, unusual

The Rise of Skywalker - 2nd time round and not as bad as it's made out to be

Cairo Station - 1958 classic exploring madness/ obsession/male violence and workers rights. Fascinating and disturbing.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Aug 4, 2021)

I'm rewatching Gotham (it's sooo fucking good). Did the whole of S1 in a day last time - this time, who knows?


----------



## Reno (Aug 7, 2021)

After watching a lot of new films which I found disappointing, I decided to revisit the _Indiana Jones_ films. I needed some cinematic comfort food and I had not watched these in a while.

Re-watching the first three, the first one still is the best of course, but I was always a bit of a _Temple of Doom_ apologist and never cared much for_ The Last Crusade_. That changed this time round. I saw _Temple of Doom_ when it came out at the Empire Leicester Square, soon after I'd moved to London. I'd never been in a cinema this big and the reaction of the audience, whooping and hollering with delight at the outlandish action scenes (especially the mine car chase) made watching this a hugely fun experience. The Last Crusade I saw at the small Screen on the Green in Islington and it lacked the type of big set pieces of the two earlier films and I remember being disappointed at the time.

_Temple of Doom_ still has the best individual set pieces of the series (the opening musical number followed by the jewel/antidote brawl, the spike trap with the giant insects, the deep dive into heart ripping horror, the mine chase) but tonally it's a mess and Willie Scott and Short Run are the most annoying sidekicks till Chris Tucker ruined _The Fifth Element_. I even was a Willie apologist at the time, but to make a character like that more appealing, it would have needed better writing and a better actor than the future Mrs Spielberg. Despite this being a prequel, after Marion it seems inconceivable than Indie would be attracted to her, she has no redeeming qualities. Short Run isn't quite as bad, but the one liners are groaners and the kid actor tries way too hard. Tonally the film is a mess, lurching from unfunny knockabout comedy to horror scenes far too gruesome and intense for the intended audience, though as a horror movie fan I still enjoy the garishness of those. And of course there is the racism which caused a minor diplomatic rift with India at the time.

The set pieces in _The Last Crusade_ still feel underpowered, making this an oddly low key _Indiana Jones _movie. There are scenes which try to recreate moments from the earlier films (the rats, the tank race, the invisible bridge) which don't recapture the excitement of its predecessors and the plot is an unimaginative retreat of _Raiders._ What works here is the character work, something Spielberg clearly became more interested in than thrills and action, as his work shifted towards awards bait drama at this point of his career. The interplay between Jones dad and son of course works thanks to the chemistry between Connery and Ford, but I especially liked Alison Doody's conflicted Nazi femme fatale this time round. Revealing herself to be a bad girl, she's of course not as likeable a character as the plucky Marion Ravenwood but she's the most interesting female character in the series. It says a lot about how awful a character Willie Scott is, that I had more sympathy for the opportunist Nazi temptress here.

Still got to rewatch _Crystal Skull _which I didn't hate as much as others but which I have only watched that once.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 7, 2021)

Isn’t it Short Round not Short Run?


----------



## Reno (Aug 8, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Isn’t it Short Round not Short Run?


Probably , I just didn’t care enough.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 8, 2021)

Reno said:


> After watching a lot of new films which I found disappointing, I decided to revisit the _Indiana Jones_ films. I needed some cinematic comfort food and I had not watched these in a while.
> 
> Re-watching the first three, the first one still is the best of course, but I was always a bit of a _Temple of Doom_ apologist and never cared much for_ The Last Crusade_. That changed this time round. I saw _Temple of Doom_ when it came out at the Empire Leicester Square, soon after I'd moved to London. I'd never been in a cinema this big and the reaction of the audience, whooping and hollering with delight at the outlandish action scenes (especially the mine car chase) made watching this a hugely fun experience. The Last Crusade I saw at the small Screen on the Green in Islington and it lacked the type of big set pieces of the two earlier films and I remember being disappointed at the time.
> 
> ...



Will be very interested to see the female lead in the new one. imho, they've never bettered Marion Ravenwood. Strong, intelligent and just perfect as Indy's partner. 

Last night we watched a couple of eps from season 4 of Star Wars Rebels and the last Archer ep of the current series.


----------



## passenger (Aug 8, 2021)

Almost famous, on sky cinema where did this come from, one of the best
films I have seen this year, cool baby.


----------



## Sue (Aug 8, 2021)

passenger said:


> Almost famous, on sky cinema where did this come from, one of the best
> films I have seen this year, cool baby.


It's really old! Came out in 2000...


----------



## Spandex (Aug 8, 2021)

For some reason I had an overpowering urge to watch Flight of the Pheonix.

This is why remakes are annoying. I so completely ignored the remake of this I'd forgotten it ever existed, but all streaming services only had the remake as if the original didn't exist. I ended up watching it on YouTube.

Richard Attenborough, James Stewart and Ernest Borgnine being tense in the desert. Great film.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 8, 2021)

Sue said:


> It's really old! Came out in 2000...



Feels like only a few years ago!


----------



## T & P (Aug 8, 2021)

Reno said:


> After watching a lot of new films which I found disappointing, I decided to revisit the _Indiana Jones_ films. I needed some cinematic comfort food and I had not watched these in a while.
> 
> Re-watching the first three, the first one still is the best of course, but I was always a bit of a _Temple of Doom_ apologist and never cared much for_ The Last Crusade_. That changed this time round. I saw _Temple of Doom_ when it came out at the Empire Leicester Square, soon after I'd moved to London. I'd never been in a cinema this big and the reaction of the audience, whooping and hollering with delight at the outlandish action scenes (especially the mine car chase) made watching this a hugely fun experience. The Last Crusade I saw at the small Screen on the Green in Islington and it lacked the type of big set pieces of the two earlier films and I remember being disappointed at the time.
> 
> ...


Yep. The dinner scene in Temple of Doom hasn’t really aged that well, has it… But then again a number of other themes in the film haven’t either.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2021)

All I can remember about Willie from Temple Of Doom is her being beset by various threats and screaming a lot in response. Classic matineee herione fare, which was probably what Spielberg/Lucas were aiming for. Not that that excuses their attitudes towards female characters


----------



## Reno (Aug 9, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> All I can remember about Willie from Temple Of Doom is her being beset by various threats and screaming a lot in response. Classic matineee herione fare, which was probably what Spielberg/Lucas were aiming for. Not that that excuses their attitudes towards female characters


For the first two thirds of the film she screams or whines at everything all the time. She just comes across as dumb and selfish and when she and Indie get together it’s not clear why they would be attracted to each other at this point in the film. She gets a little better in the last third, but the film doesn’t show much interest in her from then on, she just tags along.

I get what they were going for but a 30s or 40s film might have at least given her some witty lines and wouldn’t have constantly humiliated her character. Kate Capshaw is no Jean Arthur, she doesn’t manage to make her predicament funny and is one-note throughout but the screenplay also never gives her a chance.


----------



## T & P (Aug 9, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> All I can remember about Willie from Temple Of Doom is her being beset by various threats and screaming a lot in response. Classic matineee herione fare, which was probably what Spielberg/Lucas were aiming for. Not that that excuses their attitudes towards female characters


Don’t you actually remember the dinner scene at a local Indian prince’s palace in which Indi and all the other attendants are served a meal that included eyes floating in soup, monkey brains eaten out of their open skulls, and baby snakes freshly cut out of their mother’s belly? And this was supposed to be the local refined high society rulers of the land, rather than, say, Indi being invited to dinner by a a family of weirdos…


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2021)

T & P said:


> Don’t you actually remember the dinner scene at a local Indian prince’s palace in which Indi and all the other attendants are served a meal that included eyes floating in soup, monkey brains eaten out of their open skulls, and baby snakes freshly cut out of their mother’s belly? And this was supposed to be the local refined high society rulers of the land, rather than, say, Indi being invited to dinner by a a family of weirdos…


yes of course. but though Willie is in that scene, it’s more memorable for the food being served


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## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2021)

though they were not baby snakes being cut out their mother’s body. You need to retake Biology 101!


----------



## T & P (Aug 9, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> though they were not baby snakes being cut out their mother’s body. You need to retake Biology 101!


I thought they were. What are those mean to be otherwise? Go to the 3 minute mark


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2021)

T & P said:


> I thought they were. What are those mean to be otherwise? Go to the 3 minute mark



other snakes


----------



## fishfinger (Aug 9, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> other snakes


Look like eels.


----------



## T & P (Aug 9, 2021)

Although I doubt the scriptwriters ensured the right one was depicted, it seems a few species of snakes do carry their young in their belly and give birth to them sans eggs, Orang Utan .









						Do Snakes Lay Eggs? Three Ways Snakes Give Birth - Everything Reptiles
					

The majority of the 3,686 known species of snakes lay eggs. Knowing which snakes lay eggs is important for several reasons. You may want to breed your snake, or you may need to identify a snake that has laid eggs Read More →




					www.everythingreptiles.com
				




Whereas we might never know what creatures the script had meant them to be, them being the snake’s young is far more likely than a snake that had been fed other snakes or eels. Not that it is by any margin the biggest problem with that scene…


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2021)

it’s almost as if they completely made it up


----------



## T & P (Aug 9, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> it’s almost as if they completely made it up


Credit where it’s due though. Thanks to them we’re both learned a new fact about snakes


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 10, 2021)

_Cold Sweats_ - Charles Bronson does his usual thing, this time in the south of France, in a Terence Young film. James Mason (giving a terrible Deep South American accent) and co come looking for revenge and are not above using Bronson's wife (Liv Ullmann) and step-daughter to get compliance. Nicely brutal and even sadistic in parts it sets things up only to not deliver on them. Reasonable enough but there are better films of this type.

_Distant Drums_ -  part western part jungle survival flick by Raoul Walsh, starring Gary Cooper. A awful lot happens in 90 minutes, including a lot of running from Indians, but there is more psychological development than you might expect. Again a decent film to pass the time but there are stronger competitors.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 10, 2021)

DebSchmal said:


> I watched a documentary video about Queen's family.


the band or Brenda?


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 10, 2021)

DebSchmal said:


> I watched a documentary video about Queen's family.



A documentary video?


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 10, 2021)

Army of the dead

Shit


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 10, 2021)

London to Brighton. Was passable criminal underworld fare.

Undercover Hooligan. Terrible.


----------



## Ax^ (Aug 11, 2021)

71

oddly a very good movie
the plots not real but the setting is slightly unnerving and an amazing  for a young director

not surprised to find out he is algerian


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 11, 2021)

Ax^ said:


> 71
> 
> oddly a very good movie
> the plots not real but the setting is slightly unnerving and an amazing  for a young director
> ...



Algerian heritage, French citizen but describes himself as a Londoner.

It's a gripping, nightmarish film and great performance from Jack O' Connell.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 11, 2021)

The Bromley Boys.

Passable coming of age film set in Bromley, late 60s / early 70s.

Of interest to me as I grew up in the area though never went to watch them. A good deal of it seems to be of filmed on location too.


----------



## imposs1904 (Aug 12, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> London to Brighton. Was passable criminal underworld fare.
> 
> Undercover Hooligan. Terrible.



Loved London to Brighton when I watched it years ago.


----------



## The39thStep (Aug 12, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> London to Brighton. Was passable criminal underworld fare.
> 
> Undercover Hooligan. Terrible.


I watched London to Brighton after staying up for a Ricky Hatton fight. At 7 in the morning it was quite a gripping and at the same time horrible story . As a film thought it good .


----------



## T & P (Aug 13, 2021)

*Schmigaddon*! A parody musical comedy miniseries. I’ve already mentioned it in the Apple+ thread but have now finished and it deserves a further plug here.

Properly funny and uplifting, and without being corny as well. I love musical comedies so a cert winner for me, but even many of those who hate musicals should  still enjoy this very much if they like well produced comedies at all. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and with a very good  cast, there really is much wrong with this.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Aug 14, 2021)

Nine Bob Note said:


> I'm rewatching Gotham (it's sooo fucking good). Did the whole of S1 in a day last time - this time, who knows?



66 episodes in ten days. Uuuuuurrrrrrghhhhh, it'd good 🤪


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 14, 2021)

_Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian_ - Went into this with some qualms, Benicio del Torro playing an Indian, and an expectation of lots of ACTING and big explosive dramatic scenes. I was totally wrong, a really well developed subtle character driven drama. There are not explosions, just two people talking and trying to communicate. del Toro and Mathieu Amalric are both good in the two central roles and the supporting performances are good too. Definitely recommended.

_The 10th Victim_ - Elio Petri's sci-fi satire. At a quick 92 minutes it just about worked, although it did feel _very_ 60s, all consumers needing new "entertainment", etc. There is a lot of running around which you feel could be reduced. Mastroianni was as good as usual. Not quite sure about Andress, she's not terrible but did not seem to have the charisma the role needed. 

_Maso and Miso go Boating_ - A group of French female directors re-edit talk show discussing the year of the woman in 1975. The misogyny of the host and most guest is clear and shocking, with the French Minister for Women being forced/participating in it. 55 minutes is probably stretching it, could lose 10 minutes but worth a watch.

_Siege _(aka _Self Defence_) - Canadian exploitation film, which uses the background of the real 1981 Halifax police strike as plot background. With the strike on a bunch of fascists decide to beat up people in a gay bar, things spiral out of control, some gets killed and the survivor makes a break for it and takes refuge with a bunch of sort of counter-cultural types. The fascists then decide they have to kill everyone in the building to stop them talking, so it is a fight to the death. It's schlocky and obviously very cheap budget but has some definite originality and a (reasonably coherent) political point.


----------



## Reno (Aug 14, 2021)

I love The 10th Victim, by far my favourite of the 60s mod/pop art sci-fi movies but yeah, Andress was never much of an actress. Monica Vitti, who starred in the similar but inferior Modesty Blaise, would have been great.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 15, 2021)

Gunda - wordless, musicless, titleless black and white documentary of farm animals just existing. It’s intended to promote vegetarian ism. It will probably not convert anyone, but it’s a beautiful engaging film all the same. There are cows standing head to tail in pairs so they can swat flies off each other’s faces. There’s a curious one-legged chicken cautiously exploring a new environment. But it’s mostly about a sow and her litter of piglets, including a poor little runt that gets stood on and limps for the rest of the film. You almost get to know the huge litter individually - some have sticky up ears, some floppy, some have patches on their faces, so you do get to love them all, so the inevitable separation of the litter from their mother is heartbreaking to watch, esp when we’re left with the mother alone, confused and distressed, wondering where all of her children have gone. 

5 bacon sandwiches out of 5


----------



## Steel Icarus (Aug 16, 2021)

Watched _Palm Springs_, a timewarpy comedy with miladdo from Brooklyn 99 in it. Great cast, enough mild curveballs to keep things interesting, some genuine big laughs, and an obvious but touching cinematic treatise on the ultimately doomed wonder of relationships. Recommended


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 16, 2021)

S☼I said:


> Watched _Palm Springs_, a timewarpy comedy with miladdo from Brooklyn 99 in it. Great cast, enough mild curveballs to keep things interesting, some genuine big laughs, and an obvious but touching cinematic treatise on the ultimately doomed wonder of relationships. Recommended


yeah, i was quite surprised at how good it was. funny and clever and a surprisingly singular take on the whole Groundhog Day thing


----------



## Reno (Aug 17, 2021)

I've started 3 TV series and gave up on each after a few episodes, Loki, Superman and Lois (with that one I didn't even make it through the first episode) and Katla. I think turning into ATOMIC SUPLEX.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 17, 2021)

Rise of the footsolder 4. I haven’t seen any of the previous 3 . Didn’t expect much and wasn’t disappointed. There must be an audience for this crap if they keep on churning them out


----------



## T & P (Aug 17, 2021)

I’m going to say this and to hell with the haterz. *Cruella* is actually pretty good. The performances of the two main leads, Emma Stone and Emma Thompson, are fantastic; the latter one in particular is sublime. That alone makes the film worth checking- though not necessarily paying £20 to do so.

For those interested in fashion and/or production values, the film actores highly in that department too. The dress designs must be as cert an Oscar winner as you’ll ever likely see.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 17, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> Rise of the footsolder 4. I haven’t seen any of the previous 3 . Didn’t expect much and wasn’t disappointed. There must be an audience for this crap if they keep on churning them out


They are my guilty pleasure. I believe a 5th is on its way, possibly a reboot


----------



## Reno (Aug 17, 2021)

T & P said:


> I’m going to say this and to hell with the haterz. *Cruella* is actually pretty good. The performances of the two main leads, Emma Stone and Emma Thompson, are fantastic; the latter one in particular is sublime. That alone makes the film worth checking- though not necessarily paying £20 to do so.
> 
> For those interested in fashion and/or production values, the film actores highly in that department too. The dress designs must be as cert an Oscar winner as you’ll ever likely see.


Didn’t notice any “haterz” here, most of us  liked or at least didn’t mind it. Cruella 'action comedy'  'set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 17, 2021)

blood red sky

bloddy hell


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> blood red sky
> 
> bloddy hell


good bloddy hell or bad bloddy hell ?


----------



## not-bono-ever (Aug 18, 2021)

Reno said:


> good bloddy hell or bad bloddy hell ?


Good value if gory. Certainly not snakes on a plane


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> Good value if gory. Certainly not snakes on a plane


....and did you like or dislike Snakes on a Plane ?


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 18, 2021)

_Rubber_ - Look at us we're doing a schlocky bloody horror movie with a watchers watching the watchers theme, aren't we all meta and crazy! No you're just shit.

_The Prostitutes of Lyon Speak_ - 1975 documentary interviews. Despite being almost half a century on much of it feels absolutely relevant to today. Perhaps the bit that feels the most dated (unfortunately) is how the women recognise that their struggle is part of the class struggle. Well worth watching.

_Jessica Forever_ - peculiar debut feature, about near day dystopian where a young woman rescues orphan boys (really young men I guess) and tries to save them from their violent pasts and from the authorities. Credit to the ambition of the first time directors, they don't really pull it off. There is plenty of style and some effective moments but a lack of characterisation and confusion mean that the end result does not quite live up to the promise. Still a ambitious and interesting first effort.

_Paranoid Park_ - Gus van Sant doing teenage alienation. Maybe I just was not in the right mood, or just seen too much of this thing but while it is all put together well I just didn't really get into it.

_After Dark My Sweet_ - Neo-noir adaptation of a Jim Thompson novel, a pretty good effort but it just feels a little flat. I've not read the book but despite working very hard the film does not capture the real weirdness of Thompson's world.

_The Human Factor _- Otto Preminger's last film, an adaptation of the Graham Greene novel. load of old British darlings turn up - Gielgud, Attenborough, Jacobi - as well as Iman (who's better than you might think). It's not going to dazzle you but it is very solid at what it does.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 18, 2021)

not-bono-ever said:


> wasn’t disappointed


That's going on the cover!


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2021)

...


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2021)

Bad Moon, a werewolf film from 1996. I'd never heard of it, it got poor reviews when it came out and then was quickly forgotten about but recently it has been mentioned on a couple of horror movie podcasts I listen to, as being the most underrated of werewolf movies. The fact that it was written and directed by Eric Red, who wrote The Hitcher and Near Dark, also made me want to check it out.

While no classic along the lines of American Werewolf In London or The Howling, this is good fun. Summed up in one sentence it's Lassie Meets The Werewolf, as the hero of the film is a dog (a German shepherd) who is the first to suspect something is wrong with one of the three main characters and then goes up against the werewolf to protect his human family. Mariel Hemingway, still most famous from Manhattan, is ok as the lead, a single mom living with her young son in a house in the woods. The real star here are the special effects, the werewolf itself is very impressive, one of the best put on the screen and apart from a brief, dodgy looking CGI transformation scene, the film relies entirely on practical effects. It's gory, moves along at a swift pace and doesn't outstayed its welcome at 81 minutes.


----------



## belboid (Aug 18, 2021)

Must have been good if you watched it twice in one might


----------



## Reno (Aug 18, 2021)

belboid said:


> Must have been good if you watched it twice in one might


Whats a "might" ? 

My ipad is on the blink and very slow, so if I hit "save" twice....


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 18, 2021)

The Dead Don't Die

Jim Jarmusch does zombies and breaking the fourth wall. Great cast, but the film doesn't really go anywhere.


----------



## T & P (Aug 18, 2021)

Watching the new HBO dark comedy-drama miniseries *White Lotus*. Set in a hotel in Hawaii where something bad has happened, we get to discover the story and know the aloof characters in the week leading to it.

Not fantastic but good enough to merit watching it imo. Think a more luxurious version of the Fawlty Towers hotel but with characters far more fucked up, and darker themes.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 18, 2021)

The Lives of Others

Enjoyable look at the DDR and Stasi surveillance culture. Found the last 15 mins a bit cheesy


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 19, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> They are my guilty pleasure. I believe a 5th is on its way, possibly a reboot



If you want something in the same style but even worse, try The Intent and The Intent 2.

You're welcome


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 19, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> If you want something in the same style but even worse, try The Intent and The Intent 2.
> 
> You're welcome


I watched this tonight. Quite liked it.


----------



## MBV (Aug 19, 2021)

T & P said:


> Watching the new HBO dark comedy-drama miniseries *White Lotus*. Set in a hotel in Hawaii where something bad has happened, we get to discover the story and know the aloof characters in the week leading to it.
> 
> Not fantastic but good enough to merit watching it imo. Think a more luxurious version of the Fawlty Towers hotel but with characters far more fucked up, and darker themes.



Just finished this and really enjoyed it. Liked that I could only watch one per week. 

Have got hold of two episodes Reservation Dogs to watch which is getting decent reviews.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Aug 20, 2021)

The China Syndrome.

Now started to plough through the Blakes 7 boxset.  The whole things runs for 2,615 minutes so it may take me a while...


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 20, 2021)

farmerbarleymow said:


> The China Syndrome.
> 
> Now started to plough through the Blakes 7 boxset.  The whole things runs for 2,615 minutes so it may take me a while...



Got as far as series 1, ep 8 this time round. Obviously, watched most of the run back in the day but have a feeling there's probably 6 or 7 eps never got round to seeing.


----------



## seeformiles (Aug 20, 2021)

Deadpool 2


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 20, 2021)

_Started Brand New Cherry Flavour_, a kind of David Lynch inspired tale from early 90s Hollywood. Looks great, some familiar faces including 90s indie film icon Catherine Keeler . Weird, in a good way.


----------



## Reno (Aug 20, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> _Started Brand New Cherry Flavour_, a kind of David Lynch inspired tale from early 90s Hollywood. Looks great, some familiar faces including 90s indie film icon Catherine Keeler . Weird, in a good way.


As she is iconic, it's Catherine Keener.   

Will get round to this at some point because Nick Antosca was also the creator Channel Zero, an excellent horror anthology series similar in format to American Horror Story but far superior.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 20, 2021)

Censor. Had high hopes for this. It starts out as a potentially interesting plot relating to video nasties and 80s censorship but becomes a missing persons story with some terrible dialogue. I'm yet to be convinced by Niamh Algar whose accent slipped out a few times and I can't help but think she looks a bit like Samantha Morton but not as good. Bit of a let down really.


----------



## belboid (Aug 20, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Censor. Had high hopes for this. It starts out as a potentially interesting plot relating to video nasties and 80s censorship but becomes a missing persons story with some terrible dialogue. I'm yet to be convinced by Niamh Algar whose accent slipped out a few times and I can't help but think she looks a bit like Samantha Morton but not as good. Bit of a let down really.


aah, I had hoped for this, may well still do it, depending what else is on. Niamh Algar is very good in Deceit, on C4 at the mo


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 20, 2021)

Failed to show up to see Fast and Furious 9
so paid £15 to stream it at home. I had to watch it over the course of 48 hours, cos my attention wasn’t really grabbed by it but cos I paid to rent it, I <had> to finish it.
I have largely or totally ignored this franchise and its wider fast car action movie genre. (Loved Ronin from the 90s and a couple of the 70s ones but not much else).
However, I’d read some positive reviews on here, and, since my positive experience of watching another big block buster at the cinema in a genre I don’t usually care for - The Suicide Squad - I thought I’d give this one a chance instead of snobbishly dismissing without checking it out.
well, it’s shite and I didn’t understand the plot or the characters, not that it matters cos there’s a lot of preposterous car chases and action set pieces which I didn’t find very entertaining. I always struggle with action car chases, especially in cities, cos car crashes, explosions and mass death and injury are always treated like collateral damage and I always think of the poor non-combatant drivers and pedestrians (and even residents of buildings) and the first responders who have to deal with the carnage. Such reckless behaviour should never be condoned and depicting such scenes only furthers to encourage such antisocial, dangerous, destructive and selfish conduct should be banned outright.
1 overworked paramedic out of 5


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 20, 2021)

*please note that some of the tone of the previous post is entirely facetious and should be taken with a pinch of salt


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 20, 2021)

belboid said:


> aah, I had hoped for this, may well still do it, depending what else is on. Niamh Algar is very good in Deceit, on C4 at the mo


Yea I started that last night. Tbf I thought she was alright in The Virtues aswell.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 20, 2021)

Cemetery Junction, pleasant enough comedy nostalgic look at growing up in the 70s in “Reading” although none of it was filmed there. Even though I lived in Reading for over 20 years I hadn’t seen it and I used to live by the aforementioned junction for 5 of those years.

Decent cast of British actors. I had fun picking up on Reading references, and quite enjoyed the fact that two characters reminded me of people I knew who were Reading born and bred.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 21, 2021)

JimW , or anyone else, (seventh bullet, butchersapron?) have you seen/heard of _The Founding of a Party_ and _The Founding of a Republic_? Are they worth checking out?


----------



## JimW (Aug 21, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> JimW , or anyone else, (seventh bullet, butchersapron?) have you seen/heard of _The Founding of a Party_ and _The Founding of a Republic_? Are they worth checking out?


Only because of the hype round the anniversary, might be worth it for an overview of events in a big budget effort but of course very much official line.


----------



## redsquirrel (Aug 21, 2021)

JimW said:


> Only because of the hype round the anniversary, might be worth it for an overview of events in a big budget effort but of course very much official line.


Cheers, I kind of thought that was going to be the case but they just appeared on a certain torrent tracker and had half a mind of grabbing them


----------



## Reno (Aug 21, 2021)

Alternately funny, bizarre and frustrating, _Climate of the Hunter _is considered the most accessible of outsider filmmaker Mickey Reece films so far, I haven't seen his previous ones. Two sisters, who live in the middle of nowhere, catch up with an old friend after a couple of decades when he comes to stay with them. Sexual tensions flare up and one of the sisters comes to suspect their guest may be a vampire after he coughs up a used tampon during dinner.

It takes its style from 70s B-movies and daytime soaps, the original _Dark Shadows_ in particular looks like it was an influence. The acting is stilted on purpose and it's more camp than horror but there are enough laughs and oddball moments to make it worth a watch if you are prepared to go with it.

Reece's latest film _Agnes_, looks like it has a bigger budget and is a nunsploitation/possession film.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 21, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Censor. Had high hopes for this. It starts out as a potentially interesting plot relating to video nasties and 80s censorship but becomes a missing persons story with some terrible dialogue. I'm yet to be convinced by Niamh Algar whose accent slipped out a few times and I can't help but think she looks a bit like Samantha Morton but not as good. Bit of a let down really.


They're certainly going all in for the nostalgia market with their PR


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Aug 21, 2021)

Thought I'd watch a relaxing film so put Threads on  

Fuck that for cheeriness - watching 2001 now.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 22, 2021)

Where is the Friends House?...Iranian film about s boy's quest to return his friend's exercise book which he has mistakenly taken home from school. A simple idea but absolutely gripping. Oustanding performance by the young lead. A masterpiece.

Shiva Baby. A Jewish girls meets with her sugar daddy at a funeral. Really fast paced and very funny. Also only 77 minutes long. Recommended.


----------



## Reno (Aug 22, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> They're certainly going all in for the nostalgia market with their PR



Now I understand how this mediocre horror film got such glowing reviews: Caramac bribes !


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 22, 2021)

shit, i’ve got tickets for Censor - I hope i like it better than other Urbs have


----------



## platinumsage (Aug 22, 2021)

Two similar things:

The White Lotus - great
 Nine Perfect Strangers - shit


----------



## T & P (Aug 22, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> Two similar things:
> 
> The White Lotus - great
> Nine Perfect Strangers - shit


I wouldn’t describe Nine Perfect Strangers as anywhere near shit so far. I suspect the plot might become ludicrous but some of the characters and the performances alone make this a perfectly watchable series so far, if certainly nowhere near great.

Melissa McCarthy is fucking great in this imo


----------



## platinumsage (Aug 22, 2021)

It reminds of Lost but without any drama. Its going to tank as quickly as Nicole Kidman’s accent.


----------



## Petcha (Aug 22, 2021)

Mark Kermode gave Censor his maximum score today. So i've downloaded it and was planning to watch tonight. Is it really shit?









						Censor review – a brilliantly adventurous horror debut
					

A video nasties film censor finds her work rather too absorbing in this razor-sharp first feature from the Welsh writer-director Prano Bailey-Bond




					www.theguardian.com


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 22, 2021)

Petcha said:


> Mark Kermode gave Censor his maximum score today. So i've downloaded it and was planning to watch tonight. Is it really shit?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


sounds like it is designed algorithmically by an AI to please Mark Kermode


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 22, 2021)

Petcha said:


> Mark Kermode gave Censor his maximum score today. So i've downloaded it and was planning to watch tonight. Is it really shit?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I wouldn't say it's shit, but by no means is it a 'best score you can give' film. Kermode often gets it wrong imo.

I also think Calm With Horses was terrible, but I seem to be on my own with that one.


----------



## T & P (Aug 22, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> It reminds of Lost but without any drama. Its going to tank as quickly as Nicole Kidman’s accent.


I fear you might be right, but Lost (as you mention it) was such a disappointment that I’ve trained myself to not commit to some series and enjoy the good aspects of the ride as and when they come.


----------



## passenger (Aug 22, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> I’m enjoying “He Kills Coppers” tonight which is available on the STV catch up app which seems to be available outside of Scotland too. Good cast including the wonderful Paul Ritter


Just about got STV going I wonder if its about Harry Roberts?


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 23, 2021)

passenger said:


> Just about got STV going I wonder if its about Harry Roberts?


It’s based loosely on what happened


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 23, 2021)

T & P said:


> I fear you might be right, but Lost (as you mention it) was such a disappointment that I’ve trained myself to not commit to some series and enjoy the good aspects of the ride as and when they come.



_Lost_, the journey was a complete trip. The ending, however, was a nightmarish disappointment. Do feel that JJ Abrams and co-creators made up for that with the 5 season _Fringe_.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Aug 23, 2021)

T & P said:


> Watching the new HBO dark comedy-drama miniseries *White Lotus*. Set in a hotel in Hawaii where something bad has happened, we get to discover the story and know the aloof characters in the week leading to it.
> 
> Not fantastic but good enough to merit watching it imo. Think a more luxurious version of the Fawlty Towers hotel but with characters far more fucked up, and darker themes.



3 episodes in and loving it. I looked up the actual hotel its set in and it turns out the most expensive suites are just under $30,000 _a night_! 😮


----------



## belboid (Aug 23, 2021)

Jeff Robinson said:


> 3 episodes in and loving it. I looked up the actual hotel its set in and it turns out the most expensive suites are just under $30,000 _a night_! 😮


You better get the mutha fuggin plunge pool for that


----------



## Reno (Aug 23, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> _Lost_, the journey was a complete trip. The ending, however, was a nightmarish disappointment. Do feel that JJ Abrams and co-creators made up for that with the 5 season _Fringe_.


JJ Abrams directed the pilot for Lost but wasn't involved with the show after that, he went off to do films. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were the showrunners and the problem was, that the studio wanted them to carry on the show beyond its natural endpoint, so they kept adding to the mythology, inevitably writing themselves into a corner. Lindelof more than made up with The Leftovers though.


----------



## passenger (Aug 24, 2021)

*Run hide fight*, on sky cinema I did try but nowhere near its 5-star rating, a bit poo really.

The* 1968* version of the *39 steps*, seen it a few times nothing will beat the original but still very good


----------



## Reno (Aug 24, 2021)

passenger said:


> *Run hide fight*, on sky cinema I did try but nowhere near its 5-star rating, a bit poo really.
> 
> The* 1968* version of the *39 steps*, seen it a few times nothing will beat the original but still very good


The one from 1978 with Robert Powell ? There also is a 1959 version, but there isn't one from 1968.


----------



## May Kasahara (Aug 24, 2021)

Cockneys vs Zombies   Watched with my teen and enjoyed it for the juvenile nonsense that it is.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 24, 2021)

passenger said:


> Just about got STV going I wonder if its about Harry Roberts?


It's based on a novel by Jake Arnott, and as Elpenor says that in turn is loosely based (as is Arnott's shtick) on Harry Roberts, the Braybrook Street treble, and their effect on British culture/society. I recall that Mel Raido in the lead was a bit wishy-washy, sort of a faded photocopy of Daniel Craig as Geordie in _Our Friends In The North_, but still watchable.


----------



## passenger (Aug 25, 2021)

Reno said:


> The one from 1978 with Robert Powell ? There also is a 1959 version, but there isn't one from 1968.


Yes Robert Powell, always thought the color one was 68 sorry.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 25, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> I recall that Mel Raido in the lead was a bit wishy-washy, sort of a faded photocopy of Daniel Craig as Geordie in _Our Friends In The North_, but still watchable.


That’s a good comparison


----------



## belboid (Aug 25, 2021)

T & P said:


> I wouldn’t describe Nine Perfect Strangers as anywhere near shit so far. I suspect the plot might become ludicrous but some of the characters and the performances alone make this a perfectly watchable series so far, if certainly nowhere near great.
> 
> Melissa McCarthy is fucking great in this imo


Watched the first two last night.  It really is a montage of umpteen other series’ ideas crudely spliced together, everyone slowly releasing their dark secrets to the loony leader.  

but it is watchable.  All the actors are fine, and it’s quite pretty to look at.  Whether it can actually hold up over eight episodes tho…


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 25, 2021)

Revenge of the Sith
Sci-fi from 2005 where Natalie Portman is reduced to taking a backseat so emo Vader can grump about not getting what he wants. Lot darker than remembered.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 25, 2021)

Frost / Nixon.

Hadn’t seen it before, interesting to see what David Frost was like before he came a cuddly old interviewer who didn’t ask tough questions.

Great performance by Frank Langhella. Nixon is an interesting character, in many ways he achieved quite a lot, back when the presidency wasn’t as curtailed by congress, and was at the upper echelons of American politics for 25 years or so. But seemed deeply unhappy, paranoid, and not at ease with people. Bit of an enigma. May track down Nixon the Oliver Stone film with Anthony Hopkins

Felt the talking heads but was a bit rubbish.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 26, 2021)

Kenneth Williams - Fantabulosa.

Sheen gets the voice just right. An interesting character study.

Loved reading KW’s diaries a while back when I got them out of the library. A deeply unhappy and troubled man though


----------



## passenger (Aug 27, 2021)

Just found the lady vanishes the original 1938 film, on the I player, when I was 
in hospital at Chertsey (pay per view thing) the film made me fall in love with the 
old black and white films 









						BBC Two - The Lady Vanishes
					

Hitchcock thriller. A couple investigate when a woman disappears. With Margaret Lockwood.




					www.bbc.co.uk


----------



## T & P (Aug 27, 2021)

*Why Women Kill.* A glossy dark comedy/ drama TV series by the creator of Desperate Housewives.

 I created a thread about this a few days ago that received fuck all replies, but I’m not deterred enough by that not to give it another plug here.

S1 packs in three different storylines with unrelated characters in different timelines (60s, 70s and present day) but linked by being set in the same house. S2 is brand new and being currently being aired weekly on Alibi, and is set in the 1950s and unrelated to S1.

Bloody good and I’m genuinely surprised at the low awareness of it in the UK. A number of great performances in both seasons. Nick Frost is one of the main leads in S2 and is frankly superb. As was Jack Davenport in S1.

Can’t find S1 freely available atm but S2 is, and I thoroughly recommend it as an entertaining well made mini series. Kind of Desperate Housewives meets Fargo.


----------



## belboid (Aug 28, 2021)

*Hungry Heart*

Adam Driver and an Italian woman whose name escapes me have the almost opposite of a cute-meet when they are trapped together in a toilet where he has just taken a really smelly dump. A very much anti-rom com. He and she are both great, tho the script is underdeveloped and the ending quite unsatisfying. It's AD's 10th best performance according to the Guardian and was the only one on on that list that was on amazon for under a fiver that we hadn't seen.

*Candyman*

Noting the upcoming 're-imagining' I realised I hadn't seen the original in years.  My recall of it had been diminished by the shoddy sequels so it was  a real pleasure to see that it is actually a great movie. Some good scares, neat ambivalence, and a bloody well crafted story. It's sad that it is the last leading role for Virginian (Michael's sister) Madsen. Sadly it was not enough to overcome being in Highlander 2 just beforehand.


----------



## T & P (Aug 28, 2021)

Reno said:


> _Palm Springs_, comedy which turns out to be about a Groundhog Day-style time loop. Surprisingly good and very funny, this manages to add a couple of twists to the formula (it takes place in a world where the characters are aware of films like Groundhog Day). The two leads, Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti have been around for a while but not in lead roles and I hope this gives them a career boost, both have comedic chops and great chemistry.
> 
> View attachment 223441
> 
> ...


Just watched Archive and wholly agree with your review. The twist made it better for me and transformed it from a ‘ffs, waste of time’ film to an acceptable one. But yes, it thinks it’s cleverer and more accomplished than it really is, not to mention the fact that it borrows heavily from themes already featured in a few recent sci-fi films/ series. It might have worked a bit better with a faster pace and fewer pretentious arty shots that aren’t going to fool anyone.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2021)

belboid said:


> *Hungry Heart*
> 
> Adam Driver and an Italian woman whose name escapes me have the almost opposite of a cute-meet when they are trapped together in a toilet where he has just taken a really smelly dump. A very much anti-rom com. He and she are both great, tho the script is underdeveloped and the ending quite unsatisfying. It's AD's 10th best performance according to the Guardian and was the only one on on that list that was on amazon for under a fiver that we hadn't seen.
> 
> ...


Virginia Madsen has had a long career, including lead roles, since Candyman. I'm fairly certain she'd overcome being in Highlander 2 by the time she was nominated for an Oscar in Sideways.


----------



## T & P (Aug 28, 2021)

*The Toll. *A new supernatural horror film about a woman visiting her father and her slightly oddball taxi driver being misdirected by the satnav and then stranded on a dirt track road in the middle of the night. Nothing that dramatic actually happens, and the film doesn’t rely on any properly spooky stuff, jump scares or gore but on character development and their background story. I found it oddly satisfying and a 6/10 of a late weekend night.


----------



## belboid (Aug 28, 2021)

Reno said:


> Virginia Madsen has had a long career, including lead roles, since Candyman. I'm fairly certain she'd overcome being in Highlander 2 by the time she was nominated for an Oscar in Sideways.


she's done loads of movies since, but they're all shit. I was gobsmacked about the lack of quality in her subsequent career, other than The Haunting.

And Sideways, which I managed to completely overlook.


----------



## Sasaferrato (Aug 28, 2021)

Our Ladies. Very funny.


----------



## Sasaferrato (Aug 28, 2021)

passenger said:


> *Run hide fight*, on sky cinema I did try but nowhere near its 5-star rating, a bit poo really.
> 
> The* 1968* version of the *39 steps*, seen it a few times nothing will beat the original but still very good


My grandfather was an extra in the original.


----------



## Knotted (Aug 28, 2021)

I watched Patrick a little while ago. It's a Belgian film about a (implied neuro atypical) handyman in a nudist colony who loses his hammer. It's heavily metaphorical about grief and finding acceptance but it works very well without the metaphorical baggage which is good because I was in it for the story and the autism angle. Features the most undignified punch up which is a real delight.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Aug 28, 2021)

Watched Scum (1979) tonight, not seen it in absolutely ages. Still excellent. Surprised to find the whole thing on YouTube in decent quality:


----------



## T & P (Aug 29, 2021)

After hearing many people talking about Below Deck (the reality TV series, not the Star Trek animation), I decided to give it a go. Currently watching S5 of the Mediterranean one, available on All4.

I have very little time in general for most reality shows, but this is surprisingly addictive and watchable.


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 29, 2021)

Watching this now. Critically panned I expect but I love it. Philo Beddoe for president!


----------



## T & P (Aug 29, 2021)

_w_


Elpenor said:


> Watching this now. Critically panned I expect but I love it. Philo Beddoe for president!
> 
> View attachment 285869


Would you mind actually telling us the title of it? 😛
(Unless you were referring to my previous post about Below Deck- but then why would there be a plane on it?)


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 29, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Watching this now. Critically panned I expect but I love it. Philo Beddoe for president!
> 
> View attachment 285869


"Right turn, Clyde"?


----------



## Elpenor (Aug 29, 2021)

T & P said:


> _w_
> 
> Would you mind actually telling us the title of it? 😛
> (Unless you were referring to my previous post about Below Deck- but then why would there be a plane on it?)


Any Which Way You Can, the superior sequel to Every Which Way But Loose. Clint Eastwood is a bare knuckle boxer with a pet orang utan  with a country and music soundtrack. Silly but lots of fun.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 29, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> "Right turn, Clyde"?


🧐


----------



## passenger (Aug 30, 2021)

*The 39 steps* the original 1935  on BBC I Player 10/10 maybe someone 
on Urban might not have seen it.









						BBC Two - The 39 Steps
					

A man (Robert Donat) is pursued by the police for a murder he didn't commit.




					www.bbc.co.uk


----------



## DaveCinzano (Aug 30, 2021)

passenger said:


> *The 39 steps* the original 1935  on BBC I Player 10/10 maybe someone
> on Urban might not have seen it.
> 
> 
> ...


"I'm not rich and I've never been idle!"


----------



## purves grundy (Aug 30, 2021)

_My Friend Dahmer_. About the teenage years of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. A study in how unchecked dispositions combined with unfortunate events and circumstance can have disturbing results. The film even ends before his first murder.

On Channel 4 catch-up if anyone’s interested. Well worth a watch.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2021)

Doctor Strange. 

Great fun from Marvel. 5 years since seen this, already laying down the groundwork for the multiverse and nods to Nolan's Inception and maybe a tiny bit of inspiration for Tenet...

Strong British cast. Trippy visuals.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 1, 2021)

Cruella

Recent Disney prequel/origin story that looks great and has wonderful Emmas Stone and Thompson but is maybe a bit overlong and the henchman channeling Bob Hoskins doesn't quite convince.


----------



## Reno (Sep 1, 2021)

purves grundy said:


> _My Friend Dahmer_. About the teenage years of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. A study in how unchecked dispositions combined with unfortunate events and circumstance can have disturbing results. The film even ends before his first murder.
> 
> On Channel 4 catch-up if anyone’s interested. Well worth a watch.


It's based on an autobiographical graphic novel, which is well worth checking out. Its slightly crude drawing style is what really made it work for me, I thought it lost something by making it into a conventional film.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Sep 1, 2021)

*Dogs Don't Wear Pants*.  A couple of icky scenes, but not as extreme as I was expecting, and definitely not in a sex/nudity away.  Quite touching/funny in places.  I have a feeling a lot of people won't like the ending, but it didn't bother me.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Sep 1, 2021)

Watched the only UK streaming (so far) of the first movie written by the genius that is Alan Moore, _The Show_. It was unsurprisingly a bit weird, pretty well-made for being quite low budget, decent acting apart from Moore himself, occasional echoes of his novel _Jerusalem _but nowhere near as clever.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 1, 2021)

Ponyo, which was pleasant


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 1, 2021)

I’ve been ploughing through films recorded on my BT tv box this week.

The personal history of David Copperfield - didn’t enjoy this much, but then I hate Dickens and costume drama pre 1900. Good fun spotting the various British actors. 

Talented Mr Ripley - As good as I remembered it when it came out. Fun watch, decent acting. Made me feel I was in a warm Amalfi coast on a chilly day in England. Ripley a great antihero.

The Odessa File - not as good as the book. Decent Nazi catching thriller, Jon Voight has a dodgy tache though.

Die Hard with A Vengeance - hadn’t seen before, found this very boring. Not as fun as the previous ones, Irons hams it up for England but found the plot and silly games a bit tedious. 

Stand by Me - hadn’t seen it for over 20 years. Loved the shots of the Oregon countryside. Simple premise, well executed.

The Sting - timeless classic, probably in my top 10 films. Glorious acting. Chicago in the depression seemed a tough life.

Heat - hadn’t seen this before. Found it flabby, overlong, quite boring too. Possibly one of the more overrated films, no doubt loved by Empire Magazine fans I expect.

How the West Was Won - epic western with an all star cast. One of the last westerns before Leone reinvented the genre. Beautiful shots of the scenery as America progresses through the 19th century.


----------



## Sweet FA (Sep 2, 2021)

mauvais said:


> I watched _Nobody_ last night, I thought it was really good fun - the less you know about it, the better, as part of the enjoyment is trying to work out what kind of film it's going to turn out to be. Odenkirk is a great actor - can't separate him from Saul now, but it still works.


Thought this was great. I really like John Wick(s) but Odenkirk elevates Nobody above that. Excellent violence; glowering enemies in Mexican stand-offs; tooling up scenes; improbably fast injury recovery - nothing new but good larks all the same.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 2, 2021)

Some more films watched last night / today.

The Hatton Garden Job - Matthew Goode leads a posse of old codgers including Larry Lamb in what is ultimately a boring crime caper. Shame as it’s quite an interesting story.

Buster - film about the big great train robbery. Phil Collins and Larry Lamb - again - lead a bunch of well dressed men who love their old mums and rob the mail train. Quite enjoyable, Collins plays Buster as a likeable rogue.

3000 miles to Graceland - yes another pisspoor crime film with a vague Elvis spin as some hoodlums rob a casino and escape with the loot, picking up a female sidekick on the way. Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell are in this, as is Courtney Cox. Only 20 years old this but feels like it’s in the 70s. I think the writer / director must have been having a midlife crisis, Costner must have done it after losing a bet. Silly film allegedly got some comedy in but not that funny.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 2, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> The Hatton Garden Job


not long after the court case ITV did a four parter, better than the films as I recall.
still on the itvhub








						Hatton Garden - Watch Episode - ITVX
					

Perkins breaks his golden rule and brings forward another get-together of the gang. Will he cut Reader in, and can the police find them?




					www.itv.com


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 2, 2021)

DotCommunist said:


> not long after the court case ITV did a four parter, better than the films as I recall.
> still on the itvhub
> 
> 
> ...


Ah, that hub   

I see it’s on Britbox as well which I have for a few more weeks care of my ISP, cheers


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Sep 2, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> The Sting - timeless classic, probably in my top 10 films. Glorious acting. Chicago in the depression seemed a tough life.


No matter how many times I watch this, I always fall for the twist at the end. Sign of an amazingly well constructed film that you forget you know how it ends.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 3, 2021)

More films on my BT box watched last night / today.

The Bridge at Remagen - subpar war film. Felt it lacked a certain something. Robert Vaughn as a defiant German soldier trying to do the decent thing was the best thing in it.

For A Few Dollars More A fistful of dollars - the first of the man with the no name trilogy. I didn’t enjoy this as much as I did before. Plot is good fun, back and forth. Good ending, and Leone’s buildup and use of music for tension is always worth watching.

True Grit (Coen brothers remake). Again I didn’t enjoy as much as when I first watched it. I think I recorded this thinking it was the original. Jeff Bridges brings some humour to his role

The Last of the Mohicans. As good as I remembered it. Great set piece battle scenes, some superb “running uphill with purpose” by Daniel Day Lewis. Awesome soundtrack and some fond memories of watching with my Mum and recreating the canoe scenes on holiday. Love some of the shots of the American landscape.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 3, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> For A Few Dollars More - *the first of the man with the no name trilogy.*


I'm calling shotgun before Reno (or indeed anyone else) gets in there - _no it's not; _the clue being in the name


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 3, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> I'm calling shotgun before Reno (or indeed anyone else) gets in there - _no it's not; _the clue being in the name


You’re quite right, I actually watched “*a fistful of dollars*” - I blame lack of sleep this week 

Make one coffin ready


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 3, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Make one coffin ready


Django or Dollars-style?


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 3, 2021)

Dollars style when Clint has a rest in one


----------



## fishfinger (Sep 4, 2021)

Zone 414 - a pound shop Bladerunner


----------



## T & P (Sep 4, 2021)

*Next*. A 10-episode sci-fi series about an AI programme becoming self aware and harbouring ill intentions for mankind. A highly original premise, said no one ever.

Nonetheless, it is well written and with good pace and action, and the AI antagonist is Machiavellian in its attempts to stop the handful of humans who are aware of what has happened. 6.5/ 10 and watchable. Available on the Disney + platform.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 5, 2021)

3:10 to Yuma. The original. Found this charming and loved the interaction between the homesteader and the bandit. Appears to be a remake with Crowe and Bale but not sure I’d bother.

The Alamo - the remake. A bit dull, can see why this failed.

24 hour party people - not sure why I’d recorded this as I’ve seen it a few times already. Plenty of fun, typical Winterbottom film.


----------



## T & P (Sep 5, 2021)

Space Truckers. Somehow this film had passed me by. A lot more watchable than I thought it would be, and a quintessential 80s film perfect for a Sunday afternoon.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 7, 2021)

8 Mile - enjoyable enough Eminem biopic. Not sure why I recorded this. 

Sicario - brilliant action piece about the war on drugs. Cleverer than it makes out to be. 

Pale Rider - I enjoyed this moralistic tale. Clint Eastwood is my favourite actor. 

The Florida Project - really good dip into the precarious existence of  semi-permanent motel-dwellers near to Disney World. Tragic for those living in such but brilliant filmmaking.

The Imitation Game. Didn’t like this much. Cumberbatch overacts this. Quite liked Matthew Goode and Mark Strong in this. Not sure how true this is to history. At least no Americans were involved in winning this one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 7, 2021)

Florida Project is such a beautiful film


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 7, 2021)

The Lives of Others. I hadn't seen this for years and my son is going to Berlin for a few months so we watched it despite it not really being his sort of film.

It's still very watchable bit I felt less engaged that I was first time round. Son felt he had learnt some stuff. I don't think he'll be bothered to read Stasiland though.


----------



## Reno (Sep 7, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Florida Project is such a beautiful film


Sean Baker is one of my favourite filmmakers, I've loved every film I've seen of his so far.  His new film Red Rocket was shown to great acclaim at Cannes this year and its one of my most anticipated films.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 7, 2021)

Reno said:


> Sean Baker is one of my favourite filmmakers, I've loved every film I've seen of his so far.  His new film Red Rocket was shown to great acclaim at Cannes this year and its one of my most anticipated films.


Tangerine is on my watchlist - better get to it soon


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 8, 2021)

T & P said:


> Space Truckers. Somehow this film had passed me by. A lot more watchable than I thought it would be, and a quintessential 80s film perfect for a Sunday afternoon.



Knew someone who worked on that. Filmed in Ireland in the mid 90s.


----------



## Chz (Sep 8, 2021)

Watched Luc Besson's Anna on Film4 last night.

Wow, that is one hot mess. Luc's trying to prove that you don't need to be Hollywood to make a completely inexplicable action flick. There's no good reason why it's even set in 1990, let alone how many fucking anachronisms there are for it. Helen Mirren manages to channel Boris Badenov for her "Russian" accent. At no point did it threaten to make a lick of sense, and that's before you consider the completely pointless flashbacks every 10 minutes that either explain something blindingly obvious or fail to explain anything at all.

It's Besson, so it looked good. That's about all I'll give it. Even the action looked tired and boring.


----------



## Reno (Sep 8, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> Tangerine is on my watchlist - better get to it soon


Starlet is great too, I probably like it even more than Tangerine.


----------



## belboid (Sep 10, 2021)

*Slaxx*

A low budget meditation about the relationship between western consumerism and racial stereotyping at home and the oppression and exploitation of third world workers told through the medium of denim.   

possibly better described as a pair of jeans goes on a killing spree in a mall.  

brilliant.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 10, 2021)

Reno said:


> Starlet is great too, I probably like it even more than Tangerine.


Yeah _Starlet_ is top notch (as is FP, still need to watch _Tangerine_)


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 11, 2021)

The Widower - Reece Shearsmith plays a mild mannered man who keeps plotting to murder his wives and steal their money.

An ITV miniseries, I really enjoyed this. The banality of evil again. Based on a true story, I felt very sorry for his victims and hope he is having a nasty time in prison.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Sep 11, 2021)

Currently skipping through Shock Treatment on YT to my favourite songs. Hope to watch it in full, along with Rocky Horror and my only liked romance film, Beautiful Thing, in the next couple of days


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Sep 11, 2021)

_Bringing Up Baby_ (1938). Remember it as being better than that, but it's been a long time since I first saw it.


----------



## redsquirrel (Sep 12, 2021)

_Turkey Shoot _- The infamous Brian Trenchard-Smith ozpolitation film. More silly and weak than anything else. It passed the time for me while doing some work emails this morning

_Bullitt _- Saw this some time ago, but besides the car cash and airport shoot out I could actually remember very little of it. Probably because it is not really very memorable, all very by the numbers.

_Crook's Tour_ - Charter's and Caldicott from _The Lady Vanishes_ (and others) turn up in feature specifically written for them. Sadly it is no _Lady Vanishes_ or even _Night Train to Munich_, the script it not fast enough or sharp enough to keep things going got 80 mins, but there are some amusing gags. One for those interested in the characters and British films of the 40s

_Hatari!_ - John Wayne leads a bunch of men (and a couple of women) around Africa capturing animals for zoos. You definitely could not make this today. Howard Hawks is in the directors chair so the finished piece does have some semblance of quality (Did Hawks ever make a truly bad film? Some are pretty forgettable but even in those cases he clearly knows this stuff). Took me a while to recognise Michèle Girardon from Buñuel's _Death in the Garden_, who is one of the best things in it.

_The Last Adventure_ - Another film that probably could not be made now, but in this case that is not a necessarily a good thing. Pilot Alain Delon, inventor and drag car racer Lino Ventura team up with would be artist Joanna Shimkus team up to get some gold from a plane that crashed off the African coast. The film has three parts, first in France where the team has a series of misfortunes, then in Africa where they get the gold, then back in France where people try to steal the gold off them - all this happens in 113 minutes. It should be a rushed, mess but somehow - good acting, sharp direction/editing - it hangs together and while absolutely silly is great fun. Loads of faces/names from French film turn up. Definitely recommend if you want an enjoyable not serious two hours

_Town on Trial_ - There's a murder in suburbia and John Mills is going to bully everyone until he solves it. Competently made mystery with a decent set of actors, the whole thing is over in 96 minutes and the pace that it goes at is in its favour. It's no great classic but it is a well made piece of work.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 12, 2021)

Watched a few miniseries on Britbox as my subscription is nearly running out.

Birdsong - enjoyed the trench scenes. Not mad on the rest of it

The Naked Civil Servant - quite witty hard to imagine life like that for me, so an interesting insight. 

Now - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - one of the finest bond films, in my top 3, great script, the best theme music, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas are superb, though a terrible actor to play Bond.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _The Last Adventure_ - Another film that probably could not be made now, but in this case that is not a necessarily a good thing. Pilot Alain Delon, inventor and drag car racer Lino Ventura team up with would be artist Joanna Shimkus team up to get some gold from a plane that crashed off the African coast. The film has three parts, first in France where the team has a series of misfortunes, then in Africa where they get the gold, then back in France where people try to steal the gold off them - all this happens in 113 minutes. It should be a rushed, mess but somehow - good acting, sharp direction/editing - it hangs together and while absolutely silly is great fun. Loads of faces/names from French film turn up. Definitely recommend if you want an enjoyable not serious two hours


The Last Adventure is my favourite film, which hardly anybody knows. It came out as the French New Wave was in full swing, which it didn't fit and it was dimissed, though it has developed a cult reputation since. I first saw it as a kid and it made a huge impression on me. I don't know another film which dares such a drastic change of tone half way through and it kind of broke my heart. The first half is a light, romantic comedy adventure and then it takes a thoroughly unexpected turn into tragedy and it becomes very bleak. Lovely score as well.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Sep 12, 2021)

Wrong turn. It’s like the 7th in series of cannibal hillbilly Appalachia bollocks franchise . I did a months worth of ironing whilst it was on.shite


----------



## nottsgirl (Sep 12, 2021)

Four More Days. Cost me £3.49 on YouTube. Wasn’t worth it.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 12, 2021)

The Big Chance 
 One for the "justifiably forgotten" file, alas. Henpecked husband and travel agency clerk decides to steal the firm's money and abscond to Panama. Before he can board his BOAC flight to the canal zone, he meets a shipping magnate's wife who is also fleeing a boring marriage.

Then their flight is cancelled due to fog, plunging both of them into DANGER.

Not as good as it sounds.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2021)

Malignant, the new James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring)  horror film. I've always been a James Wan sceptic as find a lot of his work far too derivative and he's never encountered a horror movie cliche he didn't like, but this is my favourite film of his so far. The first two thirds feel rather stilted, like this is another killer-stalks-woman-who-he-has-a-psychic-connection-with thriller and it pretends to be a far more routine and serious horror film than it turns out to be. Two thirds in, the film pulls one of the most outrageous plot twists ever out of the hat, goes totally batshit and it becomes clear that this always was supposed to be tongue in cheek and OTT. The clunky dialogue and stiff acting which are initially off-putting, contribute to the campy vibe, the monster is truly grotesque and it climaxes with a fabulously demented show off between heroine and villain. The trailer doesn't give anything crucial away, btw.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 14, 2021)

Last night I watched “A Very British Coup”, it’s my last week of Britbox so being very selective as to what I watch. Captain Darling playing a security services shit was very good, as was the chap who played the lead.


----------



## Reno (Sep 14, 2021)

I'm watching the six part National Geographic documentary series _9/11 - One Day in America_, which is and will probably from now on remain the most comprehensive documentary made about the day itself. This is tremendously well put together and edited. It consists of witness interviews and an incredible amount of footage, much of it never made public before and it's the closest to being there, I've seen. It's both harrowing and utterly gripping and even after 20 years, it still doesn't feel entirely real. When watching it, it's still hard to believe it happened.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 14, 2021)

Watched The Pembrokeshire Murders on Britbox. Quite an interesting crime drama based on a real life event. I’d never heard of the case before. Keith Allen as a mass murderer convinced all too easily. Rather enjoyed the shots of the Pembrokeshire coastline. Never been to that part of Wales before.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 15, 2021)

DotCommunist said:


> not long after the court case ITV did a four parter, better than the films as I recall.
> still on the itvhub
> 
> 
> ...


Watched this tonight. Very good. Cheers for the recommendation


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 15, 2021)

Reno said:


> Malignant, the new James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring)  horror film. I've always been a James Wan sceptic as find a lot of his work far too derivative and he's never encountered a horror movie cliche he didn't like, but this is my favourite film of his so far. The first two thirds feel rather stilted, like this is another killer-stalks-woman-who-he-has-a-psychic-connection-with thriller and it pretends to be a far more routine and serious horror film than it turns out to be. Two thirds in, the film pulls one of the most outrageous plot twists ever out of the hat, goes totally batshit and it becomes clear that this always was supposed to be tongue in cheek and OTT. The clunky dialogue and stiff acting which are initially off-putting, contribute to the campy vibe, the monster is truly grotesque and it climaxes with a fabulously demented show off between heroine and villain. The trailer doesn't give anything crucial away, btw.




Yes. Watched this last night, loved it. Recommended it to my son with the warning he'll be watching through his hands and doing a lot of looking away.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 15, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Last night I watched “A Very British Coup”, it’s my last week of Britbox so being very selective as to what I watch. Captain Darling playing a security services shit was very good, as was the chap who played the lead.


 That would be the late, great Ray McAnally. One of Ireland's best actors. 

Even Keith Allen is good in AVBC.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 16, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> That would be the late, great Ray McAnally. One of Ireland's best actors.
> 
> Even Keith Allen is good in AVBC.


I didn’t recognise the name Ray McAnally, but it appears he died shortly after it was filmed, so I probably haven’t seen much of his work. I wasn’t so sure about his South Yorkshire accent, but it was a superb piece of acting:


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Watched this tonight. Very good. Cheers for the recommendation


that Michael Caine one, King of Thieves, is a bit shit. Not even Paul Whitehouse and Jim Broadbent could save it.


----------



## platinumsage (Sep 16, 2021)

Little Fires Everywhere - continuing my Reece Witherspoon binge, and it was very binge-worthy. Great acting by Reece and especially the teens, although I see the book wankers are all over Kerry Washington's portrayal of Mia.


----------



## rubbershoes (Sep 17, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Last night I watched “A Very British Coup”, it’s my last week of Britbox so being very selective as to what I watch. Captain Darling playing a security services shit was very good, as was the chap who played the lead.



I haven't seen that but the book's good


----------



## belboid (Sep 19, 2021)

T & P said:


> I wouldn’t describe Nine Perfect Strangers as anywhere near shit so far. I suspect the plot might become ludicrous but some of the characters and the performances alone make this a perfectly watchable series so far, if certainly nowhere near great.
> 
> Melissa McCarthy is fucking great in this imo


You were certainly right about the plot becoming ludicrous.


----------



## Reno (Sep 19, 2021)

The new Candyman, a direct sequel to the first film which thankfully ignores the previous sequels. It's pretty good and well directed, even if in terms of plot it feels a little thin.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 19, 2021)

Reno said:


> The new Candyman, a direct sequel to the first film which thankfully ignores the previous sequels. It's pretty good and well directed, even if in terms of plot it feels a little thin.


saw that on Friday, some ingenious murders, but not much else to it, and didn’t understand the ending, it felt like they missed that bit out


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 19, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> saw that on Friday, some ingenious murders, but not much else to it, and didn’t understand the ending, it felt like they missed that bit out


I genuinely think you, AS and Reno should do a film review podcast together, where first we get the diametrically-opposed yet equally crackpot, attention-challenged hot takes, before the grown-up steps up and presents a well-argued, substantiated critical perspective


----------



## T & P (Sep 19, 2021)

*Gunpowder Milkshake.* An action crime thriller that could roughly be described as a female John Wick assassin premise combined with women empowerment.

I would certainly recommend anyone who likes that genre, and John Wick in particular, to check it out. It was a lot of fun, with a solid cast and very well produced and visually pleasing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 20, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> I genuinely think you, AS and Reno should do a film review podcast together, where first we get the diametrically-opposed yet equally crackpot, attention-challenged hot takes, before the grown-up steps up and presents a well-argued, substantiated critical perspective


i’m guessing the grown up here is Reno but who are you?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 20, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> i’m guessing the grown up here is Reno but who are you?


An avid listener


----------



## Reno (Sep 20, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> saw that on Friday, some ingenious murders, but not much else to it, and didn’t understand the ending, it felt like they missed that bit out


I thought the ending was clear, though the film is closely tied to the original from 1992.

I don't understand titling horror sequels and prequels after the original film now.  First The Thing from 2011 did it and people still insist on it being remake even though it is a prequel, then Halloween (2018), now this and next will be Scream (2022) which really is Scream 5.


----------



## Reno (Sep 25, 2021)

Old, the latest one by M. Night Shyamalan. After a two decade creative decline of one awful film worse than the last one, he bounced back with the surprisingly fun low budget found footage film The Visit, which he followed up with Split, which I thought was one of the better horror films in recent years. It looked like he'd discovered a sense of humour, something previously lacking in his dour, ponderous genre films and it suited him. Then he made Glass, a sequel to Split (and Unbreakable) which was disappointing and with Old he's back to making laughably awful films again. This fits alongside The Happening or Lady in the Water. The Twilight Zone-style premise of a beach, which rapidly ages a group of tourists stranded there, is intriguing enough, the problem is the writing. None of the characters act in a way that feels remotely believable, even under the outlandish circumstances and a first rate cast give Star Wars-prequel level career worst performances, struggling with the awful dialogue. The twist is underwhelming and dumb when it finally comes, 



Spoiler



it's anti-science sentiment rings a false note in the pandemic ( admittedly unintentionally so as it was made before)



If you fancy a trashy/fun horror flick with a great twist, watch James Wan's Malignant instead.

I also watched the The White Lotus, the six part mini-series (now anthology, since it got renewed) by Mike White,  long one of the best writers working in US films and tv. Like Old it's set on a tropical resort, unlike Old it's brilliant and frequently had me laughing out loud. Something I always liked about White is that while he satirises the entitled behaviour of the rich and privileged, his characterisation is nuanced and nothing is ever entirely black and white. The entire cast is outstanding, the only downside is that I've had its weird-yet-beguiling theme tune stuck in my head ever since.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 25, 2021)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 

Despite the highly dubious treatment of women - either bedding or biffing them - it's an otherwise enjoyable romp from garish 1969, with lots of references to past (and future) Bond. And the sountrack! The cast! The ending!


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Sep 25, 2021)

_The Dead Don't Die_ (2019), Jim Jarmusch's latest - fun and silly with an amazing cast, but ultimately it didn't really go anywhere.


----------



## Elpenor (Sep 27, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
> 
> Despite the highly dubious treatment of women - either bedding or biffing them - it's an otherwise enjoyable romp from garish 1969, with lots of references to past (and future) Bond. And the sountrack! The cast! The ending!


One of my favourite Bond films. The look of fear and vulnerability on Lazenby’s face when he is being chased at the ski resort and then bumps into Tracey is quite unique for a Bond film.


----------



## Elpenor (Oct 1, 2021)

Been watching some Dutch crime thing with my Dad called The Blood Pact on All4 - quite good. Subtitles naturally and Dutch is a funny language to listen to.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 1, 2021)

No Country for Old Men - watched with my 13yo son, at his request. I'd seen it before, he hadn't. Both enjoyed it, and I'm hopeful this could start a Coen Brothers binge.

I've told him Fargo is up next. We'll work our way up to Miller's Crossing.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 1, 2021)

May Kasahara said:


> No Country for Old Men - watched with my 13yo son, at his request. I'd seen it before, he hadn't. Both enjoyed it, and I'm hopeful this could start a Coen Brothers binge.
> 
> I've told him Fargo is up next. We'll work our way up to Miller's Crossing.


Please do include the (Coen-penned but Raimi-directed) _Crimewave_ because it's a lot of cartoonish fun!


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 2, 2021)

I fucking love Crimewave. Where is it available?


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 2, 2021)

May Kasahara said:


> I fucking love Crimewave. Where is it available?


Prime Video £2.49


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 2, 2021)

When I am all alone, and feeling sad, I do a Brion James rat face to myself, and I am happy again 😁


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 2, 2021)

Shoplifters. A surprisingly chill couple of hours.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 3, 2021)

Coming to the end of Dear White People. It's quite different from what's gone before. There doesn't seem to be any hype about the show at all, in some ways, that's good. No spoilers.


----------



## Brainaddict (Oct 3, 2021)

Reno said:


> I've just rewatched Chinatown, because it is one of my favourite films and because I just read The Big Goodbye about the making of Chinatown by Sam Wasson, which is fascinating. While Robert Towne always got the credit for having written what is considered to be among the greatest screenplays ever, Polanski basically rewrote it, threw out a gazillion of unnecessary subplots focused the plot on Gittes and added the bleak ending which made it the classic the film is. Wasson writes that The Two Jakes is what Chinatown would have been like if the original Towne screenplay would have been shot the way it was. Anyways, if you read books about film, the book is highly recommended. It also covers the Manson murders in the first part about so much has been written and managed to bring some new insights to it and how it connects to the end of Chinatown.


Just watched Chinatown for the first time last night and I'm calling Emperors New Clothes. It's a decent film and entertaining, and the ending is brutally memorable. But I didn't think the script or story were all that (there are even continuity problems like never learning why Ida Sessions has the photos - no reason it would have made sense to plant them), it plods a little bit in places, the relationship with the police detective is confused and never clears up - also a key scene involves the 'hero' battering his lover to get the truth out of her, somehow offered as though its for her own good. It's a well-made film noir but in my book doesn't rise above the genre to become a really great film.


----------



## Indeliblelink (Oct 3, 2021)

Japan's Longest Day (1967) dramatization of the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and the 24 hours between the Emperor accepting they were going to agree to the Allies terms and it being broadcast to the population during which the Kyujo incident, an attempted military coup by sections of the army that didn't want Japan to surrender, took place.
Fantastic film with an all-star Japanese cast headed up by Toshiro Mifune and Chishu Ryu.


----------



## magneze (Oct 3, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Coming to the end of Dear White People. It's quite different from what's gone before. There doesn't seem to be any hype about the show at all, in some ways, that's good. No spoilers.


The musical numbers put me right off. The other series are good though.


----------



## Chz (Oct 3, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Coming to the end of Dear White People. It's quite different from what's gone before. There doesn't seem to be any hype about the show at all, in some ways, that's good. No spoilers.


Loved the first two series, but I think it fell apart big time in the third.


----------



## krtek a houby (Oct 3, 2021)

Chz said:


> Loved the first two series, but I think it fell apart big time in the third.



Yeah, the third is the weakest, so far. On the plus side, Brooke was awesome in it.


----------



## platinumsage (Oct 6, 2021)

Binged Godfather of Harlem season 2, even better than the first season.

Just realised the guy who plays Chin Gigante was Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket!


----------



## Reno (Oct 7, 2021)

Reno said:


> Malignant, the new James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring)  horror film. I've always been a James Wan sceptic as find a lot of his work far too derivative and he's never encountered a horror movie cliche he didn't like, but this is my favourite film of his so far. The first two thirds feel rather stilted, like this is another killer-stalks-woman-who-he-has-a-psychic-connection-with thriller and it pretends to be a far more routine and serious horror film than it turns out to be. Two thirds in, the film pulls one of the most outrageous plot twists ever out of the hat, goes totally batshit and it becomes clear that this always was supposed to be tongue in cheek and OTT. The clunky dialogue and stiff acting which are initially off-putting, contribute to the campy vibe, the monster is truly grotesque and it climaxes with a fabulously demented show off between heroine and villain. The trailer doesn't give anything crucial away, btw.



I watched this again, because I showed it to a friend. This film appears to be divisive and I can see why some think this is a bad film but I believe the clunky dialogue and bad acting are intentional. Similar to what Stuart Gordon did with Re-Animator and From Beyond, this is a deadpan body-horror comedy. For an hour and a bit Malignant appears to be a middling horror film about a woman who shares a pysychic connection with a creepy serial killer. Then the last act reveales what or who its antagonist is, which leads into the most joyfully batshit last 30 minutes in recent cinema. Again I sat there with a big grin.


----------



## Reno (Oct 7, 2021)

....


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 7, 2021)

Reno said:


> ....


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 7, 2021)

Reno said:


> I watched this again, because I showed it to a friend. This film appears to be divisive and I can see why some think this is a bad film but I believe the clunky dialogue and bad acting are intentional. Similar to what Stuart Gordon did with Re-Animator and From Beyond, this is a deadpan body-horror comedy. For an hour and a bit Malignant appears to be a middling horror film about a woman who shares a pysychic connection with a creepy serial killer. Then the last act reveales what or who its antagonist is, which leads into the most joyfully batshit last 30 minutes in recent cinema. Again I sat there with a big grin.


Yea I enjoyed it after you posted it. Some genuinely scary bits...and watching the trailer again I thought I could easily rewatch it.


----------



## Reno (Oct 8, 2021)

The Night House, horror film with Rebecca Hall, which is quite good. Grief is a fertile ground for horror yet again as Hall plays a women who just buried her husband. Soon after the funeral it appears that there is presence in the house her husband had built for them and she finds out that he had secrets. Rebecca Hall is great and the film is an atmospheric slowburn, even if it turns out to be an artier take on 



Spoiler



the Final Destination movies.



David Bruckner, director of this is now working on a Hellraiser remake/reboot and I can see him being a good fit.


----------



## platinumsage (Oct 9, 2021)

Old Henry - a good solid Western with no surprises, except for the one which means you shouldn't about it before watching it.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 10, 2021)

_Bad Day at Black Rock_ - With miserable weather outside and after a not great week it was nice to revisit this. A great cast (Tracy, Ryan, Marvin, Borgnine, Walter Brennan) in a good looking film with no fat (only 81 mins!). Wonderfully enjoyable. If you have not seen it go and watch it.

_Man on a Swing_ - Not head of this before it showed up on KG, nor had I heard of the director Frank Perry (although I have seen _Mommie Dearest_) but after this I am tempted to check out some more of his work. A strange film, supposedly based on true events Cliff Robertson plays a sheriff who investgating a murder is approached by a supported psychic who wants to help (or hinder?). The ambiguity is very well constructed, the initial phases of the investigation and Robertson's performance (an actor I'm not always mad keen on) are low key, which works well with the contrast of Joel Grey's performance as the psychic (full of twitches, tics and voices). A interesting well made film that deserves to be better known.

_A Bullet is Waiting_ - Jean Simmons plays a tomboy on a farm who while waiting for her father (an ex-Oxford don who disgusted by war has chosen to farm in American west) to return has two men, a deputy and a criminal, drop in from a plane that is going down. A sort of psychological western noir, with lots of discussion of what is right and wrong between the three characters, it's a very 50s movie. I've seen it referred to as a poor man's _Naked Spur_ and that is not totally inaccurate, it is not of the same quality as Mann's film but it does look great - wonderful technicolour scenes. 

_What's New Pussycat_ - There are good reasons why this film is probably less famous than the Tom Jones theme song, it is a not particularly funny mess, and whereas there is not a space minute in _Bad Day at Black Rock_ this needs a very severe editing. Woody Allen is credited as the writer and there are some good Allen-esque jokes but I strongly suspect that the script went though a lot of revisions. O'Toole does a decent job as the lead, but Schneider is landed with a pig of role and Sellers is given far too free a leash. One to avoid.


----------



## T & P (Oct 14, 2021)

The39thStep said:


> This second season of Brassic is mint . Funniest British comedy I’ve seen for ages.


Third season is out!


----------



## Reno (Oct 18, 2021)

You Don't Nomi, a documentary about the initial critical annihilation and later re-assessment and eventual cult status of Paul Verhoeven's Vegas stripper epic Showgirls. I enjoyed it but then I love that film.


----------



## Sue (Oct 18, 2021)

Reno said:


> You Don't Nomi, a documentary about the initial critical annihilation and later re-assessment and eventual cult status of Paul Verhoeven's Vegas stripper epic Showgirls. I enjoyed it but then I love that film.


Oh Reno. It (Showgirls) is bloody awful . But each to their own and all.


----------



## Reno (Oct 18, 2021)

Sue said:


> Oh Reno. It (Showgirls) is bloody awful . But each to their own and all.


It's both awful and brilliant, its one of the funniest, most demented films I've ever seen.


----------



## Sue (Oct 18, 2021)

Reno said:


> It's both awful and brilliant, its one of the funniest, most demented films I've ever seen.


Did you watch Burlesque? Reminded me of Showgirls but worse though with added Cher.


----------



## Reno (Oct 18, 2021)

Sue said:


> Did you watch Burlesque? Reminded me of Showgirls but worse though with added Cher.


I quite enjoyed Burlesque but it's no Showgirls.  I'll draw the line at Striptease with Demi Moore but then so does the documentary.


----------



## Reno (Oct 18, 2021)

I'm not much of a bad movie connoisseur, something like The Room bores me after 20 minutes as it stays bad in exactly the same way all the way through. Showgirls is a mixture of bad writing (how much coke was Joe Eszterhas doing at the time ?) and great directing by Paul Verhoeven. The film looks gorgeous and it moves along perfectly. I find this All-About-Eve-on-meth wildly entertaining, while constantly going wtf at the dialogue and Berkley's bizarre, yet somehow I’m brave performance. There is a young, beautiful actress going to Klaus Kinski levels of deranged intensity at the centre of the film and it's a car crash of a performance which makes me sit open mouthed through the entire thing.  Gina Gershon knows that she is in one of the campest films ever made and she channels ever drag queen she's ever watched. I mean...it's great !


----------



## Sue (Oct 18, 2021)

I went to see The Room at the Prince Charles (where it's a bit of an event thing) as part of a double bill with The Disaster Artist. It was indeed truly dreadful and in an 'absolutely nothing at all to recommend it' kind of way. I was amazed by all the people there who'd obviously seen it loads of times and were shouting out dialogue and throwing plastic spoons and all that. I mean out of all the films ever made, why would you waste your life watching that loads of times...?  

(It was also interesting to note the difference in production values even when The Disaster Artist was reproducing scenes from The Room.)


----------



## Reno (Oct 18, 2021)

Sue said:


> I went to see The Room at the Prince Charles (where it's a bit of an event thing) as part of a double bill with The Disaster Artist. It was indeed truly dreadful and in an 'absolutely nothing at all to recommend it' kind of way. I was amazed by all the people there who'd obviously seen it loads of times and were shouting out dialogue and throwing plastic spoons and all that. I mean out of all the films ever made, why would you waste your life watching that loads of times...?
> 
> (It was also interesting to note the difference in production values even when The Disaster Artist was reproducing scenes from The Room.)


I haven't seen the film, but I read the book The Disaster Artist and that made me laugh out loud several times. I only checked out The Room afterwards, alone at home without the benefit of alcohol and I didn't even make it to the end.


----------



## Sue (Oct 18, 2021)

Reno said:


> I haven't seen the film, but I read the book The Disaster Artist and that made me laugh out loud several times. I only checked out The Room afterwards, alone at home without the benefit of alcohol and I didn't even make it to the end.


I thought The Disaster Artist was really good (haven't read the book though.)


----------



## Idris2002 (Oct 18, 2021)

Over the weekend we watched a couple of DVDs that were discs three & four in an Orson Welles boxset. . . turns out he's only in either of them for no more than five minutes (we have Lady from Shanghai and Citizen Kane still to watch, so all's well on that front).

Waterloo

Not famous, but maybe it should be? A literal cast of thousands reenact the famous battle. Christopher Plummer is suave and sophisticated as Welly, and not once do you expect him to burst into song. Rod Steiger, as the Corsican monster, slices the _jambon _thickly. Welles, alas, is forgettable as the "official" French king. Battle scenes intense. 

A Man for All Seasons

OW gets a bit more screen time as Cardinal Wolsey. This is all very good, and a (rare?) case of a stage play transferring effectively to the big screen. Scofield is damn good as Thomas More, communicating well that his obstinacy is rooted in principle.  We're not quite at the point where Henry the Eighth will be seen simply as a monster, but he is an ass. Leo Mckern and John Hurt lend support in crucial roles (Thomas Cromwell and Richard Rich, respectively).


----------



## Sue (Oct 18, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Over the weekend we watched a couple of DVDs that were discs three & four in an Orson Welles boxset. . . turns out he's only in either of them for no more than five minutes (we have Lady from Shanghai and Citizen Kane still to watch, so all's well on that front).
> 
> Waterloo
> 
> ...


Well you'll definitely get more OW in The Lady from Shanghai and Citizen Kane. (The former has Welles' Oirish accent but also the fabulous Rita Hayworth so swings and roundabouts.


----------



## ska invita (Oct 19, 2021)

Spartacus (1960) 2015 digital restoration <looks lush and with previously cut scenes (oysters and snails) restored.
Something I hadnt noticed from watching previously (years ago) is the narrative that the bigger the slave rebellion gets the more fascistic Rome becomes.
The "exodus" scenes of thousands of ex-slaves traipsing across italy are really breathtaking - you just dont get that scale anymore without it being CGI


----------



## ska invita (Oct 19, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> Waterloo
> 
> Not famous, but maybe it should be? A literal cast of thousands reenact the famous battle. Christopher Plummer is suave and sophisticated as Welly, and not once do you expect him to burst into song. Rod Steiger, as the Corsican monster, slices the _jambon _thickly. Welles, alas, is forgettable as the "official" French king. Battle scenes intense.


This appeals to me...just seen theres a 1080 upload of it on youtube at the moment


----------



## Reno (Oct 19, 2021)

Halloween Kills, the middle film in David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy, a franchise which, starting with the 1978 classic, now has three alternate timelines. Despite starring Jamie Lee Curtis being and Gordon Green having on occasion shown talent, these just aren't very good. Apparently it cleared up at the box office despite poor to middling reviews and we can look forward to Halloween Ends next year but I'm almost certain it won't. 


...and I'll probably still watch it.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 21, 2021)

_High Sierra_ - Bogart's big breakthrough hard and cynical with top support from Ida Lupino. Still great after the third time of watching

_Colorado Territory_ - Raoul Walsh remakes his own _High Sierra _moving the genre to noir/(western) to western/(noir), Joel McCrea replaces Bogart and Virginia Mayo takes over the Ida Lupino role. It's a decent film and the shift of genre keeps things interesting. But it does not quite stand up to the original.

_Bang Boom Bang AKA a Sure Thing_ - Not the John Cusack movie but a German comedy action flick. The action is weak and the comedy is mixed some nice dry touches with some sledgehammer rubbish. The plot has a lazy stoner having to come up with some money fast to cover his former partner's share of the heist that he has spent while his partner was in jail. There are a number of other intersecting strands. Not really one I'd bother with personally, if you want some Germanic comedy action you'd be better off watching some Wolfgang Mumberger.

_Pushover_ - not from the top draw of noir but with more than enough to recommend it. Fred MacMurray recycles his _Double Indemnity_ role and Kim Novak is rather good as the the femme fatale drawing him into trouble. The set up of the locating the action in the apartment block during a stakeout keeps things on edge.

_The Lost Command_ - Strange US/European collaboration, Anthony Quinn is a colonel in the French paratroop regiment who unlike his commanding officers he's risen though the ranks and knows how to fight (as so often is the case). The film starts as with the French being driven out of Vietnam before Quinn, Alain Delon and co head for Algeria. Its not a pretty average film despite the quality of the cast, the most interesting thing is that this was released the same year, and covers the same sort of story, as _The Battle of Algiers._ There's a gulf both artistic and political between the two films but there is some interest in the comparison.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Oct 21, 2021)

Watched _Uncut Gems_ (2019) tonight on Netflix as part of my new "Thursday night is movies-my-wife-doesn't-want-to-watch-with-me night". Really liked it, great performance from Sandler and a brilliantly tense third act. The ending caught me completely by surprise, and the final fake-out was really well done. 9/10


----------



## Sue (Oct 21, 2021)

Really liking Justified on All4. Based around an Elmore Leonard modern day marshall with an old fashioned cowboy vibe. Great dialogue and storylines and excellent acting. Also interesting to see a side of the US (rural poor Kentucky) that you never normally see. Highly recommended.


----------



## Elpenor (Oct 21, 2021)

Sue said:


> Really liking Justified on All4. Based around an Elmore Leonard modern day marshall with an old fashioned cowboy vibe. Great dialogue and storylines and excellent acting. Also interesting to see a side of the US (rural poor Kentucky) that you never normally see. Highly recommended.


That sounds right up my street. I will suggest to my Dad as I reckon he’ll like it too.

I’ve been enjoying Deadwood a huge amount.


----------



## Sue (Oct 21, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> That sounds right up my street. I will suggest to my Dad as I reckon he’ll like it too.
> 
> I’ve been enjoying Deadwood a huge amount.


I'm halfway through season 4 so a season and a half to go. It's also got excellent baddies.


----------



## Reno (Oct 22, 2021)

Four Hours at the Capitol, an HBO documentary about the rioting at the Capitol on the 6th of January. The fact that it gives a voice to far right nutjobs and conspiraloons without comment or context is rather disturbing, but that is probably the reason why they got hold of all the new footage, some of which is shockingly violent. The "evenhanded" approach did stick in my craw though, like making a documentary about IS/Daesh where they get to make their case for sawing people's heads off without being challenged. On the other hand you get the undiluted crazy of these people.


----------



## MrCurry (Oct 22, 2021)

Reno said:


> Four Hours at the Capitol, an HBO documentary about the rioting at the Capitol on the 6th of January. The fact that it gives a voice to far right nutjobs and conspiraloons without comment or context is rather disturbing, but that is probably the reason why they got hold of all the new footage, some of which is shockingly violent. The "evenhanded" approach did stick in my craw though, like making a documentary about IS/Daesh where they get to make their case for sawing people heads off without being challenged. On the other hand you get the undiluted crazy of these people.


If you’re HBO, operating in a country split around 50/50 between two opposing parties whose supporters mainly hate the other side and think they’re crazy, even handed is probably all you can do.


----------



## Reno (Oct 22, 2021)

MrCurry said:


> If you’re HBO, operating in a country split around 50/50 between two opposing parties whose supporters mainly hate the other side and think they’re crazy, even handed is probably all you can do.


50% of the population didn't violently storm the Capitol though and I would classify those who did as right wing terrorists. There is a long history of going easy on right wing terrorists in the US and in many other countries.


----------



## MrCurry (Oct 22, 2021)

Reno said:


> 50% of the population didn't violently storm the Capitol though and I would classify those who did as right wing terrorists. There is a long history of going easy on right wing terrorists in the US and in many other countries.


Indeed.


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 22, 2021)

Watching the Blair Witch Project with my son. It remains a very effective film.


----------



## pbsmooth (Oct 22, 2021)

The Big Lebowski, again. Just brilliant every time.


----------



## Reno (Oct 23, 2021)

_How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying_, the 1967 film of the hit 1961 Broadway musical. I'd never watched this before and the film is now relatively obscure as it was a flop at the time, but it was great fun even if it runs out of steam towards the end.

It's a corporate satire about a window cleaner who one day steps into a NYC office building he is working on and then manipulates his way from the mail room to the top of the company. This is broad and cartoonish but in a way that works, with very precise performances (much of the cast were in the stage show) and the art direction is an eye popping Technicolor version of 60s modernism.

This must have been a huge influence on both the Coen's _The Hudsucker Proxy_ (my favourite film of theirs)  and on _Mad Men _(my favourite tv series). _The Hudsucker Proxy_ has a similar plot about how a nobody makes his way to the top of the corporate ladder and the physical comedy is very similar. Robert Morse, the lead of this film, later played a senior partner on _Mad Men_, which can't be an accident.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 24, 2021)

Surge - Mentioned in the Netflix thread. An airport security officer descends into a psychotic episode. As intense as Uncut Gems. Ben Whishaw gives a great performance and the camerawork is really disorientating.

County Lines - follows a 14 year old kid drawn into exploitation as a drugs courier. It felt a bit rushed in terms of how the kid was groomed but otherwise felt realistic enough. The kid in the lead role was good and as a film to highlight the issue it works.



Spoiler



If I had one criticism of it it would be the 'happy ending' that most kids who get involved in CL don't get.


----------



## Reno (Oct 24, 2021)

I watched this Kiwi thriller last night, only knowing that it got good reviews at various film festivals. It's about a psychopath and his side kick who abduct and then torment a family who were out on a day trip. It is very well directed and acted and it is the most tense and harrowing thriller/horror film I've seen in a while. I'll recommend it with reservations, this is for you if you thought Funny Games was too upbeat and light hearted.


----------



## Sue (Oct 24, 2021)

Reno said:


> I watched this Kiwi thriller last night, only knowing that it got good reviews at various film festivals. It's about a psychopath and his side kick who abduct and then torment a family who were out on a day trip. It is very well directed and acted and it is the most tense and harrowing thriller/horror film I've seen in a while. I'll recommend it with reservations, this is for you if you thought Funny Games was too upbeat and light hearted.
> 
> View attachment 293998


I might give that a miss, despite its merits...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 24, 2021)

Reno said:


> this is for you if you thought Funny Games was too upbeat and light hearted.
> 
> View attachment 293998


...And there's the quote for the poster 👍


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 25, 2021)

Last Night. Been meaning to watch it for ages, and a quiet moment presented itself.


----------



## T & P (Oct 25, 2021)

*50 States of Fright.* A new anthology horror series that feature a tale inspired by local folklore from each of the fifty States.

Very watchable. The stories so far have been decent enough (and far better than the recent Creepshow and American Horror Stories anthologies), and the format also makes it very easy to watch, if an unusual one. Each tale has a total running time of around 20-25 minutes, and it’s split into three episodes. So each short instalment leaves you wanting to check the next one. It’s on Roku.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Oct 29, 2021)

_Malcolm X_ (1992) - almost three-and-a-half hours long, but somehow never seems to drag. Great performances (apart from Spike, who needs to stop casting himself in his movies).


----------



## LeytonCatLady (Oct 29, 2021)

"Thanks for the Memory" and "Stasis Leak" from Red Dwarf, second series. In TFTM, Rimmer drunkenly confides in Lister that he regrets being so career obsessed and letting his love life fall by the wayside - so Lister gives him eight months of his memory! 

SL, self explanatory, they find a stasis leak which enables them to go back into the past. The plan is to warn their crewmates of the radiation leak that wiped everyone out, but as with most sitcom plots, it doesn't quite go to plan.


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## Buddy Bradley (Oct 29, 2021)

LeytonCatLady said:


> "Thanks for the Memory" and "Stasis Leak" from Red Dwarf, second series. In TFTM, Rimmer drunkenly confides in Lister that he regrets being so career obsessed and letting his love life fall by the wayside - so Lister gives him eight months of his memory!
> 
> SL, self explanatory, they find a stasis leak which enables them to go back into the past. The plan is to warn their crewmates of the radiation leak that wiped everyone out, but as with most sitcom plots, it doesn't quite go to plan.


I fondly remembered those episodes, so went to rewatch them only to discover that Netflix removed all of Red Dwarf back in June.


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## LeytonCatLady (Oct 29, 2021)

Buddy Bradley said:


> I fondly remembered those episodes, so went to rewatch them only to discover that Netflix removed all of Red Dwarf back in June.


What?! That's criminal. I'm so glad I kept all my DVDs.


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## The39thStep (Oct 30, 2021)

No Sudden Move . Steven Soderberghs recent period crime heist set in the States in the 1950s is superbly well acted , well written  and well casted. It’s key is the understated but calculated ambition of some small time thieves/ gangsters who come across an opportunity in a wider web of larger players. The middle bit gets a little complex and sprawling in a number of different sub plots and excursions but the ending or series of endings round this film off well and sets crime in a bigger context .
Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.


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## rubbershoes (Nov 1, 2021)

May Kasahara said:


> Last Night. Been meaning to watch it for ages, and a quiet moment presented itself.



Which one? The Kiera Knightley 2010 romance or the 1998 end of the world black comedy?


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## May Kasahara (Nov 1, 2021)

rubbershoes said:


> Which one? The Kiera Knightley 2010 romance or the 1998 end of the world black comedy?


The latter. It was good, although inevitably amplified my own apocalypse feelings.


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## hash tag (Nov 2, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Been watching some Dutch crime thing with my Dad called The Blood Pact on All4 - quite good. Subtitles naturally and Dutch is a funny language to listen to.


Have just launched straight into series 2 on all 4 having completed series 1 last night cheers Elpenor


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## Elpenor (Nov 2, 2021)

hash tag said:


> Have just launched straight into series 2 on all 4 having completed series 1 last night cheers Elpenor


Glad you’re enjoying it


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## hash tag (Nov 2, 2021)

We have just discovered Wout. What a charmer, not to mention estate agent.


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## farmerbarleymow (Nov 2, 2021)

The Towering Inferno.


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## Idris2002 (Nov 3, 2021)

farmerbarleymow said:


> The Towering Inferno.


It's so long since I saw it, I'd forgotten that Steve McQueen was in it.


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## LeytonCatLady (Nov 3, 2021)

Idris2002 said:


> It's so long since I saw it, I'd forgotten that Steve McQueen was in it.


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## Buddy Bradley (Nov 4, 2021)

May Kasahara said:


> The latter. It was good, although inevitably amplified my own apocalypse feelings.


Is that the one about cab drivers, with Winona Ryder and that excellent Austrian (or maybe German) actor whose name I can never remember but played the father in Shine?

I watched Oscar winner _Spotlight _(2015) tonight. Lots of serious men having serious conversations and looking serious in a newsroom that apparently only employs one woman. It was well done, and Liev Schreiber was surprisingly good, even though I think _The Big Short_ should have probably won Best Picture that year.


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## May Kasahara (Nov 4, 2021)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Is that the one about cab drivers, with Winona Ryder and that excellent Austrian (or maybe German) actor whose name I can never remember but played the father in Shine?


No, that's Night On Earth. Which I also haven't yet seen.


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## Elpenor (Nov 5, 2021)

hash tag said:


> We have just discovered Wout. What a charmer, not to mention estate agent.


He is particularly vile. Marius is my one of my favourite characters across any show.


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## hash tag (Nov 5, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> He is particularly vile. Marius is my one of my favourite characters across any show.


We have now done part 4, series 2. Missing the first girlfriend, not keen on the new one. An interesting twist developing which sees Kitty getting in to trouble as well this time.


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## Elpenor (Nov 5, 2021)

hash tag said:


> We have now done part 4, series 2. Missing the first girlfriend, not keen on the new one. An interesting twist developing which sees Kitty getting in to trouble as well this time.


I wasn’t a fan of the new girlfriend, but I think her character is meant to be a bit cold.


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## T & P (Nov 7, 2021)

Untitled Horror Movie. Paranormal horror-comedy-ish using a similar format to Host (shit happens while the main characters talk on a Zoom call). Wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. Watchable but nowhere near as good as Host.


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## T & P (Nov 7, 2021)

Most Dangerous Game. Series starring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz about a desperate man agreeing to take part in a deadly game for money. For what it’s worth it came out last year so no Squid Game copycat,

Haven’t finished it yet but so far quite watchable. The one annoying thing is the episode format. Each one is just about ten minutes long, and whereas it certainly helps keeping you hooked, this thing is only 15 episodes long- so they’ve basically made a film and packaged it as a series.

Seems pointless. Second time I see Roku doing the format.


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## DaveCinzano (Nov 7, 2021)

T & P said:


> Most Dangerous Game. Series starring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz about a desperate man agreeing to take part in a deadly game for money. For what it’s worth it came out last year so no Squid Game copycat,
> 
> Haven’t finished it yet but so far quite watchable. The one annoying thing is the episode format. Each one is just about ten minutes long, and whereas it certainly helps keeping you hooked, this thing is only 15 episodes long- so they’ve basically made a film and packaged it as a series.
> 
> Seems pointless. Second time I see Roku doing the format.


_Caïd_ AKA _Dealer_ on Netflix did similar, but the conceit of that kind of worked well.


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## Chz (Nov 8, 2021)

T & P said:


> For what it’s worth it came out last year so no Squid Game copycat,


The story came out in 1924, so I think they're safe there.


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## T & P (Nov 8, 2021)

As far as funny, clever, well written incisive comedy goes, *Immoral Compass* is just fucking brilliant. It’s only been out for five days but every single review so far is not just positive 5/5 in most cases. On Roku and a very strong recommendation from me.

Written by stand-up comedian & actor Bill Burr, whom some of you might recognise as the former Imperial soldier from The Mandalorian who appears in the spaceship prison episode in S1 and then gets recruited for a mission at the end of S2.

Anyway, Ten very short ludicrously easy-to-watch episodes and if you can find it you’d be mad not to give it a try.


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## hash tag (Nov 9, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> He is particularly vile. Marius is my one of my favourite characters across any show.


Sophie was introduced to the children far too soon in the relationship, yet alone sleeping over at Hugo's. Now up to 2. 7.


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## redsquirrel (Nov 11, 2021)

_The Last of Sheila_ - a smart, funny, well thought mystery/thriller penned by Anthony Perkins and Steven Sondheim and with a top cast (James Mason, James Coburn, Ian McShane, Dyan Cannon). Plot is that millionaire movie producerJames Coburn's wife Shelia was killed in a hit and run accident, a year later he brings together his friends (who may or may not be involved in the hit and run) on his yacht for a series of games where people's secret's will be revealed. Only some sister turns start to take place.

Considering the cast and the writers I'm surprised this is not better know. The major flaw it does have is it's very disturbing view of the secrets we have a shoplifter, a homosexual, an ex-con and _a child molester_! To any modern audience one of those things is definitely not like the others. But apart from that (big) flaw this is a clever film and well worth watching.


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## belboid (Nov 11, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> Only some sister turns start to take place.


Anna Freudian slip?


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## DaveCinzano (Nov 11, 2021)

Emma Freudian _Pillow Talk_


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## inva (Nov 11, 2021)

JSA Join Security Area
Park Chan-wook film from 2000, murder investigation in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea by a 'neutral investigator' played by Lee Young-ae (who I didn't actually recognise from Lady Vengeance to begin with but I did recognise her voice, it's a strong and measured performance by her though) and finds all kinds of lines being crossed - lots of shots of things being trod on.

It has some of Park's flashy style but pared back compared with what would follow, and really this is a taut thriller where our knowledge of the outcome and the split structure causes the tension to wind and unwind very effectively throughout. A good film, really glad I got round to watching it.


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## Elpenor (Nov 11, 2021)

hash tag said:


> Sophie was introduced to the children far too soon in the relationship, yet alone sleeping over at Hugo's. Now up to 2. 7.


Yes all a bit rushed.


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## krtek a houby (Nov 12, 2021)

Finished season 2 of *Pose*. Anybody else watching this?

Still a few questions to be answered, wonder if they will be addressed in the final season?

Anyway, a heartwarming/moving/funny/tragic look at the African-American LGBT NYC "ball culture" of the early 90s.  Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk hold back on the gore horror of AHS and (mostly) play it more straightforward in the OTT world that the characters of this unique culture inhabit. The horror is there, but it's the horror of prejudices and the devestation caused by AIDS.


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## Elpenor (Nov 12, 2021)

I watched series 2 of Save Me on Now TV. Decent programme and good support cast but I’m not convinced by Lennie James’ acting. Stephen Graham is good as a paedo trying to resist temptations.


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## inva (Nov 13, 2021)

The Little Stranger
2018 supernatural mystery of sorts directed by Lenny Abrahamson based on a novel by Sarah Waters. Set post WW2, Domnhall Gleeson plays a doctor from a working class background who is increasingly drawn into the declining upper class Ayres family played by Charlotte Rampling, Ruth Wilson and Will Poulter. The aristocratic decay and nicely paced building of paranormal elements creates a real unsettling feel, and the slow twisting of the narrative is hugely effective. A subtle and character focused film that treads familiar ground in an unusual way.

I thought Gleeson and Wilson's performances in particular were both really excellent. Might try and pick up the book some time.


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## Elpenor (Nov 13, 2021)

I’ve started Show me a Hero which is superb. Public housing in a suburb just outside New York City in the 80s. Racism cloaked as protecting property value. A stellar cast including Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener, Alfred Molina and Winona Ryder. Written by the chap who did The Wire.


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## Buddy Bradley (Nov 13, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> I’ve started Show me a Hero which is superb. Public housing in a suburb just outside New York City in the 80s. Racism cloaked as protecting property value. A stellar cast including Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener, Alfred Molina and Winona Ryder. Written by the chap who did The Wire.


It's brilliant, and the ending is just so well done, you're in for a treat.


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## Elpenor (Nov 13, 2021)

Buddy Bradley said:


> It's brilliant, and the ending is just so well done, you're in for a treat.


I actually think I’ve seen it before on a plane. Oddly enough the plane was going to New York.


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## Elpenor (Nov 13, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> I’ve started Show me a Hero which is superb. Public housing in a suburb just outside New York City in the 80s. Racism cloaked as protecting property value. A stellar cast including Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener, Alfred Molina and Winona Ryder. Written by the chap who did The Wire.


It’s disconcerting how much he looks like a 90s Dave Quinnan from The Bill


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## DaveCinzano (Nov 13, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> It’s disconcerting how much he looks like a 90s Dave Quinnan from The Bill


Isaac, Molina or Simon?


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## Elpenor (Nov 13, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> Isaac, Molina or Simon?


Lol, Isaac


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## DaveCinzano (Nov 13, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Lol, Isaac


Phew, because the others are definitely more Tosh Lines and Frank Burnside 😅


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## krtek a houby (Nov 14, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> It’s disconcerting how much he looks like a 90s Dave Quinnan from The Bill



Uncanny

90s Dave Quinnan








Oscar Isaac


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## petee (Nov 14, 2021)

_Panic In The Streets_

timely.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 14, 2021)




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## Elpenor (Nov 14, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Uncanny
> 
> 90s Dave Quinnan
> 
> ...


If anything that supports my assertion


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## Buddy Bradley (Nov 14, 2021)

Since I was stuck in a hotel with nothing but Freeview, I watched the latest Fantastic Four film (or FANT4STIC, if you prefer) last night. The alternative origin story was actually quite interesting, but the fact that it just sort of fizzled out without any real final battle made for a terrible finale. Overall it was badly paced, and the lead actress was very wooden. Miles Teller was good though. 5/10


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## trabuquera (Nov 17, 2021)

*Bram Stoker's Dracula - *not the lurid, over-egged Francis Ford Coppola 1992 one with Gary Oldman but a much more low-key, low-budget but oddly effective 1974 version with Jack Palance (who has the cheekbokes to look Slavic and brings an unusual sort of quiet, almost silent, tragic dignity to it.) The film is dated and tonally odd but has some brilliantly creepy tableaux and it's from a whole different and much more serious world than the lurid campy shocks of the Hammer films treatments of the theme. You can see that Coppola ripped it off wholesale. Weird, baggy, not totally together - as always, the ladies' makeup is far too obviously 1970s not 1870s - but if you're a vampire completist this one is definitely worth a go.


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## inva (Nov 17, 2021)

Thieves Highway
"I don't know what you're talking about but I have a new respect for apples."
1949 film of post war disillusionment directed by Jules Dassin. Apparently I posted on this thread six years ago that I was planning to watch this soon, and only just got round to it. I shouldn't have waited so long it's excellent. Richard Conte plays war veteran Nick Garcos whose triumphant return home quickly turns sour and he finds himself up to his neck in the savage exploitative world of the apple business. It took a little while for this to really click with me but it turned out to be a tightly written and directed film with a similar kind of seething tone to Dassin's earlier film Brute Force - Garcos' worldliness from his years in the navy dissolves as he's thrown into a civilian life that doesn't keep its promises. It was let down a bit by the abrupt incrongruous ending which I assume must have been ordered by the studio but you can overlook that.

The interest shown in the work, the market and the exploitation behind something as innocuous as an apple gives a strong political edge and maybe more than the slightly thin revenge plot provides the real drive of the film. Unsurprisingly Dassin was blacklisted during the anti communist witch hunt a year or two later, as was at least one of the cast Morris Carnovsky, while another cast member Lee J. Cobb named names to the HUAC.

A particular highlight was the performance of Valentina Cortese who brings a kind of laconic haunted energy to her role. Her character could have strayed well into cliche but it's a credit to Cortese that it doesn't feel that way when you're watching. Although she gets unfortunately sold out by the ending too.

Anyway this was great, so far I haven't seen anything directed by Jules Dassin that hasn't been, really need to find more of his to watch.

Also, crushed hopes and corruption after WW2 resulted in a lot of brilliant films didn't it?


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## Chz (Nov 18, 2021)

Watched the Blu-Ray of _Nomadland_. 

Well that was just lovely, wasn't it? Downside being that the mrs now wants to buy a camper and live on the road.


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## platinumsage (Nov 18, 2021)

The Awakening - Apparently I've seen it before but had managed to forget everything including the twists at the end.


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## Supine (Nov 18, 2021)

Chz said:


> Watched the Blu-Ray of _Nomadland_.
> 
> Well that was just lovely, wasn't it? Downside being that the mrs now wants to buy a camper and live on the road.



Less keen on working in an amazon warehouse I’d imagine


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## Chz (Nov 18, 2021)

Supine said:


> Less keen on working in an amazon warehouse I’d imagine


I reckon she'd take it over her current job so long as it was seasonal-only. The question is what *I* would do, since I can't spend 8 hours on my feet without being heavily medicated.


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## Buddy Bradley (Nov 18, 2021)

Chz said:


> Watched the Blu-Ray of _Nomadland_.
> 
> Well that was just lovely, wasn't it? Downside being that the mrs now wants to buy a camper and live on the road.


We just watched that tonight as well (on Disney+). Just excellent, very moving. Well deserved Oscars.


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## farmerbarleymow (Nov 19, 2021)

Planning to watch Letter to Brezhnev tonight - downloaded it from youtube, and thanks to whoever it was who posted the film on here.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 19, 2021)

Just about to watch The Wild Gardener (live, but it will be on iplayer shortly).


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## Johnny Vodka (Nov 19, 2021)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Just about to watch The Wild Gardener (live, but it will be on iplayer shortly).



Ah, not the intended thread.


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## farmerbarleymow (Nov 20, 2021)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Letter to Brezhnev


A cracking film - forgot how much I loved that back when it was first out in the 80s.


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## krtek a houby (Nov 20, 2021)

farmerbarleymow said:


> A cracking film - forgot how much I loved that back when it was first out in the 80s.



Same here. Had a real crush on Alexandra Pigg who later went on to marry co-star Peter Firth.


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## platinumsage (Nov 21, 2021)

Wildlife - it was alright, but I expected more of it.


----------



## Gramsci (Nov 21, 2021)

Donbass (2018) - IMDb
					

Donbass: Directed by Sergey Loznitsa. With Tamara Yatsenko, Irina Zayarmiuk, Grigory Masliuk, Olesya Zhurakivska. In eastern Ukraine, society begins to degrade as the effects of propaganda and manipulation begin to surface in this post-truth era.




					www.imdb.com
				




Donbass a film about the war in Ukraine. Told in almost documentary style. Series of vignettes of life in Eastern Ukraine.

Its been called a black comedy. In which case its very black to end up as horrifying. Little of way in explanation.
(not a criticism. It is refreshing to see film where one isn't signposted to understand the film) Viewer is thrown into this world where nothing is quite as it seems.

Unlike Atlantis, another recent excellent film from Ukraine there is no hope or redemption at the end.









						Atlantis (2019) - IMDb
					

Atlantis: Directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych. With Andriy Rymaruk, Liudmyla Bileka, Vasyl Antoniak, Lily Hyde. A soldier suffering from PTSD befriends a young volunteer hoping to restore peaceful energy to a war-torn society.




					www.imdb.com
				




Sergey Loznitsa who made Donbass started out making documentaries. Been watching one about Stalinist show trial. Using footage of the time to show what it was like. Like Donbass it comes across as frightenely absurdist.

All on MUBI


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## nottsgirl (Nov 21, 2021)

Night Comes On (Mubi). Film about a girl released from prison who tries to rebuild her relationship with her sister and avenge her mother’s death. It was ok but not amazing.


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 21, 2021)

The Power of the Dog - a western but with no guns and not much happening, so it's not really a Western. Very slow and boring and makes little sense.

I’ve since read about the book it’s based on. Apparently the reason for all the alcoholism and murder etc is that Cumberbatch’s character is supposed to be frighteningly, sadistically terrible to everyone putting them in an appallingly stressful living situation. However that didn’t come across whatsoever, he just said a few mean things a few times, and this lack of dominating nastiness meant there was no tension and made the whole rationale for the ending incomprehensible.


----------



## inva (Nov 23, 2021)

The Deadly Affair
1966 spy film adaptation of John Le Carré's Call for the Dead directed by Sidney Lumet. The apparent suicide of a government official who was under suspicion of communist sympathies kicks off a mystery plot that unravels nicely before being satisfyingly tidied up by the end. Very well made and lots to like about this - strong cast especially a crumpled mopey James Mason and powerfully quiet Simone Signoret, as well as great cinematography I love the colour palette, all greens and greys it almost looks monochrome. Despite being fairly short it takes the time to flesh out the characters and introduce small details and almost incidental scenes which a lot of films probably would leave out but add a lot to this. A good watch.


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 24, 2021)

Spencer - bizarre diction by Stewart was so distracting I switched off after twenty minutes.


----------



## inva (Nov 25, 2021)

Quai des Orfèvres
1947 crime film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, his first after being banned for making films under the Nazi occupation. All sorts of suspicions and cross-purposes arise in the world of French music hall when a sleazy bourgeois is murdered and the resulting investigation closes in. I thought it was interesting and effective how each time suspicion was turned on a character it transformed how I viewed them in an unexpected way. Very much character driven and excels at that with well crafted dialogue and strong acting from all of the cast, probably often gets lumped in as noir but I didn't feel it ever really committed to that kind of tone. Technically a Christmas film so my first of the year  

Apparently one of the leads Suzy Delair only died last year aged 102.


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## Buddy Bradley (Nov 25, 2021)

_Swingers _(1996). Ridiculously young Jon Favreau writes, produces and stars in a story about deluded young actors in Hollywood chasing after women. I used to watch this all the time in the late 90s when I was young and single, but I never noticed how much of a Woody Allen vibe the whole thing has. It's a pity Favreau didn't really stick with writing - I'm tempted to check out _Made _(2001) which he also wrote and directed, because I really liked _Chef_ (2014).


----------



## The39thStep (Nov 25, 2021)

Buddy Bradley said:


> _Swingers _(1996). Ridiculously young Jon Favreau writes, produces and stars in a story about deluded young actors in Hollywood chasing after women. I used to watch this all the time in the late 90s when I was young and single, but I never noticed how much of a Woody Allen vibe the whole thing has. It's a pity Favreau didn't really stick with writing - I'm tempted to check out _Made _(2001) which he also wrote and directed, because I really liked _Chef_ (2014).


Liked Swingers and Chef was a great film


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## redsquirrel (Nov 26, 2021)

inva said:


> Quai des Orfèvres
> 1947 crime film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, his first after being banned for making films under the Nazi occupation. All sorts of suspicions and cross-purposes arise in the world of French music hall when a sleazy bourgeois is murdered and the resulting investigation closes in. I thought it was interesting and effective how each time suspicion was turned on a character it transformed how I viewed them in an unexpected way. Very much character driven and excels at that with well crafted dialogue and strong acting from all of the cast, probably often gets lumped in as noir but I didn't feel it ever really committed to that kind of tone. Technically a Christmas film so my first of the year
> 
> Apparently one of the leads Suzy Delair only died last year aged 102.


Loved this when I saw it last year


----------



## inva (Nov 26, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> Loved this when I saw it last year


Need to watch some more of Clouzot's films, that was the first I've seen I think.


----------



## Sue (Nov 26, 2021)

inva said:


> Need to watch some more of Clouzot's films, that was the first I've seen I think.


Oh, you're in for a treat. I'd go for Le Corbeau and Les Diaboliques next.


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## inva (Nov 26, 2021)

Sue said:


> Oh, you're in for a treat. I'd go for Le Corbeau and Les Diaboliques next.


I'll put them on the list, thanks!


----------



## Reno (Nov 27, 2021)

Last Night in Soho, the new Edgar Wright film. Wonderful first half, the recreation of 60s Soho is gorgeous and I loved the fluid camera work. Unfortunately the film takes a turn for the worse when it attempts to be a horror film in the second hour. After a plot twist towards the end which doesn't work, it completely falls apart. As a horror film it isn't scary and the villain played by Matt Smith is too underdeveloped to be menacing. Diana Rigg in her last film has the biggest role of the three 60s stars featured but her character turns out to be one of the films biggest problems, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp are wasted in nothing roles. Despite my dissappointment in how the film pans out, I still think it's worth watching for the rapturous first hour.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 27, 2021)

Just wanted to say glad that you are staying around on the film threads Reno

_Last Known Address_ - Policier starring Lino Ventura, no ground breaking stuff but Ventura is one of those actors that can make any just about any film watchable and here there is a decent script some nice cameos (is Paul Crauchet even not in these types of flicks?) and some decent characterisation. An excellent film for the cold, windy and rainy Saturday afternoon.

Sadly followed it up by watching _Falling Point_ - a Johnny Halliday vehicle that thinks it is profoundly more deep that it actually is. Halliday and his co-conspirators kidnap a young women who sees their faces and so needs to be disposed of. Only Halliday and the young woman have connected (don't ask how this is _art_ darling!) and he cannot do it. All but drifted off during it, best avoid.

_The Don is Dead_ - I've something of a soft spot for Richard Fleischer, _The Narrow Gauge_ and _Violent Saturday_ are top notch, and even his some of his b-fare can be entertaining enough, but this bad _Godfather_ rip off cannot be saved even with the talents of Anthony Quinn and Robert Forster. Skip it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Nov 27, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> Just wanted to say glad that you are staying around on the film threads Reno


Hear hear or is it here here?


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 27, 2021)

Oh meant to say that I watched _Wolfwalkers _a bit ago. Absolutely great, Tomm Moore's trilogy is a genuine stone cold classic set of films. I think _Song of the Sea_ might just pip _Wolfwalkers _but all three (_Secret of Kells_ being the third) are wonderful, charming and should be seen by kids and adults alike.


----------



## Sue (Nov 27, 2021)

Reno said:


> Last Night in Soho, the new Edgar Wright film. Wonderful first half, the recreation of 60s Soho is gorgeous. Then the film takes a turn for the worse when it attempts to be a horror film in the second half and after a plot twist towards the end which doesn't work, it completely falls apart. As a horror film it simply isn't scary and the villain played by Matt Smith is too underdeveloped to be menacing. Diana Rigg in her last film has the biggest role of the three 60s stars featured but her character is one of the films biggest problems, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp are wasted. Despite my dissappointment in how the film pans out, I still think it's worth watching for the rapturous first hour.
> 
> View attachment 298423


Haven't  seen it yet but it is on my list. A friend said something very similar.


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 27, 2021)

House on the Bayou - I’ve seen sillier and less entertaining horror movies.


----------



## ska invita (Nov 28, 2021)

THE SPINE OF NIGHT - not long out
7 years in the making independent animation feature made in rotoscope - live action then animated over, so you get really naturalistic body movements and facial expressions.

dark fantasy, psychedelia, nihilism, touch of steam punk, very violent, also kind of meditative, a bit of philosophy underpinning it all
got into it very much and grows as it goes along

not seen anything quite like it before
simultaneously retro and fresh
perfect for a dark winter night









						GORGONAUT
					

The Spine of Night - Where to watch




					www.gorgonaut.net
				












interesting interview with the makers here

so much work gone into it, clearly a labour of love, hopefully will become a cult favourite as it deserves some reward


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 28, 2021)

Reno said:


> Last Night in Soho, the new Edgar Wright film. Wonderful first half, the recreation of 60s Soho is gorgeous and I loved the fluid camera work. Unfortunately the film takes a turn for the worse when it attempts to be a horror film in the second hour. After a plot twist towards the end which doesn't work, it completely falls apart. As a horror film it isn't scary and the villain played by Matt Smith is too underdeveloped to be menacing. Diana Rigg in her last film has the biggest role of the three 60s stars featured but her character turns out to be one of the films biggest problems, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp are wasted in nothing roles. Despite my dissappointment in how the film pans out, I still think it's worth watching for the rapturous first hour.
> 
> View attachment 298423



Thank you for helping making mind up on this!


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 28, 2021)

inva said:


> The Deadly Affair
> 1966 spy film adaptation of John Le Carré's Call for the Dead directed by Sidney Lumet. The apparent suicide of a government official who was under suspicion of communist sympathies kicks off a mystery plot that unravels nicely before being satisfyingly tidied up by the end. Very well made and lots to like about this - strong cast especially a crumpled mopey James Mason and powerfully quiet Simone Signoret, as well as great cinematography I love the colour palette, all greens and greys it almost looks monochrome. Despite being fairly short it takes the time to flesh out the characters and introduce small details and almost incidental scenes which a lot of films probably would leave out but add a lot to this. A good watch.



Oh, this sounds great. Is it streaming or did you watch it on video?


----------



## inva (Nov 28, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Oh, this sounds great. Is it streaming or did you watch it on video?


I watched it on dvd   I had a quick look and couldn't see it available for streaming


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 28, 2021)

inva said:


> I watched it on dvd   I had a quick look and couldn't see it available for streaming


Thanks for checking. Will put it on wish list!


----------



## ska invita (Nov 28, 2021)

Cryptozoo - another rare indie feature animated film, not long released

Brilliant animation style, fantastic (literally) storyline, should be great, but although its not as enjoyable as I hoped its still a memorable and unique watch. Its from California...quite stonery I guess... Critics score a lot higher than audience score on Rottern Toms, and thats kind of right, from a critical point of view its brilliant, but the actual watching is a little less so. I expect Id enjoy it more the second time around (was a bit tired)













I hope the writer/director keeps making films as it is visionary










						Cryptozoo | Official Movie Website | A Magnolia Pictures Film | Starring Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan and Michael Cera | Own It On Blu-ray™ Or Digital HD
					

Featuring the voice talents of Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, and Grace Zabriskie, the film follows cryptozookeepers through a richly-drawn hallucinatory world as they struggle to capture a baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) and...




					www.cryptozoofilm.com
				




Good double feature with Spine of Night!


----------



## skyscraper101 (Nov 28, 2021)

House of Gucci - excellent cast, soundtrack, and thoroughly enjoyable. I’m not a fan of Lady Gaga’s music but she’s been excellent in both films I’ve seen her in.

Also I was initially concerned that they’re all playing Italians though it’s entirely in English (with varying degrees of Italian accenting going on) but I found it easy enough to get over.


----------



## platinumsage (Nov 29, 2021)

Little Accidents - well-acted but weak ending, it had good things going for it but the plot needed some oomph from about half way through.


----------



## hippogriff (Nov 29, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Thanks for checking. Will put it on wish list!


The Deadly Affair

I've got an .mkv file that I can put online for you to download if you want.


----------



## krtek a houby (Nov 29, 2021)

hippogriff said:


> The Deadly Affair
> 
> I've got an .mkv file that I can put online for you to download if you want.



It's grand, but many thanks for offering!


----------



## hash tag (Nov 29, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> I wasn’t a fan of the new girlfriend, but I think her character is meant to be a bit cold.


Have just finished series 2 and gone straight into series 3 of blood pact 😱😁


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 30, 2021)

Watched Boiling Point this afternoon. It's Stephen Graham as a head chef over the course of an evening.

90 minutes, one take. It's intense from the off, fast paced and the performaces are pretty good. I've never worked in a kitchen so no idea how realistic it is but there's a good range of characters that I could imagine people who work in the restaurant business might have come across. Would definitely recommend.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Nov 30, 2021)

Finally got round to seeing Revenge.  Thought it was okay, some very squirmy moments.  Thought The Nightingale was a far better recent example of a re-framing of those themes.


----------



## Reno (Nov 30, 2021)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Finally got round to seeing Revenge.  Thought it was okay, some very squirmy moments.  Thought The Nightingale was a far better recent example of a re-framing of those themes.


I thought The Nightingale was an overreach and it tackled its themes politics, race and gender without nuance, everything is predictable from the start. Compare it to The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, another historical Aussie revenge film, which isn't nearly as manipulative and it looks pretty clunky in comparison. Revenge on the other hand didn't pretend to be an important drama, it's a glossy take on an exploration film along the lines of I Spit On Your Grave and its lack of pretension made it far more enjoyable for me.


----------



## inva (Dec 1, 2021)

Confidence
1980 psychological/surveillance thriller directed by István Szabó. The last days of fascist rule in Hungary during WW2 provide the context for an intense character study of two strangers with resistance connections pushed together under the cover story of being a married couple. Found this totally gripping, its gloomy claustrophobic setting and close quarters camerawork draws you right into the kind of feverish emotions of these two characters (acted brilliantly by Ildikó Bánsági and Péter Andorai). Excellent film.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 1, 2021)

The Last Duel - pretty grim, dodgy accents (Americans pretending to be French without trying to mimic a French accent) and a rape scene we're asked to watch twice. But not delightfully super-medieval grim, so it's just kind of dull.


----------



## Sue (Dec 1, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> The Last Duel - pretty grim, dodgy accents (Americans pretending to be French without trying to mimic a French accent) and rape scene we're asked to watch twice. But not delightfully super-medieval grim, so it's just kind of dull.


A friend compared it to a poor man's _Rashomon_.


----------



## Chz (Dec 2, 2021)

_The Sweet Hereafter_
Ambulance chasing lawyer preys on small town after a school bus accident leaves a good portion of the town's children dead.
It's a critic's darling, but I remembered not caring for it that much 20+ years ago and thought I'd give it another try. (Mainly on the basis that we'd watched Sarah Polley's excellent biopic, and this was her first big role after Anne of Green Gables) No, I still don't get it. I mean, it's a very well put together film and there's no issue with the acting or anything like that. It just doesn't speak to me. It's meant to be full of Deepness on the Human Condition of Grief and all that jazz, but it didn't move me an inch. Maybe I'm just too cold hearted for it.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 2, 2021)

_Death Proof_ (2007) - despite being a big Tarantino fan, I'd never actually seen this before; for some reason (I think because it was created as part of the Grindhouse double-bill) I assumed it was only about an hour long rather than a full-length movie. Was actually pretty good, some great individual performances, and the last 20 minutes was some satisfying revenge fantasy. 8/10


----------



## Sue (Dec 2, 2021)

Buddy Bradley said:


> _Death Proof_ (2007) - despite being a big Tarantino fan, I'd never actually seen this before; for some reason (I think because it was created as part of the Grindhouse double-bill) I assumed it was only about an hour long rather than a full-length movie. Was actually pretty good, some great individual performances, and the last 20 minutes was some satisfying revenge fantasy. 8/10


I saw it at the cinema when it came out. Thought it was really really bad and really really boring. And the women's dialogue sounded completely wrong/phoney.

 (Apparently the shorter double bill version is better. At least it's shorter I guess.)


----------



## ska invita (Dec 3, 2021)

Sue said:


> I saw it at the cinema when it came out. Thought it was really really bad and really really boring. And the women's dialogue sounded completely wrong/phoney.
> 
> (Apparently the shorter double bill version is better. At least it's shorter I guess.)


I guess it was meant to sound phoney as its directly playing up to BMovie archetypes


----------



## ska invita (Dec 3, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Watched Boiling Point this afternoon. It's Stephen Graham as a head chef over the course of an evening.
> 
> 90 minutes, one take. It's intense from the off, fast paced and the performaces are pretty good. I've never worked in a kitchen so no idea how realistic it is but there's a good range of characters that I could imagine people who work in the restaurant business might have come across. Would definitely recommend.


have never worked in one either (only done dishwashing for corporate events)....are arsehole head chefs so common? fuck that shit.
this looks too stressful for me! That Champion Prick Gordon Jump Off A Cliff Please Ramsey has a lot to answer for, making staff abuse seem like the norm


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 3, 2021)

Belfast - twee twaddle with an overbearing soundtrack.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 3, 2021)

ska invita said:


> have never worked in one either (only done dishwashing for corporate events)....are arsehole head chefs so common? fuck that shit.
> this looks too stressful for me! That Champion Prick Gordon Jump Off A Cliff Please Ramsey has a lot to answer for, making staff abuse seem like the norm


I was telling some friends about it last nigth. One has a relative who's gone into cheffing over the past 2 years. After a couple of years doing school dinners and working at Betty's tea rooms in Harrogate he's moved onto a restaurant called Tatu. He's the most mild mannered fella but has had to start fronting up to people calling them cunts to establish himself as someone who won't be pushed about and bullied. He's in his 50s aswell, fuck that at that stage in life.


----------



## PricelessTrifle (Dec 3, 2021)

I started The Last Duel, but stopped around halfway in, as it was late - and honestly the more the story unfolded the more I feared an eventual failure of the righteous character, which would have proved a shitty precursor to my desperate endeavoring for some vague manner of functional human-like sleep, insomnia being the bane that it is (likeliest of my existence). I intend to finish it in the coming days, one of them..

that said it isn’t very good; but the actors are good. except ben affleck. fuck you ben affleck.


----------



## MBV (Dec 4, 2021)

Almost finished season two of Love Life (via non legit source) and I'm enjoying it more than the season one (Iplayer). The leader actor is superb.

A very easy watch.


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 5, 2021)

Watched two films from MUBI. Both low key and disturbing but imo very good films.









						Azor (2021) - IMDb
					

Azor: Directed by Andreas Fontana. With Fabrizio Rongione, Stéphanie Cléau, Carmen Iriondo, Juan Trench. Yvan De Wiel, a private banker from Geneva, goes to Argentina in the midst of a dictatorship to replace his partner, the object of the most worrying rumours, who disappeared overnight.




					www.imdb.com
				




Azor. Quiet urbane Swiss banker and his pushy wife go to Junta Argentina to work deals with the rich elite. Co swiss/Argentinian film. Co written by Swiss / Argentinian writers. Though from interview at end of film looks like the Argentinian writer rewrote the whole film.

This is Argentina in late 70s. Military have taken over. The Swiss banker finds himself out of his depth.

No violence on screen. Rich parties, meetings with the elite. Nothing is quite what it seems on surface and a sense of dread runs through the film. As director says there is direct reference to Conrad heart of darkness at the end. Its a film about evil. How an ordinary man can get drawn into it.

Well worth seeing. Despite the lack of action I found it engrossing. Some great set pieces. 









						The Trouble with Being Born (2020) - IMDb
					

The Trouble with Being Born: Directed by Sandra Wollner. With Lena Watson, Dominik Warta, Ingrid Burkhard, Jana McKinnon. Elli is an android programmed with memories that mean everything to her owner but nothing to her. The story of a machine and the ghosts we all carry within us.




					www.imdb.com
				




Premise of this film could have been really dodgy and exploitative. But becomes a rumination on loss and guilt. Very moving without being melodramatic.

The way the film is shot shows the deep isolation and loneliness of the characters.

Film starts with well off man and his "relationship" with his "daughter" who is an android. This film does take risks and the director pulls it off. Went into territory I was not expecting.

As Ive been watching Korean Netflix series going back to watch film makes me contrast film and TV series. Something about a film which is at slower pace. Runs with an idea. Without trying to overload one and hook one into the next series. Though I've liked the Korean series I've watched.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 7, 2021)

Final Account. Made.over the course of a decade, director Luke Holland travels Germany and Austria interviewing those who witnessed and/or played a role in, the atrocities of the second world war. Beginning with their indoctrination into Jungvolk and the Hitler youth it's easy to see how the nazi ideology was sold or forced upon them often against the wishes of their parents. As I was watching and thinking just that, the tone changed when a woman with a smile on her face spoke fondly of the songs she sang...and still did. From there the film becomes very interesting as people defend their roles and consistently claim they weren't involved or they didn't know what was happening, with a few exceptions. 

At one point an old man speaks to a group of teenage boys with their faces blurred out. My assumption is that they were a group thought to be at risk of involvement in neo Nazi activity. As he's trying to express his regret and guilt he's verbally attacked by one of the group for being weak minded and setting the wrong example. He's told he should be scared of Albanians ready to asault him. It's really uncomfortable viewing.

A very engaging documentary.. would recommend.


----------



## Sue (Dec 7, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Final Account. Made.over the course of a decade, director Luke Holland travels Germany and Austria interviewing those who witnessed and/or played a role in, the atrocities of the second world war. Beginning with their indoctrination into Jungvolk and the Hitler youth it's easy to see how the nazi ideology was sold or forced upon them often against the wishes of their parents. As I was watching and thinking just that, the tone changed when a woman with a smile on her face spoke fondly of the songs she sang...and still did. From there the film becomes very interesting as people defend their roles and consistently claim they weren't involved or they didn't know what was happening, with a few exceptions.
> 
> At one point an old man speaks to a group of teenage boys with their faces blurred out. My assumption is that they were a group thought to be at risk of involvement in neo Nazi activity. As he's trying to express his regret and guilt he's verbally attacked by one of the group for being weak minded and setting the wrong example. He's told he should be scared of Albanians ready to asault him. It's really uncomfortable viewing.
> 
> A very engaging documentary.. would recommend.


I was reading an article about this the other day and am keen to see it. Where did you get hold of it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 7, 2021)

Sue said:


> I was reading an article about this the other day and am keen to see it. Where did you get hold of it?


I think he got it off a naughty channel. It’s only out in a few posh cinemas here. If you’re in that Lundun, it’ll be on somewhere. 
My Everyman is showing it but I can sit on a big armchair and watch a big tv at home and not spend £13 to do so. And at home I won’t get interrupted constantly by other people having their smelly dinners brought in. So I shall wait for it to be streamed. 
Sorry, that turned into an embittered rant about Everyman and nowt to do with what you asked.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 7, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> I think he got it off a naughty channel. It’s only out in a few posh cinemas here. If you’re in that Lundun, it’ll be on somewhere.
> My Everyman is showing it but I can sit on a big armchair and watch a big tv at home and not spend £13 to do so. And at home I won’t get interrupted constantly by other people having their smelly dinners brought in. So I shall wait for it to be streamed.
> Sorry, that turned into an embittered rant about Everyman and nowt to do with what you asked.


Yea it's on the cinema HD app on my dodgy firestick.


----------



## Reno (Dec 7, 2021)

I've only seen two of Pablo Larrain's films and didn't get on with them, but I ended rather liking this. This film is very different from The Crown, less a conventional drama than a chilly mood piece, which means it's in my ball park. The film takes place over one Christmas with the in-laws where Diana comes to a decision. This has a very Stanley Kubrick quality and Sandringham is shot like the Overlook in The Shining. It's a little like a horror film and I suppose that's how the film feels about the royal family and their customs, ghouls stuck in time who perform an empty charade.

What really holds the film together is Kristen Stewart's performance of a woman on the verge. This Diana has seen many a Sandringham Christmas, she knows the routine and she wants out.  Initially Stewart takes some getting used to, she's not the first actor you'd imagine in the part but she has Diana's mannerisms down and this isn't an impersonation, she conveys a fully rounded character, the only one in the film and that's by design. She is the reason why this film improves over Jackie, Larrain's previous film about Jackie Kennedy in the immediate aftermath of JFK's assassination. Stewart is a more nuanced and a more subtle performer than Natalie Portman, Portman always strikes me as rather actorly. Even playing who was the most famous woman in the world, there is nuance and subtlety and even a sense of humor to Stewart's performance, you can read her every emotion on her face.

Those who get triggered by the subject matter and accent wankers need not apply but it's my 3rd favourite film of the year.

.


----------



## inva (Dec 7, 2021)

Classe Tous Risques
1960 French crime film directed by Claude Sautet, Lino Ventura's fugitive gangster tries to return with his family to Paris only to find the favours he hoped to cash in were not worth much in a world that's no longer the one he knew. It's well made with a very good performance by Ventura, has that great noir fatalism and manages to give a decent sense of menace to shots of little French cars pootling along coastal roads. I felt this must owe a lot to the work of Jacques Becker and is very much in the vein of those bleak, gritty 50s crime films. Made me think I'd like to explore that sort of pre new wave era more - I've got some Clouzots lined up but get the sense there's loads of good stuff out there.


----------



## MBV (Dec 7, 2021)

I watched this in advance of the director's latest film which is due out shortly called the Hand of God. 

The Great Beauty:



If you like seeing Rome look beautiful you will enjoy it.


----------



## Reno (Dec 8, 2021)

_Benedetta,_ the new Paul Verhoeven film, a biopic about a real 17th century nun who was imprisoned for having a relationship with another nun. I've always been a big Verhoeven fan (and _Showgirls_-apologist) but his nunsploitation pic neither works as period piece nor is it trashy enough to be a lot of fun. The film looks cheap and there is something dated about its provocations even if it sticks reasonably close to the records till it veers off into a sensationalist finale which didn't happen. Mild echoes of Ken Russell's _The Devils_ but not nearly as good.


----------



## T & P (Dec 8, 2021)

Rather enjoyed the first two episodes of *Yellowjackets*- a new 10-ep series on Sky about a girls ‘soccer’ team whose plane crashes in the wilderness, and judging by the snippets in the opening scenes, results in things getting pretty fucked up among the survivors.

Whereas the basic premise does so far feel like another reinvention of the Lord of the Flies, there is clearly more to it than that. The story is also told in two concurrently running timelines, alternating between the actual events in the 80s, and present day involving those who survived the ordeal.

Very solid casting and intriguing so far, so recommended based on the initial episodes.









						Yellowjackets
					

Synopsis:Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets




					www.rottentomatoes.com


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 9, 2021)

First episode of 4 part series, Landscaper's starring Olivia Coleman and David Thewlis in the real life tale of Susan and Christopher Edwards who disappeared to France after burying her parents in the garden. When they started running out of money years later he made contact with the police and they returned to England to face the consequences.

This is as good as I'd expected from such acting talent and very different from the usual true crime series. Susan is an old film fan, there's shots where the couple morph into black and white scenes and there's breaking of the 4th wall. It's very funny and has a good supporting cast mainly amongst the coppers, one of who says fuck a lot. Also appearing briefly is Jason Williamson of Sleaford mods.

 It's on the naughty channel so available on cinemaHD on your dodgy firestick... otherwise on HBO, wherever you find that?


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 9, 2021)

_Sicario _(2015), which was always on my gritty-geo-political-dramas-to-watch list (along with _Blood Diamond _and _Man on Fire_) but ultimately turned out to be a bit disappointing; well shot (Deakins, so of course) and acted (one of the first times I've been able to understand every word Benicio Del Toro says) but the plot never really contained any surprises.


----------



## trabuquera (Dec 9, 2021)

*Life of Crime: 1984-2020 *- a shocker in unexpected ways. Started out as a low-to-no-budget community film project in Newark, NJ, following around a pair of local petty crims - likely lads and pains in the ass but not master offenders. US society being what it is,  the next 36 years brought them through the poverty to prison pipeline, the carceral system, several different drug epidemics, health nightmares and terrible losses. The early years footage is quirky and shambolic and stilted; there are moments of very queasy near-exploitation and almost-fake-seeming interviews ... and as the tone gets bleaker and bleaker, several VERY VERY explicit and upsetting sequences on the physical and emotional horrors of all sorts of addiction. One of those docu's where you start asking yourself whether it's time for the maker to put down the camera and intervene as a human. But overall its heart is in the right place and it makes Requiem for a Dream look like the pretentious neurotic art-directed fever dream of these sorts of stories that it is. Hard-hitting isn't in it - still feel a bit shaken by it overall. Not 100% bleak throughout but the overall weight of damage and hurt is crushing. Also has one of the most devastating last-act twists I've ever seen. Worth it if you can catch it on Sky Documentaries (it was finished off with funding from HBO so might also be available in otehr places)


----------



## PricelessTrifle (Dec 10, 2021)

I finished The Last Duel. It was..good. A bit long. But it had the ending I’d feared it might not (and I didn’t already know the history) when I started it last week. So that was good. It was a pleasant sensation, seeing the rapist finally swallow that blade. I still wouldn’t necessarily highly recommend the film, I guess. There’s really only been one film in the last couple of years I‘ve recommended to others, that was The Lighthouse - which has become one of my absolute favorite movies. Another I’d recommend, if to a lesser degree, is The Hunt. It did a pretty great job at poking fun at both (insufferable) sides of American politics, and worked very well as a dark comedy. Other than that everything has been pretty meh. On the flip side, though, two movies I saw this year that I hated more than anything, were Mama and Vivarium; pointless, pretentious, confusing garbage. Not that this is a ‘movie recommendation’ thread; but I didn’t see one of those.

So, in conclusion.. go watch The Lighthouse if you haven’t already.


----------



## Reno (Dec 11, 2021)

The original Nightmare Alley, film noir about a carnival barker who becomes a successful stage magician thanks to the women he conspires with. Watched it before the inevitably overproduced Guillermo del Toro remake comes out. Hadn't seen it since my twenties, it's still good and Tyrone Power is excellent, though I'd remembered it ending 



Spoiler



with him actually biting the head off a chicken, which sadly doesn't happen.


----------



## Sue (Dec 11, 2021)

Reno said:


> The original Nightmare Alley, film noir about a carnival barker who becomes a successful stage magician thanks to the women he conspired with, before the inevitably overproduced Guillermo del Toro remake comes out. Hadn't watched it since my twenties, it's still good and Tyrone Power is excellent, though I'd remembered it ending
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ah, saw the trailer for the Del Toro version yesterday, didn't realise it was a remake. Must see if I can get hold of the original though as it sounds like my kind of thing.


----------



## Sue (Dec 11, 2021)

Reno said:


> Last Night in Soho, the new Edgar Wright film. Wonderful first half, the recreation of 60s Soho is gorgeous and I loved the fluid camera work. Unfortunately the film takes a turn for the worse when it attempts to be a horror film in the second hour. After a plot twist towards the end which doesn't work, it completely falls apart. As a horror film it isn't scary and the villain played by Matt Smith is too underdeveloped to be menacing. Diana Rigg in her last film has the biggest role of the three 60s stars featured but her character turns out to be one of the films biggest problems, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp are wasted in nothing roles. Despite my dissappointment in how the film pans out, I still think it's worth watching for the rapturous first hour.
> 
> View attachment 298423


Saw this yesterday and enjoyed it (I did go in with quite low expectations though.)  Reno's criticisms are absolutely valid but I enjoyed the 60s and modern day Soho location spotting and costumes enough to not care so much that the revelation near the end was pretty  and that Tushingham/Stamp were underused. I thought Matt Smith did well in the circumstances.

I saw this in the West End as it wasn't still on in many places. Two surprises:

1) The Empire's moved from Leicester Square to that beautiful old cinema in Haymarket -- can't remember what it was called before, think the last time I was in there was to see something at the LFF a few years ago.

2) It was a tenner to get in. It's that price all day apart from screen 1 which is £13? I think. I haven't been to see a film in the WE for a long time (apart from the PC) but that's way cheaper than the last time and cheaper than my local cinemas, even with a member discount. That's a huge change. Is it Covid-related trying to get people back into the WE or something else?

Eta Wrong thread given I saw it at the cinema  .


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 11, 2021)

_Party Girl_ - A Nicholas Ray film that I was not familiar with until I saw it come up on KG. A gangster backdropped drama with dance scenes. Apparently Ray was shut out of directing the dance scenes (gah, it would have wonderful for him to have had control over them) but it is still very, very much a Ray picture. The story is pretty slight but who cares.

_A Actor's Revenge_ - A female Kabuki impersonator takes revenge on those that were responsible for the deaths of his parents. Like _Party Girl_ it is not so much the story but rather the telling of it that makes this so good. It is purposely filmed in a theatrical manner - soliloquies, lighting, dual roles, comic side parts - but it works. I wonder if it was an influence - both visually and with the female impersonator - in Takeshi Kitano's _Zatoichi _(one of my favourite films).


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 11, 2021)

trabuquera said:


> *Life of Crime: 1984-2020 *- a shocker in unexpected ways. Started out as a low-to-no-budget community film project in Newark, NJ, following around a pair of local petty crims - likely lads and pains in the ass but not master offenders. US society being what it is,  the next 36 years brought them through the poverty to prison pipeline, the carceral system, several different drug epidemics, health nightmares and terrible losses. The early years footage is quirky and shambolic and stilted; there are moments of very queasy near-exploitation and almost-fake-seeming interviews ... and as the tone gets bleaker and bleaker, several VERY VERY explicit and upsetting sequences on the physical and emotional horrors of all sorts of addiction. One of those docu's where you start asking yourself whether it's time for the maker to put down the camera and intervene as a human. But overall its heart is in the right place and it makes Requiem for a Dream look like the pretentious neurotic art-directed fever dream of these sorts of stories that it is. Hard-hitting isn't in it - still feel a bit shaken by it overall. Not 100% bleak throughout but the overall weight of damage and hurt is crushing. Also has one of the most devastating last-act twists I've ever seen. Worth it if you can catch it on Sky Documentaries (it was finished off with funding from HBO so might also be available in otehr places)


Looks interesting, cheers 👍











						Life of Crime: a shocking film about three decades of addiction and incarceration
					

The often brutal HBO documentary follows 36 years in the life of a trio in New Jersey in the throes of vicious addictions




					www.theguardian.com


----------



## Supine (Dec 12, 2021)

The Beatles: Get Back

Incredible documentary. I watched the first part last night. The footage is amazing. 

I’m not even that big a Beatles fan but this show really is special.


----------



## inva (Dec 13, 2021)

Gate of Hell
1953 drama of obsession and honour in feudal Japan directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Bit of a strange one this - a pretty thin plot performed in a stagey, flat way and lacking in much depth of feeling, but it's saved by looking absolutely incredible. The opening scene alone makes it worth a watch for the psychedelic swirls of colour and texture as robed women and men run backwards and forwards during some confusing episode of samurai warfare. At least the highly theatrical style probably helps to give more space and prominence to the meticulously crafted visual side. Quite enjoyed watching it despite its flaws.


----------



## T & P (Dec 14, 2021)

Reno said:


> Last Night in Soho, the new Edgar Wright film. Wonderful first half, the recreation of 60s Soho is gorgeous and I loved the fluid camera work. Unfortunately the film takes a turn for the worse when it attempts to be a horror film in the second hour. After a plot twist towards the end which doesn't work, it completely falls apart. As a horror film it isn't scary and the villain played by Matt Smith is too underdeveloped to be menacing. Diana Rigg in her last film has the biggest role of the three 60s stars featured but her character turns out to be one of the films biggest problems, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp are wasted in nothing roles. Despite my dissappointment in how the film pans out, I still think it's worth watching for the rapturous first hour.
> 
> View attachment 298423


Yeah generally l agree though I I wasn’t too put down by the latter part of the film, even if I agree the horror element of it really doesn’t work as such. 

Nonetheless I still enjoyed it overall and would recommend it.


----------



## PricelessTrifle (Dec 14, 2021)

Didn’t see a tv series thread, but I binged the first five episodes of the new Dexter series, and so far it’s been great. I loved the original series, and this has the same bingeworthy factor, the second an episode ends i can’t wait to start the next. Admittedly though I’m a bit disappointed I actually have to wait week by week to see new episodes, I usually just wait until a series is over; but I was rather excited about this one, and I would have started it sooner were i one to keep up with, anything. I also just realized it’s always sunny is already 4 episodes deep, I watched those the other night; they’re, pretty good I guess. I mean, it’s still always sunny; which is good enough for me.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 14, 2021)

Antlers - decent horrorish movie produced by Guillermo del Toro, with Keri Russell and Jesse Plemmons playing siblings in an Oregon mining town.


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2021)

platinumsage said:


> Antlers - decent horrorish movie produced by Guillermo del Toro, with Keri Russell and Jesse Plemmons playing siblings in an Oregon mining town.


Watched this last night, decent creature feature with a well above average cast for that sort of thing. Thematically it bites of more than it can chew (the environment, the US opioid crisis, child abuse) but as a monster movie it works well enough.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 15, 2021)

Brightburn. 

Origin story of a super villain, which doesn't do the premise justice. It's ok, some nice nods to Superman and apparently in the same universe as Super, which is a better film. 

6/10


----------



## Reno (Dec 15, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Brightburn.
> 
> Origin story of a super villain, which doesn't do the premise justice. It's ok, some nice nods to Superman and apparently in the same universe as Super, which is a better film.
> 
> 6/10


I don't see a link to Super which didn't feature superheroes or anything supernatural, just a couple psychopaths who thought they superheroes. But yes, underrated film, at least James Gunn has hit the big time since, bringing a similar sensibility to blockbusters, especially with _The_ Suicide Squat.

I quite liked Brightburn but it's the rare film which shouid have been 10 to 20 minutes longer. It could have done with a little more character development considering the strong cast, it heads into the action too fast. It fully commits to its horror elements though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 15, 2021)

Reno said:


> I don't see a link to Super which didn't feature superheroes or anything supernatural, just a couple psychopaths who thought they superheroes. But yes, underrated film, at least James Gunn has hit the big time since, bringing a similar sensibility to blockbusters, especially with _The_ Suicide Squat.
> 
> I quite liked Brightburn but it's the rare film which shouid have been 10 to 20 minutes longer. It could have done with a little more character development considering the strong cast, it heads into the action too fast.



Yeah, really needs more, or a sequel. The Super reference is during the end credits, blink and you miss, 



Spoiler



with Michael Rooker's conspiracy nut ranting about various unexplained phenomena...


----------



## The Octagon (Dec 16, 2021)

Got around to seeing the new Bond film (*No Time to Die*).

Barely a Bond film at all (more like Taken 4) - the plot is nonsensical, which I could forgive in a Bond film if it wasn't so _boring_. 2.5 hours feels like 4 and then..... an ending that makes no sense.

Looking at the writer credits and genuinely confused that they thought 'Yep, this'll do". The editing felt weirdly abrupt as well, I can't put my finger on it exactly but crucial scenes just happen with no build-up or rhythm, it's very offputting.

Complete waste of Rami Malek and Lashana Lynch too.

The sequence in Cuba with Ana De Armas' character was apparently a late addition / reshoot, yet manages to have better humour, action scenes and pacing than the rest of the film.

5/10


----------



## Chz (Dec 16, 2021)

It was the first 4k/HDR thing I watched on my new OLED TV, so I enjoyed it for that. I don't think the plot even registered as I was looking at The Pretty the whole time.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 17, 2021)

I watched The Truffle Hunters last night. It’s a documentary about some delightful old fellas and their dogs who hunt in the forests of Northern Italy for the famed rare and expensive White Truffle, like Cage and his pig.
It’s beautifully filmed - some of the scenes of the men talking in the evening are lit like a Caravaggio and the forest looks unreal.
It’s so engrossing to watch - the bond the men have with the owners is so intense and joyful to see. They’re a scruffy ageing bunch, aghast at the rapaciousness of the younger competitors/merchants in the trade and aware of their own obsolescence. There are some contrasting scenes of dolled up rich Italians at truffle auctions - these things sell for thousands (of course the hunters get barely enough to live on down at their end of the chain). They’re mostly single/hermits, but one is married and there are some lovely scenes with his wife, lovingly asking him not to go out hunting at night any more after he scratches his face on a branch and needs medical attention. My favourite scene of them sorting and wasting tomatoes from the garden/farm. Was lusting after the tomatoes by the end of it. 
5 stinky fun guys out of 5


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 17, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> They’re a scruffy ageing bunch, aghast at the rapaciousness of the younger competitors/merchants in the trade and aware of their own obsolescence.


tl;dr

Mediterranean _Last Of The Summer Wine_


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 17, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> tl;dr
> 
> Mediterranean _Last Of The Summer Wine_


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 17, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> I watched The Truffle Hunters last night. It’s a documentary about some delightful old fellas and their dogs who hunt in the forests of Northern Italy for the famed rare and expensive White Truffle, like Cage and his pig.
> It’s beautifully filmed - some of the scenes of the men talking in the evening are lit like a Caravaggio and the forest looks unreal.
> It’s so engrossing to watch - the bond the men have with the owners is so intense and joyful to see. They’re a scruffy ageing bunch, aghast at the rapaciousness of the younger competitors/merchants in the trade and aware of their own obsolescence. There are some contrasting scenes of dolled up rich Italians at truffle auctions - these things sell for thousands (of course the hunters get barely enough to live on down at their end of the chain). They’re mostly single/hermits, but one is married and there are some lovely scenes with his wife, lovingly asking him not to go out hunting at night any more after he scratches his face on a branch and needs medical attention. My favourite scene of them sorting and wasting tomatoes from the garden/farm. Was lusting after the tomatoes by the end of it.
> 5 stinky fun guys out of 5


Sounds a bit like Honeyland... which I loved


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 17, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Sounds a bit like Honeyland... which I loved


I was thinking of Honeyland while watching it too - would be a good double bill to watch - both are entrancing depictions of a disappearing rural way of life - rueful of modern developments but ultimately celebratory of human resilience and the beauty of nature. Something that would be very welcome right now for a lot of people


----------



## T & P (Dec 17, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> I watched The Truffle Hunters last night. It’s a documentary about some delightful old fellas and their dogs who hunt in the forests of Northern Italy for the famed rare and expensive White Truffle, like Cage and his pig.
> It’s beautifully filmed - some of the scenes of the men talking in the evening are lit like a Caravaggio and the forest looks unreal.
> It’s so engrossing to watch - the bond the men have with the owners is so intense and joyful to see. They’re a scruffy ageing bunch, aghast at the rapaciousness of the younger competitors/merchants in the trade and aware of their own obsolescence. There are some contrasting scenes of dolled up rich Italians at truffle auctions - these things sell for thousands (of course the hunters get barely enough to live on down at their end of the chain). They’re mostly single/hermits, but one is married and there are some lovely scenes with his wife, lovingly asking him not to go out hunting at night any more after he scratches his face on a branch and needs medical attention. My favourite scene of them sorting and wasting tomatoes from the garden/farm. Was lusting after the tomatoes by the end of it.
> 5 stinky fun guys out of 5


I’m surprised nobody is openly talking about the ending. Even allowing for an initial period of collective courtesy about not spoiling anything for those yet to see the film, I’d imagine by now there’d have been countless debates online as well as contemplative pieces in the press about the turn of events and what the future holds.


----------



## Reno (Dec 18, 2021)

T & P said:


> I’m surprised nobody is openly talking about the ending. Even allowing for an initial period of collective courtesy about not spoiling anything for those yet to see the film, I’d imagine by now there’d have been countless debates online as well as contemplative pieces in the press about the turn of events and what the future holds.


The ending of The Truffle Hunters ? Did that film trigger Star Wars levels of debate on social media ?

Also, you can always discuss an ending AS LONG AS YOU DO IT IN SPOILER TAGS. If not, then sojourner will hunt you down and strangle you with your own intestines.


----------



## Sue (Dec 18, 2021)

Reno said:


> The ending of The Truffle Hunters ? Did that film trigger Star Wars levels of debate on social media ?
> 
> Also, you can always discuss an ending AS LONG AS YOU DO IT IN SPOILER TAGS. If not, then sorjourner will hunt you down and strangle you with your own intestines.


Spoiler around intestines FFS.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 18, 2021)

T & P said:


> I’m surprised nobody is openly talking about the ending. Even allowing for an initial period of collective courtesy about not spoiling anything for those yet to see the film, I’d imagine by now there’d have been countless debates online as well as contemplative pieces in the press about the turn of events and what the future holds.


did you mean to reply to this one?


The Octagon said:


> Got around to seeing the new Bond film (*No Time to Die*).
> 
> Barely a Bond film at all (more like Taken 4) - the plot is nonsensical, which I could forgive in a Bond film if it wasn't so _boring_. 2.5 hours feels like 4 and then..... an ending that makes no sense.
> 
> ...





Spoiler



Alan Partridge predicted the ending


----------



## T & P (Dec 18, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> did you mean to reply to this one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, and Reno , I’ve no idea how I ended up quoting the wrong post like that


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 18, 2021)

Now I'm really disappointed, I was getting excited that _The Truffle Hunters_ was going to have some big shock ending


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 18, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> Now I'm really disappointed, I was getting excited that _The Truffle Hunters_ was going to have some big shock ending


It turns out the truffles were hunting the men


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 19, 2021)

_Smooth Talk_ - Again another film that I had not heard about before it came up on KG. This needs to be better known. Laura Dern plays a 15 year old (she's obviously a little too old for the role but gives such a strong performance that you can go with it), who's bored, attractive and want's to explore life. Her relationship with her family, especially her mother, is strained. Then a danger appears in the shape of an older drifter - I don't want to say much more as I don't want to give too much away. The mix of realism and strangeness, the undercurrent of danger and the acting all make this a really great piece of work.

_A Place in the Sun_ - First in a Clift double bill. Very dated, over long (it could be trimmed by 20 minutes) and often unsubtle. There are just enough good things in the movie that it is watchable. Shelly Winters is very good (in a pretty cliched role), the scene where she goes to the doctor and tries to get an abortion is the best thing in the whole movie. Clift does the troubled young man part that he made his own, Taylor is the rich girl that he sets his heart on causing the problems. You can see how Clift's character falls for Taylor but not really why she goes head over heels for him.

_The Young Lions_ - Marlo Brando with a blonde dye job and German accent (well I guess that that it is supposed to be what it is) plays a German solider who while not a dedicated Nazi enlists in the army and is somewhat supportive of a new Germany. Despite the accent he's got the best role and makes the most of it. Clift plays a Jewish US soldier looking to get married and Dean Martin a entertainer who is called up. The Martin storyline is the weakest part and the movie would have been better if it was dropped, or at least shortened.


----------



## Reno (Dec 19, 2021)

redsquirrel said:


> _Smooth Talk_ - Again another film that I had not heard about before it came up on KG. This needs to be better known. Laura Dern plays a 15 year old (she's obviously a little too old for the role but gives such a strong performance that you can go with it), who's bored, attractive and want's to explore life. Her relationship with her family, especially her mother, is strained. Then a danger appears in the shape of an older drifter - I don't want to say much more as I don't want to give too much away. The mix of realism and strangeness, the undercurrent of danger and the acting all make this a really great piece of work.
> 
> _A Place in the Sun_ - First in a Clift double bill. Very dated, over long (it could be trimmed by 20 minutes) and often unsubtle. There are just enough good things in the movie that it is watchable. Shelly Winters is very good (in a pretty cliched role), the scene where she goes to the doctor and tries to get an abortion is the best thing in the whole movie. Clift does the troubled young man part that he made his own, Taylor is the rich girl that he sets his heart on causing the problems. You can see how Clift's character falls for Taylor but not really why she goes head over heels for him.
> 
> _The Young Lions_ - Marlo Brando with a blonde dye and German (well I guess that that it is supposed to be what it is) plays a German solider who while not a dedicated Nazi enlists in the army and is somewhat supportive of a new Germany. Despite the accent he's got the best role and makes the most of it. Clift plays a Jewish US soldier looking to get married and Dean Martin a entertainer who is called up. The Martin storyline is the weakest part and the movie would have been better if it was dropped, or at least shortened.


Never watched The Young Lions but completely agree with you on the first two. Smooth Talk is a great movie and I never liked A Place in the Sun. That film could have worked as a film noir, but not as the preachy issue movie it is, a waste of a great cast.


----------



## inva (Dec 19, 2021)

Ramrod
Tough, noirish and nicely complicated western from 1947 directed by Andre de Toth and starring Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea. A violent power struggle between rival cattle ranchers spreads a web of corruption across a small western town. At times a bit confusing and struggling against the conventions of the genre and probably the production code, it's refreshingly unjudgmental of its characters and has plenty of murkiness to spread around. It's let down a little by the ending but I liked this a lot. Great score by Adolph Deutsch too.


----------



## nogojones (Dec 19, 2021)

Karnan. A Tamil film about caste and a village that rebels when the bus won't stop for them.

Amazing film!


----------



## Elpenor (Dec 19, 2021)

I watched police academy for the first time.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 19, 2021)

We're watching PT Anderson's first three San Fernando Valley-set films over the next three weeks, in preparation for his newest one _Licorice Pizza_ which is supposed to come out in early January, pandemic willing. First up was _Boogie Nights _(1997), which I pretty much have memorised but is still a great watch - excellent performances from all his regular cast members, and a happy ending for just about everyone, pun intended. Next weekend is _Magnolia_, then _Punch Drunk Love _around New Years.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 20, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> I watched police academy for the first time.



ugh


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 20, 2021)

1883, a spin-off of Yellowstone. I started Yellowstone and thought it was rubbish, but this spin-off is in another league entirely and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.


----------



## Elpenor (Dec 21, 2021)

Watched Gran Torino tonight. Trying to tick off a few films I want to see on Prime before I cancel it in the New Years. Probably should have put this on the prime thread but it seems to be more about tv series


----------



## Reno (Dec 22, 2021)

Reno said:


> Alternately funny, bizarre and frustrating, _Climate of the Hunter _is considered the most accessible of outsider filmmaker Mickey Reece films so far, I haven't seen his previous ones. Two sisters, who live in the middle of nowhere, catch up with an old friend after a couple of decades when he comes to stay with them. Sexual tensions flare up and one of the sisters comes to suspect their guest may be a vampire after he coughs up a used tampon during dinner.
> 
> It takes its style from 70s B-movies and daytime soaps, the original _Dark Shadows_ in particular looks like it was an influence. The acting is stilted on purpose and it's more camp than horror but there are enough laughs and oddball moments to make it worth a watch if you are prepared to go with it.
> 
> Reece's latest film _Agnes_, looks like it has a bigger budget and is a nunsploitation/possession film.



Agnes is Mickey Reece's follow up to Climate of the Hunter. I enjoyed the offbeat quality and 70s daytime soap aesthetics of Climate of the Hunter and while the same deadpan humour and camp sensibility are present in Agnes, it's a far more polished, professional looking film. I can see how horror fans would feel mislead by the publicity (there is a lot of rage-downvoting on IMDb), the first half is a parody of possession & exorcism films and its being sold as more of a straight horror film than it turns out to be. The way it dives right into the possession mayhem at the start is hilarious but half way through, Agnes takes a sharp turn and morphs into a surprisingly affecting drama about trauma and loss of faith.

If you make the time for one nunsploitation film in 2021, skip the tired provocations of Verhoeven's Benedetta and watch this instead. I can't wait to see where Reece goes from here.
Top


----------



## Elpenor (Dec 22, 2021)

I watched the start of Gary Delaneys new comedy show (emailed to his mailing list) then fell asleep almost immediately


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 23, 2021)

Finally got around to watching _127 Hours_ (2010) after it being in my want-to-watch list for a decade. It was worth the wait - I'd always been concerned that it might be a bit dull watching one person going nowhere for an hour-and-a-half, but it's actually really well paced, cleverly edited, and surprisingly stressful considering you already know how it ends.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 24, 2021)

Episode 3 of Landscapers...which must be the best thing on telly atm. It's on NowTV for those who prefer not to watch by torrent etc

Also rewatching The Wire. Up to series 4 episode 10. It really is as good as I remember.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 24, 2021)

Matrix Resurrections -  a very dull plot rationale meant that a couple of novel action scenes couldn’t lift it above mediocre.


----------



## Petcha (Dec 25, 2021)

Don't Look Up. A satire on climate change/trump etc (although I'm sure that'll go over the rednecks' heads who will probably think it's just a disaster movie) with the most unbelievable cast. Beautifully done. And putting DiCaprio and Streep together, well it's clearly gonna win the Oscar.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 25, 2021)

Don't Look Up. Tediously worthy American satire, and Americans can be very good at doing satire badly.


----------



## Petcha (Dec 25, 2021)

Well I quite enjoyed it. But then I've been drinking since 7am.


----------



## Petcha (Dec 25, 2021)

Actually, I've just looked at the reviews and they are pretty good, so there!


----------



## rubbershoes (Dec 25, 2021)

Petcha said:


> Actually, I've just looked at the reviews and they are pretty good, so there!



Fake news!


----------



## Elpenor (Dec 26, 2021)

*Allied* - SOE romance / drama starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. Interesting premise though script a little wooden. Good music and costumes. Had fun spotting a few potential historical inaccuracies. Was on More 4.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 26, 2021)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - some wizarding shenanigans in a boarding school


----------



## Reno (Dec 26, 2021)

Petcha said:


> Actually, I've just looked at the reviews and they are pretty good, so there!


If you look at review aggregators, reviews were middling at best if you want to be generous. I doubt this will win any Oscars. 









						Don't Look Up
					

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem: it's on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to...




					www.rottentomatoes.com
				











						Don't Look Up
					

Don't Look Up movie reviews & Metacritic score: Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet or...




					www.metacritic.com
				




I haven't seen the film and was looking forward to it as I liked The Big Short by McKay (not so much Vice). As I currently have so much I want to watch, it's not that high a priority anymore.


----------



## Petcha (Dec 26, 2021)

Reno said:


> If you look at review aggregators, reviews were middling at best if you want to be generous. I doubt this will win any Oscars.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I didnt know it was the guy who did the Big Short. I can kinda see it though - Ii was quite a subtle piece of satire. I also quite enjoyed Ariana Grande's turn at taking the piss out of herself and the bullshit music she produces.


----------



## The39thStep (Dec 27, 2021)

I thought Don't Look Back was ok tbh , good bit of Xmas fun to watch whilst drinking wine.  Funny in parts, hamfisted in others .


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 27, 2021)

Petcha said:


> quite a subtle piece of satire


   

I mean, I enjoyed it, but still


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 27, 2021)

Maeve.

Film from 1981 set in Northern Ireland of the time. Women returns to NI to visit her family. The film isn't a linear narrative. It jumps between her present day and past. 

Reading up on it and the director Pat Murphy is being rediscovered. 

I liked the film. Its a very political film. There are discussions of the relationship between Republicanism and Feminism. Which was very much sidelined during the Troubles. 

Also growing up and living in the fraught history of NI. The women's Father for example ( a great performance) tries to keep out of it and finds tragically he can't.

Says a lot about the position of women at the time. 

It could sound didactic. Its not. Presents the different views and doesn't give easy answers. 

 It was a mixture of professional actors and locals. There are great performaces. Despite it being political ( which could put some off) its got a lot of humour and real life scenes. Though its not Ken Loach in style. Mixes more formal speeching to the camera scenes with informal scenes in pubs and the street.

Shows the day to day little humiliations of what was a war zone. 

I would recommend this. Particularly for the way its structured and made. 

Bits I've read say its Brechtian and Godardian. I don't know enough to say. Its definitely different from a lot I've scene recently. 

Pat Murphy went on to make a few films. Not many unfortunately. Worked as artist/ installation artist. From the NI but left like in the film.

More on here:









						Maeve review: a startlingly radical Irish experiment
					

At a time when films set in Northern Ireland invariably offered grim realism, Pat Murphy’s Belfast-based drama challenged with its daring form and ideological exchanges.



					www.bfi.org.uk
				












						Look back with candour
					

Pioneering Irish feminist film-maker Pat Murphy is being feted with an IFI retrospective




					www.irishtimes.com
				




BTW. Saw this on MUBI. Googling it and it says its on Prime. I've seen this a lot. Its not on Prime unless you get MUBI on Prime. 

My MUBI is separate from Prime. I feel its unfair on small sites like MUBI. MUBI comes up down the page. 

Its also on BFI player for 2.50


----------



## Chz (Dec 27, 2021)

Ninjababy. Norwegian film about an aspiring graphic artist who finds out she's pregnant. And thought it was from 8 weeks ago, but it turns out to be six and a half months along (thus Ninjababy).
It's sweet, it's cute, and I mean that in a nice way because I'm the first person to puke at overly cutesy stuff. I would recommend.


----------



## Petcha (Dec 27, 2021)

DaveCinzano said:


> I mean, I enjoyed it, but still



Yes, on reflection, you're quite correct. As I said, I was pretty blasted when I watched it. I still think it's gonna win best picture though - you can't put together a cast like that without expecting honours. Everyone in Hollywood seemed to pop up at some point. Must have cost a fortune.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 27, 2021)

Gramsci said:


> Maeve.
> 
> Film from 1981 set in Northern Ireland of the time. Women returns to NI to visit her family. The film isn't a linear narrative. It jumps between her present day and past.
> 
> ...



Thanks...been planning to watch it since it's been on Mubi


----------



## ska invita (Dec 27, 2021)

Master and Commander: Far Side of the Earth
have seen this a couple of times before, always enjoyed watching it, great yarn and well realised. I wish there were more films in this 'realistic' wooden-boat naval style

sadly there was never a sequel, but just saw on wiki" In June 2021, it was reported that a second film is in development by 20th Century Studios, a prequel based on the first novel only, with Patrick Ness penning the script.[43] 🤞"
*








						New ‘Master And Commander’ Movie In Works At 20th Century; Patrick Ness Penning Prequel
					

EXCLUSIVE: 20th Century is looking to head back to the high seas as sources tell Deadline the studio is developing a new Master and Commander pic with A Monster Calls scribe Patrick Ness adapting t…




					deadline.com
				



*developing means nothing of course, but you never know

recommendations for similiar films welcome.
ive always enjoyed Polanski's Pirates


----------



## Petcha (Dec 27, 2021)

ska invita said:


> Master and Commander: Far Side of the Earth
> have seen this a couple of times before, always enjoyed watching it, great yarn and well realised. I wish there were more films in this 'realistic' wooden-boat naval style
> 
> sadly there was never a sequel, but just saw on wiki" In June 2021, it was reported that a second film is in development by 20th Century Studios, a prequel based on the first novel only, with Patrick Ness penning the script.[43] 🤞"
> ...



I can't actually think of a Russell Crowe film I've not enjoyed. He might be a bit of a dick, but he's a fine actor. Um... did you watch the North Water recently on iPlayer? Not that similar but it does involve claustrophobic ship stuff. Amazing performance from Colin Farrell.









						The North Water - Series 1: Episode 1
					

Hull, 1859. Patrick Sumner joins a ship bound for the Arctic with a killer on board.




					www.bbc.co.uk


----------



## keybored (Dec 27, 2021)

_Searching_, stars John Cho as an increasingly frantic dad trying to piece together clues from social media in order to track down his missing daughter. Debra Messing plays the detective investigating the case.

It's like spending 100 minutes flicking between Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch in dozens of tabs on several devices and somehow getting a pretty decent whodunnit story out of it.


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 27, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Thanks...been planning to watch it since it's been on Mubi


Its leaving Mubi soon


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 28, 2021)

The Gardner - immigrant live-in servant who happens to be a gnarled combat veteran (played by renowned stuntman and Charles Bronson lookalike Robert Bronzi) aims to save an English country house family from murderous burglars. It was more entertaining than Don't Look Op.


----------



## petee (Dec 29, 2021)

trabuquera said:


> *Bram Stoker's Dracula - *not the lurid, over-egged Francis Ford Coppola 1992 one with Gary Oldman but a much more low-key, low-budget but oddly effective 1974 version with Jack Palance (who has the cheekbokes to look Slavic



that's because he was

_Jack Palance was born Volodymyr Palahniuk on February 18, 1919 in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (née Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk, an anthracite coal miner.[2] His parents were Ukrainian immigrants,[3][4] his father a native of Ivane-Zolote in southwestern Ukraine (modern Ternopil Oblast) and his mother from the Lviv Oblast.[5][6] _

wiki


----------



## petee (Dec 29, 2021)

the criterion Citizen Kane. expensive, but it has so many extras that i thought it worth the price (with the discount).
otoh, it's better than i remember it even. the cinematography, the acting of all the major and minor characters. the entire scene where he's busted by Ray Collins is impeccable.
otoh, i can find things to critique, some parts seem drawn out, some seen rushed.


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 29, 2021)

Parasite. It was very good.

A Star Is Born (Gaga iteration). Also surprisingly enjoyable, if formulaic.


----------



## ska invita (Dec 30, 2021)

Watched and didn't like Cloud Atlas - hammy acting throughout, weird mix of tones from section to section, but above all its key deep point seems to just be that the fight for social justice goes on and on and on for ever.  Didn't leave me feeling any revolutionary zeal to fight the good fight in the name of ancestors past and future, more a depressing sense that things will be even shitter in the future than now on, but you've got to keep up the struggle anyway. Not exactly motivational, mainly depressing


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 30, 2021)

Possibly my worst week of telly in memory.

Finished off rewatching The Wire, completely forgot how bad series 5 is.

Watched all of series 5 of Gomorrah. Embarrassingly bad, just utter rubbish.

Don't Look Up. Tbf I watched this to see how bad it was...and it was. A mess that doesn't work.

I should really go out.


----------



## MBV (Dec 30, 2021)

I finished this which was enjoyable:



			Mayor of Kingstown - Google Search


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 30, 2021)

MBV said:


> I finished this which was enjoyable:
> 
> 
> 
> Mayor of Kingstown - Google Search



I gave up after about episode 5 because there weren't any characters that I cared about, it was just depressingly full of nasty cunts.


----------



## Reno (Dec 30, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Possibly my worst week of telly in memory.
> 
> Finished off rewatching The Wire, completely forgot how bad series 5 is.
> 
> ...


Season 5 of The Wire disqualifies it from the "greatest series ever made" hype for me. If you can't stick the landing....


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 30, 2021)

Reno said:


> Season 5 of The Wire disqualifies it from the "greatest series ever made" hype for me. If you can't stick the landing....


Yea, sad really.

I wasn't expecting much of Gomorrah tbh. Although it was never as gritty as the film it was reasonably entertaining. As many predicted it went downhill when the source material ran out.


----------



## redsquirrel (Dec 30, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Possibly my worst week of telly in memory.
> 
> Finished off rewatching The Wire, completely forgot how bad series 5 is.
> 
> ...


Follow Gramsci's advice and watch Maeve before it goes. Absolutely brilliant.

Before Maeve I watched _An Unmarried Woman _(also great), so a bit of a rediscovered/reappraised female view film session


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 30, 2021)

Stuck in my bedroom with Covid so I've watched rather a lot of films over the last three days:

_There Will Be Blood_ (2007) - Beautifully shot, scored and acted, if a little slow-moving at times. Is the final scene supposed to have actually happened, or was it just in his imagination that he got his final revenge on the one person in his life that ever defied him?

_Terminator: Dark Fate _(2019) - Silly sequel to T2. Linda Hamilton's acting is about the same standard as Karen Allan's in the fourth Indiana Jones film, i.e. it's obvious when you've been out of the game for too long. There's a fun fight sequence on board a plummeting cargo plane, but apart from that it's pretty forgettable. Also annoying that they never addressed why Terminator Arnie has aged despite being a 1st gen android.

_The Way _(2010) - Emilio Estevez directs his dad in a comic-drama about grief and fatherhood. Surprisingly moving, despite James Nesbitt being annoyingly Irish.

_Rush _(2013) - Rivals for the 1976 Formula 1 title take the piss out of each other and occasionally crash their cars. The bad guy from the second Captain America film is great as Niki Lauda, and it smartly has no real villain, just two men motivated by opposing desires. Surprising amount of boobs for a Ron Howard movie.

_Don't Look Up _(2021) - Heavy-handed Netflix satire about impending global disaster. It's all laid on a bit thick, especially once you get to the titular movement, but still a decent way to waste a couple of hours.

_Swiss Family Robinson _(1960) - I had fond memories of watching this as a kid, but now it just doesn't make any sense; the animals that have no business being there, the complete lack of food, and their dumb priorities that have them spend weeks building a treehouse instead of exploring to see if anyone nearby might be able to help.


----------



## Reno (Dec 31, 2021)

Some Came Running, 1958 melodrama by Vincente Minnelli, about a hard living Army veteran returning home after 16 years to the embarrassment his snobby family, starring Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine and Dean Martin. At first it's a little meandering but it builds to a last act which is devastating. The sexual politics of this bleak film are deeply uncomfortable but then that becomes its point. Shirley MacLaine makes a character who could have easily become annoying, absolutely heartbreaking. Martin Scorsese regards this as one of the greatest uses of Cinemascope and I can see why, the climax at a fun fair is visually breathtaking.


----------



## Reno (Dec 31, 2021)

Silent Night, which starts out like a Richard Curtis style comedy about a posh family Christmas, but turns into an example of the sub-genre of apocalyptic films where people come together for one last party before the world ends. It's not bad and if the poshos irritate you, there is the knowledge that they'll all be dead by the end. I can't believe that people would be quite so carefree with the knowledge that they'll only have a few more hours to live. The Australian These Final Hours handled this more believably in that everybody has shitloads of drugs to disassociate, but Silent Night goes more for an arch, stiff upper lip type of British black comedy. Two other similar films I liked are It's a Disaster (2012) and Last Night (1998). This isn't quite as good, but I still liked it's shift from light comedy into something genuinely grim and dark.


----------



## Part 2 (Dec 31, 2021)

After Love....this has very good reviews. It's a film about grief and I'm interested in that. The main character is a woman who's husband dies, following which she discovers his secret other life. I was with it most of the way but there's a crucial moment in the film that you know has to come, following which it could be great or a let down. For me it was the latter.

Dashcam...continuing my bad run of winter break TV experiences, I thought I'd watch the new horror film by Rob Savage who made Host in the first lockdown and which I enjoyed. Unfortunately for me another film by the same name was also released this year. The themes seemed such that it could've been the right film, set in the pandemic, stuff about conspiracy theories etc... although I did think not enough was dashcam footage. One scene involved watching the main protagonist moving files around on a screen for about 20 minutes while suspensful music played. Hopefully I'll find the right film to watch as this was just really boring.

Maeve...1980's... Maeve has left Ireland for London but returns to to visit her family aged 20. The film looks at her present being as a radical feminist alongside flashbacks to memories of her schooldays and former life.  As redsquirrel said it's a very political film and for me there was a lot to learn and think about. It's very good. 

I just sent a message to my friend Maeve to tell her I'd seen it. She made a similar journey to Manchester and said she knew the director Pat Murphy since school.


----------



## T & P (Dec 31, 2021)

Part 2 said:


> Possibly my worst week of telly in memory.
> 
> Finished off rewatching The Wire, completely forgot how bad series 5 is.
> 
> ...


We’ll have to agree to disagree about Don’t Look Up. An extremely enjoyable film, amusing throughout and with plenty of actual laugh-out-loud moments even though it’s not a comedy- at least not a full-on comedy genre film.

Every single person I know who’s watched it felt the same way. Perhaps the surprisingly A-list heavy cast might be leading some people to expect an Oscar magnet, which this is not (or even tries to be imo). But as an offbeat comedy-drama  launched without fanfare despite its superb cast, and free to Netflix subscribers right away to boot, I could never in a million years describe it anywhere near as a bad film. In fact, anything less than a 7/10 seems a very puzzling judgement to me.

Twenty minutes too long admittedly- the middle but starts to drag badly. But it more than makes up for it in the final third.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jan 2, 2022)

Punishment Park - Peter Watkins.


I think Watkins deserves a thread of his own TBH.


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 2, 2022)

not-bono-ever said:


> Punishment Park - Peter Watkins.
> 
> 
> I think Watkins deserves a thread of his own TBH.



I saw Punishment Park some years ago and thought it should be better known. From what I read at the time he used real hippies and rednecks for this. Its documentary style near future where radicals are hunted down in the desert.

I also liked his film about Edvard Munch. Which puts his work in the context of the times he lived in.

After The War Game he couldn't work in UK any more so went to Europe and US.

Aftenlandet  Set in near future where European country is going through political crisis leading to rise of right. Not so well known but I remember it as heady stuff at the time.

Lot of his work uses documentary / news reporting style with no professional actors. 

For his epic film on the Commune he gave the actors bios of each character and background on the politics and basically let the camera roll. Used a lot of improvisation. Gives his work an immediate feel.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 2, 2022)

Petcha said:


> Don't Look Up. A satire on climate change/trump etc (although I'm sure that'll go over the rednecks' heads who will probably think it's just a disaster movie) with the most unbelievable cast. Beautifully done. And putting DiCaprio and Streep together, well it's clearly gonna win the Oscar.



"rednecks"


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 2, 2022)

trabuquera said:


> *Bram Stoker's Dracula - *not the lurid, over-egged Francis Ford Coppola 1992 one with Gary Oldman but a much more low-key, low-budget but oddly effective 1974 version with Jack Palance (who has the cheekbokes to look Slavic and brings an unusual sort of quiet, almost silent, tragic dignity to it.) The film is dated and tonally odd but has some brilliantly creepy tableaux and it's from a whole different and much more serious world than the lurid campy shocks of the Hammer films treatments of the theme. You can see that Coppola ripped it off wholesale. Weird, baggy, not totally together - as always, the ladies' makeup is far too obviously 1970s not 1870s - but if you're a vampire completist this one is definitely worth a go.



Would like to see it. Depending on mood, kinda love/hate the Coppola version.

Also, 'scuse my ignorance, but how does one look Slavic?


----------



## belboid (Jan 2, 2022)

*Don’t Look Up*

It’s neither as good nor bad as most people seem to think.  It makes Oliver Stone look subtle and is nothing like as funny as it should be.  Rylance is annoying,  Streep quite bad and Chamolet pointless.  But it raised a few laughs, the Ariana Grande song was great, Queen Cate was good as alwaysand they kept it zipping along.  

Far better was our other choice, the Icelandic *Lamb*.  Sold as a (folk) horror, which is deeply misleading, the horror parts are just a framing device for a bizarre tale of loss and longing - and probably something something power of nature.   Darkly comedic and sometimes quite moving, it’s well worth a watch, though no masterpiece.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 2, 2022)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The best Potter movie IMHO. A step change from previous films in the franchise, with Quidditch matches and flying cars replaced by thoughtful cinematography and character development.


----------



## Sue (Jan 2, 2022)

Watching The Eagle Has Landed. (((Donald Sutherland's Oirish accent)))

Eta Every time I'm horribly disappointed in Jenny Agutter. .


----------



## Elpenor (Jan 2, 2022)

> Watching The Eagle Has Landed. (((Donald Sutherland's Oirish accent)))
> 
> Eta Every time I'm horribly disappointed in Jenny Agutter.



I used to jog where it was filmed in the Mapledurham estate


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 2, 2022)

The Masque Of The Red Death (1964)
The Roger Corman/Vincent Price masterpiece - incredible sets, esp consdering they were reused from another production (Becket) and filmed in just a month. Wasn't surprised when I saw Nicholas Roeg on the credits as DP. There's an amazing sequence in which Price's bride-of-satan wife is tormented by demons - absent from YouTube unfortunately


----------



## Sue (Jan 2, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> I used to jog where it was filmed in the Mapledurham estate


...while wearing a German uniform under your jogging kit I hope?


----------



## Sue (Jan 2, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> The Masque Of The Red Death (1964)
> The Roger Corman/Vincent Price masterpiece - incredible sets, esp consdering they were reused from another production (Becket) and filmed in just a month. Wasn't surprised when I saw Nicholas Roeg on the credits as DP. There's an amazing sequence in which Price's bride-of-satan wife is tormented by demons - absent from YouTube unfortunately


Yeah a load of people got their start on Corman's films.


----------



## inva (Jan 3, 2022)

Les Diaboliques
Clouzot's dark 1955 suspense film of a revenge murder gone wrong. Brilliantly ludicrous plot which manages to just about keep on the rails and with nice gruesome and almost paranormal touches. Great performances by the three leads, and especially from Simone Signoret (wounded and steely) and Paul Meurisse (vindictive and sinister). Really enjoyed it, a perfect film for a Sunday afternoon! Thanks to Sue for the recommendation 😊

Simone Signoret was in so many good films wasn't she? I've so far seen her in this, Casque d'Or, Death in the Garden, Deadly Affair and Army of Shadows and not a bad one yet.


----------



## Sue (Jan 3, 2022)

inva said:


> Les Diaboliques
> Clouzot's dark 1955 suspense film of a revenge murder gone wrong. Brilliantly ludicrous plot which manages to just about keep on the rails and with nice gruesome and almost paranormal touches. Great performances by the three leads, and especially from Simone Signoret (wounded and steely) and Paul Meurisse (vindictive and sinister). Really enjoyed it, a perfect film for a Sunday afternoon! Thanks to Sue for the recommendation 😊
> 
> Simone Signoret was in so many good films wasn't she? I've so far seen her in this, Casque d'Or, Death in the Garden, Deadly Affair and Army of Shadows and not a bad one yet.


It was remade in the 90s with Sharon Stone. Haven't seen it but iirc, it got horrible reviews so...

They were doing a Simone Signoret centenary season at the Cine Lumiere recently.


----------



## inva (Jan 3, 2022)

Sue said:


> It was remade in the 90s with Sharon Stone. Haven't seen it but iirc, it got horrible reviews so...
> 
> They were doing a Simone Signoret centenary season at the Cine Lumiere recently.


Probably won't rush to see that then! Also I was thinking it's not a remake but until I saw Les Diaboliques I hadn't realised how much the great little Hammer film Taste of Fear owes to it.


----------



## inva (Jan 4, 2022)

Payroll
Blunt and noirishly fatalistic 1961 heist film directed by Sidney Hayers. A slightly shambolic gang rob a payroll van and try to lie low with the money but even from before they commit the crime things are beginning to unravel. Some great location shooting in Newcastle I think it is and nice black and white cinematography. Well made and acted (lots of familiar faces) I particularly liked Billie Whitelaw as the wife of an unfortunate security guard out for revenge and Francoise Prevost as a sort of vaguely femme-fatale character who gives the gang an extra push or two off the cliff. Enjoyed it.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jan 4, 2022)

Finally got around to watching _The Pianist_ (2002), since it's one of the very few top-rated films on IMDB I hadn't seen. It's hard for it not to suffer by comparison to _Schindler's List_ - perhaps if I hadn't seen the latter, I would have liked it more.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 4, 2022)

The Scent of a Woman - Gave up less than half way through. Can hardly believe this sort of crap won awards in the 90s.


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2022)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Finally got around to watching _The Pianist_ (2002), since it's one of the very few top-rated films on IMDB I hadn't seen. It's hard for it not to suffer by comparison to _Schindler's List_ - perhaps if I hadn't seen the latter, I would have liked it more.


I prefer The Pianist to Schindler's List and think they are two quite different films.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 5, 2022)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Being Elmo. Heartwarming.
> 
> Shame about the real life epilogue.


What's the real life epilogue?


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 5, 2022)

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, although I gave up after one minute on discovering that was filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio for artistic reasons. Might try it again tomorrow when I’m in a different frame of mind.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 5, 2022)

Landscapers - crime drama with some surreal elements about a husband and wife in Nottinghamshire who killed the wife’s parents and buried them in their garden.

I’m not sure what number wall is broken when the actors walk off the set, past the production crew, cross the studio floor and start acting on another set, but I haven’t seen that before.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 6, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> What's the real life epilogue?


Multiple sexual assault allegations from young men who were underage at the time. He wasn’t charged though


----------



## The39thStep (Jan 6, 2022)

Got back into series 2 of Godfather of Harlem , overall very entertaining with plenty of plot twists and a few sub plots . Can be it bit predictable in places but the setting , pace and detail is good .


----------



## inva (Jan 6, 2022)

The Third Murder
The Japanese legal system and the death penalty come under scrutiny in a thoughtful 2017 crime/courtroom drama directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. A cynical lawyer is landed with the case of a man who's confessed to the murder of his factory owner boss and faces a death sentence but won't keep his story straight, and his efforts to find a way to mitigate his client's guilt leads to a quickly spiralling investigation of his client and the victim and a whole web of events and circumstances around them. Among a strong cast Kōji Yakusho delivers an excellent and subtle performance as the man awaiting trial and he is key to maintaining the film's delicately balanced ambiguity which continues right to the end without ever feeling like a cop out. A good watch.

The only thing I didn't really like was the music which sounded like a car ad off the tv or something.


----------



## Elpenor (Jan 6, 2022)

inva said:


> Payroll
> Blunt and noirishly fatalistic 1961 heist film directed by Sidney Hayers. A slightly shambolic gang rob a payroll van and try to lie low with the money but even from before they commit the crime things are beginning to unravel. Some great location shooting in Newcastle I think it is and nice black and white cinematography. Well made and acted (lots of familiar faces) I particularly liked Billie Whitelaw as the wife of an unfortunate security guard out for revenge and Francoise Prevost as a sort of vaguely femme-fatale character who gives the gang an extra push or two off the cliff. Enjoyed it.


I’ve recorded this on my BT box, mostly because I’ve spent my entire career working in payroll


----------



## T & P (Jan 7, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, although I gave up after one minute on discovering that was filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio for artistic reasons. Might try it again tomorrow when I’m in a different frame of mind.


If I were rich enough to be able to spend five-figure amounts on artworks, my first choice would probably be one his later-career cat paintings, when his mind was alleged to be in a somewhat altered state


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 7, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, although I gave up after one minute on discovering that was filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio for artistic reasons. Might try it again tomorrow when I’m in a different frame of mind.


I thought that was on at the cinema?


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 7, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I thought that was on at the cinema?



I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 7, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.


Then I mean, "I didn't think it was available to stream yet is is? "


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 7, 2022)

Watched an ITV ep of Sherlock Holmes on the television last night. Eric Sykes was in it. He was great on the wireless, back in the day. He's been in the pictures, too. One of those charming racing movies, iirc.


----------



## Reno (Jan 7, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Then I mean, "I didn't think it was available to stream yet is is? "


Like a lot of films during the pandemic it got released soon after its theatrical release. It’s been available to stream for a couple of months.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 7, 2022)

Reno said:


> Like a lot of films during the pandemic it got released soon after its theatrical release. It’s been available to stream for a couple of months.


Oh really? It's on at quite a few semi local cinemas. I was toying with going as I am currently 'between jobs'. I have to say that it being available to stream makes me far less likely to go. I of course know that loads of big films have been showing at cinemas and streaming at the same time, but I thought as this was 'smaller' and still showing in smaller cinemas that it had yet to make it into streaming. Mind you I suppose its a non subscription thing, I don't think I have ever considered paying for a film as a one off (a la blockbuster video).


----------



## Chz (Jan 7, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.


I treat it as "that which isn't Netflix, Prime, or iPlayer". Though I do actually still subscribe to a DVD rental service (Cinema Paradiso).


----------



## Sue (Jan 7, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.


Surely this is for anything people watch at home, no matter by which means? (There's a separate thread for films people have seen at the cinema which can obviously include old stuff as well as new.)


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 8, 2022)

Borgman...Borgman, who looks down and out, and his two friends, flee their underground hideouts in the woods being chased by religious folk with dogs. After he calls at a  house asking for a shower the owner assaults him but his wife takes pity, allowing Borgman and his friends to execute their plan. I enjoy a home invasion film and this was a good one I thought.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane... Jodie Foster's film after Bugsy Malone. She stars as Rhynn, a 13 year old living alone although pretending her father is busy with his writing or resting in bed when anyone calls at the house. The house is rented to them by the mother of Frank Hallet, the village paedophile, played to good effect by Martin Sheen. Rhynn is hounded by them but finds allies in the local cop and his magician nephew...gradually her secrets are exposed. A good film and Sheen's performance from a minute in is stomach turning.


----------



## Reno (Jan 8, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> Borgman...Borgman, who looks down and out, and his two friends, flee their underground hideouts in the woods being chased by religious folk with dogs. After he calls at a  house asking for a shower the owner assaults him but his wife takes pity, allowing Borgman and his friends to execute their plan. I enjoy a home invasion film and this was a good one I thought.
> 
> The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane... Jodie Foster's film after Bugsy Malone. She stars as Rhynn, a 13 year old living alone although pretending her father is busy with his writing or resting in bed when anyone calls at the house. The house is rented to them by the mother of Frank Hallet, the village paedophile, played to good effect by Martin Sheen. Rhynn is hounded by them but finds allies in the local cop and his magician nephew...gradually her secrets are exposed. A good film and Sheen's performance from a minute in is stomach turning.


I love The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, a film I watched several times in my teens and related to strongly and which I can't see being made that way today. At the time it was promoted as a horror film to jump on the "evil kid" bandwagon, which it really isn't, it's  more of a dark coming of age drama with thriller elements.



Borgman on the other hand is a film which I saw a few years ago and can't remember a single thing about, not even whether I liked it or not.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 8, 2022)

Red Notice. Fine Saturday night fare with the Rock, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot chasing a string of Macguffins all over the world.


----------



## Sue (Jan 8, 2022)

Fracture. Not v good courtroom drama despite a pretty stellar cast (Anthony Hopkins, a v young Ryan Gosling, Rosamund Pike, David Strathearn and even Fiona Shaw in a v small role).


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 8, 2022)

Satantango. My lad had to watch this for an essay he needs to write and at 7h20m it's the longest film I've ever watched. It's spaced into chapters with intervals though so quite possible to get through on a rainy day like today. In fact the weather fits the film just right. I've previously seen The Werckmeister Harmonies by Bela Tarr and liked that anyway.

Film follows the inhabitants of a small village after the closure of the local factory... the main occupation now seems to be drinking. A man thought to be dead returns with his sidekick, bringing fear to some among the villagers.

It's very slow but that's a bad thing at all. It's so beautifully shot and the chapters aren't in chronological order so there's a lot of time to think about what you're watching, where it fits into the narrative and what it might mean. It has some really funny moments, a few 10 minute long shots including some great music, dancing and drunken behaviour. Cat lovers may wish to avoid it as there's a scene that involves a girl swinging a cat around that's not easy to watch.

Well worth seeing though, and it's on Youtube in 1080p


----------



## flypanam (Jan 9, 2022)

Letterkenny - a Canadian show about a small rural community. Well written, well acted and stupidly funny. Well worth tracking down.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 9, 2022)

_Breakout_ - One of those Charles Bronson action flicks. not one of the better ones. Terrible sexual and national politics but also just tedious and badly written. 

_Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room_ - Documentary about the Enron scandal. Decent enough but all very standard, lots of talking heads and at some points I wanted to have the film stop and explain more things in details. Some plot lines just did not really seem to go anywhere. 

_The Big Short_ - Seen it before but decided to have a financial failures double bill. Entertaining (though could lose ten or so minutes), and competent even too much of a acting is showy for my tastes.


----------



## Chz (Jan 9, 2022)

Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Overall a fun ride. Gets a little too soppy and self-referential towards the end, but you're _expecting_ that. I probably won't watch it 5x like its grandparent, but it was good enough.
Extra points to the team that put out the digital copy - since I bought the fancy telly, I've seen so much *bad* use of HDR it was an absolute treat to see it being used the way it should be.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 9, 2022)

The Lady Takes a Flyer

 Lana Turner stars as a wartime ferry pilot who meets up with a bomber pilot and his mate: together they go back into the ferrying business, delivering army surplus planes around the world.

This being a fifties American flick however, marriage and motherhood await. The stresses and strains of that drive the last act, which features tense night landings in fog and the like. 

Despite its proto-feminist leanings, a lost classic this is not. In fact, I'd leave it in the "don't bother" file.


----------



## ska invita (Jan 10, 2022)

film about eleanor marx








						Miss Marx (2020) - IMDb
					

Miss Marx: Directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli. With Romola Garai, Patrick Kennedy, John Gordon Sinclair, Felicity Montagu. Bright, intelligent, passionate and free, Eleanor is Karl Marx's youngest daughter. Among the first women to link the themes of feminism and socialism, she takes part in the...




					www.imdb.com
				




flawed, quite flat, some weird artistic decisions, not that well put together, but still worth a watch to get a sense of her life and the times. lead actress does a good job despite not the best script/direction


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 10, 2022)

I


Reno said:


> I watched this again, because I showed it to a friend. This film appears to be divisive and I can see why some think this is a bad film but I believe the clunky dialogue and bad acting are intentional. Similar to what Stuart Gordon did with Re-Animator and From Beyond, this is a deadpan body-horror comedy. For an hour and a bit Malignant appears to be a middling horror film about a woman who shares a pysychic connection with a creepy serial killer. Then the last act reveales what or who its antagonist is, which leads into the most joyfully batshit last 30 minutes in recent cinema. Again I sat there with a big grin.


i couldn’t sleep last night so I watched this on my phone.  Very enjoyable and deranged whatthefuckery! Great sets too - the underground bits and those overhead shots of her running about the house. Not exactly scary but that’s ok. 
Might have to check out Wan’s other non-Saw horror movies


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 10, 2022)

I think Malignant's been my most recommended film recently.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 10, 2022)

Some incredible and mind boggling  movement/stunts too


----------



## not-bono-ever (Jan 10, 2022)

fast and furious 9

a parcel as you might expect


----------



## IsabellaHow (Jan 11, 2022)

Harry Potter all 8 Movies for the last 2 days


----------



## rubbershoes (Jan 11, 2022)

IsabellaHow said:


> Harry Potter all 8 Movies for the last 2 days



 I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 11, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> The Lady Takes a Flyer
> 
> Lana Turner stars as a wartime ferry pilot who meets up with a bomber pilot and his mate: together they go back into the ferrying business, delivering army surplus planes around the world.
> 
> ...


 You first sentence got me quite interested.

_The Invisible Woman_ - Not a horror film at all but a screwball comedy in which a profession model decides to volunteer to become invisible. John Barrymore stars as the mad professor. Certainly not in the first rank of screwball comedies - the leads are certainly no Jean Arthur, Carol Lombard or William Powell but it has some nice moments and packs everything into less than 90 minutes.


----------



## Idris2002 (Jan 11, 2022)

redsquirrel said:


> You first sentence got me quite interested.
> 
> _The Invisible Woman_ - Not a horror film at all but a screwball comedy in which a profession model decides to volunteer to become invisible. John Barrymore stars as the mad professor. Certainly not in the first rank of screwball comedies - the leads are certainly no Jean Arthur, Carol Lombard or William Powell but it has some nice moments and packs everything into less than 90 minutes.


And your first sentence got me interested! 

That Lana Turner film could have made a great 30s screwball comedy. I could see Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn as the leads: but by 1958, Hollywood had lost its screwball mojo.


----------



## Reno (Jan 11, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> And your first sentence got me interested!
> 
> That Lana Turner film could have made a great 30s screwball comedy. I could see Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn as the leads: but by 1958, Hollywood had lost its screwball mojo.


...but it really got its melodrama mojo on.

I haven't seen The Lady Takes a Flyer and don't doubt that it's no classic but a note of interest is that it was directed by Jack Arnold. He's most famous for directing  several of the great 50s sci-fi movies, like The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space.


----------



## inva (Jan 11, 2022)

Dragonwyck
Flawed but enjoyable slice of gothic melodrama and class war in the Upper Hudson valley from 1946 starring Gene Tierney and Vincent Price and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Haughty and haunted Dutch-American 'Patroon' Nicholas Van Ryn played by Price clashes with his Anti-Rent tenant farmers, and it's his determination to preserve and transfer his ancestral privilege to a male heir that leads him to send for a distant cousin Miranda Wells played by Tierney to come to live in his big old mansion Dragonwyck, where it gets all gothic.

Not without faults, a number of times themes were introduced and then didn't really go anywhere - the anti-rent campaign is quite prominent to begin with and then largely gets forgotten, and there's a nicely done supernatural subplot of sorts featuring Van Ryn's gloomy daughter played creepily well by Connie Marshall which is likewise undeveloped (and the daughter just disappears about halfway through or so). Tierney, Price and the rest of the cast all seem to embrace the slightly silly melodrama though and create an effective atmosphere and overall it's good fun.


----------



## T & P (Jan 11, 2022)

IsabellaHow said:


> Harry Potter all 8 Movies for the last 2 days


You should watch the recent 20-year reunion one-off documentary, quite enjoyable if you like the films.

As an aside thought, I watched Tom Felton aka Malfoy this evening on The One Show, talking about an upcoming film. He comes across as a really likeable bloke. And of all the main actors, he looks like the one who has developed the most towards a decent actor.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 12, 2022)

In Fabric. My daughter sent it to me. Err, fucking hell!  Was not expecting THAT.

Tried to analyse it afterwards, got as far as 



Spoiler



it's a sideswipe at consumerism


 but no further 🤣


----------



## inva (Jan 14, 2022)

sojourner said:


> In Fabric. My daughter sent it to me. Err, fucking hell!  Was not expecting THAT.
> 
> Tried to analyse it afterwards, got as far as
> 
> ...


I would have enjoyed a kitchen sink type film about Sheila, I thought Marianne Jean-Baptiste was excellent


----------



## trabuquera (Jan 14, 2022)

*Simple as Water (2021)* - very spare, very moving hourlong documentary about being a parent or carer as Syria breaks up and families flee for safety. It's not exploitative, not gory, restrained and dignified - and still one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen. (And I'm not even a parent  - it may be too wrenching if you have young kids yourself.) Humanist rather than political, beautifully photographed and full of surprises, most of them extremely sad. Worth your time, but not easy viewing.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 14, 2022)

Lamb...An Icelandic couple workisng as Sheep farmers gain an addition to the family. The trailer makes it look very intense but it's actually very slow. There's some great shots of scenery but I just didn't think it was that good and when the reveal came I felt like I'd seen it before.


----------



## Petcha (Jan 15, 2022)

Boiling Point - astonishing. It seems to be filmed in one shot like that Michael Keaton film a few years ago, for 90 mins. One night in a restuarant. Stephen Graham. Nuff said. Out there on the torrents.









						Boiling Point (2021) - IMDb
					

Boiling Point: Directed by Philip Barantini. With Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Ray Panthaki. Enter the relentless pressure of a restaurant kitchen as a head chef wrangles his team on the busiest day of the year.




					www.imdb.com


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 15, 2022)

Petcha said:


> Boiling Point - astonishing. It seems to be filmed in one shot like that Michael Keaton film a few years ago, for 90 mins. One night in a restuarant. Stephen Graham. Nuff said. Out there on the torrents.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Various _Band Of Brothers_ alumni are doing some interesting stuff these days - Barantini, Ruspoli, McCall etc


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 15, 2022)

Petcha said:


> Boiling Point - astonishing. It seems to be filmed in one shot like that Michael Keaton film a few years ago, for 90 mins. One night in a restuarant. Stephen Graham. Nuff said. Out there on the torrents.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I liked how intense it was and I imagine a lot of the characters were probably recognisable to anyone who's worked in kitchens even though I haven't myself. The problem for me was none of the storylines went anywhere and there were several opportunities to take the film towards what would have been a better ending.


----------



## Petcha (Jan 15, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> I liked how intense it was and I imagine a lot of the characters were probably recognisable to anyone who's worked in kitchens even though I haven't myself. The problem for me was none of the storylines went anywhere and there were several opportunities to take the film towards what would have been a better ending.



Not sure how they actually do that. The one shot thing. And I think the fact the storylines didn't really end was the point in a way. Chaos.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 15, 2022)

Petcha said:


> Not sure how they actually do that. The one shot thing. And I think the fact the storylines didn't really end was the point in a way. Chaos.


Yea I thought the one take thing is what makes it stand out. It must be really difficult to pull off.


----------



## Petcha (Jan 15, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> Yea I thought the one take thing is what makes it stand out. It must be really difficult to pull off.



Well that and Steven Graham. He's incredible in all he does.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2022)

Petcha said:


> Not sure how they actually do that. The one shot thing. And I think the fact the storylines didn't really end was the point in a way. Chaos.


There have been quite a number of feature films shot in one take or at least shot in long takes and then edited to seem like it, Hitchcock's Rope from 1948 being the first one.

I believe this one genuinely was shot in one take, something that's only become possible since films have been shot digitally. They rehearse like a stage play and then they shoot it several times till it works.


----------



## Petcha (Jan 15, 2022)

I can't believe that. I kept trying to see an error, even from an extra. And there were none.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 15, 2022)

Also it was built out of a short made by Barantini with Graham, so they've lived with the bones and guts of this story and its characters a long time.


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2022)

Petcha said:


> I can't believe that. I kept trying to see an error, even from an extra. And there were none.


This is nothing compared to Mike Figgis Timecode from 2000, the first feature film to genuinely be shot in one take. That film is split into four different screens and four cameras simultaneously following four plot lines which keep intersecting at certain points.


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 15, 2022)

I did notice one bit where someone almost


Petcha said:


> Well that and Steven Graham. He's incredible in all he does.


I disagree, he's done some stuff where he just plays Stephen Graham and he was terrible in the North Water just after Boiling Point. Sometimes when his wife's picking his roles she picks some shit.


----------



## redsquirrel (Jan 16, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> I liked how intense it was and I imagine a lot of the characters were probably recognisable to anyone who's worked in kitchens even though I haven't myself. The problem for me was none of the storylines went anywhere and there were several opportunities to take the film towards what would have been a better ending.


Not seen _Boiling Point, _but I do think there is a tendency on these one shoot films to focus so much on the idea/concept that other elements go put the window. The German crime flick _Victoria_ being an example, story and characterisation put second to the concept.


Reno said:


> This is nothing compared to Mike Figgis Timecode from 2000, the first feature film to genuinely be shot in one take. That film is split into four different screens and four cameras simultaneously following four plot lines which keep intersecting at certain points.


Yeah still the best of these really.

--------------

_Voyage of Time_ - Terrence Malick film, rather like a more portentous episode of one of the BBCs natural history documentaries, if you've seen _Tree of Life _.you've got the jist of it (some of the scenes are used in both). Brad Pitt is no David Attenborough in the narration stakes. Looks stunning but ultimately a bit empty.

A Winter's Tale - Éric Rohmer and with all the good and bad points of Rohmer. He gets an great performance out of Charlotte Véry in the central role . You stick with it, and her, despite the frustrations at times.


----------



## inva (Jan 16, 2022)

Giants and Toys
1958 satire directed by Yasuzo Masumura. In post war Japan three rival confectionary companies try to out compete each other in promotional campaigns and corporate espionage. Searching for a way to gain the upper hand, an ambitious executive and his assistant discover a working class girl on the street who they aim to transform into advertising mascot. Collectively, the characters are all caught in the collision between a nepotistic and rigidly heirarchical corporate culture and the tidal wave of consumer capitalism, and the new freedoms after the end of the militarist regime and the US occupation have proven hollow.

The satire is too heavy handed (at one point advertising slogans are chanted over a political demonstration) and misanthropic to really be funny, and it's less biting and more a blunt instrument but the bludgeoning effect of the lurid cluttered visual style and the distorted chaotic sound is effective in its own way. Ultimately probably more interesting than entertaining and very of its time, the bleakly fatalistic final scene is the highlight.


----------



## inva (Jan 18, 2022)

Minari
2020 drama written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung about a Korean family in the US who move to Arkansas in the 1980s to start a farm and face many challenges from each other as well as their new life. Features strong performances throughout, some lovely shots of rural landscapes, and hits just about the right emotional balance for a film like this with some welcome humour here and there. Not anything groundbreaking but well crafted and observed.


----------



## belboid (Jan 19, 2022)

Another Round (Druk)

The Danish oscar winner with Mads Mikkleson as one of a group of depressed teachers who show us the inherent risks of  undertaking a psychology experiment without proper clinical supervision. A couple of 'really???' points aside (getting really pissed can be fun! Who knew?) excellent stuff with a superb ending.


Inherent Vice

Hadn't seen it since the cinema, so I unwrapped my dvd and stuck it in.  I very quickly remembered the issue with the film.  It's not that the plot is massively complicated, it is quite complex but not ridiculously so, it's that you can barely hear the fuckers as they mumble along in a stoned drawl.  At least the pigs enunciated. Which is a real shame cos once you have got to grips with what s going on and have tuned your ear in, its great. Another complete Robert Altman homage, but why the hell not? Cracking soundtrack too.


----------



## surreybrowncap (Jan 19, 2022)

inva said:


> Minari
> 2020 drama written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung about a Korean family in the US who move to Arkansas in the 1980s to start a farm and face many challenges from each other as well as their new life. Features strong performances throughout, some lovely shots of rural landscapes, and hits just about the right emotional balance for a film like this with some welcome humour here and there. Not anything groundbreaking but well crafted and observed.


Yeah - agree. Saw this last year. Good natural performances especially from the kids.


----------



## miss direct (Jan 19, 2022)

Finished Stay Close. Silly but enjoyable.


----------



## Elpenor (Jan 19, 2022)

Curb your enthusiasm series 7


----------



## inva (Jan 19, 2022)

surreybrowncap said:


> Yeah - agree. Saw this last year. Good natural performances especially from the kids.


Yeah really impressed by them


----------



## T & P (Jan 22, 2022)

*Save the Cinema.* The kind of bland vanilla feelgood film that you know your elderly mother will love when you sit down with her in front of the telly of a Sunday afternoon.

It’s a good film within that genre to be fair, and easy watching and light. Just don’t spend money to watch it, or expect anything great.

Anyways, I like Tom Felton aka Malfoy and it’s good to see him play a goodie for once. I’d be interested to hear from any Welsh Urbanites how did he do with his Welsh accent impersonation though.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 22, 2022)

T & P said:


> Anyways, I like Tom Felton aka Malfoy and it’s good to see him play a goodie for once. I’d be interested to hear from any Welsh Urbanites how did he do with his Welsh accent impersonation though.



Just saw the trailer and Felton doesn’t speak enough in it to tell, but judging by some of the other accents his can’t possibly be the worst.


----------



## T & P (Jan 22, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> Just saw the trailer and Felton doesn’t speak enough in it to tell, but judging by some of the other accents his can’t possibly be the worst.


Being a non-native English speaker and generally shit with accents, I’ve never been any good at telling good accents from bad ones in films. I mean, they have to be genuinely awful for me to say ‘yeah, that was a shit rendition’


----------



## T & P (Jan 22, 2022)

Big thumbs up for *Tag*, a 2015 Japanese film that’s probably best described as part grindhouse, part arthouse, with a dash of comedy horror and sci-fi thrown in. 

Original as fuck, clever, and highly enjoyable overall. A word to the wise: there are a few gratuitous and pervy knicker-flashing shots, but as it turns out there is a justification for that after all, and this is not that kind of film, so don’t be put off by it.

Anyways, highly recommended. Behind the Shudder paywall on Amazon Prime, sadly.









						Tag
					

A woman is cast adrift into an increasingly bizarre set of alternate realities in which each scenario ends in bloody carnage.




					www.rottentomatoes.com


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 23, 2022)

On season 3 of Seinfeld, and a bizarre ep that don't recall from original watch. After the usual standup, the episode starts off with a shot of a Trump plane, and later Jerry and George fall in with neo-nazis. Obviously, a co-incidence... or a sly dig at the tycoon?

Anyway, darker than usual.

Six Feet Under's Peter Krause guests.


----------



## Reno (Jan 23, 2022)

I'm 8 episodes into Yellowjackets. It's a great showcase for its lead actresses (especially Melanie Lynskey) but I'm getting a little impatient for them to get to the people munching. It's good but not as good as I was hoping.


----------



## cybershot (Jan 23, 2022)

Copshop. Once you get past the first act (and we almost turned it off) it's actually pretty good. Criminal gets banged up, so he can try and kill another criminal also locked up.


----------



## inva (Jan 23, 2022)

One of Our Aircraft is Missing
1942 Powell & Pressburger classic, far from their best still great stuff though.


----------



## T & P (Jan 23, 2022)

Grave Encounters. A found footage horror film about a reality TV ghost hunting show filming their next episode at an abandoned mental asylum where questionable medical procedures were said to have taken place.

Pretty good, actually.


----------



## Elpenor (Jan 23, 2022)

Reno said:


> I'm 8 episodes into Yellowjackets. It's a great showcase for its lead actresses (especially Melanie Lynskey) but I'm getting a little impatient for them to get to the people munching. It's good but not as good as I was hoping.


Is that about the soccer team who go missing?


----------



## Reno (Jan 23, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> Is that about the soccer team who go missing?


Yup


----------



## T & P (Jan 23, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX & Reno (plenty of other film aficionados on these boards I could have named, but you have to stop somewhere), just wondering if you’ve ever watched the Japanese film *Tag* I mentioned a few posts up?

Not the greatest thing since sliced bread, but still pretty good, and one of the most memorable and original films I’ve watched in a while. Certainly deserving of a higher profile than it currently seems to have, which seems to be next to zero.


----------



## Reno (Jan 23, 2022)

T & P said:


> ATOMIC SUPLEX & Reno (plenty of other film aficionados on these boards I could have named, but you have to stop somewhere), just wondering if you’ve ever watched the Japanese film *Tag* I mentioned a few posts up?
> 
> Not the greatest thing since sliced bread, but still pretty good, and one of the most memorable and original films I’ve watched in a while. Certainly deserving of a higher profile than it currently seems to have, which seems to be next to zero.


I have seen a couple of Sion Sono films and they were distinctive but not enough on my wavelength to make them a priority. It's on my list of at least 1000 potentially interesting films to watch.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 24, 2022)

T & P said:


> ATOMIC SUPLEX & Reno (plenty of other film aficionados on these boards I could have named, but you have to stop somewhere), just wondering if you’ve ever watched the Japanese film *Tag* I mentioned a few posts up?
> 
> Not the greatest thing since sliced bread, but still pretty good, and one of the most memorable and original films I’ve watched in a while. Certainly deserving of a higher profile than it currently seems to have, which seems to be next to zero.


I have seen tag. It's great up until a point.  I find the reveal to be utterly unimaginative compared to the quite wild and imaginative scenes and ideas leading up to it.
I would still recommend it. It's interesting, and even though better than most, it is a quite standard Japanese straight to video shock shlock. If you like this try some older Miike Takashi titles like Izo, or Gozu


----------



## Reno (Jan 24, 2022)

I finished Yellowjackets and maybe the hype set up unrealistic expectations, but I thought it was merely ok. It's one of those shows which tease out their revelations over several seasons and I was left unsatisfied by season 1. The first scene of the first episode features a flash forward to rather disturbing events which never happen in this season. It also set up the expectations for a far darker show, but this is often surprisingly comedic and lightweight. 

Maybe it didn't help that I watched Station Eleven just before, a better genre show which uses jumping around within a two decade time frame for more than setting up mysteries to be solved. Station Eleven uses that device for a more profound effect. I thought Yellowjackets would be more my bag as it promised a horror infused show, while I couldn't imagine a post apocalyptic show with thespians instead of zombies or mutants, but I was wrong there.


----------



## Chz (Jan 24, 2022)

_The Great Beauty_ 
Apparently won Best Foreign at the Oscars that year, but the competition couldn't have been up to much. I suspect there's a good film somewhere in there, if at least a half hour was taken off the 140 minute running time. And I mean at *least*. There are some LOL moments, some excellent shots, but it doesn't add up to anything at all and just comes off as so much pretentious wank. Yes, it's "about" (insomuch as it's about anything at all) people who are pretentious wankers, but it doesn't excuse the film being so up its own arse.


----------



## inva (Jan 25, 2022)

Cash on Demand
Low budget, stagey but taut and really nicely put together 1961 Hammer heist film directed by Quentin Lawrence. Peter Cushing's nervy, fastidious bank manager is coerced into helping André Morell's self-assured upper class bank robber loot the contents of the vault. There's a great dynamic between Cushing and Morell as, in roughly real time, the power relations in the film shift dramatically and the petty manager who lords it over his employees is usurped and humiliated. The supporting cast is good too, though I thought their characters weren't really developed enough to make the ending work so well. Turns out its a Christmas film which I'll have to remember, and well worth its short running time.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 26, 2022)

Reno said:


> I finished Yellowjackets and maybe the hype set up unrealistic expectations, but I thought it was merely ok. It's one of those shows which tease out their revelations over several seasons and I was left unsatisfied by season 1. The first scene of the first episode features a flash forward to rather disturbing events which never happen in this season. It also set up the expectations for a far darker show, but this is often surprisingly comedic and lightweight.
> 
> Maybe it didn't help that I watched Station Eleven just before, a better genre show which uses jumping around within a two decade time frame for more than setting up mysteries to be solved. Station Eleven uses that device for a more profound effect. I thought Yellowjackets would be more my bag as it promised a horror infused show, while I couldn't imagine a post apocalyptic show with thespians instead of zombies or mutants, but I was wrong there.



I wasn’t aware of any hype or what genre it was supposed to be, but thought it told its story quite well. Somehow I had assumed it was a limited series with no more seasons, so the final episode not leading back to that early scene was a bit of a surprise.


----------



## platinumsage (Jan 26, 2022)

The Gilded Age - Downton Abbey set in 1883 New York for an American audience Everyone kept saying all their lines, it was pretty relentless. No wit or humour either so I probably won't bother with any more episodes.


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> I wasn’t aware of any hype or what genre it was supposed to be, but thought it told its story quite well. Somehow I had assumed it was a limited series with no more seasons, so the final episode not leading back to that early scene was a bit of a surprise.


It became a word of mouth success and on social media was probably the most discussed new drama series. I noticed that there was a lot of enthusiasm by the middle of the series and then  very little discussion of the ending, which I found to be a real letdown. This looks like one of those series which will be endlessly strung out, with too little plot development or pay offs parceled out. I’d been promised cannibal schoolgirls and what I got was Desperate Housewives meets Lost.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 26, 2022)

Reno said:


> It became a word of mouth success and on social media was probably the most discussed new drama series. I noticed that there was a lot of enthusiasm by the middle of the series and then  very little discussion of the ending, which I found to be a real letdown. This looks like one of those series which will be endlessly strung out, with too little plot development or pay offs parceled out. I’d been promised cannibal schoolgirls and what I got was Desperate Housewives meets Lost.



Sounds great!


----------



## Reno (Jan 26, 2022)

krtek a houby said:


> Sounds great!


There is a lot to like about the series, mainly the performances by the lead actresses. However I am the type of spectator who sits there every episode going "when are they going to eat each other ?" when that's what has been promised during the first few minutes of the show. Now I'll have to wait another year for the people-munching to start and who knows, maybe they drag it out even further.


----------



## May Kasahara (Jan 28, 2022)

Finally watched Get Out. It was very good.


----------



## inva (Feb 2, 2022)

The Big Parade
1925 silent WW1 film directed by King Vidor. Nationalistic fever propels John Gilbert's idle upper class US army recruit to France where he and his unit fling shit at a sergeant, fight the military police and generally piss about, and Gilbert's character falls in love with a French peasant played by Renée Adorée. Then the slightly sardonic romantic comedy is replaced by visceral, savage scenes of war and the jarring switch of tone works perfectly. The various parades of the title whether of patriotic marching bands or of dying soldiers all help create the sense of a crushing relentless momentum that carries the characters towards their fate. A really powerful and well structured film.


----------



## inva (Feb 3, 2022)

Eroica
Two part 1958 satire of heroism and the Polish experience of WW2 directed by Andrzej Munk. In the first part a drunken deserter from the Polish Home Army in the aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising accidentally gets roped into acting as a messenger between the resistance and Hungarian soldiers who are considering turning on the Germans. Barring a few good moments this didn't work for me really, the humour mostly fell flat and it seemed like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be, leaning towards absurdist comedy without properly committing to it.

The second part was a big improvement on the first. Towards the end of the war a couple of new arrivals at a prisoner of war camp find it full of soldiers from the regular army who were captured back in the German invasion of 1939 and have been slowly going mad locked up in the camp ever since. One man's legendary escape is their only point of light amid petty disputes over margarine rations and trying to be given solitary confinement to get away from the others. This segment struck a stronger, bleakly funny tone and just felt much better realised. Overall an interesting watch but uneven.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 3, 2022)

The Monopoly of Viiolence.









						The Monopoly of Violence (2020) - IMDb
					

The Monopoly of Violence: Directed by David Dufresne. With Arié Alimi, Myriam Ayad, Ludivine Bantigny, Benoît Barret. A group of citizens question and confront their views on the social order, and the legitimacy of the use of violent police force.




					www.imdb.com
				




A look at the Gilet Jaune protests in France from the perspective of activists and police. I wasn't following the news about the protests but this was really good. Starting with protestors watch footage of themselves being attacked by the police, sometimes resulting in loss of eyes, hands etc. Some very graphic scenes of injuries, some interesting perspectives given by observers and the odd few cops thrown in to try to defend their frankly extreme levels of violence.

Not to be confused with The Monopoly on Violence...although that looks interesting too.


----------



## Elpenor (Feb 5, 2022)

Giddy Stratosphere’s on prime. Quite fun. Got the party scenes down to a tee I think


----------



## not-bono-ever (Feb 5, 2022)

A night in with the kids and pizza. Watched the 2017 filum Cargo with Martin Freeman . A decent little piece . Not the usual OTT zombie bollocks


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## Johnny Vodka (Feb 5, 2022)

I watched Nobody last night.  Was a bit disappointed by it. The total lack of tension reminded me of Taken.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 5, 2022)

Johnny Vodka said:


> I watched Nobody last night.  Was a bit disappointed by it. The total lack of tension reminded me of Taken.


Just cos you know they’re both gonna kill everyone? Know what you mean if so, but I enjoyed both immensely all the same


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## Johnny Vodka (Feb 5, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> Just cos you know they’re both gonna kill everyone? Know what you mean if so, but I enjoyed both immensely all the same



Yeah, you never feel like they (or their family) are in real danger as they wade through the bad guys.  I enjoyed it until it was obvious it was going to go on in that way.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 5, 2022)

Aye sometimes movies like that feel like you’re watching a video game of me playing a shooter on very easy


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## Orang Utan (Feb 5, 2022)

I’ve been watching some early Bond films and some of the fight scenes look well brutal. There’s no gore like in Taken/John Wick/Nobody, but the fighting looks real, and with consequences, there’s loads of desperate close up scenes where one pugilist is trying to literally push the other’s jaw off and you can see their neck muscles straining


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## krtek a houby (Feb 5, 2022)

not-bono-ever said:


> A night in with the kids and pizza. Watched the 2017 filum Cargo with Martin Freeman . A decent little piece . Not the usual OTT zombie bollocks



Like the OTT stuff as much as the next person, but yes, this is a good small scale film that doesn't feel like the z standard fare


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## Chz (Feb 5, 2022)

Dune (2021) 
Christ on a crutch, I know that because it's a desert world a lot of stuff happens a night but do they really have no outdoor lights anywhere? And Duke Leto is supposed to be one of the richest people in the galaxy, does he not believe in indoor lighting? 

Overall I quite liked it, but there's this goddamned trend for everything to be super dark these days and I hate it. Nearly blinded myself going back to regular broadcast afterwards.


----------



## T & P (Feb 7, 2022)

Finally watched *Pig*. It’s surprisingly bloody good, isn’t it


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## inva (Feb 8, 2022)

Sweet Smell of Success
Alexander Mackendrick's acidic 1957 noir set in a seething neon-lit New York nighttime ruled over by all-powerful gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (played by Burt Lancaster) who, being creepily possessive and controlling of his younger sister, instructs one of his minions, press agent Sidney Falco (played by Tony Curtis) to break up the relationship between her and a jazz musician. Both Lancaster and Curtis clearly relish playing two utterly repulsive characters - Lancaster radiates cruel power and self regard (and is brilliantly photographed with almost a spider's shadow permantly cast across his face from his glasses), while Curtis, all agitation and darting movement, slithers and oozes his way through the film, pure amoral slime. A totally compelling portrait of corruption, greed and misogyny. Really well shot too, these late black and white films could look astonishingly good.


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## krtek a houby (Feb 9, 2022)

inva said:


> Sweet Smell of Success
> Alexander Mackendrick's acidic 1957 noir set in a seething neon-lit New York nighttime ruled over by all-powerful gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (played by Burt Lancaster) who, being creepily possessive and controlling of his younger sister, instructs one of his minions, press agent Sidney Falco (played by Tony Curtis) to break up the relationship between her and a jazz musician. Both Lancaster and Curtis clearly relish playing two utterly repulsive characters - Lancaster radiates cruel power and self regard (and is brilliantly photographed with almost a spider's shadow permantly cast across his face from his glasses), while Curtis, all agitation and darting movement, slithers and oozes his way through the film, pure amoral slime. A totally compelling portrait of corruption, greed and misogyny. Really well shot too, these late black and white films could look astonishingly good.



It's a stunningly good film.


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## Johnny Vodka (Feb 12, 2022)

I just finished episode 9 of Yellowjackets.  I'm really rather liking it.


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## Part 2 (Feb 12, 2022)

Cow. 4 years old n the life of 2 dairy cows. Very little dialogue between the farmhands just cows on a farm with occasional radio playing in the background. It's hard to think of a shittier existence for a species....not that I imagine life for other farm animals to be much better. I'm not vegan and will likely use the milk in the fridge for a brew in the morning but it might not taste the same.


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## redsquirrel (Feb 13, 2022)

Has anyone seen the Chabrol TV series _Fantômas_? (Reno Sue butchersapron ?)

I'm an big Chabrol fan, but it is from the 80s and the two films of his I've seen period are among his weakest. _Poulet au viniagre_ is ok, if well off his best, while _Inspecteur Lavardin_ is the only Chabrol film that I've watched and would't recommend. 


Catching up on past Melbourne Cinematheque seasons, this time Robert Mitchum 

_Pursued_ - Very good Raoul Walsh western starring Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright. With Mitchum as the cowboy troubled by his repressed childhood memories, from that period in the 40s/50s where psychology (or at least a version of it) was very popular in Hollywood (and the UK) 

_Home from the Hill_ - Vincent Minnelli melodrama with Mitchum as a Texas patriarch with a estranged wife, a legitimate son and an illegitimate son (played by George Peppard). It is very much melodrama but Minnelli just about manages to pull it off. Not great, but interesting enough.


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## platinumsage (Feb 13, 2022)

Chz said:


> Dune (2021)
> Christ on a crutch, I know that because it's a desert world a lot of stuff happens a night but do they really have no outdoor lights anywhere? And Duke Leto is supposed to be one of the richest people in the galaxy, does he not believe in indoor lighting?
> 
> Overall I quite liked it, but there's this goddamned trend for everything to be super dark these days and I hate it. Nearly blinded myself going back to regular broadcast afterwards.



I didn't notice this at all. Is this a telly thing? Do you have an HDR telly and watched an HDR version?


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## Reno (Feb 13, 2022)

redsquirrel said:


> Has anyone seen the Chabrol TV series _Fantômas_? (Reno Sue butchersapron ?)
> 
> I'm an big Chabrol fan, but it is from the 80s and the two films of his I've seen period are among his weakest. _Poulet au viniagre_ is ok, if well off his best, while _Inspecteur Lavardin_ is the only Chabrol film that I've watched and would't recommend.


I saw the series on German tv in the early 80s but my memory of it is jumbled up with the 60s movies starring Jean Marais. I believe it was quite good at the time. Juan Luis Buñuel (son of...) co-directed the series and he made some interesting supernatural horror/fantasy films which I haven't seen since the 70s.


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## redsquirrel (Feb 13, 2022)

Reno said:


> I saw the series on German tv in the early 80s but my memory of it is jumbled up with the 60s movies starring Jean Marais. I believe it was quite good at the time. Juan Luis Buñuel (son of...) co-directed the series and he made some interesting supernatural horror/fantasy films which I haven't seen since the 70s.


Ta might give it a go then


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## Reno (Feb 13, 2022)

Chz said:


> Dune (2021)
> Christ on a crutch, I know that because it's a desert world a lot of stuff happens a night but do they really have no outdoor lights anywhere? And Duke Leto is supposed to be one of the richest people in the galaxy, does he not believe in indoor lighting?
> 
> Overall I quite liked it, but there's this goddamned trend for everything to be super dark these days and I hate it. Nearly blinded myself going back to regular broadcast afterwards.


You keep complaining about this with films where I had no problems seeing anything. There isn't a trend for films being dark more than at other times, check out the films shot by Gordon Willis in the 70s (The Godfather, Klute, All the President's Men), he was known as The Prince if Darkness. 

Pretty sure it must be your tv settings:









						Why HDR Looks Too Dark on Your TV, and How to Fix It
					

Wait, isn’t that fancy new TV supposed to deliver bright, beautiful images? If yours is a little dimmer than expected, we can help.




					www.wired.com


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## Orang Utan (Feb 13, 2022)

some films are quite dark, esp action scenes in some Marvel films. Endgame was dark as fuck in the big battle scenes. You couldn’t even work out where exactly the action is happening


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## Reno (Feb 13, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> some films are quite dark, esp action scenes in some Marvel films. Endgame was dark as fuck in the big battle scenes. You couldn’t even work out where exactly the action is happening


Some films are supposed to be dark and I watch a lot of horror. I recently watched the new Resident Evil film and could see fuck all, then I realised that it was my new media player which was crap. I then watched it via my old blu-ray player and while still overall dark, I could make everything out. 

I had no problems with the MCU films either and I watched them all in 3D which would make everything a little darker.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 13, 2022)

Reno said:


> Some films are supposed to be dark and I watch a lot of horror. I recently watched the new Resident Evil film and could see fuck all, then I realised that it was my new media player which was crap. I then watched it via my old blu-ray player and while still overall dark, I could make everything out.
> 
> I had no problems with the MCU films either and I watched them all in 3D which would make everything a little darker.


I think it was the 3D element that made them especially dark. Dunno why. 
Is Blu Ray noticeably better than other formats? Don’t think I’ve seen owt on it


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## pesh (Feb 13, 2022)

i just think all the modern movies are getting graded on super high end HDR monitors with huge amounts of detail being visible in the darker areas that then get utterly lost when viewed on non HDR TVs, especially older ones and cheaper ones...


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## Reno (Feb 13, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> I think it was the 3D element that made them especially dark. Dunno why.
> Is Blu Ray noticeably better than other formats? Don’t think I’ve seen owt on it


The 3D glasses are dark, it's a bit like wearing sunglasses at the cinema, so for a modern 3D presentation the image gets brightened but overall it still is darker. The glasses you get at the cinema are passive 3D and not great. At the beginning of the current 3D wave they handed out active glasses, which are synchronised to the projection and they are far better quality. But they have to be returned at the end because they are expensive and too many people stole or damaged them, so they changed to passive 3D. I've got active glasses for my set up.

Blu-ray is HD and noticeably better than DVD or and other SD presentations. I'm a home theatre nerd, I watch everything on my projector and at that size (3 meters wide) DVDs look dreadful, while Blu-rays look pretty close to a theatrical screening in terms of detail and resolution. If something is dark onscreen, DVD/SD lacks the subtlety to pick out details in dark scenes.

Now we are on to UHD/4K and the improvements are there but more marginal than from DVD to Blu-ray. With that they can go darker in mastering a film as the color and brightness spectrum is far larger, but you have to make sure you calibrate your telly properly


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## Orang Utan (Feb 13, 2022)

Aye, I had to adjust my tv settings when I watched that white walker battle in the last series of GoT - it went from murky invisibility to murky visibility in an instant. Can’t remember which setting. Might have been a sport one.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 13, 2022)

(Btw I’ve never noticed any difference between HD and SD and I used to work in telly ☺️ - maybe I just have shitty equipment - £400 Sony Bravia)


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## Reno (Feb 13, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> (Btw I’ve never noticed any difference between HD and SD and I used to work in telly ☺️ - maybe I just have shitty equipment - £400 Sony Bravia)


It depends on the screen size. With a screen of up to 32" it's not that noticeable, though with a direct comparison you still should see a difference. It's not just detail, it's also contrast and color. For a 30s - 50s Technicolor movie the colors will have to be desaturated for an SD presentation, otherwise they bleed and there isn't much I love as much as vintage Technicolor.

For me film is a visual medium not just a plot delivery system. Visually inventive films are what I respond to the most, so I'm fairly obsessive about the presentation. For a restauration of Dario Argento's Suspiria  (maybe the most eye-popping colour film ever made) which was in the works for years, I paid a lot of money for a Blu-ray restoration from the US after the film had gotten many unsatisfactory releases (4 of which I own). Would love to upgrade my set-up and collection to UHD/4K but I don't have to money and blu-ray is still good enough for me.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 13, 2022)

Would love to watch Dr Phibes or Masque Of The Red Death on BluRay then!


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## Reno (Feb 13, 2022)

Working my way through the most acclaimed films of 2021 as they become available online, I watched _The Worst Person in the World_, the latest film by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier. Like many great films, it's one of those not easily summed up in one sentence. It's a character study and one of a fairly unexceptional person, a young woman approaching 30 who hasn't yet found her place in the world.  I found it incredibly absorbing, wonderfully written and acted, the details all feel spot on and occasionally it strays into the fantastic (best magic mushrooms scene  ever!).

This deserves all the praise it got, if you are intrigued, don't hesitate. It left me a little happier, despite not being that happy a film. I recognised aspects of myself in that character, even while pushing 60 and it made me feel alright about life having not turned out quite how I hoped. Satisfyingly non-aspirational, the film is how we all muddle our way through life without a users manual and does so with humour and a great deal of empathy for its flawed protagonist. Was going to link to the trailer, but it rather bafflingly sells this as a romance, when actually it's about the mundane realities which make and break romantic relationships, with emphasis on the latter.




Talking of most acclaimed films, I tried _Memoria_ and I bailed after 45 minutes. I really tried, but Apichatpong Weerasethakul films are just not for me.


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## Chz (Feb 13, 2022)

Reno said:


> You keep complaining about this with films where I had no problems seeing anything. There isn't a trend for films being dark more than at other times, check out the films shot by Gordon Willis in the 70s (The Godfather, Klute, All the President's Men), he was known as The Prince if Darkness.
> 
> Pretty sure it must be your tv settings:
> 
> ...


I do know how to tune the telly. For example, No Time to Die and (oddly) Ghostbusters looked _fantastic_ and actually justified splurging on a high end OLED set.

Whereas people left the theatres complaining about Dune being dark. I think the fact that it's intentionally super desaturated really works against it there, even if it is Villeneuve's "vision". I'm hardly alone there. I've only complained in particular about two films (The Green Knight and Dune) and a casual google will tell you it's not a novel complaint.

I will admit that I have a thing about too dark films in general though. What seems new is that it seems every other film I watch has a scene or two that are too dark for no reason. Used to be a rare thing. What bugs me is this - HDR was supposed to make it better, but the way they've tuned a lot transfers seems to make it worse instead. The SDR versions of the films have godawful blowouts instead and I'm not sure which is worse. I think the whole issue is that HDR has been designed around watching in a true Home Cinema environment, and a lot of it just doesn't work in a standard living room with ambient light.

Edit:


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## Reno (Feb 13, 2022)

Chz said:


> I do know how to tune the telly. For example, No Time to Die and (oddly) Ghostbusters looked _fantastic_ and actually justified splurging on a high end OLED set.
> 
> Whereas people left the theatres complaining about Dune being dark. I think the fact that it's intentionally super desaturated really works against it there, even if it is Villeneuve's "vision". I'm hardly alone there. I've only complained in particular about two films (The Green Knight and Dune) and a casual google will tell you it's not a novel complaint.
> 
> ...



The internet has just given more people the ability to complain and most of those people are clueless about film history. I remember people whining about The Godfather looking too dark and desaturated and that was four decades ago. Ever heard of film noir, a genre most popular in the 1940s ? Mostly in black and white and all about shadows and darkness. I saw Dune (at the cinema) and The Green Knight (at home) and both looked fine to me, as in I could see everything I was meant to see to follow the plot. I also thought both films were among the most beautiful looking films of 2021. If that type of film is too dark for you, maybe stick to romantic comedies ?


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 13, 2022)

Reno said:


> Maybe stick to romantic comedies ?


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## platinumsage (Feb 13, 2022)

Lots of people compared the GoT finale lighting to LOTR.

Maybe there is some trend whereby people are assumed to have better TVs these days so the director goes darker to be more realistic?


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## Chz (Feb 13, 2022)

I think it may need its own thread, or we should get back on topic. Reno and I can agree to disagree, and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt purely on the basis that his cat is beautiful.


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## imposs1904 (Feb 13, 2022)

Rewatched Battle Royale.

Watching it again after all these years, you see it through new eyes when you have a 13 year old and a 10 year old.

#JustSaying


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## Reno (Feb 15, 2022)

Red Rocket, the latest one by Sean Baker (Starlet, Tangerine, The Florida Project). Baker is influenced by 70s new Hollywood films, especially the likes of Hal Ashby and John Cassavetes and I generally love his films but didn't like this.

His films are character studies and his central characters usually work in the sex industry but that doesn't tend to be the only thing of interest about them. Here its main character, a grifter and ex-porn actor, appears entirely defined by his former profession. I don't need characters to be sympathetic and this dude certainly isn't, I just didn't find him interesting and the main plot strand is queasy. Much of his time is spent trying to get a teenage girl he sleeps with, to work in porn with him. To the film's credit, she does have agency and appears to be far smarter than him. But I  didn't care to follow this one-note character for over two hours on a minimally plotter quest I was rooting against. As always with Sean Baker, the acting is excellent and the cinematography is gorgeous.

Hopefully his next film will be a return to form, Starlet and The Florida Project are among my favourite films of the 21st century.


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## inva (Feb 15, 2022)

The Naked City
1948 police procedural and showcase of location shooting directed by Jules Dassin and part of the phenomenal hot streak of films he made from the mid 40s to the mid 50s, though I think this is my least favourite so far. Very much presents itself as more of a Mark Hellinger (the producer) film than a Dassin one, and maybe that accounts for its more journalistic tone as a look through the window at New York life, especially compared with the intensity of Dassin's work both before and after this. A mostly effective and unusual take on the genre, emphasisng the procedural aspect and with some strong set pieces punctuating an otherwise fairly thin crime story. The end sequence in particular is great.

Le Combat Dans L'île
1962 political thriller directed by Alain Cavalier made in the context of the war in Algeria and the OAS, mixing right wing terror and a love triangle. Jean-Louis Trintignant's disaffected bourgeois reactionary seeks to arrest the decline of Western civilisation by exploding a left wing politician with a bazooka. He is then forced into hiding along with his wife played by Romy Schneider at the remote home of an old friend where both his dreams of conservative revolution and his relationship with his wife unravel. It's an interesting film, supposedly something of a response to the right wingers among the Cahiers Du Cinema lot, unfortunately it fails to really make the most of any of its potentially promising threads.

As anyone who's seen The Conformist knows, Trintignant really had the part of fascist worm nailed and is very watchable in this earlier film, and I liked Romy Schneider in this too but she doesn't have enough to do. Was nicely shot though and overall has enough to recommend it as a lesser new wave film, just far from an essential one.


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## Buddy Bradley (Feb 17, 2022)

_Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ (2004) - ironically I couldn't recall any of this film, despite having seen it before at some point. I'm not really a fan of Carrey at all, but Winslet is brilliant and the overall whirlwind of the film carries you along with enough distractions and big ideas to ignore the occasional duff notes.


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## T & P (Feb 17, 2022)

May Kasahara said:


> Personal Shopper. Really very good, chilly, emotional, understated and Kristin Stewart was excellent.


Watched it and really enjoyed it, though afterwards I had to google the ending because I didn’t know if it was a case of ‘left open to interpretation’, or ‘I must be missing something here or might be too thick to get this kind of film’.

I wouldn’t necessarily say I feel cheated by what the director says he intended with the ending, though I would still hope there’s at least one logical explanation for it in his mind even if he’ll not share it, rather than writing a confusing conclusion with a number of random curved balls under the pretext of wanting to generate debate and critical thinking among the audiences.


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## Chz (Feb 18, 2022)

_Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes_
Silly little (70 mins) film about time travel in a very limited sense. It's great fun to see them explore the concept, and much silliness (in a good way) ensues. Limited budget, sets, etc, but it doesn't need any of that to be great.


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## Reno (Feb 19, 2022)

I watched the new _Scream_ (5), which was solid. I read complaints that this one goes too meta, which is a little silly as the _Scream_ films have always been based on a meta-premise and the way it addresses current trends around movie culture is reasonably spot on and liked the motive for the killings when it's revealed. Nice to see the old gang back, though they play a secondary role to the new characters. Overall it's a fun ride, even if it doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking. This has always been the slickest of all the slasher franchises and also the most consistent with only _Scream 3_ being a dud. Apparently a 6th film is already in the works.


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## inva (Feb 22, 2022)

Fanatic
1965 Hammer suspense thriller directed by Silvio Narizzano. Stefanie Powers plays Patricia Carroll who before marrying her current boyfriend pays a respectful visit to the strictly religious mother of her former fiance who died in a car crash some years earlier. The mother, played by Talulah Bankhead, although welcoming Patricia, insists on total compliance with her pious strictures but what begins as tiresome demands become more and more alarming. The tense and twisting narrative is well scripted and directed and it features a strong cast, especially the scene stealing performance of Bankhead who is totally compelling. Enjoyed it a lot.

The Human Condition Part 1: No Greater Love
1959 brutal and relentlessly bleak wartime drama set during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria directed by Masaki Kobayashi. Kaji, acted with total conviction by Tatsuya Nakadai, is a pacifist employee of a steel company (I think it was) who is given the chance to avoid being conscripted into the army by accepting a position overseeing a section of a labour camp in order to implement the liberal managerialist techniques he has been advocating for. He sees an opportunity to improve and rationalise the treatment of the Chinese forced labour, and thereby improve efficiency. His self-assuredness soon crumbles when faced with the sadism of the Japanese civilian and military administration and with the enslaved Chinese for whom escape is unaccountably more attractive than 'humane' captivity and he finds his professed humanism hopelessly compromised by the role has has taken.

A despairing, angry film, it's immensely well composed and powerful although at 3 hours or so running time for just this first part it's an exhausting watch.


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## Elpenor (Feb 23, 2022)

Hardly new but I have the loan of a Disney + login so enjoyed watching The French Connection (and the sequel) for the first time over the weekend.

Particularly enjoyed the cat and mouse stalking on the streets of New York and down in the subway. 

One benefit of these older films is the directors were happy to get them done in about 1:45, modern films go on far too long!

Think I’ll see what else is on that platform that’s of interest.


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## surreybrowncap (Feb 23, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> Hardly new but I have the loan of a Disney + login so enjoyed watching The French Connection (and the sequel) for the first time over the weekend.
> 
> Particularly enjoyed the cat and mouse stalking on the streets of New York and down in the subway.
> 
> ...


The French Connection is on Talking Pictures Tv this evening at 9.05….
Looking forward to seeing it again after several years.
But you usually can’t go wrong with Hackman.
Recently viewed the excellent _The Conversation _


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## belboid (Feb 23, 2022)

Christie Malry’s Own Double Entry

BAFTA winning adaptation of the BS Johnson novel.  It’s a very turn off the century Brit flick, deliberately stilted and plain spoken about Mr Malry’s attempts to use the principles of double entry bookkeeping to chart his own life.  Rather funny.


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## Idris2002 (Feb 23, 2022)

Yeah, _The Conversation, _good call.


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## inva (Feb 24, 2022)

inva said:


> The Human Condition Part 1: No Greater Love
> 1959 brutal and relentlessly bleak wartime drama set during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria directed by Masaki Kobayashi. Kaji, acted with total conviction by Tatsuya Nakadai, is a pacifist employee of a steel company (I think it was) who is given the chance to avoid being conscripted into the army by accepting a position overseeing a section of a labour camp in order to implement the liberal managerialist techniques he has been advocating for. He sees an opportunity to improve and rationalise the treatment of the Chinese forced labour, and thereby improve efficiency. His self-assuredness soon crumbles when faced with the sadism of the Japanese civilian and military administration and with the enslaved Chinese for whom escape is unaccountably more attractive than 'humane' captivity and he finds his professed humanism hopelessly compromised by the role has has taken.
> 
> A despairing, angry film, it's immensely well composed and powerful although at 3 hours or so running time for just this first part it's an exhausting watch.


I've now watched Part 2: Road to Eternity
Another three hours done, only three more to go! Kaji has his exemption from military service revoked and late in the war is put through basic training in the Kwantung Army as it awaits the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Less complex and conflicted than the first part, unlike the Chinese labourers he oversaw previously now it's Kaji imprisoned in a camp and while still insubordinate and protective of those he sees as weaker, ultimately he is simply trying to survive the cliques and vindictive abuse of the idle army. Also unlike the Chinese labourers he is resigned and dismissive of plans to escape.

This part of the trilogy is maybe more conventional but also more poetic - beautifully shot by Yoshio Miyajima, through the feverish claustrophobic barracks and sweeping over vast barren landscapes and then crouching and crawling with the soldiers burrowed into the earth. It's the ending which really makes this work, the eventual confrontation is very brief and you feel it almost erases the previous two and a half hours or so as if they were totally irrelevant - like the earthworks they've spent ages building which the Soviet tanks simply roll over. Very effective I thought.


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## Buddy Bradley (Feb 24, 2022)

_The Power of the Dog _(2021, Netflix) - not bad, the acting and scenery were great but the story is pretty slight.


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## Reno (Feb 25, 2022)

I hoped I would disagree with belboid and Sue on Liquorish Pizza, considering there aren't many things I love more than a good period piece taking place in the 70s. I was mostly bored and left bewildered as to why PT Anderson made auch a meticulously produced film around such a thin premise. The relationship between the two main characters must have meant something to him, but it meant nothing to me. I'm not even offended like some of the twitterati, offence would at least relieved the boredom. The acting, the production design, music and cinematography all are first class, revolving around a big, fat nothing. I get the concept of a character study and and hang out film but the characters and the vignettes have to be more engaging.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 25, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> Hardly new but I have the loan of a Disney + login so enjoyed watching The French Connection (and the sequel) for the first time over the weekend.
> 
> Particularly enjoyed the cat and mouse stalking on the streets of New York and down in the subway.
> 
> ...


I know it's not actually related in anything other than name, but I really really really wish Disney + would stick on 'the London connection'. 
I assume it's a disney film, I saw it at the cinema as a double bill with the aristocats or rescuers. Never heard of seen anything about it ever since, but the music has stuck with me all these years. It's probably a terrible film.


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## Epona (Feb 26, 2022)

Tonight I have been exploring the Plex catalogue of freebies, which reminds me of visiting a Blockbuster back in the day but finding all the new releases had already been rented out and then rummaging through shelves of stuff a lot of which was straight to VHS releases that you'd never heard of - some good films on the shelves, but you have to search a bit to find them (or just settle in for an evening of cheesy horror films, which I am not averse to).

Anyway, tonight I have watched The Penitent Man which is a (mostly) action-light dialogue-heavy tale of time travel and the paradoxes and moral issues therein (I'll watch anything related to time travel tbh and I thought it was OK, albeit presenting a grim view of humanity).

I followed that up with The Way Back which was kind of depressing tbh and about 40 minutes too long IMO.  Also Saoirse Ronan really is in everything.  I realised about half way through that I had seen the latter half of it on TV at some point.


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## Reno (Feb 26, 2022)

This is one of the rare remakes of a classic film which fully justifies its existence and I'd place it alongside the great movie musicals of any period. It's also Spielberg's best film in at least a couple of decades.

I liked the Robert Wise film as a delivery system for Jerome Robbins' choreography and for what I think is the most gorgeous score of any musical. The 60s film's graphic mid-century look can also be beautiful but its artificiality jars when considering the subject matter. The browned up cast members have looked bad for a long time, while the "tough" gang members were always impossible to take seriously. Apart from Rita Moreno, every lead actor in the original was miscast. The only aspect where the original equals the remake is in the choreography, otherwise the new version is a huge improvement in every way. While in the original was mostly confined to a bunch of artificial studio sets, here the characters roam and dance through a bustling reconstruction of late 50s NYC. Now that the Spielberg film exists, I doubt I will ever go back to the original.

I'm not going over every aspect where this scores over the old movie as it strikes me as obvious how much better the cast and the dialogue are here or where this feels like a movie while the original resembles a filmed stage play. Just one aspect as a fan of the original musical is how alive the score sounds here when compared to the "Marni Nixoned" original, that in itself is a total joy.


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## nottsgirl (Feb 26, 2022)

Kaboom - Mubi. Frankly bizarre film about a student who eats a biscuit at a party and gets wrapped up in supernatural happenings. Did it really happen or was he tripping all along? An entertaining enough watch but I probably wouldn't bother again unless I myself had been indulging.

The Matrix. As the last person in the world who hasn't seen the Matrix, I thought I would watch it. Frankly I thought it was underwhelming although my sister pointed out that it was revolutionary at the time. I'm not so sure.

Now debating between Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Dune.


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## redsquirrel (Feb 26, 2022)

nottsgirl said:


> Kaboom - Mubi. Frankly bizarre film about a student who eats a biscuit at a party and gets wrapped up in supernatural happenings. Did it really happen or was he tripping all along? An entertaining enough watch but I probably wouldn't bother again unless I myself had been indulging.


Snap. Its Gregg Araki doing his thing and certainly passes 90 minutes relatively entertainingly. Though I personally prefer _Splendor_.

_I, Olga_ - film about a (real life) Checoslovakian mass murderer who drove a truck into loads of people. Its beautifully shot in black and white and with the great physical performance from the lead actor. Well worth watching.

Apart from that finishing off the Robert Mitchum season 

_Out of the Past_ - what can one say but that it is one of the greatest noir's ever made and if you have not seen it you need to. 
_The Sundowners_ -  Mitchum and Kerr playing Aussies between the wars. Searching too much for that down under flavour at times but the cast is quality enough to make a decent watch
_Where Danger Lives_ - another noir flick, this time with Mitchum playing a doctor taking for a ride. Watchable but not in the same league as _Out of the Past_


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## T & P (Feb 26, 2022)

*Hellbender (2021)*. A surprisingly original and enjoyable arthouse-like supernatural horror about a witch trying to raise her witch daughter in present day rural forest America. Would never expect to see rock-playing witches in a film, among other themes. Beautifully shot and the right mix of drama and horror. On Shudder currently.









						Hellbender
					

A teen and her mother live simply in a home in the woods, spending their time making metal music. A chance encounter with a fellow teen causes her to uncover a connection between her family and witchcraft, which causes a rift with her mother.




					www.rottentomatoes.com


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## Reno (Feb 27, 2022)

Bonjour Tristesse, 1958 film based on the Francoise Sagan novel. This very European story about a libertine Father/Daughter combo breaking hearts on the French Riviera is an odd fit for a Hollywood film of the 50s. Things are often spelled out too much, the Juliette Greco performance of title song shoehorned into the film is ludicrous and David Niven and Deborah Kerr don't make the most convincing French people but it works better than it should. It's mainly worth watching for Jean Seberg in her second lead role. She truly lights up the screen and her iconic role in Godard's Breathless is almost the same character, a couple of years older and gone slightly more amoral.

Seberg was a protege of the notoriously difficult director Otto Preminger and after casting the inexperienced actress in his Joan of Arc film the critics still had their knives out for her second Preminger film, she got some terrible reviews for this. Unlike her two co-stars, she's perfectly cast and wonderful, she is the main reason to watch this. Nice Saul Bass title sequence too.


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## May Kasahara (Feb 27, 2022)

Rocks. Moving and funny and absorbing, brilliantly played by the young cast.


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## seeformiles (Feb 27, 2022)




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## redsquirrel (Feb 27, 2022)

Reno said:


> Nice Saul Bass title sequence too.


Always a good addition to a film


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## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2022)

May Kasahara said:


> Rocks. Moving and funny and absorbing, brilliantly played by the young cast.


If you liked that, check out Le Mif - sort of a French version


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## May Kasahara (Feb 27, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> If you liked that, check out Le Mif - sort of a French version


Cheers, will do!


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## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2022)

May Kasahara said:


> Cheers, will do!


Review here:








						La Mif review – remarkable teenage care home drama
					

A cast of non-professionals give exceptional performances as fact meets fiction in this compelling drama with shades of The Class and Rocks




					www.theguardian.com
				



(correction - it's Swiss, not French - just spoken in French)


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## Reno (Feb 28, 2022)

The Mephisto Walz, 1971 knock-off of Rosemary's Baby starring a high profile cast but poorly written and terribly directed. Where Rosemary's Baby was so effective because it approached its subject matter with utter realism, this goes for filter and fish eye lense overkill to constantly make things look spooky and weird. The film is so hyped up that has nowhere to go and as a result it is never remotely scary. Characterisation is terrible, when the Jaqueline Bisset's young daughter gets bumped off by the Satanic baddies, it barely registers with her. She carries on as usual and starts flirting with Bradford Dillman. 

A similar premise was dealt with far more successfully in the underrated Skeleton Key from 2005.


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## Idris2002 (Feb 28, 2022)

The Quiller Memorandum.

Harold Pinter does espionage. Eponymous agent Quiller is sent to help Alec Guiness hunt down neo-nazis in 1960s West Berlin. 

It's all very _Pinteresque - "_ now pay attention 007, this is a long and meaningful pause".


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## T & P (Feb 28, 2022)

Shout out to those who liked Resident Alien. S2 has started (Sky/ NowTV).


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## Part 2 (Mar 2, 2022)

The Reflecting Skin....I'd never heard of this before but it came on mubi today. It's beautifully shot and very odd. I liked it but I'm not sure why.


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## Reno (Mar 2, 2022)

Les Girls, 1957 musical with a Cole Porter score and directed by George Cukor. This has a Rashomon-like structure where the entanglements of three showgirls with Gene Kelly's dancer result in an apparent suicide attempt and a libel case and are told from three different perspectives in court. Not the greatest MGM musical, but still good fun and a fine showcase for the British actress Kay Kendall, a gifted comedienne who sadly died a couple of year later. Some good production numbers as one would expect from MGM but the Cole Porter songs aren't his best. It does however feature Gene Kelly in this get up and that's worth it alone:


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## rubbershoes (Mar 2, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> Yeah, _The Conversation, _good call.



Currently on iplayer


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## redsquirrel (Mar 6, 2022)

Finished a sextet of Preston Sturges films (from the Melbourne Cinematheque season). All great and worth checking out the combination of slapstick and wit is just great. 

_Sullivan's Travels_ - Joel McCrae is the Hollywood desperate to making a picture with meaning. Despite perhaps being Sturges most famous picture I don't think he quite manages the change in tone in the last third/quarter but there are some great gags. Plus it has Veronica Lake.

_The Great McGinty_ - Mad silly and top notch, Brian Donlevy (yeah I'd never heard of him either) is great as the cynical crook who's one nit of morality breaks things up. 

_Christmas in July_ - While the two stars are fine this movie is really stolen (in a good way) by the members of Sturges 'company' (he often used the same supporting actors in films). William Demarest is great as the stubborn Bildocker and Raymond Walbourn absolutely top as the company director. 

_Hail the Conquering Hero_ - Still very good but probably for my money the weakest of the films. There are some excellent gags but I'm not quite sure about Eddie Bracken in the lead role. 

_The Palm Beach Story_ - Joel McCrae again giving a good performance as the straight man in this screwball comedy. The train scenes with the 'Ale and Quail Club' are a particular treat.

_Unfaithfully Yours_ - How is this not better know, it is magnificent. Rex Harrison is a conductor who begins to suspect that his wife may be unfaithful and while directing three pieces of music imagines three different ways of handling the situation, none of which stand up to reality. Harrison can be someone who overacts but here is performance works with the craziness of the film. The final piece of the film as really over the top slapstick but done with such a deft hand that it works. Stunningly good.


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## platinumsage (Mar 6, 2022)

After Yang - it had good reviews but I'm more than half-way through so far and it's so terribly boring. Might finish it tonight, might not bother.

Perhaps it's the Colin Farrel effect. 🥱


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## Reno (Mar 6, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> After Yang - it had good reviews but I'm more than half-way through so far and it's so terribly boring. Might finish it tonight, might not bother.
> 
> Perhaps it's the Colin Farrel effect. 🥱


What's the Colin Farrel effect ?


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## platinumsage (Mar 6, 2022)

Reno said:


> What's the Colin Farrel effect ?



That he seems to be some guy who just wandered on to the set during a comfort break, and started saying the lines, and the other actors and crew just roll with it for the lolz, and that the real movie with the actor who was actually cast to play that role is out there somewhere and might be quite good.


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## [62] (Mar 6, 2022)

We watched this DVD of a US TV drama about the mafia, set in New Jersey. Only watched the first couple of episodes, but it's quite gripping and very original. It's called 'The Sopranos'. One to check out, I reckon.


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## Reno (Mar 6, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> That he seems to be some guy who just wandered on to the set during a comfort break, and started saying the lines, and the other actors and crew just roll with it for the lolz, and that the real movie with the actor who was actually cast to play that role is out there somewhere and is might be quite good.


Nonsense, he's a great actor. In In Bruges he gives one of my favourite comedy performances and he's equally good at the other end of spectrum in something like The Lobster or The Killing of the Sacred Deer. He's matured from pretty boy leading man into a first class character actor over the years and is equally good in blockbusters and art house fare.


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## platinumsage (Mar 8, 2022)

Reno said:


> Nonsense, he's a great actor. In In Bruges he gives one of my favourite comedy performances and he's equally good at the other end of spectrum in something like The Lobster or The Killing of the Sacred Deer. He's matured from pretty boy leading man into a first class character actor over the years and is equally good in blockbusters and art house fare.



Yes I'm aware lots of people seem to have that sort of opinion about him


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## platinumsage (Mar 8, 2022)

Responsible Child - BBC TV movie about a child accused of murder, based on a true story. Great camera work etc - I was surprised to see the director hasn't made any feature films before.


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## inva (Mar 9, 2022)

Goodbye, Dragon Inn

2003 film directed by Tsai Ming-Liang. An old cinema on its last legs is showing King Hu's martial arts film Dragon Inn to an audience in single figures on a rainy evening in Taipei before closing for good. Shiang-chyi Chen plays the woman running the ticket office and generally doing most of the jobs around the place and she spends most of the film trying to leave some kind of a cake for the projectionist as a gift, while Kiyonobu Mitamura is a gay Japanese tourist who has picked a really hopeless cruising spot. And that's about it really. It took me a while to get into this, it's a incredibly slow sequence of scenes with very little plot, the camera never moves, there's hardly any dialogue - I think the first proper line is halfway through the film - but once I got used to the style I found it totally brilliant. It creates so much atmosphere, something about the stillness and the quiet draws you into the environment which is visually stunning and with fantastic sound design and lighting. Great subtle performances from the cast as well, watching Shiang-chyi Chen stare gloomily at her untouched gift for several minutes while the unseen projectionist's cigarette slowly burns down on the side was weirdly captivating. 

It really helped that the overall melancholy tone has some moments of comedy, Mitamura's character has some genuinely funny scenes. Probably one you need to be in the right mood for but I thought it was excellent, will definitely try and watch some more of Tsai's work.


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## Bahnhof Strasse (Mar 11, 2022)

The Apprentice. Had to come up with a baby food, one team called theirs First Time Dies


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## Reno (Mar 11, 2022)

Bahnhof Strasse said:


> The Apprentice. Had to come up with a baby food, one team called theirs First Time Die


You are watching this on DVD/Video ? That's commitment !


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## Bahnhof Strasse (Mar 11, 2022)

Reno said:


> You are watching this on DVD/Video ? That's commitment !



No idea, it was just 'on tele' so I watched it, same way as you watch cars crashing.


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## Bahnhof Strasse (Mar 11, 2022)




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## surreybrowncap (Mar 11, 2022)

Bahnhof Strasse said:


> View attachment 313860


The next Bruce Willis film….


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## May Kasahara (Mar 13, 2022)

Turning Red. Enjoyable growing up as a red panda animation. 

John Wick. Enjoyable computer game type violence, elevated by Keanu Reeves' angular melancholy. I particularly liked the almost complete absence of any law enforcement or other emergency services as Reeves crunches his way through Russian bad guys, expensive cars and high end nightclubs like a one man wrecking ball - an impressive commitment to the unreality of it all that really worked.


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## Part 2 (Mar 13, 2022)

Drive My Car. Outstanding japanese film due on Mubi in April. Hopefully on at Home so I can see it again on the big screen. Dialogue, characters, pacing, everything about it is amazing.....and the opening titles don't appear until 45 minutes into the film.


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## T & P (Mar 13, 2022)

Fast and Furious 9 is quite possibly the worst film I’ve seen in my entire life. It stands to reason I must have watched plenty of worse films over the years, but I can’t honestly think of any.


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## Sue (Mar 13, 2022)

T & P said:


> Fast and Furious 9 is quite possibly the worst film I’ve seen in my entire life. It stands to reason I must have watched plenty of worse films over the years, but I can’t honestly think of any.


Tbf by time they get to #9, it's quite likely the franchise has seen better days.

(Waits for someone to come along with examples where #9+ were the best of the bunch...)


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## T & P (Mar 13, 2022)

Sue said:


> Tbf by time they get to #9, it's quite likely the franchise has seen better days.
> 
> (Waits for someone to come along with examples where #9+ were the best of the bunch...)


It’s not just compared just with the previous instalments though. It is so preposterous it makes Sharknado feel plausible. I am only half joking as well. A three year old would be embarrassed by the suspension of disbelief required.

Aside from that, it is flat, boring, predictable and even the comedy relief moments are about as funny as an endoscopy. Just indescribably shite.


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## Knotted (Mar 13, 2022)

Got round to watching _Titane_. Julia Ducornau's second feature film after the cannibalistic veteran students film _Raw_ which I loved. This is something much more abstract. There's plenty of dialogue but Ducornau herself has said that only one line matters in it. The end of the film didn't quite work for me, it weirded me out too much. But there were some dance scenes which I thought were the heart of the film and really communicated something. Strange animalistic central character half woman half cold blooded machine finds a tender non romantic relationship. The dance is nonverbal, the violence is nonverbal, the body horror is nonverbal, the sex scene (which is just outrageous) is nonverbal. Nothing is explained and it's like this abstract dance of redemption and twisted humanity. I've watched it twice now and I'm still not sure what I think of it, but I keep going back to those dance scenes again and again.


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## Orang Utan (Mar 13, 2022)

It’s all about the dancing and the music innit. I’ve listened to She’s Not There and Seasons (eta oops i meant Lighthouse - Seasons is the other one I like by them after seeing that Letterman appearance) so much since watching it


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## Knotted (Mar 13, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> It’s all about the dancing and the music innit. I’ve listened to She’s Not There and Seasons so much since watching it



I've just discovered 16 Horsepower, sort of thing I'm into atm. I sort of liked her dad because of that! I thought the most interesting and powerful part of the film was the dance on the fire engine to Jim Williams/Lisa Abbott version of Wayfaring Stranger.

The Sarabande had a Wendy Carlos vibe I thought which was interesting. Oblique reference to Clockwork Orange?


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## Orang Utan (Mar 14, 2022)

Knotted said:


> I've just discovered 16 Horsepower, sort of thing I'm into atm. I sort of liked her dad because of that! I thought the most interesting and powerful part of the film was the dance on the fire engine to Jim Williams/Lisa Abbott version of Wayfaring Stranger.
> 
> The Sarabande had a Wendy Carlos vibe I thought which was interesting. Oblique reference to Clockwork Orange?


I didn’t know the Wayfaring Stranger song but remember hearing it at a very heightened moment in 1917 (the film, I’m not THAT old)
I’ve often resisted watching films more than once, but I think I need to watch Titane again.
(Willl have to check out the Sarabande reference as it’s lost on me)


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## Knotted (Mar 14, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> I didn’t know the Wayfaring Stranger song but remember hearing it at a very heightened moment in 1917 (the film, I’m not THAT old)
> I’ve often resisted watching films more than once, but I think I need to watch Titane again.
> (Willl have to check out the Sarabande reference as it’s lost on me)



A sarabande is a dance with a certain rhythm. Handel has a famous one and Kubric uses it in Barry Lindon. Jim Williams has a composition which is called Sarabande which is a synthy thing that nods to the Handel. Just made me think of Wendy Carlos and the Clockwork Orange soundtrack.


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## Reno (Mar 14, 2022)

*Spider-Man: No Way Home*. I'm really cooling on the whole MCU thing. I always thought they were better than their reputation for not neglecting character stuff in-between the effects and action scenes but the films from _Black Widow _onwards have been among the worst of the lot. Now you also have to keep up with tv shows to catch up and after giving up on two of those, I find that too much is asked in terms of commitment. There is total oversaturation of this stuff and keeping up is becoming exhausting, especially when it looks like they are spreading themselves way too thin by now.

This film still coasts on the charisma of its likeable leads, but it gets tangled up in its fan-service meta aspects and it's the least of the MCU Spider-Man movies so far. It's also the most ugly looking blockbuster I've seen in a long time, everything is flatly and brightly lit, compositions are crap, the special effects are poorly designed and executed, the whole thing looks like a cheaply shot tv show. There are a few effective moments, Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man catching Zendaya is touching (Garfield is great in this), but not enough to make it worth it 2 1/2 hours.

*See for Me*, a low budget home invasion movie which is an update on the blind-lady-terrorised-in-a-house thriller, of which the Audrey Hepburn starring _Wait Until Dark _is the most famous (though I prefer the underrated _See No Evil/Blind Terror _with Mia Farrow)

There are three things which add something new. One is the app of the title, where sighted people can guide blind people by via their smart phone, which is central to the plot. The second is that the lead actress is legally blind, lending an added sense of authenticity. The best thing is that she isn't just an innocent victim, she actually turns out to be a rather amoral character and not that sympathetic, which is a nice change from the saintly disabled protagonists of previous films like it. Unlike Audrey Hepburn’s character, she has absolutely no ambitions to become "the world champion blind lady".


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## redsquirrel (Mar 14, 2022)

Knotted said:


> I've just discovered 16 Horsepower, sort of thing I'm into atm.


16 Horsepower get a reference! Great band


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## Brainaddict (Mar 14, 2022)

Watched Harakiri (1962) last night. It is a pretty much perfect film, ostensibly a samurai film but subverting the genre to very good effect. I often struggle with films that move slowly these days but in this film every shot is full of meaning, so a bit of slowness is neither here nor there.


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## Nine Bob Note (Mar 15, 2022)

Watched the Ipcress File (on BritBox) over two nights and fucking loved it. Couldn't believe ITV made it


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## skyscraper101 (Mar 16, 2022)

Watched Boiling Point - already mentioned upthread. Absolutely fantastic that they managed it all in one shot. Graham and the whole supporting cast were excellent. I hear it's coming to Netflix on March 23.


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## Orang Utan (Mar 16, 2022)

skyscraper101 said:


> Watched Boiling Point - already mentioned upthread. Absolutely fantastic that they managed it all in one shot. Graham and the whole supporting cast were excellent. I hear it's coming to Netflix on March 23.


Great, I just rented it for a fiver


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## skyscraper101 (Mar 16, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> Great, I just rented it for a fiver



I know, I also discovered this after renting it 

But for those with Netflix who haven't seen it yet. Radio Times confirm it's coming March 23.





__





						How to watch Boiling Point in the UK - is the film on Netflix? | Radio Times
					

Stephen Graham stars as an overworked head chef in the new single-shot film Boiling Point.



					www.radiotimes.com


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## inva (Mar 16, 2022)

Our Little Sister
2015 family drama in small town/rural Japan directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, my second film of his that I've watched after the excellent Third Murder and this is another really good one. Very well drawn character piece that manages to have plenty of emotional impact without relying on much tension or conflict. Lots of wonderful moments and a really strong cast, loved this.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1920 incredible dark fairytale silent film directed by Robert Wiene. I found this a very easy watch for a silent film, maybe because the style of it still looks so striking.


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## Part 2 (Mar 16, 2022)

inva said:


> Our Little Sister
> 2015 family drama in small town/rural Japan directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, my second film of his that I've watched after the excellent Third Murder and this is another really good one. Very well drawn character piece that manages to have plenty of emotional impact without relying on much tension or conflict. Lots of wonderful moments and a really strong cast, loved this.



Not seen Third Murder so I'll give it a look. Shoplifters is the obvious Kore-eda to see....and Like Father, Like Son is really good too. 

If you generally like Japanese films Drive My Car is a must see when it becomes available.


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## inva (Mar 16, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> Not seen Third Murder so I'll give it a look. Shoplifters is the obvious Kore-eda to see....and Like Father, Like Son is really good too.
> 
> If you generally like Japanese films Drive My Car is a must see when it becomes available.


Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah I definitely want to see Shoplifters and will add Like Father Like Son to the list too.

I don't really know too much about Japanese films to be honest I'll look out for Drive My Car though.


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## redsquirrel (Mar 19, 2022)

Four films by the great Ernst Lubitsch

_Rosita_ - Lubitsch’s first film after moving to the states, restored by MoMA. Mary Pickford stars in the title role. An interesting film showcasing both Pickford and Lubitsch’s talents, you can see the line between this the other films but (unusually for Lubitsch) it’s probably a little too long.

_Trouble in Paradise_ - Two thieves/con artists fall in love, marry and try to steal while dealing with the intrusion of another woman. Frankly brilliant, some absolutely hilarious lines (it is pre-code and so more frank than later films) and wonderful scenes. If you watch one I think this has to be it.

_Shop Around the Corner_ - James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan take the Beatrice and Benedick roles in a Hungarian Department store. Much less frank and cynical that _Trouble in Paradise_ Lubitsch still manages to get his views over.

_To Be or Not To Be_ - Carol Lombard’s final role in a comedy making fun of the Nazi’s. Plot is that an acting troupe, led by Jack Benny, gets involved in the Polish resistance after the leading lady engages in a romance with an airman. I’ve seen this before and thought it was ok but enjoyed a lot more this time. Lombard does not have to do a lot other than look wonderful but Benny is great as the vain star jealous of his wife and yet willing to risk his life.


Also _Some Come Running_ which Reno summed up here. Excellent and looks great but grim, certainly not as much fun, or at least joy, as the films above.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 19, 2022)

I haven't seen the first two Lubitsch flicks redsquirrel talks about there, but the other two. . . well Mrs. Idris loves Shop Around the Corner and she's not wrong.

As for TBONTB, she thinks it takes too flippant an approach to the war. . .


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## Sue (Mar 19, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> I haven't seen the first two Lubitsch flicks redsquirrel talks about there, but the other two. . . well Mrs. Idris loves Shop Around the Corner and she's not wrong.
> 
> As for TBONTB, she thinks it takes too flippant an approach to the war. . .


I love Lubitsch's films and think TBONTB is great. Sure some of the jokes are pretty close to the bone but I think it's all the better for that.


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## Reno (Mar 21, 2022)

Drive My Car, a Japanese film about a theatre director and his female chauffeur, which appears to be the top contender for best foreign language film for just about every award and top ten list going this year. It is most boring film I've seen in a long, long time and the fucker is 3 hours long. I fell asleep twice, went back to the points where I fell asleep and rewatched, hoping that at some point it will get good. I'm utterly bewildered by what others see in this, nothing about it connected with me.


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## Chz (Mar 22, 2022)

Oh, I'd been on the lookout for that one because it got so many raves. I didn't realise it was _that_ long. Maybe I'll put it on the low-priority rental list once the blu-ray comes out. Thanks, Reno.


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## Part 2 (Mar 22, 2022)

Reno said:


> Drive My Car, a Japanese film about a theatre director and his female chauffeur, which appears to be the top contender for best foreign language film for just about every award and top ten list going this year. It is most boring film I've seen in a long, long time and the fucker is 3 hours long. I fell asleep twice, went back to the points where I fell asleep and rewatched, hoping that at some point it will get good. I'm utterly bewildered by what others see in this, nothing about it connected with me.



I loved it. The long scenes of dialogue could've gone on and on. I'd normally avoid such things in English but I was engrossed. I think I just love the Japanese language and how it brought out the relationships between the characters. I've watched 2 of his other films since.

The other 2021 film currently showing, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy has 3 short stories of love triangles with each having at least one long conversation piece. Asako 1&2 is more of a traditional romatic drama and not as good. All 3 films have characters who are actors and themes about cheating in relationships, and Chekhov.


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## Reno (Mar 23, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> I loved it. The long scenes of dialogue could've gone on and on. I'd normally avoid such things in English but I was engrossed. I think I just love the Japanese language and how it brought out the relationships between the characters. I've watched 2 of his other films since.
> 
> The other 2021 film currently showing, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy has 3 short stories of love triangles with each having at least one long conversation piece. Asako 1&2 is more of a traditional romatic drama and not as good. All 3 films have characters who are actors and themes about cheating in relationships, and Chekhov.


Probably a case of „it’s me not the film“, it's certainly well made and well acted, I just didn’t connect with it at all. That's two top awards contenders and critics favourites about actors this year, where I felt on the outside for the entire film (Licorice Pizza being the other one).


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## inva (Mar 27, 2022)

Paris Belongs to Us
1961 new wave mystery directed by Jacques Rivette, his first full length film and with his style already pretty much fully formed. Features a lot of his usual themes like theatre/performance, aimless investigations, menacing lonely cityscapes, and conspiracy. Anne Goupil (played by Betty Schneider) is drawn into a loose detective plot that revolves around the social circle of her brother and in particular a Spanish exile who either comitted suicide or was murdered. 

Probably rate this medium on the Rivette coherence scale, reminded me a lot of his later film Gang of Four which is like a more streamlined version. I liked Schneider's performance, very low key, she almost aimlessly prods at various plot points and steadily unravels it all into a characteristically Rivette-ish mess. Anyway, I really enjoyed this, not my favourite Rivette but still lots to like about it.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 28, 2022)

On Youtube.

_In Search of Gregory._

Julie Christie moons around 1969 Geneva in search of the eponymous American playboy. John Hurt plays her weirdo brother, who would be an incel if this was set in 2022. 

Ms. Christie is nice to look at, but that's about your lot. This thing isn't a sex comedy, because there's damn all sex and no jokes at all, it's not really a drama - what the hell is it? Apart from a failure, that wastes the talents of Christie, Hurt, and the guy who was the Bond villain in Thunderball.


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## inva (Mar 29, 2022)

Madame Dubarry
1919 silent French Revolution costume drama directed by Ernst Lubitsch starring Pola Negri and Emil Jannings. Very watchable, especially the frantic paced first half charting Dubarry's rise to the top of the French court. In the second half it becomes less breathless and borders on plodding at times, though it gets livened up by some fantastic crowd scenes and some really striking moments as the revolution increasingly enters the frame. Negri as Dubarry is enjoyably frenetic and really throws herself into the role and seemed to spark well off Jannings and the other actors, sadly in one of the minor roles there is a particularly unpleasant portrayal of a black character by an actor in blackface.

Overall definitely not without its flaws but entertaining enough and the film's sheer exuberance sweeps you along.


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## Nine Bob Note (Mar 29, 2022)

I've done the first series and most of the second series of Gomorrah over the last three days. Not as good as the Wire (yet), better than the Sopranos certainly. Saying that, I don't think even the Wire had anything to top the ending of S01E08 and the fallout in the following episode 😭 I was relieved to read that Neopolitan is essentially a language as, despite not speaking a word of Italian, I was watching with the subtitles in full WTF are they saying mode.

I also love Italian pop music apparently 🤣


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## DaveCinzano (Mar 30, 2022)

I've only just heard of this but looks awesome, definitely top three Romanian sex comedy: 

_*Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn


*_








						Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn - Wikipedia
					






					en.m.wikipedia.org
				



_*
*_


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Mar 30, 2022)

_While You Were Sleeping _(1995) - Sandra Bullock mistaken identity rom-com that my daughter picked for us to watch as everyone else was out. I hadn't seen it since I took a date to it in the cinema, but it was actually surprisingly entertaining and funny despite the ultimately sappy and predictable ending. I can't stand Peter Gallagher's eyebrows though, they're just ridiculous.


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## Idris2002 (Mar 31, 2022)

skyscraper101 said:


> Watched Boiling Point - already mentioned upthread. Absolutely fantastic that they managed it all in one shot. Graham and the whole supporting cast were excellent. I hear it's coming to Netflix on March 23.


Watched this last night - it's the real thing, no question.


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## Chz (Mar 31, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> Watched this last night - it's the real thing, no question.


Watched it last night, too. A bit uncomfortable, as my stepson works in a kitchen. But riveting, to be sure.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 1, 2022)

First 4 episodes of Severance. Apple TV series directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle A dystopian mystery where workers for a company called Lomen have their work lives severed from their home life by an implant. Nobody knows what the company does. 

Great cast and the characters and storyline  are developing nicely and it's getting quite weird and dark. 

8 of 9 episodes available, series finale next Friday with a second series planned for next year. I loved Escape at Dannemora that Stiller directed and hoping this continues to be as good.


----------



## Reno (Apr 2, 2022)

Watched the first two episodes of the acclaimed Norwegian series Beforeigners, where millions of people from various periods of the past suddenly get washed up in bodies of water and then have to be integrated into society. It's focus is a mismatched cop duo of temporary detective being partnered with Viking shied maiden and it plays out as a procedural. Cute premise but this feels cobbled together from parts of better series like The Leftovers, Dark, The Returned, Alienation. It doesn't feel distinctive enough and the plot moves from one trope to the next. Probably will leave it here.


----------



## Chz (Apr 3, 2022)

Reno said:


> Watched the first two episodes of the acclaimed Norwegian series Beforeigners, where millions of people from various periods of the past suddenly get washed up in bodies of water and then have to be integrated into society. It's focus is a mismatched cop duo of temporary detective being partnered with Viking shied maiden and it plays out as a procedural. Cute premise but this feels cobbled together from parts of better series like The Leftovers, Dark, The Returned, Alienation. It doesn't feel distinctive enough and the plot moves from one trope to the next. Probably will leave it here.


It's a bog-standard buddy-cop show with an interesting twist to it. I thought it was plenty good enough to keep me occupied when there was nothing else on, but even though there's a Series 2 out there I haven't bothered to track it down.


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## Part 2 (Apr 4, 2022)

2 more episodes of Severance. It's really good and I'm trying to ration it knowing the season finale is coming on Friday. 

Some characters are aware of the nature of the company but whatever it is feels completely unimportant as far as the storyline goes. Each time a new bit of information is presented it gets more ridiculous and cult like. Still all very dark and claustrophobic but it's  got some very funny and sweet moments.

Ive read a lot of people find it too slow so might not be for everyone.


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## Chz (Apr 5, 2022)

Sightseers
Sort of if Bonnie and Clyde decided to instead of robbing banks visit all of Yorkshire's greatest tourist attractions and murder people there.
Boy meets girl. Girls finds boy is mass murderer. Girl gets off on it and joins in the fun. Hilarity ensues.


----------



## T & P (Apr 5, 2022)

Rewatching The Silence of the Lambs, which I have seen a fair few times, but not for a good twenty years. What a fantastically good film. The scene when we’re first introduced to Hannibal is just masterful, as indeed are all the other exchanges between him and Clarice. I still marvel at how absurdly brilliant Anthony Hopkins is in this.


----------



## inva (Apr 5, 2022)

The Dark Mirror
1946 psychological mystery directed by Robert Siodmak, has some good bits - a nice opening scene, the film feels fairly well put together overall, and Olivia de Havilland delivers a decent central performance, but the plot is pretty ropey and the supporting characters are weak. In particular I found Lew Ayres' doctor character lacking any sort of charisma and a bit creepy doling out trite sexist psychology, which is not great when for much of the film he occupies the role of main investigator of the mystery. Not a terrible film, very much second tier though as far as noirish films of the 40s go and massively inferior to Siodmak's previous film The Killers.


----------



## MBV (Apr 5, 2022)

Slow Horses (Apple TV) - Like Spooks but with Gary Oldham and grubbier.


----------



## belboid (Apr 7, 2022)

MBV said:


> Slow Horses (Apple TV) - Like Spooks but with Gary Oldham and grubbier.


saw the first couple of those (largely cos my friend made the holes in Gary Oldman's socks!).  Okay, but could have been a lot better if that young bloke wasn't doing a Simon Pegg impression for some strange reason.


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## The39thStep (Apr 7, 2022)

belboid said:


> saw the first couple of those (largely cos my friend made the holes in Gary Oldman's socks!).  Okay, but could have been a lot better if that young bloke wasn't doing a Simon Pegg impression for some strange reason.


Saw the first episode , it was promising but uneven . See how it goes


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 7, 2022)

2 more episodes of Severance and a few things are coming together ready for the season ender tomorrow. 

It's probably my favourite series for a long time. I've watched a couple of episodes twice to make sure I've not missed something or to confirm an idea I've had. Don't think I've done that since Breaking Bad.


----------



## rubbershoes (Apr 8, 2022)

Chz said:


> Sightseers
> Sort of if Bonnie and Clyde decided to instead of robbing banks visit all of Yorkshire's greatest tourist attractions and murder people there.
> Boy meets girl. Girls finds boy is mass murderer. Girl gets off on it and joins in the fun. Hilarity ensues.



The Provisional wing of the Caravanning Association


----------



## redsquirrel (Apr 9, 2022)

A Jeanne Moreau -> Jacques Demy mix up

_Lift to the Scaffold_ - Rewatching this it is as good (maybe even better) second time around. Hits on the bullseye on just about everything, actors, plot, script, look, camerawork, score. And Moreau is wonderful, bringing that magnetic subtlety to the role

_The Lovers_ - Malle's follow up to _Lift_ again with Moreau who again makes the role hers, its hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. The plot is not much but the way it is delivered is brilliant. In less capable hands than Malle and Moreau the wandering through the countryside at night could be ridiculous but here it works.

_Diary of a Chambermaid_ - Buñuel casts Moreau in the title role and then sets the action between the wars, a switch of time period and references to fascism work very well.

_L’adolescent -_ One of Moreau's directorial efforts and from this you have to say it shame she did not do more. A girl on an age of adolescent goes to her grandmother for a holiday in the country just before the onset of WWII. Yet while the impending war is present in the background (the local doctor is Jewish) the strength of the film is that it focuses on the girl's, and villagers, life. It is not groundbreaking but it is very well done, Simone Signoret adds class as the grandmother.

_Bay of Angels_ - Jacques Demy's second outing. Moreau is the gambling obsessed older woman the young man falls for and gets caught up by. The film is not an actual musical but virtually so, with a sort of crazed, woozy fantasy feeling.

_The Umbrellas of Cherbourg_ -  This has been on my 'to watch' list for a long time, big mistake in not getting around to seeing it sooner. It is as great as everyone says and if you haven't seen it then do so. Just gorgeous. I don't really know what else to say.

_The Young Girls of Rochefort_ - The follow up to _Umbrellas._ While it is a good film for me it does not have that magic that _Umbrellas_ does. I'm not totally swayed by Gene Kelly. It is also half a hour longer and maybe is just a little stretched*. That said the dry humour of the film hits its mark with me and it looks wonderful. Still worth checking out but maybe not straight after watching its sibling.


*Except _TYGoR_ all of these films clock in at around the 90 minute mark, more modern directors would do well to bear that in mind and cut the fat.

-------

Also re-watched _The Great War_, very interesting seeing both the liberal interpretation of the First World War and the nationalist liberalism that created the scene for the war with the current Ukrainian conflict.


----------



## not-bono-ever (Apr 10, 2022)

The latest kingsman. I have watched all of them whilst ripped to the gills, late at night and although stylised bollocks, I do seem to enjoy them. So there


----------



## not-bono-ever (Apr 10, 2022)

Oh , and the man on the moon. Jim Carrey is great in it. Perfect for playing the off his face Kaufman


----------



## T & P (Apr 10, 2022)

*Nine Days*. An independent fantasy-drama film about a man whose job is to assign  souls for newborns on Earth, and must choose one out of a handful of candidates by way of a nine-day selection process in which they’re all presented with Freudian moral dilemmas.

I really liked it. Highly original script and thought provoking. The ending didn’t go the way I expected but it gets away with it. Would recommend. Sundance Festival winner for best script in 2020.


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## DaveCinzano (Apr 10, 2022)

T & P said:


> *Nine Days*. An independent fantasy-drama film about a man whose job is to assign  souls for newborns on Earth, and must choose one out of a handful of candidates by way of a nine-day selection process in which they’re all presented with Freudian moral dilemmas.
> 
> I really liked it. Highly original script and thought provoking. The ending didn’t go the way I expected but it gets away with it. Would recommend. Sundance Festival winner for best script in 2020.


Is it 50% better than the Billy-Elliott-storms-the-Iranian-Embassy film?


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## T & P (Apr 10, 2022)

DaveCinzano said:


> Is it 50% better than the Billy-Elliott-storms-the-Iranian-Embassy film?


Never seen that one so couldn’t say. But I will say that I’m not always receptive to films I would describe as weird-arthousey with a thoroughly ambiguous ending, yet I really liked this one.


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## Part 2 (Apr 11, 2022)

Bull, recent revenge film from director of London to Brighton. It's quite like Dead Man's Shoes in many way but nowhere near as good. I wouldn't go out of your way to see it.


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## Idris2002 (Apr 11, 2022)

The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers

One night in 1928, in the industrial city of Iverstown, something terrible happened. One young man had to run away: two others stayed behind. In 1946, the first one comes back to town, gets mixed up with a girl, and discovers that the two people he left behind are now big wheels in the city's business and politics worlds. . . but not in a good way. The consequences of that night come back to haunt them all.

If you care about classic movies, you need to see this one. Barbara Stanwyck and a very young Kirk Douglas play two of the leads. Stanwyck is a Double Indemnity style sociopath: Douglas is not the classic tough-guy he normally played, in fact he's the opposite. Van Heflin is the lead, a professional gambler and WWII veteran who "once beat a murder rap in 'Frisco - claimed it was self-defence'. It's on YouTube - check it out. It will keep you guessing right up to the very end.

Reno - you must know this one, right? What's the Reno verdict?


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## Reno (Apr 11, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers
> 
> One night in 1928, in the industrial city of Iverstown, something terrible happened. One young man had to run away: two others stayed behind. In 1946, the first one comes back to town, gets mixed up with a girl, and discovers that the two people he left behind are now big wheels in the city's business and politics worlds. . . but not in a good way. The consequences of that night come back to haunt them all.
> 
> ...


Thumbs up from me but I haven't seen it in at least a couple of decades. Should probably re-watch it.


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## inva (Apr 12, 2022)

Seven Sinners
1940 Marlene Dietrich vehicle directed by Tay Garnett. Starts nice and briskly, quickly sketching the characters and setting with Dietrich as a singer who is chased by the authorities from island to island across the South Seas because of her riot-starting performances. Once John Wayne's Navy lieutenant becomes more central the film loses its momentum and the really the whole thing just falls flat. Dietrich is very watchable and has a couple of good songs, and there's a few decent jokes here and there, but most of the film is too by the numbers to stand out.


----------



## Part 2 (Apr 14, 2022)

Heads up for Mubi subscribers that Blella Tarr's Satantango was added today. Amazing....if you've got 7 hours to spare.


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## Sue (Apr 14, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> Heads up for Mubi subscribers that Blella Tarr's Satantango was added today. Amazing....if you've got 7 hours to spare.


Yes, saw that in the daily email. Knew it was long but didn't realise it was seven hours long...


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## Part 2 (Apr 14, 2022)

Sue said:


> Yes, saw that in the daily email. Knew it was long but didn't realise it was seven hours long...


It's totally worth it...and it's done in 12 chapters so quite possible to watch in 3 parts. 

*Chapters 1-3: 137 mins.* *Chapters 4-6: 124 mins.* *Chapters 7-12: 177 mins*.


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## T & P (Apr 15, 2022)

I’ve already plugged this in the ‘non Netflix etc’ thread, but make no apology for doing so again. New Sky Atlantic mini series *Julia*, a new biopic about Julia Child, is fucking brilliant so far.


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## Part 2 (Apr 16, 2022)

The Outfit. A cockney tailor (or cutter as he  prefers to be called) runs a shop in Chicago among warring gangsters who he makes suits for. The film takes place mostly over one night after he helps out members of one of the families. 

I didn't like it. It's a play that aside from a few shots of it's outside (that looks like a cheap set), all takes place inside the shop. It's not really very cinematic. There were elements that reminded me of Rope and The Usual Suspects. I don't think I like Mark Rylance much and some of the acting was poor. .

That said some people will like this, it's like a murder mystery. I'd seen someone write that it was like the Coen brothers but didn't see that myself.


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## T & P (Apr 16, 2022)

Reno said:


> Malignant, the new James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring)  horror film. I've always been a James Wan sceptic as find a lot of his work far too derivative and he's never encountered a horror movie cliche he didn't like, but this is my favourite film of his so far. The first two thirds feel rather stilted, like this is another killer-stalks-woman-who-he-has-a-psychic-connection-with thriller and it pretends to be a far more routine and serious horror film than it turns out to be. Two thirds in, the film pulls one of the most outrageous plot twists ever out of the hat, goes totally batshit and it becomes clear that this always was supposed to be tongue in cheek and OTT. The clunky dialogue and stiff acting which are initially off-putting, contribute to the campy vibe, the monster is truly grotesque and it climaxes with a fabulously demented show off between heroine and villain. The trailer doesn't give anything crucial away, btw.



Just watched this, and absolutely loved it. Fantastic silly yet enjoyable fun.


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## Sweet FA (Apr 17, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> Bull, recent revenge film from director of London to Brighton. It's quite like Dead Man's Shoes in many way but nowhere near as good. I wouldn't go out of your way to see it.


Watched this a few days ago. One for DaveCinzano's geezer film list. It's not great no...watchable though I thought. I always rate Neil Maskell and David Hayman's usually a safe bet. The set up is pretty good but 
then it doesn't really do much. I think it suffered from not going full Dead Man's Shoes tbh. Also the ending


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## Gramsci (Apr 17, 2022)

Looking around Mubi found film about Ukrainian conflict by Lithuanian director by Sarunas Bartas. Not a director Ive heard of before.

Made before Putin invasion. Its set in the ongoing conflict between separatists and Ukrainian army/ militias in Eastern Ukraine. 

A young man is asked to drive to Ukraine from Lithuania with supply of supposedly humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian militia.

The film didn't get great reviews but I think in hindsight its got something to say. Its not gung ho about war or taking sides in simplistic way. So useful imo now that the war in Ukraine is now increasingly being seen in Europe in that way.

Film brings up issue of the voyeurism of those who look at war from the outside. One of the best bits of the film is the discussion the young Lithuanian has with ( from reading afterwards) two Ukrainian soldiers. Who berate him for coming and not understanding what war is really about. 

Another theme in the film is that of people who are a bit lost. On the way they stop at a rather mysterious hotel and spend night drinking with a group of journalists. 

War and chaos provides some people with an environment that reflects their personal turmoil. They feel at home in it. Later a Ukrainian soldier asks the young man why he has come to this war zone -  if he is tired of living

An atmosphere of unreality pervades the film. As the van gets closer to the war zone the feeling of dread increases. As though War is a thing in itself.

Useful antidote to cheering on war.









						Frost (2017) - IMDb
					

Frost: Directed by Sharunas Bartas. With Mantas Janciauskas, Lyja Maknaviciute, Andrzej Chyra, Vanessa Paradis. Rokas and Inga, a couple of young Lithuanians, volunteer to drive a cargo van of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. When plans change and they find themselves left to their own devices, they...




					www.imdb.com


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## Reno (Apr 18, 2022)

In need of cinematic comfort food, I've mostly been watching new horror films. These three were the best of the bunch:

_The Power_ British horror film, taking place at the East London Royal Infirmary in the early 70s during the power outages caused by the miners strikes. A young nurse in training doesn't just have to deal with nasty fellow workers but also a possible haunting. Very good even if it spells out its message a little too clearly by the end but a great debut for another female horror filmmaker all the same. This one completely flew under the radar but as British, female directed period-horror goes, I liked this better than _Censor_, which made a splash last year.



_The Sadness_ is a Taiwanese horror film which goes all out to be as gory and offensive as possible and it thoroughly succeeds. It's part of the infected subgenre (_The Crazies, 28 Days Later_), a COVID-like Virus mutates to turn people into mega-violent, sex crazed maniacs. The plot is serviceable enough, a young couple try to find each other as the city descends into bloodthirsty chaos, but individual set pieces are well done. This is Peter Jackson _Braindead/Dead Alive _levels of gore but not played for laughs, so only hardcore horror fans need apply.



_X_, the new one by Ti West who is known for retro style horror films like _House of the Devil_ and _The Innkeepers_ but who disappeared for a few years. The pitch for this is _Boogie Nights_ meets _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre_. It's about a small crew of filmmakers and performers at the end of the 70s who head to a Texas farm to shoot a porn film. This one is beautifully made, great camera work, sound design and acting and the film takes its time to get to know the characters. When the horror sequences come, they don't disappoint and the film is both unpredictable in who gets killed and who survives and the motive for the killings is unusual. I liked this one the best even if I have some issues with it. I didn't understand why Mia Goth played both the main victim and the aged killer and I'm never keen on old people being played by young actors in layers of make-up, though it could be seen as a nod to Texas Chainsaw's granddad I also thought it was weird that they were shooting a film on 16mm in less than ideal lighting conditions, without production lighting, but hey. Otherwise this is a very atmospheric, tense and fun. Apparently West shot a prequel back-to-back with this, called _Pearl_.


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## Gramsci (Apr 18, 2022)

In the Fog









						In the Fog (2012) - IMDb
					

In the Fog: Directed by Sergey Loznitsa. With Vladimir Svirskiy, Vladislav Abashin, Sergey Kolesov, Nikita Peremotov. Western frontiers of the USSR, 1942. The region is under German occupation. A man is wrongly accused of collaboration. Desperate to save his dignity, he faces impossible moral...




					www.imdb.com
				




By the Ukrainian director Sergio Loznitsa.

Based on the story by Vasil Bykau who fought in WW2 and after became well known writer.









						Obituary: Vasil Bykau
					

Belarusian writer who challenged Soviet abuses.




					www.theguardian.com
				




Set in German occupied Eastern Europe a villager is accused of collaboration and arrested by two partisans.

The film unfolds as they wander the woods. Each has a back story shown in flashbacks. The three are composed of the one who will do anything to survive ( the cynic), the headstrong brave one and the villager. The philosopher--who thinks through all the moral choices he faces and sees he is in an impossible position.

The Germans are in the background in this film. The episode that sparked it off is amongst the villagers themselves. Its as much a civil war as a war started by the Germans.

It's a film about what war does to individuals and communities. As the villager says at one point "how did we get to this point?". Seeing that everyone lived together in relative harmony before the war.

Nobody wins in this film. As much a psychological study of how war effects ordinary people as an action film.

It's on Prime as a film to rent. His docs are still on Mubi

The director is known for his documentaries of Stalinism. He uses archive footage to put together films. Saw one on a show trial from the thirties.

He is Ukrainian. Recently been expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy for being to "cosmopolitan". He has just finished a film about the Babi Yar murder of Jews in WW2 outside the capital city Kyiv. This was aided by some Ukrainians. So is a touchy subject.


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## inva (Apr 18, 2022)

Gramsci said:


> In the Fog
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's a really excellent film, have also seen his gruelling and powerful documentary on the Leningrad siege. I must check out his more recent work.


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## Gramsci (Apr 18, 2022)

inva said:


> That's a really excellent film, have also seen his gruelling and powerful documentary on the Leningrad siege. I must check out his more recent work.



Thanks. I think the Leningrad one is still on Mubi. So will check it out.


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## Reno (Apr 20, 2022)

Trapeze from 1956. Sparked off by the huge success of The Greatest Show On Earth, the circus melodrama was its own sub-genre in the 50. This is one of the better ones, with Burt Lancaster, who started out as a circus acrobat, doing many of his own stunts. Carol Reed directed this during his Hollywood period and while the story isn't much to write home about, its always engaging and fun. The perfect Sunday afternoon movie.


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## Sue (Apr 20, 2022)

Reno said:


> Trapeze from 1956. Sparked off by the huge success of The Greatest Show On Earth, the circus melodrama was its own sub-genre in the 50. This is one of the better ones, with Burt Lancaster, who started out as a circus acrobat, doing many of his own stunts. Carol Reed directed this during his Hollywood phase and while the story isn't much to write home about, its always engaging and fun. The perfect Sunday afternoon movie.
> 
> View attachment 319364


I have a soft spot for this. When I was two and my mum was just home from hospital having had my little sister, this was on the TV. Apparently I kept pointing at Gina Lollabrigida and insisting it was mummy. As my mother said later, she'd never felt less glamorous so being compared to the very glamorous Lollabrigida was funny if nice.


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## DaveCinzano (Apr 20, 2022)

Reno said:


> The perfect Sunday afternoon movie.
> 
> View attachment 319364


Amen 👍

In my head it was one of the ones he did with Nick Cravat, but on checking, nope 🤦‍♀️


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## Johnny Vodka (Apr 29, 2022)

Supernova.  Not the easiest film to watch when a family member is near the end of their life with dementia, but I thought it was great.  A low-key and beautiful film.


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## Nikkormat (Apr 30, 2022)

Just watched Black Crab. Truly, one of the worst films I have ever seen.


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## Nikkormat (May 4, 2022)

Nikkormat said:


> Just watched Black Crab. Truly, one of the worst films I have ever seen.



Continuing with the "starring Noomi Rapace" theme, yesterday I watched Lamb. Great scenery, great acting, but a stupid plot and some 1990s CGI.


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## The39thStep (May 4, 2022)

Gramsci said:


> In the Fog
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That article on Loznitsa is fascinating


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## Buddy Bradley (May 4, 2022)

Watched _All The President's Men_ (1976) the other day - with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4 Oscars I was expecting something special, but it was a bit disjointed and the ending was a complete fumble. If all you know about Watergate is that it was a conspiracy that brought down the president, you'd expect that he might get a mention at some point, instead of just being in a a teletype headline for two seconds of the end credits? Maybe for Americans in the 70s, who would be much more familiar with all the names being talked about, it was exciting to watch them being uncovered, but for me something like _Spotlight _was a much better newsroom-set whodunnit.


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## DaveCinzano (May 4, 2022)

Buddy Bradley said:


> Watched _All The President's Men_ (1976) the other day - with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4 Oscars I was expecting something special, but it was a bit disjointed and the ending was a complete fumble. If all you know about Watergate is that it was a conspiracy that brought down the president, you'd expect that he might get a mention at some point, instead of just being in a a teletype headline for two seconds of the end credits? Maybe for Americans in the 70s, who would be much more familiar with all the names being talked about, it was exciting to watch them being uncovered, but for me something like _Spotlight _was a much better newsroom-set whodunnit.


Have you been buying opinions off of Suplex? 🤨


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## Buddy Bradley (May 5, 2022)

DaveCinzano said:


> Have you been buying opinions off of Suplex? 🤨


?


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## May Kasahara (May 6, 2022)

My son made me watch Fateful Findings with him   Truly, I am speechless.


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## DaveCinzano (May 6, 2022)

May Kasahara said:


> My son made me watch Fateful Findings with him   Truly, I am speechless.


<Goes and watches trailer>

😳😐😳😐😳


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## Nikkormat (May 9, 2022)

You Won't Be Alone; billed as horror, but it's not really - more an examination of what it is to be human, family, community. Great acting, beautiful scenery, great cinematography. One of the best films I've seen.


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## The39thStep (May 9, 2022)

Been watching a series on Hulu made by AMC called Lodge  49 .  Basically an emotionally fragile surfer type finds a ring from the  Ancient and Benevolent Order of the Lynx on the beach and then stumbles across its lodge. You are then drawn into a set of flawed characters, their stories and the history of the  lodge itself. Its brilliantly off beat  , riddled with deadpan humour , wry observations and the mundane. Very likeable  and different.


----------



## Part 2 (May 9, 2022)

The Great Freedom...In post-war Germany, liberation by the Allies does not mean freedom for everyone. Hans is repeatedly imprisoned under Paragraph 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. Over the decades, he develops an unlikely bond with his cellmate Viktor.

Not your typical prison film at all. I like Franz Rogowski and it was a really good 2 hours.


----------



## inva (May 10, 2022)

Black Test Car
1962 spy thriller directed by Yasuzo Masumura. Very similar to the other earlier film of his I've watched, Giants and Toys, this is likewise about corruption and espionage in the corporate world of post war Japan, in this case it is rival companies in the car industry each with their own network of spies, informants and saboteurs, trying to become the first to introduce a sports car to the Japanese market. Also similarly to Giants and Toys there are no heroes in this, only people who become disgusted with themselves. I liked the very bleak cynicism, otherwise a fairly average thriller really.


----------



## Sue (May 10, 2022)

inva said:


> Black Test Car
> 1962 spy thriller directed by Yasuzo Masumura. Very similar to the other earlier film of his I've watched, Giants and Toys, this is likewise about corruption and espionage in the corporate world of post war Japan, in this case it is rival companies in the car industry each with their own network of spies, informants and saboteurs, trying to become the first to introduce a sports car to the Japanese market. Also similarly to Giants and Toys there are no heroes in this, only people who become disgusted with themselves. I liked the very bleak cynicism, otherwise a fairly average thriller really.


Have you seen Kurosawa's _The Bad Sleep Well_? Bribery and corruption in late 50's corporate Japan -- found the company hierarchy stuff fascinating. Might be an interesting companion piece to those ^ two films.


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## DaveCinzano (May 10, 2022)

Sue said:


> Have you seen Kurosawa's _The Bad Sleep Well_? Bribery and corruption in late 50's corporate Japan -- found the company hierarchy stuff fascinating. Might be an interesting companion piece to those ^ two films.


But are any of those films as nuanced as _Black Rain_ or _Gung Ho_?


----------



## inva (May 10, 2022)

Sue said:


> Have you seen Kurosawa's _The Bad Sleep Well_? Bribery and corruption in late 50's corporate Japan -- found the company hierarchy stuff fascinating. Might be an interesting companion piece to those ^ two films.


I haven't, I've barely seen any Kurosawa actually, only High and Low. Should do something about that really! That does sound like it would tie in really well I've stuck it on my list, there's probably a whole interesting subgenre of films dealing with those themes. Thanks for the recommendation 😊


----------



## T & P (May 12, 2022)

belboid said:


> Another Round (Druk)
> 
> The Danish oscar winner with Mads Mikkleson as one of a group of depressed teachers who show us the inherent risks of  undertaking a psychology experiment without proper clinical supervision. A couple of 'really???' points aside (getting really pissed can be fun! Who knew?) excellent stuff with a superb ending.


Saw this today, really liked it. Manages to balance the dark/ drama and comedy elements very well.


----------



## Part 2 (May 14, 2022)

Nikkormat said:


> You Won't Be Alone; billed as horror, but it's not really - more an examination of what it is to be human, family, community. Great acting, beautiful scenery, great cinematography. One of the best films I've seen.


Watched this tonight. I think someone posted it in the folk horror thread a while back and I'd been looking forward to seeing it and it didn't disappoint. As you say it's not a horror film...well maybe if Terence Malik made folk horror. I can't find a UK cinema release date but I'll definitely be seeing it again on the big screen when it's on.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 14, 2022)

Ep 3 or 4 in the final season of Ozark. Grim and gripping.

and Richard Thomas!


----------



## platinumsage (May 14, 2022)

Operation Mincemeat - supposed war caper based on a true story which is actually a centered around a tedious fictional love triangle. 🥱


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## Idris2002 (May 16, 2022)

Mare of Easttown.

Kate Winslet juggles her dysfunctional family and her job as a detective in rustbelt America.

Very good stuff, just had a stupid name. 

Winslet's character reminded me of my sister - and my sister would have liked this one.


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## The39thStep (May 16, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> Operation Mincemeat - supposed war caper based on a true story which is actually a centered around a tedious fictional love triangle. 🥱


There was a black and white film called The Man Who Never Was which is based on the same story but with less of the love triangle business


----------



## T & P (May 16, 2022)

Watched tonight the first episode of the brand new Steven Moffat’s HBO series adaptation of *The Tine Traveler’s Wife*. It was okay I guess and of course it’s only the first episode, but as someone who’s never read the book or watched the 2009 film, I’m a bit lost.


----------



## krtek a houby (May 17, 2022)

T & P said:


> Watched tonight the first episode of the brand new Steven Moffat’s HBO series adaptation of *The Tine Traveler’s Wife*. It was okay I guess and of course it’s only the first episode, but as someone who’s never read the book or watched the 2009 film, I’m a bit lost.



Book is entertaining enough, iirc.


----------



## inva (May 17, 2022)

The Andromeda Strain
1971 disaster film directed by Robert Wise, a crashed satellite leads to an outbreak of an alien disease or something and a team of scientists do the painstaking work of trying to understand and stop it. Very well put together and keeps things nicely low key while still being a compelling watch, enjoyed this a lot.


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## krtek a houby (May 18, 2022)

inva said:


> The Andromeda Strain
> 1971 disaster film directed by Robert Wise, a crashed satellite leads to an outbreak of an alien disease or something and a team of scientists do the painstaking work of trying to understand and stop it. Very well put together and keeps things nicely low key while still being a compelling watch, enjoyed this a lot.



Robert Wise was such a diverse director.

Andromeda Strain is one of those 70s classic, up there with Silent Running, Soylent Green, Dark Star etc.


----------



## trabuquera (May 18, 2022)

*Piranhas *(2019)- very junior ( early adolescent) band of Naples likely lads get inducted, seduced & trained into being local mob underlings. Not very original, and definitely not uplifting (these aren't the 'men of honour' in suits of yore but scuzzy little teenagers with scary firearms, it's all grimier and more modern, lots of pills, coke, raving, scooters and hookers). Basically "baby gangsters about these days, sad innit." Doesn't delve that deep or say much original, but there's some decent local Neapolitan flavour and the dialogue's great if you want to try and tune your ear to the slang/dialect (incomprehensible to standard Italian speakers.)


----------



## inva (May 18, 2022)

krtek a houby said:


> Robert Wise was such a diverse director.


Yeah an interesting body of work. I didn't realise til I just looked him up that he was the editor of Citizen Kane.


----------



## May Kasahara (May 21, 2022)

The Thing, watched with my son. He loved it  Been waiting for this for ages


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## Dead Cat Bounce (May 21, 2022)

May Kasahara said:


> The Thing, watched with my son. He loved it  Been waiting for this for ages



Good choice but which one? 

The Thing From Another World (1951) or the 1982 John Carpenter classic?

I'm ignoring the 2011 remake as that was rubbish.


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## May Kasahara (May 21, 2022)

82 of course


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## Chz (May 22, 2022)

_Last Night in Soho_

A little bit of a mess, but it's clear that Wright is enjoying himself and it's hard not to be taken along for the ride even where it doesn't quite add up. It's always fun to see an area you've worked in for so long be a character. Never seen The Toucan quite that devoid of clientele, mind. Had a good laugh at the couple of North vs. South London gags, as well. (even if we both called out the punchline each time ahead of it) I like to think Diana Rigg enjoyed slashing a knife about for her last role. Wright did go out of his way to say how much he enjoyed having her on set.


----------



## Sue (May 22, 2022)

Chz said:


> _Last Night in Soho_
> 
> A little bit of a mess, but it's clear that Wright is enjoying himself and it's hard not to be taken along for the ride even where it doesn't quite add up. It's always fun to see an area you've worked in for so long be a character. Never seen The Toucan quite that devoid of clientele, mind. Had a good laugh at the couple of North vs. South London gags, as well. (even if we both called out the punchline each time ahead of it) I like to think Diana Rigg enjoyed slashing a knife about for her last role. Wright did go out of his way to say how much he enjoyed having her on set.


Agreed. I really enjoyed it -- seeing Soho and the 60's music and costumes -- despite its shortcomings.


----------



## MBV (May 22, 2022)

Sundown

Stars Tim Roth. Nice punchy short film seemingly about a guy who does the opposite of what is expected when a family member dies. I would recommend.

New Order

Same director as Sundown and set in Mexico. An aristocratic wedding is disrupted by protests that are taking place in the city. Not sure I enjoyed this one - I think it is a comment on anarchy and class systems.


----------



## Nikkormat (May 22, 2022)

Winter Light. 

It's only the second Bergman film I've seen, and it was fantastic. Heavy, hard work, but short, and worth it.


----------



## T & P (May 23, 2022)

Virtual Blue said:


> *Swiss Army Man.*
> 
> This movie is more than just fart and dick jokes.
> Was surprised and it's probably the most touching film I've seen since _Her. _
> ...


Just watched this. On the surface it seems one of the most batshit crazy films of all time. But of course it is far more than that, and I loved it. Even more so the ending:  anyone watching would have concluded not even a third into the film that this was nothing more than the ranting of a delirious mind. And of course, it really can’t be anything but. And yet, everyone sees Manny ‘jet farting’ away from the beach. Which can’t possibly be, and therefore works wonderfully. 

An amazing film. Won’t blame anyone who thinks it’s a load of weird bollocks, but as you say this is anything but a fart joke comedy. Remarkably original story, and a film I reckon is loaded with Easter eggs one will pick up on a second viewing.


----------



## Part 2 (May 23, 2022)

The Turin Horse. Bela Tarr's final film. It begins with a passage relating to Nietsche and how after seeing a man thrashing his horse, he threw his arms around it to pretect it and subsequently went mad.

A man and his daughter live in a farmhouse with their horse. The story follows them for 6 days. Every day their routine is the same but things are getting worse, beginning withan almighty wind. The following day the horse refuses to pull the cart and they resign themselves to staying home.

Most people will hate this. It's incredibly slow, only about 30 shots in 154 minutes. It begins almost like a meditation and there's hardly any dialogue for the first hour. Nothing much seems to be happening and the tension builds so gradually. Once you realise what's going it feels utterly claustrophobic and helpless. A masterpiece.


----------



## T & P (May 23, 2022)

krtek a houby said:


> Book is entertaining enough, iirc.


Watched the second episode tonight and really enjoyed it. Probably because it’s all starting to make sense now.


----------



## Nikkormat (May 24, 2022)

Through a Glass Darkly, my third Bergman. I got less out of it than Winter Light (four posts up thread); I think it has dated more, but it's well filmed and acted.


----------



## inva (May 24, 2022)

Rome, Open City
Excellent 1945 WW2 resistance film directed by Roberto Rossellini and set during the German occupation of Italy after the armistice between Italy and the allies. Easy to see why it had a big impact, it still has a real urgent, visceral feel. Looking forward to seeing the other two in the trilogy.


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## krtek a houby (May 25, 2022)

T & P said:


> Watched the second episode tonight and really enjoyed it. Probably because it’s all starting to make sense now.



Am slightly hesitant because of the Moffat involvement. Sherlock, Jekyll, Dracula all had oodles of potential but disappeared up themselves, imho.


----------



## Nikkormat (May 25, 2022)

inva said:


> Rome, Open City
> Excellent 1945 WW2 resistance film directed by Roberto Rossellini and set during the German occupation of Italy after the armistice between Italy and the allies. Easy to see why it had a big impact, it still has a real urgent, visceral feel. Looking forward to seeing the other two in the trilogy.



I downloaded all three a few weeks ago but haven't got around to watching yet. I'm looking forward to them even more now.


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## Nikkormat (May 30, 2022)

Three films over weekend, all made in 1966:

Blowup - Michelangelo Antonioni - Shit. It's really shit. Shit script, shit acting, shit plot. Even the cinematography is dull.

Sedmikrásky (Daisies) - Věra Chytilová - Brilliant and completely mental. I recommend it highly.

Persona - Ingmar Bergman - Excellent. Heavy.


----------



## zenie (May 30, 2022)

Old Henry - I LOVE a western and I enjoyed this, not quite your typical western, Tim Blake Nelson didn't disappoint.


----------



## Idris2002 (May 30, 2022)

On the telly.

Up in the Air.

In the wake of the 2008 crisis, George Clooney travels from town to town, firing people. Mrs. Idris is a major George fan: I didn't tell her that the female characters in the Clooneyverse are there so the George fans can put themselves in the movie.

You could imagine some of the dialogue in this being written for Cary Grant - and old George, in fairness to him, doesn't come off worse in the comparison. Like Vince Vaughan and Matthew McConaughey, he was born too late. The old Hollywood would have been a much better fit for him.


----------



## DotCommunist (May 30, 2022)

The Northman. No time for a long review now but phew, fuck me. Alexander Skarsgard is great


----------



## Part 2 (May 30, 2022)

Nikkormat said:


> Sedmikrásky (Daisies) - Věra Chytilová - Brilliant and completely mental. I recommend it highly.



I watched that myself yesterday. Very bizarre.

Also watched Benedetta. Recent film about a nun in Italy in the 17th century. It's by Paul Verhoeven who did Starship Troopers. It's excellent, very offensive, I loved it.

And Lilya 4 Ever, the tale of a girl in the former Soviet Union whose mother goes of to the US leaving her to fend for herself. She falls into prostitution and gets trafficked to Sweden. Grim, very grim.


----------



## Gramsci (May 31, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> The Turin Horse. Bela Tarr's final film. It begins with a passage relating to Nietsche and how after seeing a man thrashing his horse, he threw his arms around it to pretect it and subsequently went mad.
> 
> A man and his daughter live in a farmhouse with their horse. The story follows them for 6 days. Every day their routine is the same but things are getting worse, beginning withan almighty wind. The following day the horse refuses to pull the cart and they resign themselves to staying home.
> 
> Most people will hate this. It's incredibly slow, only about 30 shots in 154 minutes. It begins almost like a meditation and there's hardly any dialogue for the first hour. Nothing much seems to be happening and the tension builds so gradually. Once you realise what's going it feels utterly claustrophobic and helpless. A masterpiece.



I saw this when it came out in the cinema. I do feel with Bela Tarr films there is a lot of black humour. In this one particularly. Which is missed.

I'm guessing you saw it on Mubi. They are showing his films at the mom moment

The epitome of the Euro Misery genre is Satantango. Which to my surprise closely follows the original novel it's based on. I'd say that is his masterpiece. At seven hours watched this one day at Christmas.

When I watched Gus Van Sant "Gerry" the influence of Bela Tarr is obvious. Gerry is a good film if you like Tarr.


----------



## passenger (May 31, 2022)

Not everyone's cup of tea, it's a really a hard hitting shocking film, about the porn industry, but a really good movie  9/10 from me.








						Pleasure
					

Ninja Thyberg's debut feature film Pleasure is a journey into the Los Angeles porn industry through the lens of newcomer Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel). Strong, self-confident and determined, Bella embarks on a mission to become the best at any cost.




					www.rottentomatoes.com


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## Part 2 (May 31, 2022)

Gramsci said:


> I saw this when it came out in the cinema. I do feel with Bela Tarr films there is a lot of black humour. In this one particularly. Which is missed.
> 
> I'm guessing you saw it on Mubi. They are showing his films at the mom moment
> 
> ...


I watched Satantango earlier this year. An achievement in itself. I loved that too, and the Werkmeister harmonies, although first time I saw that I hadn't much clue what was going on.  think my son and I were due to watch Gerry when he thought it might be useful for his dissertation but he swapped it for something else so I'll give it a go.

Watched Pleasure last night, new film about a Swedish girl going to LA to become the next big porn model. It's predictably grim.


----------



## flypanam (Jun 1, 2022)

We own this city. Baltimore cop unit goes rogue. Based on real life events. Bought to life by David Simon, Ed Burns and a whole host of the Wire actors and producers. Pretty captivating.


----------



## Nikkormat (Jun 3, 2022)

Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades). Quite good, better than I expected.


----------



## Elpenor (Jun 3, 2022)

A few I’d recorded off Talking Pictures Tv

It Always Rains on Sunday 









						It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) - IMDb
					

It Always Rains on Sunday: Directed by Robert Hamer. With Googie Withers, Edward Chapman, Susan Shaw, Patricia Plunkett. An escaped convict tries to hide out at his former lover's house, but she has since married and is reluctant to help him.




					m.imdb.com
				




The Blue Lamp









						The Blue Lamp (1950) - IMDb
					

The Blue Lamp: Directed by Basil Dearden. With Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng. The daily routine of two London Policemen is interrupted by a killer.




					m.imdb.com
				




Enjoyed both


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## inva (Jun 7, 2022)

Finished up Rossellini's war trilogy with Paisà (1946) and Germany Year Zero (1948).

Broadening out the scope from Rome, Open City, Paisà tracks the progress of the campaign across Italy in a series of episodes each in a different location and with new characters focussing on the interactions and especially the miscommunications between Italian civilians and American soldiers. Often these kind of episodic films can end up a bit disjointed, in this case I thought it kept a strong cohesion and carried its themes well enough through each segment to maintain its narrative drive.

Germany Year Zero is the bleakest of the trilogy, a relentless punishing depiction of the human and material wreckage of a defeated Germany. I was surprised at how gruelling a watch this is, there's no sense of liberation. Despite being the last to me this felt the roughest production wise and was hampered by some pretty wooden performances but it still creates a powerful sense of desolation.

Although I still think Rome, Open City is the most effective out of the three films for its intensity and deftness, I got a lot out of these other two and overall it's a really impressive and unique trilogy.


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## T & P (Jun 7, 2022)

Rewatched REC and REC2 last night. This will be no news to fans of horror movies, but what a fantastically brilliant horror film REC is. Truly superb.

REC2 is not nearly as great (I can’t honestly imagine how it would have been possible to equal let alone surpass the first, as the originality factor would have been largely lost), but it’s still vary decent and worthy sequel, and one that seamlessly follows from the original and delivers its own interesting twists.

As pure raw terror goes, the first one is undoubtedly imo in the top three greatest found footage films of all time.


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## Part 2 (Jun 8, 2022)

Watched Pistol yesterday. It's fine entertainment even if I haven't a clue what's true or not.

Just started We Own This City. Looks like a binge.


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## platinumsage (Jun 9, 2022)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer - I wish I’d read beforehand that it was based on a Greek myth, because I didn’t know anything about it, even what genre it was, so spent the entire movie thinking what the fuck is this?


----------



## Indeliblelink (Jun 9, 2022)

The Innocents [De uskyldige] (2021)
A group of kids living in a suburban housing estate develop psychic powers and start to experiment with their abilities. This a a great great psychological thriller from writer/director Eskil Vogt [he also co-wrote last year's The Worst Person In The World],


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## Gramsci (Jun 10, 2022)

The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao (2019) - IMDb
					

The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao: Directed by Karim Aïnouz. With Julia Stockler, Carol Duarte, Flávia Gusmão, António Fonseca. Kept apart by a terrible lie and a conservative society, two sisters born in Rio de Janeiro make their way through life each believing the other is living out her...




					m.imdb.com
				




On Mubi. Tale of two sisters separated due to family rejecting one of them.

Touching film with feminist angle. Set in. 1950s Brazil. But could be about life for women in most industrialised countries at the time. 

One sister is free spirit the other gifted in music. Society they live in thwarts and stunts their abilities.

The viewer interest is kept by the will they won't they ever meet again.

It's not as dour as it might sound. Plenty of life in this film. 

It's also wonderfully shot. The 1950s look real in this film. A lot of it is told by the way scenes are set and way people look at each other 

Thought this would have been good to see on big screen.


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## T & P (Jun 12, 2022)

*High Sociery*. The 1956 romantic musical comedy with an all-star cast including Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong. Still highly enjoyable.


----------



## Chz (Jun 13, 2022)

*A Man Called Ove*
Rolf Lassgård as crochety old man dealing with loss who learns to live and love again. Yeah, it sounds like tripe but it's very well done and only slightly emotionally manipulative. I enjoyed it.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jun 15, 2022)

Ambulance (2022) - IMDb
					

Ambulance: Directed by Michael Bay. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt. Two robbers steal an ambulance after their heist goes awry.




					www.imdb.com
				




Saw this last night. On paper it was bang up my alley. A heist/hostage drama where most of the action takes place in a police pursuit of a stolen ambulance set against the backdrop of modern day Los Angeles. A sort of _Heat_ meets _Speed - _or so I thought_. _ In reality it's just packed full of overused clichés and ridiculously unbelievable plot including pursuits down alleys, conveniently placed bins to crash into, police captains with attitude, explosions, helicopters, and a ridiculously underprepared heist crew - one of which was a sandal wearing stoner. Right.

Jake Gyllenhaal has delivered in the past with the excellent _Nightcrawler_ but this was a total let down. I should've headed caution when I saw it was directed by Michael Bay.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 15, 2022)

Constantine

Well, it's no Hellblazer. Best way to deal with it is to see Keanu's JC as a variant in the multiverse. Believe Sandman the series will be deviating somewhat from the original source material. Which is fine.

Keanu does a decent enough job, smoking like a chimney and despatching demons. It's passable but, like several other films around the time, could do without Shia Lebouf.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 15, 2022)

krtek a houby said:


> Constantine
> 
> Well, it's no Hellblazer. Best way to deal with it is to see Keanu's JC as a variant in the multiverse. Believe Sandman the series will be deviating somewhat from the original source material. Which is fine.
> 
> Keanu does a decent enough job, smoking like a chimney and despatching demons. It's passable but, like several other films around the time, could do without Shia Lebouf.


A very good portrayal of satan in this, unusual.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 28, 2022)

Old, M. Night Shyamalan’s last movie. It’s not great. Like with most of his other films, the premise maybe could have worked as a Twilight Zone episode but it is too weak for the scrutiny of a movie audience.
So all it deserves is lazy commonplace dad jokes
Shyamalan’s schtick is getting ‘Old’
I got ‘Old’ just from watching this
M Nighty Night Shyamalan
The Twilight Zzzzzzzone
1 heavily semaphored plot twists out of 5


----------



## PricelessTrifle (Jun 28, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> Old, M. Night Shyamalan’s last movie. It’s not great. Like with most of his other films, the premise maybe could have worked as a Twilight Zone episode but it is too weak for the scrutiny of a movie audience.
> So all it deserves is lazy commonplace dad jokes
> Shyamalan’s schtick is getting ‘Old’
> I got ‘Old’ just from watching this
> ...



I remember watching that, and just being overwhelmingly bored with it; then by the end it was just ridiculous, but not in a fun way, more of an obnoxiously stupid way. But, Ive never really been enamored with shymalan's films, any of them, i don't even care that much for his actual good (..film); but the sixth sense was passable, at least, the twist was an actual experience, it felt, and not just forced gibberish.

It did however have the good fortune of being watched between 'vivarium,' and 'mother!,' so it ('old') probably felt a little less like nonsensical horse shit than it should have. Which is really poor wording on my part, they were all nonsensical rubbish, but I was less frustrated with having forced myself to finish 'old' than I was the other two mentioned, those movies genuinely agitated me, I kept thinking 'wow, this must be building toward something truly awesome,' and then..they didn't, just more nonsense.


----------



## PricelessTrifle (Jun 28, 2022)

'The northman' was a disappointment, which shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did considering I hated 'the witch' - I just loved the lighthouse so much id forgotten the witch existed, I guess. 

And the new season of 'love, death and robots' seems good so far; my only gripe is a scene in one of the episodes where a woman is injected with morphine, and when it zooms into her pupils they dilate - which obvs is the opposite effect that an opioid injection would have - and then a bit later she's injected with amphetamine, and her pupils remain the same (large). A petty gripe to be had, surely, but I'd thought it was common knowledge that opis = miosis, amphs = mydriasis. I think I got those right, anyway, lol it's been years since I used those words now, but, constriction vs dilation. I just hate when so much work is clearly put into something, but then they couldn't put that little bit of extra research into something so (admittedly trivial) to please (loathsome pedants) like myself, really?


----------



## platinumsage (Jun 29, 2022)

The Kill Team - a simple yet effective film showing a solider uncomfortable with crimes committed by his unit under the direction of their new psycho commander.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 30, 2022)

The House that Jack Built...Von Trier film about a serial killer played by Matt Dillon. Some very funny moments but at times it plays like a second rate Man Bites Dog and after the first 90 minutes I was getting a bit bored. By the final 2 incidents I was fatigued by the whole thing before he tried to make out the Nazis were some kind of artistic project.


----------



## Chz (Jul 1, 2022)

_Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe_
After 25 years, it's a fun enough return to the two idiots. I'm not sure they can sustain a shorter interval.
In many ways, inferior to _Do America _but there are a few outstanding gags that made it worth the <90 minutes spent. You'll know whether you want to see this or not irrespective of anything I can say about it. I had fun, and I'm happy to shelve B&B for another 25 years.
I'm not sure I dig the concept of Butthead scoring, even if it's an alternative universe, smartest Butthead of them all.


----------



## Gramsci (Jul 2, 2022)

Pleasure (2021) - IMDb
					

Pleasure: Directed by Ninja Thyberg. With Sofia Kappel, Zelda Morrison, Evelyn Claire, Chris Cock. Bella Cherry arrives in Los Angeles with dreams of becoming an adult film star, but she soon learns that fame won't come easy as she harnesses her ambition and cunning to rise to the top of this...




					www.imdb.com
				




Pleasure on Mubi

New film that has got release on MUBI.

Swedish woman goes to US to work in the Porn film industry.

The director started this as a short film. Then decided to make it as cinema release length movie.

To do this she went to US and took several years to research for the movie and find the actress to fill the main role.

The actress went to US to meet those who work in the Porn industry.

Looking up the film after seeing it and apart from the lead a lot of the people in the film are in the "industry"

The plot is the rise to the top of a newbie in the porn industry. From nervous starter to ruthless climber up the ladder to the top.

Its almost documentary style. Not judgemental. You make up your own mind.

To my view, after seeing this, the Porn industry is a capitalist industry. Where men are mainly in charge.Though not always. The BDSM scene is directed by a woman and is one where care of the performers takes first place. It's the one in the film where the lead says she enjoyed the experience.

In way plot is comparable to any industry where a woman tries to make it to the top.

So in a certain way the film is saying this industry has its upsides and downsides.

Downside is the pressure to do the "rough" stuff to get ahead.

The commodity is one's body as a sexual object. In order to get ahead despite want one might feel as new sexual experiences the thing is to be able to treat one's sexuality as an inpersonal commodity. As the main character finds out when she has reached the top.

So way I read it its not making porn is bad. Its making it in a society where one labour is alienated from oneself.


----------



## inva (Jul 7, 2022)

The Beguiled
2017 dreamily southern gothic-ish suspense thriller directed by Sofia Coppola. Set in the southern US during the civil war, Colin Farrell's wounded Union deserter is taken in by the staff and students of a girls school in Confederate territory where his intrusive presence upends their insular world. I remember hearing mixed opinions about this one when it came out, but have to say I thought it was very good. Features a very strong cast - alongside Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning were all great, and likewise it has excellent sound design (one for creaky floorboard fans) and especially beautiful lighting and cinematography. Some of the shots are genuinely stunning.

One thing Coppola and co create very effectively is the sense of isolation from the civil war setting. Even when guns are heard or soldiers appear, it only emphasises how unreal and remote it seems within the languid, melancholy bubble of the school. I think this partly contributes to it feeling like quite a thin film in many ways, and it seems happy to dwell on its almost storybook imagery and a detached observational approach, but it really worked somehow.


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## krtek a houby (Jul 13, 2022)

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Marielle Heller (The Queen's Gambit) directs Tom Hanks in this oddly heartwarming story based on an interview with Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers fame. 

Hanks pretty much nails it as the almost too good to be true Rogers. A fascinating character.


----------



## surreybrowncap (Jul 13, 2022)

inva said:


> The Beguiled
> 2017 dreamily southern gothic-ish suspense thriller directed by Sofia Coppola. Set in the southern US during the civil war, Colin Farrell's wounded Union deserter is taken in by the staff and students of a girls school in Confederate territory where his intrusive presence upends their insular world. I remember hearing mixed opinions about this one when it came out, but have to say I thought it was very good. Features a very strong cast - alongside Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning were all great, and likewise it has excellent sound design (one for creaky floorboard fans) and especially beautiful lighting and cinematography. Some of the shots are genuinely stunning.
> 
> One thing Coppola and co create very effectively is the sense of isolation from the civil war setting. Even when guns are heard or soldiers appear, it only emphasises how unreal and remote it seems within the languid, melancholy bubble of the school. I think this partly contributes to it feeling like quite a thin film in many ways, and it seems happy to dwell on its almost storybook imagery and a detached observational approach, but it really worked somehow.


Have you seen the '71 original version of this?
Starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Don Siegel.


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## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2022)

surreybrowncap said:


> Have you seen the '71 original version of this?
> Starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Don Siegel.


Moviedrome massive represent!


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## krtek a houby (Jul 13, 2022)

A Gunfight

Western from '71 with Johnny Cash, Kirk Douglas, Karen Black and Keith Carradine.

Two ageing gunslingers embark on a possibly fatal money making spectacle.

Be warned, there's a bullfight shown that is kind of graphic. Hopefully not real...


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## surreybrowncap (Jul 13, 2022)

krtek a houby said:


> A Gunfight
> 
> Western from '71 with Johnny Cash, Kirk Douglas, Karen Black and Keith Carradine.
> 
> ...


I vaguely recall seeing this - probably just the once.
Just checked and it's available in full on YouTube..
Thanks for this!!


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## inva (Jul 13, 2022)

surreybrowncap said:


> Have you seen the '71 original version of this?
> Starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Don Siegel.


No I haven't is it good?


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## krtek a houby (Jul 13, 2022)

inva said:


> No I haven't is it good?


Very


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## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2022)

Is no one going to throw in an _it's very much of its time_ caveat? 😱😱😱


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## krtek a houby (Jul 13, 2022)

DaveCinzano said:


> Is no one going to throw in an _it's very much of its time_ caveat? 😱😱😱



It's a given, really


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## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2022)

krtek a houby said:


> It's a given, really


Well you can deal with the complaints, comrade


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## krtek a houby (Jul 13, 2022)

DaveCinzano said:


> Well you can deal with the complaints, comrade
> 
> View attachment 332065


Foolish Took!

Tbf, most of us are aware that older films/shows/books can contain dubious material within.


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## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2022)

This isn't about us, Houbs, this is about them 🥸


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## Orang Utan (Jul 13, 2022)

On The Buses - grim tv kitchen sink drama about two creepy bus drivers sexually assaulting all the women they encounter . There is a subplot about whether one of them can earn enough money to buy a washing machine on HP, a seemingly more important concern than his downtrodden cohabiting sister’s pregnancy. Vicious misogyny underpins everything in this horrifying slice of life in the Savile era


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## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2022)

inva said:


> No I haven't is it good?


Moar heer:


----------



## inva (Jul 13, 2022)

DaveCinzano said:


> Moar heer:



Thanks for that, definitely sounds worth a look. And a little overwrought is fine by me 👍


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## krtek a houby (Jul 14, 2022)

DaveCinzano said:


> Moar heer:



Am a fan of both that and Two Mules, must admit


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## krtek a houby (Jul 14, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> On The Buses - grim tv kitchen sink drama about two creepy bus drivers sexually assaulting all the women they encounter . There is a subplot about whether one of them can earn enough money to buy a washing machine on HP, a seemingly more important concern than his downtrodden cohabiting sister’s pregnancy. Vicious misogyny underpins everything in this horrifying slice of life in the Savile era


Out of all the "beloved" retro shows that were "rediscovered" in the 90s, could never get the fandom of this particular sitcom.


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## platinumsage (Jul 14, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> On The Buses - grim tv kitchen sink drama about two creepy bus drivers sexually assaulting all the women they encounter . There is a subplot about whether one of them can earn enough money to buy a washing machine on HP, a seemingly more important concern than his downtrodden cohabiting sister’s pregnancy. Vicious misogyny underpins everything in this horrifying slice of life in the Savile era



My great aunt used to love this show. She often said she wished they made shows like that nowadays.


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## platinumsage (Jul 14, 2022)

The Black Phone - nicely filmed mystery/horror, some things in common with Stranger Things: the retro vibe, missing kids, a cast centred on school kids, they even filmed at some of the same locations. Felt more like an artwork than a story though, the plot seemed somewhat secondary.


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## Part 2 (Jul 14, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> The Black Phone - nicely filmed mystery/horror, some things in common with Stranger Things: the retro vibe, missing kids, a cast centred on school kids, they even filmed at some of the same locations. Felt more like an artwork than a story though, the plot seemed somewhat secondary.


Thanks... I've been meaning to watch that


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## redsquirrel (Jul 16, 2022)

Started watching some Monica Vitti films, and then continued on with some more _commedia all’italiana

The Girl with the Pistol_ - Mostly living on Vitti's performance, there are some good scenes and it is a good picture for getting the style of the time. But there is a lot of weak stuff too. Does have Blair's father in law turning up as a stylish young man from Sheffield.

_Modesty Blaze_ - In lots of ways it's rubbish but the silliness of Vitti, Bogarde and Losley does work sometimes and again it is one of those films that is worth watching for the history.

_Jealousy Italian Style_ aka _The Pizza Triangle_ aka _The Dramas of Jealousy_ - Much higher quality than the previous two films. Vitti plays one half of a love triangle against Marcello Mastroianni. Both Vitti and Mastroianni are great with love driving them to their ends. Some very strange but rather good running gags with Mastroianni constantly followed by a blowfly and with no undamaged fingers, people constantly being brought into hospital. Some nice touches with the political climate of Italian at the time too. 

_Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow_ - De Sica pairs up Loren and Mastroianni again for three tales where they play lovers. Entertaining enough is passed the evening but the three pieces don't really seemed properly balanced.


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## Idris2002 (Jul 16, 2022)

Goodbye Pork Pie.

The New Zealand classic that tracks three larrikins demented progress from Auckland to Invercargill in a stolen mini. A product of a society chafing at the bit of its own conformity. Archive.org had a cheeky dvd rip with a much better picture quality than the one I had on my hard drive - unfortunately, the wizard of Christchurch wasn't in this version.


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## redsquirrel (Jul 16, 2022)

krtek a houby said:


> Am a fan of both that and Two Mules, must admit


Agreed. It's no _Once Upon a Time in the West_ but to call it terrible is not fair


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 17, 2022)

Casino Royale - the 1967 version directed by and starring half of Hollywood and numerous British character actors, many of which have also appeared in other James Bond films.
I think it had 6 directors in the end and they sort of made several films/storylines and jammed them together to make absolutely no sense. It’s really really long as well. Best thing about it is the Bacharach soundtrack and the sumptuous set and costume design. It’s the most 60s film I’ve ever seen and heard. 
Austin Powers was clearly more influenced by this film than the others. Not really worth the effort still.

The Wild Geese - nasty and bleak mercenary thriller - Richards Burton and Harris and Roger Moore interfere in East African politics by rescuing an imprisoned president or summat. Hardy Kruger also stars as a racist Saffer who becomes not racist after carrying a sickly rescued president/saint about for a bit. 
Dire stuff mostly, though the characterisation of the main characters is better and deeper than in most action thrillers of that time. 
Like in Casino Royale, one of the pleasures of watching crappy old films like this is spotting familiar British character actors in small roles.


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## Orang Utan (Jul 17, 2022)

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves
One of those films that I should have seen at the time but never got round to.
It’s entertaining enough tosh. Rickman is clearly having the best time and is the best thing in by far.
Costner is one big fucking blank in this. Great supporting cast alongside Rickman.
That fucking song still irritates after all these years.


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## Idris2002 (Jul 20, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> Casino Royale - the 1967 version directed by and starring half of Hollywood and numerous British character actors, many of which have also appeared in other James Bond films.
> I think it had 6 directors in the end and they sort of made several films/storylines and jammed them together to make absolutely no sense. It’s really really long as well. Best thing about it is the Bacharach soundtrack and the sumptuous set and costume design. It’s the most 60s film I’ve ever seen and heard.
> Austin Powers was clearly more influenced by this film than the others. Not really worth the effort still.
> 
> ...


Wild Geese is even worse than it looks at first sight. The African president they try to rescue is obviously meant to be Moise Tshombe, the puppet ruler of Katanga during the first Congo crisis. Best bit: when the Irish priest rocks up on a donkey and says "I'll curse ye from every hilltop in Africa, so I will". Roger Moore's great, in that he's clearly on the far side of forty, and heading for fifty at a rate of knots, but his character is meant to be a twenty-something playboy. Richard Burton: "I am the greatest British actor of my generation, reduced to starring in this execrable rubbish". Richard Harris: "Even when I'm in a dreadful film, I try to have a laugh with it anyway".


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## krtek a houby (Jul 20, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves
> One of those films that I should have seen at the time but never got round to.
> It’s entertaining enough tosh. Rickman is clearly having the best time and is the best thing in by far.
> Costner is one big fucking blank in this. Great supporting cast alongside Rickman.
> That fucking song still irritates after all these years.


----------



## T & P (Jul 20, 2022)

*Everything Everywhere All at Once*. An absurdist sci-fi comedy/drama that’s madder than a box of frogs, and utterly, utterly brilliant. Part Big Lebowski, part multiverse sci-fi set up, with a sprinkling of Groundhog Day for good measure.

It could perhaps have been 15 minutes shorter but still thoroughly enjoyable, and a big thumbs-up from me.









						Everything Everywhere All at Once
					

When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.




					www.rottentomatoes.com


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## Nikkormat (Jul 21, 2022)

A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks

Really good documentary on photographer, writer and director Gordon Parks. Quite a life.


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## redsquirrel (Jul 21, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> The Wild Geese - nasty and bleak mercenary thriller - Richards Burton and Harris and Roger Moore interfere in East African politics by rescuing an imprisoned president or summat.





Idris2002 said:


> Wild Geese is even worse than it looks at first sight.


If you want something to follow up _The Wild Geese_, _The Sea Wolves_, was made by the same team, and starred some of the same cast. It's equally bad though perhaps slightly less racist


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## platinumsage (Jul 22, 2022)

Insidious and Insidious 2. Awful. Stop screaming and shouting at each other. Stop with the stupid ghosts and jump scares with the loud discordant music. Annoying.


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## Sue (Jul 22, 2022)

redsquirrel said:


> If you want something to follow up _The Wild Geese_, _The Sea Wolves_, was made by the same team, and starred some of the same cast. *It's equally bad though perhaps slightly less racist*


A glowing endorsement. 🤣 (Don't think I've seen either.)


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## krtek a houby (Jul 22, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> Annoying.


That would be the title of the new Jordan Peele/Richard Curtis effort


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## redsquirrel (Jul 23, 2022)

_The House that Jack Built_ - Lars von Trier's latest. It follows a similar structure to _Nymphomaniac_ with the main character sharing stories with a listener only with killing rather than sex. While  _Nymphomaniac _was indulgent and (as always with von Trier's) only about a quarter as clever as it thought it was there was something there. Good performances, some quite good dark humour at times. This is just rather boring, and far too long.


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## redsquirrel (Jul 30, 2022)

_Repeat Performance_ - Noir with fantasy overtones. Sheila Page murders her drunk abusive husband on New Year's Eve before going back in time to re-live the year, hopefully with a different ending. Not from the top or even second division of noir but Joan Leslie looks the part And Louis Hayward is scene chewingly mad as the dastardly cad of a husband with all the best lines ("Darling, you're only a woman. You're not expected to have either judgement or intelligence").

_Bernadetta_ - Verhoeven's nun film. I've never gone with the _Showgirls_ is actually a masterpiece theory but this could do with a little more of that Verhoeven sleaze. The second half of the film is not wonderful but entertaining enough but it takes too long to get there. 

_Foolish Wives_ - The (semi?) restored version of Strohiem's film. Very much of its time, and by today's standards too long, it is still well worth watching. Not only as an interest piece but also for some wonderful scenes - mostly those involving Strohiem.


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## Orang Utan (Jul 30, 2022)

redsquirrel said:


> _Repeat Performance_ - Noir with fantasy overtones. Sheila Page murders her drunk abusive husband on New Year's Eve before going back in time to re-live the year, hopefully with a different ending. Not from the top or even second division of noir but Joan Leslie looks the part And Louis Hayward is scene chewingly mad as the dastardly cad of a husband with all the best lines* ("Darling, you're only a woman. You're not expected to have either judgement or intelligence").*


James L Brooks must be a fan of this film: 
R: How do you write women so well?

M: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.

(As Good As It Gets)


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## redsquirrel (Jul 30, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> James L Brooks must be a fan of this film:


I'm not sure if it is horrible 40s sexism or supposed to give a representation of the abusive husband


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## platinumsage (Jul 31, 2022)

The Bear. A drama TV series. People shouting in a kitchen. 100% boring.


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## Idris2002 (Aug 1, 2022)

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Jimmy Cagney breaks out of jail and returns to his life of crime. At the beginning of the flick, seven people are on trial due to their connection with him.

Not classic Cagney, but it still works very effectively. Surprisingly frank, for its era, about police corruption.

On YouTube


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## Idris2002 (Aug 1, 2022)

The Philadelphia Story


Sparkling repartee among the blue bloods - Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant being the bluest. Jimmy Stewart cast against type as a red-hot class struggle reporter, who crashes Hepburn's wedding preparations on behalf of Spy magazine. Ruth Hussey plays the snapper.

This is where postwar sitcoms get the practice of snappy dialogue from: none of them are as good as this, though.


----------



## Gramsci (Aug 2, 2022)

Bull (2021) - IMDb
					

Bull: Directed by Paul Andrew Williams. With Adam Xander Angelides, Ivy Amelia Angelides, Lois Brabin-Platt, Matthew Castle. Bull mysteriously returns home after a 10 year absence to seek revenge on those who double crossed him all those years ago.




					m.imdb.com
				




Bull. Out on BFI player and on prime to rent.

By the director of London to Brighton.

The level of violence and weirdness is on Korean levels. And the Kill List. 

It also reminded me of some of the old Spaghetti westerns I've been watching.

The film starts and ends in a field. 

Bull sets out on a spree of gruesome killings. Over the film one learns why.

As in the Korean Oldboy the action tears along. He's unstoppable and practically scares people to death. His whole life is bent on vengeance. 

This is extremely well done but not for the squeamish. 

I'd put it in the category of horror film. For reasons that become apparent when you've watched the film 

Some great scenes using a fairground. Which has significance for Bull.


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## Gramsci (Aug 2, 2022)

The Childhood of a Leader (2015) - IMDb
					

The Childhood of a Leader: Directed by Brady Corbet. With Bérénice Bejo, Liam Cunningham, Stacy Martin, Yolande Moreau. A chronicle of the childhood of a post-World War I leader.




					m.imdb.com
				




The childhood of a leader

Director Brady Corbet.

Actor who has worked with Lars van Trier and Haneke.

Influence shows. Not in a bad way. It's on Mubi. Had it on my watchlist. Slightly put off as thought it might be plodding historical drama.

Set after WW1 a American and his German wife go to Europe to take part in the peace negotiations. Taking their son with them. Bad idea

It's the kind of film I like as it wasn't at all what I expected. And it's a film rather than a drama. Been watching a lot on Netflix and the formulaic stock characters and plot lines are getting on my nerves. Even with good stuff.

This film departs for the wilder shores. Maybe I'm not watching it right. I find Haneke terribly worthy but his films are a trip. Like this one

Great performance from the little boy. He's an absolute manipulative little monster showing up the oh so nice liberal bourgeois family. By end I was cheering him on. He's that awful

The thesis that cross dressing little sociopathic monsters turn into right wing dictators adulated by the people I found so un PC that I wondered if Corbet was taking the piss out of deeply serious European "art' films. Maybe not.

Tbf I found the film a delight from start to finish. Great music score as well. It's a real cinematic ride. And all the better for it. Glad I decided to give it a go after all this time on my watchlist.

It's got great little scenes. At the dinner table- Daddy why did my French teacher stay behind? Did she give you lessons? Loved it. Had me in stitches. Real portrayed of how dysfunctional the family is.

On basis of this film Corbet is a director to watch.


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## Chz (Aug 8, 2022)

_The Batman_

Full disclosure, I've only watched half of it. I was halfway through, paused it for a wee, came back and noticed "Fuck me, it's 3 hours long!" and went to bed.,
There was nothing wrong with it, seemed quite competently done. Just did not catch me at all. Like I paused it just after what was supposed to be a gripping car chase that bored me. I'm going to try to get back into it tonight, but it's even odds that I'll just watch the DVD of _Wings of Desire_ that I have instead. If I do finish it, and it suddenly turns out to be gripping, I'll report back.


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## Chz (Aug 9, 2022)

Did watch the rest in the end. Same. It's competent. It's okay. It does not justify being three hours long.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 9, 2022)

X - half decent horror film, with a good cast, photography and direction, and flipping the usual trope of half naked young women getting offed gorily to half naked fellas getting offed gorily. Director Ti West is apparently a name in low budget horror and I can see why. Don’t want to say much about the source of the evil, but I thought there was a big mistep in how they were played/portrayed.
Still, it did the job well and I would recommend it.


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## not-bono-ever (Aug 10, 2022)

Flying a lot so many shite films. Really enjoyed liquorice pizza. 

Oh morbius  was the worst of the lot


----------



## platinumsage (Aug 14, 2022)

Prey - It was hot and sunny I couldn’t really see the screen very well, and I had a headache. Lots of chasing etc. I should have watched it when it was cold and dark perhaps.


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## Chz (Aug 14, 2022)

Prey - very good, considering it's not for cinematic release. The budget only shows in the animal cgi. Really well shot, with fantastic use of HDR in places. French bits are hilariously bad, even to my grade school French ear.


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## Chz (Aug 14, 2022)

_Wings of Desire_
Obviously a favourite of many. I've seen out-takes but never the full thing.
First off, it's gorgeous. They could truly have made the entire film about angels listening in to people's internal monologues and I'd have been happy with it.

In fact, I'd argue that would be a _better _film. Most of it is very watchable for an arthouse flick that rates a Wank Factor 8 or 9. But where it ends up... oh, lord. The penultimate scene rates a Wank Factor 11 and has Creepy Old Man vibes to boot. So I can admit it's a legend for the cinematography, but as an actual film it falls short by the end.


----------



## T & P (Aug 14, 2022)

*How It Ends*. An independent offbeat comedy about a woman who embarks on a journey on foot in Los Angeles on the last day before all life on Earth is due to end, to meet up with estranged family members, friends and former lovers one last time. On her travels though the semi deserted streets of L.A. she will also encounter a range of weird and wonderful characters spending the last day of their existence in various amusing ways.

I rather liked it. Not amazing, but original enough, quirky, and with a surprising repertoire of decent cameos. Good enough for anyone looking for an undemanding but original and entertaining film to pass the time.


----------



## trabuquera (Aug 16, 2022)

Two decidedly uncomfortable vintage watches from Talking Pictures:
*Friends (1971) *deeply DEEPLY unfortunate 'teens in love' drama with OST by Elton John. Basically 'The Blue Lagoon' but set in the south of France. Two unhappy kids (and they are kids - she's 14 he's 15) run off together, "fall in love", scrape a living on the margins and she has a baby. Amazingly, nobody dies. Absolutely A-grade creepy "awakening of a nymphet" style perving over the female lead (17 at the time of filming, but looking much younger, and also voicing sentiments no teenage or pre-teenage girl has ever felt, never mind expressed ... "oh! a baby! I know it's going to happen, isn't it wonderful ... Paul, I just want to take care of you forever" and so on). Utterly sexist bilge.  Amazed and a bit disturbed that all copies of this weren't ritually burned and frankly astonished that even Talking Pics dared to air it again. Only worth watching for some incidental shots of what Provence/Camargue used to look like before mass tourism and to hear some nice Provencal / Occitan dialect. Felt like I needed a good wash after.

*Wide Boy *(1952) surprisingly brutal UK 'film noir' (in quote marks because it's scuzzier, lower-rent and somehow more Britishly mediocre than classic FN) where a low-rent hustler tries to blackmail two posh adulterers. Disaster ensues thanks to his getting hold of a gun (for a tenner!). More interesting for its reflection of growing post-war British classism blimpishness about crime & criminals ("scum like you", "stop asking me about money, it makes you seem cheap", "one of those street lads" etc). There's also a lot of dialogue  about "make a move and I'll let you have it!" etc, so perhaps it was riding the Derek Bentley case then in the headlines (but that shooting happened in Oct 1952, so maybe Bentley was quoting from this film when he came to grief?) Some nice character acting (especially the antagonist's career-criminal but rather genteel ageing dad, who sells him the gun...) but really one for the 50s-crime completists.


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## redsquirrel (Aug 20, 2022)

_The Big Fix_ - Richard Dreyfuss was a sixties radical who ten years on is trying to make a living as a private eye only to be caught up in events that relate back to the past. A really very good comedy thriller, there's some resemblance to _Inherent Vice_ but its both funnier and more moving that that. It starts out a silly comic adventure but then brings in the thriller elements very well, with a downbeat feel (with perhaps a little gem of optimism at the end). Dreyfuss's communicate aunt is brilliant and steals the screen in the scenes she's in 'Kropotkin - he was a berk!'. Not a grade A masterpiece but a well made enjoyable film, definitely worth watching.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 20, 2022)

redsquirrel I presume Dreyfuss’ aunt is communist and your phone’s autocorrect is stupid?


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 20, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> redsquirrel I presume Dreyfuss’ aunt is communist and your phone’s autocorrect is stupid?


If she was a paid organiser I guess she would be a pro auntie-communist


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 20, 2022)

Just watched Melody. 

A Japanese friend mentioned it. Despite being a British film (relativity unknown now despite being directed by Waris Hussain)   it appears to have been quite popular there.  








						Melody (1971) - IMDb
					

Melody: Directed by Waris Hussein. With Mark Lester, Tracy Hyde, Jack Wild, Colin Barrie. Two youngsters declare to their parents that they want to get married as soon as possible.




					www.imdb.com
				




What a lovely film. Seems Wes Anderson was paying attention. 
Lots of fun vintage Lambeth/south london and Soho locations to enjoy as well.


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## redsquirrel (Aug 20, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> redsquirrel I presume Dreyfuss’ aunt is communist and your phone’s autocorrect is stupid?


Yes bloody autocorrect, She's brilliant, gets the best lines - 'Bakunin, that bum!'


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## redsquirrel (Aug 24, 2022)

_Bergman Island_ - Two film makers go to Fårö to try and find inspiration and enjoy the surrounding that inspired Bergman. I'm a bit lukewarm on Mia Hansen-Løve, I quite liked _Eden,_ and felt _Things to Come_ was pretty poor, IMO this is both the best of her's I've seen and the most enjoyable. Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth and Mia Waskowska are all very good, the movie (and island) looks good, the background and references to Bergman are fun but add rather than distract from the central point of the drama which is quite moving. Also has Avery good soundtrack - Lee Hazelwood and The Go-Betweens


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## redsquirrel (Aug 24, 2022)

I've been trying to catch up with Melbourne Cinematheque seasons too - this time Gilliam Armstrong

_My Brilliant Career_ - part of the Australian New Wave, it does not have quite the magic of _Picnic at Hanging Rock_ but is very well put together and has some beautiful scenes. I'm not familiar with the book and it is an interesting tale, one that I guess has partially defined Armstrongs career. Good performances and a very young Sam Neil crops up.

_Smokes and Lollies / Fourteen's Good, Eighteen's Better / Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces / Not Fourteen Again / Love, Lust and Lies_ - A series of documentary films following the lives of three young (originally 14 in _Smokes and Lollies_) working class girls from Adelaide, it takes inspiration from the _7 Up_ series but with a small canvas. Really interesting to see how society and the woman have changed. Like with the _Up_ series there is more of a focus on society/politics in the early episodes - the girls are asked their views on marriage, abortion, women working - and for me the increased focus on the personal aspects makes the later pieces not quite as strong. Still definitely worth following through (and you can skip some of the repeated parts)

_High Tide_ - Judy Davies plays a washed up singer that, by chance, meets up with the daughter (and incredibly young Claudia Karvan) she left behind years ago. This has a very Australian feel, being somewhere between comedy and drama with a lot of ambiguity.

_Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst_ - Documentary of Florence Broadhurst, you I'd never heard of but was (among other things) a famous wallpaper designer in the 70s. Good, even with quite a lot of talking heads it does not get too bogged down and Florence's story is so interesting that you are pulled along. Plus the wallpapers are great - if I had a house big enough I'd have them everywhere.

_Starstruck_ - Not the best but probably my favourite of the films. A very Australian musical with a young woman and her cousin trying to find fame, happiness and enough money to save the pub where they live. It's very silly, in a good way, the songs are hardly classics but they are done with enough fun that it does not matter and there are some great lines.

_Little Women_ - The weakest of the all the films for my money, but that is probably reflects my feelings on the source material which I find dreadful insipid twaddle. It's got a top cast, though I don't like Bale's performance at all (though again that might be my prejudice). I've yet to see the Greta Gerwig version but it would be interesting to compare the two.

A really well put together season with the films nicely complementing each other. There's a obvious theme, not without justification, of Armstrong as a feminist director, but for me that she is also a definite Australian director. Even in _Little Women_, a very American, novel there is a feeling of an outsider looking in. None of the previous films of Armstrongs that I've seen - _Oscar and Lucinda, Charlotte Grey_ and _Death Defying Acts_ - were included and all three of those are weaker than the material in this season.


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## Reno (Aug 24, 2022)

redsquirrel said:


> I've been trying to catch up with Melbourne Cinematheque seasons too - this time Gilliam Armstrong
> 
> _My Brilliant Career_ - part of the Australian New Wave, it does not have quite the magic of _Picnic at Hanging Rock_ but is very well put together and has some beautiful scenes. I'm not familiar with the book and it is an interesting tale, one that I guess has partially defined Armstrongs career. Good performances and a very young Sam Neil crops up.
> 
> ...


Did they show _Mrs. Soffel_ ? It was Gillian Armstrong's first American film and apart from Pauline Kael, who gave it a great review, I must be the only person, who really loves this film. A romantic period starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, it was based on a real case of two brothers on death row in 1901 Pittsburg, who escape prison with the help of the prison warden's wife. This wasn't well received when it came out and is totally forgotten now but I find it very affecting and its incredibly atmospheric.


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## redsquirrel (Aug 24, 2022)

Reno said:


> Did they show _Mrs. Soffel_ ? It was Gillian Armstrong's first American film and apart from Pauline Kael, who gave it a great review, I must be the only person, who really loves this film. A romantic period starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, it was based on a real case of two brothers on death row in 1901 Pittsburg, who escape prison with the help of the prison warden's wife. This wasn't well received when it came out and is totally forgotten now but I find it very affecting and its incredibly atmospheric.


Nope it was just those I mentioned. But it sounds interesting, I'll have to see if I can check it out.


----------



## Part 2 (Aug 27, 2022)

Nope...Jordan Peel's hotly anticipated new film. Gave up half an hour from the end, it was just boring and I couldn't care less what happened. 

I don't really get what people see in his films.

See also Prey that I watched because I've seen a lot of people saying is good. I was in the mood for a good action film but after waiting 45 minutes with a lot of dark scenes and not much happening I was bored.


----------



## T & P (Aug 27, 2022)

*King Richard*. The biopic about the Williams sisters rise to tennis stardom, and their father’s efforts to make it happen, played excellently by Will Smith.

It’s really good imo, well worth checking out even if you hate tennis.


----------



## Reno (Aug 28, 2022)

I'd started Better Call Saul years ago and gave up after a couple of episodes, I just couldn't get into it. Due to all the "best show ever" (or at least "even better than Breaking Bad") chatter because of the final season, I picked it up again and I'm currently working my way through all of it. Last evening I finished season 4. It's good but I'm still not convinced that it's great and maybe it isn't suited to be watched as a whole. It's rather unvarying season by season and plot and character development move at a snail's pace. Most of the seasons feel like set up for the last episode or two. I just don't care that much about Jimmy, despite great work by Bob Odenkirk and I find Kim the most interesting character.

So far I'm not in the camp where I prefer Better Call Saul over Breaking Bad, maybe the last couple of seasons will change that, they seem to be considered the best. Not looking at the main thread till I've finished it all.


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## T & P (Aug 28, 2022)

Reno said:


> I'd started Better Call Saul years ago and gave up after a couple of episodes, I just couldn't get into it. Due to all the "best show ever" (or at least "even better than Breaking Bad") chatter because of the last season, I picked it up again and I'm currently working my way through all of it. Last evening I finished season 4. It's good but I'm still not convinced that it's great and maybe it isn't suited to be watched as a whole. It's rather unvarying season by season and plot and character development move at a snail's pace. Most of the seasons feel like set up for the last episode or two. I just don't care that much about Jimmy despite, great work by Bob Odenkirk and I find Kim the most interesting character.
> 
> So far I'm not in the camp where I prefer Better Call Saul over Breaking Bad, maybe the last couple of seasons will change that, they seem to be considered the best. Not looking at the main thread till I've finished it all.


I actually really enjoyed the three or four seasons I managed- undeniably admirable writing, cinematography, character building and acting IMO. But unlike Breaking Bad, which its superb quality pushed me through the entire series even at the times when I was struggling with the pace a bit, I haven’t felt like watching the remaining seasons. 

I might yet feel like revisiting it in the future though. Certainly wouldn’t be the first time my mood took me to reconnect with a series I’d abandoned.


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## T & P (Aug 28, 2022)

The Fuzz (not Hot Fuzz). A 2014 adult comedy crime film (or two-episode series rather than a film, according to IMDB) featuring muppet-style puppets and humans, telling the tale of a hapless puppet & human police detective team trying to stop an all-out drug gang war in an inner US city.

I hesitate to use the term ‘so bad it’s good’ because this actually feels like this was intentionally (and cleverly) written as bad and overacted, rather than a genuinely car crash of a film that achieved cult status by chance. It has a cheap look but the dialogue is witty enough, and most importantly, it’s surprisingly funny. Certainly much funnier than the massively larger-budget, A-list voiced shameless ripoff The Happytime Murders.

On Amazon Prime Video right now if anyone is tempted.


----------



## Reno (Sep 1, 2022)

*Nope*, which confirms Jordan Peele to be the new M. Night Shyamalan. I loved_ Get Out_ and though _Us_ had a strong first act only to fall apart by the second half. _Nope_ has a powerful first scene and disintegrates soon after, with that scene being a set-up for something which never pays off. After the wonky _Us_, his piss poor _Twilight Zone_ reboot and the disappointment which is _Nope_, Peele has turned out to be a one trick pony.

A main problem I had from early on is that its two lead character are thoroughly unlikeable. Daniel Kaluuya's OJ is unvaryingly mopey, while Keke Palmer's Emerald is supposed to be loveable and quirky but just comes off as incredibly grating. With their unprofessional attitude, it's hard to believe they ever had any sort of success as horse trainers for Hollywood productions and while a big deal gets made that they are the only black owners of a ranch training horses for films, appearing inept at running a business involving animals, didn't get me on their side.

Steven Yeun as a former child actor with a traumatic past is a character introduced  as having an interesting character arch but he has a plot line that appears to be from a completely different film and then never joins up with the main story line. Sadly that also is the most intriguing part of the film. _Nope _would have worked far better had he been the lead character but rather bafflingly, after establishing his back story as being central to the film, he mostly gets sidelined and then 



Spoiler



is unceremoniously killed off two thirds in. The entire plotline with him and his killer chimp trauma gets dropped. The film only becomes more underwhelming from there on. The revelation of what the big thing hiding in a cloud is (not a UFO but an giant alien resembling a kite) and what it does (eat people and animals, that's all folks) is disappointing. The driving motor of the plot, taking a successful photo/film of the UFO/alien, is far too thin to sustain itself and becomes irrelevant once the alien has caused mass death and destruction and yet the whole climax revolves around it.



There are a few suspense sequences which work well (especially the chimp stuff and a creepy suspense sequence in a barn, which turns out to be a fake out) and production values are excellent (cinematography and sound design are first class) but this feels like a first draft screenplay which would have needed several rewrites and revisions till it should have been allowed in front of a camera.

Peele still gets good reviews due to the goodwill generated by _Get Out,_ but how much longer will he get away with such poor storytelling ?


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 1, 2022)

Reno said:


> *Nope*, which confirms Jordan Peele to be the new M. Night Shyamalan...


Put it on the poster!


----------



## Reno (Sep 2, 2022)

*Fall*, a (mostly) one-location survival thriller which may be dumb, but which is a lot more exciting, tense and satisfying than any of the Hollywood blockbuster I watched this year. Two female climbers decide to scale an abandoned 2000 ft. high TV tower in the desert. On their ascend it becomes clear that the tower is in a poor state, with nuts and screws falling off the rusty structure and you just want to scream at them to abandon their adventure. Once they reach the top, a large part of the rickety ladder breaks off and traps them on a tiny platform. Of course they haven't told anybody what they are up to and they have no phone coverage and they rest of the film is about their ever more desperate and dangerous attempts to get back down. This had me at the edge of my sofa throughout and made me dizzy just watching. I could have done without the melodrama concerning one of the women's husband but otherwise this is a great B-movie style survival thriller and the most vertigo inducing film I've ever seen.

The trailer gives away quite a bit:


----------



## T & P (Sep 4, 2022)

*Drowning Mona*. A 2000 dark comedy whodunnit starring among others Danny DeVito, Bette Midler and Jamie Lee Curtis. I had never heard of this until today, and whereas it’s not a masterpiece it’s still a very enjoyable Sunday film. DeVito and Midler alone supply more than enough value for money. Currently on Amazon Prime UK.


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## T & P (Sep 5, 2022)

*A Ghost Waits*. An unassuming but original, clever and well written 2021 independent film that deftly combines the unlikely subject bedfellows of romantic comedy, drama and supernatural horror to deliver a highly satisfying and enjoyable flick. Recommended.










						A Ghost Waits
					

An ingeniously unique and unpredictable combo of horror, humor and heart, A Ghost Waits is a DIY labor of love years in the making from first-time writer/director Adam Stovall and producer/star MacLeod Andrews. Tasked with renovating a neglected rental home, handyman Jack (MacLeod Andrews, They...




					www.rottentomatoes.com


----------



## platinumsage (Sep 8, 2022)

Where the Crawdads Sings.

Lovely mystery film about a girl growing up in the swamps of the American Deep South, based on the novel of the same name, would recommend. Apparently audiences appreciated it more than reviewers. Two of the leading actors are British which surprised me.


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 8, 2022)

trabuquera said:


> Two decidedly uncomfortable vintage watches from Talking Pictures:
> *Friends (1971) *deeply DEEPLY unfortunate 'teens in love' drama with OST by Elton John. Basically 'The Blue Lagoon' but set in the south of France. Two unhappy kids (and they are kids - she's 14 he's 15) run off together, "fall in love", scrape a living on the margins and she has a baby. Amazingly, nobody dies. Absolutely A-grade creepy "awakening of a nymphet" style perving over the female lead (17 at the time of filming, but looking much younger, and also voicing sentiments no teenage or pre-teenage girl has ever felt, never mind expressed ... "oh! a baby! I know it's going to happen, isn't it wonderful ... Paul, I just want to take care of you forever" and so on). Utterly sexist bilge.  Amazed and a bit disturbed that all copies of this weren't ritually burned and frankly astonished that even Talking Pics dared to air it again. Only worth watching for some incidental shots of what Provence/Camargue used to look like before mass tourism and to hear some nice Provencal / Occitan dialect. Felt like I needed a good wash after.
> 
> *Wide Boy *(1952) surprisingly brutal UK 'film noir' (in quote marks because it's scuzzier, lower-rent and somehow more Britishly mediocre than classic FN) where a low-rent hustler tries to blackmail two posh adulterers. Disaster ensues thanks to his getting hold of a gun (for a tenner!). More interesting for its reflection of growing post-war British classism blimpishness about crime & criminals ("scum like you", "stop asking me about money, it makes you seem cheap", "one of those street lads" etc). There's also a lot of dialogue  about "make a move and I'll let you have it!" etc, so perhaps it was riding the Derek Bentley case then in the headlines (but that shooting happened in Oct 1952, so maybe Bentley was quoting from this film when he came to grief?) Some nice character acting (especially the antagonist's career-criminal but rather genteel ageing dad, who sells him the gun...) but really one for the 50s-crime completists.


IIRC, both Bentley and Craig denied that Bentley ever said "let him have it".

Anyway, last night I watched Dirk Bogarde reprise the role of 50s medic Dr. Simon Sparrow, in _Doctor at Large. _James Robertson Justice returns as Sir Lancelot Spratt, a role he could have done in his sleep. 

Having failed his exams for the umpteenth time, the impecunious Donald Sinden is reduced to going to Ireland to get some sort of official medical qualification. This leads to stage Irishry of "chef's kiss" proportions. _Oi burst me hole laughing, so I did, begob and begorrah._


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## rubbershoes (Sep 10, 2022)

My tooth was hurting so I wanted something familiar and comforting 

I chose Night of the Demon. Classic British horror


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## Elpenor (Sep 10, 2022)

This week: Batman (1989), liquorice Pizza, Patton, A Perfect World, Wayne’s World

Sums me up really, most of them really old   Had only seen Wayne’s World before, really enjoyed A Perfect World, it would make a good double bill with Thunderbolt and Lightfoot I think

Batman was incredibly camp in retrospect, Patton impressed me a lot. Liquorice pizza didn’t deliver as much as I’d hoped but I’d probably have wanted to marry Alana too


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 10, 2022)

Continuing my exploration into Adam Sandlers extremely poor but inexplicably popular comedy . . . Pixels. 
This has got to be one of the worst films I have ever seen. It's like they didn't give a shit from the ground up. 
I am confident that even I could have taken a look at the basic building blocks of this film and easily fixed a large proportion of its problems. Then they would just need to insert some jokes (another thing they never bothered to do) and make the action set pieces actually fit into the logic of the film (pixels did set this up in pre action dialogue, but you couldn't actually see it visually in any way shape or form). 

There was actually a half decent and quite fun idea in there, but they just couldn't be arsed to make it into a decent film. I honestly think it would only take a days or two to hammer out the main structure / script problems . . . . then just get some actual comedians in. . . . nah fuck it.


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## magneze (Sep 10, 2022)

I bet Little Nicky is worse.


----------



## Reno (Sep 10, 2022)

_Sampo_, 1959 Russian-Finnish fantasy epic based on Finnish mythology. This looks gorgeous, full of beautifully rendered special effects, colour cinematography which would do Michael Powell proud and the whole thing moves at a fair clip with one outlandish plot development chasing another. The acting is stiff and declamatory, but that only adds to the folkloric charm of the film. Think _The Singing Ringing Tree_, just made on a far larger budget, this is what a LOTR movie could have looked like had it been made in the 50s. I now want to watch the director's earlier fantasy film _Ilyra Muromets_, which features the best looking dragon ever, both films have recently been restored and look amazing.



Ilyra Muroments:


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 10, 2022)

magneze said:


> I bet Little Nicky is worse.


I actually watched that at the time. It's not great, but it is most definitely far far far far better. 
Little Nicky is also slightly  refreshing in that it doesn't feature Sandler as straight talking 'everyman' that everyone loves because he is 'great'  - despite his actual on screen character traits appearing to be - arsehole, misogynist and a bully).


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## Chz (Sep 10, 2022)

I rather liked _Billy Madison _and _The Wedding Singer_. _Happy Gilmore_ was alright. The rest can fuck right off, and that includes that semi-serious gem dealer thing on Netflix which wasn't actually offensively bad but I still had zero interest in or liking of. I had a girlfriend at the time that liked _50 First Dates_ and damn if that didn't put me right off her.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 10, 2022)

Chz said:


> I rather liked _Billy Madison _and _The Wedding Singer_. _Happy Gilmore_ was alright. The rest can fuck right off, and that includes that semi-serious gem dealer thing on Netflix which wasn't actually offensively bad but I still had zero interest in or liking of. I had a girlfriend at the time that liked _50 First Dates_ and damn if that didn't put me right off her.


I liked the wedding singer when I saw it at the time but re-watched it recently and . . . . well I don't think I made it any further than the first half hour. Happy Gilmore I only remember for "You eat little pieces of shit for breakfast?", which to be fair is a great line. 

Ideas like 'first 50 dates' are interesting, but it is executed really badly. It should be another film entirely, not a fucking romantic comedy.


----------



## May Kasahara (Sep 10, 2022)

I, Tonya. Very enjoyable.


----------



## manji (Sep 10, 2022)

flypanam said:


> We own this city. Baltimore cop unit goes rogue. Based on real life events. Bought to life by David Simon, Ed Burns and a whole host of the Wire actors and producers. Pretty captivating.


Binged it absolutely brilliant. Corruption in Baltimore is endemic even the Black female mayor ends up in prison. True story.


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## redsquirrel (Sep 10, 2022)

Reno said:


> _Sampo_, 1959 Russian-Finnish fantasy epic based on Finnish mythology. This looks gorgeous, full of beautifully rendered special effects, colour cinematography which would do Michael Powell proud and the whole thing moves at a fair clip with one outlandish plot development chasing another. The acting is stiff and declamatory, but that only adds to the folkloric charm of the film. Think _The Singing Ringing Tree_, just made on a far larger budget, this is what a LOTR movie could have looked like had it been made in the 50s.


This is on my to watch list and getting a copy from a certain tracker.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Polizeirruf 110: Der scharlachrote Engel - another (early) Dominik Graf episode of the German police series. It's not up with the best of Graf's pieces like Cassandra's Warning or Smoke on the Water, let alone _The Invincibles_ but it is reasonable enough.

Liquid Sky - Worth watching if only because it is difficult to convey what this film has in words. To explain the plot would make it sound like a rubbish B-moive and while it might be the latter it is not the former. There is a definitely vision there and even though it does not really fully come off it is committed to such that the movie  is better than the sum of it's parts. Anne Carlisle holds the screen, just as she does in the also intriguing B-moive Perfect Strangers/Blind Alley. Disappointing that she never made it bigger.


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## T & P (Sep 10, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Continuing my exploration into Adam Sandlers extremely poor but inexplicably popular comedy . . . Pixels.
> This has got to be one of the worst films I have ever seen. It's like they didn't give a shit from the ground up.
> I am confident that even I could have taken a look at the basic building blocks of this film and easily fixed a large proportion of its problems. Then they would just need to insert some jokes (another thing they never bothered to do) and make the action set pieces actually fit into the logic of the film (pixels did set this up in pre action dialogue, but you couldn't actually see it visually in any way shape or form).
> 
> There was actually a half decent and quite fun idea in there, but they just couldn't be arsed to make it into a decent film. I honestly think it would only take a days or two to hammer out the main structure / script problems . . . . then just get some actual comedians in. . . . nah fuck it.


I’ve always found Sandler extraordinarily fucking unfunny, as well as extremely annoying, in just about every comedy film he’s been in. Not only that, but the films he’s involved with are not just crap, but awkward and rudderless. Like the pile of shit the Grown Ups films are.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 11, 2022)

T & P said:


> I’ve always found Sandler extraordinarily fucking unfunny, as well as extremely annoying, in just about every comedy film he’s been in. Not only that, but the films he’s involved with are not just crap, but awkward and rudderless. Like the pile of shit the Grown Ups films are.


I know the grown ups films get a lot of shit (and quite rightly) but after watching a load of Sandler flicks all at once, they are perhaps the best of a bad bunch, certainly no worse than most. 
I really don't get why he is actually funny though. 
I watched a load of SNL he was in to try and find out what shot him to fame . . . and it's even more inexplicable. His characters are just not funny at all on any level, it's really really weird. . . but not funny weird. Just weird how they let him on TV.


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## Elpenor (Sep 16, 2022)

This week 

Dirty Harry, A Few Good Men, The Gauntlet, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle


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## Buddy Bradley (Sep 22, 2022)

Just watched Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) which has been added to Amazon Prime. It's utterly brilliant, insane, surreal and wonderful and everyone should watch it.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 23, 2022)

*Pebbles *(2021) - bleak but dynamic arthouse film made in Tamil Nadu - might sound like a worthy snoozefest ("a young boy follows his violent father through baking desert landscapes as Dad goes on a vendetta rampage") but it's mercifully short (about an hour 20?) and really creatively filmed and plotted/paced. Much more gripping than it sounds. Not a happy story by any means, though. It was on Channel 4 on the small hours (oh the nostalgia! catching weird obscure films on C4 in the middle of the night!) so might be still available online or on More4. Worth it if you're interested in India, in DV, in the Tamil language or Indian cinema.

(disclaimer: it shows some cruelty to rodents which made even me (meat eater and anti-Western-sentimentalist) writhe about a bit)


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## toffee (Sep 23, 2022)

Dragons: Nine Realms 

A children's TV show.  I used to love children's shows, and haven't watched one in a long time.  This one is cute about a boy and a dragon.  It's predictable in an ok way considering it's a kid's show.  I've watched a couple episodes and will probably watch more.


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## Nine Bob Note (Sep 24, 2022)

Watched the entirety of *the Game*, a Cold War spy thriller from the BBC in 2014 (available to DL on Sky). Not overwhelmed with the first episode, but I carried on and it's fucking awesome. Certainly, got a bit predictable towards the end, and the main villain may have been straight out of Allo Allo, but I enjoyed the plot, the actors and their recreation of the 70s.


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## furluxor (Sep 24, 2022)

I picked *Casualties of War* up because it has both Sean Penn and Michael J Fox in it but it was not a fun watch. Some of it is very much of its time (long close-up shots of the character's face with weirdly slowed down background whilst the character has an epiphany/emotional moment) but it's a story that needed to be told and imho wasn't told badly. Painful but necessary. I can still handle these in September but could be hard in the winter months.


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## Indeliblelink (Sep 25, 2022)

*State Funeral (2019)* - After Stalin died in 1953 extensive footage was shot of his lying in state and funeral with the intension of making a propaganda piece called "The Final Farewell" but when Khrushchev started to be critical of Stalin's legacy the film was canned and the footage was forgotten for decades. The documentary is fascinating if repetitious in places and obviously there's an extra resonance after events in the UK last week.


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## seventh bullet (Oct 1, 2022)

Blockade, his earlier docu without dialogue and music about the Nazi seige of Leningrad, is available too.


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## inva (Oct 4, 2022)

Casting Blossoms to the Sky
Nobuhiko Ôbayashi's haunting, theatrical and poetic 2012 fictionalised documentary using the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan to excavate the trauma of the Second World War, specifically the 1945 firebombing of Nagaoka. The first part in Ôbayashi's loose trilogy of anti-war films, also the first of his I've seen and I don't know what the others are like but maybe not the easiest introduction - it's long, convoluted, often visually jarring, over-crammed with ideas and at times verges on cheesy, and somehow it all still works though. Once I adjusted to the style I found it really effective. Reminded me a bit of some of what I've seen of Jean-Luc Godard's later work, though a lot more successful.


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## Reno (Oct 5, 2022)

*Vesper*, French-Lithuanian post-apocalyptic science fiction film about earth after an ecological catastrophe, which humanity tried to avert via genetic enhancements of various organisms. That backfired and now earth is populated by mutated plants, humans and bacteria and left without much that is edible. The film isn't that strong on plot but the world building is wonderful and its two likeable heroines kept me invested. The biomechanical production design is wildly imaginative, recalling a live action Miyazaki film with excursions into Cronenbergian body horror. Made on the fraction of the budget of a Hollywood blockbuster, this is very impressive and its future looks genuinely alien in a way it rarely does in science fiction films.


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## MBV (Oct 5, 2022)

Penultimate episode of Irma Vep created by HBO. Very watchable:









						Irma Vep (TV Mini Series 2022) - IMDb
					

Irma Vep: Created by Olivier Assayas. With Alicia Vikander, Vincent Macaigne, Nora Hamzawi, Antoine Reinartz. Mira is an American movie star disillusioned by her career and recent breakup, who comes to France to star as Irma Vep in a remake of the French silent film classic, "Les Vampires."




					www.imdb.com


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## Reno (Oct 6, 2022)

*Emily the Criminal* is an excellent thriller/character study and among the best films I've seen this year. Aubrey Plaza (always great and this may be her best performance yet) plays a woman in a dead end catering job, whose life is held back by crippling student debt and a previous conviction which prevents her from getting well paid work. A coworker tipps her off about a "job" where she can make $200 an hour, which turns out to involve credit card fraud and life gets a lot more dangerous for Emily. Often tense but also smart about the politics of the labour market and the reasons why people would turn to crime, when life offers them no other opportunities. Maybe the ending is a little too neat, but it's a minor quibble.

Warning about the trailer, it gives away a little too much:


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## Supine (Oct 6, 2022)

Reno said:


> *Emily the Criminal* is an excellent thriller/character study and among the best films I've seen this year. Aubrey Plaza (always great and this may be her best performance yet) plays a woman in a dead end catering job, whose life is held back by crippling student debt and a previous conviction which prevents her from getting well paid work. A coworker tipps her off about a "job" where she can make $200 an hour, which turns out to involve credit card fraud and life gets a lot more dangerous for Emily. Often tense but also smart about the politics of the labour market and the reasons why people would turn to crime, when life offers them no other opportunities. Maybe the ending is a little too neat, but it's a minor quibble.
> 
> Warning about the trailer, it gives away a little too much:




Really enjoyed that, thanks for the recommendation.

Aubrey is taking some really interesting roles. I like where her career is going.


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## Johnny Vodka (Oct 8, 2022)

platinumsage said:


> The Bear. A drama TV series. People shouting in a kitchen. 100% boring.



Just started this after reading a 5* review.  Couple of episodes in & I'm quite enjoying it.


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## Buddy Bradley (Oct 15, 2022)

Watched the _Hellraiser _reboot, which while being advertised as a remake of the original source material for the 1987 film is about as far away from the actual plot of it as you can get. Did some clever stuff with the lore though, and production design was pretty good.


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## Buddy Bradley (Oct 20, 2022)

Finally got around to watching _Tenet_ (2020). Felt like the plot was just created as a way to string together a series of impressive set pieces.


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## Reno (Oct 21, 2022)

*Halloween Ends*, the last film in David Gordon Green‘s Halloween trilogy, which feels like he lost interest in the whole thing along the way. For 90 minutes this is a film which has almost nothing to do with Halloween (in terms of plot this is closer to Carpenter‘s _Christine_), introducing a new main character, while sidelining Jamie Lee Curtis‘ Laurie and Michael Myers, who barely features till the end. In the last 20 minutes he tacks on the obligatory Laurie/Michael face-off, which is unrelated to the rest of the film (which also is rather boring). What a mess !

Next Gordon Green is doing an Exorcist trilogy.   Why ? He bit of more than he can chew with this, running out of steam by the 2nd film, clearly not planning in advance where to take this. Why not just commit to one movie first ?


----------



## May Kasahara (Oct 22, 2022)

Three Identical Strangers. Interesting doc about triplets who discover each other by chance after being adopted into separate families as babies.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Oct 22, 2022)

_Clerks III_, Kevin Smith's final visit to the New Jersey Quick-Stop where it all began. 10/10 if you're a Kevin Smith fan, probably about a 2/10 if you're not.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Oct 22, 2022)

Buddy Bradley said:


> _Clerks III_, Kevin Smith's final visit to the New Jersey Quick-Stop where it all began. 10/10 if you're a Kevin Smith fan, probably about a 2/10 if you're not.


Basically everything since clerks has been shit except Jay and Silent Bob strike back. . . . a rewatch of clerks a few years ago made me rethink even thinking that was any good. . . I bet if I watched Jay and Silent Bob strike back again I might be a little less enthusiastic too.


----------



## Elpenor (Oct 22, 2022)

Nikita (1990)

One of my favourite action films and love the synth heavy score.


----------



## T & P (Oct 23, 2022)

*Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon*. A 2021 fantasy/ sci-fi/ thriller film noir about a young woman with mind controlling faculties who who escapes the institution she’s been kept in since she was a young girl, and gets taken in by a stripper who realises the girl’s potential as a cash-extracting tool from unsuspecting punters.

Very watchable and enjoyable without being amazing, and a fantastic soundtrack throughout. Recommended.


----------



## redsquirrel (Oct 24, 2022)

Miserable rainy day here yesterday so re-watched two old classics - _Arsenic and Old Lace_ and _Anatomy of a Murder_ - both excellent. The latter must still be the best trial film of all time.


----------



## rubbershoes (Oct 24, 2022)

Threads.  The news footage about US/Soviet tension in the Middle East was given an extra frisson by all the Ukraine stuff we hear now


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Oct 26, 2022)

_Three Billboards outside of Ebbing, Missouri_ (2017) finally. Wasn't at all what I was expecting - I wouldn't be surprised if it's now being taught in film schools as an example of how to repeatedly confound audience expectations.


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## Reno (Oct 26, 2022)

Buddy Bradley said:


> _Three Billboards outside of Ebbing, Missouri_ (2017) finally. Wasn't at all what I was expecting - I wouldn't be surprised if it's now being taught in film schools as an example of how to repeatedly confound audience expectations.


I hope not !


----------



## not-bono-ever (Nov 5, 2022)

Late night and I found myself watching the Harry palmer reboot bullet to Beijing. I forgot how bad it was. Not sure where to start. It’s proper dreadful. I’m not skilled it reviewing filums but this is awful


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 11, 2022)

Heads up for anyone looking to ditch Amazon, Netflix etc....Mubi is currently £60 for a year subscription or £90 for Mubi Go that includes a cinema ticket every week for a film chosen by Mubi.






						MUBI
					






					mubi.com


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 11, 2022)

Part 2 said:


> Heads up for anyone looking to ditch Amazon, Netflix etc....Mubi is currently £60 for a year subscription or £90 for Mubi Go that includes a cinema ticket every week for a film chosen by Mubi.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Why don't they ever let you browse all their films without subscribing? Neflix and disney do this too (With prime it is possible).


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## Part 2 (Nov 12, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Why don't they ever let you browse all their films without subscribing? Neflix and disney do this too (With prime it is possible).


If you Google Mubi library there are lists of films. Not sure if there's a list of currently available films.


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## Reno (Nov 12, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Why don't they ever let you browse all their films without subscribing? Neflix and disney do this too (With prime it is possible).


If you google Mubi and klick on "Films" you can do just that.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 12, 2022)

.


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## Reno (Nov 12, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> .


Did you find it ?


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 12, 2022)

Reno said:


> Did you find it ?


I wrote something complaining about Netflix and Disney but realised it wasn't appropriate.  I can't understand why they won't just let you browse the menu as if you had an account. I had to search google (which wasn't always up to date or region specific) I thought mubi was the same when I couldn't find anything other than suggested films when clicking on the first link. 

My (very minor) criticism is that did not appear to be able to search for films by country of origin (was looking for Japanese films as both my wife and daughter are fluent). . . . I'm probably doing that wrong too (a search for 'japanese' only found films with the word in the title . . . though there was a documentary from the 90s on  Japanese underground rock which I have never heard of, and appears to have some friends of mine in it). Might do the seven day trial.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 16, 2022)

I recently re-watched Kingdom of Heaven and wanted more medieval fighting so took a punt on Ironclad (2011) its quite good if a little sparse. But this cast was unexpectedly full of future GoT people and quality act-ors of the UK:


James Purefoy 
Brian Cox 
Derek Jacobi 
Kate Mara
Paul Giamatti
Charles Dance 
Jason Flemyng
Jamie Foreman
Mackenzie Crook
Rhys Parry Jones
Aneurin Barnard
Vladimir Kulich
David Melville
Daniel O'Meara
Annabelle Apsion 
Steffan Rhodri
Bree Condon
Haven't seen purefoy in a leading role since he was Marc Anthony in HBO's Rome.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 19, 2022)

The Sting
Stands up surprisingly well.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 19, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> The Sting
> Stands up surprisingly well.


I love the bit where he does the whole 'hiding on the ladies lap' in the toilet to escape "OCCUPIED" only to be spotted again as soon as he exits the building.


----------



## Idris2002 (Nov 20, 2022)

I'm not quite sure if the ending is that plausible, but the Sting is full of memorable scenes and all that.

We also watched Easy Living, an unjustly forgotten 30s screwball with Jean Arthur. Appalled by his wife spending 58,000 dollars (in Depression-era money, remember) on a fur coat, an outraged millionaire throws the coat out on the street. It falls on office girl Jean Arthur, who is thus wrongly assumed to be the millionaire's "bit on the side". Hijinks ensue. Worth seeking this one out, if you can.


----------



## Yossarian (Nov 21, 2022)

Moulin Rouge  - I was considering bailing on this until around half an hour in, but after the Elephant Love Medley I was sold, would be good to see this on the big screen.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 21, 2022)

Yossarian said:


> Moulin Rouge  - I was considering bailing on this until around half an hour in, but after the Elephant Love Medley I was sold, would be good to see this on the big screen.


My brain bailed when I saw it at the cinema and I just fell asleep.  Absolute shit.


----------



## redsquirrel (Nov 21, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> We also watched Easy Living, an unjustly forgotten 30s screwball with Jean Arthur. Appalled by his wife spending 58,000 dollars (in Depression-era money, remember) on a fur coat, an outraged millionaire throws the coat out on the street. It falls on office girl Jean Arthur, who is thus wrongly assumed to be the millionaire's "bit on the side". Hijinks ensue. Worth seeking this one out, if you can.


I discovered Jean Arthur during the lockdown and she is fantastic, it is criminal that she is not better know - you should check out _The Devil and Miss Jones, The Ex-Mrs Bradford _and of course _A Foreign Affair _


----------



## Elpenor (Nov 21, 2022)

Watching the later Bonds while I have prime video for the next week or so. So far seen Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

I think I’m reappraising Brosnan as a Bond having not previously liked him. He is clearly enjoying himself in the films, some very good stunts / set pieces, better delivery of the gags than Dalton and Connery, some fun scenes at the baddies lair (being destroyed at the end, tannoy announcements like “launching in 2 minutes and counting”), and plots which remind me of the best days of Moore and Connery. 

From memory though his next two outings are absolute stinkers though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 21, 2022)

Miller's Crossing. Eh, its not a bad film but 7/10.


Elpenor said:


> Watching the later Bonds while I have prime video for the next week or so. So far seen Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies.
> 
> I think I’m reappraising Brosnan as a Bond having not previously liked him. He is clearly enjoying himself in the films, some very good stunts / set pieces, better delivery of the gags than Dalton and Connery, some fun scenes at the baddies lair (being destroyed at the end, tannoy announcements like “launching in 2 minutes and counting”), and plots which remind me of the best days of Moore and Connery.
> 
> From memory though his next two outings are absolute stinkers though.


I'd seen most of the older bonds on tv as a kid but Brosnan was the first New Bond for me. I saw Goldeneye in the cinema. Xenia Onatop lol. Sean Bean putting in quality villain work. The 'I am inwincible!' nerd. The N64 game based on the film became a runaway classic for its multiplayer mode.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Nov 22, 2022)

Idris2002 said:


> The Sting
> Stands up surprisingly well.


The Sting is the only film where I temporarily forget the ending every time I watch it. It's that well put together.


----------



## trabuquera (Nov 23, 2022)

*Private Road (1971) *- perhaps the most late-sixties early-seventies British film ever made in mood and feel. 

Bruce Robinson (yes, him! who back then was a beautiful young actorrr, not yet a raddled screenwriter) plays a clever, naive, posh-but-rebellious, literary-but-lazy young man aspiring to be a novelist but not really getting anything done until he gets his long-suffering, slightly neurotic gf (Susan Penhaligon) up the duff. They run away to the countryside together and have a chaotic bohemian time until the forces of social convention, her parents, and the need for money get them back to down-at-heel London (to land a job in copywriting for him and a rapid abortion for her). 

It's talky and spiky nad baggy - and really, really vivid on the visual colour and the intellectual feel of those times - reactionary oldsters, poseur radicals, nascent feminists, early-stage heroin addicts and the politics of graphic design drop in and out of the frame.  (and a bit of casual racism and sexism is sort of baked in, but not enough to ruin things.) It makes total sense that this was made by the late lamented Barney Platts-Mills (whose other film *Bronco Bullfrog* of 1969 is one of the best-loved and respected 'new British cinema' realist projects of the time). 

It's all weirdly prefiguring of the _Withnail and I _milieu which Bruce Robinson would reconjure decades later as screenwriter. The character he plays is basically the "I" of W&I in embryo - the same pretentions, strange mix of bickering, pedantry and lovableness, same elaborate language, same misadventures with rural habits etc etc. Worth a watch in my view - if only for the way you could make films in those experimental days with no obvious plot or 'message' at all - it's more like a carefully-devised improv session throughout.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 23, 2022)

The Kingdom series 1 on Mubi. Been planning to watch it for a while ready for the release of series 3. I love a short series and after watching 1899 this was an easy watch at four episodes. The final episode is just brilliant, proper funny.


----------



## Part 2 (Nov 27, 2022)

The Kingdom series 2. Why have I never watched this before now?...it's amazing! The storylines are really getting going and there's such great characters. Can't help thinking Moesgaard is inspired by Leslie Nielsen and the humour reminds me very much of Naked Gun, Airplane etc. Love how LVT does his little chat at the end of each episode, devil horns and all. 🤘


----------



## T & P (Nov 28, 2022)

*Bodies Bodies Bodies*. A new whodunnit thriller about a bunch of rich young people, with varying degrees of history with each other, who decide to spend a weekend when a hurricane is forecast in an isolated country house getting high and playing games. Things go bad.

Whereas not a classic, it was actually a lot better than I’d expected, Far more multilayered and better written than many films of the subgenre. Good ending as well. Recommended if you can find it for free.


----------



## Chz (Dec 3, 2022)

I caught the last 15 minutes of Titanic on C4. Now, I've never seen the film but I'd always sort of expected that it was at the very least Well Done. Even if it wasn't really my thing. But the bit where they're in the water, I mean.. . It's a fucking sound stage. It's very, very obviously a sound stage. It looks rubbish! Is the rest of it that bad?


----------



## not-bono-ever (Dec 3, 2022)

The land that time forgot was on Ch5 today. I do a like a bit of McClure.

Tonight it was Athena. Not exactly uplifting but mad camera work.worth watching the making of the film short afterwards to see how it was done


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## T & P (Dec 4, 2022)

*Amsterdam* (the 2022 film). A David O. Russell  offbeat comedy-drama whodunnit mystery set in the early 20th century.

It has a great cast and production values, and starts off pretty well, but as the film progresses it starts to lose its fizz, and the climax feels like the writers suddenly decided to switch from a whodunnit film to a historical drama. Also 20 minutes too long.

Still, not terrible overall even if if feels like a waste of talent. 5.5/10 for me. Not worth paying money to watch for sure.


----------



## Reno (Dec 4, 2022)

T & P said:


> *Amsterdam* (the 2022 film). A David O. Russell  offbeat comedy-drama whodunnit mystery set in the early 20th century.
> 
> It has a great cast and production values, and starts off pretty well, but as the film progresses it starts to lose its fizz, and the climax feels like the writers suddenly decided to switch from a whodunnit film to a historical drama. Also 20 minutes too long.
> 
> Still, not terrible overall even if if feels like a waste of talent. 5.5/10 for me. Not worth paying money to watch for sure.


What's the difference between a 5.5/10 and a 6/10 ?


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## T & P (Dec 4, 2022)

Reno said:


> What's the difference between a 5.5/10 and a 6/10 ?


Just about okay - okay.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 4, 2022)

Watched There will be Blood on Friday night and the new All Quiet on the Western Front last night. So happy watching. Suggested we do something a bit lighter tonight. My partner suggested Se7en.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Watched There will be Blood on Friday night and the new All Quiet on the Western Front last night. So happy watching. Suggested we do something a bit lighter tonight. My partner suggested Se7en.


Watch Come & See next!


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 4, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> Watch Come & See next!



Thanks. I'll certainly look for a copy.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Thanks. I'll certainly look for a copy.


It’s a jolly lark of a Christmas film


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 4, 2022)

Orang Utan said:


> It’s a jolly lark of a Christmas film



The first film my partner got me to watch when we met was The Road.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> The first film my partner got me to watch when we met was The Road.


it's got a happy ending! the book's is a bit more ambiguous


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## Part 2 (Dec 4, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Thanks. I'll certainly look for a copy.


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## Sue (Dec 6, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Thanks. I'll certainly look for a copy.


It's a great film but about as grim as it gets.


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## Part 2 (Dec 10, 2022)

Decision to Leave. Korean film alikened to Hitchcock. A beautiful and very well made film but I couldn't follow it. Think I wasn't in the mood for something so complex.


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## redsquirrel (Dec 10, 2022)

Couple of Peter Bogdanovich films

_Targets_ - One plot strand as Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff) a tired aging horror actor on the brink of retirement, the other a young kid who's display an interesting in guns and using them against people, with the two coming together in the last act. A really interesting film, with some good performances, both parts are done well and if the connection between the two does not completely work the conceit is smart enough and done well enough that you can forgive it some of the mistakes that crop up.

_They All Laughed_ - Three private eye's get caught in romantic entanglements while following two women. One of the romantic comedies that Bogdanovich liked to make. It is not in the same class as the brilliant _What's Up Doc?_, the comedy here is more more whimsical than the screwball nature of WUD. The film is also too long and the female characters are pretty weekly drawn but it is not without its charms. The soundtrack is great and there are some funny scenes and Colleen Camp is great.


----------



## platinumsage (Dec 10, 2022)

The English - an occasionally promising but ultimately confused and disappointing Western TV series.


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## T & P (Dec 11, 2022)

A Matter of Life and Death. A bonkers but brilliant 1946 fantasy comedy about an RAF pilot going down with his damaged plane during a WWII mission, who against all odds survives bailing out without a chute, causing a discrepancy on the log books of the people above who keep count of the souls meant to cross over on each day.

 I am almost ashamed not to have been aware of the existence of this film, especially as it turns out to be a critically acclaimed film. Though in my defence I have never ever seen this film shown on TV before. In any event, wonderfully odd, and surprisingly high budget (the staircase- wow) and incorporating political and psychological themes I wouldn’t have never expected.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 11, 2022)

T & P said:


> A Matter of Life and Death. A bonkers but brilliant 1946 fantasy comedy about an RAF pilot going down with his damaged plane during a WWII mission, who against all odds survives bailing out without a chute, causing a discrepancy on the log books of the people above who keep count of the souls meant to cross over on each day.
> 
> I am almost ashamed not to have been aware of the existence of this film, especially as it turns out to be a critically acclaimed film. Though in my defence I have never ever seen this film shown on TV before. In any event, wonderfully odd, and surprisingly high budget (the staircase- wow) and incorporating political and psychological themes I wouldn’t have never expected.


I am curious. I think I 'might' have seen it as a nipper. Is it streaming?


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## T & P (Dec 11, 2022)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I am curious. I think I 'might' have seen it as a nipper. Is it streaming?


It was on BBC2 yesterday.


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## Sue (Dec 11, 2022)

T & P said:


> A Matter of Life and Death. A bonkers but brilliant 1946 fantasy comedy about an RAF pilot going down with his damaged plane during a WWII mission, who against all odds survives bailing out without a chute, causing a discrepancy on the log books of the people above who keep count of the souls meant to cross over on each day.
> 
> I am almost ashamed not to have been aware of the existence of this film, especially as it turns out to be a critically acclaimed film. Though in my defence I have never ever seen this film shown on TV before. In any event, wonderfully odd, and surprisingly high budget (the staircase- wow) and incorporating political and psychological themes I wouldn’t have never expected.


It's a great film. Also worth checking out other Powell and Pressburger films  if you get the chance (they made a lot of great films).

Filmography here:









						Powell and Pressburger - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## The39thStep (Dec 11, 2022)

T & P said:


> A Matter of Life and Death. A bonkers but brilliant 1946 fantasy comedy about an RAF pilot going down with his damaged plane during a WWII mission, who against all odds survives bailing out without a chute, causing a discrepancy on the log books of the people above who keep count of the souls meant to cross over on each day.
> 
> I am almost ashamed not to have been aware of the existence of this film, especially as it turns out to be a critically acclaimed film. Though in my defence I have never ever seen this film shown on TV before. In any event, wonderfully odd, and surprisingly high budget (the staircase- wow) and incorporating political and psychological themes I wouldn’t have never expected.


It’s fantastic


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## Elpenor (Dec 11, 2022)

Sue said:


> It's a great film. Also worth checking out other Powell and Pressburger films  if you get the chance (they made a lot of great films).
> 
> Filmography here:
> 
> ...


The life and death of Colonel Blimp is on iplayer at the moment too

I watched After Love last night (also on iplayer). This got a lot of award nominations for Joanna Scanlan, she plays a Muslim convert who after her husband dies discovers he has a completely separate life.  A quietly impressive film.


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## inva (Dec 12, 2022)

Cage of Gold
Lesser Ealing film from 1950. Jean Simmons thinks ex-airforce racketeering cad David Farrar is out of her life but he returns again and again to haunt her and her new fiance. In theory a decent cast with Simmons and Farrar starring and directed by Basil Dearden, this has the odd good moment with a few vaguely noirish notes, but overall is far too by the numbers. Farrar is too old and lacking in charm to convince very much and Simmons doesn't have a great deal to work with until near the end, at which point Bernard Lee pops up and lifts things a little playing a detective and made me think a better film might have focused on that more - maybe ending up a bit like Clouzot's Quai des Orfèvres. Not terrible, not a lot to recommend it though!


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## Elpenor (Dec 12, 2022)

Bernard Lee seems to be in virtually every film from that era.


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## The39thStep (Dec 12, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> Bernard Lee seems to be in virtually every film from that era.


Like Norman Rossington


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## trabuquera (Dec 13, 2022)

An odd bunch of three:
*Undercover *- 1943 - now this is proper austerity filmmaking: a bare-bones propaganda effort exhorting Britain to back the brave uprising of the noble Yugoslavs (as they then were) and assure everyone that it's well worth fighting Nazis to the death. Not a sentiment I disagree with tbh but you do get a sense of just how narrow the margins were getting and how desperate UK film-board bods must have been to do their bit - and be _seen_ to be doing their bit. Technically, dramatically, not at all a classic. I guess the Highlands are standing in for the Balkans but Michael Wilding - a very charming and debonair pre war leading man - is not up to the task of embodying a Serbian partisan. Does that contemporary thing of folding in some real-life newsreel footage (of whole fields full of horse-drawn carts which civilians had been trying to escape in ... before they got bombed ) and has some striking/odd/sobering moments, given today's perspective, where characters yarn on about the brave + noble Yugoslavs all being willing to die for freedom and never forgetting or forgiving a grudge...

*Last Black Man in San Francisco * 2019 - thought I'd find this irritating, twee, self-involved, and yeah it's a bit arty for comfort (slightly too much Wes Anderson-style arch-faux-art-directed, and some "ooh look aren't we daring" fourth-wall-breaking theatre of unease antics). But this is a lovely and elegaic and visually very, very striking movie about race, class, gentrification, family dysfunction, friendship and the future of the city, absolutely gorgeous to look at, full of sly wit and great performances. Whimsy done right - with a big dash of dark and acid sarcasm.

*Les Miserables *(2019) not the musical, not the classic - this is the fast, furious, BRILLIANT banlieue-update movie directed by Ladj Ly. In one sense not original - 25 years on from _La Haine _France has learned nothing, and that's its point - and if you've seen any of the recent crop of neo-cop-panorama thrillers like _BAC Nord _ a lot of the turf is familiar. The difference is that this one comes from inside the neighbourhoods, and paints a properly in-the-round picture of whole communities,  rather than just painting them as a backdrop for some dirty cops' voyages of self-discovery.  (_BAC Nord _ was slated by some critics as effectively "Vote Le Pen!" propaganda. ) Ladj Ly apparently first got started in film-making when he'd follow and record cops misbehaving in his own neighbourhood .... and that sense of scrappy, risky, put-yourself-on-the line commitment really comes through. It's a bit schematic in places (a team of clueless new cop, jaded medium cop and real bad-guy veteran cop clash with each other; youth and police fight with each other; local crims and ex-crims and "community leaders" vie for control ; things go horribly wrong...) but all done with extreme energy and creativity. Fantastic performances and the best crash course in contemporary criminal French you are likely to hear/see. This was on Film 4 in the middle of the night - not sure if it's available elsewhere but can't recommend it highly enough. SEE IT. (And that goes double if France win the World Cup this year.)


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## Chz (Dec 16, 2022)

Been catching up to Rick & Morty on All4. It's not what it once was, but I absolutely did guffaw when, after being faced with a succession of steadily weirder novelty supervillians Rick exclaims "I'm not the fucking Tick!"


----------



## RedRedRose (Dec 17, 2022)

*Fire of Love* (2022) is about a French volcanologist couple, Katia and Maurice Krafft. The film gives you a snapshot into their lives, their relationship and their love of volcanoes using material they had put together. They come across as a very interesting and eccentric couple, but you get the feeling they were always sailing very close to the wind in their pursuits. The narration has a slightly whimsical poetic style that didn't always work for me, but the subject matter and visuals are very good.

*Into the Inferno* (2016) A Werner Herzog volcano documentary effort. Mainly about Indonesian, Icelandic and Vanuatu volcanoes and the importance of local folk legends in interpreting their activity. A researcher from Cambridge appears in it, as well as an archaeologist based in Ethiopia (I think) and they have enough of a personae and love for their subject to carry the film. One or two scenes seemed forced and staged therefore grated a little. Visually superb.


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## redsquirrel (Dec 17, 2022)

_Make Up_ - Ruth joins her boyfriend working on a Cornish caravan site in winter, and interacts with some of the inhabitants. There are horror vibes, psychological thriller vibes and drama vibes. It's well acted and put together, I have to give everyone involved an A for ambition and effort. But for me the different themes/styles did not quite gel. Still interesting, worth watching (available on MUBI) and I'll keep an eye for the director.


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## T & P (Dec 17, 2022)

*The Amazing Maurice*. A new family animation film based on the Terry Pratchett book of the same name. In cinemas now but also available on Sky Cinema.

Very good, actually. Certainly recommended to those seeking for enjoyable kiddies/ family films, as well as Terry Pratchett fans. Very good voice casting- David Thewlis alone is worth the admission ticket


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## redsquirrel (Dec 17, 2022)

_Both Sides of the Blade _- Claire Denis latest, mush stronger than her previous, _Let the Sunshine In_, which I felt was something of a disappointment. Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche play a couple whose relationship is threatened my the reemergence in their lives of his former friend and her former lover. It works well there are lots of deliberately ambiguities - he went to prison but we are not told what, we do not get much of an impression of the former friend/lover. Not Denis best but I liked it. Also has a top score by Tindersticks


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## Chz (Dec 18, 2022)

_The Amazing Maurice _
Very good as a family film, and loads of references to make any Pratchett fan happy, too. Only disappointment is that whoever subtitled it didn't all-caps Death's lines.


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## Chz (Dec 21, 2022)

_Kaamelott: The First Chapter_
Apparently one of the most popular films in France last year, released on 1000 screens and the third largest earner. Full of Big Names. So good, right?
Utter crap. Maybe it's got some sort of value if you watched the Kaamelott TV series back in the noughties, but I honestly couldn't recommend it to anyone. Sometimes something is just too _French_ to travel well.


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## RedRedRose (Dec 23, 2022)

*Where the Crawdads Sing *(2022) Murder mystery film about a recluse young female living (I think) in the Everglade swamps. I really liked the first third to half of the film. However, after this, I kept questioning myself why her hair and clothes were always so immaculate; and why she had more friends than the initial part of the film let on. (Maybe, I could have been more engaged). By the time the twist at the end came about—interesting, though it was—the film had partly outstayed its welcome. Overall, good, but not a great film.


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## RedRedRose (Dec 25, 2022)

*Unbroken* (2014) True story of olympian runner, Louis Zamperini, as he survives 47 days at sea and then numerous stints inside a Japanese POW prison. Decent enough film, but been done better before. 

*Batman* (2022) Rebooted as a film noir with batman reconceived as a sleuth. Its a slow atmospheric effort that tries to convince you of the diabolical nature of the Riddlers paint-by-numbers plan. I was utterly unconvinced and my wife lost interest after 30-40 minutes. I will say, in its defence, the last 30 minutes are decent enough, but the rest is fairly uninspiring.

*American Psycho* (2000) A rollicking satire on the vacuity of American corporate life. Totally loved it.


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## T & P (Dec 25, 2022)

*It’s a Wonderful Life.* No further comment needed


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## Elpenor (Dec 25, 2022)

Knives Out. Purely to decide if I wanted to revisit the style tonight watching the sequel on putlocker aka tramps Netflix


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## T & P (Dec 25, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> Knives Out. Purely to decide if I wanted to revisit the style tonight watching the sequel on putlocker aka tramps Netflix


And what is your verdict? I really enjoyed it myself.

As it happens I just finished watching Glass Onion. I liked it but the first one is better imo. But the bottom line is that if you’re already subscribed so it won’t cost you anything extra to watch it, and you enjoyed the first one, you should definitely watch the second.


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## Elpenor (Dec 25, 2022)

T & P said:


> And what is your verdict? I really enjoyed it myself.
> 
> As it happens I just finished watching Glass Onion. I liked it but the first one is better imo. But the bottom line is that if you’re already subscribed so it won’t cost you anything extra to watch it, and you enjoyed the first one, you should definitely watch the second.


I saw the first one at the cinema and enjoyed it more on a second viewing (recorded it from one of the channel 4 digital channels the other night).

If I can find a stream for glass onion I’ll watch that now as it will bookend the day well. Mate says the sequel is better.


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## T & P (Dec 25, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> I saw the first one at the cinema and enjoyed it more on a second viewing (recorded it from one of the channel 4 digital channels the other night).
> 
> If I can find a stream for glass onion I’ll watch that now as it will bookend the day well. Mate says the sequel is better.


It’s free on Netflix.


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## Elpenor (Dec 25, 2022)

T & P said:


> It’s free on Netflix.


Don’t have an account!


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## T & P (Dec 25, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> Don’t have an account!


Oh. I guess you’ll have to wait a good few months before it reaches the free platforms. I’d say certainly not worth paying to see it at the cinema, and unless you’re desperate for stuff to watch, probably not worth renting it. But then again you could get a month’s subscription to Netflix and watch this and plenty other stuff you’re very likely to like, and then cancel it.


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## platinumsage (Dec 25, 2022)

Suburbicon for a second time. I’m still mystified as to why it got panned by both critics and audiences, it’s very entertaining.


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## RedRedRose (Dec 26, 2022)

*'71* (2014) A squaddie gets lost in a reconnaissance mission on the streets of Northern Ireland. Decent enough effort, but the film tries to do literally everything in it's running time.

*The Conformist *(1970) a weak-willed man wants to ingratiate himself to his fascist paymasters by killing a former anti-fascist teacher based in Paris. Very visual and with subtle psychological undertones. I liked it very much.

*The Place Beyond the Pines* (2012) weaves together three interrelated stories: a bank-robber trying to support his child, a cop dealing with corruption in his precinct and a prospective politicians son hanging out and getting high. Interesting film, but its 140 minute run-time was a little patience testing.


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## planetgeli (Dec 26, 2022)

Elpenor said:


> Knives Out.



Same here. 

Enjoyable enough if a bit predictable in places. Also thought it was a bit too long but I was pissed and very tired.


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## mwgdrwg (Dec 28, 2022)

Glass Onion - 2/5.

Loved Knives Out, did not love this.


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## Elpenor (Dec 28, 2022)

mwgdrwg said:


> Glass Onion - 2/5.
> 
> Loved Knives Out, did not love this.


Yes all the fun of the last one was gone.


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## May Kasahara (Dec 30, 2022)

Event Horizon, as my teenager wanted to watch it. Still grim, but also much more schlockily entertaining than I remember.


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## RedRedRose (Dec 31, 2022)

*Hell or High Water *(2016) Two Texan brothers turn to bank robbing to resolve their finances. They are in hot pursuit by a geriatric Jeff Bridges and his partner. Lots of beautiful landscape shots, subtle discussions about debt and socio-economics and interesting relationship dynamics. Probably the best film I have watched in some time.

*Sightseers* (2012) Imagine if the duo in 'Natural Born Killers' were British caravaners. A hapless couple tour British tourist sites knocking-off people who irk them along the way. One or two memorable moments, but otherwise I thought the humour of film was odd.


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## RedRedRose (Dec 31, 2022)

May Kasahara said:


> Still grim, but also much more schlockily entertaining than I remember.


Watched this as a teenager and I remember it having quite grim Doom-style setting which I liked a lot. I thought it was a fairly conventional sci-fi horror. But looking over a recent Red Letter Media review, they had come to a similar opinion as you. So, I might revisit it.


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## belboid (Dec 31, 2022)

RedRedRose said:


> *Sightseers* (2012) Imagine if the duo in 'Natural Born Killers' were British caravaners. A hapless couple tour British tourist sites knocking-off people who irk them along the way. One or two memorable moments, but otherwise I thought the humour of film was odd.


I love Sightseers.


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## Grandma Death (Dec 31, 2022)

White Noise.

Its divided critics. Im on the side of the loved it camp. Baumbach is one of my fave directors and Driver one of my fave actors so its got a boost up already. Crackling dialogue. Funny, Acerbic. Crackin cinematography, costume design....but its Don Cheadle with his dead pan delivery of what will be some of the most quotable lines you'll see in a movie thats rounds this film off lovely. This film deffo made my 2022 films of the year,.....just! And a great closing sequence with LCD Soundsystem track that stays with you LONG after the movie finishes


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## farmerbarleymow (Dec 31, 2022)

Watching the Poseidon Adventure.  Appropriately enough it was set on new years eve.


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## RedRedRose (Jan 1, 2023)

belboid said:


> I love Sightseers.


It's not a terrible film. There are quite a few laugh out loud funny bits, which is from about 5-10 minutes of good material. However, the couple at the centre of the film are too odd for me to have much sympathy with;  cue discussions on 'bin juice', a woman trying to write a letter with a nine-foot pencil and arguments over whether a stolen dog is called 'banjo' or 'poppy'.


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## T & P (Jan 1, 2023)

*Catch Me If You Can*. Has aged well and still very enjoyable. More so during today’s viewing- my mother-in-law was an air stewardess during the golden era of commercial aviation in the 1960s, but had never watched this film before, so she enjoyed it enormously and furnished us with loads of real-life anecdotes


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## T & P (Jan 2, 2023)

*Triangle of Sadness*. The 2022 Palm d’Or winning absurdist dark comedy about the  detestable set of entitled and super rich passengers aboard an ultra-luxury private yacht cruise, where things soon start to unravel.

It won’t be for everyone, but I thought it was fucking brilliant. Think White Lotus meets Below Deck. Not perfect, but a solid 8/10 for me. Very funny, and a savage and well deserved critique of influencers and the very wealthy.


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## Petcha (Jan 3, 2023)

Best movie I've seen in a long time. Just beautiful. I think it's still on at the actual cinemas but is also out there on the torrents.









						The Banshees of Inisherin
					

Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN follows lifelong friends Pádraic and Colm, who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship. A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán and troubled young islander Dominic...




					www.rottentomatoes.com


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## Chz (Jan 4, 2023)

One of the great examples of 
"What's it about?"
"Absolutely nothing, and it's great."


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## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2023)

Chz said:


> One of the great examples of
> "What's it about?"
> "Absolutely nothing, and it's great."


banshees of inisherin?  
Films are always ‘about’ something


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## Petcha (Jan 4, 2023)

Chz said:


> One of the great examples of
> "What's it about?"
> "Absolutely nothing, and it's great."



Yeh. I mean wtf was it about. Nada


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## Petcha (Jan 4, 2023)

Orang Utan said:


> banshees of inisherin?
> Films are always ‘about’ something



Loneliness


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## Chz (Jan 4, 2023)

Orang Utan said:


> banshees of inisherin?
> Films are always ‘about’ something


It's more of a... How would you describe it in a way to "sell" it someone who doesn't already want to watch it based on cast/director/writer/etc?


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## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2023)

Chz said:


> It's more of a... How would you describe it in a way to "sell" it someone who doesn't already want to watch it based on cast/director/writer/etc?


It’s a comedy about two friends who live on a tiny island off the coast of Ireland. One of them suddenly decides that he doesn’t want to be friends anymore and the film is about this and the ensuing fallout.
Plus, it’s got a tiny donkey in it.


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## Chz (Jan 4, 2023)

I think "comedy" is already fibbing. I like wikipedia's description - "black tragicomedy"


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## D'wards (Jan 6, 2023)

Aftersun.  A brilliant film that I will never watch again


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## Part 2 (Jan 6, 2023)

The Menu - another cooking film that's also another class film along with being a 'strangers' brought to a place for something to happen film.

A bunch of people I didn't really care much for go to an exclusive restaurant on an island where chef Ralph Fiennes will cook a special menu for them for the price of $1250. Contains all the stereoptypical things 'foodies' say that you could find watching Masterchef, which is much more entertaining. It's very weak.


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## RedRedRose (Jan 6, 2023)

*Creepshow* (1982) Five or six short horror vignetes by George Romero. The better one had Leslie Nielsen and Ted Danson in it; the worst, had Stephen King, who based on this performance should never be on screen again. Very trashy and not really worth the effort. 

*Wrath of Silence* (2017) In Northern China, the disappearance of a child converges with a story about perjury and corruption. The boy's mute father is tasked with finding the child, which adds a very interesting plot device to the proceedings. Really excellent film, spoiled by...having what feels like three different endings. 

*Ash is the Purest White* (2018) I love Zhangke Jia's films, and its all here: terrible dancing at nightclubs, weird public spectacles, long drawn out natural conversations, relationships paralleling China's development. 
A minor criminal boss and his girl are sent down, and spend the bulk of the film adjusting to life after prison and reconciling their relationship. The pacing is challenging, but somewhere in its two hour plus run-time is located a really excellent film.

*Boss Level* (2020) Time loop sci-fi flick. Not terrible, but not great either.


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## Chz (Jan 6, 2023)

Part 2 said:


> The Menu - another cooking film that's also another class film along with being a 'strangers' brought to a place for something to happen film.
> 
> A bunch of people I didn't really care much for go to an exclusive restaurant on an island where chef Ralph Fiennes will cook a special menu for them for the price of $1250. Contains all the stereoptypical things 'foodies' say that you could find watching Masterchef, which is much more entertaining. It's very weak.


Damnit, that's the DVD rental sitting on my desk for tonight.


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## Part 2 (Jan 6, 2023)

Chz said:


> Damnit, that's the DVD rental sitting on my desk for tonight.


You might like it 🙂


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## DotCommunist (Jan 6, 2023)

Not sure who mentioned it on here but Les Miserables (2019), its great, I'v never seen or even read a synopsis of the original (will do later) but this is by way of the banlieue and grabbed me straight away.


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## Chz (Jan 6, 2023)

Part 2 said:


> You might like it 🙂


I'm actually wrong, and it's _Flux Gourmet_ that's on my desk. They just sound similar.


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## Part 2 (Jan 6, 2023)

Chz said:


> I'm actually wrong, and it's _Flux Gourmet_ that's on my desk. They just sound similar.


Well then you're in for a treat! I loved that.


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## Supine (Jan 6, 2023)

Chz said:


> Damnit, that's the DVD rental sitting on my desk for tonight.



DVD rentals still exist? I had no idea


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## Chz (Jan 6, 2023)

Supine said:


> DVD rentals still exist? I had no idea


Hard to stream a lot of the classics or foreign stuff. Though foreign is *hugely* better than it used to be. 





						DVD Rental Online - Rent DVD & Blu-Ray Films Online at Cinema Paradiso
					

Best and cheap DVD Rental by post in the UK. With a catalogue of over 100,000 titles, CinemaParadiso.co.uk is fast DVD Rental service with free postage both ways.




					www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk


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## DotCommunist (Jan 7, 2023)

trabuquera said:


> his was on Film 4 in the middle of the night - not sure if it's available elsewhere but can't recommend it highly enough. SEE IT. (And that goes double if France win the World Cup this year.)


ah it was ye who recommended Les Miz 2019. I found it on torrents.


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## Aladdin (Monday at 2:05 AM)

Grandma Death said:


> White Noise.
> 
> Its divided critics. Im on the side of the loved it camp. Baumbach is one of my fave directors and Driver one of my fave actors so its got a boost up already. Crackling dialogue. Funny, Acerbic. Crackin cinematography, costume design....but its Don Cheadle with his dead pan delivery of what will be some of the most quotable lines you'll see in a movie thats rounds this film off lovely. This film deffo made my 2022 films of the year,.....just! And a great closing sequence with LCD Soundsystem track that stays with you LONG after the movie finishes



This is now on Netflix..looking forward to watching it this week


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## seventh bullet (Monday at 3:02 PM)

A very nice looking low-budget sci-fi called Vesper. A teen girl living, or eking out a precarious existence, in a grim post-apocalyptic future (is there any other kind?) where past bioengineering efforts to save the world from ecological collapse went wrong, rendering the natural environment near-incapable of supporting life.


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## Chz (Monday at 5:41 PM)

The London Nobody Knows was on Talking Pictures TV. It's fascinating. I mean, it's flat out strange in places but also a great record of mid-60s London. James Mason hosts the bits that are hosted, too. The cameraman has a bit of a thing for eels and girls' legs.


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## Orang Utan (Monday at 10:06 PM)

Chz said:


> The London Nobody Knows was on Talking Pictures TV. It's fascinating. I mean, it's flat out strange in places but also a great record of mid-60s London. James Mason hosts the bits that are hosted, too. The cameraman has a bit of a thing for eels and girls' legs.


is that the one with the egg factory and all those grotesque East End drunks?


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## Chz (Monday at 10:43 PM)

Orang Utan said:


> is that the one with the egg factory and all those grotesque East End drunks?


That's the one, fer sure.


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## T & P (Tuesday at 2:42 PM)

Part 2 said:


> The Menu - another cooking film that's also another class film along with being a 'strangers' brought to a place for something to happen film.
> 
> A bunch of people I didn't really care much for go to an exclusive restaurant on an island where chef Ralph Fiennes will cook a special menu for them for the price of $1250. Contains all the stereoptypical things 'foodies' say that you could find watching Masterchef, which is much more entertaining. It's very weak.


I thought it was brilliant, myself. Or at least, brilliantly entertaining and amusing


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## RedRedRose (Tuesday at 11:39 PM)

*Escape from Pretoria* (2020) Based on a true story, Daniel Radcliffe's character is sent to a whites-only political prison for activities supporting the ANC in 1970's South Africa. What follows is a standard prison escape vehicle. There is very little in terms of plot, character development, and even politics is fairly low in the mix, but I found it gripping and decent all the same.


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## May Kasahara (Wednesday at 9:59 AM)

Pulp Fiction, watched with my teen. Interesting to see it again after quite a long time; still lots to enjoy with plenty about it that is exciting, well executed and fun, but definitely parts that have not aged well (Tarantino's cringeworthy cameo, clearly written to give himself both the ego wank of having supercool Jules be all deferential and forelock-tugging towards him, and the opportunity to say the n word without fear of reproach) alongside those that sucked to begin with (the pointlessly rapey middle subplot, the misogyny).


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## seventh bullet (Wednesday at 10:05 AM)

On the excuse to be edgy with the racism thing, there's also the Christopher Walken 'war watch' scene with a young Butch.


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## Chz (Wednesday at 12:35 PM)

*Flux Gourmet*
Well, that was a thing. And I don't mean it in a bad way. It's definitely being Art as Entertainment by being about Art as Entertainment. It was loads of fun to watch, even if it is a load of nonsense. AIUI, shot on a super tight budget over a couple of weeks at some pile up in Yorkshire. If absurdist potshots at artistic wankery aren't your thing, best steer clear.


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## Koknbul (Wednesday at 11:18 PM)




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## Buddy Bradley (Thursday at 8:44 PM)

Watched _Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood_ (on Netflix), Richard Linklater's latest rotoscoped/animated thing. Really liked it, made me smile a few times at the perfectly captured family dynamics. The actual plot was the weakest element, but still well worth watching, especially if you're into the 60s space race.


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## Koknbul (Yesterday at 8:33 PM)




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