What film did you watch last night?
- Thread starter Hitchington
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swee'pea99
Legendary Member
A Farewell to Arms with Rock Hudson and some English totty. Only lasted an hour. I tried, I really tried, but it was one of those massively turgid 'epics' Hollywood used to churn out when it could get limitless supplies of extras from the Hungarian Army or the like for food, Coca Cola and a few quid for the General. Lifeless, clueless, dull, dull, dull.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
The Wild Geese.
Predictable, late Seventies ageing actors who are clearly only in it for the money. Still, it has a certain period charm. 6/10.
Predictable, late Seventies ageing actors who are clearly only in it for the money. Still, it has a certain period charm. 6/10.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
It's touring at the moment, Northern Broadsides' staging of the play is wonderful - try to see it if it goes anywhere near you.
A bit of a catchup post from me;.
The Song of the Sea
Undoubtedly the best thing I watched all week. A beautiful, rich, wonderfully animated tale from the people who brought us "The Book of Kells". The story telling in this is Ghibli like in its textual richness, securely located in the Irish fokllore it draws its story from, yet accessible to a viewer with little knowledge of that. It's a great story, well told, and should work as a family film in the true sense, written so that everyone can enjoy it. Just fantastic. I think it's available on Amazon Prime streaming at the moment.
The Quatermass Experiment / Quatermass 2
I'd recorded these a while ago, and rather forgotten about them until scrolling back through the list on the PVR. I have to say, despite the wobbliness one might expect in terms of production value, I really enjoyed them both, favouring Quatermass 2 slightly more. They're lovely little time capsules, in many ways, showing us not so much a '50s future, as the state of the art at that time, with labs, rockets, weapons &c that look quaint to us, but must have seemed desperately of the moment to contemporary viewers. Set in a Britain that still bears the scars of World War II, with the first film's antagonist using bombed out areas to hide.
There's enjoyment to be had beyond that temporal dislocation though, with good performances and some interesting ideas explored. Worth catching.
The Big Short
Mostly very good (and streets ahead of Margin Call, which it seems desperately wanted your sympathy for the people responsible for last decade's financial crash). This is a blackly comic look at a group of people who noticed the insanity of the complex financial instruments at the heart of the crash, and took advantage of them. If the film has a weakness, it's that it occasionally loses the courage of its convictions (e.g. Brad Pitt pops up to explain the stakes for the people that will be affected by the crash). That muddies the cynical tone at times, and I think it makes the film slightly weaker, although it's still good, with the characters at the heart of the story well played.
Would be a good double bill with my favourite film about the crash so far, "Inside Job".
Inertia
I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
Sounds like you are describing the Expendables
swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Two very different films, both wonderful. The Boy - a great little NZ movie featuring an all-Maori cast including a star who, incredibly, was just an extra until a week before shooting began, when the director realised his original star just wasn't working out. A cracking story and an enlightening peek into a singular and pretty much unknown culture: heartwarming and funny, a lo-budget gem. And The Goodbye Girl - a film I loved when it first came out, which holds up brilliantly. Richard Dreyfuss and his co-star are both great, and convincingly portray a developing attachment without ever getting cloying or irritating, and the third star - a ten year old girl - is superb. The script is one of Neil Simon's best, and that's saying plenty.
The Wild Geese II is far superior.
TwickenhamCyclist
Guest
re watched World War Z with daughter no 3 (who has got the 'horror' vibe) - not bad- nothing on the Walking Dead - but a fun zombie flick all the same...
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
The Equalizer.
All a bit improbable, but quite watchable for all that. Decent weapons drills - none of that stupid and fake click when someone picks up and points a pistol (all semi autos work in Double Action, older ones in Simgle Action also, so provided there's a round in the chamber and no safety is set just pull the trigger and fire, no sinister and very annoying clicky noise).
A bit OTT, but not dreadful either. 5.5/10.
There's supposed to be a sequel in the making, and having established the character and premise it might be better.
All a bit improbable, but quite watchable for all that. Decent weapons drills - none of that stupid and fake click when someone picks up and points a pistol (all semi autos work in Double Action, older ones in Simgle Action also, so provided there's a round in the chamber and no safety is set just pull the trigger and fire, no sinister and very annoying clicky noise).
A bit OTT, but not dreadful either. 5.5/10.
There's supposed to be a sequel in the making, and having established the character and premise it might be better.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
The Wild Geese II is far superior.
I didn't rate it, bit Scott Glenn is typically good.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
Willow Creek
Ok found footage horror - it relies a lot on building tension and not really showing anything, so if you're ok with that, you'll have a two, maybe three star time with this. Nothing special, very Blair Witch-y, in tone, and you'd probably be better off watching that, or the superior (imo) Lake Mungo instead.
Monuments Men
Solid WWII film about a team of academics racing to save the cultural treasures of Europe from destruction and theft. Well directed, and well told, but lacks the courage of its characters' convictions at times (there are lots of scenes where the film is at pains to show the human cost of the war, and deliberations over whether the art is worth the risk of preserving it). That's balanced with scenes of Nazi destruction of "decadent" art (and even just art that they don't have time to steal) which have a surprising degree of emotional punch. A good cast play their parts well (the double acts between Jon Goodman and Jean Dujardin & Bill Murray and Bob Balaban are particular highlights.
It's a curiously old fashioned film at times, but solidly enjoyable, and worth catching.
Ok found footage horror - it relies a lot on building tension and not really showing anything, so if you're ok with that, you'll have a two, maybe three star time with this. Nothing special, very Blair Witch-y, in tone, and you'd probably be better off watching that, or the superior (imo) Lake Mungo instead.
Monuments Men
Solid WWII film about a team of academics racing to save the cultural treasures of Europe from destruction and theft. Well directed, and well told, but lacks the courage of its characters' convictions at times (there are lots of scenes where the film is at pains to show the human cost of the war, and deliberations over whether the art is worth the risk of preserving it). That's balanced with scenes of Nazi destruction of "decadent" art (and even just art that they don't have time to steal) which have a surprising degree of emotional punch. A good cast play their parts well (the double acts between Jon Goodman and Jean Dujardin & Bill Murray and Bob Balaban are particular highlights.
It's a curiously old fashioned film at times, but solidly enjoyable, and worth catching.
jefmcg
Guru
I hope you have watched Sean of the Dead with her.
swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Saving Mr. Banks - an account of the encounter between Walt Disney, a man haunted by a 20 year promise to his daughter to make a film of Mary Poppins, and Mrs P. L. Travers, the author who's been fending him off all that time but has finally run out of money. An excellent script, clever direction, some beautiful cinematography, and fine performances from the leads, Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, coming together in a moving, frequently funny and surprisingly unschmaltzy film. 8/10.
