What films have you watched recently?

Shrews

The only time I've 'watched' the Swimmer was when sat in a Taxi office in an alcoholic haze one Christmas. The taxi bloke had the sound turned down and all I can remember is watching Burt Lancaster in trunks jumping into different swimming pools. All seemed a bit weird.

But talking of weird, one Halloween evening, a few years ago, lay on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep with a co-codamol and brandy mix in my system. This old black and white film documentary came on the TV which weirded me out!  So much so that I now watch it every Halloween after having a brandy or two.  It's never quite hit the heights of that first weird Halloween night, but it still, well, weirds me out every time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 1922 masterpiece

Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages

Kitsune

the other bearded geezer - the one with glasses or goggles on. Jared someone?

Blueingreen

Cold War. As an exercise in style and mood this was wonderful. Great sound track too. The narrative/plot elements were much less successful: guy falls obsessively (and somewhat unconvincingly) in love with beautiful, spirited but damaged femme fatale, ruining his life in the process. Really? The attempt to make the story into some kind of political allegory about Polish/Soviet communism also seemed forced and hokey.

For all its serious flaws it felt like a proper grown up movie and I’m very pleased to have seen it. 8.5/10.

Philly_Q

Shrews said:

But talking of weird, one Halloween evening, a few years ago, lay on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep with a co-codamol and brandy mix in my system. This old black and white film documentary came on the TV which weirded me out!  So much so that I now watch it every Halloween after having a brandy or two.  It's never quite hit the heights of that first weird Halloween night, but it still, well, weirds me out every time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 1922 masterpiece

Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages

I'm just really surprised that Haxan was ever on the telly.

ICBM

Kitsune said:

the other bearded geezer - the one with glasses or goggles on. Jared someone?

Leto. Yes, he was annoying as well - too clichéd as the evil genius baddie.

strumjoughlamps

My Feral Heart - lots and lots of promiseruined by its ending.

Shrews

Philly_Q said:

Shrews said:

But talking of weird, one Halloween evening, a few years ago, lay on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep with a co-codamol and brandy mix in my system. This old black and white film documentary came on the TV which weirded me out!  So much so that I now watch it every Halloween after having a brandy or two.  It's never quite hit the heights of that first weird Halloween night, but it still, well, weirds me out every time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 1922 masterpiece

Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages

I'm just really surprised that Haxan was ever on the telly.

Not sure if it was terrestrial, probably Freeview, Film4 maybe.  That moonface, witches brewing up potions and kissing Satan's ass, it's not imagery that leaves you quickly in the early hours of the morning.

Shrews

Adore was on Freeview a few weeks back.  The tale of two older women who fall in love with each other's sons. Not really a blokes film (other than the two drop dead gorgeous mothers) but if you're looking for a DVD stocking filler for the wife for Christmas then I'd recommend it.  It's set in Australia by the beach and so if your Mrs likes white sand and turquoise seas then it'll be right up her street.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/adore_2013/

thumpingrug

I watched Downsizing on Sky yesterday.  What an utter pile of cat chunder.  

boogieman

Deception, free on Prime. Geoffrey Rush as a fine art appraiser and auctioneer who uses inside knowledge to his own advantage. Then something happens and the tables are turned. Rather good. 

EricTheWeary

Part way through watching The Equalizer which I’ve watched at least twice before so I may just go to bed before it ends. 
I’m not much of a fan of action movies but I like all the detail in this, the secondary characters, his OCD,etc. I hope the sequel has all that and isn’t just some horrendous shoot fest. 

not_the_dj

A couple from Prime. 

I am Dragon. Russian fantasy film with subs, pretty obvious plot really but quite a good looking film. 

The Way Back. More adventures in Russia, this time the supposed tale of survival of prisoners walking from Siberia. Standard long walk to freedom film. 

Days of Thunder. (My wife’s choice this one). Tony Scott and Tom Cruise building up to a formula that peaked with Top Gun. Haven’t seen this in years, and as Disney’s Cars is a favourite of my boys I kept expecting Tom would end up having to resurface a road in a forgotten town somewhere. 

HAL9000

American Sniper. Tells the story of sniper Chris Kyle. Gripping battle scenes, but the subtext is really about how war not only affects the participants but also their families. Recommended.

schrodinger1612

The Invitation (2018). Loved this...a slow burner, but very tense and keeps you guessing till the end  8/10 

Creep (2014) - excellent found footage flick  8.5/10

am too lazy to explain what they’re about...just watch them, you won’t regret it

Philly_Q

A few good things I saw at this year's London Film Festival:

Suspiria (the remake)
Lords of Chaos
Dragged Across Concrete
Thunder Road
May the Devil Take You
Duplicate

schrodinger1612

Thoughts on the new Halloween flick? 

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

A few good things I saw at this year's London Film Festival:

Suspiria (the remake)
Lords of Chaos
Dragged Across Concrete
Thunder Road
May the Devil Take You
Duplicate

How was Suspiria? 

Philly_Q

boogieman said:

How was Suspiria? 

It's very, very good. 

The plot is different and easier to follow - but not in a dumbed-down Hollywood kind of way - and they've gone the opposite of the original's wildly colourful look by setting it in a drab, dreary looking 1970s East Berlin (adding in some political references to that period).

They've also increased the significance of the dance academy setting and there is quite a lot of actual dancing, which (surprisingly) works extremely well.

I'm not sure everyone will like it, but it's well worth seeing even if you end up hating it!

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

boogieman said:

How was Suspiria? 

It's very, very good. 

The plot is different and easier to follow - but not in a dumbed-down Hollywood kind of way - and they've gone the opposite of the original's wildly colourful look by setting it in a drab, dreary looking 1970s East Berlin (adding in some political references to that period).

They've also increased the significance of the dance academy setting and there is quite a lot of actual dancing, which (surprisingly) works extremely well.

I'm not sure everyone will like it, but it's well worth seeing even if you end up hating it!

That sounds decent enough. I wasn’t sure it could ever take a remake, it’s such a unique looking film and so much a child of its time. 

Philly_Q

boogieman said:

That sounds decent enough. I wasn’t sure it could ever take a remake, it’s such a unique looking film and so much a child of its time. 

My philosophy with remakes is that - although they're lazy and I wish people would do something original - they should be judged on their own merits.  It's only 90 minutes or two hours of my time.

The studios definitely like them because they think it's easy to cash in on a recognised title, but they're often given to young writers and directors who might - if they can get past too much studio interference - do something interesting.

But yes, most of them are rubbish....