What films have you watched recently?

HAL9000

Midway. Decent enough war film but nothing that really makes it stand out from the crowd. Kept me out of mischief for two and a bit hours. 6.5/10.

tony99

EricTheWeary said:

tony99 said:

EricTheWeary said:

The Death of Stalin. 

Interesting, bit different, reasonably funny, lot of nastiness largely off screen ( violence and sexual abuse), dragged a bit in the middle ( although any film over 90 minutes I’d probably say that about). The ensemble performance with everyone in their own accents and the scripted banter making it seem very much like a filmed play ( not that it is that I know of). 

halfway through this, had to switch off last night as I was knackered

bloody good though, although it is basically the thick of it / in the loop but with different actors and a historical context, very enjoyable

Yeh, that’s a fair summary. It’s maybe a bit one note - it's all about the interaction of this cast of characters and so the scenes get very samey. I was watching something with Stewart Lee talking about working with Armando Iannucci and he gave an example of something he ( Lee) had written that was funny on the page but wouldn't work acted out and Iannucci didn't necessarily get that. It was self criticism by Lee but but I can see that Iannucci is so wrapped up in the writing that maybe what works for the audience gets a little lost. 
I rewatched In the Loop recently and it's very like that, clever but all at the same tempo. It also suffers from portraying politicians as much less ridiculous than some politicians have subsequently been, it's almost quaint now. 

Oh have you ever seen Conspiracy, the HBO / BBC film aabout the Wansee Conference? The one with Kenny Branagh as Heidrich and Stan Tucci as Eichmann? Now that is a very good piece of ensemble acting, it has all those little clandestine interactions between heads of ministries and Machivellian string pulling between this faction and that. It's obviously far from a comedy and replace the commies with nazis but it's a very similar approach and it really really hits the mark.

merlin

ICBM said:

boogieman said:

And presumably also missing Britt Ekland’s peachy arse? 

I hate to disappoint, but it wasn't Britt's arse. She objected to hers being shown so they hired a body double for the rear view .

And the double had VERY different length hair which confused me for a second or two as a teenager but didn't distract me too much from the matter in hand. 

EricTheWeary

tony99 said:

EricTheWeary said:

tony99 said:

EricTheWeary said:

The Death of Stalin. 

Interesting, bit different, reasonably funny, lot of nastiness largely off screen ( violence and sexual abuse), dragged a bit in the middle ( although any film over 90 minutes I’d probably say that about). The ensemble performance with everyone in their own accents and the scripted banter making it seem very much like a filmed play ( not that it is that I know of). 

halfway through this, had to switch off last night as I was knackered

bloody good though, although it is basically the thick of it / in the loop but with different actors and a historical context, very enjoyable

Yeh, that’s a fair summary. It’s maybe a bit one note - it's all about the interaction of this cast of characters and so the scenes get very samey. I was watching something with Stewart Lee talking about working with Armando Iannucci and he gave an example of something he ( Lee) had written that was funny on the page but wouldn't work acted out and Iannucci didn't necessarily get that. It was self criticism by Lee but but I can see that Iannucci is so wrapped up in the writing that maybe what works for the audience gets a little lost. 
I rewatched In the Loop recently and it's very like that, clever but all at the same tempo. It also suffers from portraying politicians as much less ridiculous than some politicians have subsequently been, it's almost quaint now. 

Oh have you ever seen Conspiracy, the HBO / BBC film aabout the Wansee Conference? The one with Kenny Branagh as Heidrich and Stan Tucci as Eichmann? Now that is a very good piece of ensemble acting, it has all those little clandestine interactions between heads of ministries and Machivellian string pulling between this faction and that. It's obviously far from a comedy and replace the commies with nazis but it's a very similar approach and it really really hits the mark.

I don't know Conspiracy at all, I'll look out for it. Ta. 

tony99

EricTheWeary said:

tony99 said:

EricTheWeary said:

tony99 said:

EricTheWeary said:

The Death of Stalin. 

Interesting, bit different, reasonably funny, lot of nastiness largely off screen ( violence and sexual abuse), dragged a bit in the middle ( although any film over 90 minutes I’d probably say that about). The ensemble performance with everyone in their own accents and the scripted banter making it seem very much like a filmed play ( not that it is that I know of). 

halfway through this, had to switch off last night as I was knackered

bloody good though, although it is basically the thick of it / in the loop but with different actors and a historical context, very enjoyable

Yeh, that’s a fair summary. It’s maybe a bit one note - it's all about the interaction of this cast of characters and so the scenes get very samey. I was watching something with Stewart Lee talking about working with Armando Iannucci and he gave an example of something he ( Lee) had written that was funny on the page but wouldn't work acted out and Iannucci didn't necessarily get that. It was self criticism by Lee but but I can see that Iannucci is so wrapped up in the writing that maybe what works for the audience gets a little lost. 
I rewatched In the Loop recently and it's very like that, clever but all at the same tempo. It also suffers from portraying politicians as much less ridiculous than some politicians have subsequently been, it's almost quaint now. 

Oh have you ever seen Conspiracy, the HBO / BBC film aabout the Wansee Conference? The one with Kenny Branagh as Heidrich and Stan Tucci as Eichmann? Now that is a very good piece of ensemble acting, it has all those little clandestine interactions between heads of ministries and Machivellian string pulling between this faction and that. It's obviously far from a comedy and replace the commies with nazis but it's a very similar approach and it really really hits the mark.

I don't know Conspiracy at all, I'll look out for it. Ta. 

It's a hard one to catch, but it is chilling. Was on YT for a while but now there's only a few clips of it or it's there in other languages. If I find it somehwere I'll pass it on, would love to know what ya think.

Haych

Le Mans ‘66, just brilliant. Very well done and very entertaining. Loved it!

Blaendulais

Haych said:

Le Mans ‘66, just brilliant. Very well done and very entertaining. Loved it!

I agree awesome movie

not_the_dj

Le Mans '66.....chuffin' brilliant.

gordiji

Kung fu pandas 1,2 & 3 all in the last week. Excellent !

ICBM

The Shining

Stanley Kubrick's classic with Jack Nicholson. I'd seen it, although not for a long time, but MrsICBM never had - and as she was interested in Doctor Sleep (which may or may not have something to do with Ewan MacGregor) we decided to watch the original...

I have to say it now seems very dated. Nicholson is completely over the top, but not convincing. Shelley Duvall is massively annoying to the point MrsICBM just wanted Jack to kill her from quite an early stage... and while in a few places there is a real sense of dread and foreboding, that has more to do with the soundtrack than the direction, I think. Overall it's too disjointed to be really scary - and the supposedly frightening apparitions aren't very, partly because the jump edits seem so clumsy. Disappointing - and actually, having read the Wikipedia page about it I entirely agree with Stephen King's opinions on it. So we may see Doctor Sleep after all.

(A perhaps surprising) 6/10


Fargo

Another old one. To redeem the weekend I also picked up a copy of this - neither of us had seen it, but since Frances McDormand was so good in Three Billboards, MrsICBM thought it was worth a go. And it very much is - classic Coen Brothers violence and black humour, and some brilliant acting - not least McDormand who won an Oscar for it, but William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi are great too.

A strong 9/10

Tone71

sweepy said:

Joker, unbelievable and compelling, one of possibly the best films I’ve seen 

Watched it today, really good film, very dark and great acting, reminded me of Cape Fear

Kalimna

gordiji said:

Kung fu pandas 1,2 & 3 all in the last week. Excellent !

I am firmly convinced this is the greatest trilogy ever made. The characters, the script, the voice actors, cinematography, respect for source material/genre. All as good as can be. Not a dud film in there, and character arcs superbly realised for the two main characters.

"You found inner peace? Of course you did..."


We watched Terminator Judgement Day tonight. I had forgotten what a stunning film that is too. Most of the fx still stand up, even if some of the acting less than stellar. And the motorbike/truck/bike chase through the streets and spillways beautifully shot.

Moominpapa

An outside runner but a real gem: Our Man in Havana (1959). Directed & produced by Carol Reed from the novel (and screenplay) by Graham Greene. Astonishing cast: Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ralph Richardson, Noel Coward. Very good - and very funny - script, and the performances are as great as you would expect from that cast.I don't know how I had missed this film for so long. I've seen The Third Man several times, but I didn't even know this existed. If you like finely-crafted movies with dry wit and beautifully-judged performances I strongly recommend this.

cruxiform

Seen Joker three times at the cinema now. It's a classic.

Haych

The Hustle. As much as I find Rebel Wilson irritating to the point of wanting to push her down the stairs the trailers looked quite good so thought I’d give it a go. 

Anne Hathaway is quite good and Rebel Wilson is just Rebel Wilson, she plays the same character in every single movie she’s in. 

It was quite entertaining and there were some good laugh out loud moments. Throughout the entire film I had a weird sense of deja vous as if I’d seen it before but that would have been impossible as it’s quite a recent movie and I’m not yet that forgetful. 

It wasn’t until the very end when I guessed the twist in the plot that I realised it was a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. 

Not bad but not great, probably 6/10 at the very best and still nowhere near as good as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. 

Philly_Q

The Banana Splits Movie
An 18-certificate slasher movie starring Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky should have been wacky, colourful fun.  In fact it's a dreary, plodding, largely humourless bore.  Seriously misjudged.

MikeS

Not a film, but The Farthest, the documentary on the Voyager Probes. Had been skipping past it on my Prime/Netflix menu for ages, for no particular reason, just didn’t fancy it. Watched it, so glad I did. Emotional, awe inspiring stuff. 

EricTheWeary

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

It painfully sentimental at times but it’s an okay romp. Couple of sexual references that I could have done without ( it’s a film aimed at children/ families so why bother) although nothing actually explicit. I don’t know why Karen Gillan couldn’t have had an accent she could do better as her character could have come from anywhere in the world. 

It’s fine. 

robgilmo

The Dirt, 

Sweet mother of God.



Almost Famous,  entertaining.




Alladin , kids loved it.

The Joker, dark, very dark.

robgilmo

Oh, and Ive just watched the second series of End Of The Fucking World, quite possibly one of the best things Ive ever seen.