What films have you watched recently?

Haych

Trading Places - oldie but a goodie. 

Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy completely at ease in their respective roles and at risk of being sexist Jamie Lee Curtis is a real feast for the eyes. 

stickyfiddle

Jojo Rabbit. Fantastic and deserves all the plaudits. Waititi is on such a fantastic run of stuff; absolutely one of the best filmmakers out there at the moment.

Cols

Finally got round to watching Joker.  Excellent acting, well done, thought-provoking and a film that I do not need to see ever again.

ICBM

ICBM said:

The Passenger

Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider in Antonioni's 1975 film. I've seen it before, but so long ago that I couldn't really remember much about it.

Beautifully shot, mesmerising use of sound, well acted (Nicholson especially) but in the end I found it a bit shallow, because the characters aren't really allowed to develop much depth. I know that's possibly part of the point, that we are all just passing through...

8/10

Oddly, since posting this I’ve been thinking about this film more than any other I’ve seen in years. I think I’ll have to get a copy and watch it again. Perhaps not that shallow after all.

Now watched again, with MrsICBM... I haven't changed my opinion - it's a very interesting, oddly compelling film but in the end still seems a bit meaningless. She did actually watch it intently though, which is unusual for this sort of thing.

It's especially interesting to see it again after Stewart Copeland's music series where he talks about music enhancing movies - very unusually this one doesn't have any at all (except at the closing credits), but I don't think it would work with it either.

Sassafras said:

THX 1138.
It's the first George Lucas film I've watched and I quite enjoyed it but not enough to watch his following films.
I thought it was a lot more relevant than something simplistic like Star Wars could be.

I'll have to get a copy of that too - I haven't seen it since I was a teenager. (Late night on Channel 4 I think!) I've also read the book, and it's one I've never forgotten... very powerful.

EricTheWeary

Burn Out.

Budget French thriller on Netflix. Don’t be put off by the subtitles as there is very little dialogue, not much plot either. But it’s French so it looks quite nice. 

Probably not very PC as we are certainly skirting around negative racial stereotypes and the only woman in it gets very few lines and is little more than a pretty victim.*

But motorbikes and people running around, guns, some nice shots of French roads at night. 

*Manon Azem, the voice of Hermione to French people apparently. 

MagicPigDetective

I only get to see kids films at the cinema these days. Sonic the Hedgehog, better than I expected, dare I say it.. entertaining? Good to see Jim Carrey hamming it up to the max again. 

boogieman

Joker. A tour de force of acting by Joaquin Phoenix but jeez, what a bleak film. 

Haych

Finally watched Toy Story 4 a few days ago. 

Very good and definitely in keeping with the franchise and one I would watch again but not worthy of the hype surrounding it during its release. 

Don’t get me wrong, I really liked it but it was no better than #3 and not as good as #2, which is my favourite.  

I’m glad it was done well and wasn’t just another sequel in search of fast cash. 

Philly_Q

Trash Fire (aka The Wrath)
Strange little film which turns from a funny but rather bleak failing-relationship comedy into a sort of Southern Gothic horror thriller with a surprisingly grim ending.  The shifts of tone don't totally work but I thought it was rather good.

The Dead Don't Die
Jim Jarmusch makes a zombie film with a top-drawer cast.  It's consistently amusing and the zombie-movie elements are surprisingly good, but it's delivered in such a laid-back deadpan way that it never really gets exciting and by the end it seems quite depressing and futile.  Which may have been the point, but I felt a bit let down.

boogieman

First Man, with Ryan Reynolds as Neil Armstrong. No idea if the thing at the end really happened but it seems a possibility from a google search and it makes a decent plot line. Also no idea if Armstrong really was as reticent and emotionally stunted as RR plays him or whether it’s just Reynolds turning in his usual wooden performance. Decent enough film though. 

Tone71

Dead Earth - well I watched about 25 minutes of it and couldn't take any more.

Very rare that I will turn a film off but it is horribly appalling

stickyfiddle

boogieman said:

First Man, with Ryan Reynolds as Neil Armstrong. No idea if the thing at the end really happened but it seems a possibility from a google search and it makes a decent plot line. Also no idea if Armstrong really was as reticent and emotionally stunted as RR plays him or whether it’s just Reynolds turning in his usual wooden performance. Decent enough film though. 

I think you mean Gosling!

Philly_Q

boogieman said:

First Man, with Ryan Reynolds as Neil Armstrong. No idea if the thing at the end really happened but it seems a possibility from a google search and it makes a decent plot line. Also no idea if Armstrong really was as reticent and emotionally stunted as RR plays him or whether it’s just Reynolds turning in his usual wooden performance. Decent enough film though. 

Ryan Gosling.  I know lots of people hate Ryan Reynolds too but he doesn't deserve flak for this one.

boogieman

Gah, sorry got my Ryans mixed up. @stickyfiddle @Philly_Q ;

Watched A Perfect Day in the Neighbourhood yesterday. All rather weird to start with but it’s a decent enough feel good flick. Tom Hanks turns in his usual solid performance. 

westford

We watched Split a few days ago, James McAvoy was great in all his roles.

Also watched Commando which is probably my favourite Arnie comedy.

Snap

Call My By Your Name. Rubbish. Dull as. One of those films that people think they should like if they are all arty and cool. Well it is neither. Give it a miss.

goldtop

Not a film, but a permanent spoiler: not sure who's the baddie in your thriller? Well, if he's using an Apple product and this is a Hollywood movie, he's a good guy. Apple lawyers require it. Baddies use Samsungs/Windows/etc.

tony99

goldtop said:

Not a film, but a permanent spoiler: not sure who's the baddie in your thriller? Well, if he's using an Apple product and this is a Hollywood movie, he's a good guy. Apple lawyers require it. Baddies use Samsungs/Windows/etc.

not so in Snow White old chum, in which I think you'll find the baddie uses the apple, in order to snare her prey

JezWynd

Parasite. Slightly surprised this won the best picture Oscar after seeing it. Not that it isn't a good film, it is, but what starts out as quite comedic takes a very dark turn and is not the usual Oscar fare. The visuals, a combination of sets and camera work is dazzling in its accomplishment and the actors are all excellent (hence the Oscar). All that said, it left me pretty much unmoved apart from admiring the execution (the movie, not the participants) and, surprise turn aside, the action was always somewhat predictable. 8.25/10

Blaendulais

The Invisible Man
Good movie a great psychological thriller.