What films have you watched recently?

andyp

@Lodious Yip. He was excellent. I think I’ve only seen him in the new Star Wars films before, he’s a much better actor than I realised.

Gassage

not_the_dj said:

Gassage said:

The Wildest Dream

Watched last night. Saw it 9 yrs ago.

Docufilm on Everest.

Basically, it's Conrad Anker, one of the great HA mountaineers and the chap who found Mallory's body trying to re-enact the Mallory route. (North Col via North Ridge, other side to Hillary)

The original plan was to do it in period kit, but (and this tells you a lot) they couldn't take the cold and weather. They did, however, scale the Second Step without a ladder which was pretty impressive, despite Anker almost dying in the process.

Leo Houlding's (Brit World Class Rock Climber) first 8k ascent and considering he smokes like a chimney, incredible effort.

I'm a bit of a Mallory nerd (yes, he 100% made it IMO) and this was a quality take on events with real dignity and accuracy.

It has by far the best filming ever done on at hig altiutude and incredible pics of the less favoured North Ridge route.

Brilliant effort from all involved. Really worth watching.

10/10 - all things considered, I don't know how they could improve upon it.

Based on this post we sat down to watch it. Thanks so much for the recommendation @Gassage

Enjoy it?

JezWynd

Not sure it’s a movie but just finished watching OJ; Made in America. A five x 90 min documentary series. Impressive piece of work that documents OJ Simpson’s life in detail and uses it to examine racism In America and particularly it’s repercussions on the Nicole Simpson murder trial and what came after. Highly recommended 9.5/10

not_the_dj

Gassage said:

not_the_dj said:

Gassage said:

The Wildest Dream

Watched last night. Saw it 9 yrs ago.

Docufilm on Everest.

Basically, it's Conrad Anker, one of the great HA mountaineers and the chap who found Mallory's body trying to re-enact the Mallory route. (North Col via North Ridge, other side to Hillary)

The original plan was to do it in period kit, but (and this tells you a lot) they couldn't take the cold and weather. They did, however, scale the Second Step without a ladder which was pretty impressive, despite Anker almost dying in the process.

Leo Houlding's (Brit World Class Rock Climber) first 8k ascent and considering he smokes like a chimney, incredible effort.

I'm a bit of a Mallory nerd (yes, he 100% made it IMO) and this was a quality take on events with real dignity and accuracy.

It has by far the best filming ever done on at hig altiutude and incredible pics of the less favoured North Ridge route.

Brilliant effort from all involved. Really worth watching.

10/10 - all things considered, I don't know how they could improve upon it.

Based on this post we sat down to watch it. Thanks so much for the recommendation @Gassage

Enjoy it?

Sure did. 

Not sure how it passed me by to be honest, I do find the “golden age...” fascinating. 

As you said beautifully shot, and that moment with Anker on the second step was heart stopping. 

Gassage

not_the_dj said:

Sure did. 

Not sure how it passed me by to be honest, I do find the “golden age...” fascinating. 

As you said beautifully shot, and that moment with Anker on the second step was heart stopping. 

Did you also watch the 'making of' bit after? Tells about how they had to recruit guides to film as the crew dropped one by one!

Philly_Q

1922
This feels like a very typical Stephen King effort - a pretty small story told by a veteran spinner of yarns and stretched out to its absolute limit.  Nothing surprising happens and it ends up exactly where you'd expect.  Thomas Jane overacts wildly and talks in a very silly voice, but looks suitably haunted.  It's totally forgettable but nevertheless quite well done. 

Rattlesnake
When her young daughter is bitten by a rattlesnake, a woman is told (by a supernatural visitor) that she can only save the child by taking another person's soul, before sunset....  The film is only 85 minutes long and the main part of the story is supposed to take place over just seven hours - and yet it manages to be incredibly plodding and dull.  Like an episode of Tales from the Darkside, dragged out to feature length.

It was only at the end of Rattlesnake that I found out it's directed by Zak Hilditch, the same bloke who directed 1922 which I'd watched the night before.  Odd coincidence.  I won't be going out of my way to see the rest of his work.

Longtallronnie

andyp said:

Watched Ex Machina last night. I’d never seen it before but have wanted to watch it for ages. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. There is a fantastic atmosphere about it, brilliant acting too.

Check out Android (also known as Uncanny) made before Ex Machina but released just after. Very similar premise but a better film imo. 

EricTheWeary

The Naked Civil Servant.

[ pause for Dominic Cummings joke ] 

Crisp isn’t the most sympathetic character other than by virtue of being more sympathetic than most of those around him but it’s full of clever one liners and a classic film and a slice of social history. Crisp appears as himself at the start and the transition between him and Hurt is quite seamless. 

 One weird thing about watching The Naked Civil Servant again is that the Polish character in Killing Eve seems to be based on the Polish character in this, although may be coincidence or just a stereotype of Polish men. 

fretmeister

The Post

Glenn Close / Tom Hanks etc.
All about whether to to publish a Top Secret report into the Vietnam war and the efforts of the White House to suppress it.
Based on the "Pentagon Papers" scandal in 1971.

Very good. Excellent performances all round. From what little I know of the original scandal (overshadowed as it was by Watergate) nothing seems to be overblown just for the sake of drama.

Is it as good as "All the President's Men"? Nope - but in the genre of investigative journo films what is as good?! The Post is still a very good film though, just not quite at that level.

8/10

JezWynd

The Third Man, a new 4K transfer on BluRay. It’s a film I know and love but the new transfer is the best quality I’ve ever seen of this movie. Clean and sharp with no scratches or dirt and excellent contrast. The soundtrack also seems improved - that zither has never been so vibrant and points up the syncing of music to action to perfection. The art of film making at its very best. 10/10.

bobblehat

Antman and the Wasp.

Much better than I expected. It was the only Marvel film I had'nt seen and only watched it for completion of the Marvel saga. 
Doesn't take itself too seriously and genuinely funny in parts. 

Blueingreen

The Post

At first I thought this was going be right up my street. Intelligent, old school, narrative film-making.  A theme that resonates more than ever (newspapers telling truths that government is trying to suppress). Fantastic cast. But somehow it was just too heavy handed and unfocused to deliver on its promise. The main characters were too driven by honour and noble intentions for it not to feel like a spruced up version of the truth. Plus there was a tacked-on feminist message that felt clumsy and forced. If you want to make a point about life sometimes being tougher for women, the case of an ultra wealthy socialite who didn’t come into her full inheritance until her husband died may not be the best example of pernicious inequality. And the suggestion that her getting one major decision right after much dithering somehow invalidated her father’s belief that her husband had been better qualified to run the newspaper (or that his decision could only have been made on the basis of sexist prejudice) was just silly.

All the same in an era of superhero franchises just about recommendable as thought provoking entertainment. 7/10

Ray

This suffered from the same faults as most biopics: although the story told may be consistent with known facts there’s barely a scene or a line of dialogue that makes you think “yes, that’s what it would have been like if I’d been there”. It’s arguably warts and all - it doesn’t hide from the facts that Charles was a junky who treated women, his family and sometimes the people who worked with him abominably. Yet it still feels glossy and fake.

Jamie Foxx got the Oscar for this and I find it hard to judge if it was merited. It’s basically an attempt at an accurate impersonation of a real person: to me he seemed more convincing as Ray the performer than Ray the private person, but I haven’t seen much evidence of what Charles was actually like offstage and I might think differently if I had.

its also IMO overlong. But for all its failings it’s a fascinating story, more or less based on truth in its essentials, it works quite well as soap opera and of course the music is fantastic. 7.5/10

earwighoney

Philly_Q said:

1922
This feels like a very typical Stephen King effort - a pretty small story told by a veteran spinner of yarns and stretched out to its absolute limit.  Nothing surprising happens and it ends up exactly where you'd expect.  Thomas Jane overacts wildly and talks in a very silly voice, but looks suitably haunted.  It's totally forgettable but nevertheless quite well done. 

Rattlesnake
When her young daughter is bitten by a rattlesnake, a woman is told (by a supernatural visitor) that she can only save the child by taking another person's soul, before sunset....  The film is only 85 minutes long and the main part of the story is supposed to take place over just seven hours - and yet it manages to be incredibly plodding and dull.  Like an episode of Tales from the Darkside, dragged out to feature length.

It was only at the end of Rattlesnake that I found out it's directed by Zak Hilditch, the same bloke who directed 1922 which I'd watched the night before.  Odd coincidence.  I won't be going out of my way to see the rest of his work.

Philly_Q did you see the most recent tv adaptation of Creepshow?

I sometimes think things like the above would be more bearable in a reduced format eg horror anthology tv show.

Philly_Q

@earwighoney I've only just got into the world of Netflix, Amazon Prime etc (thanks, lockdown!) and so far I'm only watching films, not series (or box sets, as I believe they're known by the young folks...).  I was dimly aware of the Creepshow series, thanks for mentioning it, I'll look into it!

I've got to say, I've been pretty unimpressed by most of the Netflix Original movies I've seen so far.  It feels like they know people will watch them, they don't have to "sell" individual films as such, so they don't try very hard to make them any good...

earwighoney

Philly_Q said:

@earwighoney I've only just got into the world of Netflix, Amazon Prime etc (thanks, lockdown!) and so far I'm only watching films, not series (or box sets, as I believe they're known by the young folks...).  I was dimly aware of the Creepshow series, thanks for mentioning it, I'll look into it!

I've got to say, I've been pretty unimpressed by most of the Netflix Original movies I've seen so far.  It feels like they know people will watch them, they don't have to "sell" individual films as such, so they don't try very hard to make them any good...

Have you heard of Shudder? It's a streaming service just for horror films and tv. I think the horror films there might be more to your liking than the ones on Netflix/Amazon.

They have a 30 day free trial. They have the Creepshow series which is a bit patchy but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Dopesick

The Lighthouse

Willem Dafoe does his best Captain Birdseye impression and plays a blinder. Pattinson does very well playing his fed up understudy who goes a bit mad to say the least. Awesome visuals and if I hadn’t seen November a week or so ago (also on Prime) I’d say it was the most visually pleasing movie I’ve seen in ages. Had to have subtitles on mind you. The grave digging scene looked like something I’d be hard pressed to get involved in. Something I will most probably watch again.

Philly_Q

earwighoney said:

Philly_Q said:

@earwighoney I've only just got into the world of Netflix, Amazon Prime etc (thanks, lockdown!) and so far I'm only watching films, not series (or box sets, as I believe they're known by the young folks...).  I was dimly aware of the Creepshow series, thanks for mentioning it, I'll look into it!

I've got to say, I've been pretty unimpressed by most of the Netflix Original movies I've seen so far.  It feels like they know people will watch them, they don't have to "sell" individual films as such, so they don't try very hard to make them any good...

Have you heard of Shudder? It's a streaming service just for horror films and tv. I think the horror films there might be more to your liking than the ones on Netflix/Amazon.

They have a 30 day free trial. They have the Creepshow series which is a bit patchy but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Yes, my brother's got Shudder and I think I can get it either on its own or via Amazon Prime for the same price.  There's also Arrow Films who have a channel (via Amazon) and a lot of stuff I like (although I already have loads of them on Blu-ray).  And BFI Player.... but I'm a bit wary of signing up to too many things and spending a fortune.

munckee

Philly_Q said:

@earwighoney I've only just got into the world of Netflix, Amazon Prime etc (thanks, lockdown!) and so far I'm only watching films, not series (or box sets, as I believe they're known by the young folks...).  I was dimly aware of the Creepshow series, thanks for mentioning it, I'll look into it!

I've got to say, I've been pretty unimpressed by most of the Netflix Original movies I've seen so far.  It feels like they know people will watch them, they don't have to "sell" individual films as such, so they don't try very hard to make them any good...

@Philly_Q ; Netflix strength is its series, you should definitely watch Dark and Stranger Things - the latter if you have halcyon memories of the 80s and particularly 80s movies.  On Prime watch The Boys.

earwighoney

Philly_Q said: .

Yes, my brother's got Shudder and I think I can get it either on its own or via Amazon Prime for the same price.  There's also Arrow Films who have a channel (via Amazon) and a lot of stuff I like (although I already have loads of them on Blu-ray).  And BFI Player.... but I'm a bit wary of signing up to too many things and spending a fortune.

Yeah, I see that with my bro in law who's signed up to all the things you have but hasn't seen much aside from Stranger Things, and the Mandalorian! The pitfalls of streaming sometime seem like there is too much choice.

Philly_Q

munckee said:

@Philly_Q ;;; Netflix strength is its series, you should definitely watch Dark and Stranger Things - the latter if you have halcyon memories of the 80s and particularly 80s movies.  On Prime watch The Boys.

earwighoney said:

Yeah, I see that with my bro in law who's signed up to all the things you have but hasn't seen much aside from Stranger Things, and the Mandalorian! The pitfalls of streaming sometime seem like there is too much choice.

Thanks guys, I've got Stranger Things and Dark on my list, also The Haunting of Hill House (I like the book, the 1963 film and Mike Flanagan's previous films).  Never heard of The Boys, it sounds fairly interesting.  I'll pass on The Mandalorian, I've no intention of getting Disney+ at this stage!