What films have you watched recently?

Philly_Q

Calibre
When an accident occurs during a hunting trip in the remote Highlands, two friends are faced with difficult decisions... and they make all the wrong ones.  A grim but effective British thriller with a few familiar faces in the cast.

Moominpapa

Parasite   Liked it a lot. Funny - though definitely on the darker end of the black comedy spectrum - and with plenty of cool moments that made you go "hah!" in the way that you do when something is nicely done. Recommended.

Haych

The Machinist

Not a happy film at all but excellently made and Christian Bale is superb. 

I had no clue where this was going and it wasn’t until about 2/3 the way through that I started to suspect what was going on - even then I wasn’t sure. 

Not a fast paced action movie but it grips with intrigue and doesn’t let go. 

9/10

ICBM

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles’ notorious flop from 1967. Despite being a fan I’d never actually seen it.

It’s not as bad as I was expecting from its reputation and reception at the time - it’s certainly amateurish, disjointed, and I suspect large quantities of leisure chemicals may have contributed to the production... the whole thing is a bit of a mess, but there are some pretty good bits even though a lot of it doesn’t quite work.

It’s actually very like Monty Python in that sense, and I think it may have been a significant influence on them - there are a few sequences which are very Python-like, the army sergeant-major and Lennon as the waiter in particular. The sequence for Your Mother Should Know is also really well-done, it’s the highlight of the film even though it doesn’t really fit with the more anarchic stuff.

Overall it seems slightly ahead of its time, rather than just an embarrassing vanity project as it’s often portrayed. It’s obvious that it was McCartney’s idea - Lennon and Harrison are less visible for most of it - but it’s not really a bad attempt at doing something a bit off the wall. It’s also very short - under an hour - so it doesn’t drag on too much. Worth seeing as a snapshot of the late 1960s even if you’re not a big fan, probably.

7/10

Haych

Cellular

2004 thriller with Jason Statham, Kim Basinger and Chris Evans in the main roles. 

It’s quite a ridiculous concept but very much of its time with the tech boom of the early 00s. In fact it started off so absurd I almost turned it off. There are a couple of glaring that-would-never-happen-in-real-life moments early in, on which the plot hinges, that made it so implausible as to be just daft. 

Kim Basinger is a kidnapped by Statham and taken to a remote house in LA where she’s locked in the attic while the kidnappers search for her husband. There’s a telephone in the attic which Statham destroys with a sledge hammer (hole #1 - you’d just remove it) but Basinger somehow manages to piece it back together enough to make a random call to Chris Evans who then runs around LA trying to foil the kidnappers and save the day. 

It does get better and turns out to be not a bad movie in the end, if you can overlook the faux pas like Chris Evans jumping into the sea but his phone still works afterwards. 

William H. Macy makes an appearance as a hen pecked underdog cop who helps save the day - typical type cast for him unfortunately. 

It’s a bit daft and seems like a teen action film at the start but does get better and the plot, while not amazing, isn’t bad as it unfolds. 

6.5/10

JezWynd

HAL9000 said:

Wind River - Set in the snow fields of Wyoming, a local hunter helps FBI agent solve the murder of a young woman on a Native American reserve. Not at all bad. Kept me entertained for the best part of two hours. 7/10.

Good film. A chilling vision of middle America in every sense.

equalsql

The American

Low key thriller with George Clooney.. Mainly filmed in Italy so beautiful locations. A very European film i.e. brooding with not much dialog. Me and the missus really enjoyed it.. but we do like those slow burn type of films.

Haych

equalsql said:

The American

Low key thriller with George Clooney.. Mainly filmed in Italy so beautiful locations. A very European film i.e. brooding with not much dialog. Me and the missus really enjoyed it.. but we do like those slow burn type of films.

I watched this recently, too. Like you say, not much dialogue and very artsy photography. I liked it too but Mrs Haych wasn’t sold on it. 

boogieman

ICBM said:

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles’ notorious flop from 1967. Despite being a fan I’d never actually seen it.

It’s not as bad as I was expecting from its reputation and reception at the time - it’s certainly amateurish, disjointed, and I suspect large quantities of leisure chemicals may have contributed to the production... the whole thing is a bit of a mess, but there are some pretty good bits even though a lot of it doesn’t quite work.

It’s actually very like Monty Python in that sense, and I think it may have been a significant influence on them - there are a few sequences which are very Python-like, the army sergeant-major and Lennon as the waiter in particular. The sequence for Your Mother Should Know is also really well-done, it’s the highlight of the film even though it doesn’t really fit with the more anarchic stuff.

Overall it seems slightly ahead of its time, rather than just an embarrassing vanity project as it’s often portrayed. It’s obvious that it was McCartney’s idea - Lennon and Harrison are less visible for most of it - but it’s not really a bad attempt at doing something a bit off the wall. It’s also very short - under an hour - so it doesn’t drag on too much. Worth seeing as a snapshot of the late 1960s even if you’re not a big fan, probably.

7/10

I must rewatch it, haven’t seen the whole thing for probably decades. I remember watching it on tv with my parents and some relatives when it was first launched. There’s a bit with a stripper that caused a very uncomfortable squirmy moment for all of us. I doubt now it was very graphic, especially given those times. 

earwighoney

Haych said:

The Machinist

Not a happy film at all but excellently made and Christian Bale is superb. 

I had no clue where this was going and it wasn’t until about 2/3 the way through that I started to suspect what was going on - even then I wasn’t sure. 

Not a fast paced action movie but it grips with intrigue and doesn’t let go. 

9/10

Great film. I'd recommend the director's previous film if you've not seen it,

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261983/

ICBM

boogieman said:

I must rewatch it, haven’t seen the whole thing for probably decades. I remember watching it on tv with my parents and some relatives when it was first launched. There’s a bit with a stripper that caused a very uncomfortable squirmy moment for all of us. I doubt now it was very graphic, especially given those times. 

It's not, at all - but it is still the least good part, and sits quite awkwardly with the rest of it. I don't know if that was the case back then or if attitudes have just changed so much that it now seems so - from what you're saying, it sounds like it was even at the time. I suspect they thought they were being a bit 'edgy', whereas it's really just a bit sleazy. (And I'm not a prude at all, it just jars with the rest of the film.)

boogieman

ICBM said:

boogieman said:

I must rewatch it, haven’t seen the whole thing for probably decades. I remember watching it on tv with my parents and some relatives when it was first launched. There’s a bit with a stripper that caused a very uncomfortable squirmy moment for all of us. I doubt now it was very graphic, especially given those times. 

It's not, at all - but it is still the least good part, and sits quite awkwardly with the rest of it. I don't know if that was the case back then or if attitudes have just changed so much that it now seems so - from what you're saying, it sounds like it was even at the time. I suspect they thought they were being a bit 'edgy', whereas it's really just a bit sleazy. (And I'm not a prude at all, it just jars with the rest of the film.)

I can’t remember enough about the scene to say how it sat within the rest of it. I can just remember my uncle saying something like “bloody hell!”. I would’ve been 13 at the time, so definitely interested in naughty ladies, but just remember the thing as being desperately embarrassing. 

You’re probably right that it was seen as edgy and something to upset the prudery of the time. Lennon was quite fond of doing that. Maybe it was just the band and/or director seeing what they could get away with. 

EricTheWeary

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. 

Twaddle. Good looking, fast paced twaddle but twaddle. 
The legacy of Jurassic Park being very badly served. 
However, it does have ( without trying to give a spoiler) a very odd echo of Coronavirus in it. Weird. 

Haych

Split 

Well, that was different. 

Somehow a follow on from Unbreakable, but apart from the final scene, which I suspect leads into Glass where it all comes together in a neat little bundle with a bow on it, I didn’t see even a tenuous link. 

In its own right it was an ok movie. James McAvoy was quite incredible. To see his character change mid scene was really something and he played his role perfectly. 

Separate the performance from the plot, though, and I don’t know what to think. Without such a brilliant performance from McAvoy the film would be nothing, it all hinged on him so I don’t know if they are separable. 

I can’t give it a score per se; James McAvoy gets 10/10 without a doubt but the plot is neither here nor there so would get 5/10 from me, possibly 6/10 but only for the back story of the Casey Cooke character - the rest is nothing to write home about. 

Philly_Q

EricTheWeary said:

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. 

Twaddle. Good looking, fast paced twaddle but twaddle. 
The legacy of Jurassic Park being very badly served. 
However, it does have ( without trying to give a spoiler) a very odd echo of Coronavirus in it. Weird. 

I had it on the TV, but I was doing some work at the same time, so I mostly just heard it - a couple of hours of screeching and yelling.  Directed by J.A. Bayona... it's a shame when Hollywood signs up talented young directors and gives them rubbish to work on.  Of course he could've turned it down, but no doubt it paid well and also opens up other opportunities.

earwighoney

Philly_Q said:

I had it on the TV, but I was doing some work at the same time, so I mostly just heard it - a couple of hours of screeching and yelling.  Directed by J.A. Bayona... it's a shame when Hollywood signs up talented young directors and gives them rubbish to work on.  Of course he could've turned it down, but no doubt it paid well and also opens up other opportunities.

Agree. I liked the Orphanage. Have you seen Devil's Backbone?

Philly_Q

earwighoney said:

Philly_Q said:

I had it on the TV, but I was doing some work at the same time, so I mostly just heard it - a couple of hours of screeching and yelling.  Directed by J.A. Bayona... it's a shame when Hollywood signs up talented young directors and gives them rubbish to work on.  Of course he could've turned it down, but no doubt it paid well and also opens up other opportunities.

Agree. I liked the Orphanage. Have you seen Devil's Backbone?

Of course.   Yes, I'm a big fan of Guillermo del Toro, although I wish he'd go back to making the occasional smaller-budget Spanish language film like his early stuff.

EricTheWeary

Philly_Q said:

EricTheWeary said:

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. 

Twaddle. Good looking, fast paced twaddle but twaddle. 
The legacy of Jurassic Park being very badly served. 
However, it does have ( without trying to give a spoiler) a very odd echo of Coronavirus in it. Weird. 

I had it on the TV, but I was doing some work at the same time, so I mostly just heard it - a couple of hours of screeching and yelling.  Directed by J.A. Bayona... it's a shame when Hollywood signs up talented young directors and gives them rubbish to work on.  Of course he could've turned it down, but no doubt it paid well and also opens up other opportunities.

I had it on Netflix but realised later on it was being shown on ITV. I guess it’s aimed at quite a young audience but then it is a bit violent at times and for a romp it goes on over two hours so just becomes draining. When Crichton wrote Jurassic Park he was interested in the science and playing with ideas but this makes no attempt at credibility - there’s even one of those hatches in a lift roof that exist only in movies and not in actual lifts. 

Haych

Glass

Finally completed watching the third instalment of the Unbreakable trilogy.  

Better than Split and I felt a bit more emotionally involved but on the whole, while it was watchable, it didn't get my juices flowing.

Once again James McAvoy was brilliant and Bruce Willis was Bruce Willis, which isn't a bad thing; we like Bruce in House Haych and apart from the awful and ridiculous Hudson Hawk I can't think of anything he's been in that I haven't liked.

The film wraps up both Unbreakable and Split, without which both would have no connection at all, but it was all a bit disappointing and anticlimactic. I have no idea what the point of the ending was at all.

6/10 

Danny1969

JezWynd said:

HAL9000 said:

Wind River - Set in the snow fields of Wyoming, a local hunter helps FBI agent solve the murder of a young woman on a Native American reserve. Not at all bad. Kept me entertained for the best part of two hours. 7/10.

Good film. A chilling vision of middle America in every sense.

Yeah I thought that, a hidden gem of a film. 

Another great film in a similar vein is Blue Ruin ..... the killer of a guys parents is released from jail . Really good film