What films have you watched recently?

boogieman

DiscoStu said:

The Shining, last night on BBC1.
I've seen this many times over the years, and although it's great to watch I still don't understand what's going on. It's very visual but nothing is really explained and I'm left confused at the end every time. I guess this is why Stephen King wasn't happy with it.
7/10

It does help if you’ve read the book but even then I thought the film was pretty self explanatory? It’s one of the better King book transfers to film, I don’t really understand why he wasn’t happy with it. Ok Jack Nicholson is a bit OTT but it’s supposed to be a man’s descent into madness, it kind of demands that mania. 

Btw, the sequel Dr Sleep is very good, both the book and the film. It follows up what happens to Danny, the little boy with the shining. 

ICBM

The 39 Steps

Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 classic with Robert Donat.

And it really is... I think it's the oldest film I've seen which seems 'modern', despite being a little quaint in many ways. It's not just the plot and characters, which are done to perfection - there are so many little subtle touches in the direction and imagery which are still being borrowed by modern film-makers.

(Oddly, the one single thing that jars slightly is the very thing that was most up-to-the-minute in 1935 - a superimposed shot of a police autogyro in the highland chase sequence - but that can be excused.)

If you've never seen it - I had, at least thirty years ago, but I could still remember almost all of it - don't be put off by its age and being black & white... it's a brilliant film. It's on BBC iPlayer at the moment.

10/10

Moominpapa

The Big Battle (2018) - Korean historical warfare epic. If you have seen films like Red Cliff or Roaring Currents you'll know the score. Total realism in the plot events is sacrificed quite often for completely unrealistic moments of superhuman individual efforts and somewhat cheesy nationalism. But if you're happy to just sit back and let beautifully-choreographed battle scenes and great special effects wash over you then I highly recommend it. The fighting scenes with various siege engines are particularly cool.

Philly_Q

The Perfection

Hard to say much about this without giving away too much of the twisty plot, but it's a horror movie and it's about two young cellists.  One of the better films I've seen on Netflix.

Chuffola

Ad Astra

Watched it last night. Totally underwhelmed. Brad Pitt's performance is good but the film is as slow as treacle, very little happens and the ending is ridiculous.  I usually like a slow burning intelligent sci-fi movie but this was very poor. 

EricTheWeary

The Post

On Channel 4 last night. Big star names for a film I’d never heard of which is always a worry. It’s effectively a prequel to All the President’s Men which I now feel I should search out and watch for the first time in thirty years. 

Certainly not a bad film but it feels a little niche. There is a  sort of awakening feminism angle to it and I wondered how much it was chosen for that reason or if that was shoehorned in to make it more modern. I don’t know but there are some passing moments where I feel I’m attending a lecture on early1970s American gender politics. It’s a bit about freedom of speech and freedom of the press although it makes those lines pretty simplistic. 

I find Tom Hanks quite close to unwatchable now as all I can see is Tom Hanks and he only seems to do roles that reflect our image of him - if Tom Hanks had been a newspaper editor in the 1970s this is how Tom Hanks would have handled that job. That probably seems convoluted but I find him a distraction now. 

Philly_Q

^ I remember when The Post came out, it felt like Oscar bait to me - big name director, big name cast, serious subject with some topical parallels, released at the end of the year just before nominations.... I think in the end it only picked up a couple of nominations and didn't win anything.  I rarely enjoy those kinds of films so I never considered watching it!

Interesting point about Hanks.  I like him but I think you're right, his image as everyone's favourite living American is starting to overtake the kinds of roles he plays. 

Barnezy

Watched Hacksaw Ridge the other day on Netflix. 

Anyone who thinks war is a good idea should watch this and realise how horrific it is. To see what these people went through is truly harrowing. 

A really touching film about humanity in one of the most inhumane environments imaginable. 

EricTheWeary

Philly_Q said:

^ I remember when The Post came out, it felt like Oscar bait to me - big name director, big name cast, serious subject with some topical parallels, released at the end of the year just before nominations.... I think in the end it only picked up a couple of nominations and didn't win anything.  I rarely enjoy those kinds of films so I never considered watching it!

Interesting point about Hanks.  I like him but I think you're right, his image as everyone's favourite living American is starting to overtake the kinds of roles he plays. 

Other than knowing the Vietnam war existed and that the Washington Post existed I didn't know this story at all. I guess for Americans of a certain generation it was a big deal at the time. Although it's always good to watch a film that's tackling a grown up theme without gratuitous sex or violence, having to discuss floating a business on the stock exchange and wether it constrains journalistic integrity was never going to be sexy. 

BigBearKris

Greyhound (2020).

WW II. U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause is assigned to lead an Allied convoy across the Atlantic. His convoy, however, is pursued by German U-boats. Although this is Krause's first wartime mission, he finds himself embroiled in what would come to be known as the longest, largest and most complex naval battle in history: The Battle of the Atlantic.

Hanks' performance is good, all acting decent and film definitely has a climate. Good shots of navy battles, but that's pretty much it. 
Very watchable, probably mostly for connoisseurs...

6/10

JezWynd

ICBM said:

The 39 Steps

Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 classic with Robert Donat.

And it really is... I think it's the oldest film I've seen which seems 'modern', despite being a little quaint in many ways. It's not just the plot and characters, which are done to perfection - there are so many little subtle touches in the direction and imagery which are still being borrowed by modern film-makers.

(Oddly, the one single thing that jars slightly is the very thing that was most up-to-the-minute in 1935 - a superimposed shot of a police autogyro in the highland chase sequence - but that can be excused.)

If you've never seen it - I had, at least thirty years ago, but I could still remember almost all of it - don't be put off by its age and being black & white... it's a brilliant film. It's on BBC iPlayer at the moment.

10/10

Fantastic film, Donat is the best Hannah by a long chalk. Another film I saw again recently that holds up really well is The Maltese Falcon. It never lets up from the very start; plot moves forward constantly, dialogue is snappy and surprisingly modern in tone and all the players are at the top of their game. It’s a masterpiece of film making, a blueprint for making a pacey, intelligent, amusing movie.

boogieman

EricTheWeary said:

The Post

On Channel 4 last night. Big star names for a film I’d never heard of which is always a worry. It’s effectively a prequel to All the President’s Men which I now feel I should search out and watch for the first time in thirty years. 

Certainly not a bad film but it feels a little niche. There is a  sort of awakening feminism angle to it and I wondered how much it was chosen for that reason or if that was shoehorned in to make it more modern. I don’t know but there are some passing moments where I feel I’m attending a lecture on early1970s American gender politics. It’s a bit about freedom of speech and freedom of the press although it makes those lines pretty simplistic. 

I find Tom Hanks quite close to unwatchable now as all I can see is Tom Hanks and he only seems to do roles that reflect our image of him - if Tom Hanks had been a newspaper editor in the 1970s this is how Tom Hanks would have handled that job. That probably seems convoluted but I find him a distraction now. 

We watched it too. It was a decent enough film, but I couldn’t see why it got any Oscar nominations, it was competent rather than brilliant. It could have done with a bit of trimming down too, some of the scenes were pointless filler. 

I think you’re spot on with Tom Hanks too, although I don’t find him unwatchable. He’s become the cuddly uncle of Hollywood, a safe pair of acting hands... basically the white version of Morgan Freeman.  

fretmeister

The Old Guard.

Great idea, not very well done. Seeing the now skinny Dudley Dursley was odd.

stickyfiddle

Eurovison: The Story of Fire Saga

Excellent. I wasn't really in the mood as Will Ferrell hasn't done anything really good in yonks but I laughed right through it. Obviously funnier if you understand what Eurovision is and also if you know a bit about Iceland and Icelandic people, but much better than expected

Blueingreen

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. 

Black comedy somewhat reminiscent of some of the better Coen Brothers films (Frances McDormand being the lead reinforces the similarities).  The structure is somewhat raggedy in places, but there's always enough freshness and bite in the writing to keep you watching and the performances are superb. 8/10

Moominpapa

Talk Radio (1988) - an heir to predecessors Network and Broadcast News, but nevertheless it's own thing. Great cast & performances, good script, and sharp direction. I would have preferred the film to have ended ten minutes before it did - for me the ending blunted what had come before. But it's a good film, well worth watching.

RobDavies

Another heist movie... Inside Man on Netflix. 

Clive Owen, Denzel and a pretty decent supporting cast in a siege/bank robbery with a twist.  About twenty mins too long and Washington is a bit hammy...

6.5/10

sinbaadi

RobDavies said:

Another heist movie... Inside Man on Netflix. 

Clive Owen, Denzel and a pretty decent supporting cast in a siege/bank robbery with a twist.  About twenty mins too long and Washington is a bit hammy...

6.5/10

Only memorable thing from that movie is the frankly gratuitous "You're a magnificent cunt".  Just so unnecessary!

captainbeeffart

Been going over all the old Sherlock Holmes movies.
The Basil Rathbone ones. Makes me realize how good they could shoot, and light films. Everything i watch now is shot in the dark, and you can't see bugger all. All the old films even the night scene's where all shot and lit right.

guitars4you

Can go ages and not see a movie - Then to many in a few days

Angels and Demons 
The hangover
Hot Fuzz

Not a movie but just watched all 3 seasons of The Medici over the last month