What films have you watched recently?

HAL9000

Moominpapa said:

Lone Survivor (2013) - I really enjoyed this film. I thought Peter Berg did an excellent job with the combat scenes, but more than that, he kept a visceral feel going at high pitch throughout, so that for me some of the most gut wrenching scenes did not involve shooting but falling (and self-surgery :-) ) It's a tribute both to director & cast that they keep things intense for as long as they do. If you are into combat based-drama like Black Hawk Down (or even something like Courage Under Fire) you will like this.

If you liked Lone Survivor then give Rescue Dawn (Christian Bale) a shot.

Philly_Q

HAL9000 said:

Moominpapa said:

Lone Survivor (2013) - I really enjoyed this film. I thought Peter Berg did an excellent job with the combat scenes, but more than that, he kept a visceral feel going at high pitch throughout, so that for me some of the most gut wrenching scenes did not involve shooting but falling (and self-surgery :-) ) It's a tribute both to director & cast that they keep things intense for as long as they do. If you are into combat based-drama like Black Hawk Down (or even something like Courage Under Fire) you will like this.

If you liked Lone Survivor then give Rescue Dawn (Christian Bale) a shot.

I thought Lone Survivor was injury porn, but Rescue Dawn is very good.

boogieman

Locke, free on Prime. Quirky little film with Tom Hardy alone in a car driving down a motorway at night, just talking to various people on his phone. Cleverly written and keeps you guessing what will happen right till the very end. Hardy is superb. 

ICBM

Nosferatu

German 1922 silent vampire classic.

Yes, by modern standards it’s very stilted, and not scary - although a couple of scenes are still bit creepy - but it’s hard to imagine the impact it must have had back then when nothing of this sort had ever been seen before.

What’s really remarkable - and ironic, given that Bram Stoker’s estate successfully sued the production company over the unauthorised use of the Dracula story - is that Francis Ford Coppola clearly took it as the blueprint for the 1990s Gary Oldman version... which very much was authorised, even using Stoker’s name in the title. I hadn’t realised how much it owes to this old film - in many places it’s quite clearly a deliberate homage, more so than to the book if anything.

If the original has a failing it’s in the plot rather than the film-making... the ending is rather weak - it’s far too easy to kill the Count and there’s no real sense of struggle involved. But apart from that, it’s really pretty good considering the technology available at the time. 

9/10

(This is on the Roku channel, listed as 'Count Orlok', by the way - the name of the character, in the failed attempt to avoid copyright issues.)

skullfunkerry

The Vast of Night

Low budget, small cast, sci-fi set in the ‘50s. Very much in the vein of The Twilight Zone, with a dash of Stranger Things. Watched it based on reading a recommendation on Stuff website, and really enjoyed it. Nothing earth-shattering, but a nicely made, enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes

Springywheel

Apocalypse Now on BBC2 last night....I’ve seen this twice before but for some reason it never quite sunk in how great it was. Now it has...it‘s an absolute classic. One of those films where you pick up something new each time. 9.5/10

FarleyUK

The Dark (2018)

Billed as a horror, it's more a drama around the evil men do and the ramifications of it on the affected youngster(s).

Appreciate it's not a typical horror film, but I personally found it dull, slow and boring. 3/10.

Philly_Q

FarleyUK said:

The Dark (2018)

Billed as a horror, it's more a drama around the evil men do and the ramifications of it on the affected youngster(s).

Appreciate it's not a typical horror film, but I personally found it dull, slow and boring. 3/10.

I really loved that film, I found it very powerful.  But I can appreciate not everyone would like it.

Haych

Greyhound

A gung-ho flag waving WWII drama in which Tom Hanks is the captain of the US Navy warship Greyhound. 

Apart from a pointless few minutes at the beginning, where we’re introduced to Hanks’ love interest Elizabeth Shue - which I assume is supposed to add a bit more of a ‘story’ to Hanks’ character - it’s just 90 minutes of chasing German subs round the North Atlantic. 

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it and I can’t say it wasn’t well done and Hanks certainly steps up to the plate in his performance. But there’s no dynamic and no real story except that Hanks character is meant to be on his first mission of his first command and spends 48 hours playing cat and mouse with enemy U-boats. 

Good but unremarkable. 6/10

EricTheWeary

How to Build a Girl.

On Prime. 

I have fond memories of the novel and Caitlin Moran gave us that, this and the excellent if short lived Raised by Wolves ( TV series). 

The central character supposedly lives about two miles from where I grew up, there is mention of various well loved and lost rock clubs and it even names a bus route I used to get on sometimes in my yoof. Set in the world of rock journalism which is something I vaguely aspired to myself once upon a time. You can play spot the cameo as well: Mel and Sue, Bob Mortimer, Moran herself. Hell, there are even brief glimpses of guitars. 

However, if you want to know what my accent sounds like don’t watch this. I know it’s an irrelevance to most people but they’ve got it very, very wrong. 

I struggle to see who this is aimed at as well. The proto feminist struggling teenage girl as a central figure seems to be for teenagers whilst the setting is nostalgia for the middle aged rocker. I didn’t seem to have that fundamental issue with the book, maybe a novel is just more open to interpretation. 

And the family home - how is a semi on an estate in Wolverhampton so massive on the inside?
Nice that they didn’t relocate it to somewhere with broader appeal but it’s a very middling film. 

munckee

Pond life. Listed as a 5 star film on sky, not quite that good but a decent film. A British film set in the grim north. 

On some levels quite cheerful and some funny parts, but a very bleak overall message and some ominous hints of stuff you never see. 

Worth watching. 

Moominpapa

Hacksaw Ridge - 2016   Based on the true story of  Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to be awarded the US Medal of Honour.  Got to be honest, I had tears in my eyes at the end. What a story, what a man.

goldtop

Exhibit A (on Amazon Prime).

Embarrassing Dad loses the plot. Bl**dy hell, it's brutal. Tiny budget (Yorkshire!), tiny cast, tiny set and totally compelling, even the 'found footage' approach is perfect. Some very difficult minutes to watch, and it's likely to leave a lot of viewers upset, I think. One for the "great films to watch once" thread.

9/10

BigBearKris

''Rescue Dawn'' (2006).

U.S. fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War - amazing story of Dieter Dengler portrayed by Christian Bale.

It was recommended here I believe and quite rightly so - worth a watch.

7/10

andyp

I’d never been interested in watching them until my brother said to try them, but I just watched John Wick and John Wick 2. They’re almost parody level action films, and not normally what I’d go for - but I bloody loved them both and can’t wait to watch the third one tonight or tomorrow now.

fretmeister

Margin Call
The Big Short.

Interesting to watch 2 movies dealing with the same thing. Very different in approach and guidance.

Really enjoyed both. 

John_P

Danger close  on Netflix 

Story of the battle of Long tan with Australian troops in Vietnam.   Really good portrayal of the characters and the  battle.  Definitely worth a watch imo. 

Danny1969

The peanut butter falcon

A down syndrome young man escapes from the nursing home he is in and teams up with a redneck on his way to Florida

very good 

Moominpapa

Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) - this was one of Clint Eastwood's double movie treatment of the pivotal battle for Iwo Jima. The two films were made back to back.The first, Flags of Our Fathers, looks at it from the US side. This film follows the stories of Japanese soldiers on the island. I thought it was excellent: sensitively directed by Eastwood and with some great performances from the main characters. Well worth watching.

UnclePsychosis

Knives Out.

A well written, proper old fashioned whodunnit. Great fun.