What films have you watched recently?

Moominpapa

Sassafras said:

Watched 2 films today.
First up, Guardians of the Galaxy which was a huge fat turd of a film.
Couldn't make head nor tail of it. A wasted mega bucks budget.

Second one was Funeral in Berlin.
Bloody great. Brilliant dialogue, witty and good photography.
Highly recommended even if it is about 60 years old. Who says Brits can't make good films?

Love Funeral in Berlin. I do think The Ipcress File is still the best of the Harry Palmer films, though. If you've never seen the 3rd in the series, Billion Dollar Brain, don't bother. In typical film industry fashion they chose a "hot" up & coming director to helm the film, without any regard for whether this would actually be the right person for the artistic sensibilities of Len Deighton's character. The result was a horrible mess by the utterly unsuitable Ken Russell. It's painful to watch - already a parody of the earlier two films. But The Ipcress File & Funeral in Berlin remain two of my all-time favourite films from the 60s.

Philly_Q

Moominpapa said:

Sassafras said:

Watched 2 films today.
First up, Guardians of the Galaxy which was a huge fat turd of a film.
Couldn't make head nor tail of it. A wasted mega bucks budget.

Second one was Funeral in Berlin.
Bloody great. Brilliant dialogue, witty and good photography.
Highly recommended even if it is about 60 years old. Who says Brits can't make good films?

Love Funeral in Berlin. I do think The Ipcress File is still the best of the Harry Palmer films, though. If you've never seen the 3rd in the series, Billion Dollar Brain, don't bother. In typical film industry fashion they chose a "hot" up & coming director to helm the film, without any regard for whether this would actually be the right person for the artistic sensibilities of Len Deighton's character. The result was a horrible mess by the utterly unsuitable Ken Russell. It's painful to watch - already a parody of the earlier two films. But The Ipcress File & Funeral in Berlin remain two of my all-time favourite films from the 60s.

I love The Ipcress File, I've seen it many times and it never loses its charm.  The other two I'm not so keen on although they're both interesting in their different ways.  My dad was a Len Deighton fan so all the book covers have been embedded in my brain since early childhood.  I couldn't bring myself to chuck them out when my dad died, maybe I'll read them eventually.

ICBM

The Bounty

1984 version of the classic historic mutiny tale, with Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian and Anthony Hopkins as Captain (or strictly speaking Lieutenant!) Bligh. I actually wanted to see it again (I had, probably in about 1985 I think) because I'm quite a Vangelis fan and he did the soundtrack, which I hadn't actually remembered.

It's very well made, if somewhat of its time - the plot is reasonably historically accurate, Hopkins in particular is excellent as the high-minded but prickly and antagonistic Bligh, Gibson isn't as good but not as bad as he can sometimes be, and there are some excellent parts for Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson and even a very young Neil Morrissey, plus an actor you'll recognise (but who I forget the name of at the moment, sorry) as the King of Tahiti. And it probably has the highest boob count of any film I've ever seen , although it's just a lot of (very pretty) Tahitian girls - but they are integral to the story and not really gratuitous... much .

And the soundtrack? Well, the reason I didn't remember it is because Vangelis probably can't either... Chariots Of Fire meets 1492, by numbers. It's not terrible by any means but it's really just incidental music.

8/10 (including bonus point for Tahitian girls)

goldtop

The Red Turtle, a Studio Ghibli animation. Sort of Robinson Crusoe with a nature-humanity theme. Drawn and totally dialogue-free. It's on Amazon Prime, and I chose it largely because of Kermode's gushing review. It's supposedly loaded with symbolisim, but 90% of that went over my head and all I saw was a nicely drawn, stripped-to-the-bones story. 5/10

RobDavies

Leave No Trace on Netflix. 

The story of a father and daughter who choose to live, off grid in a park in the US.   That is until the authorities find them.....

I don’t have a daughter but if you do, this will get you smack bang in the feels.  

ICBM

After The Storm

Japanese family drama about a failed novelist with a gambling habit who works as a private detective, and his relationship with his ex-wife, their son, his mother and sister, and his work colleagues, over a few days ending up with being stuck indoors during a typhoon... if that sounds dull, it is! - but it's brilliantly observed, perfectly acted, dryly funny (not laugh out loud, but quietly amusing), philosophical and quite emotionally rewarding.

If you like action movies, this is probably not for you - if that description makes you bored already, don't bother .

If it does sound like your kind of thing, it's on iPlayer at the moment.

9/10

RobDavies

Prisoners on Netflix. 

Jake Gyllenhaal as a detective looking for two missing young girls.... gripping thriller... absolutely brilliant film.  9/10. 

jonnyburgo

RobDavies said:

Prisoners on Netflix. 

Jake Gyllenhaal as a detective looking for two missing young girls.... gripping thriller... absolutely brilliant film.  9/10. 

Yeah that is a good one. Old Jakey boy is a damn fine actor.

Haych

The Gift - Amazon Prime, I think.

Quite a decent psychological thriller with Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and Joel Edgerton in the staring roles, I think Joel also wrote, directed and had a hand in producing the film too.

Simon and Roybn (Bateman and Hall) are relocating back to LA (I think) from Chicago for a fresh start.  Simon is chasing a promotion and it seems that Robyn had some issues she's running from which surface later in the film, although not in a big way.

After moving back they bump into Gordo, a school acquaintance of Simon's from school while out shopping.  Simon is very obviously uncomfortable with meeting Gordo again and while Robyn doesn't seem to pick up on the same vibes Simon does his best to oust Gordo from their lives after he visits Robyn at home and starts leaving gifts for them both.

I can't say too much more without spoiling the plot but clearly there's a history to come out and not everything is as it seems.

It seemed a bit slow to start but that could be down to a bit of initial wooden acting as it didn't take long for intrigue to build even if nothing sinister was happening yet.

Mrs Haych and I enjoyed it and Mrs Haych didn't even fall asleep, so that has to be some accolade!

8/10

goldtop

Lion (on Amazon Prime) - the (true?) story of a young boy in India who gets on a train and ends up lost as a street-kid 1000 miles away, gets adopted and then starts looking for home. Phenomenal acting by the tiny kid who plays the lead role, with understated acting by Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman later. The first half was more interesting, though, and the 20-year jump seemed jarring. 7/10

Moominpapa

The White Reindeer (1952).  Regular reader will know I like folk horror, and this was an interesting one. Made in Finland in 1952 in black & white, and only 65 minutes, it is basically a classic horror-tinged folktale. The filmmaking is simple but stylish, and although the time is clearly meant to be at least relatively recent day (houses have glass windows, the men have rifles), the setting in Lapland and the fact that there are no other modern things to be seen lend it a timelessness appropriate to a folk tale. Not sure I would watch it again, but very happy to have seen it.

JezWynd

Sorcerer, directed by William Friedkin. A loose remake of Wages of Fear about a group of men transporting volatile explosives by truck. I really like Friedkin’s movies; his camera eye is always engrossing and often in motion (think the car chase in French Connection). Not sure what it is about his framing - maybe the fov, similar to a 50mm on 35mm(?). The score by Tangerine Dream and is the only thing that has dated (horribly). Well worth a watch.

ICBM

JezWynd said:

Sorcerer, directed by William Friedkin. A loose remake of Wages of Fear about a group of men transporting volatile explosives by truck. I really like Friedkin’s movies; his camera eye is always engrossing and often in motion (think the car chase in French Connection). Not sure what it is about his framing - maybe the fov, similar to a 50mm on 35mm(?). The score by Tangerine Dream and is the only thing that has dated (horribly). Well worth a watch.

I’ll have to get a copy of that - I’ve never seen it, but the soundtrack has always been one of my favourite Tangerine Dream albums...

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

JezWynd said:

Sorcerer, directed by William Friedkin. A loose remake of Wages of Fear about a group of men transporting volatile explosives by truck. I really like Friedkin’s movies; his camera eye is always engrossing and often in motion (think the car chase in French Connection). Not sure what it is about his framing - maybe the fov, similar to a 50mm on 35mm(?). The score by Tangerine Dream and is the only thing that has dated (horribly). Well worth a watch.

I’ll have to get a copy of that - I’ve never seen it, but the soundtrack has always been one of my favourite Tangerine Dream albums...

Mark Kermode's always going on about it - he's a huge Friedkin fan, so that's no surprise.  I bought the Blu-ray a couple of years ago but haven't watched it - The Wages of Fear is one of my favourite films and that makes me hesitant to watch Sorcerer.

EricTheWeary

Venom. 

Netflix. There's a question to be asked about why I watch films like these when I invariably don't like them much. Triumph of optimism over experience as Oscar Wilde might have said. 

A few interesting ideas, a few laughs, some nice sky line shots of San Francisco, some CGI nonsense. I'm sure it's fine if you like that kind of thing, I didn't hate it just seems such a lot of resources gone into making something middling. Nice to see Stan Lee. 

And didn't make me go oh he'd be an obvious Bond. 

boogieman

Valerian and the city of a thousand planets. Luc Bresson sci fi film on Prime, apparently based on a graphic novel series. It’s visually brilliant, but badly let down by the simplistic plotline and the woeful casting, especially the lead male who’s supposed to be a rugged all action military type but actually looks like a sickly 15 year old with really bad hair. 

Danny1969

The Paramedic. On Netflix, spanish film but dubbed well. Paramedic loses use of legs in an accident and gets all weird over his lover who leaves him. Very enjoyable in a black comedy fashion. 

Juliet Naked ..Also on Netflix, it's a Nick Hornby story about a British teacher who has an obsession with a faded out American singer songwriter and even runs a forum dedicated to him. His long suffering girlfriend gets involved and things happen. Not bad in a kind of cosy Sunday afternoon film kind of way.  

not_the_dj

Enola Holmes on Netflix. 

Enjoyable romp, nice use of breaking the 4th wall. 

goldtop

boogieman said:

Valerian and the city of a thousand planets. Luc Bresson sci fi film on Prime, apparently based on a graphic novel series. It’s visually brilliant, but badly let down by the simplistic plotline and the woeful casting, especially the lead male who’s supposed to be a rugged all action military type but actually looks like a sickly 15 year old with really bad hair. 

I said exactly the same thing after watching it.

WiresDreamDisasters

Watched The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) last night, and Penny enjoyed it. But I thought it was total fucking dogshit.