What films have you watched recently?

Moominpapa

Sweet Bean  (2015)  Japanese drama directed by Naomi Kawase. Didn't know much about this when I bought it and even less about Naomi Kawase, but female Japanese directors are not common so I wanted to see what she was about. I really liked this film. It's character-driven and low-key, so if you want high drama and/or fast action it definitely isn't for you. But the Moomin family (who are a pretty critical group when it comes to films) all agreed it was lovely - a bittersweet story that deftly avoids sentimental cliche and is genuinely moving.

EricTheWeary

Lodious said:

Soul

Pixar animation with soundtrack by Jon Batiste and Trent Reznor. Thought the film was pretty good and having some decent music in the soundtrack a nice bonus. 

Enjoyed watching with the family so a solid....

7/10. 

The terrestrial channels all seem to have agreed to make today the worst day in the history of television so the family stuck this on. I missed bits of it but it’s Pixar so it’s a high quality thing, some funny bits, schmaltzy as hell. Needed more jazz. 

SPECTRUM001

SPECTRUM001 said:

Blueingreen said:

The Godfather

After recently watching 2 and 3 took the chance to rewatch the original, probably for around the 6th time.  Confirmed my view that it's the best. 

It's not a perfect movie.  There's a lot of motivation and plot presented in terms that are plausible only as long as you don't think about them critically

All the same there's one iconic scene after another, many of the performances are stellar, the chiaroscuro cinematography still stuns, and Brando is magnificent, making a character who could have been a cardboard cut-out human, complex, repellent and charismatic. Still a solid 10/10.

Ahhh yes, we also watched it a couple of days ago. Hadn’t seen it for a few years, and it never disappoints. I was even more impressed with Brando than on prior viewings.

Not sure if I zoned out briefly, but I seemed to miss a bit of the wedding scene where the tipsy guy wants the orchestra to play a particular tune, and they send him up with pop goes the weasel. I would be surprised if the BBC edited it out ?

Am talking crap again - looks like the scene I am referencing was in The Godfather Pt 2.

axisus

Chitty chitty bang bang. Not as good as I remembered, although Dick Van Dyke was a great performer.

SPECTRUM001

We watched White Christmas yesterday - what a great film.

I am not much of a fan of Musicals, but this was a lot of fun, and I actually liked the songs. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye were very charismatic.

Taken me by surprise.

ICBM

Dunkirk

Just on TV... slightly strange for me and MrsICBM since her dad was actually there in 1940 - he was one of the last out and quite badly wounded. We had deliberately avoided it before now, but decided it was perhaps worth risking. Some of the things he told me made me expect it to be pretty unrealistic, but in fact it was a bit better than I expected.

I thought it was reasonably well done at least in terms of the cinematography, and the overall sense of chaos and fear, but not so good in detail. Quite a few good acting performances - although surprisingly not Kenneth Branagh, who was quite stilted and not up to his usual standard. Harry Styles was actually pretty good though.

Some real ‘movie moments’ unfortunately - the most ludicrous being a Spitfire which can fly for about an hour after it runs out of fuel... even MrsICBM who knows next to nothing about aircraft asked how long one can glide for. I thought about a minute or two at most from that sort of height.

The triumphal music when the fleet of small boats arrived at Dunkirk all at once in formation really jarred badly too.

6/10

UnclePsychosis

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

My favourite film. Absolutely love it. Great soundtrack too. 

Haych

Die Hard 3

Completely absurd and so full of it-would-never-happen-in-real-life but still very enjoyable and much better than DH2. 

8/10

Die Hard 4

My particular favourite of the franchise. Again, totally would never happen and even more absurd in may places, especially the scene towards the end with the F35. Despite its gung-ho non-stop action it manages to remain quite funny. 

8/10

The Full Monty

Mrs Haych has been itching to get me to watch this for ages. She had the remote last night so finally got round to seeing it. Very good it was too in only a way a British film can be. Both my parents grew up not far from Sheffield so spotted a couple of familiar landmarks in the film too. 

9/10

Love Actually

Another my wife wanted to see (again). It’s very odd, because when she said to me she wanted to watch it I internally groaned, as I do every time, but it’s a brilliant film and I always really enjoy it. Fantastic cast, brilliantly written and cleverly executed. What’s not to love?

10/10

Brio

Steer clear of Die Hard 5. You’re welcome.

Brio

Palm Springs.
Totally loved it as a surprise. What made it for me was Christin Miloti as the female lead. She totally nailed her role as Ted’s wife in How I Met Your Mother only to be killed off by the writers in the greatest betrayal of an audiences trust ever. She was a delightful character, beautifully played and then killed off in about 30 seconds of screentime.

Tenet.
bought myself the DVD as a Chrissie pres as I didn’t get to a cinema to see it. Visually stunning but as up its own backside as much as Interstellar. 

I’ve watched and read sf since I could read and I have to say that is not the high concept movie that some movie reviewers have credited it with. I assume they hadn’t read much sf over the last 40 years.
Good to able to watch some stuff a couple of times and I enjoyed it but the plot was not a game changer.

The Green Hell
A documentary on the Nurburgring. Brilliant look at the old monster of a track. Worth a watch for race fans. I was given a DVD if it. Don’t know if it can be streamed anywhere.

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

Parasite

I finally watched it!  I don't know what I expected... but it it isn't what I expected.  The first half of the film is quirky and amusing, but nothing really unusual happens until the second half, which is strange and mesmerising.  I'm not sure how I feel about it really... it's all so carefully and beautifully constructed, when you think about it afterwards it's weirder than it seemed while you were watching.

Watched this recently too. I wasn’t sure where it was going initially and there’s some clever twists along the way. I loved the way the atmosphere slowly changes throughout the whole film and it becomes darker and things get more morally dubious. 

Haych

Brio said:

Steer clear of Die Hard 5. You’re welcome.

I have seen it before. Didn’t think it was all that bad to be honest but it has been a long time since I saw it. 

axisus

ICBM said:

Dunkirk

Just on TV... slightly strange for me and MrsICBM since her dad was actually there in 1940 - he was one of the last out and quite badly wounded. We had deliberately avoided it before now, but decided it was perhaps worth risking. Some of the things he told me made me expect it to be pretty unrealistic, but in fact it was a bit better than I expected.

I thought it was reasonably well done at least in terms of the cinematography, and the overall sense of chaos and fear, but not so good in detail. Quite a few good acting performances - although surprisingly not Kenneth Branagh, who was quite stilted and not up to his usual standard. Harry Styles was actually pretty good though.

Some real ‘movie moments’ unfortunately - the most ludicrous being a Spitfire which can fly for about an hour after it runs out of fuel... even MrsICBM who knows next to nothing about aircraft asked how long one can glide for. I thought about a minute or two at most from that sort of height.

The triumphal music when the fleet of small boats arrived at Dunkirk all at once in formation really jarred badly too.

6/10

I've never seen it, I was totally put off by the fact that 'apparently' (according to some) the events have been altered to suit cinema. I like historical events to be portrayed accurately. I've avoided the Queen film for the same reason, although I probably will watch that at some point.

UnclePsychosis said:

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

My favourite film. Absolutely love it. Great soundtrack too. 

Superb film, it was actually a lot better than I expected it to be. 

Chuffola

Le Mans 66. Really enjoyed it. Sort of an “old school” movie - nothing offensive, great story, decent performances. 8/10.

Danny1969

Midnight Sky ... latest film on Netflix directed and starred in by George Clooney 

An unexplained event has made our world inhabitable in the near future

ICBM

axisus said:

I've never seen it, I was totally put off by the fact that 'apparently' (according to some) the events have been altered to suit cinema. I like historical events to be portrayed accurately. I've avoided the Queen film for the same reason, although I probably will watch that at some point.

Likewise, although I have also seen the Queen one and did enjoy it even knowing some of it was fictionalised.

I would say I never expected Dunkirk to be historically accurate given what I've been told at first hand, and I was surprised to find it was a little bit less badly wrong than I thought it would be... but telling it accurately would probably have been even more grim than what was portrayed.

goldtop

4L (on Netflix) - a buddies/road-trip movie that fails to go anywhere interesting. I watched it because it's got Jean Reno, and an old Paris-Dakar R4. Although the characters are interesting, it's too predictable - what inevitably happens, the arguments, the pathos, etc. So it's just 'meh'. 4/10

boogieman

axisus said:

ICBM said:

Dunkirk

Just on TV... slightly strange for me and MrsICBM since her dad was actually there in 1940 - he was one of the last out and quite badly wounded. We had deliberately avoided it before now, but decided it was perhaps worth risking. Some of the things he told me made me expect it to be pretty unrealistic, but in fact it was a bit better than I expected.

I thought it was reasonably well done at least in terms of the cinematography, and the overall sense of chaos and fear, but not so good in detail. Quite a few good acting performances - although surprisingly not Kenneth Branagh, who was quite stilted and not up to his usual standard. Harry Styles was actually pretty good though.

Some real ‘movie moments’ unfortunately - the most ludicrous being a Spitfire which can fly for about an hour after it runs out of fuel... even MrsICBM who knows next to nothing about aircraft asked how long one can glide for. I thought about a minute or two at most from that sort of height.

The triumphal music when the fleet of small boats arrived at Dunkirk all at once in formation really jarred badly too.

6/10

I've never seen it, I was totally put off by the fact that 'apparently' (according to some) the events have been altered to suit cinema. I like historical events to be portrayed accurately. I've avoided the Queen film for the same reason, although I probably will watch that at some point. 

Dunkirk is fine as long as you treat it as just another war film and not true reportage. The never-ending Spitfire glide is ludicrous though and really grates. 

Similarly, the Queen film is rather good as pure entertainment rather than a biography. Remi Malik playing Freddie is excellent, he keeps it just the right side of  charicature. 

EricTheWeary

Please Sir! 

On Talking Pictures TV, 1971 film adaptation of the TV series. Or most of it anyway. 

References to race that might draw a few sharp intakes of breath now, some acceptance of domestic violence and the film is sold a bit on school girls in mini skirts showing a lot of leg and occasionally knickers. As they’re all played by 25 year olds you might have a philosophical debate as to wether it’s pervy. Pulling kids by their ears and delivering a quick clip around the head highly normalised. 

It’s a bit crap but Brinsley Forde reprises his cheeky chappy role and a bit of Cilla on the soundtrack. Evocative of it’s era. 

ennspek

Brio said:

Steer clear of Die Hard 5. You’re welcome.

Odd name for a film....