What films have you watched recently?

Dopesick

I Care A Lot 

A scam artist cons a bunch of old people into convincing judges that they have dementia, then buys all their assets and sells them on for a pretty penny. Pretty good storyline with some stellar performances, although I think they went a bit OTT with the whole ‘badass business lady’ shtick as I swore at some points in the movie they were portraying her as the good guy (or gal, whatever) who seeks revenge in the face of adversity. Pete Dinklage plays an excellent mob boss.

7/10

stickyfiddle

Zack Snyder’s Justice League... Well it’s better than the 2017 version but still a turgid mess. The plot makes slightly more sense but it is an unenjoyable festival of violence completely devoid of heart or satisfying storytelling. 3.5/10 if I’m being generous.

Sassafras

Never Let Me Go.

Jesus! Why did no-one warn me about this film?
I knew nothing about it till the full horror of what I was watching dawned on me.
Looks lovely, well acted. Carey Mulligan is always good.
But my god, it's grim as fuck. Certainly won't be re-watching it for a while.
As a film 9/10.
As an experience 0/10.

EricTheWeary

Sassafras said:

Never Let Me Go.

Jesus! Why did no-one warn me about this film?
I knew nothing about it till the full horror of what I was watching dawned on me.
Looks lovely, well acted. Carey Mulligan is always good.
But my god, it's grim as fuck. Certainly won't be re-watching it for a while.
As a film 9/10.
As an experience 0/10.

Such a great film, the only problem with it is that it’s a spoiler for the novel which is wonderful. Albeit wonderful in that grim as fuck way. 

Moominpapa

@Sassafras ;; Now that you've seen Never Let Me Go, you might as well go for the trifecta. Next weekend, The Lobster, and then the weekend after that, Grave of the Fireflies. (You can thank me later  )

Sassafras

Moominpapa said:

@Sassafras ;; Now that you've seen Never Let Me Go, you might as well go for the trifecta. Next weekend, The Lobster, and then the weekend after that, Grave of the Fireflies. (You can thank me later  )

I saw The Lobster a while ago and really enjoyed it. Thought it was quite funny and quirky.

bobblehat

World War Z - Zombie pandemic romp with Brad Pitt . Much better than the reviews would lead you to believe. 7/10. Gets an extra point for partially being set in Wales! 

Foxcatcher  - Found it quite a tense watch. Great performances all round though. 8/10 

Danny1969

Sassafras said:

Moominpapa said:

@Sassafras ;; Now that you've seen Never Let Me Go, you might as well go for the trifecta. Next weekend, The Lobster, and then the weekend after that, Grave of the Fireflies. (You can thank me later  )

I saw The Lobster a while ago and really enjoyed it. Thought it was quite funny and quirky.

Have you seen The killing of the sacred deer also from Yorgos ? It's pretty good!

Sassafras

Danny1969 said:

Sassafras said:

Moominpapa said:

@Sassafras ;; Now that you've seen Never Let Me Go, you might as well go for the trifecta. Next weekend, The Lobster, and then the weekend after that, Grave of the Fireflies. (You can thank me later  )

I saw The Lobster a while ago and really enjoyed it. Thought it was quite funny and quirky.

Have you seen The killing of the sacred deer also from Yorgos ? It's pretty good!

Yup, I've seen his last 5 films. They're all wonderfully weird and highly original.

phil_b

Escape from Pretoria

Harry Potter tries to escape a South African prison. I did enjoy this film a lot but I have always been a sucker for a good escape movie

Moominpapa

Sassafras said:

Moominpapa said:

@Sassafras ;; Now that you've seen Never Let Me Go, you might as well go for the trifecta. Next weekend, The Lobster, and then the weekend after that, Grave of the Fireflies. (You can thank me later  )

I saw The Lobster a while ago and really enjoyed it. Thought it was quite funny and quirky.

Yeah, I get that; it's one of those films that people can have quite opposite reactions to depending on how it catches them. I thought it was really well done, but I couldn't get away from finding it existentially bleak and depressing. (But still not in the same league as Never Let Me Go, which is now my benchmark for infinitely sad).

Shrews

Across The Universe - Beatles musical  2/10

Done in the Mamma Mia, Yesterday, Blinded By The Light, Sunshine on Leith, Rocketman, stylee.  I thought I might like this, seeing as I unashamedly liked the others, but this was poor.

Every song I cringed at. Even more so than Pierce Brosnan singing I Do, I Do, I Do. 

Such a waste.  But 2/10 for being very, very trippy. 

SPECTRUM001

Sassafras said:

Never Let Me Go.

Jesus! Why did no-one warn me about this film?
I knew nothing about it till the full horror of what I was watching dawned on me.
Looks lovely, well acted. Carey Mulligan is always good.
But my god, it's grim as fuck. Certainly won't be re-watching it for a while.
As a film 9/10.
As an experience 0/10.

Agree with this 100%. A superb film that I never really want to see again !!

Haych

The Accidental Husband

Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman) has a perfect life with a successful career as a relationships expert with her own radio phone in show/ agony aunt kinda thing, she’s written a book and is about to marry the perfect man (Colin Firth). 

A soon to be married woman phones into her show with concerns about her husband to be and Thurman advises her to call off the wedding and break up with the man. The woman’s fiancée (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) hears the show while in the car with a bunch of mates after a football match. 

To get his revenge he gets his young neighbour to hack into the public records office and amend records so that he and Thurman are legally married. Thurman and Firth are then denied a licence to wed until she can get an annulment. 

Lighthearted, easy watching romcom which was surprisingly not awful. Uma Thurman is great and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who from certain angles bears a likeness to Till Lindermann) puts on a decent act too. Colin Firth is typically Colin Firth. 

Predictable ending, but aren’t they all - more about the journey than the destination. 

7/10 on Prime

Danny1969

Arizona - Netflix

An argument between a home owner of diminishing value and the realtor who sold it to him gets out of hand and things go from bad to worse. 

This is a black comedy, quite violent, very entertaining and well worth a watch if you like stuff off the beaten track 

Moominpapa

Moominpapa said:

Rurouni Kenshin (2012) In Meiji-era Japan ex-assassin tries to make amends for his bloody past. Film adaptation of a popular manga that began in the mid 90s. Completely over the top as you would imagine, but engaging enough if you've had a couple of drinks and don't want to think too much.

Because I can be too concerned with closure I went ahead and watched the remaining two films in the trilogy: Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (2014) and Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014). Nothing different or surprising really. Some good action sequences, but overall much too comic-booky to be satisfying. Unless you are really at a loose end, don't bother with this series.

Philly_Q

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

The deputy sheriff of a small Utah town investigates a series of murders which seem to have been carried out by a huge wolf-like creature...

Writer, director and actor Jim Cummings made one of my favourite films of recent years, Thunder Road.  Here he turns his hand to horror - sort of - but actually plays a very similar character, a cop struggling with parenthood, a broken marriage, an ailing parent and a drink problem.  Which all sounds a bit grim, but the film is actually very funny in a slightly Fargo kind of way, although it doesn't quite work as a genre movie.  Cummings is talented, but he needs to do something different next time.

(I watched a rental DVD, but it's also on Amazon Prime, although not for free.)

BluesLover

TAG free on Amazon prime. A Japanese sci-fi/horror film. Intriguing and fascinating. Recommended.

Blueingreen

Sassafras said:

Never Let Me Go.

Jesus! Why did no-one warn me about this film?
I knew nothing about it till the full horror of what I was watching dawned on me.
Looks lovely, well acted. Carey Mulligan is always good.
But my god, it's grim as fuck. Certainly won't be re-watching it for a while.
As a film 9/10.
As an experience 0/10.

Yes it's pretty bleak.  I had no excuse, having read the book, which if anything is even bleaker.

I'm reading Ishiguro's new one, which is very reminiscent of NLMG.  In this case the cruelty is directed at Android companions that have become so much like humans that they feel fear, anxiety and pain.  I bet they make a film out of it.  You've been warned!

Moominpapa

The Numbers Station (2013) Reasonable spy thriller with John Cusack as a CIA agent trying to protect a cypher expert. Interesting use of the location (supposedly an old US forces base in Suffolk). Cinematography could have been a little clearer: some important things happened in semi-darkness and it was hard to catch. OK weekend fodder, & John Cusack is always very watchable.