What films have you watched recently?

phil_b

Papillon 2018.

Remakes of classic films seldem live up to the original. I was ready to hate on this film but I found I did enjoy watching it. It is still a very compelling story.

It is still not quite up to the standard of the Steve Mcqueen version and at the start Rami malic seemed annoyingly to be trying out his best Dustin Hoffman impersonation but turned out to be an interesting watch

Logie

Just watched Free Solo, Alex Honnold's ascent of El Capitan. Absolutely absorbing and just mind boggling how someone could hold it together like that. Recommended

Brio

A stunning documentary well worth the Oscar but an even better climbing film in my eyes is The Dawn Wall. Same place a fantastic story. Lots of cross over names in there.

EricTheWeary

phil_b said:

Papillon 2018.

Remakes of classic films seldem live up to the original. I was ready to hate on this film but I found I did enjoy watching it. It is still a very compelling story.

It is still not quite up to the standard of the Steve Mcqueen version and at the start Rami malic seemed annoyingly to be trying out his best Dustin Hoffman impersonation but turned out to be an interesting watch

I didn’t even know that existed. I rewatched the original not long ago and it is superb so a remake has a lot to live up to. 

I read the book when I was a teenager. At the end there’s a section where he talks about the writing process itself. The edition I had came with some study notes which basically says it probably didn’t happen like that and most of the book is so full of factual inaccuracies that very little of the story can be true. But,hey, great story nonetheless. 

Haych

War With Grandpa

Quite a decent family film on Prime. Good cast, Uma Thurman Christopher Walken and Robert De Niro taking the headline roles and with a lighthearted family friendly story. 

At first it tries too hard to be funny and takes a little while to get going. It isn’t hilarious per se but there are quite a few laugh out loud moments. 

Worth a watch, certainly worse films out there to waste your time on. 

7/10

hollywoodrox

https://youtu.be/vJYaXy5mmA8

LastMantra

Mr Nice 

The story of an Oxford educated cannabis smuggler with MI6 and IRA connections. Low budget but quite an interesting story and some funny bits.
6/10


24 Hour Party People
 
Kind of mockcumentary style about the rise and fall of Factory Records and the madchester scene. Also fairly low budget but great cast of British actors and comedians with lots of cameo appearances from musicians of the time.
7.5/10

Logie

@Brio ;;
I’ve got my eye on that one as well. 

Brio

"The story of an Oxford educated cannabis smuggler with MI6 and IRA connections. Low budget but quite an interesting story and some funny bits."

A mate's son got advice from Howard for his mail order seed business. Said he was a great bloke to be mates with. i nearly got to meet him in Oxford but somehow it never happened.

LastMantra

Brio said:

"The story of an Oxford educated cannabis smuggler with MI6 and IRA connections. Low budget but quite an interesting story and some funny bits."

A mate's son got advice from Howard for his mail order seed business. Said he was a great bloke to be mates with. i nearly got to meet him in Oxford but somehow it never happened.

Cool. I'd imagine he'd be an interesting guy to spend some time with. 
Those kind of seeds? 

Brio

Yes. All legal to sell and buy (at least it was 15 years ago). You can’t do anything with them legally. God only knows why people buy them. 

SteveRobinson

Escape from Pretoria (included on Amazon Prime)

Pretty tense true story about 3 ANC members escaping from prison in 70s apartheid South Africa. 

Gripping ,9/10

SPECTRUM001

The Medusa Touch (1978)

Pretty awful yet highly watchable Richard Burton  yarn about a man possessed by Telekinesis and how it is eating away at his soul.

A Lew Grade special set in the UK with some Omenesque vibes (Lee Remick has the female lead) that taps into the seventies obsession with mind reading, Uri Geller etc.

As ever, Mr Burton’s granite charisma is quite incredible, but the film doesn’t really do much other than a demented nostalgic chuckle.

5/10

Moominpapa

SPECTRUM001 said:

The Medusa Touch (1978)

Pretty awful yet highly watchable Richard Burton  yarn about a man possessed by Telekinesis and how it is eating away at his soul.

A Lee Grade special set in the UK with some Omenesque vibes (Lee Remick has the female lead) that taps into the seventies obsession with mind reading, Uri Geller etc.

As ever, Mr Burton’s granite charisma is quite incredible, but the film doesn’t really do much other than a demented nostalgic chuckle.

5/10

I'm the other person in the world that has seen this film. It's not good.

Moominpapa

Sekigahara (2017) Japanese historical drama based around a turning-point battle in Japanese history that established the Tokugawa Shogunate. Gripping and involving, even if the various lords and factions are a little hard to keep straight after a while.

rze99

Love & Mercy. 

IPlayer. 

Biopic about Brian Wilson’s journey from troubled genius to wrongly diagnosed medicated mental deterioration and subsequent rehabilitation. 

I typically approach music movies with trepidation and scepticism for all then obvious reasons but this is excellent, especially, surprisingly, the scenes of the creative process. 

8/10. 

EricTheWeary

Passengers 

C4

I never fancied this but MrsTheWeary apparently did. Would have been better made by French people with a bit more emphasis on the existential angst element and maybe a different ending and I gather a lot of the science is a bit wrong but otherwise a surprisingly engaging film. 

Haych

Romancing the Stone

Good old 80s adventure/romance/comedy. We were flicking through choices last night and this popped up and it was an instant decision and a jolly good choice at that. 

Not seen it in quite a few years but have always loved this film. What’s not to like? Very entertaining and not really a dull moment. 

Also, wasn’t Michael Douglas a strikingly good looking bloke in his prime?! 

Danny DeVito is typically Danny DeVito but he does it well, kinda like nobody else can, so is a brilliant inclusion. Kathleen Turner holds everything together and is the stable middle ground. 

10/10 just because it’s old and still knocks spots off most films in the same genre made in recent years. 

Tonight we will be watching the not quite as good but still brilliant Jewel of the Nile. 

zepp76

Made in Italy 

Beautiful Tuscan scenery, terrible acting and script.

Liam Neeson should stick to shooting people.


10/10 for it being filmed in Tuscany

1/10 for the film itself.

paulnb57

Stan and Ollie, heard the hype, found it by accident on iPlayer, managed about 10 mins, thought Stan
 (Coogan) sounded like Prince Charles, couldn’t cope.....binned it, binged more Vikings on Netflix....