What films have you watched recently?

AlbertC

paulnb57 said:

The Mauritanian

A true story of an inmate at Guantanamo Bay...just watch it...

9/10

8/10 
Usually find Jodie Foster a little hard to take but she's okay in this. The lead actor is the same as in The Serpent (which I didn't enjoy much).
How the USA claims to be the "leader of the free world" is quite unbelievable  

AlbertC

Gassage said:

North by NorthWest

Cary Grant and Eve St Marie...do I need to say more?

..Hitchcock maybe? 

Philly_Q

earwighoney said:

Gassage said:

In the interests of my educating of my other half on the cinemagraphic classics...

North by NorthWest

Cary Grant and Eve St Marie...do I need to say more?

10/10.

One of the greatest films ever made and then some. Just incredible, innovative, genius...

A masterpiece.

There are great directors and there is Hitchcock.

That could be interpreted in different ways, but I think I agree.

N by NW isn't one of my favourites, but that's more because I'm not really a fan of Cary Grant.  It's still a great film.

goldtop

Anti-Life (Netflix). Jeebus, it's ropey, really REALLY ropey. Bruce Willis vs waves of space zombies, all leading to the daftest of boss monsters. A monster that must have been drawn by the CGI intern when the grown-ups were elsewhere. Cliches and over-acting and impossible-not-to-guess twists by the bucket-load. 2/10

SPECTRUM001

Notorious - 1946

On paper, this should be amazing - Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains - and directed by Hitchcock.

The story is good (post war Nazis in illicit business dealings being hunted by US agents), but something is lacking. Our conclusion (me and the adorable Mrs001) was that Cary Grant was either miscast or misdirected. Too dry.

But, it is still a good film, and better than others from the same era. However, comparing to...say...Casablanca ? Well it doesn’t quite do it. 

Ultimately, it is Hitchcock on his journey to becoming the great master.

6.5/10 

AlexC

Just watched an oldie (well, 2001) on Netflix - Hearts In Atlantis. Stephen King book - which I’ve had on my shelf for about ten years and have yet to read.
Very King. Flashback to kids in the 60s. Mysterious old man - a quite superb performance by Anthony Hopkins. Struggling single mother - great performance by Hope Davis.
I thought the boy was brilliant and then realised as the credits rolled that it was a young Anton Yelchin. This added sadness for me for what is a quiet, well shot, evocative drama about growing up, first love and the way the world only seems to make sense in retrospect.
Wonderful little movie and worth 90 mins of anyone’s time, I’d say.

goldtop

@AlexC - yup - 100% agree. It's a fantastic bit of low-key filmwork, where you are engrossed in the characters and not the action.

BigBearKris

Nobody. 

Pure nonsense but what an entertainment! 
Bit John Wick-ish but with comedy bits.
Bob Odenkirk in unusual role - and very good indeed. 
Recommended.

6.275/10

Haych

The Mauritanian

When films are based on true events I always assume those events have been sexed up for Hollywood. 

In this film I honestly don’t think they were. Which makes the film even harder to watch. 

One man spends over 14 years imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, including several years after he was acquitted of the crimes responsible for putting him there.  This is the film of the injustice. 

Excellently made and thankfully the story concentrates on the legal effort to represent him and give him a fair hearing rather than his actual treatment at the prison, although some harrowing scenes do tell that part of the story. 

I get the feeling the film uses the experience of one man to drive home the injustice of all those ever held at Guantanamo. But it’s very well done for all that. 

I’d never want to see it again but 10/10 regardless. 

Snap

I am watching, for the umpteenth time, The Keep. 1983 film by Michael Mann, with the first film appearances of Gabriel Byrne and Ian Mckellen. 
Tangerine Dream OST.

It's bad, but in a good way and I love it. 

Nazis occupy a keep in spooky Romanian village. Unleash a demon that starts killing them. I mean, what's not to like?

Philly_Q

Snap said:

I am watching, for the umpteenth time, The Keep. 1983 film by Michael Mann, with the first film appearances of Gabriel Byrne and Ian Mckellen. 
Tangerine Dream OST.

It's bad, but in a good way and I love it. 

Nazis occupy a keep in spooky Romanian village. Unleash a demon that starts killing them. I mean, what's not to like?

My brother and I had both read the book by F. Paul Wilson so we had that standard "not as good as the book" reaction when we first saw it.

McKellen is absolutely dreadful, in his early 40s but playing a grouchy old man with a ridiculous accent.  Amazing it didn't kill off his film career.

But I like it, it has a good atmosphere, especially early on before it goes haywire with dodgy optical effects.  

earwighoney

Snap said:

I am watching, for the umpteenth time, The Keep. 1983 film by Michael Mann, with the first film appearances of Gabriel Byrne and Ian Mckellen. 
Tangerine Dream OST.

It's bad, but in a good way and I love it. 

Nazis occupy a keep in spooky Romanian village. Unleash a demon that starts killing them. I mean, what's not to like?

I love that film!

Hokey 1980's horror films are my favourite era for films, the good ones seem to provide more pleasure than they should.

Blueingreen

Philly_Q said:

earwighoney said:

Gassage said:

In the interests of my educating of my other half on the cinemagraphic classics...

North by NorthWest

Cary Grant and Eve St Marie...do I need to say more?

10/10.

One of the greatest films ever made and then some. Just incredible, innovative, genius...

A masterpiece.

There are great directors and there is Hitchcock.

That could be interpreted in different ways, but I think I agree.

N by NW isn't one of my favourites, but that's more because I'm not really a fan of Cary Grant.  It's still a great film.

SPECTRUM001 said:

Notorious - 1946

On paper, this should be amazing - Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains - and directed by Hitchcock.

The story is good (post war Nazis in illicit business dealings being hunted by US agents), but something is lacking. Our conclusion (me and the adorable Mrs001) was that Cary Grant was either miscast or misdirected. Too dry.

But, it is still a good film, and better than others from the same era. However, comparing to...say...Casablanca ? Well it doesn’t quite do it. 

Ultimately, it is Hitchcock on his journey to becoming the great master.

6.5/10 

Interested in these comments on Hitchcock films.

It's all down to personal taste but Cary Grant is my favourite film actor.  That didn't happen overnight - I found him altogether too smooth when younger.  Gradually I worked out that that kind of light comedy is probably the hardest type of acting to pull off, and I think Grant does it better than anybody.

As a youngster I'd have most definitely have rated Notorious higher than North By Northwest: in fact NBN wouldn't have made a list of my favourite 10 Hitch movies.  Maybe partly because NBN is such a Grant vehicle - it's got more light comedy than most Hitchcocks and I preferred what I would have regarded as his darker films,  with their better consistency of tone.  And I've never quite got the reverence for the iconic crop-duster at the crossroads scene.

 

I'd prefer NBN now but I stlll think Notorious is Hitch near the top of his game.  It's a weird film no doubt, not least because (although the film takes pains to avoid saying so plainly) you're always conscious that Bergman has to be fucking Claude Rains creepy character, over a prolonged period, and this has been instigated by the "goody" Grant who's supposed to be in love with her - all of which seems deeply jarring in a mainstream Hollywood movie from the 1940s.  But those hints of psychotic sexuality are always lurking about somewhere in his best stuff.

SPECTRUM001

Notorious - 1946

We watched it again this afternoon. It’s way better than I thought on first viewing.

Darker, trickier and deeper. The camera angles and use of shadows are masterful, and Ingrid Bergman is amazing. Still think Cary Grant is a bit distant, but that seemed far more appropriate second time around.

Much creepier and nastier, so I take it all back !

By the way, this isn’t a direct response to @Blueingreen, as I knew I ought to readdress- but good to see the film had already been given the thumbs up on here.

8.5/10

Philly_Q

@Blueingreen Interesting comments.  I don't think I'm going to change my mind on Cary Grant at this late stage - I don't actively dislike him, but I'm never going to warm to his smoothie persona.  I think I prefer him in comedy roles like Bringing Up Baby or Arsenic and Old Lace, rather than "light drama" like his Hitchcock appearances or Charade.

Can't really comment on Notorious, it's one of the Hitchcock films I've watched least and I don't remember it well... perhaps it's overdue for a revisit.

Moominpapa

Outrage (2010)  Takeshi Kitano returned to the Yakuza genre with a real banger. (Warning - quite a lot of gory violence.) At heart it is not an action movie but a study in hypocrisy and misplaced loyalty.

Philly_Q

Bill & Ted Face the Music

Well.... that was uncomfortable.  I don't know what to say really... I didn't hate it, but it desperately tries to resurrect the tone of the original movies rather than acknowledging the fact that 30 years have passed.  It barely manages to raise a laugh and the song they create at the end "to save reality" is fucking awful.  They should have just left well enough alone.

RobDavies

PhilW1 said:

Watched 'I Tonya' last night
Don't like skating, didn't fancy it at all, thought it would be usual US girly sentimental chick-flick with shit music..
Really enjoyed it ,Its funny ,gritty and more or less true and its got a great soundtrack too.

Yep - totally agree.  How Margot Robbie didn’t win the Oscar for this is beyond me,,,, although I did notice that Allison Janet got one for her role as Tonya’s lovely mum. 

Moominpapa

Hana-Bi (1997)  It sounds bizarre to describe a movie punctuated by violence as "lovely", nevertheless this really is in many ways a lovely film by Takeshi Kitano. It's loosely a crime drama, but mostly about dealing with grief, loss, and life not being what you thought it was going to be.

Philly_Q

Moominpapa said:

Hana-Bi (1997)  It sounds bizarre to describe a movie punctuated by violence as "lovely", nevertheless this really is in many ways a lovely film by Takeshi Kitano. It's loosely a crime drama, but mostly about dealing with grief, loss, and life not being what you thought it was going to be.

@Moominpapa You're really working through the Kitano catalogue!  Is this the first time watching them, or are you revisiting?