What films have you watched recently?

WezV

Also working our way through a 100 horror films scratch off poster, randomly picking them each time.  Some great films on it, some absolute crap... but its good fun.  Seen about 2/3rds before

Prince Of Darkness (1987) - certainly not John Carpenters best work.  On paper I really liked the premise of this film, but it just didn't deliver.  Ancient evil green goo was not for me

Blair Witch Project (1999) - I have not watched this since it was first in cinemas.  I remember all the hype and marketing at the time.  It was certainly groundbreaking in many ways, but I still don't enjoy the actual film

The Shining (1980) - I have a cat called Kubrick.  Always happy to give this a watch.  Still massively creeped out by room 237's occupant.

boogieman

Offset said:

boogieman said:

Offset said:

Intersect, 2020.  HP Lovecraft meets HG Wells meets Stranger Things.  I won't give away too much of the plot but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm going to re-watch it because you need to be on your toes to pick up on some of the clues.  Essentially a time travelling jaunt with some very weird shit thrown in.  The young characters were well-drawn and likeable, it was well acted and I found the plot reasonably intriguing.  A solid 7/10 - my sort of thing.  On Prime.

Watched it last night. Started off ok but thought it really dragged in the middle where the kids were younger. I got quite fascinated by the young Ryan’s bum fluff moustache appearing and disappearing in consecutive scenes… not sure if that was time travel or just terrible continuity. 

It was a low-budget B-movie so I'd go with the latter!

...but I'm a sucker for low-budget B-movies :-)

I don’t think this one was quite bad enough to qualify for the So Bad It’s Good category sadly. I do like a B movie myself, especially epically crap stuff like Plan 9 from Outer Space and deliberately cheesy films like Iron Sky and Sharknado. 

paulnb57

The Mule on Netflix
5/10
Formula stuff, produced, directed and staring Clint Eastwood

Clint is a flower grower and seller, who fails to embrace modern tech and goes bust, he ends up running drugs around for a cartel….its predictable stuff, but it entertained us….

The old fella can still act though, just occasionally the old Clint attitude shines through…..

rze99

Operation Avalanche. 

IPlayer 

1967 and the USA is losing the space race. A group of ambitious CIA agents pose as documentary makers inside NASA to find a Russian mole inside the mission and wind up being part of a conspiracy to fake moon landing footage.

It’s one of those “found footage” mockumentaries neatly creating the right vintage vibe with really excellent use of props and vintage film effects interleaving real vintage footage from the time with new action. It’s a comedy and so great it as such and you’ll have some fun. 

It won’t make you believe the conspiracy theories assuming you don’t, but you will end up looking at some of the real footage again and wonder about the possibility all is not as it seems. 

8/10. 

HerbieTheRadDorklift

HerbieTheRadDorklift said:

bobblehat said:

Guns Akimbo -  Prime  8/10

Yes its as stupid as its sounds but stick with it past the first 10 minutes and its quite an enjoyable romp. Daniel Radcliffe does a reasonable job of holding a very very thin plot together.

Once upon a time in Hollywood - Netflix.  9/10

Probably 30 mins longer than it needed to be but enjoyable none the less. Probably need to be a Tarantino fan to get the most out of it. Particularly enjoyed the Bruce Lee fight scene and the last 15 minutes are a return to form for fans of Tarantino violence.

Yesterday - Netflix  4/10  (could have been an 8)

Could have been great. Completely ruined by the presence of Ed Sheeran. Whenever he appeared on screen it just took me out of the movie and I felt like I was watching some half arsed Comic relief sketch. Real shame as the rest of the performances were great.

I'm positive Sheeran's label were financial backers. Had to have been.

I'm off to see Old tonight, only £5 a ticket so we'll see.

Old was pretty rubbish by the way. The story is interesting but the acting and dialog is the worst I've ever seen.

FarleyUK

WezV said:

Making the most of my Cineworld Unlimited card again now

Escape room: Tournament Of Champions.    I haven't seen the first one, it didn't matter because we got a "previously on" style intro, which is very odd in a film. It was very silly. The best thing about it was the aircon in the cinema as we were at peak heatwave.

Old.   I really enjoyed this.  there were some great performances in it, but the ending was far to well explained.  With a more ambiguous ending this film would have stayed with me a lot longer, but having everything tied up makes it quite forgettable.

The Forever Purge.  Again, not seen any of the previous ones. The film starts with an escape from one country, those characters then spend a lot of the rest of the film trying to get back.   Whilst it explains why they had to leave, it doesn't explain why its now okay for them to go back to the place they risked their lives to get away from.   Also, it lacks a proper baddy.  I'm told the others have an obvious big bad throughout.  This one has a second rate bad guy thrown in for the last 3rd of the film.

Er..... I think that was very clearly signalled by most of the towns trying to round up and kill any immigrants or anyone who disagreed with them.

WezV

FarleyUK said:

WezV said:

Making the most of my Cineworld Unlimited card again now

Escape room: Tournament Of Champions.    I haven't seen the first one, it didn't matter because we got a "previously on" style intro, which is very odd in a film. It was very silly. The best thing about it was the aircon in the cinema as we were at peak heatwave.

Old.   I really enjoyed this.  there were some great performances in it, but the ending was far to well explained.  With a more ambiguous ending this film would have stayed with me a lot longer, but having everything tied up makes it quite forgettable.

The Forever Purge.  Again, not seen any of the previous ones. The film starts with an escape from one country, those characters then spend a lot of the rest of the film trying to get back.   Whilst it explains why they had to leave, it doesn't explain why its now okay for them to go back to the place they risked their lives to get away from.   Also, it lacks a proper baddy.  I'm told the others have an obvious big bad throughout.  This one has a second rate bad guy thrown in for the last 3rd of the film.

Er..... I think that was very clearly signalled by most of the towns trying to round up and kill any immigrants or anyone who disagreed with them.

Yeah, I get why they needed to leave where they were.... but them going back to the place they initially "escaped" from was ignored. 

I understand it was the lesser of 2 evils... but its hard to see it as the safe haven it was portrayed as unless you ignore the first scene altogether.

BigBearKris

"Calibre" on Netflix.

I think it was recommended on here before - it was on my list but just got around to watch it last night.

Stunning Scottish sceneries, good pace and acting for what looked like low-budget production. 

I enjoyed it, even if but grim. 

7/10

axisus

Watched Time Bandits for the first time in many years. It looks rather old now, particularly some of the cheap effects, but overall still an amusing romp. Sad to think that David Rappaport eventually committed suicide.

Terry Gilliam does like endings that make you scratch your head a bit!

rze99

BigBearKris said:

"Calibre" on Netflix.

I think it was recommended on here before - it was on my list but just got around to watch it last night.

Stunning Scottish sceneries, good pace and acting for what looked like low-budget production. 

I enjoyed it, even if but grim. 

7/10

Yes that was me. Very good. 

EricTheWeary

Summer of Soul

On Disney Star+

Documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which was a free festival for 300,000 folk.
The original footage of Stevie Wonder, BB King, Mahalia Jackson, Pops Staples and many others is marvellous. The film gives the context of the politics and cultural movements of the time and how the festival was organised. 

I’d much rather see the clips of the artists in an unadulterated form. Two hours of top form blues, gospel and jazz would be lovely but talking heads keep popping up. That’s not to belittle in any way the content about the civil rights movement but I’d rather watch that as a separate film. 

However, some lovely footage and if some of this is new to you a fine place to start. 

boogieman

The Little Stranger in Film 4. A gothic ghost story set in a crumbling country mansion. Reminded me a bit of some of the BBC MR James xmas ghost stories. Lots of long meaningful gazing into the distance but not much action. Well acted, Ruth Wilson and Charlotte Rampling are excellent, Domhnall Gleason, hmmm not quite so much. Bit of a twist at the end but it’s all a bit slow.  

jdgm

Can I have "what DVDs did you buy in the charity shop and are going to watch, recently?"

Apocalypse Now Redux - 195 mins. 

Pan's Labyrinth - 2DVD set.  Looking forward to this one.

Dark Star - there are 2 versions on the DVD, anyone remember this? John Carpenter.

I left the director's cut of 'Blade Runner'.  Any good? I'll wait for a box set to turn up.

I really want to see The 'Summer Of Soul' movie. 

Stratavarious

Crazy Heart.. nicely acted but just a bit bland.

The Wrestler...  Wow.  Mickey Rourke is absolutely astounding in it.

boogieman

jdgm said:

Can I have "what DVDs did you buy in the charity shop and are going to watch, recently?"

Apocalypse Now Redux - 195 mins. 

Pan's Labyrinth - 2DVD set.  Looking forward to this one.

Dark Star - there are 2 versions on the DVD, anyone remember this? John Carpenter.

I left the director's cut of 'Blade Runner'.  Any good? I'll wait for a box set to turn up.

I really want to see The 'Summer Of Soul' movie. 

Well it’s certainly better than the original release with its studio -imposed cutesy happy ending. The Final Cut version is the best one though, it has some restored scenes that the studio insisted were edited out, which explains some things (sort of, it’s still a bit ambiguous). Overall it just works better. 

grappagreen

American Beauty 

 A film that literally had me in tears given the mid-life crisis theme (amongst a plethora of other equally heart wrenching themes..).

Wonderfully directed by Mendes and a world class cast who, for me, deliver a spellbinding performance.

The scene where Spacey & Belling momentarily revert to their younger selves and are rudely brought back to reality by Belling's comment is sooo wonderfully painful to watch.. how many couches would you give to go back in time, even for the briefest of moments?

It operates on so many levels..

Si

Offset

rze99 said:

BigBearKris said:

"Calibre" on Netflix.

I think it was recommended on here before - it was on my list but just got around to watch it last night.

Stunning Scottish sceneries, good pace and acting for what looked like low-budget production. 

I enjoyed it, even if but grim. 

7/10

Yes that was me. Very good. 

+1.  Excellent.

zepp76

Shadow in the clouds


Utter shite.

That is all that needs to be said.

1/10

HAL9000

jdgm said:

Dark Star - there are 2 versions on the DVD, anyone remember this? John Carpenter.

Oh yes. Despite having seen it multiple times the ‘elevator’ scene still has me in stitches every time (as does any scene with the alien).

ICBM

grappagreen said:

American Beauty 

 A film that literally had me in tears given the mid-life crisis theme (amongst a plethora of other equally heart wrenching themes..).

Wonderfully directed by Mendes and a world class cast who, for me, deliver a spellbinding performance.

The scene where Spacey & Belling momentarily revert to their younger selves and are rudely brought back to reality by Belling's comment is sooo wonderfully painful to watch.. how many couches would you give to go back in time, even for the briefest of moments?

It operates on so many levels..

This. An outstandingly brilliant film that repays watching much more than once. I always love the drive-through scene as well, it's almost cringingly painful but done to perfection.

Such a shame it's tainted by what we now know of Kevin Spacey, but for me it can't stop it being a great film.