What films have you watched recently?

axisus

The dead don't die. It's on Netflix and has a decent cast - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits 

SPOILERS!!!!!! Don't read the rest if you don't want to know about the film ....

I don't usually give spoilers, but I give this film 1/10 and I need to say why. OK, so it's a 'comedy' horror .... with no actual comedy in it. Honestly, what an utter pile of garbage, the script is absolutely shambolic. It tries to be deadpan humour but falls flat on its arse every time. They introduce 'characters' but then just kill them off or remove them with no storyline of interest - 3 kids in a detention centre who escape, then are never seen again, a girl in a fancy car with two dudes, all killed behind the scenes. Bizarrely, in the scene when we meet the girl, she has a weird 'sparkle' moment around her head. What does that mean? something magical? something mystical? Absolutely nothing!

Tilda Swinton goes around chopping Zombie heads off, then gets picked up by a spaceship! Random and pointless!

More random garbage - Bill Murray to cop 2 "why do you keep saying this will end badly?". Cop 2 "because I've read the script". Honestly, this is the worst film I've seen in many years.

The three main police characters, the woman gets out of the car and dies. The other two get out of the car and die. The end.

How did this ever get a green light to be made??? I can only think that the writer/Director (one and the same) produced as well, put up all the money and paid the stars more than they could refuse. A total and utter vanity project and a waste of the talent he managed to sign up somehow.

The director should have rented Shawn of the dead, seen how to make a zombie spoof perfectly.

Rant over.

skullfunkerry

HerbieTheRadDorklift said:

Jalapeno said:

The Island - thought it was going to be fairly derivative, until the major plot shift (no spoliers). Really enjoyed it.

Ewan McGregor & Scarlett Johanssen ably supported by Stev Buscemi & Sean Bean.

Oh yeah, brill film. Forgot about that one.

Funnily enough I watched this a couple of days ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it

Philly_Q

axisus said:

The dead don't die. It's on Netflix and has a decent cast - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits 

[snip]

How did this ever get a green light to be made??? I can only think that the writer/Director (one and the same) produced as well, put up all the money and paid the stars more than they could refuse. A total and utter vanity project and a waste of the talent he managed to sign up somehow.

@axisus I don't totally disagree about the film, I think it misfires, but out of curiosity have you ever seen any other Jim Jarmusch films?

Greatape

Philly_Q said:

axisus said:

The dead don't die. It's on Netflix and has a decent cast - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits 

[snip]

How did this ever get a green light to be made??? I can only think that the writer/Director (one and the same) produced as well, put up all the money and paid the stars more than they could refuse. A total and utter vanity project and a waste of the talent he managed to sign up somehow.

@axisus I don't totally disagree about the film, I think it misfires, but out of curiosity have you ever seen any other Jim Jarmusch films?

It's very Jarmuschian. I enjoyed it, but I can see why it would irritate some. 

Greatape

Tonight: 'Ladyhawke.' A blast from the past. Pretty lousy, but the young Michelle Pfeiffer.....

Hurling_Fruitmig

SPECTRUM001 said:

Offset said:

HAL9000 said:

Eric Clapton: My Life in 12 Bars.

I don’t normally swear but, fuck, what an awful childhood. And for quite a lot of the film what a horrible person. Ultimately he does redeem himself but, very sadly, it takes the death of his to bring him to his senses. Certainly not an easy watch (and quite upsetting - and unsettling - in parts) but definitely worthwhile. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you’re a Clapton fan but otherwise probably not really of interest.

I'm an admirer of Clapton but not a fan, if that makes sense.  I really found this absorbing, but it was a hard watch.  'Enjoyed' it would be the wrong way of describing it, but it's a very worthy documentary regardless of whether you love the guy or not.

Thanks for flagging this one. I am not a fan either, though am quite interested in Clapton's history through The Yardbirds, Cream etc. And in particular his relationship with George and Patti.

So, a riveting watch, and yep, what an awfully confusing and troubled childhood, resulting in quite an objectionable but talented person.

Amazing they had so much public and personal footage. As happens a lot, I found the last quarter hour to be a resolution of sorts, albeit tinged with the Hollywood happy ending. However really worth viewing even if for the stock archive alone...

I’d certainly echo the bits about his troubled (massive understatement) upbringing and childhood, and after the depression and excesses it’s astonishing he’s still around at all.

Haych

Legends of the Fall

Quite surprised I'd never seen this before.  Meaty historical drama with quite a good cast, Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt taking two of the main roles, although Aidan Quinn as Pitt's brother plays his role much better.

Overall the film was very good (I won't write a synopsis - it'd take too long) but it went on a bit too long in parts and it could have definitely been made a bit shorter.

It's also not what you'd call a happy film, it's feel good factor is down round its ankles so I had to watch a couple of episodes of Still Game afterwards so I didn't go to bed with it in my mind.

For all that it's very well made and set in a period that made it very interesting to watch and contains some stunning scenery.

7.5/10

EricTheWeary

Greatape said:

Philly_Q said:

axisus said:

The dead don't die. It's on Netflix and has a decent cast - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits 

[snip]

How did this ever get a green light to be made??? I can only think that the writer/Director (one and the same) produced as well, put up all the money and paid the stars more than they could refuse. A total and utter vanity project and a waste of the talent he managed to sign up somehow.

@axisus I don't totally disagree about the film, I think it misfires, but out of curiosity have you ever seen any other Jim Jarmusch films?

It's very Jarmuschian. I enjoyed it, but I can see why it would irritate some. 

The big names in it are  mostly people Jarmusch has worked with before so I suspect he had them first and the funding flowed from that. 
I've discussed the film on here before and, well, I'm not a fan. I would, however, recommend reading the trivia section on IMDB as the movie has a lot of references to other films that had gone over my head.  

Jim Jarmusch I know mostly as a line in a lyric on one of my favourite albums. In the song Lou Reed by The Little Willies ( from their eponymous debut)...


Hey Lou, "Is that you?"
She said as we pulled to the shoulder
He just said, "Go screw."
And then he turned and tipped one over
Under a spitshine Western sky
The color of blue varnish
Hey it's like Fellini
Actually I'm thinkin' more like Jim Jarmusch

...despite that complex lyric it's a country song about Lou Reed being spotted pushing over some cows in a field. 

axisus

Philly_Q said:

axisus said:

The dead don't die. It's on Netflix and has a decent cast - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits 

[snip]

How did this ever get a green light to be made??? I can only think that the writer/Director (one and the same) produced as well, put up all the money and paid the stars more than they could refuse. A total and utter vanity project and a waste of the talent he managed to sign up somehow.

@axisus I don't totally disagree about the film, I think it misfires, but out of curiosity have you ever seen any other Jim Jarmusch films?

I don't think so, and if that's what he serves up then I don't intend to. I've actually thought of more things that bugged me, but I think I've ranted enough.

Philly_Q

axisus said:

Philly_Q said:

axisus said:

The dead don't die. It's on Netflix and has a decent cast - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits 

[snip]

How did this ever get a green light to be made??? I can only think that the writer/Director (one and the same) produced as well, put up all the money and paid the stars more than they could refuse. A total and utter vanity project and a waste of the talent he managed to sign up somehow.

@axisus I don't totally disagree about the film, I think it misfires, but out of curiosity have you ever seen any other Jim Jarmusch films?

I don't think so, and if that's what he serves up then I don't intend to. I've actually thought of more things that bugged me, but I think I've ranted enough.

You probably never want to watch a Jim Jarmusch film again, but if you do watch a couple you'll see a bit more where he's coming from... his films are quite different in terms of genre and subject matter but he has a distinctive style. 

What you said about paying the stars more than they could refuse... I think it's almost the opposite, actors who work with Jarmusch seem to like working with him, and they go back again although the money's probably rubbish.  All his films are low budget but he's able to make what he wants, without big-studio interference.  And yes, what he wants to make can sometimes be frustrating, because you get the feeling he wasn't that interested in elements that maybe we as viewers would like to have seen more of, or sub-plots we'd like to have seen resolved. 

I've seen quite a lot of his films and I like them, I find them interesting although I'd never be queueing at the cinema on release day.

If you do want to try again... Night on Earth and Broken Flowers are both pretty accessible, I'd say.

Zoolooter

Val - a moving and often heartbreaking documentary by Val Kilmer about his life. 10/10

earwighoney

Zoolooter said:

Val - a moving and often heartbreaking documentary by Val Kilmer about his life. 10/10

I didn't know about this, just read a review and it sounds like it'd be my kind of thing.

SPECTRUM001

earwighoney said:

Zoolooter said:

Val - a moving and often heartbreaking documentary by Val Kilmer about his life. 10/10

I didn't know about this, just read a review and it sounds like it'd be my kind of thing.

Jim Morrison has posthumously filmed an auto-biography ? Good for him - better than yet another ghost written airport paperback.

EricTheWeary

nevermind

Stratavarious

District 9...  seen it before.  Great film. 

Haych

Falling Down

Michael Douglas is a man pushed over the edge in the 1993 cult classic, although I'd never seen it before.

Quite well done but it could only end one way and the plot, if you can call it that, is pretty one dimensional.

6.5/10

The Highway Men

Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson play the parts of Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, two lawmen who come out of retirement to hunt down celebrity outlaws Bonnie & Clyde.

I enjoyed it and it tells the legend from a different perspective.  Bonnie & Clyde don't make much of an appearance before the very end of the film and have no lines, although it's still clever in portraying the pair as held in high public regard.

8/10

Both available on Netflix.

ICBM

Page Eight

Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes and others in a spy thriller. Except that it isn't... it's really dull and a waste of the considerable acting talents of its stars.

4/10

(Netflix)

rze99

The Current War 2019

A talented star cast and the occasional insightful scene can't mask the fact that this is a high budget failure as a film.

Based on true life events, the narrative is unclear, the characters poorly drawn and story obscured by a poor script, leaden production weighed down by its own pretentions. I watched this with my daughter. She didn't know the history being told in this movie and I did. Simply stated the story and the science and business behind the story are muddled, opaque and almost deliberately confused. We stuck it out till the end hoping it would improve, but it really didn't. Such a wasted opportunity.

Not recommended.

4/10

alalalkasar

I've been watching the hammer Dracula films in order, diminishing returns until The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Purest nonsense 8 out of 10.

BluesLover

Another thumbs up for "The island" on Netflix. Except for one thing, that bugs me with al lot of movies with car chases in. Why do American cars do such huge somersaults when they crash? Bloody stupid.