What films have you watched recently?

Haych

axisus said:

Haych said:

Aliens

Still one of the best sci-fi horrors ever made. 30-odd years after it was made it still pushes all the buttons. 

11/10

If I have one issue with Alien, it's that the little alien scene has not held up so well over time. The whole John Hurt bit is brilliant, but the thing looking around and whipping off the table not so good. My oldest daughter is into horror stuff generally and I told her she should watch it (when she turned 18). Honestly she almost died laughing at that scene! 

But that aside, what a brilliant film. The whole look and feel, the story, the cast, the atmosphere. A real groundbreaking movie, has to be one of my favourites of all time. I read the book before seeing the film, often films disappoint after reading the book first, but Ridley Scott got everything spot on to be honest (although a good scene or two didn't make the film).

Wrong film but I tend to agree with you.  Personally I think Mel Brooks did it better in Spaceballs.

axisus

Reggaebass said:

A couple of old time classics,
The Warriors 
The long good Friday, Bob Hoskins played a great part 

Two of my favourite 70s films! Seen them both again in the past year. The Warriors was considered very violent back in the day, it's quite tame by modern standards but it has a wonderful 70s vibe, a feel that they will never capture again.

The Long Good Friday is such a powerful film, fabulous soundtrack as well. That last scene in the car with no dialogue and just the music is epic. One of the great movie scenes with no words spoken for me. 

HAL9000

axisus said:

OK so not the sort of thing that you guys would watch probably, but I'm a fan of musicals generally so I decided to go for Spielberg's rehash of West Side Story which is on Disney+

It's a strange thing to do, revisiting such a classic movie. To be honest it is a bit of a fail before even starting when the original won 10 Oscars! Still, for whatever reason, Spielberg wanted to do it. It is up for quite a few Oscars actually, but I don't see it getting 10.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, for me it is a worthy update. I think that the direction is a lot more dynamic, and I prefer the modern acting, which seems more like a film and less like a filmed stage show. The respective gangs look a lot more rough & ready and the 'set pieces' were well done. OK, I'll be a heathen and say it, I prefer it to the original.

I'd probably give it 7.5/10. I liked it, but there are other musicals that I like a lot better.

Interesting. I haven’t seen the Spielberg version but IMO the original really isn’t that good. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not knocking the songs or music which are both excellent.

To me the attraction of theatre is the sense of immediacy that you don’t get with cinema; the attraction of cinema is it allows you to do things that are impossible with theatre.

By filming what is essentially a musical designed for the stage the original gave us the worst of both worlds.

Mattharrier

CBGB - the story of Hilly Kristal and the early years of CBGB; Blondie, The Ramones, Dead Boys, Talking Heads etc. It's entertaining enough - I don't really know much about the club or that period of music (obviously some of the tunes are now huge hits) but I suspect that many liberties were taken with chronology and actual events, however it was an enjoyable enough watch with a good soundtrack and some good performances (Malin Akerman as Debbie Harry, Taylor Hawkins as Iggy Pop, Ron from Hogwarts as the Dead Boys guitarist, Stana Katic - who I've recently binged-watched in Castle - as Genya Ravan).

Certainly not an all time classic of rock music cinema - this will not be thought of as fondly in 30 plus years as Spinal Tap is - but it's included with Amazon Prime so didn't cost anything and is light hearted at its core.

boogieman

axisus said:

Haych said:

Aliens

Still one of the best sci-fi horrors ever made. 30-odd years after it was made it still pushes all the buttons. 

11/10

If I have one issue with Alien, it's that the little alien scene has not held up so well over time. The whole John Hurt bit is brilliant, but the thing looking around and whipping off the table not so good. My oldest daughter is into horror stuff generally and I told her she should watch it (when she turned 18). Honestly she almost died laughing at that scene! 

But that aside, what a brilliant film. The whole look and feel, the story, the cast, the atmosphere. A real groundbreaking movie, has to be one of my favourites of all time. I read the book before seeing the film, often films disappoint after reading the book first, but Ridley Scott got everything spot on to be honest (although a good scene or two didn't make the film).

Yup, its really the only scene that hasn’t stood up too well. I think it’s the way it squeaks and then rushes off… it just reminds me of Sweep (of Sooty & Sweep). 

RocknRollDave

Dune

Reggaebass

I’ve got the Mad Max films lined up for when I get some free time 

Offset

boogieman said:

Yup, its really the only scene that hasn’t stood up too well. I think it’s the way it squeaks and then rushes off… it just reminds me of Sweep (of Sooty & Sweep). 

Shit.  Now I can't un-imagine that mental image.  You've ruined one of my favourite films.  Damn your eyes!

HAL9000

boogieman said:

axisus said:

Haych said:

Aliens

Still one of the best sci-fi horrors ever made. 30-odd years after it was made it still pushes all the buttons. 

11/10

If I have one issue with Alien, it's that the little alien scene has not held up so well over time. The whole John Hurt bit is brilliant, but the thing looking around and whipping off the table not so good. My oldest daughter is into horror stuff generally and I told her she should watch it (when she turned 18). Honestly she almost died laughing at that scene! 

But that aside, what a brilliant film. The whole look and feel, the story, the cast, the atmosphere. A real groundbreaking movie, has to be one of my favourites of all time. I read the book before seeing the film, often films disappoint after reading the book first, but Ridley Scott got everything spot on to be honest (although a good scene or two didn't make the film).

Yup, its really the only scene that hasn’t stood up too well. I think it’s the way it squeaks and then rushes off… it just reminds me of Sweep (of Sooty & Sweep). 

I seem to remember one newspaper, when Alien first appeared on the tele, describing it in their TV listings as ‘Grown ups chase glove puppet around spacecraft’.

Stratavarious

CBGB.. I will echo comments above.

Quite chaotically edited and the whole thing is a bit of mess.. but that might be a deliberate attempt to be punk.  

Watchable for curious musos but not great and many liberties taken.

Mattharrier

@Stratavarious I get the feeling that someone picked a bunch of stories from biographies of various people who were there, and sprinkled those around Hilly Kristal's story and used that to create the plot - many of those stories being perhaps a little Liberal with the truth...

stufisher

Not quite a movie but I've dusted down Band Of Brothers HBO box set ready to watch imminently.

Last time I watched it was 2012 ... with my dad (now deceased), who was a Normandy veteran and was actually there. TBH ... I spent large chunks of time watching him watching it. He said Dec 1944 (Bastogne) was the coldest he'd ever felt in his life.

Not sure I'll get through the series without some floods of tears but hey, it's good to feel alive eh?

Stu

bobblehat

The Batman 2022 -  A tiny bit long but  Very , Very good . 9/10 . 
Finch  - Tom Hanks is as solid as ever 8/10  (Apple TV)  

Offset

The Odessa File (1974) A great film despite the unsatisfactory ending.  The real life denouement for Eduard Roschmann was far more interesting, but came about 3 years after the film was released.  Still recommended.  7.5/10.

KDS

stufisher said:

Not quite a movie but I've dusted down Band Of Brothers HBO box set ready to watch imminently.

Last time I watched it was 2012 ... with my dad (now deceased), who was a Normandy veteran and was actually there. TBH ... I spent large chunks of time watching him watching it. He said Dec 1944 (Bastogne) was the coldest he'd ever felt in his life.

Not sure I'll get through the series without some floods of tears but hey, it's good to feel alive eh?

Stu

I think that's the best Tv I've ever watched, off hand I can't think of a better film

sinbaadi

Band of Brothers is a masterpiece.  

BigBearKris

stufisher said:

Not quite a movie but I've dusted down Band Of Brothers HBO box set ready to watch imminently.

Last time I watched it was 2012 ... with my dad (now deceased), who was a Normandy veteran and was actually there. TBH ... I spent large chunks of time watching him watching it. He said Dec 1944 (Bastogne) was the coldest he'd ever felt in his life.

Not sure I'll get through the series without some floods of tears but hey, it's good to feel alive eh?

Stu

Amazing series... 

Of you haven't seen it: "Pacific" is worth watching too. Not as good in my opinion, but nevertheless.

SPECTRUM001

Two trips to the ACTUAL cinema this week !!

The Godfather - 1972 - Francis Ford Coppola 

Obviously this film doesn’t need a review. But…if you have never seen it on the big screen, seek out this 50 year anniversary release.

I first saw maestro Coppola’s masterpiece via a video recording when I was fourteen in ‘78. The story and choreography was gripping, the acting like nothing I had seen before and the music just so romantic. 

I am happy to times that by twenty when seeing it in a cinema. Details and sounds I had never noticed previously, twitches and expressions that demonstrate how well Coppola directed his (stellar) cast. And humour - it comes alive in a way I had not expected.

Up there with Casablanca on my 10/10 list.



The Duke - 2022 - John Madden

This enjoyable caper stars Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, and offers an affectionate portrayal of life in the North East in the sixties. Based on a true story about the theft of Goya’s depiction of the Duke of Wellington.

It’s funny, heartfelt and nostalgic. Also sticks two fingers up at the British establishment and class system.

6.5/10

stufisher

@BigBearKris ; good call with Pacific ... I have also dug out that boxset too to watch back to back with BoB

The others I have dusted down are The Wire (which I think is the best cop/crime series ever) and The Sopranos (which, embarrassingly, is still in its outer wrap, unopened).

I might then watch Das Boot again in a few months time  ... let's face it, all of the above are way ahead of the standard broadcasting fayre on offer these days.

Stu

Reggaebass

I might then watch Das Boot again 

Stu

I watched that a few weeks ago for the first time, it’s such a great film, it really drew me in