What films have you watched recently?

Offset

Awake (2021, Netflix).  This film was so tedious I can scarcely be bothered to outline the plot, but here goes.  Everything dependent on electricity stops working.  People lose the ability to sleep.  That's about it, but it takes 96 minutes to get there and I'd given up well before that.

2/10

Brio

Stratavarious said:
Yep. Some memorable scenes for a kid. Up there with First Men In The Moon.

Just rewatched that. Realised I much preferred The Mouse on the Moon. So I'll watch that next...

Offset

Having a nice lazy NYE so I sat down to watch Airport '77 on one of the Freeview channels specialising in old shite.

Complete tosh of course with a ludicrous plot, some hammy acting and a bunch of cliched characters - but it has an ensemble cast and was enjoyable in a way only '70s disaster movies can be.

Good old-fashioned brain-dead fun.

6/10.

SPECTRUM001

axisus said:

Danny1969 said:

Mothering Sunday - Netflix

Dull as hell and had it not been for the huge amount of nudity ...

quiety ... reaches ... for ... remote ... whilst ... wife ... sleeps ... on ... sofa ...

Parking the copious nudity level to one side, I really liked ‘Mothering Sunday’. Agreed @Danny1969, it isn’t Raging Bull, but that smouldering depth gave me quite a lot to think about.

We also watched the new version of ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ which has a similar pace and feel. Also a lot of nudity, and The Crown’s Princess Di to Mothering Sunday’s Prince Charles.

Given the slow burn, you may wish to avoid !!!!

Danny1969

SPECTRUM001 said:

axisus said:

Danny1969 said:

Mothering Sunday - Netflix

Dull as hell and had it not been for the huge amount of nudity ...

quiety ... reaches ... for ... remote ... whilst ... wife ... sleeps ... on ... sofa ...

Parking the copious nudity level to one side, I really liked ‘Mothering Sunday’. Agreed @Danny1969, it isn’t Raging Bull, but that smouldering depth gave me quite a lot to think about.

We also watched the new version of ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ which has a similar pace and feel. Also a lot of nudity, and The Crown’s Princess Di to Mothering Sunday’s Prince Charles.

Given the slow burn, you may wish to avoid !!!!

I saw the new Lady Chatterly as well and quite liked it. 

Last night I saw the new Adam Driver film, White Noise. Now this film will polarise people. I loved it. I know it's adapted from the book but I've never read that so had no comparison. What I loved was the absurdity weaved into the plot, the scenes shot in nods to other films (IMO) and the choice and  use of background music  

Reggaebass

Indiana Jones last night, such a great family film, temple of doom is on now 

TTBZ

Finally got round to watching Knives Out, really enjoyed it. Just a good fun film with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. Glass Onion was ok, not as good but still enjoyable enough.

axisus

Brio said:

Stratavarious said:
Yep. Some memorable scenes for a kid. Up there with First Men In The Moon.

Just rewatched that. Realised I much preferred The Mouse on the Moon. So I'll watch that next...

Where did you see it? I’ve been dying to watch again for decades!

EricTheWeary

See How They Run

Disney

Stylised faux Christie movie, probably about 1/1000th the budget of Glass Onion but much more enjoyable. 

axisus

EricTheWeary said:

See How They Run

Disney

Stylised faux Christie movie, probably about 1/1000th the budget of Glass Onion but much more enjoyable. 

Yeah, enjoyed that!

boogieman

PhilW1 said:

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ - Netflix

really good

Watched it yesterday too, thought it was excellent. Obviously very grim in places but superbly filmed and acted. 

Also watched the new stop-animated version of Pinnochio on Netflix. It’s quite odd and definitely not like the Disney version. The songs are pretty quirky and jar a bit : personally I think there was no need for most of them. Otherwise it’s a good watch with some very clever animation. 

sinbaadi

EricTheWeary said:

See How They Run

Disney

Stylised faux Christie movie, probably about 1/1000th the budget of Glass Onion but much more enjoyable. 

We really enjoyed this.  Some Wes Anderson feel to it in parts, and some quite off the wall laughs, which shouldn't be hugely surprising considering the director's previous work includes This Country.

rze99

Not a movie but we've just finished and enjoyed

A Spy Among Friends

on ITVX

A fictional work based on a true story and the book by Ben MacIntyre (that's important to remember). A spy thriller based on the escape of Kim Philby (Guy Pearce) to Russia and his relationship with Nick  Elliott (Damian Lewis)

Guy Pearce is superb and convincing throughout as the charismatic traitor. Damian Lewis is deceptively quietly engaging and mysterious as Nick also there's a great performance by Anna Maxwell Martin who plays Lily a (non existent) real life character as an MI5 interrogator. Also a neat appearance by Ade Edmonson as Sir Roger Hollis, 

Its a long tale of deception, friendship, intrigue, double-crossing and suspense over locations from Istanbul, Beirut and London to Moscow and Ohio. Beautifully shot with some excellently done period detail and impressive scenes in London as was.
Very enjoyable.

We had to keep playing back bits all the time because you have to follow it really closely and don't try to marry it up with real life facts because it's all over the place in terms of what is true and what is fiction which I found hard to reconcile, knowing about the real life events to an extent a distraction. Other criticism here is that there were too many spare scenes which, while creating mood, didn't shift the narrative along and I think could have been by cut in overall length by a quarter. 

Recommended 7/10

SPECTRUM001

Betty Blue - Dir by Jean-Jacques Beineix (1986)

Whilst I still play the soundtrack LP, haven’t actually see this masterpiece for over thirty years. A profound and groundbreaking film that made Beatrice Dalle a global sensation, and that holds up very well indeed.

Of course Jean-Hughes Anglade is the real star - his portrayal of Zorg (Betty’s hapless and charming lover) incorporates French cool as far as it can go - and never becomes gratuitous. The film itself owes a debt to Jacques Tati and fits into European eighties cinema like a glove.

The story, Cinematography and acting is all great as long as it is seen for what it is - which is a love letter to sensuality and the human condition. Ultimately a sad tragedy, it has a big place in my nostalgic heart.

How’s that for a pretentious review !!!!

9/10

axisus

rze99 said:

Not a movie but we've just finished and enjoyed

A Spy Among Friends

on ITVX

A fictional work based on a true story and the book by Ben MacIntyre (that's important to remember). A spy thriller based on the escape of Kim Philby (Guy Pearce) to Russia and his relationship with Nick  Elliott (Damian Lewis)

Guy Pearce is superb and convincing throughout as the charismatic traitor. Damian Lewis is deceptively quietly engaging and mysterious as Nick also there's a great performance by Anna Maxwell Martin who plays Lily a (non existent) real life character as an MI5 interrogator. Also a neat appearance by Ade Edmonson as Sir Roger Hollis, 

Its a long tale of deception, friendship, intrigue, double-crossing and suspense over locations from Istanbul, Beirut and London to Moscow and Ohio. Beautifully shot with some excellently done period detail and impressive scenes in London as was.
Very enjoyable.

We had to keep playing back bits all the time because you have to follow it really closely and don't try to marry it up with real life facts because it's all over the place in terms of what is true and what is fiction which I found hard to reconcile, knowing about the real life events to an extent a distraction. Other criticism here is that there were too many spare scenes which, while creating mood, didn't shift the narrative along and I think could have been by cut in overall length by a quarter. 

Recommended 7/10

I loved this! For me it was more an 8.5/10, but then I'm a BIG fan of both Damian Lewis and Anna Maxwell Martin. 

I really like cold war spy stuff.

Stratavarious

Arctic..

Like 127 Hours.. but in the cold..   random pick that turned out to be solid survival/human spirit movie that kept my attention throughout. 

Mads Mikklesen does a really great acting turn, essentially having to carry the movie on his own. He does get a female co-star but I’ll leave you to find out how.

8/10 

stufisher

Given your interest in WW1 tanks @LastMantra you might wish to watch a few videos by Mark Felton. Here's a link to one to get you started:

I think he's a great researcher/military historian.

So, is Peter Barton ... he's a WW1 specialist, so this might interest you:



Also, here's a link to Fray Bentos:

Jfingers

Late to the party, but on NYE we watched Bad Times At The El Royale.

I'd had it downloaded to a phone and a laptop since it was released in 2018.

Some excellent performances, fantastic soundtrack. Tarantino without the baggage 8/10.

LastMantra

stufisher said:

Given your interest in WW1 tanks @LastMantra you might wish to watch a few videos by Mark Felton. Here's a link to one to get you started:

I think he's a great researcher/military historian.

So, is Peter Barton ... he's a WW1 specialist, so this might interest you:



Also, here's a link to Fray Bentos:

Cool, thanks very much @stufisher! 

Shrews

SPECTRUM001 said:

Betty Blue - Dir by Jean-Jacques Beineix (1986)

Whilst I still play the soundtrack LP, haven’t actually see this masterpiece for over thirty years. A profound and groundbreaking film that made Beatrice Dalle a global sensation, and that holds up very well indeed.

Of course Jean-Hughes Anglade is the real star - his portrayal of Zorg (Betty’s hapless and charming lover) incorporates French cool as far as it can go - and never becomes gratuitous. The film itself owes a debt to Jacques Tati and fits into European eighties cinema like a glove.

The story, Cinematography and acting is all great as long as it is seen for what it is - which is a love letter to sensuality and the human condition. Ultimately a sad tragedy, it has a big place in my nostalgic heart.

How’s that for a pretentious review !!!!

9/10

This was one of the most surprising films I've ever watched. I didn't expect the story to unfold as it did and I'm surprised it's still seen as 70's erotica (mild nowadays) whwn it is about so much more

And she is absolutely stunning in the role. 

A little overlong, so yes I would agree, a solid 9/10 for me.