What films have you watched recently?

rze99

The Duke of Burgundy

2015 Erotic drama film written and directed by Peter Strickland, and starring Sidse Babett Knudsen as Cynthia and Chiara D'Anna as Evelyn.

Shot in evocative, lush, dreamy 1970s style, this highly unusual tale of power and control shifts within a lesbian couple's ritualistic S&M sub-dom relationship is languid and erotic.

Set in alternative universe of female-only Lepidopterological academics living in Italianate opulence and style, it is beautiful while gradually drawing out the threads of pretence and revealing the opening cracks of a relationship built on ritualised artifice and suppressed true needs.

The film penetrates deeper into the psyche of evolving relationship dynamics asking questions of the viewer about their own relationship power games. 

Recommended for the broad-minded.

8/10

goldtop

^ The posh bit of my brain enjoyed your review and the use of many grown-up words, but my reptilian brain was already on-board after "Sidse Babett Knudsen" and "lesbian couple's ritualistic S&M".

(It also appreciated the double meaning of "broad-minded".)

rze99

goldtop said:

^ The posh bit of my brain enjoyed your review and the use of many grown-up words, but my reptilian brain was already on-board after "Sidse Babett Knudsen" and "lesbian couple's ritualistic S&M".

(It also appreciated the double meaning of "broad-minded".)

Rich Lesbian pervy flick covers it

Grangousier

Have you seen Flux Gourmet, Strickland's latest? Basically "what if Throbbing Gristle, but cooking?" I love Strickland, he's the only one making weird art movies like the 80s. 

Philly_Q

^  Of Strickland's films I've only seen Berberian Sound Studio and In Fabric, probably because both are billed as horror movies, of sorts.  They both had elements I really liked, but I didn't find them totally involving.  I don't think I'm highbrow enough.

goldtop

From these hints, he sounds a bit like Greenaway?

Philly_Q

goldtop said:

From these hints, he sounds a bit like Greenaway?

Based on my limited knowledge of both... it seems to me there are similarities.

Haych

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

As a showcase for special effects it is visually brilliant.

Otherwise, one of the biggest pile of bollocks I've seen for a long, long time!

And I paid for the privilege!

Local cinema.

2/10

Reggaebass

ID2 Shadwell army on Netflix, I thought it was quite dreadful , bad acting, bad story and bad all round 

UnclePsychosis

I finally got round to watching Tenet.

I cant decide what i thought of it. It reminded me of Primer, only with a much higher budget and a woolier plot.

It looked and sounded amazing, and I'm glad I watched it, but i have zero desire to watch it again. Honestly no idea what rating to give it! 

Philly_Q

Watcher (Amazon Prime or Rakuten)

Not to be confused with the Netflix series The Watcher...

This is about a young American woman who moves to Bucharest due to her husband's career.  Left alone, most of the time, in strange surroundings, she becomes convinced that a man in a neighbouring apartment is watching and following her.  The film takes ages, frankly, to get going, but it is nevertheless quite atmospheric and ultimately effective.  Maybe not worth the £4.99 though.

stickyfiddle

UnclePsychosis said:

I finally got round to watching Tenet.

I cant decide what i thought of it. It reminded me of Primer, only with a much higher budget and a woolier plot.

It looked and sounded amazing, and I'm glad I watched it, but i have zero desire to watch it again. Honestly no idea what rating to give it! 

Sounds about right. I don't remember if I gave it a score in here either. 

I'm convinced there is a good movie in there somewhere but it felt like Nolan needs a ballsy editor to really take a chisel to it. And a sound mixer to just tell him to stop being a knob.

UnclePsychosis

stickyfiddle said:

UnclePsychosis said:

I finally got round to watching Tenet.

I cant decide what i thought of it. It reminded me of Primer, only with a much higher budget and a woolier plot.

It looked and sounded amazing, and I'm glad I watched it, but i have zero desire to watch it again. Honestly no idea what rating to give it! 

Sounds about right. I don't remember if I gave it a score in here either. 

I'm convinced there is a good movie in there somewhere but it felt like Nolan needs a ballsy editor to really take a chisel to it. And a sound mixer to just tell him to stop being a knob.

The sound mix is absolutely dreadful, not being able to hear half the dialogue in a film which is deliberately confusing is a dick move. 

chillidoggy

Bandit (Amazon Prime)

Supposed true story about a grifter who escapes prison, flees to Canada, and commits Gawd knows how many bank robberies. Also stars a now ancient-looking Mel Gibson as a fence/money launderer.

Lighthearted, fun, and instantly forgettable. 4/10 on the Scoville Scale.

Offset

Ava (2020)

Oh wow.  A great cast.  An utterly appalling movie.  Assassin Jessica Chastain fucks up a hit and finds herself being targeted by her own employer.  John Malkovich, Colin Farrell and Geena Davis incomprehensibly find themselves in this utter dog-turd of a film.  By turns unbelievable, badly acted (yes really), poorly scripted and boring this is pretty much unwatchable.  It was so crap we gave up around half way.

1/10 - avoid like the pox.

Brio

Die Hart
A truly awful film.
Kevin Hart plays himself wanting to stop being The Rock's comedy sidekick and become an action hero.
The rib tickling fun never starts, even with Travolta and Ramsey from Fast&Furious in it.

What makes it even worse is that it is footage from a TV series screened in 2020 edited down for the film. Jesus, how soul destroying must that have been to watch spread over a longer runtime.
0/10 to 4/10 depending on how much you like/detest Kevin Hart.

Damn you Amazon 

Philly_Q

Brio said:

Die Hart
0/10 to 4/10 depending on how much you like/detest Kevin Hart.

Can we have minus numbers...?

Brio

Ava (2020) 
Oh wow.  A great cast.  An utterly appalling movie.

I agree. The only movies like that I've enjoyed recently were Bresson's Anna and Gunpowder Milkshake.

HerbieTheRadDorklift

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
9/10 - wonderful, heartbreaking, uplifting, visually lovely film. I was fighting the tears from about halfway through. Would be a 10 but there were a couple strong American references that don't translate unless you know of them.

LastMantra

ICBM said:

Kittyfrisk said:

If it's Nicholas Cage you're after, it has to be the Coen brothers 'Raising Arizona'. Even his hair deserved an acting award...

It's the only one I can stand. He plays a moron... quite well .

That was the first first time I seen NC and thought he was great in it, but since then I've never been able to take him seriously.