What films have you watched recently?

Haych

See How They Run

Lighthearted whodunit set in 1953 which ended up being a pretty decent film.

A screenwriter tasked with turning Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap into a film is murdered in the prop room and theatrically placed on the stage, triggering a manhunt where everybody is a potential suspect.

Sam Rockwell does a very good job of the investigating officer and is accompanied by Saoirse Ronan as his sidekick.

It's not what you would call laugh out loud funny but it's kept light-hearted and is certainly very watchable and entertaining.

There seems to be a few circular references to The Mousetrap dotted throughout the film - I've never seen it so I don't know if the movie is meant to be the adaptation of the play or not.

I enjoyed it.  7+/10. Disney Plus, I think

sinbaadi

Haych said:

See How They Run

Lighthearted whodunit set in 1953 which ended up being a pretty decent film.

A screenwriter tasked with turning Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap into a film is murdered in the prop room and theatrically placed on the stage, triggering a manhunt where everybody is a potential suspect.

Sam Rockwell does a very good job of the investigating officer and is accompanied by Saoirse Ronan as his sidekick.

It's not what you would call laugh out loud funny but it's kept light-hearted and is certainly very watchable and entertaining.

There seems to be a few circular references to The Mousetrap dotted throughout the film - I've never seen it so I don't know if the movie is meant to be the adaptation of the play or not.

I enjoyed it.  7+/10. Disney Plus, I think

I laughed out loud at the Jigsaw bit!  But otherwise I'd agree.  Very pleasant and fun.

Philly_Q

The Beta Test (Amazon Prime)

Actor/writer/director Jim Cummings has made a film I loved - Thunder Road - and a film I liked - The Wolf of Snow Hollow.

His latest film is... irritating.  Cummings plays Jordan Hines, a Hollywood agent desperately trying to maintain the illusion of success, who receives a letter - in a purple envelope - inviting him to an anonymous, no strings attached sexual encounter.  He goes through with it, and then goes completely off the rails whilst (sort of) investigating who sent him the invitation.

Hines is a loathsome character and the whole thing feels like some weird Hollywood in-joke I didn't understand.  It's not thrilling, it's not very funny... I just didn't get it.

SteveRobinson

Haych said:

See How They Run

Lighthearted whodunit set in 1953 which ended up being a pretty decent film.

Yes enjoyed that very much thanks for the tip. I'll have to watch it again after I've told Mrs R how good it is.

Philly_Q

I Came By (Netflix)

A young graffiti artist, who spends his time "tagging" the homes of wealthy people, gets into trouble when he breaks into the house of a former judge a discovers a disturbing secret.  With little help from the police, the boy's mother and his best friend take the investigation into their own hands.

Don't let the decent cast (Hugh Bonneville, Kelly Macdonald) fool you, this feeble "thriller" is bogged down by unlikeable, implausible characters, clumsy socio-political messages and a plot which lurches from one eye-rolling moment to the next.  How do I keep picking this shit?  

Poboy

sinbaadi said:

Haych said:

See How They Run

Lighthearted whodunit set in 1953 which ended up being a pretty decent film.

A screenwriter tasked with turning Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap into a film is murdered in the prop room and theatrically placed on the stage, triggering a manhunt where everybody is a potential suspect.

Sam Rockwell does a very good job of the investigating officer and is accompanied by Saoirse Ronan as his sidekick.

It's not what you would call laugh out loud funny but it's kept light-hearted and is certainly very watchable and entertaining.

There seems to be a few circular references to The Mousetrap dotted throughout the film - I've never seen it so I don't know if the movie is meant to be the adaptation of the play or not.

I enjoyed it.  7+/10. Disney Plus, I think

I laughed out loud at the Jigsaw bit!  But otherwise I'd agree.  Very pleasant and fun.

I saw this tonight but missed the 'jigsaw bit'...?

sinbaadi

Poboy said:

sinbaadi said:

Haych said:

See How They Run

Lighthearted whodunit set in 1953 which ended up being a pretty decent film.

A screenwriter tasked with turning Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap into a film is murdered in the prop room and theatrically placed on the stage, triggering a manhunt where everybody is a potential suspect.

Sam Rockwell does a very good job of the investigating officer and is accompanied by Saoirse Ronan as his sidekick.

It's not what you would call laugh out loud funny but it's kept light-hearted and is certainly very watchable and entertaining.

There seems to be a few circular references to The Mousetrap dotted throughout the film - I've never seen it so I don't know if the movie is meant to be the adaptation of the play or not.

I enjoyed it.  7+/10. Disney Plus, I think

I laughed out loud at the Jigsaw bit!  But otherwise I'd agree.  Very pleasant and fun.

I saw this tonight but missed the 'jigsaw bit'...?

I think it was in a montage piece showing what some of the characters were doing in the evening.  Just a very odd, and quite Wes Anderson-like, thing.

paulnb57

Gangs of New York

Thoroughly enjoyed it

Reggaebass

Watched Fall on Netflix, quite good I thought but the ending could have been a bit better 

SteveRobinson

I gave Tenet a go. I couldn't get past the idea of bullets with "negative entropy". After 20 minutes or so it was a no from me.

JEM

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Quite artsy (much of it feels more like a stage play than a film) and perhaps not for everyone but I really enjoyed it. It's easy to see why River Phoenix was held in such high regard but what really surprised me was how good Keanu Reeves was in it. Up until now the only thing I'd ever liked him in was Bill and Ted.

Offset

Reggaebass said:

Watched Fall on Netflix, quite good I thought but the ending could have been a bit better 

Ha - I watched this last night.  I have a serious fear of heights so this film absolutely terrified me.  I had to turn away on plenty of occasions and I was worried I wouldn't be able to sleep.

I enjoyed it in a masochistic way but agree with you that the ending was weak.  However, good performances from the two central characters plus great f/x and camera work made it an enjoyable watch.

6.5/10

axisus

For the first time in many years I dug out my copy of Mirrormask. It's a low budget fantasy film with a girl going on a strange journey. Stylistically it is very weird and interesting. Story written by the exceptional Neil Gaiman. I don't think it's a film that you can give a high score to, but that's not to say it isn't an interesting watch. I think I can stretch to 7/10

How weird? Here's a couple of film images:

AlbertC

More on Nicolas Cage...
It's an OTT performance, but he's great in Moonstruck, which is a fabulous rom-com but with a really excellent, witty script and excellent characters.

Tenet - had no solid grasp of WTF was going but I was kind of dazzled by it - like a Bond film on steroids

SteveRobinson

The Sisters Brothers (iPlayer)

I do love a good western and this didn't disappoint

goldtop

Women Talking (cinema) #MeToo within an Amish-like community. The title exactly sums up the full 90 minutes of the film, so if you're not up for that, then don't bother. It was OK, not great. 6/10

SteveRobinson

AlbertC said:

Tenet - had no solid grasp of WTF was going but I was kind of dazzled by it - like a Bond film on steroids 

I'm afraid I lasted about 20 minutes, I found the whole concept of negative entropy to be nonsense and I couldn't bear it.

mattdavis

Saw the film of the play Sus last night at the regents street cinema, at an evening to launch the return of the Soho poly theatre where the play was first performed. Very disturbing and sadly still as immediately relevant now as it was in 1979. Not a fun watch, and it is very much a film of a stage play rather than a ‘filmy’ film, but still important viewing. 

Also just finished All Quiet On The Western Front. Wonderfully shot and acted but just utterly, utterly depressing. Terrifying to see the how nationalism can so seamlessly lead to 17 million deaths. 

Going to need something lighter towards the end of the week….

Philly_Q

Smile (Amazon Prime)

Rose, a psychotherapist, is traumatised when one of her patients commits suicide in front of her.  She learns that just days before, the patient had witnessed a similar death and in fact there's been a whole chain of these events.  Is Rose doomed to the same fate?

Passing on - and trying to avoid - a curse is a familiar idea in horror movies, but this is a pretty decent variation on the theme.  It's not over-reliant on CGI either.  Worth a watch.

Offset

Philly_Q said:

Passing on - and trying to avoid - a curse is a familiar idea in horror movies, but this is a pretty decent variation on the theme.  It's not over-reliant on CGI either.  Worth a watch.

My favourite of the genre is Night Of The Demon, which is an adaptation of M.R. James' Casting The Runes.  There was something really disturbing about the film's atmosphere and I love it.

Drag Me To Hell is a decent variation on the theme.