What films have you watched recently?

Keiko

BigBearKris said:

bobblehat said:

Oppenheimer  - Given aIl the hype and awards I was a little underwhelmed. 7/10

Agreed.

I just told my missus that I want to rewatch it in case I wasn't in right frame of mind the first time. I found it very slow paced (not necessarily a bad thing) and characters quite flat. It never got the momentum going, which I was surprised about.

Saw it a few months ago and hated it. Couldn't wait for it to end.

Timcito

bobblehat said:

robgilmo said:

Going to have a Convoy Sunday, showed my wee boy this and he seemed interested, so , wither or not we will get the whole movie in before he gets bored, who knows.

I loved that movie as a kid.  Big American trucks and CB's may not hold the same fascination for kids these days.

It's interesting how many films of the 70s worked rebellious features from the late 60s into their stories. The leading character was often (a bit) long-haired, a free spirit, misunderstood, on the road, sexually (very) active, and kickin' against 'the man' in some way. By the early 70s, these gestures of rebellion had become so mainstream that I think audiences came to expect them. Kris Kristofferson's character in Convoy was a classic example.

ICBM

bobblehat said:

Big American trucks and CB's may not hold the same fascination for kids these days.

Nor would Ali MacGraw, probably... I did quite like her in it, I think I was 12 or 13 when I first saw it.

Devil#20

rze99 said:

Mr Jones

BBC IPlayer

Movie based on the true story of the determined British journalist Gareth Jones, who uncovers the truth of the miracle success of the Soviet economy hides the reality of a devastating famine ('Holodomor') in which millions died in Ukrainian Republic, then part of the Soviet Union.

A reminder -  if we needed one - about the need for heroic journalism to uncover terrible deeds.

A tale for our times. Again.

Very good.

8/10

Wow. To my shame and lack of historical education I'd never hear of the Holodomor. I watched Mr Jones and got to say it played down the seriousness of that recent history. Made me curious to read up about it afterwards. It was merely hinted at in Me Jones but even reading about it on Wikipedia (good article) was a real eye-opener. What those people resorted to was the stuff of nightmares and I'm not going to go into detail here. It's truly horrific. In my opinion that was on a level with the Holocaust and in fact was an act of genocide in larger numbers and in less than a year. Over 7 million killed (or strictly speaking left to starve to death for political reasons). Is the current war with waged by Russia on Ukraine just a long standing vendetta against them following the break up of the USSR? The cruelty that man can commit to fellow man is incomprehensible. Thanks @rze99 for the history lesson pointing me in the direction of this. Why is this not remembered by the rest of the civilised world like the Holocaust is? It is by the US, Canada etc but not nearer to home. It should be. 

Philly_Q

Downrange (Shudder)

A remote, deserted road.  Six twenty-somethings in a people-carrier.  A tyre blows out and they're forced to stop... there's no cell phone signal.  All a very familiar setup for horror movie fans... and then an unseen marksman starts shooting at them.

I'd seen this before but couldn't remember if I liked it or not.  I think I probably did.  It's more than a little implausible but it's a bloody, mean-spirited, highly effective 90-minute thriller.

breakstuff

Philly_Q said:

Downrange (Shudder)

A remote, deserted road.  Six twenty-somethings in a people-carrier.  A tyre blows out and they're forced to stop... there's no cell phone signal.  All a very familiar setup for horror movie fans... and then an unseen marksman starts shooting at them.

I'd seen this before but couldn't remember if I liked it or not.  I think I probably did.  It's more than a little implausible but it's a bloody, mean-spirited, highly effective 90-minute thriller.

I keep pausing on this one while scrolling through Shudder and always ends up giving it a swerve. Will give it a go now thanks to your recommendation @Philly_Q ;

Saving Late Night With The Devil until the weekend. Can't wait.

Offset

Late Night With The Devil (2023), Shudder

I was going to save this for tonight but Mrs O and I decided we'd both watch it last night.

I won't go through the plot again as it's been done elsewhere in the thread and I'm conscious of spoilers.  I'll cut to the chase - I enjoyed it, but not without some caveats.

First, the good.  The film's 1970's schtick is very well done, right down to the (low) quality of American TV transmissions of the era.  The overall 'feel' and style is very convincing, especially the switch between the broadcast segments and the off-camera scenes.  The acting is great, and David Dastmalchian in particular is excellent as the beleaguered chat-show host.

Second, elements up for discussion.  I found a couple of sections in the first half of the film very slow, and my attention wandered on several occasions.  Also... this is not a scary film - no jumps, shivers or eye-widening at any point - certainly not for me.  At certain points it couldn't seem to make up its' mind if it was actually (in part) a comedy; there are certainly some laugh-out-loud moments which I enjoyed.

The denouement didn't particularly surprise me as the clues were there early on in the proceedings.  It was fairly effective however.

So... good fun with some excellent aspects to it.  Some reservations as highlighted above but one of the better films I've seen recently.

7.5/10.

goldtop

Oldboy (NowTV). I'd seen it before, but had forgotten how the plot played out, so I watched it again. Fantastic writing, cinematography and story, although this time I was sometimes put off by bits of the comic fighting/gore. I'm still pondering about the meaning of the ending. 9/10

robgilmo

bobblehat said:

robgilmo said:

Going to have a Convoy Sunday, showed my wee boy this and he seemed interested, so , wither or not we will get the whole movie in before he gets bored, who knows.

I loved that movie as a kid.  Big American trucks and CB's may not hold the same fascination for kids these days.

Its a great movie, my wee boy got to the dirt road bit then gave up , I skipped through the sexy bit, so he done well considering it doesnt have ninja turtles or robots in it.

There is an interesting documentary about it.

rze99

Dune 2

My son is totally besotted by these 2 movies.

I found them technically fantastic from a visual and audio standpoint.

I was not a fan of Dune the book, back when I was a teenager, I think I just stopped reading it, it didn't grab me.

The great thing is that son is reading a novel again, so thanks to he movies for that!

I have to be honest, I really didn't care for the characters, the dialogue or the plot. I didn't believe in it, I didn't believe in Spice, Sand Worms and I had no emotional attachment to any character. I just found it all a bit lacking.

Great soundtrack.  

My son - 10/10 "The best film I've ever seen"

My daughter - I don't know, she disappeared about an hour before the end  and was fiddling with her phone when watching it so not good signs.

My wife "not interested, I'll do something else"

Me. 9/10 technical, audio and design brilliance. 4/10 for characters, the dialogue and the plot.


 

Stratavarious

Tried Dune 2.. underwhelmed again.  Gave up after half an hour or so.  Just not enough story or characters to feel invested in,  Part 1 took two attempts but I don’t see ‘a truly great movie’ as many claim,

Perhaps I’ll wait for a long flight and download them.  See if the pair play stronger as a run through narrative.

Offset

Philly_Q said:

Eight for Silver (Netflix)

Rural France, 1882... a group of greedy landowners are cursed by gypsies and find themselves under attack by a mysterious creature...  This reminded me of Brotherhood of the Wolf, minus nearly all of the scares and action.  And in fact the Beast of Gevaudan is mentioned several times.  

The film's set in a part of France where it's permanently grey and misty and most people have English or Irish names, which I found rather odd.  Boyd Holbrook (from The Predator) is the hero and talks in a strange accent which isn't British, Irish or French but - to be fair - doesn't sound American either.  The drab look - all natural light, flames or candlelight - is quite stylish and the film's bloodier than I was expecting, but the performances are all rather flat and wooden.

I watched this last night.  Yes, it reminded me of Brotherhood as well - but oddly the plot (and the atmosphere/use of light) put me in mind of Sleepy Hollow - especially the ending.  The acting wasn't out of the top drawer, and I too was puzzled by the characters' names and accents given it's set in France.  However...

I absolutely loved it.  The scenery, the camerawork, the wonderful use of natural light and the permanently grey, misty outdoor settings all added up to an extremely atmospheric film.  For me, atmosphere is all and this had it by the bucketload.  I could overlook the acting and some of the stranger plot quirks as it was so great to look at, and I was able to really immerse myself in it.  It felt truly oppressive and the sense of foreboding increased as the film progressed.  The creature was rendered differently to the way more traditional films in the genre choose to represent it and worked well for me.

One element confused me - I'll just say 'Richard Kiel' so I don't give too much away :-) ...but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  It could have been made with me in mind.

8.5/10.

Brio

"I too was puzzled by the characters' names and accents given it's set in France."

I'd be more confused by the fact they're not speaking French. 
Funny that most of us seem to have had no problems with Allo Allo...

Offset

Brio said:

"I too was puzzled by the characters' names and accents given it's set in France."

I'd be more confused by the fact they're not speaking French. 

I'm not sure I'd expect a character named John McBride to speak French :-)

It was all a bit odd.

Philly_Q

@Offset glad you liked it... it's always interesting how films (or books, or music) can totally work for one viewer and not for another.  Nothing's definitively good or bad (well....).

equalsql

Musica    Amazon Prime.

The story of a young Brazilian musician/puppeteer living in New York who hears rhythms in all the world around him.
A genuinely original approach to making a modern musical that's very entertaining.
Some great set pieces that mix both film and stage scene setting techniques,.
A really fresh take on the rom-com format and definitely worth your while.
9/10

uncledick

Stratavarious said:

Tried Dune 2.. underwhelmed again.  Gave up after half an hour or so.  Just not enough story or characters to feel invested in,  Part 1 took two attempts but I don’t see ‘a truly great movie’ as many claim,

Perhaps I’ll wait for a long flight and download them.  See if the pair play stronger as a run through narrative.

I remember hiring Dune 1 on VHS (shows my age) and have rarely been so bored.  Despite paying the two quid or whatever it was back then, we gave up after about 20 minutes.

uncledick

Keiko said:

BigBearKris said:

bobblehat said:

Oppenheimer  - Given aIl the hype and awards I was a little underwhelmed. 7/10

Agreed.

I just told my missus that I want to rewatch it in case I wasn't in right frame of mind the first time. I found it very slow paced (not necessarily a bad thing) and characters quite flat. It never got the momentum going, which I was surprised about.

Saw it a few months ago and hated it. Couldn't wait for it to end.

Definitely dull even if it is an interesting time history.  If I'm working alone, I'll find old Richard Feynman lectures on Youtube.  Fantastic orator and totally engaging.  Carl Sagan too - ahead of his time.

Philly_Q

uncledick said:

Stratavarious said:

Tried Dune 2.. underwhelmed again.  Gave up after half an hour or so.  Just not enough story or characters to feel invested in,  Part 1 took two attempts but I don’t see ‘a truly great movie’ as many claim,

Perhaps I’ll wait for a long flight and download them.  See if the pair play stronger as a run through narrative.

I remember hiring Dune 1 on VHS (shows my age) and have rarely been so bored.  Despite paying the two quid or whatever it was back then, we gave up after about 20 minutes.

That's a different "Dune 1".

Shrews

The Father

I watched this not knowing what it was about.

In the first 15 minutes or so it was apparent 'something was going on', something not quite right. Initial thoughts were that someone in the family wanted him to think he was crazy, so as to get their hands on the house, inheritance etc. Y'know the usual plot. Even with 10 minutes to go I felt there would be a twist.

There wasn't.

Had I have read this was a tale of an old man and his family struggling with dementia I probably wouldn't have watched it.

I am so glad I did. Perfect. 

Anthony Hopkins was 10/10 in Silence of the Lambs but turned it up to 11 here.

At the first signs of dementia I think my personal choice is to make my peace with life, settle my finances, write my letters and go out in style. I don't want the last paragraphs of my personal life story to be like this.

This film is brilliantly written. Please don't avoid it. It will undoubtedly leave its mark and I love cinema that does that.

10/10