What films have you watched recently?

strumjoughlamps

Philly_Q said:

Five Nights at Freddy's (Amazon Prime)

The makers of this film must have watched The Banana Splits Movie and Willy's Wonderland and thought to themselves "you know, giant murderous cartoon-animal robots are all very well... but what our film really needs is a deadly-serious plot about a twenty-something loser trying to keep custody of his kid sister whilst dealing with his own childhood trauma".

It's hard to describe how bad this is.  It's completely devoid of humour, not remotely scary and worst of all it's incredibly dull.

Yep, and even worse if you’re a fan of the games..

a huge opportunity missed

Kurtis

Philly_Q said:

Five Nights at Freddy's (Amazon Prime)

The makers of this film must have watched The Banana Splits Movie and Willy's Wonderland and thought to themselves "you know, giant murderous cartoon-animal robots are all very well... but what our film really needs is a deadly-serious plot about a twenty-something loser trying to keep custody of his kid sister whilst dealing with his own childhood trauma".

It's hard to describe how bad this is.  It's completely devoid of humour, not remotely scary and worst of all it's incredibly dull.

I had to watch it with my son (I actually paid to watch it!) who loved it.
I thought it was one of the worst things I've seen. 
The game it's based on is fun right enough, and it will probably do alright because the game is popular. 

Kurtis

Grangousier said:

I watched Unfrosted on Netflix, and I have to say it's the most relentlessly silly thing I've ever seen. I think by the time I got to the funeral with full cereal rites I was laughing out of control. That said, I suspect the market for it is fairly small and a lot of people will hate it. Essentially, it's one of the very silly episodes of Seinfeld (a Kramer and Mr Costanza have a business idea type episode) at feature length. Anyway, I fully expect the next person to mention it to say it's the worst thing they've ever seen. 

I thought it was fun, despite Seinfeld. He's a horrible actor! 

SteveRobinson

12 Angry Men (1957) Amazon Prime

Courtroom drama as jurors deliberate what seems like a clear case of guilt but is it?...

Absolute classic starring Henry Fonda, Quincey M.E. and other familiar faces.

Shrews

SteveRobinson said:

12 Angry Men (1957) Amazon Prime

Courtroom drama as jurors deliberate what seems like a clear case of guilt but is it?...

Absolute classic starring Henry Fonda, Quincey M.E. and other familiar faces.

I so wanted there to be an alternative ending to this film whereby the kid gets caught red handed killing someone else and admits to doing this one too.

The look on Henry Fonda's face would have been oscar winning. 

Offset

Haych said:

Edge of Darkness (Netflix)

2010 thriller with Mel Gibson in the lead as Boston detective Tom Craven whose daughter is gunned down on his doorstep. 

As he peels back the layers of her life and reasons for her murder he finds himself in the crosshairs as corporations in bed with the government try to protect their interests. 

To be fair the story was quite good. Not sure if it was an adaptation of a novel but it had that feel about it. It was clever enough to keep the viewer engaged but not so complicated that the plot was ever lost or confused. 

However, Gibson’s insistence on putting on a stupid and unconvincing accent for the part was a real distraction. 

So too was the audio, dialogue was mumbly and the ambient background noise was intrusive - I want to hear what the actors are saying, not the sound of the trees in the wind or traffic noise in the background! 

Seems like such an amateur oversight, even Christopher Nolan can do a better job. 

Story 8/10
Gibson’s accent 2/10
Production 3/10

Check out the original BBC TV series from 1985.  It stars Bob Peck, Joanne Whalley and Joe Don Baker.  The Gibson movie was better than I'd anticipated, but the Beeb production is an absolute classic.  Bob Peck (RIP) is wonderful.

strumjoughlamps

Wow it’s only May and we already have a contender for film of the year…

 https://youtu.be/_IrksFz7W0Q?si=BVqz1o5X0O2_ClFd

Tone71

Brian and Charles - Netflix 7/10

Slightly odd, but funny, with David Earl playing the same awkward and odd character Brian Gittins who builds a robot after a depressed winter.

I enjoyed it, simple, easy watch with a few laughs. 

rze99

Daphne

IPlayer

Drama based on letters of Daphne Du Maurier concerning her developing love for a wealthy American woman  within the claustrophobic constraints of her sexless marriage to war damaged and uncommunicative husband. 

Nicely played and quite involving but unspectacular. 

6/10 

Haych

Unfrosted (Netflix)

Bizarre comedy about competing cereal brands in early 1960s US.  

Umm, I have nothing really good to say. It’s unique, that’s for sure. 

0.023/10

Chuffola

Tone71 said:

Brian and Charles - Netflix 7/10

Slightly odd, but funny, with David Earl playing the same awkward and odd character Brian Gittins who builds a robot after a depressed winter.

I enjoyed it, simple, easy watch with a few laughs. 

I watched this a while back and it has stayed with me. I'm not sure why - it's very gentle, strange, slow but beautifully made and acted. I'd highly recommend it. 

Shrews

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1979)

Simple, gentle, tale about everyday Russian life. Typical for that era. Starts out more of a comedy but develops into something more charming.

Won the 1981 Oscar for best foreign language film 

8/10

Shrews

Never Look Away (2018)

German film about a talented young artist whose life intertwines with that of a former SS medical officer.

For me it's a tale that missed a trick. The best storyline was the will-he-won't-he line about whether the artist would discover the nazi was responsible for killing his beloved aunty early in the film, and just when you think it's heading off in that direction, it drifts back towards the tale of the artist recognising his talent.

It wasted just too much time developing that storyline when really what I wanted as a viewer was to see the Nazi get his comeupance.

This film is over 3 hours long and drags annoyingly with a non-story but is actually good when we get back to the Nazi and wondering just how he will get discovered (which fizzles out to nothing)

4.5/10

robgilmo

The Minestry of ungentlemanly warfare.

Very tame, shallow story based all be it very lightly on seemingly real events.
If you like the over use of ''bloody good show old bean'' type dialogue then this is for you. It could have been a good story but instead it was just an emotionless war romp with very bland characters , something to watch while eating your dinner that you dont have to enguage with too much. 
For a story based on real events it was remarkable unbelievable.

rze99

The Girl in the Basement.

Movie Netflix

Thoughtful drama distilling more than one of a number of real life appalling criminal cases where abusive father imprisons his daughter in a large deep basement of the spacious family house, abusing and raping her over many years, with the daughter then raising children while incarcerated. The father spread lies that his daughter ran off with an old boyfriend that they never met. Meanwhile the mother is determined to find out where her daughter went. Hard to believe if it was fiction but deeply disturbing because it is not.

This production, if anything, pulls too many punches and, naturally, given the extended time line is a bit lumpy. Stefanie Scott in the lead role is excellent.

6/10

VimFuego

half way through Oppenheimer; it's well cast, well shot, seems well written and a worthy biopic. Just it's, well a bit plodding I guess. Will finish it off tonight. 

strumjoughlamps

Uncropped- docufilm about Photographer James Hamiltons 40 year career..

could have been done better but it’s certainly worth a watch @stickyfiddle @RaymondLin @ThePrettyDamned ;

rze99

Offset said:

Haych said:

Edge of Darkness (Netflix)

2010 thriller with Mel Gibson in the lead as Boston detective Tom Craven whose daughter is gunned down on his doorstep. 

As he peels back the layers of her life and reasons for her murder he finds himself in the crosshairs as corporations in bed with the government try to protect their interests. 

To be fair the story was quite good. Not sure if it was an adaptation of a novel but it had that feel about it. It was clever enough to keep the viewer engaged but not so complicated that the plot was ever lost or confused. 

However, Gibson’s insistence on putting on a stupid and unconvincing accent for the part was a real distraction. 

So too was the audio, dialogue was mumbly and the ambient background noise was intrusive - I want to hear what the actors are saying, not the sound of the trees in the wind or traffic noise in the background! 

Seems like such an amateur oversight, even Christopher Nolan can do a better job. 

Story 8/10
Gibson’s accent 2/10
Production 3/10

Check out the original BBC TV series from 1985.  It stars Bob Peck, Joanne Whalley and Joe Don Baker.  The Gibson movie was better than I'd anticipated, but the Beeb production is an absolute classic.  Bob Peck (RIP) is wonderful.

I absolutely loved that. An 80s TV highlight. Not least because I had a serious crush on Joanne Whalley. Also, Eric Clapton soundtrack. And Bob Peck is brilliant.

Fishboy7

'All of us Strangers'.  Free on Disney plus now.  

Had me blubbing most of the way through it      9.9/10.

Brio

Crawled in knackered yesterday evening after a solid day of flat out grind. Made omelette, chips and peas and wanted a brain off classic.
Where Eagles Dare. A perfect unwind movie I remember going to Leicester Square, London to see on its release with dad.
 In the intervening 56 years I've probably seen it 30 times. Still love it except for Burton's "Broadsword calling Danny Bhoy" voice.