What films have you watched recently?

Gassage

Winny_Pooh said:

rze99 said:

North By Northwest

1959 Movie, BBC iPlayer (so no ad bollx)

Classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller with Cary Grant and Jaaaaames Maaason.. Advertising executive Roger Thornhill is mistaken for the mysterious Mr Kaplan by a ruthless espionage ring and ends up being pursued with intent to kill.


Utterly. Brilliant.

10 /10 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b025ydrv/north-by-northwest

Hmmpf, just like rear window, it feels dated. I'd give it 7/10 for historical curiosity.

That is like scoring Dark Side of the Moon 7/10 because they didn't use a Line6 Helix on it.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

A Quiet Place: Day One

Horror prequel with the excellent Lupita Nyong'o. Pretty decent horror/thriller with a really strong central performance. I don't think you really need to have seen the other movies, as the only backstory you really need to know is that the aliens are blind but with ultra-sensitive hearing.

Don't think it's quite up to the standard of the original movie, but good all the same. Weirdly it seemed to remind me more of an extended episode from a TV series like "The Last Of Us" rather than a movie in its own right. 

7/10

sinbaadi

paulnb57 said:

Beverley Hills Cop -Axel F.      Netflix

Managed 5 mins, utter shite, just cos you can, doesn't mean you should

I thought it was very silly but not painful to watch.  Just turn off your brain and let the waves off nostalgia take you back to the original source material, which is of course, the Crazy Frog.

CaseOfAce

sinbaadi said:

paulnb57 said:

Beverley Hills Cop -Axel F.      Netflix

Managed 5 mins, utter shite, just cos you can, doesn't mean you should

I thought it was very silly but not painful to watch.  Just turn off your brain and let the waves off nostalgia take you back to the original source material, which is of course, the Crazy Frog.

I thought it was dreadful (and I say that as someone who thought the first is one of the greatest "cop on the edge" movies ever made).

The whole film is basically people telling each other off.
Within the first 5 minutes the goofy white guy is being pulled up by Murphy about some perceived racist slight (as is the comedy gay guy from the first movie later on). Foley is told off by the police chief. His daughter tells off Foley for not being a good father. His daughter tells of her ex boyfriend for being rubbish. Actually the daughter spends the whole movie whining (what a thankless role for the actress).
There is a helicopter chase thing in the middle that actually promises to bring the movie to life... but then...more whining. 

The Part 3 Wally World thing in the franchise is actually better than this.
1/10.

Stratavarious

A Man In Full, 2024, Netflix

A miniseries.  A bit of an odd one…  great cast, funny and quite weird as several parallel threads play out.  Not sure if it’s comedy, satire or an overcooked drama.

Sat down for random pick.. we like Jeff Daniels and ended up bingeing it all in one sitting.

Not great, not bad at all. You will have to judge if the rather OTT characters work for you.

A solid 7/10 for us. 

Timcito

1917. This is a film set on the British frontlines in France during WWI. It tells the story of two young corporals who are sent on a mission to warn another division a day's journey away on foot that the assault it is about to launch is a trap set by the Germans, and that if they go through with it, 1.600 men will be killed.

It's very powerful. One of the two corporals is fatally stabbed by a fallen German paratrooper whose life he was actually trying to save. The other corporal makes the tortured trek to save the division, and all along the way he is assailed by the absurd brutality of the circumstances in which he and other young men find themselves as they slaughter and are slaughtered in a war with no obvious purpose and with no good or bad guys. Wasn't it during WWI that the lines 'We here because we're here because we're here because we're here' were coined to the tune of 'Old Lang Syne'?

Anyway, well worth watching if you like this kind of thing. It's funny - I've been seriously moved by many films set in WWI but none I can remember set in WWII. I'm not exactly sure why that is - maybe it's the extreme nature of the combat, the initial innocence of the combatants set against the appalling shock as reality sets in, or the absurd destruction for sweet eff-all that does it. And maybe part of the relative dullness, for me, of WWII films is that the rights and wrongs of the conflict are too clearcut: The Allies good! The Germans bad! A bit like Mel Gibson's view of the Revolutionary War in The Patriot. 

strumjoughlamps

Rock Camp (Prime Video or Plex)

2022 documentary about the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp.. I had never heard of it (The Camp) until I seen the film pop up on my Prime Video.. it’s very interesting and stunning how many musicians sign up to it.

PLOP

I watched Gaspar Noe’s Vortex the other day. I’ve seen all of his films, so I knew what to expect. I knew it would be a downer. It’s about an older couple, one begins declining from dementia, the other is mentally healthy but has heart issues. It’s about as fun as you’d expect. 

Noe is a fantastic director though. This one is shot from two perspectives simultaneously, with each view on the screen at the same time, side by side. I’ve never seen anything like this before, and I think it proves why Noe is a true visionary of the art, despite many of his films being dismissed for being overly violent, shocking or lacking substance. 

I wouldn’t say it’s his strongest film, though I don’t know what is. irreversivlble is brutally violent and Enter the Void is viscerally captivating, Climax is horrifyingly shocking, Vortex is frightening and miserable. All are harrowing and not films you forget. 

I tentatively recommend his films, but I need to know the person I’m recommending them to has the stomach for them. 

Philly_Q

PLOP said:

I watched Gaspar Noe’s Vortex the other day. 

@PLOP ;That's the one with Dario Argento?  I should probably watch it just to see Argento's acting performance.  I have seen most of Noe's films and I certainly admire what he does, although it would be hard to describe any of them as enjoyable.

PLOP

@Philly_Q - I don’t know who is in it. I don’t know at actors names! I don’t watch films that have x actor in based on that alone, generally the “no name” actors do a much more convincing job in the right film because they’re not just there to bump a name on the bill. 

I’d assume all actors in Vortex are French? 

But I would agree - I enjoy Noe’s films, but none of them are ones I watch a second time in a hurry. Similarly, Lars von Trier’s films are ugly in a way that not many other directors consistently manage without resorting to simply making it as gruesome as possible. 

Philly_Q

PLOP said:

@Philly_Q - I don’t know who is in it. I don’t know at actors names! I don’t watch films that have x actor in based on that alone, generally the “no name” actors do a much more convincing job in the right film because they’re not just there to bump a name on the bill. 

I’d assume all actors in Vortex are French? 

But I would agree - I enjoy Noe’s films, but none of them are ones I watch a second time in a hurry. Similarly, Lars von Trier’s films are ugly in a way that not many other directors consistently manage without resorting to simply making it as gruesome as possible. 

@PLOP I've confirmed now, the old man in Vortex is played by Italian film director - and indeed, my favourite director - Dario Argento.  I'd imagine Noe cast him because he's a fan of at least some of Argento's films.

Argento may have done one or two bits of acting in the past, he certainly did some TV presenting decades ago, but this is a first "major" acting role, so as an actor he is, in effect, "no name"!  I don't know how good his French is, I'd imagine it's similar to his English - which is not great - but that was probably what Noe wanted.

Winny_Pooh

Gassage said:

Winny_Pooh said:

rze99 said:

North By Northwest

1959 Movie, BBC iPlayer (so no ad bollx)

Classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller with Cary Grant and Jaaaaames Maaason.. Advertising executive Roger Thornhill is mistaken for the mysterious Mr Kaplan by a ruthless espionage ring and ends up being pursued with intent to kill.


Utterly. Brilliant.

10 /10 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b025ydrv/north-by-northwest

Hmmpf, just like rear window, it feels dated. I'd give it 7/10 for historical curiosity.

That is like scoring Dark Side of the Moon 7/10 because they didn't use a Line6 Helix on it.

Don't be silly. Dark side of the Moon is easily 7.5/10 

Timcito

Dracula Prince of Darkness.

Still one of my favourite Hammer horrors!

fretmeister

Oppenheimer.

As per usual a Nolan audio mix is a stone cold atrocity. Dialogue was difficult to follow sometimes. Not as bad as Tenet, but still the result of a cretin who thinks background noise is at least as important as dialogue.

That being said, it was very good. I have no idea of the historical accuracy but the performances were excellent. Nice to see RDJ not being Iron Man again.

I congratulate Nolan for finally making a second good film even if he probably did it by accident.

6/10.

Would have been 7.5 if the audio mix was competent.

boogieman

Sleeping Dogs. Prime. 

Russell Crowe as a retired US cop who’s receiving radical new treatment for his Alzheimer’s. He’s asked to reinvestigate an old case of his, as the perp who’s been convicted of the crime is due to be executed imminently. He claims he’s innocent and Crowe holds the key to clearing him. Crowe’s doctor says the radical treatment needs him to exercise his brain, so he looks into the case, and his subsequent investigation throws up all sorts of revelations. 

All cleverly done and quite intriguing, with several twists that I didn’t see coming. Crowe is very good in the lead role and plays it understated for a change… I find him quite irritating in some of his films as he hams it up too much.  

A decent watch and a solid 8/10

racefaceec90

I just watched late night with the devil.

I enjoyed it and give it an 8/10.

A good demonic/ late night talk show set in the 70's.

I also bought the new it films (haven't seen them yet but looking forward to watching them).

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Fly Me To The Moon

Saw it at the cinema, though I believe it's an Apple TV production so will be available to subscribers to watch at home. Tells the story of a PR lady hired by NASA to reignite America's love of the race to the moon, and to simultaneously create a faked recording of the moon landing.

 Bit of a strange film - couldn't seem to work out if it was a romantic comedy, a serious movie about the space program, or some kinda farcical satire on conspiracy theories. Ended up being a bit of a light-hearted non-entity of a film. Chemistry between Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johanssen was non-existent. Woody Harrelson was decent, but it says a lot when the most memorable performance of the movie is by a cute little cat that has about 5 mins screen time.

4/10

Haych

Honour (Netflix)

A two part drama but has also been broadcast in one part as a film, so it qualifies. 

Tells the true events of the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Iraqi Kurd, Banaz Mahmod, who was killed by her father and uncle for bringing dishonour to the family by having the audacity to fall in love with a man the family did not choose. 

Keeley Hawes is the main star and she does a very good job of portraying DCI Caroline Goode, the lead investigator on the case. 

Also a frightening insight into cultures we don’t, and never will, understand. 

Stratavarious

The Outfit

A bit mehhh…. Scripted like a stage play, constrained set…. initially engaging but the twists gets more preposterous as it goes on.

The lead actor was a bit wasted. He was better than the script.

5/10

Philly_Q

Imaginary (Rakuten TV)

Children's author Jessica, her drippy James Bay-lookalike musician husband Max and his two daughters move into Jessica's childhood home.  It's not long before younger stepdaughter Alice finds an imaginary friend, a teddy bear named Chauncey.  And then scary(ish) things start happening... is it all related to forgotten events in Jessica's own childhood?

This had terrible reviews, and they weren't wrong.  It's a sort of PG-rated Insidious with not a single original idea in its 104 minutes.  It's much too bland to be absolutely hateful, but it's really not worth watching.