What films have you watched recently?

Philly_Q

The Hitcher (1986)

Cinema screening in a new 4K restoration from Second Sight.  Oh boy, it holds up really well.  And great to see a pre-CGI film with loads of real stunts, explosions, car chases and even a helicopter crash.

paulnb57

SteveRobinson said:

rze99 said:

Emily the Criminal
2022 Crime drama movie
Netflix

Smart and edgy Emily (brilliantly played Aubrey Plaza) is a New Jersey artist designer saddled with huge student debt and locked out of the design agency job market due to a minor criminal record,.

She's moved to LA to try her luck there and is doing fill in work doing zero contract food delivery orders. Increasingly desperate for income, she takes a tip and follows up on a contact. This leads to her taking work as a a "dummy shopper," - buying goods with stolen credit cards for cash in hand.

Although still pursuing straight jobs, Emily soon finds herself seduced the fast good cash of crime and increasingly raises the risks for greater rewards, getting closer to one of the criminal gang leaders, which inevitably leads to more extreme consequences.

This called to mind in the '90s at a party I met a US doctor visiting the UK and she told me about her student debt which, even back then, was $60,000. I was gobsmacked.

Strong and taut tale, directed with pace and intent.

Excellent and highly recommended.

9/10

Watched last night, really enjoyed it thanks.

Watched it this rainy afternoon, not too shabby!

Ozzie744

I've seen Emily the Criminal too. Good flick, enjoyed it.

Haych

Just finished Emily the Criminal after a few good reviews here. 

It’s was ok but felt it was a bit slow and dragged a little. 

Not a bad film by a long stretch but not as good as I was expecting it to be. 

ICBM

Unfrosted

Netflix Jerry Seinfeld comedy about the creation of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts… really . It looked worth a try because the title card has Hugh Grant as Tony The Tiger!

It’s quite surreal, and surprisingly a lot of it is actually based (very loosely) on the genuine story - I was interested enough to actually read up on it .

Hugh Grant really doesn’t take himself seriously, and is very good - playing a real historical character actor - he’s also beginning to bear quite a resemblance to Vincent Price as he gets older, which he may be aware of and playing up to… Christian Slater has a cameo too. Some of it is very funny, some is just trying a bit too hard. Lightweight and not too long.

7/10


(Strangely, Seinfeld’s character is actually based on William Post, who worked for Kellogg’s but was not related to the rival Post company. I’m surprised they didn’t make that a plot point.)

Winny_Pooh

guyinlyon said:

On my daughter's recommendation I got "Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar".

She thought is was incredibly funny.

I thought it sucked, or rather it would suck if you could ever understand what the two principles are saying.

If you are friendly with women and watch it with women it's pretty funny... you (less so) and your daughter might more enjoy watching Bottoms together.

Winny_Pooh

Sanctuary

Good suspenseful darkly kinky comedy. A bit like Succession meets an 80's erotic thriller  30mins in you might think "ok this is goofy" but it keeps escalating. It's better if you remember it's a comedy. Great acting.

8/10

robgilmo

If you guys liked Aubrey Plaza in the above mentioned movie try 'safety not guaranteed' if you havent already watched it, its really good.

Safety Not Guaranteed Official Trailer #1 - Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass Movie (2012) HD (youtube.com)

Grangousier

Hugh Grant really doesn’t take himself seriously, and is very good - playing a real historical character actor - he’s also beginning to bear quite a resemblance to Vincent Price as he gets older, which he may be aware of and playing up to

Oh, now you've gone and got me wanting a Dr Phibes reboot/sequel with HG as Phibes. 

Haych

Blink Twice

Channing Tatum is a tech billionaire who takes a sabbatical to address behaviour, the nature of which, is never explicitly stated.

After his apology and comeback he meets a Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat) who are waitressing at a fundraising event.  They are invited to mingle with his entourage and are then asked to return with him and the rest of his group to his private island where they bask in the sun all day and party all night - drink, weed and hallucinogens aplenty.

All seems to be going well until Jess is bitten by a snake and then everyone's memory starts becoming hazy.

Psychological thriller which seemed to have legs.  The build up lays some excellent groundwork but then never delivers on its promise.

There were several directions the movie could have taken but it went down the path of least resistance which led to a disappointing final act and damp ending.

I don't know if it was intentional or not but it seemed to have certain undertones of Epstein woven into the subplot.

5/10 - Local cinema

ewal

Emily The Criminal because it was mentioned here.

Quite a grim watch. Very little going on beyond the main plot, which isn't that interesting. Just about the only notable characteristic is that the lead is a woman. If it had been a man, it would've been completely forgettable. Reasonably well acted and shot, so...

4/10

CavemanGrogg

Had a really lazy day with the girlfriend, so we watched 3 movies from The Chronicles of Riddick:

Pitch Black

The Chronicles of Riddick

Riddick

There are actually two more ''parts'' to it, a game - which is bloody amazing, and a full length cartoon - really not child friendly.  The three movies together as a story gets the big thumbs up from us, though the second and third films are by far the weakest in the franchise, and seriously do not stand up in their own right as individual films - though the cartoon is extremely good.  The first film, Pitch Black, is really good, and more than easily holds it's own weight

Haych

robgilmo said:

If you guys liked Aubrey Plaza in the above mentioned movie try 'safety not guaranteed' if you havent already watched it, its really good.

Safety Not Guaranteed Official Trailer #1 - Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass Movie (2012) HD (youtube.com)

Watched this one this evening on your recommendation, @robgilmo.

A decent comedy/feelgood movie, quite enjoyed it and was far better than the other Aubrey Plaza movie mentioned above.

Keiko

Event Horizon. 5/10 Haven't watched it since I saw it at the cinema in the 90's. Not as good as I remember. Although I always used to have a couple of pints first before watching films back then. I remember it being a lot scarier with a deeper plot, but that's alcohol for you.

Barbarian. 6.5/10 Quite good for a horror film.

Both on E4.

FarleyUK

Trap

Well, that was absolute crap. 

Basically, a very obvious vehicle for nepotism, in that M Night Shaymalan’s daughter gets to sing her own songs and ‘act’ for most of the film, while the very VERY obvious plot holes go ignored. 

It was just utterly ridiculous throughout. Thankfully we had free tickets, or I’d have been VERY annoyed at wasting my money. 

2.5/10

Sporky

Keiko said:

Barbarian. 6.5/10 Quite good for a horror film.

I tried that, but my view was that it was awful, even for a horror film. 3.2 out of 4.5. Felt ad-libbed by people with no experience of ad-libbing.

Keiko

Sporky said:

Keiko said:

Barbarian. 6.5/10 Quite good for a horror film.

I tried that, but my view was that it was awful, even for a horror film. 3.2 out of 4.5. Felt ad-libbed by people with no experience of ad-libbing.

The ending wasn't brilliant, but the suspense was there in my opinion. From what I understand it's based on research done about the pysychological tricks that men use to comfort women when actually they have ulterior sinister motives. The acting, yeah doubt any oscars will be given.

bobblehat

The Union  - Secret government agency action nonsense with Marky Mark and Halle Berry. Its rubbish but I find Mr Wahlberg quite watchable so 7/10.

Operation Mincemeat - WW2 drama about a secret plot to deceive the Nazis. A decent watch but kept getting distracted by Kelly Macdonalds woeful acting. 

Elvis  - Fantastic . Incredible performance from Austin Butler. 10/10 

sinbaadi

Wonka.
Bought it on Google play with some free play credit earned on Google Opinions app.  (Would recommend as a way to earn £30 odd quid a year in play credit for minimal effort.)

Really enjoyed it.  It's so light-hearted and whimsical, I'm really glad that movies like this are still being made.  I'm not bothered about the canon etc.  It is just fun in the same way as Paddington movies are fun. 

9/10

Philly_Q

The Substance

Demi Moore plays a fading celebrity who is offered a black market drug which, it's claimed, will restore her youth and vitality.  Hmm, sounds like nothing could possibly go wrong there....

I saw this at a festival screening last night, I think it comes out in November, but anyway... no spoilers but it is fucking amazing.