What films have you watched recently?

ICBM · February 2021

Haych said:

Expedition Amelia

2019 National Geographic documentary about the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart and an expedition to Nikumaroro Island by Robert Ballard in South Pacific in search of her plane.

Quite a lot of circumstantial evidence suggests Amelia landed on Nikumaroro after being unable to find Howland Island where she was due to land. Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic, set out to find her Lockheed Electra convinced she landed there.

Very, very interesting and the evidence that she landed there is in some ways very strong but if she did land there then it seems unexplainable that there is no single piece of her plane there.

If you enjoy documentary films then it's well worth watching, I enjoyed it a lot and it was interesting and informative even without the discovery the expedition team were hoping for.

Available on Disney +, the wife has a six month trial thrown in with a phone contract.

I'll have to watch that - I'm very interested in that mystery... so much circumstantial evidence does seem to indicate she was on Nikumaroro, but the lack of any part of the plane (or in fact, any other hard evidence now, it's all disappeared) is indeed puzzling - and Ballard did search very thoroughly.

Haych · February 2021

ICBM said:

Haych said:

Expedition Amelia

2019 National Geographic documentary about the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart and an expedition to Nikumaroro Island by Robert Ballard in South Pacific in search of her plane.

Quite a lot of circumstantial evidence suggests Amelia landed on Nikumaroro after being unable to find Howland Island where she was due to land. Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic, set out to find her Lockheed Electra convinced she landed there.

Very, very interesting and the evidence that she landed there is in some ways very strong but if she did land there then it seems unexplainable that there is no single piece of her plane there.

If you enjoy documentary films then it's well worth watching, I enjoyed it a lot and it was interesting and informative even without the discovery the expedition team were hoping for.

Available on Disney +, the wife has a six month trial thrown in with a phone contract.

I'll have to watch that - I'm very interested in that mystery... so much circumstantial evidence does seem to indicate she was on Nikumaroro, but the lack of any part of the plane (or in fact, any other hard evidence now, it's all disappeared) is indeed puzzling - and Ballard did search very thoroughly.

It's a compelling mystery and every now and then I find myself dragged into it trying to think of all the possibilities. The film presents a lot of clues that seems to suggest she was there and is hard to dismiss, especially when all the evidence is stitched together. There were apparently several radio transmissions allegedly made by Earhart after her disappearance asking for help which all seem to have come from the area - although how they know where a radio transmission comes from is a little beyond my understanding.

However, one thing the film didn't explain was that while looking for Howland Island Amelia broadcast on radio that they had only half hour of fuel remaining. She also claimed to be very close to her destination. If she was that close to Howland Island with only half hour of fuel left then how did she make it 350 miles south to Nikumaroro? Unless they were so far off course already and nowhere near Howland? Anyway, I'm probably derailing the purpose of this thread so I'll shut up now.

If you do watch it I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

EricTheWeary · February 2021

ICBM said:

Haych said:

Expedition Amelia

2019 National Geographic documentary about the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart and an expedition to Nikumaroro Island by Robert Ballard in South Pacific in search of her plane.

Quite a lot of circumstantial evidence suggests Amelia landed on Nikumaroro after being unable to find Howland Island where she was due to land. Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic, set out to find her Lockheed Electra convinced she landed there.

Very, very interesting and the evidence that she landed there is in some ways very strong but if she did land there then it seems unexplainable that there is no single piece of her plane there.

If you enjoy documentary films then it's well worth watching, I enjoyed it a lot and it was interesting and informative even without the discovery the expedition team were hoping for.

Available on Disney +, the wife has a six month trial thrown in with a phone contract.

I'll have to watch that - I'm very interested in that mystery... so much circumstantial evidence does seem to indicate she was on Nikumaroro, but the lack of any part of the plane (or in fact, any other hard evidence now, it's all disappeared) is indeed puzzling - and Ballard did search very thoroughly.

Earhart was a nurse for people with Spanish Flu and contracted it herself. She was seriously ill and took a year to recover. She was left with periods of depression which was a common long term after effect. One possibility ( if not a strong one maybe) was that she was gripped by depression mid flight which is why she never completed it.
So if you have long Covid don't start making solo flights...

ICBM · February 2021

Haych said:

It's a compelling mystery and every now and then I find myself dragged into it trying to think of all the possibilities. The film presents a lot of clues that seems to suggest she was there and is hard to dismiss, especially when all the evidence is stitched together. There were apparently several radio transmissions allegedly made by Earhart after her disappearance asking for help which all seem to have come from the area - although how they know where a radio transmission comes from is a little beyond my understanding.

Triangulation. There's a huge amount out there about it, you can lose days just reading through it all... there's also the clue (or coincidence?) in the name of the wrecked ship on the reef there.

Haych said:

However, one thing the film didn't explain was that while looking for Howland Island Amelia broadcast on radio that they had only half hour of fuel remaining. She also claimed to be very close to her destination. If she was that close to Howland Island with only half hour of fuel left then how did she make it 350 miles south to Nikumaroro? Unless they were so far off course already and nowhere near Howland? Anyway, I'm probably derailing the purpose of this thread so I'll shut up now.

My guess would be that she was already off course. Or she and the plane are at the bottom of the Pacific not far from Howland and the rest is all just odd coincidences. But I agree it probably is worth a separate thread...

breakstuff · February 2021

The Devil All The Time.

Finally a Netflix film that's not only good, but pretty bloody excellent. Great cast, very dark and brooding storyline, just my type of film.

Well worth a watch.

FarleyUK · February 2021

Signed up to Shudder, and just watched ‘Host’.

What a brilliant horror film! Very clever, and I’d highly recommend it.

ICBM · February 2021

zepp76 said:

News of the world

Predictable, uninspiring and basically just made up of Hollywood cliches. But it has Tom Hanks in it so I’ll give it:

4/10

Sadly have to mostly agree. It really lost me at the gunfight where they were all firing enough ammunition to supply a small army, at ranges where they’d struggle to hit anything with a rifle. Typical Hollywood bollocks.

There were a couple of better and more unusual scenes which I hadn’t really seen before, done well, but still no more than an average film with a standard performance from Hanks and a very good one from the girl.

6/10

SPECTRUM001 · February 2021

We watched it this afternoon. Pretty much agree with all the above, although I did find it strangely engaging.

Cliches a plenty, and tugged at the heart strings - but I fought back and didn’t give in to the ‘Hanks effect’.

6/10

sev112 · February 2021

Watched ICare a Lot last night - was quite fun for a Sat night, I haven’t actually hated a character for ages

Blueingreen · February 2021

The Little Stranger. The attraction here was that I'd read the book by Sarah Waters, albeit a long time ago and I don't remember it very well. I didn't think it worked well as a movie. The basic conceit is too old-fashionedly literary. (man who visited a posh house as a child fell in love with and became obsessed with the house; and returns to it as a doctor as it is decaying around the upper crust owners who have fallen on hard times, with a suggestion that the house is haunted). It's well enough mounted, well-acted, and tastefully if rather sombrely photographed. But it's all rather glum, the psychology doesn't convince, and it's hard to care about the characters, particularly a leading man who's so repressed as to appear completely bloodless. There's a marvellous twist at the very end that changes the meaning of almost everything that's happened up to that point but it's too late - to get the full benefit you'd have to watch the film again and I can't imagine too many people feeling it deserved a second viewing. 5.5/10, with an extra point for the final twist.

Stan and Ollie. Another very restrained mainly British effort. Stan and Ollie touring Britain on stage in the 50s in the twilight of their careers, after they've become too old fashioned to easily get the finance for another film. Beautifully acted although it's the type of acting that owes a lot to straight mimicry: that nearly always puts a strait-jacket on a performance but here it's done about as well as you could imagine. There's darkness here (careers in decline, health problems, serious bumps in the relationship) but still the overall effect manages, for me anyway, to be just too implausibly nice. You do get a feel for the genius of particularly Laurel, and the film has its moving moments, but on the whole everything is a bit too downbeat to work particularly well as entertainment and pulls too many punches to work as a serious character study. 7/10

EricTheWeary · February 2021

Poltergay.

On Prime.

Not the pinnacle of modern French cinema maybe. French villa haunted by men who died at a gay disco held there in the 1970s. No really. It’s pretty silly but I liked it.

rze99 · February 2021

Just watched Official Secrets and, as has be mentioned already, it’s excellent. As long as you are left of centre and were not in favour of blindly following George W Bush into war with Iraq.

not_the_dj · February 2021

The Deer Hunter

It's currently on the iPlayer. I've seen it before, but many years ago, and I remember being quite bored by a lot of it, so thought maybe the 45 year old me would see something else in it that I missed, and it's a sure-fire classic ain't it?

Nope, still massively overlong, nothing happens for ages...sure it's setting up the characters and relationships but it's so damn slow. Finally gets going with the first Russian roulette scene of course which is great, but it's like listening to a double album with one decent song hidden in the middle.

One of the greatest films ever made? No, not for me.

chrisj1602 · February 2021

The Seige of Jadotville on Netflix. I thought it was pretty good and quite a shocking story.

zepp76 · February 2021

zepp76 said:

You all may have seen these already, I’ve seen them both over a dozen times.

Nell

with Jodie Foster and Liam Neeson

If you expect action and adventure don’t bother watching, if you want to see the kindness, caring and understanding of human nature with a dash of the despicable side of those who should know better, watch it. Jodie Fosters acting is sublime.

Warning: some nudity for those who are offended by that kind of thing.

10/10

Powder,

A woman in Labour runs through the rain to the hospital and gets struck by lightning. The kid grows up dealing with the affects of that, that’s all I’ll say. It’s a wonderful film.

Warning: the deer scene may have an effect on you.

10/10

For anyone that is interested, Powder is now on the new Disney+ channel “Star”. There will be a lump in your throat or a tear in your eye at one point of the film.

ennspek · February 2021

zepp76 said:

zepp76 said:

You all may have seen these already, I’ve seen them both over a dozen times.

Nell

with Jodie Foster and Liam Neeson

If you expect action and adventure don’t bother watching, if you want to see the kindness, caring and understanding of human nature with a dash of the despicable side of those who should know better, watch it. Jodie Fosters acting is sublime.

Warning: some nudity for those who are offended by that kind of thing.

10/10

Powder,

A woman in Labour runs through the rain to the hospital and gets struck by lightning. The kid grows up dealing with the affects of that, that’s all I’ll say. It’s a wonderful film.

Warning: the deer scene may have an effect on you.

10/10

For anyone that is interested, Powder is now on the new Disney+ channel “Star”. There will be a lump in your throat or a tear in your at one point of the film.

If she'd been a Conservative would it not have happened?

Kent747 · February 2021

Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar.

SPECTRUM001 · February 2021

Spectre

I fancied some high budget Hollywood glitz, and hadn't seen it for a while. It really is a pretty good Bond film. I don't bother comparing to the sixties franchise anymore, as it seems pointless (very different eras and styles of film-making).

Christoph Waltz and Lea Seydoux virtually steal the show, the plot is almost feasible and Daniel Craig's relationship with Ben Whishaw shows a human side to Bond.

A very entertaining distraction.

8/10

Moominpapa · February 2021

Samurai Marathon (2019) - not nearly as hardcore samurai as I like, and to be honest a little cheesy in a bad , Hollywood-influenced way, but it has an interesting premise & some fun action scenes so is a decent weekend time-filler. 6.5 to 7 out of 10

Haych · February 2021

Dodgeball

An oldie but a goodie. Not sure I like Vince Vaughan very much, but at the same time don’t dislike him, if that makes any sense?

Ben Stiller is excellent as the easy to hate White Goodman with some other great characters and good old slapstick comedy. Christine Taylor is very easy on the eye, too!

Not amazing, not brilliant but still an easy to watch and sometimes hilariously inappropriate goofball of a film.

7/10

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What films have you watched recently?

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