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Deleted.

 Matt Swain wrote:
Lifeforce.

I actually see this as a romance movie. Female creature comes from outer space, finds human boy, transforms into his (Anm most people's) idea of the perfect woman, seduces him, falls in lover with him, takes him with her to the stars.

Yeah, I guess i'm pretty twisted, eh?

also features Sir Patrick at peak shouty scenery chewing, film is just 70/80s Dr Who with bewbs mind

 Elbows wrote:
I actually enjoyed "most" of 47 Meters Down: Uncaged...for exactly one reason; it was at least spooky (even if most of them were jump scares!). Yes, sharks don't work like that...but I'm so tired of movies like MEG, etc. which are so incredibly boring, etc. This one at least generated some decent silliness/violence.

I mean, the biological principal of an isolated population deviating to better adapt to its habitat is sound. But the sequence where they're just circling under the cast all treading water apparently unable to find them while they exposit, then as soon as the dialogue is done and we know what they're going to do next they lock on like heat seeking missiles was what overcooked it for me.

But then, given the bleak nature of the ending of the first one, the various false horizons of the ending of this one worked surprisingly well. All I thought it needed was for the bitch girl who pushed her into the swimming pool at the start to slip and then have the final shot echo the first only with it being the bitchy girl with added sharks.

Finally watched Spiderman Far From Home while rebasing necrons last night.

It was pretty decent (Homecoming I turned off after a few minutes, couldn't stand the hyperactive video blogging).

What struck me though was the music- it was a bizarre fit for the high school kids in the film, especially the opening song in their student video. It was all very 80s, obviously aimed at the audience (or reflects the movie makers) rather than fitting the kids in the movie.

Made me wonder what the film would sound like if they actually chose music relevant to the characters rather than the movie makers and audience.

Room. The most uplifting film about abduction, long term imprisonment and rape you'll see this year. But in all seriousness one of the best bits of film I've seen in an age.

Voss wrote:
Finally watched Spiderman Far From Home while rebasing necrons last night.

It was pretty decent (Homecoming I turned off after a few minutes, couldn't stand the hyperactive video blogging).

What struck me though was the music- it was a bizarre fit for the high school kids in the film, especially the opening song in their student video. It was all very 80s, obviously aimed at the audience (or reflects the movie makers) rather than fitting the kids in the movie.

Made me wonder what the film would sound like if they actually chose music relevant to the characters rather than the movie makers and audience.

Well, to be fair a lot of High School kids WERE doing the 80's thing around the time this came out......



The Duchess

****Warning: Horrible Spelling of Names and places ahead!***

Kiera Knightley and Ralph Fienes in a period piece. The exact period is beyond me, but it was the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire as the main focus.

I had three take aways.....

1. I am sure glad I was not a woman during those times, even a rich one!
2. Ralph Fienes was hotter than the young guy that Kiera Knightley was supposed to fall for
3. Ralph can ACT!

Otherwise, a disturbing and not uplifting watch. At the end, i wondered why I suffered through it.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Room. The most uplifting film about abduction, long term imprisonment and rape you'll see this year. But in all seriousness one of the best bits of film I've seen in an age.

a decent Brie Larson film* ?

Challenge Accepted

* Scott Pilgrim doesnt count as her playing a self centred pop star isnt really a stretch for her

Mallrats

The Fatman tries to make a John Hughes movie, doesnt really come off

a decent Brie Larson film* ?

It's the one she won the Oscar for, but frankly she's acted off screen by the little boy who owns the whole show, and isn't in it for a chunk of the third act.

an Oscar ? Well there goes my 1979 theory of being the low point

Juggernaut 1974.

A great terrorist/crime thriller featuring a criminal who has put some very powerful and sophisticated bombs onboard a passenger ship and threatens to detonate them unless a ransom is paid. Something of a technothriller as disarming the very sophisticated (by 1974 standards) bombs is a highlight of the show.

Just saw Goodfellows for the first time (I know, I'm late to the party there).

The film is paced like a biopic, depicting the life of a gangster from age 11-45. The character becomes a gangster for a sense of family and power that he lacks in his own family, but the cycle of abuse continues in his adopted gang family.

Terrific film.

Wine Country

Imagine the Bridesmaids coming together 30 years later to celebrate one of their owns 50th birthday. At least, I am sure that was the pitch for this Amy P/Tina Fey film.

I have decided, I do not understand modern comedy that well. Much of it focuses on the "awkward situation" and I find this typically less than compelling. I prefer word play or observational comedy with a dark center of truth.

To me there are three things that make a something funny:
1. A deeper truth
2. Being up way too late
3. Too much booze

Therefore, do not take my advise on if this is a good movie or not. I have no idea what the modern comedy goer is looking for.

How awkward are we talking about? I liked Bridesmaids, but I can’t stand movies beyond a certain cringe factor, such as Meet the Parents or Anger Management.

I watched (and read) the Harry Potter series over the last couple of months. I'd initially written them off as jolly-hockey-sticks cribs of Enid Blyton and Jill Murphy. There's a bit of that in the first couple of instalments, but I was surprised by the amount of 'darkness', for want of a better word, in them from the start and how the stories kind of matured along with the protags.
Quality-wise, the films are pretty good. Maybe getting better after Chris Columbus left. (Maybe also when someone other than John Williams took over the music. Love his music but it was a bit obviously John Williams.) In many places the movies were literally dark; it was tricky to figure out what was going on at some given moments. Zany action scenes were a bit overegged. And I'm not expecting miracles from a lot of child actors, but there still some cringes. That's another aspect that matured as the series went on, although it took 'til the seventh or eighth to coax anything remotely human-sounding out of Emma Watson.

I think it was more than made up for by the adult cast. That's one thing that surprised me: the sheer amount of names. I knew some like Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Mark Williams and Richard Harris/Michael Gambon were in them, but it's like the films hoovered up the whole membership of Equity. John Hurt! Maggie Smith! John Cleese! Leslie Philips! Zoe Wanamaker! Miriam Margolyes! Warwick Davis! (Twice! Or was it three times?) Julie Walters! Kenneth Branagh! Gary Oldman! Frances De La Tour! (They got Frances De La Tour out of hiding!) Roger Lloyd Pack! Brendan Gleeson! David Tennant! Miranda Richardson! Helena Bonham Carter! Jim Broadbent! And yet more!

And Ralph can ACT.

(Okay, let's call it just the perfect amount of scenery-chewing)

The other notable thing was a bit more of a niche interest: absolutely belting creature design and effects.

It was somewhat surprising that JK's British actors demand held all the way to the end, shame her inner fan girl wasted all that kudos for Depp

And Em gets a free pass due to her ongoing annoying of the harridans at the Daily Mail

[b]

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
How awkward are we talking about? I liked Bridesmaids, but I can’t stand movies beyond a certain cringe factor, such as Meet the Parents or Anger Management.

I think less than Meet the Parents but only a sliver more than Bridesmaids.

Josie and the Pussycats

By the gods, I love this film! I have seen it hundreds of times, and I rewatched it with some fresh eyes. So funny.

One of my favorite comic to film adaptions ever.

The makers of JEM and the Holograms could have avoid a flop if they would have watched this movie first.

@ Easy

oh hell yeah

I also liked how it totally outwitted film critics I recall either Bradshaw or Siskel/Ebert wailing on it in a way that showed they did their usual not bothering to watch it as it was considered below them and of course Ms Dawson mmmmhhhmm...

Logan

bestest 'super' movie ever, nuff said

 Easy E wrote:
Wine Country

Imagine the Bridesmaids coming together 30 years later to celebrate one of their owns 50th birthday. At least, I am sure that was the pitch for this Amy P/Tina Fey film.

I have decided, I do not understand modern comedy that well. Much of it focuses on the "awkward situation" and I find this typically less than compelling. I prefer word play or observational comedy with a dark center of truth.

To me there are three things that make a something funny:
1. A deeper truth
2. Being up way too late
3. Too much booze

Therefore, do not take my advise on if this is a good movie or not. I have no idea what the modern comedy goer is looking for.

Oh yes, I watched that one. I think that there are some problems with some US comedies and this one in particular: SNL, Tina Fey and Netflix.

.) SNL is a big deal in the US. I get it. That's fine. I think though that certain comedians getting cast in films falling in a certain trap of being cast to do 'their bit' and for recognition of their stage persona. Most of them have some sort of background in stand-up comedy which possibly isn't the best background for someone to star in a technically low-key ensemble piece. At least that's my observations on the thing.
.) Tina Fey is pretty darned cool, and she's very likeable, and good at what she does. We like seeing her because she's good at various things. However, a lot of stuff is sold based on her or her 'brand of humour'. Many of these things aren't very good though.
.) Maybe it's just me, but I always feel cheated when I watch anything produced by Netflix. I tend to avoid Netflix productions altogether due to that feeling. If Hollywood films and tv shows feel marketing-based, Netflix productions do so manifold. This film looks so focus group oriented it's not even funny. The characters, the actors, the sense of humour, the setting, the story, the look. There's this British author, Rosamunde Pilcher, who wrote about a billion wholesome romance novels which since decades are turned into tv films by public German TV, and which are tremendously popular, and of course are scathed by everybody under 60. They're popular thogh with predominantly female viewers over that age (and many people in general it seems). If we enjoy Wine Country we can not belittle these films. Same thing.

Not to say it's bad, because Netflix don't do 'bad'. They do worse - they do "bland and safe with three (or more) recognizable actors". I'm sure I had a chuckle or two in that film, but in general....meh.


I watched the 4th season of Rick&Morty. Yeah. Well. Business as usual. I liked fascist Morty (representing a large portion of the fans I'm sure) demanding 'classic adventures' at gunpoint, but not sure what he actually likes. He can't come up with anything, so he says he liked Mr.Meeseeks. Because that's exactly what a person like that would say. The other thing I liked was at the end of episode four(?) when Rick&Morty get excited about doing classic adventures mixed with 'whatever' and so on. Then Summer chimes in to make fun of them and they both very harshly dismiss her and tell her off for ruining everything. Which I thought was a fun meta moment. But maybe it's just because I found the character extremely overbearing in the past season. I still don't like much about that show, but there are some fun ideas in there here and there.

Ballad of Buster Scruggs

A series of 5 vignettes about how much the Old West sucked. It covers the ranges from singing cowboys, to Indian raids, hangings, wagon trains, and stagecoach rides. All the key genre elements get a shout out, and it is all a bit depressing.

I have a sneaky feeling that the sequence of stories some how mirrors the evolution of the Western genre, but I have no idea if this is the case.

I enjoyed it, but there are no happy endings.

 Easy E wrote:
Ballad of Buster Scruggs
....
I have a sneaky feeling that the sequence of stories some how mirrors the evolution of the Western genre, but I have no idea if this is the case.
...

Ha, this is exactly how I feel about Django Unchained. Can't really back it up though.



Joel Schumacher died.I've never seen St.Elmo's Fire, Lost Boys(!), 8mm, or Tigerland. I HAVE seen Falling Down, which I wholeheartedly recommend, and I really enjoyed Phone Booth. Lots of good stuff to be watched. RIP.

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A Serious Man

A Jewish father in the suburbs of Minnesota in the late 70's has a really bad few days leading up to his son's Bar Mitzvah.

I have a feeling I was not the target audience for this film, and it feels very personal to the Coen Brothers, possibly being semi-autobiographical. That or it could also be a "modern" day interpretation of the Book of Job? Or both at the same time!

However, as a fellow Minnesotan from the suburbs in the early 80's it had some recognizable moments. The Passive-Aggression of it all!

Also, has some very Coen Brothers moments in it.

Lost Boys

MTV goes a vamping, gloriously daft as only the 80s could be, rest well Mr S

Think Phone Booth might be tomorrows watch

Public Enemies

My key takeaway is that the FBI was just as if not more dangerous to the citizens of the United States as the bank robbers and gangsters.

Great tommy gun porno happens throughout the movie. Also, some great cars and clothes.

The story is nothing special and the pacing of the movie is a bit odd. Enjoyable enough but missing that special something to move it from solid to good.

 Easy E wrote:
Public Enemies

My key takeaway is that the FBI was just as if not more dangerous to the citizens of the United States as the bank robbers and gangsters.

Great tommy gun porno happens throughout the movie. Also, some great cars and clothes.

The story is nothing special and the pacing of the movie is a bit odd. Enjoyable enough but missing that special something to move it from solid to good.

I have a vague recollection of this movie. . . If its the same one I'm remembering, the wife and I both, upon completion commented that it felt rather unfinished. . . Like, so many of the shots/effects felt like they hadnt undergone the full hollywood touch up, it felt in places like absolutely raw camera footage

 Elbows wrote:
...

Pacific Rim: The mecha movie I keep watching, hoping it'll somehow be better than the last time I watched it. Still frustratingly mediocre/poor.
...
Brotherhood of the Wolf: Nothing special about this, other than the wonderful costumes and the excellent atmosphere. Laughable premise, but I enjoy it occasionally.

Not sure there's another film I turned on so hard as on Pacific Rim. Watched it at the cinema, loved it to bits. Had a great time. Gave it another go a while later on Netflix, and couldn't make it past 10 minutes or so. Made me a bit sad.

Brotherhood of the Wolf was ...alright? Vincent Cassel of course was memorable, but he always is. Yeah, the atmosphere was really good. I remember the fact that the film turns into Mortal Kombat (or Soul Calibur rather) in the last 10 minutes or so.

Easy E wrote:
A Serious Man

A Jewish father in the suburbs of Minnesota in the late 70's has a really bad few days leading up to his son's Bar Mitzvah.

I have a feeling I was not the target audience for this film, and it feels very personal to the Coen Brothers, possibly being semi-autobiographical. That or it could also be a "modern" day interpretation of the Book of Job? Or both at the same time!

However, as a fellow Minnesotan from the suburbs in the early 80's it had some recognizable moments. The Passive-Aggression of it all!

Also, has some very Coen Brothers moments in it.

Oh yes, that's an interesting film. Right from the get-go with the scene in Russia in the 18th century(?). Interesting film. Really interesting. Should be watched. Not as powerful as The Man Who Wasn't There I thought, and maybe it's because it's very, very, very specific to US suburbs Jewish life, but I enjoyed that film. Certainly don't regret watching it.

Da 5 Bloods

This is Spike Lee's new adventure action movie about a group of Vietnam Vets who return to the country to collect the remains of their fallen comrade as well as a lot of gold they hid during the war.

That is a pretty basic genre set-up. However, this movie is soooo much more than that. In a way, it transcends the genre tropes through characterization, unsubtle messaging about race relations, and subtle subtext mixed in beneath the unsubtle ones. Really, a multi-layered film that comments about a ton of subjects such as Black-on-Black violence, Absent Fathers, The Legacy of War, Black Gentrification, the Nature of Protest, PTS, and sooooo much more. It is a dense film that demands to be re-watched.

Some highlight scenes:

- Del Rey LIndo (SP) explains why he voted for Trump
- Chadwick Boseman reacts to Martin Luther Kings assassination
- The former GIs are toasted by former VC in Saigon
- A man trying to sell a chicken to Lindo while traveling up country

This movie is very good, but it is heavily political. I have to say, it was hard watching some parts of the movie and feeling an eerie deja vu.




@Sigur- Regarding A Serious Man I loved the opening and it drew me into the movie as it reminded me of an old horror short called "The Werdalak" Or some such with Karloff. However, I kept trying to tie it back into the rest of the movie, and I really couldn't.

Deleted.

 Elbows wrote:

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga: A simple and fun take on Eurovision - pretty accurate to that madness, with some really solid songs. Feels very similar to a Pitch Perfect style. I normally enjoy Will Ferrell but he was the weakest part of this movie.

Yar, I think I'll pass on that one. The ESC is just a very easy target (and I really, really like that silly show), and I find Will Ferrell tolerable when he's at his best and part of an ensemble cast. This film just looks like a very Will Ferrell heavy film with funny wigs and costumes.


Last night I finally watched Deep Rising again (after like 12 years). Hunted down the DVD a few months ago, was a bit worried it might not be as entertaining as I'd remembered it to be, but my worries are absolutely smashed. What a fun film. It's just brilliantly entertaining. Solid cast, good mix of action, gruesome bits, tentacle creature feature and humour. It isn't great at any of these things, but the mix of these aspects makes the film for me. There's also some very raw behind-the-scenes footage as well, which is pretty cool, especially seeing how they did some of the effects. Sure, the CGI doesn't work well on our huge HD tvs nowadays, but still. It's used rather sparingly (up until one scene in the end). The breakout character of the film's got to be the 'comic relief' who gets about 200 times more of a story arc than the main character Finnigan, who's basically just a stick in the mud with a very, very bad catchphrase. I'm rather sure they did that on purpose. Good fun. Would have liked to see that sequel they teased at the end of the film.