What have you watched recently?

mikemac1

The Double

Eric Foreman is looking well, I didn't realize who the actor was until I read up afterwards

Very interesting, good cast, good soundtrack but the story was a bit of mess

Worked quite well for most of the film but just fell away near the end

Standing on the dock and putting on woeful Russian accents, worst point of the film

This film could have been fantastic but the plot is not strong at all

Sashmo

I really enjoyed seeing this recently. I've a 17 year old was well impressed with McMurphy, how could you not be.

Great film.

BailMeOut

Was looking for a good "movie night" film to watch with my kids last night so Googled "best kids movies of all time" and found quite a few sites with black Stalion at #1. Never seen or even heard of it so we gave it a shot and oh my we all loved it. Beautiful simple film with some very natural acting, Kids adored it too. Nice surprise!

WatchWolf

The Departed.


Christ that was just a huge disappointment.

Caprica

The Keys to the House
An Italian movie from 2006. Fantastic movie. It deals with a man meeting his handicapped son for the first time. The mother died in childbirth and he couldn't cope so walked out. He brings him of to Berlin for some treatment/operation and their journey. Highly recommended.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345032/

Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
I was looking forward to this and it didn't dissapoint. Great performances all round. I'm always unsure how Hollywood will treat a remake of a foreign movie but Fincher did a good job.

Mission Impossible 4
Some great action sequences in this. The scence in Dubai was brilliant. Very impressed at the end with Tom Cruise being battered in the car park and yet he got up totally blemish free.

The Wicker Man
The 1973 original, not the remake. Seen this movie years ago. Every bit as good as I remembered. Parts of the story I had forgotten

Hugo
I enjoyed this movie but it didn't live up to the outstanding reviews it was getting. Good but not great.

MJ23

i watched tinker Taylor soldier spy yesterday, had to turn it off after 40 mins, too slow and uninteresting. Watched Drive last Night, good movie.

sillo

Bit of a movie day here today!

The Beaver
I'm interested to see how divisive this movie is to it's critics but it's probably no coincidence that most reviews include personal digs at Gibson in light of his controversies over the last few years. I personally judge work on its merits, not its creator - polanski's movies continue to impress me, and whether Gibson is a mad jew-hater or not could not be less relevant to me.

This movie really surprised and impressed me; even during the (relatively amusing) opening 30 minutes or so, there's a troubling undercurrent. Over the course of the movie this grows and grows and you're left truly feeling for Gibsons portrayal of a man completely destroyed by mental illness. But it's more than a story about the protagonist - Foster delivers a somewhat contrived performance as the dubious/estranged wife, but perhaps the real star of this movie is Gibsons teenage son in the movie (Anton Yelchin) - who really nails the role of the traumatised teen trying desperately to not turn into his father.

I would have rated this movie higher but (as is pointed out by much of the coverage of this movie) the neat 'put a bow on it' ending does real damage to the otherwise searing honesty and sincerity of the movie. Real mental health issues dont just go away, and the fairytale ending undermines all the gritty truths conveyed earlier in the movie.

Either way, definitely worth a watch. Great soundtrack too!



Rise of the planet of the Apes:
Yes, I watch ordinary movies sometimes as well!

An enjoyable but pretty disposable movie, this particular blockbusters cgi is pretty breathtaking and Serkis' Caeser is doubtless the best thing this movie has going for it (I kind of wanted to see more from Lithgow but that goes for anything he does).

There's little point in complaining about plausibility I suppose, and all told this was a well executed movie which does what it says on the tin.

Enjoyable fluff.

kumate_champ07

the godfather part III

much better than expected, actually enjoyed it and it does fit with the others, not as good but still worth watching. maybe people give it bad ratings because of the whole corrupt Vatican controversy in it

krudler

Real Steel- better than I expected, a real throwback to 80's sci-fi stuff, actually thought it was a better 80's nod than Super 8 was.

kraggy

sillo wrote: »

The Ides of March: Very disappointed in this - it had the potential for greatness. A wonderful cast (Giamatti, Hoffman, Clooney, Godling) struggle throughout with lacklustre dialogue, several rather tired dramatic elements, and what ultimately boils down to a poorly written screenplay.

Clooney does a decent job behind the camera but can never quite make me care enough for any of these horrible characters on display; perhaps if Gosling (or Clooney...or Hoffman...or any of the characters) felt a bit more three-dimensional this could have been great. Sadly, it wasn't to be and appropriately the movie ends on a rather monotonous, tedious note - failing to deliver message, moral, or any sense of meaning.

Wholeheartedly agree with this. Cannot understand how it got such good reviews. It's lame. Nothing of substance. Not even much style.

It's blander than milky tea.

Duggy747

Project Nim

From the makers of Man On Wire this documentary was based on a doomed-from-the-beginning experiment of a chimp (Nim) where humans tried to raise him in a particular way. The idea of the experiment was that the chimp could express what it was thinking to a human through the use of sign language. As with any pet chimps, he grew older and more violent so the project began to crumble and he was essentially tossed aside to be forgotten about.

It has input from pretty much everyone involved in the project from those who had no idea how to look after a chimp to those genuinely cared and kept in contact with him after the plug was pulled on the project where he was shipped off to an experiment lab.

Fascinating documentary which I highly recommend. It'll also remind you plenty of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes which obviously has comparisons in the situations this chimp found himself in.............bar the whole uprising part :pac:

adamski8

the artist
i would say it a pretty good film, overhearing the ifi audience would make you believe it was a masterpiece:rolleyes:
nice that it was different. characters likeable but the dog nearly stole the show.

Goodbye Lenin

Amazing movie.

Charlie19

Bullet Boy 2006

Set in London, Reminded me a lot like the ITV drama Top Boy.
Watched it on Netflix.

Dave147

WatchWolf wrote: »

The Departed.


Christ that was just a huge disappointment.

Get out.

Dave147

Colombiana - Decent action flick. Plot is fairly standard, girls parents murdered, girl avenges them. Zoe Saldana was pretty good, there wasn't much time to get to know her, it was non stop action, supporting cast weak enough besides Lennie James who is excellent as always. Wouldn't pay to see it, but it was easy to follow and enjoyable to watch, would recommend watching it if you want decent action without twists and turns.
6/10.

kumate_champ07

NoDrama wrote: »

Goodbye Lenin

Amazing movie.

havent seen it but have the soundtrack, its lovely, same guy that did soundtrack for Amelie

mikemac1

Against the Wall

Based on a true story. A prison riot in Attaca prison in upstate New York takes place and prison guards are held as hostages
Bumbling officials argue over to send in troops or stay negotiating. Well I won't say what happened but the end result was messy and the Governor was damaged over it
Stars a young Kyle MacLachlan
Pretty good, worth watching. It's on youtube

In Good Company
Denis Quaid, Scarlett Johannson, forget the guys name but he was Eric Foreman in the Seventies Show
Corporate takeover and a young hot shot takes over a department, plently of staff sacked and the older staff unhappy. Not much of a story to it, it was decent. Feel good film to pass some time but forgettable

You Know My Name
Sam Elliot in this
Famous lawman back in the day and now producing movies
I'd say it's a western but it's set in 1924 though rural Oklahoma was not exactly modern so you could argue over if it's a Western or not. Ultimately it doesn't matter
He's retired from being a US Marshal but a crime ridden town begs him to come in and take control, kick out the scum and offer him good money. There is a corrupt federal agent involved too
There is a fantastic scence as he arrives in town and you get to see all the locals from dancers, alcoholics, fighting, businesses and just the town being a general hellhole.
The ending is a bit WTF?? Seems it tried to fade away in a sentimental ending and realy, this film is not sure what it is trying to be

Ok, five out of ten

jcf

Drive - Great film ... soundtrack, cinematography ... everything just great.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/

Sean Quagmire

jcf wrote: »

Drive - Great film ... soundtrack, cinematography ... everything just great.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/

Soundtrack was awesome, great movie

I like the cinematography, but did you find that the long awkward pauses were a bit distracting?

OldeCinemaSoz

touching evil...

the first season was fab...the middle episode was excellent. i'd never caught it on itv like wire in the blood...

i picked both or a fiver a piece from the local animal sanctuary..don't worry...after viewing i'll be giving both back so they can make a few more bob on them.

tunguska

Garage

Usually the words "Irish" and "film" fill me with dread. I firmly believe thats theres a list of criteria that the irish film board insist must be met before production can begin. I imagine it goes something like this......
Film must contain:

- Alcoholism
- Domestic violence
- Physical and verbal abuse
- Absolutley crap cinematography. Seriously at all costs, film must not look good. Must look like it was made for 50quid.
- Atrocious acting
- Brendan Gleeson
- Terrible soundtrack
- Suicide
- Bleak landscapes
- Awful dialogue

Garage does meet a lot of the Irish film criteria but having said that I thought it was in a different league to whats usually rolled out on these shores. Pat shortt is magnificient, seriously all the roles Brendan gleeson gets, give 'em to pat shortt, please. It looks great, photography really good. Dialogue top notch. Absolutley tragic though. That ending is heartbreaking but at the same time brilliant. Best Irish film I've ever seen.

ReacherCreature

WatchWolf wrote: »

The Departed.


Christ that was just a huge disappointment.

Why? It's a superb film and an instant classic.

Dohnny Jepp

Unforgiven.

God I love this movie, it's one of my all-time favourites and it gets a watch once a year.

IMO the best western ever! Clint as a washed up old gunslinger who's turned from the life of crime. . . . and gets drawn back into it!!!

sillo

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Why? It's a superb film and an instant classic.

The rat symbolises obviousness!

sillo

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

havent seen it but have the soundtrack, its lovely, same guy that did soundtrack for Amelie

Yann Tiersen is his name - a lot of his music is great, not just the OST's....check out dust lane.

johnny_ultimate

Old Joy - understated, carefully considered film from Kelly Reichardt (thought it was her debut, but google is informing me otherwise). Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy) and Daniel London star as two old friends who head up to the mountains one night to find a hidden hot spring. Barely anything happens, but it's a soothing and beautifully shot film (although I still find Reichardt's fondness for unusual aspect ratios a bit offputting). The thematic focuses - of aging, responsibility and change - are hardly original, but they're handled with great consideration and thoughtful ambiguity. Mostly, it's just a short, simple and affecting road trip movie from one of independent cinema's most distinctive voices.

Although it does often reinforce the director's fondness for her dog Lucy: a fondness that would later blossom into the superb Wendy & Lucy.

fisgon

This is a film about the Romantic poet John Keats and his relationship with Fanny Brawne. It's written and directed by Jane Campion.
Usually I can't stand period films, and have no interest in biopics, but this was different. I saw it on one of the film channels recently and found it totally entrancing. It's incredibly simple, subtle, slow, lovingly filmed, perfectly acted. Abby Cornish was the star for me, it was her film. Recommended to anyone who enjoys perfectly formed, moving filmmaking.

mikemac1

The Debt

Great story, great soundtrack, excellent acting

I loved it

kraggy

WatchWolf wrote: »

The Departed.


Christ that was just a huge disappointment.

I agree.

Dave147 wrote: »

Get out.

Why?

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Why? It's a superb film and an instant classic.

In your opinion, it will be a classic. In my opinion it will be forgotten. Besides an absolutely ridiculous ending, the "humour" is often forced. Nothing worse than forced "humour"".

Granted, there are moments of suspense that are engaging, but overall the film was taken down a few notches by other annoying aspects.

And again, that ending. Jesus.