What have you watched recently?

ShiverinEskimo

Zombieland - Laughed quite a lot, prob more than I should have. Harmless comedy horror viewing.

Men Who Stare At Goats - Again, laughed quite a bit but overall is was a bit wishy/washy on plot. Not funny enough to be a comedy, not deep/quirky enough to be a drama. Clooney is in cohen brothers mode so worth a watch.

Green Zone - Thoroughly enjoyed it. Action scenes had enough tension and punch and background story was interesting and credible. Well worth a look.

old hippy

28 Weeks Later - not bad but the first one still tops it. Nice zombies meet helicopter wings scene, mind.

From Here to Eternity - Absolute classic; war is hell and Frank Sinatra deserved that Oscar. But just imagine if he'd played his character as written in the book; a male hustler...

Tokyo Sonata - salary man loses job and doesn't tell the wife; all amount of sadness and odd situations ensue. Moral - don't lie to your loved ones and don't lie to yourself.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

just watched moon, quite decent

DazMarz

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith

By far the best of the bad bunch of the prequels. Darker than any other Star Wars film from either trilogy, but this does not make it better than any of the originals. Still, a very enjoyable film, with some genuinely emotional and moving moments.

But still, as flashy and as 'good' as it may have been... Nothing can compare to the majestic brilliance of the original trilogy.

Hank_Jones

The Gold Rush - Chaplin classic (don't really need to say more).


An American Crime - Really depressing story. Does have a very good cast though, with some really good performances. Based on a true story and not for the faint of heart.


The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - Was actually expecting it to be a lot better, seems really thrown together (obviously it is somewhat due to Ledger's death) and there is wayyyy too much CGI used in it (I fcuking hate CGI).


Daybreakers - Meh. Ethan Hawke does vampire stuff and stuff. Certainly wouldn't advise people to see this, it's distinctly average.


A Bittersweet Life - Good korean film based around an enforcer for a mob boss. Not particularly original, but worth a watch, has very good action.


The Good, The Bad and The Weird - Korean western set in the 1940's. Has some really great action and chase sequences. I'd say to watch this because it is so unlike anything else (certainly that I have seen before anyway, even if it does reference TG,TB&TU a lot).


After Hours - Big disappointment for me personally. I really like Scorsese and think he is one of the best directors out there. Thought this was really lacking though. Has some great camera work, but overall I just don't think it delivers.


The Conformist - This is a beautifully shot film, with great cinematography. Seems to be almost Godfatheresque (even though it was 2 years before The Godfather). Would highly recommend this to anyone who likes The Godfather.


Little Shop of Horrors - Not big into musical films really (unless they star John Belushi) and didn't think too much of this. Enjoyed the comedic element to it though, just get irritated by them singing the majority of their lines.


Miller's Crossing - Period gangster film, certainly worth checking out for anyone interested in the genre. Coen brothers wrote, directed and produced it. Gabriel Byrne stars.


The Men Who Stare At Goats - Fairly awful film. I'm honestly not sure if Ewan McGregor is a good actor. After watching this and thinking about it, I think he's only really good in Big Fish. He's fcuking woeful in this, along with everything after about the 20 minute mark...

nacho libre

The Men Who Stare At Goats - Boring.
The Messenger - Very good film. Woody Harrelson has had some good roles this year
The Ministers - the worst film i've seen in quite a while.
The local - a decent independent film.

DazMarz

American Psycho - Great, entertaining film with some spot-on turns from Christian Bale and Willem Defoe... Not a patch on the gruesome novel by Bret Easton Ellis. Great stuff and not for those with a weak stomach.

DazMarz

The General. Based on the life of Martin 'The General' Cahill, this is a brilliant film. Brendan Gleeson is perfect as the corpulent crook who attempted to outwit the Gardaí throughout the 1970's and 1980's, pulling off some of Ireland's most infamous robberies. Strong support from Adrian Dunbar, Jon Voight and Sean McGinley make this for one powerful biopic of a very colourful criminal (who was also a ruthless and vicious thug; many of his more vile crimes are conveniently left off-screen so the audience will identify more with him).

MagicMarker

Zombieland - Pretty fúcking good if you ask me. Greatest opening credits ever!

old hippy

Hank_Jones wrote: »

The Good, The Bad and The Weird - Korean western set in the 1940's. Has some really great action and chase sequences. I'd say to watch this because it is so unlike anything else (certainly that I have seen before anyway, even if it does reference TG,TB&TU a lot).


...

It's more of a knowing hommage to Leone's classic, rather than an out & out rip off. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like that; I recommed

Tears of the Black Tiger - A Thai Western, set in the 30s and influenced by Sam Peckinpah, Leone & Tarantino. Completely over the top - it's like a garish cartoon at times.

Kung Fu Hustle - Slapstick martial arts epic meets Tex Avery.

Chinese Odessey 2002 - spoof of Chinese epic love stories, Wong Kar Wai produces but it's a lot lighter than his other stuff.

Wing Chun - Michelle Yeoh stars as a warrior protecting her village from bandits. Think Fistful of Dollars with dollops of humour, innuendo and cool fight sequences.

fitz0

Green Zone - Got a free ticket because they overbooked the premier of The Ghost in Cineworld. Not even worth a free ticket tbh. GZ is perhaps the worse example of shaky cam I've ever seen, worse than Cloverfield.

When there's text on the screen, I'm thinking "Oh, what does this say? I'm obviously meant to read it." But NO! we get shaky cam while trying to read. Honestly, what is the point? I had a vicious headache after this film that ruined my whole night. I felt sick after watching it. The shaky cam is that bad.

The horrible camerawork doesn't even cover what a poor film it is either. It would be marginally better with a fixed camera but, still, the poor direction stands out regardless.

I'm not sure if the volume was set too loud but it was really loud, with some shots a lot louder than others to try and make the audience jump. Plus the jarring scene changes, combined with louder gunshots just got on my nerves.

This is the first film I'd ever give a 0/5

ShiverinEskimo

fitz0 wrote: »

Green Zone - Got a free ticket because they overbooked the premier of The Ghost in Cineworld. Not even worth a free ticket tbh. GZ is perhaps the worse example of shaky cam I've ever seen, worse than Cloverfield.

When there's text on the screen, I'm thinking "Oh, what does this say? I'm obviously meant to read it." But NO! we get shaky cam while trying to read. Honestly, what is the point? I had a vicious headache after this film that ruined my whole night. I felt sick after watching it. The shaky cam is that bad.

The horrible camerawork doesn't even cover what a poor film it is either. It would be marginally better with a fixed camera but, still, the poor direction stands out regardless.

I'm not sure if the volume was set too loud but it was really loud, with some shots a lot louder than others to try and make the audience jump. Plus the jarring scene changes, combined with louder gunshots just got on my nerves.

This is the first film I'd ever give a 0/5

Watched Green Zone and didn't feel one bit dizzy or sick. Also worth noting I didn't feel sick during cloverfield either.

Some people get motion sickness from movies, some don't. If you don't, you should defo check out Green Zone.

dario28

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Watched Green Zone and didn't feel one bit dizzy or sick. Also worth noting I didn't feel sick during cloverfield either.

Some people get motion sickness from movies, some don't. If you don't, you should defo check out Green Zone.

Went to watch it very hungover and found it nearly impossible to focus on whats going on for the first 15 mins , after your eyes adjust its a class film...bullets are supposed to be loud

fitz0

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Also worth noting I didn't feel sick during cloverfield either.

Neither did I. I've never felt any way sick watching a film before. But even aside from that, its a terrible film. There's much better Iraq war films out there.

The plot is over-simplistic, the script is poor, the acting is decidedly average, the message is muddled and the editing is amateurish in places. The action, to be fair, is quite good in places, though the shaky cam hurts more than it helps.

I don't see good action as the determiner of a good film, so I was left thoroughly unimpressed. But if you want explosions and chases by all means go to see it.

Tony EH

Halloween

Rob Zombie's remake. While it ups the body count and increases the blood, it manages to come off as a pale immitation of Carpenters classic (which I'm not actually that big a fan of). It's lingering opening featuring the Myers family is kind of misguided though and the attempts to humanise (somewhat) Michael Myers was a step in the wrong direction, in my opinion. Also, the updated Laurie is no patch on Jamie Leigh Curtis' version from 1978. Neither can Malcolm McDowell compete with Donald Pleasance in the Dr. Loomis role. Pity.But this has to go down as yet another failed remake in a decade of failed remakes.

Halloween II

[facepalm] bloody hell [/facepalm]

I should have known better. Rob Zombie tries to add something new to the Myers story by introducing some hallucination material into his script and it fails miserably. It comes off simply as an excuse to give his wife some screen time to pad out her little career. Incredibly bad move. There are also changes made to "The Shape" Michael Myers that destroys his meance completely. The film starts off well enough and looks like it's going to be a simple update of the Carpenter sequel of the same name from 1981. But, it quickly descends downward into a muddy mess that thankfully ends with

Laurie Strode getting killed.

Avoid.

Ruu_Old

Passage to Marseille. Sydney Greenstreet, Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre once more.

Viva le France!

ShiverinEskimo

fitz0 wrote: »

There's much better Iraq war films out there.

Can you recommend a few? Only one's I've watched are Green Zone and The Hurt Locker.

Unless you count the likes of Jarhead based on Desert Storm (Iraq War I).

Tusky

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Can you recommend a few? Only one's I've watched are Green Zone and The Hurt Locker.

Unless you count the likes of Jarhead based on Desert Storm (Iraq War I).

I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed Brothers. Definitely underrated.

[edit] Although I think its moreso about Afghanistan than Iraq.

ShiverinEskimo

Cheers for the reminder Tusky. Missed that in the cinema when it was out. I'll keep an eye out for it now.

billymitchell

Samson and Delilah - Fairly good I have to say. Pulls on the old heart strings a bit

Exit Through the Gift Shop - It wont win any awards(checked on imdb!) , but it is a really funny documentary about a weird French man! Not sure if its still playing in the cinema's ,but I would recommend everybody go see it

Ridley

old hippy wrote: »

Chinese Odessey 2002 - spoof of Chinese epic love stories, Wong Kar Wai produces but it's a lot lighter than his other stuff.

I'll bite. Thanking you.

----

The Secret of Kells - 'Twas okay. Great to look at, so I got what I was paying since I bought the DVD only because Patrick Schoenmaker was a layout artist on the film. It's basically a 2D drawing moving on a page and the Vikings are faceless, gold obessessed helmets and beards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2_HZTuQBE

How likely it is for a black, English, Asian and Italian monk to be hanging around 9th century Kells though?

DVD had the short film Cúilín Dúalach from the same studio on the disc aswell (not advertised on the back though) which I liked but feels bizarre for a kids' DVD. It's a story about acceptance but still.

Baby is born with his head on back to front (or his body on back to front) to the digust of everyone, including his father, with the exception of his mother. He grows up, develops a passion for swimming and wins a race only for the judges (and runner-up) to find his backwards head is against the rules in some way. The medal goes to the guy in second place but the boy is happy because his father recognises his accomplishment and was proud to see him win.

At night, the boy's heart gives out and he dies in his sleep. At the wake, the judges show up having decided he should have won and the runner-up hands over the medal. The parents place it at the cemetery (which has a sheep in it) and are said that he never got it in life but are happy by the appearances of his back to front headed angel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3WpOvvAPgQ

Jako8

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - I enjoyed it. I only watched it for Tom Waits and Terry Gilliam. It's definitely not one of his best but it's quite good. I thought Lily Cole's performance was very good, I expected something terrible. The visuals are impressive too.

Hank_Jones

Tusky wrote: »

I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed Brothers. Definitely underrated.

[edit] Although I think its moreso about Afghanistan than Iraq.

I really liked Brothers, felt Toby Maguire gave a great performance in it.

Anyone I talk to about it thought it was a stinker though.
Maybe it's my liking of Jim Sheridan films that swayed me,
certainly underrated anyway.

The performances from the children were very convincing as well,
it's very rare that actual good performances come from children.
I generally find that the majority of child performances look like the children are acting,
as opposed to them actually being convincing as the characters.

InKonspikuou2

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Can you recommend a few? Only one's I've watched are Green Zone and The Hurt Locker.

Unless you count the likes of Jarhead based on Desert Storm (Iraq War I).

The below are some decent ones. Not all revolve around actual placement in the war. But are related to the issue none the less.

Battle for Haditha
In the valley of Elah
The Messenger
Stop-Loss
The lucky ones
Redacted
The situation

irishh_bob

the player with tim robbins , had not seen this altman classic in years , still one of my favourite movies , delightfully cynical and darkly comic

Tony EH

'Sorcerer'

William Friedkin's oddly titled remake of one of the greatest films ever made. 'The Wages of Fear'. It's basically the same story. Desperate men are hired by a US oil company in South America to drive a load of unstable explosive 200 miles to the site of a raging oil fire, in order to blow the flames out. In this version the explosives are dynamite which is now seeping nitroglycerine due to careless storage. The original film just had liquid nitro as the dangerous cargo. The films title comes from the names the men have given the trucks, "Sorcerer" and "Lazaro".

This version goes into the backstory far deeper than the 1953 classic by Georges Cluzot, establishing clearly why the foreigners are in Venezuela in the first place. This is actually the film's best hour and in many ways, it's superior to the first hour of Cluzot's version.

Despite being a remake, Friedkin's effort benefits from his style. Anyone familiar with 'The Exorcist' or 'The French Connection' will know what I mean. The first hour set up sucks the viewer in perfectly and features locations in New York, Jerusalem and Paris, in the explination of why the main characters are stranded in their isolation. It does tend to get bogged down, ironically, when the men hit the road. But it still features some excellent scenes, especially the "rope bridge" sequence which is handled very well.

'Sorcerer' was an incredible flop at the box office and explains why it's been so difficult to find for so long. There have been many efforts to explain why the film did so badly. From lack of "Star Power" (Steve McQueen said no) to 'Star Wars'. The "Star Power" angle doesn't wash, as the star is Roy Scheider, fresh off of one of the greatest box office hits of all time and the film that spawned the Summer blockbuster in the first place, 'Jaws'. But being released in 1977, 'Sorcerer' was in competition with George Lucas' masterpiece and that was always going to win out.

I also suspect that part of the reason why the film failed so badly, was because Friedkin decided to call the film 'Sorcerer' in the first place, which would suggest a vastly different film to the vast majority of people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMof5PuQF7w

techno-allah

InKonspikuou2 wrote: »

The below are some decent ones. Not all revolve around actual placement in the war. But are related to the issue none the less.

Battle for Haditha
In the valley of Elah
The Messenger
Stop-Loss
The lucky ones
Redacted
The situation

It's a documentary but I'd highly recommend Taxi To The Darkside. Looks into America's use of torture during the war. Probably the best thing I've seen concerning the Iraq war along with Generation Kill.

Kess73

Watched Pandorum tonight. Had heard bad things about it, but with Foster and Quaid onboard I figured it would be watchable.

Turned out to be better than expected despite a telegraphed ending, and could not shake the feeling that it tipped it's hat to The Time Machine, both the H G Wells novel and the 1960 film based upon that novel.


Tomorrow night I will be watching The Descent 2, a film which ironically has something in common with both the aforementioned H G Wells novel and Pandorum, well it should do based on the first Descent film anyway.

CoalBucket

Saw Case 39 with Renee Zellwegger, the worst film i've seen in a long time.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

mesrine L'instinct de mort and L'ennemi public n°1 . First one didn't fit together very well I thought, but it set the scene very well for the excellent second part. Vincent Cassell is a damned legend.