What have you watched recently?

Sad Professor

21 Grams — A terrific film with great performances all round, but Watts really steals the show imo. Incredible actress. She really should have an Oscar by now. She wasn't even nominated for Mulholland Drive.

Alice in Wonderland — I was braced for it to be bad, but actually I really liked it. At least Burton's films are nice to look at. Although I could have done without the obligatory CGI battle scene at the end.

Dr Strangelove — Two geniuses dominate this film - Kubrick and Sellers - but everyone in it is great. Scott always makes me laugh. Kubrick was such an extraordinary filmmaker. He tried his hand at so many genres - sci-fi, comedy, war, horror - and left a lasting imprint on all of them. Sad that he's not around any more.

Black Hawk Down — This has grown on me enormously since I first saw it. Sure, it's just a big shoot-em-up-fest, but as so-called realistic war films go, I'll take this any day over the other garbage in the genre. Scott's cold style is often a negative factor in his films, but it is well suited to this material.

Avatar — Second viewing, and I didn't care for it this time either. I admire Cameron's technical brilliance but that's it. Even in terms of pure spectacle, I find this film lacking. It's all bluster with little to remember. Titanic, for all its flaws, still had numerous inspired moments which this film simply doesn't have imo. It is so shockingly unoriginal. Everything about it is recycled. It's basically George Lucas does Dances With Wolves.

4davis7

New A-Team
Invictus
New Shrek
The Losers

UrbanSea

Watched Chloe last night,it was excellent.

constitutionus

KaiserGunner wrote: »

I have recently watched the Back To The Future trilogy again, classic. Also watched Independence Day again, what a great film.

i am constantly amazed how well the back to the future films hold up. theyre heading toward 30 years old now putting us almost in the year marty went to the future and they still work !

on OP.

Ended up watching bourne supremacy on telly last night.

still a great little film.

Wossack

watched Bolt the other night - really enjoyed it, alot more then I thought I would.. but Im a sucker for those type of Disney/Pixar animations

opening sequence is sooo good

AlmostFamous

I watched Blue Streak last night for the third time. It is an enjoyable watch but by no means a classic.

Anakin.S

Wossack wrote: »

watched Bolt the other night - really enjoyed it, alot more then I thought I would.. but Im a sucker for those type of Disney/Pixar animations

opening sequence is sooo good

Me and the other half went to see it in the cinema (Odeon in belfast) because Benjamen Button's sound broke and they said Bolt was just starting. I loved it, the Sonic Bark is one of the best things ever!

Watched Memoirs of a Geisha and The Motorcycle Diaries again recently..
Really like both.

jaykhunter

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)

Documentary about three "satanic" teenagers that were arrested a tried for the murder of three children in Arkansas in 1993. HBO were granted pretty much unlimited access to the whole trial, the lawyers and families on both sides.

It is scary, saddening, infuriating and appalling to see the events of the trial unfold. It's a confirmation of stereotypes and damning evidence of the corrupt nature of this backwater town's legal system/proceedings.

Bear in mind though, it contains graphic footage (i.e. the crime scene video/pictures) and it's 2 & 1/2 hours long (I guess HBO wanted to include everything, that or they didn't have editing facilities) but it is interesting. The production quality is extremely raw.

Highly recommended watching. There is a follow-up documentary (2000) that I'm going to watch now.

Appleblossom42

jaykhunter wrote: »

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)

Sounds really interesting,would love to see it. Was this on tv?

jaykhunter

Appleblossom42 wrote: »

Sounds really interesting,would love to see it. Was this on tv?

I'm sure this was/is shown on Living or ID or those sort of channels, but it's up for free on youtube. Give it a watch and let us know what ya think.

Gerty

A serious man - Was really looking forward to this. Missed it in the cinema and through lack of financial backing its taken me this long to get my hands on it. Exactly what is to be expected of the Coen's, it was brilliant. Not so many laugh out loud moments, but it is a black comedy. And one the marks of a great film for me is that i'm lying here in bed now and can't stop thinking about. It has THE effect.

pinksoir

I just watched Formosa Betrayed and found it a good political thriller about the mystery surrounding the murder of a Taiwanese born professor in the States, and the subsequent investigation undertaken by the FBI in Taipei. A welcome return for Dawson's Creek, he managed to play a very convincing young FBI member slightly out of his depth uncovering a conspiracy. Based on actual events it gives a good insight into the motivations behind the governments of China and the States towards Taiwan, a democratic, independent country that was then, as now, unrecognised as such.

The Beekmeister carries the film well and I have to say I'd like to see him get roles in bigger pictures in the future. He's a fairly under-appreciated actor, and there's one scene in this film near the end where he shows his chops. You can really empathise with how he's feeling with the surreality and tragedy of the situation. It's all in the eyes I tells ya. An understated and confident role.

jaykhunter

Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000)

Sequel to the infamous 1996 HBO documentary. I have a few thoughts on this one :

The defense/volunteers did a poor job of articulating the vast amount of evidence contradicting the verdict. I feel that they easily failed in simplifying the facts so that the media, and townsfolk and the public can grasp the injustice. This is especially evident when one of the "WM3 supporters" goes live on a news show.

They fail to even say something as simple, digestible and all-encompassing as the poster tagline -
"It's frightening to think they did it. It's terrifying to think they didn't"

Mr Beyers would make for a terrifying villain in a movie. The self-righteous, dangerous, damning hillbilly. He constantly, angrily spouts his agenda, cutting a promo into the camera. Setting fire in the former crime scene, drinking in public, it's all a fascinating, troubled, scary character.

I didn't like the tone the middle part of the film, which tried to implicate Beyers in the murder. I agree that it's likely that (if the boys were not guilty - which is true) Beyers would be a prime suspect. Having cut up deer (venison), having violent outbursts and at least one restraining order against him, having a brain tumour, being on anti-psychotics, his wife dying from an 'undetermined' cause, he does look highly suspicious. The point of the movie is to try to get these three teenagers --now twenty somethings--out of prison....although implicating Beyer would do that.

What's this about a belt-buckle shape, not bite marks? Is that the examiners just covering their ass?

Do they have any other evidence good implicating the teenagers, besides the confession of a intellectually impaired (IQ = 72) teen, after 12 hours of interrogation (i.e. coercion); where only the last 45 minutes are recorded, and still can't get his story straight; and so is lead through the "confession". It's so offensive. But I thought the defense did a bad job of laying out the case in bite-size chunks so that the redneck moron jurors could understand. I bet they were easily swayed by the prosecution saying "he doesn't know how things are done in California" making the defense lawyer out to be a condescending, big-city outsider.

It's dodgy that the investigators/police "lost" evidence of another bloody man in a restroom that night, and retiring straight after this big case. Just a bit odd.

Anyway, bit of a rant there. I'm pretty annoyed by the lack of justice. Whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?

Edit : There's some really interesting updates (since 2000, lol) about the case, including important facts that weren't told in both films. I'd recommend at least thumbing through it....

Ricardo G

Watched "This boys life" last night
Great film that i had'nt seen in donkeys !!

epgc3fyqirnbsx

Watched 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' yesterday.

Excellend film that I had meant to watch for years, the main reason being that my aul man doesn't watch films (no attention span) but this is the only one that he actually had watched and loved. And anytime he hears anyone talking about a movie, whether it be toy story or the dark knight he'll pipe up about Butch.

Anyway, watched it, generally love anything with Paul Newman and this was no exception, but cheesey but definitely very funny

Why have I bever seen this on TV before?

A V A

i just went to see predators in the cinema and have to say i liked it walking into the cinema i thought i wouldnt like it but i suprised my self

MiloYossarian

I just saw Inception. Now I don't want to implant subliminal messages in to YOUR mind (I am sooo sorry), but if you like good films you should see this. Don't want to betray my true feelings because it might sway your opinion one way or the other.
(Although, you might cry after seeing it. I know I did.)

JesseCuster

MiloYossarian wrote: »

I just saw Inception. Now I don't want to implant subliminal messages in to YOUR mind (I am sooo sorry), but if you like good films you should see this. Don't want to betray my true feelings because it might sway your opinion one way or the other.
(Although, you might cry after seeing it. I know I did.)

I just saw it too. Incredible! I immediately wanted to watch it again.
Christoper Nolan is a GENIUS!

sarah+1

I just watched My Name is Khan for the 3rd time. It's a Bollywood movie but it doesn't have any dancing in it. It's about a muslim man with Aspergers syndrome who falls in love with a Hindu woman and has to prove his love to her after 9/11. It's amazing. Everyone should watch it, you can get it in HMV.

Kev_ps3

Finally got to see District 9 on dvd. Great movie:)

filmfan

I love District 9!

Watched Cellular on Film Four last night, so bad it made us laugh!

We're off to see Toy Story 3 tomorrow so that's going to blow everything out of the water

Zapp Brannigan

Kev_ps3 wrote: »

Finally got to see District 9 on dvd. Great movie:)

Watched it for the first time last night.

Good movie. Looks great on Blu-ray

MagicMarker

Kingdom of Heaven - Absolute drivel, turned it off after an hour. Orlando Bloom seriously sucks as the leading man.

The Losers - Great fun! Highly recommended.

missingtime

Inception - Excellent movie. Its just something you have to experience in the cinema I think. The sound, the effects, the action, the idea every bit of it works so well together. Needs a second viewing though.

The Prestige - Another Nolan movie about two rival magicians. Seen it a couple of times and perhaps this was one time too many. Its still a great movie though and if you have not seen it, check it out.

Brooklyns Finest - The weakest of the three but still good no less. Heavily influenced by the wire i feel. And for fans of the wire, keep an eye out for some of the cast.

mike65

The Damned Utd just now BBC2.

Very much a TV movie, not sure how well it played on the big screen for nearly a tenner.
Excellent performances all round and the colour schemes were well caught!

filmfan

Today was Toy Story 3, Babe and Alien V Predator...a nice mix!

filthymcnasty

watching The Fly now on film4

top quote: 'I want to be the first insect politician' lol

klicha10

good lists

Gerty

Eastern Promises - Well, i'll just say it didn't do it for me.

Miller's Crossing - Very much enjoyed this. Great little film. For someone reason i didn't find it the easiest to watch but when i got into to it, fantastic.

Pan's labyrinth - Fantastic. Well worth a watch and now, i have i can't understand what took me so long. Just brilliant and the girl is up there in top performances by a child actor with the boy from bicycle thieves.

Inception - I refrain from comments.