What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

The Black Oil

The Divide, featuring Michael Biehn.

I was going to take a few notes as it was pretty OK for about the first 30-40 minutes. But no. Some of the characters were such misogynistic tools I could hardly get past that element. That and it just generally became awful.

Cantona's Collars

Sisters,even if the missus asked "why are you putting on a chick flick?"

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are on top form in this comedy.

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

Liam McPoyle

Watched Birdman last night.

Didn't care for it at all.

The jazz drumming soundtrack really annoyed me too.

david75

Have to disagree. Sisters is all kinds of awful.


Steve jobs was great. Fassbender deserves the Oscar for it.

The heart of the sea I didn know what to make of. It doesn't know what it makes of itself either really.

LuckyLloyd

Krigen (A War)

Went into this knowing very little and was surprised at the subject matter as - to be honest - I wasn't aware that Denmark had a frontline role in the Afghan conflict. A War is kind of three films in one - a modern traditional war movie; a 'the affect on families left behind at war' movie; a courtroom drama.

The first of those three aspects is definitely the film's strong point. The patrol scenes are very well handled, and offer a strong insight into the chaos and incomplete information that soldiers under attack are subjected to. Pilou Asbæk gives a convincing portrayal of an experienced and caring commander under incredible strain.

The 'home front' scenes are worthy and lovingly handled with the director illiciting good performances from the adorable child actors but they are too slow moving. Indeed the movie as a whole is ponderous, clearly by design - war is waiting and uncertainty after all.

Unfortunately, thet understatement and glacial pace serves to undermine the third aspect of the film. The court scenes lack...something and fail to pack a necessary punch. Ultimately the film offers a murky moral dilemma and is attempting to contrast the affect of war on local and first world participants (and raise a question about relative value of human life) but the end result is locked in and shackled too much by such weighty preoccupations and intentions.

On a side note, the subtitling in The Lighthouse wasn't great with a couple of sequences not translated. They weren't key moments, but it was irritating nonetheless.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Krigen (A War)

Went into this knowing very little and was surprised at the subject matter as - to be honest - I wasn't aware that Denmark had a frontline role in the Afghan conflict. A War is kind of three films in one - a modern traditional war movie; a 'the affect on families left behind at war' movie; a courtroom drama.

The film Brødre, which is the original Danish film that Jim Sheridan's "Brothers" is a remake of, also features Danish forces in Afghanistan. The recent historic TV drama 1864 also featured a mention of Afghanistan in the modern sections.

I guess that conflict has infiltrated the Danish consciousness in the same way it has in the UK/USA. "Afghan War" will probably be a whole genre in itself in the future, like WWI or WWII are now.

pixelburp

Ant Man (2015)

Oh Marvel you canny so and sos: just when I'm finding myself more than a little jaded by the MCU, particularly after the stodgy mess that was Avengers 2, they go and release what felt very much like the perfect palette cleanser. After all the fuss and gossip over the departure of Edgar Wright, the actual eventual film was pretty decent in of itself and definitely the superior Marvel film of 2015.

Sure, conceptually it was as safe as every other MCU flick, but it was both fun and genuinely funny, an enjoyable ride from start to finish and for once didn't contain an obnoxious orgy of destruction as its 3rd act. The stakes remained pretty small-scale (no pun intended) and personal, grounding the tension throughout so events actually felt dangerous and thrilling - instead of just noisy and exhausting. A few times, it even felt like the movie was gently teasing the franchise as a whole, which if nothing else shows Marvel are vaguely self-aware. I'm still disappointed Wright didn't get to helm this, and there were distinct places I felt his more talented & comedic touch would have edged the film from merely being good to genuinely great, but overall this was a much better film than it had any right to be.

Duggy747

In The Heart Of The Sea

Was alright but very forgettable and all over the place on what it was trying to be.

The CGI was really, really jarring. I'm not talking about the whales but the actual green screen where there was an overkill with the soft-edging around the actors and the lighting on them didn't match the scenes behind them giving the film a very odd, "this was filmed in water tank" look.

It just kept pulling everyone out of the movie and will probably age this film very quickly.

Sicario

Good tone and a great soundtrack to an otherwise simple film that doesn't live up to the dread it keeps alluding to. Blunt's character could have been played by literally anyone but that wasn't her fault, she didn't have much to work with and the character being so overly ideological just didn't sit right.

Del Toro had a great presence and this is far more his film.

A good movie but didn't live up to the hype for me.

Spectre

Dull but very silly at the same time. Made me come to the realisation that I just don't like this latest incarnation of Bond movies though I try to give them a chance. Craig makes a good Bond, but there's just too much fan-service and yo-yoing with what they were trying to do with the franchise since casting him.

Casino Royale has been the only film I really liked with him, though Skyfall had it's moments.

The

Blofeld reveal

was shíte and too much of the film was leading up to something that anybody who knows the franchise were fully expecting. As such,

Christopher Waltz

was completely wasted for the sake of building suspense.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

Was doing some testing when I said I'd slap this on just for a few minutes................ending up watching the whole thing :pac:

Such a delightfully odd film that I never tire of and made me realise I need to watch Gene Wilder films again.

PandyAndy

The Shining

I don't know how I've only gotten around to watching this for the first time yesterday... bit late to the party I think.

Anyway, another classic by Kubrick based on Stephen Kings book. The child who plays Danny far outshone Nicholson's character. He was proper creepy, and that voice he used for his imaginary friend was spot on. Fantastic horror film that you should definitely watch.

Only annoyance was

the lead actresses way of running with her arms flailing about her sides :pac:

cowboyBuilder

The Thing (1982) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/?ref_=nv_sr_2


John Carpenters best film - imo, an absolute gem, and was lucky enough to see it on the big screen for the first time.

^^ actually watched The Shining this weekend too

Liam McPoyle

I got the glorious Anchor Bay 15 disc blu Ray release of the complete Halloween collection off Santa so got stuck into it this evening.

Even though I've seen it uncountable times Halloween is still my favourite film of all time and for my money the greatest horror movie of all time.

Everything about it is perfect, the pacing, the music, light enough on dialogue, a likeable heroine in Jamie Lee, a wonderful turn from Pleasence and a terrifying bad guy, it has it all.

Carpenter builds a sense of dread and foreboding from the very get go and builds it to almost unbearable levels before the end.

The transfer it self looks lovely and the sound is fantastic.

The perfect horror movie that all wannabe horror directors should be made to watch on a loop until they get what makes a horror movie.

10/10

johnny_ultimate

The Assassin - Holy ****. Probably, IMO, the most beautiful film of the last decade. Every shot, every camera movement, every landscape, every action is imbued with mystery and meaning. The plot is simple but convoluted, your standard period martial arts fare - yet it all is delivered with an incredible level of grace and poetry. This is King Hu by way of Terence Malick but obviously Hou Hsiao-Hsien through-and-through. It's a film I can only describe as transcendent - it hit me on all manner of hard-to-articulate subconscious levels, just completely drawn into this 'pure cinema' vision. Hyperbole? Maybe, but The Assassin is an astonishing experience as far as I'm concerned. It will divide viewers, without question - it already has. But this, for me, was a bewitching masterpiece, as essential and artful as contemporary cinema gets.

Five Deadly Venoms / The Kid with the Golden Arm - Emboldened by my recent discovery of the wonders of the aforementioned King Hu, I decided to dig into some of the other Shaw Brothers stuff on Netflix. Five Deadly Venoms I settled on because it's often praised as quintessential Shaw Bros. kung-fu. It's... grand. It's fun. It's lovingly silly. But maybe starting with someone as extraordinary as Hu perhaps poisoned the well (or the wine) a bit - this is a cruder, cheaper, flimsier, more throwaway experience and that was hard to shake off. Still, there's stuff to like too. The colours are bright and vivid. The film is a fetching mix of kitschy and stylish. The last fight scene is great. And there's a lot to be said about the film's sheer efficiency - from the no-nonsense intro scenes to the fact that there's barely 30 seconds between the last bad guy falling and the 'Another Shaw Brothers Production' title seeing us out.

The Kid with the Golden Arms is pretty much the same film, just not quite as good :pac:

A New Leaf - It's tricky to tell how much of this film's weird, offbeat tone is a result of Elaine May's intentions, and how much was a result of the infamously nasty post-production process. Still, even in its apparently compromised form, this is captivating stuff - a dark screwball comedy that somehow manages to end up as a strangely affecting romance by the end. There's some fantastic gags, and Walter Matthau shines as the lead character (who is a selfish asshole). May - who also co-stars - writes and directs with a sort of mad energy, but doesn't forget to highlight some of the film's darker undercurrents too. And, dare I suggest, the haphazardly edited nature of some scenes even adds to the film's dreamy absurdity at times (there's some hilarious running-gag jumpcuts), even if it was the result of a studio who just wanted to throw out something vaguely marketable. It's a testament to May that it still isn't all that marketable :P

Decuc500

Was interested to see The Assassin get film of the year in Sight & Sound. Can't wait to see it.

biko

Just back from Daddy's Home, very funny movie!

charlie_says

Saw a few decent movies over the last few weeks The Lobster, The Good the Bad and the Weird (I just loved this) and The Gift.

All worth a watch. The Lobster is quite funny, TGTBATW is just bonkers action packed hilarity and The Gift is a surprisingly dark thriller.

BMMachine

Girlhood - 2015

Really good French film about an inner city teenager getting to grips with her life. Great soundtrack too. A lot going on in this film and great social commentary which isn't made blunt or obvious which is often the big issue with films of its genre. Great use of suburban Paris too. Would recommend to anyone looking for something with a lot of realism and analysis of character and surroundings.

great song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl0qnRTod8U

ButtersSuki

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The Assassin - Holy ****. Probably, IMO, the most beautiful film of the last decade. Every shot, every camera movement, every landscape, every action is imbued with mystery and meaning. The plot is simple but convoluted, your standard period martial arts fare - yet it all is delivered with an incredible level of grace and poetry. This is King Hu by way of Terence Malick but obviously Hou Hsiao-Hsien through-and-through. It's a film I can only describe as transcendent - it hit me on all manner of hard-to-articulate subconscious levels, just completely drawn into this 'pure cinema' vision. Hyperbole? Maybe, but The Assassin is an astonishing experience as far as I'm concerned. It will divide viewers, without question - it already has. But this, for me, was a bewitching masterpiece, as essential and artful as contemporary cinema gets.

Is that on in a cinema here yet?


On a side note, I was tempted to say "hmm, I only thought The Assassin was ok, I much preferred Nikita"

johnny_ultimate

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Is that on in a cinema here yet?

Out this day next week!

Again, I think a lot of people will walk out frustrated or wondering what the fuss is. I can easily see how in a certain mood or on a different day I might have felt the same. But after about 15 minutes I was entranced by its spell and stayed that way throughout. There's one scene on a cliff face, where the camera movement matches with what's happening narrative-wise but also in the environment... It's a moment I'd be inclined to describe as true cinematic perfection.

Liam McPoyle

Halloween II

Watched this last night. It picks up exactly where part 1 ends with Dr Loomis after shooting Michael and him disappearing. Laurie is brought to hospital and Michael manages to make his way there to dispatch the hapless staff as he pleases.

JLC doesn't feature too heavily in this instalment and while it lacks the palpable tension of the original it ups the ante exponentially in terms of body count.

It's enjoyable enough fare as sequels go though a few things got my goat. For example, Michael kills someone by drowning her in a scalding hot hospital bath, her face ends up half melted his hand that was in the water as long as her head is unaffected. Little things of course but something I noticed.

The transfer is excellent and what has really struck me with the two of them is the sound, it's fantastically clear and crisp, top marks to Anchor Bay.

Overall a fun, silly slasher.

7/10

Tony EH

Business Cat wrote: »

It's enjoyable enough fare as sequels go though a few things got my goat. For example, Michael kills someone by drowning her in a scalding hot hospital bath, her face ends up half melted his hand that was in the water as long as her head is unaffected. Little things of course but something I noticed.

He got blown away by Loomis in the first one, then got up and walked away!

The whole thing is flat out stupid, even if I do have an affection for the first three Halloween films. Four onwards, I won't waste my time with again.

TerrorFirmer

Diablo, with Scott Eastwood. It's great to see the Western genre undergoing a small revival the past few years, and Clint's own son supported by Walton Goggins held incredible promise.

Acting is fine, and beautiful cinematography is the film's only true saving grace, as the film itself is an absolute stinker. Dreadful script that truly beggars belief, like a house of cards it drags every other aspect of the movie down into the abyss.

Shocking that so much talent, both in front and behind the camera, would be involved with this - I can't understand how they got this one so terribly, terribly wrong.

2/10 is being generous, and both those marks are for the cinematography.

Harry Palmr

The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Dir Orson Welles

A typically quixotic and interfered with Welles film, a double dealing murder mystery which was re-edited (the hall of mirrors climax hardly survives, we can only imagine how it looked in full) and partially re-shot resulting in a curio rather than a major work but it looks good. Welles Irish accent is very Orish and the courtroom scene farcical really.


This is a film I didn't see - Puppet on a Chain on BBC TWo Friday night, I set the EPG but it didn't record. Did it get pulled?

Hans Bricks

We heard good things about Snowpiercer and decided to give it a watch. What a cracking B movie for something that takes place entirely on a train. Expected a clichéd flop based on the premise, but I'm so glad I was proved wrong.

If I had to describe it, it would be claustrophobic dystopia meets old boy. Wacky in parts and a great twist at the end. I'd really recommend it.

Del.Monte

"Ascendancy" (1983)

Julie Covington, Ian Charleson.



A major disappointment! Three years waiting to get hold of a copy of this movie, watched last night and already sold on.

Depressing 1920s drama set in Belfast which follows the mental breakdown of Connie (Julie Covington), the daughter of a Unionist shipyard owner, whose brother has been killed in WW.I. She has failed to come to terms with his death and the unfolding troubles around her world serve to push her over the edge. A thoroughly depressing piece which, as an aside, captures the sectarian foundation of Northern Ireland quite accurately. Filmed in England.
5/10

Chain Smoker

Anomalisa
Good, funny, sweet, depressing. Definitely a minor work of Kaufman's though, it does a great job of conveying a certain kind of depression but it doesn't provide anything truly insightful beyond that in the way that Kaufman is capable of. The further I get away from it, the more disappointed I am with the ending; it feels very much like a short film in a lot of ways and I think Kaufman could've done a lot better with wrapping it up.

As an aside, it's amazing he has been able to follow up on Synecdoche at all, I honestly figured that was it from him. I mean, where do you go from that?!

So yeah, definitely worth seeing, if you like Kaufman you should like it, but don't get too hyped about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

Inside Out
Should not have watched this on a plane, cried my eyes out

99 Homes
Andrew Garfield was surprisingly good in this but Michael Shannon was something else altogether, maybe his best performance I've seen since Take Shelter.
There were some holes to it but overall I thought this was just a really ****ing film, recommended for people who like watching films about poorer people being ****ed by the housing crisis and its aftermath.

The Gift
I can kind of see why it got such good reviews, Edgerton showed some really good sensibilities but the overall story was silly as f*ck. Definitely a testament to him (and Bateman's continued skill at being a hateable git), that I didn't spend the whole film tearing it apart.

fin12

The Revinant, thought it was brilliant, can't believe what one man can survive.

Duggy747

Dark Harbour - 1998

We were looking for a random Alan Rickman film and discovered this. Norman Reedus is in this too and figuring herself gets googly-eyed for him we decided to slap it on.

Rickman plays an uptight, high class man with a beautiful and adventurous wife on holidays on an island. They both come across Norman Reedus injured on the side of the road and due to circumstances let him stay around their house for a few days. Reedus plays up the rough and misunderstood rogue bad boy who gets the wife's pulse going while Rickman looks on with that sneer of his.

Utter love-triangle trash and codswallop that looks like it was made for the Hallmark Channel, with every single romance affair trope checked and blatantly slapped on.

But, by gum, did we enjoy it.......probably because we were both drinking and there was tons of unintentionally hilarious bits in it.

Rickman though was great in it and was enjoyable to watch his frequent put-downs and being generally miserable like only he could do.

It did have this bizarre scene which made us both go "What the fuuuuuuuck?" :pac:

Tindie

Been re watching some comdey movies

Beerfest 6/10
The hangover 9/10
Horrible bosses 9/10
Hot tub time machine 7/10

figges

Delicacy

Audrey Tatou in a film about dealing with loss, love, coming to terms with emotional pain, friendship and its loss, fear of commitment, fear of rejection and reconciliation - among other things. And its very funny in places.
She is terrific in this, the acting generally is excellent. It has some very poignant scenes and is overall a very good film. 8/10.

The Gift

Very nicely filmed some good acting but a bit too contrived and clever for its own good.
Raises a lot of good/interesting questions about inter personal relationships.
Was undecided how I felt about it at the end. Its major themes are very old testament - maybe that's why ultimately it left a bit of a sour taste. 6/10.

Intouchables (Untouchables)

Just the most uplifting film I think I've seen - if are suffering from any cynicism about life in general this is the best cure you can get. Absolute gem. 9/10.

Canadel

Blue Velvet by David Lynch. Restored my faith in film-making after watching The Revenant. Really? Well, that's for me to know and you to find out.