What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Glebee

Valhalla Rising (2009)

What have I just watched??? I honesty cannot give this film a rating.
Still dont know if its brilliant or pretentious crap... ? / 10
What are other people thoughts?

Tony EH

'Gravity'

Alfonso Cuarón's space thriller about U.S. astronauts who experience an accident in the Earth's orbit when the debris from a destroyed Russian satellite wrecks their shuttle and they must find some way to survive and get back to the Earth's surface.

'Gravity' is short on story and character, but is filled with arresting imagery that keeps the viewer glued. It's anaemic plot is never really a problem over the course of its 90 minutes and the shallow characters don't hurt what is essentially a brief survival adventure.

Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, we've come to know what to expect of the latter, while the former attempts to break out of her stereotypical melodrama and light (very light) comedy roles. Clooney is pretty much the same as he is in every film he's been in. A one trick, consummate, screen star that's unfazed by any awful situation he finds himself in and has all the right words, because the writer has spent many an hour dreaming them up for him. Bullock, who has languished in, largely, insipid roles for her entire career, tries to up her game and put a little bit more meat on the dramatic section of her CV. While we get bog standard Clooney, Bullock's character is infused with an unnecessary back story involving a dead child and an ongoing grief that has sucked all the personality out of her. She does OK with what she's got, but she's still kinda boring.

However, where 'Gravity' shines is in its visuals. It really does look stunning at times and on a large cinematic screen (such as an IMAX), I'd imagine it was pretty amazing to watch. Even on the small screen, in this case a 42in, it's still quite impressive.

There are also a number of terrifically tense scenes, involving realistic space terror, as people spin uncontrollably in the vacuum of the astronomic abyss. The only sound being their laboured breathing, calls for help and a thumping (if a little annoying) musical score. The scenes of silent destruction, as the shattered Russian satellite smashes into the American equipment, are well handled too. But, again, that score intrudes far too much. I believe that there's a "music-less" version of the film available and might be worth tracking down as I think those scenes of destruction and terror would greater impact in chilling silence.

All in all, 'Gravity' is well worth a watch. It's a tense little thriller that has a lot going for it, even if it is a little overrated in some quarters, has a poor ending and one or two other flaws.


7/10




'Enemy'

Denis Villeneuve's 2013 psychological drama sees Jake Gyllenhaal's Adam come face to face with what appears to be his doppelger, Anthony. Adam is a lecturer at a Canadian university and Anthony is "third rate" actor, who Adam comes across one evening while watching a DVD. He seeks out Anthony, but becomes unnerved by their meeting, largely due to Anthony's more direct personality. Anthony later accuses Adam of sleeping with his wife and Adam apparently becomes more and more unhinged.

'Enemy' is a great film and plays with the audience very well. I reckon anyone who sees it will come up with their own meaning for everything and while the film isn't without its own meaning, which isn't that difficult to figure out, it allows the viewer enough space to come up with their own ideas along the way. Which is quite refreshing in this age of audience hand-holding that most movies engage in.

Best watched with little or no discussion beforehand, 'Enemy' is suspenseful and fascinating, right up to its final satisfying frame. A low key, atmospheric, delight, in a sea of bombastic mediocrity.


9/10

loyatemu

this thread is running out of road - can we suggest titles for the next one?

WHYWR, with a vengeance!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

loyatemu wrote: »

this thread is running out of road - can we suggest titles for the next one?

WHYWR, with a vengeance!

WHYWR3 - Not as good as the 1st one but definitely better than the sequel.

bladespin

WHYWR Extended Director's cut

Tony EH

WHYWR: IN SPACE!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

branie2

The Spy Who Dumped Me at the cinema this evening. It was very good.

buried

2001 : A Space Odyssey

Ahhh, the age of the devious faceless computer noise before the whole whats going on right now, and its all still the same

- "Alright Hal, I'm just going to go in through the emergency airlock"
- "Without your space helmet Dave? You're going to find that rather difficult"

10/all the 10's

Soldier Blue 1970 This is not the greatest film by any means. Peter Strauss plays a green soldier who's escort gets attacked and he is helping the finance of another soldier who is sympathetic to the Cheyenne across indian country. A lot of that old style forced acting like the audience are dummies. What the film does show, and pulls zero punches is what the US army did to the Indians after they road out with an American and a White flag in a particular battle. For 1970's it is unbelievably brutal in this final scene and I assume this film was banned in all sorts of places. True story though and an important film and historical piece on the brutality of what was done during that time.

Of Unknown Origin Peter Weller a successful financial guy in NY gets a rat problem in his house. Over the coming weeks he goes to war with a particular rat who absolutely terrorizes him while his life essentially falls apart. Brilliantly done.

Frank O. Pinion

Arizona (2018)

Please ignore all the bad reviews, this dark comedy thriller, is tons of fun. With a great cast, Danny McBride, Luke Wilson, Seth Rogen, and Sweet Dee from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, this is mainly Rosemarie DeWitt's film. Critics seem to hate it, but general audience reviews seem to be fairer on it. It'll probably show up on Netflix in a month or two, but it's 80 minutes of pure fun.

Here's the trailer, but like most trailers, I would recommend not watching it...

j.s. pill II

Deleted User wrote: »

A Prayer before dawn 2017

This is a pretty exceptional piece of work about a young English guy that is fighting and peddling drugs out in Thailand that gets thrown in a Thai prison and eventually becomes a fighter in the prison to stay off drugs and stay alive. Its a true story.
I can't recall ever seeing a film where the fighting seems so real, actually I'm pretty sure a lot of it is real. Given that a lot of Thai fighters have 500 fights + I wouldn't be surprised at all a lot of actors would only be too happy to fight for real for a film.
The movie is gritty and tough to watch in places, very violent. Very very real. Great performance from the lead.
A must watch.

Best film of 2018 so far for me.


This ain't the kind of prison film with sagely Morgan Freeman advice and Rita Hayworth posters...

El Duda

Y Tu Mama Tambien - 7.75/10

A sexually charged, cumming of age story beautifully told in the picturesque setting of Mexico. Filmed in a remarkably authentic style with lots of long takes, at times it almost felt like a fly-on-the-wall documentary.

The film uses narration to give us various pieces of information; Some of it seems to be inconsequential/irrelevant but other pieces help to provide context and give the story a back drop. This provides a lot of depth and adds layers of melancholy and pathos.

The film features Gael García Bernal who was fantastic in Amores Perros (the best film I've seen this year) who recently voiced a character in Coco. Diego Luna of Rogue One fame also stars. The performances are perfect, wholly believable and fully rounded. The sexual chemistry is incredible and some of the erotic scenes are well earned and weirdly arousing.

It wasn't thrill-a-minute stuff while I was watching, but it has really stayed with me. They captured the Mexican scenery really well and I almost felt like I'd been part of the road trip to 'Heavens Mouth'. This is funny, melancholy, sexy and the confrontational scenes are explosively vibrant.



Girls Trip - 4.5/10

This started out as a perfectly fine, below average girly comedy. After about an hour it went off the rails to the point where my girlfriend almost turned it off, but it did wrestle itself back to some kind of coherence.

It features a largely black cast, with the likes of Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett-Smith & Regina Hall. So we get treated to large doses of 'sass' with a little bit of 'Mmmmmhmmmm you go gyal' thrown in for good measure. Tiffany Haddish plays a character who is SO insufferable, I had to watch clips of Jar-Jar Binx afterwards as a palette cleanser.

When the comedic 'highlight' of the film is Jada Pinkett -Smith pissing off a zip-wire, it's safe to failed to deliver of your comedic premise.





Also watched The Thing again. Top 5 GOAT for sure. My Mrs had never seen it and she pointed out how shifty the dog looks as he trots down that corridor.

"I don't like the way that dog is moving"

I also never seem to remember who gets Thinged and when.

Both things are great examples of John Carpenter's incredible direction and vision.

johnny_ultimate

Support the Girls - after a few years away, Andrew Bujalski returns with another reliably understated gem. Again toeing the line between mainstream comedy and indie drama seen with Results, this reminded me most of Clerks or Empire Records. Basically, it follows a bunch of employees (in this case, the staff of a Hooters-like 'sports bar') over the course of an eventful day. StG is a more socially-conscious effort than those two films, mind you: what emerges through the various dramas and shenanigans - which remain resolutely low-stakes, albeit with significant consequences for those involved - is an impressively nuanced portrait of modern America. Class, racial and gender relations all factor into the interactions, but this isn't a lecture or anything - it's simply a look at how a group of normal people (some likable, others less so) get on with their day and the situations life throws their way.

The film's comedic and dramatic impacts are aided by a couple of excellent performances, particularly a super-confident Regina Hall and Haley Lu Richardson again proving her chops after Columbus. Bujalski largely stays out of the way, and allows these characters and situations to develop in a way that feels organic (albeit with a few little dramatic tweaks and twists for good measure). Not necessarily my favourite of his films - tied between Funny Ha Ha and Computer Chess - but only a handful of other American filmmakers (in particular Sean Baker) are putting out films that feel as lovingly human as Bujalskis.

Stagecoach - 'ahead of its time' is one of those hoary critical cliches, but I'm busting it out here: John Ford's 1939 western genuinely feels as thrilling as it must have done 80 years ago. I think it's Ford's sense of pacing that makes it all feel so invigorating - this is, in essence, a long build-up followed by a pair of pleasingly cathartic setpieces. Then there's the filmmakers' eyes for epic landscapes and compositions, which would of course be further honed in the likes of The Searchers. Mostly, I guess, it's a damn good time - a straightforward set-up, mounting tension and glorious release. A blast.

The Image You Missed - the finest, most accomplished Irish film I've seen since Song of Granite (that I haven't seen all that many in between is besides the point... and Phantom Islands was pretty great too :pac:).Director Donal Foreman basically has a conversation with his late, mostly absent father Arthur MacCaig, by editing his own footage in with the copious amounts of material made by his fathers and a few others around him. And what editing it is - the images clash; they contrast; they complicate each other. Arthur was an American who became fascinated by the Troubles: through this lens, Foreman grapples with the political and the personal in a range of ways. This is a film where the images themselves are ghosts, puzzle pieces and - from time to time - revelations.

Tony EH

El Duda wrote: »

Also watched The Thing again. Top 5 GOAT for sure. My Mrs had never seen it and she pointed out how shifty the dog looks as he trots down that corridor.

"I don't like the way that dog is moving"

I also never seem to remember who gets Thinged and when.

Both things are great examples of John Carpenter's incredible direction and vision.

Did she like it?

I have to say it must be an absolute treat to see something like 'The Thing' for the first time these days.

There are two films I just love showing people for the first time. 'The Thing' and 'Day of the Dead'.

You know what...I'm going to stick it on now!!!!

pixelburp

The cinematography of The Thing is straight up gorgeous, Dean Cundy's work is phenomenal. The Arctic never looked both barren and beautiful at the same time, and while obviously the tension and scares get a lot of the focus, the quieter scenes are what give those scares more impact.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Notting Hill.

My word, I hate this film. Now, let me just say I don't actually mind about 75% of Love Actually, I will watch Bridget Jones' Diary (1st one) anytime it is on TV, I love a good romance, I love a charming rom com, is what I am saying. My standards are not particularly high when it comes to this specific genre.
But this..... this film actually makes my skin crawl. The first time I tried to watch it I had to turn it off after about 25 minutes. Tonight I watched the whole thing because I've only got 5 channels at the moment and patchy Internet and I was that bored I sat through it all and I despised every single minute of it.

Tony EH

Jesus, that's some level of boredom.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Tony EH wrote: »

Jesus, that's some level of boredom.

You have no idea.

Mr E

Finally got around to watching the Netflix adaptation of Death Note over the weekend. Didn't hate it as much as I thought I would, but I disliked the last 5 minutes (after the last action scene).

I didn't hate L either. The actor played the role well, I thought.

Hector Savage

Tony EH wrote: »

Did she like it?

I have to say it must be an absolute treat to see something like 'The Thing' for the first time these days.

There are two films I just love showing people for the first time. 'The Thing' and 'Day of the Dead'.

You know what...I'm going to stick it on now!!!!

hmmm I haven't seen day of the dead ...

Liam McPoyle

Hector Savage wrote: »

hmmm I haven't seen day of the dead ...

j.s. pill II

Dark River (2017)

Very grim psychological drams set on a Yorkshire sheep farm.

This is no Emerdale mind.

Tense, well paced and really haunting. Highly recommended for kitchen sink lovers.

El Duda

Tony EH wrote: »

Did she like it?

Wasn't crazy about it but she stayed awake and saw it through till the end, which is always a good sign!


She certainly admired the craft etc...

johnny_ultimate

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Isle of Dogs is, if anything IMO, Anderson on top form - nothing to return to! A film of boundless cinematic wit and imagination, a further extension and honing of the style he’s been developing for years, and with entire new avenues for expression freed up once liberated from live action.

Indeed this was fantastic! Thanks for the prompt!

NIMAN

UFO.

Felt like a TV movie. Even Gillian Anderson couldn't save it. Even she stole a wage from that.

4/10.

TheIrishGrover

I haven't watched Isle of Dogs yet. I am a sucker for all kinds of animation and really enjoyed The Fantastic Mister Fox but I think Wes Anderson needs to shake it up a little bit. It's one thing to have a distinctive style, it's another thing to be too locked in to that style. I know it's going to be characters standing stock still in carefully framed static camera angles, speaking in a monotone with Bill Murray's voice. Given that the movie is set in/near Japan I assume that means that the Wilsons, Norton, Paltrow, Houston etc aren't involved.

Maybe I'll check it out but he's in danger of getting very stale if he's not careful.

TheIrishGrover

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

I haven't watched Isle of Dogs yet. I am a sucker for all kinds of animation and really enjoyed The Fantastic Mister Fox but I think Wes Anderson needs to shake it up a little bit. It's one thing to have a distinctive style, it's another thing to be too locked in to that style. I know it's going to be characters standing stock still in carefully framed static camera angles, speaking in a monotone with Bill Murray's voice. Given that the movie is set in/near Japan I assume that means that the Wilsons, Norton, Paltrow, Houston etc aren't involved.

Maybe I'll check it out but he's in danger of getting very stale if he's not careful.

Its incomparable to any of his previous stuff

zapitastas

No stone unturned. Available on amazon prime and deals with the murder of six people by the uvf during the world cup in 1994 in loughinisland co Down. By now people are very familiar with stories of collusion between state actors and loyalist paramilitaries. What is different here is that two thirds of the way through , those responsible for the murders are named, tracked down and filmed and their houses shown. The filmmakers are in a bit of trouble and have recently been arrested.

Skyscraper

4/10

Derivative Die Hard with a one-legged Mr Rock.

Bowlardo

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

I haven't watched Isle of Dogs yet. I am a sucker for all kinds of animation and really enjoyed The Fantastic Mister Fox but I think Wes Anderson needs to shake it up a little bit. It's one thing to have a distinctive style, it's another thing to be too locked in to that style. I know it's going to be characters standing stock still in carefully framed static camera angles, speaking in a monotone with Bill Murray's voice. Given that the movie is set in/near Japan I assume that means that the Wilsons, Norton, Paltrow, Houston etc aren't involved.

Maybe I'll check it out but he's in danger of getting very stale if he's not careful.

Just watch the film