What have you watched recently? 3D!

shrapnel222

judy and punch.

Pleasantly surprised by this one. Historical fiction set in the 17th century, which goes a bit mad in probably too many directions, yet is good fun for the most part .feels as absurd as the show it portrays.

Fysh

Nommer 37 - a Cape Town-set crime thriller that loosely retreads Rear Window, this was an enjoyable and gripping watch, let down somewhat by the fact that from about five minutes in you start to wonder why the protagonist's girlfriend Pam sticks around and puts up with Randal at all, particularly as the stakes increase and it becomes apparent the repercussions will affect her.

This is a film in which

Pam gets a finger cut off by a loanshark's enforcer, while the camera shows us how much this traumatises Randal

, and

even after finding out that Randal got his best friend killed and himself crippled in the cack-handed"let's try and rip off drug dealers" scheme that opens the film, and seeing for herself how another scheme gets a neighbouring friend killed, Pam still stays with Randal and continues to put herself at risk by helping him

. And yet.... she sticks around. It's hard to believe, because there's no grounding to the relationship or idea of what its better days might have looked like.

Tony EH

'Death Wish III'

Charles Bronson is back as mild mannered architect, Paul Kersey, the guy who solves all of his problems using America's favourite "tool". Everyone around him that he likes gets killed and the he then kills everyone that's left.

'Death Wish III' throws out everything that was, even remotely, logical from the first two movies and leaves the whole thing to the realm of idiocy. The film is so absurd, it loses any of the impact that original 'Death Wish' had in 1974. But, bizarrely, it remains entertaining, especially the utterly ridiculous ending where all attempts at sense is completely abandoned.

Released by Cannon films in 1985, director Michael Winner decided go down a more farcical route, largely because of the critical backlash over the violence in 'Death Wish II', which included harrowing scenes of rape that got him into some hot water. The killing spree in this entry is a much larger body count, for sure, but it's all completely cartoonish and there's absolutely no edge to it. However, once you dismiss it as the joke it is, you can get some joy from it.

2/10 (As a good bad film 7/10)

Sugarlumps

Basic Instinct – Almost 30 years old or thereabouts. Still a very enjoyable thriller. Sharon Stone is naked quite a lot, I don’t remember her appearing in other films showing much flesh if any? She really went to town. Was she paid an obscene amount, for showing so much flesh?

I recall Douglas being lambasted by some critics for his saggy bottom, looked pert to me, maybe the horror on the big screen was too much for some.

Scene in the night club is cringey, very outdated generic dance music of some kind. Serious naff shapes thrown, akin to the bat dance or Peter from Family guy parody, Douglas is wearing clothes that are too young for an older gentleman. Two women grinding, caressing each other, was it so outlandish back then.

Overall has held up pretty well, I know I’ve seen the sequel, but have no memory of it.

pixelburp

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Watched this for the first time in what's likely decades, and it held up far better than I might have believed - and more; while the sequels dovetailed into superficial, bombastic action-comedy, the original was a (relatively) nuanced, character focused thriller, with only occasional action set-pieces to break up the drama. Mel Gibson's Riggs a haunted, suicidal figure trying to die on the job, played with manic intensity by Gibson, and a far cry from the goofing around of later movies. The secret sauce was probably the script by Shane Black, who only penned the first film, and while his tropes are all over the story his writing gave the characters more depth than what was seen later on. While the sequels may not be for everyone, I would absolutely recommend the first movie to those who might otherwise sniff at the so-called "buddy cop" sub genre. It wasn't even as "80s" as I thought it might be, barely a with shoulder pad in sight.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

An effective and punchy Terminator sequel that managed to channel the immediacy and tension of those first two films - up until the hour mark however. At that point, Dark Fate became exactly the kind of sloppy, lazy & noisy mess most had feared in the run-up to release. An example perhaps of robbing a loss from the jaws of victory.

barrymanilow

Dades wrote: »

The Thing, 2011.

Hadn't seen it before. Really liked it. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is great.

Check out the original , It's a lot better.

barrymanilow

Richard Jewell


Clint Eastwood directs, tells the true story of a security guard who becomes a hero during the Atlanta Olympics and what happens after that ,


nicely told story , its flaws are kind of glossed over by Sam Rockwell and Olivia Wildes screen presences , the story was probably hamstrung in being limited by having to stick to the actual events and so was not able to go in more interesting directions.


All in all a nice enough film


7.5/10

AMKC

WONDER(2017)

Excellent film. Loved it. It had me laughing and in tears. Children can be so cruel. This is the type of film I really love. It brings you in gets to care for the character or characters and keeps you engaged in it. Delighted it all worked out for him in the end.

I went to see ''The Invisible man'' during the week and well compared to ''Wonder'' it was just a dull average film.

PASSANGERS

Just watched this and have to say it was very good. I never got to see it in the cinema and was raging about that.
It had a good story and was stunning looking with a cool stunning looking ship too.

budgemook

Spider-man: Into The Spiderverse.

Excellent - best superhero movie I've seen in years, maybe ever. The acting, the story, animation - all top notch. Pretty funny too.

Tony EH

'Uncut Gems'

Adam Sandler proves to be a bit of a revelation and wipes out years of appalling "comedy" appearances in some truly awful films in one fell swoop. He plays a despicable, lowlife, Jewish jewellery dealer in New York's diamond district, called Howard Ratner. Ratner has scored a rock containing black opals from Ethiopia and hopes to make it big off of a sale. He needs to, as well, because he's in debt to loan sharks and lives a lifestyle that's clearly beyond his means, as he appears to be quite reckless. He cheats on his wife with younger woman who works in his shop and generally treats everyone with disrespect. He's interested only in money and will go to dangerous lengths in pursuit of it too.

Sandler plays Ratner as one of life's awful people. In fact, everybody in the movie is awful. His entire family are a collection of people you wouldn't want to be around for five minutes. Yet, you remain interested in seeing where his story goes and even by the end of it, you want Ratner to succeed and make the big one, which I suppose is great testament to the people involved in making the film.

'Uncut Gems' starts fast and races through its story, as Ratner doubles down on every bad decision he makes. His life is a disaster, even though all the ingredients are they to make it good. But, by the film's conclusion, you find yourself almost on his side and hoping for a good ending.

9/10



'Richard Jewell'

Clint Eastwood weaves a relatively satisfying story, based on the titular character and the wrongful accusation and investigation against him, after he discovered the bomb that went off at the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. At first, hailed as a hero, Jewell is bewildered by all the attention, but enjoys it to a degree. But, quickly, it all turns sour as he becomes the No.1 suspect and he finds himself the centre of attention by the FBI.

There's a lot to like in 'Richard Jewell' and Eastwood proves himself, again, to be a director that can still tell an engrossing story that doesn't have to be flashy festival of flickering lights and whizzbangs. It's central character is played well by Paul Walter Hauser, who comes off as a bit of a slow guy trying to do well, who has a hard time trying to grasp the gravity of the situation he finds himself in. His mother sees Kathy Bates effortlessly add another role to her long and impressive list and Sam Rockwell turns in another charming performance as Jewell's lawyer.

There has been some, rather minor, controversy over the portrayal of real life reporter Kathy Scruggs. Unfortunately, Scruggs died in 2001, so her defence has come from the editor of 'The Atlanta Journal' instead. How much fiction is involved in her portrayal will therefore be a matter that won't be resolved any time soon. Either way, it doesn't really matter. Every big screen portrayal of real life characters is a fiction and the stories we see them in simplified versions of events. Although, one gets the impression that Eastwood could have handled her a bit better.


7/10


'Frauds'

A low budget Australian effort from the early 90's that saw Phil Collins trying to further an acting career, which started in earnest on the back of 'Buster' in 1988. 'Frauds' tells the story of a young yuppie(ish) couple, the Wheats (played by Josephine Byrnes and a young Hugo Weaving), who file an insurance claim for the robbery of some Edwardian cutlery from their house, only to be confronted by a strange insurance investigator, Roland Copping, whose methods and life revolve around very odd mannerisms.

The film isn't entirely successful in anything it sets out to achieve, really, and goes off the rails more than once. But, to its credit, it's never boring. The acting is uneven, to say the least, with Weaving coming out on top quite easily. Byrnes is ok, but seems to have an oddly dubbed American accent and Collins is serviceable, while never feeling like he's truly comfortable in the role. But, it's no surprise that out of the three leads, it's Hugo Weaving that would go on to have the better career.

It's an odd curio that's worth a watch and some of its stranger moments may live in the memory for a while.


6/10



'Prospect'

A hidden sci-fi gem from a few years ago, that has sadly gone unnoticed by many, including myself. 'Prospect' is set in some future scenario, where people have conquered distant space and, of course, are exploiting it for resources. A father/Daughter mining team are contracted to gather gems from an unnamed forest moon, whose surface consists of toxic gasses that are spewed into the air from spore ejecting wildlife. The process for this "mining" appears to be a delicate operation, but one which is lucrative enough to set up the father and his teenage kid, at least for a while. Events don't go too well, unfortunately, and quickly go awry however.

'Prospect' looks lovely an utilises its earthbound locations to great effect. It also has a satisfying retro tech aspect that's very refreshing in a cinematic world of silly transparent screens and swipe technology, that look fancy, but aren't very practical in "realistic" terms...hello 'Prometheus'. Everything is switches and buttons and it feels better because if it, especially as the events of 'Prospect' appear to take place in a "frontier" type of environment, evoking the hardships of old wild west prospectors, mining for gold in "them thar hills..." and hoping to strike it rich.

The film also treats its audience with a certain amount of respect and never holds their hands. A lot of this world is left unexplained, but it's never confusing and feels natural. It feels like a fully realised section of universe, where life is tough and short. There may be some questionable character decisions here and there, but the harshness of the environment they find themselves in make those decisions seem fairly logical.

Well worth seeking out, if you're interested in this sort of thing.


9/10

al87987

The descent 7/10

Low budget scary flick about a bunch of women exploring caves.
Claustrophobic and immersive.

The last of Sheila 8/10

1973 murder mystery film about a producer who gathers various hollywood types on his boat for a game of intrigue and mystery.
Holds up well and writing is top notch. Recommended after i watched Knives out and Rian Johnson said it was one of his inspirations.

Spenser Confidential 5/10
Definitely the worst of the Berg-Wahlberg collaborations. One to avoid.

El Duda

Sexy Beast – 9.5/10

Possibly my favourite British crime movie of all time. The performances and script are out of this world. People quite rightly home in on Ben Kingsley’s terrifying performance as Don Logan, but you get two iconic villain roles for the price of one. Ian McShane is the Yin to Kingsley’s Yang by offering up a much more understated and quietly menacing screen presence.

I’ve seen it multiple times, but it never fails to get the pulse racing. Ray Winstone has never been better. Career bests from almost everyone involved.


Rocketman – 7.25/10

Dexter Fletcher brings the story of Elton to life in the only way that makes sense; maximum flamboyancy. Unlike the Bohemian Rhapsody film, this does not skim over the good stuff. Homosexuality and substance abuse are put front and centre and it makes for a much more compelling movie.

I particularly enjoyed the variation of techniques used as vehicles for his music. Sometimes people spontaneously break out into song, sometimes they opt for a montage, other times he is performing within the scene. You never know if its going to go for a grounded style or a more fantastical approach.

Taron Egerton doesn’t look or sound like Elton, but he gets the energy and mannerisms right. A very enjoyable biopic.


Eighth Grade – 5/10

Bo Burnham does a good job of portraying subtle and nuanced observations of introverted social awkwardness in a light and comedic way. The problem here is that the rest of the film is paper thin, and the overall plot just isn’t at all interesting. I understand that to truly portray an introverted teen you must focus primarily on them and their lonely existence, but this was crying out for some strong supporting roles. The relationship between Kayla and her father is massively overwritten and quickly becomes tiresome.

This really cements just how rare a gem Booksmart is.



Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – 6/10

I was expecting a lot more given its high imdb score. The first hour plods along without much excitement but the second hour has some great stunts and set pieces. There are too many characters in here that seem to be there for comic relief and as a result the stakes never feel very high.

Perhaps the most shocking thing here is that Sean Connery and Harrison Ford only have a 12-year age gap.

Dades

greysolive wrote: »

Anna - 7½/10 (Amazon Prime)

Hot blonde, Russian KGB operative is trying to break free from it all. I really enjoyed the '3 months earlier', '5 years earlier' etc, patching together the story.

I just watched the trailer for this and can't tell whether I've seen it, or if it's just reminding me of all the other Luc Besson type flicks.

Either way it's going on my Friday night watch list with a few glasses of vino. I love this stuff. :pac:

shrapnel222

Dades wrote: »

I just watched the trailer for this and can't tell whether I've seen it, or if it's just reminding me of all the other Luc Besson type flicks.

Either way it's going on my Friday night watch list with a few glasses of vino. I love this stuff. :pac:

It's the very low end of the Besson range sadly. Some great moments, but poor overall.

Tony EH

El Duda wrote: »

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – 6/10

I was expecting a lot more given its high imdb score. The first hour plods along without much excitement but the second hour has some great stunts and set pieces. There are too many characters in here that seem to be there for comic relief and as a result the stakes never feel very high.

Perhaps the most shocking thing here is that Sean Connery and Harrison Ford only have a 12-year age gap.

Yeh. Agree here. To me, the third Indy film is easily the worst of the original trilogy and I've always been bemused at its popularity. Its attempts at comedy alone kill it stone dead. The father/son dynamic is entertaining enough, but it's an incredibly dumb film. Even for an Indiana Jones movie.

Pelle The Conqueror 1987 One of Max Von Sydow's Oscar nominations, this is a gem of a film about an ageing widower father and his young son who leave Sweden a 100 or so years ago and arrive in Denmark to find a new life and work.
Sydow was a fantastic actor but I can never remember him in such an emotionally complex role before. He has a fierce battle going on with his age, trying to be strong but ultimately having to be weak because of his physical and status limitations, all of which affect the young Pelle to great degrees. Its a sad, funny and beautiful film all at once

Champions 1984 A horse racing film about a successful jockey who gets cancer and has a huge battle on his hands to get back on his horse. Watching this reminds me of when I was a kid and people who were 40 and above were already so old. Because looking at the actors they look incredibly weathered and old when in fact the lead isn't really at all. Different times!
This is not the great film by any stretch of the means, but its worth watching for an incredible horse race at the end, which is just an amazing piece of filmmaking in its brutality and realism. Its funny because it could never be made today, but actually in reality this is real horse racing up close.

Tony EH

Deleted User wrote: »

Champions 1984 A horse racing film about a successful jockey who gets cancer and has a huge battle on his hands to get back on his horse. Watching this reminds me of when I was a kid and people who were 40 and above were already so old. Because looking at the actors they look incredibly weathered and old when in fact the lead isn't really at all. Different times!
This is not the great film by any stretch of the means, but its worth watching for an incredible horse race at the end, which is just an amazing piece of filmmaking in its brutality and realism. Its funny because it could never be made today, but actually in reality this is real horse racing up close.

I remember watching that on UTV one afternoon in the 80's. Was never into the Gee Gees, but thought it was a pretty good film. I recall my old man telling me about the real Bob Champion and Aldaniti too.

It's funny, John Hurt was only 43 when he made the film. But he looked much older all right. But, I think Hurt sorta always looked old.

Tony EH

Tony EH wrote: »

It's funny, John Hurt was only 43 when he made the film. But he looked much older all right. But, I think Hurt sorta always looked old.

He must have lived pretty hard and fast to look so ancient at 43. But I suppose back in those days you would have gotten beaten up for moisturising

Dades

shrapnel222 wrote: »

It's the very low end of the Besson range sadly. Some great moments, but poor overall.

So, I watched Anna last night on Amazon.

I loved it! Much more to it than I expected. Good plot twist, backstory and obviously action. Great stuff!

branie2

Bloodshot at the cinema yesterday. It was very good.

The Last Place on Earth 1985 Ideal pandemic viewing for sure - the race between Scott and Amundsen for the South Pole, 7 part mini series. Various familiar faces popping up, and interesting that around that time some of the leading explorers and adventurers in the world were Irish - Shackleton and Crean.
The series captures very well the social norms of the times, and the great arrogance of the British Empire vs the Norwegian mentality of stoic silence and joyless existence.
Brings back all the memories about learning about this as a kid in school, well worth a watch if you can find it!

barrymanilow

Very nice looking , colorful and well written drama , dialogue is great , very political . concerns the racial divide and identity politics in the U.S. Lots of nice Cameos. A good film


7.99999 /10

barrymanilow

Honeyland


Fly on the wall documentary centered on the struggles of a Macedonian spinster who ekes out an existence for herself and her sickly mother in an abandoned desert village by keeping Bee hives.



Won the sun dance best documentary award in 2019


Some amazing scenes and insights into economic hardship and Macedonian Culture.



9/10

barrymanilow

Big Time Adolescence


Light enough comedy Drama about a high schooler who looks up to his older sisters ex boyfriend and where that slightly unhealthy friendship leads.


Nice easy kind of watch if that suits your mood.


8/10

seven of nine

Terminator: Dark Fate

It had potential but they just cant seem to capture what they did in the first two. It was ok as an action film.

It wasnt the story itself. I liked some of the ideas but for me it didnt hit the spot. Theres no need to overdo the special effects. Good car chases and factory settings and scenes worked fine in the originals and they were more subtle but I felt they were trying to push it too much with the helicopters and planes etc. in this one.

Also I just dont care about the characters anymore. I dont know if it was the acting or the script, but they didn't feel realistic to me. They didnt take the time to develop the relationships between characters enough.

6/10

Fysh

Summer of '84 on Shudder. Very heavily leaning into the 80s tropes and styles, so much so that it was Flanders'd at times, but enjoyable enough. It could probably have been shorter, but didn't outstay its welcome.

Homelander

Fysh wrote: »

Summer of '84 on Shudder. Very heavily leaning into the 80s tropes and styles, so much so that it was Flanders'd at times, but enjoyable enough. It could probably have been shorter, but didn't outstay its welcome.

Saw that when it came out, good film. Was totally made off the back of Stranger Things with a view towards cashing in on the same vibe.

Tony EH

'Death Wish 4'

Charlie B takes up the boom boom again in a poor follow up to the utterly ridiculous, but not totally unenjoyable, 'Death Wish 3' (the series changed to numbers because producers were afraid American audiences would be unable to understand Roman numerals!). This time the wisher for death takes on some L.A. drug lords and works his way through them in his usual manner, when his girlfriend's daughter dies from an overdose.

Despite being the most ludicrous entry, 'Death Wish 3' was still a fun ride in a genuine "so bad it's good" vibe. Restraint being damned, Michael Winner took the reigns off of logic and sense and just let go. It's awful bunkum really, but there's a few laughs to be had. With 'Death Wish 4', however, director J. Lee Thomson mistakenly tries a more serious effort, but it ends up just being a bit tired. Cannon were hoping for another success with the fourth outing, but unlike 3, it didn't bring in the money and ended up being a loss maker for the studio.

In all honesty, it's not absolutely awful. It's just routine and rather forgettable. Thompson's direction is certainly a notch or two above Winner's, but by this stage, the Death Wish series had just completely outlived its welcome.

4/10


'Death Wish V'

Amazingly, the Death Wish series got one final outing in 1994 with the fifth attempt to milk whatever was left of Paul Kersey and golly, was Kersey a husk by the time it came around. Bronson, who was in his 70's, is completely in this for the money and looks absurd in the tough guy part. Gone is any sense of his former charisma and he really is just going through the motions here. The direction is tired, as well, and it all feels like a cheap 90's TV movie that everyone just wants to get through as quick as they can.

Once again, Paul Kersey, has to avenge some form of brutality that's been thrust upon his nearest and dearest. Remarkably, he still forms relationships despite the fact that anyone within a 5 mile radius of him is almost guaranteed to be raped or killed. In due course this happens and he, of course, whips out his pop gun and takes on the perps, who this time come in the shape of some Irish/Italian hoodlums, headed up by Michael Parks.

There's some dubious joy is seeing these dirtbags getting off'd and both Michael Parks and Robert Joy are entertaining in their roles. But it's all just so lame by this point. There's literally nothing in the film that will be of any surprise to anyone who's familiar with the series, even in passing, so its 90 minutes feel really long indeed.

Thankfully, it was to be the last of the Death Wish series. Until the turgid reboot with Bruce Willis, which I have not seen and probably won't.

Overall, the Death Wish series was a curious affair. Both the original and it's sequel were well done, even though they courted a good bit of controversy and wagging fingers at the time. Number 3 is a black hole of stupid and 4 and V ill fitting attempts at cash ins. If I were to advise anyone who wanted to sit down to these films, I say just watch 'Death Wish' and 'Death Wish II' and leave it at that.

2/10

CastorTroy

So they change back to Roman numeral for the 5th.
If you're interested and haven't seen it, there's a documentary about Cannon which I liked called "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films"

Tony EH

Remarkably they did.

I've seen the Cannon doc. It's great. Well worth the time indeed.