Anyone seen any good films lately - Part the second (Read 1130822 times)

a dense loner · May 23, 2015, 12:44:34 pm

I also saw mad max on Wednesday, at the IMAX. I left thinking I needed 2 hours of my life back. Absolute dogshit

Falling Down · May 24, 2015, 12:06:20 am

A Most Violent Year - Wow! absolutely fantastic. Best film I've seen in ages. Go rent/watch.

tomtom · May 28, 2015, 08:51:17 am

So hot off my return Australia flight a couple more films to review:

Taken 3: Agree with FD - good value action romp. I thought this was probably the least cringeworthy of the franchise - and it sort of almost had a plot twist in it!

Chappie: I liked this. The endings a bit daft - but I liked the characters - the dystopia and (apart from the very end) hung together pretty well. Lots of really funny small touches (candy colour coded guns, hilaraious tats on the main bad guy etc..).

Snowpeircer. An unusual one this from a Korean director based on a french graphic novel.. So - to combat global warming, the worlds govts release an agent into the atmosphere to cool things, and it triggers a new ice age. The only survivors of the world are marooned on a high speed train travelling on an around the world track that never stops - supporting all life on board. OK, there are some minor holes in the feasibility of this plot line to over come - but if you ignore this, the film becomes a take on the class system, rich vs poor - and revolution against the bourgeoise... Because at the back of the train are the scum (who snuck on board), at the front is the leader and between them the wealthy partying classes, who rule over those at the back mercilessly. Plot follows - scum at back rise up to take over those at the front etc.. When this was explained to me by a friend before watching, I thought it would be bollocks - but its actually a really good film. Lots of nice dystopian touches - and if you can suspend a chunk of reality when you press play its a great sci fi...

Muenchener · May 28, 2015, 09:06:44 am

Was never a Marvel comics fan, but am something of a Joss Whedon fan. And the father of a soon-to-be-teenage boy. As such it fell to me to watch the Marvel Avengers films, 'cos Frau M was clearly having no part of it.

Found the first one completely uninteresting apart from Scarlett Johansson (

), disappointingly lacking in W Joss Whedon style witty dialogue & repartee.

The second one, Age of Ultron, was much, much better to the point that I actually enjoyed watching it, rather than just having a sense of satisfaction at having done my fatherly duty.

(My dad had no concept whatsoever of children's films. It can't have been the initial release of Lawrence of Arabia that he took me to see, because I was a toddler at the time, but it certainly wasn't much later. Same for Zulu)

Fultonius · May 29, 2015, 01:40:56 pm

Quote from: Muenchener on May 28, 2015, 09:06:44 am

Found the first one completely uninteresting apart from Scarlett Johansson (), disappointingly lacking in W Joss Whedon style witty dialogue & repartee.

Is she any good in this? Used have a thing for her but find her acting soo unbelievably dull these days that she's just a bore.

Grubes · May 29, 2015, 02:12:45 pm

I am quite interested in how she has been portrayed in this not enough to justify £10 to watch the film (will wait for the dvd)
I understand Joss Whedon got loads of stick for not being able to portray a strong female role. They have clearly never seen buffy, firefly/serenity or doll house ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32591260 bbc report he leave twitter

Quote

Many called him sexist and misogynistic and said he had done a "hatchet job" on Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32591260 His response

http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/joss-whedon-says-militant-feminists-didn-t-drive-him-from-twitter-1.3062196

Muenchener · May 29, 2015, 02:52:30 pm

Quote from: Fultonius on May 29, 2015, 01:40:56 pm

Quote from: Muenchener on May 28, 2015, 09:06:44 am

Found the first one completely uninteresting apart from Scarlett Johansson (), disappointingly lacking in W Joss Whedon style witty dialogue & repartee.

Is she any good in this? Used have a thing for her but find her acting soo unbelievably dull these days that she's just a bore.

Tbh I wasn't really paying attention. I was in the room while my son was watching the DVD. She looks nice.

Jaspersharpe · May 30, 2015, 11:41:50 am

Re Nightcrawler, we watched it last weekend. I thought it was great. Mrs S wasn't impressed.

lagerstarfish · June 01, 2015, 08:24:43 pm

not worth starting a new thread for -

I enjoyed the 2 old BBC TV series Gormenghast and Neverwhere

any suggestions of something similar?

(apart from listening to Eccentronic Research Council)

Fiend · June 06, 2015, 08:44:24 pm

Quote from: a dense loner on May 23, 2015, 12:44:34 pm

I also saw mad max on Wednesday, at the IMAX. I left thinking I needed 2 hours of my life back. Absolute dogshit

Yup, good fun film, early bits were a bit like "haven't I seen enough of this in the trailer", but it got more captivating throughout, pretty damn cool overall.

andy popp · June 06, 2015, 09:30:14 pm

I've actually watched some films recently.

The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino (winner of best foreign language film Oscar, 2013) - magnificent, enthralling, bewildering meditation on ageing, loss and the city of Rome. The very definition of (high) art house film-making.

71 British squaddies gets trapped behind 'enemy' lines in early 70s Belfast - grim, tense and compelling.

Two very different films, I recommend them both.

Mike Tyson · June 07, 2015, 09:58:36 am

shurt · June 07, 2015, 12:41:32 pm

Got hold of a copy of Going Clear an HBO doc about Scientology. It really has to be seen to be believed. I knew it was a bit of a mental organisation (claiming to be a religion) but the reality of the situation is something else...

a dense loner · June 07, 2015, 04:08:15 pm

Watched Danny Collins yesterday, good film

Falling Down · June 07, 2015, 04:19:37 pm

A Dangerous Method off Sky Movies. Jung (Fassbender) and Freud (Mortensen) and their patients (Knightly & Cassell) in a "based upon a true story" of the early days of psychoanalysis by Cronenburg. Lots of talking and great acting. Worthwhile.

Falling Down · June 12, 2015, 11:39:54 pm

Ordinary People. Robert Redfords directorial debut that pipped Raging Bull to the Best Picture Oscar in 1980. An emotional & moving family drama with Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore as parents grappling with each other and their surviving son following his brother's death. It has Judd Hersch (Alex from Taxi) in it as the shrink for extra goodness. Have the tissues handy

(It's on Amazon streaming)

johnx2 · June 15, 2015, 10:32:51 am

...saw Listen up Phillip, £6 on googleplay/virgin.

I like films where the plot is "people in rooms in New York talk". This is one of those, and I liked it. Dry comedy about arsehole authors in which you root for no one (except for Peggy, obviously.)

kelvin · June 15, 2015, 10:59:06 am

Saw Jurassic World on Friday - in 2D thankfully, I'd expect it to be a bit mental in 3D. Felt much like I was watching a remake of the first film, thus a little/lot predictable. Cheesy, well made and fun for a couple of hours. The cinema is bloody expensive these days tho...

Ex Machina was thought provoking I felt - really enjoyed this, maybe because I didn't have high expectations. Set around an android undergoing the Turing test. Surprised no one has watched this yet and reported back as evryone I know who's seen it has enjoyed it.

Also watched Exile (can you tell I'm injured at the moment?) and that was odd. I guess a satirical take on closed cults in the States but it was uncomfortable at times, rubbish in parts with a definite B-film feel and at times I wanted to turn off. Stuck with it to the end as I really found myself wanting to know what happened even though I cared nothing for any of the characters apart from a young female, and maybe that was down to her not being too odd. Gory in parts. Yeah, odd.

galpinos · June 15, 2015, 11:57:34 am

I'm sure it's been mentioned but, Whiplash.

Platoon meets the world of aspiring Jazz musiisians, JK Simmons is awesome.

"Not my Tempo"

"Are you rushing, or are you dragging?"

iain · June 15, 2015, 12:22:16 pm

Quote from: andy popp on June 06, 2015, 09:30:14 pm

The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino (winner of best foreign language film Oscar, 2013) - magnificent, enthralling, bewildering meditation on ageing, loss and the city of Rome. The very definition of (high) art house film-making.

Second this, kept coming back to mind days after.
Il Divo, also Sorrentino, is compelling even though we didn't have a clue who Giulio Andreotti was when we started.

Saw Tree of Life recently, not sure if we actually thought it was good, a bit too much confusion (what's the last sequence all about?), but it is beautifully filmed.

Obi-Wan is lost... · June 15, 2015, 03:29:20 pm

Quote from: kelvin on June 15, 2015, 10:59:06 am

Ex Machina was thought provoking I felt - really enjoyed this, maybe because I didn't have high expectations. Set around an android undergoing the Turing test. Surprised no one has watched this yet and reported back as evryone I know who's seen it has enjoyed it.

It's been mentioned a few times in passing below....
Still on my 'to watch' list but frustratingly one of the ones where Lovefilm have fallen out with the distributors, so it's 'currently unavailable'.

Quote from: TobyD on February 11, 2015, 08:57:39 am

Quote from: Dexter on February 04, 2015, 02:23:41 pm
On another note watched ex machina the other day, thought it was pretty good although the science in it was not particularly accurate (what film is), but it wasn't to significant to detract from the movie.
All in all I'd say maybe 4 stars.

A decent story is always more crucial than accurate science to an enjoyable film surely? I thought Ex Machina was good, though really more of a horror movie structurally than a scifi. I thought it was effectively malevolent and dramatic, and not much of what i expected. If the 4 stars was out of 5 I'd probably agree, maybe 3.8!

Quote from: tomtom on May 20, 2015, 12:49:54 am

So fresh from a Heathrow > Singapore film catch up session...
....
Ex Machina. Good film. Creepy and interesting in the right amounts. It's not blade runner but it's not bad.
....

Obi-Wan is lost... · June 15, 2015, 09:15:31 pm

Moonrise Kingdom on Film4 now. An older one by Wes Anderson. Not as good as GBH but still worth seeing. Catch it on +1.

the_dom · June 16, 2015, 09:09:48 am

Quote from: galpinos on June 15, 2015, 11:57:34 am

I'm sure it's been mentioned but, Whiplash.

Platoon meets the world of aspiring Jazz musiisians, JK Simmons is awesome.

"Not my Tempo"

"Are you rushing, or are you dragging?"

Seconded - watched it on a plane and thought it was incredible.

tomtom · June 27, 2015, 10:06:40 am

Went to see Jurassic World in3D last night... £11 a fkucing ticket!!

Anyway. The film is shit. Watchable shit (I only looked at my watch twice) and decent on the big screen where they had some vibrothing going on so you could feel the floor shaking as the big dinosaurs were approaching (which was good). Expect it won't translate well into the smaller screen.

Slightly frustrating film - as the plot has potential - just that the characters are all poorly developed/weak - so it's just not that interesting...

3D is odd.. Makes some scenes look like they're all toys..

tomtom · June 27, 2015, 10:09:10 am

Went to see Jurassic World in3D last night... £11 a fkucing ticket!!

Anyway. The film is shit. Watchable shit (I only looked at my watch twice) and decent on the big screen where they had some vibrothing going on so you could feel the floor shaking as the big dinosaurs were approaching (which was good). Expect it won't translate well into the smaller screen.

Slightly frustrating film - as the plot has potential - just that the characters are all poorly developed/weak - so it's just not that interesting...

3D is odd.. Makes some scenes look like they're all toys..