[TobyD]

Operation Finale An eminently worthwhile standard spy movie about an Israeli secret service operation in the 1960s to kidnap Adolf Eichmann from Argentina and fly him back to Israel to stand trial. I enjoyed it; it's not earth shattering or wildly innovative but a decent movie with a bit of tension, action and an attempt to bring Eichmann a bit of depth as a character, rather than just being a caricature of an evil Nazi. Critics were pretty lukewarm about it, but I think that's just that critics tend to  crave novelty and innovation rather than a couple of hours of easy entertainment. It's on Netflix.

[Will Hunt]

Watched Arrival last night which is on Netflix. Brilliant sci-fi.

[slab_happy]

That's the one based on the Ted Chiang novella "Story of Your Life", right?

[Will Hunt]

It is.

[Fiend]

Watched Arrival last night which is on Netflix. Brilliant sci-fi.

This is the correct assessment 

[Dingdong]

Following on the sci-fi theme, if you haven’t seen it, Annihilation is one of the best movies I’ve watched in the genre, terrifying and breathtaking at the same time.

[jwi]

Watched Arrival last night which is on Netflix. Brilliant sci-fi.

This is the correct assessment 

+ 1. Greatissimo. Love the short story as well.

[TobyD]

Watched Arrival last night which is on Netflix. Brilliant sci-fi.

I watched this when it came out in the cinema. Agreed; in fact it was good enough I may watch it again now it's on Netflix.

[Falling Down]

Following on the sci-fi theme, if you haven’t seen it, Annihilation is one of the best movies I’ve watched in the genre, terrifying and breathtaking at the same time.

The books are brilliant.  Jeff Vandameer

[teestub]

The books are brilliant.  Jeff Vandameer

Love those books, some of the weirdest and amazing sci fi I've read. Only looking on the basis of this made me see he's working on a fourth!

[jwi]

Those who hasn’t yet seen Oppenheimer should do it. Saw it tonight and I am stunned and wrought out. Amazing.

Was Oppenheimer a psychopath? Discuss.

[edshakey]

Agreed, brilliant film. To anyone put off by the length - it held my attention as well as any film, of any length. Well worth watching.

As to whether he was a psychopath... no clue, but he had issues of some sort. I suppose "geniuses" normally do?

[Dingdong]

I also watched it last night. And agreed it was incredible. As always, it’s a film so gotta take a lot of things with a pinch of salt as stuff can be embellished but I’ll go out and say no, he wasn’t a psychopath, psychopaths don’t have emotions which he quite obviously did. I think it was more of a twisted genius thing going on, having to wrestle with the thing he created and considered his baby, knowing he’d opened Pandora’s box and changed the world forever, for the worse, I can’t imagine what that would do to anyone.

I very much enjoyed the kangaroo court trial at the end the Strauss getting his comeuppance. The countdown to the detonation was ultimate anxiety and you could feel it in the cinema, Nolan’s use of time (which he does in all his films) was well served here to build up that incredible tension. All in all 10/10.

Also pretty cool that Kodak created a whole new IMAX film stock to shoot the black and white scenes!

[Wellsy]

Hey you know what's also fucking great

Barbie

Genuinely and honestly 5/5

[steveri]

Hey you know what's also fucking great
Barbie
Genuinely and honestly 5/5

My daughter gave it a 5, she's a harsh marker.

[jwi]

I have not seen it, but everytime I hear 'barbie' I am thinking of this masterpiece

[kelvin]

Watched Arrival last night which is on Netflix. Brilliant sci-fi.

I watched this when it came out in the cinema. Agreed; in fact it was good enough I may watch it again now it's on Netflix.

Thanks for the recommendation - both myself and the wife thought it was great.

[SA Chris]

Hey you know what's also fucking great

Barbie

Genuinely and honestly 5/5

I'm keen to watch it, I think he was one of the more interesting Nazis (big wink )

[seankenny]

Just back from seeing Barbie, a solid 5/5, haven’t laughed so much in ages. Lots of jokes that will go right over the kids’ heads but had me in stitches. Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie are excellent and the soundtrack is spot on.

[galpinos]

Just back from seeing Barbie, a solid 5/5, haven’t laughed so much in ages. Lots of jokes that will go right over the kids’ heads but had me in stitches. Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie are excellent and the soundtrack is spot on.

Would kids enjoy it? Two girls, 10 and 7? Is it all in jokes that will go over heads or is there enough for everyone?

[seankenny]

I don’t have kids so I’m a rubbish person to ask! But it’s a certificate 12A if that matters and I’m not sure it would be that thrilling to kids - yes there are dances* and play fights but there are also some longish speeches about the difficultly of being a woman and the themes are distinctly adult. Good luck explaining what Ken means when he’s singing about “tanned virginity”.

A sharp 13 or 14 year old girl on the other hand would probably love it.



* The dances are brilliant, another thing I really enjoyed. 

[cowboyhat]

Oppenheimer, good film. Great structure, and particularly pacing, doesn't feel like three hours. Great performances. Perhaps the biggest achievement has to be not making the phrase Tom Conti Einstein into a cringing farce, quite the opposite!

Like all of Nolans films, thats it. I realised they all stop short of emotionally involving me in a way that is hard to explain. A lack of charm? Je ne sais quoi. Technically brilliant, original etc but. Maybe my expectation is too high, I'm not sure what I'm looking for but its definitely missing that last fillip that would make him one of the greats.


Also had to cast around to book and travelled for the time slot we wanted - all booked out at several theatres in North London which has to be a real positive; people cramming in to see a three hour drama. Good for the game.

[SA Chris]

Air - Basic story of rise of Nike following sponsorship of Michael Jordan. Hard to remember the days when Nike were minor league, but that's how it was. As expected, they nailed the 80s details spot on, which enjoyable from a nostalgia point of view. Low maintenance and fun.

Driven -  pretty much the same as above, only about John Delorean.

[Paul B]

It's not complex but I enjoyed Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (currently on Prime).

[TobyD]

I thought that Deepwater Horizon (Netflix) was worth watching and a reasonable disaster movie. It could have been better if it wasn't quite as dominated by an awful lot of fire, huge explosions and indecipherable shouting. Obviously thats a bit ironic, in that it's a film above an oil rig blowing up, but after a good hour or so of carnage you start to long for some dialogue, or just a bit more variety. The explosions are pretty visually impressive, however.