[Ti_pin_man]

Gone girl- I didn't know films could get so bad, I wanted to turn it off the whole time. The plots decent, I even thought Ben Affleck was ok in it. But the actress? Wtf? Awful. 2 mediocre actors would have made this a much better film. Awful.

Watched this last night . Just seemed like a normal marriage to me? 

Did the same, watched it last night, the premise of the tale sounded interesting and the story could have been a real Hitchcock idea but the the direction was just step by step, it had zero atmosphere, no tension, wooden acting and just played out the story.  It could have been a lot more, it was just average.  Shame.  5/10.

[kelvin]

Watched 'Monsters - Dark Continent'. Ignore the slight sci-fi alien invasion backdrop, it's a US at war movie set in a middle eastern country and like most these days, it's a gritty if somewhat grim telling of one Private's tale. It's much more than a guns and bloodshed story and by the end of it, I felt quite numb - coping strategy kicking in I guess.
One scene where the soldiers share food with locals was pretty surreal given the events that lead them to being there - full marks to the director for conveying the utter madness.

Some brilliant acting too at times.

[Kingy]

Just seen Focus with Will Smith and Margot Robbie, a pretty good insight in the world of professional pick pocketing and gambling. Slightly long winded in places but definitely keeps you hooked for the duration, worth seeing. Seems like Will Smith has been around forever

[tomtom]

Two from me - both on quite a dark tip...

The latest Hunger Games - mocking jay Part 1A.001 beta etc...
Its pretty good.. the prev HG films have been fairly good mainstream fare - a little schmaltzy but with sufficient future dystopian gloom to keep my interest from drifting towards the smartphone whilst viewing.. This one is quite dark. Which I like. Nothing good really happens - and cynically you could say its just a set up towards the final episode, but there are sufficient plot twists and stuff to keep it going. Its a bit slow for the first half - but persist viewer it gets better and darker. In places it wants to be 1984 - but it ain't - but they try.... Look, I wouldn't bust out the bunting, but it might be worth three sheets to rent in pay per view etc...

The Raid 2...
Man this film is grim in places... Its got far more plot and (ahem really?) depth than The Raid (1) - and this makes it a bit more of an effort to watch (FFS I EVEN HAD TO READ THE SUBTITLES!).. but the fighting scenes are great (and plentiful) and those who like gore, sticky endings, knives used in rather grim violent and probably creative ways will enjoy. There were a few cover my view with a hand until the squishy/slashy noise had gone moments.

FINALLY.. and its not really a film, but... House of Cards S3 has not disappointed so far (we're a handful of episodes from the end so no spoilers please) but Prof. Spacey - nay Sir Spacey - is at times just as nasty evil and lizard like (within the blink of an eye) as he was in the first series, if not better...

[a dense loner]

Saw Philomena the other night. Really good film

[Fultonius]

This reminds me - I had a massive film binge on my recent flights to Malaysia and back. Let's see if I can remember them all... nope, had to look up the film list on the Emirates website.

Kill the Messenger

I really liked this one, mainly because it's an interesting/worrying story. Acting was reasonable, pace good. Not an astonishing film, but decent. It's based on the true story of Gary Webb, a reported who uncovers some murky CIA secrets.

Foxcatcher

Another film based on a true story, this time of the slightly strange relationship between two US olympic wrestlers and John du Pont, the rich Heir to the Du Pont Dynasty, and wannabe medal winning coach. The lead actor's emotionless portrayal of Mark Schultz annoyed me a bit (could never quite work out what he was meant to be thinking) but on the whole I thought it was worth a watch, once again because there's nowt stranger than non-fiction.
 
Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhal at his weirdly best. Ever since Donnie Darko I've preferred him in very strange roles, he just nails them and makes you believe he's a total psycho. In this he plays an up and coming news film journo/cameraman. Dark, strange, brutal. Fast paced, edgy. Great stuff.

Interstallar

Better than I expected. Some folks on here were not that excited, but I thought it was fine. Nothing astonishing, but I liked how it delved into the unexplainable world of higher dimensions. Not as great a role by Mat McC as some of his other recent stuff.

The Imitation Game
Really good. I'm a sucker for a true story and this one was pretty good again. Quite light and easy going, no world class acting but nothing bad, just easy to sit and absorb the story.

The Judge

Haha.   Right, I actually got on ok with this, despite it having all the clichés known to man and Robert Downey Jr. churning out another one of his standard performances. Seems to get mediocre reviews. Could be worse, could be a lot better. I think this was film no 7 of of my journeys so I was a bit zombified by that point.

'71

Set in the troubles of Northern Ireland. I don'e know enough about that time to comment on the accuracy of the portrayals, but the lead lad played a good role in the this tense, fast, action thriller. Not a pleasant watch, but very tense and engaging. Once again, makes you think about who are the good guys and who are the bad. Very refreshing compared to usual Hollywood portrayal of goodies and baddies.

[tomtom]

Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhal at his weirdly best. Ever since Donnie Darko I've preferred him in very strange roles, he just nails them and makes you believe he's a total psycho. In this he plays an up and coming news film journo/cameraman. Dark, strange, brutal. Fast paced, edgy. Great stuff.

Interesting - I got about half way through this on a flight back from Tenerife when an old dear two rows back decided to faint. Cue mid flight medical scenes - woman lying in aisle, feet in air, 'are there any medical doctors on board' announcements etc... and I never got to finish the film before my rental expired. Anyway, mid flight emergencies aside (she was fine by the way and skipped off the plane..) I enjoyed the first 30-40 min, but was starting to get a bit bored (I'd got to the bit about 5 min after he'd progressed to a shiny red car) and the intereaction with the news producer all seemed a bit odd... TBH I have not been keen to watch the rest - should I? I generally like this type of film (Drive, DD etc..)

Basically did the 2nd half improve?

[Fultonius]

It was a bit flat for some time after he got the red car, but it does descend further into darkness and the end sequence is great. I would say it's worth persevering.

[tomtom]

It was a bit flat for some time after he got the red car, but it does descend further into darkness and the end sequence is great. I would say it's worth persevering.

[ducko]

Didn't really rate it, not a bad film but for me it's sums up as: he's weird, yeah he's pretty weird, yep he's definitely weird.

[magpie]

I quite liked it but it was definitely a bit weird, it reminded me of Drive but with a little bit more going on / point to the story.  It's probably worth watching to the end, I'd say.

[Falling Down]

Watched The Drop with Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini last night. Very good gritty noir from Denis Lehane (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River etc).  Worthwhile..

[Snoops]

Saw John Wick last night - fucking awesome

[a dense loner]

Can't remember if I mentioned it but watched both John wick and the drop last wk, both really good films. Obviously remove brain for keanu. Also saw the homesman which was decent and what we do in the shadows, flight of the concordes guys as 4 vampires living together. Good if you like fotc, worst film you'll ever see if you don't

[Grubes]

The Hunger Games Mockingjay

the subliminal message being beamed to boy teenagers that is OK to be trapped in unrequited love affairs with girls Who Cannot Make Up Their Minds.

The books do cover this part of the story a lot better than the films have. However the books are much more pshcological than can be portrayed in a film.
There is a lot of subliminal messaging, sub text and sensory manipulation.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Watched 'Her' the other night. Like other work by Jonze, beautiful to look at and contains lots of clever ideas (love the lift), but similar to 'Where the wild things are' found it strangely lacking emotion, didn't really connect with any of the characters. And not even because one is a computer.

Also caught 'No strings attached' on TV, fully expected another below average rom-com à la 'Friends with benefits' but with Reitman at the helm, it's actually quite watchable. The fact it features Natalie Portman didn't do it any harm 

One for the 'Shit isn't that...' thread, in 'Her' Joaquin Phoenix looks the spit of a youthful Kevin Kline from his 'Fish Called Wanda' days.

[Fultonius]

Selma.

Really enjoyed it, lead actor made a good job of playing Martin Luther King.

Definitely worth a watch. Gripping and powerful.

[cowboyhat]

I just watched Chris Rocks Top Five. Its really really funny.

[slackline]

Not bad for a short film made for £50...

RUssian Roulette

[Jim]

enjoyed that

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Grand Budapest Hotel. Wes Anderson just gets better and better. Superb on every level.
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2278388/

[tomtom]

So fresh from a Heathrow > Singapore film catch up session...

American sniper. It's not bad. It has a few sick back USA moments - but is interesting on more than just the shooting people level..

Ex Machina. Good film. Creepy and interesting in the right amounts. It's not blade runner but it's not bad.

Fury. Brad pit et al in a Tank. Better than I thought it would be and perfect flight fodder.

Finally watched all of night crawler - and yes - I should have watched it all first time. The second half is great.

[Teaboy]

Went to see Mad Max on Wednesday, it was complete nonsense. It just consists of a two hour car chase interspersed with fight/battle scenes and massive explosions. Best. Film. Ever

We saw it in 3D and I regret that as there's so much going but you are forced to focus on what's in the fore ground. The 2D trailers look miles better

[Wood FT]

Grand Budapest Hotel. Wes Anderson just gets better and better. Superb on every level.
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2278388/

You can pause that film anywhere and it makes a really nice photo. The camera movements and attention to detail is stunning.

[Falling Down]

Watched some daft films on the trip to Indonesia on the plane.

Taken3 - I love these films and this ones just another great entertaining "I'm going to find and then I'm going to kill you" bumper fun fest in the same vein as the other two.  It's got Forrest Whittaker in it and I love him

John Wick - Another silly  but very entertaining revenge movie.  Keanu Reaves is John Wick, a retired hit man, his wife's passed away and left him a puppy.  Lilly Allen's brother, a Russian Gangster steals his car and causes John Wick to seek vengeance in a bloody black comedy.  Daft as a brush but fun.