[slackline]

Out in cinemas today this looks stunning, I might actually go to the cinema to see this...



Short on making it...

[Duma]

Saw Rouge One tonight. Very familiar terrain.

+ As good looking as Force Awakening, maybe even more so
+ Decent setup: what would star wars be like without the fantasy elements? (With reassuringly big plot-holes, to tie in with SW 1-7)
+ Donnie Yen was awesome as deranged religious fanatic/martial artist, Ben Mendelsohn was good

– The rest of the cast was not up to Force Awakening standards
– The first part, where they collect the crew was not good at all

Quite OK, three stars out of five or so.

Saw this last night, loved it. Agreed re the plot holes, but whatever, its SW. First half could have been edited down a bit, second was great. Disagree the rest of the cast weren't up to FA, thought it was a much better film overall. Looks brilliant, agreed even better than FA, lots of fun cameos and ties in well to ANH.

[jwi]

Peter Cushing was not very good in Rouge One for one.

[Yossarian]

Herzog's Lo and Behold.   Brilliant documentary on the internet and technology.  Really worthwhile.

There's a new Herzog documentary on Netflix - Into the Inferno.

He met a British volcanologist (Clive Oppenheimer) making a previous film, and they get together to visit various volcanos and talk to the people living near them. It's not at all what I was expecting, especially the section filmed in North Korea. It's a really great film.

[Wood FT]

Herzog's Lo and Behold.   Brilliant documentary on the internet and technology.  Really worthwhile.

There's a new Herzog documentary on Netflix - Into the Inferno.

He met a British volcanologist (Clive Oppenheimer) making a previous film, and they get together to visit various volcanos and talk to the people living near them. It's not at all what I was expecting, especially the section filmed in North Korea. It's a really great film.

nice, cheers for the heads up.

[Teaboy]

Watched Jason Bourne on iTunes. Cack on every level, it's the sort of thing I should enjoy as well.

[Falling Down]

Herzog's Lo and Behold.   Brilliant documentary on the internet and technology.  Really worthwhile.

There's a new Herzog documentary on Netflix - Into the Inferno.

He met a British volcanologist (Clive Oppenheimer) making a previous film, and they get together to visit various volcanos and talk to the people living near them. It's not at all what I was expecting, especially the section filmed in North Korea. It's a really great film.

nice, cheers for the heads up.

Sounds great... (I don't have Netflix)...

Teaboy - I quite enjoyed JB even though it was just another JB film.  The London sequence was filmed where I work so that made it a bit more interesting.  The return of the amazingly wooden Julia Styles was fun too..

[SA Chris]

I always read JB as James Bond - guess the comment applies as well.

[Duma]

On here I generally read it as Adam Long

[lagerstarfish]

yet again I find myself unable to finish watching something because the violence and (more importantly) cruelty are too much for me - even though I can see it is a good film - this time it was Django Unchained

is this an age thing? (me, not the film)

I'm not sure I could watch Reservoir Dogs again, thinking about it

is this something that others have experienced?

I guess it has something to do with the refinement of cinematic techniques, but maybe also increased empathy with age

[andy popp]

I get it, I'm just not interested if its a dominant theme. Of course, some times violence is plausible and even necessary to a plot line. But if its the violence driving the plot, rather than the other way round, then no.

[tomtom]

Don't watch Kill Bill 1&2 then...

[Will Hunt]

Whiplash is on Netflix. Very very good.

[SA Chris]

Really enjoyed Rogue One, as did Kyle (first father and son SW cinema experience!). Not sure he followed the entire plot (especially jumping between planets at the beginning) but was happy to be swept along by the action. Good entry point to the saga too, can follow up with the original trilogy now, and finish up with TFA in time for the next installment next year.

One of top 3 SW films?

[jwi]

We went to see Arrival yesterday. Probably last chance before the theaters stop screening it. Best film I've seen in a long, long time (granted, the only other films I've seen this year was the abysmal “The Revenant” and the somewhat mediocre “Rogue One”). An absolutely beautiful filmt that in the best tradition of speculative fiction uses fantastic elements to explore what it is to be human here and now, in ways that is very difficult for non-genre to do. It certainly made me interested in reading Chiang's “Story of Your Life”

 

Car chases bores me to no end. They never create any tension. Case in point: have you ever read a car-chase in a book? No, of course not: that would be stupid. As stupid as showing one on film in fact.

[Fiend]

Yay for another Arrival appreciation.

What about The Blues Brothers' car chase though??

[tk421a]

+1 on Arrival, really enjoyed. Have read Story of My Life since, good read.

La La Land was excellent... It's a musical drama romance comedy...the cinematography is probably the best I've seen in a while, most points you could pause the film, print the screen and it would just be a great photo. I completely understand how it wiped the floor at the Golden Globes. Same director as Whiplash, enjoyed La La Land more than Whiplash.

[Yossarian]

Car chases bores me to no end. They never create any tension. Case in point: have you ever read a car-chase in a book? No, of course not: that would be stupid. As stupid as showing one on film in fact.

There is a brilliant car chase in Ian Fleming's Moonraker...

[jwi]

Well I'll have to concede the point then. Curious as to what is it that makes the car chase work. (If you could quote or give me the chapter heading... I'm unlikely to read an entire Fleming novel.)

[SA Chris]

What about The Blues Brothers' car chase though??

As good as it gets IMO.

[Yossarian]

I will endeavour to dig it out. It reminds me - there is something similar in The Day of the Jackal. I think talented thriller writers can make pretty much anything exciting... 

On that note, I watched The Girl on the Train the other day. Despite the book's undeniable popularity, I found it the most tedious recent film with the word Girl in the title. Totally indifferent and unmoved by the whole thing.

808, on the other hand, was superb. Easily the best music documentary I've seen in ages...

[Falling Down]

Went to see Manchester by the Sea this afternoon.  Very moving and quite harrowing in places.   Casey Affleck is brilliant as usual.  If I could pick one fault it's maybe a little too long but I don't know what bits the director would have cut.  Well worth watching.

We watched Enemy of the State last night. An 90's movie with Will Smith and Gene Hackman playing homage to his role in one of my favourites "The Conversation".  An enjoyable conspiracy romp.

W went to see La La Land on Friday and has been raving about it since.

[galpinos]

Went to see Manchester by the Sea this afternoon.  Very moving and quite harrowing in places.   Casey Affleck is brilliant as usual.  If I could pick one fault it's maybe a little too long but I don't know what bits the director would have cut.  Well worth watching.

It's on my 'to watch' list but the sexual harassment issues around Casey Affleck and the way they appear brushed under the carpet still bug me a little.

W went to see La La Land on Friday and has been raving about it since.

This has been on the 'to watch' list evry since I saw it was being made, if it's half as good as Whiplash.....

[remus]

Saw Trainspotting 2 the other night. It was surprisingly good, mainly because it felt like it avoided the sequel trap of trying to copy the first film. Plenty of references to the first film but it felt like the characters  had changed enough that the film could cover some new ground.

[jwi]

...
We watched Enemy of the State last night. An 90's movie with Will Smith and Gene Hackman playing homage to his role in one of my favourites "The Conversation".  An enjoyable conspiracy romp.
...

Yes, surprisingly enjoyable film (Enemy of the State, i.e.).