[Wood FT]

1917

Absolutely the most powerful,  visceral movie I've seen in a long time.  Its almost a horror film,  in the very real sense of the word.  Incredible cinematography which immerses you in the grim world of the trenches. The two lead actors are exceptional.  See it at the cinema,  it would lose a lot on a small screen,  in my opinion.

Nice one Toby, going to see it tomorrow. Did you know Gus is in it? Sang its praises during the filming.

[moose]

Tangentally related to 1917, the Ringer films podcast, the Rewatchables, has had Quentin Tarentino on for the last three weeks.  One of the films he chose to pore over was Dunkirk.  I found it a really interesting conversation about past war films, and an insight into the more specific art / narrative issues and production technicalities. 

There's a hundred other podcasts in the series, and I was impressed enough by that one episode that I've downloaded lots of others - a few films that I think are great, many othersI just have an odd affection for - Die Hard, King of New York, The Warriors, Bloodsport, Heat, Jaws, Any Given Sunday etc.

https://play.acast.com/s/the-rewatchables

https://art19.com/shows/the-rewatchables

https://open.spotify.com/show/1lUPomulZRPquVAOOd56EW

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-ringer/the-rewatchables

[Falling Down]

Watched Bait last night.  Really, really good.  Indie film shot on film in square format.  Set in a small fishing village in Cornwall exploring the fractious relationship between the locals and incomers.  Best thing I’ve seen in ages.

[TobyD]

1917

Absolutely the most powerful,  visceral movie I've seen in a long time.  Its almost a horror film,  in the very real sense of the word.  Incredible cinematography which immerses you in the grim world of the trenches. The two lead actors are exceptional.  See it at the cinema,  it would lose a lot on a small screen,  in my opinion.

Nice one Toby, going to see it tomorrow. Did you know Gus is in it? Sang its praises during the filming.

I didn't know that. I hope you like it as much as I did. You could hardly say it was 'enjoyable' but a brilliant film.

[TobyD]

Watched Bait last night.  Really, really good.  Indie film shot on film in square format.  Set in a small fishing village in Cornwall exploring the fractious relationship between the locals and incomers.  Best thing I’ve seen in ages.

Nice one FD. I'd wanted to see this, Kermode said it was his film of 2019 I think.

[Falling Down]

It’s on the BFI player/Amazon Prime. It’s brilliant.

[crzylgs]

I've been smashing through some films recently, catching up on  things I missed and others that have popped up in all the 'Best of 2019' and Oscar buzz chats etc.

Long Shot - this was OK, as far as an easy going rom-com. There was plenty of com to make up for the cliche rom. If you want a couple of laughs and a generally uplifting film that you don't have to divert 100% attention to you could do far worse.

Book Smart - Also had plenty of funny moments and good performances from the young leads to ease the fairly formulaic teen 'last night of fun shenanigans before we move on' drama. I'd throw it in the same kind of category as Long Shot, but I've always had a soft spot for teen/coming of age/one night of madness type films, probably going back to Dazed and Confused.

Dragged Across Concrete - no we're talking. Mel Gibson in the role he was made for... a gritty, grumpy, racist, old git of a cop. Seriously though, it was quite good!

Parasite - Think I may need to re-watch this one at some point. I liked it and get that it is making a social commentary but it didn't wow me like it did lots of critics. The Dad character stole the show with an excellent performance

Upgrade - WOW. Really damn cool sci-fi / horror / action. Went to some dark places in one of my fave settings... A (slightly) dystopian near-future.

Uncut Gems - Deserves all the buzz and critical acclaim it's receiving. Adam Sandler is exceptional. Yup, you heard it correctly...  Adam Sandler puts in a performance of a lifetime, eclipsing that of Punch Drunk Love - which FWIW I'm a fan of. The Safdie brothers have created a claustrophobic, exhausting, adrenaline rush of a film. All the components fit together perfectly. You'll come out of it needing a recovery protein shake/beer/smoke!

[TobyD]

A personal history of David Copperfield

Really good, some classic comedy you can tell it's Armando Ianucci, many of the actors do a fine job.
Pleasantly escapist. Not quite as ridiculously funny as Death of Stalin but a better story.

[SA Chris]

Am I the only person who didn't find the Death of Stalin that funny?

[spidermonkey09]

I enjoyed the Death of Stalin, not a laugh a minute I agree but as black comedy goes I thought it was very good.

Watched 1917 last night. Amazing film, well worth a trip to the cinema for. Beautifully filmed (am a sucker for a long continuous shot) and gets across the sheer futility of WW1 brilliantly.

[andy popp]

"Judy" - Judy Garland biopic - I'm not really a fan of the genre but I enjoyed this. Rene Zellweger is superb in the title role, just the right side of being too hammy.

[teestub]

Really enjoyed Shadow on Netflix, directed by Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers etc.).

Visually stunning as you might expect, as a study of Yin and Yang the colour palette for the whole movie is almost entirely black, white and grey.

[Paul B]

I watched Heat (1995) again on Fri night. I think it's superb.

I'm amazed that both my wife and my colleagues at work haven't seen it/heard of it.

[crzylgs]

I watched Heat (1995) again on Fri night. I think it's superb.

I'm amazed that both my wife and my colleagues at work haven't seen it/heard of it.

Was this at all prompted by the 'Re-watchables' podcast? I've seen their recent pod was covering Heat and was considering a re-watch myself before listening. Excellent film, probably been 10+ years since I watched it.

[Paul B]

No it just happened to be on... (it's also included on Prime Video I think).

[crzylgs]

Ahh okay - well if you like film Podcasts 'The Re-Watchables' seems worth a listen listen, although I'm very new to it so can't fully vouch. They recently did 3 episodes with Quentin Tarantino and so far I've only listened to his Dunkirk episode. It's fascinating listening to QT talking films, bloke is a legitimate cinefile, with such a wealth of knowledge and full of insight.

[Falling Down]

I love Heat. One of my all-time favourites.  Michael Mann had originally intended it to be a TV series and shot a 90 minute pilot, LA Takedown which is worth watching if you're a fan of the film.  It's all based on true stories - the Wikipedia page is pretty good.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_(1995_film)  I'll have a listen to the Podcast.

I watched some good documentaries recently.

Sun Ra - A Joyful Noise.  Filmed in 1980 with interviews with Ra and the Arkestra with concert footage.  Very enjoyable.

Welcome to Leith.  An unsettling 2015 film following the events when white supremicist Craig Cobb bought a load of land in a really small town in Dakota and invites a load of neo-nazis to join him in a white ethno state.  It follows the lives of the locals as they rally around to try and put a stop to it all.  Disturbing stuff.

New Town Utopia.  Basildon and the post-way New Town experiment.  You might think a film about Basildon would be really boring but you'd be surprised.  This was really interesting and poignant.

[Bradders]

I watched Heat (1995) again on Fri night. I think it's superb.

I'm amazed that both my wife and my colleagues at work haven't seen it/heard of it.

Heat is one of my all time favourite films, and the bank scene is similarly one of my all time favourite scenes. Brilliant tension and intense action.

Pretty influential film too, clearly referenced in the Grand Theft Auto games and various crime films.

Another one very much in this style which I've always loved, but haven't watched in ages, is Ronin.

[crzylgs]

Can confirm Heat holds up and is still superb. So many quotable lines, I'm going to try to work them into everyday situations knowing that nobody will get them but I'll be able to chuckle to myself :D

[tomtom]

The military advisor to Mann for Heat was Andy McNab - ex SAS dude who wrote a load of books.

Apparently the shooting methods, tactics - small bursts of fire etc.. are all very realistic from a military training point of view. Mann also went out and used real gun noises instead of the blanks firing for the final dub. Quite a bit of stuff on it on reditt etc.. about the authenticity of the shootouts...

[crzylgs]

Oh wow... I had no idea Andy McNabb was involved as an adviser. The weapon handling and tactics do look very legit. I'm not sure if the bank robbery scene and lengthy escape has been bettered in modern cinema?

[Falling Down]

You might remember a real bank robbery a few years back in LA where the robbers had studied that scene and the tactics over and over and then went and did it in real life.  They were so tooled up that the police (even the tactical squad) were outgunned and they had to go to gun shops and buy weapons with their own credit cards whilst the shootout was in progress in order to try and bring it to an end.  It didn’t end well for the robbers.  Probably on YouTube somewhere... terrifying!

[moose]

Wasn't it the other way - the shoot out was based on one where the police had to get vests and gun s from a gun shop as the robbers were so well tooled up? IIRC some of the robbers were cops / ex-cops - I think the incident was part of the Rampart scandal that the show the Shield was based on.

[SA Chris]

Isn't the restaurant part the only one ever where De Niro and Pacino are in the same scene?

[dontfollowme]

No. They are together in the final scene which is a fitting end to a great film. It conveys the mutual respect for each other. Good use of Moby's god moving over the face of waters too.