Films you've seen/film discussion

[fowler9]

The Guard - Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham in a comedy thriller from Ireland. An idiosyncratic country garda finds himself dealing with murder, drug smuggling, corruption and the FBI. I thoroughly recommend this as a change from the usual Hollywood output, very funny with a smattering of violence and a dash of pathos. 7.5/10

Boss film, good shout.

 

[fowler9]

Boss film, good shout.

The Guard - Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham in a comedy thriller from Ireland. An idiosyncratic country garda finds himself dealing with murder, drug smuggling, corruption and the FBI. I thoroughly recommend this as a change from the usual Hollywood output, very funny with a smattering of violence and a dash of pathos. 7.5/10

Just been thinking after reading your comments on the films you watched, I actually say naff all about the ones I watched which isn't very helpful.

If I can go back to A Monster Calls, in case you haven't already seen it it is about a 13 year old lad who's mum is dying of cancer, he is being bullied in school and he gets sent to live with his nan, Sigourney Weaver. All in all he isn't having a great time. Despite what I have said so far it is not relentlessly grim all though it is very sad. He meets a monster, Liam Neeson, the talking tree, who helps him through the seemingly insurmountable problems he has. It is really well done and I found it in some ways similar to Pans Labyrinth. It is a fantasy as opposed to another sloppy sentimental film, although it is of course sentimental at times. Well worth a watch.

 

[fowler9]

Passengers was quite interesting. Chris Pratt makes friends with the ships barman, Michael Sheen who is great as always. He makes a difficult decision which has unintended and unwanted results which has a life changing impact on someone else. Not what I expected at all but worth watching. It is Sci Fi but it is a very human story.

 

[fowler9]

Hacksaw Ridge. Really good. A true story about an American army medic who refused to carry a gun and saved over 70 lives in one battle in the Pacific due to his own fearless actions. I guess if you are a soldier you don't always need to have a gun to be brave.

 

[DaleCooper]

Franklyn - This British film is very difficult to describe, there are elements that remind me of Watchmen, The Spirit, V for Vendetta and Dark City but in large parts it's like none of them. Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe, Sam Riley and Bernard Hill are the protagonists, each with their own inner demon. Original, visually arresting but somewhat confusing until it all comes together towards the end although I've seen it three times and I'm still not sure how the hospital cleaner fitted in. Recommended if you like something challenging and a bit different. 8.0/10

 

[DaleCooper]

Nightcrawler - I usually think of Jake Gyllenhaal as a nice guy but here he plays the most unpleasant lead character since Christian Bale in American Psycho. He's a "stringer" who videos crime scenes and the aftermath of car crashes for sale to TV news networks but due to his psychopathic nature he goes to extreme lengths to get his stories and some of his interactions with other characters really made me cringe. 7.5/10

 

[ComUtoR]

Wonder Woman

I went to see Wonder Woman. It was another origin story superhero film. It had some special effects and the lasso was the star effect of the film. It was set in the war and was like the comics a bit. It had a lot of exposition and a some very bad green screen. I think there is a continuity error but I need to check a different film to see if my thoughts are accurate. Wonder Woman is a good female heroine and I think she was very under written and could have had much more depth. The entire cast was dire but Gal Gadot pretty much nailed her character and was certainly the star of the film, albeit still a little one dimensional. It was long and the plot was thin so you could imagine how quickly I became bored. There is very little action in the film but those scenes were well choreographed but the constant slo-mo become a little tedious. If you have seen a Zack Snyder film before and have experienced the mess that has been the DC movies so far then you know what to expect. Wonder Woman could have been good and I hope that she plays a major part in Justice League but I kin of predict that due to her being over powered, and a woman, she will get a small part only.

Tl;DR : Meh

 

[DaleCooper]

Wonder Woman

I went to see Wonder Woman. It was another origin story superhero film. It had some special effects and the lasso was the star effect of the film. It was set in the war and was like the comics a bit. It had a lot of exposition and a some very bad green screen. I think there is a continuity error but I need to check a different film to see if my thoughts are accurate. Wonder Woman is a good female heroine and I think she was very under written and could have had much more depth. The entire cast was dire but Gal Gadot pretty much nailed her character and was certainly the star of the film, albeit still a little one dimensional. It was long and the plot was thin so you could imagine how quickly I became bored. There is very little action in the film but those scenes were well choreographed but the constant slo-mo become a little tedious. If you have seen a Zack Snyder film before and have experienced the mess that has been the DC movies so far then you know what to expect. Wonder Woman could have been good and I hope that she plays a major part in Justice League but I kin of predict that due to her being over powered, and a woman, she will get a small part only.

Tl;DR : Meh

QLBIDR (Quite long but I did read)

 

[Butts]

Wonder Woman

I went to see Wonder Woman. It was another origin story superhero film. It had some special effects and the lasso was the star effect of the film. It was set in the war and was like the comics a bit. It had a lot of exposition and a some very bad green screen. I think there is a continuity error but I need to check a different film to see if my thoughts are accurate. Wonder Woman is a good female heroine and I think she was very under written and could have had much more depth. The entire cast was dire but Gal Gadot pretty much nailed her character and was certainly the star of the film, albeit still a little one dimensional. It was long and the plot was thin so you could imagine how quickly I became bored. There is very little action in the film but those scenes were well choreographed but the constant slo-mo become a little tedious. If you have seen a Zack Snyder film before and have experienced the mess that has been the DC movies so far then you know what to expect. Wonder Woman could have been good and I hope that she plays a major part in Justice League but I kin of predict that due to her being over powered, and a woman, she will get a small part only.

Tl;DR : Meh

As it was set during World War One were there plenty of soldiers and other people depicted smoking ?

 

[ComUtoR]

As it was set during World War One were there plenty of soldiers and other people depicted smoking ?

Um....

My review was monotone and bland for a reason

There were 2 'war' scenes. Neither screamed WWI and both were over in a flash. Seriously, the action was lacking.

DC has messed up big time. They are late to the superhero mania and appear to be trying to hard. Marvel wins and is so successful because its pure action all the way and lots of boom, smash, kablamo !! Wonder Woman dragged. I know the comics and the character was set in that era but she was introduced in todays setting and really could have been something modern and awesome. A Micrometer would be hard pressed to measure how thin the plot was.

I was looking forward to it too

Gonna have to watch John Wick 2 again

 

[DaleCooper]

Drive Angry - Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard and William Fichtner in a tale of a man's extraordinary determination to avenge his daughter's murder and rescue his granddaughter from a cult. John Milton, hardened criminal and murderer, escapes from the ultimate prison pursued by the accountant. Non-stop outrageous action, car chases, fist fights, gun fights, explosions and the final scene is spectacular. Don't take it seriously or expect oscar winning performances, this a pure "leave your brain at home" guilty pleasure of a film and I love it. 7.5/10

 

[DaleCooper]

Hot Tub Time Machine - Sc-fi comedy starring John Cusack, a sort of cross between The Hangover and Back to the Future. Not brilliant but at 50p from CeX who's complaining, the highlight for me was Nick's phone call to his future wife which was very funny in a cringeworthy way. 6.0/10

 

[DarloRich]

been out of this for a long while:

The Kings Speech: Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. Inteligent, warming, historical drama. Firth, Rush and Bonham - Carter are excellent.

Battleship: military science fiction action film about a first encounter with aliens in a naval conflict context. This is a mega cheese fest and is terrible. Liam Neeson used to be a serious actor - why does he lower himself to this guff?

The American: An Austere, intelligent, slow paced, gangster double cross film noir. Clooney is very restrained although the ending is a bit obvious.

Fantastic 4 (2015) Awful. Simply awful. Avoid

Downfall: historical war drama film depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's rule over Nazi Germany in 1945. German Language. Superb. Bruno Ganz is outstanding, compelling and chilling but actually manages to make Hitler seem human.

Arthur (1981) udley Moore stars as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress, but ends up falling for a common working-class girl from Queens. Funny, sweet and warming and Moore is obviously very funny ( and no one has ever played a drunk so well) although Sir John Gielgud ( as the butler Hobson) plays the straight man superbly and shows superb comic timing.

National Lampoons European Vacation: Chevy Chase led Griswold family romp comedy. Childish, dated and immature. Tiresome.

RED 2 All star cast playing retired secret agents and killers having great fun but a sequel not as good as the original. All a bit lackadaisical really.

 

[DaleCooper]

Fantastic 4 (2015) Awful. Simply awful. Avoid.

If you think that's bad try the the 1994 version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrbFLJHeX8w

 

[fowler9]

been out of this for a long while:

The Kings Speech: Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. Inteligent, warming, historical drama. Firth, Rush and Bonham - Carter are excellent.

Battleship: military science fiction action film about a first encounter with aliens in a naval conflict context. This is a mega cheese fest and is terrible. Liam Neeson used to be a serious actor - why does he lower himself to this guff?

The American: An Austere, intelligent, slow paced, gangster double cross film noir. Clooney is very restrained although the ending is a bit obvious.

Fantastic 4 (2015) Awful. Simply awful. Avoid

Downfall: historical war drama film depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's rule over Nazi Germany in 1945. German Language. Superb. Bruno Ganz is outstanding, compelling and chilling but actually manages to make Hitler seem human.

Arthur (1981) udley Moore stars as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress, but ends up falling for a common working-class girl from Queens. Funny, sweet and warming and Moore is obviously very funny ( and no one has ever played a drunk so well) although Sir John Gielgud ( as the butler Hobson) plays the straight man superbly and shows superb comic timing.

National Lampoons European Vacation: Chevy Chase led Griswold family romp comedy. Childish, dated and immature. Tiresome.

RED 2 All star cast playing retired secret agents and killers having great fun but a sequel not as good as the original. All a bit lackadaisical really.

Love The Kings Speech, Battleship is indeed a load of poo. Was quite shocked when I saw the adverts for it. Not seen The American. Fantastic 4, Meh. Arthur is brilliant, I could watch it again and again. National Lampoons European Vacation is poo. Red 2 I haven't seen.

 

[fowler9]

War Dogs. Really really good. Based on a true story but dramatised. Reminds me of Wolf Of Wall Street and Pain And Gain in that there is a lot of black humour, action, drama and again as I say it is based on something that happened. Give it a go, its on Sky Premier at the mo. Jonah Hill is really good, seems to play the same character in everything he does (Reckless and loud) but he is quite good at it.

 

[DaleCooper]

Now You See Me - I was really disappointed by this film, the idea was good, it has a talented cast (Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine) and it could have been a great film but was a let down. In a kind of 21st century version of The Prestige or The Illusionist a number of stage magicians, illusionists etc. are brought together by a mysterious benefactor in order to avenge a perceived wrong. There are just too many implausible scenarios, at one point Dave Franco's otherwise low key character suddenly turns into someone with apparent superhuman powers, the car chase stretches credibility to breaking point and the final twist is ludicrous. 5.0/10

 

[DarloRich]

In the Bleak Midwinter ( AKA a Winters Tale): British romantic comedy written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It was shot in black and white for artistic effect. Very worthy and luvvie but actually not bad and has some decent humour. Several roles are really well played. John Sessions & Richard Briers are very good. Decent

Clockwise: Well rated but I just don't like it. Cleese is Fawlty esque but it all just seems a bit forced and little dated. it is funny but just doesn't seem as funny as Fawlty towers.

Penguins of Madagascar:A decent kids film with some laughs for the adults, the characters are nice and well acted by the voice artists but it isnt in the same league as, say, Toy Story.

Interstellar Set in a dystopian future where humanity is struggling to survive, it follows a group of astronauts who travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity. An entertaining, emotional, and thought-provoking sci fi film and visually epic. I really enjoyed it.

Escape to Victory needs no introduction. A classic & bank holiday favorite and no matter how bad it actually is I will always like it!

One night in Turin A documentary about the England football team during 1990 FIFA World Cup and left the nation undone by West Germany on penalties in the semi-final. It looks at the social and political context of the event as well as how it changed people's perception of football and the England team. It an unashamedly enjoyable hour and a half and i am sure if i watch it enough Pearce or Waddle will score one of those penalties..........

U571 I like a submarine film and this is decent if by the numbers naval action film which is MASSIVELY historically inaccurate. It is well shot, well acted and has decent cast.

Spooks: The Greater Good. Standard MI:5 double cross. Watchable if more Hollywood than the series on TV where perhaps it should have stayed.

Horrible Bosses 2 not great but any film with Jennifer Aniston playing a sex crazed nympho in leather gets my vote.

 

[DaleCooper]

any film with Jennifer Aniston playing a sex crazed nympho in leather gets my vote.

I can't argue with that.

 

[DarloRich]

Donnie Brasco Clever, detailed, deep and strangely human & moving gangster film. Depp & Pacino are really, really good and utterly convicing as the young hood/fbi agent and the aging mobster. Forget about it!

The Full Monty Still good, still funny and it deals with series issues (unemployment, fathers' rights, depression, impotence, homosexuality, body image, working class culture and suicide) in a light but direct way

Bullitt Classic 1960's police procedural. Steve McQueen is superb as always and the now famous car chase is well known and much copied but set eh standard for that kind of thing. Good score to.

Empire of the Sun Well scripted, shot, acted and epic in scope plus well received but it seems a little of muddle. I like it but cant work out if the Spielberg touch ruins or makes the film.

Flight of the Intruder Poor Vietnam bomber movie. bad characters, silly plot and a silly ending. Waste of a coulpe of good actors talents

Wargames Decent enough if now dated techno thriller. Perhaps the first of that modern genre.

Creed: Aging Rocky trains Apollo Creeds son. I expectde this to be terrible and it wasn't. Even with it being a copy of Rocky it still worked

 

[fowler9]

Donnie Brasco Clever, detailed, deep and strangely human & moving gangster film. Depp & Pacino are really, really good and utterly convicing as the young hood/fbi agent and the aging mobster. Forget about it!

The Full Monty Still good, still funny and it deals with series issues (unemployment, fathers' rights, depression, impotence, homosexuality, body image, working class culture and suicide) in a light but direct way

Bullitt Classic 1960's police procedural. Steve McQueen is superb as always and the now famous car chase is well known and much copied but set eh standard for that kind of thing. Good score to.

Empire of the Sun Well scripted, shot, acted and epic in scope plus well received but it seems a little of muddle. I like it but cant work out if the Spielberg touch ruins or makes the film.

Flight of the Intruder Poor Vietnam bomber movie. bad characters, silly plot and a silly ending. Waste of a coulpe of good actors talents

Wargames Decent enough if now dated techno thriller. Perhaps the first of that modern genre.

Creed: Aging Rocky trains Apollo Creeds son. I expectde this to be terrible and it wasn't. Even with it being a copy of Rocky it still worked

Blimey, Flight Of The Intruder is Top Gun in A-6's. Just doesn't work. Not knocking A-6 pilots there.

 

[DarloRich]

Blimey, Flight Of The Intruder is Top Gun in A-6's. Just doesn't work. Not knocking A-6 pilots there.

poor isnt it? Wooden almost considering it is a film about bomber pilots who went in at 0 altitude with no defensive weapons!

If you think that's bad try the the 1994 version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrbFLJHeX8w

MY EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats BAD!

 

[fowler9]

poor isnt it? Wooden almost considering it is a film about bomber pilots who went in at 0 altitude with no defensive weapons!



MY EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats BAD!

Yeah, spot on, the guy who wrote the book it is based on is doubtless a very brave guy but the film is terrible.

 

[DaleCooper]

Yesterday I started reading Robert Heinlein's short story All You Zombies, which was made into a the film Predestination which I reviewed here last year.here
I decided to watch the film again and was amazed at how close it is to the original, the dialogue is almost word for word and the significant events are faithfully reproduced except the final scene, which I actually preferred to the ending of the short story. In these ways it's very different from the likes of Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) and The Adjustment Bureau both of which use the original premise but tell a completely different story.

 

[DarloRich]

In Bruges An entertaining mix of dark comedy and crime thriller with 3 perfectly cast leads who When they are funny, they are hilarious; when they are serious, they are powerful. Well shot in a beautiful location

Layer CakeBritish crime thriller (directorial debut of Matthew Vaughn) with the usual double and triple crosses, murders and deals. Daniel Craig is very good as the lead and very smart criminal who is tryin to get out of the drug business. Ending is good if obvious.

American Sniper Clint Eastwood directed war biopic that delivers a superb Bradley Cooper performance ( his best?) in a taut, vivid, harrowing and very sad war (and anti war) movie

Airplane! Classic juvenile, corny, obvious and silly spoof comedy that gave birth to a thousand imitators. Genius. I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

Ant Man The usual Marvel thrills and spills on a smaller scale. It is fairly silly but enjoyable sillyness while Paul Rudd is decent enough as the hero. Mid table Marvel effort.

Star Trek Generations Kirk & Picard team up but Malcolm McDowell steals the show (and kills Kirk) as the mad villainous professor. In honesty it is mediocre.

Star Trek First Contact The borg. Time travel. Borg Queen. Decent enough but standard

Dr Strangelove Kubrick directed political satire & black comedy. Peter Sellers multiple roles are very varied, well created and superbly acted , George C Scott hams it up massively ( tricked by Kubrick into doing over the top practice scenes) & Slim Pickens is very good as an airborne cow boy riding a bomb to destruction. Absolutely superb. An absolute classic. Gentlemen you cant fight in here - this is the war room!

Schindler's List Brilliantly acted, written, directed. Neeson, Finnes and Kingsley are superb. Terribly hard to watch but a masterpiece.

 

[ComUtoR]

Yesterday I started reading Robert Heinlein's short story All You Zombies, which was made into a the film Predestination

Amazing film. I didn't know it was a book. Gonna look it up and give it a read. Thanks.

Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) and The Adjustment Bureau both of which use the original premise but tell a completely different story.

I never enjoyed either of those short stories. They were 'ok' The films totally blew me away. Adjustment Bureau is one of my favourite films. I think both gave justice to their stories and built on the original premises. I think the beauty of a short story is it is a building block. Large novels tend to lock you in to a whole story line and set of characters. I'm not sure if I like films to be almost verbatim to the book and I'm stuck on episode 2 of American Gods because my brain is predicting the entire plot.

A great book to film is STARDUST I love both. Neil Gaiman fantastic writing is created on screen by Jane Goldman (Jonathan Ross' wife)

It's a modern fairy tale of a young boy who's life takes a journey when he crosses a 'Wall' into a world of magic, witches and evil princes. Oh and a real falling star. Charlie Cox is brilliant but is slightly upstaged by Robert Deniro playing a rather camp pirate. Michelle Pfeiffer was great as the leading antagonist. It's got a superb cast, although a couple of the usual Brit Actors ham it up as usual. (Ricky Gervais)

It's light fantasy that's suitable for tweens and adults alike. I think that Jane Goldman must have liked the source material is she done a great job on the script and kept most of it faithful to the book.

The cinematography is vibrant and the colour pallet suites the magical theme. Some good effects on the whole. It's well paced and the 127min runtime flies past before you know it.

 

[DarloRich]

We should note that former BBC film critic Barry Norman has died. He was 83. He hosted "Film..." between 1972 and 1998.

Film critic Barry Norman dies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40468411

 

[Butts]

Just been to see Dunkirk this morning.

Nolans new film is not bad but it's not nearly gory enough (12A) to depict the real horror of war.

Also theres plenty of smoke (from explosions etc) but very little from anyone having a cigarette - completely implausible :roll:

 

[steamybrian]

Just been to see Dunkirk this morning.

Nolans new film is not bad but it's not nearly gory enough (12A) to depict the real horror of war.

Also theres plenty of smoke (from explosions etc) but very little from anyone having a cigarette - completely implausible :roll:

Today, I also saw the film Dunkirk which I enjoyed although I understand difficult to portray all the action in a film of less than 2 hours. They must have gone to great lengths to get the detail correct except........
... Towards the end of the film the train taking them home (filmed on the Swanage Railway) was composed of BR carriages and the soldiers were clearly seen sitting on BR moquete covered seating.

 

[Calthrop]

... Towards the end of the film the train taking them home (filmed on the Swanage Railway) was composed of BR carriages and the soldiers were clearly seen sitting on BR moquete covered seating.

In the thread Errors you've noticed in films, I've floated semi-humorously, the thought that perhaps lovers of cinematic rail accuracy such as ourselves, might find life less nerve-racking as regards World War II-set films: if we decided on a strategy of, mentally, wilfully modifying history to a certain extent. Thus, in this context, we decide to believe that Britain's railways were nationalised, and BR formed, some time in the 1930s; or else that in answer to the huge traffic demands of World War II, some national board had been formed approx. 1939, to manufacture all manner of gear for use on the nation's railways -- to be dished out among the different companies, and emblazoned "BRITISH RAILWAYS". This could give a "blanket" explanation for all sorts of equipment -- from locos / liveries to coaches to fire-buckets -- having come into being and entered service, long before it did so in supposedly "real" history.

(Though of course more than not, specialist film nitpickers delight in this nitpicking aspect of their hobby, and would hate to be denied its joys .)