Rate the last film you watched out of 5

[Chosty]

First time seeing it?

 

It remains one of my favourite ever cinema experiences.

[Benny]

Yes it was. Probably doesn't top Blue Velvet for me, but after processing it for about an hour it's definitely up there. David's a mad bastard.

[g wings]

Same and I actually think I enjoy it more each time I watch it.

[Benny]

I would like to draw attention to how

 

Spoiler

In a film by David Lynch, a scene where a mafioso type lazily spits out coffee in disgust takes on a whole new meta level of menace.

 

[Sane]

The Paper Tigers - 3.5 / 5

3 young guys train with a kung-fu sifu and become his disciples. 25 years later they have fallen out of touch and the sifu is murdered so they have to find out what happened and take revenge. It's light hearted, pretty funny and enjoyable. It's not about flashy effects or amazing kung-fu, more about friendship and getting old.

[Monkeyboy]

Phantasm IV

 

The Phantasm films have such odd meandering plots. Can you call them plots? Probably not. They’re more like dreams. The fourth one is no exception but is probably the weakest so far. Reggie is still one of the greatest characters in horror history though!

 

3 out of 5

[ZOK]

Maeve - 3.5/5 (MUBI)

 

This is a lovely and very watchable film, an intimate portrait from 1980 of a woman struggling to align feminism and nationalism as she travels between the civil war torn Belfast of her youth and the present day, and a new life in the heart of the empire.

 

Having recently tucked away the audiobook of the ‘Troubles’ history Say Nothing this film was a perfect companion, it really gets over the oppression of living in a religious, political and reactionary tinderbox. The points it loses are due to the sometimes uneven tone as the film weaves it’s numerous and complex strands.

[Chosty]

14 hours ago, Benny said:

Yes it was. Probably doesn't top Blue Velvet for me, but after processing it for about an hour it's definitely up there. David's a mad bastard.

Yeah, I can easily see why Blue Velvet remains the favoruite for a lot of people, and it has Frank Booth who is unmatched in many ways, but Mulholland Drive is peak Lynch for me: the wonderful story and plot switch, a whole load of memorable scenes and characters, Angelo Badalamenti's finest soundtrack, and buckets of dreamlike atmosphere. His other films may match/top it for some of those elements, but MD has pretty much everything I love - it's the complete package.

[Benny]

My favourite scene in it was (extended Mulholland Drive thoughts follows):

 

Spoiler

When they are watching the cabaret, and the singer sings the most beautiful and heart wrenching song, only to "die" suddenly and the singing keeps going.

 

However: earlier on in the show the announcer literally tells the audience: "this is a recording". So you already know this is all an artifice, and yet, despite both us and the characters watching the show knowing that from the start, we all get swept up and emotionally affected by the singer's performance. Crushing reality comes back to us with a bang for both us and the characters when she collapses, and all emotional evolvement from our suspension of disbelief ceases. We were reminded that this was, after all, not real. And just as suddenly we realise this about the characters in the movie itself, right before all is unravelled.

 

On it's own I think that one scene essentially sums up the magic of cinema. How we are willing to be taken in by it and accepting of its emotional allure and power to move us, despite knowing, intellectually, that it's all a manipulation: a grand collective dreaming.

 

[Bazjam]

1 hour ago, Benny said:

My favourite scene in it was:

 

  Hide contents

When they are watching the cabaret, and the singer sings the most beautiful and heart wrenching song, only to "die" suddenly and the singing keeps going.

 

However: earlier on in the show the announcer literally tells the audience: "this is a recording". So you already know this is all an artifice, and yet, despite both us and the characters watching the show knowing that from the start, we all get swept up and emotionally affected by the singer's performance. Crushing reality comes back to us with a bang for both us and the characters when she collapses, and all emotional evolvement from our suspension of disbelief ceases. We were reminded that this was, after all, not real. And just as suddenly we realise this about the characters in the movie itself, right before all is unravelled.

 

On it's own I think that one scene essentially sums up the magic of cinema. How we are willing to be taken in by it and accepting of its emotional allure and power to move us, despite knowing, intellectually, that it's all a manipulation: a grand collective dreaming.

 

That may well be my favourite scene in any film ever.

[Bazjam]

New Order (MUBI) - 4/5

 

An absolutely bleak and brutal beast of a movie. But one I couldn't take my eyes off of. Was riveted all the way through, and had absolutely no idea how it was going to play out.

[ScouserInExile]

ID2

 

Shite, start to finish. pretty much no redeeming features. An insult to the first film.

 

0/5

[ZOK]

The Wild Goose Lake - 5/5 (MUBI)

 

Excellent recommendation by @Bazjam, this is a superb neo-noir set in contemporary Wuhan, where a beef between gangs of crooks rapidly escalates into a manhunt between police and thieves in and around the semi-lawless lakes.

 

I can’t praise this highly enough. Confident, ultra-stylised filmmaking that draws you into every scene, to marvel at the framing, lighting and sound as it deftly flip-flops between languid study and urgent brawls and chases. Top notch.

[Bazjam]

44 minutes ago, ZOK said:

The Wild Goose Lake - 5/5 (MUBI)

 

Excellent recommendation by @Bazjam, this is a superb neo-noir set in contemporary Wuhan, where a beef between gangs of crooks rapidly escalates into a manhunt between police and thieves in and around the semi-lawless lakes.

 

I can’t praise this highly enough. Confident, ultra-stylised filmmaking that draws you into every scene, to marvel at the framing, lighting and sound as it deftly flip-flops between languid study and urgent brawls and chases. Top notch.

Really glad you liked it. It’s one of those films I love, but whenever I mention it no one seems to know what I’m talking about.

[ZOK]

Mate, I LOVED it. Brilliant film.

[Sane]

The Vanishing (Spoorloos) - 4.5/5

A Dutch movie I'd never seen (I'm Dutch). I watched it because it was part of Mark Kermode's top 10 movies that scared him the most. It's about a man who's girlfriend disappears when on holiday in France and his obsession to find out what happened to her. It's very tense, has some amazing performances and a terrific soundtrack. Probably the best Dutch film I've ever seen.

[glb]

Win It All - 3/5 (Netflix UK)

 

Jake Johnston in a tight indie gambling drama. Authentic performances throughout, a little gem of a film.

 

Malignant - 3/5

 

Find that the most enjoyable horrors are the ones that lean fully into their premise. And this does that like a MotoGP rider taking a corner a little too fast.

 

Gloriously batshit final act; would have been a 4 if it hadn’t taken quite as long to get there.

[multi]

9 hours ago, ZOK said:

Maeve - 3.5/5 (MUBI)

 

This is a lovely and very watchable film, an intimate portrait from 1980 of a woman struggling to align feminism and nationalism as she travels between the civil war torn Belfast of her youth and the present day, and a new life in the heart of the empire.

 

Having recently tucked away the audiobook of the ‘Troubles’ history Say Nothing this film was a perfect companion, it really gets over the oppression of living in a religious, political and reactionary tinderbox. The points it loses are due to the sometimes uneven tone as the film weaves it’s numerous and complex strands.

 

Ooh I've just started that book, is it good?

 

And I've also just subscribed to Mubi too, so I'll add Maeve to my ever lengthening watchlist. Thanks!

[ZOK]

54 minutes ago, multi said:

 

Ooh I've just started that book, is it good?

 

And I've also just subscribed to Mubi too, so I'll add Maeve to my ever lengthening watchlist. Thanks!

Yes, it’s really good - although it had been in my Kindle pile of shame for ages so I ended up audiobooking it, an excellent narration. 

[Sane]

American Animals - 5/5

Really loved this. It's a true story about a group of students planning a heist. It starts lighthearted but quickly becomes really tense and gripping. I think the style and structure of the movie work well, the real persons are talking about what happened like a documentary and the actors basically act it out.  Superb acting by everyone involved, highly recommended! 

[multi]

American Animals was one of my favourite films of the year it came out (2018?)

 

Outstanding movie.

[Yiggy]

On 13/08/2021 at 21:45, Fallows said:

Doctor Sleep

 

Pish.

 

0/5

Doctor Sleep

 

Great 

 

4/5

 

I watched The Shining on 4K yesterday and watched this today. Of course I loved the original and like a cynical old bastard I expected to hate Sleep but to my surprise I really enjoyed it. 
 

I thought they did a good job referencing the original whilst making it its own movie. The balance shifted a little too much towards fan service with the ending but whilst it would be easy to say that it just used too many modern horror cliches (vampire like baddies, gory body shock bits) it kept me hooked all the way to the end. 
 

A problem these days is that movies have to be a lot ‘fuller’ than they did 30 years ago. Examples like Bladerunner, Alien and The Shining were all really simple films because they were at the cutting edge of their time. Their modern sequels have all got a degree of complexity that it seems Hollywood demands. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but it is what it is. 
 

I think once you stop comparing something like Doctor Sleep to the movie magnificence that it’s based on then it becomes better for it. There’s not doubt all these sequels are more forgettable though. An unfortunate side effect of the multitude of movies that have happened in between. 

 

[glb]

The Fallout - 4/5 (screener)

 

One of the better films I’ve seen recently. Deals with the aftermath of a school shooting, but also serves as a coming-of-age drama. Beautifully written, and features a wonderful central performance from Jenny Ortega, who is fast becoming a very reliable young actor.
 

Rise of the Footsoldier 3 - 2/5 (Netflix UK)

 

More excellent wig action from Terry Stone, and a load of coked up British crooks getting tasty with each other. The naughty slags. Rubbish.

[Laters]

La Haine - 5/5

 

Following a day in the life of a group of 3 immigrant friends around the projects of Paris, set against a backdrop of unrest and police brutality following civil riots. Documentary style, gritty with beautifully cinematography, a real masterpiece in my opinion.

[ScouserInExile]

Villian

 

Pretty much by the numbers gangster flick. The usual "naughty boy gets out of prison, wants to go straight, family member drags him back into the old life". Nothing new.

 

At least the acting is good throughout and all the characters are pretty believable. 

 

It also does the thing I mentioned when rating Cardboard Gangsters further up thread. Every Brit / Irish gangster film does this now - the protagonist has a clear opportunity to get away, decides to "just do one thing before I go", normally visiting a family member, and gets killed as a result. Which is just annoying and I really can't see why they all do it. Unless there's some rating thing or something to do with funding where a criminal protagonist can't get away with being a criminal? Whatever the reason is, it's just crap and annoying.

 

Anyway, 3/5. Not a bad film, per se, just not that good either. 

[cassidy]

8 hours ago, ScouserInExile said:

Villian

 

Pretty much by the numbers gangster flick. The usual "naughty boy gets out of prison, wants to go straight, family member drags him back into the old life". Nothing new.

 

At least the acting is good throughout and all the characters are pretty believable. 

 

It also does the thing I mentioned when rating Cardboard Gangsters further up thread. Every Brit / Irish gangster film does this now - the protagonist has a clear opportunity to get away, decides to "just do one thing before I go", normally visiting a family member, and gets killed as a result. Which is just annoying and I really can't see why they all do it. Unless there's some rating thing or something to do with funding where a criminal protagonist can't get away with being a criminal? Whatever the reason is, it's just crap and annoying.

 

Anyway, 3/5. Not a bad film, per se, just not that good either. 

Money laundering is harder when your working class. 

[ScouserInExile]

Avengement

 

I'm not sure that's even a word.

 

But it is a film. A bad, bad film.

 

The basic plot is that a guy escapes from prison and wants revenge, or possibly avengement, on the man who betrayed him. Who just happens to be his brother (played by Craig Fairbrass, which is why Netflix recommended it to me). The story is told in flashbacks from the perspective of the main character, who is holding his brother's gang hostage and, for some reason, telling them why.

 

The film can be summed up with "the main character fights a whole load of people, violently and repeatedly. There's a little bit of talking in between the fights, but it's mostly just the fighting". It's just violence for violence's sake. It all feels really unnecessary. And unrealistic.

 

I think it's genuinely one of the worst films I've ever seen. It makes the Rise of the Footsoldier films look Oscar-worthy in comparison. Just awful.

 

-5 / 5

[Couch Corpse]

Avengement is a perfectly cromulent word.

[Mawdlin]

On 07/12/2021 at 14:31, Yiggy said:

Doctor Sleep

 

Great 

 

4/5

 

I watched The Shining on 4K yesterday and watched this today. Of course I loved the original and like a cynical old bastard I expected to hate Sleep but to my surprise I really enjoyed it. 
 

I thought they did a good job referencing the original whilst making it its own movie. The balance shifted a little too much towards fan service with the ending but whilst it would be easy to say that it just used too many modern horror cliches (vampire like baddies, gory body shock bits) it kept me hooked all the way to the end. 
 

A problem these days is that movies have to be a lot ‘fuller’ than they did 30 years ago. Examples like Bladerunner, Alien and The Shining were all really simple films because they were at the cutting edge of their time. Their modern sequels have all got a degree of complexity that it seems Hollywood demands. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but it is what it is. 
 

I think once you stop comparing something like Doctor Sleep to the movie magnificence that it’s based on then it becomes better for it. There’s not doubt all these sequels are more forgettable though. An unfortunate side effect of the multitude of movies that have happened in between. 

 

Agreed. Doctor Sleep is surprisingly good and it has Rebecca Ferguson in it, which instantly gives it an extra point in my book.

[Silent Runner]

Oh man, I love Avengement. I've a real soft spot for Scott Adkins booting people about the place.