Rate the last film you watched out of 5

[Jamie John]

Just now, Festoon said:

 

She should read the book, it's excellent.

 

She has, which is why she wanted to see it.

[Festoon]

Just now, Jamie John said:

 

She has, which is why she wanted to see it.

 

Glad she liked it so, the wife and I were disappointed with the Hallmarkyness.

[sandman]

21 hours ago, teddymeow said:

Terminator: Dark Fate

 

Or, as I am renaming it, Terminator: Dank Fart.

 

I can't believe this is from the director of Deadpool!! It was just flat. Linda Hamilton can swear!! Wow!! Arnie has taken up curtain making!! Who cares?!

 

Weightless CG effects and another wannabe Robert Patrick baddie.

 

2 (but really, in actual fact, 1) evil robots / 5.

Couldn’t agree more with this. Terrible film 

[Commander Jameson]

RRR

I'm not a Bollywood fan. It's never really been a style of film that has appealed but seeing the good reviews this has got here, I gave it a go.

 

Wow!

 

This was so entertaining. The performances of the two leading men, Ram Charan and N T Rama Rao Jr, are mesmerising. Charan especially displays the complexity of his character with just his eyes.

 

The music numbers are undoubtedly catchy, with the set piece dance at the party being a highlight of the film. The action is well-directed and inventive throughout.

 

Thoroughly recommended.

 

4.5 tigers / 5

[SeanR]

Strictly speaking, it’s a Tollywood film.

 

Apparently.

[Jamie John]

Headshot (2016) - Netflix

 

 

I really fancied watching The Raid again, but unfortunately it's not on any of my streaming services, so this looked like the next best thing, seeing as it was also an Indonesian action move, starring the same bloke. Unlike The Raid, however, this was pretty paptacular. The fights, when they came, were mildly interesting, but focused a lot more on ultraviolence and characters using various weapons to maim each other than they did on creatively-choreographed martial arts. The bits between the fights, meanwhile, were woefully written and entirely uninteresting, dragging the film out for every minute of its two hour runtime. Best watched with something nearby to distract you in the non-fighty bits.

 

2/5

[Jamie John]

Actually, just watch this from Ong-Bak (2003):

 

 

Much better.

[Waggo]

Baby Driver - 4/5

 

My sister told me to watch it about 3 years ago.  Finally got around to it tonight & yeah thoroughly enjoyed it, so cheers sis.

[Ry]

21 hours ago, Festoon said:

 

Unfairly, I think. Saw it yesterday.

 

It's like someone in Hollywood read the excellent book, then thought, "we really need the girl to grow up into Daisy Edgar Jones much quicker than in the book so lets compress the first, say 55% of the novel", and "what's with all this description of marshes and wildlife shit? Cut THAT out".

 

Then they gave that to a screenwriter as Cliffnotes, all the plot points, stripped of the writing, and then they made a film of that.

 

None of the magic of the main character's perspective is there in the direction or cinematography.

 

Edgar-Jones is excellent (she's a real talent, despite getting ignored in the post Normal People for the other lad) but, again, someone involved in the production design decided to make her too clean and coiffed, which is daft.

 

3/5 for Daisy Edgar Jones.

 

Watching her in Under the Banner of Heaven right now and shes really good at playing an annoying nutcase mormon. They are all intentionally annoying in the show though. 

[Stig]

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

 

It's just stupid people doing stupid things...AGAIN. It just feels like Fallen Kingdom 2.0.

It's all a bunch of random set pieces, combined with a terrible plot and nostalgia bait (that doesn't hit) where only the bad guys are in any real danger. At no point do you fear for the heroes.

Chris Pratt tries to control various dinosaurs numerous times with his outstretched arms like it's a super power and treats them like dogs, it's hillarious. But I guess it's a "human-animal bond based on mutual respect" 🙄

Also PLEASE make Raptors a threat again, stop trying to make them relatable by showing them understanding human speech and going on mother/son hunting trips.

Thank God we'll always have Jurassic Park because these just keep getting worse.

 

1/5

[Festoon]

2 hours ago, Stigweard said:

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

 

It's just stupid people doing stupid things...AGAIN. It just feels like Fallen Kingdom 2.0.

It's all a bunch of random set pieces, combined with a terrible plot and nostalgia bait (that doesn't hit) where only the bad guys are in any real danger. At no point do you fear for the heroes.

Chris Pratt tries to control various dinosaurs numerous times with his outstretched arms like it's a super power and treats them like dogs, it's hillarious. But I guess it's a "human-animal bond based on mutual respect" 🙄

 

No! No! He's the ALPHA, a superior, military-style, outdoorswoodman who RESPECTS wildlife therefore it DOES WHAT HE SAYS.

[Stig]

14 hours ago, Festoon said:

 

No! No! He's the ALPHA, a superior, military-style, outdoorswoodman who RESPECTS wildlife therefore it DOES WHAT HE SAYS.

 

Have you seen the film because there's one moment right at the end around this point where I just laughed very loud and shouted "fuck off" at the TV.

[Festoon]

32 minutes ago, Stigweard said:

 

Have you seen the film because there's one moment right at the end arpund this point where I just laughed very loud and shouted "fuck off" at the TV.

 

Yes indeed. I know exactly what you're talking about.

[Triple A]

This movie seems like a great comedy you guys! I'm tempted to try it now!

[Festoon]

24 minutes ago, Triple A said:

This movie seems like a great comedy you guys! I'm tempted to try it now!

 

If comedy wasn't funny, then yes.

[Thor]

Solaris

 

Been on my list to watch for years, really enjoyed it. It's very "Arthur C Clarke", so much so I had to check it wasn't actually written by him. Looks like I need to check out more of Stanislaw Lem's work. 

 

4/5

[Vimster]

The Big Racket (1976)

Solid Italian crime flick this from Enzo G. Castellari. A gang demands protection money from small businesses, and it's up to Inspector Fabio Testi to bring some stylish justice. If you've watched any of these you'll be in familiar territory. It has everything you want from Poliziotteschi including shoot outs and car chases. The final third of the film really delivers thanks to the quality set-up. Great soundtrack too.

 

4/5

[Lovelyman]

23 hours ago, Jamie John said:

Actually, just watch this from Ong-Bak (2003):

 

 

Much better.

This is like Jackass but a little bit less funny.

[Jamie John]

5 minutes ago, Lovelyman said:

This is like Jackass but a little bit less funny.

 

Listen, if you'd watched this for the first time when you were 14 with three other mates on a sleepover, like I did, you'd appreciate it.

[Lovelyman]

Say a prayer for those like me where it was Blood Sport.

[Jamie John]

9 minutes ago, Lovelyman said:

Say a prayer for those like me where it was Blood Sport.

 

*Empathy tear*

[iknowgungfu]

On 29/07/2022 at 22:59, Jamie John said:

Actually, just watch this from Ong-Bak (2003):

 

 

Much better.

I remember loving  this when it came out (I think I early early twenties). 
 

I don’t think this has aged well at all unfortunately and really is locked in the bloodsport/kick-boxer mentality. 
 

The fight choreography is so choppy and I’ve no idea what the strange stances transitions between them are about from the main guy. I used to to Muay Thai as a boy and don’t remember any of that outside of the ritual displays you do before a bout. It was amazing at the time though. 
 

The Raid in my view completely outclasses it though. 

[Thor]

The Vast of Night

 

Really liked this, it plays out mostly like a radio play, but the writing and performances are good enough to carry it. 

 

4/5

[teddymeow]

Belle (or The Dragon and The Freckled Princess) (2021)

 

The latest from Mamoru Hosoda. A loose retelling of Beauty and The Beast set partly in an online social network.

 

Just stunning! Visually, musically, thematically.

 

5 followers / 5.

 

 

[Jamie John]

Akira (1988) - Netflix

 

 

It had been a good 10 years since I last saw this, so when it popped up on Netflix I thought I'd give it another go. A few things struck me particularly this time around.

 

First, it absolutely holds up. Some of the animation remains just fucking awesome: Kaneda's bike slide, Tetsuo's transformation at the end, the nightmare sequences with the freaky children's toys - all of that stuff is still really great, and it's hard to believe that this came out in the late 80s. Compare it with what was going on in the west in 1988 - the aforementioned Bloodsport with its comedy testicle punching; Schwarzenegger phoning it in in Red Head; fucking Crocodile Dundee - and this is leagues ahead.

 

Second, I'd forgotten how violent this was. Again, when you consider it came out 34 years ago, some of the stuff where Tetsuo is just straight-up exploding dudes with his mind powers, in pretty graphic detail, took me by surprise, as well as the bits where you see dozens of innocent civilians being shot or caught up in explosions. It's hard to imagine any of that sort of thing in a film from time that wasn't a bloody horror movie.

 

Third, and I've no doubt that I'm not the first to make this comparison, but Squaresoft ripped off this film shamelessly when they made FF7. Entire images have more or less been lifted straight from it. Some that I noticed were:

• The oddly spherical and knobbly slide in playground in the middle of Midgar being very similar to the one Testuo climbs in the dream sequence pictured above:

Spoiler

 

• The entire bike chase section at the start of Akira being an obvious influence on the motorbike escape from Shinra HQ:

Spoiler

 

• Tetsuo and Sephiroth walking in and out of fire:

Spoiler

 

I could go on (FF7's Midgar and Akira's Neotokyo being very similar; AVALANCHE and the resistance movement in Akira going around blowing stuff up and being dubbed 'terrorists'; Akira himself and Jenova in FF7 - two extremely powerful, otherworldly beings who are kept in cold storage and then exhumed by the antagonists of both film and game, with catastrophic results). Like I say, I'm sure I'm not the first to draw these comparisons, but one I saw the first one it was difficult to stop.

 

Anyway, Akira remains a must see.

 

5/5

[schmojo]

The Old Ways

 

Exorcism horror based in unnamed rural Mexico, but with a very blasé approach to whether they're speaking in Spanish or Nahuatl.

 

It's almost fine. One or two good moments, but generally the actors are sweatless and polished, with immaculate makeup. Like Jurassic World 3. 

 

It's something stupid like 94% on RT, but an absolute waste of fascinating subject matter.

 

1.5/5

[neoELITE]

Both on Netflix and I'd avoid them like the plague.

 

Robert

A haunted doll and apparently, based upon real events!  It was so laughably bad, I only managed 20 minutes.  The acting seemed weird - I'm not sure if the actors were even being directed.  Everything about their dialogue was odd.  The Robert doll actually made me laugh. 

Spoiler

0/5

 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

This remake/reboot, I'm not sure really, was utterly missing the entire point of the original film. It's gory and actually felt more like another Halloween movie - it reminded me a lot of the Rob Zombie version of that film.  It's not as bad as Robert but I didn't really see much point in this at all.  It's short and it essentially has a single, linnear plot line that takes place over less than 24 hours. 

1/5

 

Also on Netflix

 

The Man From Toronto

I actually quite enjoyed a lot of this.  It's a comedy and I thought the comedy parts actually worked.  The basic storyline is that Chris Rock is mistaken for The Man From Toronto (think John Wick but he also does a fair amount of torturing for hire).  It's a bit too long and the ending really jumped the shark but it's worth a watch.

3/5

[Gommy]

On 18/07/2022 at 22:07, Silent Runner said:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659337/

 

An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world.

 

Set in the early 90's a nerdy kid is taken under the wing of some much cooler, older kids in their last year of high school. They look out for each other, teach each other about books, music and films (The Smiths!, Catcher in The Rye!, The Rocky Horror Picture Show!) and all learn some life lessons. 

 

Not sure how this one passed me by back in the day but watched it this evening and thought it was pretty good. The leads are mostly excellent - Emma Watson and Erza Miller - in particular but the lead kid is a bit of a drip. There's a good support cast including cousin Greg from Succession and Paul Rudd. It plays out quite predictably apart from a slightly pointless reveal near the end. 

 

There was a plot strand in it that I found kind of funny though. The 3 main kids hear Heroes by David Bowie on the radio and none of them know what it is. I just thought it was a little far-fetched that 3 hipsters wouldn't know one of Bowies biggest songs for a plot bit. 

 

Also it's kind of sad seeing how good Miller is here and how off the rails they've gone in recent months. 

 

Good 90's American time-capsule.

3.5/5

 

Him being a drip sort of works for this I thought.

 

The book (written by the director) had Landslide by Fleetwood Mac as its tunnel song, which definitely seems more plausible to me as a vaguely niche song.

[ImmaculateClump]

Alex's War - *

[Scribblor]

The Grey Man

 

Chris Evans has a whale of a time. The story's forgettable by the numbers action guff. The acting's fine (except for Evans who isn't what you'd call good but is incredible fun to watch), the direction's a bit all over the place and the action itself swings between oddly lightweight considering how much destruction happens and just plain average. The end showdown is preposterous in its teenage boy fantasy of testosterone fuelled MANLINESS and purposely undercuts what would have been a fun and unexpected subverting of the genre.

 

It's fine. Must have cost a lot, but I expect I'll have forgotten absolutely everything about it by tomorrow. I already can't remember anyone but Ryan Gosling's character's name.

 

2.5/5