Rate the last film you watched out of 5

[Mr Majestyk]

The Very Excellent Mr Dundee

 

Paul Hogan dealing with various situations, while doing a good job of parodying himself. If this is his last film then it's a pretty decent effort to go out with. 

 

3 knifey-spoonys out of 5 

[ImmaculateClump]

1 hour ago, Mike S said:

Yeah, giving Starship Troopers a low score can only be a function of his guilt at having gone so easy on 1917.

 

I did think that's what Stig was getting at. I saw those two scores together and thought "is 1917 really the better film"?

I'll try to show my working since those ratings have stirred up some controversy.

 

1917.

I think it went for frothy, mediocre Hollywood adventure film but kept trying to go for a solemn, respectful tone at the same time and it just ended up falling over itself. You need real talent to pull that off.

Not the actors fault in the main as I really don't think they had anything to work with, but poor performance from the main guys. I found it hard to care about their characters. Poor script, and I just found the film dull for the most part.

A lot of the effects were really ropey, and some of the ways they went about hiding the cuts post production were really jarring.
I didn't care for all the one take trickery. I think if they concentrated more on what mattered instead of doing 50 keepy ups in a row with their shirts off, it would have been a better film.

I always felt like a camera following actors, I never lost myself in the film.

 

Starship Troopers.
I get that it's a satire, holding up a mirror to American fascism, selling it back to them via the perfect trojan horse, an easily digestible, trashy action movie. It's supposed to be bad, even, a saturday morning cartoon of a film. The exact thing the government would make after too much focus testing to show to potential recruits after class.

A smirk and an eye roll only get you so far, everything is so dishearteningly on the nose, ensuring that you're in on the joke from the very beginning. After that you still have to sit through what is arguably a flabby, terrible film. It's a ham fisted, one note joke that wears thin after five minutes and you've still got 2 hours to go.

Robocop and total recall were great but I reckon he dropped the ball spectacularly here.
I was 22 by the time this one came out so I think that's why I didn't bother with it at the time. I can understand why it would loom large if you were at the right age when you first saw it.

It's like EDF turned back into a B-movie. What's not to love? and it's got boobies!

[Nick R]

Speaking of Starship Troopers...

 

 

 

Other results from the same round of that Twitter poll tournament:

 

 

[Ry]

Always good to see T2 winning. 

[Pelekophoros]

Charlie's Angels (2019)

 

Back in the day I really enjoyed the Drew Barrymore CA movies - which if you care is part of the canon for this latest film. I thought they were super good action movies for the time.

 

I remember seeing the trailers for this and thinking it looked a bit guff, but could be ok. Then it released and bombed, and Banks' gave some reasons for that. Given it was on Prime and we needed a family movie to watch, it seemed safe enough top it on.

 

It's just not very good at all. Stewart is actually excellent in it, but everything else is just cheap and badly done. Avoid.

[Stig]

4 hours ago, Mike S said:

 

 

Yeah, giving Starship Troopers a low score can only be a function of his guilt at having gone so easy on 1917.

 

2 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

 

I did think that's what Stig was getting at. I saw those two scores together and thought "is 1917 really the better film"?

 

 

Nope, it was simply being baffled at such low scores for what I think are two fantastic films. 

[Sidewaysbob]

City of God.

 

Gritty story of growing up in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro in the 70s, guns, drugs, friends and love. The lead character "rockets" knows all the players but manages to avoid getting sucked into the cycle of violence, he dreams of becoming a photographer and having a girlfriends.

 

When this was released worldwide in 2003 it was an instant hit, and time has dulled none of its edges. I love the visceral handheld repotarge camera work, gunfights in claustrophobic alleyways, psychotic kids working their way up the drug gangs ladder. All to the beat of samba and firearms going off. Life is cheap and vengeance swift. 

 

 Based on real life events, you're drawn in from the off until the final drug war shootout. It's a superb film. The subtitles can whip past as speed in some of the more intense action scene. 

 

5 dead men's guns out of 5 

 

[Popo]

On 22/07/2020 at 21:51, Minion said:

 

I watched this movie so much back in the 90's, I loved it precisely because of what you say.

The scene where Arnie ends up in the tar pit, covered head to toe, only to be handed a face towel and become completely clean and dry 30 seconds later is wonderful. 
 

Hey Claudiuuus... you killed my father. BIG mistake. 

[Vimster]

Waxwork (1988)

 Camp, tongue-in-cheek horror tale involving some college kids and a mysterious waxworks run by David Warner. You just know if this had been made 20 years previously it would have been Vincent Price in that role. Anyway, the exhibits need to be completed, cue several fun and gory vignettes based on classic horror topes including the mummy and vampires. Very much of that period of effects-heavy, irreverent horror films, the make-up and models do look good and there's plenty of blood in places although it never gets so graphic as to disrupt the tone. Zach Galligan stands out amongst the group of largely forgettable youngsters. David Warner and Patrick McNee ham it up suficiently. Generally good fun.

 

3/5

[Popo]

13 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

arguably a flabby, terrible film

I’d like to see you argue that. 

[Vimster]

Lethal Panther aka Deadly China Dolls (1990)

What's this? A Godfrey Ho film without the word 'ninja' in the title, that's what. It's a pretty shallow affair, weak plot and characters taking a back seat to some intense, at times hyper-stylish action with plenty of arse-kicking and sub-Woo gun fetishism, backed up by the usual magpie-curated soundtrack. And nowhere is that gun-fetishism more prevalent than when the two female assassins (Maria Jo and Miyamoto Yoko) are handling weapons or engaging in slick, sexy fighting. Anyone who has seen a Godfrey Ho film will know they're largely style over substance with low production values, although it's no less exciting for it. Apart from the poor script the film is let down by some appalling dialogue and several super-sleazy gratuitous sex scenes that made me feel grubby. All in all though this is a rough yet stylish bit of nonsense, girls with guns blowing away hundreds of guys in suits and shades, basically.

 

3/5

 

[ImmaculateClump]

11 hours ago, Popo said:

I’d like to see you argue that. 

 

Oh, you would, would you? I'd like to see you make me! :D
Not everyone's gonna like the same thing or even for the same reasons. I think I've said enough about Starship Troopers to explain why I didn't enjoy it.

I'm happy to have a Siskel and Ebert style headbutting competition but only if it's in the spirit of fun.

I figured this was a thread for folk in a hurry, giving a gut reaction score to the latest film they saw, maybe a brief explanation, but not really having to worry about defending their opinion.
 

I feel like I've already outstayed my welcome, got up for a piss in the middle of the night and knocked over a priceless artefact!

Are you lot having me on? Starship Troopers? Really?

[PeteJ]

22 hours ago, Sidewaysbob said:

City of God.

 

Gritty story of growing up in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro in the 70s, guns, drugs, friends and love. The lead character "rockets" knows all the players but manages to avoid getting sucked into the cycle of violence, he dreams of becoming a photographer and having a girlfriends.

 

When this was released worldwide in 2003 it was an instant hit, and time has dulled none of its edges. I love the visceral handheld repotarge camera work, gunfights in claustrophobic alleyways, psychotic kids working their way up the drug gangs ladder. All to the beat of samba and firearms going off. Life is cheap and vengeance swift. 

 

 Based on real life events, you're drawn in from the off until the final drug war shootout. It's a superb film. The subtitles can whip past as speed in some of the more intense action scene. 

 

5 dead men's guns out of 5 

 

It really is outstanding, it blew me away when I first watched it on release. 

 

Be sure to watch City of Men, which is basically the TV series of the film. It isn't as gritty as the film but has some good moments (though it has been a long time since I've seen it!). 

[Stig]

36 minutes ago, PeteJ said:

It really is outstanding, it blew me away when I first watched it on release. 

 

Be sure to watch City of Men, which is basically the TV series of the film. It isn't as gritty as the film but has some good moments (though it has been a long time since I've seen it!). 

 

I would actively avoid City of Men personally. I thought it was a very poor imitation of City of God.

[Popo]

2 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

 

Oh, you would, would you? I'd like to see you make me! :D
Not everyone's gonna like the same thing or even for the same reasons. I think I've said enough about Starship Troopers to explain why I didn't enjoy it.

I'm happy to have a Siskel and Ebert style headbutting competition but only if it's in the spirit of fun.

I figured this was a thread for folk in a hurry, giving a gut reaction score to the latest film they saw, maybe a brief explanation, but not really having to worry about defending their opinion.
 

I feel like I've already outstayed my welcome, got up for a piss in the middle of the night and knocked over a priceless artefact!

Are you lot having me on? Starship Troopers? Really?

Nah, I’m just messing with ya. It just goes to show opinions can be wrong. 

[Nick R]

I know people have objected to half numbers in this thread before, but I'm using them so they match up with my Letterboxd ratings.

 

The Cat Returns (2002) - 3/5

This is one of the last few Studio Ghibli films I had left to see, and I'm sorry @ZOK - I know you love it but I'm afraid it ended up among my least favourites. Like the post-Ghibli Mary and the Witch's Flower, it feels a bit Ghibli-by-the-numbers: the typical ingredients are there (a girl, an unseen magical world, transformation, talking animals) but overall it lacks the spark of their best films. It's not a patch on its far more realistic predecessor Whisper of the Heart. Still, it has some great individual moments, and even lesser Ghibli is never really bad. (Except maybe Earthsea.)

 

 

Blow-Up (1966) - 3.5/5

I knew two things about this film before seeing it: one was that it features a performance by The Yardbirds; the other was that De Palma remade it as Blow Out, but with the medium changed from a photo to an audio recording.

 

I expected that the majority of the film would be spent focusing on this thriller/murder mystery plot. It turns out... it really doesn't!

 

I'm not against films being artsy and open to interpretation and containing elements that defy a definitive explanation, but ideally I prefer it when all that lies underneath a satisfying traditional surface-level story. This one doesn't really have that. Though I didn't find it unenjoyable to watch - I got more out of it than I did out of two other highly-regarded '60s art films (8½ and if..., neither of which I really got on with). Reading more about the film, some critics' interpretations are interesting, others sound like they're reading way too much into it because they want to see something th--

 

... hang on a minute!

 

 

 

His Girl Friday (1940) - 4.5/5

I'd never seen this before! It turns out that as well as being the source of that "get out" gif, this is also the origin of at least 50% of the Coen Brothers' career (particularly The Hudsucker Proxy and Hail, Caesar!).

 

I rarely laughed out loud, but I really enjoyed letting the dialogue just wash over me.

 

 

Open Your Eyes [Abre los ojos] (1997) - 3.5/5

I watched Vanilla Sky once, about 15 years ago, and I've been meaning to watch the original ever since then. I saw the remake too long ago to make any comparisons about their relative quality - the only major difference I can remember is that the Spanish original doesn't have the bit with the Bob Dylan album cover.

 

 

The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) - 3/5

Joe Cornish's belated follow-up to Attack the Block is a well-made kids adventure film. Unfortunately, there's not much in its action, jokes or story to really interest or surprise adult viewers (beyond an entertaining performance by Angus "Celia's Son" Imrie as Merlin, and a fun cameo by Dr Adam Buckles). Still, I can imagine that if someone first sees it at the right age, it's the sort of film that could become a favourite for life, so I'm reluctant to give it a negative score.

[ImmaculateClump]

2 hours ago, Popo said:

Nah, I’m just messing with ya. It just goes to show opinions can be wrong. 

 

To be fair, I'm seeing it for the first time aged 40. Inaction films are more my style nowadays.
Like I say, I was a bit too old when it came out, but if I'd been born later and I'd seen it at the right time, I'm guessing it would have been a different story.

I still don't think it compares in terms of quality but I reckon the 9 year old me that fell in love with robocop wouldn't be quite so critical.

[Sabreman]

17 hours ago, Vimster said:

Lethal Panther aka Deadly China Dolls (1990)

 

How weird the world is. I came very close to putting this down the other night, but went with Kitano's Boiling Point instead. Of all the nothing movies to make a coincidence from 

[Sabreman]

DP

[Vimster]

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

From the classic period of American comedy movies that frankly puts the modern shit to shame. The third and final Pryor/Wilder collaboration, this time with one guy being blind, the other deaf and only able to lip-read, both inadvertently getting involved in an admittedly limp criminal plot involving a murder and a coin, it's really just an excuse for the comedy really. Plenty of set pieces that make the most of the situation, the police photographer bit was my favourite. Joan Severance was at her hottest here, and you get to see Kevin Spacey getting punched in the face. I'm not sure how something like this would play today, the script does touch on how these guys came to acquire their disabilities which makes for some light pathos, and it never mocks them for it.

 

3.5/5

[Lovelyman]

Hidden Figures. 

 

Watched this a few years ago and fancied seeing it again. 

 

Great performances from the three leads. Really nicely paced and shot. 

 

4.5/5

[jonamok]

Radioactivity

 

Epically shite biopic of Marie Curie currently on Prime. Fucking terrible. Save the two hours. Trust me, it’s fucking excruciating. Does a massive disservice to Curie and women in science in general. Dangerously stupid conflation of Curie’s work with a host of nuclear disasters and atrocities. I know it’s based on a graphic novel, but Jack Thorne should still be shot for screenwriting this. Avoid like the film itself is radioactive.

 

0/5

[SeanR]

Mighty Ducks 4/5

Mighty Ducks 2 4/5

[Vimster]

7 hours ago, Nick R said:

Blow-Up (1966) - 3.5/5

I knew two things about this film before seeing it: one was that it features a performance by The Yardbirds; the other was that De Palma remade it as Blow Out, but with the medium changed from a photo to an audio recording.

 

I expected that the majority of the film would be spent focusing on this thriller/murder mystery plot. It turns out... it really doesn't!

 

I'm not against films being artsy and open to interpretation and containing elements that defy a definitive explanation, but ideally I prefer it when all that lies underneath a satisfying traditional surface-level story. This one doesn't really have that. Though I didn't find it unenjoyable to watch - I got more out of it than I did out of two other highly-regarded '60s art films (8½ and if..., neither of which I really got on with). Reading more about the film, some critics' interpretations are interesting, others sound like they're reading way too much into it because they want to see something th--

 

... hang on a minute!

 

Read the superb Easy Riders Raging Bulls to find out why this film was such a huge influence on 70s Hollywood. It's giallo in a way, it demands more questions than answers, it was a groundbreaking film. I guess the fact it had full female nudity in it probably got it more recognition than it deserved though.

[Gambit]

Two films from this weekend. Two completely different, both in terms of content and quality.

 

Slender Man

 

I usually have a high tolerance for shite teen horror, but this is on another level. I don't think I've watched a film since Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem that is so poorly lit it becomes unwatchable. Annoying teen characters wandering around a forest in the pitch black, then all of a sudden there's a thin faceless man in the background. Repeat for an hour and a half. The ending is also the worst I've seen in quite a while.

 

0/5

 

Ip Man 4: The Finale

 

This is more like it. The fourth and final film in Donnie Yens excellent Ip Man series. What started off as a serious martial arts epic escalated as the series progresses into amazing nonsense, with the second film basically being Rocky IV. The fourth film follows Ip Man going to San Francisco to look for a school for his son, while there he gets back in touch with former student Bruce Lee and helps fight against a bunch of racist American army people led by the every brilliant Scott Adkins. Also it has the best theme.

 

 

FUCK YEAH.

 

5/5

[strider]

Edge Of Tomorrow

I really like this and Cruise and Blunt are good fun. 

4/5

[Charliemouse]

1 hour ago, strider said:

Edge Of Tomorrow

I really like this and Cruise and Blunt are good fun. 

4/5

If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend reading the manga it’s based on as it’s probably even better.

[Raoull duke]

Samurai Cop 

 

Dear fucking lord. 

 

LOL/5

[strider]

29 minutes ago, Charliemouse said:

If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend reading the manga it’s based on as it’s probably even better.

All you need is kill, right?

[Charliemouse]

5 minutes ago, strider said:

All you need is kill, right?

That’s the one, it’s only one volume too which makes a nice change for manga.