What was the last movie you saw?

[Lumens]

A cure for wellness

A rather positive surprise. The title didn't speak to me so I wasn't expecting much but it turned out to be a clever horror/mystery tale. I wouldn't be surprised if it gives you nightmares. Don't expect everything to be answered. Main actor is in the upcoming Valerian, which made me excited.

 

[Droflet]

Life (2017)
Astronauts recover a capsule from Mars that may contain a form of life, and take it aboard the ISS for examination. What could possibly go wrong? This was okay but their attempt at being another Alien fell short. Worth a look but not great.

At two and a half hours A Cure for Wellness didn't work for me. Some good moments but overall, meh.

 

[WaylanderToo]

well just been to see WW and I'm not sure what I can tell you....


































DC have finally smashed it! A cracking little film fun and plenty of soul and humour. WWI is an under utilised era in terms of film and this film nails that too. If JL is as good as this then Marvel will have something to worry about!

 

[2DaveWixon]

Marvel needs the competition. They've done some great films, but they've had some failures, and it will be interesting to see if/how they react to the D.C. ascension.

(One thing I'm interested in seeing (although it's a minor point) is how much individual actors/actresses/players show up in both series of films -- for instance, Ben Affleck seems to have become the current placeholder as Batman -- but might he show up, some time, in a Marvel film? Will Smith? Ryan Reynolds has already appeared in films from both franchises, for instance, and I'll wager there have been others already... I wonder if the contracts of some actors preclude them appearing in the "competition's" series?)

 

[REBerg]

Rogue One
Wow!

 

[HanaBi]

"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (1970)

I recall reading Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book of the same name many years ago, but never got round to watching the film until now.

Set during Joseph Stalin's iron-fist rule in the former USSR, and the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions who suffered under his tyranny in Siberian gulags.

This film focuses on one typical day for Ivan (brilliantly portrayed by Tom Courtney), who is serving a 10 year sentence in the most appalling, back-breaking, soul-destroying conditions.

This is not a happy film with an equally happy or uplifting ending. But it is truly memorable, and almost betters its novel.

4/5

 

[Overread]

Witchfinder General. Interesting film to watch, old and very much showing its age and low budget with some rather cheap stage looking costumes. However good actors and an interesting bit of film history when one considers that its classed as horror and yet, by today's standards, would be classed closer to an action film with a bit of violence (although I'll say that those old horror films did screams rather well and more scary than modern film screams).

 

[J Riff]

Yeah, it is clunky and not gripping at all. Dumb movie characters die, the aliens are too smart and the typical mad scientist is just huh?
Space Amoeba is better - it is a Cthuloid rubbersuited giant beastie, good fun.

 

[J Riff]

All Is Lost. - Robert Redford, and nobody else - stars in this no-dialogue mild thriller. It is very nice to have on, and quite refreshing nd different. Redford is great in this adventure at sea.

 

[HanaBi]

"Man Bites Dog" (1992)

MBD is more a real-life "mockumentary" than fictional fantasy. Perhaps because it is filmed like one of those TV news report off the streets of some war-ravaged country, with its shaky camera, nervous reporters and unexpected surprises.

This black & white film works so well not because of the film's subject matter (a documentary TV crew follows the daily life of a self-confessed serial killer called Ben), or because of Ben's rather belligerent attitude to what he does. Instead the film works because of the film crew following his every exploit with a kind detached ghoulishness. In essence the camera's eye is really an allegory of us, the viewer, ever fascinated in the macabre & the depressing even though we would never publicly admit to it.

What attracts us to this dark side of life? Man Bites Dog regales in its pleasure while we sit uncomfortably with our conscience & throws it back in our faces via the camera crew.

Ben's murders are graphic and incredibly brutal, yet his attitude is one of indifference, even approaching contempt that his chosen victim should ever have been born in the first place! But it doesn't matter if we disagree with his actions & philosophy because we're too busy watching, observing, wondering what he will do next while not realising that the joke being played is really on us.

The film isn't just about some mad murderer to whom we should hate (yet don't) but it also points the finger at ourselves and our own unhealthy interest observing (from a safe distance) on someone else's misery.

4/5

Man Bites Dog

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Carry On Screaming! (1966)

Broad spoof of Hammer horror films. Given that this is a Carry On film, it's no surprise that there's lowbrow comedy, mild bawdiness, and puns. More surprising is the fact that the production values are excellent, with costumes and sets and props that are lovely to look at. (The setting is the very early 20th century, and there are some authentic automobiles of the time which are a joy.)

Women are disappearing and the clues lead our bumbling police heroes Sergeant Bung and Detective Slobotham to the Bide-A-Wee Rest Home, where the dead-but-very-active mad scientist Doctor Watt (yes, this leads to a "Doctor Watt." "Doctor Who?" "No, Watt!" scene) and his seductive sister Valeria (Fenella Fielding stealing the picture in the Vampira/Morticia/Elvira role) use their revived creature Oddbod to abduct the ladies and transform them, House of Wax style, into mannequins to sell to milliners. (The mannequins are extremely well done; they look exactly like the actresses, but are clearly actual mannequins and not the actresses pretending to be mannequins.) In a scene straight out of The Creeping Flesh, Oddbod loses a finger and electricity creates a whole new monster, Oddbod Junior. There's also a Lurch-style butler and a Jekyll-and-Hyde formula which leads to the monster vs monster climax. The shouting matches between Bung and his shrewish wife are unfunny, and the movie isn't above using a man in drag for laughs (but it's very nicely done drag) but it's all good fun for fans of old monster movies.

 

[clovis-man]

DC have finally smashed it! A cracking little film fun and plenty of soul and humour. WWI is an under utilised era in terms of film and this film nails that too. If JL is as good as this then Marvel will have something to worry about!

Saw it today. I need to say up front: My wife absolutely loved it. And she doesn't go in for action movies or super heroes. Pushed all the right buttons for her.

For myself, I found Gal Gadot to be a great choice as WW. Eat your heart out, Lynda Carter. The first part of the film was engaging and moved along nicely. The action scenes weren't overdone to the point that they just became a blur. But as soon as the scene shifted to the WW I front, it lost its way to some extent. Chris Pine's sidekicks were stereotypical to the point of lunacy. And

Spoiler

I figured out that Aries was David Thewlis early on. Much too obvious.

Overall, however, it was good enough that I am not happy to contemplate the very real likelihood that her character will be deeply submerged in future DC films featuring other superheroes.

 

[nixie]

Watched Reacher last night, entertaining but not brilliant. Think my biggest issue was Tom Cruise he doesn't fit my vision of Reacher.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Really enjoyed it, an unexpected amount of feels!

 

[REBerg]

Doctor Strange
What a trip! I want that cape.

 

[Rodders]

Pop star: Never Stop Never Stoppin'.

A mocudrama on the whole pop idol phenomenon, starring Andy Samberg. It was very funny and I watched it twice.

 

[HanaBi]

"Battlefield Earth" (2000)

PG review version - "This is without doubt a really really bad film!"
X rated review version - "lots and lots of vulgar Anglo-Saxon expletives!"

 

[Randy M.]

The Mist (2007) -- Not bad, a decent version of Stephen King's novella of the same title. Group of people caught in a supermarket when a mist rolls in and in the mist carnivorous critters of various sizes and shapes. The mist obscures some of the grosser deaths, but not all of them. The ending was controversial at the time, and I think I prefer King's ending though this one is, honestly, rather logical. Watching the movie felt like watching a variant version of The Walking Dead -- it stars Laurie Holden, and features Jeffrey DeMunn and Melissa McBride; and then I remembered Frank Darabont directed the movie and is a producer of TWD and it all made sense.

Wonder Woman (2017) -- Good fun. There's a WW thread and my comments are here.


Randy M.

 

[Andrew Lambert]

Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Great film, Avenger Assemble aside, my favourite Marvel characters.
What spoiled it for me was the mass murder scene - by any definition, that's what it was. 40 or so men despatched in the vacuum of space - which I would imagine is a gruesome way to go, and another 40 killed by the whistle-ly dart thingy. These numbers could easily have been scaled down. Then they want us to go 'ahh' to a twig (love him really!).
The excess in superhero films now turns me completely off - Also, does anyone take pleasure from current day car chases. Watched the last Bourne a few days ago and there must have been 100 innocent cars flipped, rolled, etc. I found it cringe worthy, and another 50 extras in the morgue.

 

[Overread]

The excess in superhero films now turns me completely off - Also, does anyone take pleasure from current day car chases. Watched the last Bourne a few days ago and there must have been 100 innocent cars flipped, rolled, etc. I found it cringe worthy, and another 50 extras in the morgue.

Action films have always been a bit casual with public casualties - however yes these days because of CGI its so easy to take 2 or 3 cars and then have 50 or 100 smashed in and destroyed (and of course every car explodes when hit). It does kind of make characters seem very two dimensional and strange. The more recent Superman film was very much like this with Superman having a huge mental breakdown over a few key killings, but having utterly no problem killing dozens of people in emotional outbursts and fights.