What was the last movie you saw?

[Connavar]

Blade Runner 2049. This is not just a great sequel, it's a great film all on it's own. Building on the original without cloning it (*ahem* The Force Awakens *ahem*). The cinematics and sound are brilliant, but without relying on constant CGI explosions or flashy gimmicks. The story takes time to build and really draws you in. At nearly three hours I was surprised when the end came. I'll be going to see it again next week. And maybe again the week after.

After seeing this it gives me hope for Villeneuve's attempt at Dune.

I felt very similar its a great film on its own, it did alot with the original PKD novel,story,themes. The story, the inne thoughts, worries of the lead cop, the replicants, whats real or whats not real was well written.

The long running time was used well to draw you in emotionally smart story. I was very impressed, its by far the best use of PKD story i have ever seen in Hollywood adaptation. The director, cinematographer did great job with it. It was also impressive how important the use of sound was in the story, the creepy sounds did alot to draw a picture of the depressing future LA,world K lived in. The sound did almost as much the screenplay in that element.

I havent seen Arrival by Villeneuve but he proved with this film he is a real talented director, the one you hope for as fan of SF cinema. Hollywood usually waste the genre on crappy directors. Dune? For real by him ?

 

[Vince W]

I felt very similar its a great film on its own, it did alot with the original PKD novel,story,themes. The story, the inne thoughts, worries of the lead cop, the replicants, whats real or whats not real was well written.

The long running time was used well to draw you in emotionally smart story. I was very impressed, its by far the best use of PKD story i have ever seen in Hollywood adaptation. The director, cinematographer did great job with it. It was also impressive how important the use of sound was in the story, the creepy sounds did alot to draw a picture of the depressing future LA,world K lived in. The sound did almost as much the screenplay in that element.

I havent seen Arrival by Villeneuve but he proved with this film he is a real talented director, the one you hope for as fan of SF cinema. Hollywood usually waste the genre on crappy directors. Dune? For real by him ?

Arrival is a very good film. Not flashy, but good solid SF. It was announced a few months ago that Villeneuve had been brought on to direct the next adaptation of Dune. Still a few years away yet though.

 

[AlexH]

Raid dingue, a French comedy with Dany Boom.

I'll put that on my 'to watch' list. French comedies are some of my favourites - Les Visiteurs and The Closet nearly killed me at times. I went to Guedelon Castle in France earlier this year, and that had a pretty funny French intro cartoon (with English subtitles).

 

[Cathbad]

I've watched several movies since my last post - but they've all been either so boring or so predictable, I haven't wanted to write a review of any of them!

 

[REBerg]

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel

"This is all getting a little bit too complicated."

 

[Foxbat]

Finally got a chance to watch Alien: Covenant. I wasn't a fan of Prometheus but I think this movie is a slight improvement. It explores the nature of creation but where it's taking us exactly, I assume will be answered in the next installment. There's also a shift back to the visceral horror set-pieces of the original movie but perhaps it's a shift too much given that there are more than passing resemblances to the original plot (spaceship receives call, goes to investigate, blah, blah, blah).

One thing about Ridley Scott is that even when he makes a mess like Prometheus, it's a beautiful mess. Here in Alien:Covenant, we have something that is beautifully mediocre.

 

[Cathbad]

beautifully mediocre

I'm stealing this line for future use!

 

[Mouse]

Watched Enchanted today as my partner's never seen it before. Such a good film.

 

[BAYLOR]

Watched Enchanted today as my partner's never seen it before. Such a good film.

It's a great film .

 

[Cathbad]

It's a great film .

 

[AlexH]

Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
An engaging film about two illegal immigrants who are trying to make a living in the UK, with a constant fear of deportation - especially when they discover a darker side to life in London.

 

[HanaBi]

"Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace" (1996) - Rated PG (UK) & (USA)

I was trawling through my film library on my NASbox a couple of days ago and came across this foul beastie!

My database told me the last time I watched this was at 11:14pm 20th May 2012, and that I only managed to get past the first 44 minutes before giving up, and the film showing as "incomplete" - Oh, how so appropriate, so ironic, so apposite in every sense of the word!

I don't know whether I was drunk or stone-cold sober when I <half>watched this "film" way back then. Either way I can barely remember any highlights from those initial 44 minutes. Perhaps you do have to be drunk (or worse) to fully engage with this awful mess because try watching it with a straight face and you're just asking for trouble!

However, always willing to give things a second chance I watched it again over the weekend, with the able assistance of Mr San Miguel and Mr Jack Daniels. But neither of these alcoholic beverages made any difference to my enjoyment/engagement (or lack of) for this film, and subsequently waved the white flag again and gave up after 49 minutes.

So at least I have made some marginal progress in the last five years. At this rate I should complete this 92 minute film by about 2060, although I have a strong desire/hope not to be around by then!

This is the sort of film to chase away irritating/boring guests who turn up at your home and show no signs of leaving after eight hours. Put this on and their coats will be on and car-keys a-jangling before the first five minutes are in!

I could give a brief synopsis here, but quite frankly it doesn't deserve the time or effort.

And as for the "PG" rating, well quite frankly it should carry some kind of government health warning!

0.5/5 (based on the first 49 minutes. For all I know things might pick up massively in the second stanza, but I seriously doubt it)

 

[Foxbat]

Tales That Witness Madness (1973) This quartet of horror shorts takes place in a lunatic asylum where the doctor (Donald Pleasance) describes the cases of four patients to the visiting Jack Hawkins. Despite having a cast also including Kim Novak Suzy Kendall, Joan Collins and Mary Tamm, this is not one of the most notable of the horror anthologies so popular at this time. It's still worth a watch if you like these kinds of movies but don't expect anything spectacular. The film is probably most notable for being Jack Hawkins' last role before his death.

 

[Cathbad]

Boys in the Trees (2016)

Where has this Psychological/Supernatural tale been hiding!?

Toby Wallace and Gulliver McGrath do one helluva job, portraying two boys nearing the end of their childhoods, but have been long estranged, since the days they climbed trees together.

The story is both sad and hopeful; a difficult fence to straddle, but Writer/Director Nicholas Verso does an excellent job doing it.

Friends with a rowdy gang of boys, led by a proud bully, one friend has began to realize all he lost, moving on from the best friend of his youth. He is none-to anxious to play their childhood game in their magical kingdom, but little by little, he is drawn into it.

And so are we. At first, little reveals to us the importance of this Halloween evening, but Verso keeps us entertained with excellent dialogue, and the emotional growth of the characters, right before our eyes.

As the movie progresses, we begin to realize something very important is - or has - happened. It is first revealed in the form of an enigmatic man in a white suit, then in the dialogue of the two boys - though exactly what the event is (or was) remains elusive until the very end.

One speaks of YA novels about coming-of-age stories. It is amazing that such a story can be told in under two hours, revealing only a single night.

But I may never have read or seen a better such story.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Another American Film Theatre thing:

In Celebration (1975)

Three brothers come back to the Yorkshire home of their parents for the old folks' fortieth anniversary. Tensions ensue. Realistic drama of the kitchen sink/angry young man variety.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Premature Burial (1962)

The only Roger Corman adaptation of Poe I hadn't yet seen. Ray Milland has the Vincent Price role. He's a guy morbidly obsessed with the fear of being buried alive. Not much plot other than that, really, until the last fifteen minutes of so. Tons of atmosphere (this is the foggiest film I've ever seen), nice production values, and a decent twist at the end. Mostly, though, extremely slow.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Ghoul (1975)

Hammer-style shocker, made by one of the studio's minor rivals at a time when that style of horror was fading out. Set in the 1920's, it starts off at a Great Gatsby kind of party. Two couples decide to have a car race from wherever they are to Land's End. Along the way, one of the couples runs out of petrol, way out in the middle of nowhere. Guy goes off in search of fuel, girl (Hammer Glamour favorite Veronica Carlson) meets up with creepy gamekeepr (a young John Hurt) and winds up in the fog-shrouded mansion of Peter Cushing and his Indian servant. It seems Cushing is an ex-clergyman who lost his faith in the East. He's also a widower (which must have been painful for the recently widowed Cushing) and has a son, whom he doesn't see. Well, no surprise that there's a Dark Secret which leads to horror and murder, although the exact nature of it isn't explained until the very end. (Most reviews of this film give it away right at the beginning.) It's a pretty dark tale, with no happy consequences for anyone. There's also an uncomfortable implication that the terrible thing that's going on is a result of evil and perverted Indian religious rites. What surprised me is how the structure of this film, although not the plot, reminded me of a very famous movie:

Spoiler

Like in Psycho, the character we think is going to be the protagonist is killed midway through the film. Also like Hitchcock's classic, the character who is investigating the mystery is also killed just when we think he's going to be the hero.

Worth a look for fans of old-fashioned British scare flicks, if you can get past the anti-Indian theme.

 

[Dave]

I recognise both Premature Burial and The Ghoul and yet I can't remember ever being much of a horror fan. I expect that it is a part of my misspent youth watching too much afternoon TV.

Another thing, while everyone else thought it was one of the best, I always thought that the Peter Davidson Dr Who story with the Black Orchid and the natives from South America was rather derivative, but didn't quite know why. [There was even a similar (Michael Palin and Terry Jones) Ripping Yarns story with a similar theme.] I think now it is The Ghoul that I was thinking of, although it is unlikely to have been the first either.

 

[Droflet]

The Dark Tower.
Not great, but far better than the reviews indicate. Would i recommend it? Only if your curiosity is as strong as mine. The curiosity is strong with me.

 

[Foxbat]

The Monster Club(1981) A horror anthology from director Roy Ward Baker (famous for directing such films as A Night To Remember and Quatermass And The Pit). It had a slightly different slant than most horror anthologies of the time in that it was set in a club of monsters complete with musical interludes and a ghoulish stripshow. Music provided by B.A Robertson, Night, The Pretty Things and UB40.

It also had a thread of black humour running through it which, despite having a cast consisting of John Carradine, Vincent Price, Donald Pleasance, Babara Kellerman and Britt Ekland just didn't work for me. I barely raised a titter.