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Your 2015 Film Diary


Fierce_LiNk

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Inspired by @/nando/ with his videogame diary thread, I thought we could do one for film as well. I miss that old Rate the last film you saw thread as it was a nice way we could all talk about the films we saw recently.

 

Recently, I've seen:

 

Big Hero 6

 

I thought this was disappointing considering it was a Disney film. Very bland characters, a bit of a shitty script, uninspiring soundtrack and...not an awful lot to remember. I was a bit surprised to see some of my closest friends say that they loved it shortly after I saw it as I thought it was very average. First time in a long time that I've left the cinema a bit annoyed that I'd paid an extortionate amount to see a film.

 

The Wolf of Wall Street

 

I really enjoyed this, although it was perhaps about 20 minutes longer than it could have been. If DiCaprio can't win an Oscar after this, then maybe he isn't destined to receive one.

 

American Psycho

 

I watched this last night for the very first time and Ine and I had to rush off to youtube and scour the web to find an analysis of the ending. Very thought-provoking and interesting in a lot of ways. I thought Bale was fantastic in this and that one particular scene with Jared Leto (I won't spoil it) had me in stitches yet terrified me at the same time.

 

Gravity 3D

 

I loved it the first time I saw this in the iMAX and thought it was just as great watching it at home. Beautifully shot and haunting in places. The soundtrack makes the film come alive and it has a perfect harmony with the visuals to create something really special. It isn't that long either, so there isn't a lot of filler or unnecessary moments to pad out the running time. A complete joy from start to finish.

 

My 2015 list

 

Big Hero 6

The Wolf of Wall Street

American Psycho

Gravity 3D

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Good thread idea :D

 

I watch quite a lot of film, so will (for this post anyway) stick the ones I saw in the cinema :D

 

The Theory of Everything

 

Brilliant. A typical biopic that will always attract attention at the Oscars, but I enjoyed it a lot. Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of the journey from able-bodied to how we know Hawking now was so convincing. Felicity Jones was pretty great too. I also love the fact that the real Stephen Hawking actually acted his lines when his voice became the synthesised version in the film :)

 

Big Hero 6

 

Contrary to Flink, I loved this. I want my own Baymax. Sure, it may not be the most original film ever, but it was a lot of fun.

 

Into the Woods

 

Enjoyable. I'm a big fan of musicals and I liked how it combined several different fairy tales into one film and played on their tropes. It's clear that it has been adapted from stage as there is two distinct acts, but unfortunately they didn't gel completely, with the second half not working quite as well as the first. Still worth a watch if you like Disney/muscials.

 

Foxcatcher

 

Found this utterly boring. Just not my kind of film. Not an awful lot happens, and despite all the praise he's been getting, I didn't think Steve Carell was that great. He was just different to how he usually is.

 

Wild

 

Really liked this. Another relatively "slow" film, but Reese Witherspoon's performance kept me hooked - her best role for years. Very emotional, some great cinematography and editing.

 

American Sniper

 

I'm not overly into war films, but have enjoyed this, Fury and Unbroken recently. Bradley Cooper is almost unrecognisable as Chris Kyle. Different people will have different views on how much it glorifies war - in my view it showed a bit of both sides of the coin, on one side the heroics of the American Sniper, on the other, the trauma that war leaves. It wasn't too "FUCK YEAH MURICA" for me.

 

Ex Machina

 

Alright. I enjoyed it, and it was a very stylish, claustrophobic, low key film. But a month and half on it's not sticking in my mind too much. Didn't do too much new with the concept of AI. Spike Jonze's Her was better.

 

Kingsman: The Secret Service

 

Loved this. Very British, very funny, very over the top. Wasn't surprised to find out this was from the writer and director of Kick Ass - very similar in style. Maybe my favourite film of the year so far.

 

Jupiter Ascending

 

Average. All flash, little substance. The narrative wasn't very cohesive at all. Only watch if you've got nothing better to do and fancy some pretty mindless sci-fi.

 

Focus

 

A decent heist/con film. Enjoyed both Will Smith and Margot Robbie in this. Lulls quite a bit in the middle, but paid off quite well at the end. Recommended.

 

Project Almanac

 

Fairly fun, but fairly average. Has the typical problems time travel movies tend to have, combined with typical high school drama. Pointlessly filmed in the "found footage" style, which doesn't really enhance the film at all.

 

My 2015 list

The Theory of Everything

Big Hero 6

Into the Woods

Foxcatcher

Wild

American Sniper

Ex Machina

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Jupiter Ascending

Focus

Project Almanac

________________________________

 

Probably going to see Chappie tonight, will report back with my thoughts after :)

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Nightcrawler

 

Incredibly atmospheric movie carried by Jake Gyllenhaal. Can't believe he didn't get nominated for an Oscar. His performance is astounding.

 

The Theory of Everything

 

Have to use that word: Brilliant.

 

Birdman

 

Oh man, this movie :laughing: A joy to watch. Everything was top-notch. Acting, camera, setting. Deserved to win at the Academy Awards.

 

The Imitation Game

 

Great movie. Cumberbatch showed his unlimited potential.

 

Whiplash

 

No words. I seriously have no words for this movie. It gripped me from start to finish. And that finish...amazing.

 

The Great Gatsby

 

Caught me by surprise. DiCaprio is - in my opinion - one of the greatest actors.

The movie is also very nicely done. Audio-visually a masterpiece.

 

Sin City - A Dame To Kill For

 

It's Sin City. What more can you ask for? :awesome:

 

Fight Club

 

Do I really need to say anything about it? Watched it for the 6th time.

 

Drive

 

One of my all-time favourites. Romantic, violent, stylish.

 

 

My 2015 list

Nightcrawler

The Theory of Everything

Birdman

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

The Great Gatsby

Sin City - A Dame To Kill For

Fight Club

Drive

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D'oh, forgot to add a massive one to my list.

 

The Lego Movie

 

I was expecting something aimed squarely at young children. But, it definitely surpassed my expectations and I thought it was outstanding. Fantastic sense of humour and a great script! Certain bits had me in giggles for ages.

 

A bit ashamed that I hadn't seen it sooner.

 

My 2015 list

 

Big Hero 6

The Wolf of Wall Street

American Psycho

Gravity 3D

The Lego Movie

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Films I've seen for the first time:

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

 

I re-watched the Harry Potter films around new year. However, I hadn't seen the final one before. It was really good, except for the Harry/Voldemort duel and his death.

 

Big Hero 6

 

I absolutely loved it. The characters were great and I loved the way Baymax moved around.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

Absolute rubbish. The turtles and splinter looked awful, the action wasn't entertaining.

 

My 2015 list

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2

Big Hero 6

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

Edit: Films I plan to see this year.

 

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Jurassic World

Inside Out

Ant-Man

Mission: Impossible 5

The Good Dinosaur

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Edited by Cube
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The Wolf of Wall Street

 

I really enjoyed this, although it was perhaps about 20 minutes longer than it could have been. If DiCaprio can't win an Oscar after this, then maybe he isn't destined to receive one.

 

Di Caprio's performance was good but I personally thought he's been better in other films and it wouldn't do him justice to win it for the Wolf of Wall Street.

 

Anyway, I got to the cinema quite a lot so here are the latest ones that I can remember. These are the latest films from Cineworld's latest bookings page so only includes films I booked online.

 

Focus

Decent enough film, Margot Robbie looked hot which was a bonus. Quite funny at times but the plot was lacking.

 

Cake

Jennifer Aniston finally plays a role other than Rachel from Friends. She was really really good in this. Hard hitting film so not a film to watch after a huge night out.

 

50 Shades of Grey

I knew nothing about this other than it was going to involve a lot of sex. I was very surprised by it. I enjoyed the character development of the two leads and it was actually a decent film.

 

Kingsman

This was awesome. Loved it from start to finish. Very British. At times it couldn't decide exactly what it was but that didn't take away from it. I'd highly recommend.

 

The Interview

Pretty funny film.

 

American Sniper

This was brilliant. Bradley Cooper was great in it. He must have put on a lot of weight to play the role.

 

Foxcatcher

Really enjoyed it. Steve Carrel was totally transformed and you could barely recognise him as Michael Scott.

 

Birdman

Wasn't really a fan of this. Got a bit bored during it. Very surprised when it won Best Picture.

 

 

Next films on my list to see are:

 

* Selma

* Still Alice (seems to have quite a limited release?)

* The Boy Next Door

* The Theory of Everything

* The Imitation Game

Edited by Charlie
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Primer

 

I need to watch this again. I think I understood it, but at the same time I'm sure I didn't.

It's great that the director/producer/writer/actor Shane Carruth didn't dumb down the dialogue just to make it easier to grasp. The complexity amplifies the ethical conundrum the protagonists find themselves in.

 

My 2015 list

Nightcrawler

The Theory of Everything

Birdman

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

The Great Gatsby

Sin City - A Dame To Kill For

Fight Club

Drive

Primer

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Interesting mix on the Big Hero 6 front, I'm really wanting to watch it..

 

Gone Girl

This one took me by surprise. Really there's not an awful lot that happens in the film until the very end, but it's still amazingly good. I'm sorely tempted to pick up the book from this to see what other developments might have been missed.

 

 

I'm assuming here this isn't just films that were made in 2015. So..

 

300: Rise of an empire

 

Dragged on a little too long, but I still liked it anyway. The characters are pretty dark and it's interesting to see how everything unfolded away from the initial 300 story.

 

Divergent

 

I've read the book for this, so had to watch it. It's remarkably quite good. Obviously with quite a lot cut out, but it's definitely worth a watch if you like things like the Hunger Games.

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Di Caprio's performance was good but I personally thought he's been better in other films and it wouldn't do him justice to win it for the Wolf of Wall Street.

 

Anyway

 

Really? Sure, he's been great in other roles and has also received other nominations before. Think he's been nominated four times for an Oscar but has never won. But, really? I thought he was incredible in this. Can't imagine a single other actor stepping into that role and playing it as well as he did.

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@nightwolf I enjoyed Divergent but the books were infinitely better, had me hooked. Will definitely be seeing Insurgent later this month.

 

Chappie

 

Quite entertaining, plot felt a bit bloated - Hugh Jackman's character should have been cut. Ending didn't feel quite right, and Dev Patel needs to stop playing the same computer nerd character in every film/TV show he's in.

 

My 2015 list

 

The Theory of Everything

Big Hero 6

Into the Woods

Foxcatcher

Wild

American Sniper

Ex Machina

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Jupiter Ascending

Focus

Project Almanac

Chappie

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Coherence

 

This movie's theme (quantum mechanics and its many-worlds-interpretation; quantum decoherence) is right up my alley.

 

It delivered perfectly. Tone, atmosphere, acting...brilliant.

 

It's the most terrifying non-horror-movie I've ever seen and instantly became one of my favourite movies of all time.

 

Locke

 

Just remembered I watched this earlier this year. It's a movie that you read like a book. Give it a try.

 

My 2015 list

Nightcrawler

The Theory of Everything

Birdman

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

The Great Gatsby

Sin City - A Dame To Kill For

Fight Club

Drive

Primer

Decoherence - Edit: Heh, that typo is quite something after watching the movie. It is actually called Coherence. :D Man, it fucked my brain.

Locke

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Really? Sure, he's been great in other roles and has also received other nominations before. Think he's been nominated four times for an Oscar but has never won. But, really? I thought he was incredible in this. Can't imagine a single other actor stepping into that role and playing it as well as he did.

 

That's funny because I thought that any number of actors could have stepped into the same role of Jordan Belfort and played it equally well. DiCaprio is one of my favourite actors but I don't think he deserved to win that year. Look at who he was up against:

 

Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

 

In my opinion, Matthew McConnaughey and Chiewetel Ejiofor both deserved to win ahead of DiCaprio. I haven't seen Nebraska so can't comment on that and I didn't think American Hustle was great.

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Divergent

 

I've read the book for this, so had to watch it. It's remarkably quite good. Obviously with quite a lot cut out, but it's definitely worth a watch if you like things like the Hunger Games.

 

Hold up. This film is awful. To the point that it was so awful I began enjoying it, it is remarkably awful. After I watched it, I couldn't stop thing about how awful it was. Shailene Woodley is so bad. So so bad. She was so stiff that it actually made me angry.

 

Here's my review of Divergent in a few gifs.

 

imdivergent.gif

 

shut-up.gif

 

rs_560x224-141204133750-tumblr_n94nxvZjJd1sqxnhho5_500.gif

 

large.gif

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Detention

My GOD, this film was terrible. It's one of the biggest piles of shit I've ever seen. It felt like it tried to be some kind of geeky horror comedy sci-fi whatever the heck it was meant to be.

 

The Lost Boys Trilogy

The Lost Boys: Amazing film. I love it.

The Tribe: So bad, ALMOST killed the franchise in a way

The Thirst: Surprisingly a solid sequel. I enjoyed the fights, story was decent all things considering and I just love hearing Cry Little Sister

 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1

I've adored them all and I love this one. This didn't get as much love as Catching Fire did and I can understand why but considering this is the build-up to Part 2, it was a great, emotion-filled movie. IF WE BURN, YOU BURN WITH US!

 

Big Hero 6

God, this movie was everything. The Disney geek in me is satisfied with this offering. Baymax is something that's missing in my life

 

Death Clique

Decent TV movie. It's a true story about how a new girl moves into town, gets in between two best friends and kills one of them. Cheesy acting and a couple of boring moments.

 

Tower Block

Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I have a soft spot for Sheridan Smith and I'll watch anything she's in. This didn't disappoint me.

 

Fifty Shades of Grey

A big improvement from the book, which isn't surprising and doesn't say much, but whilst reading the book, I didn't picture Grey to be who he is. It seems that the director knew what she was doing a lot more than the author of the book.

 

Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie

I don't get this at all. I don't get Mrs. Brown's Boys. I don't get why it's so popular...

 

Into the Woods

Meryl Streep. That is all.

 

Selma

A film every person in the world needs to watch. It's important!

 

The Theory of Everything

I loved every single moment of this. Redmayne was magnificent. Actually, everybody involved with this film deserve any and every positive thing thrown at them.

 

The Flintstones and WWE: Stoneage Smackdown

Adore The Flintstones and I surprisingly liked this even though I had my doubts. I just don't like Barney Rubble's voice. I don't remember it being so high-pitched. That slightly bugged me.

 

Boyhood

Brilliant. It's all I can say, really. It's amazing how they filmed it too.

 

Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Obviously watched this for a laugh and it never failed. It was so stupid, you couldn't help but laugh at it's stupidity.

 

The Keep

Bored me to tears. I'm surprised Ian McKellen was in this!!!

 

Grace

Yet another crap film.

 

Leprechaun Origins

It had zero logic whatsoever and I rooted for the leprechaun to kill them...until I saw the Leprechaun and was horrified because of how they ruined such an iconic horror character...I say 'iconic' a little loosely.

 

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Not Good, Very Bad Day

It wasn't terrible and it wasn't horrible but it was not good...not very bad either...

 

The Guv'Nors

I love films like this and this was a good little British 'gangster'/football firm movie.

 

Stand By Me

Perfect

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Recently caught Whiplash. JK Simmons deserved that Oscar. Really liked Big Hero 6 though not as much as I wanted to. It feels like there are people at Disney with big bold ideas that are still getting blunted a little at committee.

 

For the future:

I missed seeing Alien on the big screen for Halloween. I'm not even the biggest Blade Runner fan in the world but if

I will strangle somebody on top of an apartment block.

 

Also

because kids movies is basically how I medicate myself.
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Watched 2 films last night:

 

Still Alice

This film was perfect and absolutely heart breaking because of it. Julieann Moore was so good and really deserved best actress.

 

The Imitation Game

Another great film, missed it when it was at the cinema so picked up the Blu Ray.

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Glad someone did this, I've been keeping track of films watched so far this year. Actually not got that many done after a good start.

 

 

January

Birdman

Big Hero Six

NightCrawler

Fox Catcher

American Sniper

 

February

Dumb And Dumber To

A Million Ways to Die in the West

Edge of Tomorrow

Horrible Bosses 2

The Interview

Sin City: A Dame to kill for

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Inbetweeners 2

John Wick

 

March

Big Hero Six (2nd time watching it)

Tangled

How to Train Your Dragon 2

 

 

2 more films watched yesterday! (Tangled and How to train your dragon 2)

Edited by Murr
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