LazyBoy Posted January 19, 2020 Posted January 19, 2020 1917 - 4/5 The latest from Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Skyfall), a near one-shot movie following the efforts of two English troops to make it across no mans land, and warn a division of 1600 men that they are charging head first into a trap. Similar to Dunkirk or Sorcerer, this is built to give you the experience of being there, smelling the gunpowder, feeling the cold, seeing the horrors, and it does a brilliant job of it. Because it lacks centerpiece dialogue and traditional structuring it may put off people who prefer more traditional fare. However if you can enjoy the concept, essentially a journey through the battlefields of WW1 France, then you'll not find much to complain about. If you've seen other work of Mendes, you'll know he like a slow, patient shot, where the framing will give you a still you'll just want to press pause at and enjoy its beauty. In Road to Perdition there's a scene of Paul Newman standing in the rain as bodies are machine gunned down in slow motion around him, which is worth the ticket price alone. Here it seems the whole movie is made up of those shots, whether its the soldiers standing in the burning ruins of a town, watching a dogfight play out over head, or them just sitting by a tree. Its a movie of real beauty, and yet by nature of its subject also true horror. Only let down by one of the central performers, who was a bit weak. Highly recommended.
Hero-of-Time Posted January 24, 2020 Posted January 24, 2020 I went to the cinema last night and seen Bad Boys For Life. Fantastic stuff. I was worried the film would suffer without having Michael Bay at the helm (loved his cameo) but thankfully that wasn't the case at all. The directors manage to keep the flow and feel of the first 2 movies while also managing to inject a little heart into each of the main characters. Both Smith and Lawrence act as if they've never been apart for all of these years and the banter between them is just as funny as it's always been. The film feels a lot like a better version of Lethal Weapon 4. Both films deal with the detectives not being at their peak anymore, having to deal with getting older and getting beat down by younger antagonists. It's a film I will happily watch again and while it doesn't reach the highs of the first two films ( 2 of my favourite action films of all time ) it has done the series justice, something that many franchises fail to deliver on when not doing a sequel for so long.
drahkon Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) My best friend has been annoyed with me since I've never seen the Harry Potter movies (except for the fourth. I've also never read the books). So last week we've met twice and watched: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Pretty fun. I enjoy the setting very much. Can't wait to see the remaning movies I do, however, know all of the big twists, because I never really cared for the books/movies before and didn't avoid spoilers in the past few years I don't mind, though. Bonus: It's been great seeing my best friend more. She's very busy with work and we can rarely make it work to find time for each other aside from texting. So thanks, Harry Edited January 28, 2020 by drahkon
Hero-of-Time Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 9 minutes ago, drahkon said: My best friend has been annoyed with me since I've never seen the Harry Potter movies (except for the fourth. I've also never read the books). So last week we've met twice and watched: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Pretty fun. I enjoy the setting very much. Can't wait to see the remaning movies I do, however, know all of the big twists, because I never really cared for the books/movies before and didn't avoid spoilers in the past few years I don't mind, though. Bonus: It's been great seeing my best friend more. She's very busy with work and we can rarely make it work to find time for each other aside from texting. So thanks, Harry I think the earlier films can be pretty rough due to them being more kid friendly. However, once they start heading towards the darker side of things that's when I really started to enjoy them. Hope you enjoy the rest of them. 1
bob Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 Went and saw David Copperfield on Saturday and really liked it. Its not as funny as the trailer makes out, but it's still quite a good, gentle comedy that i think will become a classic in time.8/10
Beast Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 13 hours ago, drahkon said: My best friend has been annoyed with me since I've never seen the Harry Potter movies (except for the fourth. I've also never read the books). So last week we've met twice and watched: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Pretty fun. I enjoy the setting very much. Can't wait to see the remaning movies I do, however, know all of the big twists, because I never really cared for the books/movies before and didn't avoid spoilers in the past few years I don't mind, though. Bonus: It's been great seeing my best friend more. She's very busy with work and we can rarely make it work to find time for each other aside from texting. So thanks, Harry I have no words...it makes me upset that you've never seen Harry Potter or read the books but I'm more jealous of you because you get to experience them for the first time! I wish I could! It's my favourite series ever and has helped me a lot through life! You have to let me know what you thought of them all! 1917 was just absolutely fantastic. I was thoroughly gripped throughout. I have to be honest, I can't find one bad thing to say about it! It gets a 10/10 from me. I adore films and I have been known to fall in love with films and watch them again and again and this is no exception. It's very rare a film actually makes me feel like I'm really there but I had goosebumps throughout and couldn't take my eyes away for even one second. On the other hand, Cats made me wish the opposite. I can't believe this is a celebrated musical. I've never seen anything about this (or heard the songs except for Memory) and I wish I didn't. There's no plot. What the hell was it even about? It was just a bunch of cats introducing themselves through song and dance with two songs (Memory and Beautiful Ghosts- ironically the best ones) being the exception to that rule. Apart from Jennifer Hudson and her amazing voice and one joke made by James Corden that made me laugh a bit, this film was garbage. Believe everything you've heard about the film! It really is that bad! 1/10
killthenet Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 8 hours ago, bob said: Went and saw David Copperfield on Saturday and really liked it. Its not as funny as the trailer makes out, but it's still quite a good, gentle comedy that i think will become a classic in time. 8/10 Was it much slower paced that Ianucci's other films? I'm a big fan of his work but 'In The Loop' & 'The Death of Stalin' were much too frenetic for my liking and I expected David Copperfield would be in the same style so it would be a pleasant surprise if it was a bit less busy.
bob Posted January 29, 2020 Posted January 29, 2020 Was it much slower paced that Ianucci's other films? I'm a big fan of his work but 'In The Loop' & 'The Death of Stalin' were much too frenetic for my liking and I expected David Copperfield would be in the same style so it would be a pleasant surprise if it was a bit less busy.It moves along quite quickly, but i wouldn't describe it as frenetic. I guess it just follows the plot of the book, and therefore has to cram quite a bit in. 1
bob Posted February 9, 2020 Posted February 9, 2020 Watched Parasite last night. Very good Korean film; can see why its been getting all the praise it has. Think i might check out some other of the directors films if they're going to be similar. 9/10
Happenstance Posted February 9, 2020 Posted February 9, 2020 9 minutes ago, bob said: Watched Parasite last night. Very good Korean film; can see why its been getting all the praise it has. Think i might check out some other of the directors films if they're going to be similar. 9/10 I’d meant to go see Parasite yesterday with Goafer after the retro video game market we went to but ended up remembering too late after lunch and we missed the showing. Watched Friday the 13th Parts 3 & 4 instead which I’m sure was just as good 😆
WackerJr Posted February 9, 2020 Posted February 9, 2020 Paw Patrol: Ready, Race Rescue As a parent with a child consumed by the merchandising machine & TV power of Paw Patrol, I was expecting something ever-so-slightly different to an extended episode of the TV show. Sadly, if course it wasn’t. My daughter and I saw the previous movie (Mighty Pups), which at least had a slight variation to the usual saving the day plot (that one included superpowers). This one was very much ‘Cars for 3 year-olds‘ although even my 3 year old was pointing out the plot faults in this one! They missed out on the obvious fan service (even if their fans are under 5) such as cameos by the newer characters, although I would probably still missed them had my daughter’s confusion not kept me from falling asleep! I don’t think my thoughts on this apply to anyone here unless you have an under 5... they will enjoy it, even if it is a terrible movie with a positive message for tiny people.
drahkon Posted February 9, 2020 Posted February 9, 2020 Just watched Oldboy (the original). 10/10. Incredible movie. Will never watch it again. 1
Happenstance Posted February 9, 2020 Posted February 9, 2020 Project A Parts I & II Been in a Jackie Chan mood again lately so as a load of his older movies have been getting re-releases on blu ray thanks to Eureka Classics and 88 Films I’ve been able to start watching more of them. The Project A films were pretty great with Jackie’s usual amazing fights, stunt work and comedy along with some pirates thrown in this time. I’m looking forward to working my way through more of his films. Planning on getting Drunken Master next while I wait for more of the Police Story series to get released. 2
LazyBoy Posted February 9, 2020 Posted February 9, 2020 6 hours ago, bob said: Watched Parasite last night. Very good Korean film; can see why its been getting all the praise it has. Think i might check out some other of the directors films if they're going to be similar. 9/10 Check out Snowpiecer, really cool little movie. Glad you liked Parasite. Been a while since I saw it first and I still think it's the best movie I've seen in a long, long time. Will probably go again before long. 1
drahkon Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 Watched Parasite. Not sure how I feel about it, to be honest.
Sméagol Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 13 minutes ago, drahkon said: Watched Parasite. Not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. I liked it, but not as much as The Host or Snowpiercer. Not sure why it won like, all the Oscars.
drahkon Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 3 minutes ago, Sméagol said: I liked it, but not as much as The Host or Snowpiercer. Not sure why it won like, all the Oscars. Never watched the two movies you mentioned. Might give them a go (unless The Host is some kind of horror movie ). The thing with Parasite is that some scenes didn't feel "natural". They needed to play out the way they did, or the movie would've ended prematurely like 8 times, but those scenes felt very artifical to me. Not sure if that makes any sense... Good movie, sure, but I didn't enjoy it that much
Sméagol Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 18 minutes ago, drahkon said: Never watched the two movies you mentioned. Might give them a go (unless The Host is some kind of horror movie ). The thing with Parasite is that some scenes didn't feel "natural". They needed to play out the way they did, or the movie would've ended prematurely like 8 times, but those scenes felt very artifical to me. Not sure if that makes any sense... Good movie, sure, but I didn't enjoy it that much Like I said, I enjoyed it overall, but my brother really hated it. The host is a horror comedy (with a bit of family drama). Basically a funny monster movie, so you may be ok. It's a brilliant mix of being exciting and hilarious. One of my (many, many) all-time favourites. 1
euroninfan Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 2 hours ago, drahkon said: Watched Parasite. Not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. @Drayton I just was them getting there Oscar on the tv. What is the film about ? 1
bob Posted February 11, 2020 Posted February 11, 2020 The film is about a poor Korean family who con their way into working for an extremely rich family in Seoul. Its a well-written dark comedy with a few twists and turns. Not sure why @Drayton doesn't like it.
LazyBoy Posted February 11, 2020 Posted February 11, 2020 Saw Little Women last night. 4/5, really charming movie, superb cast, maybe runs 20 minutes longer than it had to. If you haven't read the book then you won't have a better opportunity to get familiar with this literary classic.
Jimbob Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 On 09/02/2020 at 4:59 PM, Happenstance said: Project A Parts I & II Been in a Jackie Chan mood again lately so as a load of his older movies have been getting re-releases on blu ray thanks to Eureka Classics and 88 Films I’ve been able to start watching more of them. The Project A films were pretty great with Jackie’s usual amazing fights, stunt work and comedy along with some pirates thrown in this time. I’m looking forward to working my way through more of his films. Planning on getting Drunken Master next while I wait for more of the Police Story series to get released. I got a bunch of them from when they were produced by Hong Kong Legends, absolute classics. Which isn't what i can say about Rambo: Last Blood. I get why Rambo was bought back in 2008/9, it was brutal and hard hitting but was a decent movie. This however wasn't, and i agree with some of the reviews which said it felt more like someone hit the "gore" button over the "decent story" button. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 Just got back from seeing the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Yeah, it wasn't great. I found Sonic to be very annoying throughout the whole movie. He reminded me of a stupidly hyper kid that won't sit still or shut up. Luckily Jim Carey's hammy performance brought something to the table. I get that the film is made for kids but I think something like Detective Pikachu done a far better job of catering to both adults and children. One of the best bits in the film is the very start where the Sega logo appears and it's made up of various Sega games. Happy to see Yakuza get some representation on the big screen. If you do go and see it then wait for the mid credits scene. It's pretty cool.
drahkon Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 Watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on Wednesday. Really enjoyed it. Even though I know all the important plot twists and relationships between characters (of the entire series) it was still a great mistery and magic movie. A lot of fun and it's great to see the series become more and more "mature" with each film. I've seen the next iteration of the series back when it first came out but can't wait to watch it again and keep going with Harry Potter And just now I've watched Knives Out. Bloody amazing. I don't follow movie news anymore but I really hope it's being talked about. Great performances all around and an incredible mystery film. It's silly, goofy, intriguing with twists and turns and a wonderful conclusion. Highly recommended if you like mystery films from the 70s.
Sméagol Posted February 15, 2020 Posted February 15, 2020 I still haven't posted my full 2019 list, but Knives Out was the very last films I saw that year, and it was incredibly entertaining, definitely recommended. That Donut talk.
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