What was the last film you watched?

[T42]

Last night, "Le Bon et les Méchants" by Claude Lelouche, about Parisian crooks before, during and after WW2, starring Citroën Tractions Avants and various other actors.  Lovely film.  It was made in 1976 in B/W - i.e. 8 years after Kubrick's 2001 - so WTF did Amazon feel obliged to sepia-tint it? Idiots.

[mrcharly-YHT]

'Nobody'

Ridiculous, over the top violent action movie. Does what it ways on the tin. Some really good performances.

[rafletcher]

'Nobody'

Ridiculous, over the top violent action movie. Does what it ways on the tin. Some really good performances.

Ah, one of those full of “gratuitous violence and unnecessary nudity”?

[mrcharly-YHT]

'Nobody'

Ridiculous, over the top violent action movie. Does what it ways on the tin. Some really good performances.

Ah, one of those full of “gratuitous violence and unnecessary nudity”?

No nudity, no gratuitous sex scenes. Not made by HBO

[De Sisti]

Time Travellers.

A 1960s (colour) sci-fi film about a group of scientists who create a time-travel portal into the
future. They couldn't helps themselves and enter into it and........

[Jaded]

'Nobody'

Ridiculous, over the top violent action movie. Does what it ways on the tin. Some really good performances.

Watched this last night. Wasn't disappointed.

[andrewc]

"In Bruges", which I hadn't seen before, despite visiting Bruges about 4 times. 


Very amusing & well done,  lovely camerawork which reminded me of my own visits. Great acting. The only sour note was the reason for their visit.  Child accidentally shot during a hit job being a recent occurrence in Liverpool.

[andyoxon]

The Covenant (2023) with Jake Gyllenhaal. 

About US forces Afghanistan / interpreters.  Probably one of Guy Ritchie's best offerings, well crafted, good performances - JG very often seems to be good value.  On Prime.

[andyoxon]

Ad Astra last night on Netflix. I think the plan was 'no science, no plot, no dialogue and, hence, no acting' to get in the way of the pretty CGI 'photography'. I know Brad Pitt's chops are limited, but he wasn't even given a chance! As for Apes In Space, wtf was that about? And yet it seems to have gone down well among punters on IMDB.

No wonder flat-earthers are proliferating.

I watched Ad Astra with miniao a while back, and she thought it was one of the worst sci-fis she'd seen.  Throughout the whole film she kept moaning about the Brad Pitt character self narration, and that nothing happened except for

(click to show/hide)

ape-in-space

...   Interestingly the director 'disowned' this narration saying that he had no control, and it was added latter by the studio...  I actually quite liked the bleak emptiness vibe and the visuals - narration didn't really bother me - soundtrack quite good too.

[T42]

I tried to watch Ad Astra a couple of times but the "science" and above all the emetic dialogue drove me out. 

[andyoxon]

I tried to watch Ad Astra a couple of times but the "science" and above all the emetic dialogue drove me out. 

With most scifi there's a reasonable 'suspension of disbelief' to be applied...  People have gone on about the way BP was able to access the neptune bound rocket - didn't bother me.  Interstellar's pretty good - just don't dwell too much on the 'science' of travelling through dimensions...   

[T42]

I liked Interstellar, even with the extradimensional hi-jinks.  What I didn't like so much was that they needed a BFO Saturn-style launch to reach their interstellar transit craft, but once on one of the Earth-sized planets they reached they only needed a titchy shuttle to land and rejoin the main ship again. Oops. None too sure about those solid clouds, either.

[ian]

I liked Interstellar, even with the extradimensional hi-jinks.  What I didn't like so much was that they needed a BFO Saturn-style launch to reach their interstellar transit craft, but once on one of the Earth-sized planets they reached they only needed a titchy shuttle to land and rejoin the main ship again. Oops. None too sure about those solid clouds, either.

That's always bugged me. Huge launch and then, thereafter, hopping from planet to planet on a teeny ship.

Also, that they didn't really know how agriculture works.

[Jakob]

Extraction 2. Well, put it on mostly as background noise, but man, the Russo brothers have completely lost the plot.
Absolute trash.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Extraction 2. Well, put it on mostly as background noise, but man, the Russo brothers have completely lost the plot.
Absolute trash.

Assumed it would be. Cash check for Hemsworth.

I half-like the first film.

[Jakob]

Yeah, first one wasn't *terrible* and I was entertained. This one tries to revive the Stallone/Arnold style of action with heaps of over-ambitious CGI. Similar with their Citadel tv series...I got to about ep 3 before I gave up.

[ian]

Is that the one where (apparently, I've not seen it) he takes cover from a helicopter filled with machine-gun-happy bad guys by hiding behind a ladder?

[Legs]

A bit of classic 70s Eastwood: The Eiger Sanction on iPlayer.  Very much 'of its time', but really rather enjoyable.  I think it might be one of those films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, where nothing would have turned out much different without any involvement from the main protagonist.

[andyoxon]

I liked Interstellar, even with the extradimensional hi-jinks.  What I didn't like so much was that they needed a BFO Saturn-style launch to reach their interstellar transit craft, but once on one of the Earth-sized planets they reached they only needed a titchy shuttle to land and rejoin the main ship again. Oops. None too sure about those solid clouds, either.

That's always bugged me. Huge launch and then, thereafter, hopping from planet to planet on a teeny ship.

Also, that they didn't really know how agriculture works.

And, apparently the g-force necessary to produce a time dilation of 7yrs: 1hour would be ~100 000g - so arguably the crew would not be wading about looking at gigantic tidal waves.   Most sci-fi littered with 'errors'

[Jakob]

And, apparently the g-force necessary to produce a time dilation of 7yrs: 1hour would be ~100 000g - so arguably the crew would not be wading about looking at gigantic tidal waves.   Most sci-fi littered with 'errors'

Hmmm? it's velocity, not acceleration that causes time dilation, no?

[andyoxon]

Don't know.

But according to Bard... 

Both velocity and acceleration can cause time dilation. However, acceleration is the more fundamental cause of time dilation.

Time dilation due to velocity is known as special relativistic time dilation. It is caused by the fact that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of their motion. This means that if an observer is moving at a high velocity, the light from a distant object will take longer to reach them, which will cause the observer to perceive the time at the distant object to be slower.

Time dilation due to acceleration is known as general relativistic time dilation. It is caused by the curvature of spacetime caused by gravity. The stronger the gravitational field, the more spacetime is curved, and the slower time will pass.

In general, the amount of time dilation is proportional to the square of the velocity or acceleration. This means that the faster you are moving or the stronger the gravitational field, the more time dilation will occur.

[ian]

A bit of classic 70s Eastwood: The Eiger Sanction on iPlayer.  Very much 'of its time', but really rather enjoyable.  I think it might be one of those films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, where nothing would have turned out much different without any involvement from the main protagonist.

I wasn't too many days off this many days old when I found out that Tom Selleck was originally cast as Indiana Jones, but the dastardly CBS network wouldn't let him out of his Magnum, PI contract. A blow to moustaches everywhere.

[rogerzilla]

Mulholland Drive.  Almost normal for about 90 minutes (if you pass over the dwarf and the hobo monster), then it goes full Lynch.

[andrewc]

I appear to be on a Graham Greene kick.    Last week I watched Michael Caine in "The Quiet American" which was pretty faithful to the novel & well done by everyone.  Caine can act when he bothers, and this was one of his better performances. 


The other night was "Our Man in Havana" with Alec Guinness & Noel Coward.  I've not read the book but the film was amusing & the direction by Carol Reed good.  I was pleased to note that Mr Guinness maintained Standards by wearing his vest under a shirt in the tropical heat. 


I suspect the scene in which Hawthorne (Coward) hustles Guinness into the gents for a secret meeting may have caused knowing sniggers in the 1959 audience...


The LRB has just reviewed a new biography of Coward here.  https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n13/rosemary-hill/mushroom-cameo

[Cudzoziemiec]

Jean Vigo's L'Atalante, 1934. qv. Merci Ham.