What was the last film you watched?

[tiermat]

Minions, I loved it!

[Ruthie]

Hope Floats.

I love that movie.  It's all about women.

[mcshroom]

Amy

A tough watch but worth watching. Seemed rather long with the ad breaks included on C4.

[ElyDave]

Minions, I loved it!

Cracking film, especially when you have an 11 year old, a 42 year old, and two >65 and they all get different bits of humour. I personally loved the ukulele scene at the end.

Just finished watching The Grey with Liam Neeson, being gritty, but not saving the day.

Edited for tryping errots

[Steph]

Creep, on Demand 5. A bloody good 'creature' but far too much 'why are you being so STUPID?"

[Kim]

Untouchable

Less cringeworthy and a lot funnier than I expected.  Cripspiration for the noughties.


The Martian

The zero-g effects, continuity and much of the dialogue don't stand up to a second viewing.  And nerds: it'll make more sense if you put your calculators away.

The Hollywood science, space hardware and MovieOS are still way above average, and Mars is almost as stunning on the small screen.  I'm genuinely impressed that this film ever got made.

[spesh]

Creep, on Demand 5. A bloody good 'creature' but far too much 'why are you being so STUPID?"

Weapons-grade stupidity on the part of one, some or all of the potential victims is a must, otherwise yer average horror movie ends being a lot shorter and slightly lacking in thrills, chills and claret spillages.

Heres a screenplay wot I just cobbled together as an illustrative example of why a rare outbreak of common sense is bad news for the special effects industry:

A group of teenagers - all looking suspiciously free of acne on account of being played by actors 5-10 years out of adolescence - are in a burger bar, making plans for the weekend.

Teenager 1: Who's up for a weekend of shenanigans at that abandoned shack in the woods?

A couple of teenagers exchange a look as if to say 'is he mad?'

Teenager 1: Anyone?

Teenager 2: Nah... heard there's weird shit goes on out there.

Teenager 1: OK then. The usual hanging around the shopping mall it is...

Roll credits.

[Andrew]

The Martian - hmm, yes, I'd forgotten I'd seen that. I'm no nerd or sci-fi geek so it's credentials in that respect don't play a part in my thinking. I enjoyed it as a story well told, a well made movie, but it doesn't score highly in my 'movies to remember' list. The 'discomusing' stayed just the right side of cringe for me and gave the movie a warmth and humour.

[LEE]

Kingsman- was very good. Much fun but not for those of a sensitive disposition, the violence is quite comically graphic (if that even makes sense).

There was a throw away joke about anal sex in the Kingsman that left a very bad taste in the mouth. Bond or the Bond girls would never do such a thing

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/13/kingsman-director-matthew-vaughn-reveals-secrets-behind-church-scene-sex-joke-and

I'm not why that was especially bad?  Can you explain or am I beyond the pale for simply asking? 

IIRC the last Bond film I watched showed someone having their eyes gouged out, involuntarily.  Someone agreeing to anal sex is worse than that?

It jarred with me I must admit.  I don't know why but it seemed to cross a line. 
I'm old though. 
Maybe it went from unbelievable cartoon violence into the world of all-too-sleazy porn, and in an all-too-casual way.

[Ruthie]

I watched several movies today.

The Mighty Saturns,  Disc 2 - the launch of the Saturn 1s and 1bs,  in date order.  Brilliant.

Elizabethtown - awful movie,  Great soundtrack.

Dan In Real Life - the world's most high pressure family gets together for a weekend from hell.  Again,  lovely soundtrack.

Almost Famous,  another Cameron Crowe flick,  this one far superior,  another top-class soundtrack.

That's what happens when you let the ironing build up - a huge movie binge.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Army of Shadows

Bleak French (with subtitles) film about life as part of the French resistance in occupied/Vichy France.  Excellent.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Kingsman- was very good. Much fun but not for those of a sensitive disposition, the violence is quite comically graphic (if that even makes sense).

There was a throw away joke about anal sex in the Kingsman that left a very bad taste in the mouth. Bond or the Bond girls would never do such a thing

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/13/kingsman-director-matthew-vaughn-reveals-secrets-behind-church-scene-sex-joke-and

I'm not why that was especially bad?  Can you explain or am I beyond the pale for simply asking? 

IIRC the last Bond film I watched showed someone having their eyes gouged out, involuntarily.  Someone agreeing to anal sex is worse than that?

It jarred with me I must admit.  I don't know why but it seemed to cross a line. 
I'm old though. 
Maybe it went from unbelievable cartoon violence into the world of all-too-sleazy porn, and in an all-too-casual way.

Bond or Kingsman?

[ian]

IIRC the last Bond film I watched showed someone having their eyes gouged out, involuntarily.  Someone agreeing to anal sex is worse than that?

It jarred with me I must admit.  I don't know why but it seemed to cross a line. 
I'm old though. 
Maybe it went from unbelievable cartoon violence into the world of all-too-sleazy porn, and in an all-too-casual way.

Tbh, it's was just that crappy 'laddish' attempt of humour that we so miss since the lads' mag market tanked. Bond jokes were just naff entendres. It would have been better if Princess Sweden had offered to vigorously peg our hero.

[mattc]

Kingsman- was very good. Much fun but not for those of a sensitive disposition, the violence is quite comically graphic (if that even makes sense).

There was a throw away joke about anal sex in the Kingsman that left a very bad taste in the mouth. Bond or the Bond girls would never do such a thing

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/13/kingsman-director-matthew-vaughn-reveals-secrets-behind-church-scene-sex-joke-and

I'm not why that was especially bad?  Can you explain or am I beyond the pale for simply asking? 

IIRC the last Bond film I watched showed someone having their eyes gouged out, involuntarily.  Someone agreeing to anal sex is worse than that?

It jarred with me I must admit.  I don't know why but it seemed to cross a line. 
I'm old though. 
Maybe it went from unbelievable cartoon violence into the world of all-too-sleazy porn, and in an all-too-casual way.

I think it crossed a line. Just crass. I don't get Vaugn's explanation at all. And worse, I couldn't actually see a joke there; more an attempt to lever some porn in there, should please the lads.

[He does seem to make a common mistake; that to parody something you just have to do the same thing but 10xbigger/faster/louder/ruder . ]

Havent watched the rest of the film yet - it sounds very good, but I can't help thinking it might be ruined for me, knowing about that final scene. Shame ...

[mrcharly-YHT]

Monsters: Dark Continent

I wanted an easy-to-watch brainless movie that didn't demand attention. This looked (from the poster/pic and title) to fit the bill.
It didn't. What I got was a slow turgid allegory on how the 'good guys' (aka the USA military) are the real monsters. In case you didn't twig, something happens every 5 minutes to remind you. If you aren't paying attention, it rubs it in with the subtlety of a chav chucking rocks at pigeons.

There is some really good acting in there but blimey this is overdone.

[Wascally Weasel]

The Hateful Eight. 

I saw this with Charlotte OTP and Andy NOTP at the Odeon Leicester Square to enjoy the full experience of the 70mm Ultra Panavision Roadshow.

Really enjoyed it as a full cinema performance and a reminder of how much fun event cinema can be rather than the multiplex experience. It had an overture, an intermission and came with a programme.

I very much enjoyed the film but it’s a very Tarantino, Tarantino film and if you haven’t liked his earlier films, this one probably won’t convert you.

[mattc]

Earlier as in .... all the ones he made before this?

Or "earlier" as in ... the crap last 4-or-so (basically everything post PF in my mind!)

I really really want this film to be good - the building blocks are alllll there. Please?

[Mr Larrington]

Earlier as in .... all the ones he made before this?

Or "earlier" as in ... the crap last 4-or-so (basically everything post PF in my mind!)

Wot, even Jackie Brown?

[mattc]

I'm aware that many like JB. I just couldn't get into it, not sure why. It was still a lot better than whichever-Kill-Bill I tried to watch!

[Mr Larrington]

"Kill Bill" was fun in a cartoonish sort of way but generally smelled of some studio wonk overindulging Tarantino to an absurd level.

[Wascally Weasel]

Earlier as in .... all the ones he made before this?

Or "earlier" as in ... the crap last 4-or-so (basically everything post PF in my mind!)

I really really want this film to be good - the building blocks are alllll there. Please?

Probably the latter I suspect (i.e. the later films you’re less keen on). 

I’ll admit I much prefer his earlier films (the first four if you count True Romance, which although he didn’t direct it has a great script by him – and anyway I like Tony Scott).  I’m a big fan of Jackie Brown, left me cold the first time I saw it but my appreciation for it has grown.  In fact I would almost much prefer to see him do a bunch more Elmore Leonard adaptations than some of his own scripts.

Of the more recent films, I still don’t really rate Inglorious Basterds (although as ever some of the parts are good) but Django Unchained has really grown on me – this as ever is obviously a personal thing.

The most recent one is a film I think you need to see twice, as there’s a strong mystery element to it* and it will be interesting to watch the various characters again now that I know the full story.  I liked this one first off but the whole 70mm Roadshow experience was great fun – how it will stand up over time I don’t know.


*At the Intermission my friend Andy said “It’s like Agatha Christie with guns”.

[red marley]

The Danish Girl

A celebration of a woman who gives up promising career as landscape artist so she can sell perfume in a department store, gossip with her girlfriends, marry the right man and have children.

But perhaps I missed the point.

[LEE]

The Hateful Eight. 

I saw this with Charlotte OTP and Andy NOTP at the Odeon Leicester Square to enjoy the full experience of the 70mm Ultra Panavision Roadshow.

Really enjoyed it as a full cinema performance and a reminder of how much fun event cinema can be rather than the multiplex experience. It had an overture, an intermission and came with a programme.

I very much enjoyed the film but it’s a very Tarantino, Tarantino film and if you haven’t liked his earlier films, this one probably won’t convert you.

I think there's a case for making "Not the Director's Cut" version of Tarantino films.  I mean get another director, with a pair of scissors, to cut out 30-45 minutes of his later works.

I'm fairly sure that would make them fantastic films.

[Andrew]

Brooklyn - a lovely film with good solid performances all around. Particularly from Saoirse Ronan, who carries this film with certainty. Indeed, without her performance some might have found this film a little too lightweight.

Falling into the 'they don't make them like this anymore' category, it might not be everyone's tastes but, for me, this is one to savour. A film about choice, culture and tradition (saying any more would risk spoilers) this is a confident film that finds a good balance between sentiment and humour.

As the credits ran, I saw the film was written by Nick Hornby (from a novel). Don't let that put you off (if it might) - this is not an overly sentimental, saccharinous bit of trite pap, as he might be prone to write!

[L CC]

I thought it was really meh- not enough story and absolutely no chemistry between characters nor consistency in their characters.