What was the last film you watched?

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Let me guess: the film-makers were keen to emphasise the "BRITISH" in "BP", failed to note that the rig was operated by a USAnian outfit to USAnian safety standards (one expert at the time said the incident couldn't have happened if North Sea-stylee safety standards were in place) and glossed over both the rig having brought in a new and very colossal field in the Gulf of Mexico the previous year and the insatiable desire of USAnia for petroleum products that made it necessary in the first place.

At least, that was the impression I got while on the Gulf Coast in 2012.

To be fair, the BP employees were shown as USAnians but were undoubtedly in the frame as the bad guys.  They threatened to report back to 'London' when they couldn't get their way.  Halliburton were the US company whose cement apparently failed to hold the pressure whereas the Swiss company Transocean ran the rig for BP. 

Piper Alpha (North Sea, 1988, 167 deaths) was a US rig.  Its demise would have made Deepwater Horizon's look like a picnic. 

[Jaded]

Bridget Jones

Got coerced into going to this and was not expecting fun but was very pleasantly proved to be wrong. It certainly wasn't like watching your favourite pub burn down.

[mattc]

Welcome to Woop Woop, a surreal movie that contains so many elements of reality about the Outback.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120491/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UewSBXKjyo

Looks fun, thanks!

We recently watched The Dressmaker, also set in the Outback (I think??), but in 1951. Another film in the slightly odd aussie vein, but definitely in a good way.

Not what I expected. Funny, moving but not  laid on with a trowel. It was one of those stories that verged on being a fantasy/fable, with characters that were almost unreal, but without going all the way. It had a lot in common with Edward Scissorhands in tone, but far more 'real'. If that makes any sense at all ...

(I really need to learn some more film-school jargon before writing this sort of review.)

Hugo Weaving gets a great role - you won't see him the same way again!

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dressmaker/

The Titanic is now the second-biggest disaster Kate Winslet has ever been associated with.

&

From theGuardian:
Even Kate Winslet carrying her sewing machine like a gunfighter's pistol can't redeem this unbearable patchwork of comedy and tragedy.

 

[ian]

Triangle. No, I'd never heard of either, random Amazon selection. I'm still recovering from watching all those Nicolas Cage movies some time back (please god, no more) so I start the TV box with some trepidation.

Actually quite enjoyed it (and it seemed to keep the cats captivated). Tricksy little thing. OK, pedants could probably pick holes in the plot, but remember they're doing that to make themselves seem clever while achieving the very opposite.

One thing though, it has Australians in it, it's obviously shot in Queensland, so why pretend it's set in Florida? Have we reached reached the point where every bloody movie must feature Americans doing things in America. Even Brits and Canadians now have to pretend to be Americans.

[citoyen]

Black Mass

Johnny Depp as real-life 70s New York gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger. Evidently a properly nasty piece of work. Unlike the other real-life gangster film we saw recently, The Little Man, there was no sense of glamourising the violence or whining 'I'm a victim of my circumstances' self-justification. Depp does nasty very well. And Joel Edgerton as the corrupt FBI man who facilitates his nastiness is also very good.

Enjoyed it (if enjoyed is the right word) much more than I was expecting.

[citoyen]

Hugo Weaving gets a great role - you won't see him the same way again!

Already had my perceptions of Hugo Weaving drastically altered after seeing him in Waiting For Godot last year. Do I really want them altered again?

[L CC]

Swiss Army Man
What. The. Fuck.

[Kim]

Swiss Army Man
What. The. Fuck.

I read a synopsis of that the other day and had a similar reaction.  Good to see you're committed to the cause of watching these things so we don't have to.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Hugo Weaving gets a great role - you won't see him the same way again!

Already had my perceptions of Hugo Weaving drastically altered after seeing him in Waiting For Godot last year. Do I really want them altered again?

He can play almost any role. Try watching 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert', 'Little Fish' and then follow them with 'Oranges and Sunshine'. He is a really great actor.

[mattc]

Hugo Weaving gets a great role - you won't see him the same way again!

Already had my perceptions of Hugo Weaving drastically altered after seeing him in Waiting For Godot last year. Do I really want them altered again?

He can play almost any role. Try watching 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert', 'Little Fish' and then follow them with 'Oranges and Sunshine'. He is a really great actor.

I'm embarassed to say that I've seen none of those     Clearly I am amongst cinephiles <need a we're-not-worthy smiley>

But statistically, i think it's safe to say that more people have paid to see him in the Matrix and/or Lord of the Rings.


[Priscilla is one of those films that I've known about forever ... just never got round to watching. A bit like Beatles albums. ]

[citoyen]

I'm embarassed to say that I've seen none of those     Clearly I am amongst cinephiles <need a we're-not-worthy smiley>

I've seen Priscilla - great film, iirc, but it was a long time ago and I don't remember him in it. Presumably he was the one who wasn't General Zod or the one off Neighbours.

When I saw him in Godot, I was hoping he would come out with the line, 'You hear that, Mr Estragon? That is the sound of inevitability.' Alas, he didn't.

He was utterly brilliant as Vladimir though.

[T42]

Priscilla's one of those films that doesn't get stale. Dunno how many times we've watched it - must be a dozen since we got the DVD.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I'm embarassed to say that I've seen none of those     Clearly I am amongst cinephiles <need a we're-not-worthy smiley>

I've seen Priscilla - great film, iirc, but it was a long time ago and I don't remember him in it. Presumably he was the one who wasn't General Zod or the one off Neighbours.

He played the lead role. The character who suddenly finds out he has a child and has to go to Alice Springs to be a dad and do childcare for a bit, which is the whole reason that they make the trip out there.

[ian]

When I saw him in Godot, I was hoping he would come out with the line, 'You hear that, Mr Estragon? That is the sound of inevitability.' Alas, he didn't.

And today's internet winner is.

[Jaded]

Trumbo

Rather a good biopic. Sad and funny in equal measures, over the underlying nastiness.

[Kim]

Ghostbusters (2016)

A pale shadow of the original, but less cringeworthy than I expected based on the trailer.  Occasional funny bits.

[mattc]

Trumbo

Rather a good biopic. Sad and funny in equal measures, over the underlying nastiness.

A small, prematurely balding elephant is unloved by family and friends, so runs away from home with little hope.

He finds love and respect in a Washington circus; his new girlfriend finds a "solution" to his hair issues; and soon he is flying to the top, casting nasty immigrant elephants aside like chaff! 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Bridget Jones

Got coerced into going to this and was not expecting fun but was very pleasantly proved to be wrong. It certainly wasn't like watching your favourite pub burn down.

Saw it yesterday, a few good belly laughs, but that's enough now. No more Bridget Jones films please.

We recently watched The Dressmaker, also set in the Outback (I think??), but in 1951. Another film in the slightly odd aussie vein, but definitely in a good way.

I liked the book and enjoyed the film.

Triangle. No, I'd never heard of either, random Amazon selection.

Based on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9M76bMe8M ?

[T42]

Triangle. No, I'd never heard of either, random Amazon selection.

Based on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9M76bMe8M ?

Any relation of this triangle?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187064/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Rather like that one.

[citoyen]

The Girl On The Train

Much better than I was expecting. I've not read the book, so had no idea whodunit until near the end when it started to become obvious, which helped. It's a clever story with a nice feminist angle (even though the film probably fails the Bechdel test, as well as the 'Why isn't it called The Woman On the Train?' test). Emily Blunt is superb - very convincing performance.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Yes we were pleasantly surprised having read some scathing reviews.  I doubt any of us checked its Bechdel rating either.

Also watched

Free State of Jones

I enjoyed this film although critics have suggested it was "a dry and cautious history lesson".  It wasn't in the same league as 'Selma', '12 Years a Slave' or 'Mississipi Burning', for example.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

The Disney Robin Hood is on just now, and it's so obvious how much of the animation from previous films has been reused.

[ian]

Triangle. No, I'd never heard of either, random Amazon selection.

Based on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9M76bMe8M ?

Any relation of this triangle?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187064/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Rather like that one.

That's the one.

In other matters, there's lots of girls doing things. Getting trains. Tattoos. Wanting to have fun. You name it they're doing it.

Actually, most of the women I know punch me if I call them them women, seems girl is the thing. None of them are very mature though.

[Chris S]

Written and Directed by me, no less. Who knew? 

[citoyen]

Grandma

Superb! Lily Tomlin is absolutely spot on with every last nuance of her performance. And very, very funny.

It's a bit predictable but not totally so, and it's a tad sentimental but without being mawkish. On the whole, it gets the balance between humour and poignancy absolutely perfect.