What was the last film you watched?

[andyoxon]

American werewolf in London

[Chris S]

American werewolf in London

I used to think the transformation scene was one of the most painful looking of all the werewolf movies.

But since then, it's been blown away by the transformation scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where professor Lupin does his thing; that really looks painful! And it's a kids film FFS!!

[spindrift]

Flight. Flight is a bloody brilliant film. I do not like the Denzel Washington but he's quietly under-played and effecting. Very good indeed. John Goodman also walks off with the film under his arm.

[Hillbilly]

Double Life of Veronique.  Good film, with particularly excellent camera work (at least to this amateur eye).

[Andrew]

'Riding in cars with boys' - a movie I had no knowledge of in advance and so little expectation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it greatly.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Les mis.

If Ann Hathaway doesn't get an Oscar for that, Hollywood should bow its head in shame

[LindaG]

Quantum Apocalypse, a disaster movie starring the gloriously named Randy Mulkey. Geeks with pencils use RainManto save the whole world. Except Big Ben which buys the farm in an anti-gravity blooper. A classic.

[Karla]

The PHD movie

It's a condensation of Piled Higher and Deeper: PHD Comics into a film.  Funniest thing I've seen in ages, it gave me loads of good belly laughs and oh boy do I need some of those at the moment.  Thanks, PHD Movie!

(It is also at least 60dB truer and better than Big Bang Theory)

[essexian]

Boogie Nights.

Blimey, could this film done with a mega edit! Talk about too long and too many story lines making the film rather boring at times.

Disappointed, although Burt Reynolds was rather good. And Mark Walhberg: PUT A SHIRT ON!!!!

[LindaG]

Weather Wars, starring Stacey Keach.

Wow.  What an incredible 42 hours that was.  Mad genius at war with his two (not that hot, the skinny one gets 6/10, the older one 4/10) sons.

Not only was there a token fat jovial black cop, but there was also a token nymphomaniac.  Inclusive film-making at its very best!  And a news crew!

No dog.  This is a big omission.  There should always be a dog in a disaster movie.

And the special effects.  Where do you start?  Where did they start?

A classic.

Two left out of the 'Four for a fiver' special disaster movie offer in Tesco the other night.  We've done Quantum Apocalypse and Weather Wars, tomorrow the choice is between World On Fire ("This time, there's no escape")  and Tornado Warning.  How ever will we choose?

Best box set evah.

[Kim]

Two left out of the 'Four for a fiver' special disaster movie offer in Tesco the other night.  We've done Quantum Apocalypse and Weather Wars, tomorrow the choice is between World On Fire ("This time, there's no escape")  and Tornado Warning.  How ever will we choose?

Best box set evah.

*rushes off to the local horsemeat emporium*

[andygates]

Lars von Trier's Melancholia.  Bugger me, that was a harrowing ride.

[Kim]

Best box set evah.

*rushes off to the local horsemeat emporium*

No disastery goodness at Quinton Tescos.  No horseburgers, either.  And only 'disappontingly small' sized bars of British Chocolate.

Tesco Quniton is rubbish.   

[LindaG]

Never mind Kim. You can borrow ours.

We ended up going to see The Hobbit. 3D is cack.

[TimO]

... No disastery goodness at Quinton Tescos. ...

I first read that as some variation upon Quentin Tarantino.

I revisited Hot Fuzz a couple of nights ago. We had a friend from Chicago staying over and she saw we had Shaun of thr dead which she said she liked. We offered Hot Fuzz as a suggestion.

I think she bust a gut

I like Shaun of the Dead  a lot but Hot Fuzz is way more fun (for me).

Likewise, I thought Hot Fuzz was far better than Shaun of the Dead, but I'd have thought there was a lot in it which was very local to the UK, and wouldn't have made much sense to a USAian, but obviously I was wrong, Yarr?


I watched ParaNorman yesterday, which I enjoyed, although it's obviously aimed at kids.  The "zombies" were very good, and it was quite amusing watching them running away from live humans.

Watching some of the extras on the Bluray made you realise how much effort was involved in it, far more than other animations, because they did things like animate the bits of earth thrown up in the air, as the dead dug their way out of the ground!

[TimO]

The Adjustment Bureau, which whilst quite well done, could have gone that little bit further, and been better.

(click to show/hide)

The doors were so nicked from The Matrix, although needing the hats was a nice touch, and explained why at one point they stopped to pick up Richardson's hat.

The moment they mentioned not turning the door knobs anticlockwise, it was obvious that at some point he would do this!

I liked the bit when David shows Elise the doors, talk about instant culture shock.

Once the Adjustment Bureau had been explained, I half expected Harry to be a member of the Adjustment Bureau for the Adjustment Bureau (or something along those lines), and the actual ending was actually a bit of a damp squib in comparison to the slightly more exotic ways they could have gone.

Having him rush into the Ladies was obviously a nice twist to him originally meeting her in the Gents.  Clearly deliberate, but nicely done nevertheless.

Overall a good film, and a nice idea, based upon Philip K Dick's short story "The Adjustment Team", and the overall concept which has been used in numerous other books.  Aside from the week ending, it was a pretty good development of the theme.

[nicknack]

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

On Film 4 last night.

Loved it. Perfect silly entertainment.

[LindaG]

Tornado Warning, the third of our four DVD Disaster bargain pack.

Well it was very special. There is a twist in the tail of this one that you'd nevrr guess.  Can't wait for the sequel!!! 

[redshift]

So, yesterday I answered the door to a BluRay box set of Kubrick films, caused by looking at the price of a couple of disks, and comparing with the price of the set.  Some I've seen, some I haven't.
Lolita, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut.

First out of the trap, 2001 - the reason I bought the set.
It's a lovely transfer.  For a geek like me, it's good to see a film so well transferred.  I know all the in jokes about the glass panels used to do the floating pen, and the rotating rigs used for the Discovery (a method recently resurrected by Christopher Nolan for Inception) - I just wanted to watch the film.  After so long, to suddenly see the film for the first time - you know you can see the seams in the cyclorama on Bluray?  I didn't until today.  What I thought were real landscape backdrops were cyc paintings.  The miniatures shots were beautiful, Douglas Trumbull at his very best.  I know there's no narrative, and the slit-scanning and the ending is as meaningless and crazy as ever (or not: I know there are those who think it significant), but bloody hell, what a fabulous piece of visual entertainment.

[LindaG]

Well, redshift, that sounds very nice, but it can't have been a patch on tonight's viewing chez crusty and linda. 

WORLD ON FIRE

Another Ken Badish masterpiece.  And believe me, there's nothing 'ish' about Big Bad Ken.  In a stroke of genius he casts Rachel Hunter in the lead female role, and she has the chance to show off her 'A' list talents in this fine piece of cinema straight to DVD.  She and her anorexic sister fight the BigBadOilCo who are doing some very fast drilling and making the magma go down the intertubes or something.  The girl's anorexia is never fully explored, sadly.  It must have been lost in the edit.

Watch girls in bikinis gyrate!  Then watch them boiled alive!  Hurrah!

And the mad-eyed baddie is vintage Ken Badish.  Wonderful stuff.

Nearly as good as Dante's Peak!  Wow!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!1

A classic.

[andrewc]

2001 is a wonderful film.  I'm sorry that I've only ever seen it once on a proper screen.  A 27" monitor doesn't do it justice.   Read the book, read the book about the making of the film, seen the 1st sequel.   Casts an eye at his DVD shelf....hmmm . .. it's been a while  ,  maybe next week...

[andrewc]

Tonight's film was "The Offence",  1972 in all it's concrete, new brutalist glory.  Sean Connery & Ian Bannen in some appalling moustaches..

I have seen it before, it was on TV I was fairly young.  Not easy or pleasant viewing, but Connery actually acts, and does it very well.  He's a man you could easily be frightened of...

[LindaG]

So, yesterday I answered the door to a BluRay box set of Kubrick films, caused by looking at the price of a couple of disks, and comparing with the price of the set.  Some I've seen, some I haven't.
Lolita, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut.

First out of the trap, 2001 - the reason I bought the set.
It's a lovely transfer.  For a geek like me, it's good to see a film so well transferred.  I know all the in jokes about the glass panels used to do the floating pen, and the rotating rigs used for the Discovery (a method recently resurrected by Christopher Nolan for Inception) - I just wanted to watch the film.  After so long, to suddenly see the film for the first time - you know you can see the seams in the cyclorama on Bluray?  I didn't until today.  What I thought were real landscape backdrops were cyc paintings.  The miniatures shots were beautiful, Douglas Trumbull at his very best.  I know there's no narrative, and the slit-scanning and the ending is as meaningless and crazy as ever (or not: I know there are those who think it significant), but bloody hell, what a fabulous piece of visual entertainment.

Love that film. Adore the books.

Dammit shifty, now I need BluRay.

[andrewc]

Tonight's 2nd film was Brighton Rock.   Another one I have vague, childhood memories of.     Wow, that was good. 

[HTFB]

Well, I've still not seen all of The Princess Bride, but what I saw over (slobby abandoned bachelor) lunch today was more than the small fragment I caught once while babysitting twenty years ago. It may help may with some of this forum's catchphrases. You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.