What was the last film you watched?

[T42]

Nosferatu the Vampyre

Quite.

[Pickled Onion]

Calvary

That was quite good despite the "overdone" characters. Still thinking about it, which is always the sign of a decent film.

August: Osage County

Ditto.

[Mr Larrington]

The surprisingly non-shit TV miniseries adaptation of "The Stand".  Though the person responsible for casting Molly Ringwald as Fran wants badly to be shot in the face with square bullets.

[tiermat]

Hunger Games.

Meh.

[Andrew]

Whiplash.

It's going on my top 10 list. A brilliant film. As above, a knowledge of jazz or drumming, or jazz drumming even, is not needed. A film about 'all for art' and '10% inspiration, 90% perspiration' talent (and there's a lot of persperation!). J K Simmons is brilliant as the sadistic, deranged even, boot-camp tutor who pushes to the limit. He deserves his Oscar nomination. He also has some of the choicest, most creative insults you are ever likely to hear. Worth the admission alone just to stock-up your armoury of putdowns!

[Pickled Onion]

Hunger Games.

Meh.

If you thought that was Meh, have you seen The Hungover Games?

Actually, forget I said that. You really don't want to.

[Pickled Onion]

Maniac
Elijah Wood and Nora Arnezeda.

I'm not naturally squeamish, but that was gruesome enough to make me look away from the screen in parts. Undecided as to whether it was as clever & insightful as the makers thought it was, or if it was a pile of misogynistic twaddle. Either way, I won't be watching it again.

EDIT:

Safe House- Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds etc.

Nora Arnezeda was in that too.

[Andrew]

I watched Mr Turner a couple of weeks back. I find Mike Leigh films uncomfortable viewing and it took me maybe 20 minutes to settle into this but it is beautiful to watch. Many scenes are set/shot like paintings.

The film lacks any strong narrative line - it is, after all, a film about someone rather than something - so some might find that a little dull. I didn't and found Timothy Spall's performance complex and compelling, albeit sometimes a little too caricature. How it stacks up truth-wise, I had no idea, but he had me sufficiently intrigued to do a bit of reading afterwards.

[hillbilly]

Calvary

Father Ted on diazepam.  Akin to waking up to find Lovely Horse's severed head next to you in bed.  Whilst Father Dougal is skull f**king it.

[Ruthie]

Calvary

Father Ted on diazepam.  Akin to waking up to find Lovely Horse's severed head next to you in bed.  Whilst Father Dougal is skull f**king it.

So, is it any good? 

[Wascally Weasel]

Calvary

Father Ted on diazepam.  Akin to waking up to find Lovely Horse's severed head next to you in bed.  Whilst Father Dougal is skull f**king it.

So, is it any good?

 

I liked it but it was a lot bleaker than the previous film by the same people (The Guard).

[mattc]

If Father Ted was as well known as ... oh, say Friends ... then
"like waking up to find Lovely Horse's severed head next to you in bed."
would be the most quoted review on the internet.

Anyway: if Calvary is half as good as The Guard,  I shall enjoy it. the reviews are mostly _quite_ like billy's. in a good way.
(Both films also have a family link to In Bruges - an excellent film.)

[lisat]

Whiplash.
Very intense film. I am not a lover of jazz or drumming but loved this film. And as someone else said the insults were worth the ticket price.

[Pickled Onion]

Calvary

Father Ted on diazepam.  Akin to waking up to find Lovely Horse's severed head next to you in bed.  Whilst Father Dougal is skull f**king it.

So, is it any good?

Yes

Calvary
That was quite good despite the "overdone" characters. Still thinking about it, which is always the sign of a decent film.

To expand slightly, the characters apart from the priest are very much caricatures, which makes it difficult not to see the film as quite shallow, but on many other levels it is a good film. I've never seen Father Ted so can't comment on the observation above.

[fuzzy]

Calvary

Father Ted on diazepam.  Akin to waking up to find Lovely Horse's severed head next to you in bed.  Whilst Father Dougal is skull f**king it.

So, is it any good?

That would be an ecumenical question.

[Ruthie]

The World's Fastest Indian.  That's a lovely film about a man who (imo) has much in common with our very own Teethgrinder.  A titanium spine in a quiet, unassuming exterior.

[hillbilly]

Calvary

Father Ted on diazepam.  Akin to waking up to find Lovely Horse's severed head next to you in bed.  Whilst Father Dougal is skull f**king it.

So, is it any good?

That would be an ecumenical question.

Careful now.
Down with this sort of thing.

(In response to Ruthie, Brendan Gleeson was great but the wider film wasn't very entertaining.  And the other actors struggled in places.  It tried some broad stabs at social commentary, in particular the role of the church in Ireland, but missed the Mark.  This was no Ken O'Loach film.  I wouldn't personally choose to watch it again).

[Mr Larrington]

The World's Fastest Indian.  That's a lovely film about a man who (imo) has much in common with our very own Teethgrinder.  A titanium spine in a quiet, unassuming exterior.

When people ask me wuffo I keep going back to Battle Mountain year on year I point them at this film.

[sg37409]

The World's Fastest Indian.  That's a lovely film about a man who (imo) has much in common with our very own Teethgrinder.  A titanium spine in a quiet, unassuming exterior.

When people ask me wuffo I keep going back to Battle Mountain year on year I point them at this film.

One of my favourite films. Some transport museum in Germany had this replica of it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/24775321@N02/14757794605/

[spindrift]

Fastest Indian is a lovely film, he's a mean, argumentative old bugger but at the same time he just plays life with a straight bat, when he meets the trans woman I mean. Not remotely fazed. Polite and respectful, just not curious. It's cos of Hopkins, he was never less than believable.

I saw Silence of the Lambs before I'd heard any hype and I nearly shat my kecks, Hopkins was so scary. At the same time, Lecter's a sympathetic character. Horrible upbringing and he only ever killed people who were impolite or annoying in some way- the chap who missed the note at the concert-Lecter secretly fed him to his orchestra colleagues who were later treated for alcoholism and bulimia. Census takers, well, they can be annoying too. Coppers, well, they took the job, they knew the risks. And all the while he has the massive hinterland, the palaces of his memory. Burt Monroe doesn't have any of that, he just fixes and rides bikes and is polite with a very dry kiwi sense of humour. He's polite to people who are polite to him and if they're not at least he won't kill and eat them.

[Torslanda]

The Missing Postman. James Bolam does a Teethgrinder . . .

Love to own it on DVD instead of having to stream a dodgy copy of an old VHS on YouTube.

[Kim]

The Missing Postman. James Bolam does a Teethgrinder . . .

Love to own it on DVD instead of having to stream a dodgy copy of an old VHS on YouTube.

*fires up youtube-dl*

[Torslanda]

You're welcome . . .

[Ruthie]

'Wild'.

The film of the book by Cheryl Strayed.

A young woman gets lost in life's ups and downs, goes for a long walk on the Pacific Coast Scenic Trail, and in the process sorts things out in her head.

I didn't like the book much.  I found the central character shallow, self-indulgent and unsympathetic.  The film was far more enjoyable and was a better medium for this story, showing the woman's journey, instead of telling it.  The humour came across better, too.

Refreshing to see a woman portrayed as a rounded human being, flawed, likeable, unlikeable - instead of as a caricature, or an object, or a receptacle.

Recommended.  In fact, although I was glad to finish the book (I only perservered with the book because I started it), I would definitely watch the film again.

And Laura Dern as Cheryl's mum was wonderful.  The real star of this film.

[LEE]

Sharknado 2 (Yes, that's right, they got funding for a sequel)

It's a Tornado full of Sharks heading for New York City.

Admittedly I didn't watch it all, just the final 30 minutes caught my eye as I was channel surfing.

It has more "WTF?" moments per minute than any film I've ever seen before.  The main one being "Why bother risking life and limb to kill sharks falling out of the sky when you could just let them splat  and die on the pavement?"

I assume I missed a key part that explains why a Shark is such a terrible threat on a New York sidewalk.  In the Sea, yes, I get it, ultimate apex predator, but on the sidewalk?

Anyway I sort of highly recommend it.