What films have you watched recently?

failed_astronaut

guitarfishbay said:

I watched the Eastrail 177 trilogy...

Unbreakable
Split
Glass

Split and Unbreakable both work as standalone films.  Split is probably more interesting to watch, but I did enjoy Unbreakable for its very different take on a superhero, and wanted to make sure I'd seen it before watching Glass.  Glass ties them both in together and if you weren't really sold on either previous film then there's not as much point in watching it standalone IMO.

However I personally liked Glass as the best of the 3, I can see why people might not like it but I thought the ending was pretty good.

We just watched Spilt in preparation for seeing Glass at the cinema soon. I'd resisted it because I was still upset with James MacAvoy after the carcrash that was Wanted, but he was brilliant in Split and the film was really good too.

BigBearKris

Philly_Q said:

BigBearKris said:

Not yet he hasn't.

Not this year he won't.

I don't care for it much, but nor should he... His performance was ok, but nothing special. He's got nothing on Cooper, not to mention Bale or Mortensen. IMHO of course...

Philly_Q

BigBearKris said:

Philly_Q said:

BigBearKris said:

Not yet he hasn't.

Not this year he won't.

I don't care for it much, but nor should he... His performance was ok, but nothing special. He's got nothing on Cooper, not to mention Bale or Mortensen. IMHO of course...

Yeah, I don't have strong opinions about it, I haven't even seen any of the nominated films (yet) so I'm not having a go at Malek.  But I suspect the Oscar will go to Bale - or maybe to Bradley Cooper as consolation for not being nominated for best director.

paulnb57

The Favourite
Much hyped and rightly so, not what we expected at all, quite odd in a good way, superb acting and sets, really enjoyed it

HAL9000

Mary Queen of Scots. Mostly well acted and good visually, but so historically inaccurate, and so revisionist that it only gets 3/10 from me. A few people walked out.

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

Sassafras said:

I'd never heard of Linus Roache till this film but I thought he did a credible job as an evangelistic nut job. 

As you probably know, he's the son of William (Ken Barlow) Roache.  He did a couple of films in the '90s - Priest and The Wings of the Dove - which got good reviews and it seemed he was destined for big things, but it never really happened.  But I see he's done a lot of US TV so he probably makes a good living.

He was in the last series of Homeland and played the King of Wessex in a couple of series of Vikings. 

Blaendulais

Destroyer.  Excellent.  Nicole Kidman in 'ugly' mode.  Love the way crime in LA is flashback!

boogieman

John Wick 2. Keanu Reeves beats up/shoots/stabs/kills lots of baddies because they stole his car. Well I think that’s why. Has a fairly unfathomable plot about assassins with debts of honour, but it doesn’t matter because ultimately it’s all about Keanu being a bad mofo of a killing machine. Anyway, it was an ok film. Having Ian McShane in it gives it a few extra bonus points. Part 3 is coming this year, that might explain a bit more....possibly. 

Darkest Hour. Gary Oldman is brilliant as Churchill. Excellent stuff, best film I’ve seen for a while. 

Christine. I loved this when it was released but it’s dated pretty badly.  A prime candidate for a glossy remake I would imagine, especially after “It” being redone. 

Philly_Q

Game Night
Comedy thriller with Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams.  I was expecting something along the lines of Cheap Thrills but it's a lot milder than that.  At times I thought it was a little smug and pleased with itself but it did make me laugh quite a lot so perhaps I should stop trying to be critical.  It's good.

Black Panther
It's OK, it's fine but it's really just another Marvel movie, it shouldn't be getting Oscar nominations.  I like Marvel (and even DC) films but they always leave me feeling unsatisfied.  I wish they weren't so entirely set in the CG world, a bit of real dirt and sweat in real locations - where possible - would make them so much more effective.

TheBigDipper

guitarfishbay said:

I watched the Eastrail 177 trilogy...

Unbreakable
Split
Glass

Split and Unbreakable both work as standalone films.  Split is probably more interesting to watch, but I did enjoy Unbreakable for its very different take on a superhero, and wanted to make sure I'd seen it before watching Glass.  Glass ties them both in together and if you weren't really sold on either previous film then there's not as much point in watching it standalone IMO.

However I personally liked Glass as the best of the 3, I can see why people might not like it but I thought the ending was pretty good.

Me too. I agree with your point of view, too. If you've already seen Split then it's best to watch Unbreakable as a stand-alone before Glass for maximum enjoyment.

Budgie

Lady Bird - A coming of age type thing. I really enjoyed it - 8/10

Bomb City - Punks vs Jocks. A bit of a tragic tale illustrating the unfairness of conservative America. It's well acted and definitely worth a viewing. 8/10

The Shape of Water - Stunning to look at, the colour and photography throughout is superb. I wasn't totally sold on the story but it is put together very well. 7.5/10

Player One Ready - Brilliant combination of animation and reality, it's great fun. Spielberg at his best. 9/10

failed_astronaut

paulnb57 said:

The Favourite
Much hyped and rightly so, not what we expected at all, quite odd in a good way, superb acting and sets, really enjoyed it

Didn't mean to take my "wis" away from you there old chap as I whole heartedly agree that The Favourite was an excellent piece of film making!

failed_astronaut

Budgie said:

The Shape of Water - Stunning to look at, the colour and photography throughout is superb. I wasn't totally sold on the story but it is put together very well. 7.5/10

Player One Ready - Brilliant combination of animation and reality, it's great fun. Spielberg at his best. 9/10

Agree on Shape of Water. It starts like an Amelie rip off, then the blood starts flying and the Del Toro weirdness comes out in full! Definitely a slightly awkward watch with my parents at Christmas!

Snags

Budgie said:

Player One Ready - Brilliant combination of animation and reality, it's great fun. Spielberg at his best. 9/10

Having read the book, I was surprised at how well they managed to translate Ready Player One to the big screen (although we watched it on a little screen ).

For people of a certain age and background (70s childhood, 80s teens, slightly too much time spent on computer games and music) the book's an absolute blast.

Philly_Q

failed_astronaut said:

Budgie said:

The Shape of Water - Stunning to look at, the colour and photography throughout is superb. I wasn't totally sold on the story but it is put together very well. 7.5/10

Agree on Shape of Water. It starts like an Amelie rip off, then the blood starts flying and the Del Toro weirdness comes out in full! Definitely a slightly awkward watch with my parents at Christmas!

Agreed about the Amelie vibe, I like the musical elements, the way the different sets are colour-coded and everything feels a little bit off-kilter, not quite the real world.  My only real complaint is that the film's too short (not something I say often nowadays), another half hour would've developed the relationships a bit more and given it a little more depth.

Skipped

Green Book (2018).

A very enjoyable watch. 6 out of 10.

But I don't see Mahershala Ali as "Best Supporting Actor" for this particular  performance. I thought he had a couple of wooden moments in the last third.

(Maybe I should be blaming the  Director. Or even the Editing.)

Bellycaster

Deadman said:

The nun. Might scare the kids if they're soft but it proves that horrors aren't what they used to be.

Absolute tosh. 4/10.

I have to agree, The Nun is fucking Bilge! I expected sooooo much with it being from the Conjuring Universe, didn't believe the bad reviews, boy was I wrong. This film took an almighty Dump on the entire franchise.

The Nun scene in Conjuring 2 was very scary too. The Nun = Shite!

McToot

Home alone last night (well the kids were in bed). I watched A Quiet Place. Genuinely the most frightening film I've seen in years. The almost total lack of dialogue adds to the tension. Shat me up good and proper. 

failed_astronaut

Skipped said:

Green Book (2018).

A very enjoyable watch. 6 out of 10.

But I don't see Mahershala Ali as "Best Supporting Actor" for this particular  performance. I thought he had a couple of wooden moments in the last third.

(Maybe I should be blaming the  Director. Or even the Editing.)

We took a spontaneous trip to the cinema last night to see Green Book and I'd agree, 3/5, good but handled a number of difficult subjects quite lightly. I also think it should have come out at Christmas but would've obviously gotten buried.

Viggo Mortensen was clearly having a very good time with his role and Mahershala Ali had some good moments but everyone else was like a caricature.

Blueingreen

Casablanca.  Don't know how many times I've seen it, but still stood up as one of the most iconic films ever made.  Quibbling about weaknesses seems pointless when it's so packed with scenes that are stone-cold classics. 10/10