What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[MSU]

On 29/04/2024 at 07:23, BFTD said:

Can confirm Alien was great in the cinema; saw it as a double-bill with Aliens in the cinema a year or two back. Oddly, I don't think Aliens loses anything from being seen at home. Much the same experience.

I'd no idea they 3D-ified the original Jaws - I always hear that those efforts to add 3D to films don't turn out well. I did, however, see Jaws 3D in the cinema when I was a wee boy, and if anything it was even worse than seeing it at home. Don't know how Jaws: The Revenge gets so much flack for being shite when the third one was so criminally boring. The effects are godawful too, and they fucked up the 3D so they've never been able to produce a 2D version that isn't blurred round the edges.

The 3D-ification of Jaws turned out alright. I'd have preferred it in 2D on IMAX but missed that showing. I also saw Jaws 3D when I was a wee boy, in Cinema 2 at the ABC in Falkirk, IIRC, and the 3D wasn't working but they still gave us the glasses. Utter shite.

[BFTD]

9 minutes ago, MSU said:

The 3D-ification of Jaws turned out alright. I'd have preferred it in 2D on IMAX but missed that showing. I also saw Jaws 3D when I was a wee boy, in Cinema 2 at the ABC in Falkirk, IIRC, and the 3D wasn't working but they still gave us the glasses. Utter shite.

How strange; there was something up with the 3D in the Jaws 3D showing that I went to hundreds of miles away. I ended up just watching it mostly without the glasses, which looked like shit but at least didn't hurt my eyes.

Makes me wonder if it just always looked terrible, even in 3D.

[welshbairn]

Equaliser 3. I'm a sucker for revenge movies so this was right up my street, so happily ignored the obvious flaws. Basically a modern spaghetti western where the good guy returns from the civil war wounded and with traumatic memories to be saved by a local doctor and the kindness of local villagers including a tasty waitress, righteous cop, and a random fish monger who pretends he likes his hat. Instead of Mexico where for location reasons spaghetti westerns were always made out to be filmed in, this one happened in Southern Italy, and the Mexican bandits were replaced by Naples Mafia. The scene where the locals stand up for the stranger was a bit feeble but I'm willing to forgive that. 

[welshbairn]

18 minutes ago, BFTD said:

How strange; there was something up with the 3D in the Jaws 3D showing that I went to hundreds of miles away. I ended up just watching it mostly without the glasses, which looked like shit but at least didn't hurt my eyes.

Makes me wonder if it just always looked terrible, even in 3D.

I can't handle 3d at all, maybe it's an age thing and you're deteriorating early. Last time I walked out after 30 minutes, but it was partly James Cameron's obsession with American military hardware in which was supposed to be about an alien world, full of wonders.  

[BFTD]

1 minute ago, welshbairn said:

I can't handle 3d at all, maybe it's an age thing and you're deteriorating early. Last time I walked out after 30 minutes, but it was partly James Cameron's obsession with American military hardware in which was supposed to be about an alien world, full of wonders.  

No, it's the third Jaws film we're talking about - I would've been about five years old at the time and didn't even need spectacles. Those were the days.

It surprises me whenever someone mentions seeing a film in 3D recently, as I'm pretty sure all the cinemas in the Forth Valley are 2D-only again. Think the last film I saw in 3D was Pompeii in 2014, and I've been choosing to believe that killed the format.

[accies1874]

I saw The Force Awakens in 3D as it was the only showing we could get into for free. Other than Avatar 2, I don't think I've even seen it being presented as an option anymore. 

[Rodhull]

Saw The Fall Guy on Friday and thought it was pretty good. I’ve somehow managed to never see the old show so can’t compare it to that but thought it was pretty funny for the most part with Blunt and Gosling having really good chemistry.

The second half maybe did drag on a bit but some of the supporting cast had good moments throughout too. Once I realised Aaron Taylor-Johnson was doing a McConaughey spoof I liked him a lot more.

Doesn’t sound like the film has done all that well in the states which is a shame.

[MSU]

073 The Fall Guy — Somewhere in amongst the 126 minutes there's an eight, maybe even a nine out of ten movie trying to get out. For long sections of the runtime, it's a movie that succeeds in being quite a lot of fun. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt make an interesting couple and both are quirky enough to make the slightly complicated dynamics of their relationship work, she’s a director and he’s the stuntman. 

As much a love letter to stunt performers, director and former stuntman David Leitch really knows how to get his point across while also engaging the audience. The stunts here are plentiful and dramatic and breathtaking in places, but there's an awful lot of them and by the time we rolled into the third false ending, I'd kinda had my fill.

The two main threads of the story are a bit uneven. There's the romantic story of how long the movie can reasonably prevent Gosling and Blunt from hooking up, and then there's the supposed main thrust of the movie which sees Gosling trying to track down the wayward star of the movie Blunt is trying to make. This latter strand isn't really as interesting but the movie really shines when the two combine, as they do perfectly in a wonderful karaoke sequence with a French speaking dog. 

So a fun, enjoyable watch that plays around with the formulaic action movie tropes but takes so long to finish its story, it makes the denouement of Hot Fuzz appear brief. That said, I'm up for a sequel. 7/10

[DeeTillEhDeh]

On 06/05/2024 at 02:21, Rodhull said:

Saw The Fall Guy on Friday and thought it was pretty good. I’ve somehow managed to never see the old show so can’t compare it to that but thought it was pretty funny for the most part with Blunt and Gosling having really good chemistry.

The second half maybe did drag on a bit but some of the supporting cast had good moments throughout too. Once I realised Aaron Taylor-Johnson was doing a McConaughey spoof I liked him a lot more.

Doesn’t sound like the film has done all that well in the states which is a shame.

Each to their own.

I thought it was poor. Zero chemistry between the 2 leads and a who cares plotline.

The first hour and a half really dragged - if I hadn't been with my wife I'd have walked out.  The last 30 minutes saved the film plus a cameo by a well-known Hollywood star (not Lee Majors).

Edited May 7 by DeeTillEhDeh

[Stellaboz]

I absolutely fucking adore Emily Blunt, she's gorgeous.

 

Anyway recently watched some mental film called The Poor Ones starring Emma Stone and Willem Defoe.

Defoe has a crazy face at the best of timed but the way they've monstered him up here genuinely freaked me out. Especially with the Scottish accent.

Anyway Stone plays a woman brought back to life, with many twists and turns along the way. Its an artsy sort of film and deeply uncomfortable at times watching a grown woman basically grow up. 

But in the end its deeply satisfying and felt grateful to have got through it, despite it being downright dark early on.

 

[The Naitch]

Femme (Netflix)

That was intense. Things felt on a knife edge for a lot of the film and will stay with me for a while.

Powerful stuff from both leads, well worth watching if you get the chance.

[Theroadlesstravelled]

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

The Expendables without the crusty old dudes.
2/10

Actually I'll give it 3/10 because Jason Statham wasn't in it.

[Mark Connolly]

The Fall Guy

I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure why. It's an absolute fucking mess, but it's fairly entertaining.

Spoiler

The Australian police don't exactly do well out of it. They do f**k all about a car/skip chase through downtown Sydney, laugh off a report of a dead body by a witness who they then declare prime suspect after he comes out of the room they couldn't find the body in, are nowhere to be seen during a shootout in Sydney Harbour, and even at the end, the arrest is sort of made by two members of the stunt crew (nudge nudge wink wink). They did give out a parking ticket though, so they're not completely incompetent

Emily Blunt is probably the most beautiful woman on the planet.

[scottsdad]

51 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

 

  Hide contents

The Australian police don't exactly do well out of it. They do f**k all about a car/skip chase through downtown Sydney, laugh off a report of a dead body by a witness who they then declare prime suspect after he comes out of the room they couldn't find the body in, are nowhere to be seen during a shootout in Sydney Harbour, and even at the end, the arrest is sort of made by two members of the stunt crew (nudge nudge wink wink). They did give out a parking ticket though, so they're not completely incompetent

Emily Blunt is probably the most beautiful woman on the planet.

 

I'm not having that

Spoiler

 

[accies1874]

40. The Sweet East - Cinema

I think I liked this quite a bit, but I'm not actually sure how good it is. It had me hooked from the trailers, and what you see is what you get from that point of view, so it's just a case of whether or not you can tolerate that for 100 minutes. I can see why a lot of folk don't like it.

The cinematography, for example, might grate for some people as it has the retro look that we already see loads of, but the scrappiness of the image (especially when projected in 35mm) and shakiness of the camera made the film resemble a cheap indie movie akin to the 2000s mumblecore stuff - in fact, it might even be a send-up of some of them. Talia Ryder's Lillian appears to be the lost young woman who appears in so many of these stories, but as time goes on and she interacts with more of the weird characters, it becomes apparent that she's in more control of the situations she finds herself in than her transience suggests. It's almost like some of the guys she comes into contact with are trying to mould her into their love interest in their own story, however she's writing her own script that diverges from theirs. It's weird. The fact that Simon Rex and Jacob Elordi play a couple of the men brought to mind their roles in Red Rocket and Priscilla respectively, two films that depict toxic and controlling relationships.

There are very deliberate gaps in logic which, combined with the overall weirdness, results in a confusing, dreamlike experience, and it never really settles into any of its different destinations, however they contributed enough to the overall vibes that I was happy going along for the ride.

41. Challengers - Cinema

I think that tennis lends itself to these kinds of stories well, as singles is an individual sport that, more often than not, leads to a final that can be anticipated ahead of time due to the bracket. That means that you can create dramas between two competing characters who bring all of their issues into one big showdown. The film's relationships almost play like a tennis match, too, with 'success' being knocked back and forth between them, and one of its many inventive visual tricks is to have the camera occasionally go back and forth between characters in a conversation. Adding a third person, Zendaya, into a sport between two individuals makes for an engaging story with different power dynamics, insecurities and deception.

I was initially a bit sceptical about the script essentially being framed around the final between Art and Patrick, as I'd have thought that the showdown might have been more impactful if you'd experienced the weight of the flashbacks going into it, but chopping up the narrative made it so that the subtext of the match changes every time you return to it - something I enjoyed. Plus, five-set tennis matches are hella long, so it allows you to experience that while still keeping a solid pace. Speaking of pace, whenever that pulsing score kicked in, I couldn't help but smile. I might just listen to it on repeat for the rest of my days.

42. Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry - Cinema

The nation of Georgia tries to redeem itself in my eyes after my disastrous trip there last November.

This reminded me a lot of Aki Kurasmaki's films which by extension go back to Fear Eats the Soul. The overall feeling of loneliness plays a part in that, but also the colourful yet minimalist set design and shots that mundanely observe people doing mundane things. I haven't seen Elene Naveriani's other feature so can't say for certain, but while I thought that Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry was good in isolation, it is a bit too visually familiar when considering those other films.

Once I got over that and started to focus on the script and particularly Eka Chavleishvili's performance as Etero, I found enough to like. Chavleishvili wears the same expression throughout the film, but she still manages to carry a range of emotions behind her frown. Etero's a compelling character; somewhat a woman out of time as she tries to run an independent village shop while a shopping centre is being built next door, but she's also a bit of a maverick due to her rejection of marriage, children and relationships in favour of simply living the life she wants to live. Meanwhile, a near-death experiences wakens 'urges' within her that don't compute with her independence, so it was interesting watching somebody's body essentially working against their mind.

[MSU]

074 Challengers -- Surprisingly, this isn't the hot and sultry throuple tennis movie the trailer had me believe, which is a shame because at least that might have been interesting. Instead, this is a bit of a snoozefest, or it would be if it wasn't for all the booming techno music that accompanies the smoochy bits, the argument bits, the people playing tennis bits, and the people talking about playing tennis bits.

Apart from Zendaya, I just didn't believe anyone here is a tennis player or for that matter anyone that Zendaya's character would be remotely interested in. The non-linear method of storytelling forces you to keep track of a few threads which gives the impression of the presence of a complexity that simply isn't there. It's all pretty straightforward stuff and spanning more than a decade isn't going to convince me otherwise. For two hours it goes nowhere you don't expect it to go.

While the movie is doing that, it also tries to distract you with some really bizarre camera choices and just when you think there's going to be nothing quite as weird as a sudden switch to first-person, director Luca Guadagnino decides to show us tennis from the perspective of the ball. Sections of slow-motion in the denouement surely designed to generate tension just generated frustration because none of this is so interesting I wanted it to last longer. The less said about the final few moments, the better.

All in all, I'd have been happier watching actual tennis. 4/10

[accies1874]

I clearly liked Challengers more than you did, but I actually agree that I'd have rather watched tennis for a couple of hours. I suppose your opinion on tennis will determine how big a criticism that is. 

[BFTD]

Cannibal Apocalypse (DVD) - a group of soldiers return to Atlanta from the Vietnam War with an inescapable case of the munchies.

My son heard about the notorious Seventies Italian cannibal movies a while ago, so we watched a few (sans the horrible animal cruelty scenes), but I just remembered that I'd forgotten this strange curio, which combines a heady mix of weirdness and tedium. It feels like they'd really wanted to make a zombie film, as there's an odd notion that the urge to eat other people is transmitted through biting, yet they only seem to take a quick bite before getting bored and moving on. It's generally quite dull though, with a lengthy tedious siege scene early on, before degenerating into a slow-moving chase between our hungry heroes and the authorities - it feels more like a heist flick gone wrong than a horror film.

It does have a few memorable moments though, including genre favourite "John Morghen" getting a big hole blown through his torso, and a cop ripping off and eating a colleague's boob - when discovered, his commanding officer says, "good God son, put that down"  

I'd never actually watched my DVD copy, so I was annoyed to discover that the American R-rated cut had been submitted for classification here in order to guarantee it would be accepted. It removes some of the more outre gore moments which, let's be honest, make up a large part of the experience of watching these things.

Dawn of the Dead (Blu-Ray) - zombies, shopping mall, you know the drill.

I noticed a resonably-priced set of this on Blu-Ray containing three different prints of the film and extras, so figured it was time to expose the kid - he knows of DotD because apparently there was some kind of legal action after the game Dead Rising came out, as it's pretty heavily based on it. We watched the 'Cannes Cut', which is supposed to have more footage than the North American release print, although I didn't particularly notice anything new so I guess that's the "American" version I'd always seen.

It's as much of a period piece as Night of the Living Dead now, and the special effects that were superb for the time aren't going to be convincing anyone, but the Goblin score improves with age, if anything - at turns menacing, otherworldly, and ridiculous. The opening third showing the world falling apart from a narrow viewpoint is masterful, and everyone's familiar with the consumerist satire than follows. Not sure if it really works for young people now, but I still love it.

Flightplan (DVD) - aircraft designer Jodie Foster boards a flight with her young daughter, only for her to go missing during the flight. Where could she be?

An interesting idea for a thriller, but the implementation could've been better. One of those stories that relies upon the mystery of whether there's a huge conspiracy going on, or if the answer is more straightforward than it seems, and I lost a bit of interest in the final third after the reveal - the suspension of disbelief just disappeared quite quickly. However, it's a decent watch if you catch it on TV/streaming and you're in the mood for this kind of film - just don't expect it to stick the landing particularly well.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (DVD) - synopsis here.

Part of the never-ending, "you've never seen <x>? I have failed as a father" shitshow that no doubt many of us are familiar with. The boy finally wanted to see it, so I couldn't say no. Frankly, I probably enjoyed it less this time than any prior viewing, but I've seen it dozens of times and it's still one of the greatest comedies ever - a lot of entertainment can be had from noticing how they gleaned comedy from their lack of budget. I think the fact that Terry Jones is away now too, and I probably won't watch it again before more of the crew dies, possibly took a bit of pleasure away this time, although I still love the balls of just ending the film before (expensive) catharsis and leaving the audience sitting in the dark listening to organ music.

The boy was surprised by how much he liked it, and I caught him cracking up a few times, although he was a bit disappointed that the moose never showed up. I particularly enjoyed that he was caught out by the Dentist on the Job intro and accused me of putting the wrong film on  

[Theroadlesstravelled]

Kingdom of the planet of the apes.
Solid.
A top 5 movie franchise. Miles above your Star Warses, Mission Impossibles, Alienses, Jurassic Parkses.


Now all we need is a musical. 

 

[KnightswoodBear]

10 hours ago, Theroadlesstravelled said:

Kingdom of the planet of the apes.
Solid.
A top 5 movie franchise. Miles above your Star Warses, Mission Impossibles, Alienses, Jurassic Parkses.


Now all we need is a musical. 

 

I've been watching the originals on Disney +.  It's definitely a law of diminishing returns with them.

I've watched "Planet", "Beneath" and "Escape" so far.  It's been a while since I watched "Conquest" and "Battle", but from what I remember they're pretty shit.