What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Bully Wee Villa]

9 hours ago, Soapy FFC said:

Just watched Goodfellas for the umpteenth time.

Would be in my all-time top five.

[Soapy FFC]

1 hour ago, Bully Wee Villa said:

Would be in my all-time top five.

Is it weird that 4 of my all-time top five are Mafia movies, Godfather 1 & 2, Goodfellas and Casino?

[Bully Wee Villa]

Nah I have Godfather 1 and 2 in my top five, too. Casino is great but wouldn't I rank it in quite in that company.

Edited May 7, 2022 by Bully Wee Villa

[BFTD]

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - it's a Marvel film; plot is irrelevant.

One of the more mediocre Marvel offerings. Rather than being a proper horror film, it's more your standard Marvel flick with a few horror elements overlaid. Apart from a long sequence towards the end where Cumberbatch could easily have been replaced by a young Bruce Campbell, it doesn't feel like a proper Sam Raimi film either; more like a film that someone else had prepared, before Sam arrived and threw in a number of his own Raimi touches (such as the inevitable, but never unwelcome, Campbell cameo).

For the first time (for me), it gives no quarter to people who haven't been keeping up with the TV shows either - people who haven't seen WandaVision (and I haven't) will be wondering WTF happened to Scarlet Witch, which I guess is part of the plan to increase Disney+ subscriptions. Personally, I'm glad these shows exist, but I don't got time for that shit. This also marks the first tentative MCU introduction of the Marvel characters that Fox owned the rights to; it doesn't add much to the proceedings, in the way that the old Spider-Men reappearing did.

But it was OK. Bit surprised that this wasn't more of a quality blockbuster to set up the rest of the current cycle, but it was more like a less-engaging continuation of the last Spider-Man film's themes. Flitting about between universes in the multiverse wasn't half as wild as you'd imagine either and, if this is going to be the common thread for their films in the next few years, it feels a bit like they're already running out of steam.

[DA Baracus]

15 hours ago, Albus Bulbasaur said:

1917 

Fantastic war film. Every time I watch it I'm more impressed with the framing and set. Would love to know more about the set design of the trenches. 

Great film. Presumably the trenches were dug for the film, but where, and which ones were they based on?

[velo army]

On 05/05/2022 at 16:59, accies1874 said:

 

67. Benedetta (2022)* - Cinema

This starts off brilliantly – it’s so stupid, Americanised and melodramatic which I think was deliberate and often funny. HOWEVER, it got to a point where that wasn’t enough for me and I began wondering what the heck I was doing with myself. I’m not interested in religion so didn’t care about characters, didn’t care about the metaphor and didn’t care about the story’s direction. Ended up bored which was really disappointing for something that held so much entertainment.

 

[MSU]

052 -- The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. aka That Nic Cage thing. Nic Cage plays a (maybe) exaggerated version of himself, estranged from his wife and daughter, struggling to remain relevant, being passed over for roles, when he's offered a million bucks to attend a birthday party in Mallorca for Cage superfan Javi, Pedro Pascal, who has been working on a script. Throw into the mix a CIA plot that reveals Javi is a nasty gun-runner and they enlist Nic Cage to infiltrate the organization. Or something. It works best when it's just Pascal and Cage, hanging out, talking movies, planning the third act of the script, dropping acid, watching Paddington 2, or when the former Mrs Cage, Sharon Horgan, gets involved. The CIA subplot is a bit of a mess, quite annoying, and pretty unnecessary. Missed a trick for me by not having other people play versions of himself. There's no reason to have Neil Patrick Harris play Cage's agent rather than having him play Neil Patrick Harris. It was okay, laughed out loud a few times, and it did make me wonder what a version of myself from 1990 would have to say to me. Wouldn't be pretty. 6/10

[Detournement]

Funny Games (1997)

An Austrian home invasion film directed by Michael Haneke. Probably the most unpleasant movie i've ever watched despite it not being overly graphic. The only purpose of it is to make the viewers feel shit. Haneke is clearly rebuking the audience's desire for violent films which is fair enough but I just wanted something interesting to watch on MUBI for a quiet Tuesday night in so it felt a bit unprovoked. 

Rolling Thunder (1977)

Two American POWs return to Texas after being tortured in Vietnamese camps for years. The screenplay was originally by Paul Schrader but he disowned the final version which was rewritten by someone else, the first half is his usual traumatised male psyche stuff before switching to a revenge narrative. The main character is played by William Devane who I recognised from Knotts Landing and the younger Travis Bickle in the making POW is played by Tommy Lee Jones. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Detournement

[accies1874]

My Funny Games DVD has been staring at me for a while but I still haven't given it a go, mainly for the reason you've given that I don't fancy chucking it on on a Sunday morning or something. 

[accies1874]

68. Mad Max 2 (1981) - ITV4

My first experience of the Mad Max films was Fury Road, so when I watched the 1979 original I was slightly confused how a reboot of that series could lead to what Fury Road did. It was a lot more normal in its setting and design and a real departure from my expectations of what the franchise was all about. Then I saw this and it all made sense. 

69 (lol). Thunder Road (2018) - Film4

Have you ever wanted to see a 90-minute mental breakdown? No? What if I told you it's really funny but also really tragic and emosh? The opening scene establishes the tone perfectly so if you'll know early on whether or not it's for you. 

70. Panic Room (2002) - Netflix

This was always the Fincher film that had the least effect on me. Didn’t dislike it as much Benjamin Button, Alien 3 or Dragon Tattoo; didn’t love it as much as Se7en , Gone Girl or Social Network. It was just there. I liked it a lot better this time though as it’s probably the most pure entertainment that he’s done. Setting things up, knocking them down, getting everyone and everything where it should be to provide max tension and fun. It’s not just fluff, though, and is quite a clever way to tell a divorce story. I’ve also always wanted Forest Whittaker to “win” at the end which I think is to do with buying safety both literally and systemically.

71. Grown Ups 2 (2013) - Netflix

I was tired and needed something daft – this was ‘recommended’ recently as a pointless, stupid experience so I thought I’d give it a go.

And yeah, there’s maybe 15 minutes of a film with a story, kinda characters, a kinda message etc. The rest is surrounded by things that aren’t even scenes, they’re not even jokes, I don’t even think they’re punchlines. There is very rarely any setup to a lot of the stupid shit that goes on as it’s just a case of Adam Sandler and his buddies going around a nice-looking town in a stolen school bus getting into craaazy scenarios that have no effect on the story or characters as the entire thing is devoid of any consequences. Pretty much the only characterisation of anyone is everyone saying how much of a leg Adam Sandler is.

It's actually quite amazing how daft and illogical and incompetent it all is. There is no need for a script to make $250m – this is proof.

72. El Dorado (1967) - Film4

I don’t really like westerns, but this is alright. It’s quite a sleepy film without being thoughtful or anything like that, it just doesn’t seem to have an interest in being exciting and would rather focus on Robert Mitchum’s arc (which isn’t that interesting). There was something about how it shot its dialogue sequences that often really annoyed me and seemed a bit scattergun. It passed the time though.

[BFTD]

10 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

My Funny Games DVD has been staring at me for a while but I still haven't given it a go, mainly for the reason you've given that I don't fancy chucking it on on a Sunday morning or something. 

It's one of those miserable late night solo experiences that you put on when you want to punish yourself for being a horrible human being. Inevitably followed by a sleepless night staring at the bedroom wall while contemplating self-mutilation in an attempt to get some kind of neurochemical release.

Y'know, like when some b*****d makes you sit through The Sound of Music.

[Squalor Vic]

Funny Games is a film I have no desire to ever watch again. 

Which may well be the point of it 

[velo army]

The Tourist.

I can't remember when this was made, but it was in the noughties. 

It stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. She is a mysterious person of interest to Scotland Yard and Interpol. He is an everyman who she uses as a decoy as they meet on a train.

Jolie is, as you would expect, utterly gorgeous throughout, but the film leans too heavily on that and doesn't give her any kind of character. Depp is likeable and surprisingly convincing as a guy who life has just been happening to. I was interested to know more about him. 

There's a twist at the end that had me shaking my head. It relied on so much coincidence and chance, and led to more questions. We never really find out anything much about the characters so it's hard to care that much. The ending feels like a let down.

Good cast, some nice turns from them all, and the two leads carry the film through force of sheer charisma. 

It's pish, but it has Jolie being sultry and sexy for about 90% of her screen time, and Depp has a few fun and watchable scenes. The relationship between her and Depp's character starts to simmer and is played well. Sadly the twist ruins that. 

6/10.

[accies1874]

It's one of those miserable late night solo experiences that you put on when you want to punish yourself for being a horrible human being. Inevitably followed by a sleepless night staring at the bedroom wall while contemplating self-mutilation in an attempt to get some kind of neurochemical release.
Y'know, like when some b*****d makes you sit through The Sound of Music.

I think I'll give it a pass for now then. Thanks anyway.

[BFTD]

I think I'll give it a pass for now then. Thanks anyway.

Maybe comparing it to The Sound of Music was a bit harsh. That'd put anyone off.

[Detournement]

Spring Breakers (2012)

Still genius and I had never realised that Jeff Jarrett is the Christian youth group leader at the start so it's even better than I remember.

Knight Of Cups (2015)

I meant to download the film Malick made about the Austrian peasant who refused to fight for the Nazis but that's actually called A Hidden Life and I was a bit confused when the film started with Christian Bale surrounded by models. Knight Of Cups is quite similar to The Thin Red Line the big difference being instead of being about the experience of marines fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign of WW2 it's about what it's like to be a rich and good looking  guy in modern Los Angeles. I can remember this getting panned when it came out but I really enjoyed it and it's worth watching just as a documentary about the urban geography of LA. The key thing with Terence Malick films is to watch them slightly high or drunk.

 

[Twinkle]

The Northman. Be waiting a while for this but its utter shite. Gutted as i enjoy Vikings, Last Kingdom etc but i didnt enjoy it one bit

[accies1874]

73. We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022)* - Digital Rental

I knew nothing about this other than its title and it being on a 2022 movie preview as one to watch, and… did not expect this.

It starts with an unnerving one-take of a girl recording a video for YouTube taking part in an online trend called The World’s Fair challenge or something, leading to a v indie opening credits sequence with ‘handwritten’ titles, an indie song playing and lonely shots of a small town. There’s also snow which manages to make all indie flicks even indier. So that made me think we were getting an understated drama about a young girl in a sleepy town, and while that is sorta the case, it is fucked up.

Probably the first thing to say is that you never, as far as I remember, see anyone share a space with another character – certainly not the main character. What’s quite interesting, though, is that you do see people on screens share a scene with her which plays into the idea of following online trends to find connection. That lets a few things be left undefined or ambiguous, like her age: she acts too old to be young and too young to be older and that’s all related to her slipping through the cracks of society and life (she’s actually about 19 irl atm but no idea when this was filmed). Her home life and general reality is a bit ambiguous too, but there’s enough there to know that it is not nice – especially when you see the grim alternative she’s trying to escape to.

The premise – is a YouTube trend trying to kill you? – could have and no doubt has been done utter shitely in the hands of some cheapo horror hacks. There’s even a fake video in the film showing how it would’ve looked if Blumhouse got their paws on it. Instead, its horror elements are much more low-key and it always feels real because…

… camerawork. There’s a blend of shaky/handheld traditional camera stuff and computer/”found” footage that often work together to make me forget that I was watching fiction. It was more like watching a girl’s vlog or diary documenting her mental breakdown, which was terrifying to me, more so because of that authenticity.

There’s another character too who would’ve been the exposition guy in a worse film (from what I remember of Sinister, he would’ve been that guy on the video call) but becomes something really interesting here. His character fascinated me as he was initially pretty damn scary with a  disembodied voice, creepy profile picture and assembly of strange details on his computer and desk, however I started asking a lot of questions about him come the end. There’s a long take that’s begging you to wonder about his past and present, and that vagueness is played into the film’s conclusion – not so much about the veracity of events, more why you’re being told them.

I was actually left wondering more about this guy than I was Casey who we’d spent most of the film watching but when I thought about it more, I realised that there’s a shift of perspective in the film that wasn’t 100% clear to me because we were still watching Casey’s life. That was an interesting spin on found footage films.

74. Wild Men (2022)* - Cinema

Another good Danish film with “wild” in the title after last year’s Wildland. This is a v funny comedy that had a great sense of when to be funny, when to be sad, when to be both etc. They set up a few plotlines to converge that didn’t quite do in the exciting manner I expected but that’s because it was more interested in its character and theme, although I’m not sure if I was 100% on board with its messaging but will give it another go. This might also be the worst subtitled/translated film I’ve seen due to a lot of overlapping dialogue that wasn’t picked up. Felt like I was missing out.

75. Superbad (2007) - Netflix

I would've been happy just having a runtime filled with them going from daft situation to daft situation without ever settling into scenes as that was the weakest part for me. The absurdity was what I enjoyed the most and when it came to actually cracking jokes, I was less into it. 

[Detournement]

5 hours ago, Twinkle said:

The Northman. Be waiting a while for this but its utter shite. Gutted as i enjoy Vikings, Last Kingdom etc but i didnt enjoy it one bit

You didn't even enjoy it when they were out their dial on mushrooms howling like wolves in the pishing rain?

[Clown Job]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Managed to catch this the other day, much better than I expected going into it, very funny also 

Spoiler

Nic Cage and Pedro Pascal doing acid together was a particular highlight