What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[DA Baracus]

15 hours ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Exactly the same as all the others yet somehow less offensive. I'm just glad I'm done.

I mind seeing this whilst a bit pished and thinking it was absolutely mental, as well as at least three films rolled in to one.

[Miguel Sanchez]

I have cleansed my palette 

The Long Good Friday (1980)

Mildly contrived plot, overdone music, one or two very television acting performances, brilliant from start to finish.

[MSU]

124 Raiders of the Lost Ark -- Watching the series again ahead of the new movie and the original is as much of a rollercoaster ride as I remember, and Harrison Ford's embodiment of Indy really is just perfect: the role was made for the man or the man was made for the role, or both. It's still a bit creepy that Indy is an offscreen paedo, and it's still amazing that he really has no influence over any aspects of the plot, and there are other historic issues, but it's still a bit of cinema perfection and impossible not to be carried along. 10/10

125 The Blackening -- The trail through the woods that leads to a killer hunting a the group of friends in an isolated cabin is so well worn there are plans to tarmac it properly. The movie plays with the premise and subverts it deliciously. How can the Black character be the first one to die when they're all Black? Horror-comedies tend to lean more in one direction than the other, and the horror aspects definitely take a back seat to the comedy, which just gets funnier as it goes on. I could've lived with more scares and even a splash or two of gore, but I reckon if it wasn't for the language, this could easily have been a PG-13 / 12A. Aside from that, and maybe a story that takes a little too long to find its feet, this was good fun, and the final joke that's been building for 90 minutes is definitely worth the wait. 7/10

126 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom -- As a kid, I preferred this second installment/timeline prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. It had enough gore to make a squeamish child feel brave and what kid doesn't love Short Round, plus Raiders was fed to us for an hour at school whenever the teacher couldn't be bothered showing up. Over the years, my opinion has flipped. This is very much like its predecessor but, maybe with a couple of exceptions, it's just not as good in pretty much every department. Spielberg with Harrison Ford as his charismatic but flawed hero has accumulated a huge number of pass cards for lots of the more icky aspects.  It is still a surprisingly violent experience, wonderfully imaginative, which of course means that most of it doesn't make a lick of sense. 6/10

127 Asteroid City -- Mrs MSU is a big Wes Anderson fan and she loved this. I found Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch slogs and this did nothing to bring me round to her way of thinking. If anything, it's a parody of a Wes Anderson movie. As usual, the visuals are super-impressive, with an endless range of pastels against a stark blue and yellow of sky and desert. As usual, it's an ensemble cast that any movie would die for, with more than a dozen household names, which makes for two dozen safe hands in anyone else's language. As usual, it absolutely fails to connect with me. The story is based around the televised production of the play Asteroid City, which is set in the fictional desert town of Asteroid City. Black and white sections, helmed by Brian Cranston, deal with the production side of the play, while the actual events of the play are captured in stylized color to form the bulk of the movie. The play, and therefore the movie, follows a bereaved father taking his family to Asteroid City where his son, played by Jake Ryan, is competing in a Junior Stargazer convention. There they meet the oddball collection of characters that only ever seem to inhabit Wes Anderson movies, including Scarlett Johansson as a world-weary actress and her daughter, played by Grace Edwards, who is also in the competition. But their stay in the town and the convention itself are thrown by the arrival of an actual alien. It's worth remembering that all these events are part of the play and this is interspersed with a concurrent story of how the play was born in the first place. During all this, you can hear the faint sound of Wes Anderson masturbating at his own cleverness. 3/10

[JustOneCornetto]

I am planning on going to see Asteroid City next week but now I'm not so sure after @MSU's rather damning review or should I rely on his other half's more glowing appraisal? Decisions, decisions but hey Scarlett Johansson's in the film and I believe she gets her kit off, so guess what?

[Guest]

16 hours ago, MSU said:

 

127 Asteroid City 3/10

 Saw this on Friday, 3/10 was the ratio of walkouts to audience, well before the end. I stuck it out 'til the bitter end because I had another ticket for a later film.

Edited June 25, 2023 by IncomingExile

[accies1874]

22. Medua Deluxe - Cinema

This was all a bit too much for my liking. A one-shot film where that decision felt more like a hindrance than a creative opportunity, and it was filled with a mix of extravagantly dressed, nasty and aloof characters who I just couldn't connect with so I was left feeling detached from the whole film. It has the tone of something like In Fabric from a few years ago which was a film I really liked, but this was a grounded "world" with mad characters whereas In Fabric placed pretty normal, dull characters into a mad world which was more engaging to me. A whodunnit where you don't care about who, what or why just isn't a fun time.

23. Knock at the Cabin - Digital Rental

A forgettable time-passer which is pretty much what I was expecting it to be, but while I would've preferred a more mysterious and ambiguous first couple of acts, I thought it was interesting that it played its hand pretty early without making that out to be a big twist. What I liked about that was that it tapped into the characters' state of mind and how people respond to crises. I don't want to say too much so I don't give anything away, but I think folk who've seen it will know what I'm saying. 

The sort of surface-level progression of the narrative is quite boring and I think films like these kind of need to be resourceful in some way which this just isn't, but it does increase the tension due to the apparent doomsday clock and makes you question what you'd do in their position as the situation gets bleaker and bleaker. 

I'd only seen Split from Shyamalan's recent films, but it does seem like they've become more renowned (or infamous) for their premises than their twists which is more interesting to me, but I'd be lying if I said they were appealing to me other than for 'so bad they're good' reasons. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

I've only ever seen Wes Anderson films in trailers and they all look exactly the same, and equally insufferable.

[accies1874]

Just now, Miguel Sanchez said:

I've only ever seen Wes Anderson films in trailers and they all look exactly the same, and equally insufferable.

Some are great and some aren't. I watched The Life Aquatic for the first time last night and struggled to sit through it, however I re-watched Fantastic Mr Fox yesterday morning and still think it's wonderful. He's a bit of a mixed bag but much higher highs than low lows. 

[coprolite]

Annie (2014)

I went into this with extremely low expectations mainly because of a vague notion that the original was insufferable and also because i dislike musicals. 

The musical aspect was dialled right down. Which was good. There were no big stagey dance numbers. The remaining musical bits were shite. 

It was a likeable enough feel good movie, if a bit over predictable. Cameron Diaz character felt a bit out of place. Jamie Fox and Rose Byrne were good. Kids were irritating wee shits. 

Looked awful. No sort of composition or even palette, just a general digitally looking computer game type bright lighting throughout. Some of the basic continuity was way off and jarring- eg someone walking across a road from the back switched to walking down it from the front. 

For all the high profile celebrity involvement, would have expected a bit more quality and a bit more story but it was strangely engaging. 

5/10

[velo army]

On 23/06/2023 at 19:22, coprolite said:

Night at the Museum (1-3)

Diminishing returns on light family entertainment CGI.  Lowlight was the replacement son in 3. What an irritating c**t.  Fun. 

6/10 for the trilogy. 

I can never understand why The Rock gets such good press on here. I can watch some awful pish but haven't made it past half an hour of that dreck. 

Would you say you did your best?

[velo army]

1 hour ago, coprolite said:

Annie (2014)

I went into this with extremely low expectations mainly because of a vague notion that the original was insufferable and also because i dislike musicals. 

The musical aspect was dialled right down. Which was good. There were no big stagey dance numbers. The remaining musical bits were shite. 

It was a likeable enough feel good movie, if a bit over predictable. Cameron Diaz character felt a bit out of place. Jamie Fox and Rose Byrne were good. Kids were irritating wee shits. 

Looked awful. No sort of composition or even palette, just a general digitally looking computer game type bright lighting throughout. Some of the basic continuity was way off and jarring- eg someone walking across a road from the back switched to walking down it from the front. 

For all the high profile celebrity involvement, would have expected a bit more quality and a bit more story but it was strangely engaging. 

5/10

I watched the original recently and it's not that good, certainly not as good as I recall, so it was perhaps worthy of a better remake.

This wasn't it. Hannigan is supposed to be grotesque, not Cameron Diaz. Also, "Hard Knock Life" changed the lyrics to "foster home" instead of "orphanage" which didn't have the same Dickensian impact. Coupled with the fact that the foster home looks lovely and it feels a bit incongruent.

I pure fancy Rose Byrne though.

10/10

[Mark Connolly]

Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

An absolute joy of a film. I will never tire of watching it

[Steve_Wilkos]

The Long Good Friday - 7/10

[stimpy]

Indiana Jones and the *predictable character arc, this time he's really f*cking old. 

 

*she's cold and just in it for the money, oh wait, she's lovely really. 

[welshbairn]

On 30/06/2023 at 14:11, stimpy said:

Indiana Jones and the *predictable character arc, this time he's really f*cking old. 

 

*she's cold and just in it for the money, oh wait, she's lovely really. 

I've got a choice of the new Indiana Jones or Wes Anderson's Asteroid City this afternoon, both of which have been panned by the Guardian critics, but I want to see anyway. Might just toss a coin.

[stanton]

Indiana Jones last night, Ethan Hunt in a couple of weeks time. Fairly predictable stuff last night, lots of chases , snakes and the usual stuff, Indy takes on the Nazi’s and saves the day 

[BFTD]

8 hours ago, welshbairn said:

I've got a choice of the new Indiana Jones or Wes Anderson's Asteroid City this afternoon, both of which have been panned by the Guardian critics, but I want to see anyway. Might just toss a coin.

Surely either of them would've been more interesting than a couple of hours spent doing that.

[54_and_counting]

New Indy film

Meh it does what it says on the tin, anyone expecting different i dunno why given the indy franchise

Decent idea behind the story but dragged on a bit, liked the glasgow scenes though 

[JustOneCornetto]

(43) Shergar (1999) – DVD

Everyone knows the story of Shergar being stolen and initially held for a ransom but what happened after is still a mystery and it’s all guesswork about the final outcome. This film uses some factual stuff about the kidnapping by a group of dissident IRA men led by Mickey Rourke and the subsequent extensive police search but it then romanticises the story with a young farmhand at the hideout farm riding Shergar away and meeting up with a gypsy traveller, played really well by Ian Holm, and his granddaughter. Bit of a Greek tragedy ending but not a bad film. 6/10

(44) Moon (2001) – DVD

Great wee film directed by Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son). I’ve seen it quite a few times and it always makes me appreciate just how good Sam Rockwell is in it. It’s very low budget but you can see how some of the landmark sci-fi films have influenced the story, visually and philosophically. Maybe knowing the twist spoils further watches slightly but it remains a big favourite of mine. 8/10

(45) Limbo (2020) – Film4

Set on a remote, unnamed, Scottish island this is a story about a bunch of asylum seekers waiting to see if their applications are accepted. The story focuses mainly on Omar, a Syrian refugee who is a talented musician and carries his oud, a sort of guitar, everywhere he goes, as a sort of comfort and memory of home. There’s a lot of long lingering shots of the bleak landscape to convey their misery but there is some humour especially when they attend the cultural awareness classes run by the delectable Sidse Babett Knudsen. The pace is slow but the film does show the struggles that refugees must face in a sensitive way. 7/10

(46) Asteroid City (2023) – GFT

Everything you know and expect in a Wes Anderson film is here, from the vibrant colour palette, an ensemble cast and quirkiness, here it’s a play within the story with Bryan Cranston as the narrator.There’s the odd visual gag but the humour is mostly nerdy Big Bang Theory type given it’s about a junior stargazing convention in a small dusty town famous for being hit by an asteroid, Scarlett Johansson goes through a whole gamut of references to Hollywood, from Marilyn Monroe to Kim Novak in Vertigo, there’s a running gag, pun intended, of a cartoon Roadrunner, a nod to Westworld and I’m sure there are lots of other easter eggs I missed, Certainly not his best film but I did enjoy it and will watch it again as soon as it hits TV  7.5/10

(47) 10x10 (2018) – Netflix

One of these films that came up in my notifications which made it sound pretty good. While it does have a lot of mystery and suspense in the first act it quickly becomes very predictable and flawed as a man kidnaps a woman he’s been watching and locks her up in some sort of small bunker type room at his house in the middle of nowhere. It becomes cat and mouse when his   reason for doing this is revealed and she struggles to escape with a lot of fighting between them. At the end you’re not sure who you should be rooting for once you know the full story. 4.5/10

 

 

 

 

[Salvo Montalbano]

25 minutes ago, JustOneCornetto said:

(44) Moon (2001) – DVD

Great wee film directed by Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son). I’ve seen it quite a few times and it always makes me appreciate just how good Sam Rockwell is in it. It’s very low budget but you can see how some of the landmark sci-fi films have influenced the story, visually and philosophically. Maybe knowing the twist spoils further watches slightly but it remains a big favourite of mine. 8/10

 

 

Very good film, loved it when I first saw it and enjoy reruns even knowing the twist. I think it was written with Rockwell specifically in mind. 

Quite liked Source Code by the same director but think I might be in a minority on that one.