What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[forehead7]

Holy spoiler alert, Batman!

What's a spoiler? Thought the story was common knowledge?

[Albino Rover]

What's a spoiler? Thought the story was common knowledge?

It was a pleasant surprise for me and everyone I know who's seen it. The trailer hides it very well.

[roverthemoon]

The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest

Last of the Steig Larsson trilogy. I enjoyed it but mainly because of the knowledge of the characters from the previous two films. It was definitely the worst of the three films with a real sense of I've seen all this before - people getting killed, computer hacking, long lingering stares from Lisbeth. Even the action scenes felt a bit ponderous. Overall it was more interested in tying up loose ends than standing alone as a film in its own right. Like the Quincy explaining the plot at the end of his show transferred into cinema. So if you've watched and enjoyed the other two films it's worth a look. If not then don't bother.

5/10

[stimpy]

Red Dragon (2002)

For me this was far superior to The Silence of the Lambs, that may be partially as it didn't have the awful Jodie Foster in it, but the story was much more interesting and I

actually believed that Graham could crack the case far more than Starling.

8/10

As I say to everyone who will listen (and those who don't want to), watch Manhunter. The bad guy is scarier without you seeing him do a whole lot for a start. There is a back story between Graham and Lecter which, in Peterson you believe. He looks a broken man.

Oh and Brian Cox is brilliant as a less hammy more menacing Lecter.

[Chimp]

The Help (in cinemas now)- Best film I've seen this year.

[#Gary]

Limitless - really enjoyed it. 8/10.

[nessies long lost ghost]

Due Date 6 / 10

[Bert Raccoon]

The Human Centipede 2 - Jesus wept. Gruesome and yet hillarious. Worth a watch, if you're a sicko.

[Albino Rover]

Johnny English: Reborn

Saw this due to The Help selling out this afternoon, expected very little but it was very good fun and some of the slapstick physical humour combined with Rowan Atkinson's faux-sophisticated clowning and comic facial expressions produced genuinely hilarious watching, but the material was pretty weak and some parts of the plot were really clutching at straws.

A classic "one and done" case, not a travesty but not one demanding to be watched several times. A good bit of mindless entertainment but nothing more.

5/10

The Help

I found this film remarkable. From the beginning it's charged with quirk and emotion and it holds steady throughout delicately and tastefully balancing bitter and sweet. It is entertaining and wonderfully charming, and handles the oft-milked subject matter truly and maturely.

As expected from an adaptation of a bestseller, a fabulous, well-structured screenplay brilliantly delivered by a truly awesome cast. Jessica Chastain for me stands out once again. This year out of nowhere she has managed to convey her tremendous versatility, personalism and charisma, establishing herself already as a top class actress. Taking nothing away from the others of the many great performances in this film. A lot of the magic is about the acting and I wouldn't be surprised by any of a number of nominations in February.

You'll laugh. You'll cry.

9/10

[SaltyTON]

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004)

The second of the four Anaconda films. The difference between this one and the Jennifer Lopez/Jon Voight/Danny Trejo/Ice Cube/Owen Wilson film is that this one doesn't try and balance out a lack of quality with named actors. It's only got Matthew Marsden, hardly a star name!

The film ain't great, let's be honest, but it has a star turn by the name of Kong. After about 12 minutes I said to myself, where's the clichéd pet monkey that always appears at an inappropriate moment to make a girl shit herself... and he arrived on cue! This little monkey is the undoubted star of the show! His facial expression and hand gestures are fucking hilarious!

The director is a guy who makes decent watchable films, without being spectacular and definitely doesn't take himself too seriously! Of his films I'd previously seen Halloween 4, Rapid Fire and Tekken. All watchable (well Rapid Fire is really good) but not serious in the slightest!

Well worth a watch, even if it's only to erase the memory of Anaconda!

6/10

[yoda]

The Contender

I expected so much more from this. I feel quite disappointed really. The film starts fairly slow but when it gets to the "nitty, gritty" I really enjoyed it. Oldman's and Slater's characters are good, particularly the former. However when the film moves away from the political side it becomes nothing more than a gushy fairytale about good triumphing over evil. Jeff Bridges doesn't fit the role as President, although it's not helped by a script that makes him appear like a complete idiot. His closing speech his cringeworthy, although most of his screen time is the same. The scene near the end with him and Joan Allen sitting outside the White House is just plain bad.

It's your cliched American film, and when it wandered from the political smear stuff it was almost unbearable, and very boring. One of the twists at the end is completely ludicrous, and the other is uses a "get out of jail free" card.

Oldman's character gives it a point. The political side gives it another point. The rest isn't very good.

6/10

[forehead7]

Had to mark you down for that. Jeff Bridges is the man, full stop.

[yoda]

Had to mark you down for that. Jeff Bridges is the man, full stop.

Yeah he is, but he doesn't work in this film.

[Kyle]

The Help (in cinemas now)- Best film I've seen this year.

The Help

I found this film remarkable. From the beginning it's charged with quirk and emotion and it holds steady throughout delicately and tastefully balancing bitter and sweet. It is entertaining and wonderfully charming, and handles the oft-milked subject matter truly and maturely.

As expected from an adaptation of a bestseller, a fabulous, well-structured screenplay brilliantly delivered by a truly awesome cast. Jessica Chastain for me stands out once again. This year out of nowhere she has managed to convey her tremendous versatility, personalism and charisma, establishing herself already as a top class actress. Taking nothing away from the others of the many great performances in this film. A lot of the magic is about the acting and I wouldn't be surprised by any of a number of nominations in February.

You'll laugh. You'll cry.

9/10

I'd agree with both of these. As close to a 10/10 film as you will get. Probably my favourite movie of the year so far, and I've seen a bucketload of them.

I went to see Anonymous today. What a load of old poppycock, but it was entertaining poppycock. I never really bought into the whole 'Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare' conspiracy, but it was a decent way to spend 1 hour 45 minutes. 5/10

I also saw Straw Dogs. Again, decent enough fair. It did get quite extreme quite quickly. Again, fairly entertaining, but nothing like as good as the original and it wasn't particularly groundbreaking. 5/10 again

[forehead7]

Yeah he is, but he doesn't work in this film.

Booooo. I love The Contender. Thought the twist at the end was pretty good. I agree on Oldman and Slater, absolute standout performances. Phenomenal stuff from Oldman when he starts getting angry in the hearing thingies.

I also saw Straw Dogs. Again, decent enough fair. It did get quite extreme quite quickly. Again, fairly entertaining, but nothing like as good as the original and it wasn't particularly groundbreaking. 5/10 again

Ugh. James Marsden. Ugh. The original isn't great, can't remember what I gave it but it's just surreal at some points. I take it it's still the same story:

American man marries an English girl, moves to an English town where she gets raped and the couple are under constant hostility from the villagers

?

[yoda]

Booooo. I love The Contender. Thought the twist at the end was pretty good. I agree on Oldman and Slater, absolute standout performances. Phenomenal stuff from Oldman when he starts getting angry in the hearing thingies.

People don't often agree when I say this, but he is the one of the finest (if not the finest) British actors to have lived. I say that without having seeing some of his best films, such as True Romance and JFK.

I might start a thread on that actually.

[forehead7]

People don't often agree when I say this, but he is the one of the finest (if not the finest) British actors to have lived. I say that without having seeing some of his best films, such as True Romance and JFK.

I might start a thread on that actually.

Yeah, I'd go along with that.

Had to look up what character he played in JFK As soon as I saw the credit on IMDb it hit me, I'd just got so used to him with the moustache and glasses! He's alright in True Romance but his character is just insane. Working up his filmography(minus the two I just mentioned);

Leon - amazing, plays his character superbly

The Fifth Element - awful film, pretty well player role though

The Contender - absolutely fantastic performance

Harry Potter series - pretty low key tbh, pretty shite franchise and plays a low importance character though

Batman series - absolutely fantastic. as a comic book nerd fan, it's nice to see some credibility back to Jim Gordon, especially after the woeful way he was played in the Joel Sch-however you spell it/Burton series.

Tinker Tailor - Really good performance but I didn't like the film, probably needs another watch though.

Can't recall any of his other roles

edit: I think people don't appreciate him as he's really only came into it recently. Apart from JFK and Leon his serious performances didn't really come until he was in the Contender and Batman Begins, certainly from the films I've seen him in. So that's 1991(JKF), 1994(Leon) and then 2000 for the Contender. I haven't heard of any of the stuff he's done before 91 and there's a lot of guff and unknowns inbetween 1991 and 2000 then he hit those two franchises and got some well deserved recognition from them.

Edited November 7, 2011 by forehead7

[yoda]

Yeah, I'd go along with that.

Had to look up what character he played in JFK As soon as I saw the credit on IMDb it hit me, I'd just got so used to him with the moustache and glasses! He's alright in True Romance but his character is just insane. Working up his filmography(minus the two I just mentioned);

Leon - amazing, plays his character superbly

The Fifth Element - awful film, pretty well player role though

The Contender - absolutely fantastic performance

Harry Potter series - pretty low key tbh, pretty shite franchise and plays a low importance character though

Batman series - absolutely fantastic. as a comic book nerd fan, it's nice to see some credibility back to Jim Gordon, especially after the woeful way he was played in the Joel Sch-however you spell it/Burton series.

Tinker Tailor - Really good performance but I didn't like the film, probably needs another watch though.

Can't recall any of his other roles

I quite liked him a Sirius Black. Interesting story about that actually. Daniel Radcliffe was struggling to show enough emotion for one scene (surprise, eh?) so Oldman took him to one side and apparently reduced him to actual tears, so he would be showing emotion

He's also in Air Force One, which is alright, but he's a decent bad guy in it. The less said about Lost In Space, the better. He's also in Hannibal, but I've not seen that, although he's unrecognisable from the pictures I've seen (he's called Mason Verger if you're interested).

Looking at his back catalogue, there are a lot of films there.

Edited:

He's in a new film next year called The Wettest County in the World. The excellent Guy Pearce and Tom Hardy (I think I'll rate him as highly as Gary Oldman one day) are in that also. Unfortunately Shia LaBeouf and his "one character suits everything" style of acting is also in it.

Edited November 7, 2011 by yoda

[forehead7]

I quite liked him a Sirius Black. Interesting story about that actually. Daniel Radcliffe was struggling to show enough emotion for one scene (surprise, eh?) so Oldman took him to one side and apparently reduced him to actual tears, so he would be showing emotion

He's also in Air Force One, which is alright, but he's a decent bad guy in it. The less said about Lost In Space, the better. He's also in Hannibal, but I've not seen that, although he's unrecognisable from the pictures I've seen (he's called Mason Verger if you're interested).

Aye he was good enough as Black(was another role which didn't spring to mind until I saw it) but the character wasn't fantastic in the script. As you'd expect, the focus is on the children and not him but he did well enough.

I've seen both Air Force One and Hannibal but I can't recall him in either, tbh, apart from the main stories (Harrison Ford is the President & Anthony Hopkins is Hannibal) I can't recall much about either of the films.

[Bobby Skidmarks]

Yeah, I'd go along with that.

Had to look up what character he played in JFK As soon as I saw the credit on IMDb it hit me, I'd just got so used to him with the moustache and glasses! He's alright in True Romance but his character is just insane. Working up his filmography(minus the two I just mentioned);

Leon - amazing, plays his character superbly

The Fifth Element - awful film, pretty well player role though

The Contender - absolutely fantastic performance

Harry Potter series - pretty low key tbh, pretty shite franchise and plays a low importance character though

Batman series - absolutely fantastic. as a comic book nerd fan, it's nice to see some credibility back to Jim Gordon, especially after the woeful way he was played in the Joel Sch-however you spell it/Burton series.

Tinker Tailor - Really good performance but I didn't like the film, probably needs another watch though.

Can't recall any of his other roles

edit: I think people don't appreciate him as he's really only came into it recently. Apart from JFK and Leon his serious performances didn't really come until he was in the Contender and Batman Begins, certainly from the films I've seen him in. So that's 1991(JKF), 1994(Leon) and then 2000 for the Contender. I haven't heard of any of the stuff he's done before 91 and there's a lot of guff and unknowns inbetween 1991 and 2000 then he hit those two franchises and got some well deserved recognition from them.

I think he was recognised worldwide well before Harry Potter and Batman. Dracula was massive in 1992 and Sid and Nancy launched him as a star.

Also worth special mentions are Murder in the first in 1995 and State of Grace in 1990.