Rate the last film you watched out of 5

[multi]

24 Hour Party People (2002) 5/5

 

Cannot believe I've let 21 years elapse before watching this.

 

Fantastic documentary* about Tony Wilson, Factory Records, The Hacienda and all the wonderful bands associated with that time and place.

 

And a who's who of future British acting talent (and also Keith Allen) and some great little insignificant cameos. Fucking outstanding.

 

Spoiler

 

There was an article about it in the guardian a few weeks ago which reminded me I hadn't got round to watching it

 

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/06/how-we-made-24-hour-party-people-steve-coogan-michael-winterbottom?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 

* 😉

[Festoon]

14 minutes ago, multi said:

24 Hour Party People (2002) 5/5

 

Cannot believe I've let 21 years elapse before watching this.

 

Fantastic documentary about Tony Wilson, Factory Records, The Hacienda and all the wonderful bands associated with that time and place.

 

And a who's who of future British acting talent (and also Keith Allen) and some great little insignificant cameos. Fucking outstanding.

 

  Hide contents

 

There was an article about it in the guardian a few weeks ago which reminded me I hadn't got round to watching it

 

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/06/how-we-made-24-hour-party-people-steve-coogan-michael-winterbottom?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 

 

Always thought Sean Harris as Ian Curtis was great casting.

[Clipper]

A Quiet Place

 

90 minutes of being so tense I thought I was going to grind my teeth away. The high concept is a great one (until they smack a massive hole in it near the end). The "lack of" soundscape is one of the stars of this piece as the film plays out in an, at times, oppressive silence. The actual lack of sound forms part of the tension just the same as any soundtrack might. Most films with such a high concept would let the concept itself overwhelm the rest of the movie. "Hey we came up with this clever idea which means we can ratchet up the tension constantly so we don't need to worry about characters - we can coast that. "

 

Not a bit of it, the characters drive the film brilliantly and as a result the film is more about a family's struggle in extreme diversity and the loss they feel and try to come to terms with. Some great performances all round here. It also trusts the audience by giving away what's coming (the nail left sticking out) because it knows it can execute it brilliantly. This is a thing Stephen King does alot, but film rarely gets right - tells you whats going to happen and you think that the eventual reveal will lose impact but the way it's executed is well done.

 

1 mark removed for the really big plot hole/flaw and for the shotgun cocking at the end, the former is a big "duh!" moment near the end and the latter is horribly out of character/place and belongs in a shlocky monster movie.

 

4/5

[multi]

10 minutes ago, Festoon said:

 

Always thought Sean Harris as Ian Curtis was great casting.

Yes, totally agree. Outshines every other performance except maybe Alan Partridge as Tony Wilson. 

 

Edit - It's on Prime btw, in case anyone's been a bit tardy like me and not watched it yet.

[Mawdlin]

Good shout for 24 Hour Party People, I haven't seen it since release but remember loving it. The book, which Tony wrote, is also excellent by the way.

 

I noticed a credit in the cast for a guy called Smug Roberts, thinking it must be a typo. But, no, he is known by that name.

 

Looking forward to watching it again tonight.

[Chewylegs]

Star Wars - The Force Awakens

 

Reboot/remake whatever you want to call it!  It has the fastest heap of junk in the galaxy, It has Chewy, it has lightsaber battles and it's good fun.

 

3.5/5

[Chewylegs]

The Strays.

 

Decent, well acted English drama, which is pretty fucked up when you stop and think about it for too long because it can actually happen.

 

3.5/5

[Garwoofoo]

All Quiet on the Western Front

 

The First World War is a monstrous scar on human history, and it's almost impossible to capture how horrific it was: the numbers are too colossal, the waste of life too awful to contemplate. This film does as good a job as I've ever seen, and it does it by bringing the action right down to the point of view of a single individual out of millions. The fact it's from the German point of view is completely irrelevant. And yes you've got mud-filled trenches and pointless, unremembered deaths and terrifying tanks and all the things that make up the usual depiction of the war but here it's the small, quiet things that stand out: a man slowly dying in a crater, a general sitting alone in opulence, the look on the face of a terrified teenage boy. It's a tough watch, and it's a masterpiece.

 

5/5

[Monkeyboy]

Alligator (1980)

 

90 minutes of perfectly paced, alligator chomping action.

 

4 out of 5

[Rayn]

On 26/02/2023 at 01:06, Mawdlin said:

The Whale

 

Yeah, that contains a massive spoiler. Thanks a lot

[Mawdlin]

1 hour ago, Rayn said:

Yeah, that contains a massive spoiler. Thanks a lot

Ok, I hid it.

[Ry]

Knock at the Cabin - 2/5

 

Pish. 

[Silent Runner]

Coach Carter (Netflix)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393162/

 

Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.

 

Samual L. Jackson is a basketball coach who signs up to coach his former high-school team. They're in a bad run of form and a lot of their players have personal issues that are preventing them from reaching their potential. He has the players sign contracts saying they'll go to their classes and behave in a certain way if they want to turn out for the team. 

This was pretty good. It has a late 20th Century/early 21st aesthetic, all baggy clothes and multiple layers of sportswear, that looks great. There's a good soundtrack and the cast are all fine - SLJ is the main attraction but there's good turns from the support including a baby Channing Tatum. The basketball sequences are well shot and there's a real-life ending that swerves sports-movie cliché. 

3/5 (I'd probably go 3.5 but it's way too long)

[jdanddiet]

What's Love Got To Do With It

 

Predictable but fun culture clash rom com which those with righty-wing opinions and brexiteers will probably not like 😄

 

3/5

[Wiper]

I've literally just realised there's a 'new' All Quiet on the Western Front. I'd just assumed that the 1930 original had popped up on a streaming service and thus was garnering attention in this thread

 

(would recommend the 1930 version, incidentally, though I can't comment on how it compares with the new rendition)

[Majora]

Close (2022) - 4.5/5

 

So this is one of the Oscar noms for best foreign language movie this year. I knew very little about it apart from it being about a close friendship between two young teen boys. It was free with my Picturehouse membership so I thought why not give it a shot on a boring Tuesday evening. I went in expecting something breezy, maybe poignant/life-affirming.

 

The cinema was packed, which wasn't a problem in itself as the audience were all silent, but in total I had to spend about an hour tonight sat on my own in a rammed cinema trying my absolute best not to burst out crying and failing miserably on two occasions. 

 

I found it desperately heavy and uncomfortable viewing and it's sat with me all night since seeing it. I'm glad I saw it but also kind of wish I had never seen it and could just forget about it forever. I don't think I've truly felt like that about a movie since I saw Amour a decade ago.

[Monkeyboy]

Basket Case (1982)

 

Hugely entertaining cheapo horror movie with some fantastic WTF moments.

 

4 out of 5

[ZOK]

Call Me Chichiro - 3.5/5 (Netflix)

 

This is a charming film - from what I read it’s based on a manga, it’s essentially the story of a woman who has a knack for connecting with people and making their lives better.

 

There isn’t much of a story but that doesn’t really matter, even though the flick clocks in at over two hours. It’s just endlessly watchable flim flam about seaside Japanese life that has surprising emotional depth in parts, while remaining shallow as a puddle in others. I loved it.

[ImmaculateClump]

A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou - ****

[ImmaculateClump]

Infinity Pool - ***

[tejinashi]

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021),

The High Seas,

3 S.T.A.R.S. (hoho)

 

I’m a huge fan of the games, but just about every single film or tv series based on the franchise has left me totally cold. That said, for some reason, tonight was the night to try again. Well, how bad could it be?

 

For a start, it looks extremely low budget. There are lots of slow, kinda pointless scenes with the actors just pondering about, presumably to fill out the runtime. It’s very thinly plotted and is more just about the characters experiencing the events of a zombie-infested city.

 

Lore-wise, it’s a jumbled mess, with just about every character and plot line from the various games shoe-horned in, some faithful references, some totally remixed.

 

The dialogue is generally poor, but on the plus side, the cast are surprisingly good. You can tell they are trying their best with what they were given. It would have been nice if any of them remotely resembled the characters they were portraying. Leon S. Kennedy is reimagined as a kind of hapless dropout, which I found particularly jarring.

 

There was a sort of enjoyment to be had with some of the recognisable locations, which I thought were fairly well done. Places like the Spencer mansion hallway, and the RPD station are of course present and basically correct. 

 

When the action scenes finally kick in, things become a little more interesting. There are plenty of (weak) jump scares and the gunplay is decent enough. You will see zombies and more being shot at, so they got that right.

 

Overall then, tough to heartily recommend, but not a hard pass either. Series veterans should get enough mileage from it, I reckon, if going in with low expectations.

[MadFlavour]

M3gan 1/5

 

Left the cinema after about half an hour (when the doll started singing) after fighting the urge to leave from about two minutes in. Shite.

 

Cocaine Bear 4/5

 

The bear done cocaine.

[tenrou]

4 good days on netflix.

 

My wife put this on so I watched along.  It was alright but the ending is tripe and just jump wildly to the future for no reason.  

 

2/5

[Fierce Poodle]

Scream (2022)

 

Absolute fucking garbage.

 

1/5

[tejinashi]

Infinity Pool (2023), The High Seas, 4 Stars

 

Really enjoyed this, though I don’t think I got exactly what it was trying to say. It’s best if you go in not knowing anything, so I won’t say much. Mia Goth was excellent, and I loved the atmosphere and air of unpredictability. I will be checking out more Brandon Cronenberg after this.

[Fierce Poodle]

2 minutes ago, tejinashi said:

Infinity Pool (2023), The High Seas, 4 Stars

 

Really enjoyed this, though I don’t think I got exactly what it was trying to say. It’s best if you go in not knowing anything, so I won’t say much. Mia Goth was excellent, and I loved the atmosphere and air of unpredictability. I will be checking out more Brandon Cronenberg after this.

Possessor was ace.

[El Geet]

Good Will Hunting (Netflix)

 

I have a soft spot for this movie and I love Robin Williams. I get more emotional about him and his character than anything else. 
 

It’s a little bit hokey at times and Minnie Driver is marmite but it’s a decent film and the performances are really good. Elliot Smith also provides some amazing songs for the soundtrack. 
 

It has that slightly overbearing incidental music which often sounds completely out of place like it’s been taken from any other number of 90s movies that all seemed to have it. Piano and strings. 
 

4/5 (Largely because of the late great Robin Williams who brings a tear to my eye.)

[Vimster]

Robowar (1988)

Italian rip-off Predator from trashmaster Bruno Mattei, although it's more than a rip-off as it borrows not only the concept but lines and shots from the 1987 action classic. In this instance the muscular mercs with equally muscular nicknames are in the jungle up against a killer robot with a broken speech synth that spits out digital gibberish liberally. It's complete trash with some woeful acting and tracts of the troops wading through the jungle to some suitably mid-80s sounds, yet it was still entertaining in that cheapy way.

 

3/5

 

 

[ImmaculateClump]

18 hours ago, tejinashi said:

Infinity Pool (2023), The High Seas, 4 Stars

 

Really enjoyed this, though I don’t think I got exactly what it was trying to say. It’s best if you go in not knowing anything, so I won’t say much. Mia Goth was excellent, and I loved the atmosphere and air of unpredictability. I will be checking out more Brandon Cronenberg after this.

 

I think it's a kind of reworking of the picture of dorian grey, and reminded me of these mono puff lyrics

 

"I've lost my superpowers. I was invisible.
I could just cut myself right out my will
I was unsupervised. I had a real good time until I... I hit my head."

 

You can't dislocate your own sense of morality and spiral into decadence and hurt everyone and leave yourself spotless. It will creep up on you and you won't realise until it's far too late.

Also the way capitalism works and how rich people/countries exploit poorer people/countries and treat everyone and everything as disposable trash you can trade in for fleeting pleasures.
The ending is beautiful where he can't bear to be around other people so he just crawls back to his hellish playground and sits in the rain waiting for the "fun" to start again.

 

It was a hard film to score. Lots to like, to love even, but a lot of things bringing it down.
I'm not as big a fan of Mia Goth as everyone else seems to be.

 

I think you've started with his "worst" film, so you're in for a treat. Possessor next and then leave the best, antiviral, till last!

 

Have you seen his dad's newest one, "Crimes of the future"? That's a doozy, grab that as well if you haven't seen it yet

[tejinashi]

21 minutes ago, ImmaculateClump said:

You can't dislocate your own sense of morality and spiral into decadence and hurt everyone and leave yourself spotless. It will creep up on you and you won't realise until it's far too late.

 

For sure, yeah.

 

Very interesting film with lots of themes and plenty to mull over afterwards. It's stayed with me since I watched it. I just wish I was more articulate in discussing it.

 

I'll do as you suggest re the watch order. Haven't seen Crimes of the future yet, but it's definitely on my watch list. What a family!