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  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,484
    pblakeney said:

    seanoconn said:

    The pale blue eye Netflix. Christian Bale stars as a troubled detective trying to solve the murder of a cadet at west point military academy circa 1830, with the help of a young Edgar Allan Poe.

    Seemingly good cast, atmospheric wintery setting, with all the ingredients for a top notch gothic murder mystery. Unfortunately falls flat in every department. Poor.

    I'm only 1/2 way through before I got an invitation but agree 100% so far.
    Update. Very much a film with actors visibly acting through a slow plot with a lot of holes.
    That said, I think the ending was a payoff for the effort of watching.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Watched Take Me on Netflix.

    Not a classic but an enjoyable, unpredictable black comedy.

    Guy has a business doing fake kidnappings. Enough mis-direction to keep you guessing without trying to be too clever for its own good.
  • Tashman
    Tashman Posts: 3,497
    Stan & Ollie on iPlayer. A perfectly lovely film. A love story if you will.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    The Duke on Amazon.

    A pleasing way to pass a Sunday arvo - it'll never blow your socks off but its a nice watch over a coffee and stroopwafels.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,739
    MattFalle said:

    The Duke on Amazon.

    A pleasing way to pass a Sunday arvo - it'll never blow your socks off but its a nice watch over a coffee and stroopwafels.

    Ooh, stroopwafels, yummy.
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,739
    pblakeney said:

    pblakeney said:

    seanoconn said:

    The pale blue eye Netflix. Christian Bale stars as a troubled detective trying to solve the murder of a cadet at west point military academy circa 1830, with the help of a young Edgar Allan Poe.

    Seemingly good cast, atmospheric wintery setting, with all the ingredients for a top notch gothic murder mystery. Unfortunately falls flat in every department. Poor.

    I'm only 1/2 way through before I got an invitation but agree 100% so far.
    Update. Very much a film with actors visibly acting through a slow plot with a lot of holes.
    That said, I think the ending was a payoff for the effort of watching.
    Watched the Kemode & Mayo review and was a little hurt that the esteemed pair didn’t share my view of the film. The actors were all great apparently. Pair of luvvies, they’ve gone down in my estimation.
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    seanoconn said:

    MattFalle said:

    The Duke on Amazon.

    A pleasing way to pass a Sunday arvo - it'll never blow your socks off but its a nice watch over a coffee and stroopwafels.

    Ooh, stroopwafels, yummy.
    direct from the 'Dam


    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,592
    Operation Mincemeat. I was vaguely aware of the story, possibly from hearing something on the local news about the bloke whose body was used for the deception. It was a decent film, a bit formulaic with the posh academic guys in military intelligence playing the 'great game' getting one over on their enemy equivalents. Some slightly hammy acting and the bloke who seemed to be 'good with his hands' made me cringe a bit. Struggled a little bit trying to follow the happenings in Spain upon discovery of the body but that was probably as I wasn't fully engaged.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    Pross said:

    Operation Mincemeat. I was vaguely aware of the story, possibly from hearing something on the local news about the bloke whose body was used for the deception. It was a decent film, a bit formulaic with the posh academic guys in military intelligence playing the 'great game' getting one over on their enemy equivalents. Some slightly hammy acting and the bloke who seemed to be 'good with his hands' made me cringe a bit. Struggled a little bit trying to follow the happenings in Spain upon discovery of the body but that was probably as I wasn't fully engaged.

    TDV and MF watched this at Christmas - tbh, he said it was really disappointing.

    Was just really candyfloss - didn't really go into the background of the plan, the nooks and crannies of the German spy set up, how the Brtish spy set up worked, etc - all the interesting bits were missing.

    Just pretty superficial about the two lead blokes and the inferred love interest.

    TDV said it passed the time, MF said hr got distracted by a copy of Cyclist occasionally.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,484
    The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Nicholas Cage playing Nicholas Cage in a plot that is even more preposterous than that sounds. Loved it and more genuine laugh out loud moments than most comedies. Check your brain at the door and enjoy.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,484
    Last Full Measure on Netflix. A stellar cast, even if they are getting on a bit.
    A bit slow and schmaltzy but I had an itchy eye at the end.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,127
    We've moved near to the cinemas so can get out more to the flicks.

    Saw "The Menu" which I liked

    then Amsterdam because I had a free ticket to use, a bit superficial story of Nazis in America but I didn't know the backstory

    then Meghan - excellent haunted doll / scifi hokum: Annabelle meets Ex-Machina. Also watched the first two Conjuring movies: ghost/horror stuff.

    Trying to decide if Babylon will be worth watching. Probably will go and see Oppenheimer when it lands

    Over Christmas watched Ur spår - a cross country skiing / Christmas / relationship movie. Steve Jobs with Fassbender - excellent in a stage play kind of style. Kreuz des Sudens - a kind of Austrian Midsommer Murders. The Ice Road with Liam Neeson - one of his better recent offerings, thriller set in a ski resort with a touch of black humor.
    BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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  • Tashman
    Tashman Posts: 3,497
    Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow
    Groundhog Day meets Alien, but on Earth. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. All pretty well done in a ridiculous kind of way.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Tashman said:

    Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow
    Groundhog Day meets Alien, but on Earth. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. All pretty well done in a ridiculous kind of way.

    I do find it quite enjoyable. It's good nonsense.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    Aware I'm not so much late to the party but have missed several big anniversaries of the party but...

    Good Will Hunting.

    OG Affleck & Damon. Those 2 had some genu-wine talent.

    RIP Robin Williams
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Damon casting himself as the unbelievably smart guy who’s smarter than all the world’s best academics but he doesn’t need to study plus he’s also hard as nails man with true working class credentials.

    Always amuses me. It’s a good film though
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,484
    Must be true that if you're born on the wrong side of the tracks then you can't be clever.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023

    Damon casting himself as the unbelievably smart guy who’s smarter than all the world’s best academics but he doesn’t need to study plus he’s also hard as nails man with true working class credentials.

    Always amuses me. It’s a good film though

    Wasn't part of the point of the story that he was hard because he had to be?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    edited January 2023

    Damon casting himself as the unbelievably smart guy who’s smarter than all the world’s best academics but he doesn’t need to study plus he’s also hard as nails man with true working class credentials.

    Always amuses me. It’s a good film though

    Wasn't part of the point of the story that he was hard because he had to be?
    🤷🏻‍♂️ it’s mainly the bar scene, where not only does he intellectually humiliate a guy he then asks him out for a fight and wins that way too.

    OK Matt, I’d write myself that scene too.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    Would you like Apples?
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190

    Damon casting himself as the unbelievably smart guy who’s smarter than all the world’s best academics but he doesn’t need to study plus he’s also hard as nails man with true working class credentials.

    Always amuses me. It’s a good film though

    Wasn't part of the point of the story that he was hard because he had to be?
    🤷🏻‍♂️ it’s mainly the bar scene, where not only does he intellectually humiliate a guy he then asks him out for a fight and wins that way too.

    OK Matt, I’d write myself that scene too.
    It’s not like he was a mega star when he got that part and wrote the scenes.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Anyhoo, saw M3gan at cinema this afternoon.
    Clearly never going to win an Oscar but it’s enjoyable for what it is. Plenty of laughs amongst the impending shit storm.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    edited January 2023
    Have we done The ballad of Buster Scruggs. It’s a series of short stories of the American west, a black comedy. Quite a few gasps and laugh out bits as well the odd poignant moment.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Can save you guys some time and don’t watch Bank of Dave on Netflix unless you are also married to a northerner from a similar part of the world.

    Extremely lightweight film. Local successful business man in Burnley and pillar of the community wants to set up a local bank to help said community.

    Soft southern lawyer from London comes up.

    Highly predictable japes and hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-hammer comment on the North/South divide and the state of politics.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Jung_E on Netflix.

    South Korean sci-fi. Well recommended (as long as you like sci-fi).

    Presents an interesting and not implausible ethical question in a nuanced way. Last 15 minutes feel a little bit I-robot but the whole thing is well done and enjoyable.

    Sad to see an in memory credit at the close which is for the lead actress.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Watched the Netflix reboot of All Quiet on the Western Front.

    For purists of the book, spoiler, they change the ending....

    (very mild spoilers included - if you know the book or have seen any of the others, there are no spoilers).


    It's a weird one this.

    It's about as war a war film as you can get. Not a single woman who says anything in it; in fact, the only women are seen from a very long way away.

    The cinematography is a highlight - it's a remarkable looking film, though bordering on a little too showy for the subject matter.

    The action scenes - the big set pieces of the film - are as visceral as you'll get. The bullet shots and explosions feel kinetic, the violence is extremely graphic. The sound is fantastic. It does a good job of doing a trench warfare version of the Private Ryan - extremely chaotic and the randomness of the victims.

    However...

    It might be the subject matter, but in making a very pared down, brutalist version of an old book, it feels quite cliché ridden. You get the usual naïve young boys turning up, being shocked. One guy can't handle it, doesn't listen to his officers and dies as a result. You get the shellshock silence and ringing while chaos occured all around them. The shock realisation just after they've done something awful to the enemy, etc etc. It's all stuff you've seen before, just done well.

    Even the stuff in the downtime is cliched. Chatting about the future - getting told off for doing so because daring to dream makes fighting too hard etc etc. Bonding over nicking food. etc etc.

    Even worse, especially towards the end of the film, the main character takes on a sort of action hero type ability. A pet hate of mine is that non-named characters die the second they take a bullet or a knife, but the named characters take ages to keel over, stumbling around, chatting.

    Our main character is practically a WW1 Rambo by the end, ratcheting up quite the body count with his gun, spade and bayonet. That did distract somewhat, just when the film was reaching its climax.


    Finally, and this is a boring historian take so feel free to ignore; the majority of deaths in WW1 were by artillery. Shelling would sometimes last days before an attack, and every attack was preluded by vast amounts of shelling. That side is extremely underplayed in the film. Apart from one short scene, this is largely ignored - I guess those deaths aren't that great for cinema.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    Oooh I dunno, the recreation of a "creeping barrage" in a bridge too far is exceptional...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • The Man Who Would Be King; which was on Film4 yesterday.
    1st time I've ever watched it.
    Thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable romp, in a kind of 'bored rainy Sunday afternoon' way.
    Although (and I was going to post this in the -trivial things that annoy you thread-) Caine's character of Peachy Carnehan, having the middle name of Taliaferro; and yet it's pronounced as Tolliver?
    Just annoyed me for some reason. 😤
    You're the light wiping out my batteries; You're the cream in my airport coffee's.
  • Watched the Netflix reboot of All Quiet on the Western Front.

    For purists of the book, spoiler, they change the ending....

    (very mild spoilers included - if you know the book or have seen any of the others, there are no spoilers).


    It's a weird one this.

    It's about as war a war film as you can get. Not a single woman who says anything in it; in fact, the only women are seen from a very long way away.

    The cinematography is a highlight - it's a remarkable looking film, though bordering on a little too showy for the subject matter.

    The action scenes - the big set pieces of the film - are as visceral as you'll get. The bullet shots and explosions feel kinetic, the violence is extremely graphic. The sound is fantastic. It does a good job of doing a trench warfare version of the Private Ryan - extremely chaotic and the randomness of the victims.

    However...

    It might be the subject matter, but in making a very pared down, brutalist version of an old book, it feels quite cliché ridden. You get the usual naïve young boys turning up, being shocked. One guy can't handle it, doesn't listen to his officers and dies as a result. You get the shellshock silence and ringing while chaos occured all around them. The shock realisation just after they've done something awful to the enemy, etc etc. It's all stuff you've seen before, just done well.

    Even the stuff in the downtime is cliched. Chatting about the future - getting told off for doing so because daring to dream makes fighting too hard etc etc. Bonding over nicking food. etc etc.

    Even worse, especially towards the end of the film, the main character takes on a sort of action hero type ability. A pet hate of mine is that non-named characters die the second they take a bullet or a knife, but the named characters take ages to keel over, stumbling around, chatting.

    Our main character is practically a WW1 Rambo by the end, ratcheting up quite the body count with his gun, spade and bayonet. That did distract somewhat, just when the film was reaching its climax.


    Finally, and this is a boring historian take so feel free to ignore; the majority of deaths in WW1 were by artillery. Shelling would sometimes last days before an attack, and every attack was preluded by vast amounts of shelling. That side is extremely underplayed in the film. Apart from one short scene, this is largely ignored - I guess those deaths aren't that great for cinema.
    I watched it last weekend and would agree with pretty much all of this.
    Imo, the original is far better as the characters are far better drawn. Consequently you feel for them whereas here it feels more like tick another one off. Given it was made at the dawn of the talkies, in 1930, the battle scenes still have impact.

    As for the ridiculous finale of this new version, it typifies modern cinema’s attitude that “big is better” whereas the original, despite it’s technical limitations, produced one of the greatest pieces of symbolic, anti war imagery ever filmed.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Pixie on Netflix.

    Think a Tarantino plot inserted into rural Ireland using rural Ireland characters.

    Totally unexpected and very enjoyable. Darkly comic derived from the absurdity and unexpected nature of the film.

    9/10, highly recommended if you like something a bit different.

    Even the Baldwin supporting character really works and I’m not normally a fan.