Rate the last film you saw partie deux

[Wolfie]

On 02/02/2024 at 20:11, Chester40 said:

Saltburn

I knew there was some kind of particular intrigue/shock connected to the film but couldn't recall exactly what...

Can't recall what other's felt but I found it pretty decent.

Reminded me a little of 'Cruel Intentions'. All bitchy, rich people looking down on others and making clever put downs.

Dialogue was great, initally I couldn't quite work out where it was headed or exactly what kind of film it was. 

Quite stylish, good acting- Richard E Grant was really amusing - just a unusual and different film.

I'd call it a black comedy with some kind of satire /social commentary.  

Solid 7 out of 10. A bit slow at times and the scenes that were a bit shocking almost took me out of the film rather than aided it. But definitely something different and well worth a watch.

Richard E Grant & Rosamund Pike are fabulous in it. Favourite line for me was Rosamund's on her previously being a lesbian 😆

I saw it for the second time at the weekend (first time for Mrs Wolfie) and enjoyed it just as much again.

A few "Eeeeewww"s from her but my favourite comment was "Oh god, he's not going to an "American Pie" is he?!"

7.5/10

[Wolfie]

The Creator (rent on Prime)

Sci-fi written & directed by Gareth Edwards.

Humans are at war with AI, after a nuking of LA. The AI have developed a new weapon to win the war and the race is on to kill/save this "weapon" robot child.

Visually stunning. Looks a lot more expensive than it actually was.

I liked it a lot. 8/10

[Ram-Alf]

The Outfit...new to Netflix with Mary Rylance in the lead role, English Cutter/Tailor has a shop that's used by 1956 Chicago's Gangsters.

Rylance in his usual brilliant acting...a 9/10 for me.

[Chester40]

I saw the trailer for Napoleon at the cinema,  looked awesome... Ridley Scott,  Joaquin Phoenix, huge battles,  amazing story...what could go wrong. 

Couple of months on and all the noise is that it's not a classic. So I was still hopeful but nervous.....and...

Well, its pretty terrible IMO.

Its like a few long scenes are there and instead of massively editing them down and adding you know errr various other scenes!  so there is an actual cohesive story and some emotional attachment to any of the characters... they just ran out of time.

It was just so flat and unengaging. Felt like they threw it out without any audience feedback or rewrites...or any kind of quality control. 

Take any scene and you could watch it for a few minutes and see the potential for a great film. But it was just a bit of a mess and instantly forgettable.

Can't quite put my finger on why it was so soulless.... but it was a Mark Pembridge annoying 4/10

[Ram-Alf]

The Long Memory 1953 on Talking pictures, John mills in the lead role as a man convicted of a crime he didn't commit so seeks revenge, Thora Hird also in it.

An absolute pile of horse sh!t, Mills must have been pissed when he signed this films contract, The acting was so bad it hurt my eyes, I mean it's day light outside, A copper puts the light on and a woman closes the curtains WTF 😬

1/10 and I'm being nice 

[Comrade 86]

20 hours ago, Chester40 said:

I saw the trailer for Napoleon at the cinema,  looked awesome... Ridley Scott,  Joaquin Phoenix, huge battles,  amazing story...what could go wrong. 

Couple of months on and all the noise is that it's not a classic. So I was still hopeful but nervous.....and...

Well, its pretty terrible IMO.

Its like a few long scenes are there and instead of massively editing them down and adding you know errr various other scenes!  so there is an actual cohesive story and some emotional attachment to any of the characters... they just ran out of time.

It was just so flat and unengaging. Felt like they threw it out without any audience feedback or rewrites...or any kind of quality control. 

Take any scene and you could watch it for a few minutes and see the potential for a great film. But it was just a bit of a mess and instantly forgettable.

Can't quite put my finger on why it was so soulless.... but it was a Mark Pembridge annoying 4/10

Love the director whose body of work is extraordinary, but this needed to a be a blood and guts tale, or something more cerebral and nuanced. For me, it was neither. If anything, it felt a bit petty.

Someone also needs to tell Joaquin Phoenix that there are times when less is more.

[Chester40]

18 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Love the director whose body of work is extraordinary, but this needed to a be a blood and guts tale, or something more cerebral and nuanced. For me, it was neither. If anything, it felt a bit petty.

Someone also needs to tell Joaquin Phoenix that there are times when less is more.

It was like the greatest story ever put to paper.

Read aloud in a monotone, laboured way that makes it impossible to listen to.

The narrative was really really awful. Some fancy writing with a date was the only way you knew the story had moved on to another world changing event with no change in feel, emotion or context to what I was actually watching.

It just made me feel nothing.

 

[Comrade 86]

5 minutes ago, Chester40 said:

It was like the greatest story ever put to paper.

Read aloud in a monotone, laboured way that makes it impossible to listen to.

The narrative was really really awful. Some fancy writing with a date was the only way you knew the story had moved on to another world changing event with no change in feel, emotion or context to what I was actually watching.

It just made me feel nothing.

 

I don't think you're alone buddy, in fact I think most found it all rather hollow. Beautifully filmed though, the art director deserves an Oscar for the sumptuous visuals, likewise the 1st unit camera crew, but Scott's films all look wonderful, don't they?

He's some big releases this year though, so hopefully a return to form. 

[Chester40]

Argylle 

I wasn't fully concentrating on it .....but it was decent enough.

Closest I could compare it to was 'True Lies'. 

Throwaway family action comedy with some clever scenes.  Never particularly cared about any of it but was definitely worth watching.

6.5/10

[Carl Sagan]

On 12/02/2024 at 10:21, Wolfie said:

The Creator (rent on Prime)

Sci-fi written & directed by Gareth Edwards.

Humans are at war with AI, after a nuking of LA. The AI have developed a new weapon to win the war and the race is on to kill/save this "weapon" robot child.

Visually stunning. Looks a lot more expensive than it actually was.

I liked it a lot. 8/10

I feel Gareth Edwards is the finest director currently working in terms of visual imagery. But his writing is mediocre. I'd love him to work more on other people's scripts. For instance he did an incredibly important job for the Star Wars franchise with Rogue One. 

The Creator looked sumptuous - unlike anything else - but was basically a re-run of The Golden Child. Felt a waste of such a beautifully imagined world.

[Wolfie]

Don’t worry darling. 
 

The fabulous Florence Pugh is the wife of a man (Harry Styles) who works at the mysterious Victory project in an idyllic oasis town in the middle of a desert. On the surface, all of the families are living the perfect life in an American 1950s utopia but of course all is not what it seems. 
 

Not entirely original but sumptuous design and of course Ms Pugh. Enjoyed it. 
 

7/10

[DarkFruitsRam7]

50 minutes ago, Wolfie said:

Don’t worry darling. 
 

The fabulous Florence Pugh is the wife of a man (Harry Styles) who works at the mysterious Victory project in an idyllic oasis town in the middle of a desert. On the surface, all of the families are living the perfect life in an American 1950s utopia but of course all is not what it seems. 
 

Not entirely original but sumptuous design and of course Ms Pugh. Enjoyed it. 
 

7/10

I enjoyed it too when it first came out. Think it got a bit of an unfair rap from the critics.

[Comrade 86]

The Angel - Ashraf Marwan, President Nasser's son and special adviser to Anwar Sadat, begins to sell classified information to Mossad. Is his motivation simply greed, or has he a nobler cause?

No spoilers from me, but well worthy of a watch. It felt quite balanced which I had not taken for granted and Marwan Kenzari and Toby Kebbell are both excellent playing Ashraf Marwan and his Mossad handler respectively.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5968274/

Leon Osman - 8.5/10

Netflix

[BaaLocks]

Memory: Jennifer Chastain plays a troubled care worker who goes to a school reunion and is reminded of an event that happened during her time there. At the same time one of the attendees is also suffering from early onset dementia. Sadly the film really doesn't live up to the premise of uncovering what happened, who is at fault and what the point of our memories are. Even Chastain couldn't carry it - I expected something quite interesting but it just never got there. Hence:

Kamil Jozwiak / 10

[BaaLocks]

13 hours ago, Wolfie said:

Don’t worry darling. 
 

The fabulous Florence Pugh is the wife of a man (Harry Styles) who works at the mysterious Victory project in an idyllic oasis town in the middle of a desert. On the surface, all of the families are living the perfect life in an American 1950s utopia but of course all is not what it seems. 
 

Not entirely original but sumptuous design and of course Ms Pugh. Enjoyed it. 
 

7/10

Great soundtrack as well, yes it has some plot holes but far from the worst film you'll see this year.

[Crewton]

"Wil" (2023) Netflix

A newly qualified recruit to the Belgian Auxiliary Police in occupied Antwerp in 1942 struggles with the conflicts of his role and interactions with the occupying forces and local resistance group. Based on a (Belgian) best-selling novel, it feels like a realistic and unglossy depiction of the reality of occupation. Flemish with subtitles. George Williams 7/10

[Jubbs]

The Holdovers

Quite a simple plot, a teacher, a cook and a student remain on campus at a boarding school over Christmas.

Mix of humour and heartbreak, with excellent acting from all 3 main actors (the hiring process for Dominic Sessa is a good read) who had great chemistry throughout. The cinematography was brilliant as well. Superb.

Will Hughes/10

[Bob The Badger]

Oppenheimer

We finally got around to watching this and really enjoyed it with the almost 3 hours, flying by.

Great acting although I did feel like Cillian Murphy wasn't straying too far away from Thomas Shelby!

All the acting was great, but for me, RDJ stole the show. Surely an Oscar for him?

There were confusing moments with the time shifting but overall, Paul Goddard/10.

 

[NOTSA74]

On 26/02/2024 at 10:28, Jubbs said:

The Holdovers

Quite a simple plot, a teacher, a cook and a student remain on campus at a boarding school over Christmas.

Mix of humour and heartbreak, with excellent acting from all 3 main actors (the hiring process for Dominic Sessa is a good read) who had great chemistry throughout. The cinematography was brilliant as well. Superb.

Will Hughes/10

Saw this at the Odeon on Monday evening, very good and far more entertaining than whatever it was I did last night.

[TimRam]

Convict (2014) - Gritty Australian prison drama.

The Humanity Bureau (2017) - Dystopian thriller.

Both 8/10 and on youtube.