What have you watched recently?

JohnK · 02-12-2011 12:33pm

Well yeah thats true but look at any western and what you have is a bad guy or group of them who'll steal, rape & kill with impunity while the law is unable to deal with them which is where the hero, in many cases Clint Eastwood, steps in and brings the bad guys to justice or kills them. So the only thing that Dirty Harry really brings to the table is its in a more modern setting.

02-12-2011 1:00pm

JohnK wrote: »

Well yeah thats true but look at any western and what you have is a bad guy or group of them who'll steal, rape & kill with impunity while the law is unable to deal with them which is where the hero, in many cases Clint Eastwood, steps in and brings the bad guys to justice or kills them. So the only thing that Dirty Harry really brings to the table is its in a more modern setting.

By that thinking you could call pretty much any cop drama or contempory Arnie/Sly/Willis action film to be nothing more than a rehash of any number of westerns.

To say that all westerns follow the plot you described is ridicolous, the great westerns examine themes relevant to their time. Take the Searchers, to say its a film about a good guy hunting down the baddies is overtly simplistic. It was a very well handled and intelligent examination of a changing world where racist attitudes which had long been accepted were no longer the social norm.

krudler · 02-12-2011 2:32pm

Drive- thought it was awesome, best soundtrack in ages as well.

Tony EH · 02-12-2011 2:51pm

Considering the fact that the western was THE Hollywood staple for decades before 1971, it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to make a drama like 'Dirty Harry' and not cross over into that particular genre every now and then.

As for "Dirty Harry' itself, it was and remains a great film. But, perhaps to younger audiences, it may seem dated.

The sequels, however, get progressively worse, leading up to the utterly wretched 'The Dead Pool'.

The first two are probably the most entertaining, you can forget the rest.

That_Guy · 02-12-2011 3:04pm

Invictus: I liked Morgan Freeman as Mandela. A role he was born to play in my opinion but I think I'd have preferred a film based on Mandela... Not Mandela and rugby.

It's uplifting yes but it seemed very cliched.

Terrible sports team in miraculously turning things around in their favour shocker.

There was some nice shots towards the end of the film with empty streets as everybody was glued to the TV to watch their country in the final.

duckysauce · 02-12-2011 7:38pm

Watched "Red Dog" last night a few posters here recommended it .

It was excellent, good simple film, good for the soul, made me laugh and cry.

True story as well which makes it even better.:)

Thanks to the people who recommended it.

rednik · 02-12-2011 7:44pm

Saving Priavte Ryan, haven't watched in a while. What a magnificently horrific film. Great performances all round and brilliant direction from Spielberg.

GAAman · 02-12-2011 7:51pm

Watched Easy Rider last night in full for the first time. Had caught bits and pieces of it before always meaning to watch it and forgetting. A great film but by Jesus

that ending is a total bast*rd!!

Nolanger · 02-12-2011 8:09pm

Buck privates - Abbot and Costello, Lindy hop dance, and the Andrews sisters.

Bassboxxx · 03-12-2011 12:49am

Catch 44

Meh...trying to be something and gets 3/4 of the way there, just doesn't have the legs for the final kick..:(

it's only 1.5 hours so prob worth a watch anyway.

Judgement Day · 03-12-2011 12:57am

rednik wrote: »

Saving Priavte Ryan, haven't watched in a while. What a magnificently horrific film. Great performances all round and brilliant direction from Spielberg.

Still find the landing beach scene too much to watch - the graphic horror of real warfare, not like the nonsense portrayed on video games or during paint ball bonding exercises.

Mickeroo · 03-12-2011 1:18am

Watched Tucker & Dale VS Evil again. Funny funny film, crying shame it isn't more well known. Watch it folks! But for the love of god avoid the spoilery trailer.

Duggy747 · 03-12-2011 2:10am

The Thing Prequel (remake)

How do you improve or enhance on the Carpenter version?................not with awful, awful CGI that's for sure. 30 years of advancements in animatronics and prosthetics and the best that could be mustered up was just above TV show quality.

I watched it with an open mind knowing it wouldn't match the original but with giant plotholes, next to zero originality, nothing but "BOO!!" moments, and far too much of the alien revealed it just became so medicore and a bit bizzare towards the end. It just made me want to watch the original again so I guess I can give it 1 point for that :P

The gf thought it was boring as hell and she's a sucker for scary bits in films. We ended up talking about Carpenter's version more during it and looked up all the best bits from it afterwards.

This one scene alone was better than the whole prequel (remake) and still sent shudders down our spines :pac: :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjIXwkX1e48

Robotnic · 03-12-2011 4:16am

Old pacino stuff. donnie brasco and carlitos way both gr8 shows carlitos way slightly better imo because of al's character

ScrubsfanChris · 03-12-2011 4:59am

TT - Closer to the Edge

Good doc, very funny in lots of places.
For someone who doesn't care much for motorbikes, it was still very entertaining.

James T Kirk · 03-12-2011 6:05am

GAAman wrote: »

Watched Easy Rider last night in full for the first time. Had caught bits and pieces of it before always meaning to watch it and forgetting. A great film but by Jesus
that ending is a total bast*rd!!

Sure was. Now watch Electra Glide in Blue, where the opposite happens.

GAAman · 03-12-2011 4:46pm

Duggy747 wrote: »

It just made me want to watch the original again so I guess I can give it 1 point for that :P

Could not agree more, only difference with me is I actually watched the original after it to cleanse my brain of that crap!

James T Kirk wrote: »

Sure was. Now watch Electra Glide in Blue, where the opposite happens.

Cool, will check it out and report back

Mike Litoris · 03-12-2011 7:43pm

Duggy747 wrote: »

The Thing Prequel (remake)

I actually thought the 1st 15 mins or so were actually good, then it was a disaster. It was almost like it was a different director etc. After that everything fell embarrassingly apart.

LighterGuy · 04-12-2011 1:38am

In Time

I didnt really enjoy it. That's not to say I thought it was a bad movie. Could perfectly understand someone liking it. Its just while watching it, it kinda felt like it was made for the teenage audience a little too much.

Tindie · 04-12-2011 11:14am

Eight below(2006)
Really good movies, but really moving movie as-well and really sad movies as well.
8/10

I just heard it was remake of Nankyoku Monogatari.(1983), which i will see later

jaykhunter · 04-12-2011 2:15pm

50/50
Drama/comedy/romance starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tommy from 3rd Rock from the Sun, Inception) as a normal guy, 27, who finds out he has cancer, with a 50% 5-year survival rate following surgery.

It's treated completely straight, and does an excellent job portraying the mental and physical changes he undergoes as he battles cancer. Keeping it light/his mood up is his best buddy Seth Rogan, who does a great job, whose small story arc relative to Tommy is great and makes sense. The film touches on how it affects his family, his love life (his new girlfriend's relationship wasn't that solid to begin with) and his way through treatment (councelling, chemo etc). I think it was important to the overall structure that it has equal parts drama and comedy and romance, because this cancer affects every part of his life as he knows it, and would be missing without all 3. They work very well.

I don't wanna give too much away, but I think anyone could watch and enjoy this film. Definitely recommend giving it a watch.

==========================================

Take Shelter
Slow-moving drama about Curtis (Michael Shannon - he looks like Ray Liotta) who has intermittent strange hallucinations (or are they?) about a terrible storm/being attacked and deals with it by making a storm shelter. This film is about 2 hours long and is incredibly slow. I'm used to a films like this being the first act of an action film. Whilst the "is this happening or is it all in his head" is an intriguing plot, I'm afraid the substance of the film is far too thin to justify the time spent and where the film ends. I didn't particularly care about anyone besides him, but that said, that could be the boring of the film seeping in. His refusal to talk to anyone about it gets grating after a while (i'm sure it's realistic, but it doesn't make for a good film) and the end of the film doesn't satisfy me at all. This film could've been told in half an hour.

I'd recommend staying away. Waste of time.

johnny_ultimate · 04-12-2011 2:24pm

jaykhunter wrote: »

Take Shelter
Slow-moving drama about Curtis (Michael Shannon - he looks like Ray Liotta) who has intermittent strange hallucinations (or are they?) about a terrible storm/being attacked and deals with it by making a storm shelter. This film is about 2 hours long and is incredibly slow. I'm used to a films like this being the first act of an action film. Whilst the "is this happening or is it all in his head" is an intriguing plot, I'm afraid the substance of the film is far too thin to justify the time spent and where the film ends. I didn't particularly care about anyone besides him, but that said, that could be the boring of the film seeping in. His refusal to talk to anyone about it gets grating after a while (i'm sure it's realistic, but it doesn't make for a good film) and the end of the film doesn't satisfy me at all. This film could've been told in half an hour.

I'd recommend staying away. Waste of time.

Sounds like you watched a very different film than I did. While its a flawed work, there's enough dread and atmosphere to keep everything ticking over nicely. And Shannon's performance is simply astonishing - the climactic 'shelter' scene is a heartbreaking, beautifully realised moment. Sure, there's stuff to criticise - the ending, notably - but far from a waste of time.

jaykhunter · 04-12-2011 3:05pm

tbh we're probably just different people, i saw that there were heartbreaking emotional scenes - but I absolutely didn't care. From my perspective I wasn't given enough to make me care, especially with anyone outside Shannon. I guess they're just normal people, but I gotta like you before I care about what you're going through. Sure you're crying, but you're a still stranger to me...maybe I'm just dead inside! I thought 50/50 gave me tons to work with, in terms of forming a bond with the characters to get invested, but Take Shelter gave me a pittence.

johnny_ultimate · 04-12-2011 3:14pm

Hmm, personally I thought they crafted Shannon's character remarkably well! Earlier scenes definitely established an everyman - not the most original of backgrounds, granted, but it worked given the material. I think the fact they showed pretty much everything from his perspective got us completely on his side, and little bits and pieces -

giving his dog away, seeing him trying to cover up after wetting the bed

- were very emotionally packed sequences. Just a normal guy stuck in an a confused, helpless situation and that made it powerful, despite some scenes certainly resorting to cliches. Shannon's performance is simply a masterclass IMO!

As for the others, yeah maybe they aren't all well drawn, but is the film about them at the end of the day? I did think Chastain did a good job in a fairly thankless role (how do you play second fiddle to a powerhouse like Shannon?) and you could really feel her frustration as her husband descended deeper into a pretty much indescribable nightmare.

Again, not a perfect film, but IMO they really did get to the core of the main characters, and that made some of the emotional and dramatic climaxes rather astonishing.

GAAman · 04-12-2011 8:56pm

James T Kirk wrote: »

Sure was. Now watch Electra Glide in Blue, where the opposite happens.

Fantastic call!

Just watched it really enjoyed it, reminded me of the ending of a tom hanks film I wont say which one because it will spoil it for others

That_Guy · 04-12-2011 9:36pm

Hugo: Visually amazing but I much preferred the latter part of the film rather than the first part.

It was essentially a film based on film history. I enjoyed it but the build up to the main plot was all over the place imo. As I say, visually amazing but I really don't think that Sacha Baron Cohen's character added anything to the film whatsoever. Him trying to talk to the florist seemed quite pointless to me.

Bassboxxx · 05-12-2011 1:11am

Snowtown..after hearing it mentioned here a few times.

I don't think I've ever seen a more menacing character than John....he put the sh1ts right into me:eek:

Amazing film!!!

Just read that most of the cast were actual locals in Snowtown...make the performances even more outstanding.

Duggy747 · 05-12-2011 11:52am

50/50

I enjoyed this for the most part and would recommend it. Wasn't as syrupy as I thought it would be given the subject matter and I thought it dealt with it quite nicely. GF was a mess by the end of it but I couldn't blame her considering the way it maturely dealt with certain aspects.

Only thing I thought that brought this movie down was

the relationship between JGL and his therapist. It was so goddamn corny and borderline fantasy & unrealistic given the realism they went with in regards to everything else like Rogen's character putting up his brash exterior to help his buddy through the whole thing. The significance of the hand touching the arm was obvious as to where it would be mentioned again in it's eventual conclusion (touching him on the bed) and JGL saying "I think you'd make a pretty good girlfriend" in the car nearly had me vomiting all over the place.

Besides that, a refreshing take on cancer which isn't preachy and has plenty of laughs to lighten, but not detract from, the load of it's heavy subject.

Mike Litoris · 05-12-2011 7:37pm

Tindie wrote: »

Eight below(2006)
Really good movies, but really moving movie as-well and really sad movies as well.

Watched this yesterday, pretty good and sad and happy. The dogs were the stars.

The following bit fightened the ballix out of me like no horror has done since I was a kid

When the dog finds the dead whale and the Sea Lion?? thing jumps out at it

. Considereing it was kind of a kids movie it was completely unexpected. I roared with the fright.:p

craftypaddy · 05-12-2011 7:56pm

in time
meh its ok nothing special

What have you watched recently?

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