What have you watched recently?

johnny_ultimate

Was over in Berlinale for the weekend, but only got to see two films for various reasons (queuing for an hour in the vague hope of getting a ticket to some random film isn't always the most appealing).

Dollhouse - Kirsten Sheridan's third film, and a curious if flawed film. A massively improvved film about a group of Dublin teenagers who break into a Dalkey home. There's a dreamy feel to the film, and there are some hypnotic moments littered throughout. But it's also quite an unwieldy and directionless film - by design in many ways, but it can get exhausting. Characters are mostly a deplorable bunch, too. Also the last act might irritate many. But there are very interesting things in the film (some less so, like a tonally uncertain 'breakdown' sequence) and it's worth watching as an experiment in nontraditional 'directing' if nothing else.

Aujord'hui / Today - Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer eats the poison Fugu and thinks he's going to die? This film is kind of like an arthouse Senegalese version of that. A man (Saul Williams) wakes up, and his family are there to lead him into his last day on Earth (the reason for his imminent death is never specified). It's again a dreamy sort of film, as he goes around tying up loose ends before the inevitable. At times subtle and always carefully paced, it was a tough watch at half nine in the morning after a couple of hours sleep. But it's an interesting and sometimes powerful film.

sillo

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer eats the poison Fugu and thinks he's going to die? This film is kind of like an arthouse Senegalese version of that.

Best. Review. Ever.

ReacherCreature

Charlie Wilson's War. Good show. I like the history, strategy, and geopolitics in it. But Philip Seymour Hoffman steals the show. As usual.

The Mollusc

Drive - Finally got around to watching it. Thought the first 10 mins were brilliant and really pulled me in, the film never really reached the heights I thought it would after that but I still loved it!

Galvasean

Yesterday I watched the Muppets, Beauty & the Beast and Back To the future in that order.
It was a good day

Mezcita

Centurion. Which was rubbish.

MagicMarker

J. Edgar - Zzzzzzzzzz, I lasted less than an hour.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Pretty good! Fincher and murder just seem to go well together.

Rabidlamb

MagicMarker wrote: »

J. Edgar - Zzzzzzzzzz, I lasted less than an hour.

Ah jeez, don't say that, it's in my recently acquired pile & I was looking forward to watching it.

MagicMarker

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Ah jeez, don't say that, it's in my recently acquired pile & I was looking forward to watching it.

Give it a watch anyway, sure I feel the same about 90% of Eastwood's movies. If you generally like his stuff then you'll probably like J. Edgar.

Sad Professor

J. Edgar bored me senseless as well. As in The Iron Lady, the non-linear narrative simply doesn't work.

That_Guy

Carnage:

I very much enjoyed this. Some of the arguments are quite over dramatic but other than that, it's quite believable and genuinely laugh out loud funny. Thought it was excellently scripted and Christoph Waltz is a truly terrific actor. Stole the show for me.

The switching of alliegances from couple v couple to men v women was very well executed.

There were murmurings after the film behind me with people complaining that the film was too short. It has a run time at 80 minutes but it's a perfect length. Any longer and it'd probably be overkill and the film would've wained for me.

The Grey:

Went to see this with a good few mates who were all of the mindset that this was going to be Liam Neeson beating the crap out of wolves.... Boy were we wrong.

The trailer is very misleading and if you're planning to see the film I'd advise you not to watch the trailer.

Overall it's a very decent survival horror film.

Nearly had a heart attack twice. Firstly when the lad on watch outside the plane went to go to the toilet and secondly when a wolf appears and comes back out of nowhere when they're by the fire in the forest.

budgemook

SarahBM wrote: »

I really liked the Phantom Menace.
I want to go see it, maybe on sunday.

I hated the Attack of the Clones

But Revenge of the Sith is great.

and I have episodes 4-6 on DVD thats my friday night sorted. :D:D

kryogen wrote: »

Haha I have actually be thinking the same myself! Cant believe Im considering it but I am more then likely gonna end up seeing it!

After hearing a review of this on Phantom I have decided I will not be going to see it after all.

Tom Harward

alcatraz, first episode wasn't very good though.

Funglegunk

Angel Heart. I loved the film right up until the silly ending. I thought the cinematography was gorgeous.

Ash.J.Williams

Finally after eight years or so I got to see The Aviator starring Leonardo DC as Howard Hughes.....Howard Hughes what a legend....One of the most interesting people that ever lived!

Technocentral

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Finally after eight years or so I got to see The Aviator starring Leonardo DC as Howard Hughes.....Howard Hughes what a legend....One of the most interesting people that ever lived!

You should get the book Howard Hughes: The Untold Story by Peter Brown (I have it as an Audiobook) fascinating and really well written book with about ten times more information than that (excellent) film.

ronoc 1

saw the horror movie let the right one in,i had seen the american remake and was a big fan of it,so i just assumed the original would be even better.its not bad but i thought the remake was superior.the acting,direction,pacing,music,all seemed to be better in the remake.i didnt find the two leads all that enaging compared to the remake,espically oskar who i thought was a little wooden.maybe if i hadnt seen the remake i would have liked it more.i know im in a minority with my opinion because most people prefer the original.

barone

TommyKnocker wrote: »

Have to admit, I quite enjoyed all three of the original (Swedish made) films, but I doubt I would be enticed to watch the hollywood remake. Same as with "Let the right one in/Let me in". Original was classic IMHO.

watched all three of the originals aswell.. started watching the 2011 version and turned it off after 20 mins...

also thought both versions of let me in/let the right one in were superb

Mickeroo

ronoc 1 wrote: »

saw the horror movie let the right one in,i had seen the american remake and was a big fan of it,so i just assumed the original would be even better.its not bad but i thought the remake was superior.the acting,direction,pacing,music,all seemed to be better in the remake.i didnt find the two leads all that enaging compared to the remake,espically oskar who i thought was a little wooden.maybe if i hadnt seen the remake i would have liked it more.i know im in a minority with my opinion because most people prefer the original.

I remember this happening a lot with The Ring, people who saw the Japanese version first preferred it and those who saw the US one first thought it was better. Its to be expected when both films are so close to each other. I like both of the Let the Right One In films but there's not a lot between them.

L'prof

ronoc 1 wrote: »

saw the horror movie let the right one in,i had seen the american remake and was a big fan of it,so i just assumed the original would be even better.its not bad but i thought the remake was superior.the acting,direction,pacing,music,all seemed to be better in the remake.i didnt find the two leads all that enaging compared to the remake,espically oskar who i thought was a little wooden.maybe if i hadnt seen the remake i would have liked it more.i know im in a minority with my opinion because most people prefer the original.

I think it's more a case of maybe you should have watched the original first? I think if I'd seen the American remake first, it would have skewed my opinion.

saintsaltynuts

Take Shelter.Started off well enough then really lagged in the second half.Great performance by Michael Shannon in the lead role though. **/5

A Dangerous Method.Big disapointment. **/5

Rampart with Woody Harrelson.He was great in it.Cop corruption at it finest!Worth watching for Woody's performance alone. ***/5

OldeCinemaSoz

THE GRADUATE

It's hard to believe that the irish censor
chopped every reference to Ms Robinson
when first shown here in '67...



and then slapped an 18s on it... :eek:

Still, WE were in THE DARK AGESthen...

or maybe we STILL ARE...

Sad Professor

ronoc 1 wrote: »

saw the horror movie let the right one in,i had seen the american remake and was a big fan of it,so i just assumed the original would be even better.its not bad but i thought the remake was superior.the acting,direction,pacing,music,all seemed to be better in the remake. didnt find the two leads all that enaging compared to the remake,espically oskar who i thought was a little wooden.maybe if i hadnt seen the remake i would have liked it more.i know im in a minority with my opinion because most people prefer the original.

It's unfortunate that you saw the remake first. I liked the remake, but it's not going to stand the test of time like the original will. Even Reeves himself admitted that he sought to make a more conventional and mainstream film by cutting out the controversial bits and using more CGI, more close-ups and more loveable actors in the lead roles. The funny thing is it didn't work and the film still flopped. While Kodi and Moretz are excellent actors and probably have more promising careers ahead of ahead of them, the two Swedish kids did a better job of embodying the characters. Plus, Alfredson is just a better, more subtle director with a greater visual eye and attention to detail.

_LilyRose_

I watched Straw Dogs (2011 remake) today...
A lot of people on the internet seemed to think it was crap when compared to the original, or because the acting/casting, believability and overall story was useless.
I haven't seen the original, but I thought it was good. The whole psychological thing comes across well with the husband and I enjoyed it as a thriller.
Anyone have any thoughts?

McGrath5

The Woman in Black Did not enjoy this one. Full of cheap scares, really not my cup of tea. Daniel Radcliffe is going to find it very difficult to shake the whole Harry Potter image imo.

Mickeroo

A Dangerous Method

Thought it was ok, nothing to write home about. Its very watchable and I'm glad I watched it but wouldn't watch it again. Good performances all round, particularly from Kiera Knightley.

Marty McFly

13 Assassins: After seeing the trailer for this some time ago I had been waiting for a chance to watch this for some time and finally got around to watching it, and well I was left feeling dissappointed by it really it has a slow start which is ok if there building a good story but it just didnt make me care about any of the characters at all with one or two shocking momments thrown in to make you hate Lord Naritsugu but I didnt even find myself hating him as much as I knew I should, then the action again was a let down its just felt sloppy really. Now maybe my own exppectations of the film is what let me down but id say its ok watchable but a lot better around.

Snake Plisken

Troll Hunter ok movie not a big fan of the "blair witch shakey cam" style movie, least they showed you the Trolls

The Guard after all the awards and how it did so well abroad, I didn't think it was anything special

CyberGhost

Man bites dog - It's a Belgian movie, found it a bit weird and shocking at first but then really liked it, fantastic acting by the main character. Won't spoil it much, I'll just say that a camera crew follows a serial killer around, filming his life.

Tony EH

Belgian.