What have you watched recently?

mikemac1

Taken in broad daylight

Made for TV film

Young high school student kidnapped by a career criminal
But this wasn't a typical kidnap, she was grabbed in a shopping centre car park with lots of witnesses and people around. Hence the title

Held my interest throughout, up until the end you don't know if either or them will live or die

Based on a true story so don't go googling that until after the film I'd say.

James Van Der Beek did a fine job here
Hadn't come across the young Canadian actress Sarah Canning before, she was very good also

kc66

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Red State - Awful

I enjoyed it!

That_Guy

Dark Shadows: Not too bad a film. By no means Burton/Depp's finest collaboration but I enjoyed it for what it was. Laughed a fair bit throughout though it seemed to lose it's way in the final act somewhat but there's certainly more than enough to keep the viewer entertained I think.

Jeff, Who Lives At Home: Had very little knowledge of what this film was about but I saw that Jason Segel is in it and I quite like him so took a punt on it.

Enjoyable enough and very charming though for the first ten minutes I was unsure as to what direction this was going to take but the route it did take was a satisfying one.

Good mixture of comedy and seriousness and is certainly worth a watch. The on screen camaraderie of Jason Segel and Ed Helms works well and the story, though quite short, is enough to keep you interested. It's not so short that you don't feel that you're missing out on anything and it's not so long that it overstays it's welcome either.

EDIT: The one thing I really don't like about the film is the volume of sudden moments when the camera zooms in on a person's face. Was slightly distracting.

Rabidlamb

The Confession (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1809362/

A 60 minute web drama that was original marketed as 10x6 minute episodes.
Tells the story of a hitman (Keifer Sutherland) engaging with a priest (John Hurt) seeming looking for absolution through confession.
I found the acting & dialogue top notch, has the feel of a stage play made for film like The Sunset Limited but uses flashback scenes to expand the story.

Overall 8/10.

GAAman

Forgot how much I love My Cousin Vinny just watched it there. Eyes watering, stomach hurting laughter Joe Pesci is fantastic and the gravel faced serious judge played by Fred Gwynne (that's Herman Munster to you and me :eek: ) is the perfect counterpart to him.

My jaw still hurts

Basq

GAAman wrote: »

Forgot how much I love My Cousin Vinny just watched it there. Eyes watering, stomach hurting laughter Joe Pesci is fantastic and the gravel faced serious judge played by Fred Gwynne (that's Herman Munster to you and me :eek: ) is the perfect counterpart to him.

My jaw still hurts

Absolute classic alright.. "what's a yoot?!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLValMc9XjU

GAAman

Basq wrote: »

Absolute classic alright.. "what's a yoot?!"

I burst out laughing again, its the look Pesci gives the judge when he is about to say "yoots" and changes it to defendants that cracks me up. They must have died laughing making that film!

mikemac1

Ha, good call on My Cousin Vinny, class film


Sleepy Hollow

It's six or seven years since I last saw this
Thought it was excellent
Not a huge Johnny Depp fan but I can't fault him here

Very good film

Tony EH

GAAman wrote: »

I burst out laughing again, its the look Pesci gives the judge when he is about to say "yoots" and changes it to defendants that cracks me up. They must have died laughing making that film!

One of my dads favorites, even though he swore that he would never like a film "like that". He was in his late 70's when he first saw it.

So funny to see him laugh out loud at that film.

johnny_ultimate

I found myself browsing channels tonight, for the first time in ages, and was completely devoid of internet and other tools of distraction. So I watched The Tourist. Christ. Worst sophomore feature ever? At least Southland Tales had ambition. This is just appalling. The plot is ludicrous at best, nonsensical at worst. It's not funny, romantic or exciting enough to hit any of the genres it seems to want to. I've rarely heard a less convincing 'but I'm in love with you!' given Jolie and Depp's lack of chemistry. Shocking stuff. Venice looks nice though.

Also watched Aliens earlier in the day on Blu-Ray. I'm still an Alien > Aliens camper, but it's still a thrilling, funny and impressively made piece of work. Air-lock bit sort of bothers me, though.

Tony EH

Yeh, me too. 'Alien' will always trump it's immediate sequel, although I still like 'Aliens'. It's easily Cameron's best film.

Looking forward to 'Prometheus'. I hope they don't make a balls of it.

A V A

the descendants - great film i thouht !! great story!!

fast and furious - fast five - didnt think they could keep it as good as the ones before, but i couldn't believe how good it was compared to tokyo drift!!

blitz - jason statham , cant really say anything ,good film

mikemac1

Rudy - The Rudy Guiliani story

Good performance from James Woods
The film covers a lot but pretty much praises him for all of it, the man himself approved of it

So just enjoy the film but don't use it as an unbiased source

mikemac1

My Cousin Vinny

After the high praise in recent pages decided to check this out
Was over a decade since I saw it last

Brilliant!

Phoenix Park

Watched Drive last night. What a show. Some great acting in it, not that Gosling has much to do in it himself. Bryan Cranston (the dad in Malcolm in the Middle) is brilliant.

Found it a very touching and sad film at times. Albert Brooks is one nasty bastard in it. Another great performance.

Cracking soundtrack too. Lovefoxxx (the vocalist from CSS) on the Kavinsky tune "Nightcall" and "A Real Hero" by College are superb.

Overall i'd give this 9/10, taking one off for it being a little over the top "arty" at times and its not quite a 10/10 script. A film i'd been meaning to watch for months now, glad i got round to it.

FishBowel

Westworld - movie from the 1970s that inspired The terminator. A theme park with robots running amok and Richard Benjamin trying to escape.

GAAman

FishBowel wrote: »

Westworld - movie from the 1970s that inspired The terminator. A theme park with robots running amok and Richard Benjamin trying to escape.

Yul Brynner is fantastic in that, just by walking at a certain pace with no emotion on his face made it that much more thrilling! Great film.

I watched Audition last night, have watched it several times and anyone who has seen it will know what I mean when I say "Kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri! " :eek:

FishBowel

Twlight zone - the first three parts were silly but the last one with John Lithgow as an airplane passenger was great.

Fishooks12

We Need to Talk about Kevin

Finally got around to seeing it last night. Have to say that it easily moves into the top five films of last year for me

Bit too much in terms of imagery (red everywhere!) but apart from that there's not much to fault, cracking narrative that keeps you hanging on for every bit of information

Fishooks12

We Need to Talk about Kevin

Finally got around to seeing it last night. Have to say that it easily moves into the top five films of last year for me

Bit too much in terms of imagery (red everywhere!) but apart from that there's not much to fault, cracking narrative that keeps you hanging on for every bit of information

Nemanrio

The Pursuit of Happyness. Good film and worth a watch. 7.5/10

Bassboxxx

Shame
It was o.k....I knew what it wanted me feel about the characters, but it didn't really make me feel it....

on a side note, I know Fassbender was the lead, but my god he had a big part in it!!!!!:eek:

johnny_ultimate

The Insider - I'm not all that familiar with Michael Mann's filmography, but wow this is pretty electrifying cinema. It's the rare thriller that relies on atmosphere, editing and razor sharp dialogue to remain engaging. Indeed, there's very little in the way of traditional 'thriller' action going on - much of the paranoia is potentially in the characters' heads. But like All the Presidents Men, this is a glorious ode to investigative journalism: the passion of uncovering a story, and the heartbreak that can go alongside it. A few scenes - including Christopher Plummer's amazing outburst near the end of the film - just leap off the screen with passion and energy. Loved it.

Judgement Day

"Mickybo and Me" (2004) on TV last night. Two kids from opposite sides of the sectarian divide become friends at the onset of the "Troubles" in 1970. I had been looking forward to this but despite great performances by the two young stars who played Mickybo and Jonjo the movie fails to get going. Was it supposed to be funny, tragic or both - not really clear? Anyway, don't go out of your way to see it. 5/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3qxUKqGVJ4

Basq

The Last Exorcism - had this on the Sky box recorded from a few weeks back. One of the movie podcasts I listen to mentioned they thought it was hugely underrated.

It wasn't.... mediocre performances, cheap scares and a ludicrous ending. Skip!

krudler

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The Insider - I'm not all that familiar with Michael Mann's filmography, but wow this is pretty electrifying cinema. It's the rare thriller that relies on atmosphere, editing and razor sharp dialogue to remain engaging. Indeed, there's very little in the way of traditional 'thriller' action going on - much of the paranoia is potentially in the characters' heads. But like All the Presidents Men, this is a glorious ode to investigative journalism: the passion of uncovering a story, and the heartbreak that can go alongside it. A few scenes - including Christopher Plummer's amazing outburst near the end of the film - just leap off the screen with passion and energy. Loved it.

one of my favourite films. I love how seemingly effortlessly stylish Mann makes the film look. its like you're watching a documentary at times, its also Russel Crowe's best performance imo. and Plummer is always excellent. there's a bit of trivia about the movie that blew my mind when I read it, shows how much attention to detail Mann gives his films, from imdb:


Toward the end of the film, Mike Wallace shows Lowell Bergman an unflattering article and editorial about CBS in the latest New York Times. The article and editorial are clearly from different sections of the paper. This would seem to be a goof, since the Times' op-ed pieces usually appear in the back of the main news section. The real-life pieces to which this scene refers, however, were published on a Sunday (12 November 1995), which means that the news and editorials would in fact have appeared in separate sections, just one more example of director Michael Mann's eye for detail. .

the soundtrack is excellent as well, this piece of music is fantastic, which was also used in Deadwood, when they are arriving for the deposition scene:

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

Paddy Samurai

One of the best Sherlock Holmes films IMO.Sherlock meets Jack the Ripper.


IMO the trailer has spoilers.

BopNiblets

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The Insider - I'm not all that familiar with Michael Mann's filmography...

Collateral is a pretty cool film too if you haven't seen it.
And Heat of course!

krudler

BopNiblets wrote: »

Collateral is a pretty cool film too if you haven't seen it.
And Heat of course!

Ali too, while flawed, the opening sequence is extraordinary, manages to fit a load of expositon, set up characters and their relation to Ali, sets up the racial tension aspect of the movie and has a kick ass Sam Cooke song to boot all in the first few mins of the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqYXhGS4FF4

Tony EH

'We Need to Talk About Kevin'

An excellent portrayal of motherhood, under the most dire of circumstances. Shot with a peculiar style and a quite disjointed narrative, it balances out beautifully at its dreadful conclusion. Tilda Swinton gives an outstanding performance as the struggling mother of the boy in the title in a film that is a very sober take on what I can only imagine to be a journey into devastation and despair.

It's probably best to approach this film knowing nothing about it, like I did, to appreciate its full impact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLRgAe2jLaw

'Contagion'

Steven Soderbergh's hyper-realistic take on a existence threatening pandemic and the near breakdown of humanity, starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Larry Fishbourne. 'Contagion' is kind of a throwback to those old 70's disaster epics, shot on a grand scale and involving a large cast of well known faces. It's excellently made, but somewhat cold and aloof, leading to a somewhat dissatisfied feeling at the end, despite the fact that the film is never boring or uninteresting. Everyone carries off their roles suitably, with particular mention going to Jude Law (not and actor I'm fond of), who plays a blogger who is suspicious of the CDC's motivation behind their manufactured cure. While 'Contagion' is enjoyable for what it is, it unfortunately fizzles out and it seemed like Soderbergh just didn't know how to end the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYSyuuLk5g