What have you watched recently?

SarahBM

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Last of the Mohicans

Amazing movie, the last 10 minutes is uberepic(its a word). Have since watched it again.

8.5/10

Dances With Wolves

Again another great final, where Costner is brilliant, only problem with the film is the length. I decided to go for the directors cut...4 hours:eek: Great watch, much better than Avatar in terms of story, despite them being pretty much the same film.

8/10

The Amazing Spiderman

Really enjoyable movie, the new Spiderman actor is quite good. Emma Stone with Blonde hair is just lovely. Good movie, cheesie in parts and good action, all in all a very good comic movie.

7/10

I love the last of the mohicans. brilliant film, and Im a sucker for the love story
Dances with wolves wasnt as good the second time round. like you I have watched the directors cut, unbelievably long IMO.

And the Amazing Spiderman sounds "good" :D:D

livinsane

Finally saw Magnolia. It blew me away. Some incredible scenes notably the one with the characters singing along to the same song in separate settings. Tom Cruise on top form. Got me thinking about William H Macy though. Can anyone name a role he plays that doesn't evoke painful pity in the viewer. I'd love to see him in a meatier role.

castletownman

Had recorded Super on my Sky + box for a week but only had the time to get around to watching it tonight.

Much say I really enjoyed. I thought how they satirically portrayed the actions of the generic comic book vigilante very well, and very funny at times. There was something sad about Frank's monologues throughout the flick, particularly at the end. Maybe it was a reference to the loneliness of the perceived loner, and the agenda often on the mind of a comic book hero (everyone calling him a psycho, he eventually realizing why he was God's chosen one). Rainn Wilson was perfect for the role, it was almost like Dwight Schrutte's character in the Office. It was a lot gorier than I thought a satire would be, and Ellen Page really stole the show. What a little psycho she is!

One of the better films I've seen over the last couple of years definitely.

Tony EH

In order to avoid spoilers, I won't mention much about the plot.

'The Amazing Spider-man'

Almost too easy to dismiss as 'The amazing(ly) early reboot', Marc Webb (yes, that's his real name), takes his shot at the Spider-man origin story, just a few years after Sam Raimi's trilogy came to an end. Built on the back of the failure to launch 'Spider-man 4', 'The Amazing Spider-man' actually features much of the same production team that the previous series used. This could have had a negative effect, but seems to have been very positive indeed, as 2012's Spider-man is an altogether better affair than the Raimi effort...by a large margin. It's clear that the team have built upon their previous experience and have made efforts to fine tune the story. Director, Webb, also has taken a more darker approach to the story than Raimi and the film is far superior in terms of tone.

Also improved is the acting calibre of the central cast. Andrew Garfield is an altogether more charming Peter Parker than Tobey Maguire could ever hope to be. Gawky and awkward, but never irritating, Garfield trumps Maguire because there are more nuances in his performance. Where Maguire offered a rather one-trick pony, Garfield tends to capture Parker's schoolboy underdog in a more complete way. Peter Parker was never really that interesting anyway, unlike Bruce Wayne, who also has an intriguing personality out of the suit. But even Maguire's Spider-man was a bit of a bore. Likewise, Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy (Parker's first squeeze in the comics) is a much greater contribution to the story, than Kirsten Dunst's spacy and "forever being rescued" Mary Jane Watson.

Spider-man's aunt and uncle are covered by Martin Sheen and Sally Field this time around and they handle their secondary roles nicely enough, even if Sally Field's Aunt May is a little too fresh looking.

Bad guy duties are turned in by Rhys Ifans, this time as Curt Connors/The Lizard, one of Spider-man's more interesting enemies. Although Dr Curt Connors was given mention in Raimi's trilogy, his super vilian persona never appeared. In 'The Amazing Spider-man' he's portrayed as a man who wants to help mankind in his human form (albeit in a kind of Eugenics sort of way), but is in danger of harming it with his actions in his Lizard form. You can probably guess how things end.

In any case, the film tends to be very focused on Pater Parker's evolution from geek to superhero and unfortunately, the "super" action is left until the final reel. Such is the problem with all of these "origin" stories. So much time is spent building up the superhero, that the fighting has to be squished in toward the end. This incarnation of Spider-man is no different, however the buildup is sufficiently interesting and well handled.

Either way, there's little that's really new going on here, if one is familiar with the trilogy from the last decade and there is at least one major thing missing (it begins with a J). But, overall, it is a great improvement and if that quality can be harnessed for future entries, then this Spider-man will be the definitive version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tnxzJ0SSOw

mikemac1

Homicide: The Movie

I was a fan of the show though I only saw 3 out of 7 series, it's very old at this stage


The series wrapped up but they decided to do a film as well

Great to see the characters back, there was very strong writing behind this show.
Same team who went on to do the Wire

I enjoyed this, good watch

Just the editing is distracting, switching between faces after half a second multiple times, would wreck your head and just unneccesary

T.C.O.B

Watched "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" last night with Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan.

Kind of a dark crime caper comedy. Really funny, Downey Jr and Kilmer play of each other really well. Well worth a watch.

T.C.O.B

Recently saw "Wanted" (2008) with James McAvoy and Ang Jolie.

It's a stylized action movie about a 1,000 year old fraternity of assassians. Now I'm all for a bit of brainless action now and there's plenty of it but to be honest the story didn't really grip me and by the the final 30 mins I was just waiting for the end.

As you can tell, wouldn't recommend.

kerry4sam

Absolute Power with Clint Eastwood; Ed Harris and Gene Hackman. Personal to me on a few fronts Always a joy of a film to watch!

JJJJNR

Being Flynn, I really liked this movie, it was very sad in places, but it was very good.

i_am_joey

watched THE THING last night.
or should i say the prequel to THE THING.
they said on the feature that they incorporated scenes from the first one, now it makes me want to watch the one from the 80s.

Mike Litoris

i_am_joey wrote: »

watched THE THING last night.
or should i say the prequel to THE THING.
they said on the feature that they incorporated scenes from the first one, now it makes me want to watch the one from the 80s.

Oh boy are you are in for a treat!!

Comparing the 2011 rubbish to Carpenters masterpiece is like comparing a Lada to a Lambourghini.

i_am_joey

Mike Litoris wrote: »

Oh boy are you are in for a treat!!

Comparing the 2011 rubbish to Carpenters masterpiece is like comparing a Lada to a Lambourghini.

i just watched it because of Mary Elizabeth Winstead
im sure the one by Carpenter is waaaay better.

pookiesboo

The secret in their eyes, Argentine film, brilliant

Daemos

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

A great action film where people we care about die, and places we grew up with are destroyed. On my 3rd viewing the final scene still makes me well up. A nostalgic masterpiece IMO

old hippy

Animal Crackers - Marx Bros film, sans Margaret Dumont but otherwise great fun.

Goodfellas - Never tire of this. Scorsese at the top of his game.

Wild at Heart - David Lynch does disturbing exceedingly well & Nic Cage never better

O Brother, Where Art Thou - Only the Coen Bros could get away with "basing" this on Homer's Oddessey It's still great fun and a bit more like The Wizard of Oz than the Lynch film above alluded to.

G.K.

Spidey - Good film, well acted and staged.

Black Hawk Down - An absolute classic in war films. Fantastic work by cast + Ridley Scott.

briany

Detachment : A look into the tortured life of a substitute as he takes on a new assignment.

Thought this was OK. Wouldn't agree with the rave reviews of it. It split itself between the teacher's school life and his personal one but in doing so, it doesn't really give an interesting account of either. Also, the film has several big names in it who aren't much used at all which is OK except they get top billing in the opening credits. Bryan Cranston, for example, barely features at all. He barely gets more to say than the kid who puts together 'ubiquitous assimilation' in the English lesson. It does portray the angst that some teachers must feel quite well ,in a Von Trier or Van Sant type of way, though.

6/10

Stranger Than Fiction : A stuffy IRS man finds his life turned upside down when he starts hearing a voice narrating his life.

7/10

Thought this was a good film and probably the first Will Ferrell film I have ever enjoyed. Good mix of drama, warmth and comedy and a nice back up cast.

FishBowel

old hippy wrote: »

Animal Crackers - Marx Bros film, sans Margaret Dumont but otherwise great fun.

Margaret Dumont was in Animal Crackers

Judgement Day

"Barry Lyndon" (1975) - on VHS €2 from a local charity shop. Best €2 I've spent in years - a two cassette boxed set and previously unwatched judging by the picture quality. Ryan O'Neal is superb in this monumental (185 mins) epic, directed by Stanley Kubrick, as the young Irishman on a quest for wealth and rank in 18th century Europe. Filmed in Ireland, the UK and Germany. Drama, humour and tragedy plus stupendous scenery, a quality cast and a great story - this is another to see before you die. 10/10

The YouTube video below does not contain serious spoilers. Available on DVD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHCKrusk5SQ

old hippy

FishBowel wrote: »

Margaret Dumont was in Animal Crackers

Dammit, you are correct - I meant to say "Monkey Business" :rolleyes::D

Paddy Samurai

G.K. wrote: »

Black Hawk Down - An absolute classic in war films. Fantastic work by cast + Ridley Scott.

Great film,I absolutely love this film.The mates,a few beers,surround sound and bullets flying.Priceless:D.
We usually watch it a couple times a year.
I love the scene were the two rangers are lowered to their deaths where they sacrifice themselves at the crashed copter.Brings a manly tear to my eye.

FishBowel

Riff-raff - the Ken Loach comedy about a group of builders. Better than his other stuff.

livinsane

Watched Requiem for a Dream this evening. Great show but apart from the montage at the end, didn't find it the least bit shocking or hard to watch (opinions I often hear on the movie). Ellen Burstyn's performance was the whole movie for me. Her scenes were raw and ugly and fabulous. Loved the harsh sound effects (grinding teeth, switching telly on and off). Leto and Connelly were a bit romanticised and too hollywood and their good skin and white teeth took the edge off the film. Well I suppose every drug addict's demise starts somewhere. Camera work is class.

If anyone is interested in the author of the book, his other well known work Last Exit to Brooklyn is a masterpiece and the film adaptation is pretty good also, with some trademark harrowing scenes.

Tristram

I watched Warrior last night and was very pleasantly surprised.

enfant terrible

bear_hunter wrote: »

desperetly seeking susan

must be twenty years since i saw this , forgot how likeable it is , rossana arquette was a fox back in the day and madonna put in her one decent performance

I liked her in Evita too.

McGrath5

Drive It's up on Netflix if anybody has seen it. Possibly one of the finest films made within the past few years. Soundtrack is fantastic too, makes you want to hop into the car and go for an aimless spin.

FishBowel

Plank - Tommy Cooper and Eric Sykes, mostly silent, from the 1960s. Lots of famous faces appear.

Judgement Day

FishBowel wrote: »

Plank - Tommy Cooper and Eric Sykes, mostly silent, from the 1960s. Lots of famous faces appear.

I have it on DVD - kids love it. What did you make of it?

If you enjoyed it you might like this from the same stable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb_(1969_film)

Arcee

Really enjoyed Magic Mike. Was surprised to find it was actually a legitimately good film. Soderbergh was back on form after a few recent turkeys and Channing Tatum is actually not a bad actor. Pleasant surprises all round

Basq

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011): Only got around to seeing the Fincher-Craig-Mara movie last night. Was a good movie overall with excellent direction and performances - plus that opening credits sequence was superb. Strange type of pacing though with Lisabeth and Mikhail only meeting for the first time mid-way through and a solid enough resolution with half an hour still to go. Kinda ended with a whimper rather than a bang. Still very enjoyable!