What have you watched recently? 3D!

funkey_monkey

The Dig

I didn't find this as bad as some of the reviews made it out to be. Short on dialogue and a bit bleak (filmed near Ballymena, so that can be forgiven).
I didn't mind the ending - thought it was okay and happily I didn't guess the ending until it happened.

6.5/10.

joombo

Watched The Matrix with my kid - first time he's seen it. He can finally understand all the memes it spawned

buried

Batman (1989)
Tim Burton's shadowy big blockbuster probably did end up spawning every other lame comic book character blockbuster what followed it but this thing is still the best. Even better than Nolan's ridiculous 'gritty' all over the shop Dark Knight hypefest. This thing is the closest to both the early comic book silliness and then the gritty dark noir feel of the 80's comic series, 'Year One', 'Killing Joke' etc. It's layered as f**k too, Keating is playing the role of a man dressing up like a bat as it should be played, like a total f**king lunatic. Burton hints at this in many ways throughout the entire piece. The visual sequential editing of the whole thing is brilliant. The world Burton is creating is totally fantastic but at the same time it feels totally authentic. Bit like the original Bladerunner. I just stuck it on the other night as I hadn't seen it since it probably came out, thought I'd get a laugh out of it and ended up finding it both really entertaining and strangely compelling. It's silly but its silly in this wierd twisted vibe that's utterly and totally dark. Brilliant. If you haven't seen it in a while I'd highly recommend. "Ya ever dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight" 9/10

branie2

Long Shot at the cinema yesterday. I really enjoyed it

ButtersSuki

NIMAN wrote: »

The Mule

Disappointing.

Had the feel of a straight to video film, despite the big star names.
A bit predictable too.

Only a 4/10 for me.

When I checked afterwards, it seems as much fiction as 'based on a true story'.

And hasn't Andy Garcia let himself go! Didn't recognise him.

He was in Dublin last summer and I saw him in a certain hotel. He looked like a lookalike more than himself TBH.

ButtersSuki

Sicario 2: Day Of The Soldado on Blu Ray. Looks great, sounds better....but my oh my, what a disappointment. I loved the original, but part of the reason I waited so long to watch this was I felt it couldn't possibly hold a candle to the original, and I was sadly proven correct. A clumsy plot and a jump the shark moment didn't completely destroy it, but man they tried. They even overused Jonas Johannsson's "The Beast" which while an absolutely amazing piece of tension creating music would have benefitted from a less is more approach I feel. Brolin and Del Toro are great (as are some of the supporting cast), it's just the mess that is the story that lets it down. A very disappointing 4/10.

Mizu_Ger

The Kid Who Would be King

Really enjoyed this. Watched it with the 2 kids and all 4 of us loved it. Good story, action was good (end was a bit overblown) and laughs along the way. I didn't like the look of this from the trailer, but it was very enjoyable. Our kids have been copying Merlin's hand movements for the past few days. I'm not sure how well t will hold up on repeat viewing yet.

Tony EH

'Frances Ha'

A low budget and wandering story centred on the pleasant but oddball Sacramento born Frances (a brilliantly charming Greta Gerwig) and her low speed life in New York, where she has to deal with the mundaneness of modern living and working in the city.

Frances, a "27" year old dancer - although it's hinted that she's older - is a little touched, but never awful. She seems lost and on an unrecoverable path to nowhere, made worse by her boyfriend dumping her, her best friend Sophie deciding to move out of their flat and the fact that her dancing "career" has been effectively eliminated by her being rolled out of the troupe she's involved in.

With little income and nowhere else to go, she returns to her former college to work as a resident's assistant for the summer, while she tries to figure out where to go next.

Shot in black and white, Noah Buambach seems to want to emulate the slice of life approach that Woody Allen uses in 'Manhattan', a film it's all too easy to be reminded of when watching 'Frances Ha'. But, Baumbach's film remains its own beast and Gerwig's central performance is always entertaining. Frances is a person who'd be interesting to know, but frustrating at the same time and Gerwig captures that perfectly, whether it's deliberate or accidental.

Her support is amply provided by Adam Driver and Michael Zegen as Lev and Benji, a couple of too-cool-for-school buddies Frances has to crash with and Mickey Sumner (Sting's kid) as Frances' bestie, Sophie, who's probably the weakest part of the film.

There are some hiccups here and there, largely to do with line delivery, but they don't harm the film, which is a fine low key story about ordinary people's lives.

8/10


I, Daniel Blake

My second time with this film and I think it's probably one of Ken Loach's best pictures. That's saying something, when you take his excellent track record in consideration.

Another modestly budgeted affair, Loach's film is a naturally bleak story scrutinising the difficulties of a 50 something widower who has to sign onto welfare, because he's suffered a heart attack and cannot return to his job as a joiner. His predicament is made worse by the fact that he's refused any allowance because the deciding officer considers him fit to work, despite his doctor's conflicting report. Daniel is unable to, however, to contest the decision and his appeal must be made electronically and he's no experience with computers.

Daniel becomes friends with Katie, a single mother of two kids, who's moved from a homeless shelter London to Newcastle and is finding the transition very difficult. Daniel, who's handy with his hands, helps her around the house fixing items that would otherwise be beyond Katie's knowledge.

But, the characters struggles become overwhelming for them. Daniel is forced to sell his modest possessions, because he has no income (and presumably no savings) and Katie is letting her own health slip while trying to her best for the kids. She also has to take extreme measures to find a way to bring in some money.

Like most of Loach's films, 'I, Daniel Blake' doesn't pull its punches. But, it doesn't get melodramatic either. It's very straight forward, well told and doesn't try and tired movie tricks to manipulate its audience. The acting is varied, is has to be said, but everyone holds their own and it feels very natural and authentic.

9/10

branie2

The Curse of La Llorona at the cinema tonight. It was a great horror film

Tony EH

'Codename: Wild Geese'

Taking his cue from the popularity of the 1978 British film, 'The Wild Geese', Italian schlock factory, Antonio Margheriti (AKA Anthony M. Dawson, AKA Vincent Dawn) decided to have a go himself with his own take on the mercenaries abroad pseudo subgenre of war films.

Putting his best magpie talents to effect, Margheriti pinches the basic story from Andrew McLaglen's film, including its subplot, and manages to gather a pretty impressive list of character actors for his romp, which sees his rag tag bunch of hard men, led by Lewis Collins, sent off to some South East Asian craphouse to help knock out the opium production of a typically nefarious "general" of nondescript allegiance. All on the immediately shady orders of a wealthy American businessman and a dubiously affable DEA officer.

If you've seen 'The Wild Geese', then there will be few surprises here and even if you haven't, you'll be hard pressed not to be able to guess what path the film will take and the bulk of the entertainment value is taken from its B movie charm and seeing the veteran character actors go around the block one more time.

The lead duties of Captain Robin Wesley are taken up by poor Lewis Collins, who seems to have thought the whole thing would be a quite different and better film, as he tries his best in the hope of a big screen breakthrough. Collins, freshly unemployed after the cancellation of 'The Professionals', puts in a decent shift as the leader of the mercenaries, in a role he is well suited for and he does well enough with what he's got. I've always been surprised that his career never took off in a more elevated fashion as he's no worse here than any number of action heroes of the period. I guess it just wasn't to be.

Not trying so hard are the previously mentioned character actors, such as Ernest Borgnine as Fletcher, the DEA guy, and the always watchable Lee Van Cleef, as the dodgy but ultimately OK China. Both of these old lads are there clearly to pick up a few bob and try to have a good time along the way. Although, for Lee Van Cleef, I imagine the shoot wasn't as pleasant as it was for Borgnine, whose scenes were limited to shots in Hong Kong. Van Cleef, who at this point in his life had great trouble walking without pain due to a previous injury, never seems to be in any hurry despite the bullets and explosions going off around him and tends to shoot a lot of people while sitting down. At one point Van Cleef's character, China, rubs his leg and bemoans the pain he's in from trekking through the jungle and I believe him.

The last instantly familiar face on the list is Klaus Kinski. Kinski, a common addition to Eurotrash for decades is always eye catching, no matter what he's in and he's no different here. His unique features are loved by the camera and even if he couldn't give a damn about his role, the film, or everyone else involved, he retrains an effortless fascination even if his voice has been bizarrely overdubbed with an ill-fitting British accent, which seems to disappear at later stages of the movie, where I'm sure we can clearly hear Kinski's real voice.

The rest of the cast are filled out with a number of German non-stars, due to the fact the Gerries ponied up a few Marks for the film's production and Mimsy Farmer, who provides the token and completely superfluous female presence

'Code Name: Wild Geese' won't bowl anyone over and at times is quite boring. But, there are little things here and there that are amusing if you're in the right frame of mind. Watch out for the ludicrous, if admirable, model work that pops up at various points, most notably in a laughable high speed tunnel chase and a miniature flame throwing helicopter.

TheIrishGrover

Infernal Affairs I (2002)

The Hong Kong movie, not the Richard Gere movie.

Haven't watched this in years. Since before Scorsese's inferior (In my opinion) remake: The Departed.

Still holds up. Hong Kong films can date badly but this holds up. It still has the typical Asian-let's-flash-back-to-a-scene-from-two-minutes-ago but not as much as some. The cinematography is great. The cast is simply astounding. Just the best Chinese actors in the business at the time: Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang.

Eric Tsang's Sam is much more menacing than Jack Nicholson's Jack Nicholson.Anthony Wong is so much better than Martin Sheen's Cop version of Jed Bartlett and there is no pointlessly aggressive Mark Whalberg.

Will watch the next two over next few days:

Infernal Affairs II is Prequel. Concentrating on the moles' rise through their ranks and the early days of Sam and Wong's relationship. From my recollection, not as good as part 1 but still decent.

Infernal Affairs III is sequel. Concentrating on another detective who smells a rat (But not a "LOOK! It's a rat, see???!!!" of The Departed) about the happenings in the first one. If memory serves, this was FANTASTIC. Will update

Fysh

I watched Captain Fantastic last night. It was good, but a bit too pat to be great - particularly since last year's phenomenal Leave No Trace trod similar territory in a much more nuanced and effective way. Having said that, Captain Fantastic some great laugh-out-loud moments (the youngest kid's outraged exclamation of

"WHY would the man put his penis in the woman's vagina?!"

being a highlight). It never quite gets past the core issue of the protagonist being a clever man who's also a smarmy know-it-all arsehole, though...

El Duda

Lake Mungo – 7.5/10

A stripped back and extremely effective piece of psychological horror. In an age where all horrors seem to have a ‘jump scare’ criteria to fulfil, it’s great to see one where still images and subtle sound design prove to be a much more effective method in conjuring up dread.

The film opts for the faux documentary style to tell its story which creates the illusion of authenticity and proves to be an effective vehicle to tell this story. There are clear parallels with the basic story outline of Twin Peaks, the main family even sharing the surname Palmer although there is no Lynchian abstract craziness.

I subscribed to Shudder to see this and it was well worth it. A hard to find gem of a horror film that deserves a far bigger audience.

Autecher

El Duda wrote: »

Lake Mungo – 7.5/10

A stripped back and extremely effective piece of psychological horror. In an age where all horrors seem to have a ‘jump scare’ criteria to fulfil, it’s great to see one where still images and subtle sound design prove to be a much more effective method in conjuring up dread.

The film opts for the faux documentary style to tell its story which creates the illusion of authenticity and proves to be an effective vehicle to tell this story. There are clear parallels with the basic story outline of Twin Peaks, the main family even sharing the surname Palmer although there is no Lynchian abstract craziness.

I subscribed to Shudder to see this and it was well worth it. A hard to find gem of a horror film that deserves a far bigger audience.

I'm always on the lookout for a good horror movie to watch so I'll check that out thanks! Is Shudder any good? I tried to check out their catalogue there but I have to be a member.

El Duda

Autecher wrote: »

I'm always on the lookout for a good horror movie to watch so I'll check that out thanks! Is Shudder any good? I tried to check out their catalogue there but I have to be a member.

Shudder is good.

So far I've watched

Hellraiser 1 and 2
American werewolf in London
Summer of 84
The Blob

The Changeling is on there which is next up.

I'll prob cancel in a few months tbf. I go through horror phases so no need to subscribe all year round for me.

Tony EH

'Wolf'

Jack Nicholson, a mild mannered senior editor in a publishing company, gets bitten by a wolf and begins to turn into one. But, instead of getting all depressed like Lon Chaney Junior, he learns to accept his condition and embrace it eventually.

'Wolf' is a laughably silly "werewolf" picture that never really takes off, even though much of the first half is pretty great. It all falls apart around the 50 minute mark, though, and becomes a farce pretty much. Nicholson does his best, for the most part, and seems to be enjoying himself. The rest of the cast are just sort of going through the motions and there's nothing here that will stretch them. Christopher Plummer plays another rich arse and Michelle Pfeiffer is just dull, as she usually is. Only James Spader stands out and he, once again, turns up to play one of life's little shits. But, he does it so well and he's quite enjoyable. If there's any reason to watch 'Wolf', it'll be for Nicholson and Spader.

However, the story is just too tame, with some unconvincing wire acrobatics and really lack lustre werewolf makeup to boot. Which was pretty surprising, because makeup master Rick Baker was in charge. There's some really dodgy "contact drift" going on with the werewolf eyes at several stages that's impossible to ignore.

Mike Nichols' direction is quite leisurely, with few scenes to raise the pulse of even the most easily excitable person. It's also, oddly, studio bound in several places too, with scenes that are clearly shot on sound stages. I don't know whether that was due to budget or a stylistic choice, but it wasn't easy on the eye in any case.

It all ends up fairly harmless stuff, neither here nor there. A bit of a sheep in wolf's clothing.

4/10

branie2

The James Bond film Moonraker on Blu-ray

Tony EH

'Angel'

Danny (Stephen Rea) is a saxophone player in an 80's Irish low scale showband. He witnesses a paramilitary murder one night outside a club and takes it upon himself to enact a bit of revenge.

Neil Jordan's first major effort and it's pretty awful, it has to be said. The film, shot on a paltry half million pounds, is laced with problems, both due to budget and skill sets. It's clear that Jordan was still finding his way, as it were, and despite the impressive cast list, which boasts a lot of familiar Irish faces like Ray McAnally, Donal McCann, Marie Kean and Sorcha Cusack, the acting comes off here as fairly amateurish in many respects, especially from Honor Heffernan who just cannot carry the role she has. The story is also very disjointed too, which is a real shame, and it comes across as clumsy and vague.

The only real entertainment value in 'Angel' is spotting some Dublin sights as they were in 1982, as there's little else to recommend unfortunately.

3/10


'Glass'

David Dunn (Bruce Willis), Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) and The Horde (James McAvoy) are all held in a top security mental institution, while they undergo psychiatric treatment by Dr.Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson). Things don't go so well.

M. Knight's last entry in his middle-the-roads, pseudo superhero series - try that with a few drinks on you - is a strange affair. It doesn't really live up to 'Unbreakable' or 'Split', but doesn't let them down either, despite being of a relatively low key nature. But that low key suits the style of the previous two entries. In many ways it retains the other two film's clumsiness, but also their dubious charm as well.

'Glass' wasn't as well received by both the critics and fans, but I felt it was a perfectly fine way to end Shyamalan's trilogy. I have to say I found it enjoyable, but that's probably because I had no real investment in the series and came to it very late. I only first saw 'Unbreakable' and 'Split' this year and had no interest in them until that time, so any expectation or anticipation wasn't part of the deal on my behalf. I reckon some people were/are put off because 'Glass' wasn't "bigger", as it were, and the small story can seem a little deflating, especially if you've been following this for the last 20 years.

The characters too are a curious lot. Dunn is really just a really strong bloke whose weakness is especially, and unfortunately, limiting. Mr. Glass is a comicbook obsessed smart nerd, with a psychopathically nasty streak and the Horde threatens to slip into parody all too easily. The Beast, too, walks on dodgy ground and at times can seem as impotent as Mr. Furious from 'Mystery Men', leading to a couple of unintentional smirks.

It's hard to categorise Shyamalan's "Unbreakable trilogy", as it's not really a set of superhero films in the sense that we know today (they're not even really superhero films), and that's why I probably find them more interesting I suppose. They are far from perfect, however, and their low stakes may put a lot of folk off, who might be expecting more "traditional" fare.

7/10


'Logan Lucky'

Steven Soderbergh's (I thought he was retiring?) comic, if not a "comedy", film about a couple of hick brothers from Virginia, who plan a robbery at a NASCAR racetrack doesn't sound all that interesting or even that comic really. But, it's a smart and funny story that will offer a few chuckles, even if there are no belly laughs. It's not flashy, it's not "hilarious", it's not "zany". It's just a quirky story that's well told, with characters that are interesting enough to hold the attention.

At two hours, it can feel a little long in areas, but it never feels like a chore and its final stretch can seem a bit off to what came before. But, it's a pleasing film of the type that doesn't get into the cinemas all too often these days.

8/10

branie2

Detective Pikachu at the cinema this evening; it was very good.

Dades

Tony EH wrote: »

'Glass' wasn't as well received by both the critics and fans, but I felt it was a perfectly fine way to end Shyamalan's trilogy. I have to say I found it enjoyable, but that's probably because I had no real investment in the series and came to it very late.[8/10

This echoes my feelings.

I only saw Split this year, and enjoyed Glass as a follow up. Have no real affiliation to them as a fan, but liked them as a rough trilogy and a novel take on 'comic book' characters that have been done to death.

James McAvoy is outstanding - particularly in Split. And Bruce and Sam J always great to watch. For that matter Anya Taylor-Joy is destined for big things, too.

Tony EH

Yeh, McAvoy is very good. His ability to change his whole demeanour when he shifts character is terribly well done. There's a dangerous level of camp that can be slipped into, when an actor tries that kind of multiple personality shtick. Bur he always stays the right side of it.

pixelburp

McAvoy saved it, he continued the strong performance (s) from Split, but the rest was a checklist of all the worse elements of Shyamalans directing style / approach. Sarah Paulsons character, dialogue and arc was almost toe curlingly awful and the standout there. The constant comics references were also pretty bad

RasTa

Binged the first 3 eps of the Wu Tang documentary Mics and Men. Best one I've seen in awhile probably helps that I was a massive fan growing up.

Mad_maxx

John wick on TV last night, this franchise completely passed me by

Silliest movie I've ever seen, wanted it to end

Sugarlumps

The Meg – It’s not a brainless popcorn flick, just shat.

Southern Comfort – Fond memories of this film as a youngster, good premise for a remake.

Jump_In_Jack

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Anyone seen it yet? Really disturbing film, but good acting from Efron and Collins.
It dragged a bit in places for me, but some of the details were fascinating/shocking (

how he managed to escape captivity, and how there was some public support for him during trial

), and would make me think about watching a Ted Bundy documentary now, although not interested in the gory details of his crimes, more the psychology of him. Also read online that while he was in captivity awaiting his death penalty he assisted the authorities in working on the Green River Killer case. He gave them tips about what the killer might be doing at the crime scenes which eventually led to them finding the evidence that enabled them to eventually arrest the perpetrator, the USA's worst ever serial killer.

ButtersSuki

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Anyone seen it yet? Really disturbing film, but good acting from Efron and Collins.
It dragged a bit in places for me, but some of the details were fascinating/shocking (

how he managed to escape captivity, and how there was some public support for him during trial

), and would make me think about watching a Ted Bundy documentary now, although not interested in the gory details of his crimes, more the psychology of him. Also read online that while he was in captivity awaiting his death penalty he assisted the authorities in working on the Green River Killer case. He gave them tips about what the killer might be doing at the crime scenes which eventually led to them finding the evidence that enabled them to eventually arrest the perpetrator, the USA's worst ever serial killer.

Watched it a few weeks ago. Though Efron was quite good in this (as he was in the under-rated "Parkland"), I felt it paled in comparison to the Netflix documentary series and other work I've seen on Bundy. What really disappointed however was the

HACKSAW

scene which

didn't actually happen, they just made it up!

. It's not awful by any means, if you're stuck for something to watch I'd say you could do an awful lot worse - but the docuseries is far superior. 6/10.

Sugarlumps

Chef - Knew absolutely nothing about the film baring food. Welcome change to the current crop of movies. Thoroughly enjoyed it, Favreau did a stellar job. Accompanying music was fabulous. Pity Hoffman's character didn't feature more.

johnny_ultimate

Quick thoughts on a couple of interesting recent watches:

Amazing Grace - I'm not all that familiar with Aretha Franklin's music outside the hits, but this is electrifying. The energy and passion of the performance is breathtaking, and even as a hardened atheist I love how the gospel music here brings the crowd to life. An all-timer of a concert movie that's miraculously been saved from the vaults.

Long Day's Journey Into Night - the film's big selling point - a nearly hour long, 'single' take, 3D sequence - is a technical marvel quite unlike anything else. A packed IFI screen 2 is a less than ideal space to watch this long, difficult film - but I still emerged into the Dublin night somewhat dazed from what I'd seen. A complex, impeccably-crafted film, but one I need a second viewing to properly get to grips with.

Hotel by the River - this is a great starting point for anyone who's never seen anything by the master Hong Sang-soo. This one doesn't have the sort of strange or mysterious quirks you usually get in his films, even if it's still unmistakably his work. What you do have is a film where the characters and emotional beats are more lucid and affecting. Don't worry: the bar scenes are still as long and meandering as ever.

Microhabitat / Unicorn Store - I coincidentally watched these one after the other and they made for an uncannily appropriate double bill. The Korean film is by far the stronger of the two - an extremely accomplished film that critiques modern day social pressures while crafting characters of genuine depth. Brie Larson's directorial debut, in contrast, has a broadly similar protagonist, but the film swiftly itself loses itself in quirk and the mix of darkness and wonder emporium doesn't work. Larson tries her best, but the foundations are just too rocky.

Ash Is Purest White - Jia Zhangke's crime/romance epic that (not remotely surprisingly for Zhangke) doubles as a portrait of an evolving China over a two decade period or so. It's superbly made, and it weaponises pop music to startlingly impactful effect. It's a little bit too neat compared to his earlier work, but nonetheless it's a stunning big screen treat.

Vox Lux - I'm still not sure whether I actually liked the second hour of this (the first is great), but I continue to have a lot of time for Brady Corbet's stately, precise sense of cinematic form. His sophomore feature has a lot to say about the state of the US - the film's chapters neatly coincide with Columbine, 9/11 and the election of Trump - and almost certainly overreaches in tying that into the story of a pop star's rise and fall. But it's a trip, and there's enough here to suggest Corbet as a young filmmaker who could yet make a truly great film.

Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji - couldn't tell you how many samurai films I've watched over the years, but happy to report they can still surprise me. The title is not quite misleading (a spear does eventually get bloodied) but it does suggest an action film whereas this is something very different. It's instead a roadtrip movie, with a group of protagonists travelling in the shadow of Mount Fuji. Rather than samurai action they instead encounter people and their stories - and in the process allows Tomu Uchida to study class systems, inequality and (in)justice. Ozu's name pops up in the opening credits, and it's not hard to see why - this is classic 1950s Japanese cinema that's deeply interested in both its characters and the society they exist in.

Sad Professor

^ I really liked Vox Lux, but I thought Portman was too old for the role. Rooney Mara was originally cast and I spent the whole film thinking how perfect she would have been.