What have you watched recently? 3D!

Wombatman

Donnie Darko

Watched it a few times before but didn't fully appreciate it. Hard to believe it's 20 years old. A masterpiece of a movie. Could go on and on about it but instead I'll just give it the auld.......

10/10

An Inspector Calls (2015)

BBC Version of a clever and taut J.B. Priestly drama thriller play set in 1912. Good cast including Ken Stott and Miranda Richardson.

Very good and not overly long.

7.5 / 10

steve_r

Boiling Point

Restaurant drama with an on-form Stephen Graham. A tense and contained story that is however predictable at times. Worth watching.

The Lost Daughter

Maggie Gyllenhaal directs Olivia Colman in an Elena Fuerante adaptation (a great writer btw). Coleman is excellent - wasn't as impressed by the rest of the cast. Interesting that it has a high critics score on RT but a far lower audience score.

The Killing of two lovers

A short but devastating family drama with Clayne Crawford (Lethal Weapon). Well worth checking out.

Need a Username

Chaos Walking

A very suitable name for the movie.

Full of plot holes and continuity errors. And the big secret that the heroes uncover makes no sense because it is never explained how it was kept secret on a world where men’s thoughts cannot be kept secret.

Doesn’t work as movie on it’s own and doesn’t work as series because it makes no sense that the second wave of colonists would choose to land.

Fysh

Stuck on Interview With The Vampire last night as I had not seen it before. I was pleasantly surprised - good direction and great production value (particularly around costuming and sets), and mostly strong performances (I don't really hold Banderas' English-speaking roles against him, he's an absolute revelation in his early Spanish stuff with Almodóvar but generally woefully used in his Anglo roles). Not a jot of subtlety to be found anywhere, which actually works for the film, considering how the characters are written.

Needless to say, I will not be sticking on Queen Of The Damned...

Mr.Nice Guy

Doctor Sleep (2019) - I watched the 3 hour director's cut of this and was pleasantly surprised. I was hoping they would go a certain direction with this in the final act and they did, so I was thinking this was about an 8/10 film at that point. Must say though I found the way they concluded everything to be a big disappointment. Not sure how King resolves it in the book but I've read enough of his stories to know sometimes his endings leave a lot to be desired. Real shame as I think they could have made it much more simple and straightforward. Would rate it a 7/10 overall.

Beloved Enemy (1936) - This is basically one of those old British romance movies except the backdrop here isn't WW2 but the Irish War of Independence. The central character, Dennis Riordan, is Michael Collins by another name, and falls in love with an English aristocrat visiting Dublin. It starts off in an engaging way with a raid by crown forces but after that there is little in the way of action. It's weird how quickly the two begin professing their love after knowing each other barely 5 minutes. Maybe this was a thing in the thirties. Nothing much to be learned about the period and I'm pretty sure most of the supporting cast weren't Irish. On the plus side, the lead actors are good and they're more respectful to the Irish viewpoint than I expected. 5/10.

The Last Duel (2021) - I enjoyed this. Interesting concept in how it's all structured and strong performances from the leads. Great soundtrack as well. 8/10.

youcancallmeal

Boiling Point

Single take movie that was full of tension and a mostly engaging story. Predictable in parts but an excellent cast especially Stephen Graham. Seems like he can do no wrong these days.

8/10

Spencer 2021 - A very intriguing film this about a Christmas weekend Princess Diana spends with the Royal family. Kirsten Stewart fills the role expertly and gives us a different far edgier portrayal of Diana then recent ones, a more lets say a comprehensive view of her personality and character while enduring the Royals. Beautifully directed by the same guy who did Jackie a few years ago Pablo Larrain, a director with a big future.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Raiders of the Lost Ark - watched this for the first time and Wow, was it boring. I'm shocked it's as loved as it is. Maybe in 1981 it was something special, but I struggled to finish it.

FunLover18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438705#Comment_118438705

Now that's what I call a hot take

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438931#Comment_118438931

I know 😄

I've seen lots of people talk about how dated the Indy films are, and how they're racist or pro colonialism etc. etc. and maybe they are, but I just couldn't get past how dull it was. And even what did happen would have happened without Jones getting involved at all. Just not my cup of tea at all.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438705#Comment_118438705

Hmmm. You used to be cool 😆 I will say: it is the least action focused Indy movie so could see how one might find it a slog ... while I'd be curious to know how you found Last Crusade if you watched - easily the movie with the sharpest, most propellent pacing of the franchise IMO. You might enjoy it more.

To the racism / colonialism angle, ehhh. I dunno. Temple of Doom has definitely aged like old yoghurt but I'd never have said the films had a point to make about anything of the subject of archaeology. Like: Indy is a terrible archaeologist anyway, given he tends to destroy so much, without getting into the morality of his purpose in those tombs.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439058#Comment_118439058

Personally I can overlook certain things in a film that old and enjoy it for what it is, if it's enjoyable, so I wasn't that concerned about any of that going in. It was just the boredom that killed me.

I recorded all 3 original films over Christmas and had planned on watching them all, but after Raiders I deleted the other two. Maybe next Christmas.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438705#Comment_118438705

Are you sure it wasn't 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' you were watching?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439373#Comment_118439373

Shia LeBeouf was in it, and there were aliens, maybe. That's Raiders, right?

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439408#Comment_118439408

Yeh that's one. Brilliant film.

oh WAIT!!!

flasher0030

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438705#Comment_118438705

I'm in the same boat. Watched it for the first time about 2 months ago. Was really looking forward to 2 hours of fun, action and excitement. It really was a whole pile of nothing. Nothing happened. I was very disappointed in it.

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438705#Comment_118438705

Are you sure you watched the right movie? Anyway each to their own.

johnny_ultimate

Totally fair if people didn't like Raiders (no cow is too sacred IMO), but I'm not sure 'nothing happened' is a fair description for a rollicking action adventure film that ends with scores of Nazis being melted by the Ark of the Covenant 😅

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439607#Comment_118439607

Yeah, saying nothing happened isn't strictly true, but it felt like all of that would have happened anyway, with or without Jones being there. He just felt kind of irrelevant to me, and not particularly likable or interesting enough to over look that fact. Obviously a lot of people love it, and I'm not going to argue against that, or try to change anyone's mind, but it was definitely a surprise to me how much I just didn't care.

BruteStock

Im not one to tell somebody their opinion is wrong but in the case of doubting the greatness of Indiana Jones films , they are wrong. All 3 are brilliantly made films. If somebody doesn't like them , the issue lies with them ,not the movies!

https://www.insider.com/how-indiana-jones-created-10-minute-movie-in-one-scene-2020-7

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439373#Comment_118439373

Last Crusade was brilliant, one day you'll come around.

FunLover18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439629#Comment_118439629

It's a criticism that became popular in The Big Bang Theory afaik, maybe it was around beforehand but that's where I first remember hearing it and it's true to an extent however Indy himself does have an arc in the sense that he goes from not believing in magic etc to believing in it. There's a Twitter thread that does a better job at explaining it than me, I'll try find it.

Sad Professor

I think failing spectacularly is Indy's defining attribute. It's in all the films but most of all in Raiders and links him to some of the failed anti-heroes of the 70s. It's all there in the opening sequence but he does it repeatedly throughout the film. Trying, failing, getting captured, getting the crap beat out of him, only to lose everything again and barely get away with his life.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439994#Comment_118439994

I don't watch the Big Bang Theory so I can't say I was preconditioned going into it. Obviously it's not a case of literally nothing happens, but it just felt like set piece after set piece with very little "proper" story to move it along. But hey, that's kind of my feelings about a lot of big blockbusters, so it's nothing personal against Mr Jones.

Personally I think The Rocketeer is the best guy in the 1930s accidently fights the Nazis films, but that's just me. (Although Indy was really having a pi**ing contest with the French bloke, the Nazis just happened to be there too 😄)

Wild Target (2010)

Watched with some friends for light entertainment. Comedy thriller movie about a young lady who defrauds some punters out of a million quid or so, so they send a hitman to snuff her out. But the hitman can't bring himself to kill her. And you couldn't really blame him. Emily Blunt is goddam delectable in this movie. Bill Nighy is the hitman and puts in a decent turn. Martin Freeman is another hitman sent to finish the job. It's obviously not deep but if you're in the right mood it jaunts along throughout a short runtime. There's a few Imelda May songs in there also.

6.7 / 10

JP Liz V1

I'm watching Pixie and seeing Alec Baldwin as an Irish gun totting drug dealing priest he reminds me of Aiden Gillien, the Irish accents are not good

silverharp

This is a nicely shot 2015 film and has a lot of heart, Russian with subtitles. The channel looks like its a mine of older Soviet films too

https://youtu.be/Pkjl55XvUQo

steve_r

The Salton Sea (2002)

I had heard of this film without actually knowing anything about it. For better or worse, its very much of its time - it has a very 2002 look to it and the hairstyles and fashion are very of that time as well. The cast is what attracted me to it - Val Kilmer as the lead who gets involved in the drugs world, Peter Sarsgaard as his friend, and Vincent D'Onofrio as a crime boss. Sadly for me, D'Onofrio and Sarsgaard don't get a huge amount of screen time.

The first hour is a bit messy - some confusing storytelling at times. The second half is stronger as it moves towards a more conventional plot.

A decent movie that could have been a lot better really.

Mr.Nice Guy

The Protege (2021) - Didn't expect much from this and still came away disappointed. Didn't feel much of a bond between Maggie Q and Samuel L. Jackson, which so much of the film hinges upon. I like Michael Keaton and he does elevate things to some extent, but the script doesn't do any favours. There's some overly silly moments and on many occasions I found the characters' decision-making to be very strange. On the plus side, the action scenes are quite good but everything else feels a mess. 5/10.