Stillwater
Great Drama/ kind of thriller. Matt Damon stars. Great Juxtaposition of Damons American Character against the European City in which it all plays out. Kept my attention all the way through. 8/10
The Mauritanian
True story about a Mauritanian national being held illegally for years in Guantanamo bay. Jodie Foster stars as the pro Bono defense attorney assigned to his case. Some of the ways in which the detainees are depicted as being treated make for hard watching. Good film , 7.5/10
Hoosiers
A kind of charming old sports film made in 1986, set in the american rural midwest in the 50's. One of the first "struggling team , can this coach with skeletons in his closet face his own demons and get these boys to come together to prove everyone wrong" type of films. Its very watchable , the sports action basketball scenes are a bit lacking given what we are used to consuming from these types of film but all in all an enjoyable although very by the numbers sports drama classic. Gene Hackman stars.
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
Having been reading a lot of books about Rome lately decided to find this and give it a look. Its interesting to watch something from the 60's that covers the same period that Gladiator covers, with Commodus becoming Emperor. It hadn't registered watching that that his rise to power was basically the beginning of the end of the Empire.
This is a real Epic - 3 hours long, HUGE Set pieces, thousands of extras. I really wish such things were still doable in the movie business, but alas we only get one or two lines of extras these days and the rest are CGI people. Those massive crowds of real people add so much to a production and the feeling of realism in a film. The set they build of Rome is quite incredible really. It feels like it was filmed on location. Actually they built the set of Rome in Madrid using 1100 workers taking 7 months!
Christopher Plumber plays Commodus, you wouldn't recognise him at all, amazing he was acting in great roles right up until his 90's. Alex Guinneas plays his father who did not want to pass on the title of Caeser, knowing Commodus was a bad egg. Sophia Loren plays Commodus' sister and the love interest of Livius the leader of the Roman army. All great actors, although Guinneas stands out as the natural one, some of the other acting is a little forced as was the trend back then.
There is one quite incredible scene where Commodus and Livius go to to toe in the countryside in 2 horse chariots trying to kill each other at top speed on tight country roads. Horses are vaulting obstacles on the roads while the guys are whipping each other. They even start racing the through a forrest. Total madness, and how it was filmed I have no idea. "No horses were harmed in this film" certainly did not appear anywhere in the end credits.
All in all its an interesting tale to understand why Rome indeed fell apart if you are into history.
I quite often get the impression that for every person likely to overhype something because it's Irish there's as many people willing to write it off for the same reason.
I recoded Venom when it was on TV recently and really enjoyed it. Wasn't sure at first but it got better as it went on. Some very funny bits and good action. Will definitely go see the new one when it comes out. I thought Tom Hardy made the film, without him it would have been rubbish.
Apparently there were 40 minutes of scenes deleted so it would be good to see the extended cut.
To be fair, most of the critical praise for Rose Plays Julie came from outside Ireland. The film had a very positive response in the US and UK - I saw it at the Dublin film fest last year (remember those pre lockdown days!) and even then it had positive international buzz, which is pretty rare for an Irish film!
It’s not the type of film I necessarily get excited about - a tad dry and somber for my tastes. I do think it’s a handsomely, well crafted film though that very much achieves what it’s setting out to do - the consequences of a horrible misdeed belatedly coming to the surface. I definitely don’t think the good reviews stand out as being insincere or anything like that.
There is a trend with some publications that no matter how bad something Irish is, you add a few extra stars regardless. I used to long have my suspicions, but I was told by someone who used to work for a certain long running Irish music magazine that they pretty much have this as an unwritten rule for Irish music/film reviews.
I, Tonya
Finally got to this last night. Very entertaining, almost car-crash cinema, watching trailer-trash types outdo themselves in stupidity. Can't understand however Alisson Janney getting a Supporting award (and perfectly fine she was) but Margot Robbie being overlooked for Best Actress, which was a dreadful omission. She was superb and really drove the whole film along.
Innerspace (1987)
Stuck it on after a chat about Meg Ryan's career of all things; the action and FX of this still hold up, nearly 25 years later. It's worth a rewatch just for those fantastic set-pieces set inside the human body. Thanks to Rob Bottin's handiwork, those various FX-heavy scenes remained tangible and "gloopy" in a manner that still eludes CGI.
The execution of the film itself was way wackier than I remembered (though that's not meant as a criticism); Martin Short playing it big and loud, while various moments were punctuated with zany comedy sound-effects (boinks and whatnot).
Nightbooks (2021)
Being produced by Sam Raimi got my interest, while the trailer suggested a sprawling, horror-flavoured adventure. It was honestly kind of boring for the most part, playing out like a Bottle Episode of a TV show, while Raimi's influence didn't extend to any creative visual storytelling with the limited setting. It picked up a little in the last 15 minutes but by then I had left my wife to finish this while I busied myself elsewhere - which I almost never do.
Cheers to whoever suggested 'The North Water'. I enjoyed that greatly. A very well written drama, nice and self contained with decent performances all round, especially by Farreller who's never been better. It's slow moving, but steady and always interesting, with a whole heap of grit chucked on top and the period setting is very well rendered as well.
Free Guy
Watched this late last night. I was exhausted throwing it on, but wanted to watch a bit and catch up on the rest today.
Once I started watching it, just couldn't put it off. It really is very good, if you want a piece of lighthearted fun. I know Ryan Reynolds is stapled into these characters now, but he is so good at pulling the role off. It's actually really funny in places too - the odd bit of adult humor thrown in.
Malignant
Haven't watched a horror in a fair while. This more a mixture of horror and thriller. It's ok. It's really promising for a while, and I was thinking this could be a really interesting movie if it has something a little creative at the end. It almost got there for me, but not quite mindblowing. But I would recommend it for 2 hours of just switching off and getting sucked into it.
Boys from County Hell.
Tremendously good fun Irish horror movie - and so very Irish, which while I'm not sure how it translates overseas, makes for utterly perfect 10/10 viewing when you're in the right mood.
Rose plays Julie
Saw this earlier and I can honestly say it is one of the worst films I've ever seen. I appreciate how much effort it takes to make a film and so I don't say that lightly. But there's no two ways about it, this is terrible. It's the screenplay and dialogue more than anything else though. Itsnjust badly written, I was always aware that I was watching actors say lines of (truly awful)dialogue. It's like it was written by an 18 year film student. I've never been sold on irish films and when I saw the positive reviews for this I thought this might be promising........but its not. Dont be fooled by the glowing reviews. Orla Brady is a very good actor but even she can't do anything with this nonsense. And the girl who plays the lead is just not convincing at all. Anyway avoid this at all costs.
I watched Peanut Butter Falcon recently, a good feel good film with Shia LaBoeuf doing a great job in his role, good chemistry with his co stars Dakota and Zach
Looper
Looper is a fairly good throwaway bit of sci-fi action time traveling craic. But on watching it for the second time years later after seeing it in cinema it struck me that the story was building up fantastically but then just kind of flattens out into a kind of Akira rip off. I would have loved it to become a kind of ultra gritty violent back to the future with Bruce willis and his younger self teaming up or tracking each other through different times , instead the second half of the film parks itself at a farm house to play out a fairly lacklustre second half compared to the build up and promise of what happened in the first half of the film. Maybe they burned the budget up early. Still good though.
The B&W was so well done that its worth it from an aesthetic point of view. It also adds to the mood of the film. Its not done in a way that felt distracting or gimmicky; I think it really added to the overall experience.
Was going to watch this a few times but just changed my mind at the end and always threw on something else. I think it is the black and white element of it that puts me off. But you reckon it's worth it??
I have a fondness for psychological thrillers alright. B
The Lighthouse.
Brilliantly shot and two barn-storming performances from Dafoe and Pattinson. The look, the feel and the atmosphere were outstanding. I had the lights off watching and just felt uncomfortable the whole time.
It did drag in parts and there were aome parts that could have been drawn out a bit more, like the thing with the light itself.
There was a decent balance between the two leads, culminating in a lot of ambiguity which leaves you wondering afterwards. I'd need to watch it again before being more confident about what actually happened.
I'd certainly recommend it if you are into psychological thrillers.
Stakes on a Plane is very, very good. Well done.
Blood Red Sky (2021)
Absolutely should have been called Stakes on a Plane. It was right there, even if it mightn't have matched the tone of the film itself.
Perhaps 30 minutes too long, sometimes killing the pacing as a result, but still on balance this managed to make solid and entertaining use out of its trashy, elevator pitch concept. A concept played entirely straight, the vampirism a tragic, monstrous curse rather than a superpower saving the day; particularly emphasised in the middle act, the wheels come off everyone's plans (another minor, minus point for an egregious use of the Idiot Ball trope to cause that chaos)
Prisoners of the Ghostland - Sion Sono! Nic Cage! Surely the gonzo attitude of the former mixed with the wild-eyed fervour of the latter would be a match made in heaven? Alas - no.
When I say this is Crank by way of Escape from New York and Mad Max set against the background of the Fukushima disaster… its a whole lot less interesting that that sounds.
This is by my count the 19th Sono film I’ve watched (the vast majority pumped out in the last 10 years or so) and I’d say it’s possibly the most unremarkable of the lot. This is a film in which Nic Cage has bombs attached to his testicles, and yet it feels totally restrained. It has some of Sono’s worst traits - particularly his disregard for conventional pacing - but little of the ‘anything goes’ attitude that usually shines through in even his weakest films. The action when it comes is underwhelming, particularly compared to the wild, outrageous blood-letting you get in Tokyo Vampire Hotel or Why Don’t You Play In Hell? A lot of it feels like a careless mish-mash of generic western and Japanese imagery. Cage has nothing to do but look crazed, which is a shame after Pig recently showed him at a possible career-best.
The one thing it has going for at least is its set and production design. The action is mostly set against two extravagant sets - a post-apocalyptic town, and a sort of hyper-neon red light district. There’s lots of colour and vibrancy, and the sets - while clearly artificial - are impressively physical and lavish. You can tell where the budget went.
It’s hard to recommend this to anyone but Sono completionists. If you’ve never seen one of his films, skip this and watch his masterpiece Love Exposure instead, or even one of his more genre-focused efforts like WDYPIH? or Tag. Especially after his excellent recent effort Red Post on Escher Street, it’s a shame this is the Sono film a wider English-speaking audience will get to see, because it’s a dud.
Help 2021 Nobody does harrowing real life drama like the Brits, and this is Jimmy McGovern level harrowing, actually it turns up the dial a bit. Stephen Graham and the assassin chick from Killing Eve (with a scouse accent instead of a russian one) are the leads in a made for TV film that is about a Care home in England that has to deal with Covid at the start of the pandemic.
To say this is hard to watch at times is an understatement. Graham as always is brilliant....perhaps the best actor of his generation, but its Jodie Comer that steals it with a quite outstanding performance as a troubled girl who starts her new job just as covid hits.
This gives you an understanding why people in that industry are actually real heroes, and not something we just read on twitter. The drama is so intense the film almost becomes a horror movie at times, and trying to imagine working in a place like that - marginalised and almost cast aside by the government at the most critical time, its very hard. Probably best to watch this one on your own if you're gonna watch it, because there will be tears.
Stephen 2021 Again the Brits delivering some more gritty drama, with Steve Coogan playing the detective that finally starts to care about the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Anyone in their late 30's or 40's will remember his murder in the early 90's. Stabbed by a racist gang while waiting for a bus and killed. What I didn't know was the corruption and farcical investigation into this which shows you the reasons those Line of Duty departments were created inside the MET to root out this type of stuff. Its really unimaginable that the police could be so bad, and you are watching it thinking this could never happen now. But at the end of it we are reminded that it could well indeed happen today and is happening. Coogan is very impressive as the lead, nice to see his versatility.
I give the North Water an edge of the others, but yeah great tv all 3. I thought they were gonna do a season 2 of Taboo, I guess covid put a stop to it. The east India shipping company....I really wanna know what happens with them :D
Gyllenhaal should have been nominated for an Oscar, brilliant performance.
Ive actually quoted that memorable line when doing a few job interviews in the past
"I Will Never Ask You To Do Anything That I Wouldn’t Do Myself"
I kinda lump The Terror*, The North Water and Taboo all together. Great tv.
The second iteration of The Terror can go **** ***.
Agree with previous comments about The North Water. Utterly spectacular, one of those shows that's worth it for the incredible atmosphere, scenery and historical presentation even aside from the performances and dialogue.
Disagree about Old. Yes, the dialogue is utterly dreadful and almost sinks an excellent premise, but ultimately the haunting message about the inevitable march of time and what you make of your brief window, the sheer meaninglessness of existence in a grander scale, made it worthwhile for me.
The latest thing I watched was Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. I don't know how it has 50% on RT and 6/10 on IMDB, because it's an utter abomination of offensively banal absurdity. I say that as someone who watched the first one and thought it was passable nonsense.
I saw the trailer for Nightbooks not long before it dropped on Netflix and it looked like a decent kids movie, but I've not heard it come up much on social media yet surprisingly. My sister and her kids watched it and they said it's a properly scary kids movie, so I had to check it out last night. True to what she said it is quite a scary flick for kids, that doesn't end each scare with a gag to lighten the tension. I think this is much needed as kids horror movies are always overly CGI, and light on scare factor.
The main kid did annoy me a bit, but probably not enough that I wouldn't watch it again in time. Kristen Ritter looks like she is having a blast, and you'd nearly wish she was in it more. It's definitely not perfect but it is definitely entertaining, even as an adult watching without kids. I'd give it 7/10 mainly for having the balls to not dumb some of the scarier parts down. If this is Sam Raimi's doing then I hope he keeps being involved with bringing this kind of kid's horror movie back for younger generations to hide under their blankets from.
I watched Nightcrawer for the first time since it came out in 2014. It is a bloody brilliant movie with an incredibly creepy performance by Jake Gyllenhaal with a gaunt face and wide eyes who spends a lot of the movie sounding like he's reciting a business studies text box.
Me encouraging people to re-evaluate The Matrix Revolutions, a solid movie:
Worth, on Netflix.
First thing that struck me was Michael Keaton's rather thick accent. Indeed, that's not the only similarity with Spotlight, there are stories running in tandem. Keaton is well cast, though, you believe his character has a lot of shoe leather in legal matters*. I think the issue of firefighters having radios that didn't work properly is quite well-known, I was less familiar with the compensation scheme for those left behind (not sure that made it to this side of the pond), save for Jon Stewart's work. This is somewhat raw in places as we learn the ugly reality of trying to calculate how much to money to give people. Sometimes barbed, with boiling anger and a wall of grief.
Being at someone's [spoiler] beside only for them not to be related (this was verbalised, not shown) [/spoiler] is one of many awful memories.
Amy Ryan's character's reference to the process being 'cold and cruel' is sadly true, there's a ruthlessness that really comes across here. Props also to Stanley Tucci.
I watched it on Sept 11th and felt like a fitting tribute to those who died 20 years ago.
*There's a nice note at the end about the other projects the actual people have worked on, quite moving.
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