What have you watched recently? 3D!

Sad Professor · 26-12-2022 1:54pm

Watched the so-called director's cut of Rocky IV which cuts out as much as it adds back in. Very underwhelming and messes up a cheesy '80s classic.

Snake Plisken · 27-12-2022 12:59am

So watched Knives Out for the first time last night and really enjoyed it. Great murder mystery story and strong performances from Ana De Armas, who you really care what happens to her and Daniel Craig and the all star supporting cast. A solid 8 out of 10.

So tonight I decided to watch Glass Onion and found it a disappointing follow up to Knives Out. It has an over convoluted story with less interesting characters. So I'd have to give it a 6.5 out of 10.

I know it's getting great reviews but I do hope the next one gets back to something closer in tone to the first movie.

Mad_maxx · 27-12-2022 10:28am

Watched 1917 for the second time last night, terrific movie, you feel fully immersed in the journey and the sound is so real , far better film than Dunkirk which was released in the same year

Mr.Nice Guy · 27-12-2022 8:49pm

I watched The Rock (1996). I've seen it before but the last time was probably 20+ years ago. Connery is definitely the star of the show but I liked Ed Harris too. Nicolas Cage didn't bring as much to the table as I thought. A scene late on did bug me when Connery is fighting one of the bad guys...

The bad guy calls him an "English prick" and Connery's character, who was earlier said to be from Glasgow, let's it go. I was fully expecting after Connery dealt with him that he'd say something like, "Actually, I'm a Scottish prick." That would have been the line of the movie. The film does seem to be lacking some good one-liners.

Overall, it's an entertaining action film. I don't think I would put it in the bracket of the top 90s action films like T-2 or Speed, but it's fun. I had forgotten Michael Biehn is in it and I enjoyed his time on screen, limited as it was.

silliussoddius · 27-12-2022 9:36pm

Some good one liners

your besht, losers complain about doing your besht. Winners go home and frick the prom queen

NIMAN · 27-12-2022 9:41pm

Watched Banshees of Inisherin.

Not sure what to think tbh. I liked the comedy in it, plenty of funny lines.

But the film as a whole? Just wasn't sold on it. In terms of quality, well behind In Bruges and Three Billboards. Not sure what all the hype is about.

silverharp · 28-12-2022 10:52am

if you like old 50's film noir, this is a good one, the antagonist is great, there is a YT channel DK classics which has a decent playlist.

https://youtu.be/XIeFKTbg3Aw

steve_r · 28-12-2022 8:18pm

Sleuth 1972

This is based on a play, and the 1972 version stars Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier. I'm on a bit of a Michael Caine buzz at the moment and I wanted to check it out. Laurence Olivier is also an actor I haven't seen a lot of, but know by reputation. This story is very plot-driven, so much so that I don't want to comment at all lest I inadvertently spoil something. I found it very interesting and enjoyable and I loved both of the lead performances.

Rope 1948

This is one that was on my list for a long time, another play adaptation, this one directed by Hitchcock and starring James Stewart. The story opens with two college students committing a murder, and hiding the corpse in plain sight while they hold a dinner party. Hitchcock really builds the tension and the story rattles along at pace - the whole thing clocks in under 90 mins - if it was made today it would be way longer and nowhere near as good. Highly recommended.,

Decuc500 · 29-12-2022 11:52am

Barbarian

This years hyped up horror movie. Mainly delivers.

It might be a standard ‘Don’t go in the basement’ type of film but it is so confidently directed it feels like watching something a bit different.

The nice touches of humour and a neat ending ensure it isn’t as nasty or bleak as so many of these movies are.

Emily The Criminal

Part tense thriller, part searing indictment of the American jobs industry.

A woman can’t get a proper paying job due to past convictions so is tempted into joining a scamming operation to make ends meet. Of course she gets deeper into the criminal life and things spiral out of control.

The steely look and insistent score gives this an indie Michael Mann feel.

The Hunted

I’ve watched most of William Friedkin's films multiple times. You kind of have to. Even his less well received films are peculiar enough to stand out.

The Hunted is really one long chase scene. Very little exposition, just Tommy Lee Jones’ tracker trying to catch Benicio del Toro’s damaged special ops soldier. It’s as lean as thriller films get. Contains some wince inducing knife fighting scenes.

Mr.Nice Guy · 29-12-2022 11:28pm

I got around to watching Wolfwalkers (2020). I liked it more than I thought it would. I do feel a bit conflicted on the ending though.

I think I would have preferred a darker one rather than the happy-ever-after conclusion. It would be more in keeping with the way things tend to go in Irish mythology.

monkeyactive · 30-12-2022 3:10pm

The assassination of Jesse James

Beautiful slow moving Western with a great score. I would go far as saying it's an underrated masterpiece. True story so less of a gun slinging hair raiser and more of a study of a man coming apart with paranoia under the weight of his own legend. For me its the last great Brad Pitt performance before he started accepting rubbish films and appearing in too many things acting as the character Brad Pitt ( see oceans 11 series , Mr and Mrs smith ,world war Z etc )

Casey Affleck is outstanding as the despicable Robert Ford.

This film really rewards having read the Ron Hansen Novel. Without having read the book I could imagine that the film would lack a lot of context and some of the weight behind the happenings on screen would be absent. The film is kind of like a collection of some of the most important scenes in the novel. I have to dock points though as in the novel there are some edge of the seat bank robberies and shootouts that read like the final act in Heat but these are disappointingly absent from this film.

8/10

30-12-2022 8:25pm

Vengeance (2022)

Definitely one of the best films that I've seen this year. Smart, self-aware, topical, at times heartfelt and somehow managing to pull off that difficult combo of tense mystery with comedic elements due to a very good script. Runs rings around that vacuous "Glass Onion" as a mystery too. A great turn by Ashton Kutcher in the supporting cast.

steve_r · 31-12-2022 1:43pm

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

This is the Kenneth Branagh version where he directs and stars as Poirot. I'd read the book years and years ago, I remember enjoying it but didn't remember the plot/conclusion so I went into this cold. There's a high-profile cast with Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, and Willem Dafoe, and that's almost a distraction at times. There's a lot of time spent trying to introduce us to the characters and I felt it bogged down the story. A key part of the plot is only presented midway through and it would have been better (see below) if this was done earlier. I wasn't mad about Brannagh as Poirot - it's a unique character that can be over the top at times, and he really leans into that. Overall I left the film thinking that there was a better way to tell the story, which is why I ended up watching....

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

This is the Sidney Lumet version (a director I love), and has Albert Finney as Poirot. Finney portrays him as eccentric and a bit mad at times, but relatively grounded when he interacts with other characters, and I much preferred this take on the character. Lument starts the story off with a key piece of background that sets the scene for the rest of the story. This film also has a big cast (Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery etc) but it uses them sparingly and I think the story works better as a whole. Having said that, I think both films have characters that don't really add anything to the story. As a whole though, I think the 1974 version is the way to go if you want to see this story on screen.

pixelburp · 01-01-2023 8:41am

First Man (2018)

That first set-piece made me think of Top Gun: Maverick's own opening scenes, being an interesting contrast of perspective when it came to our collective species' love to push boundaries. Tom Cruise's opus positted experimental flight as something thrilling, evocative - dangerous but alluring too. Cool, even. First Man took the opposite angle: Ryan Gosling's Neil Armstrong piercing of the atmosphere was rendered as something utterly terrifying; our technology nothing but a thin facade against the howling roar as the atmosphere dissolved outside, the planet actively trying to tear the plane apart. This was a trend throughout the film that made for an arresting change in approach when it came to Hollywood's presentation of the Space Race. That while the maths and engineering was exacting, the expertise unmatched, the machines themselves were nothing but tin cans thrown into a storm, their occupants stoic madmen who had little agency in their own fates once the rockets launched.

Beyond those scenes though, it was a somewhat infuriating thing to watch in places: Damien Chazelle had no sensible grasp of the terrestrial and domestic drama, instead tossing around what should have been quiet, still compositions with the "shaky cam" effect; a superficial and nauseating affectation beloved by those who think it conveys instant authenticity and emotional truthfulness to images. By all accounts it had its place when used to shake the viewer around as they were trapped within those aforementioned tin cans - but when it was used during a tense scene between parents processing their grief? Honestly, it was maddening. There were great performances here with Claire Foy and Gosling both vibing with quite different energies - not that you'd have seen them half the time for all the bobbing about by the camera.

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

It's easy to forget that the enjoyment of a film, or cinema in general, ultimately rests with the viewer. We don't watch these things with an objectivist mind, in fact it runs counter to the nature of cinema for its audience to possess cold detachment towards a movie; many of the great directors would intentionally provoke a reaction through their images. Into the cinema or living-room we bring our biases, prejudices - and who we were as people at that time. We age physically, but our emotional perspective matures - or at least one might hope so; that ability to discern, process, and empathise with other people - if even fictional.

So by way of example, enter Full Metal Jacket. I've now seen this precisely two times: the first in my very early 20s during college and barely past my teens; the second recently and 20+ years later as a middle-aged man & parent of two. The idiotic post-teenager found the Boot Camp scenes hilarious in exactly the kind of transgressive way a total moron would respond to all the racism and homophobia; while my older head shuddered at the grinding dehumanisation that entire act was dedicated to. The nuance and sophistication of those starkly filmed sequences went over my head back in the day - instead it was a case of hohoho, that troll teased that black guy about watermelon. This time around, I watched these young men stripped of their identity and sense of self with constant discomfort, the zenith that moment Private Pyle was beaten by his peers; the victim naked and reduced to a sobbing infant after the attack. Born again hard, to quote the much-quoted Gunnery Sergeant, the process was complete.

TL:DR? Aside from all that rambling introspection, I can see why people have been a little slow to laud this Kubrick film above the others 'cos it was an odd experience; a difficult one to pin down. It was more of an ambling, slightly aimless montage of disconnected moments than a precisely constructed narrative - the bifurcation of the acts in Boot Camp and those in Vietnam was utterly jarring. I'm still not sure where the film wanted me to get to once the credits rolled, beyond the sense that war was a dehumanising waste of human potential and beyond senseless. But then again maybe that's all it ever needs to be when it comes to the subject of war?

Sad Professor · 01-01-2023 9:42am

Causeway with Jennifer Lawrence

Understated indie drama about a wounded military engineer (Lawrence) who returns home to New Orleans where she forms a bond with the local mechanic. Nice little film which I probably liked more than it deserved. Casting, score and cinematography make up for some stagy first-time direction and the undercooked script's middling exploration of trauma. Lawrence and (the real standout) Brian Tyree Henry do a lot of work to make this feel authentic.

steve_r · 02-01-2023 9:13pm

You Are Not My Mother - 2022

This film had passed me by before I saw it named on an RTE list of the best films of 2022. It's a phychosical horror film, the premise is that the mother leaves her teenage daughter and then returns as different to before. I thought the acting and the direction were superb, it's very grounded and you really see things from the perspective of the lead actor. Worth checking out.

A murder of quality - 1991

This is an adaptation of John LeCarre's second book of the same title. LeCarre himself did the screenplay, and it's typical of his type of story - complex, morally ambiguous and rarely straightforward. The premise is that George Smiley is investigating a murder of a woman in a college town. This was a TV movie back in the day so production values weren't great but the acting was excellent. A very young Christian Bale plays one of the students in the story. If you like LeCarre's work then this is worth checking out.

A quick hat tip for the recommendations on Bodies, Bodies, Bodies and Vengeance that were tipped in this thread - enjoyed both.

walkonby · 03-01-2023 1:20pm

An Cailín Ciúin - finally made the effort to go see this in the cinema. Beautiful film that does a lot with a little. Period details are charming for those of us around in Ireland in the 80s. (And an interesting contrast with Banshees, which is a lot stagier, and obviously at more of a remove from Irish culture and experience.)

Glass Onion - enjoyed Knives Out, but this began to unravel after an entertaining first act. Rian Johnson’s scripts always try too hard to be clever. Would like to see him adapting someone else’s story.

Corsage - similar to but much better than Sofia Coppola’s fictionalised Marie Antoinette biopic, a rock and roll reimagining of the life of Austrian Empress Elisabeth. Recommend, but be prepared for a slow film, which feels long despite the under 2 hr runtime.

White Noise - a novel that never seemed likely to translate well to the screen. Good performances throughout and some well-realised scenes, but the postmodern melding of genres that produced equal measures of humour and disquiet on the page is awkwardly executed here, with the film lurching from satire to farce to thriller and back again. Disjointed. Fun (if overlong) credit sequence.

steve_r · 04-01-2023 10:13pm

This is England (2004)

Another film I had on my list for a long time - and one that really lived up to expectations. It's an amazing film which is heartbreaking at times. It tells the story of a young boy growing up without a father, and most of the story is told from his perspective.

The performances are excellent and the dialogue really rings true. The film deals with a lot of heavy political points in a very sincere way, which can be a challenge in a film like this. The final scene reminded me of the final scene in the 400 blows by Truffaut, and it is an image that will stay with me for a long time.

The Menu (2022)

I saw the trailer for this in the cinema and thought at the time that it looked rubbish. Since then I became aware of the strong connection the film has with Succession which is a show I love. The director has directed a number of Succession episodes and one of the writers has also written for the show, and that shows in the writing, with a similar sense of humour applied.

The setup here is a celebrity chef (Ralf Feines) hosting a number of rich people, and one "regular" person (Anna Taylor Joy) on a private island. It's a horror/comedy, which I think is a particularly hard genre to pull off, given how subjective comedy can be. It didn't fully work for me - I don't think the central chef character was particularly well written, and honestly, I think they could have cast someone better than Fiennes in the role. He is an amazing actor - but I'm not sure the part suited him. Anna Taylor Joy on the other hand was excellent. The film lacked some of the creative devices horror films have used to build tension and atmosphere and I think it was a bit underwhelming from a horror perspective.

Overall it's a decent film - just one I think could have been better if different choices were made.

pixelburp · 05-01-2023 1:21pm

Blow Out (1981)

Absolute top drawer sleaze from the master of such, who could take material that might have been vulgar trash in another director's hands, and make it ... uh... well, a slightly classier brand of trash by dint of De Palma's reputation & mastery of the camera to make everything so compelling and beautiful and horrifying all at the same time. This was a messy, slightly chaotic kind of political conspiracy, and I'm not sure it stood up to scrutiny, but equally the film sometimes seemed disinterested in the actual machinations of the plot; instead often focusing on John Travolta's lead as he manually pieced together the mystery from his editing room. This film made the analog & very tactile process of turning still images into moving pictures absolutely engrossing.

That said. The tension and intensity was constantly, and almost single-handedly, pulled down by Nancy Allen's performance; a fine actor in other things, but here her affectation of a beaten-down and slightly bewildered woman never gelled. Her attempt to play concussed was an especially cringe-inducing moment (not helped by Travolta's character hitting on her!). It wasn't enough to undercut the drama of the final act mind you, and maybe making her a whimpering victim was part of the masterplan? The finale hit hard, despite that encroaching antipathy, and ultimately on-brand for the kind of worldview De Palma tended to infuse his stories with. While the last scene - the last line in fact - was a mic-drop few thrillers of this ilk could hope to match.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 05-01-2023 2:06pm

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Recorded off BBC on Christmas Day, but also available on Apple TV +

A review on Letterboxd calls it "The Snowman but make it group therapy" which is pretty accurate. It's an animated short, based on a very popular book, that's about a small boy trying to find home, who is joined by the animals along the way. They basically spout little lines of seld help at him along the way, and depending on your levels of cynicism, you'll either hate it, or end up a crying mess. I was somewhere in the middle for the most part.

The animation is gorgeous, it's a real shame that Western animation only seems to go for this kind of style in shorts. The score is lovely, and although it's very on the nose with its lessons, it sometimes doesn't hurt to be reminded of these very simple things.

shrapnel222 · 05-01-2023 5:50pm

aftersun

watched this as i saw it featured heavily and very high up and many 2022 films of the year lists. literally just a slice of life of a divorced father and daughter on holiday in Turkey. I understand the subtlety of the film but it left me a bit cold. it won't feature in my 2022 list! 😀

Bones and all

well this is different. A young cannibal has to find meaning and understanding in the world once her father gives up on her for chewing a girl's finger off. Sort of coming of age movie meets road movie meets love story, with an added zest of gore. i enjoyed it and the performances of Chalamet and Russell are great

BruteStock · 05-01-2023 11:22pm

A film that seemingly disappeared into the ether and one Ive wanted to watch since I rented it on dvd is viewable on YouTube in streaming quality.

My Son My Son What Have Ye Done. Produced by David Lynch and Directed by Werner Herzog. A early role for Micheal Shannon , he plays the role of a man who descends into madness. Many of his bizzaro ramblings throughout the film are quite humorous. For example he keeps flamingos as pets and calls them eagles in drag. He wants his honeymoon on the moon and tells his girlfriend God is living in his oatmeal.

Anyway, he goes to Peru and comes home totally insane. He murders his mother and moronic cops played by Willem Dafoe and Micheal Penea are called to the scene. The film is totally nuts yet very engrossing and at times very funny. The cinematography is great , the soundtrack is great. Chloe Sevigny is stunning. Recommended.

https://youtu.be/UAjZoynOqxA?t=63

shrapnel222 · 06-01-2023 5:30pm

Tar

Gripping biopic about the downfall of the conductor Lydia Tar. This is an almost voyeuristic look into the incredible world of classical music. Blanchett gives a sublime performance. The conversations are fascinating and it just leaves you wanting more. Superb.

El Gato De Negocios · 06-01-2023 9:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066588#Comment_120066588

If you haven't already, put This is England 86 and 88 on your watch list. 86 in particular is compelling, albeit difficult viewing by times.

steve_r · 07-01-2023 10:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120076016#Comment_120076016

Yep, on the list for sure.

The Verdict - 1982

This is the story of an alcoholic lawyer (Paul Newman) who takes on a medical negligence case. Directed by Sidney Lumet, and written by David Mamet, this is a well-told story with a fine lead performance from Newman. There's also a strong supporting cast including James Mason, an actor I haven't seen a lot of, but really enjoyed in this, and The Deadly Affair (also directed by Lumet).

These legal dramas can tend to be predictable, however, I'd give the scriptwriting a lot of credit here for how the story is told - it doesn't fall victim to cliche and the characters (especially Newman) have an interesting and compelling arc. Overall I recommend it.

Intermission - 2003

I hadn't seen this for the best part of 15 years so I was curious how time had treated it. For anyone unaware of it, it's a Dublin story with an ensemble cast, including Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Colin Meaney (and many more).

Dublin in 2003 looks very different to Dublin today - hardly surprising given that it is 20 years old. Filmed before the smoking ban as well - which is surreal to see in the pubs!

I loved the opening scene and it's a great example of the charisma Farrell can bring to a role. It does a good job of introducing its ensemble cast, and despite limited screen time we get to know the characters quite well, which reflects well on the writing and the acting. I think where the film struggles is the lack of depth given to Farrell's character (who is pretty much a cliche troublemaker and doesn't say much outside of the opening scene), and Meaney's character (a fairly over-the-top guard). I found both of these characters a bit cartoonish compared to the rest of the characters which were a lot more grounded and relatable.

The plot is relatively contrived but still gives us an exciting story which rattles along - the film is rarely predictable and there's a real sense that anything can happen.

A mixed bag - a good nostalgia watch but don't expect perfection.

bnt · 08-01-2023 12:00am

Two very different comedies over the last two days:

Ticket To Paradise (2022)

I thought it was OK, pretty mild as these things go. For me it had echoes of My Best Friend's Wedding from a different angle. The romantic tension between Julia Roberts and George Clooney was not convincing at all, perhaps because we know both actors are happily married in real life, not to each other. Romcoms are not Clooney's thing: this was his first since the superior One Fine Day (1996). At one point Roberts says something like "you've clearly never been to Hawaii", which is odd since The Descendants (2011) is one of his best roles. It hasn't escaped me that I'm talking more about the actors and their other movies than about their characters in this one: they were good, but I could never forget that I was watching today's Hollywood royalty.

The Apartment (1960)

Winner of 5 Oscars, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred McMurray. This film could be better-described as a drama with comedic overtones, since the core story is rather serious, sometimes shocking. I didn't know much about it, but its influence on other films & TV jumped out at me e.g. Mad Men, Working Girl etc. If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it: I'll just say that the first half had me wondering how this could be a comedy, since the situation being set up has the potential to go very wrong.

shrapnel222 · 09-01-2023 5:13pm

Triangle of sadness

Latest film from Ostlund, a director i love since force majeure. This latest film won the palme d'or last year. A satire of the super rich which imo falls a bit short. whilst there are great moments during the film, at 2h30m, it's overly long and doesn't live up to expectations. Enjoyable but slightly Disappointing.

Decuc500 · 09-01-2023 5:19pm

Violent City

One of the many films Charles Bronson (the greatest film star of the 1970’s) made in Europe.

This 1970 ‘Euro Crime’ film directed by Sergio Sollima has Brosnan as a professional killer who is double crossed and left for dead. He goes to New Orleans to get revenge on his former boss.

The opening is set in the Virgin Islands and the first 10 minutes is a dialogue free car chase through tiny, winding village streets. It’s thrilling stuff, on a par with the car chases in films like The French Connection and The Seven-Ups.

I was expecting the film to be a bit cheesy but it’s actually really well made. There a number of impressive set pieces. You can see that it influenced Italian Giallo filmmakers. The score is by Ennio Morricone, always a bonus.

88 Films released this on Blu-ray with a 4K remastered transfer which looks incredible.

CastorTroy · 10-01-2023 2:04am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120076016#Comment_120076016

I did a rewatch of This is England a couple years ago with the intention of rewatching 86 and 88 before starting 90. I still need to watch the series. Must do that soon.

Elaineharte · 11-01-2023 10:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120074839#Comment_120074839

Where can I get this??

shrapnel222 · 11-01-2023 11:02am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093093#Comment_120093093

it's on at the cinema or can be found online in places i don't think we're allowed to talk about here

pixelburp · 13-01-2023 4:48pm

The Conversation (1974)

Contained possibly the best jump scare, at just the right moment, in any film not from the Horror genre.

A sad little tale of the impossibility in maintaining professionalism and emotional detachment when one's expertise requires invading the lives of others. Going double when one heard not just the salacious - but potentially criminal. This wasn't necessarily an original idea of course: many stories of voyeurism have often indulged in that creeping obsession and mania that ultimately overwhelmed their respective Peeping Toms; but here, Francis Ford Coppola's careful and subtle hand never indulged in any kind of schlock or sleaze you might see with Brian DePalma's own treatment of All Things Voyeur.

Instead, Gene Hackman's lead remained a dour, repressed & lonely man throughout; utterly at odds within his professional field of snoopers, increasingly isolated as much by his own acerbic personality as any dogged hunt for a suspected conspiracy. A growling contradiction of a man, one who bristled at the most trivial reveal of his past among peers - while he obsessively - and loudly - replayed the titular conversation on his speakers, for his own intrusive deliberation.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 13-01-2023 8:14pm

A Bunch of Amateurs

This is a documentary about an amateur film society in Bradford. Around since the 1930s, they're apparently the oldest such club in the world. In recent years membership has dwindled, funds are low, and they're basically struggling to keep going.

The description of this film implies that it's about them trying to remake Oklahoma! in an effort to save the club. That is not where the focus lies, although it does feature one member remaking the opening scene of Oklahoma, but he's too old to ride a horse, so they have to green screen it.

What it's really about though is this group of people who seem to rely on the weekly club meetings as their main social outlet. We see early on two of the oldest members have sick spouses, and another younger man is a carer for his adult brother, and basically a lot of them don't seem to have much else going on outside the club.

It's fly on the wall style, and all very natural, and I found a lot of it quite moving. It doesn't actually focus that much on cinema really, and is more about the people.

Fysh · 14-01-2023 2:27pm

Deadstream

Caught this streaming on Shudder and am in two minds about it. It's a found footage film whose premise is that a disgraced streamer seeks to rebuild his audience by streaming himself staying alone in a haunted house for a night.

In production terms it's well done - I appreciated how the setup is used to provide and justify a number of different camera perspectives, and the story has enough developments to keep things moving once it gets going - personally I found the first half hour to be too slow.

The problem, for me, is that it's too accurate to what streamers are like - complete with the constant over the top reactions and screaming at every prompt; I find a bunch of the emergent default behaviours of streamers to be irritating to watch, and that's true here as well.

If you can see past that, however, there's a lot to like - this is very much "What if Evil Dead 2 but in the 2020s and Ash is a Youtuber trying to rebuild his audience?" as a premise, and I must admit that irritating protagonist notwithstanding there were several moments that made me laugh out loud.

If you like Evil Dead 2, there's a lot to like here. This is probably the best thing I've seen inspired by ED2 since Rob Kemp's The Elvis Dead.

14-01-2023 4:04pm

Sick (2022)

A typically modest runtime slasher effort whose main distinction is its 2020 early pandemic setting. The opening is a bit different also compared to many similar genre movies. Tight enough overall. Worth a watch if you're in the mood for something like that but obviously not expecting anything ground-breaking either.

McDermotX · 14-01-2023 5:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120107217#Comment_120107217

Funny. Actually watched this a couple nights back myself when stuck in a 'what to watch' mood. Decided to stick it on based on some references to Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness in some comments on IMDB.

I think it's largely poor, due to the annoying lead and premise, but I get it.....there are more than a few laughs, and more than a few moments where you think of Raimi's efforts, as if you were seeing them in a POV manner. I mean there are straight scenes when the ghost/witch/Mildred is jumping on his back and such or sticking her fingernail up his nose that if you closed your eyes and just listened, you'd swear it was Ash taking another few poundings.

Might be worth a watch despite the lousy premise for fans of the Evil Dead alright, but won't sit with casual viewers I'd say.

Fysh · 14-01-2023 6:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120108433#Comment_120108433

See, I'm genuinely curious what people who are more tolerant (or even into) streamers and youtubers would make of it, because I know part of my annoyance with it was a visceral dislike of the main character - but it's a fairly solid satire of that kind of character, as far as I can tell. Now, how much overlap there is between "viewers who like PewDiePie and his ilk" and "viewers who like Evil Dead 2" is something I couldn't tell you :D

I do think it could have done with tighter editing, which I'd expect is the result of being done by the same people who wrote, directed and produced the film. As far as horror films about streamers go, I think Spree is better.

Fysh · 15-01-2023 12:33am

I decided I needed something with more substance for my next watch, so I stuck on Daughters of the Dust on BFI Player (one of numerous films on the recent Sight & Sound Best Films Of All Time that's available on the subscription, for anyone interested). I've been meaning to watch it for ages, and am really glad I did - it's an excellent watch. It's the second film (after Welcome II The Terrordrome) to feature the Ibo Landing mass suicides as a narrative element, although Daughters feels like much more optimistic film than Terrordrome.

bnt · 15-01-2023 11:52pm

An oldie but a goodie: Caddyshack. I don’t think I ever watched the whole thing, and thought it holds together remarkably well. The story is all over the place, but that works for the characters, who are equally shambolic.

16-01-2023 1:52am

Confess, Fletch (2022)

Once one is not too precious about the originals this quite different interpretation is a perfectly good light entertainment caper. I liked it (and far more than the ass onion which is another film in the same vein)

monkeyactive · 16-01-2023 3:04pm

Vengeance (2022)

A very enjoyable low budget comedy/whodunnit style drama with some well earned deeper moments of poignancy as well.

Pokes a good few jibes at the US Culture Wars which is always a good thing. Line for line scene by scene its easy watching that pulls the odd chuckle.

8/10

Slydice · 16-01-2023 11:36pm

Watched Barbarian. It was alright but felt like it was let down in the scary making department somehow.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15791034/

Maybe in the contrast to how some scenes and the atmosphere felt really well done and then something like dropping the ball for the scary parts.

pixelburp · 18-01-2023 4:25pm

Mad God (2021)

The term "nightmare fuel" has become somewhat glib, maybe even overused these days within social media & pop-culture; so this film's swing into full and constant grotesquery was such I found myself genuinely wondering if it might induce nightmares - but then again: what could my own subconscious possibly conjure up during the night that'd trump this cinematic delirium of disgusting, arresting imagery?

Aggressively abstract while also relentlessly macabre, often simply upsetting in places to a degree this handily qualified as something that was "not for everyone", to put it mildly; Every scene was slathered in a sheen of viscera, every set-piece one affront to the senses after another. An overwhelming cavalcade of twisted surrealism - and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Though I will say that such was the commitment to the unreality powered by stop-motion, the few instances where flesh & blood actors were used were very jarring - it kinda broke the spell when it happened. While the last "act", such as it was, left me more confused than engaged.

By that point though, I had already found myself wondering "is this it? Is this actually going anywhere?" It wasn't as if I was expecting or demanding a coherent narrative, or some satisfying pay-off, but there was a point where the thin framing device appeared to be completely abandoned. The back-half of the movie became ... well, a bit tedious if I'm being honest. By then, the precision engineered squick had numbed my senses somewhat, so without that emotive reaction what remained became more of a meaningless slog than anything else.

Tony EH · 18-01-2023 6:36pm

^

Have to admit I was pretty bored to tears by that. The movie, not your post 😋. But, as a one time animator myself, I've always found a lot of stop motion animated productions devoid of entertainment, while still holding a certain fascination from a technique perspective. The Brothers Quay being a prominent example.

Animation of that type is usually fine as a small scale curiosity piece, the likes of some Pixar stuff being an exception (the good stuff anyway). But elsewhere I often find myself drifting. Even some Aardman productions could leave me looking at the clock.

Fysh · 19-01-2023 1:30pm

That's slightly disappointing to read about Mad God - I'll still watch it but had hoped it had more to offer.

I watched Harpoon last night on Arrow Player; it was a nicely-executed little thriller reminiscent of Shallow Grave (complete with opening monologue about friendship). It does its thing with aplomb, has good performances and production values and wraps up in a tad under 80 minutes.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 20-01-2023 12:37am

Decision To Leave

I'm trying to watch some of the most likely nominees for Best International Feature at this year's Oscars. Along with All Quiet, and Argentina 1985, this one seems to be on everyone's guaranteed list.

I didn't love it. It is way too long, for starters, and I kept waiting for a bigger twist than the ones that came. It does look fantastic, and the lead actress is very good, plus Korean films do seem to do well with the Academy, so I won't be at all surprised to see it nominated. I don't think it's all that great though. I'd definitely put The Quiet Girl in the nominations over this.

pixelburp · 20-01-2023 10:12am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128914#Comment_120128914

Obviously your mileage may vary and the thing started strong: no question, ever after finishing it remained as close to a modern vision of Hieronymus Bosch's Hell as you'll get; but at some point it just became an aimless slog to get through.

A lot was made about how this took Phil Tippet 30 years to make - and you can really tell in places 'cos while the abstraction was the initially pull - at some point I really found myself checking my watch, my phone and wondering if this thing had any point beyond "here's another fúcked up vision", while some interstitial moments went on way too long. It's formlessness is both the strength and weakness.

BUT! Definitely worth a try though, if it's something that had already peaked your interest. As I said it's very far from being something you'd recommend to everyone, but if the trailer had you curious - it's worth a shot.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120125601#Comment_120125601

Ooh. A one time animator? Well I can't let that particular piece of personal information pass without asking for elaboration. Was it something you worked on as a pastime or professionally (or both!)?

Stop motion is possibly the most fascinating arm of animation; it takes so much time and effort - and money - to make features using the medium, they always seem destined to flop at the box-office when made as movies. Now that animation has become so cheap to make, it's the outlier that has only become more costly to produce.

Being too lazy to confirm but I think Coraline did very well, but the rest of Laika's stable nearly always underperforming (again, too lazy to confirm); if it wasn't for that Nike money one suspects Laika would have died years ago. I will always show up for their work though 'cos a world with them is better than one without. Can't say I've found their films deficient in entertainment though.

Tony EH · 20-01-2023 6:49pm

Oh dear, I may have given too much away already 😲 . If you don't mind, though, I'd rather not go into too much personal detail on here. It's nice to enjoy a modicum of anonymity. But suffice to say that, at one time, long ago, I dabbled in stop motion, cell, and ended up in computer animation. A number of people I worked with ended up working abroad, some in England and some over in America. But I was just too much of a home bird to pack up, so I settled for something here that was more along a traditional design route. There was never much opportunity here to pursue a career as an animator, though, especially once Sullivan Bluth shut its doors. It all seems an age away now. Anyway, staying in Ireland proved to be the right thing in the end.

As for stop motion, I agree. Whether it's a Harryhausen special effect, or a feature length movie, it is the most fascinating. But the sheer length of time need to get even 5 minutes of footage would put most people off. These days, of course, it's nearly all done with CGI and while it can be very good, indeed great, there's a charm that's inevitably lost. Plus, creating models and animating them on a PC is nowhere near as entertaining for the animator. It's just unfortunate that a lot of animation of that type lacks a coherent story or just an entertaining one.

As for 'Coraline', we're in agreement again. I found that to be a great movie (it's also one of the wife's faves), but that's mostly down to the well written story by Gaiman and at the BO it did very well for a film of its type. And Laika, too, are a promising studio even if, outside of 'Coraline', their output has been, um...patchy. I can only think of 'Paranorman' as a somewhat worthy runner up to 'Coraline', and even then I don't think I was too wrapped up in its story. 'Boxtrolls' was meh and I just wasn't gone on 'Kubo'. 'Missing Link', which was on TV over Christmas didn't do it for me either. But all of them are an interesting watch from animation POV. It's just the story department that lets them down, as was the case with 'Mad God'.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 21-01-2023 1:36am

Argentina, 1985

Tells the true story of the trial of the military leaders of Argentina's last regime before democracy was stabilised in 1985.

It's a fairly standard court room drama with some really great moments, and some fairly bog standard ones. It focused a bit too much on the actual court room proceedings for me. The main prosecutor had to build a rag tag team of young administrators and volunteers to help him build the case, and bar a quick series of scenes, they just present a trolly full of evidence for him. I think if they'd taken a more Spotlight approach with it, it would have been more interesting. That said, the courtroom scenes are pretty good, and the sort of montage of victim testimonials is probably the strongest section of the film.

It's worth watching, and pretty engaging, if not a little light, given the subject matter. It won the Golden Globe for Best International film last week, and is one of the favourites for the Oscars, or at least to be nominated. I know I'm probably biased, but of the few I've seen from this category (I've seen 4 of the 5 BAFTA noms) I honestly think The Quiet Girl is the best overall package.

NIMAN · 22-01-2023 2:59pm

All Quiet On The Western Front.

Due to the hype its been getting in the media, plus the fact that I recently read it, decided to watch it.

Definitely a very good version of the book, but quite a few changes from it. Much preferred the book version of events.

But an excellent, and harrowing, war film.

What have you watched recently? 3D!

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