What have you watched recently?

grohlisagod · 09-09-2011 11:42PM

The Breakfast Club. Very enjoyable film in spite of the cliched storyline. Had been meaning to watch it with ages and it didn't disappoint. Judd Nelson is superb.

Am I the only one who thought that Allison (the outsider chick) was better looking before the makeover?

Paddy Samurai · 10-09-2011 12:14AM

Danish documentary about the Danes fighting in Afghanistan.Watched it on 4od tonight. IMO a brilliant documentary.A lot of controversy about if their actions were a warcrime. I can see how people would think that in hindsight,but I believe most people would have done the same.Top notch.

Ridley · 10-09-2011 12:42AM

Isard wrote: »

Why, doncha like DP? I think their music created the atmosphere and is one of the few pluses of the film...

I miss '80s synth.

MiloYossarian · 10-09-2011 02:41AM

Flipped

Really good film. Enjoyable and uplifting. It is the kind of film that makes you feel so good that you are instantly depressed afterwards. There is a really good you actress in it. She plays the younger version of the main character Julie. She the most natural and charming young actor I've ever seen. (I want to make it abundantly clear that I am admiring her talent only. I do not want to end up being mentioned in the paedophiles in Hollywood thread.)

8/10

Nolanger · 10-09-2011 10:09AM

Leopard - Burt Lancaster movie, 3 hours, about the fall of the Italian upper class in the 19th century. More suited to the big screen.

bnt · 10-09-2011 11:57AM

Nolanger wrote: »

Leopard - Burt Lancaster movie, 3 hours, about the fall of the Italian upper class in the 19th century. More suited to the big screen.

You're right about that - saw it at the IFI last year, and it was pretty awesome.

I've been recording more movies than I can watch (Cable + DVR), not all worth the time to watch in full, but some have refused to let me skip over.

- Sabrina, the original with Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn & William Holden. Not exactly a gritty socialist-realism picture, since it's set in and around the rich folk of Long Island. The remake with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond & Greg Kinnear was pretty good too, but the original has the edge, I think - mostly thanks to Audrey, though Bogart is a bit old ...

- The Castle, the Australian comedy about a family and their house. It's been compared to The Is Spinal Tap because the humour is laced through the story at all levels, down to very subtle things. Such as the cooking, the neighbours - and the lawyer who dictates a letter in to a Dictaphone, transfers the tape to another machine, plays it back and types the letter himself. :pac:

crazygeryy · 10-09-2011 01:00PM

the perfect host.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1334553/

its good.and david hyde pierce does a good job.its worth checking out.

the entitled
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650535/

it wasnt great.i dont know but every movie ray liotta makes these days involves a lot of him shouting his head off.give this one a miss.

the atlanta child murders
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088750/

its a tv movie from years back.i managed to get a bad vhs copy but still watchable.i saw it as a kid and it was mesmerising.but not so much now.its a good movie/mini series(4 hrs long) and an early morgan freeman appearance in it makes it worth watching.

Nolanger · 10-09-2011 06:48PM

Pumpkin eater - from the '60s about posh Anne Bancroft having a breakdown due to her husband's affairs. Grim and depressing. Music is very good though.

rednik · 10-09-2011 08:04PM

This week I have watched four Sean Penn movies and he gave great performance in all four.

The falcon and the snowman
At close range
State of grace
Mystic river

A truly great actor with a great catalogue of fine films.

Ciaran_B · 10-09-2011 08:42PM

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

A writer is stalked by a serial killer after witnessing a murder attempt on one woman's life.

One of Argentos best. Beautifully filmed, fine soundtrack and just enough crazyness. Giallo-rific.

johnny_ultimate · 10-09-2011 10:43PM

Days of Heaven - Four down, one to go (Badlands: but alas I'll have to settle for DVD there). This is probably my second favourite of Malick's output so far, after the Thin Red Line. Wavy tall grass is present and correct, but TM doesn't over-indulge here. The result is a simple story told to the point, and minus the excessive levels of faffing around his later films can occasionally be guilty of. The story is engaging (if basic and lacking in originality in certain regards - few of the plot beats are unpredictable) but the themes are handled sensibly - this is a great analogy of American culture and history. Mostly, and typically for Malick, it is the stupidly good cinematography and lush Morricone soundtrack that keep you glued to the screen. The 'locust' scenes must be amongst the most beautiful in all of American cinema, and even the regular shots of a sole house standing amongst acres of fields are stunning. A pristine digital restoration certainly helps, and kudos to the IFI for keeping it on for an extra weekend so I actually got a chance to see it

End of Evangelion - One of the greatest animated films of all time, simple as that! Thematically complex (what other animated film has had a live action interlude that actively comments on the way the viewing audience consumes and claims ownership of art?), stunningly animated and a more than fitting conclusion to an epic television show. It honestly baffles me when fans of Neon Genesis are hostile about this film. Easily one of my favourite films.

jayteecork · 10-09-2011 11:11PM

Rise of the Planet of the Apes and also the new Superheroes documentary by HBO.

both excellent. The latter is about "real life" superheroes in America. Kind of like Trekkies.
They're all painted in a positive light and seem to be doing a lot of good.

Voodu Child · 10-09-2011 11:46PM

Set Up (2011)
Heist/double-cross type movie with Bruce Willis and Ryan Phillipe. It's all been done before, fairly boring. Surprised to see Willis in it.

barone · 10-09-2011 11:49PM

well worth a watch

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606259/

e_e · 11-09-2011 12:42AM

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

End of Evangelion - One of the greatest animated films of all time, simple as that! Thematically complex (what other animated film has had a live action interlude that actively comments on the way the viewing audience consumes and claims ownership of art?), stunningly animated and a more than fitting conclusion to an epic television show. It honestly baffles me when fans of Neon Genesis are hostile about this film. Easily one of my favourite films.

Hear hear, few films have influence my taste in the way this one has.

James__10 · 11-09-2011 12:58AM

Dead Mans Shoes

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419677/

emeraldstar · 11-09-2011 09:12AM

MiloYossarian wrote: »

Flipped

Really good film. Enjoyable and uplifting. It is the kind of film that makes you feel so good that you are instantly depressed afterwards. There is a really good you actress in it. She plays the younger version of the main character Julie. She the most natural and charming young actor I've ever seen. (I want to make it abundantly clear that I am admiring her talent only. I do not want to end up being mentioned in the paedophiles in Hollywood thread.)

8/10

You know, I haven't met many people who've seen this. Saw it on a flight to New York last year, so it kept me very much entertained

I agree, the actress playing the young Julie was pretty impressive. Lovely movie.

mikemac · 11-09-2011 09:30AM

The Commitments

First time seeing it though had been hearing about it for years

Loved it, very entertaining

Should of watched it years ago

D'Agger · 11-09-2011 10:17AM

Win Win

Really enjoyed it, very odd humoured throughout but with a serious storyline underneath....Giamatti is quite good throughout and is very well supported by Ryan, Cannavale, Tambor & Schaffer with regard to the comical aspect of the movie.

Would highly recommend it

SarahBM · 11-09-2011 11:24AM

Jane Eyre

Loved it!!! very well done, and not a copy of previous versions, which I was worried about.
The two leads were great, and sure who doesnt love Judie Dench.

MiloYossarian · 11-09-2011 04:27PM

No Strings Attached

Film starring Natalie Portman and Bruce Willis' son Ashton Kutcher. I only watched it because I wanted to compare it to Friends With Benefits which I watched the other night.
Unexpectedly, I much preferred this. It is much more com than rom. It is littered with actors that I really like in supporting roles such as Gretta Gerwig and Jake Johnson.

7.5/10

Nolanger · 11-09-2011 04:27PM

Caretaker - another Pinter film from the '60s set in an attic about a guy sent to a mental hospital due to rumours who then lives with his brother. Then a tramp arrives and the brother torments him.

jayteecork · 11-09-2011 06:52PM

MiloYossarian wrote: »

No Strings Attached

Film starring Natalie Portman and Bruce Willis' son Ashton Kutcher. I only watched it because I wanted to compare it to Friends With Benefits which I watched the other night.
Unexpectedly, I much preferred this. It is much more com than rom. It is littered with actors that I really like in supporting roles such as Gretta Gerwig and Jake Johnson.

7.5/10

I hope you're taking the piss as that's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

dr.bollocko · 11-09-2011 08:19PM

MiloYossarian wrote: »

No Strings Attached

Film starring Natalie Portman and Bruce Willis' son Ashton Kutcher. I only watched it because I wanted to compare it to Friends With Benefits which I watched the other night.
Unexpectedly, I much preferred this. It is much more com than rom. It is littered with actors that I really like in supporting roles such as Gretta Gerwig and Jake Johnson.

7.5/10

I found it overly long, poorly edited, unrealistically written and incredibly banal.

MiloYossarian · 11-09-2011 09:39PM

jayteecork wrote: »

I hope you're taking the piss as that's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Ya I am, I'm glad it made you laugh but I can't take credit. It's a Zach Galifianakis joke.

MiloYossarian · 11-09-2011 09:47PM

dr.bollocko wrote: »

I found it overly long, poorly edited, unrealistically written and incredibly banal.

I think you're wrong about it being poorly edited. It's a polished product just like most studio based American films.

Of coarse it's unrealistic. It's escapism. It didn't pretend to be Russian Neo Realism. It wasn't directed by Ken Loach but Ivan Reitman the man who gave us Ghostbusters. That's a film in which a marshmellow man the size of a skyscraper terrorizes NYC, but I bet you enjoyed that.

It is what it is. An hour and forty minutes of fun. It's just a type of film I enjoy. I've even liked terrible rom coms like Good Luck Chuck.

bnt · 11-09-2011 09:53PM

I'm in the middle of Brighton Rock: the 1947 original with Dickie Attenborough. I have no idea why anyone thought it necessary to remake this film. What is there to add? There's not much graphic violence in it, but it doesn't need much to tell the story.

The following bit of dialogue, between the guys in Pinkie's gang, just caught my ear and had me going "wait ... what?"

"I don't care what you say, I say we've had a lucky break. We ought to lay off for a while."
"Yeah, and where do you think we'd be if the bookies stopped paying, eh?"
"Well, you know who's behind 'em? Colleoni and his mob. Now Kite's dead, we ain't big enough to fight 'em."

Colleoni? Sounds awfully close to the name of some other, more famous mobsters ... :cool:

Duggy747 · 11-09-2011 11:59PM

Finally got to watch The Guard, having missed it in cinemas.

Quite disappointed, to be honest. It had some funny moments and Gleeson, as always, gobbled every scene he was in and I always enjoy watching him.

But I found alot of the dialogue and humour to be too forced with some far too cartoonish characters, the type of characters you only seem to see in Irish film. I get that it's supposed to be an un-PC type of flick with Gleeson being an Irish Bad Lieutenant of sorts but quite alot of the humour felt too forced for the sake of shock and just fell down as the movie went on.

I found it decent but no great shakes, either. I don't think I would have liked it as much had Gleeson not starred in it. Still, was nice to see Galway used as a location for a change and not Dublin :pac:

MiloYossarian · 12-09-2011 02:56AM

Fast Five

Jeanie Mackers it's actually really good. Was not a fan of the series at all, the first one came out during my film snob faze so I completely turned my nose up at it. I rewatched it again recently though and thought it was quite good.

This one is great. No wonder Justin Lin is such a hot ticket. He does a really good job. I like that they went for a fresh angle as well. It's not about the cars really but the characters. Plus the fact that they framed it around a revenge plot and a heist. It works.

I remember a few years back that they were making an Italian Job 2 that was supposed to be set in Brazil which never happened. I just wonder if they hijacked the script for that film and rewrote it for this.

8/10

Ruu_Old · 12-09-2011 03:08AM

My Vincent Price marathon continues.

I watched the Pit and the Pendulum this morning. I think this is widely regarded as one of his most magnificent performances.

I loved the use of colour when

Francis was going in and out of consciousness and fight scenes between Nicholas Medina (Price) and the doctor

What have you watched recently?

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