What have you watched recently?

willmunny1990 · 18-04-2012 2:38am

IT: I haven't seen this movie in years!

This film used to scare me when i was younger and i was excited to see it again. I hadn't seen it in years and could only vaguely remember some scenes.

However after watching it again i was disappointed, i found it very corny and funny at times and it got downright bizarre towards the end.

There was one or two scary moments and i thought Tim Curry played the role of IT well but all and all it was to corny and infantile.

OldeCinemaSoz · 18-04-2012 5:06pm

mission to mars

i vaguely remembered seeing this one but decided to catch
it again as the little lad loves science fiction and it had a family
freindly cert.

i was impressed!

not classic brian de palma by any means but very entertaining
and as usual he uses that 2:35.1 palette to perfection for his
storytelling.

recommended for light afternoon viewing.

sillo · 18-04-2012 8:58pm

Snowtown: Grim, grim, grim dramatisation of a notorious serial-killer spree in Australia in the 1990's. Expertly crafted, this movie really draws you into the filth and claustrophobia of urban sprawl and broken down communities - enjoyable but very taudry and draining.

God Bless America: A somewhat juvenile kick to the shins of modern popular culture. It borders dangerously close to the one-dimensional but is saved by the ballsy action, and outstanding performances in the two main roles - a modern-day falling down, but a lot less subtle. Could have been great with a bit more craft and subtlety - but still very good and definitely worth seeing.

Celly Smunt · 18-04-2012 9:14pm

Texas Killing Fields-I guess it all went downhill from when i saw the shadows of the cameraman and his mic buddy in the opening scene.

JohnK · 18-04-2012 10:24pm

The Contract (2006) - very meh. Thought it be safe enough with Morgan Freeman but alas even he couldnt save it.

crazygeryy · 18-04-2012 10:30pm

God bless america = natural born killers

Nothing to write home about.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 18-04-2012 10:36pm

Rainbow Song, one of my favourite movies. Love story where the guy and girl never actually get together because she dies in the first 5 minutes, the rest of the movie is back story and fleshing out who these people are and why her death was important.

Dvd arrived from yesasia during the week, great to see it on dvd instead of the godawfaul quality download I've had for the last couple of years. Even if you've already seen a movie several times, watching it for the first time on a new DVD is a great feeling. Capitalism truly is a wonderful thing.

mikemac1 · 19-04-2012 12:04am

Contraband

Background and story sounded very interesting

In the end it was average, no more then average

The twists at the end were not particularly clever. Ok it doesn't have to be in order to be entertaining but the whole thing left me a bit cold
Didn't realy give a damn about the characters

Good idea for a film, just could have been a whole lot more

johnny_ultimate · 19-04-2012 8:05pm

Le Havre - very endearing new film from Aki Kaurismäki. A bittersweet tale about a French shoe-shiner who has to contend with his wife's illness and the unexpected discovery of an illegal immigrant boy. The tone is extremely well judged - just the right side of quirky, while always retaining a warm and understated affection for its characters. It's amusing rather than laugh out loud funny at times (barring a charity concert inspired in its oddness) but Kaurismaki can find humour in the most unexpected places. Heck, even the framing compositions have amusing colouration or almost hidden visual gags: I don't know why I found the contrast between a load of cacti and a pineapple funny, but I did :P A film whose understated, simple and almost fairy-tale story is immeasurably strengthened by a great confidence of delivery.

sillo · 19-04-2012 9:11pm

2 underwhelming ones today.

Haywire: Quality set-pieces but Soderbergh casting his lead as an MMA fighter who never acted before in her life backfires quite a bit. Still a good movie, well shot and great execution....but let down by the wooden lead and the by-the-numbers plot.

Tiny Furniture: Ugh, indy dross - a bunch of unlikeable characters hang around being really reallu unlikeable for 90 minutes; hip soundtrack and self-pitying by the bucketload, this whole thing left me bored and mildly annoyed.

johnny_ultimate · 19-04-2012 9:25pm

I'm always slightly amazed at the level of distaste many people have for Tiny Furniture, not that I can't see where you're coming from although I think it's at worst fairly harmless. To me it was pretty much as accurate a portrait as you're likely to get of directionless, spoiled graduates that you're not meant to like - for a generation that may have outgrown Noah Baumbach's still excellent Kicking & Screaming. It's pretty much Lena Dunham taking the piss out of herself for an hour and a half - clearly not something for everyone :pac: Her follow-up Girls, a TV show that just began on HBO, recycles many of the same actors and basic characters while being a bit funnier and self-aware: I personally don't have any major issue with that.

tony1kenobi · 19-04-2012 9:26pm

I watched Shame today.

I wasn't mad about the film but Michael Fassbender has a smashing penis
and Carey Mulligan naked looks exactly how I imagine quite often.

mikemac1 · 19-04-2012 10:11pm

Haywire
Sounded interesting and I was attracted by the cast

In the end very underwhelming, would not recommend

Hadn't come across the lead actress before, she has potential

Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin certainly looks well, must call in some day

grohlisagod · 20-04-2012 2:25am

stuchyg wrote: »

Clerks II - gotta love the LOTR, porch monkey and Kinky Kelly scenes

Just watched it. Very good, certainly a good follow up. I loved the LOTR bits and pillow pants. The husband in the porch monkey scene is brilliant too.

That_Guy · 20-04-2012 11:07am

Contraband:

Decent if unspectacular thriller/action film. It's a film that's never going to win any awards or anything like that but it's worth a watch if you want to leave your brain at the door for a couple of hours. Some decent enough action sequences throughout if that's your thing.

The twist is quite underwhelming too as you could call it a miile off.

Penn · 20-04-2012 11:57am

tony1kenobi wrote: »

I watched Shame today.

I wasn't mad about the film but Michael Fassbender has a smashing penis
and Carey Mulligan naked looks exactly how I imagine quite often.

Odaise Gaelach · 20-04-2012 3:04pm

Alien & Aliens

I can see why they're considered classics.

Turtyturd · 20-04-2012 5:39pm

X-Men: First Class. Really big X-Men fan but only got around to this now, when it was out in the cinema I wasn't really grabbed by the promo material and the 60's setting put me off it. It wasn't too bad and other than in the Hellfire club, some music, and the Cold War backdrop it is really understated. Fassenbender really steals the show in this up until his accent goes on the beach scene and I would be interested in a Magneto spin off starring him.

Over all the film is decent enough but has a few problems, there are too few action scenes and the ones there are lack any impact or are too short, some characters are under used, and there are some inconsistencies/coincidences....

Just how long can Banshee hold his breath underwater?...Why didn't Magneto just crush the the Helmet around Shaw's head like he did with the camp guards?

It was also unclear to me at the end did Magneto or Xavier

move the cable to grab the helmet of Shaw's head? I am guessing it was Magneto as if it was Xavier he would have to have telekentic powers and this would make him being paralyzed pointless.

Decent way to spend two hours.

Dermighty · 20-04-2012 5:52pm

Just saw Lockout in the cinema.

****e, could haev been good.

Ah well, twas better than Battleship (heap of ****!)

sillo · 20-04-2012 8:43pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I'm always slightly amazed at the level of distaste many people have for Tiny Furniture

I'm usually pretty easygoing when it comes to movie - I'll watch more or less anything, from siberian camel documentaries to mission impossible and everything inbetween. I think the reason TF evoked such dislike is that it simply felt like a pointless exercise - I got none of the things out of it that I like to see in a movie. And I didn't even get the impression the people that made the movie cared about my experience at all, they were too busy trying to be inciteful and keen.

Which is not necessarily a flaw in creative types at all, but in this particular case it all came together in a rather unenjoyable way that rubbed me up the wrong way.

Tipsy McSwagger · 20-04-2012 8:48pm

willmunny1990 wrote: »

IT: I haven't seen this movie in years!

This film used to scare me when i was younger and i was excited to see it again. I hadn't seen it in years and could only vaguely remember some scenes.

However after watching it again i was disappointed, i found it very corny and funny at times and it got downright bizarre towards the end.

There was one or two scary moments and i thought Tim Curry played the role of IT well but all and all it was to corny and infantile.

Read the book it's a masterpiece.

sillo · 20-04-2012 8:49pm

Honestly don't think I could watch IT. Scared the life out of me when I was a kid.

johnny_ultimate · 20-04-2012 8:57pm

sillo wrote: »

I'm usually pretty easygoing when it comes to movie - I'll watch more or less anything, from siberian camel documentaries to mission impossible and everything inbetween. I think the reason TF evoked such dislike is that it simply felt like a pointless exercise - I got none of the things out of it that I like to see in a movie. And I didn't even get the impression the people that made the movie cared about my experience at all, they were too busy trying to be inciteful and keen.

Which is not necessarily a flaw in creative types at all, but in this particular case it all came together in a rather unenjoyable way that rubbed me up the wrong way.

It's fair enough, and you're far from the only person to feel that way (Irish and UK critics seemed particularly hostile towards it). I kind of think the film is designed to be sort of pointless, if that makes sense: after all, it's about a character who is almost entirely directionless and unlikeable. As someone in the same age group of Dunham, I do think she has a pretty perceptive eye when it comes to critiquing a certain generation, of which she herself belongs. Indeed, as someone who has been an unemployed graduate in the very recent past (potentially a soon to be unemployed postgrad :P) I dare suggest a lot of it hit close to home at times, although I hope I'm not as obnoxious as the protagonist

Definitely recognise some of the types it portrays, even if I'm not from a privileged New York neighborhood! It's far from a masterpiece, IMO, but was overall a rewarding watch.

Have you ever seen Kicking & Screaming? Would be curious to know if you felt the same way about that, although general consensus seems more favourable towards it. I think they're both aimed at a very specific demographic, although TF definitely has rubbed a lot of people a very wrong way indeed.

sillo · 20-04-2012 8:59pm

No but I'm dying for something new to watch right now so I might check it out. I had seen some coverage comparing the two movies.

I don't doubt Dunham's analysis had a lot of home truths in it and probably cut to the bone - but I'm 31, students being directionless isn't news to me :P

Tindie · 20-04-2012 9:09pm

The Last Broadcast (1998)

This movie did like feel like a found footage movie at all, it felt like was watching a real documentary.

I did not like this movie at all, most of the time people were just talking about case after the murders, the person who got set down, did he it do or not.

There are only number of scenes that were in the woods, which was really disappointing.

I don't why but thought it be a lot more similar too The Blair Witch Project but it was far from it. (Which make neither of them good).

This movie also as a really odd twist ending, Which I did not see going at all but I don't think that twist suited the movie at all.

The acting was really poor in places I going to give 4 out of 10

Kissenger · 21-04-2012 12:51am

Sherlock Holmes 2

Not a bad movie. But certainely not a great movie.
Uses too much of that slow-mo / pre-fighting predicting stuff too. That was good in the first movie. Just feels over-used now.

sillo · 21-04-2012 9:30pm

Headhunters (Hodejegerne): I went into this one with almost no idea what to expect and it really delighted me - juggling effortlessly between tones of action, suspense, thriller, comedy and romance, this norwegian film was enthralling from beginning to end.

A true multidimensional gem of a movie, I highly recommend it!

bnt · 21-04-2012 10:56pm

Just watched Gregory's Girl (1981): why, oh why, have I never seen this before? Possibly because I've read reviewers gushing about it for years and didn't think it could be as good as all that. Turns out it's not that good: it's better. I'm convinced that John Hughes saw this before making his "high school" films such as Sixteen Candles: both have the same kind of surrealist humour in the "normal" lives of the high school kids. A very "nice" film in the best sense.

Turtyturd · 22-04-2012 11:38am

Captain America: The First Avenger. Kicked off my Avengers run in with this. I have read some of the major Cap comic stories over the years but never really found the character that interesting bar the Ultimates version and when Brubaker wrote him, so was pleasantly surprised by this.

It is really enjoyable, it captures the setting and era pretty well, Tommy Lee Jones is well cast, Hugo Weaving doesn't completely ham it up as Red Skull, and even Chris Evans who ruined the FF movies manages to do ok here. There are some nice touches throughout like the howling commandos, Peggy Carter, and I really liked the seeds planted for the 'Winter Soldier' story to be the focus of the sequel.

There are a few bad points, The pre-transformation Rogers is done well for the most part but some scenes are dodgy looking (the one where he crawls through the barbed wire on the assault course. The main criticism I have is the ending, it lacks any real tension (maybe because we already know what happens) but I would have rathered the end to have Cap and Red Skull

fight on the outside of the plane as it crashes before an explosion separates them and knocks Cap into the ice.

Also liked that the end scene is taken straight from The Ultimates although again I would have preferred him to

attack Fury and say 'Gabe Jones is the highest ranking Black man in the US army'

just a small thing but would have been nice, maybe we are too sensitive for that.:D

I know it should be expected from a comic company, but I really gotta give Marvel credit for having their continuity in such good shape over the course of these movies, it really adds to them.

krudler · 22-04-2012 1:54pm

Angels and Demons, was pretty pants, least they changed that ludicrous parachute scene from the book

Rabidlamb · 22-04-2012 1:58pm

Kissenger wrote: »

Sherlock Holmes 2

Not a bad movie. But certainely not a great movie.
Uses too much of that slow-mo / pre-fighting predicting stuff too. That was good in the first movie. Just feels over-used now.

I watched it last night aswell & thought it was much better than the reviews.
It's over 2 hours long though, that could have been cut.
Dialogue was strong & another good turn by the leads.

Good to see Naaomi Replace getting some Hollywood recognition.

Judgement Day · 22-04-2012 2:08pm

"End of Days" (1999) on RTE last night. Watched from behind laptop. Still an entertaining movie and Gabriel Byrne really does smug and evil with panache. That said he's no match for Arnie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzkwtbyiaME

Thoms Yorkie Bars · 22-04-2012 5:41pm

Shame. Great film. Great performance from Fassbender. Thought it could have dealt more with why he is the way he is but other than that no complaints what so ever

His knob's huge

Tindie · 22-04-2012 5:50pm

Street Trash (1987)

After seeing the trailer for first time on Friday had to see this movie, i got my hands on it yesterday,. i have seen it today.

The movies dose not take long to start at all, there are some really good gooey gory scenes in this movie get in the mood of the cheesy effect.

There some scene are funny at first, then they make the joke drag on a little to long make the jokes fade wade away.

The acting at the start of the movie was really appalling but as the movie carried on the acting skill improved just a little, enough to suit this kind of movie.

There were really funny moment that worked really well and some really good over the top gory death scenes.

I could have done without the silly 1st fight scene, which has to be one of the worst fight scene i have ever seen in a movie.

Overall, I thought it was crap-tastic 5 out of 10

don ramo · 22-04-2012 7:04pm

Judgement Day wrote: »

"End of Days" (1999) on RTE last night. Watched from behind laptop. Still an entertaining movie and Gabriel Byrne really does smug and evil with panache. That said he's no match for Arnie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzkwtbyiaME

hes only a choir boy:D

Tony EH · 22-04-2012 11:48pm

Tindie wrote: »

Street Trash (1987)

After seeing the trailer for first time on Friday had to see this movie, i got my hands on it yesterday,. i have seen it today.

The movies dose not take long to start at all, there are some really good gooey gory scenes in this movie get in the mood of the cheesy effect.

There some scene are funny at first, then they make the joke drag on a little to long make the jokes fade wade away.

The acting at the start of the movie was really appalling but as the movie carried on the acting skill improved just a little, enough to suit this kind of movie.

There were really funny moment that worked really well and some really good over the top gory death scenes.

I could have done without the silly 1st fight scene, which has to be one of the worst fight scene i have ever seen in a movie.

Overall, I thought it was crap-tastic 5 out of 10

YO! Air support!

MagicMarker · 23-04-2012 7:56am

Food Inc. - An indictment of America's corporate controlled food industry, very interesting it must be said, and if I were an American, quite scary!!

I wonder how our own industry compares?

ntlbell · 23-04-2012 8:23am

Hable con ella - Talk to her.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this film. the soundtrack is out of this world. I enjoyed the film but I have to say there was a lot of the time I was made feel strangely uncomfortable I'm sure it would have been worse if I was watching it with someone else.

Definitely worth watching but the soundtrack is a must listen imo

SlipperyPeople · 23-04-2012 9:57am

recently watched:

Shame- one of the top films of the year for me really good. 4/5

Dogtooth- weird Greek film about a couple who keep their grown children from the outside world in their house and garden. good though 3/5

The Consequences of love- brilliant film was blown away when i watched this last night. Italian crime film directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Its about a middle aged italian business man who lives a secluded life in a hotel in switzerland. Soon the real reason he is there becomes apparent after he speaks with a young barmaid. sound track is awesome too 5/5

Tindie · 23-04-2012 11:40am

Tony EH wrote: »

YO! Air support!

What are you on about?

Judgement Day · 23-04-2012 11:41am

"Man on Fire" (2004) on TV last night. Watched for the umteenth time as it appeals to my sense of justice.

Set in Mexico City, Denzel Washington deals out serious retribution to all involved in the kidnapping of a young girl under his protection. A well crafted movie which never stops until the credits roll.

"I got all the time in the world, I do, but you don't."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s_-O4HglGI

johnny_ultimate · 23-04-2012 12:02pm

Kamikaze Girls: A year or two ago, Kamikaze Girls was one of the rare films I just couldn't finish. Lost interest after around half an hour. A bit more accustomed with the style of director Tetsuya Nakashima (he of Confessions and Memories of Matsuko), said I'd give it another go. Still wouldn't consider myself a fan of the film, but it just about gets by on the sheer power of its visual and stylistic identity. The story itself is a fairly meandering tale of a Gothic Lolita who befriends a biker chick. Surreal, loosely structured happenings follow, some of which are moderately amusing while others evaporate before you know it. The narrative is light at best, disposable at worst. But the visuals are full of colour, camera movement, clever framing and other stylistic flourishes, that make it at least pleasing to look at.

It's a shallow film by design, almost, and isn't a patch on Nakashima's other films (Confessions is a radical departure, but Matsuko builds on the day-glo presentation and marries it was a more compelling, bittersweet story). Just about worth a watch with low expectations.

Tony EH · 23-04-2012 12:17pm

Tindie wrote: »

What are you on about?

It's a line from the film.

craftypaddy · 23-04-2012 12:24pm

That_Guy wrote: »

Contraband:

Decent if unspectacular thriller/action film. It's a film that's never going to win any awards or anything like that but it's worth a watch if you want to leave your brain at the door for a couple of hours. Some decent enough action sequences throughout if that's your thing.
The twist is quite underwhelming too as you could call it a miile off.

friends asked me about this film, all i could say was, its alright, just switch off the brain first

Kojak · 23-04-2012 12:28pm

Watched "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" at the weekend.

Cokeistan · 23-04-2012 1:55pm

Watched "Layercake" and "Good Will Hunting" recently.

Both great movies, would recommend to anyone who hasn't watched either

WHIP IT! · 23-04-2012 2:09pm

Cokeistan wrote: »

Watched "Layercake" and "Good Will Hunting" recently.

Both great movies, would recommend to anyone who hasn't watched either

Two films that have been on my 'to-watch' lost for some time now... what's the deal with Layercake? What film(s) would you compare it to?

beerbaron · 23-04-2012 2:12pm

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Two films that have been on my 'to-watch' lost for some time now... what's the deal with Layercake? What film(s) would you compare it to?

Snatch/Carlito's Way

Cokeistan · 23-04-2012 2:17pm

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Two films that have been on my 'to-watch' lost for some time now... what's the deal with Layercake? What film(s) would you compare it to?

It's the film that practically got Daniel Craig the Bond Role. I suppose I'd compare it to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Heat, and Goodfellas, it would certainly have elements from the three of those

amiable · 23-04-2012 2:18pm

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Two films that have been on my 'to-watch' lost for some time now... what's the deal with Layercake? What film(s) would you compare it to?

To be honest it's very difficult to compare Layer Cake to any other movie in my honest opinion.

It's one of my favourite movies of all time.

Daniel Craig is well cast and excellent and nothing like what you'd expect.
Michael Gambon is brilliant too and his voice is captivating.
Colin Meaney is very funny(as usual).
Tameer Hassan plays his usual role.
Tom Hardy has a small role too.
Sienna Miller is gorgeous.

Soundtrack is very good too.

What have you watched recently?

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