Films you've seen/film discussion

[fowler9]

The Damned United is absolutely brilliant and I would say well worth a watch even by people who may avoid it because it is football related. Timothy Spall and Micheal Sheen are amazing along with Colm Meaney who is also really good.
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Dead Man Shoes. Just watched it again. Directed by Shane Meadows who also did This Is England. Paddy Considine is the mane protagonist and has one of the best threat scenes I have ever seen in any film. He is a soldier who has come back to civvy street in Sheffield and his brother has basically been bullied and killed. Gary Stretch (Boxer) plays the bad guy. Part of what makes the threat scene so good is the mundanity. It looks like it could have happened outside your house in the suburbs, but Paddy Considine pulls it off so well, you can tell he just doesn't give a sh*t.

 

[DaleCooper]

Miller's Crossing - A gangster film by the Coen Brothers in the 1940s, film noir style although instead of the usual suspects (Al Pacino and Robert De Niro) it stars Gabriel Byrne and Albert Finney. I found the plot a bit confusing (trying to work out which minor character was which) but it was quite entertaining with some snippets of black humour. 6.5/10
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Dead Man Shoes. Just watched it again. Directed by Shane Meadows who also did This Is England. Paddy Considine is the mane protagonist and has one of the best threat scenes I have ever seen in any film. He is a soldier who has come back to civvy street in Sheffield and his brother has basically been bullied and killed. Gary Stretch (Boxer) plays the bad guy. Part of what makes the threat scene so good is the mundanity. It looks like it could have happened outside your house in the suburbs, but Paddy Considine pulls it off so well, you can tell he just doesn't give a sh*t.

Great film.
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K-PAX - Starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges this is another one of my favourite films. Well written, terrific acting, beautifully photographed; it's an enigma wrapped in a riddle surrounded by mystery. 8.5/10

The Watch - Comedy about a smalltown neighbourhood watch fighting an alien invasion. An entertaining, if undemanding, way to pass 90 minutes. 6.0/10

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

The Blob (1958)
This was a good film, some star jelly lands in a meteorite and starts attacking people and growing in size, it's impossible to kill. The kids that see it are ignored by almost everyone.
3-4/5

 

[JoeGJ1984]

ParaNorman - An animated horror film. Good film about a kid who can talk to ghosts who was to save the whole town from a witch. 4/5

 

[DaleCooper]

The Long Kiss Goodnight - Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson in an enjoyable action film with just the right of amount of humour - 7.0/10

Outpost - Nazi zombie horror, not normally my sort of thing but at least it has a British cast and is slightly reminiscent of Dog Soldiers although not quite as good - 6.0/10

 

[bnm]

Watched 'Swiss Army Man' last night.

How do I explain it? Nearly impossible. Think of it as a dream you've had that makes perfect sense to you when you're in it, but was impossible to explain to someone afterward.

I'll give it a go at explaining...

Shipwrecked man about to commit suicide finds farting corpse. Uses corpse in various novel ways to get out of predicaments or improve situation. Just as a Swiss Army Knife has multiple uses, so does this corpse.

Fart jokes abound, as does near the knuckle discussion about masturbation. But there's much more to thus film than that. Impossible to categorise. But enjoyable nonetheless. There are many messages you can take from it - something I think the writers/directors intended. It speaks of the human condition; love, loss, desperation, hope, and suburban bus journeys.

Don't take it seriously. Just enjoy. The co-leads, Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe are outstanding. Daniel Radcliffe in particular deserves praise for being an outstanding corpse. Particularly when being used as a fart propelled Jet-ski.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Terrdactyl is on now, looks good so far. Pteradactyls start attacking Los Angeles. One mistake though, they forget to mention the last of them died in 19th century France during a railway tunnel's construction.

Trapped In Space, good film about what to do if supplies aren't going to support everyone, in this case, oxygen. The desperate attempts to get more oxygen, to have a civilised 'poison tea party', and to avoid being killed at all costs, and to protect the dog whose the biggest target.
It might be yet down by the music, the camera quality, but it's a great story.
4/5

 

[DaleCooper]

The Bone Collector - probably the worst Denzel Washington film I've seen, contrived and full of plot holes. 4.0/10 (Denzel was ok though)

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Bone Eater, a huge skeleton starts walking around attacking a new development after being disturbed at the Cheroke burial site.
Walter Kroenig and Gil Gerald are in it. Okay film.
3/5

The 25th Reich, this film's box is entirely miss leading, no other dimensions are seen, let alone the 25 it claims, the film itself is complete garbage.
0/5

 

[backontrack]

The Muppets: 6.5/10 (dir. James Bobin, with Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz & Peter Linz)

A solid enough return to the big screen - but not enough Gonzo.

 

[Darandio]

Bridge Of Spies, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg, a mix that should always produce a good result and it didn't disappoint.

Although it is based on true events, it does deviate from these, as films usually do, but it doesn't deviate enough to damage the story.

Thoroughly recommended. 9.5/10

 

[fowler9]

Watched the Robocop remake the other night. Not as bad as I thought it would be.

 

[DaleCooper]

Watched the Robocop remake the other night. Not as bad as I thought it would be.

But not as good as the original. Whatever happened to Peter Weller?

 

[fowler9]

But not as good as the original. Whatever happened to Peter Weller?

No where near as good as the original, a complete lack of humour for starters. Oddly enough despite the lack of humour the new one is a 12, the original was an 18, it wouldn't be an 18 these days.

 

[DaleCooper]

Futurama: Bender's Big Score - why are the full length Futurama films never as good as the half hour episodes? Although the ending is pretty mind blowing 6.0/10

One of the special features is a 22 minute Hypnotoad special; I found it very difficult not to watch it all the way through, it took a real effort of will.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

In regards to Robocop, I liked the first three films aswell as the TV Movies alot more. The new one doesn't act, nor look like Robocop.
It's yet another example of how rebooting a classic, filling it with CGI and making it 'darker' or grim, can ruin a franchise. Judge Dredd is similar, old was perfect, new is rubbish.

Futurama is great, personally I'd rather it was the Simpsons cancelled instead.
Never seen the Hypnotoad episode, but Fry once said it's being going downhill since season 3. I agree the episodes are better (the Popplers one for example).
For me the Beast With A Billion Backs is the worst Futurama movie, followed by the Green Yonder, Benders Big Score is the best (if it's the Dungeons and Dragons one as I think).

Okay, last film I saw (lastnight on SyFy)
Zombeavers, a film about Zombie Beavers, not great, best bit was actually before the zombies are seen. 2/5

Now I'm waiting to rewatch They Live, which is on Horror later this month.
I really like that film.

 

[fowler9]

Ended up chatting to a mate the other night about Battleship (Whilst discussing the most recent Robocop film). I mentioned that the aliens weapons in Battleship seemed a bit odd, he pointed out that the weird multiple launched explosives were meant to be like the pegs in the actual game.

 

[ComUtoR]

I
Now I'm waiting to rewatch They Live, which is on Horror later this month.
I really like that film.

I'd watch it too but I'm all out of bubblegum...

 

[DarloRich]

LOADS to report:

Everest: Jason Clarke & Josh Brolin star in a film based on the 1996 Everest disaster when several commercial expeditions tried to climb Everest ending with 8 people dying after being caught in a blizzard in the death zone. It feels cold, the cinematography is stunning at times but the story ( despite being true) just doesn't seem to land. Good not great.

Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels: £100k fixed card game goes wrong, gangster overlord out for his money & revenge, interlinked stories, kinetic style. superb. One of the best British crime movies.

Die Hard: off-duty New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) takes on a group of highly organized criminals led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who perform a heist in a Los Angeles skyscraper. The ultimate 1980's all american hero film? It is very good and despite imitators and sequels is still the best.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World: The film combines elements from 13 different novels of Patrick O'Brian, but the basic plot mostly comes from The Far Side of the World with the American ship swapped for a French villain. Stars Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin & won 2 Oscars. The portrayals by the leads are good ( if lacking the depth of the books) while the naval action sequences are very good.

Dog Soldiers: low budget British werewolf horror with some interesting homages thrown in. It has energy, wit, gore and tension. I really like it - A Werewolf Movie With Real Bite

Frost/Nixon: based on the 2006 play of the same name The film tells the story behind the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. Directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Sheen & Frank Langella and both are excellent. The film ( or perhaps Langella) actually seems to humanise Richard Nixon which is something few ( if any?) manage. Quiet, subdued and very good. Said to be accurate.

The Shawshank Redemption:Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover and is sentenced to a hard prison. While there, he forms a friendship with Red (Morgan Freeman) and using his banking skills helps the corrupt staff launder their money before escaping , sterling the money, fleeing to Mexico & informing the police.

Interestingly it really only came to wide notice on home video and the film only shows Robbins as other see him, never from the POV of his character with the Morgan Freeman character the central role and narrator. The movie is as deliberate, considered, subtle and thoughtful - I think it is very, very good.

 

[ComUtoR]

The Shawshank Redemption:Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover

Probably my favourite film of all time. Based on a short story by Stephen King.

This week I have been mostly watching.. The telly.

Due to the release of Westworld the series I caught up with the original movie. It was interesting to see how a film can be so iconic and have an instantly recognisable central character but actually fall short on any real credibility. It looks very dated and I must admit that I didn't really see much of a storyline. "Man in Black" chases guest in a psychotic rampage is pretty much about it.

 

[EM2]

Finally got around to watching Iron Sky, which I had already been warned falls into the 'so bad, it's good' category.
I'd been wanting to see it because it's based on a ridiculous premise, which if done well had great potential for a bad-but-good movie, that being the idea that Nazis escaped to the dark side of the Moon in 1945, and built a massive base there, in preparation to one day invade the Earth and take over.
Unfortunately, it's nowhere near as over the top as I was expecting, and falls short of being good, it just remains bad.

 

[DaleCooper]

Hellboy - A great film on many levels; pathos, humour, romance, action, design, music, special effects and some memorable imagery, I'm particularly thinking of the funeral scene and the depiction of the apocalypse. A much better film than the sequel (although I did like the troll market in that). 7.5/10

The Fifth Element - Action, sci-fi and humour, what more could you ask for? Milla Jovovich's alien language was really convincing. 7.5/10

Severance - Excellent British horror/comedy that subverts many of the genre's clichés, my favourite bit is the rocket launcher scene. 6.5/10

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

I like Hellboy too. There's a cartoon film with vampires, it's lower quality than the live action ofcourse, but still good.

Resident Evil 4 (The one in an underwater testing centre) Good for action, although some scenes are clearly staged in front of green screen. The film's simple script is sort of like 'Escape from New York' but with zombies, and clones, instead of thugs and president.
4/5

All the TV shows have started so few movies. Land of The Giants (Horror), Danger UXB & Piglet Files (Forces TV), Red Dwarf XI (Dave), etc etc are taking up all my time.

 

[DarloRich]

Part 2 of the mega review upload thingy:

Kill your friends: a 2015 British dark comedy crime-thriller film set in 1997 Brit Pop/Cool Britannia world. Nichoals Hoult plays Steven Stelfox a drug fueled rising music company A&R man who when the hits dry up turns to murder to keep him on top. Stelfox is a massively evil, twisted and deranged scum bag (ie happy to bash his mates head in with an award/stab his lover with a glass shard to frame a cop/frame his boss as a nonce etc) but Hoult is too young and to nice looking to pull it off. The film isnt very good but the soundtrack is excellent.

Eddie the Eagle: biographical sports comedy-drama film directed by Dexter Fletcher about British ski jump record holder Eddie " The Eagle" Edwards. It stars Taron Egerton & Hugh Jackman. It is rammed full of sporting cliches but the characters are believable and the story of the triumph of the Olympic spirit is an inspirational one. Wont win any awards but a nice family film worth watching.

Gangster Squad:a 2013 American action crime thriller film staring Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone and Sean Penn. Lossley based on true events it is basically an extremely violent version of the untouchables set in 1950's California. It is very well shot, very stylish and well put together but the writing is poor, the characters undeveloped ( especially Stone) and the actors seem to be playing within themselves. Not as good as it should be which is frustrating.

Blood Diamond: A political thriller set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1991–2002, the film depicts a country torn apart by the struggle between government loyalists and insurgent forces. It also portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels' amputation of people's hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections. Although it is essentially two men, one black, one white, searching for a hidden treasure. It strives to be an important film and while it does touch on very important moral questions and shows some very graphic action sequences but by the end it has become an standard triumph over adversity piece. A good film but not a great one.

Mad Max: A dystopian action film with a cult following starring Mel Gibson. Is it a hard boiled action film about a man on a quest for justice or a portrayal of a visceral, sordid, dog eat dog almost nihilistic world where society has disintegrated brought to life? I do know it is like some weird dream at times! It is a very good film but by no means an easy watch.

 

[DaleCooper]

Memento - I wasn't sure if this would be as good the second time around as I already knew the ending however as it turned out the film has more depth to it than just the twist at the end (unlike the films of M. Night Shyamalan who seems to think that the ending with a twist is all that matters) 7.5/10

Training Day - Denzel Washington's Oscar winning performance as a very bad cop with an equally good performance from Ethan Hawke as his honest sidekick. 8.0/10

 

[Darandio]

Now I'm waiting to rewatch They Live, which is on Horror later this month.
I really like that film.

So, so good.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

So, so good.

Mark the 22nd of October in your calander, that's when Horror show it.

 

[ainsworth74]

No where near as good as the original, a complete lack of humour for starters. Oddly enough despite the lack of humour the new one is a 12, the original was an 18, it wouldn't be an 18 these days.

I dunno the original is pretty gory and that does tend to get the BBFCs rating senses tingling. Their criteria for a 15 certification when it comes to violence is:

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

I can think of a couple of sequences in the original which I think would fall foul of that and therefore warrant an 18 certification.

 

[fowler9]

I dunno the original is pretty gory and that does tend to get the BBFCs rating senses tingling. Their criteria for a 15 certification when it comes to violence is:



I can think of a couple of sequences in the original which I think would fall foul of that and therefore warrant an 18 certification.

Good points, however, Deadpool is a 15 and features violence, nudity and shall we say harsh language. The fact it uses child abuse as a jokey reference should surely make it an 18. Two adults talking about who was abused the most growing up. Brilliant film though.

Could I go as far as to say that Deadpool is similar to the original Robocop in the sense that it turns extreme violence in to a joke.

 

[DaleCooper]

Beverly Hills Cop - loads of fun from Eddie Murphy and the gang, not a masterpiece but you can't knock it, the best of the the three "Beverly Hills Cop" films and of course the music is spot on. 7.0/10

Ghosts of Mars - I don't why this John Carpenter film is rated so low on IMDb, I think it's pretty good, it moves along at a good pace with no padding (and there's a train in it) - 6.5/10