Good films I watched this weekend (Vol 2)

Good films I watched this weekend (Vol 2)

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VEA

4,785 posts

200 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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Fas1975 said:
Dracula Untold. Wasn't expecting much but was actually really really worthwhile watching.
Watched this afternoon, thought it was OK, but could have been so much more. It's a great story... poor execution imo.

Mercury00

4,098 posts

155 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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Chronicle - I have it on DVD but watched it on TV again last night, it's a really good film. Just the right amount of darkness and creepyness needed.

robemcdonald

8,716 posts

195 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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Interstellar.

A very good film, that could have been great.

I saw it in imax and the sound mix was truely awful. So much of the dialogue was mumbled and obscured by the overly loud score. There were times when I was totally engrossed only have the moment ruined by a deafening blast of a church organ. (Must be this years inception horns). These are traits typical of Chris Nolan taken to an entirely new level in this film. On the subject of formats I would suggest imax is a must for this movie. Smaller screens just wouldn't do the excellent visuals justice.

Technical points aside the story is very good. There is a paradox at the centre of things that some might find difficult, but just go with it. Acting was very strong too. At no point in the 2 hour 40 odd minute run time did I feel like it was dragging (repeat viewings may be a bit of a chore though)

Highly recommended, just take your earplugs.

7.5 / 10 (would have been 9.5 / 10 with a better sound mix)

TREMAiNE

3,904 posts

148 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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Interstellar

Very, very, very good. The music was too loud in some instances though, it overpowered the speech which became very annoying.
Great cast, great script, great effects.

Definitely the modern day 2001: A Space Odyssey

9/10

Paul671

335 posts

206 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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Just watched Blue Ruin on Netflix

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359024/

Not your usual revenge film but all the better for it, definitely worth a watch.

SWoll

18,206 posts

257 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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Guardians of the Galaxy

Loved every minute of it. Watched it with my son and we both agreed it is our favourite Marvel film. Good, old fashioned family fun like they rarely seem to do anymore.

Wasn't expecting much after seeing the trailers but it delivered in spades. Great soundtrack too.

9/10

Flat6er

1,656 posts

209 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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TREMAiNE said:
Interstellar

Very, very, very good. The music was too loud in some instances though, it overpowered the speech which became very annoying.
Great cast, great script, great effects.

Definitely the modern day 2001: A Space Odyssey

9/10
Maybe the sound issues were on purpose?


http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/84247...

Edited by Flat6er on Sunday 16th November 22:37

SWoll

18,206 posts

257 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
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boxst said:
EarlOfHazard said:
Lord of War - hadn't seen it for a few years. Class film!
That is an excellent film.
Nicholas Cage's best film for a long, long time. The opening credits sequence is worth a special mention, superbly done.

DBSV8

5,958 posts

237 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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The duelists 1977

Ridley Scotts first movie ,a napoleonic master piece about two French hussars who start a duel that lasts for 30 years
Based on a true story

The cinematography is breath taking French countryside with authentic period costumes,
attention to detail ,still life shots that look as though they came straight out of a Rembrandt painting ,top class actors , a youthful Harvey Keitel , Keith carradine ,supported by tom conti ,Edward fox ,Albert Finney Diane quick .
Also watch out for Pete postelwaite his first movie playing a barber
All on a budget of 900k,

Excellent movie

Big Raff

1,325 posts

170 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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Nightcrawler

Very good, just the right amount of edge and madman lead character

8/10

thismonkeyhere

10,296 posts

230 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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'Tracks'

Aussie bird goes for 1800 mile stroll across the desert with some camels and a dog, just because.

Surprisingly gripping, very well acted, amazing scenery and photography (cinematography?). Enjoyed every minute.

OldSpice

353 posts

136 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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Imitation Game.

Thought that it was very well done, especially the ending.

9/10.

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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Battle of the River Plate

It was the first film I saw without my parents. I had to sneak in to the cinema, either because I was under the age for the classification or just not to pay.

The story is very exciting but the directors do his best to make it boring. However, it was in colour and there were lots of bangs so as a kid, I loved it. It was on this weekend. I thought it would be fun to watch again.

The thing that stood out was the attitude towards the Germans, particularly the captain of the Graf Spee, Langsdorf (played by Peter Finch). This was just 10 years after the war yet it was sympathetic. The chap's suicide was merely hinted at in the film, which seemed to have been out of respect.

The ships were real, no CGI. On top of that, the gun barrels were shown blackened by firing. There's a fair bit of stiff upper and gung ho, but it was pretty good in displaying life on boats according to my naval relatives.

Even more remarkable was that on of the joint directors was a German Jew who had to flee Germany.

Made me wonder about those who go back hundreds of years to build resentment against a particular race, nationality or religion.

There was a TV documentary on the battle a couple of years ago or so. That was fascinating.

One of the few clear naval victories during the war, and for a joint Commonwealth force, yet hardly mentioned.


chris watton

22,477 posts

259 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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Derek Smith said:
Battle of the River Plate



One of the few clear naval victories during the war, and for a joint Commonwealth force, yet hardly mentioned.
It is quite well know, as far as I know. I design scale model ships and so do a lot of research (which covers a lot more than the original subjects), and in virtually every book that covers WWII, the Admiral graf Spee and River Plate is mentioned. The British made sure this was told in the history books, it was great propaganda for the time - although the German ship wasn't half as awesome as the British public were led to believe (much like the Bismarck). The radio chatter deception was a great idea though!

(The ship depicting the German vessel in the film looked nothing like the Graf Spee...the original didn't have superimposed main turrets for a start...)

mu0n

2,348 posts

132 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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I just watched Stretch.

Decent film, well worth the watch. Pretty fast paced. 7/10.

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Monday 17th November 2014
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chris watton said:
Derek Smith said:
Battle of the River Plate



One of the few clear naval victories during the war, and for a joint Commonwealth force, yet hardly mentioned.
It is quite well know, as far as I know. I design scale model ships and so do a lot of research (which covers a lot more than the original subjects), and in virtually every book that covers WWII, the Admiral graf Spee and River Plate is mentioned. The British made sure this was told in the history books, it was great propaganda for the time - although the German ship wasn't half as awesome as the British public were led to believe (much like the Bismarck). The radio chatter deception was a great idea though!

(The ship depicting the German vessel in the film looked nothing like the Graf Spee...the original didn't have superimposed main turrets for a start...)
I had a number of uncles in the Merchant/Royal Navies. There's a Smith gene, at least in females, that finds itself attracted to sailors. One of the few to survive the war, despite going on North Atlantic convoys and on a couple (one of which was QP16) to Murmansk, was well into the naval history of WWII.

Given that he was in the general area at the time of PQ17 and being aware that the Bismark might be coming out to get him personally, he had a few books on it. He read German - he was an intelligent bloke - and showed me a description of its firepower.

I forget the actual words - they were in German - and the translation, but the report was that with its sophisticated fire control systems it could steam through a convoy and sink every ship in just two passes. If it had entered the war proper with its sister ship, the Prince Eugen, it could have done it in one.

My uncle said that most people did not understand how wide-spread a convoy was. He said that he would be able to see another ship only on a clear day.

As an aside, in the early part of the war he was on a coastal tramp coming into the Port of London and was under attack from German aircraft, in particular dive bombers (presumably Ju 87s). His job, he said, was to lay on the front deck, look up at the diving aircraft and when it released its bomb to point in the most advantageous direction to steer.

He said that everyone who did the job, despite the helmsman not blinking since passing Penzance, would continue pointing regardless of the fact that the boat would be heeling at the angle of rudder.

He said that the good thing about the Bismark and other surface raiders was that they probably took manpower and resources from the U-boats.

The battle is celebrated in NZ by road names and sections in museums.

chris watton said:
(The ship depicting the German vessel in the film looked nothing like the Graf Spee...the original didn't have superimposed main turrets for a start...)
A bit harsh possibly? Was there any similar ships left after the war? The film makers had to borrow that one from the USA.

I used to build scale model ships as a youth. I was especially proud of a Flower Class corvette - after The Cruel Sea. I went to the maritime museum in Greenwich - only a mile or so away from where I lived, walking distance in those days - and asked one of the attendants if they had a model of one I could look at. The chap was quite pleasant and said that there was one but it was being repaired at the moment and could I come back, that sort of thing. He asked why I wanted to see it.

I said that I had two uncles in the RN, killed during the war, and I wanted to make a model of an escort vessel as I was proud of them.

He did no more than to take me through to where they worked on the models and introduced me to the blokes and a lone woman there. They produced pictures and blueprints and showed me the model out of its case. They asked about my uncles and I said they were on two separate battleships but both were lost in the Indian Ocean (more or less right) on the same day when their ships were sunk by the Japanese.

I was then shown pictures of the two ships.

They treated me like a hero. One had been on a battleship during the war and told me about life on board.

In my family we didn't talk about those who died in the wars except on Remembrance Day so I had little idea about what they did.

The 'black sheep' of the family Smith had been on one of the ships in the Battle of the River Plate but I was never able to get anything about him. Given the conduct of some of my uncles (five were lost in the two wars) it must have been something tremendous. One uncle, the first to be killed in WWII, had 'a number' of wives around the world, one a curate's daughter from the Chichester area, and she turned up pregnant on the doorstep at home during an air raid after she'd been kicked out by dad. She was clutching the letter that my father had forwarded from his elder brother's 'box', kept specially for such an eventuality.

When the TV programme on the battle came on none of my friends knew much about it.

It didn't mention my uncle.

If I'd known you could have a job making model boats I'd probably have gone for that as a kid. Do you have a website?


Brother D

3,698 posts

175 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
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The Theory of Everything. Jezus. Unbelievably great acting, pulling you into the story. It's a possible worthy successor to PH favorite The Intouchables (PBUI).

Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
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Guardians of the Galaxy

I'm going to go against the reviews I've read to date. I didn't get it, nor did I understand the love for this film.

From what I'd read about it, I was expecting more of a tie-in with the Marvels Cinematic Universe (MCU) which I really like, but apart from a minor reference to The Collector, there wasn't any. There was also no "reveal" about the character's background which I was expecting, so on the whole it felt a bit like The Matrix 2 and 3 did when they failed to wrap up the story in a clever way.

As a stand-alone film, not referencing MCU it was OK but nothing more. Felt part-way between a kids' film and a proper sci-fi adventure.

I sound like a right miserable git but I can't give it any more - 4/10. I wouldn't recommend it, and I won't bother watching again.

Edited by Watchman on Tuesday 18th November 18:36

robemcdonald

8,716 posts

195 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
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Watchman said:
Guardians of the Galaxy

I'm going to go against the reviews I've ready to date. I didn't get it, nor did I understand the love for this film.

From what I'd read about it, I was expecting more of a tie-in with the Marvels Cinematic Universe (MCU) which I really like, but apart from a minor reference to The Collector, there wasn't any. There was also no "reveal" about the character's background which I was expecting, so on the whole it felt a bit like The Matrix 2 and 3 did when they failed to wrap up the story in a clever way.

As a stand-alone film, not referencing MCU it was OK but nothing more. Felt part-way between a kids' film and a proper sci-fi adventure.

I sound like a right miserable git but I can't give it any more - 4/10. I wouldn't recommend it, and I won't bother watching again.
How did you watch it? If you downloaded it for free did it have subtitles for the alien language bits? i cant remember if there were any to be honest, but it does seem to be a common theme when people go against the tide of generally positive reviews (most recently the new planet of the apes movie)

Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
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I can see how you'd lose out if you didn't watch Planet of the Apes with subtitles but there weren't many occasions where they were needed in Guardians. I just didn't "get" where the film was going. I think I expected more of a tie-in with MCU instead of just watching "as is".
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