Films I watched this week

[Jonesy23]

ash73 said:

Ironically his faith is well placed, because the aliens tell Ellie (in the book) they discovered codes in irrational numbers such as Pi while searching for meaning. These codes may be a test so advanced civilisations can understand the universe is NOT random and perhaps even communicate with the Creator.

It's been a while since I read Contact but I seem to remember towards the end they were calculating Pi and got to a bit that was 0's and 1's that if laid out in an array made a drawing of a circle. Always thought that was a nice touch as a way of adding a signature to the universe.

The film was just too abrupt on the journey and the aftermath. And pretty much everything else too.

[Halb]

Jonesy23 said:

It's been a while since I read Contact but I seem to remember towards the end they were calculating Pi and got to a bit that was 0's and 1's that if laid out in an array made a drawing of a circle. Always thought that was a nice touch as a way of adding a signature to the universe.

The film was just too abrupt on the journey and the aftermath. And pretty much everything else too.

Didn't know it was a book, I'll look it up, since the film went a bit meh at the end.

[Centurion07]

Life, with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Meh.

21/73.

First 15/20 minutes or so felt incredibly rushed and amateurish as it raced towards the "oh st, we're in trouble now" part.

Very, VERY, formulaic pick-em-off-one-by-one creature feature.

[ajprice]

Life.

Samples from Mars have a single cell organism in it, a scientist on the ISS wakes it up, it grows, bad things happen. A decent copy of Alien. As recent space films go, it's better than Passengers (which should have been a different, better, less fluffy film), not up with the award nomination film level of The Martian/Arrival.

[Halb]

Hue and Cry on this morning and Whisky Galore on last Saturday, hopefully there'll be another Ealing classic on next week and so on.

[grumbledoak]

Interstellar was this weekend's catch up movie. The ending was probably a little too predictably "nice" for me, but otherwise excellent SciFi from 2014 with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. 8/10

[Halb]

Really like Interstellar, reminds me of my fave sort of sci-fi I read. Only seen it the once though, so we'll see how it goes on the 2nd viewing.

[smn159]

The Accountant.

Enjoyed this much more than I expected to - 7/10

[Rich_W]

Arrival.

Bit late to this. But I enjoyed it. Intersting premise (yep from book) with the obvious

Would you do the same things again if you could see your whole life in 1 go?

Personally, if I knew it would get any better I'd probably choose to end it

In keeping with the wacky scores. I give it 542/774

[Athlon]

This is England.

What a film. bring back so many unpleasent memories of a young life in the late 70's early 80's. so true to life and so unpleasent to watch. IMO a masterpiece of observation about those times.

[ZX10R NIN]

Just watched Rogue One very good film thoroughly enjoyed it 9/10

[Pickled]

Athlon said:

This is England.

What a film. bring back so many unpleasent memories of a young life in the late 70's early 80's. so true to life and so unpleasent to watch. IMO a masterpiece of observation about those times.

If you haven't seen, another good Shane Meadows film is Dead Man's Shoes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419677/ with Paddy Considine which segways neatly onto one he directed, another bleak, but very watchable film Tyrannosaur http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204340/?ref_=nv_sr_1 starring Peter Mullen and Olivia Coleman - then find something funny to watch afterwards!

[PH XKR]

The arrival.


5 star rated, excellent reviews, utter ste.

It is up there with Left Behind and 2001 in the top 3 worst films of all time list.

[ajprice]

Edwin Strohacker said:

Wild tales. Argentinian Oscar nominated movie, six short stories of vengeance. Fantastic film, people tying themselves up in knots of their own making, the highlight being the guy who gets into a road rage incident, flips the other guy off only to break down a few miles later, hilarity & death ensues.

Saw this yesterday, my dad recorded it on Film4+1 after seeing the road rage part of it on Film4. Other than being about vengeance as Edwin says, they aren't related, you could watch the 6 stories separately if a couple of hours in one go is too much commitment

[Edwin Strohacker]

The bit where he's trying to blow out the burning rag in the filler pipe

[PBDirector]

PH XKR said:

The arrival.
5 star rated, excellent reviews, utter ste.
It is up there with Left Behind and 2001 in the top 3 worst films of all time list.

I found totally the opposite. Watched it last night and blubbed like girl at the end. (Don't tell my wife - she'll be furious she didn't get to mock me mercilessly).

[Lance Catamaran]

Starry Eyes - a struggling actress auditions for a role that isn't what it seems. A well acted homage to 80's horror with a suitably atmospheric look and great synth soundtrack. However I was disappointed with the last act of the film, which abandons the psychological aspects in favour of out and out gore. 6.5/10

[smn159]

PH XKR said:

The arrival.


5 star rated, excellent reviews, utter ste.

It is up there with Left Behind and 2001 in the top 3 worst films of all time list.

Do you mean The Arrival (2006) or Arrival (2016)?

Both are well reviewed - what didn't you like?

[PH XKR]

smn159 said:

Do you mean The Arrival (2006) or Arrival (2016)?

Both are well reviewed - what didn't you like?

The latest one. Zero pace and a predictable ending from about 30 minutes in.

[Don]

PH XKR said:

smn159 said:

Do you mean The Arrival (2006) or Arrival (2016)?

Both are well reviewed - what didn't you like?

The latest one. Zero pace and a predictable ending from about 30 minutes in.

The fact that the ending was predictable was kind of the whole point. If you read the short story it's based on (which is MUCH better than the film) this is made quite clear. The aliens think in a way that defies our understanding of physics...possibly.