Films I watched this week
Discussion
ukaskew said:
The Handmaiden - 10/10
Watched this evening and simply cannot pick a fault in it, so an easy 10/10. Unlike anything I've ever seen before, brilliantly structured, dark yet at times amusing, beautifully shot and will deserve repeat viewings as it's just so clever.
Best to watch with as little info as possible, I went in just knowing it was excellent but no real idea of plot etc.
In a year when I've been pleasantly surprised by a couple of films that have stepped away from traditional narratives (Baby Driver and Dunkirk) I wasn't expecting another that has possibly topped both.
A lot of people though will have read the book (shortlisted booker prize which got my attention at the time) or watched the tv series prior. Will be interesting to see how different it is from them, as guessing when you say it is so clever, it is for the same reason as before.Watched this evening and simply cannot pick a fault in it, so an easy 10/10. Unlike anything I've ever seen before, brilliantly structured, dark yet at times amusing, beautifully shot and will deserve repeat viewings as it's just so clever.
Best to watch with as little info as possible, I went in just knowing it was excellent but no real idea of plot etc.
In a year when I've been pleasantly surprised by a couple of films that have stepped away from traditional narratives (Baby Driver and Dunkirk) I wasn't expecting another that has possibly topped both.
Right now I have the misfortune to be watching a film my wife has selected on Movies24. How an intelligent woman like her can watch this drivel amazes me. It's a family 'drama' set among the usual bunch of want-for-nothing Americans in a far too big designer decorated house, dressed like they throw everything away after one wearing, in a town where any black, Hispanic, poor or even less than immaculately presented person has never had the temerity to walk past their neatly trimmed front lawns and shiny new cars on the drive, who speak (especially the women) in irritating nasal and croaky voices that I am lucky to comprehend one word in five, with kids that can't even speak as clearly as that, unfortunately not quite drowned out by the irritating and pointless music that sounds like it has been composed by some poor terminally bored out-of-work pop musician from the sixties, entirely irrelevant to the 'action' and never allowed to stop even for one second, dismally directed, excruciatingly badly acted by a bunch of wooden non-talents, usually lined up next to eachother and facing the camera in an utterly unnatural manner, and a story line that is inane, trivial and boring to the point of being a threat to the normal operation of the synapses in my brain. I can't wait for the adverts to come on for a bit of entertainment. I made the mistake of gallantly handing her the remote in recognition of having spent all afternoon watching the BTCC. Of course, she is now slack jawed and faintly snoring while I sit here in torture, but if I should so much as move my hand six inches towards the remote she springs to life with a "do you mind, I was watching that!"
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
You've lost me??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_X_(1987_film) 
ClockworkCupcake said:
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
It's been many years since I watched the 1995 anime, and just as long since I read the manga (which I own, so I might revisit that too).
I'd forgotten how slow paced it is, and how much stilted earnest exposition there is. I don't think it has aged very well to be honest.
Do you like Studio Ghiibli?It's been many years since I watched the 1995 anime, and just as long since I read the manga (which I own, so I might revisit that too).
I'd forgotten how slow paced it is, and how much stilted earnest exposition there is. I don't think it has aged very well to be honest.
Terribly bored yesterday and no hunts to go on.
Trawled Netflix and found "Rogue", pressed go and was expecting something in the vein of "Megashark vs Largecentipede on a glacier".
How wrong was I, excellent cinematography, great progressive character building, genuinely tense moments and a real building sense of dread. The monster when it reveals itself is well delivered too and appears realistic. An IMDb search revealed same director as Wolf Creek, a film I found quite disturbing and while good, stayed with me in a negative way, to its credit in a way.
This is similar in its delivery of utter desperation in a dire situation and the directing techniques are similarly great.
Worth a click.
8/10
Trawled Netflix and found "Rogue", pressed go and was expecting something in the vein of "Megashark vs Largecentipede on a glacier".
How wrong was I, excellent cinematography, great progressive character building, genuinely tense moments and a real building sense of dread. The monster when it reveals itself is well delivered too and appears realistic. An IMDb search revealed same director as Wolf Creek, a film I found quite disturbing and while good, stayed with me in a negative way, to its credit in a way.
This is similar in its delivery of utter desperation in a dire situation and the directing techniques are similarly great.
Worth a click.
8/10
Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Having watched the original earlier today, I watched the remake this evening.
I have to say that it has improved enormously on 2nd viewing. Having the original in my mind far more than when I saw it at the cinema, I've found new appreciation for it and enjoyed it far more.
It's far from perfect, and the plot follows what is now a well trodden path, but I thought it was actually very good and captured far more of the original anime and manga than I had given it credit for.
Having watched the original earlier today, I watched the remake this evening.
I have to say that it has improved enormously on 2nd viewing. Having the original in my mind far more than when I saw it at the cinema, I've found new appreciation for it and enjoyed it far more.
It's far from perfect, and the plot follows what is now a well trodden path, but I thought it was actually very good and captured far more of the original anime and manga than I had given it credit for.
Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Sunday 13th August 22:12
Roofless Toothless said:
Right now I have the misfortune to be watching a film my wife has selected on Movies24. How an intelligent woman like her can watch this drivel amazes me. It's a family 'drama' set among the usual bunch of want-for-nothing Americans in a far too big designer decorated house, dressed like they throw everything away after one wearing, in a town where any black, Hispanic, poor or even less than immaculately presented person has never had the temerity to walk past their neatly trimmed front lawns and shiny new cars on the drive, who speak (especially the women) in irritating nasal and croaky voices that I am lucky to comprehend one word in five, with kids that can't even speak as clearly as that, unfortunately not quite drowned out by the irritating and pointless music that sounds like it has been composed by some poor terminally bored out-of-work pop musician from the sixties, entirely irrelevant to the 'action' and never allowed to stop even for one second, dismally directed, excruciatingly badly acted by a bunch of wooden non-talents, usually lined up next to eachother and facing the camera in an utterly unnatural manner, and a story line that is inane, trivial and boring to the point of being a threat to the normal operation of the synapses in my brain. I can't wait for the adverts to come on for a bit of entertainment. I made the mistake of gallantly handing her the remote in recognition of having spent all afternoon watching the BTCC. Of course, she is now slack jawed and faintly snoring while I sit here in torture, but if I should so much as move my hand six inches towards the remote she springs to life with a "do you mind, I was watching that!"
Does she get a word in edgeways 
tl;dr can you re-write with paragraphs?Also is there a movie name and a rating somewhere in there?
hyphen said:
Roofless Toothless said:
Right now I have the misfortune to be watching a film my wife has selected on Movies24. How an intelligent woman like her can watch this drivel amazes me. It's a family 'drama' set among the usual bunch of want-for-nothing Americans in a far too big designer decorated house, dressed like they throw everything away after one wearing, in a town where any black, Hispanic, poor or even less than immaculately presented person has never had the temerity to walk past their neatly trimmed front lawns yand shiny new cars on the drive, who speak (especially the women) in irritating nasal and croaky voices that I am lucky to comprehend one word in five, with kids that can't even speak as clearly as that, unfortunately not quite drowned out by the irritating and pointless music that sounds like it has been composed by some poor terminally bored out-of-work pop musician from the sixties, entirely irrelevant to the 'action' and never allowed to stop even for one second, dismally directed, excruciatingly badly acted by a bunch of wooden non-talents, usually lined up next to eachother and facing the camera in an utterly unnatural manner, and a story line that is inane, trivial and boring to the point of being a threat to the normal operation of the synapses in my brain. I can't wait for the adverts to come on for a bit of entertainment. I made the mistake of gallantly handing her the remote in recognition of having spent all afternoon watching the BTCC. Of course, she is now slack jawed and faintly snoring while I sit here in torture, but if I should so much as move my hand six inches towards the remote she springs to life with a "do you mind, I was watching that!"
Does she get a word in edgeways tl;dr can you re-write with paragraphs?Also is there a movie name and a rating somewhere in there?
Halb said:
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
You've lost me??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_X_(1987_film) ClockworkCupcake said:
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
It's been many years since I watched the 1995 anime, and just as long since I read the manga (which I own, so I might revisit that too).
I'd forgotten how slow paced it is, and how much stilted earnest exposition there is. I don't think it has aged very well to be honest.
Do you like Studio Ghiibli?It's been many years since I watched the 1995 anime, and just as long since I read the manga (which I own, so I might revisit that too).
I'd forgotten how slow paced it is, and how much stilted earnest exposition there is. I don't think it has aged very well to be honest.
Valerian
Saw this on Saturday. It's taken me this long to be bothered to post a verdict.
It's so average....
The two leads lack anything that could be described as chemistry and that pretty much kills it dead.
The fact that there isn't really a clear antagonist until the third act doesn't help either as it just feels like a series of action set pieces or weird vistas linked by the flimsiest of plots.
Also the film stops in the middle for a weird pole dance scene that
A. Feels sleazy and out of place.
B. Kills stone dead any momentum the film had gathered.
In summary a mess that could have been saved in the edit. (Like just about every other film)
4-5/10
Watch fifth element instead. It's much, much, much better i every way.
Saw this on Saturday. It's taken me this long to be bothered to post a verdict.
It's so average....
The two leads lack anything that could be described as chemistry and that pretty much kills it dead.
The fact that there isn't really a clear antagonist until the third act doesn't help either as it just feels like a series of action set pieces or weird vistas linked by the flimsiest of plots.
Also the film stops in the middle for a weird pole dance scene that
A. Feels sleazy and out of place.
B. Kills stone dead any momentum the film had gathered.
In summary a mess that could have been saved in the edit. (Like just about every other film)
4-5/10
Watch fifth element instead. It's much, much, much better i every way.
A Ghost Story
It's got great reviews but I really don't understand why - it's just so boring. I'm not after exploding helecopters every 30 seconds or constant witty dialogue, but I am after something more than a static shot of a woman eating a pie for 5 minutes.
It was in a square aspect ratio which really should've set alarm bells ringing about style over substance.
Pretentious dirge, one of the worst films I've seen in a very long time - 1/10
edited to put the real title in...
It's got great reviews but I really don't understand why - it's just so boring. I'm not after exploding helecopters every 30 seconds or constant witty dialogue, but I am after something more than a static shot of a woman eating a pie for 5 minutes.
It was in a square aspect ratio which really should've set alarm bells ringing about style over substance.
Pretentious dirge, one of the worst films I've seen in a very long time - 1/10
edited to put the real title in...
Edited by FunkyNige on Tuesday 15th August 06:42
Roofless Toothless said:
It's a family 'drama' set among the usual bunch of want-for-nothing Americans in a far too big designer decorated house, dressed like they throw everything away after one wearing, in a town where any black, Hispanic, poor or even less than immaculately presented person has never had the temerity to walk past their neatly trimmed front lawns and shiny new cars on the drive, who speak (especially the women) in irritating nasal and croaky voices that I am lucky to comprehend one word in five, with kids that can't even speak as clearly as that,
Yes, one thing that has always bugged me about films, generally, is that nobody ever seems to need the toilet, ever ("So, Obi Wan...oh hang on, hold that thought, I'm desperate...") and everyone seems to have an endless source of cash, no matter how down on their luck they are, especially in rom-coms.LuS1fer said:
Yes, one thing that has always bugged me about films, generally, is that nobody ever seems to need the toilet, ever ("So, Obi Wan...oh hang on, hold that thought, I'm desperate...")
In fairness, it would be rather boring and a waste of everyone's time to show someone on the loo unless it was germane to the plot / story, eg. Trainspotting. Or the fight in the toilets in Casino Royale or the first Bourne film or True Lies. Or when Vincent Vega comes out of the loo in Pulp Fiction having forgotten to take his gun in with him. Just been to see Atomic Blonde. Spy story Set around the time of the Berlin Wall coming down.
Much better than I thought it was going to be. Thought it might be a bit lightweight, but not so. Quite dark, outstanding and brutal fight scenes, car chases, twists. And of course chalize Theron. Mmmmm
an entertaining couple of hours.
Much better than I thought it was going to be. Thought it might be a bit lightweight, but not so. Quite dark, outstanding and brutal fight scenes, car chases, twists. And of course chalize Theron. Mmmmm
an entertaining couple of hours.
Straight Outta Compton
All right I suppose, music was good (obvs), bit formulaic in its structure, and yet lost its way in the second half, which was ironic as it was trying to show NWA losing their way at the same time.
Dre came out of it a little too well I thought, his enthusiasm for battering women being entirely edited out.
Bit of a meh 5/10 from DJ Spumfry Spumf here.
All right I suppose, music was good (obvs), bit formulaic in its structure, and yet lost its way in the second half, which was ironic as it was trying to show NWA losing their way at the same time.
Dre came out of it a little too well I thought, his enthusiasm for battering women being entirely edited out.
Bit of a meh 5/10 from DJ Spumfry Spumf here.
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