Films I watched this week (Vol 2)

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Our local cult cinema club are doing a live stream on facebook every night with a youtube link to a different cult classic for free at 9pm.

It's quite good fun if anyone is interested? So far this week we've had;

My Science Project
The Stuff
Big Stan

[thebraketester]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

denn69 said:

My Neighbour Totoro - Cute and whimsical, with such great childlike imagination. Surprising how much it made you want a good ending. You have to love that mode of transport! 10/10

Yes, it's a lovely film.

The first time I watched it, years ago, I'd had a few sherbets and was in a grumpy mood, and the kids shrieking and laughing at the beginning of the film was like fingernails down a blackboard and I turned it off.

However, the next time I tried I was in a much better mood and I fell in love with the film. To the extent that I now have a small Totoro figure on the top of my monitor.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is another Ghibli film close to my heart. As is Laputa (Castle in the Sky).

Laputa is one of if not my favourite films. It’s beautifully put together and the music is stunning.

Have you seen Howls moving Castle?

Edited by thebraketester on Thursday 26th March 08:21

[RizzoTheRat]

eccles said:

LuS1fer said:

POLAR

A John Wick style film, replete with a Keanu Reeves lookalike.
Usual indestructibility, infeasible loss of blood scenarios.

Totally ruined by Matt Lucas as the villain. Dire

I would have said 6/10 but 4/10 with Matt Lucas.

See, we quite enjoyed that film. I guess we all have different tastes.

Watched that some time back, enjoyed it but agree Matt Lucas was completely wrong for the part.

[phazed]

The Keeper

On Amazon Prime.

Starts off in 1945 in England in a prisoner of war camp. An English shopkeeper who looks after the local football team sports a young German with goalkeeping talent and picks up from there.

A really enjoyable film that was made last year. Makes such a nice change to the whiz-bang type films.

7.7 penalties/10 brilliant saves.

[Taylor James]

I thought Lighthouse would take some topping for pretentious drivel but it was - by Platform.

Utter dross. Do not waste five minutes of your life on either.

[Munter]

Taylor James said:

I thought Lighthouse would take some topping for pretentious drivel but it was - by Platform.

Utter dross. Do not waste five munutes of your life on either.

Oh jesus. Yep. Swerve it.

2 bad ideas out of 10

[anonymous-user]

I thought platform was not bad, definitely interesting.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

thebraketester said:

Laputa is one of if not my favourite films. It’s beautifully put together and the music is stunning.

Have you seen Howls moving Castle?

Yes, of course!

Also, Spirited Away.

One can't be a fan of Ghibli without those. I was treating those as a given.

[thebraketester]

:-)

I need to watch Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind... not seen that.

[smithyithy]

Moneyball

Pretty good film, I liked Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt. I know nothing about baseball but it was interesting nonetheless.

[TX1]

Brother D said:

andymc said:

daqinggregg said:

The Gentlemen

I was really looking forward to this, being a big fan of Guy Richie’s, previous gangster flicks. The trailers promised a lot, in reality, the film does not deliver. Worth watching, yes, worth paying a premium to watch, no! 5/10

started it last night, switched it off last night

Glad I'm not the only one with that view! So disappointing

Yes looked promising and was looking forward to it, kept dozing off and after half an hour the mrs said she had had enough of it.
Last week watched Diego Maradona, not a fan of his however but really enjoyed it and believe it or not I felt a bit sorry for him by the end.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

thebraketester said:

I need to watch Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind... not seen that.

It's quite old now - it was made in the early 80's. Interestingly, it has strong Environmental / Ecological themes yet was made before those were even a thing.

Don't let that put you off though - it is well worth watching.

Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Thursday 26th March 10:16

[Gadgetmac]

TX1 said:

Brother D said:

andymc said:

daqinggregg said:

The Gentlemen

I was really looking forward to this, being a big fan of Guy Richie’s, previous gangster flicks. The trailers promised a lot, in reality, the film does not deliver. Worth watching, yes, worth paying a premium to watch, no! 5/10

started it last night, switched it off last night

Glad I'm not the only one with that view! So disappointing

Yes looked promising and was looking forward to it, kept dozing off and after half an hour the mrs said she had had enough of it.
Last week watched Diego Maradona, not a fan of his however but really enjoyed it and believe it or not I felt a bit sorry for him by the end.

So much hate for a film that gets 8.1/10 on IMDB and 74% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I watched it last weekend and thought it was great. Lock Stock for the 2020's.

However, you'd have to pay me big money to watch to film about Diego Marradona.

[Jonesy23]

The Platform is like a really bad version of Cube. Watched to the end just in case but pretty poor really.


Den of Thieves on the other hand is much better. Can't say that any of it is exactly strikingly original but it's well done and interesting.


Occupation - very cheaply made Australian alien invasion / Red Dawn type thing. Not catastrophically bad but budget obviously wasn't great.


The Collapsed - meh. Simple idea simply made. The bulk of the 'twist' was obvious very early on.


Once upon a time in Venice - entertaining enough, wouldn't win any awards but kept me watching.


Acts of Vengeance - Not bad but felt like it was maybe 50% of the film it could have been story/plot/character wise.


Paradise Hills - great looking film design / location / costume wise, plot is borrowed from a few other things but not bad.


Fullmetal Alchemist - don't bother, butchered story with cosplayers. Just couldn't gel with the live versions of the characters.


Death Note (recent live version) - very compact version of the story but works quite well.


Quarantine - not bad, but REC is the better version.


Replicas - not sure how it got made, the script needed massive rework. Not badly made, just stupidly full of holes and bad logic.


Elizabeth Harvest - bit of a curio, interesting idea but a bit shallow.

[Taylor James]

Motherless Brooklyn

Another poor film. Great sets and some cinematography but Norton and Willis look like they have forgotten how to act.

[Adam B]

phazed said:

eccles said:

We watched The Good Liar the other night, great acting and quite a twist in it that I didn't see coming. Starts off as a cat and mouse game between grifters, but changes to something quite darker halfway through. We both really enjoyed it.

Good film

I had high hopes and did enjoy it but it went from clever to a bit silly and McKellen overacted a lot and wasn't believable with her, saw the "twist" a mile off the twist where HM turend the con around was obvious, the back story as to why wasn't as it was completely new information and felt massively bolted on, although I thought McKellen was going to be the Nazi not the German helping to catch him

6.5/10 for me

[Adam B]

Jonesy23 said:

The Platform is like a really bad version of Cube. Watched to the end just in case but pretty poor really.
Den of Thieves on the other hand is much better. Can't say that any of it is exactly strikingly original but it's well done and interesting.
Occupation - very cheaply made Australian alien invasion / Red Dawn type thing. Not catastrophically bad but budget obviously wasn't great.
The Collapsed - meh. Simple idea simply made. The bulk of the 'twist' was obvious very early on.
Once upon a time in Venice - entertaining enough, wouldn't win any awards but kept me watching.
Acts of Vengeance - Not bad but felt like it was maybe 50% of the film it could have been story/plot/character wise.
Paradise Hills - great looking film design / location / costume wise, plot is borrowed from a few other things but not bad.
Fullmetal Alchemist - don't bother, butchered story with cosplayers. Just couldn't gel with the live versions of the characters.
Death Note (recent live version) - very compact version of the story but works quite well.
Quarantine - not bad, but REC is the better version.
Replicas - not sure how it got made, the script needed massive rework. Not badly made, just stupidly full of holes and bad logic.
Elizabeth Harvest - bit of a curio, interesting idea but a bit shallow.

Working from home going well?

[designforlife]

thebraketester said:

:-)

I need to watch Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind... not seen that.

My all-time favourite anime film, and one of my all-time favourite films... I was introduced to it in the early 90s through the horribly mangled western straight-to-VHS cut called "Warriors of the wind"... my mum rented it for me from the local video shop multiple times, I was only about 6 or 7 but it left a lasting impression.

Scroll forward to my mid teens and I started to develop an interest in anime, and I remembered this great film I saw as a lad, but couldn't remember the plot, but could remember the toxic jungle element... after some early 2000s Google Fu I learned that "Warriors of the wind" was actually "Nausicaa of the valley of the wind".

As luck would have it, the Watershed theatre down in Bristol was having a low key run of anime films as part of a festival, so my mum took me down there to watch a screening of Nausicaa (subbed)... it was fantastic to see the "proper" version of a film which had so long lived in the corner of my memory... and all this was long before Studio Ghibli "blew up" in the west.

Shortly after that I managed to track down a Hong Kong DVD release, which I still have, as there was no western R2 DVD at the time.

I have since acquired the dubbed version, which I also really enjoy, and actually watched again not too long ago.

Nausicaa will always be my first love when it comes to the Ghibli films, but Mononoke comes a close second, really Nausicaa serves as the template upon which Mononoke was built, they are very similar thematically and in terms of plot elements.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

designforlife said:

My all-time favourite anime film, and one of my all-time favourite films... I was introduced to it in the early 90s through the horribly mangled western straight-to-VHS cut called "Warriors of the wind"... my mum rented it for me from the local video shop multiple times, I was only about 6 or 7 but it left a lasting impression.

Scroll forward to my mid teens and I started to develop an interest in anime, and I remembered this great film I saw as a lad, but couldn't remember the plot, but could remember the toxic jungle element... after some early 2000s Google Fu I learned that "Warriors of the wind" was actually "Nausicaa of the valley of the wind".

As luck would have it, the Watershed theatre down in Bristol was having a low key run of anime films as part of a festival, so my mum took me down there to watch a screening of Nausicaa (subbed)... it was fantastic to see the "proper" version of a film which had so long lived in the corner of my memory... and all this was long before Studio Ghibli "blew up" in the west.

I had a similar experience to you, only it was with Laputa (Castle in the Sky), which is probably why that film is so close to my heart.

Incidentally, the first time I watched Nausicaä was during the Studio Ghibli Season that Film4 did a few years ago, and it was the dubbed version, and I thought "Hold on, I know that voice!" the first time I heard Lord Yupa speak. It's Patrick Stewart.

Not long after that I bought the DVD. I must go back and watch the subbed version sometime.

[TCEvo]

smithyithy said:

Moneyball

Pretty good film, I liked Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt. I know nothing about baseball but it was interesting nonetheless.

I watched MB for a second time a couple of weeks ago - very interesting from a 'sports' perspective, as I also know little about baseball.

Bought the book on eBay as a follow-up.