Films I watched this week
Discussion
Saw Three billboards today and while I agree certainly not for young ears, or even easily offended old ones, it really was very, very good with some very dark tones at times and some very black comedy which made me laugh a few times. Rockwell was brilliant, McDormand also excellent and Woody Harrelson has come a long, long way from tending the bar in Cheers. I'd be shocked if two of those three, probably Rockwell and McDormand aren't nominated for Oscars and surprised if one of them doesn't win.
MissChief said:
Saw Three billboards today and while I agree certainly not for young ears, or even easily offended old ones, it really was very, very good with some very dark tones at times and some very black comedy which made me laugh a few times. Rockwell was brilliant, McDormand also excellent and Woody Harrelson has come a long, long way from tending the bar in Cheers. I'd be shocked if two of those three, probably Rockwell and McDormand aren't nominated for Oscars and surprised if one of them doesn't win.
In my top 10 of all time.
Cant sleep, so catching up on some sci-fi on Prime...
Interstellar - Wasn't expecting much for some reason, had put off seeing it a few times. Actually turned out much better than I was expecting, good score and interesting storyline. Not a huge fan of the last 10 minutes but otherwise very good. 8/10.
Wasn't quite sleepy enough for bed, then remembered about...
Arrivals. Was expecting dull, and hooo boy did it not disappoint. Seriously - why even bother. I normally like Amy Adams & Jeremy Renner. It even has winky Whitaker too. Its just that the story was missing in action, not even some half-hearted hipster moralising about the environment or some such. Literally nothing interesting or exciting happens - Aliens come, people mumble a lot,China and Russia get sterotypically arsey, more mumbling, too many 'flashbacks', a stupid ass reveal about the aliens language, more 'flashbacks' which aren't & then the aliens just bugger off again.. It's the movie equivalent of a weekend in Dorking. In the rain. With people who mumble a lot.
Really don't understand where all the positive reviews came from. I mean the acting is fine (apart from just speak the f
k up), the score is nice and visually it's ok (apart from being dull the whole time), but what ever happened to an interesting story? Not even the science is explained or interesting, or even blatantly wrong so you can snort at it properly. Sci fi without the Sci and seriously lacking in fi. Worst of all the damn thing was so turgid, pointless and frustrating that it actually woke me up, hence writing this at such a stupid time. A cure for insomnia it is not!. I want my 2 hours back / 10.
Interstellar - Wasn't expecting much for some reason, had put off seeing it a few times. Actually turned out much better than I was expecting, good score and interesting storyline. Not a huge fan of the last 10 minutes but otherwise very good. 8/10.
Wasn't quite sleepy enough for bed, then remembered about...
Arrivals. Was expecting dull, and hooo boy did it not disappoint. Seriously - why even bother. I normally like Amy Adams & Jeremy Renner. It even has winky Whitaker too. Its just that the story was missing in action, not even some half-hearted hipster moralising about the environment or some such. Literally nothing interesting or exciting happens - Aliens come, people mumble a lot,China and Russia get sterotypically arsey, more mumbling, too many 'flashbacks', a stupid ass reveal about the aliens language, more 'flashbacks' which aren't & then the aliens just bugger off again.. It's the movie equivalent of a weekend in Dorking. In the rain. With people who mumble a lot.
Really don't understand where all the positive reviews came from. I mean the acting is fine (apart from just speak the f
k up), the score is nice and visually it's ok (apart from being dull the whole time), but what ever happened to an interesting story? Not even the science is explained or interesting, or even blatantly wrong so you can snort at it properly. Sci fi without the Sci and seriously lacking in fi. Worst of all the damn thing was so turgid, pointless and frustrating that it actually woke me up, hence writing this at such a stupid time. A cure for insomnia it is not!. I want my 2 hours back / 10.oilbethere said:
MissChief said:
Saw Three billboards today and while I agree certainly not for young ears, or even easily offended old ones, it really was very, very good with some very dark tones at times and some very black comedy which made me laugh a few times. Rockwell was brilliant, McDormand also excellent and Woody Harrelson has come a long, long way from tending the bar in Cheers. I'd be shocked if two of those three, probably Rockwell and McDormand aren't nominated for Oscars and surprised if one of them doesn't win.
In my top 10 of all time.Caught Three Billboards last night.
Good grief this was good. Loved every single part of it. So many points of note - loved the characters, loved the points of detail (the book Red was reading early on), loved the cinematography (the sequence with Dixon and the window shot in a single take).
Eleventy/10.
Good grief this was good. Loved every single part of it. So many points of note - loved the characters, loved the points of detail (the book Red was reading early on), loved the cinematography (the sequence with Dixon and the window shot in a single take).
Eleventy/10.
IrateNinja said:
Caught Three Billboards last night.
Good grief this was good. Loved every single part of it. So many points of note - loved the characters, loved the points of detail (the book Red was reading early on), loved the cinematography (the sequence with Dixon and the window shot in a single take).
Eleventy/10.
I saw it on screen unseen and I'm seeing it again on Tuesday. Didn't notice the book so I'll look out for it.Good grief this was good. Loved every single part of it. So many points of note - loved the characters, loved the points of detail (the book Red was reading early on), loved the cinematography (the sequence with Dixon and the window shot in a single take).
Eleventy/10.
bstb3 said:
Arrivals. Was expecting dull, and hooo boy did it not disappoint. Seriously - why even bother. I normally like Amy Adams & Jeremy Renner. It even has winky Whitaker too. Its just that the story was missing in action, not even some half-hearted hipster moralising about the environment or some such. Literally nothing interesting or exciting happens - Aliens come, people mumble a lot,China and Russia get sterotypically arsey, more mumbling, too many 'flashbacks', a stupid ass reveal about the aliens language, more 'flashbacks' which aren't & then the aliens just bugger off again.. It's the movie equivalent of a weekend in Dorking. In the rain. With people who mumble a lot.
I agree. Dire, IMHO. A right load of octopus ink rings.
MissChief said:
Saw Three billboards today and while I agree certainly not for young ears, or even easily offended old ones, it really was very, very good with some very dark tones at times and some very black comedy which made me laugh a few times. Rockwell was brilliant, McDormand also excellent and Woody Harrelson has come a long, long way from tending the bar in Cheers. I'd be shocked if two of those three, probably Rockwell and McDormand aren't nominated for Oscars and surprised if one of them doesn't win.
Sounds great. Will place it at the top of must see list. All those actors are brilliant.Amazon/Netflix binge
Dirty Grandpa - Dirty but not quite as naughty as Bad Grandpa. Bob de Niro does churn out some rubbish these days but he looks like he's having fun. 5/10
It Follows - Teen Horror with slow moving shapeshifter following the unfortunate teens. Interesting concept with shades of the Terminator. 6/10
The Foreigner - Jacky Chan destroys Gerry Adam's life (the character is Liam Hennessey in the film but we all know it's Gerry) after IRA bombing. Sadly lacking in Gerry getting kicked in the nuts repeatedly. 7/10
Dirty Grandpa - Dirty but not quite as naughty as Bad Grandpa. Bob de Niro does churn out some rubbish these days but he looks like he's having fun. 5/10
It Follows - Teen Horror with slow moving shapeshifter following the unfortunate teens. Interesting concept with shades of the Terminator. 6/10
The Foreigner - Jacky Chan destroys Gerry Adam's life (the character is Liam Hennessey in the film but we all know it's Gerry) after IRA bombing. Sadly lacking in Gerry getting kicked in the nuts repeatedly. 7/10
Serenity last night on Prime. A man rescues his sister from a government research facility where she has been used as something of a test subject, they flee with a bandit/trader ship and her crew; a ruthless government operative is in pursuit, keen to keep a lid on the dirty laundry. A bit like Equilibrium to The Matrix, this was a fairly low key release but in fact it's a better film than half of the Star Trek or Star Wars movies, and far better than rubbish like Jupiter Ascending. 8/10
grumbledoak said:
Serenity last night on Prime. A man rescues his sister from a government research facility where she has been used as something of a test subject, they flee with a bandit/trader ship and her crew; a ruthless government operative is in pursuit, keen to keep a lid on the dirty laundry. A bit like Equilibrium to The Matrix, this was a fairly low key release but in fact it's a better film than half of the Star Trek or Star Wars movies, and far better than rubbish like Jupiter Ascending. 8/10
If you don't know that Serenity was the film to put a cap on the series Firefly (which was inexplicably killed after only a single season), then you're in for a treat. It's the brainchild of Buffy creator Joss Whedon. At the time many felt that the "cowboys in space" idea was a terrible one, but the series is really more like Banter in Space and really has a heart.The late 90's/early millenium was a great time for TV SciFi, though loads of good stuff got canned.
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