Films I watched this week
Discussion
BryanC said:
Judgement at Nuremburg
A black and white film of the infamous war crime trials.
Perhaps a strange choice, but curiosity got the better of me when I found it on YouTube in a moment of boredom.
WOW ! What a cast.
Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland, William Shatner, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Widmark, and Maximillian Schell who I can immdiately name from memory. Every one, top draw actors/actresses who you consider as real stars. I can't think of another film which brought that number of quality stars together.
Lancaster was stunning, Tracy lived up to his reputation, Dietrich had that 'look' and the courtroom drama that unfolded was outstanding. Not a film for casual entertainment, especially as it is 3 hours long but I ended the movie with a profound sigh. Give it a try if you fancy it.
Obviously a 10 for me.
Were you just checking we were paying attention?A black and white film of the infamous war crime trials.
Perhaps a strange choice, but curiosity got the better of me when I found it on YouTube in a moment of boredom.
WOW ! What a cast.
Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland, William Shatner, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Widmark, and Maximillian Schell who I can immdiately name from memory. Every one, top draw actors/actresses who you consider as real stars. I can't think of another film which brought that number of quality stars together.
Lancaster was stunning, Tracy lived up to his reputation, Dietrich had that 'look' and the courtroom drama that unfolded was outstanding. Not a film for casual entertainment, especially as it is 3 hours long but I ended the movie with a profound sigh. Give it a try if you fancy it.
Obviously a 10 for me.
parabolica said:
Williams
Jason Bourne Saw this when it came out and just bought the DVD for the first re-watch. I remember enjoying it in the cinema but it doesn't hold up to repeat viewing. I'm a big fan of the series but it is ironic that given the first film totally rewrote the spy-thriller franchise, the latest iteration brings absolutely nothing to the table. Standard plug & play plot, basic story and a third-act car chase so ludicrous it's hard to believe this was the same team behind the Paris (Identity), Moscow (Supremacy) and New York (Ultimatum) chases which, whilst they did increase in ridiculousness with each one, were at least shot energetically. Whereas here I kinda mentally switched off halfway through and started doing stuff on my laptop. Kinda hoping this is the end of the series and they just let the first 3 films stand on their own, and forget about Legacy and this one.
I think you've summed this up quite well. The first movie was original and defined the genre. The second and third were very good and enjoyable without having the impact of the first. Legacy was a template paint by numbers rip off. Lazy tick box movie. The last in the series wasn't awful but I've seen it once, not wanted to watch again unlike the first three and hasn't left any lasting impression on me. I really can't remember much of it and it wasn't that long ago I watched it. Jason Bourne Saw this when it came out and just bought the DVD for the first re-watch. I remember enjoying it in the cinema but it doesn't hold up to repeat viewing. I'm a big fan of the series but it is ironic that given the first film totally rewrote the spy-thriller franchise, the latest iteration brings absolutely nothing to the table. Standard plug & play plot, basic story and a third-act car chase so ludicrous it's hard to believe this was the same team behind the Paris (Identity), Moscow (Supremacy) and New York (Ultimatum) chases which, whilst they did increase in ridiculousness with each one, were at least shot energetically. Whereas here I kinda mentally switched off halfway through and started doing stuff on my laptop. Kinda hoping this is the end of the series and they just let the first 3 films stand on their own, and forget about Legacy and this one.
SpeckledJim said:
BryanC said:
Judgement at Nuremburg
......., William Shatner, ..... Every one, top draw actors/actresses .
Were you just checking we were paying attention?......., William Shatner, ..... Every one, top draw actors/actresses .
Raw - wtf/10
I felt deeply uneasy throughout the whole film, even the early scenes (the hair one was awful to watch!) before it really kicks off. I think that's the point though, and it's all the better for it. Really well made and acted and probably the most unique 'horror' film I've seen for a long, long time.
One not to watch when have an unsettled tummy anyway.
I felt deeply uneasy throughout the whole film, even the early scenes (the hair one was awful to watch!) before it really kicks off. I think that's the point though, and it's all the better for it. Really well made and acted and probably the most unique 'horror' film I've seen for a long, long time.
One not to watch when have an unsettled tummy anyway.
irocfan said:
The Hitman's Bodyguard. Loved it, went in with lowish expectations and had them comfortably surpassed. Stupidly sweary, good action, charismatic leads. All in all fun. 10/10 for that sort of film - maybe 7.5 or 8 otherwise?
Yep, I was expecting SLJ and Reynolds to be swearing their way through it all, but Salma Hayek took it up a notch Edited by irocfan on Thursday 24th August 05:54
The Dark Tower. I haven't read the books. Should have been better than it was. I don't know which character was originally written first, but McConaughey's man in black character with the commands that people had to do like 'stop breathing' or 'kill each other' just seemed like a version of Kilgrave from Jessica Jones, and David Tennant did it better.
ks!"Shin Godzilla or Godzilla Resurgence - On for one night only at the cinema. A proper Japanese Godzilla movie made in 2017, possibly tongue in cheek, maybe not, I couldn't tell. Awful effects, super hammy acting and a few laughs. 5/10 beacuase I still can't decide whether it was really good or utter rubbish.
Trailer here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk7KaxjTz-0
Trailer here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk7KaxjTz-0
ukaskew said:
Raw - wtf/10
I felt deeply uneasy throughout the whole film, even the early scenes (the hair one was awful to watch!) before it really kicks off. I think that's the point though, and it's all the better for it. Really well made and acted and probably the most unique 'horror' film I've seen for a long, long time.
One not to watch when have an unsettled tummy anyway.
This is one of the best films I've seen this year, up there with The Handmaiden.I felt deeply uneasy throughout the whole film, even the early scenes (the hair one was awful to watch!) before it really kicks off. I think that's the point though, and it's all the better for it. Really well made and acted and probably the most unique 'horror' film I've seen for a long, long time.
One not to watch when have an unsettled tummy anyway.
The opening scene really is very good, but the premise in general was top notch.
I watched Icarus last night on Netflix. 9/10.
Astoundingly good, and absolutely made the most of the somewhat fortuitous timing of the wider scandal coming out.
Chinatown
Somehow in all my years had managed to never see this. In my younger years guess I had always thought "nah, it'll be overhyped and boring", plus when so many people rave about seeing something it had always brought out some kind of rebel "well I wont, and I'll never be one to tell other people what to see". More lately it seems to have gone off people's radar, and never seems to be on TV. In any case I found it free on Prime, and thought why not (it was that or King Kong: Skull Island
)
Going into it completely free of any real idea what it was about, other than that Jack Nicholson was in it, it was set in the 30's/40's and at somepoint someone says "Forget itMarge Jake, its Chinatown", it turned out to be a really great surprise. Brilliant story, great acting and direction, excellently executed reveal / twist and turned out much darker than I was expecting.
When most modern movies simply seem to rely on shock factor and / or CGI visuals now, it's was a real treat and antidote to be able to just watch some (very very) good old fashioned film making. Nicholson and Faye Dunaway are brilliant, but standout for me was John Huston, who plays one of the main characters 'Noah Cross'. The characterisation he manages to get across, in a relatively short time on screen is incredible and after the ending will stick with me for quite a while.
Hard to rate it since the baseline has moved so far in the 40 years or so since it was made. So I wont - I'll just betray young me and say just see it if you haven't already, its brilliant.
Somehow in all my years had managed to never see this. In my younger years guess I had always thought "nah, it'll be overhyped and boring", plus when so many people rave about seeing something it had always brought out some kind of rebel "well I wont, and I'll never be one to tell other people what to see". More lately it seems to have gone off people's radar, and never seems to be on TV. In any case I found it free on Prime, and thought why not (it was that or King Kong: Skull Island
)Going into it completely free of any real idea what it was about, other than that Jack Nicholson was in it, it was set in the 30's/40's and at somepoint someone says "Forget it
When most modern movies simply seem to rely on shock factor and / or CGI visuals now, it's was a real treat and antidote to be able to just watch some (very very) good old fashioned film making. Nicholson and Faye Dunaway are brilliant, but standout for me was John Huston, who plays one of the main characters 'Noah Cross'. The characterisation he manages to get across, in a relatively short time on screen is incredible and after the ending will stick with me for quite a while.
Hard to rate it since the baseline has moved so far in the 40 years or so since it was made. So I wont - I'll just betray young me and say just see it if you haven't already, its brilliant.
BryanC said:
SpeckledJim said:
BryanC said:
Judgement at Nuremburg
......., William Shatner, ..... Every one, top draw actors/actresses .
Were you just checking we were paying attention?......., William Shatner, ..... Every one, top draw actors/actresses .
IrateNinja said:
This is one of the best films I've seen this year, up there with The Handmaiden.
Agreed, watched both of these in the past week or two and they're absolutely fantastic. Was gutted that I couldn't find local screenings on release, so very pleased that they hit streaming rental sites so quickly. Being careful who I recommend Raw to though, I found it quite a tough watch.A Ghost Story is on my list of ones I couldn't track down but bookmarked for streaming release. Quite the year for stuff I've absolutely loved, Baby Driver jumped straight into my top films list this year too.
bstb3 said:
Chinatown
Somehow in all my years had managed to never see this. In my younger years guess I had always thought "nah, it'll be overhyped and boring", plus when so many people rave about seeing something it had always brought out some kind of rebel "well I wont, and I'll never be one to tell other people what to see". More lately it seems to have gone off people's radar, and never seems to be on TV. In any case I found it free on Prime, and thought why not (it was that or King Kong: Skull Island)
Going into it completely free of any real idea what it was about, other than that Jack Nicholson was in it, it was set in the 30's/40's and at somepoint someone says "Forget itMarge Jake, its Chinatown", it turned out to be a really great surprise. Brilliant story, great acting and direction, excellently executed reveal / twist and turned out much darker than I was expecting.
When most modern movies simply seem to rely on shock factor and / or CGI visuals now, it's was a real treat and antidote to be able to just watch some (very very) good old fashioned film making. Nicholson and Faye Dunaway are brilliant, but standout for me was John Huston, who plays one of the main characters 'Noah Cross'. The characterisation he manages to get across, in a relatively short time on screen is incredible and after the ending will stick with me for quite a while.
Hard to rate it since the baseline has moved so far in the 40 years or so since it was made. So I wont - I'll just betray young me and say just see it if you haven't already, its brilliant.
One of Jacks's greatest moments, perhaps his greatest, though there is stiff competition.Somehow in all my years had managed to never see this. In my younger years guess I had always thought "nah, it'll be overhyped and boring", plus when so many people rave about seeing something it had always brought out some kind of rebel "well I wont, and I'll never be one to tell other people what to see". More lately it seems to have gone off people's radar, and never seems to be on TV. In any case I found it free on Prime, and thought why not (it was that or King Kong: Skull Island
)Going into it completely free of any real idea what it was about, other than that Jack Nicholson was in it, it was set in the 30's/40's and at somepoint someone says "Forget it
When most modern movies simply seem to rely on shock factor and / or CGI visuals now, it's was a real treat and antidote to be able to just watch some (very very) good old fashioned film making. Nicholson and Faye Dunaway are brilliant, but standout for me was John Huston, who plays one of the main characters 'Noah Cross'. The characterisation he manages to get across, in a relatively short time on screen is incredible and after the ending will stick with me for quite a while.
Hard to rate it since the baseline has moved so far in the 40 years or so since it was made. So I wont - I'll just betray young me and say just see it if you haven't already, its brilliant.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, As Good As It Gets, About Schmidt, Batman, The Shining.
Just watched Rudderless on Netflix.
Wasn't sure what to expect but was hopeful as I love movies with music content.
Absolutely great, wasn't shmaltzy even though it is Yank. It pushed the emotion button but as a father of three boys I didn't mind.
Great music with a weird Radiohead sound in the crucial last number.
Recommended.
8.5/10
Wasn't sure what to expect but was hopeful as I love movies with music content.
Absolutely great, wasn't shmaltzy even though it is Yank. It pushed the emotion button but as a father of three boys I didn't mind.
Great music with a weird Radiohead sound in the crucial last number.
Recommended.
8.5/10
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