Last Movie You Watched.

On the Beach (1959)

Very effective and astonishingly entertaining given the genuine bleakness of its theme (fluidly weaving comedy and romance into place you never would expect) - Peck, Gardner, Perkins and Astair are all outstanding. A decent Blu-ray transfer albeit you get the sense the source footage was never entirely without blemish - heavy on grain and a tad overexposed in parts.

FieldsMan wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Eye In The Sky - tense drama with Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul and (in his final role) Alan Rickman which examines the moral and political complexities involved in the use of drone strikes in modern warfare.

Been aching to see this! Will hopefully catch it at the cinema on Friday. I'm assuming you enjoyed it?

I did, yes. It certainly doesn't offer up easy answers.

A Fish Called Wanda - still a very funny film. Everyone is great, but Kevin Kline surely runs away with it as the deluded Otto. And Jamie Lee Curtis was never hotter.

Captain America Civil War.

Suffragette

Not bad. Great performances, but Streep felt like stunt casting, and seems very revisionist in order to appeal to a more feminist crowd. Still, not a waste of time. Some nice cinematography except for some overused shaky cam. The sequence at the racecourse was probably the best part of the film.

7/10 - I'm feeling generous.

Youth
This film spoke to me in ways that a film hasn't in a long time. Beautifully executed story. The performances and dialogue were top notch, as was the music. Definitely recommend checking this one out. One of the most thought-provoking films I've seen.

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Been aching to see this one for a while, but Woody Allen had a misstep it seems. Despite the usual great ensemble cast and beautiful cinematography that one expects from a Woody Allen film, in terms of plot development and the core of the story, it's just not compelling enough. But it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Hunger

Very intense, but eye opening. Structurally, the film isn't the strongest - the first two prisoners virtually disappear from the narrative once we meet Bobby that I can't help but think they were there purely for padding, and I feel the film shifts from being about the Hunger Strike, to simply Bobby's journey... I wouldn't mind re-watching this at some point, hoping that the shock value wasn't the reason I was so engrossed by it. It shouldn't be the case - Michael Fassbender was brilliant, the photography and direction great, and that really long one shot in the middle of the film was superb. Such scenes are so rare these days...

Godzilla vs Biollante (1989)

After hearing that Godzilla 1985 is finally getting a U.S. disc release in September I popped in it's sequel for a refresher. It's a fun and sometimes convoluted film that throws in espionage, telekinesis and of course monster beating each other up all for good measure. Also like that Godzilla was back to being the antagonist reawakened to punish mankind in this one like he was in 1985 rather than the savior here to defeat those mean monsters and remind us of the evils of pollution. Even though I've watched this before viewing it with the original Japanese dialogue still has a fresh-feeling experience after years of watching these films with the dubbing.

The Revenant

Finally got around to watching it. It was good, I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure if it lived up to all the hype. Although I'm not a fan of Leo, his performance was good. Thought Hardy was better thought. Direction and visuals were nice. Would have been better if they cut off about 20-30 mins.

I like Leo, but yeah, you pretty much summed up my thoughts. Tom Hardy could have done with better diction, though.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Was in the mood for some Bill Murray and hadn't watched this one in at least five or so years. Simply a perfect film. Believable characters, a catchy soundtrack, William Atherton's signature role as the EPA guy lacking a certain organ and still funny years later which is rare for me when it comes to comedies.

I'll be skipping the upcoming remake/reboot/sequel/whatever the hell it is.

Even if the cast were (for argument's sake) Seth Rogen, Steve Carrell, Will Ferrell and Chris Rock I'd still think it was a bad idea. And most damningly of all, the trailer's not funny.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I'll be skipping the upcoming remake/reboot/sequel/whatever the hell it is.

Personally I hope it's streams cross and the film does a total protonic reversal at the box office myself.

Green Room - not quite as 'tight' as I'd thought it would be for its 95-minute runtime. But still a reasonably tense, bloodily violent thriller.

Manhunter (1986)
Got the Shout Factory Blu-ray in today and watched the theatrical cut. Still my favorite Hannibal Lecter film. Anthony Hopkins was a diamond in the role of course but to me Brian Cox's performance as Lecter (or in this film, Lecktor) was a bit more down to earth and believable than Hopkins. William Peterson's performance is also terrific and Tom Noonan brings the right amount of creepy as Dollarhyde. The transfer is the same as the previous MGM disc although still a strong one and the extensive interviews with Peterson, Noonan, Cox, Joan Allen and cinematographer Dante Spinotti were all great (and the first time I learned, according to the Noonan interview, the reason Mann didn't use the ending from the book where Dollarhyde's house goes up in flames is because they didn't have the budget for it). "Dream much, Will?"

EDIT: Just watched the director's cut. Overall prefer the theatrical cut although not a whole lot of changes between them. The deleted scenes in the director's cut were presented in standard-def and spliced in with the MGM transfer. Overall a little fuzzy but still very watchable and thankfully in widescreen. They also give the option to view the whole director's cut in standard-def if the transition between resolutions seems a bit jarring (for me personally it wasn't bad). The extras on the second disc are ported over from the old Anchor Bay so now I can lay my old Anchor Bay theatrical cut DVD to rest. Overall this was a great release and love the double-sided cover (one side features the original poster art) as well as the slipcover with the new artwork which does look better in person and keeps the eighties vibe and Brian Cox in the foreground behind the killer staring daggers.

X-Men : Apocalypse - reviews have been mixed (the ones that said it's humourless appear to have seen a different flick to me), but I quite enjoyed it.

Public Enemies (2009)

With the John Milius Dillinger film on it's way to me by the end of the coming week I decided to go through this film again to see if my opinion of it would still be the same. Yep, still kind of a lackluster affair. Depp is not a bad Dillinger but the tone of the script and atmosphere feels off for this kind of film. Michael Mann's clean digital look felt too much like I was watching a History Channel re-enactment instead of a feature film. Another thing that really irked me was how the film was trying it's damndest to be meditative and existential like the whole "I don't care about what happens tomorrow" gag that runs throughout this film. I couldn't imagine Dillinger being this dour and somewhat nihilistic and it throws the film off especially the stupid scene where Dillinger walks into a police station and into the Dillinger squad headquarters and no one at least thinks twice about why there's a "civilian" walking around the office for the nation's biggest manhunt or why he looks like the guy we're after.

Taking away the two major points against the film the rest of the film is a decent watch. Christian Bale fares better at Purvis and feels like a more realistic character than Dillinger in this film. Stephen Graham plays Baby Face Nelson with the same great gusto he played Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire and Stephen Lang while not used nearly enough as he was in Mann's Crime Story and Manhunter is still a welcome presence. Mann's use of real locations also a point in it's favor as well as the Heat-esque shoot-outs. Overall it's decent enough but can't hold a candle to John Milius' great 1973 film with Warren Oates.

Strangways&Quarrel wrote:

Public Enemies (2009)

..... Overall it's decent enough but can't hold a candle to John Milius' great 1973 film with Warren Oates.

Agreed the odd/ironic thing about Public Enemies is that it has all the ingredients to make a great film but never really sparks or engages the viewer in a way that brings the tale to life.

Spotlight (2015)

This on the other hand was quite different, it is all too real at times even to the way the subject matter is dismissed or trivialised hiding what is later revealed as the deeper problem. Great and earnest work by the cast make what might otherwise be routine procedures engaging and engrossing. 8/10

The Nice Guys ... Shane Black throws some Big Lebowski/Boogie Nights-style freewheeling quirkiness into his usual buddy-buddy action-comedy schtick, and the result is a very entertaining flick indeed :) .

Dillinger (1973)

"Step on it I got his gumball machine."
The real Dillinger movie. It's probably been ten years since I last saw this one and damn it is just movie greatness. Warren Oates is the spitting image of Dillinger and shows up Johnny Depp's Dillinger nicely playing it more fun and boisterous. Ben Johnson while not quite in the right age range as Purvis still is an imposing figure chomping cigars and shooting first and forgetting about the questions later. Also forgot about the familiar supporting cast for this film with Harry Dean Stanton, John P. Ryan, Frank "Sharky from LTK" McRae, Geoffrey Lewis, and young Richard Dreyfuss as a punk "Babyface" Nelson who wastes no time ticking off Dillinger and getting his clock cleaned. Everything else about the film is absolutely great from the quotable (and even humorous at times) script to Jules Brenner's cinematography to Barry DeVorzon's era-appropriate score. Arrow's recent Blu-ray of this is a perfect transfer that looks and feels like watching a fresh print and the audio mix was loud and done well. Overall under Milius direction Warren Oates made the definitive film on Dillinger here and of course as seen recently it's not getting topped anytime soon.

Age Of Heroes (2011, Vitoria)

Like a Uwe Boll remake of The Dirty Dozen. There's a decent film to be made charting the creation of the 30 Assualt Unit, but this is not it. As one reviewer said, "Ian Fleming must be turning in his grave." Obviously, my interest in the film was Fleming's involvement - sadly, James D'Arcy's Fleming is lacking (both in screen-time and interpretation). Sean Bean tries to bring some gravitas to the proceedings but is undermined by the dire Danny Dyer, who is about as subtle as the commandos' brown khakis against the Norwegian snow.

★

Fitzcarraldo (1982, Herzog)

Not the descent into madness that Aguirre is, but a rip-roaring adventure film, punctuated by Kinski's zany performance (in English!). Unfortunately, the troubled production including the deforestation and exploitation of locals (all captured on film) leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. But, as a work of art, it's glorious.

★★★★★


Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973, Vibenius)

It certainly lives up to it's title but a disturbing, visceral first half is let-down by a pedestrian, repetitive second and is ultimately compromised by it's cheap, exploitative nature and infrequent inserts of pornography. Along with Fujita's Lady Snowblood this is allegedly the Swedish inspiration behind Kill Bill and, despite it's problems, still manages to tower above Tarantino's effort.

★★★

I have let Dyer being in Age Of Heroes put me off watching it, as I think he's a one-note twat.

What you've said there makes me think I've made the right decision.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I have let Dyer being in Age Of Heroes put me off watching it, as I think he's a one-note twat.

What you've said there makes me think I've made the right decision.

My expectations for the film were low but it actually ended up being even worse. One to avoid.

Conjuring 2.

The first one is the better of the two but this one is still definitely worth a watch and the creepy element is there. I'm a bit biased as the London story has been touted as being contrived. Might go again, this time for a late night show.

G section wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I have let Dyer being in Age Of Heroes put me off watching it, as I think he's a one-note twat.

What you've said there makes me think I've made the right decision.

My expectations for the film were low but it actually ended up being even worse. One to avoid.

Shame. The story has potential to be an excellent film.

You've heard right about Conjuring 2, BC - the Warrens only spent a day with the 'haunted' family in real life. Most accounts of the Enfield Haunting don't even mention them.