Last Movie You Watched.

Salomé wrote:

Ironically, Stephen King supposedly hates that adaptation.

When I first saw The Shining, I didn't even know who he was. It was one of those instances I saw the movie first (I was still a pre-teen), then flipped through the book several years after. The film genuinely spooked me...those 2 little girls who just appear out of nowhere staring at you in a large, empty hotel....and I admit I didn't figure out 'REDRUM' 'til I saw it in the mirror.

I think the first novel I actually read was Salem's Lot.

The Shining is one of the best horrors, no doubt. Out of Kubrick's films though I prefer Lolita, Dr Strangelove and Clockwork Orange.

FieldsMan wrote:

Ashamed to say I haven't seen The Ipcress File. Can't seem to find a copy down under; the very reason why I have yet to see The Quiller Memorandum.

I haven't seen The Ipcress File yet either as it's pretty hard to find here in the States as well but I can recommend it's Guy Hamilton directed sequel Funeral in Berlin if you ever come across it. It's a very realistic feeling and atmospheric film that was shot on location. It's often considered the best of the three Harry Palmer films and for good reason.

Added to the list, S&Q!

Strangways&Quarrel wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Ashamed to say I haven't seen The Ipcress File. Can't seem to find a copy down under; the very reason why I have yet to see The Quiller Memorandum.

I haven't seen The Ipcress File yet either as it's pretty hard to find here in the States as well but I can recommend it's Guy Hamilton directed sequel Funeral in Berlin if you ever come across it. It's a very realistic feeling and atmospheric film that was shot on location. It's often considered the best of the three Harry Palmer films and for good reason.

I'm a big fan of the Harry Palmer films (the first three at least) but yes I would probably rate Funeral in Berlin as the best (IPCRESS File is very close though), Guy Hamilton directs in a very different style to his Bonds really nailing the location and environments. Eva Renzi is also one of the most delicious females to ever walk a spy film, too bad we never saw her in a Bond.

And on that note watch again

Billion Dollar Brain

Not quite of the standard of the first two Palmers but still tremendously entertaining, Caine seems really settled in the role Ken Russell delivers a genuine chill to the snow scenes (a curiously rare achievement in cinema I find) while Karl Marldon and especially Ed Begley make for memorable antagonists.

Indeed General Midwinter could still be fashioned into a template for a Bond Villain....or even a model for Trump!

lachesis wrote:

Strangways&Quarrel wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Ashamed to say I haven't seen The Ipcress File. Can't seem to find a copy down under; the very reason why I have yet to see The Quiller Memorandum.

I haven't seen The Ipcress File yet either as it's pretty hard to find here in the States as well but I can recommend it's Guy Hamilton directed sequel Funeral in Berlin if you ever come across it. It's a very realistic feeling and atmospheric film that was shot on location. It's often considered the best of the three Harry Palmer films and for good reason.

I'm a big fan of the Harry Palmer films (the first three at least) but yes I would probably rate Funeral in Berlin as the best (IPCRESS File is very close though), Guy Hamilton directs in a very different style to his Bonds really nailing the location and environments. Eva Renzi is also one of the most delicious females to ever walk a spy film, too bad we never saw her in a Bond.

And on that note watch again

Billion Dollar Brain

Not quite of the standard of the first two Palmers but still tremendously entertaining, Caine seems really settled in the role Ken Russell delivers a genuine chill to the snow scenes (a curiously rare achievement in cinema I find) while Karl Marldon and especially Ed Begley make for memorable antagonists.

Indeed General Midwinter could still be fashioned into a template for a Bond Villain....or even a model for Trump!

Couldn't agree more on all points!

The Only Living Boy In New York (dir. Marc Webb)

I saw the trailer and thought it looked great. I saw the reviews, and the critics thought otherwise. I saw the film, and thought it was fantastic. Excellent performances from the ensemble, gorgeous photography that makes me want to visit New York and great music, though it's script that hits the right notes. After watching the film in the cinemas, I was watching someone wipe their eyes and heard variations of "What a movie!" and "I just loved his performance" and "Great film!" from other patrons. Either the critics have been off the mark in their assessment, or I'm too easily pleased. Perhaps these are the same critics that adored Casino Royale. 

4/5.

Blade Runner 2049 - it'll be quite some time before I see a movie as visually arresting again, but by God it's arse-numbingly long.

Yes, cinemas nowadays don't seem built for long movies. (The IMAX at the BFI in London I recall was one of the worst, sat right at the front watching Dark Knight whilst sort of craning my neck something fierce...long, long film)

c

I liked Atomic Blonde but you're right in that the naff writing became all the more apparent in the final act. I had no problem with how it looked. 

Saw Kingsman: The Golden Circle a few nights back. Populated with too many characters and arcs that don't lead anywhere (Halle Berry was wasted because of this), but I think I preferred it more than the first one (though it's not a good sign when you can pull the film apart for all its flaws immediately). Julianne Moore was a riot and Elton John was so bad he was good. And despite the long run time, it breezed by.

EDIT: Saw Battle of the Sexes also too. Not my choice - went with a group of friends. I think it was CJB who said heterosexuality will be outlawed soon. Going by the insurmountable praise the film has received from critics and audiences, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens. It's misandry masquerading as a (confused) narrative with a directionless, inconsequential love story, a handful of actors who either phone it in or don't care, and spineless, stupid characters. Avoid.

Hellraiser - some of the more 'rubbery' effects haven't dated well, and England masquerades as the US none too convincingly throughout. But the Cenobites remain the stuff of nightmares 30 years on ... 'Pinhead', of course, became a horror icon.

Thor : Ragnarok - the Marvel spectacle is present and correct, but played for more laughs than usual. Fun couple of hours.

The Death Of Stalin - dark (naturally), at times hilarious satire of the squabbling for power after the titular tyrant's bucket-kicking. Armando Iannucci excels at sweary, politically-charged bickering and scheming amongst the arrogant and incompetent (The Thick Of It, In The Loop, Veep), and it's more of the same here.

What We Do In The Shadows - very funny 'mockumentary' about 4 flat-sharing vampires. I have heard good things about the director's Hunt For The Wilderpeople, and he went on to direct the currently-in-cinemas Thor flick.

Army Of Darkness (Evil Dead 3) - I dig the first 2 movies and the Ash Vs. Evil Dead TV show, but this disastrously mostly ditches the OTT splattery gore and comes across as a sort of Ray Harryhausen tribute with added swearing. Meh.

Chinatown
A masterpiece. One of the finest scripts ever committed to film.

The Sentinel
A generic action film elevated slightly by its supreme cast. However, I'm still not sure if Eva Longoria's casting is ingenious or terrible. Funnily enough, she's credited with having a better aim than most real life FBI agents.

b

And I think it hugely benefitted the film, as did Polanski's scrapping of Gittes' voiceovers and allowing the audience to uncover the mystery as Gittes does.

Well, I'll go old school and though I've seen it a few times, it's still a scream:

The Wrong Arm of the Law

good cast: Sellers and Lionel Jeffries are on top of their respective games here, Sellers as the legit/not so legit peddlar of French furs/stolen goods who gets twisted by the IPO mob (Impersonating a Police Officer) led by Tony Hancock's old stooge, Bill Kerr and Jeffries as 'Nosey' Parker. The script just zings along, that first scene with Sellers realising they've been turned over "I mean to say you've been had!" and all that follows. Nanette Newman, as in Basil Dearden's The League of Gentlemen is the snake in the grass.

Michael Caine is briefly glimpsed in one scene, I say briefly. But as with films of this era, the other treat is seeing London as was. And having casts that included John Le Mesurier, Dick Emery et al.

I dare-say if they remade this (like bleedin' Whiskey Galore) there'd be all sorts out of kilter.

WONDER WOMAN

Really? That was it? Very overrated film. And I was truly stunned at the very lackluster attempt at having an interesting villain. Ares, The General, Doctor Poison....forgettable. No name actor was willing to sign on?

Acting was bad by Thewlis, Nielsen and Wright.

Too many endless dialogue scenes. Slo-mo and Matrix-style action sequences I would have assumed had gone out of style in the late 90's. Really bad CGI in spots; I mean, we're talking the kind of CGI problems that SPIDER-MAN had back in 2002. You'd think 15 years onward that kind of thing would be fixed.

Pretty underwhelming effort overall, and I think nowhere near deserving of the praise it received.

b

Erica Ambler wrote:

They could've CGI'd Gal's tits at least - would that've been any different to CGI'ing the Hulk?

And who uses CGI as a verb anyway?

Some fanboys did complain her breasts were too small for her to play Wonder Woman.

b

THOR: RAGNAROK 5-stars

Everything I thought it might be. Loved it. Haven't seen a superhero movie in the theaters since DARK KNIGHT RISES. T:R nicely pulls back on the trend of there being so much angst and pathos in these films.

Lot of humor in the film, but nothing in the Moonraker vein.

Great villainess. Blanchett totally dominates every scene she is in. Hemsworth is allowed to let loose and show a humorous side those of us outside of Australia I don't think have seen (wasn't he in a comedy on tv back in the day?). Tessa Thompson is right on the money as a love-interest for Thor; she's so good I can overlook her unorthodox casting (like I had to overlook Elba's as well). Great seeing Jeff Goldblum back on screen.

Great soundtrack. If hearing Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song played over the gonzo climactic showdown doesn't get you pumped, nothing will.

Great action.

Probably see it again.

EON could learn a thing or two from the direction this film took. Not saying go out and hire Taika Watitti, but....

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Hemsworth is allowed to let loose and show a humorous side those of us outside of Australia I don't think have seen (wasn't he in a comedy on tv back in the day?).

He was on a soap opera, so you're not far off the mark.

LOST CITY OF Z 2-stars

I wanted to like this. I had read the book prior. I think the big problem with this film is that it's just not epic enough and I think that had something to do with it's indie budget. I assumed this because, at the end, Fawcett and son go into the jungle never to be seen again. The movie suggests they were alone, but history tells us that Jack's friend, Raleigh, went with them, but this production doesn't include the role of Raleigh.

GHOST IN THE SHELL 1-star
Nice to look at, but a complete snooze fest. Fell asleep so many times that by the point of the big reveal, I just finally turned it off. Maybe in 25 years I can learn to appreciate it like I did BLADE RUNNER.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Caught Atomic Blonde a few weeks ago.

I guess the marketing bods are responsible for the misleading change of title - The Coldest City sums up the Berlin I remember, though I confess I haven’t been there for 15 years.

It has the usual modern-day film problems: shot like a video game, duff third act with multiple endings. The cast is good despite this, though I barely recognised John Goodman he's lost so much weight.

The lesbian tryst is clearly there to titillate (not as interesting as my bank statement), rather than integral to the plot like the Turkish bath scene in the superb The Day of the Jackal. So -  still comic book, but has good moments.

I thought it was decent for what it was, but as espionage thrillers go, it had the depth of a shallow puddle.

Still, the fight sequence in the staircase almost lived up to the hype and the all-around excellent cast appeared to have fun with it.

I agree that the lesbian hook-up was superfluous to the plot and was clearly only written into the script as an excuse to have a scene that would be much talked about.

I do have to admit that I am increasingly liking James McAvoy as an actor, after initially finding him largely unimpressive.