Film Thread (What have you been watching?)

Inspired by Futtocks' Cheesy B Movie thread, and by my acquisition of a Cineworld Unlimited card, I thought I'd do a bit of a film review thread of stuff I've seen recently that I'd recommend (or not) to others.

Feel free to add your own!

In no particular order...

Funny Cow - Maxine Peake plays a good part as an aspiring female comic in the 70s, but if you're looking for a laugh, give it a wide berth. It is definitely not a comedy or an uplifting night out. And the jokes she does tell, in the brief 'on stage' sequence are excruciatingly of their time that'll make you glad times have moved on since then.

Ready Player One - Spielberg does video games. It's visually spectacular, but it wasn't really my cup of tea, as I'm not and never have been a gamer so I'll have missed probably a thousand in-jokes and references. It reminded me a bit of Willy Wonka at the end (and that's a compliment).

A Quiet Place - Loved this one. I'm not usually a fan of horror films, but this is more suspenseful than gory, and it's interesting to see a film with hardly any dialogue that is so gripping. I went to see it in a busy cinema on a Saturday night and people hardly dare scoff their popcorn during the really quiet bits.

Ghost Stories - Another spooky offering, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would tbh. Three seemingly separate stories linked by a twist at the end, hard to say anything more without offering any spoilers, but if you like old Amicus or Hammer horrors, or Inside No. 9 on TV, you should really go to see this.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society - Don't be put off by the clunky title which doesn't really do it any favours. It's a decent little wartime mystery with a good cast, but not too many surprises. It could've done with being a bit pacier, it's about 20 minutes too long. I made the mistake of going to an early morning screening that, unbeknown to me, was subtitled for the hard of hearing. As the opening scene features shouty German soldiers, it took me a good five minutes to realise they were subtitling the English characters as well, which was a bit distracting over two hours.

Scott and Sid - I saw this in a rare cinema screening in Bradford, as I don't think it's had a major release, but it is well worth catching on DVD or download. It's the (mostly) true story about a couple of downtrodden Bradford schoolmates who overcome the woes in their home lives to forge a successful business partnership and eventually go on to, er, make this film, which is basically what it's about. The two young actors who play the leads are very good, though its odd they chose to film the Bradford scenes in York, as it doesn't look grim enough (I'm a Bradfordian, I'm allowed to say that, no one else is though!! )

Black Panther - I used to watch a lot of superhero movies, then got a bit stalled with them so have missed a sizeable chunk of the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' as it's called these days, to the extent I likely won't have a clue what's going on in the new Avengers movie when it comes out in June (that's Avengers: Infinity War, not 'The New Avengers' movie, though I'd definitely pay to see the return of Purdey, Gambit and Steed, if they ever decided to make that one). The unavoidable hype surrounding Black Panther got me back into the cinema to see what the fuss was about, and it was, well, it was ok. I liked the concept of the hidden African nation of Wakanda, and the James Bond-ish elements with all the gadgets, but there were bits where I felt I was being hit over the head with a stick bearing the words 'this is a REALLY important cinematic landmark' when really, it's just another superhero film.

The Greatest Showman - I thought I'd hate this, but it was hugely enjoyable. Possibly deserves a place in the cheesy B movie thread, as it is no great cinematic shakes and corny as hell, but hell, they get half a lifetime's exposition out of the way in the space of a single song, and all the songs are really catchy. I predict this'll pop up on TV on Boxing Day for the rest of recorded time.

Unsane - This is really claustrophobic, filmed entirely on iPhones apparently, and starring Claire Foy (aka HM Queen on Netflix) who accidentally gets committed to a disreputable psychiatric hospital while also being terrorised by a former partner. You'll feel like you've been through the wringer after watching it. I'm not sure 'enjoyable' would be an appropriate description for the subject matter, but it's definitely gripping.

That's it for now, I might add a few more later if I can be bothered!

Getting you value from that card!

If you have Netflix you really should watch Annihilation. (My thoughts: https://jonsmalldon.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/film-review-annhilation/)

And if all you have is Amazon Prime, go to Your Name. (My thoughts: (https://jonsmalldon.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/film-review-your-name/)

Neither of my scribblings does either film justice. Both well worth watching.

Really enjoyed Annihilation 

I've got a Cineworld card too - saw Funny Cow last night. Brilliant by Maxine Peake and although some of the jokes are so old they are funny ("Incontinence hotline - can you hold?") there's a particular one that is very much not - although the crowd in the "Crookes Club" back in the 1970s loved it and I suspect you could easily find places where the same would happen now. Nothing wrong with uncomfortable films IMO. Nice cameos by John Bishop and Vic Reeves too.

I found Greatest Showman OK (better than La La Land) - it's now the new Frozen in terms of singalong cinema.

Unsane was very good.

9 hours ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

Getting you value from that card!

Yep!

Those aren't all I've seen on it either, just the ones I remembered off the top of my head last night.

I keep expecting to get an email from them saying 'hang on a minute, check the smallprint, when we said 'unlimited' we didn't really mean unlimited mate!!'

If you see more than a couple of films a month, it really is brilliant value for money.

10 minutes ago, tim2 said:

Nothing wrong with uncomfortable films IMO.

I agree, but some of the promo I've seen for Funny Cow has almost implied it's a comedy film, which might lead to some people having an unexpectedly uncomfortable evening watching it, if that's what they're expecting. It's worth seeing for many reasons, but a good laugh isn't one of them.

Maxine Peake was on the radio a few days ago, talking about the film. Apparently, Marti Caine was one of the inspirations for the character.

3 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Maxine Peake was on the radio a few days ago, talking about the film. Apparently, Marti Caine was one of the inspirations for the character.

Yes, that's who went through my mind, what with it being based in Sheffield. Also a farewell appearance from Sheff's Bobby Knutt as the club secretary.

We go to the pics every Tuesday 

last week we saw A quiet place, very good a suspense/ horror with a difference. 

Tonight we saw Rampage, great!! Giant mutant albino gorilla fighting equally mutated wolf and crocodile, what’s not to like? 

19 hours ago, John Drake said:

Yep!

Those aren't all I've seen on it either, just the ones I remembered off the top of my head last night.

I keep expecting to get an email from them saying 'hang on a minute, check the smallprint, when we said 'unlimited' we didn't really mean unlimited mate!!'

If you see more than a couple of films a month, it really is brilliant value for money.

The Unlimited card here doesn't let you see the opening day peak showings of designated blockbusters - and I think theatre relays might also be excluded - but other than that: fill yer boots.

6 hours ago, gingerjon said:

The Unlimited card here doesn't let you see the opening day peak showings of designated blockbusters - and I think theatre relays might also be excluded - but other than that: fill yer boots.

I intend to!

I went to see The Leisure Seeker last night - it wasn't exactly packing 'em in, I was the only one in there for the 8.20pm screening. That's the first time I've ever had a whole cinema to myself. 

Hope it gets more people in to other screenings, it's definitely worth seeing. 

It's the story of a retired couple in Massachusetts, played by Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren, him suffering from memory loss and her from terminal cancer, who to avoid seeing out their days in hospital, dust off their old Winnebago for a road trip from Boston to the Florida Keys. The two main characters are very human, full of faults as well as virtues and the film is driven by their dialogue with each other, which is both funny and heartbreaking. 

On 4/24/2018 at 6:08 AM, gingerjon said:

If you have Netflix you really should watch Annihilation. (My thoughts: https://jonsmalldon.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/film-review-annhilation/)

And if all you have is Amazon Prime, go to Your Name. (My thoughts: (https://jonsmalldon.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/film-review-your-name/)

Neither of my scribblings does either film justice. Both well worth watching.

On 4/24/2018 at 10:10 AM, Vambo said:

Really enjoyed Annihilation 

I watched Annihilation last night with high hopes and while it was OK it didn't hit the heights you two led me to expect.

Spoiler laden points of issue below:

15 minutes ago, Shadow said:

 

I watched Annihilation last night with high hopes and while it was OK it didn't hit the heights you two led me to expect.

Spoiler laden poits of issue below:

  Reveal hidden contents

I liked the idea of having an all female team but felt they let the idea down by having them armed wth M-16s and solving problems by shooting big holes in stuff. Either I fell asleep and missed it or there was almost no exploration of what caused the Shimmer and why burnig down the lighthouse got rid of it.

 

9 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I don't know how to do that hidden thing but my take on them, as vaguely as I can be: there is nothing notable about it being an all female crew, nor is there much they do that wouldn't be done by an all male crew. That's what I think is quietly radical about it. As for the other thing, I can't remember fully but I think: no, no it isn't, not really.

you put the word spoiler in square brackets [ ] like this at the start of the piece you want to conceal and brackets with a backslash before the word at the end [/] then you can post spoilers to your heart's content.

Just now, Shadow said:

you put the word spoiler in square brackets [ ] like this at the start of the piece you want to conceal and brackets with a backslash before the word at the end [/] then you can post spoilers to your heart's cotent.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Bruce Willis is a Ghost

]

Oooooooo ...

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

Oooooooo ...

Don't tell anyone

Films watched on a recent long haul flight -

Thor Ragnarok - Enjoyable super hero romp that rattles along nicely.  I can see why some people didn't like it, it might of been too light hearted and not earnest enough.  Take Wapiti's spirit is all over this.  4/5

Lucky Logan - Redneck crime caper.  Again another film that was well paced and just got on with it.  Just did what it had to do without lagging.  4/5

Paddington 2 - Watched it because it had got great reviews.  Totally justified.  Really enjoyable, sweet, funny and at times sad.  5/5

Recent films I've seen

Isle of Dogs, Ready Player One and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie. All very different and I enjoyed them all. 

Gotta love the Unlimited card. With Meerkat Movies, me and my better half can, potentially, go and watch 8 films a month for less than £18. #bargain 

Avengers: Infinity War this week! 

I thought Annihilation was a load of old tripe - albeit visually stunning tripe. Really don't get all the fuss. Not a bad film by any means, but maybe I'd read too much of the hype. 

7 minutes ago, Amber Avenger said:

I thought Annihilation was a load of old tripe - albeit visually stunning tripe. Really don't get all the fuss. Not a bad film by any means, but maybe I'd read too much of the hype. 

You are dead to me.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society  for me later on. Will report back.

I saw Paddington 2 with the family at Park Royal a little while back and I agree with Bedford Roughyed it is a really good film.

On 28/04/2018 at 9:42 AM, Wiltshire Rhino said:

Recent films I've seen

Isle of Dogs, Ready Player One and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie. All very different and I enjoyed them all. 

Gotta love the Unlimited card. With Meerkat Movies, me and my better half can, potentially, go and watch 8 films a month for less than £18. #bargain 

 

Avengers: Infinity War this week! 

Me and my wife have the Meerkat 2 for 1 card and decided to make sure we use it every week without fail. We started in the first week in January and have only missed one week so far. Best so far - Three Billboards, but A Quiet Place was unexpectedly watchable, as were Isle of Dogs and a strange Japanese film called The Third Murder! Most disappointing - Downsizing. Least enjoyable - The Greatest Showman. It was our first, and I had no idea it was a musical until we sat down and my wife decided to inform me then!

Incidentally, while working in my current profession for 30 years, I have never gone out midweek when I had work the next day! This was a huge culture change for us, and we make a real night of it, meal, cinema, coffee somewhere after! Loving it!