[Film] Film 2022

[dolphins]

Wanted a bit of an alternative to things like Cow and Belfast last night, so with the missus out (she doesn't enjoy that sort of thing) I gave the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre a go - it's just arrived on Netflix (yesterday). It's a film that you have to take for what it is, and it was a quite effective gore-fest. It took the tack of Halloween, in that it seemed to completely ignore any film since the original. Tobe Hooper's original was hardly Shakespearean and this lives up to that, with buckets of blood and some surprisingly convincing effects. There was some quite decent acting in it, and rolled along at a good pace. The odd thing where you think "Why don't you just..." but then that's normal for most films like this.

 

[The Clamp]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xSbQ_ERfmFQ

I’m not sure. Elvis is one of my favourite performers of all time. Cocky, hilarious, talented, haunted and gorgeous. He just had it. The best way to watch him are his concert films. The ‘56 comeback special shows a man at the peak of his powers.

I dunno, I’ll go to the pictures to watch this but I’m very dubious so far.

 

[Acker79]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xSbQ_ERfmFQ

I’m not sure. Elvis is one of my favourite performers of all time. Cocky, hilarious, talented, haunted and gorgeous. He just had it. The best way to watch him are his concert films. The ‘56 comeback special shows a man at the peak of his powers.

I dunno, I’ll go to the pictures to watch this but I’m very dubious so far.

I'm not a massive Elvis fan. I like some of his stuff. But I do like Baz Luhrman's full on approach to films like Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom. Did like this tweet:

[tweet]1494361500684746752[/tweet]

 

[The Clamp]

I'm not a massive Elvis fan. I like some of his stuff. But I do like Baz Luhrman's full on approach to films like Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom. Did like this tweet:

[tweet]1494361500684746752[/tweet]

Brilliant

 

[Acker79]

A break from the oscar noms to watch Moonfall, the latest from Roland Emmerich. Plot does what it says on the tin - the moon's orbit is changing and it's getting closer to the Earth causing disaster. Disgraced astronaut Patrick Wilson teams up with moon truther, and former colleague to save the earth. Lots of moments that were either stolen or inspired by other movies (there's a reference to 'ludicrous mode' which I'm sure is a spaceballs reference). Played with a straight face, but an awareness of how silly it is, it was actually fun dumb entertainment.

 

[keaton]

Saw a double bill of the a Beatles live thing and Boiling Point.

Boiling Point is excellent, a genuine single shot take, but not gimmicky.

Stephen Graham is a head chef with issues, a few weeks before Christmas on a very stressful night at a new restaurant. He and the Sous chef are excellent but the cast are all very good.

 

[Acker79]

On the Oscar watch front, I saw The Mitchell's vs the machines last week. It was really fun. A family of people who are different and not great at communicating are humanity's last hope when a personal assistant ai (like alexa or siri) goes rogue and uses a robot army to take over earth.


Last night I went to a midnight showing of the nearly 3 hour long The Batman. As a comic book/superhero movie fan, I was not disappointed. It is noirish, both in look and feel and in that there is (a minimal amount of) narration, which I find fitting for a comic book movie (often panels in comics have narration throught the story), also with a focus on a mystery that needed to be solved, leaning into the the batman as 'the world's greatest detective'. Colin Farell is unrecognisable as the penguin. I kept expecting an accent to drop, or the the wrong angle to show a more recogniseable face behing the make up. Robert Pattinson was good as an early-in-his-run Batman who is still trying to find that balance in what he wants the Batman to be, neglecting the Bruce Wayne side of him (so his Bruce is limited, and not the traditional playboy cover for his night time activities). Zoe Kravitz was great as catwoman. Jeffrey Wright was his usual strong performance. I often struggle with Paul Dano, thankfully he was mostly under a mask, but when he didn't annoy me as much as he sometimes does.

It didn't feel like three hours to me, I thought it was well paced, and none of it felt like an unnecessary drag (on first watch, at least, on re-watch I may realise some bits are not needed)). Of course there are threads that could hve been cut to simplify the story and reduce the run time, but I think that would be to the detriment of various characters. Though leaving I did hear some mutterings over the length (and there were more than usual number of people dashing to the toilet). There were some aspects that felt ripe for parody. I don't know if that was that they are, or just because I was getting close to being awake for a whole day at that point and sleep deprivation was kicking in.

For me, it was definitely one of the better batman movies (and I love a few of them).

 

[Acker79]

I finally got around to watching the remake of West Side Story. If not for its oscar nominations, I probably wouldn't have watched it. While I love musicals, I'm not a massive fan of Bernstein or Sondheim, and never really enjoyed the original. There are fundamental issues in that I don't really care about the characters and consequently their relationships or fates, and only like (parts of) a couple of songs.

Predictably, Spielberg's attempt has great production values and did a great job making the film, he just didn't do anything to alter those issues I have with the story/music (nor did I expect him to).

Now just waiting for the release of worst person in the world, and trying to decide if I really want to buy four good days, just because it's nominated for a song and that's the only way to (legally) watch it.

 

[Easy 10]

Wanted a bit of an alternative to things like Cow and Belfast last night, so with the missus out (she doesn't enjoy that sort of thing) I gave the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre a go - it's just arrived on Netflix (yesterday). It's a film that you have to take for what it is, and it was a quite effective gore-fest. It took the tack of Halloween, in that it seemed to completely ignore any film since the original. Tobe Hooper's original was hardly Shakespearean and this lives up to that, with buckets of blood and some surprisingly convincing effects. There was some quite decent acting in it, and rolled along at a good pace. The odd thing where you think "Why don't you just..." but then that's normal for most films like this.

Watched it with the Doris last night, and largely agree with your assessment. You go in knowing its not going to be troubling a Hollywood red carpet, but for some mindless well-crafted tension and gore, it hits the spot. I'd never seen anyone stabbed to death in the throat with the shattered bone from their own broken forearm before, so that was certainly a first. In fact, its probably one of the most creatively gruesome films I've seen since The Thing. It spares you absolutely nothing, which I quite enjoyed. Its well filmed, the cinematography is decent, and not badly acted either. I'll give it a solid 69%. Would've gone a bit higher for a better ending.

 

[Stat Brother]

Dunno if it's been mentioned, last week I saw Dog.

Channing Tatum's project.
Very, very ...




... Very route one.

But sometimes that's what we (I) want and it was plenty good enough.

You'd need a heart of stone to not have a 'moment' at the appropriate time.

Decent but only if you're not going to pick it apart.

 

[The Clamp]

Saw The Batman.

No spoilers but some thoughts.

I like the way they have gone down the “world’s greatest detective” route. Nice and classic Batman.

Don’t know why they bothered casting Colin Farrel as The Penguin. Should have saved the make up and hired a fat character actor.

The tone is very, very reminiscent of Seven. With some elements almost lifted from that film.

Pattinson is very good, as is JW as Gordon. Zoe Kravitz is an absolute smoke-show and is a terrific Catwoman.

I thought Andy Serkis was terrible as Alfred. I think he’s a dreadful actor anyway. Should stick to playing computer monkeys.

Vehicles are outstanding. Lots of great motorbike stuff. When the Batmobile first roars into action it made my heart pound. The noise was phenomenal. Was brilliant.

Overall, three hours of unremitting bleakness was a little much for me but still very enjoyable and well done.

7.5/10

 

[Acker79]

Went to an afternoon showing of Death on the Nile. I've not read the original novels, but I have seen the Peter Ustinov film. When I was younger I loved watching Poirot with David Suchet. I thought Branagh's murder on the orient express was fine. I liked seeing an ensemble cast like that, and I enjoyed Branagh's performance as Poirot - I like his little ticks and asides/self corrections. This had more of that same performance and a similar ensemble. I rmembered some of the elements from the Ustinov version so wasn't completely surprised by the reveal. I think the rest of the cast performed as well as one might expect (stronger performances from recognised actors, less so from the comedians). This was fine. The pre-credit flashback intended to introduce the idea of love and the lengths people go to and Poirot's relationship to love played like a comical history of Poirot's moustache. But otherwise this was fine. Did feel long, though.

 

[Nitram]

Not current for this year but La Belle Époque is worth catching up on BBC iPlayer.

 

[Barry Izbak]

Godfather 2

Worthing Dome this afternoon.

What a fabulous movie this is, and how much better to be able watch it on the big screen.

10/10

 

[CAPTAIN GREALISH]

Godfather 2

Worthing Dome this afternoon.

What a fabulous movie this is, and how much better to be able watch it on the big screen.

10/10

That’s because it’s the best film ever made

 

[WATFORD zero]

That’s because it’s the best film ever made

It is an absolutely superb film and definitely the second best film ever made after the first one

 

[CAPTAIN GREALISH]

It is an absolutely superb film and definitely the second best film ever made after the first one

Some people haven’t a clue

 

[dolphins]

Saw The Batman.

No spoilers but some thoughts.

I like the way they have gone down the “world’s greatest detective” route. Nice and classic Batman.

Don’t know why they bothered casting Colin Farrel as The Penguin. Should have saved the make up and hired a fat character actor.

The tone is very, very reminiscent of Seven. With some elements almost lifted from that film.

Pattinson is very good, as is JW as Gordon. Zoe Kravitz is an absolute smoke-show and is a terrific Catwoman.

I thought Andy Serkis was terrible as Alfred. I think he’s a dreadful actor anyway. Should stick to playing computer monkeys.

Vehicles are outstanding. Lots of great motorbike stuff. When the Batmobile first roars into action it made my heart pound. The noise was phenomenal. Was brilliant.

Overall, three hours of unremitting bleakness was a little much for me but still very enjoyable and well done.

7.5/10

Good summary. I had no idea that The Penguin was Farrell, so your comment came as a surprise! It was a very dark, and pretty rainy, film, maybe so it was harder to see that most of the locations were in the UK (Liverpool, Edinburgh, and even the O2 Arena in Greenwich!) Very well done though as it all seemed authentically American.

Next up for me at the flicks will be Phantom Of The Open and X - two very different films!

 

[The Clamp]

Good summary. I had no idea that The Penguin was Farrell, so your comment came as a surprise! It was a very dark, and pretty rainy, film, maybe so it was harder to see that most of the locations were in the UK (Liverpool, Edinburgh, and even the O2 Arena in Greenwich!) Very well done though as it all seemed authentically American.

Next up for me at the flicks will be Phantom Of The Open and X - two very different films!

X looks great.

 

[Spiros]

Anyone wanting to know the story behind Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren's latest film, the WHOLE story is laid out here

https://www.futilitycloset.com/2019/12/02/podcast-episode-275-a-kidnapped-painting/

Me and Mrs S went and saw The Duke at the Dome in Worthing last week. £3.50 each on a Monday evening, deffo can't complain at those prices. Despite a slowish start the film just got better and better. The scenes in court near the end are excellent. Never realised it was based on a true story until I read a bit more about it before going. Probably a bit 'gentle' for those that like full-on action movies but we both enjoyed it