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What films are you watching?

Pancake

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CHAPEL END CHARLIE

CHAPEL END CHARLIE

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Saddened by the negative reaction to Prometheus - but will still go and see it for myself regardless.

 

In the meantime I saw 'Two Lane Blacktop' (1971) for the first time in twenty years last night. This very offbeat road movie has acquired a certain cult status over the years, but on reflection I think it may be trying a tad too hard to be 'cultish' if you know what I mean. The plot - such as it is - revolves around two young men known only as 'Driver' & 'Mechanic' (played by singer songwriter James Taylor and legendary Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson) who earn a living by betting on winning illegal street races with their souped-up '55 Chevy hot rod - and trust me this car really is the fastest set of wheels in town.

 

Across the rural south they go and along the way they pick up a teenage hitchhiker ('Girl') and become involved in a long distance on/off road race with the driver of a 1970 Pontiac GTO sports car (who is referred to only as 'GTO' of course) and that's about it really. The script is as sparse as the Chevy's gray primer paint job, its very slow paced by modern standards and the acting so low key as to be almost invisible. The sound track is mainly provided by a orchestra of small-block V8's and as for the ending ... well it just doesn't make any sense at all !

 

So a mildly interesting period piece then, but not really a film nearly as great as its reputation in my view. However any sense of mild disappointment is largely offset by the performance delivered by Warren Oats as the aforementioned 'GTO'. Seldom in the history of cinema has a character quite so utterly full of bullsh1t as this guy been brought to the screen. Even if you're not into cars, for that wonderful performance alone this movie's still worth seeing.

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miserableoldgit

miserableoldgit

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Prometheus was frankly poor. Fassbender and the visuals are good but... If a less respected director produced it then it would have been panned. Avoid.

I know that MK can be a bit full of self-importance but he is normally pretty spot on with his reviews. I haven`t seen it yet but will give it a go. 5 out of 5 Stars in The Mail by the way.

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TheCholulaKid

TheCholulaKid

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Once Upon A Time In Anatolia - extremely satisfying film, long, slow and all the more enjoyable for that. Dissects the human condition in the guise of an all night murder mystery. Won the Grand Prix at Cannes last year if that floats anyone's boat.

 

Don't bother watching it if you can't cope with subtitles.

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Window Cleaner

Window Cleaner

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Posted
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Needs full attention throughout. Heavy and gritty. Gary Oldman is brilliant.

 

Wasn't a patch on the serialisation we had in the err late 70s though. Now that was Le Carré well done.To me the film version lacks depth,lacks volume.Alec Guinness ...now that was a George Smiley

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Ampersound

Ampersound

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Watched iron man: extremis today. Fantastic animation very stylised and not for young kids as it was surprisingly violent and graphic.

 

Also watched woochi the demon slayer. Fairy humorous Korean fantasy adventure.. A little bit different from the norm.

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Frank's cousin

Frank's cousin

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Finally got round to watching 'The Lives of Others' picked up the DVD moths ago and just not had the time... great film, superbly acted.

 

Seem to like these post 'Berlin wall' German film making - cant remember the name of it now... I know very bad, but loved that comedy about the young guy whose gran has been in a Coma and wakes up after teh wall has come down and he tries to keep her thinking its still all the same... anyone remember what that was called?

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dubai_phil

dubai_phil

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Watched Safe House on the flight home yesterday. What a cracking (if cliched) new kid gets drawn into Conspiracy shoot em up Spy movie.

 

Won't win awards, won't be a cult, doesn't add anything to the genre.

 

But a cracking fast paced shoot em up Action Thriller.

 

John Carter was second choice after that.

 

Oh dear.

 

Woeful from about every angle I could think of. Perhaps they shouldn't have brought Jar Jar Binks & his mates out of retirement as a supporting actors

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dubai_phil

dubai_phil

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The 41 Year old Virgin who knocked up Sarah Marshall & felt Superbad about it.

 

(No hoenstly THAT is the title)

 

Well, what to say, trying to make a movie that takes the p1ss out of movies that took the p1ss probably wasn't the greatest idea ever. It has jokes that are beyond bad taste into the realm of risible and keeps going with them.

OK so "Anal McLuvin" is funny and itgoes off tangent to pay some homage to Scoot Pilgrim there, and sort of the impressions of Seth & the guys aren't totally dreadful, but it truly is a movie that makes you think WTF.

 

It has a few LOL moments and a couple of guffaws but the ONLY thing worth watching in the movie is the whole Verizon Ad p1ss take. Can you hear me now?

 

The punchline to that AFTER the movie had finished was a classic and was possibly worth watching the whole damned thing for. Trouble is, unless you have seen the Verizon Ad in the US it ain't gonna make much sense.

 

So as a review it gets a risible 1/10. (But maybe worthwhile if you have the lads round after a load of beers)

 

The Verizon joke (expats) only rating leapt up to a 4/10

 

I'm actually still smirking at that now

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dubai_phil

dubai_phil

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Normally don't like Teen movies & High School well that's me gone.

 

Eurotrip was on telly tonight.

 

Vinnie Jones as a Manc fan brilliant

 

Loved the film rofl'd most of the way through AND we got our Bewbs view (now that GoT is off until the winter)

 

A VERY funny film.

 

Don't ever forget the Safe Word.

 

Still laughing now

 

Well worth a download

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dubai_phil

dubai_phil

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Posted
Watching "The Boat that Rocked" on ITV right now, never seen it before.

 

Great film

 

Just wrote a review of The Kingdom

 

And the innernet lost it.

 

Arrg

 

It was on the telly, hadn't seen it for a while. Filmed in Abu Dhabi. What a cracking film it is. Not just the story & the incredibly tense finale but the depth to the relationships/suspicion between the two cultures.

 

The location shooting is superb, I don't think global audiences could ever understand how much WORK went on behind the scenes to get all the permissions to film that. To have a shoot out in a Hollywood movie between Gulf Nationals & Americans filmed HERE??!! Also one scene where they closed down the biggest highway for a short shot of a convoy on scabby dhabi Corniche with an Army Apache flying about 50 feet above the road... Superb.

 

Because it hits so many cultural home runs and balances them so well it has to be up there amongst the "most intelligently made" thrillers. Whether it is a long term classic is doubtful. I doubt people will really get it the way we could.

 

Personally? it's an 8.5/10

 

Well written, well directed and well acted Thriller with a crackingly tense finale

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Bearsy

Bearsy

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Posted (edited)

Jesus how bad does this look!

 

[video=youtube_share;kK7y8Ou0VvM]

 

I mean, I've read some of them Reacher books and I don't remember his defining characteristic as the ability to drive fast, nor to be 5' 5" tall!

Edited by Bearsy
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CHAPEL END CHARLIE

CHAPEL END CHARLIE

Posted
Posted (edited)

From the nether regions of my DVD collection I unearthed a semi forgotten a copy of that 1983 horror classic 'Christine' last night, and I was instantly reminded of just why I've enjoyed this fine piece of hokum so very much ever since it was first released nearly 30 years ago.

 

The script (a very competent adaptation of a Steven King novel) can be summarized easily enough: the purchase and restoration of a dilapidated - but inherently devilish - 1957 Plymouth Fury alters the character of a nerdish American teenager. The malevolent influence of this evil car transforms this awkward lad from your stereotypical high school 'loser' into a independent and sexually confident young man ... oh and heaven help anybody who decides to cross him or his satanic motor.

 

Funnily enough we were only discussing John Carpenter films in the Sci Fi thread the other day, but to my shame I'd totally forgotten he made this one of my favorite films ! But having a director of his caliber on board does go a long way towards explaining why it is such a bloody good movie.

Edited by CHAPEL END CHARLIE
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Bearsy

Bearsy

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Posted (edited)

Well yes, but they're not exactly films.

 

I see that one movie bout the talking bear. It really resonated with me for some reason. It was called "Ted". It was quite loools in some places and in other places it was quite meh.

Edited by Bearsy
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Bearsy

Bearsy

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I'm sick. But you knew that... I'm also unwell so I'm stuck at home watching a dodgy stream of dat new spiderman movie. I'm about halfways through and it's starting to drag a bit, if I was at the cinema I'd be going out to hit on the chicks at the concessions stands. It's not too bad tho overall, I quite like the dude playing spiderman and Emma Stone is in it who i find Hot. There is some pretty dumb stuff and bad acting going on at Oscorps tho, you probably don't want to bother watching them bits.

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Julian H. Cope

Julian H. Cope

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Posted
Jesus how bad does this look!

 

[video=youtube_share;kK7y8Ou0VvM]

 

I mean, I've read some of them Reacher books and I don't remember his defining characteristic as the ability to drive fast, nor to be 5' 5" tall!

 

It's a f*cking travesty to let that midget play Jack Reacher. I've read most of the books the casting does not compute. Just as well got Warwick Davies or Kenny f*cking Baker to play him. Hollywood b*stards.

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saintbletch

saintbletch

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It's a f*cking travesty to let that midget play Jack Reacher. I've read most of the books the casting does not compute. Just as well got Warwick Davies or Kenny f*cking Baker to play him. Hollywood b*stards.

 

This.

 

Apparently Verne Troyer was in talks to play Reacher but the Director is a Scientologist so Crusie was a *cuban-heeled" shoe-in.

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Raging Bull

Raging Bull

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Posted
Jesus how bad does this look!

 

[video=youtube_share;kK7y8Ou0VvM]

 

I mean, I've read some of them Reacher books and I don't remember his defining characteristic as the ability to drive fast, nor to be 5' 5" tall!

 

Oh FFS no no no no no this role was perfect for a Jason Isacs or Daniel Craig. Why does stumpy get to rock up and ruin a potentially great film.

 

I hope Holmes screws him and his weird cult for everything!!!

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CHAPEL END CHARLIE

CHAPEL END CHARLIE

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Posted

If you like old movies then Film 4 will be showing a personal favorite of mine tomorrow: the magnificent 'Bad Day at Black Rock' (MGM 1955). In certain respects you could say this is a 'cowboy' genre film, but that is to do it a major disservice because it's so much more than just another old oater.

 

Set just after the end of WWII Spencer Tracy plays a disabled ex Army officer on a mission to visit the small desert hometown of a wartime (Japanese-American) comrade. His mighty Union Pacific Express train stops (for the first time in many years) at the dusty little station in the middle of nowhere New Mexico, but right away the strangely hostile locals make it perfectly clear that both he, and his inquires regarding the whereabouts of his old comrade, are most unwelcome. But whatever level of coercion the citizens of Black Rock put him under, he's still not the type of man who's prepared to back down in a hurry ......

 

I'll say no more because I don't want to ruin this superb film for anyone who has never seen it before. But greed, fear, corruption, prejudice, violence, dignity, restraint but above all 'courage' - well all human life is here I suppose. What more could you want from any film ?

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dubai_phil

dubai_phil

Posted
Posted (edited)

OK here's one to watch after a few beers.

 

Act of Valor.

 

Some comments. It is a totally unlike anything made before movie.

It is a "Real Life" Action drama about a Platoon of Navy Seals.

It has a few actors who fill in around the edges.

 

The ACTUAL actors in the movie are? Yup Navy Seals.

 

The plot is VERY loosely "extracted" from a Tom Clancy idea of Mexican Drug Cartel working with "Islamic" terrorists.

 

So you have a movie where the main "actors" cannot actually act they sort of have to be themselves in the Sitting on the beach with families type scenes. So, let's face it in "Critic Mode" The characters are not exactly developed very well.

 

The plot is tenuous at the best - a 4 inch thick Tom Clancy story gets drained down into a shoot em up action flick "concept"....

 

But then the Seals get sent down range.

 

Wow after they get going, you suddenly realise how stupid & stilted the likes of Jason Bourne, James Bond & Tom Cruise et al really are in a proper fire mission scenario.

 

Have to say the scenes were Jaw Dropping - awesome. The moment when the chain guns or the miniguns open up is wowzer.

 

 

Even with the awesome scenes it still has a bit too much - Computer Game nerdish shots of gun-sights looking around corners as baddies pop out. The use of the Special Forces hardware in the film is also really impressive - The Black Hawks & Sea Stallions etc

 

So, a very different "action" Film. The Grunts ain't ever going to win an Oscar for acting but they sure have set the bar higher for Action scenes

 

It is a really odd one to review, it could so easily have been a total Genre changer, but let itself slip into a bit too much Hoo Yah Gung ho and lost some attention to the basic tenet of movie making - acting.

 

Anyone who plays those shoot em up games? You'll realise the graphics have a long way to go yet:)

 

Is it worth a 3/10 for the poor characterisation/acting or a 9.9/10 for making me dribble soup down my chin when my jaw dropped at the first set of action...

 

 

Tough call.

 

No I think it was a rubbish film and Awesome Entertainment and yeah, I really enjoyed it and bet it is awesome in 3D

Edited by dubai_phil
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pap

pap

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Posted

I watched The Final Countdown last night. Been meaning to watch it for years. The central premise is that a 1980s aircraft carrier is transported back through time to December 6th 1941, the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

The cast is pretty good, and any fans of military equipment will love it. There's almost no end to the amount of take-offs and landings from the USS Nimitz.

 

The biggest problem with the film is that it's a massive cock-tease, prompting the question "what would happen if a 1980s aircraft carrier was at Pearl Harbor" and never actually answering it. For that reason, it's a massive disappointment. I much prefer Tarantino's universe-splitting approach to historic events, as seen in Inglorious Basterds.

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Jonnyboy

Jonnyboy

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Posted
I watched The Final Countdown last night. Been meaning to watch it for years. The central premise is that a 1980s aircraft carrier is transported back through time to December 6th 1941, the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

The cast is pretty good, and any fans of military equipment will love it. There's almost no end to the amount of take-offs and landings from the USS Nimitz.

 

The biggest problem with the film is that it's a massive cock-tease, prompting the question "what would happen if a 1980s aircraft carrier was at Pearl Harbor" and never actually answering it. For that reason, it's a massive disappointment. I much prefer Tarantino's universe-splitting approach to historic events, as seen in Inglorious Basterds.

 

I'm still waiting for your review of Prometheus ffs!

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pap

pap

Posted
Posted
I'm still waiting for your review of Prometheus ffs!

 

Yeah, it's going to have to be the DVD release now.

 

The Geek Collective have already sent me threatening letters telling me to revoke my membership.

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