Films that you have watched lately

Yeah that’s all fair and as you say probably a time constraint but I think the point it’s trying to make is that even people who do these jobs can get caught up in the system that is uncaring to its fellow men and women

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I watched Jack Reacher again at the weekend but not the new one. It was still rubbish. However I did enjoy this review of it when it came out and it’s still significantly more enjoyable than the film itself: JACK REACHER is a smart brutal suspense flick just what I'd hope Christopher McQuarrie would...

Two days, two trips to the cinema. This time around I saw American Honey. Three out of five, solid but unspectacular I thought. Went by fast considering its long running time though, with some great individual scenes. If you’re not a fan of loose structure, can imagine you’d hate it. Think similiar things were said upthread? Not sure on the ending but otherwise I don’t have much bad to say about it. Quite like Arnold as a director, looking forward to what she does next.

Shia LaBeouf was actually fairly decent in it. Seems like in twenty years time he’ll be considered an okay actor, when stuff like this and Fury (not a particularly great film but he’s decent in it) is remembered while shite like Transformers is hopefully forgotten. Did think of this every so often though:

123 - Sleeper*

That early Woody Allen where he has a lot of funny ideas that don’t hold together as a film.

124 - Miami Blues*

Was OK, any stuff about people just doing crime for the sake of it never really draws me in though.

125 - Broadway Danny Rose*

Best Woody Allen film? Possibly.

126 - Hell or High Water*

Fine. Ben Foster appallingly miscast as a 39 year old.

127 - Taxi to the Dark Side*

Bleak.

128 - Swiss Army Man*

Starts off interesting, veers concerningly into wacky and ends up at shite.

129 - Hunt for the Wilderpeople*

Could have annoyed me a lot but caught me in the exact right mood. File alongside Son of Rambow.

130 - All of Me*

There exists a film where Steve Martin is possessed by the spirit of Lily Tomlin and is best friends with a dog.

131 - I, Daniel Blake*

I really liked this, despite it being fairly short on nuance. As good as I think it seems to pander to a left-leaning audience a bit too much, and it has that “all poor people are unequivocally nice” thing that’s one of Loach’s worst habits.

Don’t agree. The Sheila character comes across as trying her best to be vindictive and cruel, as does the bald manager bloke.

These.

Sheila, maybe, bal headed guy, don’t think so. Either way, ye get
jobsworths everywhere right

‘She used the menu again, and the arrows.’

:laughing:

Like Dan Brown reading An Idiot’s Guide to Windows.

had a little cold war(ish) film festival at the weekend

Motorcycle Diaries
not great really, bit too twee and overegged in a lot of places.

Che Pt 1
Pretty great this, much better than I remembered. Del Toro is amazing in the role.

The Good Shepherd
Some great moments but ultimately too long, too many characters and a couple in particular who drag the whole thing down, and the denouement is deeply unsatisfying and ultimately pretty stupid.

JFK
Not a great film but a massively enjoyable one and Gary Oldman as Oswald, short as his screentime is, is one of my favourite performances ever.

recommendations for a more russia-centric addendum to this would be greatly appreciated.

Dr Strange. I don’t go to the cinema much but the boy’s off for half term. I also vowed i’d never do 3D again but the mirror city elements in this made it a full on ‘woah’ especially as it was imax too. Cumberbatch is great in the role, Tilda Swinton is top when badass. I was the only one who laughed when she said “Did you see that in the brochure?” Up there with the best of Marvel along with The Winter Soldier.

Not seen JFK in years, loved it at the time, might go back and give it a watch soon.
Oldman is great in it, in fact it’s a great cast of memory serves me
Correct

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Department Q : Keeper of Lost Causes - really enjoyable. Scandanavian police mystery, recommended if youre into that. Its on the iplayer website

Phenomena - managed to be ridiculous but not in a way to hinder the film

Eva Doesnt Sleep - far too underpadded, couldve been good if they expanded it and didnt jump from different plot points

Watched Sausage Party last night. It was enjoyable enough but not in a belly laugh way. All the best ‘gorey’ bits were in the trailer too.

Maggie’s Plan - Incredibly Woody Allen esque script (If Allen could make a film that felt modern) but without the direction and jazz soundtrack. I’m a sucker for these types of films plus the cast of Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader & Maya Rudolph - what’s not to like! Felt weird that Julianne Moore had to play a Danish character. It surely can’t be that hard to find a Danish actress?! 6.5/10

Weiner Dog - I definitely need to check out more of Todd Solondz’ films as part of this were great (Some of those lingering long shots cracked me up / made me feel sick - thinking the long trail of diarrhea and the repeatedly run over weiner dog at the end :cry: ). But the film as a whole is quite disjointed being split up into four short tales each with a weiner dog (the same dog?!) connecting the stories. With each section either being oddly surreal or incredibly depressing with a weird interval in between. Wasn’t entirely sure if there was meant to be a message or what. Julie Deply’s character was a highlight, she was truly monstrous! 6.5/10

Born to be Blue - Fairly standard biopic. Rise and redemption style story following Chet in the 60’s. Felt Hawke didn’t quite nail Baker’s singing style but I read somewhere he did all the trumpet work so kudos to him. I’ve never seen any interviews with Chet but will check out some after seeing this. I also remembered that I bought a copy of Miles Davis’s Autobiography years back and still need to read it. The Film makes out that they had some huge rivalry that I wasn’t really aware of? I read somewhere that Chet was voted best trumpeter one year to which Chet apologised to Miles for and in response Miles suggested that Chet had to apologise to a number of musicians before he could work he way up to apologising to him?! Anyone else know more about this? 7/10

Digging for Fire - Probably Swanberg’s most plot driven film yet (to a point) and that might have been because of Jake Johnson’s writing credit. Quite a star studded cast too; Brie Larson and Jake Johnson being the best of the bunch. Preferred the Jake Johnson storyline to the Rosemarie DeWitt storyline though no discredit to her nor Orlando Bloom8/10

The Neon Demon - Absolutely loved it! Elle Fanning owned every scene with a quiet brilliance. If you’ve seen a Nicolas Winding Refn film you know that the direction and cinematography are going to be impeccably stylish and this is no exception. The use of lighting is thrilling (In particular the scene with the strobing show at the party ) along with another excellent score from Cliff Martinez. 9/10

Ghostbusters (2016) - Need to finish this as I feel asleep for half hour or so. Seemed quite funny and a nice throw back to films of that era. Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth had most of the best lines. 6 or 7/10 (depending on when I’ve finished watching it)

aw hated Neon Demon. thought it was beyond awful

How come? It was definitely better than Only God Forgives which really was a huge case of style over substance. But something about this film really hit the right notes with me.

Watched The Force Awakens against last night.

Still great fun.

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There’s some great stuff about Neon Demon but I thought Only God Forgives is the better film. Not really sure how to articulate why though. Though a little different to those two, I reckon Bronson is the best thing Winding Refn has done.

Hmm, see I liked how Only God Forgives looked but the story did nothing for me. Didn’t feel connected to the characters and beyond the soundtrack it felt completely forgettable. Whilst in Neon Demon although you kind of always felt something horrible was always going to happen Jessie, I liked how they got there whilst the whole avenging brothers death and mother thing in OGF was just a bit blah and felt overdone but they just upped the gore…? Dunno.

Bronson is ace though. Haven’t seen it in ages though so should probably re-watch it at some point.

It just wasnt a film really. A collection of photographs for an art magazine placed together by Refn showing us what music he likes

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