What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Arch Stanton]

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) is on STV right now.

Just magnificent from start to finish, it'll be on STV+1 at  14:50 if you want to catch it from the start.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Arch Stanton

[stanton]

Raiders of the Lost Ark . It's  actually pretty scary to think that this movie is now 40 years old . George Lucas and Steven Spielberg along with John Williams what could potentially go wrong . Top class cast ,lots of great  performances . There's plenty non stop action . Even after all these years still a fantastic movie that stands the test of time , pure old style Saturday morning serial stuff , it's always very watchable .  9/10 

[Shandon Par]

On 26/05/2021 at 02:17, Arch Stanton said:

LA Confidential (1997)

Yeah I've seen it before but that doesn't diminish its brilliance on repeat.

Brutally robbed at the Oscars by Titanic despite career best performances by James Cromwell, Guy Pierce, Kim Basinger and even , arguably, by Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe (despite their subsequent Oscar wins)), it's a  magnificent depiction of 50's LA with both its land of opportunity vibe tempered with anyone will do anything to get ahead.

Chuck in police corruption and those within the police who are incorruptible and it's a tremendously enjoyable 2 and a quarter hours.

I’d love to see Sky Atlantic or Netflix do an adaption of an Ellroy novel, or all of his LA novels. LA Confidential is excellent and the best effort to date but even it doesn’t quite capture the book, especially the police captain Dudley Smith. 

[BFTD]

A Quiet Place (cinema) - a family try to survive after America is decimated by a hostile, unstoppable alien species that hunts by sound.

Already saw this at home and thought it was OK, but was really impressed seeing it again on the big screen. It's bizarre to watch a film that's so quiet in a group, and the tension was almost unbearable at times, despite me already knowing where the story was going. Just very, very well done, and the aliens were pretty interesting considering how many times we've seen alien invasion films by this point.

Also, I hadn't seen The Office before the first viewing, so didn't know that the male lead (and drector) is Jim Halpert, and his real-life wife is Emily Blunt. Nice.

A Quiet Place Part II (cinema) - a family try to survive after America is decimated by a hostile, unstoppable alien species that hunts by sound.

Alright, this one, not so much. The opening prequel was interesting, and might actually have made for a better film, but it's just a nice lead in to the real story, which kicks in right from the end of Part I...and I thought it was pretty mediocre. First of all, a new character is introduced as a direct replacement for one who couldn't make it to Part II because...well, there's a pretty big reason. You could have traded the characters with minimal edits to the script and it would have played out identically, so you'd think that maybe they had planned for the original character to return, but they couldn't because the actor pulled out, or...the other reason I just alluded to...and that can't be the case anyway because the actor is...well, someone who could easily have returned...and I'm struggling to avoid spoilers here! You'll know what I mean when you've seen it.

The second part is that the film essentially turns into The Walking Dead. I didn't much like The Walking Dead after the first season, so I was a bit depressed when it seemed that's where it was going by the halfway point, but I was absolutely right, unfortunately - it has the structure and feel of a season of that show. It also tries to pull off the same trick as the original film, by drawing out some scenes that are meant to have the same tension as in Part I...but they just didn't, and it fell flat on its face for me as a result. I wasn't too fussed about what happened by the end, and wasn't at all surprised by how everything was resolved. So, I'm reminded of the Taken franchise - first film was great, huge drop off in quality by the meh second, and I'll not be bothering with the inevitable third, thanks.

Oh, I know it was unavoidable, but it was pretty amusing to see the kids age up phenomenally within seconds of the events of the last film, and also be the same age eighteen months in the past  

[Ira Gaines]

Have to imagine that Krasinski wanted to focus on directing the movie and so took a step back.

[BFTD]

8 minutes ago, Ira Gaines said:

Have to imagine that Krasinski wanted to focus on directing the movie and so took a step back.

TBF, it would've been a stretch if it turned out he

Spoiler

paggered one of those armoured alien c***s with his bare hands.

 

[DA Baracus]

Alex Ferguson: Never Give Up

Really good documentary that focuses on Ferguson relaying memories of his career to his son after suffering a near fatal brain haemorrhage.

Lots of good stuff here. Disappointing they barely touched on his Pars career though! He's still clearly absolutely furious and disgusting with Rangers for their despicable bigoted shite towards him and his wife. What a truly repulsive club. An absolute piece of shit organisation that should have stayed dead.

He sort of rewrote his exit from St Mirren and didn't touch on his East Stirlingshire spell.

It's often said that managers aren't afforded much time these days. The run of results when he first took over at Manchester United was quite awful! The loud, persistent "FERGIE OUT FERGIE OUT! chants were something! It took 4 years for him to win a trophy with them. There's no way anyway gets that amount of time these days, but then things have changed massively from then. But there was no looking back once he got that first trophy. It's mental to see how massively he changed everything about Manchester United. His thoughts on scouting, youth and team cohesion were such basic things but something few others were doing. He notably said that when he first took over at Old Trafford that he wanted to flood the local area with scouts, and very quickly found Ryan Giggs that way. He also noted that when he first arrived his team were a collection of players that just didn't click and didn't work together.

Also, he made Jim Leighton cry.

 

[Arch Stanton]

8 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

He sort of rewrote his exit from St Mirren...

Indeed. It was far from just the expenses issue which caused him to be fired. He had already privately agreed to go to Aberdeen and tried to tap-up several of the players to go with him.

In the end only Steve Cowan and Dougie Bell left with him.

[mizfit]

Alex Ferguson: Never Give Up
Really good documentary that focuses on Ferguson relaying memories of his career to his son after suffering a near fatal brain haemorrhage.
Lots of good stuff here. Disappointing they barely touched on his Pars career though! He's still clearly absolutely furious and disgusting with Rangers for their despicable bigoted shite towards him and his wife. What a truly repulsive club. An absolute piece of shit organisation that should have stayed dead.
He sort of rewrote his exit from St Mirren and didn't touch on his East Stirlingshire spell.
It's often said that managers aren't afforded much time these days. The run of results when he first took over at Manchester United was quite awful! The loud, persistent "FERGIE OUT FERGIE OUT! chants were something! It took 4 years for him to win a trophy with them. There's no way anyway gets that amount of time these days, but then things have changed massively from then. But there was no looking back once he got that first trophy. It's mental to see how massively he changed everything about Manchester United. His thoughts on scouting, youth and team cohesion were such basic things but something few others were doing. He notably said that when he first took over at Old Trafford that he wanted to flood the local area with scouts, and very quickly found Ryan Giggs that way. He also noted that when he first arrived his team were a collection of players that just didn't click and didn't work together.
Also, he made Jim Leighton cry.
 

I enjoyed it very much.
He’s always felt like a private person despite being one of the greatest managers in world football. Was fascinating seeing an insight to his early days.

My grandad had travelled through from Perth to Ibrox for that game he scored the hattrick. He tells me he was livid that he was starting and it ended up being one of the best games of football he’d ever seen.

[accies1874]

A Quiet Place (cinema) - a family try to survive after America is decimated by a hostile, unstoppable alien species that hunts by sound.
Already saw this at home and thought it was OK, but was really impressed seeing it again on the big screen. It's bizarre to watch a film that's so quiet in a group, and the tension was almost unbearable at times, despite me already knowing where the story was going. Just very, very well done, and the aliens were pretty interesting considering how many times we've seen alien invasion films by this point.
Also, I hadn't seen The Office before the first viewing, so didn't know that the male lead (and drector) is Jim Halpert, and his real-life wife is Emily Blunt. Nice.
A Quiet Place Part II (cinema) - a family try to survive after America is decimated by a hostile, unstoppable alien species that hunts by sound.
Alright, this one, not so much. The opening prequel was interesting, and might actually have made for a better film, but it's just a nice lead in to the real story, which kicks in right from the end of Part I...and I thought it was pretty mediocre. First of all, a new character is introduced as a direct replacement for one who couldn't make it to Part II because...well, there's a pretty big reason. You could have traded the characters with minimal edits to the script and it would have played out identically, so you'd think that maybe they had planned for the original character to return, but they couldn't because the actor pulled out, or...the other reason I just alluded to...and that can't be the case anyway because the actor is...well, someone who could easily have returned...and I'm struggling to avoid spoilers here! You'll know what I mean when you've seen it.
The second part is that the film essentially turns into The Walking Dead. I didn't much like The Walking Dead after the first season, so I was a bit depressed when it seemed that's where it was going by the halfway point, but I was absolutely right, unfortunately - it has the structure and feel of a season of that show. It also tries to pull off the same trick as the original film, by drawing out some scenes that are meant to have the same tension as in Part I...but they just didn't, and it fell flat on its face for me as a result. I wasn't too fussed about what happened by the end, and wasn't at all surprised by how everything was resolved. So, I'm reminded of the Taken franchise - first film was great, huge drop off in quality by the meh second, and I'll not be bothering with the inevitable third, thanks.
Oh, I know it was unavoidable, but it was pretty amusing to see the kids age up phenomenally within seconds of the events of the last film, and also be the same age eighteen months in the past  [emoji14]

When I saw more present (past in-film) stuff in the trailer, I decided that that's what I wanted from the next installment. Shame that you're saying it only took up a tiny part of it.

[Elric]

CRUELLA

watched this thinking it would be suitable for by young granddaughter but it is actually quite dark and for Disney I think aimed at an older audience. 7/10

[BFTD]

On 02/06/2021 at 13:31, Pato said:

Scanners - David Cronenberg classic. I have no idea if it was accidental or intended but the slightly wooden delivery of Stephen Lack really worked with me. Patrick McGoohan and Michael Ironside were spectacular of course. I love anything from the early 80s, the aesthetics were just perfect (& show how kitsch stuff like Stranger Things is, presenting a Spielbergian parody of what the place looked like back then).

9/10

One of my favourite films. Love Scanners, and most of Cronenberg's early work. You're dead-on with Stephen Lack; his performance adds an unreal, dreamlike quality to the whole thing. Love the ending too. I'm guessing the non-Cronenberg, straight-to-video sequels were gash.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil & Vile (DVD) - drama about the events surrounding the capture, trial, and execution of animalistic serial killer Ted Bundy, and the effect it had on his fiancee.

The last film I saw by Joe Berlinger was the appalling Cecil Hotel documentary, which was a huge fall from grace for the director of the Paradise Lost films. This is better, although it might be a disappointment for anyone interested in Bundy himself, as while we spend a lot of time with him, it's more about how his facade is viewed by the woman who loves him. For a large part of its running time, the film plays out as though Bundy might be innocent, which makes sense but feels very odd - like a Hitler dramadoc where everyone wonders who's killing all the Jews.

Zac Efron gives it a good go, but we don't see much behind the mask due to the nature of the film, which probably isn't what most viewers would be hoping for. Still a decent watch, though.

Wolves at the Door (DVD) - dramatisation of the Tate-LaBianca murders committed by the Manson family.

Frankly, I only watched this because Mark Kermode has bitched about it so many times - I was expecting some bad taste exploitation of a horrific crime, but it's actually an incredibly tame and bland fictionalised attempt that turns Manson's crew into faceless Michael Myers boogeymen, and appears to have been made without wanting to explicitly put a name to the events portrayed, only to spell things out in a presumably last-minute epilogue.

A bloodless (in every sense) and pointless exercise that doesn't seem to understand why it exists.

[Ira Gaines]

I'm always happy to see Michael Ironside. His performance in Turbo Kid was absolutely fucking delightful. He brings such an incredible energy every time.

[BFTD]

Just now, Ira Gaines said:

I'm always happy to see Michael Ironside. His performance in Turbo Kid was absolutely fucking delightful. He brings such an incredible energy every time.

Should've been a much better known actor IMO.

There was a great trailer for some piece of shit straight-to-video flick in the Nineties that reeled off the stars at the end, finishing with, "and UNDERGROUND LEGEND Michael Ironside!" with such enthusiasm that I felt bad for not cheering  

[Ira Gaines]

If he wasn't treated with enthusiasm, Ironside would probably have kicked the person's c**t in.

[BFTD]

12 minutes ago, Pato said:

Michael Ironside strikes me as one of those hard as nails on screen characters who is probably lovely and twinkly in real life. Like Peter Mullan.

I forget who, but I read an interview with an actor years ago who said pretty much this. Ironside's a big softie, similar to the late John Saxon.

[Ira Gaines]

27 minutes ago, Pato said:

Michael Ironside strikes me as one of those hard as nails on screen characters who is probably lovely and twinkly in real life. Like Peter Mullan.

He BECAME a lovely guy but was an absolute fucking nutter.

[19QOS19]

Alex Ferguson: Never Give Up
Really good documentary that focuses on Ferguson relaying memories of his career to his son after suffering a near fatal brain haemorrhage.
Lots of good stuff here. Disappointing they barely touched on his Pars career though! He's still clearly absolutely furious and disgusting with Rangers for their despicable bigoted shite towards him and his wife. What a truly repulsive club. An absolute piece of shit organisation that should have stayed dead.
He sort of rewrote his exit from St Mirren and didn't touch on his East Stirlingshire spell.
It's often said that managers aren't afforded much time these days. The run of results when he first took over at Manchester United was quite awful! The loud, persistent "FERGIE OUT FERGIE OUT! chants were something! It took 4 years for him to win a trophy with them. There's no way anyway gets that amount of time these days, but then things have changed massively from then. But there was no looking back once he got that first trophy. It's mental to see how massively he changed everything about Manchester United. His thoughts on scouting, youth and team cohesion were such basic things but something few others were doing. He notably said that when he first took over at Old Trafford that he wanted to flood the local area with scouts, and very quickly found Ryan Giggs that way. He also noted that when he first arrived his team were a collection of players that just didn't click and didn't work together.
Also, he made Jim Leighton cry.
 

Where did you get this?

[DA Baracus]

30 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

On 02/06/2021 at 11:22, DA Baracus said:

Alex Ferguson: Never Give Up
Really good documentary that focuses on Ferguson relaying memories of his career to his son after suffering a near fatal brain haemorrhage.
Lots of good stuff here. Disappointing they barely touched on his Pars career though! He's still clearly absolutely furious and disgusting with Rangers for their despicable bigoted shite towards him and his wife. What a truly repulsive club. An absolute piece of shit organisation that should have stayed dead.
He sort of rewrote his exit from St Mirren and didn't touch on his East Stirlingshire spell.
It's often said that managers aren't afforded much time these days. The run of results when he first took over at Manchester United was quite awful! The loud, persistent "FERGIE OUT FERGIE OUT! chants were something! It took 4 years for him to win a trophy with them. There's no way anyway gets that amount of time these days, but then things have changed massively from then. But there was no looking back once he got that first trophy. It's mental to see how massively he changed everything about Manchester United. His thoughts on scouting, youth and team cohesion were such basic things but something few others were doing. He notably said that when he first took over at Old Trafford that he wanted to flood the local area with scouts, and very quickly found Ryan Giggs that way. He also noted that when he first arrived his team were a collection of players that just didn't click and didn't work together.
Also, he made Jim Leighton cry.
 

Where did you get this?

It's on Amazon Prime.

[BFTD]

He BECAME a lovely guy but was an absolute fucking nutter.

Ooh, sounds like there's a biography that needs reading! [emoji1]