What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[rustyarabnuts]

Barry Lyndon

Doing a bit of research for an article for GTG, so I've been getting my teeth into some Kubrick that I really ought to have seen, but until now I hadn't.

This film is astonishing- it's the film he made A Clockwork Orange to raise the funds for, and in all truth this is his real big budget epic (and worth mentioning that it's Scorsese's favourite Kubrick picture- watch this and then The Age Of Innocence). A lot of it didn't work for me; there are two or three parts where I felt it just drags and it feels like a long film to stay into, but it's definitely worth the persistence. It's in two parts so I took the opportunity to have an intermission in-between and think it definitely helped, the last scenes of Part 1 were rather boring. Part 2 is slow and steady with just the right amount of spectacle and makes for lovely viewing.

Technical talk- the cinematography is a marvel. Stunning location shooting, brilliantly lit and there's a lot of classic Kubrick camera movement to feast your eyes on. I read before watching that he wanted to shoot the actors in tableaux a lot to reflect the art of Lyndon's era and it's safe to say he got it bang on the money- some shots are just like paintings. I felt like an expert in zoom lenses by the end of the film, there's so much use of it.

I think you have to want to watch this film for the right reasons to enjoy it- its entertainment value is moderate but as a piece of filmmaking it's highly ambitious, admirable and rewarding. My mark is generous because there are lengthy parts but I can't take away the fact that technically it's simply breathtaking.

8/10

not seen this for ages, love kubricks work, actually heard a serialisation of this on Radio4extra last week and put me in the mood for this fine piece of cinematography

[SaltyTON]

Bridesmaids (2011)

It's not often that someone truly stands out in a film. All the way through I was gutting myself at everything Megan said, a brilliant performance. When I went to add my score on IMDb, I see that she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Totally deserved.

Fun wee film.

7/10

Edited September 5, 2012 by SaltyTON

[DomDom]

Aye, I was delighted when she was nominated.

Avengers Assemble ( 2012 )

Another big blockbuster and this one was a cracker. Everything you could want from a superhero movie. Some of the dialogue was just a WEE bit forced, and that's a given when you've got Joss Whedon at the helm, but it's also to be expected that most of what he does here is excellent. Some brilliant laughs in it and some of the timing of things that happen is just majestic. The vast majority of the action in the movie is top stuff and Loki is a terrific bad guy. He's just the right amount of slimey as well as pure vile. It's a great way to spend two hours.

9/10

[Co.Down Hibee]

Terminator Salvation; have had this on sky+ for a while and watched it tonight. I have to say I enjoyed it , as an action film its excellent ,a bit too much CGI for my usual taste but that is the way of things now, have heard a lot of people knock it and certainly it isn't as good as the first 2 but overall it is a good movie IMO, mind you the end is a bit iffy, 7/10

[Henrik's tongue]

Bridesmaids (2011)

It's not often that someone truly stands out in a film. All the way through I was gutting myself at everything Megan said, a brilliant performance. When I went to add my score on IMDb, I see that she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Totally deserved.

Fun wee film.

7/10

This.

Watched it last week and really enjoyed it

[Mik]

Men in Black 3 - 8/10

Loved it, Jemaine Clement was great as Boris and Josh Brolin was excellent as the young agent K.

Probably say that was the best of the trilogy to be honest.

[P.C]

Aye, I was delighted when she was nominated.

Avengers Assemble ( 2012 )

Another big blockbuster and this one was a cracker. Everything you could want from a superhero movie. Some of the dialogue was just a WEE bit forced, and that's a given when you've got Joss Whedon at the helm, but it's also to be expected that most of what he does here is excellent. Some brilliant laughs in it and some of the timing of things that happen is just majestic. The vast majority of the action in the movie is top stuff and Loki is a terrific bad guy. He's just the right amount of slimey as well as pure vile. It's a great way to spend two hours.

9/10

I really feared for how they would balance out all the characters and make sure they all got enough screen time and thought it would be another Waterworld....

How wrong I was Brillant film, doing the IMAX and 3D really added to the experience as well, Robert Downey as Tony Stark/Iron Man excellent as always tho liked the conflict between him and Cap where he still has that inconnence about how things should be

[Mackie The Staggie]

The Good, the Bad, the Weird - 8/10

So this on Netflix last night and enjoyed it a lot. Straight from the get go you are thrown into a lot of action and stunning visuals. The plot is very basic (2 bad guys chase a map while being hunted by a bounty hunter....fights and chases ensue) but it's all cleverly done and knitted together. An enjoyable foreign film.

[Jags4ever]

Dredd 3D

Good film , excellent use of 3D , probably the best use so far. No real story tbh just loads of violence.

Sticks quite close to what 200Ad did with Dredd , faceless authoritarian but without the satire. The smallish budget showed with the lack of scope to cover Mega City One but overall a very decent film and worth a watch. Hope there is a sequel as so much more to be done in Dredd's world IMO

7/10

[P.C]

Dredd 3D

Good film , excellent use of 3D , probably the best use so far. No real story tbh just loads of violence.

Sticks quite close to what 200Ad did with Dredd , faceless authoritarian but without the satire. The smallish budget showed with the lack of scope to cover Mega City One but overall a very decent film and worth a watch. Hope there is a sequel as so much more to be done in Dredd's world IMO

7/10

Going to see it later, hopefully its at least watchable

[yoda]

Lawless

This is a bit like Public Enemies in that it could have been so much better. Fortunately it is streets ahead of Public Enemies.

It certainly packs a punch. There is a fair bit of violence and they don't shy away from showing you some fairly "in your face" stuff. At times the line between the good guys (perhaps "good" is stretching it, these guys are more anti-hero than hero) and the bad guys is a tad blurred.

Tom Hardy is, unsurprisingly, excellent. He may lack a lot of dialogue - if you struggled to understand Bane then you're fucked - but his physical acting is tremendous. I genuinely think he's going to be considered one of the best actors of my lifetime. There's a scene near the end between him and Jessica Chastain which is incredible, and one of my favourite scenes in the entire film.

Guy Pearce somehow steals the show from Hardy though. His character is pure evil. He's the best "real" villain since Chigurh in No Country For Old Men. He looks evil and he backs it up throughout the film. Pearce delivers his lines in a rather unnerving manner and I was never sure what he was going to do next. There's one scene:

A prostitute is sitting on newspaper, on his hotel room bed. She's crying and clearly shaken (it's assumed he's clearly done something awful during the night to her) while he's looking in the mirror, singing to himself and combing his hair. It's frightening.

The rest of the performances are solid (although I did find that Oldman and Chastain were a bit underused). LaBeouf (I can't stand him) looks to have shaken off the whole "Hey it's that guy from Even Stevens and Transformers. Isn't he a bit shit?" thing that many people thought when they saw him. He's very good in this whilst never being spectacular.

The film looks great. It's visually very good and the occasional shot of breathtaking scenery helps. The score is great and is one of the best parts of the film.

That said, there are some flaws. I think the script is alright for the most part but it's very poor at some points, which is a shame because Nick Cave has a reputation as a good writer. Most of the characters aren't developed particularly well. It does remind me of The Proposition and The Road (both directed by Hillcoat) in that I can't place why they aren't as good as they try to be but are still thoroughly enjoyable films IMO.

7.5/10

[Mr. Brightside]

Lawless

This is a bit like Public Enemies in that it could have been so much better. Fortunately it is streets ahead of Public Enemies.

It certainly packs a punch. There is a fair bit of violence and they don't shy away from showing you some fairly "in your face" stuff. At times the line between the good guys (perhaps "good" is stretching it, these guys are more anti-hero than hero) and the bad guys is a tad blurred.

Tom Hardy is, unsurprisingly, excellent. He may lack a lot of dialogue - if you struggled to understand Bane then you're fucked - but his physical acting is tremendous. I genuinely think he's going to be considered one of the best actors of my lifetime. There's a scene near the end between him and Jessica Chastain which is incredible, and one of my favourite scenes in the entire film.

Guy Pearce somehow steals the show from Hardy though. His character is pure evil. He's the best "real" villain since Chigurh in No Country For Old Men. He looks evil and he backs it up throughout the film. Pearce delivers his lines in a rather unnerving manner and I was never sure what he was going to do next. There's one scene:

A prostitute is sitting on newspaper, on his hotel room bed. She's crying and clearly shaken (it's assumed he's clearly done something awful during the night to her) while he's looking in the mirror, singing to himself and combing his hair. It's frightening.

The rest of the performances are solid (although I did find that Oldman and Chastain were a bit underused). LaBeouf (I can't stand him) looks to have shaken off the whole "Hey it's that guy from Even Stevens and Transformers. Isn't he a bit shit?" thing that many people thought when they saw him. He's very good in this whilst never being spectacular.

The film looks great. It's visually very good and the occasional shot of breathtaking scenery helps. The score is great and is one of the best parts of the film.

That said, there are some flaws. I think the script is alright for the most part but it's very poor at some points, which is a shame because Nick Cave has a reputation as a good writer. Most of the characters aren't developed particularly well. It does remind me of The Proposition and The Road (both directed by Hillcoat) in that I can't place why they aren't as good as they try to be but are still thoroughly enjoyable films IMO.

7.5/10

Just in from seeing it and I totally agree with what you say, Hardy is excellent, what a fine actor he is, Shia LeBeouf is actually good as well for a change. But you're right, Guy Pierce is phenomenal, just a horrible, horrible man. No where near enough Gary Oldman for my liking though.

Btw what scene are you talking about with Hardy?

Is it just before he goes after Jack?

[yoda]

Btw what scene are you talking about with Hardy?

Is it just before he goes after Jack?

Yeah it's that bit. When she tries to cover up getting raped by Floyd Banner's men and he can tell something bad happened. Hairs. End. On. Standing.

Something that popped into my head after my OP was Mia Wasikowska's performance. It wasn't ground breaking but I liked it. I've only seen her in two or three films but I've liked what I've seen.

Edited September 8, 2012 by yoda

[Mr. Brightside]

Yeah it's that bit. When she tries to cover up getting raped by Floyd Banner's men and he can tell something bad happened. Hairs. End. On. Standing.

Something that popped into my head after my OP was Mia Wasikowska's performance. It wasn't ground breaking but I liked it. I've only seen her in two or three films but I've liked what I've seen.

Aye, she was quite good.

I really liked LeBeouf as well,

particularly after Cricket died, his acting was superb from there on

[squidger]

Mulholland Drive - 5/10 i think

Had tried to watch this many years ago, got completely lost and gave up.

Of course there is many weird things as you would expect in a David Lynch movie, and some nice boobage on display.

As far as the plot...

i really dont have a flipping clue, what the hell is the cowboy and the blue box and the flipping back/forward in time. Couldn't really fathom out who was the real characters and who where not. What was the funny wee man in the wheelchair all about and the hairy person behind the wall.!! And the dodgy old couple that came out of the blue box.

certainly not one to try and watch a bit wasted.

[SaltyTON]

Total Recall (2012)

Saw this at the IMAX in Renfrew, first time I've seen a film in that format. £25 for an adult and a student, that ridiculous for a bigger screen.

M Night Shyamalan eat your heart out, seventy thousand blatantly fucking obvious "twists".

Colin Farrell made this film, take him out and it wouldn't pass. The original, although badly dated, is a vastly superior wee film.

6/10

Edited September 8, 2012 by SaltyTON

[forehead7]

The original, although badly dated, is a vastly superior wee film.

Nope, not having it.

[JamboMikey]

Hesher

Strange film, very dark at times but also really enjoyable.

'Hesher' (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a drifter type character that moves into the house of a boy who's grieving after the death of his mum. Rainn Wilson plays his dad who basically takes anti-depressants and sleeps all day so is oblivious and there's also the boy's grandmother, who's house I think it is the father and son have moved into after the mother dies.

7/10

[forehead7]

Eh?

The remake is a steaming pile of shite.

Nope, it's much better than the original. The acting is vastly, vastly superior. Only Stone/Beckinsale's part of Lori would be up for contention, Farrell, Cranston, Biel, Nighy were all much better than their original versions.

As you'd expect with a film remade 20 years later, it looks an absolute tonne better. The effects, set pieces, props etc. It's just a lot better made.

I prefer the story more as well. Keeping it on Earth etc.

There was a few things that made more sense and improved the remake that weren't in the original;

Before Quaid/Hauser went into the Rekall machine, the technician in the remake (John Cho) mentioned what would happen if the fantasy they wanted impanted was a reality. That actually explains why the Rekall machine triggers his past life. That's never mentioned in original and it's a pretty crucial plot point.

The opening dream sequence sees Quaid dreaming about his past life. But the problem in the original is that he dies in it, it's not a memory it's literally a dream/made up event. That makes no sense. In the remake he dreams of an event that actually happened, it's a memory and it makes sense that the memory wipe didn't actually work and this memory slips through the cracks. It makes more sense to the story.

The original is cheesy and looking back(I watched it on Thursday night after I saw the remake during the day on Thursday) it looks like shit. I know that that's pretty common for 80s films but it's not excusable and it doesn't make a film any better.

[Co.Down Hibee]

The World is not Enough- watched it last night on ITV who seem to be running the whole James Bond series ,it'sokay but for me it shows excactly how the whole franchise needed a makeover with the new attitude Craig brings to it, very cheesy and dated at times even though it wasn't made that long ago. 5/10