|
Post by DarknessFish on Dec 14, 2019 20:37:44 GMT
Bava's beautifully shot murder mystery, where the suspect becomes more apparent just because of the lack of cast left standing. A feast for the eyes, even if the plot/acting is a bit hoky at times. And we watched Knives Out as a family, which is the first non-animation I can recall doing that with. Loved it. The plot's as convoluted as hell, but it's played with such fun by all the cast, it's a whip-smart take on your tedious sunday afternoon Agatha Christies. I am beginning to wonder whether Christopher Plummer is immortal, I'm sure he was 50 when he was in The Sound of Music.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2019 22:25:48 GMT
|
|
|
Post by tory on Dec 22, 2019 12:51:10 GMT
The Rise of Skywalker. A fairly decent if somewhat jam packed finale to the Star Wars saga.
|
|
|
Post by oleandermedian on Dec 22, 2019 18:04:13 GMT
I loved the scene of the no-longer-young waitress listlessly swatting flies in a remote desert township whose two-figure population has finally dwindled to zero. What a way to go. The last scene, in a motel room with a totally pointless reproduction of an English landscape above the bed, is very moving – a pietà which is deliberately botched by Maria’s fingers drumming on the corpse of her newly-dead friend, her nervous energy still looking for an outlet. It has beautiful photography, by Jordan Cronenweth of Blade Runner fame, full of saturated colours and glossy surfaces and deceptive reflections, which really amplifies the general mood of directionless energy. Everything and everyone is infested with a kind of spiritual static that just sits there like smog – and there’s no getting away from it. Especially not by the usual channels!
|
|
|
Post by oh oooh on Dec 28, 2019 8:05:57 GMT
I enjoyed what I saw of Love Actually last night.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2019 8:26:09 GMT
I'm halfway through The Irishman, one of the most boring films I've ever seen and less than two days later I can barely remember anything about what I did see. It got such great reviews that I feel I should force myself to watch the second half, but it does feel like a chore.
|
|
|
Post by oh oooh on Dec 28, 2019 8:39:10 GMT
I wouldn't bother. But I'm surprised by your assessment!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2019 8:58:47 GMT
I've had it with reviewers. Their dishonesty is staggering.
|
|
|
Post by oleandermedian on Dec 28, 2019 16:52:25 GMT
It’s the story of an affair between a frustrated architect and a bored housewife. Their fling begins when they drive up into a deserted canyon to the site of a house he’s been commissioned to design for an insanely rich novelist and his richly insane girlfriend. (Sminking of gin.) By virtue of being where “it” all began, the house becomes “theirs”, or comes to symbolize their relationship in their eyes and ours, at least. As the house takes shape, so their affair evolves. It’s this conceit that holds the story together in a very satisfying manner. But a house is not a home of course, which they’re brutally reminded of when an interloper mistakes them for husband and wife in their final tryst there.
It has great colours, beginning with Kim Novak’s hair, and stylish, modern ambiences. And Walter Matthau, playing a baddie – a pipe-smoking suburban cynic and, as it transpires, full-on sleazoid. As the drama peaks, it starts to rain really hard – but then Kim Novak’s character has been turning the air in the neighbourhood sultry since the moment she first sashayed up to the bus stop so the cloudburst had to come. And where is Larry/KD when his wife is in peril on the living room carpet and the rain is drumming on the rooftiles? Off somewhere shagging, of course.
|
|
|
Post by oleandermedian on Dec 28, 2019 16:54:42 GMT
I'm halfway through The Irishman, one of the most boring films I've ever seen and less than two days later I can barely remember anything about what I did see. It got such great reviews that I feel I should force myself to watch the second half, but it does feel like a chore. I'm in exactly the same position. I knew I shouldn't have started to watch it when it was so late! Maybe I'll watch the rest tonight. But yeah, it's underwhelming so far.
|
|
toomanyhatz
god
I've met him/her. He/she's great!!
Posts: 3,242
|
Post by toomanyhatz on Dec 29, 2019 7:52:50 GMT
Saw the Mr. Rogers movie with Tom Hanks. What's it called? A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, I think? Really good. Tom Hanks was good. Chris Cooper was really good. Without giving too much away, it was sort of about Mr. Rogers, but not really. It was more about the personal redemption of the journalist that wrote a story on him in Esquire in the 90s. Subtly done, despite a few Hollywood touches. Not what I expected.
|
|
|
Post by DarknessFish on Dec 29, 2019 17:12:01 GMT
Very odd low-budget meta-horror from 1987, about the shooting of a film in a school where there had been a massacre some years ago. A young George Clooney is one of the first victims of a killer re-enacting his original slaughter on the film crew. Could well have been an influence on Scream, and Scream 3 in particular borrows aspects from this. Interesting, but also a bit silly, though it is partially played for laughs. Liam Neeson is the Air Marshall on a flight where terrorists seek to frame him for the atrocity they're attempting to carry out. Ludicrous plot, really very silly indeed, but it's better than a number of more well-known stupid airplane films like Airforce One, Die Hard 2, or even the majestic Passenger 57. Does a reasonable job of racheting up the suspense, even if you're constantly urging Liam to sit down and ignore the frigging messages he keeps responding to in stupid fashion.
|
|
|
Post by oh oooh on Dec 30, 2019 2:04:10 GMT
So I watched this: which really forced home the idea that the man himself is a complete fucking idiot, as I mentioned elsewhere. I mean, utterly incapable of saying anything remotely interesting or intelligent. A kind of caricature of a brainless 'rock star', dribbling knowwhatImean after every other sentence, sadly enabled by massive crowds of adoring fans, unquestioning journos and a devoted Ma. His brother Paul was featured. I met him about 20 years ago in a Manchester nightclub, we talked for quite a while and I bought him a vodka and orange. Intellectually I'd place him on a scale somewhere between his two more famous brothers - i.e. an IQ a little higher than a goat's. and as if by contrast, just a couple of hours later: which was rivetting! an excellent doc full of exactly the sorts of things you'd want to see as a Lennon fan - and then some.
|
|
loveless
god
Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
Posts: 2,799
|
Post by loveless on Dec 30, 2019 4:02:06 GMT
I enjoyed the Lennon doc.
The footage of Claudio had been a point of reference for many a Beatles fan forever, and seeing it all fleshed out a bit more was...well, a think piece, I guess.
Voorman, White, Keltner, Harrison, Hopkins, "all of them" ("the brown sauce mafia"?) in casual action was absolutely something to see.
|
|
|
Post by oh oooh on Dec 30, 2019 8:30:17 GMT
I'd seen bits of Claudio before, but didn't know he'd been invited inside (for tea and toast, by the look of it!). It's a cliche to say it, but it wouldn't happen today...
I was struck by Lennon's sheer force of personality. It's hard to put a finger on what it was, but I'm fairly sure it's not just because you're thinking 'that's John Lennon the Beatle!'. He's an engaging type, charismatic and likeable, and although there were quite a few moments where he's just peddling some silly hippy idea, more often you're thinking 'yes, that's it!'.
I liked Voorman a lot. I mean, I liked them all, but there's a bit more of him.
|
|