Movie What's the last movie you saw? (7)

[Norwegian Blue]

Mrs NB was away for the weekend so I caught up a few movies that I knew she wouldn't think much of.

Smile - a couple of people mentioned it up-thread, which reminded me that I meant to see it when it was released but never got around to it. Not a bad horror flick: original but way too reliant on jump scares. 6/10

The Guns of Navarone - somehow I'd never seen this classic war movie, although I had read the book decades ago but forgot all but the general plot. Almost perfect, except the main cast were all way too old to play commandos infiltrating behind enemy lines - David Niven was in his 50s! Richard Harris' Australian accent was hilarious. 9/10

So Fine - an alleged comedy recommended to me by an alleged friend. I'd forgotten how bad some of those 1980s **** and bum movies could be. The plot involves a guy who invents a fashion item that women worldwide go wild over - jeans with the arse cheeks removed and clear plastic put there instead. About the only redeeming feature was Richard Kiel almost reprising his role as Jaws from the James Bond films. What's amazing is that the guy wrote it co-wrote Blazing Saddles, one of the funniest movies ever. Then again he also directed this and wrote/directed Striptease, so I'd say he was a far better writer than director. 2/10

 

[Beerfish]

Triangle of Sadness. Weird af. Didn't hate it but can't really say i liked it either. The food poisoning scenes would make Mr Creosote proud.. fmd that was gross.

 

[JackOutback]

Longlegs… don’t get the Silence of the Lambs comparisons other than a female FBI agent and a serial killer. This is a straight up horror flick. There’s certainly a creepy vibe, some 1970s horror flourishes, an off-the-wall performance from Nic Cage. But it sometimes confuses simply being odd with being interesting. And the actual plot is a bit nonsensical. 6.5/10

 

[kickazz]

Conclave (2024)

I'm a fan of Robert Harris' novels and Conclave is one of my favourite. So was excited to see the film adaptation, if a little trepidatious as one is when seeing a book on the screen.


I think the story is really good here, but having read it before cannot really critique it properly. Suffice to say there is enough drama and intrigue to keep you guessing, as it slowly but surely builds pace. In short: the Pope dies, and Dean of Cardinals (Ralph Fiennes) is charged with organising The Conclave - who will eventually score a two thirds majority that sees the white smoke emitted? He takes this job very seriously, and whilst having his own political leanings, above all want the right choice to be made for the church.

The acting was really good, but why they "Aglified" a couple of main characters confuses me, given they were happy to have plenty of non english dialogue. Known actors on the bill I suppose.

Cinematography was great, it is dark and gloomy, but they didn't capture the grandness of the Sistine Chapel that well imo, whilst making other buildings look too fancy compared to what they are. Score is very tense.

Themes in this movie are interesting, with doubt being central. Indeed, an early sermon by the protagonist says there cannot be faith without doubt. The age old battle between conservatism and progress gets a good airing too.

I think this movie would be appealing to Catholics and non Catholics alike. Some Catholics online have complained about this film, to them I would say: it's not a documentary. (Though there are some interesting insights into procedures)

Spoiler: Spoily

The ending fits the themes of the movie well, but some of the clues were not as clear as maybe they were in the book. (I picked it when reading). Though having read the book, when I first saw the new Cardinal I immediately noticed his physical appearance. I wonder if those going in fresh would notice it at all. As with the book, I did find his sudden escalation from unknown to pope a little bit of a stretch.

The book makes a bigger deal of women's 'lower' place within the church, so the ending plays back to that as well. Book was written in 2016, I guess it's somewhat appropriate the movie is out now given topics of gender are so forefront in public discourse.

Good entertainment. 4 stars.

 

[Kirby]

The Devil All of the Time - 2020 - Netflix

This is a bit of a hidden treasure. A slow burn thriller set in rural USA between WW2 and the Vietnam war. Interwoven story of bad things done by mostly religious sickos.

Tom Holland shows some real acting chops and there’s also an outstanding performance from Robert Pattison. The acting is great all round in fact.

8/10

 

[bok_party]

Conclave (2024)

I'm a fan of Robert Harris' novels and Conclave is one of my favourite. So was excited to see the film adaptation, if a little trepidatious as one is when seeing a book on the screen.


I think the story is really good here, but having read it before cannot really critique it properly. Suffice to say there is enough drama and intrigue to keep you guessing, as it slowly but surely builds pace. In short: the Pope dies, and Dean of Cardinals (Ralph Fiennes) is charged with organising The Conclave - who will eventually score a two thirds majority that sees the white smoke emitted? He takes this job very seriously, and whilst having his own political leanings, above all want the right choice to be made for the church.

The acting was really good, but why they "Aglified" a couple of main characters confuses me, given they were happy to have plenty of non english dialogue. Known actors on the bill I suppose.

Cinematography was great, it is dark and gloomy, but they didn't capture the grandness of the Sistine Chapel that well imo, whilst making other buildings look too fancy compared to what they are. Score is very tense.

Themes in this movie are interesting, with doubt being central. Indeed, an early sermon by the protagonist says there cannot be faith without doubt. The age old battle between conservatism and progress gets a good airing too.

I think this movie would be appealing to Catholics and non Catholics alike. Some Catholics online have complained about this film, to them I would say: it's not a documentary. (Though there are some interesting insights into procedures)

Spoiler: Spoily

The ending fits the themes of the movie well, but some of the clues were not as clear as maybe they were in the book. (I picked it when reading). Though having read the book, when I first saw the new Cardinal I immediately noticed his physical appearance. I wonder if those going in fresh would notice it at all. As with the book, I did find his sudden escalation from unknown to pope a little bit of a stretch.

The book makes a bigger deal of women's 'lower' place within the church, so the ending plays back to that as well. Book was written in 2016, I guess it's somewhat appropriate the movie is out now given topics of gender are so forefront in public discourse.

Good entertainment. 4 stars.

Absolutely loved this film. Wasn’t expecting it to be so riveting. Everything was top notch across the board 4/5

 

[kickazz]

Triangle of Sadness. Weird af. Didn't hate it but can't really say i liked it either. The food poisoning scenes would make Mr Creosote proud.. fmd that was gross.

Lol didn't know that was his name until I looked it up but knew exactly who you were talking about

 

[00Stinger]

Leave the world behind

Overall very disappointing, 2 hours of nothing and you wait to the end to se the twist. And guess what even more nothing

What was the point of the movie? what happened to every character?

4/10

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Fatal Attraction.

CRIPES.

 

[Kirby]

Fatal Attraction.

CRIPES.

Responsible for the saying “bunny boiler”.

I’m guessing a lot of people, particularly the youngsters, wouldn’t know where that saying comes from.

 

[joey_jo_jo]

I knew I wouldn't like brutalist but went and saw it anyway as was playing at my local cinema Sunday afternoon.
It looks and sounds amazing, and pearce/brody are good (although wouldn't say either are really knocking it out of park, largely due to some ott dialogue).
But it really doesn't have much to it plot wise, and some of the themes are pretty clichéd and obvious.
The director clearly wants to be seen as an auteur but you have to match the technical skills with good writing.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Responsible for the saying “bunny boiler”.

I’m guessing a lot of people, particularly the youngsters, wouldn’t know where that saying comes from.

I had heard the reference and knew it meant a chick who’d gone bananas, but hadn’t seen it in action before.

 

[Madas]

Tetris… surprisingly fun film about attempts to secure the licensing rights to Tetris from a crumbling Soviet Union. It’s obviously highly fictionalised but that allows them to play it almost as a spy thriller. There’s some info dumps but they cleverly use computer graphics to help tell the story and keep you engaged. It’s also an interesting look at the era. 7/10

Tetris was a very good movie
I’m a 7.5/10 on that one

 

[Warsaw]

The Brutalist - Saw this on Sunday and haven't stopped thinking about it since. Few films make me want to absorb every piece of commentary written or said about it (Tár probably the only other one this decade). Partly to relive the experience of watching it for the fist time, but also to find the allegories I've missed, seek out different interpretations. I'm enjoying the critiques of the film as much as the praise.

It's a film about the immigrant experience, the hope of the American Dream and the reality of what that actually means. Brady Corbet fascinates me; because on one hand he can comes across as the pretentious film snob that wants everyone to know he's created the "next great American masterpiece." It's another thing entirely to, possibly, maybe have actually succeeded?

Some mild structural thoughts about the film below. Gonna see this again, and let it stew for a while before I start writing pull quotes for a movie poster (or just give it a rating). But without a doubt, a tremendous achievement.

Even putting aside the intermission, it's so very distinctly a film of two halves. The first is a transportive affair, one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had in a theatre. The second half is a brutal deconstruction of it - intentionally so. It becomes more literal, and I'm still parsing over what the epilogue is trying to say (specifically in relation to the last line and Corbet's own reading of it). Because for better or worse, this film comes at a particularly prescient moment in time.

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

I had heard the reference and knew it meant a chick who’d gone bananas, but hadn’t seen it in action before.

Same here, I'd even seen Fatal Attraction a few times and never made the connection.

I always think of the UK hidden cam show Balls Of Steel where they had a segment called Bunny Boiler where a good looking girl would overtly hit on guys in public in front of their girlfriends.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Mission Impossible (the first one)

That was way better than I thought it was going to be. I do have some minor annoyances but I actually rather enjoyed it.

That’s like five Tom Cruise movies that I’ve liked in the last 12 months, I think I have to admit that he’s Pretty Pretty Good now.

 

[troybe]

Scream (2023) and Scream VI pretty dumb switch your brain off slasher flicks. Not scary or suspenseful at all, pretty convoluted that Ghostface always knows where everyone is

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Scream (2023) and Scream VI pretty dumb switch your brain off slasher flicks. Not scary or suspenseful at all, pretty convoluted that Ghostface always knows where everyone is

There are very few sequels to good horror movies that are worth watching.

 

[raskolnikov]

There are very few sequels to good horror movies that are worth watching.

A Nightmare on Elm St 3: Dream Warriors is my favourite horror sequel. I almost prefer it to the original.

"Welcome to prime time bitch!"

 

[Catfish Alley]

Mission Impossible (the first one)

That was way better than I thought it was going to be. I do have some minor annoyances but I actually rather enjoyed it.

That’s like five Tom Cruise movies that I’ve liked in the last 12 months, I think I have to admit that he’s Pretty Pretty Good now.

They get better. The ones released from around 2015 and on are really good. I'm looking forward to The Final Reckoning this year.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

They get better. The ones released from around 2015 and on are really good. I'm looking forward to The Final Reckoning this year.

Do you have to watch each one to understand the next? Cos I don't think I can watch another 7 of them or whatever but it might be something that my husband and I would actually agree to go to the movies together for.

 

[Catfish Alley]

Do you have to watch each one to understand the next? Cos I don't think I can watch another 7 of them or whatever but it might be something that my husband and I would actually agree to go to the movies together for.

Nah, not really. You might miss a few little things but they are kind of stand-alone films like Bond. Except the one this year. Final Reckoning is part 2. Maybe skip to Rogue Nation and then you only have 3 movies to catch up.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Nah, not really. You might miss a few little things but they are kind of stand-alone films like Bond. Except the one this year. Final Reckoning is part 2. Maybe skip to Rogue Nation and then you only have 3 movies to catch up.

thank you!

 

[Jatz]

Wicked

Well that was far better than I was expecting. Have always loved the stage show and when I heard they were doing a movie, I instantly thought 'they'll ruin this'. Boy was I wrong, that was absurdly good.

The other thing I thought was interesting was the first part being 2 hrs 40. Assumed this meant they'd stretched the story to it's absolute limits but again, I was absolutely wrong. At no point did it feel it was dragging unnecessarily.

Great first part and one I'm sure I'll watch countless times again.

9/10

 

[JackOutback]

Wicked Little Letters... based on the true story of a small English town post WWI that is scandalised when a series of obscene letters start being received by residents. Suspicion falls on the brash Irish immigrant single mother. It has all the elements of a quirky English comedy film, Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are good in the lead roles, but it never quite lives up to the wacky premise. It's never quite as funny as it wants to be, never quite as intriguing as a 'cosy crime' mystery. It has a charm but probably would have been better served as a BBC Sunday night drama. 6/10

Canary Black... followed that with a complete gear change. Kate Beckinsale, looking less and less like Kate Beckinsale each year, plays a super spy (you know, cause she wears punk wigs and quips while she kills) in this decidedly b-grade thriller. When her husband is kidnapped, she has to retrieve a file that is not all it seems. Despite objectively making traitorous decisions on the basis of 'trust me, I'll fix it somehow', we are meant to cheer for her and she beats up foreign baddies in order to discover the twist I guessed 10 minutes into the movie. It's entertaining in the way 80s Michael Dudikoff movies were entertaining. 4/10