Films

Thelma and Louise is sexist.

Saw The Shape of Water. Basically the Fishman is held prisoner by an FBI guy that wants to fight him and the protagonist (one of the cleaners) rescues him cos she wants to fuck him. So we discover a new species and those are our options, fight him or fuck him

Haven't been to the cinema in ages. I don't feel that I'm missing much.

Currently watching Jaws: The Revenge on ITV4. Possibly the best Jaws sequel. Nice visual look, characters with real depth, good music and a charming 80s feel. I'm probably the only one that actually likes it.

I imagine so!

Recently saw "Accident Man"

Best film I've seen since "Cockneys Vs Zombies"

Ratatouille and Paddington 2. The former is a Pixar classic that avoids all the pop culture crap that clutters up some of the other animated movies, whilst Paddington 2 somehow improves on the very good original, not least due to a fun role for that most Marmite of actors, Hugh Grant.

Saw I, Tonya, great film: Dramatic, funny, emotional, brilliantly acted and very sweary. Jesus, she got knocked around pretty much constantly, although I don't know how much of the film to believe

Monsieur Hire.

A 1989 French psychological thriller about a lonely misanthropic middle-aged man who is heavily suspected of the murder of a young woman in his local area by both the police and all of his fellow neighbours. While all this is going on, Hire likes to spy on another young lady called Alice every night from his living room window who lives in the apartment directly across from him. The catch here being that Alice is actually the girlfriend of the murderer that the police are looking for. Hire actually knows that Alice's boyfriend is the real murderer, but won't go to the police with this information because he doesn't want to hurt or endanger Alice in any way because he's just so in love with her, despite the fact that he doesn't actually know her. Alice eventually notices Hire spying on her, and is initially repulsed by this. But soon she actually confronts him and the two begin to develop a bond together of sorts.      

A fairly compelling, stylish and atmospheric film with some really great acting and a rather memorable soundtrack. Michel Blanc in particular does an excellent job at portraying the tortured, reclusive hermit. I would easily recommend it to anyone here.

Ready PlayerOne: It's a nice feel-good movie aimed at teens, traditional questing narrative and tons of intertextual references, very postmodern aesthetics. Quite a few peripheral characters that seemed unnecessary. Enjoyed it overall but it's just above average for me.

I don't think I am giving anything away when I say that the moral of 'spend more time in the real world' was somewhat ironic after the visual bombardment of CGI and nostaglia.

Had thought about seeing the new Pacific Rim film but it's not directed by Del Toro and sequel rarely better the original. Looks like different characters as well. Think I will miss that.

Death on the Nile. Hercule Poirot is holidaying in Egypt when he gets drawn into the murder of a young heiress who seems to have almost as much in the way of enemies as she does in money. Peter Ustinov leads a fantastic cast (David Niven, Angela Lansbury, Lois Chiles, Mia Farrow, Olivia Hussey, Jack Warden, Bette Davis, George Kennedy) in this enjoyable and classy late 70s adaptation of the Agatha Christie whodunnit. Very entertaining old school fun.

I watched 'A Boy and his Dog' (1975), it was quite a good film done badly. Very nihilist, existentialist dystopia.

Also, 'Get Out' which reminded me greatly of The Stepford Wives, quite a different horror film that relies on more than jump scares or blood and gore. Although, the ending is a bit of a massacre

Have you raided my old film collection Ian?

lol Trust me, I've gone seriously retro the last few years.

Death Note, it's a Manga adaptation by Netflix. A guy has a book that controls a demon, all he has to do is put the name and way he wants that person to die and the named person dies.

It was OK. Nice idea and there are a few twists to keep things interesting. Still felt distinctly average though.

Oh, and I saw Annihilation, the SF film from Netflix, and that was brilliant! The first hour was a bit slow but once they get into the shimmer everything goes crazy and psychedelic. It felt properly alien. Absolutely loved the last 20 mins or so. That was fucked up!

The Children's Hour (1961). Two schoolteachers (played by Shirley Maclaine and Audrey Hepburn) have their lives turned upside-down when the school's problem child spreads gossip. Quite melodramatic but there's witty support from James Garner, some excellent direction and the twist in the tale is shocking for its time, and extremely haunting.

A Quiet Place. A family struggles to survive in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by monsters attracted by sound. Emily Blunt stars in this watchable enough but rather overhyped modern horror that has some tense moments but isn't, in all honesty, anything particularly amazing.

Went to the cinema today to see Avengers: Infinity War. I was in two minds whether to, as I'm not exactly the biggest fan of the MCU, but I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, even with the butt-numbing running time. It helps that there was plenty of Robert Downey Jnr and the Guardians characters (the latter more than I expected, actually), as they're by far the best characters/actors in the franchise. I'm not going to call it cinema's finest hour but it was the best of the Avengers films so far and one of the better entries in the MCU, and that's coming from a cynic like me.

I watched American Psycho again, amazing film. One of the few Blu-rays with some decent extras.

iank wrote:Went to the cinema today to see Avengers: Infinity War. I was in two minds whether to, as I'm not exactly the biggest fan of the MCU, but I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, even with the butt-numbing running time. It helps that there was plenty of Robert Downey Jnr and the Guardians characters (the latter more than I expected, actually), as they're by far the best characters/actors in the franchise. I'm not going to call it cinema's finest hour but it was the best of the Avengers films so far and one of the better entries in the MCU, and that's coming from a cynic like me.

I saw Avengers last night and agree. The usual Marvel quips and cgi got a bit tiresome after a while but I have to give them credit for putting so many characters together and still telling a coherent story and it was nice to see them deliver a villain with personality. The ending was 10/10 and I actively look forward to part 2 next year.

The NeverEnding Story III

A fairly enjoyable time waster but will not grip viewers of the first film because of how childish and illogical it is. Still, the visuals are pretty, the soundtrack is cool and a young Jack Black does a great job as the villain.

iank wrote:Went to the cinema today to see Avengers: Infinity War. I was in two minds whether to, as I'm not exactly the biggest fan of the MCU, but I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, even with the butt-numbing running time.

I actually thought the movie went by at a quicker pace than expected...mind you, I had read all the spoilers before going in

I must admit, I found it went much quicker for me than the just 90 minute A Quiet Place, which I found thoroughly overrated and rather dull.

Apocalypse Now, forgot what a brutal film that was