THE FILM THREAD

[addyell]

Mar 28, 2024 21:15:52 GMT Russ Greaves said:

Just watched the documentary 20 Days In Mariupol. I can’t recommend you do the same as it’s the most harrowing thing I’ve ever seen. It’s incredibly powerful.

Wow. What an incredibly tough watch.

[malotru]

American Fiction

I went into this quite blind but had heard good things and it was Oscar nominated and it was it was on Prime.
Part satire about white American liberals falling over themselves to read and praise literature by black writers about black culture etc, part snapshot of a difficult period of the author’s life with his mother getting ill and other family problems.

Highly recommended and Jeffrey Wright is brilliant in the main role as the writer. Very funny in parts too.

7.5 / 10

Also saw City of God in the Arts Cinema at Easter for the first time in about 8 years. As absolutely brilliant as I remembered it to be and even better on a big screen.
9/10

[abbeycambridge]

“Wish” landed on Disney Plus the other day.

Cute little film with an adorable little goat sidekick and a cute little star.

A bit slow to start with but I really got into it after a while.

[Andrewlang]

I enjoyed it, but it was a bit messy. I wasn't sure who I was supposed to be rooting for either, Magnifico was initially well intentioned and benevolent, if a little vague with it, until Ashas entitlement triggered his ptsd.

All quite annoying if I thought about it too much. Fortunately there was a funny goat, a cute little star and some half decent songs to distract me.

Andrew

[Denton]

Monkey Man - 7/10

John Wick in India but with an actual coherent story. Very good film, action is top class and it's visually very pleasing. Dev Patel is his usual brilliant self & he also directed it, some debut that.

Godzilla vs Kong 2: Electric Boogaloo - 5/10

It's watchable enough if you turn your brain off, I have no idea how the series went from the 2014 Godzilla to this but here we are. The Human element is completely pointless and most of the story is rubbish but if you've watched the others you'll probably enjoy this.

God I hope there isn't any more of these

[Mark Peters’ Bonce of Power]

Civil War -8/10

Had been looking forward to this and whilst it wasn’t the film I was expecting/hoping to see, it was all the better for it. Based on the trailers, I was hoping for two hours of Nick Offerman having the time of his life portraying an absolute despot of a leader, interspersed with lots of great action and explosions, but it’s far smarter than that.

The film follows the journey of a group of journalists travelling from New York to DC, documenting the fall of The USA as it happens. It’s brilliantly paced and uses the action sequences sparingly but effectively, always leaving you anticipating the next escalation. It’s also very nuanced and deliberately lacking in context, you get no real clue as to how the war started or why, offering only the slightest hints as to which side are the ‘good guys’ throughout and as per the nature of war even they are absolutely ruthless.

Only downsides were some clunky dialogue and Jessie swears too much and very unconvincingly.

[Denton]

Apr 10, 2024 10:16:23 GMT Mark Peters’ Bonce of Power said:

Civil War -8/10

Had been looking forward to this and whilst it wasn’t the film I was expecting/hoping to see, it was all the better for it. Based on the trailers, I was hoping for two hours of Nick Offerman having the time of his life portraying an absolute despot of a leader, interspersed with lots of great action and explosions, but it’s far smarter than that.

The film follows the journey of a group of journalists travelling from New York to DC, documenting the fall of The USA as it happens. It’s brilliantly paced and uses the action sequences sparingly but effectively, always leaving you anticipating the next escalation. It’s also very nuanced and deliberately lacking in context, you get no real clue as to how the war started or why, offering only the slightest hints as to which side are the ‘good guys’ throughout and as per the nature of war even they are absolutely ruthless.

Only downsides were some clunky dialogue and Jessie swears too much and very unconvincingly.

I was on the fence with this one but your post persuaded me to pop in after work. 8/10 is bang on, despite reading your post I somehow missed the part about the actual story. So I was very confused how they'd tell a story of that scope in 1hr 47, it felt much longer than that and the pacing superb.

I'd love to see a spin off film or two from other perspectives as it's a great setting. A few series of the build up to the war, where we get to watch Nick Offerman as a manic dictator would be superb. Budget Pedro Pascal is great in it and suspect he may now start getting the roles Pascal turns down.

Not sure about your showing but the Light in Cambridge is all IMAX, usually these films are just a director living their dream of shooting in IMAX and it feels a waste of time and money. The sound editing was incredible in IMAX, every single gun shot or helicopter blade could be felt and proper immersed you in the manic world

[Denton]

Back to Black 6.5/10

It's a decent enough watch without fully exploring the depths of addiction & the struggles Amy Winehouse had. I saw a few people angry at the ending but they've completely misunderstood that one, it's nowhere near as controversial as people would have you believe

I'll probably forget i've ever seen this film in a few years time but the girl playing Amy Winehouse does a cracking job, a very good singer

[Mark Peters’ Bonce of Power]

Apr 11, 2024 18:51:18 GMT Denton said:

Apr 10, 2024 10:16:23 GMT Mark Peters’ Bonce of Power said:

Civil War -8/10

Had been looking forward to this and whilst it wasn’t the film I was expecting/hoping to see, it was all the better for it. Based on the trailers, I was hoping for two hours of Nick Offerman having the time of his life portraying an absolute despot of a leader, interspersed with lots of great action and explosions, but it’s far smarter than that.

The film follows the journey of a group of journalists travelling from New York to DC, documenting the fall of The USA as it happens. It’s brilliantly paced and uses the action sequences sparingly but effectively, always leaving you anticipating the next escalation. It’s also very nuanced and deliberately lacking in context, you get no real clue as to how the war started or why, offering only the slightest hints as to which side are the ‘good guys’ throughout and as per the nature of war even they are absolutely ruthless.

Only downsides were some clunky dialogue and Jessie swears too much and very unconvincingly.

I was on the fence with this one but your post persuaded me to pop in after work. 8/10 is bang on, despite reading your post I somehow missed the part about the actual story. So I was very confused how they'd tell a story of that scope in 1hr 47, it felt much longer than that and the pacing superb.

I'd love to see a spin off film or two from other perspectives as it's a great setting. A few series of the build up to the war, where we get to watch Nick Offerman as a manic dictator would be superb. Budget Pedro Pascal is great in it and suspect he may now start getting the roles Pascal turns down.

Not sure about your showing but the Light in Cambridge is all IMAX, usually these films are just a director living their dream of shooting in IMAX and it feels a waste of time and money. The sound editing was incredible in IMAX, every single gun shot or helicopter blade could be felt and proper immersed you in the manic world

Yeah it’s definitely open ended enough to spawn spinoffs set before or after, a ‘how it started’ prequel would be especially interesting.


I saw it on IMAX too and whilst I often swerve IMAX for similar reasons, this absolutely justified the medium.

[Andrewlang]

Ghostbusters then. Christ. Was the first film even that good? I mean, I loved it as a kid but it hasn't held up as well as other films of that era like Jones or Future.

Really disappointed. Fell asleep at one point. Acaster was an odd cast if you're not going to make him funny.

Oddly cast film in general actually I thought.

Andrew

[malotru]

All Of Us Strangers 8/10

Saw this on Disney+ last night and so glad I watched it.
2 actors at the top of their game right now (Andrew Scott and Paul Mescall) in a romantic drama with a fantasy tinge to it.
Fantastic acting, great 80’s soundtrack and a great ending that you’ll be thinking about for a while. It stopped me from thinking Pish will roll over on Tuesday.

Some other films I’ve seen recently.

Drive. 7.5/10 . Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. Awesome soundtrack. Very violent. Excellent film.

Sea of Love 7/10. Eighties Pacino at the start of his crazy OTT “whoowah” acting roles. Fun is he shagging the killer he is supposedly hunting? mystery thrillers. Pacino is great.
Working through old Pacino films, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Panic in Needle park next.

The Running Man 4/10. Lower tier Arnie. Not even funny 1 liners after a kill. Apparently a remake in the works.

Aftersun. 7/10. Paul Mescal again. Woman remembers a holiday she took with her dad when she was 13. Not a lot happens really but Mescal and the young girl are great and the ending is heartbreaking. Another good soundtrack and Under Pressure is now forever linked with the end of this film for me.

Interstellar 9.5/10. Saw it on IMAX at the Light Cinema.
My favourite Nolan film and so, so good on a massive loud setting. I even like the bookshelf bit. Epic score. Probably in my top 10 favourite films.

Not a film but Ripley on Netflix is brilliant.

[Andrewlang]

Not a remake of the running man as such, but a proper adaption of the book instead (which the Arnie version is nothing like...though I do love the film)

It'll be directed by Edgar Wright so one to watch out for I reckon.

Andrew

[Denton]

Challengers - 6.5/10

I've seen a trailer for this film, every week for about 18 months and it's always gripped me. So I had some high hopes here, underwhelming is my opinion. The trailer gives you a version of the film that is completely different from the end product

The characters are all unlikeable, there's only 3 actual named characters throughout the film and not a single one of them is likeable or understandable. The pacing is a bit off, time jumps all over the shop and it gets to a point where they kind of stop trying and it gets a bit convoluted. Also about 10 minutes too long

Acting is good from the main trio though, they did well to make their characters unlikeable. Story is a bit unique so that's a plus point but I had much higher hopes for this film

[kentishu]

Challengers is a simply dreadful film, no chemistry at all between the leading actors, none of them have any discernible personality, and you just end up thinking why should I care? The frequent changes in time seems like a desperate attempt to make the film more interesting, and the music is monotonous techno blare. The only acting achievement was reducing Josh O'Connor, who normally has bags of charisma, down to a boring dullard like the other two. His attempts at a cheeky grin, often for no obvious reason, come across like a cry for help.

I have no idea how anyone can like it, but seems like plenty do.

Kentish

[Denton]

The Fall Guy - 8/10

Gosling doesn't make bad films, Blunt rarely makes bad films. So not a big shock that this is a really good film, solid plot, good twists, well written, enjoyable. Pokes fun at itself throughout the film, will probably be the underrated film of the year that just goes under the radar