What was the last movie you saw?

[REBerg]

Cargo
The film that answers the oft-asked question: How is the zombie apocalypse going in Australia?
If AMC is contemplating another spin-off (The Walking Dead: Outback?), this movie would work as an engaging single-character standalone episode. It follows the struggle of a father (Martin Freeman) to save his infant daughter.
In true TWD tradition, the surviving humans pose a greater threat than the zombies.

 

[Overread]

Fantastic Mr Fox
Yes way behind on the times but I finally got around to seeing the stopmotion film they did - great work! The detail on the faces and models is great and the style is quirky and well presented. It's interesting to see it done with a slight American twist to it as it was US produced; however it still retains a lot of its original British styles to it.
It did amuse me how in the scene where Mr Fox is giving everyone jobs and instilling them with hope, and giving them their Latin names, that he leaves out the added character of the opossum in giving him a Latin name. Saying something along the lines of they probably didn't have them back in the Roman days. I felt it was a neat nod to the fact that he was an added, not original, not even right continent character.

 

[AlexH]

This may be the farthest away from Christmas I've watched a Christmas film. I subscribe to a DVD rental postage service and don't usually check what's coming.

Krampus (2015) Not the best horror-comedy, but I mostly enjoyed it.

Alita: Battle Angel (2019) Pretty good, with some good fight scenes. I hope there's a sequel.

I Kill Giants (2017) Disappointing, and it wasn't always obvious what was going on.

Marvellous (2014) A fun, uplifting film based on the life of Neil Baldwin, who was told he had learning difficulties, but believed everyone had difficulties and just got on with his life, befriending many famous people on his way. I'm surprised it took me so long to watch this, considering Neil was Stoke City's kitman and I'm a Stoke City fan (I remember him being mentioned when I was in my teens, and Lou Macari actually called Neil his best ever signing). I saw it at a fund-raising evening for Lou Macari's charity, so got to meet Lou too.

Pépé le Moko (1937) I didn't fall for Pépé le Moko so maybe didn't care so much if he got caught or not. Still a good film.

Split (2016) The horror bits seemed OTT even after the buildup, but I enjoyed the film and must now watch Unbreakable and Glass...

Ran (1985) It started well and looked nice, but I became bored quite soon, which wasn't great considering the film is nearly 3 hours long.

Upgrade (2018) A good and recent sci-fi with a similar premise to a Ted Chiang short story.

 

[Parson]

Tin Star (Season 1) I watched 7 of 10 episodes of this and just had to quit.
Problem #1: The main character, though well acted, was not someone I could root for.
Problem #2: Many of the episodes started with an violent scene and then 90% of the rest of the episode was a flashback to how this situation arose, and usually a bit afterward the violent scene so that you'd understand that there was something going on almost completely different than what you thought you understood.
Problem #3: As the episodes went on the main thread was revealed but a lot of the plot lines to reveal the main thread were not given any context in the story. It seemed a little like trying to understand an apple tree by picking random apples.
Problem #4: The main character becomes increasingly asocial and unhinged. And as he becomes these things he becomes more effective in solving the problem, but diverges farther and farther from what is legal and moral.
Problem #5: As the episodes progress it seems as though instead of acting in a consistent fashion the antagonists (and there are two sets of them) and their actions become more and more unlikely and eventually absurd.

Pluses?
#1 Magnificent Canadian scenery.
#2 A nuanced view of First Nations relationship with government.
#3 Much of the acting was first rate. --- Far better than the story they were given.

 

[Toby Frost]

The Shape of Water (2017)

This was an odd one. I’m a fan of del Toro’s work, but I thought this was one of his weaker outings, especially for his more “serious” films - although it's still pretty good. The whimsy doesn’t fit that well with the occasional moments of horror, and the tone seemed to vary a lot. I found myself wondering how this government facility had such poor security, which is generally a bad sign re the suspension of disbelief.

The acting is good, especially from Sally Hawkins, although I kept thinking that on no account should Paddington Bear ever watch this film.

Whilst it looked superb, the creature felt rather underdeveloped, especially in terms of the romance. At points he seems simply bestial, and there wasn’t the sense of a strong communication being developed between him and the heroine (I was surprised towards the end to realise that he only seemed to know a couple of words of sign language, as I assumed they’d been having conversations in the lab). In terms of Fish People Romance, I think it wasn’t as good as Hellboy 2, which I found rather charming. That said, The Shape of Water is a decent film and looks excellent, and I’d give it 7/10. It’s an attractive film if, ironically, not a Deep One.

Incidentally, it reminded me of a good novel called Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban, in which two lonely people find romance while rescuing a turtle from an aquarium (but not with the turtle). I gather there’s an obscure British film of the novel.

 

[Randy M.]

The Professionals (1966) Dir. Robert Brooks; starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan, Claudia Cardinale, Jack Palance, Ralph Belamy

A cast of Hollywood royalty. This one may have sparked early interest in the group of stars in an adventure movie: Marvin’s next movie (according to IMDB) was The Dirty Dozen and that certainly cemented the interest.

Anyway, wealthy Bellamy’s wife has been kidnapped by Jack Palance, a Mexican revolutionary, and a ransom of $100K demanded. Instead, Bellamy hires Marvin and Lancaster and crew, who once rode with Palance and his revolutionaries, to bring her home. And that’s the clothes hanger plot over which a fabric of adventure sequences – chases, showdowns, gun fights, dynamite explosions and hand-to-hand combat – and some philosphizin’ ‘bout love and honor and money. There’s a twist toward the end any veteran Western watcher would probably guess in the first fifteen minutes. Even so, good fun if you enjoy adventure Westerns acted at about the highest level Hollywood at the time was capable of.



Spotlight (2015) Dir. Tom McCarthy; starring Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, and a platoon of veteran character actors

Since All the President’s Men if not before (like, say, Call Northside 777?), any movie dealing with journalists tracing a story have had a semi-documentary feel to it. This one, too. And it fits, and it accentuates the effects of the investigation on the emotional and mental health of the investigators.

Spotlight is an investigative division of the Boston Globe that will take as much time as needed to thoroughly research and investigate a story before publishing. In the movie, three reporters and their editor are drawn by the request of a new managing editor into investigating reports of sex abuse in the Catholic Church; they find evidence of it, that it’s wide-spread and that there is a systemic cover up involving not just church administration but some of the most responsible, powerful people in the city.

Like any movie of this sort it crams a lot of what happened over more than a year into a little over 2 hours, so I imagine some things of interest were cut. Still, it’s well directed, extremely well-acted, and deeply affecting. I can’t recommend it highly enough, but it’s not for anyone desiring a light, frothy romp.


Randy M.

 

[Jeffbert]

This may be the farthest away from Christmas I've watched a Christmas film. I subscribe to a DVD rental postage service and don't usually check what's coming.

Krampus (2015) Not the best horror-comedy, but I mostly enjoyed it.

Pépé le Moko (1937) I didn't fall for Pépé le Moko so maybe didn't care so much if he got caught or not. Still a good film.

Krampus was a bit extreme, but fun.

Pépé le Moko Not the one with the famous line, but Gabin is said to be the French Bogart. That line was cut from Algiers (1938), & was all but forgotten, but by the cartoons of the time. I recall Buzz Buzzard saying it, but could not find any such utterance after watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons. Anyway, I would not mind seeing Pépé le Moko again. Jean Gabin is intense, and I do enjoy foreign films.



Pygmalion (1938 film) I actually enjoyed this, though I was not much interested in the plot, except that Family Guy parodied it.

My Fair Lady (1964) apparently took word for word or verbatim Pygmalion or, perhaps the stage version upon which it was based, and added about an hour of singing & music. Have not finished watching it, but got about half-an-hour past the intermission. I actually enjoy this! I thought I loathed musicals.

 

[svalbard]

Mary Queen of Scots

The costumes looked good.

 

[Parson]

Mary Queen of Scots

The costumes looked good.

We've a new contender for the most faint praise.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Blood for Dracula AKA Andy's Warhol's Dracula (1974)

Companion film to the infamous Flesh for Frankenstein AKA Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (1973). Somehow I managed to see that one in a theater, in 3-D no less, and am only now getting around to the other one.

We begin with a rather effective scene of Udo Kier, starring as the world's weakest, palest, thinnest, and most ineffectual Dracula, putting makeup on his eyebrows and lips, and black dye on his hair, in order to look at least semi-human. It seems that hard times have fallen on Dracula and his equally vampiric sister. They need to feed on the blood of virgins (or, given Kier's thick accent, "wergens.") This is in short supply in Romania in what seems to be the 1920's or 1930's, primarily due to the fact that the Dracula family has a bad reputation in the area, but also because of the loosening of sexual morality. Dracula's fanatically loyal servant, far more energetic than his master, has a plan. He'll take Dracula to Italy in a motorcar and search for a virgin in that Catholic nation. The pair wind up involved with an aristocratic but poor family with four daughters in need of marriage. Too bad that two of the sisters are about as un-virgin as it's possible to be. One of the sisters is only fourteen, and a true innocent. The oldest sister -- well, let's just say that she has an important role to play near the end of the film. Our nominal hero is played by Joe Dallesandro, with no attempt to disguise his thick New York accent. He's the family's only servant, and he's the primary reason the two sisters aren't virgins. He's also a revolutionist and a lout who beats up the sisters now and then.

Although there's plenty of sex, nudity, and blood, it's not anywhere near as extreme as Flesh for Frankenstein. The only really violent scene comes at the very end. As a whole, it's a beautifully filmed, very sick joke, made campy by a lot of wild overacting and the remarkable variety of mismatched accents. At times, it's not far from being a decent vampire movie on its own. The music is really lovely, and the sets and costumes are quite nice.

 

[J-WO]

Watched Apocalypse Now for the nth time and I only just realised something: Colonel Kurtz (Brando) is reading verses of TS Eliot's poem The Hollow Men aloud. There's a quote from Heart Of Darkness (the 19th century novel Apocalypse is based on) at the start of Eliot's poem: "Mr Kurtz... he dead". So... wtf?!?! Does Brando's character realise he's a fictional character? Or what? It's quite freaked me out...

 

[Vince W]

Christopher Robin. A tear-jerking film about a grown-up Christopher Robin that has forgotten about his friends at 100-acre wood. Clearly, they made this with the express intent of turning grown-men into teary-eyed children.

 

[Jeffbert]

The Easiest Way (1931) Clark Gable as a truck driver who marries one of a certain family's daughters. Papa's back had given out, so he is no longer working. As the head of the family, he is rather demanding of the others. The other daughter, Peg (Anita Page) becomes a fashion model, working for William Brockton (Adolphe Menjou), who really wants her as his lover. Jack Madison (Robert Montgomery), also loves Peg, and in the absence of money from WB (20 years her senior), she becomes involved with him. But he is a reporter, hoping to make it big, by covering just the right event, and has been out of touch for too long.

Some of my favorite B&W actors, fairly good story.

Rabid (1977) Rose is seriously injured when the motorcycle she was riding with her boyfriend, crashes. She is comatose for about a month, then reviving, unknown to the nurses, goes out and sucks blood from people. Anyone who survives her thirst, becomes rabid, foams at the mouth, and attacks others. Similar to zombie films, with its crazed rabid people attacking anyone within reach.

Flight Commander AKA Dawn Patrol (1930) is about the poor CO, whose duty it is to send young men out to meet enemy aviators in dogfights. The former title emphasizes my 1st sentence, which to me, is more accurate a title. Major Brand (Neil Hamilton better known as Commissioner Gordon) is the guy initially burdened with this task. His two best pilots are Dick Courtney (Richard Barthelmess) and Douglas Scott (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.), who defy his strict orders and attack the enemy base in a pre-dawn raid. Brand is furious, but receives transfer orders, and appoints Courtney as his replacement, laughing at the fact, that now he will be the one sending inexperienced young men out to die.

Frank McHugh as Flaherty, another pilot, and James Finlayson (better known as Laurel & Hardy's frequent antagonist) as their mechanic. This is the only place I have seen him, other than L&H films.

A very good war drama. I had no idea this was Dawn Patrol, until looking for names on Wikipedia. I have seen Dumb Patrol, a Bugs Bunny parody that deals with only a small fraction of this film.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Rabid (1977) Rose is seriously injured when the motorcycle she was riding with her boyfriend, crashes. She is comatose for about a month, then reviving, unknown to the nurses, goes out and sucks blood from people. Anyone who survives her thirst, becomes rabid, foams at the mouth, and attacks others. Similar to zombie films, with its crazed rabid people attacking anyone within reach.

This is one of David Cronenbrg's extraordinary "body horror" films that are so effective. The casting of adult film star Marilyn Chambers in the lead role may seem like something of a gimmick, but it actually adds a layer of meaning to the movie's weird sexual symbolism.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Dragstrip Riot (1958)

Our hero is a guy who got in trouble for beating somebody up when he was fourteen. Now he's a clean-cut racer who has promised his mother (Fay Wray!) not to get in any more fights. You can predict how that goes. Now only does he have a scheming rival for his girlfriend, a bunch of motorcycle hoods show up to cause trouble. Despite frequent interruptions for calypso and rock 'n' roll songs (some from a very young Connie Francis), hanging out at the beach, drinking cokes at the diner, and so forth, there's quite a bit of violence. There's a game of chicken on train tracks, a punch-throwing catfight between the Good Girl and the Bad Girl, a motorcyclist falling to his death off a cliff, and an attack by speargun.

 

[Rodders]

The recent remake of The Man From Uncle was just on the telly.

I thought it was pretty entertaining.

 

[Anthoney]

Captain Marvel. I think they mixed up Captain Marvel and Binary. It was a decent movie with some great parts.

 

[Al Jackson]

So I watched Mary Queen of Scots (2018) last night, good film, tho not a great film.
It seemed sort flat , not that the performances were bad, just did not have any 'zing' to it....
Seems the Tutors have been done to death. Tho I did like the 1998 Elizabeth, the sequel Elizabeth The Golden Age was so heavily fictionalized it detracted from the story. (They were a bit loose in the 1998 film but not as bad.)
I don't think any beats the Glenda Jackson BBC Elizabeth R 1971 .... tho another British version was done with Hellen Mirren, 2005,which was also very good, but Elizbeth 1 was not an improvement over the Jackson version.

It is passing strange that Tilda Swinton who is a close ringer for Elizabeth 1 has never played her.
Also it is noticeable that Saoirse Ronan is also a near ringer for Elizabeth 1 , could have swapped roles with Margo Robbie!

 

[BAYLOR]

So I watched Mary Queen of Scots (2018) last night, good film, tho not a great film.
It seemed sort flat , not that the performances were bad, just did not have any 'zing' to it....
Seems the Tutors have been done to death. Tho I did like the 1998 Elizabeth, the sequel Elizabeth The Golden Age was so heavily fictionalized it detracted from the story. (They were a bit loose in the 1998 film but not as bad.)
I don't think any beats the Glenda Jackson BBC Elizabeth R 1971 .... tho another British version was done with Hellen Mirren, 2005,which was also very good, but Elizbeth 1 was not an improvement over the Jackson version.

It is passing strange that Tilda Swinton who is a close ringer for Elizabeth 1 has never played her.
Also it is noticeable that Saoirse Ronan is also a near ringer for Elizabeth 1 , could have swapped roles with Margo Robbie!



View attachment 50648View attachment 50649

She looks stunning.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Legend of the Werewolf (1975)

Pseudo-Hammer horror film. (It was actually made by the short-lived Tyburn studio.) We open with narration from Peter Cushing, explaining that a woman died in childbirth, the father was killed by wolves, and the baby boy raised by them. As a feral child, he winds up with a pathetic little traveling circus as their main attraction, the Wolf Boy. He grows up to be a handsome young man and wanders to Paris. (This seems to be the 19th century, maybe La Belle Époque, although references to daguerreotypes would make it somewhat earlier.) He gets employed at a zoo because of his skill with (you guessed it) the wolves. He romances one of the young women who eat lunch every day at the zoo. When he finds out that she works at a brothel, he goes into werewolf mode and kills her clients. Peter Cushing shows up a a police surgeon investigating the murders. The film would have seen very old-fashioned in 1975, with its bipedal wolfman. (He can even speak when in werewolf form!) The werewolf is the blandest character in a movie full of fine British character actors playing over-the-top eccentrics. The shots of the werewolf are minimal, with a lot of scenes from his point of view. (That just means tinting the film red.)