Movie review thread...

jegga

Saw spotlight last night, some great performances there . Well worth seeing even if it is hard going.

barbarian

Been catching up on some of the Oscar movies in the last few weeks:
 
Spotlight - think this is the best of the lot. About journos investigating the Catholic Church in Boston. Good acting, tight script, doesn't overdo it. 9/10
 
Big Short - Great cast but it seemed a bit disjointed to me. Like they were trying to cram too much in the one movie. But it rolled along well and was an enjoyable watch. 7.5/10
 
Sicario - About the drug war in Mexico and the US attempts to police it. Really good film, but a bit dark and it loses it's way a bit in the middle. Benicio del Toro kills it. 8.5/10
 
Bridge of Spies - Speilberg and Hanks in a Cold War spy film, and it does exactly what it says on the label. Never really gripping, though. 8/10

jegga

Is bridge of spies nominated ? That's quite surprising .

barbarian

Yeah it is. Spielberg and Hanks, total Oscar bait.

Nepia

Bridge of Spies was a bloody good movie, good story and great performances (Rylance and Hanks) so no issue with it being in the Oscar race.
 
Sicario isn't a best picture nominee right? I think that's correct, I was wowed by it on first watch but have been cooling on it ever since. The Del Toro character action movie is the one I want to see.
 
Of Baabaas listed movies I thought the Big Short was the best (I haven't seen Spotlight yet but will do so this week).

barbarian

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="555624" data-time="1454293259">
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Sicario isn't a best picture nominee right? I think that's correct, I was wowed by it on first watch but have been cooling on it ever since. The Del Toro character action movie is the one I want to see.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Not Best Picture nominated, no. But has got a few for cinematography and that sort of thing.
 
It was a bit confused, I agree.
 
[SPOILER] I don't understand why the movie was focussed on Emily Blunt and not Benicio del Toro. Blunt's character was just annoying throughout. If you hated the mission so much, just leave! The best parts of the movie were the ops when she wasn't there, or was there but only in the background. I reckon it would be a better movie if you pushed that character back a bit, and we got to see a bit more Benicio. [/SPOILER]

Tim

Subversion of expectations about "strong female characters" and "american morality winning the day" was the point of the movie. I thought it was expertly executed and very satisfying.

NTA

Don't mind him - barb is a woman hater with a penchant for Latino men ;)
 
 
Saw a great review of The Revenant...
 
 
[attachment=1951:revenant.png]

Tim

:)
 
Matthew Holness is a great man. I tried to buy his labcoat from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

barbarian

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Tim" data-cid="555635" data-time="1454295657">
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Subversion of expectations about "strong female characters" and "american morality winning the day" was the point of the movie. I thought it was expertly executed and very satisfying.
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I think they let those things get in the way a bit too much. They were elements that needed to be present, sure, but for me Del Toro was the most interesting character and I just wanted to see him spend less time on the bench and more time in the game. Could be just me, though.

Nepia

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="barbarian" data-cid="555644" data-time="1454297157">
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I think they let those things get in the way a bit too much. They were elements that needed to be present, sure, but for me Del Toro was the most interesting character and I just wanted to see him spend less time on the bench and more time in the game. Could be just me, though.
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Nah, I'm with you, I thought Tim went overboard with his expertly executed comment, - I'm a huge fan of Blunt (to look at and in movies - Edge of Tomorrow etc) but don't think the writers/directors got it right, or maybe they just didn't expect Del Toro to be so good?
 
That action film would have been awesome, the mix of action and drama didn't quite work for me.
 
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Tim" data-cid="555635" data-time="1454295657">
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Subversion of expectations about "strong female characters" and "american morality winning the day" was the point of the movie. I thought it was expertly executed and very satisfying.
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</blockquote>
I don't actually think they did this even though that was what they were trying.

taniwharugby

yeah I thought it started off with a boom, and had a big quiet patch through the middle, and as for Blunt character, surely she wasnt that naive to not realise what she was up to.
 
as well as Del Toro, I liked Josh Brolin too
 
Not sure why Revenant is rated so highly, 3 hours of meandering storyline, sure based on a true story, but given the dude spent half that time alone, he coulda made up half of what happened

NTA

Just sitting in the pub at the next town over, having a beer and shit ;)

No Quarter

Watched Gangs of New York last night - not sure why I never saw it in the first place. Enjoyed it, but damn it was long. I had heard from other people that it was "reallly violent" but it was pretty tame compared to GoT etc. Man I am desensitised to that shit now.
 
Daniel Day-Lewis was epic.

Cookie

Bit o plane travel has meant I could catch up on a few movies I wouldn't normally watch with the kids: 
The Lobster - not even going to try to explain what it's about.. The sort of film I wanted to like, but it turned out to be a piling steam unfortunately. 
Big Short - very good, Steve Carell has been a bit of a revelation since Fox Catcher 
Sicario - bit of a fly on the wall documentary vibe about it, reminded me of Hurt Locker. Great realistic action scenes - let down by weak plot. 
Legend - Tom Hardy very good, it has its moments but I couldn't help thinking that the Krays story is one the didn't real need retelling. 
Black Mass - excellent. Jonny Depp kills it, although I found the way he was made up - he looked more than a bit weird. Reminded me of the Tooth Fairy from Manhunter! Fat boy from Fargo 2 doesn't do it for me as a hoodlum. 
Mr Holmes - after all the killing, a bit of light relief. Like a BBC Sunday afternoon drama. Ian McEllen Sp? is very affecting as a old man losing his powers. Great film, one for small screen though.

Cookie

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Tim" data-cid="555640" data-time="1454296164">:) 
 
Matthew Holness is a great man. I tried to buy his labcoat from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.</blockquote>
 
Now that was a classic series.

mariner4life

Watched A Most Violent Year the other night. I think someone posted here they were unimpressed. I thought it was great. Very much a talky but I liked the story and thought it was well done

Rancid Schnitzel

Watched Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure with my 7 year old. What a cracking little film!

Milk

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Cookie" data-cid="556760" data-time="1454742911">
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Black Mass - excellent. Jonny Depp kills it, although I found the way he was made up - he looked more than a bit weird. Reminded me of the Tooth Fairy from Manhunter! Fat boy from Fargo 2 doesn't do it for me as a hoodlum. 

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</blockquote>
 
It was refreshing how they didn't really glamourise him or his lifestyle as much as they usually do in gangster movies. Depp's character would scare this shit out of me if I met him in real life.
 
Agree that he was weird looking. However, after the movie I looked up images of Bulger and they weren't too far off. Maybe they went overboard on the eyes though.

NTA

Special Forces
 
French production I saw on Netflix. Saw it had Diane Kruger in it, and Djimon Hounsou, so figured it was worth a look.
 
Basic setup is reporter (Kruger) taken hostage in Kabul because she's a fucking idiot. A recon team of French SF guys flies out to observe, then intel comes through they have to move on target.
 
 
[spoiler]
They are also fucking idiots, or the director is, judging by what kind of utterly un-SF shit they get up to. Firstly, they attack a compound, vastly outnumbered, in broad daylight, to rescue the hostage. Maybe time was a factor, but then they have no way of knowing that.
 
Firstly, they "drop" two of their radios in the main assault, and the other one (squad of 6 remember - only 3 comm units? Even short-range?) gets shot to shit. They don't appear to be carrying any trackable GPS and only have 1 EPIRB for the whole unit.
 
During their escape, they walk every fucking ridgeline there is, just so it looks glamorous and hardcore, when any sensible fluffybunny would keep his head below cover, and conceal movement. This is especially stupid when they get to a stream, then fail utterly to follow it to the nearest settlement, while also keeping a freshwater supply handy (I've seen my Bear Grylls).
 
Then, when they decide to hit back, rather than setting their sniper up to take out key elements in the chasing Taliban force (leaders, other snipers, etc) they let him stay with them. Similarly the squad support weapon, which could have cut those fucking Afghan fluffybunnys to pieces without breaking wind. During the same action, they have a perfect defilade (though the silly fluffybunnys are one grenade from being wiped out, being bunched together) but jump up and start advancing from it.
 
And last, they have under-barrel grenade launchers that aren't used once to even the odds, or even suppress the enemy.
 
If that is the French SF, its no wonder they fucking surrender so much.
[/spoiler]
 
 
It was watchable, because it was on Netflix, and filled in a couple of hours. And the production standards are pretty high, with nice cinematography and some beautiful backdrops.
 
Have a go if its free. DO NOT pay for it.

The Silver Fern

Movie review thread...