Films

Desert Orchid said:
I realise it isn't a new film but I caught most of Runaway Jury the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I don't know if it has been discussed already on this thread (haven't been following it) but I found it almost an equivalent of Enemy of the State meets Perry Mason.


Maybe it was the three or four pints of Stella Artois, but I really liked it (the film as well as the bevvy).
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You should try the book then as the film only bears a superficial resemblance to it and it is, inevitably, far superior.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/john-grisham/runaway-jury.htm
 
Caught up with a few films while I was away; Bridge of Spies and Spotlight were fantastic and I'll probably rewatch them. I fell asleep each time I tried to watch the Hateful Eight and whenever I woke up nothing much seemed to have happened. 4/5 start ratings everywhere. Is this another 'Emperors New Clothes' situation or am I just a bit thick.....if I am I shall attempt to watch it again but I don't really want to waste a couple of hours of my life doing so unless I have to. Just glad I didn't see it at a cinema.
 
moehat said:
I fell asleep each time I tried to watch the Hateful Eight and whenever I woke up nothing much seemed to have happened. 4/5 start ratings everywhere. Is this another 'Emperors New Clothes' situation or am I just a bit thick.....if I am I shall attempt to watch it again but I don't really want to waste a couple of hours of my life doing so unless I have to. Just glad I didn't see it at a cinema.
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I posted this back in January, Moe. I haven't changed my opinion since then. :)

"Hateful Eight
"Absolutely awful. Glad I saw this at home rather in theatre -- I would have walked out after 20 minutes, honestly.
A boring, drawn-out melodrama with terrible cliche'd dialogue and cardboard characters that are little more than caricatures.

It picks a a little in the second half, but this increased tempo would only appeal if you're into watching and listening to a bunch of sadists inside a log-cabin referencing the n-word in every sentence and shooting each other. (95% of the movie takes place inside this same one-room cabin).
Another blooper from Tarantino.
Avoid !"
 
Annoyingly I was away from home with a tablet that, for some reason, I can't get onto Talkinghorses with, as I knew the film had been discussed. Mike had wanted to see the film at the cinema so I needed to buy it for him anyway so the waste of money isn't a problem; more the waste of two hours of my life! Just don't understand all the rave reviews the film got.
 
Welcome back moehat

just to throw oil on the fire I think Tarantino so a hideously overrated director who seems, for some reason, to be Teflon with the critics. You sense that for some they dare not appear "uncool" for slagging off his garbage

he is too immature to develop a true character and is indulgent and stupid. A loser bedsit thicko with a camera. He's not worth the attention. Pulp fiction is just about one of the very worst films I've paid to watch
 
clivex said:
Welcome back moehat

just to throw oil on the fire I think Tarantino so a hideously overrated director who seems, for some reason, to be Teflon with the critics. You sense that for some they dare not appear "uncool" for slagging off his garbage

he is too immature to develop a true character and is indulgent and stupid. A loser bedsit thicko with a camera. He's not worth the attention. Pulp fiction is just about one of the very worst films I've paid to watch
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I liked Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction but he seems to just keep making the same films time and time again. I know he uses the same actors most of the time but his films feel like a regurgitation and are made to create controversy by the amount of times you can say f**k or ni**er. I watched the Hateful Eight the other night, thought it was just about ok but never really went anywhere, was pretty pointless and dragged out for way too long.
 
I haven't watched it yet but based on this review I bought it about a week ago and I'm looking forward to eventually watching it, probably this weekend.

icebreaker said:
Bone Tomahawk

This is quite an extraordinary movie -- and I loved it.
This film has completely passed under the radar; probably has only had showings in arthouse cinemas but it deserves a wider audience.
The acting, the atmosphere, and the quite brilliant theme of the storyline are all faultless. But most of all it is the fabulous verbal wit of the curt, terse dialogue that lifts it into topnotch territory. "Say goodbye to my wife or I'll say hello to your's". I have honestly not come across a better example of film-scripting in a long time.

The film's budget was virtually rockbottom -- under $2 milion -- but you wouldn't notice.
The theme is groundbreaking -- a sort of new genre -- Horror/Western. A group of Old West cowpokes head out in a hunt for a friend held captive by a tribe of cannibalistic, cave-dwelling Indians who have been untouched by any civilised contact. Very violent and savage, it must be said.
Kurt Russell is outstanding, as are the other two leads Patrick Wilson and Zahn McClarnon ( both from Fargo last series). The bit-part players are excellent also.
Probably not showing at any mainstream theatre, but freely available on Showbox or Rainier.
I truly feel Bone Tomahawk will become a "cult" classic in years to come.
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Seen Taming of the shrew at the globe and Plough and the stars at national last night. Both set in you Duboin 1916

Taming is a terrific production. Really enjoyed but its not a memorable play at all by the standards of the bard

Plough and stars is fine. As ever at the national the sets and production are stunning. As a play, its ok. Perhaps some forced humour at times and the dramatic side doesn't always quite convince. Enjoyable but not that memorable
 
Jason Bourne - sadly a little bit Jason Statham, all action, little plot and couldn't care less whether the characters get killed or not. Doesn't really offer much to the whole Bourne series.

Suicide Squad - starts off quite well, the back stories are useful but then we're introduced to Cara Delevigne's character and the film goes to ****. Plot is awful, the scenes with her as a witch summoning some kind of blue beam is like something out of Ghostbusters. Harley Quinn the stand out character, The Joker under used and the film doesn't really go anywhere. Could have been so much better, not great, not terrible but very disappointing.
 
mowgli77 said:
Jason Bourne - sadly a little bit Jason Statham, all action, little plot and couldn't care less whether the characters get killed or not. Doesn't really offer much to the whole Bourne series.

Suicide Squad - starts off quite well, the back stories are useful but then we're introduced to Cara Delevigne's character and the film goes to ****. Plot is awful, the scenes with her as a witch summoning some kind of blue beam is like something out of Ghostbusters. Harley Quinn the stand out character, The Joker under used and the film doesn't really go anywhere. Could have been so much better, not great, not terrible but very disappointing.
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Not films I had any hope of being anything more than a bit of light entertainment. Have seen a few decent ones lately

Frozen River would probably appeal to a number on here - more a drama than a thriller, which usually has me reaching for the off switch, but the story was sufficiently gripping to hold me in there.
A Walk In The Woods - love Bill Bryson's books and the film managed to capture l'eau de Bryson quite nicely.
The Cobbler - written and directed by the same chap who gave us The Station Agent, which was excellent. A quirky story, which earns less points than it deserves on IMDB courtesy of the presence of ever-hated Adam Sandler (who I love - fk the haterz).

You can probably pick up all 3 for under a tenner on ebay.
 
Captain Fantastic tonight. Loved it.The description I heard of' Road movie meets Lord of the Flies meets Little Miss Sunshine' pretty much sums it up. However, spent most of the evening trying to work out why the eldest son looked so familiar; was driving me bonkers.
 
Jason Bourne was too long, too little in terms of plot and too much in terms of action. There was a car chase at the end that was just pointless.

Seen Eye in the Sky on DVD recently, really enjoyed it.

See 66 days, more of a documentary than a film, wouldn't be bothered with it, probably be on BBC some night anyway.
 
Hunt for the Wilderpeople; similar to Captain Fantastic in that it's a sort of road movie [well, more of an off road movie I guess]. Equally wonderful, if not more so. Haven't been to the cinema much lately and then see two crackers in one week.
 
Hell Or High Water - Great modern day western type film, brothers set out to rob a branch of banks they hold responsible for their mothers financial problems and need money to keep her estate as she's passed away and they've found oil on her land. Jeff Bridges is excellent, the film builds gradually and it's a tale of cat and mouse as the sheriffs hunt the robbers across Texas. Highly recommended, no silly car chases, CGI or special effects, a good old fashioned story with excellent acting and well worth a watch.

Son Of Saul - bought this on DVD and watched it last night but still unsure what I think of it. The film is quite ambiguous and leaves you asking a number of questions. Saul Auslander works in the concentration camps, cleaning up the shower rooms and dragging the "pieces" - dead bodies to the furnace once they've been gassed. The naked bodies are purposely blurred so the focus is on the character dragging the bodies rather than the bodies themselves. Saul finds a boy who is still breathing who he then sees smothered and states it's his son. He asks the doctor not to send the body for burning and instead spends the whole film looking for a rabbi to bury the body instead. There is an undercurrent of uprising, Saul collecting a package that we think is some kind of explosive as the workers realise they are also soon going to be killed when they are placed on a list of 70 names. The film suggests he didn't even have a son and was instead just looking for some kind of humanity yet he states he had a child with someone other than his wife. He is emotionless when seeing the boy smothered, which has resulted in many filmgoers online stating there is no way he would have reacted like that if it was his son, even knowing he could also get killed if making a fuss. The ending is also ambiguous and leaves it open to interpretation. It's worth a watch, reviews go from 10/10 to 3/10 and it's a marmite sort of film.
 
Saw the film version of the Young Offenders a few months ago and was reminded of it by the series currently showing on the BBC. Highly recommended - but bring your listening ears with you, cause it's a thick Cork accent to decipher.

Also couldn't help myself visualising our own G-Rod as either of the main characters.
 
Recently saw Three Billboards and The Shape of Water. Loved 3 Billboards but not sure what to make of the other. I don't think I enjoyed it; which sounds daft because I should know one way or the other but I don't...
 
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