What film are you watching tonight/watched last night???

Being a very dark film anyway doesn’t the 3D appear a bit too dark and muddy and a bit difficult to see? I would have thought it would suffer greatly in 3D with the darker picture.


Nope.

Good 3D producers brighten the image for the 3D version which is what they did.
 
Passion (2012, UK iTunes, also streaming free on Amazon Prime)

De Palma in the middle of the European phase, this seemingly straightforward erotic thriller soon morphs into almost a greatest hits for the Uber Hitchcock fan, which doesn't wholly satisfy unfortunately.

McAdams essentially reprises her Mean Girls queen bee but all grown up and the CEO of a marketing firm in Germany and is truly scrumptious, stockings, kinky masks and terrifying looking sex toys and all. Noomi Rapace is her Cady, continually used and abused by McAdams as she backstabs and sleeps her way through pretty much the entire firm. And the first two acts of the film shows the cat and mouse between these two, taking in Rapace's mousey-yet-incredibly-hot-at-the-same-time assistant who's in love with her and the bewilderingly ordinary looking cockney wide boy who is sleeping with everyone, striking on oddly aloof and very European feel along the way.

Suddenly, a juicy murder occurs and the film completely pivots, turning into a murder mystery bringing into play all those elements from De Palma's previous and sadly superior offerings - Body Double (a modern erotic noir), Dressed to Kill (identity and masks) and Raising Cain (framed for a murder they did/did not commit) - as well as tricksy narrative devices such as dreams and questionable realities.

On paper, it should be a treat, but it just feels lacking - the final act is somewhat rushed, with a sudden character arc that comes from nowhere and a final reveal that leaves too many questions hanging over just what the hell actually did go on. A remake of a French film I'm now intrigued to see how that stacks up against this, but seeing as my last De Palma was the truly terrible Redacted and I'm not brave enough to approach Femme Fatale, this feels like almost a return to form. I mean we even get an extended split screen sequence so....yay!

Middle tier De Palma then. But well worth a watch even if just for McAdams as a truly scene stealing bitch-tastic saucy minx for the ages.
 
Apocalypse 3.5/5

I have mixed thoughts on this film. I genuinely enjoyed certain storylines and I certainly wasn't bored during the film but its just a bit of a mess. The storyline is good in that it involves a lot of characters but very messy in execution.

I think the biggest issue with this film is this is Apocalypse done wrong. They should have just ripped the Apocalypse from the animated series, voice and plot, and this would have been an awesome film.

Technically its good, audio, visual and 3D. Cinematography is distinctly average and this film will age so quickly.

Overall though, just a big ball of average if I'm being honest.

I did strangely.. enjoy it though. But I'm an X-Men fan and feel as if no character was done any justice. Based on that, its probably a bit surprised I'm giving it 3.5.
I think most of the characters did not match the comics the only new one the did right and they really leapt out of the comics was Psylocke.
And the 3D was good the opening scenes one of my favorites.

The more I watch it the better it seems to get I was disappointed it was not the film I wanted but coming round to what it is and think I scored it 7/10 last time I watched it.
 
Oh. I'm an X-Men nut and apart from the ending thought it was crap. Its certainly one of the worst movies in the series. 4/10. It really is that bad.
I thought the opposite was true and liked the back stories and the Magneto side story, and found parts of the end were a bit on the messy side and Jean having a power she should not have had until the next film although some of the fighting was good and the astral plane was good.
 
Nope.

Good 3D producers brighten the image for the 3D version which is what they did.

Nice, pretty great film if I remember. Need to give it another watch at some point :)


Right, next Bond was last night:

The Man with the Golden Gun (Disney+)
Good old Roger Moore, now settled into his Bond role and a good plot with a contract killer and stolen solar energy (shocking future tech stuff as well!).
This is a great Bond film. It has chases, some proper secret agent detective work going on which does seem to be lacking a bit from most of the previous ones and some very iconic moments which are up there with Goldfinger and a select few of the later ones.

The intro is one of my favourites - no Bond but a great amusement park stand off at Scaramangas hideout. The car chase with the stunning river jump that still kicks a$$ today, even with the ridiculous whistle sound effect. The boat chase in Thailand, the martial arts sequence and of course the finale on the island (which I remember seeing whilst on holiday there).

There are so many great moments in this you can excuse the few silly parts, especially JW Pepper - light relief is fine but seriously this is stretching it a bit.
Christopher Lee is a fantastic villain, who doesn't push himself much but plays it perfectly, slightly menacing but also very similar to Bond in ways. Nick-Nack might be one of the best henchmen in the series and the likes of Britt Ekland and Maud Adams (sry Octopussy...) are decent as the girls.
Think my favourite part is the shipwreck base, still makes me smile with the lopsided walls and flat floors they built - great set design.



Overall I think it edges Live and Let Die and possibly almost on par with Goldfinger. In some ways it is actually better and I do wonder what this film would have been like with a young Sean Connery but Moore does all he needs to do to cement himself as the new Bond.

9/10
 
I think you got your Man With The Golden Gun and OHMSS scores muddled up.

You obviously meant OHMSS 9/10 TMWTGG 5.5/10 :D
 
I think you got your Man With The Golden Gun and OHMSS scores muddled up.

You obviously meant OHMSS 9/10 TMWTGG 5.5/10 :D

Nope, definitely not ;)
5.5 is very harsh, even if you're not as much of a Moore fan.
 
I think you got your Man With The Golden Gun and OHMSS scores muddled up.

You obviously meant OHMSS 9/10 TMWTGG 5.5/10 :D
I thought was the most lack luster of Rogers tenure as Bond redeeming features was Maud Adams for me knocked Britt out of the park and Britt character was silly who the heck in the secret service recruited her. Chris was good almost gentlemanly and respect for Bond but cold hearted killer under it all.
Best henchmen have to be Jaws and Oddjob and if Red Grant classes as one makes the other before mentioned look like thugs.
 
Nope, definitely not ;)
5.5 is very harsh, even if you're not as much of a Moore fan.

I love all the Bond films, there's not one I wouldn't happily rewatch, but TMWTGG is definitely in the bottom 5 for me.
 
Children of Dune - 2003 - Greg Yaitanes (also did the excellent Quarry recently)

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Haven't read the books this Syfy miniseries is based on so can't compare it to them but I can compare it to the original Dune adaptation by the Syfy channel and Children of Dune is a marked improvement over that one for me. It's better than it in terms of production values, set design, costuming (stillsuits aside), story, and acting. A freshly minted James McAvoy has the biggest role here as Leto Atreides, son of Paul and twin brother to his sister Ghanima. He plays Leto with a bit of a rascal's glint in his eye and there's also something ethereal about his performance here that is good fun to watch. Susan Sarandon is actually the one bum note as the scheming Princess Corrino, and Alec Newman (another Glaswegian like James McAvoy) improves upon his performance from the original Syfy adaptation of Dune as the wandering prophet who comes and goes like a sandstorm brushing through from the desert.

Two out of the three parts are really enjoyable while the other is still decent but has some pacing issues. The score is also excellent and serves the grandiose scope of the story well. If you're a fan of the Dune books then this is probably worth checking out, and if you're unfamiliar with the Dune saga but still fancy some good sci-fi then it's worth seeing after you've watched either David Lynch's Dune or the Syfy adaptation, but Lynch's film is the better of the two imo.
 
I thought the opposite was true and liked the back stories and the Magneto side story, and found parts of the end were a bit on the messy side and Jean having a power she should not have had until the next film although some of the fighting was good and the astral plane was good.

Ah!
Jean was actually a level 9 mutant, which the Professor had limited. But at the end of the movie she broke those barriers down. Just ripe for a Cosmic Force, I guess.
 
I thought the opposite was true and liked the back stories and the Magneto side story, and found parts of the end were a bit on the messy side and Jean having a power she should not have had until the next film although some of the fighting was good and the astral plane was good.


magneto side story was definitely the highlight of the film.
but i also dislike the predictability of magneto deep down being a good guy. just doesn't make magneto as scary as he normally is.

yeah its the jean power which really just doesn't make sense. she could have won JUST with her own power unleashed. why do a
phoenix
cameo?
 
Ah!
Jean was actually a level 9 mutant, which the Professor had limited. But at the end of the movie she broke those barriers down. Just ripe for a Cosmic Force, I guess.
Yes but I was referring/comparing to the comics
she did not have Phoenix like powers till she met with the force in space.
 
Diego Maradona - 8/10 - Documentary about the controversial Argentinian footballer, it mostly features his time in Italy playing for Napoli, a good film about a fascinating character, a must for football fans,
 
Diego Maradona is available on Amazon Prime Instant Video, included with membership. Others via rental. Never seen it myself but it has been highly recommended.

What are the best F1 documentaries? As I've been told there are a few, even if your not into F1?
 
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Jungle (2017) - Greg McLean

**Amazon Prime Instant Video**

Run of the mill survival adventure drama. Based on true events, its 1981 and Israeli lad Yossi Ghinsbourg (now a successful tech entrepreneur in real life but played as a wide eyed youth by Daniel Radcliffe) yearns to see the world before going on to university, career etc. Yossi is particularly interested exploring the Amazon so makes his way to South America as part of his travels. In Bolivia, he befriends a (not so adventurous, we later learn) good natured Swiss teacher Marcus, and charismatic American photographer Kevin Gale. Later, Yossi crosses pathes with an enigmatic Austrian guy called Karl Ruprechter (Thomas Kretschmann) - claiming to be a geologist, he entices Yossi into convincing his new friends to accompany him on a treasure hunt for gold and a chance to experience the indigenous tribes of the uncharted Bolivian Jungle. Clearly not having seen Cannibal Holocaust/Ferox (despite those movies being released during that period), Yossi wins his reluctant pals over and off they go on their “boy’s own” adventure.

It takes a good while (almost an hour) to get going, spending a bit of time with Yossi and laying the groundwork. The second half of the movie does move up a few gears once the trek inevitably goes south. A series of escalating events sees Yossi end up lost and alone in the uncharted Jungle for three weeks until his eventual rescue (not a spoiler). I was expecting to see all manner of gruesome stuff as you might expect from being stranded in the wild jungle, but it’s all rather tame save for a couple of scenes that vermiphobics might want to avoid. Apparently, there was some other slightly more grisly stuff that didn’t make it into the movie. The most interesting character is trek guide Karl - even more mysterious in real life than depicted in the film. There is an event in the movie concerning the latter that is much more intriguing than Yossi’s plight (no disrespect of course to what happened to him). The remainder of the story explores familiar themes concerning triumph of the human spirit over adversity, and the power of friendship as Kevin Gale does everything not to break a promise he made to Yossi.

Jungle is an interesting diversion and maintains attention through to the end. However, despite doing his method acting bit by losing a lot of weight, Daniel Radcliffe fails to really convince that he is not an Englishman acting as an Israeli kid. From the films that he has tackled post Potter, it is clear Radcliffe wants to rid himself of the shackles of the boy wizard. Apart from trying (and failing) to watch one of the latter movies, Jungle is the only other other one of his work that I’ve seen - there’s not enough in his performance to make me want to watch anything else. Director McLean is known for making uncomfortable films such as Wolf Creek and The Belko Experiment (which I’m really fond of) but Jungle feels like a PG-13 in comparison, and doesn’t capitalise enough on the scope for primal tension. Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours is a much superior representation of the “true story” survival drama sub-genre.

6/10
 
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Live and Let Die

One of my favourite Bond films. Awesome theme tune, cool fellow with a metal claw, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Crocodiles and Gators, comedy whispering chap, great opening.

It does have some flaws - the inflating man effect is truly awful and should have been cut for something else, the Mr Big disguise sneaking out of a back door aspect is far from convincing, the boat chase goes on for about 2 days, Sheriff Pepper, some aspects of the story are somewhat dated.

A great start for Roger. Some comedy but not too much and the film is very entertaining. The villains are some of the best in the series - Katanga is a ball of rage but clearly a clever and dangerous man, Baron Semadi is cool and mysterious and Tee Hee is just brilliant. Great suits as well.

(We were going to leave Golden Gun as i just remember a load of boring Karate scenes (this may be wrong i have not seen it for 30 years) but on the basis of the review above, it will be tomorrows movie of choice!)
 
Live and Let Die

One of my favourite Bond films. Awesome theme tune, cool fellow with a metal claw, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Crocodiles and Gators, comedy whispering chap, great opening.

It does have some flaws - the inflating man effect is truly awful and should have been cut for something else, the Mr Big disguise sneaking out of a back door aspect is far from convincing, the boat chase goes on for about 2 days, Sheriff Pepper, some aspects of the story are somewhat dated.

A great start for Roger. Some comedy but not too much and the film is very entertaining. The villains are some of the best in the series - Katanga is a ball of rage but clearly a clever and dangerous man, Baron Semadi is cool and mysterious and Tee Hee is just brilliant. Great suits as well.

(We were going to leave Golden Gun as i just remember a load of boring Karate scenes (this may be wrong i have not seen it for 30 years) but on the basis of the review above, it will be tomorrows movie of choice!)

The Karate scene is actually only about 5 minutes or so and then the boat and car chase.
I remember it bring a lot longer as well.
 
Dick Tracy (1990) Directed by Warren Beatty
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This revisit went down pretty well even though its story is part fun and part painstakingly dull, but the main draw is you just can't get away from just how awesome its big artificial city is and how it pulls you into its noir prohibition world with its use of all those fantastic vibrant colours matte paintings and wonderfully done miniatures, another big plus for the film comes in the many shape and sizes of it’s funny named characters and all their wonderfully done villainous deformities, this ensemble cast is great fun to watch with Pacino and Hoffman coming of the best and most memorable but the real star is Vittorio Storaro's lush cinematography.7/10
 
@VisionMan Been looking for an F1 documentary myself recently and have read that even non-fans of the sport love 1 - Life on the Limit narrated by Michael Fassbender.


@bruce-leroy Spot on review. I was so bored by the time that it changed gears that I had little enthusiasm to keep going. Should have been a gripping survival thriller given the source material but the director turned it into a chore for the most part.

@systemsdead Need to check Dick Tracy out again. Even today the amazing prosthetics are unnerving but I was only about 9 or 10 when this came out and I remember finding it quite disturbing to look at at that age.
 
The Gallows (2015) Directed by Travis Cluff, Chris Lofting
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Another entry into the found footage live cam genre and again this one yet again surprised me not because its anything special or different but because like most it makes you feel like your kind of along with the ride pin-eyed trying to be fully focussed searching in the darkness for anything that looks out of place, its a good entry and I'd say a bit better than the marks it gets, storywise it's ok with its schoolhouse scares and the young cast all do a pretty decent job just wish it did more scenes with that red filter, worth a watch.6/10
 
Biutiful - amazing film from Alejandro González Iñárritu, who is now one of my favourite directors. Javier Bardem delivers a masterclass performance in one of the most moving and profound films I've seen in quite some time, centred around a loving father trying to make ends meet, it examines mortality and globalisation amongst other things. The characters are real and not sugar coated, it's depressing and gritty and is one which as soon as it finishes makes you contemplate. I'll certainly be watching it again soon, as it demands a second watch. Easily 9/10
 

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