What film did you watch last night?

Sankari · 6 Apr 2020 at 14:06

IvanDobskey said:
Alien 3 is just so utterly bleak and depressing And the cgi is shockingly bad

Alien 3 is great because it's so utterly bleak and depressing! It's the Warhammer 40K of the Alien movies.

Yes the CGI is bad, but I'm prepared to look past that because the story is so good and the characters are all solid.

Scam · 6 Apr 2020 at 14:59

Hustlers - 6/10

We'd deliberated over renting this on Sky, and saw it popped up on Prime for free so thought we might as well. It was actually very enjoyable. A good story, well told. The girlfriend was dubious but actually stayed awake for the duration so I would always count that as a win. However, rumours of a J-Lo Oscar nom were wildly exaggerated, lol. Didn't see that at all.

Curio · 6 Apr 2020 at 17:01

Onward - 7.5/10
Certainly not a Pixar classic, and would probably rank in the bottom rung of their efforts. Still, even a weak Pixar movie is still pretty good! It just doesn't have either the visual flare or touch of "magical something" their best movies have.

Beetlejuice - 3/10
Hadn't seen this in years, and had quite fond memories of it. Thought the kids were old enough to appreciate it now. Boy, it has NOT aged well. Just found most of it cringy and boring, as did the kids. Michael Keaton is obviously great, but apart from that I found it torture.

Mr Jack · 6 Apr 2020 at 17:08

Sankari said:
Alien 3 is great because it's so utterly bleak and depressing! It's the Warhammer 40K of the Alien movies.

Alien 3 commits are cardinal sin of rubbishing the end of the film that went before. Apart from that, I remember it as being quite good. It's been a while since I saw it. It's certainly a mile above anything that's come after it.

Begbie · 6 Apr 2020 at 17:08

Sankari said:
And then watch the Assembly Cut of Alien 3.

Is the assembly cut the one to go for?

Marsman · 6 Apr 2020 at 17:12

Certainly better than the theatrical release.

SixTwoSix · 6 Apr 2020 at 20:25

In regards to Alien 3, there are only two scenes with CGI...the head crack and some of the debris flying around outside, I believe there may be a third but it escapes me now. What most people consider bad CGI is actually good old fashioned practical effects and green screen which people always champion as being superior to CGI. The Alien is always either a rod puppet, a miniature or good old fashioned guy in a suit.

Watch the assembly cut, the theatrical version cuts out a huge mid part and makes little sense. Disregard the opening, as it moots a lot of the previous movie and it's a fairly good movie. Not a patch on the prior two but doesn't deserve the hate heaped upon it. It totally fits the bleak, dirty future portrayed from the first movie onwards.

There's also some great performances, Charles Dance is just excellent.

silverblack · 6 Apr 2020 at 21:02

Sankari said:
It is outrageously good for a movie that was made on a budget of <£3 million.

Re-make is Cold Pursuit with Liam Neeson.

Sankari · 6 Apr 2020 at 21:29

Begbie said:
Is the assembly cut the one to go for?

Absolutely, it's a great improvement over the theatrical release.

melmac · 6 Apr 2020 at 23:02

The Phantom Menace. 4/10

This film hasn't aged very well but that isn't the reason why it gets such a bad score from me. It might be an ok film but I just can't look past Jar Jar Binks. I had forgotten just how annoying he is. His character ruins the movie and I can't imagine what madness prompted making him a main character in the movie.

Anyway my plans to watch those movies over the next few nights is over as I couldn't even finish watching this one.

ElliorR · 6 Apr 2020 at 23:09

melmac said:
The Phantom Menace. 4/10
........His character ruins the movie and I can't imagine what madness prompted making him a main character in the movie.

Toy sales.

SixTwoSix · 7 Apr 2020 at 08:03

melmac said:
The Phantom Menace. 4/10

This film hasn't aged very well but that isn't the reason why it gets such a bad score from me. It might be an ok film but I just can't look past Jar Jar Binks. I had forgotten just how annoying he is. His character ruins the movie and I can't imagine what madness prompted making him a main character in the movie.
.

Jar Jar was basically down to Lucas' obsession with CGI at the time, he had to CGI all the things. Just look at the mess of the remasters of his original trilogy, especially the first inclusion of Jabba in ANH.

Figo · 7 Apr 2020 at 08:07

Missus and I started watching the "Maze Runner" Trilogy

Decent enough Hunger games-esq romp that does nothing new and is pretty by the numbers. Good premise but never fully delivers on anything it starts to set up. Typical "blockbuster material" where you can guess the plot in about 2 minutes.

First one a solid 6/10, hoping the next 2 builds on some of the more interesting ideas alluded to at the end of the first.

ezekial · 7 Apr 2020 at 12:00

Watched true romance for the first time, it was pretty good.

sbweightman · 7 Apr 2020 at 22:11

The Foreigner (2017) - 5/10

A mildly emotional run of the mill revenge story focusing on a man with nothing left to lose and some Irish political intrigue.

Its subdued style means it’s a bit slow and his methods don’t allow you to really sympathize with him, but it’s ok as something slightly different from the genre.

Good acting, but the lead actors seems slightly miscast and it stretches credibility a bit too much at times.

ianh · 7 Apr 2020 at 23:46

robgmun said:
Knives Out - bloody excellent! 8/10 and a UHD purchase for sure

Hopefully this doesn't come across too rude but, why a UHD for a "non-CGI/SFX" film like this instead of a cheaper Blu-Ray or is it future-proofing?

hyperseven · 8 Apr 2020 at 01:52

ianh said:
Hopefully this doesn't come across too rude but, why a UHD for a "non-CGI/SFX" film like this instead of a cheaper Blu-Ray or is it future-proofing?

HDR, looks better than upscaled HD and Atmos.

robgmun · 8 Apr 2020 at 09:37

ianh said:
Hopefully this doesn't come across too rude but, why a UHD for a "non-CGI/SFX" film like this instead of a cheaper Blu-Ray or is it future-proofing?

And to add to hyperseve comments, spin sharp detail. I love the clarity of UHD, obviously, some movies are better than others. But i have a nice large 65-inch OLED and put in a surround sound system last Nov. So me and my wife have been enjoying the cinema experience at home without having to go out. And the general feeling is that it feels more cinematic when watching a 4K presentation.

I watched Sonic last night, my expectation must have been quite low because i enjoyed this much more than i expected. It's very formulaic but it does it quite well and Jim Carry was good fun to watch. 6.5/10

Watched Emma the night before and this was just ok, Anya Taylor-Joy is gorgeous but i don't think being blonde suits her and the story felt unfocused and all over the place, there's no narrative flow to engage you. Fantastic cinematography and the costumes/sets are amazing to watch, performances are on point. But it loses points on the story itself. 6/10

robgmun · 8 Apr 2020 at 09:54

Figo said:
Missus and I started watching the "Maze Runner" Trilogy

First one a solid 6/10, hoping the next 2 builds on some of the more interesting ideas alluded to at the end of the first.

The second one is rubbish and very boring, but plough through it because the 3rd is surprisingly good and the last half goes out into full-blown action romp.

RobDogDog · 8 Apr 2020 at 10:10

Indiana Jones and The Raiders of The Lost Ark - 9/10
Indian Jones and The Temple of Doom - 9/10

Both great action romps. It shows you can have a good adventure film without Michaek Baying everything. Ford is great as Indy. I think I go against the norm and actually prefer the second film. I love how dark it goes.

Star Wars Episode 1 Phantom Menace - 5/10

Pacing issues, some dodgy acting, but the pod scene is cool and it picks up a lot towards the end.

Contagion - 6/10

Scary how similar it is to what's going on today. Jude Law's character felt out of place for me.