What film did you watch last night?

[SixTwoSix]

Dragged Across Concrete - swinging between 3/10 to 7/10...let me explain.

There are parts of this movie which are totally gripping, well written and acted and are compelling viewing. Then there are other moments that feel so sloppily shoehorned in that they break the flow of the film and it feels like a direct to DVD special.

The story is quite simple, two reasonably honest cops (Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn) get suspended and one is in need of money to move his family from a rough neighborhood. They get information on what they think is a drug dealer to turn him over for his cash and it escalates from there.

I had expected a lot of this, same director of Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99, both films while flawed were fairly good watching and movies i'd revisit a few years later. This just seemed to drag with little development and never developed a bond for the characters.

 

[Gman]

Coming 2 America

It wasn't very good, tbh. Occasionally funny, never charming. It even made me wonder if the original wasn't as good as I remember.... is it just nostalgia?

No the original was better, the comedy was better executed as well. In the original, they played the comedy as if was serious and it was just them not being used to the customs. In the new one it was just stupid and over the top.

 

[Gman]

Chaos Walking 4/10

Tom Holland and Daisy ridley spending 90% of the film walking through forests accompanied by Tom narrating his own thoughts.

the story is too basic and just a bit of a mess overall

 

[barmyllama]

Dragged Across Concrete - swinging between 3/10 to 7/10...let me explain.

There are parts of this movie which are totally gripping, well written and acted and are compelling viewing. Then there are other moments that feel so sloppily shoehorned in that they break the flow of the film and it feels like a direct to DVD special.

The story is quite simple, two reasonably honest cops (Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn) get suspended and one is in need of money to move his family from a rough neighborhood. They get information on what they think is a drug dealer to turn him over for his cash and it escalates from there.

I had expected a lot of this, same director of Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99, both films while flawed were fairly good watching and movies i'd revisit a few years later. This just seemed to drag with little development and never developed a bond for the characters.

Exactly how I felt when I watched it, especially after how much I enjoyed Cell Block 99 previously.

 

[Nabeshogun]

The Wave (note I mean a film about a dude having a trip, not one about a tsunami)... I just watched it because it had Donald Faison in it, the main guy is Justin Long and the characters that he's often brought in to play can be a bit annoying... that said I enjoyed it and it actually held my attention throughout (which is often what I use to determine if something was good or not)... I can't remember why I had it written down, if it was recommended here or if I'd just looked up what stuff DF had been in, but I'd say it's worth a watch if you've got nothing you're really keen on seeing and the premise sounds interesting to you.

 

[Nitefly]

Today’s theme... Jeff Goldblum!

****

The Fly



You’ve got to love that iconic tag line.... “Be afraid... be VERY afraid....” - yup this is actually where that line comes from!

Jeff is Tonk McTonkerson in this one. He is looking fighting fit!!! Well, before he looks hideous of course. Brooding small cast horror with short bursts of intense gross out and gore. Holds up really quite well in all regards, helped by its short/tight/no-nonsense run time. This film has always just seemed a bit cold, bleak and sad to me (amongst others in the horror genre). Even the font of the poster is cold and machine like.

Special note for the aggressive out of nowhere ‘gore scare’....

Spoiler

... with the baboon! Poor thing!! I think that makes just about everyone gasp on their first watch.

I hear they pull off a similar stunt with a dog in the sequel film, which I haven’t seen, although from what I gather moviegoers absolutely hated the cruelty to the dog to the point where it make it clear to execs to use cruelty against dogs very sparingly even if for dramatic effect.

I always like to revisit this one every few years.

8/10

****

Independence Day



Watchable silliness, but even with fairly low expectations not quite as good as I remember.

Everyone knows this film so I won’t go on other than two points of note.

We all know the ‘big explosion weapon’ bits that are the most well known bit but looking at it now those shots were surely done with miniature models with tarting up effects, perhaps some of the least expensive shots in the film? Impressive practical effects explosions in some scenes like on the air strip being attacked by the aliens, but nobody will remember those!

Also wtf is with that Dolphin ring. That is absolutely hilarious. It’s played super straight as well, as if this is something that someone would actually buy:



6.5/10 (marked lower as a result of being overly familiar with it from watching a billion times - put it up to 7/10 on the first watch)

 

[arc@css]

Goldblum is also very good in the 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers'.

 

[Lartyconshayo]

Sea of Love,, one of my Pacino gaps, in that never seen it as would have been too young when it came out. Perfectly fine, thriller/drama. 7/10

 

[Liquid_Entity]

Run - I guess a modern day Misery? I thought it was excellent. 7/10

 

[Rroff]

Gregory's Girl such a great film

Like Labyrinth one of those films which is kind of special in its own right yet I'm not quite sure why they even exist in the first place.

 

[nands]

Palm Springs - popped up on Prime and I remember it being recommended here. Bit of fun time loop comedy which is an easy watch without taking anything too seriously. It was good to watch something new. 3/5

 

[IvanDobskey]

The dry 6.5/10
Reasonable enough aussie murder mystery film. Eric Bana is good in the lead role. A few slightly disappointing plot devices and lacklustre twist at the end let it down a little, but it's a decent watch.

 

[Infidelus]

Hellraiser. Don't think I've ever seen this all the way through before, and having now watched it wish I hadn't bothered. A generous dull 3/10.

 

[ic1male]

Alien Covenant on Channel 4 - 8/10

It's only now on the second watch that I actually got the plot! It totally went over my head first time around.

Spoiler: Plot

Plot being that David was the engineer of the eggs, facehuggers, alien xenomorph as we know them in Alien, Aliens, etc.

 

[IvanDobskey]

Alien Covenant on Channel 4 - 8/10

It's only now on the second watch that I actually got the plot! It totally went over my head first time around.

Spoiler: Plot

Plot being that David was the engineer of the eggs, facehuggers, alien xenomorph as we know them in Alien, Aliens, etc.

This film relies way too heavily on idiot characters doing dumb stuff to progress the story. I just found myself rolling my eyes again and again. It's a 6/10 if I'm in a particularly generous mood.

 

[SideWinder]

This film relies way too heavily on idiot characters doing dumb stuff to progress the story. I just found myself rolling my eyes again and again. It's a 6/10 if I'm in a particularly generous mood.

Yeah came in to say this. Felt very similiar to Prometheus in terms of what happens...just felt like there was so much potential then nope.

 

[IvanDobskey]

Yeah came in to say this. Felt very similiar to Prometheus in terms of what happens...just felt like there was so much potential then nope.

Promethius was pretty much the same. There's a serious lack of intelligent writing in this type of film these days unfortunately. Ridley Scott is a good director, but lousy writer.

 

[Judgeneo]

Watched the Snyder cut of Justice league. Still not a fan of 4 by 3 as a format, but the film was miles better than the original

 

[SideWinder]

Promethius was pretty much the same. There's a serious lack of intelligent writing in this type of film these days unfortunately. Ridley Scott is a good director, but lousy writer.

Apparently there is another due also!

 

[Jean-F]

“Rock around the clock”, 1956, Bill Haley and the Comets, The Platters, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys.
Man, I dug it, I was real gone, crazy man.
I remember seeing the original at The Coronet, (I think), or maybe The Trocadero, Elephant and Castle, SE London, and watching the cats jiving in the aisles, there followed a mini riot in the cinema by Teddy Boys and Girls.
Memories are made of this, not all good!