What film did you watch last night?

IvanDobskey said:
Unforgiven 8/10
Never got round to watching this film for some reason. I guess I just wasn't a big fan of westerns in general. But the acting, story and characters are so good, it doesn't matter what genre it is. Great film.
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That is so on my watch list, i have been meaning to watch that it for years.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - Hum, well done if a little flat. Some nice performances if a little dull. Watch the recent documentary called Won't You Be My Neighbor? instead which is far more interesting and informative on Mr Rogers 5/10

Zombeland 1 - Second time watching this in preparation for watching the sequel. I haven't seen it in years but still good fun and the second-best Zombie film in my opinion. 8/10

Angel has Fallen - Wow, this was a real step down in productions quality from the first two movies, even if the first two were made on a budget they were both balls to the wall action-fests. This was written with a much tighter budget in mind and it obvious and it shows. It's just a Fugitive revenge thriller that we've seen a million times and the hidden bad guy was obvious from the very beginning 5/10
 
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Nitefly said:
More Ghibli films:

Whisper of the Heart - 8/10. Strange this in that it felt very ‘real life’ for most of the film and then became twee in the very final scene, which I found a little jarring. Otherwise, great!

The Cat Returns - 4/10. This didn’t really seem to have a point at all... it didn’t feel very whimsical / charming. Pretty disappointed and definitely one of the weaker films.
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That's so funny, i would switch these two scores almost completely. And i did feel The Cat Returns was whimsical and charming. Whisper of the Heart i would rate down there with From Up on Poppy Hill and Pom Poko
 
robgmun said:
That's so funny, i would switch these two scores almost completely. And i did feel The Cat Returns was whimsical and charming. Whisper of the Heart i would rate down there with From Up on Poppy Hill and Pom Poko
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Ha shows we must enjoy things differently as I thought Pom Poko was one of the best.

Watched Spirited Away today and that is also excellent. Unlike the main character in The Cat Returns, you actually feel for Sen (the lead in Spirited Away). She faces genuine hardship and threats... everybody treats her poorly and she puts on a very brave face. So there is a lot you can relate to in a ‘being human’ sense even though the plot at face value is absolutely bonkers.

In Whisper of the Heart, you can relate to heartache and challenging yourself... and the desire to get caught up ‘in a story’ like the lead is. Also the various versions of Country Roads she pens are believable... it’s just sort of... real?

The Cat Returns has... almost none of that? It’s about weird stuff happening and to me it felt all very STUFF IS HAPPENING/ LOUD NOISES. There was a bit of ‘wanting to impress someone’ and the her commenting in the end that it didn’t matter, but it was wafer thin in depth compared to Whisper of the Heart, IMO.

Pom Poko I enjoyed for entirely different reasons. I liked the way it was presented as a ‘saga’ and that it went from being very silly to rather moving towards the end. Again, raccoons just being human... mating even though they knew they shouldn’t... enjoying playing tricks on each other. Just... relatable in some ways even thought it’s totally bonkers. I also really liked how the raccoons were animated consistently differently depending on their general moods - the dumber they were being the more ‘cartoonish’ they looked. I dunno... very rare for me to think “wow I picked a dud this evening” to end up exceeding my expectations.

Edit - maybe I just didn’t like TCR because it is in some ways similar to Spirited Away, and SA is probably objectively better and I saw it first. I always like having my expectations subverted and I just didn’t get that at all with TCR - I felt like I had seen the film almost as soon as it started. Ariette (sp?) is definitely my least favourite though.
 
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@Nitefly You have to remember that TCR was made as a smaller feature that wasn't meant to be a tentpole release that wasn't directed by Miyazaki. And was the director's first attempt, and I supposed he wanted to impress. Comparing it to Spirited Away is like comparing Ant-Man to the first Avengers movie. And for that I found it to be a fun movie with a lot of heart.

Pom Poko was great for the first hour or so but then starts to get extremely repetitive, long and quite boring until the parade towards the end. If they cut 20mins somewhere in the middle it would have been a much tighter film and I would've have rated it higher. In Whisper of the Heart and From Up on Poppy Hill are straight-up live-action dramas that happened to be animated. There was even a meta comment in From Up on Poppy Hill that directly references it!

Spirited Away is arguably their best movie, it's their best known and for good reason. My top 3 will always be Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle which are in my eyes Masterpieces. In fact, looking through the list from the studio anything directly directed by Hayao Miyazaki himself are A-, 9/10 movies at the very least for me without exception. And the rest range from good to meh. And none of them i can say are down right bad.

But Grave of the Fireflies, **** that movie, don't want to talk about it, never seeing it again.
 
Transformers 2007

Loud, obnoxious and utterly ridiculous.

5/10

(That includes a point each for the cgi animators and the soundtrack annoying the wife for being quite possibly the loudest I've ever had through my set up. Relentless)
 
Contagion. 2011. 6/10. Pandemic throughout the world, millions die etc.

Striking how it bears resemblance to what's happening now, ok film watchable but a bit slow tbh and predictable.
 
Sea Fever - Low budget sea horror with a few known actors. Slow burner but I thought it was well worth a watch, not necessarily something I would watch again but definitely give it a go if you have a passing interest in the genre - 7/10.
 
Watched the new aladdin, bloodshot and under the skin.
Aladin pretty faith full to the original, will Smith spoils it for me especially the songs.

Bloodshot, good action film, nice fights, usual mindless fun

Under the skin, arty layered horror scifi film with scarlet johanson, gets out boobies, but the film is stunning and thought provoking
 
IvanDobskey said:
Unforgiven 8/10
Never got round to watching this film for some reason. I guess I just wasn't a big fan of westerns in general. But the acting, story and characters are so good, it doesn't matter what genre it is. Great film.
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All right now, I'm comin' out. Any man I see out there, I'm gonna shoot him. Any sumbitch takes a shot at me, I'm not only gonna kill him, but I'm gonna kill his wife. All his friends. Burn his damn house down
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You better bury Ned right; and don't go cuttin' up... nor otherwise harm no whores, or I'll come back and kill every one of you sons-a-bitches.
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2 of the best quotes from any film ever imo. The last, which he delivered on horse back was genuinely such an ominous threat I imagine everyone in the vicinity hearing it absolutely dumping in their kecks lol
 
I spotted a couple of spooky thrillers on iPlayer to watch. Wish I had not bothered to be honest!

Ghost Stories 5/10. The premise sounded good and starts off well, until the ending. A Professor, famous for debunking hoaxes and ghost sightings, is given a dossier of three terrifying, unsolvable cases by his hero. Honestly, the film up to the end, is watchable and drawers you in - until the ending, meh.

Personal Shopper 6/10. Intriguing story. A medium is asked to search for her deceased brother's presence in the house his girlfriend is selling. I could not help but watch the main protagonist (on the border of a melt down throughout) light a cigarette, get a beer or coffee and leave without barely taking a drag/sip. Every time.

I know its a film, but watching a moped rider laden with Cartier bags must be in an idealistic universe where muggings do not happen...
 
robgmun said:
@Nitefly You have to remember that TCR was made as a smaller feature that wasn't meant to be a tentpole release that wasn't directed by Miyazaki. And was the director's first attempt, and I supposed he wanted to impress. Comparing it to Spirited Away is like comparing Ant-Man to the first Avengers movie. And for that I found it to be a fun movie with a lot of heart.

Pom Poko was great for the first hour or so but then starts to get extremely repetitive, long and quite boring until the parade towards the end. If they cut 20mins somewhere in the middle it would have been a much tighter film and I would've have rated it higher. In Whisper of the Heart and From Up on Poppy Hill are straight-up live-action dramas that happened to be animated. There was even a meta comment in From Up on Poppy Hill that directly references it!

Spirited Away is arguably their best movie, it's their best known and for good reason. My top 3 will always be Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle which are in my eyes Masterpieces. In fact, looking through the list from the studio anything directly directed by Hayao Miyazaki himself are A-, 9/10 movies at the very least for me without exception. And the rest range from good to meh. And none of them i can say are down right bad.

But Grave of the Fireflies, **** that movie, don't want to talk about it, never seeing it again.
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Cheers for all this. Yes... I do need to see GOTFF.
 
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