What film did you watch last night?

Meg 2: The Trench (2023) - 3/10

A bad film in most respects that not even 3 giant sharks, Jason Statham and low expectations can salvage.

The plot and acting are ok but the dialogue is poor, the special effects are nothing special, the villains are caricatures and the lack of gore and violence is noticeable, especially in the fight scenes.

Boring for most of the first half with dark settings, predictable outcomes and a significant lack of sharks, it only improves in the finale due to the cheesiness and absurdity of the events. Even then, it’s a mess, jumping from one action scene to the next with no concept of pacing.

It has some charm as a bad film and there’s enough of the creatures to offer some entertainment value, but it’s a poor show all round.
 
SixTwoSix said:
At the risk of repeating myself in this thread, excellent movie, my favourite of the '2010s without doubt.

When you've got Villenuve directing, Sheridan writing, Deakins on Cinematography and Jóhannsson on the score - it's hard to take a step wrong.

If I could only watch one movie from that decade again, it'd be Sicario.
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Excellent movie - hadn't realised it was written by Sheridan. Shame the 2nd film isn't as good.
 
Over the last few days I've ended up watching Superman 1078 and Superman 2.

Somehow despite them always seeming to be on at Christmas and the bank holidays when I was young, I don't think I'd ever actually watched either of them in full

The effects are pretty impressive for the time, especially the practical stuff and miniatures but it's let down by some of the compositing for the blue screen effects.

Christopher Reeves was very good, much more impressive than I remember him being, but then I'm old enough now to register what he's doing and pay attention, especially when you see the change as he goes from his CK posture to his SM one.
Storywise it's fairly basic, but a fun one and with a twist or two I don't remember at all.

I also watched the commentaries and other extras on the discs which were quite interesting, and it's always fun seeing some of the really old stuff for a reboot with the old Superman and the Molemen film from 1951, and the animated series from the 40's complete with a very dippy looking tyrannosaurus, and the "for truth and justice" but not including "and the American way" (I'm guessing that got added after the war).

Oh and I can see a possible reason for this scene to have been removed.
 
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Barbie - 4/10. What a wasted opportunity.

Great and somewhat original visuals, brilliant set pieces and a fantastic cast. It got a good few chuckles out of me but was ultimately destroyed in the end by the forced messaging. You could almost feel the groans in the audience at certain points and rather than ending the movie on a high note, it left on a depressing montage about mortality.

I didn't expect much from the movie but left wishing they’d done it right. Other half felt exactly the same so thankfully not just a blokes take on it.
 
Got a few in yesterday:

Invictus - 6/10
Can't think of many films featuring rugby but Eastwood did a really good job with this, I felt the film really dragged at points and was made much worse by the (good at times) accents out of everyone, Morgan Freemans whispering in every scene didn't help either!

Pinball - 8/10
Really enjoyed this, had no idea it was treated the same as gambling back in the day, and knowing the pachinko parlour culture and Japans attitude toward it makes a lot more sense. Really enjoying films like this and Blackberry .etc, look forward to seeing Air soon.

Clifford the big red dog - 7/10
Didn't expect much at all from this and what one earth were they playing at with Jack Whitehall having a US accent when his sister in the movie had a British one? Other than that it was a surprisingly good family comedy.

Triangle of Sadness - 10/10
Heard a lot about this after saying I'd liked "The Menu" and "The white lotus" as another "eat the rich" piece of media, I almost turned it off completely in the first 20 minutes or so. The modelling industry and the petty fight between the young couple escalating so much, the tension was off the scale. I'm glad I kept it going, the tension like that escalated a few times, looking back they really did well with the first act setting that stage and building your insight into those characters for the later stages. I couldn't believe the contrast in reactions this film was pulling from me and the full-on laughter fits in some parts!
It's very long and ended on a bit of a Sopranos ending but I don't think anyone has any doubts about what actually happened.
 
ultim said:
Creed 3. 6/10. Poor story and I didnt feel the hype leading to the final fight. The worst out of the three films
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100% agreed

I know the weight classes are all over the place whenever movies feature combat sports but I really couldn't get past the gall of the movie trying to sell the Mexican guy as not only a heavyweight but somehow the champ!
 
Run https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8633478/

It's sometimes a nice surprise when you can't remember much about a film, really enjoyed seeing this again.
Well worth a watch.


The Ninth Gate https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/

Another film that I've seen some time ago, though I'm not sure if I saw it the whole way through before.
This time, I saw the entire film, and I have to say that if you haven't yet seen it and like horror/detective/thriller type movies,
then please do check it out. Very good indeed. Shame it's over, as I would really like to indulge in another movie like that.
 
Sisu - 6.5/10 - could have been 8/10 with some better writing.

I'd been really looking forward to this from the trailers but was ultimately a let down, i'd been promised John Wick v Inglorious ********, I got Captain Plot Armour vs Discount Nazis :(

Let me start with the good, the action is gloriously over the top, gory, satisfying, brutal and did all you expected of it from the trailers. The visuals feel real, you believe this is the tail end of WW2 and it looks bleak.

Where it falls flat is pushing the OTT nature that bit too far - silly character decisions and outright impossible survivability pushed me out of the immersion a few times. You've got a nazi sniper who's less than 50 metres from the target who doesn't miss his shots when it matters for the story, at a critical moment, instead he chooses to jump on a mounted gun instead of taking an easy killshot against Mr Plot Armour - just a small example but the movie is littered with them.

I'm being over crtitical, it's a throwaway action movie at the end of the day with the 'good' guy doing what he's supposed to and being done with great style, i'd have just preferred some scripts tweaks to keep me invested a little more.
 
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Guardians of the Galaxy 3

A pleasant relief after the poor quality of recent Marvel movies. Very different from the first two in tone, with much of the film being really dark, but the strength of these characters shines through. By giving characters individual motivations rather than relying on generic "save the world" vibes it manages to get you properly invested. The weirdness of the core cast means the weirdness of the world they are in works.

But there are sharp tonal inconsistencies with itself and with the other films of the franchise, like Rocket spends the movie building up to his climax where he frees all the animals then, in the pre-credits he's just happily murdering a bunch of animals again, or how they slaughter their way through the minions and creations of the High Evolutionist but get all squeamish about killing him. which limit it from being a must watch.

8/10 Quality entertainment.
 
Don't Look Up https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11286314/

I'm glad I made the effort to see it through this time, rather enjoyed it.
It highlights very well the madness that humans fall prey to. Made me smile a few times.


Source Code https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

I'll almost always watch anything that has Jake Gyllenhaal in. I don't think this was among his very best movies,
but I still found it quite enjoyable, and an interesting subject. A lovely addition was the inclusion of Vera Farmiga.
 
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arc@css said:
Source Code https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

I'll almost always watch anything that has Jake Gyllenhaal in. I don't think this was among his very best movies,
but I still found it quite enjoyable, and an interesting subject. A lovely addition was the inclusion of Vera Farmiga.
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I really enjoyed Source Code, but I wish it had ended at the kiss.

After Moon and Source Code I hoped that the director Duncan Jones (Zowie Bowie) would go onto to great things but after Warcraft and Mute I don't think that will happen. Sometimes it is better to stick to smaller budgets and be creative. Moon was made with budget of 5 million and is great film.
 
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