Rate the last film you watched (4)..

[arrested_development]

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Was rated the #1 film of all time on some list. I rate it 0 for waste of time and the worst film I've ever seen.

Edit: I should expand on that. For over 3 hours, nothing happens and it happens in almost real time.

[Blackflies]

Smile (2022)

6/10

[Jen.]

Leave the World Behind (2023) - 2/10

[anewyear]

^ I saw it last night. Could've been really good but what a crap ending. And a total mishmash where things didn't make sense. How did their house have electricity? Feeling more generous though so going with a 3.5/10

[Jen.]

The way Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke interacted with each other (i.e. with no chemistry at all) made me think they were a recent couple and the kids belonged to one of them (or they had one each) - it wasn't until about an hour in when talking to the other guy that I realised they were actually supposed to have been together for 16+ years I know Ethan is usually decent, but I've never seen Julia in anything before so I'm not sure if she's just a very wooden actor or that was supposed to be her character.

The camera turning to the side and zooming in and out, together with the relentless music, made it feel like it was trying and failing to be like a Hitchcock film. I suppose that's why the plot was a bit bland, because it was supposed to all be about the characters and the tension, but they just weren't well written at all so it would have actually benefitted from a few stupid twists thrown in.

[Blackflies]

My Fair Lady

Watching it now. Haven’t seen it in years but loved it as a child. Deserves more credit than Oliver, if you ask me. 8/10.

[Eraserhead]

Originally Posted by Jen.

The way Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke interacted with each other (i.e. with no chemistry at all) made me think they were a recent couple and the kids belonged to one of them (or they had one each) - it wasn't until about an hour in when talking to the other guy that I realised they were actually supposed to have been together for 16+ years I know Ethan is usually decent, but I've never seen Julia in anything before so I'm not sure if she's just a very wooden actor or that was supposed to be her character.

The camera turning to the side and zooming in and out, together with the relentless music, made it feel like it was trying and failing to be like a Hitchcock film. I suppose that's why the plot was a bit bland, because it was supposed to all be about the characters and the tension, but they just weren't well written at all so it would have actually benefitted from a few stupid twists thrown in. What a strange career McG has had.

I mostly agree. A disappointing film overall. This director tries to do a lot of very ambitious technical flourishes. Somehow, I watched all of Mr. Robot whilst not particularly liking it…so I thought I’d give this film a go. It’s not changed my mind.

[Eraserhead]

The Browning Version (1951) 8/10

A film that never escapes its theatrical origins….nor does it need to. Terence Rattigan’s adaptation of his own play is a study of failure. A teacher retires from a long held post at a boys school and realises his whole career has been wasted, and his marriage a sham.

[biscuits]

1408

This was billed to me as being "the creepiest movie ever"

Now I have ear problems, so I'm guessing what they actually said was, "This is the crappiest movie ever"

Haha it wasn't that bad but it wasn't amazing.

[Merritt]

Just watched Robocop 3 for the first time since I was a wee little Merritt. You know what, it wasn't that bad! I mean, it was bad, but it was fun. They took out all the effing and jeffing and gore, but you had Stephen Root and Rip Torn, and Robocop's clearly just showing off with his new gun arm attachment. Sexy Japanese cyborg ninjas too, three of them even! They'd have got the job done if they stopped fannying about doing somersaults.

[Appear]

Leave the World Behind

I was into it. People have been complaining about the length but I didn't really notice it being overlong. As soon as the daughter entered the bunker I guessed what the 'abrupt' ending would be, but I quite liked it. 8/10


Wonka

Even though I take issue with a cheery depiction of Wonka that's fundamentally at odds with the book and the other films, I enjoyed it and would have loved it as a kid.
As it's own thing, 7/10. As a 'prequel' that's meant provide background for the original, 6/10.

[Merritt]

Saltburn. Good stuff. I love Barry Keoghan. Wasn't overly keen on the ending...

The exposition/twist dump felt a bit like the end of a Saw film. I think maybe it'd have worked better without it being spelled out. I liked the end end though, with him having a good old dance about the place while hanging dong.

[biscuits]

^ hoping to watch that at some point today.

To Leslie - this was a film about a lady who is trying to make her way through life after burning all of her relationships (motherhood, friendships, family) due to addiction.

To biscuits, don't watch this film/10

Cinderella - the live action version. Talk about over acting haha this was a little bit painful to watch but it was okay.

The glass slippers were gorgeous/10

[Merritt]

^^ You can't bring up Zardoz without mentioning how Sean Connery is dressed

Forget your hoverboards and your robot butlers, the real tragedy of the future we're living in is that we don't all go about our business looking like that.

[Merritt]

Apologies for the massive Zardoz pic. Actually, no, I apologise for nothing, it's exactly as large as it should be.

[Dougella]

^ No need to apologise for that, phoar....

[Chess&Junkfood]

Trying to do a bit of rustling I see, Merritt!

Nice try!

Although I don't want you to go away empty handed:




Be gentle! And only a loan of course!

Happy Holidays.

[R.H.I.N.O.]

Leave the World Behind on Netflix.

Very hyped film at the moment. It was decent but didn't blow me away.

[biscuits]

Saltburn -

Finally, a film that I didn't hate/10

Originally Posted by Merritt

Saltburn. Good stuff. I love Barry Keoghan. Wasn't overly keen on the ending...

The exposition/twist dump felt a bit like the end of a Saw film. I think maybe it'd have worked better without it being spelled out. I liked the end end though, with him having a good old dance about the place while hanging dong.

I agree that it definitely didn't need explaining, it was pretty obvious!
It could have done with a Bandersnatch style interaction to choose the ending. If you are clueless and need it spelling out, press the red button otherwise take it away, Sophie!

[Appear]

^ I just watched it. I saw it advertised a while ago and thought it looked up my street. Then everyone kept going on about it so it put me off. But it was good. Especially Rosamund Pike's character. I reckon it gets a 7. Maybe an 8.



One Life

It was great. And made me cry more than once. 9/10


Aquaman: the new one

No. 2/10

[Chess&Junkfood]

I watched 1922 on Netflix. It was ok. Although I didn't realise it was a horror film until I realised it was a horror film. At which point I remember thinking that's not very pleasant. So I will give this film 7/10.

Anyway, that should cover it.

[Merritt]

Oppenheimer. It was good, but there's something about Christopher Nolan's films that leave me feeling... I dunno, like they're technically good, but don't manage to touch the soul... or something. Like reading an interesting Wikipedia page.

I'm really disappointed that he didn't capitalise on the 'Albert Einstein suddenly appearing' thing. Him popping out from behind a car wasn't enough, I wanted him to appear in mirrors, from behind cupboard doors, from inside cupboards. Sort yourself out, Chris lad.

[Merritt]

Fool's Paradise. God bless Charlie Day, but this was so tedious I couldn't be bothered to finish it.

[Appear]

Poor Things

I can't make up my mind about it. It was inventive and interesting and really quite funny in places, but I did find myself getting bored towards the end. Beyond the initial premise I'm not sure the story was that great. Emma Stone was fairly great in the role though and I did enjoy Marc Ruffalo's bum...

7/10.

[Merritt]

I've just watched the TV series The Curse, so I'm eager to see Emma Stone in another mad role, but I don't want to put any effort in to going out to see it. Can someone make Poor Things come on my telly, please?

Last night I watched that new Dungeons & Dragons film. It was a decent bit of fun. Sometimes it's nice to watch something that's just a decent bit of fun, innit?

[Appear]

^ Have you watched Maniac on Netflix? Her role wasn't quite as mad as Poor Things from what I can remember but the show itself was pretty zany (and good).

[T]

The Beekeeper - 7/10



I don't mind Jason Statham i do like his films... this film wasn't bad to be fair but part of the film had bits of John Wick about it... i do like a good revenge film!

[Merritt]

Originally Posted by Appear

^ Have you watched Maniac on Netflix? Her role wasn't quite as mad as Poor Things from what I can remember but the show itself was pretty zany (and good).

'Fraid not, and I've just cancelled my subscription. I'll make sure to give it a watch though when I inevitably forget why I cancelled and sign up again

Last night I watched Elysium. It was like watching a video game cutscene. Completely 2 dimensional characters, and the story ignores all the potential interesting world building in favour of guns and robots and robots with guns.

The medical beds that can rebuild peoples' faces and cure late stage cancer in 5 seconds made me chuckle.

[Merritt]

House, or Hausu, or The Not the Hugh Laurie Thing

[.gif of man with his arse in a bucket spinning around on the floor that won't load any more]

^ My review in gif form.

Heard a lot about it, and while it doesn't exactly whizz into my best films ever list, it was certainly an experience. Visually I don't think I've seen anything like it. It had that sort of twisted playfulness you get with Jan Svankmajer, and with the painted backdrops and animated SFX, it felt like a live action cartoon. The acting and over-peppiness of the girls was reminiscent of an afternoon CITV show, and the whole film could be a spooky-for-5-o'clock-on-a-weekday comedy drama if not for the occasional nudity and gore. Big respect for the inclusion of a Shining-esque man spending the whole film coming to the rescue, only to turn into a pile of bananas.

[Merritt]

I've recently watched the first four Mission Impossible films. More than anything I'm interested in the rate of inflation when it comes to evil bad guy loot expectations

In the first one, it's a paltry $10m, then it's £37m, then $875m, then no less than full-scale nuclear war. If they aren't trying to blow up the moon in the next film, I'm going to be disappointed.