Movie Record 2022 Edition - The Bear and Badger

Raiziel

It was one of my early cinema experiences and little me loved it. It’s probably mostly nostalgia now, but I still love The Never-ending Story. I actually read the book by Michael Ende years later and it’s really good. The film only covers the first half of the book. It gets surprisingly dark in the latter half if I remember it correctly.

hylian_elf

It was one of my first too. Primary school trip. Haven’t seen it since, though.

davyK

Never Ending Story was a VHS experience for me. Thought it over-rated a tad but that was probably my age. It does get a bit dark though toward the end and that's when I thought more of it.

hylian_elf

Mere coincidence that I followed up a Tony by a Ridley.

28. Alien Covenant - 2/6
Atrocious. These are just getting worse and worse. No tension, shit plot and characters, hardly scary, and characters make the stupidest mistakes - more so than in Prometheus. And they mess around with previous stuff again. In an uninteresting way, losing all the interesting things from before.
Utter fucking garbage.
[2]

Gremill

It's worth watching the Pitch Meeting for that one.

Raiziel

I’m guilty of liking both Prometheus and Covenant, while at the same time recognising their faults.

davyK

Beneath The Planet of the Apes is the sequel to the Charlton Heston original. Heston makes a return in support of James Franciscus and the primary ape roles are still played by Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall et al. Had a decent budget too by the look of it (though it could have done with some more to give a better sense of scale). This follows on directly from the end of the original.

I first watched this back in my teens and I didn't think it would age but this isn't bad at all though it gets a bit mad toward the end (the church service!). Importantly, it finished the story at the end. The low budget followups to this which were shoehorned out of the script delivered less and less and shouldn't have seen the light of day.

Gremill

Is that the one where they worship the bomb?

davyK

Gremill wrote:

Is that the one where they worship the bomb?

Yep....bonkers..

"All things bright and beautiful....."

Moot_Geeza

I'm on board with Top Gun being naff but Neverending Story is great. As Raiziel says the book is excellent too.

b0r1s

davyK wrote:

Gremill wrote:

Is that the one where they worship the bomb?

Yep....bonkers..

"All things bright and beautiful....."

I’m sure they parodied this in Futurama

Raiziel

Moot_Geeza wrote:

I'm on board with Top Gun being naff but Neverending Story is great. As Raiziel says the book is excellent too.

o/

Gremill

b0r1s wrote:

davyK wrote:

Gremill wrote:

Is that the one where they worship the bomb?

Yep....bonkers..

"All things bright and beautiful....."

I’m sure they parodied this in Futurama

Yeah, in the episode in the mutant sewers.

davyK

Battle of Britain is a not inaccurate telling of the said air war after Dunkirk held over the South of England. It was a close thing and the tale is told well with a ensemble cast of pure British class and a who's who of stock German actors.

Some superb air scenes with tight formations breaking up when under attack etc. And there's a stirring soundtrack too. The Germans aren't portrayed quite in the usual lazy way and some parallels are drawn between them and the British/Allies.

Still worth a look.

hylian_elf

29. Murder on the Orient Express - 3/6
Not read any Christie, so I don’t know how faithful this film is to the source material on story, plot and the Poirot character. I found it a bit messy, everyone spoke and moved too fast and the movie moved fast. Not enough time for anything to sink in and for me to formulate any real opinions of or feelings for the characters. I didn’t actually care much for the plot. Disappointing.
[5]

RedDave2

top gun: maverick

So much cheese it should come with an allergen warning, this throwback to the 80s is pretty meh except for the plane bits which elevate it so much. The trial run of the bombing path and the mission itself are only about 7 minutes combined but are excellent. Can't say I thought it was a particular good movie at all but those two scenes are almost worth the cinema experience.

davyK

I'm not one for having heroes. I have people I admire for different reasons but there aren't many of them. When it comes to sport there are a few people who were around when I was of a certain age. The very few who create a sense of awe in the spectator. One of those people is Diego Maradonna, another was Ayrton Senna. There is no-one close before or since. Some of his races are like film scripts and watching the man drive in the rain showed the gap between him and everyone else on the track.

Senna is a documentary of him, showing early footage of him go-karting and also showing the first person view of the last seconds of his life. Footage even now that gives me a sense of dread and sadness. This film highlights how better he was than even I realised.

Brilliant piece of work.

b0r1s

Everything Everywhere All At Once

It lives up to its title with a torrent of audio visual noise thrown at you interspersed with moments of quiet humour, drama and even a very zen moment of peace that completely threw me. Having watched it at the cinema last night I’m still deciding if I enjoyed this film or just survived it.

It’s certainly unique in my viewing experience and the performances were all great with my favourite being Ke Huy Quan as the poor suffering husband with a heart of gold by he real emotional heart of the film for me.

I went in looking for crazy fights and wacky multiverse “stuff” and in that regard it didn’t disappoint. It’s just that all of that is not what the film is about.

I really don’t know how to score* this yet but think I have got to watch it again.

*the missus hated it!

poprock

davyK wrote:

Brilliant piece of work.

It’s an amazing piece of film, that. One of the few documentaries I felt I had to buy and own to rewatch.

Cos

59. Paddington 2
A wonderful family movie. Plenty of top laughs, heartwarming without being too soppy and some fantastic set pieces. A good example of 'chuck a load of great actors in for small roles' too as they all play their bits really well. It drags a little in the second half when the laugh rate drops for a spell but picks up to end on a strong note. [8]

Gremill

43. Independence Day: Recycled
Absolute dogshit from start to finish. 1

Cos

Perfectly succinct and yet somehow still more words than it deserves.

hylian_elf

30. One Hour Photo - 4/6
Tense psychological thriller about a guy obsessed with a particular family. Doesn't do anything new or great, but it was enjoyable.
[7]

Yossarian

hylian_elf wrote:

Doesn't do anything new

It was released twenty years ago, TBF.

hylian_elf

Lol true but even for then, it’s just standard fare but just done well and enjoyable enough

nick_md

I watched and enjoyed Archive on netflix. Great robot design, unsurprisingly.

I also watched and enjoyed The Girl on the Third Floor on netflix. Didn't expect much going in but found most of the film spot on for what it was. Just didn't quite land the ending for me.

Minkymu

poprock wrote:

davyK wrote:

Brilliant piece of work.

It’s an amazing piece of film, that. One of the few documentaries I felt I had to buy and own to rewatch.

Im going to fess up to it making me cry. Superb docu

ShabbyMcCrabby

Gremill wrote:

43. Independence Day: Recycled
Absolute dogshit from start to finish. 1

I saw this after I had broken my collarbone that morning and discovered that breaking a bone wasn't going to be the worst thing to happen to me that day.

davyK

Damnation sees Bela Tarr create his trademark style of rain, long shots and dialogues, drink and desolation. It's highlight is perhaps the song sung by one of the characters near the beginning.

Tarr usually squeezes a few laughs out of his situations but this one doesn't quite manage it for me in this story of self loathing and betrayal on a treadmill of life. However forming an opinion after a 1st watch is hazardous. This is just as watchable as his others - there is something mesmerising about his style. His use of music and sound gives some sections a trance like quality.

A bit more happens in this film than the others I have watched despite the short 2hr run time and it feels more intimate. But I know that opinion will change after a rewatch. Tarr's films are never less than memorable.

Webbins

A little catching up to do. Currently at 64 watched.

42. Surge
A commanding central performance by Ben Whishaw chronicling one man's mental breakdown. An intentionally very confusing and discomforting watch. 8

43. Flatliners (1990)
A missed opportunity to properly explore the mystique of life beyond death instead preferring to fall back on a tale of guilt and atonement. Belting 90s brat pack cast however. 6

44. Don't Breathe 2
A sequel to the original that loses most of what made the first a success. Stephen Lang is still immensely watchable as the blind veteran who is seemingly cast as an anti hero despite his actions in the first film. 7

45. Bad Hair
I quite enjoyed this comedy horror, a satire on the perception of changing image to gain success. A girl looking to make it as a VJ at a TV station (it's the 90s yo) changes her Afro hair to a more culturally acceptable hair weave, unaware of its demonic nature. 7.5

46. Gosford Park
I'd always wanted to watch this 2001 star studded black murder mystery but I can't say I fully enjoyed it now that I have. Maybe I've been spoilt by Knives Out but this felt flat and meandering in comparison. 6.5

47. Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight
Polish slasher that wears its Friday the 13th inspirations a little too much on its sleeve. Not terrible but once they ripped off the sleeping bag kill from F13 Part 7 my interest waned. 6

48. Derailed
Fairly decent twisty thriller featuring Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston and a menacing Vincent Cassel. Owen stars as a man who fights back when he becomes the victim of a violent and destructive scam. 7

49. Murder on the Orient Express
All star Kenneth Branagh version of the Agatha Christie novel. Lavishly produced and well played but lacking an equally lavish script and that much needed sparkle to maintain interest. 7

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