Movie Record 2022 Edition - The Bear and Badger

Kow

It was trash. I struggled to get even halfway through it. Marvel films and series are just getting worse and worse.

poprock

Moon Knight? Moon Shite, more like.

Kow

I saw a Moon Knight tv action figure thing in the shop yesterday, which about sums up the Disney attitude to all this.

ShabbyMcCrabby

djchump wrote:

You - main team of 5 plus I believe 2 part time artists. (My mistake - 481 shots): https://mobile.twitter.com/dunkwun/status/1510436479591280640
NB - probably spoilers in this article: https://www.fxguide.com/fxpodcasts/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-vfx-team-all-at-once/

Ooh, thanks for this. There's some very clever effects stuff throughout

davyK

Calvary We need to see more of Brendan Gleeson. He stars in this tasty little Irish film with various dark shades of humour that is well worth a watch. Very Irish though I don't think that limits its appeal.

davyK

Inside Man. Really enjoyed this crime caper film with a twist that has a good old fashioned ending. Sometimes you just need to see something like that and this really fits the bill. Entertaining and the stellar cast do their job admirably.

g.man

Love that movie.

davyK

Clive Owen has been underused over the years. I remember thinking he would have made a good Bond several years ago.

davyK

Spencer is an imagined Christmas holiday at Sandringham when Princess Diana and Charles' marriage was on the rocks and she was under the influence of her reported mental health issues. Kirsten Stewart does a brilliant job of the lead and there's solid support from the likes of Timothy Spall. There's a superb soundtrack here , primarily featuring slightly unsettling jazz/blues Miles Davis-esque trumpet which fits with and contributes to the overall tone.

Whatever your views on the royals, it's a very sad tale and one suspects in these more enlightened times Diana might have got the help she needed - or she may had had a less innocent outlook and accepted the hypocrisy of a royal life. We will never know. I don't think this film gives any great insight - how could it ? But it does make one think about the roles the famous play and the public's seemingly insatiable appetite for the banal.

poprock

Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Two hours of weak nostalgia-baiting which is admittedly a thousand times better than the last attempt to reboot the franchise. At least this one feels like a proper sequel.

ShabbyMcCrabby

44. Apollo 10 1/2
Netflix sneaks out the latest movie by Richard Linklater. A lovely 60s nostalgia trip to bring a kid during the time of the space race. Nice way to spend an evening.
[8]

Cos

I didn't know that was the new Linklater. Added to my list, cheers!

Cos

43. Pain and Glory
Absorbing drama about a movie director reflecting on his life and mostly house bound due to health issues. I should really watch more of Almodovar's work as the 4 or 5 films I've seen have all been wonderful. This isn't up there with the best of those but it's close - Banderas is fantastic, it looks beautiful and the music is superb. Loved everything about it! [8]

davyK

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

44. Apollo 10 1/2 Netflix sneaks out the latest movie by Richard Linklater. A lovely 60s nostalgia trip to bring a kid during the time of the space race. Nice way to spend an evening. [8]

On my list now.

davyK

just checked that out. Ah...no.

davyK

Watched Raging Bull with Scorsese and Schoonmaker commentary. Is one of the better ones with plenty of insight and background info. Film still looks beautiful and it's easy to take it for granted - this must have been monumental to have seen in 1980 on a big screen.

I didn't realise Thelma Schoonmaker was married to Michael Powell. Film making royalty.

Cos

44. The Northman
Elf and Shabs have summed it up well enough. Intense and visceral, the animalistic theme throughout was well realised and the sound design was incredible when really cranked up. It's very well shot, helped by stunning locations of course. Skarsgard and Kidman were both on top form but ultimately I didn't feel all that engaged with Amleth's journey in parts, though thankfully ended on a strong note. [7]

ShabbyMcCrabby

45. Alien -Extended
Double feature at the cinema. Have to do this every now and then. Still a masterpiece. Extended version doesn't ruin it as much as with Aliens. Still should stick to the original cut.

46. Aliens - Super Extended
Really don't think I've ever watched this one with the colony working and the turrets and Ripley's daughter. Must have been the first real cut off the film. Amazing how so much can be cut out and not effect the main themes and actually make for a much much better film. This has all that expert pacing sucked out of it

ShabbyMcCrabby

davyK wrote:

just checked that out. Ah...no.

Because of the animation? Have you not seen his other one in this style? Takes a moment to get used to it but it works really well. Especially for this kind of story where they can add flourishes

davyK

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

davyK wrote:

just checked that out. Ah...no.

Because of the animation? Have you not seen his other one in this style? Takes a moment to get used to it but it works really well. Especially for this kind of story where they can add flourishes

Animation - not so much. More the child-centred story.

ShabbyMcCrabby

I think it does a good job of evoking the nostalgia of being a kid in general with also a specific time period. If you have any fond memories of mucking about with your family and friends as a kid then you'll like it. Plus with added space stuff!

davyK

Might give it go..

tin_robot

Cos wrote:

43. Pain and Glory Absorbing drama about a movie director reflecting on his life and mostly house bound due to health issues. I should really watch more of Almodovar's work as the 4 or 5 films I've seen have all been wonderful. This isn't up there with the best of those but it's close - Banderas is fantastic, it looks beautiful and the music is superb. Loved everything about it! [8]

iPlayer currently has "The Human Voice" on it. It's an Almodovar short (30 minutes or so) starring Tilda Swinton, based on Jean Cocteau's play. (Which in turn inspired Almodovar's own "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown".)

It's pretty much what you'd expect from "Almodovar adapts a Cocteau play with Tilda Swinton" - it's odd, stylish, and ever so slightly disorientating, but worth a look if you want some more of his work, but don't have a couple of hours free for a full movie.

Cos

Good shout. Cheers, Tin!

ShabbyMcCrabby

47. The Sadness
Not well directed enough to be a good zombie film, not gory enough to be an extreme film, not fun enough to be a horror comedy thrill ride. Just average all the way through.
[2]

48. Ultrasound
Very solid mind bender that makes you really think about it and try and piece it together afterwards. Enjoyed this.
[7]

49. The Innocents
Tense, sometimes disturbing and really rather excellent story of kids who start to develop some magic/super powers. Fantastic kids actors too. Maybe a bit long.
[8]

Gremill

33. Palm Springs
Really entertaining time loop romcom with added JK Simmons goodness. 8

34. No Time To Die
I'm not a big fan of Bond but this was an entertaining way to spend a bank holiday. Some really great action sequences interspersed with a mixture of tedious exposition and ludicrous script. Too long and too many knowing winks to the fans that quickly got old. Some gorgeous location work and lovely cinematography but bang average overall. 6

b0r1s

Loved Palm Springs.

LivDiv

Yeah Palm Springs is a surprising gem.

Gremill

It's so rare to get a decent romcom

tin_robot

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
After all the Cage debate in the film thread, I thought I'd go and see this Nic Cage documentary* to understand the man better.

For all the meta, self-referential, "We Love Nic Cage But Do We?" gimmickry at play, this is actually a pretty straight forward buddy movie. Probably the only really surprising thing is that Pedro Pascal comes very close to stealing the film from Nic Cage despite it literally being a film about Nic Cage. They certainly make for an excellent pairing, with their chemistry tipping the whole thing into almost RomCom territory.

Beyond that - it's an entertaining way to spend a Bank Holiday afternoon, but that's about it. The action scenes are perfunctory, the plot throwaway (and entirely about itself), but you get the full gamut of Cage performances, lots of nods to the common criticisms aimed at the actor, a winning double act with Pedro Pascal and a bit of Sharon Horgan for good measure.

Just prepare yourself for literally every character to go "it's Nic Cage!" and for a significant chunk of his filmography to get name dropped for no real reason.

*Possibly not a documentary.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories