Movie Record 2022 Edition - The Bear and Badger

Cos

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

133. A View From the Top Finally got around to watching my Secret Santa present (sorry Cos!) and it was quite a good little film. And interesting. Starts off kinda Legally Blonde and a bit satirical and then just forgets about that stuff and becomes a pretty good rom com type thing. Am interested to read what Richard Ayaode has to say about it in his book. [6]

I keep meaning to check it out myself. It's on NowTV so might watch it this weekend.

Cos

96. Rashomon
Somehow this wasn't quite what I expected but thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. There were definitely points where I was marvelling at the technical aspects as I did find the pacing a bit slow at times, despite the trim running time, but the overall storytelling was still impressive. The numerous angles it looks at the story, not just from the perspective of those involved but the morality of their actions, gave it real depth. Not saying anything new I'm sure, it's a classic for a reason but always a joy when you can appreciate why. [8]

Wookienopants

Gotta catch em all!

Cos

Wookienopants

Smile

Suitably creepy horror. Rather enjoyed it up until the really obvious ending that we predicted about halfway in.

Gremill

71. Krampus
It ought to be really fucking shite, but it's actually a proper slice of retro-80s dark horror. Really quite unexpectedly great. 7

Gremill

72. The Grey Man
Action mayhem from the Russo Brothers, starring Ryan Gosling as a robotic CIA assassin who goes rogue against his corrupt handlers and Chris Evans as a marvelously unhinged psycho trying to hunt him down. I really liked this - it's derivative nonsense but it's ticks all of the right boxes for it's genre and the cast are brilliant. Evans should play more villains, he's great. 8

b0r1s

Yep great fun and Evans was obviously having a blast. Must have been great after years of Cap.

davyK

Tigerland Hadn't heard of this one. It's another Vietnam army training film and it's a bit uneven but it's rather good. A young Colin Farrell stars in this but there's a great support cast.

Brian and Charles Didn't know what to expect off this after seeing the trailer but I watched this on the flight home from the US yesterday. I think David Earl is a bit Marmite but on balance I like his thing. He plays an eccentric inventor who builds a robot and his character is a bit of a polish to what we have seen of him in Derek and After Life but he carries the film well in my opinion. It's very British and very odd but I really liked it.

Spoiler:

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Kow

I saw Tigerland on tv in Jordan. When I saw the cast list at the end, all these mystery women's names appeared. I realised every single scene with a woman in it had been cut out. Not sure it would have been any good if they had been in it, but anyway.

davyK

The cut I saw gave image credits at the end and it included some of the women characters. They didn't have much screentime though.

davyK

Cos wrote:

96. Rashomon Somehow this wasn't quite what I expected but thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. There were definitely points where I was marvelling at the technical aspects as I did find the pacing a bit slow at times, despite the trim running time, but the overall storytelling was still impressive. The numerous angles it looks at the story, not just from the perspective of those involved but the morality of their actions, gave it real depth. Not saying anything new I'm sure, it's a classic for a reason but always a joy when you can appreciate why. [8]

Felt very modern to me when I first watched this - must have been quite something to have seen at the time of release.

Moot_Geeza

The Wonder (Netflix)

Great cast. Big fan of Niamh Algar, she's been excellent every time I've seen her in films or on TV. Quality film too, nothing spectacularly good but well worth a watch.

nick_md

Watched that at the weekend, agree it was a quality Sunday afternoon piece. Cast solid, scenery gorgeous, story intriguing, just never made that leap to classic. Took me until the end to realise it was her off The Virtues, then had to explain The Virtues to the missus. She said it sounds depressing.

Moot_Geeza

She's not wrong. She's good in Calm With Horses too.

nick_md

Shit that's her in that as well.

davyK

My local indie (Queens' University Film Theatre) has a splendid Christmas season planned:

9th-24th It's a Wonderful Life
10th-15th The Bishop's Wife
10th, 14th-17th, 22nd,23rd Home Alone 2
11th,13th,16th,19th,20th,24th Elf
12th, 16th-18th, 21st-24th Muppet Christmas Carol
16th,18th,21st Die Hard
16th,17th,20th,22nd Miracle on 34th Street
17th,18th,23rd Carol
17th,19th,21st,23rd Frozen
18th,19th,23rd,24th Love Actually
19th, 20th The Apartment
19th-21st Arthur Christmas
20th Fanny and Alexander
21st,22nd Bell, Book and Candle
22nd Eyes Wide Shut
23rd Gremlins

Want to haul Wifey to Fanny and Alexander. Fancy Gremlins and It's a Wonderful Life's 24th viewing.

LivDiv

Red Eye
Plane thriller that offers some tension before going way off rails for the final act.

Dark Soldier

Soft & Quiet

One of the toughest pieces of film making I've seen in a while. Social horror. Disturbing, disgusting, but absolutely fucking relevant

Dark Soldier

I recommend that to anyone. I found it hard to watch.

nick_md

Love a DS horror rec, will get on that.

djchump

Lost Bullet 2 (Balle Perdue 2):
I watched the first Lost Bullet a while back and remember it had some fun car action, but not much else, so it didn't exactly leave a big impression on me.
The sequel, however, had me grinning like a loon multiple times. Some great car chases/stunts, and a couple of fantastic fights! Very much in the "French Car Chase Action Film" realms as the first 2 Taxi films (OG French, not shitty US remakes), Transporter 1 & 2 etc - i.e. very in the mould of Luc Besson.
Not as good as Banlieue 13, which is a stone cold classic, but worth a watch for the car chases and the 2 cracking fight scenes.

Dark Soldier

nick_md wrote:

Love a DS horror rec, will get on that.

If you want/need an upload, holla.

davyK

2017's War for the Planet of the Apes finishes off the redux of the old story and in the meantime it throws the kitchen sink in.

There's plenty of fan service/refs to the original two films what with Nova, Cornelius, alpha/omega, X shaped crucifixions et al - it also has echoes of Apocalypse Now and Bridge on the River Kwai while riffing on the concepts of the WW2 camps and kapos. There's even comic relief in places. erm...

I watched it because Woody Harrelson is in it but he's underused. I remember seeing an earlier entry in this series and thinking it was OK but the tech on show is impressive and this completes the tale, bringing it to a satisfying conclusion - it could be said to weave into the original Charlton Heston film.

Overall OK and killed a couple of hours.

poprock

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Unbearably shit movie trying to be clever and failing. Nic Cage plays Nic Cage being hired by a crime lord superfan to appear at a party as Nic Cage. A few genuinely funny moments does not a decent movie make.

davyK

hylian_elf wrote:

58. Flowers of Shanghai - 29/10 My first Hou Hsiao-hsien. A lovely film full of so many beautiful ladies, not least Michelle Reis! A period piece set in late 19th century China, portraying the interconnected lives of several courtesans and their benefactors/clients and the romance, tension, and jealousy that comes with it. An intriguing look back at a decadent and opulent time, when beautiful girls were trapped and improsoned from a young age and beaten, driven to work hard to buy their freedom. Shot by the renowend and masterful Mark Lee Ping-bing almost entirely as very long takes with the camera slowly moving between subjects of interest. Each scene taking place in a single room/location, it is beautiful to watch. There's some gentle classical music in the background, almost melancholic and never overbearing or taking cetre stage - that belongs to all the actors. Highly recommended for anyone who loves Asian cinema. [9] Watched it on Criterion Bluray. The booklet has a nice essay on the film and an insightful interview with the director. On disc supplements aren't many but I'll definitely give them a watch.

Spotted this Criterion release on the shelf in my local HMV (which has a 2 for £30 deal on at the mo). But I'm trying to restrict my library size.....I prefer to stream initially and then go physical for those films that really affect me. This sounds to be up my street. Not familiar with much Far Eastern films (outside of Godzilla, Kung Fu Hustle et al) - Kurosawa and Ozu are the only two I have had any experience with.

davyK

Devil's Knot is a true crime story which covers the decidedly dodgy case against 3 lads accused of killing three 8 year old boys. (They were released after 18 years via a plea bargain). Reece Witherspoon and Colin Firth star but it's all a bit workmanlike. An interesting story though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three

ShabbyMcCrabby

134. Soft and Quiet
Hard to know what to say about a film that is probably best watched without knowing too much about it apart from making sure you know that it goes to some unpleasant places. If you can stomach films that don't hold back and that touch upon modern issues then I highly recommend this, as does DS.
[9]

davyK

Goodnight Oppy is a splendid documentary by Amazon about the Spirit/Opportunity Mars rover project - the rovers were built to last 90days but lasted years (one lasted 15!) and discovered evidence for life sustaining water in Mars' ancient past. Interviews with the main team members is augmented with some CGI sequences showing the rovers on the Martian surface.

When it started I thought it was going to be a corny Wall-E type of thing but that initial sequence gave way to excellent detailed coverage of the different phases of the mission. Excellent , stirring stuff.

Gremill

73. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
It's a classic. 9

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