2018 - Films

[MikeT66]

It’s a bit quiet in here, so thought it was time to try and start a new thread.

Although not all 2018 films, so far this year, recent films I’ve seen have been…

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3YhGx5pU[/youtube]

Despite the hype (which tends to put me off before I’ve even seen a film), I loved this. Brilliant dark humour, and quite removed the generic ‘American/Hollywood’ style of film – has a very independent look and feel. Great performances from Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and especially Sam Rockwell. A very well-deserved 9/10.

Darkest Hour
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtJ60u7SUSw[/youtube]

I can definitely see why Gary Oldman’s performance has won awards, but I thought the film just a little too slow… plus, I already knew the ending! :grin: Did raise some interesting facts that I never knew (the Calais regiment that was sacrificed for the troops at Dunkirk - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Calais_(1940) ), and I was aware that there was some lack of support initially for Churchill, but never realised a lot was from within his own party. 8/10.

The Cloverfield Paradox
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrxBaaINseI[/youtube]
Something a bit different after the first two reviews. I actually like the original Cloverfield. This follow-up was a bit of a time-shifting sci-fi story, though. Reminded me at times of the ‘Event Horizon’ film. Good ending, though. 7.5/10.

Atomic Blonde
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIUube1pSC0[/youtube]
Berlin, prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. A rather ridiculous spy caper from the director of the superb (I thought so, anyway) John Wick (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RllJtOw0USI), featuring Charlize Theron as the main character. Classic Porsche 911s and other German metal (cars, not music), I thought it was utterly brilliant. Ms Theron is superbly stylish and sexy, the action pretty much non-stop. I’m almost embarrassed to give this 10/10, but it’s one I will watch over and over again.

Anyone any others to recommend?

 

[Robyorks]

Enjoyed Darkest Hour and Atomic Blonde, haven't seen the others yet.

Like you mentioned, John Wick 1 and 2, cracking films!

A few of my favorites so far: The Great Wall, Logan, Kong - Skull Island, Fast and Furious 8, King Arthur - Legend of the Sword, War for the Planet of the Apes, Trainspotting 2 and of course Bladerunner 2049. Oh, and the Kingsman films are worth a mention. Enjoyed them both.

 

[MikeT66]

Oh, bugger. Forgot Bladerunner 2049, Rob! The original was fabulous and a genuine classic of its genre, so I wasn't surprised to see lots of poor reviews from Bladerunner fans of the new one - it is always the way.

However, I can imagine that if the original was relased now, with no changes, it would be classed as boring and slow. I thought Bladerunner 2049 was brilliant, actually, with fantastic cinematography, and a more than adequate sequel to the original.

Kong - Skull Island had a cracking soundtrack (Fortunate Son by Creedence - brilliant). The problem for me was that it offered nothing further than the re-re-re-(re?)make featuring Jack Black from 2005.

Regarding the John Wick films - I was prepared to be bored stupid by the first, and watched it purely because it was available. I was surprised to be totally blown away. Yes, I know, no plot, no real story... but awesome action, superbly and slickly shot, a soundtrack to rival that of The Matrix, fabulous cars (I'd take that Ford Mustang of Wick's over just about anything) and I even had to fight back a tear when the puppy died. Second one not quite as thrilling, but it would be unfair to judge it that way as the first was so unexpectedly great.

Still not seen Trainspotting 2 - but I'll put it on my list of ones to watch for!

 

[red]

I've seen nothing this year yet, was wanting to see Black Panther but my wife wasn't so enthusiastic.

 

[MikeT66]

To be honest, I never really ‘got’ the Marvel/DC Comic superhero stuff – apart from Batman, as I liked the dark and flawed character. I really loved the latest Batman films (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises) and, ahem, for some reason loved Batman Returns with Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVQAI4NdZR0[/youtube]

:grin:

However, one of my favourite films of all is ‘Watchmen’. I know a lot of fans of the original comic/illustrated novel disliked it, but I thought it was superb. Amazing cinematography and a fantastic story… with one of the best opening sequences ever, with its portrayal of an alternate present.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h24D87SqaLQ[/youtube]

 

[Robyorks]

I love the marvel/ DC stuff. Not so keen on Batman or the Bat vs Superman thing but I watched them anyway.
RE Black Panther, I downloaded a really shitty copy of that last week, thought I would preview it before splashing out on the extortionate cinema fee and had my hands slapped from Virginmedia.
Didn't even watch the bloody thing!

 

[MikeT66]

[post]368094[/post] I love the marvel/ DC stuff. Not so keen on Batman or the Bat vs Superman thing but I watched them anyway.
RE Black Panther, I downloaded a really shitty copy of that last week, thought I would preview it before splashing out on the extortionate cinema fee and had my hands slapped from Virginmedia.
Didn't even watch the bloody thing!

:?: How did Viginmedia know what you had downloaded? That's a bit... intrusive - unless you went over a bandwidth limit (even though most are 'unlimited' these days, I think). A few years ago a friend ripped all his DVD collection (some 1000+ films) onto a couple of hard-drives, then backed them up on his private cloud storage. He got a snotty letter from his internet provider that he was storing copyrighted items in his account. He asked them how they knew, as the cloud storage account was supposed to be totally private and inaccessible to anyone else (he also had quite a few 'private' photos of his wife stored there). They replied that due to the amount that he was storing they had to check that it wasn't anything terrorist related. Yeah, of course... :roll:

The older I get the less I like the cinema - I can't stand the constant noise and people being incapable of sitting still for an hour or two. Plus, the older I get the more it comes in handy to be able to pause a movie for a toilet break! :lol: The last time I went (to see Spectre, I think - I wanted to see it on the big screen) there was guy two rows in front looking at the gigantic screen of his phone for the whole movie, which was actaully brighter than the main cinema screen and really distracting. I don't know if was that experience that put me off cinemas, or the fact that Spectre was nowhere near as good as Skyfall or Casino Royale.

 

[Robyorks]

I think all service providers have flags for that kind of thing, probably because it was a disney studios thing. I have 200mbs bandwidth and use it to it's full potential, that's only the 2nd time they have told me off.

Re: cinemas, I'm kinda the same. We (the family) went at Christmas to see the new Jumanji movie at the Everyman place in Leeds. Sofa's, tables and food brought to you. That was ok but the film was crap :lol:

 

[MikeT66]

A new Jumanji? Hmmm... doesn't sound like the first one needed improving on.

Saw Molly's Game this weekend. True story of a girl who ran one of the biggest poker tables in the world.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4UPet8Nyc[/youtube]

Really enjoyed it, and a great performance for the beautiful Jessica Chastain. Well worth a watch.

On the 'true story' theme, another watched this weekend was American Made, featuring Tom Cruise as a pilot who became a gun-runner on behalf of the CIA.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEBIJRAkujM[/youtube]

As a person, Mr Cruise seems a bit... odd. However, he does have the habit of making some great films. I thought American Made was a fantastic, rollicking ride... even if Ms Chastain is easier on the eye than Mr Cruise!

 

[red]

Feel like I need to start watching some films

 

[MikeT66]

I probably watch more films and TV Series (on the computer via Amazon, etc) than I used to since getting rid of the TV (when the old analogue signal was switched off). It's also probably why I'm always on the look-out for good recommendations! If we're not out and about, I quite like to watch a TV Series episode during the week after work, and a film or two at the weekend - much better than the usual rubbish on TV.

 

[MikeT66]

A bit late to this one, but currently watching 'Billions'. Halfway through Season 1, and is pretty damned good so far... even if some of the stock-market chat goes waaay over my head.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_raEUMLL-ZI[/youtube]

 

[MikeT66]

Hurricane Heist. Watched (endured) this last weekend.

Script seemed to be taken from a ripped up and discarded copy of 'Twister', so lots of "C'mon, let's go!" and, er, "Let's go!!" lines being shouted...

There may be some spoilers coming up if you really want to watch it...








It was a tad predictable - mainly when one of the main characters (one of the two brothers - one of which is now a hurricane expert, the other an ex-army dropout) let slip (for no real reason) into a conversation that he'd done "a couple of tours of Afghanistan"... just so you knew he could handle a gun if needed - and now you knew he was going to need to take up arms at some point. The most predictable bit was the shouting out of an American football move/play late on in the film between the two brothers as they sat in different trucks which was the very same football moves that they'd been studying when poor old daddy was swept up by a hurricane in front of them when they were kids. Served daddy right for crashing his car in front of a hurricane, anyway - if he'd been driving a Puma instead of a clapped-out truck he could have saved his life by not crashing in the first place (thanks to the sublime road-holding of the Puma) and saved the subsequent film from needing to be written into the bargain. One son could then have gone to work in the local WalMart instead of becoming a hurricane expert (in some strange psychological way of trying to fathom why daddy died) and the other could have done bar work instead of escaping his trauma with a 'couple of tours of Afghanistan'.

Another appalling bit was when they were in a convoy of trucks, racing a hurricane. One of the trucks was nugged into a nearby field, taking a detour of roughly half the state before rejoining the road (which was wide enough to be an aircraft runway and, judging by the length of time the trucks drove on it, about 489 miles long with no corners). Bizarrely, the truck which was nudged into the field rejoined the road perfectly just behind the others - they must have stopped for a picnic in the meantime in order for the last one to catch up. Oh, and as usual for American film car stuff, depsite racing at high speed, there's always that extra Gear to move up to when you need to go just a bit faster...

Three out of... no, make it two out of ten. Only for the joys of counting the 'Let's go' lines. Rubbish.

 

[Robyorks]

Recent ones - Ready Player One 10/10, Black Panther 7/10, Game Night 6/10, Pacific Rim (2) 5/10, Red Sparrow was a DNF, fell asleep through boredom.
TV shows include the Blacklist (awesome from day one) Westworld, now on season 2 and has me on the edge of my seat, Lethal Weapon (because I love the films) and Designated Survivor. Had a go at Agents of Shield last night, still on the fence. Ill report back after a few more episodes.
Oh, and a four part show on 'normal' telly called Kiss Me First. Very dark and weird but very good all the same!

 

[MikeT66]

Ready Player One - also saw that recently and was surprised to find I quite enjoyed it. Red Sparrow was a bit run-of-the-mill, but quite violent in places. It was worth sticking with for a twist at the end, though.

The Lethal Weapon series is pretty good - took a little time to get Gibson/Glover out my head initially, but it was well worth sticking to. Looks like the guy who plays Riggs has been sacked for poor on-set behaviour/attitudes, so not sure if will return after this series.

Kiss Me First sounds interesting though - will look out for this.

Coming up in 2018 is The Terror, which also looks like it could be quite special...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaRAi5P9lPo[/youtube]