Last film watched

[paddy no 11]

Thunder road - written directed and lead role by the same fella - great effort

[Mikey Brown]

Thunder road - written directed and lead role by the same fella - great effort

I stumbled across this and was left literally open-mouthed at the opening scene. I’d never seen anything like it. I think it was a theatre piece on its own beforehand which probably explains that.

The film overall is wobbly to say the least, but a few incredible moments made it very worthwhile* for me.

*As a person that likes wanky, mopey, indie shit.

[paddy no 11]

Yeah opening scene is amazing

Watch the vampire caper you'll love it

[Numbers]

What we do in the shadows - hilarious vampire capers from new Zealand

This is good fun, have you seen the BBC TV Series? It's directed by Taika Waititi who is the writer and star of the film and is better imo, Jojo Rabbit looks like it's going to be good as well. Also see Hunt for the Wilderpeople, it's great.

[paddy no 11]

Cheers

[Donny osmond]

What we do in the shadows - hilarious vampire capers from new Zealand

Watched it the other day, very good film. Didn't really get into the TV series but film was excellent. "We're werewolves, not swear-wolves".

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[paddy no 11]

Jojo rabbit, a bit meh really was hoping for more caper really. The anne frank/boy in striped pyjamas stuff has been covered already

[paddy no 11]

Oldboy (again) I guess if we didn't have dross then we wouldn't have masterpieces like this

[Donny osmond]

As a tribute ... Life Of Brian remains my favourite film ever. Rip TJ.

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[Mikey Brown]

I don't feel at home in this world anymore.

What. The. Fuck.

[AL.]

Watched a film called "Jexi" on Amazon last , following being ill and having watched everything know to man (presumably), has some guy I always thought a dick head in it, but the sarcastic/sadistic/evil phone had me in stitches at times....

[WaspInWales]

Watched a film called "Jexi" on Amazon last , following being ill and having watched everything know to man (presumably), has some guy I always thought a dick head in it, but the sarcastic/sadistic/evil phone had me in stitches at times....

I watched that last night and thought it was ok. The phone was definitely the star [emoji23]

I like Adam Devine. I think Workaholics is one of the funniest shows ever!

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[Numbers]

Watched a film called "Jexi" on Amazon last , following being ill and having watched everything know to man (presumably), has some guy I always thought a dick head in it, but the sarcastic/sadistic/evil phone had me in stitches at times....

?Have you seen the Pacific Warriors documentary on Prime, it's excellent (tho quite painful to watch at times as a Welshman)

[Numbers]

I watched Uncut Gems on Netflix last night, it has Adam Sandler in it but, despite that it's rather good, he is much better when he isn't trying to be funny.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

1917 - dire beyond measure.

I can see why it won the Oscar for best cinematography as the complexity of capturing such bewildering movement in the famous 'single shot' style is impressive, however:

the performances of the entire cast are either wooden (MacKay), hammed (Cumberbatch, Firth, Strong, Scott and Madden in particular) or simply bad (Chapman, particularly);

the plot is incredible (As in not remotely credible). Mendes says the storyline lodged with him when he was a child, and this makes sense as it is naively infantile;

chapters are blatantly filched from Cold Mountain (The French girl with a hungry baby in the ruins of Écoust), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (The escape by jumping into the river - a river that is sluggish at the point at which the principal first crosses it and yet has become a fast-raging torrent, complete with Niagara Falls, by the time he jumps into it at the other end of the village) and any teen horror flick in which the central character is chased through a darkened forest/building/maze/ruin by a murderous bogeyman;

the absence of historical continuity/accuracy. The journey of the 2 main characters (Both lance corporals) begins in a peaceful glade where they are sunning themselves, passes through a fairly accurate if desperately telescoped depiction of a trench system up to the front line (A fault that is repeated later in the film when within the space of a few yards we are passed back from the shell-shattered front line to another quiet glade where the Regimental Aid Post has been set up in an immaculate canvas tent village) where they are casually briefed by a major general on a the requirement to run a message up to a forward battalion that is about to put in an attack against the new defensive system to which the dastardly Hun has deliberately withdrawn. We are told that one of the 'runners' brother is with the doomed battalion and hence the need to get the message through to call off the attack. This was unnecessary drama, such messages were run a thousand times a day on the Western Front - but I would venture never off the back of a personal briefing by the major general commanding the Division.

The opening titles tell us that this is April 1917, the month in which the British fought the Battles of Vimy Ridge and Arras, and in which the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg line - all of this is correctly captured in the film, right down to the chalk that was such a visible geological feature. What is less accurate is the portrayal of the no mans land immediately in front of the British position. The film was clearly inspired by images of Passchendaele, a battle that didn't begin until June 1917, and didn't become the horror of mud for which it is infamous until the Autumn of that year.

Cashing in historical accuracy for political correctness. I acknowledge that today's British Army is not doing as well as it should in terms of recruiting and retaining enough soldiers from the BAME community, but it is simply ludicrous to put a black or an Asian face in an English county regiment during the Great War. Mendes does both and not infrequently or surreptitiously. If he was aiming to send a message then fair enough, but it must be acknowledged that in doing so he has substantially compromised historical integrity.

The BAFTAs giving it just about every award in its cupboard is ludicrous. Its shyte!

[paddy no 11]

1917 - dire beyond measure.

I can see why it won the Oscar for best cinematography as the complexity of capturing such bewildering movement in the famous 'single shot' style is impressive, however:

the performances of the entire cast are either wooden (MacKay), hammed (Cumberbatch, Firth, Strong, Scott and Madden in particular) or simply bad (Chapman, particularly);

the plot is incredible (As in not remotely credible). Mendes says the storyline lodged with him when he was a child, and this makes sense as it is naively infantile;

chapters are blatantly filched from Cold Mountain (The French girl with a hungry baby in the ruins of Écoust), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (The escape by jumping into the river - a river that is sluggish at the point at which the principal first crosses it and yet has become a fast-raging torrent, complete with Niagara Falls, by the time he jumps into it at the other end of the village) and any teen horror flick in which the central character is chased through a darkened forest/building/maze/ruin by a murderous bogeyman;

the absence of historical continuity/accuracy. The journey of the 2 main characters (Both lance corporals) begins in a peaceful glade where they are sunning themselves, passes through a fairly accurate if desperately telescoped depiction of a trench system up to the front line (A fault that is repeated later in the film when within the space of a few yards we are passed back from the shell-shattered front line to another quiet glade where the Regimental Aid Post has been set up in an immaculate canvas tent village) where they are casually briefed by a major general on a the requirement to run a message up to a forward battalion that is about to put in an attack against the new defensive system to which the dastardly Hun has deliberately withdrawn. We are told that one of the 'runners' brother is with the doomed battalion and hence the need to get the message through to call off the attack. This was unnecessary drama, such messages were run a thousand times a day on the Western Front - but I would venture never off the back of a personal briefing by the major general commanding the Division.

The opening titles tell us that this is April 1917, the month in which the British fought the Battles of Vimy Ridge and Arras, and in which the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg line - all of this is correctly captured in the film, right down to the chalk that was such a visible geological feature. What is less accurate is the portrayal of the no mans land immediately in front of the British position. The film was clearly inspired by images of Passchendaele, a battle that didn't begin until June 1917, and didn't become the horror of mud for which it is infamous until the Autumn of that year.

Cashing in historical accuracy for political correctness. I acknowledge that today's British Army is not doing as well as it should in terms of recruiting and retaining enough soldiers from the BAME community, but it is simply ludicrous to put a black or an Asian face in an English county regiment during the Great War. Mendes does both and not infrequently or surreptitiously. If he was aiming to send a message then fair enough, but it must be acknowledged that in doing so he has substantially compromised historical integrity.

The BAFTAs giving it just about every award in its cupboard is ludicrous. Its shyte!

Thanks serj, the bit where he tries to shssssssh the German fella in the ruined town was preposterous also, agree the saving private Ryan brother scenario was also unnecessary

Did blacks/sikhs fight in ww1 just not in English county regiments?

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Indians of every cast and religion fought in the Great War in vast numbers, but rarely, if at all, as part of English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh county regiments. There was, at that time and right through to beyond the Second World War a separate Indian Army establishment. It produced more volunteers in both world wars than any other nation of the Empire - but they fought in their own magnificent regiments. So too, but in far lesser numbers, the men of Africa and the Caribbean. Imperial/Commonwealth immigration to Britain was almost non-existent before Windrush so it is utterly improbable that men of colour would be serving in either the Surreys or the Dorsets, the two regiments portrayed by Mendes.

[Mikey Brown]

Deeyah Khan's documentary 'White Right' is on youtube now. There are a few more uplifting moments in here than I expected, but overall it's pretty tragic stuff. Reasonably interesting watch. Can't really call something like this entertaining though.



I'm not sure there's any particularly new insights into the world of white supremacists than we've seen before, but it's at least nice to see that some of these people could be reached if they spent some time with different kinds of people.

[morepork]

Is that the new Justin Bieber album cover?

[paddy no 11]

Don't bother with the hernandez documentary lads it's not very good and full of horrible people

Just read a decent article instead

[J Dory]

On a recent trip to NZ (including a 17 hour Chicago Auckland direct) I watched way too many movies. A sleep deprived session that was mostly forgotten on input. Two stood out. The weight of elephants. The gem, i need to watch it again. Dark slice of life, awesome. Parasite, well known now I guess, I'm on the bandwagon.

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[Mikey Brown]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - fantastic. Really loved this. It's pretty slow and pretentious but it fully got me. Definitely one of those introspective films that will only reward you as much as you're willing to pay attention. The cinematography and the score are both incredible.

Under the Skin - hard to say, really weird and unnerving. I didn't think I particularly liked it at first but find I'm still thinking about it. Maybe one to come back to.

I thought Parasite was really good. It's hard not to be distracted/put-off by all the Oscar talk around it but I really enjoyed it.

[Banquo]

Avengers Endgame. Crock of sh*t.

[Numbers]

Jumanji: The Next Level - a fun film.

[Stom]

A beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - a very nice, moving film about Mr. Rogers. Was good.
Rocketman - superb, I thought. Struggled with pacing at times, but hit the right notes at the right time.

Not a movie, but a series - Self Made - the story of Madame CJ Walker was overall very good, though it had several questionable moments. Skipped over a lot of time to condense it into 4 episodes and that meant the pacing both worked and didn't at the same time. Overall worth a watch, but the portrayals within were a little exaggerated at all times.