The Films You Watched Thread V: Dead Men Watch No Movies

[wakka]

Nice, never heard of that but sounds great [MENTION=2540]teddymeow[/MENTION]. Will stick it on my rental list.

Watched Safety Not Guaranteed again just now, on Netflix. I really love that film - it’s got tons of heart, well rounded characters and a great script. A gentle watch, with a nice story.

[prinnysquad]

Extraction.

A little belter, this one. The one shot was amazing, Hemsworth held it all together, and I wasn’t bored for a second. Actually stayed up until 2am watching it, despite being knackered.


For a Few Dollars More.

Leone and Morricone - the masters of creating captivating scenes without dialogue, using careful camerawork, reaction shots and engaging music. Brilliant.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched two films you haven’t seen in years and may have even forgotten. First up was Wild Orchid. Not fantastic, if I’m honest, and yet there is something fascinating about it. It has a superb soundtrack and a really interesting atmosphere but it tries to be a little like 9 1/2 Weeks and doesn’t get there, not helped by Rourke starting to look a little odd already.

Second was Legally Blonde 2. It’s fine. It’s exactly what we needed - light and unchallenging. It’s no classic and it’s not even hugely funny but it did the job.

[randombs]

The three Godzilla anime films on Netflix

We’d seen the first two before but forgot most of the plot so watched them again before the third one.

They’re alright. Good action. Got a bit weird as things started wrapping up but we enjoyed them.

[kryss]

Color out of space, based on some Lovecraft apparently. Proper weird. Always funny to see Nicolas Cage losing his **** though.

[fallenangle]

Sad to read about Olivia de Havilland's death - one of the last remaining true greats of the iconic Hollywood 1930's and '40's era. Also a pioneer of womens' rights in the film industry.

Good innings though: 104.

Best film IMHO: 1938 The Adventures Of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. Stunning and the film quality likewise.

[QualityChimp]

Wow, that's a good selection there! The Shining, Peeping Tom, Extraction and For a Few Dollars More.

I've not seen Legally Blonde or the sequel [MENTION=7343]prinnysquad[/MENTION], but there's a great Film Stories podcast about it with great anecdotes like Reece Witherspoon negotiated in her contract that she got to keep all the outfits, so she's got a wardrobe full of Jimmy Choo shoes! (Possibly all pink).

Safety Not Guaranteed, Godzilla anime, Colour of Space are all on my "to watch" list.

Managed to watch some stuff myself at the weekend.

Big Stan (Netflix)
A man going to prison is worried he will be anally raped.
Yeah, that really is the premise of the film. Rob Schnieder (Deuce Bigalow, The Stapler, derp de derp de derp), not Roy Scheider (Jaws) is a real estate con man who is sentenced to go to prison. Terrified that a man of his diminutive stature will be anally raped by all the gangs in prison, he decides to learn self-defence and hires The Master to train him, played by David Carradine (Kung-Fu, Kill Bill).
Once in prison, he sets about beating up all the toughest inmates so they no longer try to anally rape him, but before long, he realises the inmates can evolve as people if they set aside their differences and stop trying to anally rape each other.
I've been thinking about watching this for a while because I'd heard there are actually some good fight scenes it it and they're not wrong. There's a comical twist to most of them, like when he fashions some nunchuks out of soap and shoelaces, but it's almost as if Schneider wanted to make a martial arts film, but would only get the green light if it was a comedy.
It did make me laugh and watch to the end, but this is not peak cinema guys.

Ad Astra (NowTV)
Astronaut travels to Neptune to stop deadly EMPs hitting Earth that may be coming from an experiment his presumed-dead father was in charge of.
OK, so there's a lot to love in this. The cast are big stars (Brad Pit, Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, Tommy Lee Jones), the cinematography is gorgeous, there are plenty of thrills and there's an intriguing mystery pulling the whole thing along.
The director, James Gray (The Lost City of Z, The Immigrant), said when he read about the scientific inaccuracies of the film “To me, it’s a very fatuous level of critique. You don’t read the myth of Icarus and say, ‘Wax on feathers wouldn’t allow you to fly.’ Of course that’s true, but it’s all about metaphor essentially. I felt that we were trying to get at, and [cinematographer] Hoyte van Hoytema understood, something mythic, almost like a fable. He lit the film in that way. It’s a visually arresting movie. I’ve had people tell me they don’t like the movie but they remember how it looks completely. It’s a lot due to Hoyte’s boldness.”
I kinda wish I'd read that quote before seeing it as it's easy to assume a lot of the science in the film is a stretch too far, but if you switch that off, you'll get more from it.
There are action sequences, including a great car chase (on the moon!), but ultimately, it's not about that, it's the steps Pitt's character takes to reach his destination and each of those steps taking him further away from home and being grounded, both physically and mentally.
There have been a few notable space film in recent years Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), The Martian (2015), Arrival (2016) and so on and it's hard not to see the similarities, however, it does tell its own tale and I always find it interesting to see directors' visions of space travel.
Be aware many people didn't enjoy it and thought it was "boring", but you can make your own mind up.

[wakka]

The Meg

Oh lord. This was one toothless shark movie. I wanted it to be fun but it was mostly boring. Action scenes are largely tension-free as the shark never feels especially dangerous.

There's one scene in particular, on a beach rammed with people where the shark dives right into them, all their legs kicking helplessly in the water as they try to rush to shore, where you're left wondering if this mega-shark actually even got anyone. There's certainly no blood or anything. Which kinda makes it seem like a bit of an inept apex predator to be honest.

1/Jaws

EDIT: Watched on UHD, where it looked merely alright. Nothing special. Also I felt the sound design was weirdly not great for such a special effects driven movie. Aside from a few bubbling effects the rears weren't engaged much.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched Eyes Wide Shut. It's a very good movie with a great atmosphere and a paranoia running throughout. Through mostly random chance or one movie leading to another, I've watched a bunch of movies recently that, at certain points, have been considered kind of horny, and it's interesting how many have a kind of nightmarish quality to them. With Eyes Wide Shut, it's hard to know if it all happened as we're seeing it or what else is going on but, on the most basic level, I just really felt for Cruise in it because all he wanted was to get it on and it just kept going wrong. I haven't experienced the exact events of the movie but I found that aspect very relatable.

[randombs]

horny

Lockdown + summer vibes, innit

[Dogg Thang]

Lockdown + summer vibes, innit

Yeah, you're not wrong.

[QualityChimp]

I just really felt for Cruise in it because all he wanted was to get it on and it just kept going wrong.

Sounds like the antithesis of this film that you're looking for, might cheer you up and also fit the bill of soft porn you've been exclusively watching of late is the classic "Confessions of a Window Cleaner".

[QualityChimp]

Another Film Stories podcast pointed me towards Instant Family (2018 via NowTV), which wasn't really on my radar, but I wanted something fun to watch with the wife and I thought it was excellent.

It manages to tread the line between drama and comedy very carefully, with a very engaging cast (especially the brilliant young actors) and the desire for their characters to find happiness as a couple attempt to adopt a teenager and her two younger siblings.

Although it's Hollywood, there's also a lot of heart in it as the story is based on the experiences of adopting that the director/co-writer Sean Anders, plus other people they researched.

It did work as a great date movie, but I can heartily recommend it to all.

[prinnysquad]

Thanks for the heads up, Chimpy.

No idea why you’re telling me, though. I saw Legally Blonde 2 once and almost choked on my own vomit.

[Zaki]

Ventured back to the cinema last night to see The Shining. All good apart from a daft couple who (a) decided they didn't like their seats so sat where they wanted, ignoring social-distancing and (b) talked and laughed through the first 10 minutes of the film until we told them to keep it down.

I love the cinema but there's a tiny bit of hate too ... that random factor of the general public ruining the experience.

This is why I don't go to the cinema anymore. It doesn't have the same special feeling it did 20+ years ago.

It just feels like you're sitting in some arsehole's massive living room now.