The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[Atticus]

Re-watched a couple of Arrows this week. First up was Climax. Loved this film on first watch a few years ago. It felt like a trip into the unknown with a great set-up and a filmmaker with a reputation for not holding back. As most will know it involves a dance troupe who have been rehearsing and staying in an old school building in the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter. On their last night before going on tour they let their hair down and have a party. But someone spikes the punch with LSD and things go bad. It's not just a hell-ride, though it is gruelling, it's brilliantly made with some incredible choreography and camerawork. And the opening dance is one of the best things I've ever seen.

Then Oldboy. For a film that has a massive twist it was a cracking one to return to. Knowing where it's going you can watch from a different perspective. Really enjoyed watching all the supplemental stuff on the disc too. What an achievement for all involved.

[QualityChimp]

I started to watch Climax and got as far as the opening dance scene, but I wasn't sure what I was watching.
Then, every time I went back to watch it, Netflix was all like "HEY! You wanna carry on watching CLIMAX? Here's a thumbnail of a hottie in her bra dancing, with the word CLIMAX underneath it to remind you! CLIMAX! Look you were watching CLIMAX! Try explaining this to your wife, heh heh heh."

Oldboy is as good as its reputation deserves. That corridor fight is immense.

[Atticus]

Haha, the first time I watched Climax I waited til late but still had to keep watching the living-room door in case my wife or one of the kids walked in

[Dogg Thang]

I watched two films this weekend:

V For Vendetta - I had never seen it. I thought it great. It was really well made, had a good build up, won me over on a character who I disliked in his first moments (V) and had a strong ending. Something was missing for me and I don't know what it was but I didn't fully connect with the movie. That may just have been my mood - sometimes it's just that. Maybe I'd see it on a different day and feel every moment. But I thought it was a very good movie.

The Night Before - A Seth Rogan film I had never heard of, with Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It may surprise you to learn that this Seth Rogan film has sequences of his character on drugs and it may also surprise you to learn that James Franco turned up in it too. It was a Rogan film by the numbers in many ways and yet... it was exactly the film I needed. It was very funny, stupid in places which made it even more funny, it was drenched in Christmas and had a warm heart. And I loved it. I'm not going to say this is a cinematic classic but it was precisely the film I needed in that moment and it made me laugh and I really enjoyed it.

[fallenangle]

Just finished re-watching Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.

Not seen it for several years: hell that is still a great watch, a great Western and a great film, arguably Eastwood's finest in every respect.

[kryss]

The Night Before - A Seth Rogan film I had never heard of, with Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It may surprise you to learn that this Seth Rogan film has sequences of his character on drugs and it may also surprise you to learn that James Franco turned up in it too. It was a Rogan film by the numbers in many ways and yet... it was exactly the film I needed. It was very funny, stupid in places which made it even more funny, it was drenched in Christmas and had a warm heart. And I loved it. I'm not going to say this is a cinematic classic but it was precisely the film I needed in that moment and it made me laugh and I really enjoyed it.

It's very much a decent christmas movie.

[Atticus]

I watched the new release of Mulholland Drive last night and what a treat it was. Such a beautiful film and totally deserving of a sumptuous 4K release. I hadn't seen it for a long time and its two and a half hours went by in no time at all. It's a film that's enjoyable in many ways but primarily it's fun to get totally lost in and feel disoriented ... and then it's fun to solve the puzzle(s) ... and David Lynch is the master of giving just enough to help you and then throw you off again. The film has a feel of classic Hollywood, neo noir and watching it last night, even a sense of The Wizard of Oz. So many amazing moments and things going on. Absolutely love this film

[QualityChimp]

I watched Godzilla Vs. Kong (2021 Via NowTV).
I was really looking forward to this but it didn't grip me. It took 4 attempts to finish. I fell asleep two nights and stopped to play online another. Really enjoyed the monster mashups, but about 80% of the plot was investigating a mystery that most people sussed from the trailer. Looks bloody gorgeous, mind.

The Fog (1980 via DVD). Had a hankerin' to rewatch this after listening the tribute song to this by Orange Goblin.
I really like this one. It's really interesting that Carpenter had to do a load of reshoots to make it scary.
Obviously, I love the soundtrack, but it's a classic ghost story made modern.
It's got a great cast and has strong female leads, apart from the granny. The granny gets got and gets got good.

[Atticus]

Just finished re-watching Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.

Not seen it for several years: hell that is still a great watch, a great Western and a great film, arguably Eastwood's finest in every respect.

I really need to watch this again. It's been a long time and a couple of recent mentions have me wanting to dive back in.

I watched Godzilla Vs. Kong (2021 Via NowTV).
I was really looking forward to this but it didn't grip me. It took 4 attempts to finish. I fell asleep two nights and stopped to play online another. Really enjoyed the monster mashups, but about 80% of the plot was investigating a mystery that most people sussed from the trailer. Looks bloody gorgeous, mind.

The Fog (1980 via DVD). Had a hankerin' to rewatch this after listening the tribute song to this by Orange Goblin.
I really like this one. It's really interesting that Carpenter had to do a load of reshoots to make it scary.
Obviously, I love the soundtrack, but it's a classic ghost story made modern.
It's got a great cast and has strong female leads, apart from the granny. The granny gets got and gets got good.

Oof, I was looking forward to GvKK. Now I'll find it hard to muster the energy (to sit down for two hours )

I love The Fog ... so atmospheric.

[QualityChimp]

Oof, I was looking forward to GvKK. Now I'll find it hard to muster the energy (to sit down for two hours )

It's not bad, just I struggled to get into it. I thought Kong was really good, with lots of character for a giant gorilla.

Get some cans and snax in and you'll be alright. Also don't start it too late, like I did! #oldmansnoozing

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, for me it was the weakest of those monster movies. It still has some fun but it's not a strong film.

[QualityChimp]

Godzilla had some excellent moments. Cranston and his wife at the nuclear plant and exploring the "irradiated" desolate city, as well as the fights, obviously. It was a bit dark visually, but a good experience.
Kong: SI was great as it felt like a movie-within-a-movie with its exaggerated colours and action setpieces.
Godzilla: KoM was a big, bonkers monster mash, with some gorgeous imagery.

GvK is worth seeing for the fights, but the viewer is asked to accept a lot of big plot steps beyond two massive monsters fighting.

[Dogg Thang]

Yep and there are a lot of fractured parts to GvK that I just wasn't interested in, like some of the stuff with the kids. It's like it had too many threads but very few of them were essential to what was going on.

Skull Island is a huge amount of fun but my favourite is King of the Monsters due to the majesty, beauty and spectacle of it. There is some real artistry in that movie.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched Last Night in Soho last night, the latest Edgar Wright’s latest. It was a bit of a mixed bag for me but I felt it well worth watching. The vibe and colours and the general feel of it is fantastic and I felt immersed in that world. But it took me quite a while to engage with the film and I have to wonder if that was in part due to the lead actor who has a voice like a small rodent, even though she played the role really well. So I admired the first parts of the movie more than actually feeling engaged with them. But then things turned darker and I was totally hooked. Most of the second half of the film for me was superb. But then it fumbled the ending in what, to me, felt similar to The World’s End (this is mostly nothing like that film, by the way) in that it required a conversation to pull it all together. Rather than any revelations playing out through the action of the characters, they happened through a monologue and that, to me, killed the momentum and certainly a lot of the mystique of the film.

In spite of that, it’s a very creative film, a gorgeous journey and very tense in places. I just feel it was so, so close to being something much more than this.

[Neon Ignition]

Die Hard
It's Xmas so naturally this is the film to turn to. First time ever seeing it at the cinema and as usual there really is something to be said for the difference the big screen makes to the viewing experience, especially when it's a film you've seen so many times before. That the film was good goes without saying, the added scale for moments like the rooftop explosion etc just added to it though. Always brings to mind the common debate for people who say watching films at home is better - find a better cinema because unless your screen is the scale of a building...