The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[Atticus]

Fellowship of the Ring. Interesting one to revisit this. It was so highly anticipated when it first came out and I loved it ... but the sequels never felt quite so well crafted and took the edge off the overall experience. Now, 20 years on I'm on board for the trilogy again. Fellowship is still amazing. A Long Expected Party is one of the dullest openings to any book I've ever read but it's a treat in the film ... every moment in The Shire feels treasured, as it should. Then once the journey began I was on board for the adventure. If there's one criticism it's how rushed some of it feels. I went for the theatrical cut but I have a feeling I'd have enjoyed the longer version more. Ready to embrace the sequels again with an open mind.

[randombs]

We did LotR and Hobbit marathons a year ago.

I don’t need to see the Hobbitses any time soon but I’ll never, ever tire of LotR.

Anyway, today we saw Don't Look Up and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mark Rylance was adorable.

[fallenangle]

On Freeview all those Tolkien based films have been broadcast multiple times - in the last few weeks I've re-watched all The Hobbit films twice.

The first is arguably the dullest and least good of the whole cannon and like the book most of the 13 dwarves are utterly anonymous and practically irrelevant. That holds true throughout the three films.

But I'd hold The Desolation Of Smaug as one of the best. Dominic Cumberbatch as the dragon and his first meeting with Martin Freeman's Bilbo is a delight in every way.

[QualityChimp]

@Aanpanman, that's a class selection, right there!
I don't gel with OHMSS either. Breaking the 4th wall and the whole Carry On section in the girls' school was awful.
However, I agree that the ending is phenomenal and even all these years later, No Time To Die referenced it.

I really need to watch more Hitchcock as he's great. Seen NbNW, but not Dial M.
Mate has the boxset I might tap him for!

Also enjoyed Don't Look Up, but it's a little too near the truth to be hilarious.

I think Last Action Hero was ahead of its time and would be better received if released today, IMHO.
[MENTION=5490]wakka[/MENTION], the £1 First Strike dvd only filled about 70% of the screen, with massive borders all around!
It's must-see for Chan fans, or just action cinema, but I wouldn't pay top dollar for that disc.

However, Armour of God was amazing value, even at full price.
One of my fave disc sets ever, for all the extras both on and off-disc.
No regrets at all, and I'm eying up some other discs now!

Last night I watched Sputnik (2020 via Netflix) and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought because I thought it would be a generic horror-in-space movie, but it's a lot deeper than that. There are elements of horror throughout, but it's not about constant jump scares. Set in 80s Russia, it had a bit of a Chernobyl vibe with the setting, but the story was very different.
I'm trying not to give too much away, but needless to say I was pleasantly surprised at how much it bettered my expectations.

[wakka]

@QualityChimp

Re: First Strike, yeah, I will avoid that disc, thanks. It sounds like it has been letterboxed, which is a bummer. I have certain films like that. My DVD/BD player has zoom options I deploy for those, but it's far from ideal. It seems there is a region free US Blu of the film which will probably be the version I go for.

Before I go to that one, I've got the challenge of working out what the best quality version of Police Story 3: Supercop is. I think I'm going to go for the Hong Kong Rescue version: https://www.hongkongrescue.com/produ...36610013429916

RE: Dial M. As a 3D fan you owe it to yourself to see the 3D version. It was actually filmed by Hitch in 3D! It's an interesting use of the format as the film is essentially a play. Unlike the usual bombast of a 3D movie it instead makes the room they are in more 'stage-like'.

I have a copy going spare as I can't play 3D discs no' mo'. PM your address and I will pop it in the post for you

[QualityChimp]

@QualityChimp

Re: First Strike, yeah, I will avoid that disc, thanks. It sounds like it has been letterboxed, which is a bummer. I have certain films like that. My DVD/BD player has zoom options I deploy for those, but it's far from ideal. It seems there is a region free US Blu of the film which will probably be the version I go for.

Before I go to that one, I've got the challenge of working out what the best quality version of Police Story 3: Supercop is. I think I'm going to go for the Hong Kong Rescue version: https://www.hongkongrescue.com/produ...36610013429916

It does get bloody confusing as my Supercop/Supercop 2/Project S/Once a Cop/Police Story IV/Police Story 3 Part 2 story relayed!

Not sure who hast the rights to that, but I noticed that HMV are releasing Mr. Nice Guy this year.
What's interesting is that Warner Bros might actually start releasing some of the films they have in their vaults like Drunken Master 2, Enter the Fat Dragon, Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike, Extreme Crisis, Pedicab Driver, Downtown Torpedoes and The Blade.

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RE: Dial M. As a 3D fan you owe it to yourself to see the 3D version. It was actually filmed by Hitch in 3D! It's an interesting use of the format as the film is essentially a play. Unlike the usual bombast of a 3D movie it instead makes the room they are in more 'stage-like'.

@QualityChimp I have a copy going spare as I can't play 3D discs no' mo'. PM your address and I will pop it in the post for you

Wowzers, brilliant, thanks!
I'll watch it within a week and then pass it on to someone else to get the curse?

[wakka]

Yeah watch out for Grace Kelly crawling out of the TV set.

[Atticus]

Yeah watch out for Grace Kelly crawling out of the TV set.

I’d buy that for a dollar

[wakka]

It does get bloody confusing as my Supercop/Supercop 2/Project S/Once a Cop/Police Story IV/Police Story 3 Part 2 story relayed!

Yeah it is confusing. If it's not one that 88 Films or Eureka have brought out for a boutique rerelease, generally his films are a pain in the arse to get in good quality, not helped by the fact that some of them have several titles!

Mr Nice Guy looks like an interesting release, will have to read up on that film.

Rumble In The Bronx is the absolute number 1 Chan I really want to get a quality rerelease!

[CMcK]

Mr Nice Guy looks like an interesting release, will have to read up on that film.

Rumble In The Bronx is the absolute number 1 Chan I really want to get a quality rerelease!

I'm still watching them on Laserdisc! Mr Nice Guy isn't as good as RitB but it's well worth a watch.

[wakka]

Awesome, bet the sleeves look brilliant

You are probably better off with the LDs than the DVD releases!

[QualityChimp]

Wow, that's really cool, CMcK!

I kinda want to get Mr. Nice Guy in the hopes Warners start releasing more stuff.
I have no idea what extras are on it. That pic shows postcards and a poster, but some on-disc extras would be really welcome.

I do like the film, including that cheeky Sammo Cameo ("Sammeo"?), with some monster (truck) destruction at the end.

[QualityChimp]

Sexy Beast (2000 via All4).
Yikes, this was tense. I thought it was fraught when Gandhi turned up, but it went through the roof when Lovejoy appeared!

[Atticus]

Watched Dune last night (the new one). Absolutely blown away by it. Never read the books, never saw the Lynch film, so went it 100% cold. Part 1 was the perfect portion ... it left me both satisfied and craving Part 2. The story unfolded at a nice gentle pace for a newbie like me and the world, wow, the world is incredible and just transports you away with awesome scale and a thick, seductive, sandy mood. Chalamet, Ferguson and a subtle but intense Javier Bardem were top notch. Only disappointment is I didn't see it on the big screen as I bet it was super epic. Can't wait to watch it again tbh.

[Neon Ignition]

Scream
The new one. So, some caveats about the series especially in light of the recent rewatch. The first is that I very much rely on the whodunnit elements and in a way the slasher term as judged against the horror category they're lumped in with the films are incredibly poor. There has never been anything remotely horror about them for a second. This is the first nod I can give the film, whilst it's never scary it manages to have a few tense moments with my favourite being one where it plays with the soundtrack.

The directors have done a great job too in making this feel like a Scream film but updating the visuals just enough for it to feel professionally made, modern and yet removing the cheesy look of the older films without losing the tone. It also shows a great love of the old films too, I appreciated all the call backs which feel genuine, given this is a franchise that already leant on throwbacks that's another indication of how considered this entry is.

In terms of the plot:

->Open Spoiler<-

I fully expected Dewey to be killed off. It felt like one of the originals getting bumped was a given and the poster pretty much highlights who is seen as the least important of the remaining three. It's a shame really as I felt they did well with Arquette in the limited screen time he had whereas by comparison Cox's Gail Weathers hasn't brought anything to the table since around the second entry. She's the bigger name but he's the bigger loss. I'm glad Sidney was fine though. I agree with Neve in that whilst it might be beyond reasonable that she keeps surviving it's also kind of integral that Sidney is always in there too. Remove her and I think the franchise would feel soulless, she's as required as Woodsboro and Ghostface are now.

In terms of guessing the killer. Half and half really. I kind of expected the boyfriend because to be honest it was one of those cases were the casting was too noticeable for him to just be a bit part. The other killer... that one I didn't really go with until the very end. I liked the paranoia sequence late on but was leaning to the jock boyfriend for the same reason I didn't buy the girls reveal. The sequences where she was the killer just didn't align in the slightest in terms of physicality. She felt an unlikely and probably the least interesting choice on the table.

The new cast? Kind of okay. The friends were too variable in terms of how good they were and stuff like that always feels like it leans your guessing. I feel like the main girls arc was very much meant to signpost Scream 6 where I expect they will fakeout her being set up as the next killer given she very clearly leans harder into violence than Sidney.

Other than some 50/50 about the reveal, I enjoyed it. If I had to stack it I'd say that it's possibly the best sequel, certainly in contention with the second film with that previous sequel only really being held back by its weak ending. It's much, much better than the third and fourth films though and likely only falls short of the original because of how convoluted the plot justification has become this many entries in. I have a sense the writers have a direction in mind for Scream 6 rather than it being a blank start so I'm curious where they lead to as it presumably will continue elements of subversion rather than more of the same.