The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[prinnysquad]

Watched a decent little flick on Talking Pictures. A 1949 British film called Vengeance is Mine. The type the churned out for £50 as the first feature in the local fleapit. It’s about a bloke who takes out a contract on his own life, to be completed four weeks later. The print was appalling and everything about it playhousey, but I’ve spent far worse hours watching $200 million Hollywood blockbusters. It held my attention nicely to the very end.

As an aside, I’m gutted that Kermode and Mayo have ended their Five Live Friday film show. That’s become a staple for me every week.

[Atticus]

Watched a decent little flick on Talking Pictures. A 1949 British film called Vengeance is Mine. The type the churned out for £50 as the first feature in the local fleapit. It’s about a bloke who takes out a contract on his own life, to be completed four weeks later. The print was appalling and everything about it playhousey, but I’ve spent far worse hours watching $200 million Hollywood blockbusters. It held my attention nicely to the very end.

As an aside, I’m gutted that Kermode and Mayo have ended their Five Live Friday film show. That’s become a staple for me every week.

Talking Pictures is a great channel. VP put me onto it with Hell Drivers. I don’t check in enough tbh.

Yeah, shame about Kermode and Mayo, their chemistry works so well. I don’t know if I dreamt it but wasn’t there an implication it might not be the end for them? Hope not. Beyond their radio work I enjoyed the tv show they did during the lockdown. That should be the new Film 22 … I’d be there watching every week.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched The Last Mercenary on Netflix last night. A French action comedy starring VanDamme from last year. VanDamme plays some sort of special agent who has been off grid for years and returns when his son, who he has never met, gets into trouble because some guy obsessed with Scarface has been stealing his identity. It’s very light, a really easy watch, has a few laugh out loud moments and fun action too. I really enjoyed it.

[prinnysquad]

Indeed, they are doing a twice weekly podcast! Which I’ll be listening to. I’m just sad that a nice little routine is over. Friday afternoon. Out of work early. Bairn in the car. K&M talking about films. Great!

Kermode is a great critic. Even when I disagree with him, he’s still amusing. He really does know his stuff, and loves cinema. I don’t mind disagreeing when the person explains their opinion clearly and sensibly, and he’s very good at that. He also likes some stuff that’s more obscure than the usual critic lists. Things like Capricorn One and Sorcerer. You don’t like stuff like that if you don’t have a genuine love of film.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched Apollo 10 1/2, the new Linklater movie. It has a similar rotoscoped animated style to A Scanner Darkly. It's kind of a love letter to the '60s, about growing up in the US in a town built around the space race, trying to get to the moon. Most of it is simply telling you what things were like in that place and time and it makes the '60s out to be both beautiful and horrible all in one. The story is that a couple of guys from NASA turn up and the recruit the main character for a mission because they accidently made the lunar module too small and so only a kid will fit.

Overall, it's a lovely watch. I didn't quite find the ending satisfying but it's more of a journey type film anyway so, in spite of that, I really enjoyed it. It's different and warm and a very easy watch.

[fallenangle]

Add me to the Talking Pictures TV channel appreciation society.

They show the sort of stuff that you only used to see on BBC2 (rarely now) and plenty of really obscure or forgotten films from the late 20s onwards. Not all great, to say the least, and indeed sometimes poor print quality but there are minor gems and other ones worth watching if you haven't anything better to do.

I wish there were more silent era movies shown too, that's a huge chunk of important film history that doesn't get broadcast much now.

[Colin]

The Bubble on Netflix. My god, do yourselves a favour and do NOT watch this festering turd. Two hours longer than it needed to be.

[QualityChimp]

I watched Timetrap before it skidaddles off Netflix.
It's an interesting little curio about a cave that seems to slow down time for anyone who enters it.
We follow the teens that follow their professor that follows his parents into the caves to discover what is going on, but they're not the only ones down there... dun dun dddddun.

Yeah, it was OK and fun to see what a lower-budget sci-fi can achieve. Nothing astonishing, but it's nice to wander from the mainstream occasionally.

[randombs]

After watching Sonic, I decided to watch Ace Ventura. I thought I wouldn’t get on with it after all these years but it’s still as brilliant as ever.

I watched Ace Ventura 2 after that. It’s alright but not a patch on the first.

Dumb and Dumber next, perhaps?

[QualityChimp]

3 Days of the Condor (1975 via Netflix)
Got a real soft spot for 70's paranoid thrillers like Parallax View, Marathon Man and so on, but this one has always passed me by.
The opening section of this is phenomenal - brutal, tense and ruthless.
I found it ran out of steam halfway through though as the plot focuses on Robert Redford's romance with the woman he kidnaps to escape, which is all rather uncomfortable to modern eyes.

Uncut Gems (2019 via Netflix)
Finally watched this and found it a bit of a let down, if I'm honest.
Some people really rate it as an incredibly tense drama, but I just couldn't get onboard with Sandler's character. He's a prick.
He's either really rude to people below him or offending people above him and it could be pretty much any character in his world that could finally break and have enough of him. 2 hours of Sandler either telling people to eff off or he'll have their money soon.

[wakka]

3 Days of the Condor is nearly good but the kidnap romance is so creepy and weird. So much soft focus. And as you say half the film is devoted to it. I agree that it derails it nearly entirely for me (not only because it's creepy but because it kills the pacing).

Can't agree at all re: Uncut Gems though. But then I do like stories about unpleasant people

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, it's such a uncomfortable section.
It doesn't work because he ties her up at gunpoint, then suddenly she's in love.

It's broken up a bit, but feels like it's the longest section of the running time.
Do you want to be a love story or a political paranoid thriller?

Can totally see why people like Uncut Gems, it's more my issue with needing an "in" to get on with a film.

[wakka]

Yeah it's weird as hell. Only in the 70s. Not Sidney Pollack's best. Mind you he's always patchy. Have you seen The Yakuza by him? It's not amazing but it's a bit of a laff.

Re: Uncut Gems, by the same token, I can see why people don't like it. The mate I went to see it with found the escalating self destruction of the protag really uncomfortable. Although he rated the film it made him uncomfortable and stressed. Whereas I loved it. The insane gambles he was making, the bad decisions and huge risks piling up on top of one another as it builds towards climax - I was just like 'Gimme more!!'. But whether or not you enjoy that is totally subjective.

Alright I got one for you guys (been a bit crap about watching films lately):

Urban Legend (1998)

We've had some success with this type of fare lately in our house - the latest Wrong Turn was a winner, as was Jeepers Creepers (which I had never seen, didn't know the guy was a paedo till I googled it afterwards, not great).

So with an appetite for turn of the millennium serial-killer-on-teen claptrap fully whetted and the semi recent endorsement of this title by Atticus, when I saw this for £2 in a local indie shop it was an easy decision.

And...it's OK! It's not great. It doesn't reach the heights of this genre nor does it plumb the depths. But it's overall a solid-ish entry in the slasher canon. For my £2 I received:

1) An interesting premise that a serial killer would base their methods on popular urban legends
2) A solo university campus security guard who considers herself to be well equipped to crack the whole case wide open and refuses to contact the actual authorities
3) A group of frat boys and cheerleader types who are 5 to 10 years older than they're supposed to be playing, offed in various ways (pop rocks and Draino a highlight)
4) A ludicrous plot twist which does not so much stretch credibility as snap it off entirely
5) Delightful retro millennium fashions and technology (no one can make a phone call when someone's using the internet)

Recommended if you like this sort of thing. A fun Sunday night watch.

[Stakers]

I thought I’d pop along here to see thoughts on The Batman. I know it’s getting a lot of praise but both the missus and I thought it was terrible. We had the most fun on the drive back taking the mick out of it. Batman and his friends, just seemed so stupid. The dialogue was terrible and some of the acting by smaller British actors left us thinking it was a farce. The batmobile was some sort of sleeper car that took 15 minutes to turn on and the film just wouldn’t end. There must have been at least 4 scenes that we didn’t need. Some good laugh out loud moments though, when Batman was rescuing the new Bruce Wayne with a flare in water was great and there was another bit where he walked towards Penguins car in slow mo and then popped his head down. hellooooo!

Very odd for me to be so anti, I even enjoyed the new Matrix in the round.

We watched the 4K blu of No Way home last night. As good as the first time.

[randombs]

Dumb and Dumber next, perhaps?

Almost!

BATMAN VERSUS SUPERMAN ULTIMATE EDITION

Beautiful, wonderful absurdity that flew by like a supersonic pun despite being three hours long. The opening scene with Bruce on the ground while Supes smashes Zod through buildings is incredible. I’ll always roll my eyes at Martha, Martha, Martha conversation but goddamnit I just love this film. I love all the Zack Snyder DC films. And Watchmen.