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

[beecee]

Gemini Man
My eyes hurt with the 4K HFR, or soap opera effect, i had to switch off and watch the 1080p version, and apart from being more film like, the film was tripe.
The music was more akin to a tv movie score, generic stuff, the action sequences poor, CGI ridiculous. avoid.

[Neon Ignition]

The Dark Crystal
I've never seen this in full and with the launch of the recent series it seemed due time to go back and watch it. Controversial I'm sure but... I didn't really rate it. Personally, I found it to be very dull with no likeable characters and barely much plot either. The puppet work wasn't Henson's finest either with Jen and Kira not moving very well (more gliding around). All too often as well the animatronics the film is well known for are largely nothing of the kind and are just people in costumes which ranges from passable, to dodgy (like the bug like henchmen creatures where you can see peoples feet shuffling behind the creature legs) or terrible like any wide shot of Jen which shatters the immersion. I can get why they chose to do that rather than use more close ups and editing like other Henson films would but for me it doesn't pay off.

The Poseidon Adventure
Finishing off our rundown of '72 films, this one seems like a cheesy one to stand behind given the above but it's been a long time since I've seen the film and I was surprised at how well it holds up. Compared to other films of its type and up to this point in film it's aged well and that it relies to about 98% on practical sets rather than effects works in its favour. I like the rescue scene too, when the last survivors are excited as the hull begins to get cut away but as they wait they slowly lose their joy as the reality sets into their mind of those who haven't survived with them. Really nice little film.

[Atticus]

I watched the rest of the Nightmare on Elm Street films and they pretty much get bad right after number 3 ... once over that cliff they're all pretty poor, New Nightmare included (nice idea but the film is a tough watch). It was a nice nostalgia-fest going back (driven by watching the excellent Scream for the first time) but the series is a bit flawed as it goes on and deserves it's bad rep.

[vabarna]

Went and saw Bad Boys for Life with a friend. It was much better than I expected - an inventively and thoughtfully written and directed big dumb action comedy / buddy movie.

[JazzFunk]

Watched a couple the last two nights. First off:

THE TOWERING INFERNO. Absolutely star-studded cast and the first half kicks off camply and brilliantly with luridly cool n' colourful (and beige) 70s design everywhere. The first half really is fun...and then it starts to drag a tad once the titular inferno starts. Not bad but less fire, more zany 70s fashion would've sealed the deal for me.

Next up...STARRED UP, a silly little Brit prison movie off Film4 that I thought would be cool but ended up not really caring for at all. It sort of looks and feels a bit like SCUM or McVICAR but is totally bland and punch-pulling and uninteresting, unrealistic, too.

Main guy is TINY yet goes up against four or five prison guards thrice his size in one scene and the main baddie is the skinny weird guy who plays TONY: LONDON SERIAL KILLER and is about as intimidating as a soggy sock and about as muscularly defined and it's hard to take it serious watching these blokes intimidate and lay the smack down on huge black guys when they're gnat-sized.

Massive wet fart of a film, has its characters swear lots n' lots to cover up how boring and unappealing it is. Watch a random episode of OZ, instead. Seriously.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched Fighting With My Family last night and loved it. It’s not a big movie and doesn’t really surprise in any way but it’s warm and it’s funny when it needs to be. It’s a true (apparently - or at least based on) story of a WWE wrestler from Norwich and how she got there (to WWE, not to Norwich). Stars Nick Frost and some other people. Actually Vince Vaughn was great in it, which was interesting for me because I’m not a fan but then, as I write this, I’m realising that I’m not a fan mostly because I have never bought him as a comedy actor when, for some reason, that’s the role the rest of the world gave him. His role in this is not a comedy role and he plays it perfectly.

A very enjoyable film that I’d recommend.

[Family Fry]

Just linking to the original Fighting with my Family documentary, if anyone wants to check it out, it’s a great documentary.

[Dogg Thang]

Thanks, I didn’t know there was a documentary.

[Atticus]

I watched Joker last night. As expected Phoenix was amazing, and the whole look of the film was fab, from the streets of Gotham to the Franklin Murray tv set. But once the pitiful nature of Arthur Fleck starts to turn you're really left with no one to root for. It was brilliant in many ways but as a viewer you're kind of at odds in how you process it. A film more to be admired than enjoyed maybe.

[gordon]

Agree with you about Joker. Really well made but a bit confusing in its character development.

I watched Uncut Gems on Netflix last night. It was gripping, entertaining, Scorsese-like in its dialogue, and brilliantly acted by Adam Sandler, but all a bit... depressing. I like misery just as much as the next nihilist, but this just seemed hopeless. A bit more light in the dark would have helped.

[wakka]

I saw Uncut Gems at the cinema and absolutely loved it. Dirty, sexy, relentless. I really must watch it again on Netflix - I haven’t seen Good Time and really need to watch that too.

[Baseley09]

Deffo calling Uncut Gems as one of the movies of the year already, the synth soundtrack was amazing too!

[Neon Ignition]

Dirty Harry II: Magnum Force
One real issue with these films is that they're all too quick to make it obvious who the bad guy is but otherwise this was also enjoyable like the first film. The highlight being when Harry hears terrorists have hijacked an airliner so proceeds to pretend to be a pilot to get on board. You can feel the origins of stuff like Lethal Weapon oozing out of this series.

[QualityChimp]

Agree with you about Joker. Really well made but a bit confusing in its character development.

I watched Uncut Gems on Netflix last night. It was gripping, entertaining, Scorsese-like in its dialogue, and brilliantly acted by Adam Sandler, but all a bit... depressing. I like misery just as much as the next nihilist, but this just seemed hopeless. A bit more light in the dark would have helped.

Interesting! My friend tried to watch Uncut Gems but gave up because he didn't enjoy it, citing Sandler's character really hard to cheer for. Same problem I had with Joker.

[wakka]

I don't have an issue with unlikable characters personally. It's way too limiting if stories can only be about people you like, IMO.