The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[fuse]

Desperate for something light hearted and inoffensive to both of our tastes, this weekend we landed on This is Where I Leave You. The setup is that a group of middle aged siblings, each in varying stages of faltering relationships of their own, are forcibly reunited for a week on account of their father's death. Pretty much all of its value hinges on the comedy chops of the central cast (Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver...) rather than the story, set pieces or direction, all of which are quite poor. Watchable because yes, they are quite naturally funny, but definitely not recommended.

[Atticus]

I was really looking forward to Jungle Cruise but it just wasn't quite there. For starters I didn't know Jack Whitehall was in it ... and each time he's on screen all I can think is 'oh, there's Jack Whitehall again' ... and 'why did they pick him?'. Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, perfect. A jumped up posh comic, not so much. So that wasn't a great start. And while a lot of ingredients were there for a nice Indy/African Queen vibe it just wasn't quite engaging enough. Maybe it was the Jack Whitehall thing. Why do they do that? Gervais too. Ricky's a gifted man but in a Hollywood film I just see Ricky Gervais in a costume on a set saying his lines. Some comics definitely can buck the trend but not all.

[Neon Ignition]

It's like when we had to suffer the chain of Russell Brand roles, or James Corden. I don't know if it's a misinterpretation by the US as to what is popular here or they just have great agents at the time. Awful across the board though

[QualityChimp]

That's often the case with A-Listers, though.

I can't imagine something like Blair Witch Project being as effective with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt!

I do quite like Whitehall, but agree that it's strangely easier to believe The Rock is a boat captain than Whitehall be in this at all.

Is it a good family film though?

[Atticus]

Is it a good family film though?

Yes, it is that. Though it might be a bit violent for younger kids.

[QualityChimp]

Cool, maybe with my 10 y/o.

Really wish there were more films like Mitchells Vs. The Machines that we can all watch.

[Atticus]

Yeah, I'd be okay with mine watching it at 10. I think it's a PG-13 officially.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Highlander 2
I getting committed to watching utter ****e and this is historically ****.
Its terrible in every way but there is a certain childish charm to it that compels you to watch it. There isn't one scene that joins with the one before it and the story and characters make no sense. Stuff just happens, like it was made up on the spot.
The absolute highlight of the film though is the Michael Ironside train sequence. Its ****ing unbelievable. Its needs to be seen to be believed.

[Dogg Thang]

I really want to rewatch that. I haven't seen it in decades and feel it's worth a watch.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I really want to rewatch that. I haven't seen it in decades and feel it's worth a watch.

I'd recommend having a few strong drinks and strapping in.
I watched the 'improved' Renegade edition, and believe me, its still terrible.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched the 'improved' Renegade edition, and believe me, its still terrible.

Ha! I didn't even know there was an improved edition. Now I'm even more intrigued.

[QualityChimp]

Two Woovember challenges include:
Watch a "man on a mission" film to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Guns of Navarone
Watch a film starring Charles Bronson

So I watched The Dirty Dozen - FOR THE FIRST TIME!

It's not streaming, but the whole thing is on YouTube so I pixellatedly slummed it.

It's a crazy-long film. Took me about 5 attempts to get through it.
Surprized the finale only takes a small amount of the run time, compared to all the training.

What a cast!

Film is well worth seeing, despite having aged.
The twist near the end, sending the mission awry, was a little bit much, but still was a fun ride.

[fallenangle]

The Dirty Dozen used to be an end of term schoolboy favourite choice back in the 70s and was shown several times to the whole of my school in two screenings at the end of the Christmas term as a 'treat'. A lot of its popularity was due to the fact it was original 'X' rated due to the violence and being a school 90% of the audience were under 18.

Different, better times.

Good film but now the morality of it, which was not totally ignored even back then, looks even more questionable, to say the least: in 1944 US murderers and rapists are saved from life in prison/execution and get to burn German officers and their wives/girlfriends to death for the Allied caused.

[Dogg Thang]

As mentioned in the Marvel thread, I watched Shang Chi and absolutely loved it. It's definitely one of my favourites on first watch. It's fun, has really likeable characters and I found it quite powerful in places too. A really great standalone Marvel movie.

Also watched No Time To Die. Time for this franchise to die, am I right? Anyone?! Actually, I thought it was pretty fantastic. I felt like no Bond movie has any business being that long but it never felt long. It didn't drag. It was beautifully shot, making just about everywhere look gorgeous. The action was great. And the story was really compelling, with Bond himself being much more likeable and with no real cringe moments that stood out. I had somehow avoided all spoilers (I guess due to a lack of interest in Bond) and that really helped my experience, I think.

I think my only small negative is how minimised Spectre had to become with how the previous movie hadn't quite landed. This movie had to make up for some shortcomings there. Overall though, it was excellent.

[Brad]

Those two are next in my watchlist ^^^

Saw the new Dune. Loved it. Might go watch the 1984 one too.