Films I watched this week (NO SPOILERS) (Vol 3)
Discussion
Mars said:
I hate that. I got sucked into watching Lost because the producers claimed they had it all mapped out and felt absolutely betrayed by them when it became obvious they hadn't. In fact that experience turned me into a TV cynic. I have rules now. If a series is longer than 10 episodes per season, then I suspect they're making it up. I won't get invested unless they series is into season 2 or 3, OR it's based upon a book (where I know there is mapped-out story to tell). Having said that, we all got burned by the last season of GoT, and Westworld never returned to its original season 1 magnificence but generally the rules have stopped me from watching junk for the sake of it.
Without derailing the thread to much, I totally agree on the whole checking it's got more than one season thing and season 1 doesn't end on a cliffhanger thing. For me, it was Flash Forward that did me dirty (Lost and GoT I have no issue with but let's not open that can of worms 
). If I find something now I will go and check if it's been renewed, cancelled or what the word on the street is before getting sucked in 
Could start a whole thread on TV shows that were cancelled too early!
Cotty said:
fatbutt said:
Blues Brothers on the other hand is a film I didn't find funny at all first few watches but I grew to appreciate it.
Oh s
t is Blues Brothers supposed to be a comedy. Clockwork Cupcake said:
Update to an earlier post...
Since it is now past midnight, my Facebook aniversery posts just updated, and it ironically turns out that on 11-Jun-2023 I watched John Carter and my comments were: "I can see what it is trying to be but the SFX are shonky even for 2012. It's not totally terrible though."
it is a strange film - some of the SFX were, from memory, great (the Tharks, the fSince it is now past midnight, my Facebook aniversery posts just updated, and it ironically turns out that on 11-Jun-2023 I watched John Carter and my comments were: "I can see what it is trying to be but the SFX are shonky even for 2012. It's not totally terrible though."
king annoying dog thing and the white apes) and some were <ahem> less than impressive. It is a shame as the whole ERB Mars compilation could (should!) have been great.I saw Love Lies Bleeding at the cinema yesterday. An engaging but odd film noir - a mix of Thelma and Louise meets lesbian body builder meets magic realism all set in New Mexico with a side trip to Vegas.
I can’t say much more without adding spoilers but worth mentioning that this is Rose Glass’s second directorial credit - she debuted with the excellent Saint Maud back in 2019, which Kermode rated as his favourite film of 2020.
I can’t say much more without adding spoilers but worth mentioning that this is Rose Glass’s second directorial credit - she debuted with the excellent Saint Maud back in 2019, which Kermode rated as his favourite film of 2020.
Atlas
Ugh, it's taken me two weeks to watch all of this in 20min segments but I wanted to see it through. It's a wasted concept that should have been much better. The plot makes no sense, the writing seems like it was done by ChatGPT at times and the characters are all paper thin.
Can't recommend it, even if you've watched everything on Netflix there's not one thing here that's worth your time. Well, I liked the guy who voiced Smith.
Avoid
Ugh, it's taken me two weeks to watch all of this in 20min segments but I wanted to see it through. It's a wasted concept that should have been much better. The plot makes no sense, the writing seems like it was done by ChatGPT at times and the characters are all paper thin.
Can't recommend it, even if you've watched everything on Netflix there's not one thing here that's worth your time. Well, I liked the guy who voiced Smith.
Avoid
Mars said:
I'm having a Mars week (started Friday)
Mission To Mars 2000 - Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O'Connell
I think the last time I watched this I found the rather cheap SFX less jarring. It's not aged well. I mean, it wasn't terribly good when it was released. The premise was interesting but the scripted dialogue was REALLY clunky - that also was rather jarring.
Red Planet 2000 - Carrie Anne Moss, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore
In my opinion, this is the better Mars film from 2000. Less clunky dialogue, better SFX, and a slightly a more credible story. That said, the story did have rather forced antagonisms between the characters which probably mirrored the actors' on-set disputes (Val K and Tom S wouldn't appear on set together).
The Martian 2015 - Matt Damon and others
Easily the best Mars film of recent times. The science-part of the SciFi had fewer holes in it that the others, and the story was very engaging.
Total Recall 1990 - Arnie
I still like this. Some great cheesey lines but delivered with Arnie's perfect self-awareness. The story still has a level of ambiguity about whether it was real or a dream.
I have downloaded The Last Days On Mars, Ad Astra, and John Carter. I've seen them all already and know they're less engaging so I'll wait until I have an evening when I'm desperate for entertainment.,
Doom - Rosamund Pike smuggling peanuts Mission To Mars 2000 - Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O'Connell
I think the last time I watched this I found the rather cheap SFX less jarring. It's not aged well. I mean, it wasn't terribly good when it was released. The premise was interesting but the scripted dialogue was REALLY clunky - that also was rather jarring.
Red Planet 2000 - Carrie Anne Moss, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore
In my opinion, this is the better Mars film from 2000. Less clunky dialogue, better SFX, and a slightly a more credible story. That said, the story did have rather forced antagonisms between the characters which probably mirrored the actors' on-set disputes (Val K and Tom S wouldn't appear on set together).
The Martian 2015 - Matt Damon and others
Easily the best Mars film of recent times. The science-part of the SciFi had fewer holes in it that the others, and the story was very engaging.
Total Recall 1990 - Arnie
I still like this. Some great cheesey lines but delivered with Arnie's perfect self-awareness. The story still has a level of ambiguity about whether it was real or a dream.
I have downloaded The Last Days On Mars, Ad Astra, and John Carter. I've seen them all already and know they're less engaging so I'll wait until I have an evening when I'm desperate for entertainment.,
Red6 said:
Sting - whether or not you like spiders, this is absolutely brilliant. More comedy than outright horror, but borrows heavily from Aliens, Gremlins, Predator, and Attack The Block. An absolute blast.
Might give this a go, I watched Arachnophobia last night funnily enough. A great film, Jeff Daniels and John Goodman are superb in it, it's like the film Rats, but with spiders. Radec said:
Doofus said:
Save Yourselves!
A film I recorded from Film4 back in February, and have been looking forward to watching.
fk me, it's st.
What a waste of time. Although, fortunately, it seems no talent was wasted, so that's a relief.
0 tribbles out of 0 fun
Sounds like the title was a warning.A film I recorded from Film4 back in February, and have been looking forward to watching.
f
k me, it's st.What a waste of time. Although, fortunately, it seems no talent was wasted, so that's a relief.
0 tribbles out of 0 fun
Maximum Impact (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4921370/ watched on Rakuten) - 2.3 on IMDB. It was televisual wallpaper and was very poor - how poor? Eric Roberts wasn't the worst thing in it! That said there were some genuinely funny moments, not enough to justify watching it buuuuuuut I've watched a lot worse. Harmless enough and Kelly Hu is always easy on the eyes
Started watching Extraction last night.
Reasonably coherent plot but excessive use of unsteadycam and far too much shrugging off of what should be massive injuries and carrying on, eg both main protagonists flying though the air after being hit with vehicles, but able to get up and shake it off, while the rest of the bad guys go down with a single blow. Fair enough if the character's an Asgardian god, but less so if he's an Australian alcoholic.
I was so invested in it that when my Mrs got home half way through I stopped and we watched something else instead. Might finish it tonight if I can be bothered.
Reasonably coherent plot but excessive use of unsteadycam and far too much shrugging off of what should be massive injuries and carrying on, eg both main protagonists flying though the air after being hit with vehicles, but able to get up and shake it off, while the rest of the bad guys go down with a single blow. Fair enough if the character's an Asgardian god, but less so if he's an Australian alcoholic.
I was so invested in it that when my Mrs got home half way through I stopped and we watched something else instead. Might finish it tonight if I can be bothered.
RizzoTheRat said:
Reasonably coherent plot but excessive use of unsteadycam and far too much shrugging off of what should be massive injuries and carrying on, eg both main protagonists flying though the air after being hit with vehicles, but able to get up and shake it off, while the rest of the bad guys go down with a single blow.
I felt a bit bad for the army of minions who get slaughtered. Surely SOME of them must be loving, creative people who didn't deserve to be erased.
The Hard Way Netflix
This is firmly in the olden day ‘direct to video’ camp. It’s a very simple action movie with all the flaws and fun of direct to video action movies.
Lead and support are good. Plot has holes all over the place, is confusing and has some very rough edits in places.
It’s an action film. It’s never going to win an Oscar, but it’s simple fun with some good fight scenes.
If you are looking for something easy and you don’t wanna think about anything for a few hours, this could be for you. But it’ll not be making an appearance in your top ten list.
I’d give it 6 solid action scenes out of 10 cheesy plot lines.
This is firmly in the olden day ‘direct to video’ camp. It’s a very simple action movie with all the flaws and fun of direct to video action movies.
Lead and support are good. Plot has holes all over the place, is confusing and has some very rough edits in places.
It’s an action film. It’s never going to win an Oscar, but it’s simple fun with some good fight scenes.
If you are looking for something easy and you don’t wanna think about anything for a few hours, this could be for you. But it’ll not be making an appearance in your top ten list.
I’d give it 6 solid action scenes out of 10 cheesy plot lines.
Cloudy147 said:
The Hard Way Netflix
This is firmly in the olden day ‘direct to video’ camp. It’s a very simple action movie with all the flaws and fun of direct to video action movies.
Lead and support are good. Plot has holes all over the place, is confusing and has some very rough edits in places.
It’s an action film. It’s never going to win an Oscar, but it’s simple fun with some good fight scenes.
If you are looking for something easy and you don’t wanna think about anything for a few hours, this could be for you. But it’ll not be making an appearance in your top ten list.
I’d give it 6 solid action scenes out of 10 cheesy plot lines.
I googled that and 2 films come up with that title. Interestingly both starring a Michael J This is firmly in the olden day ‘direct to video’ camp. It’s a very simple action movie with all the flaws and fun of direct to video action movies.
Lead and support are good. Plot has holes all over the place, is confusing and has some very rough edits in places.
It’s an action film. It’s never going to win an Oscar, but it’s simple fun with some good fight scenes.
If you are looking for something easy and you don’t wanna think about anything for a few hours, this could be for you. But it’ll not be making an appearance in your top ten list.
I’d give it 6 solid action scenes out of 10 cheesy plot lines.
1991 with Michael J Fox
2019 with Michael Jai White
dudleybloke said:
Monkey Man.
Indian John Wick, beautifully shot and some decent action scenes but on the whole a fairly crap film.
Its got the ingredients of a great film but doesn't pull it off, seemed more style over substance. I might give it another go but not in any rush.
Interesting, I thought that its biggest strength was its heart tbh. The biggest thing that stood it apart from John Wick et al was the character's journey for me although I do feel it could have been slightly more tightly edited to trim it down a touch. Indian John Wick, beautifully shot and some decent action scenes but on the whole a fairly crap film.
Its got the ingredients of a great film but doesn't pull it off, seemed more style over substance. I might give it another go but not in any rush.
Couldn't agree more on how beautiful it is though, for Dev Patel's first film writing/directing it's a powerful debut.
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