The last movie you saw

[RydCook]

Killer Joe - Brilliant, very funny and great story. Chrome was spot on with what he said really. Very entertaining film, despite how dark the theme is. Perfect length.

[Companero]

I'm really looking forward to Killer Joe...

Here's what I've been looking at this week:

CARNAGE - Polanski chamber piece starring Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as the bickering patents of a couple of kids that's had a scrap. Great performances and dialogue, well worth a look.

YOUNG ADULT - comedy drama from JUNO director Jason Reitman in which Charlize Theron stars as a very mixed-up thirtysomething. Excellent all round.

COBRA - caught this one on Blu-ray for the first time (seen it on VHS and DVD countless times before). Great fun, nice transfer too.

[RydCook]

The Amazing Spider-Man - Really enjoyed this. Silly at some points, but its impossible for Spider-Man not to be. Garfield is a much better fit for Peter Parker in my opinion. The wisecracking fun loving Spider-Man we see in this film is awesome. One of the few films that really looks great in 3D. Much, much better than the other Spider-Man film. Stan Lee's cameo is genius as well. Definitely check it out.

*SPOILERS**
It rather annoyingly brushed over the fact that Peter had been responsible for the death of his Uncle very quickly. He never even finds the villain who committed the crime. Perhaps thats intentional. I didn't see the bit after the credits...

[Bill Edwards]

John Carpenter's‬ ‪The Thing‬ on the big screen.

Remastered and crisp. A chap was sitting near us who'd never seen it before. He jumped and screamed very well.

The Call of Cthulhu‬

An ‪HP Lovecraft‬ story filmed in '20s silent film style. Lovingly done and it was very charming. A bit exposition heavy but creepy.

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows‬

Jolly spiffing fun. Enjoyed the tart banter between Holmes and Watson and the Ritchie-Vision FX were kewl. I thought the plinkity-plonkity music was intrusive and annoying at times. Great seeing Noomi Rapace too although she didn't get much to do.

When is teal going to go out of fashion? Will it ever? It does looks so good but also it's being overdone I think.

[Dave]

Netflix is getting pretty great these days.. they're finally doing regular updates!

Best film I watched on there recently was GARAGE. A subtle drama about an isolated bloke running an isolated garage. Really great.
Trailer.. but if you're thinking of watching it, then maybe avoid it... so maybe there's no point me posting the link.. haha... oh well:

After thinking GARAGE was so great, I checked out ADAM & PAUL also by the same writer, Mark O'Halloran and director Lenny Abrahamson.
Not as great as GARAGE, but still a good film by any standard.
Trailer (which makes it look a bit more comedic than it actually is:

I was thinking that if you like Shane's films, then these are quite possibly films you'll like... but then again, they're not actually that similar in style... I don't know what I mean.. it's late. ;D


Also got round to watching documentary, PROJECT NIM on Netflix. A really interesting story of a scientific experiment to raise a chimp as though it was a human child by being put into a human family situation, and to also see if the chimp could be taught sign-language to any useful degree.
Really eye-opening and moving (not for any obvious reason you may be imagining).

Oh, and I watched ZATHURA again! ;D
I like to think of it as "the thinking person's Jumanji"
The kids in the film teeter on the line between endearing and annoying, but mostly they are quite acceptable!
I just can't help imagine how I would have loved if it was released when I was a kid.... thankfully I have still retained approximately 75% of my childhood brain function, so I still enjoy a fun kids film.

[Gareth]

watched project nim last night Dave, have you seen rise of the planet of the apes?

if not *spoilers*

I dont remember the writers mentioning nim in the interviews I've listened to but surely they must of and I just didnt take note. They basically took that documentary and remade it as a work of fiction up until the apes rise didnt they! not a criticism at all how else could you do it! but ROTPOTA was a remake or at least adaptation of that docu.

[Gareth]

might be worth starting a netflix thread as I'm always struggling for decent stuff on it

[RydCook]

SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD - IN CAPITALS BECAUSE IT IS TOTALLY AWESOME. Excellent editing, stunning effects, brilliant performances and pretty funny too. Fun videogame references in the sound work. Great soundtrack too. Stunning film! Really makes me want to read the graphic novels. Bit gutted I missed this in the cinema. But my Blu-ray will suffice. Packed full of excellent extras it is too! Best set of extras i've seen for a long time. Always is with Edgar Wright though. He has secured his place as one of my all time favourite directors. I've a friend who called this film "An absolute mess" I cannot actually believe how anyone could think that. The story was perhaps not top notch, but this scores 10 out of 10 in almost every other aspect. Each to their own though ay? Still, I find that comment terribly harsh!

Also realised while watching the extras that I've actually been to a lot of the locations! Definitely ate in the very same Pizza Pizza they ate in.

[GR]

Last night on Turner Classic Movies, I got to see No Time for Sergeants. Andy Griffith plays a good-natured, blithely ignorant country bumpkin who gets drafted into the military, and unintentionally causes his sergeant much frustration. Very funny stuff, and fairly true to Mac Hyman's book (which I read recently).

[Dave]

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Watched it at a 10am screening! What a keener... I just wanted to make sure that no one would have chance to spoil it for me! ;D

I won't say much, other than it is excellent. 2 hours 45 minutes! Crikey, but the time definitely flew by... I really didn't feel the length of the running time at all (except maybe a bit in the bladder area).

Tom Hardy makes an amazing villain.. even if you can't see more than about 40% of his face! Once again, he seems like a massive powerhouse of a man... but then how come he looks much smaller than Christian Bale in this photo?
www.imdb.com/media/rm3130829568/nm0362766
Haha.. weird.... Tom Hardy seems to just totally change his appearance and look in every film. It's like magic!

[Bill Edwards]

The Dark Knight Rises

Quality action fun. Daft but well played and with enough humour to stop it being turgid. Bain only just avoided being camp.

Teal rating? 9 out of 10. It was pretty damn teal. ;D

[shorty]

I Melt With You (2011)
Four 40's something college friends meet annually for an epic amount drug taking, drinking and smoking, imagine a much darker variant of The Hangover set to a soundtrack of The sex Pistols and The Clash. They all have personal demons or suffering midlife crises and events spiral taking you on quite a mad journey. Its a rather ensemble cast with Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven and Christian Mckay who are all terrific. The camera work and scenery is also impressive. Its worth a watch despite being panned by the critics.

[jill]

Dark Knight Rises

Good fun. Enjoyed in for 2 hours or so, started to feel like a bit of an endurance test after that ;D

[RydCook]

Dark Knight Rises

Just come back from my second watch. It is definitely EPIC. And thats the best word for it. The story is excellent. Some lovely references to the first film.

*SPOILERS***



Minor complaints: Batman never flew using his cape (i like to see this), Bane went down too easy, ending could have been better, did not top the second or first film's set pieces.

[shorty]

Being Flynn (2012)
Robert De Niro, Paul Dano, Julianne Moore, Olivia Thirlby
Solid drama with solid performances. What gave me the greatest pleasure was watching Mr De Niro finally having something to sink his teeth into, dare i say the best work he's done in 10 years. Soundtrack performed by Bolton's own Badly Drawn Boy!