The last movie I saw was...

[Dos_Box]

Death of Stalin. Armando Iannucci's rapid fire satire of the death of Stalin and power struggle among the soviet central committee. Very good.

 

I didn't know about that! Will have to see if it's on anywhere around here still.

[caffrey]

Watched the original Halloween last night, seemed the right thing to do and I've not watched it for a while

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I didn't know about that! Will have to see if it's on anywhere around here still.

 

Should be, It's a pretty recent release and looks great!

 

I went to see the Lego Ninjago Movie with the kids at the weekend.

 

Preston's newly refurbed VUE was a delight. Those reclining seats!!

 

But the film itself wasn't that great. It ignored all but the basics on the Ninjago TV series and my five year old was questioning plot holes all the way through bless him.

 

The idea of a cat totally destroying the city in an overly playful way was pretty cool though.

[Garacesh]

my five year old was questioning plot holes all the way through bless him.

You've trained him well, then?

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Oh yes! He's on a path to nerd glory!

 

Taking him out Trick or Treating last night he insisted on dressing up as an imperial stormtrooper as 'they look the coolest'. But, he wouldn't be without his double-bladed lightsaber either.

'You never know when a Jedi or a monster will show up' was his reasoning.

 

Seems pretty sound to me

[LeMarchand]

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

 

A murder is committed on the eponymous train, and Hercules Poirot must exercise his little grey cells to identify the killer.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Agatha Christie's work, and was half expecting to nod off during this. As it turns out, I thoroughly enjoyed it despite remembering whodunnit fairly early on. It's a beautifully mounted film only let down by some occasionally shonky CG and the feeling that some of the starry cast is a bit underused. Well worth a look if this is your sort of thing, though may be a bit "old school" for some.

 

Added bonus for the LeMarchand party: we all got to feel young as we were the youngest group in the screen by some way!

[witch]

I enjoyed it but as always with Christie it was a bit contrived.

BUT given that AC explains very carefully what Poirot looks like, why did Branagh go for a completely different look. And what's with the invented past lover?

[LeMarchand]

I enjoyed it but as always with Christie it was a bit contrived.

BUT given that AC explains very carefully what Poirot looks like, why did Branagh go for a completely different look. And what's with the invented past lover?

 

I'm guessing the moustache was to differentiate him from Suchet. Not read the book, but the cast seemed more racially diverse than Christie was likely to have used, so it's not as if they were going for 100% faithful. Not sure about "Ma chere Katherine". Maybe it was because Branagh felt that no-one could possibly believe that someone who looked like him would have had no romantic past .

[witch]

Only the black character was substantially different. I dont mind things not being 100% accurate but Poirot's appearance is a huge deal and mentioned multiple times in every book

[mavhc]

It's the easiest story to remember who dunnit.

 

Moving on: Unforgiven, start of the revisionist western, bringing more realism to the genre. Bit slow in the middle, but the end was good.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Not really a movie, but it has the word in the title.

 

My Scientology Movie by Louis Theroux

 

A really compelling watch whatever your thoughts on the religion / scifi convention / cult / pyramid scheme that Scientology may be.

[LeMarchand]

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage

 

It turns out Xander Cage wasn't killed - which is just as well, because he's needed to save the world again.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the first two films in this series; they were watchable, but I wasn't desperate to see a third. However (like the Fast films) this one decided to ramp up the ridiculousness and turned out to be a lot of fun. If you like dumb-but-fun OTT action movies, you could do worse. I'd consider seeing xXx4 at the cinema based on this one.

[mavhc]

Paddington 2: The popup sequence at the start was a nice homage to the TV series, good.

Thor 3: Too much cgi fighting, but decent enough plot, pretty funny.

The Florida Project: a small gang of 6 year olds while away the summer holidays at the cheap motels they live at just outside Disneyland, mostly told from their pov, while their parents struggle to pay the rent. Good, interesting ending, lags a little bit in the middle, but worth it.

[unixman_again]

The Omen - I haven't seen it since it came out in 1977, and it's just as good as I remember.

[LeMarchand]

Paddington 2

 

Paddington is sent to jail for a crime he (obviously) didn't commit, and he, the Browns and all his friends both in Windsor Gardens and the new friends he makes in the clink must work to clear his name and catch the real crook.

 

A lovely film; absolutely charming. If you enjoy family films get out and see it. Seemed to go down very well with the rest of the audience; there was one scene that seemed to elicit an "awww..." from just about everyone in the place. Maybe not take the more sensitive little ones, though - we had one burst into tears in our screen when the little bear is marched into the big house.

[mavhc]

Paddington 2

Paddington is sent to jail for a crime he (obviously) didn't commit

 

Or did he? Are you sure he didn't manipulate you know who into stealing the item, he then gets his present at the end, keeps the money, and they'll probably give him the item too.

[LeMarchand]

Or did he? Are you sure he didn't manipulate you know who into stealing the item, he then gets his present at the end, keeps the money, and they'll probably give him the item too.

 

There can be only one response to that scurrilous suggestion.

 

[mavhc]

Wild Strawberries: An old man considers his life while on a journey home with his daughter in law.

[korifugi]

There can be only one response to that scurrilous suggestion.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]46243[/ATTACH]

 

That image totally needs to be used by elsiegee when she's 'gently nudging' us back on topic.

[GuyJD]

There can be only one response to that scurrilous suggestion.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]46243[/ATTACH]

That's the face of a evil mastermind if ever I saw one, definitely screams hardened criminal.

[LeMarchand]

That's the face of a evil mastermind if ever I saw one, definitely screams hardened criminal.

 

You'd better watch out, or you'll have to deal with his crew.

 

[dry]

Murder on the Orient Express

 

Good film. Haven't read the book but found it fairly predictable. The detective was fascinating- especially the lengthy introduction to his character at the start.

 

Lots of British wit and had me laughing out loud in the cinema a few times.

 

Still a couple of unanswered questions that I'm scratching my head over.

 

Beats 'Happy Death Day', that me and my movie mate saw the previous week, by leaps and bounds!

[NB9457]

Bad Moms Christmas, actually very very funny!

[LeMarchand]

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

 

Alice finds that there is a cure for the T-Virus, but she has (you guessed it) 48 hours to locate and release it or there won't be enough left of humanity to make a difference. The problem is it's in the Hive...

 

I'm neither one of those people who thinks anything Paul W.S. Anderson is by definition rubbish, nor that the RE films betray the games (not played any), but this was fairly bad. Lurches more into horror than previous instalments (which I felt were more action/horror) and makes even less sense than normal. If you've seen all the others, you'll probably see this anyway; if not, save yourself a couple of hours.

[LeMarchand]

The Saint (2017)

 

...or to be more accurate (2013) with (2015) reshoots.

 

Simon Templar, this time played by Adam Rayner (Dragon Age: Redemption), has to save a kidnapped girl whilst trying to return billions of dollars worth of aid stolen from a poor African nation.

 

This is the sort of thing you used to find in Ye Olde Video Shoppe: a failed US pilot with a few added scenes masquerading as a movie. Not truly awful, though you can see why it never went to series. Nice to see two former "Saints" in guest roles, but otherwise not worth trackng down.