The last movie I saw was...

[MkII]

Jumanji: liked it

Great characterization at the beginning had us laughing out loud.

[LeMarchand]

Rewatches (that were on the TV): Cinderella (2015) went up a notch on second viewing (I was feeling a bit fragile!), The Finest Hours still held up well, worth a look if you want an old-fashioned action/drama, and Arthur Christmas remained a fun family movie, but not a flat-out classic.

 

Everyone insisted on Christmas Inheritance

 

 

as predictable and cheesy as you'd expect.

[mavhc]

Christmas movie #1: Die Hard. Johnson and Johnson, no relation.

 

Christmas movie #2 will be Brazil of course

[smurfomatic]

Christmas movie #1: Die Hard. Johnson and Johnson, no relation.

 

Christmas movie #2 will be Brazil of course

 

Don't forget Gremlins, Lethal Weapon and Trading Places...

[LeMarchand]

Table 19

 

 

I'm sure the trailer I saw made it look more comedic than a drama with comedy moments, which is what it turned out to be (and that trailer portrays). Mildly watchable, but there are better ways to spend 90 minutes.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

The Greatest Showman

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXCTMGYUg9A

 

Impressive looking musical with Hugh jackman excellent.

 

The film was generally excellent, though it ignored most of history when it portrayed P.T Barnum as a kind man, just trying to provide for his family and not the mean person who kept his 'freaks' in cages between performances.

 

It celebrates diversity well, but casts a man who exploited such diversity as a hero.

[witch]

Pitch Perfect 3

 

A bit of a laugh with some good jokes. But not enough singing!

[LeMarchand]

Pitch Perfect 3

 

My latest too. Fun, but not as good as the first two.

[mavhc]

The Red Balloon, mostly silent french short film, watched it with a 3 and 5 year old, they loved it too.

[LeMarchand]

Hidden Figures

 

 

True story following 3 black women working at NASA in the early 60s. I really enjoyed this, and it seems as if most of what happens is true to life - with the usual characters being merged etc for the sake of making a movie rather than a documentary. Worth a look if you like the look of the trailer.

[elsiegee40]

Hidden Figures

 

 

True story following 3 black women working at NASA in the early 60s. I really enjoyed this, and it seems as if most of what happens is true to life - with the usual characters being merged etc for the sake of making a movie rather than a documentary. Worth a look if you like the look of the trailer.

 

We watched this over Christmas and really enjoyed it too.

[witch]

Hostiles

 

Starts out very violent but then becomes more contemplative. Lots of meaningful glances from Christian Bale - but he was very good and the whole film is very different to your usual western

[Patrick]

Bright

 

Got a bad wrap from the critics. I liked it, a fun police partner shoot em up type film with a fantasy twist. I think the back story has big potential for another film or as a series. 7/10

Edited January 8, 2018 by Patrick

[korifugi]

Bright

 

After looking at the preview for this - I feel reminded of a fae version of Alien Nation.

[HarryMonkey]

I saw The Last Jedi on New Year's Eve. Just spoken to a colleague who went to see it in 4DX. Seems like I'll be going to watch it again

[pete]

Bright - I liked it, though I thought they could have gone a bit more Shadowrun.

[unixman_again]

The Greatest Showman.

 

Me too. An Australian TV critic said the story was superficial and in was just a series of montages, and by the fourth one he was thinking "Oh no, not again!". I can see what he meant. I thought the film was pretty good, although the songs dragged on a bit.

 

I've also recently seen Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky IV and Rocky V. All six were on Australian TV on consecutive nights. I missed III on account of a family tea and I flew out on the day the sixth was on.

 

Watched Atomic Blonde on the flight, which was better than I expected. I don't tend to watch much on the aeroplane. I have to wear my glasses to focus on the tiny screen and my eyes hurt after a while. I usually end up watching the movie a couple of seats in front, albeit without the sound. Most of the time, I find you can make sense of it and think to yourself, "What rubbish taste the person has".

 

Finally, a couple of rare films: Man of Tai Chi which is OK inspite of Keanu Reeves being in it and Doomsday Machine, which was made on a budget of £1.50 but is surprisingly watchable if silly.

[mavhc]

Last Jedi and Jumanji 2, both fine

[LeMarchand]

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

 

A lot of fun and generally some OK work by the cast at portraying their younger versions trapped in their "game" bodies (though Kevin Hart is just Kevin Hart). A particular shout out to Jack Black in this regard(!). Lots of fun, lots of laughs and a few jumps. Thoroughly entertaining.

[LeMarchand]

Passengers

 

2 passengers wake from hypersleep 90 years out from the ship's destination and discover that the ship is failing.

 

I'd heard about this years ago when the script was being hailed as one of the greatest unproduced scripts ever, and felt uneasy about one of the character's decisions. I suspect that the original script was a lot darker, as said decision warrants. As it stands, this is a beautifully presented and designed film that tries hard to make that decision seem OK, but ultimately fails. Kind-of worth a look for the visuals.

[mavhc]

Atomic Blonde, or Charlize Theron kills everybody, decent enough for a action spy film

[phreak]

Watched the new Star wars with the missus. And we were both left a little unimpressed. Way too Disneyfied for my liking.

Don't get me wrong, the big battle scenes were nice to watch, a few little chuckles here and there. But as a whole the thing felt a bit disjointed. The Casino scene felt a bit shoehorned in there and don't even get me started on the fact that Leia now seems to have some next level Jedi powers.

 

But if you can suspend disbelief and any nostalgia for the previous movies and just watch it for a space battle movie then it's fine I suppose.

 

 

A movie I watched more recently was Detroit.

Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.

A pretty good movie although it will probably be one of those that leaves you feeling angry by the end of it (to do with the injustices that happened within the movie more than the cinematic performance).

[witch]

Hidden Figures

 

Quite good but extremely historically inaccurate which really annoys me. Either people will believe it ALL or they will believe non of it and some of it WAS correct and very interesting

[witch]

Three Billboards ouside Ebbing Missouri

 

Thought I had commented on this but cant see it.

Very good. Emotional in places, funny in places - very "real"

[LeMarchand]

Bright

 

In a world where Orcs, Elves, Fairies and apparently Dwarves (not that we see any) live alongside humans the LAPD's first Orcish officer (Joel Edgerton) and his reluctant partner (Will Smith) find themselves protecting an Elf and a magic wand whose power is sought by pretty much the entire city, most of whom will kill to get it.

 

Although passably entertaining, this left me disappointed. The set up could've led to the fantasy equivalent of The Warriors or Escape From New York, but the pace keeps flagging. Also, despite the whole race-relations parable aspect, why are the only 3 Oriental characters at best untrustworthy if not evil? (As an aside, do no Asians join city police departments in the US? I'm struggling to remember seeing one in a show or movie).