The last movie I saw was...

[paulkerton]

She's very lovely, but it would need more than a lovely lady to get me through near to 3 hours of rap!

 

To be fair, it isn't all rap, and what rap there is, is very accessible stuff. It's designed for the theatre crowd after all.

What can I say? I'm fickle.

[LeMarchand]

Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans

 

After an unfortunate mix-up, a young Roman lad is sent to Britain where he finds that those uncivilised Celts aren't too bad after all.

 

Saw this Wednesday and was struggling to remember what film we saw on "date night" yesterday! Starts off well, with oodles of background sight and audio gags, but goes downhill when it gets to Britain. The core team seem to have been too busy filming Ghosts, and there are some not-very-good song and dance routines. V ex X.

 

The Old Guard

 

A small band of immortal warriors find themselves hunted by an evil pharma bro (Harry "Dudley Dursley" Melling) who wants to cut them up to make himself even richer, while possibly advancing medicine. I really enjoyed this, though a twist involving one character makes little sense and the soundtrack is ruined by some truly awful songs. Might have to seek out the comics that this is based on in the hope of getting some answers that were left hanging for the (likely) sequel.

[CAWJames]

Rewatched Knives Out with the other half and her daughter. Enjoyed it again, and made even more sense on second watching! Well worth a watch, even just for Daniel Craig hamming it up!

[HarryMonkey]

Greyhound

 

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause is assigned to lead an Allied convoy across the Atlantic during World War II. His convoy, however, is pursued by German U-boats. Although this is Krause's first wartime mission, he finds himself embroiled in what would come to be known as the longest, largest and most complex naval battle in history: The Battle of the Atlantic

 

Great film Watched it last night on Apple TV.

[LeMarchand]

True Memoirs of an International Assassin

 

 

An office drone writes a heavily researched novel about an international assassin, but when his publisher markets it as non-fiction the anecdotes he used from his ex-Mossad friend convince a group of Venezuelan revolutionaries that he is the real deal - and they have a job for him.

 

Dumb but fun.

[LeMarchand]

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

 

In the present, Sophie is preparing the hotel she has dedicated to her mother's memory. But only one of her dads can make the grand opening, and her boyfriend may never be returning to the island. In the 70s we see young Donna meet the three fathers and fall in love with the island.

 

Can't say that this was my choice, but it kept me entertained. The "younger versions" generally did passable impressions of their more famous "older versions" and were certainly better singers, the colour palette was gorgeous and Lily James gave an incredibly vivacious performance. On the minus side, they made Dominic Cooper look about 14 and, as most of the well-known songs were used in the first film, they had to use some repeats and deeper dives into the back catalogue. The first few minutes seemed stylistically different to the rest of the film, too.

 

Worth a look if you're a big Abba fan or loved the first, otherwise probably not.

[LeMarchand]

How to Build a Girl

 

 

 

Based on Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical novel about a teenage girl who wrangles a job as a music critic, turns into a , but (of course) realises that she has turned into the sort of person she would hate.

 

I liked it a lot, but the ladies of the house didn't care for the lead character.

[CHiLL]

The Old Guard 7/10

Felt like watching an action flick, so stuck that on Netflix. Follows watching Extraction a couple of months ago. Whilst it's not on the same 'action' level as Extraction, I really enjoyed it. Charlize Theron can kick some serious ass and she performs most of her own stunts. I'd give a summary of the plot, but I couldn't word it better than LeMarchand did.

[sparkeh]

The Old Guard 7/10

Felt like watching an action flick, so stuck that on Netflix. Follows watching Extraction a couple of months ago. Whilst it's not on the same 'action' level as Extraction, I really enjoyed it. Charlize Theron can kick some serious ass and she performs most of her own stunts. I'd give a summary of the plot, but I couldn't word it better than LeMarchand did.

I enjoyed old guard too. Set up for a sequel which I hope they make.

[HarryMonkey]

O2 have just given me 6 months free subscription to Disney+. Looks like it's time to revisit some Star Wars movies

[LeMarchand]

Charlie's Angels (2019)

 

Update of the 70's show and the previous films. The Townsend Agency is now a global organisation, and are tasked to help a software engineer whose company have created a handheld energy source that can provide huge amounts of power at very little cost - but various parties seem more interested in weaponising the device.

 

Pretty throwaway stuff. It's nice to see Kristen Stewart actually having fun, though short blond hair doesn't really suit her, she gets saddled with a ridiculous "girl power" speech/pole dancing routine, and her character is really annoying.

 

Good Boys

 

 

Even this green band trailer is NSFW.

 

 

 

 

Three tweens need to learn how to kiss before attending a "kissing party", and use a drone belonging to one of their dad's to spy on the girls next door. When the girls grab the drone, they swipe one of the girls' bags as collateral - but it turns out to have the girls' "party supplies" and the boys don't want to return drugs to the streets...

 

 

I was at the "painful laughing" stage at some of the scenes in this one. It loses momentum and gets a bit schmaltzy at the end, but generally recommended especially if you get on with Seth Rogan's films.

[LeMarchand]

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir

 

 

A con artist from Mumbai heads to Paris with his mother's ashes and falls in love, but getting to his first date proves somewhat difficult.

 

If whimsy were sugar, anyone who watched this film would end up diabetic. That said, it went down well at Château LeMarchand. Worth a look if you liked stuff like Chocolat or Mistress of Spices.

 

Left Behind (2014)

 

Based on a previously-filmed right-wing evangelist Christian series of books. Nic Cage stars as philandering pilot is en route to London when The Rapture happens. Back on the ground, his daughter struggles to grasp what has happened. (Seriously, The Rapture might not be your first thought, but no-one should take as long as this girl did to work it out).

 

OK: Nic Cage in a film about the flippin' Rapture? This is going to be bonkers! Alas not. Someone must have got Nic's dosage right (or wrong) and he plays this fairly straight despite the film surely demanding one of his most OTT performances. Disappointing and a colossal waste of time.

[CAWJames]

Water for Elephants, quite an old movie now I know, but really enjoyed it. Remove the sparkly vampires from Robert Pattinsons resume and he has actually done some decent movies. This one and Lost City of Z for 2.

[Garacesh]

Just finished watching Searching on Netflix.

 

Definitely would recommend. It's well-paced, and quirkily-framed (everything takes place throughout text messages, video calls, the Internet etc, but the use of technology is very accurately portrayed, rather than your typical CSI ENHANCE b.s.) and I didn't expect it to play out like it did.

 

Thankfully not based on a true story, though it really plays out like you'd expect it to if it were, I had to Google it after it had finished to find out.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Garacesh

[witch]

Project Power on Netflix

So-so action movie. No depth really - but then is there ever?

[LeMarchand]

Project Power on Netflix

So-so action movie. No depth really - but then is there ever?

 

Ditto on this one. Was entertaining enough, but not as original as the writers and some critics seem to think - came across like a mash-up of Limitless and GRRM's Wild Cards series.

 

Much better was Knives Out.

 

Didn't guess the murderer until not long before the reveal, but worked out what had happened with the vials.

[LeMarchand]

21 Bridges

 

After a drug heist goes bad and a bunch of cops are killed, down to his last chance cop Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) is called in to catch the killers - dead or alive (but preferably dead).

 

Efficient and fairly tense action thriller that defies modern film-making convention by sticking to a brief 100 minutes and not making the lead detective a reformed alcoholic with marital problems. Shame his Sherlockian powers of deduction go on the fritz after his first scene, as it takes him an age to work out what the audience sussed when the cops turned up as the robbery was going on. No surprises beyond the slightly ratty, nasal Narcotics officer turning out to be Sienna Miller and Keith David not being the bad guy, but worth a look if this is in your wheelhouse.

[Simcfc73]

Zombieland 2 - Doubletap

 

Skip to the end credits... great cameo which is funnier than the rest of it.

[LeMarchand]

Absolutely Anything

 

Simon Pegg gets the power to make anything he wishes for happen, and wastes it.

 

Absolutely one to miss.

[LeMarchand]

Christmas at the Plaza

 

Mme LeMarchand chose this one! Elizabeth Henstridge (S.H.I.E.L.D.) along with an occasionally slipping yank accent plays a historian assigned to research the history of NY's Plaza Hotel. Everything plays out in typical Hallmark Christmas movie fashion.

 

The Vast of Night

 

 

Two young people in the 50s are drawn together to solve the mystery of strange sounds that are coming over the radio and phone lines.

 

Whilst I admired what was done on an obviously shoestring budget and the efforts to inject some stylistic flourishes into the film, I struggled to stay awake in this one. Everyone did their best, but at one point a character on the other end of a phone conversation announced that they would check on something after putting the cookies in the oven and washing their hands while the audience waited with the phone operator for this to happen. Would have drawn a smaller audience, but worked better, as an audio drama - there were even conversations held against a black screen! Although...

 

Not one if you have problems with hearing dialogue in films. I had to put the subs on for the ladies of the house who missed most of the (18+ minute!) opening tracking shot that mainly served to introduce the setting and slightly to set up the protagonists as the lead actor had one of those low Texan drawls and was mainly some way from the camera.

Edited August 30, 2020 by LeMarchand

[CHiLL]

Tenet - 8/10

This was my first time back to the cinema since March. It was pretty empty and masks are required inside the foyer and during the screening, though you can remove them to eat/drink. Nobody seemed to enforce it in the screening though.

 

I enjoyed this film, even if it was a complete mind bender and I'm not entirely sure what was going on. A lot of timey-wimey-ness but I thought it was an enjoyable watch with some good acting (even if Sir Ken's accent was a little dodge). Maybe it helped that I just enjoyed being back at the cinema after so long (even though the aircon was far too cold and I was sat there freezing)

[LeMarchand]

 

Also Tenet.

 

9/10 from me as the central concept wasn't as easy to grasp as Inception. I think it will take a couple of rewatches to understand stuff like the "pincer movement", and I'll probably kick myself for not working some stuff out sooner - though Mme LeMarchand deduced what was going on during the airport heist fight. Imagine a Bond film with fewer sexy ladies (more than made up for by Elizabeth Debicki who, after this and U.N.C.L.E., surely must be up for a part in an actual Bond) and more timey-wimey stuff. Bit disappointed that the villain didn't have a lair, though! I'm not 100% convinced that it all makes sense, particularly in regard to the need for the masks and what happens with Kat and Neil at the end, but well worth a watch.

 

Be warned that this may be the LOUDEST film you'll ever see at the cinema, with every gunshot - and there are a LOT of gunshots - sounding like you're stood next to the weapon, something that would draw complaints from the neighbours if you were watching at an equivalent volume at home. That said, it certainly wasn't saving cinema in our town - only one other person in the large screen with us . (The local pizza place was at Covid capacity, for comparison).

[blueday]

I saw Tenet on Sunday, and would give it 7.5/10. I wanted to enjoy it more, as I do like Christopher Nolan films, but the mind bending plot plus the fact that some of the dialogue was inaudible (to my aged ears at least, but my daughter said the same) spoiled it for me a bit. It definitely needs one or more repeat viewings - with subtitles switched on!

[LeMarchand]

The New Mutants

 

A teenage girl and her father flee from something ravaging their town and, after she collapses she finds herself in a hospital where she and a handful of other teenagers are being "helped" with their superpowers so that the can eventually control them. But not everything is as it seems.

 

A loose adaptation of the seminal "Demon Bear" arc from the comics, this is an OK watch, but not worth a trip to the cinema - even in Covid-free times. The cast are good but, while it's easy to nitpick differences from page to screen, Charlie Heaton is nothing like the comic character he portrays and the guy playing Sunspot is way too light-skinned. Probably one for X Men/Marvel completists only, though Mme LeMarchand liked it much more than I anticipated (thought the horror elements would put her off). Also, did we need the shower scenes? It's the New Mutants, not the Nude Mutants.

[CHiLL]

Les Miserables (2019 - French language) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10199590/

 

The story follows a cop from the countryside, who relocates to the city suburbs and joins a local police team. Following the aftermath of France's 2018 World Cup win, raising tensions between different groups of the community spiral out of control after an arrest of a troubled teenager, suspected of stealing from one of the groups goes wrong.

 

I really enjoyed this film, it was tense and enthralling. 8/10

Edited September 11, 2020 by CHiLL