Movie What's the last movie you saw? (7)

[Frank Bunn]

Jules (2023)

A UFO crash lands in a forgetful old man's backyard and no one believes him. This is such a sweet movie with the lead played by Ben Kingsley and a fantastic supporting cast. This is a simple but unique story told through complicated characters. Tongue planted firmly in cheek, smartly written with tons of allegory conveyed simply through a very sweet honest film, heralded by three veteran performers. The performer who played Jules also did a terrific job. 7/10 (Good)

This sounds right up my street. I love a low key, character driven sci-fi movie. K-PAX is one of my favourite movies.

Edit : Good recommendation. It's an example of giving a well written script to good actors and a competent director. You don't need to spend a fortune on special effects.

6/10

 

[GreyCrow]

Push - Stan

Chris Evans , Dakota Fanning , Camilla Belle and Ming Na Wen

Filmed in 2009 it tells the story of gifted people who seemingly hold the key to the future and the forces that come together to try and change it

I think I first watched it around the same time as Next with Nic Cage and both movies present the talents well. The storylines might be weak but the acting was solid if not deliberately cartoonish.

You know it will lead you down different paths trying to trick you but its a fun ride getting there

 

[Neese]

And now another 80s classic

John Carpenter's Big Trouble In Little China

Oh there's a throwback. I went with my school class to see this at the cinema and remember loving it. Fun movie.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Push - Stan

Chris Evans , Dakota Fanning , Camilla Belle and Ming Na Wen

Filmed in 2009 it tells the story of gifted people who seemingly hold the key to the future and the forces that come together to try and change it

I think I first watched it around the same time as Next with Nic Cage and both movies present the talents well. The storylines might be weak but the acting was solid if not deliberately cartoonish.

You know it will lead you down different paths trying to trick you but its a fun ride getting there

I thought it was OK too. Evans & Fanning, in particular, put in strong performances. A bit far-fetched IMHO, but not bad. 6/10

 

[Jarman3]

65

Adam Driver battling dinosaurs on prehistoric earth.

Spectacularly average. Entertaining enough for its thankfully short running time but utterly forgettable. Even now barely 12 hours later I'm struggling to remember much of it. Glad I just watched on Prime instead of forking out for a ticket in the cinema, that's for damn sure.

 

[GreyCrow]

8 Mile - Netflix

Another movie where enough time has passed where I know the outline but not the picture.

Its a great look at Detroit and even more so today with the urban decay.

I'm not going to criticise the acting too much but I do think Marshall Mathers does enough to hold his head high.

Its more of a where are they now movie and to see - unsurprisingly - some are dead and by gunshot and others have had fame and are now comfortably in the icons of rap.

I listened to a podcast about Outkast and the difficulties in finding fame from Atlanta and wondered if the same dynamics held Detroit rap back

All in all a good movie about Rabbits first emergence from the warren

 

[kickazz]

8 Mile - Netflix

Another movie where enough time has passed where I know the outline but not the picture.

Its a great look at Detroit and even more so today with the urban decay.

I'm not going to criticise the acting too much but I do think Marshall Mathers does enough to hold his head high.

Its more of a where are they now movie and to see - unsurprisingly - some are dead and by gunshot and others have had fame and are now comfortably in the icons of rap.

I listened to a podcast about Outkast and the difficulties in finding fame from Atlanta and wondered if the same dynamics held Detroit rap back

All in all a good movie about Rabbits first emergence from the warren

Would be worth watching this again - I did like the depictions of Detroit in this. I know the movie is about him, but at the time I felt he was the focus in just TOO many scenes and a more interesting story could have been told if the screenplay opened up a bit.

 

[kickazz]

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

The third of Kenneth Branagh's movies based on Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

The screenplay for this is kind of pedestrian but does the job. I really liked the mise-en-scene though: they really nail the creepy 'haunting' vibe throughout. Many a film does a lot of dark scenes where it's too hard to see what's going on - this movie does it right. Good to see in the cinema too for the eerie audio that is best experienced in the multi-dimensional sound stage of a cinema.

When it comes to suspension of disbelief I'm not sure what was harder - the ghostly stuff or the shots of Venice with * all people in them.

It's no masterpiece but it is enjoyable viewing, particularly if you enjoy the genre.

3.5 stars

 

[Gralin]

Man it's so annoying being reminded of a great movie to find that its not available anywhere to stream or rent, just no online presence

 

[Frank Bunn]

Hypnotic (2023)

Ben Affleck plays a detective who is trying to get the bottom of the abduction of his young daughter. He discovers a secret government program that manipulates people through advanced hypnotic techniques. It's a bit Inception with some of the visual effects, and a bit Memento where you don't know the reality for the character - but it comes nowhere near those movies in quality. The plot gets a bit silly and the hypnosis is more like magical mind control than realistic. It's an ok mystery thriller but not great.

4/10

Apparently the budget was $70 million. It's hard to know where that might have gone. The director, Robert Rodriguez, seems to have gotten all his kids into the production with presumably nice paychecks. I was reminded of a recent conversation about Sound of Freedom. phantom13 was probably right. I was more thinking about whether the final product looks like a B movie despite a high budget and star cast.

It’s definitely B movie based on budget and cast. Might be a good B movie (I haven’t seen it) but it’s definitely a B movie.

 

[phantom13]

Hypnotic (2023)

Ben Affleck plays a detective who is trying to get the bottom of the abduction of his young daughter. He discovers a secret government program that manipulates people through advanced hypnotic techniques. It's a bit Inception with some of the visual effects, and a bit Memento where you don't know the reality for the character - but it comes nowhere near those movies in quality. The plot gets a bit silly and the hypnosis is more like magical mind control than realistic. It's an ok mystery thriller but not great.

4/10

Apparently the budget was $70 million. It's hard to know where that might have gone. The director, Robert Rodriguez, seems to have gotten all his kids into the production with presumably nice paychecks. I was reminded of a recent conversation about Sound of Freedom. phantom13 was probably right. I was more thinking about whether the final product looks like a B movie despite a high budget and star cast.

Hypnotic is a truly bizarre production (argurably more so than Sound of Freedom). Affleck is a list, as is Rodriquez (from memory it’s also got some quality character actors in Alice Braga, William Fichtner and Jackie Earle Haley). It seems like after it was done or at some stage late in production everyone realised it was terrible and just sort of dumped it. A list stars, big budget then just sort of nothing.

 

[Frank Bunn]

Hypnotic is a truly bizarre production (argurably more so than Sound of Freedom). Affleck is a list, as is Rodriquez (from memory it’s also got some quality character actors in Alice Braga, William Fichtner and Jackie Earle Haley). It seems like after it was done or at some stage late in production everyone realised it was terrible and just sort of dumped it. A list stars, big budget then just sort of nothing.

The Covid restrictions screwed a lot productions up. But it seems like the studios have become less willing to meet the high marketing costs for a movie that is in the can, but is not very good and could be a stinker at the box office. It's one thing to line up a bunch of exec producers to fund the making of a movie but another challenge to find a few more million to potentially flush down the toilet.

 

[PT Bar None]

Havent watched it but i think the plot of the film was loosely based around when Kevin Smith almost died from a heart attack

Very loosely, but also completely hit over the head with

 

[PT Bar None]

The Barbarians (1987) Prime IMDB: 5.0

A little surprised the IMDB score is so high. This is a bad movie, but it might edge into "so bad its good" territory depending on taste. Poor man's Conan if Conan was twin brothers. At least the two musclebound heroes played it as big dumb meatheads rather than straight. I reckon it's closer to a 4. Some of the fight scene choreography is gloriously bad. The dialog is so bad you pretty much need to have subtitles on. The sort of film that probably doesn't get made today.

 

[edgie]

The Barbarians (1987) Prime IMDB: 5.0

A little surprised the IMDB score is so high. This is a bad movie, but it might edge into "so bad its good" territory depending on taste. Poor man's Conan if Conan was twin brothers. At least the two musclebound heroes played it as big dumb meatheads rather than straight. I reckon it's closer to a 4. Some of the fight scene choreography is gloriously bad. The dialog is so bad you pretty much need to have subtitles on. The sort of film that probably doesn't get made today.

Is there like three sex scenes in the opening half hour, including one that ends with a broad getting thrown in to a fireplace mid coitus?

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using Tapatalk

 

[Richard Cranium]

Broker

Kore-eda joint. Watch it. It's good.

 

[Jarman3]

Broker

Kore-eda joint. Watch it. It's good.

After reading that detailed review I feel like I've seen it already

 

[Jarman3]

The Northman

Had this on my list for a while. I didn't particularly enjoy The Lighthouse (started well, disappeared up its own ar$e by the end), but had heard good things about this one so gave it a shot. Simple yet effective story... viking king gets murdered by his brother to seize the throne, his young son escapes and comes looking for vengeance years later.

Enjoyed it a lot, Eggers appeared to reign in some of his weirder impulses and keep a more coherent narrative in this one vs The Lighthouse. Solid performances all round. While it was violent, I didn't think it was excessively graphic... a lot of the violence was off camera. The way it had been talked about, I was expecting something a bit more stomach churning. It actually wasn't over the top for the most part, probably for the best since I was eating dinner at the time.

Would recommend it.

 

[5ammy]

Kickboxer (1989)

Found it on Stan, I used to idolise JCVD as a kid. What a beast!

Movie still holds up well in my eyes, great memories. Tong Po kicking the pillar and shaking the walls gave me chills

 

[vast]

Kickboxer (1989)

Found it on Stan, I used to idolise JCVD as a kid. What a beast!

Movie still holds up well in my eyes, great memories. Tong Po kicking the pillar and shaking the walls gave me chills

I havent watched this ages because the version I had recorded on vhs from tv had extra scenes. All blu ray and dvd releases dubbed Dennis Alexios voice by another actor and do not include this scene.

 

[Xtreme]

I havent watched this ages because the version I had recorded on vhs from tv had extra scenes. All blu ray and dvd releases dubbed Dennis Alexios voice by another actor and do not include this scene.

There's an Internet movie channel (watched via my Samsung tv) that had Kickboxer non stop for 24 hours.

I have it in various formats (single DVD, single bluray and part of a Kickboxer 1-4 pack that I got from JB HI-FI in the mid 2000s).

I like it but Kickboxer 2 was more my favourite. Yes I have weird taste!!

 

[vast]

There's an Internet movie channel (watched via my Samsung tv) that had Kickboxer non stop for 24 hours.

I have it in various formats (single DVD, single bluray and part of a Kickboxer 1-4 pack that I got from JB HI-FI in the mid 2000s).

I like it but Kickboxer 2 was more my favourite. Yes I have weird taste!!

Was that the one is Brazil with Sasha Mitchell or was that Kickboxer 3?

 

[Gralin]

I havent watched this ages because the version I had recorded on vhs from tv had extra scenes. All blu ray and dvd releases dubbed Dennis Alexios voice by another actor and do not include this scene.

wait they've removed this scene?

 

[Gralin]

I probably haven't seen it since VHS days so that was in the version I watched

 

[SnakeMan86]

Was that the one is Brazil with Sasha Mitchell or was that Kickboxer 3?

Was that the one with Tong Po back or was that 4?
Then theres the remakes..... lol Although Alain Moussi is a beast