Rate the Last Film you Watched

[JuniorChubb 3,359]

31 minutes ago, Con said:

Nice review. 

Make sure you watch the original too...

    

It gets far more praise than Quarantine. So check it out. 

Missed this, Cheers Con.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

M*A*S*H

dir. Robert Altman

MASH is a satirical black comedy set during the Korean war and directed by Robert Altman.  It stars Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould as two surgeons drafted to the Army who would rather spend their time drinking martinis and playing golf.  Like all Altman films there is a huge cast, including Robert Duvall, Tom Skerritt, Bud Cort, Sally Kellerman and Fred Williamson.  There isn't much of a plot, rather the film is episodic as we spend time with these characters and watch them interact with each other, another trademark of Altman films.  This is probably why it made for such a successful TV show; this film could even be spilt up into three or four episodes itself.  

One thing I really like about this film is how Altman uses sound.  He likes to fill his shots full of characters and have them all talk over each other in a very natural way that makes it so you can't make sense of the whole, but you pick up little snatches of conversations.  I also like the contrast between the bloody scenes in the operating theatre and the flippant attitudes of the surgeons.  There are some problems though.  I just don't like the main characters.  I get that they are the anti-establishment archetypes that were relevant during the Vietnam war, but they come across as arrogant, bullying *ssholes, especially in the misogynistic way they treat all of the female characters in the film.  The film wants you to cheer along as they harass the nurses, but it just comes across as gross.

Despite that, this is a really well made film, sometimes documentary like in the way it was shot, and you can really feel Altman finding his style that he would go on to perfect in films like Nashville and Gosford Park. 7/10

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Under the Skin

dir. Jonathan Glazer

Scarlett Johansson totally naked.  Now that I have your attention let me tell you about Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, a surreal sci-fi/horror film starring Johansson as an alien observing and studying humanity in the towns and countryside of Scotland.  We follow her as she drives around in a van picking up men and taking them back to her home where she traps them in a black void that could be another dimension.  Here they hang suspended until their insides are mush and are eventually s*cked out of them, leaving just the skin behind.  She is aided by a man in riding leathers who never speaks.  He could be her helper or her master, it's never made clear.  About halfway through the film she picks up a man with severe facial disfigurement and this clearly affects her.  After having s*x with him she examines her own face in the mirror, maybe finding her own humanity, and she lets him go.  She then spends the rest of the film searching for more of this humanity before a starkly violent and brutal ending. 

I loved this film.  It's full of startling imagery and is fantastically directed.  It's a very detached, cold feeling film, which fits the idea of an outsider watching their subject.  It also uses hidden cameras and has Johansson interacting with real people who didn't know they were being filmed, again reinforcing the idea of somebody studying and observing these people.  Johansson is fantastic as the alien, playing it very cold, keeping her performance under the surface, but when she does talk you can see flashes of life, something she probably learned from her observations.  The rest of the cast are mostly made up of non-actors, giving a strange reality to what is a very surreal film.  It also makes Johansson feel like more of an outsider.  Here's this incredibly famous a-list actor in a weird art-house sci-fi film set in Scotland.  She feels so out of place, but in a good way that adds to the other-worldliness of her character.  

Even though I loved it, it's still a hard one to recommend.  It's very slow with hardly any plot, and nothing is explained to you.  This film asks more questions than it answers, and I know a lot of people find that annoying.  It is also very light on dialogue, the majority of the film is all about imagery and mood.  Also, not much happens, this is a film about observation, and that's what we get to do.  We watch this character, we're there just as a witness, to take a record of her findings.  You do get to see Johansson naked though, and I know that's more than enough to sway a lot of you perverts 😉 9/10

 

 

[Sinister 2,578]

Contagion.  

A movie from 2011 that is basically about what the world is currently going through. The similarities are insane.

[omarcomin71 3,837]

2 hours ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

Under the Skin

dir. Jonathan Glazer

Scarlett Johansson totally naked.  Now that I have your attention let me tell you about Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, a surreal sci-fi/horror film starring Johansson as an alien observing and studying humanity in the towns and countryside of Scotland.  We follow her as she drives around in a van picking up men and taking them back to her home where she traps them in a black void that could be another dimension.  Here they hang suspended until their insides are mush and are eventually s*cked out of them, leaving just the skin behind.  She is aided by a man in riding leathers who never speaks.  He could be her helper or her master, it's never made clear.  About halfway through the film she picks up a man with severe facial disfigurement and this clearly affects her.  After having s*x with him she examines her own face in the mirror, maybe finding her own humanity, and she lets him go.  She then spends the rest of the film searching for more of this humanity before a starkly violent and brutal ending. 

I loved this film.  It's full of startling imagery and is fantastically directed.  It's a very detached, cold feeling film, which fits the idea of an outsider watching their subject.  It also uses hidden cameras and has Johansson interacting with real people who didn't know they were being filmed, again reinforcing the idea of somebody studying and observing these people.  Johansson is fantastic as the alien, playing it very cold, keeping her performance under the surface, but when she does talk you can see flashes of life, something she probably learned from her observations.  The rest of the cast are mostly made up of non-actors, giving a strange reality to what is a very surreal film.  It also makes Johansson feel like more of an outsider.  Here's this incredibly famous a-list actor in a weird art-house sci-fi film set in Scotland.  She feels so out of place, but in a good way that adds to the other-worldliness of her character.  

Even though I loved it, it's still a hard one to recommend.  It's very slow with hardly any plot, and nothing is explained to you.  This film asks more questions than it answers, and I know a lot of people find that annoying.  It is also very light on dialogue, the majority of the film is all about imagery and mood.  Also, not much happens, this is a film about observation, and that's what we get to do.  We watch this character, we're there just as a witness, to take a record of her findings.  You do get to see Johansson naked though, and I know that's more than enough to sway a lot of you perverts 😉 9/10

 

 

You had me at Scarlett Johansson totally naked. 😁

[Sinister 2,578]

Pornhub has the nude scenes so I didn't have to suffer through the movie 😉

[JuniorChubb 3,359]

The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

Never watched any of the Purge films so jumped in with this one. Was a lot more enjoyable than I expected, annoying characters making annoying decisions but not as dire as I expected.

6.5/10

The Purge (2013)

After watching Purge: Anarchy I didn’t mind diving into this... glad we didn’t watch this one first as it was a lot less enjoyable IMO. Annoying characters, annoying decision making and predictable.

5/10

Also my ratings have started to change now I am posting here regularly. This would have been a 6 but I am no longer a noob!

 

 

[Con 5,703]

4 hours ago, Sinister said:

Contagion.  

A movie from 2011 that is basically about what the world is currently going through. The similarities are insane.

Yes it’s perfect for the current time and it really is a very good film if you enjoy the action to be dialogue. The film is so realistic because it’s based on the Nipah Virus from a few decades ago and solid research was done for Contagion. (My review for it is on Page 28).

That is why not being prepared when we had all the data and a team in place, is inexcusable to me. That film just confirmed just how upset we should be with leadership that failed us not just at the top but every level. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Con

[Sinister 2,578]

According to the story I read that "team in place" was cut out by our current gooberment and the head person quit last summer.

[Con 5,703]

21 minutes ago, Sinister said:

According to the story I read that "team in place" was cut out by our current gooberment and the head person quit last summer.

Yeah...the actual Pandemic Team was dismantled because i'm sure they were overpaid to mostly go over things they already knew and how many times can you produce models that predict what will happen. So I get that perhaps cutting SOME funding or staff from the pandemic team was not a bad idea but to not leave something in place. Of course this will all turn to finger pointing between the CDC and govt leaders. All i know is that whoever is responsible for whispering in Trumps ears that this virus was not a big deal should be the one hung from their b*lls or clitoris. 

[Con 5,703]

1 hour ago, JuniorChubb said:

I am posting here regularly.

So good to have you and everyone else join our film chats..I couldnt believe i was having a "Valerian...1K Planets" discussion yesterday! I used to say, I wish someone else in the crew would watch that movie so I can see if it was just me that felt the main guy was outta place. lol. 

And if you have not watched Contagion, please watch it, it's a solid pandemic movie and the best part is you decide how you feel at the end...!

Edited April 5, 2020 by Con

[Sinister 2,578]

1 hour ago, Con said:

Yeah...the actual Pandemic Team was dismantled because i'm sure they were overpaid to mostly go over things they already knew and how many times can you produce models that predict what will happen. So I get that perhaps cutting SOME funding or staff from the pandemic team was not a bad idea but to not leave something in place. Of course this will all turn to finger pointing between the CDC and govt leaders. All i know is that whoever is responsible for whispering in Trumps ears that this virus was not a big deal should be the one hung from their b*lls or clitoris. 

A science denier doesn't need anyone whispering in their ear while they wear their rose colored glasses. 

[JuniorChubb 3,359]

Monster (EU and Japan) Humanoids from the Deep (USA): (1980)

Thanks to the meddling of a local business trying to speed up/enhance salmon growth to boost profits the Humanoids from the Deep are created... In true 80’s style they are after our women!

As a casual viewer this film gets 3/10

However if you are a fan of this genre and want some nostalgic laughs then it’s an 8/10 as this has it all... especially when watching with a group.

Ridicoulous plot, dodgy effects, plenty of flesh, s*x, monster/human crossbreeding, blood, gore, and poorly treated Native Americans, most of which is very humorous to watch today. There was also controversy on its release due to the s*xual scenes that were added at the last moment to give the film a much needed kick.

If you do decide to watch this (it is on Netflix UK) there are two things to keep your eye on for extra laughs, how many times Dr Drakes outfit changes compared to he male co-stars and how Johnny Eagle’s facial injuries progress with each scene.

 

1 hour ago, Con said:

And if you have not watched Contagion, please watch it, it's a solid pandemic movie and the best part is you decide how you feel at the end...!

Great to be here Con 👍

Pretty sure I have watched Contagion, just not sure what happens due to my degrading memory.

[Sinister 2,578]

Anyways, enough off topic.

After Contagion we figured we would watch something called, Pandemic. That was a mistake. Nothing like the first movie and more of a Zombie flick in the style of 28 Days Later. Only this movie s*cked and I barely paid any attention.

[DavidCore89 7,402]

Jawbone (2017).

With Corona putting sport on the shelf, I had to get my boxing fix via movies.

This is one of the only boxing movies that I'd never seen, typically gritty, British and unspectacular, even with Ray Winstone starring.

I think with this genre, if the story isn't far-fetched or glamorous enough, it'll go under the radar and that's probably why I'm only now seeing this movie.

5/10, although I still watched it to the end.

[CatManDoza 3,473]

Interesting article on the BBC website today. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/52072024

[DavidCore89 7,402]

1 hour ago, CatManDoza said:

Interesting article on the BBC website today. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/52072024

Some decent stuff on there.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life)

dir. Federico Fellini

La Dolce Vita is directed by Federice Fellini and stars his frequent collaborator, Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello Rubini, a gossip journalist reporting on the rich and famous in Rome.  Rather than a conventional plot, this is another film that is split up into several chapters as we follow him through important moments in his life.  We see his relationship with his suicidal girlfriend Emma (Yvonne Furneaux) fracture slowly over the course of the film as he pursues several other women.  One of these is a famous actress, just in Rome to shoot a film, Sylvia (Anita Ekberg).  There is an incredible scene where she and Rubini walk the empty streets late at night before ending up in the Trevi Fountain.  This scene is like something out of a fairy tale, and is shot in a fantastical way, which contrasts with the more natural, neo-realist style of other parts of the film.  Rubini is also friends with an intrusive photographer called Paparazzo (Walter Santesso), which is where the word paparazzi comes from, showing the incredible cultural influence this film has.

Other segments of the film involve Rubini reporting on the sighting of the holy Madonna by two children, parties with his aristocratic friends, and a visit from his father where they visit a cabaret.  Each of these shows us more about the character of Rubini, and being that the film is three hours long, we really get to know him over the course of the film.  The film is all about his search for love, happiness and meaning, which he seems to sabotage himself.  He dreams of being a novelist rather than a gossip journalist, but does nothing about it.  He claims to love several women over the course of the film, but never allows them to get close.  In one scene he declares his love via an echoing chamber, with the woman in totally separate room from him.  

This is a gorgeous looking film throughout, the crisp black and white photography highlighting the beauty of Rome, and Fellini's direction is more stylised than his earlier films, adding a dreamlike quality to the film.  There are parts that dragged a little for me, maybe it could be 15-20 minutes shorter, but overall I thought this was fantastic, and well deserving of it's legendary status.  It was also Roger Ebert's favourite film, and if you can trust anyone's opinion, you can trust his 9/10

 

 

[JuniorChubb 3,359]

Contagion (2011)

After getting bored of Tiger King I switched it off to watch the Con recommended Contagion. It was a great decision.

Contagion follows the outbreak of a novel virus in Hong Kong and it’s effects in America as it spreads. The film appears to be very well researched and they get so much right which we can confirm by looking at the situation we are in today. There are some big names in the film and they all play there parts in the jigsaw to make a very entertaining film that at times feels like a dramatised documentary.

Spoiler

 

My only gripes with the film are how quickly things develop and the development of the vaccine.

It seems to go from patient zero to looting in a couple of steps and without much explanation, this was a little frustrating and really felt the film could have done with an extra 30 mins to address the spread of the disease and the measures out in place that lead to the breakdown of society on some places. Considering how much  they got right it really stood out to me how much they skipped over this.

The vaccine also appears really quickly and I had trouble understanding the ‘breakthrough’ that Hextall developed. I did after a little research but I don’t think a viewer should have to do this after the film. At least I now know what an attenuated vaccine is.

@Con when you question the ending was it the ‘lottery’ you were questioning?

 

I’ll go 7.5 for this, the film appears to be scientifically spot on as well as great to watch now in comparison to what we are going through.

[Con 5,703]

2 hours ago, JuniorChubb said:

Contagion (2011)

  Hide contents

when you question the ending was it the ‘lottery’ you were questioning?

The speed of the vaccine like you mentioned. While it takes years to come up with a vaccine, I thought by having the Dr. woman inject herself which sped everything up as she became the test “patient”, bypassing the human trials, which are what usually slows the process down.

 Also, the filmmaker has admitted that that’s the only place where things were embellished a little for pace. It’s the only thing “Hollywood” in the film.  

Edited April 6, 2020 by Con

[JuniorChubb 3,359]

11 minutes ago, Con said:

The speed of the vaccine like you mentioned. While it takes years to come up with a vaccine, I thought by having the Dr. woman inject herself which sped everything up as she became the test “patient”, bypassing the human trials, which are what usually slows the process down.

 Also, the filmmaker has admitted that that’s the only place where things were embellished a little for pace. It’s the only thing “Hollywood” in the film.  

Unfortunately many pandemic movies end up with a last minute saviour like this... I think it is just hard to avoid after you have built up the panic, it’s either that or the end of the world as we know it.

With this one I think another option would have been a time jump of a few years to when a vaccine was engineered. It would have been interesting to see how they approached that considering how much research they put into the spread of the outbreak.

 

[DavidCore89 7,402]

The Fighter (2010)

Another boxing movie with a better plot than the last. Based on the boxer 'Irish' Micky Ward, who later had 3 very good fights with Arturo Gatti at the end of his career.

Starring Mark Wahlberg as 'The Fighter', who is about as menacing as a dark cloud on a sunny day - and some of the worst SFX around considering it had a decent budget.

Typical underdog boxing story. Dude takes the most unrealistic of beatings on the ropes while not defending himself, then magically finds a way to win before the ref has even thought about stepping in.

Not a great representation IMO. Granted, he was a tough f*cker, but this movie kinda made it seem as though he got lucky.

6/10 because I'm feeling generous 

[Con 5,703]

16 minutes ago, JuniorChubb said:

With this one I think another option would have been a time jump of a few years to when a vaccine was engineered. It would have been interesting to see how they approached that considering how much research they put into the spread of the outbreak.

Yeah i think the filmmaker also mentioned that they planned on showing a time warp but would add more running time as audiences would have wanted to know where all the characters are five years later. I could overlook the unrealistic timeline for the cure in the movie because someday something will arrive and in order to save our species, we will have to bypass clinical trials. So its not that far fetched of a worst worst worst worst case scenario. Anyways thanks for watching it!!! 

[Con 5,703]

7 minutes ago, DavidCore89 said:

The Fighter (2010)

Another boxing movie with a better plot than the last. Based on the boxer 'Irish' Micky Ward, who later had 3 very good fights with Arturo Gatti at the end of his career.

Starring Mark Wahlberg as 'The Fighter', who is about as menacing as a dark cloud on a sunny day - and some of the worst SFX around considering it had a decent budget.

Typical underdog boxing story. Dude takes the most unrealistic of beatings on the ropes while not defending himself, then magically finds a way to win before the ref has even thought about stepping in.

Not a great representation IMO. Granted, he was a tough f*cker, but this movie kinda made it seem as though he got lucky.

6/10 because I'm feeling generous 

Remember seeing this a while back and one thing i remember is the beatings dude takes...lol..thanks to the film, I actually looked up the real fighter and learned more about his story. Would have been an even greater story had he not fallen into the drug abuse. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Con

[JuniorChubb 3,359]

25 minutes ago, Con said:

Anyways thanks for watching it!!! 

Nice recommendation 👍

Yup, it’s give and take to fit the story retelling into the time given.