Watch, Watched, Watching: The Final Cut

[Nictarion]

2 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Because that didn't happen?

 

[Inkdaub]

Mere moments ago I finished watching I Spit on Your Grave(2010).  It could have been better.

[RedEyedGhost]

I've been watching the final season of Banshee at work this week (this is one of our slow periods). Only one more to go - booo! At the start of episode 7 I thought there was no way they could wrap up evening in only two more episodes... hmm, I was wrong, that episode took care of most of it

[Veltigar]

It's been a while since I last posted in one of these. I haven't really found the time as of late to watch a lot of films. I did however manage to catch Ned Kelly tonight, the 2003 Aussie Western (Austern? Outbackstern? You-call-that-a-western-THIS-is-a-western?) starring Heath Ledger. I had seen it before, but I was surprisingly swept up by it.

It's not a classic by any means, but I do think it is a very good film. Really strange that this only got 56% on Metascore, a lot of critics must have had their heads stuck up in their ass while watching this. I think this is one of those films that fell under the radar at the time and in hindsight were a lot better than people realized.

The cast in this is awesome, really a lot of quality performances, even in bit parts. This is one of those films which you rewatch and then realize how many relatively unknowns in it went on to become household names. Heath Ledger just oozes leading man charisma (I miss him God bless him, he could have given us so much more than he already did), Orlando Bloom gave a really fine performance, Rush is quietly excellent and I really could go on. It's quite nicely shot, the violence is staged well and it generally succeeds at achieving the tone it goes for (silly in some scenes, more emotional and grim towards the end). So yeah, I'd definitely recommend it.

Also, any movie that realizes what a judas joel edgerton is has my respect  

On 1-6-2016 at 6:11 PM, Nictarion said:

Mendelsohn was terrifying in Animal Kingdom. It's a shame he doesn't get better roles. A lot the film's I've seen him in were pretty mediocre. No fault to him though. 

 

If you haven't already, you should check out Starred Up. It's a great film and both Mendelsohn and Jack O'Conner shine in it   

On 1-6-2016 at 6:30 PM, Sullen said:

Watched The Third Man for the first time this weekend.

It felt very refreshing to see a Noir where the protagonist was a bumbling moron whose every action until the end reads as pathetic instead of the grizzled stoic hypercompetent detective that most of them have.

Also, I've never seen a smile more contagious than Orson Welles's during the reveal scene, it was simply incredible.

One of the greatest endings ever imo  Though it is

Spoiler

devastatingly depresing when that camera just keeps standing there while she walks away from him 

 

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

Speaking of Starred up, I watched Money Monster last night. Its that one by Jodie Foster, with Clooney and Roberts in it, but actually the star of the show is Jack O'Connell (from Starred up) , who does reasonably well with a US accent, I'm a big fan of his and think hes going to be massive in the future.

It was a entertaining if pretty mediocre movie, I don't think Foster is anything more than a competent director, but she kept it ticking along nicely and was enjoyable enough.

The movie did make me pause for thought over the way that Hollywood is portraying High Finance and the economic crash. Nowadays the badguys are the money men, the bankers, the wall street traders. But whats really interesting about many of these movies is that they blame an individual who is breaking the system, rather than looking at the system itself.

Money Monster briefly mentions hi speed trading and dark zones etc, but it doesn't really deal with the inherent problems there, it glosses over it and creates a human villain for us to hate. Even something like Wolf of Wall Street sort of glosses over the issue and makes it an issue of human error / fraud. To me it always feels like a bit of a cop out.

[Martell Spy]

Catching up on Billions. Enjoying it so far. There are some good actors involved and the main plot is gripping. One side plot is kinda dumb, but I'm mostly liking this. 

Good night of tv coming up Sunday. GOT, Preacher, and Feed the Beast.

[Iskaral Pust]

On May 25, 2016 at 11:53 AM, Astromech said:

Finished The Night Manager. It was decent, but you had to suspend disbelief to believe some things which occurred. Richard Roper may be one of the most naïve arms-dealers I've seen portrayed. However, I loved Hiddleston ordering a vodka martini in the last episode. He'll make a great Bond.

I thought it ended reasonably well despite someone here saying the last two eps were weak.  It did require massive myopia from Roper, and Jed was a really pointless character (and terribly acted IMO).  I thought Hiddleston and Angela Burr were very good throughout, and Roper was just menacing enough (albeit with an improbable blind spot) without being an all-powerful supervillain with a vendetta (like so many Bond films). 

Since finishing that I gave in and started watching S6 of GoT.  The spoilers for the book are unavoidable so I might as well watch the show.  Good plot developments so far for Bran but more terrible Mary Sue-ness for Dany. 

[James Arryn]

On June 1, 2016 at 0:30 PM, Sullen said:

Watched The Third Man for the first time this weekend.

It felt very refreshing to see a Noir where the protagonist was a bumbling moron whose every action until the end reads as pathetic instead of the grizzled stoic hypercompetent detective that most of them have.

Also, I've never seen a smile more contagious than Orson Welles's during the reveal scene, it was simply incredible.

Because of the fallen prodigy/genius thing, Welles doesn't get enough credit as an actor, IMO. His presence could be mistaken for more 'movie star' than actual actor if it were not for the range of roles he wholly inhabited (and his stage work, but that's another story.)

 

He's in 3 of my all time favourite movies (none of which are Kane) and I don't even think of him when I list my favourite actors, incredibly. Much more likely to think of him when discussing directors.

 

The actor Simon Callow wrote exhaustive but really interesting biographies about him, if you've a mind. Or check YouTube for his 60's round table conversation about Shakespeare/theatre with, among other, Peter O'Toole.

[Datepalm]

I watched the whole of the OJ Simpson vs the People episodes over the past few days. It started out a little goofy, but at some point I realized I was completely riveted, except I had to keep stopping to burrow around Wikipedia and check that it all really happened. (I knew nothing about it except the barest details. I also didn't know the verdict.) Good god, I completely understand now how this thing could stop a country. 

[Veltigar]

Just came back from the cinema  I watched The Nice Guys, great decision, it(s every bit as good as people say. This deserves a sequel. The humour was hilarious, the action was great and all the actors were rivetting to watch. Gosling and Crowe absolutely have great chemistry together, but the MVP was Angourie Rice. Learn her name people, she's going places if she can keep on bringing performances like this. 

And now I'm going to watch the Thrilla in Mannilla.  

 

12 hours ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

 Jack O'Connell (from Starred up) , who does reasonably well with a US accent, I'm a big fan of his and think hes going to be massive in the future.

Based just on Starred Up, I think you're right. It's a really limited sample, but he was great in that film  

[Isis]

The second season of Chef's Table is incredibly good. The first two episodes in particular are absolutely riveting. I want more! 

[Ramsay B.]

@Veltigar have you seen '71 yet? I've been meaning to watch it for some time. Dude is obviously a stud, he showed his skills in Eden Lake when he was a terror and an unknown.

[Astromech]

The Martian premiered on HBO last night. Good film, but having read the novel, I missed the lack of being in Whatney's head and catching all of his gallows humor. I do, however, prefer the little extra resolution to the story the film added.

[Steelborn]

The Witch. Liked it very much, the tension was amazing and not once did I find it boring. I thought I'd dislike the ending, considering some opinions I had seen before watching, but ended up enjoying it. I know I wouldn't like it if they had made it ambiguous or pulled the "The human mind is the only monster here" card. 

[Boris the Blade]

On 6/1/2016 at 0:11 PM, Nictarion said:

Mendelsohn was terrifying in Animal Kingdom. It's a shame he doesn't get better roles. A lot the film's I've seen him in were pretty mediocre. No fault to him though. 

Cruise was great in Collateral, but his best performance is in Magnolia imo. 

 

Yea he really was. Ultra creepy as well. 

I honestly forgot about Magnolia. He was amazing in that, but I still liked him a bit better in Collateral.
 

On 6/1/2016 at 4:50 PM, Ramsay Blow said:

 He is great. That fur coat he wore in Slow West was brilliant too.

I'm almost done with season 2 of Daredevil and the Punisher is really bringing it. They really did a good job with him.

Hahah that fur coat was awesome. That whole film had a Coen brothers vibe to it. His character seemed like he was straight out of one of their films and a Tarantino western. 

Also, I agree about how the Punisher was in Daredevil. Bernthal killed it.


The most recent thing I watched was the pilot episode of Animal Kingdom. It was shockingly good, though I didn't really have high expectations for it, but it was pretty good and I'll definitely tune in for the two hour premier on the 14th this month.  The first scene was identical to the movie, and so far Pope has been pretty creepy, though idk if they'll be able to come close, let alone top Mendelsohn's performance with that character. 

[Veltigar]

I watched Grosse Pointe Blank for the first time todat. Really good movie imo, it's nice to see John Cusack give a damn about a film he's in for once. It was also pretty funny, Cuskack's conversation with his shrink had me in stitches  

On 5-6-2016 at 10:26 AM, Ramsay Blow said:

@Veltigar have you seen '71 yet? I've been meaning to watch it for some time. Dude is obviously a stud, he showed his skills in Eden Lake when he was a terror and an unknown.

Nah, I have it on my watchlist just like you though  He's definitely going places, althoug his latest collaboration with Angelina Jolie seems to have slowed him down a bit  

[WarGalley]

Finished Bloodline S2. I enjoyed it as it's very similar to S1 if slightly inferior.

Not sure what to watch next. Better Call Saul S2 would be ideal but it's not available on Netlfix or Amazon Prime and I don't want to pay for a separate series when I already have 2 streaming accounts. I'm skewing toward the Netflix originals but they tend to be heavy dramas and I'd prefer something a little lighter.

 

Edit: I'm leaning toward Peaky Blinders but it's a completely serious drama right?

[Astromech]

Peaky Blinders is a very good show. While heavy there is enough humor to lighten it up. It's basically a heavily stylized gangster series set in 1920s Birmingham. It may be heavier than what you're looking for however.

I would suggest looking at some of the earlier shows on Netflix, i.e., 80's, 90's, early 00's. Shows like Firefly. Current trends seem to be a bit more serious, heavy, darker as far as dramas go. At least that's my 2 cents.

[Raja]

I liked Peaky Blinders, but I stopped watching mid way through season 2. I think it's a decent show, just probably not a great show. 

I'm watching The Leftovers season 2 again - I'm about 6 episodes into my re-watch and I think it's probably the best season of television I've seen in a *very* long time. The re-watch is quite rewarding too - knowing where these storylines end up, you pick up on so much more.

I know Lindelof gets a lot of stick re: Lost, Star Trek etc ( and maybe rightly so ( though I disagree)), but him and his writing team did a stellar job with season 2. 

[williamjm]

2 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I watched Grosse Pointe Blank for the first time todat. Really good movie imo, it's nice to see John Cusack give a damn about a film he's in for once. It was also pretty funny, Cuskack's conversation with his shrink had me in stitches

It's a film I don't get tired of despite having rewatched it several times. As well as the humour it has an excellent soundtrack and the fight between Martin and the kickboxer in the school is a great scene.