What was the last film you watched?

[Toni]

Tick Tick... Boom! (2021)

I like film musicals and prior to this, the last new one that I saw was also directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights (2021), but I didn't like that one too much, nor did I like his filmed stage production of Hamilton (2021) so I went into this with low expectations. How wrong was I? This is a superb stage to screen adaptation of Jonathan Larson's semi-autobiographical novel and Steven Levenson surely must get nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for his work on this film. Andrew Garfield, an actor who I'm normally indifferent about, gives a performance so intense and believable that I found it totally captivating. This film even changed my opinion of Lin Manuel Miranda as his direction was brisk and visually engaging. The film felt modern and current even though the original play was first performed in the 1990s and it was set in that era too and that mainly due to Lin-Manuel Miranda's direction.

The plot is about a playwright who is determined to write his first Broadway play before he is 30 and we see how his single-mindedness impacts on his relationships with those around him. The songs were ok, not particularly memorable but they worked within the context of the film. I think overall it's a great piece of cinema that will do will in awards season.

I watched this last week. I also was surprised by how engaging it was. But first, my biggest surprise was knowing that Mr. Larson was NOT gay. The author of the musical "Rent", which has more gay and bisexual characters than any other film in history? So yes, he wasn´t but was gay-friendly.

Knowing the ending, it was a sad viewing but a good example of a musical work itself. About Mr. Miranda, I can´t say anything good about him so I won´t say anything at all. Yet to see "In the Heights" or "Hamilton". I think he´s been over-exposed in the media and that never is a good thing.

All the songs reminded me of others from "Rent", but they actually used material composed by Larson so it´s logical. Garfield (not the cat!) is great in this and deserved the Oscar nod (for a change, because these awards are stinking badly lately...). Here is a documentary about Larson if you want to know more about him:

 

[Seaviewer]

The Girl on the Train (2016)
I had expected this to be something like Rear Window - the girl notices strange goings-on in a house she passes in the train - but it's so much more convoluted.
What with the non-linear format, the interlocking unreliable narratives and multiple lookalike characters, I was totally bamboozled until about ten minutes from the end when it finally started to become clear.

 

[Angela Channing]

Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022)

I've not read the novel nor have I seen and previous adaptations of the book so I came to this entirely new and it's a cracking story and even though it's almost 100 years since it was first published it doesn't feel old fashioned.

Emma Corrin is so good as Lady Chatterley, she does vulnerability so well. At time she did seem like she was still playing Princess Diana in The Crown: both characters are vulnerable toffs married to someone they are not really compatible with and find happiness in an affair with someone else. The costumes, the locations, the acting, the writing, the directing were all superb. I don't know how it compares with the book, and people who are familiar with the novel might have a different view, but I thought it was very well done and really entertaining.

 

[Angela Channing]

As a kid I watched the Pinocchio animated TV series (Japanese, probably) but apart from the Disney version I had never watched a full length Pinocchio movie.
I was a little disappointed to find out that Prime only offered the dubbed version but luckily it didn't have a negative impact on the viewing experience. It was very well done, actually.
Visually it looks a little unusual for a children's movie and it's a pity that they've opted for that fashionable "doesn't it look realistic?" bleak colour palette.
It appears that this version is closer to the original story and the Pinocchio world looks much more Alice In Wonderland. The only human/animal characters in the Disney movie are Jiminy, Honest John and Gideon (ironically, in this movie Mr. Fox and Mr. Cat aren't the human/animal hybrid).
Despite the eerie make-up I found the wooden boy surprisingly adorable, also because he's very nasty and selfish, which makes the character development all the more satisfying.
There's one minor character who acts annoyingly contemporary (e.g. using hands to emphasize speech) and the Stromboli plot drags a little bit - he isn't even a villain - but overall I think this is an entertaining movie. And also very funny, that was the biggest surprise.

I've finally gotten around to watch Pinocchio (2022) and this version pees all over the Disney live action version released last year. It a darker version of the story with Nazis, death and grief all a prominent part of the story. I disagree with @Willie Oleson regarding the muted colour palette used throughout the film because I think was a good choice as it added to the more sombre and serious tone that the film has. However, for the same reason I didn't like the songs. Why were they even there? There weren't enough of them for it to feel like a proper musical but the few it had distracted from the darker feel the film otherwise had. The songs however were reasonably good.

The characters weren't as likeable as in the Disney version which made them more believable. Geppetto and Pinocchio were both more selfish and the characters that were new to me, like Candlewick (a Nazi Youth colleague of Pinocchio) and his bullying dad ,were great additions to the story.

Overall, of the 3 film versions of this story that I've seen, this is the best by a long way.

 

[Seaviewer]

Overall, of the 3 film versions of this story that I've seen, this is the best by a long way.

Have you read Collodi's original book? I've read it in English translation, and it's also somewhat darker than the Disney animated version (which is the only one I've seen).

 

[Angela Channing]

Have you read Collodi's original book? I've read it in English translation, and it's also somewhat darker than the Disney animated version (which is the only one I've seen).

No, I've not read it. As I said in a previous post, I recently watched Lady Chatterley's Lover and I plan to read that book sometime this year. I have a long backlog of books to read but I hope to get around to reading the original Pinocchio eventually as watching the film has made me curious about it.

 

[Angela Channing]

Tar (2022)

I first saw this film at a special preview towards the end of last year and I was so blown away by Cate Blanchett's performance, I wanted to see it again now it's on general release. Second time around, the film seems even better than when I first watched it. I was able to appreciate some details in the film that I missed the first time around such as the moments of humour and how brilliant the direction and supporting cast were.

Cate Blanchett is Lydia Tar, a world renowned composter and conductor who is a lesbian and is accused by one of her students of making unwanted sexual advances towards her. The film then chronicles the decline of the career of the maestro following the allegation.

The film feels like a biopic of a real person but Tar is a fictional character. The film opens with her being interviewed in what looks a bit like a Ted Talk scenario and it feels so real that it looks like a recreation of a real life interview. It's astonishing that Cate Blanchette created that performance from words in a script and not by mimicking a authentic filmed interview.

Cate Blanchett is mesmerising in this tragic character study. The film draws the viewer into the story of the downfall of the title character; a woman totally absorbed by her brilliance, madness and narcissism. One of my favourite films of 2022.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

San Ferry Ann (1965)

On the strength of its cast alone, this has been on my radar for decades so I'm glad to have finally watched it. And in glorious HD no less.

Like A Home Of Your Own, which I watched back in October, this is a wordless short British comedy film with an array of familiar faces of the era. With its madcap characters in their different "bubbles" going mad on their holiday before finally ending up at the same place, it feels very much like it fills the gap between 1962's Carry On Cruising and 1969's Carry On Camping. Indeed, this sees the characters on an actual ferry (Free Enterprise II, in case you wondered) before sleeping under canvas. And there are lots of familiar Carry On faces from Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor to David Lodge and Ronnie Stevens. There's also Wilfred "Steptoe" Brambell; Ron "You've got to pick a pocket or two" Moody; Hugh "Bona to vada your dolly old eke" Paddick; Warren "Bloody marvellous, innit?" Mitchell; Rodney "Likely Lads" Bewes.

It's even the film debut of Lynne Carole, her first work since Corrie's Martha Longhurst was killed off the previous year (I recognised her instantly. Her look here is identical, right down to the glasses). She has a memorable scene stuffing her face with cream cakes. I swear if you listen closely you can hear Ena Sharples drawing breath and tut tutting into her stout:

I don't particularly recall it being shown on TV when I was young. Considering the stellar cast and the timeless value of "silent" comedies such as Mr. Bean, I'm really surprised this little gem isn't more widely remembered than it seems to be.​

 

[Seaviewer]

Frequency (2000)
I'd call this more a fantasy with techno-trappings than true science fiction.
A man finds that he can communicate with his long-dead father via an old shortwave radio. It then morphs into a crime thriller as they work together to solve a serial murder mystery that spans the generations.
Dennis Quaid, always a likeable presence, is the father, with Jim Caviezel, who I can't not associate with Jesus even though I've never seen the controversial film in which he played that role, as the son. Andre Braugher, seen here immediately after Homicide: Life on the Street. is excellent in another tough cop role, but Elizabeth Mitchell (of Lost) is wasted as Quaid's wife.

 

[Angela Channing]

Till (2020)

This film is a hard watch but that shouldn't put anyone off because it's a riveting piece of cinema.

Emmett Till was a 14 year old black boy who was brutally beaten and shot dead by white supremacists in 1955 Mississippi because he whistled at a white woman. The film doesn't show the murder, just the events leading up to it and the aftermath. Emmett's mother starts a crusade to get justice for he son leading her to become a significant figure in the USA civil rights movement. The acting is superb especially from Danielle Deadwyler as Emmett's mother, Mamie Till.

 

[Seaviewer]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife
This is the film that the fans wanted. Not being one of the diehards, I thought it a little slow but I can see how the various homages to the original would be appealing, along with the appearances by the original characters.
I also thought it interesting that, after all the shade thrown on the all-female reboot, the new lead character here was a girl, albeit a somewhat androgenous one.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Futtocks End (1970)

Following on from A Home Of Your Own and San Ferry Anne, this is the third of four Bob Kellet "silent" films of the era. Ronnie Barker is back, with Futtock being a variation of his Lord Rustless character from Hark At Barker (from an early 21st Century viewpoint I find it almost impossible to watch Rustless without seeing Stanley Johnson. Perhaps even Boris).

Despite being presented as the centrepiece of the collection (at least on the Blu-ray set), I'd say the two earlier films charmed me a little more. Compared with the black and white films' early Carry On tone, this feels more like a later Carry On, with lots of cleavage and flashes of bottoms and silly "saucy" antics held together by a thin plot. It's not bad, though, and perfectly watchable, but let's just say I was ready for it to end by the time it wrapped up.

Some familiar faces included Michael Hordern (he'll always be Badger to me); Julian Orchard (a familiar face from his dandy-type characters in a few Carry Ons) and Richard O'Sullivan playing the young boots. I'm fascinated by Richard's lifetime career taking him from troublemaking kid to swinging young thing (as he is here) to romantic lead to avuncular father figure, and now to elusive retiree.​

 

[Crimson]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

I watched this one recently. I don't have anywhere near the nostalgia for the original that some do, but it's a good enough movie for me to watch every few years. The 2016 film, all other considerations aside, was simply unfunny.

AFTERLIFE is another of that relatively new Hollywood concoction: a sequel, reboot and remake all at once. Its respectful adherence to the original gets a wee bit close to embalmed nostalgia, but I'll take that over a thorough trashing of the original. As a comedy, I thought the film was mildly amusing. The only big laugh for me was in Sigourney Weaver's all-too-brief cameo. I mostly liked the new characters and was surprised that the film had some emotional resonance, considering the original was entirely glib. On the other hand, the inevitable appearance of the original Ghostbusters didn't have anywhere near the impact that I expected. They all seemed exhausted, like late-era Three Stooges.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I disagree with @Willie Oleson regarding the muted colour palette used throughout the film because I think was a good choice as it added to the more sombre and serious tone that the film has

I commented on Pinocchio 2019, not Pinocchio 2022.
Regardless, I don't think every film has to look like a gay Christmas tree but if one has to rely on an unnatural bleak colour palette to convey an uneasy or moody atmosphere throughout the entire film then I think that signals a lack in creativity (e.g. lightening or camera work). I find it terribly gimmicky and it happens way too often in modern cinema and TV/streaming productions.
I like colour and B&W, but not something in-between.

 

[Angela Channing]

I commented on Pinocchio 2019, not Pinocchio 2022.
Regardless, I don't think every film has to look like a gay Christmas tree but if one has to rely on an unnatural bleak colour palette to convey an uneasy or moody atmosphere throughout the entire film then I think that signals a lack in creativity (e.g. lightening or camera work). I find it terribly gimmicky and it happens way too often in modern cinema and TV/streaming productions.
I like colour and B&W, but not something in-between.

I'm sorry totally missed that your comments were referencing a totally different film. I've not seen the 2019 version but I'm now all Pinocchio-ed out having seen 2 versions in the past few months so I can't imagine I going to watch that version any time soon.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Vive Le Sport (1969)

Another of Bob Kellet's wordless short films, this one made in '69 but released at the end of 1970.

It's telling that this was made hot on the heels of The Italian Job. Between the success of the film and the swathe of wins at Monte Carlo, The Mini Cooper S was at the height of its powers and the hottest film star of the year. No wonder the little Cooper S takes centre stage here.

Unlike the other Kellet short films, this one feels decidedly Continental/European as opposed to terribly British. The two stunning girls in mini skirts who take second and third place behind the little yellow Mini both look decidedly like the archetype that springs to mind when thinking of a Scandinavian woman (even though it has no bearing at all on the plot, somehow it feels so inevitably right when the two friends strip off to cool down with a swim, showing off their perfect physiques). And there's no mistaking the gorgeous scenery as they zoom across Europe.

There's a wonderful warmth to the look of the film: Think of one of those tantalising soft-focus, soft core 1970s compilation album covers of some woman in a sheer floral dress reclining in a field of wheat, breathing in pollen from a flower erotically while she bathes in the hazy light of the sinking sun which casts a halo around her. This film feels exactly like one of those come to life: nostalgic, whimsical, gorgeous, free, innocent and sensual all at the same time. And yet completely silly with it.

In addition, the film boasts a wonderfully evocative time capsule, with a cheerful flutey soundtrack that feels very much in touch with the Mini's Swinging Sixties Carnaby Street roots.

As someone who loves cars from the Sixties and Seventies, this film was a treat, being a showcase for pristine examples of the likes of Lancia and Peugeot in addition to the Cooper S.

The film makes perfect sense with hindsight: I've now read that the short was sponsored by Dunlop and shot to showcase their new tyres (Liane Engeman - the young woman driving the car- is actually a professional race car driver and it shows in the way she throws the little Mini round confidently in some very risky territory, all filmed with exciting subjectivity). However, even watching without knowing the film's origins, I simply found it a wonderfully jaunty and fun little outing in its own right. And with a running time of under half an hour, it would have been rude to not watch it.​

 

[Seaviewer]

Sigourney Weaver's all-too-brief cameo

That was a bit strange. I saw her name in the end credits and just had time to think "when did that happen?" and then she appeared. Not having memorised the first two films, I didn't even understand the point of it.

 

[Angela Channing]

All Quiet On The Western Front (2022)

I was drawn to watching this film after reading it was nominated for a large number of BAFTAs this week and having seen it I can tell why. It's a epic telling of the story that is visually stunning and takes the viewer through a large range of emotions before it concludes in a poignant ending.

In 1917, a group of teenage friends enlist in the German army. They are enthusiastic to fight for their country but naive about what to expect. They very quickly find out that war is brutal, barbaric and in the case of some of them, lethal. The film doesn't shy away from the full horrors of war and it contrasts the tough conditions that the soldiers have to endure with the relative comfort their leaders are in while they discuss a possible ceasefire and later surrender. The soldiers as shown as having mothers, siblings, partners and children, ordinary people not as the spawn of the devil as Germans are sometime portrayed in First World War films. It is a German film though so it's interesting to see the story told from their perspective. The young actors playing the lead roles are outstanding and are incredibly moving in certain scenes. Felix Kammerer, who plays a soldier called Paul and is the main focus of the film, is quite brilliant and was able to say so much with just his face and no dialogue. I will follow his career with interest.

Overall, it's a superior war film that is well worth watching.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Woman In Black: Angel Of Death (2015)

While I haven't read the book or watched the original screen version, the 2012 adaption with Daniel Radcliffe took me by surprise with how effectively psychologically creepy it was... and with some scares that made me jump on repeat screenings. I think its "12" BBFC rating had lulled me into a false sense of security.

This loose sequel is pretty much more of the same, though without any huge "name" actors. Whether or not this is a good or bad thing depends on your point of view. I think it possibly works in the film's favour.

First, the good news: the film looks wonderful. It feels nicely gothic and rich in atmosphere with long shadows and drab-but-warm hues. It really is beautifully shot and it looks expensive (I'd feared it may be a bit on the cheap side, being what appears to be an under-the-radar sequel).

What lets the film down is the casting and lack of attention to period detail in the writing. In both cases, this mainly boils down to expressions and speech patterns which are too contemporary for the 1940s setting, some of which - certainly by the standards of the time - would be viewed as either anachronistic or alien-sounding Americanisms.

My hackles rose three minutes into the film when a character announced "We're waiting on Edward Lee" (and no: she didn't mean they were serving him nibbles, nor that she was standing on his back to pass the time). The film was absolutely littered with these: ("Me too" instead of "So am I", etc.), but in addition to the "waiting on" example, the two most unforgivable were the lead actress saying "I'm gonna go see.." and several characters using phrases like "I'm so sorry." or "You are in so much trouble." as complete sentences, which would have been unheard of at the time and would have appeared to be an unfinished sentence. The young male lead even said "I am so, so sorry" and then just stopped without saying he was sorry about. (it would have been more suitable to say "I'm very sorry"; "I'm most terribly sorry", or something to that effect).

In terms of delivery, most of the cast seemed to be aiming for contemporary RP which just felt wrong (again, young male lead was the worst offender. He has "Millennial" written all over him and there's no concession at all on his part to the period setting). They spoke in fairly neutral accents rather than regional, but (as contemporary RP is wont to do) dropped "t"s from the ends of words, or used a mid-Atlantic "d" sound instead of a "t" so words like "right" and "getting" became "rye" and "gedding". Perfectly acceptable by 2015 standards (indeed, it seems to be the dominant form) but this would surely have sounded very strange back in the Forties.

As far as the film itself goes: I was expecting to be either scared or creeped out, but I wasn't. The jump scares felt too obvious and sledgehammer and the story was so thin that it was really only the beautiful cinematography and the broody, atmospheric scenes where nothing happened (of which there were many) that made it anything other than a complete waste of time.​

 

[Seaviewer]

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
I'm not sure why this is getting the acclaim that it is.
Behind the martial arts and universe-jumping, it's really just a standard relationship drama.
Shaky marriage? Check. Mother and daughter who don't understand each other? Check. Grandfather with dementia? Check.
On the latter, I was glad to see James Hong still going strong. I remember him from the 70s playing villains in TV shows like Wonder Woman. Wikipedia says he started long before that.