What was the last film you watched?

[Angela Channing]

Cider With Rosie (2015)

Beautiful; dark; idyllic; brutal; charming; poignant; funny and haunting.

June Whitfield and Annette Crosbie are great fun as rival grandmothers who live in different parts of the house, banging on the floor/ceiling with their brooms.​

I've never seen this but I really must get around to changing that.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I've never seen this but I really must get around to changing that.

It's a lovely film with some gorgeous Cotswold locations and an underlying darkness. I've found it quite haunting in that I've felt a bit melancholy since watching, even though it didn't feel hugely impactive as I watched.

I haven't read the book or seen any other version, so I don't know how it compares, but I suspect it's pretty close.

Actually, I've just realised the images I posted above are from the 1998 film, rather than the 2015 film I actually watched. So the two versions are obviously similar enough to have fooled me.

 

[Angela Channing]

The Little Things (2021)

Not sure how to describe this film. It's a murder mystery with a difference with a twist that some will like and others will be indifferent to. Can't say too much as I don't want to give away too much of the plot. Overall the film was okay but it didn't blow me away.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Caught In The Act (1996)

A bit random, and the acting was a little hit and miss but it was entertaining enough. It would make a great Sunday afternoon kind of film. The kind of thing that doesn't take too much effort or concentration.​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Lad: A Yorkshire Story (2011)

Perfect for a weekday matinee. A nice, heartwarming story. Some of the cast seemed quite inexperienced, which somehow enriched the experience. And the Yorkshire Dales scenery was welcome breath of fresh air in this lockdown.

It seems the decade-long battle for the film to find an audience is a story in itself.​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Abandoned (2015)
AKA Stranded

Kind of like Open Water without the sharks (mostly) and with four alpha males in place of the stressed married couple. And also based on a true story.

It's appropriately claustrophobic and got across the challenges the men faced and the practicalities of things like collecting rainwater to drink and catching birds and fish to eat. It even answered the question of where one poops in a capsized trimaran. It feels like this could easily be adapted to a four man stage play.​

 

[Ukdallasfan]

Valentine’s Day- a day early because I’m in work tomorrow . Star studded cast and nice storylines

 

[Willie Oleson]

A high-octane, hi-tech supernatural thriller with lots of clunky keyboards and other hilarious devices.
It looks like a spooky movie for kids.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Black Rock (2012)

I watched based on nothing but the cover image of the woman in the water. It wasn't even that clear from the write-up what the plot was to be. Which is all to the good.

Turns out it's a hybrid of And Then There Were None; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Lost and that episode of Sons and Daughters where Chris Bainbridge made Fiona play hide and seek at Woombai. With a bit of teen angst, a glossy Nineties slasher soundtrack and a random section where two of the leading female characters strip naked and hug and slap one another. It's got the lot, really.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A high-octane, hi-tech supernatural thriller with lots of clunky keyboards and other hilarious devices.
It looks like a spooky movie for kids.

Ooh - intriguing. I love spooky kids films. Especially 1970s spooky kids films.

 

[Willie Oleson]

It's got the lot, really

I've watched the trailer. Maybe it's easier to describe what doesn't happen in that movie?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Maybe it's easier to describe what doesn't happen in that movie?

Very true, Willie.

It might be safest to say nothing though. Just in case the powers that be decide to put all that other stuff into a sequel.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Backcountry (2014)

The lovechild of Open Water and The Blair Witch Project. And as intense and suspenseful as either. It's certainly the final nail in the coffin to any suggestion of me ever sleeping under canvas.

 

[Grant Jennings]

Written on the Wind. Very soapy (in a good way). Dorothy Malone camps it up while Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall play it straight, Robert Stack is somewhere in between. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but I think Kyle (Stack) has "feelings" for Mitch (Hudson). The Hadley mansion looks familiar, I'm going to have to Google what other movies it's appeared in; I'm pretty sure the staircase is the same one in The Glenn Miller Story. Very entertaining film but not as strong as the other two Douglas Sirk films I've seen: All That Heaven Allows and Magnificent Obsession.

 

[Seaviewer]

Alien vs. Predator (2004)
This is better than it has any right to be. At least it's a different take on the franchise than Alien 3 or Alien Resurrection which are little more than disguised remakes.
The ending is surprisingly moving and Alexa is a worthy successor to Ripley - or technically a predecessor, since it takes place earlier than the original films.

 

[Angela Channing]

Greenland (2020)

I loved this film. It reminded me a bit of Tom Cruise's War of The Worlds in that it is a race to escape the end of days while everyone around you is panicking . There are some real thrilling edge of seat moments mixed with high emotion. Action packed, great special effects, grabs your attention from early on and never loses it right up to the final scene.

 

[Seaviewer]

Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Another "versus" film, this one not quite so successful.
I've never really like the shared superhero universe concept. I believe that they are each better as the sole hero in the own story; forcing them together in one world is to the diminishment of both. Here, for example, for much of the film, Superman is reduced to effectively being the villain in a Batman story, yet a villain that we know Batman will not ultimately vanquish, while Wonder Woman is merely a bit player.
On the plus side, I liked the Superman & Lois stuff, especially the way Lois was portrayed almost as a co-equal fourth hero.
The ending is reminiscent of Star Trek II, complete with Amazing Grace on bagpipes. Somehow, I doubt that Superman's death will stick any more than Spock's did, making it hard to feel the requisite sorrow.
The Empire Strikes Back, and its famous unresolved ending, have a lot to answer for.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Freshwater (2016)

Every scene was flat, lifeless and still - like a terrible daytime soap. There was no energy or sign of life between any of the actors. Porn film acting. Shoddy effects. Clumsy direction. Hilariously bad plot and dialogue. And a denouement that made me want to throw a croc skin handbag at the screen.

A big, steaming, albino turd.​

 

[DallasFanForever]

Ahhh yes! I remember this one. The giant man eating alligator. I think I gave it about 30 minutes before I shut it off.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The giant man eating alligator. I think I gave it about 30 minutes before I shut it off.

Very sensible. It actually got worse.

Who on earth thought a killer croc film needed serial killers roaming about as well?