What was the last film you watched?

[Willie Oleson]

I think it's a non-musical movie based on the ABBA album.
This movie was released the same year that all ABBA members made a public appearance again (plus the announcement of their future(istic) hologram project).

OK, I get it.

 

[James from London]

Saving Mr Banks. I first saw it at the cinema a couple of years ago and saw it again on TV on Christmas Eve. I liked it even more the second time, such a great film and Emma Thompson's performance is outstanding.

Just watched this on the iPlayer. Started off thinking, yeah it's good, but the flashbacks are a bit too explainy and convenient, and of course the plotting is somewhat inevitable, but gradually it all came together and by the end, any reservations had melted away and I was a blubbering mess.

 

[Swami]

Crocodile Dundee II.

Swami

 

[Swami]

Spectre.

Swami

 

[Karin Schill]

I watched "La La Land" (2016) last night and I must say that I was disappointed as I had expected more from this academy award winning musical!

I think the plot was thin, the actors dancing and singing left something to be desired and even their chemistry left me cold. At the end when they look at each other I am supposed to feel something but I feel nothing. So this is not a memorable film IMHO and I doubt it will become a classic that people will still want to watch 40 years from now.

Actually I think that is a huge part of the problem. See I am used to watching classical movies from the 1940s to 1970s and back then musicals was musicals with a big M. So if you compare the actors of this new movie to the classic stars of yesteryears they can't hold a candle to them. Compared to stars like Julie Andrews, (I watched the original Mary Poppins the night before), Howard Keel and Doris Day the leads can't sing...

and compared to stars like Fred Astaire, Marge and Gower Champion they can't dance either!

Usually when I watch classical musicals I am in awe of the stars talent. When I watched La La Land I sighed and thought to myself that even I could sing better than the female lead and that is not a good thing!

I guess a part of the problem is that after "Moulin Rougue!" when Nicole Kidman made such a success out of singing herself people in Hollywood thinks that anyone can sing. So they no longer hire singers who can act for musical roles but rather actresses who can't sing. There are exceptions of course as I do think Amanda Seyfried is wonderful in the Mamma Mia! Movies. She can sing. So I guess the next time I will be watching a modern musical movie it's likely to be "A Star is born" (2018) since at least I know that Lady Gaga can sing!

So how could "La La Land" win 6 Academy awards?
My guess is that either the bar has been lowered so much by modern films that we no longer expect greatness and then we applaud any attempt at a classical approach, or maybe it's just because the people who vote for the Academy awards are all part of the club. They have all arrived in La La Land at one point or another and struggled before they became stars and probably had a love that helped them along the way. So it's a story that most people in Hollywood can identify with and feel nostalgic about.

But to me, someone from the outside, I can't help but wonder how come great actors in the past like Richard Burton could never win an academy award while someone like Emma Stone wins it for this role! It is a mystery to me.

I mean I have seen plenty of actor and actresses in our favorite soap operas who are IMHO more talented than her and yet they've never won an academy award and most likely never will.

 

[Alexis]

Mama Mia 2. I loved it, and it's a pretty accurate representation of what it's like inside my head most days. My life is mostly an ABBA musical. Only the rest of the world don't have the volume up.

 

[Swami]

Brannigan.

Swami

 

[Richard Channing]

 

[darkshadows38]

Evil under the sun is a great film. but i watched a really bad one, but i've seen far far worse. it was called The Student Nurses and old Corman film from (1970)

and i was telling a friend how i don't get how a bad film as that one is was a huge hit back than? he goes did it have nudity? i said some and he goes there ya go. he sadly may be right but just cause a film as any nudity does not qualify it to be any good.

 

[Karin Schill]

Okay so I re-watched "Mamma Mia 2" (2018) tonight. I actually liked it better than the first time I saw it. There are some sad parts but at least this time it didn't make me cry, as it did when I watched it at the cinema this fall.

 

[Michael Torrance]

I watched "The Post" on the flight back to the US this Christmas break. Meryl Streep has taken her ease of stepping into a role to ridiculous levels over the decades.

 

[James from London]

A brilliant sequel, but much more than "just" a sequel. It's a very satisfying, viciously funny, deeply touching film about regret, ageing and male friendship. And just like the first Trainspotting, it's also a really pleasurable slice of cinema.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Batman becomes Birdman.
Hm-hm, what shall I say? Apart from Lindsay Duncan's role ("I'm going to destroy you") the characters failed to enthrall me.
It's not a bad movie, but I think it was too hysterical and also a little stereotypical.
The Broadway play that plays inside the movie didn't look very good. Pretentious and hysterical at the same time.
Is it one of those clever "mirror" things? Does the movie mirror the Broadway play, and were they both massively overrated? Is that the irony?

Maybe I would appreciate it a little bit more if they hadn't tried so hard to give the movie an "indie" look, it feels so...cultivated.
But in a different genre, say, a trashy Harold Robbins story, this could have been awesome.

 

[Toni]

I watched last week the sequel to "Mary Poppins", "MP Returns" (not "Melrose Place"...) and I loved it. It´s really as if it had been done 3 or 4 years after the first one, with another actress replacing Julie Andrews. Emily Blunt has not the same vocal range than Andrews but aside from that, she is "practically perfect in every way", and the animated scenes are especially remarkable, not only because of the technical achievement but also because it reminds people the way animation looks when it´s done in the classical 2-D way. Nothing to do with the Pixar creepy characters luckily. But above all, I must say that the script is good, or at least as good as was "The Force Awakens" compared to the "Star Wars" original trilogy. It´s not easy to capture the essence of films from 3 or 4 decades ago, and they did it wonderfully in both cases. I hope the new Mary Poppins doesn´t become a never-ending franchise more and more centered in making money like some others out there.

PS: Do you know what scene I found completely expendable? The one with Meryl Streep, honestly...and not because she looks uglier than ugly!!

 

[Karin Schill]

The Time of Their Lives (2017) with Joan Collins.

I was delighted to see her in a new movie that had actually been showed at the cinema. The role of Helen really fits her. Although Joan is far from a has been like the character she portrays and in much better shape, as Helen can barely walk without a cane. She does look significantly older in this movie than we are used to seeing her and I think she's supposed to look old. So it's brave of her to take on such a character.

But yeah without spoiling too much of the plot I can say that at the heart of the movie it's a story about an unlikely friendship between two older women who go out on an adventure together. As the journey progresses they learn to take a good look at their lives and how their past experiences has shaped them into the ladies we meet in the film.

 

[Toni]

I have this to watch asap @Karin Schill! I also love Pauline C. slnce Upstairs Downstairs!!

 

[James from London]

I hadn't seen this in so long I'd pretty much forgotten everything about it. It's got 007's fingerprints all over it, from Ken Adam's design to John Barry's score, but it's a very different kind of 60s spy flick -- there's a lot more Whitehall pen-pushing than there is international jet-setting. It's fascinating to see central London in 1965 and there's some brilliantly groovy camera work which makes the film feel gritty and psychedelic at the same time. The main fight scene takes place on the steps of the Royal Albert Hall and for no apparent reason is shot from inside a nearby telephone box, but it looks great.

As Harry Palmer, Michael Caine gives very little away but oozes a charismatic insolence (he's called an insubordinate bastard on more than one occasion), and there's a strange sensitivity about him too. Gordon Jackson plays his sidekick, more happy-go-lucky than he would later be as either Hudson or Crowley, and Barbara Hunter from Crossroads provides the glamour as a kind of Hitchcock brunette.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I hadn't seen this in so long I'd pretty much forgotten everything about it.

Somehow I've never seen this. I've long thought I'd quite like to at some point on the strength of Barry's great theme, but your comments have definitely sold me on the idea.

 

[James from London]

It's on the iPlayer until tomorrow afternoon!

 

[Willie Oleson]

John Barry's score,

*runs to youtube*

Okay, not his most epic theme, but I seriously wonder if it has inspired the creators of DEXTER.