What movie did you last see?

[M.Linoge]

Doom – Annihilation (2019)
A unit of marines is shipped to reinforce security in a research facility on the moon Phobos. They arrive just prior to the unexpected side-effects of a teleportation experiment, taking a really bad turn.
 
The original Doom movie had some ups and downs. This has downs, downs and more downs.
Aliens meets Event Horizon, without the quality.
 
Skin (2018)
A member of a white supremacy “Viking” cult tries to make a life outside of the movement. When the new clashes with the old, he makes a choice the cult will not forgive.
Thus begins a long road of redemption.
 
Looks real. Recruitment tactics, speeches, manipulation, culture; is believable, IMO.
Apparently based on one case of Daryle Lamont’s work with the One People's Project.
Very good.

Hell Fest (2018)
A group of teenagers visit a traveling carnival show that put up mazes and buildings with (mostly) jump scare attractions. This year, the horror themed park is visited by a real serial killer in a mask and the night soon turn into a fight for survival in a place where people are expected to scream for help.
 
A less goofy version of Blood Fest.
Not bad.

Iron Sky - The Coming Race (2019)
After the Moon-Nazis attacked Earth and inadvertently caused a nuclear apocalypse in 2018, a few survivors escaped to the moon and got stranded. 30 years later, a ship of refugees arrives at the moon-base. Now presented with a functioning ship, they can go on a quest to fight aliens and dinosaurs and Steve Jobs in the center of the earth.

Hilarious. Similar comedy as Deadpool. Violent and ridiculous.

Cold Pursuit (2019)
The son of a road-maintenance worker is killed by a drug-lord, leading the father on a swift and brutal investigation. His actions inadvertently trigger a turf war between rival criminals and an escalating series of terrible misunderstandings.
 
Liam Neeson on the warpath isn't new but this one has less focus on him and more on... chaos and fun.
Very good.

[SYZ]

1942's "Casablanca" on the idiot box last night... I must've watched it 100 times LOL.

Along with "The Third Man" my two favourite films. The chiaroscuro cinematography
of Robert Krasker is possibly one of its best renderings I've ever seen on film.

[grympy]

Last night, I started watching "In The Shadow of The Moon" on Netflix. An ordinary cop is after a serial killer who only murders every nine years.

The first 15 minutes were great. You get to see three people die from bleeding through nose, eyes and ears. Gets very boring very quickly after that, so I watched something on Youtube. Famous murders. Laugh, I nearly shat myself.

I've gone right off Simon Whistler. The guy's an imbecile who has trouble pronouncing English words, let alone foreign ones .

[M.Linoge]

Joker (2019)
A city man with mental problems, working as a clown, trying to live life and become a stand-up comedian under straining circumstances. Learning more about himself as the pressure mounts and secrets of his past are revealed.

Raw. Painful. A cauldron for the psyche. It reminds me of Rob Zombie's Halloween. 
Very different from Gotham, with a teen Joker indistinguishable from an adult super villain. This is an origin story; so don't expect anything you've seen in Batman movies/series. 
An excellent example of why villains are more interesting than heroes. And, capturing the problems of Gotham in a way no other narrative has; heavily influenced by our current problems, or the Nixon administration, probably. 

If you won't laugh out loud at anything in this movie, I have bad news: You're well adjusted.
Like Brightburn, I suspect ordinary people are not the target audience here.

Green Book (2018)
A crude working-class Italian racist bouncer takes the job of driver/bodyguard for a dry, highly-educated, black, professional pianist as he travels through the deep South to perform.
 
A fun road-trip with two very different people. Some of the best stories ever told need little more than that.
Very good.  Reminded me of The Intouchables.

Beyond the Sky (2018)
A debunker of alien abductions is shooting a documentary and meets people who are wrapped up in unusual phenomena.
 
Standard abduction story.
Not entirely without merit but the indian protection ritual and other details were silly.

[Alan V]

My wife and I saw Downton Abbey yesterday. If you are a fan of the series, you will find the movie to be just like a two-hour episode and more than satisfying.

If you are not already a fan, you will likely be underwhelmed.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Tonight, "Iron Sky: The Coming Race".

[grympy]

Recently got hold of all of "The Hunger Games" . Thought I'd watch the first one last  night. Got bored  didn't I. That film has all the subtlety of an  enema . 

[M.Linoge]

Recently got hold of all of "The Hunger Games" . Thought I'd watch the first one last  night. Got bored  didn't I. That film has all the subtlety of an  enema . 

Didn't like the series, but what an ending.
I wish more movies of the genre had the layers of this one.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Recently got hold of all of "The Hunger Games" . Thought I'd watch the first one last  night. Got bored  didn't I. That film has all the subtlety of an  enema . 

Now you need to watch the Maze Stumbler trilogy.

[M.Linoge]

Mojin - The Lost Legend (2015)
A group of retired tomb raiders, hiding in New York after a bad screw-up at work, receives an offer they can not refuse; related to a different disastrous grave disturbing incident.   (early retirement was a wise choice)

Bumbling idiots, fanatics, traps and dangerous magic. A Chinese Indiana Jones style action comedy, with – I can only assume – a lot of details regarding their belief systems. Maybe that’s how Asians seeing Raiders of the Lost Arc, feels about its references to Christianity. 

Mojin – The Worm Valley (2018)
The Monjin grave-robbers are back. 
An ancient curse, crafted by an empress to deter disobedience, is tormenting the descendants of her servants even today. The Monjin are contracted to find the two artifacts that can break the curse, located in dangerous tombs and vast underground chambers full of traps and monsters, of course. 

I expected a sequel, but it’s a different group robbing the graves. As silly as the other one. Decent special effects. Entertaining, but not a very good story.

Shanghai Fortress (2019)
An alien mother-ship arrives at Earth. It starts to obliterate major population centers. 
Five years later, a team of young drone-pilots who have been training for engagement in the last major city, Shanghai, are finally called to defend their home. 

Very good, minus a detail or two. While the main character is a boy trying to get closer to a girl he likes, it doesn’t diminish the battles or the flow of the plot.
Nice with a sci-fi war movie where neither party has an overwhelming advantage (at that point in the conflict). 
Excellent special effects. The Chinese are getting good at this, but America still has them beat when it come to acting, IMO.
Independence Day meets Battleship meets Ender's Game. 

Saga of Tanya the Evil (Youjo Senki) - The Movie (2019)
The world war rages on. After the devastating victory on the west of the continent, the Empire's expectation of peace are dashed as new borders comes with new threats.
Tanya supports the southern front-line against the remaining Republican Army forces. Later she is ordered to the east, inside the Russy Federation on what is supposed to be a simple recon.
However, the malevolent entity that dropped him in the body of a little girl in an alternate world at war, has other plans and is ready to wrap things up; no matter how many people have to die.
 
The war is changing, but the key to victory remains quidditch-style magical warfare.
A rare success, IMO. Despite the Harry Potter copy-right infringement, this story doesn’t mock war to the degree animation usually does. They broke the mold for once, in several ways. Fans of the genre who only wants to see the same standard ‘thump-the-bad-guy’ over and over again might not like it, but I do.
 
As amusing as the title is, it's not a real translation. ‘Youjo Senki’ means roughly; The war journal of a girl.

[grympy]

Recently got hold of all of "The Hunger Games" . Thought I'd watch the first one last  night. Got bored  didn't I. That film has all the subtlety of an  enema . 

Now you need to watch the Maze Stumbler trilogy.  

 Started on the second one and got  bored. For me to enjoy a film I need to be able to identify with a character or at least care about what happens to them.   These days I'm afraid I  just find most young heroes irritating.  Guess I'm just in the wrong demographic.

[grympy]

I recently got hold of the"Miss Marple"  TV series with Geraldine McEwan. Great series ,and I haven't seen all of them.  They usually  have some older  but excellent  British actors, or young ones just staring out.  

Also  just got hold of The Apu trilogy by Satyagit  Ray, the  great  Indian  director. I decided to watch them after   reading  
Akira Kurosawa raving about this  guy. He said Ray was a genius. Well, I think Kurasawa was a genius . Had a look around. The Wiki article on him claims Ray was one of the most important directors in cinema history.

Looking forward  to watching the films. That the guy was a genius does not guarantee I will enjoy his films .  War and Peace is recognised as one of the greatest books ever written. I've tried to read  it several times over many years., without success.

[Aractus]

Wow, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is terrible. Breaking Bad ran from 2008 to 2013 and was set in 2008-2010. Much of the film takes place in this timeline, and tells the story of Jessie's flight immediately after the Breaking Bad finale. It could have been successful if there was at least a decent story, but what betrays the film the most is its insistence on using Breaking Bad characters who no longer look or even act the part. The first failure here is Aaron Paul himself. I saw very little of Jessie in him. The worst returning characters were Charles Baker, Matt L Jones, and especially Jesse Plemons as Todd:





Plemons looks a good 15 years older - he looks 40 - and is a lot heavier than he was in Breaking Bad. His physical appearance in Breaking Bad was very specific - he had that youthful man-child look. He was 24 when he appeared in the final season. His physical appearance was tied to his character, Todd, - Todd was softly spoken, had a child-like curiosity, child-like obedience to whoever was his boss showing his deep respect for authority, he's respectful and loyal to whoever he serves. He's also a product of his uncle's gang, being a remorseless psychopathic killer who's capable of torture and murder for any reason, and he acts instinctively (but also at the will of his employer whether Walt or his uncle). Todd has a big part in El Camino and sadly this isn't at all the Todd we know, even leaving his physical appearance aside, his character is unrecognisable. It was a huge mistake to bring back Todd, and even bigger mistake to have Plemons play him - to role really needed to be recast, and to find an actor who understood the character. But really he shouldn't have been brought back at all - Todd appears only in Season 5 (both 5A and 5B) and he should have been left there.

Character criticisms aside, the film just doesn't tell a compelling story. It's bland. The stakes don't feel very high, there's no thrilling moments in it like there are in the series best episodes (for example Dead Freight), and it doesn't give a satisfying conclusion for any Breaking Bad character. The film overuses flashback scenes - really the focus on the past was a big mistake, it took away the ability to tell a more compelling story in the film's present. It should not have relied on so many Breaking Bad characters. The film should have picked up with Walt, and Jessie, in prison. That would have been a much more interesting story to follow which would have provided better opportunities than simply following Jessie on the run.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I couldn't watch someone destroy endless numbers of people in order to insure his family's security. Wildly unequal.

[Aractus]

Well that's partly my point, the consequences of Walt's decisions would be a more interesting path to pursue.

[Aractus]

I should follow-up my El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie post by discussing the problems with the characters. Spoilers for Breaking Bad (but not El Camino). I should start by saying that Todd would not have worked even if Jesse Plemons was skinny. He portrays a relationship with Jessie that was not borne-out in the series and betrays the series in doing so. Even if skinny he wouldn't have had the youthful look that was essential to defining Todd's character. Plemons may only be 31, but the man looks 40 and that's not all due to weight that's just how he looks. He could play the part of a 45 year old accountant and no one would question it. Vince Gilligan completely misunderstood Todd's character in this film. Todd never really acts on his own agency in the series, and he is a true sociopath. He lacks the ability to emphasise with others, he doesn't have a "black heart" but he's been led by people in organised crime, and he's happy to be a lackey. He never acts out of revenge or because he holds a grudge or vendetta against someone.

Gilligan has also misunderstood Todd's relationship with Jessie. In Jessie's confession video with Hank he tells Hank that "Todd, that mopey dead eyed piece of shit pulls out a gun and shoots the kid". Todd is the one who beats the shit out of him, forces him to cook meth as a slave, and kills his girlfriend in front of him. The flash-back scenes in the film just are not remotely plausible.

There is just absolutely no way that Plemons could have done any justice to his Breaking Bad character, even if he was still skinny, and he should have turned the part down.

Skinny Pete was fine in terms of looks, Charles Baker has aged quite a bit since Breaking Bad (his age is catching up to him as often happens with people who looked much younger than they were), but he looks like a meth addict and accelerated aging is actually appropriate for his character. On the other hand I didn't see Skinny Pete in him at all. It was the actor that plays Skinny Pete, but the character wasn't there. His relationship with Badger in the film was stilted.

Distracting Badger has a TV that is way newer than the flat screen televisions available in 2010. This was one of the first continuity problems I noticed. No TV in 2010 had a bezel as thin as Badger's (monitors yes, TVs no).

Matt L Jones has also put on weight since Breaking Bad. I don't think it's distracting overly, but for some reason Vince Gilligan thought it would be a good idea to have Skinny Pete body shame-him in front of Jessie early on in the film, before introducing morbidly obese Todd later in the film! Yeah. What is more distracting is that he clearly looks like he's mid-30's with Skinny Pete pretty much looking his age now (late 40's), but they're both meant to be in their 20's! Their dynamic just wasn't right.

The scene I posted, the flash-back with Jessie in the Neo Nazi's methlab from Season 5, is also a scene that can't exist in the Breaking Bad timeline. It's introduced as the first time Jessie is connected to the tether (they've literally just welded the top) - yet this is actually the first scene where Jessie is connected to it, from the episode Ozymandias:



His hair is shorter, he's been beaten by Todd to a pulp and his face is bloody, his clothes are different, and only he and Todd are present. The change of clothes in El Camino is impossible because in Ozymandias he's still wearing the same clothes he was when they captured him prior to the beating. The scene in Ozymandias makes it absolutely clear to the audience that this is the first time he's ever been connected to the tether, and this is the first time he realises he'll be forced to cook meth as a slave. Even if the flash-back scene from El Camino could have taken place in a yet earlier scene (which it couldn't), Jessie would have been as you see him in Breaking Bad: a bloody mess. Instead his facial wounds, the one from the beating he took from Todd, have already healed.

I just re-watched the scene, I may have misunderstood it originally. Apparently it takes place after Jessie has tried to escape and Todd has killed Andrea. However that doesn't make sense because the photo of Andrea and Brock is there, and Jessie took it after the first cook (the paper-clip is how he escaped his bindings), in short if this scene is meant to be taking place later than the photo can't be there, and especially not be in the same position and held by the same paper clip.

For a show that was meticulously careful in its continuity, the film shows little regard for respecting the source material.

There's a lot more I could say about the other returning characters from BB, but as to not spoil the film I'll leave it there. What I will say is that Gilligan put in way too many Breaking Bad characters, he should have kept the focus on the film he wanted to make rather than cramming in scenes with characters from the TV show without much purpose in the film's narrative. Really as I mentioned before the film had way too much of a focus on the past and on Breaking Bad characters.

[OakTree500]

The Departed
[Or as @Jenny  might say; The Depaaahted  ]

Plot:
Ok - lets see if I understood it correctly. A young man works for the mob and ALSO joins the police force as an informant to the mob. Another young man joins the mob but is secretly a mole for the police force. The mob mole is kept secret for the rest of the police, while the police mole must simultaneously hide himself/search for himself [as the police know there is a mole] while ALSO trying to uncover who the mob mole is, so he can tell the mob.

Thoughts:
First time watching it, I really really liked it. Despite my over convoluted way of trying to explain what the plot is, it's fairly easy to follow, and is a huge tense thrill ride the entire time. Everybody is great in this (Matt Damon, Mark Whalberg, Jack Nicolson, Ray Winstone etc) and all plays their rolls to a tee.

Great stuff, well worth watching if you get the chance 

[Alan V]

I watched Toy Story 4 as a rental on Amazon Prime yesterday. As usual, the animation and humor were excellent. So it was entertaining, which is all I want from movies.

Considering where they left Woody at the end, this might be the last Toy Story movie -- or perhaps the last one with Tom Hanks doing voice work.

[grympy]

Thanks for the comments on El Camino, hadn't really noticed them .Started watching the film, and lasted 15 minutes. Dreck.

Was never able to get into Breaking Bad. I'm afraid I came over a bit self righteous about the apparent lack of moral compass. However, since then, I've watched a couple of Mexican /South American narco melodramas, so might give it another try.

Last movie; came across 'demolition Man' on Netflix, Sly Stallone , Sandra Bullock, Wesley Snipes. Good production vales, but still very cheesy. Fun though.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The utter lack of moral compass in "Breaking Bad" made me gag.

[M.Linoge]

Temple (2017)
Three American tourists travel to Japan; in part to have fun and to get a look at religious temples. Starting with one isolated, high up in the mountains, despite the locals warning them against going.
Ghosts, evil spirits or madmen. Anything could be waiting up there.
 
Crude but good. Reminds me of Blair Witch 2 – Book of Shadows.
 
Maleficent 2 – Mistress of Evil (2019)
Queen Aurora accepts Prince Philips proposal, despite Maleficent’s protests. Unbeknownst to both of them, Philips mother is plotting a war with the fae-folk.
 
It feels like they wanted to make up for the darkness in the first one by making part of the sequel plot so fluffy or ridiculous it’s impossible to take it seriously and the only impression left is the special effects. Which is a shame. It could have been really good.
"Mistress of evil"? (snort)
 
Gemini (2019)
An assassin sniper decides to retire and, as usual, his employers won’t let him go peacefully.
Suddenly, he’s fighting a younger version of himself.
 
An adequate meet-n’-fight-my-clone drama, with excellent action scenes.
 
Fractured (2019)
After an accident, a man and wife bring their daughter to a hospital. The wife and daughter goes away for testing. When the husband checks in later, the staff claim the two were never admitted. 
Why won’t the doctors tell him where his family went? Has he gone mad?

Not bad. 

In The Tall Grass (2019)
A brother and sister (adults) hear cries for help from a vast field of tall grass. Once lured inside, it’s impossible to leave. Space and time move differently within the field, for the living. As the source of the abnormalities reveals itself, the prospect of dying of thirst becomes the least of their concerns.
 
A twilight zone tale. Delightful.
Children of the Corn meets Triangle meets Cube 2 meets The Shrine.

El Camino: A breaking bad movie (2019)
Jesse. Flashbacks to his time as captive and his postWalter escape.
 
Nothing new. As uninteresting as people warned me it would be. 

[M.Linoge]

In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
Lockhart, a young cop, gets involved in a strange night of spree killings with a unique weapon.
Nine years later, the same is used on more victims. Then again, another nine years later.
Obsessed, Lockhart dedicates his life to solve the mystery.
 
A few plot-holes. Overall good.
Army of the 12 monkeys meets The Terminator.
 
Eli (2019)
Eli. A rare affliction makes ordinary particles in the air and water lethal to him. His parents bring him to an isolated facility in the countryside for viral therapy treatment to alter some of his genes.
Unfortunately, the doctors are a bit strange and the treatment is making him hallucinate nightmares… or the mansion is haunted. 
 
Excellent.  Even a little scary. Not every haunted/madness flick can manage that.
A gem for the collection. 

Wounds (2019)
A barkeep finds a cellphone after breaking up a barfight.
He finds pictures of mutilated corpses in a ritual in it, and receive disturbing text messages. A car follows him. His dreams are haunted.
Whatever is happening is picking up speed.
 
Points for a hint of originality. The Ring meets Satanic. 
Very good, if this is your genre.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Judgement day is inevitable. 
Picking up after Terminator 2: Judgement Day, (which technically makes this T3 in this timeline) Skynet has been erased from the future, but a war is still coming. One assassin and one protector is again sent back in time, from 2042, to a past that holds surprises for both.

On the downside, a few minor details: For example, one could note that the male characters are not so much expendable as irrelevant. The tone they took against the original movie "your worth is only your womb", was slightly annoying since Sarah Connor was the hero who stopped Skynet from existing. Not John. Same was true in nr 4 and nr 6 in the series. Women have never been weak in Terminator-verse, including the comics, but it felt like they want you to think that, and this movie is supposed to be the big push-back. Maybe I'm reading too much into it...
On the upside: Everything else exceeded my expectations. 
Beautifully done. A more advanced timeline where augmented humans can have titanic hand-to-combat with efficient machines built for war rather than infiltration is an easy story to ruin. The actresses are excellent, etc.
If you're going to see it, do it at the cinema. 

UFO (2018)
An university super-math-student obsessing over an alleged UFO sighting, bumping heads with a non-violent government agency working to cover it up.  

A lot of scenes with the guy talking/calculating math on the spot out loud while solving alien puzzles.
National Treasure meets any close contact movie you can think of. ¨
Not exactly bad. Not exactly good. Someone clearly put a lot of thought into it.

Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
The time-loops continue and escalates. Tree is basically in Hell. Still.
Turns out Ryan started it.
One more time, from the top!
 
D- for plot, A grade silly comedy. Like Maleficent and many others, they have taken a fairly dark concept and made the sequel a joke. 

[M.Linoge]

In the heart of the sea (2015)
An author visits an old survivor of a ship lost at sea, looking for inspiration.
The survivor tells the story of a whaleship down on its luck. Hearing a rumor in port they go further out, only to find a considerably large and furious white whale driving them away.
A story of terrible struggle.
 
Well made. Excellent cast. Less dramatic than Moby Dick.
 
The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018)
A new morgue worker with a haunted past receives a body from a failed exorcism during the late shift. Over the course of the night, her personal demons may have to contend with new ones.
 
Damn near perfect. Another gem.
Reminiscent of The Autopsy of Jane Doe
 
February (The Blackcoat's Daughter) (2015)
Two girls are left behind at a prep-school during a one-week winter vacation. Each with their own troubling secrets.
Rose is worried. She hears whispers in the walls, and Katherine is acting strange; her voice echoes when she speaks.
Hopefully their parents will show up soon…
 
A classic tale relying on a dark and sinister atmosphere. The simplicity and subtlety they used in The Witch. Hats off to the actresses.
Very good.
 
Treehouse (2014)
Kids are going missing in a small town. A curfew is ordered, cancelling an anticipated fare.
Two highschool brothers defy it, entering the woods for a private party. No one else shows up; instead they find a wounded girl their age in a treehouse. One of the missing.
A brother leaves to get help. Will he make it out? Will the two left behind be alive when he gets back?
 
Starts out ok, then crashes hard. They find an Ak 47 and “it’s a sign” from god.
Best skipped.

Eerie (2019)
A death occurs in a Catholic school for girls. It appears to be suicide; the ghost-whispering guidance counselor have sessions with the deceased to uncover the truth. Turns out the school has a few secrets it wants to hide. 

As the title suggests, it’s eerie, and little else. 
A decent idea poorly done. 

Rattlesnake (2019)
A mysterious woman saves the life of a little girl. A man shows up later and claims the mother owes a soul for a soul. If the debt is not paid, her daughter will revert to the state she was before.

70 minutes of a woman struggling with herself, finding and trying to kill a stranger. Not bad, also not my cup of tea.

A Viking Saga: The Darkest Day (2013)
Vikings are invading England, searching for a book holding the power of the Christian god.
Hereward, a poor orphan living at a monastery, and an old priest flees with the book to protect it.
 
An insult to all. Christians, pagans, the Hereward legend and movie-makers in general. Apparently the god's not dead crowd loves it. if that tells you anything...
Worst movie I’ve seen this year.

[Dānu]

[Dancefortwo]

Jane Eyre, the 1997 version.  Without a doubt the best movie of the book I've seen.  Books by The Bronte Sisters are rarely any good. They tend to rely too heavily on a gothic atmosphere but this movie is wonderful.  Samantha Morton's Jane has  reserved passion that oh so slowly bubbles to the surface.  The whole cast is fabulous. 

Just a little background on Samantha Morton. She was the girl in the water tank in Minority Report.  She's also the actress that Harvey Weinstein told Terry Gilliam to not cast in The Brothers Grim because  "who'd wanna fuck her".   I hope Harvey rots in prison.