Movie Record 2023 Edition - The Bear and Badger

davyK

Mission Impossible : Dead Reckoning Part 1 Splendid entertainment.

Spoiler:

ShabbyMcCrabby

davyK wrote:

Mission Impossible : Dead Reckoning Part 1 Splendid entertainment.

Spoiler:

Wondering why the Rebecca Ferguson torch was handed on though. Shrug.

Spoiler:

davyK

The Courier (2022) True story of an English businessman who got into espionage activity that helped expose the Russian missiles in Cuba. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The acting is great but the story plods a bit in places. Overall an interesting tale though and it's beautifully shot and the period is recreated superbly.

Cos

34. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
Bio-pic about American cartoonist John Callahan, based on his autobiography. It details his life following a car wreck that left him paralysed, leading him to go into AA whilst also finding a talent for drawing cartoons. There's a bit of an uneven tone but the bleak nature of the first third or so is better balanced in later parts, particularly with the introduction of Jonah Hill as the AA sponsor (in a great turn) and the cartoons obviously help provide laughs as an outlet. An enjoyable effort and interesting story I'd never heard about. [7]

35. The Godfathers of Hardcore
Documentary focused on the two core members of NYHC band Agnostic Front. Rather than follow a standard chronological order of 'two guys meet, form a band, get a following, etc' this has a looser form, jumping between the two and back and forth in time. It works well for the first half using a good mix of interviews, archive footage and a variety of locations but sometimes at the cost of telling a coherent story. It really falls off a cliff in the last half hour too, shame. [5]

36. The Matrix Resurrections
I was pretty surprised how well this started off and began to wonder if some of the reviews had been a bit harsh. But then the rest of the film arrived to prove that the Wachowskis can still botch a great premise with the best of them. Still a few outstanding moments but mostly gibberish by the end. [3]

Cos

37. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
I've got nothing new to add on this, it's a superb sequel to one of my favourite films of the last 10 years. The continued inventiveness, style and self awareness makes for a thoroughly fantastic ride. The many Spider-Men an obvious highlight and I suspect I'll take great joy in spotting new ones every time I rewatch this. One minor issue for me were a few points where clash of various aesthetics onscreen was a bit much and found it tricky to focus but that's really nit picking. Can't wait for the next instalment! [9]

38. Bros
Two guys not traditionally great in relationships try to make it work together. Maybe expectations affected enjoyment but I was really hoping this was going to be a lot funnier. There are plenty of well observed moments and lampooning of 'traditional' romcom tropes but only a handful of strong laughs throughout. Some not great acting and overly long run time didn't help. Bang average for me but could see it going a couple of marks either way. [5]

38. Only Yesterday
An early 90s Ghibli effort I'd never seen before. It follows a young woman who spends her summer holiday on a family farm in rural Japan whilst reminiscing about her childhood and wondering about her path in life. There are points where it's borderline boring but has enough bright, interesting moments to hold engagement. It's good and perhaps suffers to some extent by the studio having such a high bar. One for collectors only probably. [6]

Cos

39. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Having enjoyed the last few MI films, this one was a bit underwhelming. Almost felt like a bit of a greatest hits collection despite having a more interesting antagonist, albeit watered down by providing a human avatar that Ethan had personal beef with. Perhaps there is something to it but I found the whole thing of predicting what was going to happen only for that thing to happen really robbed the film of tension at times.
Pegg has become a particularly annoying sidekick and I found Atwell's character to be quite insufferable. There's good action and stunts obviously but that's pretty much a given by this point. Maybe they'll bring it together in part two but it's heading for a bit of a sorry send off at this point. [5]

40. Asteroid City
Anderson is of course a bit of a marmite director but I'm a fan and found this to be one of his stronger efforts in recent years. The style is a given but I really loved the setup of the play as the movie, the behind the scenes elements of seeing the actors and then as their characters. I'm sure it helps when actors just want to be in your movies but the mix of regulars and new faces is particularly great here, Schwartzman and Johansson are so good and brilliantly supported.

Spoiler:

A lovely treat [8].

Cos

41. Ghosted
Perhaps not quite the car crash I'd seen described elsewhere but hoo boy, still a stinker. Tone is all over the place, the two leads really don't exhibit any chemistry and the whole thing felt like a nonsense. My theory is it was originally written as a spoof and some exec just didn't get the joke. Skip it. [3]

42. Sleeping With other People
Perhaps a hetero pre-cursor to Bros, a romcom where the fated couple are just bad at relationships so decide to remain friends that just clearly want to bone. It's pretty bland given it seems to lean slightly towards the crass nature of noughties comedies but Sudeikis and Brie are likable enough that you're rooting for them but also hoping they maybe don't go for the obvious ending?

Spoiler:

It's fine - perfectly enjoyable, slightly disappointing and ultimately mostly forgettable. [6]

Wookienopants

How do you have so much time to watch these films??! I'm so envious

Cos

I saw a categorisation describing my circumstances as 'childfree geriatric millenial' so that probably answers your question

That was over the space of several weeks too, I'm just bad at updating the thread this year.

poprock

Guardians of the Galaxy 3
It’s nonsense CGI rubbish, but rubbish with heart. I did not expect to be almost in tears at a Rocket Raccoon backstory.

Wookienopants

poprock wrote:

Guardians of the Galaxy 3
It’s nonsense CGI rubbish, but rubbish with heart. I did not expect to be almost in tears at a Rocket Raccoon backstory.

Yea we finished watching it last night, it's so much fun and so much heart

davyK

12 Strong true tale of a post 9/11 special forces op fighting with locals against the Taliban starring Chris Hemsworth with very good support. Maybe a bit jingoistic but they achieved in 3 weeks what was expected to take 2 years and they all came home.

davyK

Death Wish 5. What one ends up watching when you are isolating because of COVID ,have a TV in the room that is Freeview only and the remote is fucked. This actually wasn't half bad and even though it's aged, Bronson still had it, and it was entertaining nonsense with 2D bad guys just asking to be dealt with.

Was on ITV3 or something. I was lying in bed and couldn't be arsed getting up to change the channel manually.

I really should move a firestick into the room. Have a replacement remote ordered but it won't arrive until the 5 day isolation has expired.

poprock

The Mother
J-Lo plays an ass-kicking all-American ex-military hero who has to go save her estranged daughter. Better than that makes it sound. Solid enough B-movie.

poprock

I should have just said ‘Jenny from the glock’. Missed opportunity.

hylian_elf

It pissed me off no end that across four flights to and from Malaysia for our holiday, the selection of movies on offer got smaller/worse each flight. On the first, I made a lengthy list of movies to watch. Half were missing from the next flight. Still, enough to keep me going. First return flight, list even smaller. Ok, I thought. I could just rewatch some movies I’ve already seen. Final flight? Even those were gone.

25. No Time To Die - 22 Aug
HOLIDAY FLIGHTS MOVIE 4. Much better than the last few Bond movies and thoroughly entertaining. Great set pieces, stunts and action. A point docked for the lacklustre villain.
[7]

26. 65 - 12 Aug
HOLIDAY FLIGHTS MOVIE 5. Pointless and unexciting trash that seems to have been written and directed by amateurs who had just done (possibly failed) A level film studies and think they are qualified enough to make movies.
[3]

27. Scream (2021) - 12 Aug
HOLIDAY FLIGHTS MOVIE 6. Mildly entertaining ‘requel’ with some nice quotes and references but all too familiar and predictable.
[5]

Questor

Back in person to the Melbourne International Film Festival today for the first time in 4 years!
Saw Monster a Japanese coming of age film about a boy learning more about himself - hard to describe without giving away the plot. Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Was not what I expected at all, but was great.

Cos

poprock wrote:

I should have just said ‘Jenny from the glock’. Missed opportunity.

Worth the follow up.

hylian_elf

28. The Karate Kid - 13 Aug
The original and the best, watched it with the boy and he loved it. Still a classic.
[8]

ShabbyMcCrabby

91. Extraction 2
I enjoyed this more than the first one. Largely I think because of that prison sequence which was very impressive. I think the rest of it doesn't live up to that but that's okay although it does make it feel like the rest of the film is a downward slope.
[6]

92. Fatal Attraction
I forgot how sexy these 80s/90s thrillers were. It's also interesting to see Glenn Close in this role as she's not an obvious choice but she's very good in this. A lot of fun. I just enjoy the pacing and filmmaking of movies of this era. You get so used to the current way films are that you can forget how they used to be crafted.
[7]

93. Barbie
Ryan Gosling should do more comedy. This and the Nice Guys show he has the chops for it. I feel like the scripting/pacing of this was a little scattershot but I had fun with it.
[7]

94. Pleasantville
A rewatch of something that I, strangely, used to watch a lot as a kid. Should be surprised that it is a pleasant watch with that title. Again, see how older films were made and how they weren't too afraid of having breathing room. Some really nice acting in this too.
[7]

95. Meg 2: The Trench
Had to see how Ben Wheatley went with making a big budget film. Not bad really. There's some definite Wheatley-isms throughout. Just a shame a large bulk is set in a dark space (bad idea) and so when it becomes lighter and then more fun it's a bit too late.
[5]

96. Kong: Skull Island
This really a great monster movie. It does enough to give the characters some character and it has some genuinely stunning effects and really fun sequences. Don't get many hollywood blockbusters with Cannibal Holocaust references.
[8]

97. MIFF: How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Mostly solidly made indie thriller about some activists wanting to blow up an oil pipeline. The fact that it's quite good makes the few parts where it's really amateur in execution stand out. One bit in particular is a bit silly and they really should have blocked it better.
[6]

98. MIFF: Medusa Deluxe
If you're gonna make a one-shot film then I think there should be a solid reason for it to be done that way. This film doesn't seem to have a good reason and so you're just stuck watching people walk hallways for too many minutes of this.
[4]

99. MIFF: Animalia
A sci-fi film that has some cool ideas but I think the constant god-bothering side of the story ended up irking me even though it's obviously a very large part of the culture there and why it comes up a lot. It has a definite Benson and Moorhead vibe but nowhere nearly as good as their stuff.
[5]

100. MIFF: Last Summer
'Woman having an affair with her stepson' is one of the Frenchist sounding synopsis' of the film festival. The fact that she has a glass of wine in pretty much every scene also helps that. This ended up being more than I thought it would be though. At first I thought it was going to romanticise grooming and seducing a child like Call Me By Your Name but then it became a bit more than that.
[8]

101. MIFF: Perpetrator
It's difficult making a film that exists in a heightened reality. This one just doesn't quite get there. I think it needed to lay out the world a little more at first so you could get in on how things were going to go. I also couldn't tell if all the cribs of filmmaking and lines of script pulled from lyrics and such were meant to be jokes or were evidence of unoriginality.
[3]

102. MIFF: About Dry Grasses
I signed up for a 3.5 hour Turkish film because I wanted to go full film festival but this turned out to be the best film I saw there. If you liked Drive My Car then I think you would find something to like in the filmmaking of this. Engrossing characters and setting and engaging storytelling meant this didn't feel like the runtime at all.
[9]

103. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
I think the main problem with this entry is that it's just not exciting at all. Big monsters smashing into each other should raise the pulse a little bit but this just never does. A shame really.
[4]

Minkymu

Bull. (9)

On netflix now.

Neil Maskell (kill list, utopia) is great in this revenge thriller. low budget gritty and violent, reminds me of dead mans shoes.

interesting ending too.

nick_md

Saw Oppenheimer. Was alright, bit talky, was ready for it to end a good 30mins before it did, well made and acted but not enough killins. 7/10, no need for a cinema visit, catch it at home.

Minnesänger

nick_md wrote:

not enough killins.

You wanted more Japanese people to die? You monster…

The Daddy

nick_md wrote:

Saw Oppenheimer. Was alright, bit talky, was ready for it to end a good 30mins before it did, well made and acted but not enough killins. 7/10, no need for a cinema visit, catch it at home.

Went last night, would agree with all that. Some of the usual self indulgent stuff from Nolan, most of the first hour felt like a weird montage. Worked well on the imax though. I hope Nolan goes for something more fun next, maybe they could give him a Bond film or something.

RedDave2

Ted 2 [5]
Dumb, fun – but its better watched in short clips on youtube. Normally find Mark Wahlberg a bit of a gorm in most things but he fits perfectly here along with Set McFarlanes Ted.

Extraction [7]
Surprisingly solid action flick with Chris Hemsworth in the stoic merc with a heart of gold. Really enjoyed it, it stays the right side of silly and the finale was great.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts [6]
Better than Bumblebee in some parts and less in others, its not likely to appeal to anyone who isn’t a fan anyway but unlike the Michael Bay stuff it does reward that fandom. Not great but if you like Trans Formers its not a bad way to while away a few hours.

Extraction 2 [7]
Leans more into the Hollywood style than the first but there is still some great set-pieces. Felt it had played out by the end and both the low key finale as well as the definite slide into the main characters developing super hero level type plot armour took away from it. Still good fun and I’ll jump on a sequel if it comes out.

Luther: The Fallen Sun [2]
Oh boy, what a heap of shite. Takes two solid enough actors and surrounds them with tripe of the highest order. A script which just piles on cliché after cliché. A supporting cast of z-level actors from the east enders pool. Plot holes for days and a wig that you just cant ignore. There’s one bit set in London that’s kinda of done well but like much of the villains acts, falls apart when you try and think about it for more than a second. So bad I had to see it through

Day Shift [5]
Stupid Vamp flick that still managed to be a bit of fun. The cast seem to be in on the fun and as such as silly as it is, it moves at a good pace with an enjoyable enough feel. There’s a late 90s vibe here that is quite appealing.

The unbearable weight of Massive Talent [5]
Don’t really get why this is held in high regard. Sure, the two leads are great together but the script is pretty meh. Hasn’t does been done before in better movies? Very disappointing (possibly suffering from the unbearable weight of my own expectations.)

Venom: Carnage [3]
Much like day shift, I got a big whiff of 90s movie of this. Its very tight for a hero movie and for once I feel it doesn’t make enough of its subject matter. Everything gets resolved too quickly to leave any impact and there really isn’t much of a good hook unless you have an interest in seeing how they do the venom/ carnage story. Hardy is still great fun as Venom but I don’t think Harrelson is used enough. Its all too frothy to be worth bothering with.

Ghost Busters – Afterlife [3]
Why is this so dull? It seems to have done the hardwork. Nice simple setting, decent cast, effects are good without being crazy. And yet its so dull. I think the problem is it forgets it’s the little details that make so many 80s movies work. Everything is so workman here that even when the original cast show up at the end it feels half baked. I guess they are setting up for a sequel but aside from Egons grand daughter I don’t think any of the young cast make any real impression as characters. There’s nice nods but not much else.

Gremill

37. The Royal Tennenbaums
Still great - with a superb cast giving great performances across the board. Gene Hackman in particular is brilliant in one of his last performances. Love it. 8

acemuzzy

Living

Pretty decent

Gremill

38. Oppenheimer
Wow. What a film. A conjunction of many of my favourite themes - war, physics, history, the suppression of left wing thought - brought together with an incredible cast, an amazing script and some superb visuals. For a film that is mainly people talking, it is edited and shot like an action film and it is relentless in bombarding you with sequence after sequence of high octane, high stakes, hard-science history. Loved it. 10

Paul the sparky

Was the shagging any good?

Gremill

Paul the sparky wrote:

Was the shagging any good?

Pretty good. Like Oppo, I like to end my shagging by saying that I'm the destroyer of worlds.

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