Latest Taron Egerton film, who I've been a fan of since the Kingsman films - This one isn't to be confused with the classic Carry On Films, but more of the Die Hard type Christmas film - Starts off really well, and sadly fades off a little bit... Jason Bateman is really good
Ah ffs - had no idea this film title had been released - I spoke to my son’s girlfriend on the phone on Xmas Day and asked her what she had been doing which she said she’s watched Carry On, before even asking which one I went full on Williams “Ooo Matron” to which she laughed and then did Howard “Titter ye not” to which she then said “what the fcuk is going on?” I asked her did the characters not use those expressions to which she said no so I just passed the phone back to my son to speak with her. Was utterly confused - now makes sense. She will laugh when I explain what was going on.
Watched Anora. I enjoyed the story and some great performances (particularly the guy who plays the bald henchman), but half the film is people shouting at each other. One of the shouting/screaming scenes must have gone on for 30 minutes, it was almost unbearable. Reminded me of Uncut Gems in its unrelenting intensity. Still there are genuinely funny moments and it's worth a watch.
Saw 'Wicked' over Christmas - a lot better than I expected and I thought Ariana Grande was excellent. Cynthia Erivo delivered another good performance.
Not remotely a new film but Die Hard was showing in the cinema over Christmas and it's impressive how well it still holds up. Pacing, performances, balancing action/jokes/emotions etc... it pretty much is perfect as an action movie.
Watched Anora. I enjoyed the story and some great performances (particularly the guy who plays the bald henchman), but half the film is people shouting at each other. One of the shouting/screaming scenes must have gone on for 30 minutes, it was almost unbearable. Reminded me of Uncut Gems in its unrelenting intensity. Still there are genuinely funny moments and it's worth a watch.
I was expecting much more. Should have been a 90 minute caper, I think.
Watched Gladiator II just now and totally enjoyed it. It kept me on the edge of my seat for all 150 minutes. I've always loved the soundtrack of the original film so it was nice to hear it several times in this sequel.
Loved it too but did they really have to do the shark thing?
I saw Gladiator 2 last night and was a bit underwhelmed. Having slept on it, my feelings are even more negative towards it. It looks good in parts, yet some of the CGI also looks rubbish.
The plot is a warmed over rehash of the first that you could see coming a Roman mile off, but my main issue is probably with the casting and a couple of the performances. I was completely unimpressed by Paul Mescal's casting as a leader. Despite a couple of set piece speeches, he just doesn't have the charisma or gravitas of Crowe and there's a massive credibility gap in believing all these men would follow him to their deaths - "nah, you're alright mate" would more realistically be the response imo.
Denzil seemed to be phoning it in for me, the twin emporers were just cartoonish movie villains and I struggled to get on board with Captain Darling and Andy Pipkin in such a supposedly dramatic storyline.
I'll no doubt watch it again on the tele' and my view might change but for now even the still glorious Connie Nielson couldn't redeem this one for me.
Film by Andrea Arnold set in Kent about a young girl and her dysfunctional family. A pretty bleak film but very watchable and has Barry Keoghan playing the father - a ball of energy.
Nkiya Adams in the main role is brilliant.
Some interesting locations including the Isle of Sheppey.
Finally gave Joker: Folie à Deux a watch.... honestly, I actually quite enjoyed it. Knowing what to expect from reviews and opinions so going in with admittedly low expectations probably helped.*
I can understand why some didn't like it, the darker grittier tone of the first swapped out for the some surrealist cinema which isn't for everyone (me included) but thankfully at the softer end of that spectrum and not the extreme (shudders in Eraserhead).
You're either going to think its clever or too clever depending on taste, I like the suspended reality of an Arkham inmate theme, it works, Joker and Folie à Deux are shot different and that's IMO a reflection of the characters mental state, Joker - darker, man's downfall breaking point, Folie à Deux -fantastical, a medicated inmates imagination running wild.
Could it have been better and what the audience were hoping for, yes, it's far from perfect and maybe 2 too many musical numbers but not the total waste of time I was expecting.
Top marks for the ending Easter egg though, wasn't expecting that.
6/10
*Watching on HBO from the sofa also helped I'd imagine.
Watched A real pain at the weekend. A pretty easy to watch film with some really great acting from Kieran Culkin. The film won't blow you away but is pretty enjoyable
Not a Robbie Williams fan in the slightest. In fact I’d say quite the opposite. The Mrs got tickets but what a film. The best I’ve seen in years. Highly recommend it.
Mufasa - film and animation fine overall, but music was too generic for a Lion King prequel. Lin Manuel Miranda is an incredible talent, but did not get this set of musical numbers right imho. None of the songs were memorable.
Fight scenes were good which led to the PG rating and will probably be too much for a 4-6 year olds.
Went to watch Nosferatu and thought it was excellent, probably 8 or 9/10. All the acting was brilliant, think it says a lot when Willem Dafoe's acting doesn't stand out as everyone was so good! Didn't realise it was Johnny Depp's daughter but she had some brilliant scenes too.
First Robert Eggers film i've seen though I've wanted watch some of his films for a while. Will definitely try a few more.
Went to watch Nosferatu and thought it was excellent, probably 8 or 9/10. All the acting was brilliant, think it says a lot when Willem Dafoe's acting doesn't stand out as everyone was so good! Didn't realise it was Johnny Depp's daughter but she had some brilliant scenes too.
First Robert Eggers film i've seen though I've wanted watch some of his films for a while. Will definitely try a few more.
Nosferatu is brilliant, I agree.
I was worried about Lily-Rose Depp being one of the leads, I’ve never really thought she was a great actress but she was great in this.
Will try and go to see it again before it’s no longer in the cinemas.
Watched Conclave this afternoon, mainly on the basis of wanting to slump somewhere warm and quiet with a beer out of the house.
Though it's not subject matter I'd usually be drawn to, I found it absorbing and it kept my attention throughout its two hour run time.
I've no idea how true to life the process to elect a new pope was, but it's more about the wrangling and political manouvring of the various cardinals. The twist in the plot made me laugh, and probably about half the rest of the white tops, the ones who hadn't nodded off at least.
Edit for mark: Solid 7.5/10, but won't be for everyone
I do like a Silver Screen showing - people are far less irritating and focus on the film not the bloody snacks
Not a Robbie Williams fan in the slightest. In fact I’d say quite the opposite. The Mrs got tickets but what a film. The best I’ve seen in years. Highly recommend it.
After my lukewarm review of Gladiator 2 last week I had much higher hopes for Nosferatu this week
It was indeed a better movie but I, again, left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Despite its generally positive reviews I found it all extremely derivative of every Dracula film I've ever seen and all a bit hammy without some of the charm of the vintage versions. Looks great and I'm sure it will win all sorts of awards but overall it was all a bit "meh" from me.
But I am in a terrible mood at the moment so it could just be I'm very hard to impress!
After my lukewarm review of Gladiator 2 last week I had much higher hopes for Nosferatu this week
It was indeed a better movie but I, again, left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Despite its generally positive reviews I found it all extremely derivative of every Dracula film I've ever seen and all a bit hammy without some of the charm of the vintage versions. Looks great and I'm sure it will win all sorts of awards but overall it was all a bit "meh" from me.
But I am in a terrible mood at the moment so it could just be I'm very hard to impress!
I read some negative reviews online that were moaning about the films portrayal of women - as being helpless and prone to attack.
Not sure if those people get what a vampire film is generally about!
Watched Conclave this afternoon, mainly on the basis of wanting to slump somewhere warm and quiet with a beer out of the house.
Though it's not subject matter I'd usually be drawn to, I found it absorbing and it kept my attention throughout its two hour run time.
I've no idea how true to life the process to elect a new pope was, but it's more about the wrangling and political manouvring of the various cardinals. The twist in the plot made me laugh, and probably about half the rest of the white tops, the ones who hadn't nodded off at least.
Edit for mark: Solid 7.5/10, but won't be for everyone
I do like a Silver Screen showing - people are far less irritating and focus on the film not the bloody snacks
This is a story of a two teenagers in real-life reform school in 1960s Florida, which was notorious for its abusive and racist treatment of students. The film has been critically acclaimed but I’m afraid I found it heavily over-stylised and not in a way that enhanced the narrative (which was itself a little confusing).
Went to watch Nosferatu and thought it was excellent, probably 8 or 9/10. All the acting was brilliant, think it says a lot when Willem Dafoe's acting doesn't stand out as everyone was so good! Didn't realise it was Johnny Depp's daughter but she had some brilliant scenes too.
First Robert Eggers film i've seen though I've wanted watch some of his films for a while. Will definitely try a few more.
Nosferatu is brilliant, I agree.
I was worried about Lily-Rose Depp being one of the leads, I’ve never really thought she was a great actress but she was great in this.
Will try and go to see it again before it’s no longer in the cinemas.
I went to the cinema last night to watch Nosferatu.
For me the positive were;
The film looked stunning. Genuinely creepy, sometimes disturbing Gothic movie with amazing cinematography.
Nicholas Holt was superb.
The negatives;
I found Depps performance quite irritating. The constant ‘possessed ’ scenes were almost funny at times. At one point I thought she was doing the robot. Then it just began to annoy me.
The dialogue was a bit too ‘poetic’ for my liking. I knew what was going on but there were conversations where I didn’t have a clue what they were really saying.
Finally watched Gladiator 2. I was genuinely shocked at how bad it was, it's a proper turkey.
The acting, CGI and story were so ropey that I spent the entire time very aware I was watching a film and never felt engrossed into the story. That's a failure on a basic level.
Neither Denzel nor the lead's character had any depth. Why does Denzel want power? Just for power's sake? At some point the bad guy is supposed to explain his motives and so become 3-dimensional. The mother is a terrible actress - and she realises it's her son after he reads a poem?
The two emperors sport a hair colour that did not exist before tresemmé invented it in 1980, along with ridiculous haircuts to match.
The 'animals' look like zombies, act like zombies and bear no resemblance to actual animals.
And the story is basically a rehash of the original.
Poorly executed cash grab. Time won't be kind to this one.
Gladiator II - Perfectly enjoyable but to me it felt like someone said "Imagine if we remade Gladiator but we made it so it was basically the same, only nowhere near as good!" and the studio were like, "that's a fucking great idea! Can we put Denzel in it!?"
Emilia Perez - No fucking clue what to make of that. Interesting enough story. Music elements were barmy.
Wicked - Meh.
Carry On - lol so stupid but quite fun. The sort of film dad would have brought home on VHS from the video shop, and I would have wondered why the hell he chose it, only to be glad I watched it.
Conclave - It felt like an excuse to watch a really good cast do a really good job of acting. I got a better sense of how the process works I suppose, and it was funny seeing how political and backstabby such a religious and holy thing is. I just didn't really understand why it existed beyond that. Maybe I missed some subtext.
After my lukewarm review of Gladiator 2 last week I had much higher hopes for Nosferatu this week
It was indeed a better movie but I, again, left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Despite its generally positive reviews I found it all extremely derivative of every Dracula film I've ever seen and all a bit hammy without some of the charm of the vintage versions. Looks great and I'm sure it will win all sorts of awards but overall it was all a bit "meh" from me.
But I am in a terrible mood at the moment so it could just be I'm very hard to impress!
To be fair that's because its based on the movie that all those Dracula movies took some inspiration from - they were actually derivative of it but 100 years later it looks much more tired and cliché.
I remember watching the first Nosferatu at Uni and once you remember how and when it was made its a very impressive feat of film making if nothing else.
After my lukewarm review of Gladiator 2 last week I had much higher hopes for Nosferatu this week
It was indeed a better movie but I, again, left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Despite its generally positive reviews I found it all extremely derivative of every Dracula film I've ever seen and all a bit hammy without some of the charm of the vintage versions. Looks great and I'm sure it will win all sorts of awards but overall it was all a bit "meh" from me.
But I am in a terrible mood at the moment so it could just be I'm very hard to impress!
To be fair that's because its based on the movie that all those Dracula movies took some inspiration from - they were actually derivative of it but 100 years later it looks much more tired and cliché.
I remember watching the first Nosferatu at Uni and once you remember how and when it was made its a very impressive feat of film making if nothing else.
Yes! I remember watching it at college during the LFF I think. A group of us were either high on acid or some made skunk, it was quite an experience I can tell you!
I remember watching the first one on an old telly in my bedroom on a Saturday night when the BBC did late night horror films. I must have been about 10 or 11. It properly shit me up.
Mufasa - film and animation fine overall, but music was too generic for a Lion King prequel. Lin Manuel Miranda is an incredible talent, but did not get this set of musical numbers right imho. None of the songs were memorable.
Fight scenes were good which led to the PG rating and will probably be too much for a 4-6 year olds.
6.5/10
The CGI was incredible. We're pretty much at the stage of being about to produce life like animation.
That was all that was memorial about the film, a pretty dull plot with some great action scenes. No where near the level of the original.
Comments
One word from me to describe my feelings of this unique production...
WOW !
The plot is a warmed over rehash of the first that you could see coming a Roman mile off, but my main issue is probably with the casting and a couple of the performances. I was completely unimpressed by Paul Mescal's casting as a leader. Despite a couple of set piece speeches, he just doesn't have the charisma or gravitas of Crowe and there's a massive credibility gap in believing all these men would follow him to their deaths - "nah, you're alright mate" would more realistically be the response imo.
Denzil seemed to be phoning it in for me, the twin emporers were just cartoonish movie villains and I struggled to get on board with Captain Darling and Andy Pipkin in such a supposedly dramatic storyline.
I'll no doubt watch it again on the tele' and my view might change but for now even the still glorious Connie Nielson couldn't redeem this one for me.
Film by Andrea Arnold set in Kent about a young girl and her dysfunctional family. A pretty bleak film but very watchable and has Barry Keoghan playing the father - a ball of energy.
Nkiya Adams in the main role is brilliant.
Some interesting locations including the Isle of Sheppey.
Edit: Scrap that, am getting Nosferatu and Nostradamus mixed up! But will leave the comment here for your amusement!
I can understand why some didn't like it, the darker grittier tone of the first swapped out for the some surrealist cinema which isn't for everyone (me included) but thankfully at the softer end of that spectrum and not the extreme (shudders in Eraserhead).
You're either going to think its clever or too clever depending on taste, I like the suspended reality of an Arkham inmate theme, it works, Joker and Folie à Deux are shot different and that's IMO a reflection of the characters mental state, Joker - darker, man's downfall breaking point, Folie à Deux -fantastical, a medicated inmates imagination running wild.
Could it have been better and what the audience were hoping for, yes, it's far from perfect and maybe 2 too many musical numbers but not the total waste of time I was expecting.
Top marks for the ending Easter egg though, wasn't expecting that.
6/10
*Watching on HBO from the sofa also helped I'd imagine.
6.5/10
First Robert Eggers film i've seen though I've wanted watch some of his films for a while. Will definitely try a few more.
I was worried about Lily-Rose Depp being one of the leads, I’ve never really thought she was a great actress but she was great in this.
It was indeed a better movie but I, again, left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Despite its generally positive reviews I found it all extremely derivative of every Dracula film I've ever seen and all a bit hammy without some of the charm of the vintage versions. Looks great and I'm sure it will win all sorts of awards but overall it was all a bit "meh" from me.
But I am in a terrible mood at the moment so it could just be I'm very hard to impress!
Not sure if those people get what a vampire film is generally about!
This is a story of a two teenagers in real-life reform school in 1960s Florida, which was notorious for its abusive and racist treatment of students. The film has been critically acclaimed but I’m afraid I found it heavily over-stylised and not in a way that enhanced the narrative (which was itself a little confusing).
For me the positive were;
I found Depps performance quite irritating. The constant ‘possessed ’ scenes were almost funny at times. At one point I thought she was doing the robot. Then it just began to annoy me.
The acting, CGI and story were so ropey that I spent the entire time very aware I was watching a film and never felt engrossed into the story. That's a failure on a basic level.
The two emperors sport a hair colour that did not exist before tresemmé invented it in 1980, along with ridiculous haircuts to match.
The 'animals' look like zombies, act like zombies and bear no resemblance to actual animals.
And the story is basically a rehash of the original.
Poorly executed cash grab. Time won't be kind to this one.
Emilia Perez - No fucking clue what to make of that. Interesting enough story. Music elements were barmy.
Wicked - Meh.
Carry On - lol so stupid but quite fun. The sort of film dad would have brought home on VHS from the video shop, and I would have wondered why the hell he chose it, only to be glad I watched it.
Conclave - It felt like an excuse to watch a really good cast do a really good job of acting. I got a better sense of how the process works I suppose, and it was funny seeing how political and backstabby such a religious and holy thing is. I just didn't really understand why it existed beyond that. Maybe I missed some subtext.
I remember watching the first Nosferatu at Uni and once you remember how and when it was made its a very impressive feat of film making if nothing else.
That was all that was memorial about the film, a pretty dull plot with some great action scenes. No where near the level of the original.
6.5/10 is spot on.