Film you recently watched: part 3

I was listening to something about the history of Bond the other day and they pointed out that Flemming always gave his villains a physical disability or deformity. Maybe it’s a nod to that?

He also thought homosexuals couldn’t whistle….

 

They actually had a feature in the news the other day, with a group of people with facial disfigurements saying it was unfair that it was always the baddie that had something wrong with them, and never a positive character.

 

OK I'll stick my neck out: I thought "The Many Saints of Newark" (and I understand that the title's a play on the protagonist's name) was a disjointed, dull mess.

 

That was on my list to watch. But I will still have a look.

 

I was afraid I missed something but the 'Sopranos' fans are raving about it:

 

That's a great film, one that goes by so quickly as you get so into it.

 

You were listening to 'The Rest is History', weren't you?

 

I was indeed! It’s a great podcast, I have zero interest in Bond and Sherlock Holmes but I found both of those episodes particularly fascinating.

 

Yeah, my brother introduced me a couple of months ago and it's almost all I listen to in the gym now - definitely become my favourite podcast, and I was a fan of each before as historians but had no idea it existed until I was turned on to it - the dynamic between the two of them is brilliant.

 

Papillon- a remake and from 2017, but a bloody enjoyable film

 

Ciff and I went to the cinema last night to see that James Bond film. There were some good bits in it, but it was very fantastic. I was a bit reluctant to go, because I can't help thinking of Austin Powers and indeed there are quite a few "yeah baby!" moments in this film.

Warning: Spoilers


Why did people die only temporarily when riddled with bullets and then spring back to life at full power a couple of minutes later? Are the guns all set to stun?

As for that Crazy Eye fella, I said to Ciff when JB cracked his coconut on the wall and his eye fell out, he should have finished him off there and then, he was sure to cause trouble all through the rest of the film and sure enough he did. Crappy haircut too.

I didn't like the 'James Bond in Love' bits which were very boring. I must admit I dozed off once or twice during the talking and kissing bits, but woke up refreshed and attentive again once the bangs started. The new Grace Jones-a-like 007 is MUCH better than all those snidey men. I hope she stays on.

I did miss the emotional end due to great weariness, the comfortable seats and dimmed lights and wishing it would end (it was too long by about 30 mins) but I did see the big kaboom.

I asked Cifriana (who saw more of it than me), who had upset that Marat Safin fella to make him want to kill everyone, but she wasn't sure. Bad childhood or something she thought.

PS Nearly forgot the best part of the film by far was when JB got chased by a pair of massive outsized black'n'tinted Range Rover evoque sports, which he gave a nudge with his bonnet to in turn, sending them spinning and flipping upside down. I had no idea those things turned over so easily. There are MANY range rovin' candidates ripe for a flipping around these parts....

 

I detested the remake.

 

I’ve not seen the original, which is probably why.

 

You can't replace Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman it's an absolute classic. That along with Midnight Express are two of my favourite prison movies from 70's.

 

Along the same lines (sort of). Finding Steve McQueen is on Sky Cinema. Worth a watch.

 

I think it's now official, film studios have run out of ideas...if it's not superhero movies then it's reboots or remakes that no one asked for or wanted.

This just gives me a migraine...

 

Tha

That beggars belief.

 

Just watched the trailer with my 12 year old son, who really likes the first 2 Home Alone films. Even he was horrified by it.

 

Game Night. It was on BBC 1 at the weekend. Very enjoyable, sometimes silly film. Only 90 mins long as well. If you like something light hearted it's worth a watch.

 

The Voyagers, started off really well with lots of tension, and then kind of turned bad on one ridiculous bit half way through and then went a bit stupid. A bit like lord of the flies in space.

 

Watched Dune last night and I've got to be honest, I quite enjoyed it.

I've never read the books or watched the 1984 version so didn't have that baggage...didn't even know what the story is about.

I found myself having loads of questions in the beginning as I had no background but the film tries to drip feed the answers to a certain satisfaction...it's a fairly slow burner.

Visually stunning, pretty good performances, only problem I didn't realise it's only part one so the ending was left up in the air.

But well worth a watch.

 

Agree with EIB on Dune. Very good movie. The visuals are incredible.

If you go in expecting a setup for the real story arc, you'll have a better experience. It's more of an intro than anything else, but it is a great intro.

 

Now watching all the Marvel films in order of when events happened and I have to say the story flows really well and I can appreciate little cameos of characters here and there that link all the solo story's with the avengers movies. I'd highly recommend to any marvel fans who have not already done this. Link below for order of films:

https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/marvel-movies-in-order/

 

I recently watched the horrifying and grimly realistic film Threads. A 1980s masterpiece about a nuclear war, from the point of view of various denizens of Sheffield. Not for the faint-hearted as it WILL give you nightmares.

There is something in for Watford fans however. Without spoiling too much of the plot, before the onset of civilisation ending nuclear war, the male protagonist turns off a news report about growing tensions between the US and Soviet Union in order to catch the football scores, much to his girlfriend's annoyance. If we listen carefully we hear that Watford claimed a 0-0 draw with Liverpool, so not everything was bad.

 

It was a wonderful movie that simply couldn’t be done in a one off. I still maintain as a big fan of the books that it needed a Netflix/Apple TV series with a massive budget to do it justice. Villeneuve made a beautiful version though. Arrakis was pretty much as I always imagined it.

The best moment for me was the four noisy teenagers, obviously there to see Chalamet and Zendaya, realising that it wasn’t for them and leaving half way through. I guess the TikTok generation will find 2 and a half hours watching people walking around a desert challenging.

 

Having had a chance to reflect, I really did enjoy it and I'm going to watch it again as I was completely immersed in that world.

I'm actually surprised as it's HBO funded that it wasn't made into mini-series, it seems perfect for that treatment.

 

I'm pleased that Dune has made inroads into those unfamiliar with the books. The books (either a comprehensive study in how power corrupts a pure revolution or a load of pretentious old wnak) do have 'depth' some the latest film managed to convey.

I'm a big fan of the "House..." series of prequels (as so many of the character get bumped off in the early stages of Dune). I did notice that the film features

Spoiler

lots of shots of the bull's head and matadors

which I can only take to mean that Villeneuve is also a fan.

TBF I began watching the film expecting another failure but it really seemed to capture the book and the worlds. I wonder if the step forward will be to 'Netflix' it (or 'Apple' it - their Invasion seems fairly big in ambition).

 

I got to stream it for "free" off my HBO Max sub in the comfort of my own lounge.

A much better experience than the cinema for exactly this reason. Looked great on my new OLED (which I could not be happier with).

 

I did as well, but I'm tempted to go and see it in iMax because I think it would blow my mind seeing it in that scale, however as GD said the Tiktok crowd would probably annoy me.

 

Yeah I generally hate going to the cinema but made an exception for this one. Will probably enjoy rewatching it much more.