I Just Watched (Films)

[Wrathbone]

At almost 3 hours long

See, that's just another reason for me not to go to the cinema. I was on the fence as to whether to go or just wait for home release, and that's convinced me to wait.

What's this obsession with filmmakers dragging their films out for 2.5+ hours in the last decade? It used to be that 2 hours was about standard and if a film stretched to 2 hrs 15 mins then it was considered a bit long. Now 2.5 hours feels like the average, but very few films actually earn that length or make good use of the time.

[Animalmother]

I'd understand perfectly if people waited for it on streaming, 3 hours is a very big ask for your first time back to cinema in 2 years. But I will say I didn't notice the time pass. I've sat through shorter Marvel and Zack Snyder films constantly checking my watch and wanting it to please fucking end, not this.

[Raid]

I have to agree on film length; there've been a few films recently that I've had to ignore as I don't really feel many need to be that length. The Irishman for example is three and a half hours long, and I can't muster the enthusiasm for it. Scarface, which I've never seen but recently appeared on Netflix, is nearly three hours, and I keep picking something else (partially because I rarely find films from that era hold up well without the benefit of nostalgia, so I reckon it won't be worth my time investment).

I'm really glad I hear The Batman has been worth the wait though. I won't be going to the cinema for it, but it had one of the best trailers from the last year or so and I would have been quite disappointed had it been a flop.

[Raid]

Master and Commander: Far Side of the World

This still holds up pretty well. It's a little cheesy in places like every historical film from the 90s/early 2000s, but the acting's great and it both looks and sounds amazing. I don't know how much CGI there is in here as almost everything looks like a practical effect, which is saying something for a film made in 2003. The only minor issue I had was the colour palette, which just looks a bit dreary and washed out.

[Achtung Englander]

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (Netflix)

Shocking. An excellent documentary on Boeing incompetence and cover up.

7/10

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Netflix)

Some stories were great, others less so. All had a common thread of having somesort of twist ending.

7/10

Wirecard: The Billion Euro Lie

Another interesting documentary of a company built on lies and a house of cards. Just reminds me of how shockingly bad auditors like E&Y are their overpaid jobs. Useless.

6/10

[Wrathbone]

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (Netflix)

Shocking. An excellent documentary on Boeing incompetence and cover up.

7/10

Good recommendation. It's astonishing on many levels, including how they designed a safety-critical system with an obvious single point of failure, identified it as a serious risk and then chose to conceal it because of the re-training costs. It's supposedly fixed now, but it makes you wonder how many other similar scenarios there are where design flaws with a risk of unrecoverable failure are being gambled on for the sake of share prices.

[Raid]

The Tomorrow War

A pretty fun concept that sadly doesn't lead anywhere. The time travel stuff has no real effect on the story, but it's not a bad film, just a bit plain. It's very much a B-movie with a budget.

[Lenny Solidus]

The Batman

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Attended an evening showing tonight it met expectations, Battinson delivered far more in a single look than I've seen some actors give off an entire movie, it had wonderful editing that caught so many instances that had me saying oh oh fuck he's actually fucking Batman. He's Arkham Batman. Reeves knew how long to hold on that gaze and it was captivating, so much intensity I forgot sparkle man was even in the suit. How, how was this made possible? The way he moved, the glances the at times unfocused brawler who constantly adapted and always made purposeful eye contact be it a crook or a cop who believed he had not earned the right to be present at crime scenes.

For me it was a refreshing reverse from other Batman movies and there is so much Batman in this film it doesn't trickle you Wayne scenes to get you to the big Batman meal you really want. The Batmobile introduction. Every single person in my showing stopped what they were doing and sat in awe it wasn't even a car, oh no this was a hungry fucking shark seeking its prey.

Robert Pattinson made for a perfectly realised Year 2 Batman and it's going to take some time for that to properly sink in. It does lull somewhat quite a lot in the middle but gives just enough to keep you anchored tightly as developments unfold but boy was I impressed with it overall.

[Animalmother]

That car chase, up there with some of the best.

[Wrathbone]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

I went into this expecting very little, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's really good - a worthy addition to the franchise, unlike Paul Feig's abomination. Of course there's tonnes of nostalgia and fan service thrown about, but for the most part it works in service of the film and isn't tiresome. The cast is great and their characters are endearing enough to get away with a few groan jokes and callbacks, though most of the comedy is legitimately funny. Overall it strikes a good balance between action, comedy and sentimentalism, so that it never veers into navel-gazing or CGI mindlessness.

Never thought this was going to amount to much and I'm very happy to have been wrong.

8/10

[Sly Boots]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

I went into this expecting very little, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's really good - a worthy addition to the franchise, unlike Paul Feig's abomination. Of course there's tonnes of nostalgia and fan service thrown about, but for the most part it works in service of the film and isn't tiresome. The cast is great and their characters are endearing enough to get away with a few groan jokes and callbacks, though most of the comedy is legitimately funny. Overall it strikes a good balance between action, comedy and sentimentalism, so that it never veers into navel-gazing or CGI mindlessness.

Never thought this was going to amount to much and I'm very happy to have been wrong.

8/10

Yeah, it's not bad. I think it's obviously more targeted at a younger audience than the original films, but maybe that's ok - the people who grew up with the originals have their own kids now of an age to enjoy it together... at least mine liked it.

[Wrathbone]

I think it's obviously more targeted at a younger audience than the original films, but maybe that's ok

Yeah, that didn't bother me - a good film is a good film, no matter who it's aimed at. In a way I think I liked it more because of that tone, as it strongly reminded me at times of the classic 80s action adventures that I grew up on, not from the nostalgia but from the way the story is presented and told. And the music, too - a traditional orchestral score can make a film punch way beyond its weight. For me it was the closest thing we've had in the modern era to a genuine 80s-style adventure film.

[Raid]

Juno

I haven't smiled so much at a film for a good while. Great, believeable performance from Elliot Page, the entire cast really (there isn't a single cast member that doesn't fit perfectly, but I particularly loved Page, Simmons and Janney), and at just 90 minutes it never feels padded. Fantastic soundtrack too.

[Sly Boots]

Dr Sleep (Director's Cut)

Watched this last night on Prime after a few weeks of getting around to it (3 hours being quite a commitment), but glad we did so. Good film, not as good as the original obviously, but interesting and despite the long run-time it didn't drag at all. Plus it's got Ewan McGregor in it, and he's awesome in everything, so there's that.

For those who haven't heard of it, it's Stephen King's follow-up to The Shining, featuring McGregor as an adult Dan Torrance, who encounters a girl with powers like his own, who is being hunted by a group who target such people. It's not particularly scary, but I don't think it's really intended to be, there are some creepy moments though and the villains are suitably nasty.

It's a little odd in that as far as I can tell, the book is a direct sequel to King's book, which if you remember is different in many ways to Kubrick's film, not least the ending, which is completely different. This film, then is a sequel to Kubrick's film, and although I've not read it (yet, just bought it), I've read comments that this also ends very differently to the book, but has similarities to the ending of the first book.

So that's clear!

But anyway, good film, give it a go.

[Alan]

It’s actually fairly faithful to the main bullet points of the book. The knot are much larger of a group and more fleshed out and the ending is a bit different though he does hit similar themes. I’ve not watched the directors cut yet but the original was fine I just want a big fan of the ending in the boiler room which felt too much like a forced call back to the Shining novel.

I really enjoyed the book, read it a few times, but it’s climax is just too cheesy. Still, one of my favourite King books even though I don’t actually like the Shining, movie or book.