I Just Watched (Films)

[Raid]

I think that's a fair criticism, but one that you can levy at a lot of MCU films. I don't think it's trying to be Citizen Kane - it's not thought provoking or intelligent, it's just trying to give viewers a spectacle, and I think it achieves that fairly well. It's still well produced and acted, and the core gimmick is handled extremely well.

[Wrathbone]

Tbh whilst I enjoyed No Way Home, it just felt like 2 hours of fan service to me. It didn't feel like a 'good' film that exists beyond the novelty of... well, you know.

I know what you're saying, but I also think the term "fan service" is overused these days for things that (bizarre as it may seem) fans actually want to see but are good in their own right, and I think No Way Home falls into that category.

Spoiler

I'd argue that if there had never been any Maguire or Garfield Spiderman films, their use in No Way Home would still be good, if not as impactful. I mean it worked for Into the Spiderverse.

[Pew-Pew]

I think for me the problem was that the entire film pretty much consisted of:



and didn't feel like it added much to the series other than the 'Uncle Ben' moment and silly ending premise.

[Rusty]

Moonfall

Wow. I quite enjoyed 2012. It was something new and the effects were astounding.
Imagine 2012 done again but badly (and yes, it's the same director).

The script was either written by an intern or by AI. It was so trite. So much exposition.
Even the CGI was worse than 2012 and that was made in 2009.

The only good thing about it was John Bradley (Sam Tarley from Game of Thrones). He has some good comedy lines.

I guess it's probably watchable with some drunk mates taking the mickey out of it.

[Raid]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

THHGTTG is my very favourite book. I'm pretty sure it's where I get my absurdist sense of humour from. My cat is named after a character from a later book in the series. It's extremely funny, but also extremely British, both things that were lost in the film translation. It's something that happened with the TV adaptation of Good Omens (coincidentally my second favourite book) too - British humour just doesn't seem right in an American accent, and this absolutely feels like an American production.

I actually remember quite enjoying the film when I saw it on release, but on a second watch 17 years later I really wasn't impressed. I didn't hate it, but it feels like it's trying too hard and missing the mark entirely. None of the story created for the film feels like a worthy inclusion, although it also doesn't feel out of place. I do love the musical number they added for the intro though.

On the plus side, it has made me realise that I need to re-read the book as I haven't done so since I was in secondary school.

[Hatredsheart]

Its only redeeming feature for me was Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin, that was inspired.

[Wrathbone]

The TV show of Hitchhiker’s Guide from the 70s was great from what I remember, especially Marvin and Deep Thought.

[eny]

My first encounter with HGTTG was on the radio in the early 80s, Radio 4 I think serialised on a Sunday evening. Brilliant.

[Sly Boots]

Didn't care for the film when I saw it, never felt the urge to rewatch. The 70s show is great though, watched that loads down the years, and read the books fairly regularly as well.

[Animalmother]

Not to be a pedantic Edwin but it was made in 1981... I would have been too young when it first aired but I loved it as a kid when it was reshown. Read the books just before the film came out and was a bit disappointed at how naff it was.

[Raid]

The TV and radio series were better than the film in just about every way, which honestly feels a little weird when they're referenced at least three times in said film (Journey of the Sorcerer in the intro, the original Marvin costume in a queue, even getting Simon Jones to make a cameo). Clearly the producers wanted to pay homage to a cult classic, but they serve as a reminder that this has been done before and better. I think I honestly prefer Zaphod's second head from the TV series in all of its rubbery glory to the "neck head" thing they did in the film.

And while I agree that casting Alan Rickman to voice Marvin would have been an inspired choice in theory, I don't think he actually does a good job with it. It's probably more the direction and production than the actor, but Marvin has just a little too much energy in his voice and his pitch is a little too high.

[Alan]

I remember not liking it at all when I went to the cinema to see it and being really annoyed by a lot of it but I cant remember what I didn't like nor do I remember much about it other than Rickman. Ive not watched the TV series in 20+ years yet I could tell you just about everything about that so I guess that kind of says it all. I have never read the books so I should probably rectify that at some point.


Nightmare Alley 1947
Before we watch the DelToro we wanted to watch the original. Its not bad. Its quite flagged early on where the plot is going to go and there are quite a few inexplicable things going on but its not bad for its time. Theres a weird MacGuffin where two of the characters have a "code" which is a secret way of telling each other things while appearing to be communicating normally thus convincing punters they are mediums. Its apparently worth boatloads of cash if they were to sell it yet anyone that took a little time could easily come up with their own version. All in all its pretty good, it goes places and seems quite ahead of its time for a 40's picture.

[Raid]

No Time to Die

Huh. I can't say that was the film I was expecting. It's a decent action film, but the ending grabbed me a little more than I would have anticipated.

Spoiler

Wow, yeah, killing James Bond was a pretty bold move. Clearly they had to do *something* as Craig was only 4 years younger than Roger Moore's last appearance as Bond when this film was shot, and I think we're past the point where a film will just replace the lead actor without really referencing it. Has there ever been a character with more plot armour than James Bond? You sorta knew it was coming given how much they talked up this nanovirus thing and the handing of the ominous vial to the antagonist, and that this was Craig's last Bond film, but given how many absurd situations the character has survived in the past, I was still expecting it to be an elaborate ruse until seconds before it happened. I still can't decide whether it was inspired or manipulative.

The plot wasn't amazing, but the action sequences were as good as ever. The scene with Bond fighting his way up a stairwell, hiding behind the bodies of the people he's just killed was pretty impressive. I think the film's opening sequence was the highlight, it's almost a shame the Dalton-era Aston didn't get to strut its stuff like the DB5 did.

It's certainly worth a watch, I'd say it sits in the middle of the Craig Bonds in terms of quality. Not as good as Skyfall or Royale, but certainly better than Spectre and... Something of Boris. I've seen that film 3 times and I still can't remember what it's about.

[Animalmother]

I can say I enjoyed it a lot more than the previous few Bond films. Think they should take a break for a few years before releasing a new one, make people interested in it again.

[Raid]

I think they're taking fairly natural breaks anyway; they've only made 5 films in the last 16 years, and No Time to Die came 5 years after Spectre (albeit with a global pandemic happening in that time, I forget whether the film had a delayed release date). I've never felt over-saturated by Bond films.

I was a huge fan of Skyfall, it was definitely up there on my list of top films of the last decade. Sadly I don't think either of the two follow-ups have had as much of an impact. No Time to Die made a good effort at giving the ending an emotional connection similar to that of Skyfall, something that I think Spectre tried and failed miserably. I do want to go back and re-assess Spectre as I have only seen it the once.

We did discuss a few months back whether we thought the films existed in the same continuity or not, and now that I have the context for that discussion, I can't decide whether another reboot would be preferable to a continuation.

Spoiler

Given how the film ends, it would be odd for them to bring a new actor in to play a new 007, only for them to act in the same way as Bond did, and has done for decades. Do you think they'd start referring to the franchise as that of 007, rather than James Bond, and have Bond's successor be a different character? Do you think they'll hand over the name as well as the number, and have the next film be the reboot's explanation for the changing actor prior to Craig?

Either way I'm quite looking forward to seeing what they do next.