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roomraider

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Just saw All Quiet On The Western Front in its limited cinema run before it's on Netflix on the 28th.

If you get the chance to see it in the big screen then do so. It's brilliantly shot and cinematically gorgeous but good lord is it brutal.

There's a battle scene in there that makes the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan look like a nice day out on the beach.
 

peep

CF Legend
The Woman King - Really enjoyed this film, the cast are phenomenal and while the story isn't very accurate it's engaging and the 2hr+ runtime flew by.

The Lost King - This was a nice film, Sally Hawkins is great in the lead role

Emily - I found vast amounts of this to be dull and I kept wanting it to move along.

Amsterdam - This film is a bit bonkers and crams in a lot of characters and plotlines. On the whole I enjoyed it a lot, I found the main characters to be really interesting and I always wanted to see what they got up to next.

Black Adam - This is very meh, there are some portions of it I really liked but the only character that gets a lot of background is Black Adam and even that is a bit messy. I quite liked Pierce Brosnan in this, but I wasn't overly keen on any of the other superhero characters. This might be the most disappointing Dwayne Johnson project in a while.

The Banshees of Inisherin - I love Martin McDonagh, In Bruge is one of my favourite films, so I was excited to see this. I think this works for some people more than others and unfortunately it doesn't really work for me, maybe some of it's concepts are beyond me. There are parts that are very amusing and some shocking moments too but I found far too much of it plodded along at a pace that I wasn't really in the mood for.
 

peep

CF Legend
Triangle of Sadness - I saw a lot of hype coming out of LFF so I was quite intrigued by this film. The pacing of it is a little weird and I wasn't that happy with the ending but it's a fun journey with some small key moments that make the whole film worthwhile. I was also glad to watch it with an audience as it was fun to see how other people react to certain sequences.


Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - This was ok, they dealt with the loss of Chadwick Boseman really well and the tribute to him is quite touching. The Talocan (couldn't stop thinking about Phantasialand every time this was said!) location was really interesting and the design of the sets and costumes throughout were really good. The film packs in a lot in its super long run time and it can feel a bit sluggish at times despite the sheer amount of things that happen. It'll be interesting to see where they take Wakanda/Talocan next but I can't say I'll be re-watching it any time soon. NOTE: There is a mid-credit scene but nothing at the very end.
 

peep

CF Legend
It's been a busy week at the cinema!

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery - Amazing follow up to Knives Out, the opening sequence alone put a smile on my face and it just continued to be a really fun time throughout. Highly recommend seeing it at the cinema but I think you have like 2 days so umm, be quick!

Armageddon Time - Didn't know much about this going in, it's an interesting coming of age story about a boy making some pretty awful decisions and learning some hard truths. Overall it plods along too much for my taste and the title graphic feels like it's from a different film - and they were so confident with that design they used it at the end of the film too, weird choice. However there was one scene dealing with an elderly character towards the end of their life in hospital and it hit me like a tonne of bricks as it felt so reminiscent of when I last saw my Nan a few years ago - that's a new reaction for me, felt all to real.

Confess, Fletch - I heard about this a while ago, seemed like a bit of a passion project from Jon Hamm and the director. It's fun, not essential watch at the cinema kinda film but I enjoyed it.

The Menu - I was looking forward to this and it was pretty much what I was expecting albeit with a few interesting twists (although I think the trailer gives maybe too much away). It's really interesting how we have so many films in the past month about how awful rich people are and how they treat others (Triangle of Sadness, Glass Onion, The Menu and also White Lotus on TV), certainly a big trend, I wonder if it'll continue. I think this film delivers where Triangle of Sadness didn't, in that it feels more complete and doesn't sit around for too long, I appreciate that.

Strange World - The last time Disney animation made a film about explorers it was loved by those who saw it and bombed at the box office - guess what - this film is enjoyed by those who actually watch it and it has bombed at the box office. I really liked a lot of the creative design choices made in this film and the CG details are incredible, they are really pushing the boat out with their fx sims. I thought the characters were all well rounded and enjoyable and I'm a sucker for adventurer films so this was my cup of tea.

Matilda The Musical - I enjoy the stage production of this but one thing that always bothered me was that despite how amazingly talented the cast were that Tim Minchin's lyrics can sound quite muddled. The film mostly fixes this but there are still times where it feels like no one can sing them without it sounding this way. One of the best things about the stage show is also the set design and choreography, unfortunately it feels like a lot of this gets missed in the translation to screen as it's just a much bigger canvas - moments that are great on stage feel like they don't really exist in the film. Despite this there are some great changes, the side plot about the escapologist and acrobat is great to see fleshed out in this way and the cake eating sequence is great. I think this is the best adaptation of the stage show you could ever hope for and the kids in it are amazingly talented. Also wild to see Lashana Lynch go from The Woman King to this, the range!

Bones and all - I thought this looked like an interesting concept but wow this was dull, it was like watching paint dry and then occasionally an interesting scene that lasts 5 minutes pops up. Tedious film.

She Said - This was ok, a bit of a by-the-numbers journalist tale behind the article that helped take down Harvey Weinstein. Maybe the story is just too fresh for it to be massively interesting, we all know the outcome of the story and watching a couple of journalists just doing their job maybe isn't the most interesting thing in the World.
 

Nitefly

Hyper Poster
Brazil (1985)

I absolutely loved this. Dark, hilarious, absurd... and aesthetically gorgeous? I don't think I've seen any other film with such attention to detail. It’s very well crafted.

It doesn't seem to get a mention that often anywhere, but really worth checking out. Currently available on Amazon Prime.

Also, definitely one of my favourite Robert De Niro roles :D
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat
What do you get if you take the basic formula of Die Hard, and then swap the John McClane character for... wait for it... Father Christmas? Yes... the actual Father Christmas?
Violent Night, that's what, and it's an absolute riot! 😁
In a stroke of casting genius, David Harbour - he of Stranger Things fame - is Santa Clause, and he's in town with his trusty reindeer to kick some terrorist ass on Christmas Eve.
Sounds silly, and of course it is, it totally is, but it's the best slice of gory entertainment I've seen in ages.

Forget James Cameron and his space smurfs, this is the only film you need this Christmas.
Loved it. 😁

Trailer:
 
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ScottLann

Mega Poster
Black Panther - Wakanda Forever:

Had my hopes set low for this one and didn't expect too much (considering that the majority of Marvel's phase 4 has been a pretty big flop) however I walked out pretty satisfied. Yes, it wasn't as good as the first and I think think most people would expect that considering there has been a major loss however the film deals with Chadwick's death really well.
Love how they didn't try to make up some lame story to explain why he wasn't in the film anymore. Just straight to the point, showing that he had an illness and it couldn't be cured. Think it was the most respectful way to do it.

The story itself was pretty average and followed the usual Marvel formula but I can say it was probably one of the better films of this phase (which isn't much of a challenge) I really hope however that Marvel focuses on better story telling and, for the love of god, better CGI, in their next phase as this one has just felt so rushed.
 

peep

CF Legend
More high praise for Violent Night from me! It's like a wonderfully gory love letter to Christmas films. The Home Alone inspired sequence is easily my favourite scene and the reactions from the audience are why I love going to the cinema. Just a great fun film that knows exactly what it is, perfect entertainment.
 

Christian

Hyper Poster
The Talocan (couldn't stop thinking about Phantasialand every time this was said!)

Same here. Could almost hear the evil laugh and feel the heat of the fire. At the same time I was wishing that I was at PHL instead of in a movie theatre watching a stupid movie. Liked the first one, disliked this one.
 

davidm

Strata Poster
Just watched that (Netflix) Troll film - did not think it was worth posting about, apart from it had some scenes where the (spoiler*) giant troll attacked this place https://rcdb.com/11902.htm

* - well not really - I mean the film is about a giant troll, he's gonna attack something!
 

Christian

Hyper Poster
Avatar: The Way of the Water - If meh can be used to describe a film than this is it. It gives me Rise of Skywalker vibes, though I wasn't offended by it. All the intrigue of the first movie was gone and the whole thing turned into a 3 hour family friendly conservationist advertisement.
 

gavin

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Avatar: The Way of the Water - If meh can be used to describe a film than this is it. It gives me Rise of Skywalker vibes, though I wasn't offended by it. All the intrigue of the first movie was gone and the whole thing turned into a 3 hour family friendly conservationist advertisement.
I was thinking of going just for whole spectacle and borderline cultural relevance, but realised that I didn't like the first one and I'd just be helping to increase whatever box office record is no doubt being broken because everyone has FOMO.

Nah. Not going.
 

peep

CF Legend
Avatar: The Way of Water - I liked this, maybe I was too distracted by the quality of the VFX work to ever be bored? There are certainly more scenes just meandering around the locations like a nature documentary, rather than pushing any storylines. Those visuals are just so beautiful though, especially in IMAX 3D. The action is really well shot and edited (as expected from Cameron), which is always refreshing when so many films fumble in that department. The only flaw when I saw it was the projection system clearly couldn't cope with the size of the film and the frame rate massively dropped in 2 or 3 scenes.

If anyone is weighing up to see it, I think if you liked the first one you'll get a lot out of this, if you didn't like the first then maybe skip it unless you have an interest in the tech used to make it.
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat
Yeah, just been to watch the new Avatar flick and pretty much agree with the previous comments. S'alright. Just like the first one, there's some awesome bits and there's some awful bits. Plenty of that wishy-washy spiritual guff that was present before, lots of cringe dialogue, especially that which involves... excuse me... a f***ing whale (subtitled, of course) and a whole host of cliché ridden supporting characters. It's waaay too long too, this simple tale could have been told just as effectively in 100 minutes.
It is, however, very pretty to look at and for the final hour or so Cameron gets to flex his action muscles, which is always worth the price of a ticket.
 

caffeine_demon

Strata Poster
Just seen Avatar with Mum Dad and my Nephew - They all loved it, but I thought it was a bit meh - first hour in ahalf not much happened, and then it was one big fight..

Should have brought a pillow so I could avanap!
 
Matilda: the Musical (film).

I was really disappointed in this, actually. I grew up loving the original, although I know it's the one that strays the most from the novel. I watched the Musical in London and I though that was a lot of fun as well, albeit not as good as the 1996 movie. I just found this fell a bit flat for me, maybe because I didn't find there to be a whole lot of character development for many of the characters I enjoyed in the older film. My son loved it though, and if a freshly turned three year old can tune into something for two hours, then I guess it's a win.

I'd probably give it about a 6.
 

Nitefly

Hyper Poster
Strange World

The recent Disney film.

It’s really not very good. The characters are incredibly generic and there is this insanely irritating tweeness to the dialogue and animation that rubbed me the wrong way. There is a scene at the start where the family are dancing to making dinner which made me want to blow my brains out because it just felt so forced ‘chirpy’ and fake. The little blue alien is quite grating but the dog… oh god, this ****ing dog.

With all of that said, the creatures are fun and it becomes far more interesting towards the final sections… but it’s a slog for the majority of the film.

5/10
 
I watched Whiplash the other day and holy crap, how had I not heard of this film? Nothing really groundbreaking happened in it, but I could not stop myself from being tense throughout the entire thing. I love people who are passionate about what they do and I loved seeing how the main character was striving for such greatness, but it did show how there's a fine line between motivation and obsession that, once crossed, can lead to some serious consequences. Different to what I typically like in a film, but yeah, I really did enjoy it. Fantastic acting as well.

8.5/10
 
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