Films you have seen at the cinema: 2021

[Orang Utan]

And we’re back!

I saw Ammonite at the Leeds City Varieties Hall, a beautiful old theatre that I’d never seen before. Nearly didn’t get in cos they took my temperature and said I was too hot. I said thank you very much, but I’ll be sat in the dark so won’t be too distracting. They didn’t laugh. Then they told me to wait outside for a few minutes - I’d just got off my bike and was quite overdressed for the warm weather, so they got me back in and took my temperature again. Still too hot. Waited another 5 in the cooler foyer and eventually got down to 37 and was let in.
I was excited to be back but was slightly disappointed with it. It’s all well acted (especially by Winslet, who is good at scowling) and written and shot beautifully with a great score by Dustin O’Halloran off of A Winged Victory For The Sullen but I just wasn’t convinced by the relationship between Winslet and Ronan. There didn’t seem much at stake which there must have been in such times. You would have expected a bit more tension between them. Felt sorry for Gemma Jones who is cast far often as a miserable pathetic character.
3 surprisingly light fossil props out of 5

 

[Orang Utan]

I also saw Nomadland, which is just as brilliant as everyone says it is. Very touching portrayal of some very interesting people and the landscapes are awe-inspiring. Absolutely loved it. 5 ratty vans out of 5

 

[toblerone3]

I've seen both of the films on this thread so far on streaming. Both excellent.

 

[BillRiver]

I've booked tickets for three films at my favourite cinema (Castle, in Homerton) and I can't wait!

I'm seeing Sound of Metal tomorrow evening, then on Monday I'm seeing Rare Beasts at 1.15pm and Nomadland at 4pm.

Treating myself.

 

[Orang Utan]

I'm seeing Sound Of Metal tomorrow afternoon and then Minari in the evening!

 

[Sue]

I've booked tickets for three films at my favourite cinema (Castle, in Homerton) and I can't wait!

I'm seeing Sound of Metal tomorrow evening, then on Monday I'm seeing Rare Beasts at 1.15pm and Nomadland at 4pm.

Treating myself.

I quite like the Castle but the Rio's my local so I normally go there. (Hope to catch a couple of films there over the weekend.)

 

[BillRiver]

I quite like the Castle but the Rio's my local so I normally go there. (Hope to catch a couple of films there over the weekend.)

Rio is also lovely.

 

[Orang Utan]

Sound Of Metal
I was blown away by this. Still reeling. A perfect film. Can’t fault any of it. Ahmed’s face is so expressive- he doesn’t need to say anything for you to be able to tell what’s going on in his thread. A perfect ending too. 5 terrible tattoos out of 5

 

[spanglechick]

“Cruella” is probably 25 minutes too long, but otherwise it’s a splendid and gorgeous reason to return to the cinema. As much as anything, it’s a film about fashion, and one of the good ones at that. It flounders a little until Emma Thompson shows up, and it needs her formidable characterisation until the titular protagonist finds her feet and really starts on her path to becoming the De’Vil we know she must inevitably evolve into.

But there’s no puppy-skinning here. Emma Stone’s Cruella is still likeable by the end. There are some genuine laughs and it’s stylish and campy and opulent. And there’s a dress on a bin lorry that actually. made me squeal with delight.

 

[cybershot]

The Conjuring: The Devil made me do it.

Big fan of this horror franchise based loosely on the real life escapades of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Less jump scares and more of a murder/mystery this time round. Enjoyable. Solid 7/10

 

[Sue]

But I'm a Cheerleader. Director's cut -- the original had some scenes cut due to age ratings -- and a Q&A with the director.

So although this came out originally in 1999 (2001 in the UK), I'd never seen it. It's basically a satirical teen comedy following 17-year old Megan who's sent to a gay conversion camp by her parents. It's quite fun though the depiction of the male gay characters felt a bit problematic -- lots of camp stereotypes. The leads are good though and it was also nice seeing it with a slightly raucous (and mainly female) audience. (And there were free badges made by the local young LGBTQ group. )

 

[rekil]

The Conjuring: The Devil made me do it.

Big fan of this horror franchise based loosely on the real life escapades of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Less jump scares and more of a murder/mystery this time round. Enjoyable. Solid 7/10

I would like to see a fillum where satan says enough is enough and exposes those rotten frauds.

 

[Winot]

“Cruella” is probably 25 minutes too long, but otherwise it’s a splendid and gorgeous reason to return to the cinema. As much as anything, it’s a film about fashion, and one of the good ones at that. It flounders a little until Emma Thompson shows up, and it needs her formidable characterisation until the titular protagonist finds her feet and really starts on her path to becoming the De’Vil we know she must inevitably evolve into.

But there’s no puppy-skinning here. Emma Stone’s Cruella is still likeable by the end. There are some genuine laughs and it’s stylish and campy and opulent. And there’s a dress on a bin lorry that actually. made me squeal with delight.

I took W2 to see this at the Ritzy and we both enjoyed it (I liked the fashion, the shots of London and the soundtrack; she liked the dogs).

I did notice that Cruella travels south over Waterloo Bridge to get to Regents Park.

 

[Dr. Furface]

Sound Of Metal
I was blown away by this. Still reeling. A perfect film. Can’t fault any of it. Ahmed’s face is so expressive- he doesn’t need to say anything for you to be able to tell what’s going on in his thread. A perfect ending too. 5 terrible tattoos out of 5

Yeh that was pretty much my reaction to it as well - I can't believe he didn't get the best actor Oscar for it, a really outstanding performance in an otherwise excellent film.

Another film I saw recently that has a central character who's deaf and uses the sound/silence technique is A Quiet Place Part II - though that's about the only similarity. In this case it's the character played by Millicent Simmonds, a teenager who is actually deaf in real life too, and she's easily the best thing about this film which, although reasonably entertaining, I found a disappointing sequel full of seen-it-all-before horror tropes.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Went to see Mirror by Tarkovsky at the BFI
(yeah, very worthy)

It was exhilarating so I recommend going to see something good if you return to the cinema after a long break.

 

[Edie]

“Cruella” is probably 25 minutes too long, but otherwise it’s a splendid and gorgeous reason to return to the cinema. As much as anything, it’s a film about fashion, and one of the good ones at that. It flounders a little until Emma Thompson shows up, and it needs her formidable characterisation until the titular protagonist finds her feet and really starts on her path to becoming the De’Vil we know she must inevitably evolve into.

But there’s no puppy-skinning here. Emma Stone’s Cruella is still likeable by the end. There are some genuine laughs and it’s stylish and campy and opulent. And there’s a dress on a bin lorry that actually. made me squeal with delight.

You should write reviews!

 

[Sue]

Nomadland. It was good, Frances McDormand was excellent as ever, great cinematography but.....it didn't quite do it for me. I think that was maybe down to feeling a bit sad when I saw it so not in the right frame of mind. I also thought it was 20 minutes too long. #controversial

 

[Jeff Robinson]

I also saw Nomadland, which is just as brilliant as everyone says it is. Very touching portrayal of some very interesting people and the landscapes are awe-inspiring. Absolutely loved it. 5 ratty vans out of 5

This was my reaction just after I saw it. It’s hard not be swept away by the film’s breathtaking cinematography, strong performances and heartwarming portrayal of humanity. However, the more I ruminated about the film, the more skeptical I became of it, especially its sanitised portrayal of Amazon and romanticisation of precarity. I’d still give it a solid four stars though.

 

[Orang Utan]

I didn’t find the Amazon stuff sanitising. There was certainly solidarity between people who worked there but that was the limit for me.

 

[BillRiver]

I've just seen Gunda, at the Castle cinema in Homerton.
Beautiful, powerful, mesmerising, moving - I loved it.

 

[t0bytoo]

The Father. Good quality drama.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Nomadland. It was good, Frances McDormand was excellent as ever, great cinematography but.....it didn't quite do it for me. I think that was maybe down to feeling a bit sad when I saw it so not in the right frame of mind. I also thought it was 20 minutes too long. #controversial

I agree. It was a little too long and although I thought it was a very interesting and beautifully shot film, I was left feeling like I'd missed what others are seeing in it. Having said that, I was in bits, crying proper tears, at the grief and loss running through it.

 

[Sue]

Judas and the Black Messiah. How the Chairman of the Chicago Chapter of the Black Panther Party was betrayed by an FBI plant. I though this was excellent and got across what the BPP was about without depending on any deeper background knowledge, though that probably added to it when other figures in the movement were mentioned.

Daniel Kaluuya is electrifying (and thoroughly deserved his Oscar) and the rest of cast is also good, though I wish we'd found out a bit more about the (changing?) views and motivations of the LaKeith Stanfield (Judas) character. Highly recommended.

 

[Sue]

Get a free cinema ticket this Saturday/Sunday when you buy a lottery ticket. (The website's kind of shonky but hey.)

Google cinema weekend.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

I've just seen Gunda, at the Castle cinema in Homerton.
Beautiful, powerful, mesmerising, moving - I loved it.

Really want to watch this, not being shown locally yet though...

 

[BillRiver]

Really want to watch this, not being shown locally yet though...

Fingers crossed it comes your way soon. It really is an amazing film, unlike any other I've ever seen.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Thus far:

Nomandland - beautiful cinematography, flawless lead performance from Frances McDormand and a generous, warm-hearted portrayal of its characters. Downside, on reflection felt that it somewhat sanitised Amazon and romanticised precarity.

Cruella - a fun romp. Great costumes and choreography. Two Emmas both great. At least 20 mins too long and cops out of making Cruella the villain.

A Quiet Place II - ticks all the boxes for a decent horror thriller, but somehow I left feeling dissatisfied (possibly due to a few things not making sense to me and the abrupt ending)

Nobody - basically a trash b-movie celebration of toxic masculinity. For what it is though its done pretty well, with plenty of well directed ultra-violence.

 

[BillRiver]

Thus far:

Nomandland - beautiful cinematography, flawless lead performance from Frances McDormand and a generous, warm-hearted portrayal of its characters. Downside, on reflection felt that it somewhat sanitised Amazon and romanticised precarity.

Very much my thoughts also.

 

[Orang Utan]

Just off to see The Reason I Jump - quite excited in the same way I was and still am about Sound Of Metal as it looks like a film that needs to be experienced immersively in a proper cinema environment

 

[Orang Utan]

The Reason I Jump

a loose adaptation (or more accurately a companion piece to) the book written by a non verbal autistic Japanese 13 year old, explaining how he experiences the world.
Parts of the book are narrated with a voiceover to footage of an actor playing the boy, wandering through the natural and built environment, with the sound design and visual works emulating his experiences as a person with autism.
This is all interspersed with 5 non-verbal/semi-verbal autistic young adults and children from around the world (some of whom speak for themselves by other means) and contributions from their parents, as well as David Mitchell, the author (not the comedian), who has an autistic child and who translated the book with his wife.
It’s riveting and it’s been playing on my mind loads, mainly thinking about how non NT people shouldn’t be viewed as having something wrong with them, but that they just experience their world differently and the world should adapt to this, not the other way round.
Anyone who has non NT children or who is non NT themselves (not just those with ASD) should watch this.