Films you have seen at the cinema 2022

[Jeff Robinson]

Cow. A documentary about the life of a dairy cow. Filmed over four years, we follow a cow called Luma. The camera always stays near to its protagonist, inviting the viewer to see her world up close and personal. There's no narration in this movie and virtually no (human) dialogue. It's powerfully effecting and impossible not to feel a deep empathy and sadness for Luma and her children. The film also serves as a damning critique of the dairy industry, not least because it's all filmed openly. It's not covertly documenting 'abuses', just capturing the routine brutality of an inherently abusive, exploitative industry.

 

[Idris2002]

I've just seen

Nightmare Alley

"You came here to see me?"

Yes, Ms. Blanchett, yes I did.

Carny turns cabaret mind-reader turns medium. It's a bold strategy, let's see how it works out for him.

Amazing art deco locations and sets.

Cate Blanchett has the kind of sexual charisma you associate with silver screen stars of Hollywood's golden age, Stanwyck, Gardner etc.

This is a really dark movie by the way.

 

[Idris2002]

^^^
glad I posted that as a bookmark so I remembered to update this morning.

Nightmare Alley is better than House Of Gucci, but both weren’t up to much, though I’m not surprised at either film’s failure to engage or convince.

Production design, as ever, is the best thing about Nightmare Alley. Quite like the Freaks-remix premise but it went on far too long and the second half falls apart after the intriguing set up. Some fine actors wasted here and are lost amongst all the foam marble sets and a surfeit of Art Deco plastered with gold lead.

I watched House Of Gucci at a Friday ‘late-night’ screening in the city centre, so I expected a Showgirls-type crowd enjoying the campery and the Allo Allo accents, but I was the only person roaring with laughter at some of the dialogue, especially when Jared ‘six full hours in make up and a little bit of acting magic’ Leto is delivering it. I wouldn’t go so far to say he’s the best thing in it but his scenes are the only enjoyable ones in a rather dull, long and pointless biopic of a rather dull and ugly-souled family who made ugly shoes and ugly handbags. Fuck knows why Scott wanted to make it, but looking back, I feel that way about most of his output tbf.

I find del Toro the most overrated director working, every film of his is over-produced and over art-directed and he always loses the plot in the mix. His characters usually are appallingly simplistic, yet every new film of his gets greeted with fawning anticipation. As far as I'm concerned The Devil's Backbone was his only truly great film, even the much admired Pan's Labyrinth was just a coarser retreat of that film.

I'm amazed at how many films Ridley Scott manages to crank out at his age and they all are on quite a large scale. After a promising debut he made two rock solid masterpieces and he has been disappointing me ever since. The Last Duel at least got better received than House of Gucci, some critics think it's among his best films but it was a resounding flop (no doubt in part due to COVID). Nearly everybody I know went to see House of Gucci, all hoping for a bit of camp, bitchy fun and they all complained at how dull it was.

These lads may be right. . . but they're clearly wrong. Go see Nightmare Alley and make your own minds up, people.

(I didn't see Pan's Labyrinth)

 

[Orang Utan]

Parallel Mothers - have always found Almodovar’s films pretty but underwhelming. This is no different. There are parallel storylines, but they’re unevenly and clumsily intertwined and the relationships are mostly unconvincing. Meh.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Nightmare Alley - Unfortunately I fell asleep for parts of this film. To be fair this was not mainly due to the movie itself. I saw it late at the end of the week after a big meal in a really cold cinema.

Nonetheless I think I followed all the plot (which might suggest it was too long, I did roll my eyes when I found out it was 2:20 - rarely is that movie length warranted). On the plus side, it looked great, I enjoyed the film noir vibes and especially the set of the fairground. The film touches on a theme that seems to be recurrent in Del Toro’s work - the spectre of the monster and the fuzzy boundary between the human and the nonhuman.

Perhaps the main shortcoming of the movie was that it felt stuck somewhere between an arthouse Indy movie and a blockbuster and didn’t quite work as either. It didn’t have the depth of character or thematic sophistication of a good arthouse or the pacing and tightness of a good blockbuster. Still lots to like in it though.

 

[paul mckenna]

Liquorice Pizza - didn't do it for me. It's got good performances, is very artistically shot and, If you're into 70s nostalgia, its got great set design. Personally though, I barely laughed throughout this (although to be fair there is one very funny scene during a petrol shortage), but more importantly, I didn't buy into or have any investment in any of the characters. I want a coming of age movie to really hit me in the feels. I want to root for the characters, feel the weight of their dilemmas and witness their change and growth. For me, Liquorice Pizza didn't deliver any of that - it had an implausible and toxic relationship (its toxicity is not what's implausible about it) at its heart and no real structure (very PTA in that respect). Overhyped imo.

Can't say it did it for me either. Really wanted to like it and had its moments but was a bit unstructured. It's been described as a "friends and family" (main stars as all close friends/relatives) which kinda explains it for me

I'm worried now that it's Daniel Day Lewis who makes me like his films so damn much

 

[Sue]

Parallel Mothers - have always found Almodovar’s films pretty but underwhelming. This is no different. There are parallel storylines, but they’re unevenly and clumsily intertwined and the relationships are mostly unconvincing. Meh.

I just saw this and liked it. I agree the two strands don't quite work but

Spoiler

given how controversial the issue of exhuming Civil War burial sites has been, good to see such a prominent Spanish director tackle it. I did find that strand more interesting/compelling than the other and wish it had been focused on more.

I quite disliked a few of Almodovar's recentish films but this and his last feel like a return to form.

 

[Winot]

We saw Parallel Mothers last night and enjoyed it. Really liked the naturalism of the performances. Agree that there isn’t an easy match between the two strands but that’s life isn’t it?

 

[weepiper]

I saw Belfast on Friday and was slightly disappointed in it. Everyone was raving about how great it was on my social media but I thought some of the characterisation was rather thin, the child lead a bit hammy and the young couple were pretty cardboard. Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds were good. I found a lot of the music choices a bit jarring.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

I saw Belfast on Friday and was slightly disappointed in it. Everyone was raving about how great it was on my social media but I thought some of the characterisation was rather thin, the child lead a bit hammy and the young couple were pretty cardboard. Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds were good. I found a lot of the music choices a bit jarring.

The trailer looks appallingly schmaltzy. Hard pass from me.

 

[Sue]

The Souvenir Part 2. I'm not a Hogg fan and saw this on much the same basis as I did the first -- because I had a free ticket and some time to kill. Unlike the first one (which I had admittedly low expectations of), this wasn't better than I expected.

It picks up after the death of Anthony, the heroin addict BF of the first film. Julie's still living in her Knightsbridge flat and going to visit her parents in the country and is now making her graduation film.

And God, does that all make for a dull film. There's lots of film students arguing about film making and it badly misses the louche presence of Tom Burke. Critics love Hogg's films and films about films so I'm sure they'll love this.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Parallel Mothers - have always found Almodovar’s films pretty but underwhelming. This is no different. There are parallel storylines, but they’re unevenly and clumsily intertwined and the relationships are mostly unconvincing. Meh.

Agreed

 

[A380]

Saw Moonfall at the Leicester Square IMAX.

Mark Kermode says it is the stupidest film ever made and he actual felt his brain regressing to an earlier form of life as he watched. He also said he enjoyed it immensely.

I concur it is the stupidest film ever made. A mash up of Gravity, the Martian, Armageddon, 2001, Space Cowboys but also Grand Theft Auto.

You know how some films go beyond so bad it’s good to become just bad, well Moonfall does that but then gets so mad it becomes good again.

It’s batshit crazy. Makes no sense but it’s brilliant entertainment. Specially on an IMAX screen.

Plus it’s a Chinese co-production so there are some wired details that make even less narrative sense.

Go and see it. It’s madder than Mad Bob McMad on a bad day.

 

[Reno]

Quo Vadis, Aida? I think OU sang its praises a while ago and I can only add to it. Harrowing, tense and utterly brilliant drama about the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, focusing on a school teacher working as a translator for the UN, desperately trying to save her family from the impending catastrophe. It's to the films credit that despite the horror of the situation, its propulsive forward momentum carries you along and left me on a note where I didn't feel crushed by it at the end.

While I don't think that the film with the most important subject matter necessarily is the best film, it's puzzling that Another Round won every major foreign language film of 2020 over this (I didn't even think it was the best Danish film starring Mads Mikkelsen that year) and lead actress Jasana Djuricic, should have been handed every best actress award going. I've never seen any of writer-director Jasmila Zbanic's previous films and will try and correct that, very happy to see that more and more hugely talented female filmmakers are coming along.

 

[MBV]

The Souvenir Part 2. I'm not a Hogg fan and saw this on much the same basis as I did the first -- because I had a free ticket and some time to kill. Unlike the first one (which I had admittedly low expectations of), this wasn't better than I expected.

It picks up after the death of Anthony, the heroin addict BF of the first film. Julie's still living in her Knightsbridge flat and going to visit her parents in the country and is now making her graduation film.

And God, does that all make for a dull film. There's lots of film students arguing about film making and it badly misses the louche presence of Tom Burke. Critics love Hogg's films and films about films so I'm sure they'll love this.

Two people walked out when I saw it yesterday. I can only think they hadn't seen the first film as if you had you would have an inkling of what you were going to get. I enjoyed it more than the first film especially the scenes with Richard Ayoade.

Also saw a trailer for True Things which looks good which incidentally has Tom Burke in.

 

[Plumdaff]

I saw Belfast. I could see the reasons for making a child's eye view, but it made for a pretty uninteresting story. I thought Caitriona Balfe as the mum was really good, and I would have liked to have seen the film from her character's perspective.

I could also see why it's complete awards bait, it's almost designed to be that kind of film.

 

[Sue]

Two people walked out when I saw it yesterday. I can only think they hadn't seen the first film as if you had you would have an inkling of what you were going to get. I enjoyed it more than the first film especially the scenes with Richard Ayoade.

Also saw a trailer for True Things which looks good which incidentally has Tom Burke in.

I'm not sure that necessarily follows...

 

[Sue]

The Bride Wore Black. Part of the Truffaut season at the BFI. Woman takes out annoying and completely un-selfaware men who really deserve to be taken out. Maybe not quite up there with his best, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

 

[Orang Utan]

Jackass Forever.
Foolhardy middle aged men kicking each other in the nuts over and over again. The fact that they’re now creakier and have long term injuries that they’re just aggravating by indulging in these devil may care shenanigans makes it even funnier.
I went to a 10.00pm Saturday night screening expecting a joyous communal loud rambunctious crowd laughing uncontrollably. But it was just me and a timid couple who didn’t make a sound.

 

[Sue]

Jackass Forever.
Foolhardy middle aged men kicking each other in the nuts over and over again. The fact that they’re now creakier and have long term injuries that they’re just aggravating by indulging in these devil may care shenanigans makes it even funnier.
I went to a 10.00pm Saturday night screening expecting a joyous communal loud rambunctious crowd laughing uncontrollably. But it was just me and a timid couple who didn’t make a sound.

You'd literally have to pay me (a lot) to watch that...

 

[krtek a houby]

Jackass Forever.
Foolhardy middle aged men kicking each other in the nuts over and over again. The fact that they’re now creakier and have long term injuries that they’re just aggravating by indulging in these devil may care shenanigans makes it even funnier.
I went to a 10.00pm Saturday night screening expecting a joyous communal loud rambunctious crowd laughing uncontrollably. But it was just me and a timid couple who didn’t make a sound.

Did you see it in Japan?

 

[Orang Utan]

Did you see it in Japan?

No, but the couple I shared the cinema looked like they were of East Asian origin

 

[Orang Utan]

You'd literally have to pay me (a lot) to watch that...

why? it's pure cinema. just joyful and life affirming. exactly what's needed right now in a joyless wet and windy February

 

[Sue]

why? it's pure cinema. just joyful and life affirming. exactly what's needed right now in a joyless wet and windy February

I'm not sure I'd call

Foolhardy middle aged men kicking each other in the nuts over and over again

joyful and life affirming but each to their own...

 

[A380]

Jackass Forever.
Foolhardy middle aged men kicking each other in the nuts over and over again. The fact that they’re now creakier and have long term injuries that they’re just aggravating by indulging in these devil may care shenanigans makes it even funnier.
I went to a 10.00pm Saturday night screening expecting a joyous communal loud rambunctious crowd laughing uncontrollably. But it was just me and a timid couple who didn’t make a sound.

I deffo think any of the works of Kubrick Lean or Hitchcock would have been improved by a giant penis attacking New York or someone getting an airbag in their goolies when buying coffee. And they have embraced equality now with a woman team member getting stung by a scorpion...

 

[Orang Utan]

I’m making the effort to see those free MUBI films that I’ve wasted two years of subs on (seen maybe two films online since ).
Glad I did so far. Last week I saw Ali and Ava - a Clio Barnard film, shot, typically, in Bradford (the equally brilliant The Arbour and The Selfish Giant were also shot there) with Adil Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook as two kind souls finding each other, with much of this exploration taking place via sharing their love of music with each other. It’s such a needed film right now - isolated and very different people finding ways to communicate with each other. The soundtrack is fantastic and even makes me like a Bob Dylan song.
The scenes of Akhtar dancing alone, blissfully, with headphones on, really spoke to me. It’s a very simple film with not much to sketch out the characters beyond the actors’ performances, but the acting is so natural and sincere that you don’t need much information to get a feel for who they are.
Five not-so-silent discos out of five.

 

[Sue]

I’m making the effort to see those free MUBI films that I’ve wasted two years of subs on (seen maybe two films online since ).
Glad I did so far. Last week I saw Ali and Ava - a Clio Barnard film, shot, typically, in Bradford (the equally brilliant The Arbour and The Selfish Giant were also shot there) with Adil Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook as two kind souls finding each other, with much of this exploration taking place via sharing their love of music with each other. It’s such a needed film right now - isolated and very different people finding ways to communicate with each other. The soundtrack is fantastic and even makes me like a Bob Dylan song.
The scenes of Akhtar dancing alone, blissfully, with headphones on, really spoke to me. It’s a very simple film with not much to sketch out the characters beyond the actors’ performances, but the acting is so natural and sincere that you don’t need much information to get a feel for who they are.
Five not-so-silent discos out of five.

Saw that at the weekend. Thought it was sweet.

The Garden, Derek Jarman's last film. Not much (any?) narrative and I'd not much idea of what was going on (I'd be interested in finding out more though). Lots of arresting images and scenes so one of those 'letting it wash over you' kind of films.

 

[Sue]

Just got an invite to a preview of The Phantom of the Open - Wikipedia. Saw a trailer for it the other week and it looks dreadful, despite a decent cast. I love a free ticket but even I have limits... (There isn't a 'films I didn't see at the cinema because they looked utter dross' thread so...)

 

[Reno]

Just got an invite to a preview of The Phantom of the Open - Wikipedia. Saw a trailer for it the other week and it looks dreadful, despite a decent cast. I love a free ticket but even I have limits... (There isn't a 'films I didn't see at the cinema because they looked utter dross' thread so...)

 

[Sue]

View attachment 313908

You know my hardhearted, non-life affirming ways too well.