Films you have seen at the cinema 2024

[Dr. Furface]

Saw Gladiator 2 tonight. A little too long perhaps but overall, enjoyable nonsense. hitting all the expected notes, gory, bombastic, a little daft but, yeah. Fine.

That about sums it up. I only went because someone I know had booked and couldn't go so offered me their ticket. It was entertaining enough, sometimes comically so. I can't compare it to the first one because I'm one of the few that has never seen it - however I'm sure I'd prefer this one cos I'd rather watch Paul Mescal than Russel Crowe any day.

 

[PR1Berske]

Hard Truths - new Mike Leigh. Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy a woman who is clearly mentally suffering but also taking it out on others, fighting with her family, passers-by and shop assistants. Pansy's and her families, life is contrasted by that of her sister and nieces. It's reminiscent of Leigh's early works, the sister relationship brings to mind Life is Sweet. There are blackly comic parts but also real tragedy, I would not put in in quite the first rank of Leight films but worth watching.

The trailer made me wonder if I'd like this. I'll add to the maybe pile.

 

[redsquirrel]

The trailer made me wonder if I'd like this. I'll add to the maybe pile.

It's very good but probably not something you want to watch if you're not in great frame of mind yourself. I'm glad I went with a friend.

 

[metalguru]

SLA: The Colours Within [aka The Colors Within]

A Japanese anime set in a Roman Catholic school, featuring a main character who perceives peoples' auras.

There's probably more depth this film, but I found it a very gentle watch with an 'it's alright to live your dream and not follow the route set out for you by your parents' message. The colours throughout are shimmering and impressive, and the music is of interest - including a Japanese anime version of Born Slippy !

Overall, whilst watchable, I thought it was a bit bland and i would be hesitant to recommend it as something people should go out of their way to see.

 

[Orang Utan]

The next three films were part of LIFF’s annual Night Of The Dead horror all-nighter

Film 27
Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round

Delirious and inspired comedy horror featuring a Mr-Rogersesque kids’ TV host besieged by malevolent puppets.
4 demonic nosybonks out of 5

 

[redsquirrel]

A Samurai in Time - A samurai from the 19th century gets transported through time to the (near?) present, to make a living he becomes an bit part actor in samurai films/tv shows. A nice contrast to Hard Truths, a good film for a relaxing Saturday with some nice comic scenes. It is not quite top class, like so many modern films it could do with losing 10-20 minutes but an enjoyable watch.

My last film from LIFF this year, I wanted to get tickets to Night Bitch but it had sold out.

 

[Orang Utan]

Film 28
Dark Match

GTA5’s Stephen Ogg stars in this
80s-set comedy horror gorefest as one of a team of wrestlers trapped into fighting for their lives by a Satanic cult led by Chris Jericho. Jericho’s acting is woeful but the WTF ending makes up for it
4 bloody spandex unitards out of 5

 

[Orang Utan]

Film 29
Body Melt

Street Trash meets Neighbours!
Ozploitation body horror featuring Harold Bishop as a mad scientist using Naam cul-de-sac residents as subjects in a medical experiment
3 oozing bodily fluids out of 5

 

[Orang Utan]

Film 30
Memoir Of A Snail

Truly unique claymation weepie about a lonely griefstricken weirdo obsessed with gastropods. Voiced by a host of famous Oz actors, it might be in with a chance for big awards.
Made by the same team who made Mary and Max, which I am now desparate to see
5 self-created emotional exoskeletons out of 5

 

[Orang Utan]

That snail film yesterday and the last two films of the festival were a triple emotional gutpunch. Two and a half weeks of intense filmwatching has probably left me feeling a bit raw cos I was openly sobbing in the last film. I wasn’t the only one though, judging my the mass nose-blowing at the credits rolling.

 

[Orang Utan]

Film 31
Hard Truths

You’re know what you’re going to get from Mike Leigh, esp with a title like that, and that’s exactly what you get. Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s performance deserves all the praise it’s been getting but the supporting cast did equally well.
4 fucked-up families out of 5

 

[Orang Utan]

Film 32
All The Long Nights

This left me an emotional wreck cos everyone in it is so lovely. It’s about two colleagues with emotional/behavioural challenges who learn to support each other at work and in life. Almost made me glad to be going back to work tomorrow. Made me cry ugly, but feel all the better for it.
5 comradely snacks out of 5

 

[Orang Utan]

Almost forgot another film I saw earlier today - dunno why - it was a ray of sunshine

Film 33
Gloria

Musical drama set in an early 19th Venetian orphanage/conservatoire in which a female chamber orchestra smash the patriarchy by singing n that. Stirring stuff.
4 feeble washed-up maestros out of 5

 

[blossie33]

Well done on that marathon Orang Utan !

 

[Elpenor]

Gladiator 2

I rewatched the (extended version) of the original yesterday, for the first time since I caught it for £3 at the Sidcup Odeon. The new one is effectively a far sillier and more boring remake with a lot of call backs, echos and repeats to the well known, memeworthy quotes, music, kill moves, slow mo wheat and sand in hand shots etc of the Crowe version, but not really anything further to add.

I think Paul Mescal had a lot less to work with than Russell Crowe as the hero, though he brings an existential edge to his character. The action scenes are good if you like that sort of thing, the acting is reliably wooden, if I was an expert on Roman culture and history I’d probably be apoplectic. So basically what you’d expect from a historical epic directed by Ridley Scott?

Not for the first time this year I felt disappointed with a heavily hyped release from a veteran director.

 

[braindancer]

If I was an expert on Roman culture and history I’d probably be apoplectic.

I heard an expert on Roman culture and history being apoplectic about it on Radio 4 the other day

 

[surreybrowncap]

Caught this at the ICA last month..
The Annihilation of Fish - awful title!
Originally set for general release in 1999 but pulled from screening by distributor..
This was apparently due to a poor review in Variety..
I was intrigued as it has an interesting cast..

James Earl Jones - Fish of the title, recently released from a mental institution.
He wrestles with an invisible demon named Hank.

Lynn Redgrave - Believes her lover to be the long dead composer Puccini.

Margot Kidder - The understanding Mrs Muldroone - runs a boarding house in LA where Jones and Redgrave become neighbours...

Mrs Muldroone: Fish, you know that I am not one to meddle in the affairs of my tenants. But, Fish, you have got to do something about that awful smell!
Fish: Smell? What smell, mam?
Mrs Muldroone: Well, the smell of decomposing demon!

Could come across as too whimsical but the three actors make it work.
Touching and believable performances.
Think this was Kidder's first role back after her health problems.
The film covers themes of race, mental illness, aging....
But told with humour too!
It doesn't seem to be available on DVD or streaming services.
It deserves to be seen...

 

[smmudge]

OK we went to see Wicked. OH is a really big fan of the musical (I think it's ok but a normal amount) and she was afraid she wouldn't like it but she loved it. I really liked it too actually, Ariana Grande is very good and some good humour. It is long though.

 

[krtek a houby]

Went to see the historically inaccurate and bizarre Gladiator II. Very entertaining. Denzel Washington steals the show.

Still would have loved to see the Nick Cave version though...

 

[TopCat]

Went to see the historically inaccurate and bizarre Gladiator II. Very entertaining. Denzel Washington steals the show.

Still would have loved to see the Nick Cave version though...

I went to this yesterday. Hard to sit still for all that time but I managed.

The acting in many parts was really bad.

That Rhino. I mean really. One minute a great big meany. The next, chilling out in the arena quietly

 

[TopCat]

There were lots of bits out of the first film. Echoing down the generations. Or something.

 

[Sue]

Yeah, I saw Gladiator II yesterday as well. It looks pretty spectacular and the action shots are very well done (the battle at the start is excellent) but it's basically an inferior remake of the first (which I rewatched the other day -- it's on ITV catch-up.)

Still, I did cheer at the age appropriate relationship between Connie Nielson and Pedro Pascal. And fair play to Derek Jacobi who was presumably in it for the cash and not the 30 seconds of screen time and two lines.

 

[krtek a houby]

I went to this yesterday. Hard to sit still for all that time but I managed.

The acting in many parts was really bad.

That Rhino. I mean really. One minute a great big meany. The next, chilling out in the arena quietly

Rhino what you mean

 

[TopCat]

Rhino what you mean

Oh dear

 

[metalguru]

Layla, the debut film by British-Iraqi drag-artist and film-maker Amrou Al-Kadhi.

A really sensitive examination of cultural barriers that stand in the way of love and relationships. Some fantastic scenes between the protagonist and their straight-acting boyfriend.

A film that will stay in my mind for a long time.

 

[Weller]

Film 30
Memoir Of A Snail
View attachment 451422
Truly unique claymation weepie about a lonely griefstricken weirdo obsessed with gastropods. Voiced by a host of famous Oz actors, it might be in with a chance for big awards.
Made by the same team who made Mary and Max, which I am now desparate to see
5 self-created emotional exoskeletons out of 5

Thanks for that cant wait to see it the model style looked familiar I saw Mary and Max a long time ago its excellent based on a true story I think 1 of my favourite claymation full lengths got it on dvd a good while back my younger family love it now too its both hilarious and sad the commentary and voice acting are special in that 1 too
Like the older Nick Park stuff (Wallice & Grommit Creature Comforts etc ) they take years doing them old school saw a small cinema viewing of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On full length movie last year that was pretty good too if you like this type of stuff

​

 

[Orang Utan]

Thanks for that cant wait to see it the model style looked familiar I saw Mary and Max a long time ago its excellent based on a true story I think 1 of my favourite claymation full lengths got it on dvd a good while back my younger family love it now too its both hilarious and sad the commentary and voice acting are special in that 1 too
Like the older Nick Park stuff (Wallice & Grommit Creature Comforts etc ) they take years doing them old school saw a small cinema viewing of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On full length movie last year that was pretty good too if you like this type of stuff

View attachment 452390

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Memoir Of A Snail took NINE YEARS to make. The level of detail in the set design and props is incredible. It’s worth looking at the various making-of vids online to see how they did it. The tears cried in the film are made out of lube btw!

 

[Elpenor]

Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion. An examination of power, corruption, and institutional blindness, to a zingy Morricone soundtrack. Set in Rome around 1970 during the years of lead, a senior policeman murders his lover to prove to himself that he is above the law, and his underlings conspire to ignore this fact. Contains a superb joke about anarchists.

Enigmatic ending that has got me thinking.

With an intro from someone from the Italian studies department at the uni, this was presented by the local Italian cultural association.

 

[Elpenor]

This is one of the Mexican noirs I watched recently, Victims of Sin, and for what’s its worth the festival organiser told me it was the best of the 4 they were showing. I certainly enjoyed it a lot, and it was a lot better than the other one I watched.



It’s on in London over the weekend, at the cinema museum on Sunday at 1930.

Not sure if the Facebook thing is visible so here’s a screenshot

The Vito Project LGBTQ+ Film Club & Caroline Cassin present Victims of Sin (1951) » The Cinema Museum, London

The London premiere of the new 4K restoration of Victims of Sin, a one of a kind musical melodrama set in the seedy underworld of 1950s Mexico City.

www.cinemamuseum.org.uk

 

[Orang Utan]

Heretic. Two young Mormons are out missionarying when they bang on Hugh Grant's door. Turns out he's very interested in the origins of religion and belief and is happy to discuss it all at great length...

Grant is excellent (he plays plausible and jovial but deniably threatening very well), as are the two other leads. Very funny and unsettling, if the last act loses it a bit and it turns out

Spoiler

the Hugh Grant character is just another man who gets off on abusing women. Which isn't exactly original.

Oh and Grant's knitwear is exactly right for his character.

Saw this tonight and very much agree with this review.
Loved the humour of it; much of it at Grant’s expense. There is a great mansplaining joke in it that had me roaring.