Dr. Furface
One small step for me
Yes, and a more engaging film that Citizen Four was too - that was a remarkable and important film, but this one gives you, literally, 'the bigger picture'. Best Oliver Stone film for a long time.
List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2016
- Thread starter metalguru
- Start date
The Lady in the Van. It was good though 
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Just in before the end the year and the new thread.
So more of the Polanski season first
Chinatown - However many times I see this I still love it, easily Polanski's best, wonderful in just about every possible way. This time I saw it with two people who hadn't seen it before and they both loved it too. Just great.
Frantic - Harrison Ford has his wife kidnapped in Paris and seeks the help of Emmanuelle Seigner to get her back. Not my favourite Polanski TBH, I think the first half, without Seigner, drags, things get a lot better once Seigner turns up, even so probably the beginning of the decline.
Bitter Moon - Hugh Grant and Kristen Scott-Thomas are an English couple on a cruise hoping to add to spice back to their marriage, though not the type Emmanuelle Seigner and Peter Coyote are interested in. While not a patch on his early work this is one of the few modern Polanski's that I think has something of that classic touch about it. It's utterly mad in bits but it has that edge of danger and cruelty that makes Polanski's films, and has been lacking from his recent work.
American Honey - Andrea Arnold's latest, and first US, film, very good. As belboid say's Shia LeBeouf and Sasha Lane are both excellent and Riley Keough is in it also. It's a long film (2 1/2 hours) but I didn't really feel it. Arnold also manages to keep the film working through to the end, something that was lacking in Red Road and Fish Tank, which started very promisingly and then faltered in the final third.
Nocturnal Animals - Tom Ford's (A Single Man) second film. It's a story within a story piece, with Amy Adams reading the book her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal) has dedicated to her, a violent story about a man (Gyllenhaal again) having his wife and daughter kidnapped and killed. Ford has obviously gone over everything with a fine tooth comb many, many times and maybe that's the reason that while all the individual pieces are very well done the final result felt like a little less than the sum of the parts. Despite that there's more than enough there to make it a worth while watch, in particular, Adams is in absolutely cracking form.
I, Daniel Blake - Guess everyone knows what this is about and it's been discussed plenty on the other thread. It's not Loach's best work, and like so many of Laverty's has poor ending but as with even Loach's weaker films there are parts that are just great and make it worth watching. Dave Johns is solid but Hayley Squires is the standout talent for me.
The Founder - Bio-pic of Ray Kroc (played by Michael Keaton) the "founder" of McDonalds, it's by the Weinstein's and like many of their movies all feels a bit by the numbers. Not worth a trip to the cinema really.
A United Kingdom - Another bio-pic, this time about Seretse Kharma (Prince and first President of what is now Botswana) and his wife Ruth Williams and the reaction to their marriage. It's directed by Amma Asante and is very solid, the real strength of the film is in it's two leads, David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike who make the film engaging. Also has a brief cameo from Nicholas Lyndhurst and set in 50s Britain gave the bizarre feeling that Goodnight Sweetheart had somehow invaded the film.
Lastly and finishing on a very, very high note
La La Land - Absolutely bloody brilliant. I can't be the only urbanite to have seen this surely? The first five minutes with the opening song set my teeth on edge but it was an absolute pleasure from that point until the end. Emma Stone is excellent, really drawing you into her character and Ryan Gosling is good too. Besides the opening song the musical numbers are thankfully without any type of ironic wink, wink, nudge, nudge crap that makes most modern musicals absolutely unbearable to me. It's been put together by someone who understands and likes classical musicals and is incalculably better for it. Loved it and totally recommend it to anyone.
So more of the Polanski season first
Chinatown - However many times I see this I still love it, easily Polanski's best, wonderful in just about every possible way. This time I saw it with two people who hadn't seen it before and they both loved it too. Just great.
Frantic - Harrison Ford has his wife kidnapped in Paris and seeks the help of Emmanuelle Seigner to get her back. Not my favourite Polanski TBH, I think the first half, without Seigner, drags, things get a lot better once Seigner turns up, even so probably the beginning of the decline.
Bitter Moon - Hugh Grant and Kristen Scott-Thomas are an English couple on a cruise hoping to add to spice back to their marriage, though not the type Emmanuelle Seigner and Peter Coyote are interested in. While not a patch on his early work this is one of the few modern Polanski's that I think has something of that classic touch about it. It's utterly mad in bits but it has that edge of danger and cruelty that makes Polanski's films, and has been lacking from his recent work.
American Honey - Andrea Arnold's latest, and first US, film, very good. As belboid say's Shia LeBeouf and Sasha Lane are both excellent and Riley Keough is in it also. It's a long film (2 1/2 hours) but I didn't really feel it. Arnold also manages to keep the film working through to the end, something that was lacking in Red Road and Fish Tank, which started very promisingly and then faltered in the final third.
Nocturnal Animals - Tom Ford's (A Single Man) second film. It's a story within a story piece, with Amy Adams reading the book her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal) has dedicated to her, a violent story about a man (Gyllenhaal again) having his wife and daughter kidnapped and killed. Ford has obviously gone over everything with a fine tooth comb many, many times and maybe that's the reason that while all the individual pieces are very well done the final result felt like a little less than the sum of the parts. Despite that there's more than enough there to make it a worth while watch, in particular, Adams is in absolutely cracking form.
I, Daniel Blake - Guess everyone knows what this is about and it's been discussed plenty on the other thread. It's not Loach's best work, and like so many of Laverty's has poor ending but as with even Loach's weaker films there are parts that are just great and make it worth watching. Dave Johns is solid but Hayley Squires is the standout talent for me.
The Founder - Bio-pic of Ray Kroc (played by Michael Keaton) the "founder" of McDonalds, it's by the Weinstein's and like many of their movies all feels a bit by the numbers. Not worth a trip to the cinema really.
A United Kingdom - Another bio-pic, this time about Seretse Kharma (Prince and first President of what is now Botswana) and his wife Ruth Williams and the reaction to their marriage. It's directed by Amma Asante and is very solid, the real strength of the film is in it's two leads, David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike who make the film engaging. Also has a brief cameo from Nicholas Lyndhurst and set in 50s Britain gave the bizarre feeling that Goodnight Sweetheart had somehow invaded the film.
Lastly and finishing on a very, very high note
La La Land - Absolutely bloody brilliant. I can't be the only urbanite to have seen this surely? The first five minutes with the opening song set my teeth on edge but it was an absolute pleasure from that point until the end. Emma Stone is excellent, really drawing you into her character and Ryan Gosling is good too. Besides the opening song the musical numbers are thankfully without any type of ironic wink, wink, nudge, nudge crap that makes most modern musicals absolutely unbearable to me. It's been put together by someone who understands and likes classical musicals and is incalculably better for it. Loved it and totally recommend it to anyone.
Casual Observer
enough
I'm cheating as I didn't watch any of these films at the cinema but 2016 seems to have been a great year for film. My favourites and verdicts are as follows:
Anomalisa - knockout
A Bigger Splash - knockout
Little Men - good
Weiner - knockout
Victoria - good (the German heist film, not the US divorced lawyer rubbish)
Nocturnal Animals - quite good
Hell or High Water - absolute knockout
Honourable mentions also to Sausage Party (particularly enjoyed the potato scene) and Everybody Wants Some!! Maybe half an honourable mention for High Rise too.
Anomalisa - knockout
A Bigger Splash - knockout
Little Men - good
Weiner - knockout
Victoria - good (the German heist film, not the US divorced lawyer rubbish)
Nocturnal Animals - quite good
Hell or High Water - absolute knockout
Honourable mentions also to Sausage Party (particularly enjoyed the potato scene) and Everybody Wants Some!! Maybe half an honourable mention for High Rise too.
Callie
Pivoting
[
Really? I thought it would as poop! Shite plot, thought it had potential for suspense! Disaster! Edge of your seat stuff! It was a lame duck and I found myself just wanting them
to die!
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
bit stalkery too. a lot stalkery. Hollywood condones creepy stalking on spaceships
Callie
Pivoting
Yes that too, that may have even been a better angle to focus on but no,
they lived happily ever after....unless they went batshit after that...that might have been good[\SPOILER]
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
I guess the best things I saw were probably classics, I watched McCabe and Mrs Miller, Barry Lyndon and Tokyo Story for the first time, all of which lived up to their reputations.
Just considering new releases then I think my joint top are probably Embrace the Serpent, Once More Time With Feeling and La La Land. All of which stayed with me long after I left the cinema.
Just considering new releases then I think my joint top are probably Embrace the Serpent, Once More Time With Feeling and La La Land. All of which stayed with me long after I left the cinema.
Seen a few from Arrival (thought it was pretty good, if a bit cheesy at the end) to Paterson (low key and a bit dull) and quite a few old films (Blue Velvet, McCabe & Mrs Miller, some French noir). Been away/busy so there're a few things I'm going to try and catch up with over the next week or two.
Looking forward to La La Land which opens next week I think.
We haven't had the traditional top films of the year thread yet...
Looking forward to La La Land which opens next week I think.
We haven't had the traditional top films of the year thread yet...
For 2017? If so, there's one already.
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