List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2017

[seventh bullet]

War for the Planet of the Apes.

As Dave said above, as really good and relentlessly bleak as a film with gun-toting primates riding on horseback can be. The trilogy of Caesar's story ended well.

Spoiler

The bad stuff first. The score was a bit hit and miss, but great in the army base/concentration camp scenes. Woody Harrelson was the worst thing in it, but not his character so much as his poor portrayal of a tortured madman. The climactic battle scene which didn't happen in the way the trailers hinted at (a fight between rival human remnants of the US Army which became obvious before it was explicitly revealed about halfway through) had moments clearly made with 3D showings in mind. I sat there thinking Enough of helicopters spinning out of the sky already!

The good stuff. It wasn't the fighting that was the most impressive thing about this (and there was surprisingly little). It was the wholly-ape perspective and their struggle for survival in the face of extermination. The allusions to real-life human atrocity were not clumsily done in the camp, scenes not just between ape prisoners and human guards, but the kapo-like traitors who survived by accepting a degraded existence. Andy Serkis had Caesar 's grizzled, grief-stricken facial expressions down to perfection, but also the CGI had seemingly improved since even Dawn. I thought about adding Bad Ape into the above paragraph, but even though he was the oddball comic relief, he was no Jar Jar Binks. The scene when he was discovered and his loneliness revealed was one of the best parts of the film, and where the score also worked well.

Worth a second trip to the cinema.

 

[belboid]

Baby Driver

Only just got round to it, but well worth it. It is, of course, light and trite, full of cliches (some pleasantly screwed with) and has absolutely nothing to say, but it does so with a glee and gusto that carries it through.

I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have known the Carla Thomas song though.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

War for the Planet of the Apes. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole trilogy, and this final film probably make this one of the most consistently good trilogies ever.

With nods and links to the originals and other classic films it does everything an intelligent summer blockbuster should in delivering an excellent story with some stirring thrills and spills along the way.

 

[Maltin]

I'm sure there may be websites where you can watch the whole movie but they officially released the first six minutes of Baby Driver which, if you enjoy car chases, I think is pretty fun. Overall I had a good time watching the movie and want to watch it again to focus more on the choreography of the action to the music.



I also watched War of the Planet of the Apes the other day, which I think is good but felt would have been better and more exciting if it was shorter as I felt they dragged it out too much. I just think it's incredible that you are watching a bunch of computer generated monkeys and it looks so realistic. I was also impressed for a summer blockbuster that there was so much subtitled dialogue. As Nanker Phelge notes, I also enjoyed the nods to the original films.

 

[Grandma Death]

So after splitting with my partner of 13 years Ive gone and invested in an unlimited cinema pass (as I did when I was last single).

In 9 days Ive seen Baby Driver (twice), War for Planet of The Apes, Spiderman Homecoming and tonight Dunkirk

Baby Driver I loved and more so second time. Apes was so so. Overly long, overly mawkish and irritating film score but some great battle sequences. Spiderman was great fun. Well funny and really enjoyable. Dunkirk-well Im still in shock. Simply the best war movie Ive ever seen and I think quite possibly Nolans best ever work-Han Zimmers score is fucking brilliant and I havent heard a score that good since There Will Be Blood. Im going back in the week to digest it even more

 

[A380]

Dunkirk 5*


(Actually I have written a bit more on the Dunkirk thread...)

 

[ViolentPanda]

Dispossession - The Great Social Housing Swindle.

 

[lefteri]

My Cousin Rachel

Period Daphne du Maurier adaptation. Very nice to look at and holds your attention but somewhat predictable and linear until it reaches an abrupt and somewhat pat ending. The establishment of the relationship between the two leads is rushed and doesn't feel plausible.

 

[belboid]

War for the Planet of the Apes

aka

Ape Ocalypse Now

Which would have been a brilliantly insightful and witty comment if it hadn't been for the graffiti in the tunnel reading 'Ape Pocalypse Now'. Pocalypse. That shows everything wrong with the film, close but doesn't quite cut it. Plenty of stuff totally stolen from AN, Woody playing Kurtz throughout, especially his final scene. Some bits of Bridge on the River Kwai too, and maybe even a hint of The Robe right at the end.

A superior summer blockbuster, with all the usual twists and turns, superbly realised, but no more than the sum of its carefully conceived parts.

 

[chilango]

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Openly anti-authoritarian from the outset this film quickly draws parallels between the disciplinary functions of schools and the prison system.

Initial hits are made on current educational practice and its impact both on children and on education workers.

The classic "Uranus" gag is deployed early on. It will attain more significance during the film's climax later on.

The main protagonists of the movie, George and Harry eschew collective resistance to the system however and instead embark on a guerilla campaign of "pranks" or propaganda of the deed.

Drawing for allusions to the 1970s armed struggle movements we see this strategy and its reliance upon a militant vanguard laid bare as their control of Principal Krupp threatens to go all Martin Schleyer but instead morphs into the Patty Hearst like character of the red banner (or cape) brandishing Captain Underpants.

Increasingly isolated, George and Harry face defeat as the system personified by Principal Krupp recognises that atomisation is the key to maintaining discipline within an increasingly alienated population.

Is the naming of Principal Krupp after the German industrial conglomerate that supported Hitler and the use of forced labour a coincidence? You tell me.

There's some awkward shoehorning of a confused message about teacher recruitment and the watering down of safeguarding practises in the face of increasing teacher dropout rates, but the whole "evil science teacher" storyline feels like a late addition to the core message.

There's a chuckle from some farting.

A neat joke about teachers' pay.

George and Harry belatedly recognise that community solidarity is key with echoes of the move from the factory to the social factory but the sadly the film, after a return to the "Uranus" riff, bottles the ending with an appeal to cross-class compromise and liberal values in the form of a burgeoning romance between Principal Krupp and Edina the Lunchlady.

Overall, 3 stars. Some good ideas with flawed execution. But the ending is a real let down, the school is not abolished or self-managed but is now run by a kinder, gentler Principal Krupp.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Saw Baby Driver last night. The first third works great as an action musical, with a classic pop and soul packed bop-along soundtrack stuffed with enough familiar tunes to immediately immerse viewers in a comfortably upbeat playlist that makes Radio 2's look dangerous by comparison; Stunts are great, Ansel Elgort is annoyingly likeable, Spacey is Spacey, dialogue 'zippy' and 'quippy' enough to not feel too much like a Tarantino tribute (but really is).

The 2nd third descends into caper movie cliche faster than the Subaro used in the opening chase. The robbers are all beyond caricature, Lily James gets to play a waitress waiting for the guy to turn up and take here away to another life, while the main character gets sucked 'deeper' into the underworld when the obvious screws are turned and his loved ones comes under threat. The music thins out, and the choreography that gives spark to films opening sequences all but vanishes.

The final third is typical action movie carnage, but with some great chase scenes (on foot). All the obvious stuff happens, everything goes to shit, bad guys act bad, loads of people get killed, cars get trashed, more cliches pile on top of more cliches....and the music theme seems to have been forgotten and replaced by a stupid revenge plot which sees Jon Hamm's career criminal act inexplicably, and unbelievably. Lily James continues to hover in the back ground in her waitress outfit looking nice, and a little scared.

It passes time, the crash and burn is fun, it's probably a bit smarter than a fast and furious movie, but it runs out of petrol too quickly and the devices which gave the film charm in the first 3rd seem to fall away as the films sinks further and further in to bog standard actioner...

 

[RubyToogood]

The Big Sick. Bland rom com. Funny in parts.

 

[Grandma Death]

Saw Baby Driver last night. The first third works great as an action musical, with a classic pop and soul packed bop-along soundtrack stuffed with enough familiar tunes to immediately immerse viewers in a comfortably upbeat playlist that makes Radio 2's look dangerous by comparison; Stunts are great, Ansel Elgort is annoyingly likeable, Spacey is Spacey, dialogue 'zippy' and 'quippy' enough to not feel too much like a Tarantino tribute (but really is).

The 2nd third descends into caper movie cliche faster than the Subaro used in the opening chase. The robbers are all beyond caricature, Lily James gets to play a waitress waiting for the guy to turn up and take here away to another life, while the main character gets sucked 'deeper' into the underworld when the obvious screws are turned and his loved ones comes under threat. The music thins out, and the choreography that gives spark to films opening sequences all but vanishes.

The final third is typical action movie carnage, but with some great chase scenes (on foot). All the obvious stuff happens, everything goes to shit, bad guys act bad, loads of people get killed, cars get trashed, more cliches pile on top of more cliches....and the music theme seems to have been forgotten and replaced by a stupid revenge plot which sees Jon Hamm's career criminal act inexplicably, and unbelievably. Lily James continues to hover in the back ground in her waitress outfit looking nice, and a little scared.

It passes time, the crash and burn is fun, it's probably a bit smarter than a fast and furious movie, but it runs out of petrol too quickly and the devices which gave the film charm in the first 3rd seem to fall away as the films sinks further and further in to bog standard actioner...

My mate argues something similar. He said it was great at what it does but he felt the movie didnt know what it wanted to be.

I'd argue the entire film is a homage to so many different films and like Pulp Fiction its the way its put togetherm makes it works. I loved the slow build and yes it fell back to predictable-but I was so marveling at the movie I didnt care-even though I was aware it was flitting inbetween different moods.

 

[Grandma Death]

I watched the Emoji movie. Listen I get kids movies. And it being summer holidays when Ive had my pair over we've done a fair bit of movies. So I know what works (at least I think I do)....Emoji movies is shite. Beyond even that. I asked my 6 year old what it was about-she genuinely looked baffled. 'I dont really know' was her response. Its utter drivel. Some realy flat jokes in there. Too overly complicated. Annoying characters. Aimless. Oh and I didnt laugh once. I fell asleep actually.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Atomic Blonde - Way better than I expected. Charlize Theron is fantastic. I wouldn't be surprised if her character is reprised.

It's total nonsense spy thriller action in a Bond(ish) vein, and thoroughly entertaining, and makes no sense whatsoever, but for thrills and spills, it kept me interested, and I have no time for car chases and explosions normally.

Watched because I was stranded in Northampton for work, and it was the only film on I hadn't already seen, but glad I did.

 

[moonsi til]

ooh I like Atomic Blonde esp the music but I like it all.

 

[gaijingirl]

I watched the Emoji movie. Listen I get kids movies. And it being summer holidays when Ive had my pair over we've done a fair bit of movies. So I know what works (at least I think I do)....Emoji movies is shite. Beyond even that. I asked my 6 year old what it was about-she genuinely looked baffled. 'I dont really know' was her response. Its utter drivel. Some realy flat jokes in there. Too overly complicated. Annoying characters. Aimless. Oh and I didnt laugh once. I fell asleep actually.

I had exactly the same experience at Captain Underpants - although loads of people seemed to love it. I fell asleep. My kids are aiming for the Emoji movie atm - it's got 1/10 on IMDB. I'm gonna make sure it's not me taking them to this one.

 

[not-bono-ever]

War for the Planet of the Apes. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole trilogy, and this final film probably make this one of the most consistently good trilogies ever.

With nods and links to the originals and other classic films it does everything an intelligent summer blockbuster should in delivering an excellent story with some stirring thrills and spills along the way.

Not seen a film with as many references to other films in as this before

 

[belboid]

Detroit

A true story which manages to be both gripping and massively disappointing. It's gripping because of the story (police racism and quite possibly murder in riot hit Detroit) and a couple of cracking performances. Will Poulter is superb as the pyschotically racist main cop, and Hannah 'Gilly' Murray as one of the white women who accidentally kicks off the incident at the heart of the film (by committing the heinous crime of being in the company of s black man).

But...John Boyega apart, the black characters are almost archetypes rather than individuals - the talent, the naif, the angry guy, the veteran. While the 'corridor scene' is genuinely tense, there is always a lurking question of 'wtf if Boyega actually doing there, and why do the cops let him stay?'' Apparently they did, but any rationale behind it is omitted. The courtroom scenes which conclude the film are poorly done, mrs b didn't even realise one of the guys was on trial!

And, when you google what actually happened, the divergences from the truth are annoying. The 'angry' guy looks about thirty whereas he was actually a 17 year old kid, the abuse the two white women faced was far far worse than depicted, and everyone retains their real name - except for the racist cops! One of whom should definitely not have been on the streets, and quite how he was still allowed to is almost entirely passed over.

Still worth seeing, but prepare to be slightly frustrated.

 

[DexterTCN]

The Hitman's Bodyguard. (on the net, HD)

It's Ryan Reynolds so it does exactly what it says on the tin. Salma Hayeck and Sam Jackson also get free rein. I laughed out loud a fair few times and snickered at least as many. The plot just gets in the way, it's 15 minutes too long.

Great, great soundtrack, kicking songs all the way. But I think they stole the score from Usual Suspects.

 

[Grandma Death]

So I had a double bill the other night Logans Lucky and American Made. Im a fan of both directors. Logans Lucky was basically a redneck version of Oceans 11. It held my interest-it was very slow paced and dry and it was marketed as a comedy-when there were hardly any laughs. I really enjoyed American Made. One of those films you know what the film is about from the trailer but worth watching to see how out of control the CIA were.

 

[Grandma Death]

I had exactly the same experience at Captain Underpants - although loads of people seemed to love it. I fell asleep. My kids are aiming for the Emoji movie atm - it's got 1/10 on IMDB. I'm gonna make sure it's not me taking them to this one.

Its painfully bad. Dont do it!

 

[krtek a houby]

Split - M Night gets his mojo back,kinda. James McEvoy corners the market in screen psychos.
Kong: Skull Island - superior B movie channeling Apocalypse Now.
Spiderman: Homecoming - didn't think the world needed another Spiderman movie. I was wrong. It was charming.
Wonder Woman - unusual setting, so that was good. A bit Captain America Fist Avenger (with the war) but then it got a bit Thor-ish in parts. Still the best of the recent DC output.

 

[Wilf]

Detroit

A true story which manages to be both gripping and massively disappointing. It's gripping because of the story (police racism and quite possibly murder in riot hit Detroit) and a couple of cracking performances. Will Poulter is superb as the pyschotically racist main cop, and Hannah 'Gilly' Murray as one of the white women who accidentally kicks off the incident at the heart of the film (by committing the heinous crime of being in the company of s black man).

But...John Boyega apart, the black characters are almost archetypes rather than individuals - the talent, the naif, the angry guy, the veteran. While the 'corridor scene' is genuinely tense, there is always a lurking question of 'wtf if Boyega actually doing there, and why do the cops let him stay?'' Apparently they did, but any rationale behind it is omitted. The courtroom scenes which conclude the film are poorly done, mrs b didn't even realise one of the guys was on trial!

And, when you google what actually happened, the divergences from the truth are annoying. The 'angry' guy looks about thirty whereas he was actually a 17 year old kid, the abuse the two white women faced was far far worse than depicted, and everyone retains their real name - except for the racist cops! One of whom should definitely not have been on the streets, and quite how he was still allowed to is almost entirely passed over.

Still worth seeing, but prepare to be slightly frustrated.

Just seen it and enjoyed it (well, y'know, given the subject matter etc.). What you said above almost persuades me it wasn't as good as I thought it was! I know what you mean about the archetypes, but I don't think it detracted from the film once the 'corridor scene' began. I thought the different levels of racism in the police and willingness to look the other way - or even get the fuck away from where murder was being done - was well handled. I also thought the integration of contemporary footage worked well also. A 4/5.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Detroit - Great performances all round in this tense and horrifying drama. Left me cold though. As much as I was shocked and disgusted by what I'd seen, I left the cinema feeling very little about it all. I'd preferred a documentary instead.

American Made - a portion of Catch Me if You Can, Wolf of Wall Street and Goodfellas stylings all mixed up into a high flying Tom Cruise flick. Entertaining fluff that makes gun running and drug smuggling seem like a bunch of laughs......until it's not. Nothing new here. Entertaining enough.

 

[Maltin]

I thought Wind River was very good with strong performances from many of the cast, especially Jeremy Renner. A good story well told.

Pretty impressive filmography for the writer-director Taylor Sheridan who previously wrote Sicario and Hell or High Water, which I both thought were above average.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Has anyone seen A Date for Mad Mary? I have a choice between that and Wind River tomorrow. I believe Wind River reckons to be pretty good.

 

[Wilf]

Going watching the film based on Peter Ackroyd's Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem tonight. The clips I've seen in adverts look like it deploys every known cliché of Victorian underworld London, I'm just hoping it's actually better than that. Can't remember much about the book, other than I enjoyed it.

 

[lefteri]

Going watching the film based on Peter Ackroyd's Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem tonight. The clips I've seen in adverts look like it deploys every known cliché of Victorian underworld London, I'm just hoping it's actually better than that. Can't remember much about the book, other than I enjoyed it.

what's it called?

 

[Wilf]

what's it called?

The Limehouse Golem.