What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)

[TruXta]

The Survivalist

Utter tosh. Avoid.

Quite enjoyable if you ask me.

 

[cybershot]

A few to catch up on.

Good Time (2017) - IMDb
Utter rubbish. No idea why this has such highly regarded reviews. Poor writing, poor direction, poor acting and generally just a really poor film. I can't even be bothered to go into it, so I'll just nick the IMDB blurb: After a heist goes awry, a bank robber spends a night trying to free his mentally ill brother from being sent to Riker's Island prison.
3/10

The Glass Castle (2017) - IMDb
About a troubled family who are pursued by law agencies. Always seemingly on the run, moving from squat to squat, from city to city. Until eventually the kids grow older and have enough and plan to leave. Told from the perspective of the older girl who is about to get married and we keep seeing various flashbacks. The long and short of it is we can't choose our family, but no matter how badly they treat us, it's hard to just give up on them. Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts are on on their game.
7/10

Brigsby Bear (2017) - IMDb
Not going to give to much of this one away, because it's probably not what you expect, the trailer for it is awesome, and the story although maybe not what you expect is a great story. One of the best films of the year in my opinion.
8/10

Wind River (2017) - IMDb
So many of these crime stories these days are better told on the TV than on the cinema screen, it's hard to put a murder story into 2 hours these days, and while this is a little slow paced it tells the investigation well enough and has an explosive ending that makes it all worthwhile. Good performances from Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner.
8/10

 

[DotCommunist]

I watched the first few eps of Punisher. I wasn't going to cos I never thought much of Punisher. He has no superpowers beyond the ability and willingness to engage in lots of gun-based slaughter, thats it. His 'thing' is that he only kills Bad Guys. But he decides who they are, so no, thats not cool. Plus the punisher logo/attitude seems to have been taken up by some US coppers, r/w gun nuts and militia sorts. Gave it a go anyway and its well made but
1)wife flashbacks. Enough of them
2) repeated flashbacks to his time in the army as part of an american death/torture squad including one iraqi translator getting tortured and shot. This flashback happens A LOT
3) You can't escape the fact that Frank Castle is a prick

his sidekick is reasonably amusing and deberoah anne woll...is in it...

might finish it but the plots not grabbed me much either. Theres some interesting enough bits in a Vets talking group for ex soldiers and some stuff about war is hell and PTSD as well.

 

[trabuquera]

First few eps of Suburra: Blood on Rome which makes about as much sense as the title (blood on Rome? what bit of it? what difference does it make to those stones, they've surely seen a bit of claret over the past 2 millennia and survived) .... but it's sort of fun. Like lots of Italian telly it's desperately trying to have its cake and eat it, by showing you lots of startlingly explicit sex n violence but insisting that you disapprove of it all heartily because it's evil and bad. There are just a few glints of human feeling for cute dogs, old racehorses and fit women (only the fit ones, mind.) Some of the plotting just makes no sense whatsoever (three rival young wannabe bad men who all hate each other team up to stick it to the Man, and despite all of them having perfectly good reasons to put the other 2 in prison / cement / custody, they seem to want to be friends and pal about instead) and there's the odd cliché, but it is twisty and dirty enough to sustain. There's bent priests and bent politicians and dodgy property deals and some nice garments, so worth a look. Also it might (don't know yet, it's still on the fence) possibly have something worth saying about how Roma/Sinti/gypsy/zingaro (*delete as appropriate) chancers fit into the Mafia system, or don't.

It may make me a snob to say this but: only worth watching in Italian really (you'll pick up a Lamborghini's worth of guttural Roman slang). The dubbed English "acting" is so laughably bad, with shockingly stilted translation read aloud in monotone middle-American-accented voices, that it's unwatchable IMO.

 

[flypanam]

I watched the first few eps of Punisher. I wasn't going to cos I never thought much of Punisher. He has no superpowers beyond the ability and willingness to engage in lots of gun-based slaughter, thats it. His 'thing' is that he only kills Bad Guys. But he decides who they are, so no, thats not cool. Plus the punisher logo/attitude seems to have been taken up by some US coppers, r/w gun nuts and militia sorts. Gave it a go anyway and its well made but
1)wife flashbacks. Enough of them
2) repeated flashbacks to his time in the army as part of an american death/torture squad including one iraqi translator getting tortured and shot. This flashback happens A LOT
3) You can't escape the fact that Frank Castle is a prick
.

4. The American Iranian Homeland security woman is on point and right about everything, except in affairs of the heart...she's poorly conceived and written imo.

It's a laboured show. So far only Daredevil and Jessica Jones show any characters have any ambivalence or even doubt.

Watched 20th century women last night, nearly had my old stone heart melting...great visuals and soundtrack too.

 

[krtek a houby]

Finished Mindhunter.

Spoiler

Nice use of Led Zep at the end

. Roll on season 2.

Spoiler

I wonder will they interview Manson?

 

[DotCommunist]

ambivalence or even doubt.

seems with Iron fist they replaced that with consuming arrogance/self belief and in Punisher they've used grief/war damage in place of that. And it doesn't work the same wayimo, its the doubt and self reflection that makes JJ and DD more human.

 

[DexterTCN]

Finished Mindhunter.Roll on season 2.

Spoiler

I wonder will they interview Manson?

em....nope

 

[Orang Utan]

em....nope

it's doubtful

 

[DexterTCN]

it's doubtful

He'll need a really good agent.

Frasier's agent Bebe could probably arrange it.

 

[krtek a houby]

em....nope

Ach, you know what I mean if you been watching it.

Spoiler

He's been mentioned twice as a kind of wish list interviewee & the series is set in the late 70s...

 

[SpookyFrank]

Atomic Blonde

Boring, pointless, didn't make it to the end. One of those movies where you get half way in, realise you don't know the lead character's name, then realise you don't care.

 

[Mordi]

Free Men

On iplayer for the next couple of weeks and has Algerian Communist Jews (who are gay) in occupied Paris. So that's good.

Reminded me a bit of the superb Army of Crime.

We also watched one of our favourites, Fucking Åmål which manages to address the isolation and boredom of queer teenagers in a small shit town in Sweden without losing any warmth or humour; and no one dies! Unheard of.

 

[belboid]

We also watched one of our favourites, Fucking Åmål which manages to address the isolation and boredom of queer teenagers in a small shit town in Sweden without losing any warmth or humour; and no one dies! Unheard of.

Great film. Don’t know why they chose to rename it Show Me Love over here.

 

[Mordi]

Great film. Don’t know why they chose to rename it Show Me Love over here.

Yeah, I didn't know that until I looked up the IMDB page. It has a great '90s indie pop soundtrack with the Robyn track of the english title for the credits.
Do you know if it got a cinematic release in the UK?

 

[belboid]

Not sure, I picked it up on video about fifteen years ago - one of the few I haven’t hidden away in the loft.

 

[cybershot]

The Limehouse Golem (2016) - IMDb
A pretty poor horror/thriller about murders that could only be caused my a mythical creature, which of course, are not.
5/10

 

[DotCommunist]

Rome

before Game of Thrones, before Spartacus: Blood and Sand there was HBO's Rome. And it has aged well. Forgot what a great cast it has

 

[trabuquera]

Rest of Suburra on Netflix- once you get into it the last third is horribly compelling, even if overall it gets more than a little implausible. Surprisingly similar in plot terms to HBO's Rome in fact ... how little humans have learned in 2,500 years, it's still all thugs n gangsters feeding off the poor as they pursue their own incestuous vendettas. Bodies pile up a bit too quickly, and there's an argument to be made that it's needlessly sexist (the female characters are sketchy and underdeveloped) ... but much, much better than I expected from the first couple of eps. Some very classy multi-level explorations of corruption, tightly-wound if exaggerated plotting and some terrific performances. Also its ambientish electronic soundtrack does wonders, lending the whole thing a properly elegiac and mournful feel, not just providing a backdrop to all the bang-bang-bang. To repeat: don't even try watching with the dubbed English soundtrack which completely ruins it.

 

[cybershot]

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) - IMDb
A very watchable criminal mastermind befriending arch enemy to help him out in order to get one from A to B in order to get to a courtroom to expose more baddies. It's pretty much a fast & furious film without as many fast cars and a bit more guns and fighting. If you like them, you'll like this.
7/10

 

[Beats & Pieces]

Valhall Rising (2009)

This is a curious thing, featuring some beautiful and brooding camera work, possibly hinting at an interplay of the epic and the metaphysical. Brutal, and yet there are hints at a salvation narrative (baptism, water, purity, sacrifice - possibly aimed directly at Christianity) - without any 'feel good' ending based on a clear indication as to who is being saved. Worth watching, and certainly a film of two parts, but one that I'm going to have to watch again at some point.

 

[cybershot]

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) - IMDb

Went into this not really knowing much about it but really enjoyed this sci fi romp. It would have been an 8 but for the seemingly pointless Rihanna cameo. A whole 30 minute section of the film that could have not been included and would have made no difference to the story at all. One of the weirdest 30 minutes of film I’ve seen in a while. However apart from that is quite good.

7/10

 

[Virtual Blue]

I watched the first few eps of Punisher. I wasn't going to cos I never thought much of Punisher. He has no superpowers beyond the ability and willingness to engage in lots of gun-based slaughter, thats it. His 'thing' is that he only kills Bad Guys. But he decides who they are, so no, thats not cool. Plus the punisher logo/attitude seems to have been taken up by some US coppers, r/w gun nuts and militia sorts. Gave it a go anyway and its well made but
1)wife flashbacks. Enough of them
2) repeated flashbacks to his time in the army as part of an american death/torture squad including one iraqi translator getting tortured and shot. This flashback happens A LOT
3) You can't escape the fact that Frank Castle is a prick

his sidekick is reasonably amusing and deberoah anne woll...is in it...

might finish it but the plots not grabbed me much either. Theres some interesting enough bits in a Vets talking group for ex soldiers and some stuff about war is hell and PTSD as well.

Frank Castle is meant to be a sadistic murderous prick. His super powers is that he’s super tactical, like a chess player of the marvel twats but as a character he is very one dimensional.

Satisfied with the first two episodes and liking it so far (much better than Luke Cage and the white guy doing Kung fu one).

Hope it doesn’t run out of steam.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Patti Cake$ - a shamelessly traditional underdog feelgood flick about a poor girl from New Jersey who dreams of making it as a rap star. it has every cliche in the book, but still delivers a cracking couple of hours of entertainment through sheer energy and great performances, especially from Danielle Macdonald. Also a nice cameo from Cathy Moriarty.

 

[cybershot]

21 Jump Street (2012) - IMDb
Hilarious, but I've always enjoyed American College humour films for some reason.
8/10

22 Jump Street (2014) - IMDb
More of the same, and takes the piss out of itself, as it's more or less exactly the same film, but that's not a bad thing!
7/10

 

[8115]

Patti Cake$ - a shamelessly traditional underdog feelgood flick about a poor girl from New Jersey who dreams of making it as a rap star. it has every cliche in the book, but still delivers a cracking couple of hours of entertainment through sheer energy and great performances, especially from Danielle Macdonald. Also a nice cameo from Cathy Moriarty.

I saw this in the cinema and loved it. It's a really unique film for all its flaws.

 

[Beats & Pieces]

Geostorm

Okay. If you are a fan of 90s big action films then this works. It is a film entirely at ease with itself, no pretensions to a greater meaning, either through the narative or excessive CGI. It is a fun film for a Friday night with popcorn - sheer nonsensical escapism.

Bloody great fun.

 

[Beats & Pieces]

9 Songs.

Shit songs and shit sex. A shit film. It makes 'Love' look like a metaphysical exploration of the highest order...

 

[rubbershoes]

Baby driver

I feared it was going to be a shitty Fast and Furious rip off but it was actually pretty good

And it has a fantastic soundtrack

 

[flypanam]

Kind hearts and coronets

A distant poor relative of the Duke of D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.

Alec Guinness in his prime.