What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Vipp

Nazi's and Nuns.

Sounds like a special interest website I used to visit

[fuzzymctiger]

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut

I'm a massive fan of the Watchmen book (Which is why I haven't read Before Watchmen ), so I was super excited when I heard there was a movie coming out. It all looked so good, I bought magazines with articles on it, I was so excited. By the time it came out, I was too young to see it in cinemas, and my parents thought so as well. But by that point it didn't matter. I'd read so many bad things about, and my brother wouldn't stop going on about the ending being ruined. I just put the adaptation and the disappointment to the back of mind, and just stuck with reading the book every year or so.

Then earlier this year, amongst one of many chats about superhero movies and comic adaptations with a mate, Watchmen came up. A big fan of the book as well, my friend adamantly defended the film saying it was very good, and also a good adaptation. By this point over the years I'd seen the film appear on many lists about Box Office Disappointments, biggest dissapointments, people crapping on Snyder's direction and the film itself. I thought maybe it was time to give it a go, but had no idea what version to go for, and eventually forget.

A few days ago, a friend of mine lent me a stack of absolute classics from his collection whilst he was moving some stuff. Amongst it, was the Watchmen Ultimate Cut, the version I figured would be the best, seeing as it had the most content in it. 3 and a half hours was a long watch, but I figure it was time to give it a go.

Initially, I wasn't entirely sold. Showing the Comedian getting beaten up by someone far too strong, almost felt like a spoiler in itself to me, and the opening sequence, whilst fascinating, felt a bit campy. But after this, I started to realise how perfectly Snyder had adapted the film. Frames were recreated perfectly, dialogue, body posture, and more almost exact. About an hour or so in, the only faults I could pull were the modern score at points, the occasional odd period song that felt off, and some CG blood.

Otherwise, this film was exactly what Watchmen needed to be. Epic, sprawling, violent and unrelenting. The Black Freighter scenes and their bookends, despite initially put off by the animation quality (very poor), I warmed to its style and it was a pleasure to watch some of my favourite scenes of the book, the developing relationship between the Bernards.

Only in the last hour do things start to change a fair bit. Before that, it was really only one or two scenes that were left out, otherwise a staggering amount of minor details were present. At first I started to feel the changes weren't going to work, but ultimately they do. The ending in this is actually not too much changed, and the significant change works to the advantage of the story and film (Synder even puts in a small hint for fans, by naming the altered device SQUID on screen for a few seconds). There's a fair greater emotional depth here than was present in the comics, whose ending always felt cold and void to me.

In the end, Watchmen was a film I could not fault. At 3 hours and 30 odd minutes, it was exactly what I always wanted it to be, and what it should have been from the start: The entire Watchmen experience. All the details, all the characters, all the sequences. As a film for those who aren't rabid fans of the book, the Black Freighter scenes may be offputting, but otherwise its a rough gritty superhero movie that can even be seen as a critique on superhero culture. It's a fascinating alternate timeline, and deep and complex epic. For fans of the comic, this is the version to see. 10/10

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

We Still Kill the Old Way (2014)

Following the murder of his brother, beaten to death at the hands of a feral London street gang, retired former mob boss Ritchie Archer returns to the capital out for revenge and taking the law into his own hands.

British films of this ilk are often hit and miss. Some are rather underwhelming (St. George's Day) others such as The Football Factory are excellent. Discovering this was a Jonathan Sothcott production gave me hope as i loved Dead Cert, Devil's Playground, Mindflesh and Elfie Hopkins. Thankfully my hopes were realized and much more.

Director Sacha Bennett delivers a tense, thrilling and captivating film with a superb cast including former Saint, Ian Ogilvy as Richie, a man whose charm easily negates his past crimes, James Cosmo, Chris Ellison and Tony Denham as Richies old crew, Lysette Anthony as an old flame and Alison Doody as the police officer trying to track down the viscious E2 gang, A special mention must go to Dani Dyer (daughter of Eastenders Danny) in her first major screen appearance and supporting roles for Steven Berkoff and Nicky Henson.

The script is often wonderfully written, brilliantly capturing Ogilvy and his men, portraying them as heroes in today's almost lawless society of police inadequacy, even though they were back in the day clearly villains of the highest order' However, as Anthony says at more than one point "They kept our streets safe". It's not all violence and bloodshed though, there are some wonderfully comical lines throughout, rounded off by a delightful line linking the gang to a certain Turin set Michael Caine film. - Fantastic stuff.

The film is often violent, and the E2 gang are perhaps a little too OTT, however it all makes for a stylishly gripping 90 minutes that literally had me on the edge of my seat from the opening murder to the climactic bullet riddled finale.

Proof if need be, along with Tower Block, that British films can still out strip the rest of the world in this film making lark.

As the final credits role and the screen goes black a final caption announces 'The Richie gang will return in We Still Steal the Old Way' in classic 007 style...Here's hoping.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

We Still Kill the Old Way (2014)

Following the murder of his brother, beaten to death at the hands of a feral London street gang, retired former mob boss Ritchie Archer returns to the capital out for revenge and taking the law into his own hands.

British films of this ilk are often hit and miss. Some are rather underwhelming (St. George's Day) others such as The Football Factory are excellent. Discovering this was a Jonathan Sothcott production gave me hope as i loved Dead Cert, Devil's Playground, Mindflesh and Elfie Hopkins. Thankfully my hopes were realized and much more.

Director Sacha Bennett delivers a tense, thrilling and captivating film with a superb cast including former Saint, Ian Ogilvy as Richie, a man whose charm easily negates his past crimes, James Cosmo, Chris Ellison and Tony Denham as Richies old crew, Lysette Anthony as an old flame and Alison Doody as the police officer trying to track down the viscious E2 gang, A special mention must go to Dani Dyer (daughter of Eastenders Danny) in her first major screen appearance and supporting roles for Steven Berkoff and Nicky Henson.

The script is often wonderfully written, brilliantly capturing Ogilvy and his men, portraying them as heroes in today's almost lawless society of police inadequacy, even though they were back in the day clearly villains of the highest order' However, as Anthony says at more than one point "They kept our streets safe". It's not all violence and bloodshed though, there are some wonderfully comical lines throughout, rounded off by a delightful line linking the gang to a certain Turin set Michael Caine film. - Fantastic stuff.

The film is often violent, and the E2 gang are perhaps a little too OTT, however it all makes for a stylishly gripping 90 minutes that literally had me on the edge of my seat from the opening murder to the climactic bullet riddled finale.

Proof if need be, along with Tower Block, that British films can still out strip the rest of the world in this film making lark.

As the final credits role and the screen goes black a final caption announces 'The Richie gang will return in We Still Steal the Old Way' in classic 007 style...Here's hoping.

Nice review Dem and what a great film. Ogilvy looks like he is having so much fun through the whole film.

[trebor8273]

The rift

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Despite its flaws ( huge plot holes, poor acting and some poor special effects) I found myself enjoying the underwater scifi/ horror. We have a submarine designer that is sent to find out what happened to the sub siren 1 and its crew. The designer is help in this task by the crew of the sister ship the siren 2, it's not long before we found out something strange is going on and that the company that sent them, know more than they are letting on. For those who enjoy a good bit of cheese and some decent gore will find an enjoyable movie if they look past its flaws 7/10

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

Nice review Dem and what a great film. Ogilvy looks like he is having so much fun through the whole film.

Yeah he does and it suits him down to the ground. At times it/he felt like the Saint gone gangster.

Glad you too enjoyed it.

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Continuing with the WWI theme:

The Red Baron (2008) Some great aerial combat scenes and a good musical score, however it was somewhat let down by the almost episodic non combat scenes that just seemed to get in the way of the action. I felt that they could easily have been cut from the finished movie.

Beneath Hill 60 (2010) Another Australian WWI movie like last nights two films. Based on a true story this one is about an Australian miner who takes on a mission to continue tunneling beneath Hill 60, a German stronghold filled with thousands of enemy troops, the plan is to set off a massive explosion as part of a larger plan, but it becomes a race for time as the Germans start to realise whats going on beneath them.

[Vipp]

Avengers assemble: Age of Ultron -
I do like the first and second film so it may not shock you to know i thought this movie was bloomin' awesome. I don't see why it got bad reviews? if you like comic books it should entertain you. My only fault with the film is hawk eye and black widow, not only are the characters dull but the actors are also incredibly dull (in my opionion) I really couldn't care less what the Hulk and blackwidow get upto when they ain't at work so i don't need 20mins of film time to see them flirting then overreacting to said flirtation... Anyway the movie is bright and colourful, has lot's of robot's getting pounded on and all in all i think it was worth the conema ticket.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Vipp

Avengers assemble: Age of Ultron -
I do like the first and second film so it may not shock you to know i thought this movie was bloomin' awesome. I don't see why it got bad reviews? if you like comic books it should entertain you. My only fault with the film is hawk eye and black widow, not only are the characters dull but the actors are also incredibly dull (in my opionion) I really couldn't care less what the Hulk and blackwidow get upto when they ain't at work so i don't need 20mins of film time to see them flirting then overreacting to said flirtation... Anyway the movie is bright and colourful, has lot's of robot's getting pounded on and all in all i think it was worth the conema ticket.

My theory is that the bad reviews may be the 'backlash'
Some of the criticism is warranted but some of it nit picking. One reviewer complained Ultron had no character motivation where I thought it was quite clear.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Vipp

Avengers assemble: Age of Ultron -
I do like the first and second film so it may not shock you to know i thought this movie was bloomin' awesome.

What do mean first and second film Vipp? Age of Ultron is the second film, or at least the first direct sequel to The Avengers.

The wife and i went to see this last night. As others have said if you like the Marvel films then you will probably enjoy this and be prepared to overlook its flaws, and there are a few of them. Certainly compared to the first Avengers which say what you like i think is a damn near perfect film.
If you don't like Marvel or the genre in general then this ain't gonna convert you.