What movie have you watched?

I've been meaning to add entries here since the second lockdown eased in Scotland in April/May but never got around to it. Most recently I saw Belfast at the London Film Festival and enjoyed it very much. It takes a personal, family-based approach to the issue of sectarianism in that city in 1969.

Before that I saw two very different MI6-related films: No Time To Die, which I enjoyed even though I found it curiously depressing. If you're a Bond fan or in any way interested in seeing it, avoid all discussions/reviews of it beforehand. The next day I saw The Courier, based on the true story of a London-based businessman who gets involved in an MI6 operation in Russia. Very engrossing and tense at times, it was nice to see such a contrasting film set in the same 'sphere'.

Here are all the other films I've been to see since the spring re-opening of cinemas in Scotland. I won't make the post too long by describing them all. I've stuck an asterisk next to the ones I liked best.

* Nomadland

Rare Beasts

A Quiet Place 2

* Cruella

* Ammonite

The Father

* The Reason I Jump

* The World To Come

* The Sparks Brothers

Black Widow

* Girlfriends

* The Last Letter To Your Lover

* The Nest

The Stranger

I'll be surprised if before the end of the year I spend a more entertaining, visually gorgeous couple of hours in a cinema than I did seeing Cruella. Overall I'm very happy with my strike rate.

Quote from Noni

Watched Sgt Bilko with Steve Martin, such a great film. Steve is one of my favourite American comedians I enjoy to watch.

Steve is indeed a genius, though he's made some turkeys too. LA Story is great and makes excellent use of Enya's first album. Man with 2 brains, Dead men don't wear plaid, Dirty rotten Scoundrels and All of me are highlights for me.

Quote from foxfeeder

Steve is indeed a genius, though he's made some turkeys too. LA Story is great and makes excellent use of Enya's first album. Man with 2 brains, Dead men don't wear plaid, Dirty rotten Scoundrels and All of me are highlights for me.

Dead Men and All Of Me I liked very much at the time but haven't seen them for decades. I enjoyed his performance in a straight role in the David Mamet film The Spanish Prisoner, as a suave and somewhat self-satisfied wealthy businessman. It's a plot with typically Mametesque twists, turns and misdirections and needs some suspension of disbelief but is worth a look if you're in the mood for a bit of a thinker. I'd have liked to see him in more straight roles.

Re Bilko, I loved the Phil Silvers Show and watched it a lot as a teen. But I didn't hear a single good thing about the film and consequently had no interest in it.

I've just today been to see The House of Gucci. I know little about the Gucci family and empire and I'm vaguely aware there's been some objections to this film. It was a bit clunky in some ways but overall I really enjoyed it.

Quote from Noni

The Game(1997) with Michael Douglas, Sean Penn and Deborah Kara Unger.

Never seen this movie before, I was hooked through out.

About a rich self centred millionaire who makes money on the stocks and owns a bank. His Brother(Sean Penn) gives Michael a present that will change his life.

Not knowing what was involved, Michael needed to go through some aptitude and medical tests before deciding on this game.

Without deciding on the game, it had already begun, with life threatening results.

His fortune and investments ended in disaster and ended up going into poverty.

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Love that movie, haven't seen it in years.

I always thought Michael Douglas is extremely underrated. He won his Oscar for Wall Street but possibly should have won it for Falling Down. He is good at comedy as well, which he never seems to get credit for, e.g. The War of The Roses.

Looking him up on Wikipedia, I found he had been awarded... the Genesis Prize.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_Prize

Quote from Noni

The Green Mile with Tom Hanks!....

Great movie!

Urgh. The worst film I have ever seen. Miserable from beginning to end. Really brought me down while i saw it

I've seen so many films in the cinema since the thread was active last summer so I won't list them all, just the most recent.

As we often do before xmas we went to see It's A Wonderful Life, this time at a wonderful little local volunteer-run cinema nearby. Post-xmas I went to see the Whitney Houston bipoc which like many of this genre had its problems but overall I'm glad I saw it.

So far this year I've seen Corsage, based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and Babylon which is set in 1920s/30s Hollywood and focuses on several characters, some on the way up and others on the way out as the talkies era arrives.

Corsage was okay, it looked lovely but on the whole I found it rather unengaging and a bit too full of itself. Babylon was really engrossing and I almost didn't notice it was over 3 hours.

Asteroid City.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Quote from panopticom

Asteroid City.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm considering it but hesitant in case it's too much like all his other studiedly quirky films.

Quote from Backdrifter

I'm considering it but hesitant in case it's too much like all his other studiedly quirky films.

Totally understand.

It's on "The French Dispatch" path. So, if you did not like that one, chances are you will not be impressed with this one.

Quote from panopticom

Totally understand.

It's on "The French Dispatch" path. So, if you did not like that one, chances are you will not be impressed with this one.

Hmmm. I did see TFD. I don't outright dislike his films, it's more a kind of eye-rolling "ok, here he goes again" response. His films have a very samey feel. On balance I might swerve this one.

l saw Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny. I gather it's the final one of the series. As ridiculous but enjoyable as I expected.