Films

[philipsteak]

14 hours ago, -TLR- said:

tried watching the new Running Man movie, gave up after 20 minutes.

 

I've not read the book, but from what I understand the new version is much closer than the 1987 film.

 

I absolutely love the 1987 film, it's just fantastic. its one of the first films I remember seeing with a message, and its just so well told, and the production is amazing.

 

this new version seemed to be trying as hard as possible to make you hate the protagonist.

 

the first 10 minutes are spent hitting you over the head with character and plot points that they evidently couldn't be bothered to weave into the story.

 

I found myself actually on the side of the "evil" government - the main dude is just a sanctimonious prick with anger issues, are you supposed to feel empathy for this guy?

 

when you take out the "butcher of Bakersfield" back story, it turns out that Ben Richards really is just a d*ck.

 

Rollerball (1975) did this a million times better.

 

🙂

 

 

 

I managed to watch the whole thing. I say watched. It was on a screen in a room where I also was. Didn't really hold my attention.

Bit crap

[charlierc]

With plans to buy the new James Bond video game, that got me in the mood to watch some of the movies. 

 

Casino Royale and Skyfall still hold up really well. Spectre, I seem to remember liking more at the time but it seems to be a bit more messy. 

 

Should probably watch more of the pre-Craig ones tbh. I liked Tomorrow Never Dies. 

[charlierc]

On 28/05/2026 at 22:27, charlierc said:

Should probably watch more of the pre-Craig ones tbh. I liked Tomorrow Never Dies. 

Sure enough I did finish the Brosnan Bonds. Goldeneye is good but I think might be overrated by some Bond mega-fans, The World Is Not Enough is ok but nothing more than that and Die Another Day is just wild. I didn't hate Die Another Day like some have but its basically a wacky sci-fi film with Bond movie clothes.

[-TLR-]

I'm not a Bond fan or anything, just a fella who will happily sit and watch a Bond film - so from that perspective I will say that Brosnan is my favourite, I really love all the ones he has done and can quite happily watch them over and over.

 

favourite individual film tho is On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

 

absolutely hate the Dalton ones - I used to think it was just the way he chose to play the character, for some reason he thought Bond should be a thoroughly unlikable person. but actually, Dalton plays this exact same character in every single thing I have ever seem him in... so I think he is either just a properly sh*t actor, or maybe he himself is just a thoroughly unlikable person.

 

dont really have any interest in any future ones tho... didnt really like the Craig ones.

 

Edited June 7 by -TLR-
spelling.

[philipsteak]

Disclosure Day was fun. 

It's very Spielberg but probably not an all time classic Spielberg. Nothing particularly original but it's well made, good performances (exceptional performance by Emily Blunt) and for a 2 hour plus blockbuster it flew by.

Not everything worked, but I don't want to say why to avoid spoiling. Then again, it's not like there are too many shocks in this film. 

[sheffinghell]

The Last Temptation - new Heaven 17 documentary film directed by James Strong. Premiered at Sheffield Docfest this weekend. 

 

I really enjoyed it. Affectionate, insightful, and honest. A nice mix of archival and footage, interviews and clips from the last tour. Martyn and Glenn are like an old married couple.

 

Plus a snippet of news from the Q&A, Martyn is recording new BEF material, and Phil Oakey has collaborated on the one of tracks. The film shows them meeting in Fagans for the first time in over 35 years.

Edited June 14 by sheffinghell

[steviewevie]

Got HBO Max to watch football so watched One Battle After Another which is a great film and deserves its awards and then rewatched Magnolia and that is a flipping amazing film...so much in it.

(also rewatching Angels In America series which is also amazing).

Edited June 14 by steviewevie

[sheffinghell]

Another one from Sheffield DocFest this weekend, Earth Wind & Fire docu, directed by Questlove. Sensational archive footage, contributions from band members, family, plus a lot of very big fans (Stevie, Lionel, Flea, the Obamas) and a warts n all assessment of the genius / flawed human being that was Maurice White. Also, I never realised he started out as a jazz drummer with Ramsay Lewis. Well worth a watch.

[charlierc]

Popped to the Vue to watch Disclosure Day last night. It was fine. Nothing more than that tbh. Some of it was a bit ridiculous, although Emily Blunt was good as the lead. 

[MilkyJoe]

22 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Popped to the Vue to watch Disclosure Day last night. It was fine. Nothing more than that tbh. Some of it was a bit ridiculous, although Emily Blunt was good as the lead. 

One for streaming for me this. I've read too many average reviews for me to waste a cinema trip on.

[philipsteak]

Watched The Invite and Obsession.

Both really really good but both tough watches and whilst I'm glad I saw them both, maybe I don't want to watch either ever again.

Obviously the cast in The Invite are great but so are the Obsession cast, especially Inde Navarrette. She's incredible in it.

[ian the worm]

Cried all the way through Voicemails to Isabelle coz I’m a grown man that absolutely loves soppy romance films. Tiz on Netflix. 

[-TLR-]

watched Project Hail Mary.

 

hated it.

 

its just a big, shiny, flashy ball of nothing.

 

there is not an original idea here, not a single one.

 

its like one of those adverts that try to get you to buy something because there's an old man who has lost his wife, only here they are trying to get you to buy something by feeling sorry for a CGI rock.

 

its like the whole thing was made by AI, and they got Ryan Gosling in for a days filming and pasted it over.

 

and i have no idea how long this thing is... but it felt like it was never, ever going to end...

 

shite.

[ian the worm]

On 15/07/2026 at 08:11, -TLR- said:

watched Project Hail Mary.

 

hated it.

 

its just a big, shiny, flashy ball of nothing.

 

there is not an original idea here, not a single one.

 

its like one of those adverts that try to get you to buy something because there's an old man who has lost his wife, only here they are trying to get you to buy something by feeling sorry for a CGI rock.

 

its like the whole thing was made by AI, and they got Ryan Gosling in for a days filming and pasted it over.

 

and i have no idea how long this thing is... but it felt like it was never, ever going to end...

 

shite.

I really enjoyed the audiobook. Didn’t know anything about it when I started and it was great. 
 

I agree that the film was shite. 

[charlierc]

Went to see The Odyssey. Didn't go for IMAX as my local one was sold out so settled for the next one down, which tbf was still very well projected.

 

I thought it was good. I'm not sure I'm as revelatory 5/5 as many critics were, but the performances and designs were good. So there's that.

[kaosmark2]

14 hours ago, charlierc said:

Went to see The Odyssey. Didn't go for IMAX as my local one was sold out so settled for the next one down, which tbf was still very well projected.

 

I thought it was good. I'm not sure I'm as revelatory 5/5 as many critics were, but the performances and designs were good. So there's that.

How much is it "dark/gritty" in that very Nolan way? I'm a bit interested but I just don't know if I want to sit through 3hrs of a Nolan "gritty realism fantasy".

[philipsteak]

I'm pretty Nolan agnostic but I enjoyed it.

It's about 30 minutes too long (what 'epic' film isn't) but it looks great, sounds great and there are some superb performances. Samantha Morton is a stand out.

Obviously see it on the biggest screen you can. The one I saw it on used to be IMAX but isn't anymore. But still looked amazing.

[charlierc]

7 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

How much is it "dark/gritty" in that very Nolan way? I'm a bit interested but I just don't know if I want to sit through 3hrs of a Nolan "gritty realism fantasy".

A little, though I'm aware we had the "gritty dark realistic" Greek mythology movie in the form of 2010's Clash of the Titans.

 

There's definitely some parts of that, I won't lie, but I felt like a lot of it still leaned in to the fantasy elements. It also felt versatile in a way - there were scenes with the giant Cyclops that made me think of Cloverfield with shakey cam and running from the monsters, while the stuff with Circe was some real straight up horror vibes. I thought both of those were good set pieces that felt different to his prior work. Plus I felt the scenes in a storm were really well done.

 

But I think a lot of it can depend on what you bring to the table. I went with my brother, who is more of a Nolan-skeptic, and he said he was bored and felt it went on too long.

[-TLR-]

watched 21 Jump Street again for the first time in a while.

 

i think i had almost forgotten how much i love it, its just about the perfect comedy movie.

 

the scene where they are coming up on the HFS is one of my top three greatest comedy scenes ever.

(along with "aaand then..." in Dude Where's My Car, and "Porto..." in The Greasy Strangler).

 

going to give 22 Jump Street another spin too as i remember that was also pretty funny..

 

🙂 

 

[charlierc]

Elon Musk says Grok Imagine will make ‘historically accurate’ AI adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey | Film | The Guardian

 

Let's be fair, if he does bring this to fruition, it's going to be sh*t. 

[charlierc]

Rewatched Interstellar and that was an interesting experience. For years, my opinion has been that I like the first two thirds but dislike the ending after Matthew McConaughey falls through the black hole. But when I watched it this week, I actually thought it kinda worked. Maybe it's because I'd forgotten the ghost idea, maybe now I'm older I can forgive the corniness of how love saved the day, or maybe I just liked the visuals. So that was a curiosity to me. 

 

I also watched Thunderbolts. That was a peculiar film in some respects with an interesting ride of essentially watching depressed superheroes but that did kinda work well together.

[-TLR-]

12 hours ago, charlierc said:

Elon Musk says Grok Imagine will make ‘historically accurate’ AI adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey | Film | The Guardian

 

Let's be fair, if he does bring this to fruition, it's going to be sh*t. 

 

I've clearly not had enough coffee this morning because I read that as "Elon Musk say Gok Wan will make historically accurate adaption of the Odyssey"...

 

[-TLR-]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Rewatched Interstellar and that was an interesting experience. For years, my opinion has been that I like the first two thirds but dislike the ending after Matthew McConaughey falls through the black hole. But when I watched it this week, I actually thought it kinda worked. Maybe it's because I'd forgotten the ghost idea, maybe now I'm older I can forgive the corniness of how love saved the day, or maybe I just liked the visuals. So that was a curiosity to me. 

 

 

 

the first time I saw Interstellar, I hated it, I mean proper hated it.

 

I just thought it was the most unoriginal, boring , pretentious drivel.

 

didn't watch it for years - then when I did watch it again I loved it, thought it was fantastic.

 

no idea why.

 

[charlierc]

51 minutes ago, -TLR- said:

 

I've clearly not had enough coffee this morning because I read that as "Elon Musk say Gok Wan will make historically accurate adaption of the Odyssey"...

 

Would be more watchable tbf. 

 

Given the whole thing is that the Odyssey was a myth told by storytellers across Ancient Greece, it's one of those things where calling it historically accurate is a bit ridiculous anyway. 

 

It does just go as "I'll make my own movie with blackjack and hookers, in fact, forget the movie and the blackjack, ah screw the whole thing" though. 

[charlierc]

49 minutes ago, -TLR- said:

 

the first time I saw Interstellar, I hated it, I mean proper hated it.

 

I just thought it was the most unoriginal, boring , pretentious drivel.

 

didn't watch it for years - then when I did watch it again I loved it, thought it was fantastic.

 

no idea why.

 

That's interesting tbf to make a complete 180 on it. And makes me content in a way that my readjustment to being on board with an ending I didn't initially get look even less radical haha. Like I said, I liked it to a point, plus I've always liked the score and visuals. 

 

Maybe it's just like how your food palette changes as you get older or you start to love a song you initially disliked - sometimes you need to be in a different space to get it.