Has Anyone Seen A Good Film Recently?

[Pete Smoke]

With Hollywood hype and 'paid off' critics, who can you trust for movie recommendations?

By far the best 'new' film i've seen recently has to be Watchmen. A comic adaptation with certificate 18 violence is sure to be entertainment guaranteed. I dont have a lust for violence but after all the pithy family fantasy films of recent years this is like a breath of fresh air. The best comic adaptation since Sin City. Fair enough theres plenty of flaky acting but this film is great.

I've also revisited some old favourites recently, i can recommend, Withnail & I, Bullitt, Local Hero ( thanks for the reminder Mr T ), Baraka, and Rockers.

Whats your favourites of all time? If you've seen a good film ( or documentary - but leave out TV episodes ) tell us about it.

[MacDeffe]

My favourite movies are

Trainspotting, Blues Brothers, Moulin Rouge, Starship Troopers, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Jean de Florette

Macdeffe

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Aside from Local Hero, the ones that spring immediately to mind are Casablanca and Picnic At Hanging Rock.

Had a conversation recently about the pitfalls of adapting favorite novels to film. It was agreed that The Shipping News was awful, and Master & Commander was excellent.

Haven't seen Watchmen, but I should--read the original ages ago. The comic book flicks are a guilty pleasure for me, and I wouldn't recommend them to someone if I didn't know whether they were into that stuff already.

[C57]

Master & Commander was excellent.

Well, not bad, but you can't really condense 20 volumes of P O'B into a single film...
The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favourites, but I'd agree Casablanca too.

[bobbyb]

Still think that '12 angry men' is the best ever film, still watch it every so often.
Forgot all about 'picnic at hanging rock' another classic, not seen that for a while, of to pour the latest bladie bottling of Caol il.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Master & Commander was excellent.

Well, not bad, but you can't really condense 20 volumes of P O'B into a single film...

Given that they pasted together two of the novels, they were reasonably faithful to events described in the books; more important than that, I felt they captured the spirit of the books; and more important than that, they made a good movie. Cinematic and literary storytelling are two completely different things, and you're better off, generally, if you can separate the two and judge each on its own merits. If the filmmaker actually does manage to be faithful to the original, that's bonus. I mention The Shipping News as a film which was fairly faithful to the novel in plot details, but was just a limp, lifeless movie. I gather it was a rushed production, and they simply didn't have enough time to figure out how to capture the novel's zeitgeist. It's almost a recitation of events without any inner dialogue at all. I'd have been happier if it had been less faithful, but had some sort of spirit to it.

[Holysinner]

My all-time favorites would include:
The Fountain
Waking the Dead
The Sweet Hereafter
Momento
Wings of Desire (Himmel uber Berlin)
Gandhi
Lawrence of Arabia

I haven't rented or been to see many movies lately, but I thought The Hurt Locker was excellent. I recently saw a movie on cable called The Lather Effect (2006) that was surprisingly (because I'd never heard of it) good. Nothing earth shattering but an enjoyable personal drama.

[les taylor]

We saw Star Trek last night. Mrs Les loves Star Trek. As a documentary on the history of Jim Tiberius Kirk this was quite informative. Sad to see how his father died in the opening sequence. And how he was smuggled on to the Enterprise as a cadet officer. Very interesting.

[Pete Smoke]

Master & Commander was excellent.

Well, not bad, but you can't really condense 20 volumes of P O'B into a single film...
The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favourites, but I'd agree Casablanca too.

I agree Master & Commander is a great film, but didn't they end it with the story unfinished - whens the sequel? The Shawshank Redemption is a classic. I still haven't worked out how he re-attached the poster after he climbed through his tunnel!

[Jimmy321]

I can't wait to see Birdemic!

[Malt-Teaser]

Good films recently?
No, I generally don't 'do' films, at least not at the cinema.

The last three films I saw in a cinema were the three episodes of Lord of the Rings. Before those I have to think long and hard ........ I certainly remember seeing a couple in the mid to late 1970's and also some early James bonds in the late 1960's, maybe very early 1970's along with the original "Italian Job".


Do those count as 'recent'?

[les taylor]

Do those count as 'recent'?

Keith absolutely. I hate going to the cinema, The great unwashed just don't know how to behave anymore. Talking, eating, in and out to the toilet, popcorn all over the floor why do they bother to pay to watch a film when they do anything else but. Last time I went, I ended up complaining to the cinema manager, I wanted him to know what was going on under his roof. I was offered 2 free tickets to another film. Mrs Les took our daughter to another branch of the same chain. It's Dvd's for me now.

[Peat Sampras]

One that was good recently is Shutter Island with Di Caprio. I'd read the book some times ago and must say it is a really good adaptation of the novel. Last film I saw was the cartoon "how to train a dragon" in 3D. It's funny film and the setting of the viking islands reminds one of Shetland or Orkney (or even St. Kilda as a matter of fact). The Vikings all have Scots accents

[Pete Smoke]

Keith absolutely. I hate going to the cinema, The great unwashed just don't know how to behave anymore. Talking, eating, in and out to the toilet, popcorn all over the floor why do they bother to pay to watch a film when they do anything else but.
It's Dvd's for me now.

Its been a while for me too. The first Lord Of The Rings was my last visit to the cinema. I invested in a top notch TV and pump the sound through my Roksan and hey presto - the cinema experience minus the great unwashed! A friend of mine went recently with his Mrs and it cost £20 before they bought any refreshments.

[Pete Smoke]

Last night i finally got round to watching Burn After Reading, another good offering from the Coen brothers. Its a bit on the slow side and not in the same league as The Big Lebowski and Fargo but its full of the trademark quirky off-beat humour.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

The Vikings all have Scots accents

Hmmm. The Irish pub I had lunch in yesterday was called Asgard. What's that about?

I haven't been in a cinema in some years, either. I gather that the kids going to see the same movie seven times make up for it.

[Peat Sampras]

Last night i finally got round to watching Burn After Reading, another good offering from the Coen brothers. Its a bit on the slow side and not in the same league as The Big Lebowski and Fargo but its full of the trademark quirky off-beat humour.

I adored Brad Pitt playing a complete idiot in this one

[Pete Smoke]

Last night i finally got round to watching Burn After Reading, another good offering from the Coen brothers. Its a bit on the slow side and not in the same league as The Big Lebowski and Fargo but its full of the trademark quirky off-beat humour.

I forgot to add O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country For Old Men in the above list.

[Livvy]

Got Gran Torino on DVD for a fiver...that was a good watch...another film I really enjoyed was Into the Wild. Road to Perdition was good too...Memphis Belle and Goonies from back in the day.

[Pete Smoke]

I re-watched Watchmen last night and its even better second time round. The greatest 'far-fetched' film of all time imo. Superb soundtrack too. All comicadaptophiles should watch this. Its absurdly perfect...and perfectly absurd.

[Peat Sampras]

I see this becoming a drop your favorite movie thread so here's some of mine (not in this order and not complete):

Pulp Fiction
From Dusk til Dawn
4 Rooms
Trainspotting
La Haine
Reservoir Dogs
Night on Earth
Scarface
Casino
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Big Lebowski
Bad Lieutenant
Fargo
Ghost Dog
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Funny De Niro like Meet the Parents or Analyze this are cool as well

I'll stop here but there are much more good movies around.

[Malt-Teaser]

Well, as for 'favourite' and not in the cinema I would have to include "Big Wednesday" in my rather short list.




No, it's a surfing film!

[Peat Sampras]

Well, as for 'favourite' and not in the cinema I would have to include "Big Wednesday" in my rather short list.




No, it's a surfing film!

Talking bout surfing films, I'd like to add Point Break with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze (R.I.P.) to my list. classic...

[Malt-Teaser]

Yes that too, but the ultimate classic was the original one and very amateur - Endless Summer.

"You should have been here yesterday!"

[Pete Smoke]

My top three of all time has to be Apocalypse Now, not the Redux version, Pulp Fiction, and The Seven Samurai has just been replaced by Watchmen. ITV played Aguirre, Wrath Of God last night, another of my all time faves, although it was late i just couldn't stop watching it, Werner Herzog at his best.