Last film watched

[Numbers]

John Wick 4, 2&3/4 hours, I felt fatigued jus watching it.

[paddy no 11]

Finchers latest film is a pathetic series of product placements. Terrible don't waste your time with it

[Which Tyler]

[Puja]

The first Dune film.was okay, but it felt like it was dedicated to giving the fans of the book a beautiful rendition of the images evoked by the text, rather than necessarily being a good film in it's own right. Felt like a glorious companion piece, like a set of moving illustrations. I can't help but wonder whether it told the story coherently to a newcomer..

That trailer does look rather good, and suggests it will at least do what the first one did in bringing the pages to life for the fans.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

To me, the first film just felt like part 1
A load of set-up and no pay-off.
A lot like the book at that point.

I suspect it'll look a lot better when the 2 are watched in conjunction.

[Puja]

I finally got around to watching the fourth Matrix film and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was solidly okay. Everything I'd heard had led me to believe that it was appalling, but it was a solidly fun movie - not as good as the first one, but probably better than the other two and vicious in its self-awareness. It did suffer a bit from not being able to get Hugo Weaving back though - would've been a lot stronger with the original Smith rather than a recast.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

As someone who hadn't read the books the first film was truly one of the most bland, boring things I've ever seen. Seems like it served the true fans well though.

I thought Anatomy of a fall was fantastic. It's kind of amazing to me that you can still make a murder mystery/court room drama format interesting and original.

"Vicious in its self awareness" is certainly one way to describe the new Matrix film. There were some good moments, but most of the entertainment came from "see - I told you this film would be absolutely awful if you made us make another sequel" style jokes. I don't know that I'd say that's a good thing. I'd say good on them for the middle finger, but it still turned out being the paint-by-numbers movie the studios were pushing for, for the most part.

[Numbers]

As someone who hadn't read the books the first film was truly one of the most bland, boring things I've ever seen. Seems like it served the true fans well though.

I thought Anatomy of a fall was fantastic. It's kind of amazing to me that you can still make a murder mystery/court room drama format interesting and original.

"Vicious in its self awareness" is certainly one way to describe the new Matrix film. There were some good moments, but most of the entertainment came from "see - I told you this film would be absolutely awful if you made us make another sequel" style jokes. I don't know that I'd say that's a good thing. I'd say good on them for the middle finger, but it still turned out being the paint-by-numbers movie the studios were pushing for, for the most part.

Where did you watch that Mikey? I can't seem to find it.

[Mikey Brown]

An Everyman. I’m not sure if you mean a specific cinema or streaming? I don’t think it’s on streaming yet in any legitimate way, but I imagine it’s in a decent number of cinemas at the moment.

Might end up streaming on something more like Mubi than Netflix, as it’s still an artsy French film, but I’d recommend it in a cinema if you can find it and don’t mind 2:40 runtime.

[Numbers]

An Everyman. I’m not sure if you mean a specific cinema or streaming? I don’t think it’s on streaming yet in any legitimate way, but I imagine it’s in a decent number of cinemas at the moment.

Might end up streaming on something more like Mubi than Netflix, as it’s still an artsy French film, but I’d recommend it in a cinema if you can find it and don’t mind 2:40 runtime.

Thanks mate

[Puja]

As someone who hadn't read the books the first film was truly one of the most bland, boring things I've ever seen. Seems like it served the true fans well though.

That's what I thought might be the impression for a fresh viewer. I don't know if it even did do a good job for me as a fan - it was a loving homage to the book and showcased some absolutely stunning visuals, but if I want to revisit the story again in the future, there's absolutely no question in the slightest of whether I'll be heading to the bookshelf or the television, which suggests it's an abject failure as an adaptation.

Compare that to Nimona from earlier this year, which changed quite a lot from the source material in terms of looks, setting, and plot, but still kept the same feel and important character beats as the original, becoming a different way of telling the story that I like just as much as the book, possibly more. Mind, there's too big and old and entitled a fanbase to endure anything other than a loyal retelling of the book of Dune, but it feels like they could've taken some more chances than trying to do a page-by-page recreation that missed out a lot of the emotion that's told through internal monologue in the book.

Puja

[switchskier]

As someone who hadn't read the books the first film was truly one of the most bland, boring things I've ever seen. Seems like it served the true fans well though.

That's what I thought might be the impression for a fresh viewer. I don't know if it even did do a good job for me as a fan - it was a loving homage to the book and showcased some absolutely stunning visuals, but if I want to revisit the story again in the future, there's absolutely no question in the slightest of whether I'll be heading to the bookshelf or the television, which suggests it's an abject failure as an adaptation.

Compare that to Nimona from earlier this year, which changed quite a lot from the source material in terms of looks, setting, and plot, but still kept the same feel and important character beats as the original, becoming a different way of telling the story that I like just as much as the book, possibly more. Mind, there's too big and old and entitled a fanbase to endure anything other than a loyal retelling of the book of Dune, but it feels like they could've taken some more chances than trying to do a page-by-page recreation that missed out a lot of the emotion that's told through internal monologue in the book.

Puja

Interesting. I really liked the books but I loved the film. It looked stunning but was really faithful, not just in story but in feel and look. Can't wait for the next one.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I finally got around to watching the fourth Matrix film and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was solidly okay. Everything I'd heard had led me to believe that it was appalling, but it was a solidly fun movie - not as good as the first one, but probably better than the other two and vicious in its self-awareness. It did suffer a bit from not being able to get Hugo Weaving back though - would've been a lot stronger with the original Smith rather than a recast.

Puja

No, no, no, no, no, no! This is what you get when your expectations are lowered too far.

Having said that I love the first two Matrix films but not the third, so perhaps I have strange tastes.

For me, Matrix 4 would have been fine if there had been no previous films. As it was it was a cash-in which had nothing new to add to the series, so just dragged all of them down. This is a lesson - don't resurrect a franchise if there is nothing new to say (just like the latest Star Wars trilogy).

[Son of Mathonwy]

As someone who hadn't read the books the first film was truly one of the most bland, boring things I've ever seen. Seems like it served the true fans well though.

That's what I thought might be the impression for a fresh viewer. I don't know if it even did do a good job for me as a fan - it was a loving homage to the book and showcased some absolutely stunning visuals, but if I want to revisit the story again in the future, there's absolutely no question in the slightest of whether I'll be heading to the bookshelf or the television, which suggests it's an abject failure as an adaptation.

Compare that to Nimona from earlier this year, which changed quite a lot from the source material in terms of looks, setting, and plot, but still kept the same feel and important character beats as the original, becoming a different way of telling the story that I like just as much as the book, possibly more. Mind, there's too big and old and entitled a fanbase to endure anything other than a loyal retelling of the book of Dune, but it feels like they could've taken some more chances than trying to do a page-by-page recreation that missed out a lot of the emotion that's told through internal monologue in the book.

Puja

I had no idea Nimona was an adaptation. The story seemed way too lightweight to suggest that. Nice enough film but nothing special.

[Son of Mathonwy]

To me, the first film just felt like part 1
A load of set-up and no pay-off.
A lot like the book at that point.

I suspect it'll look a lot better when the 2 are watched in conjunction.

For me, the best part of the book is the beginning, the downfall of Leto etc. Once Paul is in the desert it's all a bit boring watching him

► Show Spoiler

slowly rise to predestined victory over the sneering villains. (Not the biggest spoiler, to be honest )

So it's difficult to make the second film better than the first.

[paddy no 11]

A few recent films I watched

Saltburn - rubbish, give Barry keoghan his dignity back please

Minari - decent American/korean drama 7/10

Past lives - good romantic drama 8/10

The killer - pathetic effort from fincher 1/10

Must get through more korean films, the handmaiden and in the mood for love on top of the list

[Son of Mathonwy]

These are the new films I can remember watching in 2023 (although some may be 2022?).

Outstanding or unique:
Infinity Pool
Spider-Man across the Spider-Verse

Very good:
Unicorn Wars
Landscape with Invisible Hand
Oppenheimer

Reasonable/good but flawed:
Barbie
My Love Affair with Marriage
Knock at the Cabin
Saw X
Talk to Me

Disappointing:
The Creator

I only have myself to blame:
Five Nights at Freddie's

Also I finally got around to watching No Time to Die this year, which I enjoyed the most of all the Craig Bond films, perhaps because it was less hyped.

[Mikey Brown]

I’m intrigued which of those categories Infinity Pool fell in to for you. There were definitely moments of both, but really did not know how I felt afterwards overall.

Anatomy of a fall was easily the best thing I saw in the cinema but I don’t think I actually went much this year. Not for new releases anyway.

[paddy no 11]

The graduate - got too 44 years without seeing it. Enjoyed it, great performances all round.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I’m intrigued which of those categories Infinity Pool fell in to for you. There were definitely moments of both, but really did not know how I felt afterwards overall.

Anatomy of a fall was easily the best thing I saw in the cinema but I don’t think I actually went much this year. Not for new releases anyway.

Yeah, more unique than outstanding perhaps, but something of both. I accept it's not unflawed but, looking back over the year, it really stands out for me.

I will have to check out Anatomy of a Fall...

[Mikey Brown]

Anybody watched Poor Things or The Boy and The Heron yet? Can't quite choose which. Will definitely check out Zone of Interest when that comes out too. Saw the Godzilla film and that was pretty fun.

[Puja]

Anybody watched Poor Things or The Boy and The Heron yet? Can't quite choose which. Will definitely check out Zone of Interest when that comes out too. Saw the Godzilla film and that was pretty fun.

The algorithm is determined that I should watch Poor Things, so I've seen about a dozen different mini-trailers. Looks like good fun, tbh.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

Anybody watched Poor Things or The Boy and The Heron yet? Can't quite choose which. Will definitely check out Zone of Interest when that comes out too. Saw the Godzilla film and that was pretty fun.

The algorithm is determined that I should watch Poor Things, so I've seen about a dozen different mini-trailers. Looks like good fun, tbh.

Puja

I generally can’t stand trailers but have also ended up seeing that one several times. It looks very different to what he’s done before and I’m a bit dubious about the fantastical look of it all. Amazing cast though.

[paddy no 11]

Off to see poor things tonight, expecting good things

[paddy no 11]

Absolutely loved poor things

The sets alone were worth the trip to the cinema