Last film watched

[Numbers]

Off to see poor things tonight, expecting good things

That is quite confusing

[paddy no 11]

Anatomy of a fall is very good - drama and the French justice system. Like spiral without the drugs

[Mikey Brown]

Watched Bottoms with absolutely zero expectation, just wanted some background nonsense, but it was actually really good. Really properly funny, with a pretty bizarre, unpredictable tone to it. The story itself isn't anything ground-breaking but it's brilliantly executed. Just stupid, weird and fun.

Would highly recommend. Easily one of the better films I've seen from last year.

[Mikey Brown]

Finally saw Poor Things. Was worried I’d built it up too much but it was fantastic. Weird and long and self-indulgent, but fantastic.

[Mikey Brown]

Absolutely loved poor things

The sets alone were worth the trip to the cinema

Yep, just by fluke happened to see it on an idiotically large screen and it was really something. Loads of shit films get rave reviews for the “visual spectacle” which is just a load of big, loud CGI bullshit, but this was truly unique looking and tied so heavily in to the story.

The music throughout was just insane. In a good way.

[morepork]

keen to see this. Tina Turner said we don't need another hero, and I by fuck don't need to see another superhero movie.


I also saw bottoms Mikey, and it was a good solid romp. Fun and funny.

[paddy no 11]

The mission - brilliant film, though not bobby de niros finest effort

Interesting career from director joffe, works on coronation street, than makes 2 outstanding though thematically similar films in the mission and the killing fields. Then wins the golden raspberry for the scarlet letter

[Sandydragon]

The mission - brilliant film, though not bobby de niros finest effort

Interesting career from director joffe, works on coronation street, than makes 2 outstanding though thematically similar films in the mission and the killing fields. Then wins the golden raspberry for the scarlet letter

Totally agree, excellent film.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Anatomy of a fall is very good - drama and the French justice system. Like spiral without the drugs

I finally got to see Anatomy of a Fall. Ah, European cinema, the antithesis of Hollywood. I really enjoyed it and would love (only kidding) to see Americans try to remake it. Can you imagine that ending in a Hollywood film?

[Mikey Brown]

Anatomy of a fall is very good - drama and the French justice system. Like spiral without the drugs

I finally got to see Anatomy of a Fall. Ah, European cinema, the antithesis of Hollywood. I really enjoyed it and would love (only kidding) to see Americans try to remake it. Can you imagine that ending in a Hollywood film?

Oh god. I mean it will probably happen, but it shouldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already in the works.

I only recently found out about the American remake of 'Force Majeure', and apparently 'Another Round' is getting the treatment too. Both fantastic films that have no need for a watered down translation.

Watch 'Sibyl' if you can find it (there's a 7 day Mubi trial via Amazon) if you want to see Justine Triet's previous film. Similar underlying themes to Anatomy of a Fall but much more fun and bizarre, albeit very slow to get properly going. Sandra Huller is fantastic again but in a much more chaotic way.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Anatomy of a fall is very good - drama and the French justice system. Like spiral without the drugs

I finally got to see Anatomy of a Fall. Ah, European cinema, the antithesis of Hollywood. I really enjoyed it and would love (only kidding) to see Americans try to remake it. Can you imagine that ending in a Hollywood film?

Oh god. I mean it will probably happen, but it shouldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already in the works.

I only recently found out about the American remake of 'Force Majeure', and apparently 'Another Round' is getting the treatment too. Both fantastic films that have no need for a watered down translation.

Watch 'Sibyl' if you can find it (there's a 7 day Mubi trial via Amazon) if you want to see Justine Triet's previous film. Similar underlying themes to Anatomy of a Fall but much more fun and bizarre, albeit very slow to get properly going. Sandra Huller is fantastic again but in a much more chaotic way.

No one should try to remake Another Round. What's to be improved? Maybe Force Majeure - for me that had a great concept and was excellent in places but also random and unfocused. There was a better film in there somewhere (although I doubt Hollywood will make it).

I haven't seen Sibyl yet . . .

[Mikey Brown]

I finally got to see Anatomy of a Fall. Ah, European cinema, the antithesis of Hollywood. I really enjoyed it and would love (only kidding) to see Americans try to remake it. Can you imagine that ending in a Hollywood film?

Oh god. I mean it will probably happen, but it shouldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already in the works.

I only recently found out about the American remake of 'Force Majeure', and apparently 'Another Round' is getting the treatment too. Both fantastic films that have no need for a watered down translation.

Watch 'Sibyl' if you can find it (there's a 7 day Mubi trial via Amazon) if you want to see Justine Triet's previous film. Similar underlying themes to Anatomy of a Fall but much more fun and bizarre, albeit very slow to get properly going. Sandra Huller is fantastic again but in a much more chaotic way.

No one should try to remake Another Round. What's to be improved? Maybe Force Majeure - for me that had a great concept and was excellent in places but also random and unfocused. There was a better film in there somewhere (although I doubt Hollywood will make it).

I haven't seen Sibyl yet . . .

That's a good shout actually, but yeah you probably don't want to see Will Ferrell's attempt to better it.

'My life as a courgette' was unexpectedly fantastic. Arguably a kids film, though I'm not sure what age would be suitable as it touches on some pretty heavy things, but not exclusively by any means and really perfectly executed.

[paddy no 11]

Zone of interest - savage film

Well done to glazer. Don't watch if you're not feeling great about humanity

[Son of Mathonwy]

Oh god. I mean it will probably happen, but it shouldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already in the works.

I only recently found out about the American remake of 'Force Majeure', and apparently 'Another Round' is getting the treatment too. Both fantastic films that have no need for a watered down translation.

Watch 'Sibyl' if you can find it (there's a 7 day Mubi trial via Amazon) if you want to see Justine Triet's previous film. Similar underlying themes to Anatomy of a Fall but much more fun and bizarre, albeit very slow to get properly going. Sandra Huller is fantastic again but in a much more chaotic way.

No one should try to remake Another Round. What's to be improved? Maybe Force Majeure - for me that had a great concept and was excellent in places but also random and unfocused. There was a better film in there somewhere (although I doubt Hollywood will make it).

I haven't seen Sibyl yet . . .

That's a good shout actually, but yeah you probably don't want to see Will Ferrell's attempt to better it.

'My life as a courgette' was unexpectedly fantastic. Arguably a kids film, though I'm not sure what age would be suitable as it touches on some pretty heavy things, but not exclusively by any means and really perfectly executed.

I watched Downhill, the Will Ferrell remake of Force Majeure. It's not terrible but it is pointless. If it had been original it would have been an okay, offbeat, almost-comedy . . . and that's only because the casting tells you it must be a comedy.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Absolutely loved poor things

The sets alone were worth the trip to the cinema

Yep, just by fluke happened to see it on an idiotically large screen and it was really something. Loads of shit films get rave reviews for the “visual spectacle” which is just a load of big, loud CGI bullshit, but this was truly unique looking and tied so heavily in to the story.

The music throughout was just insane. In a good way.

I'm a bit conflicted about Poor Things. It's brilliant, I really enjoyed it. Visually, it's incredible - the sets, the surreal versions of real places, so bizarre. Great acting and a very unusual story.

However, there are problems, one big (possibly fatal) one in particular . . .

► Show Spoiler

The film implicitly approves of paedophila - given the mental age of the heroine. At no point in the film is it suggested to the viewer that there is something wrong with this, no reflection at the time, or later.

Bella's mental growth is ultimately disappointing. She discovers sex . . . and that's it really. I thought she really would move on from that to some kind of enlightenment, but not really. She dabbles with altruism momentarily (albeit with someone else's money) but that is a disaster never to be repeated in the film. She reads about politics but does nothing with it. And at the end she seems to be studying medicine but given her colossal impulsiveness I would expect her to drop that within a day or two.

As a feminist hero, what are we to make of her? She's seems to be almost completely lacking in empathy - narcissistic or sociopathic. Given her upbringing it's not surprising that she has a personality disorder but she's no role model. She's either a girlfriend, a whore or a wife. She seems to have nothing to offer the world other than a pretty face and sex.

Minor points:
There seemed to be no reason for the first section of the film to be in black and white and the rest in colour.

I was surprised that they didn't transplant Godwin's brain into the evil general's body at the end. It seemed to be the obvious thing to do and would have been a suitably nuts happy ending.

[Mikey Brown]

Absolutely loved poor things

The sets alone were worth the trip to the cinema

Yep, just by fluke happened to see it on an idiotically large screen and it was really something. Loads of shit films get rave reviews for the “visual spectacle” which is just a load of big, loud CGI bullshit, but this was truly unique looking and tied so heavily in to the story.

The music throughout was just insane. In a good way.

I'm a bit conflicted about Poor Things. It's brilliant, I really enjoyed it. Visually, it's incredible - the sets, the surreal versions of real places, so bizarre. Great acting and a very unusual story.

However, there are problems, one big (possibly fatal) one in particular . . .

► Show Spoiler

The film implicitly approves of paedophila - given the mental age of the heroine. At no point in the film is it suggested to the viewer that there is something wrong with this, no reflection at the time, or later.

Bella's mental growth is ultimately disappointing. She discovers sex . . . and that's it really. I thought she really would move on from that to some kind of enlightenment, but not really. She dabbles with altruism momentarily (albeit with someone else's money) but that is a disaster never to be repeated in the film. She reads about politics but does nothing with it. And at the end she seems to be studying medicine but given her colossal impulsiveness I would expect her to drop that within a day or two.

As a feminist hero, what are we to make of her? She's seems to be almost completely lacking in empathy - narcissistic or sociopathic. Given her upbringing it's not surprising that she has a personality disorder but she's no role model. She's either a girlfriend, a whore or a wife. She seems to have nothing to offer the world other than a pretty face and sex.

Minor points:
There seemed to be no reason for the first section of the film to be in black and white and the rest in colour.

I was surprised that they didn't transplant Godwin's brain into the evil general's body at the end. It seemed to be the obvious thing to do and would have been a suitably nuts happy ending.

Interesting. I fully agree on the visual/cinematic side, though I think I disagree for the most part about the overall message.

► Show Spoiler

I don’t think the condemnation of the men in Bella’s life that take advantage of her needs to be any more explicit than it is. I don’t view that as approving of their behaviour at all, more that it shouldn’t need to be stated?

I actually think it’s a fantastic response to the “if there’s grass on the pitch, play ball” sort of attitude. I don’t think the mis-match between the body and the mind is being disregarded by the creator of the film. I think desire, consent and responsibility not all lining up was very much intentional.

I don’t think she’s meant to be a perfect, well rounded character by the end of it (and don’t think that is required in order for it to fulfil its feminist messaging) but I agree the accelerated development of her mind/consciousness is a bit murky, which doesn’t help. Obviously the science of it was all over the place, but I thought there was some mention of her developing at an advanced rate?

Her being completely overwhelmed and inconsistent in her response to the horrors of poverty and politics as an adolescent I thought was signifying her pushing through her teenage years.

The black and white shots, fisheye lenses and general warped perception of the world as she develops is maybe a bit clunky but I thought it did the job and was pretty fun.

I was expecting the same thing with Godwin at the end, but essentially he is still a monstrous person. Although he’s managed to be better to Bella than his father was to him. On reflection it seemed fitting that was his end.

I thought the general’s mind would end up in the goat instead of the other way around, which made more sense to me as a punishment.

I’m not suggesting all of that is particularly clear cut and I get why there is so much discussion around the film, but I really thought it was fantastic. Overly long and ridiculous maybe, but truly unique and packed with amazing performances.

Mark Ruffallo was incredible. Managing to make such a horrible, sinister character that funny might be part of why this film’s message is so hard to parse. Same with the general.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Yep, just by fluke happened to see it on an idiotically large screen and it was really something. Loads of shit films get rave reviews for the “visual spectacle” which is just a load of big, loud CGI bullshit, but this was truly unique looking and tied so heavily in to the story.

The music throughout was just insane. In a good way.

I'm a bit conflicted about Poor Things. It's brilliant, I really enjoyed it. Visually, it's incredible - the sets, the surreal versions of real places, so bizarre. Great acting and a very unusual story.

However, there are problems, one big (possibly fatal) one in particular . . .

► Show Spoiler

The film implicitly approves of paedophila - given the mental age of the heroine. At no point in the film is it suggested to the viewer that there is something wrong with this, no reflection at the time, or later.

Bella's mental growth is ultimately disappointing. She discovers sex . . . and that's it really. I thought she really would move on from that to some kind of enlightenment, but not really. She dabbles with altruism momentarily (albeit with someone else's money) but that is a disaster never to be repeated in the film. She reads about politics but does nothing with it. And at the end she seems to be studying medicine but given her colossal impulsiveness I would expect her to drop that within a day or two.

As a feminist hero, what are we to make of her? She's seems to be almost completely lacking in empathy - narcissistic or sociopathic. Given her upbringing it's not surprising that she has a personality disorder but she's no role model. She's either a girlfriend, a whore or a wife. She seems to have nothing to offer the world other than a pretty face and sex.

Minor points:
There seemed to be no reason for the first section of the film to be in black and white and the rest in colour.

I was surprised that they didn't transplant Godwin's brain into the evil general's body at the end. It seemed to be the obvious thing to do and would have been a suitably nuts happy ending.

Interesting. I fully agree on the visual/cinematic side, though I think I disagree for the most part about the overall message.

► Show Spoiler

I don’t think the condemnation of the men in Bella’s life that take advantage of her needs to be any more explicit than it is. I don’t view that as approving of their behaviour at all, more that it shouldn’t need to be stated?

I actually think it’s a fantastic response to the “if there’s grass on the pitch, play ball” sort of attitude. I don’t think the mis-match between the body and the mind is being disregarded by the creator of the film. I think desire, consent and responsibility not all lining up was very much intentional.

I don’t think she’s meant to be a perfect, well rounded character by the end of it (and don’t think that is required in order for it to fulfil its feminist messaging) but I agree the accelerated development of her mind/consciousness is a bit murky, which doesn’t help. Obviously the science of it was all over the place, but I thought there was some mention of her developing at an advanced rate?

Her being completely overwhelmed and inconsistent in her response to the horrors of poverty and politics as an adolescent I thought was signifying her pushing through her teenage years.

The black and white shots, fisheye lenses and general warped perception of the world as she develops is maybe a bit clunky but I thought it did the job and was pretty fun.

I was expecting the same thing with Godwin at the end, but essentially he is still a monstrous person. Although he’s managed to be better to Bella than his father was to him. On reflection it seemed fitting that was his end.

I thought the general’s mind would end up in the goat instead of the other way around, which made more sense to me as a punishment.

I’m not suggesting all of that is particularly clear cut and I get why there is so much discussion around the film, but I really thought it was fantastic. Overly long and ridiculous maybe, but truly unique and packed with amazing performances.

Mark Ruffallo was incredible. Managing to make such a horrible, sinister character that funny might be part of why this film’s message is so hard to parse. Same with the general.

Yeah fair enough. For me it's ultimately a brilliant triumph of style over substance. Very enjoyable though.

► Show Spoiler

IMO since Bella never considers herself to have been abused, it would be easy to think that she wasn't. And Ruffallo comes across as an amusing cad rather than the abuser that he is.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Zone of interest - savage film

Well done to glazer. Don't watch if you're not feeling great about humanity

I have to admit to being more than a little bored with Zone of Interest. Maybe that's part of its 'banality of evil' thing but it was a film that sort of happened in my field of vision without pulling me in.

[Mikey Brown]

Yeah I was conflicted about that one too. I don’t feel like I needed any encouragement to not think positively of the nazis. It’s very interesting how it was put together, and it’s powerful in a sense, but I can’t say I enjoyed any of it at all.

[Son of Mathonwy]

The latest offering from the Toho line of Godzilla films, Godzilla Minus One.

A bit cheese at the end, and there's something you'll see coming from a mile away, but who gives a shit? If you're watching these movies for realism, you're watching the wrong fucking movie.

Anyway, it was fantastic. Makes me want to drag the people in charge of Warner's Monster-verse films to a screening and go "do some of that, yeah?" at them. It's about a failed Kamikaze pilot, Shikishima, a failed kamikaze pilot who encounters a juvenile form of Godzilla during the dying days of World War II, as at tears up an Japanese Air Force repair station out on one of the outlying islands. During the attack, he's tasked with shooting the creature with the 20mm guns on the plane, but freezes up, causing most of the engineers that work at the station to be killed. He is then able to return back home in shame. Once he settles back in, he falls into having a surrogate family when he takes in a young woman with a baby, Noriko and Akiko - a child that isn't hers but was thrust upon her by the child's parents as they also burned to death. He manages to land a job as part of a crew destroying naval mines in and around the coastline, which he uses to help raise the kid, when Godzilla returns, bigger, meanier and angrier.

What makes this film work so well is that the characters are compelling. You care about the relationship between Shikishima and Noriko, because the film takes the time to flesh it out. The camaraderie between the crew as they destroy the sea mines is fun to watch. So when Godzilla turns up to wreck shit, it makes everything that much more tense, and it makes you give a shit about the characters you've gotten to know, caught in the middle of the destruction.

So yeah, if it's going to be on at the cinemas where you live (apparently it releases in the UK on the 15th), go out of your way to see this one.

It didn't blow me away. Good fun, a decent Godzilla film but not a brilliant film. I thought it would be more of an origin tale . . .

[Son of Mathonwy]

Saw Furiosa.

Owns bones.

Brilliant stuff. At least as good as Fury Road. Maybe starts a bit quietly, but absolutely top action.

[Mikey Brown]

I saw Kinds of Kindness. Definitely not for everyone but really enjoyed it. I initially left thinking it had some fantastic moments but not quite up there with the old Yrgos Lanthimos stuff.

I'm still unravelling what was even going on, and what it meant, a few days later and feeling I like it even more now. A weird one for sure. If you don't like intensely black humour and three hour films definitely avoid this.

Rewatched Frank. Pretty terrible. Domnhall Gleason is just intensely annoying.

On the Road was a weird one I'd never heard of. One of those pretentious, incoherent indie road movies but sort of charming and with an incredible supporting cast.

[paddy no 11]

All of us strangers - poor enough imo

[Son of Mathonwy]

Alien Romulus recently.

It was The Force Awakens of Alien movies. It's a movie that is aggressively fine. It's not dogshit awful like Alien Resurrection, not truly great like Alien or Aliens. It occupies that space that the extended workprint cut of Alien³ occupies. It's fine.

I haven't seen Alien Romulus yet but I have to say, whoa there son, The Force Awakens is anything but fine (IMHO).

How does Romulus compare with Prometheus and Covenant? (Which for me are a beautiful turd and fine, respectively).

[Son of Mathonwy]

Alien Romulus recently.

It was The Force Awakens of Alien movies. It's a movie that is aggressively fine. It's not dogshit awful like Alien Resurrection, not truly great like Alien or Aliens. It occupies that space that the extended workprint cut of Alien³ occupies. It's fine.

I haven't seen Alien Romulus yet but I have to say, whoa there son, The Force Awakens is anything but fine (IMHO).

How does Romulus compare with Prometheus and Covenant? (Which for me are a beautiful turd and fine, respectively).

I’d compare it to TFA because of all the callbacks, and endless referencing to the other films.

I’d put it above Prometheus and Covenant easily. Both those movies were shit.

Interesting. Yeah, I see Prometheus as an utterly overblown, stupid-from-beginning-to-end origin story that doesn't actually explain the origin. Covenant was more coherent and did show the origin, albeit in a way that destroyed the continuity with the AvP films (which is fairly unforgivable, I have to admit). Maybe I'm just being more lenient towards Covenant because my expectations were soooo low after Prometheus, whereas I did actually have some hopes for Prometheus.

For me TFA was a dumb, totally soulless remake of A New Hope masquerading as a sequel, essentially the script chatGPT would give you if you asked for every single element of Star Wars ep4 to be put into a plot set 30 years later.

Perhaps the lesson is, don't get your hopes up.