What is The Last Movie You Watched?

[Jericho]

The remake of Point Break should put a stop to all that!

[Stavros]

The Big Short (Adam McKay, 2015)
Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)

I watched these two films back to back on dvd last night. Both are fictionalised documentaries and neither delves deeply into their subject matter. In The Big Short, the events leading up to the financial crisis of 2007-08 are presented through the dynamics of investment bankers who have realised that they are sitting on a mountain of unsustainable debt but can make money if they take a risk and bet the family firm on one colossal bet, rather like those casino films in which the gambler having won a million in 20 bets places the whole lot on one final number. The film is remarkable in providing no political context for an economic environment dominated by cheap mortgages, low interest rates, and an absence of regulation in the private investment banking sector. Four Presidents -Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush are absent from the narrative, as is Congress, yet it was changes to the law that facilitated much of what happened in 2007-08, so on this basis alone the film does not tell 'the whole story' and is anyway produced with the superficial energy of a comic book, and the subject is more important than that.

Spotlight is a tepid, spineless account of the exposure of a sustained culture of child abuse in Boston which took place within the Roman Catholic communities over 40 years (or more). That this was sustained through a cover-up of known incidents within the church becomes the main focus of the Boston Globe reporters investigations even though the film barely touches on the priests themselves, as only one retired priest is ever seen being asked about the abuse. The actual perpetrators and the clergy who covered it up are replaced by a vague 'system' of lawyers and courts where, again, Boston politics is absent, other than as an invisible handmaiden to the Church which, it is implied, could do what it wanted in Boston. I don't know about that, but the absence of politics and a confrontation of the church hierarchy lets this film down, more concerned as it is with its moral fibre. It is also odd that campaigning lawyer Garabedian should present himself to one of the reporters as an outsider being Armenian, when the Boston area has, or used to have one of the largest Armenian communities in the USA.

4/10 for both films, soon to be found in a charity shop near me.

[loren]

Nice Guys

[youngblood61]

Attachment 927150

Same here, really enjoyed it.

[Stavros]

Over Your Dead Body (Takahi Miike, 2014)
Those of you familiar with Miike's films about what it is that causes families, gangs or crime syndicates to fall apart, or heal, will recognise this film as being close to Audition (1999) but without that film's depth, I almost wrote 'cutting edge' (!). The film suggests a tired Miike producing a moral tale in which infidelity carries with it risks that could be avoided. In this case a play about feudal Japan being filmed fuses with the real lives of the actors. A disappointing film given Miike's previous work.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2916416/

[BlüeKarma]

Yeah, I was either going to watch that or "The Hallow"...I chose the latter. It had some potential but it was wasted and, at a playing time of 1hr. 32 min...it was about 32 min. too long.
Did you think Hush was worth it ?...I might still watch that next.

If you enjoy thrillers where the girl gets beat half to death but wins using "Final Girl" power, yeah it's a decent watch.

[trish]

The Nice Guys. A 70's era, noir detective comedy with impeccable timing. Loosely based on an old pulp novel by Brett Halliday (Davis Dresser). Reminiscent in some respects (but not an attempt to copy), The Great Lebowski or Get Shorty. There are homages to Laural and Hardy, I Spy and probably a lot of other stuff I missed. It's a fun plot and a lot of laughs.

[sukumvit boy]

Over Your Dead Body (Takahi Miike, 2014)
Those of you familiar with Miike's films about what it is that causes families, gangs or crime syndicates to fall apart, or heal, will recognise this film as being close to Audition (1999) but without that film's depth, I almost wrote 'cutting edge' (!). The film suggests a tired Miike producing a moral tale in which infidelity carries with it risks that could be avoided. In this case a play about feudal Japan being filmed fuses with the real lives of the actors. A disappointing film given Miike's previous work.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2916416/

Too bad "Audition" was chilling.

[BatMasterson]

Fitzcarraldo (1982) (Before the Millennial ADHD bullshit fucked up cinema)

[Stavros]

Not having seen Star Wars since the first film and its sequel at the time, The Empire Strikes Back, and intrigued by the rave reviews for the latest version -The Force Awakens, I decided to go back and watch all seven films in sequence beginning with the first The Phantom Menace. The crucial problem for me is that there is a mis-match between the production values and the story, with writing so bad and acting so atrocious the whole experience is a test of credibility and endurance. We know George Lucas poaches ideas and tropes from Zen Buddhism, the Brothers Grimm and who cares what else but the central dynamic of good people attracted by the dark side has no real moral depth -the same people urged to reject the hate and anger of the dark side even when they have done so have no problem killing hundreds if not thousands of people, and who are these people? We never really know, except there is an 'us and them'. You then have to deal with a hairy ape whose tone of voice or rather, bark never changes, a wheelie bin with added computer that can negotiate stairs and jungle floors no problem, and almost the lowest moment of all in Return of the Jedi when a modern high tech army is defeated by some teddy bears in the woods. And it isn't even satire. Above all this is some of the worst writing and the most wooden and atrocious acting you will ever have the misfortune to see with Haydn Christensen taking irrelevance to a new level of disinterest. At least in The Force Awakens Daisy Ridley makes a good job and lifts the film to a point where you at least don't lurch for the STOP button on the remote. Across seven films there is little to interest an intelligent human, as it is mostly a set of cartoon inflated motion pictures mimicking 1970s space invader video games. There will be at least one more film in this franchise, but one hopes it will be the last.