NWR What films have you been watching?

Ian Black said:
Seen any good films over the Christmas/New Year period?

I think the best thing I have seen then - by a long way - has been "Under the Shadow". If you haven't seen it, then do. It seamlessly combines psychological thriller, classic horror, social subtext and no doubt others.
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Out on Netflix UK now …
 
Got snowed in at our mountain hut this week, so with some long evenings in front of the fire, Mrs. C. and I went through the Godfather 1 and 2 back to back, remastered on BluRay, which really was a treat. For the family evenings we watched the original Pink Panther and Return of the Pink Panther, which the kids really did enjoy (a beumb?) although some of the political incorrectness did actually shock my 10 year old as being rude (reference to Cato and the apparent colour of his skin), which was quite pleasing to observe that the benefits of an international education appear to pay off. Tomorrow evening will be another family movie night, Mortdecai is on the menu according to the popular vote (despite my protestations that even in US Presidential Elections, the Popular Vote doesn't matter).
 
Annie Hall. Hhmmm, some good gags but not much else. Even Christopher Walken fails to sparkle. /An Oscar for best picture - nothing else of merit in 1977, then..........?:rolleyes:

Birdman lined up for later in the week.
 
Immigration Nation - A view of Australian history as it was never taught in school. Fascinating to see how often the Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play. OK so, it's a documentary series not a film. But then I'm not really much of a film man and it's got moving images and dialogue of a sort. Near enough?
 
Too many good (or presumed to be good) films around at the moment and too little time to watch them. We did get to see Manchester by the Sea recently, which was time very well spent. However, I've got to choose what we might see next week. Candidates include Jackie, T2, Lion, Denial and Fences. Suggestions?!
 
Keen to see Denial too,interesting story although reviews aren't fantastic. Seen LaLa Land- quite fun if a little long,certainly doesn't live up to the hype. Manchester by the sea- really beautifully acted and very moving, all be it in the slightly "grim and unrelenting" category.
 
Julian Temple's The Filth and the Fury, £3 from Fopp, and a documentary of a particular time, the Like of which, musically, we may be due to see again, though whether music will ever reach such highs and lows is moot.
 
Following an impromptu text from a friend yesterday afternoon I found myself at the NFT (Southbank) last night to watch Goodfellas as they are currently hosting a Scorsese season during January/February. Although I've seen the picture many times this was my first on the big screen, and even though you know what's coming the comedy moments are genius, as is the wonderful soundtrack. A fine evening.
 
"The Childhood of a Leader". In essence, about the childhood of a boy, at around the time of the Treaty of Versailles, who will then grow up to be a ****** dictator. Fabulous cinematography - very evocative, and a remarkable score that is almost a separate character in the story. Not perfect - it is apparently based on a short story by Jean-Paul Sartre, and the film ultimately feels more like a short story than a full-length one. Worth seeing though.
 
Very sad to hear that Bill Paxton passed away today at only 61. A seriously underrated actor and director. Go and watch Frailty if you haven't already seen it.
 
Three very recent films, watched in the past ten days, all excellent in their own way.

Sexy Beast with Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, and Amanda Redman. Gangster on Costas (Ray W) forced back for one last job. Ben Kingsley as a psycho organiser - the role of his life, forget Gandhi. Wanted to see it again almost immediately. Why had I never seen it?

Mustang - Turkish, family of girls growing up with Grandma and Uncle in a very conservative society. Will their spirit see them through as they approach adulthood and all that entails in a society ruled by men? Well, it does not paint Turkish men in a good light, but it's a great, and important, film.

Come and See - Belarus, dubbed. Set in WW2, Nazi occupied Belarus, story of a boy who joins partisans and witnesses awful ethnic cleansing. Very gritty and real. Makes you realise why enmities still exist in some parts of Eastern Europe, and makes one ponder on more recent similar attrocities. And perhaps a warning that in war, the worst of people always comes to the fore.
 
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Lion,
This was OK but lacked the thrill of Slumdog.
Fences,
Was better and very much a film of a play, even the sets were a bit like a rep theatre.
Quite a long and wordy film but kept you involved until the inevitable schmaltzy hollywood elements crept in for the final moments.
Really looking forward to The Founder next week.
 
Just watched In The Valley of Elah, a powerful film by Paul Haggis about a father (Tommy Lee Jones) who goes looking for his son, missing since having returned from Iraq, and aided by a local police detective (Charlize Theron). Excellent performances by both actors with an appearance by Susan Sarandon.

Mahmoud.
 
George Marsh said:
Ray Winstone. Brilliant film. Were you thinking of

The Long Good Friday - Wikipedia ?

Enjoyed Jonathan Glazer's more recent film Under The Skin - very weird and unsettling. Beautiful cinematography in both.
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Indeed, George, crikey! A worrying trend which I suppose will become apparent here as I start making similar blunders. Oddly, Ray's daughter came to mind as I was typing it, so I'm not really sure why I had a senior moment.
 
Mirage(1965) with Gregory Peck. A stupendously well put together psychological thriller with a masterly score by Quincy Jones, played quite superbly. Highly recommended.
 
Late to this and will hope to expound a bit more. Manchester by the Sea was the best film I saw last year, exquisite directing and Affleck gave the performance of a lifetime. Denial was brilliant, especially Rachel Weisz---a crime that she wasn't nominated. Lion was good, but not great---don't give in to the power of the poignant, I say. La La Land, I did like it plenty. OK, it's not Singing in the Rain, but that's unfair because there is only ONE Singing in the Rain. Music was terrific, cinematography was superb and liked the costumes and the fact someone would do an original musical as a movie.

Jackie--OK but no more, though it won the Jury prize at TIFF. Moonlight was in the same category and it *was* very, very good--the Anti-Boyhood, if you will. A powerful film, and kudos to the 3 actors who play the protagonist throughout. My other standouts this past little while have been Captain Fantastic--liked it a lot more than I expected to, Nocturnal Animals---a mind-bend of the first order, American Pastoral, where I thought McGregor and Dakota Fanning were both splendid, and Handmaiden, which was, if on the extremely lurid side, also a very complete sort of film. Oh, and Divines, with a spellbinding performance by the female lead.

Arrival was quite good, if a bit Interstellar-derivative at the end. Queen of Katwe--predictable as the tides but that doesn't take one jot away from the fabulous performances and the entertainment value.

I really do need to see Fences which I keep hearing great things about.

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And Lego Batman? not ashamed to say I saw it. Plenty of clever lines and better than decent, though I'm not sure it's the best Batman ever, as some are trumpeting.

Mike
 
The Founder,
A part perfect for the grown up Michael Keaton, I had waited to see this and was not disappointed, great for anyone interested in sales and business.
A sense of an Ending,
A bit steady but a thought provoking story and Jim Broadbent on solid form as ever.
I seem to remember that Charlotte Rampling was considered a beauty when I was at school.
Seems now that everything I see her in she seems to lack oomph, a bit lifeless somehow.
The young girl in this from Downton Abbey was way less irritating without that faux posh accent.
 
Had a great weekend with my half French kids (age 6, 9, 11) - we watched Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources. Wonderful films (I always tell my wife these are documentaries about France) - the kids really loved them - really stuck with it (with a bit of explanation). I still cry at the end of the 2nd film, even though I've seen them 30 times.
 
Impossible not to cry at the end of Manon des Sources. Up there with the Mayor of Casterbridge for the most heartbreaking, gut wrenching end to a story.

I'd second what Mike wrote above about Nocturnal Animals. Hitchcock would have approved!
 
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