"Now Showing"
- Thread starter Mark
- Start date
So 2011 saw me seeing 116 films at the cinema, I wonder how many I'll get to see this year?
I kicked off the year with Goon.
Wasn't overally keen on the idea of going to see this but I did and glad I did too. I really enjoyed it and it felt really quick and short, but in a good way. The cast were all great and it was really funny in places. So yeah, a lot better than I was expecting I recommend it if you want a good laugh.
Rating: 4/5
Saw The Artist today.
I've seen two films by the writer/director already, OSS117 and it's sequel, I love both of those films and the main actor who is also the main actor in this film. The artist is quite similar to OSS117 in a way, mainly that all three films play like a perfect homage to their subject matter. I had my doubts about a silent film but it was getting so many rave reviews and awards buzz I just couldn't wait to see it. It really deserves all the attention it's getting, just perfect. I admit it's a little odd watching a silent film in a cinema, lots of very eerily quiet moments but then when there is a funny scene the audience reaction feels a lot more, hmm, rewarding? It's got such a fantastic cast though and despite the rather predictable story it's really engaging and enjoyable, just good fun. It's also the first film in quite a long time where I've witnessed the audience break into applause at the end of the film.
Rating: 5/5
I kicked off the year with Goon.
Wasn't overally keen on the idea of going to see this but I did and glad I did too. I really enjoyed it and it felt really quick and short, but in a good way. The cast were all great and it was really funny in places. So yeah, a lot better than I was expecting I recommend it if you want a good laugh.
Rating: 4/5
Saw The Artist today.
I've seen two films by the writer/director already, OSS117 and it's sequel, I love both of those films and the main actor who is also the main actor in this film. The artist is quite similar to OSS117 in a way, mainly that all three films play like a perfect homage to their subject matter. I had my doubts about a silent film but it was getting so many rave reviews and awards buzz I just couldn't wait to see it. It really deserves all the attention it's getting, just perfect. I admit it's a little odd watching a silent film in a cinema, lots of very eerily quiet moments but then when there is a funny scene the audience reaction feels a lot more, hmm, rewarding? It's got such a fantastic cast though and despite the rather predictable story it's really engaging and enjoyable, just good fun. It's also the first film in quite a long time where I've witnessed the audience break into applause at the end of the film.
Rating: 5/5
tomahawk
Strata Poster
We Bought a Zoo
Just seemed like the entire movie was saying "We are better than you, our **** doesn't stink." It was entertaining, but I'm not into the happy, feel good, everything works out perfectly in the end, based on a true story movies. The best thing about the movie was Scarlett Johansson and even then her hair was chopped off which is not good. If you like going "Ahhhhhh look at that cute animal" go see it, if not, meh.
3/5
Just seemed like the entire movie was saying "We are better than you, our **** doesn't stink." It was entertaining, but I'm not into the happy, feel good, everything works out perfectly in the end, based on a true story movies. The best thing about the movie was Scarlett Johansson and even then her hair was chopped off which is not good. If you like going "Ahhhhhh look at that cute animal" go see it, if not, meh.
3/5
^I've not seen the trailer for that but the title alone makes it sound awful.
Saw two films yesterday. First up was The Iron Lady
Still unsure what I think about this. The performance by Streep as Thacther is pretty amazing but the story, or at least the way it was told, was all over the place and just a bit depressing. I went in expecting a biopic and it just seemed more about her being a delusional old lady who had random flashbacks. It has a fantastic cast in the background but they have such small parts it just felt like it was almost pointless them being in it. I think I would have preferred like a gritty drama focusing on one of her defining moments instead of this jumbled mess. Great big meh.
Rating: 3/5
Went to see Sherlock Holmes: A Games of Shadows again.
Still absolutely love this film, great fun from start to finish.
Saw two films yesterday. First up was The Iron Lady
Still unsure what I think about this. The performance by Streep as Thacther is pretty amazing but the story, or at least the way it was told, was all over the place and just a bit depressing. I went in expecting a biopic and it just seemed more about her being a delusional old lady who had random flashbacks. It has a fantastic cast in the background but they have such small parts it just felt like it was almost pointless them being in it. I think I would have preferred like a gritty drama focusing on one of her defining moments instead of this jumbled mess. Great big meh.
Rating: 3/5
Went to see Sherlock Holmes: A Games of Shadows again.
Still absolutely love this film, great fun from start to finish.
robbeal
Hyper Poster
Lain said:The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
I've not seen the original, nor have I read the book, but I found this to be pretty engaging and it didn't let up throughout. A little difficult to watch at times, but highly recommended!
For a Hollywood remake, it's actually pretty decent, albeit as a fan of the books (which are amazing, may I add) there's a few bits altered that weren't in the original Swedish film. Good job though, Daniel Craig was alright, I thought the casting of Lisbeth was better, and Trent Reznor's soundtrack worked very well.
tomahawk
Strata Poster
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I just bought the trilogy online...I want to see how much better the book is than the movie because I truly loved the movie. Thought it was awesome, despite Daniel Craig trying his best to ruin it. I can't stand him and refuse to see anymore Bond movies with him in it...just no.
9/10
I just bought the trilogy online...I want to see how much better the book is than the movie because I truly loved the movie. Thought it was awesome, despite Daniel Craig trying his best to ruin it. I can't stand him and refuse to see anymore Bond movies with him in it...just no.
9/10
ciallkennett
Strata Poster
Been a while since I last posted in here... I didn't find the original Girl With a Dragon Tattoo all that 'amazing', so never bothered with the rest of the trilogy (I may go back to it at some point in the future). I don't think I'll bother with the remakes.
Awards season has begun <3 This makes Ciall a happy Ciall
Right, to my reviews...
First up is Lesbian Vampire Killers. This was truly shockingly bad film. The concept is bizarre and stupid, the acting is mediocre to acceptable at best and the comedy elements seemed nonexistent. It’s not often I actually want to switch a film off, but I did about a quarter of the way through LVK. Complete and utter tosh – the only rewarding part was occasionally seeing some boobs.
3/10
The rest of the films I’d been meaning to see for a while and finally got around to watching. Stranger Than Fiction I thought was an interesting film which worked better than I expected. I’m not sure that I would have cast Emma Thompson as the author, but I think she filled the role well. The comedy element was there but not too strong and it was better than I anticipated.
8/10
I’d seen most of Knocked Up before, but not the whole film. It was much funnier than I remember although the comedy was sometimes few and far in-between. The story was better than I remember too and it really did have the Judd Apatow feel to it (he’s quickly becoming one of my favourite comedy directors/producers/writers).
7/10
You may have heard a little while back about Colin. It was the zombie horror feature that was made on budget of £40 and manaed to be relased and shown in a number of London independent cinemas. This, of course, sparked my interest as I’m now a film-maker and I wanted to see what could be done on such a small, tight buget.
The film itself had all of the potential to be quite an average to good zombie horror flick…if it had the budget. The potential was there and I think that must be recognised. However, due to the crappy nature of handycams, it did look quite poor at times and I could go on forever talking about lighting, sound etc. An excellent little feature on the budget it had though.
6/10
I’d wanted to see 50/50 for quite a while, so when it finally reached my independent (my local chain cinema wanted t charge me £8...), I snapped tickets up straight away. Ok, so there isn’t as much outrageous laugh out loud moments as I was expecting – in fact, I think there were none – but comedy was throughout the film and it carried the right balance of emotion and humour. Sensitively done and makes Anna Kendrick look hot as always.
8/10
Trust I was annoyed about during it’s initial relase as David Schwimmer heavily promoted the film and its release was so small that nowhere near me at the time was showing it. However, I finally managed to watch and I was pleasantly surprised.
Hard to watch at times, brilliant acting by Liana Liberato – definitely one to look out for in the future – and I really felt the emotion of the piece. The final scene is disgusting in ways that can only be described by watching the film.
7/10
Eagle vs Shark
Quriky and very indie, I strangely enjoyed Eagle vs Shark. The story is very thin on the ground, but works over the course of the film due to the strange characters and the situations they find themselves in. Funny at times, it really reminds me just how wonderful indie cinema can be and how one day I’d love to be there making a film like it.
7/10
And finally, Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. I’m nt a huge sci-fi fan by a long shot, and Sunshine seemed to be a combination fo pretty much every sci-fi disaster movie set in space that I’d seen. Y’know, Alien (to some extent), 2001 etc etc. It was expertly shot and I’m so pleased to finally hear John Murphy’s The Surface Of The Sun in it’s original context. Such an amazing score and used very well.
But it has its flaws. The plot was a bit boring at times, it was quite predictable throughout and I had a few space-related niggles at it. But still a very good film.
7.5/10
Awards season has begun <3 This makes Ciall a happy Ciall
Right, to my reviews...
First up is Lesbian Vampire Killers. This was truly shockingly bad film. The concept is bizarre and stupid, the acting is mediocre to acceptable at best and the comedy elements seemed nonexistent. It’s not often I actually want to switch a film off, but I did about a quarter of the way through LVK. Complete and utter tosh – the only rewarding part was occasionally seeing some boobs.
3/10
The rest of the films I’d been meaning to see for a while and finally got around to watching. Stranger Than Fiction I thought was an interesting film which worked better than I expected. I’m not sure that I would have cast Emma Thompson as the author, but I think she filled the role well. The comedy element was there but not too strong and it was better than I anticipated.
8/10
I’d seen most of Knocked Up before, but not the whole film. It was much funnier than I remember although the comedy was sometimes few and far in-between. The story was better than I remember too and it really did have the Judd Apatow feel to it (he’s quickly becoming one of my favourite comedy directors/producers/writers).
7/10
You may have heard a little while back about Colin. It was the zombie horror feature that was made on budget of £40 and manaed to be relased and shown in a number of London independent cinemas. This, of course, sparked my interest as I’m now a film-maker and I wanted to see what could be done on such a small, tight buget.
The film itself had all of the potential to be quite an average to good zombie horror flick…if it had the budget. The potential was there and I think that must be recognised. However, due to the crappy nature of handycams, it did look quite poor at times and I could go on forever talking about lighting, sound etc. An excellent little feature on the budget it had though.
6/10
I’d wanted to see 50/50 for quite a while, so when it finally reached my independent (my local chain cinema wanted t charge me £8...), I snapped tickets up straight away. Ok, so there isn’t as much outrageous laugh out loud moments as I was expecting – in fact, I think there were none – but comedy was throughout the film and it carried the right balance of emotion and humour. Sensitively done and makes Anna Kendrick look hot as always.
8/10
Trust I was annoyed about during it’s initial relase as David Schwimmer heavily promoted the film and its release was so small that nowhere near me at the time was showing it. However, I finally managed to watch and I was pleasantly surprised.
Hard to watch at times, brilliant acting by Liana Liberato – definitely one to look out for in the future – and I really felt the emotion of the piece. The final scene is disgusting in ways that can only be described by watching the film.
7/10
Eagle vs Shark
Quriky and very indie, I strangely enjoyed Eagle vs Shark. The story is very thin on the ground, but works over the course of the film due to the strange characters and the situations they find themselves in. Funny at times, it really reminds me just how wonderful indie cinema can be and how one day I’d love to be there making a film like it.
7/10
And finally, Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. I’m nt a huge sci-fi fan by a long shot, and Sunshine seemed to be a combination fo pretty much every sci-fi disaster movie set in space that I’d seen. Y’know, Alien (to some extent), 2001 etc etc. It was expertly shot and I’m so pleased to finally hear John Murphy’s The Surface Of The Sun in it’s original context. Such an amazing score and used very well.
But it has its flaws. The plot was a bit boring at times, it was quite predictable throughout and I had a few space-related niggles at it. But still a very good film.
7.5/10
Watched a couple of films actually and not bothered reviewing them.
First up The Fighter. Very nicely made film with some brilliant performances. It was one of those fantastically watch-able stories told really well - then it went all Rocky in the end. Well, it was Rocky for the next generation let's face it. certainly a much better class, but it went from an interesting drama to cheese rapidly, but there was no real way around it. Well worth a watch - 8/10.
Last night I finally caught up on The Social Network... Hmmmmm... It's a film about a pretty "special" nerd, doing nerdy things and not doing anything remotely naughty in the middle of a pair of dull court cases about who should get some cash. It's the least dramatic story ever told about the most boring subject ever. Yet somehow Fincher makes it something you want to keep on watching. The direction is very subtle (except for the Henley Regatta scene which seems to stand out as a very odd bit for it (though with a fantastic arrangement of Hall of the Mountain King by Trent Reznor)) but it just kind of works. It's a slow film, without any real sense of drama or movement. It just ambles along somehow telling this ridiculously boring story, but gets away with it - just.
Like Zodiac, I felt in the end that I'd just been left with nothing. The film had kept me entertained for two hours but hadn't actually given me anything. The was no real point to it, no great conclusion, no break-out scene that will live on in my memory. Just a vague curiosity as to how the film had held my attention for so long. I've no idea how to rate it. It's a brilliantly put together film with the most mind-numbingly boring story full of characters you can't relate to. It's probably the most paradoxical film I've ever seen. So, erm √∞/∞¹
First up The Fighter. Very nicely made film with some brilliant performances. It was one of those fantastically watch-able stories told really well - then it went all Rocky in the end. Well, it was Rocky for the next generation let's face it. certainly a much better class, but it went from an interesting drama to cheese rapidly, but there was no real way around it. Well worth a watch - 8/10.
Last night I finally caught up on The Social Network... Hmmmmm... It's a film about a pretty "special" nerd, doing nerdy things and not doing anything remotely naughty in the middle of a pair of dull court cases about who should get some cash. It's the least dramatic story ever told about the most boring subject ever. Yet somehow Fincher makes it something you want to keep on watching. The direction is very subtle (except for the Henley Regatta scene which seems to stand out as a very odd bit for it (though with a fantastic arrangement of Hall of the Mountain King by Trent Reznor)) but it just kind of works. It's a slow film, without any real sense of drama or movement. It just ambles along somehow telling this ridiculously boring story, but gets away with it - just.
Like Zodiac, I felt in the end that I'd just been left with nothing. The film had kept me entertained for two hours but hadn't actually given me anything. The was no real point to it, no great conclusion, no break-out scene that will live on in my memory. Just a vague curiosity as to how the film had held my attention for so long. I've no idea how to rate it. It's a brilliantly put together film with the most mind-numbingly boring story full of characters you can't relate to. It's probably the most paradoxical film I've ever seen. So, erm √∞/∞¹
nadroJ
CF Legend
Crazy Stupid Love 8/10.
I'm becoming a bit of a Ryan Gosling pervert, and as such, I must now watch all the films where he gets naked. Yeah. Anyway, this film which I thought would be the usual romcom **** actually turned out to be really entertaining and offered something a little bit different, even if it did have a 'love conquers all' ending.
The best part was where Ryan Gosling got naked in the sauna. Omg. I need to go lie down *swoon*.
I'm becoming a bit of a Ryan Gosling pervert, and as such, I must now watch all the films where he gets naked. Yeah. Anyway, this film which I thought would be the usual romcom **** actually turned out to be really entertaining and offered something a little bit different, even if it did have a 'love conquers all' ending.
The best part was where Ryan Gosling got naked in the sauna. Omg. I need to go lie down *swoon*.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ You're such a girl
Underworld: Awakening in 3D
Not a lot to say about this film, there are some decent 3D shots in there but probably not worth the extra money to see it in 3D. The action scenes are pretty good and the story is alright. Yeah, nothing else of note really.
Rating: 3/5
Haywire
I loved the look of this after watching the trailer but I feel like the trailer is a bit misleading but I'm not sure why. It has a really unusual feel to it, I went in expecting fast paced action shots with some epic tunes behind it all and instead it doesn't use any music in the background during the action sequences which gives it this odd sense of realism, every punch sounds and feels a lot more serious and painful and everything feels quite tense. It was something really different and the cast were fantastic. So yeah, really enjoyed this one and I recommend.
Rating: 4/5
The girl with the dragon tattoo (US remake)
Wow. Really epic (in terms of length and awesomeness). Due to the length I was expecting to feel a bit bored at times but it has got a great pace and the soundtrack is amazing. I also thought Daniel Craig might be a bit burdenous but he was alright. Yeah, really love it, I do hope he gets to make the other two.
Rating: 5/5
Not a lot to say about this film, there are some decent 3D shots in there but probably not worth the extra money to see it in 3D. The action scenes are pretty good and the story is alright. Yeah, nothing else of note really.
Rating: 3/5
Haywire
I loved the look of this after watching the trailer but I feel like the trailer is a bit misleading but I'm not sure why. It has a really unusual feel to it, I went in expecting fast paced action shots with some epic tunes behind it all and instead it doesn't use any music in the background during the action sequences which gives it this odd sense of realism, every punch sounds and feels a lot more serious and painful and everything feels quite tense. It was something really different and the cast were fantastic. So yeah, really enjoyed this one and I recommend.
Rating: 4/5
The girl with the dragon tattoo (US remake)
Wow. Really epic (in terms of length and awesomeness). Due to the length I was expecting to feel a bit bored at times but it has got a great pace and the soundtrack is amazing. I also thought Daniel Craig might be a bit burdenous but he was alright. Yeah, really love it, I do hope he gets to make the other two.
Rating: 5/5
