What was the last film you watched?

[Angela Chilling]

Mary Poppins Returns. It was an ok film but a disappointing remake. All the ingredients were there to make a great film and in some ways it's almost a remake rather than a sequel and doesn't quite pull it off successfully. Although all the songs and scenes are original, so much of it was clearly inspired by the 1964 film. So for example, there is a song where the chimney sweeps dance energetically (like Step in Time), there's a scene in which Meryl Steep plays an eccentric relative of Mary's (not unlike her Uncle who had tea on the ceiling) and instead of jumping into a chalk drawing they jump into the pattern on a bowl and engage with cartoon characters (not unlike Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious).

I thought Emily tried a bit too hard to be practically perfect in every way and came across slightly unnatural or even fake. It made me appreciate just how good Julie Andrews was in the original. However, the main failure of the film was that the songs were all instantly unforgettable. Maybe it a film that young children will enjoy more.

 

[Ollie james]

Love Simon found it kinda cute and uplifting well worth a watch

 

[James from London]

Ooh, Jennifer Garner!

 

[Swami]

Carry On Loving.

Swami

 

[Swami]

Carry On Henry.

Swami

 

[James from London]

Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970) - Much better than expected, since '70's films tend to be the weirdest in the history of Hollywood. Faye Dunaway's performance is one of her best and she looks extraordinarily beautiful in every scene.

Thanks for alerting me to this film's existence, Justine! I found it on YouTube and watched it today.

Faye Dunaway plays a model with a steadily worsening grip on reality. The whole thing's told from her point of view using a fractured kind of storytelling which feels very 1970 -- flashbacks, flashbacks within flashbacks, fantasy sequences within flashbacks, till you've lost track of where you started. Both the film and Dunaway look beautiful, but it still feels more raw and real than glossy and glamorous. It's more of a character study than an edge-of-your-seat drama. Dunaway's character is a nightmare, completely self-absorbed, and she's on screen throughout so it's a little relentless but quite fascinating at the same time. A very young Angelica Nero pops up briefly. It was the first movie directed by the photographer of the cover of Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde album.

 

[Michael Torrance]

Love Simon found it kinda cute and uplifting well worth a watch

Such a gem of a movie.

 

[Swami]

Carry On Abroad.

Swami

 

[Angela Chilling]

Stan & Ollie (2018)
I've been a big fan of Laurel and Hardy since I was an infant so I was really looking forward to seeing this film. It's definitely a film for fans of the comedy duo because there wasn't enough in to appeal significantly to a wider audience. The performances of the 2 stars were first class, especially from John C. Reilly who captured Hardy perfectly. The best part of the film for me was when the recreated some of the comedy routines which they did to great accuracy. Overall it was an okay film but not as good as I had hoped.

 

[Richard Channing]

Came across this on Netflix and decided to give it a go. I liked it a lot. One reviewer describes it as 'Guess who's coming to dinner' meets 'Rosemary's Baby' and that's a pretty good description. It's clever, original, got a good sense of humor, and has something to say. Not your average horror flick.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

there's a scene in which Meryl Steep plays an eccentric relative of Mary's (not unlike her Uncle who had tea on the ceiling) and instead of jumping into a chalk drawing they jump into the pattern on a bowl

Those segments are also drawn from PL Travers's books. The sequels do rather self-consciously follow the format of her original, so perhaps it's not surprising if the movie sequel does the same..

 

[Swami]

Carry On Girls.

Swami

 

[James from London]

Came across this on Netflix and decided to give it a go. I liked it a lot. One reviewer describes it as 'Guess who's coming to dinner' meets 'Rosemary's Baby' and that's a pretty good description. It's clever, original, got a good sense of humor, and has something to say. Not your average horror flick.

That's so funny -- I watched this yesterday as well! I think I even saw the same review as you! It did feel like a kind of satirical, Sundance-style update of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner to start off with and I'd have been very happy for it to stay like that -- the dialogue was so sharp and the interplay between the characters so great. Then it becomes ... something else. It was still really, really good, but I think I preferred the first half before we find out what's really going on.

 

[Swami]

Carry On Dick.

Swami

 

[Toni]

Last night I watched "The East", from the people behind the Netflix show "The OA" (including its main star and show-runner Brit Marling). The movie tells the story of a terrorist group in which the female lead gets in, but above all, it shows us that there is a reason behind every act of violence, but also many ways to react and change the injustice in society.

Here is Mr. Skarsgård modeling very sexy shorts...
...not that he needs them at all...
​

It gives a lot of things to think about but it´s also a very clever indie thriller. You will find in it such talented people as Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, and Julia Ormond. Once again, star, co-writer and co-producer Brit Marling plays a very Hitchcockian blonde (hair dyeing and all, a la Vertigo and Marnie!).

But oh, dear, they pretend she is NOT wearing a wig here...
​

Highly recommendable for every fan of "Mr. Robot" and/or "The OA", of course. By the way, the trailer below won some kind of award (it´s not spoiler-ish, maybe that´s why...):

 

[Richard Channing]

That's so funny -- I watched this yesterday as well! I think even saw the same review as you!

Ha! Great minds think alike, eh?!

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

Jane Got a Gun (2015)

Western reminiscent of The Quick and the Dead with a dash of High Noon, but mostly it's like one of those woman-in-jeopardy telemovies with the violence ramped way up.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Not the most original story but still very entertaining.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I started with THE DIRT but after 30 minutes I got bored with it, it's all very contemporary wisecrack to make it easier to digest. After that I tried KING ARTHUR (2017) and that lasted only 2 minutes. A monster elephant, really!


A good old-fashioned thriller with a big twist, it gets a bit cheesy towards the end but overall I felt quite satisfied.

 

[Willie Oleson]