The Film Thread

[Stevo985]

11 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

got oscar baiting written all over it to me, will no doubt watch it eventually but not yet, this years la la land 

La La Land was brilliant too.

[Chindie]

Apostle

Gareth Evans, of the Raid fame, makes a horror movie.

In the early 1900s a troubled man travels to a remote Welsh island, populated by a cult who claim to have established a utopia, in an attempt to rescue his sister who is understood to be being held captive. Once there, though, he quickly discovers everything isn't as it seems.

This is a simple film. You know what you've got within 5 minutes of it starting. It's tight with only minor sub plots, it doesn't explain everything and it does some nice hints towards greater elements of its lore. It is set almost entirely on the island, with the plot taking place in only a couple of locations, and with a handful of sets. There are perhaps 8 characters, and some of those have only a have a couple of lines of dialogue.

It's not without problems though.

It isn't scary, or unsettling, or shocking. Thankfully there aren't any jump scares, but equally there's nothing scary at about it. There's a bit of gore. The island has secrets that are the wrong side of hokey. 

The film is clearly influenced by other movies, most obviously the Wicker Man. Unfortunately, invoking a classic so clearly only serves to remind you that the Wicker Man is a classic, and Apostle isn't.

Speaking of the Wicker Man, it's invoked in another way. A bad way. Dan Stevens has various moments where I was reminded of Nic Cage in the remake. Not in the most over the top stuff (the BEES! THE BEEEEEES), but in his completely hammy scenery chewing acting like no-one has ever acted in reality. Dan Stevens is supposed to be undercover on the island, but he couldn't act more shifty if he tried. There's even a couple of times where he looks a bit like peak mania Cage.

The rest of the cast is pretty good though. Sheen in particular is very good, walking the line between religious leader and shady charlatan well. And Lucy Boynton is great too in a fairly small role (helped by the fact she may be perfect).

You can see why this is a Netflix film. Release this in cinemas and it'll vanish without a trace. It's better than 'direct to video', but it's not like a high end studio release and it's also not got the trappings of cult favourite of the future. It's solidly B-tier stuff - there's a solid central premise, a small good cast of decent actors without any showstopper names, it's well made, it's fine.

It's a shame it doesn't quite work. It's good, but the details are not quite right. I suspect a bit more money and another draft of the script might have raised it up a notch.

[Rodders]

11 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I liked it. Really liked it in fact.

Regarding the ending

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I assume you're talking about it being implausible that he would kill himself?
I'm not so sure I agree. He was a long suffering alcoholic and was going deaf which would obviously pretty much end his career. It's easy to see those two things combining to make him depressed.
I don't think it was so implausible.

Also I struggle to criticise the movie for that because that was the plot of the original(s) so their hands are tied a bit

 

Maybe my opinion is clouded because I went into it with zero expectation as it's not a film I'd usually see, but I thought it was great.

And contrived plot or not, Cooper and Gaga are both superb in it

I did really enjoy the film and agreed the performances are great, but and in case anyone considers this spoilers

 

Spoiler

the ending was very sudden and given what had immediately come beforehand, I was frustrated that one short conversation was enough to send him down that path. I think that path in principle is fine to do, and not unexpected given his alcoholism etc, but for me it came out of the blue in this story as, he'd gone through recovery and was seemingly in a better place and then *poof!* he gives up.

I didn't know anything about the other versions so I was blind going in, but that for me, at the time, just jarred and felt like it was quickly done to bring in the teary scene at the end. I accept I might be harsh, as otherwise it was great and I'll happily see it again to consider a 2nd opinion, but on first viewing, it felt that maybe a scene or two would have improved that development.

But to be honest, it is a fairly minor criticism overall, and is very subjective. It's just after that conversation my initial response was to sigh and go, "oh, they're doing that finish to this film then"

 

[Stevo985]

20 minutes ago, Rodders said:

I did really enjoy the film and agreed the performances are great, but and in case anyone considers this spoilers

 

  Hide contents

the ending was very sudden and given what had immediately come beforehand, I was frustrated that one short conversation was enough to send him down that path. I think that path in principle is fine to do, and not unexpected given his alcoholism etc, but for me it came out of the blue in this story as, he'd gone through recovery and was seemingly in a better place and then *poof!* he gives up.

I didn't know anything about the other versions so I was blind going in, but that for me, at the time, just jarred and felt like it was quickly done to bring in the teary scene at the end. I accept I might be harsh, as otherwise it was great and I'll happily see it again to consider a 2nd opinion, but on first viewing, it felt that maybe a scene or two would have improved that development.

But to be honest, it is a fairly minor criticism overall, and is very subjective. It's just after that conversation my initial response was to sigh and go, "oh, they're doing that finish to this film then"

 

I think for me the difference was 

Spoiler

 

I saw the suicide coming before that conversation. To me he was on that path already. The alcoholism, the deafness, the issues with his brother, his daddy issues, his problems with Ally were all sending him there.

The rehab and the reconciliation with Ally took him off that path but the conversation with the manager knocked him back down.

So for me the conversation wasn't enough to put him on that path on it's own. He was already heading that way and the conversation just pushed him back over the edge

 

 

I do get your point though

[theboyangel]

14 hours ago, Shropshire Lad said:

Rather good. Easy (and enjoyable) to see how much fun McAvoy is having in the role(s).

Loved this as wasn’t expecting anything much from it. 

I didn’t realise until after it’s a sequel of sorts to unbreakable

the third and final part of the trilogy is out next year and looks great too.

[Ingram85]

1 hour ago, Chindie said:

Apostle

Gareth Evans, of the Raid fame, makes a horror movie.

In the early 1900s a troubled man travels to a remote Welsh island, populated by a cult who claim to have established a utopia, in an attempt to rescue his sister who is understood to be being held captive. Once there, though, he quickly discovers everything isn't as it seems.

This is a simple film. You know what you've got within 5 minutes of it starting. It's tight with only minor sub plots, it doesn't explain everything and it does some nice hints towards greater elements of its lore. It is set almost entirely on the island, with the plot taking place in only a couple of locations, and with a handful of sets. There are perhaps 8 characters, and some of those have only a have a couple of lines of dialogue.

It's not without problems though.

It isn't scary, or unsettling, or shocking. Thankfully there aren't any jump scares, but equally there's nothing scary at about it. There's a bit of gore. The island has secrets that are the wrong side of hokey. 

The film is clearly influenced by other movies, most obviously the Wicker Man. Unfortunately, invoking a classic so clearly only serves to remind you that the Wicker Man is a classic, and Apostle isn't.

Speaking of the Wicker Man, it's invoked in another way. A bad way. Dan Stevens has various moments where I was reminded of Nic Cage in the remake. Not in the most over the top stuff (the BEES! THE BEEEEEES), but in his completely hammy scenery chewing acting like no-one has ever acted in reality. Dan Stevens is supposed to be undercover on the island, but he couldn't act more shifty if he tried. There's even a couple of times where he looks a bit like peak mania Cage.

The rest of the cast is pretty good though. Sheen in particular is very good, walking the line between religious leader and shady charlatan well. And Lucy Boynton is great too in a fairly small role (helped by the fact she may be perfect).

You can see why this is a Netflix film. Release this in cinemas and it'll vanish without a trace. It's better than 'direct to video', but it's not like a high end studio release and it's also not got the trappings of cult favourite of the future. It's solidly B-tier stuff - there's a solid central premise, a small good cast of decent actors without any showstopper names, it's well made, it's fine.

It's a shame it doesn't quite work. It's good, but the details are not quite right. I suspect a bit more money and another draft of the script might have raised it up a notch.

Bit of a harsh review I think. I loved it from start to finish. I have a soft spot for Dan stevens though, his facial expressions added to the oddness/weirdness of the film for me. Was something different and was a good watch. 

[theboyangel]

Watched the Netflix original movie Calibre last night and wasn’t disappointed.

two old friends head to remotest Scotland for a spot of hunting when tragedy strikes and things spiral out of control. 

Its a well put together budget movie that relies on creating a tense atmosphere throughout.

it has a similar feel to Eden Lake and even The Wicker Man to a degree. 

nothing groundbreaking but not a waste of 100 minutes by any means.  

[villa4europe]

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

La La Land was brilliant too.

i thought it was boring...the main story arc didnt really go anywhere, the performances and some of the songs etc were great but there wasn't enough depth to it

i wasn't a fan of moonlight either, that was just ok with some brilliant performances and it looked beautiful but at times i thought that was boring too

i also thought hacksaw ridge was utter garbage  

hidden figures was the best film that year, the days of me watching all of the best film nominations during award season are long gone

[Designer1]

27 minutes ago, theboyangel said:

Watched the Netflix original movie Calibre last night and wasn’t disappointed.

two old friends head to remotest Scotland for a spot of hunting when tragedy strikes and things spiral out of control. 

Its a well put together budget movie that relies on creating a tense atmosphere throughout.

it has a similar feel to Eden Lake and even The Wicker Man to a degree. 

nothing groundbreaking but not a waste of 100 minutes by any means.  

Terrific movie. I'm a big fan of Martin McCann after seeing him in The Survivalist. Very talented actor and a very good film.

[theboyangel]

6 minutes ago, Designer1 said:

Terrific movie. I'm a big fan of Martin McCann after seeing him in The Survivalist. Very talented actor and a very good film.

Loved the survivalist too! 

[Chindie]

Trailer for the new Hellboy has leaked.

It looks like you'd expect. Hellboy but cheaper and more generic than Del Toro's style. Might be ok still and closer to Mignola's original vision of the character, but it's missing something. Harbour doesn't quite look right for me, which is surprising. The Perlman take is so spot on it's hard to get past.

[Mark Albrighton]

6 hours ago, theboyangel said:

Loved this as wasn’t expecting anything much from it. 

I didn’t realise until after it’s a sequel of sorts to unbreakable

the third and final part of the trilogy is out next year and looks great too.

Yeah I don’t normally go for these after credit scenes but I liked the one for this. Firstly, it happened basically two seconds once the title credit appeared, not halfway through.

Spoiler

Secondly, I did enjoy seeing the character of David Dunn after all these years just sat there, all weary like he knows it’s all about to kick off. 

Like I say, James McAvoy was fantastic (I still remember him from “Early Doors”, while he was good in that, I’d have never have guessed what was to follow). The main girl and the psychiatrist were very good too. I’d kinda written off Shyamalan as being spent creatively, but this was up there with his early good stuff. Maybe he’s got his mojo back.

[pooligan]

Clash Of The Titans (1981)

It has been quite a few years since i first watched this film .I still enjoy watching it 

 

 

[Wainy316]

mother! was, erm fun.

[villakram]

Saw Solo last night... and no, not the hope one.

Very meh, like a glorified pilot episode in the way a bunch of the star trek movies have turned out. Still very watchable though, but not one to go out of your way for.

[ender4]

50 minutes ago, villakram said:

Saw Solo last night... and no, not the hope one.

Very meh, like a glorified pilot episode in the way a bunch of the star trek movies have turned out. Still very watchable though, but not one to go out of your way for.

5/10 WNB

[Rodders]

Also seen this week

 

Local Hero - lovely sunday afternoon fare, not sure I really get why it is held in such high acclaim by certain well known film reviewers, mind. It's charming, funny and surreal but very much legs up with a cuppa easy viewing and not much more than that.

The Post - Spielberg, Hanks, Streep, Bob Odenderk, Matthew Rhys... can't go wrong with that cast list. Indeed seeing the latter do his Americans schtick was good fun, and the whole film is well done, and having only seen All the Presidents Men quite recently, found the ending to be very amusing - it now makes for a great double bill!

[sharkyvilla]

I just watched The Girl On The Train which wasn't bad.  A bit gloomy but pretty faithful to the book.

[pooligan]

Justine De Sade (1972)

Watched this last night,was ok 

[Mark Albrighton]

Currently watching “Nerve”. 

It’s not really sort of thing, I guess I’m not it’s target audience, but it’s ok for what it is. Dave Franco and Emma Robert are likeable.

The main reason I bring it up is the surprise of seeing Juliette Lewis playing Emma Roberts’ mum. That has made me feel ancient.