What Film have you just watched?

[Dan Steel]

Released 2019 - Visually stunning, masterful storytelling and brilliant music. Excellent film recommended.

[Mr Onion]

Not a film in the conventional sense, but we both loved "All Aboard! New Zealand by Rail, Sea and Land" that was on BBC4 10 days ago 150 minutes of wonderful slow television. Its on the iPlayer for another 20 days if you are interested

screenshot_315.jpg

[Dan Steel]

Not a film in the conventional sense, but we both loved "All Aboard! New Zealand by Rail, Sea and Land" that was on BBC4 10 days ago 150 minutes of wonderful slow television. Its on the iPlayer for another 20 days if you are interested

Cheers Mr O

[Dan Steel]

Lee Morgan.


John Coltrane


Nina Simone


Robert Johnson

Spent a couple of isolation days watching these fine documentaries on Netflix.

[Pediatrik]

Lee Morgan.


John Coltrane


Nina Simone


Robert Johnson

Spent a couple of isolation days watching these fine documentaries on Netflix.

Great selection Jim!

[Wenge1]

.
Into 2nd week of self isolation - persistent Covid-19 symptoms so re-watched this superb film IMHO

[MHmusic]

Watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Spenser Confidential (Netflix movie).

Enjoyed them both. Both were an amusing take wrapped around a drama - one loosely built around real events and the other not so much. As with most Tarantino movies the violence shocks as he continues his one man campaign to show how horrific violence can be but just ensure you have a pillow to hide behind because the rest is worth it. The Movie isn't riddled with it - just the end. As with all good 'Once upon a time stories', they 'all lived happily ever after' - well mostly.

Spenser confidential is a Boston based Wahlberg movie vehicle for his fighting and comedy that is an easy watch. The opposite to the Tarantino movie in that they get clobbered and barely get a scratch. Not sure which is worse really for society - but you cringe less with this one. If bad language isn't your thing it won't appeal as the female star probably squeezes in just about every insult possible as she reinvents the standard for a 'shrew'.

Despite my description, these are enjoyable enough movies. The former better from a critics viewpoint but both an easy watch. We did also watch The Angel Has Fallen which is the 3rd in Gerard Butler's uber macho Presidential Security Service protecting movies. Again a film of a type that you either love or hate. It was the best of the series I suspect but not great for realism.

Also recently caught some older War films - watched A Bridge Too Far again - partly nostalgia and partly interest in the Arnhem campaign and then also the excellent 'What happened to Private Ryan'. The latter is just an amazing movie. Great story to watch unfold, brilliantly told and filmed and the opening sequences get closer than anything else to creating the chaos and devastation of an opposed beach landing and war in general.

The action orientation of these movies reflects that we were watching the Crown series back to back in between them. Won't post pics 'cos too long already

[MHmusic]

Forgot a good one - Le Mans 66 - Wonderful movie centred on that race and the competition between ford and Ferrari but specifically focusing on Ford's efforts led by Shelby and the British Miles. Just a great story told really well. You don't have to like cars or motor racing to enjoy it because it's really about the people and the challenge. Christian Bale and Matt Damon star. I hesitate to mention it for fear of making it worse but I really struggled with Bale's accent throughout the whole film. It's supposed to be a Brummie twang but he never quite nails it for me which is odd because he is British. (note if you haven't seen Vice - as in Vice President - then you have to watch Bale in that - stunning).

[MHmusic]

We bought Red Joan a while back and for some reason hadn't got around to watching it until last night. Another nice performance from Dame Judi who anchors it as Joan in her latter years. The story of her spying on behalf of Russia unfolds from her memories as she is arrested as a pensioner having been active for decades. Having watched one too many, poor, mindless action films that I won't list here, over the previous week it was nice to get back to 'a story being told'. Nothing exciting and probably too slow for some but it just hit the mark. Poorish ratings I think.

More interesting perhaps was that it is based or perhaps inspired by the true story of the Granny Spy, Melita Norwood, who to this day is the longest serving Russian Spy (that we know of) in the UK. Poetic license was taken with the story to no doubt pad it out. I remember Philby, Burgess and so on and there is a vague memory of the garden press conference of a spy but no real memory other than that TBH. I think they have then woven various other events in and around it to thicken the plot a little. Never charged she retired in 72 and lived to 93.

As an aside the movie shows how far things have moved on with regards to spycraft. Late night walks out to remote telephone boxes, hiding a huge camera in a 'ladies personal toiletries' box to avoid it being found in a search or typing out a copy of documents' representing their cutting edge back then.

[MHmusic]

Pretty dead thread by the looks of it but have a few mins and so......

Watched these recently:

La La Land - not sure why but we have had this ages now but never quite got around to watching it. Reminded me of a Gene Kelly movie in it's tone and obviously very well shaped/delivered. Whether it will stick in the mind the same way as On The Town, Singing in the Rain, Pirate and so on I am not sure but it was a brave effort.

A Million Ways to Die in the West - Vehicle for Seth McFarlane to play cowboys (bit like a Bob Hope Movie - Paleface - style wise). Never attempts to be serious and it's difficult not to smile at some of the silly moments but will certainly be a 'marmite movie'. It was OK and Charlize Theron manages to look/be good in anything she does which probably saved it.

Grimsby - another silly one (sorry we don't tend to pick these normally) with Sacha Baron Coen as Grimsby based England fanatic with a zillion kids and Mark Strong as his long lost secret agent brother. Slapstick but was probably better than I had expected as I am not Coen's greatest fan TBH.

Greyhound - Tom Hanks movie as Destroyer Captain leading the armed escort of a WWII convoy back in the day when there was a huge gap in air cover between the US and UK and detection and tracking were limited. A classic destroyer vs wolfpack scenario. Being a baby boomer I grew up on a diet of WWII movies and the sub hunting from either angles always fascinates me. It's competently done all round. Everyone does well but it's not a smash hit, just a good solid movie. You get what you expect from it really. We enjoyed it but it felt as if they should/could have developed the characters a little more

Midway - another blockbuster WWII movie capturing Pearl Harbour and the critical encounter following that with planes from US aircraft carriers etc. without which things could have been so different. Pride of place to the intelligence gathering arm that makes all the right guesses/interpretations of the info they had. Worth a watch if you like this sort of thing.

The Peanut Butter Falcon - very different to the above. Heartwarming story of a loser meeting up with a young down syndrome lad that has escaped from an assisted living facility where he has been living with a bunch of old people (like us I guess?) and basically making their way cross country with the usual adventure unfolding as they make friends.

Stop there because my better half has just said that tea is ready in this assisted living facility that I call home. :):)

[Mr Onion]

I love old films that were at the cutting edge of cinematography. Napoleon for one, and I have just 'discovered' this

faust.jpg

Its out of copyright so prints are variable (to say the least) but its worth the hunt. There are versions on YouTube and at least one Blu Ray releaseso do yourself a favour and check it out (BTW Mephisto is suburb)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016847/?ref_=ttmc_mc_tt

[Dan Steel]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

[Wenge1]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

Cheers Jim, for sniffing this out .............

[Coyote Jim]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

Fab film Dan I seen it one of the unusual channels a while ago and Santa brought it to me last year it's still sealed Blue Ray.

[Wenge1]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

Fab film Dan I seen it one of the unusual channels a while ago and Santa brought it to me last year it's still sealed Blue Ray.

Send it to me - I will unseal it for you .................

[Coyote Jim]

Highly recommended from the all in the Jazz department.

[Dan Steel]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

Fab film Dan I seen it one of the unusual channels a while ago and Santa brought it to me last year it's still sealed Blue Ray.

Yes I spotted it by chance Jim and I couldn’t let it pass, great film. Diane still rubs it in about going to the Blue Note Club...

[Coyote Jim]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

Fab film Dan I seen it one of the unusual channels a while ago and Santa brought it to me last year it's still sealed Blue Ray.

Yes I spotted it by chance Jim and I couldn’t let it pass, great film. Diane still rubs it in about going to the Blue Note Club...

Don't think we'll ever top that one.

[evil_C]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

All please note that this film is being shown tonight on BBC4 at 10:20pm after Count Basie at 9:00pm and before Jazz Piano Gold at 11:45pm. Set your recorders!

[Wenge1]

Watched this excellent movie last night and it’s a damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber paying tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. A must for jazzers on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0uVDnCOR4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cM83kxVBtv4

All please note that this film is being shown tonight on BBC4 at 10:20pm after Count Basie at 9:00pm and before Jazz Piano Gold at 11:45pm. Set your recorders!

Cheers Clive

[MHmusic]

Watched a few lately.

The Professor and the Madman - really enjoyed this. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn, unlikely casting perhaps for the professor (MG) tasked with creating the oxford dictionary and a madman that was critical to it's creation (SP) but it was really interesting and an enjoyable watch.

The Banker - Samuel Jackson - another based on real life story about what were probably the first successful black property investors in the US and how they used a young white guy to front their activity and got one over the establishment by buying their own bank.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil - sequel to the original Maleficent and I guess a fairy tale for grown ups. Probably could be a bit scary for the very young uns but goodies win in the end as ever (although the original fairy tales were all pretty scary). if you enjoyed the first one this will be OK, if not then.....

David Copperfield - a lighthearted and somewhat surreal romp through the story with good actors and nicely done. With Dev Patel as Copperfield which he does very well. Probably not easily recognised from the original movies or maybe the book but the characters are all there and the favourites are nicely 'painted'.

Probably a good time to revisit those original Bond movies although I recorded The Green Berets for a dollop of John Wayne when I get some spare time.

[Scooter]

Watched a few lately.

The Professor and the Madman - really enjoyed this. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn, unlikely casting perhaps for the professor (MG) tasked with creating the oxford dictionary and a madman that was critical to it's creation (SP) but it was really interesting and an enjoyable watch.

The Banker - Samuel Jackson - another based on real life story about what were probably the first successful black property investors in the US and how they used a young white guy to front their activity and got one over the establishment by buying their own bank.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil - sequel to the original Maleficent and I guess a fairy tale for grown ups. Probably could be a bit scary for the very young uns but goodies win in the end as ever (although the original fairy tales were all pretty scary). if you enjoyed the first one this will be OK, if not then.....

David Copperfield - a lighthearted and somewhat surreal romp through the story with good actors and nicely done. With Dev Patel as Copperfield which he does very well. Probably not easily recognised from the original movies or maybe the book but the characters are all there and the favourites are nicely 'painted'.

Probably a good time to revisit those original Bond movies although I recorded The Green Berets for a dollop of John Wayne when I get some spare time.

Some good hu. Watched the David Copperfield last week we both enjoyed it.

[MHmusic]

Watched a few lately.

......

Some good hu. Watched the David Copperfield last week we both enjoyed it.

Yeah, If I am honest three of us were picking a movie to watch and I wasn't that excited about any of the choices we had at the time and so went with the choice of the others and they called it right. It won't change anyone's life but it was an enjoyable couple of hours entertainment that I would recommend. Familiar but different and gently amusing throughout with good actors. In my earlier post I mentioned all the favourite characters are in there but it crossed my mind that I can't remember 'Barkis' surfacing anywhere in the movie. maybe he was there and I missed it but no 'Barkis is willin' that I can remember Not sure if there are any others missing.

I did like the boat/house on the beach btw.

[Dan Steel]

Watched this excellent play on BBC4 last night, brought back memories of Thatchers unemployed struggling Britain. Great play written by Alan Bleasdale, with Bernard Hill standing out as Yosser Hughes. Hope they show the series Boys From The Black Stuff.

[Coyote Jim]

Watched this excellent play on BBC4 last night, brought back memories of Thatchers unemployed struggling Britain. Great play written by Alan Bleasdale, with Bernard Hill standing out as Yosser Hughes. Hope they show the series Boys From The Black Stuff.

Me too Dan with my daughters compelling viewing and I've got the series boxset in the cupboard.
So I can do that.
Painful to remember a shift for a fiver.