VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Dai]

1 hour ago, waters44 said:

Has anyone watched anything on Prime since the adverts have started? I just wondered if it’s lots of adverts at the start and then uninterrupted show, or if there are adverts every 15 minutes through the show?  

On the two shows Ive watched, it was adverts at the start of the show and then nothing afterward. Both times it was only around 40 seconds of ads too.

[BomberPat]

I'm part of a group chat film-watching thing that started during lockdown, where everyone nominates a (usually bad) film on Prime or Netflix, and then one is picked at random to watch. Last night's was Double Team, the bonkers Tsui Hark directed Jean Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman vehicle. The movie is completely incomprehensible, weirdly tries to become The Prisoner about halfway through, Rodman vanishes for most of the film, and it culminates in a fight with a tiger and Mickey Rourke in a colisseum full of landmines. Five stars, no notes.

Anyway, there were no ads at all. 

[SuperBacon]

Aftersun is on BBC Two Sunday. If you haven't watched it, I would urge you to, but be prepared, emotionally its a LOT.

I haven't rewatched it yet, as I'm not sure I'm ready, but it's a wonderful film.

[Devon Malcolm]

14 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Aftersun is on BBC Two Sunday. If you haven't watched it, I would urge you to, but be prepared, emotionally its a LOT.

I haven't rewatched it yet, as I'm not sure I'm ready, but it's a wonderful film.

Double-bill it with All of Us Strangers at the cinema for a REALLY good time!

[Devon Malcolm]

Speaking of which:-

All of Us Strangers (cinema)

British cinema's run of sad, queer dramas is one of the best things going in the medium right now (see also Femme, Blue Jean and Make-Up to name but three). I was fully prepared for how hard this would be to watch after seeing Andrew Haigh's devastating 45 Years a few years ago (an absolute must-see) but it was much different from what I expected, in a good way. A great use of its fantasy/speculative narration idea and awesome performances from the four cast members, especially Claire Foy and her "WH Smith" line. The Whitgift Centre is shit though.

No Dogs or Italians Allowed (Mubi)

I love animated films about real people and events as they can often bring expression that a live action retelling can't touch. Only 70 minutes long, the story of an Italian family through emigration, war and hardship. Really lovely. Only 70 minutes!

Two Mules for Sister Sara (Great! Movies)

Possibly Clint Eastwood's most under-appreciated great western. Of course, he gets out-acted by Shirley MacLaine (who didn't) but this is an occasionally funny stab at an American spaghetti western with a superb violent ending. Really good. Don Siegel was the best.

The New Kids (ok.ru)

Mad coming-of-age high school drama/thriller/crime/action hybrid with a bleach blonde James Spader and his lads terrifying a family of amusement park owners. Never really knows what it wants to be but it's an enjoyable, mean-spirited ride.

Tommy Boy

"Hey Gilligan, did you eat the captain?!"

Law and Disorder (Talking Pictures TV)

Fairly obscure British crime comedy from Charles Crichton, who mastered this genre right up to and including A Fish Called Wanda. Breezes by in about 75 minutes with a really funny story and an always amusing Robert Morley performance. Splendid.

Cool Runnings

Probably could have had more jokes but what kind of bastard doesn't like Cool Runnings, come on.

Orion and the Dark (Netflix)

Netflix's animated output has actually been, for the most part, very good indeed. This isn't one of their better ones as it completely loses its way in the final third. A nice concept though, high quality animation and some excellent voice work especially from Paul Walter Hauser.

Fallen Leaves (Mubi)

Aki Kaurismaki is the Finnish Wes Anderson in that all his films are roughly the same but almost always funny and very good. Same applies here, a really sweet romcom with a sad backdrop and a nice ending. Very pleasant.

[LaGoosh]

Most of All of Us Strangers was filmed where I grew up. I'm not hugely interested by the film itself but the idea of seeing tiny, insignificant Sanderstead on a cinema screen blows my mind.

[Chest Rockwell]

Oh really? That's piqued my interest now as well. I always get a kick out of seeing places I've been on screen so somewhere that I know that well will be cool. I like Andrew Scott as well. I know nothing about the film.. 

[DavidB6937]

Paul Mescal is in it right? He seems to be incapable of doing anything that doesn't break my heart in some way.

[Devon Malcolm]

21 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Paul Mescal is in it right? 

Yep. Needless to say he's very good. 

[Keith Houchen]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Most of All of Us Strangers was filmed where I grew up. I'm not hugely interested by the film itself but the idea of seeing tiny, insignificant Sanderstead on a cinema screen blows my mind.

I got a tingle in my Willy when in The Hitmans Bodyguard they had to go to Coventry. Sadly it looked very much like Londons West End. Unless Cov has been redeveloped massively since I moved, I don’t think they actually went to Coventry. Not that I blame them of course. 

[Onyx2]

'Best Picture' winners ordered by how good a Muppets version would be. Top 3 spoilered

https://hard-drive.net/hd/entertainment/every-best-picture-winner-ranked-by-how-good-a-muppets-version-would-be/

Spoiler

3. Schindler's List

2. The Godfather

1. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

It's hard to argue with number 2. Imagine the casting opportunities.

[Mr_Danger]

They’d have to be very careful with their use of Gonzo for number 3.

[textonly]

7 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Orion and the Dark (Netflix)

Netflix's animated output has actually been, for the most part, very good indeed. This isn't one of their better ones as it completely loses its way in the final third. A nice concept though, high quality animation and some excellent voice work especially from Paul Walter Hauser.

By chance, I re-watched Adaptation a few weeks before seeing this, and it was remarkable to me the level of overlap. It's a little like Donald Kaufman wrote the final act of Orion... I still quite liked it though. Familial love is my emotional kryptonite, so it hit enough of the right notes to win me over. 

On MUBI... is there a way to see an A-Z of what's on that service? I did the three months for £1 thing, but I have literally no idea what their full catalogue is like.

[Devon Malcolm]

12 minutes ago, textonly said:

On MUBI... is there a way to see an A-Z of what's on that service? I did the three months for £1 thing, but I have literally no idea what their full catalogue is like.

Its full catalogue is notoriously difficult to pin down but you can narrow it by genre on this page:-

https://mubi.com/en/films?filterShowing=true&sort=popularity_quality_score

[Dr. Alan Grant]

14 minutes ago, textonly said:

On MUBI... is there a way to see an A-Z of what's on that service? I did the three months for £1 thing, but I have literally no idea what their full catalogue is like.

https://mubi.com/en/films?filterShowing=true&sort=title
 

Give the “now showing” button a toggle. I had the same 3 months for £1 offer, looks like a very eclectic collection on there.

Edited February 9, 2024 by Dr. Alan Grant
Beaten by Devon.