What film did you watch last night?

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MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
Excellent reviews of the Rocky movies @Drago ...but you seem to have dismissed Rocky II, (unless I've missed that post) which is up there with Rocky in my book as one of the greatest of the franchise.

III, IV and V are by far the worst... they're what i call MTV movies with too many overlong musical interludes, as if the movies are just adverts for the soundtrack album ...but saying that, by the end of all the movies, i'm on the edge of my seat willing Rocky to win, and I don't even like boxing!
 

stephec

Legendary Member
Location
Bolton
Rocky Balboa.

IMHO, as a rabid fan of the series I rank this up there with the original. Rocky, now in his late 50s, finds himself a bit adrift in life several years after the death of his beloved Adrian. To fill a gap he applies for a boxing licence so he can do a few club fights, low level stuff to use up his time. Slimy promoters get a whiff of this and try to set up an exhibition fight between the reigning world champion, Mason "The line" Dixon, for lots of money. Initially Rocky isn't interested but as his anger grows at the injustices that life puts his way, he relents.

Of course, Rocky doesn't win, but he makes the champ work bloody hard for the victory. So much so that Rocky wins the respect of the champ himself, and the crowd lap it up. Rocky leaves the arena, finally having quelled the beast inside himself.

The human interest side is something Stallone always does well with Rocky, although this in'ts quite the best of the series in that regard - that plaudit must go to the next in the series, Creed, where Rocky had even me almost in tears when he is diagnosed with cancer but refuses treatment because all his loved ones have died and he feels he has nothing left to live for. Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for that and it's a crime that he didn't win.

Nevertheless, it's a close run thing as the rudderless and bereft Rocky and his best friend Paulie, the brilliant Burt Young, come to terms with their grief in different ways, the result being that for a couple of hours you feel like you're there and living it with a couple of old friends.

So it's good, but what really pushes this up to joint best is the fight scene. The fight was filmed at a real boxing match as a treat for the crowd before the real fight. The crowds are real. the announcers are real, the previous world champions at the ringside are real, Mike Tyson gobbing off an pointing his finger is real, and the atmosphere is absolutely electrifying. When Rocky walks into the arena the crowd go absolutely nuts and the effect is staggering. You just can't fake that.

The fight itself is brilliantly scripted and well choreographed, and beautifully tells a story all of it's own. Of course he doesn't win, but he makes the champ seriously squirm, and that is a victory all of it's own.

A fantastic film, and very, very worthy of a...

9/10.

Now, "let's start building some hurtin' bombs!"
Inspired by this review I've just checked Netflix and Prime as Mrs Stephec will be watching that dancing nonsense, and two hours of Tess Daly's hysterical screeching makes me want to dispatch the TV through the window, unfortunately it's only available on Prime, and the cheeky gits want an extra £3.99 for it.

Time to search out some guns and car chases instead.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
Shot Caller.

An Americano drama about a chap who gets banged up in the slammer for a drunken car crash. It's hard inside, particularly so for an otherwise nice guy like him. For survival he starts to hang with the white supremacists and gets sucked into it, eventually ending up as top dog

A quiet film, punctuated with brief but intense episodes of violence. Quite a compelling story, you hang on wanting to know how it ends.

A worthy 7.5/10.
 

AndyRM

XOXO
Location
North Shields
Just watched Drive for the 3/4 time...great film and soundtrack.

Some Radio 1 DJ (Greg James possibly) "recurated" the soundtrack for Drive a d to this day I have no idea why Refn allowed it to happen, he's such a meticulous director.

ETA - I was wrong, it was Zane Low. Not that it matters, get that nonsense in the bin.
 
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Adam4868

Guru
Some Radio 1 DJ (Greg James possibly) "recurated" the soundtrack for Drive a d to this day I have no idea why Refn allowed it to happen, he's such a meticulous director.

ETA - I was wrong, it was Zane Low. Not that it matters, get that nonsense in the bin.
It's our go to CD when we go on driving holidays,used to annoy the hell out of our kids then they got to like it ! Well it was that or the Stone Roses on a loop.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
The Drop.

A slow burner, with a lovely intense performance from James Gandolfini as the double crossing bar owner in debt to the Chechen Mafia. Tom Hardy plays Gandolfini's slightly slow cousin, pushed beyond his limit by circumstance and who finally breaks in spectacular fashion near the end. The copper investigating the whole mess knows the truth and can't prove it, but actually seems happy enough with what's gone on. The only real negative is Hardy's slightly suspect Broolyn accent, but in every other way his performance is convincing.

A good watch, well worth getting in some beer and cheesy snacks for.

8/10.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
"Gemini Man" - a Will Smith action / adventure movie.


It's more or less the same idea as the Bourne films, with a retired super-assassin being hunted by another, with the twist that the hunter is a younger cloned version of himself - both naturally played by Will Smith. (not a spoiler as it's on the poster after all). The acting's OK, fights and actions scenes are fine, and it looks great, with Bond-like exotic locations, and yet somehow it all falls flat. About 45 minutes in, the Mrs asked if I wanted to leave, but I though we'd stick it out to see what happens, but 20 minutes later I was starting to fidget and look at my watch, so I was asked again. We had a mini pub crawl instead which was much more enjoyable.

Sadly, most of the elements were there, but it just didn't work as a whole. We didn't expect Citizen Kane, and even a sub-par Bond or Bourne knock-off would have been fine for a bit of undemanding escapism on a Sunday evening, but nah, it was a bit of a bore I'm afraid.

Rating 3/10 - caveat, rating is based on only the first two-thirds of the movie, as we'd adjourned to the pub by then.
 
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Threevok

Growing old disgracefully
Location
South Wales
X-Men - Dark Phoenix

I don't know if it's just me, but every time I see one of these modern franchise versions of X-Men, I find myself still waiting for the film to start.

I was OK, but did not grip my attention like any of the original X-Men series did

6/10
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
Fishtank - terrible name, excellent movie. Or at least, I really enjoyed it. Made by the beeb, and a gritty but compelling and often hilarious depiction of life in the scraggier end of Essex. Terrific script, and a blinding performance by the lead, a late-teens Essex girl, essentially playing herself - brilliantly - who was apparently discovered when the director happened to be on the platform when she was having a blazing row with her boyfriend on the opposite platform. A real object lesson in how you can make a really great film with a really small budget if you get the right team. 9/10.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
tron legacy
particularly enjoyed jeff bridges being cgi made younger to play the computer version of himself , given my fondness for sci fi in general which goes against my resistance for tech in general( which is odd )
 
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Smudge

Veteran
Location
Somerset
Shot Caller..... great gangster story with great acting. Really enjoyed it apart from the quiet dialogue where you're constantly turning the volume up and down.
 
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