What was the last film you watched?

[Willie Oleson]

Insidious

After 90 minutes I realized I had already seen it.
Maybe I should stick with the soaps because obviously movies are not my thing.

 

[Seaviewer]

Beaches - the remake starring Idina Menzel and Nia Long.

Other than the fact that it's been pared back to TV-movie length, mostly at the expense of the songs, I have no specific criticisms, but I still have to ask ... why?

 

[James from London]

It could have done with a bit more bite perhaps, but it's very watchable and pushes all the right buttons. It's based on the true story of the female machinists at Ford who fought for equal pay back in the sixties and ended up changing the law. Some of the real women appear over the end credits which made me think a documentary on the subject might have been (even) better.

Bonus: Sandie Shaw, a Dagenham girl herself, sings the title theme over the end credits.

 

[Willie Oleson]

A good one! At last!

Bonus: Sandie Shaw, a Dagenham girl herself, sings the title theme over the end credits.

I got Sia, but it wasn't the title theme.

 

[James from London]

And it's not on the YouTubes, alas.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Someone had uploaded it and then made in "unavailable".

 

[James from London]

Trust me, it was nothing less than brilliant.

 

[Willie Oleson]

And that's another great Sandie Shaw song I hadn't heard before!
It sounds as if it were written for Belinda Carlisle or Alannah Myles, or any of those American artists of the late 80s.

Edit: I think it reminds me of Chrissie Hynde.

 

[James from London]

It's from her late 80s 'Hello Angel' album which is well worth checking out. The harmonica bit sounds very Smiths to me.

(I feel like one of us now needs to watch a Sandie Shaw film -- there were a few, apparently -- to get this thread back on track.)

 

[Richard Channing]

The Shape Of Water. Pretty good, and visually stunning of course, but I was expecting it to be better.

 

[Zable]

Finally caught up with 2016’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Sword of Destiny. (By a few strands, it’s the English language sequel of sorts to 2000’s Mandarin language Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The latter I throughly enjoyed, watching at the cinema.)

Sword of Destiny lacks the stature of its predecessor but is entertaining enough. I never tire of watching good swordplay.

Combined with martial arts, it’s poetry in motion. Particularly when it’s one-to-one. Hades Dai: “How does a man I once killed return to challenge me?”

 

[Mel O'Drama]

It could have done with a bit more bite perhaps, but it's very watchable and pushes all the right buttons. I

I stumbled upon this one back in 2013 and remember quite enjoying it.

What did you think to Miranda Richardson as Barbara Castle? I'm not too familiar with Castle's mannerisms so I couldn't say how accurate she was. But I did find her very entertaining.

Some of the real women appear over the end credits which made me think a documentary on the subject might have been (even) better.

That would be great. The poster above has reminded me that this is the 50th Anniversary of the strike so this would be a good time for something along those lines.

A good one! At last!

Yes, I enjoyed this one. It's perhaps the closest we've had to Jaws, going for the high octane fun approach without getting too silly. This is a top five killer shark film for me.

Someone had uploaded it and then made in "unavailable".

Even "video unavailable" looks sexier in Dutch.

 

[James from London]

What did you think to Miranda Richardson as Barbara Castle? I'm not too familiar with Castle's mannerisms so I couldn't say how accurate she was. But I did find her very entertaining.

Yeah, I've only got very vague memories of Barbara Castle. Miranda Richardson didn't seem like an obvious choice for the part -- I always think of her as being quite posh and brittle, probably going back to her role in Dance With a Stranger -- but she's very likeable and warm in the film.

 

[Maryann]

The Mountain Between Us

 

[Maryann]

For The Love Of Nancy

True story about a young woman's struggle with Anorexia.

 

[Swami]

Rocky Balboa.

Swami

 

[Swami]

Live and Let Die.

Swami

 

[Seaviewer]

Man of Steel

This has grown on me somewhat; it's not quite the pointless remake of Superman II I thought originally.

I read that they're going to try to make the DC Comics films a bit lighter, maybe a standalone Superman film more in the Donner vein. Maybe there's still a chance for them to dust off the abandoned Reeve-Donner Superman V script that Singer should have made instead of Superman Returns.

 

[Swami]

The Man With The Golden Gun.

Swami

 

[James from London]

Relentless, endless, tough-going, with some truly jaw-droppingly amazing moments. Tom Hardy was so good I didn't even realise he was in it until it was over.