What was the last film you watched?

[Angela Channing]

I think it was because in no way did his physical features make him believable as a grown up Sunny.

I can't put my finger on why I didn't like him in the film but you are right about him being physically wrong. He was probably cast because he has a higher profile than many other south Asian actors of his generation rather than being ideal for the role. That said, he did a competent enough job.

At the end of when they did they present time update, they showed a photo of the real Sunny and he was totally different to Dev Patel so Dev wasn't cast because of his resemblance to the real life character whereas could imagine the little boy growing up to look like him. This is all three of them together.

 

[Angela Channing]

Last weekend I watched The Wife (2018). I thought it was a good film and Glenn Close was outstanding. Throughout the film she said so much by saying very little. The brilliance of her acting was in her reacting to other people and her face said volumes. I felt the same way about her performance in the final scene of Dangerous Liaisons in which she said nothing but said everything with her face. The Wife itself is a bit of a slow burner and felt a bit like a stage play. It might work better watched on a small YV screen rather than on a large cinema screen.

 

[Swami]

Carry On Abroad.

Swami

 

[Swami]

Carry On Girls.

Swami

 

[Swami]

Carry On Dick.

Swami

 

[Rove]

​

I was half expecting dumb teenagers acting like adults but ultimately fail against marauding aliens. But I was pleasantly surprised. This movie has elements of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

 

[Swami]

That's Carry On.

Swami

 

[Michael Torrance]

A line from the novel that leaps out of the newer version, "It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in a language chiefly made by men to express theirs," doesn't appear at all in the earlier one.

Though I do love the 2015 version (and the novel, and Hardy in general) your post made me want to go and find the earlier version. But that line...it would take Lacan-school psychologists many decades to figure out what Hardy had expressed crystal-clear back then.

 

[James from London]

Bird Box (2018)

Oh my, this was stressful. It reminded me a bit of a Weeping Angels episode of Doctor Who ("don't look" instead of "don't blink"), or a big budget episode of Torchwood with all the annoying bits taken out, or seven years of Lost distilled into two hours, or a later era X-File without Scully or Mulder. John Malkovich is great as a misanthropic drunk, which makes a nice contrast to Sandra Bullock's innate perkiness. It's strange -- even when Bullock's playing dark and edgy and apocalyptic, there's still something inherently perky about her.

 

[Willie Oleson]

It's strange -- even when Bullock's playing dark and edgy and apocalyptic, there's still something inherently perky about her

I think it's her voice.

I haven't watched it yet, but the premise reminds me of the much underrated The Happening (2008).
Evil or spooky stuff caused by places, nature or buildings is often more creepier than monsters or evil humans, imho.
Those evil forces have nothing to loose, besides, how does one defeat a forest or a mansion?
On the other hand, when mankind does find a way to outsmart them it feels less satisfying, so maybe it's better to end these stories with an unhappy ending.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Fantastic 4

I didn't hate it.​

 

[Willie Oleson]

Fantastic 4

Was there really nothing else to watch?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Was there really nothing else to watch?

Well, there was also the 1994 version. But I thought it may be a bit too racy for a Sunday evening.

 

[Willie Oleson]

there was also the 1994 version

Or: what could have happened if Gary hadn't blown up Empire Valley.

 

[Angela Channing]

I watched Blackklansman yesterday and what a great film it is. I'm not a massive fan of Spike Lee's work but I think this is one of his best films, skilfully mixing action and comedy while telling an important message. Amazingly, for such an incredible story, the film was based on a true story.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I liked the adulterers.

 

[James from London]

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Oh man, I loved this. The basic premise is the plot of any number of gooey TV movies but told in a very low-key, naturalistic way where it's all about tiny details and nuances of behaviour that constantly surprise you, rather than any big emotional grandstanding. All of the pain and the humour (and it's a lot funnier than I was expecting) arise out of the characters' unwillingness and/or inability to say what they're really feeling and thinking (which, having recently sat through Ghost: The Musical, where nobody does anything but talk -- and sing -- about exactly what they're feeling for hours, comes as a huge relief). The publicity leads you to expect to see more of Jen from Dawson' s Creek than you do, but the performances of Casey Affleck and the kid playing his nephew more than compensate. One to remember.

 

[Richard Channing]

This was a pretty damn good slick sci-fi flick. Really enjoyed it. Didn't hurt that guy in it is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Swami]

Spectre.

Swami

 

[James from London]

Carol (2015)

Based on one of the few Patricia Highsmith novels I didn't read when I went on a Highsmith binge back in the day. Most of her books are psychological thrillers, often told from the point of view of the killer (a fair few have been turned into films, most famously Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr Ripley) and they have a compelling coldness about them. This movie has the same kind of atmosphere, even though it's actually a love story between two women, one of whom is married with a kid, back in the '50s when such a thing was thinkable.

It's directed by Todd Haynes and has a similar cinematic sumptuousness to Far From Heaven, his homage to the Douglas Sirk melodramas of the 40s and 50s. This story feels like a melodrama too, but with all the emotions suppressed by the societal demands of the time. Even though it's set the decade before, you could imagine any of the characters showing up in Mad Men -- they share that same chicly-glamorous-yet-emotionally-confused vibe.

In the title role, Cate Blanchett is like the missing link between Marlene Deitrich and Gena Rowlands -- chilly and remote but ultimately sympathetic. In a parallel world, you could imagine someone like Joan Crawford or Barbara Stanwyck playing the part in black and white.