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TST Film Review Thread

Earlier this year I'd realised I'd only seen a few Studio Ghibli films so set out to rectify that by watching them all, conveniently they are all on Netflix (except the co-production the Red Turtle). Just an amazing collection of films.

Anyhow, after that I was trying to decide what next and thought whilst I've seen a great deal of great movies I did have plenty of blank spots. So with that I came to the 2022 Sight and Sound top 250 films of all time list. Something that's only voted on once a decade.

Whilst I'm not going to attempt to watch all the ones I've not seen (probably about 200 of them) its definitely a good guide for when I'm in the house and looking for something a bit different.

So I have started by going through some of the classics of the silent era which included the very interesting Man With A Movie Camera and Sunrise a Tale of Two Humans. It's also had me watching some absolute amazing and still very funny movie like Buster Keatons The General, and Sherlock Jr, truly he was the Tom Cruise of his day when it came to stunts. And Charlie Chaplins little tramp in The Gold Rush, City Lights, and Modern Times which are all amazing. The guy was a genius.
 
John_P said:
 Bugonia

The new one from Yorgos Lamthinos.

Jesse Plemons is a part time bee keeper, but also very much a conspiracy theorist conspires with his cousin to kidnap a business executive played by Emma Stone.

The reason for the kidnapping is he believes she in an alien who is conspiring to destroy the planet and he wants her to take him to the mothership so he can negotiate them leaving the planet.

Frankly as mad as that sounds its pretty much played straight by everyone and features some great scenes as it skips through the genres during its running time.

Probably not for everyone but I really enjoyed it.
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Yeah, I'm going to be thinking about this movie for a while.
 
pluk said:
The Twits on Netflix is an utter abomination, without joy, humor, or anything much relatable to the books. How the usually super protective RD estate have allowed this to happen is beyond me.
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Netflix gave Dahl's grandchildren an offer they couldn't refuse for the Roald Dahl Story Company which gives them the rights to make "a unique universe across animated and live action films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theatre, consumer products and more" to quote Netflix. The same happened to Dr Seuss, he was against film adaptations of his books but his decendents sold the rights off and Illumination (who make Despicable Me) did a version of the Lorax with 70 product integration deals including SUVs and disposable nappies which completely flies in the face of the story's anti consumerism message. A sad state of affairs.
 
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Thameslink Rail said:
Netflix gave Dahl's grandchildren an offer they couldn't refuse for the Roald Dahl Story Company which gives them the rights to make "a unique universe across animated and live action films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theatre, consumer products and more" to quote Netflix. The same happened to Dr Seuss, he was against film adaptations of his films but his decendents sold the rights off and Illumination (who make Despicable Me) did a version of the Lorax with 70 product integration deals including SUVs and disposable nappies which completely flies in the face of the story's anti consumerism message. A sad state of affairs.
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Wow, that's depressing. Thanks!
 
I read The Twits as a child so tried to watch the Netflix film in the hopes of it being somewhat nostalgic.

Utterly terrible, I had to turn off the film half way through because it was so disjointed and lacklustre. No resemblance to the original book, and a really sloppy lazy plot where you can’t connect with any character or plot line. Was I supposed to be supporting The Twits, or was I meant to despise them? The art style was inconsistent too, and couldn’t decide which other animation studio to rip off, resulting in the film looking different depending on which characters were on screen.

I had to turn it off when The Twits tried to blow up someone’s bum with a giant fart, I loved fart humour as a child in Despicable Me but the gag still falls flat in comparison. I didn’t realise you could fail the landing of a poo joke, but they’ve gone and done it anyways.

1/10 - Atrocious, do not watch. I’m only giving it one point to the singular throwback to the worm spaghetti from the book…
 
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Went to see Relay this evening starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James.

Ahmeds character acts an unseen go between for staff who initially wanted to be whistle blowers but now want to return whatever they've taken and seek assurances they won't have any untoward actions taken against them.

Lily James is his new client and the film follows them both as Ahmeds usual methodical manners come up against his attraction to his client.

Really well shot and features a good number of tense sequences before going a bit more haywire as the film progresses and boundaries are crossed.
 
New to Netflix is Guillermo Del Toros long awaited version of Frankenstein

Starring Oscar Isaac as Viktor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the monster. Rounding out the cast your have Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz and others.

Following an opening prelude the film is then in two parts, part one told by Frankenstein, and part two by the monster.

Unsurprisingly the film looks absolutely amazing from the beautiful sets and production design.

Quite fittingly its Elordi as the Monster whi brings the heart to the film as his character grapples with his place in the world.

It's a lengthy film at about 2 1/2 hours but it doesn't feel long at all.
 
Also just watched Frankenstein

It isn’t quite as.. challenging as the book or play adaptation I’ve seen, but it is definitely worthy. The characters are simplified to enhance a more emotional core to film, and I think it works great.

I think this movie might have a fair technical Oscar sweep, with stunning set, puppets and makeup. I think it is all gorgeous, but I can see people having a hard time stomaching it. There’s jaws being ripped from skulls, people going splat in the ground and of course some pretty nasty surgery. Its no Saw exactly, but I praise the movie for the violence feeling visceral. It feels like I see a lot of movies where the punches feel weightless, but my god you feel it with this movie.

It’s long, but I was glued to my screen for almost the full runtime - the pacing is very good. Would recommended.
 
I echo the recent praise for Frankenstein and also the absolute hatred for The Twits, two extreme ends of the Netflix spectrum.

I’ve also watched Fantastic Four: First Steps now it’s on Disney+ which I thought was a solid, enjoyable, mid-tier Marvel, with an extremely cute baby!
 
'The Srebrenica Tape'.

This is a decent documentary that I watched this evening. A woman goes back to Srebrenica (in Bosnia) to find out about her father who was killed in the genocide there in the 1990s during the war in what was Yugoslavia. It's interspersed with home video that he recorded for her from Srebrenica during and before the war. These doc's are always a little bit close to my heart as my mom has Yugoslav blood (my grandparents came from there due to WW2, so I'm half Serbian blood). Worth a watch on BBC iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002fcv7
 
Sisu Road To Revenge

The original Sisu saw the man of few words battling the nazis is violent and funny ways as they retreated from Finland.

In the sequel he has ventured into the new border with the USSR in which his house is located it so he can dismantle it and take it into what is now Finland.

The Red Army get wind of this and send the man who killed his wife and children after him to end the legend once and for all.

As bloody, violent, inventive, and funny as the original.

Would definitely recommend both this and the original.
 
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