Films watched in 2020

[natedammit]

56 minutes ago, Raylenth said:

I think your pants are on fire.

So were his, that's why he was waving his winky around.

[nicky]

UNHINGED (2020)

3/5 (No spoilers)

Here's a cat and mouse thriller with Russell Crowe on top menacing form playing a deranged road-rager. It's a little film under 90 mins with a modest budget and reminded me of THE HITCHER (1986) and FALLING DOWN (1993) only nowhere near as good.

I was actually surprised an actor of Crowe's calibre would agree to this film. Although Crowe's performance as the antagonist is good (despite having no emotional range) the writing especially for his character seems to be lacking; this was quite frustrating because with so little known about the antagonist's motivation or history it makes some of his actions difficult to swallow. There are some things that Crowe's character does in the film that are a direct response to the heroine's (Caren Pistorius) actions but they appear SO extreme and unrealistic because we know almost nothing about him to back them up. This ultimately is where the film fails. Take for example FALLING DOWN; we know Micheal Douglas's motivation is getting home to his daughter but what was Russell Crowe's motivation in UNHINGED other than simply being pissed off?

Its an enjoyable enough watch and a tight-thriller that keeps you engaged with a simple "it could happen to you" message going on but its not really the character-piece or horror film it could have been (or wants to be). I also feel that the film might have served better if it had embraced its grind-house feel more. Such a shame as the premise is pretty good.

Edited December 25, 2020 by nicky

[Daniel]

It is usual this time of year to list every film I have seen in order of best. For obvious reasons I have been to the cinema far less this year so more of these have been on TV and demand than usual but please add your list of every film you've seen in order of best to worst this year:

1. Birds of Prey 
2. Richard Jewell 
3. The Craft: Legacy 
4. Just Mercy 
5. Bombshell
6. Dark Waters
7. All My Life 
8. The Invisible Man
9. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
10. 1917
11. Bill & Ted: Face the Music 
12. The Kissing Booth 2
13. Jojo Rabbit 
14. Fantasy Island 
15. Sonic the Hedgehog 
16. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
17. My Zoe
18. Seberg
19. Happiest Season 
20. The Hunt 
21. American Pickle 
22. The Holidate
23. The Lie
24. Tenet
25. Boys in the Band
26. Babyteeth 
27. A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
28. Kajillionaire 
29. Olympic Dreams
30. Misbehaviour 
31. The New Mutants 
32. After we Collided
33. Parasite
34. Bad Therapy 
35. Jay & Silent Bob Reboot 
36. To Have and to Hold
37. Proxima 
38. Bad Education 
39. Our Christmas Love Song
40. Grudge
41. Spenser: Confidential 
42. The Secret Garden 
43. Swimming for the Gold
44. Downhill 
45. Underwater 
46. Brahms: Boy 2
47. Nocturne 
48. Midnight Sky
49. Sleeping with my Student
50. Waiting for Anya
51. The Black Box
52. Good Morning Christmas 
53. Mank
54. Enola Holmes 
55. Evil Eye
56. Paradise Hills

Edited January 16, 2021 by Daniel

[homerj]

Well like the above poster - Cinema trips have been very short this year - annoyingly most cinemas here have been shut for 9 months!! Ive normally seen over 50 films.

1. 1917 x 4
2. Military Wives x 2
3. New Mutants x 2
4. Jo Jo Rabbit
5. Onward
6. Bad Boys Three
7. Tenat
8. Unhinged
9. Invisible Man
10. Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
11. Harley Quinn
12. Dark Waters
13. My Spy
14. Doolittle
15. Underwater
16. Bombshell
17. David Copperfield
18. Sonic The Hedgehog
19. Misbehaviour
20. Downhill

 

Re releases

1. Jurassic Park
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Bohemian Rhapsody
4. Black Panther

[natedammit]

4 hours ago, Daniel said:

It is usual this time of year to list every film I have seen in order of best. For obvious reasons I have been to the cinema far less this year so more of these have been on TV and demand than usual but please add your list of every film you've seen in order of best to worst this year:

1. Birds of Prey 
32. Parasite

Take a deep breath Nathan. All opinions are valid. All opinions are valid. All opinions are valid.

[nicky]

10 hours ago, Daniel said:

1. Birds of Prey 
32. Parasite

Da fuq?! Birds of Prey??!!! That's one of my top 3 worst. As for Parasite, I get that foreign language/art-house isn't everyone's cup of tea but that's still pretty low down the list.

I see people didn't mention Extraction, Bloodshot or The Old Guard?

I'm still waiting for Wonder Woman 1984 before I do a list. 

[Daniel]

12 hours ago, nicky said:

Da fuq?! Birds of Prey??!!! That's one of my top 3 worst. As for Parasite, I get that foreign language/art-house isn't everyone's cup of tea but that's still pretty low down the list.

I see people didn't mention Extraction, Bloodshot or The Old Guard?

I'm still waiting for Wonder Woman 1984 before I do a list. 

I really liked Birds of Prey (but don't forget pickings are thin this year). I didn't hate Parasite but thought it was overrated. Not seen the others you mentioned.

I will edit my list if I see more. I hope to see Wonder Woman 1984 soon.

[TheLocalWizard]

Finally got around to watching The Prom on Netflix, which is surprising given how much I adore the musical. There's a lot about it that is good (in particular the performance by Jo Ellen Pearlman as Emma, the lead), but the one glaring problem is James Corden as Barry, one of the Broadway actors who comes to Indiana to help Emma in her campaign. Not only is he wooden, his performance as a gay man left a really bad taste in my mouth. He plays up every stereotype you can think of, and then some. Considering the film was made by Ryan Murphy, who has been an advocate for LGBT+ roles being played by LGBT+ actors, it's plain odd that he'd cast a straight man in a gay role in his own film. And, it's not like there aren't LGBT+ actors who could've played Barry to perfection (Nathan Lane, Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Not terrible by any means, but let down by casting. 

 

[Raylenth]

The Death Of Stalin.  Boring, unfunny.  I have nothing else to add

[nicky]

DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)

4/5 (No spoilers)

Saw this at the cinema back in the day and it bored the s*** out of me. Caught it again on TV recently and thought it was really good. I watched the 4hr special edition version this time and although the film isn't as boring as I remember I can certainly see there was plenty of stuff to cut out. It's quite a poetic film with its sweeping landscapes, joining of two cultures and the story of a man "finding himself" so its easy to see why it won Best Picture. At the time Costner was mocked for having made a vanity project but it all worked well in his favour in the end as it won him Best Director in addition to 6 other wins.

Edited December 31, 2020 by nicky

[maegurwen]

Finally got round to watching knives out. What I initially thought and what I got was two different things. Quite a good movie though.

The Kentucky accent from Blanc (Daniel Craig) was interesting although I found one of the comment's about him sounding like foghorn leghorn was funny.

all in all I would give it a 3.5.

[nicky]

All the films I watched that were released in 2020:

1) BAD BOYS FOR LIFE - Seen it twice, still a solid action film.
2) #ALIVE - Outstanding original Korean zombie film focusing on isolation.
3) THE INVISIBLE MAN - Amazing the first time and full of suspense but admittedly slow the 2nd time once you know everything.
4) EXTRACTION - Solid action piece but spoiled by weak characterization. Still no idea why/how 14 yr olds go to niteclubs though. 
5) TRAIN TO BUSAN: PENINSULA - Not as bad as they say despite the hokey climax. Unfairly compared to the first film.
6) DA 5 BLOODS - Enjoyable Spike Lee adventure, could have done with less of his usual race politics angle though.
7) EUROVISION: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA - Harmless fun if somewhat messy pacing/narrative and unfunny jokes.
8) MULAN - Looks great but overly-Americanized and relies too much on fantasy to explain the impossible.
9) THE OLD GUARD - Fun but naff and felt like a TV show, missing the big budget of a feature film.
10) UNHINGED - Good premise and decent Crowe performance but missing solid writing to justify his character's actions.
11) BORAT: SUBSEQUENT MOVIE FILM - Disappointing sequel with too much focus on the daughter and story-line instead of the pranks.
12) ALL MY LIFE - Small film with good performances but doesn't really go anywhere. I doubt it would've been made if it wasn't a true event that made the news.
13) WW1984 - A joke of film with a shoddy, dumb, goofy script that takes it audience for idiots. Its the only big 'summer' event movie we got so suck it up.
14) BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC - Weak attempt to recapture the magic of the previous films ruined by their boring daughters.
15) BLOODSHOT - Crappy Vin Diesel vehicle with another straight-to-DVD feel.
16) UNDERWATER - Basically a fanboy homage to Alien and by-the-numbers creature feature but worse. No wonder it wasn't released for ages.
17) BIRDS OF PREY - Pretentious bollocks from a screenwriter who somehow fooled the studio into buying her all-over-the-place dull as dishwater script. 

NOTE: 1917 and PARASITE were officially 2019 films so I didn't add them despite having their UK theatrical releases in January/March. They would have been on my 2019 list instead.

Edited January 11, 2021 by nicky