What's the last movie you watched 2012

**Westsiyeed** · January 1st, 2012, 02:03 AM

Watched a few over the holiday break:

The Skin I Live In - really enjoyed this, very dark, sometimes humorous, modern take on the Frankenstein story. Spanish director Almodovar can do no wrong lately with this his latest after other sublime movies such as Volver, Broken Embraces and Talk to Her.

The Ides of March - not a bad movie, well acted by Clooney and Gosling (who seems to be the latest flavour of the month, and has been pretty good so far), but I thought it was average overall. Probably also American politics is not the most inspiring of topics (personally) so the subject matter wasn't a great start.

Moneyball - quite a good movie even if you don't like baseball, though it was a fairly formula-driven underdog-proves-them-wrong movie

Kill List - now this was quite good, a genre-bending British movie about two hitmen doing some final jobs that go very strange. Not for the faint-hearted but well acted and a bit original for a change.

The Inbetweener Movie - have never seen the TV series, but this was a good bit of fun with a few genuinely funny bits (especially the dance scene to impress the girls). Quite juvenile humour with plenty of swearing; if this is your thing you can't go wrong.

**Jon Sprunk** · January 1st, 2012, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by Hobbit

Just back from Mission Incredible/Impossible. Good fun from Tom and Brad Bird (Director of The Iron Giant/The Incredibles: see what I did there?)

Very slick, very glossy: some awesome stunts which look incredible on a big screen. Plot's a bit all over the place, but generally worth the money.

Better than the last Bond movie...

Mark

My wife and I just saw this last week. I pretty much agree. Not a great movie, but entertaining.

**Chuffalump** · January 1st, 2012, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by Hobbit

Have looked at both of those, Chuff... but not been tempted enough yet. Be interested in what you think/thought.

Mark

Well, we watched The Eagle last night. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It dived in and out of the original storyline without stamping all over it but the ending diverged from the original, which was a bit annoying. A little superficial towards the end, I thought. It might have been interesting if The Eagle had been slightly more 'gritty'. Maybe half way between what it is and what Centurion was. On the whole, worth a watch.

So, if you like a bit of gratuitous slaughter then Centurion is for you. If you prefer something a little less focused and more towards Hollywood style then The Eagle fits the bill.

**Rat-Man** · January 1st, 2012, 03:31 PM

I got dragged out to, "Hugo". It was actually a delightful surprise. I enjoyed it a lot. Before that, I saw "A Dangerous Method". That was pretty good. You can't go wrong with Keira Knightly getting whipped while wearing a corset.

But you know, I think the feel good movie of the year was, "Melancholia".

**Loerwyn** · January 2nd, 2012, 08:59 AM

Despicable Me

I remember someone saying they'd seen this not long ago, and I saw it for sale in Tesco. I thought I might as well get it, so I did.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some great animation, some great voice work and some really good humour. It reminded me a lot of Megamind, although I have to say I felt this worked better even though it's aimed at a younger audience. I liked how it wasn't a love story in the way these sorts of films tend to be, but it was sweet - if a little creepy at first.

Only real gripe is that Russell Brand wasn't any good... Sort of. He might have been better if the character he played suited the voice more. It just didn't work for me.

**DDCOrange** · January 6th, 2012, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by Loerwyn

Despicable Me

I remember someone saying they'd seen this not long ago, and I saw it for sale in Tesco. I thought I might as well get it, so I did.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some great animation, some great voice work and some really good humour. It reminded me a lot of Megamind, although I have to say I felt this worked better even though it's aimed at a younger audience. I liked how it wasn't a love story in the way these sorts of films tend to be, but it was sweet - if a little creepy at first.

Only real gripe is that Russell Brand wasn't any good... Sort of. He might have been better if the character he played suited the voice more. It just didn't work for me.

Personally I liked the "Minions". Great comic relief.

**ubergeek** · January 6th, 2012, 04:18 PM

NIGHT OF THE DEMON

Couldn't believe my luck when i got this today in my local charidee shop for 1 scottish pound .

Directed by Jacques Tourneur of Cat People fame. Again the most striking thing for me is the use of shadow and light. Whether this is d.o.p. skill ,Tourneur or both i don't know but i am impressed. [ i'd be grateful for any more knowledgable readers input here ] . Certainly black and white filming accentuates the contrast that perhaps colour films can't exploit.
Cat People had the fabulous swimming pool scene where the waves were reflected on the ceiling and voices echoed.

Night of the demon also has the famous ' It's in the trees it's coming ' line which Kate Bush sampled on Hounds of love lp .

**JunkMonkey** · January 6th, 2012, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by ubergeek

NIGHT OF THE DEMON

Couldn't believe my luck when i got this today in my local charidee shop for 1 scottish pound .

You lucky lucky bugger. I love Tourneur's films.

I too liked Despicable Me though it suffered by comparison with Megamind which I saw in the same week - and thought was the better of the two. My wife and Number two daughter kept nudging each other all the way through Despicable Me and whispering - "It's Dad!". Couldn't see it myself.

**Elaine** · January 13th, 2012, 09:04 PM

I saw The Descendants - I loved it!

@inkdipped

**Elaine** · January 14th, 2012, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by Luke_B

Managed to score a babysitter and took my wife to see The King's Speech. It tries very hard to be Oscar worthy but I still found myself enjoying it. It's not the stodgy period piece you might expect. Events leading up to the World War Two is a fascinating period of history and I find the idea of one person becoming the focus point for an entire nation during harrowing times very interesting. Colin Firth's performance is excellent; full of wry self deprecation and rage. Geoffrey Rush wasn't as exciting for me but he gets some good lines. Helena Bonham Carter is better than Rush, in my opinion, and even though I'm really only familiar with the Queen's mum as the older lady she became, I can see strong shades of the real life woman in the portrayal of the young woman on screen. The director frames his shots in a slightly skewed way and there's a lot of detail in the sound design - you can hear everyone of Firth's agonised swallows. All the elements come together in a very enjoyable package, even if it the package is a little bit too neatly wrapped.

I thought The King's Speech was terrific. I like period pieces, and don't find them stodgy, so I won't really comment on that regarding this movie. But, I do agree that Firth's performance is excellent and I agree that Rush isn't as exciting as he usually is. Helena Bonham Carter, better than Rush? Hmmm. I'd say she gives a performance equal to that of Rush's. But I don't feel that it came off as trying hard to be the best picture in the Oscars. I thought it it all the right notes, as you've presented. So, why do you feel that it was "too neatly wrapped"? In what ways?

**Elaine** · January 14th, 2012, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by Hobbit

Just back from Mission Incredible/Impossible. Good fun from Tom and Brad Bird (Director of The Iron Giant/The Incredibles: see what I did there?)

Very slick, very glossy: some awesome stunts which look incredible on a big screen. Plot's a bit all over the place, but generally worth the money.

Better than the last Bond movie...

Mark

I agree with you about Mission Impossible. It is slick, glossy, fun. I thought it was just me about the plot. It is hard to follow - nevertheless, it works.
@inkdipped

**Elaine** · January 14th, 2012, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by kater

Watched two of the supposedly best films of the year over the weekend:

Warrior - if there's a target audience for this movie it's me. Unsuprisingly I loved it for the most part. I thought the main cast were superb, with Tom Hardy powerful as the near monosyllabic Tommy. The action scenes were brutal and ejoyable if a little unrealistic. On the downside the actual storyline and set-up is a just a bit too unrealistic and coincedental, the ending not really having the impact it should have. I also found it too short which, given it's 2hrs 10mins running time, is a bit frustrating. Flawed but good.

Drive - One of the best starts to a movie I've seen in years but from there it's disappointingly downhill. At times oddly surreal with no real core to the story it can almost be mistaken for a series of tenuously related vignettes. Gosling is at times brilliant but his performance is so sparse there's nothing of value to the character come the end which is meh.

I've heard good things about both of these movies. My parents, both in their 80's, are avid movie watchers. Well, really my dad .. They had good things to say about Drive. I passed The Warrior in Netflix wondering if I should see it. I'm still not sure if I should. But I appreciate your review. And I might see Drive., now.
@inkdipped

**Rob B** · January 15th, 2012, 06:55 PM

I watched Fanboys yesterday. That was certainly...a thing. It seemed like scenes from a lot of other movies I enjoyed cobbled together and recast into this movie. Sure there were some laughs and HEY LOOK, IT'S WILLIAM SHATNER cameos, but boy am I glad I didn't pay to see this thing. At least I got to see Kristen Bell in Princess Leia Slave outfit.

**JunkMonkey** · January 15th, 2012, 07:40 PM

At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991) three hours long and ****ing brilliant.

**Ozziespur** · January 17th, 2012, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by Rob B

I watched Fanboys yesterday. That was certainly...a thing. It seemed like scenes from a lot of other movies I enjoyed cobbled together and recast into this movie. Sure there were some laughs and HEY LOOK, IT'S WILLIAM SHATNER cameos, but boy am I glad I didn't pay to see this thing. At least I got to see Kristen Bell in Princess Leia Slave outfit.

Was she her usual sour looking, pasty faced self ?