Florence Foster Jenkins(2016) The true story of the New York heiress played by Meryl Streep who set out to be an opera singer, despite no real talent. What could have been a mocking film turns out to be sensitive due to a fine script and excellent performances from Streep and Hugh Grant as her husband. Simon Helberg from the Big Bang Theory turns in a good performance as her pianist. The Grant/Streep marriage is beautifully realised and her singing is expertly bad 7/10
The Master(2012) A US Navy veteran from WW2 (Joaquin Phoenix) drifts from job to job before meeting the leader of a cult called The Cause (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Despite the acting talent involved, there's also Amy Adams & Laura Dern, this film is overlong, the script hard work and the characters not particularly sympathetic. 5/10
X-Men: Apocalypse
Brilliant new film in the X-Men movie franchise and in my opinion the best X-Men film.
The special effects & action sequences are fantastic from start to finish and the story/plot is very good with some good funny moments, especially from quicksilver
As for the cast. The regular cast in this 2nd trilogy (James Mcavoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence etc) are all very good but the stand out actors are the new members to the cast, especially Sophie Turner as the young Jean Grey.
There's plenty of setting up for the upcoming films in the X-Men franchise both during the film & in the post credits scene at the end
9/10
(16-05-2016 22:14 )greenray Wrote: [ -> ] (16-05-2016 22:02 )rpj316 Wrote: [ -> ]Magic(1978)
Richard Attenborough directs Anthony Hopkins as the insane ventriloquist who's dummy,Fats,constantly gives him bad advice of which he always listens to.An incredibly creepy and effective,psychological horror film that also has excellent support from Ann Margaret and Burgess Meredith and a great score by Jerry Goldsmith.
8/10
You should try Dead Of Night(1945) an anthology film containing five sequences, including Michael Redgrave as a ventriloquist controlled by his dummy. Pretty spooky film
Thanks for recommendation greenray.
I watched it,absolutely brilliant.
Pleasantville(1998) Twins played by Tobey Maguire & Reese Witherspoon magically enter a 50s TV sitcom that Maguire is an avid fan of. They then change the staid black and white world. Its a clever satire on 50s TV and America generally with an inventive storyline and excellent use of the mix of black and white & colour. A fine cast too, besides Maguire & Witherspoon, there's William H Macey, Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels and JT Walsh. 7/10
Starship Troopers(1997)
Casper Van Dien heads a strong cast as starship trooper Johnny Rico leading the fight against the alien "bugs." Adapted from Robert A.Heinlein's novel,this is a smart satire of a fascist military at war.Featuring spectacular special effects by Phil Tippett and great support from Michael Ironside,Clancy Brown.and Dina Meyer,Paul Verhoeven has said,"This movie is about,'Let's all go to war and let's all die.' "An underrated gem.
8/10
The Counsellor (2013) A lawyer (Michael Fassbender) in Mexico gets in deep trouble when a drug deal goes badly wrong. And what could go wrong when you've got Ridley Scott directing, excellent cinematography and a cast that also includes Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz with smaller roles for Bruno Ganz, Rosie Perez, Goran Visnjic and Natalie Dormer? Well, plenty, when you've a wordy, overwritten ,dull script and characters you don't really care about. Also, scenes that don't seem to really connect and a film that seems overlong at two hours. 3/10
The Browning Version(1951)
Michael Redgrave stars as Crocker Harris,a teacher at a public school who has early retirement forced upon him due to health problems.A very well acted drama directed by Anthony Asquith.
7.5/10
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind(2004) When a couple (Jim Carrey & Kate Winslet) break up, she undergoes a procedure to erase him from her memory, he does the same to her, but starts to regret it... Sometimes confusing and rambling but often inventive and rewarding journey through the couples' memories, with excellent performances from the leads, backed up by Mark Ruffalo,Kirsten Dunst and Tom Wilkinson plus the underwhelming Elijah Wood. 6.5/10
Death Line[aka Raw Meat](1972)
Donald Pleasence is outstanding as a working class detective investigating a series of murders that have taken place on the London Underground.His clash with Christopher Lee's upper class MI5 agent is a delight to behold.Hugh Armstrong also gives a poignant,almost mute performance as a survivor of a cave in who lives with his dying family in the tunnels.His only line, "Mind the doors."
A great,dark and disturbing film directed by Gary Sherman.
8/10