Does anyone on OTF still go to the cinema?

[DCI Harry Batt]

Something like this, I hope

Yeah!

[caja-dglh]

I might go see this.

[ursus arctos]

Ursusploitation

[Eggchaser]

Ursine exploitation scans better.

[RobW]

Watched The Menu the other day. Very funny in places, rather wish I hadn't seen the trailer but a fine black comedy/horror drama. Ralph Fiennes is always good, regardless of whether he's playing a romantic or comic lead or a complete bastard. Bit of The White Lotus meets The Wicker Man, with fine dining.

[Levin]

Are we waiting for Ray to come back from the WC to start the end of year thread?

[Ray de Galles]

Ha ha, I've been back a week!

I normally do a thread or post when I know I've seen my last movie of the year. Not sure if that's the case yet and it's not been a blockbuster year for me at the cinema anyway.

[treibeis]

I saw the German version of The Dark Eyes Of London at the cinema last night (made in 1961, set in Hamburg). Most enjoyable.

[Erskine Bridges]

Watched The Menu the other day. Very funny in places, rather wish I hadn't seen the trailer but a fine black comedy/horror drama. Ralph Fiennes is always good, regardless of whether he's playing a romantic or comic lead or a complete bastard. Bit of The White Lotus meets The Wicker Man, with fine dining.

Saw this last week. Very good, very well made. Not at all what I was expecting from the trailer. I have a complaint about it being unrealistic but I have that complaint about just about every single movie I watch nowadays.

Go see it.

[Plato Shrimp]

Saw this last week. Very good, very well made. Not at all what I was expecting from the trailer. I have a complaint about it being unrealistic but I have that complaint about just about every single movie I watch nowadays.

Go see it.

This was the Surprise Film at this year's London Film Festival. I'd not heard of it (which is what I want from a surprise film - most of the audience had though, judging by the big cheer when the titles started).

I thought it was a blast. As RobW says a black comedy/satire on the absurd world of ultra rich fine dining that turns into a very dark thriller. Great performance by Fiennes, and the woman who played the maitre d'.

Yeah, go see it.

[ale]

Also been to see The Menu and echo the above comments-especially the one about expectations differing based on the trailer. In the main it stayed the right side of dark humour-which also means it occasionally strayed over the line into daftness & incredulity. Also wasnt totally convinced about the motives for each of the guest invites. But those minor quibbles. Fiennes aside the performances of Tyler (the foodie) took the eye and as already stated Elsa. Yes Chef indeed.

[diggedy derek]

Has anyone seen Aftersun? It sounds fantastic

Just saw it and we've been talking about it all the way home. It's absolutely fantastic.

[Ray de Galles]

I'll put my 'New Films I've Seen in 2022' post in here rather than starting a new thread. That's partly because with the way streaming is nowadays I'm aware that some of them may have come out in late 2021 and it's harder to keep track of/be strict on exact release dates.

My absolute favourite was 'Elvis' which was the only film I saw multiple times in the cinema :

Favourites

Belfast
The Batman
Elvis

Commended

Nightmare Alley
The French Dispatch
Mass
The Power of the Dog
Pig
The Outfit
The Forgiven
The Banshees of Inishiren
Matilda the Musical
See How They Run
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Pretty Good

Thor : Love and Thunder
Top Gun : Maverick
Operation Mincemeat
Bullet Train
Amsterdam

OK

Moonfall
Free Guy
Ray Donovan - The Movie
Kimi
Being The Ricardos
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Lightyear
I Came By
Black Panther : Wakanda Forever

Disappointing

Don't Look Up
Death On The Nile
Dog
Glass Onion

Awful

Last Night in Soho

[Ray de Galles]

Further to the above I saw 'Matilda the Musical' tonight as my final cinema trip of the year. I tried to get the whole family to come with me as we all loved the stage show when we saw it a couple of times around a decade ago and the original cast recording was on near permanent rotation in the car. However, only my oldest child, now 21, deigned to indulge her old dad and accompany me.

We both loved it, they've kept much of the plot and spine of the stage show but given it a proper cinematic treatment with some hugely impressive set piece numbers. The lead performances of Emma Thompson, Alisha Weir and Lashana Lynch are excellent and the children in the cast and chorus support well. The original songs by Tim Minchin are little works of genius and they deliver them perfectly, prompting much singing along and a few tears.

Well worth seeing if you're at all in to that sort of thing.

[Ray de Galles]

List amended to add See How They Run (which we've watched tonight) to the Commended section.

[Ray de Galles]

Same for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.

[slackster]

I didn’t go to a cinema once in 2022, which is a pretty shoddy state of affairs and one I intend to rectify in ‘23.

Our local screen (Palace Cinema, Haverfordwest) has been closed since last Spring as the long-term tenants retired. It looks like the council landlord has just accepted a new lease bid but not named who it is yet.

We only have a couple of other screens in Pembs (Torch Theatre Milford Haven and Theatr Graun, Fishguard, both of which are more general arts centres) and they probably need more bums on seats too. The nearest multiplex is the Vue in Carmarthen.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

List amended to add See How They Run (which we've watched tonight) to the Commended section.

You're still in two minds on Operation Mincemeat, Bullet Train and Amsterdam though?

I should get to the cinema more often in 2023, given that I am expecting to move much closer to the local Vue, so depends on 1) my house move eventually going through and 2) the cinema staying open. I'm not sure which of these are more or less likely than each other.

[Ray de Galles]

You're still in two minds on Operation Mincemeat, Bullet Train and Amsterdam though?

I should get to the cinema more often in 2023, given that I am expecting to move much closer to the local Vue, so depends on 1) my house move eventually going through and 2) the cinema staying open. I'm not sure which of these are more or less likely than each other.

Ah, as per my note on the original edit I introduced a "Pretty Good" category after posting but forgot to delete some I had promoted from the "OK" one!

Amended now.

[Levin]

I didn't see much new stuff at the cinema this year. Everything Everywhere is top of my short list, but I also really enjoyed Dune, The Banshees of Inisherin and The Woman King (in no particular order). The Lost City was fun enough, the sort of film that feels rare to be on the big screen.

The absolute best film I saw in the cinema was In The Mood For Love.

Banshees got me thinking about how much CGI gets used on every single hollywood film now, just because it's a fairly simple historical drama at it's core. Banshees could have been made thirty years ago but it would look very different I think without modern graphics. Not just for visual effects but for cleaning up landscapes etc.

I read an article by a VFX guy a while ago about how directors and producers on film and tv are willing to not do another take and instead have a VFX studio tidy up something that looks not quite right. I found it really interesting.

[Hot Pepsi]

I gave up on Bullet Train and thought Amsterdam was less than the sum of its parts.
I watched both at home. I also watched Banshees at home. Very, very sad. Great knitwear.

Like an increasing portion of the US adult film audience, I'm just waiting for most things to come to streaming rather than deal with theaters. As a result, a number of things I want to see enough that I'd be willing to see it in a theater aren't coming to our local theaters. The Fabelmans for example.

I may go see Babylon in the cinema this weekend. It sounds interesting, but long.
Not sure I will bother with the new Avatar. Sounds too long and obvious.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

If this is the "what would we go and see in 2023?" thread, I'm intrigued by "Alien:Romulus" as the next in that franchise. As a film franchise with such a simple fucking concept - terrified humans, being chased and killed (or worse) by seemingly indestructible alien monsters - it always seems impossible to get wrong; but in the same kind of way as I'm always intrigued by the mystery of 'why the fuck isn't this year's Liverpool midfield world class? It always bloody used to be?', the repeated disappointments are huge but the occasional good ones can take your breath away.

[Nefertiti2]

Just saw it and we've been talking about it all the way home. It's absolutely fantastic.

Aftersun now streaming on Mubi ad hoc and yes it is excellent

[San Bernardhinault]

The Menu is now streaming on HBO in the US so we finally watched it. I echo all the comments above. I thought it was excellent, and excellent fun. Very funny, quite black in places but not overwhelmingly so. I say this as somebody who might be the brunt of the joke; someone who is a fan of the fussy tweezer food that some people think is being mocked in the movie, as someone who might be dining at the restaurant - perhaps Nicholas Hoult’s character.

[Slightly Brown]

Aftersun now streaming on Mubi ad hoc and yes it is excellent

Saw it at the cinema tonight. Deserves all the praise it’s been getting. Slow burn, with a fantastic central pair. It left me feeling quite emotional, truth be told.

Extra points for having a Hearts top in it.