Does anyone on OTF still go to the cinema?

[Sean of the Shed]

Saw the flash on Sunday evening. I usually see superhero films with my son but he'd already seen it with friends so I sent on my own.

He asked me today what I thought if it. I thought long and hard for quite some time before replying that I hardly remember anything about it.

certainly plotwise. I do remember quite a few cameos which I won't spoil just in case anyone was planning on seeing it and doesn't want to be spoiled.

Yeah that's pretty much as I found it. I remember laughing at a few moments, but I'm fucked if I could tell you now what they were. It certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been given the shit the filmmakers went through with the lead actor, but the effects were very shoddy in places.
Definitely won't be one that remains in the memory for long.

[Jon]

Yeah that's pretty much as I found it. I remember laughing at a few moments, but I'm fucked if I could tell you now what they were. It certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been given the shit the filmmakers went through with the lead actor, but the effects were very shoddy in places.
Definitely won't be one that remains in the memory for long.

Interesting to compare the treatment of Ezra miller by Warner brothers after all of the negative headlines regarding their personal life and the treatment of Jonathan majors (Kang) by marvel studios after allegations of domestic violence.

[Sean of the Shed]

It feels like the first priority for the filmmakers seems to be the film to me.
When violence against women is involved then the best thing to do would be to suspend everything and not make your first concern the film schedule.

[Eggchaser]

Took the boy to see the new Transformers film to get him out the house. Usual nonsense plot, but he enjoyed the robots beating each other up, and the addition of robot King Kongimus Prime was the icing on the cake for him.

My observations:-

1). There was a nice clapback at the casual racial stereotypes of earlier films.
2). Watching Optimus Prime smash the shit out of baddies will never not appeal to my inner 9 year old.
3). The non-use of The Touch by Stan Bush displeased me greatly.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Saw Hello, Bookstore documentary about a bookshop in Lenox, Mass before, during and after lockdown.

Charming, funny. Makes you want to open a bookstore, or at least visit this one.

[Sunderporinostesta]

Very sad news that a bunch of Empire cinemas closed today. Some of them are new premises that have closed suddenly. Pretty shocking to hear that Sunderland apparently has no big cinema any more. Sad times.

Yeah. Biggest city in Western Europe without a cinema…….again. We’re used to it though, prior to the recently closed ones building we hadn’t had one for about ten years in 80s-90s. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did because it’s terrible positioning could’ve only been chosen by someone with no knowledge of the place.

[Felicity, I guess so]

I saw Schindler's List at the Cannon cinema in 93 in Sunderland, so it was 90s it closed

[Felicity, I guess so]

I also saw the restored Wicker Man this weekend

[RobW]

Went to Prince Charles Cinema yesterday lunchtime to watch Thunder Road (1958) and had a lovely time.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Tyneside medium screen was a near sell-out for Asteroid Citylast night.
Having to sit through the Tom Cruise trailer first, I left feeling positive about the future of cinemagoing perhaps NOT being in the hands of his franchise (but the capitalist economics behind the studios mean it probably is).

The Tyneside is threatened with closure and running an appeal but also noticeably showing more films and more variety than a few years ago- several French films at once! (If you're free to go during the day anyway...)

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I'm going to see Indiana Jones 5 on Sunday, because I like avant-garde small budget films.

[RobW]

I watched the Dial of Destiny yesterday. Mixed feelings. I enjoyed the first 30 minutes set in 1944 and the de-aging of Indy didn't bother me that much. It's a long film, and the big chase scene in Tangiers drags on too long, and adds a silly subplot related to PWB's character. Mads Mikkelsen is always great, but I think the writing lets it down. Not too many lines that made me crack up like in the original trilogy. I can't make my mind up whether the last act is just as silly as previous films, or far far worse.
There are a nods to Temple of Doom, (though PWB and the young lad here are quieter than 'Willie' and Short Round' at least) and Indy makes direct references to the film. I probably should have waited until it was on Disney +, but it's a spectacle for the big screen.

I had to go Vue in Wood Green too, as the Empire in Walthamstow is now closed. I missed the story that Empire Cinemas had gone into administration with 6 cinema closing immediately and other under serious threat. Terrible news.

[Hot Pepsi]

I liked the new Indiana Jones.

I saw the new Mission: Impossible last night. Well worth the $12 to see on a big screen. Just bonkers stunts from end to end.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I enjoyed Indy 5. Yes, it could have lost about 30 minutes from its bloated middle, but the start and ending were great. Especially (no spoilers) the ending.

[Hot Pepsi]

I enjoyed Indy 5. Yes, it could have lost about 30 minutes from its bloated middle, but the start and ending were great. Especially (no spoilers) the ending.

Critics didn't like it and because of that, I think, it didn't do well financially. It also cost way too much, partly because of COVID.

Mostly, I think critics didn't like it because they just don't like the idea that the Hollywood is so out of ideas that it cast an 80-year-old to do an adventure film based on a character that first appeared over 40 years ago.

I have no problem with that. Culture has always recycled familiar characters. Hamlet was a reboot. I wonder if the critics of Shakespeare's day bitched about that.

[Lang Spoon]

I dunno have critics have half the pull they used to. Maybe it's just Indy is a meaningless franchise to much of the target audience for big IP movies these days. No one would have expected 80s kids to give a fuck about a sequel to something that was massive in the 40s/ 50s and that starred the now rheumy eyed main man of the original, I don't see thy anyone would expect the trick to work now. I doubt many folk under 16 even know who Harrison Ford is.

[Tratorello]

I dunno have critics have half the pull they used to. Maybe it's just Indy is a meaningless franchise to much of the target audience for big IP movies these days. No one would have expected 80s kids to give a fuck about a sequel to something that was massive in the 40s/ 50s and that starred the now rheumy eyed main man of the original, I don't see thy anyone would expect the trick to work now. I doubt many folk under 16 even know who Harrison Ford is.

Weirdly my stepson (12) and stepdaughter (13) have both, separately, been to see the new Indy film.

I think their main interaction with the character is through the LEGO games.

[Hot Pepsi]

I dunno have critics have half the pull they used to. Maybe it's just Indy is a meaningless franchise to much of the target audience for big IP movies these days. No one would have expected 80s kids to give a fuck about a sequel to something that was massive in the 40s/ 50s and that starred the now rheumy eyed main man of the original, I don't see thy anyone would expect the trick to work now. I doubt many folk under 16 even know who Harrison Ford is.

Yes, that's all true as well.

And most people who were kids when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out - like me - don't go to the theater much any more or pay attention to what's coming to the theater. I pay attention, but I'm not typical.

But the same could be said for Top Gun: Maverick and that did really well commercially. Presumably, most of the audience for that were younger people who never saw the original Top Gun or only saw it on a smaller screen. It also got great reviews. It also came out just as Covid rules were loosening so maybe that was an abberation.

I thought Indy5 was way better than that. But it had bad "buzz." They made an error in debuting it at Cannes. That audience wasn't likely to get it.

It's one of those films that was actually hindered by being part of a series, because the critics all naturally compared it to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is a beloved classic. If it hadn't been an Indiana Jones film but everything else had been basically the same - Harrison Ford plays and old guy going for one last score with Phoebe Waller Bridge driving the action, I think that would have gone over much better.

[Patrick Thistle]

I went to see the new Pixar film, Elemental, tonight. I enjoyed it. A couple of nicely done emotional moments. Some clever jokes. Really it's about the immigrant's story and building a better life than you had for your kids. It was nicely done though.

Our local Odeon has dropped all.its ticket prices to £5 if you pay online. Even so, Mrs Thistle and I were 50% of the audience in this evening showing. The whole place seemed quiet considering we arrived between 7-8 which always used to be the main "walk in".

[RobW]

Our local Odeon has dropped all.its ticket prices to £5 if you pay online. Even so, Mrs Thistle and I were 50% of the audience in this evening showing. The whole place seemed quiet considering we arrived between 7-8 which always used to be the main "walk in".

Tickets at my local Vue seem to be £5.99 online and only £1 more if bought in person. I thought this might just be a weekend thing, but paid the same for latest Mission Impossible tonight .

[RobW]

Watched the latest Mission Impossible tonight. Experience slightly ruined by Vue security wondering up and down the aisle every 40 minutes or so, very off-putting as I was on the aisle seat and I think I missed exactly who was chasing Ethan Hunt and for what reason. Some good stunts, and nods to other films, including the original 1996 film (heavily). I think I still prefer Fallout to this. Part 2 comes out next summer, so I hope by then i'll be able to catch this one again on streaming.

The chemistry between Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell is excellent, and the latter is a welcome addition. Vanessa Kirby returns and is excellent as the 'White Widow'

[hobbes]

I'm not 100% sure I've ever seen a Mission Impossible film all the way through.

Taking the cub to see Elemental this afternoon. Not sure it's really aimed at him, but he wanted to see it, so.
Our local Vue has gone from £8 for every seat to £10 and £11 depending on where they are in the auditorium after covid.

It's still 25% cheaper than the Islington Vue was 10 years ago when I used to go there. And you had to pay extra there for recliner seats.

[Tratorello]

Saw "Oppenheimer" this afternoon using some free Odeon tickets I had.

As someone who generally hates Christopher Nolan films, yes even the Batman ones, I actually enjoyed this despite it being a bum numbing three hours long.

It tells the story in a relatively simple way, without too many timeline shenanigans and, to my knowledge, remained pretty historically accurate.

[Slightly Brown]

We too saw Oppenheimer. Mrs slightly asked me “how long to go?” I told her an hour. I now know what her divorce-face looks likes.

Plusses: cast (roundly superb, if you’re a man) and sound design (I always thought that was the best parts of his films). Some great stretches, specifically the bomb stuff and the interrogations (ripped from JFK).

Negatives: cast (if you’re a woman. I get it’s a man’s world (was it?) but some of the choices are just weird, see Florence Pugh); the need to again do his fractured time thing (it worked in Dunkirk); and the fact that it lasted for about a day (I don’t mind a long film, but when you are watching a scene and knowing it’s totally unnecessary, then it becomes laborious).

Total negative: all that smoking makes me want a cig.

[Giggler]

Vue Bury screen one was packed for the 3pm showing of Oppenheimer, which I also enjoyed.