Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion Options

[Olen]

We have a music discussion thread but seem to lack a film (movie if you're from that bit of the world) discussion. The idea's pretty self-evident: what films have you seen recently, what did you think of them? Fairly similar to another thread really...

To start, I watched Gomorrah (2008) for the second time last night. It's a really good bit of Italian film-making and centres arouind the problems faced by Naples throught the stories of a few people whose paths cross with the organised crime there. It certainly doesn't pull punches in terms of the gritty reality from the first scene and a fairly grim ending.
Some of the settings are brilliant too, there are scenes shot in some buildings which look seriously run down in Naples which leads to a good degree of accuracy.

Overall I'd give it 8/10.


So what's anyone else watching?

[Destri Melarg]

I watched Centurion the other night. It is a film directed by Neil Marshall that stars Michael Fassbender as Quintas Dias, the soul survivor of a Pictish attack on a Roman fort in 2nd Century Britain. Seeking revenge, Dias manages to hook up with the Ninth Legion, led by General Virilus (Dominic West) who are on their way to avenge Dias' fallen comrades. The film also features the stunning Olga Kurylenko as the Pict warrior, Etain.

I was ended up being pleasantly surprised by this film. The narrative is evenly paced with some interesting twists in the plot. The performances are exactly what we have come to expect from pros like Fassbender and Dominic West. I wasn't that big a fan of Marshall's film, Dog Soldiers, but I liked this one. Granted, there are a few developments in the film that strain credulity, but overall this is one that I would recommend.

[Thomas Kaira]

I watched Centurion the other night. It is a film directed by Neil Marshall that stars Michael Fassbender as Quintas Dias, the soul survivor of a Pictish attack on a Roman fort in 2nd Century Britain. Seeking revenge, Dias manages to hook up with the Ninth Legion, led by General Virilus (Dominic West) who are on their way to avenge Dias' fallen comrades. The film also features the stunning Olga Kurylenko as the Pict warrior, Etain.

I was ended up being pleasantly surprised by this film. The narrative is evenly paced with some interesting twists in the plot. The performances are exactly what we have come to expect from pros like Fassbender and Dominic West. I wasn't that big a fan of Marshall's film, Dog Soldiers, but I liked this one. Granted, there are a few developments in the film that strain credulity, but overall this is one that I would recommend.

I recently watched that, too, and heartily enjoyed it. It had some nice battle scenes (viewers caution, there is a LOT of blood in this film) and it was a great adventure through what is today Scotland, and it never hurts to have a looker of a female villan, either.

But as you said, there were problems. For one thing, Etain's tracking abilities are never explained and this makes her seem clairvoyant, which does a number on her character. And speaking of character, there really wasn't much in here, this was mostly a "stuff without substance" summer action blockbuster, only with swords and spears instead of guns and cars. It even met the requisite bad-censored-ery by having one of the Roman soldiers kill a Pict warrior by skewering him on a spear... that he was still run through on (See? Pretty graphic). That there made my go as well as .

Oh, and the ending was bleh, IMHO, a bit cliche.

But overall, I enjoyed it, and Fassbender did a really good job holding this movie up despite its faults.