The Last Film You Watched

I loved it. I am a fan of Payne so I knew I'd like this one. I thought both Giamatti and especially the young student were outstanding, also the cook. I really hope the film gets some recognition. I agree this is a classic in the making.

Re the marketing for American Fiction, this is an extract from the Observer article of 28.1.24 explaining how the writer, Cord Jefferson - author of the source novel, Erasure - wanted to avoid writing "a movie about Black people" and why those who've seen the marketing might be surprised by the film itself:

"American Fiction avoids that pitfall by broadening its scope far beyond the consequences of white liberal anxieties. Though much of the discourse around the film – much like the initial trailer released – has focused largely on its treatment of race, audiences may be surprised to find large parts of the film are a poignant study of a family in crisis, making clear that racism is not the defining pillar of Black identity. I imagine it has been strategically marketed thus, in the knowledge that white moviegoers may not be interested in a film they suspect is about something as quotidian as ordinary Black people experiencing quiet family drama – if indeed such a film would ever even be greenlit."

The novel is by Percival Everett.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasure_(novel)

Saw Argylle at BFI IMAX earlier this evening: I didn’t realise it was financed by Apple Films but I’m glad I got to see it on a big screen rather than in my laptop: the film itself wasn’t that great and seemed to take ages to find its groove but it was likeable enough by the time it ends: certainly the best thing either Sam Rockwell or Bryan Cranston have done in ages. If you do go and see it in a cinema, don’t bother hanging round for the scene in the end credits (one of the reviews I read said it featured a major character in the film but it was a couple of nobodies 🤣)

I’ll give this 3 stars, but wouldn’t want to see it again.

Not a new release by any means, but we made the mistake of watching Meg 2:The Trench last week. The first film was at least flashy dumb fun with decent effects, but this was just a steaming pile. More ridiculous perspective shots of ‘the biggest shark ever’ swimming beneath the unsuspecting, ten feet off the shoreline! Throw in some mean looking mini-dinos who also escaped through the trench, to reap havoc and you’ve got a recipe for, well, very little. Ben Wheatley has made some proper nasty little thrillers before this and obviously got tempted by Chinese money to sell his soul. It isn’t so bad it’s good, it is just really poor, cash grab film making. I’ve seen better on the sci-fi channel.

I finally got round to seeing Casablanca tonight and I was pretty damn impressed: the cast was great across the board and it had a script packed full of quotable lines: the credits at the beginning says it was based on a play, I’m surprised no one has tried to put on a production of it in recent years (although this was quite ambitious with the amount of scene changes so who knows what was added for the films screenplay)

I came here to write a comment about this too. I thought it was incredible. Terrifying how people could manage to live a normal life next to a camp as if it's no more than a noisy factory. I agree the sound and the music are just as important if not more important than the acting- and this family just got used to the constant noise and I am sitting there in utter disbelief and feeling a bit sick. I cannot stop thinking about it. 

Saw a double bill of Withnail & I and The Holdovers at the Prince Charles this afternoon with an intro from David Hemingson, The Holdovers writer (he chose Withnail as its one of his favourites): I won’t say anything about Withnail as my forum avatar and user name should be a clue as to it being one of my favourite films, if not THE favourite but I really enjoyed The Holdovers, it seemed very slow to find its way but a few of the supporting cast were ejected and it then really got going : I’d say Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph have given two perfectly calibrated performances that thoroughly deserve Oscars (neither of them seem to be going out of their way to give ‘look at me!’ performances like some of the other nominees did)

I saw Wicked Little Letters tonight and was glad not to have paid for it - it was a free preview. Some of our best actors faced with a not very funny script. A shame as the story is an interesting one.

amyja89 To be fair there were other people in the audience clearly really enjoying it, but it was a definite 2/3 star at best from my 22 year old daughter and I. I only read the one star Guardian review (from when it was on at the Toronto film festival last year) after I came back from the film and found it had some very real truths in it. I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy in it - spotting all the well known British actors in small parts is fun - but my expectations based on the trailer were for so much more, especially given the calibre of the cast.

Jon There is certainly plenty of swearing but it doesn't quite reach Malcolm Tucker's creative, operatic heights. In our family (working class Irish/EastEnders) swearing is basically punctuation. Hope you enjoy the film.