*** 'THE OFFICIAL MOVIE THREAD' ***

[nirvana]

Did someone say 'Mr Bond' ? If not I'm not going

[Marky147]

You need to get the DeLorean up to 1.21 gigawatts & 88MPH, so you can really be back in the times you long for, with Bob and Dean

[nirvana]

You need to get the DeLorean up to 1.21 gigawatts & 88MPH, so you can really be back in the times you long for, with Bob and Dean

Haha,  only accented Meester Bond acceptable too

[Marky147]

You need to get the DeLorean up to 1.21 gigawatts & 88MPH, so you can really be back in the times you long for, with Bob and Dean

Haha,  only accented Meester Bond acceptable too

[the sicilian]

No Time To Die

So off to the comfy recliners at the localish Odeon which may be needed as this Bond stretches for over 2 Hours forty minutes.. Yikes!

Five minutes to the off the screen goes blank and my recliner won't recline...oh oh..Fifteen minutes pass and some poor spotty school kid is sent in to tell us this screen has suffered a power cut and they are seeing if they can fix it. I chuckle inwardly; I doubt there is someone out there in an ill fitting uniform that knows what a circuit breaker is. Five minutes pass and a visibly shaken youth reappears accompanied by a young girl who announces they can’t fix the screen and that all other screens are booked until midnight so they will have to refund. The chorus of woes rise as each new one takes the momentum of the last. However a quick scan of the nearby cineworld shows a decent amount of seats available for the showing in half an hour. So we hotfoot it like a sensible clear thinking adults rather than a moaning five year old joining an endless queue for a refund they could get simply via email.

We make the Cineworld in good time; they haven’t even started the trailers yet and settle in to some non reclining bum numbing seats.

The movie picks up where Spectre left off with a sequence that would only be apparent if you had paid attention in the aforementioned Spectre and set up some of what was to come. We then join a loved up Bond and his latest lady enjoying the fruits of a new romance and our hero acting like a love sick puppy. I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach, and it’s not that Friday Cod and chips I just devoured. However fears are allayed as an excellent action sequence kicks in and we are off and running.

The film bowls along quite nicely with plenty of action. Some of the stunt work is excellent although in the light of films like John Wick and the like the gunplay seems a little outdated. Nevertheless the plot is reasonable enough and the excellent Rami Malek comes across well as a softly spoken villain and manages to carry a good dollop of menace along the way.

We get our usual strong female leads in Lashana Lynch as the first woman double O and Ana de Armas as a CIA agent. I must say I preferred Ana's character and hoped to see more of her. She was almost like a female Bond, cool wise cracking and absolutely deadly. Lashana seemed a bit wooden and contrived and seemed desperate to look as cool as possible.

So we crash bang and wallop across the globe in usual Bond fashion with lots of Aston Martins thrown in for good measure and all in all found it a very enjoyable romp in true James Bond fashion. The film completes the Daniel Craig arc nicely and I liked the thread of story that ran through all the films he appeared in, it gives it an extra little level.

It will be interesting to see where they go from here but more like this wouldn’t be a bad idea.

8/10 with an extra helping of Mushy Peas

[RED-DOG]

Excellent review Dean.

I've never known Bond to be given so much dialogue. Some sections were almost monologues. No wonder it was almost 3 hours.

[the sicilian]

Excellent review Dean.

I've never known Bond to be given so much dialogue. Some sections were almost monologues. No wonder it was almost 3 hours.

Lol yeah... gave him such extra depth other than cold assassin..they nearly went too far but just about saved it

[the sicilian]

The Many Saints of Newark

The long awaited Sopranos prequel has finally arrived. I would like to preface this by saying I am a massive Sopranos fan..and it is one of my favourite TV shows ever. So anticipation is high and I settle down once again to immerse myself in the lives of New Jersey wise guys.

Set in the late sixties we join the oft mentioned and seen predecessors of the original series, Johnny and Junior Soprano and the legend that was Dickie Moltisanti.

Now the long promised prequel was always marketed as a kind of Tony Soprano origin story, we would find out about big Tonys early years and how he became our favourite Capo.

What we actually seem to have is the story of Dickie Moltisanti, his tribulations and ongoing gang war with a former black employee who decides to set himself up a rival numbers racket is the main crux of the two hour film. Sure we get to see the young Tony, played admirably by the late James Galdofini's actual son.the likeness is obvious and adds a nice wrinkle to the tale, but his part in the actual tale is minimal. Sure we get he looked up to Dickie more than his father probably and that it was Dickies influence that pushed him to a life with the mob,but this plot point could have been hammered home easily in two minutes of screen time. What we wanted to see was the rise of Tony,yes his formative years but then the path to where we joined him at the start of the TV series.

This could easily have been a standalone gangster flick and no knowledge of the series would not have been a disadvantage and it would have been a distinctly average one at that.

The performances ranged from great to laughable, Alessandro Nivola was excellent and I like him as an actor,he like a few like him is just built to play wise guy gangsters..He just looks the part. However he is overshadowed by a double bit part played by Ray Liotta. Ray just owns the screen, his granite look and tough guy delivery are totally believable. He also has the best line in the movie, as Dickie mulls over some of his advice he chuckles and says ' Hey..Whaddya I know..I'm a murderer'

On the other end of the scale the guy playing Silvio looked like he was doing a skit from Saturday Night Live and Junior was more wooden than Pinocchio. Gandolfini's son held up well and thanks to his genes came across well.

Tony's father Johnny Boy Soprano,played by the always excellent Jon Bernthal, was not explored at all and a great actor was wasted.

Overall I was disappointed, I feel a great opportunity has been missed and fantastic characters wasted.. A few references and nods to the TV Series were nice but this one deserves to sleep with the fishes..

4/10

[teddybloat]

i fell alseep half way through the new bond.

felt like it was hastily re-written, and indeed it has 5 writers credited which is apparent when watching it - - there were that many anodyne bond cliches popping in and out of the movie, maybe they got to write a character each.

some truly terrible acting performances too. the mr robot actor playing one of the main villains is your bog-standard, staring into the distance facially disfigured, looking-like-a-my-chemical-romance-fanboy, island owning mega-lo-manic. and he actuallty looks as bored as the audience. the comic lip-quivver reaction of Q to the end of the film is panto-season ham, and the new 007 would be more at home playing a market stall owner in eastenders than an operative in a sophisticated intelligence agency. imagine danny dyer being let loose playing sherlock homes and you are close to how bad she is.

as the awful plot slugs its interminable way through the TWO HOURS AND FORTY MINUTES! of the film, it of course has all the usual boring mcguffins, unintended comedy and plot holes.

people say there cannot be a black or female bond as the character is white and Oxbridge educated in times when only white men were recruited. ok, dr realism -  how about smart blood that allows you to be tracked by and able to speak to people miles away or an EMP watch that disables all electrical devices near by except the ear piece in bond's ear.

boring, boring, boring.

[4KSuited]

Excellent review teddy. I’m still going to see it, but I’ll leave the rose-tinteds at home....

[teddybloat]

tbf i am immune to the charms of bond movies, so am not the target audience.

the missus loved it and was a wreck by the end.

[KarmaDope]

The Many Saints of Newark

The long awaited Sopranos prequel has finally arrived. I would like to preface this by saying I am a massive Sopranos fan..and it is one of my favourite TV shows ever. So anticipation is high and I settle down once again to immerse myself in the lives of New Jersey wise guys.

Set in the late sixties we join the oft mentioned and seen predecessors of the original series, Johnny and Junior Soprano and the legend that was Dickie Moltisanti.

Now the long promised prequel was always marketed as a kind of Tony Soprano origin story, we would find out about big Tonys early years and how he became our favourite Capo.

What we actually seem to have is the story of Dickie Moltisanti, his tribulations and ongoing gang war with a former black employee who decides to set himself up a rival numbers racket is the main crux of the two hour film. Sure we get to see the young Tony, played admirably by the late James Galdofini's actual son.the likeness is obvious and adds a nice wrinkle to the tale, but his part in the actual tale is minimal. Sure we get he looked up to Dickie more than his father probably and that it was Dickies influence that pushed him to a life with the mob,but this plot point could have been hammered home easily in two minutes of screen time. What we wanted to see was the rise of Tony,yes his formative years but then the path to where we joined him at the start of the TV series.

This could easily have been a standalone gangster flick and no knowledge of the series would not have been a disadvantage and it would have been a distinctly average one at that.

The performances ranged from great to laughable, Alessandro Nivola was excellent and I like him as an actor,he like a few like him is just built to play wise guy gangsters..He just looks the part. However he is overshadowed by a double bit part played by Ray Liotta. Ray just owns the screen, his granite look and tough guy delivery are totally believable. He also has the best line in the movie, as Dickie mulls over some of his advice he chuckles and says ' Hey..Whaddya I know..I'm a murderer'

On the other end of the scale the guy playing Silvio looked like he was doing a skit from Saturday Night Live and Junior was more wooden than Pinocchio. Gandolfini's son held up well and thanks to his genes came across well.

Tony's father Johnny Boy Soprano,played by the always excellent Jon Bernthal, was not explored at all and a great actor was wasted.

Overall I was disappointed, I feel a great opportunity has been missed and fantastic characters wasted.. A few references and nods to the TV Series were nice but this one deserves to sleep with the fishes..

4/10

I couldnt agree more with this. Went to see it at the weekend and actually said out loud at the end "is that it?"

Felt like young Tony Soprano was a bit part in this. All we wanted was backstory on him. Not interested in Montesanti or whatever his name was.

Waste of time. Don't bother going to see it.

[4KSuited]

Interesting to read that the Sopranos series fans were disappointed with Many Saints...

As someone who hasn’t seen a single episode of the series, but who really enjoys the genre, I must say that it was largely enjoyable. Perhaps I’m easily pleased, but I enjoy seeing the recreation of the previous eras. I think they did a decent job of the mid-sixties in this film.

I would definitely agree that Tony Soprano was very much a bit-part in this film, so agree that it was oversold on the basis of detailing his childhood and ascent into the mobster life. To that extent, I understand your ire as Sopranos fans. Setting that aside, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the meandering plot lines, and most of the characterisations. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ray Liotta was nominated for best supporting actor in the various gong-shows. Glancing at Wiki I believe the script was subject to some criticism, but it was good enough for me.

So, if what you expect from a New Jersey mobster flic are some psychotic anti-heroes engaging in dangerous liaisons, casual murder and double-crossing, set in some lovingly reconstructed 1960s settings, then this film won’t disappoint. Given that young Tony is still a young lad at the end of this film, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Sopranos sequel Part II in the near future. In the meantime, I think I might just go and see it again and seek out the Sopranos on streaming services.....

[bobAlike]

Interesting to read that the Sopranos series fans were disappointed with Many Saints...

As someone who hasn’t seen a single episode of the series, but who really enjoys the genre, I must say that it was largely enjoyable. Perhaps I’m easily pleased, but I enjoy seeing the recreation of the previous eras. I think they did a decent job of the mid-sixties in this film.

I would definitely agree that Tony Soprano was very much a bit-part in this film, so agree that it was oversold on the basis of detailing his childhood and ascent into the mobster life. To that extent, I understand your ire as Sopranos fans. Setting that aside, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the meandering plot lines, and most of the characterisations. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ray Liotta was nominated for best supporting actor in the various gong-shows. Glancing at Wiki I believe the script was subject to some criticism, but it was good enough for me.

So, if what you expect from a New Jersey mobster flic are some psychotic anti-heroes engaging in dangerous liaisons, casual murder and double-crossing, set in some lovingly reconstructed 1960s settings, then this film won’t disappoint. Given that young Tony is still a young lad at the end of this film, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Sopranos sequel Part II in the near future. In the meantime, I think I might just go and see it again and seek out the Sopranos on streaming services.....

David Chase has just signed a 5 year deal with HBO Warner. May not be related but i suspect it is.

As another big fan of Sopranos i too was a little disappointed but i still enjoyed it 5.5/10 for me (anything over 5/10 is watchable)

[bobby1]

I know I'm probably a bit late here but I watched the 3 part Doc series 'Don't Fuck with cats' on Netflix the other day and I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before.

For anyone that hasn't seen this it's a true story that starts out as internet uproar when someone posts a video online where he kills two cats. What is so good about what follows is it is like watching a whodunnit movie but where regular people use their own time trying to find the culprit clue by clue. It then moves on just like a movie script and just gets darker and darker and I'm even adding an extra and darker too.

**It's not really about cat's even tho it starts that way and although some of the footage is a little upsetting they don't show the worst parts of the videos.