What DVD have you just watched?

Loved Gyllenhaal's self educated, corporate bullsh*t spouting character, so very familiar (and I'm not remotely connected to the news business).

EJ

Gone Girl

As commented above, excellent film. Plays with your expectations and certain cinematic tropes in a smart and entertaining way. Wish I'd seen this on the big screen.

M

We are just coming to the end of our personal re-run of West Wing. 

Question does anyone understand US politics? We spoke to several US citizens whilst on our recent trip it seems even they are stumped by Capitol chambers actions or even lack of actions.

It just seems a huge waste of money, obviously not for the people supplying the data and logistics for Presidential and other elections.

UK politics look cheap and reasonable in comparison.

West Wing is an series excellent, writing and acting is superb. Even after 10+ years the problems are still the same, poor, education not up to snuff, global warming, extreme muslims and of course the excessive number of deaths from masses of of "legal" hand guns.

House of Games

The Con is on. This film was mentioned in a review of Focus and so I decided to buy it, ...... and?

House of Games

Written by David Mamet and staring his then wife. I like the plot but the acting feels surprisingly wooden to me in places. This is definitely a film of its time. Modern environmental changes would make the final scene not only very implausible but probably lead to a very different outcome.

I do think this is worth watching and I thoroughly enjoyed the exposition around the cons.

M

Zulu (no, not that Zulu) - I watched this last night with my nephew.  We were both riveted, not just by the plot, but also by the fascinating lead characters played by Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom.  Bloom, in particular, was brilliant, and if you're familiar with him in his Tolkien or Pirate roles then this film may come as a bit of a shock.  There are a few moments of alarming brutality, so be warned, but overall this is one of the best new films I've seen in a while.  Also, don't watch this if you're about to set off to Cape Town on holiday...

Video-wise, this is a good clean vivid print in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio on DVD, courtesy of Lovefilm.

I'll look out for it.

A historic drama film based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting right marches.

Finally got round to watching this last night. Excellent movie, very comvincing and draws on your emotions. The cinematography is superb.

We watched The Equaliser via Sky movies. 

We enjoyed it, a bit blood thirsty but every bad guy got what they deserved I reckon.

Excellent film! 

A spoof spy thriller par excellence,  the denouement had us both in stitches.

Yes rackkit. I agree. I've watched this a couple of time now. I was impressed by Cumberbatch.  In the Star Trek movie he portrayed the menace of the villain very well and in this film combines genius with vulnerability.

Mike  

Jurassic World a couple of hours of entertainment, the sillier the further into the franchise they get.

Good SFX.

We saw it in 2D certainly better than the 3D Imax assault we suffered the last time we went.

It's out on DVD already??

Cinema, sorry. I'm not sure how many have Imax at home though saying that. 

Corrective post added in Cinema thread.

As far as I know, Alan Turing in real life was a pleasant friendly guy. So what was the purpose of casting him as a strange antisocial character? Just to accommodate Cumberbatch who was playing himself? I felt like I was watching another version of Sherlock Holmes. If the film is based on a true story why not stay faithful to the real people?

What was the logic of keeping the breaking of the code secret from the British forces but letting it go to the Russians without having any ability to control it in Stalin land? Not much sense there.

I give the film two and a half stars.

I'm on a Burt Lancaster groove at the moment and have been working up to watching the recent restored Blu-ray transfer of The Train, which definitely makes my top 3 war films of all time.  Until then, I have been catching up on some great and not so great films that Burt featured in.

Airport; In spite of picking up 10 academy award nominations, Burt Lancaster dismissed Airport as "the biggest piece of junk ever made".  Whether he was referring to the film or perhaps just the Boeing 707 that also featured, one cannot say for sure, however, the poor Boeing suffered what became known as the "airport jinx" by crashing some years later.

It's a bit camp and despite being the first film of a new disaster genre, and first of the 1970s, it plays like a film out of its time, with a definite air of soap opera about it.  As one critic pithily declared, "the best film of 1944".  But at least it concentrates on character development and the events in the air are backdrop to the characters and their lives, with the "disaster" aspect almost a footnote in a much greater human story of a man who has hit rock bottom desperately trying to salvage something for his family.  Overall though, it's entertaining stuff and well worth watching, whether you've never seen it before, or if it's been some time since last viewed.

If you're interested in the history of aviation, it's also fun to spot interesting little historical details in the background, such as promotional pictures of the new Boeing 747, ushering in a new age, which also has relevance to the story on the ground (fighting over airport expansion).  On the same theme, look out for a travel agents model of Concorde - this is in proposed TWA livery, doubtless being used as a promotional tool as, along with a number of other US airlines, TWA had order options on Concorde right up until PAN AM cancelled and all the other US carriers followed suit.

My DVD copy was a Region 1 NTSC disc from the excellent Airport - Terminal Pack release.  The picture is really excellent with a clean and colourful anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Sound is not bad and features a DTS 5.1 soundtrack. Also included are the inferior Airport '75 and Airport '77 films.  Again the picture quality is about as good as it could be, the films themselves fairly entertaining but the original film is the main draw here.  As for Airport '79, just pretend it doesn't exist.  Do not even attempt to watch it...

I interpreted this differently. I thought that the head of MI6 planted the Russian informant in the team and therefore controlled what intelligence the Russians received, the implication being that they too didn't know that enigma had been cracked but were still happy to take selective bits of intelligence from the 'Ultra' project.  

Mike 

Thanks for the link, Haim.  Some pertinent points made there, albeit somewhat emotionally.  It wouldn't be the first movie to prioritise a good story line over factual accuracy.  U-571 for example.  I still enjoyed the movie though.

Mike

Enjoyable music drama, featuring great performances from the two leads who are in nearly every scene in the film. 

EJ

Kon Tiki:  

I enjoyed this.  The story is of course, well known, but it was worth re-telling.  Splendid cinematography and some great effects, somewhat akin to those used in Life of Pi.  

A Lovefilm offering with an excellent 2.40:1 anamorphic transfer on DVD. A fair bit of grain in the low light scenes but vivid and clear everywhere else.  Probably worthwhile seeing on Blu-ray next time around.