Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Recommended Movies

+1; it's a brilliant film. Some time since I saw it... I think a purchase is in order.

I can also echo the praise previously lavished on Ex Machina; a great, modern sci-fi pic that is actually very modest in scope (it could work well as a play) but is absolutely fantastic.

I'd also like to praise a few more:

Tomorrowland. I know it gets mixed reviews but I was transfixed by it. What's it all about? I've absolutely no idea but it is visually stunning, Clooney does his thing as well as ever & it's a real thrill-ride.

Maleficent I also loved. Again, stunning visuals & a very intelligent retelling of the original story. It is much darker than your average Disney film & I could have taken it a little darker still, but I can't wait for the sequel.

Whiplash: Deserves all the plaudits that have been heaped upon it. It manages to turn a very simple story (about a guy at music school) into a genuine nail-biter and the acting/ visuals / sound are all top-drawer. A must-see.

Jurassic World: Up there with the original & clearly better than II or III, much as I love them.

Another from me today; Mad Max: Fury Road.

Knowing the film was in the IMDb Top 250, I recently bought the Mad Max quadrilogy on Bluray & have just seen them through. I saw the original ~ 20 years ago but didn't really rate it, Part 2 I've seen 2 or 3 times but had never seen 3, or obviously 4. To my mind, they get:

MM: 6
MM2 The Road Warrior: 8
MM Beyond Thunderdome: 3
MM: Fury Road: 9

It's an intense action film with some breathtaking sequences, hardly any time with the foot off the gas, stunning visuals, great acting & astonishing audio. I suggest that only someone with a pathological aversion to action films could fail to be won over by it.

I'm on a bit of a roll of brilliant films at the moment!

Latest one: Wild Tales, the Argentinian / Spanish film about various stories of revenge. It has one of the best starts to any film, is utterly gripping literally from the first frame to the last & it has gorgeous visuals & audio quality to boot. Instant classic.

+1 Dark Tales is excellent - the title says it all.

I watched and enjoyed Cargo last night which is a Swiss\German sci fi film. The plot is not outstanding, but the ambiance of the film which is very Alien-like is superb. Worth a watch.

There are not many rented movies that I will subsequently buy...

The Martian (2015) is one of those exceptions.

It's a thoroughly good drama that will completely draw you in for 144 minutes.

And a fantastic novel which is simultaneously gripping, scientifically accurate (for a change), as well as being laugh out loud funny.

We rented Bridge of Spies this weekend. Great performances from Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance (Cromwell in Wolf Hall, which is fantastic).

OK not a movie, but it should have been.

Congratulations to the BBC and the cast for making it better than a movie.

Drama at it's very best "Night Manager" from the pen of John Le Carre.

Last nights episode was staggering from London to Madrid to Istanbul to some Spanish island.

Catch up on the iPlayer if you dare, or set time aside to view the entire production.

Roll on next Sunday.

This is why I pay my "Auntie" licence fee.

Hector

The Jungle Book. Bill Murray seemed to have lots of fun making it.

It looked very dark in places which may be a struggle on some LCD TV's

Anyway - Forget about your worries and your strife...

Well, after watching When Marnie Was There last night, we have now watched all of Studio Ghibli's feature films & what a brilliant ride it was. Some of them are utterly enchanting, most are visually stunning and only a couple are below truly excellent. If anyone's interested, here's my ranking:

Utterly Brilliant: Laputa, Castle In The Sky / Grave Of The Fireflies / My Neighbour Totoro / Kiki's Delivery Service / Whisper Of The Heart / (The Secret World Of) Arrietty / The Wind Rises / The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya

Merely Excellent: Only Yesterday / Porco Rosso / Princess Mononoke / Spirited Away / The Cat Returns / Howl's Moving Castle / Tales From Earthsea / Ponyo / From Up On Poppy Hill / When Marnie Was There

Below Par: My Neighbours The Yamadas / Pom Poko

It looks like they've stopped making films, certainly for the foreseeable future, which is a real shame. These are films that I'll revisit time & again & they're an indispensable addition to any decent film library. Highly recommended.

There are one or two I haven't seen on your list, but your rankings are fair enough.
Personally I put Porco Rosso up the top too, but mostly because it was one of the first I saw.

But as you say, pretty much all all are visually stunning and definitely should be auditioned at least.

To be fair, most of the "Merely Excellent" films could move to the "Utterly Brilliant" camp, Porco Rosso among them. For me, only the 2 in "Below Par" are anything other than wonderful.