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Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:12 am
by Marc Meakin
Thirty Four, though I have watched the American remake of Oldboy
Donny Darko is a notable Omission as is LA confidential and American Beauty

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:23 am
by Jennifer Steadman
23.

Superlative: Andrew Garfield wearing a suit during The Social Network
Great: Amelie, Lost In Translation (understand why some people hate it though), Wolf of Wall Street, The Pianist
Good: Blue Is The Warmest Colour, Finding Nemo, Inglorious Basterds, The Dark Knight, The Social Network
OK: Ratatouille, Grand Budapest Hotel, Shame, WALL-E
Meh: Inside Out, Boyhood, Royal Tenenbaums, Pan's Labyrinth, Mullholland Drive, Moulin Rouge
Didn't like: AI, Almost Famous
Wank: Spring Breakers, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Marc Meakin wrote:Donny Darko is a notable Omission as is LA confidential and American Beauty
They don't fit the timespan - LA Confidential was '97, American Beauty '99.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:52 am
by Marc Meakin
Must be getting old....though I probably saw them first this century.
Also like the Spanish version of Vanilla Sky and the Prestige, also liked Spider and The Others

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:51 pm
by Ian Volante
Mark James wrote:http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/23/quiz-how- ... n-6086105/

Only seen 17 and didn't like a third of them. There's also some I've seen bits of but not the whole film. Loads on the list I have no intention of seeing and some biggies I think should be on it.
I've seen six of those, four of them all the way through. I think it's probably because I've lived next to a cinema for half of this century.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:33 pm
by Graeme Cole
0. Haven't even heard of most of them.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:03 pm
by Conor
Mark James wrote:http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/23/quiz-how- ... n-6086105/

Only seen 17 and didn't like a third of them. There's also some I've seen bits of but not the whole film. Loads on the list I have no intention of seeing and some biggies I think should be on it.
Have seen 24, though it feels like I rarely watch new films. I also enjoyed most of them - I'm probably pre-selective enough that I don't watch many films I don't like. Favorites of those are Tree of Life, City of God, Olboy, Inglourious Basterds, Moonrise Kingdom and Requiem for a Dream.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:50 pm
by Peter Mabey
As now there's no bus route that goes near the only remaining cinema here, the only ones I might have seen would have been on TV, as I never rent videos. I remember having watched Spirited Away *which I liked), and part of Wall-E, and having seen adverts for a few of the others, but nearly all were completely unknown to me.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 10:24 am
by Marc Meakin
Just watched Swiss Army Man.
Both weird and wonderful
Best portrayal of an animated corpse by Daniel Radcliffe, since that bloke from American Werewolf in London

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 11:35 am
by Ian Volante
The Goonies. Not too bad actually, although I still made the right decision in seeing Ghostbusters when I had the choice in the cinema.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 3:47 pm
by Mark James
JimBentley wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:16 pm
Mark James wrote:P.S. The spider volcano thing could be Lavalantua.
That was it! Cheers Mark!
The sequel was just on SyFy channel. It was brilliantly called 2 Lava 2 Lantula.

Jim you should check out Red Letter Media on YouTube particularly their best of the worst series. You'll get lots of ideas for so bad they're good movies. I'm especially looking forward to watching Xtro and Samurai Cop.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 3:53 pm
by Matt Morrison
Have you watched any of the Troma films, Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke 'Em High, etc.?

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:17 pm
by Jennifer Steadman
La La Land - Beautifully shot, funnier than expected. 8/10

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:21 pm
by Marc Meakin
Jennifer Steadman wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:17 pm La La Land - Beautifully shot, funnier than expected. 8/10
Yeah, best film I've seen this year so far.
The directors previous film Whiplash was great too

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:06 pm
by Jennifer Steadman
Marc Meakin wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:21 pm
Jennifer Steadman wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:17 pm La La Land - Beautifully shot, funnier than expected. 8/10
Yeah, best film I've seen this year so far.
The directors previous film Whiplash was great too
I liked Whiplash, but didn't love it. JK Simmons is pretty awesome in everything I've seen him in though.

Going to try and watch 52 new films this year but just the one so far.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:12 pm
by Marc Meakin
I average about 8 films a month. But probably less than a dozen films a year at the cinema though.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 8:25 am
by Euan Slatter
I average about 3 films a year.... Normally can't stand them!

In response to the topic title, A MONSTER CALLS

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:56 pm
by Jennifer Steadman
Now been to the cinema 3 times in the last month, having not gone at all in the previous year.

Lego Batman - Arnett's voice <3 Entertaining superhero rework. 7/10
Hidden Figures - THIS WAS SO, SO EXCELLENT. 9/10

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:30 pm
by Marc Meakin
Watched Hacksaw Ridge very good but very graphic.
Watched Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea, both well after but very sad and depressing.
Also I can recommend a film called Remember, an acting tour Dr force by Christopher Plummer, think Memento with geriatrics and Nazi war criminals. First film to make me cry in a while

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 4:04 pm
by Marc Meakin
Just watched Get Out.
A very well made modern horror story with Stepford Wives and Rosemarys Baby as its influences.
The director is black which made it less uncomfortable viewing, considering its themes.
Not as good but the best horror I've seen since Don't Breathe

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 8:18 pm
by Mark James
Drive - More boring than I expected. 6/10

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 8:24 pm
by Gavin Chipper
Mindhorn - Reasonably amusing and watchable film. 7/10.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 12:47 pm
by Marc Meakin
I watched it too and enjoyed it but was distracted by how much the stuntman character reminded my of Julian Assange (AKA the Ecuadorian cuckoo clock )

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 5:25 pm
by Jennifer Steadman
Haha, I'm not the only person who's watched Drive recently then...

Kingsman: Far less funny than expected. 5/10
Drive: Boring. Gosling pretty. Nice soundtrack. 4/10
It Happened One Night: Unexpectedly funny, charming and enjoyable. 8/10
Fifty Shades Of Grey: TERRIBLE acting. Grey = creepy stalker. 2/10
Double Indemnity: Good twist near the end. 6/10
His Girl Friday: Starts slow, becomes very entertaining. 7/10

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 7:49 pm
by Marc Meakin
Jennifer Steadman wrote: Mon May 22, 2017 5:25 pm Haha, I'm not the only person who's watched Drive recently then...

Kingsman: Far less funny than expected. 5/10
Drive: Boring. Gosling pretty. Nice soundtrack. 4/10
It Happened One Night: Unexpectedly funny, charming and enjoyable. 8/10
Fifty Shades Of Grey: TERRIBLE acting. Grey = creepy stalker. 2/10
Double Indemnity: Good twist near the end. 6/10
His Girl Friday: Starts slow, becomes very entertaining. 7/10

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 7:53 pm
by Marc Meakin
I see you are watching a collection of classic black and white films, interspersed with some modern dross.
I watched All about Eve and Whatever happened to Baby Jane.
I was inspired after watching the excellent Feud on Netflix

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 8:13 pm
by Jennifer Steadman
Marc Meakin wrote: Mon May 22, 2017 7:53 pm I see you are watching a collection of classic black and white films, interspersed with some modern dross.
I watched All about Eve and Whatever happened to Baby Jane.
I was inspired after watching the excellent Feud on Netflix
Yes! Basically fell down a Wikihole about Golden Age actors/actresses and thought some of the films sounded quite good. My mum's so proud of me :) Those 2 films are on my list as well.

I've heard about Feud but didn't realise it was on Netflix!

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 8:31 pm
by Marc Meakin
Might not be Netflix, I found it on Showbox app (naughty me ).
Just checked, it's on FX.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 9:05 pm
by Mark James
Here is a short movie what I done wrote and directed. I'd love to know what people think. Cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEHi0-i9ROo

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:07 pm
by Marc Meakin
Very good. The right ending even though I wasn't sure exactly why Max made his choice....maybe it was a B.O thing

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:19 pm
by Jennifer Steadman
Anomalisa: Bizarre, creepy, made me sad. 4/10
In The Loop: Decent, inferior to original show. 6/10

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 10:09 pm
by Gavin Chipper
Marc Meakin wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:07 pm Very good. The right ending even though I wasn't sure exactly why Max made his choice....maybe it was a B.O thing
I enjoyed it too.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:53 pm
by Marc Meakin
Just watched Blade Runner 2049.
Visually stunning and a very good sequel
Hope I'm around for the next one.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:24 pm
by Jon O'Neill
Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (2nd attempt)
Managed an hour this time.
Not rating it on that basis.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:15 pm
by Marc Meakin
Jon O'Neill wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:24 pm Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (2nd attempt)
Managed an hour this time.
Not rating it on that basis.
It's a lot easier to digest than the book.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:45 pm
by Gavin Chipper
Gavin Chipper wrote: Sat Aug 05, 2017 10:09 pm
Marc Meakin wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:07 pm Very good. The right ending even though I wasn't sure exactly why Max made his choice....maybe it was a B.O thing
I enjoyed it too.
But I agree it would have been good for there to be a specific reason for her downfall, like her not even knowing that he hates that brand or something.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:59 pm
by Mark James
Gavin Chipper wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:45 pm
Gavin Chipper wrote: Sat Aug 05, 2017 10:09 pm
Marc Meakin wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:07 pm Very good. The right ending even though I wasn't sure exactly why Max made his choice....maybe it was a B.O thing
I enjoyed it too.
But I agree it would have been good for their to be a specific reason for her downfall, like her not even knowing that he hates that brand or something.
Yeah, it's the biggest thing I have a problem with myself. In the original script I tried to make it a bit clearer that she didn't like max and was only doing it for spite and that her reasons for wanting to punish steven weren't justified but a combination of not wanting to spoil the surprise, logistics in terms of set dressing and then filming time and other such hassles made it harder to get across. If I wanted to be generous to myself I would say that simply the fact that she tried to cheat meant she should have lost and we as the audience should be glad but yeah, even then I could have done something to make it clearer why her plan didn't work.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:21 am
by Marc Meakin
The ending is fine.
The concept of an ambiguous or unclear denouement is always a good talking point for the end of a movie.
Inception being one that springs to mind

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:19 am
by Gavin Chipper
Marc Meakin wrote: Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:21 am The ending is fine.
The concept of an ambiguous or unclear denouement is always a good talking point for the end of a movie.
Inception being one that springs to mind
Yeah, but Inception is shit.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 2:05 pm
by Marc Meakin
From anyone else I would be upset but your film knowledge is crap at best.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 3:15 pm
by Gavin Chipper
Marc Meakin wrote: Fri Oct 13, 2017 2:05 pm From anyone else I would be upset but your film knowledge is crap at best.
But I do know that Inception is objectively poor.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 3:34 pm
by Marc Meakin
We shall have to agree to disagree.
I thought, plotwise, it was one the most inventive and least derivative films of the last ten years.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:33 pm
by Mark James
I really expected to hate Inception but I loved it.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:49 pm
by Gavin Chipper
I seem to remember asking a few people in the past what they liked about Inception and people seemed to think the different layers of dreams was really clever. OK, I don't think it is that clever, but that's not anything I had a problem with. It wasn't the basic idea of the film - it was the implementation. It just seemed really incoherent, confused and messy.

Because it was quite a while ago, I don't remember that many specific details, but I do seem to remember one bit where they were trying to stealth their way into someone's dream or something. That bit could have been OK and they could have raised the tension in several ways, but they went for a sledgehammer approach and decided to crowbar in an action scene where they were attacked by people on motorbikes (I think), which was something like the person's subconscious fighting back. Completely unnecessary and pointless and detracted from what should have been the excitement of the film.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:32 pm
by Ian Volante
Watched Attack the Block at the weekend. Quite enjoyed it.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 1:47 pm
by Mark James
Don't know why but I watched the entirety of Assassin's Creed even though it was clear from the first 5 or 10 minutes that it was going to be awful. Before anyone says it, yes, the fact that it's movie based on a video game should have made it clear without having to watch any of it but I enjoy some of the games so thought I'd give it a chance. Why I stuck with for the whole thing is beyond me. I felt a bit sick after it. Fortunately Back to the Future was on after it and that made me feel better.

Also watched both Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves again recently. Two guilty pleasures really. There's something about Prince of Thieves though I especially like, I don't know what it is. It's actually probably funnier than Men in Tights. It's unintentionally campy but if you pretend it was actually intentionally campy and that they knew what they were doing it becomes a better film.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 4:03 pm
by Marc Meakin
Just watched two good films, Marjorie Prime, a cerebral Sci-fi about the human condition, and Mudbound an excellent adaption of the book by Hillary Jordan. Excellent acting all round, could be Netflix first best picture Oscar

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:33 pm
by Marc Meakin
Just watched Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Probably the best film with a crap title I've ever seen

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 12:38 am
by Mark James
Watched Get Out or Black Black Mirror as I'm gonna call it from now on. I enjoyed it but the way it was being talked about I was expecting something a bit more groundbreaking.

Also watched Logan. Again, it was fine but it got talked about alot as something more than it was. I guess for a superhero movie it was different but it kept reminding me of the video game The Last of Us which I hated. It is definitely better than that though.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 4:46 pm
by Marc Meakin
Just watched Downsizing, in spite of the mauling by the critics.
I really enjoyed it,it was well thought out and I thought the Thai actress playing the Vietemise girl was a breath of fresh air.
Also just seen the Shape of Water. Very good retelling of beauty and the beast.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 11:10 pm
by James Robinson
Saw Darkest Hour on Friday. Brilliant display of "British Bulldog" spirit, plus how they got all those prosthetics on to make Gary Oldman look like Churchill was amazing :!: :!: :!:

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 5:36 am
by Marc Meakin
James Robinson wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2018 11:10 pm Saw Darkest Hour on Friday. Brilliant display of "British Bulldog" spirit, plus how they got all those prosthetics on to make Gary Oldman look like Churchill was amazing :!: :!: :!:
I agree , apart from the tube train scene it was superb

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:58 pm
by Ian Volante
Flight Plan, a bit contrived really, but watchable.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:57 am
by Mark James
Without knowing it was holocaust memorial weekend I watched Schindler's List which I had never seen before. I think one of the things that put me off was the running time but it's such a great movie I've never experienced such a long film fly by so quickly. It should be required watching really, an amazing movie.

Then, having found out it was holocaust memorial weekend I watched the Diary of Anne Frank. The American accents were kind of annoying but overall I enjoyed it.

Just today I watched Spotlight. Thought it was fantastic.

I've been trying hard to watch movies I haven't seen before. Although I did also fit in Shawshank Redemption again over the weekend but I'm going to endeavour to watch a film I haven't seen before as often as I can. I was gonna say daily but that might be too hard to stick to but I hope I can watch at least 100 new movies by the end of the year.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:40 pm
by JimBentley
I know it's a few years old now, but I saw What We Do In The Shadows a few weeks ago and it was joyous. One of the funniest films I've ever seen, everything about it is pitch-perfect.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:04 am
by JimBentley
Watched "Ted" earlier on Channel 4 (actually Channel 4+1, I got in too late to catch the start on normal C4). Now, I've seen it before and remember enjoying it a lot (of which more later), but I was never sure how much of that was because it was any good, or funny, or whatever. I'm pretty sure I mainly enjoyed it first time around because I'd taken a lot of drugs. But having watched it again tonight, I still liked it. It was good, if you're in the mood for that sort of thing, I thought, and this time I haven't taken any drugs at all!

May I tell you a story? I'm going to anyway.

Last time I saw this, it must have been...2013? Possibly 2014. Around that time. Whenever it was first on TV, anyway. Now, by that time, I'd not had any actual cannabis for a few years, mainly because my regular supplier had given up dealing (because he'd settled down and got married, had a kid and all that). I didn't blame him at all; even though dealing in soft drugs isn't exactly a serious crime these days, it still sort of was then - and still sort of is now - if you deal in the quantities that I like to buy. I like to buy in bulk because it's cheaper and means you need to buy less regularly. Anyway, that wasn't a problem, we're still good friends, we go bowling regularly, it's all good.

So when that supply stopped, I obviously looked for something to replace it. Fortunately, I already knew about the whole "legal" scene as I occasionally dipped into that market, sometimes out of necessity (there are always occasional dry periods in any area) and sometimes just out of interest. To be honest, I wasn't altogether impressed; there were products that were kind of OK, but nothing that really could be described as a genuine cannabis substitute. And back then, there were a lot of these blends available; the best-known of these was the original Spice (not the stuff sold as Spice these days, which seems to be pretty much anything cooked up by anyone in a dirty kitchen), which wasn't bad, but wasn't anything great (Spice Gold and Spice Diamond were pretty much the same thing but slightly stronger). Another one was called Skunk and that was better - in that it simulated cannabis more closely - and there were plenty of other "brands", but none of them were amazing.

Then I found out how they were made. Basically they got some inert smokable substances (marshmallow leaf, damiana, passion flower, that sort of thing) and added various amounts of (never specified) synthetic cannabinoids. When I found this out and realised that you could buy the same cannabinoids in pure form, I quickly moved onto those.

Back then it was easy to buy pretty much anything you wanted in pure form and in pretty much any quantity, if you were prepared to trust some fairly sketchy people. And there was such a ridiculous and bewildering amount of synthetics available, it was difficult to know where to begin. You could easily get all the JWH variants (018, 019, 073, 081, 122, etc.), AM-2201, 5F-AKB48, STS-135, PB-22, UR-144, and that's just off the top of my head. Later, they were joined by the FUBINACAs and CHMINACAs, which were even stronger, but they're kind of another story.

JWH-018 was (and remains) the best of the bunch. If used right, its effects are genuinely indistinguishable from really good pot, but it became more and more difficult to obtain. I remember my favourite supplier (buythemg) selling off his entire stock at a ridiculously low price in 2010, because he wanted to get out of the business. I bought quite a bit, but in retrospect, not enough; after that it became hard to get at a reasonable price, or at least what I would consider reasonable. Fortunately all the other substances were still about and seemed to be getting cheaper by the day.

And that was definitely the way forward, or at least that's the way I saw it at the time. For about a tenner, you could get a gram of any of these cannabinoids, and you only needed a couple of milligrams to get you completely fucked. With tolerance, that might become about five milligrams, but it was still fantastic value. It was much cheaper than cannabis, more reproducible in its effects and most importantly, much, much stronger. OK, sometimes it could get a bit much and you'd have to go for a bit of a lie down, but that seemed a small price to pay (and wasn't necessarily in itself unenjoyable). I had some amazing times and thought it would never end.

It did, of course. When the Psychoactive Substances Ban was enacted in 2016, almost everything disappeared overnight. Oh sure, it's possible (and not even that difficult) to still get anything, but the golden days are over now. There are some European sellers who are prepared to supply but not many, and no UK sellers left at all now.

But I digress.

When I started out typing this message, I meant to relate how I first watched "Ted". One of the suppliers that I bought quite a lot of cannabinoids from always used to throw in a sample of the pills they were also selling, generally "Benzo Fury" (5-APB, a benzofuran and so almost the polar opposite of a cannabinoid in its effects). I really wasn't interested in pills and probably wouldn't ever have even tried them, but one day (when "Ted" was on) I'd momentarily run out of stuff to smoke and in a moment of madness, just decided to take a couple. And my god, they were incredible. I REALLY enjoyed the film. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a film more. Everything was heightened. Lines and situations in the film that weren't particularly funny became hilarious. The bit where the fat kid gets his hands on Ted became incredibly tense and exciting - life or death exciting - and then the denouement was really, really touching and lovely.

And now I've rewatched it without drugs, I'm quite glad that I still found it quite funny, and exciting, and yeah, even quite touching. So it's probably not that bad a film really. Yeah, it's juvenile and crass, but it does sort of have a heart.

To be honest I've forgotten what the point of this message was now, but since I've written it all I might as well post it.

And come to think of it, it might have been "Ted 2" that I was thinking of in the first place, which kind of negates everything I've said. Oh well.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:28 am
by Marc Meakin
I think the only real Juvenile film that really touched me was Click

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:45 am
by Jon O'Neill
JimBentley wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:04 am Watched "Ted" earlier on Channel 4 (actually Channel 4+1, I got in too late to catch the start on normal C4). Now, I've seen it before and remember enjoying it a lot (of which more later), but I was never sure how much of that was because it was any good, or funny, or whatever. I'm pretty sure I mainly enjoyed it first time around because I'd taken a lot of drugs. But having watched it again tonight, I still liked it. It was good, if you're in the mood for that sort of thing, I thought, and this time I haven't taken any drugs at all!

May I tell you a story? I'm going to anyway.

Last time I saw this, it must have been...2013? Possibly 2014. Around that time. Whenever it was first on TV, anyway. Now, by that time, I'd not had any actual cannabis for a few years, mainly because my regular supplier had given up dealing (because he'd settled down and got married, had a kid and all that). I didn't blame him at all; even though dealing in soft drugs isn't exactly a serious crime these days, it still sort of was then - and still sort of is now - if you deal in the quantities that I like to buy. I like to buy in bulk because it's cheaper and means you need to buy less regularly. Anyway, that wasn't a problem, we're still good friends, we go bowling regularly, it's all good.

So when that supply stopped, I obviously looked for something to replace it. Fortunately, I already knew about the whole "legal" scene as I occasionally dipped into that market, sometimes out of necessity (there are always occasional dry periods in any area) and sometimes just out of interest. To be honest, I wasn't altogether impressed; there were products that were kind of OK, but nothing that really could be described as a genuine cannabis substitute. And back then, there were a lot of these blends available; the best-known of these was the original Spice (not the stuff sold as Spice these days, which seems to be pretty much anything cooked up by anyone in a dirty kitchen), which wasn't bad, but wasn't anything great (Spice Gold and Spice Diamond were pretty much the same thing but slightly stronger). Another one was called Skunk and that was better - in that it simulated cannabis more closely - and there were plenty of other "brands", but none of them were amazing.

Then I found out how they were made. Basically they got some inert smokable substances (marshmallow leaf, damiana, passion flower, that sort of thing) and added various amounts of (never specified) synthetic cannabinoids. When I found this out and realised that you could buy the same cannabinoids in pure form, I quickly moved onto those.

Back then it was easy to buy pretty much anything you wanted in pure form and in pretty much any quantity, if you were prepared to trust some fairly sketchy people. And there was such a ridiculous and bewildering amount of synthetics available, it was difficult to know where to begin. You could easily get all the JWH variants (018, 019, 073, 081, 122, etc.), AM-2201, 5F-AKB48, STS-135, PB-22, UR-144, and that's just off the top of my head. Later, they were joined by the FUBINACAs and CHMINACAs, which were even stronger, but they're kind of another story.

JWH-018 was (and remains) the best of the bunch. If used right, its effects are genuinely indistinguishable from really good pot, but it became more and more difficult to obtain. I remember my favourite supplier (buythemg) selling off his entire stock at a ridiculously low price in 2010, because he wanted to get out of the business. I bought quite a bit, but in retrospect, not enough; after that it became hard to get at a reasonable price, or at least what I would consider reasonable. Fortunately all the other substances were still about and seemed to be getting cheaper by the day.

And that was definitely the way forward, or at least that's the way I saw it at the time. For about a tenner, you could get a gram of any of these cannabinoids, and you only needed a couple of milligrams to get you completely fucked. With tolerance, that might become about five milligrams, but it was still fantastic value. It was much cheaper than cannabis, more reproducible in its effects and most importantly, much, much stronger. OK, sometimes it could get a bit much and you'd have to go for a bit of a lie down, but that seemed a small price to pay (and wasn't necessarily in itself unenjoyable). I had some amazing times and thought it would never end.

It did, of course. When the Psychoactive Substances Ban was enacted in 2016, almost everything disappeared overnight. Oh sure, it's possible (and not even that difficult) to still get anything, but the golden days are over now. There are some European sellers who are prepared to supply but not many, and no UK sellers left at all now.

But I digress.

When I started out typing this message, I meant to relate how I first watched "Ted". One of the suppliers that I bought quite a lot of cannabinoids from always used to throw in a sample of the pills they were also selling, generally "Benzo Fury" (5-APB, a benzofuran and so almost the polar opposite of a cannabinoid in its effects). I really wasn't interested in pills and probably wouldn't ever have even tried them, but one day (when "Ted" was on) I'd momentarily run out of stuff to smoke and in a moment of madness, just decided to take a couple. And my god, they were incredible. I REALLY enjoyed the film. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a film more. Everything was heightened. Lines and situations in the film that weren't particularly funny became hilarious. The bit where the fat kid gets his hands on Ted became incredibly tense and exciting - life or death exciting - and then the denouement was really, really touching and lovely.

And now I've rewatched it without drugs, I'm quite glad that I still found it quite funny, and exciting, and yeah, even quite touching. So it's probably not that bad a film really. Yeah, it's juvenile and crass, but it does sort of have a heart.

To be honest I've forgotten what the point of this message was now, but since I've written it all I might as well post it.

And come to think of it, it might have been "Ted 2" that I was thinking of in the first place, which kind of negates everything I've said. Oh well.
I really enjoyed this.
New thread, drugs you've been taking lately?

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:31 pm
by JimBentley
Jon O'Neill wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:45 am I really enjoyed this.
New thread, drugs you've been taking lately?
Why, thank-you! To be honest though, I'm not sure such a thread would be such a good idea. It's OK for old farts like me to go on about such stuff, because I don't really care who knows, but I'm not sure that this sort of "full disclosure" is for everyone. Especially with the way that things like this can be dug up years later and used against you. I mean - to take a completely hypothetical example - imagine if Rhys posts something of this nature, it would totally scupper his future chances of becoming a Tory MP.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 2:07 pm
by Zarte Siempre
JimBentley wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:31 pm
Jon O'Neill wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:45 am I really enjoyed this.
New thread, drugs you've been taking lately?
Why, thank-you! To be honest though, I'm not sure such a thread would be such a good idea. It's OK for old farts like me to go on about such stuff, because I don't really care who knows, but I'm not sure that this sort of "full disclosure" is for everyone. Especially with the way that things like this can be dug up years later and used against you. I mean - to take a completely hypothetical example - imagine if Rhys posts something of this nature, it would totally scupper his future chances of becoming a Tory MP.
I would argue that admitting liking to watch Dick and Dom with a bottle of vodka is likely to be more damaging to a Tory MP.

Generally I agree though. I'll stick with occasional vague references personally.

Re: What films have you watched lately?

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:52 pm
by Marc Meakin
With the winter Olympics on I decided to watch I Tonya and Molly's Game (tenuous link, I know )
Both excellent films although I did spend most of my time trying to work out who player X was. Also I thought the way I Tonya broke the fourth wall was very good.