Rate the last film you watched out of 5

[Mike S]

1 hour ago, ZOK said:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers! 

 

Good shout.

 

1 hour ago, Vimster said:

I recall the rights to The Exorcist being bought up was on the news a while back and they mentioned then they wanted to turn it into a franchise. Any right-thinking person's blood should run cold at the mere thought of that. Whenever I see things like this I automatically assume the new rights-holders feel the original wasn't good enough and needed "improving".

 

I'd add the Child's Play re-imaging from a couple of years back to the good pile. It wasn't as nastily irreverent as the originals but had enough good new ideas, felt like an update that worked. 

 

Yep, 'franchise' is a real alarm bell.

 

There is literally no chance of anything good coming from fools trying to remake, reimagine, or expand upon The Exorcist. I didn't know they had remade Child's Play but  don't care too much for the original film which could be an excuse to watch a remake.

 

1 hour ago, glb said:

The Crazies remake is half-decent, not quite as mainstream as those mentioned so far but at least it justified being made by virtue of being quite good.

 

I am a big fan of the original so shall maybe have a look at this remake.

[Nick R]

1 hour ago, Vimster said:

Any right-thinking person's blood should run cold at the mere thought of that.

 

So it's already succeeded at being a horror film?

[glb]

1 hour ago, Mike S said:

I am a big fan of the original so shall maybe have a look at this remake.

 

It doesn't surpass the original by any means, but it's a decent effort at recreating something for a new audience. I always think with remakes that if they're in any way good, they deserve to exist because people may then seek out the original.

 

The Exorcist doesn't need this obviously, it still holds up at almost 50 years old. I don't really know what the remake will do. Go for a similarly paced, slow-burn horror, or ramp up the VFX and make it schlocky, in which case there are already dozens of possession/demon films that have stuffed that void.

 

Actually, the new Virginia Madsen film, Prey for the Devil is probably far better than whatever The Exorcist does eventually turn out to be. Saint Maud too for that matter.

[Waggo]

Black Adam - 3/5

 

Nowhere near as bad as some of the reviews would have you believe.  I enjoyed it and would certainly say it is at least on a par with the most recent Marvel films.

[Camel]

5 hours ago, Mike S said:

 

 

Oh dear. 

 

There is no way that these will not be as dreadful as they are unnecessary.  I can only think of one remake of a seventies or eighties horror that was close to being OK, that being Evil Dead but, even that, I could have lived without as, tonally, it missed the point of the original by a mile.  Every other remake has been a waste of time. The only genuinely brilliant, exceptional in their own right, and worthy reworkings of older genre movies I can think of are The Fly and The Thing. 

 

 

The Tom Savini 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead is excellent.

[glb]

One Cut of the Dead - 2/5 (All4)

 

Pretty disappointed after seeing plenty of positive buzz about this. Found the film to be a slog, even at 90 minutes, with a cute but pretty underwhelming pay-off.

 

(#819)

[Mikes]

Barbarian (2022)

 

Mental, in purely positive ways. So man false suggestions and directions changes, all told very well.

 

5 saggy tits out of 5

 

 

[ImmaculateClump]

Barbarian - ***½

 

Stupid cunty brain wouldn't shut up singing "bar, bar, bar, bar-bare-i-an" instead of "barbara ann"

 

"Bar-ba-ba-bar, ba-bar-bar-bar-bar, ba-ba-bar-ba-ba-bar

Da-dand-da-da-dang, ba-bar-bare-i-an

Blue moon"

 

Fucking SHUT UP!

[Mawdlin]

Prisoners

 

I have been going to the cinema most weeks for the last couple of decades but had never heard of this. It came up in some random facebook feed as an underground classic that should get more love. It is brutal and captivating and to my mind a response to Guantanamo.

 

Available now on Netflix, though you will have to search for it.

 

4/5

 

 

[iknowgungfu]

6 hours ago, Mawdlin said:

Prisoners

 

I have been going to the cinema most weeks for the last couple of decades but had never heard of this. It came up in some random facebook feed as an underground classic that should get more love. It is brutal and captivating and to my mind a response to Guantanamo.

 

Available now on Netflix, though you will have to search for it.

 

4/5

 

 

Corker of a film that one. Denis Villeneuve isn’t it?

[Camel]

19 hours ago, glb said:

One Cut of the Dead - 2/5 (All4)

 

Pretty disappointed after seeing plenty of positive buzz about this. Found the film to be a slog, even at 90 minutes, with a cute but pretty underwhelming pay-off.

 

(#819)

You seem to have malfunctioned.

[SpagMasterSwift]

The Void

 

Not the best of starts for this one, but it builds up some very oppressive atmosphere as it goes and has some yucky practical effects like back in the good old days. The acting is awful, but I kinda dig it!
 

3.5 face tentacles out of 5

[Bucky]

Black Adam 2/5

 

There's a lot of it.  And not a lot of it is good. 

 

Some wry smiles to be had (mostly because of the Broz), the unfurling origin story was neatly done.  These DC movies have fuck all charm.

 

It's highly unoriginal to say this, but there was a natural and satisfying end in there and fuck knows why they didn't stop when they did.  Because when they didn't, boy did it turn shit.

[Plissken]

Rocky (1976)

 

OK, some back story.  The only Rocky movie I've seen is Rocky IV and I've never really wanted to see any others.  I've never, ever really warmed to Sylvester Stallone.  Alongside Rambo III and Cobra, Rocky taking on Drago pretty much set the template for me in "his films are stupid, entertaining and all despite the leading man, not because of him".  My teenage onward impressions of Stallone were the cliche, the grunting, the slurring, the punching and killing people, the grunting and slurring while punching and killing people. There is a reason Rocky films are cliches, because to me, they invented them and then doubled down on them.  It's been parodied and copied so many times, not least by the man himself.  No thanks.

 

For some reason YouTube chucked me a random two minute clip of a scene in this film.  For some reason I clicked it.  It was quite interesting.  And then I remembered that this film won three Oscars (including Best Picture) and gave most of the main cast acting nominations and mentally added it to the list to watch whenever it popped up on a streaming service and there was nothing better to do.

 

Yesterday evening, there was nothing better to do.  And... I've really missed out here, haven't I?

 

I get why Stallone was nominated for his Oscar, because it's a great performance.  Balboa is a loser, a bum, dumb as a bag of rocks.  But he's essentially a decent guy and Stallone lets you see that parts of the tough guy act are actually an act, and he's frustrated and lonely.  The romance with Talia Shire (also deserving her Oscar nod) was surprisingly sweet, the ice skating scene had Stallone properly acting - a bundle of charm, a motormouth and at the same time being vulnerable and nervous.  Shire is equally great in a slightly thankless role, coming out of her shell.  The two scenes before the fight, "The poster is wrong" and "I don't think I can win" are subtly and brilliantly written in the way they make you root for the underdog because life has ignored and dismissed them.

 

Burt Young and Burgess Meredith also got nominations, their roles were a bit more cliched but maybe they were the template for those cliches.  I didn't really warm to Paulie, except when he tricks Rocky into finally believing he can do it.  Carl Weathers had superpower level charisma in this, and I liked the fact that his sidekick was becoming aware that perhaps, just perhaps, the champ had made a mistake.  Mid-70s Philadelphia looks seedy and down at heel, a proper deadbeat city.

 

If I had seen the final fight and not the myriad copies and ripoffs, I might have warmed to that even more.  But as Stallone yelled for Adrian after the final bell, I managed to dismiss the million piss-takes over the decades and go "yeah, you did it and you got the girl, Rocky.  Good on you."

 

4.5/5

[Stig]

Rocky is amazing, glad you enjoyed it @Plissken. It might well be worth you checking out Rocky Balbao and Creed as well. Stalone puts in great performances in those too. Very good films too.

[Camel]

The first Rocky sequel is great too.

[the_debaser]

Decided to rewatch Top Gun Maverick earlier. It’s just amazing how they didn’t fuck this movie up. 10.3g out of 10. 

[Stig]

Terrifier 2 (2022)

 

Terrifier 2 carries on that 80s look and sound that the first portrayed really well but changing a simple slasher into something supernatural with elements of fantasy was a terrible way to go. Again, like the first, there's plenty of gore on display which I guess is the films real strength but they forgot to find a decent plot to work it around.

 

I honestly have no idea how this is reviewing so well because outside that 80s feel and the gore it has absolutely nothing else going for it. There's a real art to making a film like this and Damien Leone clearly doesn't possess the skill to pull it off. It's over indulgent, way too long and the ending is so laughably bad, it absolutely shits the bed.

 

Everything this film was trying to do could have easily been done in a tight 80 minutes, there was no need for this to be nearly 2.5hrs long at all.

 

Just go back to being a normal tight slasher if there's a next time. Hopefully they find some better actors whilst they're at it too.

 

1/5

 

 

 

[El Geet]

The Stranger (Netflix)

 

Incredibly atmospheric, tense and brilliantly acted Australian thriller. 
 

Knew nothing about it going in and I thought it was a really original take on a story. The use of sound and the way the story is told was pretty ingenious. The sound in particular was fantastic. It added a real tension to the film - I don’t think I’ve ever come across such a creative use of a soundtrack before. 
 

It’s a powerful and visceral watch without an iota of onscreen physical violence. Loved it. 
 

4.5/5

[iknowgungfu]

Boiling Point

 

Finally convinced my wife to watch this after she enjoyed The Bear. This sort of thing is right up my alley. The one shot nature of it is a great achievement but all the cast are so utterly believable you could be forgiven for forgetting it is a film and not a fly on the wall doc at times. 
 

Refreshing to watch a film which is so small in scope but huge in drama. 

[ScouserInExile]

(The DC League of) Super Pets

 

The weather was rubbish yesterday and I spotted this was only £2.50 a ticket. Wasn't expecting much of it, but it'd keep the kids busy for a couple of hours.

 

It's actually pretty good. It's nothing special or amazing, it's a story we've seen a million times before - protagonist with power is an arsehole without really realising it, loses power, befriends powerless "losers", discovers the true meaning of power. It's never boring, but never massively exciting either. It's clearly aimed at younger kids, so the peril is very definitely mild.

 

Kids loved it though. Even my 11 year old daughter.

 

I asked them to score it, since I feel it would be unfair for me to.

 

4/5

[Silent Runner]

Don't Worry Darling

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10731256/

 

A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.

 

This got a bit of a kicking when it came out, but I had a great time with it. Florence Pugh and Chris Pine are great, Harry Styles is pretty wooden though. I loved the look of it and the design. I read a review that suggested it was a twilight zone episode stretched out over 2 hours and that's probably fair. 

 

Spoiler

You can guess where it's going from about 20 minutes in but the journey is enjoyable and there are a few nice twists on the way.

 

4/5

[ZOK]

Phenomena - 5/5 (MUBI)

 

Now on any objective scale there are probably a thousand reasons why this shouldn’t score 5/5, but the simple fact is if you watch this film because you like Argento, what you are going to get is Argento rammed right down your throat for nearly two hours, and it is both perfect and glorious.

 

Jennifer Connolly is an American girl sent to a collapsing Swiss boarding school cum psychology institute run by supermodel Linda Evangelista, where as well as two thirds of the campus being off limits for reasons there also happens to be a decapitator of young girls operating on the regular in the immediate vicinity. Luckily wheelchair-bound Scottish entomologist Donald Pleasance and his monkey nurse are on hand to help her get to grips with her burgeoning power over insects for fun and profit. Top buzz.

[Vimster]

Honest, Decent and True (1985)

I'd watched Les Blair's News Hounds recently and gave this earlier BBC drama a go. The goings-on at an ad agency working on a campaign for a new "classy" lager, all whilst struggling with their largely unfulfilling private lives. It's not totally captivating, but it does feel more slice-of-life. Not seen much other Les Blair stuff so can't really compare. Top ensemble cast here including Adrian Edmondson, Richard E Grant, Gary Oldman, Arabella Weir and Derrick O'Connor, all playing characters that didn't appear to rely too heavily on well-worn caricatures of people in advertising, making this feel more natural.  Subtly humourous, not exactly scathing of the ad biz, more a sceptical view of it through the dysfunctional, jaded, and eccentric practitioners and their various hang-ups.

 

3.5/5

 

 

[Vimster]

Class Of 1984 (1982) Amazon Prime Video

I am shocked to learn this isn't a documentary about crumbling inner-city schooling. Shocked, I tell you! Never piss off a teacher.

 

3.5/5

 

Best Letterboxd review of this: It's as if Troma remade Blackboard Jungle.

 

 

[Thor]

Molly's Game

 

Really enjoyed this, Chastain is so good. 

 

4/5 

[Jamie John]

The Exorcist (1973) - Blu Ray

 

 

I'd not seen this before but had read the novel and, like @glb, who posted a great mini-review on it recently, already knew most of the plot and key moments. Still, I thought it was a compelling film, even if I didn't find it particularly scary, though I can understand why it would be considered terrifying when it first came out, almost fifty years ago now.

 

Having read the book, I did feel that the character development of the two priests was a bit light by comparison: the novel is, naturally, able to make much more of Carras's struggles with his faith, and his ultimate sacrifice accordingly feels more earned than it does in the film version. And Father Merrin, the exorcist himself, isn't really on screen enough for us to care about him (also, I'm sure there's a reason, but I don't know why they decided to cast a younger actor, clearly wearing make-up, as an older man).

 

What the film does better than the book, however, is capture Chris's - the mother's - growing hysteria and panic as she steadily loses control of what's happening to her little girl, and I thought Linda Blair as Reagan herself puts in a great performance, especially considering her age at the time. As has been noted elsewhere, the most discomforting parts of the film are not when Reagan has been completely taken over, but when she is being experimented on by the doctors: the juxtaposition of early-1970s brain scanning equipment - big, industrial, noisy, faceless machines - and a soft-faced young girl, strapped down and quietly sobbing, is haunting.

 

I watched one of the special feature documentaries, and it was interesting to see both Friedkin - the director - and Blatty - the novelist and playwright - categorically describe this as not being a horror film, because that's more or less how I felt about it; although there are definitely some horrifying moments, it's at its best when it's exploring the effects that disease and disorder can have on the family unit. It's easy to read Reagan's possession as an allegory for cancer or some other malign illness, and her mother's increasingly desperate attempts to cure it as her need to exert control over something she cannot understand, let alone fix.

 

4/5

[ScouserInExile]

Lethal Weapon 3

 

Stumbled on this last night and decided to watch it, having not seen it for probably decades now. I've just checked and it's 30 years old now.

 

It was actually really good. It's full of clichés and crap characters, some of it really hasn't aged well (most notably the fact that the psychiatrist who is trying to help Roger after yes shot a 15 year old friend of his son is treated as a complete joke). But it's got a decent story, done good action and some of the clichés pretty much started with this series. Or they did in my head, at least.

 

4 "I'm too old for this shit" / 5

[Protocol Penguin]

The Thing (1982)

 

You know when you get round to watching an old film with a positive reputation and wished you’d watched it years ago? That, basically. Genuine classic.

 

5/5

[schmojo]

Barbarian

 

One of the few 'don't read anything about this' horrors in the last decade that pretty much lived up to the hype.

 

Thought it was inventive, didn't insult the intelligence too much and surprised me several times. Really strong.

 

4/5

 

Bros

 

This one started really well. Bought into the characters, the world, and the necessity for a mainstream film centred around a very normal gay love story. I felt it lost some impact in the second half, covering well-worn ground and failing to surprise. But ultimately I liked who I was supposed to like, laughed more than enough, and will watch whatever the team make next.

 

3.5/5