Films II : The Filminator

[shinymcshine]

FFS @Maf - You mean Pierce Brosnan's dodgy driving could have killed Sarah Connor !!!!

[Maf]

“Dodgy driving” lol. I love that he tried to drive a jeep through lava, it sets on fire immediately, then slaps the dashboard and goes “c’mon!” Like, this jeep is doing remarkably well all things considered 

[one-armed dwarf]

My main memory of the film was that the grandmother didn't want to leave her home while the volcano shit was happening everywhere, and they went up there and she ended up in an acid lake anyway, making it a wasted trip. What a pain in the ass

[Maryokutai]

People always make fun of cars too easily going up in flames in movies but if any movie car had any right to blow up, this one is it.

 

Never saw the movie but I think I'm hopping to the Goofs section on imdb later.

[shinymcshine]

Fantastic to watch "Blue Velvet" in the cinema last night, in a big wide auditorium with wall to wall screen.

 

I'd not watched it for a few years, so felt even more special going through the journey again, and seeing the iconography and cinematics that became a staple of Lynch's later work.

 

Well it's on to Mulholland Drive on Friday !

 

Check out your local Cineworld listings for their £5.99 Lynch screenings (Wild at Heart on Tue 27 Jan).

[Maryokutai]

I've been checking our cinemas but none of them is doing anything Lynch related, unfortunately.

 

---

 

Speaking of films, I recently watched the first three Jason Bourne movies. I was convinced I had seen these before but turns out I only ever saw the spin-off with Jeremy Renner (odd choice in retrospect). It did add a funny meta layer to the narrative because I regularly went 'do I know this...? No, I don't'.

 

Anyway, they're really good. Two and three – their naming choices are horrible, so I just call them by numbers – can feel a bit samey, but the first one is still a standout action movie that from a more modern perspective (it is, after all, 20 years old) also feels refreshing in terms of tempo, cinematography and script. I do like how it treats all the different countries they visit as more than just a backdrop for an establishing shot, there's a bit of melancholy to everything, it doesn't feature any kind of comic relief, it's absolutely serious throughout without becoming pretentious. One thing all three manage to do well is being fast-paced but simultaneously not rushing it and taking their time and letting scenes flow for a bit. They're also visually nice to look at, even though 2 and 3 totally overdo it with camera movement during action scenes.

 

I'm unsure whether I should watch the last one, because it's relatively disliked and I think as a trilogy the first three feel quite complete. But I think these are genuine 'modern classics' now and in hindsight likely were probably always a good counterweight to the overly ridiculous Bond and MI movies that were happening at the time.

[radiofloyd]

I recently finished watching 28 Years Later (the last third or so, watched most of it around 2-3 months ago) and went to see The Bone Temple in the cinema.

 

I remember liking 28 Years Later well enough but I have to say I really loved the last third, it really elevated the film for me. In the end it might have ended up being my second favourite film of 2025 after Weapons.

 

The Bone Temple is brilliant too, a great film to start off 2026 with. It’s a very different film to 28 Years Later, but the central actors again are brilliant in it. Worth it for the Iron Maiden scene alone.

[Maf]

I was watching a reaction to Robocop and there’s a line in the movie where a CEO/corporate guy says “We’re projecting the end of crime in 40 days” and I broke down laughing.

[shinymcshine]

Whether it's just more well known, more recent, or just because it was a Friday - but last night's Cineworld showing of Mulholland Drive was actually relatively 'full' compared with Blue Velvet.

 

It was fantastic to see it on the big screen and utterly compelling, a great night out.

 

 

[DANGERMAN]

5 hours ago, Maf said:

I was watching a reaction to Robocop and there’s a line in the movie where a CEO/corporate guy says “We’re projecting the end of crime in 40 days” and I broke down laughing.

If you've never seen it you should, it's a genuinely brilliant, smart film 

[one-armed dwarf]

Veerhoven stuff is supposed to be very heightened and ironical like that

 

Also, continuing the Lynch thread, multiple Twin Peaks actors in that film. Well, two of them anyway

[DANGERMAN]

49 minutes ago, one-armed dwarf said:

Veerhoven stuff is supposed to be very heightened and ironical like that

 

Also, continuing the Lynch thread, multiple Twin Peaks actors in that film. Well, two of them anyway

yep, Laura's dad, and Agent Albert

 

[Maf]

The film is full of good satire but the “Projecting to end crime in 40 days” is brilliant. Just what an insane, hyperbolic send-up of corporate speak, political grift, tech-bro oversell.
 

I know what it sounds like, but the only times I saw Robocop was at a babysitters after nursery when I was a kid. So I remember the big robot falling down the stairs and certain bits, but everything else about it I only know through osmosis. 
 

I’m not interested enough to watch it through because I get the idea, but yeah that line is fucking great 

[one-armed dwarf]

My main childhood memory of it is of the dude who got melted in toxic waste

[Maryokutai]

Our reality – or rather the American one – is so close to satire that this line doesn't even feel far-fetched imo.

First we'll turn into Robocop and then the timeline splits: one becomes Terminator, the other Idiocracy.

[mfnick]

1 hour ago, Maf said:

I’m not interested enough to watch it through because I get the idea, but yeah that line is fucking great 

You’re insane. Still one of the greatest films ever made. You should really watch it through now as a kidult. 

[one-armed dwarf]

I feel that America is so far beyond Idiocracy at this point, they're in full 1984 mode asking their citizens to not believe their eyes and ears while they brutalise them. At least Terry Crews wanted to make things right

 

Apparently the John Hurt film of it is pretty good, might watch it. 

[Maryokutai]

I recently realised there are many film classics out there I hadn't seen so I made the sensible choice of watching Legally Blonde.

 

...don't ask. But to my surprise I didn't hate it. Baby Witherspoon is cute in the role and plays a surprisingly likeable character, thought the movie's message might ultimately be a bit too naive. And while the initial premise is extremely awkward from today's perspective it does a good job ot turning it on its head towards the end. The only thing that has poorly aged is the stereotypical gay scene around the middle, but otherwise it's significantly less cringy than most US comedies from the time (though I honestly wouldn't call it a comedy anyway, it's not a particularly funny movie, but rather an uplifting one).

[DANGERMAN]

I watched The Long Walk earlier. I enjoyed it, it's a bit fluffed in terms of focussing on the leads too much, missing some of the more subtle stories and moments. People come and go really quickly, it never feels like there's as many people as there's supposed to be. Still, worth a watch definitely 

[one-armed dwarf]

I was sick yday and ended up on youtube and got recommended Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), which is just on there, the whole film, so will be bookmarking that channel though not subscribing as it seems to have lots of AI slop on there as well. 

 

Definitely a film that's harder to enjoy now I think (I've never seen any of these for some reason), mostly cause of how endlessly quoted this film was back in like y2k era. Also it's a cliche to say this I know but this would be a really difficult series to bring back, unless they try something completely different like parody Daniel Craig-era Bond/Jason Bourne stuff, which I think would end up not working well or feel too much like the new Naked Gun film. 

 

Favorite scenes are the ones involving the Number Two henchman, about living dangerously and who does Mr Two work for, and the riff on Pussy Galore with Alotta Fagina. Also I guess Will Ferrel wasn't a big name then cause he's in the film for like a minute.