one-armed dwarf Posted October 19, 2024 Share Posted October 19, 2024 Great reviews for Smile 2, Kermode way into it. Surprised cause the first film wasn't much imo but am looking forward to seeing this now. Frequent but good use of jump scares, and a sense of humour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmark Posted October 19, 2024 Share Posted October 19, 2024 Alien Romulus. Loved it! Started great then got into a mood and the ending was visually spectacular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted October 20, 2024 Share Posted October 20, 2024 Coming soon to VHS 🤔 Fun idea.. but pan and scan... 🤮 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmark Posted October 20, 2024 Share Posted October 20, 2024 Snob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted October 21, 2024 Share Posted October 21, 2024 Well, if they wanted to be really funny what they could do instead is put it in IMAX ratio, and make the VHS version secretly the best. But also the worst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmark Posted October 27, 2024 Share Posted October 27, 2024 Apparently Gladiator II is Spoiler GREAT! First impressions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted October 27, 2024 Share Posted October 27, 2024 Longlegs Boring. Wasn’t scary at all. Just a bit weird. Felt like it was building up to something the entire time with no pay off too. 5/10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted October 27, 2024 Share Posted October 27, 2024 imo the trailer for Longlegs was scarier than the film. Had i not seen that i might not have been as disappointed The Substance is coming to Apple TV soon, though you have to buy it. Hoping that one lives up to the hype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted November 1, 2024 Share Posted November 1, 2024 Watched The Substance (2024), it's on Mubi now so sign up for a free trial on apple tv and don't forget to cancel. Grisly yet comedic body horror that's acting as a sort of Sunset Boulevard style allegory on celebrity and aging, but also addiction. Takes place in a very heightened version of our reality where it seems the biggest show in town is this fitness program. Which is a bit strange but you have to kinda buy into the surreality of things a bit cause it gets much stranger than that, it's not to be taken too seriously, not all the time anyway. Demi Moore is being cast aside by this mogul character played by Denis Quaid, heavily based off Vince McMahon in looks and mannerisms but named after Harvey Weinstein. He funnily enough owns the most disgusting scene in the film which involves closeups on him eating shrimps with a wide lens. That scene and another scene involving needles are the ones I had to look away from, not the more obvious gore bits. It kinda goes on and on though I thought, and beats its allegory into the ground. There's playing it broad but then there's playing it shallow and I'm not sure where The Substance lands with it. The escalation of body horror is always entertaining with how it juxtaposes the exploitative sexual bits with fucked up stuff you don't want to look at. But the story didn't lock me in as I'd hoped cause it felt like it ran out of new things to say about 40 minutes in. It's full of these homages to Kubrick and Lynch films which don't always flatter it cause they're better films. But compared with something like Terrifier, this is way more my wheelhouse for splendidly disgusting nonsense. It just could have been about 40 minutes shorter. Not that I dislike the ending as such 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryokutai Posted November 4, 2024 Share Posted November 4, 2024 Watched Anna Kendrick's directorial debut film yesterday, Woman of the Hour on Netflix. It's about a serial killer from the 70s whose life crosses that of an inspiring actor, played by Kendrick, in a super weird way through both of them appearing on a dating TV show. It has some immensely effective moments when it shows the vulnerability of women, especially when Kendrick and the killer are paired together (parking lot scene). On the other hand its three different story arcs feel a bit detached – there's one that doesn't lead to anything, and the whole dating show ultimately doesn't lead to the apprehension of the killer either, so it's only the third one, which amounts to 15 minutes of screentime at best, that moves the plot forward. In fairness though I only find that a bit odd in hindsight and it didn't bother me while watching it. I think it's a solid movie for when you want to watch something with a bit more nuance while maybe not necessarily being in the mood for a mind-altering masterpiece. A good 7/10 type film, and with a runtime of about 100 minutes refreshingly compact, too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted November 5, 2024 Share Posted November 5, 2024 Watched Strange Darling, which is a film I heard about on Red Letter Media before I turned their vid off before spoilers. Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner go to a motel for a one night stand, not familiar with either of these two actors, but looking at his wiki I've seen Kyle in some stuff. From there it escalates into a cat and mouse game as one hunts down the other. I say 'from there', but the film has a narrative structure which sets things up out of order to pull the rug from you at times. I liked but did not love this film. They make a point early on of mentioning it's shot in 35mm, so it doesn't have that super clean digital look a lot of modern films have which is neat. Colours sort of bloom a bit and it looks quite vivid, not a desaturated colour grade like a lot of modern films either. Probably the most stylish looking film I've seen this year, above The Substance. The acting is great and tbh I was surprised with how things went. Some sections of the film linger a little too long though I thought, like the motel scenes. There's an element of the film where due to its current milieu, it feels like it drifts into some strange subtext. It sort of reminded me of Speak No Evil a little bit where it's hard to say if there's a metaphor there or you're reading too deeply into something which is supposed to be a De Palma-esque pulpy thrill ride. Spoiler It's when the cops have come to the scene and the dude is suspicious of the whole thing and the woman gives benefit of the doubt to the killer cause she's a woman and accuses the other of being institutionally sexist WRT his perspective on things. It sorta sticks out in a weird way, but then the whole film is about usurping expectations based on gender so it's probably not quite correct to take things like that on bad faith. I'll say had this been a film made in the 1970s this thing wouldn't occur to me at all, it's just that scenes like that feel a bit more polemically charged now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinymcshine Posted November 5, 2024 Share Posted November 5, 2024 @Maryokutai I watched Woman of the Hour the other week, and you've pretty much covered how I felt about it too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted November 5, 2024 Share Posted November 5, 2024 Under Paris is getting a sequel... 🎉🎊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted November 10, 2024 Share Posted November 10, 2024 Was sick today so watched The Conversation (1974) on 4k bluray, the only film of Coppola's 70s run I hadn't seen cause I figured it was a bit lightweight or something. It fucking ain't though, it's a great film. It's about surveillance, Gene Hackman pulls off a really technically complex bugging operation on these two people who are involved in something dangerous. The details of it don't actually matter that much though cause it's moreso a thriller of stunning psychological depth than it is political intrigue, despite being set right around the time of Watergate (with an oblique reference or two to that). It gets deep into the question of what America is I think, particularly during a sequence at a convention where they are selling these surveillance devices, populated by the most ghoulish of capitalist predators who've made their bread and butter on ruining other people's lives and have long buried their conscience, the last part being the thing that Hackman's character seems to struggle with. His is a character who says so much while saying almost nothing, which comes in focus in the plot at times as he betrays no secrets while observing everyone else's, trapped by his guilt and paranoia. Harrison Ford is also in this film, a few years before his life and career changes with Han Solo and in a way it feels played against type he would later establish for himself cause of how dark and morally unscrupulous his role is I look forward to destroying this image I have of Coppola when I watch Megalopolis in a few months, but what a terrific film. My 2nd fave of his behind Godfather 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmark Posted November 10, 2024 Share Posted November 10, 2024 Watched Sixty Million Dollar Man on Netflix, a 90s Stephen Chow movie. Had seen it before and it still holds up if you like his work. It’s very very silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmark Posted November 13, 2024 Share Posted November 13, 2024 We watched Rebel Ridge last night on Netflix. I can see why there’s buzz over the wish for the actor to be the next Bond but f me can you imagine the uproar casting a black Bond. They were upset over Dr Who, and that’s a shape shifting alien! Anyway the film immediately starts like Rambo First Blood which apparently the director took influence from and it shows but the similarities do soon end. It wasn’t as actiony as I’d hoped, was smarter than I’d imagined but still enjoyable all the same. 8/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maf Posted November 13, 2024 Share Posted November 13, 2024 FINALLY, MY TIME TO SHINE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted November 14, 2024 Share Posted November 14, 2024 I watched All of Us Strangers (2023), which is this queer romance story set in London. But it's also sort of like a ghost story on top of that and based off a Japanese novel. Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal play the leads, they are the only two people who live in this apartment block in London. Which is a bit unrealistic but the film does attempt to justify it a bit and use it as an effective metaphor for what it's dealing with, themes-wise. Anyway they have a meet cute and spark up a romance, meanwhile Andrew Scott's character is writing a book about his parents, he goes to his childhood home to unearth those memories and wouldn't you know it his parents are just there, the same age as when they died. So it's sort of like, what would you say to your parents if you re-encountered them at their and your middle age. I did like it, but the ending annoyed me a bit. But I think on a rewatch I'd be more fair to it rather than getting hung up on it. But it's an easy enough recommendation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted November 17, 2024 Share Posted November 17, 2024 Just got done with The Tomorrow War... Chris Pratt gets thrown into a time travelling War for Earth... think this got panned when it released but fuck it, I don't care, I enjoyed this a lot. And it had real life Miranda from Mass Effect in it... bonus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted November 17, 2024 Share Posted November 17, 2024 I remember thinking that was pretty decent too. People just like to hate Chris Pratt for some reason. & simple action stuff. Similarly I watched Terminator Dark Fate again. Genuinely love it. Think it’s one of the most underrated films. Why everyone hates it I just don’t get. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now