Films

The Unbelievable Truth

A depressed and dysfunctional teenager falls for a supposed Mass Murderer in this funny and moving black comedy by Hal Hartley.

Intent to Kill

Traci Lords takes on the rapists and the drug dealers in LA in this gritty cop thriller from PM Entertainment. Awesome female lead. Love it when she throws the guy off of the balcony!

What did other people think about Bohemian Rhapsody? Some reckoned it was a bit neutered but I did like it. As well as Rami Malek's strong starring role I felt Mike Myers probably gave his best-ever performance and the guy playing Kenny Everett was spot-on!

Mott1 wrote:What did other people think about Bohemian Rhapsody? Some reckoned it was a bit neutered but I did like it. As well as Rami Malek's strong starring role I felt Mike Myers probably gave his best-ever performance  and the guy playing Kenny Everett was spot-on!

It was decent enough. Some of it felt a little clumsy and none of it felt particularly inspired. The acting and production - with all the attention to detail - were the best parts.

Poltergeist. The Freeling family become plagued by a series of strange disturbances that start out intriguing and even amusing - until youngest daughter Carol Anne is snatched by otherwordly forces. The early 80s supernatural classic is one of my favourite films, though I haven't seen it for nearly 10 years as I think I'd been overwatching it a little. Having finally seen it again, I'm happily to say that it still stands up wonderfully and I thoroughly enjoyed it all over again. Charming, spooky, fun, well acted, beautifully scored (have any movie scores in recent times come close to the tunes we got in the 70s and 80s?), Poltergeist is magic in a way that, to me, movies just aren't anymore.

Brightburn. "What if Superman was evil?" is essentially the premise of this modern horror flick in which a childless Kansas couple find a baby in a crashed spaceship on their farm and elect to raise him as their own. But when he hits 12, his strange powers start to manifest - as does his malevolent psychosis. This horror riff on the Superman origins story is an effective and amusing rendition of the rather cheeky conceit. 

Skyscraper

As a building is taken over by a group of terrorists only helicopter pilot Anna Nicole Smith can stop them from fulfilling their evil plan. Low budget Die Hard knock off with more tits.

One Night at McCool's (2001)

Three men all have very different recollections of their meetings with the mysterious Jewel. Is she really as sweet and loving as seems?

Liv Tyler is incredibly charming and gorgeous in this decent dark comedy film from the early 00s.


Damn, she is so fine!

Is there a scene in Skyscraper where Anna Nicole has to crawl up a pipe, Bruce Willis-style? I can't believe she'd fit!

The Last Shot (2004)


Best film I've seen all year. FBI agent Alec Baldwin pretends to be a Hollywood producer and agrees to produce director Matthew Broderick's idea in order to lure out and nail a mob boss. Broderick is completely unaware that his film will never actually be made and that it is all part of an elaborate setup. Funny, charming and sometimes downright heartbreaking, The Last Shot is a criminally underrated movie that I had an outrageously good time watching.

Mott1 wrote:Is there a scene in Skyscraper where Anna Nicole has to crawl up a pipe, Bruce Willis-style? I can't believe she'd fit!

No. There is a scene where she's danging outside the building on a cable and kicks her way through one of the windows, though.

44:30





I guess it is the film's version of the last bit of this video:

Birdman

One of the best films of the decade and a sign that the 2010s isn't a complete write off for movies.

A Prayer For The Dying (1987) starring Mickey Rourke as an ex-IRA terrorist trying to go straight, and Bob Hoskins as the priest who tries to help him. Also features a few cameos by a younger Jackie Tyler.

Pretty powerful stuff, and seemed to really capture that time of religious sectarianism and its chokehold.

The Edge. Anthony Hopkins is an intellectual billionaire who finds himself in a fight for survival when his light plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. Surviving the harsh weather conditions and trying to get home are further complicated by a fellow survivor, a fashion photographer (Alec Baldwin) who may be planning to knock him off so he can have his much younger wife, and a (bloody terrifying) enormous murderous bear with a taste for human flesh that's got them firmly on its menu. This late 90s survival adventure/thriller is still an excellent film, with Hopkins (and Bart the Bear!) on top form.

Midnight Ride (1990)

One of those films that is so bad that its good, Mark Hamill is a riot here and this shows how he really would have made a great live action Joker.

Oh! Heavenly Dog. Chevy Chase is a private eye in London who gets murdered just after taking on a strange new case, but then gets send back down to Earth from Heaven to solve his own murder.... albeit in the form of a dog (Benji). Jane Seymour and Omar Sharif co-star in this thoroughly bizarre yet entertaining early 80s comedy fantasy thriller. I'd never seen this before, and I had no idea what the plot was, so when the above 'twist' happened, I was like "Oh boy"... but I stuck with it, and ended up thoroughly enjoying it anyway. Great fun. It's a shame this isn't out on Blu ray or even DVD as yet. It certainly deserves better than just languishing as a 5th rate VHS rip on YouTube...

The Next Karate Kid (1994)

Very charming and funny sequel that I enjoyed a lot.  Hilary Swank is wonderful! Daniel's story had already been wrapped up in Part III so I don't honestly see the problem with them choosing to focus on a different character. Bill Conti's music is still lavish and there's plenty of zip to the direction. It's definitely better than Part II but not quite up there with the original and III. Still very good, though.

Young Ripe Melons 3.

The Karate Kid III (1989) (Yes, I'm watching these out of order)


Enjoyable sequel although the idea that a millionaire would take time out of his busy schedule to put together a complex scheme to hurt and humiliate a seventeen-year-old kid just because he won a local under eighteens karate tournament is possibly the most outrageous movie plot ever. 1:19-1:28        



"For the next few weeks, my business is strictly revenge"    

It is incredibly fun in a dumb kind of a way. In all seriousness, there are genuinely emotional scenes in there as well as some cool karate action. The direction is competent and the music score is perhaps the best in the series.

7.5/10

Commander Maxil wrote:The Karate Kid III (1989) (Yes, I'm watching these out of order)


Enjoyable sequel although the idea that a millionaire would take time out of his busy schedule to put together a complex scheme to hurt and humiliate a seventeen-year-old kid just because he won a local under eighteens karate tournament is possibly the most outrageous movie plot ever. 1:19-1:28        



"For the next few weeks, my business is strictly revenge"    

It is incredibly fun in a dumb kind of a way. In all seriousness, there are genuinely emotional scenes in there as well as some cool karate action. The direction is competent and the music score is perhaps the best in the series.

7.5/10

This is one of those sequels that is so bad its good, the characterization of Daniel, the plot being a rehash of the original and the villains make it a poor movie. Yet at the same time, you can't help but enjoy it as an unintentional comedy.

Also the Little River Band song is much better than Peter Cetera's 'Glory Of Love'.

Mercury wrote:

Commander Maxil wrote:The Karate Kid III (1989) (Yes, I'm watching these out of order)


Enjoyable sequel although the idea that a millionaire would take time out of his busy schedule to put together a complex scheme to hurt and humiliate a seventeen-year-old kid just because he won a local under eighteens karate tournament is possibly the most outrageous movie plot ever. 1:19-1:28        



"For the next few weeks, my business is strictly revenge"    

It is incredibly fun in a dumb kind of a way. In all seriousness, there are genuinely emotional scenes in there as well as some cool karate action. The direction is competent and the music score is perhaps the best in the series.

7.5/10

This is one of those sequels that is so bad its good, the characterization of Daniel, the plot being a rehash of the original and the villains make it a poor movie. Yet at the same time, you can't help but enjoy it as an unintentional comedy.

Also the Little River Band song is much better than Peter Cetera's 'Glory Of Love'.

I enjoy it more than II these days. Yeah, Daniel fought for his life in the last film yet he easily gets his ass kicked by Mike time and time again in this movie. It becomes comical:



The noise he makes at 1:18

I think the villains make it that much more enjoyable. Terry Silver is a one of a kind villain.

Have you seen the 2010 remake just out of curiosity?

I have just realised that 70s/80s/90s movies are akin to classic Who for me, and modern cinema is akin to New Poo.

iank wrote:I have just realised that 70s/80s/90s movies are akin to classic Who for me, and modern cinema is akin to New Poo.

You've only NOW just realised it?

I've been increasingly dissatisfied with cinema since the early 2000s. I mean I've only just correlated the two, I guess.
It works surprisingly well, even with classic, esp if you adjust the decades a tad.
60s Who/70s movies: Great stuff, if not quite as great as:
70s Who/80s movies. The pinnacle.
80s Who/90s movies: Not quite as great as the last decade, but still aces.
2000s Who/movies: Some good stuff buried in there, but generally flat and disappointing.
2010s Who/movies: A brief period where I thought things were finally improving and being more to my taste, only to end the decade in complete "oh fuck this, I'm done" disinterest.