VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Jazzy G]

I may have to give this a look. I remember going to see Glass Onion at the cinema with my Mum, as well as See How They Run, and the last Branagh Poirot movie. Not at the same time, but we definitely would keep an eye out for those kinds of things at the cinema. We loved Only Murders In The Building as well, which I should really try and catch up on. There was a new series due around the time she passed away and I've just not been able to bring myself to watch it. 

[mim731]

1 hour ago, Chris B said:

Loved this one. If you like this kind of film (and Glass Onion in particular), I went to see a talk by Rian Johnson last year, and he talked a bunch about how influenced it was by The Last of Sheila, which is a whodunnit written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins (!!!) back when they were a couple (which I didn't know about until learning about this film). It stars James Mason, James Coburn, Raquel Welch and young, hot Ian McShane - it's set on a murder-mystery party game on a yacht, and very twisty-turny. Should be far better known than it is.

The Last of Sheila is bizarre and really fun. I watched it in advance of a podcast recording on murder mystery movies and it was a proper revelation in terms of being something wildly underseen. Especially given who is involved. 

[Rossman]

The Last of Sheila sometimes pops up on Talking Pictures in the evening slot.

[FLips]

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across The 8th Dimension

I really didn’t get this on my first viewing a while back, but like I did the first time I saw Napoleon Dynamite and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou I came away knowing I’d missed the joke so watched it again and loved it.
This is the 3rd time watching this weird cult sci-fi rock and roll comedy comic book adventure thing and I’m fully on board with it now. Just a load of mental ideas that the cast throw themselves into with full commitment and it somehow works.

Inside Man

Bank job thriller directed by Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington, Jody Foster and Clive Owen and somehow manages to waste the talents of all of them including the director. A bank heist film with next to no stakes and even less payoff. Denzel works his socks off as usual but has very little to do.

Training Day

If you want Denzel at his best then this one is for you. Plays a right bastard corrupt cop who sets up rookie Ethan Hawke something rotten. Thought this was top shelf stuff from start to finish.

Street Kings

Name me a worse actor that’s somehow had such a huge career as Keanu Reeves. I’m sure he’s the nicest man on the planet but christ. At least this one has the benefit of being a film that wouldn’t necessarily have been any better if he wasn’t in it.

The Sting

I didn’t think much of the plot as the stakes never feel as high as the film tries to make it out to be and not enough is shown of Shaw to really push him as the ruthless mob boss he’s meant to be rather than a complete mark that gets outwitted at every step, but I’d be hard pressed to name another film with three main players that ooze as much class and charisma as Redford, Shaw and Newman do in this. I also had a moment of confusion too as to how James Earl Jones looked so old this long ago but it turns out his Dad was an actor who looked and sounded exactly like him.

The Entertainer is going to be stuck in my head for days now too.

 

[Lorne Malvo]

Laughing at the idea that Clive Warren has any talent to waste. He's shit!

[gmoney]

Enjoyed Coyote vs Acme a lot. Lots of nice moments and gags. I thought it got a bit too sentimental towards the end, but then I am dead inside. Whoever does Foghorn Leghorn these days can't do the voice at all.

[Devon Malcolm]

Haven't posted in here for ages. Mainly because I've mostly been watching Frederick Wiseman documentaries and Crash Bandicoot walkthroughs.

Fall 2

A genuine contender for the most idiotic film ever made. As if the premise itself wasn't bad enough (my sister died climbing something so I'll commemorate her by doing the same!) it manages to get progressively stupider as it goes on but the most jaw-dropping moment was:-

Spoiler

"Drop dead"

Fucking hell.

Runner

No idea how or why this is getting a wide cinema release but it's a good laugh. Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson are a surprisingly good pairing. The car chase is brilliant. The sort of crap I need to start going to the cinema more for.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Kinda great. I think it's the weakest of Schoenbrun's three films to date but no reflection on it doing anything wrong. There's a load going on and it all hits and really digs deep into the reappropriation of problematic cinema. Not completely convinced by Gillian Anderson though and I'm starting to question whether she's actually that good an actor. Hannah Einbinder is amazing though.

Mutiny

I believe I've made my feelings known on Jason Statham films before. The best lad. A good time. Also - Annabelle Wallis.

Coyote vs. Acme

Yeah it's great. Lovely balance of affectionate homage and modernisation of the characters. Repurposing Foghorn Leghorn as a conservative business tycoon is a stroke of genius. Delighted we finally got to see it.

The End of Oak Street

I do love a really violent kids' film. It obviously doesn't know what to do with its ending but it's a lot of fun getting there. Nice to see Anne Hathaway in something good for a change.

Minions & Monsters

Clearly the best Minions film to date. Wasn't expecting this to be a heartfelt tribute to classic Hollywood and 1950s monster movies. Really funny and almost lovely.

Edited September 11 by Devon Malcolm

[FLips]

Practical Magic

My wife made me watch this ahead of her going to see the new one. It’s not Hamilton levels of rubbish but I wouldn’t say it’s a good film. Thankfully she was going to see the new one with her Mam and Sister so it means last night I was home alone with the dog. I bought a spatchcock chicken, a bottle of red and put How The West Was Won on, which is much more on my level.

Loved the presentation of it with the intermissions and overtures, thought the narrative thread of the one family going through all the individual stories kept things interesting too. It’s got a cast to end all casts but it’s Gregory Peck and James Stewart that really stand out in their respective segments.
It was filmed in some sort of Panavision I think it’s called? But basically 3 screens taped together almost like a big curved widescreen monitor. At times you can see the lines where the screens connected but thankfully the DVD seems to be restored to the point this is barely visible for the most part, but you do get some weird shots clearly made for that screen, similar to when you watch a 3D film in 2D.

 

[johnnyboy]

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

I must have seen the Christmas Day family friendlier cut so many times that I'd maybe missed a lot of the grizzly deaths outside of the face melting.  It's 12A now, instead of PG.  Still tremendous, but how did Indy survive the submarine journey?  I reckon that was the first time I'd seen it at the cinema as even I was too young when it first came out and usually it was one of the recorded from TV VHSes we'd pick off the shelf at my aunt's, as she was the only one at the time with a VCR.  Watching Raiders or Star Wars on the toploader as we had sausage and chips with her and my nan brings back such lovely memories I'm off for a little cry.

Edited September 12 by johnnyboy

[Supremo]

Oasis - Don’t Look Back Anger

Really disappointing. I’m not even that big of an Oasis fan, but I loved, “Supersonic,” for the warts and all stories. All the hilarious voice overs with Noel and Liam constantly slagging each other off, while still recognising how they need each other to make a true success.

Here, they spend the whole documentary refusing to acknowledge the massive elephant in the room. Everyone has grown up too much. There’s been an extremely obvious decision made to focus on the music, and what it means to the fans, and it’s all the more boring because of it. The footage of the gigs themselves is great, but that’s all there is.

I just can’t fathom creating a documentary about Oasis reuniting and not even specifically addressing what caused them to break up in the first place, or how they got back together. I’ve heard more insight on their split in random interviews on Johnathan Ross!

Every now and then there are hints of much more interesting stories, like Liam not turning up to rehearsals, or their kids only meeting for the first time at the gigs themselves, but it’s always quickly brushed aside for more footage of superfans crying at the gigs.

Maybe this is just how the band is now. Far more mature, private and contractually obligated, focussing on the music. Maybe that’s the only way they could ever reunite. Sure makes for a far shitter documentary, though. A solid three to five minutes on some random fan who called her dog, “Bonehead,” because of how much she loved Oasis. Couldn’t give a shit, mate.

Edited September 12 by Supremo

[BigJag]

https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/imax/Online/default.asp?BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Apermalink=raiders-lost-ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark is getting an IMAX release. How will that work on a 45 year old film? Surely it wasn't filmed with an IMAX camera.

[johnnyboy]

7 minutes ago, BigJag said:

https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/imax/Online/default.asp?BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Apermalink=raiders-lost-ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark is getting an IMAX release. How will that work on a 45 year old film? Surely it wasn't filmed with an IMAX camera.

https://www.imax.com/en/gb/movie/indiana-jones-and-raiders-lost-ark

Remastered and touched up to look good and sound sexy in an IMAX cinema screen as opposed to something that's shot specifically in IMAX format for an IMAX cinema.

[tiger_rick]

On 9/10/2026 at 1:22 PM, gmoney said:

Enjoyed Coyote vs Acme a lot. Lots of nice moments and gags. I thought it got a bit too sentimental towards the end, but then I am dead inside. Whoever does Foghorn Leghorn these days can't do the voice at all.

 

On 9/11/2026 at 4:34 PM, Devon Malcolm said:

Coyote vs. Acme

Yeah it's great. Lovely balance of affectionate homage and modernisation of the characters. Repurposing Foghorn Leghorn as a conservative business tycoon is a stroke of genius. Delighted we finally got to see it.

Went to see this at the cinema and it was really good. Wile E. and Road Runner might be my favourite cartoon and I really dug all the references to it and other cartoons and how they played with the characters. The compilations of Wile E.'s antics just had me pissing myself. It really is the best cartoon concept.

Tweety as John Cena's nark was a miscast though. Tweety would never turn heel like that sell-out Cena.

[hallicks]

On 9/12/2026 at 8:18 AM, FLips said:

My wife made me watch this ahead of her going to see the new one. It’s not Hamilton levels of rubbish but I wouldn’t say it’s a good film.

It has a certain charm to it, I laughed out loud quite a few times, and the leads do a good job. It’s a bit wayward at times, but mostly it does well to focus on the family/sister dynamics between Bullock and Kidman, the “magic” never feels like centre of the story (though it’s obviously there). Unlike…

Practical Magic 2

So dull. No charm. Bad acting. The storyline relies more heavily on the magic (which is just boring), the love interest bloke is woeful and there is such a lack of chemistry between him and Sandra Bullock. There’s a couple of touching moments but overall it’s a complete waste of time and like, you waited 28 years to make this?

[Lorne Malvo]

Some films just don't need a legacy sequel. Now this has come out I see a lot of talk about the original being some kind of cult classic, but I genuinely never hear anyone talking about it. Certainly not as much as the superior witchcraft films, Hocus Pocus and The Craft.

Edited September 14 by Lorne Malvo