VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[mim731]

8 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

Having recently bought the Hellraiser: Revival game (which I’m really enjoying), I started going through the series again.
I’ve seen 1-3 a bunch of times, but everything after that other than 5 I’ve only ever seen once. I’ve skipped over 5 (Inferno) because it’s one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I gave it a second chance after hearing someone praise it on a podcast and figured maybe I’d misjudged it. I hadn’t, it’s shite. 6 (Hellseeker) is up next and I don’t have particularly fond memories of that either. Dean Winters is the lead in it, which gives you an idea of how low the bar is and I think Pinhead only turns up in the last 15 minutes just so that the producers can just go “see! It is a Hellraiser film!”

Alas everything past Bloodlines is either a film that was hastily rewritten to become a Hellraiser movie, or a quick rights grab/extension. Or both. Hellworld is quite fun, and very silly, but yeah a very mixed bag overall after 3. 

I did quite enjoy the 2022 remake, so I may have to revisit that as I've only seen it once.  

[WyattSheepMask]

Oh yeah I’m well aware of the retooling/“‘make a movie quick to keep the rights” routine.

Hellworld is quite the anomaly due to Henry Cavill being in it. He was dam lucky to get the Superman gig after appearing in that.

I do need to rewatch the 2022 one again. I quite enjoyed it even if I did find the main protagonist incredibly unlikeable 

Edited Tuesday at 06:53 PM by WyattSheepMask

[LaGoosh]

I don't care for 3 at all. Turned the Cenobites into cheap Freddy Krueger knock offs.

I've got a lot of time for 2 even if the third act is a complete nonsensical mess. It's full to the brim with creative ideas, inventive and horrific gore and striking visuals. I think the design of Leviathan aka Satan is so unique and cool. I respect films that take big swings even if they miss. 

[SaitoRyo]

Action U.S.A.

Now this - THIS - is what a 1980s B movie action film is supposed to be, baby!

I'd summarise the plot, but that's really besides the point. I'd talk about the acting, but what good would that do? This is a stuntman's movie. It was directed by a stuntman and written around the particular stunts he wanted to put on film. Cars are blown up. People are set on fire. Buildings are fallen off. It is fucking class. 

Plus, it has Mac's Dad as one of the main guys and a brawl in a massive Texas honky tonk.

Five stars.

[mim731]

11 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I don't care for 3 at all. Turned the Cenobites into cheap Freddy Krueger knock offs.

I've got a lot of time for 2 even if the third act is a complete nonsensical mess. It's full to the brim with creative ideas, inventive and horrific gore and striking visuals. I think the design of Leviathan aka Satan is so unique and cool. I respect films that take big swings even if they miss. 

I get that feeling for 3, it's a bit silly and does have a sort of cartoonish element that feels out of whack with the previous two, although they do explain that at least to some degree. Plus a pre-DS9 Terry Farrell, who I'm always glad to see. 

Agree on 2, it's a mad hodge podge of things but I quite like that in a way. Hell should be chaotic. The design work is phenomenal. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

Godzilla Minus Zero is not as good as Minus One but was still very enjoyable. More gruesome, more gritty. Seeing it in IMAX was definitely the way to see it even if it’s the loudest film I’ve ever seen.

[Merzbow]

Anything after the first film is bad Hellraiser yet two is still stupidly fun, it feels like as mad as hell fan-fiction with a bit of a budget rather than a genuine sequel.

[gmoney]

Operation Avalanche

Another movie by Matt Johnson of Nirvanna the Show the Band, about faking the moon landing. Shot in a faux gonzo documentary style, it does some clever stuff, has a really great car chase scene, and is occasionally funny. Ultimately though it's pretty slight and for a film about the CIA is aggressively Canadian.

California Split

A Robert Altman film I've not seen before. I didn't really know what to expect at first, I thought it might be a film about grifters or heists, but really it's a sort chilled hangout movie about a couple gamblers, Elliot Gould and George Segal. They form a friendship, sink into gambling addiction and go on a trip to Reno. And that's kind of it. It relies on the charm of the two leads, who are reliably funny and has some realistic things to say about addiction. 

Harlem Nights

Eddie Murphy's first and last directed film. Richard Prior runs a gambling club in the 1930s with Eddie as his protégée, and they get involved with a corrupt detective and the Italian Mob. It's a little tonally all over the place, it's too long, and some of the comedy is too wacky to sit alongside some of the drama, but it's got some funny stuff in there, Della Reese and Red Foxx in supporting roles are fucking hilarious. After I watched this I come to find out that it's got an awful reputation, won a couple of Razzies (your reminder that the Razzies was run by complete cunts). I'm pretty staggered by that. It's no classic, but it's absolutely not an awful film. 

Edited Thursday at 12:12 PM by gmoney

[Jazzy G]

13 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Godzilla Minus Zero is not as good as Minus One but was still very enjoyable. More gruesome, more gritty. Seeing it in IMAX was definitely the way to see it even if it’s the loudest film I’ve ever seen.

I'm seeing it on Saturday afternoon at my local Vue because Vicky gets a code for a free ticket there every month. Just got £7 in (self earned) club card vouchers as well which will more than cover some snacks and a drink. 

[SaitoRyo]

Personal Best

Two female track and field athletes begin a relationship that threatens their pursuit of qualifying for the Olympics.

I really enjoyed this as both a sports film and a romantic drama. It's a very realistic, very sweaty film and an amazingly good (and respectful) depiction of a lesbian relationship on screen. Felt ahead of its time, in that respect, and the performances by Mariel Hemingway, Scott Glenn (who is excellent as the coach with questionable motives) and Patrice Donnelly (an actual track and field athlete) are all top notch.

I thought it was significantly better than Robert Towne's follow-up directorial effort, Tequila Sunrise, which I watched a few weeks back.

[Supremo]

Street Fighter truly did feel like, “WWE Monday Night Raw The Movie.” A bloated, style-over-substance, empty-calorie mess that I enjoyed in the moment but will never ever watch again.

Spoiler

Fittingly, Cody Rhodes plays the most ridiculous man to ever live. Equal parts preposterous and magnetic. The role he was born to play. Funny though; even in playing Guile, with that hair, they still decided his neck tattoo was too ridiculous, so covered it up. What an indictment on your stupid tattoo, RollerCodester. Not even Guile, in the fictional world of Street Fighter, would rock that ink! Laser it off already!

I wonder if Cody would only agree to covering up the tattoo if he could do the job off-screen. Felt downright bizarre when they randomly announced he was already eliminated. The way everything fell apart in the final act, I’m assuming there’s some mad three-hour cut that they’ll eventually release to streaming.

Similarly, Roman Reigns also plays himself. Doesn’t bother turning up for any of the build up, only appearing at the pay per view (tournament) itself, to the point wherein it took me a second to even realise he was playing the same character from the earlier anime sections. Lazy prick, relying on video packages to do the hard work for him. 

It even had those annoying celebrity appearances, straight out of Raw! I don’t even know if Andrew Schulz or Eric Andre are MAGA whoppers, but they’ve spent enough time on WWE television for me to assume as much. Biggest surprise was Dana White not making an appearance.

A load of silly bullshit. Three and a half stars. Will watch the sequel if it comes out. WWE Smackdown The Movie. We love to have fun.

 

[WyattSheepMask]

15 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Godzilla Minus Zero is not as good as Minus One but was still very enjoyable. More gruesome, more gritty. Seeing it in IMAX was definitely the way to see it even if it’s the loudest film I’ve ever seen.

I’ve got to wait until next week to see it at a decent time in something that isn’t 4DX. I had been worried that it might not be as good as the previous, but I’m still looking forward to it.

 

[Jazzy G]

It's a very difficult act to follow.

[Carbomb]

7 hours ago, Supremo said:

Street Fighter truly did feel like, “WWE Monday Night Raw The Movie.” A bloated, style-over-substance, empty-calorie mess that I enjoyed in the moment but will never ever watch again.

  Hide contents

Fittingly, Cody Rhodes plays the most ridiculous man to ever live. Equal parts preposterous and magnetic. The role he was born to play. Funny though; even in playing Guile, with that hair, they still decided his neck tattoo was too ridiculous, so covered it up. What an indictment on your stupid tattoo, RollerCodester. Not even Guile, in the fictional world of Street Fighter, would rock that ink! Laser it off already!

I wonder if Cody would only agree to covering up the tattoo if he could do the job off-screen. Felt downright bizarre when they randomly announced he was already eliminated. The way everything fell apart in the final act, I’m assuming there’s some mad three-hour cut that they’ll eventually release to streaming.

Similarly, Roman Reigns also plays himself. Doesn’t bother turning up for any of the build up, only appearing at the pay per view (tournament) itself, to the point wherein it took me a second to even realise he was playing the same character from the earlier anime sections. Lazy prick, relying on video packages to do the hard work for him. 

It even had those annoying celebrity appearances, straight out of Raw! I don’t even know if Andrew Schulz or Eric Andre are MAGA whoppers, but they’ve spent enough time on WWE television for me to assume as much. Biggest surprise was Dana White not making an appearance.

A load of silly bullshit. Three and a half stars. Will watch the sequel if it comes out. WWE Smackdown The Movie. We love to have fun.

 

Andrew Schultz is one of those right-wing libertarian snide cunts. Absolute helmet.

[Statto]

23 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Godzilla Minus Zero is not as good as Minus One but was still very enjoyable. More gruesome, more gritty. Seeing it in IMAX was definitely the way to see it even if it’s the loudest film I’ve ever seen.

Just seen this in Vue's new IMAX-kinda EPIC thing. Can confirm, very loud.

And not as good as Minus One.