VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Hannibal Scorch]

Astroid City is bang average. Beautiful to look at but really thought the story and execution were meh. 

[Factotum]

ASTEROID CITY Watched it twice and really loved it the second time. The framing device really pays off. It's Anderson essentially challenging his detractors. Probably his most emotional film in a long time

[SuperBacon]

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret 

One or two of you may have noticed how much I love The Edge Of Seventeen. I think it's probably the best film of the last 10 years or so.

So I had high hopes for the new one written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig.

I cannot explain just how much I loved this. It is absolutely wonderful. 

Wonderfully written, wonderfully acted, wonderfully directed. Just wonderful. 

I'd probably say I spent roughly 75% of it crying. It made me think of my daughters, what they go through growing up, and also the 'relationships' I have with my parents as well.

The young cast are all great, as is Kathy Bates, but it's Rachel McAdams who gives the best performance of them all. Utterly brilliant.

I cannot see this being topped for my film of the year, but I'm excited to see Wes Anderson try.

11/10

[HarmonicGenerator]

I did not particularly enjoy Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny. It’s better than Crystal Skull, but not by a huge amount.

[Factotum]

10 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I did not particularly enjoy Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny. It’s better than Crystal Skull, but not by a huge amount.

Same. Just BLURGH. Was I supposed to feel something? I don't care about that in an Indiana Jones movie. Stop making him a person, it never works.

Shoddily directed as well which was somewhat surprised me given it was Mangold. Just felt like a waste of time.

[SuperBacon]

37 minutes ago, Factotum said:

Stop making him a person, it never works.

I can't comment as I haven't seen it, but I'd say the moments where you are reminded Indiana is a person/just human are some of the best scenes.

I'm thinking of Shorty telling him he loves him in Temple Of Doom, and his Dad telling him to "let it go" in The Last Crusade. The bits that humanise him.

Unless I've misread this point?

The reviews (or more accurately headlines of reviews) I've seen have been mostly positive. I'm looking forward to it, but not expecting it to be film of the year or anything.

[Factotum]

10 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Unless I've misread this point?

You have and you haven't if that makes any sense! Those are little moments that are nice but they're small. Indiana Jones is still just a guy having adventures, like James Bond. You can hint at stuff, and have some moments, but the moment they try to make the film about the 'character' it falls down. Maybe it's why Last Crusade is my least favourite (though I do still love it!) as I felt they want a bit too much on that (but not OTT) I wont say anything else as I'll be discussing the new film.

By the way, it isn't terrible or anything. I just...I dunno it didn't feel like how a film like that should feel.

[Factotum]

Also, I will go see it again as maybe I was just being a miserable bastard (which is highly likely)

[waters44]

I’ve not seen Indy yet, but Odeon have peaked with this 

[FLips]

First time watching The Rock just now.

Even more full of plot holes and bizarre happenings than Face/Off was but Sean Connery and Nic Cage both chew the scenery up and the action is top notch. The supporting cast is ace and I think every ten minutes I was pointing and going oh cool they’re in it!

Considering the stakes though, the ransom demands aren’t even remotely high and it’s sort of like when Dr Evil demands a million dollars and everyone laughs at him. Like, just pay the $100 Million, even in 1996 it wasn’t that much. You can’t even get some footballers for that these days.

Cracking film.

[SuperBacon]

"Your "best"! Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen"

What a line.

[Dr. Alan Grant]

Recent watches.

The Hunger Games - Josh Hutcherson has no business being a movie star with a face that bland. All of the non-Katniss kids are utterly forgettable. Stanley Tucci’s teeth and Jennifer Lawrence save this film. 3/5

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (first watch) - Big improvement on the first. At least some of the other participants have a personality this time. 

21 Bridges (first watch) - Utterly predictable, but really enjoyable. A good cast (JK Simmons AND Keith David? Hell, yes), and makes me sad that Chadwick Boseman is gone. 4/5

John Wick Chapter 2 (first watch) - More of the same, no bad thing. Awful villain though. It should have been Peter Stormare. Amazing that no civilians can see all the bullets whizzing by though. 4/5

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2 (first watch) - Part 1 was all set up, part 2 was all payoff. And Josh Hutcherson was actually decent. Guess my irrational hatred of him comes to an end. Overall, a pretty good franchise. Part 1 3/5, part 2 4/5

Triangle Of Sadness (first watch) - Best way to watch this is by knowing absolutely nothing about it going in. Just give it a watch if you like black comedies. 4/5

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest - 70s Jack is just the coolest man of all time. 5/5

Phone Booth - 81 minutes long. No wasted time. Just a perfect little thriller. 4/5

Edited July 3, 2023 by Dr. Alan Grant
Formatting

[SaitoRyo]

I'm sure I've watched more over the past few weeks, but here's what I remember. 

The Little Mermaid - First time taking my soon-to-be 5-year-old daughter to the cinema and she absolutely loved it. I was hungover from a wedding the day before and it was an earlyish screening, but seeing her face light up completely snapped me out of my funk" Not going to critique the film because it's a big-budget Disney live action remake and you pretty much know what you're getting, but I thought it was great for kids, with a lot of cool visuals and, of course, the songs. Can't wait to take her to the cinema again. 

Vengeance - That BJ Novak thing from a year or so ago where he's trying to come up with a podcast idea and ends up going to Texas to investigate an ex's death. It was decent and had a few funny moments, but nothing you need to go out of your way to see or anything. 

No Hard Feelings - A rare date night with the missus and the perfect film for it, too. I knew exactly what I was getting going into it and I enjoyed it a lot. Jennifer Lawrence is great. The kid in it is great. The supporting cast do their bit. A tight ninety minutes with some funny set pieces and everything wrapped up neatly by the end. Was a two-for-one ticket, too. CASHBACK!

Cry Macho - Thought I'd enjoy this more than I did, but it was fine. The screenplay is pretty shoddy, to be honest, and it's a very casual pace at times (which I'm not averse to). Clint's a reassuring presence and the story is decent enough. A solid 3/5 overall but felt it could have been a lot better.

Ruby Jean and Joe - Another in the 'broken down rodeo cowboy seeks redemption' genre and I liked it a lot more than Cry Macho. Tom Selleck is the aforementioned cowboy and he picks up a 17-year-old hitchhiker en rout to his last rodeo. It's the exact sort of modern western drama that I crave and I was chuffed that someone has (at least temporarily) uploaded it onto YouTube. Sort of loses its way towards the end, but it's a pleasant evening's viewing until then. 

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice - A cracking documentary on an exceptional artist. 

Clay Pigeons - A rewatch and something I might have commented on before in this very thread, but it's fucking class and I enjoyed it greatly yet again. Vaughn, Phoenix and Garofalo in a quirky little darkly comic small-town thriller. It's on Prime for those who haven't seen it. 

[Weezenal]

My daughter a similar age and loved Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken which also has a mermaid in. Out at the mo, but I think it's flopping so maybe not for long.

[BomberPat]

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert - watched this at the lovely Garden Cinema as the end of their LGBTQ+ series, first time in a long while, with friends who had never seen it. I expected it to have aged horribly, but it holds up surprisingly well, to the point that there were bits towards the end that I couldn't help but think would be taken up by cynical culture war grifters if it were released today. The Fillipina character is a horrible stereotype, but thankfully brief, and aside from that I didn't really find myself having any issue with it, and enjoyed it all. Say what you will about having cis and straight actors play trans and gay parts (a debate I understand but mostly can't be bothered with), every major part was really well observed, believable, and heartfelt, and Terence Stamp as Bernadette is one of the all-time great queer characters in cinema.